Skyrim: The Pony Scrollsby Ziggy05ChaptersThe event at HoofgenThe Keep You are... dragonshy...The event at Hoofgen~There had always been some tension between the ponies and the dragons. Then, one day, Alduin, the leader of the dragons rose up against the pony race. There was a great war that obliterated most pony cities and after the war was over, they were forced to rebuild from scratch. All hope seemed lost until a mighty band of ponies with the ability to 'shout' or use the draconic language in war to bend creatures and nature to their wills, invented their own shout to bring the dragon down before supposedly banishing him and the other dragons with the use of ancient relics called the 'pony scrolls'.~ Hoofgen Fluttershy screeched as she felt the cold, painful talons of a dragon rake through her back. Instinctively, she folded her wings over to protect herself only to remember that they were still bound together. Seconds later, she found herself slammed between a scaly, fire breathing, jagged toothed, monster sized beast and the brick wall of one of the city towers and the creature did not look happy. Infact, it was charging up its throat for a blast right now. Fluttershy squeaked and shut her eyes tight, reflecting on how all this had happened. It had been just earlier that morning at about seven or eight and the morning fog was still around. Lines of carts, all in single file had rumbled through the gates to Hoofgen just so, ultimately she and three others could be banished to the everfree. The first three, including her were pegasi. They had been caught trying to cross the border into unicorn territory without permission and so, as they were obviously winged, they had been taken and stuffed into the smelly cart with no questions asked. The unicorn's crime was simple. He was a lowly thief. Only one criminal had actually been banished, however. The thief had run for it prematurely and been shot down by unicorn magic and a random prisoner had been exiled. She had been in the middle of receiving her own banishment (it wasn't fair! One of her little rabbit friends had crossed the border and she just had to get him back!) when suddenly, a roar had distracted the proceedings. Passing it off as nothing, they'd continued and then, just her luck. Out of one pit fall and into another. It had been a dragon! A dragon! The one thing Fluttershy was afraid of more then the everfree and it was a dragon! Those things were supposed to have been wiped out ages ago! Fluttershy turned back to the scaly beast in front of her. "W-why are you doing this?" She squeaked. "P-please just let me go. Your hurting all these people!" The dragon let out a little growl, even unfased when Fluttershy hit him with 'the stare'. He rolled his eyes and got ready to put a fire ball into the yellow pegasi's face when suddenly, a pegasi swept down and knocked her out of the way. There was a splitting noise and then the dragon belched flame onto the empty wall, blinking in surprise. He looked to see his target getting to her feet, cantering shortly behind another brown stallion. Fustrated, he prepared his throat for a shout that'd send her and her friend flying, quite without the need for their wings. "Fus ro DAH!" He yelled. A transparent ball of what seemed like pure power flew at Fluttershy at what had to be one hundred miles per hour. The pegasi squealed and ducked her head, just in the time and ball of live energy sailed over head, crashing into a nearby tower wall. "Come on, we can escape Hoofgen through here." The brown stallion said. He ran through one of the paths. As he cantered along, the cobble brick path devolved into dirt and the composition of defensive walls became a lot more common. A heavy wooden door was on one side of a tower and the stallion bucked it open, galloping through it at full force. "In here!" He called. Fluttershy squealed and practically rolled into the tower just as the dragons flame scolded the area where her feet had just been, causing a red glow around her hooves. She recognized the inside of a keep and almost screamed at what looked like a corpse at the other end of the room. She prodded it with a hoof to make sure. It was a dead corpse. The yellow pony recoiled in shock, her bottom lip shivering. "T-the dragon killed him?" She screeched. The brown stallion scratched the back of his head nervously. "He was an honourable pony." He sighed. "But it just so happens we've got a ten metre tall monster on our hands armed with jagged teeth and claws designed for ripping live flesh apart, not to mention impenetrably thick scales and the power to bend the world to his will, particularly fire. His strength isn't exactly you know, meek either and just to put the cherry on top of the cake, the fucker can fly!" Fluttershy squeaked, brimming on the edge of tears. "Yeah. So?" "So, if you want to survive, you'll take that pony's armour and weapon and follow me through this keep and out of this... this place!" The stallion groaned. "Let me see if I can get your wing bindings off." He reached up to the expertly tied knots around her wings and studied them for a little while, frowning. Suddenly, he grinned and pulled a strand of rope, loosening the whole knot. The bindings slid off like jelly after that are Fluttershy flapped her wings a few times to resurrect them, not realizing how stiff they had gotten. "Thanks for that." She sighed. Fluttershy reached down to the body on the ground, slowly at first. She kept eyeing it as if it was going to spring up and claw her face out. Giving a small cry, she grabbed the leather cover the corpse was wearing and slid the boots off, sliding them onto her own skin. She felt uncomfortable, taking somepony elses belongings like this, especially items belonging to a dead colt. "Do I need to take the sword, also?" Fluttershy asked meekly. She apathetically stared at the broad weapon. She could care less for violence, so she doubted she would need it any time soon anyway. "Would be nice if you don't want to get your throat torn out. There are a few monsters in this place." The stallion sighed, adjusting his own weapon. He picked it up for her as if it were nothing more then a feather and Fluttershy impulsively held out her hooves. He then dropped the weapon, the weight of which pushed Flutterhy to the ground. She stood up, teetering and then, somehow managed to regain her balance. "You okay there?" The stallion asked Fluttershy, who was now using her wings as extra muscle support. "Peachy," Fluttershy murmured, her jaws closed around the handle of the sword. The stallion shrugged. "Okay then, lets go." Fluttershy followed slowly, staggering as the blade kept slipping from her jaws. Hey, at least her armor was light, right? You are carrying to much to be able to run... Author's Note Well, the stormcloaks are the pegasi (it seemed appropriate, given the name ) and the unicorns are the empire. Given the line 'imperials and their damn lists' I thought that would be appropriate as well. Not so sure what I should do with the earth ponies though... should I just mix them in or something? :P The Keep The Keep A dark gray gate led outside of the room. Clutching her sword, Fluttershy followed the stallion, who tried the gate. She tilted her head expectantly but the stallion just shook his head. "Locked and there's no way to get the other gate open from our side." He gestured to a wooden gate. Suddenly, his ears flicked and his eyes widened. "Get down," he barked. Fluttershy pressed herself to the ground on his command. "W-why?" She stammered. "Dragons?" The stallion shook his head. "Unicorns," he explained. The heavy hoof steps of the pompous ponies could be heard. They were speaking angrily to each other about something, although Fluttershy didn't know what. Suddenly, the wooden gate begun to lower and the unicorns trotted through. Fluttershy didn't know who had seen who first, but suddenly her friend had one pressed against the castle wall. Fluttershy's jaw quivered. "You get the other one!" He grunted, battling to get an axe in the unicorn's face. Fluttershy cried out as a projectile of fire hit her side, burning away some of the skin. She grabbed her sword tightly and ran for cover, ignoring the annoyed protests from the stallion guiding her. "What are you doing?" He shouted. "They'll bucking kill you!" Skeptically, the pegasi dived under a table, looked around with wide, shaking eyes. The sword in her mouth hung precariously as her teeth clattered from fear. Then, suddenly, she felt strong jaws close around the scruff of her neck and she dropped her sword with a small yelp. "Let me go!" She cried. She thrashed, attempting to get a hoof in the unicorn's face. The unicorn threw her to the ground and raised the broad sword in her mouth with large blood thirsty eyes. Fluttershy cowered, fear and pleading in her eyes as the unicorn brought the weapon down for the kill. The impact never came. The stallion, who had just finished burying an axe in the first unicorn's head, knocked the unicorn to the ground at the last second. Her sword clattered on the ground as he pinned her and dug the axe into her forehead, just below the horn. She stared up at him with glazed over eyes- She never even knew what had hit her. Fluttershy had tears in her eyes and looked at him with a terrified gratefulness. The stallion merely glared back, his eyes cold and hard. "Thats twice now I've had to save your flank," he said softly. "You'd do well to watch out for yourself because I don't know how much longer I can keep this up without one of us getting a knife in our throats." He scavenged through the armor of the unicorns and took out a key, which he swiftly unlocked the metal gate with. "Come on." He said. "Unless you'd like to stop and take the unicorns armor instead?" Fluttershy timidly lifted the unicorn's armor off and lowered it onto her flank, putting the pegasi leather on the ground. She shifted uncomfortably- it was a lot heavier and she didn't want to have to keep stealing things from the dead for much longer. Wasn't there a shop or something in the next town? She left the broad sword and went to fetch her own before following after the brown pegasi rather clunkily. They wandered down a flight of stairs and turned down a small hall. They entered a large hall, which Fluttershy noted was rather empty. "What is this place?" She murmured. Cluelessly, she took a step forward. "Watch out!" The stallion yelled, recoiling. Fluttershy leapt back, skidding on the floor as a heavy spike door swung forward, squealing loudly as it collided with the area where she had been. "Make that three times." The stallion grumbled. "Wasn't really your fault though. Come on, through here- and for the love of Celestia, please don't step on that damned pressure plate again!" Fluttershy looked down at her feet, blushing. Sure enough there was a point in the earth where it jutted up a little. It was painstakingly obvious that it was a button. Just my luck, she thought. The second I take my attention off the expedition at hand and they shove a trap right under my muzzle. She followed him, stepping carefully around the pressure plate and they trotted through another door. They entered another room, a larger one this time. Fluttershy could see a few things sitting around here and there. Suddenly, she screamed for must have been the tenth time that day as an ambush of armoured unicorn ponies charged level-headed onto them. She was startled to find that they had been hiding around the corner, waiting for them to come there. The stallion charged at the closest one boldly and Fluttershy, who had been following him with her eyes looked up to see a unicorn cantering at her full speed. He raised his weapon as he came upon her but Fluttershy was ready. Impusively, she lifted her weapon, shutting her eyes tight and heard the clash of metal as their two blades collided. She sighed and, gaining confidence slashed at the unicorn. It was a careless slash. As her sword neared the unicorns neck, they shoved her back with a wooden shield. The moment Fluttershy took to recover from her failure was all the unicorn needed and they blasted her with a ball of energy. The pegasi cried in pain and fell onto the ground. She knew nopony would be there to save her this time and she had dropped her sword a few metres away. If she could just reach it... But no. Seconds later, the unicorn pinned her with one hoof. Fluttershy reached across, straining to reach her sword. She could just about make it... maybe an inch or two... She gasped in fear when she saw the unicorn raising their weapon. NO NO NO WAIT she screamed in her mind. Her hoof was touching the handle- pushing it closer... suddenly, her hoof closed around the sword's grip. At the same time, the unicorn's weapon fell and their weapons collided. The unicorn looked thrown off by Fluttershy's split second recovery and Fluttershy, terrified beyond belief lunged her sword. As the tip sunk into the unicorns heart, they lingered their for a moment, their eyes blank as their mouth twisted into a sick grimace and suddenly they fell, dead onto the ground. Fluttershy slumped back, panting rapidly, thinking of how close she had come to death. Suddenly, she saw the blood on her hooves, fell against the table and wept. "Fluttershy?" The brown stallion asked. He wiped a line of sweat off his mane as he pulled his blood soaked sword out of the last unicorn's chest. "NO! NO NO NO! KEEP THAT THING AWAY FROM ME!" Fluttershy screeched, staring at the sword in horror. "I-i"m sorry." Fluttershy whispered. Fresh tears glistened in her eyes. "I-i killed somepony. Thats all there is." "They were trying to kill you." The stallion pointed out. "It was you or him." "I-I guess your right." She got to he feet, giving a little shudder. "Just..." She stared down at the body at her hooves. "I don't want this blood on my hooves." "There should be a spring somewhere ahead." The stallion said. "Or maybe a bucket of water?" He stared at the burn on her flank in concern. "You should find some health potions. Look around here for some, or maybe some food?" Fluttershy nodded, sniffing. "Okay." She said. She scanned the area briefly. She could see one on a shelf and swiped it, putting it in the pockets of her armor. She wrinkled her nose at some wine- she didn't drink. She opened the lid to a barrel and took out three healing potions and one of stamina, a small green vial with a cork for a stopper. "Done?" The stallion pegasi said impatiently. "Good." He opened the next door with one hoof and then they went through. In the new corridor, it was darker. Not as many torches lit the walls and at least two rows of stairs took them down to the depths of the keep. Fluttershy would probably have liked to be any place but here now- well, except for Hoofgen. That place was a suicide machine. They ended up in a dungeon. Many cells lined the walls and Fluttershy shivered at what looked like... blood...? On the table? She shook it off and continued to sniff around. She was alerted by a humming noise behind her. Suddenly, there was a metallic noise like a blade embedding itself in flesh and the humming stopped. The stallion ermerged around the corner grimacing. "Damn ponies." He growled. "Theres something in that cage," he said. "See if you can get it out." "Its locked," Fluttershy protested, jiggling the door knob with a hoof. "Find some picks." The stallion said apathetically. Fluttershy sighed. "Okay." She said. She lifted up the flap to a bag and felt around with a hoof. There were a variety of things in there but finally her hoof closed around a set. "Got some." Nopony spoke as she stuck the pin-like tool in the key hole and twisted it. It took at least five minutes but eventually there was a click and the door came loose. "Come on." She said. Fluttershy jumped at the sudden appearance of a corpse but she was beginning to get used to them now. SHe gave a little shudder and helped herself to the bits on the ground, also taking a few potions from the body. She left to see that the pegasi stallion had left without her. "Hello?" She called. She shivered as her voice echoed around the chamber. Timidly, she followed the path down the next chamber, knowing he couldn't have gone far. Sure enough, she had just turned around the corner a second time when he came into view. "Good, your here." The stallion said. "We'll wait until General Unicornus arrives." Fluttershy flicked her ears at the unfriendly voices. "More unicorns!" She whispered. "We are gonna be killed be a dragon! We need to go now." Suddenly, Fluttershy and the two other pegasi rounded the corner. A small stream ran below a series of thin bridges and the room had a feeling of mold and dampness about it. They appeared to have entered a cave system via the keep. Fluttershy winced as the brown stallion lunged his axe into a unicorns back. It took him out instantly but the second one turned and gave a thick grunt of disgust, charging up his horn. Fluttershy watched as her friend made quick work of the remaining unicorn and they crossed the bridges towards the next room. "Down here," he called. He pulled a lever for her as they trotted down a flight of stairs and a wooden bridge lowered for them to cross. They begun to follow the stream downwards. Fluttershy agreed with this plan; if they followed the water long enough it was bound to come out somewhere. "Are we almost out?" Fluttershy asked. "Hopefully," the stallion replied. The stream cut off to a stone wall and Fluttershy frowned. Next to her, however was a gap in the stone. "Are we going through there instead?" Fluttershy asked. The stallion nodded and led her through- and they emerged into a room filled with spiders. The stallion next to her drew his sword in fear but Fluttershy rested a hoof on his shoulder. "Don't kill them!" She squeaked. "I'll take care of this." She gulped as the spiders descending from the ceiling around her. "L-look, I-I know you have your nest here and all and I know we are trespassing but we really aren't food and we need to get out. We are escaping from a dragon attack you see? We're- "There not listening!" The stallion's voice had a high edge to it. "N-no there just..." The spiders begun advanced on Fluttershy and him, some taking reels of sticky web from their abdomens to prepare and wrap up their prizes. Up much closer now, Fluttershy could see their jagged fangs and hooked feet and she squealed in fright. "Uh.. yeah, maybe your right." She held her sword up to defend herself from the eight legged monstrosities. Then, Fluttershy heard a scream. "Fluttershy!" The brown stallion yelled. The spiders had begun to swarm over them. Fluttershys heart was racing like a bee and she stood there, frozen to spot. Her eyes darted nervously as she pondered over what she could do. The spiders were now wrapping him up- she had no time to think. Suddenly, she lunged her sword into the spiders back, tears in her eyes. It let out a screech or a clicking noise and fell dead. The others turned towards their new threat, advancing on her. "Oh... um... Sorry for killing your friend..." In seconds she was cornered. She shivered and cowered, squealing. When she shot one last look at her pegasi friend however, she found two or three spiders wrapping him with their silk. "You can hurt me," she mumbled. "You can hurt this entire city for all I care... but NOPONY lays a HOOF on my friends!" She glared at he spiders, her eyes burning into their souls. They let out painful clicks and screeches, as if looks could literally kill. As the last of the spiders departed back onto the ceiling, Fluttershy broke into a canter to reach her friend and begun to hastily dig through the sticky cacoon of silk with her hooves. "T-thanks." The stallion muttered. He coughed. "I really couldn't breath in there." As they emerged out of the spider room, Fluttershy was pleased to find that the stream had resumed beyond that point and they returned to following it. Fluttershy was making pace when suddenly the stallion shoved a hoof infront of her. "Wait! Theres a grizzly ahead. Do you want to be torn to shreds?" Confused, Fluttershy looked up. Sure enough, on a ledge in the distance was a brown bear, sleeping peacefully on the ledge. For a rare moment, she gave a little smirk. "What do you think my cutiemark is?" She beamed kindly at the stallion and approached the bear. She tapped him gently on the shoulder and watched him yawn. "Oh, um... excuse me. Sorry to interrupt your nap but me and my friend here really need to get past and I was just thinking if you could let us pass without any trouble?" The bear growled and Fluttershy looked down at her hooves. "Well.. yes, I know its your territory... but I promise we don't want to steal any fish. You see, we're trying to escape from a monster that attacked Hoofgen and we'll be out of your way as soon as possible. Oh really? Thank you so much!" Fluttershy hopped down from the ledge and trotted over to the stallion, who had gone slack jawed. "How- how'd you do that?" He murmured. "Sometimes you just need to show a little kindness, thats all." Fluttershy smiled softly. "Come on, Mr. Bearington said we could pass through his land. He doesn't want us staying for more then five minutes though, or he said he'll attack us." The stallion gulped and followed Fluttershy.. After a short wall through a few twists and turns, Fluttershy adored it as the sunshine begun to shine through the exit. "Theres the way out," The stallion said. "Thank the gods." They emerged onto a beautiful landscape of tall pines and hilly mountain tops, lined with snow and ice. The way the sun shone through the trees so perfectly reflected off the surface of polished grey rock, heating Fluttershy's footsteps as she walked down the path. She relished in the cool breeze and squealed with delight as a hare galloped past, accompanied by the singing of small birds. "We should probably split up." The brown pegasi said. Fluttershy nodded. "I agree," she said. "Where will you go?" "Riverwood, probably."Fluttershy beamed. "No particular reason. Its just a quiet town to bunker down in for a while. "Riverwood, ay?" The stallion raised an eyebrow. "Well, if thats the case, may I suggest finding my sister? She runs the mill. Ll' probably help you out." Fluttershy nodded. "Thanks then," she said. She begun to walk down the path opposite to the stallions, following the signs to Riverwood. You are... dragonshy...Fluttershy trotted tiredly through the arch to Riverwood. It was cobblestone and lined with wooden supports. On her way there, she had come across the path of at least three cardinals, two blue jays, a variety of different hares and foxes and one deer as well as some very strange looking stones. They had been tall, at least three meters and had a peculiar, pony-shaped engravement, below a hole in the rounded top. The first was of a shady looking earth pony, a large bag of bits slumped over his shoulder. The second was of a fully armored pegasi and the third and final monolith had been of a robed unicorn, casting what looked like a particularly powerful spell from her horn. Fluttershy had carelessly leant against the earth pony stone, which had glowed. Moments later, a brilliant beam of white light had shot up into the sky, making the daffodil pony to fall in fright. She still didn't know what the stones had done. Soon enough, she was inside the sleepy town of Riverwood. She had heard only vaguely of the small town from her bird friends who flew there occasionally from other provinces but she noted that it was a nice enough town. To her right was a small crystal flowing river. A small but sturdy wooden bridge crossed over it and attached to what she guessed was the mill was a wooden wheel, churning the water slowly. The houses were small but pleasant and the townsfolk were peaceful. Fluttershy supposed that they hadn't yet heard of the dragon attack on Hoofgen. She headed up a wooden ramp and onto a platform.Seemingly immovable planks of logs were stacked up high next to a humongous gutter designed for their shape and size and in the distance, Fluttershy could see a mare. Nopony else was around, so she supposed that she was the stallion's sister. "Hello?" She called. "Are you the sister of- well... I don't know his name but hes a brown stallion, a pegasi to be exact." The mare narrowed her eyes skeptically. "That sounds like him. Why?" "There was a dragon attack on H-hoofgen..." Fluttershy murmured. "We escaped and he told me to go and look for you in Riverwood." "O-oh my. Dragons?" The mare muttered. "I thought I heard something... over the mountain. Is he alright? Any idea where he is headed? Did anypony else make it out alive?" Fluttershy looked down at her hooves. "Well um... Jarl Rainbow Dash. Maybe a few unicorns... other then that, I think we are the only two. He said I could go to you for help and I do need a place to stay... I mean, if its not any trouble of course..." The mare nodded frantically. "Yes, yes, of course! Any friend of Black Mead is a friend of mine. You can stay at my house as thanks for keeping my brother safe. Heres the key- let yourself in and look around." Fluttershy widened her eyes. "Really? Like that?" She murmured. "I-I don't want to put you in danger or anything... If I stay here the imperials might find me or the dragon might come back or... or something..." The shook her off. "Don't worry about it. You saved my brothers life- I owe you much more then just a lodge to rest in." Fluttershy smiled at her meekly, with genuine thanks. She took the key that the mare was holding out for her and thanked her briefly, tucking it into her coat pocket. How could the mare be so resilient? Her family could get hurt if she let her stay here. She didn't even know if she was trustworthy or not and yet she had just.,... given her the key without any second thought. She was kind and Fluttershy knew that she owed the mare one. "Look, is there anything I can do to repay you? You've been so nice and... you don't even know me." The mare smiled. "There is one thing I'd like you to do." She said. "Theres a dragon on the loose. We can't just let that go unannounced or it'll burn half of Skyrim before we stop it. I'd like you to deliver the news to Jarl Twilight in white run- hopefully she'll have a solution." Fluttershy nodded. "I can do that." She said. "I'll go right away." She spoke quicker then she normally would, eager to prove that she was legitimately grateful for the mares hospitality. "Are you sure there's nothing else that you want me to do? I'll clean your house for you? How about I get you some fresh apples or chop some wood?" The mare grinned. "Don't worry about it- we've got plenty of wood here, I assure you. Now go." Fluttershy sighed and nodded, getting a hold of herself. "Alright," she said. She said goodbye to the mare and the crossed the bridge. Moments later, she broke into a canter, her pink mane sailing out behind her as she galloped towards the exit of Riverwood. * * * "Eek!" Fluttershy skidded to a stop in front of the two massive, sturdy wooden doors. "Halt! Who goes there?" Two unicorns, both armored with gold slammed two metal spears in front of the pegasi's face. "O-oh... I'm Fluttershy... I've got a m-message for the Jarl..." Her instincts were screaming at her to turn and run but she knew she had to do this for the mare back at Riverwood and possibly for all of Skyrim. Don't worry Fluttershy, she thought as her breathing became rapid and shallow. Its not as if your fighting a dragon, is it? You just need to deliver a message to the Jarl... "Nopony can enter, what with the dragons about. You might as well just turn around and go back to where you came from, pegasi.." The guard to the right sneered. Fluttershy squeaked and looked nervously at her hooves. "I have news from Hoofgen about the attack." Fluttershy muttered. "Fine, but we'll be keeping an eye on you." The guard glanced at her wings suspiciously. The guards lowered their spears to let the pegasi through and she grunted in exertion as she pushed open the heavy gates. She walked cautiously forward, following the path to the palace and headed up a flight of stairs. The sky was beginning to grow dark and cloudy and the moon was steadily reaching its zenith. The daffodil pony tryed her best to ignore the dirty looks she was receiving as she pushed open the palace doors and walked in. She was halted by a unicorn. "Whats your reason for this disruption?" The unicorn snarled. Fluttershy squeaked in fear and backed away until she was trapped against the far right wall. "I have information for your Jarl about the dragon attack." She said softly. The unicorn raised an eyebrow at her and lowered her hostile tone and weapon. "Ah, sorry. Follow me if that's the case. Twilight will want to speak with you personally." Fluttershy followed the official looking unicorn towards a throne. The purple alicorn who sat there rose when she was approached and eyed Fluttershy curiously. "You saw this dragon with your own two eyes, correct?" She asked. "Oh, yes," Fluttershy replied. "It was terrible! It burnt down the entire city. I wouldn't have made it out alive if it weren't for Black Mead." She remembered the name his sister had given her. "What exactly happened there?" Twilight Sparkle asked. "I'd like all the details. Every last grain of information is of help." She magically levitated a pen and parchment over to her seat, blinking at the yellow pony expectantly. "It attacked Hoofgen and then I saw it flying this way. Riverwood is in grave danger." Fluttershy murmumed. "Oh my." Twilight Sparkle exclaimed. She scribbled something down on the scroll and rested it on the end table beside her. "What do you say about all this, White Parchment?" She turned to the colt next to her. "A dragon could easily break through our walls." The mare who had interrogated Fluttershy earlier approached Twilight. "We must send troops at once," she said. "If that dragons lurking around, this pegasus is right- it is in grave danger." Twilight Sparkle nodded. "I can't just let this dragon slaughter my subjects." She stared at the mare gravely. "Silver Blade, Send troops to Riverwood immediately." The mare, or Silver Blade nodded and left to gather a group of warriors. "I'd like you to be a part of the detachment." The words made Fluttershy freeze in terror. "M-me?" Fluttershy tried to gasp, but the words caught in her throat. "You've done Skyrim a service and I won't forget that. Here, take this steel armor. It'll help protect you." "B-but..." Fluttershy began to shake. She stared at Twilight holding the armor out for her and then Fluttershy sighed. Oh what was she getting herself into? "Fine." She said. took the armor and replaced her own with it, forcing a grin as the heavy metal pushed her down further. "Perfect," Jarl Twilight said oblviiously. "Go along and follow Silver Blade. I'm sure you'll be of help- after all, you survived Hoofgen. You have more experience with dragons then any of us." Fluttershy sighed in relief. Thank goodness, they had the wrong pony. "Oh- no, no, no.. You see, I wouldn't have survived it weren't for Black Mead. I'm sure you'll want him and not me." Fluttershy stood tall, waiting for them to dismiss her. "Nonsense." Fluttershy's heart sank. "I'm sure you'll do just fine. Go along, hurry up." The yellow pony sighed. It had been worth a try. Feeling like one thousand drums were beating on the inside of her chest, she turned to see Silver Blade behind her. "Are you ready? Follow us to the watch tower. We'll gather there." Fluttershy nodded and tagged after Silver Blade who broke into a canter. Don't worry Fluttershy, the yellow mare thought to herself. Its just a dragon. Just a huge, scaly, fire breathing, flying capable, deadly dragon! * * * Crash! "What are you doing? Get your flank out here, new comer!" Fluttershy cowered beneath a pile of rubble as the dragon roasted at least five of her allies. Some had managed to climb to the top of the burning watchtower and were firing arrows at the beast however it was doing little. They had gotten to the watchtower safely alright. There was just one complication- the dragon had still been there. "I don't want to die!" Fluttershy wailed. Suddenly, the dragon landed and grabbed Fluttershy's shelter with its powerful jaws, crushing it easily. The pegasi whimpered and grabbed her weapon, slowly easing away as the dragon preparing to claw her to bits. The dragon raised a claw and then, Fluttershy charged wild eyed at the creature, screaming in terror. As she neared the reptile she shut her eyes, pointed the sword forward- and missed completely. She threw herself out of the way of a stream of fire, screeching at the top of her lungs as the flame gained hot on her hooves. "I. HATE. DRAGONS!" She wailed. Suddenly, her hooves buckled and she fell flat on the ground next to a dead guard. In a split second action, Fluttershy grabbed a steel shield from the corpse and held it over her, shutting her eyes tight as the dragons firey breath lingered where she was, turning the shield red with the intense heat before passing by. The pegasi exhaled with how close she had come to death and shot up, diving for more shelter. "Here! Take this!" A guard cried. Fluttershy caught the guard's bow and quiver in her hooves and shakily clipped a steel arrow onto the string. The dragon had lost interest in her now and was busy trying to burn the guards atop the watchtower. Fluttershy knew that she had until the dragon realized where she was to act. She cried out softly as her hooves slipped and the first arrow clattered to the ground. She took a second from the quiver and managed to clip it. The dragon looked rather worn... Fluttershy supposed a well placed shot would be enough to end it. Somehow she managed to stop her hooves from shaking and aim it at the dragons neck. She hesitated for a second, making sure she had the right coordination and then... she fired. Hit. Well, it wasn't exactly a bullseye. In fact, it was no where near the dragons neck. It had landed in a burnt cabbage at the back of a smoldering cart. The yellow pony blushed and chuckled nervously and then she clipped a third arrow on and fired it quickly. This time it hit the dragon's back. Fed up, the reptile let out a roar and turned to face Fluttershy. It knocked her shelter into chips of stone with only one swipe of its strong tail. Fluttershy squealed and hugged her blade tight. Then, as the dragon lowered its neck to get ready for a fatal blast, the terrifed pegasi drove the sword handle deep into its neck, breathing rapidly and eyes wild. Then, the dragon hit the ground, dead. Fluttershy stared at her sword in shock. It was truly handle deep- she wasn't getting it out without help, there was no doubt about that. Then she begun to realise her accomplishment. She had done this. She had killed the dragon, pretty much single hoofed when everypony thought that would be of no help. She should have died. Everypony was now beginning to gather around the dragon. "How...?" One said. Fluttershy had no answer. Her accomplishment was... shocking, to say the least. And it wasn't even over. Suddenly, the dragons skin begun to flake, turning into what seemed like bright, red hot embers. Before long, the entire dragon was immersed in flame and something began to flow from it- some kind of raw power that felt like strands of fire itself were being sucked out by something or absorbed. Absorbed by... Fluttershy. The energy was being sucked directly into Fluttershy. The guards watched on in amazement as the energy begun to die down. To their shock, all that was left behind was a massive skeleton, picked clean and a few patches of scale lying on the grass around it. "S-she absorbed that dragons soul..." "I can't believe it... Your... dragonshy..." "What? I don't even know what just happened." Fluttershy said timidly. For a few seconds there, she had felt pure power flowing through her veins- and now she was just confused. "I absorbed the dragons soul?" "It is said that back when there were still dragons in Skyrim, or what we used to call 'Equestria', there was a pony named Dragon Bane. He was dragonshy as well and had the ability to slay dragons and absorb their souls and there fore their powers. This ensured that the dragons never came back to life." One of the guards explained. "Thats what you did, isn't it? Absorbed its power?" "I... I don't know what happened." Fluttershy shook her head in wonder. "Then try to shout. According to the old filly's tale, only the dragonshy could shout without any training." "Shout?" Fluttershy recalled the ball of pure energy the dragon back at Hoofgen had been able to create. "O-okay." This was silly, she thought. She felt very silly. She took a deep breath, none the less. "Fus ro YAY!" She yelled. Her voice was full of such power, it pushed the guards back. Fluttershy paused, flabbergasted. Has she just done that? She stared at the guard's expressions and lowered her head. "Oh... was I too loud? I'm sorry..." "Sorry? You've just proven a legend!" The guard said. "First the dragons return and now the return of the dragonshy? What does it mean?" "Well... I've always been able to talk to animals. I guess it makes sense that I can speak the dragons lanuage." Fluttershy shrugged as if it was no big deal. "Don't act so casual about it. We must inform the Jarl right away." Fluttershy followed after the guards, astonished at everything that had just happened.
The event at Hoofgen~There had always been some tension between the ponies and the dragons. Then, one day, Alduin, the leader of the dragons rose up against the pony race. There was a great war that obliterated most pony cities and after the war was over, they were forced to rebuild from scratch. All hope seemed lost until a mighty band of ponies with the ability to 'shout' or use the draconic language in war to bend creatures and nature to their wills, invented their own shout to bring the dragon down before supposedly banishing him and the other dragons with the use of ancient relics called the 'pony scrolls'.~ Hoofgen Fluttershy screeched as she felt the cold, painful talons of a dragon rake through her back. Instinctively, she folded her wings over to protect herself only to remember that they were still bound together. Seconds later, she found herself slammed between a scaly, fire breathing, jagged toothed, monster sized beast and the brick wall of one of the city towers and the creature did not look happy. Infact, it was charging up its throat for a blast right now. Fluttershy squeaked and shut her eyes tight, reflecting on how all this had happened. It had been just earlier that morning at about seven or eight and the morning fog was still around. Lines of carts, all in single file had rumbled through the gates to Hoofgen just so, ultimately she and three others could be banished to the everfree. The first three, including her were pegasi. They had been caught trying to cross the border into unicorn territory without permission and so, as they were obviously winged, they had been taken and stuffed into the smelly cart with no questions asked. The unicorn's crime was simple. He was a lowly thief. Only one criminal had actually been banished, however. The thief had run for it prematurely and been shot down by unicorn magic and a random prisoner had been exiled. She had been in the middle of receiving her own banishment (it wasn't fair! One of her little rabbit friends had crossed the border and she just had to get him back!) when suddenly, a roar had distracted the proceedings. Passing it off as nothing, they'd continued and then, just her luck. Out of one pit fall and into another. It had been a dragon! A dragon! The one thing Fluttershy was afraid of more then the everfree and it was a dragon! Those things were supposed to have been wiped out ages ago! Fluttershy turned back to the scaly beast in front of her. "W-why are you doing this?" She squeaked. "P-please just let me go. Your hurting all these people!" The dragon let out a little growl, even unfased when Fluttershy hit him with 'the stare'. He rolled his eyes and got ready to put a fire ball into the yellow pegasi's face when suddenly, a pegasi swept down and knocked her out of the way. There was a splitting noise and then the dragon belched flame onto the empty wall, blinking in surprise. He looked to see his target getting to her feet, cantering shortly behind another brown stallion. Fustrated, he prepared his throat for a shout that'd send her and her friend flying, quite without the need for their wings. "Fus ro DAH!" He yelled. A transparent ball of what seemed like pure power flew at Fluttershy at what had to be one hundred miles per hour. The pegasi squealed and ducked her head, just in the time and ball of live energy sailed over head, crashing into a nearby tower wall. "Come on, we can escape Hoofgen through here." The brown stallion said. He ran through one of the paths. As he cantered along, the cobble brick path devolved into dirt and the composition of defensive walls became a lot more common. A heavy wooden door was on one side of a tower and the stallion bucked it open, galloping through it at full force. "In here!" He called. Fluttershy squealed and practically rolled into the tower just as the dragons flame scolded the area where her feet had just been, causing a red glow around her hooves. She recognized the inside of a keep and almost screamed at what looked like a corpse at the other end of the room. She prodded it with a hoof to make sure. It was a dead corpse. The yellow pony recoiled in shock, her bottom lip shivering. "T-the dragon killed him?" She screeched. The brown stallion scratched the back of his head nervously. "He was an honourable pony." He sighed. "But it just so happens we've got a ten metre tall monster on our hands armed with jagged teeth and claws designed for ripping live flesh apart, not to mention impenetrably thick scales and the power to bend the world to his will, particularly fire. His strength isn't exactly you know, meek either and just to put the cherry on top of the cake, the fucker can fly!" Fluttershy squeaked, brimming on the edge of tears. "Yeah. So?" "So, if you want to survive, you'll take that pony's armour and weapon and follow me through this keep and out of this... this place!" The stallion groaned. "Let me see if I can get your wing bindings off." He reached up to the expertly tied knots around her wings and studied them for a little while, frowning. Suddenly, he grinned and pulled a strand of rope, loosening the whole knot. The bindings slid off like jelly after that are Fluttershy flapped her wings a few times to resurrect them, not realizing how stiff they had gotten. "Thanks for that." She sighed. Fluttershy reached down to the body on the ground, slowly at first. She kept eyeing it as if it was going to spring up and claw her face out. Giving a small cry, she grabbed the leather cover the corpse was wearing and slid the boots off, sliding them onto her own skin. She felt uncomfortable, taking somepony elses belongings like this, especially items belonging to a dead colt. "Do I need to take the sword, also?" Fluttershy asked meekly. She apathetically stared at the broad weapon. She could care less for violence, so she doubted she would need it any time soon anyway. "Would be nice if you don't want to get your throat torn out. There are a few monsters in this place." The stallion sighed, adjusting his own weapon. He picked it up for her as if it were nothing more then a feather and Fluttershy impulsively held out her hooves. He then dropped the weapon, the weight of which pushed Flutterhy to the ground. She stood up, teetering and then, somehow managed to regain her balance. "You okay there?" The stallion asked Fluttershy, who was now using her wings as extra muscle support. "Peachy," Fluttershy murmured, her jaws closed around the handle of the sword. The stallion shrugged. "Okay then, lets go." Fluttershy followed slowly, staggering as the blade kept slipping from her jaws. Hey, at least her armor was light, right? You are carrying to much to be able to run... Author's Note Well, the stormcloaks are the pegasi (it seemed appropriate, given the name ) and the unicorns are the empire. Given the line 'imperials and their damn lists' I thought that would be appropriate as well. Not so sure what I should do with the earth ponies though... should I just mix them in or something? :P
The Keep The Keep A dark gray gate led outside of the room. Clutching her sword, Fluttershy followed the stallion, who tried the gate. She tilted her head expectantly but the stallion just shook his head. "Locked and there's no way to get the other gate open from our side." He gestured to a wooden gate. Suddenly, his ears flicked and his eyes widened. "Get down," he barked. Fluttershy pressed herself to the ground on his command. "W-why?" She stammered. "Dragons?" The stallion shook his head. "Unicorns," he explained. The heavy hoof steps of the pompous ponies could be heard. They were speaking angrily to each other about something, although Fluttershy didn't know what. Suddenly, the wooden gate begun to lower and the unicorns trotted through. Fluttershy didn't know who had seen who first, but suddenly her friend had one pressed against the castle wall. Fluttershy's jaw quivered. "You get the other one!" He grunted, battling to get an axe in the unicorn's face. Fluttershy cried out as a projectile of fire hit her side, burning away some of the skin. She grabbed her sword tightly and ran for cover, ignoring the annoyed protests from the stallion guiding her. "What are you doing?" He shouted. "They'll bucking kill you!" Skeptically, the pegasi dived under a table, looked around with wide, shaking eyes. The sword in her mouth hung precariously as her teeth clattered from fear. Then, suddenly, she felt strong jaws close around the scruff of her neck and she dropped her sword with a small yelp. "Let me go!" She cried. She thrashed, attempting to get a hoof in the unicorn's face. The unicorn threw her to the ground and raised the broad sword in her mouth with large blood thirsty eyes. Fluttershy cowered, fear and pleading in her eyes as the unicorn brought the weapon down for the kill. The impact never came. The stallion, who had just finished burying an axe in the first unicorn's head, knocked the unicorn to the ground at the last second. Her sword clattered on the ground as he pinned her and dug the axe into her forehead, just below the horn. She stared up at him with glazed over eyes- She never even knew what had hit her. Fluttershy had tears in her eyes and looked at him with a terrified gratefulness. The stallion merely glared back, his eyes cold and hard. "Thats twice now I've had to save your flank," he said softly. "You'd do well to watch out for yourself because I don't know how much longer I can keep this up without one of us getting a knife in our throats." He scavenged through the armor of the unicorns and took out a key, which he swiftly unlocked the metal gate with. "Come on." He said. "Unless you'd like to stop and take the unicorns armor instead?" Fluttershy timidly lifted the unicorn's armor off and lowered it onto her flank, putting the pegasi leather on the ground. She shifted uncomfortably- it was a lot heavier and she didn't want to have to keep stealing things from the dead for much longer. Wasn't there a shop or something in the next town? She left the broad sword and went to fetch her own before following after the brown pegasi rather clunkily. They wandered down a flight of stairs and turned down a small hall. They entered a large hall, which Fluttershy noted was rather empty. "What is this place?" She murmured. Cluelessly, she took a step forward. "Watch out!" The stallion yelled, recoiling. Fluttershy leapt back, skidding on the floor as a heavy spike door swung forward, squealing loudly as it collided with the area where she had been. "Make that three times." The stallion grumbled. "Wasn't really your fault though. Come on, through here- and for the love of Celestia, please don't step on that damned pressure plate again!" Fluttershy looked down at her feet, blushing. Sure enough there was a point in the earth where it jutted up a little. It was painstakingly obvious that it was a button. Just my luck, she thought. The second I take my attention off the expedition at hand and they shove a trap right under my muzzle. She followed him, stepping carefully around the pressure plate and they trotted through another door. They entered another room, a larger one this time. Fluttershy could see a few things sitting around here and there. Suddenly, she screamed for must have been the tenth time that day as an ambush of armoured unicorn ponies charged level-headed onto them. She was startled to find that they had been hiding around the corner, waiting for them to come there. The stallion charged at the closest one boldly and Fluttershy, who had been following him with her eyes looked up to see a unicorn cantering at her full speed. He raised his weapon as he came upon her but Fluttershy was ready. Impusively, she lifted her weapon, shutting her eyes tight and heard the clash of metal as their two blades collided. She sighed and, gaining confidence slashed at the unicorn. It was a careless slash. As her sword neared the unicorns neck, they shoved her back with a wooden shield. The moment Fluttershy took to recover from her failure was all the unicorn needed and they blasted her with a ball of energy. The pegasi cried in pain and fell onto the ground. She knew nopony would be there to save her this time and she had dropped her sword a few metres away. If she could just reach it... But no. Seconds later, the unicorn pinned her with one hoof. Fluttershy reached across, straining to reach her sword. She could just about make it... maybe an inch or two... She gasped in fear when she saw the unicorn raising their weapon. NO NO NO WAIT she screamed in her mind. Her hoof was touching the handle- pushing it closer... suddenly, her hoof closed around the sword's grip. At the same time, the unicorn's weapon fell and their weapons collided. The unicorn looked thrown off by Fluttershy's split second recovery and Fluttershy, terrified beyond belief lunged her sword. As the tip sunk into the unicorns heart, they lingered their for a moment, their eyes blank as their mouth twisted into a sick grimace and suddenly they fell, dead onto the ground. Fluttershy slumped back, panting rapidly, thinking of how close she had come to death. Suddenly, she saw the blood on her hooves, fell against the table and wept. "Fluttershy?" The brown stallion asked. He wiped a line of sweat off his mane as he pulled his blood soaked sword out of the last unicorn's chest. "NO! NO NO NO! KEEP THAT THING AWAY FROM ME!" Fluttershy screeched, staring at the sword in horror. "I-i"m sorry." Fluttershy whispered. Fresh tears glistened in her eyes. "I-i killed somepony. Thats all there is." "They were trying to kill you." The stallion pointed out. "It was you or him." "I-I guess your right." She got to he feet, giving a little shudder. "Just..." She stared down at the body at her hooves. "I don't want this blood on my hooves." "There should be a spring somewhere ahead." The stallion said. "Or maybe a bucket of water?" He stared at the burn on her flank in concern. "You should find some health potions. Look around here for some, or maybe some food?" Fluttershy nodded, sniffing. "Okay." She said. She scanned the area briefly. She could see one on a shelf and swiped it, putting it in the pockets of her armor. She wrinkled her nose at some wine- she didn't drink. She opened the lid to a barrel and took out three healing potions and one of stamina, a small green vial with a cork for a stopper. "Done?" The stallion pegasi said impatiently. "Good." He opened the next door with one hoof and then they went through. In the new corridor, it was darker. Not as many torches lit the walls and at least two rows of stairs took them down to the depths of the keep. Fluttershy would probably have liked to be any place but here now- well, except for Hoofgen. That place was a suicide machine. They ended up in a dungeon. Many cells lined the walls and Fluttershy shivered at what looked like... blood...? On the table? She shook it off and continued to sniff around. She was alerted by a humming noise behind her. Suddenly, there was a metallic noise like a blade embedding itself in flesh and the humming stopped. The stallion ermerged around the corner grimacing. "Damn ponies." He growled. "Theres something in that cage," he said. "See if you can get it out." "Its locked," Fluttershy protested, jiggling the door knob with a hoof. "Find some picks." The stallion said apathetically. Fluttershy sighed. "Okay." She said. She lifted up the flap to a bag and felt around with a hoof. There were a variety of things in there but finally her hoof closed around a set. "Got some." Nopony spoke as she stuck the pin-like tool in the key hole and twisted it. It took at least five minutes but eventually there was a click and the door came loose. "Come on." She said. Fluttershy jumped at the sudden appearance of a corpse but she was beginning to get used to them now. SHe gave a little shudder and helped herself to the bits on the ground, also taking a few potions from the body. She left to see that the pegasi stallion had left without her. "Hello?" She called. She shivered as her voice echoed around the chamber. Timidly, she followed the path down the next chamber, knowing he couldn't have gone far. Sure enough, she had just turned around the corner a second time when he came into view. "Good, your here." The stallion said. "We'll wait until General Unicornus arrives." Fluttershy flicked her ears at the unfriendly voices. "More unicorns!" She whispered. "We are gonna be killed be a dragon! We need to go now." Suddenly, Fluttershy and the two other pegasi rounded the corner. A small stream ran below a series of thin bridges and the room had a feeling of mold and dampness about it. They appeared to have entered a cave system via the keep. Fluttershy winced as the brown stallion lunged his axe into a unicorns back. It took him out instantly but the second one turned and gave a thick grunt of disgust, charging up his horn. Fluttershy watched as her friend made quick work of the remaining unicorn and they crossed the bridges towards the next room. "Down here," he called. He pulled a lever for her as they trotted down a flight of stairs and a wooden bridge lowered for them to cross. They begun to follow the stream downwards. Fluttershy agreed with this plan; if they followed the water long enough it was bound to come out somewhere. "Are we almost out?" Fluttershy asked. "Hopefully," the stallion replied. The stream cut off to a stone wall and Fluttershy frowned. Next to her, however was a gap in the stone. "Are we going through there instead?" Fluttershy asked. The stallion nodded and led her through- and they emerged into a room filled with spiders. The stallion next to her drew his sword in fear but Fluttershy rested a hoof on his shoulder. "Don't kill them!" She squeaked. "I'll take care of this." She gulped as the spiders descending from the ceiling around her. "L-look, I-I know you have your nest here and all and I know we are trespassing but we really aren't food and we need to get out. We are escaping from a dragon attack you see? We're- "There not listening!" The stallion's voice had a high edge to it. "N-no there just..." The spiders begun advanced on Fluttershy and him, some taking reels of sticky web from their abdomens to prepare and wrap up their prizes. Up much closer now, Fluttershy could see their jagged fangs and hooked feet and she squealed in fright. "Uh.. yeah, maybe your right." She held her sword up to defend herself from the eight legged monstrosities. Then, Fluttershy heard a scream. "Fluttershy!" The brown stallion yelled. The spiders had begun to swarm over them. Fluttershys heart was racing like a bee and she stood there, frozen to spot. Her eyes darted nervously as she pondered over what she could do. The spiders were now wrapping him up- she had no time to think. Suddenly, she lunged her sword into the spiders back, tears in her eyes. It let out a screech or a clicking noise and fell dead. The others turned towards their new threat, advancing on her. "Oh... um... Sorry for killing your friend..." In seconds she was cornered. She shivered and cowered, squealing. When she shot one last look at her pegasi friend however, she found two or three spiders wrapping him with their silk. "You can hurt me," she mumbled. "You can hurt this entire city for all I care... but NOPONY lays a HOOF on my friends!" She glared at he spiders, her eyes burning into their souls. They let out painful clicks and screeches, as if looks could literally kill. As the last of the spiders departed back onto the ceiling, Fluttershy broke into a canter to reach her friend and begun to hastily dig through the sticky cacoon of silk with her hooves. "T-thanks." The stallion muttered. He coughed. "I really couldn't breath in there." As they emerged out of the spider room, Fluttershy was pleased to find that the stream had resumed beyond that point and they returned to following it. Fluttershy was making pace when suddenly the stallion shoved a hoof infront of her. "Wait! Theres a grizzly ahead. Do you want to be torn to shreds?" Confused, Fluttershy looked up. Sure enough, on a ledge in the distance was a brown bear, sleeping peacefully on the ledge. For a rare moment, she gave a little smirk. "What do you think my cutiemark is?" She beamed kindly at the stallion and approached the bear. She tapped him gently on the shoulder and watched him yawn. "Oh, um... excuse me. Sorry to interrupt your nap but me and my friend here really need to get past and I was just thinking if you could let us pass without any trouble?" The bear growled and Fluttershy looked down at her hooves. "Well.. yes, I know its your territory... but I promise we don't want to steal any fish. You see, we're trying to escape from a monster that attacked Hoofgen and we'll be out of your way as soon as possible. Oh really? Thank you so much!" Fluttershy hopped down from the ledge and trotted over to the stallion, who had gone slack jawed. "How- how'd you do that?" He murmured. "Sometimes you just need to show a little kindness, thats all." Fluttershy smiled softly. "Come on, Mr. Bearington said we could pass through his land. He doesn't want us staying for more then five minutes though, or he said he'll attack us." The stallion gulped and followed Fluttershy.. After a short wall through a few twists and turns, Fluttershy adored it as the sunshine begun to shine through the exit. "Theres the way out," The stallion said. "Thank the gods." They emerged onto a beautiful landscape of tall pines and hilly mountain tops, lined with snow and ice. The way the sun shone through the trees so perfectly reflected off the surface of polished grey rock, heating Fluttershy's footsteps as she walked down the path. She relished in the cool breeze and squealed with delight as a hare galloped past, accompanied by the singing of small birds. "We should probably split up." The brown pegasi said. Fluttershy nodded. "I agree," she said. "Where will you go?" "Riverwood, probably."Fluttershy beamed. "No particular reason. Its just a quiet town to bunker down in for a while. "Riverwood, ay?" The stallion raised an eyebrow. "Well, if thats the case, may I suggest finding my sister? She runs the mill. Ll' probably help you out." Fluttershy nodded. "Thanks then," she said. She begun to walk down the path opposite to the stallions, following the signs to Riverwood.
You are... dragonshy...Fluttershy trotted tiredly through the arch to Riverwood. It was cobblestone and lined with wooden supports. On her way there, she had come across the path of at least three cardinals, two blue jays, a variety of different hares and foxes and one deer as well as some very strange looking stones. They had been tall, at least three meters and had a peculiar, pony-shaped engravement, below a hole in the rounded top. The first was of a shady looking earth pony, a large bag of bits slumped over his shoulder. The second was of a fully armored pegasi and the third and final monolith had been of a robed unicorn, casting what looked like a particularly powerful spell from her horn. Fluttershy had carelessly leant against the earth pony stone, which had glowed. Moments later, a brilliant beam of white light had shot up into the sky, making the daffodil pony to fall in fright. She still didn't know what the stones had done. Soon enough, she was inside the sleepy town of Riverwood. She had heard only vaguely of the small town from her bird friends who flew there occasionally from other provinces but she noted that it was a nice enough town. To her right was a small crystal flowing river. A small but sturdy wooden bridge crossed over it and attached to what she guessed was the mill was a wooden wheel, churning the water slowly. The houses were small but pleasant and the townsfolk were peaceful. Fluttershy supposed that they hadn't yet heard of the dragon attack on Hoofgen. She headed up a wooden ramp and onto a platform.Seemingly immovable planks of logs were stacked up high next to a humongous gutter designed for their shape and size and in the distance, Fluttershy could see a mare. Nopony else was around, so she supposed that she was the stallion's sister. "Hello?" She called. "Are you the sister of- well... I don't know his name but hes a brown stallion, a pegasi to be exact." The mare narrowed her eyes skeptically. "That sounds like him. Why?" "There was a dragon attack on H-hoofgen..." Fluttershy murmured. "We escaped and he told me to go and look for you in Riverwood." "O-oh my. Dragons?" The mare muttered. "I thought I heard something... over the mountain. Is he alright? Any idea where he is headed? Did anypony else make it out alive?" Fluttershy looked down at her hooves. "Well um... Jarl Rainbow Dash. Maybe a few unicorns... other then that, I think we are the only two. He said I could go to you for help and I do need a place to stay... I mean, if its not any trouble of course..." The mare nodded frantically. "Yes, yes, of course! Any friend of Black Mead is a friend of mine. You can stay at my house as thanks for keeping my brother safe. Heres the key- let yourself in and look around." Fluttershy widened her eyes. "Really? Like that?" She murmured. "I-I don't want to put you in danger or anything... If I stay here the imperials might find me or the dragon might come back or... or something..." The shook her off. "Don't worry about it. You saved my brothers life- I owe you much more then just a lodge to rest in." Fluttershy smiled at her meekly, with genuine thanks. She took the key that the mare was holding out for her and thanked her briefly, tucking it into her coat pocket. How could the mare be so resilient? Her family could get hurt if she let her stay here. She didn't even know if she was trustworthy or not and yet she had just.,... given her the key without any second thought. She was kind and Fluttershy knew that she owed the mare one. "Look, is there anything I can do to repay you? You've been so nice and... you don't even know me." The mare smiled. "There is one thing I'd like you to do." She said. "Theres a dragon on the loose. We can't just let that go unannounced or it'll burn half of Skyrim before we stop it. I'd like you to deliver the news to Jarl Twilight in white run- hopefully she'll have a solution." Fluttershy nodded. "I can do that." She said. "I'll go right away." She spoke quicker then she normally would, eager to prove that she was legitimately grateful for the mares hospitality. "Are you sure there's nothing else that you want me to do? I'll clean your house for you? How about I get you some fresh apples or chop some wood?" The mare grinned. "Don't worry about it- we've got plenty of wood here, I assure you. Now go." Fluttershy sighed and nodded, getting a hold of herself. "Alright," she said. She said goodbye to the mare and the crossed the bridge. Moments later, she broke into a canter, her pink mane sailing out behind her as she galloped towards the exit of Riverwood. * * * "Eek!" Fluttershy skidded to a stop in front of the two massive, sturdy wooden doors. "Halt! Who goes there?" Two unicorns, both armored with gold slammed two metal spears in front of the pegasi's face. "O-oh... I'm Fluttershy... I've got a m-message for the Jarl..." Her instincts were screaming at her to turn and run but she knew she had to do this for the mare back at Riverwood and possibly for all of Skyrim. Don't worry Fluttershy, she thought as her breathing became rapid and shallow. Its not as if your fighting a dragon, is it? You just need to deliver a message to the Jarl... "Nopony can enter, what with the dragons about. You might as well just turn around and go back to where you came from, pegasi.." The guard to the right sneered. Fluttershy squeaked and looked nervously at her hooves. "I have news from Hoofgen about the attack." Fluttershy muttered. "Fine, but we'll be keeping an eye on you." The guard glanced at her wings suspiciously. The guards lowered their spears to let the pegasi through and she grunted in exertion as she pushed open the heavy gates. She walked cautiously forward, following the path to the palace and headed up a flight of stairs. The sky was beginning to grow dark and cloudy and the moon was steadily reaching its zenith. The daffodil pony tryed her best to ignore the dirty looks she was receiving as she pushed open the palace doors and walked in. She was halted by a unicorn. "Whats your reason for this disruption?" The unicorn snarled. Fluttershy squeaked in fear and backed away until she was trapped against the far right wall. "I have information for your Jarl about the dragon attack." She said softly. The unicorn raised an eyebrow at her and lowered her hostile tone and weapon. "Ah, sorry. Follow me if that's the case. Twilight will want to speak with you personally." Fluttershy followed the official looking unicorn towards a throne. The purple alicorn who sat there rose when she was approached and eyed Fluttershy curiously. "You saw this dragon with your own two eyes, correct?" She asked. "Oh, yes," Fluttershy replied. "It was terrible! It burnt down the entire city. I wouldn't have made it out alive if it weren't for Black Mead." She remembered the name his sister had given her. "What exactly happened there?" Twilight Sparkle asked. "I'd like all the details. Every last grain of information is of help." She magically levitated a pen and parchment over to her seat, blinking at the yellow pony expectantly. "It attacked Hoofgen and then I saw it flying this way. Riverwood is in grave danger." Fluttershy murmumed. "Oh my." Twilight Sparkle exclaimed. She scribbled something down on the scroll and rested it on the end table beside her. "What do you say about all this, White Parchment?" She turned to the colt next to her. "A dragon could easily break through our walls." The mare who had interrogated Fluttershy earlier approached Twilight. "We must send troops at once," she said. "If that dragons lurking around, this pegasus is right- it is in grave danger." Twilight Sparkle nodded. "I can't just let this dragon slaughter my subjects." She stared at the mare gravely. "Silver Blade, Send troops to Riverwood immediately." The mare, or Silver Blade nodded and left to gather a group of warriors. "I'd like you to be a part of the detachment." The words made Fluttershy freeze in terror. "M-me?" Fluttershy tried to gasp, but the words caught in her throat. "You've done Skyrim a service and I won't forget that. Here, take this steel armor. It'll help protect you." "B-but..." Fluttershy began to shake. She stared at Twilight holding the armor out for her and then Fluttershy sighed. Oh what was she getting herself into? "Fine." She said. took the armor and replaced her own with it, forcing a grin as the heavy metal pushed her down further. "Perfect," Jarl Twilight said oblviiously. "Go along and follow Silver Blade. I'm sure you'll be of help- after all, you survived Hoofgen. You have more experience with dragons then any of us." Fluttershy sighed in relief. Thank goodness, they had the wrong pony. "Oh- no, no, no.. You see, I wouldn't have survived it weren't for Black Mead. I'm sure you'll want him and not me." Fluttershy stood tall, waiting for them to dismiss her. "Nonsense." Fluttershy's heart sank. "I'm sure you'll do just fine. Go along, hurry up." The yellow pony sighed. It had been worth a try. Feeling like one thousand drums were beating on the inside of her chest, she turned to see Silver Blade behind her. "Are you ready? Follow us to the watch tower. We'll gather there." Fluttershy nodded and tagged after Silver Blade who broke into a canter. Don't worry Fluttershy, the yellow mare thought to herself. Its just a dragon. Just a huge, scaly, fire breathing, flying capable, deadly dragon! * * * Crash! "What are you doing? Get your flank out here, new comer!" Fluttershy cowered beneath a pile of rubble as the dragon roasted at least five of her allies. Some had managed to climb to the top of the burning watchtower and were firing arrows at the beast however it was doing little. They had gotten to the watchtower safely alright. There was just one complication- the dragon had still been there. "I don't want to die!" Fluttershy wailed. Suddenly, the dragon landed and grabbed Fluttershy's shelter with its powerful jaws, crushing it easily. The pegasi whimpered and grabbed her weapon, slowly easing away as the dragon preparing to claw her to bits. The dragon raised a claw and then, Fluttershy charged wild eyed at the creature, screaming in terror. As she neared the reptile she shut her eyes, pointed the sword forward- and missed completely. She threw herself out of the way of a stream of fire, screeching at the top of her lungs as the flame gained hot on her hooves. "I. HATE. DRAGONS!" She wailed. Suddenly, her hooves buckled and she fell flat on the ground next to a dead guard. In a split second action, Fluttershy grabbed a steel shield from the corpse and held it over her, shutting her eyes tight as the dragons firey breath lingered where she was, turning the shield red with the intense heat before passing by. The pegasi exhaled with how close she had come to death and shot up, diving for more shelter. "Here! Take this!" A guard cried. Fluttershy caught the guard's bow and quiver in her hooves and shakily clipped a steel arrow onto the string. The dragon had lost interest in her now and was busy trying to burn the guards atop the watchtower. Fluttershy knew that she had until the dragon realized where she was to act. She cried out softly as her hooves slipped and the first arrow clattered to the ground. She took a second from the quiver and managed to clip it. The dragon looked rather worn... Fluttershy supposed a well placed shot would be enough to end it. Somehow she managed to stop her hooves from shaking and aim it at the dragons neck. She hesitated for a second, making sure she had the right coordination and then... she fired. Hit. Well, it wasn't exactly a bullseye. In fact, it was no where near the dragons neck. It had landed in a burnt cabbage at the back of a smoldering cart. The yellow pony blushed and chuckled nervously and then she clipped a third arrow on and fired it quickly. This time it hit the dragon's back. Fed up, the reptile let out a roar and turned to face Fluttershy. It knocked her shelter into chips of stone with only one swipe of its strong tail. Fluttershy squealed and hugged her blade tight. Then, as the dragon lowered its neck to get ready for a fatal blast, the terrifed pegasi drove the sword handle deep into its neck, breathing rapidly and eyes wild. Then, the dragon hit the ground, dead. Fluttershy stared at her sword in shock. It was truly handle deep- she wasn't getting it out without help, there was no doubt about that. Then she begun to realise her accomplishment. She had done this. She had killed the dragon, pretty much single hoofed when everypony thought that would be of no help. She should have died. Everypony was now beginning to gather around the dragon. "How...?" One said. Fluttershy had no answer. Her accomplishment was... shocking, to say the least. And it wasn't even over. Suddenly, the dragons skin begun to flake, turning into what seemed like bright, red hot embers. Before long, the entire dragon was immersed in flame and something began to flow from it- some kind of raw power that felt like strands of fire itself were being sucked out by something or absorbed. Absorbed by... Fluttershy. The energy was being sucked directly into Fluttershy. The guards watched on in amazement as the energy begun to die down. To their shock, all that was left behind was a massive skeleton, picked clean and a few patches of scale lying on the grass around it. "S-she absorbed that dragons soul..." "I can't believe it... Your... dragonshy..." "What? I don't even know what just happened." Fluttershy said timidly. For a few seconds there, she had felt pure power flowing through her veins- and now she was just confused. "I absorbed the dragons soul?" "It is said that back when there were still dragons in Skyrim, or what we used to call 'Equestria', there was a pony named Dragon Bane. He was dragonshy as well and had the ability to slay dragons and absorb their souls and there fore their powers. This ensured that the dragons never came back to life." One of the guards explained. "Thats what you did, isn't it? Absorbed its power?" "I... I don't know what happened." Fluttershy shook her head in wonder. "Then try to shout. According to the old filly's tale, only the dragonshy could shout without any training." "Shout?" Fluttershy recalled the ball of pure energy the dragon back at Hoofgen had been able to create. "O-okay." This was silly, she thought. She felt very silly. She took a deep breath, none the less. "Fus ro YAY!" She yelled. Her voice was full of such power, it pushed the guards back. Fluttershy paused, flabbergasted. Has she just done that? She stared at the guard's expressions and lowered her head. "Oh... was I too loud? I'm sorry..." "Sorry? You've just proven a legend!" The guard said. "First the dragons return and now the return of the dragonshy? What does it mean?" "Well... I've always been able to talk to animals. I guess it makes sense that I can speak the dragons lanuage." Fluttershy shrugged as if it was no big deal. "Don't act so casual about it. We must inform the Jarl right away." Fluttershy followed after the guards, astonished at everything that had just happened.
