The Elder Scrolls: The Battle for Gryphus

Chapters

Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 1
Chapter 9
Sequel now up!

Chapter 2

The Elder Scrolls: The Battle for Gryphus
Chapter 2

Before I start teaching Dash any magic, I clean myself up and wash the blood off my face.

After three minutes, I'm washed and I head over to the infirmary to check up on the two pegasi that took a hit from the dragon.

I walk over to the unicorns that are healing them. "How are they?" I ask them.

The one on the right speaks up. "They'll live, but they both suffered a broken bone. Private Fleetwind here suffered a broken wing and a broken foreleg," he replies while his horn is glowing.

I sigh as I notice the broken limbs aren't healing at all, I pull out my last two potions and walk over to the pegasus mare, she has a pink coat with a light blue mane and tail. I pop open the bottle and bring it to her lips.

"Here, drink this. It'll fix your wing and leg," I tell her. She sits up and drinks the potion, just a few seconds pass as her wing and leg heals.

She flaps her wing a few times with a growing smile on her face. "Thank you, sir," she says and salutes with her newly fixed leg.

I give her a smile back and turn to the other injured pegasus, it's a stallion with black fur and a dark blue mane and tail, his left hind leg is in a cast.

"Alright, your turn," I say as I make my way over to him.

"I'm sorry sir, but I can't accept it, you'll need it more than I do," he replies.

"You sure? I don't mind you having it." He shakes his head.

"I'll live and I can still fly, I'm not totally useless yet," he jokes and chuckles.

"Well, okay then. Just relax and get some rest." He salutes and lays back down, Fleetwind though stands up and stretches her legs.

"Thank you again, sir. I'll go back to my post now." I nodded in reply and leave for my room.

Back at my cabin, I see Dash already looking in the book with wide eyes, she turns to me with a sheepish smile and drops the book on the bed.

I smirk and shake my head, I sit on the bed and open the book to the page on how to find your magicka.

"Alright, we'll start by teaching you how to feel for the magicka within you." Dash sits next to me, looking at the book.

"So, close your eyes and clear your mind, try to focus for a flow of energy or magicka within you, mostly around the chest or heart area. Once you do that, try to focus it to a single point, like a hoof or your wings," I explain to her.

"Erm... I'm not that good at clearing my mind," she admits with a scrunched up nose.

I chuckle and she thumps my shoulder. "Don't worry about it, just try and relax and feel for a flow of energy."

She sighs, lays down, and closes her eyes. I spend two minutes looking through the spell book for fire spells. I come across the basic fire spell called Flames.

Flames.

Not very strong but also doesn't drain magicka at a fast rate, perfect for beginners in the school of destruction. The caster points his or her palm at their intended target and sprays a gout of fire in a cone area in front of them for three metres.

Below is the instructions on casting it, but being inside a wooden cabin is not an Ideal place for practising such a spell, I'm pulled from my thoughts when Dash screams, I look at her to see her wings glowing a light cyan, she flaps her wings as if she's trying to get it off, the glow disappears but she still looks freaked out.

"Dash calm down, it just means you've found your magicka," I tell her and stroke her mane to calm her down.

She starts to calm down and relaxes. "I'm fine, just wasn't expecting the light show," she replies with a light blush.

"Alright then, so, what spell would you like to learn first?" I ask her.

"Hmmmm, are there any weather spells?"

"Errr, not sure, but there are lightning spells."

Her eyes light up and she asks me for one so I flip through the destruction spells for it.

Sparks.

The spell Sparks is a continuous spell just like Flames and Frostbite, your magicka will slowly drain as you maintain this spell.

The caster points his or her palm at their target and blasts out a steady stream of electricity at their foe, small forks of lightning spray out randomly in a small area in front of the caster but at a high rate, this also drains some of your opponents magicka as well.

Again the instructions on how to cast the spell are below.

"So let's start with this one," I say. She nodded her head repeatedly. "but we'll have to do it away from the ship so we don't damage anything." She agrees and we both head up onto the deck.

"Captain!" I call out and a gruff dark brown minotaur with a really fancy blue coat and white hat steps down from the wheel area.

"What can I do for you, sir?" he asks.

"Me and Dash are going to fly on ahead for a bit and practise some magic, I take it you'll keep going straight?" I ask and he nodded. "Alright then, we won't be long." And with that, we both fly off ahead for a good ten minutes. We both land on a cloud and face towards the mountain.

"Alright, let's see here then." We both look at the instructions again.

To cast the Sparks spell you need to point your palm at your target and guide your magicka to the palm of your hand, then picture electricity discharging everywhere in front of you from your palm. Don't try to guide the electricity as there is a big chance of zapping yourself in the process.

I point my right hand out towards the open air and gather my magicka to my palm, I imagine small bolts of lightning spraying out and I discharge my magicka {95%}.

Small bolts of lightning discharge everywhere in an ninety degree arc at a steady rate, but only for a metre and a half{80%}, Dash looks on in awe as I stop the spell after a few seconds {70%}.

"That, was, AWESOME!!!" she yells. "Alright! My turn!" she then says clearly excited and has another look at the book.

"Remember, it's about a force of will, just imagine it and it'll happen," I tell her. After a few seconds she closes her eyes and spreads her wings, they start to glow and small static sparks appear on them.

She frowns as a small discharge of electricity sprays out a short one metre, but it's a start.

She stops and pants. "Wow, that's harder than I thought." She flops back onto the cloud and I chuckle.

"Yeah, first time I cast a healing spell I over did it and passed out, so not bad for your first ever spell." She chuckles as well. For the next five minutes we continue to practice the spell {25%}, she manages to extend the range to two metres now and I manage a full three metres.

The airship arrives and we both head back on board. For the rest of the day, I examine my new bow, read a book about griffon culture, and chat with Dash as she tells me what's been happening in Ponyville after I left.

Twilight has started her research into new spells she got from Celestia but never told the others what they were, Spike has been helping her with it and has been hanging out with the CMC more, Pinkie has been acting strange with a new set of pinkie sense combos but couldn't figure it out.

Rarity and Fluttershy continued their routine and nothing new was going on there, Applejack is happy that the timberwolf problem is gone thanks to me.

Even Diamond Tiara has toned down her bullying by a lot, I'm not surprised after what I did to her, maybe she sees what it's like on the receiving end now.

We both say goodnight and I remove my armour and get ready for bed. Luckily my cabin was big enough for a minotaur so the bed was large, after a few minutes I fall asleep.

Dreamscape

My eyes open to the white void of the Dreamscape once again, I instantly react by conjuring my armour and greatsword at the ready while looking around.

I spot the stone statue of Sheogorath and walk over to it carefully, I tap it with my sword a couple of times and nothing happens. I breath a sigh of relief and look to my left, I jump back as I find myself face to face with a smiling Luna.

"Hello, Dear. So how's your trip so far?" she asks as a table and cushions appear.

I make my armour and sword vanish as I relax. "Good so far, although Dash decided to tag along," I reply.

She raises an eyebrow at that. "The Element of Loyalty followed you?"

"Uh-huh, she wanted to make sure a friend of hers in Gryphus was safe, and why did you refer to her as the Element of Loyalty?" I ask.

"Don't you remember? Twilight and her five friends represent the six Elements of Harmony, Twilight is the Element of Magic, Applejack is the Element of Honesty, Rarity is the Element of Generosity, Fluttershy is the Element of Kindness and Pinkie Pie is the Element of Laughter," she replies.

"And what's so special about that?" I ask again. A lunch spread appears on the table, fruits, pies, confections of many kinds with juice or tea to drink.

I take a glass of apple juice, a cupcake, and a slice of blueberry pie.

"Alone the Elements are useless, but together they can banish and cleanse any darkness or evil, like the time I told you when they were used against me when I returned from the moon and removed the darkness within me as well as sealing Discord over a thousand years ago," she finishes and takes a sip of tea.

Oh now I remember, sounds like they're quite handy, I'll have to see it for myself someday.

I then remember the attack on the griffin village. "Oh as soon as we got to the border a dragon was attacking a small village, we managed to kill it before it destroyed everything. Though, there was a number of deaths from the village." Luna gets a sad expression from the news, I don't tell her about me breaking my arm though, I don't want her to worry.

"So what's going on at the castle? Hows Moonbeam and Tala?" I ask and bite into the pie, it was very delicious, but that was probably because we're in the Dreamscape and everything is made to be perfect.

"Not much, Moonbeam was upset you didn't say goodbye but understands you had to go, Tala is bonding pretty well with Moonbeam and even the castle staff are taking a liking to her, another airship arrived to take Hammerhoof back home... Although Blueblood is acting more and more strange, the guards are hearing him talking to himself nearly every night since he's been in his cell." She replies.

That doesn't sound good. "You don't think he's communicating with someone do you?" I ask.

"That's impossible, apart from a small air vent only a small bird could squeeze through, the cell door is the only way in or out," she replies.

I frown, I've seen a few things while here, it's possible someone is using magic to talk to him. Before I could say more a red mist appears beside Luna.

"Ah, seems our time is up, but I hope we can meet again tomorrow night," she says with a smile.

She walks over to me and gives me a kiss. "Sure, I'd love that," I reply. "Oh! Next time you're going to tell me why Sheogorath is still here," I say pointing to the statue.

She nodded and steps through the mist, I look back at the statue and notice a staff poking out from behind it, I walk over and pick it up.

It has three faces on the top with wide open mouths, it looks like it’s made from a smooth black stone but is very light.

I shrug as I make a small house appear and enter. It's a small house with one room, a bed in the middle with some other furniture around.

I place the staff on the table and lay on the bed, I close my eyes and drift off to dreamless sleep.

End Dreamscape.

Over the course of three days I practised spells with dash and even some of the other guards, I've re-learnt the Telekinesis spell again as well as the Flames spell, Dash has gotten the hang of the Sparks spell and can shoot out a rapid volley of lightning bolts up to three metres away now.

Two unicorn guards learnt the Flames spell, three earth ponies learnt how to cast a self healing spell, but just barely, and a pegasus guard learnt the Frostbite spell, the other Guards just couldn't find their magicka flow.

Fleetwind has also been visiting me more often after I healed her leg and wing. She repeatedly thanked me, apparently there's a high chance that once a wing is broken, the odds of it being flight worthy again are really low.

Food supplies were getting low and Razor Beak threatening to take my head every time I walked past his holding cell was starting to grate on my nerves. Two whole kegs of mead are already gone, I've allowed the others to have one mug a day same as me so everyone gets a fair share.

I've also spoke with Luna two times during those three days. On the first night we spent a rather fun night together and were both satisfied, she also told me that Sheogorath's statue won't budge but seems to be completely sealed, even Discord visited to look at him in disgust. On the third night, she told me that she and Celestia are getting more concerned about Blueblood, the guards reported that last night that he laughed like a madman.

I told her to keep a constant watch on him, I think something very wrong is going to happen soon, she agree'd and left.

I wake up to find Dash right in my face. "GAH!" I yell and bolt upright, in the process I head-butt her right in the forehead. She flies back onto the wooden floor, we both groan from the blow and clutch our heads. "By the Nine!.. Ooooh... Dash, what are you doing in here?" I ask her while rubbing my now red and slightly bumpy forehead.

"DUDE! That bucking hurt!" she yells as she sits up. "The Captain wanted me to tell you we're getting close to the next town, we're stopping for supplies and some info," she tells me while rubbing her own forehead with a hoof.

"Now get your rump up and get ready... By Celestia that stings..." she mumbles as she walks out of the room.

I get out of bed and equip my armour, sword, bow, and quiver.

I head to the kitchen area and grab a bite to eat. After a quick breakfast I head up onto the deck and meet the Captain.

"How much longer till we get there?" I ask him.

"About another twenty minutes, the wind ain't doing us any favours," he answers.

"Thank you," I say and head to the front of the ship.

In the distance I can see a town with a small fishing dock next to a large lake, it's surrounded by a log palisade. I can't see anyone from this distance but I can see boats moving on the lake and some sort of caravan convoy leaving the town.

Five minutes later a pegasus lookout shouts out. "BANDITS INCOMING! PORT SIDE!"

I instantly draw my bow and look over the right side of the ship, a flock of around fifty griffins swarm towards the ship.

"All Crew to battle stations!" the Captain orders through a funnel connected to a wire.

The guards race onto the deck with weapons and armour equipped ready for battle.

I can tell these are not the kind of people you want to socialize with, they have fur or leather armour equipped and are carrying rusty looking blades and worn out bows.

I notch an arrow and take aim. After a few seconds, I shoot and I'm shocked, the arrow flies off into a griffon's chest near instantly, the arrow looks like it splintered and no longer usable as the griffon falls out of the sky.

I take four more shots but only two hit, I put the bow away and draw my sword, the griffins are about twenty metres away now as I jump onto the railing and spread my wings in an intimidating manner.

A few of the griffins stop mid air, clearly not expecting a skeletal looking creature on the ship, the rest stop once they see the forty guards plus five minotaurs behind me.

The face plates on my helmet Slide back again as I inhale. "FUS RO DAH!" {75%} I shout out as the blue wall of force slams into half of them and blows them back as thirteen of them fall to the ground unconscious or dead.

"ATTACK!" I yell out as the face plates side back into place, the pegasi jump overboard and chase down the remaining griffins.

A loud bang is heard as the balloon bursts open and starts deflating. "Reel the balloon in now! Switching to propeller mode!" the Captain yells out.

The balloon is reeled in with a machine as four propellers spring out at each corner of the ship, the ship shakes as the gears start spinning and the ship stops falling, the balloon is stowed away and the ship continues forward. About three hundred metres away on the other side of the ship are three small airships with a cannon on each, although they look very simple compared to our ship.

"RETURN FIRE!" the Captain orders through the funnel, three loud booms are heard as three cannonballs are sent from the left side to an enemy ship, two shots connect and shatter the enemy ship’s hull, unfortunately the griffins just fly off as the ship falls.

'GET DOWN!' Solnara warns me, I duck down in time to see a large crossbow like bolt soar past my head. I look over the railing to see two ballistas aiming at the ship hidden through the trees.

'Thanks for the warning,' I tell Solnara.

'You're welcome, I may not be able to help you fight, but I can at least watch your back,' she replies.

I smile knowing I'm in good hands, but the real trouble is how these bandits got weapons like these, not even the bandits of Tamriel had such weapons.

I jump overboard and head down to the ballista, I avoid another shot as two pegasi guards follow behind me.

Upon reaching them, the guards attack the griffins manning them while I hold my left hand out and cast the Flames spell. Fire spews out engulfing both ballista and burns them to smouldering piles of burnt wood within a few seconds {80%}.

One of the griffins goes down from a spear thrust into his head, but the other lands a hit on the pegasus guard leaving a deep cut on his foreleg. I tackle the griffin away and order the other guard to take the injured one back to the ship for treatment, while he's taken away, I hold out my left hand again and cast the Sparks spell.

The griffon tenses up as electricity courses through him {60%}, I stop as he's nothing but a smoking heap on the snow.

With the ballista problem sorted, I fly back up with my sword in hand.

{100%} {100%}

I look around and spot a griffin in tougher looking armour and barking out orders to the other griffins. 'Must be the Leader,' I think to myself.

'I agree, maybe he has some information on him, this attack doesn't seem random, not with the weapons they're using,' Solnara suggests.

She has a point, they could be taking orders. More cannon fire goes off as a propeller on the ship is hit, but another one of the enemy ships is shot down as well.

I take off towards the leader, the unicorns from the ship are firing off bolts of magic at the griffins flying too close to the ship, looks like it takes three or five shots to take down a griffin but so far they're landing hits.

I reach the Leader and he spots me, he swings his rusty looking sword and I parry it, I follow through but he flaps away.

{100%}

Over the next minute we're trading blows and dodging each other’s swings, fortunately a pegasus guard slams into the griffin's side causing him to spin out and making him drop his blade.

I catch him before he falls and slam the pommel of my sword onto his head knocking him out. I sheath my sword and wrap my arms and legs around the griffin and fly up to the ship with a guard covering me. I then deposit the limp griffin onto the deck.

I walk over to three of the earth pony guards. "Place this griffin into a cell, I'll question him later, make sure he's tied up thoroughly," I order them and they comply.

The deck is suddenly attacked as twelve griffins land on board, I draw my sword and perform an uppercut on the first charging griffon, cutting through his flimsy armour and cleaving him in two.

The earth pony with a mace on the end of his tail swings it around and slams it into the face of another griffon, there's a sickening squelch as the griffon's beak is ripped off.

Two of the other earth ponies unfortunately gets hit by arrows in the head, one bounces of the mares helmet but the other stallion gets hit in the eye and collapses, I switch to my bow and take shots at the griffin archers, four of them go down but the fifth one hits me in the head, the arrow bounces off the dragon bone barely leaving a tiny scratch, but it was enough to disorientate me.

A Griffon pounces me and starts swiping his talons at my head, the helmet holds together easily and I reach out and grab both his arms by his wrists.

I inhale and the face plate retracts. "Fus RO DAH!" {75%} I shout his head snaps back and he's sent hurtling off the ship.

The plates slide back and I stand back up, one of the minotaur's grabs a griffin with one of his massive hands and swings a huge hammer with the other which rips the griffon's head off.

I see Dash standing guard by the staircase that leads below deck fully outfitted in guard armour as she electrocutes a griffin trying to get past her.

Four ponies are laying on the deck bleeding, but most of the griffins are taken out, the last of the griffins flee as the the remaining guards cheer. After it's all over, the ten injured ponies and one minotaur are sent below to the medical team, unfortunately, three ponies lost their lives during the battle.

I frown as I head below and aid in the healing of the injured {25%}. Once that was done, I head to the holding cells, I walk past Razor Beak who growls at me and stand in front of the cell holding the griffin bandit.

{57%}

I step inside and grab him by the throat with my right hand, I slap him hard with my left in the face and he jerks awake.

He growls but I tighten my grip causing him to choke.

I get into his face and stare at him through the visor of my helmet. "You're going to tell me what I want to know, or you'll be facing a fate worse than death," I tell him, my voice dripping with malice as my left hand lights up with static as I get ready to cast the Sparks spell.

His eyes widen as he looks at my hand.

"So... who sent you?" I ask. I then notice something tucked away in his armour.

I pull it out to see it's a sheet of paper. I read it and my anger rises. "Oh that son of an frost troll!" I put the paper in a pouch and punch the griffin between the eyes knocking him out again.

I walk over to the next cell and hold the paper in front of Razor Beak’s face.

"You and I need to have a little chat."

Chapter 3

The Elder Scrolls: The Battle for Gryphus
Chapter 3

"So... who sent you?" I ask. I notice something tucked away in his armour.

I pull it out to see it's a sheet of paper.

If you're reading this, I have been taken captive by the Equestrians. The assassination failed and both agents have been taken down by the same creature who killed our agents in Ponyville as well. I'm being sent back to Aerastrad via Airship, there should only be a small escort, you can handle that right?

Your job is to free me and get me back to the safe house, don't leave any witnesses.

Make sure you disguise yourselves as bandits to make it look like a robbery, don't want too much attention on this.

My anger rises. "That son of an frost troll!" I put the paper in a pouch and punch the griffin between the eyes knocking him out again.

I walk over to the next cell and hold the paper in front of Razor Beak’s face.

"You and I need to have a little chat," I say as I grab him by the back of his neck, he grunts from the rough treatment but remains defiant.

"So, how did you get word out about this?" I ask.

{70%}

He just snaps at me, his beak bouncing off my helmet. I lean back and head butt him right in the face, the guards behind me wince at the sound.

A small trail of blood runs down Razor Beak’s face but he remains silent. "Not going to say? Well, no problem, we have plenty of time till the ship can move again," I tell him.

I raise my left hand and prepare the Sparks spell, my hand starts to release small charges of static showing the spell is ready.

Razor just growls while looking at my palm. "You ain't got the gall to do it you filthy ape," I frown as I let go of his neck.

"Celestia isn't here to stop me this time." I give a quick discharge zapping him for a split second.

He tenses up and shakes violently as he falls to the floor with a few sparks of static jumping around him.

"Care to tell me now?" I ask as I grab his neck again and lift him up. He coughs a few times but still glares at me. "Fine, I'll let you think about it for a minute, I've got some other ideas to loosen that tongue," I say. I let go and walk over to the guards.

"You got any spells to read minds or memories?" I ask them, the unicorn nodded.

"Yes, but only the Princesses are able to cast them, and they've made it clear that they detest such spells," he replies.

"Can you send a letter to Canterlot from here?"

"Sure but it might take an hour to get there."

I smile. "Good, I'll write a letter quickly, can you send it for me when I'm done?"

He nodded and I head off to find a quill and paper. I reach the ship’s study area: there's a desk in the centre of the room, a couch to the right, and bookshelves along the walls filled with books and scrolls, a couple of Ponies are browsing through the books. I grab a piece of paper and a quill and sit at the desk.

Dear Princesses.

We've just been attacked and the ship has been grounded, we suffered some casualties but over all fine. We were attacked by what I believe are Razor Beak’s subordinates in an attempt to free him, we've captured the leader and Razor Beak refuses to talk. I was hoping one of you could come over and read their minds and find out what's going on here.

Farengar

I fold the paper and head back to the cell, I arrive and hand the paper to the unicorn. His horn glows and the paper disappears in a flash of light.

"Keep an eye on them, I'm heading to the deck to wait for the Princesses, any sudden movements from either of them, knock them both out, got it?" I tell them.

They salute and do as instructed. I head up to the deck and see the earth pony and unicorn guards surrounding the railings keeping an eye out, the pegasi guards are flying over head watching the skies. I then spot Dash napping on a cloud that's hovering ten metres above the ship.

For the next ten minutes I stand watch waiting for the Princesses to arrive or at least a reply.

"GRIFFINS INCOMING FROM THE TOWN!" a pegasus yells to the ship.

I look towards the town and spot five griffins flying to the ship in what appears to be chainmail armour with spears or swords and shields.

I draw my sword and fly up to dash and poke her.

"Huh? Whazat? Farengar? What's going on?" she asks with a yawn.

"Griffins are coming, get below deck now." She looks ahead and sees them.

"Err, sure, just be careful alright." I nodded and she heads down.

A few minutes later the griffins land in front of the ship. "Hail! We saw the attack on your ship and have come to aid you," the middle one says as he looks at the pile of dead griffins. "Though it seems you have the situation under control," he says in a more surprised tone.

"Who are you?" I ask with my sword still drawn. He looks at me but looks shocked, probably from my armour or my body shape.

"Bertram, Captain of the Kalda guard," he replies.

"What took you so long? Or were you waiting till the fight was over to come here? Surely you heard the cannon fire from this distance," I ask him.

"We've been having our own problems within the town, more of these bandits are causing trouble with robberies, murders, and kidnappings," he says clearly not liking my tone.

"Well as you can see, we're fine, but we'll need some fresh supplies, we have the bits to pay for it," I tell him.

"Very well, we'll just head back to town then, just be careful, there's more of them about," he replies, and with that they fly off back to the town.

I walk over to the Captain. "How bad is the damage?" I ask him.

"Not that bad ta be honest, juss gotta patch up the balloon and we're good ta go. Though the damaged propeller will take some time fixin'," he tells me. I watch as the crew takes out the balloon and starts repairing the holes in it.

I keep watch for another forty minutes, nothing happens and all is quiet. Dash even came back out and resumed her nap.

A sudden flash appears behind me, I turn to see Luna and Celestia standing there looking around, Luna spots me and tackles me with a hug.

I chuckle as she nuzzles me. "Glad to see you too," I say with a smile.

I remove my helmet and hook it to my belt. "Glad you could make it, I take it you read the note?" I ask.

"Yes we did, what kind you casualties did you take?" Celestia asks as she looks at the pile of griffin corpses.

I frown. "Eleven injured... Three dead," I reply.

She sighs. "We'll take back the bodies with us to Canterlot for a proper burial, but as for the mind reading, we must refuse, there's a reason we don't do it since it could damage the mind of those we look into, it's one of the reasons we never did it on you," she tells me.

I look down in thought. 'Then how are we going to find out how they found out about the ship?'

'You could place my amulet around their necks, I have the ability to read the mind of the one who wears it, it's how I'm able to communicate with you... and before you get angry, I have not read any of your memories,' Solnara tells me.

I frown but believe her. 'Alright, it's worth a shot, but why didn't you say so earlier?' I ask her.

'I thought you would like to see Luna again,' she replies with a giggle.

I open my eyes with a slight smile and look to Celestia. "Apparently, Solnara says she can read the memories of those wearing the amulet," I tell her.

Celestia raises an eyebrow at that. 'Please tell her I didn't read her mind when we spoke with each other,' Solnara quickly says.

"Solnara says she didn't read your mind when you both spoke with each other." Celestia nodded, happy with the answer.

We all head below deck and head to Razors cell, I step inside as I remove the amulet and place it around his neck, he looks confused but then his eyes go wide as he looks around for something.

"Who's there? Where are you?" he demands.

After five minutes of him shouting and threatening the voice with promises of death, I remove the amulet and put it back on.

'So, what did you find out?' I ask Solnara.

'He is indeed the one in charge of this criminal organisation, he also had another agent we did not know of when he was in Equestria with a pre-written message that would be sent should anything happen to him,' she informs me.

I flick Razor Beak in the forehead where I head butted him. "Thank you for your cooperation," I taunt him. I then head into the study area where Celestia and Luna were waiting.

I called out Solnara who tells them the information. "Then this changes things, his little organisation has caused many problems all over Equestria as well as other nations, was there anything else?" Celestia asks.

"I'm sorry, but that was all I was able to get from him, the moment he knew what I was doing he fought back and blocked me from his mind," Solnara says.

I'm sitting down on the couch with Luna sitting next to me with her forelegs wrapped around my right arm, she's acting really clingy for some reason.

Celestia hums in thought. "Well, now we have rights to charge him for crimes against Equestria, despite his title as a Prince of Gryphus... but we have no solid proof of his crimes," she says with a long sigh.

It's true, the note could be referring to anyone and it's probably not in his hand writing.

"So what do we do then? Continue as planned and inform the king about his son?" I ask.

"Pretty much, we'll continue to investigate back in Canterlot and try to find some evidence," Celestia replies. "Also, we won't be able to teleport back to you for a couple of days since it takes a lot of magic to travel this distance," she tells me.

I nodded in understanding. "Alright, so do we carry the bandit leader with us to the Capital or dump him off with the town guard?"

"It would be better to drop him off here so he won't pose a problem later on..." She's cut off as Luna lurches forward holding a hoof to her mouth.

She manages to calm down and asks where the bathroom is, a guard then guides her down the hall.

"Is she alright?" I ask with worry.

Celestia's eyebrows rise. "Oh... She's fine, just an upset stomach, she ate too much ice cream yesterday." I can tell she's not being entirely truthful.

I can hear Luna throwing up down the hall, I frown as I want to go and check on her.

"So where are the bodies of the fallen guards?" Celestia asks.

I turn back to look at her. "In the infirmary, they're being preserved by one of the unicorns spells," I reply.

She gets up and walks out the room, I wait behind for Luna to return.

After a few minutes, Luna returns with a frown. "I'm never going to get used to that," she mumbles to herself.

"Are you alright? Celestia told me you ate too much ice cream... whatever that is," I ask her.

"Oh... Erm..." She now looks a bit nervous. "I'm fine, yes I ate too much ice cream, it's a cold desert," she replies.

I'm not buying it, something is off about the way she's acting as she sits back on the couch and snuggles up to me, she wasn't this clingy before.

I just stay silent, I have to admit I'm enjoying it as well.

Ten minutes later and Celestia returns. "The bodies have been prepared for teleportation and I've sent some guards to deliver the bandit to the town guard as well as collecting supplies," she tells us.

"Alright, once the ship is repaired we'll continue on to the Capital, do you want to write a letter to the King about what's going on?" I ask.

"Good idea, this will take just a moment," she replies and sits at the desk.

A few minutes later and she has a piece of paper floating in front of her as she reads it over. Once satisfied, she rolls it up and stamps it with a seal.

"Here you go, it's not to be opened by anyone but the King," she tells me. I nodded and take the paper, I'll put it in my cabin when they go.

We all head up to the deck to see three black bags that look pony shaped, I realize it's the bodies of the fallen guards.

I hear Luna and Celestia talking quietly as I look around the ship. "You know why you can't stay, you're in no condition to be gallivanting around," Celestia says to Luna.

"I'm fine Tia, it's only been about a week now, it won't be months until it'll start to show," Luna replies.

"You've been having these strange cravings as well as your little mood swings, they wouldn't go unnoticed."

Luna puffs out her cheeks looking a bit angry. "Well, that's his fault not mine! I don't know why, I just want to be with him!"

"That's normal, a pregnant mare instinctively wants to stay by their mate for comfort and protection, it's just your hormones playing up," Celestia says trying to calm her down.

Luna sighs and hangs her head and nodded while I continue to look over the railings of the ship. 'Luna's pregnant?'

I glance back at Luna who looks upset, I'm not sure on how to respond but I get a determined expression and walk over to her.

She gasps as I wrap my arms around her neck. "I don't mind her staying for awhile, at least until the ship is fixed," I say.

Their eyes widen in shock. "D-Did you hear w-what we just s-said?" Luna asks in a shaky tone.

"...Yes," I reply.

Luna starts to tremble and hugs me back quietly sobbing, I stroke her mane and try to calm her down.

"I promise, as soon as we're done here I'll come back, but until then, we still have the Dreamscape right?" She stops crying and nodded.

Over the next hour, the balloon is repaired and with Celestia's help, so was the propeller. The guards returned with fresh supplies, free of charge for removing the bandits from the area. I talked with Luna as she tells me about the trouble her pregnancy has caused her so far and about names she's been thinking off for the baby, she's came up with few herself and asked me to come up with a few as well, I still can't believe she's going to have a baby.

We're all on the deck as Celestia and Luna stand beside the body bags. "Well then, we must be off, we still have matters to discuss as well as finding new council members that we can trust, the nobility has already found out about the old councils dismissal, they're very angry about it, especially the houses whose members were on the council," she says with a tired look.

I shake my head, nobles are all the same. Luna gives me one more kiss before she leaves. "Be careful alright," she tells me, I nodded and smile. Their horns start glowing, I can see the focus on their faces as they charge up the spell. After a few seconds, Celestia, Luna, and the body bags start glowing in a mix of night blue and gold.

After ten seconds they vanish with a bright light back to Canterlot, the Captain then walks up to me. "We're good ta go now, supplies are restocked and the balloon is repaired," he tells me.

"Alright, I'm heading back to my cabin then, let me know if something else decides to attack us," I tell him. Before I head back though, I fly up to Dash.

She's laying on her back tongue lolling out with a trail of drool down her cheek, her left hind leg twitching now and then as she snores lightly, I smirk as I lift one finger and channel a small Sparks spell.

I poke her left hind leg and she bolts into the air with a yelp from the light zap {95%}, I chuckle as she comes back down and rams me, but only manages to send me back a metre or two. She slides down my armour and flops onto the cloud she was napping on.

"Rise and shine, Dash. We're moving out," I tell her.

"You jerk! I'll get you back for that!" she says rubbing her head.

"Well until then, get on the ship, we're leaving." I drop down to the deck and head to my cabin with a grumbling Dash going below as well.

I enter my cabin and place the scroll into the desk's drawer and lock it, I look out the window and watch as the ship raises into the air.

My thoughts are drawn to Luna and my unborn child, a small smile forms on my lips as I watch the moon just starting to rise from my cabin's window.

Chapter 4

The Elder Scrolls: The Battle for Gryphus
Chapter 4

The moon looks brighter than usual as I look out of the window. I head over to the foot of my bed and remove my armour and place it on the floor, I place my weapons against the wall and the amulet on the bedside table.

With a yawn I lie down and close my eyes, now that I think about it, with Luna pregnant, I probably will have to marry her now.

I drift off to sleep with those thoughts in mind.

Dreamscape

I open my eyes to a grassy hill with a bright moon high in the sky, I see Luna sitting on a cushion looking up at the moon.

She turns to look at me as she hears me walking over to her, she smiles at me and I sit beside her.

"Hello, my love," she says giving me a kiss to my cheek.

"And hello to you too, so how are you feeling?" I ask her.

"I'm feeling okay, I seem to be a bit moody lately though with the castle staff... and I'm also starting to crave... meat... Although eggs and fish seem to be sating that," she replies.

"Sounds normal, I've met a few pregnant women back in Tamriel. They were very emotional, happy one minute, angry the next. Even some strange cravings such as apples dipped in butter." I tell her.

She scrunches up her nose at the thought, but then raises an eyebrow at the idea, I just shake my head with a chuckle.

"What do you think will happen to Razor Beak once his father finds out?" I ask her.

"He'll most likely place him in the dungeons for treason against the crown and endangering relations between our nations. The griffins show no mercy to traitors, even if it's their own family," she replies.

I couldn't help the small smile on my face, I'd rather I had the chance to just get rid of him myself since he threatened me, Luna, and Moonbeam, but that's an acceptable outcome.

I look up to the moon as it shines brightly.

I then look back to Luna. "I've got something to ask you," I begin to say and she looks at me with a curious expression. "Once this is all over and I return to Canterlot..." I pause as a small blueish silver necklace with a deep blue sapphire in the shape of the moon appears around her neck. "Will you marry me?" I finish saying.

She just stares at the necklace for a minute as tears start to fall from her eyes, she looks at me and with a shaky smile and lunges at me with a bone crushing hug. "YES!" she yells as she starts crying happily.

I hug her back as she starts to calm down, she pulls back and we look into each other’s eyes. With a thumb, I dry her cheeks. "Also, when I get back, I'll have a real version of that necklace made for you," I tell her.

She sniffles a bit and nodded with a happy smile.

For the next hour, we enjoy each other’s company. I've told her a few Nord names such as Erik, Fenreld, Torban, Doria, Jyta, and Kirstina, she tells me that although she's thought of a few names herself, a foals name just comes to them when they're born most of the time.

She also says something called the summer sun celebration is coming up but I'll miss it by the time I would be back.

As usual, a red mist appears next to Luna, she sighs. "Not much time anymore," she says goodbye as she steps into the mist.

I say goodbye as well and look to my right, the house I made is still there. I stand up and walk over to it, I notice Sheogorath's statue still here to the left side of the house.

Once inside, I remember the staff on the table and pick it up. After examining it for a few seconds, a light zap to my hand from the staff makes me grunt from the mild sting and I drop it, before it hits the floor it vanishes.

I blink a few times trying to figure out what just happened, I step outside and look at the statue but nothing has changed.

With a frown, I step back in and lay on the bed. After a few seconds looking at my hand, I drift off.

End Dreamscape

I'm awakened by a loud thud and I bolt upright, I look around and see nothing different. I rub my eyes and turn to stand up, but feel something under my foot, looking down, I see Sheogorath's staff.

After staring at it for a few seconds I cautiously pick it up, I'm not zapped this time and grip it with both hands. I frown as I have no idea how it got here.

I place it in a closet to keep it hidden for now, I'm going to have to keep an eye on it and tell Luna later.

I get dressed and go to get washed up in the ship's shower room. To me, it's a rather good size, but to a minotaur, it might be just big enough for them.

Once clean, I use the toilet, which thankfully had smaller ones since the minotaur ones were quite big.

I head back to my room, passing a few guards also just getting up where I greet them and they return the greeting. Once back in my room, I equip my armour, weapons and amulet.

'Good morning, Solnara,' I say in my mind.

'Good morning, so are you ready for today?' she asks.

'As ready as I can be,' I reply.

Once done, I head up onto the deck and look around, I notice that the ship is pretty close to the ground as I walk to the front railing.

Members of the crew are looking over the balloon and other parts of the ship. To the right is a vast field of snow and trees, to the left is a mountain face going up above the clouds, ahead there seems to be a woodland area and a city way off in the distance, I look down and notice something laying in the snow as wolves are circling it.

I notice a small red trail leading from the tree line to whatever the wolves are stalking. After a few seconds of looking carefully, I notice it's a young griffin.

I turn back and yell at the three pegasi guards standing on the deck. "GUARDS! ON ME NOW!" They start running towards me as I jump off the ship, I draw my sword and tuck my wings in to dive down, I hear the guards wings flap as they follow behind me.

I see six wolves look up at me, I flare my wings out and land heavily on one of the wolves killing it instantly. I spread my legs apart as I get into a stance and swing at the closest wolf taking the top part of its head clean off. Another wolf leaps onto me and starts biting my neck making me drop my sword.

The guards each land quite hard on the other three wolves impaling them with spears as nasty sounding squelches are heard. I grab the back of the wolf's neck and pull it away as it snaps at my face and swipes it's paws at me. I head butt it quite hard and then lift it up and slam its back down on my armoured knee.

The wolf’s spine snaps and I toss it aside as a guard finishes it off, I put my sword away and turn to the unconscious griffin on the floor. Carefully picking it up, the guards and I fly back up to the ship where it's safe.

Placing the griffin on the deck, I take my helmet off and check the wounds, it has a nasty bite on its right hind leg and its left wing is missing some feathers. The two medical unicorns rush over and start casting their healing spells and I join in as well.

After about thirty seconds, {70%} the wounds are healed but the feathers will have to regrow on their own, the griffin groans as it starts to open it's eyes.

It looks at me and screams as it tries to run away, an earth pony mare catches it and tries to calm it down, by the sound of the scream it's a young female.

I walk over and speak softly. "It's alright, you're safe now. We healed your wounds already. What were you doing out there on your own?" I ask her.

I can see she's trembling, she's silent for a few seconds but finally speaks up. "A d-dragon attacked our v-village, my m-mama and I got out, b-but a pack of wolves c-chased us. She... she told me to run while she d-distracted them." I can see tears forming in her eyes, sounds similar with my mother.

I frown with determination, I stand up and look to the captain. "CAPTAIN! STOP THE SHIP!" I yell over to him, if there's a chance she's still alive I'm taking it.

He nodded, then pulls a lever and the ship stops.

"I need two pegasi, two earth ponies and one of you two," I say pointing at the two unicorn medics. "to come with me. We're going to find her mother!"

Two pegasi step forward and I notice Fleetwind is one of them, I smile to her as two earth ponies and the unicorn mare steps forward as well.

"Alright, we'll follow the blood trail back, stay together, we don't know how many more of the wolves or what else is in there," I tell them.

The pegasi jump over board with an earth pony each wrapped in their legs, I walk up to the unicorn. "What's your name?" I ask her.

"Private White Star, Sir," she replies. She has a white coat and a light pale blue mane and tail, her mark is a white five pointed star with a golden glow and small sparks of light around it.

"Ready?" I ask her. Before she could answer, I wrap my arms around her midsection and lift her up. She yelps and then gives a startled scream as I also jump overboard. I land gently and set her down, she wobbles slightly but is fine after a few seconds.

I then turn to the pegasi. "I want you two flying overhead and try to spot her or warn us if something is heading our way," I order them and they nodded.

I then look to the others. "I'll take the lead, I want you two," I point to the earth ponies. "on either side of White Star and protect her." They both nodded.

I now look to White Star. "Once we get there, I want you to start healing her if she's still alive. I'll help protect you if we're attacked, but if not, I'll help you with the healing." She nodded as well.

"Alright then, let's go," I say and the pegasi take off following the small blood trail but staying above us, I draw my sword as do the earth ponies who wield a hammer each.

{85%}

We all run into the wooded area following the trail through the trees, I can hear howls and some sounds of a scuffle. The pegasi whistle down to me and I look up to see them flying off to the left.

Following them, I run past some trees to see a griffin with some serious injuries fighting off a large pack of wolves with just her talons. Four wolves already lay dead on the snow, without a second thought I charge forward and tackle the two wolves that were pinning the griffin down.

The pegasi dive through small gaps in the tree line and impale two of the wolves.

The earth ponies rush forward and slam their hammers into another two sending them flying a good few metres with solid thuds.

Two of the wolves try to jump me, but with great strength I thrust my sword into the right one and grab the left one with my left hand by the throat, I remove my sword from the now dead wolf and impale the wolf I'm holding in the chest.

{100%}

I see small bolts of fire fly past me hitting two more wolves, I look back to see White Star in a stance with her horn glowing and pointed at the beasts.

The rest of the wolves howl and run away, White Star immediately rushes over to the griffin who has collapsed onto the floor and begins to cast her healing spell.

I also run over to them and begin healing as well while the earth ponies and pegasi surround us. Unfortunately, our healing spells are just too weak to repair the damage she's suffered. Without any second thoughts, I take out my last healing potion and force her to drink it.

After a few seconds her wounds, though not fully healed, have begun closing which allowed us to finish the rest with the spells {50%}.

She groans as she starts to come around. I help her up into a sitting position as she starts to fully awaken, she then looks at the ponies and me.

"W-Who are you?" she asks confused and a little bit scared.

"My name is Farengar, we found your daughter nearby surrounded by wolves..." I tell but she cuts me off.

"WHAT! Is she alright!?" she asks in a panicked tone.

"Yes she's fine, we healed her injuries and she told us what happened, we followed her trail here to rescue you," I tell her and she relaxes. "Come on, let's get you to the ship and to your daughter."

I help her up and she walks with a slight limp, me and the others keep an eye out for anything else that might attack.

We all make it back to the ship, it has landed with a ramp set up to the deck. We all board and the young griffin runs over to her mother. "MAMA!" she yells as they both hug each other.

The little griffin then runs over to me and hugs my leg. "Thank you for saving mama and me," she says. I ruffle the feathers on her head.

"You're welcome," I reply. I then turn to the mother. "What will you do now? We're heading to the capital right now, you're welcome to join us," I tell her.

She looks back in the direction of the woods. "Yes, there's nothing left for us anymore, the dragon burned down everything," she replies.

I frown, I just hope I can prevent any other villages or towns from getting destroyed, I walk over to the Captain as some guards guide the two griffins below deck.

"Captain, we're good to go now, thank you for stopping," I say to him.

"That's alright, it turned out good in the end," he replies. He stands behind the wheel and pulls a lever. "All hands prepare for take off!" he says into the funnel.

The ramp retracts and the ship takes off and continues on its way. After we cleared the small hill in front of the ship, I spot a scorched area in the distance behind the tall woodland area, the remains of a small village.

I stand watch for another hour as the city is getting closer, looks like it'll be another three hours before we reach it.

A unicorn takes over watch and I head below. I enter my cabin and open the closet, the staff is still there and I pick it up and walk over to the bed and sit down.

I examine the staff carefully, I remember what it did to my armour and to the unicorn during my battle in the Dreamscape, but I have a feeling it can do so much more than that.

I decide to head back up to the deck and give it a test, I strap it onto my back and I tell the Captain I'm off to collect a few stones. Once gathered, I place them on the deck and draw the staff, I throw the rocks overboard and start firing off white orbs at the stones from the tip of the staff. The first few missed but the next shot hits and I'm surprised as the stone turns into an anvil and plummets to the ground.

The guards and crew look at me with shocked expressions, I look to the staff and try again, this time the stone grew wings and flew off.

Before anyone could say anything, a flash of light shines in front of me and blinds me for a second. When I open my eyes, I see a creature made of different parts floating in the air.

"Alright, who's playing around with chaos magic then hmmm?" he asks as he looks down at me, is this Discord? He looks like how Luna described him.

He then spots the staff in my hands. "Oh, well if it isn't Daddy's stick," he says the Daddy part in a sarcastic tone. "Oh, I know you, you're the one who turned the old geezer into a garden gnome." He lands on the deck and grabs my hand and shakes it.

"I must thank you for that, I've been running from him for years, the only good thing about being turned into stone myself was he was never able to find me." He lets go and I just stare at him.

He blinks a few times. "Well you're not very chatty are you? Also, you do know it's rude to stare at others right?" he says as his eyes bug out and get right into my face.

My eyebrows go up from the unexpected action. "Err, sorry. It's just I've never seen anything like you before," I reply.

"Oh that's quite alright," he says and retracts his eyes. "I am the only one of my kind as it is." He sounded a bit sad about that.

"Well if it makes you feel any better, I'm the only one of my kind here as well, I think." I say to cheer him up.

He smiles and chuckles. "Ah, two outcasts given a second chance aye?" He pats me on the back a few times. "Oh, but where are my manners? I'm Discord, the spirit of chaos," he says with a dramatic bow.

I return the smile. "I'm Farengar, a Nord warrior," I reply.

"Well I think we're gonna get along just fine!" he says wrapping his paw arm around my shoulders.

As he finished saying that, Dash walks onto the deck and spots Discord. "Argh, what's he doing here?" she asks with a frown.

"Why, Dashie! What a surprise to see you here!" he says floating over to her. "Everypony was wondering where you ran off too."

"That's none of your business," she growls out and storms off below.

I walk over to Discord who lands on his feet. "What was that about?" I ask him.

Discord waves it off. "Oh nothing much, just a little prank I pulled on her and she couldn't take it. For a prankster herself, she should be able to take a prank in turn," he says and I raise an eyebrow at him. "Oh alright, so I turned her coat bright pink and put a frilly dress on her, it's not like I took her wings or anything else," he admits.

That reminds me. "Speaking of pranks, you wouldn't know anything about me turning into a pony now would you?" His eyes widen and he chuckles nervously.

"Well I, err, that is... Maybe?" he replies with a sheepish smile.

Author's Note

Heeeerrrreeee's DISCORD! let the chaos begin!

Chapter 5

The Elder Scrolls: The Battle for Gryphus
Chapter 5

"Speaking of pranks, you wouldn't know anything about me turning into a pony now would you?" I ask Discord.

His eyes widen and he chuckles nervously. "Well I, err, that is... Maybe?" he replies with a sheepish smile.

I just raise an eyebrow at him and cross my arms."Oh fine! I was able to use my powers even while in my delightful accommodations, I pulled a few pranks on those who passed by now and then, but until recently, I felt a strange presence nearby for a few days. I felt that old geezers magic but to my surprise, it was coming from you," he says as he conjures a couch and lies on it. "At the time I thought you were sent to find me, so I played a little trick on you." He snaps his fingers but nothing happens, he looks surprised and snaps a few more times.

"What are you doing?" I ask confused.

He shakes his head as he still has a surprised expression. "I was trying to turn you into a pony again, but seems like I can't now, how are you blocking my magic?" He asks, more intrigued than frustrated.

"My ring blocks any type of manipulative spells, I'm guessing shape changing is one of them," I reply.

"Ah, well then." He twirls his lion paw around a few times as a silver amulet with an emerald gem in the shape of a horseshoe hangs from his fingers. "Here you go, just put this on and you'll become a pony again, just take it off to turn back. Oh, and also it will change your clothes and armour to match as well." He holds it out to me. "Just think of it as a thank you present for freeing me from dear old daddy," he says.

I take the amulet with a 'thank you', I remove my ring and put the amulet on, I feel my body shifting but this time there's no pain. In just a matter of three seconds, I'm a pony again and my gear changed to match as well.

My wings are now on my sides, I note I'm still an earth pony and just as big as Luna. My bow is hanging off my left flank and my quiver is tucked under my right wing, my sword is on my back with the pommel just to the right side of my head and the staff on the floor under my left fore-hoof.

Discord raises an eyebrow. "I don't remember you being that big... Oh well, I bet Lulu will love it all the more then!" he says while wiggling his eyebrows up and down.

Instead of being embarrassed I just chuckle. "I'm sure she would, so besides me using this staff, is there any other reason for you to be here?" I ask him.

He chuckles a bit. "Not really, I just felt some chaos magic and thought the ol' goat got loose... If I could of gotten out after a few hundred years, who's to say he can't as well? Maybe even sooner? He is stronger than I am with chaos magic," he replies.

I raise my eyebrows at that, if Sheogorath is stronger than Discord, then there's a good chance he's just playing with us. I frown for a few seconds, I'm going to have to warn Celestia and ask if there's anyway to add more seals on him.

"But since I'm here, I'll hang around for awhile! I could use a vacation after being in one spot for so long!" he says excitedly as a flower patterned shirt, a pair of black glasses and a case in each of his hands appears, he then looks confused and tilts his head. "...Where are we going?" he asks as his glasses slip a bit.

"Gryphus, it's under attack and we've been sent to help them," I reply as I take off the amulet and revert back.

"Ooooooh! I think I've been here once before, this will be interesting," he says.

Before anything else is said, the Captain yells out. "Prepare docking procedures! Time of arrival five minutes!" he says through the funnel.

The crew rush around getting ready to dock to a close approaching tower, I was too busy talking with Discord to notice we've arrived.

The ship is now approaching the centre of the city and up to a tower with a large flat top. Griffins fly over and take a few ropes handed to them by the crew, they fly back to the platform and tie the ropes to some anchors, I head back down and retrieve the letter for the King.

As I return to the deck, the ramp is placed across to the platform and the ponies set up a perimeter around the landing area. I walk off and a dark purple almost black griffon with dark red feathers in robes greets me. "Welcome to Aerastrad, capital city of Gryphus," he greets us with a bow. "My name is Ebonwing, advisor and brother to King Iron Beak, I've been asked to bring you to him." He looks past me and spots Razor Beak being pulled off the ship.

"Ah yes, my nephew. I do apologize for his inexcusable behaviour, my brother will have no choice but to punish him harshly this time, it's not the first time he's tarnished our name, but it will be the last," he says with a sharp look at Razor Beak, but what puts me on edge is the grin Razor Beak has on his face.

Before I could wonder why, a large plume of smoke blasts the platform. I draw my sword instantly and hear three screams of pain and thuds, I can hear frantic footsteps as a griffon and pony in the same knife vests with matching colour fur like in Ponyville and Canterlot rush me. I quickly thrust at the griffon impaling him between the eyes, I hear a sound like a teleportation spell going off to my left.

I let go of my sword and grab the pony's forelegs by his fetlocks before he could stab me. I frown and prepare a sparks spell in each hand, his eyes go wide as he sees the electric sparks, but it's to late as I pour the electrical current through him {80%}. He drops to the floor twitching and I pull out my sword from the griffon's head.

There's too much smoke to see anything, so I look straight up as the face plates retract. "Fus RO DAH!" {50%} I yell, the shock wave pushes the smoke away as I look around, Razor Beak is gone and the two guards who were escorting him are bleeding out, a griffon guard is also on the floor bleeding.

The two unicorn healers rush over and start healing the two wounded guards, I look around for any sign of where Razor Beak could have gone, but there's no trace of him anywhere. I grumble as I head over to the downed griffon and start healing him {60%}. After I healed him, he thanks me and I head over to Ebonwing and help him up.

"*cough cough* Thank you," he says as I help him up to his feet. "We need to inform the King about this," he says grimly.

"Lead the way," I say and turn to the others. "You three come with me!" I say to an earth pony a unicorn and Fleetwind, they salute and follow me. "The rest of you, guard the ship, we don't know if they'll return." The others salute as well and continue setting up the perimeter.

Me and the three guards follow Ebonwing down a set of stairs and through a hallway connecting the platform to the castle. After a ten minute walk and many stares from the castle staff, we arrive at the throne room.

I enter the room and notice it's very different to Celestia's, there's a large crescent shaped table in the middle of the room, an old looking tan griffon with snow white feathers in a fur lined red coat sits in the middle with others sitting besides him, he also has a few scars on his face and beak, in the middle of the room is a table with a map on it, similar to the war room in Canterlot.

"Brother! The aid from Equestria has arrived," Ebonwing announces, the one in the coat looks up, I guess that's the King then.

"Wonderful! Come come, take a seat," he gestures to a seat in front of the map table, I tell the three Guards to stand by the door and I head over to him and take my helmet off which I hook to my left hip.

{100%} {100%}

"Greetings, your Majesty. I have come with a regiment of guards to help protect Gryphus from the dragons. Also, I have some bad news," I say and hand him the letter.

He takes it and reads it. After a minute, he frowns and shakes his head. "It shames me to know that my own blood is the cause of this plague," He sighs in disgust. "and where is he? Was he not sent with you?" he then asks me.

I look over to Ebonwing. "I'm sorry brother, but a group ambushed the platform and took Razor Beak away, our friend here took out two of them but the rest escaped."

Iron Beak's frown deepens. "Then I have no choice, send out a bounty on Razor Beak for fifty thousand bits alive, ten thousand dead, from what Princess Celestia has told me, he has insulted not only Princess Luna, but also you as well," he says looking at me. "He also attempted to assassinate you, and now to find out he's the leader of the worst criminal organization in the world?" He places his head on his talon and shakes his head.

"On behalf of my family, I apologise for his actions," he says with a bow to me.

"It's alright, it's not your fault. Besides, with that bounty on him, I take it I can now kill him?" I ask showing no emotion.

"Yes, I understand how you must feel, my wife was killed by assassins a few years ago, I caught the culprit who was one of my most trusted guards and took his head personally, so I don't blame you for wanting his life," he replies. "Besides, he is no longer my son, you may do as you wish with him."

I bow to him. "Thank you, I've only stayed my hand at Celestia's request, no one threatens those I love and lives to regret it," I say barely restraining my anger. "As for the bounty, you can keep it."

"Alright, now onto the matter at hand," he says and flies over the table to stand beside me. "So far half of our towns and villages have been attacked, our military has managed to take out two dragons but we've lost over three hundred soldiers and countless others." He points to several areas on the map. "We've also received increased reports of the organization raiding the towns untouched by the dragons," he finishes.

"Well, we took out a dragon on the way here as well as a very well armed group of around fifty griffins trying to free Razor Beak," I tell him.

"That is good news at least, our main concern though right now is trying to locate where the dragons are coming from, it seems like they appear out of thin air then leave without a trace," he replies.

"Hmmmmm. Well, they could be using portals, we have a dragon ally who came to Equestria by a portal, I wouldn't be surprised if they were doing the same," I tell the King.

"That is troubling if true, that would mean finding them would be near impossible," he says with a defeated sigh. He has a point, how do I track an enemy who leaves no tracks?

"We can discuss this later, I'm sure you're tired from your trip, shall I have a servant escort you to a guest room?" Iron Beak offers.

"Thank you for the offer, but I'll be staying within the airship we arrived on," I reply.

He chuckles. "That's fine, but I would like you to join us for supper in a few hours time."

I smile and nodded. "I'd be honoured to."

"By the way, what is your armour made from? It looks like some kind of bone, wouldn't it break easily?" he asks intrigued.

"It's made from dragon bones by a minotaur smith named Hammerhoof," I reply which stuns him.

"It’s made from dragon bones and thee Hammerhoof crafted it?" he asks and I nodded to him.

"That's very impressive, it's very hard to commission him to craft armour, it must of cost quite a few bits to make," Iron Beak says as he circles you.

"I wouldn't know, Celestia had it made for me," I reply.

"Hmmm, well I better let you go since I have some matters to attend to, I'll see you at supper then." He smiles before heading out through a door behind the crescent table.

Me and the guards head back to the ship. Upon arrival, Discord just looks confused, I walk up to him and he just stays still, I wave my hand in his face and still no movement.

"You alright?" I ask him.

He blinks and shakes his head. "Yeah, I'm just peachy, but do tell what that was all about? I thought the enemy were dragons? Why did griffins and ponies attack us?" he asks.

"They were Razor Beak’s lackeys," I look at him with a raised brow. "and why didn't you help when it all happened?" I ask.

"I didn't even know he was on board! When it went down I had no idea what was going on, the whole thing just stumped me," he replies and sits down.

"Yeah, I was shocked by it as well," I say.

Discord grins slightly. "I bet that earth pony that attacked you found it more shocking than you did," he says with a chuckle. "So what happens now?"

I chuckle along with him. "Well, we're to wait here and get our gear together and ready, after that we're heading back for supper with the King... You want to tag along?" I ask him.

"Oooh, dinner with the King? This will be interesting to say the least," he says and with a snap of his fingers, he's dressed in an expensive looking robe and curly white hair.

I smirk. "Just behave yourself, if the things I've heard about you are true, then tonight will be rather..." I say but Discord just grins.

"Chaotic?" he finishes for me.

"Yeah, that. Please behave since we're here to help, not cause any more problems," I tell him.

"Oh sure, cross my heart hope to fly stick a cupcake in my eye," he says while drawing a cross on his chest and actually sticking a cupcake in his eye.

"What does that mean?" I ask with a confused expression.

"It's a Pinkie promise I learnt from that delightful pink ball of energy in Ponyville," he replies with a smile, what surprised me though is Pinkie Pie suddenly popping out of nowhere over Discords shoulder.

"And no pony breaks a Pinkie promise!" she says in a serious tone before ducking back down.

I walk over and look behind him to see no one there. "What?... but... how? Where did she go?" I ask looking around.

"Oh don't worry about it, even I tried to figure out how she does it but I couldn't find a single clue! I think she somehow knows how to use chaos magic but I never feel a trace of it from her," he says with a chuckle. "She's so random... I think I'm starting to love that happy hyper pony." He gets a goofy smile on his face, steam slowly coming out of his ears.

"Good luck with that, I'm off to make sure everything is ready for when we need it," I say and head below deck.

Several hours go by. Dash left to go check on her friend while me and the crew take inventory, all weapons and armour accounted for, and food supplies are restocked. Three of the guards have been lost but the others morale has only increased to avenge their fallen friends... Oh yes, Razor Beak will suffer for all he's done.

I remain in my armour as I, Discord, and the same three guards head back into the castle and into the throne room. Again Iron Beak is sitting in the same spot with a lot of other griffins around him, there's an empty spot to his right, he smiles but it's lost as he spots Discord.

"Why is the Harbinger of Chaos here!? GUARDS!" he yells as griffins draw swords or point spears at Discord who just freezes in place with his hands above his head with a surprised expression.

"What's going on?" I ask Iron Beak.

Iron Beak Stood up and points at Discord while looking at me. "That monster caused a major disaster over a thousand years ago that caused over half of our people to die of starvation! This land was once a green and lush place, he caused a climate change that turned our once fertile land into the snow covered plains that they are now. A lot of the wildlife and our livestock died due to the change."

Discord looks pale. "I actually forgot about that," he mumbles.

I look at Discord. "What did you do?" I ask him.

Discord sighs as he looks down. "It was when I first arrived in Equis, I just got away from you know who and just let myself go, I caused quite a bit of damage... Until Tia and Lulu stopped me, being in stone for a thousand years, I've had plenty of time to think about what I've done. At first, all I could do was watch as time went by in front of me, but after a few hundred years, I learnt to expand my sight beyond my prison and watched the ponies day to day activities." Discord stays silent for a few seconds.

"I watched families work together and help each other through the good and bad times. Sure, I played a few pranks now and then like making things move or jump out at them, but I never once intentionally killed anypony," he says with a sad expression. "When I changed the weather back then, I did it on a whim without thinking of the consequences." He looks up to Iron Beak.
"I know this won't change anything, but I regret what I've done and I'm really sorry, if I can do anything to make it up to you then I shall," Discord offers.

Iron Beak frowns and sits back down, he looks deep in thought. After a minute he replies. "Alright then, you're going to help fight the dragons, and don't bother turning the land back, we've already adjusted to it over the last thousand years, turning it back would just cause the same problems again."

Discord smiles slightly. "Then I shall help as much as I can."

Iron Beak looks at me. "Well then, please sit and let's start supper then shall we?" I nodded and head round to the empty spot at his left, to his right is a small griffin, judging by its features it's a boy, possibly his son.

Discord sits at the end of the table on the left side as well, I can see a pained expression on his face, I wasn't expecting him to act like this from what he showed earlier.

The food arrives, Iron Beak tells me it's from a wild boar. "Please, dig in and enjoy," he tells me.

I pick up a fork and knife and start eating, the guards I arrived with sitting on the right side look a little queasy as they eat the salad that was made for them.

Supper is eaten in silence, Iron Beak looks over at Discord now and then with different expressions, anger and confusion among others. Discord on the other hand looks too upset to eat.

After supper was finished, the King moves to the centre table with the map on it, other griffins go about their business and some also stand beside the table. Iron Beak starts handing out some folders to me and others. "Alright then, this is what we know so far."

Author's Note

Sorry for the late update by sprite work is eating up my time.

Chapter 6

The Elder Scrolls: The Battle for Gryphus
Chapter 6

"Alright then, this is what we know so far," Iron beak says as I open the folder and look at the papers inside.

The reports inside say that the dragons arrive and leave in a red portal, kind of reminds me of Odahviing's portal... Wait... Odahviing! He'll know what to do.

"Iron Beak, I think I have an idea on how to find them," I tell him.

"You'll refer to him as your majesty!" an old looking griffin in a robe says to me.

I just give him a deadpan look. "I've willingly come here to help defend your kingdom from the dragons, so don't get snappy with me. I'm sorry if I offended you, I'm not used to talking with royalty and such, I even call the Princesses by their names without any titles and they don't seem to mind, in fact, I think they find it refreshing to be treated as friends instead of rulers," I tell him.

He was about to argue but Iron Beak holds a talon up. "It's alright, besides, he may be the future king of Equestria," he says with a chuckle. "And I agree, it is refreshing to drop titles now and then, so what is this idea of yours?" he asks.

"I have an ally who may be able to tell us where the portals go to," I reply.

"Did he come with you?" Iron Beak asks.

I shake my head. "No but I can call him here within a few minutes," I say.

"Well go on then, the sooner we find out what's going on the quicker we can end this," Iron Beak says.

"Alright then follow me, I need to do this outside," I tell him and head for the door.

We all head back up to the platform and I step to the edge. "OD... AH... VIING!" I shout out.

A red portal opens up and Odahviing flies out of it, the king and his guards are shocked as they surround Iron Beak in a defensive formation.

"It's alright, he's the ally I was talking about," I tell them as Odahviing flies overhead, the griffins are still on edge but don't make any movements to attack.

Odahviing then lands next to me. "Dohvakiin, why have you called for me? I see no danger here," he asks looking at the group of griffins with a raised brow."

I can see scars on the back of his claws and feet. "Yeah, what we need is advice and information this time," I reply.

"Oh? And what would that be?" he asks again.

"The dragons attacked by portals similar to yours, is there a way to track where they go to?" I ask.

"Hmmmmm, yes it is possible, but only if they left or arrived within the last twenty-four hours," he replies looking around the city. "I can sense two recently opened portals nearby." At this the King gasps.

Iron Beak walks over to Odahviing, the guards protest but he shrugs them off. "That's not possible, we have the city on lock down right now, my guards would of reported any sightings within or around the city," he says.

I frown. "Some of your guards might be working with the dragons..." My eyes widen as I realize something. "Unless they're working with Razor Beak, he might of told them how to get in without being seen and he may have some of his lackeys posing as guards."

Upon hearing this, Iron Beak looks enraged, I look to his guards, they look nervous except for one who reaches into his armour and pulls out a dagger.

My helmets face plates slide back. "Tiid Klo Ul!" {0%} I shout out, a white orb forms at my mouth and expands out surrounding everyone within range.

I bolt forward {80%} and reach the griffon as he raises his dagger above his head ready to stab the King in the back, I grab his arm with my left hand and this throat with my right, the look on his face as he couldn't react fast enough was amusing. I cast a Sparks spell with my right hand for only a second to stun him {90%}.

His grip on the dagger tightens as the electricity flows through him, but lets go as soon as it stops. I twist his arm back and give a hard pull, dislocating it from his shoulder, I then place a knee on the back of his neck and grab his right wing with my right hand, I then cast a Flames spell with my left and roast his wing {75%}.

The Thu'um wears off and he roars out in pain, the other guards just finish turning around in time to see the end result, the King sees the dagger on the floor and then at the guard, he now looks furious.

"You dare attack me from behind like a coward?" he yells as he draws his sword ready to take the traitor's life.

"WAIT!" I call out. "I want to find out what he knows," I tell him.

'Ready for another interrogation?' I ask Solnara.

'Of course,' she replies.

I remove the Amulet and place it on the griffon while still kneeling on his neck. "You won't get me to talk!" he says which only makes me smirk at him.

After a few seconds his eyes widen as he looks around a pained expression still on his face from his shoulder and wing. After five minutes, I remove the amulet and put it back on.

{100%}

'So what did you find out?' I ask Solnara.

'He is indeed one of Razor Beak's subordinates, he was sent here to keep watch over the King to make sure he doesn't find out too much about what's going on, and if he does, he was to assassinate the King, even at the cost of his own life, but that's all he knows,' she replies.

'Thank you, now to let Iron Beak have him, he looks ready to kill everything in sight,' I tell her while looking at Iron Beak, he looks absolutely livid.

"Well he's definitely Razor's lackey, he was sent here to keep an eye on you and kill you should you find out something you shouldn't." The griffon looks surprised that I knew that.

"HOW DID YOU FIND THAT OUT! I SAID NOTHING!" the griffon rages at me, struggling to get me off him.

I growl and drop my elbow onto the top of his head making him face plant the platform, I stand up but keep a foot on the griffon's back.

"You don't need to know that. He's all yours, Iron Beak," I say.

Iron Beak is just glaring at the griffon and then takes his head with his sword, the head rolls down the platform with an expression of surprise. I look around and notice another one of the guards missing.

"Iron Beak one of your guards is missing," I tell him.

He looks up and looks at the rest who are also looking around, the King now looks like rage incarnate as he roars out in anger like a sabercat.

"Is there no one I can trust any more!" he yells as he puts his sword away. "Skyfury! Call all the guard in the castle together, I want to make sure there's no more of those traitors in there!" he orders one of the guards.

"Yes, my King!" Skyfury replies and clenches his right talon and thumps it to his chest, he then leaves to carry out the order.

Odahviing steps up besides me. "That was a well performed Thu'um, Paarthurnax has taught you well. But we must go now if you wish to find out where those portals lead to, they are getting weaker by the minute," he says.

"Okay, just give me a second," I reply. I walk over to Iron Beak. "Iron Beak, Odahviing and I are going to go check one of the portals to see where it heads to, we'll be back in a while," I tell him.

He nodded with a frown and heads back into the castle, I on the other hand jog over to Odahviing as he takes off and I fly after him.

We're both flying over the city towards a run down district that looks like a slum, Odaviing lands in the only open spot around, it's a small park that luckily was vacant.

He looks around for a second and spots what he's looking for and walks over to it, I can barely see a faint blur in the air like heat rising. Odahviing places a talon in front of the ripple and closes his eyes.

After a few seconds he snorts and growls. "It's coming from the dragon lands, more specifically the horde leader's lair, Seems Alduin is opening the portals himself," he tells me.

I frown as I think, am I ready to take him on? I don't know what he's capable of yet, as much as I want to finish this I'm just not sure I can win yet.

"Can you close it and prevent more from coming?" I ask him.

"Maybe. Alduin's magic is very strong, it might take me awhile to close the portals here and set up a barrier to prevent more opening, but the barrier will last at best for four days," he replies. "If I do this, there is a good chance we might be attacked, I can sense that we're being watched, you'll have to protect me while I concentrate," he whispers.

"Alright, I'll cover you as best as I can," I say and draw my bow with an arrow and pull the trigger making it expand open.

Odahviing begins to channel energy through his talon that's in front of the ripple. For five minutes nothing is happening, but it's too quiet, why have no citizens come out or scream due to a dragon being here?

I look around and notice not even the lights are on in any of the houses, I'm getting a bad feeling about this.

Two more minutes of unnerving silence later, the sound of metal hitting the floor grabs my attention, I point my bow down an alley as a bin lid rolls out and stops by my foot.

I keep looking in the alley, only to see a knife being hurled out of the darkness at me, I lean to the right as the handle clangs off my armoured shoulder.

A group of four: two griffins, one earth pony and some sort of bipedal dog rush out from the alley and attack me.

The griffins are both wearing those knife vests and both have the same colours, brown fur and black feathers just like the assassin that tried to kill me in Canterlot, each has a shortsword in their right talons.

The earth pony has a more armoured version of the vest, his coat is brown, his mane and tail are black and he's wielding a steel Battleaxe.

The dog though, I'm guessing it's one of those diamond dogs I've been told about, is wearing a chainmail vest with a pair of daggers in its hands, its fur is also brown with patches of black in several places.

I aim for the dog first since I have not fought one of them yet, meaning I don't know what it's capable of, I release the arrow piercing its chest as the arrow goes through and shatters against a wall.

I pull the trigger and fold the Bow, I don't have time to put it away so I lightly toss it next to Odahviing on the grass. I draw my Sword in time to parry the first griffon's sword but the pony hits my left arm with his axe, the armour held strong but it's going to be sore {95%}.

The pony was about to swing again, but I kick him away with my left foot to his face causing him to drop the axe. The second griffon goes to stab me but I knock the blade away with my left gauntlet.

I swing my sword with one arm and hit the first griffon in the neck which only goes in halfway, I try to pull it out but it's stuck, so I let go and punch the second griffon in the face causing him to drop his sword, I quickly duck from another swing from the pony and grab the two shortswords on the floor and stand back a bit.

The griffon looks for his blade but notices it in my hand. "Looking for this?" I say while waving it around.

He growls at me, then what he does next angers me, he picks up my sword from his dead comrade while the pony stands between us blocking my way.

No one touches that sword but me. With the enchantment of my leggings, I burst forward {75%} and ram into the earth pony with my left shoulder while impaling him with the sword in my right hand in his left shoulder, the blade sinks into him from his chest and barely poking out of his stomach.

He roars out in pain and starts choking on his own blood as he's launched into the griffon behind him, the griffon squawks as my sword is launched into the air.

I see the blade flying up a good five metres and drop the blade in my left hand as I fly up to my sword. I grab it with both hands in a reversed grip and drop down onto the griffon and impale him through the chest and into the ground as the snapping of his ribs is heard.

I see him give a strangled scream as his lungs were most likely crushed or punctured, and after a few seconds he stops moving, I look to the pony who has also stopped moving.

Giving the area one final look, the place looks clear, but it's still creepy that there are still no citizens around, all the buildings light are out as not a single one is lit.

{100%} {100%} {100%} {100%}

Odahviing continues for a few more minutes and the ripple dissipates. "And that does it, but from what I can feel, the other one has already collapsed." He looks at the corpses on the floor.

"Only four of them? They seem to be taking this lightly," he comments and then looks back to me. "Let's head back to the castle to set up the barrier, It'll take me a good hour to cast it."

"Alright," I reply and we both head back. Landing on the platform, Odahviing lays down on his stomach and closes his eyes.

I hear a quiet hum coming from him as his talons start to glow, for thirty minutes I keep watch over him in case there's an attack. I then hear footsteps behind me and spot the female griffon and her daughter I saved earlier walking off the ship.

"Hello again, I take it you're heading off into the city now?" I ask them, but their expressions say otherwise.

"No, there's no room in the city for refugees, due to the dragon attacks there's a food shortage and the city has hardly enough to feed itself, let alone refugees. They suggested we head to another town or village," she replies with a few tears in her eyes, her child hugging her left arm with an upset look.

I look shocked but not surprised, with the dragons attacking the farms and possibly game around the city, food will be in short supply. "If we had some bits we could buy some food, but we lost everything back in the village," she starts to breakdown and hug her child while crying.

My expression softens as I walk over to them. "You're welcome to stay on board with us for now if you'd like, we still have a decent supply of food on board," I offer her. I'm not about to let a mother and her child starve on their own.

She looks up at me with a thankful expression. "Y-You mean we can stay on board?" she asks, her voice slightly cracking due to her distress.

"Sure, we can even take you to another town or village when we move out," I tell her.

She starts to cry again and hugs me while saying thank you, I pat her on the back and tell her to go back on the ship.

After that was done, I turn back to Odahviing and see the glow starting to get brighter. Five more minutes later, a large bubble like dome expands away from him and engulfs the city and even half of the farmlands outside.

He collapses and breaths heavily. "That should do it, but it won't last, we need to find some special gems, blood diamonds, and charge them up with the same barrier spell, once that's done it'll be able to keep a barrier up for months before needing to be replaced," he says as he stands up.

"Problem is, they're only found in the dragon lands," he explains.

"So how do we get some? We don't have the time or supplies for a trip like that," I reply.

He pulls back a scale on his chest and pulls out a small red gem. "I have only one on me at the moment, but this one would only last two months at best."

"Better than nothing for now, how long will it take to set up?" I ask.

"A day, I need to cast the spell onto it and make sure it stays in it. If it's done wrong, there's a chance the magic will discharge and it will shatter the diamond," he replies.

"Alright then, can you get started on it tomorrow?" I ask him.

He stretches. "Very well, I'll stay here since I doubt I'll fit anywhere else," he replies.

A griffon guard then walks over to me. "The King wants to see you, we managed to capture another traitor and he wants you to interrogate him."

I follow him into the castle and meet Iron Beak in the dungeons. "Ah, Farengar. We managed to find another one of them. Once we found out he attempted to run and then kill himself, but fortunately, one of my best hunters managed to knock him out with a tranquillizer arrow." I see the prisoner chained to the wall with his beak strapped shut and a poorly placed bandage on his left hind leg.

He looks at me with a glare. 'You ready Solnara?' I ask her.

'Yes.' I remove the amulet and place it on him. After five minutes I take it off and put it back on.

'We have a problem, he has a surprisingly strong will and is preventing me from entering his mind, if we wish to find out what he knows you'll have to come with me as well,' she tells me.

'And how am I supposed to do that?' I reply.

'Place both of your hands on the sides of his head where his brain would be.' I do as she instructs. 'Now you'll feel a pull and see a bright light,' she warns me.

'Alright.' A few seconds later I feel a pulling motion in the back of my head and my vision turns white.

Mindscape

My sight returns to a wide corridor, I look around and see doors lining the sides but they seem to have a form of barrier on them, the walls are made of stone with a few slight cracks, I guess those are from Solnara's previous attempts to read his mind, I see Solnara standing next to my right.

"So now what?" I ask.

"Now we go find and confront him, you need to weaken his will so I can access his memories," she replies.

Well, this is going to be interesting.

Chapter 7

The Elder Scrolls: The Battle for Gryphus
Chapter 7

I follow Solnara down the corridor, doors upon doors line the walls as we walk down to find him. "So what are we looking for?" I ask her.

"We're looking for a door without a barrier on it. Though it will have no barrier, the door itself will be sturdy, a door’s strength depends on the willpower of the individual’s mind, it could range from a simple wooden door to a thick steel vault like door. Mages are the hardest to mind read as they have a high mental fortitude due to their studies and such," she tells me.

I hum as I look around at the doors. I can see the doors look like solid wood, all of them with barriers, I start walking down the hallway after Solnara tells me that she feels the griffon's mind down there somewhere.

After a good seven minutes walking, we arrive at a small room with five branching hallways. "Which way?" I ask her.

She closes her eyes and focuses, a few seconds later she looks down the fourth hallway. "I feel his mind down there," she replies.

We both continue and after about four minutes, I spot a different door. It was still a solid wooden door but this time had metal reinforcing it, long strips of steel with bolts lining the sides.

"This is it, now you need to just break down this door and confront him. While you're doing that, the barriers will be down and I'll be able to find what I need to know. Just don't kill him, should he die here, his mind will be gone and his body will be a mindless shell," she tells me.

I nodded and draw my sword, surprisingly it's not my dwarven greatsword but the moonsteel greatsword the Princesses made for me. I stare at it for a few seconds but dismiss the thought, I raise the sword up and swing it down at the door.

The hall shakes as the door cracks from the blow, the wood split down the middle but not broken through, I repeat the process but the wood seems to be repairing itself.

I hum in thought as an idea comes to mind, my helmet’s face plates slide back as I raise the sword again. This time after I hit the door, I release a thu'um at the door. "FUS RO DAH!" {50%} The split in the wood spreads quickly and the door gets blown in and the hall quakes violently as I hear a roar of pain coming from inside.

The face plates slide back into place as I enter and Solnara runs down the hall searching for her target, I look around to see the griffon still in his guard armour glaring at me while clutching onto his head.

"You will regret making an enemy of our master!" he yells at me as a pair of swords appear in his talons.

I don't show any intimidation as I just stand there and point my sword at him, my sword's blade suddenly bursts into a white flame that glows like moonlight.

This made his eyes widen a bit, I'm clearly the one doing the intimidation here. I slowly start approaching him and he starts to back away while keeping his eyes on my sword.

{90%}

The moment his backside hits the wall I rush forward with my sword at my left hip with only my right hand. As soon as I reach him, I swing my sword at his head horizontally, he ducks but I bring my left fist forward in an uppercut and connect with his chin sending the top his head into the wall.

He quickly recovers and kicks me in the chest with both of his hind legs pushing me away a good four metres.

I regain my balance and rush him again, this time with both hands on my sword at my right hip. He dives to the left as my blade cuts through the stone wall leaving a slightly melted gash.

He gets up fast and lunges at me, I parry the first sword but the other connects with my left thigh and surprisingly cracks the dragonbone armour, I jump back and look at the damage, a large crack that looks like a spider's web spreads throughout the entire section of the bone plate, I look back at the grinning griffon and frown.

Lifting my left hand and pointing it at him, I quickly discharge a Flames spell {85%} and manage to catch his left wing as he dives away again causing him to grunt from the hit, the whole room mildly shakes as soon as he was hit.

Before he could recover I charge at him and swing my sword quickly. I manage to hit his right arm just above the elbow and sever the limb off with a sizzle of burnt flesh causing him to roar out in anguish as the room violently shakes.

I almost lose my footing as the room quakes and stone falls off the ceiling, he attempts to flee the room but with a burnt wing and missing limb he doesn't get very far.

I tackle him to the floor and then sit on his back and occasionally whack the back of his head if he starts struggling. Five minutes later Solnara returns and tells me she got what she was looking for.

I place my left hand on her back as she asks me to and my vision goes white again as I'm pulled out of his mind.

{100%}{100%}{100%}{100%}

End Mindscape

My sight fades back in and I'm instantly met by the screams of the griffon as his right talon is just hanging limp, same goes for his left wing.

'What's wrong with his arm and wing?' I ask Solnara.

'He's temporarily lost his control over them, his mind believes they are still damaged from what you did to him,' she replies, I look down to my left thigh and sigh in relief that it's undamaged, I'm still wondering why I had the moonsteel greatsword though, so I ask Solnara for her opinion.

'Maybe it was because it was a gift from Luna, or maybe it has a connection with you, I can't say for sure. Now, can you summon me please as what I have discovered is something the King would like to hear,' she says.

I grip the amulet and call her out, she forms which makes the others gasp. "Iron beak, meet Solnara, she has some information you'd want to hear," I say.

Solnara gives a slight bow which Iron Beak returns. "Greetings, I have some information that you should know. Razor Beak intends to invade the castle within the next week, but I've found the location he's hiding in right now." The prisoner starts to struggle with his bonds.

"What will happen to him?" I ask as I watch him pull at the chains trying to get free.

"He'll be put to death," Iron Beak replies.

"Hehehehe." The prisoner starts to laugh with a hateful glare. "It matters not, Canterlot should be on fire by now and the Princesses should be dead, HAHAHAHAHA- AAARRRRGHH!!!" He's cut off as I blast him with both hands casting the Flames spell {50%}. When I stop, nothing but a burnt husk remains of him, the other griffins look horrified.

"I'm sorry, Iron Beak, but I have to go send a letter to Equestria and make sure he was lying, I'm not taking any chances." He nodded as Solnara returns to the amulet.

I run back to the platform and find the unicorn who sent the letter last time. "Come with me, I need to send a letter to Celestia right now!" I tell him, he nodded and follows me to the ship's study.

I grab a sheet of paper, a quill, and begin to write my letter.

Celestia, is Canterlot alright? We caught a griffon who said Canterlot should be on fire and both you and Luna dead right now, send me a reply as soon as you can!

I roll it up and hand it to him, he sends it and now I wait. During the wait, Iron Beak arrives and I let Solnara out again to explain that Razor Beak was hiding right under the city, there's the Tomb of the Kings under the castle that leads to a network of tunnels throughout the city with a large force he's pulled from all over the world: griffins, ponies, minotaurs, dragons, diamond dogs, and even a few changelings residing in them.

{100%}

Iron Beak looks like he's ready to march down there and deal with Razor Beak himself.

I'm brought out of my thoughts as a scroll appears in front of the unicorn, he passes it to me and I read it.

Farengar. Luna, Moonbeam, and I are fine but the city is under attack, your help would be greatly welcome right now, get the unicorns you have with you to cast a long range teleportation spell to send you to the portal chamber, and please hurry!

The paper has a few blood stains on it, I order all the unicorns onto the deck and tell them to teleport me to Canterlot, they salute and I leave a unicorn who has the highest rank in charge. After a few minutes of them charging their horns, a bright flash flares out and engulfs me, I feel a hard pull and then my vision returns.

I hear fighting and blades clanging in the distance. I look around and see I’m in the mirror and portal room, I notice the oblivion gate looking one is sealed for now. I step off the platform and draw my greatsword and then burst out of the door.

I see two of the guards, one with a spear and the other is Armoured Honour fighting off a minotaur with a large hammer who's back is facing me, I rush forward and impale the Minotaur in the spine, he yells in pain and drops to the floor. The guard finishes him off with a spear in the head.

Armoured Honour walks up to me. "Farengar! What are you doing here? I thought you were in Gryphus?" he asks me.

"I sent a letter to Celestia after I got some info and she replied asking for my help, so here I am, can you take me to her and Luna?" I ask him.

He nodded and he leads me along with the other guard to a secure room, along the way I fought many different races, the other guard got injured but still managed to continue after I healed him {79%}.

We all arrive at the safe room that has a large steel door with a barrier on it. Five of Razor's lackeys are trying to break down the door.

I look at Honour. "Is that door protected from magic?" I ask him.

He nodded and I smile. I sheath my sword and point both my hands towards them and ready a Flames spell, I rush at them which makes them turn around from my heavy foot steps.

Before the first one could swing I release the spell sending gouts of fire down the hallway {50%}, their screams echo down the halls as they collapse {35%}.

After a whole minute the flames die down and only the carpet and blacked stone walls are the only damage done to the surroundings, I run over to the door with the two guards behind me. "CELESTIA! LUNA! IT'S ME FARENGAR! ARE YOU ALRIGHT?" I yell as I knock on the door... more like slamming my fist on it repeatedly.

{60%}

A view port slides open showing Shining Armour behind it. "Farengar! Quickly get in here!" he tells me as his horn glows and the door slowly opens just enough to let us all in.

Once inside, the door closes and I spot Luna laying down on a medical bed, her front right leg and right wing are wrapped up in bandages while a couple of unicorns are casting spells on her. "LUNA!" I yell and rush over to her side.

She opens her eyes and smiles at me. "Farengar... *cough* I'm so happy to see you." She tries to lift her head up but couldn't, I stroke her cheek trying to comfort her.

Moonbeam runs over after hearing my voice. "DADDY!" she yells as she latches onto my right hip, Tala sits next to Moonbeam, her left ear looks chipped and damaged.

"What happened," I ask Luna while placing my right hand on Moonbeam's back comfortingly.

"It happened without warning," Celestia says as she walks up to me, a bandage wrapped around her forehead. "Red portals opened up all over the city, and dragons carrying around one-hundred soldiers each swarmed the city and castle, the guard has managed to evacuate most of the civilians, but not all of them," she tells me while looking down.

I turn back to Luna. "Are you alright?" I ask her, she tries again to lift her head but ends up passing out.

I snap, memories of Maren's death flash over my mind... Not again, I place both hands on Luna and pour all my remaining magicka into my healing spell.

After five whole minutes {0%} her breathing evens out and her expression of pain softens, I have an expression of complete rage as I stand up and head to the door.

"Farengar! Where are you going?!" Celestia asks, I look back at her but she recoils slightly.

"I'm going to kill them all," I reply with anger clear in my tone. "Open the door!" I tell Shining.

{14%}

He does as I ask and I step out, the hall has ten of Razor's soldiers about to charge the door, the moment I see them I roar out in rage and draw my sword.

Charging at them, I drag my sword along the ground as the first one, a diamond dog, attempts to hit me with a downward slash. I side step to the left and avoid it while swinging mine up with a war cry carving him in two from the groin to his right shoulder, a strangled scream leaves his mouth but I ignore him and move onto the next.

An earth pony tries to stab me with a spear but I twist away from it as my sword comes swinging up over my head and thrust it at him on the way down impaling his face, blood starts to cover my armour but I have more pressing concerns.

{27%}

I remove my sword while thrusting my left hand forward and cast a Sparks spell hitting four others causing them to tense up and drop to the ground {12%}.

An arrow bounces off my helmet and I turn my attention to the griffon with a longbow, another roar escapes me and with the enchantment of my leggings, I burst forward past the other three and tackle him hard with my elbow on his neck {70%}. He's sent into the back wall with a nasty crunch sound from his throat and drops to the floor.

The last three look nervous, another diamond dog with two daggers, a pegasus with a spear, and one more griffon with a mace and shield stand there wide eyed as I turn to them.

{18%} {80%)

"I'm going to make each and everyone of you suffer for what you've done today! NO ONE HURTS MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY AND LIVES TO REGRET IT!" I yell out and burst ahead with my sword pointed forward and impale right through the wooden shield the griffon had into his chest, I let go of the sword and dive at the diamond dog and place both of my hands on the sides of his head and cast a Flames spell with each hand.

He screams as his eyes burst and his fur burns away leaving only charred and blood boiled skin {3%}, my hands were protected due to the dragonbone gauntlets being fire proof.

The pegasus decides to flee and runs down the hall, I draw my bow and take a shot at him. I hit his left ankle, which due to the speed of the arrow, his hoof comes clean off and he falls to the floor. I pull my sword out of the griffon and walk over to him while putting the bow away, he's trying to crawl away, I guess he injured a wing as he fell.

Once I reach him, I kneel down on his back and grip his mane with my left hand and pull his head up. He's begging me to spare him but I'm in no mood to hear his pleas. With a quick swipe, I slash his throat and leave him to his fate.

"By Celestia..." I hear Honour say as he walks up behind me, I'm entirely covered in blood.

I turn to him. "I want you to stay here and protect them, I'm trusting you with their lives Honour," I tell him.

"Alright... Just be careful," he replies and heads back into the safe room.

I run down the hall to find any more of the bastards. On my way to the courtyard I've killed another twenty or so of them, I took a few hits, but at most they'll leave a bruise. I stop as I reached the lobby, a green dragon is blocking the way, It snarls at me and I roar back charging at him.

{90%} {100%} {70%} {100%}

It swings a claw at me which I jump over and take a swing at his face, I barely cut his chin which he retaliates with a swing of his other arm. I try to flap my wings to evade but he hits my left hip {75%} sending me into the throne room door {68%}, I bounce off the door and land on my back {63%}. He's about to stamp on my head but I counter it.

"FUS RO DAH!" {50%} I shout and send him hurtling into the ceiling, I stand back up and quickly cast a healing spell {55%} {80%}.

He stands back up and roars at me, I snort and run towards him and hold out my left hand and cast a Sparks spell {35%}. It doesn't do much besides making his right leg lock up but that's more than enough for me. With a strong flap of my wings, I launch myself at him with my sword pointed at him, I impale him in the chest hoping I hit his heart.

He screams in pain and whacks me away {70%}, I slam into the lobbies right side wall with a heavy thud making my left shoulder a bit numb {60%}.

The dragon collapses on the floor and I'm lifted off the floor as its soul flows into me. After that was done, I'm set back on the floor and I start to heal Myself {20%} {93%}.

After retrieving my sword, I step outside into the courtyard, my eyes widen as I look towards the city, there's smoke and fire everywhere.

Chapter 8

The Elder Scrolls: The Battle for Gryphus
Chapter 8

{95%} {35%} {89%} {100%}

Everywhere in the city was fire and smoke, a few dragons are flying overhead while Razor's minions attack the populace from below, enemy and guard corpses litter the courtyard, even a few civilians lay dead on the floor. My rage peaks as I spot a filly among the carnage covered in blood and unmoving, I ignore the dull pain in my side as I fly up into the air to see around the area, I rush forward after I hear the sounds of someone calling for help.

I fly over the gatehouse and spot a mare running with a small colt clinging to her back, a griffon giving chase and gaining on them fast.

Staying quiet I dive down and at the last second, I swing my legs forward and impact the griffon right in its spine. We both slam into the floor, but thanks to my impromptu pillow, my fall was cushioned, the griffon though looks like it won't be getting back up any time soon.

"Oh thank you so much," the mare says to me.

I look back to where she came from to see a diamond dog and an earth pony charge around the corner, they stop after seeing me towering over their now dead ally.

"Get inside the castle, it should be safe in there now," I tell her, I was right as a unit of guards come out of the castle doors.

{97%} {50%} {100%} {100%}

The enemy decides to retreat but I pursue them. Taking to the air again, I'm now above them which they don't realize yet, they stop to see if anything is behind them, that's when I attack.

I point my sword forward and tackle the diamond dog while piercing his chest, I let go of the sword and flap back up into the air, I draw my bow and arrow quickly and take a quick shot at the pony, unfortunately I only just grazed his flank.

He panics and takes off down the street since he has no way to reach me, I land and recover my sword while holstering my bow.

I was about to chase him but I'm hit by a large red scaly tail and sent through one of the houses {70%}.

Coughing, I gingerly stand back up and notice I dropped my sword somewhere, I spot it just by the hole in the wall and walk over to it while healing my wound {13%} {100%}.

Before I could get it, I notice a gout of fire pour into the house. I dive to the left with a thud as I roughly land on my side, the room is flooded with flames but my armour protects me for the most part, I'm sure I've got a few burns at least {85%}.

I ignore my sword for now since it's glowing red and probably too hot to handle at the moment. So instead, I burst out of the building and fly straight at the dragon's face, the dragon’s too surprised to see me alive to react in time where I inhale and let out a thu'um. "Fo Krah Diin!" {25%} ice blasts the dragon's entire face freezing most of it, but what I'm aiming for was his eyes which froze over blinding him.

I then flap my wings to avoid a swipe from his claws, I quickly head back to my sword which is still warm to touch but not painfully so. I then fly over the dragon's head and turn around.

With a mighty flap of my wings, I charge at the back of his head and impale him through the top and out his neck, he gurgles for a few seconds before collapsing.

After he falls, I again absorb a soul, I shake my head and take a few steady breaths, I look around to see no one nearby, but I can hear the sounds of combat and cries for help.

After a minute, I take to the sky and look around, I spot eight guards escorting a few civilians towards the castle but they were being followed by a group of twenty of Razor's group.

{88%} {76%} {40%} {100%}

I fly over and land between them, the lackeys slide to a stop and the guards and civilians manage to get away, I slowly look at the gathered enemy, I don't think I'll be able to take all of them down by myself.

There are three minotaurs, eight griffins, five diamond dogs, two unicorns, one pegasus, and two earth ponies, each with a variety of weapons.

'Any ideas on how to handle this?' I ask Solnara.

'Well you could fly up and cast a Flames spell as you pass them, and if the flyers come up a Sparks spell would paralyse them enough to fall to their deaths,' she offers.

'Huh, that's a pretty good idea, I just hope my magicka will last for it,' I reply.

I sheath my sword and ready a Sparks spell in my left hand and a Flames spell in my right, I take off into the air and then dive at the group.

When I fly into range, I release a blast of fire at the wingless foes and their fur catches alight {40%}, They start to roll on the floor but the ones with wings leapt up and avoided the flames.

I'm hit three times from arrows by the griffins bows, two harmlessly bounce of my armour but one manages to hit me in my right hamstring {56%}. "Aaarggh!" I grunt in pain as the arrow lodges itself into the bone.

I managed to stay airborne and turn around and charge at the griffins, they fire again but two of the arrows lodge into the gaps between the pauldron and chest plate near the armpit area, "Nnnghh!" {34%}, the last arrow bounces off the helmet. I tackle one of them and point my left hand at the two griffins and pegasi and release the spell {18%}, electricity rushes instantly towards them and they tense up as they lose control over their wings and plummet to the ground.

One pegasus survived but the others land in a nasty position either snapping their neck, spine, or cracking their heads open.

I pile drive the griffon I'm holding onto the road and cast a Flames spell in his face {3%}, he screams as I literally melt his face off.

'LOOK OUT!' Solnara yells.

{100%}

As I finish, I'm hit by something. "Uuunngghh!" {14%} and sent flying a good five metres away.

'You need to fall back, you're badly injured, your bleeding out from the arrows and that blow just fractured your left arm!' she tells me.

'I'm fine! I'm not stopping till they're all dead!' I reply.

'And how will you kill them in your condition? Face it, you're vulnerable right now, head back to the castle and get healed then you can come back out!' she sternly tells me.

Dammit, she's right. I look back and see only six of them survived my assault; a minotaur with a massive hammer, he must of been the one who hit me, an earth pony, that pegasus that survived its fall, and three diamond dogs. They look slightly burnt but otherwise fine.

They slowly walk towards me grinning like idiots, I try to stand but collapse from the pain I'm in.

The minotaur reaches me and lifts me by my right arm which aggravates the arrow wounds. I look up into his eyes and grin, he looks confused and I shout a thu'um. "Gaan Lah HASS!" {0%} A purple ring of energy hits him in the face as a red mist seeps out from him and into me.

He screams as his skin and muscle shrivel up into a dried husk {38%} {12%}, his grip fails and I'm dropped onto my injured arm. *Thud* {30%} "GAH!" The others look surprised but then charge at me.

Just a few seconds later, a unit of the elite guard rush out and make quick work of them.

I go limp as an unicorn with a gilded suit of armour rushes over and examines me. "Sir don't move, you have some severe injuries including blood loss, we're going to carry you back to the castle, but first I'll have to remove the arrows and cauterise the wounds." I nodded in acknowledgement and brace for the pain.

{25%} I grunt from the sudden pulls and the small beams of magic burning the wounds closed {23%}.

I'm breathing heavily as I'm put onto a stretcher which is levitated a few feet off the floor, I watch as the buildings rush past. Two unicorns, one on each side of me both have their horns aglow, I can feel my wounds slowly heal but not by much {33%}. I'm guessing the one with the red cross on his armour is a healer or medic while the other is carrying me.

I can hear the fighting still going on but I'm too tired from the constant fighting and heavy blows I've taken to stay awake and I pass out.

{55%} {100%} {100%} {100%}

I wake up to the sounds of hooves hitting the floor, orders being given left and right, the groans and screams of pain echoing around me.

Opening my eyes, I look around. I'm on a medical bed with a mare washing medical tools next to me facing the bed to my right, to my left is a pegasus mare removing the bandages on my leg and applying some kind of cream to my arrow wound, I hiss sharply from the burning sting from it making her gasp and face me.

"PRINCESS! PRINCESS! HE'S AWAKE!" she yells as she rushes out the room, another nurse takes over and reapplies new bandages to my leg.

I notice I'm not wearing my armour and my left arm is in a makeshift splint, the nurse bandaging my leg smiles at me. "Just relax, your leg wound has been mostly healed but I'm afraid your arm will need time to heal," she calmly tells me.

I try lifting my left arm but pain shoots through it, I slowly place my right hand on it and try healing it myself, but it only relieved the pain slightly {63%}.

I lay there for a good ten minutes when Celestia walks in and comes to my side. "Farengar, are you feeling alright?" she asks. I notice the bandages are gone from her head now. "What you did was rather reckless, but you saved some lives. Just please be more careful, I don't think Luna could..." She looks down and then at me. "Just come back to her."

I smile and she places her horn onto my left arm, her horn glows a warm golden colour and my arm feels better already, even the arrow wounds no longer sting {100%}.

Celestia pants slightly. "I've learnt a few of your more advanced healing spells and although very effective require a large amount of magic to perform, but I believe you're fully healed now.

"Thanks Celestia. So how long have I been out for? And how's Luna doing?" I ask her.

"Only about thirty minutes since your arrival, I've only just recovered myself, I believe the city has been fully evacuated now but the enemy is trying to break down the shield Shining Armour has placed around the castle. As for Luna, she's awake but still recovering," she replies.

To prove her point, a mild quake echoes through the castle. "That's good. Well then, I feel fine now thanks to you, so I can help fight again," I say as I stand up and jump to test my leg, no pain was felt and I swing my arms a bit receiving none as well.

"That would be most welcome, Shining Armour cannot hold the shield up much longer," she tells me and looks towards the front entrance.

I then frown in thought. "Wait, what happened to Sahloknir, Sharatier, Paarthurnax, and the Greybeards?" I ask her.

"They are defending the cliff entrance where they have been staying, they are the only reason why the enemy has not sneaked into the castle from there yet." I nodded and head over to my gear in the corner of the room. Once re-equipped, Celestia casts a spell and again is clad in the daedric style bound armour, next to her is a large sword as big as mine but hers is engulfed in golden flames.

"What kind of sword is that?" I ask her.

"Hmmm? Oh, just like Luna can make moonsteel, I can make solarsteel. Moonsteel emits moonlight while solarsteel emits sunlight, the main difference is that moonsteel is an ore from the moon while solarsteel is made by smelting steel in a sunforge, a forge fired by the flames of the sun itself, it is a lot harder to make," she tells me.

"Eorlund Gray-mane would love to try that, he operates a forge called the Skyforge to make Skyforged weapons," I reply.

"Well, we can discuss this later, right now we need to seal the hallway leading to the cliff bay, then once Paarthurnax and the others start their attack we shall join in the battle as well."

I do a double take from the look in her eyes, although she looks calm, I can see rage beyond anything I've seen before, a cold shiver went down my spine.

"Celestia, how did they manage to surprise you and Luna? I thought you were strong enough to take on an army?" I ask.

"Due to Luna's pregnancy her magic has been temporarily reduced to prevent any harm to herself or the foal due to her mood swings, the same happens to unicorns as well, as for me, I was in the throne room when a dragon smashed through the wall and I was rendered unconscious by a large section of the wall. I received your letter about ten minutes after I regained my senses, but I was in no condition to fight back till now," she replies.

Behind me are twenty units of the elite and normal guard consisting of thirty ponies, ten of each pony type. The front row are the ten earth ponies with heavy plate armour and large shields on their left shoulders, they also have a mace like right foreleg boot. The unicorns are behind them in robed armour and a variety of staffs each made of a type of wood and gem, the pegasi are hovering above them in light chain armour and spears.

I was about to reply, but a loud quake and roar sound out from the front of the castle.

"And that's our cue," Celestia says.

The doors open and I see Paarthurnax and Sahloknir pinning down two smaller dragons while biting into their necks. Sharatier is breathing fire on a good quarter of the ground troops.

Before I could charge out, Celestia flies out above the enemy forces, her horn glows a bright gold and a beam of golden flame fires off the tip and slams into the enemy below, they're instantly turned to ash from the intense heat and start spreading out.

The units behind me cry out and charge the enemy, the pegasi take off to battle any opponents in the air above their unit providing air support.

The unicorns are firing off blasts of magic at ground targets while the earth ponies slam any that try to get too close or block arrows aimed at the unicorns.

I look to the right and spot a large black dragon flying straight for Celestia. "CELESTIA WATCH OUT!" I yell and fly towards the dragon, Celestia turns in time to see it coming as I slam right into his head knocking it off course just metres away from her.

I'm pulled along with it as it manages to bite into my right arm. {66%} I roar out in agony as it bites down on it taking my hand.

Chapter 10

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 11

The Elder Scrolls: The Battle for Gryphus
Chapter 11

My vision returns as the bright light fades away, we're back on the ship which makes a few of the ponies on deck jump a bit.

The unicorn I left in charge walks up to me. "Sir, Odahviing has almost erected the temporary shield so no more portals can be opened in or out of the city... Including ours," he reports to me.

"Thanks for telling me... Erm... What's your name?" I ask a bit sheepishly, should have asked for it when I left.

He chuckles. "My name is Stalwart Star, Sir."

"Alright, can you take me to Odahviing and Iron Beak?" I ask him.

"Sure," he replies, Honour says his goodbye and heads below deck to get himself orientated and settled in.

We both head back into the castle, but just before we enter, Rainbow Dash lands next to me with a griffon next to her.

"There you are Farengar! I've been looking around for you... Dude what happened to your hand!? It looks sooo awesome!" she says looking at the scaly limb.

"Dragon bit it off, so I grew a new one. While you were gone, Canterlot got attacked, so I went and helped defend it, just got back actually."

"Canterlot was attacked? Is everypony alright?" she asks with worry.

"Not really, there were a lot of casualties," I honestly reply.

Her eyes go wide, I'm guessing she might of had some friends in Canterlot, her expression turns to anger. "Who did it?" she asks.

"Razor Beak and his followers, they were trying to kill Celestia and Luna, almost succeeded as well." If she looked angry before, now she looks furious.

"THEY WHAT! Oh now they crossed the line! When you go after him I'm coming with you!" she tells me.

"Sure, but it will be a few days before we hunt him down, during that time I'll teach you another spell, maybe the Frostbite spell and some sparring practice," I tell her.

"Fine." She looks like she's calming down. "But for now, I'd like you to meet my friend Gilda," she says looking toward the griffon next to her.

"Sup, cool armour," she says looking at my armour.

"Thank you, so how do you know each other?" I ask.

"We met at flight camp, at first we weren't very friendly, always trying to out do each other, but after a few weeks I decided to hang out with her and from there we became friends, but just a few months ago we had a... Falling out, but to be honest I'm glad she came back, she's really the only friend I've got," Gilda replies.

"Well if you weren't so... bitchy, you might make more friends," Dash says.

"Yeah well, bite me," Gilda replies with a slight tinge on her cheeks.

"Well it's nice to meet you, but I have to go see the King now, I look forward to talking with you some more," I say with a slight nod.

They say goodbye and fly off while I head into the castle.

I walk through the hall and reach a back garden with Odahviing clutching a small red gem and muttering words.

Iron Beak notices me and smiles. "Ah, Farengar. I take it you were successful in Canterlot?" he asks.

"Yes, but at a cost," I say and show him my right hand.

He raises an eyebrow as he looks at it. "Looks like you took the claw from a young dragon and replaced your hand with it."

"Nope, it was bitten off by a dragon though, and with magic I grew a new one," I reply.

"Hmmmm, curious, but no matter, as long at the Princesses are safe then that's all that matters," he says.

I turn to Odahviing and watch as he continues chanting, Stalwart Star notices one of the servants acting strangely by looking around, but mostly at the gem Odahviing is holding, he points his horn to her which starts glowing lightly and the griffon is engulfed in green flames. In her place is a changeling who stands there looking confused.

I react quickly and tackle the changeling while it was stunned from being revealed, I wrap my legs around her waist and with my left hand grabbed her horn while my right gripped her throat. The moment my sharp nails dug into her neck, she instantly froze and whimpered.

From what I can see of her face, she looks like she's crying. "Please don't kill me!" she whispers, begging me not to kill her.

Something tells me she's not here to hurt me or anyone, but I can't take that risk.

"What are you doing here?" I ask her, guards swarm around us both.

"I've been living here since the Queen was killed in Canterlot! The hive fell apart when she died and without her we lost our connection with the hive mind, we're finally free to follow our own dreams now," she says getting hysterical.

"So you aren't with Razor Beak?" I ask her.

"No! I've been living here for *hic* a week now, I just want a normal life! *hic*" she replies as she starts trembling.

'Take a look and see if she's telling the truth,' I ask Solnara.

'Alright.'

I take my hand off her horn and put Solnara's amulet around her neck.

She keeps crying for five minutes, then I put the amulet back on.

'She's telling the truth, she's just been living at the castle as a maid for the past week, she's had no contact with Razor Beak at all, in fact she's even dating a griffon.'

I hum in thought. "Iron Beak, I need to have a chat with you," I tell him.

Iron Beak just glares at the changeling. "What about?"

"She's not with Razor," I simply say.

He now looks surprised. "What?"

"She was just living here, though to be honest I still don't trust them after the whole Canterlot attack, but Solnara says she's just trying to live her own life now," I tell him.

He glares at her. "Be that as it may, we're in a state of war and I'm not taking any chances, place her in a cell and keep an eye on her until this is over," he orders a guard to take her away, she has her head hung low as she is dragged away into the castle.

"Well that was interesting," a voice behind me says.

"GAH!" I turn around with my hand on my sword’s grip and see Discord standing behind me. "Don't startle me like that, and where have you been? We could've used your help in Canterlot!"

"Canterlot? What happened in Canterlot?" he asks with a confused expression.

"It was attacked by Razor's lackeys, Celestia and Luna were almost killed," I tell him, Discord’s eyes go wide.

"Well, for your information, I was busy here trying to find Razor Beak’s location by the King's request," he retorts with a huff.

I sigh. "Sorry, it's just been a long day and I'm tired," I say as I rub my temples.

Discord looks at my new hand. "What happened to your hand?" he asks.

I tell him what happened in Canterlot and how I lost my hand. He cringes at the part where it was ripped off, but turned a shade of green when I told him when I bit out a pony's throat, I left the part about almost killing Celestia out though.

"Well, all's well that ends well. Anyway, I've located where Razor is hiding and it's not easy to get to, he's at the far back of the catacombs with a large force in between him and the entrance." He sighs as he continues. "The only way I can think of getting to him is teleporting to him, but when Celestia sealed most of my power I can only teleport myself now or one other on their own, problem is I won't be able to bring you back."

I hum in thought, that could work. While Iron Beak's forces distract them from the front, I slip in and deal with Razor myself, problem is how will I get out?... Wait, if he can teleport another person why not teleport Razor into a cell?

I ask him that. "I can't because Celestia made it so I can only teleport a willing person, if they're not willing I get a large zap," he explains.

"So you could get me in, but I'll be on my own from there on." He nodded. "Well, I've been in worse situations before," I say, but that's not true, I've never had to face an entire army by myself and the thought of doing that ain't a pleasant one, but after the fact that Luna and Moonbeam were almost killed, I really want to kill Razor personally.

"Is there any passages or other tunnels that lead out from Razor's position?" I ask Discord.

"Hmmm, I'm not sure, but I would say yes, I doubt he'd corner himself without a backup plan." I have to agree, I think he only got caught the first time is because he thought I'd be dead.

I then turn to the King. "Iron Beak, do you have a layout of the catacombs?" I ask him.

His gaze goes from the changeling to me. "Yes, it's true that there are a few secret passages, if you can point out which room the traitor is in I can show you the passage into it." And with that, Discord, the King, and I head back into the castle. Before I enter though, a large red flash is seen and a transparent red dome expands from the floating gem engulfing the entire city.

Ohdaviing yawns and just curls up on the floor, we all head in and enter the castle's archives. I wait at a table while Iron Beak goes and gets a few scrolls, he returns and places them on the table. At the table is just us three as me and the King don't want any chance of Razor catching wind of this.

"So, Discord. Where is Razor hiding?" I ask him.

"Hmmmmm, ah-ha! There, in the farthest room of the catacombs, from what I saw he has three minotaurs inside with him as well as two unicorns, and from the door to the entrance is about over one-thousand of his troops," he says, I look to Iron Beak then to Discord, only to see him dressed up in a griffon military uniform.

I smirk and look back to Iron Beak. "Where's the passage entrance to that room?" I ask.

Iron Beak glares at Discord but then turns to the map. "Here, just past the royal cemetery, there's a hollow tomb that has a stairwell leading into it, he must have used it to get down there since the entrance to the catacombs is guarded in the castle."

"So we wait for a few days to get ready and then while your forces attack from the castle, me and a few others attack from the passage," I say.

Iron Beak nodded. "Yes, pick those you can trust, we don't need a traitor backstabbing us when you go down there."

"I've got just the ponies in mind for this." I'll bring Rainbow, White Star, and Honour with me along with Discord.

With that settled, we all head up for dinner which is eaten in silence, I say my farewells and head back to the ship, we're met with Dash standing on the deck.

"Hey, Farengar. I take it everything is alright now?" she asks.

"For now. By the way, I need you to meet me on deck in the morning, I have something to tell you, White Star, and Honour," I reply.

"Alright, oh are we still on for learning more magic?" she asks with a large grin.

I chuckle. "You're starting to sound like Twilight," I say teasingly.

Her grin is instantly gone as she scowls at me. "TAKE THAT BACK!" she yells and tackles me onto the deck while I'm laughing hard.

She sits on my stomach with a frown but I can see a faint smile on her face. "Hehe, as amusing as this is, can you get off me?" I ask her.

She looks down at the position she's in and then around the deck to see everyone staring at her with raised eyebrows, she blushes and jumps off me quickly. "Eh-hee, yeah well, see ya tomorrow!" she says and rushes down the stairs to her cabin.

I get up and dust myself off, I then stretch before heading below and into my cabin. I spot Sheogorath's staff on my bed along with a note.

Farengar, please don't leave this on the deck again, this is a powerful daedric artefact and could be misused in the wrong hands. Also, I've noticed it's bonded itself to you.

Just be careful with it, from what I've seen it do, its effects are completely random, and if you do use it against anyone, do let me know.

Your chaotic friend, Discord.

I frown as I remember I left it on the deck when Razor escaped, Discord must have put it on my bed for me. I'll thank him tomorrow, but the fact it's bonded to me is worrisome. I strip out of my armour and weapons and lay down on my bed and fall asleep.

Author's Note

Sorry for the long delay, been doing a lot of sprite work lately.

Chapter 12

The Elder Scrolls: The Battle for Gryphus
Chapter 12

Dreamscape

I open my eyes and find myself inside the house I made in the Dreamscape, I feel movement to my left and see Luna lying on the bed next to me.

I smile as I watch her reading my spell book, seems she has not noticed me yet. I place my left hand onto her back which makes her jump and the book flies across the room.

I chuckle as her face burns red and she gives me a playful glare, it makes her look more adorable than angry.

She then smiles and places her forelegs over my stomach. "Hello, my love." She places a hoof on my chest above my heart. "Both Tia and I thank you for saving Canterlot and our subjects." She lays her head on my chest with a contented sigh. "We've also managed to gather three-hundred guards to aid you in taking down Razor Beak, they'll arrive by airship within two days, but we'll send fifty of them by teleportation tomorrow," she tells me.

I just lay back and gently stroke her mane. "That's good news, but there's now a barrier around the city that prevents any portals being opened," I tell her.

"I see, well then we'll just have to send them by airship, the equestrian fleet just returned from Saddle Arabia, we have ten airships all armed and ready for battle."

I grin. "Good, I have a feeling that when we assault Razor’s hole in the ground a few dragons will try to stop us."

"So what do you plan to do?" she asks.

"I'm going to train Dash in some more magic before we attack, she's already proved herself in a fight. So me, Dash, Honour, White Star, and Discord will attack from a secret passage while Iron Beak, his forces, and our guards attack from the front as a distraction," I reply.

"Sounds like a good plan, how long till you attack? After the ships arrive or after a few days?"

"When the ships arrive, it would most likely catch them off guard. Can you inform the guards that as soon as they land they are to report to Iron Beak for the assault?" I ask her.

She nodded with a smile. "I shall, but before all of this." She starts to stroke my chest with a seductive expression. "Care to help me feel better? Even in the Dreamscape I feel slightly sore," she asks and bites her lower lip.

I look at her and slowly raise my left brow but can't help the smile also growing on my face. "And how could I help you feel better?" I ask in a teasing tone.

She leans forward till her lips are right next to my left ear. "Well, a wing massage would be very nice right now," she replies and licks my ear.

Two hours later.

Luna is snuggled next to me with a wide smile, I'm about to speak up when a loud crack of stone is heard outside.

We're both up and out the front door, I'm armed with my armour and my greatsword in my right hand and Sheogorath's staff in my left, why it's here I'm not sure.

I look around and notice Sheogorath's statue start to crack some more as a yellow light starts to seep through the lines.

"Luna get out now, I'll face him on my own. I don't want to risk you and our child getting stuck in here!" I tell her.

"NO! We'll have a better chance of beating him together!" she replies.

"Your magic is stunted remember? I'll be fine, I have his staff, I'll just turn him into a toad or something." She looks conflicted as the stone on the statue starts to flake off. "But if you really want to help, get word to Discord! He might be able to help!" I tell her.

She nodded and fades away. I turn back to the statue and more chunks of stone fall off. Sheogorath's head breaks free and he yawns. "Well! That was a delightful nap," he says in a cheery tone. He then spots me. "Well I'll be a Scamp's Uncle! You survived?!" he asks in a friendly manner as his torso and arms break free.

I just glare at him at the ready. He points his right palm at me and the staff starts to wobble, but stops after a few seconds. "What? How dare you disobey me you ungrateful stick of obsidian! I should turn you into an umbrella when I get my hands on you!" he says to the staff.

I point the staff at him and he scrunches his lips and nose. "Now now. Don't be hasty! I'm sure we can make a deal," he says.

"I'm done making deals with the daedra. You have three options, leave, die, or we find out what your own staff can do to you," I tell him.

Surprisingly, he just laughs. "Oh hooooo! You certainly have a big pair on you now don'tcha?" he says with a grin. "While my dear old Wabbajacky is delightfully random, it can't affect me. I've already tried," he tells me.

I frown and fire off a white orb from the staff into his face... A small mushroom starts growing from his scalp. "See? nothing at all," he says. I just point to the top of his head.

He reaches up and plucks the mushroom from his head. "Well... I stand corrected," he comments and eats the mushroom.

"So. I take it the barrier has weakened you?" I ask him.

"Looks like it. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. I guess I'd better head back to the Isles, I swear, they can't do a thing without me," he says happily.

"And what makes you think I'll let you just leave after what you did to Maren?" I ask him with malice.

"Maren? Oh yes! Your nordic girlyfriend. Well in my defence, you did blast me in the face with a lightning bolt... I may have over reacted," he replies and breaks off the stone on his legs.

Over reacted? OVER REACTED?! I scowl at him and was about to rush him when a flash of light appears next to me. Discord is now standing beside me.

"Ah! Hello my boy! I've missed you dearly!" Sheogorath says to Discord.

Discord just frowns at him. "You can stuff your own foot in your mouth. I know you don't actually care about me!" Discord says.

"Aw... Don't be like that, son. You have no idea how much I've been worrying about ya since you ran off," Sheogorath says in a hurt tone.

"You're only worried because I have a portion of your powers in me and should I die, you'd lose them forever," Discord tells him.

Sheogorath's expression of hurt turns to a frown. "And I'd like to have it back if you don't mind."

Discord grabs the tip of my sword and points it at his throat. "I'd rather die than give it back to you, you old goat."

Sheogorath growls and clenches his fists. "Alright. Have it yer way. I'll be back one day to take back what's mine," he says to Discord. He then looks at me. "As for my Wabbajack. Well, you better take good care of it till the day you die. I'd like it back in one piece if you don't mind.".

Before I can get a word in, Sheogorath fades away. I look around to see if he's still here.

"You can keep looking all you want, he's not here anymore," Discord says.

"So he went back to Nirn?" I ask him.

"Looks like it, and with this barrier up, it'll take him ages to break in again," he replies.

"That's good. So what should I do with this?" I ask him and hold up the staff.

"Just keep hold of it... Or give it to Celestia to put it in her toy vault," he tells me.

"Alright. Thanks for coming at least, I'll see you when I wake up," I tell him.

"Sure sure. See ya in the morning!" he says and disappears in a puff of pink smoke.

I head back inside the house and Lie down on the bed and drift off.

End Dreamscape

I open my eyes and get out of bed with a yawn. I equip all my gear but leave the staff in the closet. I walk to the mess hall, get breakfast and then head up onto the deck.

I wait for Rainbow to get up so I can start training her. After and hour of waiting, Dash walks on deck looking like she's half asleep.

"You really aren't a morning person are you?" I ask her.

She yawns and waves a hoof in my general direction. "Oh put a bit in it," she replies.

I chuckle at her grumpy attitude. "Well, once you're ready, we'll begin your training," I tell her.

She yawns again before she mumbles her reply. "Uh-huh."

Author's Note

And Sheogorath takes his leave. But will he be back? Who knows!

But at least I finally updated!

Chapter 13

The Elder Scrolls: The Battle for Gryphus
Chapter 13

I stand up and walk over to Rainbow. "Let's get started! First, I'm going to see how well you can fight hand to hand... er, hoof to hoof," I tell her.

"Sure," she replies with another yawn.

I raise an eyebrow at her. "You know what? We'll wait for a few hours until you're fully awake," I tell her.

"Yeah okay, I'm really not a morning pony, that's more AJ's thing," she says and flies up to a low cloud.

I chuckle and wait for Fleetwind, Honour, and White Star to come up on deck. Ten minutes later, they arrive.

I walk over to them and get their attention. "Good morning, I have something to tell you three," I say to them.

Honour looks at me confused. "About what?" he asks.

I kneel down and motion them to get closer. "We're planning to attack the catacombs in a few days to get to Razor Beak, but me and you lot, along with rainbow and Discord, will attack from a secret passage and ambush Razor Beak from behind while the main forces distract them from the front," I tell them quietly.

"But why us?" Fleetwing asks.

"Because I know you more than the others. You're quick and a good scout. White Star can help heal any wounds we may receive. Honour is strong and reliable. Dash is fast and I've taught her some magic, and Discord is... well... Discord," I tell her.

"Sounds about right," she replies with a smile.

"Alright then, I'm going to go test Rainbow on her melee abilities," I tell them. "You two keep an eye on the ship, I don't want anyone not with us rummaging around in there," I tell White Star and Fleetwind.

They nodded and went about their own business, I then look at Honour. "Want to spar while I wait for Rainbow to finish her nap?" I ask him.

"Sure, I want to get better with my greatsword anyway," he replies.

We head off to the platform where it’s got more space. I draw my sword and wait for him to do the same, the other guards gather round and start mumbling to each other, I can even hear a few placing bets on the winner.

After a few seconds of staring at each other, I charge forward and swing at his head. He levitates his sword and parries the blow, he then rotates his sword and swings at me. I jump back and point my left hand at him and cast a small Sparks spell (90%).

He uses his sword as a lightning rod and blocks the spell... Oops... Now his sword has static discharging from it. I Roll to the right as he swings his sword down at me, the electricity in the blade discharges on the platform. I quickly get back onto my feet and thrust my sword at him. He parries it again and a small shock travels down my sword and into my right hand. The scales reduced the pain but still make me clench my fist on my sword’s grip (95%).

I quickly thrust my left foot at him and kick him squarely in the chest. He slides back a metre and then tackles me before I could recover (93%). We roll for a few metres and I throw him off with the momentum.

He gets up quickly and keeps his distance. We start circling each other while I can hear the other guards cheering for each of us.

He charges this time and swings at my feet, I jump over the blade and drop kick him in the face. "GAH!" he yelps and staggers back.

I quickly get up and tackle him, I wrap my legs around his waist and hold my sword at his throat. "Argh... Alright, you win," he says and I let him go.

Some of the guards grumble while others cheer. I help Honour up and sheath my sword. "Not bad, you're getting better. We'll have another match tomorrow," I tell him.

"Sure, I'm still getting used to fighting by levitating my sword instead of using my hooves," he says as he levitates his sword around.

"True, but once you've mastered it, you'll be a powerful warrior," I tell him.

"Compared to you, I've got a long way to go," he says with a sigh.

"You're young, there's plenty of time," I tell him and he smiles at that.

(100%)

Our conversation is interrupted but a loud snore followed by a snort. We look up to see Rainbow's right hind-leg hanging off the cloud she's on. I chuckle and look back at Honour. "Can you do something for me?" I ask him.

He looks at me with a raised brow. "What?" he asks.

"Can you teach the other earth ponies how to do the levitation spell? It would really give them an advantage in the upcoming fight. Would also allow you to practice some more," I tell him.

"Oh, sure. I'll use the same method Moonbeam taught me with," he says and walks off. I spread my wings and fly up to Rainbow.

She's laying on her back with drool dribbling down her left cheek. Her wings are flapping lightly as her forelegs lightly kick. "But I wanted to race her first!" she says in her sleep and flops over onto her right side. Unfortunately, she rolls off the cloud with a yelp.

I dive down and catch her before she hits the ground. She's breathing rapidly as she looks around. "What the buck just happened!?" she asks.

I chuckle. "You fell off your cloud in your sleep and I caught you, might I suggest a bigger cloud next time?" I tell her.

She frowns at me and jumps out of my arms. "Yeah yeah," she replies and lands. She stretches and shakes herself like a dog would getting water off itself, It's rather adorable.

(100%)

"So about those Lessons?" she asks.

"You awake enough for it?" I ask her teasingly.

"Falling off a cloud in your sleep wakes you up faster than Pinkie's super sugared cupcakes," she replies and cracks her stiff neck a few times. "So what are we doing first?" she asks as she walks over to me.

"I want see how well you can fight barehanded before I decide anything," I tell her.

"Okay!" she says and stands on her hind-legs and starts punching with her forelegs. "Bring it!" she says.

Ain't she confident. I raise my hands up into a defensive position. "I want you to try and land a hit on my head or stomach, you have ten tries before I start throwing my own punches," I tell her.

She grins confidently. "I'll only need one!" she replies and dashes at me with her wings. By Talos she's fast! I barely lean away from her first swing at my head. Instead of stopping or backing off, she then swings her left hind-leg at my stomach and I block it with my right arm. That's two.

She then leans back and flaps her wings, bringing up her right hind-leg making me lean back and fall on to floor as her hoof just misses my chin. She flies up a bit and lets gravity pull her towards me. I quickly roll out of the way and get back onto my feet.

As I'm getting up, she flaps her wings again and tries to punch me with her left foreleg. I block it with my right arm and duck under her right foreleg's swing. That's six.

She growls in frustration and lunges at my face with her right foreleg. I block it with my left arm and raise my right leg to block a kick from her left hind-leg. That's eight.

I jump to the right as she turns around and tries to buck me with both hind-legs. That's nine.

She screams out in anger and flaps her wings and tries to tackle me. I flap my wings and jump over her. She goes head first into some barrels and groans as she wobbles onto her hooves, and that's ten.

She turns around with a really angry expression but 'eeps' when I run towards her and stop my right fist just an inch from her muzzle.

She stares at it cross eyed and gulps. I pull my fist back and she sits down and sighs. "Not too bad," I tell her. "Have you had some training before?" I ask her.

"I learnt some karate in Cloudsdale for a few months, and well... Going around saving Equestria also helped," she replies.

"I see. You did great at the start, but you let your frustration get the better of you, making you sloppy," I tell her.

She frowns, but doesn't say anything for a few seconds. "So what do you suggest I do then?" she asks me.

"Instead of letting your frustration get the better of you, let your anger and rage fuel your attacks. When I get angry, I put all my strength into my attacks so that even if they block it, they'll at least take some damage, and I'll also ignore any pain and aches and continue to swing until my enemy is down," I tell her. "But considering you're light and fast, I recommend you do hit and run attacks. Like you did against that first dragon we fought."

"You want me to fight like a coward!?" she yells at me.

"No, I want you to fight to the best of your abilities. You're not built for strength, you're built for speed and precision. Hmmmm, wing blades and foreleg blades would be good weapons for you. You can fly by an enemy and cut them quickly and fly off to another target," I tell her. She frowns even harder. "Look at it this way. If you were to go against a trained minotaur or an earth pony like you did against me. What do you think your chances of winning would be?" I ask her.

She grumbles and looks down. "I could still kick their flanks..." she mumbles.

"Oh? Could you now? I wasn't even using my sword and yet I still beat you without it. You'd be fighting against foes with hammers and spears," I tell her.

"Alright fine! You made your point..." she says with a grumpy expression.

"I believe you'd make a great scout. You're fast and agile, you should be focusing more on those attributes than your physical strength," I tell her.

"So what do you want me to do now then?" she asks looking up at me.

"Go to the ship and get fitted for light armour, wing blades, and foreleg blades, then we'll see how well you can fight with them," I tell her.

She salutes and heads back to the ship and I wait for her to come back while looking around. Ponies and griffins are walking around loading and unloading from other airships docked at the platform, even some cannons are being fitted onto some of the merchant ships.

I notice Honour with some other earth ponies who look excited as he teaches them how to levitate. So far only one of them is barely lifting a mace.

About ten minutes later, Rainbow returns in what looks like light chainmail armour with katana like blades strapped to her wings and forelegs. She looks herself over and shakes herself, I guess to make herself more comfortable.

"Okay, so now what am I doing?" she asks in an annoyed tone.

"I take it that your armour isn't comfortable?" I ask her.

"No... It's riding right up my flanks!" she replies and pulls at the armour behind her. It does look a bit tight on her.

"Wasn't there any larger sizes?" I ask her.

"No, the bigger ones are already being used," she tells me.

"It'll have to do for now then. Okay, I want to see how fast you can fly with that all on," I tell her.

"Yeah yeah," she replies agitated and starts flying.

She takes off towards the castle and flies around the highest tower and then makes her way back. She lands and shakes herself again, only took her eight seconds there and back.

"Alright, now I want you to try and hit me with one of your leg blades," I tell her and stand in the middle of the platform.

She looks unsure but takes off nonetheless. She starts flying towards me and I lean to the left and avoid the blade, but she misses by miles.

"Rainbow! If you're worried about hurting me then don't! This armour is more than sturdy enough to handle those blades!" I yell at her.

She hovers for a few seconds and nodded. She flies out and rushes me again, I duck down and lean to the right as the blade glances on my left pauldron.

The force was still enough to make me lose my balance and I fall on my back.

Rainbow flies over me. "Oh my gosh! Are you alright?" she asks with a worried tone.

I chuckle and get back up. "I'm just fine, Dash," I reply. "You see? With your speed, you managed to hit me this time, and with that speed, you hit harder as well," I tell her.

She looks like she's deep in thought. She then looks at the blades on her legs and wings. "I guess so... but it just isn't my style," she says.

"Listen. War isn't about playing fair or being nice. You either kill or be killed, you fight better with speed instead of pure strength. I fight better with brute force more than speed or magic," I tell her. "What magic I do have, I use to give me an edge to allow me to use my sword better."

"So I could also use magic to my advantage then?" she asks.

"Yes, you could use your Sparks spell against a flying opponent where the shock would lock up their muscles, thus causing them to fall," I tell her.

She frowns in thought again. "Alright. So what do you want me to do now? Practice some more with these?" she asks, pointing at the wing blades.

"Yes, ask one of the pegasi guards to teach you how to properly use them. I need to start preparing for the attack myself," I reply. Speaking of the attack, I tell Rainbow about the plan and her involvement in it. She grins at the chance to take the fight to Razor Beak, seems she's still pissed about the attack on Canterlot.

I Spend the rest of the day exercising and practising with my sword.

Three days pass by as we get ready for the attack. Rainbow has gotten better with the blades and even the guards are stunned at how good she's become. Two of the other earth ponies can now levitate their weapons, but the rest are still learning.

I learnt to cast the Frostbite spell and had a rematch with Honour. I still beat him, but he's getting a lot better with his Telekinesis.

Rainbow also learnt the Frostbite spell with me. She's also used to the chainmail armour now, though she still complains that it's riding up her ass.

Discord surprisingly is practising his magic equipped with robes and a golden staff with Twilight's head on the top of it... I asked why and he replies that it was a gift for Twilight, but she didn't want it. The staff then spoke saying Twilight was just jealous of her and huffed... I just walked away with a blank expression and went back to training after that.

The reinforcements arrived from Canterlot and Odahviing let them through the barrier. One of the ships was damaged from a dragon attack and they suffered only ten deaths from the attack, but the dragon got away.

We now have a force of one-thousand two-hundred griffins, three-hundred ponies, one dragon, and four minotaurs. Thirty of those ponies have already been trained in basic restoration magic, and not all of them are unicorns as well.

We're gathered in the Throne Room, ready to start the attack. Iron beak and his Generals are gathered around a map of the Catacombs.

"Our scouts have reported no-one going in or out of the Catacombs over the last three days, and with the barrier up, none of them could have teleported out," one of the Generals says.

"Here's where we'll be entering from," Iron beak says and points to five locations. "While we attack from the front, Farengar and his group will attack from the secret passage here and assassinate Razor Beak," he then says pointing to the royal cemetery. "Any questions?" No one spoke. "Then let us begin."

Author's Note

The battle begins.

Chapter 14

The Elder Scrolls: The Battle for Gryphus
Chapter 14

We silently walk through the cemetery with our weapons already drawn, I can hear the fighting has already begun as we walk past tombs and gravestones.

"This is really creepy..." Rainbow says.

We continue walking and we reach the front of the entrance. A red light appears under Honour’s right fore-hoof. "Oh buck!" he yells as the red rune expands over several graves, the dirt above the graves rises as the skeletons of griffin's claw their way out.

"What's going on?" Fleetwind asks with slight fear.

"Undead, they have a Necromancer," I tell her and the others.

"What do we do?" Honour asks.

"Destroy the head and the rest falls with it," I reply.

The skeletons surprisingly roar out like a Sabercat and charge at us randomly. Three attack me and I swing at the first one, severing its head off. The second one tackles me and tries biting my face off, but my helmet easily withstood its attacks. I grab it with my scaled hand and crush it's already cracked skull with a tight grip. The third swipes a talon at my stomach but barely left a mark, I raise my sword and bring it down on its head, it splits down the middle and falls to the ground.

The others are also finishing off their opponents as well. Honour stomps on the last one attacking him while Fleetwind back flips and her right hind-hoof hits the griffin corpse stunning it temporarily. She then flaps her wings and quickly goes up, she then drops down with her hind-hooves on its head while her forelegs slam into it's spine, both the spine and skull shatter with the force.

Rainbow charges forward and with her right wing blade, slices through the skeleton's legs making it immobile. Honour then drops his sword on its head while Dash flies to another and cuts its head off.

Discord just snaps his taloned fingers and the three around him turn into potted plants.

White Star blasts two griffon skeletons with a bolt of magic each, one of their heads shatters while the other's left foreleg is blasted off.

Another skeleton jumps onto my back and tries to claw my face off, I just jump and lean back and fall on top of the skeleton. (98%) "Ooof" My weight shatters it and I get back up. Rainbow quickly finishes the last one and we look around for anymore, it's silent.

"I think that's all of them. We need to hurry, the necromancer is sure to have felt that his trap went off," I tell them. We quickly open the Tomb that leads down into the Catacombs and follow the path. We're met by three griffins, one with a sword and shield, one with a bow, and one with a spear.

White Star quickly blasts the griffin's bow, breaking one of its limbs, the griffin throws it away once seeing it’s useless now and pulls out a dagger. The one with the shield charges at us while the one with the spear follows behind him. I rush forward and slam right into the shield, stopping him dead in his tracks. Honour then slams into me making the shield griffin fall backwards and lose his sword.

Rainbow then flies over us and corkscrews along the way, her left wing slashes the spear wielding griffin on his face, making him recoil. She continues and slices the top half of the dagger wielding griffin's head off and then lands behind him.

Honour gets off me and I strangle the Shield griffin with both hands and channel a sparks spell into him. (80%)

He shakes violently and then goes limp as smoke slowly rises from his body, I get up and we continue down the tunnel. (100%) (100%)

Five griffins ambush us, which I parry the spear of the first one. A barrier appears to my right that deflects some arrows from hitting me, I can only guess that was White Star or Discord. I see Rainbow tackle one of the archers and slams his head into the wall, knocking him out.

Honour charges forward and tackles a mace wielding griffin and stabs his greatsword into his head. White Star screams as an arrow lodges itself into her right flank. I grab the spear griffin's head with my clawed hand and slam him into the tunnel's wall. With my gauntlets strength enchantment, his skull fractures as he slowly slides down the wall, a small trail of blood is left behind.

Discord levitates the other archer and... turns him into a stuffed toy griffin... I do hope he's dead, I wouldn't want to be a stuffed animal for the rest of my life.

The last one wielding a pair of swords starts flying away, only for Rainbow to tackle him into the wall. I run over to them and grip the still conscious griffon by his throat. "How many are there between us and Razor Beak?" I ask him. He just growls and I squeeze, digging my clawed finger nails into his neck. I can hear White Star is healing her wounded leg behind me.

He chokes slightly but still speaks. "I... I ain't telling you nothing!" he says, but is clearly afraid for his life.

I grip harder. "You'll tell me or else I'll let Discord have his way with you, and let me tell you... I have no idea what he'll do or even turn you into, but you tell me what I want to know, I'll just knock you out and leave you here. Deal?" I tell him.

He frowns for a few seconds while looking at Discord. Discord though has the biggest mad grin I've ever seen. The griffon gulps then looks back at me. "F-Fine. Prince Razor is guarded by two minotaurs, six of his best griffins, three unicorns and two changelings... There's also two more groups protecting the tunnel," he tells me.

I smile. "See? Now that wasn't to hard was it? And as for my end of the deal, this may sting a bit," I say and hit him in the head with flat of my blade. He grunts from the hit, but goes limb. I gently put him down then tie him up and we continue down the tunnel.

I hear stone sliding in the walls as my foot sinks slightly into the floor. Six rusty spears come out of the wall, three are stopped by my armour while the fourth digs into my right armpit (73%). "GAH!" I yell as I rip it out. I start healing myself slowly with White Stars help.

(100%)(50%)

"There's traps? Why didn't the King warn us about them?" Honour asks.

"Razor most likely put them in here to stop people like us getting in. Be careful, there may be more of them," I reply.

We continue onward and meet the next ambush group. "Yol Toor Shul!" (25%) I shout and breathe flames down the tunnel. The griffins in our way scream as they're burned alive. The others finish off the two that survived the flames.

We move slowly, keeping an eye out for traps on our way. Discord warns us that there's a pitfall ahead. I grab a loose piece of stone and throw it where Discord said it was. The floor opens up like a trap door and swings down. Fleetwing, Discord, Rainbow Dash and I fly across while Discord levitates White Star and Honour over. (50%) (100%)

We keep walking until we find a female griffon who looks badly beaten laying by the wall wearing rags... I'm getting a bad feeling about this. Honour cautiously walk over to her. "Are you alright miss?" he asks and she lifts her head looking very weak.

Only for the griffon to suddenly grow teeth and bite into Honour's neck. "GAAAHH!" Honour screams as she starts to shake her head.

He quickly stabs her over and over with his sword as four more griffins jump out from hidden doorways in the walls. The female griffon drops dead as Honour backs away over to White Star bleeding badly. Rainbow flies over and sprays two griffins from her wings with her Frostbite spell, slowing them down.

Honour starts to heal himself with White Star's help. I draw my bow and take a shot at one of the unfrozen griffins and shot off it's right foreleg... I was aiming for it's head...

He screams and writhes on the floor. Discord turns the other non-frozen griffon into a kitten in armour... Who meows and runs off.

I Shoot another arrow at one of the frozen griffins and take the top of his head off. The arrow shatters and splinters in what's left of his head.

Honour throws his sword which embeds itself in the last Griffon's throat. The female Griffin that bit Honour looks like a black insect like pony with holes in it's legs now, though still wearing the rags.

"Honour! You alright?" I ask him.

The wound on his neck has closed, only some blood staining his fur shows he was even hurt. "Yeah. I fine... Bucking whorse bit me," he says rubbing his neck and pulling his sword out of the changeling's neck with his telekinesis.

"Alright. Discord are we almost there?" I ask Discord.

"Down the next left should be where he is hiding. I do sense eleven lifeforms ahead. It must be our bad colt and his little groupies," he tells me.

"Good, Let's get this over with!" I say and head down the tunnel, we enter a room filled with wrapped bodies of dead griffins in small alcoves in the walls.

Suddenly, the corpses rise and attack us.

I pull out the dagger on my left hip since there's not enough room to swing my sword with us all in here. Only to find that it's Mehrune's Razor... What? When did I get this? I thought it was inside Celestia's Vault.

I'll worry about that later. I charge the closest draugr and stab it in the chest. It screeches and gets engulfed in a white flame and sent to Oblivion.

Honour turns around and bucks one right in the head with the cracking sounds of its skull filling the room. Rainbow slams into another and breaks it's forelegs. White Star blasts another while Fleetwind tackles the one at the back and shatters it's spine.

Discord makes one of them start dancing while making it hit the others. His Staff is giggling through the whole thing.

Once they're all taken care of, I look at the daedric artefact in my hand. Why do I have it? "Ah! I see you look a tad bit confused. I thought you'd want to give daddy's little imp a one way trip to Oblivion after his little stunt with you, Lulu, and your little filly. So I... borrowed it from Tia's little Collection for you," Discord says.

I look from him to the dagger and then back to him. "Thanks. I'll make sure to stick it right up his ass." I say.

(100%) (100%) (100%) (100%)

We take the doorway to the left tunnel and continue on. At the end we see a reinforced wooden door with Iron strips across it, looks like it was just recently put in.

Discord whispers to us. "They're right behind this door, I think they know we're coming. It seems the two minotaurs are standing by the door with large weapons," he tells me.

Hmmm. I could use a thu'um to blow the door down, along with the minotaurs. Or I could have Discord do something random to distract them. "Any ideas on how to do this? I could blow the door down and then we storm the room. Or do you have an idea Discord?" I ask him

"Hmmm, we could do your idea and I could create some illusions to distract them. I'll deal with the changelings while you and Honour can deal with the minotaurs, Fleetwing, Dashie, and White Star can deal with the griffins. Anypony who has a clear shot at Razor, take it and either kill or cripple him," Discord says.

"Sounds good," I say. "All agreed?" I ask. They all nodded. "Then let's do this." I stand up in front of the door and inhale.

"Fus RO DAH!"

Chapter 15

The Elder Scrolls: The Battle for Gryphus
Chapter 15

"Fus RO DAH!" I shout and blow the door in.

Discord then creates illusions of ponies in guard armour rushing inside making the occupants yelp in surprise.

Fleetwind flies in and slashes at one of the unicorns with her right wing blade leaving a deep gash across his face before twisting her body to put him in a headlock and then snap his neck.

I run inside and impale the left minotaur in the chest and then kick him off my sword.

Rainbow Dash soars past me and slits the throat of the other unicorn with a wing blade and then slams all four hooves into a griffin's face knocking him out cold.

Discord just strolls in and clonks the changelings with his staff turning them into real ponies as they're knocked out and Discord's staff laughs maniacally.

White Star is firing blasts of magic at the griffins wielding bows while the shield baring one's charge at us.

Honour throws his sword with his telekinesis like a boomerang and decapitates the other minotaur and then charges at a griffin with a sword and shield.

I cast a sparks spell at three griffins and they tense up before dropping to the floor (85%).

Razor Beak growls and lunges at me with a longsword and kite shield where he stabs me in the joint of my left shoulder between the pauldron and chestplate (79%).

"Gaaah!" I shout out in pain and swing my sword down at him with my right arm.

He sidesteps the swing and pulls his sword away, a small spray of blood following it. I take him by surprise as I thrust my left foot out and boot him right in the beak. "Aaah!" he yelps as blood drips out of his nostrils and a crack is on the right side of his beak.

"I'm going to kill you right here, right now, and there is no one left to save you," I tell him and stomp over to him as my allies continue to fight off the others.

Discord uses his magic to collapse the main entrance before Razor Beak's main forces can come to his aid.

I swing my sword at Razor Beak which he ducks under and counters with another thrust. I lean to the left and twist my chest to avoid it and lunge out with my left fist and punch him in the face.

He stumbles back and clutches his face with a scowl. "I'll make you regret ever getting in my way!" he yells and pulls out a small bowgun and pulls the trigger, the small bolt bounces off my helmet's forehead and I growl at him in response.

"Then you should have stayed clear of Luna and Equestria you damn harpy. I'm going to enjoy ripping out your feathers before cutting off the rest of your wings piece by piece," I tell him with malice in my voice.

It sounds like the others have finished off the rest of his lackeys so I walk slowly towards Razor Beak with my sword pointing at him.

He looks around and growls at the others before pulling out a crystal and places his thumb claw in the middle, it glows for a second before going dim. "What!?" he yells in surprise.

"Let me guess, that is a teleportation crystal or something? It's not going to work," I inform him and then cast a Frostbite spell at him.

He crosses his arms in front of his face as the Ice begins to cover him. I can hear sounds of metal hitting metal and screams of pain echo throughout the Catacombs as the two main forces clash.

I stop spraying ice at him (30%) and before he could recover, I kick him in the side of his head and knock him out.

"I thought you wanted to kill him?" Discord asks me.

"I do, but I want Iron Beak to have one last chat with this bastard, and if he wants to, he can finish him off. If not, I'll tear this piece of guar crap apart myself," I reply and tie Razor Beak up and then start dragging him out of the room.

The others glance at each other as I walk past them dragging the unconscious griffin behind me. I place my right hand on my left shoulder and cast a healing spell to close the stab wound I received (98%) (12%).

After a few minutes we exit the Catacombs and trudge back to the Castle.

An hour later the battle in the Catacombs has ended, after news that Razor Beak was captured the remaining one-hundred and twenty of Razor's forces surrendered. We suffered heavy loses as well, about three-hundred griffins and seventy-two ponies died in the battle.

We're in the dungeons where King Iron Beak is standing over the now conscious Razor Beak with a deep frown. "How could you do this to our family name!?" he asks him with a hurt tone.

Razor Beak just remains silent and glares at me.

"So you have nothing to say for yourself?" Iron Beak asks him.

Razor then looks at the King. "You're too much of a coward to be a King, we were a warrior race, we ruled the lands over a thousand years ago before the alicorns arrived, and now look at us, look at what you and our forefathers have made of us. We should be taking the lands of the ponies, zebras, and minotaurs and rule them all! Yet you seem content to allow them to walk all over us with this so called peace!" he says and then growls.

Iron Beak sighs at him. "And we would have been wiped out by their combined forces, our forefathers thought about the future and our people. Your short-sightedness has almost cost us our lives. What if your attack on the Princesses succeeded? Who would guide the sun and moon? The world would die should the alicorns fall. You almost destroyed the world with your power hungry warmongering!" Iron Beak yells at his son.

Razor Beak looks away with a frown.

"Living in peace is not weakness, our country has flourished due to trade with the other nations. I have no choice but to sentence you to death for your crimes throughout the world," the King says and turns away from Razor Beak, he then looks at me. "I cannot bring myself to do the deed. Please make it painless," he asks me with a sad expression before leaving.

I look at the glaring Razor Beak. "How unfortunate, I won't be able to make you suffer for what you've done," I say to him and walk over so I'm standing in front of him.

"Go ahead and do it, but Alduin will destroy you," he replies and closes his eyes.

"We'll see, I am the Dragonborn, every dragon I slay makes me stronger. When Alduin and I do meet, I'll rip out his soul. But you won't be here to see it, and you won't be around to threaten my family and friends again," I tell him. I raise my sword and with a strong swing, I cut off his head.

The guards of the castle drag the corpse away and I return to the throne room.

"I take it, it is done?" Iron Beak asks me.

"Yes, I'm sorry you lost your son, but I'm not sorry for ending his life," I reply. "What will happen to the changeling who just wants to live here?" I ask him.

"She'll be allowed to live here, she wasn't harming anyone and her mate, despite knowing she's a changeling, still wants to be with her... Now you may return to Equestria, I wish to mourn the loss of my son, and please tell the Princesses that I'll send them a gift for their aid," he tells me.

"Alright. I hope the future holds better tidings for you Iron Beak, farewell," I reply and leave the throne room.

I head back to the airship and get on board. Discord Is lounging on a hammock sipping on a cup of tea.

"So, we're heading back home are we?" he asks and drinks the teacup leaving the tea floating in the air before tossing it overboard.

"Yes, Razor Beak is dead and his lackeys will either be executed or placed in the dungeons for a long time," I reply.

The ponies that worked under Razor are being brought back to Equestria to stand trial so we're taking the ten top ranked ponies from his army back with us while the rest will be brought via airship later.

"I see, well then, I'll head back first and let everypony know you're on your way home then," he tells me and floats up off his hammock.

"Okay, I'll see you and the others in a few days," I tell him.

He grins and raises his right paw up. "See you then, Farengar. Ta ta!" he replies and snaps his fingers, and in a pink puff of smoke he's gone.

I wait for two hours for the others to get on board, Rainbow lands on the deck with Gilda beside her. "Sup, Farengar! It's okay for Gilda to hitch a ride with us right? She want's to apologise to my friends," she asks me.

"Sure, she can bunk with you in your cabin," I reply.

"Sweet, come on G, let's go get something to eat," Rainbow tells her friend and they both head down below.

Twenty-three minutes later the airship takes off back towards Equestria.

Author's Note

Sequel will be up when I get 5 chapters made for it so it'll be awhile.

Previous chapters have also been edited and updated.

Chapter 1

The Elder Scrolls: The Battle for Gryphus
Chapter 1

Like last time coloured percentages will be used to indicate
Health {100%}
Magicka {100%}
Stamina {100%}
Shout power {100%}

I fly towards the town with my sword at the ready as griffins fly past me towards the ship in a panic.

One of the ten guards following behind me breaks off to guide the panicked civilians.

I reach the village and assess the damage. The marketplace is burnt to a crisp, some houses are burning and there looks like bodies in the streets both burnt or torn apart.

My anger rises as I look up at the dragon, it's a dark red colour and looks bloodthirsty. "DOVAHKIN!" It roars out.

"SPREAD OUT! SURROUND HIM BUT DON'T MAKE A MOVE UNTIL I SAY SO!" I order the pegasi who do as I ordered.

The dragon is now getting closer, a good fifty metres or so. As it gets closer, I hover in place ready to fly over and freeze his wing with a thu'um.

Just as he was about to hit me, I flap my wings and fly over him and inhale, just like the time when Luna was a suit of armour the faceplates slides to the sides exposing my mouth. "Fo Krah Diin!" {50%} I shout and a cloud of ice blasts the dragons right wing, it gets frozen solid and he plummets to the ground, the faceplates then slides back into place.

As he soars past me the wake he pulled behind him pulls me along as well. He impacts the snow and his wing joint shatters causing him to roar out in pain, I correct myself and dive down after him, the pegasi are still circling the dragon.

Before I get to him though, he looks up and prepares to breathe fire at me, I can't turn in time so I fold my arms in front of my face and brace for impact, but the dragon roars in pain again as I see a cyan blur followed by a rainbow trail slam into the dragon's head from the gap between my arms and bounce off back into the sky, the fire breath was deflected to my right.

I take the chance and keep going, sword held to my left side ready to swing.

Just as I reach about fifteen metres away, I spread my wings to slow down a bit. When I reach him, I swing my sword with as much strength as possible at his neck {80%}.

He manages to avoid it and I land to his right, I roll forward avoiding a swipe from his claw.

I turn around with my sword raised and at the ready. 'Was that Rainbow Dash?' I think to myself.

'Looks like it,' Solnara replies.

The dragon gets ready to breath fire but is once again stopped as Dash slams into the top of his head causing his mouth to close and embers to flicker out between his teeth and nostrils.

Dash is off again barely a second after hitting him, the dragon looks up to try and find her which I take advantage of the distraction. Using the enchantment of my leggings I burst forward and jump for his neck {65%}, he hears me coming and twists around slamming his tail into me {80%}.

I'm sent crashing into a tree {70%} but my armour reduces the impact a little, though my back will be very sore.

I look up to see the pegasi guards doing hit and run tactics, mostly trying to jab a spear or two into his eyes, they managed to get his right eye but two of the guards are swatted away and don't get back up, but they’re at least twitching and groaning.

I get back up and take out my bow, I then notch an arrow and take aim. After a few seconds of aiming, I release the arrow but it bounces off his chin, he looks at me as I ready another arrow, he roars and starts to charge at me, again I take aim and fire.

The arrow goes right into his nostril causing him to grab his nose making him trip.

Again Dash flies right at him and collides with the side of his head causing him to roll over, I drop my bow and grab my sword off the snow and run for his exposed neck as he's trying to pull the arrow out.

I raise my sword and once again use as much strength as possible with a vertical swing and a battle cry {40%}, I make contact and slice his throat open.

'LOOK OUT!' Solnara yells out a warning.

The dragon swipes me with a claw hitting me with great force {47%}, I feel something crack as my left arm bends in the wrong way as I roll and slide across the snow {34%}. I lose my grip on my sword as well as it flies off in another direction.

The dragon falls limp to the ground as his scales start to dissolve, I'm lifted off the floor and his soul flows into me.

After five seconds I drop onto the snow groaning in pain and dizziness, Rainbow Dash then rushes over to me.

"FARENGAR! Dude are you alright?" she asks.

"Dash... What are you doing here?" I reply with a wince.

"Oh erm... Never mind that for now! You need help!" she says as she wraps her legs around my torso.

She takes off back up to the airship, as she's flying I can feel a wet warmth run down my cheek from within my helmet. After a ten second flight, she lands on the deck and places me down gently.

"DOCTOR!" Dash calls out.

Two unicorns run over to me and start casting healing spells, I guess they learned them from the copies Celestia took, I can feel my arm and head start to heal but very slowly {56%}, I open my eyes and can see the strain on their faces.

After a good few minutes they stop and start panting from the exertion {77%}, my arm still hurts though as I stand up feeling a bit dizzy.

'Are you alright?' Solnara asks.

'Yeah I'll live, though that hurt quite a bit,' I reply.

{100%} {85%}

"Dude, you feeling better now?" Dash asks.

I look to her but answer with a question of my own. "Why are you here? This is a battle! Not a vacation!" She flinches slightly from my outburst.

"I... I overheard you and the princesses talking about Gryphus and the war that's started while I was delivering a weather report, so I followed your ship here. I have a friend at the capital, even though we left on bad terms she's still my friend and I want to make sure she's okay!" Dash replies.

I frown as I shake my head a bit to clear the dizziness, I look around and see a lot of the griffins on board are injured or just scared senseless.

"Fine, but don't pull a stunt like that again!" I tell her. "Better yet, don't get into a fight again!".

She looks down ears folded back and I sigh. "Dash, I just don't want you getting hurt, Twilight and the others would never forgive me if something happened to you." She then looks up at me, her ears are still down but a smile is on her face.

Before she could reply, I'm swarmed by the griffins from the village.

"Oh thank you so much, stranger! We thought it was the end for all of us," an elderly white griffon with dark grey feathers says while shaking my right hand, the shaking jostles my left arm making it ache even worse.

I wince from the pain but they can't see it through my helmet, he lets go and I grip my left arm to steady it.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, are you alright?" he asks.

'No, you're not, your arm is broken,' Solnara tells me.

'Yeah I thought it might be, I just hope I can heal it,' I reply. A pegasus guard lands on the deck with my sword dangling from his teeth.

"I'll be fine, I just got to heal it is all." I ask a unicorn to help me remove the armour on my left arm as I sit down. Once it's off, I see a nasty lump in the middle as I place my right hand on my left upper arm and start to slowly heal my wound, I wish I still had the ancient magic at my disposal {90%}, it was so much faster.

After another minute of healing {60%}, my arm ain't healing like it should be, guess the spell isn't strong enough to fix a broken bone, I pull out one of the three healing potions I have left and drink it, a few seconds later I shake my left arm and the bone is fixed {100%}.

The griffins gasp and mumble between themselves while the unicorn reattaches the armour, a tan coloured griffon with golden looking feathers walks up to me with a limp.

"Excuse me, but could you heal my arm as well please?" she asks. I recognize her, she's the one I bought the bow from in Ponyville!

"Nice to see you again," I say to her. She looks confused and I remove my helmet.

Her eyes widen. "It's you! Wow, I didn't recognize you with those wings and... Rather morbid but cool looking armour, What's it made from?" she asks.

I smile at her. "Dragon bone," I reply.

She gawks at me as if I just told a lie, but then again she did just watch me kill a dragon.

"That's so cool! By the way, you still got that bow I sold you?" she asks.

I reach back to grab my bow only to find it missing, I look back to see it gone and only three arrows left, I groan as I look back to her.

"Seems like I just lost it," I reply, and grumble at my misfortune.

She chuckles slightly at me. "Well, I'll make you a deal, you heal my arm and I'll give you a new one with a full set of arrows free. Oh, the name’s Theia by the way."

I chuckle as well. "Name's Farengar, and you got a deal." I place both hands on her slightly bruised right arm and after ten seconds it's healed {45%}.

She moves it around and smiles. "Thanks, that's so much better than grandmother's herbal remedy." She makes a gagging expression which makes me chuckle again, an elderly griffon with a fading tan coat, grey feathers, and a smile on her beak playfully slaps Theia's head. "Alright, now for my end of the bargain, follow me down to my store." I put my helmet back on and pick up my sword, I then let the others know where I'm going.

Me and a few other griffins and guards fly back down to the village, they all marvel at the remains of the dragon's skeleton in the snow. I look to the griffon village and see much more now that I'm closer, off in the distance are some well kept fields of barley and hops as well as other crops growing just fine despite the cold environment.

{100%} {100%} {100%} {100%}

In the village, about a quarter of the buildings are destroyed or burning as well as the market stalls. Me, Theia, and the elderly griffon land in front of a building that looks almost identical to a nordic style home, just with griffon head carvings and such.

The roof is a bit damaged, but other than that it looks fine. We all enter and the walls are lined with bows and different kinds of arrows. "Wait here," Theia tells me as she goes into a back room, I remove my helmet and attach it to my belt on my left hip.

The elderly griffon coughs and I look to her. "My name is Garuda. On behalf of her father, I thank you for saving Theia and the rest of us from that terrible dragon. I've already lost my son, I couldn't bare the thought of losing my granddaughter as well." I'm surprised when she rears up and hugs me.

I smile and lightly hug her back, she drops down as Theia returns with a rather long box, she opens it and shows me the contents.

Inside is a magnificent bow made to look like two griffins facing each other. "It's made from a rare type of wood from a golden sitka tree. It was made by my father, he told me to not sell it unless the buyer was worthy of it." She looks up to me with a smile. "Well go on then, pick it up."

I reach out and carefully pick it up, it feels light, but that's probably due to my armours enchantments. I pull the string back and the wings bend easily with only a mild creak, I release the string and it twangs with hardly any vibrations.

"It's a very nice bow, but seems a bit too big for my setup, that's why I bought a shortbow last time," I tell her.

She giggles as she points to the bow. "See the trigger on the grip?" I look and nodded, there's a small button. "Press it." I do so and the wings fold inward making it look like it's furling its wings.

My eyes widen as the bow is now small enough to hang off my hip by a small loop on the grip.

"See, now you can hang it on the back of your waist when you're not using it, oh and press the trigger again to fold it back out." I do so and the wings unfurl back out into place.

"How does it do that?" I ask.

"Father had a unicorn enchant it, not cheap either," she replies.

I frown. "I can't accept this for nothing, this is too well made to just give away," I say as I look from the bow to her.

"You saved us from a nasty fiery death, I say saving our lives is payment enough," Theia says and Garuda slowly nodded in agreement.

I look back to the bow again, Solnara speaks up. 'I agree with them, I say you've earned this.'

I close my eyes and reply. 'But how often do I use a bow? This would be wasted on me.'

'She's decided you're the one to have this bow, you'll insult her by refusing.'

With a sigh, I open my eyes and look to Theia. "Alright then, Thank you, but I will return it once I'm done in Gryphus," I tell her.

She smiles. "Sure, I'll even give you another shortbow when you come back." I press the trigger again and hang the bow off a small hook on the back of my belt. Theia gives me thirty arrows and a longer quiver to fit the arrows in, I take off the old one and give it to her.

I place the new quiver on my back next to my greatsword. "How long will you be staying before you head off again?" Theia asks me.

"Probably a few hours, seems the guards want to help out around here," I reply looking out the window.

Looking outside I see ponies and griffins are running about putting out fires and calling out for survivors.

"Then would you like to stay for supper? You eat meat right?" she asks.

My head turns quickly with a surprised expression. "Yes," I reply.

"Ah good, was not sure since you live with the ponies, we're having seasoned wild rabbit with some mead." My eyebrows rise and a large smile is on my face.

"Mead?" I ask, just to make sure I'm not hearing things.

"Erm yes, I take it you don't get a lot of it over in Equestria."

"More like none, last drink of mead I had was in a dream, all they got is cider and mild ale."

"Well then, shall we go get you a mug now then?" she asks with a sly smile.

"Praise the nine," I whisper to myself. "Lead the way!" I then say with a grin.

We all go through the back to a kitchen area, I take a seat at the table while Garuda takes a seat in a rocking chair, what's with old people and rocking chairs anyway? While Theia gets two mugs and fills them from a keg, I can already smell it as the mugs fill with the frothy beverage.

Once filled, Theia hands me a mug and I gratefully take it, I take a deep inhale of air through my nose and sigh. I take a large gulp of the drink and groan from the flavour.

"By Akatosh that's good stuff," I say as I take another swig, causing Theia to laugh.

I bring the mug away from my lips. "Let's see you laugh after nearly a month with no mead!" I say in a teasing tone.

That stops her laughing and she cringes at the thought. "Fuck that!" she says and a pillow is thrown at her head from Garuda.

"Watch your beak! Your parents didn't raise you like that!" she scolds her.

I look back to Theia to see a bit of mead got knocked out of her mug and onto her face, I chuckle while she wipes it off with a cloth. "Sorry," Theia replies to her grandmother. We all wait for ten minutes and chat about what village life is like here as the rabbit is cooked. Once it's ready, we all sit at the table.

Theia places a plate in front of me, Garuda, and one for herself. After she sits down, they Interlock their talons together, close their eyes, and lower their heads, I do the same.

After a few seconds I hear them pick up their knives and forks and I do so as well.

This is the first meal I've had in a long time with such good meat, fish is fine, but not really that filling. The rabbit is perfectly cooked with some herbs and a light sheen of mead glazed over it, I couldn't help the light groan I let out as I chew on it.

After a few more bites a knock is heard at the door, Theia gets up to answer it and I can hear Dash. "Hi, have you seen Farengar anywhere?" she asks.

"Yeah, he's having supper with us at the moment," Theia replies.

"Oh, well can you tell him that it's almost time to go and that the village elders want to see him before he leaves."

"Sure, I'll pass it on."

"Awesome, thanks!" And with that, I hear the flapping of wings and the door closing.

Theia returns to the kitchen and before she speaks I interrupt her. "I heard, so where do I meet the Elders?" I ask and take another bite.

"By the western gate is the large Gathering Hall where the village gathers for social events or meetings," Garuda replies still nibbling on her meal.

"Great," I say and down a large gulp of mead, oh Talos have I missed this.

I finish my meal and say my thanks and goodbyes, I leave the building and head for the western gate. After a five minute walk, I see the villagers and guards collecting the bodies and clearing the debris off the roads.

I arrive at a large looking building, I guess it's the Gathering Hall. I open the large doors and walk inside.

I'm greeted by five very old looking griffins in some robe like clothing. "Ah, welcome. We're glad you were able to come, the village has pooled together what we could spare for your aid." He pulls out a rather large bag full of coins.

I hold my hands out in a no thank you gesture. "No I couldn't, you'll be needing it more to help repair your village." But a thought then pops into my head. "but could you spare a few kegs of mead?" I ask with hope.

The male griffon in the middle chuckles. "That's very kind of you, and yes, we can spare a few kegs for you." I smile as he said that.

"Where will you head to now?" a female griffin asks.

"To the Capital to see the king and to deliver his insane brat Razor Beak to him as well." They frown at the mention of Razor Beak.

"Ah yes, the prince. News has spread of his attempt at killing Princess Luna and her Consort."

I also frown, but don't reveal I'm Luna's Consort. "Well, I'm needed back on the ship now, may the wind guide you," I say, and with that, I put my helmet back on and return to the ship.

I land on the deck as the crew work on getting supplies sorted, to my delight, I spot five kegs being loaded on board.

"Sir!" A unicorn guard salutes to me. "Once preparations are done, we'll be ready to go." I nodded and he goes about his business.

I spot Dash sitting at the front of the deck looking over the railings, I walk over to her and ruffle her mane.

"I'm sorry for snapping at you earlier, it's just I wasn't expecting you to be here, and thanks for saving me as well... Just don't let it go to your head," I say with a light bop to her head.

She just laughs and thumps my hip causing her to yelp and shake her hoof making me chuckle.

"And I meant what I said, don't jump into a fight again," I tell her seriously.

"I know I know, it was a heat of the moment kinda thing," she replies.

The ship starts moving, signalling that everyone was back on board and all supplies were stored away. The ship starts to ascend above the clouds, Dash jumped overboard and began doing loops, tricks, and other stunts, a lot of the crew just watches as she shows off.

After a few minutes, the ship flies over the mountains and we can see a forest covered with snow to the right, to the left was an old temple like ruin and a few random buildings scattered about with a few griffins around them with bows, most likely hunters.

In the distance was another mountain range topped with snow and some areas with foliage on them, it'll probably take awhile to reach it, Dash lands next to me and I get an idea.

"Hey, Dash. Would you like to learn some magic?" I say with a smirk.

"What're ya talking about? Only unicorns can learn magic," she says confused.

"Twilight didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"Not just unicorns can cast magic, apparently anyone can learn my magic. Even my friend Honour can use healing and levitation magic and he's an earth pony."

Dash's jaw drops at the news. "And I can learn that as well?" she asks.

"Sure, I got my magic book with me." Her eyes widen.

"Oh my Gosh, ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!" she says excitedly.

"Well then, let's go. It'll be awhile before we get to the Capital."

Dash and I head off below deck to get my book to learn a new spell as the ship continues to fly towards the snow capped mountains.

Author's Note

And so begins book 2 of Farengar's journey!

I'll only post chapters 3000 words or more from now on.

Chapter 9 Author's Note

Be warned, heavy gore in this chapter.

The reason this chapter is short is because I wanted to get the fight out of the way so I can get started on the next chapter.

Chapter 9

The Elder Scrolls: The Battle for Gryphus
Chapter 9

"GAAAAAAAAAAAHH!" I scream and my mind is flooded with pain as my right hand is ripped off, I can't control my descent and land heavily on my left side {60%}, my helmet falls off as I stop rolling.

"FARENGAR!" Celestia shouts with worry in her voice.

I look up to see Celestia fire a beam of magic at the dragon but only manages to push him back, I'm lifted off the ground as the two souls of the dragons killed by Paarthurnax and Sahloknir flow into me.

After a few seconds The dragon gets back up and attempts to kill Celestia, I watch with horror as Celestia is trapped within the dragon's maw but it looks like her daedric armour is holding out, but I can hear it groan in protest to the pressure being placed on it.

Looks like it's one of those last resort moments. "Mul Qah Diiv!" {80%} {100%} {100%} {100%} I shout and instantly my right wrist flares with a burning pain, I watch as bone starts forming with muscle over lapping it, but what shocks me is instead of skin, light grey scales start to form over it with each finger ending with a razor sharp looking nail.

My head starts thumping as something doesn't feel right, I start breathing heavily like a savage beast. 'Kill them,' a voice says in my head as my teeth start to grow longer and sharper. 'Kill them all!'

My vision turns a deep red colour and is much sharper as I glare at the dragon. "RRRAAAAGGHH!" I roar out and lunge at the dragon's face, he was too busy trying to kill Celestia that he noticed too late as I latch onto the left side of his face.

I thrust my right hand right through his eye straight down to my elbow, he roars in pain and drops Celestia. He then grips me with his left claw and pulls me away, he roars again as I rip out his eye along the way.

He throws me across the courtyard but I flare my wings and recover, the eye drops to the floor with a wet squish. 'LeAvE nOnE aLiVe!' the voice says in a more distorted tone. With a cruel smile, I flap my wings and slam straight into his chest, my clawed fingers digging into his softer scales. Without missing a breath I cast a Sparks spell sending electricity straight through the wound {50%}.

The large amount of lightning makes the dragon numb and he collapses, I let go and recover my sword. 'FiNiSh HiM!' "RRRAAAAAGH!" I leap into the air and slam my sword with great force and decapitate the Dragon, I absorb his soul with a grin and look around, Paarthurnax and Sahloknir are forced to flee as a few large ballista mounted on the flat building tops are firing at them.

Sahloknir grunts from one of the bolts impaling his left leg but manages to take cover behind the castle.

I turn my attention to the ballista and my grin widens. 'BuRn ThEm!' I fly with great speed towards them and swing at the first ballista, cutting its base causing it to tumble off the roof, I then turn to the four griffins that were manning it. "Yol Toor Shul!" {50%} I shout in a sadistic tone.

Flames engulf the entire rooftop setting them on fire, they scream as they are quickly turned to smoking husks. 'MoRe! KiLl EvErY lAsT oNe Of ThEm! My eyes widen as my grin only gets larger.

I fly to the next one and grab the griffon that's firing the ballista by the throat, his eyes widen and his pupils shrink as he sees my expression of bloodlust. Without any warning, I slash his waist and his lower half falls to the floor and his entrails splayed all over the roof.

Before he even had time to die I was upon the next one, a diamond dog who was holding a large bolt in his arms, he yelps and drops the bolt as he tries to run from me, I thrust my clawed hand into the dog's back and with a roar, I rip out part of his spine, he falls to the floor twitching.

I slowly turn to the next one, a minotaur who has a warhammer, but he drops it once I look at him still holding the dog's spine. He pisses himself and then jumps off the roof, I tilt my head to the last one, a unicorn that just fainted, I walk over to him and lift him up by his mane.

Without a second thought, I bite into his throat and rip it out, I spit the flesh out and lick my lips. 'YeS! mOrE! kIlL!' I fly off and destroyed the last two ballista and slaughtered their operators.

{100%} {90%}

With them cleared, I fly down to the battle proper and went on a killing spree, carving the enemy into pieces and ripping them apart.

The surviving enemy decided to fall back and left the city, but I'm having none of that and chased the last few that lagged behind. Once I finish killing the last one, I turn around and see Celestia limping over to me with a concerned expression, but stops cold once she sees the blood around my mouth and the sadistic grin on my face, my eyes are wide open and my pupils mere slits.

'KiLl HeR! tEaR hEr ApArT!' I start to advance on her, causing her to start backing up, I open my mouth and let out a heavy breath, her pupils contract as my teeth are put on display.

"F-Farengar? W-What are y-you doing?" she asks me with worry in her tone, but I don't reply. After a few horrifying seconds... I charge at her.

"FARENGAR STOP!" Luna shouts out to me as she stumbles out of the castle, I stop a mere inch from raking Celestia's face off.

My pupils shrink and my grin is gone as my emotions start conflicting. 'KiLl HeR! FeAsT oN hEr FlEsH!' the voice says with malice.

I fall to my knees, drop my sword, and grip my head. "RRRAAAGGHH!" I roar out in rage as the voice continues to try and convince me to kill everyone.

I look up and see Luna with tears in her eyes, the sight alone gives me a moment of clarity, and before my thoughts are clouded again, I cast a Sparks spell on myself. {75%} {50%} "AAAAAAAAHHH!" I scream from the pain, but it was enough to make me go numb and pass out.

Sequel now up!

The next story of Farengar has begun!
The Elder Scrolls: Return of the Crystal Empire