On Ponies and Daedric Princes

Chapters

Beginnings
A Rough Start
New Friends and New Challenges
To the Rescue
On the Road Again
The End of the Beginning
Enter the Rival

Beginnings

Monsters!

The purple unicorn broke into a full-on gallop, weaving around trees and boulders, the chill of the wintry air searing her sore lungs. Where did all of these things come from? She risked a peek over her shoulder, only to be greeted by a horrid sight. Dozens of massive dragons flew low over the canopy above her, and several bi-pedal creatures sprinted after her not far behind. The monsters were covered in spiked, black and red metal armor, and wielded wicked, jagged blades. She forced a little more speed from her muscles and returned her gaze forward, just in time for the earth to disappear beneath her hooves as she plummeted from the edge of a cliff.
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Shivering, tossing and turning in her bed, Twilight Sparkle awoke with a shrill cry, then tossed her quilt aside as she sat up, her fur damp with cold sweat. She let out a sigh of relief as awareness returned to her, and she wiped what sweat she could from her brow. "Twilight, are you okay? You were screaming in your sleep."

Twilight looked to her right, and a small purple and green dragon stood next to her bed, his young features darkened with a worried crease to his brow. "Yeah, I'm okay, Spike. It was just a nightmare." The unicorn looked out her window and smiled at the blue skies and bright sunlight peeking through the leaves of her tree-library. "Things can only get better from here, today." She hopped out of her bed, and a purple sheen of telekinetic magic enveloped her hairbrush as she approached her dresser and smoothed out her bedraggled mane.

As she climbed down the spiral staircase that lead into the main foyer of the library, the events of her nightmare began to weigh down her mind. She'd never seen monsters like the ones in her dream, save for the dragons. It may have been the three-day-old daffodil and wheat sandwich she'd eaten the night before. It may have even been the horror novels she'd read a few days ago, but she had to wonder - what was the cause of the nightmare? She shook her head and decided to focus her thoughts on her studies. A bit of brushing up on Star Swirl the Bearded and his various spells would make things better. Twilight sat at a desk in the lobby and scrawled out notes with her quill as she combed through her tomes.

Only a few moments into her studies, and Twilight found her thoughts wandering off to the dream again. The seven-foot monsters clad in spiked armor, their eyes glowing crimson slits in the darkness of their helms, their armor clanging as they slowly closed the gap between themselves and their quarry. The dragons swooping overhead, flames and clouds of ice and snow billowing from their jaws…

A shudder cut down her spine and she stood from desk, an exasperated sigh escaping her. "Spike, I'm going out for a little while. Organize the spare room's shelves, would you please? I won't be able to get around to it today."

"Sure thing, Twilight. What's going on?" Spike peeked his head around the corner from the spare room, one of his scaly eyebrows quirked up.

Twilight pulled on her saddlebags and turned to her assistant, a severe look on her face. "I'm going to get some answers." Her hooves clopped on the dirt road as she made her way out to the Everfree Forest, only a ten minute walk from her tree house library. The sunlight was quickly snuffed out as the dense Everfree canopy choked out the sky above her, the sounds of chirping birds quieted by the intimidating landscape. After a pleasant ten minute hike down the main road, she arrived at Zecora's doorstep. The zebra's hut was actually carved into the root system of a large, gnarled tree, and adorned with various masks and decorations from her homeland.

The door swung open to reveal a zebra mare with aquamarine eyes, clad in gold jewelry. "Who is this knocking at my door?" A smile crept across her face when she looked down and saw Twilight, "Twilight Sparkle, what are you here for?"

The unicorn scratched her hoof at the dirt and bit her lip. Coming out here seemed sillier the more she thought about it. "Well… I had a rather strange nightmare last night, and I was hoping you could help me figure out what it might mean."

Zecora just smiled and gestured for Twilight to follow her inside. The zebra made her way to the fireplace and removed a whistling kettle from its hook, then poured its contents into a pair of cups. "Since your night was fraught with screams, I will help you to dissect your dreams."

Twilight nodded and withdrew a quill and parchment from her saddlebags, along with an ink well. She set each on the table, then dipped the quill into the ink well and drew up a rather crude sketch of the bi-pedal monsters from the night before, along with a separate drawing of their weapons. "I dreamt I was being chased by a group of these… things, and a large flock of fully-grown dragons. I can't even begin to imagine where the idea for this would've come from, so what do yo- Zecora?"

The Unicorn looked over at the zebra alchemist, to find the mare's smile replaced with a look of grim recognition. "Quite few stories I have heard, most of which I'd thought absurd. Of demons who devoured souls, of ponies, stallions, even foals! The stories called them Daedra, dear Twilight, and they were the monsters you'd seen last night."

The purple Unicorn canted her head, blinking, a frown creasing her muzzle. "But… I'd never heard of Daedra, until just now, let alone seen them. I'd certainly remember reading about them. What do you think put them in my dreams?"

"Twilight, dear, I wish I knew. The solution to your problem, I haven't a clue." The zebra frowned and sipped at her tea. "Perhaps the answers you seek are in one of your books – an antique?"

Twilight smiled and shook her head. "Not any that come to mind, but it couldn't hurt to have a second look. Thank you for your help, Zecora. Stop by and see me at the library, sometime! It's always good to see you." The unicorn stood to leave, packed up her quill and inkwell, and left Zecora's hut. She sighed as she trotted down the dirt path, her focus having wandered off to the flora surrounding her. Trees and ferns in many lovely shades of green, flowers in every color of the rainbow. Even the fauna was lovely. Beautiful, white birds sat in the high branches of the trees, and foxes darted in and out of root systems and bushes. Twilight sighed, smiling softly to herself. She did enjoy the Everfree Forest, as long as she could keep away from the Cockatrices and Manticores.

Once she was back in town, Twilight made a beeline for her library, slamming the door behind her and startling her assistant. "Spike, we need to go over my books for anything on 'Daedra', okay?"

The purple dragon, who had fallen from the top of a bookcase ladder, groaned as he wobbled to his feet. "Y-yeah, okay, Twilight. I'll be in the spare room doing a bit of digging around, if you need me." Spike wobbled off into a small room lined with bookshelves, leaving Twilight alone in the lobby. She shook her head and smiled, then glanced over to her desk. Her smile faltered when she noticed a new book on the desk, unopened.

"Spike, did you put this book here?" Twilight slowly approached her desk, eyeing the dark red, leather-bound tome. The cover depicted an arch with jagged shoulders, a circle placed in the center of the arch. Odd.

The baby dragon meandered back into the main room and hopped up on a stack of books to have a look at the leather-bound volume on the desk, then shook his head. "No, I've never seen that book before. What is it?" He reached over to open the book, but Twilight batted his hand away.

"I'm not sure. It wasn't here when I left this morning. I wonder how it got here?" Twilight unbuttoned the clasp that held the book closed, and the binding crackled noisily as she opened it to the first page. "'A Treatise on Daedric Princes.' Interesting…" Twilight's voice faded off as she focused on her reading, a small smile creeping across her features.

Spike rocked back and forth on his heels and twiddled his thumbs, then hopped down from the stack of books and his way up the stairs. "I'll be taking a nap if you need me." The unicorn gave no reply, too lost in her research to hear anything other than the thoughts in her head.
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Several days later, Twilight Sparkle was again at her desk, nursing a mug of coffee as she re-read the Treatise, her interest piqued by one chapter in particular. "Clavicus Vile, one of the seventeen most powerful Daedric Princes, best known for… granting the deepest desires of those who summon him? Hmm…" The purple unicorn took another sip of her coffee, her quill scratching noisily as she jotted down notes on a bit of parchment next to the book. "Invoking Clavicus Vile is very simple. You need only pray at an altar of his likeness, and offer a significant amount of gold." Twilight turned the page in the book, her eyes focused on a sketch of Clavicus Vile's bust. "That doesn't look too hard to make…"

A knock at her front door didn't even garner a glance from the unicorn as she continued reading, her eyes scanning over the sketch of Clavicus for a second time. "Hmm… what if…"

Her door burst open, and an orange-coated Earth pony marched in, her brow furrowed in frustration. "Twilight, y'all've been cooped up in here fer days! We ain't seen hide nor hair o'ya fer darn near a week! Come out ta Sugarcube Corner, everypony's gettin' together for Gummy's birthday party. Or did y'all forget?" The mare adjusted her stetson and blew a stray strand of blonde mane from her face.

Twilight shook her head, her snout buried in the book as she turned the page and jotted down a few more notes with her quill. "Not today, Applejack. I'm doing some really ground-breaking research right now."

Spike padded down the stairs from his bed and sighed. "She's not gonna listen to reason, Applejack. She's done nothing but read that book for the past four days. She's hardly eaten or slept! Maybe if you had something to persuade her a little more…" That last bit was said with a wink and an impish smirk, and Applejack nodded back to the young dragon.

The orange mare reached down into her saddlebag, one end of her lasso gripped in her teeth. "I was worried it'd come t'this, Twilight, but you're gettin' outta this stuffy ol' library if'n I have'ta drag you out!" She swung the lasso at the purple unicorn, and yanked the loop tight when it dropped around her legs. Applejack pounced on Twilight and worked the rope around her hooves, hog-tying her friend. A smile of satisfaction spread across her face, and she looked up to the purple dragon at the top of the stairs. "A'right, Spike, I'll meet'cha at Sugarcube Corner."

The purple dragon nodded and made his way out the door while Applejack grabbed the extra length of rope, happily dragging Twilight Sparkle behind her. "Applejack, let me go! I haven't finished my notes!" The unicorn thrashed and wriggled in an attempt to escape her binds, but to no avail. After a minute or two of struggling, she simply gave up with a sigh and allowed herself to be dragged to the other side of town.
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Inside Sugarcube Corner, everypony was having a good time on the dance floor, mingling by the punch bowl, or eating sweets by the buffet table. Twilight, on the other hand, was only able to give her severely divided attention to the party. Her thoughts kept wandering off to the book, to Clavicus Vile, and to the Daedra that still haunted her thoughts.

"Twilight? Twilight? Twilight!" The mare snapped out of her trance and returned her attention to the white unicorn mare with whom she was conversing. "Twilight, dear, those bags under your eyes look simply atrocious! When was the last time you slept?"

Twilight was barely able to suppress a yawn but still managed a small smile. "Only a few days ago. I'm fine, really! I've been wrapped up in some really important research, lately. Sleep's been a hard thing to catch lately, especially with these nightmares I've been having."

Rarity flipped her purple mane out of her face and gave her friend a worried look. "Dear, you really must get away from those awful books of yours. They're probably the source of your nightmares. Now, if you'll excuse me, I must go take care of a fashion disaster on the dance floor." The white mare wandered off and shouted at some mare dressed in a garish party dress out on the dance floor. "You! Yes, you! In the hat!"

The purple unicorn shook her head as her thoughts wandered back to the book and the Daedra, idly sipping at a cup of punch when an idea sparked in her head. A devious smile crept across her muzzle as she quietly sneaked off into the kitchen. Once she was out of sight, her horn glowed with a brilliant light before she was enveloped in a flash of white and purple light, then popped back to the library.

"Hah! Nopony keeps me from my studies!" Twilight grinned, then trotted cheerfully back to her desk and continued her notes on Clavicus Vile, re-reading the section on summoning rituals. The unicorn stopped and a small smile stretched across her features as she opened up a drawer in her desk and withdrew a bag of bits. Her rainy-day fund, roughly five-hundred bits. With her notes and money in tow, the unicorn trotted over to the horse head bust in the center of the main room and set the books and money down on the floor.

Her horn glowed a bright purple, and with a flash of light the bust on the pedestal transformed into the likeness of Clavicus Vile. A short, bipedal creature with goat horns stood in the horse bust's place. It had sharp, masculine features, wore flowing robes and was accompanied by a dog half his size. According to the book, the dog was called Barbas. The unicorn smirked and placed her offering of five hundred bits in front of the bust. She then stepped back and knelt down until her horn touched the floor.

With a flash of white and red light, the bust vanished, replaced with the living, breathing Clavicus Vile. He was clad in what looked like fine silk robes, and a grin smeared wickedly across his impish features. He reached down and hefted the offering of gold in his hand, and his smile widened as the gold jingled in the pouch.

"Well well well, what do we have here? In all my millennia, I've seen many things, but being summoned up by a unicorn? Well. This is certainly a first." The Daedra snapped his fingers, and the gold offering vanished. The creature stepping forward on the pedestal, and Twilight's fur stood on end with the power radiating from him. "Tell me, dear, what kind of deal can old Clavicus ma-" BANG BANG BANG BANG! The front door shuddered as one of Twilight's friends banged on the wood with their hooves in an attempt to get Twilight's attention.

"Twilight! We know you're in there! Stop hidin' an' come out peaceful-like, or I'ma get mah rope again!" Applejack shouted, prepared to buck down the front door.

Just before her hooves impacted the door, Clavicus snapped his fingers. The walls, doors and windows shimmered with a pale, red light. The door didn't budge under the force of Applejack's hooves, or even make a sound. He'd magically barred the doors, windows, and soundproofed the room, and pulled the curtains shut with his magic.

"Let's not get distracted, shall we? After all, you paid a lot of gold for my presence. Please dear, tell old Clavicus Vile, what is your heart's desire?" A grin slowly peeled across his face, a twinkle in his eye.

Oblivious to the eager malice behind his words, Twilight smiled up at the little demon and tapped at the floor with her hoof. "Knowledge. I want to know as much as physically possible. About everything!"

Clavicus simply grinned, perfectly aware of Owlowiscious peeking through a gap in the curtains outside of a high window. The owl flew back to the rest of the gang, hooting loudly to try and get their attention. "Well, my little pony… I think that's within my capabilities. I can offer you a chance to gain limitless knowledge about the entirety of the universe! Is this what you wish?"

Twilight nodded, grinning eagerly. "Yes! That's perfect!" She stood on all fours, giddy as a schoolfilly. Clavicus snapped his fingers and vanished, leaving behind only the pony-head bust on the pedestal before Owlowiscious returned to the window with Rainbowdash and Fluttershy. Twilight felt cold, and suddenly her entire world went black.

A Rough Start

Twilight Sparkle woke with a start, the frozen ground chilling her fur. "Wh-where..?" She tried to shake the muzziness from her thoughts, and brought a hoof up to her face to rub the bleariness from her vision. "Can't see a thing..." Her horn glowed brightly and the darkness of the cave retreated. She had been laying beneath a large statue of Clavicus Vile, easily twenty feet high. The unicorn shot to her hooves and backed away, only to find the hard ice of a wall pressed against her back.

"Why, hello dear. Glad to see you're finally awake. You were out for quite some time. About a day, I believe. Granted, inter-realm transportation does tend to take quite a toll on people." The statue didn't move when Clavicus spoke, but Twilight felt its eyes piercing her, and his voice rang in her ears clear as a bell.

"Where am I?" Twilight croaked, her throat dry.

"Tamriel. The province of Skyrim, to be exact. Lovely place, Skyrim. The locals are pretty friendly. Except for the bandits. And highwaymen. And the Forsworn. And the dragons. And sabertooth cats…they'll try to kill you. The weather is always quite nice, however. I hope you like snow." Twilight was certain that the statue would be grinning if it could move.

"Well… what about that infinite knowledge I wished for? We had a deal!" Twilight stamped her hoof on the ground. "You promised me omnipotence, not to throw me into some strange dimension I don't know anything about!"

Clavicus just laughed. He laughed, and laughed, and laughed. If the statue could move, it'd on the floor, clutching its sides. "Oh, dear, I never promised you anything! Only the opportunity at gaining infinite knowledge. The knowledge you seek is here, in this province. It isn't any fun to watch a mouse squirm in its maze if there isn't a hope of finding the cheese. Well… okay. It is. But, what you seek is here. In Skyrim. It's up to you to find it. You can start by following the road outside the exit behind my shrine, and take it West."

"That's it? Go west? You can give me more to go on than that!" Twilight galloped up to the foot of the statue and stamped her hoof on the ground. Her gaze met the statue's cold eyes, and she received no response. The unicorn sighed and shook her head as she made her way up the stairs on the left side of the statue, a shiver passing down her spine as she felt the cold chill of the outside. She turned her head and noticed, resting behind the statue, a wooden chest. Who knows? There might be blankets or something in there. The latch on the unlocked chest glowed with a purple aura before it flipped up, and the lid creaked open to reveal the treasure inside. A wool cloak, a pair of glowing swords and a golden staff, the top shaped like a serpent. Twilight draped the cloak over herself, grateful for the warmth it brought, and closed the chest. The thought of using one of the blades made her stomach turn, and she figured traveling light would be best, anyway.

Twilight glanced toward the exit and noted several metal bars jutting out of the floor. "Ugh… really?" She turned, about to venture into the depths of the cave, when she noticed the pull-chain on the wall. Oh. Her horn glowed again, and the chain came down with relative ease. The steel bars slid down into the floor with a loud, whining sound, and years of dirt crumbled from the holes they left in the ceiling. The unicorn cringed at the sound, then trotted down the narrow tunnel toward the bluish light at the far end.

Once outside, Twilight stopped cold in her tracks. There was a 'thud' as her jaw hit the dirt below her, and she fell back onto her haunches. She was greeted by the sight of an endless, star-filled sky. The green and blue auroras cast a blue-green light on the earth below, and the light played off the mist that coated the snowy mountains in the distance. For a moment she simply sat there, dumb-struck by the beautiful sight. The unicorn looked toward the trail ahead of her and was reminded of her quest. Slowly, carefully, she made her way down the uneven surface of the small mountain, tempted to kiss the dirt road when she finally came to the bottom.

She shivered as she turned left on the road, under the assumption that the moons of this world rose from the East the way Equestria's did. The cold of this place was hard to bear. Even the wool cloak wrapped around her did little to hold back the bitter winds that swept through the craggy valley. Twilight sighed and wished she had her saddle bags with her. She'd have packed a blanket, a few books… Wait. books… The unicorn blinked, stopping and sitting on her haunches again when the thought hit her. Her copy of the Treatise was still in Equestria. With the day's events, she hadn't even considered the book's whereabouts. Back in Ponyville, she could scarcely go twenty minutes without having it in her presence. She needed it the same way she needed air. "Uuugh. Why did I do this? Of all the stupid, stupid things you've done, Twilight..." She scolded herself, hooves scraping noisily as she trotted down the dirt road.

The unicorn pony shook her head and huffed, her breath clouding the air ahead of her. No. Can't think about it right now. Maybe after I find a warm place to hunker down. She continued down the path, occasionally stopping to stare in wonder at the lovely scenery this land provided. Maybe this wasn't such a stupid decision, after all! She turned a corner on the road, a smile still on her face after she'd witnessed a family of foxes snoozing under a tree. Fluttershy would adore the wildlife here, and the sense of serenity the landscape offered. The smile quickly dissolved when the smoking ruin of a town entered her vision, her nostrils burnt by the acrid odor of sulfur and smoke. Underneath the scent of hot steel, burning wood and cloth, there was a stronger, more pungent odor. One she couldn't quite place.

Once she reached the front gate of the city, she bit her lip, unsure of what to do. Opening the gate would be the easiest way through to the rest of the road, but who knows what's behind those doors? Steeling herself as she sucked in a deep breath, Twilight's horn glowed brightly as the giant oak gates creaked open. As she walked past the front gate, the sight Twilight took in made her turn her head and wretch, vomit splashing on the ashen ground at her hooves. The town was decimated, some fires still raging, but most buildings were reduced to smoldering ruins. Dozens of corpses littered the streets, burnt to a crisp, the horrid scent from earlier much stronger now than it was before she'd opened the gates. Burnt flesh. The unicorn carefully made her way through the ruined city, her jaw trembling all the while as she climbed over ash-covered rubble to get to the other side of the ruins, her pace breaking into a gallop when she saw the exit.

When Twilight was outside the walls of that horrid nightmare, she collapsed, sobbing loudly. The day's events had taken their toll on her, the unicorn's cries quieting down as her adrenaline dried up, dragging her down into a restless sleep.
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"So, Boss, what should we do with it?" A gruff, gravelly voice slowly began to drag Twilight's tired mind kicking and screaming back to consciousness.

"Hell, I dunno. Hasn't been a unicorn on Nirn in… Decades, at least. Certainly not a purple one." An older, equally gruff voice chimed in.

Twilight groaned, opening her eyes, trying to bring herself to her hooves – her eyes went wide, her heart pounding in her chest when she found she couldn't move her legs. Glancing down, the unicorn let out a muffled cry, a sob hitching in her throat – she'd been hog-tied, and her muzzle had been tied shut! "Aebjorn, you ever heard a horse make noises like that, before?" Twilight tilted her head, getting a good view of the people that had captured her: two of them were bipedal, with pale skin and large muscles, wearing iron-studded furs and leather, wielding bows and axes and swords.

One, however, stood apart from the others: he stood at roughly seven feet tall, and was clad in segmented armor made of a green-colored metal, the spiked pauldrons reminiscent of the Daedra that plagued her nightmares in Ponyville. Strapped to the creature's back was a large one-sided axe made of similar material, the jagged edges of the blade glinting in the spotty, forest-obscured sun. "I say we eat it."

The one with the gruff voice, the archer, gave the green monster an incredulous look. "That's disgusting, Grolag. I'm not eating a baby unicorn. It's barely seven hands tall!"

Sitting on a rock a few feet away from him, the older man ran a whetstone over the blade of his iron sword, shaking his head. "I'm the boss, an' I say we cage it up, and make it do tricks. Charge admission. We'd make a killin'!" When the others gave him dumbfounded looks, he sighed, sheathing his blade. "Or we could… I dunno, sell its horn or something. We'd get more money that way, anyway."

The green one grinned, unslinging his battleaxe from his back, giving it a few test swings. "Sounds like a good idea, to me. What're we waitin' for?" The axe was brought up high above his head as he prepared to swing, and Twilight clenched her eyes shut.

This is it. I'm going to die. I'm sorry, Celestia, that I didn't do better. Twilight waited for the axe to come down, but instead of the sharp pain of death, all that assaulted her was the horrible sound of the green monster screaming. Twilight opened her eyes, the blood going cold in her veins when she saw the creature collapsed on the ground in front of her – an arrow had pierced through his gauntlet, the axe's handle, and his off hand, effectively pinning his hands to the weapon.

Seeing this, the old man almost had time to draw his iron sword before being dragged into the bushes behind the rock he'd been sitting on – the only noise he made was the rustling of the bush when he fell, and a wet gurgling sound. The younger man, while all this was transpiring, set his back to a large tree and knocked an arrow back, shakily scanning the forest around him. "Stay back! I'll shoo-" He almost finished his threat, but the war axe that had buried itself in his head, thrown from the shadows of a group of shrubs, had cut him off.

Twilight cringed, choking back vomit as her stomach turned over at the sight of the pale creature's head splitting open like a honeydew. From the bushes in front of her emerged a tall, bipedal reptile, clad in black robes, the green and red scales covering his head shining dully in the sparse sunlight. He sheathed his pair of steel daggers, glancing in Twilight's direction before letting out a loud whistle.

From the forest canopy above her dropped a short, lithe biped with pointy ears and dark hair, clad in leather armor and armed with a curved wooden bow. The tan-skinned creature made a motion with his right hand, before moving to retrieve the dead archer's arrows. Out from the bushes walked another massive, hulking green monster – this one was clad in the same armor, but was armed with a jagged, two-handed sword, rather than a battleaxe. He removed his helmet, his lip curling into a wicked smirk behind his large tusks as he marched forward, removing his axe from the deceased archer's face. "That was too easy. Bandits are getting' t' be less of a challenge every passin' day, ain't they?" The creature grinned over at the reptile, receiving only a mildly disappointed head-shake in return.

"You are getting cocky, Urgak. Cockiness is what gets people killed in battle." The reptilian man sat down on a nearby boulder, staring at the bandit that was just now starting to rise to his feet, groaning in agony. "You should probably do something about him."

Before Urgak could draw his blade, the heavily-armored bandit cried out, jerking his arms outward to snap the arrow that had his hands pinned to his axe, kicking Urgak's feet out from under him. Urgak drew his war axe from his belt as he hit the ground, but the bandit kicked it away before he could use it, stooping down to pick up his battleaxe while Urgak crawled backwards, reaching for his boot knife.

The pointy-eared archer had knocked an arrow back, but the reptile sprinted to him and brought his arms down, the arrow loosing and sinking into the dirt. "Aendal, no! This is Urgak's fight. He can handle a lowly bandit on his own." Aendal glared daggers at the reptile, but nodded, slinging his bow on his back.

Meanwhile, the bandit had gotten a hold of his axe, and with one swing, broke Urgak's boot knife in half. The large man brought his battleaxe up again, preparing to chop Urgak into mutton. "A boot knife? Are you shitting me, brother? You thought that butterknife would hurt me?" That axe started to come down, but fell to the ground next to Urgak after a thrown war axe buried itself in the bandit's throat, the purple sheen of magic surrounding it fading after a moment.

The group of fighters stood there, dumbfounded as the final bandit fell over, their gazes turning to the small Unicorn, her horn's purple glow slowly fading. Aendal was the first to move, rushing over to Twilight and untying her feet and removing the rope around her muzzle, allowing her to look up at him and offer a small smile. "Thank you…" Then, fatigued from exertion and lack of adrenaline, Twilight was dragged back into unconsciousness.

New Friends and New Challenges

"Incredible, isn't it? I'd read about unicorns in stories, but… They were always white, to my knowledge." Aendal's sudden, rather noisy observation coming from a few feet away began to bring Twilight back to consciousness, the blackness of sleep peeling away from the edges of her mind.
"Yeah, and they were s'posed t'be bigger, too, weren't they? This thing's only about six hands high." The deep rumble of the man's voice could only have been Urgak, the green creature she'd saved earlier. How did she go about doing that?

As the fuzziness began to fade from her thoughts, Twilight's memories of the day's events slowly returned to her: wading through the horrors of the burnt-out town, getting captured by bandits, and witnessing the bandits get ambushed and slaughtered by the men who were, apparently, only a few feet away from her. Finally, the memory of the fight between Urgak and Grolag floated to the top of her thoughts – and how she'd saved the green-skinned man. The recollection of using her magic to bury an axe in the bandit's throat revolted the unicorn pony, shaking her to her very core and causing her to curl up into a ball, shuddering and beginning to sob. Despite how horrid he might've been, she took away Grolag's life – nopony deserved that. Not even a murderous bandit that wanted to eat her.

Aendal had been sitting on her right, a foot or two away from her, sharpening his arrows with a small whetstone while he spoke, but his attentions were now focused entirely on Twilight. "And I certainly hadn't heard of one speaking, before. Or crying, for that matter." He reached over, gently placing a gloved hand on Twilight's back. "Hey… What's wrong? You're safe now, so there's no need for… Well, this."

Twilight finally opened her eyes, looking up at Aendal when he put his hand on her back, tears streaming down her cheeks. "B-but… But I killed him… That man, with the axe… R-right to his, n-neck…" She began sobbing again, burying her face in her forelegs.

Urgak rolled his eyes, standing from his log seat and crossing his arms over his chest, his booming voice's tone harsh and unforgiving. "Oh, for Malacath's sake – that's all that's botherin' you? Pathetic." The large man walked over to Twilight's side, kneeling down and placing a massive hand atop her head. "If you hadn't killed that worthless maggot, I'd be a very dead Orc. Consider that before you start sobbin' your damn head off."

The unicorn's sobbing slowed as she looked up to the Orc, tears glistening in her eyes. "I…" Twilight sniffled, sitting up on her haunches and wiping a tear from her eye with her cloak. "Y-you're right. You guys saved my life - only fair that I should repay the debt, right?" She gave Urgak a weak smile, getting up to her hooves and looking around. They were all sitting around a rather large bonfire in the middle of a field, a starry night sky stretching out over them, a light dusting of clouds blocking the moon every few minutes. "How long was I out?"

The archer sat back down on his rock, sharpening the edges of his arrowheads. "I'd say about half a day's time. You really wore yourself out." He only glanced up for a moment, before returning his arrows to the quiver on his back. "So, what's your name, Unicorn?"

Twilight smiled up at Aendal, glad to know that he at least cared enough to ask her name. "Twilight Sparkle. What're your names?" Her gaze drifted from Aendal to Urgak, and her head canted to the side in confusion. "Weren't there three of you, earlier?"

"Haran's out huntin' – he'll be back soon with some food, I hope. An' my name's Urgak. Urgak Gro-Shug." The Orc almost reached out to give her a handshake, but dropped his hand as soon as he raised it. It'd be silly to shake hands with a horse.

"Aendal Frelorn. Pleased to make your acquaintance, Twilight. So, I've been wondering: what is that curious marking on your flank? Is that a brand of some sort?" The Bosmer gestured to the six-pointed star on Twilight's flank, before he took a swig from his water skin.

The unicorn mare blinked, confused, before her brows lifted up. "Oh! My cutie mark? Everypony gets one when they find their special talent." She glanced at Aendal's hip, canting her head. "Why do you have yours covered up?"

Aendal chuckled, shaking his head. "No, I don't have any marks on me. Not like that, anyway. Nobody does, as far as I know." He capped his water skin, jumping to his feet and knocking an arrow back on his bow when the bushes nearby rustled.

"Put the damn bow down, Elf, if you wish to eat tonight." The Argonian stepped out from the bushes, dragging a dead sabercat on a makeshift litter carry. "This beast gave quite the chase – tracked him for six miles through the forest, before I felled him with my arrow." He set the litter down, then made his way to the front of the animal and plucked a black arrow from the creature's eye. Twilight fought the urge to vomit.

"So… You must be Haran. Nice to meet you!" Twilight held out her hoof in greeting, but shrank back when Haran's cold yellow stare met her eyes. "I, um… Thank you for saving me, earlier. If it weren't for you three… The big one was going to eat me!" Terror laced her words, and tears brimmed her eyes again.

Urgak shook his head, running a whetstone over his claymore. "He's the type to make us Orcs look like savages. Damned horse-eater." The bonfire popped loudly, one of the logs giving way to the heat and collapsing on itself. "Should get more wood for the fire. I'll be back." The Orc stood, sheathed his blade into the scabbard on his back, and made his way into the forest nearby.

Twilight watched the Orc leave, a quiet breath of relief escaping her. She wasn't racist or anything, but something about those creatures made her nervous; and that lizard… "So… I don't mean to sound crude, but… What are you, exactly? I've never seen creatures like you guys."

Haran chuckled, his blade cutting into the sabercat, sawing away at its flesh to remove the pelt. "Hah, she acts like she's never been to Tamriel." The lizard pulled his hood back, running a blood-stained hand over the crimson feathers topping his head as he turned to meet Twilight's gaze. "I'm an Argonian, a bestial race hailing from Blackmarsh." His blade pointed to Aendal, a smirk crossing his lips. "Aendal over there's a Wood Elf, or Bosmer; a race from Valenwood. And Urgak's an Orc, a race from Orsinium. Does that spell things out a little for you?"

The unicorn winced a bit at Haran's wheezing laugh, looking away and holding her hoof to her lips as he pulled the skin and fur away from the sabercat's flesh. "Eugh, do you really have to do that in front of me?" Judging by everyone's sharp teeth, she figured they were carnivorous, or at least omnivorous in nature; not unlike the Timberwolves in the Everfree Forest. As open-minded as she was about their eating habits, she still found it disgusting that they ate… Living creatures. Yuck.

Haran simply gave Twilight a dumbfounded stare before going back to hacking up the animal, spearing bits of meat on sticks and leaning them over the fire to cook. Admittedly, Twilight found the smell… Delicious. Tantalizing, even. However, she couldn't bring herself to so much as taste any of it. "I hate to be a bother, but…" She glanced up to Urgak when he walked in from the woods, arms cradling a pile of logs. "Do you guys have, maybe… I dunno, some daisies or something? I'm famished."

Aendal shook his head, picked up one of the sticks and munched on a bit of saber cat. "Haran, this tastes like a troll shat on it. You didn't poison the beast, did you?" He gave the Argonian an accusatory stare, who was also chewing on some of the cat-on-a-stick.

"Well, yes. Otherwise I'd have used up a dozen arrows on him. Why?"

The Bosmer just stared at Haran, set his meat down and walked over to where the reptile was sitting. SMACK! His palm struck the back of the Argonian's head, making him stumble forward. "How many times do I have to tell you? You poison the beast, you poison the meat, fool. I'll do the hunting from now on – you should stick to hunting people."

The Elven ranger marched over to his bag, withdrawing about a pound of wheat. "My apologies, Twilight, but this is all we have that's safe for you to eat." He set the food down in front of her, then walked back to his log seat and leaned against it, closing his eyes. "I'm gonna try and get some sleep. I suggest you all do the same; big day tomorrow."
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"So, what's that town called, again? Whiterun?" Twilight had the hood of her cloak pulled up to cover her ears, in an attempt to keep the cold at bay. It was a bright, sunny day, the sparse clouds dotting the green, rolling hills with shadows. The beauty of the scene was almost enough to make Twilight not miss Ponyville. Almost. Off in the distance, the group heard a deafening roar; they looked West, and watched as a bright, swirling light escaped the plumes of smoke surrounding a stone tower.

Urgak narrowed his eyes, continuing toward the great walled city of Whiterun. "Looks like we might have a new contract on our hands, boys. Let's check in at the Bannered Mare, get our Septims from the contract on those bandits and see what's goin' on."

The group looked down at Twilight as they approached the stables, stopping in their tracks. The stables were thatch-
roofed, the structures themselves made of wood; the heady scent of old hay and horse dung stung Twilight's nostrils, making her wince. "Why are we stopping? Aren't we going into the city?" She looked up at Aendal, a look of confusion tugging at her eyes.

"Twilight, you're… Well, you're a pony. We can't bring you into the city with us. The guards would have us thrown out. You'll have to wait here in the stables." The Bosmer offered her a look of pity, reaching down and ruffling her mane. "We'll be back in a few hours, yeah?"

The Orc chuckled, crossing his arms over his chest as they walked away. "There're other horses in there – maybe you can make some friends!" As the trio walked toward the town's gates, Twilight sighed and made her way over to one of the stalls, laying down and nibbling on some hay.

DO-VAH-KIIIIN!

The sudden, blaring noise made Twilight's fur stand on end, and rattled the walls of the stable. The unicorn yelped, ducking into a pile of hay, peeking out a few minutes later when she thought it was safe. "What in the wide, wide world of Equestria was that?"
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At the Bannered Mare, the door swung open and the trio of mercenaries marched in, looking rather pleased with themselves as they approached the table in the far corner of the bar, having to walk around the fire pit in the middle of the room. The flames cast dancing shadows about the stone walls of the mead hall, the soft sounds of the bard's flute giving the place a cheerful atmosphere. Urgak reached into a pouch on his gear belt and produced a severed, green finger, still wearing a silver signet ring. "Here – proof that we removed the bandits you wanted taken care of. Now, 'bout that gold…" The Orc smirked, crossing his massive arms over his chest, the small scar on his cheek twisting with his expression.

The Nord woman sitting at the table took a swig of her mead, running her fingers through her blonde locks before examining the ring on the finger. "So you have. Here, payment as agreed: four-hundred Septims. Thank you; those were some real bastards you killed. Here; on top of your payment, I'll buy you all a round of drinks."

The group cheered, toasting to good company and fortune. Urgak danced by the fire with a barmaid, chugging a tankard of mead as he clumsily danced about. Haran sat in the shadowy corner of the mead hall, smoking from his long-stemmed pipe, a book open in his lap, the smoke billowing from between his lips and spreading a pleasant aroma around the room. Meanwhile, Aendal was leaning against the counter, chatting up the innkeeper for leads on work.

"So, know anyone who needs a few capable men, in exchange for some coin?" Aendal smirked, sipping at a bottle of ale. The innkeeper, a tall, pale-skinned woman with sharp facial features and dark hair, simply nodded to the Elf and pointed him to a man sitting by the fire pit. "Thank you."

Aendal marched over to the man, taking a seat next to him and sipping at his ale, setting the drink down after a few pulls. "So; I hear you need a few gentlemen to help you out with something."

The man, an older, frail-looking man dressed in blue and gold robes, nodded and took a sip of his own ale. "Yes-sir; that I do. There be a group'a bandits in a cave up the road to the North-East that've been attackin' merchants' wagons and lootin' supplies. I need some able-bodied men t' take 'em out. Tha' sound far enough up your alley?" The old man grinned, jingling his coin purse. "Five-hundred Septims, if you bring me their leader's signet ring."

Aendal nodded, grinning and shaking the man's hand. "Of course! We'll have it done within the week." The Bosmer stood from his seat, walked up to Urgak and grabbed the Orc by his ear. "Come on, dancing queen. Let's go bag us some bandits." The Elf crooked a finger at Haran, who immediately doused his pipe and snapped his book shut, following the pair out of the mead hall.
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Aendal led the trio back to the stables, the light outside having dimmed considerably since they'd shown up, mid-day. The Bosmer tossed their bag of Septims from one hand to another, grinning as he watched Haran try to support a drunken Urgak as they walked down the cobblestone street. "Don't drop him, Haran; we may never get him back up, again."

The Argonian simply glared back at Aendal, muttering something about sleeping with one eye open, when the trio heard a familiar-sounding sob come from the stables. Their pace quickened, and they arrived at Twilight's wooden stall in a matter of moments, presented with a rather depressing sight: Twilight, her face buried in her hooves again, curled up and sobbing against a pile of hay. Aendal was the first to speak, clearing his throat. "Erm, Twilight? Everything okay?"

The unicorn just shook her head, pointing a hoof to the horse in the stall next to hers, looking up from her forelegs to the trio with a pair of bloodshot, tear-filled eyes. "H-he won't talk to me! W-why won't anyp-pony talk to me?" She buried her face in her legs again, sobbing quietly.

Aendal exchanged glances with Haran, and the now-sobered-up Urgak, sighing and rubbing the bridge of his nose between his thumb and index finger. "Twilight, horses… Horses don't speak Common. Didn't you know that?"

She glared up at him, and then pointed to Urgak. "No! He told me the other ponies in the stable would talk to me!" The purple pony locked eyes with the Orc, wiping a tear from her cheek. "You lied to me, Urgak. Why would you lie to me?"

The Orc shrugged, crossing his arms over his chest. "I thought it'd be funny. Are you serious? Talkin' to a horse? They're dumb as a sack'a rocks, incapable o' speech. I figured you knew that a'ready."

Twilight shook her head, sniffling before rising to her hooves. "No. I didn't. Where I'm from, all Equines are intelligent enough for speech. That was… Cruel of you, Urgak." She looked up to Aendal, tears still brimming in her eyes. "So… Where are we going next, Aendal?"

The archer beamed, pointing North-East. "Got us a contract to take out a group of bandits in a cave system in that direction; they've been raiding caravans and killing people, so we're getting paid good gold to make sure they don't do that, anymore. Let's be on our way, shall we?" He reached down to ruffle Twilight's mane, smiling and walking on; the unicorn followed behind him and letting out a dejected sigh.

"But… I don't want to have to fight anypony. Not again." She shuddered, remembering the cold, dead look that glazed over Grolag's eyes when his last breath left him.

Haran placed a clawed hand on Twilight's back, and offered her a sharp-toothed smile. "You get used to it, dear. I promise. Who knows? Maybe one day, you'll come to like it as much as I do." A low, raspy chuckle escaped the reptile's throat as they continued walking, the evening sun setting behind the mountains in the distance and casting a red glow over the landscape. Again, Twilight was rendered speechless by this land's beauty. The rolling hills, tall mountains and expansive forests reminded her of Equestria, the thought of home bringing more tears to her eyes.

She shook her head, reaching up with her foreleg to brush the tears away. No, Twilight, you can't let your thoughts go down that road. Not yet; once you have a day or so to wallow, you can let your mind wander. For now, just focus on the task at hand… The group crossed a bridge leading over the White River, passing up a group of tall Elves in golden armor, led by an Elf in black robes, the golden-skinned men sneering down at the mercenaries as they walked past. The trio of mercenaries was stone-faced as they passed the group up, and Twilight could have cut the tension with a knife. Once the group of Elven soldiers was out of sight, Twilight looked up to Aendal and nudged him with her horn. "Hey, Aendal; who were those men back there?"

The Bosmer grumbled, pulling the hood of his cloak up over his head. "The Thalmor. Aldmeri bastards vying for dominion over every damn thing in Tamriel. They've damn-near succeeded, too – as far as I know, only Hammerfell is free of the bastards. My family lived in Summerset Isle when the gold-skins took over and purged the place of all non-Altmer and dissenters; they burnt our house down and killed my mother. My father managed to escape with me in his arms, wrapped in a blanket."

Twilight simply stared at Aendal for a few moments, the gap between their two worlds feeling a thousand times more expansive with this revelation. The purple unicorn had never heard of anypony committing such atrocities, even the worst of enemies. The very concept was simply horrible, to say the least.

The sky darkened as the sun fell below the horizon, dark clouds slowly moving overhead and dropping a light dusting of snowflakes. Twilight brought her hood up with her magic, the cold air making her sneeze. "Purged? You mean, they… But that's terrible! Who would do something so barbaric?" A look of shock was plain on her face, her pace slowing.

"Warmongering bastards with no souls, Twilight. That's who. Now, keep up – we don't have far to go." The Bosmer adjusted the gear belt around his waist, quickening his pace just a bit.

After a few minutes of travelling, the group arrived at the mouth of a cave set into the side of a small mountain, a sign set in the dirt outside that read "Emte kave go away." "Well, s'pose this is th' one. Stupid bandits don't camouflage their bases very well."

Haran ducked into the shadows of the cave, his silhouette spear-heading the group. Aendal sighed, shaking his head. "No, I guess they don't. The 'empty cave' sign probably doesn't help them much." The archer knocked an arrow back, advancing behind Urgak, who rushed in with his claymore drawn. Twilight followed closely behind Aendal, trying to make herself as small a target as possible.

The inside of the cave was dark and dank, the only light coming from torches in the round, open section of cave ahead of them. Moss hung from the walls in patches, and the ground was littered with empty ale and wine bottles. Twilight was amazed that Haran hadn't made any noise when he crept ahead of them.

Up ahead, a gurgling sound echoed off of the walls, followed by the sound of several blades being drawn from their scabbards. "Looks like Haran got one. I guess their friends spotted him; Urgak, get in there and help him!" The Orc rushed forward, his armor clanking like a kitchen as he rushed into the open section of cave at the end of the dank tunnel.

Once they were all in the open "foyer" of the cave, Twilight watched in horror as one bandit swung his broadsword at Haran's head, the Argonian ducking and sinking his dagger into the Nord's stomach. Another bandit swung at him with an axe, but the reptile pivoted and moved in close to the man, his dagger slicing through the tendons underneath his arm. The bandit cried out in pain and horror, and Haran quickly silenced him by cutting his throat.

Urgak kept the bigger targets off of the assassin, his claymore stabbing clean through one larger bandit's plate armor, the Nord bandit crumpling in a heap on the floor. Another large, heavily armored bandit came up behind Urgak, letting out a war cry as he began to swing his blade, but his voice was suddenly cut off along with his head as the Orc swung around, his blade finding purchase with the Nord's neck.

Aendal, in the mean time, fired arrows into the fray, a pair of bandits sinking to the floor when his arrows found their mark in the bandits' necks. In its entirety, the skirmish lasted maybe thirty seconds to a minute, the trio of mercenaries having killed a total of seven bandits. The unicorn shuddered, bile searing the back of her throat as her stomach turned, but she closed her eyes and tilted her head back, biting down the wretched taste of vomit.

"That… Was terrifying. How can you guys kill people like that? Callously ending somepony's life without even attempting diplomacy." Twilight shivered, her hooves clomping loudly on the rocky floor as she made her way further into the room.

"Th' same way you can bury an axe into someone's throat when someone's in danger." Urgak wiped the blood from his claymore onto a fallen bandit, grumbling when his blade only picked up more dirt.

"W-well, that… That was different! He was going to cho-" Just then, a ball of flame sailed across the room from a dark alcove, the spell searing a small patch of Twilight's fur as it passed over her back. "Horseapples!" The unicorn broke into a gallop, trying to reach a tunnel that led away from both the alcove and the entrance.

From the alcove stepped a pale-skinned Altmer, his red-tinted eyes glinting in their sunken sockets as he brushed dirt from his black robes. A yellow glow enveloped his hands, and with a wave of his arms, the glow enveloped his entire body before he turned to Urgak, a white light enveloping his hands a split second before streams of frozen wind erupted from his hands.

The freezing air struck Urgak, the sudden drop in temperature forcing him to drop to his knees, almost dropping his blade. Haran dashed up behind the Altmer, bringing his blades down onto the Elf's back – resulting in his blades snapping on contact with the Elf's robes. "Stoneskin, you foolish assassin. Your blades are worthless!" The Altmer turned, a blue flash of light and streams of lightning leaping from the mage's fingertips and connecting with Haran's skin, knocking him back and making him seize up.

The Altmer turned to Aendal, flashing the Bosmer a fanged grin just as flames engulfed his hands, the mage bringing his arms back to prepare for a larger spell. Before he could cast his attack, three large arcs of lightning connected with his torso, causing the flames in his hands to dissipate and making him drop to his knees, straining to stay conscious as the constant assault refused to cease. Out from the shadows of the nearby tunnel stepped Twilight, lightning magic erupting from her horn, her eyes glowing with white light. "You hurt my friends – nopony hurts my friends." The mage finally collapsed, his corpse crumbling to dust as his last breath escaped him.

The lightning dissipated, Twilight's legs relenting to her fatigue, the unicorn collapsing on the floor and panting. "Is e-everypony okay? N-nopony's hurt, right?" She looked up to the trio, struggling to keep her eyes open.

Haran rose to his feet, stumbling a bit before stabilizing himself and reaching into a pouch on his belt. The assassin produced a small bottle filled with blue liquid, limping over to Twilight and holding out the container. "Drink this; we're fine, but you look exhausted. Are you okay?"

Twilight reached out with her magic, that familiar purple glow enveloping the bottle and pulling it to her lips. She downed the contents, her eyes going wide as her vigor was restored, rising to her feet. "By Celestia, that stuff is amazing; even better than Zecora's tonics! Thank you, Haran." She shook the dirt from her cloak, looking to Urgak. "Are you alright, Urgak?"

The Orc stood, shaking frost and snow from his armor, a grumble escaping his throat. "Damn spell-tossers. I hate frost magic." A shake of his head, and he sheathed his sword onto his back, glancing to Aendal. "Everyone okay?"

Aendal nodded, slinging his bow over his back. "Yeah, I'm fine. I've half a mind to beat that old man senseless; he never told me there would be a damned vampire here." A sneer crossed over his features, and he turned to make a bee-line for the tunnel leading outside.

"Where are you going, Aendal?" Twilight hurried behind him, risking a glance behind her to Haran and Urgak and the pile of bodies that littered the cave floor before returning her attention to the Bosmer.

"I'm going to give that slimy mudcrab a piece of my mind, that's where I'm going. The bastard had to know there was a vampire in that group of bandits. This was a setup." The Elf's tan skin was tinted reddish around his cheeks and neck; he was literally so angry that he was red in the face.

Urgak and Haran caught up to the other two members of their party, the former gently smacking Aendal on the arm with the back of his gauntlet. "'Ey, wha'bout that damn signet ring, fool? We need that to get our pay!"

"Forget the stupid ring, you bloody idiot! That rat bastard damn near had us killed, and we're gonna go collect our payment, whether he wants to give it to us or not!" The Bosmer flashed Urgak a death glare that could have frozen the blood of a Flame Atronach, returning his attention to the road.

Twilight sighed, keeping pace with the Wood Elf. When they reached Whiterun, Aendal was about to turn to Twilight to ask her to remain in the stables, but the unicorn was already on her way into the stall. The trio watched as she lay down and curled up, absent-mindedly brushing her tail with a foreleg. "Do you think she'll be alright?" Aendal glanced at Haran, the Argonian simply replying with a shrug. "Some help you are."

The trio continued into town, their breath creating steamy clouds in the wintry night air. Aendal reached for the door when they came to the Bannered Mare mead hall, but Urgak pushed his way past the Bosmer, shoving the door open and stomping inside. Aendal and Haran followed suit, sticking close behind the Orc when he stomped up to the old man, who was still sitting by the fire.

Urgak grabbed the old man by the front of his robes with one hand, picking him up off the floor with ease. The other patrons of the bar drew their swords and axes, and six icy glares were all aimed at the Orc as he shook the old man. "You bastard! Why didn't you tell us there was a blasted vampire in that cave? We could'a been killed, or worse: turned into bloody vampires!"

The old man just grinned, only his lower face visible from beneath his hood. "Because – I wanted to be sure you boys were made of tough stuff, and could handle unexpected elements in battle. If not, how else would I be able to keep hiring you as my personal team of vampire slayers?" He raised his chin, his lips parting to reveal a toothy grin.

The Orc set him down, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring daggers at him; everyone else in the tavern sheathed their blades, warily returning to their seats. Urgak huffed, tilting his head to each side and cracking his neck. "I'm listenin'."

A chuckle came from the old Nord, and he produced a rather large sack from his belt, dropping it to the floor with a WHUD! "Eight-hundred Septims for the first vampire you killed. Sonuvabitch was raiding travelling merchants and caravans with his raider crew, feeding off of some of them. Had another group kill off his thralls, but they never came back."

Aendal eyed the coins, slowly stooping to pick up the sack, then placing it into Urgak's gear bag. "We'll certainly consider it. We need to go consult amongst ourselves for a while. We'll be back in a few days' time with an answer. Is that acceptable?"

The man in the blue robes smirked, making a wide gesture with his wrinkled hands. "Of course, Bosmer. Take all the time you need. I'll be here, when you finally come to a decision. Send a courier, if you decide against it." With that, he leaned back in his seat, packing tobacco into his pipe.

Aendal shared glances with Urgak and Haran, a smirk crossing his lips as they made for the door. They stepped outside, grins plastered on their faces as they congratulated each other on a job well done; the trio started to march down the road toward Whiterun's gate, when a young, blonde, pale-skinned lad dressed in rags approached, a bit of parchment held in his hands. "S'cuse me, mister? I was told to give you this." He held up the folded paper, his hands shaking.

The Bosmer took the bit of parchment, smiling as he patted the boy on the head, handing him a coin. "Thank you, son; here, a Septim for your trouble." Aendal unfolded the note, the color draining from his flesh as he read the words aloud: "We have your baby unicorn; if you don't want it chopped to pieces and the horn ground into powder, bring ten thousand Septims to Fort Greymoor by dusk tomorrow."

To the Rescue

Twilight shivered, shaking her head to try and remove the bleary film from her vision. “W-wha… What happened?” The unicorn rubbed at her eyes with her foreleg, her heart sinking when she took in her surroundings: She was locked in a cell with iron bars, the floor of her prison lined with a thin layer of hay, dim candlelight from outside the cell glistening off of the stony walls. Sharing the dank cell with her was a crumbling skeleton of a bipedal creature, its wrists rotting away in rusting shackles chained to the wall; Twilight fought back bile, the horrid sight and the mildewy smell of rotting hay almost proving too much for her.

A dark chuckle rumbled from a corner of the room outside of the iron prison, and Twilight turned in time to see a dark-skinned man with red eyes and pointed ears stand from a chair, his arms crossing over the front of his black robes and a fiendish grin slithering across his features. “Oh, lovely; you’re finally awake. I was worried that those buffoons had killed you; I want the pleasure of taking your horn when you can feel it.”

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Urgak sighed, hefting the duffel bag of wood chips, hearing the few dozen Septims mixed in give a cheerful jingle. “I think this is a bad idea; Greymoor’s home t’ at least thirty bandits.” The Orc stared at Haran and Aendal as they marched over the rolling hills and boulders of Whiterun Hold, making their way toward the massive, derelict military outpost on the horizon. “One’a you idiots might get hurt.” A chuckle escaped his tusked maw as he shook the bag.

Aendal and Haran shared an unamused glance before staring back at the green-skinned warrior, the reptile’s mouth splitting open in a sharp grin. “Right; that is why you are the diversion, Urgak. We need you to keep the bandits’ attention so that my arrows can pierce their necks.”

The Bosmer and Orsimer gave Haran a concerned stare, Aendal simply shaking his head and crouching into the tall grass as they prepared to cross the road. Shadows overtook the field as the twin moons were hidden by a thick blanket of clouds; Aendal gave a silent thanks to Nocturnal for this boon as they crossed the road, watching as Urgak marched for the main gate.

Fort Greymoor was a massive, dilapidated stone structure nestled in the hills just due-West of Whiterun. Some years ago, the structure had been outfitted with wooden catwalks, stairways and barricades to supplement its crumbling stone structure. On the ramparts and turrets were positioned poorly-disguised sacks of rice, held up on sticks and covered with buckets and boards, made to look like soldiers at a distance. The Orc shook his head, sighing as he worked his way around the spiked barricades on the road leading into the entrance of the fortress.

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Aendal and Haran crept up the Eastern side of the fort, pressing themselves up against the wooden wall as they tried to silently make their way around to a weak spot in one of the turrets. Haran expertly climbed the crumbling section of stone and rubble, managing to avoid making even the smallest of sounds as he climbed to the top of the rubble pile, pulling his hood up to blend into the shadows. The Bosmer, however, slipped on a bit of shale on his way up the pile, barely avoiding rolling down the hill.

“What was that?” One of the bandits, a young woman clad in furs and strong-looking leather armor quickly jogged over to the edge of the wooden rampart, looking over the wall, her iron broadsword drawn. After a moment of looking around, her eyes narrowed, focusing on movement behind one of the many boulders lining the area surrounding the fortress. “What...” Her grip tightened on her blade, readying herself for a fight just as from out of the shadows stepped… A rabbit. “A… Rabbit. It was just a rabbit.” She breathed a sigh of relief, sheathing her blade and turning on her heel, walking back on the wooden catwalk behind the thatch-roofed structure of the fortress’ smithy. Thud! Once she’d reached the shadows behind the smithy, Haran felled her, his arrow jutting out of the base of her neck, having pierced her spine.

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Urgak sighed, his armor rattling loudly as he marched into the fortress’ courtyard, leaving his claymore sheathed on his back as he stood in the center and rattling the bag of “coins.” When he spoke, he garnered the attention of every single bandit in the fortress, all of them drawing their blades and bows. “Oi! Listen up! One’a you ugly skeevers has my unicorn, an’ I’d like her back!” His voice was dripping with frustration as he dropped the bag of coins, the real Septims inside the bag rattling loud enough for it to be convincing. “Ten-thousand Septims, as you asked. Now, bring ‘er out where I can see her!”

One of the bandits, dressed in naught but simple burlap clothing, crossed his arms over his chest, a scowl twisting his scarred face. “A’roight, hang on jus’ a blasted second. I’ll get th’ boss.” The man turned on his heel, opening the large wood and iron door that led to the fortress’ keep, disappearing into the hallway beyond.

________________________________________

The purple unicorn cowered in one corner of her cell, unable to avert her eyes from the unrolled container of sharp instruments the gray-skinned man had pulled from a chest that lay flush against the back wall of the room. “Ah, yes… Lord Hircine will surely reward me for bringing him fresh unicorn horn…” The robed man picked up a small handsaw, turning it over and narrowing his eyes. “No, this won’t do… Need something sharper.”

The room’s entrance burst open, a rag-clad Nord jogging across the room and dropping to a knee in front of the terrifying man with red eyes. “Boss! We go’ us a green-skin outside; he said he brought ten thousand Septims for the Unicorn.” A wide grin split across the Nord’s face as he rose to his feet. “We c’n afford to outfit the boys with quality gear, with that kin’a money!”

The robed Elf turned and glared at the Nord as he spoke, impatiently twirling a scalpel about in his fingers. “And… Whose idea was it, then, to hold the Unicorn for ransom? This creature was supposed to be an offering to Lord Hircine, you bumbling idiot! Not some cash-cow! Now there’s a bloody Orc in my fortress?!” As his volume increased, so did the amount of spittle flying from his mouth as he shouted down the Nord.

Twilight’s eyes went wide when he mentioned the Orc in the vicinity, a slow smile creeping across her lips. They came! They’ve come to rescue me!

“Boss, I, but…” The Nord was interrupted in his blubbering apology when that scalpel closed the gap between the two bipeds, burying itself in the man’s neck. The Elf strode up to him, grasped the handle of the scalpel and dragged it down, effectively cutting open the Nord’s carotid artery; a fountain of life-blood spilled from his throat, and Twilight turned her head to vomit into the pile of hay on the floor of her cell.

________________________________________

Aendal narrowed his eyes, holding his breath as one of the bandits worked the small forge in the courtyard. Thwip! The iron-tipped arrow flew from his bow, narrowly missing the bandit’s head as he bent down to dip a hot blade into the cooling trough. Nobody seemed to notice as the arrow sank quietly into the dirt nearby; a grumble of frustration escaped Aendal’s throat as he knocked back another arrow, his bow creaking softly as it bent with the force of the string. Another arrow was launched forward just before the bandit crouched down to pick his hammer up from the ground, the deadly missile sinking into the ground next to its brother. The Bosmer clenched his fist, growling in frustration as he brought that string back again; just as the third arrow was about to pierce the bandit’s skull, he slipped on a patch of slick mud, falling back onto the ground. “Oh COME ON!” Aendal stood, throwing his hands in the air.

The Argonian sitting in the shadows next to him shook his head, running a scaled hand down his snout and knocking an arrow back. “Wonderful job of staying undetected, Elf. Why don’t you stick to hunting bears, and let the professional hunt the people?” Haran chuckled, rounded the corner and loosed an arrow; the missile flew forward, arcing down into the blacksmith’s thigh as he started to run toward Aendal, sword in hand.

________________________________________

Urgak watched as the Nord ran inside, a scowl twisting his scarred features. Something didn’t smell right about this; maybe it was the fact that he was surrounded by roughly thirty bandits. He stood there for several minutes, glancing about and trying to size up the other potential combatants; archers on the walls, swordsmen on the stairs and in the courtyard, several with warhammers. Great. And the only backup he had was a pair of archers that could only immediately cover a section of the wall and courtyard. The Orc glanced to the nearest bandit, a man clad in studded leather armor, a steel broadsword strapped to his hip. “What’s keepin’ your boy s’ lo-” Aendal’s shout made Urgak cringe and shake his head. “Shit.”

________________________________________

The dark-skinned Elf wiped the blood from his scalpel onto his robes, then turned to Twilight and gave her a wicked smile. “Looks like you’ve got some back-up. It’s a shame they won’t last a minute against my complement of thirty men. Now, where were we..? Ah, yes. Removing that beautiful horn of yours…” He approached Twilight’s cage, unlocked the door with a key ring he’d pulled from his robes pocket, and twirled his scalpel about in his fingers. “Now, I promise… This is going to hurt. A lot.” The Elf reached out as Twilight cowered back into the corner of the cell, his fingers curled in her mane and he forced her head back. Just as his scalpel was about to pierce her flesh, there was a bright flash of light, and Twilight was no longer in his hands.

“You’re not putting your filthy claws on my horn!” She snorted, bucking the cell’s door shut and using her magic to break the lock in place. “You can stay in there forever, for all I care!” A tear rolled down her cheek, and the unicorn pony galloped toward the large double-doors at the far end of the hall, shoving them open with magic. Twilight opened her eyes when the fresh, cold night air hit her face and burned her lungs, and time seemed to slow as she took in the sight before her.

________________________________________

“I told you idiots, this was a bad idea!” Urgak bellowed, as his claymore cleaved through a bandit’s leg, dropping the poorly-armored foe to the ground. When the Orc’s boot came down on him, his head made a sickening pop! The Orc stumbled as a mace sank into his back, wincing as the spikes dented his armor. His eyes widened, and he whirled around, the pommel of his claymore bashing the assailant in his cheekbone. “This’s exactly what I wanted t’ avoid!” That claymore spun in his hand and sank into the downed opponent’s neck, spilling his precious lifeblood in a fast-growing puddle on the cold ground.

Aendal grunted as he ducked, a longsword slicing a few hairs from the top of his head. The Bosmer swung his bow at his assailant’s ankles, tripping him up for long enough that the Elf was able to draw an arrow from his quiver, sinking the iron-tipped shaft into the bandit’s eye. “Yeah, well, best laid plans and all that! Just shut up and watch out for the guy behind you!” The Elf’s brow furrowed as he pried the sword from his felled opponent’s hand, twirling it in his fingers and snapping the length of the blade to his right, the tip of the sword cutting a swath through a bandit’s cheek. The man stumbled back and reached up to feel the hole in his face, the look of shock frozen in his eyes as an arrow pierced his heart.

“If you’ll kindly stop playing with the enemy, Aendal, I’d like to get this finished as soon as possible.” The Argonian leapt from the shadows, landed on one bandit’s back and drove the man into the ground. “Really, Elf. You should finish them as quickly as possible. Like this.” Haran gripped the Nord by the hair on the back of his head and pulled him back, slamming his face into a rather jagged bit of rubble until the only sounds the Nord made were muffled gurgles as his blood spilled onto the ground. The Argonian fished a dagger from the Nord’s boot, a smirk crossing his scaly features as he turned the blade over in his hand. “This will do…”

________________________________________

Twilight’s breathing slowed, becoming shallow and ragged as she watched her newfound friends cut a bloody swath through the bandits of Fort Greymoor, having to bite back bile as she watched Haran slam a man’s face into the ground. This was… Wrong. There was no need for anypony to have to do this, especially not on her account. Twilight closed her eyes, fighting back tears as she listened to the bandits’ cries for mercy, when suddenly someone nearby screamed. It was a shrill, blood-curdling thing that chilled her bones; in a moment of clarity, Twilight came to a realization: The screaming voice was hers. The Unicorn looked down, only to see the shaft of an arrow protruding from her foreleg, blood soaking into her fur and dribbling onto the cobblestone beneath her hooves.

For the Unicorn pony, the world seemed to stop entirely. The clangs of steel and screams of battle quieted, and everyone had frozen still. Her eyes gleamed a brilliant white, and an equally bright light erupted from the Unicorn’s horn, enveloping the entirety of Fort Greymoor. Tears streamed down her cheeks, the drops mingling with the blood at her hooves as her magical essence poured forth from her horn.

________________________________________

Aendal looked up from his felled opponent, drawing his blade from the bandit’s chest when he heard the blood-chilling scream. His eyes met Twilight just as a blinding flash of white emanated from her horn, robbing him of his sight for a few moments. When his sight was returned to him, he was greeted with a horrid sight: every bandit, living or dead had been burnt to a cinder. Some still lived, though not for much longer than he had time to glance, blood bubbling from their ears and eyes as they cooked from the inside out.

The Bosmer grimaced, worry furrowing his brow as he charged forward, dropping his sword to the ground as he sprinted toward the Unicorn. Twilight’s horn flashed again, the ground in front of Aendal erupting into a wall of flame for a brief second; this did not stop him, as he rolled through the flames, jumping over burnt corpses to reach his quarry. His boots clomped loudly on the cobblestone for a few brief moments until he was upon Twilight, his arms wrapped tightly around the Unicorn pony’s neck. “Shh, shh…” His hands glowed a light green as he stroked her back and her mane, his cheek pressed to hers. “There’s no need to be afraid, anymore, Twilight… Stop this. You need to be calm, dear.”

Twilight’s body went rigid for a moment, the light that spilled from her eyes dimming to a dull glow. After a moment she went limp, sobbing loudly and collapsing against Aendal, her energy spent. “A-Aendal, it… It h-hurts! T-take it out!” Tears streamed forth from her eyes, the pony risking a glance at her foreleg; her sobs only grew stronger when she saw the arrow was still there.

The Bosmer gave a sigh of relief, glancing back to Urgak and Haran, who both stood dumbstruck in the middle of the courtyard. “Haran! Bring me a healing potion, now!” The Argonian shook his head to clear the fog from his thoughts and ran to Aendal, his potion bag in his hand.

Haran removed a small, red bottle from his bag and handed it to the Bosmer, who looked Twilight in the eyes. “Now, Twilight – I need you to close your eyes, okay? This is going to hurt. A lot.” The familiarity of those words made the Unicorn cringe as he wrapped his fingers around the shaft of the arrow, then pressed his forehead to Twilight’s, and yanked the missile from her leg. She cried out, her voice hitching, before Aendal pressed the now-open bottle of red liquid to Twilight’s lips. “Drink.” The Unicorn downed the bottle’s contents, watching in amazement as the wound on her leg slowly began to heal.

“That’s… Amazing. It doesn’t even hurt anymore!” The Unicorn looked to Aendal, then down to the arrow in his hand. “That… Hurt, a lot more than I’d expected.” Twilight grimaced, looking out to the field of burnt corpses and dismembered limbs, her vision fogging as her eyes filled with tears. “D-did I… Do that?” If Twilight hadn’t already been using Aendal for support, she would have simply collapsed in a heap on the ground, despair overwhelming her. As the acrid, sulfuric stench of burning flesh burned her nostrils, her feelings of despair quickly turned to ones of fear and anguish, as her mind was filled with her memories of the burnt-out town she passed through when she first arrived in Skyrim. Suddenly, everything went black.

________________________________________

Twilight slowly opened her eyes, mumbling something incoherent as she stumbled to her hooves, taking in her surroundings through hazy vision. There was a small fire blazing a few feet away, where Aendal was roasting some small animal on a spit. Urgak was sleeping on a bedroll against the wall of the small alcove they’d taken shelter in, and Haran was sitting on a rock, reading a book. Wait just a second. “H-Haran! Is that… Is that what I think it is?” She disappeared in a bright flash of light, and reappeared next to a very startled Argonian, reading over his shoulder, her eyes lit up with elation. “A book! I haven’t seen one of these since I left Equestria!” She reared back on her hind legs, clapping her front hooves together. “You have to let me read it when you’re done! I haven’t read a book in days!”

The Argonian assassin laughed, his coarse voice grating on Twilight’s ears. “This is one of the two I have, and I’m on my fifth read-through. You can read it now, if you’d like.” He snapped the hard-covered volume shut, holding it out to the Unicorn.

Twilight squeaked, a purple aura enveloping the book as she took hold of it with her magic, her eyes scanning over the cover. “Wabbajack… Sounds like a good read!” She gingerly set the book down, then wrapped her forelegs around Haran in a tight hug. “Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!” After she was given the most horrifying glare she’d ever seen in her life, Twilight quietly shrank back and opened the book, scooting off to a corner of their alcove to read:

“Little boys shouldn't summon up the forces of eternal darkness unless they have an adult supervising, I know, I know. But on that sunny night on the 5th of First Seed, I didn't want an adult. I wanted Hermaeus Mora, the Daedra of knowledge, learning, gums, and varnishes. You see, I was told by a beautiful, large breasted man who lived under the library in my home town that the 5th of First Seed was Hermaeus Mora's night. And if I wanted the Oghma Infinitum, the book of knowledge, I had to summon him. When you're the new king of Solitude, every bit of knowledge helps.

Normally, you need a witch’s coven, or a Mage’s Guild, or at least matching pillow case and sheets to invoke a prince of Oblivion. The Man Under the Library showed me how to do it myself. He told me to wait until the storm was at its height before shaving the cat. I've forgotten the rest of the ceremony. It doesn't matter.

Someone appeared who I thought was Hermaeus Mora. The only thing that made me somewhat suspicious was Hermaeus Mora, from what I read, was a big blobby multi-eyed clawed monstrosity, and this guy looked like a waistcoated banker. Also, he kept calling himself Sheogorath, not Hermaeus Mora. Still, I was so happy to have successfully summoned Hermaeus Mora, these inconsistencies did not bother me. He had me do some things that didn't make any sense to me (beyond the mortal scope, breadth, and ken, I suppose), and then his servant happily gave me something he called the Wabbajack.

Wabbajack. Wabbajack. Wabbajack.

Maybe the Wabbajack is the Book of Knowledge. Maybe I'm smarter because I know cats can be bats can be rats can be hats can be gnats can be thats can be thises. And that doors can be boars can be snores can be floors can be roars can be spores can be yours can be mine. I must be smart, for the interconnective system is very clear to me. Then why, or wherefore do people keep calling me mad?

Wabbajack. Wabbajack. Wabbajack.”

Twilight closed the book, blinked a few times, then slumped her head onto the dirt floor. That was easily the single most disturbing, confusing thing she’d ever read; it also had an air of familiarity about it that brought the Treatise on Daedric Princes to mind. Wow. I’d totally forgotten about that book... Why does ‘Sheogorath’ sound so familiar..? As she pondered this, Twilight didn’t notice that Aendal had walked up behind her; the sudden pressure of his hand on her back made her yelp, jerking forward and turning to face the Elf, her cheeks turning red. “I, uhm. I knew it was you.”

Aendal chuckled, smiling at Twilight as he crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m glad to see you’re doing okay. How’s the leg?”

Twilight looked down at her leg, and only the blood matted to her fur betrayed the fact that she’d been injured. “It’s… Fine, actually. No pain or anything. That potion did wonders; thank you, again, for helping me.” She smiled up at Aendal, sitting back on her haunches.

The Elf shrugged, leaning back against the alcove’s wall. “Was no trouble. You did kind of save our skin. Again.” He shuddered, remembering exactly what she’d done to those bandits. Nightmares had troubled his sleep during the night, recalling the eyes bubbling from the bandits’ heads.

The Unicorn frowned, tears welling in her eyes. “I don’t take pride in what I did to everypony. That was… Horrible. If it never happens again, it’ll be too soon.” She sniffed and reached up to wipe her tears away. “I… Think I’m going to need some armor, if I’m going to keep travelling with you. That arrow really hurt.”

Aendal nodded, and a smirk crossed his features. Good; she was learning. “I believe that’s a possibility – we’re going to head for Rorikstead once Urgak’s done sleeping.” The Elf glanced down at the novel at Twilight’s hooves, quirking a brow. “What’re you reading, one of Haran’s books? Careful, he reads the weird stuff.” He glanced over his shoulder to see Haran smoking his pipe and reading another book. “I’m gonna go do some scouting. Keep an eye on him for me, will you? Make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid while I’m gone.”

The Argonian gave a quiet huff, smoke billowing from his nostrils. “I may not have ears like yours, Elf, but that does not make me deaf.” The reptile snapped his book shut, setting his pipe aside on a patch of dirt. “If you want some scouting done, maybe you should send someone whom isn’t in the habit of being spotted by the enemy.” He gave a gruff chuckle, stood from his seat and drew his bow, bringing his hood over his red-feathered head. “I will return in less than an hour.” Haran slinked out of the alcove, disappearing into the tall grass outside.

Twilight blinked, then glanced up to Aendal, her hoof scratching the ground. “So… I’d forgotten a small detail, until I read a bit of Haran’s book.” To the Elf’s quirked brow, she reached up and rubbed at her mane, avoiding his gaze. “I, um… Sort of conjured Clavicus Vile in Ponyville, and asked him for the opportunity to get infinite knowledge. He dumped me here, and told me to look for something called… I think he called it an ‘Elder Scroll.’ What is that?”

Aendal’s normally tanned face turned as pale as a linen sheet as the blood drained from his features. “You… You wished for something from Clavicus Vile and survived? I’m… Impressed. Most people end up dead. Or worse.” The Bosmer pushed away from the wall and knelt down in front of Twilight, placing a hand atop her head. “I have no idea what an Elder Scroll is, dear. However, I have a friend who might know a thing or two, up in Winterhold.” He smirked as the shock bled from his mind, a chuckle escaping his lips. “You’d like him. He’s a librarian.”

________________________________________

Urgak grumbled, the sunlight forcing him to place a hand over his brow to see properly. “Now, someone wanna explain t’me why we’re goin’ to Rorikstead? Ain’t anything there but a bunch’a poor farmers. Ain’t nobody to give us coin; we should be goin’ back to Whiterun to work for that old man. Vampire huntin’ pays good.”

Twilight narrowed her eyes at Urgak, the hood of her wool cloak stretching up over her horn and casting shadows over her face. “I won’t travel with you if you’re going to hunt vampires. If they’re anything like the vampire ponies our lore in Equestria talks about… I don’t want anything to do with them. And that vampire at the cave almost killed all of you, if you recall.”

The Orc stumbled a bit at her assessment of his combat skills, his face flushing a dark brown as his voice was raised. “And those lowly bandits managed to capture you, little miss spell-tosser. Twice!”

Without even batting an eye in his direction, Twilight shattered his confidence. “And I kept a bandit from chopping you into fillets, and kept a vampire from turning you into a thrall. Sounds like you and I are just about even, Urgak.” The Unicorn huffed, trotting ahead to take to the front of the group with Aendal. “How far until Rorikstead?”

The Elf shrugged, pointing to a dot on the horizon. “A few hours’ hike down this road. Not too far. I know a blacksmith there that can fit you for some greaves. Nothing too heavy, but a bit of leather armor will do more to stop an arrow than your flesh.” He chuckled, turning his face to the sky; the sun’s light warming his face as he smiled up at the cloudless, azure expanse. “Nice day out.”

Twilight smiled as well, turning her gaze up to the sky. “Yeah; yeah it is.” Her gaze travelled below the sunlit clouds, locking onto a massive, winged shape soaring through the sky. “…Is that a dragon?”

Aendal chuckled at the Unicorn’s question, covering his brow with a hand as he glanced to where she was looking. “Twilight, there hasn’t been a dragon in Tamriel in ove-” His face went pale as the winged shape swooped down about one hundred meters away from them, scooping up a large horse and its rider. “By Azura, that’s a bloody dragon! RUN!”

The group broke into a collective sprint, their armor and gear rattling loudly as their boots pounded the earth. They ran for a mile before the dragon flew overhead, dropping the skeleton of the horse it had picked up in front of them, the scaled monster soaring off into the distance. The roar that emitted from its throat shook Twilight to her core, bringing old nightmares to the front of her mind. The Unicorn almost crashed into the massive pile of bones that now blocked the road, but she disappeared in a bright flash of light, reappearing on the other side.

“What is wrong with your dragons?! The ones in Equestria don’t do… Well, this!” She huffed and stamped her hooves on the ground, giving Aendal a frustrated look.

Everyone else simply stood there, dumbfounded. Dragons, in Skyrim? “I had heard rumors while we were in Whiterun, but I hadn’t expected them to be true. This is... By the Hist, this is bad.” Haran’s brow furrowed as he tried to keep his gaze locked on the quickly-disappearing dragon. “Quickly, let us leave this place before it decides to come back.”

Haran and Aendal kept their bows drawn as they marched for Rorikstead, arriving in only forty-five minutes; their dead sprint after spotting the dragon brought them a lot closer than they’d realized. Once they were within the borders of Rorikstead, Twilight used her magic to remove her hood, a smile on her face as she looked around the town. Dirt roads, stone homes with thatched roofs, large gardens and a field of what she assumed was cabbage. The small village brought a wide smile to her face and a tear to her eye, as images of home filled her head. “I’m not staying in the stable in this town.” The Unicorn looked to Aendal, her brow quirked up.

The Elf chuckled and reached over to pat Twilight’s head, nodding. “That’s fine; this town isn’t walled off. We can probably get them to think you’re my Familiar or something. Before we do anything, though, I have to go to the smithy to discuss your armor. Feel free to come with, or wander about and do your own thing; just make sure to yell for us if you get into trouble. Okay?” He gave Twilight a worried smile, and the Unicorn nodded in agreement.

Aendal and Urgak marched toward the open-air forge, leaving behind the Unicorn and the Argonian, the pair standing in the middle of the road, both gazing around. Haran shrugged and pulled his hood back, running his hand over his feathered head. “I’m heading to the bar, if you need me.” The Argonian walked off, disappearing through the door of a nearby building.

Twilight sighed and rolled her eyes, opting to just follow Aendal and Urgak. Why not? Aendal was chatting up the blacksmith, and Urgak was fixing some dents in his claymore on the anvil. When Twilight approached the Elf, the Nord blacksmith just stared down at her with his powder blue eyes, crossing his massive arms over his chest. “Make sure your familiar doesn’t break anything.” His stern demeanor softened, and he reached down to pat the Unicorn on the head, ruffling her mane. “Beautiful familiar you’ve got, Aendal. She spell support for when you get spotted or something?”

The Elf scratched at the back of his head, sharing a glance with Twilight. “More than I’d like to admit. She’s the one I need the greaves for – I don’t want her getting hurt.”

The blacksmith nodded and held up a large patch of tanned leather, his brow quirking upward. “I can fashion some iron-plated leather greaves for her, and maybe a matching cuirass, if you feel like carrying it around whenever you dispel her.”

Aendal glanced down to Twilight, and when she nodded, he’d nod in agreement. “Yes, that’s fine. How much will that run me?”

While Aendal and the blacksmith discussed price, Twilight tilted her head and smiled at the small Nord that came running out of the blacksmith’s house. He couldn’t have been any older than a young colt, standing at only about three hooves tall; he had a thick head of blonde hair, and powder blue eyes, just like his dad. The small Nord ran up to Twilight and grabbed her cheeks, giggling. “Daddy! Lookit th’ Unicorn, she’s purple!”

Twilight didn’t even notice his hand trailing up into her mane and onto her horn until it was too late. The moment the boy’s fingers wrapped around her horn, the Unicorn cried out, her knees buckling as her eyes shot wide open. “Hhhhnn! N-no! Don’t gra-AB my h-HORN!” In a flash of light, she disappeared, reappearing a quarter of a mile outside of town. She lay there, shivering and clamping down on her lower lip with her teeth, her legs too akin to jelly for the Unicorn to move.

Aendal glanced back to Twilight just before she vanished, the blood draining from his face when the realization of what was happening hit him like a sack of bricks. The blacksmith’s son ran crying into the house, and the blacksmith stood a mere foot away from the Bosmer, glaring daggers down at the pointy-eared ranger. “So, uh… How about that nice weather, huh?”

On the Road Again

“So. Twilight, care to explain what that was, exactly? Djemir barely had time to size you up before you freaked out and scared his kid.” Aendal sighed, smoke drifting from between his lips as he spoke. The Bosmer sat on a boulder, puffing on a long-stemmed pipe and staring down at the Unicorn as she lay in a ditch.

“I don’t wanna talk about it. It’s, i-it’s embarrassing.” Her face turned a lovely shade of red under her fur, her purple irises avoiding the Elf’s gaze.

He smirked and quirked a brow at Twilight, more smoke drifting from his lips. “Twilight, I’ve bedded enough women to know what the look on your face meant. Maybe you should cover your horn up if it’s so - sensitive.”

This only made the Unicorn blush harder, curling up and hiding her face under her tail. “I’ll just pay better attention to where somepony’s putting their appendages.” She mumbled something under her breath, pulling the wool hood of her cloak over her head and horn.

Aendal chuckled as he stood from his perch and dumped out the embers of his pipe. “Well, Djemir got started on your armor before I came out, so you should have it by sunset.” The Elf slipped the pipe into the gear back in the small of his back, kneeling down next to Twilight. “Now, you’ve gotta be starving; you haven’t eaten much of anything since you joined us. Let’s go get us something to eat, shall we?”

The Unicorn looked up to him, a bright smile on her face as her eyes lit up. “Yes, let’s! I’m famished.” Twilight rose to her hooves and followed as Aendal turned, intent on heading for the inn in Rorikstead.

________________________________________

“I’ll be taking that hundred gold now, son.” Urgak grumbled, standing over a bruised-up Nord boy. The pale-skinned male couldn’t have been more than twenty years old, his green eyes glistening with tears as he stood, running a calloused hand through his black locks.

“Fine. A deal’s a deal. You hit hard, Orc; you’ve bested me.” The pair of fighters shook hands, and the Nord handed Urgak a leather pouch that gave a cheery jingle as it changed hands.

“Yup; drinks’re on me, boy.” As Aendal and Twilight walked in, the Orc held up an empty, wooden mug, grinning at the pair. “Won us a hundred gold! Drinks’re on me!” When his gaze fell on Twilight, Urgak’s expression drooped into one of irritation. “What’s the horse doin’ in here? You want us t’ get kicked out, Elf?”

Aendal very quickly made his way across the stone floor of the inn, bringing himself a mere inch or two from the Orc as he glared up into his green face, his finger jabbing Urgak’s orichalcum armor. “She goes where she damn well pleases, Urgak. She’s part of my team, and she goes where we go. Remember what happened yesterday, when we left her by herself?”

The Orc was unable to meet Aendal’s gaze. Instead, he shoved past the Bosmer and made a beeline for the door; he stopped only to glare down at Twilight. “I don’t like spell-tossers, an’ I don’t like you. You’ve brought us nothin’ but trouble so far, an’ I don’t see that changin’ anytime soon if you stick around. Sleep with one eye open, Unicorn.” The glare he gave her was cold enough to chill the blood in her veins, and the Unicorn barely held in a yelp as the inn’s door slammed behind her.

The bruised-up Nord cleared his throat and reached up to soothe a cut on his cheek. “So… Does this mean I don’t get free drinks?”

________________________________________

Twilight sighed and turned her gaze to the gray, cloudy sky as she, Aendal, Urgak and Haran passed the crags and cliffs just outside of Rorikstead. Their trip was, for the most part, uneventful as they marched through the craggy valleys between Rorikstead and Morthal. Twilight removed her hood with her magic and withdrew Wabbajack from her saddle bag; a smirk crossed her features as she re-read it. “Haran?” She glanced up from her book to the hooded Argonian marching two meters ahead of her.

The assassin turned to look over his shoulder at the Unicorn, a scaly brow quirked upward. “Yes, Twilight?”

She turned a page in Wabbajack, a light in her eyes as she spoke. “You… Wouldn’t happen to have more books on you, would you?”

Haran nodded and turned his face to focus on the road ahead of him, his boots silent on the flattened dirt beneath them. “Yes, I do. If you are done with Wabbajack, I will let you borrow my other book. Those are the only two I have, unfortunately.”

Twilight nodded and looked back down at the text in front of her as she walked with the rest of the team. She had just gotten to the second paragraph when her hoof caught on a rather large stone in the road and she fell forward, a yelp escaping her as her face slammed into the dirt. “Ow!” She sat up on her haunches and reached up to rub at her head, a wince scrunching her features. “Dumb rock…” She rose back to her hooves and continued on, her new armor rattling only slightly as her weight shifted.

The Unicorn was clad in leather barding with thin iron plates lining her back, and leather greaves that covered her legs, save for her knees. The iron plates clinked together as her body shifted with her four-legged gait, and after a few miles of walking, Twilight had begun to sweat under her fur. “M-maybe we should stop for a breather, guys. I’m exhausted.”

Urgak glared back to Twilight, the look on his face similar to one he’d give someone that just started vomiting Septims. The Orc shook his head and continued on, waving over his shoulder at the trio that stayed behind. “I’ll scout ahead, then.”

Aendal and Haran shook their heads at Urgak, a sigh escaping the Elf’s lips. “Alright, we’ll take a break.” He climbed onto and sat down on a rocky ledge overlooking the road, his eyes focused Northwards. “There’s a river about a mile up the road, and what looks like… A marsh? Morthal shouldn’t be too far, then.”

Haran looked up at Aendal from his perch atop a small boulder, a look of inspiration in his eyes. “I know a quick route to Morthal, Elf, if you do not wish to go around on the main road.”

The Bosmer blinked and peered down at Haran, an inquisitive look plain on his face. “Go on.”

The black-robed assassin brushed a bit of dirt from his clothes as he gestured to the marshes on the horizon. “Well, we could cut straight through the marshes – we would be in Morthal in less than an hour, as opposed to three hours. I know a safe route through.”

Aendal watched as Urgak returned over the horizon and waved an all-clear signal; the Elf then turned his gaze to Twilight. “Alright. Going through the marshes doesn’t sound like too terrible an idea – what could go wrong?”

________________________________________

“Of all the worst possible ideas, Haran, this is the. Worst. Possible. Idea!” Aendal’s shouting was punctuated with the loud sucking noises the wet marshland made with every labored step he took as his legs sank into the muck. Twilight rode on his back, and the Bosmer found her surprisingly light.

“I did not hear any objections when I brought up the idea, Aendal.” The Argonian had a much easier time trudging through the swamp, and took great pleasure in speeding past Urgak, Aendal and Twilight. “This is not much different than my homeland of Blackmarsh. A little colder, though.”

Urgak glared at Haran, a grunt escaping him as he pulled an Orichalcum-covered leg from the muck beneath him. “When we get outta here, I’ma ki-AGH! GET IT OFF ME!” The Orc shouted and made a loud slapping sound as he was slammed into the swamp floor, a massive, brown and white spider having landed on his back.

“Azura, no! Haran, watch the trees!” Aendal drew his bow when he felt Twilight drop from his back and knocked back an arrow, letting it fly into the spider’s abdomen. The hairy arachnid slumped from Urgak’s back and let out a blood-curdling scream as it drifted across the marsh on the light current in the murky water.

Aendal lowered his bow and let a smirk cross his face when Urgak rose to his feet. “Good, maybe that was the only o-” WHUMP! Another spider dropped onto Aendal’s back, sending the Elf into the muck with a wet smack.

“Elf!” Urgak began to trudge toward Aendal before a pair of spiders pounced on him; one sank its fangs into his neck as the pair dragged him to the ground, the weight of the pair of spiders added to his waterlogged armor too much for him to hold up.

Haran grunted as a particularly large spider pounced on him, pinning the Argonian under the water. Haran just smirked as he drove his dagger up into the creature’s mouth and dragged it back, splitting the ugly monster’s face open. He squirmed out from under the spider’s corpse and rose to his feet, a glare heating his eyes as he witnessed his team fighting off a group of seven or so spiders – Twilight however, was still sitting in the cold water, frozen in shock.

The Argonian shook his head and pulled a small dagger from one of the pouches on his belt; the blade closed the distance between himself and Aendal, the sharp metal sinking into the flesh of the spider on the Elf’s back. “Get up, Aendal! You are embarrassing the team!” His voice came out in a rasp as the cold air burned his lungs.

Aendal groggily rose to his feet and drew his bow, knocking back an arrow and letting it fly at the spiders on Urgak. The Elf and Argonian fought ferociously as another, smaller group of spiders crawled into the fray; Urgak finally climbed to his feet and drew his claymore, smashing and slashing spiders with the pommel and the blade.

A few meters away from the fight, Twilight still sat, stunned and muttering under her breath. “S-spiders… Spiders everywhere, they’re massive… W-why are there so ma-OH CELESTIA, NO!” A spider’s corpse floated into her cheek as she sat there, the Unicorn immediately sloshing to her feet and screaming. “Spiders! Spiders in my mane! Get ‘em off me, get ‘em off me!” The purple Unicorn blinked out of existence in a flash of light and reappeared ahead of the group, making her way to Morthal. “Get’emoffmeget’emoffme!”

________________________________________

Urgak grumbled as he scraped mud from the inside of his armor. The Orc, and everyone else aside from Twilight, was covered in bites and scratches from the spiders. They sat at the edge of the lake in the middle of Morthal, each either washing their clothing and armor in the lake, or scraping mud from their weapons. “We never speak’a this, get me? Not a blasted word.”

Twilight sat on her haunches next to Aendal, fussing with a clod of dirt in her mane as she tried to smooth it out with a brush. She raised a brow at Urgak as a smirk crossed her lips, immediately replaced with a wince as the dirt clod pulled a few hairs from her mane. “Ow!”

Aendal shook his head and scrubbed mud from his shirt on a washboard, a sigh escaping his lips. “If I never see another marsh again, it’ll be too soon.”

The Argonian gave a toothy grin to the rest of the group as he laid out his robes to dry. He was clad in a pair of ratty cloth pants and a wool shirt, and let his feet dangle over the lake as he sat on the edge of a pier. “Oh, come now. It was not that bad, was it?” To their death glares, the Argonian simply shrugged. “Well, I suppose you Mer would have an issue with it, having not been born in a marsh.” He glanced over to Twilight and smirked. “And, wherever you are from, I am assuming you are not used to swamps. Correct?”

The purple mare nodded and set her brush down on top of her drying saddle bags and armor, a soft smile crossing her features as she looked up at Aendal. “Equestria doesn’t have many swamps outside of the Everfree Forest, and I never really spent much time in there. Too dangerous.”
Aendal quirked a brow at Twilight as he laid his shirt out on a plank to dry. “Equestria? I can’t say I’m familiar with the name – that across the sea or something?”

Twilight shook her head and frowned. “No, I don’t think it’s even on this planet. Or dimension, or… I don’t know. Equestria only has one moon, controlled by one of our princesses. Same as the sun.” The mare was met with a trio of confounded stares, and she simply cocked her head in reply. “What? You don’t have somepony controlling your astral bodies?”

They all shook their heads in reply, and Haran stood from his perch on the pier; a groan escaped him as he leaned back and stretched, his yellow eyes fixated on the grey skies for a moment. “I am going to see about getting us a carriage to Winterhold as planned, Aendal. I do not wish to make the trek on foot.”

Twilight turned to watch the Argonian leave, her brow quirking up as she glanced over to Aendal. “What’s in Winterhold, Aendal?” The purple Unicorn laid out her armor on the pier nearby so it could dry, a frown creasing her features when she noticed that Haran’s copy of Wabbajack was soaked from the marshes. “Oh, no! Haran’s going to be furious!” She tried to shake the book dry, but to no avail. The ink was running from the pages.

Aendal chuckled at Twilight, pulling a dark brown, wool shirt over his head as he walked over to the Unicorn. He patted her on the head, careful to avoid her horn, and sat down on the frozen ground next to her. “I’m sure he won’t mind much – we can always buy a new book for him at the College of Winterhold. They have a massive librarian, and my friend Urag might be nice enough to give us a discount. Especially after he sees a creature as curious as you.” The Elf gave Twilight a wink and ruffled her mane.

The Unicorn giggled and gave Aendal a questioning look. “So, Urag is the librarian’s name, huh?” Twilight stopped and blinked for a moment, a realization dawning on her. “Wait, the librarian’s an Orc?”

________________________________________

Twilight smiled as she climbed into the back of the small passenger wagon and ducked under a pile of wool blankets. “Ah, finally! Warmth!” The Unicorn snuggled up into the blankets and poked her hooded head out, a smile on her face as she looked to the group as they piled on. “So, what’s Winterhold like?”

Haran glanced up to the ceiling of dark grey clouds again, his yellow eyes narrowing as he took in the scents of the wind. “Cold. It is a small town on the coast of the Sea of Ghosts; the only reason anyone ever chooses to go there is for the College. Otherwise, the place is poor as dirt and full of Nords.” The Argonian gave a raspy scoff as the wagon took off, his arms crossed over his chest as he leaned back against the wagon’s side.

Urgak turned to Twilight and shook his head. “I heard the place is pretty, but it ain’t worth the effort’a goin’ there.” His black irises roamed over to Aendal as he picked something from his tusks. “Speakin’ of, why in Oblivion are we goin’ to that Gods-forsaken pit, anyway?”

The Bosmer glanced over to Urgak and spoke as he fished a small loaf of bread from his pack. “Because I said so, for one.” Aendal took a bite of the bread and pointed the rest of the loaf at the Orc. “And because we’re going to help Twilight find something called an… Elder Scroll, was it? I figure the library in Winterhold should have one.”

The hooded Argonian wheezed out a hacking cough, curled forward as he gripped his chest. After a few moments, the coughing lightened into a wheezing chortle, and Twilight could swear she saw a tear slide down the reptile’s cheek. “What’s so funny, Haran?” Aendal looked to their assassin partner, a genuinely confused look painted on his face.

Haran wheezed out another laugh before he waved his hand, his lungs rattling with another cough. “It is nothing, Elf. Nothing at all.” The Argonian cleared his throat and jabbed his chest with his fist a few times, then leaned up against the wagon’s side. “I am going to rest for a little while – alert me if there’s trouble before we reach Winterhold.” With that, he closed his eyes to nod off.

Urgak looked to Twilight and frowned, his brow quirked up. “So, mind tellin’ the rest of the class what in Oblivion an Elder Scroll is?”

The purple Unicorn shrugged under her wool blankets, her huge, purple eyes looking up to Urgak in genuine confusion. “I’unno. I was sent here by Clavicus Vile after I wished for unlimited knowledge – he said that an Elder Scroll is what I should be looking for.”

Urgak’s eyes narrowed at Twilight, his armor scraping against itself as he curled forward in his seat to place his elbows on his knees. “You mean t’ tell me that you were stupid enough t’ make a deal with Clavicus Vile, an’ he didn’t kill you on the spot? Unicorn, you’re one lucky soul, I’ll give ya that. Either that, or he didn’t think you’d last all of five seconds in Tamriel.” A smirk crossed his features as he scratched at his chin. “Come t’ think of it, y’ almost didn’t. Lucky you ran int’a us.”

Twilight rolled her eyes and turned her gaze to the dim, grey clouds above them. “Yeah. Real lucky – I’m still alive, but I’m stuck wandering a strange dimension with a group of killer mercenaries, with no idea how to find what I’m looking for, and no idea of how to get home.” Tears welled up in her eyes as she looked back to Urgak, a sniffle escaping her. “I just wanna go home.” She missed her friends: Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie; heck, she’d even settle for Trixie at this point.

The Orc shook his head and turned his gaze from Twilight to the massive mountain range they were passing by. “You ain’t much of a saint yourself, Unicorn. Remember, you’re the unstable mess that burned a whole fort full’a men an’ women. They were bandits, sure, but you burned ‘em alive. That’s worse than anything I’ve ever done.”

Twilight shook as a sob hitched in her throat, memories flooding her mind. So many lay dead in Fort Greymoor; images of the charred corpses leapt to the forefront of her thoughts, the sounds of their screams filled her ears. Her first kill: Grolag was his name. The Unicorn shuddered as the memory of that axe digging into his throat tore at her skull. The wicked grin of the Dark Elf that wanted to cut off her horn to offer to Hircine. The charred, rotting corpses in the first town she’d passed through. The memories proved too much for the armored Unicorn; Twilight rose from her seat on the wagon and rushed to its side, leaning her head over the edge of the wagon so she could wretch on the snowy ground beneath them.

The wagon’s driver heard the splash of vomit hitting the ground, and turned in his seat to stare at the hooded Unicorn. “Did that horse just puke?”

________________________________________

Winterhold was a desolate, snowy town on the Northern coast of Skyrim, nestled at the foot of a wide mountain range that spread out further into the Pale county. There was a single cobblestone road that was lined with three shops and an inn, along with a few small houses. At the edge of the town was a massive, stone arch that opened up to a long, winding bridge that led to the Mage’s College off in the snowy distance. Beneath the bridge, snow-covered ice flows drifted in the Sea of Ghosts between Winterhold and the College’s icy precipice.

Twilight yawned as she climbed down from the back of the wagon parked at the edge of the town, and her breath created a cloud of fog in the freezing morning air. Aendal thanked the wagon driver as they walked toward Winterhold, and turned his attention to Haran. “Well, that ride didn’t seem so bad. Why’d you want us to take a wagon, Haran?”

The Argonian shook his head and pulled his hood up, his finger pointed to the grey curtain of clouds above the town. “You might wish to find cover, Elf. We are not alone.” With that, Haran fished a bottle of clear liquid from his gear belt and downed its contents. Twilight watched in amazement as the Argonian simply disappeared, entirely transparent. “Hide!”

Urgak drew his claymore when the clouds parted, the wind from the massive wings of a dragon pushing the misty masses aside. The giant creature’s white scales seemed to glow as they reflected the exposed sunlight, the beams of daylight filtering through the thin webbing of the dragon’s wings as it descended in front of the group of mercenaries. The ground quaked as the giant, scaled monstrosity landed directly in front of Twilight, its nose a mere foot away from hers. “I thought I smelled a Unicorn…”

Twilight shrank back as the booming, guttural voice of the dragon shook her bones, the force of his breath having knocked back her wool hood. “I, um… H-hello, mister Dragon, sir. T-to whom do I owe th-the honor?”

The dragon’s scaly lips curled up in what appeared to be a smile. “My kin know me as Lokahzoor, or Sky Hunter Legend in the common tongue. Tell me, Unicorn: your kind was wiped out by Hircine and his hunters over two centuries ago. From where do you hail?”

The purple Unicorn was taken aback at the massive creature’s friendly nature, but quickly composed herself and stood up as straight as she could on her four hooves, a proud smile on her face. “I’m Twilight Sparkle, from the land of Equestria! It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lokahzoor. The last time I ran into a friendly dragon was the last time I spoke to Spike, back home. It feels like that was forever ago.”

Lokahzoor quirked a scaly brow and tilted his head at Twilight, his blue hues burning a hole in her forehead. “Spike is an odd name for a Dov.”

Twilight smiled wider at the dragon. “Spike is my number one assistant! He was granted to me by Princess Celestia when he was just an e-”

“He is your number one what?”

The Unicorn blinked and looked up into the creature’s eyes, oblivious to the rage they contained. “My number one assistant! He helps me out around the library and keeps things clean for me, and helps me keep things organized. Not to mention, he’s a pretty outstanding cook.”

Aendal and Urgak looked on in horror as Twilight embellished into having a baby dragon in her employ, Lokahzoor’s scaled lips twisting into an angry scowl, his massive, razor-sharp fangs exposed. “A Dov in the service of a Unicorn? Blasphemy! I shall do him a kindness, and release him from your service!” The white-scaled dragon then reared his thorny head back and parted his jaws, a wake of frost and freezing air blasting forth from his fang-filled maw.

The End of the Beginning

This is it. She’s going to die; this creature, who's saved our asses so many times, is going to get stomped on by this Dra- Wait. What? Aendal blinked when Lokahzoor’s frost breath attack wrapped itself around a giant bubble of pink that suddenly appeared around Twilight. “Haran! Now!”

Lokahzoor’s torrent of frost stopped as an arrow sank into the soft scales on his belly; the massive creature roared and turned to face the invisible threat, and another cone of freezing wind engulfed the earth in front of him. The frosty air found purchase on nothing but snow and a few tundra bushes, however, as an invisible Haran rolled up underneath Lokahzoor’s head and grasped the horns on his jaws. “Orc, the legs! Hit the damn le-” The Argonian’s raspy voice was cut short as the dragon slammed its own head into the icy ground to shake the assassin off. With a groan, Haran released Lokahzoor’s head and reappeared slumped to the ground, his hands on his bruised stomach, the invisibility potion worn off.

“You think to defeat a Dov with simple parlor tricks and pointy sticks?” Urgak let loose a battle cry as he rushed the dragon’s rear; as his claymore started to come down, Lokahzoor’s spiny tail slammed into the Orc’s stomach and sent him careening into a snow drift a few meters away. “Fools, all of you.”

“Hey! Dragon!” The frost dragon turned its thorny head to face the direction of Aendal’s voice, only to have an arrow bounce from the hard scales of his cheek, just below his eye. “…Oh. Oh, Azura, I missed.” The Bosmer dropped his bow and rolled, his back barely nipped by the stream of frozen air from Lokahzoor’s maw.Aendal drew his longsword and took up a fighting stance as the dragon’s ice-blue eyes bored into his own. “You want this? Come get some, you scaly bastard!”

“Should we go help them, Arch-Mage? There’s a Unicorn down there; it looks like a losing battle.” Mirabelle Ervine, a Breton woman in her mid-thirties turned from the eye-glass to look at Arch-Mage SavosAren, a concerned look on her tan, weathered face.

The Dunmer Arch-Mage brought a hand up to stroke his dark, knotted beard as his sanguine eyes stared through the looking-glass to the battle being waged outside the town, less than a mile away. A smirk formed across his lips as he spoke.“No, not yet. Let’s see what the little Unicorn can do, first.”

Lokahzoor reared his thorny head back to charge up another breath attack as Aendal stood in front of him, weapon at the ready. Just as the dragon was about to let his spell loose, a small sphere of flame collided with the side of his head, the recoil sending the aim of his spell wide. “You!” The white-scaled beast turned his attention to Twilight just as another firebolt struck him in the face, the heat of the small fireball scorching his white scales. “I’m going to enjoy devouring you, Unicorn…”

Lokahzoor jabbed his head forward, his maw open wide, intent on devouring Twilight in a single bite. Just as his fangs were about to make purchase on her armor, she disappeared in a bright flash of light, and reappeared just out of his reach. “No, you’re not!” Twilight’s voice quaked as she spoke, and she was clearly shaking. The steely determination that burned in her eyes declared that it was from the cold, rather than fear.

The purple Unicorn flinched and shrank back as a huff of Lokahzoor’s icy breath blasted through her mane; the frost dragon drew his head back to suck in a deep breath for another frost breath attack, but stopped as an arrow struck him inside his mouth, the steel tip burying itself in the Dov’s tongue. Lokahzoor let out a cry of anguish as he stumbled back, and quickly turned to face the new threat: a pair of guards from the town had finally worked up the nerve to attack the beast. Bellowing with rage, Lokahzoor charged at the pair, using his wings to drag him forward before he lunged at the closest guard. The Frost Dragon snapped the young man up in his jaws and shook him; the creature’s fangs and the force of the shaking was enough to tear the man’s armor asunder, along with the soft flesh beneath.

Lokahzoor tossed the broken man aside as the second guard brandished his sword, and the dragon had what Twilight thought was a massive grin splitting his scaly lips. “Run away, little man. I haven’t time for morsels like you.” The beast turned to focus that grin on Twilight, and her heart sank as she looked to her weakened and injured friends. “No, I have bigger and better things to garner my attention.”

Twilight felt an icy pit form in her stomach as she glanced to her wounded comrades. Urgak and Haran were both either unconscious or dead; the Unicorn was unable to tell from her position. She turned to look at Aendal, and the Bosmer gave her a small smile and a curt nod. It wasn’t much, but it was more than enough to steel her resolve. She lowered her head and dug her hooves into the ground, a death glare burning in her eyes as she watched the dragon soar into the sky, circling overhead. Lokahzoor dove toward Twilight, his frost breath attack billowing from his jagged maw, and again skittering off the surface of Twilight’s shield. The Dov cursed, pulling himself back up into the sky to align himself for another attack.

The Unicorn mage readied herself, and focused all of her magical energy into her horn as her shield dissipated. Twilight’s horn was encased in magical, violet light, and it began to spark. She dumped more and more energy into her horn as it was wrapped in the radiance of several layers of overcharge, brilliant sparks of energy spitting from her aura before she loosed a beam of pure magical force at Lokahzoor. The dragon tried to bank away from the blinding beam of light, but it struck him hard in his side, causing the creature to tumble out of the sky and into the snowy field a few meters behind Twilight.

Twilight slumped to the ground, her eyelids fluttering as she tried in vain to escape the fatigue that accompanied over-using her magic. “A-Aendal, I’m gonna pass out now, if that’s alright with you.” The purple mage collapsed onto her side as her heavy eyelids slid shut, and her breathing slowed as she drifted off to sleep.

Aendal, on the other hand, was more than wide awake. The Bosmer brought up his longsword and twirled it in his fingers, a confident smirk on his face as he slowly made his way across the white field to his broken quarry. Lokahzoor tried to bring himself up to his feet, but slumped back down as his muscles gave way, the two-ton monster slipping a little farther down the gentle slope of the field with each attempt. Aendal laughed at his efforts, standing in front of the Frost Dragon and leaning forward, his hands resting on the pommel of his sword as the tip dug into the icy ground beneath him. “Not so great and powerful now, are you?”

Lokahzoor snarled at Aendal and tried to bring himself up to his full height again, his frost attack building in his throat before he stumbled again, his wing slipping underneath him as he slid down the incline. The dragon’s eyes shot wide open as he rolled over the edge of the massive cliff at the bottom of the field’s incline, letting out an ear-splitting roar as he tumbled end-over-end through the ice and into the frozen water, hundreds of feet below. Aendal just smiled to himself as he pivoted on his heel and sheathed his blade, making his way across the field to gather up his friends.

Twilight yawned as she woke, the grogginess of sleep still weighing down her eyelids. The mid-morning sun was warm on her face as she stretched beneath the blankets that covered her still-waking form, and a smile graced her features. A dream; that’s all it was. Thank Celestia, it was all a dream! The purple Unicorn curled forward and sat up in the soft bed, about to call out to Spike when her heart sank: She was surrounded by stone walls; mahogany dressers and bookcases lined the dorm room, and a single window allowed beams of sunlight inside. “Where am I..?”

“Ah! Good to see you’re awake!” Twilight jerked back on the bed, startled by Arch-Mage Savos Aren’s sudden, boisterous greeting. “My apologies, dear – I didn’t mean to startle you.”

As the purple Unicorn regained her mental faculties, her eyes shot wide open when a sudden reminder hit her like a baby-grand piano. “Where are Urgak, Haran and Aendal?” She was in the middle of climbing out of her comfortable bed when Savos placed a hand on her shoulder, a gentle smile on his face.

“Calm yourself little one, your friends are safe. They’re being seen to in the other rooms in this section of the College. You’re currently in the Hall of Attainment; a few of our students were gracious enough to give up their rooms for a few days while you and your friends recovered. Your Argonian friend has a few broken ribs and a fractured arm, and the Orcalso has a few broken ribs, but he’s also got a concussion. Our healers are spectacular mages, however, and will have them back to fighting form in no time.” Savos returned to his seat and crossed his legs, reaching onto the end table next to the bed for a bottle of mead as he spoke, “Your friend, Aendal, is in the Arcanaeum speaking with our resident librarian, Urag.”

Twilight immediately hopped out of her bed, her legs nearly giving out as she landed on the floor next to the comfortable mattress. “Well, let’s stop wasting time and go find them! I need to see for myself that my friends are okay.” She gave Savos a hard, determined stare, and was given a cheerful laugh in response.

“Alright then, dear, have it your way,” Savos said as he rose to his feet, setting the bottle of mead back down on the end table after taking a swig. “We shall go check on your friends.” He started to walk toward the door, and then suddenly stopped in his tracks, a chuckle escaping his lips. “Oh dear, where are my manners? My name is Savos Aren. I am the Arch Mage of this college. Aendal told me your name is Twilight, correct?” He was given a nod in response, and he smiled as he led her out into the foyer of the Hall of Attainment, and Twilight’s eyes widened when she caught sight of the beam of light that shot up from the magical wellspring in the center of the circular room.

The Unicorn let out a small gasp as she looked into the pool, her eyes filled with wonder as she peered into the bright blue liquid. “What is this?”

Savos smiled, turning to look up at the beam of light that pierced the center of the building, a hint of amusement in his voice as he replied, “It’s just a pool of water with a directed Mage Light spell set into it. Not much more than a fancy parlor trick.”

Twilight’s smile faded a little, though its remnants still tugged a bit at the corners of her mouth as she followed Savos into the room next to the one she’d been staying in. Urgak lay in a bed inside the room, muttering something under his breath as a young Bosmer woman in brown robes finished tying the bandages on his torso. “Ow!” He shot forward and gripped at his side, directing a fiery glare at the Bosmer. “Don’t tie ‘em s’damn tight, woman! Damn!” The young woman shied away, mumbling a string of apologies as she quickly scampered out of the room. Urgak leaned forward and winced, looking up at Twilight, a smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth. “So, Twilight. I hear you’re th’ one that saved our asses out there. Took down a dragon, huh?” The Orc sidled to the edge of the bed and slowly rose to his feet, one hand clutching at his bandaged ribs as he made his way over to the Unicorn. He placed a hand atop her head and smirked, looking down into the bewildered expression on her face. “Thanks.”

Twilight just stood in shock as Urgak patted her head, then turned to lie down on his bed. “How… How’s your head? And your ribs?”

Urgak chuckled, immediately regretting the sudden motion in his chest as he leaned forward to grip his side. “I’ll be fine. Damn dragon hurt me pretty good, though, so I’m bed-ridden for a few days. Healers did what they could. Now get outta here an’ lemme sleep.” The Orc’s last words were spoken in a huff, before he slumped back on the bed and closed his eyes.

Twilight nodded and turned to Savos, who then led her to the other side of the Hall of Attainment, to where Haran was resting. The Argonian was sitting up in bed, reading a book titled “Cabin in the Woods” when Twilight entered his room. He looked up from his book and smiled slightly, snapping the book shut and setting it aside. His torso was wrapped up in gauze, as well, and his left arm was in a sling. Out from the top of the bandages on his chest, Twilight could see the top of a branded-in tattoo: what looked like a side view of a hooded man’s head. “Haran, I’m glad to see you’re doing alright. How’re you healing up?”

The assassin gave a raspy chuckle and sidled back on the bed so he could sit up more comfortably, and said, “I am healing well, thank you. That dragon did me some damage, but I will be alright. It is all a matter of letting the bones set, you know. The Elf tells me you killed a dragon! Well done, Twilight.”

The Unicorn mage blinked and sat back on her haunches, staring up at Haran. “That’s what Urgak told me, too. I passed out after my spell hit, but it was only a stun spell. It wasn’t supposed to kill him…” Twilight frowned and looked down at her hooves. “How did he die?”

“The Elf said he rolled off the cliff near where we were fighting, and into the ocean. Apparently, he could not properly use his wings – if that is the case, then he likely drowned. You did good work, little one. No need to be upset over killing a worthy foe,” Haran replied, lifting his book back up and opening it to the page he’d left off. “Now if you will please excuse me, I am just about to get to the good part.”

Twilight gave Haran a gentle smile and a nod before she turned and exited his room, looking up to Savos, a questioning look in her eyes as she parted her lips to speak, “So, do you mind if we go see how Aendal is doing?”

Savos nodded, a bemused smile on his face as he led her to the exit. “Yes, we’ll go see what your friend is up to. I’d like to know what he thought was so urgent to discuss with Urag…”

“And you’re sure you don’t have it?” Aendal begged, leaning a ways over the counter in front of Urag, a look of desperation in his eyes.

“For the last time, Aendal, no! I don’t have a damned Elder Scroll!” Urag growled, his features softening when he realized he was over-reacting.“Even if I did, it would be under such tight security that not even a Nightingale could get to it. Now, I’ve got books about Elder Scrolls, but trying to find an Elder Scroll in my library is… Well, it’s like looking for an Elder Scroll in a library. It’s asinine.”

Aendal frowned and moved a chair over to take a seat next to Urag’s desk, crossing his calf over his knee and relaxing before he asked, “Well, do you have any idea where one could find an Elder Scroll?”

Urag tapped a green finger on his desk, thoughtful for a moment before he replied, “Well… I don’t. However, I do know someone who might. An old friend of mine, Septimus Signus, is one of the greatest Elder Scroll researchers in Tamriel. He’s holed up North of here in the ice fields, obsessed with some Dwemer ruins he discovered a little while back. If anybody would know where to find an Elder Scroll, it’d be him.”

Aendal was about to speak, but was interrupted by the sound of the Arcanaeum doors opening with a loud creaking sound. The pair turned to see Savos standing in the doorway with a mild smile on his face, Twilight standing next to him, her eyes wide as saucers and mouth agape.

“I, but… B-books… So many, books…” Twilight swooned and wobbled on her hooves, then collapsed to the floor.

The Bosmer quirked a brow when Twilight passed out, Urag sat back with his arms crossed, and Savos just laughed. The Archmage strode across the room to one of the many shelves in the rounded-out library, and plucked one of the many tomes from the shelf. “On Oblivion, from the Second era. This ought to wake her up.” The Dunmer strode back over to Twilight and knelt in front of her, holding the book in front of her nose and wafting air toward her muzzle.

The Unicorn sniffed at the air, barely conscious until she recognized the musty scent of an old book. Immediately her eyes shot open, and she pounced the book with a ferocity Aendal hadn’t seen since they tangled with Lokahzoor. “Mine!” The purple creature immediately opened the dusty old tome and began reading, a wide grin stretching over her features as she absorbed every bit of knowledge, flipping pages faster than anyone’s eyes could keep up with. Urag stood when he saw her snatch the book from Savos’ hands, and angrily marched across the library to where the Unicorn was sitting back on her haunches, nose in the crevice of the book.

Twilight looked innocently up at him, and the Orsimer continued to glare daggers down at her, his arms crossed over his robed torso. “Damage these books and I’ll have you torn apart by angry Atronachs. Are we crystal clear on that?” His voice was a low, guttural growl that froze Twilight’s blood in her veins. All she could manage was a sheepish nod. “Good. Aendal here tells me that you’re in search of an Elder Scroll. As insane and idiotic as I think that is, I do know a man who may be able to help you.”

Twilight’s face lit up with elation, and she immediately shot to her hooves and brought her face as close to Urag’s as her height would allow. “You do?! Where is he? I need to see him as soon as possible!” The look in her eyes only became wilder as she shouted, making even Urag want to step back a little.

Just as Urag was about to speak, everything stopped. Urag stood there, hands frozen in front of him as he prepared to push Twilight away, a look of anger stuck on his face. Twilight waved a hoof in front of his face; her excitement from just a moment ago vanished into the ether. The Unicorn looked around, nervous – she couldn’t heareven the sound of the giant, green man’s breathing. It was as though she’d been placed into a vacuum. “Uh… Hello?”

Twilight turned to the center of the Arcanaeum as a swirling wind began to blow around the room, focusing on a small ball of light that started to form in between the frozen Aendal and Urag. The light began to pulse and grow, sparks of electricity striking the ground around it. After a few moments, the ball of white-hot energy was roughly the size of a beach ball, and ceased growing, though the swirling wind never stopped. The purple Unicorn was about to step forward to inspect the ball of light when one of the bookcases against a stone wall swung forward as though it were a door.

Out from behind the bookcase, seeming to have just appeared out of thin air, stepped a tall, pale-skinned human. He was dressed in a dual-colored overshirt, his left half red, the right half purple, with white frills where the collar buttons were left open. He also wore a black leather belt with a drooping sheath that held a steel dagger, and his legs were covered in indigo pants with a swirling pattern that would have made Rarity green with envy. His pale forehead wrinkled as he frowned, brushing yellow crumbs from his white goatee as he strode toward the white ball of energy. “Blasted thing never did work properly,” he mumbled and batted his hands at the ball, the energy dissipating into nothingness. “Go on, shoo! Get out of here!”

Twilight looked up at the man, then turned her gaze to the bookcase he’d walked out from, a perplexed look twisting her features. There was nothing behind the bookcase but a stone wall! Where did he even come from? Who was this man? Why did he look like a waist-coated banker? “W-who are you? What did you do to my friends?” Her voice rose with that last question and she steadied her stance, her eyes narrowing at the pale man with the strange, cat-like eyes.

The strangely-dressed man simply smiled and walked toward Twilight, his boots clicking softly on the stone floor, his voice sprinkled with an almost musical accent. “Oh, ya know me quite well, miss Sparkle. Or at least, I know you. Well, really, I know everybody. You’ve just been a particular subject of interest for myself an’ me colleagues, lately. Clavicus Vile, in particular.” His smile twisted into a smug grin when he noted the look of near shock on Twilight’s face. “Oh, I know all about yer little deal with the Prince of Wishes. I was instrumental to you summonin’ old Clavvy.” The strange man snapped his fingers and a large tome materialized in the air in front of him; he caught the book and waved it in front of Twilight, the arch on the front facing her. “This look familiar t’ya, at all?”

Twilight’s eyes widened when the book was waved in her face, and every fiber of her being screamed at her to snatch the tome from his hands and crack it open; the logical side of her brain, however, knew that book all too well. It was the Treatise on Daedric Princes, the book that had gotten her into this whole mess. The Unicorn mage had to force her eyes away from the book to avoid the desire to read it, biting her lower lip. “Just… Who in Tartarus are you? And what do you want with me?” Her voice was strained, as though she had swallowed a particularly scalding hot gulp of liquid.

The waist-coated gentleman laughed; a jovial, sinister sound. “Oh, dear Twilight… My name is Sheogorath. I’m the Daedric Prince of Madness, and ruler of the Shiverin’ Isles. A lovely place in the summer, wonderful scenery. Terrifying scenery. And cheese! All the cheese you can eat!” He shouted, his booming voice shaking the foundation of the College. “I’m the one that wrote that book; I’m glad t’see ye’re still quite fond of it. Could only stand to read it once, meself. Too dry for my tastes; not soggy enough.”

Sheogorath smiled as he strode to a bookcase, and set the Treatise on one of the shelves, chuckling as he continued his speech. “O’course, ya must be wonderin’ why I’m here. What my great plan is for ya, and yer friends. Well, I don’t much care about your friends. They could all leave, for all I care. Or stay. It doesn’t matter. You, however, need to listen and listen well. This quest Clavicus sent’cha on? A sham.” He turned to face Twilight, crossing his arms over his chest. “Oh, sure, there’s an Elder Scroll here in Skyrim. Findin’ it won’t do ya any good; ya won’t be able t’ read it, even if ya did make it all the way into Blackreach without dyin’. My advice, if ya don’t wanna die and have your soul stuck in Clavicus’ plane of Oblivion for eternity?” He walked back over to Twilight and knelt down in front of her, staring into her eyes. “Stay at the College a while and learn how t’ use yer magic properly before you leave t’ talk to Urag’s friend. You die, and Clavicus gets your soul. We don’t need that.”

Twilight just sat back on her haunches and stared as Sheogorath continued his rant, her jaw slack and eyes wide as dinner plates. “I, but… Why, why would you write that book? Why do I have this pull to it? Why does Clavicus want my soul? That was never part of his deal!” She shouted, her look of bewilderment becoming twisted with disgust. “Why do you even care? You helped him set up the deal!”

Sheogorath just grinned at Twilight’s reaction; she was taking it quite well, all things considered. “All in good time, my dear; all in good time. Can’t reveal too much at once now, can I? That'd ruin the surprises! Especially the least surprising surprises. I do suggest you take my advice, though. Being stuck here in magic kindergarten is far better than being a slave to Clavvy for eternity.” The Daedric lord snapped his fingers, and disappeared.

Time slowly began to pick up where it left off, as everyone in the Arcanaeum, save Twilight, reached up to hold their heads, their faces twisted in pain. Aendal shook his head, rubbing at the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. “I have the worst headache, just now. What happened?”

Twilight just sat there, speechless as her brain tried to register what just happened. Aendal, Savos and Urag chatted amongst each other, trying to discern why they were all stricken with sudden migraines, when Twilight finally spoke up. “I… Do any of you know anything about someone named Sheogorath?”

Immediately, all eyes were on the purple Unicorn, Savos being the first to speak. “Yes. He’s one of the more powerful Daedric lords of Oblivion. Why do you ask?” His voice was calm, as always.

“Well…” Twilight looked around, frowning as she replied. “You’re going to think I’m insane. He just… Stopped time and came in here and warned me about talking to your friend.” Her gaze turned to Urag, who simply gave her his signature flat, dead-pan stare. “He said I need to learn how to use my magic properly if I’m going to get out of Blackreach alive. I don’t even know where that is! And I can use my magic just fine!”

Aendal quirked a brow at Twilight before he spoke up, taking a step forward, “Twilight, the only way we got away from that dragon was because of a spell that ended up knocking you unconscious. It seems that you can only use combat magic properly when you’ve been pushed into a corner, or the rest of the team is in grave peril. If the Madgod actually did tell you that… Well, I hate to agree with him, but you do need some practice that won’t possibly get you or the rest of the group killed.”

Before Twilight could even respond, Savos clapped his hands together and smiled warmly, reaching out to place a hand atop Twilight’s head, avoiding her horn. “It’s settled, then! Twilight, I want you to get started in Tolfdir’s class in just a few hours. Welcome to the College of Winterhold.”

Enter the Rival

The summer sun hung high in the sky, and a balmy breeze blew through the trees at the edge of Whitetail Woods. Most would consider it a lovely day, but for one “Great and Powerful” Trixie, it was just another slow, pain-in-the-flank day at her shop. After the Ursa Minor disaster in Ponyville, she had decided that she’d best quit show business while she was ahead. The lost revenue from the damage to her wagon and the severe blow to her reputation had destroyed her showmare career plans, so she settled down between Whitetail Woods and Ponyville and set up a “Great and Powerful Magic Emporium.”

Trixie sighed and rested her chin on the countertop next to her cash register, and ventured a bored glance around her shop. The walls were lined with shelves and costume racks, the shelves stacked high with various different stage-magic items: Flash paper, fireworks, card decks, wands and mirrors. The middle of the shop had a number of displays, featuring high-end fireworks and stacks of how-to books for flashy show magic. Her eyes then wandered up to the large clock on the wall above the front door, a frustrated groan escaping her when she noted the time. Two o’clock and not even a single customer! The only ponies to visit were more Royal Guards pestering her about the disappearance of Twilight Sparkle.

The silver-maned mare huffed and grumbled to herself, “As if the Great and Powerful Trixie would have anything to do with that. As much as I hate her friends, Sparkle didn’t seem all bad. At least she wasn’t heckling me at my show. And it was a year ago! Why can’t they just let me be? She’s probably dead!” She threw her hooves in the air in an exasperated gesture, slumping against the counter again. She’d told the guards all she knew about the incident, which was nothing. Trixie pushed away from the counter and made her way downstairs so she could make a pot of coffee, her anxiety-stricken mind screaming at her for the sweet relief of caffeine.

As her hooves hit the first step, she stopped; what was that shuffling sound? She perked her ears up a little, able to hear the strange noises more clearly. It was a light scraping sound, with an undercurrent of shuffling cloth. Trixie used her levitation magic to pull a broom from the wall at the top of the stairs, keeping the handle at the ready as she descended into the basement, ready to give any intruders a good whack. The sight that greeted her in the dim light of the basement was nothing she would have ever expected. She lost her concentration and dropped her broom in surprise.

Masses of sticky webbing coated the walls in the far corner of the basement, farthest from the light. A thin sheet of the webbing lay stretched between the ceiling and the floor, and in its center laid a horrifying visage that Trixie could have gone the rest of her Great and Powerful life without seeing. A massive creature with a spider’s abdomen and eight spindly legs worked at wrapping up a small creature in webbing with its front legs – above the “waist,” the creature had a slim belly and upper body, and its generous chest was covered in a black corset that shone in the dim light like a beetle’s carapace. The intruder crossed its four arms across its chest and moved the wrapped-up rat aside with its forelegs, smiling sweetly at the horrified Trixie as a light, yet smoky voice escaped its lips. “Ah, at last, the ‘Great and Powerful’ Trixie. I was hoping you would come down soon.” It reached over and lifted up Trixie’s coffee pot, grinning. “Coffee?”

Trixie, of course, didn’t take this encounter very well. She pranced around in place and squinted her eyes shut, squealing in terror as she ran back up the cellar stairs and up to the main floor of her shop, galloping toward the front door. She pulled it open with her magic, only to have it slam in her face just before she reached the doorway. The light in the shop dimmed as the windowpanes frosted over, and Trixie shivered as she watched her breath come out in great, powerful clouds. The floorboards began to quake, and dark masses of shadow began to seethe up from the cracks in the floor, forming into the drider from the basement. “Now Trixie, that is no way to treat a guest.”

The blue-coated Unicorn cowered back from the drider when it materialized in front of her, her mouth agape and her throat unable to loose the scream she so desperately wanted to release. After a few moments of horrified silence, Trixie was finally able to vocalize a pair of questions. “W-who are you? How do you know my name? ”

The drider simply smiled and sipped from a mug of coffee that it’d taken from the basement. “I am the Daedric Princess Mephala, my dear stage pony, and I know far more than just your name,” it stated, its voice low and breathy. “I also know that, while not as strong as the purple Unicorn, your potential for magickal prowess far surpasses many of the other ponies in your land. Which is why, dear Trixie, I am calling on you today. Equestria needs you.”

Trixie simply stared up at the Princess, in all of her chitinous glory, and tilted her head. “W-what? Why does Equestria need me?”

Mephala’s smile dropped a bit, and she waved an arm between the two of them. More shadows seeped up from the floorboards, collecting what was left of the light in the room and forming them into a swirling series of images. The first one was Twilight Sparkle, in a circular, stone room filled with pale blue light emanating from a font of glowing water in the center. A ball of flame jettisoned from her horn and struck a translucent shield that a bipedal creature was casting, sparks and embers burning the stone around them.

“Your friend is learning powerful magicks to overthrow your princesses. According to my agents, she’s tired of being looked down on by her teacher, believes it’s time for the student to surpass the master. Here, have a look for yourself; she’s already started testing her prowess by burning whole settlements of people.” Mephala sighed, and waved her hand again. The shadows and motes of light swirled and reformed themselves into a different set of images: Twilight, her eyes burning with rage, and a flash of light emanating from her horn. After the flash, two dozen bipedal creatures dressed in leather and furs collapsed, their skin bubbling as they appeared to burn alive from the inside-out.

The blue unicorn bit back bile at this atrocity, as there was no doubt this was Twilight Sparkle burning living creatures alive with her magic. Why she was doing this, Trixie hadn’t a clue. “Where did this happen? And do you know why?”

Mephala shook her head, a saddened note darkening her speech. “No, I do not. This unfortunate event happened just outside of Whiterun city in the Skyrim province of Tamriel. My agents are telling me, though, that Sparkle has even taken up learning necromancy. She will stop at nothing to take Equestria’s throne, and if you do not wish for your land to fall into an age of chaos and darkness, she must be stopped. By you.”

Trixie shook her head and sat down, mulling over all this new information in her head. Certainly Twilight wouldn’t commit such atrocities, certainly not for something as petty as jealousy. But it was all laid out in front of her, in moving picture, no less. And it all made sense enough. Twilight wasn’t necessarily the most stable pony in Equestria. “What am I to do about it? I don’t even know where this ‘Skyrim’ is.” Her voice still shook with uncertainty.

The princess simply smiled at the Unicorn as she spoke. “Ah, that is where I come in, my dear. I can send you to Skyrim, and I have a few agents that are adept enough in the ways of magick that they could train you to be just as skilled as miss Sparkle. Now, will you help your people, Trixie? Or shall I find someone else more worthy of being Equestria’s savior?”

Now there’s something to think about, Trixie thought to herself. I could restore my reputation with this, and everypony will love me! The unicorn glanced up at Mephala and quirked a brow. “What about my shop?” She asked, “I have my customers to think about, too.”

“Oh, yes. Your shop is just booming with business, isn’t it?” Mephala asked wryly as she glanced about the room. The shelves were full, as Trixie didn’t get many customers. Not much of a magic market in the Ponyville area.

Trixie blushed and looked at the floor, and a frown crossed her muzzle. “Right… Well, alright, then.” She looked up to Mephala, a confident smirk replacing her down-trodden visage. “I’ll do it. Where do we start?”

The drider grinned and extended one of her arms, her fingers cold as the tundra on Trixie’s cheek. “With sending you to Nilheim.” She whispered. Trixie’s head swam, and she felt the earth disappear beneath her hooves, just before her world went black.

Trixie groaned as she opened her eyes, shaking her head. “W-what happened?” Her lavender eyes danced about in an attempt to register her surroundings. She was outside, that much was confirmed by the icy breeze that cut through her cape and coat of pale blue fur. When the wind died down, she felt the radiating warmth of the bonfire that burned brightly next to her. “Where am I?”

She almost jumped out of her skin when she heard a rustling behind her. “Ye’re in Nilheim, lass. Mistress Mephala tol’ us we’d be getting’ a newbie from a different plane, but…” A burly, bipedal creature with dark skin, and a scrunched-up face and a massive beard said, “we weren’t ‘spectin’ a Unicorn. ‘Specially not one so… Small. An’ colorful. Are ye sure ye’re a Unicorn?” He was clad in bulky, iron armor, and had a large scar crossing diagonally over his face. A sword hung from his hip, and he wore a beautifully engraved shield on his arm. It seemed that the only place on his body that didn’t have hair was the top of his head.

Trixie gawked up at the massive creature, easily the size of a gryphon, and was barely able to muster a response. At least, until his odor reached her nostrils. Her eyes squinted shut as she tried to cover her nose with her forelegs, gagging loudly. “Ugh! When was the last time you bathed? You smell like a wet manticore wrapped up in burning garbage!”

The creature lifted an arm to sniff at his pit, a grimace scrunching his face, his voice a suddenly a guttural growl as he roared at her. “You little snob! I ought’a rip your rude little guts out!” He started to advance on her, his arm shooting out to grab her neck, but the little blue mare ducked and back-pedaled in time to avoid his hand, whimpering all the while.

“Alistair! Stop this barbaric silliness and go sit in your corner!” A voice boomed from the shadowy edge of the camp. Out from the darkness stepped a tall, bipedal creature shrouded in dark-colored robes, his scowling face half-covered by his cloak’s hood. “Go on, get! Or you won’t get any more sweet rolls for the remainder of the season!”

The hulking barbarian groaned and gave the approaching figure a piteous look, then turned on his heel to plod off to another corner of the fire-lit camp, mumbling to himself. The hooded figure’s scowl curved into a smile as he watched Alistair retreat to his own corner of the camp; the mysterious creature then turned to face Trixie, reaching up with bony fingers to pull his hood back from his face. Trixie barely stifled a surprised gasp as she locked eyes with the creature. He had features that Trixie would describe as “colt-ish,” with soft curves to his jawline and cheeks, making him appear a few years younger than he actually was. The creature was quite pale, with sage-hued eyes and blonde hair that dangled past his ears. A smile crept across Trixie’s muzzle as she drank in his features. Perhaps this place isn’t all bad…

“My apologies, miss Trixie. Alistair can be very… obtuse, when he hasn’t had his sugar. I know to treat Mephala’s new Champion with reverence and respect, however. My name is Samuel.” He smiled as he spoke, his voice as light and airy as the lilt of a bird’s song.

Trixie immediately lit up. Perhaps this place really isn’t all bad! She beamed up at him, her hat floating up to her head as she spoke. “Thank you, Samuel! Finally, the respect the Great and Powerful Trixie deserves! Now, your champion requires a hot bath and a warm mug of co─”

Her grin disappeared as an open, gloved hand struck her across the cheek with a smack! She blinked away tears, looking up to the creature through blurry eyes. “That said, I was appointed to be your teacher. Your mentor. I was appointed your teacher because, frankly, Mephala described your magical prowess as severely lacking.” The blonde man glared daggers down at her, his inviting, green eyes suddenly seeming cold and harsh. “As such, this ‘Great and Powerful’ nonsense is going to stop. As will referring to yourself in the third person. Do you know who refers to themselves in the third person?”

Trixie shook her head, visibly shrinking back from the venomous bite in his voice. “Mentally-stunted hedgewizards. I don’t teach mentally-stunted hedgewizards. You will refer to yourself, and myself for that matter, in a proper manner.” He was one step below yelling at her, spittle flying from his mouth as he bellowed.

The Unicorn sat back on her haunches, positively stunned. Wasn’t he being sweet just a few moments ago? What in Tartarus happened? She reached up with a hoof to brush her cheek, now displaying the bright red handprint even through her fur. “B-but, I-”

If looks could kill, Trixie would be dead, buried, dug up, beat with a shovel and buried again. His green hues burnt angry holes in Trixie’s forehead. “I do not tolerate rudeness, nor do I tolerate back-talking. A simple ‘yessir’ will suffice. Am I clear?” He asked, his voice as lovely as a symphony, but retaining the venom of a Manticore sting.

She bit her lip and whimpered, “Y-yessir.” Trixie shivered visibly, her hat slipping down far enough to cover her eyes, and her tears.

With that, Sam reached out and patted the mare’s cheek as gently as he could before striding over to Alistair, looking back over his shoulder as he called out to her. “Your training starts at first light. I suggest you read one of those books on the table behind you and get some rest, before-hand.”

Trixie grumbled as she woke to the sounds of growling and shouting. What was that about wolves, now? Wait. Wolves?!

The Unicorn shot to her hooves and whirled around, just in time to face a wolf that was already mid-leap, headed for her face. She only had time to try to cover her face with her hooves, before she was soaked in a splash of blood. Wait, blood? Trixie slowly opened her eyes and lowered her hooves, blood dripping onto her nose from her now-soaked mane. The wolf lay before her, head cleaved cleanly from its neck. She bit back bile, whimpering and backing into the table behind her, knocking several books from the wooden surface. “B-but…”

Alistair’s hulking, armored figure stood over the wolf’s corpse, taking a moment to wipe blood from his chest piece and his blade. “Shouldn’t sleep out here. Ain’t exactly safe, lass. C’mon, follow me up t’ da tower. An’ bring dem books, too; don’ want some bandit takin’ ‘em in da night.” He sheathed his weapon into his scabbard and kicked the dead wolf, glancing back over to the still-shivering Trixie. “Well? C’mon, then!”

The azure mare glanced back to the book she was reading, hefted it in the lavender shroud of her telekinesis. She followed the armored brute up an incline, sparsely decorated with stairs, until a small stone tower came into view. They crossed a small bridge over the ravine separating the tower from the rest of the landmass, and entered the open doorway, climbing the staircase to the second level, and venturing outside to the stairs that wrapped around the back of the tower. Alistair looked back at Trixie, chuckling as he spoke. “You afraid’a heights?”

Trixie shook her head, holding down her hat against the blustery wind. “Not really, why?”

The brute glanced down and visibly shivered, quickly averting his gaze forward. “No reason,” he explained, “jus’ don’t look down.”

Well, with an explanation like that, who wouldn’t look? So, Trixie glanced down over the edge of the stairs, and immediately back-pedaled up against the wall, her chest heaving with great gasps of breath. They dangled from a not-quite-sturdy wooden staircase, at least one hundred feet above a cliff’s edge. The entirety of the land beneath them was a steep mountainside, and one wrong step meant certain doom. “Lovely view…” The Unicorn carefully made her way up the stairs behind Alistair, entering yet another open doorway. She was greeted by the welcoming sight of a warm fire and several bedrolls, one occupied by a sleeping Samuel. “Oh, sleeping bags. Yay. I’m so glad I left my comfy shop for this…” She grumbled, laying down into a bedroll and curling up, her eyes slowly closing.

Trixie’s dreams were plagued with nightmares. She sprinted through a landscape of deadfall trees and snow, the surrounding landscape glowing a dull blue in the dim moonlight. The blue unicorn weaved between trees as she ran, trying to lose her pursuer in the dense, frozen woods. It was a pointless effort, however. Arcs of white lightning shot past her and singed the trees ahead of her, sparking flames in the dry, brittle wood. Bright orange flames burst from the tree and spread to the dead foliage surrounding her, the heat licking at her as trees began to fall, trapping her in a circle of flame and burning wind. Trixie searched past the flames for her attacker, unable to see past the wall of smoke and orange light; there was a loud crack, and she let out a shriek just before one of the trees toppled onto her.

“No!” The azure mare sprang up in her bedroll, letting out a shrill cry as she snapped back to wakefulness. Her breaths were shallow and shaky as she took a moment to look at her surroundings, content that she’d been removed from the dream. “Sweet Luna, that was horrible.” She rose from her bedroll and stepped out onto the wooden platform outside the room, sitting on her haunches and looking out over the vast landscape beneath the tower and the cliff on which it was perched. Her eyes scanned over the lake to her left, following it to the waterfall, the swift current cascading down the steep cliff, following it to the hot springs at the bottom, then to the mountains off on the horizon. Above, the twin moons of Nirn sat, basked in the lovely green and pink glow of an aurora borealis. The negative thoughts on Trixie’s mind vanished as she focused more on the lovely landscape this strange land possessed. She turned and trotted back inside, cracking open one of the books that Samuel had given her to read. “Necromancer’s Moon… well, this doesn’t sound pleasant…”

Samuel rose from his bedroll and clambered to his feet, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he padded over to his alchemy station to brew himself up a cup of tea. He sipped from the still-steeping brew and turned, noticing the blue Unicorn leaning against the doorway of the tower, her nose in a book. The young mage smiled and walked over to her, his cup steaming in the chilled mountain air. “Morning, Trixie. Sleep well?”

Trixie glanced up to the Necromancer, dark bags under her eyes, her sclera bloodshot. “N-no. You never told me we’d be resurrecting the dead!” The azure mare teared up, biting on her lip. “I don’t want to do this. This is wrong.”

The Necromancer sighed, reaching up to rub the bridge of his nose. “I was hoping to avoid this talk.” He ran his bony fingers through his blonde hair, taking in a deep breath. “Give me just a moment.”

Samuel took a small sip of his morning tea and meandered back to his gear bag, kneeling to remove something from the main compartment. Trixie watched him through slowly drying eyes, unable to suppress a groan as he withdrew yet another book. The mage returned to Trixie’s side and set the book down next to her; its title, written in pretty, gold lettering: Necromancy in the Fourth Age. “I probably should have given you this book, first. Necromancy, in the last few hundred years, has become fairly mainstream. People sell or donate their souls for use in spells, and many people donate their bodies for experiments and spellwork and the like. It’s not necessarily okay to start raising the dead in the middle of town square, but it’s not really something that’ll get you hanged anymore,” he explained, slowly sitting down next to the Unicorn. “The soul gems I use, I buy from dealers who only get their souls from willing donors. It’s not as though the dead would care, anyway; they’re dead. Beyond the mortal coil. Moved on to the next realm. The corpse is just a shell; the person is no longer there.”

The Unicorn looked up at him, listening intently. To be sure, she wrapped up the book in her magic, flipping through the pages and confirming what the mage had just told her; to an extent, Necromancy was legal in Skyrim, and it was common practice to donate your corpse or soul to a college or a magic shop. Well, maybe her business wasn’t dead, then, if worst came to worst. She tried on a tired smile, relenting. “I… Alright. I’ll try it.”

Samuel grinned, and reached over to fluff the Unicorn’s mane, rising to his feet. “Good to hear! Now, the first lesson is going to be channeling and manipulating your magicka into life-energy…”

“No, no, no! You’re doing it wrong! Stop!” Samuel shouted, gently rapping Trixie atop the head with his staff. “You’re trying to make your spell too powerful, and not focusing enough on keeping it stable. Pay attention.”

Trixie stood aside and watched as Samuel stood over one of the wolves that Alistair had killed the night before, her eyes widening in wonder as purple-colored energies swirled about the mage’s fingertips. He seemed so calm, so collected as the wolf’s corpse was wrapped up in the dark energy, rising to its feet and growling menacingly. The Unicorn stepped back, startled by the creature’s sudden reanimation and aggressive attitude. She let out a gasp when, suddenly, Samuel dove forward and slipped a small dagger into the back of the beast’s neck, silencing its growls. No blood poured forth from the wound, and Trixie simply stared, shocked, at Samuel’s actions. The mage slid the small blade back into its sheath and said, “That, Trixie, is how you reanimate a small corpse. If you’d continued the way you were going, you would have lost control of the beast and we would have been attacked. Keep it simple, or you’ll lose control of your spells. Never go beyond your abilities.”

The Unicorn nodded, still stunned at having seen Sam, someone so civilized, someone so intelligent slay another living creature. Though, she thought, it wasn’t exactly living, was it? She swallowed and half-whispered, “A-alright, let me have another go.”

She stepped up to the wolf, focusing her will into a small ball of energy – her mind’s eye conjured an image of a sphere of roiling, purple energy, being held in by a shroud of fog. As she imagined this ball sinking into the wolf and spreading through its body, the small ball of light in front of her did just that, and the wolf’s corpse shuddered. Suddenly, it rose on its four legs, staring at Trixie and growling quietly. The Unicorn opened her eyes, and saw the work she’d done, and shouted. “I did it! I actually did it!” Though, as she hopped up and down in elation, she lost her focus. The wolf lunged at her, only to catch Samuel’s staff in the nose, whimpering and hopping back. It turned to Samuel and snarled, baring its half-rotted teeth, just in time to catch a spear of ice in the side. The creature coughed and slumped, the dim light of undeath leaving its eyes; the mage leaned back against his still-glowing staff and smirked.

“And you still have to keep focus while the reanimated corpse is up – it is under your control, y’know.” Sam’s smug smirk wavered as Trixie slumped back, having experienced one too many shocks today. “Let’s take a break. I’ll make us some tea.” Samuel pulled his hood up over the blonde mop of hair atop his head, turned on his heel, and walked back up the stone steps toward the tower.

Trixie scratched at the side of her head, trying to deal with the culture-shock. Never in Equestria did somepony kill somepony else, or even another creature. Or, at least, it was incredibly rare. Here, it seemed to be a regular occurrence. Well, it would just make this new art easier to perform. Wow, Trixie thought, that was a morbid thought. I really do need some tea.

A few moments passed and Sam returned with a pair of pewter mugs filled to the brim with steaming tea, and offered one to the azure unicorn. She gladly took it, encasing it in her magic energy and holding it before her lips so she could cool it with a quick breath. “Thank you, Samuel. That was kind of you.” She took a sip of the tea, a content smile replacing the look of pensive worry that had been present on her features.

Samuel sipped at his own tea and nodded. “It’s nothing.” The mage sat on one of the tables surrounding the small campfire they had going, and continued to nurse his tea for several moments, completely silent. After a short while, he looked up at Trixie and glanced East, to Riften. “I’m low on supplies; why don’t you join me on a trip to Riften? I need to run by the apothecary and pick up some ingredients and stones.”

The Unicorn took a moment to think about it, and peered over the edge of her mug into Samuel’s dark green orbs. “Your companion didn’t exactly address me as a commonplace thing, when I came to Skyrim. I think going into a place with a lot of people would probably bring me all the wrong sorts of attention.”

The mage nodded, a pensive look on his face. “A fair point, but we could always cast an illusion spell to make you look like man or mer.”

“But I am a mare.” Trixie replied, a confused look on her face.

Sam slapped his palm to his forehead, groaning. “Not mare, mer. It’s the name for the races of elves and orcs. There’s an illusion spell that make you appear as one of us, but it’s quite unstable. There’re quite a few things that would make the spell break apart.” He explained, sitting atop his table.

“Well… Like what?” Trixie canted her head, quirking a brow at the Necromancer.

Samuel pulled his hood back, reaching up to scratch at his scalp. “Well, you can’t go into water. That means no swimming, and no getting caught out in the rain. Try to avoid animals and other mages; they’ll be able to tell you have that illusion going, and that would raise questions. Not to mention, the local cats might not be fond of a unicorn in disguise waltzing around their town.” He took one last sip of his tea, then set his pewter mug down and continued, “Try to avoid being near active illusion spells, as well. That includes street magicians looking for extra coin; the magicka will interfere with your spell, and the results might not exactly work out in your favor. And above all else, do not try to put a hood over any hats you may end up wearing. That will cause the illusion to fail entirely.” He rose to his feet, explaining this last bit with urgency in his voice.

“Why can’t I wear a hood over a hat? I mean, I wouldn’t, because it’s silly-looking. But what does that do to mess up the spell?” Trixie asked, scratching at the back of her head with a hoof, something that still impressed Sam.

“I truly wish I knew. The same goes for wearing more than one ring; completely cancels the spell out. I’ll have to study it more, sometime. Now, let me get my book; I’ll teach you the spell.”

Trixie stepped out of the tower, on two legs. Not only did the spell change her appearance, but it was apparently true change. She was, for all intents and purposes, a human female for as long as the spell lasted. She looked back at the mirror she’d been provided, and was rather happy with her appearance: her skin was a light shade of pink, almost as pale as her snowy head of hair. She filled out the black robes she’d been given quite well, but she felt they weren’t very flattering; they’d have to do until she got a set of her own clothes in Riften. She stood at about five and a half feet tall, and still possessed her violet eyes; her face had high cheekbones and a button nose, and a smattering of freckles over her cheeks. “Well then. Looks like we’re in business.” Trixie reached over to a rack just inside the tower and picked up her purple hat, its silver stars and moons shining in the sunlight, a grin on her face as she set it atop her head.

As Trixie walked down the stone steps toward the fire pit, Sam had his nose in one of his books, trying to figure out why the shape-change spell was so unstable; when he heard the soft scrape of leather boots on stone behind him, he slowly turned and was about to make a comment about how long she took. However, the insult was lost to the wind as his jaw nearly hit the floor. Trixie smirked at him and placed a finger under the lad’s chin, lifting it up to close his mouth. “You’ll catch bugs doing that. Ready to go?”

Sam nodded, and took more than a few moments to stop staring so he could regain his composure. Even Alistair couldn’t help staring – a horse, turned into a beautiful woman? Oh, the wonders of witchcraft. Trixie rolled her eyes and began walking East, toward the large city in the distance; it took a minute longer, but the merry band was finally caught up to itself, and traveling on a dirt road to Riften. They passed under beautiful autumn trees, the red and yellow leaves glowing in the sunlight and casting patterns of multicolored light on the ground. They trudged along, all in fairly good moods as they took in the beautiful day; at their current pace, it would be about an hour’s travel before they were at Riften’s gates.

“What a beautiful day! The sun is out, the breeze is nice, the birds are singing, the dragon is destroying Rifte─ what?” Samuel sprinted ahead of the group, his hands shooting up to entwine at the top of his head; the mage was having trouble comprehending what he was seeing. A rather large, spine-covered frost dragon was making a second pass at the town, its frozen breath encasing several buildings in frost and snow; when it turned around, it seemed to hone in on something in the distance. Sam drew a spyglass from his pocket, trying to get a better view of what the dragon was chasing – what he saw, he simply couldn’t believe. “Is… Is that another Unicorn? Well, looks like we found your counterpart.”

Trixie snatched the spyglass from Samuel’s hand, and her heart plummeted into her stomach with what she saw. Twilight Sparkle, accompanied by a small cat-like woman, galloping away from the frozen breath of a frost dragon. It seemed the purple Unicorn was dressed in makeshift iron armor, but the most intimidating thing about her was the fact that the dragon’s breath was skittering off of the wall of ward spells she’d just cast. “A-already? I’m not ready to face Twilight, not yet!” The snowy-haired woman backed up several steps, ready to run away if need be.

Sam watched the spectacle and nodded. “I’ll second that motion. What say we go back to our cozy tower?” The mage turned on his heel and was gone in the blink of an eye, sprinting back up the road to Nilheim.

“Sam, you featherbrain, wait for us!” Trixie ran after him, about as fast as if she’d had her four legs and hooves back. Oh, Trixie, what sort of mess have you gotten yourself into?