“Each Event is preceded by Prophecy. But without the hero, there is no Event.” – Starswirl the Bearded
In the waning years of the Third Era of Equestria, a pony born on a certain day to uncertain parents was sent under guard, without explanation, to Morrowhinny, ignorant of the role she was to play in that nation’s history…
0~
They have taken you from Canterlot city’s prison, first by carriage and now by boat, to the east… To Morrowhinny. Fear not, for I am watchful. You have been chosen.
0~
“Wake up.”
She shifted in her sleep.
“We’re here.”
Despite her pounding headache, she tried to slowly peel open her eyes.
“Why are you shaking?”
She felt it now, the subtle tremor in her half-asleep hooves.
“Are you okay?”
She feebly opened her mouth to say something, but nothing could escape her lips.
“Wake up.”
With a groan, she forced herself up. The mare shook her head and looked around her, trying to figure out where she was. “Spike?” She yawned, but immediately stopped once she realized this was not her castle. “What the… Spike?!” she cried out, desperate to hear his familiar voice, but she received no reply.
“What’s your name?”
She whipped around to see a startlingly familiar face, certainly not the one she was expecting to see. “I’m, uh… I’m Twilight Sparkle. And you’re… Jiub?” From The Pony Scrolls 3: Morrowhinny?, she finished in her head.
“Yeah…” The emaciated grey stallion looked as though he was going to ask more, but never followed up. “Well, not even last night’s-“
“Storm could wake me,” Twilight finished with a look of terror creeping onto her face. She began scrutinizing the room around her, taking into account every little detail. The boat, the stallion, the dream… The dream! Memories of the ethereal voice from her dream came rushing back. “Sweet Celestia,” she mumbled softly.
Jiub, still quite confused by Twilight’s seemingly psychic abilities, didn’t take the mumbling as a good sign. “Wha… What is it?”
“I’m the Nerevarine!” she screeched in horror.
“Quiet!” a guard pegasus rebuked as he approached the prisoners. He turned to face Twilight directly. “You, come with me. And don’t yell again-let’s just keep this as civil as possible.”
Twilight reluctantly followed the guard, not truly paying attention to her environment as a result of the thoughts racing through her head. How did I get here? How do I get out? Are any of my friends here with me or am I the only one? What am I going to do? They had reached the stairs, and the guard mumbled something but not before Twilight went ahead and went up on deck. The beginning of the game was like clockwork to her, and she silently adhered to the path set out for her.
“You’ve finally arrived, but our records don’t show from where,” a guard in front of Twilight interjected, stopping her abruptly.
A large, flat screen appeared in front of Twilight, but instead of giving her the option to explicitly change her appearance, it simply let her choose her race. She briefly ran through each possible location through her head. She usually picked one of the elvish races when she played, naturally favoring a mage-style play through, so she easily concluded that being an Altmare would suit her best. “Sonipeset Isles it is.” The alicorn let loose a small smile when she saw her horn and her ears become more elongated and tapered more sharply at the ends.
“Great. I’m sure you’ll fit right in.” Twilight sighed at the tediousness of the process she knew would soon follow.
0~
When Twilight was out of the Census and Excise office, she stretched out her limbs and took a moment to finally think. She trotted over to the edge of the water and sat down, pulling the piece of bread she snagged in the building out to eat. So, I’m inside of a game. Morrowhinny, to be specific. How did I get here? Her face scrunched up as she tried to remember, but it was to no avail. Well, it’s not as if I don’t know this game forwards and backwards. I do need to find a way out, though. Despite her intimate knowledge of the game, she knew that her physically being present in the game could change a lot of things.
Wait… I’m actually in the game… Does that mean if I die here, I die in real life? Twilight let out a horrified gasp as the reality of the situation hit her. Sweet Celestia, if I take a step out of town I’m gonna have my butt handed to me by a kwama forager, I’m going to have to deal with cliffracers face-to-face, I’m going to die. The panicked mare began hyperventilating. She was so intensely focused on her inevitable death that she didn’t feel the hoof on her shoulder.
“Uh… Miss? You alright?”
Twilight turned slightly to see a pale brown stallion looking at her with concern. She noticed his pointed ears, sharpened horn, and slender black eyes. Oh Tartarus-Twilight quickly mentally corrected herself-er, Oblivion, here we go. “Yeah, fine.”
The stallion, whom she quickly recognized as Fargoth, seated himself next to her. “Oh, good. I saw you step off that boat, you know. Weird time of day for that kind of thing.” He paused and levitated a small bottle of shein to his lips before continuing, “Hope the Imperials treated you okay. I swear they took my-“
“Ring.” Twilight held the small thing up to the Bosmare, who accepted it graciously.
“You found it? Amazing!” He gave her a huge grin and levitated the ring onto his horn. “Thank you, thank you! I’ll be sure to tell Arrille about what you did for me. He runs the tradehouse just over there.” He gave her a small wave and stood to leave. As he trotted away, Twilight got a glimpse at his cutiemark. Naturally, it was his family ring.
Finally, Twilight thought as the small stallion left. His mention of the Imperials reminded her of the black screen that had appeared before she walked into the Census and Excise office. That looked just like the Morrowhinny menus. Maybe I can save my game? To Twilight’s surprise, the moment she thought it the world around her became dead silent and a similar black screen materialized in front of her. It had only one option: save game. Her sigh of relief was loud and sincere, and she lifted a hoof to save her game. She could not choose a slot to save it in, which meant no going back, but she saved nonetheless. So maybe I won’t die permanently, but that still doesn’t mean I’m ready to just die at any given moment… She shuddered as she imagined the tension and fear of crawling through a House Dagoth base, collecting the enchanted items from the ash vampires, or, Celestia forbid, facing off the great Sharmat himself.
The mare let out a groan of frustration before prostrating herself. The moment her back touched the soft, moist ground Twilight noticed something terrible: she had no wings. The revelation made her surge upwards in surprise. Tears welled up in her eyes as she reached for their normal position with her hooves and felt nothing. It was then Twilight had to consider something else. In desperation, she tried to telekinetically levitate the bread instead of lifting it with her hooves. She visibly strained, and her dark pink magic accumulated into a thick cluster around the tip of her finely tapered horn, but it was useless. The bread stayed on the ground, unwilling to answer the call of her magic. I’m weak. I’m a level 1 unicorn mage. I have nothing. Twilight began silently sobbing into her hooves. What am I going to do? She stood up, hearing the soft ambient sound of a piano build up in the back ground. A song swelled into her vocal chords and she began to gently sing:
I’ve been stripped down to my core
What am I going to do?
I’ve faced changelings
and bad kings
and all sorts of cruel things
But this is something new…
I know almost all the lore
I’ve read all of Kirkbridle’s stuff
Now I am here
filled with fear
and it couldn’t be more clear
That it just won’t be enough…
Twilight was prepared to break out into a chorus when it dawned on her that breaking out into song and dance wasn’t a natural occurrence for the denizens of Morrowhinny. She glanced around to see that some townsponies had gathered around her and were gawking at her flagrantly inappropriate display. Overcome with embarrassment, Twilight silently withdrew herself from the center of the scene and quickly made her way toward the tradehouse.
The door creaked open gently, and Twilight let out a faint giggle when the action didn’t lead to a loading screen or temporary break in environment. She walked up to the counter and began rummaging through her bags to find the items she meant to barter (including that fancy little limeware platter she knew just the trick to steal right in front of the folks at the Census office), barely noticing something seemed off about Arrille. The entire haul didn’t amount to much, around 500 gold, but it was good enough for Twilight. She was about to leave the warehouse until it occurred to her to complete her entire beginning-of-the-game setup all the way through. Celestia knows I’ll need all the gold I can get if I’m going to do this for real, she thought as she walked up the stairs to find Hrisskar Flat-Hoof.
0~
Night had long fallen on Seyda Neen, yet Twilight found herself as awake and fearful as ever. Finding Fargoth’s hiding place had been a breeze, as had obtaining the shardaxe and the Scrolls of Icarian Flight, but this was something entirely different. The lavender unicorn pulled out her journal and considered simply abandoning the quest. The quill in her mouth hovered over the Death of a Taxman quest as she contemplated crossing it out. It wasn’t until she was already standing outside of Foryn Gilnith’s shack that it had dawned on her that this wasn’t going to be like the other quests; she had to kill somepony else. It was only a video game, and she kept reminding herself of such, but she couldn’t help but feel like this was going to be infinitely harder with the pony she’s going to kill within hoof’s reach.
But he’s a criminal… A murderer. He certainly deserves it, Twilight speculated in an attempt to calm herself. It did little, though, and the thought of killing somepony else felt inherently wrong, regardless of his standing in society. No. It’s just a video game, and I need that 500 gold reward. Twilight steeled herself and rushed into the shack before she could change her mind.
Foryn, who had been relaxing on his hammock with his copy of A Gallop In Fire, nearly jumped in the air at the sudden intrusion. He glared daggers at Twilight, who recoiled from the acrimonious expression before closing the shack door behind her. “What do you want?” the indignant Dunmare barked before sliding off his hammock and setting his book aside. “It’s almost midnight.”
The Altmare tentatively took a step forward and mentally prepared herself for the inevitable combat. “I want you to pay for your crimes.” When Foryn didn’t reply, Twilight elaborated, “The murder of Processus Vitellius.”
If the Dunmare had been angry earlier, then he was downright furious now. “That fetcher? You’re damn right I did him in. He overcharged our taxes and kept the extra for himself. Didn’t even have the decency to keep it to himself, flaunting his ill-begotten wealth around town like that. So I killed the bastard and left his body to rot. Fat lot of good all that stolen gold is going to do a dead stallion.” He began to slowly make his way towards the inexperienced mage, doing nothing to mask his growing displeasure. “Why? What are you going to do about it?”
Twilight wanted to back away, but she felt her legs lock up. Though she tried to hide her fear, her body betrayed her and her ears naturally fell back against her head. She took a deep breath before reluctantly answering, “I understand why you’d be angry, but that is no excuse for murder. Your punishment has been decided.”
“I knew it,” Foryn spat. “You’ve come to kill me. Well, give it your best shot, Altmare. I’ve no problem with spilling more of the blood of the Empire’s lackeys!” With that, he lunged at Twilight, viciously swinging a hoof in her direction.
She had no time to move before the hoof reached her cheek, pushing her off balance and making her dizzy. Twilight tried to recollect herself and prepare a magic spell but was met with another volley of aggravated punches and slashes that forced her onto the ground. Foryn climbed on top of her and began giving Twilight rapid, successive jabs to the muzzle. In the heat of the moment, the Altmare abandoned her efforts at casting a spell and clobbered her opponent’s groin with her fetlock. He howled in pain and ceased his constant barrage of Twilight’s face, giving her a chance to stand up and finally recompose herself.
Foryn quickly pulled himself together and began standing up, forcing Twilight to hurry up and prepare a spell. With little hesitation, she chose to cast Fire Bite. Come on, come on! She chanted the mantra in her head as her magicka built up around her horn. The impassioned Dunmare finally regained his stance and began blindly charging his opponent, who finally tried to shoot off her spell. Much to Twilight’s chagrin, her spell failed miserably, leaving her directly within the line of fire of her infuriated adversary. She lifted up her hooves and held Foryn off for a few precious seconds while she prepared a second spell. Mere moments before he worked around her hooves her second spell had failed too, leaving her almost completely vunerable. “Die, fetcher!” Foryn rancorously snarled before once more pouncing on the weakened mage.
In a last, frenzied, fearful attempt to save her own life, Twilight thrust her head upwards, driving her sharpened horn directly into Foryn’s throat. She winced as she felt the thick, warm blood run down her horn and pool into her hair. Twilight hastily pulled her horn out, nearly vomiting as she felt the slick, wet muscles slide against her horn from his weak, panicked attempts at breathing. When it was out, the Dunmare began tilting over to the side before unceremoniously slumping onto the floor.
Twilight stared at her dead opponent for what felt like hours before becoming engulfed in guilt. Unable to stand the stench of sweat and blood for any longer, she left the shack, wracked with regret. Her eyes began leaking tears, and by the time she reached the door to the Census and Excise Office they were full-on cascading down her cheeks, leaving darkened stains behind. She hurriedly wiped them away before stepping into the building to claim what she felt was now a hollow reward.
0~
It was morning, and the lavender unicorn had been unable to sleep a wink. The thought of her murder lingered on her mind, pestering her like a swarm of flesh flies in a feeding frenzy. Nopony deserves to die in such a violent way, regardless of what they did. From now on, unless anypony perspicuously attacks me or means me any harm, I will not kill another pony. Violence should always be an extreme last resort. It’s a shame that is so common, hay, even accepted around here. Twilight sighed morosely. This world is so torn apart by anger and mistrust. Not to mention, the stress of the growing threat of Dagoth Ur is probably only exacerbating the problem. I guess it never really occurred to me how inimical this world was. But then, it was always just a game.
It was then Twilight had an epiphany. She knew how to get out of the game.
I’m going to stop Lord Ur’s efforts to spread his blight across these lands. But I’m not going to do it alone. If I’m going to put together an effective plan to force him to halt operations without bringing about anypony’s demise, I’m going to need a lot of help. Certainly more help than just one Great House, Ashlander tribe, or guild could provide. It’s going to be hard bringing them together, but I know just how to do it.
I’m going to need to make a lot of friends.
Author's Note
Before you ask, no, this isn't just going to be Twilight doing a regular vanilla playthrough of the game. Stuff is actually going to happen. Just give it time.
Also, Altmare =/= mare. The names Altmare, Dunmare, etc. are genderless terms simply used to describe the type of elf a pony can be.
Rainbow Dash tossed her hooves up into the air. “Come on, Twilight! You’ve been freaking out about this box all weekend.” She landed directly in front of Twilight, who nearly dropped the box she had been holding. Rainbow promptly took the box from Twilight and began hovering just out of her friend’s hoof’s reach. “What’s in this stupid thing that’s so important, anyway?”
“I don’t know, Rainbow. If you’d just-” Twilight weakly swung out to reach it “-give it back, I could tell you.”
The cyan pegasus, who had been digging through the object in question, stared at it in confusion before retorting, “Not ‘till you tell me why this has been making you worry. This stuff doesn’t even make sense…”
Twilight groaned in frustration. “Because Princess Celestia herself sent it! All she said was that she thought its contents would be of dire importance to me! Well, maybe not ‘dire’, but still essential.” She held out a hoof expectantly. “Will you give it back to me, now?”
Rainbow rolled her eyes and carelessly dropped the box back on the floor. “Sure, egghead. It’s just a bunch of funny-looking books, anyway.”
“Those are pretty important. I thought you finally understood that,” Twilight mumbled as she glimpsed inside the box. She audibly gasped and pulled a flat object that was in fact not a book out of the box. “No way!” she shouted excitedly as she pulled more of the flat objects out of her box.
Without hesitation, Rainbow was peeking over her friend’s shoulder. “What? What is it?!”
“Some of my old stuff I must have left behind in Canterlot Castle! I must have forgotten it, I’m surprised Celestia even found it.” She grinned nostalgically and levitated one of the flat boxes up. “This is my old copy of The Elder Scrolls I: Equestria. This was my first ever video game, very difficult at the time. Ooh! And here’s my copy of Quiet Dunes 2! I was so obsessed, I got the director’s cut and everything.”
On the verge of being bored out of her mind, Rainbow Dash made to leave the room. It wasn’t until an even louder and more dramatic gasp escaped Twilight that she came back.
“The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowhinny.”
“Huh?” Rainbow Dash took the game case from Twilight’s hooves and turned it over to read the back. “I’ve never even heard of this one. What is it?”
“Are you serious?!” Twilight nearly screeched as she snatched the game out of her friend’s hooves. She held it up reverently, as if to praise it. “This, dearest Rainbow Dash, is the holy grail of gaming. A perfect combination of complex story, unique characters, and deep lore that has been amalgamated into one single role-playing experience. It’s about this hero that starts off as a prisoner on a boat on its way to…”
As Twilight rambled, Rainbow Dash quickly lost interest. She yawned and lifted herself off the ground, hovering but a few feet in the air. “That’s cool, I guess. So now that you know what this stuff is, are you going to come have lunch with the girls and I?”
Twilight ceased her babbling and turned to Rainbow. “No, thanks. I think I’m going to sort out all of this stuff.” She gave Rainbow Dash a small wave and watched as her pegasus friend left.
As soon as Rainbow was gone, Twilight held up her case of Morrowhinny. “Maybe after just a couple minutes of this baby right here.
0~
Twilight woke with a start, bumping her head on the small overhang above her. She looked up to see the edge of the silt strider shell that she had been sleeping under. A small groan escaped her as she reached up to soothe the spot on her head she had hit.
“Finally awake?” Twilight turned to see the silt strider caravaneer, Darvame, staring at her intently. “You’ve been out almost the whole trip. We’re almost to Balmora.”
The Altmare simply nodded and laid herself back down. Bits and pieces of her dream came gradually back to her, and she tried to fit them all together. It feels like none of that happened too long ago, she thought. I think that happened earlier today. Well, the day I got trapped in the game, anyway.
A moan from the great, hulking arthropod pulled Twilight out of her thoughts. Her earlier giddiness about being able to interact with the great creature in person came bubbling back up, and she couldn’t help but affectionately stroke the thick chitin. As she did so, she heard the ambient build up of “The Road Most Travelled” begin, and her smile only widened. The beautiful song of the orchestral instruments, the gentle moans and bumps from the silt strider, an occasional distant squawk of some creature or another-if Twilight had not been forced into the world with no clue how she had gotten there, she would have been content to enjoy that moment forever.
Unfortunately for her, it could not last. Twilight felt the silt strider begin slowing down. She sat up to see that sharply geometric city growing in the distance-Balmora. Despite her almost always choosing to join House Telvanni, something about this House Hlaalu territory would always feel a little like home to her. As the silt strider approached its port, Twilight felt her excitement grow. Just because I’m trapped here doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy it, she thought as the massive insect came to a stop. She stepped onto the port and gave Darvame a little wave before making her way into town. Without a second thought, she passed the Argponian wandering around the base of the port and made her way towards the Lucky Lockup. Her stomach rumbled harshly as she entered the tavern.
It wasn’t long before she was seated at a table, enjoying a small kwama egg, some bread, and a bottle of sujamma. So that’s what a kwama egg tastes like, Twilight mused merrily. She took another hearty bite and contained a small giggle. It didn’t taste all that good, but hay, it was a literal kwama egg of all things, and Twilight was content to enjoy the fact that she could experience these little things about the big, fictional world all around her. When the tavern bard began picking at the lute, the Altmare gently nodded her head along with the music, taking modest sips of her drink all the while. The warmth and nostalgia filling the atmosphere was so sweet that, for a few moments, Twilight truly forgot the troubles that left her worried and sleepless but a few hours ago.
Much like earlier, her moment of happiness could not last. Back to business, Twilight thought as she pulled her current quest’s most important object out of her satchel. It was the parcel she was to deliver to Caius Cosades, the one she received while in the Census and Excise Office in Seyda Neen. She was tempted to open the package, but she already knew the contents, and didn’t bother with it. To be delivered to Caius Cosades of Balmora, she read on the outside of the package. Though she didn’t want to admit it, even to herself, she was nervous about meeting Caius. It wasn’t until she found herself studying the slightly yellow parchment with a fierce gaze that she finally berated herself for putting off this meeting and slipping the parcel back into her satchel.
Why am I so nervous?, she asked herself as she made to leave the tavern. It’s not like I haven’t done this quest tons of times. Then again, I’ve never had to present myself to the Grand Spymaster of the Blades in person before. I wonder if he’s really as stern as he looks in the game.
Twilight stepped out into the streets, gleefully absorbing her surroundings as she made the brisk trot to Caius’ small home. These ponies do seem to have more diverse personalities than they did when I just played the game. Maybe whatever force brought me here changed that too? Now that she thought about it, a lot of things weren’t adding up. Not everyone has the same few voice actors anymore, either. They have unique voices and appearances. Not to mention, dialogue doesn’t bring up a small black window, but wanting to save my game does. Did the save game menu even look like that? She paused her pondering to pull out her journal and a quill, both of which she had started with in her inventory. The Altmare flipped to the back of the journal and, not wanting to just sit around in the middle of the street, jotted her questions down with the expeditiousness of a cliff racer plunging down towards its victim.
“Hem hem.”
She looked up to see a Hlaalu guard standing over her. “Sorry, serjo.”
They shared a moment of awkward silence before the guard burst out laughing. “Ha ha ha! ‘Serjo’? Heh, don’t kid yourself, outlander.”
Twilight blushed furiously. She had caught her mistake as soon as she made it, but had been to frozen in embarrassment to say anything. “No, I mean, er, sera.”
The guard stopped his chortling and tilted his head slightly to the side. “Hmph. Just stay out of trouble.” He waved a hoof around her area before adding on, “And off the middle of the road. Seriously, do your writing somewhere else.” With that, the brusque stallion left.
The Altmare stood up and brushed herself off before once again making her way towards Caius Cosades’ home. I think I will befriend him. Hay, having the help of possibly the most expansive spy group in Equestria-this false Equestria, anyway-could definitely be useful. I don’t know how the Great Houses or the Ashlander tribes are going to feel about this, though. Twilight’s brow furrowed as she continued thinking, paying no mind to the world around her as she crossed the bridge. I’m certainly not going to enlist their help then just not tell anyone else. Sure, keeping some personal secrets from your friends is alright, but having an entire secret group of friends? Gods, they’d abandon me in seconds. She threw back her head and groaned loudly, catching the attention of a few Dunmares in her general vicinity. This is going to be way harder than I thought.
It wasn’t too long before Twilight found herself standing outside of Caius’ doorway. She lifted her hoof up, letting it hover around the door knob, before losing her confidence and bringing it back down. Damnit, I can’t give up now!, the angrily reprimanded herself. She tried again, but felt a heavy weight in her stomach and once again lost the will to let herself in. Come on, you’re already here! Just… Do it! She grumbled and did a little stomp with her front hoof before turning around to leave.
I can’t do this. Who am I kidding? Sweet Celestia, if I can’t even meet Caius, who’s probably too high on skooma to even realize I’m there, then who’s to say I can handle facing the Sharmat? I’d be a failure. She choked back a single sob as the memory of the ghosts in the Cavern of the Incarnate came rushing back to her. A failed incarnate.
No, Twilight thought, once again having to force herself to have the strength to do her task. I will save Morrowhinny. That has to be what I’m here for in the first place. She turned to face Caius Cosades’ small house. I’m doing this quest, and I can’t keep letting little things stop me. This is just getting ridiculous. With a newfound confidence, and a little eye roll, Twilight strode up to the door and swung it open without hesitation. “Greetings, Caius, I have brought your… Your… Package?”
Twilight’s jaw dropped the floor, and words failed her. Of all the things she had expected to see, it had not been the pony hovering in the room at that moment. The pegasus in question twisted to see the nonplussed Altmare frozen in her own confusion.
“What package?”
“You… But, you’re…” Twilight shook her head to make sure she wasn’t imaging things.
“But what, newbie? Spit it out.”
“Rainbow Dash?!”
“Yeah. And?”the cyan pegasus barked.
Twilight let out a small, relieved laugh. “I can’t believe it! My friends are already in the game with me. This should make everything so much easier,” she jovially announced as she ran to embrace her friend in a hug.
The pegasus immediately flew back, avoiding Twilight’s grip. “Woah, woah, newbie. What are you talking about?”
“I… Rainbow, do you not recognize me?” Twilight queried worriedly.
“Ah, no. Now what’s this about, you said you had a package?”
“Uh…” Twilight furrowed her brow as she reached to pull the parcel out of her satchel. “Here.” When she pulled it out, she let out a small gasp as she noticed the words on the parchment had changed: To be delivered to Rainbow Dash of Balmora. More confused than ever, she hoofed the parchment over to Rainbow.
Rainbow swiftly scanned the documents, occasionally nodding her head or glancing up at Twilight. “Alright, I think I got it. So here’s the scoop newbie: I’m gonna have to make you a Novice of the Blades, and I can’t work with someone as scrawny-lookin’ as you..” She turned around for a moment, took something off of the desk behind her, and turned back to Twilight with a bag of gold in her hooves. “Here, it’s about 200; go get yourself some training. Or join a guild. You need it.”
Twilight, who hadn’t really been paying attention, was still racking through her brain for answers. How is she here? How is this possible? Does she realize that she doesn’t belong here…?
“Uh, newbie? Hello? Nirn to Twilight?”
Hearing her name snapped Twilight out of her reverie. “So you do know me? Why are you acting so strange?”
The pegasus made a disgruntled noise before deadpanning, “No, I don’t know you. The paper just had your name on it. What’s going on, didn’t they tell you why you’re here?”
“No, I just…” Twilight sat herself down and cocked her head to the side. “I just thought, maybe since my friends are here, I could beat the game easier. Rainbow, do you really not know that you’re not a part of the game?”
“Game? What game?” The pegasus quietly flew over to her bed before seating herself on the edge. “You’re kinda starting to scare me, newbie. And don’t call me just ‘Rainbow’- that’s ‘Spymaster Dash’ to you.”
Twilight snorted in frustration. “You don’t… Damn!” She furrowed her brow. “This is going to be even harder! How many of my other friends are here?! And if they don’t know that they don’t belong here, then how in the hay am I supposed to find them?!”
Then, it hit Twilight. Exactly what was wrong with Arrille at his tradehouse in Seyda Neen. She had been so used to the flow of the beginning of the game, so ready to just rush through her usual, that she had completely overlooked a glaringly obvious fact: the pony at the counter was not, in fact, Arrille... It was Rose from the flower shop in Ponyville.
"So its not just my friends..." Twilight lifted a hoof to her chin as she sunk deep into her thoughts. There's even others from Ponyville. Who else could be here? Surely not all of Equestria, otherwise I definitely would have noticed that. She sighed, oblivious to the growing look of concern on the Spymaster's face. Regardless, I need to find my other friends. They must play some part in this whole debacle.
"Does the name Applejack ring a bell?" Twilight queried all of a sudden.
"Not in the slightest," was the pegasus' reply.
"Damn." She looked back at the torn wrapping on the parcel, examining the words "To be delivered to Rainbow Dash of Balmora", before concluding, "Then I have to go manually find my friends, one by one, until I figure out where they are in this world. For some unknown reason, I can't find out who they are until I meet them face-to-face, so I'll have to scour this entire island. As if this wasn't difficult enough."
"As if what wasn't difficult enough?"
"This game!" Twilight groaned. "Sorry. I know you don't understand. Hay, I don't understand exactly what's going on here."
She turned to face Rainbow Dash, scrutinizing the cyan mare. "I mean, really, of all ponies to be Caius, they could have picked a much better one than you. He has such a high Speechcraft skill! And you... Oh Celestia, don't get me started."
Rainbow Dash snorted."Oh please, of all the ponies they could have picked to be a new member of the Blades, they picked you! A kwama forager could kick your sorry ass in seconds, and I'll have to be the one to clean up your messes."
Twilight balked at the sudden hostility. "Excuse me?!"
"I mean, look at you! An Altmare who probably couldn't even do a simple levitation spell is supposed to be the new big thing! Its pathetic," Rainbow ended with a snarl.
The unicorn bristled in anger. "Watch it, Rainbow-"
"Watch what? You try to hurt me? Come on, you couldn't hurt a scrib." Rainbow Dash ended her verbal assault with a sly, knowing grin.
This only serve to upset Twilight more. She instinctually put herself in a fight-ready stance, prepared to hit Rainbow with her best shot, but hesitated when she noticed the pegasus still had that snarky smirk. Why is... Oh. Aw, hay. The angered look fell from her face and was replaced with surprise.
The Spymaster noticed this immediately and reared back laughing. "Gotcha, newbie. Now what was that about me not being good with words?"
Twilight nodded approvingly. "I'll give it to you, you're certainly good at taunting ponies. Intimidating them, too, I bet. You know, I never really thought of it that way."
The pegasus shrugged. "What can I say? Free first lesson in diplomacy: Getting ponies to listen to you or like you isn't always smiles or handshakes. Sometimes, you just gotta find other ways around their emotions." She hovered over to the unicorn and pat her on her back. "You're a riot, Twilight Sparkle. Kinda weird, but who isn't nowadays?"
She flew back a bit and hovered a few feet away from Twilight. "Now seriously, go get yourself some training. Or, stay and train with me. Official Blades members get cheaper services." Rainbow ended the statement with a goofy wink.
Twilight couldn't control the smile that stretched across her face. Yeah, this is definitely the Rainbow Dash I know. "I'd like that," she stated as she set her satchel down next to the door and approached the pegasus. As they were training, Twilight couldn't help continuously thinking:
This is way better than training with the real Caius Cosades.
