The Elder Scrolls: Equus

Darkness.

All I could see was darkness. However, this time felt different then my last memory of waking up to darkness. First off, I was lying on my back instead of my underbelly this time. Second, was that I was lying on a soft, comfy bed instead of hard, uncomfortable rock. The atmosphere around me felt warm and cosy, instead of the putrid smell of rock and ash.

I wonder... was that all just a dream.

When I opened my eyes, that thought started to drift away when I immediately noticed that this wasn’t my room. I still didn’t actually remember my old room; I just knew that this wasn’t it. My lack of memories about most of my life also told me that all of that stuff about being sacrificed and escaping Tartarus with the Prophet actually happened.

I could also still feel an emptiness inside of me. That Element was only able to do so much.

Sitting up in the bed, I took a closer look around the room that I was in. It seemed to be a small, one bedroom wooden hut. All that was in here was the bed that I was lying in, with two layers of covers. There was a small credenza next to the bed, with Rainbow Dash’s Element, and a glass of water on it. I was feeling a bit parched, so I took a drink, thinking that whoever put me here left it for me. Once I was finished with that, I put the glass back and immediately took a hold of the Element again. I wanted to keep this on me at all times, half because I promised Rainbow Dash I would, and half because of the way it filled the emptiness inside of me. To my right, up a single step was a small desk with some papers on it, and on the other side of the small hut, to my left, was the door, with my sword and armor placed on the ground, beside it. I only just now realised that I was only wearing my rags. From the layout of this place, it was probably a small rest area, or maybe a foreman’s office, with a bed to rest in.

Okay, so I was sound asleep in bed, after escaping hell itself, and the one pony that was with me isn’t here as well.

I still had so many questions.

“Vestige.” I suddenly heard the Prophet say. Turning my head in the direction that I heard her voice, I spotted another projection of her in the corner of the room, near the door. If she was sending a projection instead of speaking with me directly, then this probably wasn’t good, but she likely had the answers to my questions. Getting out of bed, I made my way over to her.

“It is as I feared, we have both arrived in separate locations,” she continued when I was standing right in front of her. “I find myself in a city of loud screams, where it’s so cold that it snows all the time.”

Loud screams and snows all the time? That sounds familiar, but for the unlife of me, I can’t seem to place it. Damn soullessness-driven-amnesia… and damn soullessness-driven-puns.

“You will need to find your way to me so that we can reunite. Then we can begin coming up with a plan to rescue Rainbow Dash, as well as put a stop to Tirek’s wicked schemes.”

Alright, that was probably easier said than done, but it was also the only course of action available to me right now, since the Prophet was the only one in the world who knew about my unique condition… That reminds me, I wonder if any of the other prisoners managed to make it out as well. Plus, I still wanted to rescue Rainbow Dash, for sacrificing herself to help us escape. That pegasus had my respect.

“Alright,” I spoke up at last. “I’ll try to find where you are. Hopefully you’re somewhere close by. Do you have any idea where I am, at least?”

“Unfortunately, that I do not know. All I do know is that you were deposited into the sea, and some kind soul fished you out. I am able to sense you and send this projection to speak with you, but your exact location is beyond my sight.” Okay, made sense, I guess; probably some more Elder Scroll powers that I’m not aware of. “I will try to stay out of sight and keep my being here a secret, and contact you again when I feel you are near. Something tells me that the local inhabitants won’t be too accepting to a pony like myself.” Unfortunately, she was probably right about that. With the war going on, most other species were a bit apprehensive about trusting ponies, myself included, at least before I met Rainbow Dash and the Prophet. After meeting the two of them, maybe ponies weren’t all bad, as long as those two weren’t the exception to the rule.

“Okay, so where should I start looking to find you?” I asked.

“That, I cannot say.” She replied, with a dip of her head. “You will have to make your own way from here, Vestige. Your destiny is in your own claws, to shape as you will. Perhaps you can seek out the kind soul that pulled you from the ocean. Remember, we do not face these trying times alone, and we will need all the friends that we can get if we are to defeat Tirek.” With that, the projection disappeared and I was alone again.

I still had some questions for her, but I suppose that those could wait until we meet up again. Like she said, she’ll probably be able to sense when I get closer to her anyway. For now, I had to focus. So, putting on a look of resolve, I grabbed my sword and put on my armor. I really should replace these with better models now that I’m free.

When I was all set, I opened the door and stepped outside. As soon as I did, my vision became filled with so much light that I had to shield my eyes. This was more light than I ever remember dealing with before.

Once my eyes finally readjusted to the light, I lowered my arm again and took a look around at where I was. Looking up, my vision was completely filled by a clear, cloudless, blue sky, which was added to by snow as my gaze drifted downwards. I also felt a pleasant coldness against my scales, completely different from the coldness of rock in Tartarus. I had to admit, it looked beautiful. Certainly a welcome change from the bleakness of Tartarus.

As I continued looking around, I noticed that I seemed to be in a small village of some kind. All around me were small, cosy-looking wooden cabins, designed to keep the inhabitants warm against the cold snow all around them. Speaking of the inhabitants, the only other species around me were yaks; lots of yaks, both young and old, big and small. I had a pretty good idea of where I was now, and I suddenly remembered why the mention of loud screaming and coldness sounded familiar. I must have lived near the Yakyakistan border before, since it borders the dragon lands to the east. It felt good knowing that more of my memories were returning.

“Well, looks like you’re up,” I heard a voice just to the side. Turning to face it, I saw a male yak, leaning against the side of the house, and he was big, standing at least a foot taller than a Dagon. Not surprising, though, since yaks were primarily the tanks of the Pact army. “Welcome back to the world of the living.” Heh, you don’t know how right you are.

“So, were you the one who pulled me out of the ocean?” I asked.

“Sure am,” he replied. “I was on a return delivery to the mainland when you suddenly dropped out of the sky, into the ocean, so we fished you out of the drink. You’re lucky that we were passing by when we were.”

I cracked a smile at that. “Well, thanks for that.”

“Ah, don’t mention it. I just did what anyone would have done. Besides, we’re allies now since the Pact was formed. Wouldn’t want to jeopardise that peace now by leaving you to drown, now would I?” He said with a chuckle.

I smiled at how nice this guy was, and walked down the two steps in front of the house before speaking again, keeping my gaze on the yak. “So, can you tell me exactly where I am?”

“Yakschmir,” he replied. “A small island, just off the Yakyakistan mainland.” He then cracked a smile. “The northern most point in all of Equus. Around here, the war going on is almost non-existent. The worst thing we have to worry about here is running out mead before the next shipment.”

I smiled even wider at that. After everything that I went through in Tartarus, being separated from the one person who knows what’s going on, and my feralness clock still ticking, it was good to have a light-hearted moment like this. It was also good to know that I was in Pact territory. It was good to be surrounded by allies. “Well, still, if there’s anything I can do to make it up to you, just ask.”

“Well,” he started, “since you put it that way, there is one thing that you can do for me.” I didn’t actually expect him to take me up on it, or at least not this soon, but I’d still gladly do it to repay him. “I need to make another delivery to the mainland soon, but my worthless crew has gone and disappeared on me. I can’t make the delivery without them, so do you think that you could go and find them for me? The island’s small enough, so it shouldn’t be too hard.”

Sounds reasonable enough. “Yeah, sure thing,” I agreed. “Do you have any idea where I can start looking?”

“Well, Bore is at the local inn, pissing away his pay.” He said, angling his head towards a large wooden hut, which I was guessing was the inn. “Just look for the yak sitting at the bar, too drunk to see straight. The other two are somewhere on the island. They shouldn’t be too hard to find, since they’re the only yaks on the island that aren’t in the village.”

Well that made things easier, and I also had somewhere to start. “Alright, I’ll do it. Do you think you could give me a ride back to the mainland as well when you’re ready to go?”

“Sure, no problem at all.” He replied, stepping away from the wall of the cabin. “In the meantime, I’m gonna start preparing the ship. Just send my crew there when you find them.” He then started walking away, towards the docks.

“Alright.” I called out to him as he left. I then turned around as well, and started walking in the opposite direction, however, a moment later, I turned back around to face him again when I realised something. “Oh, by the way…” I waited until he turned around to face me before continuing. “You haven’t seen a cloaked unicorn pony around here, have you?”

He stared back at me for a moment before responding, his expression changing slightly. “Sorry, but we haven’t got any ponies on this island.”

“Oh, alright then.” I guess that means that the Prophet is somewhere on the mainland. That just means that I should hurry up and find this guy’s crew as fast as possible. I then turned back around again and made my way towards the village inn.

On my way there, I passed through the local market. There were yak merchants there, selling their wares, as well as some admittedly cute yak children playing. It was just like… err… that guy said: here the war was practically non-existent. Wow, I really should ask that guy his name the next time I see him.

I made it to the village inn and stepped inside. As soon as I did, the first thing that I spotted was a yak sitting at the bar, with his head lying on the counter, drooling. Aside from him and the bartender, the inn was deserted. Realising that the drunk one must be Bore, I walked up to him, and tapped him on the shoulder to wake him up.

“Hey, Bore. Your boss wants you back to work.”

The drunk yak rustled about a bit at my touch, and then groaned in response. “Go away,” he grumbled, his words being muffled slightly from his mouth being pressed right up against the counter. “Yaks want perfect. Everything must be perfect. I’m not leaving until I get the perfect amount of drunk.”

Leaning back a bit after having woken him up, I just rolled my eyes at what he responded with. “Judging by how you look now, I’d say you’ve long since passed that mark.”

He gave another groan at that, but he picked his head up off the counter slightly before responding, not muffling his words anymore because of it, though they still sounded a bit slurred. “Ugghh, alright, I’ll go. Just…” He lowered his head to the counter again. “Just give me a few minutes to sleep off this hangover. I’m no good to the boss still drunk.”

Since I still had two more crew members to find and that would probably take me a while, that was an acceptable response. Besides, if he wasn’t back by the time I found the others, I could just come back here to get him again. “Alright, I’ll see you back at the ship then.” He responded by slightly lifting his hoof in a gesture, as if to say ‘got it’. With that, I left the inn again.

When I stepped back outside, my stomach suddenly started rumbling. I must be pretty hungry, considering it’s been a long time since I’ve eaten anything. I guess not having a soul didn’t mean I didn’t still have to eat. It felt good to know that I was still at least a bit normal. I could probably get something to eat at the market… or I could if I had any money.

Hmmm, maybe I could find some small critters out in the wild, like a bunny rabbit to eat. I was going out into the wild anyway, and I doubt the inhabitants would mind. Herbivores were generally tolerant of the carnivorous creatures. With that, and my mission goal in mind, I made my way out of the village and into the wilds of Yakschmir.

I have to admit, the small island was actually beautiful to look at. Huge hills of pure white snow, dozens of trees, with only a handful of them with any green left on them, all below a cloudless, crystal blue sky, with the sun shining down on the landscape, causing the snow to glisten. It was pretty cold, but my scales protected me from that, so it actually felt refreshing. There was also a tall tower up on the hill just behind the village, which stretched high into the sky.

Something tells me that I haven’t seen anything like this back in Dragon’s Maw… which is where I’m from.

So, with my sword at my side, and a big smile on my face from remembering more about my life, I continued on with my current mission.

To be continued…