A changeling's visit to Skyrim

Stross, Karliah, and the ghost of Gallus emerged into a hallway of cleanly cut stone lit sparsely with torches, alcoves and bits of furniture lined the path ahead. The final trial lay before them now, all that was to be done was traverse the winding halls and get to the entrance to the Ebonmere on the other side.

“Well, this shouldn’t be too hard.” Stross said confidently as he strode forward “Wait…” he stopped himself “Unless that’s just what they want us to think.”

“Catching on are we?” Gallus spoke, his voice growing ever more distant and distorted “Indeed, for this test you must walk the path of temptations without losing your focus on your goal, just as though you were on any other heist. Direct and yet indirect, the path to salvation requires a route of cunning, with avarice betraying the foolish.”

“Phft, shouldn’t be too hard.” Stross dismissed and continued on “I just need to keep on walking no matter… what…”

Stross slowed his pace a bit when a torch lit, illuminating a large bag of gold perched atop a stone pedestal.

“Really, a bag of gold?” the changeling scoffed, noticing the trapwire tied to it and quickly turning away down another corridor “It’ll take more than that to-“

He was interrupted again when a closet sprung open, revealing a rather lavish set of robes; they were his favorite color too, and embroidered with gold string none the less.

Stross stiffened and kept walking without a second glance. But as the trio kept making their way through the winding halls, more and more things popped out of the alcoves on the walls to shove themselves in their faces. Bookshelves were filled with gold and jewels and rare tomes, metal ingots and fine drinks lined the tables of the hall.

Karliah was a trained thief and a servant of Nocturnal, wise to the ways of a Nightingale. And Gallus… well, let’s just say he no longer required such material things.

It was when Stross reached out to grab a slice of a chocolate cake with strawberries on top, oblivious of the flamethrower positioned above, that Gallus called out from behind.

“The cake is a-“

“Don’t say it!” Stross snapped and backed off, his mouth watering dejectedly. "Cakes, why'd it have ta be cakes?"

...

Finally, after several more hallways and several more close calls due to Stross’s sweet tooth, they reached the door to the final chamber. Relieved to have made it, Karliah and Gallus walked through first. Stross was about to follow, when he heard a muffled sound to his left. He was about to ignore it and finish his quest, when it sounded out again, and he realized someone was calling his name.

With curiosity getting the better of him, he backstepped a few paces and found a wooden door he hadn’t noticed before.

“…Come…” the voice called out again from the other side.

Against his better judgment, Stross opened the door and stepped inside the blackness on the other side. A thick smoke covered much of the darkened room, it got in his nose and made him cough. But he gained control of his breathing again, and noticed a figure approach him out of the dark. He rubbed his eyes, and almost couldn’t comprehend what he was seeing.

Before him stood a light green pegasus mare with a long silver mane. She walked into sight and smiled at him. “Stross… I’m so sorry I ran from you.” she spoke in a quivering voice, immense sadness in her dark amber eyes. “Please… come back. Come back to me.”

“L- Limelight? But… how are- you were-“ Stross stuttered as he stepped forward “You died. You died because of me!” he cried.

Limelight shook her head, her mane swishing in the way Stross always found so cute. “It doesn’t matter Stross; I’m here now, we all are.”

At that moment Stross noticed other faces appearing out of the mist to stand next to Limelight. Bloom Sprite, Swift Strike, Sunny Delight and at least a dozen more he thought he had lost forever. All of them stood there, staring longingly at him from across the darkened floor.

“We couldn’t live without you Stross, we all came here to find you again.” Swift told him.

“All of us forgive you, and we’re so sorry for everything.” Sunny added.

“We miss you so much.” The heartfelt and pleading voices filled the room.

“I couldn’t sleep after you left.”

“You were always so nice to me.”

“My heart felt like it was torn open when you weren’t there.”

“We love you.”

The darkness of the room began to seep into his vision, everything else in his mind becoming obscured, and Stross could feel tears fall down his face as his mouth stretched into a smile. He couldn’t hear Gallus and Karliah call out to him, nor the door slam shut behind him as stepped forward. All he could focus on was the mares in front of him. He didn’t care how they got to Skyrim, he didn’t even care that he had held Limelight’s broken body as she passed away in his forelegs.

All that mattered was that they were all back. They came back for him, to forgive him.  Just a couple more steps and they’d all be together again.

…Two steps.

The floor made a muffled thump as the pads on his boots hit it.

…One step.

A breeze blew against his face, and Limelight reached out a hoof.

Just one more step… and yet, something stopped him right before he jumped forward to hug them all.

It wasn’t something he noticed, but rather what he didn’t notice. He couldn’t find the scent of musty fabric that Limelight always had from the costumes she worked with, nor the smell of grass from Bloom Sprite, or armor polish from Swift. Perhaps the dust in the room had clogged his sense of smell, or perhaps they’d traveled so far that their natural scents had faded away. But this opened Stross’s mind enough to notice what was absent the most.

Love.

Stross looked at the mares before him as only a changeling could… and he felt nothing. Each and every one of them was devoid of love, for him or anything else. Also gone from them was fear, or anger, happiness, and every other emotion. They were hollow.

He looked down at where he would have stepped to find he was teetering on the edge of a pit, one which he could not see the bottom.

“What’s going on… Who are you? What are you?!” Stross demanded of the mares hovering over the gap.

“Stross, please just come to us. Don’t you trust us?”

“NO!” Stross panicked and scrambled for the door, which to his dismay was firmly locked as he banged his fists against it “What is this? Let me out!”

“Stross.” a calm and familiar voice soothed as he felt a hand rest gently on his shoulder. He turned and saw Fenora standing there, an eerily serene look on her face. “It’s alright.”

“Get back! You’re not her!” Stross shoved her away and scratched at the door, praying for a way out as the mares stalked closer. When he found it would not yield he broke down, his back against the solid piece of wood, cowering with his arms over his head. “Please don’t hurt me.” he begged.

“Stross…” Fenora’s voice spoke, leaving a tense silence.

And then she and every single one of the mares turned into a perfect copy of himself, all bearing down on him with gleaming white fangs, and tears spilling out of their pleading blue eyes.

“Don’t leave me!”

“Please don’t go!”

“I won’t hurt you I promise!”

“I’m not a monster!”

“I still love you!”

“I NEED YOU!”

Confronted with his own echoing voice, knife-like fangs and scale-covered limbs pawing at him, Stross screamed a scream of pure terror and erupted in flame, setting all his clones around him ablaze.

In response the clones flickered back and forth between himself, and the mares he knew and loved once, forcing him to hear their screams and watch as their flesh burned and melted away from their bones. And yet clone and mare alike still pawed at him, begging him to stay with them, even as their flesh and scale melted away to the bone.

Finally the wooden door behind him collapsed from the flames burning through it, and Stross kicked and clawed his way out from the pile of burning corpses, backpeddling as far as he could and blasting fireballs at them until the last one stopped moving.

“Snap out of it man! You are hallucinating!” Gallus tried to calm him, only scaring him further.

“It was just another of Nocturnal’s tests.” Karliah tried to reason with him “I am glad you were not killed by it, but you must calm yourself!”

Stross didn’t hear any of what they said, or at least didn’t register any of it. His eyes were locked firmly ahead on the false image of Fenora, standing there among the smoldering ashes of the fake mares and his own burnt up bodies. She simply stood there like a gravestone among the dead.

“They gave you their love Stross, and you gave them yours; it hurt them as much as it hurt you. Perhaps you weren't so different.” was all she said before turning her back and vanishing.

“What is it?” Gallus asked “What did that powder make you see?”

Instead of answering, Stross merely threw up all over the floor and curled up into a shivering ball.

Meanwhile in the realm of Evergloam, gathered among unearthly structures on the ethereal plane of shadows and clouds, four deities sat watching our changeling hero, each of them caught in a heated debate with one another.

“Art thou entertained yet?” Luna spoke to Celestia while the latter continued to watch and contemplate. "I believe you went too far with that last one sister."

“What it saw was not up to me, Luna.” Celestia responded “If what you’ve told me of this changeling was true, I expected the mind-mist to make him see some sort of victory over Alduin; his allies standing over the fallen dragons, or a celebration in his honor perhaps.” Celestia frowned “If it had managed to deceive you somehow, he would have seen Equestria burning under dragonfire. But this... I don't quit know what to make of it.”

“Firstly, we would prefer you stop referring to Stross as an ‘it’, at least call him by name.” Luna said sternly “And if you will not have faith in him, then at least have some faith in your own sister’s judgment. Did I not know better, I would’st have said thou wished him to be a monster simply so you could be right as always.”

“Luna!” Celestia gasped “What kind of evil mare do you take me for? I understand giving the benefit of the doubt, but for goodness sakes, his kind attacked us! And they were so… cunning with their deception that even I was blind. They broke through all our defenses, and I have no doubt they would have won that day had it not been for Twilight’s overprotective paranoia, coupled with the sheer arrogance of their Queen.”

Celestia looked back through the scrying pool at Stross, clearly deep in thought. “We cannot allow- no… I, shall not allow my little ponies to become food for the bellies of those monsters. Not if I can prevent it.”

A light chuckle came from a third being gathered around the font holding the scrying portal, and one of two who had remained silent amongst the equine sisters’ shouting finally spoke up.

“You two haven’t changed a bit.” Azura commented, shaking her head with a smile “Fourteen-hundred years plus change and you still bicker over your toys like children. It’s kind of adorable really.”

“We are not children!” Luna shot back.

“And our subjects are not toys.” Celestia said, her voice becoming distant “They are kind, innocent and pure. They depend on us to protect them, to lead them.”

“They were not always so.” Azura reminded her “Do you not remember what that savage, inhospitable world you call Equuis was like before the two of you purged it with your banishing spells? Have you forgotten how the ponies fiercely fended for themselves, their violence and ire unrivaled?”

“We have not forgotten.” Celestia countered “If anything, I can never forget.”

“Indeed, it is why we must maintain order, and promote harmony and peace. We can not let such devastation and suffering take hold again in our world.” Luna said, firm in her conviction.

“But is that not the way Equuis should be, the way it is naturally?” Nocturnal asked “You two carve out a wonderland to rule over, in a world forged from savagery. Even now you fight and struggle to maintain order. Would you really let your powers wane until you are but nothing? And if so, for what?”

“We shall.” Celestia answered “We’ll protect out people even with our dying breaths, just as father Akatosh and the others did for Nirn.”

“Akatosh was a fool and you know it.” Nocturnal shot back “And even so, Akatosh and the others created an entire world. While you Celestia… you’re fighting a losing battle for nothing.”

Celestia was silent, Luna as well.

“Please Tia… for you and your sister, don’t waste yourselves for something foolish. Those ponies are not worth your lives.”

Celestia’s eyes suddenly filled with anger. “You think preserving innocent lives is foolish!? How dare you say that we would be wasted on-“

Azura cleared her throat loudly to get their attentions. “If I may interject, I believe we’ve gotten off topic.”

“Ahem. You are right. Where is it- Where is he now?” Celestia asked as they returned to the scrying portal.

The portal rippled to show an image of the three standing over the pit that led to the chamber of Evergloam. “So how do we get down there?” the changeling asked.

“This, is… SKYRIM!” the dunmer thief yelled and kicked him into the pit. “Fus ro dah...?”

“KALIAH YOU BIIiiii…” *Plomf* “…ouch.”

Finally at the bottom of the darkened pit known as the Ebonmere, Stross pulled himself to his feet, mumbling curses and relocating his femurs.

“Heeellllooooo! Am I in the right place?” He called out, the stone floor and the sealed entrances of the Ebonmere giving him no response. After about a minute had passed with little progress made, he’d considered flying back out, but what would he tell Karliah? Sorry, Nocturnal isn’t home right now, please leave a message after the beep?

The changeling sat against a wall and let out a deep sigh. “I’m so bored!” he moaned.

Suddenly the Skeleton Key started vibrating in his pocket. Cautiously he pulled it out and unwrapped it.

“Oh sweet! It still works.” Nocturnal’s voice came from the key, the crystal on top pulsating with her voice “Alright, now listen closely. I need you to take this key, and put it in the hole.”

Stross gave the key an incredulous look. “Okay.” He shrugged. He then pulled one of his gloves off and shoved the key into one of the gaps in his wrist.

“No. Not that hole.”

Another attempt was made.

“Not that one either.”

Stross pulled the key out of his nose and looked at it questioningly. After checking whether or not anyone was watching, he began to pull his pants off.

“NO! For the love of darkness, just NO!” Nocturnal screamed “I’m talking about the key-shaped slot in the floor over there, you ding-bat!”

“Ooooohhhhhh.” Stross slapped his forehead “That makes way more sense.” He then walked over and placed the key in the glowing slot, then turned it until it clicked. But nothing happened.

“Did you try blowing into the slot to clear the dust?” Nocturnal asked through the key “Okay hold on. Where is that instruction manual? Let’s see here… try opening the panel to your left.”

Stross did as he was told, uncovering a black metal box covered in green lights. He stared at it and flipped it over a few times, trying to figure out what was wrong. “What is this thing?” he asked.

“Never mind that. Are all the lights solid green?”

“Uh, nope; one is blinking yellow.”

“Darn it, listen to me very closely, because I can only tell you this once. Listen to all of it.” Nocturnal stressed “First, you need to unplug it-“

“Okay!” Stross pulled out one of the cables.

“NO! Quick you must-“ Nocturnal tried to say, but her connection was suddenly cut off.

“Uhh, what was that last part? You’re breaking up on me here.” Stross waited for a response, only for silence to greet him. "Well great, what am I supposed to do now?"

"Plug it back in." came a feline voice behind him.

Turning around, Stross came face to face with a familiar yellow-robed Kahjiit. "What th- J'zargo? How'd you get down here?" Stross asked, trying to think of some explanation.

"J'zargo is tech support. J'zargo does not need to explain himself."

Meanwhile in Evergloam, a pulse of red suddenly washed over Nocturnal’s realm. The clouds seemed to light up, flickering shadows began to move of their own accord again, and the mistress of dark felt her power restored, as well as her link to the realm of Mundus.

Nocturnal squeed in delight before summoning up a huge number of various screens which she began frantically poking and swiping at “YES! Nocturnal is back, baby! You sisters do what you need to, I gotta update my status.”

Celestia and Luna looked between each other and stifled giggles. “Azura, would you care to join us?” Celestia asked, preparing a portal now that Evergloam had been re-linked.

“You go on ahead… I’ll talk with him later. Right now I must look after Nocty and make sure she remembers to eat.”

"Oh oh, check this out Zuri." Nocturnal beckoned her over as she tapped a screen and pulled a microphone to her lips "Delvin... this is the mistress of night. I command you now." she spoke in a ghostly tone "Walk up to Vex... and tell her to show you her booooobs."

And so, the two goddesses shared a good laugh as Delvin got repeatedly kicked in the groin.

Stross had fixed the Skeleton Key thingy, or at least thought he had, and decided to leave after that. He met with Karliah and Gallus at the entrance to the Sepulcher, and Gallus confirmed that the link to Nocturnal’s realm had indeed been reestablished.

“So what happens now?” Stross asked.

For the first time since they’d met, Karliah looked almost lost, unable to find words. “I… I don’t know. I’ve been on the hunt for revenge for so long, I’m not sure what to do now.” She thought on it for a second “I suppose I’ll head back to join the Guild again, help them out with their work. No doubt they’ll have better luck with Nocturnal on their side again. But for now, I believe I’ll spend a while longer with Gallus, and catch up.”

“And I shall linger in this world for as long as you wish, my little Nightingale.” Gallus cooed, earning a small blush from Karliah.

“What about you Stross; what will you do?”

Stross opened his mouth to answer. But before he could, a shadowy rift opened just to his right. He turned to face it, expecting Nocturnal’s voice.

“Stross!” Luna dove out of the portal, landing on him in a bone-snapping tackle-hug “Greetings my changeling friend! I hath returned to aid you once again! ADVENTURE!” *Snap*

“Hurk… Hello Princess Luna. *Crack* It’s good to- gurk! See you too.” Stross managed to choke out.

“Indeed, greetings to you, changeling.” A warm, yet commanding voice spoke from the portal. Out stepped Princess Celestia, she had taken a human form, yet her giant white wings and regal horn remained. She also had the good sense to conjure up some light robes to supplement her regalia, but the result had hardly any effect.

“I have watched your progress as of late.” Celestia told him “What you do for this world is quite a noble endeavor, and I wish you luck in it. However,” her voice took a firmer tone “know that I shall be watching you, Luna as well, and should your actions prove to be of evil nature, one that threatens our subjects, I will not hesitate to put an end to it. Do you understand?”

Celestia waited for a response.

“Holy gratuitous cleavage, Princess Celestia!” Stross shouted as his wings sprang out of his shell.

“Ahem, yes well,” Celestia moved her arms to cover herself a bit more, realizing her robes covered significantly less than they should have “You still shall not-“

“I’m sorry, I can’t hear you over the sound of those knockers!”

A vein puled on Celestia’s forehead. “Will you just answer-“

“Bewbs.”

“He does have a point sister.” Luna chimed in “You really should be more modest when it comes to your form, lest the inhabitants of this world see it as an invitation to do unsavory things.” Luna said as she reached out and did the not-so-unthinkable. "Squeeze squeeze."

“Okay, fine!” Celestia shouted and conjured up a sun-pattered tee-shirt. “Changeling, do I have your word that you shall do no evil or not?!”

“Yeah okay.” Stross answered casually “No evilness going on.”

“Are you quite certain?”

Stross was about to readily answer yes again, but then a thought occurred. “Is this a trick question? Are you going to be a hard-flank when it comes to stuff like this?”

“I- what?”

“Yeah, like what if I have to brutally murderize a horde of wizard vampire bandits to save a town of innocent people. Or maybe I need to make a dark deal with some Daedric lord in order to get a super powerful weapon to smite other stuff that’s more evil.” Stross provided a couple examples off the top of his head. “What if I get TRICKED into doing something bad but didn’t mean it?! Does that count against me too!?”

Celestia thought about it for a few moments. It would be hard to set rules for what is good or evil, when clearly it required case by case judgment. It would be purely out of perspective and context what is right or wrong. The solar Princess sighed, it was time to use the fallback plan when it came to tough decisions with no definite or right answer.

“I shall leave the matter to you, Luna. Oversee any decision this changeling makes, be his conscience.” Celestia decided, to which Luna gawked “I shall trust your judgment sister.” She added, giving Luna a bit more confidence. “Call for me if you need my help. Until then I must tend to our people. Good luck little sister.”

“If thou insists. But I must ask if- Oh not again!”Luna said as her mane stopped flowing and went limp again. “This is actually what I wished to speak to you about, sister. You said you had a solution for this, yes?” she looked to Celestia as Stross tried to untangle a large clump of her mane from of his mouth.

“Oh, right. I nearly forgot about that. As it turns out, I have found a solution.” Celestia chuckled “So Luna, do you like hmmmm bananas?”

“What?”

“I was just wondering if you liked hmmmm bananas.”

Luna’s eyes suddenly went wide and she released Stross to throw herself at Celestia’s feet. “No sister please! Not that, anything but that! I don’t want to be launched to the moon again!” she groveled.

Celestia simply stared at her sister with a dumbstruck expression before a sudden realization set in. “Oh! No Luna, not that; I’m past that phase now. I was referring to this.” She pulled out a banana... from where, we won’t question. “The potassium in these specially crafted bananas will allow you to maintain your magical link to Equestira while you’re here on Nirn. You shouldn’t have to worry about your magic draining away from simply existing now, but do try and take it easy with your use of magic while you’re here,” Celestia warned “You’ll only be able to recharge so fast.”

“Oh... okay. Thank you?” Luna said as she took the banana.

“You’re welcome, farewell.” Celestia said before stepping through the portal once more, likely returning home.

“So…” Luna asked slowly “What is our status on the quest to save Skyrim?”

“Well Fenora’s unlocked her potential with the Skeleton key, but now she’s also dying. I’ve got a group of falmer minions that can’t see. And…” Stross stopped recounting his mental list “And I was supposed to ask Noctural where the Horn of Jurgan Windcaller was, but didn’t.”

“Do not fret my friend, for we know where the horn resides.” Luna told him with a pat on the head “As we speak, it is traveling southwards to Morrowind, on a traders’ caravan that collects rare and valuable relics. Surely they will not part with it easily, but the master of the caravan desires one thing more than any other artifact; an ancient tome of alchemy from Summerset Isle that can turn any substance into pure gold. But to obtain this tome, we shall have to go to Vvardenfell and-“

“I’m sorry, is this a trading side-quest?” Stross asked “Because this is sounding a lot like a trading side-quest.”

“Indeed.” Luna admitted with a sigh “But with my magic and flight it shall take no time at all, I shall spare you the details and simply complete the quest on my own while you and Fenora carry on here.”

“Okay, I like this idea.”

“Right then, I must be off. But I shall check in with you once every eve. Take this.” Luna handed Stross a small purple gem “This will allow you to call for my aid should you need it. Tally ho!”

There was a brilliant flash of light, and Luna was gone.

“So Luna is back. Aaaaannd… she’s gone.” Stross deadpanned with a sigh as he worked Luna's gem into one of his arm holes “I guess I should get back to Riften and tell Fen the good news. See you two later.” He waved to Gallus and Karliah before leaving the cave.

The dunmer and her ghostly lover watched as he departed before turning their attentions back to each other.

“So my little Nightingale, you must realize that Nocturnal will eventually call me to Evergloam to fulfill my contract with her. But before I go, I would like to ask you about something.”

“Anything Gallus, anything at all.” Karliah said as she leaned into his transparent form.

“I sensed you had an interesting encounter with my good friend Brynjolf recently.”

Karliah’s eyes shot open. “W-wait Gallus. It’s not what you think, I was just-“

“Could you describe to me what it was like?” Gallus asked, to which Karliah gave a second of pause “And try to be as descriptive as possible.” he said, pulling out a bottle of ghost lotion and unzipping his ghost trousers.