My Little Dovahkiin: Wrath of the Damned

Chapter 5

4E 202

The Rift, Skyrim. At Isen's campsite.

Isen had come back with a couple of bottles of something he called 'mead'. Twilight was no expert, but she deduced that t was some sort of alcohol, as every time he took a sip, he would sway side-to-side for a second.

"Well," started Twilight. "I'll just start from the beginning."

Twilight then told Isen about the land of Equestria. How it was populated by three different species of ponies: Unicorns, Pegusai, and Earth ponies. She also told him of the lands rulers, Celestia, the Goddess of the sun, and Luna, the Goddess of the moon.

Twilight continued the tale by telling Isen of her adventures with the girls: The defeat of Nightmare Moon; the re-imprisonment of Discord, the spirit of Chaos and Disharmony; the banishment of the Changeling army; and last but not least, King Sombra's demise.

During the exchange, Isen paid rapt attention to Twilight's story like a school child. Her story seemed to peak the young Nord's interest significantly.

At the end of the tale, an uneasy silence fell over the camp. The girls glanced amongst themselves while Isen seemed to just sit there, staring at them as if they had grown a second head.

"Well," said Isen. "Had this been under…different circumstances, I would have called you crazy. But, after all the things I've seen, I can somewhat believe you."

"Then what'll make that trust complete?" replied Applejack.

"I have a friend," Isen said as he got up from his seat. "That runs a mage's collage, the 'Collage of Winterhold'. His name's Tythis Antioch. We've been friends since we were both children. If there is anyone who knows something about dimensional planes, it's him."

Twilight mulled this over. 'It would be nice to meet this guy,' she mused 'But then again, Isen seems a bit shady.' On one hand, she had the chance to experience foreign magic, but on the other, betrayal was always ever present.

After a while, Twilight stole glances to the other girls, who nodded their heads as if they had come to a silent agreement. They had made their decision.

"We'll come, but how do we now you won't try to harm us?"

Isen did a double take at Twilight's question. It felt…uncomfortable having someone not believe in his good intentions. However, he couldn't really blame them. Lydia is still pissed about him letting Sheogorath over for dinner one night. There are still some cheese crumbs in his boots.

"Look," Isen said, kneeling by the fire. "If I wanted to hurt you, I would've. But, above all things, I never hurt the innocent, no matter how much they deserve it. Unless they swing first, I don't swing back."

The only response the 6 women could give was a simple nod. After this, Rarity let out a quiet yawn.

"Well, if you're sleepy, you girls could have the tent. I'll…just find a soft patch of grass to lay on." said Isen.

Slowly, the girls all piled into the slightly cramped tent, leaving Isen alone in the night. He carefully extinguished the fire to avoid spreading any sparks. With the light source gone, the stars shined ever brighter, their majestic brilliance combing with the eerie green glow of an aurora borealis.

So, Isen unstrapped his sword and scabbard and placed them against the tree stump Twilight was lounging on. He soon found a soft patch of earth near the now ash-colored remains of the campfire and lied down. And, slowly but surely, the dreary darkness of sleep overtook him.

It was a beautiful morning in the woods. The birds were singing a grand tune; the sun shown in a majestic orange glow through the dense cover of pine trees; and the small, unimportant campsite was buzzing with activity.

Well, not so much buzzing.

Isen was darting left and right before the eyes of the 6 extra-dimensional women. At the moment, he was folding the tent into a small, enchanted, brown knapsack. 'Thank the Divines,' thought Isen, as he continued to pack the tent into the bag. 'That Tythis knows some good bag enchantments.' The pack, which indeed had been enchanted by the friendly Archmage to give to Isen as a birthday gift, had a unique bottomless-pit feature that allowed the user to stuff anything in there as long as it wasn't too heavy.

Breakfast had been served mere moments ago: a hearty meal of leftover apple cabbage stew and a side of somewhat fresh carrots. If Isen knew anything about horses…or ponies, in this case, was that they did not eat meat. Hopefully the girls wouldn't take it as too much of a shock if they saw a resident of Riften having a nice slice of venison.

Speaking of that, Riften was their current destination. Isen needed supplies if they were going to head north, and he was a bit short on food.

In almost no time at all, the merry party of 1 Nord warrior and 6 Nord/Imperial/Breton women were on the way to the capital of The Rift. All in all, the entire journey was taken in total silence. Only a few times did any of them speak, an exception being Rarity, especially Fluttershy, who just gazed around and admired the beauty of the forest.

'Aw, Riften,' Isen mused. 'Divines, it's been too long.' Having been born to a farmer, Isen would take regular trips to the Riften market to sell crops. He remembered that, one year, his father had bought an iron helm from the new smith, Balimund. It was too big for Isen's head, so it always flopped down over his eyes.

Memories aside, Isen was confident that they would reach the capital by noon.

However, Isen felt like something was wrong. He didn't leave anything at camp. So then what was it? He stopped, studying his surroundings with a scrutinizing look. The girls also stopped. Twilight approached Isen and put a tense hand on his shoulder.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Something's not right. I don't know what, but I feel like something bad is about to just happened."

That left the girls in complete silence. The only thing the break the silent barrier was the howl of the wind and the song of nearby birds. Isen checked over his list. Wolves: no, they would have attacked already. A bear: he could have heard it a mile away. Bandi-

Isen's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of cracking branches. Instinctively, his hand tensed to his sword hilt, gripping it so hard that his knuckles were probably white from underneath his gauntlets.

"Well, look what we have here."

'Me and my big mouth.' Isen thought.

He whirled around in a blinding motion, his shield raised and his sword at the ready. The girls backed up. Before them was a tall male Redgaurd wearing hide armor and boots. He had a full-on black beard, hair tied in a loose knot at the base of his neck, green eyes, and a scar that ran over his left eye.

'Bandits'

Soon, other outlaws appeared from behind the pines. A short Bosmer wearing leather armor that had a long bow strapped to his back next to a quiver of arrows; a chubby Nord wearing a full set of armor similar to Isen, a large iron battle axe resting on his shoulder; and a dark-skinned Dunmer with a knotted, brown beard dressed in fur clothes and armed with an iron sword.

"I'll make you an offer Nord," the Redgaurd said, gesturing to his comrades. "Drop all your belongings, give us the girls, and we'll let you live."

Isen narrowed his eyes at the bandit. Four-on-one were not good odds for a normal man, but he was far from normal. "And I'll give you an offer, Redgaurd," he twirled Relentless in his hands with ease. "You leave, and I'll let you live."

The bandits gave off a hardy laugh. Here they were, 4 of them and one of him, and he threatened them? What an idiot!

Isen leaned over toward Twilight while the bandits continued their laughing fit. "On my mark, take the girls and run. Don't look back. Just keep going in south until you hit the roadside."

"But-"

"No 'buts'. I'll meet you at the road."

Twilight pondered this. This stranger had accepted the 6 of them with open arms, and they were going to leave him here to die? Twilight weakly nodded her head and rejoined the girls.

The bandit leader had recovered from his laughter and unsheathed his steel sword. "Oh, you have no idea what you've just done to yourself, Nord."

Isen glared at the outlaw, his dark blue eyes seemingly piercing the Redgaurd's soul. "Actually, I do have an idea."

In the blink of an eye, Isen spun around to face Twilight, and said one word.

"RUN!"

Rainbow Dash vaulted over another bush as she weaved her way through the undergrowth. She could still hear the sharp clanging of metal hitting metal in the distance. Hopefully, the noise would die down soon.

To Dash, it just felt wrong leaving Isen back there. He had been so kind to them, so generous, and now they were leaving him behind to his own devices.

'Pull it together, Dash!" she thought. 'The guy's probably got those bullies wrapped around his finger.'

Still, the constant argument in her head did little to calm her. She was the Element of Loyalty, darn it!

Soon, she finally made up her mind.

She went back.