Chapters Author's Note
I have found a proper translator and now everything that Alduin says will be better.
A Vessel to Inhabit
It was a sunny day in Ponyville, with the sun shining, and the birds singing, not to mention the ponies enjoying their days. One of the ones not enjoying their days wasn't a pony at all, it was a dragon. Known by many as Spike, assistant to Twilight Sparkle the student of Princess Celestia. Things had just been going badly for Spike, who started off the morning by getting knocked on the head by several poorly placed books, tripped and fell onto his face three times in a row, slammed his knee on a chair, and found out that his stash of gems was almost depleted. All that remained was a single pitch black stone, it was one that he had never seen before and was unsure of what it was, but had the feeling that he shouldn't eat it...
"Good morning, Spike." Twilight said, until she noticed the bump on his head. "What happened? Are you ok?" She asked, now concerned about him.
"I'm fine... Just a rough morning is all... Hey Twilight, do you know what this is?" Spike held the gem up for her to see, but her confused expression showed that she was just as clueless as she was. "I... I think I'll go for a walk..." Spike said, walking away from his friend and exiting the building. Spike had left for a reason, he had heard something whisper his name, but it seemed like the voice was right behind him. It muttered something to him, and he couldn't make it out clearly. He thought it had said something about bringing the gem to the Everfree, and no matter how much he fought, he couldn't control his legs or his voice. Spike was nothing but a puppet at the moment, a puppet being forced to bring this stone deep into the horrid Everfree forest, where some of the most dangerous and aggressive creatures lived and hunted. Spike groaned and allowed the strange force to move him, not that he had a choice at the moment and soon found himself approached by a black looking substance, it floated like smoke and had the appearance of oil. Spike held the gem out, and the substance began to fill it, causing the gem to heat up in the dragon's palm, and the stone fell onto the ground before it began to change shape.
It was growing much larger, larger than him, larger than Twilight, larger than the Princesses, larger than Sugar Cube Corner! It began to break in certain places creating a strange dragon like shape, with wings that connected to the front legs, a powerful and muscular looking torso, a pair of hind legs with large claws, a long neck with a head that had large horns and piercing red eyes, as well as a jaw filled with razor sharp teeth. The dragon slumped to the ground and it took on a certain softness and upon inspection the crystal had somehow become scales. It took in large breaths and attempted to rise, but couldn't find the strength. It turned its head to Spike and began to speak.
"Hi los Dovah?" It asked, in a language that Spike couldn't understand. Spike took a step back and the large dragon spoke again. "Vis hi hon zey, goraan Dovah?" It asked, but Spike was unsure of how to answer, and it started to speak again. "Dreh hi ni mindoraan tir vun? " It asked, but Spike knew that it needed help.
"Just wait here! I'll go get help!" Spike shouted, before he turned and began to run back towards town. The dragon let out a sigh of anger and annoyance.
"Ruth... Little... Whelp..."
Spike ran back towards the dragon with the Mane Six following him.
"He's right over here! Come on!" Spike shouted, and stopped when he saw the dragon in view. The ponies let out louds gasps of shock and fear as they slowly approached.
"I've never seen a dragon like this before..." Twilight muttered.
"He may not be as big as the one that Fluttershy stared down, but he's still a biggin." Applejack commented, while Fluttershy rushed forward and began to inspect him.
"This is strange... It looks like he doesn't have scales... It looks like he's covered in black rock... But when I touch him... It is scales..." Fluttershy muttered as she rubbed his back.
"Where are his wings? A dragon this cool and evil looking HAS to have wings." Rainbow Dash said, but then noticed the membrane connecting his forelegs to his torso. "Are these it?" She asked, while gently prodding it with a hoof. Twilight moved over and managed to use magic to lift the top part of his jaw, he didn't have lips, and exposed his many sharp teeth. Twilight looked at the rest of his face and found herself moving towards his eyelids, but before she could lift them, they opened and it let out a roar. This startled Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash making them both bolt away from the beast.
"Hi krilon lov zey?!Hi los mey voth... Much nerve..." The dragon said, changing to Equestrian at the last two words.
"You can speak Equestrian? Can you tell us if you're hurt?" Twilight asked, and the dragon nodded slowly.
"Dii faan los... Alduin..." It said.
"Your name is Alduin?" Spike asked and the dragon once again nodded.
"Now are you hurt?" Fluttershy asked, and Alduin shook his head.
"I... Require... Assistance... I need... Energy..." Alduin said and the ponies were confused on what they could do.
"Twilight don't you have some kind of spell that can help him?" Rarity asked, and Twilight's horn began to glow before Alduin was wrapped in a purple glow and began to rise onto his feet.
"Thank you... Where am I?" Alduin asked, and Twilight smiled before answering his question, and many more knowing that this may take a while...
Twilight finished explaining all that she knew about Equestria, which was a lot. Alduin stared at her with both confusion and disbelief.
"Ruth daar duraal lein... Faal Dovahkiin fen biis..." Alduin cursed under his breath.
"What was that?" Twilight asked, hoping for a translation.
"Nothing... (Nothing that you want to know anyway)" Alduin replied, but Twilight didn't seem satisfied with this answer.
"If you don't mind my asking... What language do you keep switching to?" Twilight asked, and Alduin knew that this might be a mistake, but he needed to gain these creature's trust in order to complete his plans.
"I speak in my native tongue... I speak in Dovah." Alduin replied, but this only left them confused. "You mean the dragons here to do not speak in our way?" Alduin questioned, and Spike shook his head.
"We don't speak... Doevuh?" Spike said, butchering the word.
"Dovah, which translated to your language means dragon." Alduin explained.
"I didn't understand a word you said before. That's why I left to go and get help." Spike said, but Alduin frowned.
"Strange... All Dovah from my land speak in our language... Then I suppose you cannot use the Thu'um... It is sad that our magic cannot be used by you." Alduin spoke, but Twilight moved closer to him.
"Did you say... Magic?" Twilight asked, which intrigued her.
"Yes. The Thu'um is a magic that Dovah are born with, only few races of man and other creatures can learn it... Those who do train for years upon years, and by the time they've mastered it... They will soon perish from old age. There is one mortal that can learn our language without training... The Dovahkiin." Alduin answered, but he turned his attention to four approaching figures. He narrowed his eyes as they moved towards them, while three appeared to be combinations of the unicorn and pegasus one was simply a unicorn.
"Oh, they've arrived! Alduin these are the three Princesses and my brother. They're very powerful ponies and each one serves a special purpose..." Twilight began, but Alduin started to back away with a scowl.
"You blasphemers! Lure me into a sense of security, trick me into lowering my defenses, then you bring your leaders to destroy me!" Alduin shouted, but before Twilight could object Alduin began to yell again. "Then know this, I will not die without a fight!" Alduin shouted in anger and fury while the four figures picked up their speed having noticed the tension.
"Wait...!" Twilight started to shout, but then noticed a glow in Alduin's mouth.
"Yol... Toor... SHUL!" Alduin shouted, causing a large stream of fire to launch towards them, they were engulfed in the flames and once Alduin stopped he let out a chuckle. He saw that there was a magical shield surround them, created by the white creature. "Your shield may strong, but you will tire eventually... I will wait..." Alduin said, staring at Twilight.
"Alduin wait! They weren't going to hurt you!" Twilight shouted, but Alduin shook his head.
"LIES! YOU SPEAK LIES! DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM!? THERE ARE THOUSANDS, IF NOT MILLIONS WHO WANT ME DEAD! HOWEVER THAT IS IMPOSSIBLE, FOR I AM IMMORTAL!" Alduin screamed at her, but Fluttershy flew out of the field and in front of his face.
"Mr. Alduin, please believe us. We don't want to hurt you. We just want to get to know you more... Please let us try... If you don't want us to then we'll leave you alone... Ok?" Fluttershy asked, and Alduin's expression seemed to soften... Before he snapped his jaws at the shy pegasus, missing her head by an inch. She let out a loud scream and flew back into the field, before cowering behind Rainbow Dash. Alduin began to slam his front legs against the field, but found that he could not shatter it.
"You are lucky my strength is weak. Or I would have destroyed this field within a matter of seconds..." Alduin said, glaring at the group of ponies, but the white creature moved forward.
"We are not here to harm you, but rather we would seek knowledge from you, we have never seen a dragon like yourself and we wish to learn." She said. Alduin seemed to think about this, for if this was a trap he would have to be constantly on guard.
"Hi kodaav ziik do kun... Nust aal tinvaak vahzen..." Alduin muttered, but he turned to face them. "Fine, however if I sense any form of hostility I will not hesitate to devour each of you..." Alduin looked at the white creature.
"Allow me to introduce us. I am Princess Celestia, I help to rule over Equestria. This is Luna, my younger sister, and Princess of the night. This is my niece Princess Cadance, she and Shining Armor rule over the Crystal Kingdom." She explained, and Alduin scoffed.
"I am Alduin..." The large dragon said, which seemed familiar to Luna, but she wasn't sure why. "You seek knowledge of my kind? Then question me." Alduin said, which meant that he was ready to begin.
"That fire you breathed, was that the Thu'um that you mentioned before?" Twilight asked, and Alduin shook his head.
"You have much misunderstanding... Dovah like myself do not breathe fire... We speak it. The word Thu'um translated into your language means 'voice'. Dovah speak certain words and they allow us to use the Thu'um." Alduin answered.
"So that means a fight between dragons..." Spike began.
"Is a deadly verbal debate." Alduin finished.
"When I first saw you, you were this black oil like stuff, what was that?" Spike asked, and Alduin cocked his head.
"My soul. If you have not gathered it by now I come from a different world, a world plagued with war. I was killed by the one I mentioned earlier, the Dovahkiin, or Dragonborn." Alduin said, but this only raised more questions.
"Why did he kill you?" Fluttershy asked, and Alduin knew that to earn these creature's trust he must use all of his deceit and lies.
"He was a race of man, a Nord. The races of man hate and fear us Dovah, as a result they started a war against us, and I was leading my people. However we were betrayed a Dovah named Paarthurnax assisted the races of man and taught them to use the Thu'um, which they used against us. I was sent into a different area of time by the power of an ancient relic known as an Elder Scroll. There I found that all my brethren had been wiped out, so using the Thu'um I raised them from the dead to finish our war with man. The Dovahkiin sought my destruction and stopped at nothing to end me, but only succeeded in destroying my physical form in Skyrim, where my soul escaped to this world." Alduin said, which shocked them.
"What is a Dragonborn?" Luna asked, and Alduin began to laugh.
"A mortal born with the soul of a Dovah, it allows them to learn and use the Thu'um without any previous training." Alduin answered, before they began to speak about each other's worlds trying to answer as many questions as possible.
The Everfree forest was already a dark place, but when it becomes engulfed in the shadow of a giant dragon, it becomes much darker. The shadow belonged to Alduin, who was curious to explore this land find out anything that he could to assist him in his goals. Alduin scanned the ground for anything interesting and so far had found nothing, it seemed like whatever he did just ended with him becoming even more bored that before, after all before he made his move he needed to recover more of his strength, and the best way to do that was through the souls of other creatures, while animals and monsters would work fine, the souls of intelligent beings would be much better, and he believed that he's found his first victim. Below moving near the forest edge was a large wooden cart, and could just barely make out a blue figure pulling it along, but at a rather slow pace. Alduin began to dive towards the figure and when he was near the cart, he slammed his feet into it and shattered the top of it, causing the figure to let out a scream of fear, before she broke into a run. Alduin circled back around and began to launch fire at the cart, destroying what remained of it, while the figure ran with a bit of fire nipping at her tail. Alduin landed in front of her and began to take a few steps forward, with a malicious look in his eyes.
"W-What do you want!? Trixie hasn't done anything wrong to you!" She shouted, but Alduin said nothing and simply approached.
"Zu'u yah hin slen... Your soul is mine..." Alduin said as he backed Trixie into the smoldering remains of her cart, before he pulled back his neck and shot it forward with his mouth wide open...
Alduin took off from the area, but he looked behind him and began to chuckle. What remained of his meal was a large collection of blood, chunks of flesh, and several bloody bones. There was a purple hat sitting on the ground, covered in its owners blood, which made him feel a bit proud, it had been long since he had feasted on flesh and souls, but what troubled him was this being traced back to him. Next time he would have to be more careful, next time he would have to attempt to swallow them whole...
Several royal guards surrounded the crime scene, while Shining Armor investigated. Blood was everywhere, splattered around randomly like some sick artist threw around his paint, bits of muscle and skin still remained, and even the bones seemed to have been split open by some powerful force. Whatever had done this was hungry, and willing to kill. He had ruled out the possibility of a Manticore, they don't usually make this big of a mess, while Chimeras were an option one has never been seen outside of the Everfree before, that left Timberwolves but then they would have lapped up everything, blood, leftover mean, and taken the bones back to their den to chew on.
"Do we have any way of identifying who this was?" Shining asked and a guard began to speak.
"We found some burned up photos in the wreckage, I believe it to be Trixie..." This troubled Shining, for Trixie hadn't been seen in Ponyville or Canterlot in months, this meant that something horrible was happening, and it was likely to happen again...
Word of Trixie's murder reached all of Equestria, and when it hit Ponyville there were some mixed reactions, while some were upset that a pony had been murdered, others were glad that lying cheater was gone, then you had Spike, who was simply scared. He had been going to Alduin with problems and would ask for his advice, so Spike thought he would take the opportunity to do so now. He made his way to the Everfree forest, where the dragon was staying for the time being, this was mostly to keep his existence a secret to protect him from any pony that might want to hurt him.
"Alduin? Are you there?" Spike asked, but upon receiving no answer, he frowned, but let out a startled gasp as a pair of blood red eyes opened in the darkness."
"Goraan Dovah... You require something?" Alduin asked, and Spike nodded.
"I'm not sure what to do... I don't know if you've heard, but a pony had been murdered and eaten, I'm just not sure what I would do if that happened to any of my friends..." Spike said, and Alduin approached.
"Do not worry. I will not allow harm to come upon your friends... I will protect them with all the power that I have... (Only because they are necessary for my plans to work)" Alduin said, and Spike smiled.
"Thanks..." SpIke said, hugging the larger dragon's snout, and although this act of affection disgusted Alduin he allowed it to happen.
"I'm telling you its true!" A young orange pegasus said.
"You're just messing with us, Scootaloo." A small white unicorn replied.
"Yeah, yah just want to make us look dumb." A yellow earth pony agreed.
"I'm telling you! I've seen it flying around in the sky! The big black dragon! You know if we find it, we could get our Cutie Marks in..." Scootaloo began, and the three smiled.
"Dragon Hunting!" They shouted in unison, before they rushed off towards the Everfree, although they had been warned many times not to go in unsupervised.
They didn't have to travel deep in to bump into something, and it was just what they were looking for. The very dragon that they'd heard about fifteen minutes ago. It turned to face them and began to growl.
"Zuk sil fah zey? Zu'u fen laan niin diist." It said, leaning forward to face them. "Give me a reason not burn you three to crisps..." It said, but they had already thought of an answer.
"Our sisters are the Elements of Harmony!" Applebloom, shouted, and the dragon stopped.
"They are...? (Perhaps destroying these three would not be in my best interest) Why have you traveled to me? Do you seek knowledge like your siblings? Or do you seek assistance?" It asked, and they began to think.
"Actually we were just trying to find you so that we can get our Cutie Marks... I guess we won't get it from Dragon Hunting... We're just always getting bullied and teased by these ponies in our class, their names are Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara." Scootaloo said, but Alduin took note of the names, perhaps getting rid of these two may earn him some favor in the eyes of the Elements...
"Now then, if that is all I wish to be alone." It said, before turning and walking away, deeper into the shadows of the Everfree, where it almost immediately disappeared from sight.
"I can't believe it! We met a real live dragon!" Sweetie Belle shouted.
"We've met Spike before." Applebloom said, but Scootaloo rolled her eyes.
"He isn't much of a dragon... But that guy was awesome and huge!" Scootaloo said with bright eyes, before they turned to go and tell all their friends about this amazing discovery.
Alduin sat in his makeshift den, a large cave that me managed to clear of all creatures, although they weren't very tasty. This cave was the only one large enough for him to fit inside, and thus that made it his temporary home.
"These creatures are so... Naïve... Unaware that as long as there are two creatures in this world there will always be war. Even Skyrim's civil war has not been ended, for the Nords, and the Imperials, and the Argonians, and the Khajiit, and the Redguards, and the Orcs, and the Elves will still spill each others blood... Over what? A simple murder? Feh, why do I engage myself in such trivial matters? Whether or not they die is of no importance to me. All that matters is if the Dragonborn survives." He said to himself, something he often did now that he had no one to speak with. He turned and quickly struck at a nearby bush with his jaws, and managed to grab a deer by the hind legs. He began to drag it into the cave and then devoured it, although its soul was small and weak, it would provide some nourishment for now. He heard the sound of hooves hitting the grass and moved into a defensive position, prepared to attack the pony should the need arise. However he took a more relaxed stance when he found it was only Twilight.
"Hello Alduin. I'm here for todays questions." She said, using her magic to produce a scroll. "Number One: What other shouts can you show me?" She asked, and Alduin began to think of one that could be physically seen, yet wouldn't cause any lasting damage. He finally decided on one and before Twilight could ask if something was wrong he shouted.
"FUS!" He yelled, which sent a wave of force slamming past her, although it made her slide a few inches and caused her mane and tail to get messed up.
"My... Ears... Next time, give me a little warning..." Twilight said, rubbing at her ears with her hooves. "What was that?" She asked, turning her attention towards him.
"Unrelenting Force. I only used the first word, for if I used two or even all three you would have gotten injured or possibly killed." Alduin explained.
"Does this mean that all shouts have three words, and does the amount of words you use effect the power of it?" She asked, and Alduin nodded.
"I can demonstrate on a tree if you would like." Alduin suggested, and Twilight vigorously nodded. Alduin turned to face a tree and shouted again.
"FUS RO!" Alduin yelled, and the tree he was facing toppled to the ground. He began to breathe heavily before yelling "FUS RO DAH!" This time the tree he was aiming at went flying off into the sky and out of their sight. Twilight gawked at this and looked at Alduin.
"What else can you do?" She asked, now excited to find out about this dragon's powers.
"FAAS RU MAAR!" Alduin yelled, and Twilight felt something, like fear was overtaking her body, it was to the point that she found herself unable to move, but it passed.
"What was that...?" Twilight asked, sucking air down her throat.
"Dragon Aspect, those who hear will ear the Thu'um and flee." Alduin responded before moving on.
"ZUL MEY GUT!" Alduin yelled, and his voice seemed to appear from a location in the distance. "Throw Voice. You hear the Thu'um but are unable to find the source." Alduin explained.
"Do you think it would be possible for me to learn the Thu'um?" Twilight asked, and Alduin seemed to think about this, after all this could be the opportunity that he had been hoping for.
"Perhaps... If you wish to learn then come back in three days, you must not speak until then. If you do, I will know." Alduin said, and Twilight frowned but she nodded to agree. "Good. Now that will be all for today... I hunger." Alduin said, before taking off into the sky, leaving Twilight standing there in silence. She would need a way to communicate though, so she had to head home and think about that.
Twilight walked into the library to see Spike sitting there reading a book on dragons, which confused her. She moved over and using magic lifted up a scroll and a quill before writing a message.
Why are you reading that? She levitated the scroll before his face, and he looked at her.
"I want to see if we have anything comparable to the Thu'um... Hey I'm getting pretty good at this dragon speak thing!" Spike said, before he noticed that she hadn't spoken to him. "Is something wrong? Did you see the dentist and have a bad tooth ache?" Spike asked, and Twilight shook her head.Alduin said I can't speak for three days, then he'll teach me how to use the Thu'um. I'm not sure why I can't speak though... Twilight wrote, and Spike began to contemplate this.
"Maybe to save your voice, you saw how loud he shouts, maybe you have to be loud too." Spike suggested, and while it didn't make much sense, they would just have to think that for now.
Alduin chased after his prey, chasing him around trees and large rocks, with loud roars that echoed for several feet. He wasn't sure who the pony was, but he knew one thing, he was very thin, it was disgusting. He was pure white with green eyes. Even so Alduin wasn't catching him on purpose, he wanted to toy with this one, make him very afraid and filled with fear, and eventually he cornered the stallion and took a few steps forward. Alduin opened his mouth wide and dove forward hoping to swallow the pony whole, but he jumped and ran across the dragon's back. Before he could get off however Alduin's massive tail knocked him off and onto the ground. Alduin knew that eating him whole wasn't option, he needed to strike quickly and aim to kill...
Lesson 1: Unrelenting Force
Author's Note
Good news everyone! I've found a proper dragon translator so I can actually start using the dragon language correctly! If you'd like for me to go back and re-do the earlier chapters using this then please let me know!
Lesson 1: Unrelenting Force
Twilight stood before Alduin as he prepared to teach her the ways of the Thu'um, and possibly his language as a whole.
"Twilight you have endured my test, and have proven yourself worthy of learning the Thu'um. You may speak, and we will begin your first lesson today. I carve the Word of Power into the ground, and you will read it, learn it, feel it. Then I shall share my knowledge of the shout with you. We will begin with the most basic shout, Unrelenting Force." Alduin said, which made the mare excited. Alduin faced a section on bare grass and shot his flames onto the ground, causing a word in his language to form. Twilight approached it and felt like she could hear a whispering in her head, as the word was repeated over and over, until it suddenly stopped. "Speak the word to me." Alduin ordered.
"Fus." Twilight said, and Alduin smiled, knowing that he would complete the next step quickly. Several pale golden ribbons of energy began to flow from Alduin, into Twilight, the voices returned, only this time they didn't stop as quickly, she began to feel worried, almost as if this wasn't supposed to be happening, but it faded away.
"Now face this stone, channel all of your inner emotions and change them into your shout." Alduin instructed, and Twilight faced the large rock near him, and began to take heavy breaths, she then began to shout.
"Fus!" She yelled, but nothing happened, disappointed she turned to face Alduin. "It didn't work..." She said feeling discouraged.
"Again." Alduin said, and Twilight tried to shout again with the same result. "Again." She tried and nothing happened. "Daar gein tries dii prem. Again!" Alduin said, and Twilight tried again, with no reaction.
"Am I doing something wrong?" She asked, and looked at Alduin who shook his head.
"No, some are just not talented enough to control the Thu'um. I'm afraid you never may." Alduin said, trying his best not to grin. Twilight looked down, and felt angry, she wasn't sure if Alduin was trying to discourage her or not.
"FUS!" Twilight shouted, channeling all of her anger and frustration into this shout, which produced the desired effect. The rock was not flung away, but was rather pushed a few inches, which made Twilight smile.
"Good, continue to train and extend your knowledge of the word Fus, next we will focus on Ro." Alduin burned the word into the ground again. Twilight went through the same experience again, and found it less frightening this time. Alduin shared his knowledge with her and she turned to face the stone.
"Fus Ro!" She shouted, but like the first time, she found that it had done nothing. She let out a groan and faced Alduin. "Is there some trick to it? It didn't happen last time until I got angry." Twilight said, to which Alduin began to laugh.
"You're barely even trying, just give up now, leave before I allow you to continue anymore." Alduin said with a grin. Twilight growled and faced the rock before shouting again.
"FUS RO!" She yelled, which launched the rock a few feet.
"Good, finally we will focus on the final word of power... Dah." Alduin said, repeating the process.
"Fus Ro Dah!" Twilight shouted, but once again there was no result, but before she could try again, Alduin began to speak.
"Naal stahdim! This one is useless! Worthless, only a waste of space and air! Zu'u ofan vok!" Alduin yelled, and this made Twilight furious, not just angry. She turned to face him and began to shout.
"FUS RO DAH!" She shouted directly at his face, which flung the dragon back a foot or two. Twilight gasped as she realized what she had done, and began to back away in fear. Alduin approached her with a look of anger and fury, he began to speak.
"Hi lost pogaas nerve! Hi krilon mii zul wah zey! Zu'u fend al hi... Vutharaak Zu'u fen ni. Hi lost genun hi los vos mii faal Zul. Mu fen fahbo ko sed zuk sul." Alduin said, and turned before walking away from her, she was shocked and stood there, wondering if Alduin would come back and attack her.
Shining let out a groan of disgust, another body had been found, only this one had been cut in half. The flesh had been sliced finely, and even the bones had been cleanly cut, which worried him. Whatever was doing this wasn't killing for sport or because it was insane, rather it was doing this because it was eating them, devouring its victims. However the fact that this one had only been half-eaten worried him, had somepony approached the monster? Or had it sensed danger? Whatever the case, at least they would have part of a body to bury, unlike Trixie where they buried her hat and a framed picture. This was just getting worse and worse every time he was put on one of these... He just began to wonder how many more would be killed.
A Day With Fluttershy and Rarity
"So you wish to learn about the animals and monsters that inhabit the land of Skyrim?" Alduin asked, while Fluttershy slowly nodded. "Then you shall learn... Some of the most common animals are deer, elk, rabbits, chickens, bears, hawks, cows, dogs, goats, wolves, and mudcrabs..." Alduin began, but this made Fluttershy wonder something.
"Um... What is... A mudcrab?" Fluttershy asked.
"A crab that hides in the muck and mud of a river or beach, able to disguise itself perfectly as a stone, it waits for prey to pass by. However they are very dull-witted, so they attack anything that moves too close." Alduin answered, before moving on. "Then there are the monsters, perhaps with the most well known being the fearsome giant, capable of even slaying a dragon. They are mostly docile, unless you stray to close, harm them, or the mammoth they herd." Alduin continued, but the word mammoth made Fluttershy's eyes light up.
"Mammoth? Mammoth are thought to be extinct! You mean mammoth actually roam Skyrim?" Fluttershy asked, with a happy tone.
"That they do, however they are hunted by for their tusks, and meat, but should you disturb one that is being herded by a giant, then the giant will turn to attack you." Alduin said, before he started to speak again. "Perhaps the trolls are one of the worst, three eyes monsters that kill anything that wanders close to them, but they will also seek out prey as well. They regenerate very quickly and can only be defeated using fire." This intrigued Fluttershy, but she knew that she should probably remain quiet. "The falmer are a race of elves that have lived underground in caves for so long, that they have lost their eyes."
"Lost their eyes? What do you mean?" Fluttershy asked.
"They had no use for them in the darkness, and as a result they eventually stopped being born with eyes. They evolved to fit their home environment. The saber cat is a fierce predator, with long canines that jut from their mouths." Alduin said, which reminded Fluttershy of another extinct animal, the saber toothed tiger. "Ice-Wraiths, and other creatures roam Skyrim's cold areas and mountains. Then when you add the other monsters, vampires, werewolves, draugr, living skeletons, frostbite spiders, slaughter-fish, and many more, you get for the most part, the living beings of Skyrim. There are creatures much like ponies, however they are incapable of speech and are nothing more than dumb workers for the races of man, they ride them, they kill and eat them, they do all sorts of things to them." Alduin finished, and this seemed to upset Fluttershy.
"Why would they kill and eat animals?" Fluttershy asked, feeling sad.
"The races of man are Omnivores, they eat both plants and meat, but there are several other creatures as well... Hagravens, a horrible mix of woman and bird, they wield powerful magic and often capture other species to torture for their amusement, but they prefer Spriggans. Guardians of the forest, creatures made of wood that attack anything not an animal or one of their own. Then you have the one creature that Skyrim could do without, Skeevers." Alduin explained.
"What's a Skeever? If you don't mind me asking..." Fluttershy said, baking away from the intimidating dragon.
"Do not be afraid, I will not harm you. Skeevers are large rat like creatures, about the height of a medium sized dog, they carry many diseases and are very aggressive." Alduin answered, before noticing an approaching Rarity. "Het bo hin fahdon, fent mu vuth?" Alduin asked, forgetting that they did not speak his language.
"I'm sorry. Am I interrupting something?" Rarity asked, but Fluttershy shook her head.
"We were just talking about the animals in Skyrim. A lot of them are dangerous..." Fluttershy answered, and Rarity nodded in understanding.
"I just wanted to stop by and say hello. I was wondering if you'd been doing well." Rarity said, and Alduin nodded.
"I have been fine, I feel everyday my strength returning. It will still be long before I am fully healed however." Alduin said. Which made the mares smile.
"At least you've been feeling better." Rarity commented, but then found herself wondering something about Skyrim. "Are there any... Precious stones in Skyrim?" Rarity asked, and Alduin nodded.
"There are many, from ruby, to amethyst, to emerald, to sapphire, to diamonds, to garnets. However they are mostly mined up being flawed, and rarely are flawless gems found. If you wish to know about the other variety of gems found in Skyrim, they are known as soul gems. They are used in enchanting and capture the soul of a living creature, be it animal or man. However larger creatures require larger soul gems, and men require a black soul gem." Alduin explained, which made the two uneasy.
"What do you mean by 'captures the soul'?" Rarity asked, and Alduin began to chuckle.
"Ful stahraal ahrk meyus... A spell is cast on an animal or man, and upon their death their soul is trapped inside the soul gem, and used to enchant weapons and armor." Alduin said, with a grin. This made the mares gasp, and Fluttershy thought she might faint.
"Why would anypony do that!?" Rarity asked, now feeling angry, not at Alduin, but rather at Skyrim.
"My world is plagued with war and hate, even its own people fight each other in a bloody civil war. Nust los nid nuz hefhah." Alduin replied, and Rarity turned around with a huff and began to walk away. "Rek lif? Did I upset her?" Alduin asked, turning to face Fluttershy who shook her head.
"Rarity is just a little... Unpredictable sometimes." Fluttershy said, trying her best to explain, but Alduin knew that Rarity was simply angry at his world, and their war filled ways.