Prologue: One Great Family
A flash of arcane light shot through the Great Hall impacting on Aela’s shield. Her body convulsed for a moment as the lightning jolted through her system. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling. She sprinted for the cover of the wooden pillars dotting the interior of the Great Hall as several more flashes peeled and burnt the wood behind her. She needed to move, to escape. She cast a stray glance to her side, wilting at the sight of her own burnt flesh. She wouldn’t be lasting much longer without the others. She only prayed they’d arrive soon, she couldn’t protect the Jarl and his court forever.
The great city of Whiterun was burning. Home of the Companions and the one time residence to the Dragonborn of legend himself, and the city was being reduced to rubble. Jarl Balgruff held his fury, as much as he wished to join the fighting in his Palace’s Hall he knew he would be of little help to the Companion Aela. So he held his family close, praying that the demon who had invaded his home would be slain.
Aela rolled to the side as a literal fireball blew her cover to pieces. The stray embers burned her skin and the smoke hurt her eyes, but she continued moving, to stop was to die. She looked to her attacker again with disgust; the monster was beyond anything she’d ever seen in her nightmares. Two long black horns extended like uneven branches of a dead tree from her helmeted head, her clawed gauntlets spewed magical death, and her armor was thicker and darker than ebony. Red demonic light spilled from the armor, only serving to highlight the many small serrated spikes that dotted it.
She drew her bow and loosed another arrow as she stood from her roll. The arrow bounced harmlessly off the demon’s armor. Aela cursed her luck as another bolt of arcane energy nearly hit her head. She prayed to the Divines that the creature before her wasn’t a true daedra, if so, the battle was already lost. If the damnable creature was a true spawn of Oblivion, the realm of the Daedra, then it was little more than a conduit of death and hate. But her better judgment said that the creature wasn’t a daedra, and that it was looking for something. The words of her Harbinger echoed in her mind, “A single word is as powerful as any sword.” Perhaps she’d finally take his word for it.
Aela screamed as loud as her tired lungs would allow, “Please! Whatever you seek is not worth this bloodshed! Let us stop this, please!”
Silence ticked by in seconds as the near constant assault of magic ceased, Aela took in long ragged breaths relishing the moment of rest. A voice knocked her out of her reverie, but it was not that of a daedra, nor a monster intent on murder, but of a mother concerned for her child.
“My Lucia! Where is she!? Give her back to me!”
Aela forced herself to lower her bow, and she stepped out from behind the pillar, her hands held high. “I do not know, but we can find her together. Just so long as you stop this senseless killing.”
Aela recognized the voice of her adversary, but couldn’t place it. She was sure she’d heard it before. The armored witch before her relaxed her stance, ever so slightly. “F-fine…”
Aela silently thanked her Harbinger and made a note to buy him mead the next time he was back in Whiterun. Aela took only a single step forward before a voice louder than anything she’d ever heard sent her head spinning.
“Fus Ro DA!”
The armored mage was sent sprawling from the direct impact of the voice, sending her careening into and through the wooden walls of Dragonsreach Palace. Aela remained stationary, her eyes wide. She turned to the source of the voice to find her Harbinger, the Dragonborn, standing there looking smug.
“Aela, what have I told you about letting in strange guests?” he wore a familiar cocky grin, that was quickly forgotten when the sound of debris and wood moving reached their ears. One charred black claw gripped the still open hole in the wall, a wisp-like green magic emanating from its palm.
Aela groaned, “You’ve got a knack for arriving at the worst times Harbinger.” She drew her bow, “Seems to be a habit of yours lately.”
He shrugged, unslinging his mace from his belt. “I just have impeccable timing.”
Neither were prepared for the wave of magic that washed over them, paralyzing every muscle in their bodies. Aela collapsed, her bow managing to find a suitably uncomfortable place buried beneath her. The Dragonborn remained standing, his eye movement the only tell that he wasn’t just a statue. He watched with no small amount of annoyance as the mage pulled herself from the rubble, completely unharmed.
“You!”
The Dragonborn recognized that voice. He tried to groan to no avail, his day was only going to get worse from here. The magic faded with a wave of the mages’ armored claw, she only continued marching towards him though, practically fuming through her helm. “You wretched, insolent, incompetent, oaf!”
He gave her his best winning smile, “Hello Archmage! It’s been some time hasn’t it?”
He received a slap across the face. Seeing as how she was wearing serrated gauntlets covered in thorns… it kind of hurt.
Aela picked herself up from the ground at that moment, “Archmage? Harbinger what are you talking about?”
The Dragonborn sighed, rubbing the back of his head. “Ah, Aela. I’d like you to meet the Archmage of the College in Winterhold.”
Aela’s eyes widened at the daedric clad woman, “I-I apologize for attacking you!” The Archmage didn’t seem to even notice her; the two endless black holes of her helmet were locked squarely on the Dragonborn.
“Where is she you pompous fool?”
The Dragonborn sighed, “Oh, Lucy? She’s with… Uh… She’s… around...”
He smiled as innocently as he could. It didn’t seem to work. “I swear if you left her with her uncle…”
The Dragonborn waved his arms in defense; Aela had never seen her Harbinger act so nervous. “What? Me? No... What’s so bad about your brother anyway? He seems nice enough, and Lucy loves to hear stories from him—Ouch!”
He rubbed his now aching nose, “Well you don’t have to get violent.”
The Archmage had her fists curled tightly into balls of barely constrained magical power. Aela took a careful step back. “Where. Is. My. Daughter?”
The Dragonborn looked to Aela for support, she carefully mouthed the words. “What?”
He shrugged, turning back to the Archmage. “I think you mean ‘our’—Wait! Wait! Not the face!”
()()()()()()()()
The black door was adorned with a large skull, carved directly into the stone. Three figures stood in front of it, only two of which were doing so in a patient manner. The mark on the forehead of the skull glowed a dull crimson, the color of blood. And a gravelly voice rolled out to meet their ears, “What is the music of life?”
An empty silence hung in the air. But only for a moment. “You have three seconds to open this door before I turn it to molten slag,” The Archmages’ palm glowed a bright orange; the heat coming from it was palpable.
The door remained in silence for a moment, “Welcome, my sister.” And the old stone door parted for them.
The Dragonborn whispered casually to Aela, “I thought the answer was the lute.”
She nodded dumbly, trying desperately to remember a time when she was fighting bandits and not playing babysitter for two powerful star-crossed lovers.
“And then he started crying! I mean, we were gonna kill him. But he was supposed to be the leader of the whole tribe! Some Orc chief he turned out to be!” The other members of their impromptu story circle roared in laughter, the initiates especially seeing as how they’d only heard the story one time, and not a hundred.
Nazir laughed to himself at the old story, he’d heard it a hundred times and each time it had gotten a little more spectacular than it had actually been. He would have continued laughing too, had he not seen the look on the Listener’s face. “What’s wrong?”
All the initiates immediately grew silent. The Listener let out a long sigh, “We have guests.”
Nazir let his hand drop to the hilt of his sword, “That so?”
He was surprised when the Listener shook his head, “They’re not here for a fight, or at least, I don’t think they are.”
The initiates were whispering among themselves at that point. The Sanctuary was very rarely visited by outsiders, and by very rarely, they meant very rarely. The Listener stood, stretching casually. He smiled at a random initiate, “Could you get Babette and Cicero for me? I think I have an idea of why our guests are here.”
The initiate nodded and sprinted off, not wanting to disappoint the Listener himself. Nazir gave the Listener a knowing glance, “This about the kid?” He was answered with a single nod, “I thought so.”
The Listener flipped a dagger nimbly through his fingers; it had been the final gift to him from the previous leader of the Brotherhood. Right before he had killed her. “If things get ugly, don’t hesitate to retreat. I’m not interested in losing another batch of Initiates.”
Nazir nodded solemnly, “I understand.”
The two men sat comfortably at the table in the main room, waiting patiently for their guests to arrive. They didn’t have to wait long. A voice echoed from the entrance above, “Maybe she’s having fun! You can’t know for sure!”
Another voice growled back, “I will not let Lucia be taught that murder is fun and money is everything.”
The other voice seemed confused, “And you’re the best one to teach her otherwise?”
There was an audible silence, “She will do as I say, not as I do.”
Moments later two Companions and one Archmage descended the stairs into the main room of the Sanctuary. The Listener gulped, Nazir stifled a laugh, “You? Nervous?”
The Listener nodded, “Family does that to you.”
Nazir chuckled. He stopped when he noticed the daedric clad mage staring at him. She immediately turned her attention to the Listener, “Brother.”
The way she said it made him shiver.
The Listener smiled weakly, “Hey sis, I see you’ve brought some witness—I mean friends.”
He nodded at the Dragonborn, “Always good to see the man who left my sister to go chasing dragons.”
The Dragonborn sighed, “Okay, it was a world-devouring dragon. As in, if it wasn’t for me none of us would be here right now kind of world-devouring.”
The Listener shrugged. Nazir gave the Dragonborn a skeptical glance, but otherwise kept silent. “So… Why are you here?”
The Archmages’ gauntlets began to glow with a sinister electrical light, “You know why I’m here. I suggest you bring Lucia here, now.”
The Listener nodded, “Alright, alright. She’s on her way now, relax.”
She didn’t relax. Moments later a jester came prancing into the main room, “Presenting her Royal Majesty, Princess Lucia!” He snickered and did a cartwheel before landing in a chair next to Nazir; the man fought the urge to groan.
Babette and Lucia made their way into the room after him, Lucia giving a curtsy before spotting the strange group of three. “Mom! Dad! You’re here!”
She raced over to them before being swept up in her mother’s armored arms. Strangely enough, the spikes sprinkled over her armor seemed to dull to near non-existence. “Oh Lucia, you’re alright! I’ve missed you so much!”
To say that the scene looked strange was an understatement. It wasn’t every day you saw a daedra look alike hugging a little girl to death. The Dragonborn smiled at Lucia, “Hiya squirt. Did you have fun with your Uncle?” Lucia nodded through her mother’s death grip. “Good to hear!”
Nazir leaned over to whisper to the Listener, “You’ve got one strange family.”
The Listener nodded, “Don’t I know it.”
()()()()()()()()
“And you’re sure about this?” Babette stood with her arms crossed, which looked kind of cute seeing as how she looked like a ten year old. Vampirism did that to you.
The Listener nodded, “I’m sure. It’s been too long since I’ve had a vacation and spent time with the family.”
Babette sighed, “Alright, if you’re sure.”
The Listener nodded and tussled her hair, which in turn earned him an annoyed growl. “Take care of Nazir and Cicero while I’m gone, those two are bound to get into trouble.”
Babette nodded, “Yes, yes I know. I may look like a kid but I am older than you ya know.”
The Listener paused, “That reminds me, just how old are you anyway?” He received a kick in the shin. “Ow! Ow! Ow!”
Babette wore a scowl, “Didn’t anyone ever tell you not to ask a lady’s age?”
The Listener quickly opened the black door, still holding his shin, “Well you don’t exactly look like a lady!”
He spent the next several minutes running from an angry vampire not-child before managing to make an escape on Shadowmere his not-so trusted steed. He let out a long grumble, “Women… Sheesh!”
He received an annoyed neigh in response.
“Alright! To Winterhold!”
They made it several long strides before Shadowmere bucked him off her back. He could have sworn the undead horse was laughing at him. He smiled as he pulled himself off the ground, an idea forming in his mind, “Fine, don’t take me to Winterhold. I’ll just have to tell Arvak you were too busy to see him.”
He felt Shadowmere beneath him a moment later and then he was riding on her back towards Winterhold. “How did you…?” He received a simple snort in response.
()()()()()()()()
Aela shivered as she trudged through the knee deep snow of Winterhold. She hadn’t exactly anticipated just how cold it actually was up in the north. She looked over to her traveling companion, who didn’t look cold in the slightest.
“H-how are y-you n-not f-freezing…”
The Dragonborn smiled at her, “Oh that’s an easy one.” He sucked in a breath, Aela’s eyes widened. “Yol…”
Aela waved her arms frantically, “Wait, wait, wait!” But it was too late.
“Toor Shul!” And then there was a ball of fire flash melting the knee deep snow into freezing cold water.
The Dragonborn smiled sheepishly at his somewhat crispy, somewhat soaked traveling companion, “Uh… hehe… Sorry.”
Aela felt her eye begin to twitch. They were interrupted from their musings when a guard ran up to them, seemingly oblivious to the large patch of muddy water he was standing on. “Wait! I know you…”
Aela then watched with no small amount of horror as said guards head was promptly caved in by her Harbinger’s mace, “Mace to face!”
Aela quickly wrenched the mace from his grasp, “What are you doing!? That was an innocent man!”
The Dragonborn wore a look of confusion, “What are you… Oh, you don’t know.”
Aela yelled back at him, “Know what!?” The Dragonborn pointed to the crumpled guard, who had begun refilling his dented helmet with bits of his own crushed skull.
Aela gasped, “He’s…” the Dragonborn nodded, “Undead, yep.”
Aela handed him back his mace, “but… how?”
Her Harbinger pointed to the massive college at the edge of the cliff, suddenly it had started to look strangely foreboding. “My uh… The Archmage recently took up necromancy as a pass time.” He cast a look at the guard, “She’s pretty good at it too.”
Aela returned her attention to the guard, who planted his somewhat severed head back at its normal upright position. “You’re Dragonborn!” He seemed completely oblivious to the fact that the Dragonborn had just decapitated him.
“Yeah, yeah. We’ll just be on our way then.”
The guard watched them pass by, “Heard about you and your honeyed words.”
Aela whispered to the Dragonborn, “What’s wrong with him?”
He shrugged, “Undead can only remember a few things at a time. The Archmage just gives them a list of things to say whenever someone comes into town.”
Aela shivered, “You don’t think it’s wrong? To keep them bound to this world?” the Dragonborn shrugged, “They never had much personality to begin with, if anything she’s made them more articulate than usual.”
Aela sighed; sometimes she just didn’t understand Skyrim anymore. She resigned herself to not think about it too much as they made their way towards the college.
()()()()()()()()
A great wave of polychromatic energy surged through the center of the College in Winterhold. Wisps of blues and greens and violets flew through the air crackling and jumping from surface to surface. And at its center stood a single figure, heavily armored, reading a large black book. If one were to look closer, they’d see a dozen sickly green tentacles emanating from the book wrapping around the figure’s head and shoulders.
Only one voice echoed in the hall, which was completely captivated by something and giggling like a child, “Oh really? He did that? I never knew!”
She giggled happily as more knowledge of the past was imparted upon her mind. And she would have continued as usual had there not been a very loud knocking at the front gates. “Oh… hold on, I have to answer the door. No, I don’t know who it is. Why would that even be relevant?”
She huffed as the tentacles retreated back into the book and quickly devolved into lines of text. “Fine then, be like that.”
She quickly closed the book and sent it towards a nearby alcove for later reading. Another knock at the door prompted a burst of telekinesis, sending the doors flying open immediately. “What do you want!?”
Her tone only grew more venomous when she saw who it was at the door. The Dragonborn smiled innocently, his companion hiding behind him. “Uh… it’s that time of the month isn’t it?”
The Archmage glowed with barely constrained magical energy, “Excuse me?”
The Dragonborn was still smiling, “You know, family night!”
The Archmages’ fists slowly returned to their normal, not on fire, state. And any semblance of malice in her voice was replaced by a profound sense of disappointment. “You’re serious…”
The Dragonborn nodded enthusiastically, “Of course! I even brought a guest!” He quickly ushered Aela forward, she tried her best to resist to no avail.
She stumbled forward, “H-hello Archmage!” She bowed low, praying that the woman before her wouldn’t recognize her.
“Oh it’s you.”
Aela felt her hopes dashed. The Archmage continued, “So nice to see you again. Although if you’re going to be staying here I suggest you keep your dog to yourself.”
Aela gave her a confused glance, “My dog?”
The Archmage rolled her eyes, “Dog, wolf, whatever you want to call it. Just don’t eat any of my students.”
Aela’s eyes widened as she realized what the mage was alluding at. “How did you…?”
The Archmage waved her off, “I have my ways.”
The Dragonborn took that time to interject, “Did your ‘special’ friend tell you that?”
He quickly found himself pinned to the wall by a particularly strong wave of telekinesis. “Mentor! He’s my mentor! That’s it! I always tell you this!”
The Dragonborn was slowly lowered to the ground, “Yeah well, that blush says otherwise.”
The Archmages’ hands shot to her face only to find her helmet. The Dragonborn burst into laughter, “I can’t believe you actually fell for that!”
Aela was by his side in a moment, trying desperately to calm down her Harbinger before they were both turned to ash. The tension in the air however melted when the newest voice entered the hall as quiet as a mouse, “I see you two haven’t changed much.”
Aela watched the following scene with confusion. The Archmage practically evaporated into concentrated happy while her Harbinger tried his best to vanish into a nearby wall.
The Archmage enveloped the newest arrival in a hug, further surprising Aela was when the two women jumped in adolescent joy together, “I can’t believe you’re here! How’s the Guild? Oh did Delven get my package?”
The other woman nodded exitedly, “I know! It’s been far too long! The Guild’s never been better! Oh! And that reminds me! You’re currently talking to the newest Guild Master!”
The two women chirped happily, leaving Aela to try and pull her Harbinger from his hiding place, “Harbinger, surely you aren’t scared of some common thief!”
The Dragonborn simply shook his head, not unlike a child would when their mother wanted them to meet new friends. “Nu-uh! I’m not moving!”
Aela groaned, “Well I can’t very well lift you!”
The two were interrupted from their bickering when both the Archmage and her friend made their way over to them, “I see he certainly hasn’t changed. I honestly don’t know what you saw in him.”
The Archmage simply nodded wearing a nervous smile beneath her helmet, “I believe it had something to do with wine. A lot of wine. Easily enough wine to poison a dragon. Probably ten dragons. Yes, easily ten.” She laughed nervously before quickly changing the subject of conversation, “Werewolf, this is the Guild Master of Riften’s Thieves Guild.”
Aela nodded to them absent-mindedly; she had no desire to meet a thief and currently she was focused on her Harbinger. Said thief simply shrugged, “I didn’t know you were so tolerant of man-eaters.”
Aela’s ear twitched, “What?”
The thief just continued though, “You know, I heard a rumor that werewolves enjoyed a good game of fetch every now and again. Of course, it has to be played with human bones.”
Aela spun on her heel, “Why you little—Aela!?”
The thief looked positively stunned. As did Aela. “What are you doing here?”
Aela righted her slack jaw and spoke, “I could ask you the same thing! Since when were you some common thief?”
The Guild Master chuckled good-naturedly, “Oh I’m hardly common. But a werewolf? I didn’t know you had it in you.”
Aela shrugged off the verbal jab, “I never knew you to be so fond of stealing, but then again, you always did seem to have a few extra septims lying around.”
The Guild Master smiled innocently, “Well someone had to buy the drinks and it certainly wasn’t going to be you.”
Aela laughed lightly at that as her Harbinger stood, “You two know each other?”
Aela nodded, “Yes. This so-called thief used to be my teacher and friend.”
The Guild Master smiled proudly, “Taught her everything she knows about using a bow. Helped her in a few other ways too.”
Aela nodded, “I wouldn’t even be in the Companions if it weren’t for her.”
The Dragonborn looked impressed for a moment, “Huh. I didn’t even know you taught.”
The Guild Master shrugged, “Everyone has a hobby.” She turned to the Archmage, “Isn’t that right little Miss Mora?”
The Archmages’ eyes widened inside her helmet, “You promised you wouldn’t tell!”
The Guild Master waved her off casually, “Oh relax, it’s hardly a well-kept secret. And besides, secrets are my specialty.”
The Archmage sighed; thankful that she was wearing her helmet. Otherwise they would have noticed her blush. She quickly put her friend on the spot, “So how’s Nocturnal?”
The Guild Master visibly sagged at the mention of the Nightingale’s leader, “She’s a slave driver! I mean, I love helping her as much as I can, but catching her crows when they get loose is hardly what I’d call ‘important Nightingale missions’” She added air quotes for extra effect.
Both Aela and the Dragonborn looked somewhat lost, “Uh… What are we talking about?”
Both women rolled their eyes in unison, “Daedra stuff, you wouldn’t understand.”
Aela looked to her Harbinger for guidance; he shrugged mouthing the words "I don’t know." She sighed heavily.
It was at that moment that the gate to the College burst open once more, this time revealing a large solid black horse with glowing red eyes. And the rider, who looked considerably less dangerous in his casual wear, “Hellooo Winterhold! The Dark Brotherhood has arrived!”
Both the Dragonborn and the Archmage brought their hands to their faces in a mixture of embarrassment and annoyance. Aela might’ve been surprised had she not spent so much time with her Harbinger over the last few months. She was honestly getting used to this kind of thing happening.
The Guild Master just rolled her eyes at the display, “Still not nearly as sneaky as one would think an assassin would be.”
The Listener groaned the moment he laid eyes on the resident Nightingale, “What’s she doing here?”
The Guild Master feigned a hurt expression, “Aww does the itty bitty assassin not like having a real stealth operator around?”
The Listener scowled, “Still got that mouth I see.” his intended target simply shrugged, “What can I say? I’m just better than you.”
Ultimately it was the Archmage who diffused the rising tension in the room, “Shadowmere! I haven’t seen you in ages!” said horse neighed happily, quickly ridding herself of her rider and trotting over to the Archmage. She nuzzled the Archmage happily, “Aww I missed you too!”
The Archmage quickly pulled away, “But I bet you’re anxious to see Arvak huh?” Shadowmere nodded excitedly, “Okay! Okay! Give me a second.”
The Archmages’ palm glowed with a dark violet and purple light, swirling in on itself until a single perfect sphere remained in her grasp. A moment later she sent the sphere spiraling towards the ground where it impacted in a horse sized explosion of light.
The Archmage cooed happily, “Ar~vak! Somehorse’s here to see you!”
There was a surprisingly haunting neigh and then Arvak stepped into the land of the living once more. The horse himself had a mane of blue and white fire, his eyes shone purple, and he was effectively made up of bones tinted with a dark indigo hue.
Shadowmere stomped her hooves happily and rushed to meet him, whereupon the two undead horses nuzzled each other affectionately. The Archmage sighed happily, “Ah young undead love.”
The Dragonborn and his companion looked on in a mix of confusion, “Well that just happened.” Aela nodded, “Yes, it did.”
The Listener picked himself up off the ground with a huff, “So anyone up for some dinner?”
()()()()()()()()
The Hall of the Elements was a famed place of study, a proving ground to young minds and clever heads, a place where any and all could come to learn and practice and study magic, and on occasion it was also used as a dining hall. That occasional use happened to be tonight as a single large wooden table was set up with a few quick bursts of telekinesis and levitation. The Archmage sat at the head of the large table, absent-mindedly flicking her food towards the two undead horses nearby. It was the Guild Master sitting next to her that ultimately broke her out of her trance, “Something on your mind?”
The Archmage flicked an apple with more force than she had meant and sent it careening into a wall near the two horses, fortunately neither seemed to notice. “What makes you say that?” She cursed her tone, she certainly sounded like she was thinking about something.
“The vacant look in your eyes, the uneasy fidgeting, the fact that I’ve been stealing food from your plate for the last ten minutes and you have yet to notice…”
The Archmage looked at her plate. It was indeed quite a bit emptier than when she had started. “Huh.”
Her friend nodded slowly, “So…”
The Archmage cast a glance at the other end of the table, where her daughter was currently laughing at her brother sticking celery up his nose. “Ah, I get it. You’re jealous.”
The Archmage gaped at her, “Jealous? Me? Of him?”
The Guild Master simply shook her head, “Only of how he acts around Lucia.”
The Archmage sighed, “He acts like a fool. I swear that psychotic jester is rubbing off on him.”
The Guild Master swung an arm around her friend’s shoulder, “And yet, Lucia couldn’t be happier.”
The Archmage groaned letting her head rest on the table, “I just don’t get it! What makes him so much fun to be around?”
The Guild Master rolled her eyes good-naturedly in light of her friend’s obliviousness to fun. “Well… he does smile more than you do.” The Archmage would’ve rolled her eyes, but her helmet prevented that from being effective.
“I wear armor all day, for all she knows I’m always smiling.”
The Nightingale next to her impaled a small fruit with her knife, “Not the same.” She quickly popped the small fruit in her mouth, “Anf you nevher tell chokes.”
The Archmage reached out with her magic and closed her friend’s mouth, “Don’t talk with your mouth full or you’ll be the one ‘choking’.”
She swallowed her food happily, “See? Like that, only more funny.”
The Archmage let out a defeated groan, “Can’t I just buy her a pony or something?”
The Nightingale was about to say no when a sudden weight impacted the back of her head, knocking her out cold. The Archmage was standing in an instant, as was every other member of the table. She levitated the small stone that had hit her friend to eye level, and let it go. Surprisingly, it didn’t drop back down to the table. Instead it shot forward towards the center of the Hall, where a dozen other small items were floating. “What just happened?” She didn’t get out another word as the room suddenly exploded with light.
The rush of adrenaline was enough to get the Dragonborn on his feet, even being weighed down by the considerable amount of food he’d eaten. He turned to Aela wearing a large grin, “You know what to do!”
She nodded; this was the part where they saved the day. Or they would have, had the pull of the now glowing portal in the center of the room not become unbearable. Aela was lifted off her feet just as the Dragonborn grabbed her hand, his mace firmly stuck in the ground anchoring him to the floor.
The Dragonborn turned to check on the others, as it so happened, they weren’t fairing much better. He spotted the most immediate problem, Lucia was in danger. With as much strength as he could muster he pulled Aela towards him, “Transform now!”
She nodded. In a matter of seconds his companion became a walking behemoth, standing nearly seven feet tall with claws the size of his head. She gave him a wary look as she dug her claws deep into the ground anchoring her to the spot; he shook his head in answer to her silent query. “Not here! Get Lucia to safety! I’ll be fine!” She gave him a final pleading look before slowly making her way towards the Listener and the small girl he was holding.
The Listener grasped the large metal rung in the pillar next to him even as he was lifted sideways by the force of the portal. His other arm wrapped tightly around Lucia. “Hold on kid! I gotcha!” He withheld his grimace as the rung lurched at the extra weight. His eyes drifted to the gate on the far side of the circular room, it seemed far beyond his reach. Lucia’s frightened screaming did little to help him formulate a plan. His eyes turned to the Dragonborn and the werewolf slowly making its way towards them. He paused for a moment. “Wait… Werewolf!?”
He cursed his words as Lucia’s screaming intensified. “Oh for Sithis’ sake!”
He looked for an escape, but there was none. He could only watch as the werewolf eventually towered over him and Lucia, though surprisingly, it didn’t eat him. It spoke to him, “It’s Aela! Give me Lucia!”
He hesitated for only a moment, unfortunately that was all the time the rung needed to break. His eyes widened as the pillar suddenly pulled away from him. He released Lucia from his grasp and pushed her as hard as he could towards the werewolf, hopefully she wouldn’t be mad at him later. “If there is a later…” He reminded himself. It was his last thought before he disappeared through the portal.
The Archmage was frozen as she watched her unconscious friend disappear into the portal. She only regained her movement when she heard the ear-piercing shriek of her daughter not too far away. She turned on her heel and made for the two horses struggling to stay standing in the wake of the portal’s pull. “Arvak! Come!”
The undead horse complied and the Archmage pulled herself onto his back as they galloped to the other side of the room. They might have made it too had the portal’s power not increased ten-fold in those precious few seconds. The Archmages’ eyes widened in her helmet as she heard the whinny of Shadowmere behind her. Unfortunately, Arvak heard it too. He reared back and nearly threw her off of him. “What are you doing!?”
She couldn’t say anything else as she was forcibly bucked from his back. The Archmage could only watch as the undead horse ran not away from the portal, but towards it as Shadowmere was enveloped before him. Her anger flared as she was abandoned by her supposed companion. It wasn’t the first time. She dug a single gauntleted hand deep into the stone beneath her. It gave her the moments she needed to think of a plan. She turned to the wall next to her, spotting a single large black book resting there unaffected by the powerful pull of the portal. With a monumental effort, she began to slowly make her way towards the book. But just as she reached her prize, she heard the howl of the werewolf behind her.
Stone after stone was ripped from the walls and continued to pelt Aela. She forced herself to continue though, the fate of the child in her claws rested in her… well, paws. Lucia continued screaming though, no doubt a bit surprised by the creature carrying her. “Hush child, I am trying… *Whack* to save… *Whack* you… *Whack*”
Another stray cluster of stone managed to hit her directly in the head, momentarily leaving her off balance. It was all the time the portal needed. Aela’s wolf-like eyes widened in realization as her claws failed to keep her anchored to the ground. She looked to her Harbinger as his own anchor was pried up by the portal’s powerful pull. She closed her eyes and held Lucia close, perhaps her body could act as a shield for the girl? She hoped so... But she never moved. She felt a disgusting pang of darkness surge through her as something wrapped around her waist pulling her away from the portal. She opened her eyes to see the monster, true and evil as it was. A Daedric Prince. Hermaeus Mora.
The Archmage was clutched in a plethora of the sickly green tentacles of the Daedric Prince. She didn’t seem bothered in the slightest. The Prince himself manifested as a single yellow-tinged eye at the forefront of the black book. Dozens of other tentacles reached out to grasp at both the Dragonborn and Aela, neither of which looked pleased, though it was hard to tell through the portal’s powerful influence.
The Archmage let a smile grace her lips as Hermaeus slowly but surely pulled her remaining family closer. But that only made what happened next all the more difficult. Rainbow light cascaded through the hall, manifesting from the portal as tendrils of its own. Aela was ripped from the Daedra’s grasp before anyone knew what had happened. The Archmage heard the deep voice of the Prince echo in her mind, perfectly calm as always. “How strange… what force could deny a Daedra?”
The Archmages’ eyes widened at the realization, “You mean you don’t know!?”
That was something that truly troubled her. How in oblivion could the Daedric Prince of knowledge and Fate not know something? The Prince mentally shrugged, “An interesting development, but not enough to defeat me.”
More magic poured from the black book as Hermaeus began to once again pull away from the rainbow’s grasp. Unfortunately, it seemed the portal was just as ready to play as he was. The Archmage couldn’t fight a surprised scream as one of the sickly green tentacles holding her burned to a crisp before dissolving entirely. She was pulled away from them in an instant, her only saving grace being one of the tentacles that had been holding Lucia. Her daughter was slowly dragged back to the portal as she was. The revelation hit her like a ton of bricks, which ironically, she had been hit with before. “Save my daughter!” To her infinite displeasure, there was no response from the Daedric Prince.
The Prince of Knowledge defeated by something beyond his realm? Impossible. There was nothing beyond his knowledge, nothing that could contest with the summit of Apocrypha the Endless Library. No creature, no entity, no being could truly be beyond his knowledge. And yet, here it was. His summoning had been foretold on this day by the Tides of Fate, but this was his second summoning. Made by his Eternal Champion just like the first. How? Could the Tides be wrong? An impossibility, he was never wrong. And yet, he was. That could not be allowed to happen.
Summoning every last ounce of power he could muster, the Summit of Apocrypha became alight with power. The entire realm of Oblivion quaked with energy as Hermaeus Mora played a game of tug-o-war with the entity. It was a game he was not prepared to lose. But even as he gained the slightest ground against the entity, it would push back making all of Oblivion recede in the face of such raw power. It was only then that he realized what the entity was doing; it was not shaking the foundations of Oblivion to get him to release his Champion. It was trying to pull him out of Oblivion itself.
The Dragonborn felt the tentacles holding him begin to loosen, he knew what it meant. He didn’t blame her, he couldn’t. She was trying to save their daughter at any cost after all. But even so he still felt it. A sense of betrayal. How could she have gone to Hermaeus Mora of all Daedra? It made him shiver to think of the horrible plane that the monster inhabited. The plane where he had defeated the first Dragonborn; Miraak. The thought of her becoming something similar to the madman only made it harder to think about. He felt the tentacles retreat completely, and he felt himself pulled towards the portal.
The Archmage screamed as loud as she could, wracking her aching lungs to get the Daedra to respond, “Save Lucia! Let go of me! Save her!” Finally she received a response, but this time, for the first time, she heard the Prince yell back.
“Enough! I am trying!”
She wasn’t sure how to respond to that, but she did know that it wasn’t normal to see the great circular eye that symbolized the Prince being pulled from the Black Book itself. Maddening text spilled from the book as the eye was forcibly pulled forward by the rainbow lights around them. The Archmage looked to her daughter, she had tears in her eyes but no sound escaped her. It was a losing battle, she knew that now. What chance did she have if even Hermaeus couldn’t save them? It was then that she made her decision. Fire erupted from her palm and cut deep into the sickly green appendage keeping her safe.
“Argh!” She wasn’t sure if it was a cry of pain or anger, but all the same she felt herself pulled towards the portal.
Hermaeus Mora wasn’t sure why he didn’t let them go and retreat. Perhaps it was curiosity to meet the foe that had bested him? Or some sense of camaraderie that kept him from willingly letting his Champion go? Something else? Whatever the reason, he used all his remaining appendages to levy himself and the child on opposite sides of one of the great pillars in the hall. Slowly but surely, as he himself was wrenched from the pits of Oblivion and pulled out of the very book he had used as a portal, Lucia was pulled further away to safety.
He felt the connection to Apocrypha waver and then fade completely; he was truly alone in the mortal realm now, only to be destroyed by another force beyond that realm as well. As Lucia was pulled behind the pillar he released her and focused solely on his Champion. He latched onto her armor, his form little more than a large sickly green eye and shrinking by the second. He would be loath to admit that he had saved the child out of some sense of misplaced heroism, personally he’d just found it rather serendipitous to be destroyed with his Champion at his side instead of some random mortal. Even so, he did hear his Champion laughing as they were enveloped by the portal. She mumbled something about a heart growing three times its size, this was of course wrong. Hermaeus Mora knew such a thing would render the heart useless and the possessor of said heart would die. Sometimes his Champion could be so difficult.
The portal wavered as both the Archmage and her Daedric companion were engulfed. Slowly it began to close. Lucia watched with the last of her energy as a single black crow flew through the small slit that remained of the once large portal. She wondered if it was all a dream, she hoped so. When she woke up, she was sure that her mom and dad would be waiting for her side by side, even if they didn’t like each other anymore.
()()()()()()()()
The Listener groaned, loudly. Being tossed around like a rag doll through magical portals did that to you. He was of course, vaguely aware of his surroundings. Such awareness brought him to the quick realization that he was no longer in Winterhold for example. A good start to say the least.
Another groan and he managed to right himself, only to come face to face with what looked like mangled wood, except that it was snarling at him. And foaming at the mouth by the looks of it. He wasn’t scared though, being the Listener for a group of international assassins that took their contracts through commune with an ancient dead lady they kept mummified had a way of desensitizing him to such things. So, with expert skill and as quick as a flash, he unsheathed his dagger and promptly drove it into the beasts awaiting eyes.
The creature lasted only a few seconds before the life was drained out of it via sharp stabbing motions. The Listener then noticed that the creature had a distinct resemblance to a wolf, and as he knew all too well, wolves tended to travel in packs. Several nearby glowing eyes and more snarling only added to his already growing sensation that he was, by all accounts, wolf chow.
“Well… I’m dead.”
He’d barely finished the sentence when one of the wolves pounced on him, only to fall off a moment later. Apparently wooden wolves had a distinct weakness to being shot in the head with arrows, who knew? He certainly didn’t. Howls rang out around him as the pack withdrew, likely scared by losing two of their number in such quick succession.
The Listener pushed the large piece of mangled wood wolf off of him and jumped to his feet, already knowing who had fired that shot. “Do you think that maybe you could warn me next time? You know a signal? Like throwing a rock or something?”
A shadow descended from the trees that surrounded them, her bow shining in the small lances of moonlight that managed to pierce the canopy above. “Yes well, if you were better at being stealthy or avoiding danger maybe I wouldn’t have to line up such an incredible shot that only reaffirms my suspicions that you’re completely incapable of anything at all that doesn’t involve me saving you at the last possible moment.”
The Listener gave his rival a simple roll of the eyes, “Yeah, yeah I get it. You don’t like me, so are we going to find the others or what?”
She strolled past him as casually as one who had woken up in a strange forest with no knowledge as to how they got there could, “You know I never said I didn’t like you.” She gave him a sly wink and made her way into the dense forest around them.
The Listener stood stock still for a moment, “Wait what?”
He heard her a moment later, “Are you coming or what? It’s not every day that the thief gets to be the hero you know!”
He sighed, “This is my life now. Great, just great.” And with that he disappeared into the forest with her.
“What exactly are we looking for anyway?” The Listener said as he cut his way through another stray branch that felt it was just absolutely necessary to try and poke out his eye.
“If I found you out here then there’s a good chance the others are around here too.” she said quickly not stopping for a moment as she drifted in and out of the shadows around them, if he didn’t know any better he might have forgotten she was there at all.
“What makes you think they’re even here? You and I were the first ones to go through the portal.”
She gave him a confused glance, “Portal?”
He nodded absent-mindedly, “I got sucked in after you were bested by a rock.”
Her eyes seemed to widen, “You mean to say that we might be here all alone? Together? Without the others?”
The Listener wasn’t entirely sure where she was going with this, “Uh… yes?”
They stopped their trek through the forest as the words left his mouth; she was frozen to her place, practically invisible in the shadows of the forest.
“Am I really that bad?” he said.
She shot him a glare, “Shh! I heard something.”
The pair remained frozen for what must have been minutes. The Listener watched as his impromptu companion brought her bow to bear. He whispered as quietly as he could, “What is it?”
She didn’t budge, her voice practically blended with the sounds of the forest, he had to strain just to hear her. “A problem…” She lowered her bow and made her way out of the brush.
“Hey! What are you doing!?” He tried to keep his voice quiet, but as she walked directly into the small clearing they had been skirting around he jumped after her. It was then that he noticed the single crow hovering in the center of the clearing. “Oh no…”
The very air wavered with darkness as indigo light permeated the clearing from seemingly nowhere. The dark mist swirled with unnatural sentience before swarming around the crow, and in an instant the shadow of the crow grew to the size of what could only be described as a small horse. In another instant the darkness vanished into the shadow and left behind a single small… pony. It had a mane of blue darkness and a coat of solid black with eyes that seemed far too large for its head. It looked unreal. And then of course it began to talk.
“What is this ridiculous form!? My Nightingale what have you done?”
The Listener watched with no small amount of amusement as his rival dropped down to a knee and bowed before the small colored pony. “Lady Nocturnal, your grace, I apologize for this… situation. Though I am working as we speak to rectify it.”
He suppressed a snicker at seeing his nemesis sucking up to her boss. Though the Daedra seemed much less amused, “Do you have any idea what has transpired? This place, this land, this realm, all of it! Even as we speak I feel my power fading away! Had it not been for your foolishness we could have avoided this place…”
She held a hoof to her head in annoyance; to the Listener it looked like the cutest thing ever. “To think that all of Apocrypha was razed by such a force… I shudder to think what terrible fate has befallen my Brother in this damnable place.”
The Nightingale before her kept her eyes glued to the ground, “Apocrypha? Razed?”
Nocturnal returned her attention to her servant. “That’s not all, oh no… All the realms of Oblivion are in chaos! Mehrunes Dagon has proclaimed war on the Aedra for their supposed ‘attack’!”
That got the Listener’s attention. “A war with the Aedra? Is that even possible?”
Nocturnal turned on him, her eyes, as cute as they were, seemed to bore right through his skull. “Worthless assassin, a mockery of true darkness. Speak with another should you seek more, for I have no answers for your kind.”
The Listener shied away ever so slightly; at least Nocturnal returned her attention back to her Nightingale. “I am weakened here, beyond imagining. Diminished as I am however, I am still a piece of darkness and will shroud you in your endeavors. Be warned my Nightingale, for the shadows of this place respond to another even more so than myself.” And with that the Daedric Pony Princess vanished into darkness that seemed to circle around her Nightingale before vanishing completely.
The Listener smiled at his companion shyly, “So uh… she seems nice.”
All he received in response was a huff. “That bad huh?”
There was another huff, this time followed by a sigh, “She’s just worried is all. To think that this place is draining her so much it… All I know is that we have to find a way back to Skyrim. Otherwise we’ll have another Oblivion Crisis on our hands. And this time I doubt it’ll just be Dagon that decides to attack.”
He nodded, “Alright, well first things first.”
She turned to him, “What?”
He smiled at her in a familiarly mischievous way, “Your boss is a pony!” He burst into laughter, his loud guffaws completely derailing any chance at stealth they might have had in the dark forest around them. “A-At least… Mine’s a mummy! But a pony! Haha! She looked so cute! Hahaha!”
He wiped a tear from his eye, “I-I can’t breathe! Hahaha!”
She rolled her eyes, “Yes, yes laugh it up. It’s very funny to make fun of a living goddess.”
Suddenly his look of joviality turned to one of pained heaving, “I-I can’t… breathe… Hahaha…”
Her tone immediately turned to concern, “What?”
He fell to his knees, clutching at his throat, “I mean… I c-can’t… breathe… ha…ha…ha…”
Her eyes turned to the ground he was standing on, dozens of oddly colored red flowers were crushed beneath his boots. Each and every one was spewing pollen into the air. “Oh for the love of Mara!”
She ripped a line of cloth from her armor and covered her nose and mouth. Running right into the middle of the flower patch she hefted the assassin over her shoulder and sprinted deeper into the forest. She honestly had no idea what she was going to do.
“Water, water, water… Where is the water!?” she yelled, fumbling with her armor’s many small pouches.
“Why do I need all these pockets!?”
A seductively calming voice drifted out from the shadows around her, “You’re a thief remember?”
She nodded, “Right! Right! I know! But where is my water!?”
After several more failed attempts at finding water she pulled out a small red vial filled to the brim with sickly smelling liquid. “Aha! This’ll do!”
Putting the small vial to the assassin’s lips she forced him to drink it. “This… is… a-awful…” he groaned as more of the disgusting potion was poured down his throat.
“Just drink it! It’ll help… I think… actually, I don’t want to alarm you but I may have just fed you poison for my arrows!”
The Listener’s eyes widened considerably, “I-I hate… you…”
She nodded absent-mindedly not really paying him any attention as she returned to fishing through her pockets, “Don’t worry! That’s just the poison talking! One second… I think I’ve got… something in here… Yes, aha!”
She pulled out another vial; this one labeled with skull and crossbones and colored a sickly green. “Here! Drink this! It’ll help… or it’ll kill you and empty the contents of your bowels. One of the two!”
He felt his eye begin to twitch as she force fed him the next terrible tasting liquid. Suddenly his lungs opened up and he turned on his side, quickly dispelling whatever was causing him such poisonous problems all over the ground. Unfortunately, his lungs weren’t the only things to suddenly open up. “Oh… Oh no…”
His companion held her head in quiet contemplation, “You know, now that I think about it, I think that the emptying of the bowels part is just standard with all these potions. Hmph.”
The Listener’s eyes widened, “You have got to be kidding me!”
One small pit-stop and mildly upset living bush later and the duo were back on track.
“I said I was sorry, what more do you want me to do?”
The Listener just kept on walking. “Oh come on! We’re not kids, isn’t the silent treatment a bit childish?”
She still received no answer as they made their way through the forest. “Please? I said I was sorry! How was I supposed to know that bush would attack you? You were trying to take a—Alright! Alright! I get it you’re sorry.”
She smiled at him, “Okay good. Now we can finally focus on getting out of this forest.”
The Listener rolled his eyes, “We should be reaching the tree-line soon, in case you haven’t noticed.”
She looked around, but saw nothing except more trees, “How do you know that?”
He smiled his normal over confidant grin at her, “I took a good look around is all. The trees have been getting steadily farther apart, and the canopy is all but gone now. We should be out of here any minute.”
She gave him a simple nod as she noticed the same signs he’d pointed out around her, she huffed, “Well excuse me for not noticing sooner.”
He was about to reply when he stopped, frozen on the spot looking at something ahead.
“What are you… looking at… Great. Just great.”
They both stood on the edge of a sheer drop into a chasm below that stretched far to the other side of the forest. The nighttime sky only helped to make the drop seem even more dark and dangerous than it already was.
“Well now what!?” they both shouted in unison.
()()()()()()()()
Silence was a welcome thing for Shadowmere. She’d spent countless years waiting in silence to once again ride with the Listener and successor to her previous owner. Lucien had always been such a good caretaker, between riding away from the scene of an assassination into the sunset or simply brushing her mane after a long ride through a forest that always ended with an apple and a smile… She missed him to be sure. But the current Listener was beginning to grow on the undead mare. He was young and inexperienced sure, but he did have a talent for making her laugh. She would have liked to see him again if it would be possible, for now though she needed to escape from her current predicament. A predicament made all the stranger by her current appearance.
Shadowmere was a strong, hearty horse who incited intimidation and awe struck silence from any and all that saw her. Naturally, being reduced to about half that intimidating size did not do wonders for her ego.
Shadowmere struggled to see in the dark of the forest she’d found herself in. So far, not much stood out to her glowing red eyes. That is, until the glowing blue flames of a familiar mane highlighted the forest floor beneath her. Apparently she’d managed to get tangled up in the many vines that littered the trees around her.
She wasn’t entirely sure why’d she’d tried to call out to him, normally it wouldn’t have amounted to more than a whinny, but it’d happened all the same; almost out of instinct actually. “Arvak! Is that you?”
The skeletal indigo frame beneath her looked up, his glowing blue orbs focusing in on her current position. He looked awestruck. “Shadowmere?”
The now much smaller skeleton horse cupped his hooves over his mouth, something that should have been quite impossible for a horse to do. Shadowmere just stared dumbly at him for a moment, “We can talk!?”
Arvak nodded his skeletal skull managing to move in such a way as to almost convey emotion. All in all, it was a rather strange experience. “We can talk!” Arvak’s voice echoed with a ghostly howl, it would have been intimidating had he not been so adorable.
Both of them simply held a stare for a few long moments. Shadowmere broke the silence, “So… magic or…”
Arvak shrugged his shoulder blades, “Probably, the Archmage always told me she’d wanted her horse to talk…”
His eyes widened as the ethereal mass that was his brain came across something terrible, “Oh… Oh this isn’t good.”
Shadowmere struggled for a better look at him, twisting and turning in the vines that bound her. “What?”
Arvak looked up at her with a panicked, fearful expression in his fiery orbs, “I abandoned the Archmage!”
He started pacing whilst mumbling something about cheese and a Soul Cairn. Shadowmere rolled her glowing eyes, “Are you really panicking over this? I ditch my Listener all the time and he’s never mad.”
Arvak shot her an incredulous look, “The Archmage doesn’t handle abandonment well! She’ll be furious… no... Worse than that! She’ll be disappointed! She’ll sever our bond and throw me back into the Soul Cairn! I can’t go back there! I can’t eat soul husks anymore! I just can’t do it!”
Shadowmere rolled her eyes and then blanched at the thought of the horrible husks that the Archmage seemed to be so fond of. “Well we’re not getting anywhere here… maybe you could help me down now?”
Arvak paused mid-pace, “Right… right sure… umm, how?”
Shadowmere bit at one of the vines constraining her, “Justh catchth meh!”
Arvak stumbled forward, not used to being so small, “Wait, wait! I’m just bones! How am I gonna-- *Crunch*”
Shadowmere picked herself up off the ground with a huff searching the area around her for the skeleton pony. “You could have at least tried to catch me! Arvak?” Shadowmere let her eyes wander downwards to the pile of glowing blue bones that surrounded her. She poked gently with a hoof at the skull of her favorite undead stallion. “Uh… you still alive? Or… well you know what I mean.”
Two bright fiery orbs materialized in the skulls empty sockets. “Yes, no thanks to you.”
Shadowmere grinned sheepishly as the skeleton reassembled himself. “So… know of any faraway forests like this one?”
Arvak shook his skull, “I’ve been trapped in a sliver of Oblivion for the last few hundred years. I really don’t think I’m the best with landmarks.”
Shadowmere sighed, “Do you think the others will be here too? I’m already in trouble for ditching the Listener after that catastrophe in Solitude. How was I supposed to know he was going to the wedding for an assassination? I just thought we were getting out for once, but no, no one tells me anything about the contracts anymore.”
Shadowmere let out a heavy sigh, “At least the wedding cake was good…”
Arvak however, wasn’t listening to Shadowmere. He was transfixed by something else entirely. He casually poked Shadowmere in the side, “Uhh… Shadowmere?”
The mare huffed, “Well excuse me for trying to start a little communication in this relationship. I swear, we’ve only had the ability to talk for five minutes and you’re already ignoring me!”
She turned to face him and instead found herself bumping face first into a massive chest. A chest that happened to be connected to a rather unfriendly looking face. “A-arvak… are werewolves indigenous to this part of Skyrim?”
Arvak pondered that for a moment, “Are we still even in Skyrim?”
Shadowmere took a small step back from the black furred beast. “Good point. Run.”
Arvak was about to respond when the massive beast did something they hadn’t expected, but probably should have given how that night had been going so far. “Shadowmere? Arvak? You two can speak?”
The werewolf simply slumped to the ground, idly licking her paw as the two ponies stood there stock still. Shadowmere recognized the voice first, “Aela?”
The werewolf huntress nodded whilst scratching an itch behind her ear with her back leg.
“You’re a werewolf!?”
Aela simply nodded.
“Oh well, that makes sense I suppose,” said Arvak rolling his eyes and stalking off in a more or less random direction.
Shadowmere sighed, “Don’t mind him, he’s just getting used to this whole ‘talking’ thing. I think I’m pretty good at it actually.”
Aela nodded, “You’re a natural.”
Shadowmere gave a small curtsy at the compliment, “Well thank you that means a lot coming from a… well, former human.”
Aela nodded sadly, “I haven’t been able to turn back since I woke up here. I’ve never gone this long in the hunt, it could be permanent I’m afraid.”
Shadowmere digested this new information as she watched Arvak punch a tree with his skeletal hoof and then rear back in pain. It was amusing. She turned back to Aela, “Have you seen any of the others?”
She shook her head, “Not since I was taken by the portal, before me we lost both your Listener and my mentor. But I can’t say of the others.”
Shadowmere simply nodded before trotting off towards Arvak, who was wearing a rather mean looking glare directed at the tree that had hurt him.
“Good news! I think the others might be here too! We’ll get to see our riders again after all!”
She’d already turned back to Aela by the time Arvak began slamming his skull into the trunk of the tree with thoughts of one particular magically super-charged mage bearing down on him.
The three strange companions began making their way through the forest’s dark interior, no clear goal in mind except finding the others. Aela led the pack, easily scaring off anything that might have posed the two small ponies behind her any harm. With her incredible sense of smell it wasn’t long before they found themselves heading in the direction of something akin to civilization.
Shadowmere kicked a twig absent-mindedly, “So… what are we doing again?” Aela towered nearly three times as tall as Shadowmere and yet the small pony couldn’t be intimidated in the slightest.
“I smell something,” was the only answer Shadowmere received from the werewolf before her.
“I can see that.”
Shadowmere rolled her eyes as Aela returned to sniffing around the small clearing they’d found themselves in. She made her way over to Arvak, who’d taken to imagining that the Archmage would forgive him after a few hundred years of solitude in either Apocrypha or the bowels of her College. Personally, he hoped it was the former. The stories about the Archmage’s basement were by themselves more frightening than the realm of a daedra.
“Hey Arvak? You ever get the feeling that you’re being watched?”
Arvak shook himself out of his imaginings to see Shadowmere staring intently at him. “Sometimes… Why?”
Shadowmere didn’t even blink as she took a step closer to him, “Because, you’re being watched.”
Arvak gave her a puzzled look, “Is something wrong?”
Shadowmere nodded, “Undead aren’t welcome here.”
Suddenly Shadowmere’s face contorted and her eyes bulged before abandoning her skull completely, her fur fell off in patches and her skin fell from the bone. Arvak took a single step back as the foliage around him began to devour the former Shadowmere.
“Ugh… That is just gross.”
The creature suddenly grew larger, dead leaves and branches mixing with rotted flesh and the usual gunk one could find in any dark and dangerous magical forest. Arvak watched as a pillar of filth arose before him, a sickeningly happy face made up of a curve and two holes poked in the mass of disgust in front of him. “Okay… so… that just happened.”
It was all he could say before the pillar fell forward towards him. It had barely moved before a single great black paw swatted it away and into pieces.
Arvak finally took notice of his surroundings. Aela was stomping what remained of the pillar into the ground while Shadowmere shook him rather violently. “Wake up you idiot!”
He shook his own clouded skull until it started to function again. “Wha-what happened?”
Shadowmere rolled her eyes, “We’re being attacked! Pull it together!”
He noticed immediately that more of the pillars were emerging from the forest around them and into the small clearing, sludge trailing behind them. Each and every one had a different face engraved into its mass. All in all, it was pretty much the stuff of nightmares.
Arvak gulped, “What do we do?”
Aela answered from her place on top of the quickly reforming pillar. “We run!”
She swatted at it again before scooping up each pony in her arms. Shadowmere was not amused. “Put me down! I can run just fine on my own! I’m a horse for crying out loud!”
Aela pointedly ignored her. Arvak simply watched the ground fly by beneath him, to be perfectly honest he wasn’t used to going so fast. Being made of only magically enchanted bones had a way of reducing ones maximum speed. The path beneath them was suddenly blocked as one of the pillars dropped from a branch ahead of them, slowly and lethargically pulling itself up in front of them. Aela simply bowled through it. Shadowmere did not appreciate it. “There are maggots in my maaane!”
She quickly began kicking and screaming trying to remove the parts of the pillar that had stayed with them. Aela continued onward, the forest seemingly going on forever in every direction. It all looked the same. More pillars continued to drop from the trees and emerge from the ground as they ran.
“What are these things!?” screamed Shadowmere over the sound of another pillar being bowled over by Aela.
It was Arvak who answered “They’re called Guardians! Lots of magic! Very dangerous! Stop bouncing please!”
Aela didn’t seem to hear him as she continued bounding across the ground narrowly avoiding the slow, deliberate movements of the many pillars now surrounding them.
Shadowmere continued yelling, “Well how do we kill them!?”
Arvak searched around, but even his magical knowledge was limited to what the Archmage had explained while he was around to hear her. “Uhh… Something about illusions! They keep multiplying but not all of them are real!”
Arvak suddenly had a brilliant revelation. “It’s the smell! Stop breathing it in it makes you see more of them!”
Luckily, Aela heard that part. Shadowmere was interested in another aspect entirely, “If these are Guardians then what they guarding!? If there’s treasure I’d be willing to turn around, what about you two?”
Arvak did a double take, “We’re horses! What could you possibly need treasure for!?”
“What? Just because I'm a horse doesn't mean I don't enjoy loot!?”
“Enough! Stop bickering!”
It was in this moment of distraction that Aela found her foot suspiciously caught beneath the large root of a nearby tree. Letting out a yelp, Aela sent the two ponies she was carrying flying forward. As she fell she could have sworn the tree was cackling at their misfortune.
Arvak felt himself go airborne for the second time in his life. The first being when the Archmage had ridden him off a cliff at the throat of the world. It was not a pleasurable experience. He was distinctly aware of screaming coming from somewhere nearby as he tumbled skull first into the dense thicket of the forest walls and immediately began a plummet downwards. He was also distinctly aware that he was the one screaming.
“Arvak! If we don’t make it…” the voice of Shadowmere brought him back to reality. She was sliding down the dirt hole towards darkness as well. He turned to her, bringing all his focus to her. Generally speaking, this was the part when he was supposed to throw caution to the wind and tell her he loved her, like, a lot. But no words escaped him as they slid deeper and deeper into what could only be described as the longest mud-slide in the history of mud-slides. So he listened silently, hoping she could say the words for him. “I just wanted you to know that I’m—What is that!?”
Arvak shot his eyes forward to see something that made his head swim. Or, you know, it would have had he been in possession of more than just a skull and a bundle of ether that technically signified a brain.
Before the two ponies at the bottom of the mud-slide was a great mouth. A great, sharp, spindly, toothy, hungry, murderous, and bad smelling mouth. Arvak immediately latched onto Shadowmere, “Hold me!”
She simply nodded her eyes wide as they slid closer to their imminent doom. They locked eyes one final time before the mouth engulfed them. Only a single nod was passed between them, a nod that signified that that moment was the perfect moment to start screaming.
“I’m too pretty to die!”
“I’m already dead but this is still not a preferable alternative to-- *Chomp*.”
()()()()()()()()
Aela clawed viciously at the many pillars slowly closing in on her. Her fur became matted with slime and debris from the disgusting creatures as she tore them apart. All the while she held her breath. Arvak’s words ringing in her ears. But it was a losing battle. More and more of the pillars resurfaced every time she managed to destroy one.
They came from all sides, slowly and lazily coming at her in random directions. Like they knew it was just a matter of time. And they were right. Aela felt her lungs burning with the desire for air. Her heart yearning with a hunter’s instinct to never retreat. Her brain commanding that she run and live to fight another day. But she only continued fighting her war of attrition. She let out a fiery roar of defiance in the face of the monsters surrounding her. What she failed to notice was how they seemed to search around them, their crudely drawn faces contorting to show some semblance of anxiety.
That was when she heard another roar, much like her own. Aela paid it no heed, the Guardians were distracted, and she was primed with a blood rage beyond imagining. Releasing another howl Aela dived into their midst, clawing and prying them apart at every turn. None were spared the angry wolf’s wrath.
Another roar briefly echoed in her ears as she ripped one of the pillars in two. Then another and another until she could hear dozens of howls around her. The pillars faces then contorted to fear and they began to retreat. She rose to her full height, the beast truly taking over for the first time in years. She saw only red as she chased each and every one of the pillars down, ripping them from their hiding places in the mud and the trees as if they were nothing. She bit and stabbed and slashed until her teeth dripped the same dark sludge that the creatures oozed.
She took in her first breath, the light in her eyes returning as she began to truly see again. She heard movement behind her. But when she turned she was faced with an odd sight. Wolves, wooden wolves. She flared her long claws instinctively and the closest of the wolves let out a long howl. She recognized its meaning immediately. She’d brought them territory and ridded them of an old enemy. She was now the Alpha. She flashed a toothy grin as she stood on her hind legs and let out a single long roar. It was good to be back among friends.
()()()()()()()()
Night reigned supreme in the Everfree. The dark forest shone ominously in the pale moonlight of autumn. The cold winds spread the scent of the foul beasts lurking just within its borders. It was a place that only the foolish and the brave traveled to willingly…
Luckily, the Dragonborn was both those things, so he really had no problems as he navigated the forest. Aside from the occasional living tree that tried to strangle him, or the long drawn out moans of some unseen specter, he really was having quite the good time. So, brandishing his signature mace, he leaped out from behind a tree and promptly slipped in some mud, sending him careening face first into a shallow puddle ahead of him.
“Urgh… this tastes terrible!” he spit out the mud and jumped to his feet, brushing off his armor as went. “Hello! Anyone out there? Anyone… dangerous?”
There was a long silence as he stalked forward through the forest. “No? Alright then.”
He sheathed his mace and started a comfortable walk along the somewhat well-worn path leading deeper into the dark of Everfree. It wasn’t long before he began singing either. An old habit he’d picked up whilst traveling with a bard and his horse Butterlegs. He smiled at the memory of the gravity challenged horse and his ditzy master. “Ah Butterlegs… we hardly knew ye…”
He paid momentary respect by stopping mid-walk. After all, in a place like Skyrim it wasn’t necessarily surprising to ride one’s horse off the side of a mountain. In fact, he’d heard old Arvak had met a similar fate at the hands of his err… former partner.
A sigh escaped him then, both at the memory and at the slight tugging it brought along his chest area. “Heartstrings are hardly as easy to repair as a lute…”
He brightened up a moment later, “Oh that’s a good one. I should write that down.”
As he searched his near infinite pockets for a scrap of paper and quill he emerged from the thicker forest into a misty, somewhat eerie, and just the slightest bit creepy chasm. Paper and poem momentarily forgotten he chanced a look over its edge; he failed to notice a nearby tree flicking its branches at him trying to send him over the edge.
“Huh, quite the drop. Hello! Anybody down there?”
He heard a low rumbling come from the depths of the chasm. “So that’s a no on the being down there part or…”
Another rumble, this time much louder provided him with a clear enough answer. “Well you didn’t have to be rude about it…” he grumbled as he made his way over to a rickety wooden bridge that crossed the gap to the other side of the chasm. If hesquinted, he could almost spot cobblestone not too far away on the other side. It was then that the moon appeared over the trees and illuminated the true feature on the other side of the chasm.
A great castle, spires and all, with only the slightest case of complete and total abandonment. “A castle! And a ruined one too! Those always have the best stuff!”
So with nary a moment to spare he rushed across the bridge, completely missing the part where it collapsed behind him. “This is great! I hope the others are having as much fun!” he either didn’t notice or didn’t care that the gargoyles above the front gate were following him with a hungry look in their eyes.
The front gate of the castle was promptly kicked open and off its hinges. Followed by the bellowing voice of one of the most… unique adventurers to ever grace the world of adventuring. “Freeze! Nobody move!”
He pointed his mace around at the empty, dust covered remains of what used to be a main hall. “Good, at least you can follow directions.”
Taking his first few steps into the once great hall he heard a metallic clink and then the sound of gears turning.
“Well son of a Ahh!” The trap door swung open beneath him, and then quickly shut, the spring reloading and waiting patiently for its next victim.
“Ooohoho… my head…” the Dragonborn gave his head a few good shakes, his eyes managing to roll around in opposite directions before realigning correctly once more.
He instinctively reached for his mace, but found the dragon bone tool missing from its sheath. “Well that’s not good…”
He quickly realized that he was in a cage. Iron bars and all. “Oh come on! I just spent like a whole day in Whiterun’s prison for stealing an apple! An apple! And I was gonna pay for it this time too!”
That’s when he heard the voice, it sounded gruff. Not unlike a certain old Jarl who didn’t enjoy the practical joke nearly as much as he did.
“Shut mouth! Stay quiet! Dig!”
The cage door was opened to reveal two long lanky… dog… wolf… things. The Dragonborn struggled not to laugh. “You’re the ones who captured me!? Bwahaha!”
Both creatures looked to each other before scowling. The first one spoke, “You dig! We eat! Now!”
The Dragonborn wiped a tear from his eyes, “Y-you’re serious!? Hahaha! I mean I thought I’d seen some pretty skinny looking werewolves in my time but… b-but you guys take the cake! Haha!”
He’d barely managed to blink before they’d forcibly pulled him out of the cell. “Whoa now! You don’t want to split a nail! Hahaha!”
He quickly found himself armed with a pickaxe and pushed against a wall. “Dig! Get gems! Now!”
He could hardly contain himself any longer, “Y-you want gems now!? Hehehe… I just… I can’t believe… Bwahahaha!”
Both dogs looked to one another and then back to the strange creature they’d captured. They both sighed, a previous experience coming to mind that neither would like to be reminded of. They both let out a long sigh.
The Dragonborn took notice, “Oh don’t be like that, I’m just poking fun.”
But the dogs simply hung their heads, “No. Creature right. We not scary anymore. No one afraid of us no more.”
The Dragonborn rolled his eyes, “Oh come on now, I’m sure you guys are just having some bad luck. Besides your technique could use some work.”
One of the dogs looked up at him, “Technique?”
The Dragonborn nodded happily, “Oh yeah, you guys got a good thing going with the whole abandoned castle gig, you just got a get a good routine down.”
One of the dogs twiddled his paws, “Creature… teach us?” The Dragonborn smiled.
()()()()()()()()
“And then she comes storming in ranting about how it’s my fault Lucia learned how to shoot fire from her hands! Like, I’m not even the magical one in the family and she blames me!”
One of the diamond dogs identified as Bork passed the Dragonborn another cider drink patting him on the back as he let out his feelings. “I mean it was pretty cool! And she just goes off about how she’s not growing up in an appropriate environment and she’s not meeting enough kids her age and blah, blah, blah!”
A dog nodded appreciatively, “We hears you man-thing, wife always asks for more gems, but there are no more gems. Very hard to please.”
He nodded happily at his new friends. “A toast then! To trying to please and always coming up short!”
The other dogs shared glances. The Dragonborn realized what he’d just said. “I think I’m drunk.”
The sun was just beginning to rise when the Dragonborn made his way out the front door of the ruined castle, waving goodbye to the diamond dogs behind him.
“Thanks for the tips man-thing!”
“Yes, we be sure to use them!”
“Bye, Bye!”
The Dragonborn waved back happily, “You guys’ll do great! Good luck with the digging!”
And with that the Dragonborn made his way back into the forest after making a rather ill prepared vine swing over the chasm. “Huh, what nice werewolf dog things. I bet Aela would like them.”
So, with a smile on his lips and a full stomach the Dragonborn made his way back into the forest to continue his adventure. He wondered if the others were having as much fun as he was.
()()()()()()()()
The Archmage awoke to the sound of gurgling, or screaming. Actually, now that she focused on it, it seemed to be a rather boorish combination of both. And it was coming from her shoulder, which was also strange seeing as how her shoulder generally tended not to scream. Or at least, it didn’t when she wasn’t actively experimenting with volatile mutagens, but that was neither here nor there.
“W-what happened…?” she mumbled from beneath her helmet.
She was met with a surprising answer. “We are falling! Save us immediately!”
She recognized that voice… but from where? Then it hit her. “Hermaeus Mora!”
The little sickly green eye ball of sludge slid into vision on her armor, a thin web of slime already coating and mixing in with her armored shoulder. He had merged with her. That probably didn’t mean that they had won the battle with the Rainbow Portal.
“The ground is not something that actively supports terminally fast-falling balls of metal! Save us now!”
The Archmage then realized that there was quite the draft flowing through her helmeted head. And that the feeling of floating she was currently experiencing was much more akin to its less well-liked cousin; falling.
“We’re falling!?”
She quickly scrambled for support, but the early morning air provided no such thing. Hermaeus’s eye simply blinked at her. “What do you think I’ve been telling you!?”
Her magic flared in her panic and she began spewing all manners of fire, ice, and a fair bit of lightning as she fell.
“What are you doing!? The air manipulation spell you foal—Fool!”
The Archmage cleared out her mind even as the air around her erupted into a literal sphere of fire and ice and lightning all with the crunchy and slightly chewy center of a daedric prince and his pupil.
“I am trying! Just wait a moment!”
The air beneath them began to compress upwards as the sphere of destruction began to invert into a more cylindrical shape, the air pressure managing to slow their descent considerably. That’s when the magic around them began to expand, a lot.
“What are you doing!?” The little telepathic eye ball was not feeling very secure being surrounded by the forces of the elements willing to rip him apart at any moment.
The Archmage wasn’t nearly as worried, “I don’t know! There shouldn’t be this much energy, but at the same time I’m kind of amazing for creating such a marvelous display of sheer magical power!”
The little eye blinked incredulously at its current host, “Have you been spending time with Sheogorath?”
The Archmage didn’t answer.
“You have!”
“We had a very nice time chatting over bread and cheese thank you very much!”
The daedric prince was about to respond when the mass began quickly burning everything it came into contact with as they neared the ground.
“Should I stop!?” she asked in a mix of fear and anxiousness. It wasn’t exactly a secret that she wasn’t the most stable of people when it came to unparalleled destruction at the tips of her fingers. The little eye would have shrugged had he been capable of it.
“Just make sure we have some solid ground to stand on.”
She nodded, “You got it! One completely scorched and torn up solid ground coming up!”
Hermaeus Mora watched with only the slightest bit of trepidation as his pupil burst into a fit of cackling destructive laughter as they effectively burned their way through several trees and a river before coming to a full stop. Their makeshift sphere finally dissipating around them as the energy burned itself out. When the smoke cleared they sat comfortably in the center of a great crater.
“Well! That went slightly better than I’d imagined.”
The Archmage stretched her aching limbs and flicked a few stray embers from her fingertips. The little eye on her shoulder blinked wearily, “I think I got dust in my eye.”
A quick burst of telekinesis and the pair were at the edge of the crater; one admiring their work and the other trying to avoid the rising sun’s annoyingly bright presence. The Archmage let out a satisfied sigh before turning away from the crater; to her surprise she saw a town ahead of her. She then let out a significantly less enthusiastic sigh, “Do you think we scared the locals with the fireworks display?”
The eye blinked itself several times, “I imagine this is where we ask for help and explain our intentions to the mortals.”
The Archmage set a nearby shrub on fire as she stalked towards the town, “You know, that’s exactly what I was thinking. We’re so in synch!” The eye suppressed a shudder at that.
()()()()()()()()
Another hop, and then another. Thus was the life of one Mr. Grasshopper. The occasional stop for food and then another hop was just part of his daily routine. He was a Grasshopper who lived his life one hop at a time. This simplicity in life and nature is what gave him such a calming presence to be around, a calming presence that one good-natured pegasus found to be absolutely wonderful. Of course, this particular pegasus enjoyed all of nature’s creatures in her company, even the scary dragons.
So it was with a timid smile that Fluttershy helped the little Grasshopper along, always careful to let him do most of the work so as not to upset his proud hopping. As he cleared her front lawn’s edge she gently waved a hoof at his departure, wiping a few stray tears from her eyes as he returned to the great wide open that was Equestria, for the most part.
And then he was eaten by a snake.
Fluttershy gasped, “Mrs. Slithers! That’s hardly appropriate!”
The snake lowered its head in apology, embarrassed by its folly. Fluttershy nodded in a maternal way, but wasn’t able to continue the scolding.
“Well… as long as you know that what you did was wrong. Although I expect you to attend his funeral this weekend. Also, you’re supposed to give all little critters like Mr. Grasshopper a five minute head start, you should know better.”
The snake nodded before continuing on its way back into the Everfree forest next to the little cottage Fluttershy called home. With a small sigh Fluttershy fluttered back into her cottage and began preparing the day’s meals for her little animal friends… and her not so little animal friends.
She cast a glance at the couch in her living room where a bear was currently sleeping off his honey induced hangover. She shook her head light-heartedly; Mr. Bear was always getting into trouble with the bees and their constant partying. She’d have to give him a good speech about self-control and knowing your limits when he woke up. She looked out her kitchen window at the rising sun, it wasn’t easy getting up before dawn, but it was worth it if it meant her animals would wake up to a good breakfast. That’s when she spotted the dark little speck in the sky.
“What do you think that is Angel?” Fluttershy looked to the little white bunny that had thought he was sneaking up on his caretaker, and with a huff he looked up at whatever it was she thought was so interesting. His little eyes widened.
Fluttershy watched as Angel began furiously thumping his foot and pulling on her long pink mane. “Angel, what has gotten into you? I’m sure it’s just one of those ravens from yesterday…”
She looked back at the speck. It was not there. Instead there was a flaming meteor of ultimate destruction and death hurtling towards Ponyville.
Fluttershy calmly picked up her little rabbit, which had gone silent at the look in her eyes. She then made her way to the door, opened it, and set him down before stepping outside. “Angel, mommy’s going out for a while. Please take care of the others while I’m gone, you’re in charge okay?”
She received a nod. “Alright, now if I’m not back in an hour please inform somepony in town that I was squished by the… thing.”
She received another nod. “Okay, now that that’s out of the way I’m going to go ahead and panic.”
Another nod. And then Fluttershy rocketed off into the air, except it was more of a small puff of air than a rocket.
Fluttershy gulped as she watched the sphere descend from the sky at a very alarming rate. It was just as she was crossing the river towards town that she saw it begin to warp and contort until the sphere had become a crescent careening towards the ground at a slower, if not still very alarming rate.
“Please be Twilight, please be Twilight…” she continued to chant the little prayer as she drew closer to where the thing was likely to land. It’d become an unspoken rule of Ponyville that whenever something inherently magical or otherwise catastrophic was happening, that it was most likely Twilight Sparkle trying something new or trying to avoid disappointing the Princess. Both scenarios constituted a cause for alarm, but were otherwise harmless if dealt with in a prompt and timely manner. Unless of course Twilight had gone one-hundred percent, off the wall, manic grin level crazy. In that case it was recommended to contact Princess Celestia at the earliest possible convenience to come and calm down her favorite, if not slightly deranged, student.
Fluttershy faltered and nearly fell out of the sky as the not-so-much a ball of flames anymore thing crashed into the ground just outside Ponyville’s border with a resounding thud.
She approached the crater with as much courage as a Pegasus of her reputation was known for, that is to say, she cowered inside a cloud until she saw something move. Unfortunately, something did move. And as much as she disliked the idea of leaving her comfy cloud, she could not deny that if somepony was hurt she would have to help. She could never live with herself if she ran away from somepony or… she dreaded to think of it… some animal that needed her help.
So with a heavy sigh Fluttershy descended from her cloud, at which point she spotted what had come out of the crater and promptly returned to the safety of said cloud.
She took a deep breath and steeled her resolve; it was time for a pep talk.
“G-get a grip Fluttershy! Y-you have t-to take charge a-and… h-help the s-scary, d-d-dark, I-imposing…”
She gulped, “Maybe I should get the girls first…”
Fluttershy quickly reasoned that this was the correct thing to do seeing as how the creature didn’t seem to be in any immediate pain and was just standing there looking scary- Oh for the love of Celestia it’s going towards town! Fluttershy immediately shot off towards Ponyville, the power of fear compelling her wings to move faster than ever before.
()()()()()()()()
Rainbow Dash’s deep sleep was interrupted. This was not something that happened, under any circumstances, for any reason, ever. She was not, as a rule, to ever be awake before the sun was mercilessly beating down on her from directly above. That is to say around noon and or lunch time.
But, the sun was just peeking out from behind the clouds and Rainbow Dash was fairly certain that it wasn’t lunch time. That of course, begged the question as to why she was awake in the first place. It was because of a mare, as were most things that involved sleep deprivation. Only in this unique circumstance it was a mare that she found to be particularly pleasant, except that she was tired and wasn’t in the mood to be bothered.
“Rainbow Dash! You have to get up! The monster! It was headed this way and there was an explosion and it had big scary horns and… and… Dash? Are you awake?”
The polychromatic mane of one Ms. Rainbow Dash deftly blew about in the before morning breeze, “Ugh… Can this wait a bit Fluttershy? I’m sure the monster is just another pile of socks under your bed. You can handle it this time can’t you?”
Fluttershy blushed considerably at the memory of her last ‘monster’ but quickly banished the thought in the face of this very real monster.
“Rainbow Dash I’m serious this time! It fell from the sky and there was fire and an explosion!”
The cerulean blue Pegasus nodded along absent-mindedly, finding that the soft, melodic voice of her friend was lulling her back to sleep, “Yeah… yeah… Don’t worry Shy’ I’m sure… you’ll… figure something… out…” and then Dash started snoring, leaving one very frazzled Pegasus to ponder who she should go to next.
“Twilight. Twilight always knows what to do.”
And so Fluttershy set off again, her fear that the creature would be at the edge of town in only a few short minutes propelling her at speeds that even Rainbow Dash would be proud of. She reached the local town library and residence of one Twilight Sparkle in seconds.
()()()()()()()()
With fear and adrenaline pumping through her, Fluttershy forgot her own meekness and pounded senselessly on the front door of the library screaming, “Twilight! Twilight! Help! Monster! Please!”
Unfortunately, senseless pounding amounted to about a light knock in Fluttershy’s case and her yelling carried all of about three feet before fading from earshot. It took only a few moments before she heard the dragging pitter-patter of foot-steps from within the library. A moment later the door opened to reveal Twilight’s assistant and sometimes on-again-off-again lab test subject, the baby dragon Spike.
He rubbed his sleep addled eyes, “Oh hey Fluttershy, what brings you here so early?”
He let out a yawn as Fluttershy quickly began to convey her increasingly important warning, “Monster from the sky and fire and explosions! Heading this way! Help!?”
Spike closed his mouth as he finished his yawn, “Oh uh, did you say something Fluttershy?”
The light-yellow pegasus slumped her shoulders in defeat. “Um… could you just get Twilight for me? It’s kinda important.”
Spike simply nodded, “Uh yeah, sure. Just one sec…”
He closed the door and Fluttershy began counting the seconds before all of Ponyville was eaten by the monster. She reached thirteen when she heard the shouting from inside the library.
“She says it’s important!”
“You know what else is important!? My bucking coffee!”
“It’s like six in the morning! The Sun’s not even out yet!”
“All I hear are excuses! Oh Twilight I have a claw cramp! Oh Twilight you genetically cloned me and then dissected the clone in front of me, it was traumatizing! Boohoo!”
“You asked me to hold my own heart for reference material!”
“Well maybe if you hadn’t dropped the eye balls I wouldn’t have needed the heart!”
“That’s it! I’m staying with Rarity until you’re done with whatever’s making you so mean!”
“What’s that supposed to mean!?”
“You're always like this in the mornings! I’m sick of it!”
“Fine! Go then! I don’t need you anyway!”
Fluttershy waited patiently as the door opened to reveal a baby dragon holding a large sack tied on a stick slung over his back.
“She’s ready when you are Fluttershy, if you need me I’ll be drowning my sorrows in alabaster unicorn.”
Spike then hopped off towards Carousel Boutique. Fluttershy briefly considered giving Twilight a lesson in proper child care, but thought better of it given that a monster was currently on its way into town. She hurriedly rushed inside the library, bumping into a lavender unicorn and spilling her coffee. All over her coat. And mane.
“Oh dear…”
Fluttershy closed her eyes and began shivering as she felt Twilight’s eyes drilling into her skull. She peeked one eye open to see Twilight’s horn glowing and a towel drying her off.
“Oh good… I thought you’d be mad.”
Twilight looked up to her, “Oh no, not mad. I’m just currently on the verge of a serious emotional breakdown seeing as how I’ve just driven my baby dragon away into the hooves of some fashion crazed hussy who apparently isn’t bothered by the fact that he’s technically still a baby, and if what I hear from Sweetie Belle is true then she’s in for a rude awakening when... Ugh, you what forget it.”
Fluttershy digested this new information very quickly, and for her part did fairly well in dealing with it.
“So does that mean you can help me or…”
Twilight’s eye began twitching. It was not a good sign. “If this has something to with a sock monster under your bed again I’m going to lobotomize you and give your brain to Princess Celestia as a Hearts and Hooves Day present.”
Fluttershy gulped, “Well it does have to do with a monster…”
Twilight’s horn lit and a scalpel as well as a glass jar appeared from somewhere nearby. “Losing my patience here Fluttershy…”
The pegasus shrunk beneath the slightly deranged alicorn that seemed to lose her mind almost immediately without her morning coffee.
“Uh… well it fell from the sky in a ball of fire… so...” suddenly Twilight’s eyes widened and sanity seemed to return to her.
“Fluttershy! That is terrible! Why didn't you say something sooner!?"
Fluttershy frowned, "But I did..."
"We have to do something!” yelled Twilight frantically, cutting Fluttershy off.
The small Pegasus nodded happily, glad to finally have some back-up on the current subject matter.
“I don’t even have a book for this yet! Hold on Fluttershy, this is too important to mess up! Just… stall it until I can find a book about mysterious monsters falling from the sky!” and like that Fluttershy found herself pushed out of the library and the door shut in her face.
She fell to the ground with a defeated sigh, “I’m just going to let it eat me…”
()()()()()()()()
The Sun rose slowly over the small town of Ponyville, sending a rainbow of multi-hued oranges and reds and pinks cascading through the sky. Perhaps a bit too much pink. A happy humming echoed through the still drowsy roads of Ponyville, and there was also bouncing. Lots and lots of bouncing. And it all stemmed from one pony, a pony named Pinkie Pie.
“Hiya Fluttershy! Lyin’ down in the dirt again? That’s cool! Can I try too?”
Pinkie’s smile seemed unusually happy as always, and Fluttershy simply nodded to her pink friend to come and join her. Pinkie flopped down next to her and scooted closer and then closer still. So close in fact that Fluttershy began to feel uncomfortable.
“Um… Pinkie?”
The pink mare smiled at her from her place about three inches away.
“Yeah Fluttershy?”
Pinkie’s unblinking stare was beginning to become just the slightest bit unnerving. “Could you… maybe… if you don’t mind… leave my personal space bubble? Just a teeny tiny bit?”
Pinkie nodded and scooted slightly farther away. She casually yawned and let her hoof fall behind Fluttershy’s shoulders. How she was able to do this while they lay down against the dirt was anypony’s guess, but Fluttershy had bigger problems on her mind.
Although apparently Pinkie did too, “so… whatcha’ been up to Flutters? Any super-secret special awesome things that your Aunt Pinkie should totally be included in? Like… a party for two?”
Fluttershy shook her head, for whatever reason Pinkie’s version of small talk seemed to revolve around the fact that she believed everypony she knew was having secret parties behind her back.
“Oh… welp! That didn’t work.”
Fluttershy looked to her pink friend, “What didn’t work?”
Pinkie sighed, “Rarity told me the next step after being friends was being ‘something more’,” Pinkie didn’t skip out on the air quotes, “She wouldn’t tell me what that something was, but she said the absolute bestest way possible to learn was to start ‘flirting’,” Pinkie said the word with a certain mysticism that reminded Fluttershy of filly. She chose to ignore the fact that Pinkie was trying out her new friendship technique on her.
“Yeah so, I guess it didn’t work.”
Fluttershy tried not to ask, but she did anyway, “Why’s that?”
Pinkie simply shrugged, “Rarity said that after the ‘flirting’ was done I would understand what she meant and have a special somepony! Oh well, it was fun flirting with you Fluttershy!”
Fluttershy simply watched Pinkie bounce off, her monster troubles momentarily forgotten as she revaluated her life. Because apparently everypony in her life was crazy. She let out a content sigh, at least they were her friends, and that’s all that really mattered wasn’t it? So Fluttershy picked herself up and started making her way towards the center of town where she would meet the monster head on. And if it ate her then… well, maybe it’d be full and leave everypony else alone. She smiled at that thought, she’d get to feed a starving monster and help her friends at the same time. It seemed like the right thing to do.
()()()()()()()()
The Archmage began systematically burning small shrubbery on her way towards town. It was a pleasure she had been deprived of since moving to a frozen wasteland to run her College. What could she say? She enjoyed the smell. The little green eyeball that was on her shoulder continued to roll every time she stalled to burn another piece of foliage.
“We are on a schedule you know. Perhaps we could pick up the pace? I’m not interested in remaining an eye on your shoulder for the rest of my perpetually infinite existence.”
The Archmage shrugged, sparing a small bush that had looked at her the wrong way, “Yes well, sometimes I need to cool off.”
The eye stared at her for a moment, “By burning things? That is a paradox.”
She rolled her own eyes, “It’s an expression, I mean I like killing things because it helps me calm down and not think about what a terrible mother I am.”
The eye stared at her for moment, “You’re diabolical, you know that?”
She let a light smile form beneath her helmet, “Would you say I’m… paradoxical?”
There was an audible silence that followed. She sighed, “Okay it wasn’t that bad…”
The eye only continued to stare at her, “That… may have been the single worst thing I’ve ever heard you say.”
The Archmage lit another bush on fire in retaliation, “You try making a joke on the spot then. At least I’m trying.”
The eye would have frowned had he been capable of it, “Why?”
The Archmage shrugged her shoulders, sending her ocular companion spinning. “A little advice from a friend I suppose.”
The thirst for knowledge momentarily overcame the little princely eye, “Who gave you this advice and why? What stake do they have in you? Is it blackmail? Why was I not informed? Is this information unknown to me? Can I have it? Does it have anything to do with previously unexplored areas of what humans refer to as ‘Culinary Perfection’ and if so… Can I eat it?”
The Archmage stopped cold. The little eye refocused, “I just had an episode didn’t I? Being the physical representation of knowledge has a few drawbacks.”
The Archmage didn’t respond. Hermaeus Mora thought he knew why, “In reference to the eating… for whatever reason mortals enjoy creating more abstract renditions of food stuffs than anything else… ever. Very strange, but knowledge is knowledge. Also I developed taste buds on my tentacles in Apocrypha to identify tastes and catalogue them. You taste like copper and mint by the way, a very strange but not unwelcome combination.”
The Archmage suddenly snapped back to reality, “Wait what!? You… tasted me?”
The little eye rocked back in forth in what seemed like a nod.
“You are a rather unique and splendid flavor I must say.”
The Archmage brought a gauntleted hand to her head, “I think I’ve gone mad.”
The little eyeball nodded, “Spending time with Sheogorath tends to do that to you, although my fascination with tasting things is hardly grounds for madness.”
She shook her head, never breaking her sight from what lied before her.
“Not that.”
The little eyeball shifted to see what his host was seeing, and for the second time in the last few hours he found himself wondering why the Tides of Fate seemed to like messing with him so much. For before them sat what was quite possibly the strangest thing either of them had ever seen. A little pegasus about half the Archmage’s size with a light pink mane and a butter-cream yellow coat. And behind the pegasus was a town that was filled with more of the half-sized colorful horses.
The Archmage sighed, “We’re not dead are we? This is not how I wanted to spend my afterlife.”
The little pegasus then began to make its way towards them. The Archmage might have been intimidated assuming the pegasus hadn’t been shaking violently and squeezing its eyes shut tight. Both the Prince and his pupil watched silently for what felt like minutes until the pegasus closed the gap and sat down in front of them, still quaking in fear. Then it spoke.
“Um… Please don’t eat anyone Mr. Monster… I know we may look tasty b-but we’re n-not that g-good… I-I u-understand if y-you can’t h-help yourself though… so… maybe… you could… eat me instead?”
She squeaked and hid beneath her hooves ducking onto the ground in preparation for being eaten. The Archmage turned her head to look at the Prince on her shoulder. She whispered, “So is this the part where we eat her or…”
The eyeball silently scolded her, “We need information not snacks.”
The Archmage rolled her eyes, “Fine, fine. Calm down before you give yourself a headache… Oh wait.” She snickered inside her helmet as the eyeball fumed.
Fluttershy looked up from her hiding place at the tall black monstrosity and thought she heard laughter. Naturally, she interpreted this as sinister and returned to shivering awaiting her imminent consumption.
The Archmage returned her attention to the pegasus, “Oh Hermaeus, she’s so cute! Can we keep her?”
The eyeball was not amused, “Either ask it a question or kill it. I’m not in the mood.”
The Archmage groaned, apparently she’d upset her mentor. “Oh fine, I’m sorry. Let’s just enjoy the insanity of the situation for once hmm?”
The eyeball rolled on her shoulder, sliding until it was on top of her head, “Fine, let’s gather some knowledge then.”
The Archmage smiled, “That’s the spirit!”
She looked down to the pegasus and quickly gripped her in a field of telekinesis, her hand glowing orange as she lifted the shivering pegasus to eye level. She spoke clearly and crisply, adding in just a touch of impatience to offset her giggling.
“Tell me horse, where is the nearest source of powerful magic and or abnormally colored portals?”
Fluttershy felt her hooves leave the ground as she was lifted into the air. Her wings were not open, she was not flying, and she couldn’t feel the air rushing past her. The only thing she could think to do was face her inevitable fate and be eaten. Who knows? Maybe it’d be nice. She looked up to find herself face to face with the creature, its deep black holes for eyes staring into her very soul. This was it; she was going to be eaten by a monster. She closed her eyes and for a moment experienced serene peace. She had no regrets. It brought a smile to her lips.
“Tell me horse, where is the nearest source of powerful magic and or abnormally colored portals?”
Fluttershy opened her eyes to see the dark, hawk like face of the monster staring at her intently. It didn’t actually look like it had a mouth now that she thought about it. Her eyes drifted upward to the large green eye ball resting on its head. She honestly couldn’t help herself, “Is that how you see?” she pointed a hoof unsteadily at the eye.
Then another voice spoke, it was different from the first, more masculine, and it rang inside her head. “I am not her seeing eye… eye. I’m just here for moral support.”
Fluttershy simply nodded, so over saturated was she with the development of fear and shock going through her. She brought her gaze back down to the monster, “Um… could you put me down please?”
Silence followed.
“I mean if that’s okay with you…”
The Archmage rolled her eyes inside her helmet and set the little pegasus back down.
“O-oh thank you… uh…”
The Archmage briefly considered answering with her name, until she thought better of it. Names had a certain power to them that she was not willing to part with.
“I am the Archmage of the College in Winterhold! The Mistress of Magic and all things arcane! The spell casting witch who slew the entirety of Castle Dawnguard without breaking a sweat! The inventor of the Reanimation Incarnation spell! The Queen of the Ghost Sea! The mage who occasionally takes over Solitude by way of powerful illusion magic until I get bored! The mad scientist who may have accidentally created a new sub-species of Falmer whilst experimenting with volatile compounds that weren’t entirely legal at the time! The Champion and apprentice of the Daedric Prince Hermaeus Mora! And the Mother of the Year according to the mug that I received as a birthday present not long ago!” she took a deep breath before pointing to the little eye ball resting on her head, “And this is Hermaeus Mora, my mentor and friend.”
Fluttershy remained speechless for a moment longer, “Um… Hi, I’m Fluttershy.”
The little eye ball huffed in annoyance, “You wouldn’t even be able to list all of my titles if you tried.”
The Archmage was still smiling, “Well it’s a good thing that I don’t try then.”
Fluttershy finally came to terms with the fact that she wasn’t going to be eaten and visibly relaxed, “So… it’s nice to meet you?”
The Archmage nodded, “A pleasure native! And call me the Archmage! Everyone else does!”
Hermaeus begged to differ, “No one calls you that.”
She whispered back to him, “I’m trying to make a good impression here, do you mind?”
The eye returned to her shoulder, “Oh no, please continue.”
She glared at him beneath her helmet, “I don’t appreciate the sarcasm.”
The eye blinked innocently, “Me? Sarcasm? Such mortal pleasantries are beneath me.”
The Archmage’s glare didn’t lighten, “Right.”
She returned her attention to Fluttershy and did her best to not seem threatening, “So… any powerful magic around here?”
Fluttershy looked around briefly, “Well um… I don’t know much about magic but Twilight might be able to help you.”
Hermaeus’s pupil briefly unfocused, “Twilight- the period of time between dawn and dusk. Commonly associated as a prime hunting period for vampires for reasons unknown. Type of vampire is commonly killed for hunting so close to dawn. Unique genetic degradation has caused this rare breed’s skin to brighten and sparkle when hit by ultra-violet rays of the sun.”
The Archmage flicked the little eye ball before he could continue, “Do try to keep sane while we’re visiting this town of talking horses would you?”
Hermaeus blinked rapidly, “Did you just flick my eye?”
The Archmage shrugged, “I honestly have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Fluttershy simply watched this exchange in a mix of fear and curiosity. She’d never seen a creature like this before, much less one that shared some kind of symbiotic relationship with a talking eyeball. Still, she felt the urge to find Twilight and let her deal with the situation. Personally she felt like she needed a nap.
“Um… okay then… follow me please.”
The Archmage and the eye stopped their bickering as the little pegasus made her way back into town. Apparently every other pony in the place had dropped what they were doing to watch them pass.
The Archmage felt some small talk was in order, “So this Twilight? Are you her thrall or just a follower?”
Fluttershy wasn’t entirely sure what a thrall was so she just went with what she knew, “Oh I’m just a follower; Twilight’s a good leader though. Like this one time she saved Ponyville from an Ursa Minor, or that other time she charged Nightmare Moon head on, or this other time that she saved all of us from being brain-washed by Discord. Then there was this other time...”
"I think we get the idea."
The Archmage whispered to the eye on her shoulder, “I think I like this vampire already, to think she has a whole town under her control! Serana’s going to be so jealous.”
The eye simply rolled as his pupil detailed the joys of working with vampires and their whole ‘We don’t get tired and can work forever on our studies and magic’ thing.
“I bet she’s using them as cattle too, very smart. She can keep herself fed while simultaneously building an army of loyal thralls. I can’t wait to meet her.”
Fluttershy stopped in front of what looked like a tree carved into a home. It reminded the Archmage of one particular sorcerer in Solsthiem that lived in a similar set up, save with mushrooms. “Oh wow, this is powerful magic. Even I can’t grow a tree home yet.”
The eye rolled in annoyance as his pupil fawned over the fine details of the home, “I’ve seen better.”
The Archmage followed Fluttershy to the door until she felt a small hoof block her path, “Um… maybe you should wait outside? Twilight can get kind of… panicky when she meets new species.”
The Archmage was about to ask what she meant by ‘new species’ when Fluttershy disappeared into the tree home.
“So a pony vampire? Oh well, I suppose I’ve seen weirder.”
The eye moved to her head once more, “Supposing that this little meet and greet with the vampire goes well, how do you plan on getting us back to Skyrim?”
The Archmage pondered this for a moment, “Well I could always try to make a portal myself.”
The eye looked nonplussed with the idea.
“You do remember what happened the last time you tried to make a portal to another realm don’t you?”
The Archmage blushed, “How was I supposed to know it’d open up in space? What kind of realm lives among the stars anyway? And that metal construct? Hardly what I’d call safe, it was falling towards the planet!”
The eye nodded along, remembering the scene he had unwittingly witnessed his student create. “It was more like it was being dragged down, those glowing lines must have been connecting it to the piece of the planet.”
The Archmage nodded, getting lost in the pleasant memory, “Oh I know! How do think they managed to pull a chunk out of the planet itself? It must have taken ages to cut it out! Oh! What if they used some form of geomancy? That might’ve worked.”
Hermaeus couldn’t resist talking shop with his student, “Yes that might’ve worked. But those tethers wouldn’t be enough to drag it out of the planet. Perhaps a gravity manipulation spell?”
The Archmage nodded, “Or perhaps the entire metal behemoth had been enchanted? It certainly looked like a dwarven creation. A mix of science and magic.”
The eye blinked happily, “Very good my student. But what of the mind magic permeating the area? What do you suppose of its purpose?”
The Archmage stalled for only a moment, “A complication maybe? It was certainly powerful; I’ve never felt such a strong urge to kill others and then myself before… hmm. Maybe the residents of the world below were fighting to save their home?”
The eye brightened, “You are certainly fond of these hypotheticals my pupil. Perhaps we should create another portal, if only to spice up the conversation every now and again?”
The Archmage nodded happily, “I do wonder sometimes how you ever managed without me.”
The eye simply blinked, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d spoken so freely about magical theory. It felt good to have his student back again. Then the door to the tree opened.
Hermaeus Mora was never one to discredit his followers. Murder them violently with tentacles? Well, only if they were going to lose anyway. But to discredit them? Never, they were his students and he valued them. Of course he wasn’t jealous when the Archmage began fawning over the small lavender vampire unicorn with wings that had opened the door. It’s not like she had anything that he didn’t have. He was practically a god and she was just one of his brothers left overs, that is, assuming one Molag Bal actually found a way to spread his ‘daughters’ to other realms filled with ponies. He doubted it, but then, he didn’t really talk to his murderous and somewhat domination obsessed brother. All the same though, he was not jealous. He was just the slightest bit annoyed that the Archmage found her so much more interesting than their conversation about extra-dimensional travel.
The Archmage swayed downwards into a fluent bow before offering a gauntleted hand to the shocked alicorn.
“Ah, you must be Twilight! I must admit I was expecting someone a bit taller but still! I am a huge fan of what you’ve done with the place by the way. The tree looks beautiful and I’m sure it’s just barely reaching its full height. Oh, and the thralls! They’re so lovely! Why Fluttershy has told me all about what a great Mistress you must be to lead such a large group. Even old Harkon didn’t have this many under his control, not that he really tried but… well anyway, it’s a pleasure to meet another mistress of magic so far away from home.”
Twilight remained stationary, looking at her with a blank stare. The Archmage spotted Fluttershy behind Twilight who gave a little wave at her. She waved back, naturally. By then Twilight had recomposed herself and shakily took the hand of the Archmage, which composed mostly of her putting her hoof to the palm of the Archmage’s hand and shaking awkwardly.
“Um… have we met before Miss?”
The Archmage shook her helmeted head, “Well no, not officially. But I’m always happy to meet a vampire out in the world. You wouldn’t believe me but I’ve actually had a lot of contact with vampires before, even had a brief stint as a pure blood for a while. It was pretty fun.”
Twilight continued to stare at her. It was beginning to get awkward. The Archmage tried a different approach, “Oh where are my manners? You must be smoldering out here in the sun, please let’s get you inside.”
Before Twilight could argue she found herself being pushed inside by the creature, looking to Fluttershy in a complete mix of shock and confusion.
By the time Twilight’s brain had caught up to her body she found herself sipping tea in her library’s foyer with Fluttershy while the creature looked through the shelves of the library. She poked the pegasus in the side with her magic, “F-Fluttershy?”
Fluttershy gently set down her tea cup, “Yes Twilight?”
The sheer calm that dominated Fluttershy’s features only served to heighten Twilight’s already frazzled nerves.
“What is that thing and why is it in my library?”
Fluttershy looked over to where the Archmage was flipping through a book, “That’s the monster I was telling you about earlier, she’s actually really nice.”
Twilight nodded, not really listening anymore.
“Alright… Okay… I’ve got an idea. Fluttershy, when I give the signal I want you to go get the girls and bring them back here. The Elements are up in my room, Spike knows the drill. He’ll get them for you.”
Fluttershy very slowly shook her head, “Um… Twilight? I really don’t think that’s necessary…”
But the lavender mare was no longer listening. She stood and lit her horn.
The Archmage turned on her heel, cupping a book in her hand.
“You know, I don’t think we’re on Nirn anymore...”
She noticed the manic look on her vampire host. Hermaeus chose that moment to gloat, “I told you this was a bad idea.”
The Archmage sighed as she was forcibly ejected from the library by way of the nearest collapsible wall.
