> The Pony Scrolls 5: Skymare > by flutterboom64 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter 1: The Imperimares > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks to Cobalt (not this website unless he has the same account name for this website) for proofreading this and fixing the errors Run. It's all I can do. Run, just run! Who are they? Bandits? Guards? Did I do something wrong? It doesn't matter. I have to run. Should I fly? No. The archers will have me down in 10 seconds flat. They're getting close. AUGH! A severe pain that could drive the toughest of stallions to tears shoots through my left wing. I grind my teeth to try and avoid blacking out. For a minute it seems that I may stay awake. I keep running. I look back to see if I'm escaping. The sight of an arrow going in through one side of my wing and coming out of the other brings back the pain. I let out a yelp of pain before tripping and hitting the cold hard ground. I fight to stay awake. Dizziness overcomes me. The world seems to be tilting. The guards arrive. They tie me up and throw me onto a wagon with four others. One looks... familiar. Before I can determine who this familiar horse is, I fall unconscious. As I come to, I find that I lay in a small pool of dried blood. I am unable to move. No! It's really happening! I have been captured. My body begins to shake. My armor is missing. It didn't offer much protection, being made of leather, but the warmth is needed in most parts of Skymare. "I saw what they did to you." I almost forgot there were other horses on the wagon. I turned to see a mare. I slowly stood up, trying not to hit my wing on anything. The arrow was removed but otherwise I had not received treatment of any sort. The Mare was a pegasus like me. She was golden yellow and had dark pink eyes. "The name's Daring," the mare muttered. "You tried to cross the border didn't you? We shouldn't be here, you and I. It's all the Stormcolt's fault." As I looked around the wagon, not wanting to agree or disagree with the mare, I saw two others. One was a stallion. His coat looked like Daring's, but lighter. His mane was brown. "You are?" "Caramel," the young stallion said. "Hey, quiet back there!", the stallion pulling the cart yelled. We're almost there. "Where are we going?", I whispered. "Where do you think?", said Caramel. The only place the Imperimares think is suitable for us. Our deaths. I was a fool to think any different. Death. Is this when it will come to me? Now? My eyes tear up. I haven't even seen a tear of mine for years. Now I feel that salty liquid running down my face. No one said a word. Silence. I wiped my tears to avoid looking like even more of a... a loser. Almost forgetting the familiar mare I saw earlier, I turned to my right to see her. Celestia? I have heard of her. Many story tellers told of her silky mane. Her sparkly white coat and her unusual height. They weren't lying about her being an alicorn. Emotions swelled insinde me. She is the one who murdered the high king! I don't know if I should hate her or not. She isn't the one murdering me, after all. Her mouth is... tied up for some reason. Before I can ask the others about it, the wagon pulls into a small town. I hear a small child's voice. "Mama, Why are those men tied up?" "Go inside, Pip." "Bu-" "No buts, go in!" The kid rolled his eyes at his mother's stern tone. He reminded me of myself when I was a filly. The cart stopped. "Get out!", the stallion pulling the cart bellowed. One by one, we were helped out of the cart. I was the last out. The ponies that have captured us are all wearing armor so I can't look at the faces of our killers. "Who are you?" One of the ponies asked sternly. Her armor is different. She must be the commander of this squad. "R-Rainbow... Rainbow Dash," I studdered. "She's not on the list. What should we do?", asked the pony to the right of the captain. Is this it? My chance at freedom? "Send her to the block anyway!" My heart sank. That may have been my one and only chance to escape. "NO!" I heard Daring scream. Everypony looked at her. "I-I don't want to die!" She broke into a full out sprint towards where we entered the town. "Archers, fire!" Yelled the captain. The arrow went straight through her back and sank in deep as Daring fell to the ground. She didn't move. One of the stallions went to check her vitals. "Dead!", I heard him yell. I was horrified. I looked over at Celestia and Caramel. They weren't phased at all. GRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWW! Every one looked around for the source of the deafening screech. "What was that?" One of the Imperimares asked. "Just ignore it!" shouted the captain. "First prisoner!" The stallion holding the scroll unrolled it and shouted "Caramel, to the block!" Caramel looked completely calm as he trotted over to the block. "It has been an honor." he said turning to Celestia. Celestia nodded. Once Caramel got to the block, he kneeled down. The executioner brought up his axe, positioned it, and let it fall. I looked away, and when I looked back, Caramel's head had been completely removed from his body. The executioner stallion kicked Caramel's body away. "Next prisoner!", the commander yelled. "You! The blue one!" I froze. Me? This can't be happening. "Well, are you coming over here or are we going to have to make you?" I slowly started to walk over. Getting closer and closer to my demise. Time seemed slow. What was a few seconds seemed like hours of walking. When I made it there, a guard tripped me making me fall onto the block. I let out a grunt of pain before nodding to Celestia. She nodded back. The executioner picked up his axe, positioned it, and- GRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWW! The deafening shriek returned as something land on the roof of the building behind us. The executioner dropped his axe backward due to the force of the shake the creature caused. Everyone panicked and ran. I seized the opportunity to run too. I followed a few others and ran into a building. I started running up the stairs. Then, while running up the stairs, the wall broke. It's the dragon. > Chapter 2: Escape > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks to Cobalt (not this website unless he has the same account name for this website) For proofreading and editing this chapter GRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWW! I jumped back right before the dragon shot flames everywhere. When he finished, he walked away from the building. "JUMP!", I heard a stallion yell. I stepped back and took a leap. I made it to the other side safely. I heard another set of hooves land behind me. It must have been the stallion that told me to jump. I ran through the burning building and dropped down through the hole in the floor. I ran through the hot, smoky building until I ran through the singed doorway where I assume a door used to be. I heard the dragon screech once more. GRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWW! The ear-destroying cry scared me, and I fell to the ground. AH! I shot back up. I looked and saw that I landed on hot ashes. There's a scar there, but I have to keep moving. I saw the town enterance and broke into a full out sprint. I kept running until I escaped the town, the wretched place that it was. I turned around and saw the dragon fly off. I sat down to take a quick rest when I saw Celestia fly off, her mouth still tied. That's when I heard a crying sound come from a familiar young voice. I turned around to see a young colt with a white coat staring at the city and crying. It was the little colt from before. I trotted up to him. "Hey, Pip," I said, trying to sound neither happy nor upset. He wiped away his tears and just stared at the city. "What's upsetting you?", I said, pretending like I didn't know. "M-my mom didn't come out of the city," he said as his eyes started tearing up. "I'm sorry, little guy," I said sympatheticaly, then I just let him cry for a moment. "If you want, you can come with me for a little bit and I'll keep you safe." He wiped his tears away once more and stared at me for a long while, then he finally said, "Do you promise?" "I promise Pip." "Whats your name?", he asked. "Rainbow Dash." "What happened to your wing?" "Let's save that story for another time, Pip, okay?" "Okay," he said. Then I heard the voice of a stallion say "Need help?" I turned to see a stallion covered in armor. "Are you the one who told me to jump?" I asked. "Yes, it was me." "Thanks. I don't think I would have thought to do it otherwise." "No problem," he said. "I have family that lives in a town near here. Would you like to come? I need to tell them about the dragon." "I thought they haven't been alive for hundreds of years." "Well, it looks like at least one is alive, and that's something to be worried about," he said with a worried tone in his voice. "Now, are you two comming or not?" "Well, Pip, what do you think?", I asked. "I think it's the only option we have." Pipsqueak mumbled, still sounding a bit upset. "Okay, we're in," I said. "What's your name?" The stallion removed his helmet to reveal a blue face. "The name's Blues!" He said cheerfully. "You guys are?" "Im Rainbow Dash, and this is Pip." I said. "Pipsqueak," Pip corrected. "Pip is my nickname." "Alright," said Blues. "Rainbow, you're going to need to be able to defend yourself." He leaned in closer to me and whispered "Take some armor and a sword from the captain's dead body. It's in front of the house you and I jumped out of." "Okay," I whispered back. "May I please hear too?", Pipsqueak asked. "Well, I'm going to find armor and a weapon I can use to protect us with." I said. "Can I have a weapon too? Maybe a dagger?" Pipsqueak's eyes began to light up. "Sorry, Pip. You're only a colt. Maybe when you're a bit older." "Awww, alright," Pip moaned. "Now stay with Blues and don't leave until I come back," I said in a slightly stern tone. "Okay?" "Okay," Pip said, still using his disapointed tone. "I'll be right back." I then trotted into the town. > Chapter 3: Armor > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks to Cobalt for proofreading and editing this story! Also after playing the beginning of Skyrim again I realize I did mess up on a few things. I hope I will do a little harder to be more accurate during the parts I am following the story from now on. I quickly trotted through town, looking for the pile of rubble where a tower used to stand. "A dragon," I said to myself, "A dragon. How lucky can one mare get?" I then looked at my wing with a hole through it and the small burns on my stomach. "Well... not too lucky," I joked. I continued to look until I came across a big pile of rubble in about the center of town, surrounded by dead guards. "Now, which one was the captain?", I wondered. While walking around and turning dead bodies, I came across a corpse that was burned and headless. My eyes began to tear up. "No," I said to myself sternly, "Don't cry again." I turned away to keep searching. After about five more minutes of searching, I came across a corpse a bit smaller than the others. When I looked closely, I saw a slight difference in the armor. "Here it is," I whispered to myself. I took off the helmet to reveal a very light purple face and a mane of darker purple. I then took off the rest of the mare's armor and viewed it. It was neat and clean, except for the front of the body piece. There were a few holes, a couple of small cracks, and some dried blood on it. The dragon must have crushed her with his claws/, I thought to myself. I looked back to the mare and saw a strawberry and some grapes on her flank. "What an odd cutie mark for a guard," I said. Usually, it's along the lines of a weapon or shield with something making it differ from the other guards' cutie marks, even if they have the same weapon, I thought, this time in my head. I put on all the armor, except for the body piece, which I'd put on top of my back. I began walking around until I came across a well. I took a big drink out of it. "Ahhh," I exclaimed. "How long has it been since I had water?" It didn't matter. For a few seconds, nothing did but the cool liquid sliding down my throat. After I finished drinking, I dropped the heavy armor into the water. After a few minutes of wiping the blood off with water and my hooves, I lifted it back out and equipped it. "Finally, I can get out of here," I said cheerfully. I quickly trotted to the exit to meet back with Pip and Blues. "Ahhh!" Pip yelled. "Please don't hurt us!" Pip's eyes began to tear up. I took off my helmet. "Don't worry Pip, it's just me." His tears seemed to dry instantly and they were replaced by a huge grin. "Yay, you're back!", he cheered. "Hey, where did you get that armor?" Blues shot me a concerned look. "Oh, I, um... found it," I said, trying to keep a smile on my face. "Where?" Pip questioned. "Um... the... uh... the ground!" I said, still forcing a smile. Pip gave me a confused look then went back to looking at my armor. "What happened to it?" Pip asked, pointing to the cracks and holes. "I'm not sure," I said. Of course, this was a lie. "Oh," he said, sounding slightly disappointed. Things were silent for a minute. I let my fake smile fade and Blues allowed his concerned look to do the same. The silence was broken by Pipsqueak. "Um, Ms. Rainbow Dash?", he asked. "Yes, Pip?" "Are we going yet?" Blues answered the question for me, saying "Yes, I think it's time. If we don't leave soon, we won't make it there before nightfall." I then realized that I've never heard of where we were going. "Get to where, exactly?", I asked Blues. "Riverhoof," Blues replied. "Mr. Blues told me soooooo much about Riverhoof while you were gone!", Pip said. "He said that there was an inn, a store with a golden claw, and nice guards. He even said that a dog lives there!" Pipsqueak said happily. "I've never seen a dog before!" "Okay, let's get going," I said cheerfully. "Which way?", I asked. "It's to the north of here," answered Blues. "Follow me." "Ready Pip?", I asked. "Ready!" Pip said excitedly. We then began the short journey to Riverhoof.