The Harmony Scrolls V: Manerim

The morning sun shone through the windows, bathing the room in it's warmth and light. Eventually, the sound of ponies talking, walking, and singing in the Bar area downstairs woke Alex from his slumber. Quietly, he sat up in bed, barely rustling the rough deer-hide sheets. He closed his eyes tightly, and yawned, stretching out his arms wide. He looked over to Rainbow Dash's bed and saw the beautiful pegasus sleeping soundly. His heart warmed and he smiled in joy of having such an awesome and attractive companion. Not only was she attractive and awesome, she was willing to travel all throughout Manerim to help him defeat the dragons, and she was also very loyal.

He pulled his blankets off and climbed out of the rough bed. Realizing he was naked, he scooped up his clothes from off the wooden floor and hastily threw them on. He figured he must've looked pretty ugly, with his tattered, blood stained and ash covered shirt, ripped and muddy jeans. He tried not to think about how his face must've looked.

Alex softly stepped over to Dash's bed and began speaking in a gentle voice. "Rainbow Dash, it's morning. I thought you might like breakfast before trekking to the barrow."

The sound of Alex's voice made the sleeping pegasus stir. "Mhm...what?" She said, half conscious, half in dream world. "Yeah...breakfast sounds nice." She said, still sleeping. Alex opened the door and walked down the stairs, quietly. He walked over to the keeper's counter and ordered breakfast for Rainbow Dash and himself. "I'd like an apple or two, with some water. For my friend, well, what do ponies eat?" Alex asked curiously.

"Um, well, what I usually eat is hay, water, some apples and carrots. Maybe some vegetables... maybe a sugarcube or two if I feel like eating something sweet."

"I'd like that for my friend. Some hay, an apple or two, a few carrots, and some sugarcubes, and a glass of water."

"Alright sir, that will be 15 bits, someone will bring you your food in a minute."

Alex slipped his hand into his pocket and his fingers closed around his coin purse. Pulling it out his pocket, he began counting out the bits and handed it over. "Thank you." He said. At the same time, Rainbow came down the stairs, yawning. She sat down at a table, and Alex joined her. They waited and ate their breakfast in silence. Alex went upstairs and returned with Rainbow's sword in his left hand, and gripping his own sword in his right. "You ready?"

Rainbow Dash snatched her sword out of Alex's left hand and looked over it. "Yup."

The wind was chilly as it whistled through the rocky and snowy hills, tousling Dash's mane and Alex's hair. It was foolish of the two not to bring a source of heat, or light. They both regretted that. The journey to the barrow was uneventful, besides the unrelenting snow and the burning cold on the way up the steep mountain. The wind whistled in their ears, placing fear in their hearts. The ancient stone pillars towered high above them , cold and unforgiving. Alex looked upon the gargantuan carved doors of the ancient stone structure. The exterior was lightly protected, a few ponies on lookout. Clearly, something in there was worth protecting if they were out in this unbearable cold.

"Should we fight them, or stealth around them?" Alex asked, steam rolling from his mouth as he whispered to the shivering pegasus beside him.

"Fighting them would be foolish. We need to move quickly and quietly. Observe their movements, and move when they aren't in your direct path. Fight them only if you need to." Dash whispered, and moved towards a wall, out of sight for the few bandits on watch. "Follow me." She said, head peaking around the edge of the wall, her eyes fixed on a bandit posted at the top of the steep staircase, fiddling with the string on his simple wooden bow.

The heavily falling snow offered a thin veil of protection from the sight of the look-outs. Dash crept along the bottom of the stairs, not daring to breath. She barely made a sound, but her rainbow colored coat was almost out of place in the white snow. She finally made it to the other side of the stairs, and sighed a breath of relief. Now it was Alex's turn.

He held his breath and crept along the staircase. He heard the faint 'crunch' of the snow beneath his feet. Then his heart stopped when he heard a look-out yell, "Hey!" Alex looked in the direction of the pony that yelled and drew his sword. He locked eyes with the pegasus that had caught him and said, "Come at me, bro."

The pegasus charged forward with a huge orcish sword in his hoof, the dull green material dripping with fresh blood. The pony was fast. He slashed and sliced, and Alex could barely dodge the strikes, but his mind went into a different mode--analyzing patterns, learning the pegasi's style, which was all offense, no defense.

The pegasus growled and thrust his sword at Alex. He jumped backwards and landed in the snow, and felt the icy liquid seep through his shirt. When he jumped back, he had thrown his sword a yard or two away, completely out of reach. The menacing pegasus stood over him now, sword in hoof, raising it above his head to bring down on Alex.

Then out of nowhere, Rainbow Dash came up behind the pegasi with her sword and thrust it into his back. The sword drove through his flesh and through his stomach. He let out a cry of agony as the sharp sword skewered him, and Alex saw the snow turn a bright crimson as blood poured from the wound.

Rainbow yanked her sword out of the dead pegasi and he fell over, lifeless, as more blood seeped through the wound in his stomach.

Alex stood up and brushed the remaining snow off his shirt. "Thanks." Rainbow tossed him his sword and he caught it in mid air, looking it over to make sure it was still in tip top shape. He pointed towards the door of the barrow, where 2 ponies were sitting at fire, the dwindling flickering across their faces. "I guess they didn't hear us." Alex said.

"Lets make them." Dash grinned and ran towards the ponies, sword in hoof.

After Dash and Alex mopped up the two remaining bandits at the door, they headed inside. The place was barely lit. A faint beam of dim light shone through a jagged hole in the ceiling. A dying fire at the opposite side of the room gave off a weak orange glow. Rubble lay everywhere on the floor, crumbling into pieces. Their steps echoed throughout the empty place, only adding to the creepy feeling. Cobwebs decorated every dark corner, venomous spiders dangling from the thin silk material.

Alex picked up a burnt out torch from a sconce on the wall and stuck the tip over the fire. The flames caught quick, and within seconds he had a torch.

Dash nodded in approval. "Good thinking."

They entered a stone hallway, the torch illuminating the empty place. They came upon a lit room, a single pony with a torch in hand inside. He placed the torch on a slab of stone and pulled a lever in the middle of the room. Arrows shot out of holes in the walls, piercing his body in multiple places. He cried out, but was cut off by an arrow that landed in his throat. Dead. He fell over, arrows sticking out of his corpse.

"Ooh. Painful" Dash's face contorted in disgust and turned away. Alex's gaze turned to Dash's. "I'm going to have a look around in there. Sit tight." Alex looked away and entered the room. Three stone pillars, each with a different carving , stood in a line on the left side of the room. The first pillar had a carving of an eagle on it, the middle a snake, and the last one, a whale.

He glanced to the wall above the pillars and saw 3 carvings of a snake, each one the same.
He knew this from Skyrim. He placed his hands on the first pillar, and turned it to the right, twice. Surprisingly, it turned as if it weighed nothing, and the carving of an eagle disappeared, in it's place a snake, same as all the others. He went to the last pillar with the whale on it and turned it to the left, once. The snake appeared in it's place.

"Right." He turned around on his heel and walked towards the lever. He gripped the pole with his both of his hands, and flipped it to the opposite direction it was in. An iron gate to another room slid up into the ceiling, and Alex sighed with relief.

"C'mon, Dash." Alex ran into the other room, Dash close behind.

Alex and Rainbow Dash entered a hallway with an unusually large amount of spider webs. The next room they entered, though, was even worse.

The sticky stuff was everywhere. On the floor, on the walls, every surface possible. "Dash," Alex breathed. "We're about to battle a giant fucking spider." Then, as if on cue, a spider the size of a house dropped from a huge hole, hanging by a thread.

They both drew their swords, and stood side by side. "We're a team. We can do this." Dash reassured Alex. The spider crawled towards them, it's ugly black eyes cold and unforgiving, a void. Dash and Alex charged in, hacking and slashing at the creature's legs. It gave out what Alex assumed to be a cry of pain, and the creature started kicking the two of them with it's hairy legs, each one almost the length of a full grown man. "Back away from it!" Dash yelled, and ran at the spider head on.

She rammed her sword into the spider's eyes, blinding the atrocious thing. She stabbed it for several times, just to make sure. Blood dripped from her sword. It was dead. A lot of things were dead now because of them

"Hey," Dash began, sweating and breathing heavily. "Yeah?" Alex asked. "I don't think the author is giving us enough dialogue. You?" She asked.
"Yeah."

"Help, help!" A voice called. "Woah," Alex readied he sword. "Who is that?"

"I'm over here, caught in the webs! Cut me down!"

Alex looked around the room and saw a Dark Pony caught in a web, struggling to get free from his bindings. Alex and Dash cautiously walked over and began questioning him. "Who are you?" Dash asked, squinting. "I'm Sti-" He was cut off by Alex. "Yeah, you have the golden claw, the nor-- er, the Rim Ponies, have a secret hidden there." He finished.

The Dark Pony's mouth was agape in surprise. "Damn, you're a mind-reader." The pony muttered. "No, I'm not. Now, if I cut you down, I'm going to have to kill you, because you will run away. Sorry bro, but it's for the good of Pony-kind." Alex said.

"No, no, no, wait! I'll give you the claw, just don't kill me." The pony pleaded. For some reason, Alex agreed. "Fine." Dash punched Alex in the shoulder, half serious, half playful. "Alex, you can't listen to him! Kill the pony."

"I will, just hold on." Alex whispered in her ear. "Alright bro-ham, let me cut you down." The pony looked relieved. "But, I'm gonna have to kill you first." He didn't give the Dark Pony a chance to object, as his sword was already in the his throat. He pulled the bloody sword and wiped the blood from the it with his hand. He cut up the webs with his sword and found a corridor behind it all. He knelt down and felt around the pony's saddlebag, and pulled out a claw made of solid gold. He took the pack off of his back and gently placed the claw down in the bottom of the bottom of the bag. "We'll need this."

The two were worn out. They had encountered their first few Draugr, or "Nateuzek" in Manerim. Most of them were pegasi, though some were Unicorns or Earth Ponies.

Their eyes were an icy blue, their fur white or brown. They wore ancient pieces of iron armor, most of it rusted and broken. "So, why do the Nateuzek exist?" Alex asked, curious of their origin. "The ancient Rim Ponies used to worship the dragons. Alduin, especially. Now as punishment for their treachery, they have been cursed with immortality. They shall never die unless slain." Dash explained.

They came upon an unopened set of double doors. "I'll open it." Dash said. She moved toward the doors, and eased them open. They creaked horribly, the doors ready to fall off from it's neglect of nearly 2000 years. The door opened into a lengthy hallway, carvings decorating the walls. "Woah..." "The hall of stories..." Alex ran his hand over the ancient carvings, in awe of the place. Dash did the same, admiring the ancient stonework. "Alex, hand me the bag. I'm going to use the claw."

Alex slipped the straps off and handed Dash the bag. She rummaged around inside and pulled the claw out. She moved towards the door and observed the bottom of the claw. Three small carvings of a bear, butterfly, and a bird told her what to do. She looked at the door and moved the three rings into place, and stuck the claw in the keyhole. She turned the claw to the left, slightly, and the door shifted. It slid into the floor, disappearing. Alex came up to her side and they bro-hoofed for another job well done.

But their job was not done yet. They moved into a cavernous room, a large wall of marks on the opposite side. "Dash, This is the end of the Barrow." They drew their swords and walked towards the wall, cautiously. A single coffin was off to the side, while many others lined the sides of the room.

They stood in front of the wall now, which pulled Alex closer with each beat of a chant, he was unable to resist. He rested his hands on the wall, staring into a group of marks. The marks lit up blue, tunneling into his eyes, his soul. Then, it stopped.

He had learned his first word of power.

He didn't celebrate long, for the coffins along the walls burst open, revealing at least 15 Nateuzek, all hungry for a death.

"Don't worry, Dash, just like you said, we're a team. We'll be okay." Alex started to doubt this when the Nateuzek charged forward, swords swinging. Alex and Dash fended off Nateuzek, after Nateuzek, after Natuezek. Blood stained the floor, their swords, and faces. There were 5 left, still swinging their swords. One dead. Two more in one swing. Another. The last one. Alex breathed in heavily, and sweat poured from his face. "Dash...we did it." He expected her to reply to him, but she didn't. He turned around, and saw a huge Natuezek standing over her. His sword was raised over his head, just about to strike, like what had happened Alex earlier, outside.

His mind went into overdrive mode. Time seemed to slow down. He ran at the beast, sword in hand, yelling. Just as the Natuezek's sword was about to drive through Rainbow's heart. He tackled the thing, crashing him to the ground. He had his sword in hand, repeatedly stabbing it in the head with his sword, and repeatedly yelling, "NO!"

His strength ran out and he couldn't stab the thing anymore. He stood up with what little strength he had left and smiled weakly when he saw Rainbow, safe.

He wasn't expecting it. Rainbow leaned in and kissed him. The kiss was long, and drawn out. She pulled away and said, " Thank you for saving me back there." She looked down, then back up. "Well...I guess we should look for the Dragonstone."

She turned around and saw a chest. Opening it, she found the stone inside. "Got it. Let's go." She ran to a stairway nearby, and trotted up it. She pulled a lever and part of the wall opened up. Alex was shocked that Rainbow had kissed him. Still, he was ecstatic that it happened. He ran up the stairs after Rainbow and into the falling snow, where Dash was waiting for him.

"Lets get back to Whitetrot."