Prologue: A Mad Welcome (Update: 8/27)

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It had been some time after dusk came along, the light of the sun was still shining long streams of its golden rays of violet, red, and orange across the western side of the city. Streams of cumulus swirling together on the horizon to make a beautiful light show with the sun to herald the passing of another day and the entry of a new night. The moon began to creep above the horizon and the stars were just beginning to peak their way through the slowly dulling sky. The castle towering above everything else reflecting the last slivers of light from the twilight sun. Nighttime lamps and lights were turned on along the streets to assist the common night goers of Canterlot. The city was still bustling as always, as the Capital of Equestria should be.

Within the confines of the dusty Ancient Records section of the Royal Library, Princess Luna, one of the co-rulers of Equestria paced back and forth beside the length of a single shelf. Next to her was an unlocked display case carrying an ornate gold scroll the length of half her own foreleg and an old black tome of average size with a silver etching of a dragon atop a dusty, old desk. Luna’s blue eyes were fixed worriedly on the floor as if she was preparing for something bad to happen at any moment. Every so often she would dart back to the scroll, staring at it a while before resuming her pacing.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the side of the narrow passageway into this ancient part of the castle’s library. Luna jumped and blasted at the archway with her magic before looking to see who was there. When she turned to look, a tall alicorn mare with snow-white fur and a long multicolored mane wearing a big golden crown very familiar to her had ducked in time to miss Luna’s involuntary attack.

“That almost hit me that time,” The mare said humorously.

“Sister!”, Luna cried as she ran up to the mare.

“I’m so sorry Celestia! I suppose my old war instincts are still acting themselves upon us. I'm still not used to living in a mostly conflict-free world I guess. We nearly did the same horrid thing to dear Jeeves when he tried to wake us up the other day.”

Celestia the white alicorn in question, gave Luna a chuckle and wrapped her hooves around Luna’s withers as they shared a tender hug between each other.

“It's alright Luna, I know it has been hard for you some days, adjusting to the modern world, but you have been getting steadily better, and these incidents have been getting further and further apart,” Celestia reassured. "Your anger management classes have been going well too from what I hear."

"I still don't know however why or how singing "I Feel Pretty" is supposed to calm my disposition." Luna dryly remarked.

Luna quickly returned the hug as they began to break the embrace.

“Now what have you been doing in this dusty old section of the library Luna? It's past time for you to raise the moon,” Celestia inquired.

“Oh, of course. My apologies, I’ve been preoccupied with something else and I forgot my own royal duties,” replied Luna as she walked over to the window on the outer corridor.

Her horn quickly glowed, and the moon slowly rose over the horizon and into the sky to bring about the night.

“Now what is it you’ve been looking at over here-

Celestia stopped as she saw what was lying down in plain sight on the table that Luna was so preoccupied with.

“Luna, are those the artifacts that we found on Discord’s throne after we turned him to stone the first time?” Celestia asked.

“One in the same sister, or this case, two in the same. I’ve been looking into any possible means other than the Elements to combat Discord ever since his “supposed” reformation by the hooves of one of our newest dear friends Fluttershy,” Luna replied as she made air quotations on supposed with her hooves. “Did we use that gesture correctly? I think we did. So much of the ponies’ dialect and body language has changed since our absence.”

Celestia looked at Luna with concern and walked over to her workspace.

“Luna-“Celestia started.

Luna stopped her by raising her hoof.

“I know what you are going to say, sister. That we must be able to forgive and forget, and we must allow ponies to redeem themselves whenever they make a mistake,” Luna stated. “However, while I will always trust you and our dearest new friends, I will never fully trust Discord. Ever.”

“Luna, I know Discord is troublesome, he still is even after his reformation. Don’t you think though that after three months of quiet from him we can at least begin to relax?” Celestia asked.

“We will relax when we have another measure against Discord should he try anything else again. When our friends went after Discord the first time, he was able to steal the Elements of Harmony away from them and hex them into being opposite from what they truly are. We just want to make sure we have another way to defeat Discord.” Luna replied.

Sighing deeply, Celestia knew her sister could never give this up. Discord had been more than just a mere enemy to her in the distant past.

“There is something that has been bothering me, dear sister.”

“What’s that?”

“After all these many centuries we never tried to find out what these artifacts were and what their purpose is?” Luna inquired.

“Don’t you remember? Both of us tried to open the scroll and the tome with our combined magical strength after we imprisoned Discord the first time, but we could never get them to open. So we just had other ponies use tools to carefully lift them into that display case and locked them away” Celestia pointed out as her horn glowed and attempted to lift the scroll and book.

“I had always assumed that the scroll and the tome were instruments of chaos for Discord to enhance his own powers,” Luna replied.

"Well, what did your spies say then?"

“After our spies had told us Discord was visited by a strange bipedal bald monkey, the being gave him this book and this scroll. Our spies said he was speaking nonsense that sounded like an incantation. They warned us….not..to- Luna stopped as both of them came to a realization and face hooved themselves.

“They told us not to touch the scroll and book even though they aren’t affected by our magic and nothing has ever happened to anyone who accidentally touched it.” Celestia finished.

“OH MYSELF AND MY SISTER! You mean in all these centuries we could have opened up these artifacts ourselves the whole time? Even when we weren’t even sure if they were dangerous to touch, to begin with?” Luna snapped at no one in particular.

“I wouldn’t say that, if we are going to finally find out what they are now we have to be cautious,” Celestia replied.

Luna carefully eyed the scroll first and slowly reached over to it, but Celestia put her hoof on Luna’s.

“Put a defensive barrier around your hooves at least.”

Luna nodded as her horn glowed and her hooves were covered in the same blue glow. She then slowly put her hooves on the scroll and tensed up for something bad to happen. After a few seconds, she breathed a sigh of relief and carefully opened the large golden scroll very slowly. When it was completely open, for a split second, Luna and Celestia gazed upon the most alien markings she ever came across. Suddenly though, the scroll flashed even brighter than her sister’s own sun and blinded the both of them causing them to give a small shriek of pain. Luna quickly closed the scroll to try to stop the effects.

When they could see again, the scroll had been closed successfully, but the books on the shelves around them had been thrown into disarray from their lash out of pain.

Celestia’s horn glowed and all the books circled them and glided back onto their respective shelves.

“Let’s not do that again until Discord can tell us how to read this scroll,” Celestia said with a tinge of annoyance.

Then, down the hall, they could hear the rapid clopping of hooves getting louder and louder as it reached the passageway. A muscular guard pony with a snow-white coat and a silver mane familiar to Celestia appeared in the doorway and gave a quick deep bow to the both of them before quickly taking off his helmet.

"Sergeant Silver Sickle, how delightful it is to see you again. I had hoped that our little evening meal together two weeks ago didn't scare you off." She mischievously said to the guard with a smile.

She giggled at Silver Sickle's expense when he turned brick red through his white fur and stuttered while trying to speak.

“N-N-Not at all y-your Majesty, th-th-that evening was pleasant. But more importantly, for now, your highnesses, a strange intruder has appeared in the throne room. He is screaming the strangest things and tearing up the castle with his magic,” The guard pony said.

Celestia's smile disappeared as she and Luna looked at each other with worried looks and looked at the scroll layed about on the ground before looking back at each other and widening their eyes in realization.

“Gather up the guard! Put the castle on high alert, but don’t engage the intruder!” Celestia cried.

The guard pony saluted again before running off to carry out his orders.

“I must send a letter to Twilight and her friends. If this intruder turns out to be the same ally Discord had a thousand years ago that gave him these artifacts, he may not know about his defeat and reformation,” said Celestia as she materialized a piece of parchment and a quill and wrote down a quick message, rolled it with her seal and sent it to Twilight via dragon flame.

“That’s what I’m afraid of Sister, we can’t allow another entity to cause disharmony in our land again,” replied Luna.

“Or it could just be Discord fooling around again messing up our throne room under the guise of another and we could be making a fuss over nothing,” Celestia thought out loud.

“Whatever the case may be, we must attend to any problem that arises in Equestria,” Luna stated.

Both of their horns began to glow and they attempted to teleport out of the Royal Library and into the Royal Throne Room to confront the intruder. However, when they attempted to teleport, their horns sputtered and sparked. They could also hear a scratchy male voice saying, "ah, ah, ah, that's not polite". Which kept happening again and again after five minutes of using different variations of their teleportation spell in multiple attempts to teleport into their throne room. After failing so many times, Luna threw a book across the room in anger, but Celestia stopped it before it got damaged and set it down on a table in the room.

Can't let a good book be destroyed, Celestia thought.

"What's going on Celestia?" asked Luna.

"I'm not sure Luna, this has never happened before within the confines of Canterlot Castle," she replied. "Someone is blocking specific spells in our arsenal but not all of our magic entirely."

Luna began to trot out into the hallway fully intending to walk through the two miles of hallways to get to their throne room.

"Then let us find out who it was that did this the old-fashioned way sister, I do not appreciate when somepony waltzes into our home and mess with our MAGIC!" Luna screamed at the top of her lungs as she stepped into the hallway and slipped on something slick which caused her hooves to fly out from underneath her, causing her to slide across the white marble floor and smash into the hallway wall with a loud thump. Knocking over a nearby table and all of its contents.

"Luna! Are you alright?" Celestia asked concerned as she cautiously ran up to and stopped at the edge of the hallway.

"We are alive, but I fear we, "had our wind knocked out of us" as the commoners say" Luna wheezed out as she was lying painfully on the floor. "What in mother and father's name did I slip in?"

Celestia gazed at the tile hallway floor and noticed a slimy substance covering the floor. She noticed an odor and gave a quick whiff.

"It's....vegetable oil," she concluded awkwardly. "The entire hallway is soaked in it, floor and ceiling," she said as she leaned her head over to look down the long hallway. "My first thought would have been Pinkie Pie, but not even she would do something hurtful like this."

"I'm going to bucking hang the damn pony who did this by their back hooves over a vat of boiling water if I ever get my hooves on them." Luna wheezed out angrily. "Then I'm going to bucking shove a mace down their throats and use them as bucking bait for fishing for Ice Eels."

"Hang on Luna."

Celestia opened her wings and hovered over the floor with a few well-timed flaps over towards Luna. She carefully lifted Luna off the ground and brought her back over into the library.

She pulled Luna's forelegs up because that would help her breathe normally and she knew the instinct was to hold your chest when something like that happens.

"Breath deeply," she said.

It took a minute, but Luna managed to regain her normal breathing pattern.

"We're fine sister, We're fine," Luna said as her breathing began to slow down to its normal rate, and stand back up.

"Let's try flying this time" Celestia suggested.

Luna nodded as the both of them opened their wings and carefully flap in a rhythm that let them hover over the floor.

"We can clean this later" Celestia sighed.

They quickly flew across the first long hallway and whenever they noticed a guard that had knocked themselves out from slipping, they pulled him or her into a room away from the hallway.

Eventually, they made it to the turn into the second long hallway where they immediately flew into something sticky and got their wings caught.

"What in Tartarus is this?" Luna screamed as she was struggling to get free.

Long strands of a sticky pink substance had filled the entire hallway, randomly strung from one side of the hallway to the other like a web.

"I believe it's gum," Celestia said. She leaned over bit off some of the gum on her wing before spitting it back out. "But it's still in its natural form without the sugar."

"Why would somepony use one of our childhood favorite snacks like that of what mother gave to us for such a nefarious purpose?" Luna asked.

"Hold on I have an idea," Celestia said after rolling her eyes.

Celestia's horn glowed and then the entire hallway froze over, causing the gum to harden and break. They caught themselves before hitting the floor and hovered once again over it.

Luna looked at Celestia with a raised eyebrow to which Celestia answered.

"What? It was a useful spell to learn. You wouldn't believe how many little colts and fillies in my school got their manes covered in this stuff by throwing it at each other" she said.

They flew the rest of the way through the second long hallway and into the throne room.

What they found when they entered had to be the strangest creature they have ever seen and worn the strangest clothes that they have ever seen in their long lives. A bipedal creature with no fur at all except a patch of silver and black hair atop its head and on its face was what looked to be a goatee. Its hands were smooth and smaller than those of Minotaur’s. It’s clothing if you could call them that were the most mismatched clothes they’ve seen yet. A purple suit with dark swirls and a swamp green undershirt with half purple pants and half swamp green. A single piece of what looked like scaled green armor was on his right forearm. He was also leaning on a simple oaken walking stick.

“What in-” Luna started.

The creature turned to face the two sisters and gave an unnaturally large smile that rivaled that of Pinkie Pie.

“Ah! Actual company! I was beginning to think these single-minded guards were the only people here. I’m so happy, I can just tear out your intestines and strangle you with them!” the creature cried happily.

Luna and Celestia looked at each other with bewildered looks before looking back at the unknown creature who appeared to be male from the sound of his voice.

“State your business here creature! Who and what are you?” commanded Luna.

The male creature kept his unnaturally big grin on his face before giving a slight bow.

“I suppose an introduction is in order. I’m Sheogorath, Prince of Madness. And other things. I’m not talking about them,” declared Sheogorath. “As far as my business goes I was in my vintage cheese room eating my vintage cheeses when I was summoned back to this stupidly colorful dimension of yours hoping I would find my old associate ruling over all of you with his chaos reigning over everything like cats from the sky and my madness spreading like butter. Especially after I went through all the trouble to give him one of the scrolls, but that doesn't seem to be THE CASE!"

The creature who introduced himself as Sheogorath spoke in an exaggerated accent of what the Sisters recognized as a mix between Lyrish and Trottish. Still confused by Sheogorath’s odd mannerisms, Celestia stepped forward in an attempt to intimidate this new adversary.

“I’m afraid I must disappoint you Prince Sheogorath. Discord has been defeated and reformed by one of my own subjects. If you are here to cause trouble in our kingdom I’m afraid we must disappoint you further,” Celestia replied.

Sheogorath continued to smile as he leaned over towards them on his cane.

“Reeeeellllyyyy?” he said incredulously.

As the sisters’ horns began to glow to fire off an offensive spell, Sheogorath looked in the direction of the Royal Library as if he could look through the walls and raised his left hand off of his cane.

“Oh well, then I suppose I should take back the scroll, and banish you to somewhere where savage animals will feast on your lungs and kidneys after playing leapfrog with your backsides and then spread madness here myself,” he said nonchalantly as he opened his hand and the Scroll and tome teleported into the room and his hands as his cane disappeared.
“Almost forgot about that book, oh well, you can keep it,” he said as the book flew towards Celestia and Luna as if it came to life.

They easily dodged the book, but realizing it was just a distraction, they turned back to Sheogorath to watch him similarly snapping his fingers to their own chaos spirit. Their eyes turned white and grew brighter and brighter before a field of swirling aura blew around them in a storm of energy. Just as she was losing consciousness, Luna could have sworn she heard the voice of a familiar violet alicorn very dear to her calling out her name directly behind her. She tried to turn her head to look while she could still see, but then her entire world faded into darkness.

Chapter I: Awake (LATEST EDIT: 12/8/18 )

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Cold. So.....cold

Luna partially awoke to find herself shivering on the ice-cold ground unable to move at all. Her eyes were still shut while every sudden gust of wind bit into her like a Timberwolf. Whimpering, she tried to move a single solitary muscle but found she just couldn’t at all. The paralyzing cold, the soreness, and the fatigue of every muscle added all together had rendered her immobile. After a few minutes of trying to gather some semblance of strength, she tried feeling around with her hoof to get her bearings. That is when she felt something incredibly wrong with herself.

When she attempted to open her eyes, she found it quite difficult, like a newborn foal that had just come out of its mother's womb. It was a foreign feeling to her, but when she put more effort into it and opened her eyes, the very first thing that was in front of her eyes confused her to no end. Right in front of her face, she found the strangest thing; hands that look like they should rightfully belong on something like a Minotaur or a monkey. Except for the fact that they were identical to the ones that belonged to Sheogorath, except they still had their midnight-blue fur and were quite slender. She tried to move where she believed her foreleg would be but found instead to her dismay that the hand had steadily moved off the ground instead, but only fall back to the ground a few seconds later. She then tried to roll over onto her stomach but felt a steady stream of pain go up her spine preventing her from doing so. Starting to panic, her heart began to beat rapidly like a drum, forcing her to completely forget every other horrible sensation she was feeling at first. When she was able to turn her head to get a good look at herself, she found herself scared and confused. She still had a coat of fur on her body and when she felt on her forehead and back she found that her horn and wings remained, but her body structure was something strange and....alien. She came to the horrifying realization that she was no longer a pony. She was something different and unknown.

Another time, she made another painful attempt at lifting herself off the ground, but all she was able to do was push herself onto her back towards the sky. She could see a gloomy layer of grey clouds cover the expanse of the sky like a thick blanket. A cold rain began to fall on her fur and run down the length of her body, soaking her fur and doubling the intense cold she was already feeling from the wind. Then, she started to get another strange feeling, she was beginning to no longer feel the cold despite her terrible condition. Despair began to set in in place of fear and panic. She was going to die a cold death alone as some unrecognizable creature that was completely alien to her without her sister and her new dear friends.

“I’m sorry my sister, I’m sorry my friends,” she cried quietly.

She then heard a gravelly growl coming from her right side as she was beginning to think dark thoughts. She attempted to move her head in the direction of the sound and found a big cat creature with long upper fangs circling her. It had its slitted eyes locked on her with its sharp teeth bared at her. She could see a stain of blood already on its teeth, no doubt from a kill it had made earlier. As it continued to circle her, it left her field of vision, obviously attempting to finish her off from behind. She came to the stark realization that she wasn’t going to die freezing, she was going to die screaming as she was eaten alive. When that thought came to her, she began to lose consciousness and hypothermia began to set in even more as she lost more feeling in her appendages. As she heard the big cat getting closer and closer, she suddenly heard it stop before snarling and backing away. She sensed another presence closing in behind her, something that felt much more different than that of the cat. She could hear the cat snarl louder and roar as this new imposing presence was being attacked by it. Before she slipped entirely into unconsciousness, she could hear the ringing of sliding metal and a masculine roar that echoed in her mind as she dropped into the darkness of sleep.

Back in Equestria before the disappearance of the Royal Sisters, the newly appointed Princess Twilight Sparkle was about to have her own problems. Twilight Sparkle had been sleeping through the day to stay awake during a nighttime gala in Ponyville. It had been in the works for quite a while to celebrate her recent coronation two months ago. A sudden loud knocking on her bedroom door startled her causing her to roll out of her bed and land on her floor with a comedic thump followed by a painful groan from the lavender mare in question.

“Oh come on!” Twilight quietly complained. She attempted to pull the pillow that had fallen with her over her head in an attempt to block out the noise coming from her door. After realizing the futility, she rolled over onto her underside and stood up with a big stretch of her front forelegs, and began walking to her bedroom door to see who was making the ungodly racket and give them a piece of her mind. She dragged her hooves down the steps of the upper loft of her bedroom, past the many books that were stacked upon each step, lists, notebooks, and a glass display case containing five golden necklaces and a tiara bearing her cutie mark.

She finally made it to her bedroom door at the bottom level of her room and opened it fully intending to give her disturber a piece of her mind. She found her faithful assistant Spike with a nervous look standing in the doorway.

“I'm sorry for waking you Twilight, I just received a message from the princess, I thought you should get it right away.” He apologized with a nervous smile.

Twilight looked at him for a second before breathing out, and letting go of her momentary irritation at her rude awakening, and gave him a small smile.

“That’s alright Spike. Let’s just see what this is about. Might as well go into the living room to read it more clearly.” She replied through her teeth.

Spike moved out of her way to allow her to pass and follow Twilight into the Library’s main room. A few moments later, they were in the main room of the library near its entrance while Spike was picking up wayward books that were left on the ground the day before.

“Alright, let see what this is all about,” Twilight said tiredly.

Twilight took the scroll in her lavender glow and removed Celestia’s royal seal from the scroll and proceeded to unravel it quickly with her magic. Spike saw that her expression noticeably changed as her eyes moved across and further down the page. As she made it to the bottom of the letter, Twilight’s face morphed into one of extreme concern and worry.

“Wh-what is it Twilight?” Spike asked nervously.

“The princesses are in trouble! We need to gather the girls, get the Elements, and get to Canterlot to help them!” replied Twilight as she teleported the letter to her room’s archives.

“Rodger!” Spike replied as he saluted Twilight and ran into her room with her and pressed an engraving of a golden unicorn on the glass display case to open it.

She took the five golden necklaces in her magic and quickly placed the golden tiara on her head before running back out of her room with Spike and out her front door into the lit nighttime streets of Ponyville.

Minutes later, Twilight and Spike arrived at the Town Square where their town’s signature Mare Statue Fountain was located. Lights on long strands were strung up everywhere, illuminating the entire square in an atmosphere of festivity. Lavender-colored and pink-colored ribbons and streamers were wrapped around every lamp post and tree honoring the princess of friendship. Many ponies were scattered about the square conversing with each other. An alabaster unicorn mare with a long purple mane over by the food table noticed her arrive and trotted over to Twilight to greet her.

“Twilight darling, you’re here awfully early, we don’t start the festivities for another three hours, and you look awfully frazzled,” said the white mare. “And why did you bring the Elements darling? I don’t think we need them for the celebration.”

“Sorry Rarity, we need to put off the gala for a little bit. The princesses sent me a message, they are in serious trouble. We have to gather the other girls and get to Canterlot right away” Twilight replied.

“Oh my! Well then, I suppose we should find the others. I know all of them had tasks they were attending to” Rarity replied as she was looking around for her other friends. “I believe Pinkie is still at Sugar Cube Corner finishing up the cakes for the gala and Fluttershy is pushing away any small wayward storm clouds, but I do believe Rainbow is here at the moment helping Applejack set up the stage.”

Rarity pointed over to the stage and podium in front of Town Hall. A pair of familiar ponies were seen on the side of the stage placing extra posts underneath the stage to keep it held up. Twilight, Spike, and Rarity ran over to the stage while the ponies were preoccupied with their work.

“Come on Applejack, we got to get these the celebration is only in a few more hours!” urged the rainbow-maned pegasus. "We need to hurry up if we're gonna make the deadline!"

An orange mare with a blonde mane and a cowboy hat emerged from the stage with a snort.

“That’s funny Rainbow, I never pegged you for the responsible type.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” the rainbow-maned pegasus questioned suspiciously.

“Well, you’re not exactly the one usually to take the initiative and get people to actually work AND help along. It’s just a little odd that’s all.” the orange mare assured.

“Yeah, well Twilight has been super awesome lately, becoming Equestria’s newest princess, getting almost as awesome as I am, when she’s not being a total egghead that is. So she deserves all the limelight right now while she can.”

The lavender alicorn in question had just run-up to her just as she was setting in place another support post for the stage.

“I’m glad you think so highly of me Rainbow Dash,” Twilight sarcastically replied to Rainbow Dash’s backhanded compliment while smiling.

Rainbow jumped a little bit but relaxed a little bit after seeing who it was. Applejack came out from under the stage after hearing her friend’s voice. Her mane was disheveled and filled with dirt from kicking up dirt by forcefully pushing the support posts into the loose ground.

“Howdy Twilight, howdy Spike, we were just fixing up the stage before yer celebration gala here. The fellers who worked on this here thing didn’t build it properly, so I got Rainbow to help me fix it up.” Applejack said.

“Never mind about that Applejack, I need both of you to come with me. We need to get Fluttershy and Pinkie and get to Canterlot.” Twilight said in a worried tone.

“What’s wrong sugar?” Applejack asked.

“Twilight got a letter from the princess saying that Luna and she are in trouble and she asked us to bring the Elements to help them!” said Rarity and Spike the latter blushing and awkwardly coughing after yelling in unison with Rarity.

“What!? Then let’s get our flanks in gear and get over there!” Rainbow cried as she tried to quickly fly towards Canterlot before Applejack grabbed her by the tail and pulled her back down.

“Slow down there nelly! We first got to get Fluttershy and Pink-” Applejack started.

“SOMEPONYY CALL ME???” a bouncy, bubbly voice asked from behind them.

Everypony jumped at the sudden loud voice and looked to where it came from. A familiar pink mare with curly pink hair and a reality-defying smile had appeared seemingly out of nowhere.

“Pinkie! Don’t do that!” snapped Rainbow.

“Sorry Rainbow Dash, sorry girls, I was just so excited. I was excited before because I was busy baking all of the treats, pies, cakes, and pastries for your gala that’s in a few hours. I was just experimenting with a white chocolate wasabi walnut cake for the gala. I call it the White chocolate Wasabi Walnut Whipcream Wackiness. Obviously based on the Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness, the MMMM, but upside down and with another W, but before I was done with it, my body started shaking just like before at Froggy Bottom Bog and that made me think something was-” Pinkie was interrupted by Applejack stuffing her hoof into Pinkie’s mouth before her talking dragged out any further.

“Sorry Pinkie, but the Princesses are in trouble and we need to find Fluttershy and get to Canterlot with the Elements, we can’t waste any more time!” cried Twilight.

“We can take the train then Twilight, the evening train is just about to depart. I'm sure you can afford to throw your authority around just this once to make the engineers push the speed of the train,” pointed out Rarity.

Good thought Rarity. I don't like the idea of forcing ponies to do things for me, but our friends must come first. First though, Rainbow Dash, where is Fluttershy?” asked Twilight.

“Last I checked, she was in the southwestern edge of town near the Everfreee Forest breaking up clusters of low-hanging clouds that were getting too close and may have turned into fog. I’ll get her and be back in a Dash!” she happily exclaimed with a pun to which her friends groaned before flying off. After only roughly twenty seconds of waiting, Rainbow Dash returned with the yellow pegasus Fluttershy. Fluttershy’s tail was firmly clamped between her teeth indicating that Rainbow had to drag her to get her to the others faster.

“Um, Rainbow, if you don’t mind, could you please tell me why you flew super fast while dragging me away from my job by my tail...if it’s no trouble that is.” Fluttershy asked with a hint of annoyance. “Oh hi, Twilight, did you need something? ...I mean the gala isn’t for a few hours so shouldn’t you be sleeping a little? Do you want me to bring you some stuffed animals to help you go back to sleep? ...I mean only if you want to.”

Twilight smiled sweetly at the mare for a second before putting back on her face of concern after remembering her mission.

“That’s alright Fluttershy, we have bigger problems at the moment,” Twilight replied.

“Yeah, we do! The princesses are in trouble!” cried Rainbow.

“Oh my! I hope they’re alright.” Fluttershy replied with concern.

“That’s why I called you all here. We must get to Canterlot and save Princess Luna and Princess Celestia from whatever threat they are facing. That’s why I brought the Elements with me. The princess believed whatever they are facing could be dangerous enough to warrant us bringing the Elements. I’m gonna put them on all of you now so when I transport all of us to the train station across town from there we can quickly jump into action to save the princesses once we get off the train.” Twilight said as she levitated each Element to its respective owner.

“WOOHOO! Let’s have some fun beating the baddie this time!” Pinkie exclaimed.

“Awwwww yeah! Just like old times” exclaimed Rainbow happily.

“It does feel fabulous to have my Element on once again.” Rarity agreed.

“Let’s just all be careful.” cautioned Fluttershy.

"Wait a minute, why can't you just teleport us straight to Canterlot?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Rainbow Dash, in times of crisis or war, the anti-teleportation enchantment placed around the perimeter of the city automatically activates. We would just be bounced back here if I tried that. Or directly into Canterlot Jail depending on the threat level. We couldn't get into the city even if we wanted to." she explained.

The explanation seemed to visibly cause Rainbow Dash to make an exaggerated expression of shock and horror.

"Besides Rainbow, teleporting directly into a train 10 miles away across town takes less energy than teleporting into Canterlot Castle which is 100 miles away give or take a few miles. I actually want to have the energy to fight with my magic, you know."

“Alrighty then Twi, kick that teleporter spell thingy of yours into overdrive and let’s get that train to blast up to Canterlot to save the princesses” Applejack urged.

“Okay, everyone hold still for a second, this may feel tingly, but it won’t hurt. Spike, you need to stay close to me while I do this.” Spike nodded before hopping up on Twilight’s back.

Her horn began glowing violet brighter and brighter sparking from the tip for a few seconds before unleashing a violet force field that enveloped the whole group and then they disappeared with the remains of the field leaving a few purple-colored sparks on the ground.

Four hours later...

In the capital city of Canterlot, right outside of the castle, a small group of ponies had been galloping all the way through the empty city from the crowded Canterlot Grand Station bringing the members of the group, Twilight, Spike, and their friends to their destination. The front gate division of guards had already surrounded them and had their spears at the ready for any threat before seeing it was their new princess that had arrived. One of them, a pegasus with special gilded armor and a mane with a darker shade of blue than the other guards galloped right up to her before bowing deeply.

"Princess Twilight, thank Celestia, you and the other Elements are here, the Princesses are in the throne room confronting a dangerous creature. We fear they may need help. Is there anything you wish of us to do? We attempted to subdue the creature, but we were beaten senselessly." asked the commander guard as he hung his head in shame.

“What is your name commander?” asked Twilight politely.

“Commander Aegis Slash your highness.” the guard respectfully replied as he saluted her.

“Don’t feel ashamed commander, many of the threats that come to Canterlot seldomly come here without a massive amount of power that even we have some level difficulty dealing with.” Rarity replied to Aegis Slash as she batted her eyelashes at him.

“Thank you Lady Rarity, I am unworthy of your kindness.”

Twilight began thinking about how to go about giving orders to her guards

This will be the first time I ever give any kind of order as a Princess of Equestria, I have to be careful how I go about making it so I don’t make any kind of mistake that could get ponies hurt, she thought.

After a minute of thinking, she stood up with confidence with her head held high and gave her command.

“Commander, I want you to create a perimeter around the castle from 10th street. We can’t allow any ponies to get injured should this conflict escalate.” Twilight ordered.

Aegis Slash and his division saluted her before going off to complete their task.

“At once your highness. ALRIGHT COLTS, MOVE OUT!” he bellowed before flying off towards the city.

“All right girls, let’s get in there. Be ready for anything!” Twilight cried.

The other girls nodded and followed her past the drawbridge and into the castle.

They entered the main entrance of the castle and galloped at full speed towards the throne room. They could hear already loud crashing sounds and loud voices coming from the throne room further in.

“Where are all the guards?” asked Rainbow. “Shouldn’t they be here trying to protect the princesses or something?”

“The bunch of sissies probably got scared off!” Spike growled. "They are supposed to be the protectors of the princesses!”

“I fully intend to do something about that Spike as soon as we deal with whatever is here,” Twilight said.

Just as she said that they finally arrived at the throne room to a terrifying sight. Both the princesses were there sprawled across the floor as a strange creature was pointing his walking stick at them and the two of them began to glow brightly with a strange aura that gradually began to materialize and spin rapidly around the princesses. The aura emitted a whir that gradually grew louder and louder before it reached a crescendo.

Trying to reach Celestia, she tried to move towards her but found that she was being pushed back by the force of the energy.

“Celestia! Celestia!! CELESTIA!!!” she repeatedly cried.

Through the aura, Twilight could see the princess tilt her head towards her and she could see her mouthing something. But before Twilight could figure out what she was trying to say, both of them vanished without a trace.

The strange creature looked towards the girls with a wild grin and gave an overdramatic bow.

“How delightful, new guests. I hope you can entertain me better than those sorry lumps of royalty did.” the creature replied.

In another place, Celestia was about to wake up to a very unpleasant situation.

"Ooooh, what have we here?" a burly voice asked.

"Can we take some time to play with her boss if you know what I mean?" another rough voice chimed in.

"Take her inside, first let's bag that pretty jewelry of hers and add it to our haul. Don't worry boys, she'll fit in just fine. We'll have to fit into her first though to see how she is" the voice said with glee.

The other voices chuckled before dragging Celestia into a dark place.

Chapter 2: Whiterun (UPDATED: 12/10/18)

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Luna began to stir. She felt the comfort of a pillow beneath her head and the warmth of a heavy blanket over her body. She could hear beautiful music playing somewhere outside her room and she thought it was one of the castle musicians at first. For a moment, she thought that she was back at the castle and had drunk too much hay wine with Celestia during her evening studies. But as she opened her eyes, she was greeted once again by the sight of her new limbs. Her new appendage was curled up into loose fists only laying atop the other. Finding that her strength had returned, she slowly picked herself up from the soft, warm, mattress that she was now laying on. She discovered that she was wearing clothes now, albeit minimal they still contributed to helping her retain her warmth.

She took a cursory look at the room around her. There were no windows, and the decorations were somewhat minimal but still beautiful in a rustic sense. There were numerous display cases and barrels around the room, but she could not see what was contained inside. She ran her hands down her body, trying to make sense of exactly what she was. She found that her coat had not gone at all. Her night blue coat of fur had surprisingly remained with this strange new form she had acquired. It was still the same thickness and color it was before. She reached up to her head, feeling that her face was still the same for the most part as well. Her little muzzle and eyes were both still there too. Same size and length. Obviously, to her, they still worked just fine. She ran her hands through her mane and brought strands of it up to her eyes. She sighed in relief. Her long mane was still the same darker shade of night blue as well. The only thing it lacked was the glowing ethereal essence it carried to make it levitate whenever she was in the presence of her subjects. Several strands of blue hair had run down her face in front of her eyes. She went to inspect her head and to her relief, her horn had remained as well. The only difference being it was a few inches shorter. Luna thought she was going to feel helpless at first, but she was still the same pony just with new features.

With a somewhat scared look, she looked under the sheets, and to her dismay, her back legs weren't gone...entirely. They still had hooves, but they were much larger and her thighs were more pronounced. Her shins were more elongated too, connected by two new knees. The hocks she once had were now higher up. She had knees on her forehooves before which have turned into what her dragon friend referred to as elbows. It was incredibly strange to her feeling each of her back legs move around in two places as if they were broken in half and then reassembled. Her tail appeared to have remained on her body as well. It was tucked in between her legs as she was lying down in this odd position.

Her body structure had changed entirely, save for the face, back hooves, and cosmetic details. While looking down, she also noticed two fairly large mounds that had adorned her chest. She used her new appendages to touch them and to her surprise, they were also another new part of her. She moved them around with a firm grip finding them to be rather squishy and sensitive.

Before she could open up her new clothes to get a better look at them, the door at the other end of the room swung open, and in walked a very terrifying creature. From what she could immediately tell, the creature appeared to be female due to its body structure. Her eyes were a vibrant, almost glowing, red. Her skin was an eerie ash bluish-grey color. She wore a sort of hard armor that appeared to be made out of some kind of leather that was held together with hiding and metal rivets. On her hip was a short sword fastened to her belt, which Luna eyed warily.

“Good. You’re finally awake.” The pale grey-blue creature said in such a harsh tone that Luna couldn’t help but flinch slightly. The being in front of her moved with a calm yet stern stride to the edge of her bed. To the creature’s surprise, Luna had not backed up and cowered away, rather she tensed up in a manner as if she was about to jump into a fight and this gave the creature the urge to make an amused smirk.

“Not afraid of me are you?” She asked letting her hand rest on her sword. “What is your name? If your species is even capable of speech that is. ”

Luna was wary of the creature at first, but when it seemed to be cordial enough, if a bit stern and stand-offish she decided it might be polite to at the very least give her her name. So after thinking it over for a few seconds, she decided to answer. But surprisingly, she found that it was difficult to talk at first. Her throat had become very sore from the intense cold she was exposed to before, but she soon managed to speak as she coughed out.

“W-we are L-Lu-Luna. And you?”

The creature seemed to raise her eyebrow and then have a look of concern for about a split second before the hardened look returned.

“I am Irileth, housecarl to Jarl Balgruf of Whiterun, and to get it out of the way, I am not the savior that saved you from the giant camp.”

Luna loosened her demeanor up a bit and began to relax now that the tension had been somewhat broken down.

“I-It is a pleasure to m-meet thee I-Irileth…Whiterun? Is that thou’s country?” Luna coughed out.

“Country? You poor girl, your head is still quite frozen over too. No, Whiterun is a hold within Skyrim.”

With a face of surprise, Luna came to the stark realization that she was not in Equestria anymore.

“Skyrim?” she asked herself. Irileth kept watching her with an odd look for a few minutes watching her look down at her hands and twiddle her fingers before a solid knock on the door shook Irileth out of her gaze upon Luna.

“Enter,” she said firmly.

The wooden door swung open to reveal an elderly man with a short white beard adorned in armor. His face was one of sternness just like Irileth had. Except this man’s face carried a pearl of mysterious wisdom and strength. Luna gazed at her new visitor with uncertainty as he walked in.

“Honored Kodlak,” Irileth said as she bowed her head slightly in respect.

“Irileth, have you been treating our strange royal guest well?” the man said as he sat down in a chair next to Luna’s bed.

“Yes Kodlak, I have. She just woke up and I was assessing her to see if she was a threat,” Irileth replied.

Luna winced at Irileth’s comment and after Kodlak used the word royal, Luna remembered that she needed to make sure her necklace and crown were still with her. She patted her head and felt around her neck looking for her royal regalia and panicked when she found that they were no longer there. Kodlak’s stern expression turned into one of kindness as he chuckled a little bit when he saw this.

“Do not fret my child, your crown and necklace are over in that chest by the wall” he said kindly as he pointed to a simple wooden chest.

Luna relaxed a little bit as she put her arms back down by her sides.

“Thank you, kind sir, but may we ask who you are and where we are?” Luna said out of instinct while her voice was still raspy.

“We?” Irileth questioned.

The old man smiled at this. In his travels, he had known some members of the nobility to teach their families to speak of themselves in the third person as a habit and custom.

“I am Kodlak Whitemane. The harbinger of the Companions warrior guild. And you are currently inside of our guild hall Jorrvaskr.” Kodlak said.

Luna was taken off-guard by these unusual names at first, but remembering she had met diplomats of other races in the distant past before, so it was expected that different races would have different name structures.

“Now if you will permit me, may I ask who you are, your highness?”

Luna was taken aback by his correct assumption but was wary about revealing her name and identity to this "Kodlak" but she knew that she would need help if she were to get herself home.

“I am Princess Luna of Equestria kind sir.” Luna said as she spoke with a formal tone.

Kodlak smiled in a way as if he had confirmed his suspicions.

“Equestria?” Irileth questioned.

“A princess? This is quite surprising and quite a treat to have a foreign princess grace our guild hall. And I must admit I have never seen a race such as yours your highness, nor have I heard of this Equestria of yours. However, that is a matter that can be answered another time. You have business in Dragonsreach to attend to with her don’t you Irileth?” Kodlak said.

Irileth went over to a second chest by the wall and picked up a pair of clothes out of the chest and flung them at Luna.

“Put these on,” said Irileth. “The Jarl wanted to see you as soon as you were awake.”

Kodlak gave a sharp sigh of effort as he got up out of his chair.

“And I should be getting back to my duties. Farewell, for now, your highness, I have a feeling I will be seeing you and your savior again very soon,” he said cryptically to Luna as he bowed and left the room.

Luna inspected the garment a bit. It was a simple dress with earthy colors. The kind of garment she remembered her female subjects wore before she was banished. It wasn't fancy, but it was beautiful enough.

Luna slowly slipped her new lower appendages over the side of the bed before standing up. She wobbled a little bit but soon found her balance. She looked at Irileth and then back at the dress before slipping it on over her head. At first, she had a bit of trouble with getting it on, Irileth reluctantly had to step in for a moment to assist her with her dressing. She looked over to the chest and Irileth saw where she was looking and went over to the chest to get her regalia. Irileth picked the crown and necklace out of the chest and inspected them.

In a moment, the midnight black regalia was yanked out of Irileth’s grasp by an unseen force. Luna scanned them, making sure the Regalia that had been given to her by her mother was not damaged in any way. She sighed after seeing that her crown and necklace were still in perfect condition. She carefully strung her necklace around her neck and placed her crown back on top of her head finding that it still fit despite her changed head. Just then she heard the sound of sliding metal and looked up to see that Irileth had drawn her sword.

“You are a mage,” Irileth growled. Luna was startled by Irileth's act, not even registering the fact that she still retained her magic abilities which in any other situation would have made her overjoyed. Irileth examined Luna once more before putting away her blade.

“Forgive me. Years of service to the Jarl has made me…vigilant,” she admitted.

Irileth went over to the door and looked over her shoulder at Luna who had relaxed again.

“Follow me”

/--------/

After walking out of that guild hall that looked more like an overturned boat from the outside, she had been greeted to many strange sights. She saw a giant tree that had looked like it had been slowly dying over a long period of time. She looked down the street and was greeted by a familiar image on a sign. She ran down the street before Irileth noticed she was gone. Luna couldn’t stop staring at the sign that hung above the inn. It couldn’t be a coincidence. A rather crude and strange drawing of a pony etched into wood swung in the breeze. On top of the pony was a creature similar to Irileth, though somehow Luna could tell that the creature was a male. On the sign were the words: “The Bannered Mare.”

For a moment, Luna felt a small glimpse of hope. Were there perhaps other ponies here in this world? Maybe somepony could show her the way home. Before Luna could think about it too deeply, she felt a tug on her robes. She flinched as she turned to face an Irritated Irileth.

“Don’t wander off again. Come with me girl. The Jarl’s time is precious”

“My apologies Lady Irileth”, Luna said as she slightly bowed.

Luna followed Irileth obediently after watching Irileth give her an odd look for a moment at the designation she used, before walking back silently. Luna studious eyes wandering and taking in the sights trying to learn as much of the culture as she could. Her presence and appearance got her a fair share of stares from some of the people. By overhearing merchants' converse she was able to determine that the males in this world were called ‘man’ and that females were called ‘women.’ She also noticed that not everyone looked like Irileth. There were men and women of different skin colors and shades of mane. The men had body structures similar to that of minotaurs, while the women were much more slender and had the same mounds on their chests that now adorned Luna’s. She had played around with her chest again still unsure of the purpose the mounds served. It was a strange world she had found herself in.

“TRUST IN ME WHITERUN! TRUST IN HEIMSKR! FOR I AM THE CHOSEN OF TALOS! I ALONE HAVE BEEN ANOINTED BY THE NINTH TO SPREAD HIS HOLY WORD!”

Most strange indeed, she thought.

Far up past a long case of steps looming over a pool of water was a towering wooden structure standing high above the rest of the town. It had reminded her of a castle that belonged to an old Scandineighvian lord that once attempted to court her.

Luna tore her eyes away from the raving man, preaching in front of a large statue, and focused more on climbing the stone stairs in front of her. It surprised her how easy it was to walk on two legs. Sure, she stumbled at first, but after only a couple of steps, she felt like it was the most natural thing in the world.

By the time she reached the top, the words of the yellow-robed preacher had faded to a distant echo and she was faced with several guards and a massive door beyond a wide bridge overhanging a small moat that seemed to only cover the front part of the building. The guards seeing Luna began to murmur at her presence unsure of her. With a wave of the hand from Irileth, the guards opened the door and Luna was treated to the sight of a massive hall that further reminded her of her old acquaintance’s mead hall. This structure however was much more well kept.

Guards lined the walls on either sides of the entryways, and patrolled the balconies up above. There were tables lined with silverware and goblets, sitting around the center part of the room on either side of a fire pit that looked like it was prepared for a banquet. Luna looked past these long tables at the end of the room and saw a man sitting upon a wooden throne covered in intricate carvings. He was a middle-aged man with dirty blonde hair with some strands of grey showing through and a beard to match. His eyes were a piercing blue and he wore a sort of crown on his head with a simple jewel in it symbolizing his authority. His disposition was calm and collected, discussing with another man something that Luna could hear fairly clearly.

“Jarl Balgruf, it might be wise to reconsider sending our troops to Riverwood.”

“I already told you Proventus. I will not stand Idle and let dragons burn my villages and slaughter my people.”

“But Jarl Siddgeir and his Imperial supporters may see it as a sign of aggression, you know as well as I do that our forces cannot stand against his and the empire. And what if Ulfric’s forces attacked us while many of our men were gone?.”

“I am well aware of the state of our forces Proventus, but still…” The Jarl wasn’t able to finish his thought as he noticed Irileth being followed by Luna.

“Ah. Irileth, I see that our foreign guest has finally awakened.” Jarl Balgruf said maintaining his calm and commanding tone.

Luna bowed her head low, knowing full well how to show proper respect to other members of royalty. As she raised her head, out of the corner of her eye she could have sworn she saw Irileth smirk. If this Jarl Balgruf was grateful for this sign of respect he did not show it.

“What is your name?” Balgruf asked while keeping his voice neutral.

“I am Princess Luna of Equestria, Lord Balgruf”, Luna said respectfully.

“Equestria? I have never heard of such a place,” said Proventus.

Balgruf looked to Irileth who nodded at him.

“She isn’t lying my Jarl. Besides the obvious fact that she has the regalia of a royal, one doesn’t ignore the assessment of Kodlak Whitemane lightly.”

The Jarl nodded once and turned to Proventus who Luna had figured to be his steward.

“We will continue our previous discussion some other time Proventus.”

“Very well my Jarl. Shall I call for dinner to be served?”

“That would be best Proventus.” Jarl Balgruf then turned back to Luna, taking a moment to study her from head to toe.

“Come, let us sit and eat,” Balgruf said gesturing to the table. Irileth and the others were already seated, an extra chair had been placed at the opposite end of the table from where Balgruf was sitting.

“You are very lucky to be alive Princess. If that childish Nord man had not found you on his way back to the barrow, You would most likely be dead.” Jarl Balgruf paused allowing the gravity of what could have been to sink in. Luna nodded, not breaking eye contact with the Jarl. Jarl Balgruf gave the first genuine smile Luna had seen.

“Where is this Equestria that you are from Princess Luna?" he asked.

“Yes, I would like to know that as well” added Proventus curiously.

Luna thought about telling them at first, but she stopped herself.

I’m not entirely sure I can trust these people entirely yet, she thought. Even if I did, would they even believe that I am from another world? They would think I was mad if I uttered such words. I don’t believe these people would have a way to get me back home if I told them. I cannot let them on to the knowledge of Equestria until I can be sure I can trust them with it. No, I must find a way on my own to find Celestia and find a way to return home.

While having her little inner monologue, everyone was giving a raised eyebrow at Luna for staring at the table for a solid minute after not getting an answer at first.

“Princess? Princess?” Proventus questioned.

“Girl! Please answer the Jarl’s question!” Irileth snapped.

Luna snapped out of her inner monologue and came up with an intelligent lie.

“Forgive me Lord Balgruf. Equestria is a small isolated country in the middle of the ocean. My race is called Alicorn Pony.” Luna stated. "We are a peaceful race, known for our numerous advances in agriculture, yet we are very capable when war rears its unpleasant flank at us. My sister and I have ruled our nation without much incident. However, we are not certain as to how we arrived here in your land. One moment my sister and I were in our castle, the next I had woken up in that…..giant camp Lady Irileth mentioned.”

Balgruf and Irileth quickly smirked at her honorable, but rather an incorrect title usage that she had referred them to, but let it go.

“Your sister is here in Skyrim as well? Without so much as a guard? I certainly hope she is found soon.” Proventus consoled.

“Well, I can’t allow a princess of a newly discovered race to wander Skyrim with no knowledge of how to get home or some lead as to where her sister is. You are welcome to stay in one of Dragonsreach's bedrooms. But do not expect to be living freely. Unfortunately, since your royal status does not yet carry any weight here in Skyrim, you are to earn your keep the same as the other members of my court, understand?” Luna nodded vigorously, feeling grateful for the chance, but scared at her sudden realization at the same time.

If Luna had been caught up in that spell that Sheogorath cast, that means Celestia had to have gotten caught in it as well.

While thinking about this, she had involuntarily begun to grip and play with her large chest again, not noticing the awkward stares she was getting from the people around her.

To get her attention, Irileth faked a cough, which caused her to snap out of her thoughts.

“She is an impressive mage my Jarl” Irileth stated. Looking over Luna once again with an unsure look.

“She levitated her crown and necklace out of my grip without any noticeable strain and strung her necklace around her neck without using her hands. I am certain she would make a fine assistant to Farengar. Where is that pompous, egg-headed court magician of yours anyway my Jarl?”

Luna felt flattered by the praise but kept a neutral face.

Jarl Balgruf stroked his beard while thinking it over. “An excellent idea Irileth, and perhaps when that Nord man returns here, he could fill in details as to how he came to find you, Princess.

Irileth snorted. “If the childish fool hasn’t already been impaled or beheaded by the blades of the Draug’r. Or fallen victim to a booby trap. Or fall on to his own sword….Or stepped on a rock that rebounded back into his face”.

“You underestimate the young man Irileth. He is one of the few survivors from the attack on Helgen, and he volunteered to enter the barrows to retrieve the Dragonstone with nothing more than a beaten-up set of hide armor, a simple bow, and a single blade. Despite the man’s...numerous eccentricities, a man as resourceful and brave as he deserves some credit.” Irileth snorted and turned to sit at the banquet tables. Luna however sat completely still. She had completely forgotten about the giant cat that was about to devour her, and the second presence she felt just as she was about to lose consciousness. It suddenly dawned on her that the sliding of metal she heard was the drawing of a sword. If someone in an unknown world like this...Nord man who had never seen anything like her before had risked their lives to save her, perhaps she could trust them to help her after all.

A large man wearing a white outfit and a large hat that Luna assumed to be the head chef arrived with several servants carrying plates of fruits, vegetables, bread, and...meat.

As the chef and the servants set down the plates onto the tables, Luna’s stomach growled with delight. She had in fact eaten meat in the past, she was forced to be the one to eat it while dealing with the griffon kingdom on diplomatic missions, it had bothered her deeply in the past, even causing her to force down vomit to remain respectful to the Griffins, but she had eventually gotten used to eating it, as long as she didn’t think about where it came from too much. She levitated helpings of everything onto her plate and began eating heartily, not noticing people watching her.

Irileth had a look of surprise on her face. “I’m surprised one that is similar to the horse can stomach meat or even eat in the presence of our numerous trophies” Irileth stated as she pointed up to the wall with her thumb.

As Luna was still chewing, she looked up and her eyes widened in horror as she gazed upon severed deer heads mounted to plates on the walls. She wobbled a bit in her chair, with her eyes still wide, beginning to lose focus, before face-planting and falling unconscious into what was left of her food. For a moment no one in the room said or did anything as Luna's face and hair became smothered in food.

Balgruf then chuckled heartily.

“By the nine. She is going to be an interesting addition to our daily life.”

Meanwhile, in a dark place on the far eastern side of Skyrim, Celestia is about to wake to a much less pleasant predicament...

Chapter 3: Second Awakening (UPDATE:12/10/18)

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Celestia began to stir. The first sensation she felt was humidity. Like a hot, wet stickiness that one only felt near tropical environments. Her eyes slowly opened, finding that the uncomfortable weather didn’t faze her too much despite the fact it added to the aches her body was feeling. She was still really sore, so it was somewhat hard to move a lot. Her eyesight was still somewhat blurry, but she could still see most of what was around her. She tried to raise her hoof, but what she found instead caught her off guard.

Opening her eyes all the way, she saw that her hooves were no longer there. Something strange that she had not seen attached to her body in quite a long time. A pair of human hands. Except this time, instead of them being pale white and furless like Sheogorath and those beyond the mirror, she still had her snow white coat of fur. The first times she had visited the other world, it had not gone well and she panicked after seeing her other transformation, but now she had been somewhat used to this sort of thing.

Celestia saw that she was laying on some kind of rug in the middle of a very small chamber in a cave. She could faintly hear a few voices coming from various rough sounding people.

She had also noticed that her hands were bound with some kind of thick twine rope. She was too weak to move a lot at the moment or cast any magic, so she did the one thing she could do at the moment, assess her new appearance and her overall health. She moved her bound hands up to her face and noticed another surprising thing. She did not have her human face either. Her pony face had remained the same for the most part except for a slightly shortened horn. Her pink, blue, and teal shaded hair was draped around her head and over her shoulder and back in a frizzy mess. She looked down and noticed she was wearing a skimpy outfit of some kind. One she hadn't remembered putting on herself before waking up in this strange place. An ancient, skimpy outfit like the ones the long disbanded brothels of mares in Equestria once wore before Celestia and her sister ascended to the throne. It was a leather gown that revealed her left leg up to the thigh and healthy amount of her cleavage. Her breasts were quite large and bulged out of her outfit like watermelons.

What is that Earther term again? Oh yeah, I think I’m a D-cup, she humorously thought.

She looked behind her and saw that her long tail was also still attached to her. It draped down the back side of her lower leg and looked just as disheveled as her mane did. Her glorious white wings were still attached to her body as well. They unfortunately had not fared well during the transformation and would need extensive grooming and cleaning before she could try flying again. All in all, Celestia felt fine for the most part other than her new appearance, her drained state, and her apparent imprisonment. That wouldn’t last for long though as she slowly felt her magic returning to her. Not enough to cast any big spells, but enough to use her magic to levitate objects again. It would be at least another three days before she could cast any major spells again and a week longer to get back to her previous strength.

Celestia found herself able to finally sit up and get a better look at her surroundings. Looking at the stone cell around her, she could see that it might have been a cage for an animal at one point. With a layer of straw spread across the ground and the residual musk from an animal of some sort. The cage had been equipped with the simple hide bed mat that Celestia had woken up on and a simple wooden bucket in the corner that she could only guess was for.....doing her business. Then, she noticed that just outside the cell was a crudely built room with shelves, chests and tables that roughly resembled a study. Many books lined the shelves each with different colors and patterns. On a small wooden table with a simple wooden chair lay a small leather bag of what looked to be gold coins and a couple of small gemstones. Off to the left of the study, she could see a passageway that lead into a bigger chamber where she could hear growls from what she assumed to be some kind of dog and heard the voices once again a bit more clearly when she listened carefully.

Celestia could hear a muffled cry from what she believed to be a female voice of some sort.

“We’re you careful boss? Did the Stormcloaks spot you?”

“Of course I didn’t get spot you mental degenerate. Those Stormcloaks are far too busy watching for Imperials to deal with us. How do you think this operation survived so long?” the articulate voice replied.

“When’s the next fight Butcher? I want a chance to get at that sweet snow white piece of ass we found yesterday,” the gravelly voice replied.

“All in good time boys, the next fight will be tomorrow, plenty of time to gather a few of the other bandit groups from the area to join in our little bout.”

The voices seemed to disperse again before she heard a pair of clanging feet and the muffled female cry getting louder and louder before they were right outside of the study. Before she could be seen awake, Celestia quickly moved back to her position on the bed roll and faked sleeping by closing her eyes closed and breathed slowly. She could hear the jingling of keys and the continued cry of the female voice and then the rusty door of the cell opening.

Celestia then felt and heard the female presence being tossed over towards her before the rusty door of the cell once again closed.

“It would be a shame if you two died, because you two are going to help me kick off my new trafficking operation here. It’s going to be quite splendid. Especially with you pegacorn woman.” the articulate voice said gleefully towards Celestia. “It’s not everyday one gets to violate a member of royalty from an undiscovered race.”

The voice then chuckled before walking out of the study and off somewhere else.

Celestia opened her eyes to quickly scan her surroundings and then got up to see who belonged to the muffled voice.

It was a human girl, not much older than Cadence, but a little different those of the humans that Celestia knew from beyond the mirror. Celestia went over to her to take off the blindfold and made an attempt to calm her down.

“Its alright, they are gone,” Celestia said as she carefully pulled the gag out of the girl’s mouth.

“Wh-Where am I? Wh-Who are you?” the girl asked terrified.

“I’m not going to hurt you sweetheart, but I need to take off that blindfold. May I?” she asked politely.

The girl was reluctant but quickly nodded before Celestia untied the blindfold and took it off of the girl’s face to reveal her deep green eyes.

After gazing upon Celestia for the first time, the girl widened her eyes in surprise and utter facination.

“Who are you? What are you?” the girl asked.

Celestia lightly smiled at the girl to break the tension.

“My name is Celestia. My race is called Alicorn Pony.” she replied.

The girl began to show signs of calming down as she sat down against the wall. The same kind of courtesan gown that had been put on Celestia was also donned by the brown-haired girl draped loosely down the side of her right leg completely exposing bare skin up to her thigh. As she had no fur, she was appearing to be affected even more by the effects of the weather.

“Alicorn…..pony? Are you some kind of magical horse?” the girl asked as she wiped some tears from her face.

“For all intents and purposes” Celestia replied with a light smile.

The girl had a face of delight on, but Celestia could tell that it was somewhat forced. The poor girl had gone through something terrible recently. Those bandits did something horrible to her and Celestia intended to do something about it. Even though she had to find a way to escape and find Luna, she felt the sudden urge to comfort this girl in any way she could.

“My race has the qualities of the unicorn, the pegasus, and the Earth pony.” Celestia stated.

The girl looked at Celestia with wonder.

"Unicorns? and Pegasi? I thought those were only myths. And I didn't know that they stood on two feet. Or...hooves rather."

Celestia took a quick look at her legs and just as the girl noted, her hooves on her two remaining legs were still there.

The girl showed signs of relaxing and Celestia took the opportunity to find as much as she could about this girl and where she ended up after Sheogorath banished herself and Luna.

“May I ask your name miss?” Celestia asked kindly.

The girl seemed apprehensive, but she decided that Celestia seemed nice enough so it couldn’t hurt to tell her.

“........Its F-Friga. Friga S-Shatter-Shield.” the girl said.

“It’s nice to meet you Friga.” Celestia replied kindly attempting to calm her.. “Can you tell me exactly where I am Friga?”

Friga sat up straight against the stone wall of the cell seemed confused at her question, but decided to answer Celestia anyway.

“Um, we are in a cave? In a prison cell I’m not sure where though I think somewhere south of Windhelm,” Friga replied confused unsure how to answer Celestia.

Celestia thought that she wasn’t specific enough and Friga was confused by her too general question, but decided to ask about Windhelm

“Windhelm? Is that the name of the country?” Celestia asked interested.

Friga moved a few strands of her brown hair out of her face and looked even more confused by Celestia’s newest question.

“Country? No, don’t you know? Windhelm is one of the main cities in Skyrim in the hold of Eastmarch.” Friga replied.

“Skyrim?” Eastmarch? Celestia asked getting more confused by the second.

“That's right, the northern province of Skyrim on the continent of Tamriel.”

Celestia could come to an educated guess on what each of those terms meant. She knew she would have to escape the bandit cave if she were to find Luna and get back to Equestria. However, she also knew that she could not just escape and search for Luna without having some semblance of direction and more knowledge of where she was. She could easily get lost and it would take ages and ages for her to find Luna. It would certainly pass the time for her until she could recharge her magic and find a way for the both of them to escape the cave.

“Forgive me Friga, but I seem to be just a little bit lost. Can you tell me more about Skyrim, Windhelm, these holds, and Tamriel?” Celestia asked.

“Well, being raised in a well-off family, my family did require me learn the history and culture of Skyrim and Tamriel during a big part of my childhood, so I can share a little bit of what I know I suppose. Not much else to do for now until…..tomorrow I suppose” Friga replied calmly, seemingly resigned.

Celestia saw that she was afraid and attempted to cheer her up by having her talk about her homeland.

“So, what should I know about this Tamriel?” Celestia asked.

Friga seemed to momentarily break out of her depression as she went on to explain the history of Skyrim.

“Well, the history of Skyrim is long and winding, so I should probably try to condense it as much as possible. Tamriel is the name of the continent we are currently on. It is home to many, many races and the individual provinces that they are from. Let me start with the Nords……."

Luna awoke from her little fainting spell and found out that she had only been unconscious for a few minutes. She found herself face first lying in a loaf of bread and vegetables. She sat back up and removed any food that had stuck to her face when she fell into it. All of the guards around were laughing at her apparent overreaction to their hunting trophies. She quickly apologized to Jarl Balgruf for her disruption of their meal and went back to finishing her meal.

“May I ask, what in Oblivion that was about?” the bewildered Irileth asked.

“Forgive me Lady Irileth, my land-” Luna was about to say.

She stopped herself before accidentally revealing to them about her immortality that has kept herself alive for thousands of years. Irileth once again smirked at her incorrect usage of titles.

“Forgive me, I have heard of other….races having hunting trophies like thou’s and even read stories about hunting trophies being gathered by our ancient warriors a thousand years ago, but we have never seen one ourself.” Luna shyly admitted. "Our race chooses mostly to dine on vegetables, grains, eggs, sugary sweets, and the occasional fish to supplement our diet."

"...Then if I may ask, how are you able to eat meat?" Proventus asked interested.

Luna thought for a moment before thinking of another clever half-truth.

"My sister and I have gotten used to eating meat in the past, but it was only to appease a rather violent...tribe of people in our kingdom. Even then, I have tried not to think too much about how the meat was prepared. Celestia and I have grown quite fond of eating it now though, but we just like to do it in secret so we don't give our subjects the wrong idea. But from what my royal scholars have deduced, my ponies ARE capable of being omnivorous like my sister and I are, its just more of a personal choice kind of thing."

Everyone seemed to put two and two together and understood her seemingly overly dramatic fainting spell

Luna looked back down at her plate with a somber face and quietly finished eating.

In truth, Luna had seen trophies like the ones that Balgruf had. The ones she had seen however, were from a dark, ancient past that she had deeply wished would never rise back up again…

/-----/

After dinner, Balgruf instructed Proventus to show Luna to a guest room near his court wizard's study for her to sleep in whenever she wished to. When everyone else had gone to bed, he felt like staying on his throne for the time being to reflect on his day and take care of some extra work. In his hands was an unfurled scroll with the imperial seal etched into the parchment. The Jarl’s eyes darted through the letter, his expression growing more tired and annoyed, the further he read. As he finished reading, the Jarl rolled up the scroll and set it beside his throne. He leaned forward and removed his crown to massage his throbbing temples. He heard someone approach from the stairway, and remembering his old instincts, the Jarl made a reach for the steel axe at the side of his throne, but when he saw his court wizard descend the staircase, he relaxed.

“Oh, it’s only you Farengar. Is it not a bit late to be wandering the halls? You’re not performing any more of your unsavory experiments are you?” Balgruf questioned with a raised eyebrow.

The Jarl’s court wizard stifled a yawn, and shook his head. He walked over to one of the wood tables in the center of the room and poured himself some wine from a green bottle that was left on the table. The Jarl picked up the scroll and stuffed it in between his belt. Getting up from his throne, He walked lazily to the dining table and sat across from Farengar and then poured himself his own goblet of wine from the green bottle.

“How is our royal guest Farengar?”

“She came out of her room a few hours ago and asked to read in my study. I stepped out for an hour to give her a spot of privacy. I thought a walk around the castle might do me a little bit of good. In fact, I was just about to check back in on her.” Farengar replied taking a good long sip from his goblet.

Balgruf was about to take a sip from his own wine goblet when he paused.

“Check on her? Is she ill?”

Farengar shook his head and gestured to his room over to the right of the throne room. Jarl Balgruf looked past his court wizard and noticed a faint glow coming from the cracks in the door to Farengar’s study. The glow was a gentle blue, steadily flickering. His expression became curious, placing the empty wine goblet back down on the table.

“What do you make of her Farengar?”

The Court Wizard made eye contact with the Jarl, a slight smirk on his face.

“She is unlike any royal adept I have ever met. And her species seems to have abilities unlike anything I've ever seen.”

Jarl Balgruf stood up and moved towards the door.

"Let me see."

/----/

Luna was sitting on one of the chairs in the room, a thick red tome sitting in front of her. She read with the speed of an experienced reader, flipping page after page in only a matter of moments. She was tired, but full enough after having such a plentiful meal even after her little fainting spell from the Jarl’s trophies. It was her luck that she had formed herself into a proper omnivore earlier in life so she could be able to eat meat, or she would have surely regurgitated all of her dinner in front of the Jarl. And that would have been behavior unfitting of a princess. Reaching the final pages of the tome, she sighed and looked towards the pile of books sitting in front of her, prior events running through her mind.

After entering the court wizard’s study that night, Luna finally came face to face with Farengar, a fairly young man who was friendly enough to let her borrow all of the books that were on his shelf. At first he pelted her with so many questions that made him remind her of a certain lavender alicorn she knew. He seemed fascinated when Luna used her magic to grip the books off the upper shelves where she couldn’t reach and pile them on the table for research. It was quite the exact opposite reaction to what Irileth had done when she first saw her do it. He was excited watching her display and asked how much she knew about Alteration Magic. She was naturally clueless, but didn’t show it.

The way this world’s magic worked, was so foreign to her, and so familiar at the same time that she had to throw away a lot of what she knew and was forced to start from scratch. It irritated her, but she knew she would have to work hard at it.

Celestia was always more adept at learning new kinds of magic faster than I ever was, Luna thought sadly. She shook her head to cast her grim thoughts out of her head to help herself focus on her task.

She found out that magic could be used in this world through the hands just as easily as unicorns and alicorns used magic through their horns. She slammed the tome shut and made a stack of books out of the ones she was reading. She stood up slowly and raised her hands from her side. Even though she could use it, she found in this world that it was easier to use her telekinesis if she focused her magical energy through her hands as opposed to just her head. It was even easier if she thought of it as having three horns instead of just one. She focused her magic through her hands and the stack of books slowly levitated around her. She then carefully used her other hand to hold the stack in place and place each book back up on to the shelf where it belonged. Being satisfied with her progress, she went on to another group of books to continue her studies about this world.

She was so focused that she did not notice that she was being observed by the Jarl and his court wizard. Balgruf and Farengar had been watching her from the other room. After watching this latest display, Farengar looked at the Jarl, awaiting some sort of reaction. Soon, attention paid off as Balgruf stroked his beard and nodded his head.

“You are quite right, she is very capable, especially for a princess.”

Balgruf and Farengar quietly moved away from the door as to not disturb Luna’s studies. They waited before they were out of earshot. At least what they believed her hearing range to be.

“If she is truly capable, what is your council on sending her after that foolish Nord? He has been gone for quite some time. Perhaps he got himself stuck in a skeever trap” Farengar quipped.

Balgruf stopped and spun quickly, catching Farengar off guard.

“Are you mad Farengar? Capable as she might be, she is but an innocent child, one who has never known the sting of conflict or the harshness of war. You would send her into Bleak Falls Barrow?”

Farenger looked away, looking vaguely ashamed. The Jarl walked back up to his throne and sat on it looking down the empty hall in thought as Farengar stood by him not saying a word.

“Have faith, Farengar. The Nine work in such mysterious ways, and we are living in such strange times. I suppose it is destiny that the...eccentric Nord brought Luna to us. Perhaps it is the will of the nine that they crossed paths in such a way. If that truly is the case, nothing will stop that boy from returning to us.”

“If he doesn’t trip over his own arse first”

/-----/

The next day, Luna was put straight to work. She didn’t complain, after all they were giving her free sustenance and lodging in a new and possibly dangerous world she knew little about. She began the day assisting Farengar with organizing his research, a task she completed in record time much to the delight and bewilderment of Farengar. For almost the entire time Luna had been organizing his research and alchemic ingredients, Farengar had been sitting, mouth agape, still unable to resist marveling at Luna’s display of magical prowess.

“I have finished,” she said stoically, as she levitated the last books into place at the top of a shelf.

Farengar snapped out of his stupor and clapped his hands. He’s seen her magical capabilities before, but seeing his entire collection of books, maps and scrolls floating into the air at once and being placed one by one in their proper place surpassed even what he and the Jarl observed last night.

“Very good! Amazing! You make such advanced telekinesis look so easy”

Luna gave a small smile at the praise. She bowed her head slightly towards Farengar.

“Thank you Sir Farengar, you are very kind.”

Farengar smiled and took out a blank scroll out from underneath the table and set it on his desk. He also moved over to his newly reorganized bookshelf and pulled out a couple of small books. Curious, Luna moved next to him hoping to see what the two books were.

“Is that more of your research Sir Farengar?” She asked.

“Dragons.”

Luna only gave him her blank stoic stare, the same one she always gave Celestia when she wished to have modern Equestrian customs explained to her, as if expecting him to continue. She knew all about dragons, but they didn’t know what she knew. She had encountered many dragons plenty of times in her past, defeated them with her sister's help, even mated with one in the ancient past. But for now, she had to feign ignorance until she knew she could trust them. Farengar saw the expression on Luna’s face and closed the books.

“You mean you don’t know your highness?” Farengar asked.

Luna gave him a blank stare.

“Of course you wouldn’t know, the dragons most likely overlooked your land in ancient times. What was I thinking?”

Luna sat down on the chair across from him and allowed the wizard to explain himself. He adjusted himself on his chair obviously excited to discuss the topic. He started out explaining exactly what dragons were and their ancient origins. He went on to talking about the dragon attack on a city in the south of Skyrim called Helgen and how everyone thought that they were just a myth. It was his job to find out as much as he could about the subject, and discover a way to defeat them. Luna wondered why his explanation sounded familiar. All of a sudden she stood up in realization, causing Farengar to jump a little in surprise. Luna retrieved a black book with the silver etching of a dragon from her room that had been nearly identical to the one she had attempted to read back in Equestria.

“May I ask what this book is Sir Farengar? We believe that, we have seen it somewhere else before.” Luna asked.

Farengar gave a small smile before gently accepting the book from Luna and opening its front cover. He looked only for a split second before closing it and handing it back to Luna.

“That is The Book of the Dragonborn” asked Luna still holding the black time in front of Farengar.

“Dragonborn. Tis that another piece of thou’s folklore?” Luna asked. Before he could reply, there was a sharp knock on the frame of the passageway leading into the main part of Farengar’s study. They turned to find Irileth standing in the passageway. Her crimson eyes quickly fell on to Luna.

“Are you done with her Farengar?”

Farengar stumbled a bit with his response, but eventually settled with a quiet “yes.”

“Good. Princess, how comfortable are you lifting heavy loads?”

Luna looked at Irileth confused before looking down at her slender hands and back up to Irileth, with a confident smile.

“We have been trained to lift a lot of weight with our arms. Who needs our assistance?”

Irileth lightly chuckled before rolling her eyes.

“With your magic I mean.”

Luna stood up looking as eager to help as possible.

“We shall lift any weight you pass on to us to assist in thou’s daily task” Luna replied confidently

Irileth put her arms on her hips and considered Luna again.

“One hundred Leather Armors and Iron Daggers.”

Luna’s smile went away and was replaced with a look of confusion.

Meanwhile, just outside the city. Someone who would affect Luna's life in more ways than one was about to make her acquaintance.....

"Oh hey, its that White city again. Almost forgot I needed to come back here. I think I was supposed to do something important here? Something I was supposed to say to the....Jarl I think it was? Something about a matter of life and death? I also think I left that blue horsey lady here too? Ooh lookie! mudcrabs!"

Chapter 4: An Unusual Hero (LATEST EDIT: 12/10/18)

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Princess Luna pushed herself to her limit. For her though, it was necessary. She wanted to test herself to see if her physical strength was still the same. Luna didn’t want to use magic immediately. She felt that this was a good opportunity to use her arms and magic to carry both of these heavy crates at the same time. The crate in her magic was still holding steady. She found that she could carry the crate in her arms filled with the daggers easily for a short distance, but after several feet she would have to set the crates down. Walking down the stone steps leading up to Dragonsreach carrying a heavy load was proving to be difficult.

It seems that I still need to regain my physical strength that I lost during my...banishment, she thought as she was struggling to walk.

As she was getting further down the steps, a guard was walking up in her direction towards Dragonsreach. Luna suddenly found her arms strength was beginning to leave her. As the large wooden crate slipped out of her arms, she reacted quickly and caught the crate with her magic before it smashed into the guard's face.

“Woah, Woah, Woah! Watch the magic!” A guard exclaimed, jumping out of the way just in time before Luna could drop the undoubtedly heavy create on his foot by accident. Luna apologized profusely, but the guard simply stormed off grumbling something about the “damn mages of Winterhold.” Luna wondered about what he had said, and decided to put it in the back of her mind for now.

She had to carry the crates in her magic’s grasp for the last stretch of stairs. Luna nearly slipped and fell in to the pool at the bottom, but she held her footing long enough to reach the bottom of the stairs. Luna made her way down towards the market to deliver her goods. There were many merchant booths out and set up today, perfect for citizens browsing the merchant’s wares or travelers passing through in need of supplies. Luna looked around at each of the merchants and each of them looked like they were selling different things. A couple of citizens browsing the vendors began to stare at Luna but quickly went back to their work. Luna looked around to a couple of the wooden vendor booths and settled on going towards one of the guards in front of one of the stores to get their help with the matter.

“Excuse me good sir, do thou know where I should put these...armors and….daggers? The Jarl wished of me to pass these spare armors out to the merchants.” Luna asked.

The guard looked at her warily for a moment as he eyed her glowing horn, but decided to answer her question.

“Over to Belethor’s first,” the guard said pointing over to the door behind him with his thumb. “Then pass the rest out to the merchants out here.”

Luna looked up to the sign on the building for a moment and saw a emblem and the name of the shop: Belethor’s General Goods. She went over to the door with the crates in her magical grasp while the guard moved out of the way as to not get accidentally hit by the crates. He cleared his throat to get Luna’s attention, and sure enough, she turns around and looks at the guard expectantly waiting for him to say something.

“Just make sure you don’t get caught up in one of his little haggles. He carries good stock, but he occasionally gets the urge to scam his customers and create situations WE have to sort out,” the guard cautioned.

Luna then bowed slightly for a moment, thanking the guard and turned back around to open the door into the store. Inside, she found a simple setup for a store, a small table in the middle of the floor with two candlesticks, a bowl, and a vase, presumably for decoration. To the left was the rest of the shop which looked more like someone’s home rather than a store. Behind the counter was a fair skinned man with brown hair on his head that Luna assumed was Belethor. When she came in, his eyes widened with delight.

“Oh, so you must be the strange new horse princess everyone is talking about,” Belethor said cheerfully.

“I am Luna good sir, I assume you are Belethor?” Luna asked as she shifted from using magic on both crates back to just one and carrying the other.

“At your service, If there’s anything you want to buy in my shop, feel free to. Everything’s for sale, my friend. Everything. If I had a sister, I’d sell her in a second!” Belethor replied.

Luna clenched her teeth beneath her lips in anger at his statement, but remembered her mission for the Jarl and decided to put her anger aside for the time being.

“....No...thank you...Belethor. I actually have something to give you.” Luna replied hesitantly, but stoically.

Belethor’s eyebrow raised as Luna set down the crates and took out ten of the armors and ten of the iron daggers.

“The Jarl wished for me to pass out the surplus of armor and daggers from the city guard to the merchants.” Luna said.

The man put on a big grin as she levitated the armors and daggers from each crate on to the counter.

“Much appreciated, Miss. Much appreciated indeed. Give the Jarl my very best regards.” Belethor thanked. "If you ever wish to buy something in Whiterun, don't hesitate to come here first your highness."

She nodded and then picked the armor crate and the dagger crates back up with her magic and began to walk back towards the door.

“Do come back.” Belethor said in a sultry voice.

Luna stopped for a second and turned around for a second to give Belethor an irritated look before going back out the door. Belethor looked at the merchandise before him and put on a wide grin.

“Come back indeed”.

Back outside, Luna looked for the first vendor she could pass out the armor and daggers to. In front of the tavern that Luna recognized as The Bannered Mare was a small booth with various trinkets on it being hosted by an older woman wearing a simple dress. She picked up the crate and slowly walked past the column where the guard that helped her was still posted. The guard looked her way and nodded his head in acknowledgement to her. She bowed her head slightly and continued on to the booth hosted by the older woman. As she approached the booth, many people walking into the marketplace stopped to stare at Luna for a few moments before going about their daily business whispering to each other, presumably about her.

Luna approached the booth and the old lady behind the counter looked surprised at Luna for a second before putting a smile back on to her face.

“Hello there. You must be the foreign princess that the city guard is talking about.” the woman said kindly.

“Greetings miss, I am Princess Luna of Canterlot.” Luna said respectfully as she regains her grip on the dagger crate.

“It is a pleasure to meet you princess, I am Fralia Gray-Mane of the House of Gray-Mane.” Fralia said as she curtsied to Luna. “If I may ask your highness, why are you carrying those heavy crates? Do you need assistance?”

Luna smiled and the placed the crates down in front of her booth.

No thank you, Lady Fralia. We simply wished to ask if thou need extra stock.” Luna said as she bowed. “....Jarl Balgruf wished for me to pass out this...leftover surplus from the town guard to the merchants down here.”

Fralia smile turned into a frown for a moment, before letting out a sigh.

“Balgruf is having such a sweet princess such as yourself slave away and do work that guards or servants should do?”

Luna smiled in reply to Fralia’s concern. “Tis quite alright, my sister and I have had to do manual labor often in the past while ruling our kingdom. I am quite used to it by now. I even enjoy hard work” She replied. “Now then, do you require any extra stock Lady Fralia?”

Fralia smiled at Luna’s eagerness and dedication to her work.

“I’m afraid I don’t have any use for armor or daggers at my booth dearie, but I suppose I could take a few of those armors. I could have my sons take them apart for me and cut them up so I can turn them into bands and bracelets for my jewelry.” she said thoughtfully.

Luna smiled as she took ten more of the flattened leather armors and placed each of them on the counter of the booth. Each cuirass was stacked neatly on top of each other making it a well organized display for any potential citizen or traveler who wished to purchase something from her booth. Luna bent over, picked the two crates back up, began to turn around and move off. However, before she could say farewell and move off to the next booth however, Fralia raised her hand and called for her once again.

“My deepest apologies your highness, but may I humbly ask for your assistance? I’m afraid my body isn’t as spry as it used to be and I am having some difficulty moving these leather armors into my booth’s pantry for later.” Fralia asked.

She walked back towards Fralia’s booth and set down her crates in front of it. Walking around to the backside of the booth, she noticed two small sliding doors built into the back of the booth, presumably for extra storage for product.

“Just open the pantry and place the leather armors back behind the jewelry, If it isn’t too much trouble,” Fralia instructed politely.

Luna nodded and picked up the large stack of leather armors and knelt over to set them down on the ground and open the pantry. Once the pantry was open, she saw a couple of jewelry cases lined up in front, presumably for customers who had made an order with her previously. She carefully moved aside the boxes and began to slowly slip each cuirass into the pantry without breaking anything. She found that the pantry was surprisingly spacious and she would have to stick half her body in to reach the backside.

“Excuse me dearie, I have to leave the booth for a few minutes to talk to my sons. Watch my booth while I’m gone won’t you?” Fralia asked before walking away..

Just a few hundred feet away, a pair of brown eyes that had probing every inch of Whiterun’s Plains District had fallen on Luna’s tail and flank that had been hanging out of the side of Fralia’s booth.

“Ooh! What’s that behind that booth? It looks like a pony! Why is it wearing a dress though? Maybe I can ride it around Whiterun and then up that mountain!” the voice said excitedly. The voice ran over to the booth was and jumped over it hoping to land on a rideable animal, but got an answer in the form of a high pitched feminine shriek.

Out of the blue, Luna felt a massive amount of weight slam down on to her back which made her shriek and react by pushing up forcefully against the floor of the booth in an attempt to knock off whoever had jumped on to her back. She heard a loud thud and then someone groaning off to the side of the side, but then found herself bashing her head into the roof of the pantry and then again with her face on the floor of the booth with another audible thud.

That was definitely going to leave a mark...

She felt the weight off of her back, but relief was immediately replaced with searing anger.

Muttering angrily about the dark things she was going to do to whoever jumped on her, she slowly pushed herself out of the booth and back into the sunlight.

Looking off to the right where she heard the groan, she saw a fairly large man in iron armor holding his face and rolling back and forth in pain. His long blonde hair was messed up and grimy, spread out across the spot he was laying.

“ARE THOU THE LUNATIC THAT JUMPED ON OUR SISTER DAMN BACK?” Luna screamed at the man in her Royal Canterlot voice.

“What the-?” the man closed his eyes and placed them over his ears from the pain caused by the explosive voice he just heard. After a minute of allowing his ears to recover, he slowly took his hands off of his face to see two big sapphire blue eyes looking angrily back at him. Looking up and down, the screaming woman that belonged to the big blue eyes was suddenly very familiar to him.

“Well hi there! I didn’t expect you to be here horse lady! What are you up to today? Did you recover alright?” the bubbly man asked gleefully.

Luna’s irritation grew even further at this man’s uncaring attitude and seemingly insane personality as a vein could be seen forming on her head.

“What the Tartarus are you talking about?!” Luna questioned loudly.

Getting a better look at the man, Luna could see he was wearing a simple set of studded armor with an engraved plate of iron covering his chest and a simple pair of leather gloves covering his hands. The armor was sparse around his arms and torso area exposing his generously muscular arms and broad chest quite a bit. Leather straps covered in bolts and rivets wrapped around his torso to keep the steel plate on his chest in place. A leather tunic with strips covered in hundreds of iron studs covered his legs for free range of movement. From his studded leather belt hung a sword that looked very ancient and not well kept. Its handle was rotting away and its scabbard was tarnished. There appeared to be intricate carvings acting as the fuller along the length of the blade. The edge however looked sharp as it had first been when it was first forged. His horned helmet obscured most of his face except his mouth and his eyes which were an icy blue.

“Oh, it’s only you princess, I had thought you were in some kind of trouble from that dreadful sound you made. I heard you all the way from my house!”

Luna looked up slightly and saw that Fralia had returned.

“My apologies Lady Fralia, I almost finished stacking the leather armors, but this brigand halted my progress” she said as she glared at the man getting back up on his feet.

“Oh! Its good to see you again young man! Princess, this is the young man who brought you into town two days ago and saved you from the Sleeping Tree Camp not far from here!” Fralia happily exclaimed.

Luna looked at Fralia with surprise and then looked back at the man with a stoic face.

The man stared back at Luna with a sheepish smile.

“Sorry about that horse woman, I didn’t know it was you!”

She was still irritated, but decided to put it aside for the time being...

“...Tis alright sir. I suppose I should say thank you, for saving me we mean. If you are indeed the one who saved me from that….giant camp people are telling me about,” Luna replied.

“Eh, don’t worry about it. You looked like you needed a bit of help. There was also a big kitty cat there that was tryin to eat ya.”

“Regardless, I would have been dead had it not been for you. Thank you. I am eternally in your debt. What is your-”

“Hold that thought horse lady, I have something I need to bring to the….Yeeearrrl” he said incorrectly as he was patting all around his body for something.

“Aha! Glad this didn’t break!” he cried as he pulled out a giant stone tablet out of thin air from behind him, much to Luna’s confusion.

“What is that if I may ask?”

“Its some kind of stone that wizard Furrygar and Ball of Gruff asked me to get from that zombie tomb back near Riverwood!” the man exclaimed.

“...Uhhh, doesn’t thou...mean...Sir Farengar and Jarl Balgruf?” Luna asked awkwardly.

“THAT TOO! I wonder how much they’ll give me for getting this?”

The man looked at the tablet and reached behind his back where the tablet seemingly disappeared once more into thin air. Luna’s confusion doubled.

“Anywho, I think I need to get going, I gotta get to Dragonsreach and deliver this to that wizard guy that didn’t seem to like me very much. He’ll probably pay me good for this though! Maybe I can jump off of the stairs and into that swimming pool at the bottom afterwards!”

He started walking slowly away towards Dragonsreach for an unknown reason, dragging his feet with each step.

“Thank you again! We wish that we will see you again soon” as he walked off ever so slowly towards Dragonsreach.

Luna was stunned for a few moments trying to process her exchange with the bizarre man before she turned her attention back to her work as she straightened up the armors in Fralia’s booth and finished up before moving on to the next booth. Luna made an acquaintance with another younger merchant named Ysolda who wasn’t surprised with her appearance, but rather enraptured. She asked her so many questions about where she came from and what was the primary item of trade in her country. Luna kept it vague enough, but gave enough at the same time to sate her curiosity. Apparently she had been in Whiterun for years studying under the other merchants there. She reveals to Luna that she would like very much to become a master trader with the Khajiit caravans.

After an hour of meeting with the local merchants and organizing extra stock for them, Luna picked the empty crates back up and made her way back up to Dragonsreach to tell the Jarl that she had completed her task.

Perhaps I can ask Jarl Balgruf if there is anything he can do to assist me in finding Celestia, she thought. She first had to pick up the crate of leftover daggers and bring it back to the Jarl. Not many of the merchants had any use for daggers except for the man at the shop near the entrance to the city called the Warmaiden’s.

After a bit of walking, she finally made it back up to the tall doors of Dragonsreach at the top of Whiterun and the guards opened them freely this time, presumably being notified of Luna’s presence in Whiterun and her new residency in the palace. When they opened, the strange man was in the main hallway, still slowly walking towards the Jarl across the red carpet that adorned the entrance.

“Good sir?”

The man turned around to see Luna and put a big smile on his face.

“Oh hi again horse lady! What are you up to here at the castle?” he asked cheerfully.

“...Have you been walking to Sir Farengar’s study this whole time?”

“Uh-huh!” he said nodding.

“How?? Why??”

“Oh! I probably got too many goodies along the way that ended up slowing me down, wonder if I should drop anything?” he said as he took a purple flower out of his pocket and dropped it on the floor, his walking speed suddenly turned back to normal.

“What?”

“There we go, that was weird, I couldn’t walk very fast at all,” he said.

“What??” Luna repeated.

Her head was starting to hurt and this seemingly insane man was starting to act more and more like a familiar subject of hers.

“Bye again horse lady, I’ve got things to do, places to see!” the man said before walking down the hallway to Farengar’s lab.

“Wait!”

Luna ran after him to inquire about where she was found. Maybe there was some slight chance that she could find Celestia near there.

While chasing the strange man going towards Farengar’s lab, she could see a hooded stranger wearing leather armor looking over scrolls opened up on his desk. Farengar was off to the side speaking with her while this person was doing so. The man stopped in the doorway of Farengar’s lab to presumably to allow the stranger and Farengar to conclude their business. Then Luna saw him turn his head toward the map and fool around with the pins marking each location. Luna could finally hear what Farengar and the stranger were discussing as she caught up with the man with the horned helmet and thought about speaking to him further, but stopped as to not disturb Farengar.

“You see? The terminology is clearly First Era or even older. I’m convinced that this is a copy of a much older text. Perhaps just after the Dragon War. If so, I can use the names with the other later texts.” Farengar stated.

“Good. I’m glad you’re making progress. My employers are anxious to have some tangible answers.” the figure finally said. The voice that came from it was confirmed to be female.

“Oh have no fear. The Jarl himself has finally taken an interest thanks to two new guests at the palace, so I’m now able to devote most of my time to this research” he replied.

“Time is running, Farengar don’t forget. This isn’t some theoretical question. Dragons have come back” the woman said impatiently.

“Yes, yes, don’t worry. Although the chance to see a living dragon up close would be tremendously valuable…Now, let me show you something else I found...very intriguing..I think your employers may be interested as well.” Farengar said as he was trying to read through an old tome, but looked up to notice Luna and the man with the horned helmet standing in his doorway.

“Hmm? Ah yes! The Jarl’s protege and Luna as well! Back from Bleak Falls Barrow are you? It is...pleasant that you didn’t die." Farengar acknowledged reluctantly. It was clear to Luna that Farengar definitely had his own strong opinions on this man, but decided to keep them to himself.

“Hiya Flurry jar! I got that stone tablet thingy you wanted me to get. I didn’t expect having a zombie swing an icy axe at me though. It WAS a lot of fun!” the man said madly as he took out said stone tablet out of thin air from behind, to which Luna couldn’t wrap her mind around as she watched him. Farengar was taken aback by the man’s bubbly personality, but decided to let it slide.

“Ah! The Dragonstone of Bleak Falls Barrow! Seems you truly are a cut above the usual brutes that the Jarl sends my way."

“Thanks! Uhhh, do I get some kind of reward or something for getting this thingy to you?”

“Hmmm, you’ll have to see the Jarl about that. Maybe his steward Avenicci. I’m sure one of them will pay you appropriately. And I’m sure the Jarl will want to hear of the completion of your work if you are done with it Princess.” Farengar replied.

Luna jerked her head over towards Farengar and gave a slight bow.

“Oh! Of course Sir Farengar, I shall get to that right away.” she said before turning to go speak to the Jarl.

The hooded woman's eyes seemed to widen as they fell upon Luna.

“My...associate here will be pleased to see your handiwork. She discovered its location, by means she has so far declined to share with me.” Farengar then turned to the hooded woman in leather armor. “So your information was correct after all. And we have our friend here to thank for recovering it for us.”

The woman had a look of surprise on her face under her hood when she looked at the man with the horned helmet.

“You went into Bleak Falls Barrow and got that? Nice work. Just send me a copy Farengar when you’ve deciphered it-”

“Farengar!” Irileth bellowed as she entered Farengar’s lab. “Farengar, you need to come at once. A dragon’s been sighted nearby. You should come too child man.”

“Ooh! Thanks Eerie Glyph! Fighting a dragon sounds like fun!” the man exclaimed.

“A dragon? How exciting! Where was it seen? What was it doing?” Farengar exclaimed.

“I’d take this a bit more seriously if I were you. If a dragon decides to attack Whiterun, I don’t know what there is we can do to stop it.” Irileth snapped.

Hearing her voice from across the hall while she was looking for the Jarl, naturally Luna was startled at her news.

So dragons inhabit this world as well. If they are anything like the ones from my own, perhaps I can assist the Jarl in disposing of this one before it brings harm to the people here, Luna thought.

“Lady Irileth! What is going on? Is Whiterun in danger?” Luna cried as she ran towards the dark elf in question.

“There has been a dragon sighted along the Southern stretch of mountains circling around to the west of the hold. We shall confront it and attempt to stop its advance upon the city.”

The three of them including the man with the horned helmet were walking up a stairway past the throne. Luna followed suit behind to see what else was happening. A guard who looked exhausted was running up past the stairs with Irileth, and at the top was a big room one floor up from the throne room that looked as if it was for military strategy with one map set up on a table and another set up on a standing board. and Jarl Balgruf was there waiting. The exhausted guard ran up to the Jarl and bowed.

“So, Irileth tells me you came from the Western Watchtower?” Balgruf asked patiently.

The guard was out of breath, but managed to weaze out an answer.

“Yes, my lord.”

Irileth interjected to help the guard.

“Tell him what you told me. About the dragon.”

“Y-yes...Of course. We saw it coming from the south. It was fast...faster than anything I’ve ever seen.

“What did it do? was it attacking the watchtower?” Balgruf asked concerned.

“No, my lord. It was just circling overhead when I left. I never ran so fast in my life… I thought it would come after me for sure.”

The jarl put on a light smile showing compassion for one of his men. He walked up to the guard and reassuringly placed his hand on his shoulder.

Luna suddenly saw how kind of a ruler Balgruf was from how much he seemed to care about his own guards just as much he cared about his own subjects. She couldn’t help but make a mental comparison to how Celestia cared for her own guards as well.

“Good work, son. We’ll take it from here. Head down to the barracks for some food and rest. You’ve earned it.”

“Irileth, you’d better gather some guardsmen and get down there” Balgruf said as he turned to Irileth.

“I’ve already ordered my men to muster near the main gate,” she replied.

“Good, don’t fail me.”

Balgruf then turned to the man in the horned helmet who gave a big smile.

“There’s no time to stand on ceremony my friend. I need your help again. I want you to go with Irileth and go fight this dragon. You survived Helgen, so you have more experience with dragons than anyone else he-”

“CAN LOONY COME WITH ME?”

“What?”

"Can Loony or Luna or whatever come with me?"

Luna stepped forward from behind the small group of people to speak her mind.

“Y-Yes, as the man asked before I could, may we assist thee in dispatching the dragon Lord Balgruf?” Luna asked stoicly.

“What? Absolutely not! Do you even have any combat experience? From what you have told us Princess you haven’t had any experience except for a few small bandit-” Irileth started as the Jarl held up his hand and stepped forward towards her and looked at Luna with a hardened gaze deep into her eyes for a solid minute as if he was looking into her heart.

He then gave a deep sigh and put on a smile.

“Very well...Go with him.” the Jarl said as he motioned to the man with the horned helmet.

“What? You can’t be serious-”

“I have made my decision Irileth." He looked at Luna again with an unreadable look before speaking again. “You at least know how to use a sword don’t you?” he interjected and then asked Luna.
“Yes Lord Balgruf, we are second to none except our own sister in our entire kingdom.” Luna confidently replied.

“Good. Also, I haven’t forgotten the service you did for us in retrieving the Dragonstone for Faren-” the Jarl stopped as the horned helmet man didn’t seem to be paying attention as he was playing with the various flags on the war map.

Irritated at his foolishness, Luna walked up behind him with a scowl and pulled him away from the map by his ear and back to the Jarl.

“Owie, owie, owie!”

“Will thou please wait until the Jarl is finished?” Luna asked irritated.

“Fine” he replied slightly annoyed as he folded his arms.

“Ahem, yes. As I was saying, we haven’t forgotten your help in retrieving the Dragonstone for Farengar and helping many of my subjects in the hold. So as a token of my esteem, I have instructed Avenicci that you are now an official citizen of my hold and are permitted to purchase property in the city.”

“Ooh! I’ve always wanted to decorate a house!” the man exclaimed.

“And please accept this gift from my personal armory.” The Jarl said as he presented the man with a pair of polished steel gauntlets.

If Luna had not been trained to sense and spot enchanted objects, she would not have noticed the faint red aura that seemed to surround the gauntlets as the man slipped off his previous gauntlets and slipped the new ones on.

“I do love new armor! Especially armor that glows red!” the man said which catches Luna off guard.

Can he see the aura too? Luna thought.

“Another thing, you can’t go and fight something as dangerous as a dragon without some kind of protection Luna. Irileth, take her to Warmaiden before you exit the city. Have Ulfberth there set Luna up with the finest set of armor he has that she can wear and a decent weapon to use against the dragon should she need it.” the Jarl stated as he grabbed a fairly large sack of coins out of his pocket and threw them to Irileth who caught it with ease.

“Yes my lord, it shall be done.”

“I should come along. I would very much like to see this dragon,” Farengar insisted.

“Absolutely not. I can’t risk all three of you. I need you here working on ways to defend the city against these dragons.” Balgruf replied.

“Very well my Jarl.”

“One last thing, Irileth. This isn’t a death or glory mission, I need to know what we are dealing with. That goes for you as well Luna, as long as you are in my hold and under my protection. Do not take any risks you do not think you can handle.” Balgruf warned.

“Don’t worry milord, I am the very soul of caution. I shall defend Princess Luna with my life, I expect you to do the same child man.”

The man’s eyes widened with delight at hearing this new news about his new friend.

“Oh sure, I’ll do my best!” he replied.

“Come Luna and child man, we must go do our duty.” Irileth urged.

“Oh how I envy you the chance to see this dragon up close Princess!” Farengar exclaimed.

As Balgruf watched the three of them descend the stairs, only one thought entered his mind.

Nine Divines of Nirn, please watch over my new friend. Bring her back to me safely.

Luna and the man with the horned helmet followed Irileth down the steps, across the long hall of Dragonsreach, and out the enormous carved doors that made up the entrance to Dragonsreach. Outside, the sky was dulled gray and white, swirling with storm clouds as a light drizzle was already falling. Luna, Irileth, and the man slowly began their descent down the stone steps.

“A princess huh? Why didn’t you tell me before?” the man asked.

“Our...title twasn’t important. It carries no real weight here.” Luna replied sheepishly.

The man looked over the edge of the stairway down at the pool at the bottom with a large mischievous smile looking as if he was about to do something, but decided to put it aside for the time being.

“So, what is thou’s name? It would be pleasant if I knew the name of my savior.” Luna asked respectfully.

“Yes, I wouldn’t mind knowing myself as well. I don’t care for the idea of calling you child man forever.” Irileth added.

“My name? I’m...not entirely sure to be honest. My real name anyway. I do have a name I have been given by my adopted parents.”

“Thou were adopted?”

“Yeah, I have a name that might be foreign to you guys or somethin, I don’t know the specifics. My new Ma and Pop are nice enough people. They’re Khajiit traders funny enough They rescued me as a baby from my old dad who was about to throw me off a cliff while he was drunk and gave me a new name in place of my old one. I’m K’yell now.”

Luna was horrified hearing him talk about such a tragic past so casually, but gave a smile, finally glad to hear of her new friend’s name.

“Tis good to officially meet you K’yell. And if it isn’t overstepping my bounds, what was thou’s original name?”

“Ehh, I don’t think you want to know.”

“Why not?”

“Its…not pleasant. My old pa was drunk 99% of the time”

“Oh, just spit it out man.” Irileth insisted as the continued their slow descent down towards the entrance of the city.

“Its...Toggaf Limp-Rod.” the man reluctantly admitted.

Luna and Irileth stopped as their confusion overidded their movement for the moment, but after a few seconds, the gears in their heads turned and began to giggle before weezing with laughter for a solid minute. All the while the man looked slightly annoyed.

Luna and Irileth got back up after a minute had passed and regained their composure. They politely coughed into their hands before continuing on towards Warmaiden near the front gates of the city. When they made it to the front gates, a group of guards covered in various types of armor were waiting there for them. One guard not wearing a helmet stood in front of the small group of guards.

“Commander Caius! Where are the rest of the guards we requested?” Irileth snapped at the balding guard.

“Forgive me housecarl, only a few of my men here were at the barracks down here at the time the alarm was sound. The rest of my men are suiting up and making their way down here as we speak,” Caius replied.

“These fools are going to get this city destroyed one of these days.” Irileth lamented as she rubbed the bridge of her nose.

“We might as well quickly head into Warmaiden and get you into some armor Princess before running headlong into battle to pass some time before the rest of the guard arrive.

“Thank you Irileth” Luna replied.

“Don’t thank me yet, you still need some protection.”

The three of them walked up to a beautiful tan-skinned woman with brown hair working on a grinding stone with a simple steel sword. She seemed to be so focused on her work that she didn’t notice the three of them approach.

“Adrienne, we need some assistance,” Irileth said loudly to get the woman’s attention.

The woman stopped her working and looked up. Her eyes widened slightly and she smiled warmly.

“Greetings Irileth, what brings you here?” Adrienne asked.

“Now isn’t the time for pleasantries my friend. We have a crisis on our hands and I need a suit of your best armor for my companion here” Irileth said motioning to Luna.

Adrienne’s eyes widened with delight as they fell upon Luna’s form.

“Oh, you must be the foreign princess everyone is talking about!” Adrienne exclaimed.

“Yes, I am Princess Luna. I apologize if I have disturbed your work in any way.”

“Oh, it’s no trouble at all. It’s not everyday I get business from royalty even if they are foreign.” she replied.

In the middle of their conversation, Ky’ell walked towards the forge and started pulling up and down on the bellow pull string with both arms and then place bars of metal into the forge all the while having a large grin on his face. Luna stopped her conversation with Adrienne to glare daggers at him.

“Ky’ell, can thou please stop playing with Adrienne’s workplace?” Luna asked irritated.

“Oh he isn’t hurting anything, actually this kind of thing happens a lot. Just...not...how...he...does it” she tried to reply as Ky’ell started jumping up and down while holding on to the bellow drawstring.

“Can you please cease your foolishness until after Whiterun is safe?” Irileth snapped.

“Hm? Oh yeah! Death and Destruction and all that jazz.” he replied as he stopped his outburst.

“Anyway, I think I have something for you Princess,” Adrienne replied as she looked up and down Luna as she circled her. “Come in to my shop, I think we can set you up with something nice.

Luna and Irileth followed Adrienne into Warmaiden and Ky’ell leaved outside to his own devices for a few minutes. Luna met Adrienne’s husband Ulfberth War-Bear who was even more surprised to finally meet Luna. After quick introductions, Adrienne had Ulfberth go in to a back room and pull out an ornate chest with a unique seal on it.

“I received this as a gift from an trader who bought it from a royal elven blacksmith. So far I haven’t been able to find any use for it or anyone to buy it, but I think you might find more use for it Princess.” Adrienne said.

“Uh, Elven Miss Adrienne?”

“Yes, one of the main races on Nirn to which I belong to. I belong to the Dunmer subspecies, but that isn’t important right now, we can discuss other details once the threat to Whiterun has been averted,” Irileth replied.

Adrienne unlocked and opened the crate and then presented the armor within to Luna. It was a beautiful set of steel plated armor coated with gold and what appeared to be traces of moonstone and a third metal unidentifiable to Luna. The metal that made the armor seemed to be lighter than normal steel. The pauldrons were shaped like wings that circled around the shoulders and the chest piece was patterned like the underbelly of a eagle. The figurehead at the top of the chest piece was carved into the head of an eagle. The tunic section was stitched together with individual plates of metal to create the appearance of a coat of tail feathers.

“Thank you”

“Put it on quickly, we can’t waste anymore time. That dragon will be at the Western Watchtower any second.” Irileth urged.

Luna was allowed to go into a side room to slip into her new armor, it was an odd, but familiar experience to say the least. It took no more than a minute for her to put each article of armor on. She came out to meet Irileth standing there outside leaning against the counter with an impatient look.

Adrienne and Ulfberth asked her what weapon she wanted. They went through every weapon they had, but Luna settle for a simple steel sword and an Imperial bow. A quiver filled with 50 iron arrows was also provided for her. The whole process of finding Luna a suit of armor and a weapon took no more than ten minutes at the most.

Irileth and Luna rushed outside to meet K’yell, but found him chasing one of the neighborhood children around while madly waving his sword around and shouting obscenities. The girl in question was screaming at the top of her lungs while trying to evade the seemingly mad man. A boy was standing off to the side on the steps of The Drunken Huntsman gripping his stomach from laughter. Luna attempted to stifle a small giggle. When she saw Irileth’s face though and remembered the severity of their mission, irritation replaced amusement

“Sir Ky’ell, please leave the poor foal alone and come back here!” she snapped.

“WHAT? WHO? I’MA LISTENIN! WHAT”RE WE GOIN AFTER?” he shouted as he suddenly stopped in his tracks.

Ignoring him, Irileth went up to her troops and explained the situation to them. While she was briefing her troops on how to handle the situation, Luna felt a sudden jerk at one of her arms as she was dragged towards the gate and out of the city by an out of control Ky’ell, much to her bewilderment.

“What in the world are you doing shouldn't we listen to what Lady Irileth has to say!?!”

“NOTIMETOTALKLET’SGOIWANNABEATTHEMTOTHEACTION!” he screamed as he speedily ran down the steps of the gates and past the outer guard walls with Luna in tow.

Ky’ell came up to a mini waterfall past an outcropping of large rocks where the water runoff coming out of the city flowed through a stream.

Luna could see the Western Watchtower off in the distance. Smoke appeared to be billowing out from the top and the base of the tower in a fiery blaze.
“Wouldnst it be easier to take the road and wait for Irileth before running off into battle Sir Ky’ell?” she asked as she finally managed to free herself from his iron grip.

“You wanna get there before the dragon gets back don’t ya? Then we gotta take a straight shot there!” Ky’ell declared as he quickly grabbed a hold of Luna’s arms, wrapped them around his shoulders and jumped off of the small waterfall. She gave a sharp shriek as they plummeted 30 feet down to the stream below.

When they safely made it to the bottom, relief quickly turned into heightened irritation at her new companion who she was was ready to give strong words to, but found herself still being dragged along across rocks and a stream while Ky’ell stopped to quickly kill a couple of mudcrabs he seemed to have taken an odd interest in. Ky’ell ran up and down a few rocky hills until they finally made it to the Western Watchtower that seemed to be in terrible condition. Various bushes and patches of grass were still on fire as they approached.

Ky’ell let go of Luna and stopped in his tracks, and her irritation was starting to turn into anger as she fully intended on giving the man a piece of her mind.

“Now, Sir Ky’ell, I adore excitement and the thrill of battle as much as the next warrior, but can thou please not drag us along and roughly throw us onto thou’s back and jump off of cliffs as if we were a doll meant for amusement? ….Well? I expect an apology from thou-
“No! Get back Lady Luna! Its’ still here somewhere, Hroki and Tor got grabbed when they tried to make a run for it!” a voice said.

Luna and Ky’ell looked up to see one of the guards trying to obscure himself from sight within the rubble of the tower. His iron warhammer was slung across his back making his efforts to obscure himself a little difficult. They ran up to him to make sure he was unharmed.

“Are thou alright Sir guard? Are you unharmed?” Luna asked.

“I’m fine...for now. Just a couple of scrapes from a tumble down the stairs, but nothing serious.”

“What’s your name guard?” Ky’ell asked in a stern tone.

“Hrogar sir, I was here with six other others scanning for threats when that thing appeared.” he said. “The others are still inside trying to recover from the last attack.

A strange sound echoed off in the distance like a sudden gust of wind on a quiet windless day.

“Kynareth save us, here it comes again,” Hrogar said in a terrified voice.

Luna heard it before she saw it, a deafening roar, followed by the smell of burning air. A long and powerful jet of flame nearly threatened to cook the three of them alive.

“JOOR” the dragon seemed to roar before the flame came jetting from its mouth.

Luna and Ky’ell covered themselves and Hrogar as they dove low to the ground behind some rubble.

The other guards came running out of the tower trying to shoot the dragon out of the sky. They had all drawn out their bows and swords, but after firing a few stray shots, they ran back into the tower in an attempt to save themselves. Luna, Ky’ell, and Hrogar dived into the doorway of the tower in an attempt to dodge another jet of flame.

Luna quickly took out her own bow, carefully leaned out of the doorway, took aim at the dragon’s head and released an arrow. The arrow managed to hit its mark, but only lodged itself in the loose flesh between the dragon’s horns. The dragon definitely felt it, but Luna dived back into the tower before it could spot her.

“DAMNIT!” she screamed. “What am I doing? I should be out there facing that beast in the heat of battle! Not cowering in here like a newborn foal.” She ran back outside firing a few more shots, trying to get a hit on the dragon.

Only one other brave guard dared to run outside in attempt to bring down the dragon. He managed to knick the dragon’s underbelly with one of his arrows. It barely fazed the dragon, but it did get it’s attention. The poor guard managed to fire off one more arrow into the air before being grabbed by the dragon’s claws, flung high into the air, and fall right in front of Luna with a sickening splat. Blood seeped out of the guard’s corpse into a pool as he lie in front of her. It was at that point that Luna couldn’t take it anymore. After the stress and seemingly hopelessness of her current situation, she fell to her knees and cried as she looked into the lifeless eyes of the guard. She felt the massive gusts of wind that suddenly appeared as the dragon approached her.

As the dragon hovered above a few feet away, it looked down at Luna and began to speak in a guttural language completely unknown to her with a sickening tone of pleasure.

“No’ah zu’u Mirmulnuir stra vul vahdin. Nu dir.” (Know I am Mirmulnuir strange dark maiden. Now die)

Before the dragon could draw another breath, everything in the world seemed to go quiet in an instant. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Ky’ell looking down at her with his eyes slightly obscured by the shadow of his helmet Luna couldn’t hear anything, except a slow beating of a drum that started to sound. The beating steadily grew faster in tempo. Then suddenly a group of voices began to chant. It was otherworldly as if trying to gain everyone’s attention locked on to Ky’ell. The drums and chanting seemed to emanate from Ky’ell as he was the only other thing standing amidst all of the fire and chaos.

Luna watched as he took one step and then another. With his right arm he reached for his sword and drew it. Luna’s eyes widened as the ringing of metal was the last sound she remembers hearing before falling unconscious the first time on this world. She suddenly had the urge to stand up again. The dragon above seemed to hear the chanting as well as it looked around searching for its source. When its eye fell upon Ky’ell, with a beat of its massive wings it landed right in front of Ky’ell and gave a mighty roar, which seemed to cause Luna to regain her hearing.

The dragon suddenly lunged forward snapping its jaws. Ky’ell jumped to the side and simultaneously swung his sword to the side at an angle cutting into the soft underside of the dragon’s head. Small droplets of dragon blood splashed into the air. The dragon roared and attacked again, pressing forward. Ky’ell struck again and again, with the damage of each blow infuriating the dragon. The dragon reared back and roared letting out a jet of flame. Luna and Ky’ell had to jump out of the way to avoid being engulfed in the intense flames of the dragon. The deceased guard’s body was completely charred away into an unrecognizable husk.

Luna stood there heart pounding as she watched the battle unfold in front of her. She had to do something. She looked around frantically and her eyes fell upon a familiar sight. The crate of iron daggers that had been given back to the guards after her task earlier the day. It was set down by the stairway up to the tower presumably for one of the guards to pick up and store at a later time. She eyed the crate, looked back at the charred body of the former guard and felt something she had not felt in a long time. Hatred. She was filled with such anger that she hated the dragon. It was a dark emotion that she had not felt for a thousand years and it was terrible, but It gave her strength.

In the distance, Luna could see Irileth and the rest of the guards running towards the Watchtower to help vanquish the dragon. However, she was not going to take any chances with it.

Irileth and her guards could be killed by this beast if I do nothing to stop this dragon NOW, Luna thought.

She picked up the crate of daggers in her telekinetic grip and proceeded to take all of them out individually and throw each of them with her magic at the currently airborne dragon.

Ky’ell dove behind a boulder as a jet of flame shot passed him. The dragon, seeing it’s opportunity, flew into the sky to get a better shot at it’s enemy. Just as it circled over him. It let out small shriek, several daggers had flown through the air and pierced the soft tissue of its wings. It turned towards the attacker only to be faced with several more daggers, flung at such a high speed. Most of the daggers ricocheted off the dragon’s hard armor, but several were lucky enough to pierce through the dragon’s many unprotected areas. One dagger even found itself lodged into the base of its wing where many nerve endings were located. The dragon roared painfully and spun in the air, firing jets of flame everywhere in fury.

Luna was in a fit of rage, throwing dagger after dagger with her magic, with her eyes glowing bright blue from the intense magical energy. She was so enraged that she did not realize how exposed she was in case the dragon decided to attack. The dragon swept down low, ignoring the pain a few well placed dagger had done to it, It extended it’s claws, fully intending to snatch the nuisance up and fling her up into the air. But it's claws felt nothing but air as it reached for Luna.

Seeing the dragon flying towards her, Ky’ell ran up to Luna and tackled her into the dirt to keep the dragon from snatching her up.

Luna felt herself losing her concentration on the daggers as she was being being knocked into the ground and found Ky’ell laying on top of her.

“So...come here often?” he said with a cheshire cat grin.

With an irritated grunt she pushed him off of her chest over to the side. He got back up on his feet and redrew his sword. His icy blue eyes watched the dragon circle around for another attempt.

“But seriously now, take the left flank over by the road.”

Luna gave him a look, but nodded and darted to the left taking much of the daggers with her in her telekinetic grip. She looked over her shoulder once and saw that the he had disappeared. Having no choice but to trust him to take care of himself she ran around several burning patches of grass and bushes, all the while looking up into the sky to find out where the dragon had gone. She spotted it in the distance shooting fire onto the ground in passing. Luna could only pray that Ky'ell was doing alright. She stopped and hurled her daggers at the dragon. This time the dragon dodged them, flying high and making a loop to fly directly at her. Her heart raced and she turned to run to a safer vantage point, but almost ran face to face with Irileth, along with her whole company of guards.

“Arrows at the ready!” All the guards readied their bows and arrows. Irileth placed a hand on Luna’s shoulder as if to stop her from going anywhere. Luna got the message and readied what was left of her daggers. Irileth snarled as she gazed upon the dragon that was flying quickly towards them at an alarming speed. Just when it looked like it was in range to breath fiery death upon them. Irileth gave the order with a wave of her arm.

“Fire!”

A rain of arrows flew through the air and created a massive shadow overhead. Many missed, but some manages to hit their mark and pierced the underbelly of the dragon and a few even managed to pierce the wings of the dragon in a few places, but not enough to bring down the dragon.

Luna pulled out her own bow and readied the last of her daggers, took aim and let them loose on the dragon. All of them hitting the base of the dragon’s left wing. It tried to recover but failed, only managing to glide for another minute before crashing down into the Pelagia Farm’s crops.

“My cabbages!” Mr. Pelagia lamented.

Luna then noticed a moving silhouette off in the distance toward the dragon It was moving fast. Luna recognized it as Ky’ell. He was carrying a sword and one of Luna's daggers now and part of his armor looked like it had been singed rather badly. He jumped across the fence marking the boundary of the crops field and jumped. Luna watched in amazement as Ky'ell flew through the air and landed on the dragon’s neck. What transpired next confused her even more. he proceeded to reach around the dragon’s head and punch out the dragon’s eyes simultaneously with his fists. When the dragon managed to shake him off and regain its sight, it tried to burn Ky’ell in a fit of rage. Taking the opportunity, Ky’ell picked up a large stone and chucked it into the dragon’s mouth causing it to choke.

“HEY FLAMING ASSHOLE! YOU SHOULD. HAVE. CHEWED. YOUR. FOOD!” Ky’ell screamed before sliding under the dragon’s head and stabbing it up his throat. He did so repeatedly until the dragon stopped struggling and collapsed onto the ground. Mirmulnuir's blood gushed out of his neck like a fountain and completely drenched Ky'ell in it, staining his skin and armor crimson red. Then there was finally silence from the dragon.

Luna finally managed to make it over to the scene after a few minutes of running with Irileth and the remainder of her squadron following suit. Luna came up to Ky’ell where he pulled his sword out from underneath the dragon and rolled himself out from underneath the dragon. He dropped his sword and spread his arms out flat.

“That was fun.” he said sounding exhausted.

Luna stretched out her hand and helped him on to his feet.

Then all of a sudden, something was happening to the dragon. It’s scales were peeling away, burning up like leaves thrown into a fire crackling and snapping. He stood in bewilderment and fascination as a deep and powerful magic swirled up and out of the dragon and into him.

Luna’s eyes widened in the same look of fascination and bewilderment.

“I don’t believe it. You’re dragon born.” One of the guards said out loud as he pushed himself to the front to meet him. The guards began to murmur amongst themselves while Irileth took in the sight before her with interest.

“What are you?” Luna asked with interest.

Unbeknownst to all of them, the magic going into Ky’ell was also going into her as well.

After all of this, Irileth looked at both of them with confusion.

“What the hell just happened?”

Back in a dark place...

"Hey Celestia, I think I've found us a way to get out."

"Me too, and just in time, my magic is finally returning to me."

"Well what did you have in mind?"

"Let me get ahold of that armor over there first. A tale my student once told me she learned while living among humans for a short time has given me an idea. The tale was about a rich human named Stark if I'm not mistaken".

Chapter 5: A Blazing Escape

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Hours earlier, back in the dark cave prison of Cragslane Cavern, it had been a few more hours to dawn on the outside, but due to the isolation, minimal light, and heavy shadows of the cavern, time seemed to slow to a dead crawl. Celestia had been continuing her story to her new human friend Friga Shatter-Shield. The story of how her sister and her came to be the co-rulers of Equestria. It had been many hours since she had started her story and the darkness of the cave kept her from knowing for certain what time of day it was. She had assumed it was night time, but she couldn’t be sure. Her calming story telling had relaxed both of their minds and kept them properly focused.

“And that’s how Equestria was established and how my sister and I ascended to the thrones of Equestria.”

“Incredible! Who’d ever thought I’d meet a princess? Or be the first Nord to come into contact with a new previously undiscovered race?”

“That makes two of us” Celestia lightly giggled. “I never thought that I’d discover many new races that I’ve never seen before. I just didn't expect I'd do it from the inside of a cell. Usually this only happens with royal ex-boyfriends from long ago.”

The two of them giggled at each other basking in a pleasant moment in spite of the dark situation that they were currently in.

Celestia quickly got up and leaned toward the bars of the cell and listened for any movement or sounds. Her big white ears moved around as if they were scanning the surrounding environment. The only thing she heard was one of the guards near the entrance of the cave talking to himself about a woman and a child not being his.

She then turned back to Friga with a determined look on her face. She kneeled down closely to Friga before whispering to her.

“What do you say we start figuring a way out of here? It will just be a short few more hours before my magic comes back to me, but I’d like to get you out of here before then.” Celestia said reassuringly.

“Wh-What? But we’re trapped in a cell! There’s no way to get out! And you just told me you can't use your magic for hours!,” Friga replied.

“Maybe not. This cave looks like it was mined out a very long time ago. There might be a loose part of the wall I can try to take apart and cause a controlled cave-in on one side,” she said while feeling each of the spots in the cell’s walls.

Friga watched Celestia with interest as she moved her hands around the various rocks on the walls and tugged at them as if looking for any loose stones. As she moved her hands along the stones, she felt a faint stream of air dancing across the fingertips of her left hand. She inspected the spot and discovered a decently sized crack in the hardened dirt and stone that made up the rock wall that reached to the other side. It was perfectly camouflaged among the many shadows of the old rock wall. The wall was too thick to penetrate normally without her alicorn strength and magic, but she was able to press her ear up to the crack with her sensitive equine ears in an attempt to listen in on any conversations.

All of a sudden, Celestia could faintly hear voices and movement bouncing off of the walls of the cave. She blocked out all other minute sounds around her to focus on the voices in the main portion of the cave.

The sound of rusty metal scraping against stone echoed off the walls of the cave accompanied by the sound of grunting men presumably moving whatever was making the noise.

“Where do we put these damn cages Hrolgar?”

“Put four of them outside, and get the other four in the back room. The other bandit tribes of the Rift we could contact will be arriving with their wolves at noon. I’m glad we made it past that Stormcloak patrol. Those brain dead little shits can’t see a fucking foot in front of their faces when its dark.”

“What are we gonna do with those women in the boss’s prison? I just heard about them from Throo’ng.”

“I’m gonna kill that damn chatterbox of an Orc one of these days. The boss is pitting them as prizes for the fights. Some lucky bastard soon will be getting their own personal toy to play with him and his dogs.” the deeper voice said before chuckling. “The nord woman is gonna be a consolation prize to the loser in the final match. She isn’t worth much. That foreign horse woman is the REAL prize.”

Celestia heard a gasp from behind her and turned her head to find Friga sobbing into her knees in the fetal position on her bed matt. Remembering her compassionate nature, Celestia rushed to Friga and wrapped her arms around her. Startled at first by her gesture, Friga reluctantly returned it while crying her eyes out into the fur on Celestia's chest.

“Am I never going to see my family again? Am I going to be just a breeding wench to some bandit?” Friga cried with a muffled sob.

Celestia gently stroked her back, trying to calm her down. As she felt a spot on her fur being soaked by Friga’s tears, she dug deep into her mind trying to find some semblance of a solution to her and Friga’s current crisis, but came up with nothing. There was nothing in their jail cell they could use, nothing but two bed mats, straw which lined the floor, and a single wooden bucket presumably for….them to do their personal business.

She looked outside the bars in the bandit chief’s room and saw various items of many shapes and sizes which could potentially help them escape. She saw a chest off to the right of the fireplace which was on the opposite end of the room right next to the doorway into the main part of the cave. She came to the conclusion that that was where they held the most valuable pieces of treasure that had presumably been stolen from their other victims. On the small table to the left of it was a small cloth bag, a couple of jewels, and a bottle of what she assumed to be some kind of alcoholic drink.

Another pair of small items on the table caught her eye right next to the jewels. They appeared to be tools of some kind, one looked like a dull butter knife with strips of cloth wrapped around the handle and the other upon further inspection, appeared to be a lockpick. Upon inspecting the large lock on the cell door, she found that the lock was an incredibly primitive one that could easily be tampered with. She finally had a method to which they could escape before the bandits returned.

“Friga, I think I have an idea.” Celestia whispered.

“Wh-what?” Friga asked as she stopped for a moment and looked up at Celestia.

“There’s a lockpick over on that table. If I can grab it with my magic, I can float it over here to get this door open.”

"I-I thought you said you couldn't?" she questioned.

"Before yes, but...let's just say I'm capable of things people among my race usually are not."

She then dedicated the next few hours to concentrating her steadily recovering magic on the lock pick in an attempt to levitate it over to her past the bars so they could escape their dark prison. Many times she could feel her magic coming back to her and could see the glow surround the lockpick for a few seconds and raise it up a few inches before the aura disappeared and fell back on to the wood table. Each time the process drained her physical energy and she was forced to rest for 30 minutes at a time in between attempts.

Finally, after hours of effort, she finally managed to get a solid glow on the lockpick as it slowly levitated off of the table and slowly, but surely moved over to Celestia as Friga looked on in anticipation.

All of a sudden, they could hear voices and footsteps coming towards them from across the cave.

“The many of the bandit groups couldn’t come unfortunately. Something about trouble with vampires. Three of of them are coming.” one gruff voice said.

“Idiots. Fine, three will suffice. More of a chance that we’ll keep the women to ourselves when we win.” a second slimy voice added.

There was a moment of silence from the voices with only the sound of dripping water and their footsteps coming through before they started taking again

“Has Idren’s newest shipment arrived yet from Riften?”

“It will arrive in time for the competition ahead of schedule”.

“Excellent.”

As the footsteps got closer, Celestia quickly levitated the lockpick over to her and stuffed it into a small pocket she had found on her dress. She quickly motioned Friga to lie down and pretend to be sleeping and she did the same as the bandits entered the room. As Celestia’s eyes were closed, she could hear the steps of the two bandits enter the room. Suddenly loud banging on the bars jolted the both of them awake.

“WAKE UP WHORES! Your...host has arrived.” the gruff voice roared.

Celestia and Friga sat up to meet their captors. The man who belonged to the gruff voice was a tall dark skinned man in steel plated armor with a small axe hanging at his side. His hair was dark, long and oily. The man to his right who the smooth voice belonged to made Celestia’s eyes widen in astonishment. It was a man with blue grey skin and blood red eyes that looked like freshly cut rubies. His armor was intricate and massive. Each silver plate of armor was carved with a complex design. The pauldrons resembled the head of a bear and a ring of fut encircled the collar of the suit.

“Amazing, seeing you in person just astounds me. The description my men gave me just doesn’t do you justice at all my dear.” the red eyed man said.

“Who are you? Where are we?” Celestia demanded.

“The where should not concern you my dear. You are in the presence of the Butcher. Now I may ask who are you? By your regalia we found on you, you must be someone of importance. Perhaps a lady, or a duchess, or maybe a princess?”

Celestia said nothing as she maintained a calm stoic stare in the face of her dangerous captor.

“Not in the mood to talk yet? That’s alright cause I think your new companion is ready to speak. I believe you are from the prestigious Shatter-Shield clan of Windhelm are you not? Two royals make for splendid prizes for my wolf fights. Pristine and desirable in beauty and profitability. Radaar, take Miss Shatter-Shield to the other room. We must prep her as the second place prize . The loser in the end must get something after all.”

Radaar chuckled as he went over to the chest, pulled out a key and used it to open the door to the cell. Celestia tensed in fear as he approached Friga with a savage, lustful look in his eyes. Celestia went through all of the options she had in her head, but found there weren’t many. Her god-like strength wasn’t back yet and her magic still needed time to regenerate. So she acted out of protective instinct and kicked Radaar in the crotch as hard as she could. Radaar held his crotch for a few seconds before falling and puking on the floor of the cell. Butcher stood there for a second with a stunned expression before giving a sigh and called more of his guards as he approached Celestia and grabbed her by the hair.

“I really wish you didn’t do that my dear,” he said as he punched Celestia in the stomach with an armored glove and kneed her in the chin causing her to be knocked out cold.

“Celestia...no” Friga quietly cried as she witnessed her protective friend slip into unconsciousness.

“Celestia is her name? Like the stars in the sky? A beautiful name. I’m much more glad that I didn’t damage her face. It would detract from her value.” Butcher said gleefully looking down at her.

Two bandits walked into the chamber silently as the Butcher stood over Celestia’s unconscious body.

“Bring Lady Shatter-shield into the back room. I think we need to break her will down before displaying her. No use in having a trophy that fights back. Don’t be too rough with her. Leave this one here though, she will be awake in time for the competition. I think the victor will enjoy winning such an exotic specimen.” Butcher said as he inspected her horn and multicolored hair.

Three hours later, Celestia awoke to find herself alone in the dark cell with no sign of Friga. The sounds of cheering, barking, and banging echoed throughout the entire cave.

The competition he spoke of must have begun, Celestia thought.

Celestia listened for any signs of Friga and faintly heard screaming coming from the passageway off to the right. It was barely discernible from the loud sounds coming from what she assumed to be the main chamber. Her concern skyrocketed to fear for her new friend.

She quickly checked the pocket of her dress and found that the rusty lockpick had remained.

He must have been more focused on my body than my clothes, she thought disgusted.

She took the rusty piece of metal and reached around the bars and the lock of the cell door to find the keyhole. She found the distinct shape of a keyhole with her right middle finger. Now all she needed was the other tool to help her escape. Luckily, it was still on the table on the other side of the room. Fearing the worst, but going for it anyway, she tried reaching out with her magic and found her basic telekinesis had come back to her as both her horn and the lockpicking tool glowed yellow and steadily arose.

“Hurry Celestia, hurry,” she urged herself.

She moved the tool past the bars and into her right hand. Poking the tools where she assumed the keyhole to be, she held the bigger tool still holding the lock open while moving the lockpick around the chamber, listening carefully. After a few turns, she felt the lockpick grab on to something. Being careful not to break her only hope of escape, she quickly, but carefully pushed towards her and pushed in opposite directions until she heard a click.

Pulling the tools out, she reached out with her new hand and pushed the cell door. To her delight, it swung wide open with a rusty creak that couldn’t have been heard by the bandits who were drowning out the noise with their roaring.

Without my magic I probably need some kind of weapon if I’m going to help Friga and get us out of here, she thought as her gaze fell upon the bronze chest in the Butcher's room.

She quickly went over to the chest and opened it, revealing a few familiar items. Her golden tiara and necklace had been carefully placed on top as the Butcher’s latest treasures. She picked up both in her magic, carefully inspecting them. Thankfully, they had not been damaged by her interdimensional trip, nor the bandits. Putting her crown down, she quickly strung her necklace around her neck with her magic before grabbing her crown and placing it on her head.

She also saw a few other items in the chest that could prove to be useful. A simple steel warhammer which appeared to be under some kind of enchantment as the handle felt hot to the touch, a very large bag of gold coins, three books with covers in different colors and different images on their front cover, a polished set of crude iron armor, and a large burlap satchel.

Raising her eyebrow at the selection of items for a moment, she quickly grabbed the satchel and stuffed the books and the coins into the sack, thinking they might help her find Luna in this new land wherever she was. She slung the sack across her shoulders and grabbed ahold of the hammer.

“No more fooling around, I gotta get Friga out of here.” she whispered as she carefully peaked around the corner looking for bandits that might notice her and silently ran in the opposite direction of the main chamber towards where she heard Friga.

In the first subchamber, Celestia came across three empty iron cages, presumably for the pit wolves she had heard about.

To her horror, she couldn’t hear Friga’s screams anymore. She ran into another chamber off to the left where she found a horrible sight.

Friga was completely naked on a mat by the wall with a bandit violating her. Her arms were bound to the wall by metal cuffs mounted to the wall of the cave. Due to her dead eyed expression, shallow breathing and tear stained face, she had most likely been there for a long time.

In that moment the sun monarch found herself feeling something she had not felt since ancient times: Hatred. Pure unbridled hatred.

A huge output of magical power flowed out of her body as she tightened her grip on the handle of the hammer and swung at the bandit with a loud roar of rage from her, causing his head to explode into a gooey crimson stain on the cave wall.

Celestia's rage momentarily subsided as she quickly dropped the hammer to tend to her friend, unlocking the cuffs to free her.

"Friga, FRIGA!, are you alright?!" Celestia asked knowing the obvious answer.

Friga's eyes became more responsive as they connected with Celestia's magenta orbs.

Celestia let tears fall from her face as she gently wrapped a nearby piece of cloth around her.

Taking a better look at her, Friga had been in terrible shape. Bruises and welts covered her body, parts of her hair had become matted and pulled out, blood seeped out of her lips.

“Can you walk?” Celestia asked.

“I…..I,” Friga stuttered out.

“I know my friend, I know, Celestia said as she gave Friga a quick hug before laying her hand on her shoulder.

“We can’t remain here. We have to get out of this place.”

“O-Okay,” Friga quietly replied as she slowly got up on her feet.

Celestia helped her up on to her feet and walked her over to a wooden chair where she sat her down.

“How are we ever going to escape? I can’t fight off dozens of men by myself.” Friga cried.

Celestia thought over their options for a few moments before she came to a grim conclusion.

“You won’t. I will.” Celestia replied.

Friga looked up at her with surprise and a hint of fear.

“My full magic may not be back yet, but that little nap Butcher forced me into was enough to regenerate a large amount of my magic. And with it, I am going to show these little fucking heathens why I was crowned ruler of Equestria.” Celestia replied with an angry sneer.

“Wh-What? How?”

“With this,” Celestia declared as she took an Iron helmet out of her sack and set it down with a solid clang on to a nearby wooden table.

All sound seemed to silence as the two of them stared into the shadowed eyeholes of the iron helmet....

The competition had been going on for three hours. The festivities had fully gotten underway with the sounds of merriment ringing throughout the cave. Three other bandit groups had arrived to join the festivities, he had been drinking the finest ale made by the Black Briar family and his prized pit wolf had been dominating the competition. He had been in ecstasy watching his wolf tear the others into pieces and then earning more gold to add to his pile. Sitting at the bar, he was able to see all of the competition.

“Let’s give the men a little bit of incentive to win shall we? I’m getting bored of winning so easily. Rodar! Tokar! bring that lovely white horse woman here. I think its time we raised the stakes.” The Butcher said gleefully as he called to two of his bandits surveying the event for trouble makers or cheaters.

The Dunmer bandits nodded as they walked into the passageway to fetch Celestia in his quarters.

“Barkeeper, a Honningbrew if you please,” Butcher said to the dark elf behind the counter cleaning a tankard. The barkeeper nodded as he pulled out a bottle with a yellow liquor inside and a label with a bee on it from the cupboard beneath.

Butcher took the bottle and poured the drink into a nearby goblet. He swirled the drink around as he inhaled its sweet aroma. Slowly bringing the silver goblet up to his lips, he was fully intending to savor every last drop of the heavenly drink. However, as he was about to take his first sip, he heard a deafening bang emanate throughout the entire cave, completely silencing every bandit at the festivities. He heard a scream from one of his bandits before a second bang which shook the goblet out of his loose grip. The sound of his goblet clattering against the rock and dirt floor of the cave was the only thing any of the bandits could hear in this deadly silence.

All of a sudden, they heard a loud metallic step coming from the dark passageway. Then another step, and another. All of the bandits pulled out their swords, ready to attack this unknown threat. Whatever was approaching, suddenly halted its advance. A lone bandit bravely approached the mouth of the passageway in attempt to meet and kill this new threat. Then from out of the dark, a pair of glowing yellow eyes appeared and stared back at him.

The guard was shaken, but tried to kill this creature with a single swing of his sword. The blade bounced off of the creature’s armor like it was nothing. Then after a few seconds of silence from the imposing figure, a dark metal glove reached for the bandit and pulled him into the darkness. The last thing they heard from him was his scream and the sickening crunch of broken bones.

“KILL THAT THING YOU IDIOTS!” Butcher roared.

Most of the bandits hesitated, but six of them charged into the passageway attempting to overwhelm this unknown adversary. The bandits on the outside heard multiple swords clashing against metal and then the breaking of rock.

The figure in the dark finally stepped out into the light, fully revealing what they were up against. It was an Iron armored monster with a set glowing yellow eyes and a darkened mouth. It appeared to have an extra horn sprouted out of the top of its head. It towered above them like a giant. The power emanating from it was palpable to everyone in the cave.

“ARCHERS!” Butcher bellowed.

Dozens of bandits carrying long bows from every side of the main chamber started firing arrows and fired at the giant figure in a massive barrage of arrows that kept being quickly strung and fired. The barrage of arrows lasted for a solid minute before The Butcher and the other bandit leaders in the cave held up their hands, signaling their groups to cease their firing.

The Butcher had expected this new threat to fall on to its face dead from the sheer force and amount of arrows that had been thrown at it. It had seemed dead on its feet with its head hanging down. However, what happened next he could have never expected in a million years. The figure lifted its head and uttered two deadly words.

“My turn,” was all they heard from the figure before it expelled monstrous jets of flame from both of its hands.

Dozens of bandits within range of the flames were instantly set ablaze. They screamed in agony trying to douse themselves. Each of them quickly dropped dead from the trauma of their burns. Other bandits who missed the flames ran screaming out of the cave in an attempt to avoid a fiery death. The wolves in the pit of the main chamber yelped and clawed at the gates of the arena trying to escape from the intense heat.

Two bandits ran up to the figure from the side trying to take it out at close range, but one of them was sent flying into the rock wall with a backhand from the figure. The other bandit narrowly managed to dodge the swing from the figure to have it accidentally embed its arm into the rock wall. Attempting to pierce through its armor at close range from a few feet away while it tried to unstick its arm, the bandit strung a steel arrow in his long bow and pulled back with all of his strength aiming at the figure’s neck. He released the arrow, only for it to miss by an inch, hitting against the neck shielding on the helmet and ricochet back at his killing him instantly.

The figure looked down at the fallen bandit for a moment and then finally managed to unstick its arm, continuing its advance on the other bandits.

The Butcher looked on in disbelief at the situation unfolding before him, many of his men were burning alive at the hands of this unknown adversary and he was not about to let all of his hard work be destroyed. He lifted his large steel double bladed battleaxe from its resting place against the bar’s counter and charges at his new adversary completely intending to eliminate his enemy right here and now.

He picked up his axe, and lunged at the figure taking a swing at the giants neck. The figure grabbed at the axe, but the force of the impact completely knocked off its helmet to reveal the face of the creature.

“Horse woman,” The Butcher uttered with rage.

“Yes, me.” she simply replied.

The now revealed Celestia grunted in pain trying to push away the axe that was aimed at her throat. Her vision was blurred from the impact of the axe hitting her head completely disorienting her senses. However, with a scream of rage she gave a mighty push and launched The Butcher ten feet away, giving her ample time to place her helmet back on.

“I knew you were valuable Celestia, but being an experienced mage as yourself triples your value. I’m going to savor having you as my obedient sex toy. And your precious Friga will be nothing for the rest of her tiny life but a broken whor-”

With a roar, Celestia fired at The Butcher with a blast of flame from her so fast that he wasn’t able to dodge. The impact launched him further and smashed him into the wall of the cave so hard that rock from the cave ceiling broke off and fell on to Butcher’s head, presumably crushing his skull. The only thing left of his head was a blood stained rock covered in gore.

"You should have looked for someone less hot," she coldly joked.

Looking at the cages containing the captive wolves, she ripped the door into the arena made of tree limbs off of its hinges with ease, releasing all of the trapped wolves inside. The wolves growled at her for a moment, before staring at her and running out of the cave to freedom.

She then turned back to the passageway, but heard Friga scream in horror at something. Fearing the worst, Celestia used her rage and adrenaline to propel her down the passageway to save Friga.

She made it to the passageway, only to find Friga on her back bleeding from her side with a bandit standing over her with a sword in his hand about to kill her with a final blow.

Celestia took out her hammer and swung at his head, completely knocking it off of his neck. The headless bandit fell to the ground with an audible thud. She then looked down at Friga and saw how serious her wound was.

“Friga FRIGA! Can you hear me?” Celestia cried.

Her eyes opened a little bit and she seemed to smile.

“Celestia? You’re alive.” she weakly replied.

“Yes, my friend and now we can finally get out of here. You are finally going back to your family.” Celestia said as she took the cloth of the bed matt and turned it into a makeshift tourniquet to stop her bleeding.

“I don’t think I’m going to last that long Celestia…” she weakly replied.

‘No, NO!! I will not allow you to die. Do you hear me?! I am getting you out of here.” Celestia declared as she picked up Friga and sprinted out of the passageway and towards the exit of the cave.

Running across the main chamber and towards the mouth of the cave, she could faintly see light from the outside. Unfortunately, her adrenaline was beginning to wear off as her vision began to get blurry again.

She toughed it out and finally made it to a wooden door that presumably lead to the outside world. Giving it a push with her back, the door swung wide open and allowed them passage outside.

The light of the day blinded her for a moment, but as her eyes adjusted, she could finally see the unknown landscape before her.

It was completely alien to her that much was certain, but bore a striking resemblance to many landscapes she had seen in Equestria. All around were tall redwood trees towering over her. Looking off to her left she could see for miles. On the horizon, she could barely make out what looked like a city made out of ancient stone.

“Maybe...someone there...can help you.” Celestia struggled to get out.

She saw a dirt trail down the hill and on to what looked like a cobblestone road at the bottom of the mountain. She used the last of her adrenaline to run down the trail, hoping that gravity would propel her to go faster and make it to the road more quickly. It did just that, but in doing so, she gave up all control of her movement. Halfway down the hill, she tripped on a rock and tumbled down the rest of the way. Attempting to absorb most of the damage, Celestia attempted to position her arms around Friga to act as shock absorbers. It didn’t work as well as she hoped. When they made it down to the bottom, Celestia hit the cobblestone road with an audible clang. Her helmet had been knocked off revealing the crown beneath. Luckily, Friga fell on to a soft bush nearby cushioning the impact.

Celestia’s vision was wavering even more with this latest impact. She could feel at least a dozen bones that had been broken from the fall. In the distance, she could make out an approaching group of people in matching armor. The color blue was distinctive from their uniforms as they came closer into sight.. They were marching distinctly in order, as if they were part of a military unit.

They must be from the city, she weakly thought.

As they got closer and closer, Celestia’s vision began to completely darken and blur even further. The last things she heard before she slipped into dark unconsciousness were the friendly voices of the soldiers. She didn’t know why at the time, but there was something sincere in their voices.

“By Talos..what is that?”

“It has a crown! She must be a member of royalty!”

“What is she though?”

“Let’s take her to Jarl Ulfric, perhaps he knows where she hails from.”

“Wait, look there!”

“Impossible! Its Lady Shatter-Shield! She isn’t dead!”

Next Time

"I can't believe it. You are Dragonborn."

"Dragonborn?"

"Dragon who and what now?"

"Shout for us!"

"You should at least buy me dinner first."

(punching sounds)

"Please, as they say, shut it Ky'ell."

Chapter 6: The Shout

View Online

Back on the smoldered rocky fields of Whiterun, a mile of terrain all around was on fire from the recent battle. Dry grass had caught fire and turned much of the surrounding area into a grim black. Luckily, the early spring rain had halted the flames advancing on the city. The falling rain seemed to clear the air of all smells of smoke and death, making way for smells of fresh lavender and grass. The area around the Western Watchtower however, remained a hellish landscape even after its defiler was destroyed. Smoke and patches of flame continued to smolder and burn under the morning rain clouds. The skeleton of the dragon Mirmulnuir was the only thing that seemed to keep the landscape from healing.

Ky’ell and Luna had finally vanquished the beast, saving the city of Whiterun from total destruction. The great dragon Mirmulnuir had finally been silenced. When Ky’ell gave the final blow ending the dragon Mirmulnuir’s life, something happened that none watching the spectacle expected. A swirling light blowing like a blizzard came from the dragon and absorbed into Ky’ell and Luna’s bodies, giving them a heavenly glow for a brief moment. Luna then swore she could hear otherworldly chanting coming from Ky’ell for a few seconds before everything in the world seemed to go silent again. She looked at herself, examining for any changes brought on by this unusual event. Thankfully, nothing appeared to be missing or changed except for the feeling of a second presence lingering within her.

“What are you?” Luna asked with interest.

Unbeknownst to all of them, the magic going into Ky’ell was also going into her as well.

After all of this, Irileth looked at both of them with confusion.

“What the hell just happened?”

Luna looked down at her hands, then at Ky’ell, who was still processing everything that happened and then she lifted her head to look for answers that the guard with the open helmet appeared to have.

“What..is a Dragonborn sir guard?” Luna asked intrigued.

“In the very oldest of our nation's tales, back when there were still dragons in Skyrim roaming the land, the Dragonborn would slay dragons and steal their power.” the guard replied. “That’s what the two of you did isn’t it? You absorbed the dragon’s power?

“I’m not entirely sure what kind of crazy thing just happened,” Ky’ell finally replied as he gently clenched his hands and patted his body all over, attempting to find any sort of physical change with him.

“He could have at least bought me dinner before going inside me,” Ky’ell mischievously added.

Luna gave him an unamused deadpan look before turning back to the guard.

“I am not certain what just happened to us either. I have never felt anything like this before,” Luna admitted

“There’s only one way to find out. Try to shout…”

“...Shout sir guard?” Luna asked with a raised brow.

“Yes Lady Luna, according the the old legends, only the Dragonborn could Shout without training, the way the dragons do to use their godlike abilities.”

Another guard walked up to him and raised his eyebrow at him

“Dragonborn? What are you talking about?” he asked.

“That’s right! My grandfather used to tell stories about the Dragonborn!” a third guard added. “Those born with the dragon blood in em. Like old Tiber Septim himself.”

Luna looked at Ky’ell with a questioning look and he just gave her a shrug. She looked within herself to find this new power, but didn’t find anything new tied to her magic. However, the second presence she felt enter her when they killed the dragon seemed to stir. An intense feeling of primordial rage within the presence encompassed her entire being. She then tried tapping into this new presence to unleash whatever was trapped within her. For a brief moment, the presence expelled a feeling of confusion and loss, before returning to that feeling of ancient pure rage. The feeling in her traveled up from within her chest and seemed to stop right in her throat. She turned to Ky’ell with a stoic look.

Then, a guttural voice seemed to whisper incoherently into her mind in an unknown language. The only word she could make out was a word that felt heavy with power. A word that forced Luna and Ky’ell to look to the sky and bellow that single word.

“FUS!!!” they screamed as a forceful blue aura exploded out of their throats and into the cloudy morning sky.

The guards jumped in surprise and then looked at the two of them in awe and wonder. One of the guards stepped forward.

“That was Shouting! What you two just did!. Must be. You two really are the Dragonborn.

“WHAAAAAAAAAA? Naw, that wasn’t shouting. Shouting is yelling at someone you don’t like. That was belching blue gas. Why can I burp blue gas? I thought my ass was for that? I think that funny sounding word I burped came from that carved rock wall back at that zombie tomb above Riverwood,” Ky’ell hysterically replied.

As the situation continued to unfold, Irileth stood behind the rest of the guards, watching Luna and Ky’ell in utter silence, trying to process everything that was happening all at once.

One of the guards closest to her looked at her and tried to snap her out of her thoughtful trance.

“What do you say Irileth? You seem awfully quiet right now.”

She looked at the group of guards with a slightly irritated expression and looked back at Luna and Ky’ell thoughtfully. She gazed directly into Luna's ice blue eyes as if pondering on an answer.

“Come on Irileth, tell us. Do you believe in this Dragonborn business?” one of the other guards asked.

“...Hmph. Some of you would be better off keeping quiet than flapping your gums on matters you know nothing about.” she replied coldly. “Here’s a dead dragon. That is something I can definitely understand from this whole situation. Now we know we can kill them. But it still remains to be seen whether or not I believe in your mythical Dragonborn or not. For the time being, until I can find out more, someone who can put down a dragon is more than enough for me.”

“I suppose that is fair enough housecarl. Most non-Nords dismiss our tales the first time they hear them.” the guard next to her replied.

“I’ll admit, I’ve been all across Tamriel and I have seen many outlandish things like this. However, there is definitely something different about this one… For now though, I advise you to trust in the strength in your sword arm, not in myths and legends.”

“Is that horse girl making you a believer housecarl?” the guard asked michievously.

“Shut it.” she snapped. “I will admit however, Luna and that man are unlike anything I have ever seen in my life.”

Another guard presumably from the city, late to the fight ran up to the scene and fell back in astonishment at Luna and Ky’ell standing right beside the skeleton of Mirmulnuir.

“By Ysmir, you killed a dragon!” he cried.

Luna and Ky’ell both gave him an unamused deadpan look.

“NO SHIT!” they yelled in unison.

The slow walk back to Whiterun on the cobblestone road weighed heavily on the minds of everyone who participated in the battle. Many dark thoughts threatened to invade their minds. Luna most of all. With the return of these powerful dragons to this new, but ancient land she had stumbled into, finding Celestia and returning home safely was going to be that much more difficult. She could only hope that Celestia was safe until she could go out and find her. Searching an entire province for her would prove to be exceedingly difficult enough. Filled with many dangers, each more treacherous than the last.

Celestia will be fine, she thought. She’s always been stronger than me when it comes to being alone in an unknown environment...

The late morning rain steadily drizzled on to them as they continued their walk, gently spraying their face and armor in a layer of moisture. Luna momentarily looked up to the sky and heard the sounds of the local wild A flock of ducks was flying overhead towards the river to find a safe place to feed and wash their feathers in the rain. A light breeze blew across the fields of the hold, gently blowing the dry grass back and forth making it appear to dance.

Then out of nowhere, as they almost made it to the outer wall of the city, the entire ground shook beneath Luna and Ky’ell’s feet from a thunderous roar in the sky that seemed to come from the mountain towering into the sky to the south.

“DOOOOOVVVVVVAAAAHKIIIIIIIIIIN!!!!!!!”

Luna and Ky’ell shook for a few seconds trying to balance themselves. They finally regained their footing as they looked around trying to process what just happened.

“What the Tartarus was that?”

“You got me.” I thought I heard someone screamin,” Ky’ell replied “Oh, and what’s Tar-Tar-Rush?”

Rolling her eyes, she looked in Irileth and her squadron. They had their swords unsheathed scanning the surrounding skies for signs of new threats

When they couldn’t find anything, they sheathed their swords back into their scabbards and continued their march towards the gates of the city. Irileth looked to the soldiers stationed on the outer walls of the city and called out to them.

“Guards! Keep an eye on the sky! Until we can find out what that was, I want the entire city guard to be on high alert!” she barked at the guard.

“At once housecarl!”

She waved her hand forward signaling the guards to continue onwards back into the city. Luna and Ky’ell followed them towards the main gate where Irileth gave the two guards stationed there a signal, allowing the squadron to pass through. The main gate swung open to reveal the streets of the city completely empty. The only people in the streets were two guards right inside speaking to two dark skinned men in saggy clothing and red capes wearing wraps around their head. Draped down from their waists were odd looking curved swords. Luna quickly walked up alongside Irileth to inquire further.

“Umm, Lady Irileth, who are they?”

Irileth eyed the two men carefully as they slowly walked across the bridge.

“They’ve got funny looking swords! I wonder if they’ll let me have one?” Ky’ell cheerfully added.

“Alik’r Warriors” she replied with a suspicious tone.

“What might those be?” Luna asked.

“Redguard royal mercenaries from the Alik’r Desert in the province of Hammerfell. The Alik’r Desert, which they are named after is the largest desert in Tamriel. Many of them are members of the royal guard in their capital city-state of Sentinel, but many of them in recent days are nothing but ruthless mercenaries.” she explained as they slowly passed them.

The Alik’r as Irileth called them, appeared to be having a heated discussion with the guards that they could now make out as they were halfway across the moat.

“Look, you’ve already been told you’re not allowed here. Turn around and go back the way you came.” one of the guards in front of the Alik’r warned.

“We’re causing no trouble. All we ask is we look for her.” one of the Alik’r replied.

The guard however, looked like he was in no mood for an argument and wasn’t going to have it.

“I could care less about what you are doing, after what happened, you are lucky that I don’t toss you in jail myself. Now get lost.”

The Alik’r was about to say something, but when Irileth drew her sword in front of him, it appeared that he decided against it.

The warrior straightened his collar and gave her a face of anger and frustration.

“We WILL be back. This is not over,” The Alik’r replied before turning around and walking back over the moat towards the gate.

When one of the Alik’r passed Luna, he eyed up and down her for a moment, unsure what to make of her before continuing on.

Irileth sheathed her sword when they were a good enough distance away and continued onward.

When they all made it up to the giant tree, Irileth halted her squadron and faced them calling them to attention.

“Listen men, it is my duty to make sure my Jarl’s city does not fall into chaos whenever something goes awry. So I order all of you to patrol the city and inform the citizens in a PROPER manner about what happened at the Western Watchtower. Do not mention the dragon or I will hall you to Dragonsreach Jail myself. IS THAT CLEAR?”

“YES MAAM!”

They then dispersed to different parts of the city to follow through with their orders. She then turned to Ky’ell who instantly saluted her with a nervous grin on his face. Luna and Ky’ell started following Irileth back to Dragonsreach, but she held up her hand and turned around to face them.

“Come back up in another hour Princess, while I speak to Commander Caius. The Jarl will most likely want to hear what happened at the battle from you two, not from me. So, I recommend you two take this time to get more acquainted with the city.” she explained.

“Very well Lady Irileth,” Luna replied as she gave a short bow to her.

Luna could have sworn she saw Irileth make a small smile before she turned and walked back up the stone steps back up to Dragonsreach.

“So...what do you wanna do in the meantime Loony?” Ky’ell asked.

“Hmmm, perhaps a little exploring wouldn’t hurt. I need to get a grasp on my surroundings. The only places I before the battle was the marketplace and the inside of that place they call Jorvasskr. Mayhaps we can browse the wares of the shops I haven’t seen?” she suggested.

“Sure! A day out on the town sounds groovy! Can we go look for goodies to get?”

They took their next hour off exploring through the city visiting the various shops and getting acquainted with many of the people in the city. Luna and Ky’ell started their hour going back down to the Plains District and browsing the various vendors. They met up with Fralia Gray-Mane again who politely bowed to Luna acknowledging her title to which Luna politely accepted.

“Its good to see you again your highness” Fralia kindly greeted.

“Please Miss Grey-Mane. There is no need for that. My title carries no weight here.” Luna respectfully replied.

“Nonsense. Any royalty kind enough to graciously help anyone in need is worthy of the title anywhere.”

Luna simply smiled and gave a slight bow to her.

“I see you made a friend with that young man who saved you. He seems to be enjoying himself,” Fralia said.

Luna turned her head to find Ky’ell pressing his head into the glass of her booth admiring her various wares.

My sister, he reminds me of that crazy pink mare Pinkamena a little too much, she thought as she rubbed the bridge of her nose.

They moved on to another booth and met the merchant-in-training Ysolda who took in immediate interest in Luna as she pelted her with questions about her homeland and what is her country’s primary export. Luna naturally didn’t want to reveal too much about Equestria, neither did she want to mention that jewels were their biggest export considering the fact that many wars in Equestria’s past with other nations were over their numerous resources.

“...Sugar is one of our primary exports, but up until...my sister and I found this continent, we mostly traded with our neighbor Zebrica.” she explained.

“Fascinating. I’ve always wanted to learn to be a Master Trader you see, your highness, it’s a very prosperous occupation. Once I’ve made enough money with the Khajiit caravans, I’m going to buy The Bannered Mare from Hulda.” Ysolda replied.

“Well I do hope the very best for you Miss Ysolda.” Luna said as they were about to continue on.

“Wait! Can I ask a small favor of you two?” she asked.

“Sure! Shoot away!” Ky’ell asked as he held his arms up behind his head.

“Do you think you can help me get a Mammoth Tusk?”

“A Mammoth Tusk Miss Ysolda?” Luna asked with a concerned and confused look.

“Yes, a Mammoth Tusk. Ri’saad the leader of one of the caravans wants me to prove myself to him that I’m worthy of learning to be a trader by acquiring a Mammoth Tusk.” she replied.

Ky’ell put his arms down and gave a big grin.

“Yep, that sounds like something pop would do alright.” he stated.

“Wait, Ri’saad is your father?” she asked bewildered.

“Adopted, but yeah.”

“Incredible! Can you put in a good word with me with him?”

“Sure, next time I see him anyway. The guy is a little hard to track down.” K’yell replied.

“Thank you very much. I look forward to seeing you two again.” she said as she curtsied to Luna.

Ky’ell and Luna finished off their hour walking around the city taking in the various sites. One in particular made Luna feel a sense of uneasiness. It was a two story building in the Wind District with an entrance that seemed to go right underground into the mountain that Whiterun sat on top of. The next building however had a very calming aura about it. It appeared to be a temple of some sort, three stories high covered in a faded pale sky blue paint. When Luna asked one of the exiting patrons of the building, they said it was the Temple of a goddess named Kynareth.

“Huh. Kynareth.” Luna said quietly as she stared at the building for a moment. She felt a peaceful presence surrounding the temple. A powerful, but calming presence that seemed to fill her to the core with positive energy as she stared at what looked to be some kind of idol in front of the temple before continuing the walk back up towards Dragonsreach with an unsure look on her face.

“Somethin up Lun?” Ky’ell asked interested in.

“I’m not entirely sure. There’s a very calming spirit covering this temple. I’m not entirely sure what it is though.”

“Let’s go see what it is! It might be a cool monster!” Ky’ell cheerfully replied.

Luna grabbed on to his tunic and pulled him back.

“Later Sir Ky’ell, we need to report back to Lord Balgruf.” she sternly said.

“Oh, fine. But I wanna do something fun later.”

Rolling her eyes she started walking back towards Dragonsreach. She stared at the preacher in front of the giant statue raving about his god Talos as she began her ascent up the stone steps to Dragonsreach. She turned back to see if Ky’ell was following and he seemed to be staring at the pool at the bottom of the steps with a mischeivious grin, but when he caught Luna staring, he innocently started whistling and looking in random directions. They made it up the steps in under a minute and walked across the wooden drawbridge leading into the palace.

The guards there eyed up her and Ky’ell for a moment before giving a nod to another guard.

“The guards have been informed of you and your companion’s presence thoroughly Princess Luna. You may pass.”

Luna nodded and pushed the tall wood doors open to enter the palace once again.

The main entrance hallway was thoroughly lit from the light of the midday sun coming through the windows. One of the servants was sweeping up dirt on one of the lavish carpets in the palace off to the side.

Luna and Ky’ell proceeded down the hallway hearing a multitude of muffled voices and conversations coming from many people further inside the palace. When they made it to the throne room, Luna saw the Jarl speaking to many of his advisors about various things. Irileth didn’t seem to be there with him among the various people. When Proventus noticed Luna and Ky’ell, he ran up to them to greet them.

“Welcome back Princess. You as well Ky’ell. The Jarl has been waiting for you” he said.

Luna nodded as they both approached the Jarl.

When Balgruf noticed her, he motioned for the rest of his advisors to go about their daily business.

“So what happened at the watch tower warrior? Was the dragon there?” he asked.

“That watch tower of yours was destroyed. Sorry bout that. But Loony and I killed the dragon for ya!” Ky’ell replied.

Balgruf stared at Luna for a moment with a unreadable expression before giving the both of them a smile.

“There’s definitely no question about it. That was a mighty deed. You’ve earned a place of honor among the heroes of Whiterun,” he proudly said.“And with the newest member of my court as well.” he added looking at Luna with pride.

“But I do believe that there must be much more to it than that...did something...strange...happen when the dragon died?”

“Um...I think my body absorbed something from the dragon, but I’m still a little freaked out about it.” he said.

“The guards took to calling us Dragonborn for some reason Lord Balgruf.” Luna replied.

“So it’s true. The Greybeards really were summoning you two with that call from the sky.”

“The Greybeards Lord Balgruf?” Luna asked.

“Masters of the Way of the Voice. They live in seclusion high on the slopes of the Throat of the World. Perhaps you noticed the mountain to the south towering above everything else while walking back into the city? That is the Throat of the World. The tallest mountain in Tamriel.” Balgruf explained.

“What do they want with us?”

The Dragonborn are said to be uniquely gifted in the Voice - the ability to focus your vital essence into a Thu’um or Shout.”

“So that’s what they meant by Shouting. Cause I can just “shout” at anyone whenever I feel like it, but I didn’t think there was anything special about it.” Ky’ell replied.

“Regardless...if you two really are Dragonborn, they can teach you to use that gift. You two heard the summons. What else could it mean? The Greybeards...” he stated as he stared off in thought.

One of Balgruf’s guards approached as he heard their conversation.

“Didn’t you hear the thunderous sound as you returned to Whiterun? That was the voice of the Greybeards, summoning you to High Hrothgar.”

High Hrothgar? Luna thought.

“This kind of thing hasn’t happened in...centuries at least. Not since Tiber Septim himself was still Talos of Atmora!” the guard explained.

That preacher Heimskr was worshipping a god called Talos. I wonder if this Tiber Septim is related somehow. she pondered.

“Hrongar, calm yourself. What does any of this Nord nonsense have to with our friend and the Princess here?” Proventus questioned. “Capable as they may be, I don’t see any signs of them being this, what, “Dragonborn” as you call them”.

The now identified Hrongar appeared to be angered by this statement.

“Nord nonsense?! Why you puffed up ignorant… These are our sacred traditions and tales that go all the way back to the founding of the First Empire!” he bellowed.

“Hrongar, don’t be so hard on Avenicci,” Balgruf said trying to defuse the situation.

Proventus gave Hrongar a slightly irritated look before composing himself.

“I mean no disrespect of course.” he apologized. “It’s just that...What could these Greybeards want with him and Lady Luna? Lady Luna isn’t even Nord let alone from this continent.”

“That’s the Greybeards business, not ours.” Balgruf replied.

“That is indeed true Lord Balgruf. All I want to do is find my sister and return home. I’m not certain as to how all of this should concern me.” Luna admitted.

Whatever happened when you two killed that dragon revealed something in you two, and the Greybeards heard it. Which brings me to my next point. You told me you aren’t from this continent, but I think I know better than that. ...You aren’t even from this world at all...are you? he said quietly.

Luna looked down in thought for a moment, wondering how she could have been found out already. Balgruf saw this, stood up out of his throne and placed his hand on her shoulder.

“Have no fear, you are in trusted company. You don’t have to say anything if you don’t wish to. The look in your eyes says it all. When I first saw you though, I knew there was something special about you, now I know for sure. I don't have to be a master in the arcane arts to know that you do not belong here in this world.”

A small pair of eyes in the shadows off to the side of the throne room widened and darted off to an unknown location.

“Thank you” Luna simply replied.

Balgruf went back to his throne and sat back down.

“I will admit that it is surprising that other realms outside of our own could possess the ability to become Dragonborn. Although, if the Greybeards think you and Ky'ell are Dragonborn, who are we to argue?”

And as an added bonus, I believe High Hrothgar may hold answers as to how to find your sister.”

“You think they could help me find Celestia?”

“I’m certain of it. You and Ky’ell better get up to High Hrothgar immediately. There’s no refusing the summons of the Greybeards. It’s a tremendous honor. I envy you, you know. To climb the 7,000 steps again...I made the pilgrimage once. Did you know that?

7000 steps? And I thought Sombra had it bad. These days I get tired walking out to the garden she thought.

“That doesn’t sound fun at all” Ky’ell said as he leaned over and whispered into Luna’s ear.

“High Hrothgar is a very peaceful place. Very...disconnected with the troubles of this world. I wonder if the Greybeards even notice what is going on down here. They haven’t seemed to care before.”

For a moment, his mind appeared to be off somewhere else before he gave a heavy sigh.

“No matter...Ky’ell go to High Hrothgar with Princess Luna. Help her find her sister Celestia.”

In honor of his deeds, the Jarl gave Ky’ell the title of Thane and the Axe of Whiterun. Luna could see it was given some kind of enchantment which gave it an eerie green glow. Luna was appointed Ky’ell’s Dame or honorary knight companion which meant she had to carry most of Ky’ell’s inventory that he had collected up to this point and act as Ky'ell's personal bodyguard to the best of her ability. To which she begrudgingly agreed to.

The doors of Dragonsreach opened, and out came Ky’ell, followed closely by Luna. Balgruf and Irileth followed them out of the palace. Luna was surprised to see both of them see her off, and she smiled the warmest smile either of them had ever seen. Jarl Balgruf called Luna over to have a private word, while Irileth growled and marched over to Ky’ell, who, to the childish guy’s credit, did not falter under the piercing red eyes of the dark elf. Acting on instinct Ky’ell rested his left hand upon the steel sword sheathed in his belt. Irileth came within inches of his face.

"You let so much as a scratch happen to that girl and I'll have your head sitting on a pike."

Ky’ell paused for a moment, taken aback from Irileth’s attitude before giving a slight smile.

"Protective are we? Don’t worry I’ll keep this one safe." he replied pointing his thumb at Luna.

Irileth stormed past him and took one last look at Luna before walking through the gates.

"Where did Lady Irileth go off to?" Luna asked when Ky’ell approached.

"To attend to matters of the hold I would Imagine. She told me to let you know that she'll deeply miss you."

Luna raised an eyebrow at him.

Unsure how to handle Luna's skepticism, Ky'ell turned his attention to Balgruf who regarded him carefully, scratching the side of his beard.

"Luna, may I have a word with the Dragonborn in private?" Ky'ell sighed deeply trying to hide his tone of concern. Luna nodded, before walking off down the drawbridge and sat down at the top of the Stone Steps. When Balgruf was sure she was out of earshot he turned to Ky’ell.

"Dragonborn, have you felt anything...odd...about Luna?”

Ky’ell looked down for a moment contemplating an answer. He briefly thought about revealing the true nature of what Luna was and what she was before she changed into what she is now, but decided against it. Instead he recalled how the frightening battle at the Western Watchtower occurred. Being chomped and blasted at by a dragon affected him more than it seemed to. At the time, it felt only natural that he would protect her, it was only after the fact that he noticed something beyond a man's instinct to protect a woman.

“Yeah. I think I have. There’s just something about her.”

"An aura of peace? A desire to protect? Dragonborn, she has been like a daughter to me, and I have known her for no more than two days.. Powerful magic surrounds her Dragonborn, it doesn't take years of study in the arcane arts to figure it out."

Jarl Balgruff looked over his shoulder at Luna seeing her speaking with one of the guards walking down the steps.

“Take care of her. Watch over her. You and Luna are always welcome back into Dragonsreach whenever you wish to visit.”
he said before he turned back into the palace and the large wooden doors closed behind them.

Ky’ell stared up at the imposing doors of Dragonsreach for a moment before turning around and walked across the drawbridge and down to the spot where Luna was speaking with one of the guards.

“Silent Moons Camp, sir guard?”

“Yes Lady Luna, it is an ancient ruin just northwest of the city. The Jarl has placed a bounty on the bandit chief that is attacking travelers going past there. But there are also other rumors about the place,” the guard replied.

“May we ask what kind of rumors?” Luna asked.

“Well it hasn’t ever been proven, but legend has it, that Silent Moons Camp has a forge that can create powerful weapons blessed with the light of the full moons.”

An interesting thing to look into later, but right now I have to get to this High Hrothgar and speak with these Greybeards I keep hearing about, she thought.

“Thank you sir guard, you’ve been most helpful,” she said as she slightly bowed to him.

The guard bowed back in respect and went about his way.

Luna turned around to find Ky’ell approaching her.

“Hiya Luna! What was that all about?” Ky’ell cheerfully asked.

“We were simply asking about strange rumors revolving around Whiterun’s surrounding areas.”

“Ooh! Have you heard about any treasure we could get along the way?”

“He made mention of a ruin northwest of the city containing mysterious weapons and an equally mysterious forge that is being guarded by a group of bandits, but there is no tim-” Luna tried to explain before Ky’ell ran past her but she held him back before he left her reach.

“We cannot waver from our objective Sir Ky’ell,” Luna snapped.

“We must make haste to High Hrothgar immediately if I am to find the whereabouts of my sister and for you to discover the meaning behind these dragon attacks.”

“Actually Ky’ell’s childish plan might benefit you at the moment.” an amused voice behind them said.

Luna turned around to find Farengar approaching them with a light smile on his face.

“Princess. I wished to see you before you left. Your presence has been...pleasant these past two days.” Farengar said.

“Thank you Sir Farengar. It was a pleasure meeting you and studying your magic.” Luna replied with a bow.

“But back to my conclusion from overhearing your discussion with the Dragonborn here. High Hrothgar is a very long way from here and the only way to scale it is up the 7000 steps which is on the south side of the mountain. And even journeying to the town of Ivarstead at the bottom is a trek in of itself. Without the necessary supplies, a many number of terrible things could happen to you two.”

Luna looked down in thought for a moment.

I guess it was wishful thinking getting everything done and finding Celestia quickly.

“However, the trek might be made easier if you gather supplies and gear beforehand.” he suggested. “I’m assuming you are in need of money, so I would suggest various favors, jobs, and bounties of the sort around the city before you go. That way you could buy various potions and weapons for your trip. From what I am aware of, the leader of Silent Moons Camp has a bounty on his head. With that bounty and reclaiming the stolen items they have compiled, I have no doubt you two would have sufficient Septims for weapons, potions, armor, and food for your journey,” he explained.

Luna thought it over for a moment before nodding to him.

“Thank you very much Farengar. We will take this into consideration-” was all Luna could get out before she felt herself being rocketed in the other direction after a feminine shriek from her. Farengar had a look of bewilderment at whatever was happening to Luna.

“COMEONLETSGOKILLSOMEBADDIES!” Ky’ell screamed with delight.

Luna could feel the wind whipping against her face as she was dragged in the opposite direction by her arm. Then she suddenly could saw the top of the stone steps jumping upwards as she felt herself falling downwards over a hundred feet with Ky’ell. Then out of nowhere, she felt the sharp sting of the flat of her back impacting against water. As she began to sink into the cool, shimmering water, the pain slowly subsided, but was replaced with rage and her vision turning red. She managed to get her head above water barely controlling her rage.

“YOU IDIOT!!! YOU COULD HAVE KILLED ME!!! NEVER BUCKING DO THAT TO US AGAIN” she screamed at him in her royal Canterlot voice.

Turning around she found Ky’ell splashing around in the water having the time of his life. In a moment, she once again lost control as she felt herself throwing a clenched fist upwards from underneath where Ky’ell was swimming. To the confusion of everyone in the Wind District, Ky’ell exploded skyward hundreds of feet into the air and then rapidly fell back down to the water face first with a painful slap.

In the bright realm of Aetherius parallel to Nirn:

K: "Brother, it seems as though we have new visitors to our world that don't belong here."

A: "Visitors Sister? Are they going to pose a problem?"

K: "No, it seems like they were forced to come here."

S: "Forced? How?"

J: "Sheogorath is up to his old tricks again in other realms. I felt a surge of daedric energy pierce the barrier of the Aetherius into a portal for a moment before closing.

M: "Brothers, Sisters, we cannot just let the poor things to die, we must return them home."

A: Not yet my lady, one of them is safe for the time being. She has found my champion and I have a feeling their journey will lead them to the Way of the Voice."

M: "What about the other my lord? The poor darling is in such terrible shape."

T: "Do not fret milady. My own...misguided and self-proclaimed, but honorable champion has her safely in his castle at this very moment. She is also safe for the time being."

S: "What if Dagon, Baal, or one of their many Daedra brothers and sisters try to influence them?"

A: "Then I WILL personally intervene, but until then we must let these events unfold as they must. My champion has a grand destiny to fufill for all of Nirn, and I have a feeling this maiden may prove helpful to him on his quest."

M: "What of The Three Good Daedra my lord?"

A: ...If Meridia, Nocturnal, or Azura genuinely wish to help, then I will allow it. However, Nocturnal must be watched closely. Beings of darkness seldom go about their business without having an underlying motive."

Next time...

"So, you are the strange white horse woman who saved Lady Shatter-shield and slayed The Butcher where he stood?" a noble, determined voice asked.

"Who are you? Where am I?" Celestia asked.

"The Palace of Kings" the voice replied back.

Intermission: The Mane Meeting of Madness (Update: 8/11)

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Before the Princesses were banished to the country at war...

They had no idea what to expect when they arrived in Canterlot. The message from the Princess was so vague that they could only go there under the assumption that it was something very bad. Little did the new Princess Twilight Sparkle know, that things for her and her friends was about to go from bad to much worse. When the urgent message from Celestia arrived by way of dragon flame from her faithul assistant and little brother Spike, Twilight and her six friends had decided to take the evening train to Canterlot, hoping the speed would propel them faster than other modes of transportation. Twilight and her friends were standing up in their first class car that they had to themselves, anxious to get out and help the Princesses. Twilight Sparkle had to pay the engineer extra to propel the train down the tracks towards Canterlot at full speed to get there much faster.

“Alrahty then Twah, what did the message exactly say again? And please tell us a little bit more slowly this time." Applejack asked.

“Yeah! Tell us! Cause you were rambling almost faster than Pinkie during one of her sugar rushes.” Rainbow Dash added.

"Or Dashie after drinking on of Rarity's Capper Chinos! Those have funny names!" Pinkie retorted.

“That's cappuccino Pinkie dear. And please Twilight, if you insist on standing, please stand still for a moment to tell us properly so we can actually hear you." the white unicorn insisted.

Said lavender pony that they were speaking to was quickly pacing back and forth in the lavish train car. Her eyes were darting all over the place and she seemed to be quietly muttering to herself, not paying any attention to her friends in the train car. Every once in a while, the lavender alicorn would start hysterically laughing to herself. The other ponies in the car looked at each other for a moment with a look of sincere concern in their eyes for their friend. One of them began to walk slowly towards her.

“They’re both in trouble. What if Chrysalis has come back and is brainwashing them? What if Canterlot is being invaded by a foreign military like the Caribou?! What if Canterlot is being attacked by a giant monster? What if they’ve been captured by the plunder vines again?!”

A pink blur bounced past the five of them and landed right on top of Twilight’s back causing her to collapse on to the ground.

“C’mon Twilight. We need your smarty brand of cray-cray right now, not your “me” brand of cray-cray right now.” Twilight heard a bubbly voice state.

"Pinkie, please get off of me!" I need to be ready when we arrive in Canterlot. I can't do that though when your plot is planted firmly on my back!" Twilight yelled.

“Not until you Pinkie Promise that you won’t go nutty like that time in Season 2.”

The rainbow maned pegasus rolled her eyes, flew over to her, and picked Pinkie Pie off of Twilight and placed her back down on to the floor over by the white unicorn Rarity.

“Hey!” I was about to have a moment of character building with her!,” Pinkie whined.

"Maybe later Pinkie. Right now, Twilight needs help," Fluttershy softly replied as she gently pat Pinkie on the back.

Rolling her eyes at the pink earth pony, the blonde pony walked up to Twilight and held out her hoof. Twilight looked at her and her hoof for a moment before taking it and allowing the blonde pony to help her up on to her hooves. Twilight looked tense for a moment before relaxing and giving the blonde pony a small smile.

“Thank you Applejack. Sorry for losing it there for a sec,” Twilight calmly thanked

“Aw, that’s alright sugarcube. We all have our moments. Some more than others anyway,” she said while giving Pinkie Pie a quick glance with a raised eyebrow.

"What? You wound me madam," Pinkie said, faking offence. "I'll have you know that I haven't misbehaved in over three days."

"Forgive our doubtfulness dahling, but you did stick your nose between the Zebra Ambassador's back legs three days ago," Rarity deadpanned.

"I was doing my Annual blindfolded donut search!"

The train began to slow to a halt as they started to hear the brakes of the train start to give a metallic squeal. The force of the train beginning to stop began to shake Twilight and her friends and make them lose their balance for a few seconds. Just outside the windows of the train they could see the well lit train station platform of Canterlot. There was something amiss however. The platform was massed with more ponies than usual trying to get on to the train.

Running out of their car and on to the platform they witnessed a chaotic sight. Ponies panicking, guards trying to direct ponies towards the platform and on to the trains arriving at Canterlot Grand Station. Many ponies were being trampled by the stampede of those who were trying to leave the city. Many noble ponies from each district of the city were shoving their ways on to the trains. Rarity recognized one of them among the crowd of nobles in the back of the line to one of the trains. A prim and proper white unicorn with a neatly kept blue mane and a thin mustache. His tuxedo was unkept and messy as if it had been caught up in a storm.

“Fancy Pants!” Rarity exclaimed as she ran up to the stallion.

The white stallion turned his head towards her and gave a bright smile at the mare.

“Ah, Miss Rarity! It is very good to see you again my friend. I do wish we had met again under better circumstances.” the stallion cheerfully greeted as he embraced Rarity in a hug.

“Are you alright? Where is Fleur?” Rarity asked concerned.

“Oh, I’m certain she’ll be back in a moment. We visited a new drink establishment on the outskirts of the city a few hours ago called Mamba Juice and now she has to unfortunately use the loo. I’m holding her spot in line.” he replied.

“Are you and Fleur going to be alright? I hope this isn’t distressing you two too much.”

“Oh, pish-posh. Fleur and I can handle a little excitement. We’ve been meaning to get out of the city for a while now for a much needed break from work anyway, but couldn’t come up with a time. I suppose now is as good as a time as any. We might go to our new estate on the outskirts of Ponyville to oversee its last steps of construction.”

“I’m glad. Perhaps we could all have tea together. After this whole thing is over of course.” Rarity suggested.

“I think that would be delightful. And maybe you could perhaps give Fleur and I a tour of your charmingly rustic town. I think Fleur and I need to stay out of Canterlot for a while to rejuvenate our spirits. Fresh air and a change of scenery may do us some good."

"Well, I look forward to showing you my neighborhood then," Rarity replied happily.

Twilight gave a small smile at her friend talking to Fancy Pants as she took a cursory scan of the station. Sh saw another small group of the nearby guards adorned in gold armor and ran up to one of them she recognized with her friends trailing close behind her.

“Commander Aegis Slash! What is going on? What is happening to the princesses?” Twilight screamed at the guard.

The guard noticed Twilight after her outburst and him and his small squad quickly gave her a deep bow.

“Princess Twilight! It is so good to see that you are here. The city is in chaos. We were ordered to evacuate the city by Princess Celestia herself. Unfortunately, we’ve been struggling to do even that.”

“ Princess Celestia? Where is she? What is happening Aegis?”

“She and Princess Luna are still in Canterlot Castle. They are in the throne room trying to fight off an unknown creature who was laying waste to the central part of the city and has entered the castle!” he frantically explained.”

Twilight looked towards Canterlot Castle and saw smoke rising up from the central part of the city.

“That don’t look good at all” Applejack morbidly stated.

Twilight stared off into the distance for a moment with a look of fear before shaking her head, and turned back to Aegis Slash with a determined look on her face.

“Commander. I would like you to send a command from me to the other trains coming towards Canterlot to drop off anypony coming this way by train at the nearest station outside of Canterlot and come this way at full speed. We need all the trains we can get as soon as possible if we are going to get these ponies evacuated.”

“At once your highness!” Aegis Slash and his small squad saluted her and then galloped off to complete their orders.

“C’mon gang! Let’s go save the Princesses!” Rainbow Dash cried as Rarity ran back up to them.

They all began galloping at full speed towards Canterlot Castle out into the early nighttime air, quickly sprinting out of Canterlot Station and past many of the shops and cafes on the outer part of the city. The panic of the Canterlot ponies had done quite a number on the city Many barrels and various shopping vendors had been knocked over presumably by panicking ponies escaping the city. The windows of many of the various cafes, art galleries, and shops had been broken. A few of the lampposts illuminating the streets had toppled over presumably from the ponies trying to flee from the city. Shards of glass had decorated the street in a dangerous coat of sharpness and sparkle. By this time, only a few ponies were in the streets heading to the station as most of them had already arrived at the train station.

"So what is going on? I'm afraid I missed the discussion you were having with that strapping stallion Twilight." Rarity said as she mischievously gave Twilight a smile.

"Apparently the Princess ordered the city to evacuate and they are sending in us as the big guns against this weird creature attacking the princesses! Rainbow replied pumping her hoof while flying.

“Darn, I wish I was here at this panic party, and I always go to panic parties!” Pinkie bubbily stated while looking down at all of the stray fruit and glass spread about on the cobble stone street.

“Oh, I do hope no one was hurt trying to get out.” Fluttershy added.

“Hey Twi, I'm not sure if this is the best time to bring this up, but don’t your parents live here? I hope they got out alright.” Rainbow asked nervously.

Twilight halted her advances on Canterlot Castle and turned around to face Rainbow Dash so quickly, that she almost gave herself whiplash. What was on her face was a look of pure terror.Her eyes were shining with the beginnings of tears and she was lightly shaking. She then suddenly bolted down a side street at full speed barely giving her friends time to react.

“Where is she going?” Rainbow asked no one in particular.

“Where do yah think she’s goin? Goin to get her mane done?,” Applejack snapped ignoring the huff given by Rarity at her comment. “She’s going to see if her kinfolk are safe. As would we all would do. Now c'mon, let’s git after her!”

The five of them followed Twilight down many various alleyways and streets trying to keep up with her as best as they could. Weaving their way through the city, they eventually stopped as they saw Twilight run up to a somewhat fancy, but simple looking house on one of the side streets close to the castle. There appeared to be a note on the door that Twilight seemed to collapse in relief after reading.

Rarity walked up to the door, teared off the note and began reading it aloud for everypony to hear.

"Twilight honey, knowing you, you are probably in a tizzy right now worrying about us, but I thought I’d stick this to the door before leaving. Don’t worry, your father and I will be alright, we are just going to stay with your Aunt Crystal Sparkle in Las Pegasus for a few days. You remember her, you met her at your tenth and thirteenth birthdays. She’s gonna be letting us stay in her private penthouse while we are there. Good luck with the baddie honey. Kick its plot for us!"

Mom

P.S:This is Dad, be careful honey.

Rarity finished reading the note and turned to the other girls who each had varying smiles on their faces including her own.

“I didn’t know ya had an aunt Twilight.” Applejack stated surprised.

“Yeah, why haven’t you mentioned her? We could have a "We now know you have a big family” party after this," Pinkie happily agreed.

“Don’t know her all that well honestly. I hardly ever see her. All I know is she’s some kind of bigshot fashion model/CEO in Las Pegasus. We met a couple of times and she seems nice enough” Twilight groaned tiredly while still on the ground. She then turned on to her hooves and pushed herself back on to her hooves.

“Oh, she’s much much more than that Twilight. She’s THE premiere model of west coast Equestria AND she owns half of the jewelry and trade industry in Las Pegasus. I’ve been trying to contact her for ages to do business with her but I keep getting stonewalled by her stubborn secretary. Some unicorn mare named Arid Mausoleum. I believe she works part time for one of the Royal Guard's Commanders down in the Southern Badlands.” she thoughtfully explained while looking off into space.

“Hey, I don’t know about you five, but we have two princesses to save and every second we stay here, the more likely they’ll be goners by the time we get there. So let’s move out!” Rainbow barked.

Twilight looked at the others, turned towards the castle and they galloped the rest of the way at full speed. When they made it to the drawbridge into the castle past the outer walls, they came across two Pegasi guards at the entryway who immediately drew their spears at the approaching girls expecting trouble before putting themselves at ease after recognizing their new princess of magic.

“Princess Twilight. Thank Celestia, you are here. We were just about to give up all hope of help before you arrived.” one of the guards exclaimed.

“Steel Wing, it's really good to see you, but please, where are the princesses?”

“In the throne room confronting the threat, your highness. The Royal Guard has already evacuated most of the citizens in the city to Canterlot Grand Station where they will be departing from Canterlot and making their way to safer locations until further notice. Fifty of us remained behind to create a perimeter around the castle while the rest of the guard deals with evacuations.” the silver maned guard explained.

"Good. Please let us in then Steel Wing, and don't let anyone in or out until the threat has been properly dealt with," Twilight firmly requested.

"At once your highness." Steel Wing replied with a salute.

"PRIVATE CUMULUS! LOWER THE DRAWBRIDGE! PRINCESS TWILIGHT AND THE ELEMENTS WISH TO CROSS!" he bellowed up to one of his subordinates on the wall adjacent to the drawbridge.

The guard in question saluted down to Steel Wing and started cranking a mechanism which slowly but surely lowered the massive gold plated drawbridge covering the gap across the narrow moat around the castle. It fell on to their edge of the most with a solid echoing thud.

After a moment of unsettling silence, Twilight and the girls snapped themselves out of their stupor and began to run across the drawbridge and approach the massive ivory white entryway doors into the castle. Twilight stopped for a moment and turned to her friends behind her.

"Girls, you all ready for this? We are pretty much going into this blind. Anything could be in there," Twilight stated.

"Let's go already, I want to kick some bad guy flank!" Rainbow excitedly cried.

"I'm ready, I'm ready, for a boss battle." Pinkie happily said in a sing-song voice.

"Let's just get a move on already, we're wastin time," Applejack snapped.

Twilight nodded to them and the big golden handles of the entryway doors were illuminated with a violet light as Twilight slowly pulled them open with her magic. The doors swung wide open with a daunting groan. Twilight and her friends entered the castle and quickly began their way across the long entryway hall towards the main throne room.

"This might be a bad tim to ask this darling, but how do you know those two strapping stallions, Aegis and Steel I believe their names were." Rarity inquired with a swoon.

"They were my personal bodyguards for the last few years I lived in Canterlot. And they weren't uptight like the rest of the Guard, so I got to know them a bit. They must have been promoted to lieutenant not long after I left."

"Got to know them a bit? How well did they get aqcuainted with you?" Rainbow asked in a mischievous tone while wiggling her eyebrows.

"RAINBOW! You know a lady never tells about that sort of thing." Rarity replied.

Twilight's cheeks noticeably got red.

"Where in tartarus did you come up with that conclusion?" she yelled in embarrasment.

"We're about to go up against a big bad varmit again and all you two can do is gossip about Twi? C'mon girls, we gotta keep our wits about ourselves." Applejack snapped.

As they got closer to the throne room, they could make out voices and the loud sounds of various items being thrown around. One of the voices slowly getting more audible was distinctively male. At one point they even heard the distinct sound of a breaking window. With each sound, Twilight pushed her muscles even further to go faster, even when they were already screaming for a break.

"I really hope this isn't Discord again trying something funny or else this is going to be awkward." Rainbow growled.

"Oh no, Rainbow, this couldn't be Discord. He just sent me a letter saying he's going to be with a friend in another world for a few days. Something he calls a human named Wade." Fluttershy politely insisted as she tried to keep up with the group.

"You two send each other letters?" Applejack asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh yes, we're friends. I like to keep in contact with him." she replied.

The girls then went silent as they finally reached the main throne room. What they came across in the throne room frightened them.

Both of the Sisters appeared to be gradually glowing brighter and brighter as they were collapsed on the ground, weakly moving their legs. A strange hairless bipedal being in equally strange clothes and armor seemed to be casting some kind of spell on them while maintaining an unsettling giant smile on his face. A golden cyclone seemed to encircle the Sisters, slowly getting faster as they glowed brighter.

Twilight tried using her magic to cancel out whatever spell it was using, but her horn just fizzled out with a few purple sparks. Twilight then tried pushing her way over to the princesses through the game winds in the throne room. She made it a few feet into the biting winds before she was forcefully ejected out of thr cyclone by the strange being who looked at her from the other side of the room and shook his finger at her with feined disappointment. Twilight just gave him a face of pure anger in return before returning her gaze to the princesses.

In desperation, Twilight tried telling to them in order to get through to them, but the shrieking cyclone seemed to be blocking out all surrounding sounds.

Luna is much closer to me. Maybe she will hear me if I use the Royal Canterlot Voice, she thought.

So she took a deep breath in and focused her magic into her vocal cords and let out a booming yell that even her friends could hear over the winds.

"LUNA!!! PRINCESS LUNA!!! CAN YOU HEAR ME?!?"

For a moment, Luna seemed to hear her as she slowly began to turn her head towards Twilight. Unfortunately, just as she was beginning to see the blues of her eyes, Luna and Celestia disappeared into thin air with a blinding flash.

"Luna? Celestia?" she asked in shock and disbelief. "No...oh Celestia please no..."

"What just happened girls?" Rainbow inquired in a frightened voice.

Twilight could feel her eyes grow moist and a lump grow inside her throat as her gaze was still stuck on the spots where the Sisters used to be. She was snapped out of her stupor by a solid wooden knock on the marble floor of the throne room. She looked up to see the bipedal being trying to get her attention with his wooden walking stick.

"Now my dear. Would you be so kind as to provide me with more entertainment than those stuffy rulers were able to?" the being respectfully requested.

"Oh, andquicklytellmewheremybrotherinmadnessisbeforeIfuckingimpaleyoualloncandycanesandmushroompatches," he rapidly ranted.

"Wh-who are you? What are you?" Twilight asked terrified.

"And what demented horror designed YOUR clothes?" Rarity cried.

"Oh, my apologies. Manners before madness. Or is it madness before Manners? Anywho, I suppose introductions are in order. I am Sheogorath, Daedric prince of madness. ...and other things. ThatIamnottalkingabout."

"She-ogo-rath?" Pinkie clumsily pronounced.

"Ex-actacaly" Sheogorath cheerfully replied before his personality took a polar reversal.. "Now please actually tell me where Discord is, I wish to know why this realm isn't filled with chocolate rain, candy clouds and paper mache mountains yet."

Meanwhile in another realm...

A familiar draconeques was going through his bag at a friend's place making sure he was ready for his weekend stay over.

The apartment he was in was more akin to a condemned building, but he couldn't seem to care in the slightest as he happily prepared for his vacation.

"Alrighty then, upside down sleeping bags, shaking milks, pineapple grenades, living back scratcher, I should really get that thing tamed, glow stick swords." He counted off. "Hey, author, I know chaos is my thing, but this supply list is weird."

"Hey, Dissy are ya ready? I have a spot in Pulverine's room at Charlie's school all set up for DDR while they are off on their little Mars trip. I wanna hijack everything there while we can" A very bubbly male voice asked from the other room."

"Almost done Wade, I just need to check the last of my things before our fun can commence." Discord replied

"Did you get the scripts of Green Lantern for us to use as target practice?"

"Yes, I got the scripts of Green Lantern for us to use as target practice." Discord replied.

"Sweet! Now let's go!" the voice replied.

"One second, I need to-" Discord stopped as he heard a ringing come from his pouch. He reached into his backpack and pulled out an alarm clock with flashing butterflies on its face.

"Really? That's what you are going with for an emergency signal author? Might as well put me in a rabbit costume and a cape while you're at it." Discord replied annoyed while looking towards the wall.

"What's up Dis? We goin or what?"

"Sorry Wade, It sounds like there's some trouble going on back home. I'll have to come back when I see what's up," he replied to Wade as he stood up with his shoulder pouch.

With a snap of his fingers, he disappeared without a trace.

The sound of light footsteps came close to the door frame of the filthy room as a familiar red and black face with white eyes popped out from the side.

"Hey author, can you possibly shoehorn in me getting my teleporter unit back? What he's doing sounds like fun. And bring in Mr. Aquino in at a later time for a collab chapter while you're at it.

Next time...

"So, you are the horse princess who slayed The Butcher?"

"My name is Celestia. Where am I?"

"You are in The Palace of Kings Princess. Now, tell me why I have never seen the likes of you before I imprison you as an Aldemiri Spy."

Chapter 7: The Bear of Ice and The Horse of Sun (LATEST EDIT: 09/14/18)

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She had not known how long she had been running, but she didn’t care. The feeling of exhaustion and pain clouded her senses. Celestia just kept on running and running through the pearly white snow biting at her bare feet, trying to stay as far away from her pursuers as much as possible. She didn’t know what they looked like. Every time she turned around, all she would see was a dark mass of black smoke, goo, green eyes and writhing tentacles, rapidly gaining on her and everytime she set eyes upon it, it would fuel her terror even more. So she just kept running blindly throughout the snow covered forest at breakneck speed with her lungs screaming for relief. Then out of nowhere, she felt a sharp pain in her leg as it caught onto a lifted root of a tree and sent her slamming down into the snow with a smack. She turned onto her stomach to find the giant morphous mass staring at her right in the face just a few inches away with its single haunting eye in its center. She could hear an unholy gutteral voice whispering in a terrifying dialect that she could never hope to understand.

The mass began to stretch out its tentacles, but stopped just within an inch of her face, when a gonging sound followed by a blue flashing light suddenly appeared. The light appeared to frighten off the beast as it disappeared into smoke without a trace. The light slowly came out from behind a tree and brought itself into Celestia’s sight. The ball of blue light had a presence of comfort and love, making Celestia’s feelings of terror melt right away. As it got closer, she could feel the warmth emanating from it, encasing her body in a shell of safety. Then to her surprise, the ball began to make distinctive sounds that almost sounded like whispering. The voice coming from the ball sounded strangely familiar to her, but she couldn't quite place it. However, when she tried to listen in on to the ball of light to make it out more clearly, she felt herself fading away and her world turning dark once again.

As Celestia began to stir once again from the depths of slumber, she felt something she hadn’t felt for the past few days. Warmth and comfort wrapping her in its safe embrace like a loving cocoon. She could smell a mix of lavender incense and brown sugar in the air, mixed with a faint smell of meat. There were also other older smells too. The smell of old book pages and ink filled the air with a friendly aroma that for a moment, made her believe that she was back home, safe and sound in her room and in her own bed. That feeling gave way to a slight cold sting as she shifted her leg slightly out from underneath her covers before jerking it back underneath what she assumed to be the covers.

Her eyes slowly opened to a stone ceiling, worn and ancient, but still holding together. She turned her head over to the right to see pale white light coming out of a window as if a blizzard was brewing right outside. The walls of the room were adorned with blue banners and drapes of various shades. One of the banners carried the visage of a blue bear. She assumed that had to be a symbol of significance to these people. Bookcases lined the walls filled with books that had unique covers with bright vibrant colors. Celestia could swear she felt magical power emanate from a select few of the more brightly colored books throughout each of the bookcases. The small table next to the bed she was currently occupying had a few various items including a candle, a few books, and two glass bottles of an unknown green substance. She looked at the bed she was currently occupying and the silk sheets were the same shade of icy blue that the various banners around the room had.

All of a sudden, the wooden door on the other side of the room swung wide open to reveal a burly man with rippling muscles wearing a bears pelt as a hood of sorts. His spiked gloves and his large battle axe draped across his back were sure signs that this man, whoever he was, meant business and was not one to be trifled with. However, being around more intimidating ponies and creatures in the past, this man didn’t scare her in the slightest. The man eyed up and down her as if looking for a sign of any threat for a solid minute before letting out a deep breath and stepped further into the room, closing the door behind him.

“So, you’re awake. Good. I’m not entirely sure if you can understand me horse woman, but it is nice to see you didn’t die out there before making it here” the raspy voiced burly man said with a tiny smile.

“May I ask where I am good sir?” Celestia replied with a smile of her own.

The man was taken aback for a moment, but composed himself quickly. He looked as if he was about to say something, before another man came into the room without warning.

“You are in one of my chambers in the Palace of Kings of Windhelm. And it is nine in the morning, on the 23rd of Hearthfire if you would like to know.” the man said.

Celestia warily eyed this new man, but gave a small smile at him. The man in question was fairly tall and of average muscular build, but his piercing ice blue eyes commanded attention. He appeared to be wearing a fur coat over a steel cuirass engraved with a complex pattern. He also appeared to be carrying a simple steel sword that was partially concealed underneath his fur coat. His armored boots clanked every step he took closer to the bed Celestia was currently occupying.

“Welcome to my palace Princess Celestia.” the man said.

“Wh-Who are you?”

“I am Jarl Ulfric Stormcloak. The ruler of this hold.” the now identified Ulfric replied.

“And future high king of Skyrim.” the burly man in the bear pelt hood added.

“Please Galmar, not now, there is still a lot that needs to be done before that becomes close to being reality.” Ulfric firmly replied.

“My apologies.” the burly man said.

“May I ask how you know my name Lord Ulfric?” Celestia respectfully asked.

“Hah! The lass seems to have the same thoughts as I!” Galmar said with a chuckle.

“We heard all about you from Lady Shattershield and how you saved her and managed to slay the Butcher of Cragslane Cavern. His operations have been a dangerous nuisance to my people for some time now, so I thank you.”

“F-Friga? Is she alright? I must find her!” Celestia said as she tried to get out of the bed only to be met with pain from her abdomen and quickly followed with a cry in pain.

“Hold it there lass. My men saw your little tumble down that hillside with Lady Shattershield. You probably shouldn’t move for a little bit.” Galmar insisted as he carefully helped her back into bed.

“Do not fear. Friga is traumatized from her experience and she suffered a few broken bones, but she seems to be alright.” Ulfric replied. “She told us of what you and her suffered at the hands of that filth Butcher.”

Celestia looked down, still upset with herself that she was unable to stop Friga from being violated.

She needed me and I screwed around, she thought as tears began to form in her eyes.

“Lord Ulfric… Friga ended up suffering, and I took too long to prevent it.” she replied choked up with sobs.

Ulfric kneeled down to face Celestia at eye level by her bed and placed his hand on her shoulder.

“But you DID save her. That is what is important. She may not be fine now, but after being reunited with her friends and family, the possibility of healing has returned to her thanks to you. In my eyes, that makes you a hero.” Ulfric comfortingly replied to her.

“...Thank you.”

“Now, I must ask. Where do you hail from? I know many of the races all across Nirn through my academic studies at the academy in Cyrodiil, but I have never seen, nor heard of a race such as yours before. And to have that member of a new race be royalty is even more unusual.”

Celestia looked off to the window for a moment, trying to think of a response. This new land had not given her a good first impression when it came to the kind of people that inhabited it, and she was not entirely certain that she should reveal her true nature to Jarl Ulfric quite yet until she knew she could trust him. She wanted to find Luna as soon as possible, and people knowing of her world and her true form would only get in the way of her search.

I hate doing this but I don’t know if I can trust them yet. I just hope I remember how to make a convincing lie, she thought morosely.

“I am called Alicorn Equestrian Lord Ulfric. My sister and I hail from an island continent in the far east away from this one called Equestria.” she explained.

“Equestria? In all of my studies have never heard of such a place.” he admitted.

“The feeling is quite mutual Lord Ulfric. In the thousands of years my people have existed, we have never known of any lands outside of our own.”

"Not many lands are known in the Far Eastern Unknown Seas of Nirn. Does your land sit close to Akavir?"

"Akavir? To be honest Lord Ulfric, I'm not entirely sure. For as long as my people have been on our land, we have never known of many other races outside of our own, save for the small tribes of Centaurs, Zebras, and Minotaurs. My little ponies unfortunately are isolationists and are afraid of anything new, strange, and unusual. From what I know, we haven't really left our land for anything, save for the fishing boats, but those have only gone 10 miles at the most out to sea."

A bit convoluted, but it will have to do as a cover story. Goodness, I'm beginning to sound like Discord. I do suppose it IS technically the truth. As much as I love them, my ponies can be a little xenophobic. Perhaps I should introduce myself to Twilight's zebra friend once I get home, she thought.

“How in Oblivion did you come across us then?” Galmar asked inquisitively.

“Uhhh...I believe my sister found this continent by accident while trying to save an overturned ship filled with a few of my subjects. A freak storm pushed them past the fishing boundaries I set for my people. I came here to find her and perhaps achieve first contact when I discovered other people lived here.”

“Well, you have done the latter, albeit under unfortunate circumstances. And your timing is a little ill. We are in the middle of a war and do not have time unfortunately for diplomatic relations with new nations.” Ulfric explained.

Damn, I was hoping that finding Luna safe and sound would be easy, but a war is going to complicate things. Celestia thought as she looked towards the frost covered window.

“But perhaps we can assist you with finding your sister, but for the moment, I must go back to attending to my duties as Jarl. We have a murderer to track down.” Ulfric stated. “Galmar, send for a few of the servants to attend to her while she rejuvenates.”

“At once my lord.” Galmar replied as he put his fist across his chest like some kind of salute. Ulfric nodded and walked out of the room, leaving Galmar and Celestia alone for the moment. Galmar was about to leave the room to follow Ulfric’s orders, but Celestia stopped Galmar in an attempt to get some answers out of him.

“Sir Galmar, if it is no trouble, may I ask, have you heard anything of my sister’s whereabouts?” Celestia politely inquired.

“You are the first kind of thing that we have actually seen Princess, but there were rumors passing around travelers recently of a blue horse woman in Whiterun fighting a dragon, but to be honest, until we found you we all assumed they just hit the skooma pretty hard.”

“Skooma Sir Galmar?”

“Aye, an addictive elixir with moon sugar that hails from Elsweyr. Its illegal these days, but that doesn’t stop many from getting their hands on it. Its quite destructive to the body and mind.” Galmar explained. “The Butcher had a lieutenant who had a huge supply of it in Cragslane Cavern where you were found.”

That sounds like the drugs my sweet little ponies used to abuse themselves with. I’m sure glad Luna and I permanently put and end to that. Celestia thought.

“And I suppose we should be thanking you. We’ve been looking for The Butcher and his Pit Wolf Tournament operations for a while now. From what my men told me, you escaped its destruction and led us directly to it with the trail you left behind.”

“I-I’m glad I could be of some help.” Celestia acknowledged.

“Now, If you’ll excuse me your highness, I must attend to my daily duties.” Galmar said as he gave her a slight bow before he started to walk towards the door but stopped to look over his shoulder. “And by the way, if you are looking for your regalia, you need not worry, they were put in the drawer beside your bed.”

Celestia leaned over to the drawer on the left side of her bed and opened it to reveal her crown and necklace perfectly intact. She picked them up for a moment to scan for any damages and then put them back in the drawer when she found none. Celestia then looked back up at Galmar and smiled at him and bowed slightly back at him in her upright position.

“Thank you Galmar, my regalia mean a lot to me.” she thanked Galmar.

Galmar nodded at Celestia and turned back towards the door as he left the room and back down the hallway to attend to the duties that he spoke of.

Celestia laid her head back down on to the soft feather stuffed pillow to rest from her extreme fatigue and fell into a dreamless sleep.

Two restful hours later, she woke up to a slightly darker and colder room. She turned her head towards the window and saw snowflakes blowing in the wind through the frost. The sight seemed to make her colder. When she breathed out, she could slightly see her breath. Celestia had felt fully rested and wanted to start exploring her surroundings. She slowly sat up and felt a stinging pain in her back.

Its been awhile since I slept on my wings. I usually sleep on my side, she thought as she rubbed the sensitive appendages underneath her burlap gown.

Turning to the end table drawer where her regalia was stored, she found a moderately simple, but beautiful sapphire blue dress folded neatly on to the wooden end table with a note laying on top. She picked up the note with her left hand and proceeded to read it.

^{Princess,

Here is a token of Jarl Ulfric’s hospitality, wear them well.

Galmar}

Celestia smiled at his gracious generosity and placed the note back down on to the table. Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, she proceeded to carefully stand up on to the stone floor. She winced at its ice cold temperature on to her more sensitive feet. She looked down to find a simple but practical pair of blue women’s shoes which she quickly stepped into to relieve herself from the cold. Breathing a small sigh of relief, she turned to the table and picked up the dress. She quickly pulled off her itchy, uncomfortable burlap courtesan dress and slipped on the soft blue dress. The difference in comfort was immediate as her body felt as if it was encased in a soft cocoon.

“Is this silk? I hope they aren’t spending too much on my behalf,” she said to herself concerned. “I need to leave to find Luna as soon as I can anyway.”

She set her sights on the bookshelves hoping to learn as much as she could about this hostile new world before beginning her search for Luna. Walking up to the nearest bookshelf, she reached for an old book with a worn detailed cover. She opened up the cover to see the title of the book. A Brief History of the Empire Book 1 splayed across the top of the first page in intricate handwriting. As with the multitude of books there were in this set, she decided to skim through each of the books, only looking for the more significant details within the texts so she could quickly move on to other books.

In the first book, she learned a multitude of things about Tamriel. How its first ruler Tiber Septim forcefully united the land under his rule to quell the chaos of the mad kings of old. She read further that he began his rule in the year 2E 896, yet she couldn’t help but wonder what the epoch for that date was. And immediately after, it tells of how the start of his rule signaled the beginning of the Third Era of Tamriel. All of the kings and rulers that came after him in his bloodline had their lives taken away from them by either betrayal, assassination, disease, or foolishness on their own behalf. The mention of this ancient Dark Brotherhood murdering the second king at an altar, disturbed her, but she continued on reading. She learned of how the cousin of the second king ascended to the throne and faced the same kind of problems and how after his death, one of his children Potema Septim became on of the most powerful Necromancers in history to usurp the old rule of Cyrodil and bring the capital to the Skyrim city of Solitude. Celestia read on that she did this by starting an infamous conflict known as the War of the Red Diamond. Eventually however, she succumbed to her own evil as her own troops began to desert her and she ended up being slain after a long siege on Solitude. The story of her son Pelagius III turned Celestia's stomach, so she decided to skip over it for the moment.

Reading even further with the following books told of the many descendants of Tiber Septim including the Uriel dynasty leading all the way up to Uriel VII who brought peace to Tamriel for 22 years of his reign until he, like the many Emperors and Empresses who came before him became involved in a plot against his rule. She learned of how his royal battle mage Jagar Tharn betrayed him and imprisoned him in a parallel dimension for ten years. Jagar Tharn learned how to make himself immortal by transferring his life force into an artifact called the Staff of Chaos which he also used to banish the Emperor.

One fact about this Jagar Tharn disturbed Celestia. To keep anyone from destroying it, he split the staff into seven pieces. In doing so though, he lost his sanity and all emotion. He even turned on his own apprentice Ria Silmane when she tried to stop him. Before hee destroyed the staff, he destroyed her corporeal form, essentially erasing her from existence.

I've only known one to split their soul in the pursuit of alicorn-like immortality. ....and she became one of my family's greatest failures, Celestia thought sadly.

She continued to read on in an attempt to clear the troubling thought out of her head. She also had learned that Jagar Tharn apparently masqueraded as the king after banishing him and took over his throne. For ten years he kept up this complex charade until one day when an enigmatic person that seems just to be called the “Eternal Champion” defeated Jagar Tharn in the dungeons of the Imperial Palace in Cyrodil. He had apparently gathered together the shards of the Staff and destroyed it once he brought them all together to kill Tharn. After which he freed the Emperor from his extra dimensional prison. The event was then on called the “Arena Crisis” by many of Tamriel's residences.

Another book spoke of the history of the city itself. To her surprise, the book told of how scholars discovered that the city had been standing for millions of years. It was apparently one of the oldest cities in Tamriel and possibly all of Nirn. She learned that mankind came to Skyrim from their frozen continent of Atmora in the north when it became uninhabitable and settled here in Windhelm after driving back the native Snow Elves that had attacked them on their first settlement near the northern shore. Poorly pronouncing the name in her head, she also learned of how the Ysgramor and his Five Hundred Companions established the First Empire of Men here in Skyrim after conquering the land.

Slipping the last book back into the shelf, she decided to take a short break to search for Jarl Ulfric to obtain information that may give her a lead on Luna’s whereabouts. But before she could leave the room, one of the books on the shelf gave off a magical aura that seemed to draw Celestia in. Looking over to the right side, her eyes landed on a brightly colored red tome. She slowly reached over to it with her right hand and gently pulled it off of the bookshelf. The cover of the book had an odd rune on it that appeared to be a hand on fire. Apprehensively, she slowly opened the cover to reveal an unsettling, scratchy text written in an unknown dialect. She was about to put it down, but as her eyes scanned across the page, she felt an ancient voice whisper into her head in presumably that same dialect. When she flipped through all of the pages, the book suddenly slammed shut by itself, followed by a quick, but loud chant. The red tome then burst into flames and out of existence. The power of the book flew into her body and gave her a feeling of intense heat.

She looked at her hands and then snapped out of her wonder, realizing she may have just destroyed on of her host’s possessions.

“Perhaps it best that I tell Lord Ulfric about this and apologize” Celestia concluded to herself as she stood back up and brushed herself off.

She nervously then turned to the door and walked out of the room with a sheepish smile on her face.

Looking out of the door frame, she could see the long, narrow stone hallway extending left and right for a few hundred feet. Each side seemed to lead to a series of rooms. In one of them on the left, Celestia swore she could see a wizard resurrecting a goat which immediately burst into flames. In another room on the left she could clearly see various servants cleaning and making beds.

All of a sudden, she could hear a person coming around the corner which caused her to duck back into her room and kick the burnt remains of the book behind one of the bookshelves. As the steps grew closer, she pounced on to the bed and quickly opened the copy of A Brief History of the Empire vol 1 and pretended she was reading. The wooden door swung open to reveal a burly man with thick muscular arms wearing a long orange shirt and a maroon vest. On top of his head laid a strange looking baggy hat.

“Ah! you must be Princess Celestia.” the man said cheerfully.

“Oh, may I ask who you are good sir?” Celestia asked.

“Oh yes, where are my manners? I am Jorlief, Jarl Ulfric’s castle steward. I help keep the Palace of the Kings and local relations of Windhelm running smoothly. The Jarl asked me to escort you to the throne room. He has requested your presence.” Jorelief greeted.

“Very well, I thank you for your assistance Jorleif”, Celestia replied as she followed him out of the room and down the hallway.

Slowly making their way down each hallway, they passed many different rooms of varying luxury that Celestia had assumed to be for the nobility and servants within the palace. The stone hallways, while appeared to be well maintained by the people living there, were a little too narrow and dark than the wide, bright, and inviting hallways of her own home. Many of the rooms they passed had people going about their daily duties and looked to busy to even notice Celestia's presence. They eventually made their way to a stone passageway that led down to a small wooden door. Jorleif reached for the latch and with a loud creak, the door opened and let in a rush of warm air.

The room they came into was a massive throne room with long royal blue carpets trailing down the hallway. The dining table lain lengthwise nearly covered half of the hallway and was covered in ornate silverware and plates. The cold stone walls were adorned with banners sharing the carpet’s royal blue coloring and appeared to be laced with gold leafing. The throne itself to the left of her appeared to be made out a single piece of granite and carved with extreme precision, but it still had an aged look which led her to believe that the throne had also been there since ancient times. The tall narrow windows covering the wall behind the throne let in the dull grey light of the cold weather outside giving the entire throne room a feeling of sheer cold.

Jarl Ulfric didn’t appear to be there at the moment, only a few servants were present sweeping up the floors near what Celestia assumed to be the entryway doors into the palace.

Jorleif led her to the table and pulled out one of the seats. He politely gestured for her to sit down and she complied with a polite smile. She carefully sat down, positioning herself as to not put painful pressure on to her tail.

“I’m afraid Lady Celestia that the Jarl has to attend to a few short notice duties within the city for a few minutes, so he has instructed for me to accommodate you with food and wine until he returns.” Jorlief said in apology.

He then whistled off to a room which a blonde haired female servant carrying a tray of food and a liquor of some kind emerged. The female servant placed the tray on the table and quickly gave Celesia and Jorlief a bow before turning around and walked back into the room that she came from.

The spread that she was given did certainly look simple, but delicious. A large slice of a white cheese that gave off a mild, but pleasant odor, a warm loaf of fresh bread, and a bunch of dark violet grapes.

“Thank you sir Jorleif. I don’t think I’ve eaten anything for a few days.” Celestia kindly said to the man.

“Yes, I can imagine. Being wrongfully imprisoned the way you were, terrible thing. Eat as much as you want milady. You are an honored guest of the Jarl. Any luxury you ask for within reason, we will give to you within a moment’s notice.” Jorlief added.

“Thank you very much. This delicious looking food and your generous hospitality will be quite enough for a while,” she kindly replied.

“Then I shall take my leave. Jarl Ulfric shouldn’t be away too much longer.” he said. Jorleif then gave a short bow to her and left the room through a door across the hallway.

Celestia devoured her food, quite happy to be eating something after going without food for what she had assumed to be two days. And despite the small bit of pleasure she got from the food, there was still something even more important that she needed to keep as her top priority: finding Luna. All she could do for the moment was enjoy her food and wait patiently for Ulfric to return and hopefully with a concrete lead for her on Luna’s whereabouts. After fifteen minutes she had gone through most all o the food including the large slice of cheese, the entire loaf of bread, and finished off the sweet roll last. She took a quick look at the bottle and much to her surprise, she found that she had inadvertently downed the whole bottle in between each bite of food she took.

Not long after she had finished off the food on the silver tray, she was tired of waiting for the Jarl and decided to take a short walk around the bottom floor of the castle to explore and to pass a little bit of time. One of the doors behind her was open, One of the doors on her side of the hallway was wide open, so she decided to throw caution to the wind and see what she could find. She didn’t find much of interest down the first narrow hallway. That just lead to what she assumed to be the castle’s kitchen. The room was extremely hot, presumably from the intense flames of its fireplace. She then went over to one of the doors on the other side of the hallway and started hearing voices on the other side of the door. Not wanting to eavesdrop, she started to step away, but one of the voices grew loud enough for Celestia to hear.

“Do you think she is an Akaviri spy for the Dominion? She very well could be.” one voice said.

“Yeah, whoever heard of an alicorn pony? It might just be some daedra succubi in disguise conjured by the elves to infiltrate us.” another voice said.

“I do not believe the poor lass even knows about this war, let alone who the Thalmor are lads.” Galmar’s familiar voice barked out. "As much as I like her, she seems to be as clueless as they come. And she doesn't even look like she has picked up a sword in ages."

“Galmar is right. A daedra would have no feeling or remorse in their souls, only a desire to tempt and kill. As far as the Akaviri are concerned, all four races were well documented by Morrowind's Nerevarine. All other races on the continent were wiped out long ago, our Ebonheart Pact saw to that. And as far as the Dominion is concerned, I have been around long enough to be able to read most people and pick out those who work for the Thalmor. While we may want to conquer Skyrim in our own way, I do not think that conquest or espionage are any of her intentions.” the other familiar voice of Ulfric added. “I looked into her eyes and I saw a pure innocence that I haven’t known for so long. It is clear that while Celestia may be familiar with bloody conflict, she is not hardened by it yet. She remains happy and hopeful...In a strange way, I want to respect that.”

“But Jarl Ulfric, what if she-”

“Enough! She is my royal guest and she is not to be harmed, is that understood?”

“Yes, my Jarl.”

There was silence for a few moments before Celestia heard them talking again.

“If the rumors about her powers are true then, do you think we can convince her to help us win the war?” Galmar asked.

“….Perhaps, one day. For now, we must focus on taking Skyrim back on our own accord.” Ulfric replied. “Has the report come in Galmar?”

“Yes my lord, our scouts in Whiterun did confirm the sighting. Shall I inform Celestia?”

“Yes, and take her around my city. I’d like her to have a tour of Windhelm.”

“Very well my lord.” Galmar replied.

“What of Balgruf my lord? The capture of his city will bring us that much closer to victory.” the other unknown voice asked.

Another moment of silence ensued before Celestia heard activity again.

“Are you mad boy? As much as I want to see the traitor Balgruf the Indecisive run through with a blade, Greymoor and Neugard still stand. If we even try to get close they must be purged of Imperial scum.” Galmar replied.

“Regardless, we must deal with Imperial threats in the East before we can move forward.

Celestia walked back over to the table and sat back down as she began to hear movement come from behind the door.

I suppose Ulfric and Galmar are alright, but I may have to carefully watch the other men under his command. Celestia thought.

The door opened and Ulfric, Galmar, and Jorleif stepped out. Jorleif walked off to a different part of the castle while Ulfric approached his stone throne and sat down. He gave Celestia an unreadable look for a moment before he signaled for a few of his guards to come over to the table. Three guards in a blue garb and spiked helmets which covered their faces entirely. Steel swords hung from their belts and they held a blue shield with the pattern of a golden bear. Celestia had figured that the bear must be the symbol of their city in the same way her sister and herself in their astral forms were the symbol of Equestria.

“Am I in some kind of trouble Lord Ulfric?” Celestia calmly asked.

“Oh Aetherius no, Princess. In fact, I may have some news that may please you." Ulfric replied kindly. “One of my spies have sighted a blue horse woman whom we believe to be your sister. She was sighted near the city of Whiterun to the West.”

In shock, Celestia leaped up out off her chair which momentarily startled them.

“Luna’s alive?” Celestia cried.

“Hold it lass, hold everything.” Galmar urged.

“Do not worry Celestia, for the moment, your sister is safe. Whiterun is well protected and we have reports that your sister is safely in the hands of a capable warrior.”

Breathing out a sigh of relief, she finally started to relax. She slumped back into her chair with a small relaxed smile on her case.

“That at least gives me hope. I should probably set off as soon as I can to find her though, so we can return home.” she said.

“And you shall, with a few provisions that I wish to provide you to survive in Skyrim. However, there is something I would like to ask of you Princess.” Ulfric said.

“Oh, and what might that be?” Celestia asked genuinely intrigued.

“I was hoping before you leave, you would take a small amount of time to tour my city and get to know the land of my people. Being from a new land previously undiscovered by man, I was hoping to take this chance to hopefully establish good diplomatic terms with you being this new land’s ruler. A king must have good allies after all.” Ulfric stated. Especially when said king is in the middle of a civil war.”

“ So the war you are in the middle of is a civil war?”

“Aye lass, with the spineless Empire of Tamriel. Once the golden pride of our continent, now the pathetic pawn of the Thalmor Aldemiri Dominion.” Galmar confirmed with disgust.

Celestia was slowly getting more and more confused at all of these new things that she had no context for. The look on her face gave Ulfric reason to elaborate.

“A hundred years ago, the whole of Tamriel was in the midst of a war that engulfed the entire continent, The Great War. The magic blooded race of the Altmer were conquered by a powerful faction of the elves who called themselves the Thalmor. They foolishly believed we humankind and the races that dared to befriend us were inferior races compared to them. Who they believed themselves to be “pure-blooded magic users.” Ulfric all, but spat out. "The Elves invaded Tamriel from their Archipelago in the Summerset Isles. They started by gathering the other Elven races by systematically conquering them and recruiting them to their cause. And with the combined might of two Elven nations,The Aldemiri Dominion was born, despite their seemingly small numbers at first, they threatened to engulf the whole continent in a few short years. Many lives were lost in the conflict, but we were getting close to winning the war with the help of our allies the Redguards of Hammerfell. Unfortunately, after retaking the Imperial City in Cyrodil, Emperor Titus Mede II lost his spine and caved in to the Thalmor scum's demands, even after all of the pain they caused for all of us. The signing White-Gold Concordat made all of our fighting for naught. "A chance to end the conflict" the cowardly wretch Titus said. Now the worship of mighty Talos has been outlawed and the Empire was forced to break ties with Hammerfell after they wisely rejected the Concordat. And our once mighty orders, The Blades and the Ebonheart Pact were forced to be disbanded. After a hundred years, I made the decision to do something. And now, because I dared to speak out against the Empire and the Dominion the whole of Skyrim has become the battleground for the rest of Tamriel.

After that story, Celestia was still unsure about everyone in this dangerous new land and she was still not entirely sure that she could trust Ulfric or his men, but at the same time, she was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. It did sound like he was willing to do whatever it took to save his country, but there was something about Ulfric's story that didn't add up to Celestia. For the moment though, she had to push that back into her mind for later. For now, all that mattered was finding Luna. However, there was one person she wanted to see before she left the city.

“I...suppose I could consider helping you in your civil war Lord Ulfric, but for now all that matters to me is finding my sister and returning home before I can do anything else. I unfortunately have a conflict of my own that I have not yet quelled as well. So my sister and my own country must come first unfortunately”. Celestia politely declined.

“Of course, I would not ask of you to do this now. Simply think it over while you are on your journey.” Ulfric replied.

“Thank you. However, there is one person I would also like to see before I leave. May I see Lady Friga Lord Ulfric? I didn’t get a chance to see how she recovered.”

“Of course. My men will escort you to Shattershield Manor as you make your way around the city. I unfortunately cannot leave you alone until you are safely out of the hold. There is a murderer stalking my city and killing women who takes the name of the brigand you slayed “The Butcher”. And with the Empire and the return of the dragons, I dare not leave my allies alone for a moment.”

“Thank you Lord Ulfric. I really do appreciate the assistance.” Celestia replied with a short bow.

Ulfric simply nodded in reply as he signaled Galmar and the group of guards to come over to the table.

“Come along lass, let me show you the glory of our ancient capital city.” Galmar happily urged.

“Very well, lead the way,” Celestia cheerfully replied.

As the group walked out of the castle past the giant entryway doors into the castle, one thing immediately assaulted all of a sudden. Crisp, ice cold wind that bit down on her flesh like a ravenous wolf causing her to instinctively hold her arms.. The entire sky was covered with a gloomy casing of fluffy silver clouds that hung low over the city. Snowflakes steadily blew in the wind and fell on every surface that wasn’t protected. The courtyard of the castle seemed to be nearly untouched by the snow as it was kept mostly dry by the hot flame pits circling the entire space. A beggar in rags seemed to be staying close to the flame pit to stay warm from the intense cold. The central and western parts of the city seemed to be filled with nothing but ancient and weathered stone buildings which included a uniquely shaped building that ran across the central stretch of the city. Bright lights seemed to illuminate its frost covered glass from inside the building. Galmar immediately saw how mesmerized she was with the structure and chuckled.

“That would be one of the prides of our fair city lass. Candlehearth Hall. The building has a noble history. As the tale goes, the building was once the home of the great warrior Vundheim. When he passed on, his son Deroct lit a candle on the hearth of his fireplace and since then, the candle has never gone out. The building has become a refuge of warmth and comfort from the unforgiving cold of Skyrim and is the first thing people see when they enter the city into the Stone District..” Galmar explained proudly.

“It certainly does look warm and inviting” Celestia replied as her teeth chattered.

“Come, let us move on, perhaps before you set out on your journey I can treat you to the fine mead of our land in Candlehearth.” Galmar kindly said.

“And maybe a second coat of fur too.” One of the accompanying guards said to his friend with a laugh.

Celestia and Galmar made their way across the courtyard and down a side road. They went through what Celestia assumed to be the graveyard of a temple by traversing a raised stone path above the graveyard. On the other side, Celestia came face to face with a neatly tucked away side street filled with lavish three story homes, presumably owned by the nobility of the city. The first building on the block was bigger than all of the rest, but its windows were all dark and the front door appeared to be damaged. The front porch had appeared to be left unkept for weeks unlike the other houses along the street. After walking past the gloomy structure, Galmar stopped at the next house on the street. While not as big as the first house, it still had a unique structure. The shape of its roof alone was worth noting. It was sharply curved upwards into a steep slope. Almost taking the shape of a wide arrowhead. The roof seemed to be mostly clean of snow, which lead Celestia to believe that the odd design choice was meant for this purpose. A protruding section of the roof directly above the front door was held up by two carved stone pillars.

“Here we are fair lass, House of Clan Shatter-Shield on Valunstrad.” Galmar stated.

After a few minutes of knocking and Galmar’s unusual curse words at the people inside, much to Celestia’s amusement, sounds of the front door unlocking could clearly be heard. The door opened to reveal a middle aged woman with dirty blonde hair in sophisticated clothes similar to the ones Celestia was currently wearing. A golden necklace with a ruby hung low over her chest from her neck. She seemed to notice Celestia first. She carefully eyed up and down her as if she was a bomb that was about to blow at any moment. But then she seemed to calm down as she gave Celestia warm smile.

“You must be the horse woman that my daughter told us so much about.” she said. “I am glad to see that Friga had not gone mad when she told us about you. I am Tova Shatter-Shield, Friga’s mother.”

“It is very nice to meet you Lady Shattershield, I am Princess Celestia. I just wanted to come by on my tour of your fine city to see how she
was doing.” Celestia kindly said as she gave a small bow to Tova.

"Thank you your Majesty. I'm sure Friga would be very honored to receive your comfort.” she replied. “I'm sure my husband Tolbjorn would be pleased to make your acquaintance as well. Unfortunately though, he's in the middle of a meeting with a representative from Dawnstar.”

Some men are funny about their emotions when it comes to family I suppose, Celestia thought to herself.

Celestia followed Tova a inside their home while Galmar and his guards remained outside to protect the house, should the need arise. Celestia found Friga sitting by another woman. When the woman saw Celestia, she was startled by her appearance for a moment, but was quickly calmed when Friga tackled Celestia into a warm embrace sobbing hysterically into her fur. Celestia just sat there for a few minutes with Friga stroking her back and softly shushing her. It took a while, but she finally got her to calm down as she helped her back on to her feet and over to one of the cushioned chairs in their living room. She admitted to Friga that she couldn't stay long, as she needed to start her search as soon as possible, but she was glad to see she was recovering. Exchanging pleasantries with Nilsine, Celestia found a moment to sit down with them and have a few glasses of wine. Celestia didn't drink as much as she used to, but was content having a few glasses of wine every now and then. She was glad to see that female custom carried over to this dimension as well.

She spoke with the three of them for a half hour, going over possible plans she might have and where she would be going after she left the city. Afterwards, Celestia exchanged kind departing words with Friga and her family, promising that she would visit again, should she ever pass by Windhelm once again. She gave Friga a hug which seemed to slightly improve her mood and then she exited the house to rejoin Galmar and his escort group. The next thing they went through looked to be a marketplace and a group of various shops. There was one shop called The White Phial which had a hanging wooden sign with the name of the shop and a carved picture of a bottle filled with a mysterious white liquid. The sign hang on a post that reached the top of the door. Celestia assumed the shop to be a Alchemy shop of sorts. Galmar saw her gazing at the shop and decided to speak up.

"That would be The White Phial. Windhelm's potion shop. Run by a cooky little elf named Nurelion and his apprentice Quintus Navale. Strange man, but harmless enough and supplies good healing, stamina, and magicka potions to the Stormcloaks." Galmar explained.

"Healing potions?" Celestia inquired.

"Ask an alchemist. Don't know how they work, just that they do and they heal wounds in battle or make you run longer." he replied with a shrug.

While looking through the marketplace, Celestia garnered a few dirty and suspicious looks from many of the people passing through and buying wares from many of the various vendors. A look from Galmar and her escort disuaded any from doing anything that they might regret. At one of the booths, Celestia became fast friends with one of the merchants. An Altmer woman named Niranye who shared Celestia's feeling of being out of place in a strange environment. She learned that because of the war, Niranye was unable to leave, but she told Celestia that this didn't bother her too much as she was able to gain the trust of the right people and eventually fit right in to Windhelm's society. Noticing Celestia's fascination with books, she gave her a book with a silver laced cover called Aedra and Daedra. Celestia promised to come back when she could to tell her of Equestria's culture. Or as much of it as she could while maintaining her cover. She told Celestia if her race knew how to conjure magic, she should check out a place in the North Eastern mountains of Skyrim called the College of Winterhold should she ever pass through that area on her travels.

Perhaps after I find Luna, that may be a good place to start in order to find a way home, she thought.

Another booth carried the one thing she suspected would be a common thing in this world: meat. The smell of frozen meat permeated throughout the whole Marketplace. She knew that Equestrian ponies weren't like the Horses of Earth who strictly ate oats and grass. Ponies from Equestria including her sister and herself were indeed omnivorous, much like humans. However, the idea of eating meat was slowly discouraged over the millenia as they adopted a more vegetarian diet. Unfortunately, Celestia knew that she might not have the luxury of eating nothing but veggies, oats, and grass with this new body that needed many new nutrients just to remain healthy in this hostile world.

They went past what looked to be a large Blacksmith shop with a large active Forge sitting right in front of the building. Developing blades and armor sat right in the inferno encased in solid brick. The fire became even more warm and intense, the closer she went to the forge. In this freezing weather, a source of heat like this was welcome, as the entire marketplace seemed to be warm as it was close to the roaring flames. Galmar informed her that Oengul War-Anvil the blacksmith was working on his latest project and wouldn't be around until much later in the evening, so they moved on.

They concluded the tour by circling back towards the palace past Candlehearth Hall and stopped at a small stone building that Celestia has assumed to be a guardhouse at first.

"And finally here we are at the true glory of our city. The Temple of mighty Talos. I dare not take up any more of the Jarl's time, as he is most likely waiting for us, but I implore you to visit it at one point in the future. You might discover something." Galmar proudly stated.

"Galmar, if it is alright to ask, what is over on the east side of the city?" Celestia asked.

"That would be the Gray Quarter. It is the slums of the city where most of the city's Dunmer live. The Jarl has asked of me to not go there on our tour as relations in that part of the city have been poor as of late. Fights are brewing down there every night. The upper level doesn't have much to look at, cept Calixto's odd little museum and the Aventino Residence, which I've also been asked to avoid. A Dark aura looms over that place." Galmar replied.

"A dark aura? Do you mean dark magic is being used there or some kind of enchantment?"

"Aye, that's what we suspect. But nothing has happened yet, so the most we do is ask that people steer clear of the place until we know what we are dealing with from there. We are busy dealing with the war to deal with it anyway, so we leave it be. Even our own court wizard can't be bothered to deal with the potential threat."

Celestia followed Galmar back up the stone steps and back into the Palace where Ulfric and Jorleif were speaking with a bald bearded man in a deep red apron that touched his knees. Ulfric turned to Galmar as they walked in and he appeared to slightly perk up at the sight of Celestia coming closer.

"Ah, Galmar, Celestia. I assumed you enjoyed your tour of my city?" he asked.

"It is quite...strange and rough, but beautiful, I have to say," she politely replied.

"Yes, the city does have its rough spots. But as soon as the war is over, I intend to bring the city back to its ancient glory when the great Ysgramor ruled here. But enough of that. I have a few essential gifts for you before you depart for Whiterun as a token of our friendship," Ulfric replied.

He motioned to the man in the apron standing next to his throne and he turned around to face Celestia as she approached his throne.

"You must be the horse princess I've been hearing about. I thought people in the palace have been hitting the skooma, but I'm glad to see that is not the case." the man said stroking his beard in thought.

"Hello, I am Celestia. May I ask who are you?"

"Call me Oengul War-Blade. I am the Stormcloaks' primary Smith. Some say that Eorlund Gray-Mane of Whiterun is the best blacksmith in Skyrim. I plan to change a few minds about that." the man proudly boasted.

"Well, it is a pleasure to meet you Oengul. Perhaps I might purchase a set of armor or jewelry during my stay here in Skyrim." Celestia replied with a curtsey.

"It is funny that you mention that, because just as it happens, I DO have something for you. Perhaps this gift will encourage you to inspect my wares more in the future." he replied cheerfully as he went into a side room with another guard and brought out a wooden chest.

The two of them sat the wooden chest down in front of Celestia on the carpeting with a thud and stepped back. Celestia looked up at Ulfric with a confused look, but he simply nodded and motioned towards the chest. Celestia knelt down and lifted up the silver latch of the chest and slowly lifted the lid to reveal the contents inside.

Inside the chest, she found a strange set of armor that shined in the torchlight of the castle's main hallway. The first thing that came to her attention was the strangely shaped cuirass. It seemed to be made out of a bronze colored alloy with an ancient and modern texture, if that made any sense to her. It appeared to be perfectly shaped to fit her feminine figure, while also providing a great amount of protection. Six small individual plates appeared to be tightly chained together to make up the abs of the cuirass. Celestia assumed that these were for providing protection while also allowing the wearer a lot more movement in the armor. The gauntlets were uniquely shaped as well. Both of them bulked outwards from where the tricep would be as if they were intended to be extra protection against massive blows. The tunic segment of the armor was comprised of four large plates that hung down from the waist. A simple black skirt was provided to protect the wearer's legs from burns or chafing by the armor in certain environments. The armor boots, if you could call them that, had an almost obsurd amount of defense. The boots appeared to be double plated, with the metal curving down and over the ankle from the calf section of a leg. The shoe portion of the boots appeared to be comprised of seven individual sections to provide full form of movement without allowing any weak spots to show. It was almost as if the creator of the armor was daring Celestia to attempt to mortally wound herself by jumping off of a cliff or go face down an army of fire breathing dragons.

"What do you think? It is called Dwarven Armor. Based on the sophisticated armor of the long lost race of Dwarves, known for their legendary craftsmanship and ingenuity. I forged it and then modified the design based off of descriptions Jorleif gave me about your body structure. Which included some of your more...ahem, unique features," the man said while pointing to his back with his thumb.

Celestia raised one of her eyebrows, but took a second look at the armor and found two long slits parallel from one another running down the back of the cuirass. Judging by the size and length of the slits, Celestia immediately knew what they were for. Her eyes widened as she lifted her head to look at Oengul and then at Ulfric with a surprised and confused look in her eyes.

"How?" she dared to ask.

"I'm not a fool Princess. I already knew of your capabilities and your wings the moment my troops brought you into my palace." Ulfric said. "I understand that there are things about you that you do not wish to divulge until you feel comfortable to do so and I respect that. But please do not lie to my face when I can plainly see the truth."

"My apologies Jarl Ulfric. My first experience in Skyrim was definitely not very pleasant and I allowed it to create distrust within me for everything and everyone I came across."

"Distrust is completely natural in a world such as this. But within the borders of these lands, you need to keep it in moderation. Accept the fact that there are those who will want to take advantage of you, but be able to discern that from those who genuinely wish to help."

"I suppose after all of these years, even I sometimes need to be reminded of the lessons I try to teach my subjects," Celestia admitted.

"We all do Princess. Such is one of the burdens of ruling a nation. We all need to be brought back down to reality from time to time."

"Regardless, I am very grateful for the gift. Thank you Oengul and Jarl Ulfric I shall put it to good use." Celestia replied.

"I believe you also had a weapon to present to Celestia Oengul?" Ulfric asked.

"Ah yes, my apologies." Oengul said as he walked back into the same side room and came out with a sheathed blade that was as twice wide as her arms.

Presenting the blade to Celestia, she gently lifted it out of Oengul's hands and slowly unsheathed the blade from its brown and green scabbard. The entire sword appeared to be made out of a gold iron alloy of some sort that made the blade glow in the torchlight just like the armor she was given. The hilt carried the image of an eagle with outstretched wings with its head reaching across the tang of the blade. The pommel was elongated and shaped to look like tail feathers but also appeared to act as a secondary weapon on the sword.

"This is an Enchanted Honed Elven Blade. It was taken off a notable Thalmor general during the Great War, but for over a hundred years, it has gone unused, collecting dust," Oengul stated. "It took some doing, but I had my assistant Hermir sharpen it back to its former glory and reinforce its strength with extra moonstone and malachite. It also still has an enchantment upon it that burns whoever is struck. I hope you find more use from it than its former master did."

"Its beautiful. Thank you Oengul."

"Just be sure to tell all on your travels of who forged your exquisite armor." he replied heartily.

She simply smiled and then thanked the Jarl once again for her gifts. He allowed her to go into a side room where she was able to change into her new armor and placed her regalia on under the armor. Thankfully her necklace was snug enough for it to not get in the way. Her crown was the same as well. She never felt comfortable in a helmet, but her crown always provided ample enough protection from arrows or projectiles in ancient times. She came out fully equipped in her new armor which seemed to thoroughly impress everyone in the room. If Ulfric was also impressed, he didn't show it outwardly.

"Come, let me show you something Princess. It might prove to help you." Ulfric said.

Her curiosity piqued, Celestia followed Galmar and Ulfric into the same room they were speaking about her earlier in the day. Inside, she came across a few out of place things in an overall clean castle. Bales of hay were stacked up along one of the walls with a few training dummies leaning up against them, various targets with arrows plunged into the center were haphazardly hung up on another wall while in the middle of the table lie a large table with a massive map of sorts covering the whole thing. Tiny red and blue flags appeared to be stuck into locations of some significance.

"What's this? Is this supposed to be Skyrim?" Celestia asked as she pointed down at the map.

"You catch on quick lass, yes" Galmar replied.

"Skyrim all the way north and south from the Sea of Ghosts to the Southern Mountains that create the border between us and Cyrodil and Hammerfell and all the way east and west from our border with Morrowind to our border with High Rock. Our entire land can be seen from these maps. You can find them in the possession of most Jarls and high class merchants." he explained. "But enough of that. Unfortunately, my troops ran themselves into another skirmish fifty miles west of Riften, so I am unfortunately unable to provide you with an escort to the border. But I can provide you with the means to reach your destination."

Ulfric pointed down at a shield in the middle of the map that had the name of a city on it.

"This is Whiterun. All you need to do is take the southeast road out of the hold and you will hit Valtheim Towers at the border. All you need to do is avoid Darkshade Cavern and the Abandoned Prison on your way there and you shouldn't run into many problems. Except the occasional wolf, frostbite spider, and bandit. With your abilities, those shouldn't be too much of a problem" he explained while pointing out the locations of the various mentioned places on the map.

He reached over his shoulder and one of the guards in the room gave him what looked like a smaller version of the map on the table and a satchel of sorts that clinked when he set it down in front of her. Curious, she opened up the satchel and found a few various food items, books, a few potions and poisons, and a small sack that carried a sizable amount of gold coins. In the side pouch, it carried a few unusual clothes and pieces of jewelry. One of the cloaks within radiated a mysterious magical power and glowed a very dulled light blue. It was almost unnoticeable if you weren't looking hard enough.

"You will probably need these as well. These were seized by my men off of an Imperial Frigate trying to attack us from the harbor a few months ago. From what their cargo manifests told us, I believe it once belonged to a Khajiit hero that lived in Cyrodiil a hundred years ago during the days of the Oblivion Crisis named Katia Managan. From what I know of my lineage and my heritage, my family apparently owes a great debt to her. I am certain she wouldn't mind you holding on to her possessions."

"Thank you Ulfric, I will put these to good use." she replied as she slung the satchel over her shoulder and rolled up the smaller map and placed it into a side pouch."

Ulfric and Galmar then took the liberty to walk her to the gates of the city to wish her good luck. When Celestia asked them to check in on Friga from time to time, they were intrigued, but not entirely surprised. They accepted the request as the guards at the front gate open the large metal doors into the unforgiving hostile cold of Skyrim.

Celestia said her farewells for now to the Jarl and exited the city. As the doors closed behind her, she could almost hear Ulfric and Galmar talking to each other about her.

"Do you think she will be alright my lord?"

"If her abilities are to be believed, then I am certain she will survive. All I can hope is she learns that there are many unmerciful people in this world that will take advantage of her kindness without remorse."

"If her people are as half as powerful as she is, I can only imagine what a whole army of them can do to the likes of the Thalmor and the Empire."

"One thing at a time Galmar, one thing at a time."

Next time, back with our Lunar and Dragon blooded heroes....

"Oooh! this is SO much fun! I love it when bad guys randomly freeze and let me slice their heads off." a bubbly voice says.

"Ky'ell, thou has numerous issues". an irritated voice replied.

"But its fun to see how baddies can go splat! Maybe I should try a warhammer to see if I can make them freeze and then do that funny neck breaking thing I saw one of the guards do on a bandit."

"Let us just dispatch the leader of these brigands and return to Proventus to collect our first bounty. We need the money if we are going to buy food and supplies for a three day trek up a mountain! And I suspect we may need to do a few more before we are sufficiently prepared to do so."

"Aw, you're no fun. Hey, look over there. Why is that axe glowing green? Why is that sword glowing green? Why is that bread glowing green?"

Chapter 8: Bounties, Odd Jobs, and Lodging

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The day had rapidly been getting weirder and weirder for Princess Luna. She had found out through various people that she had been transported to an entirely different realm in an ancient land right in the middle of a bloody civil war between three different nations. She also found that her new human friend Ky’ell was an ancient hero that could swallow the souls of dragons. With possible lead on finding her sister finally within her grasp, they must travel together all the way around the tallest mountain in Tamriel to start their climb up the seven thousand steps from a rural town called Ivarstead, all the way to the summit to a monastery called High Hrothgar. Unfortunately Luna and her new companion were going to have to earn the funds they needed for supplies to make the dangerous journey. Needless to say, she was bewildered and flustered by how complicated her situation to get home has gotten by this strange chain of events. Things were finally beginning to look up, there was finally a hope to find Celestia and return to Equestria. Before she could do all of that, she was going to have to survive her new companions antics.

“You are an idiot!” Luna screamed at the man groaning in the water.

“Did you have to launch me into the outer atmosphere?” he meekly asked.

“You smashed me face first into water while I was splayed out full canary and nearly drowned me!!! you bucking degenerate!!!!”

“Don’t you mean splayed out full eagle?” he innocently corrected.

“I don’t bucking care, just don’t bucking do that again you degenerate idiot!!” she screamed at the man.

“Alright, alright, jeez, sorry, I didn’t know you were such a buzzkill.” he said slightly annoyed.

Ugh, I suppose I will have to take that as closest thing enough to an apology from this moron, she thought as she rubbed the bridge of her snout.

“So, where exactly are we going for this bounty?” Luna asked while inspecting her regalia and crown for damage.

“Uhhh, let me consult the map.” he quickly said while pulling out a large rolled up piece of parchment out of thin air from behind him.

He unrolled the map and held it up to the light for Luna to see.

“Shouldn’t...that....thing....be...soaked?” Luna whispered to herself bewildered.

“Hm? Oh, yeah the location. Let’s see where we’re going for our first bloody kill.” he replied with glee.

As Ky’ell was scanning the map, Luna noticed how detailed his map was compared to the map in Dragonsreach in their tactical room. Thousands of locations in Skyrim appeared to be sprinkled all over the map. There was something different about it though. Only a handful of locations in the southwest portion of the map were legible with clear symbols representing them. Everything other location appeared to be blurred out and illegible as if the map was tampered with. Concentrating closely, Luna found a faint magical aura surrounding the document.

“Aha!” Ky’ell cried. “That Silent Moons Camp something or other should be right about here.”

He pointed with his index finger to one of the blurred out locations on the map and a tiny drawing of an arrow suddenly appeared right over the spot where he pointed.

He pointed to one of the blurred out locations on the map and a tiny drawing of an arrow suddenly appeared right over the spot where he pointed. Then, much to Luna’s confusion, a transparent grey bar appeared a foot in front of Ky’ell’s face.

“Where did you get that map Sir Ky’ell?” Luna asked.

“Hm? Oh, this?” he replied raising the map to confirm her question. “I got it off of one of those Thalmor douches while escaping from Helgen. Think she was some kind of general. I don’t think she liked it when I sneaked up on her and felt her up for her “backpack”. I just assumed all magical people could pull large stuff out from behind them.”

“Oooo-kay, so what is that then?” Luna asked while pointing to the bar with the arrow.

“Oh, this? I’ve always had this. Think its some kind of magic. Or a perpetual trip from being briefly exposed to Pa’s Moon Sugar, take your pick. It always seemed to help me as a kid. Keeps me focused. I guess since you can see it too I can call it magic. Nobody else seems to see it.” he explained innocently.

“You are possibly the strangest stallion I have ever met.” Luna utterred under her breath as she shook her head.

“Anywho,” he concluded as he rolled his map back up and placed it back into what Luna remembered being described as his inventory. “Let’s go hunt some bandits.”

They made their way past Gildergreen and down the steps towards the marketplace once again down into the Plains District. People swarmed the marketplace and appeared to be on edge as they hurriedly bought out much of the inventory in each of the vendors. Luckily, they seemed to have no problem restocking as they had extra crates and barrels of their products on hand. Ysolda waved hi to the two of them as they passed on through the busy center of commerce. There were a few people who hung around the still appeared to give Luna a suspicious glare despite her new honorary title within Balgruf’s court. Ky’ell noticed her discomfort at their glares and moved to her left side to block her from their sight and proceeded to glare back. His own death glare appeared to work as they went about their business in the marketplace.

Before they exited the entryway gates of Whiterun, one of the guards gave Luna and Ky’ell an earful about many potential bounty opportunities within the hold, each sounding more and more dangerous than the last. One of them involved slaying a small group of giants who were attacking local farmers, and another involved hunting down what was described as a pale wrinkled blind gremlin that was seen in a cave east of the city. Luna knew that she couldn’t spend too much time on many various missions just to get the necessary funds that they needed for weapons, so she hoped that this bounty would provide them with the means to get the bare essentials. Luna politely thanked the guard for his information and walked on through the gates with Ky’ell out into the vast pastures of the hold of Whiterun.

The sky still seemed to be covered in a generous blanket of fluffy silver rain clouds that could start raining at any moment. A gentle cold breeze quietly whispered across the valley quietly singing its melodious song to the many animals and people passing across the rivers and grasslands. A sizeable layer of tule fog blanketed the embankments of the stream leading out of the city, hiding any indigenous local fauna that lived by the water. As they walked along the cobblestone road, a few mud crabs scuttled alongside the muddy portions an oxbow pond where the stream overflowed. One of the smaller ones quickly dove into the mud as the duo approached, trying to use its carapace as camouflage.

Eventually they came to a side road which turned somewhat north where the base of a small mountain range with a small layer of snow a few hundred feet, or hooves up in her case was beginning to become visible. Many of the indigenous wildlife crossed their paths, some even looking familiar to Luna. While passing a road sign with the names of various cities, a giant stone structure in the distance came into view sitting at the base of the mountain range. It seemed to be built right into the hillside as a few wide pairs of stairs lead all the way to the top towards a dome shaped ruin.

She noticed that he didn’t immediately go straight into the ruins. He knelt down on top of a rock on a ridge somewhat above the ruins where they were able to see a few of the bandits patrolling the stairs leading into the dome at the top and the entrance at the base of of the structure. As she approached her enigmatic companion, Luna noticed something different about her opponents demeanor as the smile on his face disappeared. Suddenly, he silently turned back towards her as if he was about to ask for something.

“Uhh, yes Sir Ky’ell?” Luna asked.

“Are you a good shot?” he bluntly asked.

“Yes, we are. We are the best in our land” she replied.

“Good. Shoot towards that storage shack on the outer rim of the ruins.”

“What exactly are thou planning Sir Ky’ell?” she questioned.

“Just do it.” he coldly replied.

Curious to see what he had in mind, she pulled out her bow and an arrow and scanned the ruins for what Ky’ell was describing. After a few seconds, her eyes came upon a stone hut of sorts just outside the perimeter of the ruins. Breathing in deeply she pulled back the string of her bow and took aim at the hut. Letting loose of the string, the arrow flew and hit its mark. Ky’ell tapped her with his elbow and pointed to one of the bandits walking up and down the stairs.

“Watch this, these guys are retards” he said with a smirk.

As if he knew what was going to happen, one of the guards looked in the direction of the hut and seemed to be drawn to the sound of the arrow impacting on stone. The bandit pulled his sword out of of its sheath and slowly made his way down the first flight of steps.

Waving his hand, Ky’ell gave Luna the signal to follow him. He got back on his feet and ran around to the left towards where the hut was staying just out of the line of sight of the guards scanning the ruins. Luna followed closely behind carefully following his lead. When they got close to the hut, Ky’ell signaled Luna to stop and be quiet as he whisked his hand across his neck. They could hear the guard checking the contents of what sounded like a chest opening. Ky'ell crouched down low to the ground and snuck into the hut while the guard was busy helping himself to the mead stashed away in the barrels. The bandit appeared to be younger than most, with just a little bit of hair growing on his face, but old enough to be recruited.

He suddenly stood up with an irritated look on his face and smashed the bottle on to his head knocking the young bandit out instantly.

“Wait another year kid. The buzz is a lot better at the permitted age.” he quipped at the unconscious bandit.

Luna walked in to the hut while staying low to the ground and quickly scanned the boy Ky’ell knocked out.

“Don’t worry, the little duder ain’t dead, just on a first class ticket to sleepy land for a while.”

“Good.” she said with a hint of relief in her voice. “But I must ask, what is a young colt doing allying himself with ruthless brigands like these?”

“Probably a runaway,” he replied with a shrug. “Some kids think they got it rough even with their lavish lifestyles and think, “hey, maybe a gang like this will understand me and take care of me a lot better.” Hopefully this little nap will get him to think otherwise.”

Luna looked at him and gave him a kind smile.

Perhaps there is more to this foolish stallion than I first assumed, she thought.

After leaving the young bandit up against the wall of the hut, Luna and Ky’ell pushed on forward and up the stairs of the stone steps towards the dome, trying to take out each bandit without alerting the rest. Unfortunately, in broad daylight their stealth wouldn't last long. One of the guards ended up slipping away down a hatch to alert his chief when Luna and Ky’ell weren't looking.

As they made their way into the dome, they had to crouch down to avoid being spot by the three bandits inside to be able to get the jump on them. Circling around the first passageway, they tried to stay as close as possible to the wall without being seen. Suddenly, Ky’ell accidentally knocked into the side of the wall, causing his armor to clank against the stone of the passageway.

“What was that?” one of the guards asked startled.

“Go check,” another replied.

Luna and Ky’ell looked at each other with nervous looks as they heard the sliding of metal followed by footsteps. Luna Ky’ell then motioned for her to quickly go back the other way before they were spotted. Luna nodded as they carefully and quickly scuttled across the passageway back outside. When they made it outside, Ky’ell breathed a sigh of relief and then turned to Luna and leaned towards her ear as to not alert the guards with any more discernable sounds to their presence.

“Try going around to the other side Loony, I’ll go back this way and drop that baddie,” he suggested.

“Wouldn’t it be quicker just to rush the knaves and get this over with quickly? We really must finish the other request we were given and get up to High Hrothgar as soon as we can.” she silently replied.

“Aw, but that wouldn’t be fun. I like being all stealthy. I wanna do that funny stealth neck knocking thing I’ve seen the other bandits do with the handles of their battle axes,” he whined.

“Honestly Sir Ky’ell stop acting like a foal, we are in the middle of a bandit stronghold and the longer we stay here, the longer we risk being caught.”

“Aw, you’re no fun. Think of it this way then, the stealthier we are, the less likely we are to be caught. I need to level up my Sneak anyway to get the next star in my constellation anyway,” he replied nonchalantly.

“What does the buck does that even mean?” she asked annoyed and confused.

“A little late for stealth I’m afraid,” two gruff voices snarled from behind each of them.

Luna leaned over to find one of the Nord bandits aiming his hunting bow at Ky’ell from a few feet away. Ky’ell also noticed a guard pointing his sword right at Luna’s neck

“Tell you what, why don’t you just start running, so I can shoot you in the back?” one of the bandit replied with a crazed look in his eyes.

“I'll give him an even better offer than that. Give us your delicious looking companion and we’ll let you live,” the other bandit behind Luna added.

Suddenly, he pushed Luna to the side as he expelled a Thu’um, knocking the bandit on to his feet. Taking this opportunity, Luna used her magic to string an arrow and fire it at the other bandit before he could string his own. The arrow met its mark piercing his throat, causing him to gurgle as he drowned in his own blood. Ky’ell leaped up on to his feet and rushed the guard as he was beginning to stand up, pushing him down the stairs. Luna winced as she saw each impact and even gripped her neck with both hands when she heard a fine crunch.

They continued into the dome and quickly dispatched the last guard before examining each of the treasures in the center of the structure. The center room appeared to be a forge of some kind, with all of the essential equipment needed for various pieces of armor and weaponry. While most of the equipment appeared to be relatively new, the forge itself however, appeared to be ancient, despite its basic construction. Many various iron and steel ingots were neatly stacked in a corner next to a barrel full of steel swords.

“It appears that they were using this place to manufacture swords. There are too many here for just this small group of bandits,” Luna observed.

“Oooh! You think we’ll be running into an enemy army? I wanna use that blue burp to mow people down,” Ky’ell happily inquired.

“Let’s just finish off the rest of these ruffians down below and return to Proventus to seek out our last task.” she replied sheepishly.

“Ooh! Look! Why are those weapons glowing green?” Ky’ell said as he looked past her.

Luna turned around to find a large wooden shelf with various iron swords and axes glowing an eerie iridescent green. The glows seemed to pulse from inside each weapon. Luna sensed a familiar magical aura emanate from them as she picked one of the axes up. Suddenly, as soon as the handle of the axe touched her hand, the glow of the axe illuminated its light brighter. The enchantment that appeared to be on the axe felt extremely similar to her own magic. She looked up and found a book on the armor table with an emerald green cover titled “Notes on the Lunar Forge”.

“Did you find something Loony?” Ky’ell said as he fooled around with the petals on the grinding stone.

“Perhaps it might be a good idea to keep these weapons for later, I feel like it may benefit us later if I discover the enchantment behind these weapons.” she replied as she placed the glowing axe and book into her backpack.

"What about that chest?" Ky'ell asked.

"Well, let us see." Luna said as she went over to the large bronze chest on the other side of the room and opened its lid to reveal the contents within.

Inside lay a few various unique items. One of the weapons appeared to be a golden axe with a curved handle and blade with a head that resembled an eagle's head. Another appeared to be an iron warhammer that illuminated with an ominous red glow and felt warm to the touch. Ky'ell took the liberty to place it across his back should they ever have use for it Off to the side of the chest lay a few large bottles of Stamina Potion that Luna quickly pocketed before emptying the remainder of the chest's contents.

“Say, how do we get into their hideout?” he asked as he was zipping all over the place, tapping on every stone in the room.

“Most likely not how thou are doing it Sir Ky’ell.” she replied awkwardly. “I think there was a door at the bottom of the pyramid. Mayhaps we will find our quarry within.”

“You talk funny, but groovy! Let’s get some gold!”

“I do not talk funny, idiot,” she uttered under her breath as she rolled her eyes.

After a little bit of walking, they finally made it down to the old wooden door at the bottom. Once inside, they came face to face with a swarm of bandits who were waiting to ambush the duo in a large store room with a fireplace lighting up the chamber. They had to briefly surrender as they were lead to a passageway off to the right deeper into the cave to meet the chief of the bandit group. The bandits temporarily subjugated their weapons and belongings as they were held at sword and arrow point. Even Luna's crown and necklace were taken off by one of the greedier members of the bandits, much to her rage.

I can’t do a thing. Damn it all. Being banished here must have disturbed my inner magical pools. Once my magic fully returns to me, these fools will be nothing more than gooey crimson blood stains upon the earth, she thought as she painfully tried to ignite her horn.

“You’ll be dead soon Nord, but don’t worry. We’ll take REAL good care of your horse woman. Right boys?” an orc bandit said menacingly.

The rest of the bandits chuckled with malice as they continued to lead the duo deeper into the narrow passageways of their camp.

As the path began to slope downwards further into the pyramid, Luna noticed something different about this part of the cave. Part of the corridor's ceiling closer to the bottom was covered by a thick wooden panel. It seemed to run down the slope for about 10 feet until it came to stop at the bottom where the floor leveled out. Looking for anything that might help in their escape, she scanned the walls for any weakpoints in the supports along the cave walls. Hidden in the shadows at the bottom, she could barely make out what appeared to be a strand of twine tightly strung across the floor and through some kind of pull lever mechanism. Getting closer to the bottom of the slope, she decided to take a chance and throw Ky’ell down and trigger whatever the wire would activate.

“Hey, I’m not a pillow you know!” Ky’ell cried in a disoriented daze as he stumbled, tripped over the wire, and hit his head against the rock wall at the bottom.

Luna dove forward as the mechanism activated, opening the panel in the ceiling. A barrage of rocks came raining down killing most of the bandits and seriously injuring others, each of the rocks impacting and ricocheting off of each other with a chorus of thunderous bangs. Luna pulled a briefly dazed Ky’ell down the adjacent corridor to safety while the rest of the boulders tumbled out of the crevice.

When she finally heard the rocks stop falling, she peeked around the corner to find most of the bandits crushed underneath.

“Hey Luna, that was stupid and AWESOME! But can you please not make me french kiss a cave wall next time you have a plan? I don’t think she’s the right woman for me,” Ky’ell quipped.

“Believe me Ky’ell, we will be doing thou’s fair lady a favor once we rid her of these brigands from her passageways.”

Luna then raised her eyebrow in confusion as Ky’ell began to hold back a laugh.

“What?”

“Oh, I’ll tell you later,” he replied dismissively as he spoke through his hand.

After helping Ky’ell back up onto his feet, they retrieved their bags and weapons from the now deceased group of bandits including Luna's crown and regalia. To which she was relieved to find undamaged. They then continued on through the cave treading lightly for any more guards or tripwire traps. Along the way they came across a few various bottles of potion and poisons of some sort that she carefully dropped into her backpack. On one table, she found a weathered book with an orange cover and an emblem that bore a striking resemblance to a tree losing its leaves. Seeing as it looked like one of the spell books in Farengar’s collection, she decided to save it for the time being. Propped up against a wall, she also found a quiver filled with 100 steel arrows. She happily took the quiver and placed it next to her own.

Before they passed into the next passageway, Luna held her hand to signal Ky’ell to stop. Her ears moved around as if searching for a sound, which caused her to quickly pull out her bow and one of her new steel arrows. Ky’ell then crouched down to the ground to not make any noise as Luna peeked around the corner...and found the Bandit Chief unarmed with his back facing the passageway. To say she was confused was an understatement. She had expected the chief to be full decked out in thick armor and waiting for the two of them to come charging in. There was no way in Tartarus that he couldn’t have heard the trap being activated. Instead, he was talking to himself about turning wood into gold and how he should kill his former girlfriend.

She turned back to Ky’ell and gave him an exaggerated face of disbelief while pointing at the bandit chief. Ky’ell simply gave an exaggerated shrug back as Luna rolled her eyes and proceeded to nonchalantly string the bow, carefully aim and shoot the chief right through the back. The blow instantly killed the chief as his lifeless body collapsed on to the floor of the cave.

“That was hilariously easy,” Ky’ell said incredulously.

“Very. But at least, we can finally start heading back towards Whiterun.”

They searched the room the chief was inhabiting and found more various potions and sacks of gold before moving on to the next corridor. The bandit guarding the corridor was easily killed with a single well placed block and stab executed by Ky’ell. The door he was guarding lead into the final room of the camp. It was a massive brick and mortar room with chests and shelves lining the circumference of the room. Many various objects of varying size and shape occupied the space on each of the shelves. A ladder in the middle of the room extended up to the ceiling where a trap door was placed, presumably leading to the outside.

“Jackpot! We found more loot!” Ky’ell cried with delight.

“Perhaps we should try to return some of these stolen items to their rightful owners” Luna thought out loud.

She looked back towards Ky’ell and immediately scowled in annoyance as he was paying more attention to the contents of one of the chests instead of listening to her. The top half of his body was deep in one of the chests as she could her him rummaging around

“SIR K’YELL!” she barked in her Canterlot voice

“Hm? Who? What?” he asked as he pulled out two bags of coins.

“Please pay attention, we need to gather the last of the stolen items before we return to Whiterun.” she snapped.

“Alright, alright. Pocket these first,” Ky’ell replied as he threw the sacks of gold at Luna.

Luna yelped as she barely managed to catch the heavy sacks and shrieked as she fell backwards from trying to hold up the sack of jewels and coins.

After helping Luna back up on to her feet, Luna placed the sacks into their steadily growing backpack of items. They secured the last of the stolen goods, including a Steel axe and sword glowing with the same enchantment from the forge outside before they ascended the ladder to escape the camp to the outside world.

Ky’ell opened the trapdoor and crawled out into a secret exit of some kind that was blocked off by a gate of sorts.

“I do hope there is a way to open that,” Luna stated as she pulled herself out of the trap door and on to her feet.

“Maybe that pull chain over there does something?” Ky’ell suggested.

Luna walked over to the chain and grunted as she had to pull it all the way across the room before letting go. The chain rapidly wound itself back into the hole it came from and whipped around as it did so. They could hear a mechanism activating as the gate opened up, allowing them to pass back outside. Before doing so, they cleared out the other chest in this closed off room of all of its goods. Ky'ell found a banded iron shield that he gleefully replaced with his old beat up iron shield. As they went back outside into the open golden fields of the hold of Whiterun, Luna noticed that it was now late in the afternoon.

The duo slowly began their walk back to the city of Whiterun as a strong wind began to brew across the plains. The gale seemed to make the continuous rain fall down even faster as the little ice cold droplets of water whipped against their faces like little teeth digging into their fur and skin. The clouds seemed to respond to the winds as they swirled in the sky like a monstrous maelstrom. As the weather grew stronger, Ky’ell began to notice that Luna was staring into space as they were walking down the road. He wanted to help out with anything that he could but he figured that she would reveal whatever it was to him sooner than later.

“You think it might be a good idea to think about finding a place to sleep Lun? This rain looks like its gonna be a big meaner tonight.”

“Huh? Oh...yes, perhaps….” she said very distantly.

“Worried about somethin? Or someone?” Ky’ell asked.

“.....Yes. My sister," she hesitated to reply. "Ever since we were small, she has always been stronger than me in every way.Ever since the recent attack on our castle by...one of our tribes, I am afraid my long banishment has hurt her. I hurt my sister and now she has to pay even more for my mistakes. From what I understand, my absence seriously hindered her magical abiity. Thankfully though, there have been no serious attacks until I returned.”

“You were banished? And why does your sister need you that much? Wait. Just what...kind...of….relationship do you have with your sister exact-” Ky’ell started with a devilish grin.

“Let me explain before I “slug thee” for completing that sentence.” Luna interrupted with barely contained rage as a vein was beginning to become visible in her temple.

“My sister and I have a unique symbiotic magical connection. Our duality requires us to be in somewhat of a close distance to one another for our magical potential to be at its peak. And when I was in...exile for an extended period of time, our separation hindered both of our magical capabilities, allowing her to be vulnerable to attack to threats from the other...tribes.”

"And one of these tribes attacked her I am assuming?" he asked politely.

"...Yes, during my niece's wedding. She and I were virtually powerless to stop the invasion. I was sealed in my room and Celestia was brutally defeated and imprisoned by their Queen," she all but spat out.

"Alright, I guess I'm followin along okay, but what's up with this...banishment?" Ky'ell innocently asked. "Ya seem a'ight. What could you have done to deserve banishment?"

Luna then stopped in the middle and her breathing became shallow for a moment. Many bad memories popped into her head recalling everything from THAT time. A time that she would like to forget with every ounce of her being. She breathed in deeply and exhaled to relax herself before continuing onward.

"Maybe another time Sir Ky'ell," she replied softly.

Ky’ell decided to drop the subject for now, but he knew that he had to eventually get to the bottom of whatever in her past was troubling her. For now though, they had to focus on finding a place to sleep for the night as the dark thunderclouds began to rage overhead with thunder rumbling like a beating drum. They walked in silence for another half hour back to the city, passing various traders and farmers who were fastening down their goods and covering them from the intense winds. The duo finally arrived back at Whiterun’s front gates. The guards there immediately recognized their Thane and Lady as they happily allowed them entry once again back into the city.

The doors opened as they were once again greeted to the friendly sights of Whiterun as the covered torches illuminating its streets flickered and sizzled in the pouring rain. Luna was beginning to feel chafed and discomfort from the rain as it was soaking her clothes underneath her armor. They looked straight ahead past the marketplace and saw The Bannered Mare at the end of the street. The main street of Whiterun appeared to be completely empty, save for the guards standing steadfast at their nighttime posts. Luna and Ky’ell slowly made their way down the street while contemplating the many various things that had happened in that day alone.

Luna and K’yell finally arrived at the inn’s front door and opened the door to the warmth inside. A blast of warm air hit Luna’s face as the first sight she came into contact with was an inviting fire in the middle of the inn’s main dining room. The fireplace was accompanied by two adjacent benches that were completely occupied by many of the towns traders. The far side of the room seemed to be filled with smaller tables like those Luna had seen among Canterlot’s various cafes. They were also fully occupied by travelers and local residents enjoying scrumptious looking food and ale, including a woman in steel armor watching the whole room from her corner. A bar made up the south side of the building with an elderly woman passing out food and pouring various drinks.

As they stepped across the threshold of the door and fully entered into the inn, everyone looked at Luna and Ky’ell and left the building with an awkward silence for a solid minute. Ky’ell could tell that Luna was beyond uncomfortable receiving this kind of attention by the way she was trying to look away and avoid eye contact with anyone. It was beginning to concern him when she began to shake as she tried hiding her face under her long blue hair. So he did what he knew how to do best. Draw a lot of attention to himself.

“What? Do I got something in my teeth? Did spontaneously grow a wart? You know staring is only appropriate on the third date.” he quipped.

His antics seemed to work as every person in the room went back to their conversations, drinking and eating except for a bearded man wearing Iron Armor who was sitting by the fire. He continued to gaze up and down at them, not entirely sure what to make of them. Luna still seemed to be shaken up as she was still shaking from behind her shimmering sapphire blue hair. He gently grasped her hand and pulled her over to the bar with him. The old woman behind the counter was busy cleaning up the silver tankards and plates that were stored there. Ky’ell cleared his throat in a semi-polite way to get the woman’s attention which seemed to work as she looked up and immediately gave a glowing smile as her eyes fell on the two of them.

“Ah! You must be the new Thane of Whiterun and the newest honorary Lady of the court I have heard so much about in these past hours.” the woman happily said.

“Yeah, I’m Ky’ell and this is Luna.” Ky’ell said as he introduced them.

“Well it is a real pleasure to meet you two. I am Hulda, the innkeeper of The Bannered Mare,” she replied. “Now, how can I help you?”

“Lun and I need a place to stay for the night. We need to get out of this armor. Its chafing in unexpected places. You wouldn’t happen to have a room available would you?” he asked hopefully.

The woman held a neutral face for a few seconds before the smile returned to her face.

“Of course. Anything for the heroes of our city. You can have the Nobility Suite for as long as you want.”

“How much for the night?” he asked as he pulled out a bag of coins and fiddled around with them.

“Oh, don’t be ridiculous. Its on the house dearies. You two look like you need it.” she waved off. “Especially you Princess. You look so miserable in that armor sweetie. I’ll have Saadia bring up some fresh food and water while Ysolda will provide you two with warm clothes to sleep in for the night.”

"...Thank you Miss Hulda." Luna replied softly.

“You are very welcome your majesty,” she said with a curtsey. “Now, let’s get you to your room”.

“Ysolda! Show our guests to the Nobility suite.” Hulda shouted. The woman in question was drinking a small tankard of ale at a corner table when she saw the duo and happily got up and walked over to them.

“Hello again! It is good to see that you haven’t left yet.” Ysolda happily greeted. “Let me show you to your room.”

Ysolda lead the duo through a side door which lead into a kitchen where a dark-skinned woman was busy cooking various food items. The woman seemed on edge as soon as she layed eyes upon Ky’ell and Luna, but the two of them ignored it. Ysolda then lead them up a staircase which gave way to a short walkway to a few various doors. Ysola took a silver key out of her pocket and used it on one of the more ornate doors. The door opened to reveal a clean, well furnished room with a large queen-sized bed. Ky’ell looked relieved as he took off his backpack, dropped it on the floor and jumped face first on to the bed.

"Oh sweet rolls, maybe I should just lay here. I have sore spots on top of my sore spots," Ky'ell mumbled while his face was buried in the sheets.

"Before you do that, I will have Saadia quickly finish your food and bring it up to you. I will provide the both of you with clean, suitable clothes for the night.

Luna did the same as she placed her own satchel and weapons into a nearby chest, quickly got out of her armor, and sat down in one of the plush chairs right by the bed. As the rain battered down on the roof overhead, her mind was blazing with man various thoughts about all of the many events that had occurred in the last 24 hours. Becoming a member of a royal court in an unknown land, meeting her new companion, Fighting and killing a ferocious fire breathing dragon, and finding out her companion was an ancient chosen hero foretold in a prophecy. She had a lot to deal with that was going to make finding Celestia that much harder.

"Do you really think that the Greybeards will have any clue as to the whereabouts of my sister?" Luna asked.

"Probably. Who knows? They live on the tallest mountain in the world "supposedly" and their powers "supposedly" are able to see everything and keep the balance of the world...or somethin. I dunno, I hardly payed attention to them. Ass-ennici's voice was so ball-gradingly annoying." he replied.

After two days of nonstop stress, exhaustion, and screaming, the final piece of straw finally broke the camel's back. Luna grasped her stomach from uncontrollable laughter as she rocked in her chair. Ky'ell turned his head in confusion for a moment but put on a smile as he turned back to the bed to bury his head in the sheets once again. Her laughter went on for two solid minutes before she was finally able to calm down.

"I think I needed that," she admitted. "This whole thing has done a number on my patience and health that I almost forgot what it was like to feel a pleasant emotion."

"Always glad to help out!" Ky'ell replied with a muffled yell.

Down in the kitchen, while the redguard woman was cooking Ky'ell and Luna's meal, she silently moved to the wall behind the staircase leading to the second level and pulled out a section of the wall, revealing many various documents, quills, scrolls, and canisters, all of which were engraved with the image of a golden eagle with its wings fully opened. She pulled out one of the pieces of paper and wrote down a message.

Two strange people have arrived to Whiterun. One is supposedly an ancient Nord hero called the Dragonborn and the other claims to be a Princess from an undiscovered land and species. The both of them slayed a dragon. Will await your orders for further instruction.

All hail the Dominion

The woman then folded up the message and placed it in her dress for later before getting back to finishing her guests meal.

Next time...

With Luna and Ky'ell:

"Looks like we finally got everything, let us begin our trek towards the mountain." Luna said.

"WAIT!" Ky'ell yelled.

"WHAT???"

"...I forgot my sweet rolls" he replied innocently.

With Celestia:

"Are you alright? Why were you in that ritual circle?" Celestia asked.

K.M: "Hell if I know, I was trying to escape another crazy necromancer bitch when I ended up here."

Chapter 9: Beginning of the Quest

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Luna found herself in a giant red rose garden that seemed to extend on and on for miles and miles all around with many paths constructed out of white marble leading through them. The bright twilight sun made the crimson petals seem to shine and shimmer as its light permeated through a sky completely covered in blurred red, orange, lavender, and pink swirling clouds that seemed to flow through the air like water. The garden more than surpassed the beauty of her castle's own hedge garden that awaited her back in Canterlot. The wind smelled of a strong perfume like that of what her sister put on every other day. It was a mild, but pleasant scent that relaxed her to her core. Beautiful trees of various shapes and sizes were dotted all over the landscapes like silent watchers protecting their environment, Not knowing which path to go down, she decided to take a chance and choose the path closer to her which seemed to have a stone marker of some sort with a peculiar symbol carved into it. When she reached out to touch it, the sigil seemed to glow a pale blue.

“This world’s dream realm perhaps? Maybe I can speak to the one who watches over dreams in this world.” she concluded.

She got up back on to her feet, brushed herself off and started gradually walking down the path, cautiously looking around her for any sign of this realm’s inhabitants. During her walk, the only sign of life she came across were various species of insects flying and crawling amongst the leaves and branches of the rose garden. More than a few colorful beetles crossed in front of her of various patterns and shades, scuttling across the path to their destinations on the other side. Honey bees buzzed around as they landed on each ruby red flower, carefully extracting the pollen before bringing it back to their hives. After two minutes, Luna came across a beetle that had accidentally flipped itself onto its back. Its legs relentlessly moved around trying to flip itself back up. She took pity on it and decided to take a moment of her time to help it. Placing her finger by the beetle’s legs, instinctively the beetle gripped on to her finger which allowed her to carefully rotate her hand and place the beetle back right side up. Giving a small smile, she watched as the beetle crawled off into the thick brush and thorns as it went about its way. As she walked off once again down the path, a presence observing her every action disappeared to a different location to await this purehearted new arrival.

As Luna was beginning to grow tired of not finding anything, a wondrous, unreal sight appeared just on the horizon. A sight that gave her a pang of homesickness. A shining silver city sitting at the base of a large mountain with many small waterfalls flowing out of it. Sitting on top of the mountain's peak was a rose palace towered over everything. A giant gleaming blue waterfall flowed down and out of a vista from the palace's side like a watery banner decorating the whole structure. Its towers reflected the perpetual dusk’s sunlight back in a blinding light causing Luna to squint her eyes slightly. On the highest tower overlooking the whole rose garden, was a large balcony probably twice as big as the royal public speech balcony often used by herself and Celestia back in Canterlot. Focusing her gaze, for a moment, she could swear that she saw a feminine figure wearing a pale blue robe gazing down at her, and then all of a sudden, she could see the image of a beautiful set of probing eyes in her mind and hear the whispering voice of an equally beautiful woman.

"Welcome to my plane of Oblivion Moonshadow Princess Luna of Equestria. One who has seen DARKNESS!" the whispering voice emphasized.

“Who are you?” Luna simply asked. “Where am I and what do you want with me?”

Then all of a sudden, the figure completely disappeared from the balcony, much to Luna’s confusion.

“Those are a few complicated questions with complicated answers Princess.” she heard the voice reply out loud from behind her.

Luna turned around to come face to face with the owner of the beautiful voice that was silky smooth. It was a gorgeous woman of ethereal stature with a pale complexion and piercing ice blue eyes that seemed to be gazing into her very soul. She wore a loose pale blue robe that barely concealed her bust as it reached all the way to the floor and split into two large strips, trailing down to the floor like two large fish tails. Her hair was in an unusual multiple bun style that circled her head like a crown and was kept all together by a single strip of snow white cloth that draped down past her pointed ears and down her sloping pale shoulders like a veil. She gave Luna a kind and compassionate small smile to put her fears at ease.

“Who are you? Are you the guardian of dreams in Nirn?” Luna asked.

“Unfortunately, no. Until something is done, that title belongs to one of my more foul former sisters Vaemirna. I have long since forgotten my true name, but the mortals have taken to calling me many things. One of which is similar to your own title dear Princess. Mistress of the Dusk and Dawn, Mother of the Rose, and Queen of the Night Sky just to name a few. However, I have rather taken quite a liking to the name given to me by the dark elves: Azura.”

“Azura? One of the benevolent Daedric princesses of the Oblivion realm if I am not mistaken?” Luna asked while eyeing the Daedra cautiously.

“With all of the things that my race has done over the many eons, especially what we were responsible for a century ago, none of us deserve to be called good. Let alone benevolent. However, for me all changed three days ago when I sensed the presence of two new goddesses of the sky being thrust into Mundus by the dark powers of my insane brother Sheogorath. I simply could not stand by while two pure hearted innocents were used and violated by the more unscrupulous members of our dimension.”

“If it is acceptable to ask again then Lady Azura, may I ask where I am?” Luna asked as she finally began to relax.

“Physically, you are back at the inn of the Bannered Mare Princess Luna daughter of Faust. While the mighty Dragonborn is unconsciously wrapping you into an intimate embrace inside his rippling arms. It is quite romantic and amusing if I might say so myself. He's even trying to spoon you,” she said with a mischievous smile, enjoying an internal laugh while seeing Luna grow a deep blush. “However, your soul has been transported to my realm of Oblivion. The land of blurred colors, Moonshadow. Very few normal mortals have had the honor of entering my realm and even fewer immortals like yourself have entered with my permission.”

“It reminds me much of my own dream realm back in Equestria,” she said as she continued to gaze at the beauty of the surrounding land.

“I know, you care deeply for the dreams and mental well being of each of your subjects and valiantly fight off their nightmares. You love each and every one of them dearly as you put their fears to rest. A task my former sister abandoned a long time ago.” she said as she sounded distant.

“What do you wish of me Lady Azura?” Luna respectfully asked as she gave a slight bow.

“Only to simply assist you and the Dragonborn in your quest to defeat the World Eater and to free the fates of many from my wretched brothers and sisters, so they do not bring harm to your own. ”

Luna raised her eyebrows and crossed her arms, unsure what to think of Azura, with many doubts and fears entering into her mind.

Please, you have no need to fear me Princess Luna, Luna heard as Azura peered into her mind. My only desire is to help you reunite with your family and help you and the Dragonborn defeat Sheogorath before he destroys both our worlds. I assume you have met him already?

“Yes, we have met.” Luna replied with noticeable venom in her voice. “My world’s own harbinger of madness and chaos forgot to mention he had an ally as foul as him.”

Do not think badly of Discord. As… chaotic as he was and eccentric as he is now, he truly loves your realm and has a
very deep love for your sister and one of the flying daughters of your land.

Luna knew exactly who Azura was referring to as she momentarily put a smile of delight on her face.

“But on to more pressing matters. You are about to awaken to rejoin your friend, but before you do, there are things you must know.” she said out loud again.

“What is it?”

“I know not the exact location of your sister, but I know that she is safe. The Divines are doing everything they can to assist the two of you in returning home. I also sense a feeling of longing in her heart. She is looking for you. I feel that you may reunite with her much sooner than you realize. You will also be contacted by one of my more pleasant sisters, your presence has gained her interest. The same goes for my other sister Meridia where Celestia is concerned.

Azura lightly giggled as Luna raised her eyebrow.

"Let's just say that my sister is similar in nature to you and her plane of Oblivion is one I believe you would find great delight in. She's a little stand-offish at times and doesn't like to reveal much about herself, but I do think she will come to like you and the Dragonborn," Azura concluded cryptically with a smile. "Though, I do know she has her own nefarious motives at times. If she attempts any evil upon you and your kin, I shall have harsh words for her."

“T-thank you Lady Azura. At the very least, you have given me some semblance of hope that Celestia is alive and well.” Luna replied with a bow.

“Farewell Princess Luna. You and I shall meet once again very soon,” she concluded as she bowed back to Luna.

Luna’s sight was blinded by an ethereal light that seemed to erase Moonshadow completely from her reality. Then her sight slowly faded away back into the complete darkness of sleep. She once again found herself conscious as she felt herself in a soft bed. She felt something off though, like her whole body was being pushed down by some big animal. She also heard a very unusual growling sound coming from directly to the left of her head. Remembering what Lady Azura had said, she cautiously opened her eyes and found a shirtless Ky’ell lying on top of her with his head buried into the pillow to the left side of her head. She looked to the window, carefully moving her head and saw that it was still dark outside with a few drops of rain still impacting against the glass. Ky’ell appeared to be sleeping soundly as his chest gradually pushed down against her with every breath. The mortifying nature of the situation made her deeply blush turning her fur as purple as Twilight’s for a brief moment before getting a grip on herself.

At the very least he isn’t forcing himself on me. He was probably exhausted and just fell on to the bed without seeing where I was she thought to herself. I suppose it would be rude of me to awaken him now, with him in this deep of a sleep. Besides....this isn’t a...bad way to sleep. Unexpected, but not bad, she thought as she smiled and wrapped her arms around her new friend and drifted back to sleep. Her own dreams consisted of pleasant images, one of which included herself back in Equestria looking up at the stars in her own personal waterfall grotto filled with umbrella mushrooms, fireflies and glowing moon lilies....

The next morning, she began to stir and woke up to find that her steel gripped partner had disappeared. She looked left and right, but couldn't find him. Then, she heard the ghastly sound of nasal snoring coming from off to the right of her bed. She turned to look over the edge and found Ky'ell laying full spread eagle on the cold floor. He had somehow gotten back into his Iron armor without disturbing her. She giggled as she saw his tongue hanging out of his mouth with a strand of saliva reaching all the way to the floor. His throat and nostrils vibrated in unison with each breath to make an awful growling sound that sounded more appropriate out of a Sabre Cat than a man. She carefully maneuvered off of the bed and hopped over towards the chest by the bed. Carefully opening the chest, she found her Elven Gilded armor lying at the bottom of the chest with her bow. She then proceeded to carefully slip back into her hide under suit and then her armor without waking him.

As she slipped her right hoof back into her plated feather tunic, her other hoof caught on the sheath of Ky’ell’s sword causing her to slip backwards on to Ky’ell with a shriek. The man in question awoke to an unpleasant feeling as he groaned in pain.

“My ancestors felt that,” Ky’ell groaned in pain with noticeable spirals in his eyes.

“My apologies Sir Ky’ell,” Luna consoled as she pushed herself back up on to her hooves.

She helped Ky’ell back on to his feet as the two of them struggled to regain their balance.

“How did you get back into your armor? Weren’t you sleeping with?...” she started as she tried to create a proper phrasing for her next words.

“Was I what?” he asked curious as he strung his sheath back on to his belt.

She looked him for a few before deciding to drop it. She decided to save the questioning about his borderline...intimate behavior for a more convenient time.

“Thou know what? Nevermind, we shall discuss this subject with thou later,” she said sheepishly. “Now, shall we gather our belongings and begin working our way around the mountain?”

“Yeah, let’s get a move on.” he replied.

The duo gathered the rest of their belongings and weapons and began making their way out of the inn and back on to the street. The first floor had been completely vacated of most of its occupants from the previous night except for Hulda and two other armored warriors having drinks. Even the tan skinned assistant to Hulda had completely disappeared. The princess however wished to thank the woman for her exceptional service. When Luna asked, Hulda told them that she had to go out of town for the day, but would be back later in the evening. She just decided to allow Hulda to carry the words of thanks to her and continue onwards.

Luna and Ky’ell came outside to find that the sky had been given a momentary reprieve from its gloomy weather for a beautiful day of blu skies and warm sunshine. The air was also noticeably more crisp and clean from the previous day’s smell of smoke, grime, and blood. The marketplace seemed to still be bustling with merchants, traders, travelers, and local residents still noticeably shaken up from the traumatic events of the previous day. Ysolda who had tended to their clothing and their service at the inn waved to them from her vendor covered with unique and exotic looking items. Two of which included a shining butterfly in a jar and an entire bee hive twice the size of a human head.

“Yssy-face!”, Ky’ell happily exclaimed to the merchant as they ran up to her.

“I can see thou’s inventory has increased,” Luna said as she looked at the various unusual items.

“And indirectly thanks to you two. I suppose being the friend, or at least a perceived friend of two honored members of Jarl Balgruf’s court has its benefits.”

“I am glad we could be of some service.” she replied.

“I’m assuming the two of you are gonna be heading out soon?”

“Yeah, soon as we make sure we got all the goodies we need- HEY WHAT’S THAT?” Ky’ell abruptly exclaimed as he pointed to one of the shops

“Oh! That’s Arcadia’s Cauldron. Nice lady, great with potion making, has a complete alchemy lab, and she has helped me with some alchemical trading, but she’s a little too forward with people she...admires,” Ysolda not so subtly inferred with specific hand gestures.

"Oh, I guess we should try to avoid her then. She sounds like a harlot," Luna replied.

"I don't know if I would go that far, but yeah, that's actually pretty much accurate." Ysolda chuckled.

"She has an Alchemy Lab? I can make us fizzy drinks, potions that do funny things to us, and funny looking poisons Loony!" Ky'ell exclaimed with delight. "I gotta go try it out!"

Ky'ell ran up to the door of the shop and bolted inside to explore around. Luna followed him to bring him back. She found him jumping from one side of the room to the other, fiddling with and playing around with many of the various ingredients on the shelves Arcadia herself was stunned, unable to process what was going on as Luna tried to catch and grab Ky'ell then pull him back outside. Luna put on a humorously terrified face as Ky'ell picked up a large jar that contained a giant beehive, complete with a fully occupied colony of bees. He chucked it at Luna through the air without warning which barely gave her enough time to dive and catch the dangerous container. Ky'ell then proceeded to buy a few seemingly useless potions that he chucked into his bag as he threw each of them over his shoulder. One of them he overshot which cause Luna to catch this giant flask of gooey purple liquid. He then moved on to play with the alchemy lab, where he giggled like a madman as he pulled out random things out of his bag like a small flask filled with an ooze-like swamp green liquid, strange mushrooms, a piece of a bug, a piece of a giant insect, and a slice of cheese. He mixed all of the strange ingredients together and placed them into a fresh flask found in the cupboard of the lab table. As he began to work on another flask, Luna stomped up to him, fully intending to give him his just desserts.

With an unamused frown on her face, Luna grabbed him by his ear and dragged him back outside to where they were standing in front of Ysolda's vendor.

“Nay Ky’ell, we do not have time for shop going. We need to proceed on our mission.” Luna snapped.

“Aw, no fair,” he pouted. “Oh well, I guess we can find fun along the way,”

“I hope for the best for you two,” Ysolda replied. “Oh, and if it isn’t any trouble, could you take the time to look for a mammoth tusk for me? The ones at the General Goods shop are absurdly expensive.”

The duo made their way back out of the city as they prepared for whatever trials the frostbitten tundras of Skyrim had in store for them. The guards recognizing the new heroes of Whiterun gave their wishes of farewell to the two of them until their safe return back to the city. Luna bowed to them and offered the guards kind words in return while Ky'ell just looked bored and played with a moth that had crawled onto one of the bricks of the castle wall. They walked back out on to the road leading out of Whiterun. The walk from the city to the crossroads at the White River was mostly silent, save for the occasional butterfly that Ky'ell had found himself distracted by. All of a sudden, they heard a thunderous sound that shook the earth where they stood.

They looked around and found a giant attacking a group of warriors with its massive club made out of petrified wood and bone. The warriors seemed to be struggling with killing the giant as their attacks on it barely seemed to even hurt it. Luna wanted to end this quickly so they could continue onwards, so she looked around and found a stone to sling at the giant. When the stone impacted against its head, it rubbed its temple in pain and then looked at Luna with a look of pure rage. It thundered toward her with incredible speed with a killer intent. As it came within striking distance of her, it raised its club and Luna rapidly strung her bow, ignited her horn and shot an arrow right through the giant’s throat. For a moment, it appeared to stumble, but it raised its club again like it was never hurt as it prepared to strike Luna again. Then she heard the sickening sound of metal crunching bone as the giant fell backwards and impacted against the ground dead. She saw Ky’ell standing there wiping his sword off with the grass as he kept a small smile on his face.

“That was fun,” he said calmly and nonchalantly.

A woman with grimy red hair wearing an elaborate suit of hide armor and a large bow across her back ran up to greet them. Luna saw that her face was covered in some kind of war paint.

“That was amazing! I can see that Harbinger Kodlak’s words about you two were more than true. You really can handle yourselves well. You two could make for a decent Shield-Brother and Shield-Sister” the woman complimented.

“We thank thee. Thou looked as if you were in need of some assistance”.

“I heard the two of you were leaving the city. Why don’t you come back to Jorvasskr when you return? Perhaps you could join our ranks if you’ve got the mettle. We can give you a more effective means to earn coin for your journeys across the land Dragonborn warriors.”

“Perhaps we will once we come back down the mountain.” Luna replied.

“If you do, then I wish you good luck,” she simply said before walking off with the rest of her group back towards Whiterun.

“She seems alright,” Ky’ell said.

“Very, but there’s something...off about her. I don’t know what it is though,” Luna thought out loud.

Luna and Ky’ell continued onwards, past Honningbrew Meadry and across the fields over to the road on the other side of the river to bypass the long way around. When they got close to getting back on to the road, Luna looked up to find a dirt path on the other side branching off of the main road and up the mountain. It seemed to lead to a ridge that seemed to be used as some kind of vantage point. Before she could think any further, a man wearing grimy leather armor came into view that seemed to be scanning the terrain. From instinct, Luna pulled Ky’ell behind a nearby rock before the man’s gaze landed upon the two of them.

“What’s up Loon?” Ky’ell whispered. “And why did you cause me to want to whisper?

“We didst not “cause” thee to want to whisper. Thou didst that on thine’s own,” she replied in a hushed tone.

“Yeah, but pulling people behind rocks like you don’t want a pretty girl at a party to notice you sure gives cause to want to whisper.”

“We assure thee Sir Ky’ell, our intentions were noble. A bandit is up on that ridge surveying the landscape,” Luna explained. “We feared that we would be spot and caught in a battle that we can’t exactly take part in presently, as we are pressed for time.”

“Aw, that’s easy,” he boasted. “Watch this.”

He then crouched down and slowly stepped forward and back out to the road with Luna whispering to him more frantically to get back behind the rock. Then to her surprise, when the bandit’s eyes passed over the road, he didn’t seem to see Ky’ell, despite being out in the open where presumably everyone could see. He then pulled out his own bow, strung an arrow and shot it at the bandit. Even when it impacted on the bandit’s body, Luna looked on with brain hurting confusion as the bandit simply looked around his post for a minute, looking for the shooter, before going back to his post like nothing ever happened. Watching Ky’ell urge her to do the same with a gesture, Luna gave in to her curiosity and stepped over to the road in a crouching position just like he was. She followed Ky’ell a hundred feet down the road and stood back up when Ky’ell seemed to think that the coast was clear.

“How in Tartartus did thou do that?” Luna exclaimed.

“I’unno. I’ve always been able to do that. Me and anyone following me has had the weird ability to scuttle around like a little mudcrab without getting caught, even if I’m out in the open. I just need to be slow enough depending on my skill level so I stay hidden.I guess that’s what happens when the player takes hours and in Riverwood pick pocketing keys. Oooh! Maybe I can take a while to level up when we get back to Whiterun.”

Earlier that same day right after Luna and Ky’ell left Dragonsreach to go to Silent Moons Camp…

The castle had been getting back into its daily routine. Jarl Bagruf had been working with Proventus and Irileth to properly work on an effective way to distribute their limited amount of guards in the hold to combat the many growing threats in recent days. The entire castle was in so much of a frenzy doing their daily tasks in tangent with the accelerated war efforts, that they did not notice a small figure weaving throughout the castle. After what he had heard about where this foreign princess origins lie earlier, he had to bring the information to a close friend that he made recently. The figure weaved his way through the palace kitchen without any of the chefs and servants noticing and slipped into an abandoned back room, where he huddled up to a lock door and pressed his ear up against the lock. A whispering seductive feminine voice began to speak to him.

"I'm here again Lady" the figure said.

"Were you seen or followed?" the voice asked.

"No my Lady, father and his boot-lickers are far too busy with their so-called duties to see anything".

“What do you wish to speak about today with me my lovely little prince?” the voice asked.

“Something interesting just happened this morning Lady”. the figure said.

“Oh? And what might that be sweetie?”

“The foreign princess that’s been living with us apparently is not even from this world. And she is traveling with someone called the Dragonborn.” the figure replied.

“Very interesting...thank you sweetie. I shall think upon this. Come back in a few hours if you want to talk again.” the whispering voice said as it slinked away back to where it came from.

The voice slinked back into a sticky dark place far away from Skyrim and far away from Nirn. It walked across a black bridge that lead into a shadowy black room. It crawled up the stairs to its altar in the middle and stared into an oozing pool on top where an image of Ky'ell and Luna appeared. She looked on in sinister fascination at both Ky'ell and Luna as she contemplated what her companion had said.

“Very interesting indeed”.

Next time....

Chapter 10: The Kat and The Witch

Celestia finds herself in a fight with her first magical opponent in Skyrim, and their fight will end in Celestia gaining a new friend and a new student from the recent past of Nirn.

"You took quite a nasty fall there. Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I've been abused by much worse..." the newcomer replies.

"Let me introduce myself. I'm Celestia. Princess Celestia."

"Y-y-y-you're a r-royal? the newcomer asks in a terrified tone and then faints dead away as her eyes roll back.

"Well, this is a fine CAT-tastrophe," Celestia puns. "Wait, did a spark of flame just pop on to her head?"

Chapter 10: The Pon, the Witch, and The Kat (LATEST EDIT: 1/11/19)

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Back in the snowy hold of Windhelm, Celestia had just begun to exit the front gates of the city. The cold wind was brutally whipping against Celestia’s pale white face like a million cracks of a bull whip. Her new armor, under jacket, and coat of fur mostly protected the rest of her body from the intense conditions. She started walking down the long, snow covered bridge, taking in the sights of the surrounding landscape. Looking to her left, she could see the river stretch into a mighty sea, with various frost covered isles dotting the coastline. There could have been many other isles, but most of them were concealed behind the horizon under a dense layer of fog and snow flurries whipping to and fro across the sky.

Down on the river, Celestia could see a number of sailing and military ships of various shapes and sizes docked up along the stone boardwalk running along the length of the city. Various people from different races unknown to her were loading and unloading goods off and on each of the ships. Men appeared to be making repairs to some of the ships, hanging from the main masts and using pulley systems to repair damage to the outside portions of the hulls. Further into the boardwalk, she spied a group of unusual looking people struggling to carry giant crates to and from the dock to the ships. Upon further examination, through the snow, she could see that these unusual people bore a striking resemblance to dragons, except they were wingless like Spike and their scales carried various shades of dark green and dark yellow.

One of the “dragon-like” people seemed to be struggling to carry one of the larger crates. Celestia’s compassion momentarily overrode her current objective as she saw the reptile woman wobble and stumble, with the heavy load. As she saw it about to fall, she activated her horn with a golden glow and teleported down to the docks right up to the woman and its heavy cargo crates. Grabbing on to the sides of the crates, she managed to help stabilize the stack with her immense strength. The reptile woman on the other side seemed to breathe a sigh of relief as Celestia began to hear a raspy feminine voice come from the concealed figure.

“Many thanks to you friend. I thought I was going to fall in that freezing river. I really don’t wish to die an icy death holding these heavy crates.”

“I can’t stay long, but I’m glad I could be of some help to you.” Celestia replied as she followed the woman gradually moving over to a wooden door up against the outer wall of the city. “Why are you carrying these anyway?” she asked with genuine curiosity.

“You must not be from around here stranger. Honestly, some days as intense as this one I forget myself. We have worked these treacherous docks carrying cargo for the Nords for what feels like an eternity,” the woman replied.

“It feels like safety regulations are in low supply around here. Don’t they protect the workers from this kind of thing?”

“Unfortunately, a number of the Nords in this city do not wish for us to be here and do not even allow us to live in the city, but we live as cheerfully and contently as we can from day to day.” the woman replied as Celestia helped her set down the stack of cargo crates.

"Thank you again stranger. Carrying crates like these day in and day out can get very tiresome sometimes. I wonder sometimes how we have survived this long in this frozen province." the woman lamented.

"Why not go back to your homeland? It sounds like you aren't from around here either," Celestia inquired.

"I consider that option from time to time, but then I must remind myself that I left our Hist ascendants to strike it out on my own with my family out here. There is hard, but honest work here. Plus, all of this fresh air and water is good for the gills."

"I'm sorry you have to deal with this kind of thing," Celestia said in a melancholy tone slowly quieting her voice. "I would definitely not force my own subjects to do this kind of dangerous work."

“Regardless, I do very much appreciate the help. Skyrim could use more people Iike- oh!” the woman exclaimed as she came around to greet Celestia.

I'm sorry if I startled you. I'm Celestia.” she greeted bowing her head slightly.

The reptile woman was briefly stunned by Celestia's beautiful appearance and unknown quality about her. The woman conveyed mixed emotions of shock, astonishment, wonder, and delight all in one expression.

“The foreign horse princess that has been recovering in Jarl Ulfric’s castle? You….are definitely not what I expected your ladyship.”

“I suppose I am going to have to get used to that response,” Celestia replied sheepishly. “What is your name miss?”

“Forgive my manners your ladyship. I am Shahvee. One of the Argonian dockworkers here,” the woman said.

“Argonian? Is that your race?”

“The rumors weren’t kidding, you really are from another continent.” she mused. “Yes, we hail from the mighty swamps of the Black Marsh far south of Skyrim.”

“It is nice to meet you Shahvee,” she replied. “I hail from the land of Equestria. Its...very far from Skyrim to say the least.”

“You came here to the Northern Country at a very inopportune time your highness. Especially during this god forsaken civil war. A pure hearted, kind royal such as yourself that helps a lowly dockworker like myself is looked down upon in these lands.” she replied. "Plus, these Nords aren't very friendly to outsiders."

“I like to think I’m different from many other royals. But if I might ask, doesn’t Ulfric know of the conditions that you and your people go through down here every day?”

“Ulfric is noble and kind, but he unintentionally surrounds himself with the worst bigots Skyrim has to offer.” Shahvee explained intensely. “One of his advisors has been taking over rule of the city right from under Ulfric’s nose while he’s busy with the war.” Shahvee explained. “Every time any of us try to object to anything that happens to us, the city guards and one of Ulfric’s many advisors heads us off and tosses us in the dungeon for days.”

I don't want to get involved with the affairs of another world like Starswirl once warned me, but I can't stand by while people are suffering, Celestia thought conflicted.

"I'm not sure if I can do anything, but while I am here in Skyrim, I will make sure Ulfric knows of your terrible living and working conditions."

"Really? You would do that for us?" Shahvee asked in bewilderment. "But you just met us."

"Ponies like myself make friends very quickly and we like to take care of of our friends".

For a moment, Shahvee's mouth seemed to curl into a smile as she accepted Celestia's offer of help.

“Thank you. While I am doubtful, I sincerely hope for your success.” Shahvee replied cheerfully. "If more races of people were like you, the world might be a happier place."

“Shahvee! Come on, get over here, we have 100 more of these crates we have to unload,” an irritated Argonian man on the boat snapped.

“Well, I must get back to my work. I genuinely hope I see you again soon.”

“Oh, I have a feeling I will be back here very soon. Farewell for now Shahvee.” Celestia concluded as she lit up her horn once again and teleported back on to the bridge leaving a stunned Shahvee behind.

One of the Argonians who observed Celestia’s teleportation ran up to Shahvee to get an explanation.

“Sister...was that the horse princess that destroyed The Butcher and his gang?”

“Y-yes, Neetranza. I believe that was,” she said hesitantly while still shaken up after being startled by Celestia’s magic.

Back on the bridge after reappearing with a golden flash, Celestia continued onwards towards the city of Whiterun, using a simple map she picked up in town as a guide. All it had was the locations of each of the capital cities of each hold in the province and their respective smaller towns that they shared. All of the roads were marked as well for the casual trader or traveler to properly find their way around Skyrim. Near the Easternmost point on the map, she found the shield emblem marking Windhelm’s location. Moving West to the center of the map, she found another emblem with the clear image of a ram’s head. Using her finger, she found a straightforward path past the mountain in the center of the province and towards Whiterun.

“With a bit of luck and no problems to run into, Luna and I should be together again and heading back to Equestria by dinner.” she told herself.

Slipping the map back into her bag, she continued walking through two guard checkpoints until she made it across the bridge. There was a small house sitting right to the left of her with another small building attached that looked a lot like a canopy with many various gates closing it off. There was a sign that dangled above half covered in snow and icicles that read “Windhelm Stables”. Upon further inspection, she found a small group of horses lying down inside huddling against each other to stay warm from the intense cold. One of the horses noticed Celestia and made a whinny that reminded Celestia of the languages the ponies of Equestria once used eons ago. It stood up for a moment and slowly walked over to Celestia to observe and investigate her.

So these are the “horses” Twilight and Sunset keep talking about. I certainly do see the resemblance, she thought while observing the creature.

The filly cantered up to the gate and extended its neck towards her. Celestia stood still for a solid minute, before allowing the filly to give her a gentle lick on the face. The filly nickered and then moved back to her stablemates to huddle up against the cold. As Celestia prepared to move on, she could swear that the filly and its small herd had bowed their heads in respect to her. Celestia bowed her head slightly back before moving on once again.

Celestia momentarily distracted, walked on to the other side of the bridge where the main roads were. Down her left was a road that seemed to just lead to the coast and many various houses and farms that were settled near the city. Down her left a few hundred feet was a saw mill right on the river bed that appeared to be very busy that day. Many workers had been chopping away at the larger trees so they could split them in half with their large saw blade. In front of her was another road that appeared to lead southwards. A separate path appeared to split off and go up a hill where a large tavern of sorts sat on the top. Trusting her instincts, Celestia went down to the right to make a straight shot for Whiterun. A few farmers and workers in the area eyeballed Celestia for a moment but moved on to their daily activities and duties.

After a few minutes, Celestia came face to face with a group of people standing around a giant tree that blocked the entire road. The trunk of the massive tree was entirely scorched except for the bottom near the remaining stump on the side of the road. Many of the smaller trees in the area had looked like they were weighed down by giant ice crystals. She walked up to the group of people to get some answers and attempt to help remove the tree if she could. There was also a man and woman kneeling in the middle of the road weeping, presumably because the tree had fallen on to their home. The group of people standing around them appeared to be talking amongst themselves. Guards were surrounding the obstruction, informing them that they would be bringing tools to clear the tree as soon as possible.

I can’t stay for long, but I might be able to help out by removing this log, she thought as she walked up to the group of villagers.

“Um excuse me, but what exactly happened here?” she asked a brown haired Nord.

“I’m still trying to figure out myself,” the man said still facing the direction of the fallen tree. “A Blood Dragon from the South flew right through here avoiding the city, but blasting the weaker villages around Windhelm. One poor sap from the city guard met a poor fate when he tried to shoot down the beast, but got carried off instead.”

“And the ice crystals?”

“A Hagraven witch by the name of Moira that dwells somewhere close to the city. The piece of filth snuck into the village while the dragon was attacking and stole Dogmar and Frina’s daughter. She blasted us with ice when a small group of Stormcloak soldiers caught sight of her with the girl.”

“She’s been kidnapped?!” Celestia exclaimed. “Aren’t you going after her?”

“We would, but the guards have forbade us from doing so. Besides, nobody has ever been able to track that Witch down successfully without dying,” the man replied.

Celestia had known witches, dark sorceresses and evil enchanters before. Ponies and creatures that were once pure, but gave into the temptations of the dark one and began weaving the most evil of black magic. Warping the world and perverting life into their own twisted creations. A thousand years had passed since the last dark magic caster was killed by herself, and her sister, and they were STILL rediscovering dark artifacts hidden away all over the land after hundreds of years had passed. Their tactics were ruthless, and cunning, but fairly predictable when you catch them off guard. She would have to proceed with stealth and attack with the element of surprise using her own powerful light magic to overpower the dark. She could use her magic to track the signature that the witch left behind. She wanted to find Luna, but her compassion forbade her from ignoring this family’s plight.

“Which direction did this witch go if its alright to ask?” she asked politely.

“Down to the Southwest somewhere. The miserable wretch disappeared when we tried to follow. I wouldn’t recommend going after her tho-what?!” the man exclaimed as he finally turned around to see Celestia running in the opposite direction back towards the bridge.

“....Alright, either mother gave me a Black Briar mead laced with moon sugar, or that was the horse princess that Jarl Ulfric and Galmar were seen walking around town with?” the man concluded with a stunned expression.

Celestia made her way back across to the other side of the river, as she lit up her horn in a warm golden light to cast her own spell. There were many new magical signatures that were unfamiliar to her all around, and it would take a while before she would be able to fully grasp the magic of this world. However, there was one signature that stood out to her. One that matched the residual magic left behind near the site of the fallen sequoia tree. It had a jagged, evil feel to it that she hesitated to grasp on to. Once she did, she could sense the presence of the main source, very close by.

Following the signature with her glowing horn, she made her way ten miles South down the road, observing the frozen land turn into a desolate waste. Off in the distance, she could faintly see the shape of an ominous plateau, covered in bones and surrounded by bubbling geysers. Carefully scanning her surrounding environment, she searched for anything in the landscape that appeared to stick out. Her eyes eventually came across part of the landscape off to the side of the road towards the West. Part of the landscape was faintly shimmering in the daylight. Walking towards the unusual sight, she decided to investigate further while carefully stepping over steaming fissures that had formed in the ground.

She made it to the shimmering wall that seemed to surround a very specific part of the landscape. Using her spell once again, she discovered that the dark magic signature she was tracking lay right through her current obstacle. She carefully scanned the enchantment for any traps and found that while it had been created by magic, it was not being used as a trap. She took out her sword as a precaution and slowly thrusted it at the barrier. The barrier seemed to displace as her sword slowly dissolved further out of existence, the further she pierced into it. She quickly pulled the sword out and examined it, finding no damage whatsoever. Throwing caution to the wind, she slowly stepped towards the barrier and after hesitating for a moment as she was one inch away, she stepped right through it to the other side.

A brand new sight greeted her eyes. It was a large grove of tightly packed pine trees. The grove seemed to get darker and darker, the further in she looked. She looked back and found that the wasteland landscape was still there after she walked through the barrier.

“Silly me, must have been a harmless concealment spell. You know what, maybe when we get back, I should use one on the cakes Pinkie has been sending me every Monday morning. Someone has been nibbling on them when I’m not looking,” she giggled to herself before concentrating back on her current task.

She proceeded into the pine tree grove where she eventually found a small light glowing among the trees. It slowly turned into the shape of a house. The house just screamed evil to Celestia. Wooden stakes were placed in the ground as traps presumably for soldiers. Skulls on posts acting as eerie torches. Burnt giant rat carcasses lain about all over in front of the house. Various cages presumably for different animals smelling of rotting flesh.

Suddenly, her ears picked up the sound of a girl’s muffled scream coming from inside. She silently pulled out her sword and ran up to one of the windows. Peeking inside to avoid being seen, she found a ghastly sight. The walls were covered in many a manner of mysterious ingredients and potions, skulls and flesh still dripping with fresh blood hung from the ceiling. In the center of the room was the kidnapped girl that Celestia was looking for, and the witch that was keeping her prisoner. The Nord girl was bound and gagged and laid in the middle of an altar with carved unknown markings that looked a lot more like claw marks and slashes than an actual legible language.

She was noticeably beaten and bruised, with her clothes in shreds, just barely holding together, clearly showing her undergarments underneath. She had noticeably been crying nonstop as she vainly been trying to scream for somebody to come to her rescue. The witch who was keeping the girl captive was intimidating in her own right. Her hair was frizzy and white, like spiderwebs, her black robes were made of black hide and appeared to have a symbol that resembled a human skull stitched right into the garment. Various posts were placed around the altar that seemed to hold strange looking crystals that glowed in an eerie light purple. She also appeared to be grasping what looked like an exact replica to the giant golden scroll that Sheogorath stole from her back in Canterlot.

The witch appeared to be moving in a dance like motion and speaking in an unknown, but ominous dialect that seemed to send chills down Celestia’s spine.

It must be some kind of ritual. I better stop it before something happens to her, Celestia thought as she carefully circled around to the back.

Celestia began to hear the witch speak to the Nord girl, still unaware that Celestia was lurking on the grounds preparing for an attack. Her big ears could still pick up the girl’s muffled screams as Celestia approached the back door.

“Please don’t struggle sweet thing.” the witch commanded in a slimy voice. “You are giving me your life to me for a glorious cause. One that the College wrongly denied me of: reaching through time to bring back the knowledge of a lost magic and restore my order to its rightful glory. The last to know of this ancient magic was a pathetic, but gifted Khajiit mage hero. And with this Scroll and a blood sacrifice from one of her distant descendants, she shall return to the present day under MY control and my control alone.”

As Celestia came up to the back door, she could hear the witch begin to chant some kind of incantation. The words she uttered came out of her mouth in some kind of otherworldly demonic voice.

“MEHT, EKEM, HEKEM, ROHT, YOODT, NEHT, EKEM, SEHT.

DOHT, AYEM, GETH, OHT, NEHT. ”

Celestia felt a chill go up her spine as she listened to the incancation being cast. She knew she had to hurry before the ritual was complete and the girl was lost forever. She slowly turned the knob with her left hand as to not make any noise, and activated her horn with a golden light to begin her plan.

I might have came too late to stop the ritual from happening, but i might be able to interrupt it at the right moment with a little bit of my own magic, but I have to be precise. If I interrupt at the wrong moment, I risk destroying reality as I know it, she thought as she casted a spell on her sword causing it to glow the same color as her magic. She kept pouring as much magic into her sword as she was physically able to handle. Unfortunately, visible strain could be seen on her face after a few seconds of casting.

I must not be back at full magical strength yet. I need to act before its too late, she thought.

By the sounds of things, the witch was about to conclude her ritual as her chanting became slower and louder as if reaching a crescendo in a symphony. Through a crack in the door, Celestia could visibly see the sigil underneath the girl and the crystals around the altar begin to glow brighter and brighter. She could feel herself reach her limit as the witch chanted her last spell.

“BEHT, ROHT, IYA, NEHT, GETH.

MEHT, EKEM.

KOHT, AYEM, TAYEM, IYA, AYEM, MEHT, AYEM, NEHT, AYEM, GETH, AYEM, NET” the witch was interrupted as Celestia tackled the door with her strength, causing it to fly directly into the witch.

The door impacted against the spell caster as she was smashed into the opposite wall of the house. Celestia rushed in and unleashed the magic she was storing in her sword on the pedestal in an attempt to stop the ritual. Her magic seemed to work at first as it exploded into a fiery ball, causing the altar to break with a palpable crack and the spell to falter for a moment, allowing her to jump on to the altar. She quickly ripped her bounds off of her hands and tossed the girl over to a nearby rug away from the effects of the ritual. However, the spell seemed to kick back on as the soul gems began to emit a ghostly gale of winds around her. An unseen heavy weight seemed to push her down onto her hands and knees as the winds grew stronger and stronger, knocking her sword out of her hands and off to the side of the room. Seeing the door move to reveal the witch noticeably battered, but alive, she saw the enchantress give Celestia a smile full of malice.

“Ahhh, the horse princess found by Stormcloak. Many a powerful spellcaster in Nirn sensed the arrival of you and your sister in Mundus. Just imagine the power my lord, the Prince of Ambition will have, once he has the power of both the sun, the moon and the ancient creation magic of Aetherius in his grasp. He will be free once more and the Mythic Dawn will finally have its vengeance upon Nirn and all those who stood in our way." the witch cried with evil glee.

“I don’t know anything about your so-called “Prince of Ambition” or your Mythic Dawn, but there is one thing I DO know.” Celestia grunted in pain.

“Oh, and what is that?”

“He will not lay his hands on me or MY SISTER!!!” Celestia roared as she powered through the spell and unleashed an explosion of flames in all directions, knocking the witch unconscious and destroying the altar.

The winds seemed to grow faster and faster, stronger and stronger as her outburst of light magic caused the mysterious purple crystals to fracture. They then began to crackle and split as the power Celestia unleashed into them became too much for them to handle. Suddenly, an explosion of purple lightning and fire engulfed the entire room as the crystals finally gave out, turning into dust and useless fragments. Celestia was launched into the wall by the powerful blast, impacting with a crash among the various shelves, breaking most of the glass jars and flasks into millions of tiny fragments and splitting the shelves into an an explosion of splinters. Thankfully, her heavy armor took most of the impact, only leaving her moderately shaken up from being tossed around. The resulting blast left behind a giant cloud of smoke impairing her vision within the main room of the house.

Somewhere else, in the realm of Aetherius

A: "I feel that something is amiss..."

K: "Does something trouble you my liege?"

A: "Yes, I feel that someone has used one of Father Anu's Scrolls to open a minor Dragon Break."

J: "Yes, I felt it too. One of Winterhold's dropouts seems to be up to trouble"

T: "A Dragon Break? How serious is it my lord?"

A: "Nothing to be too troubled about. It stayed open for less than a moment and Celestia quickly dealt with it before it could become a problem."

T: "Was it the Scroll your champion needed for his quest my liege?"

A: "No, that one still awaits "his" and "her" arrival along their journey. This one though, has not been seen nor have I sensed it for quite some time. I believe it once belonged to the hero of the place the mortals call Daggerfall."

S: "So the important question is then, did anything dangerous come through that Break?"

"Ugh, I could really use a nice hot bath right now," she lamented as she could feel her fur and armor was covered in a mix of splinters, potions, and a little bit of blood from the various dead animal carcases that had been thrown about the room.

All of a sudden, Celestia could hear the pained groans of an injured woman within the house. At first, she thought it was the witch recovering from her injuries, but after a minute, nothing seemed to happen. She looked around her immediate position through the dense smoke and found the girl that had been kidnapped lying close to her on the wood paneled floor. Fearing the worst, Celestia checked the girl’s condition, praying to whatever deity that might be watching for the girl to be alive. To her relief, he placed two fingers on her neck and found that she still had a pulse. She then placed her hand over the girl’s mouth and found that she was still breathing as well. She had just been knocked unconscious from the impact. So after ruling the girl and the witch out, she picked up her sword that had been thrown to the side from the blast and slowly walked deeper into the smoke back to where the altar once was. The groans seem to get louder as she came up to the altar, and in the smoke, she could distinctly see a feminine figure slowly rolling around on the shattered remains of the altar in pain.

“Oh, excuse me. Are you alright miss?” Celestia asked in a concerned motherly voice as she approached the figure.

“Oooooooh, I feel like I was smashed by a damn boulder,” the female voice said in agony.

“Where did you come from?” Celestia asked.

“I WAS trapped inside of a cage a moment ago. I made the mistake of eating Imp Gall while blind and using all of my magic at once to counter a powerful fire spell.” the woman in the smoke said nonchalantly.

“Oh my, I had no idea that awful witch had another kidnapped prisoner here. Are you going to be alright?” Celestia asked.

“I think so. And I guess a witch is one great term for someone like Sigrid. And what do you mean more than one kidnapped prisoner? I broke into this damn fortress to get my stuff back! Why would anyone else be here?”

Celestia climbed back up on to the altar to properly introduce herself and get to the bottom of this confusing situation.

“Miss, I’m afraid you aren’t inside any fortress. You’re inside a witch’s house. its much too small to be any fortress. Except to foals anyway.”

“Wait. WHAT???” the figure exclaimed as she slowly stood back up on to her feet.

Celestia could finally see what the woman looked like as she stepped into her field of vision. She appeared to be some kind of cat girl like the race she learned about in the books she read back in the Palace of Kings. Her fur was a deep golden color and her eyes were big, expressive and had bright green irises that almost seemed luminescent. She was wearing some kind of green robe with a big leather hood acting as the collar.

Here's an image for reference

The girl seemed to freeze as her eyes fell upon Celestia. They stared at each other for what seemed like hours before she started to mumble to herself.

“Am I dead? I think I might be dead. Oh my Akatosh, I’m dead and I’m seeing freaking white unicorns with wings that can talk,” the girl mumbled to herself sounding more and more frantic and more hysterical as time went on.

“I can assure you that you aren’t dead miss. You looked like you have been through a lot of horrible things.”

“And now the white unicorn with with wings and a crown is talking to me. Oh, my Akatosh, I have completely lost my mindandSigridisgoingtohavemecapturedandthrowninthenearestslumpit. How do I know this isn’t some kind of sick joke that Sigrid or some Daedra is playing on me? HowdoIknowthisthingdoesn’twanttoFUCKINGEATMYHEAD OFF!” the girl screamed.

Celestia looked at the girl with disappointment as she continued to rant and rave faster and faster. She seemed to be having a panic attack as Celestia did the only thing she thought would snap this girl out of her raving. She pulled out a spare pair of leather underarmor gloves of her pouch and whipped them across the girl’s cheek with an audible slap. The cat girl’s face whipped to the side as she seemed to be snapping out of her hysterical raving.

“Thanks,” the girl said simply as she rubbed her face in pain.

“My pleasure,” Celestia kindly replied. “I do recommend though you work on not doing that in the future to yourself.”

“How did you know that would even work?” the girl asked as she rubbed her cheek.

“A student of mine did the same thing on more than one occasion and she ended up gave herself panic attacks that I had to snap her out of more than once.”

“Student? Are you some kind of teacher in pony land where you are from?…” the girl asked in an unsure tone.

“You could sat that. For now though, maybe we should step off of this altar and get outside where we can actually see our surroundings and continue this when we are out of danger?” Celestia suggested.

“Yeah, I think that’s a good idea”. the girl replied sheepishly as she rubbed the back of her head.

As the smoke slowly started to dissipate and flow out of the house, Celestia could see where she left the kidnapped Nord girl. She sheathed her sword back into her scabbard and picked the girl up in her arms. With her arms full, she carefully looked for where the witch had been blasted just in case she was not killed by Celestia’s blast. There appeared to be not much left of the witch as Celestia saw a long streak of blood go across the floor and end right at a large piece of the roof that crushed her into a red pulp. Celestia shook her head in sadness and disappointment at the witch's fate.

"Another weak, prideful fool vying for ultimate power. And another needless loss of life..." she lamented.

The golden Scroll with star carvings and jewels that the witch used lied right by where the witch was standing when Celestia unleashed her spell. It appeared to be completely undamaged and knowing how similar her own looked to this one, she figured that it must have some kind of significance to the man who called himself, "a Daedric prince." With a gloved hand, she picked up the giant golden scroll and carefully placed it into her backpack before focusing her attention back on the Nord girl. She carried the girl outside with the Khajiit girl walking alongside her carefully observing her surroundings for any more threats. Making their way far enough away from the perimeter witch’s house to avoid any further confrontations. She found a rock outside of the now dispersed concealment field to prop the village girl up against to catch her breath for a moment.

“Now I think we are alright for the moment,” Celestia said.

“So who are you and where am I? This doesn’t look anything like Kvatch at all,” the girl asked as she scanned her new surroundings.

“My name is Celestia. I’m an alicorn. I’m afraid that I haven’t heard of any such place called Kvatch in Skyrim...yet at least.” Celestia replied.

“Nice to meet you Celestia. Wait a minute. Skyrim? That backwater frozen northern country with all of the old human ruins? I mean cool, I’ve always wanted to see this place, but why am I HERE??? That bitch Sigrid must have tried to kill me by sending me somewhere dangerous. Oh man, Quillweave is going to kill me if I can’t get back in time,” the Khajiit girl lamented as she buried her head in her hands.

“Is this Quillweave a friend of yours?”

“Yeah, she’s a really nice Argonian who's trying to help me get on my feet. Or paws, Whatever my race calls their feet,”

“She sounds like a very kind person,” Celestia sweetly replied.

“Yeah, I guess she’s alright. I’ve been a crappy friend to her lately though. She gives me money, food, a place to sleep, and I’ve been unable to find a way to repay her without screwing up,” the girl said sorrowfully.

“Borrowing money from a friend is a risky business,” Celestia said. “It can damage a relationship very easily.”

“Tell me about it. After botching that heist to get my stuff back from that succubus wench. All of my robes, magical jewelry, that Aetherius magic book and that bag of 4000 septims I was going to repay Quillweave with”.

Celestia’s magenta eyes widened in realization as the wording of those belongings sounded eerily familiar. She opened her pouch and looked through all of the contents inside. The girl pulled a small piece of metal out of her pocket and sighed.

“And somehow, I still have this stupid lockpick. Its like this thing deliberately refuses to leave my side.”

“Um...miss what did you say your name was exactly?,” Celestia asked suspiciously like she had an idea.

“Oh yeah, sorry. I guess I forgot to mention it. Call me Katia.” she replied.

Oh dear, I really hope she isn’t who I think she is or I might have accidentally ruined this dimension’s reality.

Celestia was beginning to sweat and laugh sheepishly as she coughed politely into her hand.

“Um...would...your...last name happen to be...Managan Katia?” Celestia asked slowly.

“Yeah, that’s exactly it, but...how did you know?” she asked.

“I think these might be your belongings Katia.” Celestia replied as she handed Katia the bag.

Katia’s eyes widened and a smile came upon her face as she took the satchel and started looking through it.

“Oh my Akatosh! I thought Sigrid still had it hidden away. Everything is here. Including the bag of Septims and my spell books!” she exclaimed happily. “But, wait a minute. If Sigrid still had them when I was back in Kvatch, then how did you get my bags?”

“I’m not sure if there’s an easy way to see this Katia, but your bag was found in a warship a few weeks ago, it was then found by the Jarl’s men nearby....and...you...may...have...been sent a century into the present by that witch.”

Katia then stood completely still. Not saying a word to Celestia and Celestia not saying anything to her. The silence seemed to stretch on uncomfortably for what felt like hours, but was really only minutes. Katia’s pupils seemed to shrink to the size of pinhead’s as her left eye began to twitch. An unnaturally comfortable smile stayed on Katia’s muzzle which made the situation all the more uncomfortable. Then out of nowhere , Katia did something that was understandable, but concerning to Celestia. She began running around in circles screaming her head off like a mad woman.

Celestia looked at the situation with a frown, not liking how bad it turned out. Katia’s frantic panicking lasted for several minutes as the situation was beginning to get even worse and worse as time went on. Then when Katia nearly tripped over a rock, she began to hyperventilate again. Celestia began to fear for her safety as Katia collapsed onto her legs and held her chest as if she was in pain.

Oh no, I’ve got to stop her fast breathing or she’s gonna go into cardiac arrest. Celestia thought frantically.

So Celestia did the only thing she could think of and knocked Katia on her back then pulled her arms straight up away from her body.

“Wh-wh-what are you doing? Lemme go!” Katia weezed.

“You are suffocating yourself! This will help you breathe. Now, I want you to breathe in deeply, breathe out deeply, and repeat for a few minutes before you end up killing yourself!,” Celestia barked.

“O-o-okay. I-I-I’ll try,” Katia weezed back.

She struggled at first for a minute, but she started to slowly regain control again as she shakily breathed in deeply and exhaled deeply once. Then after ten repeats of breathing in deeply and exhaling deeply, her breathing began to return to normal. When she seemed to calm down enough, Celestia stood up and helped Katia back up on to her feet by offering her gloved hand.

“Thanks,” Katia said morosely as she gripped her right arm with her hand.

“You gave me a scare there for a second.” Celestia said in a concerned motherly tone.

“Sorry. I tend to do that a lot….”

Katia became silent again, but this time, she seemed to be in deep thought. Celestia could see a big mix of emotions going across her face as she was trying to properly process the situation that she had found herself in.

“Hey, Katia. I just wanted to say that I’m so sorry that you had to go through this ordeal. I swear on my title as Princess of Equestria that, I will do everything in my power to return you home to where you belong.”

She seemed to look up with a sad smile and then shake her head.

“Naw, that’s alright. I figure that this might be a sign. I wasn’t really getting anywhere back in Kvatch anyway. I constantly got robbed, swindled, lied to, ridiculed, and I constantly made bad decisions that good people around me had to pay for. Who knows? Maybe this is the chance I needed to start over-WAIT,” she abruptly said. “Did y-you say that you were a princess?”

“Yes, my full name is Princess Celestia of Equestria.” she replied politely as she pulled her crown back out of her bag and placed it back on her head.

Katia didn’t exactly start hyperventilating again, but a look of fear seemed to cross her face as she tucked her arms in across her chest very tightly. Celestia looked around in confusion as a nondescript voice began to speak in the third person.

'You think you should be afraid. Every cell in your body IS telling you to be afraid of this royal horse woman with the big imposing armor. For some reason though, you only feel a little bit nervous. You never understood why royals scared you to begin with. Maybe you always thought that those crowns, jagged rims glistening like a dozen metal teeth bursting forth from their skulls like vestigial jaws seeking to devour any who have the unfortunate pleasure to find themselves upon it. Maybe it was their dresses and suits that reminded you of the vicious tendrils of an unholy carnivorous plant. Maybe it was their solemn expressions that ooze dedication. That nightmare you had recently about that dark King swallowing you whole and stabbing your friend QW, left you shaken up for days and days on end. This royal though isn’t a countess, a queen, or even a duchess. She’s a princess. And for whatever reason, princesses seemed to only make you nervous. But you are starting to realize that the fear you are feeling was only in your head, and something about this princess makes you feel safe and warm inside. You decide to speak to her before she starts thinking you are weird.'

C'mon, a non-descript mental voice tells Katia. She's not a King or a Queen, or even a Countess. She's a Princess. A member of royalty that doesn't have much power beyond her own family ties.

Yeah! another nondescript mental voice tells Katia.

Alright, I think I can get behind that without scaring myself, Katia thought to herself.

“Who’s speaking?” Celestia asked with bewilderment as she scanned her surroundings. "And I do like to think I rule my country pretty well with a bit of power thank you very much."

Katia didn’t seem to hear her as she finally gathered up the courage to talk to Celestia again, now that she knew of her title.

“You said you were from Equestria? Where is that exactly? I don’t think I’ve ever heard of that country.”

“Perhaps I’ll can tell you in a little bit, right now I really need to hurry up and return this girl back to her village so I can get back to finding my sister,” she said as she picked the girl back up. The girl moved around as she was being picked up. Celestia began to walk back towards the road.

“Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Why are you carrying that girl with you?” Katia asked as she followed alongside Celestia.

“Remember when I mentioned a witch?” Celestia asked. Katia then nodded which gave her cause to continue. “I was on my way to Whiterun when I saw a tree blocking the road and there were ice crystals everywhere. I found out that there was a dragon attack and a witch that lived at that creepy house back there used the commotion to kidnap this poor little thing here. I believe that she was being used as a sacrifice in some to bring YOU here Katia. Apparently she needed blood from one of your descendants."

"Me? I'm nothing special. I'm a loser back where I'm from", Katia sadly replied.

"Oh, I'm sure that isn't true Katia. In fact, the witch mentioned something about you knowing the ancient secrets to something called "Aetherius magic"

"What? I just learned how to use magic a few days ago. And I just learned about that Aetherio or whatever magic that is just yesterday. ....Or a century and one day ago I guess." she explained as they stepped back on to the stone road.

"There must be something that witch knew then that we didn't then cause Jarl Ulfric said that his family owes a great debt to you."

'This whole thing is confusing you to no ends. You travel a century into the future and the first person you meet is a white pegacorn princess wearing Dwarven Armor named Celestia. Somehow, she ends up with your stuff that had been previously stolen from you by that cowardly thief Sigrid. Now she tells you that you that dragons exist again. You were told stories about dragons from your dark elf neighbor who hit the Cliff Racer more times than you could count. Giant fire breathing lizards who could bite your head off with one swoop. He told the children that they were all slain many centuries ago. You are starting to feel more comfortable around this pegacorn named Celestia, but the idea of being in a country with giant fire breathing lizards doesn't sit right with you. Even thinking about it is making you begin to flip out again.'

"Uh, Katia? Are you hearing that voice?" Celestia asked as she adjusted her arms to get a better grip on the sleeping Nord girl.

"Wait. Are you telling me you hear my Narrator?" Katia exclaimed in surprise.

"Your Narrator?"

As the two of them approached the crossroads back to the village not far from Windhelm, Katia explained to Celestia that all her life she was never able to talk to a lot of people and was always paralyzingly timid. At some point, she began to hear voices in her head that seemed to help her not only speak to other people, but sometimes with help making decisions in everyday life. Sometimes they would give good advice that helped her and sometimes they would give her bad advice that would end up hurting her somehow. Celestia smiled when she was reminded of a certain pink pony when Katia called these voices “the audience”. Katia explains that their help with her decision making doesn’t always translate into her being brave enough to complete said suggestion or the suggestions actually being good all of the time. Most of the time, she just ran away or cowered in a corner. This made Celestia begin to feel sorry for Katia, feeling that life had given her chance after chance, but was instantly ripped it away from her when things were beginning to change for the better.

Celestia came up to the crossroads where Windhelm and the icy river out to sea was completely visible despite the unrelenting snowfall coming down on them. Katia smiled with awe and wonder at the magnificent structure and the gorgeous white landscape.

“So….cool!” Katia quietly exclaimed. “Maybe being here won’t be so bad after all. Despite you know, the dragons, draugr, potential racists, bandits, orcs, you know I probably should stop talking before I lose it again.

. They eventually made it back to the village where the log was slowly being sawed away by the loggers of the local mill. People all around were busy repairing damage to the town while the city guards appeared to be in full force, preparing for any further attack from outside. As Celestia and Katia walked through the town looking for the parents of the girl, many of the townspeople began to cast suspicious glances their way. With her large ears, Celestia could overhear some of the unsavory comments being made about herself and Katia, despite the fact that they were whispering about it.

“Uhh, Princess? I don’t think that we are welcome here.” Katia stated as she looked around at the unfriendly looks being cast their way.

“Oh, don’t worry. I’ve dealt with sour looks before, always have, always will.”

One of the city guards noticed Celestia and approached her.

“Princess Celestia! We had thought you already left Eastmarch for Whiterun. I’m glad to see that you made it out of the attack alive.” the guard said. “Who is that girl in your arms though though? Does she require medicine?”

“Yes Sir guard, I believe this poor thing is the girl that was kidnapped by that witch. I believe she’s alright. She was just knocked out when I...killed that witch with my magic,” Celestia replied.

“That explosion was you and your companion here?,” the guard asked while motioning to her and Katia. “We’ve been looking for Moira the Hagraven enchantress of Witchmist Grove for quite some time now. She’s been capturing young children to use in her...sacrifices for quite some time now”

“Sweet Mara,” Katia exclaimed in horror.

The thought of any person harming an innocent child in such a way enraged Celestia to no ends, but if she was going to survive and persevere in this hostile, unforgiving land, she would have to learn to keep her head on straight and not give in to her base emotions. To temporarily calm herself down Celestia remembered her old breathing technique and managed to center her thoughts and emotions.

“I...wish I was here to do something for them, but I hope to at the very least return this girl to her on parents before I continue on to Whiterun with my companion,” Celestia said to the guard. “Do you think that you can take the girl for me? I’m afraid my detour to find this girl has left me pressed for time to rescue my own kin.”

“Of course Princess,” the guard replied. “I will let them know of your kindness and heroism. I’ll also be sure to inform Jarl Ulfric of your service to the hold”

“That is all I ask for thank you.”

After watching the guard return the girl to her parents, Celestia and Katia slowly moved out of town and down the road once again, ignoring any sour looks and insults from some of the more unsavory locals. The snow slowly but surely gave way to a more temperate landscape the further away from Windhelm they got. White, snow covered trees gave way to Evergreen pine trees and flowers growing alongside the road. When Celestia noticed that Katia was still following her, an idea came into her head that she figured Katia would like.

“So...what are you going to do now Katia?” Celestia asked.

"Honestly, I don't know." she replies with a shrug. "My whole goal back in Kvatch was to return Quill Weave's book to her and repay her for letting me stay in her house, but I only ended up ruining said house. After that I would've probably gone to a Mages guild to try my hand at becoming a mage. Now though, I don't know. Quill-Weave is probably long gone by now and Sigrid probably passed on that guild hall of hers to some family member or lover" .

"You have magic?" Celestia asked.

"Barely. I was born with a unique ability to absorb magicka instead of generate it. Half the time I could barely even feel I had magic even after I discovered it. Every time I even attempted to use any magic, I just end up barely making it work".

"Tell her about your funny skeleton conjurations." one of the mental nondescript voices urged.

"Ooh! Ooh! Tell them about your "punyrokenesis." eh? eh?"

"She doens't need to know about that until I actually do it again dummies," Katia growled through her teeth at the voices.

Celestia now knew that she might have an idea that may prove to be beneficial for the both of them.

"Katia, I was wondering if you would like to join me on my journey to find my sister?" Celestia asked.

"Y-you want me to come with you?" she replied meekly.

"Well...yes. I think having a companion might help with the journey and in return, I want to ask if you would like to learn more about magic? From what I can gather, you never really had proper instruction in the magical arts, so I thought I'd be willing to teach you a little bit of what I know. Plus, while I am here in Skyrim, I want to do all that I can to see if there is any possible way to help you return hom-

"YES!

YESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYES!!!!"

Celestia smiled sweetly as Katia was prancing around her in glee and delight. Watching Katia brought a tear to her eye as she reminded her of a certain unicorn that was like the daughter she never had...

"Well, I'm glad I could have you along Katia." Celestia replied as she stook her gloved hand out to shake Katia's.

Katia then immediately jumped to Celestia's position as her tail started twitching like crazy and she started shaking Celestia's hand a dozen times all in the span of a few seconds. Her energy reminded her of a certain pink mare back home.

"I'm thankful for the opportunity Princess," she replied.

You are ecstatic that things might finally be turning around for you. Sure you have to travel with a royal like the ones you've been pathologically afraid of all your life, and you might have to deal with even worse things in this country than you had to deal with back in Cyrodiil, but now you finally have a friend that will stick by you through thick and thin. You finally have the opportunity to become a proper mage and put all of your past sins behind you.

"Does he do that ALL the time?" Celestia asked as she leaned over to Katia.

"You have no idea. My audience is even worse than that sometimes. Their suggestions have nearly gotten me killed!"

"That's youtube commenters for ya. Can't live with them, and you can't throw them off a cliff." one of the nondescript voices replied.

"Go on Katia! Tell her about your incident with the pineapple!" another nondescript says.

"SHE DOESN'T NEED TO KNOW!" Katia barks at the voices.

"Well, at the very least finding Luna in this big country won't be boring, Celestia replies humorously.

In the dark realm of Coldharbour,

Inside a darker version of a famous landmark in Cyrodiil, A dark imposing being sitting on a throne of dark stone and gold,, goes over the news his minons brings him about a series of disturbances on Mundus. He listens to his minions prattle on and on, thinking he might feel it necessary to disembowel them for wasting his time, until one piece of news catches his interest.

"They came out of nowhere just a short time a while ago my lord. A rift was opened in Dark-father Sithis's Void and two powerful beings of the cosmos came through."

"Haha. It seems that brother Sheogorath is up to his games again," the being chuckled darkly. "Bring me my pensive worm. I wish to see what delicious victims my brother has unintentionally brought me this time.

The smaller figure left the large dark throne room for a moment and brought back a large bowl filled to the brim with thick, red blood. The large being extended one of his large claw-like fingers into the liquid and slowly stirred. A light began to permeate through the blood to create two seperate images. In these images he could see the shape of a white alicorn bright as the morning sun walking with a Khajiit woman in green and in the other, he saw the figure of a dark blue alicorn dark as the night sky walking with an armored Nord man in a horned helmet.

"Ohhh, yes. These two will do nicely as unwilling wives," the being purred. "The delicious looking white one and her Khajiit pet may be easy enough to conquer as long as that fool Harkon does his job. It will be glorious to finally conquer the sun. The man with that lovely blue one may present a problem. I cannot take on the champion of Kynareth and Akatosh on Mundus without challenging the Divines themselves. However..."

The being reaches down the side of his throne and holds up a pitch black mace covered in thorns and horrifying faces. The mere sight of the weapon makes the being's minions grovel and shrink back to where they came from. The being chuckles darkly to himself as he gazes diabolically at the weapon in his hand.

"Every champion can be dominated with a little bit of...incentive."

His laughter was heard throughout his entire realm, making all of its inhabitants shrink in fear.

Chapter 11: Valtheim Towers and Missed Encounters (UPDATED 11/8)

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Back on the Eastern road at the base of the moutain towards Ivarstead, Luna and Ky’ell were taking in the beautiful sights of the landscape of the Whiterun hold. The sun was still high overhead, bathing the duo in a generous amount of warmth. The city towered in the distance to the north like a shining beacon in the valley, while the Throat of the World towered high into the heavens to the south, piercing the very clouds. The cool, moist wind gently blew across the open landscape of the Whiterun Valley and brushed across their faces giving them a cool, refreshing feeling. Clouds slowly moved back into the valley, signaling the coming of another rain shower to soak the hold very soon. Blue butterflies danced all over the hillside and landed on many of the flower bushes that grew alongside the cobblestone roads. Small birds could be seen fluttering about looking for food for their young before night fell once again.

Ky’ell seemed to be fiddling around with the tunic section of his Studded Armor as the two of them were slowly making their way out of the hold and around the base of the mountain. Luna had pulled out a green apple to snack on when her stomach started growling. The fruit satisfied her, but could never compare with the succulent crop of a certain farming family in Ponyville. After she was finished with it, she tossed the core to the side of the road for any animals to finish off. After a few minutes of silent walking, an Eastern wind blowing down across the road carried a foul smell towards the duo that smelled of rotting flesh and death. Not long after, the duo walked another mile and came across a grisly sight that made Luna sick to her stomach.

A small pile of bodies that had been piled up alongside the road with dried blood spattered all over the place. Flies were beginning to swarm the rotting corpses doubling the already horrid smell that seemed to corrupt the air around them. Only a few of the corpses among the morbid pile seemed to be humanoid. Most of th other carcases appeared to consist of various dogs and what appeared to be wolves. A wooden horse-pulled cart was just a yard away, completely tipped over with its back wheels smashed into multiple pieces.

“What in Tartarus happened here?” Luna exclaimed in shock.

“Beats me,” Ky’ell replied with a shrug. “Might as well take a look see for what happened.”

“Uh, can thou search the bodies for me? Tis been a very long while since the odor of decaying flesh has graced my nose,” she said dryly.

“Sure, why not. I’m used to the smell anyway. Lemme go see what I can find for ya”

“HOW??? This is worse than tripping into elephant excrement.” she gagged.

"And I suppose you have experience with that sort of thing?" he quipped.

"Please be silent for a moment dear Ky'ell. My insides are on fire!"

She held her nose and her stomach, trying to calm down what could turn into a deluge of vomit.

I suppose it has been quite a long while since I have smelled a dead body. I almost forgot how foul it was. Especially in humid weather like this. she thought as.

“Eh, I’m used to it. Ma really had a bad habit of stealing clothes from dead bodies while the caravan traveled.. Not sure why though. Ma is weird” Ky’ell replied.

While Luna stayed behind a hundred feet away from the horrible odor of decaying flesh, Ky’ell took his time to search each of the bandit corpses. He then pulled out his sword to carefully skin the dead wolves for their fur. Their skins would serve well in armor crafting at later time. Luna had tried turning around to avoid vomiting, but just simply the sound of metal scraping and slushing slowly against flesh and skin added with the smell forced Luna to the right side of the road where she violently threw-up a month’s worth of food into a nearby bush. She continued vomiting, alternating between wet heaves and dry heaves for a whole minute before she was able to properly get a grip on herself. She kneeled down by the bush for another minute, holding her stomach to focus her thoughts and feelings as to stabilize her stomach.

“Did thou find anything Sir Ky’ell?” Luna gagged out while holding her hand over her nose and one over her stomach.

“Nuttin much. A couple bags of coins rangin from 5 to 20 gold septims in each, you should really carry more than that, nice amounts of iron and steel arrows, and oooh! a couple of potions, and some kind of small note.” he said.

“A small note? Let me see.” she requested as she slowly stood back up and shuffled over to the man.

She took the paper when Ky’ell held it out for her and quickly unfolded it to gaze upon the contents inside. Her eyes quickly darted back and forth down the page until her eyes widened.

“C’mon what’s up? Did you find us a lead on something fun? Preferably the shiny kind? I like shiny things.”

“What are thou? A raccoon?” she asked with a weirded out expression. “Not exactly, listen to this”.

Adril,

I need you to go out and find the rest of the missing pit wolves before the next tournament. We lost too many during last tournament when Butcher’s white furred horse wench broke out and destroyed the cavern. We won’t be able to train more in time for the next tournament in our new location. Find them and bring them back to Cragslane at once!

She looked up at Ky’ell and found him with his eyebrows raised as if expecting an answer.

“While I may violently slay whoever called her a...wench. This provides us a lead to my sister! It proves that she’s alive! Perhaps if we hurry to High Hrothgar, I can inquire as to whether The Greybeards can direct us to this Cragslane Cavern.

"It sounds like your sister...Celery I think, did quite a number on this place."

And rightfully so. Forcing animals to fight one another to the death and capturing girls for foul debaucherous activities against their will was punishable by death or imprisonment where I am from. Let alone on my own sister,” she growled.

Then suddenly, something pounced out of the bushes and right on to Luna. Luna was so caught up in holding the snapping jaw away from her face that she could not properly get a look at whatever was attacking her. All she could see was fast moving fur and teeth, and hot, putrid breath.

“Bad doggy, no biscuits for you!” Ky’ell cried as Luna forcefully kick whatever was holding her down off of her.

Luna got back up to find a snarling grey wolf growling at them. Its eyes were black as onyx and its mouth was foaming unnaturally.

"I'm so sorry my sweet," Luna said sadly to the rabid wolf. "It is my responsibility to end your suffering." Luna said sadly as the wolf began to run back up to her for another bite.

She quickly stepped to the side, pulled out her sword and sliced it from front to back with a single blow, killing the animal instantly. The carcass of the wolf collapsed to the ground with a thud.

She simply beckoned Ky'ell to continue on down the road with her as they moved down on past the pile of pit wolf carcasses. Ky'ell didn't know too much about Luna and her past, but he could tell that there was something that was bothering her right now. However, he had a decent idea about how her mind worked even after a few days, so he just decided to give her a little bit of silence and space for a few minutes to allow her to clear her head about anything.

Maybe another treasure hunt will take her mind off of that little scene. he thought as he pulled out his enchanted map to gaze at the locations on their way to Ivarstead....

Back on the Eastern side of the passage between Whiterun and Windhelm, Celestia had been busy getting to know her new companion. A Khajiit mage born in Hammerfell called Katia Managan who had been transported a century into the future by unknown magical means. Since she had no current means of returning to her own time, Katia decided to travel with Celestia. They continued walking up and down steep inclines down the western road to Whiterun through the tall pine trees of the Windhelm hold. Streams steadily flowed alongside them acting as highways for the various aquatic life of Skyrim and a calming sound for any travelers. The clouds of Windhelm finally dispersed as the sun's radiant rays were allowed to shine through and reveal a bright blue sky high above the tall pines of the forest. Birds in the trees were twittering their melodic symphonies about their wondrous lives for any and all things that may want to listen. Various small creatures living in the trees or occupying bushes silently observed the two newcomers on the road from their hiding spots. The two were beginning their walk up another very steep incline as they began to converse with each other.

Because of the circumstances of her coming to be in this dangerous new world, Celestia felt it prudent enough to be able to trust her brand new student and traveling companion Katia with her true story and all of the details about how she came to be in the province of Skyrim. Even if the latter may not believe a single word she say, Celestia felt that it would be beneficial if there was at least one person in this new world that knew her identity in order to help each other.

"So basically...you are a pony....from another world entirely...and you walk on four legs like a normal horse like all of your ponies? and rule this Equestria....even though you are called a princess with your sister, raise...the sun, and the two of you are essentially....goddesses?" Katia asked to clarify very slowly and deliberately with a hysterical laugh coming out of her mouth every few seconds. Her right eye twitched the more she continued to hear of Ceestia's seemingly insane fantastical tale of her origin.

"Well, that's a bit of an unrefined summary, but for all intents and purposes yes," Celestia replied happily.

'Why aren't you losing your shit right now? She's essentially a queen. A royal! Aren't you scared of those?'

'Come on! Its not like her crown is going to jump off of her head and spontaneously bite your head off.'

'C'mon try to talk to her. You might like her.'

"You know, surprisingly, you guys aren't helping," Katia replied dryly to the voices as she felt her eyes begin to twitch nervously.

"For a brief moment in the ancient past, I had that title, but I am glad to be called a princess with my sister. There cannot be two Queens ruling over the same nation Mr. Voice."

"I still can't get over how you can hear them," Katia replied nervously. "Most people would have laughed me off as a looney if I told them I can hear voices inside my head."

"As surprising as is is I don't know how I can either, but it doesn't scare me too much. They remind me of...someone my sister knows," Celestia said cryptically as she stared off in thought for a moment.

Celestia then caught Katia staring at her crown with her big greenish yellow eyes and a vaguely paranoid look for a solid minute gazing upon it as if she were gazing upon her biggest fear in the world. Her eyes then darted back to straight down the road where she was looking a second prior. Celestia frowned at her when she saw this. She had obviously done something to upset her and she needed to find some way to help her open up about it.

"I am sorry if I make you feel uncomfortable Katia. I can take off my crown if you would li-"

"No, no, no, that's...that's okay your majesty," Katia interrupted. "It's just that..."

Celestia could see her yellowish-green eyes go distant for a moment, lost in deep thought. A mix of emotions ranging from shame to fear ran across her face. She stayed silent for a few minutes as if she was trying to process what to say next. She darted her eyes back and forth left and right every few seconds, before turning her head back in Celestia's direction to finally answer her. Her voice became shaky and full of sadness.

"All my life I've had crippling nightmares of royals like kings, queens, and other people of that nature, but I don't really know where they came from. Just that they started when I was a little kitten. It could have been my parents jobs in the Hammerfell royal palace, but I don't know that for sure. When they started, my parents had to move out of the palace and into the country. We soon after became poor and they blamed me for ruining their lives ever since. And the nightmares only continued getting worse and worse as time went by."

"Oh Katia, I'm so sorry..."

"And even after Quill-Weave helped me get over meeting the Countess of Anvil, I still see that....king in my dreams. Stalking me....sitting there in silence with his jaw-like crown and needle like fingers. Whenever i try to talk to it, it always grows more terrifying. Recently, I tried fighting it, but it......" she stopped for a second again and began to hyperventilate.

Celestia then wrapped her in a comforting hug and began to shush her, in an attempt to calm Katia down. It seemed to work as Katia gradually slowed down her breathing and began to calm down again. Katia sunk into Celestia's chest fur, just above her armor's collar as she stood there silent with Katia for a few moments nonverbally telling Katia to let everything out. She could feel her fur getting wet as Katia wept a few silent tears.

She's been holding the stress of this trauma in for a while. This sounds too much like the nightmares Luna had back then.... Celestia thought sadly as she recollected an old memory.

After a few silent moments Celestia then released Katia, allowing her to take a deep breath to calm herself.

"Like this," Celestia said as she gestured for Katia to copy her.

She showed Katia a familiar breathing technique that she had previously taught to Cadence. Katia did the same as she followed her arms movements and steadily breathed in and out very deeply. The technique seemed to work as it appeared to calm Katia's nerves.

"There we go. Much better," Celestia said calmly. "Now Katia. I must say that I can say for certainty to you that I would never even dream of hurting you or any of your friends. You don't need to be afraid of me and I aim to show you how different my Sister and I are different from most other royals. Besides, I don't want you to think of me as a royal here. I want you to think of me as a friend. I would like to be your friend If you allow me to be."

"Th-thanks" Katia replied.

"Now, perhaps we should continue on".

Celestia and Katia made their way down the road, taking in the beautiful sights of the forest. They soon came to a large stone bridge crossing a steep canyon. A river lied at the bottom of the canyon that flowed down from a giant waterfall just a mile down the canyon where it flowed in the opposite direction eastward, presumably back towards Windhelm, where it would then flow into the ocean. Katia looked over the edge and discovered what appeared to be some kind of large stone fortress built into the side of the canyon. Celestia eyed it cautiously, as passing it seemed to give her an eerie, foreboding feeling. The fortress was falling apart from the passage of time, bricks were falling out, entire sections had broken off and sat at the bottom on the riverbed. Some of the wooden skeleton of the structure had become visible as some of the brick sections were becoming more and more unstable and fall off.

"What do you think that is Princess?"

"It almost looks like...an old prison of some kind. It seems to be ancient though. Something...isn't right about that place. ....I think we should keep moving." Celestia concluded. "Perhaps...if we can spare any time after we find Luna, we might be able to fly down there and investigate.

"You can fly? How exactly?"

"With my wings of course. I couldn't do that without them you know," she giggled as she pointed to her back with her index finger. "Well, perhaps I could, but its been a long time since I've used telekinesis on my own body.

"Wouldn't flying to Whiterun be faster Princess?," Katia asked with her eyebrow raised.

"I suppose so, but I am trying to aim to find Luna and get out of Skyrim without bringing too much attention to myself.
I figured that most people here don't have wings, so I thought it might be a little more beneficial if I kept my wings concealed unless I am in an emergency or I am certain that no body is around to see should I have need of them here."

"Just more weird things that ponies can do" she remarked dryly. Celestia raised her eyebrow, which forced Katia to slightly backpedal "N-n-not that there's anything wrong with what you can do though-princess. I'm no racist. he-he-he"

"That's quite alright. I think my magic is weird sometimes too. We should probably get a move on though. Its already afternoon, and I would like to arrive at Whiterun before night comes along," she suggested.

They turned their attention back on to the road, trying to avoid staring at the ominous structure beneath them as much as they possibly could. They soon came to the other side of the road where they came to a fork in the road. Down to the south, the road seemed to lead past another giant stone fortress that was visible through the trees. To the North, the road finally began to level out, save for the occasional stray path that lead up the side of the mountain. They turned down the North road towards the Valtheim Towers which marked the border between the holds of Whiterun and Windhelm.

Back on the Eastern Road, Luna was trying to keep Ky'ell's attention as they continued on towards Valtheim Towers. He was busy fiddling around with his hunter's bow, randomly pulling on the string and plucking it as if it were a musical instrument. The dark clouds overhead slowly blew their way into the hold of Whiterun, signaling the call of another heavy storm to fall on the valley later in the evening. They could see many birds in the air flying off towards their nests to hunker down away from the incoming thunderstorm. Various bugs had come out to enjoy the moisture on the various flower bushes and shrubs that had been soaked during the storm the previous night.

"How much longer until we get to these Valtheim Tower Sir Ky'ell?" Luna asked. "We are getting particularly bored and in need of some action."

"Hm? Oh, yeah. It should be coming up very soon. Then we circle down south. You can keep the map for now if you want," he absent-mindedly replied as he pulled out his rolled up enchanted map and tossed it over his shoulder with one hand, while the other was preoccupied with fiddling around with the bow.

Luna frantically reached out for the enchanted map and tried grasping it with her fingers, but it bounced out of her hands. Luna juggled the map in the air by accident a few times, trying to keep it from falling before she was able to get a solid grip on the parchment. She glared at the back of the man's skull with irritation before unrolling the map and taking a quick glance at it. The enchantment that was on the map seemed to activate as she could see it faintly glow and then bring up the emblems of the locations that Ky'ell and her had previously visited. Southeast of Whiterun seemed to be a pair of intricately drawn arrows that slowly moved down one of the marked roads across the map towards a blurred out icon. Both of the arrows glowed distinct shades of blue. One light blue and one royal blue that she assumed was supposed to be K'yell and herself.

"From the looks of thou's interesting map, we appear to be closing in on our destination. Unfortunately though, it does not explicitly state whether we are actually closing in on Valtheim Towers or some other undisclosed location in thou's homeland. Are thou certain that this is the correct way?" Luna asked as she looked up from the map expecting Ky'ell to be in front of her leading the way.

Instead, she founds empty air.

Feeling vein noticeably growing bigger on her temple, she scanned her surroundings for the scatter-brained human and found him chasing a blue butterfly up one of the paths, alongside the mountain and away from the main road. She quickly, but carefully rolled the map and slipped it back into her own backpack before running after the human so that they could get back on track. She made her way up the steep hill feeling her leg muscles begin to burn as the incline began to get more steep. The dirt path spread out as she came closer to the top of the ridge. When she made it to the top and found where Ky'ell had gone, she began to laugh nervously at a new unsettling sight.

Ky'ell had stumbled into some kind of encampment. This encampment was surrounded by strange spear-like stones that made the area feel like an arena of sorts. A giant bonfire in the middle of the encampment sat on top of a large stone pedestal. The bonfire was surrounded by large sacks that seemed to be filled with some kind of white substance, but she wasn't close enough to see what it was. Ky'ell was busy trying to grab at the butterfly like a cat, the only reason she could reasonably come up with is that he intended to use it for alchemic purposes. Close to what appeared to be the opening into a cave stood three massive humanoid figures carrying large clubs potentially capable of killing a man with a single swing. Which is exactly what Luna was worried about.

'We might be able to survive and even push back a hit from one of those...if our magic was fully restored , but Sir Ky'ell might not be so lucky if I DON'T GET HIM THE BUCK OUT OF HERE!' she frantically thought.

Ky'ell was busy trying to grab at the butterfly, unknowingly running towards the giants that had just noticed him. They tried to frighten him off by shaking their clubs at him, but when it looked like that he wasn't paying any attention to them, they started to chase after him. Luna then ran headlong into battle, hoping they could get out unscathed.

Back on the western road towards Whiterun, Celestia had been enjoying how entertaining Katia's expressions were and hyperactive she was towards all of the new sights of Skyrim compared to the sights of Cyrodiil a century earlier. Not that she didn't share her awe and wonder of the beautiful new environment though. The air was so crisp and clean, the water was so bright and fresh, the sky was so clear, and the wildlife all around looked so, for lack of a better word, natural. Everything took care of itself and did it fairly adequately. It made her wonder if Equestria would have been different should it never have had any need for the stewardship of her ponies to control the weather and wake up the animals once winter was over and done with.

She shook her head and looked up to observe the road. Straight ahead, she could see the silhouette of a large bridgelike structure crossing the river to their right that she assumed to be the Valtheim Towers. She saw a trail of smoke rising from the base of the bridge and the faint flickering light of a campfire in the distance. Her blood turned ice cold as her eyes landed on the bodies that were hanging from the bridge directly over the rushing water.

"Katia? I need you to listen very carefully."

'You stand back up after thoroughly enjoying picking the colorful flowers and mushrooms you figured you could sell in town at a local alchemy shop. You wonder whatever has troubled the Princess.'

"Thank you, I think I could have easily said that on my own though," Katia deadpans at the internal voice. "What he said."

"See those towers?' she asked.

Katia looked ahead and gulped as she could faintly make out the figures hanging from the bridge like Celestia did.

"Uh-huh" she simply said.

"I believe it may be good for us if we keep our wits about us. A fight could be inevitable here."

The world seemed to slow down for Katia as she stared off into space and folded her ears back.

"F-fight?"

Memories of being robbed by a large orc highwayman came flooding into her mind as she contemplated the thought.

"Come on Katia, let's just proceed as careful as we can and be ready for anything." Celestia urged.

They slowly approached the large structure, carefully listening for any sounds on the wind. Katia noticed that as they got closer and closer to the large structure, Celestia had rested her right hand on her sword that was still hanging by her hip. Her heart began to race as she followed Celestia down the road and prepared for things to go badly. They were within 40 feet of the entrance to the structure, when someone standing there emerged from the shadows.

"Hold it!"

A woman wearing fur armor, and armed with an iron sword attached around her hip approached them. The woman's eyes darted between Celestia and Katia, carefully observing both of them. Celestia caught her attention for a few minutes, unsure what to make of her before putting a slimy smile on her face.

"This is a toll road see! You'll have to hand over...say...200 gold to use our road."

"Princess. I-I don't have that much. What are we going to do?" Katia whispered fearfully to her.

Celestia had given a sigh of relief. 200 gold was fairly high, as she needed to carefully ration out the gold that she had for essential supplies. Perhaps if she could carefully negotiate with this obvious bandit to bring the price down.

"We really are in a hurry. Will 50 gold suffice?" Celestia asked hopefully as she deposited 50 coins into a smaller handheld burlap bag.

The bandit was silent for another moment before putting on a malicious smile once again.

"I believe...that will suffice," the female bandit replied. Celestia gave the bag of coins to the bandit, but as she and Katia tried to walk further, the bandit stopped them again. "But 50 does not leave us with much. Perhaps, if one of you can do something for my chief, I can be persuaded to let you two go."

Celestia looked at the bandit cautiously.

"Do...what exactly?" Celestia asked carefully.

"Oh, nothing much. Just be his bed woman for say...a few seasons? The women in our group have grown...boring to him."

Celestia was thoroughly disgusted with the suggestion, but professionally did not show it on her face. She decided that it would be better to cut their losses and circle around the closest pass just Northwest of their location. She knew Luna was safe for the moment, so she decided to focus on Katia's safety.

"That...is quite alright. I think we will just turn back the way we came" Celestia tried saying.

They tried turning around back down the road to take an alternate path, but the bandit simply unsheathed her sword and blocked their way.

"Please let us pass".

"I don't think so. My chief has been killing for a new woman for a while now, and none of the Nord women have sufficed. So we have decided that you two are are best bets."

Celestia saw that Katia had been shaking like a leaf with pure terror from the insinuation. Celestia sighed, hoping that they could get through in a peaceful manner, but it seemed like that she would seldomly have that kind of luxury in Skyrim....

"How about you let me through and I don't kill you?"

Katia turned to Celestia with a look of shock on her face, unable to believe what she had just heard. Celestia however, looked at the woman with cold contempt on her pale white face. The woman laughed a sickening laugh, and approached both of them, drawing her sword.

"Hah! Tough talk for someone about to have their guts spilled!"

She charged. Everything seemed to move in slow motion for Katia. She froze on the spot, with her green eyes fixed on the cold steel coming directly at her and her companion. For a moment, Celestia seemed frozen as well, but just as the woman was about to reach striking distance, She felt magic flow through her arm and by instinct, she shot out her her left hand and shot a burst of fire directly into her attacker's face.

The bandit woman screamed in agony and dropped her weapon to clutch at her face. She fell to the ground and tried to crawl away from Celestia's persistent flames. Seconds later, Celestia released the spell, drew her steel sword and impaled the bandit through the chest. She twisted it for good measure, before ripping it out and silencing the suffering bandit. Katia watched all this in a state of shock and inspiration only to be shaken back to her senses by an arrow whizzing by her head.

"Into the Tower!" Celestia yelled, as she grabbed Katia's arm and pulled her to the open doors.

"You're going to pay for that!" They heard from the top of the tower, as a second arrow over shot them by several feet.

Celestia gently pulled Katia in and shut the door behind them.

"Why are we in here?!" Katia asked frantically.

"If they are this persistent, then they will only go after us if we try to run, and I would rather not bring dangerous bandits closer to a city filled with innocent pon-people." she corrected herself.

She had made sure that the door was jammed closed with a discarded board that had been propped up by the wall.. She looked up and could clearly hear steps on the upper levels of the keep scrambling around. She saw a chest off to the side of the stairs and quickly approached it so she could quickly pocket whatever valuables it contained. When she went to open the chest though, she heard a mechanism activate which allowed her only a second's notice to press up against the wall and narrowly avoid the chain mace trap that had been activated.

"Holy Crap!" Katia exclaimed as she fell on to her bottom.

After a few seconds, the mace stopped swinging and just hung harmlessly by the chest. She then opened the chest and found a small number of various potions, a golden, wing-like quiver full of arrows and a bag of coins and rubies. She quickly pocketed them in her bag, before hearing more sounds. She turned her attention the stone stairs above her, hearing movement and loud voices getting closer. She swore under her breath. Celestia moved to Katia and pulled her up from her panicked position on the floor. She resisted and thrashed about hitting her in the nose several times. After finally getting a good grip on her arms she pinned them to her side.

"Please Katia! I need you to bring out any weapon or magic that you might have to defend yourself!" Celestia urged.

At that moment A large Breton in full Steel Armor appeared at the top of the stone stairs. To Celestia's horror the man was carrying a war hammer. What was even scarier was that he seemed to know how to use it.

"Die!" He yelled before jumping off the top of the stairs, hammer coming down on both of them.

Thinking quickly, Celestia pushed Katia to the opposite end of the room against a bookshelf while she herself jumped to the door. The hammer smashing the stone where both of them had once stood. Immediately the bandit turned towards Celestia, whom he must have deemed a greater threat, and swung his war hammer wildly. Celestia ducked and dived, swearing as she felt herself backing against a corner. But before the armored man could deliver the finishing blow, she made a golden glow envelop around him, the armored man looked around confused before finding himself blasted through both the makeshift barricade AND the door, smashing the man against the cracked stone mountainside. The armored bandit lay at the base of the mountain writhing in pain.

Katia leaned against the bookshelf looking at the destruction of the door and the man that was yelling out in pain outside the tower. Celestia approached her before looking back up the stone steps.

"Stay here." she said, Katia only nodded in response.

Celestia moved up the stairs, sticking to the wall and holding her sword with her right hand. she came to an archway that opened into palisade steps. she listened and found no one was coming down the palisade. She cautiously peaked her head by and immediately withdrew as an arrow sailed into the doorway.

"Shit!" she swore out loud. Without her magic fully restored, staying here would eventually get herself and Katia killed. If they tried to make a run for it the archers would surely pick them off. There was only one choice to make. She had to chance it. Taking one last look at Katia, she stuck her head out. An arrow sailed by, without any hesitation, she charged up the wooden palisade steps. She could hear yells coming from the opposite end of the river, but she ignored them. Her priority was the archer that was on top of their tower. Luckily she didn't have to go far. Dodging another arrow and running into the archway on the second floor, she ran headlong into the archer. He had dropped his bow and was now wielding a war axe in his right hand, and a leather shield on his left. He swung, just as Celestia stepped into the archway. Ducking, she severed the archers leg in two with a well executed slice.The yelling bandit collapsed on the floor. Celestia quickly ended his life with a stab through the heart. Without skipping a beat, she pulled out her Dwarven Shield and rushed out to the bridge.

It was stupid. She knew it. But she had to risk it. If the bandits crossed that bridge, Katia would be in danger and unable to do anything in her current state of shock.

She forced her body to magically pump more adrenaline through her veins, an ability she had learned in her younger days.

She ducked, narrowly dodging one arrow and blocking another with the Dwarven shield, hearing it bounce off harmlessly and clatter to the ground. Another fearless bandit ran forward to meet him at the center of the bridge. It was an orc, lightly clad and wielding axes. He jumped into the air, bringing both weapons down upon Celestia and roaring in fury. Celestia grit her teeth in pain as the two axes connected with her shield. She staggered back and narrowly avoided the second attack by her opponent's rush. The third attack however, was an unsuspecting power kick and it connected fully with the small armor plates that only somewhat protected Celestia's gut. While the armor protected her from any life threatening damage, the kick still managed to knock the wind out of her slightly from raw blunt force.

Her breath left her for a moment, and she doubled over as the orc took his time placing his blade on either side of her neck.

"Look me in the eyes whore. I want to see the fear in your eyes." He snarled, giving Celestia an evil smile.

"Sorry sweetie, but you aren't my type."

She obliged his request and just when the orc was about to finish her off…

Her eyes glowed red and she roared as a blast of solar magic from her horn blasted the orc on to his backside.

Immediately, Celestia swung her shield and her sword and knocked the orc's axes out of his hands, before stabbing him in the gut with a downward thrust, drawing it out and then finally decapitating him with a spinning motion. She quickly panted allowing herself a few seconds of rest before continuing to run to the opposite side of the bridge, As she was doing this she heard thunderous impacts coming from further up the mountain behind her, but she couldn't pay any attention to them until she was out of danger.

An arrow shot from one of the towers, pierced diagonally just at the right angle, going under the collar of her Dwarven chestplate, into her shoulder, and narrowly missed her heart; Which was thankfully protected by her royal necklace. She screamed out in pain and dove into the doorway into the second keep. She somersaulted and impacted against the stone wall. She tried lifting her shield arm but found that it had been rendered useless. She had been holding the shield incorrectly and her penalty was having her shoulder dislocated by the impact of the orc's strike.

"Oh, I'm definitely going to miss my masseuse after this", she said to herself before painfully knocking her shoulder into the wall and popping back into place with another quick shriek of intense pain.

Biting down on the handle of her sword, she then used her magic to painfully rip the arrow out of her body.

She stood back up and grasped her shield once again, trying to power through the pain of her previous action. before running up the stairs to finish off the rest of the bandits.

Celestia's yell of pain, snapped Katia out of her panicked state. She was still quivering, but at least she had the good sense to move. She crept up the stairs slowly and peaked out of the stone archway. There she saw pinned behind a small pillar on the upper levels of the other tower, trying his best to make himself as small of a target as possible. She wanted to help. But she was scared. She was so scared. What could she do?

'Try that explosive trick you did back inside Sigrid's cage!'

'Yeah, that might help!'

'You're suckiness in magic might help Make everything explode into a blazing inferno!'

'Establish a flawed connection with the Soul Cairn as you are connecting with the bridge'

"What good what that do-Oooooooh!" she said in realization as she saw how unstable the bridge was.

She closed her eyes and felt around her immediate vicinity for the familiar aura of an Aetherial crosshair to grab on to objects. After a few tries, she finally felt the familiar shapes and symbols. After establishing a link with the crosshairs, she contacted the skeleton realm with her magicka and tried to summon a servant skeleton from the Soul Cairn. For a moment as she felt the grasp of the crosshairs start to tighten, she thought that she had made a connection with the Soul Cairn. The skeleton was starting to come through a portal through Oblivion. But then something went horribly wrong as the last thing she saw was a bright flash...

Celestia wasn't exactly sure what happened next. One moment the bandits were firing arrows down around her, the next she saw a huge flash of light crack on the other side of the bridge, momentarily blind her, and they were gone, along with a quarter of the tower. Bits of stone rained down around her and she lifted her shield up with her good arm to block any incoming debris. She quickly looked through the tower and relieved the bandits of their items and supplies before going back towards Katia to see how she was doing.

As she walked back across the bridge, she heard another thunderous smack from further up the mountain followed by a loud, obnoxious yell. She looked up and made a face of utter confusion as she glimpsed something rocket into the air.

She shrugged and continued onwards. With a groan of pain, she yanked the arrow out of her shoulder, pulled a small red potion out of her pouch and downed the soothing liquid as she felt the damage repair itself. She looked back in the tower and found Katia on the ground twirling her head around with stars in her eyes as if she had been whipped around in a bad rollercoaster. Taking her time, she helped Katia stand back up as she wrapped her left arm around her body and walked towards the door. She unbarricaded the door and began walking her down the road, away from the Towers.

"I think...we could both use a small break." Celestia panted.

"Yeah...that sounds good. Just find somewhere safe, flat and away from water..I need fifteen minutes." Katia replied still dazed.

With a goofy, but exhausted grin on her face, Katia stood back up and stumbled around before falling right on to her face out cold.

Back at Galdum Rock just 2 miles from Celestia and Katia's current position, Luna and Ky'ell were having an incredibly difficult time of their own. Ky'ell had accidentally wandered into a giant camp after being distracted by a blue butterfly and woke up the small group of irritable giants that were living there. For the past ten minutes, it had been a relentless game of cat and mouse with Luna and Ky'ell trying to avoid getting hit by the giant's clubs while also trying to get in hits of their own.

'I'm glad that the few remote tribes of Giant ponies Equestria has aren't this foul mooded.' she thought as she panted around the battlefield.

Luna had just witnessed one of the most impressive and strangest things that her eyes had ever lain upon. When Ky'ell wasn't looking, he bumped into one of the giants that had been peacefully sleeping. It quickly struck at Ky'ell with its club, but the effect was not one that she expected. The ensuing impact of the giant's club had rocketed Ky'ell into the atmosphere faster than she could keep her eyes on him. He let out an obnoxious yell as he rapidly fell back down to earth.

"K'YELL! HOLD ON! WE SHALL CATCH THEE!" she yelled to him while trying to avoid the giant that was now pursuing her.

She watched his descent and determined where he was going to land. Reaching out with her magic, she began to slow him down in attempt to make his landing a lot softer. Unfortunately, concentrating on Ky'ell and the two giants coming after her was proving to be difficult. She needed a plan if she was going to end this quickly. Looking at the other giant, she quickly ducked between its legs, dodging another potentially deadly strike and sliced at the back of the giant's legs, causing it to fall on to its back. She could still hear Ky'ell screaming as she moved his trajectory further to where she was. The other giant moved into hit her, but she quickly dove out of the way again, causing the giant's club to impact into the other giant's head.

The downed giant grabbed his face in pain from the impact and tried its best to get back up on to its feet. The other giant scratched its head trying to scan the camp for his missing enemy. It suddenly groaned in pain as its legs were also sliced with Luna's sword, causing it to fall face first onto the downed giant. As the two giants roared in pain and tried to get back up, a loud, masculine scream coming from above was the last thing they heard before something impacted into them with the force of a meteor, instantly killing them both.

Luna had to cover her eyes as a rain of dust, pebbles, and debris flew out from the impact.

Through the dust, she could hear a faint groan. She ran to where the giants were, and as the dust began to settle, she saw Ky'ell lying on top of the giant corpses, clearly in a lot of pain with his eyes wide open.

"Ky'ell!" she exclaimed with concern as she gently pulled the man off of the giants. "Are thou alright?"

"Grandma? Is it cookie time?" he said deliriously as he lifted his head and let it fall back down.

"Why don't we rest here for a moment so we can tend to thou's heroic battle injuries?" she replied.

"Yeah.....sure. I could go for a nap and maybe a little snack."

Unknown to Luna while they were resting, the one that she had been searching for in this dangerous new world, just passed her by at the bottom of the hill...

Chapter 12: Missed them by that much

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After a rough battle and discovering one of Katia's abilities, Celestia and Katia were exhausted both physically and emotionally. Celestia found Katia dazed at the bottom of the first tower and helped her outside. They slowly made their way down the road past a trail leading up the mountain, and past a large mound on the river side of the road. They found a soft patch of grass to sit down on that overlooked the greater part of the valley. The duo took a few minutes to nap while also keeping a sharp ear Celestia and Katia gazed in awe at the city of Whiterun into the distance, acting like a shining beacon in a valley of grasslands and flowing streams. Low hanging clouds had moved into the valley, casting a blanket of fine mist upon the expanse of golden grass.

"That is so cool!" Katia exclaimed. "I've always wanted to see Whiterun. Well, I've always wanted to see all of the big cities in Skyrim, but I'm glad Whiterun gets to be the first!"

"Yes, it is quite impressive," Celestia mused. I...hope Luna isn't hard to find there. If she's even still there at all.

"I honestly don't know if I can help you in any way to find your sister Princess, but I will sure try. Even if my trying isn't even good."

"Thank you Katia. That truly does mean a lot to me."

Celestia and Katia spent the next fifteen minutes resting up gazing out at the magnificent city that lied before them in the distance, observing each building and structure and wondering what was inside. The moist, cold wind whipped against their fur which grabbed any droplets of mist that had blown by. The squawks of water fowl could be heard overhead, as they thoroughly enjoyed finding safe places in the light daytime rain shower to soak and clean their feathers.

After they felt rested enough for the moment, they continued onwards down the foothills and into the valley, to make their way towards the city. They passed another steep trail that lead up the side of the mountain. Something about the cave positioned at the top didn't sit right with Katia, but she decided that they had best leave it alone for the time being. They soon came to a stone bridge next to a quaint little waterfall that thundered down into the streams below as the shower provided it with more water to spill. Across the bridge was a fork in the road with a sign that had arrows pointing to various cities that Celestia had assumed to be of some significance.

"Solitude," Celestia mused as she read the name aloud.

"Yeah, from what little my studies as a little kitten taught me I think its supposed to be the Imperial capital of Skyrim these days. At least, if things are relatively the same as they were a hundred years ago." Katia replied with a shrug.

"Hmmm", she mused thinking to herself.

They passed down the road coming across many various buildings and houses with many assortments of crops in front of them. It had thoroughly reminded Celestia of the many farms that Ponyville had along its outlying areas. The farmers occupying these fields were thankfully far too busy tending to their crops to notice the highly noticeable sun princess. One of the guards that had been patrolling the roads around Whiterun was a little more vigilant though. As soon as he noticed Celestia and Katia, he quickly ran up to her to greet her. They immediately noticed his unique armor and the unique symbol emblazoned across his shield. The head of a ram drawn in a knot-like pattern, which the duo assumed must have had some kind of significance in this city, much like the bear had significance in Windhelm. When she saw that the guard had his hand on his sheathed sword, Celestia was confused and a little fearful that she might have done something wrong on accident.

"Pardon, but...might you be related in any way to Lady Luna?" the gruff guard asked from under his spiked helmet.

"Lady Luna? I thought you said she was a Princess like you?" Katia asked.

"She is. Yes, Sir Guard. I am Princess Celestia. Luna happens to be my sister." she respectfully said to the guard.

"It is a pleasure to meet you your highness. The Jarl has instructed all guards in Whiterun to escort you to Dragonsreach if we come across you."

"Dragonsreach?" Celestia and Katia both asked in unison.

"Yes. Do you see the palace at the top of the city?" the guard said.

Celestia looked up and saw the intricate wooden palace in question overlooking the whole valley.

"Is that what that building is?"

"Aye. Tis run by Jarl Balgruf the Greater. Who rules the entire hold of Whiterun."

She stared up at it for a few seconds thinking about what to do before turning back to the guard.

"Thank you. I appreciate the gesture. I would very much appreciate any help in finding my sister."

"And maybe something to munch on, I'm getting a craving," Katia added.

The guard turned around in the other direction down the road, and with his shield, he motioned to the two of them to follow.

They continued down the road and passed many buildings along the way, including one that looked like a primitive form of a brewery much like the ones in Canterlot or the one the Applejack runs alongside Berry Punch. The sign hanging on the side of the building bared the name Honningbrew Meadery. The guard noticed Celestia and Katia gazing upon the Meadery and gave a hearty chuckle.

"I see you have noticed one of the proud attractions of Whiterun your majesty. Our very own Honningbrew Meadery. Like the name implies, it is a drink as sweet as the finest honey and as refreshing as a crisp spring morn. I do wish for you to partake in at least one of our heavenly drinks before you return to....wherever it is that you and your sister came from."

"Hm. I might take you up on that offer Sir Guard. Your mead sounds lovely." Celestia replied.

For some reason, Katia began to nervously laugh. Celestia tried to ask Katia what was wrong, but she just shrug it off and remained silent. She figured that it must have been another touchy subject that she would rather keep to herself for the time being.

The guard led them past a stable where one of the horses seemed to take an immediate shine to Celestia as they walked by. The path to the city then led them across a small moat with an outer stone wall covered in scaffolding, pulley systems, and wooden spikes presumably meant to defend the city in times of war. The gate into the city finally came into view as two guards came up to meet their comrade in arms.

"Ragnar, why aren't you at your post? The city is still on high alert after that first dragon attack. And who are these two?" one of the guards asked suspiciously.

"Don't worry, this is Lady Luna's sister. I'm escorting her to Dragonsreach so the Jarl can speak to her."

Their faces were obscured by their helmets, but Katia could tell that they were carefully scanning the both of them, looking for any reason to not trust them. She had gotten the same kind of looks from people during her childhood in Hammerfell.

"Very well. You may pass," the guard said as he and his partner unlocked the main gate.

Celestia and Katia began to follow the guard into the city.

"Stay out of trouble Khajiit." the guard simply stated as Katia passed by.

She gave the guard an annoyed glare but simply decided it would be smarter to remain silent as she followed Celestia into Whiterun.

The first sight that greeted their eyes was a long stretch of intricately made wooden buildings along stone streets. The first building on her right across the moat, was a blacksmith shop of sorts, not unlike the ones that still occupied Canterlot for her Royal Guard. A tan-skinned woman wearing a red apron was sharpening a sword at a grinding wheel when they passed by. A number of citizens and travelers walking into the city noticed Celestia and gawked at her in amazement, which Celestia was used to, given a mare of her grace and beauty, but it also could have had to do with her being related to Luna.

"Hm. So this is what Luna meant by feeling like the less popular one." Celestia quipped.

Some of the citizens however, tried whispering suspiciously about Celestia and Katia's presence in Whiterun. Being an Alicorn and of royal stature, Celestia was more than able to listen in to a few hushed conversations about them, and some of them had been very foul. Most of them however were directed at Katia rather than herself.

"I don't think I like the way some of them are looking at me," Katia whispered.

"They are looking at me that way too Katia. Dont't worry." Celestia replied. "I am getting a little nervous about it though."

The guard who was now identified as Ragnar gave a foul glare at some of the citizens from behind his mask, obviously disliking the bad looks that the people were giving Celestia and Katia.

"My apologies your ladyship, the town has been on edge ever since the war started, not to mention yesterday's dragon attack putting a damper on everything. Don't think badly of them. Nonetheless, your escort to Dragonsreach will continue in safety."

Celestia and Katia made their way through the Cloud District alongside Ragnar. Many things in this district caught their attention, especially Celestia's as she felt powerful sources of magic coming from all around.. The first thing they say was the massive dying tree in the middle of the plaza, presumably acting as the center of Whiterun. There was an overturned boat to the left that seemed to be converted into some kind of extravagant mead hall. Heavily armed warriors seemed to be coming in and out of the hall, as if it was a meeting place for them. To the left, was a large ornate building that towered over the other manors in the district. A strange powerful aura seemed to be emanating from it. Women in golden robes were walking into and out of the building carrying various assortments of flowers and herbs, though she couldn't fathom a reason.

Celestia could easily tell that Katia was thoroughly enjoying herself. It was clear that she had not enjoyed herself like that in a long time. Her tail seemed to be twitching like mad with excitement as they moved along.

"OH MY ALKOSH! WHAT IS THAT?" Katia exclaimed with delight.

"Hmm?" Celestia and Ragnar asked as they turned their heads to where Katia was pointing at.

Celestia followed the direction of her finger and her eyes fell upon a massive forge in the shape of an eagle built into the mountain side. From what Celestia could tell, this was also another giant source of magical energy in Whiterun.

"Ah! You have a good eye Lady Katia" Ragnar replied heartily. "That would be one of the prides and joys of our fair city. The mighty Skyforge."

"The Skyforge?"

"Aye, nobody knows where it came from, but legend has it that it is older than the Elven race. Some even believe that the gods themselves created it and used it to create their mighty weapons before they departed Nirn forever." Ragnar explained.

Celestia looked thoughtfully at the forge as they began walking up the stone steps towards Dragonsreach.

When they made it to the top of the stairs, they came face to face with a large covered moat surrounding the front portion of the castle. A battalion of guards came to meet them as Ragnar seemed to use some kind of signal to allow them to pass through. The guards at the front doors nodded and opened the towering doors, allowing them entry into the castle.

Inside, Celestia's first sight was how spacious the palace was compared to many other Scandineighvian palaces owned by the barbarian kingdom she had frequented in her ancient past on diplomatic missions. Not to mention a lot more clean. It was no where near as big or as clean as her own castle was, but it came to a close third. Many ornate carvings and earthen tapestries decorated the halls in such styles that reminded her more of the ancient Naeighlic tribes of Cu Sith and Selkies that had once occupied the valleys around Trottingham.

Down the hallway, past a bonfire and two long tables on either side, was a large group of people surrounding a throne that was occupied by a blonde haired man wearing a gold crown covered in garnet. As they approached, Celestia could immediately tell what he was feeling just by looking at his blank face. For it was the type of face she made every day in the face of people like this. Fools of the nobility who believe that they are entitled to a lot more than those among the common folk who may have less than they do. Her own half-nephew was unfortunately guilty of this. He was clearly in no mood for anyone right now, but he was masking his emotions masterfully as a good ruler should. His advisor seemed to be fruitlssly trying to defuse any conflicts that were quickly arising during all of this A black-blue skinned woman in leather armor approached Celestia and Ragnar from beside the throne with her hand on the hilt of her sword. As she approached, Celestia was surprised by her appearance but kept silent and still.

Katia had just retreated behind Celestia with a squeak as the woman pulled out her sword.

The woman's dark eyes darted between Celestia and Katia suspiciously before she loosened up a bit and slightly bowed her head.

"We heard of your arrival as soon as you entered the hold." the woman said. "May I ask though, your name, just to confirm your identity?"

"Oh, yes. Of course. My name is Princess Celestia. I came to your city to find my sister Princess Luna. Can you please tell me if you have seen her?"

"I am afraid that she just left the city a few hours ago."

"What? For where? Where was she going?" Celestia asked desperately. "Please miss...."

"Irileth," the woman replied.

"Irileth, I must find my sister as soon as possible."

The woman turned silent for a moment, before turning around and motioning her to follow her. She then stopped and slightly turned her head back towards them.

"Good work Ragnar. Head back to the barracks to get some rest. You've earned it." she said gruffly.

Ragnar bowed his head slightly and bowed again to Celestia and Katia before turning back towards the front entrance.

The duo followed Irileth up the steps and towards the Jarl that was still being surrounded by the nobles of the city who were drowning out any external sounds that he might have wanted to hear, or lack thereof.

Celestia could clearly hear Katia gulp in fear as she started to shake the closer she got to the throne. She placed her hand on Katia's shoulder and allowed her to get a little closer to her to feel a little more comfortable.

The Jarl seemed to notice the three of them as he raised his hand and immediately silenced the crowd of nobles surrounding his throne.

The throne room was silent for a few seconds before he spoke up again.

"Leave us," he commanded.

The group of nobles obeyed as they all moved towards the entrance and out of the palace, grumbling to themselves and giving Celestia and Katia death glares as they made their exit.

When the throne room was empty except for the Jarl's advisor and Irileth, the Jarl put on a gentle smile.

"Welcome Princess Celestia of the Equestria realm. It is a pleasure to finally meet you."

"So you know. I had sincerely hoped that wouldn't happen. Regardless, the pleasure is mine, Jarl Balgruf. I humbly ask for your help your highness," she said as she slightly bowed her head in respect to a fellow royal. "I came here to find my sister, so that we could find a way to return home. And perhaps establish friendly relations with the people of this land if we have enough time.

"Fear not, for I have no intention of revealing your presence here. There are quite a few people during these dangerous times that react....badly to things that their foolish minds cannot possibly understand. And its even more troublesome when it includes fools involved in a civil war as we are. "

"Do you know where she is?"

"That answer may be somewhat complicated Princess," he replied. "At the moment, she is no longer in the city. However, I do know where she is currently going."

"What do you mean? Why would she be traveling away from here?"

"My Jarl. Perhaps the best course of action right now would be for us to bring the Princess up to speed about the events that transpired yesterday and of her new legendary companion." the man to the Jarl's left suggested.

"Very well. That might clear up some of this confusion anyway."

"What events? Is Luna alright?"

"Oh, yes. When she left the city, she was perfectly healthy and unharmed. However, for you to understand why she left and where she is going, there are a few things you must know about a particular legend in Skyrim's ancient history....."

The Jarl went on to explain everything that had happened in the past four days, from Luna being dropped off at the guild hall of the Companions Jorvasskr to their fight between the dragon Murmulnuir. He spoke of how her new comanion Ky'ell was an ancient Nordic hero called the Dragonborn. A mortal blessed with the magical might and soul of a dragon who is capable of stealing their souls and killing them permanently. She had learned that in ancient times, the Dragonborn were very numerous and protected the world from the wrath of the dragons. He then went on to explain that one day, the very worst of the dragons, the self-proclaimed creator of the dragons Alduin, who was a darker brother to their chief god of time Akatosh. In ancient times, Alduin tried to destroy the world with their power, but was defeated by the Dragonborn through unknown means. Balgruf explained that this "Alduin the World-Eater" has returned to the world to bring about the End Times. That also includes the return of the Dragonborn who is destined to slay Alduin once and for all.

"Wow, that's some legend. And I thought my life was bonkers." Katia mused. "Wait. Hold on. Do you mean to tell us we may have passed her sister by accident?"

She turned to the left to face where she always addressed her audience.

"Let's just hope that this doesn't become a constant thing"

"Forgive me if I sound rude Jarl Balgruf, but how does this concern my sister? If my own home wasn't in immediate danger, I might jump at the chance to help you," Celestia replied.

"Patience Princess I was getting to that." Jarl Balgruf replied softly. "During the fight yesterday between Ky'ell, your sister, and the dragon, it was revealed that not only was K'yell the Dragonborn, but your sister somehow obtained that same power within Ky'ell. When they returned from their battle. A thunderous voice coming from High Hrothgar echoed across the land. The Greybeards had summoned the two of them to train them in the Way of the Voice. Luna was naturally skeptical, but I informed her that The Greybeards are in tuned with the fabric of the world and even the gods themselves. If anyone were to know a way for the two of you to reunite and find a way to return home, it would be them. So after making Ky'ell my Thane, I appointed her as an honorary Dame of my court to help the Dragonborn on his quest until such a time that she must return home."

"Well that certainly clears up a few things..." Celestia said. "Can you tell me which road she went down? My companion and I really need to catch up with her."

"The quickest way I imagine," Irileth replid. "Our Stablemaster Bjorlam down by the front gates has the fastest Carriage this side of the White River. I imagine he can get you to Darkwater Crossing a few miles outside of Ivarstead in just a few short hours as few. Just as long as he avoids any bandits or trolls along the way."

"Trolls? Bandits?" Katia asked nervously.

"There would also be the Frostbite Spiders, Bears, Wolves, Assassins, Thieves, Orcs, and the occasional Atronach." Proventus added,

"Frostbite Spiders?," Katia squeaked.

"Yes, Skyrim's breed of a giant spider that spits poison that is said to chill you to the bone as it paralyzes you. They then jab you with a stinger as they render you completely immobile. Then they drag you back to their nest where they prepare to eat you at a much later date."

Katia's eyes was began to shrink and she began to sweat with a crazy smile on her face as a number of terrifying thoughts entered her head.

"Just try not to think about spiders rolling you up and sucking out your guts, try not to think of spiders rolling you up and sucking out your guts, TRY NOT TO THINK ABOUT SPIDERS ROLLING YOU UP AND SUCKING OUT YOUR GUTS!" Katia whispered fearfully to herself.

Her audience sees this and tries to give her some words of encouragement.

'Hey, just remember. You have a powerful princess as an actual friend now. You aren't in Anvil or Kvatch anymore where people are just kind of your friend instead of actually being your friend. Plus, if anyone tries to hurt you now, you have your own personal bodyguard.'

'She's gonna teach you how to use your magic in the most awesome ways possible! Those monsters won't even know what hit'em!'

They are right, things actually are looking up for you this time, you do miss Quill-Weave, but you feel like things might be better for her if you just disappear from her life entirely. Cyrodiil in the past didn't offer too much for you in the past, but maybe Skyrim and this Equestria that Celestia keeps talking about just might provide you with the happiness that you are looking for. The thought of a life where you can actually live luxuriously in a place of royalty around people who actually care about you isn't that much of an impossibility anymore. There is even the possibility of going to a better world where people aren't trying to kill you every other day. Unfortunately, there is still the risk of things going absolutely wrong at the worst possible time imaginable.

"Thanks for the optimistic assessment subconscious," Katia dryly retorted. "But you're right. Things seem to be looking up once again. Just as long as Celestia manages to keep me alive long enough."

Celestia seemed to be continuing to ask questions about the area and various routes they could take. She apparently didn't listen to whatever Katia's inner voices were saying at the moment.

"Wouldn't traveling through this Helgen I've been hearing about be the faster route?"

"Not if you don't want to run into bandits," Irileth warned. "Word is that after the dragon destroyed Helgen, the Southern Bandits have taken up the ruins as their new camp. You would be running right into a death trap."

'Until I can get a gauge on how of my magic I still need to build back up, I should probably be a little bit careful. Perhaps some practice before we go into Ivarstead could be helpful.' she thought to herself.

"Thank you very much Miss Irileth, I think that will help immensely. We should probably get going if we want to catch up with Luna," she said.

Balgruf merely tilted his head back in respect for Celestia's title.

Katia copied Celestia as she made a small bow in respect to Balgruf's title as Jarl. They stepped backwards a few steps and then turned around to make their way back to the front doors into the castle. Balgruf then cleared his throat which caused Celestia to turn her head to see what else Balgruf may have wanted. She saw him motion something to one of his guards and he ran up the steps to an upper level before coming back down with a large burlap sack that seemed to be tinkling with a metal of some kind on the inside. The guard gave Celestia and Katia the bag and they found it to be surprisingly heavy. She opened it to find a large sack of gold coins with the symbol of a dragon etched on one side and the image of a man's face on the other.

"What's this if I might ask?" Celestia inquired. "Its a lot of gold to just give away.

"Yeah, no kidding. I wonder how long that bandit tribe has been active in these areas. But hey, I might be able to finally get something nice out of this!" Katia exclaimed.

"That would be the stash of 5000 gold Septims that were found at Silent Moons Camp just North of here. Luna and her companion Ky'ell invaded the Bandit camp there and eliminated them. This was found by my guards hidden behind a rock just outside the camp. They must have hidden it when the two of them were destroying the camp. Since it was your sister and her friend that destroyed the camp. I am handing it off to you for you to do with it however you see fit."

"Shouldn't these be...you know? Returned to the people they were stolen from?" Katia asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I was about to ask the same thing," Celestia added.

The Jarl just smiled at this question though.

"Luckily my court keeps a thorough record of all people in my hold who have had things stolen. I have been far too busy avoiding the civil war and the constant threat of the Aldemiri Dominion coming here that I've been unable to properly destroy the bandit tribes in my own hold. For now, I've been able to compensate the people in my hold that have had their possessions stolen through the use of some well placed taxes that I have been taking on and off depending on the severity of the situation. Whatever I take out of the pockets of my citizens is quickly replaced by the constant trade and business that comes through my city. So at the moment, there's no need for a surplus of funds."

"Well I suppose I should be thanking you then," Celestia thanked. "I didn't quite have the foresight to bring along money of any kind while...coming across your land by accident."

"Yes, I suppose that does tend to happen when one is pulled through the Void into another realm," he replied nonchalantly.

Celestia's look of surprise on her face merely made him give a hearty chuckle.

"Yes, I am well aware of your true origins. My encounter with your kin has confirmed that. Fear not, she revealed nothing of her own volition, but her eyes and face revealed all. Nobody outside of this room knows of the actual means by how you and your sister came to be in Skyrim. Irileth and I personally saw to that."

"Thank you again then Jarl Balgruf," Celestia replied while slinging the sack of coins into her backpack. "I am glad to see that there are people that I can trust in this land. Jarl Ulfric seemed alright, but there was something off about him."

"Ah yes," Balgruf replied tiredly. "Ulfric for all of his flaws, and starting this war, is a good man. Unfortunately, he still has a lot to learn. Especially when it comes to the company he thinks will help him win the war. Though, I am glad you consider us worthy of your trust. That has become something of a rare luxury in this land during this new era. One must be careful who to give it to."

Celestia and Katia then left Dragonsreach after being given weapons that were made by a man called Eorlund Gray-Mane. She was told that he was supposedly the finest blacksmith in all of Whiterun. He was the blacksmith who used the Skyforge that the two of them saw while walking towards the castle. Katia seemed to be thoroughly pleased with choosing the Skyforge Steel Axe as her primary weapon as she constantly swung it around in every direction as they made their way down the steps. Her tail twitched like mad as Katia carried a face of mad childlike glee.

"I'm glad that you are enjoying yourself Katia, but can you please be a little more careful with that weapon? I'd prefer it if we avoid any complicated situations," Celestia said awkwardly while trying to dodge Katia's wild slices through the air.

"Oh, sorry," Katia replied as she halted her playful assault and began to laugh sheepishly. "I'm just so excited to get an actual weapon that I can use instead of a piece of glass attached to a stick."

"Its been a while...alright a really long time, but I think when we have a moment on the road to rest again, I could teach you a few things about the proper usage of an axe. How to hold it, correct stances during a battle, a few special techniques, that sort of thing."

"So, I guess now we just go back the way we came?"

As they reached the bottom step and returned to the Cloud District, Celestia pulled the small map out of her bag and unrolled it. She followed her finger east along one of the roads away from Whiterun until it began to circle around the mountain to a symbol at the southern edge with the name Ivarstead.

"That's what the map says at least."

"Well, we should probably hurry up then if we want to find your sister soon. Just as long as we don't run into any distractions-" Katia started,

"Someone help!" a female voice cried. "My daughter Mila has been taken to White River Watch"

"Wishful thinking," Katia stated in an annoyed tone.

In a dark corner of Skyrim....

A group of darkly dressed individuals gathered together to await their leader. They silently convered among themselves on what kind of dastardly deeds that they could get up to or what poor soul must be released through the sadistic ends of their blades. They all silenced when a blonde haired woman in red and black walked out of a side room holding a scroll between her fingers. She stood silently for a moment piercing the eyes of all of those present at the meeting.

"Lord Sithis has contacted us. A threat to his darkness has arrived here in Skyrim and it must be dealt with. I will personally send out the first troops to eliminate these "horse princesses" before they can bring harm to us and our plans. After they are dealt with, we shall finally make our mark upon the Divines who threaten the rule of our Lord. The children of light shall drown in blood!"

The group then burst out into cries of triumph as they kept shouting the same thing over and over again

"Hail the Dark Brotherhood!"

Next time: Chapter 13 /u] White River Rescue and The Beacon

Chapter 13: Mini Quests - White River Rescue and The Beacon

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"Please! Someone help!" they heard.

Celestia and Katia had just come down the stone from Dragonsreach to prepare to depart for Ivarstead. Celestia had figured that a quick browse through the marketplace back down in the Plains District of Whiterun might benefit them if they happen to come across any essential supplies that they might need. when they hear a woman hysterically cry for help in the street. They looked up to see one of the Nord merchants that had greeted them in the market place coming around Gildergreen into sight. Celestia recognized her as Carlotta Valentina She was noticeably fatigued and she appeared to be injured as black and blue spots could be seen all over her arms and face. Celestia and Katia looked on with concern and then simultaneously gave a deep sigh and looked at each other with unamused looks.

"We can't get a break can we? Finding your sister is definitely gonna take a little while if this kind of thing keeps happening to us," Katia asked in a deadpan tone.

"Oh well, we might as well see what is going on. Let's just hope it doesn't take up too much of our time though. We are falling behind Luna more and more every second," replied Celestia calmly. "Luna has always been a quick paced mare for her size."

Carlotta noticed Celestia and Katia and ran right up to them with a look of desperation on her face. Celestia felt a tang of sorrow and sympathy by how injured the woman looked. Her red dress was dirty and ripped in multiple places. Big spots of blood stained parts of her dress. Her undergarments were clearly visible as many of the pieces appeared to be ripped off forcefully. She had many welts and bruises on her face from whatever that she had recently gone through. Celestia knew that she would have to try to help as much as she could.

"Come Katia, we should try to help her," Celestia whispered.

"All right. You win," Katia replied. "Let's help her out."

"Miss Carlotta. What happened? Who did this to you?"

"Princess Celestia, thank Mara. You have to help me please," Carlotta choked out as tears ran down her bruised face. "My daughter and I were on our way to the meeting point on the road down to the south where one of the traders of Falkreath sell their produce to me. But when Mila and I got there......there was so much blood. So much blood everywhere."

"What happened next?" Celestia asked stoicly.

Carlotta eyes widened with fear as she started to tremble violently began crying into her hands. Celestia gave her a hug and allowed her a moment to calm down. When she was finally able to look at Celestia in the eyes again, she continued her story.

"Please continue Carlotta," Celestia asked. "Tell us exactly what happened."

"A group of bandits appeared out of nowhere and just started attacking Mila and I. I tried to fend them off but...."

Carlotta seemed to be choked up again and was unable to respond. She then sobbed into her hands as Celestia observed her for clues about the incident.

Celestia looked at her tattered, blood stained clothes, her injuries, and was able to put two and two together about what the bandits almost did to her. She could tell that it traumatized her heavily Celestia would have to be gentle with her if she was going to get any answers. The Princess then held up an armored hand to signal her to stop talking.

"I understand Carlotta. You don't have to talk anymore," she replied kindly

"How in the world did you escape?" Katia asked.

"I-I don't know entirely myself," Carlotta replied. "All I remember is grabbing a sharp shard of wood and then running back to Whiterun covered in blood."

"Where's Mila?"

"Th-They took her," she whispered while a torrent of tears was still coming down her pale face. "To White River Watch."

"And where would that be?" Celestia asked stoicly.

"Down the Eastern road towards Windhelm. Its just off the road right across the bridge. But why?"

"We will get Mila back Carlotta, I promise," Celestia replied.

A record scratched in Katia's head.

"Wait. We will?"

"Yes Katia, we will."

"From an entire gang of heavily armed thugs, bandits, and highwaymen?"

"I don't think we should have too many problems with them."

After instructing her to go to Dragonsreach, Celestia and Katia quickly went over to the medicinal store to stock up on some potions before heading back out. They bought a number of extra healing, magicka, and stamina potions to add to their supply just in case they ran into any trouble. Celestia noticed Katia ogling a large potion with a white substance of unknown use and origin. The neck of the bottle was dressed by some kind of red twine with what looked like a green scale. Being slightly nervous about its appearance, Celestia asked Arcadia about it and found out that it was a powerful invisibility potion that she had bought from an Orc trader in Cyrodiil. She said that his family was always shady, starting with his great grandfather who evaded capture from the Imperial Legion for years until he was finally executed. Katia found that explanation to be familiar, but she didn't know why.

She relented to Katia's enthusiasm and bought the potion for her, much to Katia's sheer delight. After that, they made a quick visit to the blacksmith shop called Warmaiden near the front gates of the city. The owner of the shop Adrienne and her husband Ulfberth War-Bear were more than eager to help Celestia and Katia obtain andy supplies that they might need. Ulfberth gave Celestia a specialized whetstone to keep her sword sharp, a book on heavy armor crafting, and a dozen enchanted arrows designed for emergency situations only. After thanking Ulfberth They made their way back down to the city gates where the guards there finally greeted her with respect and let her pass on through.

They kept up a fast pace in their stride going down the road as they tried to reach White River Watch as soon as possible. Katia placed her new gift from Celestia in her new teacher's backpack for safe keeping as she didn't trust herself to not accidentally destroy it just by holding it.

"Thank you for that," Katia said happily. "I think that's the first actual gift that I have gotten in years that wasn't given to me as a charity thing."

"Well, I was happy to get it for you. I'm assuming you like invisibility potions a lot?"

"They've helped me in the past and they remind me of the one that Quill-oh" Katia started as she stopped.

Celestia halted her walking as she saw Katia staring into nothing with a distant mournful expression.

"She gave you one of those didn't she?"

"Celestia....I think this is the exact one that was stolen from me back in Cyrodil by that Orc asshole Garug Gro-Upp!" she exclaimed.

"Are you sure? From what I understand, most potions here look alike."

"I'm positive! The scratch at the mouth, the surface crack at the bottom, and the green brown scale tied by a red string! This is definitely Quill-Weave's!"

"I wonder how it ended up in the hands of an Orc trader?" Celestia wondered aloud.

"How much you willing to bet that Orc probably kept it around in his family and never sold it? Probably just to mock me." she replied angrily.

Celestia could tell that this must have weighed on her mind for a long time.

"Well, you have it back now don't you? You should be glad!"

"I guess...but what I don't understand is why Garug's family sold it after all this time to a random merchant shop in Skyrim?"

"Random chance?" Celestia guessed.

In another realm outside of Mundus, a certain Daedric princess of Moonshadow giggled mischievously as she looked in on the conversation that they were having.

"At this point, I don't care. I'm just glad I have it back after this long. That skeever ass Garug can rot in Ashpit for all I care."

Celestia and Katia soon made it to the White River Bridge where they quickly crossed and passed by the raging waterfall that would have drowned out any potential conversations that the girls would have had. Both metaphorically and literally. After making it to the other side, they came across a steep path that led up the side of the mountain for a relatively short distance. She looked up and about a hundred feet up was a second ridge overlooking the whole valley. The figure of a man appeared suddenly which caused Celestia to pull Katia up against the rocks to avoid being seen. She then lead Katia up and around the dirt path up the mountain where the path seemed to make a wide turn to the left where the entrance into White River Watch was. Celestia shifted her fuzzy white ears around for any sounds and motioned to Katia to remain quiet and stay up against the wall. She could hear two men at separate locations on the ridge shifting around.

Just twenty feet away was a sizable boulder on the other side of the path big enough to obscure their position. They quickly ducked behind it before they could be seen to get the proper locations of the bandits guarding the entrance to the caves. One of the guards they could see on a raised platform. He seemed to be carrying a large long bow for sniping potential victims on the road below. Katia pointed off to the far left where they could see the figure of another guard watching the entrance. If they tried to just approach, they would likely be seen and Mila inside might be put at serious risk. She would have to come up with a distraction.

Katia reluctantly pulled out her precious invisibility potion and offered it to Celestia, but she pushed her hand down and shook her head with a smile. Her face carried all of the expression that Katia needed to know. Keep it, I have another idea. Celestia looked around and found a small, but sizable rock. She ducked down to ignite her horn and let the stone be engulfed by the same golden glow. Katia watched her levitate the stone back and around the ridge where it was directly behind the bandit. With a soft grunt, her horn slightly brightened and the stone rocketed towards the bandit and impacted against his head. The stone exploded as the bandit cried out in pain before falling to the ground dead. The archer turned around and came over to where the other bandit was knocked down, which gave Celestia the moment to slide out from behind the rock and approach her target. The bandit kept scanning the road below, but couldn't find the culprit of his partner's death. As he was continuing to search, he suddenly felt himself being shoved off the cliff and fell thirty feet with a scream before dying upon impacting a boulder at the bottom.

Celestia turned back to see Katia staring at her with disbelief. Her pupils shrank to the size of pinheads.

'You're having a total lady boner right now are you?' her mental voice asked.

She just simply responded with a barrage of rapid fire nods.

'You're not going to pass out again are you?' another internal voice asked.

Katia responded by rapidly shaking her head.

'...Are you having thoughts about-'

"WHAT? NO!" Katia snapped at the voices as her face turned red.

"Shall we proceed inside then? After relieving these guards of their belongings of course." Celestia asked Katia with a small grin and a raised eyebrow.

She responded again with rapid fire nods before shaking herself out of her shocked state and helped Celestia carefully loot the immediate area for any useful supplies that they might come across.

The first things they pocketed were various food items placed on the table right by where the first bandit was stationed. A giant cheese wheel and a few vegetables. Right by where the first bandit fell was a small chest that carried a small bag of coins, a banded iron shield, and two medium sized potions. They didn't acquire much from looting the two bandits that she had slain.

They then made their way inside the cavern where they found an old man sitting in the chair supposedly guarding the entrance. Celestia tried to sneak, but it didn't take her two steps before the guard turned his head toward the entrance.

"Hodalf? Is that you?" the old man asked.

Celestia and Katia looked at each other with confusion before slowly getting a closer look at the old man. What struck her strange about the old man was not his body, but more his eyes. They appeared to be red as blood instead of a typical white.
Celestia motioned to Katia to remain quiet while to figure this out.

'He must be completely blind' she thought. 'I might as well use this situation to my advangtage.'

She ignited her horn again and a spot on her throat glowed for a few seconds. She then began to speak to the old man. But the voice that came out was not one that Katia expected.

"Yeah, its just me," Celestia replied to the old man in a gruff masculine voice.

"Boss was looking for you. Said he'd be up at the summit with that Whiterun girl. Better not keep him waiting."

Celestia deactivated the spell she put on herself and motioned for Katia to carefully move in tandem with her own. They made their way past the blind man and up two flights of stairs into a bigger chamber inside the cavern. An entire section of the cavern floor was covered in bedrolls which lead them to the impression that this chamber was used as some kind of sleeping quarters for the bandits. At an upper level, they could see two bandits talking to each other. One a female wearing mage robes, and the other light archer garb. Celestia could just barely make out their conversation.

"So you in?" the archer bandit asked.

"....Yeah, we can't have that rheumy-eyed fool as our watchman, even if he is Hajvarr's uncle. Time we dealt with both of them." the female mage bandit replied.

"We strike tonight at dusk, be ready."

"What about the city girl?" the bandit asked.

"Hajvarr was planning on keeping her here as a pet, but we might as well take the opportunity to sell her to the bandit tribe at Embershard Mine. The profit might make up for Hodalf's blunder with that Khajiit caravan."

"Risaad is supposed to be the best in his business."

"Regardless, we need to move forward with our plans. Just be ready."

Celestia enraged by the thought of them so callously talking about selling a child and treating her like a toy, quickly calculated a plan in her head to take out the two bandits.

"Watch me carefully Katia if you want to learn how to properly use certain weapons in combat ," Celestia whispered to Katia.

"Yeah?"

"Lesson one," she replied as she pulled out her bow and an arrow.. "Aim at the least armored target or the target that might be the most problematic in a close quarters fight"

She aimed her bow at the mage on the second level.

"And fire," she said as she let go of the string and sent the arrow flying directly into the back of the bandit mage. The mage grunted and then collapsed against the floor of the cave. The bandit turned around in the direction of where the arrow came from just as Katia made the mistake of accidentally tripping over Celestia and out of the shadows.

"Well, well, well, look what the cat dragged in-" the bandit started.

Then out of nowhere, Katia jumped with a quick squeak and expelled a giant fireball that hit the bandit and burned him alive before falling to the ground dead.

Celestia lowered her bow and looked at Katia with a look of surprise and confusion.

"Did you do that?"

"Yeah...I think so..." Katia replied nervously.

"Good job!"

"Oh..thanks".

"Let's move on shall we?"

Celestia and Katia looted the chamber, adding to their sack of jewels and coins. On one of the bookshelves, Celestia found a few old books she pocketed that she figured would prove useful in the future before moving up the next pathway. At the top, she found a scientific station of some kind with a mortar and pestle in the middle. Many various empty potion bottles were laid about. One bottle appeared to be full that sat on the table right next to the station.

"I'm assuming these stations are used for creating potions?"

"Yeah, its an alchemy lab. The guild back in Anvil had one, but this one looks...well a bit more advanced."

"Equestria has something similar, but a bit more sophisticated than even this. This one reminds me of the prototype models we used twenty years ago."

"Really? How advanced is Equestria?"

"To put it in perspective, not to insult your home, but compared to Equestria, Tamriel still seems to be going through a primitive Medieval era. Not one unlike my sister and I went through a 1000 years ago."

"Wow," she simply replied. "Do you think....it might be possible for me to see it? Ya know....Equestria?

Celestia was silent for a few moments before giving the nervous Katia a big smile.

"Of course. If that i what you want," she replied. "Now that my previous one has graduated, I think you would make a fine "faithful student" Katia.

Katia gave Celestia the biggest smile she had seen from her since she arrived in Skyrim. She looked back to find a large cage hanging from the ceiling with a corpse that appeared to be carrying a bag of gemstones.

"Hey, maybe we can try getting those for our loot bag!" Katia exclaimed enthusiastically as she began to run towards the cliff in an attempt to jump over to the cage.

"Katia wait! I don't think that's such a good-" Celestia started but was already too late as Katia began soaring through the air. For a moment, it had looked like that she was going to reach the cage. Instead....she fell down to the bottom level on her face like a rock.

-a good idea" Celestia finished.

Celestia winced as Katia groaned in pain and her arms comedically began to twitch from the fall.

She ran back down and helped Katia on to her back before quickly taking a health potion out of her pack and shoved the bottle between Katia's lips to heal her wounds. She seemed to down the bottle in only a few seconds as she slowly stood back up after stumbling a couple of times.

"That was dumb. Just a tad," Katia said dryly.

"Yeah just a tad," Celestia retorted humorously. "Can you walk?"

"I think so. Let's go get Mila out of here!" Katia said confidently.

"Yes, let's".

Celestia and Katia went through the next passageway and found an even larger chamber than the previous one straight ahead. It had another passageway leading even further up. The most noticeable thing in the room was the large cage that was placed off to the left. Two bandits were in the center of the room talking to each other. One was a bulky orc and the other was another female mage bandit. Two more bandits were sitting in chairs up at the second level of the chamber. This time with how close they were, they were able to heat the bandits very clearly.

"You think it will work?" the female bandit asks.

"Course not. Dogs I can train. But a half-starved wolf? Not a chance," the gruff orc replied.

"....Right. We'd be lucky if it didn't rip our throats out".

'If we try to sneak by, they'll probably spot us instantly. If we try to run headfirst into battle, we might be overwhelmed. I still don't have my magic back that nulls all damage from normal weapons, so I can't take any unnecessary risks. Mila might be hurt if they are alerted to us. What do we do?' she thought as she tried to look around the darkness of the cavern.

Katia observed the immediate area and tried to come up with anything that might help the two of them get past the guards.

'Hey Katia, try your Night Eye move! That might help show you something useful that might be hiding in the dark!' one of her voices suggested.

'Well, its worth a shot' Katia thought as she closed her eyes and concentrated. She then opened them and was able to see every detail in the cave just as if there was daylight on the inside.

Off to the right side of the passageway wall, she spotted what looked like a pull chain of some kind. She looked around the cave trying to find whatever it might activate until her eyes landed on the cage.

'I wonder?' Katia thought as she reached for the pull chain and pulled on it.

"Wait Katia!" Celestia whispered before seeing the steel door of the cage open. Out came what looked like a large one like the one the bandits had just been describing.

The wolf was panting heavily and looked as if it hadn't eaten for weeks. While the bandits were distracted, the wolf pounced on the female mage and ripped her throat out. The orc barely had enough time to react before it turned on him too. Unfortunately for the wolf, after the wolf bit him a few times, the orc pulled out his warhammer and knocked the wolf away. Another one of the guards at the top who came down to see what the commotion was about was unfortunate enough to run into the wolf who chomped down on his throat and started eating him alive. Celestia shielded Katia's eyes and held her as the grisly scene began to unfold. The orc bandit gave a mighty swing with his warhammer in an attempt to save his comrade which caused the wolf to fly through the air and impact against the wall dead.

While the orc looked at his injuries, Celestia rushed out of the shadows while the orc was distracted and pierced the orc through the back with her Elven sword. The orc simply groaned as she forcefully pulled out her blade and allowed the bandit's body to fall. The other bandit saw this and tried to rush her. Celestia simply dodged out of the way and threw one of her new throwing axes at the bandit. It sliced into his back, severing his spine and killing him instantly.

"I still can't get over how awesome you are," Katia said with widened eyes and a blank face.

"Well thank you. Its been a while, but I remember a few of my old tricks," she replied.

"I'm glad then that you are on my side then."

They went up the second pathway and found that it sharply turned left to reveal an opening to the outside. As the duo went through the opening to the outside, they heard a small sound. It was the muffled scream of a little girl.

On the outside, they came on to a section of the cave that was fashioned into a watchtower for the bandits. Further down to the cliff, they spotted a wooden platform with a few various pieces of furniture. In one of the chairs sat a large man in a jagged green armor they assumed to be the chief of the bandit tribe everybody in the cave had been calling Hajvarr. Off to the corner of the balcony, Celestia and Katia could see Mila bound to one of the railings, gagged, and blindfolded.

"Can you use your magic?" Celestia whispered into Katia's right ear.

"I can try, but its still a little glitchy for me," she whispered back.

"That's alright. Just circle around the rocks to the left while I catch Hajvarr off guard from behind."

"Gotcha." Katia replied as she pulled out her Skyforge Steel Axe and carefully navigated around the rocks.

Celestia pulled out her bow and strung and arrow. Reaching into her bag, she pulled out one of the smaller weak poisons and drenched the head of the arrow with a few drops of the red liquid before placing the bottle back in her bag. She carefully aimed for a weak point on Hajvarr's armor until she found a spot on his armor between his shoulder and his forearm where the armor seemed to part. She pulled it back a little further and then released. The arrow soared through the air and pierced through Hajvarr's arm. Tha bandit chief shrieked in pain as the poison began to flow through his veins. Whil he was stunned and grabbing his arm in pain, Celestia took the opportunity to rush over to the table and slide across it hooves first. The moment she reached the other side, she launched Hajvarr into the railing of the balcony with a powerful buck of her hooves. Hajvarr impacted against the railing and was clearly in even more pain afterwards. Celestia pulled out her shield as Hajvarr recovered for a moment from her constant barrage and turned around to finally get a good look at her.

"I don't know what the hell you are horse woman, but you are going to die slowly and painfully for that, right after I get a king's ransom from that pretty crown of yours" he said as he pulled out his warhammer and started swinging it.

Celestia managed to dodge most of Hajvarr's attacks and even stun him for a spilt second a couple of times to prevent him from using a powerful strike.

Off to where Mila was bound, Katia was awkwardly using her axe to cut Mila's ropes. They were soon cut by the sharp steel and Katia was able to help Mila get the blindfold off of her.

"M-Miss Katia?"

"Hi there! The cavalry is here. We are here to bring you home Mila!" Katia said encouragingly.

Mila just jumped into Katia's arms and started sobbing tears of happiness and relief into Katia's robes. Katia slowly carried her away from the battle and over to the mouth of the cave where she continued to hold Mila as she continued to cry her eyes out.

"I was so.....scared." Mila choked out. "I was afraid I was never going to see mommy again."

'Offer to buy her something sweet when you get back to town. It might make her feel better when she gets back with her mom one of Katia' voices suggested

"Burn yourself with puns! It might make her laugh!"

"That last one is dumb, like REALLY dumb, but the first one might work. I'll get her five sweet or more sweet rolls if it will help her mood," she said to herself.

She then looked over to the sight of the battle and found Celestia had been doing fairly well, but she was too much on the defensive from Hajvarr's enchanted warhammer. She would have to quickly finish up the battle before her stamina runs out.

Celestia then quickly came up with an idea as she stayed open for a moment and allowed Hajvarr to attempt to finally kill her.

"Finally you're mine now bitch! Maybe I'll get a pretty price for your corpse!"

Celestia quickly rolled behind him where she kicked in the back of his legs and caused him to collapse to his knees. He unfortunately saw this coming and just shifted his body to block Celestia's next attack.

Noticing she was in trouble, Katia focused her magicka and conjured an unstable fireball she meant to throw at the bandit. .....If she didn't hold it for too long and and ended up burning herself.

"Oooh! Oooh! Oooh!" she exclaimed with pain as she tossed the fireball between both hands like a deadly game of hot potato. "Hot! hot! hot! hot! hot!"

She then randomly chucked the fireball in Hajvarr and Celestia's direction to get as she prayed it might help Celestia and not blow her off the side of the mountain. Her prayers seemed to be answered as the fireball detonated after coming into contact with the ground, causing Hajvarr to fall backwards on to the rocks of the cliffside. He dropped his warhammer as he was stunned once again. With a quick movement, Celestia slammed her shield onto Hajvarr's head and then slit his throat, finally bringing him down.

She remained tense for a moment before she finally relaxed and walked back over to where Mila and Katia were sitting.

"I am glad that is over with," Celestia chuckled. "Is Mila unharmed Katia?"

"Yeah, I think she's a little shaken up, but I think she's going to be okay. She just needs to get back with her mom, eat a few sugary goodies, and she should be right as rain!" Katia replied.

"I think we can do that before heading back out again. I need a few moments to rest anyway. But we may have to run most of the way around the mountain afterwards if we are going to make it to Luna on time. As long as there are no more delays."

"I'm really sorry that I couldn't help out much during all of that. You must think I'm pretty useless," Katia stated sadly.

"Not at all. You took Mila out of harm's way and you provided me with the opening I desperately needed to end off that fight quickly." Celestia replied graciously. "Though maybe a few fighting lessons in the near future wouldn't be too objectionable."

"Yeah, that might help,"

As Celestia began to walk back into the cave to make their way down to the road below once again, Celestia could suddenly feel a powerful magical presence calling to her back over towards the balcony. She turned around to scan her immediate surroundings. While she was holding Mila's hand to keep her close by, Katia noticed that Celestia was looking around as if there was another threat headed their way.

"Are we still in trouble?"

"No, I don't believe so..." Celestia absent mindedly replied as she pulled out her sword again and approached the balcony again.

As she came back around to the platform, she noticed a large bronze chest that was obscured by the rock.

"I believe I found a treasure chest of sorts," Celestia said.

"A treasure chest? Awesome! Let's see what's in it!"

As she stepped down on to the wooden platform, she could suddenly hear unintelligible whispering coming from inside the chest. Keeping her sword ready, she unhooked the latch and slowly opened the lid.

Inside laid a wild assortment of weapons, gold, and potions. As she wanted to save on space, she just settled for pocketing the gold, potions, and jewelry and jewels for the time being. But the strangest thing in the chest wasn't any of the weapons or jewels. It was a large triacontadigonal (or 32-sided shape) crystal sphere of some kind. It radiated an enormous amount of magical energy. She apprehensively picked it up and began to observe it trying to figure out what it might be. Katia walked up with Mila as she finally saw the strange orb.

"What's that? Some kind of weird giant gemstone?" Katia asked.

"It kinda looks like a big quartz like the ones Miss Gray-Mane brings in for her jewelry sometimes," Mila said.

"I'm not.....entirely sure," Celestia replied as she turned the orb.

Then all of a sudden, Celestia's eyes were blinded by a white light and she could hear the booming voice of a commanding woman radiating throughout her mind.

"A NEW HAND TOUCHES THE BEACON! WAIT.....YOU I MUST ADMIT AREN'T THE ONE I WAS EXPECTING."

"Who are you? Where are you?" Celestia asked.

"I AM MERIDIA. LADY OF THE COLORED ROOMS. IT IS...PLEASANT TO FINALLY MAKE YOUR ACQUAINTANCE PRINCESS CELESTIA. IT IS NOT EVERY DAY THAT I MEET A HOLY ONE LIKE MYSELF. THOUGH I DID NOT EXPECT TO MEET YOU IN THIS MANNER.

"Meridia? One of the Daedric Princes?" Celestia asked in a dangerous tone.

"FEAR NOT SUN GODDESS. I MEAN YOU NO HARM. MY SISTER HAS ALREADY SPOKEN WITH YOUR SISTER AND I CAN ASSURE YOU THAT THERE ARE THE FEW AMONG US WHO WISH YOU AND YOUR KIN NO ILL WILL. HOWEVER, I MUST ASK FOR YOUR....ASSISTANCE GIVEN THE CIRCUMSTANCES"

"What kind of assistance if I might ask?"

A FOUL DARKNESS HAS SEEPED INTO MY TEMPLE. A DARKNESS THAT YOU MUST DESTROY. RETURN MY BEACON TO MOUNT KILKREATH AND I WILL PROVIDE YOU WITH ONE OF THE MEANS TO DEFEAT MY MAD BROTHER AS WELL AS GIVE YOU AN INSTRUMENT OF MY CLEANSING LIGHT. IF YOU SUCCEED, MY....RATHER VIOLENT AND UNCOUTH BROTHER JUST MIGHT BE WILLING TO ASSIST IN YOUR QUEST AS WELL."

"Your brother?"

"YES. THE MORTALS KNOW HIM AS KEEPER OF THE SWORN OATH AND THE BLOODY CURSE. HE HAS...SOMETHING OF AN INTEREST IN YOU. BUT FOR NOW, I MUST SAY FAREWELL PRINCESS CELESTIA OF EQUESTRIA. I LOOK FORWARD TO SPEAKING WITH YOU AGAIN."

"Alright, I will try to do everything I can to help if my quest takes me in the direction of your temple, Celestia replied"

Then as suddenly as it came, Meridia's voice went away, and Celestia's sight began to return.

...Only to find Katia's big yellow eyes only an inch away from her own.

"Aah!" Celestia exclaimed as she jumped back and shot a powerful beam of magic at Katia and send her flying into a rock.

It didn't take three seconds for Celestia to calm down before she realized the mistake she made.

"Katia!" she cried as she and Mila ran over to check on her.

"That was my fault....again," she groaned.

"Are you alright?"

"Please be okay Miss Katia," Mila said.

"I think I'm good. Just got the air knocked out of me."

"I'm so sorry. I didn't expect you to....what were you doing?," she asked genuinely curious.

"I was just trying to figure out why your eyes started glowing and why you were all zoned out," Katia wheezed out.

"....Perhaps we should bring Mila first before anything else happens," she replied. "Explanations can come later."

"Sure. Can you help me back up though? I think I'm seeing actual stars here."

With one hand, Celestia grabbed on to Katia's left hand and pulled her back on to her feet, allowing her to use her armored shoulder as a support to get back her sense of balance. Which she seemed to do after a few seconds.

"Do we have to go back through that scary cave Princess?" Mila asked while trembling.

"I'm afraid so sweetheart. But everything is alright. Katia and I are going to make sure you get through and back home safely. You can take my hand if you want," she said kindly.

"Alright," she simply replied as she tightly gripped Celestia's hand before walking with her and Katia through the cave and back towards the entrance.

"But when we have the chance again, I really need to know Katia. How in the world did you survive my magic blast? Even the most powerful dark mages have been disintegrated by my solar magic. You just seemed to....absorb it. Well, most of it at least."

Next Time: Chapter 13 - Coming Round the Mountain.

"Alright Ky'ell let's see if we can get this straight. You want to go into that cave and do what with a bear suit?" Luna asked while rubbing the bridge of her snout with her fingers

"We might as well use it for something fun! We're gonna be freezing in an hour here and I want to use it for something funny!"

Chapter 14: Coming Round The Mountain

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Many hours earlier, when Luna and Ky'ell had just finished off the giants of Guldun Rock, they took the opportunity to take a short break to rest from their first life threatening battle as a traveling pair. Every single solitary muscle in their bodies had become very sore from the harrowing experience. They found a soft patch of grass near the giant camp to lie down and listen to the sounds of the surrounding environment now that they knew they were out of danger. They were certain that nobody would dare to even come close to the camp considering that most should be assuming the giants were still guarding the camp. While Luna was lying down on the soft grass, Ky'ell had been fooling around with the numerous belongings that the giants once owned. She turned her head in his direction and found that after he had raided one of the treasure chests, he had dove headfirst into one of the strange hide sacks that had been placed by the bonfires by the now deceased giants.

"Sir Ky'ell, may we ask what in the world are you doing?," she asked slightly irritated. "We are trying to rest without having to worry about thou trying to hurt thyself."

"Hey Loony!" the man's voice echoed inside the bag. "Lookee at what I found!"

With a groan, Luna rolled on to her knees and pushed herself up on to her feet. She walked over to one of the bonfires where Ky'ell was hanging inside one of the hide bags. As soon as she was a few feet away, he hopped out with two bowls in his hands. The bowls seemed to be filled with a gooey white and yellow substance of some kind.

"It smells good, so I figured we could munch on it," Ky'ell stated as he brought the bowl up to his mouth and started downing the substance.

"While we appreciate the thought of thou gathering sustenance for us, we must question the idea of eating things that simply smell good Sir Ky'ell." she replied warily with a raised eyebrow. "Ponies rarely survive when confronted with such things in the wild."

However, as she saw the man enjoyably eat whatever the bowls contained and not suffer any side effects, she reluctantly decided to give it a try. She gingerly pulled a chunk of the gooey substance out and put it in her mouth. After chewing a few times, she felt a pleasant and strong sensation dance on her tongue.

"Is this cheese?" she asked.

"That's what I'm thinkin. I wonder if all of the giant camps around Skyrim are filled with these yummy treasure troves," the armored man replied with his mouth full of cheese.

"Indeed. It has a nice fragrant flavor to it. It reminds me of a type of cheese back home that sister enjoyed a lot on her pasta. I believe she called it mozzerella."

The man belched as he finished off the last of the cheese in the bag by the bonfire and tossed his bowl back into the backpack.

"You mean you guys eat that stuff everyday? Where do I sign up for grub like that?" the man asked.

"Perhaps...If thou asks us nicely we might be able to arrange for thee to dine with us and our dear sister Celestia back in Equestria so that thou may partake in our lands numerous culinary flavors. At least, when we get back anyway."

After eating her own bowl of cheese, she went back to her resting spot and took a small 15 minute power nap while Ky'ell explored every crack and crevice of Guldun Rock. It felt good for her take a brief moment to regain her strength and to digest her snack before moving on down the road. After waking up and getting back on to her feet, she found her companion walking out of Guldun Cave with a number of enchanted daggers, amulets, and potions. One of the amulets appeared to be in the shape of the cross guard of a sword that curved slightly upwards like wings. She felt a strange, and powerful, almost fatherly aura come from the amulet. It gave her a sense of comfort, but also a sense of power and confidence. She decided to pocket it until she could learn at a later time what power resided over it.

After gathering their belongings, they decided to move back down the path to continue onwards towards their destination on the other side of the mountain. They soon made it back down towards the main road where they proceeded eastwards following the path of the river. The path soon came to a peak where it then sloped downward at a steep angle. In the distance, came the shape of a smoldering structure that had looked like it had just been in a battle of some kind. Large stone towers on either sides of the river connected by a stone bridge that lay at least a hundred feet above the river. Upon further inspection, Luna had seen bodies littering the entire perimeter of the structure. Large pieces of the tower were now broken off and fell in the river and on the shore by the road. Luna and Ky'ell ran down the sloping roads to investigate the ruins.

By the time they made it down to the bottom, they were able to more clearly see the grisly scene that had lied before them. Many of the bodies that littered the road were either burnt beyond recognition or hacked up into a ragged state. Luna took one look at the clothing the bandits had been carrying and gave a sigh of relief and slight sadness.

"Bandits," she simply said. "While I am glad that they can't do any more harm to anyone else, I can't help but feel saddened by any loss of life, no matter how despicable they may be."

"I wonder what happened?," Ky'ell asked scratching under his helmet. "It looks like a twister hit this place. A twister filled with torches and axes."

"I sense a strong magical signature left behind by whomever dispatched these bandits. And the bodies appear to be freshly killed which means whomever did this was only here a short while ago. Only a very powerful spell could have done this," she mused as she scanned the ruins.

"I think we got here a little too late. Whoever did this stripped the bodies of most of their valuable possessions. Aw man, and I really wanted to see if we could find some treasure in all of this."

"We can look for treasure and riches to plunder later Ky'ell. Right now, we should make haste to our destination. We wish to make it to Ivarstead before sundown"

They moved down the road and continued through Valtheim Pass until they made it into Eastmarch . The first sight to greet them was the titanic pine trees that towered into the sky and made up a lush forest. The river seemed to sharply turn right alongside the road where a dirt path on the other side seemed to continue on in a seperate direction. They followed the road to a small stone bridge that lead them to the other side. On the east side of the river, they came to a crossroads where a sign pointing towards various different cities lied. To the left two arrows indicated was the direction to go if you wished to go to Windhelm or Winterhold. To the right, two more arrows indicated the direction if they wished to go to Riften or Ivarstead. Naturally, they followed the road to the right which lead them southbound.

On their way, they came across a group of guards in blue armor who were presumably patrolling the borders of the hold for any potential threats. Their shields were grasped tightly in their right arms while their shining steel swords hung low at their left sides. Their hands were kept on the pommels as if waiting for so much as the slightest trigger for them to attack. To Luna's confusion, the moment the guards saw her, they came up to greet her as if they knew her already. After a few quick explanations to clear up the misunderstanding, she properly introduced herself to them.

"Forgive me sir guards, allow me to properly introduce myself. I am Princess Luna."

"It is a pleasure to meet you your highness. We must apologize to you. You looked like your sister at first to us." one of the guards replied respectfully.

"WE didn't YOU did," the second guard snapped at his companion.

"Please sir guard, can you tell me if my sister is alright? I am trying to look for her while traveling with Sir Ky'ell here, the new Thane of Whiterun."

"Thane eh? Bout time Balgruf the Indecisive actually made a smart decision for his hold other than flip flop around like a gutless worm." the second guard said.

"We did see your sister leave the city with a Khajiit woman in mage robes," the first guard replied after giving the other one a glare. "We assumed she was trying to get out of the hold and look for you. But none of the border patrols saw her leave Eastmarch."

"She must have gotten lost," the third guard agreed.

"So there's a chance that she might still be close by?" Luna asked rhetorically.

"We might run into her on our way around the mountain," Ky'ell replied.

The three guards looked at each other for a moment before simultaneously nodding.

"We need to stay on our patrol route as much as possible, but we can give you and escort you five miles east over to the next check point."

"Thanks. Just don't run out of dialogue options and revert back to the same generic default question and we'll be good," Ky'ell nonchalantly added.

The guards simply stared at him for a few awkward seconds before answering him.

"Quite."

The guards did as they promised and led the duo through one of the more dangerous parts of the journey. Before they made it to the next fork in the road, they were ambushed by a large swarm of venom spitting Frostbite Spiders. After killing them off, Luna found a way to extract their venom and bottle it. all it took was a precise slice to a specific part on their hairy mandibles and the oozing green liquid began to flow.

"I don't like these things, but their venom is quite useful in enhancing a sword or a bow against a bandit. Some of the guards around here like to use frostbite venom from time to time," one of the guards stated. "I am surprised that you know of the process."

"I just like the way it makes my sword all shiny!" Ky'ell replied

"I....heard stories that one of my ancestors used this method after slaying local Nagas that were pluguing our forests." she replied. I figured that the process might assist me here as well if we going to face foes like this."

Meanwhile....

Celestia and Katia had just left Whiterun and begun to make their way back down the road towards Ivarstead to catch up with Luna and K'yell. Naturally, they had to pass by White River Watch again to make it to the Pass of Valtheim. This time however, Whiterun guards were there to meet them instead of bandits. Now that they had their bearings, the journey was going a little bit faster than it was before. Soon, the road began to sloped downwards as they made it to the pass once again, where the now ruined Towers of Valtheim stood over the White River in the distance. Small wisps of smoke coming from the battered towers blew in the breeze that gently brushed the mountainside.

"We should probably be careful here. I thank you for casting that spell whatever it was. But it can't hurt to be a little cautious in Skyrim." she said as she pulled out her sword and held it loosely in her grasp.

"Do you think your sister saw all of this when she came through here?" Katia asked.

"Probably. However, her companion and her must have just decided to quickly move on. Luna can be impatient sometimes so she probably payed it no mind." she said as they began to walk

"Don't you have some kind of sibling sense or something? I heard siblings have like a super sense to feel what the other is feeling." Kaita asked innocently.

"You.....could say that we had something like that, but after Luna was forced to...leave a thousand years ago. We kind of lost that connection."

"What kinds of things were you able to do? Could you see through her eyes? Could you dance in synch with her? Could you-Oof!" Katia said as she slammed her head into something hard with an audible thwack.

She fell on to her back with a solid thump. The fall left her slightly dazed as she hallucinated golden stars flying around her head.

"Oh! Are you alright Katia?"

"Yeah...just give me a minute and I'll be up." she groaned. "What did I hit anyway?"

Celestia looked up to find an extremely surreal sight right before her.

A wooden horse drawn cart that seemed to be perpetually suspended in midair about five feet off the ground. She was confused for a moment and thought she might have been seeing things until she held out her arm and found out that she was able to touch the cart.

"I'm not sensing any magic....so how?" she asked bewildered.

She noticed something moving around in the cart and when she got on her toes to look over the edge, what she found confused her even more.

A giant sweet roll that was somehow stuck in between the floorboards of the cart but at the same time...not. It seemed to be blinking in and out of existence as it violently shook around the bottom of the wooden cart. She tried using her immense physical strength, or at least the strength she had recovered, to bring the cart back down to the ground. She found that she couldn't so much as budge it an inch. Confused, she tried using her magic to pull the cart back down, but to her surprise, she found that a magical method also proved fruitless.

"Huh..." she mused. "

'Lazy Microsoft Programmers.' one of Katia's voices said.

'I guess it was too much to ask to completely go through the overworld for flaws before the final release' another voice said.

'They could have gone through all of this in the beta,' the first voice added.

"What are you guys going on about?" Katia asked.

'Nothing! Carry on!' they cried in unison.

"Must be one of Sheogorath's childish tricks. We must not allow these obstacles to distract us. Let's move on. I am sure that as soon as we deal with Sheogorath, his warpings on this world and my own will disappear. I can only hope that Twilight and her friends can deal with Sheogorath accordingly."

"It was kinda funny to bump into a floating cart, but maybe I should watch where I'm walking next time."

"Just a little bit yeah," Celestia replied mischievously.

They continued their way back down the hill and out of Valtheim Pass, until they made it once again to the White River. The water rushed by faster than normal, most likely from the recent rainfall that had hit Whiterun Valley and filled the river. A small rain shower began the moment they made it back to the river. It was light enough to refresh any casual traveler going through the forest and not enough to soak. A perfect mix for autumn weather. They turned the corner back towards the right and towards the bridge that would officially mark their return back into the hold of Eastmarch. Before they came to the bridge, Celestia saw a figure on the other side of the river moving around frantically. She looked closely and discovered that it was a Frostbite Spider pathetically scurrying around on the small patch of dirt it found itself trapped on beneath a small cliff. As they approached the bridge, the Spider noticed them and began waving its front legs threateningly and snapped its mandibles at the two girls.

"Eeeeeep!" Katia shrieked as her fur poofed out and she jumped behind Celestia.

"Oh, calm down Katia. It can't hurt us from over there." she said.

Celestia pitied the Spider as it looked to be completely trapped. So she carefully picked up the Spider with her magic and lifted it over the cliff and set it back down. The Spider seemed to be stunned for a moment before it hissed at them and crawled back off to wherever it came from in the first place. Celestia sighed, but came to terms with the fact that not many people nor creatures in this world was going to be as gracious as her own ponies. They proceeded down the road and crossed the first bridge over into Eastmarch. They came across the same road sign pointing to the various cities and towns in Skyrim. Following the direction of the sign that pointed to Eastmarch, they continued on down the road and through the pine forests of Eastmarch to the South.

"I don't think I've ever asked. What is your sister Princess Luna like?...you know...If its alright for me to ask." Katia asked politely.

"Luna is in many ways my polar opposite, but she does share SOME of my qualities. I like to think that she's a mare of the last millenium. After she returned from her thousand year banishment on our moon, she's been struggling with adapting to modern life especially now that there aren't any armies of darkness always trying to break down our front doors," she explained. "She's very easy to talk with and demands honesty from everyone. Although, she can be a little too harsh or stern with some ponies sometimes. That's not to say though that she doesn't get along well with my little ponies. Quite the opposite in fact. After a bit of introducing her and urging from my last prodigy Twilight, most of my ponies especially the children adore her. She loves each and every one of them just as much as I do. Some have even gone as far as saying that she is now easier to approach than I am, despite my numerous attempts to convince ponies that we are equal in that regard."

"She was...banished for a thousand years?" Katia replied horrified. To the moon? What could she have done to deserve THAT?"

Celestia stopped for a moment and thought about whether or not she should answer Katia's question. Celestia and Luna had long gotten past the pain of their fight, but even a year after her return, the wounds still felt fresh. She was about to answer her when she heard a small noise coming from the side of the road. Then all of a sudden, a dark figure pounced from out of the thick brush of the forest.

Celestia was fast enough to push Katia out of the way and dodge the blade of a dagger that just barely missed slicing
at her chest.

She turned to get a good look at her attacker and saw an Argonian man dressed up in some kind of midnight black body suit with blood red accents covering various parts of it. She didn't get much more of a good look before she saw the man try to thrust his blade into Celestia's chest once again. A second time which she dodged with skill despite the seemingly cumbersome weight of the heavy armor that was now in her possession. When her would-be assassin tried to slash at her a third time, Celestia was ready.

She pulled out her sword with her right hand and stopped the blade of her attacker with her own. They held each other's ground for a few moments, struggling against each other's strength, until Celestia pushed the assassin back a few feet and sliced open his chest with a downward diagonal stroke. The assassin fell to the ground dead as his blood pooled on the road.

From Katia's perspective, all of this happened in the blink of an eye and wasn't completely sure what she had just seen her new teacher just do.

'Are you getting a lady boner again from that? Cause I totally am.' one of Katia's inner voices quipped.

"What...the heck just happened?" Katia asked. "How did you do that?"

"I have fast reflexes," Celestia replied nonchalantly. "Though for now, I would like to know why this misguided soul tried to kill me. He was definitely skilled in the deadly arts."

Katia walked over as Celestia approached the corpse and began searching the body, pocketing any valuable item and piece of information that he might have. She found a sizable sack of coins and a few gemstones. In a side pouch she found a small slip of paper with a message scrawled on it in elegant handwriting.

Dispose of the Khajiit and the Nord, but bring the horse women to Markarth. Alive. Lord Bal wishes to have his way with them before he heralds his mighty return. He will help us dispose of Sithis.

Astrid

"What is it?" Katia asked.

"We need to find Luna and find her and her friend fast. We are all in more danger than I first previously thought."

Then all of a sudden, Celestia heard what sounded like a scream coming from just a few hundred feet up the mountain. Then a bright blue flash lit up the sky for a second before going silent.

"What was that?" Katia exclaimed.

"I'm not sure, but I'm sure going to find out," she stated.

The guards that escorted Luna and Ky'ell over to the next checkpoint had to depart them and go back in the other direction back to their patrol route along the border of Eastmarch. They proceeded down the road with a mountain towering to their right and a view of a moor filled with hot springs, geysers and empty fields filled with bones to their left. Eastmarch held many ominous sights as they passed right on through. One of the stone bridges they came to lay before a roaring waterfall spraying them with a refreshing mist. The road continued onwards for about ten more miles until it curved around up the mountain.

As the road began to slope upwards, Luna and Ky'ell began to encounter more and more wild animals. Things like goats, giant Elk which reminded her of a former lover in the Western Unknown forests, foxes, wolves that took an immediate liking to her and treated her as one of their own kind, much to Ky'ell's confusion. Unfortunately, they were forced to come into contact with more than a few Sabre Cats that pounced on the duo while they continued upwards. They passed a number of cave entrances, one of them surrounded by stakes with the bodies of little imps impaled through the chest. Luna pulled K'yell over to the other side of the road, as she knew that it was a good idea to give the opening a wide berth. The trees began to change again as they sloped further upwards. Luna was noticing that it was drawing into the early evening as the sun looked as if it was beginning its decent.

The giant pine trees of the forest soon gave way to smaller Sycamore trees that were more open and spread apart. The road began to get more wider as they came back on to the main cobblestone road. Another thundering waterfall soon came into view as they came to a bend turning west. The waterfall at the bottom of the mountain was most likely connected to this one as it fell down to the bottom in segments. As a large stone bridge going across a gorge came into view, they saw the figure of a man lying on his side in pain. As her caring instincts kicked in, she rushed over to see if the man was alright, while also keeping a hand on the hilt of her blade. Ky'ell followed closely behind her.

"Sir! Are you alright? Do you need assistance?" she asked in a neutral tone.

"Oh thank Aetherius! I thought I was going to perish out here," the man exclaimed. "Can you help me? i was attacked by bandits and had most of my possessions stolen from me."

"My...companion and I must hurry along, but I think we can spare a moment to assist thee," Luna replied.

"Thank you kind stranger. My camp is just across the bridge and up the hill. From there, I think I will be alright," the Imperial man said.

When Luna turned around, she found Ky'ell sticking his head into a nearby bush growing up against one of the sycamore trees and pulling out strange looking flowers. As she was beginning to get annoyed again at his odd antics, Ky'ell pulled his head out and pocketed the flowers into a side apothecary pouch on his belt.

"What's up? We got a new mission or somethin? I was just pickin some of those pretty lookin flowers!"

"Not quite Sir Ky'ell, we just have to help this man across the bridge and we will be back on our way," she explained as she rolled her eyes at him. "You can pick the flowers later."

"Okie dokie then!" he replied with a mock salute.

'Its hard to believe that you of all people are the legendary hero that's meant to save this world from destruction' she thought as she rubbed her eyes.

Coming over to the Imperial man, they each got on either side of him and lifted him up on to his feet, using their bodies as support for him. They began to slowly but surely make their way across the stone bridge and over to the man's camp that he said was on the other side. As they were closing in on the other side of the bridge, Luna sensed that something was off about the man that they were helping and about the structure that was peeking up out of the trees. Whatever it was, she had to keep her wits about her just in case the man they were assisting was not what he claimed himself to be.

When they came to the other side, the duo could feel the man stop limping in their grasp, signaling to halt.

"Alright, I think I can make it the rest of the way on my own," the man said.

"Are you sure?" Luna asked in a neutral tone. "We can continue our assistance if you need it."

"Ah, that's very kind of you, but my companions should be able to help me. They are just over that hill."

"Then we shall be off sir. We have a place that we must make haste to as soon as possible," she replied.

"Wait a minute!" the man exclaimed. "Allow me to....reward you for the help you gave to me."

"That won't be necessary sir, we were just assisting someone in need."

The man eyes seemed to become nervous to Luna as he fidgeted around where he stood. Luna could immediately tell that something fishy was going on.

"I insist. We have a surplus of supplies that we can spare," the man tried.

Luna looked at the man for a solid second before answering him back.

"Very well, we accept your...gracious gift to us," she replied.
The man then suddenly walked up the hill and out of sight, leaving the duo in an awkward silence.

"Ky'ell, I think we may be in troub-" Luna began.

"I know," he seriously replied. "Two bogeys to the left, two on the right and one...."

He then slowly grasped his bow hung around his torso preparing for the inevitable. He closed his eyes and listened for any sounds that shouldn't be there. When a faint rustling came to his ears, he strung his bow and let loose an arrow directly above at a rock like a flash, almost faster than Luna was able to track. For a few seconds, nothing happened, until a body fell down to the path with a splat.

"-right behind us," he finished.

Luna simply gawked at Ky'ell in surprise unable to process what had just happened for a moment, before a roar from another man brought her back to attention.

"Bastard! You'll pay for that!"

They leaped into action as a duo of orcs wielding battleaxes jumped out from over the hill. Luna and Ky'ell rolled out of the
way and quickly ran up the hill into a more wide open space to get a better idea of the numbers they were facing.

Over by the right side was a camp site where three other bandits rushed them, each with different weapons. The Imperial man who tricked them, was attempting to pick off the duo from the back near the cliff. They quickly dispatched the three bandits, but K'yell stopped in his tracks when he realized that the archer had a clear shot at him and he wouldn't be able to move out of the way in time. So when the archer strung his bow and shot an arrow right at Ky'ell's heart, he did the only thing that could come to mind.

He held out his sword length wise in an attempt to block the arrow. The arrow ricocheted off of his sword and comedically ricocheted off of the trees and the rocks, with everyone present attempting to watch its path. It kept doing so until it came back and struck the Imperial man right in the chest causing him to stumble backwards and fall right off the edge of the cliff with a scream.

"Well that just happened," Ky'ell said bluntly.

"Quite," Luna replied with a confused look.

They then dispatched the rest of the bandits without much effort and then took their time to ransack the camp and the stone tower known as Nilheim for any valuables it might have. Fortunately, they were lucky enough to come across a small cache of potions and iron ingots in the stone tower that they were certain they would put to good use in the near future. Ky'ell found himself a treasure by the camp site that Luna was immediately regretting allowing him to keep.

They went back across the bridge and continued their way down the main road towards Ivarstead, allowing the road signs to properly point them in the right direction.

"Why Sir Ky'ell did you choose a bearskin suit of all things to keep as a battle trophy?" Luna asked in a disgusted tone as she rubbed the bridge of her snout.

K'yell then whispered something into her ear that she seemed taken aback by.

"You want to do what to somebody in that bear suit?" she said in disbelief.

He whispered into her ear again for a few seconds.

She simply raised her eyebrows and gave a sigh of defeat before continuing on down the road. After another half half hour of walking, they came across a stone bridge going across a small oxbow lake. On the other side, was the town of Ivarstead and the starting point of the 7,000 steps up to the mountain monastery of High Hrothgar. The town itself was not that big, but it seemed friendly enough all things considered. There were a few scattered wooden buildings, a tavern, a few traveling merchant carts, houses and a saw mill that sat at the edge of the river.

"Well there it is." Luna said

"Yup".

"It's probably going to be cold up there."

"Yup."

"And its going to get even colder tonight."

"Yup"

She continued staring at the immense imposing snow covered mountain nervously for two awkward minutes, until she finally deflated.

"Perhaps it would be proper if we took an hour or two to relax here at the local pub and gather much needed supplies before we make our way up the mountain".

"Yup"

"You are starting to sound like one of our more soft spoken subjects, you know that?"

Meanwhile, Celestia and Katia were about to face another dangerous delay on their way up towards Ivarstead and the 7,000 steps...

Next Time: Chapter 15: Reunity at 7,000 Feet

"Looks like you picked a bad place to be meat" a sultry voice says threateningly. "At least you will be a good drink for me"

"Sorry sweetie, but my blood is off limits," Celestia quips.

Chapter 15: Reunity at 7,000 feet

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Many sounds have been unpleasant in Celestia's long life, but the terrified screams of children had to have been the most unpleasant sound of all to her. So when she heard exactly that on her way up the winding trails toward Ivarstead, she was immediately drawn to it out of nurturing concern and fear. Despite never having been blessed yet with children of her own, she had always had a loving connection with them. Whenever a child was ever in danger, she made it her personal responsibility to protect them, no matter the cost.

Katia was there to bear witness to how fast Celestia was running up the steep cliff to make it to the child in distress. She was having a hard time enough as it was trying to keep up with her new equine teacher. Every muscle in her legs was begging for relief, but she was trying to ignore the burning sensation in her legs. She wanted to keep going on for as long as her body would hold her upright.

As luck would have it, they didn't have to wait for long as the area where they heard the scream was just around the bend and up the hill a quarter of a mile where the mouth of a suspicious looking cave lied. An ominous scene appeared before them as the only clue to what happened to the owner of the scream. Pools of blood were spattered all over the road, turning the dirt crimson red. A horse drawn carriage lied in pieces all over the road. Multiple pairs of tracks were leading in all directions. Some were coming from the mouth of the cave, some were coming from the bottom of the hill and there was another that appeared to be leading up the hill.

"What happened here?" Katia exclaimed.

"I'm not sure. Although, I have a feeling whatever did this came from that cave. Cornish Pixies impaled on spikes around the mouth of a cave doesn't exactly scream friendly."

"Cornish Pixies?" Katia questioned.

"Mischievous little flying creatures. They love causing trouble and rather cruel pranks to whoever they come across, but are fiercely loyal and violently protective if befriended properly. Its...heartbreaking to see any of them end up like this." she replied sadly as she looked at the unfortunate creatures.

Katia could see how bummed out she was just by being around this place, so she looked for something to divert her attention away from the troubling sight.

"What do you make of these tracks your highness?"

Celestia looked to the ground and kneeled down on to he knees where she carefully studied to tracks.

"A single horse was pulling that carriage when it climbed up this hill." she observed. "Something came from the mouth of the cave and attacked whoever was in that cart."

She got on to her hands and knees to more closely observe the tracks in the dirt of the uphill trail.

"Whoever was attacked landed here," she pointed out. "And was dragged into the cave by a big group of taloned creatures of some kind."

"Dr-dragged?"

"And whoever was grabbed, sure didn't go quietly."

Katia once again went through a variety of emotions in a few short seconds ranging from concern to anger to terror. Her tail twitched rapidly from the varying emotions she was feeling.

"What do we do?" Katia asked anxiously.

"I hate running into delays like this, but we need to help," Celestia declared. "There are too many horrible things happening in this God-forsaken dimension not to do something. Can I rely on your help?"

"Uh...I'll give it my best shot," Katia replied nervously.

Celestia pulled out her shield and the both of them charged into the cave, fully prepared to take on whatever threats lied inside. Inside, they found a group of repulsive creatures who appeared to be a foul hybrid of woman and bird. Celestia could vaguely hear two them chanting dark incantations inside shrines made out of bone and an eerie green hide. The other two were wandering about the chamber as guards. Celestia waited until their backs were turned and then had Katia take out the hags chanting their incantations while she dispatched the two guards. She awkwardly hacked at one of the chanting hags, cutting off its arm and slashing a huge gash into the other's back. The first one collapsed to the ground bleeding out and the other one enraged at Katia unleashed a powerful lightning bolt at her. Celestia looked on in horror as the lightning bolt impacted against Katia expecting the Khajiit to be fried. To her surprise, Katia was only pushed back a few feet and only slightly winced from the pain of the impact.

Celestia launched herself at the remaining hag and impaled it through the gut, killing it instantly.

"Katia!" Celestia cried. "Are you alright?'

She seemed to be stunned for a moment as some spots of fur on her body seemed to be singed, but then she patted around her body nervously making sure she was still in one piece. After which, she breathed a deep sigh of relief.

"I think so Princess. Just a little tingly is all," she replied.

Then all of a sudden, they heard a pair of loud female scream coming from down another passageway further into the cave. Which caused the trio to bolt down the passageway as fast as they could towards the sound. As they got closer, they could hear the sound of snapping teeth growing louder and louder. When they made it into the next chamber, they came face to face with a group of frostbite spiders wrapping up a family of Bretons. Two of them weren't moving, but a feminine voice could be heard coming from the third cocoon. Celestia let out a battle cry and engaged the spiders as she ignited her sword with a fire spell and cleaved into the spiders one by one, slaying all three of them nearly instantly as their remains were immolated by the flames of her sword.

"Can we please get them out of here quickly," Katia asked nervously with her ears folded. "I really don't want to stick around to bump into any more scary creatures."

"Alright Katia," Celestia chuckled. "First things first, we need to release these people."

'I wonder if there is any treasure you can pick up in here!' one of Katia's voices said.

'Don't look too long if you are going to do that or we aren't ever going to be able to catch up with that Luna chick!'

'Check out that Arcane Enchanter! You can power up your axe!'

'I think there's supposed to be a tome of Waterbreathing in here somewhere'

"Perhaps, later. From what I understand, most cities carry at least one Arcane Enchanter," Celestia said as she was sawing away at one of the cocoons."

"Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, I hear ya".

It took only a few seconds for Celestia to carefully saw away at the sticky webs around the facial area enough for her to rip open a hole for the child to breath. Inside the cocoon was a Breton girl who looked battered from the abduction just outside the cave. She looked up at Celestia in fear expecting her to hurt her.

"Its alright sweetie," Celestia said in a comforting voice. "We are here to help."

"Wh-who are you?" the girl asked.

"I'm a friend," she simply replied. "I want you to stay still sweetheart. I need to cut off these webs."

"O-okay. Can you help my mommy and daddy too?"

"Of course." Celestia replied with a smile. "Katia?"

"I got them."

Katia pulled out her axe and carefully moved over to the other two cocoons scanning the ground for any tripwire traps and other hazards. She kneeled over and carefully sliced away at the webbing in a horizontal motion while holding up a loose piece of webbing to avoid harming the person inside. Soon, she was able to get the area around the facial area cut away so she could begin using her hands and claws to rip open the rest of the cocoon. Inside was a Breton man of medium build that she assumed to be the child's father. Unlike the girl, the man didn't seem to be moving, and his skin was pale. She quickly moved over to the remaining cocoon and released the other human within which was revealed to be a woman. Presumably the girl's mother. To Katia's dismay and fear, the woman also was not moving and had the same sickly pale shade in her skin.

'Uh, Princess?" Katia said nervously. "I think we have a problem here."

Celestia came over with the little girl and saw the condition of the two people.

"Mommy! Daddy!" the little girl screamed.

Celestia touched their throats with two fingers to check their pulses and gave a deep sigh of relief.

"Its alright sweetie. They are fine. They must have been stung by the spiders and paralyzed. If we had arrived later, you would have been too and we wouldn't have been able to find you."

Suddenly, they heard a gutteral roar coming from behind them. Celestia and Katia turned around to find a green Troll charging at them. It was so fast that they barely had enough time to react. Katia started swinging wildly at the air in an attempt to protect herself while Celestia pulled out her hammer and held it lengthwise. She waited until the right moment and then bashed the charging troll to stun it. It did just that, giving Celestia enough time to swing her hammer in the opposite direction to smash the troll's windpipe, which killed it in a few short seconds.

"That was way too close," Katia lamented.

"Yes, perhaps I should pay attention to my surroundings a bit better," Celestia replied sheepishly with a small laugh.

Afterwards, the duo took care helping the girl carry her parents out of the cave and back on to the main path outside the cave.

"Can we help them Celestia?" Katia asked.

"I might have been able to with my magic, but changing the effect on my healing spells to heal a human, would take up too much of my magic. I still haven't gained up enough of my magical strength back to use such a spell. Luckily, that witch back in Winterhold carried a ready supply of healing potions that I have taken upon myself to pocket."

She pulled out two small red potions and carefully administered the liquid inside to both people. After a few seconds, their breathing began to return and their skin color turned back to normal. Celestia then lied them down on a soft patch of grass that was growing along the slope of the mountain.

"Is mommy and daddy going to be okay?" the little girl asked with tears still visible in her eyes.

"Yes sweetheart, I think they are going to be just fine, they just need a little bit of rest."

"What should we do now Princess?" Katia asked quizzically

"Well, it would expel too much of our energy to carry them the rest of the way to Ivarstead and we can't waste any more time waiting until they regain consciousness, so I think we should probably fix their cart. That way we can transport them to Ivarstead to get more proper and waste less time tracking my sister."

"That's actually pretty smart," Katia replied. "But don't you think we should also keep watching the road for bandits or trolls or something?"

"It might bring us a bit more risk to ourselves and these people dragging this cart up the mountain, but in this case, its a risk we might have to take." Celestia concluded.

So Celestia proceeded to gather the pieces of the cart that had been broken by the Hagraven attack and salvaged what little she could from them. Carefully cutting down a few small nearby trees, she used her frostbite spell and flames spell to temporarily bind the pieces of the cart together and reattach one of the broken wheels. Then Katia and Celestia carefully carried the girl's unconscious parents and placed them in the back of the cart. The girl climbed in the back with her parents to watch and wait for them to regain consciousness.

"Don't tell me we are going to have to drag this thing all the way up the mountain to Ivarstead?" Katia asked morosely.

"No, no, I wouldn't do that to you," Celestia said. Until you have learned to carry more heavy objects with your telekinesis, I want you to leave the heavy lifting to me."

'Katia! Why don't you ask Celestia if you can quickly get that Tome of Waterbreathing!'

"Yeah, there's a lot of nasty waterways around here that you are going to have to swim around in'

"As much as I hate swimming, that might be a good idea for me in the long run." Katia admitted. "I don't want to have to risk drowning again like I did that one time looking for those slaughterfish eggs."

She shivered remembering the horrifying experience.

"Might as well," Celestia insisted. "I need to make a few more proper adjustments to the cart before we are ready to travel uphill. See if you can't find more supplies in there as well. If you run into any trouble you think you can't handle, don't hesitate to come back out here. I don't want you to to face serious combat on your own until I know you can handle larger targets."

"Oh, don't worry Princess, believe me," Katia laughed nervously. "There's no chance of me doing that.

With that, Katia walked back into the depths of the cave to pilfer any treasures they may have overlooked.....

Back in Ivarstead, our two main heroes Luna and the Dragonborn Ky'ell were taking a well deserved break after traveling for twelve hours straight around the Throat of the World before they take their long trek up the side of the mountain. Their first stop was at the town's tavern the Vilemyr Inn for a quick bite and gather up any vital information on the mountain so that they could know exactly what they were going up against.

K'yell opened the rusty door of the Vilemyr Inn and the duo walked in. The first thing Luna concluded about it was that it was definitely a downgrade from the somewhat upscale Bannered Mare Inn back in Whiterun. The tables and chairs looked like they were made of much older wood and the fire pit in the center of the inn looked like it was struggling to keep the intense flame away from the rest of the inn along with the roasting whole hog that appeared to be cooking for quite a while.

The smell of pork permeated throughout the whole Inn. A beautiful blonde woman in a simple green dress was off to the side of the inn, playing her lute for a few weary travelers stopping in town for the night. As Luna and Ky'ell stepped into the light of the inn, a few people there gave the duo glares for a few seconds before going back to drinking their mead. Behind the counter at the end of the tavern was a balding middle aged man with a sizable build cleaning a few tankards used by customers. The duo approached the counter intending to ask the innkeeper a few questions. The man seemed to notice them as they approached. They sat down on wooden stools at the front counter intending to order some food and drink.

K'yell, trying to be polite to Luna, bought two meals and two half pints of ale for the both of them which the tavern's maid quickly brought out. Ky'ell's meal consisted of a few roasted fish and a few roasted carrots while Luna had a baked potato and a few small grilled leeks.

Luna cautiously looked at the tin tankard given to her, not knowing if a drink bought in a ratty tavern would taste any good. took a small sip of the ale and found the taste to be her liking. No where near as luxurious as the Knothole Deer Kingdom Ale back in Equestria, but still enjoyable enough to her.

For a few moments, the duo enjoyed the ambience of the tavern as the roaring flames of the fire continued to crackle behind them and the tavern musician plucked away at her lute, creating a calming melody. Suddenly, the barkeeper broke the silence after cleaning a few dirty tankards.

"Well, you two certainly are a colorful pair. I don't think we've ever seen the likes of you around here miss." the man at the counter finally said.

"Yes well, I hope I am not causing any trouble around here with my presence," Luna timidly replied.

"On the contrary my lady, you're bringing a bit of excitement to this dull town," the man happily replied. "We don't get that many visitors through here. Unless they are heading up to High Hrothgar of course."

"Yeah, about that," Ky'ell started. "Anythin you can tell us about that High Broth carp or whatever its called?"

"High Hrothgar Sir Ky'ell," Luna corrected in an awkward tone.

"Yeah, that."

"We have been meaning to head up the mountain ourselves," Luna said. "But first, we wanted to find out any information that the people around your village have about it and the Greybeards."

"Well...The Greybeards are a solitary lot. I don't think they have ever ventured outside their monastery." the barkeeper said. "We get the occasional pilgrim passing through here on their way to the summit, but almost all of them have returned from their journey disappointed."

"Are you on a pilgrimage? I've always fancied a journey up the 7,000 to the monastery. Anything to break the boredom of living in this town," one of the lute players said.

"Now, now, Lynly. Leave our guests alone," the barkeeper said with a chuckle. "I imagine they want to finish their meal."

"Don't be like that Wilhem, everything is so dull around here. I was just a little curious of our unusual guests," the lute player said playfully as she went back over to the other side of the tavern."

"Anyway, if you are looking for a guide up the mountain, Klimmek should be going back up the High Hrothgar for another supply run."

"And where can we find this Klimmek good sir?" Luna asked politely.

As if on queue, the tavern door slammed open and a woman with fire red hair wearing an equally red dress ran right in. Her clothes seemed to be soaking wet and her face was partially covered in welts and cuts.

"I think we have a problem!," the woman said frantically.

"What's wrong Temba?" Wilhelm asked. "You look like crap!"

"The problem is three of those Akatosh damn bears are back and now they've cornered Klimmek!"

"What?!" everyone in the tavern save for our heroic duo shouted.

"What happened?"

"I was speaking to Klimmek with Gwilin on the other side of the bridge about any usable trees for the mill that might be growing on the mountain side, when three of those fucking cave bears rushed us. Klimmek was able to climb up a steep part of the mountain face to avoid the bears and Gwilin managed to dart across the bridge. Unfortunately, I had to dive off the bridge and into the river. You can see what became of that fucking stupid choice. It took me over an hour to climb back up the hill after falling down that first waterfall."

"Perhaps we should lend our assistance Sir Ky'ell?" Luna whispered into the man's ear.

"LET'S GO PUNCH SOME BEARS!" the man madly screamed as he ran out the door of the tavern.

Everyone stared at Luna in awkward silence for a solid minute as she was left alone. She then bolted out the door as well to make sure her clueless wayward friend didn't get into any trouble.

Outside, she tried looking around for Ky'ell trying to keep track of him, but was unfortunately unable to do so for the moment. She clenched her hand and a vein of annoyance became noticeable on her temple.

"I'm going to kill that man," she said.

For the next five minutes, she scanned the immediate nearby area around the inn for her companion until she decided to move down the cobblestone road towards where the locals has said where the town bridge across the river was located. As she turned around the bend and passed a saw mill, the large bridge overlooking another thundering waterfall came into view. Across the bridge, she saw what was happening just as the red haired woman had described it.

Off to the right path on the other side of the bridge, a bearded man was cowering in fear on top of a large rock sticking out of the mountain side. Two bears were growling and snapping at him for daring to enter their territory.

"Where did Sir K'yell run off to?" Luna asked. "No matter, first order of business is rescuing that man. I am sure Sir Ky'ell will appear somewhere."

She pulled out her sword and shield and ran across the bridge, fully intending to quickly slay both of the bears before they could cause any harm to the man.

"I really wish I had sister's kindness towards animals and creatures of all kinds during times like these, but I unfortunately am unworthy of that Element."

Suddenly, a beyond bizarre looking figure leaped out of a nearby bush making Luna stop in bewilderment.

Ky'ell fully clothed in the bear hide he had kept skipped up to one of the bears and punched one of them in the face as hard as he could. The force of the impact made the bear fall over into the second one and caused them both to roll back down the hill. When they finally stopped rolling, they got back up on their paws and scampered back into their den as fast as they could to avoid whatever hit them.

.........."What the holy buck just happened?" Luna squeaked out.

"Oh hi Loony, what are you up to?" the strangely dressed man asked her with an insane smile.

....."Thou know what? Why don't I just go help Mr. Klimmek down?" Luna said to change the subject.

"Its about damn time!" Klimmek barked. "I thought I would be up here for ages."

"Are thou alright sir?" Luna asked with concern.

"A few scrapes and a bruised pride, but none the worse for wear I suppose." the man replied.

"I dislike to impose upon you good sir, but would you happen to be Klimmek?"

"That I am milady, though I do wonder why royalty would want from me?"

"How can you tell?" Luna asked with her eyebrow raised.

"Well the crown and necklace are a big clue,"the man said with a mischievous smile on his face. "Plus, royalty and nobleman taking a pilgrimage up the mountain is fairly common during certain times of the year around here."

Luna's face flushed which caused the man to chuckle.

"Forgive me your majesty, I didn't mean to be rude."

"No, no, that is fine," she quickly replied. "We should probably hide our regalia in this country."

"So what can I do for you and your.....unique friend my lady?" Klimmek asked with a weird face.

Luna turned her head around and her face turned from happy to intense annoyance as Ky'ell stalked a squirrel in a nearby tree while still in the bear suit. She walked over to the man with her fist clenched and smashed him into the ground. Pulling him back towards Klimmek by the scruff of his neck, she decided to be up front with her next inquiry.

"We have heard from the barkeeper that you make supply runs up the mountain?"

"That is correct your majesty. I mostly deliver food supplies like dried fish and salted meats; you know, things that keep fresh for a long time." Klimmek replied. "The Greybeards tend not to get out much, if you catch my meaning."

"Doesn't thou get anything for your efforts?" Luna asked. "You walk all the way up and down what looks like a very large mountain every day just to provide food for the Greybeards."

"Well, its kind of an understanding between us. I mean, it wouldn't feel right to charge them for a bit of preserved food. Trouble is, my legs aren't what they used to be and climbing the 7,000 steps takes its toll. I have to take three day breaks after every trip."

"Sir Ky'ell and I could do it for you."

"Really? You would do that for me?" Klimmek asked surprised.

"Sure, just leave it to us," Ky'ell weakly replied in Luna's grasp.

"Well, I guess then I can't refuse the request of royalty. Here's my bag of supplies I just finished gathering today."

Klimmek took the large leather pack off of his back and handed it to Luna who found it to be surprisingly light despite the amount of food that was inside it.

"Take it to the offering chest in front of the monastery at the summit and you should be finished."

Luna tossed it to Ky'ell hoping to have it land on him, but much to her surprise, he jumped back on his feet and stuffed the leather pack into his sizable backpack.

"Should we be on the lookout for anything during the climb?" Ky'ell asked in a serious tone.

"Well....there's the occasional wolf pack or stray, but that's all I have ever had to deal with" Klimmek explained. "That shouldn't be any problem for the likes of you two. Other than that, watch your footing. The stairs can be treacherous. Especially when the snow and ice begins to pile up."

"We shall return very soon Mr. Klimmek." Luna said as she smiled to him.

"Wait a moment!"

"Hm?"

She turned around one more time to see what he wanted.

"May I know your name your majesty?" Klimmek asked.

"Oh, our apologies. How rude of us. I am Princess Luna," she replied regally before walking up the hill and leaving Klimmek in silence.

The duo then circled around and began up the stone steps towards High Hrothgar. They walked side by side in silence for a few minutes, until a few hundred feet up the steps, a strange stone tablet covered in unusual markings embedded into a shrine could be seen peeking out over the steps.

"What might that be?"

"Beats me," Ky'ell replied. "Let's take a look see."

As they got closer to the shrine, they could more clearly what was carved upon its face. It appeared to be a language of some kind, but nothing like Luna had ever encountered in her lengthy life.

"Sir Ky'ell? Doth thou know the meaning behind these characters?" Luna asked. "Being this a language not from Equestria, it seems we are unable to read it."

"Sure, I can give it a try." he simply replied.

He slowly stepped closer to the shrine and knelt down to get a better look at the writing carved into the shrine's back face. For a moment, it appeared nothing was happening as he stared at the writing, trying to understand the meaning behind them, until the talon like characters started moving around from his perspective and became as clear as the common tongue to him:

"Before the birth of Men, Dragons rule all of Mundus; Their word was The Voice, and they spoke out only for True Needs. For The Voice could blot out the sky...and flood the lands......"

Just a few miles outside of the town of Ivarstead, Princess Celestia and Katia Managan were slowly but surely making their way into town. Dusk was quickly on its way and the trouble it would bring would surely bring risks and peril to their group. The family in the cart they had been dragging down the main cobblestone road was beginning to take a toll on their endurance. Celestia's magic and deity-like physical strength had yet to completely return after her interdimensional trip and surge of power back at Cragslane Cavern, though she could tell that it was gradually coming back to her with every battle. Katia unfortunately was not blessed with such abilities, so she was forced to take the brunt of the physical strain. The cart's weight had increased exponentially after she insisted to Celestia that they bring all of the treasures they found in the cave into town to sell. She immediately regretted that unwise decision.

"Ugh, I'm dying here!" Katia whined.

"It won't be too much longer until we are in Ivarstead Katia. There's no need to fret." Celestia replied with a smile.

She then turned her head back towards the girl who was looking after her still unconscious parents and felt a tang of guilt for not being able to come to her aid sooner. She appeared to be deep in thought as she was rubbing her father's forehead with a damp cloth.

"Are you alright sweetheart?" Celestia asked the girl.

The girl was shook herself out of her small trance and looked up at Celestia. She seemed to be calming down as she smiled back at her sweetly.

"Yes Miss Celestia. I'm just a little tired. It was scary back there but you and Miss Katia were so nice to me that I stopped being afraid."

Katia's heart melted at the sincerity of the child. It made her reminisce about her own troubled childhood back in High Rock and what her parents might have been doing after she left home.

As they turned the corner and came to another crossroads, they found another sign that pointed towards where Ivarstead lied. Over by a group of trees a few hundred feet down the road, they came across a group of hooded figures who were looking over what appeared to be the body of a woman in eerie red and black armor. One of the hooded figures was grasping a torch which admittedly made it easier to see in the growing shadows that the evening was bringing to the mountainside forest. They seemed to be speaking to one another but neither of the girls could figure out what they were saying.

"Watch the cart Katia. I'll go and see what the problem is," Celestia said firmly as she kept her right arm loose and close to her sword just in case. Then she turned to the little girl and gave her a small but firm smile. "Sweetie? Get under the sheet with your parents and don't come out until we say its safe alright?"

"Yes, miss Celestia," the little girl in the back of the cart said as she complied. "

She approached the duo of hooded individuals without any fear. As she got closer and closer, she felt an ominous presence emanating from the two.

"Greetings, are you two in any trouble?" Celestia asked calmly.

The duo looked up and for a moment, widened their eyes in surprise for a moment before going back to neutral expressions.

"Thank you, we are unharmed. As the Vigil of Stendarr, it is our duty to hunt daedra and any who worship them." the female hooded figure said proudly.

"Vigil? Are you priests?" Celestia asked

"Of a sort," the other hooded man said slowly. "We hunt various dark creatures."

"We...have outposts across Tamriel where we carry out Lord Stendarr's work diligently.

Celestia eyed them up and down and knew there was something wrong about them, but she couldn't pin exactly what it was. So for the moment, she decided to turn back to the cart to continue back on her way towards Ivarstead and then towards High Hrothgar.

"Well, I hope the rest of your travels remain safe and prosperous," Celestia said stoicly as she turned back.

However, the moment she turned her back on them, just one evil sentence was quietly uttered from the hooded female figure that she was able to pick up with her large ears.

"You aren't leaving us tonight dinner!"

Suddenly, Celestia felt a rise in dark magic coming from directly behind her that kicked her old battle instincts into overdrive. In a flash, she ignited her horn and blasted a fireball at the first figure and it almost instantly impacted against her face. While the first was dazed, she took the opportunity to pull out her warhammer and charge at the duo.

"You'll die for that!" the other figure screamed.

The second figure began to use some kind of red spell that quickly drained her magical energy. To which Celestia responded by extending the reach of her hammer and dislocating his arms with a single blow. When she turned around, she saw the other figure had recovered and started going after Katia and the family in the cart. Katia tried using her own fire spell on the hooded female priest, but she seemed to be unfazed as she continued to approach them with a maniacal smile underneath her hood.

"I'll just have to kill your little Khajiit pet then!," the woman said.

"KATIA!" Celestia screamed. "CATCH!"

Celestia then blasted a powerful fire spell at Katia who was startled by the incoming fire ball. As she placed up her hands in fear, the fireball impacted against her and was absorbed into her body. Before the figure could get closer to her, she exploded a large amount of fire magic from within her body that incinerated the woman instantly.

Katia was still for a solid five seconds, unable to comprehend what had just occurred.

"Wh-what the actual fuck just happened?" Katia said with her big yellow eyes widened as she stared at her hands.

"Calm down," Celestia said as she sheathed her sword. "Everything is all right now."

"You can come out now!" Katia called to the girl.

The girl peeked out from under the sheet and looked around carefully before going back to watching her parents.

"Who and what exactly just attacked us Princess?" Katia asked.

"We can't waste much more time, but taking a peek into that answer couldn't hurt I suppose," Celestia said as she approached the corpse of the male hooded figure she killed first.

As she knelt down over the corpse, she pulled back the golden hood of the cloak the man was wearing. To her surprise, the man had pale white skin, midnight black hair and blood red retinas, and a set of glowing white teeth that were razor sharp.

"Vampires," she spat angrily. "I had thought that I wouldn't ever see your damned kind again."

"I thought I heard you say vampires, please dear Akatosh above tell me that you didn't say vampires." Katia squeaked with fear.

Celestia then moved over to the man wearing the crimson red scaled armor and confirmed her suspicion.

"Who was he?' Katie asked grimly.

"This one isn't a vampire at all. He was probably one of these Vigil of Stendarr that they mentioned. My guess is he ambushed the poor soul and swapped outfits with him. The other vampire probably killed another Vigil of Stendarr for their clothes as well."

Celestia searched the bodies and found a piece of paper carrying what looked like a message.

Kill any Vigil you come across.
Use their robes to set a trap for the horse women.
Lord Molag Baal is becoming impatient.
We must capture them before those fools in the Dark Brotherhood or the Mythic Dawn can.
Then continue the search for the master's daughter.

"What is it?" Katia asked nervously.

"A message. It appears these vampires are aware of my and my sister's existence." Celestia sighed.

"What are we going to do?" Katia asked.

"We will have to act more quickly if we are going to find my sister and get back to Equestria. That raving lunatic Sheogorath is on my throne and probably hurting my ponies." Celestia growled.

"Well, I think you are on your way to doing that cause, you just casted a Firebolt spell at me back there!" Katia exclaimed.

"A Firebolt spell?"

"Yeah, from what I learned reading at Kvatch's library, the Firebolt is a Apprentice level spell that most mages can only learn by finding the tome with the spell in it. You really are powerful if you are learning the spells without use of the tomes."

"Regaining back my mana pool here must be exposing me to this dimension's magical field." Celestia mused as she stared at her white hands.

"Whatever it is, maybe you can try learning more about the magic here. See if you can pick up any more of Tamriel's spells before you....go home," Katia said morosely.

Celestia went over to her and pulled her into another hug.

"Now, now, none of that." Celestia gently chastised. "I promised you I was going to bring you with me back to Equestria as my new personal student and I meant it. And as far as your proposition goes, once I find Luna, I see no reason why I can't learn a few new tricks while we are here. I think magic will have to be the way we get home anyway."

"Thanks," she replied.

"Now come on. Let's get this little angel and her family into town."

Afterwards, they traveled down the road and followed the signs for another hour, all the while carefully watching the road for any more potential threats to the cart that might arise. The only things that they had to subdue were a few wolves and a frostbite spider that was stalking prey along one of the rivers. Soon, the quaint town of Ivarstead sitting at the foot of the mountain came into view as the sun began to sink below the trees and the shadows of dusk began to grow larger and larger with each passing second. As soon as they crossed the bridge into town, they immediately looked for the nearest guard to assist them with the Breton family they were escorting. Luckily, it seemed that one was circling back around towards the bridge on his patrol route. Celestia and Katia's appearance made him stop in his tracks for a moment, not knowing what to make of them, but when his instincts told him that they weren't a threat, he slowly continued back on his route.

"Sir guard! Can you help us?" Celestia called.

"Hm? What seems to be the problem milady?" the burly guard asked from underneath his helmet.

"Can you help us please? We rescued this family from a nearby cave and two of them have unfortunately been injured from the incident. Can you help us find a doctor?" she asked politely as she motioned to the cart.

The guard came over to the cart and saw the girl in the back watching her unconscious parents carefully. Then he turned back to Celestia and adjusted his helmet before responding to her.

"I think that can be arranged. Most of our regiments need at least two healers in the smaller towns we guard in the hold." the guard replied confidently.

The guard came to the side of the cart and reached in to put a comforting hand on the little girl's shoulder.

"Now don't you worry about a thing Miss," the guard said kindly. "We will fix up your parents in no time at all."

Slowly but surely, a smile began to grow on the girl's face.

"Thank you Mr. Guard," the little girl happily replied.

The girl then said her goodbyes to Katia and Celestia and followed the guard who brought two more of his associates to carry off the cart to another location.

"Now that we have taken care of the girl, why don't we figure out if your sister has been through here?" Katia asked,

'Go to the tavern!' one of Katia's audience voices exclaimed 'A local tavern is always the place for information!'

'You should see if somebody is selling Cliff Racer. I hear its amazing.'

"Are you trying to get my teacher drunk?" Katia asked with irritation. "Now I really am starting to lose faith in my subconscious."

"We may not know if Luna has been through here or not, but we do know where she was going," Celestia hypothesized. "Jarl Balgruf mentioned that this High Hrothgar place is located at the top of the mountain, so that's exactly where we are going."

Katia looked in uncertainty at the mountain they were approaching as her head moved further up and up until her head was at a 80 degree angle where the clouds blocked her sight from seeing the rest of the mountain. She was certain that the mountain was probably reached even higher than what she was able to imagine. She gulped in fear as her eyes shrunk in fear.

"Do we have to go up there Princess?" Katia asked nervously. "Its night time and its getting awfully cold. I can't imagine how much colder its going to get when we go...up there."

"I know Katia, but we can't afford to waste any more time. Every second spent in this world is more time away from Equestria where my little ponies are probably being harmed by Sheogorath. I fear even Twilight and her friends may have a hard time combating Sheogorath. I just hope this Dragonborn person can protect her long enough until we get back together."

Higher up the mountain, Ky'ell and Luna were beginning to feel the effects of the cold as they rised higher and higher into the sky with each passing step. The wind bit and chewed into them despite how heavily they were clothed. As night began to fall, Luna had to pull out a torch and ignite the tip with her magic to illuminate the path. Snow blew violently across the mountain side as it slowly made each layer of snow grow deeper and deeper with each passing minute. Both had to carefully watch their steps so as to not slip and fall down the steep and very high cliffsides of the mountain.

They came across many more shrines while on their journey up the 7,000 steps. Some of which had people taking a pilgrimage up the mountain meditating in front of them. Out of respect, the duo decided to leave them alone and continue onward. After the first etched tablet back at the bottom of the mountain, every time they came into contact with one, Luna began noticing how silent and rather distant he became as he read each one. After being with Ky'ell for almost a week now, and seeing how hyperactive and positive the strange man always was, it was rather unusual for her to see in such a manner.

'This kind of behavior is unusual for him,' she thought. 'I know I haven't been around Ky'ell for very long, but this is vastly different than his usual obnoxiously positive attitude towards everything.'

"Sir Ky'ell? Are though alright?" Luna asked with concern in her voice.

"Hm? Oh, yeah, yeah, I'm alright." he replied. "I just needed a moment to think about things, that's all."

"May I know what those other etched emblems said? Thou seemed to have knowledge about that strange claw mark language."

"Yeah....I think I can do that. Starting from that second one, I think it said something about "Men were born and spread over the face of Mundus; the Dragons presided over the crawling masses; Men were weak then, and had no Voice."

"Curiouser and curiouser," she mused. "I wonder if our Shouts is what this Voice is referring to. It seems to have some sort of significance behind the development of humankind on your world here. What about the third and the fourth emblem we came across a few minutes ago?

He stopped for a moment and walked over to a nearby tree where he was somewhat more protected from the wind. Closing his eyes as if he was trying to properly remember, he began to recite all that he had translated on the way up the mountain.

"The fledgling spirits of men were strong in Old Times; Unafraid to war with the Dragons and their Voices; But the Dragons only Shouted them down and broke their hearts. Kyne called on Paarthurnax who pitied Man; Together they taught Men to use the Voice; Then Dragon War raged; Dragon against Tongue."

"Perhaps we should study more of these tablets on our way up the mountain to see if we can't learn the rest of this tale." Luna thought out loud.

For the next hour, their journey up the mountain became even harder as the cold of the mountain became even more fierce. To be a gentleman, Ky'ell gave her an Ice Wolf skin cloak that he had stored away in his backpack. Luna protested at first, insisting he needed it more, but then accepted it out of respect and learning from him that all Nords like himself have a magical resistance to the cold imbued into them at birth. Even the most powerful frost spells apparently don't have that much of an effect against them.

"Has that ever been tested before?" Luna asked.

"I dunno, but I have been told we usually are able to even go nude in the worst blizzards without taking any damage." Ky'ell explained. "I haven't tried that yet, but now I think I should sometime soon!"

Luna's face turned bright red at the thought that was put into her head.

"Anyway, don't you think we should start finding a place to seek shelter for the night Sir Ky'ell? We are very fatigued and I can imagine that thou are as well." she said.

"Well where do you have in mind?" Ky'ell asked. "I don't think there's a lot of options along the side of a mountain. Maybe inside a mountain if there were any caves around here."

"There apparently is Sir Ky'ell!" Luna exclaimed. "There seems to be a cave right over there".

Ky'ell looked off to the right where she was pointing and sure enough, the shape of a cave was visible only a hundred feet away. They began to approach, but as soon as they got close enough to it, a loud noise came from the cave startling them. Luna and Ky'ell suddenly looked at each other in fear.

“Haul it, woman!” Ky'ell yelled as a monstrous roar reverberated off the mountainside. Any hope of making camp and settling down were crushed by an entire family of frost trolls that jumped down from a cliffside that they were most likely watching carefully for any unsuspecting prey.

Luna and Ky'ell ran as quickly as they could, but the deepening snow was making it difficult. The frost trolls on the other hand, barreled through the snow like it didn't exist, kicking it up into massive white clouds of ice. Luna couldn't tell how many there were, but she knew for a fact that there were a few more than two.

Ky'ell knew that there was no way they could outrun these frost trolls in the snow. As he ran he looked towards the mountainside, where a stone had been knocked loose from the mountain. Luna must have been thinking the same thing, because she turned towards Ky'ell to tell him a plan.

"Help me get up there and I will squash these creatures like vermin!" Luna cried.

They made a hard right and barely missed the swipe of a Frost Troll's massive arm.

"Drop your back pack!" Ky'ell shouted.

"What?"

"Just do it!"

Luna complied with his request and tossed her backpack safely over by a fallen tree where she could go pick it up later. When she looked up she noticed Ky'ell kneeling on one knee, urging her to use him as a boost to climb up. Again, Luna did not waste time asking meaningless questions. When Luna's foot made contact with Ky'ell's burly knee, she grunted as she was suddenly thrown upwards. Grabbing the ledge, she grunted and climbed up on top of it. When she made it up she bent over the ledge, arm outstretched to pull Ky'ell up. To her shock, Ky'ell wasn't there anymore. He was running towards the closest Frost Troll, his sword already drawn.

“That stallion is bucking insane.” Luna said, cursing under her breath. She pushed herself up, and looked at her surroundings, trying to find anything she could use to support him. Maybe she could levitate some boulders and... A sudden roar caused her to freeze. looking up. A fourth frost troll appeared from a crevice in the mountainside.

"Oh fuck".

The Troll roared again and charged. Luna's heart beat so hard that she could feel it in her ears. She tried to take step back, but all her foot met was the ledge. All that left her was the option to go forward. She had an Idea. The Troll, leapt with both arms outspread. At the last moment she dove underneath the troll, sending it toppling over the ledge and onto the snow floor.

Unfortunately, she saw that the troll had caught the ledge and was climbing back up. Running up to the ledge, she blasted the troll with a fire spell and brought her sword down hard on the Troll's extended arm. That did not stop the troll from climbing back up on to the cliff. It roared in anger as a second swipe from Luna's blade sent the troll's blood splattering against the pure white snow, defiling it with its reddish taint. She gave it a quick magical blast from her horn, followed by a third strike with her sword, which caused too much damage for the frost troll to keep standing up. The force of her next strike caused it to be launched back a few feet into a giant rock in the side of the mountain. Luna kept her sword at the ready, watching as the Frost Troll paced back and forth, looking for an opportunity to strike again. Luna risked a glance up at Ky'ell and was relieved to see him holding his own, by using his own fire magic to keep the three Troll's at bay while striking when he had the opportunity.

As she looked back down at the Troll, she noticed that it had taken a few steps back, with a running start it jumped, trying to use momentum to kill her with a single blow. Seeing an opportunity, Luna charged, and with a fire in her eyes she impaled the monster, deep in it's throat.

The troll roared or at least tried to. A sickening gurgling noise, followed by an eruption of blood from it's throat like a fountain had Luna convinced that she had won. But as the Troll fell back, it swiped wildly, slashing Luna's side. She shrieked in pain and fell down onto the hard, rocky edge, before sliding off and falling off the ridge of the cave forty feet down into the snow. She did manage to fall into the powder, but some of it concealed a small rock that jammed in between the shoulder pads of her armor and right into her back. She shrieked as a tremendous amount of pain surged through her body. Clutching her side, she felt a lot of blood leaving her body from the gash as well as many ribs being broken in the process. She was in a lot of pain, but she used her adrenaline to push herself back on to her feet. Luna could swear that she saw Ky'ell trying to fend off two Frost Trolls, but she was too busy trying to hold off her own. She felt around for her sword but realized that she had left it stuck in the Troll's throat. She turned to her enemy, expecting to see it dead. It wasn't moving, but to her horror she could see that the wounds she had inflicted upon it were healing, and healing unnaturally quickly. Luna willed herself to move, knowing that if she did not finish it off, she was done for. She drew a long dagger from her belt that she picked up back in Silent Moon Camp near Whiterun.

With the last of her adrenaline draining, she charged at the troll attempting to use a small acceleration spell to speed her momentum and cause more damage with her attack. Unfortunately, her magic was no where near to being fully restored and such a spell costs a large amount of magical energy. So the blade only manages to lodge itself in between two ribs of the troll's body.

Ky'ell saw how badly she was faring and was about to be struck down by the troll. So he did the only thing he could think of and tackled it at full force, using his iron banded shield as a battering ram. Luckily, this caused the troll to be pushed back ten feet over to the cliffside of the mountain where he could finally finish it off. He inhaled and let out a thunderous sound.

"FUS!!!"

The shout thundered off the side of the mountain and blasted the troll down thousands of feet off the edge and to its death.

“How...do...ya like that?....Assholes,” Ky'ell exclaimed panting. This was not going well. Despite, being relatively unscathed, he was exhausted and had almost completely depleted his mana. The two other Trolls roared in anger at the death of their comrade before circling him again, this time mindful of the cliff's edge, in fact they advanced on him, forcing Ky'ell closer and closer to the drop away from the cliff edge of the mountain.

Luna was not faring that much better. She was bleeding intensely from her abdomen and the pain she was feeling caused all of her senses to go blurry and distorted. As the last of her adrenaline left her, she collapsed back into the snow. She could see that Ky'ell was trying his hardest to kill of the other two trolls that were currently ganging up on him. She tried getting back up on her feet a second time to try to help Ky'ell, but her arms gave out from underneath her.

As she began to completely lose consciousness, she swore that she could hear the battle cry of someone very dear and close to her. Then the last thing she saw before everything went black was a blinding light that illuminated the entire mountain side. Which was followed by a tall figure stepping out of the shadows. The blinding light felt warm and familiar like the hug of a loving family member...

As Luna began to feel consciousness returning to her, the first thing she felt was a sensation of being incredibly warm. Underneath her head, she was laying upon something that was incredibly comfortable. Though her side felt incredibly sore. Her eyes slowly opened to reveal a large room made out of a strange type of stone she could not identify. She turned her head to the left and found that the room extended outwards into a long hallway, with bed rolls laying in front of tall etched glass windows. Pale white light came through the windows, indicating that she had been asleep for hours. She then pushed herself into an upright position so that she could get a better look at her surroundings.

The large stone room was obviously well kept. Because of the amount of bedrolls, she came to the conclusion that a sizable group of people had to be living there. She tried leaning over to get a better view, but was stopped by the soreness in her side.

She took a better look at herself and found that her armor had been taken off. Instead, she was wearing what looked to be a silken ice blue dress. Moving her fingers around her abdomen, she felt strips of cloth around the area that had been sore.

"I wonder if Sir Ky'ell bandaged me while I was asleep?" Luna asked herself. "Perhaps I should thank him after I get out of this bed and find him."

Suddenly, an elderly man in a long silver robe came into the room with a small, but friendly smile on his face.

"Welcome to mountain monastery of High Hrothgar Princess Luna Solaris of Equestria. I am Master Arngeir. I speak for the Greybeards," the man said with a small bow. "It is a privilege to meet not only another capable of using the Voice in such a powerful way in this late age, but one that is also a denizen of another world entirely."

"It is an honor to finally meet you Master Arngeir," Luna respectfully replied as she bowed her head in acknowledgement. "However, I must ask. How did I get here?"

"Your sister and her young Khajiit ward found you and the Dragonborn fighting off a pack of frost trolls that were stalking the cliff sides of the mountain." Master Arngeir explained. "From what I can gather, you were seriously injured so the Dragonborn helped her carry you the rest of the way here. When we saw you, we were admittedly reluctant at first, but after the Dragonborn insisted, we helped by healing most of your more significant wounds . Though not the soreness you may feel may not be gone until a few weeks have passed"

"Celestia? She's here? Where are they? Are they alright? Have they been injured?" Luna asked frantically.

He raised both of his hands to calm her down and spoke in a soothing tone like a parent would to a sick child.

"Be calm dear Princess," Arngeir said kindly. "They are all just fine. Celestia and her ward are getting more acquainted with the Dragonborn in the other room while he is honing his skills. He had a few scrapes and bruises from his harrowing fight, but they were healed rather quickly by a few potions had had on hand."

Her entire body was tense for a few moments before she deflated back on to her pillow.

"That's good," she replied as she let out a big sigh of relief.

"The Dragonborn was up all night training just to keep a constant vigil over you. A noble deed to be sure."

Luna smiled, thinking that she should say thank you to the Nord man the next chance she got.

Then she heard the sound of armored feet clanking across the stone hallway.

"Ah, you are right on time. She has just awoken from her slumber," the man said with a smile as he looked off to the left.

The sound of armored feet grew louder and louder as the figure Arngeir was speaking to got closer and closer. Suddenly, Celestia came into view, making Luna's heart leap with joy.

They stared at each other for a solid ten seconds in complete silence before Celestia ran up to her bedroll and embraced her.

"I thought I lost you again," Celestia she said with her voice breaking.

"We are back together again dear Sister. That's all that matters," Luna said tearing up.

"There's so much I have to tell you," Luna replied. "So much has already happened since we came to be in this chaotic world."

"It is very much the same with me Luna. I have even met a wonderful girl that I am hoping to bring back to Equestria with us."

"Yes, I have heard about this new "ward" of yours. Where is she?" Luna asked.

"She is in the other room getting sword fighting lessons from your friend Ky'ell." she said humorously. "I must say, I was apprehensive around him for a moment, but all that vanished when I saw how much he cared for your well being. "

"Now that we are back together, perhaps we should begin on finding a way to get home. Have you told The Greybeards what happened?" Luna inquired.

"Yes, she has told us everything, and we don't find it entirely surprising." Arngeir interjected. "The mad daedric prince Sheogorath has been known from time to time to call upon his power to reach across Sithis' Void and into other realms of reality which he seeks to claim for himself. Though he cannot do so unless the boundaries have been weakened by a significant event that shakes our realm to its core."

"And you believe that the return of the dragons in Tamriel may have something to do with it?" Luna inquired.

"There's no question about it." he replied with certainty. "I believe that the key to returning you home may lie in helping the Dragonborn fufill his destiny. The Divines have brought you all together for a reason. I believe that once the Dragonborn realizes his full strength and World Eater is finally destroyed, Lady Kyne and Lord Akatosh will see fit to provide you two with the means to return from whence you came."

"Alright, what do we have to do?" Luna asked.

"We will start you on the path of the Way of the Voice".

Next Time
Back in the land of Equestria....

"I will only tell you this once before we send you to another dimension ourselves," Twilight growled. "BRING THEM BACK!!!!"

"Oh, how lovely, I have new guests," Sheogorath giggled madly in Celestia's throne. "Except for the fact, I HATE UNEXPECTED GUESTS!!!! ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY DON'T BRING ME GIFTS!!!!"

"Well, unfortunately Sheo old pal, you aren't going to be getting a lot of joy out of this then," a familiar draconeques said as he stepped into the throne room. "Now please get out of that throne. Only I can steal it from Celly."

"Discord!" Fluttershy cried with delight.

"Hi there Fluttershy. My friend Wade REALLY wants to come here to meet you. Although he said he already met one version of you."

"Wade? I love that guy! We made Wizzy and Boomy go crazy!" Pinkie exclaimed. "He owes me a date!"

Intermission: The Second Chaos

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It all seemed so perfect when the new day began for Princess Twilight Sparkle. Celestia's sun was shining brightly overhead, the birds were chirping their melodies of peace and happiness all throughout the small country town of Ponyville. Ponies young and old were going about their daily lives like nothing in the world could ever be wrong. To add to all of that, this was supposed to be a very special day for Twilight. This was supposed to be the day that she celebrated her Royal coronation that had happened only a few months ago. She wanted more than anything to celebrate this momentous day with her beloved family that she had made in Ponyville. The many ponies and the dragon near and dear to her heart that helped her become Princess. Instead, she faces down a mad deity, with titanic magical power that stole her new alicorn sisters alongside her friends, bearing the Elements of Harmony once again.

The royal throne room of the Two Sisters of Canterlot Castle was in shambles. The floor was cracked and coming apart and the columns on either side were barely holding up the wall above them. The once beautiful tapestries of gold and gleaming blue and white representing the sun and moon adorning the walls were shredded were falling apart at their seams. Parts of the rugs had been scorched from the blazing twister that had engulfed the two sisters not a few moments ago. Even the stained glass windows depicting the great accomplishments of the Two Sisters and the Mane Six adorning each side of the hall were shattered, barely holding together and turning into millions of pieces.

The mad deity in question bore a perpetual disturbing smile as he gazes deeply into the eyes of the ponies standing before him.

"Now my dear. Would you be so kind as to provide me with more entertainment than those stuffy rulers were able to?" the mad being respectfully requested.

"Oh, andquicklytellmewheremybrotherinmadnessisbeforeIfuckingimpaleyoualloncandycanesandmushroompatches," he rapidly ranted.

"Wh-who are you? What are you?" Twilight asked terrified.

"And what demented horror designed YOUR clothes?" Rarity cried dramatically.

"She-ogo-rath?" Pinkie clumsily pronounced.

"Ex-actacaly" Sheogorath cheerfully replied before his personality took a polar reversal. "Now please actually tell me where Discord is, I wish to know why this realm isn't filled with chocolate rain, candy clouds and paper mache mountains yet."

"I'm afraid to break it to ya bub, but that guy knocked off all that weird stuff a while ago," Rainbow snapped. "Like six months, a while ago."

"He's our friend now," Fluttershy forced out. "I stopped him from being bad."

"OH REALLY???" Sheogorath questioned madly with the same ear to ear grin.

"Yeah! He's still really fun though. Like that one time where he turned my tail into a plaid sweater when I tried to explain my twitchy tail to him, or that time when he shrunk me after saying funny stuff like Charlie Sheen, Ben Vereen, turn her into the size of a lima bean or something like that!" Pinkie rambled. You remind me of him! Do you know him? Are you brothers? Were you friends in college? Did you go to parties together? I like parties. I'm the best part planner in Ponyville! I'm a Pretty Pink Pony Party Planner! Hey, that's a tongue twister! Pretty Pink Pony Party Planner! Pretty Pink Pony Party Planner! Pretty Pink Pony Party Planner! Pretty Pink Pony Party Planner! Pretty Pink Pony Party Planner! Pretty Pink Pony Party Planner! Did you steal that pretty scroll from a deity with a dragon head that can control time? Can you make chocolate rain like him? Can ya? Can ya? Can ya? Can ya!?!"

"PINKIE! NOT NOW!" Twilight and Rainbow yelled in unison.

"Pinkie, please save talking to him until afterwards please?.....if its not too much trouble anyway." Fluttershy meekly suggested.

"I won't ask you again, WHERE ARE THEY!!!!?!?! WHERE ARE CELESTIA AND LUNA?!!?!!?" Twilight roared.

Twilight then noticed that Sheogorath wasn't paying much attention to them at all as if he was not concerned with anything that they did. He seemed to be having a disturbing sultry gaze that she followed and found that it was being cast upon Pinkie and Fluttershy. Out of nowhere, the man gave them a loud exaggerated yawn.

"BORING!!!!! You aren't even worth turning into talking crackers that I can eat my cheese on," Sheogorath said tiredly. "I think I'll just banish the four of you to parts unknown, while I take two of you for brides."

"Not a chance! Let's power up girls!" Twilight exclaimed.

As the six of them began to activate their respective elements, Sheogorath maintained his mad grin and gave a whistle. Time seemed to slow all around the girls to a crawl as they tried to take Sheogorath out. The mad deity himself seemed to be unaffected by whatever he had just done as Twilight could swear that she could hear dissonant orchestral music being played in the background. With a wave of his staff, he pulled Twilight in closer as his grin became even more and more disturbing as she got closer to him. When she was within inches of him, she could hear him whisper under his breath about how similar she looked like one of the princesses. Before Twilight could even register how scared she was of the man, Sheogorath began to sing a demented song as he pranced around the throne room.

There's something about you I know
Something from the past like a wind that blows
More than just a mere resemblance you bear
To that stupid white princess, who could compare?

"What are you talking about Sheogorath?" Twilight struggled to ask through the painful time freezing they were put under. "I h-have a connection to Celestia?"

What? You don't know?
Oh, how painful it will be
To know someone as wonderful as she
Could lie to you all your weak little life
Oh well, who cares? I sure don't!

Princess Twilight, yes now I will see
But not as you know her
Read my lips and come to grips
With reality

With another wave of his staff, he dragged the others to his side and suspended them in the air, helpless to do anything as they saw Twilight being tortured. Sheogorath skipped around and sadistically began to shock Twilight with unusual magical blue lightning. The rest of the girls felt their hearts breaking as they saw their beloved friend screaming in agony.

"Leave her along you bucking slimeball!" Rainbow growled.

"If you keep harming her like that, I bucking swear, I'll break every bone in your body like it was glass!" Applejack roared.

Yes, meet a blast from your past
Whose lies were too good to last
Say "hello" to your precious Princess Twilight!

With each lyric, he used his staff to blast away pieces of Twilight, including her Element which flew out of the castle and into the royal maze. He then did the same to Twilight's horn and wings and they disappeared from her body without a trace. Leaving her to look like a mere Earth Pony.

"Twilight! NO!" the girls cried with despair.

"Don't give up sugar cube! We believe in ya!" Applejack tried to encourage.

So, Sparkle turns out to be a flop
Just a stupid royal con, need I go on?
Take it from me!

To add insult to injury, he dropped her out of his time freezing spell, making her crash to the ground with a painful splat. He then picked her up with his magic and hung her upside down only a few inches in front of him and began violently slapping her.

Her personality flaws
Give me adequate cause
To send her packing on a one-way trip

With that, he pointed to one of the towers in Canterlot Castle and sent Twilight flying into it. Conjuring a group of living ropes, he tied up Twilight as to not let her escape.

So her prospects take a terminal dip
Her assets frozen, the venue chosen
Is the ends of the earth, whoopee!

Swinging his staff like a club, he made the tower break off of the castle and rocket far away into the Frozen North. One after another, he began to swing his wooden staff in random directions, blasting off one of the girls after the other until the rest of them were gone. Before Twilight's tower disappeared into the distance, Sheogorath faked a goodbye by mockingly waving his hand at her.

Farewell and So Long
Ex-Princess Twilight!

With only Pinkie and Fluttershy left, he began wildly cackling in a way that even frightened Pinkie Pie considerably. His shadow began to grow larger and larger, until it engulfed them. The only thing they felt they could do left was huddle up against a nearby wall and embrace each other, vainly trying to protect the other. Soon, everything went black as they slipped into the sweet embrace of unconsciousness.

Five hours later....

In the distant Frozen North, the only thing that most ponies could ever hear, see, or feel was the brutal, painful, unrelenting
wind. It punished anypony harshly that dared to enter its domain without any sort of protection. Every second of every day, the wind always bit and nipped at every living thing, hoping to turn it into its newest victim. For centuries, this wind has claimed the lives of countless ponies, including the life of an evil King who once vainly attempted to control it for his own purposes. This sub freezing night however, only one out of millions dared to enter this wasteland to brave the whipping, knawing wind of the North.

Through the cold wind and the black of the night, a brilliant blue light began to shine through slowly but surely revealing three lone figures through the snow. These figures slowly pushed their way through the perpetual blizzard of the wasteland, attempting to complete their objective. They had been out in this unforgiving landscape for hours now, attempting to complete their difficult objective. The middle figure wrapped from head to hoof in a long thick scarf stopped for a moment, and with a raise of his hoof, he commanded his companions to halt and scan their immediate surroundings. They did so for at least fifteen minutes, using their magical lights to search for whatever it was that they were looking for. The one that appeared to be leading them, used the brilliant blue glow of his horn to scan every single inch of his surroundings, sometimes scanning areas that he had already been to.

Soon though, one of the figure's opinions gave a big heavy sigh as he approached the frantic pony.

"We haven't seen any sign of her your highness, its too dark to see a single thing," he said tiredly. "Maybe....Maybe we should turn back."

The figure violently turned to his companion and savagely punched him in the jaw before he could react.

"I need you to follow orders, not question me," he barked. "I don't care how long it takes, I AM NOT LEAVING HER OUT HERE TO DIE!!!"

The third figure ran in between the two of them attempting to deescalate the situation.

"Forgive him your majesty, he meant no disrespect, and neither do I assure you." he said as calmly as he could muster. "But he may be right on one thing: We are going to die alone out here if we keep doing this much longer."

The middle figure was tense for a moment until he too let out a long sigh that sounded tired and ragged. He adjusted his winter goggles back on to his eyes as his frost covered mane whipped against them, knocking them out of place slightly.

"Very well, I'm going to try one more thing and if it doesn't work, we might have to wait until morning. And pray with all of our might to the Creator that she is still alive by then."

He pointed his horn to the sky and began charging it. It steadily glowed brighter and brighter until he blasted off a brilliant flare into the frosty night sky. The bright blue flare traveled higher and higher, until it exploded and illuminated their surroundings for miles.

The trio searched their immediate surroundings as quickly as they possibly could before the light went out. The leader of the small group scanned the horizon, until his eyes landed upon a giant unusual shape far off in the distance.

"Men!" he barked. "I found something! Due northwest about two miles."

The other two turned towards where he was looking and saw exactly what he was looking at.

"What is it sir?" one of the other ponies asked quizzically.

"I don't know, but I have an aching suspicion and an educated hunch. Come on. Let's go!"

The trio pushed on for another half hour, using their horns to light their way. Even after the light went out, the dark shape in the distance, slowly but surely grew larger and larger as they closed in on their destination, hoping beyond hope that whoever they were looking for lied there waiting for her rescue. Their legs began to grow fatigued as the depth of the snow crunching beneath their hooves grew deeper and deeper, threatening to swallow them completely. Soon enough, they were close enough to the shape to make out just how large it was. The middle figure seemed to know exactly what it was on sight as he stopped for a moment, before running off into a breakneck sprint towards one of its sides.

"Sir wait!" one of the figures companions yelled.

The side he ran up to began to narrow off and reveal a spire sticking out of the side of the shape. This spire was already buried in a few inches of snow as it slowly started to be engulfed. Soon the other ponies ran up to him as they huffed and puffed from running so hard.

"Sir, do you know what this is?" one of them asked.

"I was suspicious before, but after seeing it myself, I knew instantly what this was. I used to guard this place after all."

His two companions looked at each other with confusion as their leader ignited his horn once again and began heating up the snow around a certain spot, attempting to melt it.

"What do you mean sir? What is this?"

"Its the southwest guest tower of Canterlot Castle," he simply stated. "Dame Gleaming Shield was sitting outside her villa near the western border of the city when she saw it rocketing past."

"WHAT???"

"After the letter we got a few hours ago from the guards there, I knew I had to respond, but the tracks mysteriously froze over, making the train impossible to use for military transport in this weather."

After melting a certain amount of the snow, the leader colt saw one of the windows leading into the tower. He cleared away a bit more of the snow with his front hooves until he was sure that he cleared enough. Then, he turned around and bucked against the glass with his two hind legs, shattering it instantly and allowing him to crawl through. His companions followed suit and crawled through the opening, being careful not to touch any broken glass.

Once inside, the colt once again ignited his horn and scanned the ice covered room carefully for any sign of life. His companions joined in as they used their lights to search the room for whatever it was that they were looking for. They noticed how chaotic the room had become after it was knocked over. Pieces of furniture were thrown about all over the place, shards of the walls had broken off, allowing the cold wind of the wasteland outside to creep in, flower pots that once adorned the room were smashed, their soil splattered all over the room.

The leader's light soon came upon the bed which had fallen from its previous spot down to the wall that they were currently standing on, thanks to the tower's now overturned position. Closing in on it, he saw a figure that appeared to be strapped to the bed with ropes and chains.

He dashed the rest of the way and found what appeared upon first glance to be a earth pony mare lying there motionless. When he inspected more closely, he saw that he recognized the pony underneath all of the ice and frost that had crusted over her mane.

"OVER HERE! I FOUND HER!" the leader barked.

The others rushed over as they saw the mare and began helping their leader release her.

With a quick blast from their horns, they destroyed the mare's bindings as the leader then pulled her in close and listened to her heartbeat. Through all of the whipping wind just outside the overturned tower, he could faintly hear the slow beating of the mare's heart, desperately trying to keep the pony it occupies alive as long as it possibly can.

"She's alive, but barely! We need to get her back to the city now! Sergeant Top Spin, Lieutenant Ice Blaster, commence with an emergency group teleportation! We have a member of royalty who needs medical attention immediately!"

"At once Emperor Armor!"

The colt's two companions stood close to him as their horns began to glow brighter and brighter as they started to enact the spell. The colt pulled the mare in closer to his body, attempting to use his body heat to warm her core temperature back to normal.

"Hold on Twily, I got you. I always got you," he choked out. "I nearly lost you once to that witch Chrysalis. I'm sure as hell not going to lose you to any storm."

The other two colts horns glowed brighter and brighter until they completed the spell and zapped their group away from their current location and off to the nearby Crystal Empire.

Back on The Throat of the World....

During their training, the Two Sisters suddenly collapsed as they were struck out of nowhere with a strange and ominous feeling.

"Did you feel that sister?" Luna asked. "There was a sudden aura of evil and malcontent that blew right through my body and pierced right into my heart.

"Yes, and it didn't feel good at all." she replied grimly. "I have an extremely bad feeling that something terrible is happening back in Equestria. We must conclude our training as soon as we can so we can restart our search for a way home. Once I get home and gain all of my magic back, I swear to the Creator that I'm not going to stop until I use my sun to melt Sheogorath's fucking face off of his body.

"Save some of him for me sister, I have plans of my own for that little insect," she growled as she stared into a nearby mirror, revealing a set of cat like irises for a moment.

"For Sheogorath, the Nightmare has already begun."

Chapter 16: The Way of the Voice

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Back on the savage planet of Nirn....

The whispering winds of the Throat of the World were conversing with each other, wordless and voiceless, but still palpable and piercing through the thick icy veil surrounding the tallest mountain in all of Tamriel. Each and every snowflake, unique and special from one another glided on the streams of cold air like icy notes creating a chilled melody that praised every inch of the sacred mountain they were falling upon. In the distance beyond the clouds and past the boundaries of the skies, one could almost hear an ancient song being trumpeted for all to hear. Pilgrims that regularly took their long winding journey up the 7,000 steps of this colossal behemoth were very familiar with the heavenly songs of the mountain and their holy significance.

Near the very peak of the mountain, where it is said those who commune with the sky goddess Kynareth, are able to hear her voice as clear as the wind, a lonely monastery is planted. This lonely monastery is the ancient stone temple of High Hrothgar. A place of solace, peace, knowledge, power, and learning where monks known as the Greybeards hone their skills in mastery of The Way of The Voice. Where only a few hours ago, four strange individuals each from a different land and time arrived to learn of their respective destinies and obtain the knowledge to unlock powers that they never dreamed to be possible.

Celestia and Luna after nearly a week of constant searching for each other across dangerous landscapes and deadly foes had finally reunited. They could hardly contain themselves as they spent time talking to each other about what had transpired with their respective journey's since they last saw one another in Canterlot. Luna felt the worst after she had heard what almost happened to Celestia in particular back in Cragslane Cavern. It took Celestia almost a half an hour to pry Luna off of her own torso. The only mishap during their tearful reunion was Ky'ell's curiosity with Celestia's tail. He had tried to play with it and stuck his face in it, which got him laid out by a right hook from Luna.

Katia's meeting with Ky'ell was somewhat awkward, if not friendly. Luna noticed that they were speaking to each other in a strange dialect that helped her warm up to him pretty quickly. He explained that his mother had stressed day and night teaching him Ta'agra, the language of Elsweyr as a child growing up with the Khajiit caravans.

The Nord man in question alongside Luna were requested by Arngeir, the master Greybeard of High Hrothgar to come to their Entrance Hall. They had a test to prove his title and determine their path in Skyrim. Celestia, and Katia decided to follow and observe the proceedings. When they came into the room, they immediately noticed that all of the Greybeards had arrived there and stood in a perfect circle, surrounding the hallway As Ky'ell and Luna moved to the center of the room and Master Arngeir stood across from him, Luna noticed how drastically his personality changed. All signs of playfulness and childishness melted away in place of a stoic, serious man.

"So.....", Arngeir began. "Not one, but two Dragonborn appears before us, in the turning of the age. One of which coming from a world far across the vast expanse of the Void. Not only that, but two other extraordinary individuals as well. One a queen of the sun who has been ordained by Stendarr himself and the other a magic caster from the time of the Oblivion Crisis with the potential to unlock unlimited Aetherial magic."

"We are here to answer your summons Master," Ky'ell responded respectfully.

"Yes, we will see if you two truly have the gift," Arngeir nodded. "Let us taste of your Voices."

Arngeir noticed how confused Luna was by his request and smiled, trying to explain himself a little more carefully.

"Hit me with your Shouts and let me see if you two truly have the innate power of the Dragonborn."

"You want me to harm you?" Luna asked worried.

"Fret not my child, you cannot harm me. Especially not with only a single word of power." he assured her. "I have sharply honed my own skills enough to resist most Shouts.

Luna was wary but she decided to trust him and go for it. Watching Ky'ell, she took in a breath of air and searched around once again for that savage aura in her soul, seeking to awaken its power. One she tapped into it, she let it loose, and the both of them let out their Shouts for all to hear.

"FUS!"

Arngeir was knocked back a few steps, but true to his word, he had come out completely unscathed. Celestia was completely surprised by this new ability of Luna's as she widened her eyes in fascination. Luna saw that the force of their Shouts had knocked a couple of pots all over the room, one of which smacked into Katia's backside. The surprise of the impact sent her flying up one of the stone columns as she clung for dear life.

"Really author? I know I'm a cat technically, but this is just dumb," Katia dryly remarked off into space.

With a giggle, Celestia leaped up and pried Katia off of the column.

"Dragonborn, it is you," Arngeir acknowledged. "I and my kin welcome you and yours to High Hrothgar. We shall do our best to teach you two your gift in fufillment of your destinies."

"And what is our destiny in this world Master?" Luna asked.

"That is for you to discover." he replied enigmatically. "We can certainly show you the way, but not the destination."

"Well we are ready to learn."

"You two have shown that you both are indeed genuine Dragonborn. You have the inborn gift.....but do you have the temperament and discipline to follow the path laid out for you? That...remains to be seen. Even without training, you both have taken the first steps into projecting your voice into a Thu'um. A Shout. Now let us see if you are willing and able to learn."

As he said this, the duo noticed that the Greybeards moved off to the sides of the room.

"When you Shout, you are speaking the language of the dragons. Thus, your dragon blood gives you an inborn ability to learn Words of Power," he explained. "All Shouts are made up of three Words of Power. As you master each word, your Shouts will become progressively stronger."

Celestia seemed somewhat confused as she stepped forward.

"Master Arngeir, are you saying that the Dragonborn is a mortal being like Ky'ell here with dragon blood running through his veins?" Celestia asked.

"Yes, the Dragonborn is a mortal being with a mortal body chosen by Akatosh and Kynareth to carry the soul of a dragon with the ability to use their powers. It seems you and your sister also carry that distinction though we are not sure why."

Celestia paused for a moment thinking as to how that could be possible when a thought passed into her head that made her facepalm.

"Our ancestor" she said simply.

"I beg your pardon?" Arngeir inquired.

"As it turns out, we do have dragon blood in our family line master Arngeir, though I had completely forgotten about it. One of our ancestors in our direct family line was our world's dragon god Draconis Magnus. Our great grandmother from what we understand was...an adventurous type and they wed. I knew that our father had a few dragon magic abilities that he claimed inherited from him but I had assumed we missed inheriting the gene."

"Fascinating! Perhaps we can test to see if the both of you have inherited your mighty ancestor's powers as well. That would certainly explain how she is able to use the Thu'um."

"What do you mean master?" Luna asked.

"Normally, without being directly chosen at birth by the Divines themselves, nor being born in this world, you would not have become a Dragonborn Princess Luna, but since you have inherited the dragonblood from your great ancestor, I believe Lady Kynareth and Lord Akatosh found it appropriate to make you a Dragonborn the moment they saw you arrive in Tamriel. We sensed such a power in you Princess Celestia, but it seems that it has not fully bloomed as of yet. I believe it will take time before the Divines decide you are also worthy of being Dragonborn. Now I believe we should move along with the proceedings if you don't mind."

"Oh yes, forgive my interruption." she politely apologize.

He simply nodded at her in understanding before turning back to Luna and Ky'ell for the next step of their test.

"Master Eirnoth will now teach the two of you, "RO". The second Word of Power in the Unrelenting Force Thu'um."

One of the Greybeards, which Luna took to be Eirnoth stepped forward and gave her a gesture of hello and respectful acknowledgement.

"RO means Balance in the Dragon tongue. Combine it with FUS, which means Force, to focus your Thu'um much more sharply."

A whispered noise came from Eirnoth's mouth that pierced through everything and gave the two sisters a chill of wonder, dread, and power.

"RO!"

The tiled floor beneath the master's feet began to sizzle, creak, and crack as the four guests to High Hrothgar saw claw like markings being forcefully carved into the floor by an invisible force. Celestia and Katia noticed that the runes were emitting a mysterious swaying aura that seemed to blow around as if it was a gently burning blaze.

Then, completely unheard by anyone else, Luna could hear an ethereal choir chanting praises to her and Ky'ell as the new Word of Power became known to them.

"Amazing. Truly amazing. The two of you truly do have the capacity to learn. However, that is only the first step. Most have to learn and practice these words over a great period of time, honing their skills. That is how we do it anyway. As Dragonborn, you can absorb any dragon's life force and gain that knowledge directly from its primal source. As part of your initiation, Master Eirnoth will allow you to tap into his understanding of RO.

Eirnoth stepped forward and gave deep bow to the duo which seemed to cause a strange phenomenon to occur. He began to glow brightly as he opened his arms and a gale of golden wind blew forth from his body and into her and Ky'ell.

Katia looked at the duo nervously as she leaned over to Celestia and tapped her on the shoulder furiously.

"Should I be worried about them? What the hell are they doing?" Katia asked concerned.

'It looks like they are farting blue air out of their mouths' one of Katia's voices added.

'Didn't you do that when you got into drunken plowing with that dark elf prince Katia?;

"How do you know about that? I had that mage slip him a forgetting potion," Katia snapped.

"Don't worry, from what I understand this is completely normal for their kind," Celestia reassured.

"Thank you Master," Arngeir said to the man as he bowed back and moved back to the side of the room. "Now for the next step, we shall see if you are able to properly master your shouts as you use them. With a unique shout we have created during our long vigil, we shall create targets for you to attack with your shouts. Strike the targets as they appear."

"Strike what exactly Master?" Luna asked.

Master Eirnoth and another stepped out of the line and got into position parallel from the duo. Breathing in deeply, they focused their power and exhaled.

"FIIIK...LO...SAH!!!"

A swirling portal of blue and white energy materialized out of thin air and a spectral clone of master Eirnoth walked out. Ky'ell wasted no time acting upon his instincts as he let loose on the clone with his improved Thu'um.

"FUS.....RO!"

The shout echoed throughout the entire chamber as the clone was struck by the Shout. It stumbled and fell as it disappeared before it could hit the ground.

"Well done Dragonborn Ky'ell, well done indeed." Arngeir praised. "Now you Dragonborn Luna. Strike the target as it appears before you."

The other Greybeard parallel to her seemed to be focusing his power as he inhaled and expelled the same strange shout.

"FIIK.....LO....SAH!!!"

Once agian, the same swirling portal of blue and white energy materialized out of thin air and a spectral clone of the Greybeard stepped out, signaling for her to commence with trying her new shout. Now that she was somewhat familiar with the savage spirit she needed to tap into, it took almost no time at all to find it as she did the same thing as the otehr Greybeards did as she focused her power into her throat and let loose with her new Thu'um. Unfortunately for Luna, it worked far too well than she intended.

"FUS.....RO!!!!!"

The resounding Thu'um not only knocked the spetral clone twenty feet backwards into the wall, but it also sent all of the pots in the room flying as they began ricocheting everywhere like a mad game of pinball. The Greybeards ducked as the pots flew all over the place. One of them smashed down on poor Katia's tail as she reacted by making a feline shriek and jumping into the air before landing on Ky'ell.

"Owie," Katia lamented. "

"Ow me too, but honestly, you are the softest thing to land on me, next to Loony." Ky'ell chuckled as he groaned in pain.

Celestia found a moment to react as she reached out with her magical grip faster than lightning and froze all of the pots in mid air with her telekinesis.

The room immediately went silent as everyone was confused for a moment before looking at Celestia with bewildered expressions. Then they all turned back to Luna who had a blush of embarrassment on her face.

"I'm so sorry, please forgive me honored Greybeards," Luna desperately tried to apologize as she knelt down in respect. "I did not mean to bring harm to you and your brether-"

Master Arngeir held up a hand for a moment as he maintained a stern look for a minute until he broke out in to a fit of laughter.

"On the contrary Princess, you have brought much excitement into this old man's life. I will admit it was quite surprising to see another Dragonborn who can shout with such force as you are able to. There has not been a Dragonborn who can Shout with so much force and volume since Jurgen Windcaller himself."

"Perhaps though Luna, it might be prudent to control your Royal Canterlot Voice before you use it with a powerful world shaping ability?" Celestia dryly remarked.

"I believe you are quite right Princess," Arngeir replied. "Though if I may ask, what is the Royal Canterlot Voice? Is it a passive ability that your race is able to call upon at will?"

"Its pretty much just a speaking voice we have created with a small amount of magic slipped into our vocal chords so that thousands of ponies would be able to hear us during our speeches. We have used it so much during our early years that unfortunately it had become almost second nature to us. Well, more Luna more than I, but still."

"Fascinating. A spell that increases the volume of ones voice." Arngeir mused. "Magic colleges all over Tamriel have dabbled with the idea, but none have been able to properly tap into it. Still though, you may need to hone your skills more carefully before using your Thu'um in such a manner again Princess Luna."

Luna apologized profusely again and again as she felt massive embarrassment from her mistake that could have seriously injured somebody. Thankfully though, nobody had any injuries, save Katia and Ky'ell who had the air knocked out of them. She felt vaguely jealous and angry though as she saw Katia was laying on Ky'ell's chest huffing and puffing trying to get a breath of fresh air.

"Regardless of everything. Both of your Thu'ums were better than I thought they were going to be," Arngeir explained. "Impressive and Precise. You show great promise Dragonborn. For your next trial, we shall go out to the courtyard. The two of you shall follow Master Borri while the rest of us shall bear witness."

Luna nodded rapidly as she was determined to follow their specific instructions to a T. Ky'ell stayed by her side as they followed Master Borri out of the buidling. He put a hand on her shoulder, trying to calm her down which caused her to look at him with confusion. He didnt seem to notice her look as he kept his gaze ahead.

On the other side of the building, they went through two large carved wooden doors that creaked open as they stepped back into the intense cold wind of the Throat of the World.

Outside, the group found a large snow covered courtyard surrounded by stone columns. Lining the edges of the courtyard was a garden of various diminutive trees, flowers and shrubs covered in ice, struggling hard to survive in the harsh cold and high altitudes of the mountain. Far off to the left was a strange looking gate that seemed to lead to another part of the courtyard further in. Many of the stone columns lined the pathway leading up to the gate like markers. Further ahead were various granite stones circling the mountain like a halo.

In the middle of the courtyard, Master Borri used his power to carve Dragon runes into the ground. This one seemed to be longer and more complicated than the last one as the ground crackled and sizzled as magical energy dug into the stone. The runes began to glow with power as they were fully carved into the rock. After he was finished with his task, he looked over to Luna and Ky'ell and beckoned them to come over. They quickly came over as they gazed down at the runes for a solid minute. The same ethereal choir began to chant in their minds as the glow in the runes began to disappear.

"Now, just the same as before, Master Borri shall gift you two with his own knowledge of the shout "Wuld," Arngeir explained.

Master Borri transferred the knowledge over to the duo in a rush of golden light and wind, which clued them into the specifics of their new Thu'um.

They then stepped over towards two of the stone columns that seemed to be at least thirty feet away from the gate.

Luna looked back at Katia and gave a small giggle who was hugging herself and chattering her teeth rapidly as she suffered through the cold. Celestia pulled a blanket out of her pouch and wrapped it around her with a kind smile.

"For the next step in your initiation, we shall see how quickly the two of you can learn a new Shout," Arngeir stated.

The Greybeards gathered alongside the path towards the gate as one stood by the gate while another stood in between the two stone columns.

"Master Wulfgar will demonstrate Whirlwind Sprint. Then you two shall try as well.....Master Borri, if you please?"

"Bex!"

The bronze gate slammed open outwards as Master Wulfgar unleased his shout for Luna and Ky'ell to witness.

"WULD......NAH...KEST!!!"

Faster than their eyes could track, Wulfgar dashed right through the gate with a crack of the sound barrier before it could close back again.

"incredible!" Celestia exclaimed breathlessly. "I believe that technique could even give Rainbow Dash herself a run for her money."

She giggled as she imagined Luna and Rainbow Dash racing each other all over Canterlot.

"The things I could have done back in Cyrodil if I had that kind of power," Katia mused.

Arngeir turned to Luna and Ky'ell and motioned them to step forward.

"Now it is your turn my friends. Stand next to me. Master Borri will open the gate which will be your signal to use the Whirlwind Sprint Shout to dash through the gate before it closes."

The duo prepared themselves as they waited for the exact moment. Luna noticed that Ky'ell was a lot more focused and calm than he usually was when they were on the road. She didn't notice that she was beginning to stare at him and that before she knew it, the gate had opened.

"LUNA!" Ky'ell barked.

"WULD!!!"

Before she knew it, they had made it past the gate and over to the other side. Unfortunately, Luna had put too much power into her own shout and took a spill thirty feet past the column where she slipped down a cliff. Pulling out her sword, she stabbed a boulder in the cliffside, saving herself from falling off the mountain.

Ky'ell slid over to her and pulled her back up on to stable ground. When she was able to properly stand up, she retrieved her sword with her magical grasp.

"You got quite a mouth on ya Loony!" Ky'ell quipped. "What other kinds of things can you do with it?"

For a response, he received an umamused punch to the face which smashed him into one of the stone columns.

A few hours later...

The group had already begun their trek back down the mountain and back towards the city of Whiterun, now with a list of missions and goals for the party to complete in the land of Skyrim. The next step of Luna and Ky'ell's path on The Way of the Voice would be to travel hundreds of miles north to the dense marshes of Hjaalmarch. There they would find the ancient tomb of Ustengrav where the fabled Horn of Jurgen Windcaller and bring it back to High Hrothgar.

Before they left, Master Arngeir had informed Celestia that there may be another way to find passage back to Equestria. A magical institution far to the northwest of Skyrim called the College of Winterhold. She learned from him that the Archmage of the college has access to thousands of tomes that might have a way for the four of them to return to Equestria. One of which may also help Katia learn how to properly control her unique abilities.

Unfortunately for Ky'ell, he was busy being dragged down the steps by Luna. She had him by the scruff of the neck as his armor clattered against the frozen stone steps with each passing second.

"Oh come now Luna, he was only joking," Celestia giggled. "He is the chosen one of this world after all."

"Perhaps when he regains consciousness," Luna replied annoyed.

"Remind me never to make her angry," Katia whispered to Celestia.

"Mama, I don't wanna take a bath today," Ky'ell said deliriously.

Celestia chuckled lightly as she went over to Luna and helped Ky'ell back on to his feet. The two of them acted as supports for the heavy man as they were making their way back down the mountain. Winding their way down, watching the path for signs of wolves or more Frost Trolls, they made it all the way back down the 7,000 steps of The Throat of the World which took roughly two hours to complete. At the bottom of the mountain, they met back with Klimmek who was quite pleased to hear that his supplies for the Greybeards had arrived. The man gave the group a modest pouch of gold as a reward for their efforts.

Remembering the way that they came through, they slowly made their way back through Ivarstead and down the path that took them around the mountain. Now that there were four in their party, it had become much easier to fend off various wild threats like wolves, frostbite spiders, and trolls. Halfway around the mountain, they were ambushed by a large group of bandits. After dispatching most of them, they had learned from a message off of their bodies that Celestia had a price put on her head for killing The Butcher.

"That will make things a lot more difficult sister," Luna said.

"Maybe we can get some goodies off of them!" Ky'ell exclaimed excitedly.

"We will just have to deal with any bandits that try to get in out way. However, we are the foreigners here in this land. We should endeavor to follow this land's laws as much as we can." Celestia stated firmly.

"I don't know how much help i will be to the rest of you," Katia apologized. "All I'm good for is being a spell sponge with my Atronach birth sign."

Celestia shook her head disapprovingly at the Khajiit.

"You put yourself down too easily Katia. I would have given half of my treasury to a magic caster who could have absorbed and reflected powerful magic every time Equestria was under attack. There was only one in Equestrian history with that ability and he was our greatest Witch Hunter."

"You really mean that?"

"Of course sweerheart. Once we have a free moment to rest, I want to begin your training in the arcane arts. Perhaps we can begin on your telekinesis. Its one of the first things I teach in my own school for gifted unicorns. Maybe once we arrive with you back to Equestria, I will enroll you personally."

Katia unable to contain herself, hugged her new teacher and guardian who returned the embrace in kind.

"The most logical thing would be to rest up at The Bannered Mare back in Whiterun. We would be better suited to survive in these savage lands if we are well rested."

"We should make it there by nightfall," Celestia recommended. "If our own world is anything to go by, this world is probably even worse when dusk rolls around. No offense Luna."

"None taken dear sister, I can attest to that statement being the guardian of the night after all. Speaking of which, its going to take a while to get my Equestrian sleeping pattern back now that I have become accustomed to sleeping at night."

Hours had past and they made it back to the hold of Whiterun where the sloping hills and grasslands only slightly obstructed their view of the surrounding country. The sky had mostly cleared as the few wisps of cloud that remained were turned into red, pink, and violet ribbons by the golden light of the setting sun. Soon the city of Whiterun finally came into view as they once again saw its towering palace piercing the sky. A few guards had recognized them and kindly greeted the group, welcoming them back.

As they made their way around the bend and towards the front gates of the city, a brigade of soldiers wearing golden armor came marching down the main road. In front of the brigade was a tall pale man with pointed ears that wore long flowing robes. Celestia, Katia, Ky'ell and Luna walked past the brigade as calmly as they possibly could so as to not arouse any suspicion or anger them in any way.

Before they were able to pass them though, the tall pale man at the head of the golden brigade ordered them to stop.

"Halt," the man said sternly.

He turned around and approached the group. He eyed all of them suspiciously as his eyes scanned them for anything he deemed to be a threat.

"What are you? What is your business in Skyrim?"

Celestia stepped forward and gave a deep bow, allowing her old diplomatic skills to kick in.

"Forgive us if we interrupted you in any way. I am Princess Celestia of Equestria and this is my sister Princess Luna. We hail from a country far to the east that I understand has not been discovered as of yet. We arrived here by accident but we decided to undertake a diplomatic mission to introduce ourselves to Tamriel."

"No they didn't," Ky'ell whispered to Katia who jabbed him in the ribs.

'That lie is not going to stick!' Luna thought frantically. 'Sister is a terrible liar!'

The man looked at them cautiously for a solid minute before changing his posture to a slightly more relaxed one.

"Then I suppose I should welcome you Princess Celestia I am Felarof of the Thalmor. We of the Aldemiri Dominion are the stewards of Tamriel under partnership with the Empire. I suggest you pay us a visit at our embassy near Solitude so that my Lady may....get to know you. Unfortunately, you and your sister have arrived at an inopportune time. I suggest you enter the city post haste and remain there until morning. I trust that your.....guards are able to provide you with adequate protection?"

"Yes Lord Feralof. We hired them not too long ago back in Windhelm while we passed through."

"Very good, and if your guards prove incompetent, I recommend you call upon an Imperial Brigade to escort you around the province." he replied sternly. "I bid you good evening."

The "Thalmor" as they were called, marched down the road and as soon as they were out of sight all four of them simultaneously let out a deep sigh of relief.

"That was way too close," Katia said breathlessly.

"You're the former Element of Honesty sister, you could have gotten us into a nasty fight with that lie," Luna snapped.

"Hey, I managed to get us past them didnt I?" Celestia replied.

"That is not the point sister, we must be careful while in this wretched country and we have to come up with more convincing lies than that if we are going to pass through without attracting much attention."

"Two multicolored alicorns wearing strange armor and wearing crowns doesnt attract attention?" Celestia rebutted sarcastically.

"That is not the point Sister and you know it! We are foreigners in this world and we cannot afford to reveal our true nature!"

"You think I don't know that Luna?"

"That's because I am the one that has to be the responsible and mature sister in our family," Luna snapped.

"Oh, like the time you dangled Blueblood over a balcony because he stole your donuts?"

"The knave should have known to never fool with a Princesses delectable sweets".

Ky'ell and Katia watched the two devolve into petty bickering as they made their way into the city and over to the Bannered Mare. Their fight lasted for an hour before Celestia decided to drop the whole thing and apologize. As they went inside they paid for a room to sleep in for the night and proceeded to order food from the counter where Ysolda was working. A burly Nord woman wearing steel plate armor in the tavern made the mistake of challenging Luna to a fist fight, which left her upside down on her head against the wall. The group loosened up and managed to relax after a few drinks provided by the barkeeper. Celestia insisted on checking the bottles before they drank them, just in case someone had the idea to spike them.

After noticing that more than a few hostile sets of eyes were watching them too closely for comfort, Luna insisted on keeping watch for the night so as to look out for any potential intruders that might come in before morning.

Back on the Eastern road.....

Felarof of the Thalmor had his suspicions about Celestia ever since they left the boundaries of the city. So he decided that he should act upon those suspicions.

"Those princesses are up to something, I'm sure of it," Felarof stated. "If they came here through the east, they must have had dealings with Ulfric Stormcloak. We must make certain that they are not spies of his."

He signaled two of his soldiers to come forth as he wrote down something in a scroll and handed it to them.

"Give this message to our contact in Whiterun. Tell her to keep a close eye on them and see if they are who they say they are. If they truly are spies, send word to us, so that we may arrest them and bring them back to our fort in the north for interrogation."

"At once my lord," the two guards replied as they started marching back towards their city to complete their objective.

Felarof stared at the shape of Whiterun that barely stood out against the night sky as he thought very dark thoughts.

"I have my eye on you Celestia. If you make so much as a false step towards our enemies, we will deal with you according."

Chapter 17: The Long Way Around

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Early in the wee hours of the morning just before dawn, Celestia began to stir as she opened her eyes to a still darkened room. Waking up she looked off to her left to find Luna sleeping soundly in one of the chairs by the door, keeping herself half awake and half asleep so as to remain vigilant of any would be intruders or spies. Looking off to her right, on the bed she found something that made her smile in amusement. Katia was wrapping her arms around Ky'ell as the Nord man still wearing his armor had involuntarily spooned her in his sleep. Though this action did not seem to cause her any discomfort, in fact, she looked absolutely content for the embrace. Ky'ell however looked far too comfortable as he lightly snored with his mouth gaping open and his tongue hanging out of his mouth which involuntarily moved around licking Katia's ears in her sleep. Celestia had to shove her fist into her mouth to keep herself from laughing.

The night before, their sleeping arrangements had become somewhat awkward, now that they had a full adventuring party of four. So three of them were forced to share the same bed, which didn't bother Celestia too much as she was thin enough to keep herself perched on the edge of the bed. However, Katia and Ky'ell had some problems the first hour trying to get to sleep. Katia's sensitive hearing kept getting assaulted by Ky'ell's loud snoring. Ky'ell's tunic was like sticky paper to Katia's claws that kept getting snagged in in every time she tossed and turned. Katia kept accidentally headbutting Ky'ell's chest plate waking everybody up. However, the most precarious thing was when Ky'ell had to defend himself from a unwarranted accusation. Ky'ell and Katia's proximity to one another made for accidentally pleasurable circumstances when Ky'ell's "unmentionables" kept inching between Katia's legs which lead to Ky'ell receiving a powerful punch that knocked him off the bed and bashed himself in the face.

'Luna's friend seems a little odd,' she thought. 'But I can tell that he has a good heart. Maybe I should try to nurture a friendship between Katia and Ky'ell.'

Slowly getting out of bed, making sure not to disturb her new companions, she carefully slid off the bed and caught herself as she landed on the cold wooden floor of the bedroom. Still used to feeling a warm royal rug under her hooves when first waking up, Celestia's body felt shocked for a moment from the cold, but regained her composure fairly quickly. Luna began to stir in her chair as she stretched her arms and met Celestia's comforting eyes.

"Good morning," Celestia softly greeted. "Sleep well?"

Luna grumbled as she stood up from her chair and twisted her back, hearing her stiff spine pop and crackle.

"About as well as expected from standing, or sitting guard rather." Luna replied quietly with a shrug. "What time is it?"

Walking over to the wall, she looked through one of the cracks to see that it was still indeed somewhat dark out. Only a few guards were up and about with their torches illuminating the dark paths of the city. A glow on the horizon was barely visible as the sun was still climbing. Almost by muscle reaction, Celestia tried reaching for the sun with her magical grasp to raise it into the sky, but something else happened instead. Her magic smashed into an unseeable barrier that struck back at her as her magic repealed back into her horn and blasted her into the opposite wall. The force of the impact sent a bang throughout the building that woke Katia and Ky'ell with their weapons unsheathed.

"WHO WHAT WHEN WHERE WHY???" they shouted in unison as they frantically looked around.

"Sister!" Luna exclaimed in surprise. "Are you all right? What happened?"

Celestia stood up and brushed herself off as she tried processing what had just transpired.

"I'm not sure. But I think I made the mistake of trying to raise somebody else's sun, and that somebody placed up a firewall that lashed back at me," she concluded.

"What did you think would happen? Even I knew it was a bad idea to try to raise and lower this world's strange moons when I first saw them." Luna chastised.

Celestia gave her an irritated look as she rubbed the back of her head before rearing back in confusion.

"Wait...did you say moons?"

"Yes, apparently this world has two," Luna said as she helped her sister back up on to her feet. "According to their legends, they are pieces of a former god named Lorkhan."

"Your world doesnt have something like that?" Ky'ell asked.

"Indeed not, we only have one, but it is not any less glorious that way," she replied.

After that, the party decided that it would be best that they should depart the city to get an early start towards their first objective. To journey to the tomb of Ustengrav on the other side of Skyrim to obtain the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller. They quickly packed all of their belongings and reequipped their weapons as they quietly made their way downstairs and out the front door of the inn while everyone was still asleep.

Making their way across the plains district and towards the front gates of Whiterun, they did their best to make sure nobody was disturbed from their sleep. The only thing that seemed to be awake at this early hour of the morning was the night watch guard that was on their last shift before switching out for the day watch guard to take their place. A few of them who had met Luna out during her fight with Murmulnuir greeted her with distinction. The guard posted at the gates recognized the Sisters almost immediately as he gave the signal for somebody above the wall to unlock the doors and allow the part exit to the outside.

"I wish you safe passage your majesties," the guard said with a short bow. "Even now in the wee hours of the morning, there's talk of vampires and werewolves abroad. Keep your wits about you."

"Thank you sir guard," Luna replied with a bow and a smile.

As they walked outside the gates, the group weaved and winded their way out of the city's outer walls, and out on to the main road towards their destination. The only thing they had to deal with at that present moment, was which direction to go. The road split off into multiple directions, and without proper knowledge, they could be lost.

"So where is this Ustengrav again?" Katia asked scratching her head.

Celestia pulled out her map to scan for the location that the Greybeards had spoken of, when Ky'ell stepped forward to the front of the group.

"Don't worry, I got this. I know where the tomb is," Ky'ell said proudly with his arms crossed.

Celestia simply gave him a raised eyebrow, questioning the odd man's knowledge.

"Oh? May I ask how?" she asked.

"I believe Ky'ell said something about a passive magical mental ability that he has to pinpoint locations that a map cannot. Or at least that normal ones cannot." Luna explained.

Luna pulled out her own enchanted map that showed a variety of locations that they had come across on their journey toward High Hrothgar.

"We believe that this map records the every notable location by automatically drawing it upon itself."

"So where is Ustengrav on this map?" Celestia asked quizzically.

Walking over, Ky'ell pointed on a spot above a shield emblem that contained a triskelion.

"Its Northwest of where the city of Morthal is supposed to be." Ky'ell explained. "From what pa told me, Morthal is pretty wary of strangers, so I suggest we keep on our guard while we are there. Outsiders, especially those of other races are treated with suspicion. Pa nearly got his head caved in with a warhammer while he was there. Khajiit caravans are shunned and ostracized in most places, but Morthal was pretty bad for my parents."

Looking on the map, Katia vaguely made out what appeared to be roads on the map that weaved and winded all throughout the province of Skyrim. She tried her best to find a path that would lead them to their first destination, but got lost pretty quickly.

"So what road are we going to have to go down to reach Morthal? I hope its a safe road. After White River Watch, I'd rather not deal with more bandits," Katia stated nervously.

"Well, that's what you have us for young Katia," Luna said humorously.

Looking at the map and then at the crossroads in front of them, Ky'ell pointed off to the right.

"We will have to go down the west road towards Markarth," he started. "Then we will have to follow the roads for the most part, just up until we make it around the mountain range separating north from south. All we will have to worry about for the most part is Fort Greymoor and Fort Snowhawk."

"What about this northern road that cuts right through the mountain?" Celestia asked wondering why they had to take the long way around.

"That will take you right through Labyrinthian Princess. And I don't think you want to go there." Ky'ell warned.

"Labyrinthian?" Katia asked.

"Yeah, I don't know that much about, it, but I know its a literal maze of a tomb. Its supposed to be one of the oldest things in Tamriel, and the magical threats there are supposed to be really powerful. Something about a group of dragon priests and Archmages settling there in the First Ages of the world. Pa and Ma nearly got mauled by a pack of Frost Trolls that were guarding its front gates while they were passing through."

Celestia let out a sigh, knowing that it would be too risky going through there without knowing what they were dealing with. They were also trying to find a way to return home as soon as they possibly could, so avoiding as much blood and conflict in this world would only benefit them in the long run.

"The long way it is," she agreed begrudgingly.

Ky'ell nodded as he grabbed the map from Luna and rolled it up before placing it into his bags.

"Now, there is only one more thing to do before we can head out," Ky'ell stated.

"Which is?"

"Leveling up," Ky'ell retorted.

"What?" all three girls asked in unison.

Luna watched as Ky'ell purposefully falls backward and lands on the road on his back with a loud thud. Then he starts pointing up at the sky and moving his arm around as if he is moving some invisible object.

Katia, and Celestia gaze up at the sky trying to find out what he was looking at, but find nothing that they are able to see. Being a being of the night and the stars, Luna however was able to bear witness to something amazing. Grand and spectacular constellations in the sky making various shapes and images zooming in and out as if he were controlling the very sky itself. He moved around these images every now and then until he came to an image of an arm holding a short sword as he pointed at the lowest star on the constellation and it began to shine more brightly than before. Then Luna could hear the same ethereal chant as Ky'ell steadily glowed green for a moment before going back to normal.

The man jumped back up on to his feet before proceeding down the dark cobblestone road, leaving behind a confused trio of women.

"What the heck just happened?" Katia asked. "Is he.....special in the head or something?"

"I pick the "or something" cause I haven't the faintest clue what we just saw," Celestia replied.

"I saw something, but I cannot fathom what." Luna mused. "Sir Ky'ell mentioned something about leveling up?"

"Well we can't worry about it right now," Celestia stated firmly. "Let's get started on our little quest shall we?"

The girls picked up the pace as they caught up with Ky'ell and began easing their way on down the road. For the most part, as dawn slowly inched over the horizon, their walk went undisturbed for the first hour as they went past the now ruined Western Watchtower where Luna and Ky'ell recounted their tale of how they discovered their powers while slaying the dragon Mirmulnuir. The group of guards who were stationed at the Watchtower recognized Luna and Celestia as they kneeled in respect, much to Luna's dismay.

As they continued onwards, the sun soon began to peak over the horizon as morning had finally arrived. A few miles ahead of them, they could make out what appeared to be a large stone fortress that slowly became larger and larger the closer they got. Getting a strange feeling, K'yell gave the fortress a large berth as they circled their way southwest. A few miles past the fortress, they ran into a group of farmers that had their homes burnt down by the dragon that destroyed the city of Helgen and were making their way to Whiterun. Luna showed some mercy to them by giving them a sizable sack of gold coins to help restore their lives, if just a little bit.

"There is so much misery and sadness in this world sister," Luna stated glumly. "It is a stark contrast to our beautiful Equestria."

"Yes, these people have had it harder than most," Celestia agreed. "It reminds me too much of the days before we rose to power."

"Is Equestria that wonderful?" Katia asked.

"Oh yes Katia, it truly is. We certainly have our occasional villain or magical crisis, but for the most part, ponies are happy, food is plentiful, and the land is prosperous. We thank the maker for their blessings on our land," Luna stated proudly.

"I only hope that we are able to return home to see it," Celestia replied with uncertainty in her voice.

As they began to pass the fortress, Celestia had a feeling about it that caused them to move off to the thick grass by the side of the road in case that there were unfriendly forces occupying it. Soon though, it went far behind them as they proceeded southwards, following the winding road. By the side of the road, Luna found the smoldering ruins of what once was a small house. Presumably destroyed by a passing dragon or a group of bandits that had torched the place. Stopping for a moment to scan the place, Katia found a chest underneath the floor boards, where she found a bag of jewels, which most likely belonged to the family who used to live there.

Two miles down the road later, the group ran into another complication in the road in the form of three giants carrying massive clubs that were trying to move their herd of cattle. The potential danger drove the group off road into the rocky terrain as they were forced to take an alternate route for a few miles.

Tule fog covered the early morning ground as they tromped through the moist, wet grass trying to look out for any dangerous animals hiding in behind rocks or in any thick brush. Katia was beginning to feel fatigued from walking barefoot on so many rough rocks. Celestia had offered to give her shoes, but her feet ended up being far bigger than any footwear that they had in their inventory. On their way circling back towards the road, Katia tripped on a rock and fell into a muddy pond obscured by the fog with a slap.

"Katia!" Celestia exclaimed trying to keep herself from laughing. "Are you alright?"

The Khajiit woman lifted her face off of the ground still covered from head to toe in a thick layer of mud with an unamused look on her face.

"Peachy," she replied in a deadpan tone.

Katia could hear something like somebody choking on a piece of food as they were trying to swallow it.

Turning around, she saw that it was Ky'ell. He had a fist over his mouth and turned his face away so nobody could see that he was snickering. Katia gave the Nord man a purely venemous look as globs of mud dripped off of her face.

"And just what is so funny Ky'ell?" she gritted out through clenched teeth.

"Y-you are," he giggled. "I guess we need to start wearing rabbit feet and clovers now that YOU have crossed our path."

There was an unamused groan that came from Luna while Celestia gave a melodious giggle while trying to help Katia up.

"Booooo," Luna retorted with her thumb pointed down.

Suddenly, Katia heard a loud snapping and clicking coming from a feet feet away from her head. When she turned, she gave a shriek and blasted five mudcrabs out of the dirt with a fireball that launched them fifty feet away. She jumped behind Celestia as she pulled out her axe and started shaking nervously as her ears folded against her head.

"What was that about?" Luna asked.

"Did you just turn those mudcrabs into burnt mincemeat?"

"I...have a certain...distaste for mudcrabs," Katia admitted.

"You're afraid of mudcrabs?" Ky'ell asked.

"DISTASTE," she clarified in an irritated manner.

'She failed killing one when she was first learning to use fire magic' one of Katia's voices said.

"Hey! I murdered the heck out of that apple at least!"

Ky'ell started guffawing as he proceeded walking back towards the main road.

"I'll let you know if any more produce needs to be beaten to a pulp," Ky'ell said as he laughed at his own joke.

Thirty minutes later as they made their way back on to the road, things started going a bit more smoothly. Nothing for a few miles interrupted their walk, save for the occasional wolf that was usually scared off by Luna's royal voice. After an hour of silent walking as the party passed through the grasslands of Whiterun, they started to feel the incline of the road slightly begin to grow as they approached the town of Rorikstead. The hamlet of a town came into view just as they passed a bend in the road.

The crisp morning air along with the steady warm glow of the morning sun made the little town seem comfy and cozy as they passed through. More than a few farmers seemed to live there as they worked tirelessly shoveling through the rocky terrain to plant their crops. A few guards stationed there in town greeted the sisters with distinction, recognizing them from Whiterun. Looking around, Luna found a quaint little tavern and inn where the party decided to stop for a moment to grab a drink and a bite to eat before hitting the road again.

They walked in through the front door, feeling a pleasant blast of warm air coming from the firepit inside. The tenants of the inn all turned to look at them as the group slowly walked in. One in particular that gave the group a suspicious look was a man in a white satin shawl carrying a Scimitar blade that hung from his waist. Katia became immediately cautious of him as she tried to place as much distance from him as she could. Ky'ell walked right up to the counter and ordered an ale for himself, two alto wines for the Sisters, and under request from Katia, she was given a glass of grape juice. The group sat down at one of the tables as they tried talking amongst themselves to ignore the glares they had been getting from people in the tavern.

"So, what are we gonna be dealing with next on our little quest?" Katia asked the rest.

Luna pulled out Ky'ell's enchanted map which now included Rorikstead's icon and dragged her finger on a winding northern path.

"We go up through here and pass over this bridge. There seems to be a gorge here by a few small bodies of water which we may have to be careful around. There may be chances of rock slides going through there. Then its a matter of winding our way through this small part of the forest and through the city of Morthal where we may have to do a little bit of strategic walking to make it to Ustengrav," Luna explained.

Ky'ell simply gave a short laugh which Luna raised her eyebrow at.

"What? What did I say Sir Ky'ell?" Luna asked.

"Its as simple as all that huh? First A gorge of razor sharp rocks and steep cliffs leading straight into Robber's Gorge, one of the most dangerous bandit camps in the Northern end of Skyrim! And after that, it gets even better!" Katia looked at Ky'ell in alarm. "Fort Snowhawk which has been taken over by a cult of Necromancers and a town that's heavily xenophobic surrounded by snow capped mountains on the south end and a festering, stinking swamp to the north as far as the eye can see. And that's not even covering what we might be facing once we head into Ustengrav."

"That's going to have to be our path Ky'ell. We shall deal with the bandits as they come. And anyone else who threatens us." Celestia said to the Nord man comfortingly. "If we face any spellcasters on our journey, that might be a great opportunity for us to fully evaluate the potential of Katia's unique magic absorbing abilities."

Katia started to feel nervous and uncertainty creeped into her mind hearing all of her new teacher's praises of her. All her life, her abilities had been more of a liability for her rather than an asset. To say that she was scared of what might happen if she failed to live up to Celestia's expectations would have been an understatement.

"Don't worry, I don't expect you to go running headlong into danger against forces you cant beat," Celestia reassured. "Perhaps a few bandit novice spellcasters to start out with might be in order."

"Well Robber's Gorge will definitely have more than a few of those if you are looking for a bit of practice with that sort of thing." Ky'ell suggested. "I should probably work on a bit of my own magic myself. All I can do is use dinky little flame and sparks spells. We are gonna have to be a bit more careful though once we head out of Rorikstead and into the foothills."

"Why is that?" Celesita asked curiously.

"There's over a hundred bandit factions scattered throughout this region from here all the way to Markarth. Ma and Pa wouldn't ever bring the caravan anywhere close to this region if they didn't need to. A lot of traders, merchants, and travelers have been ambushed in this area."

After they payed for their drinks, the party left the tavern, not seeing that the hooded man in the corner had been watching them and carefully writing down everything that they had been saying. Ky'ell lead them out of Rorikstead as they slowly but surely went into more dangerous territory.

They winded their way downhill as they slowly but surely made it towards the first junction in the road. A small outcropping of rocks and giant boulders came into view as the hill leveled off at a spot halfway down. Luna kept her eyes on every spot where somebody could have been hiding. She could immediately see why this terrain would have been a hotspot for bandits. Silence in such a place was the one thing that she hated more than anything.

"Its a little quiet here don't you think?" Katia asked Celestia.

"Yes, much too quiet I'm afraid," she replied. "Let's just hope whoever is out there isnt Pinkie trying to throw us a surprise party. Last time Pinkie tried that on Luna, she nearly took Pinkie's head off."

"Hey, I said I was sorry!" Luna snapped defensively.

"Well, I hope whoever is out there doesn't take too long, cause I'm itching to work out my staticy finger magic," Ky'ell said excitedly.

"Doesn't thou mean spark magic Sir-" Luna began

Suddenly, a sound whisking through the air caused Ky'ell's reflexes to kick in and tackle Luna to the ground and out of the way of an arrow that nearly pierced into her head.

"What the buck?" Luna exclaimed.

"We are under attack!" Celestia cried as she unsheathed her sword.

From out behind the dozens of rocks surrounding their position, over a dozen bandits came out charging them and started firing arrows.

"Never should have come past here," one of the bandits said menacingly. "Kill the Nord, but take the women! They might fetch a pretty septim. Maybe I'll take the blue one as my personal pet."

Anger boiled in Celestia as her horn glowed and launched a lance of fire at the bandit that knocked him on to his feet and burned his skin.

"Sorry sweetie, but we aren't for sale," she said coldly.

"Kill them!" the bandit screamed out as he rolled around.

An orc carrying a battleaxe charged her as he tried taking a massive swing at Celestia to cleave her in two. Rolling out of the way, she sliced his legs off at the knee from behind, causing the orc to collapse to the ground as he screamed in agony. With a quick slice to the neck, Celestia ended his suffering.

Ky'ell while fighting had an odd way for taking out the archers up high on the rocks by grabbing out empty potion bottles out of his bag and lobbing them over the rocks and then shocking them with lightning magic to knock the bandits down off of their vantage points.

Katia had a bit of difficulty as wielding weapons was not among any of her specialties, however, she found a bit of luck after taking the suggestion from Celestia to light branches on fire and hurl them at enemies. The tactic proved crude, but effective for a beginning technique for her.

The others took care of the bandits rather quickly as most of them were equipped with poor weapons and armor. Celestia figured that they must have been relying on shock and surprise rather than strength as trained warriors would have been able to fend them off easily.

"Its a wonder they haven't sent trained warriors into this area much sooner," Katia thought aloud. "We took these guys out no problem."

"Probably too caught up with protecting their own towns and cities instead of patrolling the roads," Ky'ell said with vague anger. "Out here, its every man and woman for themselves. I nearly got nailed out here by one of the clans that stalk this area a year ago."

Further down the path, they went past a winding river with a cliff side facing them from the west as the incline started to level off. The path circled around a bend as it came to a stone bridge that crossed the river to the other side.

In the mid day sun, the group was able to clearly make out what looked to be a camp nestled in amongst the rocks on the other side of the river. A raised bridge, most likely for lookouts went over the road as it connected to the main part of the camp. A perimeter of spiked logs surrounded the camp, no doubtedly a barrier meant to protect from intruders.

"What praytell is that?" Luna asked curiously.

"Some kind of crude fortress?" Celestia offered

Ky'ell was silent for a moment before answering her question.

"Robbers Gorge...we should probably be a bit more discreet with our approach for the moment." Ky'ell said aloud. "If we cross that bridge, they are gonna spot us right away and I'm gonna be pulling arrows out of my ass that I dont want to be in my ass."

"Ky'ell is right. They have a group of archers stationed up there on that makeshift bridge." Celestia added.

As they made their way down towards the water, they raised their backpacks so that their contents would not be destroyed by the water. Luna offered to give them a waterproofing and fireproofing spell at a later time when they weren't in danger. Ky'ell was the first to jump in as his natural Nord heritage gave him an innate resistance from the cold. He gently helped Luna in first as he lifted her up by the waist and carefully placed her in the river beside him. Celestia and Katia were next as Ky'ell tried helping them down. Celestia proved to be a bit more difficult to lift as her weight put a strain on even Ky'ell's strength. Not that he would ever tell her that. The river was ice cold from mountain snow melt, so much so that Ky'ell had to cover Katia's mouth to keep her from shrieking when she stepped in. Luna didn't seemed to be bothered by the cold whereas Celestia began shivering like mad as she .

"How can you stand this?" Celestia whispered loudly. "Even with our fur coats, this is freezing!"

"Long snowy winter nights patrolling Equestria, you get used to it," Luna whispered back.

Circling their way around the rocks, the group found the entrance to a cave that Ky'ell decided to mark on his map so that they could come back to inspect it on their way back to Whiterun. On the other side, they found a spot where the rocks had a lot of dry footholds for them to climb. At the top, they found the back side of what appeared to be the main house of the camp. It was next to a spot where the perimeter fencing was a lot shorter than the rest of the camp as Ky'ell carefully peered over for a moment before ducking back down.

He was able to see that the camp had over a dozen bandits walking about doing their various tasks, assigned the them by their chief. Half of them were lightly armed, with poor daggers and bows while the others were moderately armed with swords and battleaxes. Inside the cabin next to them, they could hear the footsteps of a single man slowly walking around as if he was pacing. Ky'ell pointed over towards one direction as he made hand signs indicating for Luna to take Katia over towards the archer bridge to take out the bandits there while he and Celestia hop over the shorter section of the barrier to take out the chief quickly.

Luna and Katia made it to the other side of the rocks where they carefully stayed low enough and peered over where they saw a bandit with a hunting bow circling back and forth over the bridge as he carefully watched both sides for any potential intruders.

Pulling out her own bow, she pulled out an arrow and tried her hand at using Skyrim's poisons as she grabbed a giant bottle with a foul smelling pink liquid out of her bag. Popping the cork off, she poured the viscous substance over two of her arrows as she took aim and pulled back on her bow and let loose.

'I only hope I remember my archery training' Luna thought.

The first arrow impacted in a good place as it lodged into the bandits neck, causing him to fall down dead to the road below, but the kicker was the other arrow that had...strayed off course and pierced into the bandits crotch.

'Jeez, she's brutal!' Katia thought.

Back on the other side of the rocks, Celestia and Ky'ell had hopped over the perimeter fencing just behind a bandits hut. Sneaking in, they killed off the first three easily before they could raise an alarm. They did the same thing to the next two tents as they circled back around, staying out of direct line of sight. Approaching the chief's hut, they saw that his back was turned and took the opportunity to rush him. Before the chief could turn his head around to see what was charging at him, Celestia and Ky'ell bashed his head into the wall of the hut and took the opportunity of his stunned state to get in fatal blows. Taking out her warhammer, Celestia swung at the bandit chief's sword wielding arm and dislocated it with a satisfying crack while Ky'ell tried wrenching the chief's shield out of his other hand by hitting his elbow with the butt of his sword and hyper extended it.

"Double whammie?" Ky'ell asked her with a mischievous smile.

"You're on!" she replied.

Simultaneously, with a powerful kick, they drop kicked the bandit chief through the wall and into the river where he impacted with a splash.

Suddenly, the two whipped around as they heard a shout coming from the other side of the camp. The bandits had discovered Luna and Katia's presence and began rushing out to kill them.

Luna was having an easy time fending off most of the bandits coming at her, as most of them were fairly weak, except for one which was heavily armored in Steel Plate. She tried sneaking in through the front after her and Katia slayed the lookouts, but their luck turned rotten when Katia triggered a tripwire and fell flat on to her face. The tripwire released a deluge of rocks that had been hidden in a compartment beneath the makeshift bridge. Luna was forced to grab Katia by the scruff of her neck with her magic and toss her into a nearby bush before she was crushed. Bandits close to the entrance must have heard the trap being triggered as they all came out in full force.

Katia managed to compose herself as she was charged by a mage carrying a mace. She jumped out of the way before the bandit mage could get in a strike on her as she pulled out her own axe and prepared for an opening. The mage let loose with a steady stream of lightning which was quickly absorbed by Katia's unique abilities. The bandit was confused for a moment, but went in for another strike as Katia stepped out of the way and held out her axe trying to block. Her attacker inadvertently impaled himself against the axe while charging as he collapsed to the ground dead.

"Did...I just do that?" she asked herself awkwardly.

'You did a good job!' one of her voices complimented. 'I think you have earned a victory pose.'

Setting one leg up on one of the fallen rocks, Katia made the best victory pose that she could, trying hard not to look silly but failing somewhat.

Luna took care of most of the bandits that had detected their presence, but was left with a Highwayman carrying an intimidating steel warhammer that frequently came close to her head.

"Why don't you start running sweet thing? So I can stab you in the back," the man said menacingly.

"I suggest you do the same, before I'm able to do THIS!"

Grabbing all of the fallen boulders in her grasp, she chucked them at the bandit as he was sent flying into the opposite cliff. The rocks impacted against him as he was smashed into paste.

Meanwhile, Celestia and Ky'ell had finished off the other bandits and had started going through whatever treasures that the clan might have stolen from people along the roads.

Celestia sat down on the bed in the hut for a moment while Ky'ell's legs humorously dangled out of the top end of the chest.

"Honed Elven Dagger, Scroll of the Familiar, 50 gold septims, Banded Iron Shield of Waning Frost, oooh a couple of poisons niiiiice! And a staff of flames! Katia might like that."

"What was that last one?" Celestia asked.

"A Banded Iron Shield of Waning Frost? What you want that? You have me for that you know." the Nord replied referring to his innate ability

"While sweet that you would jump in front of frost magic to save us, I'd rather find a more productive way to protect ourselves. I believe I heard someone say that those Enchanting tables can destroy an item and have the user gain its enchantment?"

"It kinda depends on your skill level with that sort of thing, but yeah,"

"Keep any weaker enchanted items you come across, it may benefit us down the road if we can learn more of your world's weapon and armor enchantments."

Luna and Katia met back up with the others as they helped them go through the camp and search for anything useful that they might be able to use on their journey. They found a key on one of the tables that lead down a secret hatch in the floor of the hut.

As they went down, they discovered a small cave where the bandits stored their boats and supposedly stashed most of their stolen haul. Celestia found a journal that spoke of the constant treachery that was going on between the chief of the clan and his bandits, so he was forced to hide their haul in a hidden location close to their camp. The small tattered journal spoke of a small island in the middle of the river near one of the waterfalls. Out of curiosity, Ky'ell decided to quickly investigate this before moving on back on the road towards Ustengrav. Much to Luna's dismay, the three followed him into the water as he started swimming out of the cave and to the outside where they first climbed up the cliffs. However, before they left, Celestia discovered a chest under the water that had sunken into a tight spot. Opening it, she found a few treasures including, two sand colored potion bottles, and great amount of what Ky'ell called Orchish arrows once she pulled them up.

Outside, Ky'ell went upstream as he found the island and the chest spoken of in the journal. Unfortunately, the chest's locking mechanism proved to be too complex for any of them at the moment to pick. Celestia thought about using her magic, but remembered that spells that work on moving parts and machines take a lot of magical energy that she didn't have at the time. So they decided the best course of action would be to mark the location on their map and return when they have a way to open it.

Satisfied that they had now vanquished a threat to Western Skyrim, the party moved back on to the road, where they proceeded towards Morthal.

Following the river for at least twenty more miles, the road began to go uphill slightly once more as they went around a long bend and back into a forested area. The ground started to become lightly dusted with snow as they went to higher elevations in the central mountain range of Skyrim. Refreshing cold air brushed against their face, making them alert to all of their current surroundings. For a few miles, they walked down the icy road, spotting only the occasional elk or fox until another large stone fortress came into their view a mile away. Luna didn't know why, but she felt dark magic emanating from the Fort, making her want to give it a wide berth as they quietly moved past it. Soon, they came to a split in the road that led to a sharp path downhill where the air became thick and muggy.

The path continued for about a half a mile as they finally came into the swamp side town of Morthal where they were greeted with a hostile sight. A large group of the towns people were in front of what appeared to be their chief's long house, angrily voicing their concerns.

"I wonder what is going on?" Katia asked to Celestia.

'Whatever it may be, we must try to move on without disturbing them as best as we can." she urged.

They tried going past the group of villagers, but unfortunately one of them spot them causing all of them to turn in the party's direction.

"Two daedra and their thralls!" one person shouted out. "We cannot let them harm us!"

"Burn them!"

"Toss them in the river!"

Suddenly, they were surrounded by a group of angry frightened villagers that seemed intent on killing them in any way possible. Leading the Sisters to utter out but two words.

"Buck me."

Next Time: Ustengrav and Tensions at Riverwood

Chapter 18: Ustengrav

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The element of surprise had been lost on them in this hold as Celestia and Luna's unique appearances caused them to be spot almost immediately by the locals. Apparently these citizens have had trouble with foreign visitors or outsiders causing trouble many times in the past and the Sisters' appearance may have set the villagers off. They were surrounded in a matter of seconds by a crowd of angry frightened rioters, forcing them to pull out their swords in an attempt to intimidate their would be aggressors. They knew that these people didn't know any better, but that didn't make things any easier for the party as they examined all of their options. Celestia tried looking for a peaceful way out, but there didn't seem to be any as the frightened citizens tried rushing them.

"Daedra! Daedra! We found Daedra!"

One of the rioters grabbed Luna by the wrists and tried dragging her away. Katia just grabbed on to Celestia and started shaking like a leaf, trying to feel as protected as possible.

"BURN THEM! BURN THEM!"

"TIE THE EVIL DECEIVERS TO STAKES AND BURN THEM!"

All of a sudden, an angry voice rang out over the sea of people.

"CEASE THIS INCESSANT NOISE RIGHT NOW!"

The crowd stopped as they turned towards the entrance to the long house where a tall guard in a fur tunic looked down at them with a disappointed face.

"What is the meaning of all of this?" the guard asked.

"We found a pair of daedra and their thralls. We must burn them before they bring more of their unholy brethren to attack us!" one of the villagers cried.

The guard looked towards the middle of the crowd where Luna, Celestia, Katia, and Ky'ell were as he raised his eyebrows at them. As his eyes met Celestia's, a gentle smile graced his face.

"How do you know these....beautiful creatures are Daedra?" he calmly asked the crowd.

"THEY LOOK LIKE THEM HOUSECARL!"

As the citizens started the riot back up again, he gave them a signal to allow the group to come forward.

Katia kept her axe held out and her magic at the ready in the event that they might need to claw their way out of a group of angry people.

"I would appreciate if you limit the cat puns author please!" Katia whispered to the unseen writer.

Celestia kept her grip on her shield and her sword, should she have need to use them again on this crowd, no matter how much she hated that option. She made sure the others stayed close as Ky'ell stood alongside her, enforcing their strength in front. Walking through the angry crowd slowly, she made it to the stairs where she was well within whispering distance of him.

"Now milady, I have to ask," the guard asked under his breath. "What are you and what is your business in these parts?"

Celestia let out a sigh of relief as she discreetly smiled back at the guard. She hated to do it to this charming man, but she would have to stick to the story that they had stuck with in an attempt to keep their cover in this hostile realm.

"My sister and I are from the island continent of Equestria far east of Tamriel. We came here by accident, but we made it our mission to visit the capitol in each province to start diplomatic relations." she whispered back. "Jarl Balgruf, Jarl Ulfric and Justicar Felarof have allowed us to pass through.

"Well I'm glad to see that the world has not lost its beauty, especially with its people that keep popping up."

She felt herself blush slightly as she attempted to get his help to defuse the situation.

"Can you help us out here? We are in a little bit of a pickle," she said sheepishly.

"All in good time milady, but first allow me a little bit of fun," he chuckled.

Celestia began to sweat as she understood what he was insinuating. Luna began to giggle as she figured out where this whole ridiculous situation was going. She saw this entire scenario somewhere, but she couldn't remember where exactly.

"How do you know these ladies are Daedra?" he asked the crowd.

"SHE TURNED ME INTO A NEWT!" one man exclaimed.

"A newt? Really?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

".....I got better. BURN HER ANYWAY!"

The crowd roared back up again as the housecarl held up his hand to get them to quiet down.

"There are ways of telling if they are daedra."

"WHAT? WHAT ARE THEY?"

"What do we do with daedra?"

"BURN THEM!"

"And what burns apart from daedra?" he asked as he tried to keep himself from laughing.

"MORE DAEDRA!"

".....Wood!" one of the rioters said.

"Good! So, why do daedra burn?"

The crowd went silent as their easily fooled minds tried to turn and work. The guard was clearly impressed with how stupid he was making them look.

".....Cause they're made of wood?" one of the rioters offered.

"Good! Now how do we tell if they, are made of wood?"

"Build a bridge out of her!" one of the children cried.

"Ah, but can you not also make bridges out of stone?"

The villagers went quiet again as they tried their hands at using their brains again. Celestia and Katia were also beginning to giggle themselves at how the situation was turning out.

"Does wood sink in water? the guard posed to the people.

"No! It floats! Throw them into the river!"

"YEEEAAAH!"

"What also floats in water?"

"Braids? Apples? Very small rocks? Cider? Gravy? Cherries? Lead?"

"A Duck?"

"Now I know I've heard this somewhere before," Luna whispered to Celestia.

"How about stupid and easily frightened villagers who don't know when to cease their idiocy against foreign diplomats?" another guard growled as he stepped out of the longhouse.

It was a large man wearing what Ky'ell had previously described as Imperial Officer armor. His red accents and shining steel armor seemed to do the trick of scaring the citizens as he pulled out his sword to punctuate his point. They all grumbled and muttered amongst themselves as they went their separate ways and went about their business.

The guard came down the steps and approached Celestia. He suspiciously looked her up and down before pounding his chest plate in a salute to her. His gruff and ragged tanned face softened slightly as he greeted them.

"A pleasure miladies. I am Legate Taurinus Dulius of the Imperial Legion. I am in charge of the Imperial forces here in Hjaalmarch," he stated.

Celestia and Luna curtsied to the man.

"I am Princess Celestia Solaris and this is my sister Princess Luna Solaris. We come on a diplo-"

"Yes, I heard all of that while my associate Gorm here was having fun with these crowds." Taurinus interrupted. "These people are so gullible. I have seen Daedra in my time, and I have fought a number of them. You look like none of them. Plus, you would be attacking everything in sight if you were."

Taurinus sheathed his sword back into his scabbard when he was sure that they were not an immediate threat to him.

"Has it always been like this Legate Dulius?" Luna asked respectfully.

"Increasingly as of late, yes Lady Luna," he started. "There's been a number of incidents involving a group of vampires close by, but with the war efforts, our forces have been spread a little thin. A search for these vampires would take up too much man power."

Celestia and Luna looked at each other then at Katia and Ky'ell who shrugged.

"We could dispose of these vampires once we are finished with out primary quest." Celestia offered.

"No, no, I could never ask royalty to do that for us," he replied trying to dismiss the idea.

"Nonsense, you helped us, its only natural that we find a way to help you in return," Luna insisted. "We would have done so even if you hadn't helped us."

"You hardly know us. One might think that you people were trying to get something out of us by showing us this much kindness in a world like the one we live in."

"Well it is a bit cliche to say, but simply just because its what we do," Celestia replied. "Plus, to quote an old well dressed friend of mine used to say, "Am I people? Do I even look like people?"

He was silent for a moment, staring into their eyes before putting a smile on his face.

"Truly, you are virtuous milady. If you are able to help and rid us of these pests, we would be forever grateful."

After they were given directions to the ruins north of town, they carefully made their way through the swamp lands, ignoring the putrid stench it was creating as best as they could. As they waded through the thick soupy water, their feet squished through the disgusting unknown substances sitting beneath the water. Katia flinched with every step clearly not enjoying the muck, scum, mold and disgusting ooze that was sticking to her robes. Ky'ell didn't seem to mind too much, he marched onwards at the front of the group towards their first destination. Luna pocketed a few dozen deep purple flowers along the way Katia identified as Nightshade and Death Bells. Apparently they were coveted for their use in poisons for weapons. They continued their tromp through the soupy swamp waters for another two miles until the ruins of Ustengrav finally fell within their sight.

Its entrance laid on an island right in the middle of the swamp. The large stone mound jutted out of the earth just barely visible from a few miles away. When they got close enough to it, small tents were able to be seen on the fog covered edge of the island. Ky'ell didn't want to take any chances now that he had three people to protect as opposed to only one which was hard enough. He signaled to the girls to stay low and stay quiet as they approached the shoreline of the island. Thankfully, he found that most of the bandits there were sound asleep. Ky'ell and Celestia were the first to step out of the water as they carefully inched their armored boots onto soft patches of mud and sand to cushion the impact of their steps. Luna and Katia didn't have as much issues as the others had considering Luna wore leather boots and Katia went barefoot.

Unfortunately, the tule fog proved to make things on the ground difficult to see as it reached up at least two feet from the ground and was as thick and viscous as pea soup. Katia did her best by staying close behind her mentor as they inched away from the tents, but her foot caught on an unseen tree root as she tripped and fell into the gooey wet mud with a shrill "eeeep!" Her face impacted into the mud with a splort as it splattered everyone in the group.

Everyone tensed up as they prepared for one of the bandits to wake up. After a few seconds of silence and a lot of loud snoring, Celestia carefully stepped over to help Katia back up on to her feet.

"Please watch where you are stepping a little more carefully next time," Celestia whispered nervously as she pulled the Khajiit up. "I'll be sure to find someone who can make you a pair of shoes here."

"Sorry, I'm a little clumsy with my walking," Katia replied.

"Just pick your feet up and you should be fine."

"Its a wonder that these bandits haven't woken up yet," Katia thought out loud.

Ky'ell bent over and took a deep breath in through his nose as if he was sniffing the air.

"Hoooo! That's probably why!" he softly exclaimed with a stunned face.

"Why? What's wrong?" Luna asked curiously.

"These guys have been hitting the Skooma. It dulls everything and knocks you out for a few hours once you've downed a whole bottle. These guys must have an entire supply of the stuff somewhere. Dad would never let the caravan have any. One of his guys tried smuggling it behind his back and he ended up getting dangled off a cliff."

"Well that's good for us then right?"

"Right up until it wears off, yeah. So we had better hurry up.

The group slipped their way past the tent without being seen or heard and climbed up and down a flight of steps towards the creaky rusted doorway into the large crypt. The main door was blocked by an outer gate which Luna was forced to smother with her magic just to keep its loud creaking from waking the bandits. As it opened, they went through the door and stepped into the ancient burial grounds of Ustengrav.

The first sight they came into was a dank, dark passageway barely illuminated by torchlight. The walls were moist and covered in moss, mold, and various vines. A thin layer of mist floated in the tunnels like a morning fog during the fall. Walking down into a larger room, they found a commotion of sorts. A small group of conjurers and necromancers were having a hard time fighting off what looked to be a group of angry Draugr. One was throwing a frostbite spell at a draugr with a battleaxe while the other conjured up a familiar in the shape of a dog.

As soon as they stepped into the light, one of the conjurers sensed them and thought they were enemies. He tried pulling out a dagger as he rushed Luna while his familiar went after Ky'ell. Both were killed easily with a quick stroke as their attention turned towards the three Draugr who were advancing upon them now that their primary target was no longer present. A quick coordinated attack from Ky'ell and Luna took it out quickly as the Nord staggered it with a bash to the face with the pommel of his sword and Luna sliced it in half with her own sword.

"There's a bunch of wizards and witches in these tombs!" Katia exclaimed. "Should we find a way to get them out of here?"

Celestia kneeled down to one of the mages that they had killed and ignited her horn as she scanned his magical aura. One her hand was over his chest, her face turned into one of disgust and disappointment.

"No." she replied coldy. "These mages have already started to give their hearts over to dark magic. Luna and I for a long time have had a clear law about practicing dark magic to the extent these people do. I teach to never use it unless absolutely necessary under extreme circumstances."

"Unless we find someone who hasn't given themselves over yet, I'm afraid we are going to have to dispose of the mages here, no matter how much I hate it. We haven't had to kill this much since the Wild Era before our reign." Luna added. "This world has unfortunately proven too savage for us to provide the usual mercy."

"Just remember to do that only to people who truly deserve to die," Ky'ell urged. "You two are pretty nice, and I would hate to see that change."

As they went down to another room, they found another group of dark mages fighting with the Draugr who occupied the tomb. Waiting until they whittled down each other, Celestia ignited her horn and threw the remaining Draugr across the room with her magic, killing them as their evil blue eyes went dark. Luna out of habit, reluctantly went through each of the dead bodies and Draugr carcasses to find poisons, arrows, and gold coins and other supplies they might be able to use.

Further down they went down each chamber into the darkness of Ustengrav, each step seeming to echo louder than the last. They went through what appeared to be an ancient mead hall as they disposed of the Draugr who were guarding that particular room. Luna and Katia did their best to pocket any treasures that they came across or search the dead Draugr for any weapons. Katia in particular took a liking to a one handed Ancient Nord axe she had taken from a Restless Draugr. Its handle was covered in moss and mold, but its blade looked as sharp as it did the first day it was forged. She used a handkerchief to polish the black blade and clean the oil and dirt that had crusted on to it.

Soon the group walked into a cavernous part of the ancient crypt. It was a massive chamber that was over 300 feet deep. A large hole in the ceiling leading out to the surface allowed for a small group of trees and grass to grow in this otherwise inhospitable place. Moonlight shone through the hole, illuminating the entire chamber in a white glow. A thin layer of fog hovering over a stream into the cavern acted like snow as it reflected the light of the moons of Skyrim. Luna's face brightened up after seeing such a beautiful sight created by this world's moons, as if they had seen her sadness and tried all that they could to cheer her up. Celestia saw this and hugged her reassuringly.

"You will see your moon again Luna, that I can promise you," Celestia said as she stroked her sister's hair.

A stone path off to the side led them safely back down on to the next floor where they found a group of pitiful looking skeleton guards. Celestia trying to be as tactful as possible, found this as an opportunity for Katia to gain more strength on her own. Katia was unsure to say the least.

"Do I have to do this?" the Khajiit whined.

"Oh come now Katia. Father took us out to fight pony skeleton thralls when we were but five years of age to begin our fighting lessons," Luna proudly stated. "I am sure you can dispatch these weaklings easily."

"Don't worry, I'll be right here watching you. You will be just fine," Celestia said confidently.

"Just don't bury them in sand or anything once you're done," Ky'ell giggled.

"THAT IS AN OFFENSIVE STEREOTYPE!" Katia exclaimed as she shook Ky'ell by the neck. "HOW DID THAT EVEN GET STARTED!?"

"Well Mom did it," Ky'ell replied defensively.

Needless to say, the trio struggled to not laugh out loud at the scene before them. Katia waving her axe wildly and angrily as she hacked away at the five skeletons coming at her. One of the skeleton's clumsily tried swinging it's sword at her, causing her to shriek and duck as it hit a pillar instead. She accidentally tripped it by sticking out her leg causing it to smash into pieces once it fell to the ground. Practicing her Aetherial telekinesis on another skeleton, she reached out to the spell matrix as she visualized it internally and saw the shape of the skeleton in the darkness.

As it strung its bow, the skeleton prepared to fire at her, now that she stood out in the open. Before it could do so however, Katia opened her eyes revealing them to be glowing a bright blue. The hostile skeleton thrall levitated into the air and then was thrown across the cavern and fell to pieces. Another she took out with a throw from a fireball that missed at first but met its mark after bouncing off everything in the room.

The last two skeletons saw this and then began fighting each other as one punched the other causing its head to spin. The other grabbed the first one's arm and pulled it off until they started chasing each other around the room doing juvenile things to each other. The party saw this as a perfect opportunity to slip away as they found another path alongside the wall that lead down to the bottom of the cavern.

As they descended, Luna and Ky'ell began to hear a familiar chanting over the sound of the rushing waterfall that crashed down at the bottom. It was faint, but as they turned a corner, they found word wall covered in Dragon Claw script.

"That looks like that same language we saw back up at High Hrothgar." Celestia mused. "I wonder what it says?"

Just like back at Bleak Falls Barrow, one word out of the whole wall stood out from the others as it glowed a ghostly blue only visible to Luna and K'yell's own eyes. The chanting grew louder and louder until the light turned into a rushing blue wind and blew right into their very bodies. The internal chanting seemed to turn into a sound of praise as she had learned the true meaning and power behind the word.

"Feim," she said quietly. "Fade..."

"Luna are you alright?" Celestia asked with concern. "I felt something powerful come out of that wall. Something ancient and fearsome."

"It is alright Sister," Luna replied. "I believe it is one of the "Word Walls" as Ky'ell called them, we are destined to find."

"The first one felt really cold. And for a Nord that's sayin something," the man rambled. It was covered in pretty scratches, but I was too busy diggin into the chest that was left behind there. I wanted to find some pretty treasures, not stare at some dusty old wall."

"Well, what word did you learn this time?" Katia asked curiously.

"FEIM!" he shouted accidentally as the Thu'um blew from his mouth and started to do something strange to his body.

"What in Oblivion?"

Ky'ell's body began to turn transparent and ghostly as the power of the shout fully enveloped himself. He looked at his arms and began to panic. Luna was beginning to panic herself after seeing her friend start undergoing a potentially dangerous process.

"Ky'ell! Are you alright?" she asked concerned.

"I think I'm alright. I just feel a little funny that's all."

After examining himself, he found out something astonishing. He couldnt feel anything at all.

"I think I'm numb!" he exclaimed as he poked himself. "Try hitting me! I want to see if I can feel stuff."

"You....want me to hit you?" Luna asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, just try hitting me in the gut or something."

She obliged his request as she went for a feined strike against him. When her fist should have made contact, it bounced right off as if it was deflected into a different direction. Everyone became immediately confused.

"What?" all the girls exclaimed simultaneously.

"Try again!"

This time Celestia came up as she tried smashing Ky'ell with her shield. When the shield should have made contact, she was deflected just as Luna was. Ky'ell unfortunately was becoming too cocky for his own good as he had Celestia try to hit him again this time with a kick. Celestia got into position as she let loose with a solid front kick. Unfortunately, the Thu'um's effects were wearing off as Ky'ell began to become tangible once again. Celestia saw what was about to happen, but was too late to stop it as her leg made contact with his nether regions.

Ky'ell was surprised. The bad kind of surprised.

The Nord went flying and hit the nearest wall and slid down it with his face completely red and contorted in pure pain as his eyes started watering. He tried to speak but no words came, just short little squeak sounds. Luna shot over when she realized what happened, and immediately rushed over to the man worriedly.

"Art thou well?" She askded with concern. He still couldn't speak, Ky'ell just whined in a high pitched tone with tears running down his cheeks. Luna's ears drooped down and she moved her face closer to the man's and nuzzled his cheek affectionately.

"My balls..." he squeaked with a sniff, more tears running down his eyes. Luna put her hoof to his mouth and shushed the man.

"Sh...sh...we know...we know..." She said In a motherlike tone....a tone that disappeared completely when she looked back at Celestia. Katia's eyes were pinpricks as she looked on at the situation before her.

"Of all the places you could have bucked him it had to be THAT spot Sister?" She scolded. Celestia just stood there with a nervous smile and drooping ears.

"It was an accident I swear!" she said timidly.

"You really should learn to control your strength a lot better Sister!" the blue mare said with venom, as she nuzzled Ky'ell's cheek.

Celestia sighed and berated herself as she ignited her horn and used a basic healing spell to relieve K'yell of his excessive pain. She waited a few seconds until Ky'ell began to pick himself back up on to his feet.

"I CAN FEEL THEM AGAIN! I'm so happy I could kiss you! But I won't...because that would be weird...so thanks and stuff!"
he beamed with a laugh. Celestia and Luna started to giggle as he started skipping around the chamber like a fairy.

Looking over to a pedestal on the side of the room, he found a tan colored potion bottle as he skipped on over to it and took it off of the stone pedestal. Upon examining it, he punched the air as he cried victoriously to the ceiling.

"What has gotten thou so excited other than your miraculous recovery my friend?" Luna asked rolling her eyes with a small smile on her face.

"Beserker potion," he simply replied as he tossed the bottle to Celestia who caught it. "Powerful stuff. It enchants and enhances the strength of people who primarily use two-handed weapons. Powerful stuff. you ought to keep that stuff on hand."

Now that their Nord companion had recovered, they continued their way up another path into a different chamber of the crypt. There was a strange set up of doors, mechanisms and stone markers depicting different images in a row. Stepping on a hidden pressure plate in front of one of them caused one of the three doors to open as they walked by. With each pressure plate tripped, everything seemed alright, until Luna noticed that the gates seemed to be on a timer as they began to close. Without reacting, she grabbed the others and Ky'ell and her rocketed past the doors with their Whirlwind Sprint shouts.

On the other side, they came into a narrow rocky chamber filled with pressure plates that covered the floor. Inching towards them, Katia reached one of her feet out as she tried pressing the plate down. As soon as she applied a bit of weight into her step, the plate shifted and triggered a mechanism that expelled a stream of flames that spewed from the floor.

"The entire passageway is booby trapped!" Celestia exclaimed.

"You said trap," Ky'ell giggled.

Ignoring the man, Celestia pulled the man up on to her back as Luna picked Katia up on to hers.

"What are you doing?" Katia asked nervously.

"We may need more time until our wings are usable once again, but thankfully our jumping has not been diminished. We will simply have to jump on to the little islands of stone that are not covered in these pressure plates." Luna explained.

Just as she explained, the sisters reared their legs up against the ground and aimed as they forcefully pushed up their legs like pistons and launched to the first island of stone in the passageway. They continued to do so avoiding contact with the pressure plates for a hundred feet as Luna and Celestia struggled greatly to keep their balance. Celestia once tried holding herself up against the wall of the passageway to rest from carrying so much weight. However, instead of just stone, she found herself grabbing a familiar white, sticky substance that stuck to her fur like bubble gum.

"Oh no," Katia said quietly with a terrified tone as her pupils shrunk.

"Spider webs. And I have a feeling we are going to find their occupants very close by. Let's just keep moving and keep our eyes open." Luna instructed.

Just as they predicted, the group turned a corner and came across a swarm of medium sized Frostbite Spiders that had made their web in the antechamber. The spiders knew to stay away from the floors as doing so would risk burning themselves. They had already begun the process of laying their eggs, and it wouldnt be long before they hatched, bringing even more of the wretched creatures into the world.

Luna signaled to them that she would try to sneak up on them as she jumped to the other side, doing her best to stick to the shadows, like a princess of the night should.

She circled around as she tried to stay away from the webs in an effort to not get stuck to the webs. Meanwhile, Celestia took out her warhammer and quickly stepped behind a stalactite. When the spiders turned their backs, the group took the advantage and ambushed the spiders as they went in weapons swinging, so to speak. Katia took the opportunity to practice her basic flame spell as she aimed for one of the smaller spiders. Upon contact, the spider screeched in pain as it tried to scamper away from its attacker. The Frostbite Spiders were relatively weak, allowing the party to finish them off with ease.

"Well that was over a little too quickly," Ky'ell said disappointed.

"I think its better if we don't have to fight scary stuff at all don't you think?" Katia asked frantically.

"Oh, what's the fun in that?"

"For a thousand years Ky'ell, my Sister and I albeit apart from one another, lived very peacefully without having to use violence and it was nice...if a little bit dull." Celestia replied. "It would be nice if we didnt have to inflict harm on anything ever again."

"If we can get out of this mad, savage world and back to Equestria that is," Luna added dryly.

At the end of the antechamber, there was a giant metal gate blocking their way. Just past it, they were able to see the main chamber of Ustengrav where their prize: the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller was supposed to be.

"There we go," Luna cooed as she looked around for a mechanism to open the gates.

Luckily, there was one hidden in the darkness of the grimy stones as Luna gave it a solid tug as the chain was pulled down, activating the gears hidden just inside the walls. The gears and cogs clicked, bumped, turned, and whirred as the dual gates were pulled upwards, opening their path forward.

The party stepped into the main chamber, which was a narrow stone path leading right up to the altar. On either sides of the pathway were pools of water that had lied still and silent for thousands of years. When K'yell stepped out on to the pathway, stone serpents rose out of the water as if they were heralding the Nord's entrance into the chamber. As they closed in on the altar, they began to notice something strange about it. The stone arm that should have been holding the fabled horn of Jurgen Windcaller was instead carrying what looked like a sheet of paper. Ky'ell getting a nervous feeling, picked up the paper and began reading it aloud.

Dragonborn,

I need to speak with you. Urgently.

Rent the attic room at the Sleeping Giant Inn in Riverwood and I will meet you.

A Friend

"AHH DAMN IT!" Katia roared as she kicked pots and stomped the ground.

Luna fainted as she fell to the ground while Celestia felt her eye start twitching.

Next Time: Tensions at Riverwood and a New Quest

Chapter 19: Tensions at Riverwood and A New Quest

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Needless to say, everyone was distraught and annoyed in their own ways. Some hiding their irritation at lot better than others. After so much walking and expecting to find their first significant quarry in the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller, they found a note in the cavernous ancient Nordic tomb of Ustengrav. The note was incredibly vague, but it appeared to be a message from the individual that had taken the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller. The fact that they knew where it was at the very least was besides the point for them. Walking and fighting for two days on end just to reach Ustengrav from Whiterun was exhausting and the absence of their objective that they spent so much work to find created a variety of mixed emotions from the party. Katia and Luna were the most enraged of the bunch, throwing things and breaking ancient objects all over the tomb. For a moment, Celestia had to calm Luna down just to keep her from blowing up the tomb. Ky'ell and the sun princess in question were more weary and tired than irritated that they would now have to trek all the way back across Skyrim and up the Throat of the World one again just to deliver a horn.

"Look. All we can do at this point is bite our tongues and go to this Riverwood to see what this is about." Celestia stated begrudgingly.

"I urgh, concur sister. However, the fact remains that this could very well be a trap." Luna replied. "If we are to go into anywhere, we should probably make sure we have an advantage over our potential opponents."

Katia stopped her rampaging for a moment to stop and try to calm her own nerves.

"So what? Come up the back way?" Katia asked still clearly angered.

"Prolly yeah," Ky'ell shrugged. "If we find a carriage, maybe we can pay them to take us to Riverwood down the East Road."

"I would imagine that if people still think this area is surrounded by dense swamps, heavily guarded necromancer fortresses and bandits, that would be highly unlikely to find around here." Katia added.

"We shall just have to leave this area then. The bandit tribe at the bridge has been dealt with, so we shouldn't have too much problems going back the way we came." Luna concluded.

Making their way out of Ustengrav, they watched their step, so as to not accidentally activate any traps. The door into the tombs, they locked tight with a key Katia had found in the main treasure room so that nobody could ever risk disturbing the Draugr there ever again. The group trudged back through the muck, slime, and sludge of the swamps towards Morthal where they voted to sneak around the village through the trees in order to avoid any more confrontation with any of the town's people. Katia nearly gave away their position when her expressive tail kept knocking over crates and slapping into the sides of houses.

"Can you do something about that monster?" Ky'ell urged motioning to her tail. "My own monster doesnt whack into that many things."

Celestia held in a snicker while Luna raised an eyebrow at the man.

"May we refrain from the vulgar comments please?" Luna whispered while rolling her eyes.

"Sorry," Katia whispered back sheepishly. "This think kinda moves on its own."

"Can you tuck it into your armor or something?" Ky'ell asked.

Grabbing her tail, she carefully wrapped it around her waist to keep it from moving around. She kept it loose enough so that she would not be painfully pulling on it every time that she simply moved around.

"That's gonna get sore REAL quick if we can't get out of this crazy town in a few minutes," Katia added.

"We should be out of here soon. I do wish to return to help these people with their monster problem, but unfortunately our own world must come first. We have already wasted enough time being lost and coming here falsely." Luna stated.

Suddenly, two patrols with torches on either side started coming their way. They didnt want to be caught sneaking around in a town that was already on edge, so they tried their best to come up with a solution.

Looking around, Katia found an old bucket a hundred feet away which gave her an idea on how to draw their attention away.

Reaching out to the Aetherial plane, she sensed the unseeable matrix of magic, and activated it. She lifted the bucket with her telekinesis and shook it around all over the place, knocking things over and hitting people with it.

Sure enough, the two patrols heard the commotion and moved away, allowing the party to continue on in safety.

Ten minutes later after avoiding another patrol of guards and a few of the villagers, the group snuck back up the hill and back on to the icy mountain roads of Hjaalmarch.

Their trek back was somewhat uneventful, other than passing by Fort Snowhawk once again, doing their best to avoid the attention of the necromancers that lived within its walls. Celestia and Luna preferred to not directly instigate any more fights with anyone in Skyrim unless absolutely necessary. The road winded back around the Northern mountains and through the foothills as the part moved to lower altitudes where ice did not dominate the surrounding landscape. The same remnants of raided carts and slaughtered travelers were in the same place as before. However, after a few hours of going through Morthal and Ustengrav, the corpses began to reek, forcing the girls to give them a wide berth. Luna noticed that Ky'ell barely registered the smell at all. Seeing any sort of corpse or rotting carcass didn't seem to bother him in the slightest. Thinking on it, Luna decided to speak with him on the matter at a later time.

Soon the rushing river cutting through the western side of the province came into view as the road turned, running alongside it. The party stopped to refill their water skins and quickly wash off. Heavy globs of mud had caked and hardened to their armor and fur and it was making walking a rather difficult endeavor for each of them. They found a small spot where the river had diverted from the main path and led into a closed off lagoon where they could take off their armor and clothes for a few minutes to clean themselves before getting back on to the road. The ice cold water shocked their senses at first, most likely being melt water from the nearby mountains or water flowing in from the Northern Sea of Ghosts. Within a few minutes, the girls acclimated to the temperature and began to clean all the blood, mud, sweat, and other substances that had soaked into their fur. It was refreshing to bathe after days of running, fighting, and trudging through the most hostile terrain imaginable.

For Ky'ell however, he would not be joining them.

"Do I have to stay like this?" Ky'ell whined. "It was an accident, I swear!"

"Yes you have to remain in that position, we cannot trust thou to not act like Tom of Peeping," Luna said matter of factly.

"That's Peeping Tom Luna, but close enough I guess." Celestia giggled.

All he could hear was the sound of the girls moving around in their private pool.

"Though art lucky that I didn't kick you through a rock wall," Luna scolded. "Our bathing time is our sacred time."

Ky'ell had volunteered to be the lookout just in case there were any more bandits in the immediate area. Unfortunately, after twenty minutes of standing around, hearing and seeing very little, boredom began to quickly set in. The only occasional activity was from either a rare animal that wandered close to the river for a drink, or the foreign women behind him speaking in hushed tones. With boredom sinking in, Ky'ell decided to take a risk looking in on the girls.

They were off in separate parts of the lagoon washing themselves. The firs thing the Nord noticed was that Katia's fur pattern was rather unusual for most Khajiit he had seen. Her bathing suit areas were dark and brown, in the shape of undergarments, as if they were drawn that way. Upon further inspection, her body was covered by scars in various places and sizes. Her right side had what appeared to be a scar in the shape of a bite mark. Moving his eyes over to Luna, he had forgotten how beautiful she was without any armor or armor to cover up her natural form. What astounded him though was the giant blue wings attached to her back. This newly discovered feature came at such a shock that he didn't notice himself screaming obnoxiously while leaning over the lagoon wall. His screaming continued for ten seconds as the girls just gawked at him in embarrassment and surprise.

Rolling her eyes, Luna threw one of her daggers at his helmet which knocked him down thirty feet off of the rocks and painfully on to his back at the bottom. He felt blood streaming out of his forehead from the force of Luna's impromptu attack.

"If you want to sneak up on somebody, don't scream your head off like an idiot,"

"Oh come on Loony. It's not like I'm gonna tell anybody that I saw you and your sister's knockers. They are fucking fantastic, I'll give you that. I've heard of blue balls but never blue boobs."

"Our what?"

Luna became confused when Katia and Celestia began to giggle like crazy. When she raised her eyebrow at them, they began to laugh even more. The whole situation was giving Luna a feeling of indignation.

"I don't see the humor in any of this. I am just now confused." Luna asked.

Wading over to her sister, Celestia leaned forward and whispered into one of Luna's ears. Her face went from confused, to embarrassed, to mortified in only a couple of seconds.

"THAT'S WHAT THESE ARE FOR?" Luna asked in a state of shock.

"Well what did you think?" Celestia chuckled. "I didn't know what humanoid mammary glands looked liked were when I first visited Earth on the other side of the mirror, but I had a good idea when I first saw them. What did YOU think they were?"

Her face heated up and turned red as a ripe tomato as she began to stammer and make up excuses.

"W-we merely thought that they were extra protection for this race from any outward aggression."

"Wow, Loony that's kinda silly even for you," Ky'ell chuckled.

"Be silent!" she snapped, clearly embarrassed.

Grabbing a nearby stone while humorously covering herself, she chucked it over the rocks as it hit his helmet with a clang.

After that debacle, they gathered their clothes and weapons and re equipped their armor as they moved back down the road to Riverwood. Soon they once again came across Robber's Gorge which was still thankfully completely abandoned due to their efforts. Celestia thought it would be a good idea to send word to the guards of Whiterun that the route was bandit free for the moment.

The road became steep once again as they finally passed the border back into the Whiterun Hold and rocky terrain began to give way to more open flattened landscapes and rolling meadows. Their brief respite was interrupted as another small group of bandits on the crossroads of border tried once again to ambush them.

"Don't you notice that a lot of these bandits look pretty similar?" Katia asked nonchalantly while dodging arrow fire.

"I blame the poor attention span of gamers. There's so much content here, that players probably wouldn't even notice," Ky'ell retorted.

"What in Tartarus are you talking about Ky'ell?" Luna asked.

"Patches. Lots of them that this version probably needs." he replied calmly.

She turned her attention back to her attackers to avoid being distracted by Ky'ell's nonsense.

Afterwards, the party soon made their way back to the small hamlet of Rorikstead. The guards there greeted Luna and Celestia as if was the most natural thing in the world now to see them walk around. The Sisters loved how accepting the people of Whiterun were, even after everything that had happened. Katia unfortunately still garnered the usual jeers and suspicious accusations due to the complicated reputation of her race.

Fresh, crisp wind blew across their faces, refreshing their senses and sending a chill down their spines. Once in a while, long strands of grass would be uprooted by the wind and be blown over the road. With their coats of fur still damp, the temperature of the wind seemed that much colder. Their eyes perked up and their postures straightened as they kept a watch for anything approaching on their journey. A few people coming from Markarth crossed their paths, who had their houses destroyed by dragons or the Imperial Army. It was clear that their destination was Winterhold to join Ulfric Stormcloak's army. War was looming on the horizon and it made Celestia and Luna uneasy. As if something even worse was just around the corner.

Meanwhile, in an uncharted forest far west of anything populated by ponies, the day was starting to wane as the sun slowly began to sink below the horizon. A thin layer of fog began to develop on the forest floor, making the dirt and moss wet and slimy. Dirty green leaves, every now and then were plucked off their branches by a gentle breeze as they drifted down, floating to and fro through the trees until they finally softly landed on the wet ground among the other decaying branches, leaves, and pieces of bark that had long since fallen off. The silence in this place was so prevalent, it was as if that this place had been enchanted to be that way. The only sign of life in this whole place was a small figure propped up against a large tree. The orange figure was injured as evident by the bruises and wilts on her body, but she was thankfully still very much alive. Her chest slowly rose and fell, in a pattern that would suggest that she was in a very deep sleep.

Suddenly, a breeze blew through the forest from one specific point. Followed by a wheezing groaning that echoed through the trees. A tall blue rectangular shape began to blur in and out of existence as a light atop it steadily flashed on and off. The shape landed on the forest floor with a thud. A door on the front side of the shape opened up with a loud creak, followed by a tall man with curly ash grey hair stepping into view from somewhere behind the door. Adjusting the sleeve of his black suit, he stepped out on to the leaves of the forest floor and began to look around.

"I think this is the place. I hope so at least. Those Potential Conflict alarms I placed here were never very reliable." the middle aged man stated. "Well I guess anything with that kind of name ought to not work quite right. I was kinda cooky even back then. Patchwork clothing and question mark pins."

He comedically shivered at the disturbing memory as his striking blue eyes continued scanning his immediate surroundings.

"So where are we exactly?" a female voice in the blue shape asked.

"Equis I believe," the man replied. "Last time I was here, it was a bit more...chaotic. The princesses took a liking to me, so I helped them with their problem. Celestia, Luna, and Amore. Nice girls. Unfortunately, I had to book it when Amore became a bit too forward for my tastes, if you catch my meaning. The bloody name says it all."

"So you think there's a problem here again?"

"Enough of a problem for the old girl to pull me back across the Medusa Cascade--ohhhh, hello there!" he exclaimed as he scuttled over to the tree where the orange figure was laying.

He pulled out a small device that gently buzzed like a little bug as he glided it across her body. Holding it up to his eyes, he shook his head in disapproval.

"Mild concussion, several contusions, and a slight subdural hemorrhage. And quite a few broken bones. Now what nasty thing could have done all this to you?" he asked the sleeping mare. "You caught me at a bad time you know? I was tuning my Stratocaster when that awful buzzing went off."

Noticing something under her sleeping form, he gently pushed her over, revealing what appeared to be an old Stetson with some dirt and dust that had caked on the brim. The man smiled in remembrance, thinking of the times that he used to love fooling around in Stetsons and all manner of strange hats.

Picking it up and gently placing it back on the mare's head, he wrapped his left arm around her and lifted up her hind quarters with his right and proceeded to carry her off somewhere safe.

"Why don't we get you somewhere out of this forest eh? I bet its not easy being the only one left out in the cold," he said the unconscious mare. "Clara! Pull out my mattress out of the third compartment on the left won't you? It seems we have a guest that needs my attention. Along with a few ponies to find."

"I..didn't know you had a bed," the woman said with surprise. "And did you say ponies?"

"I sleep too you know! I just do it when you aren't looking."

Back in the hold of Whiterun, Ky'ell lead the party back down towards the crossroads to Whiterun. Luna suggested that they break off from the normal route so as to throw off any who might be waiting for them. They soon came within view of Whiterun City as they passed over the bridge and down the Western road. At this point, they broke off of the main road and followed closely alongside the bank of the river, moving another mile upstream. Soon the small hamlet of Riverwood came into view, forcing them to move more slowly since the sun was still high in the sky. Passing the bridge, they circled around to the other side of the town and trudged across the water to the opposite shore.

The guards posted at Riverwood's Western Gates recognized the Sisters as they allowed them passage inside.

"I used to be an adventurer like you, then I took an arrow--" one of the guards started.

"In the knee, yes, in the knee," Ky'ell finished. "Dont you guys ever get hit in the face or the elbow or something?"

The other guard glared at Katia and her unusual robes.

"Stay--"

"Out of trouble Khajiit, yeah I know." Katia interrupted. "Khajiit seem to be the only race guards look out for in this country!"

"Makes me glad our guards are given breaks and a social life," Luna whispered to Celestia who giggled.

Once inside, Celestia and Luna pulled out their cloaks to cover up their appearance as Ky'ell led them across the village towards the Sleeping Giant Inn. He had the two hang back closely so they would appear to be two separate groups.

"You and I are the only ones who won't stick out in there Kat," Ky'ell explained to Katia. "Just stick to me and let me do the talking. Keep your hand on your axe too. Just in case ya know?"

"You?"

"Hey, I may be an idiot, but I know how to deal with difficult people," he replied confidently.

"I'll believe it when I see it," she retorted with a raised eyebrow.

"What about us?" Celestia asked.

"Hang by out here for three minutes, then head in. Just in case somebody might be following us," he instructed.

"...be careful in there won't you?" Luna asked with concern.

"Hey, I'm indestructible!"

Ky'ell and Katia went inside, feeling once again that comforting rush of warm air that could only come from the fireplace of a Skyrim Inn. Ky'ell seemed to recognize somebody as he went up to the counter where a blonde bartender in a simple dress was cleaning tankards with a cloth. The Nord could feel the eyes of over a dozen people who were currently there drinking. He didnt know what their intentions were, but regardless he knew he had to keep his wits about him if he wanted to leave in one piece.

"You're that stranger who's been poking around," she stated matter of factly.

When Katia gave her a look, the woman laughed slightly.

"I'm the innkeeper. Its my job to keep track of strangers."

"I'd like to rent the attic room. For me and my housecarl here." he said pointing behind him to a now fuming Katia with his thumb.

She looked between the two with an expression that Ky'ell couldn't read and then smiled.

"Attic room eh? Well...we don't have an attic, but you can have the room on the left. Make yourself at home." she greeted cheerfully.

"Thanks."

Ky'ell moved over to the room and closed the old door behind him. He motioned to the bed where Katia sat down on the edge. The Nord himself sat down in an old chair by a small table the room had been provided with.

"So what now?" she asked.

"Now, we wait for Little Miss Innkeeper to get in here and drop the innocent act."

A few seconds later, the door opened revealing the Innkeeper who stared right into their eyes before she closed the door behind her.

"You're pretty sharp. So you're one of the Dragonborn that I've been hearing so much about. Where's your royal blue friend? The other Dragonborn." she asked.

When Ky'ell gave her an accusing look, she smiled.

"I saw you two skulking around Whiterun. Kind of hard to miss a blue horse woman with a horn sticking out of her head and a black crown to match."

"Oh, she's close by. Fetching some herbs for our potion stock," he lied.

She didn't seem to believe him for a moment, but she pulled something out of her pouch and presented it to Ky'ell.

The Nord grabbed it and looked at the item. It was an ancient looking horn made out of what appeared to be part of a hollowed out dragon's horn as opposed to a ram's horn. His nature allowed him to clearly feel the power emanating off of it.

"The Horn? How did YOU get your hands on it unless you...." Katia said as she put two and two together and began to feel enraged as fire magic steadily started to glow in her hands.

"We need to talk." the Innkeeper said sternly. "Follow me."

He looked at her suspiciously for a few seconds before he stood up and decided to take the risk. Nodding to Katia, she followed him and the mysterious innkeeper who led the two across the Inn to the more expensive room on the other side.

Right in the corner on the far side of the dining hall, Katia recognized two familiar figures in robes who looked like they were waiting for something. It was Celestia and Luna, both waiting for the perfect opportunity to come charging in should anything become complicated. Celestia just looked at Katia and with a noticeable smile from behind her hood, she nodded comfortingly.

Going inside the room, they found that it was indeed a lot nicer than the rest of the inn. The floor and walls were adorned with expensive hides and ornate rugs. One of the walls to the right displayed what appeared to be a dead Mudcrab the size of a dinner plate. Two tables of differing sizes were placed in opposite corners of the same wall, one for wine and mead, and the other appeared to be a work desk for scholars, writers, people using a journal, or any businessman or noble. A large two person bed snuggled up against the left wall stretched halfway across the room. The most noticeable item in the room however was a suspicious looking wardrobe that appeared to be built into the wall.

"Close the door," she commanded.

Ky'ell complied as he closed the door and locked it. The woman's expression softened somewhat as she pulled a key out of her dress pocket.

"Now we can talk."

Placing the key into the lock of the wardrobe, she opened the door showing the empty insides. Katia was temporarily confused before the woman activated a mechanism inside, which sent the backside of the wardrobe inwards. A secret stairway was revealed, as the woman walked downstairs with the duo following suit.

Back outside in the dining room, Luna and Celestia waited for a few more minutes before standing up and heading towards the door. Unfortunately, the shady men in the dining room all stood up and blocked their path. All had evil and menacing faces on. Luna and Celestia were uninterested and unintimidated by their transparent tactics. Most of them seemed to be looking at Celestia.

"Where do you think you're goin sweet things?" one of the burly men asked in a slimy voice.

"You put a lot of our boys in the ground back at Cragslane Cavern horse skank! We know its you!" another said angrily. "The only way you are getting out of here is in a black hide bag with buttons up the front."

"A body bag," one of the smaller men added.

"SHE KNOWS WHAT IT IS!" he yelled at the smaller man.

Celestia with a blank expression, grabbed a nearby jug of milk, and began to down the whole thing right in front of the bandits who just stared at her in confusion. Luna smiled mischievously, knowing full well where this whole situation was going. The whole jug was empty in only ten seconds as she swished and moved the last bit of the milk from one side of her mouth to the other before drinking it down. Slamming the jug back down on the table, she undid her sword, hammer and the rest of her equipment, allowing it to fall to the ground. An uncomfortable atmosphere seemed to grow as she cracked her knuckles and gave the men an evil smile from under her hood.

"Okay boys, let's dance," she said with disturbing glee.

Many a passerby could hear the violent commotion coming from inside the Sleeping Giant Inn. Giving it a wide berth, doing their best to avoid what could be a nasty fight. Little did they know, how one sided this fight was turning out to be. Screams of pain and the sound of furniture breaking could be heard all the way down the street.

BREAK!

BLEED!

"OW! MY BALLS!" a male voice cried out.

Below the Inn, Katia and Ky'ell followed the woman into a rather large basement room that was filled with all manner of weapons, books, maps, and very ancient looking artifacts. In one of the corners, there were three clearly beaten bales of hay lined up next to two practice dummies for archery and sword practice. In one corner, there was a potion making station equipped with a shelf right beside it with all manner of different ingredients and template potions should anyone want to make a copy. Ky'ell spied a map of Skyrim on a table in the center of the room. It appeared to have many different check marks and notes inscribed upon it. Next to it lay a familiar black book that he had seen many times over the years, but never really payed much attention to until now. It was the Book of the Dragonborn, which detailed the story of the prophecy of the Last Dragonborn. Up until a few weeks ago, he could never fathom that the legendary hero inside that book was going to be himself.

The woman walked around the table and looked down at the map in thought before turning her head up at Ky'ell and Katia. For a minute, they could hear a muffled scuffle along with some screaming coming from upstairs, but she just assured the two of them that it was probably just another fight between drunk villagers.

"The Greybeards seem to think you and your...princess friend are Dragonborn. I hope they are right," she stated.

"Why in fucking Oblivion did you take the damn Horn?" Katia snapped angrily. "We spent two days walking to and from Ustengrav through ravenous bandits, racist swamp villagers, impaling booby traps, and butt feasting gremlin draugr! Only to find the fucking thing we've been fucking looking for, isnt fucking there!"

"The Greybeards are right, I am Dragoborn," Ky'ell stated sternly.

The wardrobe door broke open, with an angry Luna stomping down the steps and Celestia following closely behind. The woman pulled out her sword for a moment defensively, but sheathed it when she seemed to recognize Luna.

"I am also Dragonborn, and I would like to know why you are doing all of this? Sure, our festivities were quite fun, but I would like to know why our quarry was stolen from us! And why you sent those men upstairs to attack us!"

"I sure hope you two are Dragonborn. Forgive me if I don't assume something just because the Greybeards say so." she snidely replied. "I just handed you the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller, doesn't that make me a friend of the Dragonborn too."

"Answer the damn question. Normally, I would be looking around at all the shiny and pretty lookin stuff you got in here, but I'm tired and just slightly annoyed," Ky'ell commanded.

"I didn't go to all of this trouble on a whim. I needed to make sure that this wasn't a Thalmor trap." she replied defensively.

"Those gold armored guards?" Celestia asked. "I think I met one just outside Whiterun."

"They are no guards, I can assure you of that. I am not your enemy. I already gave you the Horn. I'm actually trying to help you. I just need you to hear me out."

The party looked between each other silently with unsure expressions for a few seconds before Ky'ell spoke up.

"Go on. We're listening. Don't mince words or give us a run around." Ky'ell said harshly. "I'm REALLY sleepy and grumpy."

"Like I said in my note, I heard that you two might be Dragonborn. I'm part of a group that's been looking for you...well, someone like the two of you for a very long time. If you really are Dragonborn that is. Before I tell you any more, I need to make sure that I can trust you."

"YOU are the one who stole the Horn, wasting two days of our precious time and then sending those bandits upstairs after us! WE are the ones who should be having a hard time trusting YOU!" Luna pointed out.

"Fair enough. Also, they were supposed to hold you. Why did those thugs attack?" she asked.

Celestia stepped forward giggling sheepishly.

"That would be my doing," Celestia admitted. "I killed their boss. I believe he was some outlaw named The Butcher. They thought we were helpless girls, so we may have treated them a little roughly".

"That was you? Wow, I guess you two aren't just exotic looks and all talk," she said referring to the Sisters. "Alright, I knew the Greybeards would send you to Ustengrav if they thought you were Dragonborn. They're nothing if not predictable. When you two showed up here, I had a feeling that you were the ones the Greybeards sent and not some Thalmor plant."

"The Thalmor are after you?" Celestia asked.

"Yes, we're very old enemies. And if my suspicious are correct, they might have something to do with the dragons returning to life. They also seem to be working with not only the vampires, but the daedra too. Their activities in Skyrim have become a lot more active as of late. However, that's not the most pressing issue right now. What's important is that you might be Dragonborn."

"Why are you so desperate to find a Dragonborn anyway?" Katia asked.

"We remember what most don't--that the Dragonborn is the ultimate dragonslayer. You two are tge only ones who can permanently kill a dragon by devouring its soul. Can you do it though? Can you devour a dragon's soul?"

"Yes, that's how Sir Ky'ell and I first found out that we were Dragonborn," Luna explained. "Although, I do not think that I was meant to share that distinction with him. My sister and I were banished from our home. Ky'ell is the only true Dragonborn here. I am merely his friend that just so happened to unlock similar abilities."

"Don't sell yourself short. You'll have the chance to prove yourself to me soon enough."

"So what's the part that you aren't telling us?" Katia asked.

"Dragons arent just coming back. They are coming back to life. Full on necromantic resurrection. They weren't gone somewhere all these years. They were completely dead, killed off centuries ago by my predecessors. Now something is happening to bring them back to life. And I need the four of you to help me stop it."

"This sounds kinda crazy, you know that?" Katia replied.

"Ha. A few years ago, I almost said the exact same thing to a colleague of mine. It definitely turned out that he was right and I was wrong."

"What makes you certain that dragons are coming back to life that way?" Luna asked.

"I know they are. I've visited their ancient burial grounds and I've found them completely empty. There seems to be a pattern to these resurrections, and I've figured out where the next one will come back to life. I plan on going there. If you come along with me, and help me kill that dragon, I promise I will tell you anything you want to know."

Ky'ell looked at the girls and they seemed reluctant to the idea, naturally, since they want to go home, but he also knew so far the only way they had to return home was to help him on his quest. They nodded, ready for whatever that was to come next.

"Alright, we'll bite. Where do you want us to go?" Ky'ell said.

The woman smiled and showed them a point on the eastern side of the map.

"Kynesgrove. There's an ancient dragon burial mound there. If we can get there before it happens, maybe we can learn how to stop it."

"Let's go do it to it then," Ky'ell said excitedly.

"Hold up," she chuckled. "Let me get into my traveling gear first. Give me a minute and then I'll be ready."

The woman slipped upstairs back into the main bedroom, allowing the group to speak amongst each other.

"So, what do you guys think? Should we do it?" Ky'ell asked.

"We don't have any leads as to how we are to fulfill your prophecy Sir Ky'ell, so maybe this might work to our advantage," Luna said thoughtfully.

"Perhaps, but I must admit that there is something about that woman that doesn't feel right. If thousands of years have taught me anything, is that there are people with ulterior motives. If we are to accompany her, I suggest that we keep an eye on her. Just until we find out what her true motives are, and if they are virtuous as she claims them to be," Celestia said suspiciously.

"I'll go along with you anywhere Celestia." Katia said with a hug. "As long as I can get away from this forsaken place."

"There is one definite pressing problem with her though," Ky'ell said.

"What's that?"

"We don't know her name or anything about her personally."

The door up at the top of the stairs opened up, as they heard armored footsteps coming down. The woman had her blonde hair done up as she wore a new set of reinforced leather armor. Several plates of steel were placed in strategic places so that she would have extra protection, but she would not sacrifice mobility.

"I'll tell you then. My name is Delphine. Its an honor to meet you Dragonborn Ky'ell and Dragonborn Princess Luna."

Chapter 20: Kynesgrove

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There was a saying an old friend of Celestia's once told her. He may have been dead for well over a thousand years, but to this very day, she couldn't allow herself to forget her friend's words of wisdom. "Its a dangerous business Celestia, going out your door. You step out on to the road, and if you don't kick your hooves, there's no knowing, where you might be swept off to." She didn't realize just how important those words were until she found herself thrusted into a hostile world. With Luna once again at her side, Celestia found herself more at peace with her new, unfamiliar surroundings. In fact, at times, she felt herself awestruck at the wild, untamed beauty of Skyrim. From the winding golden meadows of Whiterun, to the evergreen forests of the south and east, to the snow covered wonderland that covered fifty percent of the land. Even the wildlife that reminded her much of the animals that roamed the dark woods of Equestria. It had its moments of beauty and she was internally glad that she got to see it. It was rather refreshing to see landscapes less populated than that of Earth and Equestria whenever she had the chance to see them.

The river flowing through the hold of Whiterun was a beautiful sight in particular. The way it gurgled and whistled, moving down stream, the way it created foam every time it dipped into a pile of rocks. It's curving branches and swirling blue pools along the bank reminded her much of the river where her own tribe once dwelled beside. Its snow white flowers, its spindly long emerald green grass, that stretched out far for what seemed like eternity....

Celestia noticed that Luna was feeling the same way. Away from the expectations of being a princess, Luna was finally starting to loosen up more and more. She only hoped that this stayed with her when they returned home. She was confident too that Katia's morose attitude would lighten up much more, given time and much encouragement.

For the moment however, her concerns were less about the beauty of their new surroundings and more about the character of their new travel companion. Needless to say, Celestia did not trust her in the least, though she would never say it openly. Delphine was one of those people that hid much from everyone and seldom shared very little about herself. Celestia tried probing her mind for information, but was surprised to find a resilient mental block against her advances. It would take nearly a day pounding away at her defenses to probe deeper. Thankfully, their walk to Kynesgrove would prove to give her the time she needed to complete that exact task. That is if nothing along the way interrupted her concentration.

"Hey Luna, wanna hear the most irritating sound in the world?" Ky'ell asked humorously.

"I'd rather not Ky'ell--"

"EEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!

The man began screeching right into Luna's sensitive ears.

Noticeable veins popped from the foreheads of every girl present. Luna socked the Nord right in the jaw, knocking him out as he fell to the ground with a slap against the cobblestone road. Grabbing him by the ankle, she started dragging him along again. His groans were audible against the constant clanking of the metal plates of his armor.

"Be stupid on your own time," she breathed out in annoyance. "We have a job to do."

"Not until four mommy," he groaned.

"Is he always like this?" Delphine asked with a chuckle.

"Just when he's eaten too much Elsweyran Cheese." Katia joked. "He's pretty special that way."

Delphine did not know how to properly respond to that.

"He may be a little eccentric, but he seems to be a noble, formidable warrior who deserves our utmost respect," Celestia said awkwardly. "I certainly approve of him being the chosen hero of this world, despite his "special-ness".

"When he's not acting like a lunatic," Katia replied dryly. "I haven't been around him long, but he's usually either super cool and serious looking, or retarded as a riekling."

'You'll probably delve more into his backstory as time goes on,' one of Katia's audience members said. 'I bet its psychologically interesting like yours is.'

'Maybe ask him if he can speak more cool Khajiit stuff with you', another one added.

"I told you guys already, I haven't been able to speak fluent Elseweyran in a long time," she grumbled to the voices. "Being around humans for a long time tends to make one forget that sort of thing."

'Go with him to see his parents! I bet they can teach you all kinds of Sneak skills!' Another voice added in.

Katia thought upon that suggestion as they were walking along the winding roads into Whiterun.

For the longest time, Katia had not had the support of another Khajiit since her own parents disowned her. Thanks in no part to her crippling nightmares. Though knowing at least how semi-decent Ky'ell turned out under his caravan, perhaps the possibility of relearning her own culture might not be out of the question.

"Maybe. It would be interesting to meet more members of my own kind. As long as I don't end up doing anything really weird around them. Any kind of alcohol just does not agree with me in the slightest.

'I wonder if they have butterbeer here?'

'You need to learn to handle your liquor girl, the party gods demand it!'

"One: I have no idea what that is, and two: if there were any party gods, I'd like for them to apologize." Katia snapped.

"Are you talking to yourself?" Delphine asked the cat girl with a raised eyebrow.

"Nope! Nothing!" she laughed nervously. "I'm not doing anything at all. Certainly not doing anything crazy like talking to myself! I'm just talking to the people at home."

"Sweet Divines, the whole lot of you are touched with madness," Delphine groaned.

"At least there's never a dull moment with them," Celestia said with mirth. "Despite the fact we're in a place where everything wants to kill us, I haven't enjoyed myself in a group like this in quite a while."

To extenuate that fact, Luna hit Ky'ell in the head again with her bow for trying to get back up on to his feet.

"You two certainly don't act like any princesses that I've ever seen," the woman stated.

"Well, we want our subjects to know we are approachable, so we've learned how to, shall we say, "loosen up as it were." Luna explained. "For myself, this was hard as I had come back after a very long absence. Society was quite different from what I was used to and I had to learn a different way to, "loosen up".

"Loosening up for normal people usually just means a few drinks at the local tavern. Not, whatever you people do," Katia replied with snark.

"We're special," Celestia replied sweetly.

"Special is one word for it," Delphine said with snark.

The party moved down the road eastward without much interference, save for the occasional band of bandits that had survived Celestia's onslaught or Frostbite Spiders that stalked the waterways of the Eastern Forest. Soon they came back to Valtheim Towers. The rubble of the structure was still there, as was the memory of the battle that the four had undertaken in this place. Pieces of the bridge across the gorge had fallen into the river and already had signs of moss and algae growing on them. Delphine looked surprised at the state of it all.

"This was a notorious bandit hideout. What in Akatosh happened here?" she asked.

"That would be us," Celestia said sheepishly. "The men here wouldn't listen to reason, so I unfortunately had to show them why I am High Princess of Equestria."

"Many people have been slain coming through here. Whiterun owes you a debt of gratitude for freeing this passage to the east once more for all travelers." Delphine thanked with respect.

"I must admit that we did not know it was Celestia that did all of this at first," Luna replied.

"Didnt we see some screaming lunatic get thrown into the air by a giant Princess?" Katia asked.

"That would be my lunatic here," Luna said as she gave the human a friendly nudge. "The giant caught him off guard and made him scream like a little filly."

Ky'ell simply laughed sheepishly at that.

"We aren't here to talk about me, we're here to talk about all the pretty sights and smells of Skyrim." the man deflected.

"Regardless, someone may have to come along to clean this up one of these days," Delphine thought out loud. "This is the shortest route to Kynesgrove, but it might not be that anymore if we have to trudge through more rubble."

"Oooh! I found more funny glitches!" Ky'ell shrieked with delight.

"What are you babbling on about again this time?" Luna asked tiredly.

He pointed over to the right side where the mountain was facing them. The girls were confused and flabbergasted at the sight. Half of a goat that appeared to be flailing around silently in the dirt, blinking in and out of existence. Just a few hundred feet up, there was a sword stuck into a basket, frozen in mid air. Both oddities confused the women to no bounds.

"What???" Katia quietly asked no one in particular.

"You'd think they would hire better testers to watch for this sort of thing," the man said eloquently.

"I don't see anything, you must have had some bad skooma Dragonborn," Delphine said. "We should keep moving. I doubt the Thalmor are aware of you four yet. So for now, we should be safe from them at the very least."

The group weaved through the large pieces of rock and rubble from the remains of the towers and passed into Eastmarch once again. Blankets of clouds rolled over the woods and a chill in the air signaled the coming of another snow storm. A mild one this time that would thankfully only add to the beauty of their surroundings, instead of its danger. Rays of sun light peeked through the clouds every so often, giving them a brief respite from the sudden chill, but even this did not last for very long.

Their path back towards Windhelm took the group down a different road. One that sweeped down and around the mountain into a valley covered in a thin layer of tule fog. Just enough to give the woods a cold look, but not enough to obscure the party's vision of the ground. To their left, the mountain shot straight up into a cliff face like a wall. To their right, many small settlements in the woods started to come into view. A number of cozy cottages, farms and mills dotted the side of the road every so often. It was a rather picturesque sight, light pouring out of windows, most likely from a roaring fire and a warm hearth. It made Luna somewhat melancholy, remembering all of the comforts of her own castle. Now more than ever, she would never take those comforts for granted ever again, so long as she lived.

Not long after, the cliff face disappeared and the valley opened up much more. The forest gave way to tundra that followed alongside the river. It wasnt as deep or strong in this place; just enough for any animal or man to safely bathe or get a drink without risking being swept away by a strong current. A bear once or twice, crossed their paths, but was quickly calmed and sent on its way by Celestia. She had a natural talent back in Equestria for connecting with wild life, as displayed by her large garden containing all manner of birds, beasts, and insects.

Snow started to softly fall on the cobblestone as they came closer to their destination. It was getting later in the day as the weather got progressively colder. Luna did not remember when she was this aware of her surroundings. Cold air and a strong mixed scent of pine, moss, lavender, and steam filled her nose and kept her awake. It was a rather pleasant, fragrant smell that the princess half wished she could bottle and bring home with her. She had a number of fragrances that she used in her own bedroom when trying to fall asleep. Lotus Blossom was her favorite, though she did have a number of other smells that made her slumbers that more luxurious. The thought was rather amusing, but still a nice one.

Circling around the valley, the snow started to pile up on the sides of the road and spill over on to the cobblestone as their path began to rise. They passed Windhelm without much issue. Many of the residents in the outskirts of Windhelm recognized Celestia on sight and greeted her kindly. She had made many friends in the city through her deeds and it gained her their respect. A few guards patrolling the roads greeted her cordially as well and offered her an escort through the hold. Celestia politely declined each time as they went on their way.

"You have become quite the celebrity here Princess. The people seem to love you." Delphine said stoically.

"I was just doing my royal duty, though it is extra special when I can love a people and the people love me back."

"I'm sure you earned it Celestia," Luna said solemnly. "Any creature would be a fool not to love you."

"Don't think too lowly of yourself Luna. I saw the same when I came to Whiterun for the first time. The people there really have come to think of you as one of their own. Even though you are not one of them. And we still have a nation of people to go back to that loves both of us."

"Thank you sister. I suppose that is true. I only hope that we are allowed to see our beautiful nation again."

Heading back down south for a few miles along the road, the party passed a number of houses and farms that surrounded the perimeter of Windhelm. The path sloped upwards as the wind started blowing snow harder and harder against their bodies that clumped and caked their armor in ice. Many bushes and evergreen trees started returning as they came into a small forested area of the hold. Delphine led the party down a branching path that winded further up the hillside. The rest of the group could not tell what laid up the slope, but it have been their destination. Whatever form it took.

"This is the outskirts of Kynesgrove," Delphine finally said. "It is not much to look at, but the innkeeper at the local in should be able to tell us if there is any dragon burial mound nearby."

"Boss fight senses are tinglin. I'm ready for a fun bout of awesomeness," Ky'ell chattered.

Suddenly, the two Sisters could feel an aura of evil magic racing through the air, invisible to most, but clear as day to the alicorns. Their tall fuzzy ears could pick up a roar far off into the distance. The roar of an enormous animal that they recognized almost immediately. It was guttural, full of hate, and dripping with primordial magical power. Luna looked to Ky'ell who's face changed drastically. This was not the face of the noble, charming fool that she had become fond of. This was the face of a steadfast barbarian. The face she had seen back in Whiterun, when she faced down her first dragon in the land of Skyrim.

A woman came down the path, breathing heavily with a crippling fear in her eyes.

"You don't want to go up there! There's a dragon attacking!" the woman cried.

"Where?" Celestia asked.

"Ky'ell are you--" Luna started.

She barely registered it at first as Ky'ell quickly took off like a shot, barreling past the woman and up the hill soon vanishing from her sight.

"Ky'ell wait!" Luna exclaimed.

"Where are you going?" Katia tried yelling through the blizzard.

"Where we should be going," Delphine replied. "Come on! We need to find out what's happening up there!"

The girls came across the inn that Delphine spoke of as they ran through a back gate and further up the hill where more thunderous sounds and giant ominous dark figures started to take form through the growing winds and mist of the blizzard. Off to the right, the girls swore they could make out the entrance to a mine that went into the hillside, but at the moment, it was of no consequence to them.

Out of the dark, they made out a booming evil voice, soaked with malice echoing down the mountain.

"SAHLOKNIR! ZIIL GRO DOVAH ULSE!"

One of the giant monstrous figures dancing in the sky beat its wings violently and sent stronger gusts of wind and snow down the mountain, unknowingly creating miniature hurricanes to hinder their progress forward.

"Lorkhan's eyes! Look at that big bastard! Keep your heads down. Let's see what it does!" Delphine shouted to them over the loud wind.

"That's a dragon?" Katia asked fearfully. "I thought those things were just fairy tales. When you said you fought them, I thought you were kidding!"

They stopped for a moment, watching the dragon carefully. As it came closer to the ground, Luna felt herself experiencing a surge of fear and protectiveness for her human friend. She propelled herself forward up the hill, ignoring the protests of the other three behind her. She was worried for the safety of her new friend and she was not about to let him perish in a storm of ice and fire that was sure to come.

She dashed up the hill and around a barrier of rocks as she finally came across the dragon burial mound and the horrifying scene that it was privy to. It was a dragon, black as ebony with eyes blazing red like rubies, hovering over the mound, staring at it as if it had something that the dragon wanted. Luna looked around, but could not find any sign of Ky'ell nearby. Whether he had run off somewhere else or found somewhere to hide, she had no idea.

"SAHLOKNIR! ZIIL GRO DOVAH ULSE!" the dragon repeated. "SLEN TIID VO!"

A burst of grey lightning and black wind came forth from the dragon's mouth, beating down on the burial mound. Piles of dirt and rock exploded out of the mound, as a giant skeleton clawed its way out of the mound and on to the surface. Black magic surged around the skeleton as it generated muscle tissue, organs, tendons, and skin bit by bit, bringing the beast fully back to life.

"Holy shit" Katia swore.

"I must agree," Celestia said with dread in her voice.

Luna turned her head to find the other girls witnessing the event before them. They caught up with her rather fast after she had broken away from the group. Now she was wishing that she had not.

"This is worse than I had imagined."

The resurrected dragon spoke to the black dragon in a raspy, yet intimidating and booming voice.

"ALDUIN, THURI! BOAAN TIID VOKRIIHA SULEYKSEJUN KRUZIIK?"

"GEH SAHLOKNIR, KAALI MIR!"
the black dragon said.

The black dragon turned its head to the side and started right down at Luna. She could tell that its blood red eyes were piercing right into her soul.

"FUL, LOSEI DOVAHKIIN? ZU'U KORAAV NID NOL DOV DO HI. "(So, you are Dovahkiin? I must admit, you are not what I expected.)

Then suddenly, the dragon growled and began to chuckle evilly.

"You do not even know our tongue do you?" Alduin asked in English. "Such arrogance, to dare take for yourself the name of Dovah."

"I am Princess Luna of Equestria. Diarch of the Sky and Regent of the Moon. My family were blessed with dragon ancestry and thus I became blessed with the Voice when I arrived here. I will vanquish you quickly and I will return home to reclaim my kingdom." Luna proudly proclaimed.

"Bold words for a female, to be sure. I do not know your smell, but if you are not of Skyrim, then you had the help of its people. I will make short work of any who dare to be more than what they are: worms. Insects crawling around in the dirt."
Alduin sneered.

"You will find that you will have trouble with two divine rulers of the sky Alduin," Celestia growled.

Luna readied a magical shield when she saw Alduin begin to inhale for a Shout.

"ZU'U DOVAHKIIN ALDUIN!" a familiar voice roared.

Everyone turned their attention off to the left where an epic sight unfolded.

Straight from the pages of a gripping fairy tale, Ky'ell, standing before Alduin in the blowing snow, faced the two dragons down with a look that would send demons running. His sword and shield were out, shimmering faintly in the white snow that blew all around. His dirty blonde hair seemed to float with the breeze, dancing all about.

Alduin's eyes widened in recognition of this man.

"The man from Helgen." he growled. "So, I have two quarries to deal with do I? SAHLOKNIR! KRII DAAR JOORE!"

Alduin bolted and flew off to the East to give his newly resurrected pawn a chance to kill both Dragonborn. Sahloknir turned to Luna first as he inhaled for his first Thu'um. Ky'ell dashed forward and channeled some of his magicka into his feet and leaped off of a rock, over fifty feet into the air. He flew over the dragon and landed on its neck. The action startled the dragon, forcing it to flail all over the place to remove the offending object. Before he was shaken off, Ky'ell managed to get in a few well placed slashes to the back of Sahloknir's long neck. Blood gushed from the dragon's new wounds and a few damaged scales fell to the ground. Angered by this attack, the dragon took to the air and began launching a volley of fireballs at them through the blizzard. The girls did their best to dodge and stay out of the way of the fireballs. Some of them impacting against nearby pine trees and setting them ablaze.

Katia, doing her best to gather up as much courage as possible, dashed out from behind her hiding spot and launched a dozen fire balls at the dragon, all the while screaming her head off to try to ignore how terrified she was. Half of them hit their mark, but bounced off Sahloknir's diamond hard scales harmlessly. The dragon chuckled evilly down at the quivering Khajiit girl.

"I see that mortals have become quite arrogant in the many millennium that I have slept through," Sahloknir growled. "YOL!"

Katia's pupils shrunk to pin size and her ears flattened against her head as a powerful stream of fire gushed from the drake's gaping maw.

"KATIA!" Celestia screamed.

Her entire life flashed before her eyes once again. In that moment, she was certain that she was going to die in agony.

Something inhumanly fast dashed in front of her and took the brunt of the blast. Katia was forced to shut her eyes from the blindingly bright flames pouring down on her savior.

For five seconds, all she could hear and feel was scorching heat and the roar from the dragon's Thu'um. When the heat ceased, she opened her eyes to find Ky'ell standing there with his shield up. His iron banded shield took most of the flames head on, but it was still scorching hot as the metal glowed a dull orange. No doubt searing into Ky'ell's flesh. If Ky'ell was feeling any sort of pain from this, he wasn't showing it at all. His right shoulder was also somewhat scorched from the flames that were not blocked by his shield. Bits of the fur padding on his armor were singed and the leather was damaged severely. Seeing the man that badly damaged, and still standing tall was certainly a sight to behold.

"That was my favorite studded armor," Ky'ell said menacingly. "It took me two days to get that to exquisite condition!"

Celestia grabbed the stunned Katia and pulled her back behind a wall of rocks while Luna rushed over to check on Ky'ell's condition.

The solar princess grabbed ahold of the Khajiit's hear with both hands and coaxed her to look into her eyes.

"Katia. Just breathe and calm down. Grab a bow and help Delphine bring that dragon to the ground. We will talk about this afterwards. Alright? Right now, we need to keep our heads or we won't survive," Celestia said firmly, but kindly.

Katia started tearing up, but she nodded vigorously as she accepted a long bow and a few arrows from Celestia. The alicorn ran back into the fray and began shooting a number of weaker fire spells at the dragon to conserve her precious magicka.

Delphine was bombarding Sahloknir with a barrage of elven arrows that missed many times. His overwhelming speed in the air was proving to be bothersome for the party.

"We have to bring the bastard down to the ground!" Delphine exclaimed angrily.

Luna tried to tend to Ky'ell's wounds quickly, but he refused vehemently and dashed back into the fight with enough rage to kill an army.

"Ky'ell! Wait!" Luna tried.

She saw the dragon come around for another stream of fire breath and charged up her last reserves of Lunar energy. Holding out her left hand, she stunned the dragon with a beam of magic to the eyes. It made Sahloknir flail widely in the air, unable to see where he was going.

The man waited until the dragon came in for a quick landing to get in a couple of well placed strikes with his sword. It wasn't long before Sahloknir touched back down to the Earth, shaking the ground beneath his razor sharp claws. He saw the Nord coming for him and tensed up with excitement.

"You idiot! Don't let it get too close to you!" Delphine barked.

"My Voice has been silent for far too long! It will be sweet to use it on such fresh prey!" Sahloknir cried with a mad glee.

Sahloknir tried to fry Ky'ell with a close range breath of flame, but the Nord quickly dodged out of the way and started slicing the dragon in any place he was able to.

"Luna! Celestia! If you want to help! Break this rotten old fucker's wings into pieces!" Ky'ell roared.

The solar princess took out her warhammer while Luna ran in with her Elven sword.

Celestia reared back with her warhammer, sending large amounts of magicka into her arms, aiming at the dragon while Ky'ell was distracting it. Swinging forward with massive amounts of force, she released her hammer and watched it fly right into the base of the dragon's wing. The magic, added with her own god like strength made the hammer into a giant blunt shuriken that spun like a windmill. The impact of the hammer dislocated the wing with a sickening crack, making Sahloknir roar in intense agony. Luna couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt at what they were doing, but she had to force those thoughts out of her head as they went in to finish off the dragon.

In a fit of rage, Sahloknir tried roasting the two alive with his most powerful fire breath yet. Ky'ell swung up on to his long neck, and with a roar of rage, plunged his sword right down into the dragon's snout, pinning it shut. Sahloknir's eyes widened in surprise as the inside of his mouth started to glow. He tried to stop his own Thu'um, but it was too late as the breath rebounded into his throat and into his stomach, scorching his guts and killing him. Sahloknir stared into Luna's eyes for a few seconds, as if he was looking into her soul. She slowly placed her hand on Sahloknir's snout and rubbed it gently, looking back into his topaz yellow eyes

"Sleep now, dear Sahloknir." Luna said with respect. "May you find peace in the next life that you could not find here. I pray that next time we meet, you will permit me to know you better."

Sahloknir's eyes almost seemed to look happy, like he was thanking the lunar princess for her kind words. They fluttered for a moment before they closed entirely as his massive body slowly slumped to the ground and all life disappeared from him in an instant.

The intensity of the fight stayed with everyone present, until they finally relaxed, and allowed themselves to sheath their weapons.

"I'll be damned. You did it! That was well done. Come on, I've been wanting a closer look at one of these buggers."

Celestia walked over to Luna who had a forlorn look in her eyes and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Luna? Are you alright?" the white alicorn asked.

"I...will be," she said reluctantly. "I understand that he had to die, but...I wish we could have gotten through to him and Murmulnuir. Evil or not, dragons are special like alicorns are. We are among the few primordial species left on Equis. It pains me to have to kill any of them, despite the fact I know I have to."

"You really do have a special connection with dragon kind," Celestia replied with a smile. "To love them this much."

"Is it really love though? I am not certain what these feelings are. Ever since we arrived here, more than my body has felt different."

"It is something that we will have to deal with in time."

Ky'ell pulled his sword out of Sahloknir's head and jumped down to Luna, who felt a familiar sensation begin to once again enter their bodies. They nodded to each other, ready for what was about to happen.

Celestia and Katia stepped back from the dragon's body in surprise when its scales started flying off like ashes in a strong breeze. It then began to glow brighter and brighter.

"Wait something is happening...gods above!" Delphine exclaimed.

Sahloknir's soul was absorbed into Luna and Ky'ell's bodies, as they received his essence and his power. Ethereal otherworldly chanting proclaimed their accomplishments and their well earned prize. It was unheard by all but the two newly crowned Dragonborn who stood silently and felt Sahloknir's power flowing through them. All flesh had disappeared from the drake's carcass, leaving it a pure white skeleton, laying lifeless in the cold snow.

"So you two really are them..." Delphine mused.

Katia walked out from her cover and came over to the group who were standing around, looking down at the skeleton.

"Holy shit, that was...amazing!" Katia said energetically. "Were the two of you always able to do that?"

"Not until recently," Luna replied.

Delphine quietly pulled a number of her arrows out of the skeleton that she had fired and placed them back in her leather bound quiver before turning back to the other four.

"I suppose I owe you all answers now," Delphine stated. "Go ahead. Whatever you want to know. Nothing held back."

"If we are going for the stock inquiry options instead of something uniquely phrased; What do you know of the dragons returning?" Ky'ell asked.

"Not a damn thing. I was just as surprised as you to find that big black dragon here."

"That dragon spoke as if he knew you Ky'ell. Have you met him somewhere before?" Celestia asked curiously.

"Yeah, that's the one that got away."

"Really? Where?" Delphine asked hastily.

"That big black turd was the one that attacked Helgen when the Imperials put me on the chopping block. I escaped along with Ulfric Stormcloak. Kinda weird that he was on the Southwestern end of Skyrim when where he was supposedly captured was on the Eastern end of Skyrim. Seems like a waste of time to bring him that far for an execution, but that's plot holes for ya.'

Luna facepalmed at the man's bizarre explanation while Celestia giggled at the man's antics.

"Interesting. Same dragon..." Delphine commented thoughtfully. "Damn it! We're blundering around in the dark here. We need to find out who's behind it all!"

"Who are you exactly?" Katia asked suspiciously. "We know you've been stalking these two for a while, but other than that, we are all in the dark about you."

"I'm one of the last members of the Blades," she proclaimed. "A very long time ago, the Blades were dragonslayers, and we served the Dragonborn, the greatest of the dragon slayers. For the last two hundred years, since the last Dragonborn emperor, the Blades have been searching for a purpose. Now that the dragons are coming back, are purpose is once again clear. We have to stop them. The Blades were once known as protectors of the Septim Emperors. Those days are long gone though. We've been searching for the next Dragonborn to guide and guard as we have been sworn to do."

"My sister and I have something similar." Celestia explained. "Our Celestial Praetorians have been our elite guard since before our mother and father ascended to the throne. Some of them can even trace their heritage back to our ancient tribe of alicorns. They were exceptional unicorn and pegasus ponies hoof selected by the alicorn chieftains to be our most powerful defenders. Most have unfortunately forgotten their true power and potential and act more as high ranking members of our Royal Guard these days."

"Good to see similar practices happen elsewhere," Delphine replied.

"So what is our next move then?" Luna asked. "The sooner we can solve this mystery and fufill this "prophecy" the sooner we can return home."

"First, we must find out who is behind the dragons. The Thalmor are our best lead."

"Those creepy elves that passed by Whiterun? Thought they were just high and mighty assholes," Katia said.

"You already met them? This is not good at all. They are aware of your presence. Its almost certain that they have spies watching you at the places that you frequent."

"Thankfully it is only that, as I sensed none following us as we traveled to Kynesgrove," Luna said.

"Regardless, we are going to have to watch our moves a lot more carefully now. We can't be attracting too much attention to ourselves or the Thalmor will be on to us. If they aren't involved in the dragons, they will know who is."

"So how are we gonna get a bunch of stuck up snobby elves who think they know everything to tell us what they know about the dragons?" Katia asked incredulously.

"Bad experience with elves?" Celestia asked.

"Let's just say I had an incident with an elf mage who led me into a trap," the Khajiit replied.

"If we can get into the Thalmor embassy...its the center of their operations in Skyrim. Problem is, that place is locked up tighter than a miser's purse. They could teach me a few things about paranoia. Not to mention, they know what the two of you look like, which complicates matters even further."

"So how do we get into that embassy then?" Luna asked.

"I'm not sure yet. I have a few ideas, but it will take some time to pull things together."

"Where will you go?" Katia asked.

"I'll need a week or two to call in a few old favors across the province. After that, meet me back in Riverwood. If I'm not back when you get there, wait for me, I shouldn't be too long." she said. "In the mean time, I suggest you learn some Alteration magic at the College or learn how to disguise yourselves at the Thieves Guild. The Thalmor will be looking for you now and you will need to learn all you can while you are in Skyrim."

"I do believe that's a good idea. Plus, we have some...business to attend to at the College as well. Some questions we have that need to be answered before we are able to return home," Celestia explained.

They heard a melodramatic groan and something fall to the ground with a clank as they turned their heads to what caused the noise.

Ky'ell had finally ran out of adrenaline and was now feeling the full effects of his serious injuries from the dragon's attacks. He collapsed to the ground unconscious from how much pain he was feeling. Luna panicked and prodded him to make sure he was still alright.

"Ky'ell! Ky'ell! Speak to me!" Luna cried.

"Let me play hop scotch with the goblins later mommy," Ky'ell chattered deliriously as he slipped into unconsciousness.

"Oh boy," Katia chuckled.

In the Northeastern most part of Skyrim, the Arch Mage of Winterhold was having a vision about an intriguing group of people. He had just had his evening cup of tea and was honing his divination skills, as was his duty as a mage. Allowing his magical skill to falter was simply not an option at his age. The Arch Mage was a man who rarely delved into prophecies as they often were a waste of time and energy in his opinion. Something about these people though piqued his interest. Especially the two females. Such unlike anything he had ever studied on the very face of Nirn.

"Mirabelle! Prepare the entrance hall!" he yelled out into the hallway.

"Yes sir! Are we expecting someone? New students perhaps?" a female voice shouted back.

"Oh yes, I should hope so! They will prove to open up many exciting prospects for this old place!"

While he scryed out images of the unusual group, a spectral man in a golden robe was watching from afar, sensing the people the Arch Mage was watching.

"So, the otherworldly visitors have finally arrived," the man said before disappearing into thin air.

Chapter 21: Road to Winterhold

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Under the thick cloud cover, it was clear that the evening was steadily drawing by. Fatigue from battle was starting to set in and the party decided that it would be a good idea to seek shelter. Luckily, the owners of the local Braidwood Inn were eternally grateful for their efforts in slaying the dragon and offered for them to stay the night for free. Delphine decided to remain with the party just for the night. She was also rather tired and preferred to be in peak condition before she went back out on to the road to complete her assignments. Luna and Celestia had to carry an injured Ky'ell inside to rest. His breathing was shallow and ragged, his long flowing hair hair was scorched in many places and his forearms were completely covered in third degree burns. The princesses had to push the awful smells of burnt hair and flesh out of their minds as they tried to help him.

Delphine took Katia into the dining hall of the inn while Celestia and Luna attended to their friend in the nobility suite. They would not dare sleep in separate rooms now that they knew that they were being targeted. Delphine ordered food for the group for supper, as thanks for their efforts in slaying the dragon and helping the Dragonborn. Katia finally realized how hungry she was. She had been so busy with running, fighting and worrying about everything that she was starting to neglect her own needs. She sat down in an old wooden chair by the bonfire in the middle of the inn and held out her hands, trying to warm them up, while Delphine ordered their food.

'Roaring fires, malt beer, red meat off the bone, and right by, they have a mine, A MINE!' one of Katia's internal voices recited.

"I feel like I should know where that is from, but I'm too hungry to care right now' Katia whined.

The room was well lit, with several candle mounts on each wall, and a lantern set upon the end table next to the main bed. Providing little warmth, but an ample amount of light. It thankfully had plenty of room for at least three people on the bed. They had brought extra blankets with them in the event that somebody may have to end up sleeping on the floor. The sisters plopped him on one of the beds and took off his armor to see the full extent of his injuries. His arms has sustained the majority of the burns and slashes, though some parts of his torso had unfortunately been hit as well as a result of Sahloknir's wide spread of flames.

"Stubborn fool," Luna groaned. "He takes so many risky chances and prods at death too many times."

Luna pulled out a couple of potions and helped Ky'ell drink them down as she lifted his head with a free hand. The man coughed once or twice, but then the viscous red liquid went down his throat fairly easily. Celestia noticed how gentle she was with her injured friend, careful as to not aggravate his condition any further. She smiled at this, glad to see that she had made such a special connection with the Nord in such a short amount of time.

"You really have made a good friend in him haven't you?" Celestia asked with a smile on her face.

"I...suppose so. He is so unlike me in so many infuriating ways and is so damn childish and reckless! He drives me crazy! But...he's a noble soul that I am proud to know. If I hadn't come here, we may not have gone through many horrors, but I would have never met him. To be honest, the thought is rather sobering."

The potions worked their magic as most of the more serious surface wounds Ky'ell had endured started to sizzle and quickly seal up, leaving behind a fresh layer of skin without any scarring. His breathing started to normalize once the burns disappeared. At last, Luna was able to breathe a sigh of relief now that the danger had passed. His chest rose and fell normally showing that he was at least starting to feel somewhat comfortable in his slumber.

"I should really search for some fire resistance potions once we have the time." Luna thought out loud. "Ky'ell seems to have an unfortunate weakness to magical fire at the moment."

"He's just going to have to build up an immunity to it cause he's going to be facing a lot more of it in the future," a voice said from the door. "If he gets killed by a little bit of fire then we're all fucked."

The sisters looked up and saw Delphine leaning in the door frame, taking a big swig from a tankard of ale. Some of it dribbled down her face, but she didnt seem to care.

"Perhaps you too have found a student of your own sister," Celestia said slyly. "Who knew it would be such an attractive stallion though? I never thought that of all places, you would choose your consort here in Skyrim."

"SISTER!" Luna snapped as she blushed violently.

Delphine and Celestia laughed uproariously at her stammers as she tried to defend herself.

Katia came into the room with a plate of food as the laughter commenced. She had no clue as to what caused it, so she sat down by the side of the room and watched with interest as Luna started chasing Celestia around the room like they were angry little girls. Delphine just stood there laughing harder and harder.

Soon after everyone had calmed down, they set up their sleeping arrangements. Who would be sleeping on the bed was an argument in of itself. Eventually, it was decided that Luna and Katia slept in the bed with Ky'ell, while Celestia and Delphine slept on the floor. The inn keeper was gracious enough to provide small bales of hay which acted as fairly comfortable pillows once they were covered in cloth and a left over fur cuirass that Ky'ell had in his bag. The floor was rather freezing, but with a little bit of internal magic and insulation enchanting, Celestia was able to make do with what she had. She knew that it would be a long time before she was back in her own bed, so she thought that she had might as well get used to the super chilled conditions of Skyrim.

She reluctantly accepted deer skins to act as bed mats so she could lie down a little easier. When she laid herself down on the mat, the fur was rather comfortable. Much to her unique dismay. Celestia thought it would be best to get some sleep, so she leaned her head back on to her make shift pillow and scanned the room around her. She was still unsure of Delphine's ulterior motives, so the alicorn felt it would be safer to remain in a light sleep with her ears to the ground, so to speak.

Luna and Katia were having a more difficult time getting comfortable on the bed, despite the more comfortable mattress. With the burly Ky'ell lying on his back, dead in the center of the bed, it was hard to move into a restful position, even for the slender Khajiit. Normally, Katia would be sleeping in only her undergarments, but given the new company and the severely cold climate, keeping everything on seemed to be a smarter idea to her. However, the two girls found that huddling up against the human was a pleasant sensation. The man was rather warm to the touch. His rippling muscles offered a unique feeling up against their fur. Katia and Luna unconsciously grabbed each arm on their side and held it close, as if it was a body pillow.

Opening one of her eyes and peering up at this sight, Celestia chuckled quietly.

'Fillies swooning over a strapping young stallion,' she teased internally. 'It seems that my sister really does have a new favorite person. Not that she would ever admit that.'

Looking up and down the length of the man, she found herself seeing the appeal of the Nord. Similar thoughts began to creep into her own mind about snuggling up to the comfortable looking man as she allowed herself to finally drift off to sleep.

That night, as they mentally prepared themselves for the many adventures and quests that were sure to come, each one of our heroes received unique to them. Many of divine and demonic nature were now closely watching these new warriors. Some, wished to provide counsel or comfort, while others watched, and waited or any of them to reveal critical weaknesses. Weakness that would lead them to their deaths

Luna found herself once again in a strange place. One that turned out to be friendly and familiar to her. Instead of her semi comfortable bed, she found herself laying in a bed of gleaming golden flowers. Pushing herself up to a sitting position, she saw that she was once again in the enchanting realm of Moonshadow.

'Lady Azura must wish to speak with me again.' Luna thought. 'Very well. She has earned my respect at the very least. I should probably see what she wishes of me'

The alicorn pushed herself up on to her feet and looked around. She found one of the paths through the garden fairly quickly as she went on her way towards Lady Azura's majestic domain.

Katia meanwhile was in a less pleasant place in her dreams. The khajiit felt herself in a very dark place. If it wasnt for her acute feline vision, this pitch black darkness would have blinded her completely. There was no sound, save for the occasional drip of water. She could feel her eyes glowing, giving her the only source of light to be found in this place. The ground was hard and flat, with crossings of grooves she could feel with her feet every so often. The unknown source of water made this hard floor slick and slimy. The young khajiit came to the conclusion that she was in a large building of some sort, made of large stones much like that of a castle. The dripping made a large echo that her ears were able to pick up, telling her that she was in a large enclosed space. Katia felt at the back of her mind that she was forgetting something important, but something else assured her that this darkness was all she ever knew.

'Where are you?' one of her voices asked.

The khajiit shrugged in confusion as she trudged along, fearful of her surroundings.

'Try using your Night Eyes. It might help you get around.'

The darkened silhouette of Katia nodded to the unseen voices in her head as she closed her eyes for a moment before opening them, able to see with heightened clarity.

Looking around, she saw that she was in some kind of castle dungeon. One with large cavernous chambers and chains attached to every wall like streamers.

Unseen to her, a dark presence was gazing down at her with an unquenchable hunger as she walked about the castle.

It seemed forever as she walked through miles of wet stone, never knowing if there was ever going to be a change in time or if the light would ever return. All of a sudden, right in the middle of her path, a beautiful glowing flower popped right out of the cracks. It startled her for a moment, before she silently kneeled down to get a closer look.

'That's pretty. Try picking it' one of her voices suggested.

She agreed with the idea. There was something oddly entrancing about the flower. With one of her hands, she reached out towards the base of the stem, where it came out of the cracked floor. Suddenly, before she could grab ahold of the flower, the flower lashed out at her and extended around her arm and around her torso. Katia silently began to panic as terror overcame her being. The flower constricted her as it turned into a nightmarish chain covered in spikes. They dug into her flesh as blood spurted from every hole in her body that they created.

'Get away! Get away! Get it off! Get it off!' another voice urged the panicking khajiit.

She tried exactly that, as she tried forcing the chains off but ended up only causing more damage to her hands which were mutilated and covered in slashes. The smell of blood here was amplified for some reason. It was not only her own blood she could smell, but the blood of others who were close by. Katia then felt something pierce through her back and out of her chest. It was an iron black spike covered in all manner of rusty hooks that prevented her from ever pulling it out. She could not tell why

She felt herself being pulled upwards by the spike as if she were a fish on a hook about to be eaten by some unseen fisherman. The chain pulled her towards the ceiling of the massive hellish structure as she came to a sudden stop. Feeling the effect of whiplash as the chain tossed her all over the place in midair. A flash of light revealed the massive form of a nightmarish queen gazing right into Katia's eyes with a manic grin. The queen pointed over to pillars towards the wall, which were still obscured by shadow. Katia was able to make out a mutilated figure chained to the pillar by the queen's horrifying chains.

Katia's fear started to multiply tenfold as the queen snapped her fingers and with a flash of light, the figure was revealed to be a defiled Celestia. Her armor was destroyed, her horn and wings had been cut off, and her eyes were missing. The queen cackled insanely as Katia screamed at the top of her lungs. The castle around her suddenly disappeared as it shifted to a scene of torment and destruction. It was Anvil, slowly pillaged, destroyed, and ransacked. The army was filled with all manner of evil creatures. Orcs, Dark Elves, Goblins, Hobgoblins, Hagravens, Dremora, and many others that she could not identify. Men, Women, and children alike were being mercilessly slaughtered by this demonic horde. The female citizens that were spared were beaten within an inch of their lives and hauled away to be used as slaves for their sick pleasures.

The scene zoomed in on the main square as the queen forced Katia to watch as her best friend Quill Weave ran for her life, desperately trying to escape a pursuing dremora. A goblin grabbed her by the horns and started beating her with a massive mace. Katia struggled against the chain that was holding her even more, not caring about the agonizing pain at all as her want to save her friend grew even stronger. Then her blood turned to ice as the goblin was finished beating Quill Weave and pinned her to the ground with two spears through her shoulders. Katia felt thick streams of tears flow down her face as she saw the goblin deliver the finishing blow with an axe. Katia tried to scream, but no sound came out of her mouth. The spike suddenly shot out and doubled in size as Katia was completely ripped apart into thousands of bloody pieces. Darkness then met her sight, leaving whatever was left of Katia in eternal torment.

The next morning, Celestia was again the first one to wake. It was just before dawn and everything was still dark, cold, and deathly quiet. It took a couple of minutes, but her keen eyes were able to adjust to the darkness of the room. She looked over to the wall where Delphine had been leaning and found that she was not there. She deduced that the mysterious woman must have left earlier to get a head start on her supposed "tasks". She grabbed her sword that she had kept on her side while she was sleeping and slowly got up on her hooves. Carefully scanning the room for any kind of disturbance, she was grateful to find that the door and everything had remained intact during the night. In such a hostile medieval world like Nirn, Celestia and Luna were forced to uncover old battle instincts from their ancient past that they had buried long ago.

Quietly heading over to the door to their room, Celestia cracked open the door just a little bit and carefully peeked outside. Only the Innkeeper was there outside sweeping up the main dining room of the inn. She could hear a few people outside the end working with farming tools, but besides that they were alone.

She knew they had to get an early start their trek towards Winterhold, so she went over to the bed to wake up her new "extended family".

The white alicorn ignited her horn to be as bright as a spotlight and shined it in the direction of the bed, making sure not to draw any outside attention.

"Come on! Rise and shine everyone!" Celestia quietly chirped.

The three people on the bed groaned all together to make a sound of something similar to a waking bear. The Khajiit however, jumped suddenly awake as she screamed in terror.

"Katia, I'm going to defecate in your pillow the next time you do that," Luna said with irritation. "Its far too early right now. I was having the most wonderful feast in a silver palace with royalty when you so rudely interrupted me."

The Khajiit peeled the covers off of her and pushed her torso upwards, so she was sitting on the edge of the bed. Her feline eyes were completely bloodshot, punctuating her tiredness. The young cat girl smacked her lips with thirst and a small amount of hunger after a long troubling night of sleep. Pushing herself up on to her feet she pathetically lumbered over to Celestia and placed her head into the alicorn's shoulder. Much to the alicorn's confusion. When she felt a few tears seep into her dress from the khajiit, Celestia became concerned. The khajiit was sweating profusely. It was a cold sweat that only one who had felt pure terror would create.

"Are you alright Katia?" Celestia asked.

"Yeah...just...another bad dream. Its nothing. I've always had them," she choked out. "I'll get over it."

"That was no dream. That sounded like a nightmare."

Celestia hugged the girl who graciously accepted the display of affection. Luna pushed herself out of bed and touched Katia's head. Igniting her horn, the exhausted alicorn gazed into Katia's head to try to find what had disturbed her so greatly. Staring into the blue alicorns steadily glowing eyes was rather unsettling for Katia, who had no idea what was happening. After a few more seconds, Luna ceased her actions and started cursing to herself quietly. Celestia gave her sister an expectant look, wanting an answer out of her.

"The fucking coward escaped before I could get a trace!" Luna growled angrily. "Something powerful invaded the dream realm alright. Whatever it was, it pulled Katia into a deep nightmare, and not a natural one."

"What do you mean?"

"That dream was a fabrication by something very ancient and something filled with evil magic.

"Can you put up a block to keep whatever it was out?" Celestia asked.

"I will have to enter this world's dream realm to attempt that. I have no knowledge of it, but I think I am going to have to learn quickly if we are going to be attacked through there as well" Luna summarized.

"Its that fucking Daedric Princess," Katia sniffled

"Who?"

"Vaermina." the khajiit spat. "She's been tormenting me for years. She ruined my life. Because of her, my parents fucking disowned me, my luck has been shit, I can barely sleep ever, and I have fucking mental problems. She ruined my life back then and she's trying to ruin my life now.

"I read about her in Whiterun" Luna said understandingly. "She is not unlike the dementors of Equestria who stalk the southern marshes on moonless nights. They feed off of your dreams and steal your most precious memories for themselves. Until there is nothing left but complete anguish and terror."

"We will have to deal with her then while we are here," Celestia concluded angrily.

"Wh-what?" Katia blubbered.

"I will personally kill this demon, this Vaermina, whoever she is. No one tortures my student and walks away with their life. These Daedra have been running about freely for far too long, and if the gods of this world refuse to reel them in, I believe that I should be the one to do it."

Far away, off in the barren realm of Ashpit, another Daedric Prince was laughing in approval of the alicorn's sheer audacity.

Katia felt a shred of joy and thankfulness returning to her body as she continued to cry into Celestia's rough spun night gown. The alicorn just stood there as she stroked Katia's head.

Luna had conflicting thoughts about that eventuality, and the risk she would put her sister and her new friends in, given her own troubled past connected to nightmares.

Ky'ell, still feeling quite sore from his encounter with Sahloknir the day before, groaned as he pushed himself up out of bed. Celestia smiled as she saw Luna's face light up and dash over to the human like a mother duck checking on her hatchling.

"You're awake!" Luna cried joyfully. "Oh frabjous day!"

The blue alicorn wrapped her powerful arms around the human and was surprised she was able to use a lot of strength and not hurt the man.

"Hey Loony, how ya doing?" Ky'ell asked weakly.

"I was worried. I'm glad you recovered adequately." she replied.

"Yeah, me too. I feel like I got hit with 50 fire damage."

Luna only giggled as she went over to the chest and pulled out the Nord's armor. They all proceeded to do the same as they slowly but surely got back into their armor and began gathering their belongings. Katia was still quite shaken from her traumatic dream, so she distracted herself by consolidating her inventory into her metaphysical lists. In the past she often liked to organize her belongings into the lists. It was a strange ability that she shared with Ky'ell. She would often organize her active quests and completed quests into separate lists. It was an unusual skill that few in Tamriel have ever been able to use, but luckily it turned out to be a very useful ability on her part.

'Put kill ancient Daedric prince on the top of your active quest list' one of her internal voices suggested.

"Oh believe me, that is my top priority now" Katia said angrily as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

She crossed out get horn back, go to Kynesgrove and kill first evil dragon ever and placed those entries into her metaphysical completed quests list. At the top of her Active Quests list, she entered: Kill or Humiliate Vaermina.

The innkeeper provided them with breakfast before they left as thanks. The party greatly appreciated the gesture as they sat down to eat at a table and talked about all of the things they should do in the coming weeks before they were to head back to Riverwood. Luna and Celestia were given a modest meal of vegetables and fruit while Katia and Ky'ell enjoyed some salted pork and eggs that were provided by a local farmer.

"Firstly, I must visit this College of Winterhold so we can get a better grasp on the magic here." Celestia summarized as she chewed down on a piece of fruit. "Then we will be able to get a better grasp on where we are in the Omniverse. At that point, I will be in a better position to contact our...space faring friend."

"Omni what?" Ky'ell asked.

"The ultimate name for all of creation and every multiverse and reality that exists as a whole." Luna explained eloquently.

The explanation didnt seem to help as the human still gave her a blank stare.

"I'll let one of my more educated friends enlighten you on the subject when we return to Equestria." Luna said annoyedly. "Regardless, I do believe if we are to fulfill this prophecy I keep hearing about, Ky'ell and I should learn all we can about our new found powers. Perhaps we should return the Horn to the Greybeards to gain more knowledge on that front. Or at the very least some concrete leads on the matter."

Celestia noticed that while they were all talking, Katia had become rather quiet as she silently sat there eating her food.

The khajiit had much to think about after her nightmare gave her quite the scare. In particular, her mind drifted to Cyrodil, and the things that she left behind. Honestly, it wasnt that much, but anything to her was precious. Having anything of worth at all was like having a treasure of unimaginable wealth. Her bad luck made sure that she never had anything substantially good. She had a lot of acquaintances she had come across during her many misadventures, but not a lot of actual friends. The few friends she had made while she still lived in Cyrodil for one. The eccentric, but noble soldier Asotil, the stern, but kind Countess of Anvil, and most of all, her Argonian friend Quill-Weave. It quite saddened her to think about the fact that as of this moment, many of them have been dead for two centuries at the least. In between that time, three major conflicts had sprouted up and threatened to plunge Tamriel into perpetual chaos. One of which, she was still completely unaware of. Nor did she realize how much she actually helped the Hero of Kvatch save the world two hundred years ago.

Half an hour later, they were ready to head back out on to the road as they took leave of the warmth of the Braidwood Inn and went back out into the unforgiving cold of Skyrim. It was still early morning, and the snow was pouring down. The cold was crisp and refreshing for the group, awakening any who were still groggy from lack of sleep. The farmers and miners who worked in Kynesgrove were already working on their daily duties. Two women were setting up a makeshift cover for some of the crops out of animal hides and large wooden stakes. Many of the men were brandishing their pickaxes to begin work in the Malachite mine. Their strong lungs created long warm breaths that streamed out of their mouths like big puffs of smoke. A fire had already been rebuilt and lit in the middle of their field for the morning. The light from the blaze helped many of the workers go about their day with an adequate amouny of heat and illumination. Some of the younger workers tended to the lumber piles around the village and chopped away at large fallen trees. Today, they were hauling around many of the trees that had been scorched or frozen through and through by Sahloknir's rampage.

The group quickly made their way back down the road they had used to come towards the village. Celestia was surprised to see that any evidence of the witch's attack a few days prior had been swept away. Only a few scorch marks and broken pieces of the road remained from the attack. Winterhold's Stormcloak guards were already changing to the morning shift, as they poured out of their barracks and came down to the main road. A number of them still recognized Celestia and warmly greeted her.

"Good day milady. Pleasure to see you again."

"Welcome back Princess!"

A couple of them even knelt down and kissed her hand out of respect, which the white alicorn oddly appreciated. Luna rolled her eyes at all the praise she was getting from the guards and some of the citizens of the city as they passed through. Much to her embarrassment however, Celestia overheard one of the guards ask their friends if she had come back to give her hand in marriage to the Jarl. Ky'ell and Luna started snickering like crazy at her expense. They soon moved on past Winterhold and made their way westwards, towards the bridge. They had learned from the innkeeper at the Braidwood Inn that there was no safe enough path for them across the river around Windhelm, unless they crossed the North Road Bridge, several miles west of the city.

As they continued on, Celestia received a number of greetings from the citizens of Windhelm. It warmed her heart quite a bit to see how much the people of that city had come to like her, despite not being there for long. It was an affect her and her sister had on many people, no matter their species. Celestia in particular, always had an easy job making friends with strangers. It was one of her hidden special talents. That's not to say other ponies didnt have that type of charm, but Celestia could brighten anyone's day just by being in her presence. Luna was the opposite growing up with her sister. While not unfriendly, Luna had a more troubled time trying to make friends with anyone outside of their own palace. It certainly surprised her when she saw how many connections she had made when she returned from her banishment. When they came to Skyrim, that charm became an essential skill that they knew they would need to get ahead in this world.

They followed the road alongside the river until they came to a fork in the road. One way leading westwards, back towards Whiterun, and the other a bridge. The bridge was somewhat old and stretched across to the other side of the river. To the left of the bridge was a waterfall that had been partially frozen over. Water still flowed underneath the layer of ice downwards into the river and towards the ocean. Thick icicles formed into giant pillars that almost resembled architecture. It made them feel even colder just staring at it. Parts of the bridge were covered in thin layers of ice forcing the group to watch their footing very carefully. A single slip in the wrong spot could mean plummeting off the bridge into an ice cold river that meant death for most.

On the other side they were able to make out a feminine figure wandering about. They do not know who she was, but it appeared that she was waiting for somebody anyone to pass by. As the party crossed the frozen stone bridge, they were able to make out the figure more clearly. It was a female orc covered in leather armor with a conspicuous leather bag attached to her belt. Celestia could tell right away that this woman could not be trusted just by seeing the devious look in her eyes. Luna smelled something foul and at the same time sweet. The intoxicating odor was coming from the orc woman's satchel. In her experience Luna new that's strange people skulking on the side of the road always meant trouble. She was just about to warn the rest of the party of this when something loud and obnoxious interrupted her train of thought.

"Hell YEAAAAAAH!" the Dragonborn screamed with glee as he charged insanely at the orc.

"WHAT IN OBLIVION?" The orc woman cried in surprise.

The woman tried unsheathing her own sword to defend herself.

"CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF THAT GOLDEN CRISP! ITS GOT THE CRUNCH WITH PUNCH!"

Katia, Luna, and Celestia stood there dumbfounded as Ky'ell stomped up to the woman like a bear on its hind legs and punched her in the face. The woman fell to the ground like a sack of potatoes as the Nord stole all of her belongings and tossed her off the bridge.

"WOOHOO!"

"KY'ELL! WHAT IN HEAVENS NAME POSSESSED YOU TO DO THAT?" Luna snapped at the Nord. "Do you have to pocket every interesting thing that you see?"

"Especially if its free!" Ky'ell chattered as he rummaged through the orc woman's belongings.

"Should we worry about her?" Katia asked as she peered over the rail of the bridge.

'It looks like she's still out cold'

"Oh ha, ha, ha!" Katia replied sarcastically.

Celestia rolled her eyes as she spotted a leftover net from a fisherman lying just by the shore. With her magic, she used it to drag the orc out of the water and plop her on some rocks before she could float out of sight.

"I appreciate eccentricities as much as the next girl, but please refrain from attacking people who dont deserve it," Celestia wryly remarked.

"Oh she had it comin alright. She was a Skooma dealer. Even though Dad used to sell the stuff, Ma would beat me something fierce if she saw me within ten feet of a bottle. I still feel the marks from her claws." Ky'ell said nervously as he rubbed his ass. "That woman is psychic I tells ya. I'd rather not risk her catchin me with this stuff.

He explained all of that as he pulled out bottles of Sleeping Tree Sap, three bags of moon sugar, a sack of coins, and three bottles of skooma which he reluctantly chucked into the river.

"Oh." Celestia simply replied.

"You're lucky Ky'ell. My parents never cared enough to keep me away from the stuff," Katia sighed depressingly.

"I should probably leave a note to Windhelm's guards about her then." Celestia concluded.

Igniting her horn, she materialized a piece of parchment paper and a quill and wrote down a small note detailing for the guards who the orc was and what her crimes were. She signed it in her name and teleported it to the orc where it would stick to her clothes until she woke up. Or was caught.

They continued onwards across the river and northwards towards the mountains where they finally stepped over the edge of the frozen wilds. More evergreen trees began to pop up again along with a lot of brush and bushes alongside of the road. It was a rather picturesque sight that reminded the Royal Sisters of Equestria around Hearth's Warming. Snowberry bushes were becoming even more and more common as time went on for them. For the most part, the road remained visible, despite how hard it was snowing this early in the day. The girls were already bringing out cloaks and thicker clothing while Ky'ell barely noticed the intense cold at all. The river leading out to the ocean was now far to the left of them, and was flowing a lot more calmly and smoothly than it had been back closer to Windhelm.

Soon, they came to a fork in the road where one path led into the mountains and the other continued on through the forest. There was a sign placed in the side of the road with multiple labeled arrow, pointing every which way towards all the major cities of Skyrim. It only however, would tell travelers the general direction the city was in. Typical of a still primitive culture. The Sisters were glad their roads and maps were more advanced than this. It got them to thinking how Tamriel could have remained this primitive for thousands of years.

They heard someone running down the path through the snow. They were coming down the mountain path at a very rapid pace. When the person started coming into view, they discovered that it was a rather scrawny man dressed in rather ornate clothing.

"A courier." Ky'ell stated.

"Ah yes, we call those mail ponies now though." Luna replied. "And we use a lot of them so the system is more efficient."

"Let me see if I can't see what he's got," Ky'ell whispered to himself mischievously.

"What was that?"

"Please tell me he's not doing what I think he's doing again," Katia muttered to Celestia as they watched the man calmly walk towards the approaching courier.

"If he does, we will apologize and then give Ky'ell a stern talking to." Celestia replied.

To their surprise, all the Nord did was bump into the courier by "accident" and fish something out of his pocket when he was gathering his dropped items. The man helped the courier pick up the rest of his things and apologized as he went on his way, running down the forest road.

"That had to be the second most polite robbery I have ever seen" Katia said dumbfounded.

"Only second? What was the first?" Luna asked.

"You dont want to know," Katia replied, remembering everything that happened with the enchantress Sigrid.

"Was that necessary?" Celestia asked disapprovingly to the absent minded Nord.

"Imperial couriers usually have good information," the man stated as he showed them a small piece of paper.

Luna snatched the paper from Ky'ell and read it out loud to the group.

Send a small dispatch to Tumble Arch Pass.

We have received word of an Elven treasure hidden there.

Go there before the Dominion finds out about it.

Your Benefactor

"I dont feel right stooping to stealing and pickpocketing, but it seems we can find valuable information that way here." Celestia concluded with a conflicted tone.

"Regardless, we cannot go there right now." Luna replied with assurance. "Tumble Arch Pass is in the opposite direction and going there only to come back the same way would only be a massive waste of time. We shall investigate it when we head back to Whiterun in the near future."

They continued on down the path as it went upwards into higher elevations and a much colder climate. Luna and Celestia found themselves breathing a little harder than normal. Along the slopes, they found a number of mountain goats jumping around, looking for tufts of grass. In the distance, Katia could vaguely hear the howls of wolves. It was an unsettling sound, to say the least. She held up her axe and gripped the handle tightly.

'Are you able to use Night Eye here? There's no sun. Nothing but dark clouds for miles all around' one of her internal voices asked.

"Night vision during the day, even during any kind of weather will create glare. So be careful if you are going to attempt that." Celestia cautioned the khajiit.

"I'll probably never get over the fact that you can hear those guys. I've never used it in a strong snow storm before." Katia replied bluntly. "I can try though."

Katia closed her eyes and concentrated, as she focused on her old innate ability. She opened her glowing eyes to the hyper focused face of Ky'ell standing just inches from her face with a dumb smile on his face.

"Hey, my Ma can do that too! Your eyes look all sparkly and shiny!"

"Eeep!" Katia screeched as she was startled by his sudden appearance.

Her tail fuzzed up as she jumped back a few feet and landed on her butt.

"Owww. Can you please not do that?"

Luna rolled her eyes at the Nord's antics as she helped Katia back on her feet.

"Now let's see here..." Katia mumbled.

Brushing herself off, Katia looked around and found that everything was a lot brighter and somewhat more clear. The snow caused quite a bit of glare but Katia was able to make it a few things far off in the distance. She saw what appeared to be a fort, up on top of the slope. The main keep of the fort and a section of the wall facing south was tall enough to be seen from at least a mile away.

"Theres a fort up there. I cant tell if theres anyone in it though."

"It would be a badly built fort if you could," Luna dryly remarked.

"Let's approach carefully. Our magic is still not completely up to taking on an entire army. So maybe we should see if there are any alternate routes-"

"WOOOHOOO! BADDIES AND TREASURE!" the Nord shrieked as he dashed up the snow covered slope.

"Stop running off you cotton headed ninny muggings and get back here before I stuff you into your own backpack!" Luna snapped.

Once again, she could feel a vein visibly popping out of her head in annoyance as she ran after the man who was most assuredly going to get all of them into trouble. As soon as Luna made it within ten feet of the walls, she felt something in her pack vibrate. Pulling the item out with a single hand, she found that it was Ky'ell's enchanted map which identified the new location within their vicinity. An icon of a castle keep started to glow steadily with a name below it popping into existence: Fort Kastav. She saw that they were now almost directly north of Windhelm, just beyond a mountain that separated them from the ancient city. Luna felt something else as she got closer to the fortress. Something familiar that always made her blood boil with rage every time she felt its presence. The sickening essence of dark magic radiating from the inside of Fort Kastav. She knew right away that she would have to be extra careful. When dealing with users of dark magic, she had to be three steps ahead at all times. Where her Nord friend was, she could not tell, but she hoped that he was still safe.

"Ky'ell! Where are you?" Luna hissed as she pressed herself up against the wall of the fortress.

She could hear movement of a dozen figures moving about the Fort's perimeter, the sound of their footsteps were unusual to her. They made clacking and rattling sounds as they moved across stone. Celestia and Katia came up behind as they dashed up against the wall.

"Where did that moron go off to?" Katia asked nervously.

I'M REA-DYYY!!! READY FOR THE BIG RIDE BAAAAA-BY!!!" they heard Ky'ell shriek.

They suddenly heard sounds like cracking thunder rocketing through the air, followed by dozens of arrows being fired from creaking bows. Dashing around the corner, they found the main entrance to the inside of the fort covered in patches of unnatural magical frost. Spiked barriers made from wooden spears protected the main entryway, presumably to prevent easy access for an invading force of soldiers from pouring inside. Running inside, they found a heavily one sided battle unfolding before them.

Hundreds of bones were spread about all over the courtyard. Scorch marks and frostbite spell spots covered every inch of ground. Some of the Fort's necromancer inhabitants were already killed, Luna could only guess that these were just the guards that watched the main roads for any intruders. Looking around for her wayward friend, she found him leaning over the edge of the wall of the fort just beside the main keep. He was holding one of the last surviving conjurers by the ankle, shaking him up and down over the edge.

"Give me all your Septims NERD!" Ky'ell barked with mean spirited joy. "And all the potions you got!

"Okay! Okay! Okay! Just please don't kill me!" the conjurer pleaded pathetically. "They're in my robes! They're in my robes!"

Moving the mage back to safety, Ky'ell shook the mage even more until a few sacks of coins plopped out. Grabbing the pouches, Ky'ell threw the conjurer over the Fort wall and into a bush, where his groans of pain could be audibly heard. Ky'ell cheerfully jumped down to the courtyard and walked towards his friends who were giving him dumbfounded looks.

"Hey guys! That was fun! You should have joined me!"

"What is the matter with you? You have some serious deep seated issues!" Luna snapped.

"I know! I got some cool stuff out of it!"

Ky'ell tossed a couple of poison bottles and health potion to Luna and Celestia who pocketed them after giving Ky'ell a funny look.

"I'd rather not casually incur the wrath of a fort full of deadly necromacers!" Katia cried. "Unless, we needed to...you know."

"Did you get a chance to go inside?" Celestia asked expectantly.

"Nah, I'll go in when we come back this way." Ky'ell replied. "That College will probably want us to come here for something soon."

"Not sure if that's laziness or good foresight." Katia questioned.

"I'll pick the former," Luna said as she shook her head and rubbed her snout.

Heading back down the road, they started coming back downhill as they passed a number of narrow crags and pathways. They kept a hand on their weapons, knowing bandits and other such brigands could use these hiding places to their advantage. Despite going into a lower elevation, some how it was getting even colder with every step North they took. Katia had to pull out an extra cloak despite her thick layer of fur that insulated the khajiit quite well. Up on the right, they came across the opening to an ominous looking cave. The mouth of the cave had gnawed bones thrown about, the impaled remains of burnt corpses, and even a large blood stain upon a nearby boulder. The girls could smell all manner of foul things in the cave that made their stomachs leap.

For a moment, Luna swore she could feel something old and full of hate staring back at her from out of the darkness. She just dismissed the feeling as paranoia from being in Skyrim for too long. The alicorn felt the map vibrate once again as she pulled it out. The name that appeared before her gave Luna a creepy feeling at the back of her throat. Stillborn Cave.

Ignoring the imposing cavern, they went about their way, with the frozen Northern coast of Skyrim finally coming into view. An arctic sea filled with all manner of icebergs, snow, fog, sheets of ice, and thick puffy white clouds blocking out the sun as far as the eye could see. The coast was somewhat more lax as compared to the treacherous mountains that were directly behind them. Rolling hills of snow, along with a few stray pine trees towering high into the icy sky and many tufts of hardy grasses and bushes that have managed to survive even here. A pack of ice wolves tried to ambush the party, but a stern gaze and a soothing spell from Celestia quickly sent them about their way. When it came to any form of wildlife, Celestia always tried to be kind and understanding to their instincts. Her personal sanctuary in Canterlot Castle was a testament to that. She knew that she would have to apply that policy even more so now that they were in Skyrim.

They could already tell that it was starting to get late, as the sky darkened behind the silvery cold clouds of the North. As the day grew darker, the temperature dropped even further. All in the group, except for Ky'ell himself was shaking like a leaf. The Nord almost seemed at home in this unforgiving environment. His eyes pierced through everything around him from behind his Iron Helmet. His breath was thick and pillowy, like the smoke from a dragon's mouth. Katia's teeth chattered loudly through the loud blowing of wind all around. Every so often, Celestia would rub her arms, in a vain attempt to warm them up. She tried warming herself up with her magic, but found that she couldnt quite conjure up that level of a spell just yet.

Along their path up on the left, facing the mountainside, they came across a lone mine where hardy people of the region were working diligently. Luna felt slightly jealous when she saw one of the workers shoveling coal into a clay smelter in front of the mine. If the workers had seen them approach, they didnt seem to care or notice as they never lifted their heads from their work even once. Two guards were walking up and down the length of the road, while keeping an eye out for anything trying to approach the mine from the snow. One of the guards saw the group approach and put a hand on his sword. Celestia and Luna's presence un doubtedly causing the guard to wait for them to cause trouble. Celestia stepped forward with a friendly smile on her face and gave a short bow.

"Greetings, I am Princess Celestia of the island continent of Equestria in the Eastern Padomaic Ocean. How far down the road is Winterhold?" she asked diplomatically. "My sister and I are visiting the main cities of your province for diplomatic reasons."

The guard seemed confused for a few seconds, but relaxed after he was able to gather his thoughts.

"Just five miles down the road your majesty. I apologize for my apprehension. We have heard tales of a white horse princess that came to Windhelm, but we believed it to be a joke." the guard admitted in a thick accent. "I apologize in advance though your graces."

"Why do you say that?" Luna asked.

"Winterhold is not much to look at. Its now just a withered husk of an age that has long since passed."

"What do you mean?" Katia asked.

"You shall see when you arrive. Now with respect, I must be getting back on to my patrol. Be sure to visit the Jarl however, I bet he would be more than willing to give you warm food and warm beds to sleep in tonight."

"Thank you, that sounds quite lovely right now," Celestia replied cordially.

The guard bowed back and continued down the road to go back to his patrol.

"Is that like your go to explanation?" Katia asked. "Cause I'm assuming people arent gonna just be accepting of a pair of winged unicorn that walks around on two legs and speak perfect common tongue."

"Its the best explanation I could come up with, given our unique circumstances. I learned about much of Tamriel from Jarl Ulfric's extensive personal library. Apparently, the Eastern Ocean is largely unexplored, save for a few island chains and a continent called Akavir. It would be easier to say that we are an undiscovered species rather than saying we are ponies from another dimension."

"I see your point there."

The road turned and hugged the mountainside as they quickly approached their destination. Off in the distance, the party was able to make out a massive structure sitting high on a plateau of rock and ice. The sight was rather impressive to the royal sisters, who always admired huge feats of architecture. As they got closer, it appeared at first glance that large pieces had been forcefully broken from the land and fallen into the sea. Though they could not fathom as to why or how. Many mysteries were upon them as they closed in upon the ancient capital city of Winterhold.

After another hour, at long last, they arrived at the city, which looked more like a half destroyed village than anything else. Only six structures seemed to be completely unharmed, other than the College that laid before them. Countless old decimated houses and pieces of timber were still sticking up out of the snow. Some old undiscernable structures were dangling off of the cliff, still holding on for dear life after decades of abuse. Celestia was able to make out the shape of some roads that led down somewhere but stopped just at the cliff.

"What the hell happened here?" Katia asked. "It looks like this place was washed away or assaulted by an army!"

"I intend to find out soon, if we can get any answers of of the people here that is."

The sisters opted to cover their faces and horns with their large cloaks before they stepped inside the city, so as to not warrant any untimely attention from the locals.

It worked fairly well as they walked slowly along the main road, looking at everything that was left of the city. When they came to the end of the street, they found two ornate towers parellel to a magnificent, tall bridge that crossed the gap all the way to the College. Several different towers marked points along the path of the bridge like significant markers. Even here, Celestia could tell that the College suffered some damage too from this un-named catastrophe that she was suspecting.

At the first set of towers, marking the first gateway into the College, a hunched over old man in raggedy clothing was sitting there silently waiting for anyone who dared to pass by. Slightly apprehensive, Ky'ell stepped forward up the path until the old man standing guard held up his hand.

"Stop! Whoever dares to cross the bridge of the famed College of Winterhold must answer these questions three! Only then will the other side you will see!"

"Uhhh, alrighty." Ky'ell simply replied. "Ask away!"

"What is your name? The old man started.

The girls were immediately confused and suspicious by how simple the questions were. They decided to keep an eye and an ear out so they can be ready for whatever the old man had to throw at them.

"Ky'ell of the Ri'saad Caravan." Ky'ell replied.

"What is your quest?"

"Mostly to find shiny cool things and learn a bunch of cool spells. But helping my friends here and kill a bunch of evil dragons along the way is cool too."

"What...is your favorite color?"

Katia and Celestia found themselves snickering at the question and the way that the old man said it.

"A nice midnight blue."

Luna felt herself blush when she heard that.

"Alright, off you go!" the old man said cheerfully.

"Uhhhh, okay. Thank you. Thank you very much!"

Ky'ell stepped forward into the first tower and waited for the others to approach.

Luna stepped forth next and looked the old man up and down, gazing for any signs of trickery.

"Stop!" the old man repeated. "Whoever dares to cross the bridge of the famed College of Winterhold must answer these questions three! Only then will the other side you will see!"

"Very well old man, ask away," Luna said.

"What is your name?"

"Princess Luna of Equestria." she replied firmly.

"What is your quest?"

She figured that the honest answer would be the best answer in this scenario.

"To fulfill my destiny with Ky'ell as fellow Dragonborn to slay Alduin and return home to our country."

The old man seemed to flinch for a moment at the mention of Alduin's name, but he gathered himself quickly and returned to his crotchety attitude.

"What, is the Capital of Morrowind?" the old man asked quickly.

Luna tried to think but she was finding herself stumped. It has been a while since her studies in Whiterun under Farengar and her memory was not as sharp as her sister's.

'It's Mournhold Luna' Celestia spoke into her mind.

"Mournhold, old man." she replied.

"Right then, on you go!"

Luna quickly moved past the old man and joined Ky'ell in the tower, all the while still keeping an eye on the unusual old man. Celestia came up next and she quickly aced her questions, along with the third trick question that the old man had up his sleeve. Finally it came to Katia who approached the man. She was feeling quite nervous and still didnt know what the odd guard to the College had up his sleeves.

"Stop!" the old man repeated a fourth time. "Whoever dares to cross the bridge of the famed College of Winterhold must answer these questions three! Only then will the other side you will see!"

"Okay, ask away." she replied.

"What is your name?"

"Katia Managan of Anvil."

"What is your quest?"

"To become a world class mage and see my new home with my new teacher." Katia said proudly looking at a smiling Celestia.

"What is your favorite color?"

"Blue, no gree--EEEEEN!" Katia shrieked at the top of her lungs as she felt herself being thrown into the air.

"KATIA!" Celestia cried as she tried catching the khajiit with her magic.

The khajiit fell and was about to tumble down the cliff when she was suddenly caught by something in mid air.

"GRANDFATHER! Stop pestering potential new students with that stupid quiz of yours!" a female voice barked.

Katia was levitated back over to the bridge and was dropped on to her bottom.

A fair, blonde haired woman wearing a long brown robe stepped into the tower with an irritated look on her face.

"Oh, come on! Faralda! Let an old man have his fun!" the old man replied.

"You kill all our recruits that way! That quiz was banned from the entrance exam for that reason!"

The old man groaned as he shuffled down the bridge and back on to the main street of Winterhold as he walked slowly towards the local inn.

As soon as the old man was out of sight, the fair woman gave the party an apology.

"I am very, very sorry about that. My grandfather is from the old generation of wizards here at the College. They had a bit more extreme ways of accepting in students. That is until they realized it didnt help anything in the slightest." Faralda said genuinely. "That, added with a mastery of levitation spells made him mischievous in his old age."

"Well, nothing is broken, so I guess no harm no foul!" Katia said before yelling back in the direction Faralda's grandfather was walking.

"Thank you for saving her," Celestia said as she gave the woman a small bow.

"Don't mention it. The College has been expecting your arrival, your highnesses." Faralda explained. "We do have a simple test that will allow you entry into the College. Our Arch Mage has already sensed that you all have some degree of skill in the arcane arts, so we will only require one of you to perform this test. All you have to do is cast a specific spell of our choosing within the confines of this first tower"

"That sounds reasonable enough." Luna replied.

"Excellent. The Flame Atronach spell is a vital companion for anyone relying on Conjuration. Summoning one here would surely show your skill."

"I can do that! Kinda. A little bit," Katia said.

"Are you sure?" Celestia asked concerned.

"Yeah, I've done it before. It just takes a minute."

"Take all the time that you need" Faralda replied. "Cast the spell and summon the Atronach on top of the sigil here."

Faralda pointed to the plate on the ground inside the tower and stepped to the side.

Reaching out across the stars with her magic, she felt around for a familiar realm of heat and laid back female daedra. It didnt take long to backtrack the trail that Sigrid had used as the khajiit contacted a familiar atronach inside the realm of Infernace. Katia felt a wave of happiness flow over her as the atronach recognized the khajiit's unique aura. It seemed to be glad to hear from her again after two hundred years of silence. She felt a number of questions enter her head from the Atronach, but she had to politely interject. She quickly explained the situation to the atronach and promised to bring her up to speed on everything that has happened. There was silence for a moment, but Katia then received a response of approval as she felt the atronach sear across the realms. It quickly came into being and stepped on to the College sigil.

"So that's a Flame Atronach, interesting." Celestia mused.

The atronach looked around until it found Katia.

"Hey, nice to see you again!" Katia greeted cheerfully.

The atronach seemed to be extremely happy as it jumped on to Katia and started hugging her tightly. The others started giggling when the Atronach held Katia's face into its chest.

"Alright, Alright, Alright! I missed you too! You're just as blazing as always pal."

"A friend of yours Katia?" Luna asked humorously.

"Yeah, this atronach and I go back." Katia mumbled from under the burning hot chest of the atronach.

"A very forward friend if you ask me," Ky'ell quipped.

"Well, she seems friendly enough," Celestia stated awkwardly with a sheepish laugh.

"Well done, indeed Miss Katia," Faralda chuckled heartily. "I think all of you will be welcome additions to the College. Welcome Mages and Apprentices."

Next Time: First Lessons

Two Sisters and a Dragonborn

by Spettro138

Prologue: A Mad Welcome (Update: 8/27)

Chapter I: Awake (LATEST EDIT: 12/8/18 )

Chapter 2: Whiterun (UPDATED: 12/10/18)

Chapter 3: Second Awakening (UPDATE:12/10/18)

Chapter 4: An Unusual Hero (LATEST EDIT: 12/10/18)

Chapter 5: A Blazing Escape

Chapter 6: The Shout

Intermission: The Mane Meeting of Madness (Update: 8/11)

Chapter 7: The Bear of Ice and The Horse of Sun (LATEST EDIT: 09/14/18)

Chapter 8: Bounties, Odd Jobs, and Lodging

Chapter 9: Beginning of the Quest

Chapter 10: The Pon, the Witch, and The Kat (LATEST EDIT: 1/11/19)

Chapter 11: Valtheim Towers and Missed Encounters (UPDATED 11/8)

Chapter 12: Missed them by that much

Chapter 13: Mini Quests - White River Rescue and The Beacon

Chapter 14: Coming Round The Mountain

Chapter 15: Reunity at 7,000 feet

Intermission: The Second Chaos

Chapter 16: The Way of the Voice

Chapter 17: The Long Way Around

Chapter 18: Ustengrav

Chapter 19: Tensions at Riverwood and A New Quest

Chapter 20: Kynesgrove

Chapter 21: Road to Winterhold