Ice Veins

The next morning, Twilight woke early to check on Rurik’s progress. Much to her surprise, she came down the stairs to see Spike and Rurik chatting over pancakes.

“Good morning Twilight.” The two said greeting her politely.

“Good morning you two.” She replied with a pleasant smile. “Rurik, how did the reading go last night?”

“It went well. I was able to read through the dossiers and had Spike send them back to the princess about ten minutes ago.” Explained Rurik.

“You must have been up all night! Aren’t you tired?” asked Twilight.

“Not really, no. Being undead has plenty of benefits, in particular that I don’t need sleep all too often.” He explained while Spike went back into the kitchen to fix more pancakes for Twilight, and as soon as the young dragon was out of the room, Rurik lowered his voice so that only Twilight could hear him.

“Your brother is in the clear. He has no indications of being a part of the conspiracy. Commander Steel Shod is also clear as he has only recently returned from the Griffon Empire.” Explained Rurik, causing her to breathe a sigh of relief. While she had no doubt of Shining Armor’s loyalty to the princess, she knew little of Duke Steel Shod and while she’d never shown it, had been worried about his spending time with Applejack. Now she felt more at ease.

“So when are we headed out for Canterlot?” asked Twilight.

“Tomorrow morning. I will just have to speak with Odahviing. One thing about staying there concerns me however.” said Rurik.

“What’s that?” asked Twilight.

“Seeing your cantankerous brother again; I would rather not have to break his nose a second time.”  Sighed Rurik.

“I always knew that Shining could be a bit of a bull head, but I have never seen him act like that before.” said Twilight, “I wonder what his problem was that day.”

“Who knows,” Answered Rurik with a shrug,

“Well, at least you are done with the files. I am going to the train station when it opens to pick up some tickets for the girls and I. I assume you will be flying?” Twilight inquired.

“Aye that is the quickest way to travel, so that is how I will be getting there: but if you want I will come along with you to get your tickets. I need to get out of the house for a bit.” Said Rurik looking out the window.

“Sure, no problem!” Replied Twilight with a smile.

It didn’t take long for Rurik and Twilight made their way to reach the train station. Rurik showed much interest in the locomotive that was waiting at the station, asking the engineer quite a few questions about how the machine worked. Twilight waited a few minutes for Rurik to finish speaking to the engineer.

“So, you have many of these railroads here in Equestria?” asked Rurik curiously.

“Oh yes! Railroads run all over Equiis, in fact they are what connect us to the other countries and they make travel and trade so much easier!” stated Twilight.

“Our engineers could probably cook something similar up, but we rely mostly on airships; lots and lots of airships. Almost all of our technology is developed from ancient Dwemer machinery, we just give it a more Nordic look.” explained Rurik with a smile.

“We have airships too, though they are a lot slower than the train though.” Said Twilight.

“Why is that?” Inquired Rurik.

“Well, they use a really big balloon, propellers, and hot air to fly, and they are still a relatively new innovation.” Answered Twilight.

“The ones we use don’t have any balloons, propellers, or hot air; they use a specialized engine powered by a Dwemer Centurion Dynamo Core. These cores are a source of possibly limitless energy developed by the Dwemer to power their automatons, airships, and some weapons and other machines that they created. We still haven’t been able to replicate them, but we do find them quite often.” Explained Rurik. Twilight’s mouth hung wide open at the thought of such a thing existing, making Rurik chuckle a bit at the awestruck look on her face.

“How fast do your airships go?” asked Twilight.

“Well, it depends. At top speed, the passenger and merchant vessels can cross all of Skyrim in about a day, while the military vessels vary in their speed. The smaller frigates can cross the whole country in about half that, while the capital ships take quite a bit longer due to their size and the amount of ballistae they are carrying on them. Problem is, running at top speed has its risks. The Dynamo core is only one part of the equation, another part being steam.  Going at full steam constantly can overheat the engine which can cause rather nasty results. These results are not limited to but including catastrophic failure, or in simpler terms, an explosion that could kill everyone on board.” Answered Rurik.

“Sounds like it’s risky.” Said Twilight.

“Well, like any new technology there are risks; that is why there’s laws in place, and plenty of penalties for captains who push the limits.” Replied Rurik with a shrug. Before the conversation could continue, they were met by Rarity, who was carrying a package on her back.

“Ah! Rurik darling! There you are! I have finished the clothing that you requested!” said Rarity with excitement, a blue aura surrounding her horn and enveloping the box, lifting it, and opening it. Before Rurik were several brand new belted tunics, all with matching pants and pairs of shoes. Rurik took one of the belted tunics and pants and looked it over. The quality of the garment was superb, putting even Radiant Raiment to shame.

“Excellent work Rarity, excellent. How much do I owe you?” asked Rurik.

“Nothing at all darling.” Said Rarity with a kind smile.

“But miss Rarity, you must have worked so hard on these! Plus I am sure that you took time away from important orders to make these.” Said Rurik, trying to convince her to accept some gold.

“Rurik darling: you saved my life, and more importantly to me the life of my friend. That is more than enough payment for me. Please; save your gold for when you get to Canterlot.” She said kindly.

“Thank you Miss Rarity.” Said Rurik humbly.

“You are most certainly welcome.” Replied Rarity.

After a stop to the library to drop off the clothing and change out of his armor; Rurik decided that he was going to go and check in with Odahviing and see how the large Dovah was faring. Twilight asked if she too could come along; and Rurik agreed to her request. As they approached the field, Rurik heard Odahviing’s booming laughter, causing him to have a look of confusion on his face. As He and Twilight crested the hill they saw Odahviing speaking with three small fillies; fillies that Twilight knew.

“Rurik: How is he with children!?” Asked Twilight with some panic.

“He’s the biggest softy in all of Tamriel when it comes to kids. Just don’t say that to his face or he might see it as an insult.” Replied Rurik.

“Why would he see it as an insult?” asked Twilight.

“Because other dragons back home suggested that it made him look weak… it usually ended very badly for them;” Answered Rurik with a small smile on his face, “anyhow, let’s go and check on the old Dovah, I want to let him know that we are going to be headed out in the morning.”

“Right behind you.” Said an unsure Twilight.

As the two approached the dragon and the trio of fillies, they picked up on the conversation that they were having, and apparently Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Bell were regaling Odahviing with some of the more comical stories of their attempts to gain their cutie marks.

“And then, the thing exploded all over the place! Cake batter everywhere!” exclaimed Scootaloo.

“None of us got our cutie marks, and my sister made us clean up the mess.” Said Sweetie Bell glaring at Scootaloo.

“Yeah, Cutie Mark Crusaders Cake Bakers didn’t turn out all too well.” Finished Applebloom. Odahviing just laughed at the story in the form of a deep booming chuckle.

“You three certainly have quite the adventures.” He said with a large smile.

“Indeed it sounds like they do.” Came a voice from the side. The three fillies’ eyes widened as they turned to see Rurik and Twilight Sparkle.

“Oh, uh, hi Twilight.” Said Sweetie Bell nervously.

“Hello you three.” said Twilight with a smile.

“Hi Twilight!” replied the other two fillies.

“Greetings.” Said Odahviing politely to his new guests.

“I see that you have made some new friends.” Rurik pointed out.

“Yes fahdon, is everything alright?” asked Odahviing.

“Yes, everything is fine. I just wanted to let you know that we are leaving for Canterlot tomorrow. We leave in the early morning.” Said Rurik.

“Of course, understood.” Said Odahviing.

“Hey, aint you the one who saved Dinky and Ditzy?” asked Applebloom.

“I only did the right thing. I’m just glad that both of them are okay.” Replied Rurik meekly.

“Oh don’t be so humble! You’re a hero!” said Sweetie Bell.

“If you want to see me as such, I’m not going to stop you. All I did was stop a bad situation from getting worse.” Said Rurik with a shrug.

“Seriously, you are almost as awesome as Rainbow Dash!” said Scootaloo.

“Well thank you, now what are your names?” asked Rurik. The fillies introduced themselves in similar manner to what they had done with Odahviing, making Rurik chuckle a bit. After a brief conversation with the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Rurik and Twilight headed back to the town, arriving back at the library.

“So, what time are you going to get going tomorrow?” asked Twilight.

“Probably around seven in the morning. I want to get going early in the day. You?” replied Rurik.

“We will all be at the train station at around nine in the morning.” Answered Twilight.

“Sounds good; I have some preparations to make and then I plan on making some notes for Applejack. After that I am going to go to sleep early.” Said Rurik.

“Sounds good, I will see you in the morning or in Canterlot!” said Twilight. The rest of the day went by as planned, rather unusual from any other day that Rurik had. Normally whenever he made plans, something almost always came up that made them go awry. If only things went like this on a more regular basis.

The next morning, Rurik awoke early and performed his exercises before donning his armor and strapping Windshear to his hip, one dagger to his opposite hip and sheathing the last dagger to his boot before leaving the library and making his way to Sweet Apple Acres. He found Odahviing awaiting him in the field and wasted no time in climbing onto the Dovah’s neck before the large red drake took to the air and flew towards Canterlot, the large onion shaped domes of the city’s towers making it impossible to miss.