A changeling's visit to Skyrim

A wall of vines covered the solitary exit on the far end of the maze. They were thick, nay impenetrable, enchanted with oakflesh and a greater magic ward, as well as a magic water supply that made them grow back at an astonishing rate should they be damaged.

Truly it would take a mage of considerable intelligence to identify it as Devil’s Snare, and know it’s vulnerable to sunlight. Then figure out you must first freeze the water to cut off its healing property, dispel each of the ward enchantments one by one by destroying the soul gems linked to the plant in the correct order, before being able to use a sunlight beam to make the Devil’s Snare retract it’s-

“GYAAAH! DIE! DIE! DIE!”

Or just… you know. Keep hacking away at the things until you get through.

*Sigh* Adventurers these days! No respect for the cleverness and insanity required for dungeon-building!

“Get! Off me! You stupid! Plants!” Fenora yelled as she fought her way through the creeping vines that ensnared her and Trixie, slicing through the rapidly regrowing mass of tendrils with every word.

“Feed me!” one of the plant’s many talking heads yelled.

“NO!” Fenora swiftly cut it from its stalk when it neared her “I’m not your fertilizer! I’m not soylent green! Go photosynthesize or something! Trixie I could use your help any day here!”

But the unicorn mage was unresponsive, trapped in some kind of magical sleep that Fenora could not wake her from. It was annoying having to carry her through the maze on her back, but as the cursed wall of plants refuse to release Trixie’s hat and cape, she was quickly becoming a liability.

Gritting her teeth in anticipation of pain, Fenora sucked in a deep breath of air. “FUS RO DAH!”

The vines entangling the pair were easily knocked away by the shockwave, and Fenora quickly snatched Trixie by her cape and scrambled for the exit before the relentless things could get ahold of them again. With no small amount of effort and a liberal use of thu’ums, the elf finally managed to slice through the last remaining curtain of leaves and break through the exit to the other side.

“We made it!” She yelled triumphantly as a trickle of blood dripped from the corner of her mouth. “You okay there, Miss Great and Powerful?” she asked Trixie, who was still out cold.

Fenora sheathed her blade and pulled Trixie over to a nearby stone bench and laid her down on it before taking a moment to look back at the great stone walls of Shalidor’s legendary maze. “It doesn’t look like the other made it out yet. I hope they find their way alright.”

Her worry was interrupted by a trio of popping sounds behind her. Spinning around and drawing her sword again, she found the apprentice mages standing there. Well… more like hovering mid-air before falling on the floor like ragdolls.

Fenora cautiously walked over, intending to see if they were okay, but before she could, a loud grinding sound shook the floor. She dove off the smooth slab of rock beneath her feet as it slowly rose from the ground and turned to face this new potential threat. To their relief though, it seemed it was simply convenience striking again.

“Fen!” Stross said with a smile as he stepped out of the elevator “You’re alive!”

“Stross you’re… covered in rotting skin? Do I want to ask?” Fenora noticed as she sheathed her sword and walked over.

“We had to use dead bodies to get past an obstacle course. Brelyna’s a necromancer, and that’s flipping sweet!” Stross told her “But now she’s gone, just like Onmund and J’zargo! I found them and helped them and then they just vanished!” he wailed.

“Oh, that’s okay though-“

“Okay?! How’s that okay?!” Stross gawked at her “They could be anywhere now! They might be freezing on top of a mountain, or trapped on an island, burning down in the planes of oblivion, or worst of all… teleported to Equestria while wearing some silly costume that becomes real and gives them superpowers!”

“Stross, they’re over there.” Fenora stepped out of the way to show the apprentice pile.

“Oh…" Stross looked over at the pile of tangled limbs and torsos that were his friends. "YAY!”

Fenora smiled and shook her head. “Well, the gang’s all here. Now we just need to wait for Luna to-“

And at that very moment, Luna decided to keep with the trend and appear right in their midst with a triumphant cheer. “I’ve returned! And I hath brought the Horn of Jurgan Windcaller! Tis strange, we had assumed it to be larger…”

“That’s what she said!” Stross threw in.

Fenora went ahead and took the horn from Luna. It was indeed small, simply made from some kind of animal bone and even a bit rough around the edge where it was cut. But Fenora could feel that it was the real thing the second she held it; it seemed to resonate in her hands in a way she couldn’t explain.

“This is fantastic, Luna, one less thing to worry about. Thank you for your help Princess.” Fenora said as she gave Luna a quick hug.

“Think nothing of it friend.” Luna said, barely hiding a blush.

“Hey, where’s Barbas?” Stross asked “Wasn’t he with you?”

Luna chuckled. “Oh, he said he had some business to take care of…”

*Meanwhile with Barbas*

Barbas dug feverishly into the soft soil, the mud clinging to his already filthy coat and it was only getting more caked on with each passing second, but he wasn’t about to slow down. He had to make sure no one would get their hands on his stash after all.

“I’ll never understand you dogs.” Sercie said as she watched him dig, the hole was nearly three feet deep and twice as wide around. A pile of the skeletal monsters they’d fought before lay on the edge, waiting to be hidden away. “Why bother burying your bones for later. You might not be able to even find them ya silly mutt.”

“Hey, calling the kettle black aren’t ya?” Barbas snarked as he kept digging.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Sercie asked with a frown.

“Ey new Captain! Where d’ya want us to bury all this extra gold!?” one of her surviving crewmates called.

"Over near that tree! Draw an 'X' in the sand on top when yer done, that'll make it easy to find in ten to a hundred years or so." Sercie  yelled back "Like I said, I'll never understand you dogs."

*Back with our heroes*

“He said to come pick him up later. What has happened whilst we were away? Each of you look positively exhausted.” Luna said as she noticed the apprentices sleeping on the floor in a pile.

“While we were in Shalidor’s maze, they had some kind of spell on them. I was able to break it once while we were in the maze, but afterwards they vanished. I guess the maze sucked them back in and spit them out here.” Stross guessed.

“You went into the maze without me?” Luna asked “While I might scold thee for your recklessness, I’m pleased that none of you were harmed. Allow me to reawaken them before we continue.”

With that said, Luna wrapped the apprentices in her magic glow and settled their bodies around her as she began to meditate. A few calm seconds passed as the Princess gently probed each of their minds in turn, but then the aura surrounding her became distorted. It pulsed once, and all concentration was lost. Luna fell to the floor with a cry of distress, yet the apprentices remained floating in the air.

“What happened?! Are you okay Luna?” Stross asked as he and Fenora ran over to help her to her feet.

“I am fine. But I could not break through their dreams. It’s as though something is stopping me… or someone.” Luna explained, trying to make sense of it and recover from the shock of being thrown from her own domain.

“Magic is as magic does…” came a ghostly voice that echoed around them, and the ghost of an old man in a tattered cloak materialized before them. “Or at least that is what the ignorant say to explain concepts unknown to them. I am Shalidor’s spirit familiar. All that remains of his mind is in me, bound here by a duplicate soul gem-“

“EEEEEEEAAAAHHHH!” Stross shrieked and blew a gout of flame at the scary ghost.

The ghost of Shalidor paused for a moment before continuing. “I am the custodian of this maze. I ensure that all who would practice magic, do so with purpose.” He pointed a hand to the apprentices, still comatose in his magic field “These four are the same in that regard; they each study magic because they feel alone, the possibilities of magic bring them comfort where none else exists. But this is not purpose, it is pleasure and fantasy, and for this they are weak. They do not deserve to search for what they seek, and so they shall remain here... forever.”

“Enough!” Luna interrupted “As Princess of the night I demand thee release these young mages immediately! Their mere fascination is no excuse to be detained by you.”

Shalidor scowled “Fool! Magic is an art! It is not some children’s toy to be used on one’s whim, it must be mastered before it is allowed to master you, something so very few understand. Do not act as though you are any different, wielding raw power with such abandon, with no thought to your spells.”

Luna tried to bark something back, only to find that the phantom had cast a silence spell on her.

“And so I turn to you…” Shalidor’s ghost said to Stross while Luna tried to counter the hex on her mouth “I turn to the last of the mages to make it through the maze, the one who danced about the enchantments to free the others. If you can satisfy my query, then the others shall be free." it spoke slowly and deliberately "Why do you seek to master magic?”

“I…" Stross looked to the others, detained and helpless, relying on him. "I... I don’t know.” he said finally, his mind drawing a complete blank “I’ve always had to use magic, to hide, to survive, just like every other changeling in Equestria. I just use magic because I need to.”

Shalidor's ghost pondered this. “So your gift is inherent, crucial even, and yet you do not seek to perfect it. Is this what you say? How can you call yourself a mage?”

“Wha- well I… I never needed to. What I had worked just fine for me. Sure it could have been better, but I...” Stross stammered. "Don't hurt them!"

“Mages these days... how truly pathetic they've have become.” Shalidor sighed “This is why I wished to restrict the use of magic to those who would unlock its full potential. When everyone can use the arcane arts, even the smallest triumphs are seen as glorious, and mediocrity runs rampant. Your kind are the epitome of failure.”

“Oi! What do you know about magic anyway?!” Fenora snapped. Shalidor looked almost taken aback, yet she continued. “Who the ‘Blivion do you think you are to dictate who can and can’t use magic? You eggheaded bully!”

"I am the master of the arcane, you dim-witted fool!" Shalidor roared "I am the mage of Nirn. Who else has dedicated their entire life to magic?!"

"There’s more to magic than perfection!" Stross shouted, memories of Equestria and its solar Princess coming back to him. "There’s friendship and wonder and compassion… living in Equestria has taught me that this magic can’t just be learned, that it has to be felt!” He looked to the apprentices and to Fenora “Books can only do so much, we need each other to know all that we can be. Holding everyone down so that only a few rise to the top is cruel and unfair, no matter how well it works. So let them go. Please.”

Shalidor floated there in silence for a long moment.

"No." he stated firmly.

"No? What do you mean 'no'!?" Stross whined "I just gave you a big heroic speech about friendship and caring about others to find the magic within yourself! And you're just like 'no'. What is this 'no' you speak of?"

“Do not misunderstand, your efforts are commendable, but foolish. Many who entered the maze before you left with their lives, but few have ever tried to save another within those stone walls.” Shalidor said as a smile graced his ghostly features before a solemn grimace washed it away. "It is wasted on them."

"How would you know?! Have you seen them in action? Have you given them a chance, a real chance to prove themselves?" Stross said and stamped his foot to end each sentence "Give them back. If magic is all that's important to you then fine! I'll make sure they become the best darn mages Skyrim's ever seen! Just give them back... because I care about more than how well they can cast a spell, darnit!"

Shalidor frowned, but waved his spectral hand, and the field holding the apprentices aloft gradually fell. “You reason that unity can enhance one's individual potential... I hope for the sake of all worlds that what you say holds true.”  The ghost of Shalidor then turned and walked away, gradually fading into nothing.

“Well that was long, preachy and distracting as fuck.” Fenora deadpanned.

“Are my mage buddies okay!?” Stross yelled and ran to check on the two nearest him, Onmund and Brelyna.

“They seem to be alright.” Luna assured him as she checked over Trixe and J'zargo “Their minds are calm now, but their bodies are quite exhausted. Perhaps we should find a safe place to rest a bit before we continue.”

"Did you really mean what you said about making sure they become great mages?" Fenora asked.

Stross could feel Shalidor watching him through the walls at that moment. "Uh... yeah. Sure... I'll do my best. He-heh... oh boy."

Luna and the apprentices sat around a small fire Stross had lit for them. Each had awoken from their slumber, but still had pounding headaches, and were too dizzy to stand. While they took the time to recover, Fenora had decided to scout ahead towards the innards of the temple.

Stross left the main group a few minutes ago to find her, silently blaming himself for stupidly letting her go alone in the first place. Though it wasn’t long before he found her kicking her feet up on an overturned bookshelf.

Man, that’s some good scouting ahead she’s doing right there.

“Hi Fenora, how’s it going?” he greeted her and jumped up onto the bookshelf as well, noticing Fenora twiddle with Jurgan’s horn, turning it over in her hands to inspect it closer.

“It’s actually good, Stross. With this horn in my hands now, I feel like everything’s going to be alright again. And at the same time I can’t help like feel the world is gonna punch me in the gut any second now. But maybe that’s just my pessimism kicking in again.” She said and shoved the horn into a cushioned area of her pack. “So how are you doing, my little changeling?”

“I’ve certainly been better.” Stross told her while he pulled his rot-covered Nightingale outfit off and set it aside “They say they’re fine; Onmund, J’zargo, Brelyna. Trixie still won’t talk to me, but I could see them Fen. I went into their minds and I could see each of them in the moments they truly chose to become mages. There was so much… pain. I don’t know how they got over it.”

“We’re not soft you know.” Fenora told him “Maybe you ponies are squishy babies, but here on Nirn, we just deal with stuff… or go insane. But we mostly deal.”

Stross nodded. “What did you have to face anyway?”

“What?”

“I mean each of the others had to face a sad or painful memory that linked back to why they practiced magic. So what did you have to relive?”

Fenora frowned. “I wish that was what I had to face. I had to fight a minotaur, Stross. A freaking minotaur! But not just any minotaur either; it was a mini minotaur!”

“Not a mini minotaur!” Stross gasped “I saw one once and thought maybe it was a baby, only I found out that it nay-be! How did you beat it?”

“When it swallowed me I found an unopened bottle of tar-tar sauce in its stomach.”

“That would do it alright.” Stross nodded “I worked as a fish-n’-chips vendor a few times, and they always told us in training that mini minotaurs are deathly allergic to tar-tar sauce. It's especially bad in Sparta. Minotaurs in parts of Sparta don't like tar-tar on their carp, it causes sharp pains in their hearts, which leads to explosive bowel movements complete with smelly farts.”

Fenora tried to hold back a snicker and finally burst out laughing.

Stross couldn’t help but join her, and the two just laughed for a while.

“This is why I love you so much, you know.” Fenora said when her lungs stopped burning “Even when the world is ending, you can still find ways to make me laugh.”

“{…ash nazg…}”

“What?”

“I didn’t say anything yet.” Stross told her “I was going to say how much I admire your-“

“Shh!”

“{...ash nazg…}”

“There it is again. Don’t tell me I’m not the only one hearing that.” Fenora hopped off her seat and looked around for the source of strange noise.

“{…ash nazg, durbatuluk…}”

“It’s coming from over there.” Fenora said as she followed the whispers. Their chanting became louder and louder. They led her to a wall with an engraving across the arch at the top; in Dovahzul it read [Speak in the tongue of our lords, and you are welcome].

“Bex.” Fenora spoke without a second thought.

The wall of solid stone seemed to dissolve in front of her, and a staircase leading down was before them. Fenora went down them, curiosity getting the better of her and Stross’s constant urging that it was a bad idea.

They came to a wide space filled with rows of stone seats leading up to nine pedestals, suggesting that must have been a grand ceremonial hall at one point, but had since been reduced to ruin by time and fire.

“What is this place?” Stross mumbled as he looked around at the hall once ornate.

Fenora however was distracted by the chanting in her mind that drowned out any other sound. She walked up to the pedestals, where, lying at the feet of the stairs leading to them, was the dead body of some intrepid treasure hunter. An orcish dagger was lodged firmly in his ribcage, but in his clutches was a cleanly carved wooden mask that dispelled all the voices once Fenora picked it up.

Also on his body was a bit of crumpled paper pulled from a book.

“It seemed like an easy enough job.” Fenora read aloud “Groz and me done plenty like it before. Some chinless Breton wants bodyguards for blah blah blah… Easy clink for us.

…goes on about this twice-forsaken mask of his the whole way… when Groz snatched it and put it on her face as a joke he threatened to fire us both for it …

…So we get here… me and Groz had to cut through ten stinking trolls… yadda yadda… and without so much as a warning, poof; he's put on that mask and vanished. Could have put my hands on his throat one moment, the next he's not so much as thin air!”

Fenora paused in her reading to look over the mask in her hand. She looked to Stross only for him to shrug, so she kept reading the note.

“After a while we didn't know what to do. Groz picks her gear up to head home, when he poofs back, that mask in his hand. He begs us not to leave, says he needs us to wait, this is what he's paying us for… and so on and so forth… puts the mask back on his sorry face and he's gone again. I'd seen wizard boys with cloaks do invisibility before, but a few swings of my fist proved he wasn't pulling that trick. Nothing there to hit.

Last night he shows up again, tells us he needs more time to figure out something about other masks, and vanishes again. I'm done with twiddling my thumbs and writing letters to myself. We're leaving come sunrise, and if he shows up again I promise Azura I'm putting this dagger through his chest to keep him in one place. We'll pull more loot off him dead than he could have paid alive. But that mask stays here. That cursed thing can stay and rot with him and the trolls for all I care.”

Fenora put down the note and looked at the mask again. There didn’t seem to be anything particularly special about it; it was just a spooky wooden burial mask. But if the ramblings in the mercenary’s notes were true…

Fenora went to put it on when Stross quickly grabbed her arm and wrestled it away from her.

“Are you completely insane?!” he panted. “Do you even know what this thing does? It’ll probably turn you into whatever creature died to make this! Just like in Mask of Neighjora!”

“Okay how about this… if you were right and this turns out bad, I’ll do anything you want me to. Within reason. But if I’m right and this is something awesome, you have to do anything that I want you too. And I promise it won’t be anything mean.” Fenora set the terms of the wager. “What’d you say? You up for it?”

Stross hummed in thought for a moment. “If this ended up going badly, I’d never forgive myself for going along with it. But on the other hoof… anything I want… even tummy rubs…”

Stross grabbed Fenora’s other hand in both his and his magic. “Let’s do this!”

Fenora slapped the mask on and the world around them was seemingly transformed. The ceremony hall was restored to all its splendor, with the stone pews and columns in their freshly-chiseled glory under ornate tapestries depicting great dragons soaring through the sky over the menfolk as they prayed to them.

“Stross… are you seeing this?” Fenora asked.

Stross gestured to the room around them “The buck is this?” he pointed to the outer limits of the halls that seemed to fade away to into the ether “The buck is that?” he turned to the once ruined pedestals that now looked to be made to bear masks “The buck are those?! AM I HIGH RIGHT NOW!?”

“Is this some kind of word wall?” Fenora asked as she walked over to the mask holders and tried to touch one.

Suddenly a blast of words came from each of the maskless stone faces.

“One mask to rule them all, eight masks to find it. Nine priests to bring them all, and in our glory combine it!”

The force of the voices caused Fenora and Stross to stumble backwards and trip down the stairs, the mask falling from Fenora’s face in the process. When they recovered from the fall, the world had returned to its normal ruined state.

“That was scary.” Stross breathed “What do you think it meant?”

“I don’t know…” Fenora spoke slowly before practically leaping on Stross “But what I do know… is that I can make you do anything I want! Oh I need to think long and hard on this, but trust me my little changeling… I’m going to enjoy it.” Fenora said with an almost sinister smile.

Stross trembled as he felt the soft breath of her laughter on his face. “Um- I… okay. Just remember, I can turn into anyone you want.”

“Oh Stross. You’re the only one I want.” Fenora told him as she stroked his cheek before pulling him in for a quick snog.

“Elf and Changeling! We are ready to continue questing when thou art!” Luna’s voice called to them from the top of the stairs.

Fenora turned to Stross with a confident smirk. “You ready.”

“I’m ready if you are.”

…

The two of them met with the rest at the entrance to the temple proper as they were doing one final check over their supplies.

“Ah, there you two are, we were beginning to worry.” Luna greeted them as they approached. “Do either of you have any idea what we might face in there?”

Fenora sighed. “Not a clue I’m afraid. But Skyrim is getting slowly eaten by the Eye. So let’s not waste any more time.” She said as she leaned against the giant doors.

Stross, Luna and the apprentices each nodded their heads in agreement, and the seven of them prepared themselves to enter the depths of Labyrinthian.

*Many years ago*

“Come on, we're finally here! Let's not waste any more time!” Savos Aren said to his five friends as he leaned against the giant doors.

Each of them nodded as they prepared to face the horrors that lurked within Labyrinthian.