Across The Pond

by Aurora Aura

Rating: teen
Tags: Human, Dark, Alternate Universe, Adventure, Crossover
Length: 67938

Basically a crossover with The Elder Scrolls Lore playing a big part

Twilight Sparkle, your typical Equestrian citizen, is trying out her new long-range teleportation spell when she accidentally puts a little too much umph in it. Now finding herself halfway across the world in a land that is a far cry from Equestria, Twilight will have to change to the foreign land if she wants to get out alive. Unfortunately for Twilight, they seem to be having problems of their own, and how can they help her if they can't even help themselves? Can Twilight find the way back home and escape the dangerous land of Tamriel before the natives start an all out war?

notes

- while most of this will be serious I am throwing humor in there, it won't be the biggest part but it will be in there more and more as the story progresses … just's a heads up
- every location mentioned in this is an actual city/ river/ place in the canon universe for both parts. so if you were to pull up a detailed map of Tamriel and look at it, all the cities mentioned would be there.
- it might also help to look at one if you want to get a better feel for exactly where any given part of the story is taking place
- this story takes place in Elder Scroll lore time late in the year of 4E170. Feel free to look up an elder scrolls timeline to see what lays ahead for the characters in the story. i'd explain it here but i'm not sure how much space i'd need and it really isn't all too important, you'll see the events come to pass eventually

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2012-12-10 01:22:10 UTC

Start of a Long Day

“Spi-ike, Spi-ike.” The lavender unicorn called out to her assistant. She was starting to get restless waiting for him to gather all the notes he had on teleportation and she was anxious to get started. “Spike!” The unicorn shouted, now beginning to become a bit annoyed with him.

“Yes Twilight?” came the familiar voice of her assistant and longtime friend Spike from behind her. A loud yelp and hop was her response.

“Spike! Didn’t somepony ever tell you that you shouldn’t sneak up on ponies like that?” asked Twilight. “Sneak up? But you were calling me.” Said spike with a confused look on his face.

“Weren’t you upstairs?” Said Twilight, ignoring Spike’s protest. “No, just in the other room gathering those scrolls you asked me to get” said Spike. “But I thought they were Upstairs?” asked twilight. “You brought them down yesterday night when you decided you wanted to start working on this first thing in the morning. Don’t you remember Twilight?”

Twilight blushed a little at the realization but quickly got over it. “So do you have everything Spike?” inquired Twilight.

“Yeah, but I still don’t know why you need to teleport any further than you already do.” Spike said with a hint off annoyance in his tone. He didn’t see why it was so important to get up so early to practice a spell twilight already knows. She was the most magical unicorn in all of Equestria, even if she was just making a spell more unique it still would take more than a fe hours for her.

“Because Spike, it would make it a lot easier to visit my family in Canterlot if I could just teleport myself there, then back when I’m done.” Said Twilight in a matter-of-fact tone.

“But then why so early” Spike said, annoyance starting to creep into his voice.

“Because Spike, an early start to any day can improve productivity. And I don’t want to waste any time with this spell.” Twilight lectured at the half awake baby dragon, already thinking of what she will do with her family when she gets to Canterlot. Silently hoping that it would be today.

“Fine” Spike said in defeat. “So where do we start Twilight?” asked the baby dragon, getting over the loss pretty quickly. “Well first, let’s see what we have here.” Said Twilight as she took the first of her scrolls, her eyes already scanning over every detail she had written.

Spike just stood there and watched. He was unsure why this long-range teleporting thing was so important to Twilight but he could see it mattered so he decided he would stop arguing for the time being and just help the mare. He didn’t know how long twilight was going to be looking at these scrolls so he let his mind wander.

“AH-HA!”  Exclaimed Twilight only moment later.

Now it was the Baby Dragon’s turn to be startled. He fell back into the bookcase, sending several books tumbling down on top of him.

“You okay?” Twilight asked a bit worried but trying to stifle laughter at the same time.

“I’ll be fine” said spike, rubbing his back. “So did you find anything useful?”

“Sure did.” Twilight said with glee.

“well?” ask Spike in anticipation.

“I knew I had done some research on the subject before. But I didn’t think I would find it so quickly” Twilight admitted rubbing the back of her head.

“So what’s next?” asked Spike, trying not to sound bored but letting a yawn slip into her words as he spoke.

“Next, is to do a few practice runs. Nothing too far away, just across town to start with.” Twilight said with certain finality to it. She was moving a lot faster than she anticipated; perhaps they really didn’t need to get up any earlier than usual. But Twilight decided to keep that to herself.

“Alright, just be careful Twilight, you don’t want to teleport into somepony’s house; especially at this hour. Who knows what they will think.” Cautioned Spike.

“It’ll be fine Spike.” Twilight assured.

Let’s try to go to Sweet Apple Acres first, Twilight thought to herself. Her friend Applejack was sure to be up at this hour, no doubt getting ready for a hard day’s work.

“Alright” said Twilight, taking in a slow breath before allowing her horn to glow that incandescent purple light.

In a flash she was gone, leaving spike alone in the Ponyville Library.

“I’m going back to bed” said Spike stubbornly, to no pony specifically.

“Ah’ don’t care how much we gotta do; I’m sure we can handle it.” Said an orange earth pony in a confidant tone. “Alright young’uns, let’s get the day started” said an elderly, green earth pony.

“Alright Granny Smith” said the orange mare as she began a brisk walk towards the door of their barn with a larger red earth pony. They were nearing the door flash of light stopped her a few feet short.

The three earth ponies looked down, away from the light. And when the light had receded and the lifted their heads, Twilight Sparkle stood in its place.

“Hey Applejack, how are you this morning?” asked Twilight in as normal a tone as she could muster

“Well howdy there Twi, I’m doing just fine and yourself?” ask Applejack in return.

“I’m fine, just testing out something I’ve been working on” said Twilight

“Oh? And what might that be?” asked Applejack

“Long range teleporting!” Twilight said triumphantly

“Ah’ don’t follow” said Applejack. “Couldn’t you always do that?”

“No, I’ve never had a reason to either. But now I want to start teleporting from here to Canterlot so I can visit my family more often without spending so many bits riding the friendship express.” Said Twilight, still pleased with herself. “This was my first test”

“Well Twi, ah’ reckon you’ll be done in no time at all” Said Applejack. She knew her friend was very magical and could probably teleport all of Ponyville if she put her mind to it. “So where did you teleport from anyhow, how far?” ask Applejack.

“From my house” Said Twilight, allowing a smile to creep onto her face. She wasn’t one to brag but it still filled her with a certain happiness whenever she did something she thought was noteworthy.

A whistle that indicated one was impressed came from the direction of the large red earthpony. “I’m with Big Mac on this one Twilight, I know you are real good at magic and what not but all the way across town on your first run-through. That’s a might impressive” Applejack said. “why, ah’ bet you could make it all the way to Canterlot right now if you put enough power behind your spell” Appljack continued.

“you really think?” asked Twilight.

“ah’ sure do, and so does Big Mac, ain’t that right big brother?” asked Applejack. “Eeyup” was the response.

Twilight thought to herself for a moment. She had wished she could make it all the way to Canterlot today to surprise her family. And the spell across town didn’t take very much out of her. In fact, she felt like it was just a normal teleportation spell, she was sure she could make it.

“Alright, stand back” said Twilight, her horn already beginning to glow. “I’ll be back later today around dinner time” Twilight promised.

“see ya then” Applejack responded as her and her brother began to back away.

Twilight’s horn began to glow brighter as she began to redirect all her attention to the spell she was about to cast. She cleared her mind and pictured the throne room at the Canterlot Palace. That’s where she decided to materialize. She focused all her willpower and magic into her horn and in a flash of light she was gone.

A blinding light appeared and Twilight followed. Only, instead of finding herself on the tiled floors of the Princess' Throne Room she found herself falling. She didn't fall far, but she landed in a large area of liquid she quickly identified as salt water.

It was cold.

She span around and around, treading water trying to find something, anything familiar. with no luck she looked for something dry so she could warm up and figure out exactly what happened. She decided to go to the large boat that wasn't too far off from where she was, but it was moving away from her, she had to act now.

In a flash of light Twilight was no longer in the cold waters, rather, she was on hard wood that made up the floor on the deck of the ship she had teleported to.

She looked around, what greeted her was not the faces of friendly pony sailors. Instead, staring back at her with as much confusion on their face as she had was large, almost cat-like creatures, except the walked on their hind legs; and their was something wrong with their paws.

It was all too much to take in. Everything started to fade to black, and Twilight fainted.

Something Out of Place

A Flash of light and Twilight was gone, leaving Applejack, Granny Smith, and Big Macintosh in the barn. For a moment it was silent.

"Well, let's not waste any time, we got a lot to do" said Applejack, still amazed at how bright the teleportation spell was. Whenever Twilight teleported it was always bright but that last one seemed brighter somehow. She wrote it off to distance and moved on.

They two sibling walked out the door as Granny Smith went to wake Applebloom, the youngest of her three grandchildren.

And so began another normal day at Sweet Apple Acres.

Twilight felt sunlight hit her face, and a slight rocking motion. At first she thought about chastising the baby Dragon for waking her but soon realized that it would be a pointless gesture. She sat up almost immanently, soon wishing she hadn't. she leaned towards the window the light had entered from and allowed her small breakfast of Oats and Hay to come up.

when she was done she began to look around. It was a small, triangular room but still big enough to move about in. There were boxes off varying sizes along 2 of the 3 walls; one of these two had a break in the boxes for a narrow door. This was clearly not a room many ponies entered very often. The third wall, which her bed was resting against, had a window on it, as well as map of a large island- no ... this was too big to be merely an island. This had to be a continent. But how could that be? The top of the map indicated she was looking at a map of a place called Tameriel.

She didn't want to think about that now, she wanted to know who these ... things were that she had found herself with. She turned around and noticed a chair next to her bed. on this chair was a globe. She smiled at the familiar site. Geography was a subject she liked, but then, she liked almost every subject. Twilight's smile faded when she noticed the globe was missing Equestria, and right in it's place was a vast ocean.

She didn't have time to ponder why that could be before the door to her small room opened up and one of the cat creatures walked in.

Twilight just stared in bewilderment. She knew it was rude and wished she could look away but she had never seen or heard of anything like this before.

"Hello friend, do not be scared, i only wish to help you back to shore." said the mysterious creature.

"Who are you?" Twilight asked.

her gaze was met with the creatures eyes becoming as big as saucers before the creature said "you can ... talk?" The creature said this slow, not because he thought she would not understand but because he didn't understand.

Both now standing in confusion twilight took this as the time to ask her newly formed questions "who are you, why is you globe incomplete and your map of a place nopony has ever heard of?" Twilight asked. She silently kicked herself wishing she had asked where they were or where they were heading.

The creatures eyes slowly returned to normal before smiling at the barage of questions he was hit with and saying "My name is Ra'Zahmirr, I am a Khajiit of Elsweyr. There is much of the world still to be discovered and i suspect we may have made a breakthrough" said Ra'Zahmirr, allowing an excited tone to creep into his voice.

"Do they have names where you are from?" asked Ra'Zahmirr.

"My name is Twilight Sparkle, i'm from Equestria" She said rather sheepishly

"Well you are a far way from any island friend, we are in the Topal Sea, we can get you to shore later today" said Ra'Zahmirr.

"How can we get to shore, i din't see any land when i first got here?" asked twilight in confusion

"With the early morning brings a light fog, i think the fog mixed with the darkness of early morning might have taken part in your missing of the land that surrounds us" said Ra'Zahmirr.

"Well how come I can't go to shore now?" asked Twilight, too exhausted to be angry.

"We must first gather Crystallized Moonlight from these waters before returning to shore of this venture was a pointless one." said Ra'Zahmirr in a matter-of-fact tone.

Twilight only stared, she didn't know what was going on but she wasn't stupid. "You can't crystallize moonlight" said Twilight. She was begging to think that they were messing with her.

"It is an alchemy ingredient that no one else in all of Nirn has a bigger part in" said Ra'Zahmirr. Twilight couldn't tell if it was Pride of a holier than thou attitude in the Khajiit voice. She decided it best not to question the creature and just wait for them to finish what they came to do.

The inside of Sugar Cube Corner was  bright mixture of streamers and balloons, a large banner hung along to wall, scrolled across in hasty yet somewhat elegant script  Congratulations Twilight

Nearly all the guest had arrived. Fluttershy was listening to Rarity tell a story about her recent trip to Manehattan, which had meant a lot to both her and her career.

Rainbow Dash was helping pinkie put up streamers in the higher places in the rafters that the giddy pink pony could not reach without a stool or later of some sort.

As for Pinkie Pie, she was busy making batch after batch of pastries, dozens after dozens of sugary treats for her and her friends to enjoy. Even if not all of it was eaten she was sure she could find some pony who would enjoy a cupcake especially one made from Pinkie Pie's own special recipe.

Applejack was helping decorate the pastries but not having Pinkie's natural skill with frosting or Rarity's eye for detail they weren't coming out so well. Pinkie Pie didn't mind though.

"say pinkie, what is your special recipe for these cupcakes of yours?" asked Applejack, allowing herself not to worry about the disaster of a frosting mess she was creating.

"Can you keep a secret?" Pinkie Pie whispered to her southern friend.

"Ah' sure can Pinkie, what is it" Applejack said, now not even paying attention to the frosting and focusing all her attention on Pinkie Pie.

"Pinkie Promise?" Pinkie said, now staring down the Orange mare.

"Ah' pinkie promise" said Applejack as she went through the motions.

"Okie-dokie-lokie" said Pinkie, her voice excited but lowered in volume. "Come closer"

Applejack leaned, prepared to hear what made her eccentric friend's treats taste so hoof licking good

"Alright" said Pinkie Pie "the secret to my baked goods are ... SUGAR!!!" Pinkie Pie yelled before rocketing around the room gather all the sugar in site and even some in strange places like the lap shade and under the baking tray Applejack was using to decorate the cupcakes on.

Recovering from the fear she had almost lost her hearing she stared in astonishment as her friends pour every grain of sugar in the bowl. Unsure how it all would fit, but it did. Applejack had know Pinkie Pie for a long time and, unlike Twilight, knew better than to ask her 'How' so she just smiled at her as she continued to decorate.

Moments later Rainbow Dash came through the kitchen doors

Rainbow looked a little confused at first then asked Applejack "That enough frosting?"

Applejack looked down and saw that during Pinkie's little outburst she had squeezed to frosting tube all out over the counter, and subsequently the Cupcakes

"Well at least the frosting is equal now" Applejack muttered to nopony in particular. "even if it is a few inches thick"

"Ri-ight" Rainbow said, drawing out the word as she spoke it. "So pinks, where is the guest of honor anyway. I'm getting antsy." Rainbow said, excited to get this surprise party started she was starting to shake

"I dunno, i told spike earlier to bring her here." Pinkie said, starting to rub her chin before letting out a quick gasp "what if she found out and started her own surprise party so when we go looking for her she surprises us, ooh it's so genius! Lets go to the party i don't wanna wait another second" Pinkie Pie said so fast everypony almost missed her excitedly run towards the door to the party she assumed awaited them.

"What in the name of Celestia is going on?" asked rarity and Applejack dragged Pinkie Pie from the door

"Pinkie Pie thinks Twi is throwing a surprise party for this surprise party" said Applejack while gripping Pinkie's tail in her mouth.

"I doubt it, Twilight isn't the type to pull off something like that, and even if she was somepony would have been in on it" Rainbow Dash said, sounding a little bored

"oh no," Fluttershy said in a quite tone that almost went unnoticed "what if she got lost"

"ah' wouldn't worry about it, she probably just wanted to spend a little more time with her family an' the Princess" said Applejack in the best reassuring voice she could muster. She still could help but worry a little, after all, Twilight did say she would be back by dinner, and it wasn't like her to be late.

Spike burst through the door of the sweets shop "I just wrote ... a letter ... to the Princess" Spike said between gasps. Had the baby dragon ran all the way here Applejack thought to herself.

"and" Rainbow Dash said, gesturing for spike to continue as Rarity brought spike a glass of water.

"Well I was getting worried when she didn't show up and so I sent a letter to Celestia asking her to ask Twilight when she'd be back" Spike finally said, what came next was only slightly above a whisper, but it still range out in all of thier ears "I got a response from the Princess, it says Twilight never made it to Canterlot"

There was a long silence. After what felt like an eternity the silence was broken by Rarity, asking what they were all thinking "Where's Twilight?"

New Faces

She had to wait a while but Twilight finally had her hooves on the ground. It was a strange place, she was in some sort of sea port, she could tell  that much, but everything was different. The architecture less impressive than what she was used to, the dimensions seemed  longer as well.

"Where are we" asked Twilight, trying to process all the information she was receiving at once.

"In a place called Senchal, it is a major city in the south east of Elsweyr" answered Ra'Zahmirr

"Your homeland?" Twilight asked, recalling the name 'Elsweyr' from their previous conversation. "i guess that makes sense" Twilight continued, gesturing towards the crowd of people, mainly made up of the cat creatures. "Hey Ra'Zahmirr?" asked Twilight

"Yes purple one" responded Ra'Zahmirr.

"Are most of the ponies in Tamriel cat like?" Twilight asked

"First off, we are not equine in nature, you should refer to us as 'people.' Second our race is known as Khajiit, and to answer your question, no, only in Elsweyr will you find so many Khajiit in one place." Ra'Zahmirr said in a gentle tone, taking pity on the purple unicorn who was so far from home.

"What other people are there" said twilight, being watchful of what she said to using the right phrasing for the area, she didn't want to stand out more than she already was.

"Well there are many races here in Tamriel, three identifying classes, Mer, Beast, and Man." Ra'Zahmirr explained. "We Khajiit fall under the beast category, as do the Argonians. Creatures that seem like hybrids of man and known creatures of this world. There are many bigots in this world who would seek to condemn us for our mere existence"

Twilight stared at him, not knowing what to say. To condemn somepony just because they aren't like you. Twilight felt bad because this was not an entirely unheard of concept to her. Just thinking back to how Zecora was treated at first in Ponyville made her feel sick. "But when others get to know you you'll get along right?" Twilight inquired from Ra'Zahmirr, surely nopony could not get along without a real reason.

"For some, this is true; and not all would seek to harm us without cause. But there are some who would kill first and get to know you second. Unfortunately, while not all hurt me for being a Khajiit most wouldn't give me the chance to get to know them." Ra'Zahmirr said, the absolute tone his voice took was not lost on Twilight.

Twilight blinked at Ra'Zahmirr. Both in confusion and in horror. "What is it purple one?" asked Ra'Zahmirr. "Kill?" Twilight's voice was so low Ra'Zahmirr wasn't sure he had heard right. He decided to assume he had heard correctly and responded to her rhetorical question. "Why yes, Tamriel isn't exactly the most hospitable place but we all find a way to make a living as best we can." Ra'Zahmirr told the purple unicorn, who was now beginning to shake.

Twilight closed her eyes, she didn't want to believe what she was hearing, not only was she so far away from home and her friends, but now these ... things will kill each other simply for not being the same as them. Twilight's curiosity for this strange new land vanished as quickly as it had sprung up, now all she could think about is how she longed for home.

"You don't look so well. Perhaps it is time to find an inn and rest for the night. First thing in the morning we head out for Riverhold" Ra'Zahmirr said putting his hand gently on the back of the unicorn's head as he guided her down to the closest inn and bought a room for the mare to sleep in.

Twilight was silent during the short walk towards the inn and didn't say a word as Ra'Zahmirr told her he would come by at dawn to take her to someplace called Riverhold, wherever that is.

Twilight couldn't sleep, not even an hour ago she was starting to get tired but now she was wide awake. It was a lot of information to process. She wanted to go for a walk to clear her mind but the fear of what Ra'Zahmirr had said still stuck with her. She decided to just pace across the room.

There was no clock in the room but by the time she realized her hunger the sun had already set. She made her way to the main room of the inn where the inn keeper had been so nice upon her arrival sat behind a large counter. The place was empty save for the inn keeper, Twilight, what Twilight assumed was a woman in the corner playing some tune twilight didn't recognize and a being who sat on one of the three stools opposite the inn keeper.

Twilight recognized the inn keeper and the music player as Khajiit, but the thing that sat in the stool looked nothing like the others. Ra'Zahmirr had mentioned Argonians so maybe this is what they looked like, but he also said there were other races and Twilight hadn't heard all of them. Twilight sat down in the doorway between her room and the scene in front of her

Twilight sat there for a few minutes decided what to do next. She decided if she didn't go up because of a stranger looking different she wouldn't be much better than those that Ra'Zahmirr was talking about ... what was she thinking, of course she would be, she would never hurt somepony else without any real reason to, she was just scared is all.

The creature was about as tall as the Khajiit but not nearly as hairy. In fact, the only hair it seemed to have was short hair, maybe an inch, on his head and a light stubble on it's chin. With that she assumed this to be a man and walked over.

"he-hello" Twilight said, a slight stutter in her voice. The being turned his head, smiled at Twilight then turned to the inn keeper and asked "What did you put in my brandy?"

"Nothing" said the inn keeper trying to sound casual, "That lady beside you is real, and yes, she talks." Twilight appreciated the inn keeper trying to sound indifferent but she couldn't help but notice that's what he was doing, trying. Because in truth, The inn keeper was just as unsure of Twilight as she was of everypon- no, everybody else. She was going to have to start getting the speech pattern down, for her own sake.

"Well then miss, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. My name is Vallius, and you are?" said Vallius. as he talked he turned to face Twilight. Now that she could see him properly she noticed three scars that resembled a claw of some sort coming down his right cheek. He was also wearing some sort of crimson outfit, it seemed almost specific in it's design, like a uniform. It also had some sort of brown material making up a chest-plate. She'd ask what it was made out of but she didn't really care.

"I- I am Twilight, Twilight Sparkle" Twilight managed to stammer. "What are you?"

"I am an Imperial, and a legionnaire" said Vallius in a way that seemed almost cocky.

"Imperial? What legion?" Twilight had so many questions but those came out before she could form them into coherent sentences.

"I come from the north, in the province of Cyrodiil" Vallius told Twilight. "The legion is loyal to the empire founded in the second era."

"second era?" asked Twilight as she tilted her head to her left "How long ago was that, i think we use a different year system."

"Well we are in the forth era now, in the year one hundred and seventy" said Vallius. "so it's been quite a few years." Vallius continued with a chuckle. "You picked an interesting time to come to our land Twilight Sparkle, we have a new Emperor, Titus Mede II, and the Thalmor have established their power in Summerset Isle. And no doubt Valenwood and Elsweyr are on their list. I was actually just given orders to go back to The Imperial City in the heart of Cyrodiil." Vallius told her, unsure why he was saying all this to a civilian, let alone a pastel colored unicorn. Perhaps that is precisely the reason he felt he could speak his mind, he didn't see her as a civilian but as a horse. A small horse, but a horse nonetheless.

Twilight just stared. She had always prided herself in her extensive knowledge but it was becoming painfully obvious she didn't know anything about this place. She didn't know who the Thalmor were or why they would want to take the place full of the fluffy cat people called Khajiit over. She needed help to understand. Maybe there was a library around town she could look in. Perhaps go over a few history books. Twilight wasn't planning on staying long but maybe if she could understand what everyone was saying her short stay wouldn't be as much of a head ache.

"You alright friend?" asked Vallius.

Twilight shook her head to clear it before responding "yeah i'm fine" was the response. Figuring now was as good a time as any she asked "Are there any libraries here? you know, someplace i could go and learn more about this place?"

"Sorry Twilight, but there are no libraries in this city" this time it was the inn keeper that spoke, twilight was about to groan in frustration when the inn keeper continued "but if you want i have a few books in the wine cellar, you are welcome to look through to see what might help you." offered the inn keeper

"Thanks you that would be great" Twilight said with a smile. It was the first time she had smiled since she had arrived and, after what she had heard earlier, she hadn't expected to; but just the thought of a whole new subject to learn about would be something Twilight didn't get to do often enough anymore, having already studied most subjects during her younger years. The inn keeper left for the cellar.

"So tell me Twilight Sparkle, how is it you find yourself in Tamriel?" asked Vallius, taking a sip of the drink he had called brandy as he did so.

Twilight told him of her morning, about wanting to travel to far off places in significantly less time, and about how she wanted to go home but didn't even know the direction in witch to cast. She had just gotten to the part where she had fallen into the sea rather than onto the stone flooring of the Canterlot castle when Vallius interrupted her.

"I have heard rumors of mages using magic to create doors that took them to rooms without proper entrances in the arcane university, but to do so without a plate to increase magika, and so far too. You must be one of the most powerful spell casters in your homeland" said Vallius with a grin on his face.

"Well my special talent is magic" Twilight said, she didn't like to boast but she welcomed the compliment from this stranger. "No kidding" was his response.

"Here is what I've got ma'am" said the inn keeper holding out three books.

The first book had an rusty color to it, in the center seemed to be a symbol that resembled what these creatures had at the end of their arms. except this seemed to be made of fire. Across the top read the title The Art of War Magic. She briefly wondered what could be inside, clearly some magic she had never seen before, but decided she could look at the book once she understood the creatures of this land better.

the second book had an intricate design pressed into the cover and had a faded crimson coloring. The Title read Brief History of the Empire, Book 1. This was it, this is what she was looking for, and it was a set so she could read more when this book was finished. Twilight tried to contain her excitement before looking at the final book.

The third, and last book in the lineup looked exactly like the previous save for the light difference in the title Brief History of the Empire, Book 2. Twilight couldn't wait any longer she took the three books and opened up Brief History of the Empire, Book 1 "What is your name sir?" Twilight asked the inn keeper, wanting to thank him properly.

"Khanja, my name is Khanja" Khanja announced. "Thank you Khanja" said Twilight as she took the books back to her room, completely forgetting about her hunger.

The Other Side of Right

"There is is" Rainbow Dash said excitedly. After Spike had told them what had happened they bought the next Train ride to Canterlot to speak with Princess Celestia. There wasn't a Train available right away however, they had to wait until early morning. The sun was just begging to rise and all the others had passed out due to exhaustion. The only thing that allowed Rainbow Dash to stay awake to wake them when they had arrived was the fact she had slept through most of that day.

Spike was the first to fully wake up, already being used to waking up without enough sleep due to Twilight's late night escapades with her books and studies, however it didn't make him any less grumpy. "I can't believe Celestia just raised the sun like everything was fine" Spike said with a huff in his voice.

Rarity took an every so lady like yawn before saying "Well it isn't as though Celestia can ignore her royal duties Spike, she does have an image to keep up after all Spike."

"b'sides we don't even know if she is in any trouble sugarcube" Applejack reassuringly told Spike.

The train slowed to a stop and the 5 ponies and baby dragon exited the train cart. They had rode the Friendship Express to Canterlot many times since they had met Twilight and knew where to go. After a few minutes of walking through the city they had finally come to the castle gates.

The Guards recognized the small group as the bearers of the Elements of Harmony and allowed them to pass. A few more minutes pass and they reached the royal throne room.

Celestia sat atop her throne. As she saw the six walk in Celestia waved away her guards with a hoof. "Good, you've arrived" said Celestia. "If you would wait, Luna is about to return and we can begin" she continued.

Just as Celestia had said that Luna swiftly walked in through the doors they had just came through, carrying a large, rolled up piece of paper. The paper itself looked old, the coloration was off in different places and the whole thing was a few shades darker than any of them had seen before.

Luna put the paper in her hoof "We hath brought the item thou has asked of us" Luna said triumphantly.

"Thank you Luna" Celestia said as Luna trotted up and handed the decrepit paper over.

Celestia used her magic to lift the paper from Luna's hoof and slowly unroll it. It was a map, one that covered everything on their planet. From every small island inside a lake to the whole of Equestria. from where the changelings called home to the volcano the dragons used as one of their migration spot. Though There seemed to be more than any of them remember from time in school. If there was a new continent discovered surely it would have been big news, so why did this map seem so much more complete than any other. Before anypony could ask Celestia's answer came.

"I'm sure you all are wondering why i'm showing you a map of the world. I'm also sure you are all curious as to why this particular map seems to have a little bit added." Celestia said from behind the map, Celestia then moved the map over to the side and looked at the group of friends her faithful student had acquired during her stay in Ponyville.

"Well the answer is simple. My Little Ponies, what you are looking at is one of the only complete maps of this world" Celestia's voice was intense but it still managed to sound soothing.

"Well if that is a complete map of the world why haven't any of us seen it when we were in school?" Rainbow asked rather indignantly.

"I have gone through great lengths to keep the existence of this place a secret" Celestia told Rainbow while pointing towards the foreign land mass. "And my reason for that is simple, the creatures that inhabit that land are very different from us, they harm each other for no reason and i didn't want them corrupting the citizens of Equestria."

Everypony just stared at her, unable to say a word. When Celestia saw none of them had anything to say, she continued. "many years ago we came across this land and met with it's leaders. We established a deal, so to speak. We all convince our citizens nothing is out beyond the waters and there is no point trying and in return, I would not interfere with their business, a deal I was happy to accept."

"So what's this got to do with Twilight" ask Spike. All he cared about was finding he life long friend, he could care less about some ancient conspiracy.

"That's just it, Twilight has gone to the land I speak of." Celestia said somberly.

"Whatever that place is, it's a long ways off from here. How can you be sure?" asked Applejack

"When Twilight lived in Canterlot I grew accustomed to the magical feel of her spell. Whenever she would cast a particularly powerful one I could feel it. And this morning I felt her cast quite the spell, it started in Ponyville and ended right. about. here." Celestia said as she pointed towards the mid southernmost region of the large land mass. "I'm not sure where specifically but I know she is somewhere there and at later today an airship will take a small group of volunteers from my guard to go and find her" Celestia finished with a smile, pleased with the fact everything had a plan and with any luck Twilight would be on her way home soon.

"I wanna volunteer princess" said Rainbow. "If you really think that place is dangerous then we wan't to be there to help find her"

"Rainbows right your highness, I think I speak for all of us when I say we want to be there for Twilight" Rarity added.

"Very well, the airship leaves at noon, be in the courtyard by then." Celestia said.

They were all on their way out the door when Celestia called out again "Oh, and my little ponies" everypony turned their heads to look at their ruler "do be careful" Celestia cautioned "We will, don't worry princess" Applejack reassured her.

After they had left Spike said "well I guess we should pack huh?"

"Ooh I wonder what the weather is like in that part of the world this time of year?" asked rarity as her brow began to furrow. "Should I pack warm or would a nice coat be more proper, oh what will I do" Rarity said as her hoofs began to move up and down in excitement, she never did get to go to many new places and who new what this trip might bring, for all she knew the land had changed since Celestia had visited; after all, earth ponies, pegusi, and unicorns didn't always get along the way they do now.

"We'll meet back up in the courtyard at noon, in the meantime, everypony try to find something useful to bring" said Applejack, putting emphases on the word useful as she stared at Rarity thought Rarity didn't seem to notice.

Ra'Zahmirr entered a dark looking room accompanied by two heavily armed Altmer. The room was dimly lit by a few candles that sat along the back of an almost throne like chair. In the chair sat a Altmer that was unusually tall, but built. This High Elf had muscles that rivaled that of the Nord warriors Ra'Zahmirr had heard stories of. Along the walls were several painting. Ra'Zahmirr couldn't make out who was in the paintings but made note for his Lords like of art.

The High elf in the chair finally spoke "Is everything in order?"

"Yes, Lord Aramoth" respond Ra'Zahmirr with a bow.

"And the unicorn?" Lord Aramoth

"completely trusting" said Ra'Zahmirr who allowed a laugh to escape as he thought of how blindingly the creature would follow orders. "Do you really think we can get that much for it?" asked Ra'Zahmirr

"Oh Ra'Zahmirr you have no idea what people would pay for a creature like that." asked Lord Aramoth "Well let's just say it's quite a bit."

"But why, what would be the purpose of owning such a thing?" asked Ra'Zahmirr

"Who knows Ra'Zahmirr, make them fight, eat them perhaps. What difference does it make so long as we get paid" came Lord Aramoth in a sinister voice.

"I am still getting paid right?" asked Ra'Zahmirr

There was a pause before Lord Aramoth continued "So long as you get it to Riverhold and it reaches the clients hands without being damaged Ra'Zahmirr"

First Step Towards Home

It was mid morning, the sun already making it's daily climb into the sky, and Ra'Zahmirr was making his way back to the inn where he had left his merchandise. Hopefully that inn keeper, Khanja, kept that unicorn safe, for his sake.

As he entered the inn he noticed the unicorn already awake, sitting in the corner holding what seemed to be a book. Many questions raced through Ra'Zahmirr's mind, the thing was literate, how is it holding a book without fingers, and why is no one else shocked at such a site. But Ra'Zahmirr was just happy that the mare didn't make a habit of sleeping in. The last thing he wanted was to have to deal with the belly aching from the client about lazy merchandise. Such complaints often warrant a want for at least partial money back and that was something he wouldn't want to explain to his Lord.

Twilight looked up from behind a copy of Brief History of the Empire, Book II and said "Good morning Ra'Zahmirr, are we leaving now?"

Ra'Zahmirr laughed slightly to himself, such blind trust was unheard of here and Ra'Zahmirr enjoyed it. If nothing else it would make his job easier.

"Yes purple one, are you prepared to leave?" Ra'Zahmirr asked.

"Yes I am, I just need to give these books back." Twilight somberly said.

"Keep them" Khanja yelled out from across the inn. The inn was mostly quite as the Bards usually come at nightfall to play for drunks. "I don't really need them anyway" Khanja finished with a smile.

"Are you sure?" Twilight asked. It's true she wanted more time with these books but didn't want to take Khanja's only reading material.

"Keep them, you'd find better use for them than I could." Khanja told the young mare, still smiling. Twilight met his smile with one of her own and said "Thank you very much Khanja, for everything." Khanja made a slight bow and said "The pleasure was mine." With that, Twilight and Ra'Zahmirr left the inn.

Just as Ra'Zahmirr was about to ask Twilight if she was hungry her stomach spoke up to answer the unspoken question. Ra'Zahmirr smiled and said "How about we find you something to eat"

"That sounds good" Twilight said, wishing she had grabbed something to eat while still at the inn.

"What would you like?" asked Ra'Zahmirr. "We have a variety of food here in Elsweyr" Ra'Zahmirr  continued, gesturing to every direction with his arms.

"Would one of these foods be hay?" asked Twilight

"Hay?" Ra'Zahmirr asked. It was an interesting request, one he felt he should have seen coming. "Sure follow me" Ra'Zahmirr told her as he walked towards the direction of the town stables.

The two walked in silence for about a minute before they reached the stables. "There is hay in here" Ra'Zahmirr  said as he opened the gate for Twilight.

"Thank you Ra'Zahmirr" Said the lavender unicorn with a smile.

"I'll be back soon with a wagon for our journey." Ra'Zahmirr said as he walked away.

Twilight looked around inside the gate, she noticed a large earth pony, maybe the size of Celestia herself. Twilight trotted up and took a mouthful of hay. This was certainly a different taste but not one so terrible she couldn't stomach it. As she finished her first bite she decided to try to strike up conversation with this large pony. "So, this hay has an interesting taste." Twilight said, the hay the only thing she could think of.

The large pony turned it's head and stared at Twilight. "Of course it still is very good" Twilight quickly said, worried she had offended the stranger somehow. She took another bite of the hay and smiled to show the stranger she liked it. The large earth pony just stared.

"My name is Twilight Sparkle" Twilight said, extending a hoof. Twilight dropped it after a moment when she realized this pony wanted nothing to do with her. She frowned and continued to eat in silence.

Another few minutes passed and Twilight began to grow bored. She would have tried talking to the earth pony again but knew the result would be the same. Twilight sighed.

"Twilight Sparkle?" asked a familiar voice

Twilight turned as she said "hello Vallius"

"What are you doing hear, why aren't you eating at the inn?" Vallius asked.

"I forgot to" Twilight said with a smile. "I thought you left at dawn to start your trip back up north?" she asked.

"That was the plan, but when i got here i found my wagon and two horses were stolen." Vallius said, a mixture of anger and frustration in his voice.

"Well someone is taking me to the north, I don't know how far but I don't think he'd mind the extra company" Twilight offered

"Perhaps, where is this friend of your anyway?" asked Vallius.

"He should be back soon" said Twilight.

"So do you know exactly where you are going" asked Vallius

"Someplace called Riverhold, I asked Khanja earlier this morning and he said it was north. Is it near where you're going" asked Twilight.

"No it isn't" said Vallius, "but I am going to pass it on my way to the Imperial City"

As Vallius said this Ra'Zahmirr rode up on a two horse wagon that was being pulled by only one. "Whose your friend purple one?" asked Ra'Zahmirr, eyeing Vallius suspiciously.

"Oh this is Vallius, we met last night at the inn" Twilight said.

"My wagon was stolen and i'll be passing Riverhold on my way to the Imperial City. I would be grateful if you would allow me to travel with you to River City" Vallius asked. "I could offer my services as a guard until then, these roads can be dangerous" Vallius added, hoping it would be enough to convince this stranger to help him out of the trouble he was in.

"Sure, why not" Ra'Zahmirr said with a shrug as he got down from the wagon and went to open the gate. Twilight exited the gate and Ra'Zahmirr guided the large earth pony who Twilight had tried to befriend from the gate. Twilight watched as Ra'Zahmirr strapped the pony into the open spot on the wagon.

"Any particular reason you keep staring at that horse?" Vallius asked Twilight.

"I don't think he likes me very much" Twilight glumly told Vallius.

"And how do you figure this" asked Vallius.

"Well when I tried to talk to him, he just stared at me" Twilight said, her eyes still on the earth pony.

Vallius chuckled and said "I wouldn't worry about it too much."

"Are you two coming?" asked Ra'Zahmirr as he climbed on the wagon.

"Come on, lets not keep our gracious host waiting" said Vallius.

"Alright" Twilight said, her head lowered as she passed the large stallion who had ignored her.

"So what do you do Ra'Zahmirr?" asked Vallius. They had traveled for half an hour without much more than the occasional question from Twilight about specifics in the Empire. For the most part she hasn't torn her eyes away from the books she had gotten from Khanja and Vallius was anxious to break the silence.

"I fish" said Ra'Zahmirr flatly.

Vallius chuckled. "What's so funny?" Ra'Zahmirr asked.

"Kitty likes the fishes huh?" Vallius said, barely containing his laughter.

"You know it's not to late for me to throw you out of the wagon stranger" spat Ra'Zahmirr.

"Don't get your whiskers in a bunch, I was only joking" said Vallius. His temporary travailing companion apparently had no sense of humor.

A few moments passed and Ra'Zahmirr asked "And yourself? Or is the empire all you know?"

"I like to spend my free time at a forge, helps clear my mind" said Vallius, once the laughter had subsided.

"Is that what you do for the empire Vallius? Make weapons?" asked Ra'Zahmirr, not really interested but trying to be polite, it's not like he had to put up with Vallius for long.

"No actually, I am reconnaissance" Vallius told Ra'Zahmirr. "But i'm afraid that's all I can say on the subject."

There was another awkward silence. One that was broken by Twilight "So how long of a trip is it?

"We should be there in a few days" said Ra'Zahmirr.

"Are you sure there is someone in that city that can help me?" asked Twilight.

"I know a friend who is very anxious to meet you, one who, i'm sure, has already planned out what he's going to do." Ra'Zahmirr told her.

"And if that doesn't work feel free to come up to the Imperial City, the Arcane University is full of magical scholars who could help" Vallius added.

Ra'Zahmirr just stared at Vallius, who was no longer paying any attention to the Khajiit. "That won't be necessary, I know my friend will be able to assist us, thank you" Ra'Zahmirr said through grit teeth.

"If you say so" was Vallius' response.

In the Air

"Is everypony here?" one of the royal guards asked Rainbow Dash.

"Yes we're all here can we hurry up and go find Twilight now?" Asked the very annoyed Rainbow Dash.

"Alright, everyone get on" came one of the guards as he motioned them towards the airship.

The five mares and one baby dragon started moving towards the ramp that lead to the deck of the ship. But before Spike could start the ascend Applejack turned to Spike and said "ah' think ya'll should wait here"

Spike could only blink at first, after the initial shock of the words had finally hit him he said "what! That's not fair!" He wanted to say more but he was still having trouble comprehending why Applejack would say something like that.

"Applejack is right, it's too dangerous for my Spikey Wikey" said Rarity, her voice was low but stern.

Spike just stared. Stared at Applejack, stared at Rarity. It was a long while before anypony spoke up.

"We really have to get going" said Rainbow Dash, stretching the word really as she did so. "Besides Spike we need you to do an important job for us" she continued.

"An, an important job" Spike said, looking skeptically but interested all the same. "What kind of job?" asked Spike.

"Yes Rainbow, what kind of job" Rarity echoing Spike's question.

"You don't know? It's only the most important job we have" Rainbow said with a grin

"Well what is it?" Spike said, struggling to hide his excitement and, to no avail, remain his composure.

"We need you" Rainbow started.

"Yes" Spike said eagerly.

"To keep watch over the Princess" Rainbow finally said.

Spike just stared and Applejack leaned over to Rainbow and whispered "that's the best ya'll could do?"

"Well you weren't gonna say something" Rainbow whispered back.

"Watch the Princess?" Spike asked.

"Why yes dear, she is so wrecked with grief at the loss of her faithful student. There is no doubt in my mind she is going to need all the help coping she can get' Rarity quickly said reassuringly.

"I thought you wanted us to hurry up?" asked on of the guards.

"Yeah yeah, keep your saddle on we just need another minute" Rainbow snapped at the guard who responded with an eye roll.

"Fine" Spike finally said, "i'll stay."

"Alright now everypony get on and we'll be off" said the guard. Everypony started to go on board the ship. A particularly large unicorn guard waiting on deck looked at his passengers. All had a suitcase in the teeth and a saddlebag to match. Each with their respective cutie marks adorning the latches of the saddlebags and suitcases. Everypony, except one. The guard walked over to Rarity and asked "Where is your luggage miss? Did you forget to pack?"

"No no, they are on their way up" Rarity said casually while pointing towards the ramp that lead up. The unicorn guard that had asked her looked over to see three of his men, each carrying a few cases, some cases large others small but all of them seemed to have their hoofs full.

"Is all that really necessary?" the guard asked with a raised eyebrow.

Rarity simply smiled and said "you never know when you'll have a fashion emergency."

"Very well then, let us be on our way" Said the Guard. As he said this the boat slowly started to rise and within a few moments they were off.

The guard who had been speaking then turned to the five and said "My name is Rain Step, and i'll be your captain for this flight."

They had been flying for hours but they were finally able to see the foreign land mass over the horizon. They were still about an hour away but at least they could see the destination growing closer now.

"So anypony know where to start to look for twilight?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Well Princess Celestia said she was somewhere in the mid southern territory known as Elsweyr, we'll start there" responded Captain Rain Step, while looking at a smaller copy of the map Celestia had showed the group earlier.

"umm, girls" Fluttershy began. Everypony turning their heads to give her their attention. In response Fluttershy backed up a bit and lowered her head behind her hair before continuing. "Well, it's just that ..." Fluttershy said, pausing too often for Rainbow Dash's liking. "For the love of Celestia spit it out already Fluttershy!" Fluttershy flinched at the sudden intensity of Rainbow's voice before finishing her thought. "well what if we need to contact the princess?" Fluttershy said, the words coming out in a rush.

Everypony looked around. "Ah' reckon we didn't exactly think that one through, did we?" said Applejack, rubbing the back of her neck.

"Oh, I know what to do, I can go get him and then come right back and the problem will be solved" Pinkie said excitedly as she bounced toward the edge of the airship. Before anypony could stop her she reached the edge, everypony ran over to see where she had bounced but saw nothing. No splash from where she would have, she was just gone.

"What uhh, what did we just see?" asked Captain Rain Step.

Just as he asked he saw the familiar cotton candy mane coming up from the opposite side of the airship. He could only stair as she bounced back up onto the ship deck.

Captain Rain Step was speechless. So many questions raced through his mind but all he could do was stare in astonishment.

"Change your mind Pinkie?" asked Rainbow Dash. She was just as confused as captain Rain Step but she had known Pinkie for too long to bother letting it sit in her mind. Captain Rain Step wasn't so informed.

"How in Equestria did you bounce upside down?" now captain Rain Step was practically yelling.

"It's simple, I have suction cups on the bottom of my hoofs silly" Pinkie said, patting the head of the bewildered captain.

"But even then it wouldn't be possible!" Rain Step shouted.

"Ya'll ain't never met Pinkie Pie have ya?" asked Applejack. "Well let me give you some advice, save yourself the headache and never ask Pinkie Pie how she does something" Applejack said with a reassuring smile.

"But that is literally, physically impossible." Rain Step protested.

"Trust us, you'll be much happier if you never try to understand how she does what she does" Rarity told Rain Step.

"But girls, it was just the suction cups. Simple as that" Pinkie Pie told them

"Pinkie, it's never that simple with you. But you wouldn't be Pinkie Pie if it was" Rainbow said, smiling at her eccentric pink friend.

"Well I suppose I should just give in, I don't think i'll ever understand but if what you all are telling me is true then I should just leave it be." said Rain Step, sounding a little defeated.

"Ya'll accepted that much easier than Twi did, if that helps" said Applejack.

"OOH, we should throw a party to celebrate!" Pinkie said excitedly. "I mean we won't be there for a while and we could have a party for the safe trip and the silly captain's understanding and help. Then we'll find Twilight and we can have a welcome back Twilight party on the way back!"

"Where would we get the supplies" asked Rain Step.

"Right here!" Pinkie pulled out a large blue cannon from seemingly nowhere. But before she could get a shot off Rarity spoke up.

"Perhaps we should hold off on a party until we find Twilight" Rarity told her.

"I guess we can hold off and have one big party once she is here" Pinkie decided. "It won't take long anyway right?"

"I would be too sure about that" Rain Step told Pinkie Pie. "This is a big place and it could take a while."

Pinkie looked at the captain then over the edge of the airship towards the new land. She stared for only a moment before saying "I give it a week, tops."

A New Light

The sun was rising. Twilight had gotten up early to watch it, not just for the beauty of it, but to watch it as she longed for the guidance of her mentor. Princess Celestia had always been there to give her advice and calm her. During her time in Ponyville her friends had been a great help but Celestia helped calm her more than any other pony could. Twilight smiled as she thought back to the time she had tried to force a problem, 'the whole thing seems ludicrous now,' she thought to herself.

"You about done daydreaming purple one?" asked Ra'Zahmirr, who was anxious to get to Riverhold as soon as possible.

"Yeah, I'm ready" said Twilight with a sigh. "Lets go."

"So where was your mind?" asked Vallius.

"I was thinking about Celestia." Twilight said sheepishly.

"Who?" Vallius asked.

Twilight blinked at Vallius. "You know, Princess Celestia? Older sister to Princess Luna?" Twilight Sparkle told Vallius.

Now Ra'Zahmirr was looking at Twilight as well. Both Ra'Zahmirr and Vallius stared at Twilight with that same stupid expression the rude earth pony had when Twilight had tried to make polite conversation.

"You speak like we should know should know who she is" said Vallius

"Of course you should!" Twilight was shouting now, bewildered that they didn't know the name of the pony who raised their sun. "She does so much for you!"

"Oh? Like what?" asked Ra'Zahmirr.

"She raises the Sun!" Twilight Exclaimed. "And her younger sister Princess Luna raises the moon!" Twilight couldn't believe she had to explain this. How could any creature not know of Princess Celestia? Had they heard of everything that had threatened Equestria, surely they were in danger here? How could anything on the planet be so oblivious to something like that.

"Are you sure you have the names right?" asked Vallius? "I mean you said this, Luna raises the moon but i'm fairly certain the mistress of the night is Nocturnal"

"I don't think Nocturnal raises the moon Imperial" said Ra'Zahmirr.

"What?" Twilight's bewilderment turning to confusing.

"I don't know much about the Daedra" Vallius said hurriedly, chagrin in his voice.

Though she had not forgotten her annoyance at her traveling companion's ignorance but allowed her curiosity getting the better of her still. "What are Daedra?" asked Twilight.

"They are immortals with terrific magical ability" said Ra'Zahmirr, a hint of pride tainting his voice.

"Though they don't always have the best interest of the people in mind" Vallius added.

"Well Celestia and Luna do have the best interest of everypony in mind" Twilight told them.

"But they are immortal, and they do personally interact with the inhabitable of this world? Right?" asked Ra'Zahmirr.

"Well yeah" Twilight said. "How could they do what they do if the weren't physically here?"

"Well there are ways it has been done. The Nine Divine seem to do it without issue" said Vallius.

"Either way they are Daedra" Ra'Zahmirr said with finality in his voice.

Hours had passed and Twilight didn't talk much. Her two new friends didn't like to talk much either and this gave Twilight a chance to look more at the books she had received from Khanja. She had already read the two history books but didn't want to look at The Art of War Magic . She didn't know what was in it but she did know she didn't want to fight some war, and though she loved magic this was one topic she didn't want to delve into. But she kept the book still.

It was about noon now, the sun high overhead. the road was wide and there wasn't much to look at. It was a hot day and though Twilight didn't move much still she was sweating.

Twilight had just finished her third read through of Brief History of the Empire, Book II when the wagon came to an abrupt stop. Twilight looked up to see the source of the disturbance. In their path stood a big, mean looking creature. It's muscles were bulging, it's ear's were pointed, and two sharp, almost fang like teeth came from the bottom.

"Why is it's teeth like that?" Twilight whispered to Ra'Zahmirr.

"That is what you notice, not the green skin" Ra'Zahmirr whispered back with a grin.

"It isn't that unusual to have a different colored appearance where i'm from" Twilight responded, slightly annoyed at Ra'Zahmirr for ignoring her question.

"He is one of the Orsimer, what he is doing here I know not, the closest strong hold is a half days walk that way." Ra'Zahmirr  said, pointing towards some direction off the road.

The Orc was standing in the middle of the road, blocking a bridge so that none may pass.

"Hello there Orc" said Vallius. "May we cross?"

"I seek help" came the Orc.

"And what may we do for you?" asked Vallius.

"I seek a good death" the Orc told Vallius. "Many have said they could give me one but they all failed to give me what I desire. If you have the skill with a blade I would seek for you to assist me."

"Why do you want to die?" asked Vallius.

"What does it matter, he wants to die then so be it." Ra'Zahmirr said as he jumped down from the wagon.

"Ah-ha!" exclaimed the Orc as he pulled out two metallic swords, they were too dark to be iron. The blades weren't strait either, but rather curving, upward, then down again. It was unlike anything Twilight had ever seen. The Orc handed one of these swords to Ra'Zahmirr, who took with excitedly.

"We Khajiit are very quick, your strength will not help you Orc" Ra'Zahmirr taunted.

"I can only hope you are right" said the Orc.

As he did he quickly began to walk up to Ra'Zahmirr and lifted his sword high. Ra'Zahmirr lifted his sword just as the Orc brought his down. Sparks came forth and the clanging of metal echoed as they began exchanging swings, one blocks the other swinging.

The Orc was growing annoyed with this stale mate and gave a mighty swing down on the Khajiit. Ra'Zahmirr in return used his sword to lead the Orc's blade to the ground as he side stepped to the right and brought his paw up and struck the Orc. His claws leaving deep cuts along the Orc's face.

Ra'Zahmirr backed up, raising his sword as he did so. The Orc lifted his hand to his face, pulling it away to look at his blood. "Haha!" he exclaimed. "You are the first to even get a strike in, perhaps your confidence is well placed Khajiit."

The Orc lifted his sword again, this time keeping careful watch for the Khajiits paws.

This time it was Ra'Zahmirr who ran towards the Orc, raising his sword high. The Orc raised his sword sideways to meet Ra'Zahmirr sword has he brought it down. The two blades clashed and the Orc used his free hand to strike the Khajiit, mimicking the counter the Khajiit had just used. Though instead of claws cutting the cheek of Ra'Zahmirr, a large, heavy fist hit him in the temple.

Ra'Zahmirr fell to the ground, dropping his sword. Twilight's horn began to glow, she didn't know what she was going to do but she wanted to help in some way. Vallius stopped her. "We cannot interfere with their dual. Besides, do you think you could take this Orc?" Vallius asked her. Twilight just stared at the Khajiit that had fallen to the ground. She couldn't believe what was happening. How did this even happen, why did it happen. All she knew was it made her long to be back in her library even more so.

Ra'Zahmirr stirred slightly. The Orc laughed as he said "and I thought you could be the one." The Orc taunted. Ra'Zahmirr reached for his blade, grabbing the hilt. But as he did so the Orc stepped on the blade. Ra'Zahmirr looked up at the Orc.

The Orc looked Ra'Zahmirr in the eye before he thrust his blade into his chest. "You fought well" said the Orc solemnly. solemnly  twitched a bit before going limp. Then he stopped moving all together.

"You there" said the Orc, turning and pointing towards Vallius. "Can you give me a good death?"

"I will fight you Orc" Vallius said. Twilight was wide eyed, tears starting to form, she tore her eyes away from the broken body that was once Ra'Zahmirr to glare at Vallius. Vallius looked back at Twilight then towards the Orc.

"On one condition" Vallius added.

"Oh, and what might that be?" asked the Orc.

"If I should fall, allow this unicorn passage so that she may speak with a Khajiit in Riverhold" Vallius said. "She is not an experienced fighter and would serve you no purpose."

"Very well Imperial, if you fail I will honor your last wish" said the Orc.

Vallius jumped down and grabbed the sword that lay beside Ra'Zahmirr. He swung it in a circle before leveling it upright, then pointing it towards the Orc. "Are you prepared?" asked Vallius.

The Orc nodded, clutching his sword.

The Orc swung first, Vallius jumped back avoiding the blade. As he did so he swung his sword in the opposite direction the Orc. The Orc, already in motion, could only watch as the blade cut his upper arm, deep into the muscle. The Orc backed up, holding the spot on the sword arm that had been cut.

Vallius stared at the Orc, determination on his face. The Orc smiled as he released his arm and tossed his sword in his other hand.

Vallius ran towards the Orc. The Orc swung high, aiming to behead Vallius in one swing. Vallius quickly rolled below the swing, then he thrust his sword into the chest of the Orc. The Orc dropped his sword. Vallius released his, leaving it in the Orc's chest and caught the other sword before it hit the ground. He swung it around and stuck it into the Orc's side.

The Orc fell to his knees. "Thank. You." The words were barely that of a whisper but Vallius heard them loud and clear. Then the Orc face planted into the dirt. And just like that, it was over.

Twilight stared at Vallius incredulously. She would never be able to look at him the same way. Vallius glanced at twilight's face, then looked at the two bodies before saying "we should give them a proper burial. Then we can get you to Riverhold to Ra'Zahmirr's contact. Then you will never see me again."

Twilight nodded.

Dreams and Pyres

Twilight had spent the rest of the day just sitting, watching Vallius break apart the wagon and organize it into a wooden tower. The two horses had ran off as soon as Vallius had cut them loose.

It was sundown by the time Vallius finished making the semi-pyramid like structure. She watched in silence as Vallius put the two corpses on top and lit the whole thing on fire. Both sat there, just watching the fire burn.

"Why did he want to die Vallius?" asked Twilight a little after the sun had set and the fire of the pyre almost out.

"I wish I knew Twilight." Vallius told her. "Orcs are different than the rest of us."

"How so?" asked Twilight.

"They love the name of honor, more than they fear death" Vallius said. "Which I suppose isn't so different than the Nord way of thinking" Vallius continued with a chuckle.

Twilight only stared at Vallius. How could he laugh. How could he make jokes after he had just killed someone, even if she didn't get the joke.

"I don't know why he wanted a good death so bad he had to challenge every person to cross his path, but who know" said Vallius with a heavy sigh.

"Why was Ra'Zahmirr so eager to fight him?" Twilight asked.

"Your guess is as good as mine, you knew him better after all" Vallius told her.

The fire had now gone out, leaving behind smoldering ashes. Twilight sighed then turned to Vallius. "Do you think the people Ra'Zahmirr was taking me to see can really help me?" she asked.

"Well Ra'Zahmirr trusted them, and while me and Ra'Zahmirr didn't exactly see eye to eye I trust him enough" Vallius said in a monotone.

"This place is really dangerous" Twilight said, more to herself than to Vallius. Though Vallius still laughed a bit at what she had said.

"And what are you gonna do about it?" asked Vallius cheerfully. "Will you learn fight, or will you stick close to whomever wields a sword in your defense?"

"Well actually I do have this book" Twilight said sheepishly as she levitate the copy of The Art of War Magic she had yet to open. "I was thinking, after what happened today, I should be prepared" Twilight told Vallius.

"If you think it is for the best then I'll help where I can" Vallius said. "Though i'm afraid I am not exactly the mage type, so I don't know how much I could help."

"Mage?" asked Twilight.

"It is the word we use for those who use magic to fight, which happens to be everyone who can" Vallius said with a smile. He was always smiling, Twilight noticed. "And it is like you said Twilight, this place is dangerous."

"Uhh!" Spike complained.

"Is there an problem?" asked Celestia.

"It's just that I wish I could be there for Twilight." Spike told the Princess.

Celestia, Spike, and Luna all sat in the throne room. They had been playing a game that none of them was really interested

in.

"Believe me Spike, I know" Celestia said.

"We shall have to trust in the Elements of Harmony to guide the six together" said Princess Luna.

"I guess" Spike said. "I just wish I knew what was happening right now."

"Perhaps your desire will be answered by your dreams" Celestia offered. She had tried to remain cheery but the longer her student and her friends were in that terrible place Celestia knew she wouldn't be able to sleep.

As if Luna could read Celestia's mind she said "And perhaps it is time for you to rest your head as well, dear sister."

"Very well then Luna" Celestia said, putting on the best fake smile she could muster. "I will see you at breakfast then."

Luna saw through it but decided to say nothing, she didn't want to worry the young dragon.

A few hours later and Celestia was lying in her bed. The usual silence broken by the steady snoring of the baby dragon in his bed at the corner of her room. She had often wondered what her student was doing, but the feeling was more intense than ever.

Celestia had sent her very finest to find Twilight Sparkle, she knew it would be a few days before she heard any news, and though she had sat through over millennia that seemed to go by in the blink of an eye and yet a few days was killing her.

"Oh, I know." Celestia said to herself, sitting upright on her bed. "I'll send Philomena to find them and relay messages between us" Celestia said. The baby dragon stirred and let our an incoherent mumble. Celestia smiled a genuine smile as she thought, 'you must think it's a good idea too.'

Celestia decided to send Philomena in the morning. Then she laid back down and let herself drift of to some much needed sleep.

The airship was moving through an extremely large cloud that covered the entire airship. It made the already cold air even colder and, on top of it all, wet. Rarity had retreated below deck to save her hair, Fluttershy went to keep her company.

"According to this map we are over a place called Cyrodiil" said Captain Rain Step to nopony in particular.

"Does that mean we're close?" asked Rainbow, mindlessly playing with the cloud that surrounded them.

"Calm down sugar cube, we have been travelling for so long, why ah' reckon we are just about there" said Applejack confidently.

"Applejack is right, just another few hours and we will be in Elsweyr" Captain Rain Step said.

Just then a ball of fire flew past the right side of the ship. All the guards prepared themselves, not knowing what to expect. The Ship rocked back and fourth violently and then it started losing altitude.

"Everypony get to the top deck!" Bellowed Rain Step. It didn't take long. Rarity and Fluttershy had already come out to see what was going on.

"All the pegusi try to slow the ship down enough to soften the landing but for Celestia's sake be careful!" Rain Step yelled out. All the Pegusi guard and Rainbow Dash went around the side to help stop it.

Once every pegusi had gone around to the bottom and started pushing up on the ship. Realizing it wasn't doing any good one of the pegusi guard yelled out "There! There is a lake and a large island! Aim for the Water!" The words were muffled but the pegusi had heard and started shifting the burning airship towards the water.

Everypony had braced for impact on the hard earth but instead found themselves submerged in water.

"And who might you be?" asked an annoyed Nord. He had woken up to two High Elves pointing spears at his face asking for him to follow, so he complied, but it did make him on edge. They lead him to a dimly lit and spacious room. In the center sat Lord Aramoth in his throne-like chair.

"My name is Lord Aramoth, and I know who you are Torrvar. What you do." Aramoth told Torrvar.

"What is your business with me?" Torrvar spat.

"Oh come now Torrvar, surely you can be civil. After all I am trying to set up a contract." Aramoth told Torrvar calmly.

"Then why not preform the ritual?" Torrvar asked, interest far higher than it was a few moments ago.

"Such methods are crude and I don't have the time. Now, down to business." Aramoth said.

"Very well, who do you have your eyes on?" asked Torrvar.

"This will not be your average job Torrvar" Aramoth said. "However, if you complete all parts you will see a reward higher than you can every dream of."

"You have my attention" Torrvar told Aramoth.

"I am, or I was, in possession of a true gem. A small unicorn, no bigger than a common dog." Torrvar stared in disbelief but allowed Aramoth to continue. "And I even had one of my associates bring her to the buyer. Unfortunately my associate has recently fallen and I am in need of someone to guide this equine to the buyer in Riverhold" Aramoth said.

"And that's where I come in." Torrvar said, knowing where this was going.

"Precisely, my dear boy. I need you to find this unicorn and guide it to the buyer. As I mentioned before this is truly a rare find and I need someone with your ... disposition, to make sure no group of bandits kills it for it's horn or any Orsimer decide they wants to try Unicorn meat."

"How much are we talking?" asked Torrvar.

"A small fortune, enough for you to spend the rest of your natural days in great wealth. Interested?" Aramoth asked.

"Of course." replied Torrvar as he began to turn towards the door.

"Oh, and one more thing before you leave Torrvar. Tell your little brotherhood and have them spread out and kill anyone who knows of her existence, we don't want any trouble for our buyer. The Buyer, you will recognize buy their house symbol, the head of a Sabre Cat." Aramoth told Torrvar.

Torrvar nodded, saying "it shall be done, my lord." And with that, Torrvar left.

Complications

It had been a long morning for the guards of Imperial City. Many reports were coming in from the south, none of them good. According to their reports the Thalmor had established their power in Summerset Isle. They had also caught word of a Thalmor coop in Valenwood. If these disturbing reports were true then Elsweyr would surely be on their list as well.

To make matters worse now there was a large boat flying in the sky. It didn't make sense. But nearly everyone could see it approaching. coming directly for the capital.

"What is that?" asked one of the new recruits. No one had the answer.

"What do you think they want?" came another new recruit.

"Who are they is a better question?" said one of the veteran legionaries. "Who could be so callous with their own life to opening strike against us?"

"Lets not wait around to find out" came a solider whom wore armor similar to all the others, the only difference being his helmet. His helmet had black hair coming strait up from the center into a mohawk, identifying him as the commanding officer of his post. He words were less of sentence and more of a command.

"What should we use?" asked one of the legionaries.

"Use the ballistas, and have our mages light the bolts on fire" said the commander.

"Yes commander" said one of the veteran legionaries with a slight bow then yelled, "alright men you heard him, lets blow them right out of the sky!"

The legionaries loaded the ballistas and a mage set it aflame. The released the bolt, it flew right past the side of the ship. A quick reload and adjustment later and they were ready to fire again. The commander had made them load this thing so much the best of them could get it loaded in under a minute.

The mage lit this bolt on fire then it was released. A direct hit to the bottom of the ship.

As the ship began to lose altitude and a few legionaries cheered. The commander looked towards his men as he said "Go to the wreck and make sure to kill all but three."

"Just three commander?" asked one of the legionaries.

"That is what I said, we have enough problems without trying to look after the injured or keep watch on twenty different people" the guard captain told them.

"Right away" said one of the guards as he, as well as about fifteen others, ran for the gates to capture these unknown invaders.

Everything was quite. Rainbow Dash was disoriented from the initial impact of the water, thought she had remained conscious. Had her friends? Where was everypony? Rainbow Dash's mind raced but soon she found herself only thinking of how much she longed for air.

Rainbow Dash surfaced to see the burning wreck that was once their Airship. She decided to worry about that later and started to look to see if anypony had gotten hurt. She found half of the pegusi guards she was with on shore with all of her friends and Captain Rain Step. Next to Rain Step was a few more royal unicorn guards. Some of the guards seemed to be limping, though none of her friends seemed to have this problem. Dash flew over to speak with them.

"Where is everypony else?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"They haven't surfaced yet, and it's too murky and dangerous too try to find them and pull them out" said one of the pegasus guards.

"What do you mean too dangerous?" Dash asked in shock.

"Well you would have to swim under the boat, find them in the thick water, then resurface without resurfacing into a flame." The pegasus told Rainbow Dash. But Rainbow wasn't listening, she had to help, even if they wouldn't.

Rainbow flew back over to the wreck and dove down below it. It was in pieces now, making navigating in the murky waters all the more difficult. She bumped into somepony, the pony wasn't moving around but Rainbow grabbed on as best she could and pulled, the armor not making it any easier.

Rainbow did manage to get the pegasus out of the water against all odds. Rainbow lifted the heavy stallion up into the air and started for the shore. Rainbow waited for a 'thank you' or a 'your my hero' when none came she turned to see what was wrong. It was then that she noticed he wasn't breathing. Rainbow rushed him to shore Captain Rain Step checked the pegasus' vital signs and after a moment, just shook his head.

"What just happened?" asked one of the guards. The look of worry on all the the ponies faces made it clear they were all thinking the same thing.

That's when a large group of creatures not even Fluttershy recognized ran across a bridge towards them. They were covered in metal and each held a long spear.

They ran up to the small group of ponies then stopped no less than twenty feet away. Just starring in wonderment at these creatures that only existed in legend.

"Umm, hello?" asked Rarity. "Surely you fine creatures wouldn't mind helping out a lady such as myself." The guards just blinked, it was talking, it was really talking. "You see i've lost some important fabric as well as one of my sewing kits with that ship. Would some of you be so kind as to retrieve my bags for me." Rarity finished, pushing one of her curls up with a few gentle lifts of her right hoof.

Everypony was just staring at Rarity. After everything that had happened she was worried about her fabrics? Maybe she had lost it, maybe she had gone into denial? Who knows, it could be any of these things.

"So what do we do now?" one of the heavily armed creatures said to another.

"Well all things considering we should take all of them" replied another one of the creatures.

The same creature that had just spoke then addressed the ponies. "My name is Lurius, please come with us peacefully and forfeit your weapons, no one has to get hurt."

Rain Step looked around at his men, many were injured but, if he gave the order to fight, they would. He thought to his men that had died in the wreck, he would never be able to retrieve them all. He then looked to the bearers of Harmony. He made his decision. "Very well, only if you can promise me some answers as to whose fault it is fell out of the sky and guaranty the safety of my men."

"We can only promise no one will get hurt if you answer our question's to the best of your ability" Lurius said.

"Very well" Rain Step said, motioning for the others to follow him as he walked over to the creatures. The others reluctantly followed.

They led the injured lot to the tower at the center of the Imperial City, one of only a few places where they could speak in peace and have security. They were led to a very large room with a very high roof. In the center of this round room sat a large table. Around it sat many chairs, all of them found a chair and sat. All except Lurius.

"The commander should be here soon then we can begin" Lurius told them.

As if on cue the doors swung open and the Commander strutted in. Lurius saluted in response. For a moment, the Commander only stared. He had hear what his legionaries had told him, about the unicorn and pegasi, but it was still a shock when he was finally in their presence.

"I am Empire City guard Captain and Commander for the legion, Scelian" the guard with the mohawk helmet finally said. "And I am speaking to a bunch of half pint pastel colored horses, some unicorn and pegasi, so you can imagine my surprise when such things fly up on a boat that defies gravity!" Commander Scelian exclaimed.

Rarity looked like she was about to say something when a disembodied voice said "Oh come now Scelian, surely you can understand there are things in this world that we will never understand." As the voice finished talked it became clearer and easier to identify the origin of the sound.

A tall man walked through the large doors. He was wearing elegant robes. The main body of the robes were blue in color, with a prominent red and gold pattern running down the front. In the center of the pattern was what appeared to be a dragon of sorts.

"Hello there strangers, I am Emperor Titus Mede II, and i'm afraid we are to blame for you loss" the Emperor told them.

"Well Titus Mede II, can you tell me why did you do this?" Rain Step asked.

"I fear we are heading for times of war, and the ship you came here on isn't exactly something we are accustomed to, you were coming right at us and we defended ourselves" the Emperor told them. "However we will make it up to you, we can start by making a new ship. It wont be able to fly but you can use it to move across the ocean."

"What makes you think we need to cross the ocean?" asked Rain Step, trying to get everything the Emperor know out of him without using threats or saying what he wants strait out. This was a delicate matter.

"Well I just assumed you did. I image if you lived here in Tamriel someone would have noticed you long ago" the Emperor said. This conversation was going nowhere fast and both parties could see it.

"We lost some good men Titus Mede II" Rain Step told him.

"Please, just Emperor Mede will suffice. But I am sorry for you loss" the Emperor said. "We have a unique opportunity here, we have so much we could learn from each other."

Rain Step looked towards the others, he didn't feel comfortable making a decision like that without the consent of the others. After each one nodded in turn he turned back towards the Emperor and said "very well, let us teach each other."

Unforeseen Circumstances

"Good. Again." Vallius told Twilight.

Twilight nodded in acknowledgement then knelt down, concentrating all her magical energy on the new spell she was learning. She let loose a large burst of pure magic, the energy throwing dirt into the air as it passed. Vallius raised his sword and when the ball of magic hit it, his sword was thrown from his hands.

"Great, your getting good at disarming" Vallius complimented Twilight, but then asked "Though what will you do once they are disarmed?"

"I don't know, will i have to do anything? If they don't have a weapon will they still fight?" Twilight asked.

"Of course they will Twilight. They will run for their sword, then try again. Perhaps they will just run at you to fight with their fists. Who knows, they may even have magic" Vallius told her. "If you truly want to learn to fight you will have to understand the rules of the battlefield."

"Rules?" Twilight asked. "How can a something like this have rules?"

"Well not really rules per say, rather a list of things to keep in mind if you want to be a successful battle mage."

"And what might these things be?" asked Twilight.

"Well first you must understand that while you should always be prepared with a good defense, you must always be ready to strike with an offensive counter. The moment to prepare this offense is the moment the enemy becomes vulnerable to attack. You can't wait because you might not get another opening" Vallius told her.

Twilight looked up to the sky. It was still early morning and the only distance they had made was an hour walk off the road so she could learn in peace. Luckily they found a tall enough tree to throw a shadow large enough for the two to rest under during breaks so they didn't get heat stroke. There was also a river a minute or so north of the tree so hydration wasn't an issue either.

"Alright" Twilight said, her horn already glowing an incandescent purple again. As she did so she felt her horn growing colder, she focused even more and her horn soon felt like it was freezing over. She cast the spell, only this time she let loose a large ball of ice rather than a small ball of raw energy. It was twice the size of her body and took a lot out of her. Vallius dove to the ground and into a roll, then looked incredulously at Twilight.

"You have a lot of magic prowess" Vallius observed.

"Thank you Vallius" Twilight said, blushing a little as she did so.

"If you would use your magic wisely you could be one of the greatest battle mages in history" Vallius said. "Though that's only if you learn to fight with magic. I image that spell took a lot out of you, don't deny it I can see it in you from over here."

Vallius was right, Twilight had used up a lot of magical energy to do the large ice ball. "What do you mean wisely Vallius?" asked Twilight.

"Conserving your power is another key to victory. Putting forth your strength to win a battle is no demonstration of skill. This is what we call tactics. If you allow yourself to drain all your energy then you will have to fight with your normal strength, and, no offence, that isn't something I think you can do. I managed to dodge the attack and if we were locked in combat I could have ran up at you with my sword and you wouldn't have been able to stop it" Vallius lectured the purple unicorn. This was a weird feeling, it was usually her whom had to lecture others on the important details of things but since fighting wasn't something she knew much about she listened intently to Vallius.

"So rather than using large attacks" Twilight started. "I should use a bunch of small ones to tire them out first?" Twilight asked.

"Precisely" said Vallius. "Now your getting it."

"Alright, but can we take a break first?" Twilight asked. "That spell took more out of me than I thought it would."

Vallius laughed. He was always laughing, and smiling. "I bet Vallius and Pinkie would get along great." Twilight mused

"Here, drink this" Vallius said handing over his canteen to Twilight. Twilight drank from it until it's contents were gone. Vallius smiled as Twilight held it upside down with her magic and sticking her tongue out, trying to get more out of it.

"You know that'll never work." Vallius told her, still smiling.

"So, Vallius" Twilight started still looking into the canteen. "Why are you going to this Imperial City?"

"My job requires I do" Vallius said. "I observe what goes on around me, then return to the Emperor to tell him what I've learned."

"You go to the pon- err, person in charge directly?" Twilight asked.

"Yes I do" Vallius said proudly. "I'm actually pretty high rank and my skill in the battlefield allows me to go places most legionaries wouldn't be able to."

"So your pretty important then?" Twilight asked.

"I suppose, is this going anywhere?" asked Vallius.

"Well no, I was just wondering what made you tick, you are certainly a very interesting specimen." Twilight said.

Vallius roared with laughter now, rolling back onto the ground. "Specimen? Are you doing a study, writing a documentary?" Vallius said between laughs.

"I didn't mean it like that" Twilight said. She didn't understand why he found it so funny, sure she could have used better terminology but it wasn't that funny. Still though she couldn't help but smile. Vallius was one of those people who you just could be upset for long when your around them. Much like Pinkie Pie.

Twilight's thoughts jumped to the two again. Vallius and Pinkie Pie could be related. The only difference, besides the obvious species and gender, was Vallius didn't always seem to have a party on his mind.

"Hey Vallius?" Twilight asked. Vallius had finished laughing but still had his dopey smile. He turned his attention back to Twilight who continued. "How do you feel about parties?"

"Why, planning one are we?" Vallius asked.

"No but , never mind." Twilight disliked that about her traveling companion. The way he would avoid questions by asking his own. It annoyed her more than she thought possible. Besides annoying it was also very rude. But she let is pass, after all, Vallius was teaching her how to better her magic so she could stay mad and feel right.

"Alright enough rest, I'm going to go refill my canteen than it's back to training" Vallius said with finality as he got up and stated for the river. Twilight watched Vallius walk away, her thoughts on Pinkie Pie and the rest of her friends.

"Do you really think this is worth it Torrvar?" asked a rather petite Khajiit woman.

They were in the well lit common room in the Dark Brotherhood sanctuary.

"I really do Shotherra" Torrvar said. "It's easy money, and this Aramoth guy seems to have a lot of it. We can split up and kill everyone the unicorn has come in contact with. I can deliver her to the Khajiit in Riverhold who bears the mark of the Sabre Cat."

"That's another thing" said a thin Wood Elf. The Wood Elf wore only half of the traditional Dark Brotherhood cloak, showing his muscles. They weren't not as large as an Orcs but they were finely toned. "Why is this Khajiit's family crest a Sabre Cat? Don't they only live north? I doubt they have ever seen one in there lives."

"Calm down Foroch" said Torrvar to the Wood Elf. "It is probably just a kitty wanting to be like a tiger thing."

Both Torrvar and Foroch laughed, The Khajiit woman called Shotherra's ears went flat against her head. "How about this" Shotherra said calmly. "I make the delivery and you take care of the grunt work Torrvar. After all this is my homeland and I would stick out less."

Torrvar tried to object but he knew she was right.

"Very well Shotherra, last word said they were still on the road. They stopped for a funeral." Torrvar rolled his eyes at the last part. "If you hurry you can catch them."

"Very well, this time next week our sanctuary will be back up to proper conditions." Shotherra said happily before leaving the two.

"As for me and you Foroch, the unicorn spent a lot of time in the town of Senchal. There is a group of Khajiit who gather moon dust in the Topal Sea and an Inn Keeper whom allowed her to stay. Those are the targets" Torrvar said. The Wood Elf nodded. This was the first major contract they had seen in years and he didn't want to mess it up.

"Oh, and Foroch" Torrvar said.

"Yes?" Foroch replied.

"Try to get any information on others who might know of the creatures existence from the targets" Torrvar said with a smile. That was one of the many things Foroch enjoyed about working for the Dark Brotherhood. "Of course." Foroch replied, matching Torrvar's grin.

A Change of Plans

Twilight's rescue team had spent, or in their opinion wasted, the rest of the day telling the Imperial City guard captain Scelian all about Equestria and what goes on there. Scelian seemed really interested in Equestria, asking all sorts of questions.

Hour after hour time dragged on. Everypony was getting annoyed, Rain Step especially. They may have agreed to share knowledge but so far they had received none in return.

It was almost nightfall now, and Scelian stood up and said "Great first day, we will continue first thing tomorrow morning."

"No!" exclaimed Rain Step, the sudden outburst causing Scelian's eyebrows to raise.

"Would you so readily spit in the face of hospitality?" asked Scelian. "Did you not agree to the exchange of information?"

"I did" said Rain Step, ignoring the first question. "But the exchange of information implies we receive knowledge as well!" Rain Step shouted angrily.

They did not have time for this. The Princess had tasked them with finding the bearer of the element of Magic, not involving themselves with the affairs of those Celestia had deemed unfit to associate with ponykind.

Anger was now becoming apparent of Scelian's face, but before he could say anything the Emperor spoke up. "Then we shall give you knowledge that outweighs that which you have given us." The things the empire had learned had been all but useless.  The Emperor couldn't complain though as he had remained silent up until then, simply taking in what was being said.

The Emperor stood up before saying "We are, however regrettably, on the brink of war. The Thalmor have established their presence in the south west and soon will take Elsweyr. It is far too dangerous for you lot, so I have decided to task a few of my Blades to take you to Cloud Ruler Temple up north."

"We came here to find our friend, so we are going to go to Elsweyr! Got it?" yelled an overly excited Rainbow Dash, she had spent so long just sitting there she jumped at the operatically to take to the air. She was now hovering over the table, glaring at Emperor Mede.

"I meant no disrespect. Of course you are free to go where you wish, though, I must ask, What will happen if you should be killed? It will be dangerous enough but to stand out as much as you do, you might as well paint a bulls eye on your back." Emperor Mede said.

Rainbow couldn't say anything. When Emperor Mede saw this he continued. "At Cloud Ruler Temple you can learn to fight in safety, while hidden away. I will have my legionaries keeping an eye out for any small colorful equine and give them orders to bring them to Cloud Ruler Temple if they should happen across them. And while there you can continue to exchange information, all your questions will be answered. You will even be given the chance to ask this time." Emperor Mede said with a chuckle and a quick glance to Scelian.

"That is ... acceptable" Rain Step said. "That is assuming we will be taught to fight you creatures. We are inexperience and would need the training."

"But understand this, we can only agree if we have your word that you will have legionaries looking for our friend" Rainbow said, finally regaining the composure to speak.

"You have my word as Emperor, in the honor of my name, that I will personally see to it that everything is done to return your friend safely." Emperor Mede said, a look of reassurance in his eyes. The look seemed to take away any and all doubt in his words.

"But my lord, is it really wise to-" Scelian began, being cut off my Emperor Mede's raised hand that told him it was time to stop talking.

"Do you doubt my decision making abilities, Scelian? I may be younger than you but I've been leading the Empire for the past four years and have yet to lead you astray."

Scelian sighed before saying through clenched teeth "no sire."

"Good" Emperor Mede said. "As for the rest of you, you leave at dawn."

Though none of them liked it they all knew what Emperor Mede had said yesterday was right. They needed to learn to defend themselves otherwise they would only get themselves hurt before they had the chance to help Twilight.

Everypony had gathered and talked about it and agreed it was for the best, though none of them liked it.

"I don't know what it is you expect me to do in this temple place." Rarity said as they were all waiting for their guide to meet them.

"What do ya mean, Rarity?" Applejack asked. "we have to learn to fight to help Twi."

"A lady doesn't fight" Rarity reprimanded the orange earth pony. "Such mannerisms should be left to the uncouth." Rarity said as she lifted her head to the air.

However after Rarity did this she noticed all the looks she was receiving from her friends and quickly said "It is not as though I do not wish to help, surely there are ways for me to help without allowing myself to stoop so low as to physically strike somepony else."

"It's alright Rarity" the unmistakably soft voice of the yellow pegasus said. "Everypony gets scared sometimes."

"Some more than others" Rainbow whispered to Applejack.

"Quite you" Applejack whispered back, rolling her large green eyes as she did so.

Just then an Imperial walked up, he was dressed in what appeared to be a solid steel version of the leather that the other legionaries wore.

"I am a blade, and I will be guiding you to Cloud Ruler Temple" was the only words he said before starting off out the gates. Everypony quickly followed behind.

"It isn't far" The man who identified himself only as a Blade said. "Only about a half a days walk from here."

"So much for proper greetings" Rarity said, following it with a lady like harrumph.

Stendarr's Absence

Even though they had spent a day teaching Twilight how to use magic to fight they still managed to make it to Riverhold within the week. The large city was finally within eyesight and Twilight breathed a sigh of relief, she was finally going home.

"When you meet these people watch what you say, remember they were one of Ra'Zahmirr's friends and I don't think they know yet." Vallius told Twilight as they approached the city's limits.

"What do I tell them? I didn't know Ra'Zahmirr very well" Twilight asked.

"If you can help it avoid the topic all together" Vallius told Twilight. "They will find out sooner or later, and perhaps it's better if they get you home before they morn their loss."

"I suppose" Twilight said, her voice unsure. She didn't like this plan, it was only right that they heard what had happen. Yet Twilight was inclined to trust Vallius' judgement, after all, he had yet to lead her astray. Though she decided to listen to Vallius thoughts of Ra'Zahmirr circling her brain continued as they walked into the city.

It didn't take them long to find the place they were looking for once they were inside the city. It had huge banners hanging from a large building. On the deep red banners were embroidered what appeared to be the top of a Sabre Cat head in black cloth.

"Are you sure this is the place?" Twilight asked as she looked up at the banners.

"Ra'Zahmirr said something about a sabre cat so i assume so" Vallius said with a shrug.

Torrvar watched as Foroch walked towards the dock. It was decided that Torrvar would take care of getting information and eliminating the inn keeper and Foroch would take out the Khajiit sailors. Torrvar didn't mind this though, he found the extraction of information far more enjoyable than taking out a large group of inexperienced fighters.

It was early morning, the sun still making its way over the horizon. Torrvar decided to make his way to the park to wait until later in the day once the drunks who had stayed the night had gone off to bother the town.

Foroch walked towards the Topal Sea, imagining the ways he was going to end the sailors that had the misfortune of coming across this unicorn. He found his pace quickening as his mind ran over all the ways he could destroy them. In the end he decided to do it one by one from a hidden space. The fear in their eyes as they found each other dying one by one should provide some fun.

Foroch was nearly at the dock when he saw the ship starting to make its way off the shore. "Great" Foroch moaned to himself. He broke out into a run and then dove into the waters when he reached the end of the dock.

The water was not yet warmed from the sun. Foroch allowed the cold to make him move faster rather than slowing his movement. He was a decent enough swimmer and the boat was not moving fast; he quickly caught up.

Once he reached the side of the ship he started to scale the side. Between him swimming to catch the ship and the scaling of the side he was getting tired. If he was seen he wasn't sure he could take them all on at once, not without taking a quick breather.

Foroch climbed into a window on the back of the ship. Once he had squeezed into the small window he found soft feathers rather than the hard wood. It was a bed. He allowed himself a minute to breath while he sat on the bed. The room was triangular in shape and rather small. All sorts of boxes adorned the wall.

"I wonder what they use this room" Foroch wondered to himself.

After a few minutes had passed he decided it was time to begin. He moved towards the ground and looked beneath the door. When he did he noticed three pairs of feet, two were standing by the edge of the right side of ship, the other moving towards the door Foroch laid behind.

Foroch quickly got to his feet and leaned against the wall by the door. He was in place for all of two seconds when the door opened and in walked a Khajiit with a box in his hands. The room's window was facing away from the sunrise so it was still dark enough for the half awake Khajiit to miss Foroch.

As the Khajiit put the box down Foroch moved quickly behind him and snapped his neck. Foroch smiled at the sounding snap. The door was cracked and Foroch looked glanced out the two Khajiit at the side of the ship, surely his absence wouldn't go unnoticed.

Foroch lifted up the Khajiit he had just ended and pushed him out the window.

The resulting splash seemed to echo in Foroch's mind. Though none of the Khajiit seemed to notice.

Foroch moved back towards the door as he raised his hand. He kept his eyes on the two Khajiit as his hand began to glow. Then, with a thrust of his arm, a small glowing red ball flew across the deck and hit the the larger Khajiit on the right.

With that the larger Khajiit turned and gave the Khajiit next to him a mighty uppercut, claws fully extended. When the smaller Khajiit hit the ground Foroch saw the three long, deep scratches that went from the middle of its stomach all the way to its throat. Though the Khajiit's throat was not slit it was apparent that he would not survive, only suffer. Foroch smiled at his work.

The larger Khajiit looked towards the five Khajiit that were now walking out of the door that led to the lower decks. The Khajiit started running at the five, who were all just realizing what was happening. Three managed to draw their swords, two in defense and one Khajiit sliced. It was a downward slice, nothing fatal, but as the large Khajiit took the hit he stammered back. The Khajiit looked at the cut on his chest, touching it with his hand, then looked back to his fellow shipmate that had cut and asked "Why." The spell had worn off.

Foroch stifled laughter, it was all he could do without roaring with it. The other Khajiit looked around. The other two had drawn their swords now. Foroch reached for his dagger but stopped his hand a few inches away, waiting to see what would come next.

"You wait over there, we will treat your wound when we figure out what's going on" came one of the Khajiit. The large Khajiit did as he was told and walked towards the other side of the ship, his back facing Foroch. The other Khajiit then starting moving towards the Khajiit on the ground.

Foroch took this chance to move and quietly crossed the deck in a matter of seconds. He then drew his dagger, it was long for a dagger, the blade nearly twice the length of the hilt. It also had a greenish tint to it, but then, so did all the elvish weapons.

Foroch swiftly ran behind the large Khajiit and thrust his dagger into his back, piecing a lung. Foroch didn't want to kill it right away, after all he enjoyed watching the fear take over his prey.

After he withdrew his dagger he ran and hid behind some boxes. By the time the Khajiit turned around Foroch was gone. The Khajiit tried to call for help but all that came out was a terrible wheezing noise and then some blood. The Khajiit turned and saw the large Khajiit fall to his knees, then onto his face.

They ran over to help him but quickly noticed the stab in his back. "We aren't alone, fan out and search!" bellowed the Khajiit that seemed to be in charge. As he gave that order he rolled the Khajiit over then said "sorry" as he pierced the Khajiit's heart with his sword as he had done to the Khajiit on the other side of the ship.

He looked out, his four last men starting to move towards the upper level's of the deck where the ship was controlled, convinced that was the only place to hide. Foroch muttered thanks to Sithis for his incredible luck. When he looked up he saw thin chains on the box he was behind. A grin spread across Foroch's face.

The four Khajiit checked every barrel on by at the back of the ship but finding nothing decided to go back down to search the rest of the deck. They had decided to move in a wave across the ship, not wanting to give the intruder a chance to move around them.

When they got back to the lower deck the Khajiit they had taken the order from was nowhere to be found. One Khajiit was about to ask where he'd gotten off to when the rustle of chains caught their attention. It was coming from over the side of the ship.

They ran over, looking off the ledge. There they saw their leader hung around his neck by the chain, which was wrapped around the ship's railing. From the angle they almost couldn't make out the fact that he was bleeding profusely from his stomach. Almost.

"By Stendarr's mercy, what is going on here?" One of the Khajiit whispered. It was less of a question and more of a demand of information.

The ship suddenly jerked to one side, nearly tossing the four Khajiit overboard. They all ran up to the control platform they had just cleared. There they saw a sword sticking deeply between the rods of the control wheel, locking it in place.

One Khajiit tried, to no avail, to move the wheel. The other three looked at where they were heading. It was driving them towards the rocky waters that surrounded the island in the center of the Topal Sea.

They were about to jump overboard when they noticed a darkened figure leaning against the shady side of the mast.

"That must be the intruder" one of the Khajiit said.

One of the other Khajiit looked over to the one that had just spoken and said "What clued you in?"

Despite the remark the four Khajiit quickly moved down the steps and surrounded the figure. Now that they were close they could see it was a Wood Elf. A Wood Elf with a terrifying grin on his face.

They saw they Wood Elf's arms starting to move and glow and they rushed closer to him, swords extended. In that instant the four were engulfed in a large ball of fire. The fire didn't just strike them, it surrounded them. Swirling in what seemed like an endless abyss of bale-fire. Their suffering was short lived for once the fire had cleared, all that stood there was the Wood Elf, and four burnt carcasses.

The mast was now on aflame, the fire quickly spreading throughout the rest of the mast and within a few moments the mast fell. This allowed the fire to start spreading to the rest of the ship.

"I guess that's my cue" Foroch said, taking one last look at the ship before diving into the cold waters again.

Decadence of Dignity

Shotherra was leaning against the building directly across from the Sabre Cat obsessed, rich Khajiit's home. Waiting. She wasn't sure for what, but she felt she should wait, and her instincts have never lead her astray before.

She was growing restless. She started to extent her claws and retract them. Back and forth, back and forth, almost rhythmically until she grew bored of that too.

Just as she was about to curse her instincts for wasting her time she saw her target walking towards the mansion. She leaned back into the building, watching as the unicorn walked along side some Imperial. 'I'll have to remember to kill him later,' Shotherra  thought to herself.

She watched as the Imperial lead her to the mansion and stopped in front. 'They seem to be gazing at the large banners, I wonder why' Shotherra thought.

Then they started moving towards the door. 'Is this Imperial working for that Aramoth fellow Torrvar was telling me about? He didn't mention anything about an Imperial' Shotherra thought. 'Maybe I won't have to kill him, though I should probably have a word with him later.'

"How may I help you?" asked the tall, skinny Khajiit dressed in fine clothes who opened the door to Vallius and Twilight. The Khajiit then looked to Twilight and said, "Oh yes, my master has been expecting you, right this way." The fancily dressed Khajiit said, motioning for the two to come inside.

They walked in, not knowing what to expect. "Wait here and I will fetch my master" the Khajiit told them before leaving.

Twilight and Vallius looked around. The room was almost complete marble. The floors were a solid, light colored marble that lead into finely detailed pillars. The stairway made of the same material with the same detailing as the support pillars.

"Whoa" Twilight said in awe.

"Can you image how much all this must have cost" Vallius responded.

"Ahh, there you are" came an echoing voice from atop the staircase. At the top stood a short Khajiit, whom was very well dressed, even compared to his butler. In his had was a large brown sack of some sort that he held firmly.

"My name is Ra'Sakhar, and I am just simply delighted to make your acquaintanceship" said Ra'Sakhar.

"He talks like Rarity" Twilight mused.

When Ra'Sakhar reached the first floor he looked Twilight over before saying "I'm glad to see no harm has come to her."

Vallius responded with "that's right, went through a lot to make sure of it."

"Well take this for your troubles" Ra'Sakhar said as he handed the brown sack to Vallius. Vallius took it slowly then opened it the same way. In it were what Vallius estimated to be about five thousand Septims.

"Five thousand Septims?" Vallius asked.

"Why is it not enough?" Ra'Sakhar asked.

"Uh, no. It's plenty" Vallius said with a grin, not wanting to give the Khajiit reason to take it back.

"Very good, off you go then we have much to attend to" Ra'Sakhar said. "And say hello to Lord Aramoth for me."

"Who?" Vallius asked.

"Oh right, no names, my apologies" Ra'Sakhar told Vallius. Vallius just stared confused at Ra'Sakhar, then to Twilight. Twilight just shrugged.

"Well I'll be off then, Twilight it was nice meeting you" Vallius said with that same dopey grin. He was never one for long, drawn out goodbyes. Twilight motioned for him to come closer and when he did Twilight hugged him. "It was nice meeting you too" she said.

Shotherra saw Vallius leave the building with money still in hand. She watched as he gave it a light toss in the air and grasped it in his hands before pocketing the money. Then he looked around and started north for Imperial City. Shotherra followed.

Torrvar walked into the inn. It was noon and the inn was empty save for the bard and inn keeper. 'The bard' Torrvar thought. Surely he had seen the unicorn, and Aramoth ordered all who had come in direct contact be eliminated.

Torrvar still stood by the door, the inn keeper watching him while the bard played some melody. Torrvar reopened the door and flipped the sign around before allowing it to close. He then moved the nearby bench to block the door from opening, ignoring questions from the inn keeper.

The bard had stopped playing and was now eyeing Torrvar suspiciously. Torrvar didn't need information from the bard so he walked over and grabbed the bards lute from his hands. The bard looked astonished but the looked only widened when Torrvar snapped it in half. breaking the strumming area from the fret board.

The bard was yelling now, but Torrvar wasn't listening. Torrvar was far too busy observing the two pieces of lute he had made before dropping the larger piece, keeping the fret board in his hand. Torrvar clutched it tightly.

"Now now, we don't want any trouble" the inn keeper said.

"It's a little late for trouble my friend" Torrvar said. after saying this he turned and plunged the fret board into the throat of the bard. The bard struggled, clawing and grabbing onto the fret board for a moment before falling over.

Torrvar looked the inn keeper in the eye, watching as shock turn to realization, and realization to fear.

"I just want to ask you a few questions Khajiit" Torrvar said. "And if you cooperate your death will be much less painful and far more quick."

"What do you want from me, I'm just an poor old inn keeper, I know nothing" the inn keeper said, panic now taking over.

"Now we both know that's a lie" Torrvar said.

"What do you mean?" said the inn keeper meekly.

"About three days ago a purple unicorn came in this place, is that correct?" asked Torrvar, he knew it was correct but wanted to see if his new friend would try to deny it.

"Aye, a purple unicorn was here, but she is gone now, left with two guys. They-" the inn keeper was cut off.

"Tell me about these two" Torrvar told the inn keeper.

"Why?" asked the inn keeper. "What are you going to do."

"Don't ask stupid questions you know the answer to and just answer mine." Torrvar said sternly.

"An Imperial with the legion and some Khajiit sailor" the inn keeper said. "That's all I know."

"Is that really all you know?" asked Torrvar.

"Yes" the inn keeper said.

"Well you see, I just can't accept that" Torrvar said. "I mean they were in your cozy little inn here for quite some time. All night actually. So forgive me if I find it hard to believe all you found out was that much." Torrvar said, walking over to the inn keeper.

This is the part he enjoyed. Him talking and his soon to be victim listening, hanging on every word he said. It filled him with what he could only every describe as a euphoria. This must be what Foroch feels in the middle of a good fight, Torrvar thought.

"I don't remember everything they said" the inn keeper said, shrinking back as Torrvar approached.

"Oh, is that right?" Torrvar asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes sir" the inn keeper told Torrvar.

"Come now, you remember" Torrvar's voice came out loud and sounded more like an accusation.

Though the inn keeper was visibly shaking, after a few moments he found the courage to say "It's the only thing keeping me alive."

Torrvar raised an eyebrow and asked "So you won't tell me?"

"No" the inn keeper said flatly, now shaking more violently.

Torrvar sighed. "Then I guess we have to do this the hard way."

The End of Innocence

Once Vallius had left Twilight turned to look at the nicely dressed Khajiit. The Khajiit waved his butler away with one hand and then turned to twilight.

"Alright now that you are here we can begin" the rich Khajiit, Ra'Sakhar said. "First things first, rules. I don't have many so I expect you to remember them all. Do you understand?"

Twilight nodded, a little confused but glad rules were being set. She didn't want to overstep her boundaries with her gracious host.

"Rule one, stay on the property. If I see you even across the street there will be consequences. Rule two, from here on out you will speak only when prompted. And when you speak you are to refer to me only as 'my Lord.' Is that clear?" Ra'Sakhar asked.

Twilight stared at him in confusion. Ra'Sakhar was starting to pace now. "Answer me!" he bellowed.

"I, uh" Twilight stammered. Ra'Sakhar sighed.

"Perhaps a few days in solitary confinement will give you time to reflect on the rules. I have only gone over two and you can't even seem to speak" an upset tone tainting Ra'Sakhar's voice.

Ra'Sakhar clapped twice in rapid succession and three large Khajiit came running from somewhere down one of the hallways behind the staircase.

"Our new friend needs a time out, see that she makes it there alright" Ra'Sakhar said as he gestured to Twilight. Twilight shrank back.

The three Khajiit began to walk over to Twilight. Twilight was so confused but what she did understand was that this place wasn't as friendly as it seemed. Twilight's horn began to glow and soon shot forth three, six inch, icy poles. Each one hit a Khajiit dead center in their chest. They were not expecting resistance and the sudden strike, while doing minimal damage to the large Khajiit, caused them stammer a nit.

They then ran for twilight, two ran up on either side of her and the third down the middle. Before Twilight could get a spell off Ra'Sakhar spoke up "Wait."

"Yes, my lord?" asked one of the Khajiit.

"Perhaps I will find better use for her out of my humble abode" Ra'Sakhar said stroking the fur on his chin. "Tomorrow morning I will see her personally transported to the Imperial City."

"If you don't mind me asking my lord, what for?" asked the Khajiit that was now holding Twilight still.

Ra'Sakhar smiled "isn't it obvious? Since she seems to have some fight in her, why not let her fight? In the Arena" Ra'Sakhar said, ending it with a dark chuckle.

"Alright all of you, I got some mixed signals about wanting to learn to fight. Don't deny it I saw it in your faces" the Blade known as Strillian said, strength behind his voice. "Don't feel like you are forced to fight, there are many ways you can help."

It was breakfast time and everybody was in the main hall save for two men who were sent to watch the gates. The ponies were enjoying their honeyed oats that was prepared for them and had just about every question they had answered last night. Strillian even managed to answer a few of Pinkie Pie's questions when he was able to register them.

"So if you don't want to fight, speak up now" Strillian said looking around. He looked in the face of the five mares, the unicorn that identified his rank as a captain, and to the four pegasi and three unicorn guards that made up the captain Rain Step's unit.

Rarity was the first to speak. "A lady doesn't resort to such barbaric activities, instead she uses her wit to gain the upper hoof." Applejack rolled her eyes and Rainbow started to snicker. Strillian ignored them.

"Very well, anyone else?" Strillian asked.

"I, um, that is to say" Fluttershy began meekly. "Speak up I can't quite hear you" Strillian told the yellow pegasus.

"I don't think that, um, I would make" Fluttershy's voice started out louder but slowly became inaudible. Everyone was staring at Fluttershy waiting for her to continue. Fluttershy shrank back and hid behind a curtain of pink hair. There was sound coming from behind Fluttershy's pink mane but not even Rarity, whom was sitting beside her, could make out what she was saying.

"I don't think she want's to fight either" Applejack said looking worriedly towards Fluttershy. Rarity was rubbing Fluttershy's back.

"Very well" Strillian said, clasping his hands together. "If there isn't anyone else then lets begin. Finish eating and meet me in the courtyard."

All of them finished quickly, regardless if they were planning of training or not.

They all filled out of the doors and into the courtyard were Strillian had a weapons rack set up. The thirteen ponies all came up and watched as Strillian began to talk.

"There are many ways to take down an opponent here. If you want to be as efficient as you can I need to know your strong points so we can give you proper weapons. So all of you line up and tell me what you are good at and we will test out a few weapons before we begin." Strillian told them. They all listened and made a single file line. The royal guards were first.

Two of the pegasi were given daggers, one was given a short sword, and the last pegasus guard was given an ax. The three unicorn guards were each given a simple steel blade and told they would be focusing on their magic but shouldn't be without basic sword training.

Captain Rain Step stepped up and Strillian asked him what he had been asking everypony "any strengths or weaknesses you need to tell me about?" Captain Rain Step responded with "I'm good with my magic, healing is my specialty."

"Hmm, that is good to hear, always good to have a healing mage in your group" Strillian told him with a nod as he handing Rain Step a steel sword.

Rainbow had stepped up now and before Strillian could ask her she said excitedly "I'm the fasted in all of Equestria and being a weather pony I can spot a cloud from all across town."

Strillian didn't know what she had meant by weather pony and was fairly certain that he didn't want to know, but a good pair of eyes was something they could work with. "So you have good eyes? That is, you can see over far distances?" Strillian asked.

"Yes, yes I can." Rainbow said, sounding rather smug.

"Is that arrogance or confidence?" Strillian asked with a raised eyebrow. Applejack chuckled but Strillian didn't seem to notice. "At any rate here, if you do have the eyes you boast then you could be an archer" Strillian said handing Rainbow a long bow and a sheath containing fifteen arrows. Rainbow took them and smiled, proud she had gotten something nopony else could get.

Applejack walked up and Strillian asked "do I really need to repeat myself?" Applejack shook her head to answer his question before speaking "to tell you the truth 'ah don't know what my strong points are. 'Ah mean i've been in a few fights here and there as a filly but nothing with weapons, sorry."

"No need to apologize, tell me, what do you do back home?" Strillian asked.

"Ah help run mah families farm" Applejack told him. "Why do ya ask?"

"Well you answer helps me determine what a few strong points might be. Most often farmers tend to be physically fit and generally strong. If this is true then I want you to use this" Strillian said picking up a very long and slender blade and offering it to Applejack. She grabbed it with her teeth, it was heavy but she was strong.

She trotted over to Rainbow Dash who was staring at the blade. "Would you look at that thing? It's nearly twice as long as me" Rainbow said without taking her eyes off of it. Applejack rolled her eyes and watched as Pinkie Pie bounced up to Strillian.

"Though I must admit I am afraid to ask, what is your profession?" Strillian said.

"I'm a baker!" Pinkie Pie said with much enthusiasm.

"Really?" Strillian asked. "I was expecting something like court jester or some such thing."

Pinkie laughed. "Nope, just a baker."

"Well then you can put your skills to use at the alchemy table. Though you should have basic blade training as well" Strillian said handing her a steel sword.

"Alright everyone there is someone here to help you with training, those with the more unique weapons will be separated and trained individually. If there aren't any questions, lets begin" Strillian said, clapping his hands together.

Good Guys Have Too Many Rules

The female Khajiit ran at Vallius. Vallius waited until the last second before raising his blade and moving forward. As the two blades ran against each other sparks flew out in every direction. Vallius kept moving forward, after he felt his sword leave the steal of hers he moved his blade in a circle and felt the familiar resistance that flesh gave. After his sword was free and then turned to face Shotherra. Shotherra was gripping the side of her head. On the ground was a small lump of fur.

Shotherra pulled her hand down and looked at it, her fur now covered in blood. Once Shotherra had moved her hand Vallius noticed the change immanently. That wasn't a clump of fur, it was an ear.

Shotherra stared at Vallius with a fury that would take the heart of a lesser man. Instead of cowering or allowing the death stare he was reviving to frighten him, he smiled. It wasn't a wicked smile, or a devilish grin, Vallius gave the Khajiit woman a genuine smile.

"My fair lady, would you care to dance?" Vallius asked politely.

As he did so Shotherra raised her sword for a downward strike. Vallius moved his in the same fashion and the two swords met. Both pulled their swords away. Vallius turned around and brought his sword forward in a spin. As he did this Shotherra Raised her blade high. Seeing Vallius beginning to spin she took a step back. Once Vallius had finished his swipe Shotherra took a step forward and brought her blade down. The blade only made contact with the rocky ground as Vallius jumped back.

Shotherra pushed her blade into the earth and used to vault herself into a front flip before bringing her blade completely around with much more strength than before. Vallius brought his blade up and guided her attack to his side. Then brought his sword up to strike. Shotherra brought her blade up and met his.

Shotherra pushed Vallius back with her blade and then she gave it a thrust forward. Vallius moved sideways before knocking  Shotherra's blade away. As Shotherra's blade moved away from Vallius Shotherra struck with her free hand again. This time her claws finding Vallius' face. He backed off enough for only her furthest reaching claw to reach him, though it still cut deep.  Vallius felt a sharp pain directly over his right eye, though he put the pain in the back of his mind for now.

Shotherra's blade swung out after it was hit with Vallius' sword and then moved right back in. This time her blade sliced his shoulder. Vallius backed up. Shotherra smiled and moved forward, raising her sword high.

Vallius moved forward then and moved in low. He blocked Shotherra's sword with his then brought his around and hit Shotherra in the gut with the hilt of his sword. Shotherra stumbled back.

Once Shotherra had regained her footing she brought her sword forward, only to for it to meet the steal of Vallius' sword. There was a moment of brief struggle before they would push each other back. Once they had broken free they would do it again.

The fight continued like this for a while. Neither getting very far, and the clanging of metal echoing in their ears every time their swords met.

Vallius took a few steps back rather than meeting Shotherra's blade for yet another clash of might. As he did so he raised his free hand, which was all but drenched in blood from the gash Shotherra's claws left up his arm. His hand was glowing for all of two seconds before a lightning bolt flew from his hand and directly at Shotherra. Vallius ran at Shotherra instantly after casting the spell.

Shotherra saw the Vallius begging to cast and when the lightning bolt came she raised her sword. The lightning hit the sword before vanishing in smoke. Shotherra was lowering her blade to begin an attack when Vallius' sword came at her. She tried to move her sword to block but before she was half way there Vallius' sword made a deep cut going up Shotherra's side. Cutting deep between two of her ribs.

Shotherra fell to one knee, sword still in hand, and was looking at Vallius with contempt.

Vallius swung his sword at Shotherra's, knocking it to the ground a couple of feet away. Then Vallius pointed his sword at the Khajiit's throat.

"Now, I want to ask you something" Vallius said politely.

"I'm listening" Shotherra said, clutching her wound and breathing heavily.

"Who is Aramoth and why does he want me dead?" Vallius asked.

"Well he doesn't want you dead specifically, you are just in the way" Shotherra said, not really answering his question.

Vallius sighed heavily in frustration before saying. "I know I will regret this but i'm letting you go."

Shotherra's ears perked up. She didn't know his motives but she knew she could be better prepared next time. She marveled at the luck she had, who would have guessed such a skilled swordsman was an idiot.

"However I am taking you Imperial City to face trial for the crime of association with the Dark Brotherhood" Vallius said.

"My dear boy, what makes you think I am with the Dark Brotherhood?" Shotherra asked with a mocking smile on her face.

"Well the big thing is the large black hand print on your clothes" Vallius said with a hint of annoyance.

"And how is it you plan to take me all the way to Imperial City, I'll bleed out before I leave Elsweyr" Shotherra told Vallius.

Vallius sighed again, thinking to himself 'I'm going to have to do the right thing aren't I?' Vallius decided to take her to the hospital in Riverhold and then take her to Imperial City. There they could extract the information he wanted without forcing him to do the things he didn't know if he had it in him to do. The extraction of information from the unwilling always made him uneasy.

Vallius walked over to Shotherra's sword. After sheathing his own blade he picked up hers.

"This way" Vallius said as he began to lead Shotherra back towards town. He kept her sword at her back even though she was injured. Vallius had heard of legionaries that had been killed when underestimating the condition of their opponent and Vallius didn't want to make the same mistake.

The walk that took ten minutes before took nearly two hours but they had both made it back to town alive.

How?

Once Strillian had motioned for all of them to begin several of the Blades started guiding them to different parts of the courtyard so they could train in the proper places. The unicorn were split up and given a rotation. Half would train with swords while the other half with their magic. They were told later in the day they would switch.

Pinkie Pie was led indoors to begin a basic alchemy lesson. Rainbow Dash was taken to one end of the field by a Blade who held a similar bow. Applejack went with the unicorns who were to be instructed on basic sword techniques before she got the more advanced training with the long katana.

Strillian walked over to Rarity and Fluttershy so he could talk with them. "So what do you two do back home?" Strillian asked as he walked up.

"Well Fluttershy here helps care for small creatures and I am the owner of a boutique." Rarity told Strillian.

"Alright, and what does your boutique specialize in, or is it clothes working in general?" Strillian asked.

"Well I mainly make dresses but I am well prepared for any stallion who might need a dapper new tuxedo" Rarity said with pride.

"So you can sew?" Strillian asked.

"Well yes, why do you ask?" Rarity asked, now confused.

Strillian ignored her for a moment and moved his gaze onto Fluttershy. "And you helped care for small creatures, so they were sick and wounded or just giving them a place to stay?" Strillian asked.

"Oh, I do both of those things. I can help sick or injured creatures or just give them a nice warm and cozy place to stay." Fluttershy said quietly but allowing herself to finish without becoming inaudible.

"Well this will work out well then" Strillian said confidently.

"What do you mean?" Rarity asked.

"Isn't it obvious? The two of you can learn to be healers. It will keep you out of the fighting, you can use what you know of sewing and apply it to making stitches" Strillian said gesturing to the white mare. "And since your friend has some experience with this sort of thing we won't have to start completely from scratch."

Rarity raised a hoof to object but just then a large boom came from inside the building. A few pieces of wood and tile from the roof rained down on them. Strillian was just about to go and investigate when a Blade stumbled out, covered in soot. Behind him bounced Pinkie Pie, who was also covered in soot.

"What in the name of Julianos' wisdom happened!" demanded Strillian.

"I, I, I, I just, I just don't know sir" stammered the Blade as he struggled to stay upright.

Julianos put his hand on his face. "Explain to me what happened, play by play, from the moment you stepped through those doors" Julianos ordered, his hand remaining in place over his face.

The soot covered warrior walked over and sat on a bench before beginning.

"Well we walked through and went over to our alchemy station. There wasn't much there, just some fire salts and some assorted mountain flowers" the Blade began. "And so I turned around and went to get a few basic ingredients so I can get started. I walked back up with the stuff in my hands and, and." The Blade cut off, resting his head in both hands. A crowd had begun to form around him and Strillian.

"So it was you then?" It was more of an accusation than a question but before Pinkie could react Strillian started up again. "Now how is it you managed to make an explosion like that with nothing but fire salts and flowers?" Strillian asked.

"I have no idea" Pinkie Pie said, an absent and confused stare on her face.

"Somehow I find that hard to believe, are you sure that is all you did?" Strillian asked Pinkie as he raised an eyebrow.

"I don't know what a fire salt is" Pinkie said. "Ooh! Do you think you can use them to make cupcakes with? Or maybe pretzels since I don't think I know any cupcake recipes that uses salt" Pinkie sat back and started rubbing her chin as she said this.

"What?" Strillian cried out.

Rain Step decided to help his host out by saying "trust me when I say no answer she will give you will satisfy or truly answer you question. It's best to move on and forget it ever happened."

"How long have you known her?" asked Strillian.

"Not long but long enough" Rain Step said.

Strillian didn't need to hear anymore, he decided that whatever had happened would only bring a pain to his head. He looked around, everyone was now staring at him.

"Well don't just stand around. Everyone back to training!" Strillian bellowed. The soot covered Blade started getting up. "No not you, just take a few minutes break. You will need your energy to continue, or rather start, the lesson" Strillian told Pinkie and the Blade.

The Blade sat back down. He was thankful for the moments rest but fearful for what the next attempt would bring.

Strillian then turned back to Rarity and Fluttershy to continue their conversation.

Vallius was laying in a hospital bed. Bandaging covering his head and the entirety of his right arm where Shotherra had cut him with her claws. A nurse came in earlier and commented on how bad bad his injuries were and that he was lucky he got to the hospital in time.

Vallius didn't think his injuries were all that bad though, a little deep yes but he had done far more damage to Shotherra.

A scream derailed Vallius' train of thought. He sat up and looked though the doorway. Vallius saw a few nurses running in the same direction but where ever that scream came from it was far enough away that he couldn't hear anything that was being said.

Vallius didn't like being in the dark, and it could have something to do with the criminal he had decided to take to trial. Vallius got out of his bed, instead of the usual leather armor that adorned him he was now in a backless hospital gown.

Vallius made his way out the door, his injuries not affecting his movement in the slightest. Vallius looked around for a moment to get his bearings. Then he saw one of the nurses that had run past his room quickly turn into a room at the far end of the corridor his room was in.

Vallius made his way to the end of the hall.

An Unwelcoming Surprise

Vallius slowly made his way to the end of the hallway. He didn't have to speculate as to the source of the commotion. The Khajiit woman was involved and Vallius knew it. He was a few rooms down from his destination and then something happened.

He had expected the Khajiit assassin to be in that room and somehow, despite her injuries, was fighting. What he didn't expect was to see the Khajiit woman carried out in a rush by a large Nord with long blonde hair. The Nord followed closely by a Wood Elf whose brown hair stood up on end despite the two inch length.

The Nord turned to face Vallius as the Wood Elf kept moving in the opposite direction. The two met eyes for a moment, The Nord staring in curiosity and Vallius in confusion. Then the Wood Elf yelled "Come on we have to get out of here."

The Nord turned and left Vallius, taking the Khajiit woman with him. Vallius assumed the Nord had not known he had been the cause of the woman's injuries based on the face that he was still alive. And though the three assassin's left Vallius knew it wouldn't be the last time he saw them.

A few weeks passed and Vallius, being unable to successfully track the assassins, had gone back to Imperial City. Upon his arrival he was told about the colorful talking horses that had went north. Vallius contemplated going back and telling the Khajiit that was helping Twilight about her nearby friends but decided against it, figuring it had been long enough that twilight was probably already home.

Twilight's search team had trained diligently, and while they were by no means expert fighters, Strillian thought they wouldn't do too bad. Fluttershy and Rarity had agreed to work on treating wounds with Rain Step. Rain Step taking it further by learning to fight. Strillian only fears what would happened if they found themselves in a fight and were unable, either because of a lack of skill or willpower, to end their opponent.

The ponies had spent the time their learning how to defend themselves but also about the land of Tamriel. They learned the history and politics of the land, or rather most of them did. During the lectures Rainbow Dash could be found sleeping on a nearby cloud. They hadn't left Sky Ruler Temple yet but were already arranging the trip to Elsweyr.

The situation between the Empire of Tamriel and the Thalmor of the Second Aldmeri Dominion didn't get much better. Thalmor forces managed to annex Valenwood after engineering a coup. Elsweyr had been drawn into the Thalmor's sphere of influence as well. The Thalmor had gained much and were growing more and more confident as the time progressed. This had Emperor Mede on edge.

Vallius stared out from a guard tower. He was bored and the Emperor gave him express orders not to leave the Imperial City. Vallius was not alone in the guard tower. Beside him stood a guard that was quite a few years younger than him but had much experience to show for himself. His name was Lurius.

Lurius and Vallius had been friends for years. During Lurius' time training Vallius took it upon himself to take him under his wing. Lurius and Vallius shared many of the same view points on the world and were both excellent swordsmen. The only thing that kept people from asking if they were in fact related was the fact they looked so different.

Lurius was more hotheaded but had adopted Vallius' nonchalance and tendency to smile. It was like a disease. A disease neither sought to cure.

Vallius just stared out the window for a while, and probably would have spent all day just looking over the city but Lurius couldn't stand the waiting.

"Perhaps it's time we do something a little more productive" Lurius said tauntingly.

Vallius turned slightly, only enough for Lurius to see him shoot a grin at his direction before turning back towards the city.

"Quit your moping and come on, there is bound to be something fun" Lurius said with a smile.

"I'm not moping Lurius, I am merely enjoying a nice view. Something that seems lost on the young" Vallius said playfully.

"Yeah well I happen to know a guy who could get us someplace where we can see something exciting" Lurius said, careful not to let anything slip.

Vallius was interested now. "Oh? And where might this place be? An old bar in the rut end of the market district? Or perhaps you weren't talking about in the city walls?"

"No no, it is definitely inside the city" Lurius said. Vallius looked a little disappointed but kept his usual smile.

"Alright then, I'll bite. Where are we going friend?" Vallius asked.

"Why, the Arena of course!" Lurius shouted.

"The Arena?" asked Vallius.

"Yeah, later today, soon actually, they are having the reigning champion fight some creature who they say can has the strength of Talos and the tactical ability of Julianos" Lurius said. "I'm voting for the Champion."

"Really? I would have thought you would take your chances with the wildcard" Vallius said, very surprised.

"Well normally I would. But it's the official's saying all this so I think it's a trick. The creature probably can't fight and when everyone loses their money from the bets the officials reap the rewards" Lurius said, proud he had figured it out. "I'm so confident I'm betting two hundred septims on this match."

"And, just out of curiosity, what happens if the creature lives up to the hype?" Vallius asked. Though he still smiled the worry in his voice was unmissable.

"Then it'd be one hell of a fight, now lets get moving. If I miss it because you want to lecture me on a bet I already made I can't be held responsible for what I do" Lurius said, motioning for Vallius to start moving. Vallius complied and they made the short walk to the Arena district.

Once they were at the gates of the Arena Lurius held up a piece of paper that had words Vallius couldn't make out from his angle. The Imperial at the gate lead them to a large booth at the front of the Arena. Vallius looked around the booth his young friend had acquired. It was large enough to hold about ten comfortably but only had three chairs. They were so close to the actual arena if Vallius were to lean to far forward he would fall in. On the base of the guard wall that kept them from simply walking into the arena was two words written in dull red paint 'Splash Zone.'

It had been years since Vallius had been to the Arena. It wasn't that he didn't like the Arena, rather he had no reason to go. He didn't exactly like gambling and he got his fill of bloodshed in his line of work so Vallius just never thought about.

"Oh I think it's about to start" Lurius said.

A loud, thunderous voice that seemed to come from nowhere, yet everywhere at once stopped whatever replay Vallius was about to give.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we have quite the show for you tonight! As the sun sets, so to will the lives of one of the two combatants fall into darkness!

Now! Without further adieu, I give you your champion!

Horns sounded and the crowd went wild as a Nord walked out of one door, holding a broad sword in each hand. He was sporting no armor save for leather greaves and a pair of iron boots. He was covered in all sorts of scars that ranged from cuts and burns to whipping marks on his back, no doubt from the correction of rebellious behavior. Vallius also thought he saw large bite marks on the Nord's side. It was difficult to tell but they seemed to belong to a bear of sorts.

The Nord walked a lap around the Arena holding both swords high. As he walked past the two legionaries Vallius could have sworn the blades were glowing.

Vallius gave a huff of air before saying to Lurius "enchanted weapons, perhaps you made a wise bet."

Lurius smiled at Vallius but it appeared to be his turn to be interrupted but the thundering announcer.

And his opponent! A magically gifted gem! A creature unique to the Arena! Never before has it been done but you will see it here folks!

Good people of Imperial City, I give you the Purple Punisher!

At those words Vallius sat up. "No, it couldn't be" he whispered to himself.

Proving his denial futile, a scared looking Purple Equine stumbled out of the gates.

"Twilight!" Vallius yelled, his voice drowned out by the roaring of the excited crowd.

The Carnival of Disgust

Good people of Imperial City, I give you the Purple Punisher!

The  crowd erupted in a thunderous applause as Twilight was thrown into the arena. For a moment the bright light of the sun blinded her. She expected this having spent almost two weeks in the underground training area for the arena. Even having spent a fortnight in a large training room she spent more time trying to resist than train. Now, in the arena, she was beginning to question whether or not it was the right move but decided not to dwell on the past.

Once the initial blinding had subsided Twilight looked at her surroundings. She was in a circular clearing with sand on the ground, she wondered why that was. In the center was a large metal, square plate. It took up the center of the clearing and had hundreds of small holes in it. At the edge of the clearing were tall stone walls, standing around ten to eleven feet tall.

Behind the walls were stands going around and upward in whichever direction Twilight looked. She was told she was going to have some sort of test and the large, sword wielding creature with the wild look in his eyes clearly meant that this was not the kind of test she was used to.

A loud bell rang out over the roaring crowd and the crowd cheered louder in response. Twilight saw the creature lightly jogging towards her, a sword in each and. She backed away and started to cower. She lowered her head and closed her eyes when the creature was about half way across the field. She was scared, hungry, and tired; but she didn't want to give up.

Twilight focused what little energy she had on a teleportation spell and in a flash of light she was gone. Just as the Nord swung his swords the mare disappeared only to reappear on the other side of the arena. The Nord looked a little happy, as though this weren't going to be as boring as he thought.

Twilight looked up after teleporting to see the Nord fully sprinting now. Twilight tried a magical offensive spell but couldn't gather the energy to do so, or the stamina to simply run. Before she could find out if she was prepared to teleport again she saw two crimson figures fall from the stands. First one, then another a few seconds late.

The two unknown figures ran over to cut off the Nord. The crowd was quieting down now and for a moment Twilight could here herself think. She took this moment to concentrate and let loose a very small bolt of ice. It was smaller than the ones she was casting before but when it hit the Nord in the jaw, causing him to turn to Twilight, it was all that was needed. The weakened spell managed to distract the Nord while the first figure got within range and punched him in the gut and immediately took a sword from the Nord's hands. When the figure did this Twilight recognized him as Vallius.

Mixed feeling stirred in Twilight. Had Vallius known what he did, and if he did why was he helping now? The rational part of Twilight felt she should at least try to figure out what had happened before getting upset, after all Vallius was defending her now. Though the part of Twilight that had spent the last few weeks through pony hell didn't want to give in so easily. Though Twilight's mind raced her body just sat there, watching the events unfold before her eyes.

Vallius backed up, now holding one of the steel blades the Nord had before. The Nord and Vallius stared at each other, each holding their own respective swords up, ready to either attack or defend at any moment. However before the fight could begin the disembodied voiced boomed once more.

"Since you feel you can interrupt our little game how about we make things more interesting?"

Vallius knew there was no way to respond and having acted on impulse was going to have to abide by whatever the announce put forth. Now Vallius relaxed his sword arm but kept his eye on the Nord, who did the same.

"You wan't to protect the unicorn? Fine. But a three on one match isn't quite far now is it? No. So instead you WILL hand back the sword to our champion and will be given two weapons of your choosing, both of you!"

Vallius turned to Lurius, only just then realizing that his young friend had followed him into the arena.

"And we will bring out 5 more of our gladiators, ranging in skill from fresh on the sands to our champion! After all, you are two trained legionaries, it's only fair right?"

The crowd cheered in approval as Vallius began to think about what weapons he wanted. While Vallius was thinking carefully Lurius knew what he wanted. Lurius and Vallius may be alike in many ways but Lurius never took the time to think things over carefully.

Lurius put his right hand half up and the crowd eventually got it he wanted to say something and slowly became nothing more than a few murmurs and whispers. Lurius yelled out "I wan't a sword and a shield, nothing fancy."

By the time Lurius had finally gotten the chance to speak Vallius had decided what he wanted and spoke up right after Lurius had finished speaking, for fear the crowd would start up again. "And I will have a spear and sword" Vallius said, a half smile on his lips.

"Bring them their weapons and their opponents!"

The crowd became unruly at this point. There wasn't a chance they would settle down now.

Vallius tossed the sword and the Nord, who caught it happily. Out of the gate the champion had entered came five more gladiators.

The first was a large, bald Orc man, who wore heavy armor and carried a large hammer so big even the mighty Orc had to keep two hands on it at all times.

Next was a rather short Breton man who carried a large shield and a dagger. Vallius laughed to himself at the sight.

After the Breton was an Imperial woman, who had a bow in her hands. Vallius made a mental note of this and continued to inspect his opponents.

Next was an Argonian male who carried a long claymore. Vallius had fought many who favored the claymore and found it rather easy to take them out with the correct footing so he decided not to worry about him.

Finally was a Dark Elf who was empty handed. Lurius leaned over to Vallius, following his eyes and said "their mage" as if reading Vallius' mind. Vallius nodded in return.

After them came a small Khajiit child who carried the weapons the two legionaries had requested.

They eight fighters raised their weapons and waited for the signal to begin. When non came they all looked around in confusion.

"Has the unicorn picked her two weapons yet?" came the voice.

Vallius looked to Twilight. 'do they know no mercy' Vallius thought to himself before rolling his eyes. He knew exactly how ridiculous a question like that sounded.

Much to Vallius' disbelief he found the crowd had become all but silent, awaiting the unicorns response. Twilight looked to Vallius for help.

Vallius knew there was no way he would be able to talk them out of this, these people had paid good money for blood and they weren't leaving until they got it. So instead of arguing he simply yelled out "she will have a dagger and a shield!"

Vallius figured since her magic seemed weakened the smaller weight of the dagger would be easier to maneuver and in any case she can lift the shield up with her mouth to guard her face and subsequently the rest of her.

"Very good!" the voice boomed.

The child brought once again brought the requested items out and then retreated back off the sands. The six gladiators walked over to one side and turned, planning on doing it traditionally. Vallius didn't object to this so him, Twilight, and Lurius all walked to the opposite end. The voice boomed only once more.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Let the fight of the century, begin!"

The Fight of the Century

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Let the fight of the century, begin!"

Vallius sheathed his sword and held his spear at the ready. He had also moved about ten feet ahead of Twilight and Lurius so as not to box them all in together and slit up the six gladiators that now ran at them. Vallius quickly glanced at their weapons and noticed that the champion's blades were the only ones that seemed to be enchanted. But before Vallius could wonder what enchantments they were the Breton reached him.

Vallius used his spear to keep the Breton from getting his dagger withing reach. That strategy quickly failed as an arrow came by and hit Vallius in the shoulder. Vallius stumbled back but stood upright. The Breton moved in and Vallius plunged his spear forward. Striking only the Breton's shield.

As Vallius was pulling his spear back he saw the champion run past him and over to Lurius and Twilight. Vallius silently prayed his friend had the skill to fight the well trained Nord but quickly returned his focus on his fight.

The Breton saw the moment's distraction and raised his shield in the air to cover his head as his dagger went for Vallius' gut. However the dagger was short and Vallius got out of it's reach easily. Vallius kept his spear low and in an upward thrusting motion pierced the body of the Breton.

But before he could pull the spear out a large hammer came by his head, missing only my a few inches. Vallius backed up, letting go of the spear and the Breton fell backwards, the spear sticking strait up in the air out of his torso.

Vallius took a few steps away and took this moment to snap the arrow off leaving the front two inches of the arrow in his chest. He looked at his attackers to find himself facing off against a bald, brawley Orc with an extremely large hammer and a very muscular Argonian who had a very impressive looking claymore in his scaly hands

Vallius also drew his sword and leveled it with the Orc's throat, moving it between the the Orc and Argonian. The two kept moving forward, forcing Vallius to back up. Another arrow came flying by, this time for Lurius. Vallius saw the arrow miss and hit Twilight's shield, bouncing off as Twilight had raised to defend against the incoming spells of the Dark Elf's magic arsenal.

Lurius saw she was having trouble and jumped in front shield raised to block the Dark Elf's lightning bolt. Lurius didn't know why he was risking his life for the unicorns but if Vallius was fighting then he would be at his side.

The Dark Elf smiled as he threw two more bolts of lighting in rapid succession. The first knocked Lurius back a bit and the other made him fall on his back before he could recover from the first. A shimmering blade came down and Lurius rolled out of the way.

Lurius got to his feat and the champion lifted his blade from the dirt and start towards Lurius, ignoring the novice fighter that was Twilight Sparkle. The Dark Elf went right back to keeping Twilight on the defensive.

Twilight didn't know why this pointy eared creature was picking on her but she didn't like it. She certainly didn't have the magical stamina to do much about it though.

Twilight thought to the dagger she had been given but decided against it. She may not be out of shape but ponies like Rainbow Dash or Applejack were far more suited to the kind of physical strength she would have to put forth if she wanted to go through what she was thinking. And considering the risks, she decided the best course of action was to just stay on the defense. Over her shield she saw a the woman with the bow slowly move towards the Dark Elf.

Once there both the Dark Elf and the Imperial starting throwing everything they had at the poor unicorn. Twilight till had enough in her for a few more spells but she didn't know anything that could help directly.

Twilight sat behind her shield, concentrating on figuring out her options. Twilight looked at the dagger to her left. She had already ruled that out but perhaps she could use it in a different way. 'Vallius knows I'm better with my magic, so if he was going to give me a weapon to defend myself why did he pick something so small?' Twilight wondered to herself.

The answer hit her like the arrows and bolts of lighting were hitting her shield. She quickly picked up the dagger in her magical grip, her horn and the blade both now enveloped in an incandescent purple glow. Twilight used her mind to throw it forward with as much force as she could muster. The telepathic grip was a spell twilight was very comfortable around and was able to put enough force behind it that it not only reached her target, but it hit her.

Twilight looked up just in time to see the blade she had thrown find its way into the Imperial woman's throat. The woman struggled and yanked the knife out in her struggle of panic and fear. Only shortening what little time she had left as se drowned in her own blood.

Twilight couldn't stand to watch anymore. Twilight put the shield in her mouth so she wouldn't have to watch. While it was true she had thrown the knife with the intention of harming them just seeing what pain the gladiator was put through and knowing it was all her fault. It was all too much for Twilight to stand.

The only thing that kept Twilight from balling up into a fetal position and crying was that fact that she knew if she did, that would be it. So Twilight hid behind her shield and let a few tears roll down her cheeks as the image of the archer played in her mind again and again.

Lurius now faced the battle hardened Nord. Both looked at each other with determination.

Lurius raised his shield and kept his sword at the ready. The Nord struck first. Though he was not swinging for blood, rather the Nord seemed to be swinging at Lurius' shield. Both swords gave Lurius enough to focus on for with every swing the paths the swords had left in the shield would ignite.

'Fire enchantment' Lurius thought. Lurius kept his shield for as long as he could but it was only a matter of time until the shield was almost completely engulfed by flames. Lurius silently cured the fact that he had been given a wooded shield. It may have been sturdy enough but surely they knew this would happen.

Lurius tossed the burning shield to the ground before it burned his arm and focused on the Nord. The champion had exerted a lot of energy with his barrage at Lurius' defense but even his breath seemed regular. If the Nord had learned to control his breathing then there was no way for Lurius to get a good guess as to how much stamina the Nord had left. And if the Nord was truly not tired after the effort and strength that he seemed to put forth the Lurius didn't know if he could win.

The Nord swung both swords, one after the other, in a downward motion towards Lurius. Lurius swung upward taking out a small chunk of flesh from the champions upper left arm. The Nord swung at Lurius in response.

Lurius smiled, knowing he stood a chance if he could keep making strikes like that. The cut Lurius gave was not deep, not did it take out much but if nothing else it gave Lurius hope that he still stood a chance.

The Nord swung forward with both swords in a wide circle and Lurius stepped back out of reach of the blades. Having been trained by Vallius he knew how to spot an opening for a chance to strike. Lurius rolled up and he thrust his sword forward.

Not feeling the familiar resistance flash gave he looked up to see the Nord had jumped backward a half step, narrowly avoiding Lurius' blade. The champion's arms were crossed and Lurius watched as he brought the two arms together like a pair of scissors.

Vallius was now facing off against two large enemies, each with a large weapon. Vallius held his sword up, waiting to see how the two would fight. The Orc raised his hammer and Vallius turned to face him, as he did so the Argonian began to swing his claymore at Vallius' side.

Vallius saw that while the Argonian was trained in it's use, he was not proficient in it. At least not well enough to give Vallius much trouble.

Vallius stepped out of the way of the Orc's hammer as it came down in the direction of the oncoming claymore then jumped.

Vallius came down on the low swinging blade, knocking it from the hands of the Argonian with his feet. The blade hit the ground and Vallius swung his sword at the Argonian. Vallius made it quick and just aimed for the neck.

The Argonian began to bleed profusely from his jugular vein. Vallius didn't bother to watch and instead turned to the Orc, who already was bringing his hammer down.

Vallius raised his sword in defense as the hammer came crashing down. Vallius fell to one knee upon the clash and he heard a pang of metal. He knew what had happened but still felt it compulsorily to look to be sure.

Vallius looked up to see the sword had been broken near the hilt, shards of steel all around. The crowds cheers grew louder at that. Vallius dropped the now useless blade then got up and backed away.

Vallius was now defenseless and the closest weapon had a brutish Orc blocking the path. Vallius weighed his options and decided he could use what little magic he knew in this situation.

Vallius' hands began to glow and a bolt of lighting shot from one and a second later one shot from the other hand.

The Orc quickly sidestep to avoid the first bolt of lightning but he was a lumbering man and after he sidestepped he saw the second bolt and couldn't get out of the way in time. The Orc was thrown back on his back and Vallius ran to grab the claymore.

By the time Vallius had the sword the Orc was back on his feet. Both ran at each other and gave a mighty thrust of their weapons. Vallius' claymore found it's way between two of the Orc's ribs. The Orc's hammer smashed into Vallius with the force of a bucking stallion. Vallius had more than a few ribs broken by that and he knew it.

Not to be outdone Vallius used all his might to dig the blade deeper as he twist the sword until it was vertical, separating the ribs the sword lay between. The Orc fell to his knees and then to his side. Vallius released the claymore and smiling, looked over to see how Lurius' fight was doing.

Vallius looked just in time to see the Nordic champion behead his long time friend. The broken shell that once was a body now lay on the ground aflame. Seeing his friend's head rolling across the sand caused something in Vallius to snap.

Vallius ran over to the Breton, ignoring the pain in his chest. He picked up the dagger and sheathed it in his belt. Then he grabbed the shield, and drew his spear from the Breton's chest.

Vallius started a dead run towards the remaining two gladiators. The Dark Elf saw this and ran forward and started throwing his magic and the new threat. The champion ran at Vallius as the Dark Elf threw fire and ice at the legionnaire.

Vallius weaved in and out, avoided ever spell that came his way. When the Nord reached him Vallius lifted his shield upward as he lowered his body and stopped in the last second, causing the champion to hit, then roll over Vallius' shield. Vallius kept running towards the Dark Elf.

The Dark Elf kept casting but he wasn't making any contact. Vallius reached the Dark Elf and he thrust his spear into his chest. The spear nearly went completely through. Vallius swung his shield upward, breaking the spear at about a third of the way, leaving a piece inside the Elf. Vallius thrust the broken end of the spear into the Dark Elf, piercing his torso again. Once more Vallius broke the spear and spun it around to stab the Elf once more.

Twilight watched in horror as Vallius brutally killed the Elf. Twilight hadn't known Vallius for long but this was not the Vallius she remembered. It took twilight a moment to figure it out but when she did she backed away, further than she was. 'He's angry' Twilight thought. It was true, whenever Twilight had seen Vallius, however short a time they had together, he seemed to be always smiling.

Now Vallius looked determined. Vallius had been able to find something to smile at even when they lost their friend Ra'Zahmirr. Okay Twilight's friend, she knew that Ra'Zahmirr and Vallius never really hit it off. But Vallius was now angry. No hint of joy, or even a cruel smile. He was just staring at the Nord as the Nord got up.

Vallius waited for the Nord to get up, he didn't want anyone saying it wasn't on even terms when he destroyed him.

Vallius ran at the Nord, no weapon in hand, only a shield. In his rage he forgot about the dagger in his belt. The Nord put one sword behind his head and thrust the other at Vallius' neck. Vallius turned sideways, the blade missing his neck by less than an inch. Vallius swung his shield at the champion's face.

The first shield bump made contact but as Vallius went in to do it again the sword behind the Nord's head was brought forth and hit the shield, stopping it from making contact as well as igniting it. Vallius didn't wait for the shield to burn so he took a few steps back and tossed towards the Nord. The flaming shield flew horizontally at the champion and if it weren't for the duel swords he wouldn't have been able to block it.

Just then a large shadow came over head and a flaming bird flew into the arena. Gasps and yells of  "what is that?" and "By Shor's Beard!" escaped the crowd. One voice Vallius managed to hear over the confusion was Twilight's. He heard her say one word, "Philomena?"

Although she sounded confused Vallius recognized she knew what was going on and decided to take advantage of the opportunity and strike. He reached to unsheathe his sword and found nothing. He looked down and remembered it had broken but also remembered he had the Breton's dagger.

Vallius drew the dagger and ran towards the Nord, who was half watching Vallius and half watching the phoenix. When he saw Vallius running towards him he took a wide stance and raised his two blades, a wicked smile on his lips.

Vallius kept running and when he reached the Nord, Vallius took advantage of his wide stance and sled between the Nord's legs. As he passed beneath the Nord Vallius cut the tendon of his left leg.

When Vallius finished his slide he stood up and turned around to see the Nord had fallen to his knees. Vallius walked up and drove the the full length of the dagger into the top of the Nord's head.

The crowd cheered loud enough to wake the dead as Vallius let the blade go, allowing it to stay in the champions head.

Adrenaline now running out Vallius was finding it harder to stand but managed to stay on his feet despite the pain in his chest.

"People! we have a winner! All hail the Legionnaire! Victors, leave the arena and rest! You've earned it!" the voice suddenly boomed out.

Vallius and Twilight looked around at the screaming masses. The fight was done and they had won. Though they finished Vallius couldn't shake the feeling that this wasn't over.

Letters

Vallius and Twilight stood on the sands of the arena. The whole crowd watching as Philomena flew over to Twilight and hovered next to her. In one claw the phoenix held a scroll. Twilight walked over and retrieved the note, not having the magical, nor the mental energy to even attempt to telepathically grab the scroll.

Twilight unscrolled it and prepared herself to read it out loud, mainly to herself. Vallius was close enough that he would hear but even if the crowd was dead silent they wouldn't have been able to hear. It seemed half the crowd was in awe at the sight of a phoenix and the other half couldn't control their own actions as they jumped about from the fight they had just witnessed.

Twilight began to read the letter.

My dearest, most faithful student, Twilight

I have sent Philomena as a means for us to communicate while you are in Tamriel. Your friends have gone there with a small group of my royal guards in an effort to find you, but since Spike has stayed behind it will be difficult to communicate.

In an effort to resolve this, Philomena here will be delivering messages between the two of us so I know you are safe. If at all possible have Philomena bring a message to your friends if they haven't found you yet. Philomena will be able to spot them out. When you do have them send Philomena to me and a letter from you specifically for me so I know you are alright.

Please respond to this as soon as you can, I fear for your safety and wish you a quick return home.

With much love,

Princess Celestia"

Twilight finished reading then looked to Vallius. Vallius just shrugged and said "my father always signed his letters with 'Still at Large' but that's nice too." Though Vallius' attitude was more to what Twilight had come to expect he still didn't smile.

Vallius was clutching his chest as he looked at Twilight then said "perhaps we should leave before they send out someone else for us to fight, besides I wouldn't object to a doctor right about now."

Twilight lightly nodded in agreement and the two slowly made their way to the doors Twilight had entered from. Though Twilight was happy she finally had some contact with somepony she actually knew she could shake a thought from her mind 'my friends are here, in this dangerous place that changed ponies. Has it already changed me?' As Twilight thought this the scene of her first kill played in her mind. 'First and last' she thought, barely holding back the urge to vomit. Philomena followed the duo into the part of the arena known as the bloodworks.

Once Vallius Twilight and Philomena had entered the bloodworks they were instantly surrounded by gladiators. Non wanting a fight, but rather to simply be in the presence of the great warrior that they had seen fight. Vallius managed to silence them and ask "now how did you all even see the fight?"

"There is a place where we can watch from small windows at the base of the walls around the arena" answered one of the gladiators. "They were added a few years back."

Vallius was about to ask for a doctor when a very well dressed, slightly portly Imperial man walked into the bloodworks from off the street.

"Why hello there legionnaire, you cause quite a stir up there. Would you mind telling me why you decided to interfere with my business?" the well dressed Imperial asked.

"I was saving this one" Vallius said as he gestured towards Twilight with one hand, the other still on his chest.

"I noticed, and were you not informed that this is one of my slaves. I own here, legally, and regardless if she is your friend or not she is mine now" came the large man rather indignantly.

"For what purpose, she can barely kill" Vallius spat.

"Well there are two purposes to keep a slave here legionnaire, one is to kill. Can you guess the other?" asked the chubby Imperial.

Vallius stared at the well dressed man. Somewhere in Vallius' mind he knew this, but he didn't want to admit it.

"What is the price? Surely you will not miss a combatant you are just trying to kill off" Vallius said.

"How much do you think she is worth? Because it's such a rare occurrence to have something like her in here. Tell you what boy, how about we work out a deal" the well dressed Imperial said, a glimmer in his eye and wicked smile on his lips.

"What kind of deal?" Vallius asked.

"Well we need a new champion, and I don't need to be out one slave. How about a trade, you for your friend"

Twilight looked at Vallius, confused as to what he was going to do. She had conflicting feeling on this, on one hoof she didn't want to be in this terrible place one more second but to allow Vallius to remain here didn't seem right or fair.

"Deal" Vallius said after a moment of thought. "On the condition Twilight is taken directly to see the Emperor"

"Consider it done" the imperial said with a large ear to ear grin on his face.

Vallius turned to Twilight "Tell the Emperor everything that you have seen since you've been in Tamriel, Twilight, including what has transpired today. Tell him I sent you and everything is going to be fine."

Twilight stared, aghast at what Vallius was saying; though she couldn't manage speak up.

The arena owner started to speak "Get her and that bird to the Emperor, and you" he pointed at Vallius, "we have some paperwork to fill out. Once all the proper paperwork is filled out then you can see the healer down in the bloodworks."

"You must be Twilight Sparkle" Emperor Titus Mede II said as he walked into the large meeting hall Twilight was told to wait in.

"How do you know my name?" asked Twilight meekly.

"Your friends came through town looking for you" the Emperor told Twilight. At those words Twilight's ears perked up.

"My friends?" she asked.

"Yes, they came by a while ago though. So I have to know, where have you been this whole time?" asked the Emperor.

Twilight then began to recount everything she had been through, starting with that last morning in Equestria. She told him of how she first met a Khajiit who was extremely helpful, who had died helping her. She told him of the funeral they had to honor Ra'Zahmirr. The Emperor simple listened intently, not wanting to interrupt Twilight. Though Philomena slept through her tale, the Emperor seemed to care a great deal.

Twilight told him of the protection Vallius offered, how he was there for her until she had made it to her destination. She told the Emperor of how the rich Khajiit in Riverhold had betrayed Ra'Zahmirr's trust and made her a slave. Only to be transported to the arena and the weeks she spent without seeing the sun.

Finally she told Emperor Mede of the day she had. About how Vallius and his friend had jumped in to save Twilight and one had died. She then told Emperor Mede that Vallius had volunteered to be a gladiator to spare Twilight the fate.

Recounting all the events were tough but somehow, saying them out loud to a listening ear made her feel better.

Seeing that Twilight had finished, Emperor Mede said "don't worry about Vallius Twilight, I can get him free though it might take a few days to go through the processing."

Twilight looked at the Emperor tiredly and said "thank you."

The Emperor smiled at Twilight and said "you are welcome to stay here tonight, the guards will show you to your room." And with that, Emperor Mede walked out of the room.

Once Twilight was in her temporary room she decided to write to Celestia and her friends. She grabbed a quill, some ink, and a blank scroll up off the nightstand and began writing.

Dearest friends,

I have been away from you for so long. I was told you were only a few hours north of where I am so I am having Philomena take this letter to you to make you aware I am currently staying in the Imperial City. There is so much I want to talk about but wouldn't know where to begin to start writing.

Please make your way to this city, I miss you all very much.

Twilight Sparkle

Twilight sighed as she looked at what she had just wrote. It seemed lacking but wit the events of the day rattling inside her brain she couldn't think of anything better and just decided to seal it. 'Now for Celestia's letter' Twilight thought.

Dear Princess Celestia,

I have so much to tell you. Did you know they've never heard of you here?

I've learned so much since I've been here, not all of it is good. To answer your question physically I am fine but right now I just need somepony to talk to. For now they will be my friends but when I see you I wish to speak with you about what I've seen.

I miss you, and I miss Equestria. I am ready to come back but I do not know the way.

Hopefully by the time you are reading this I am already on my way home, dreaming of my own bed. For now it seems I must settle for the bed the Emperor has provided.

As always, your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle

Twilight looked at the second letter, seeming more pleased with this one but still not satisfied. After a long sigh she decided it would have to be enough.

She woke up Philomena and handed her the two sealed scrolls. "This one is for the princess" Twilight said pointing to one of  the scrolls. "And this one is for my friends, I was told they are a little ways North so that should help. If you could deliver them I would be grateful."

Philomena gave what Twilight assumed was a nod and then flew out the window.

Twilight trotted lightly over to the bed in the room and got under the covers. 'Things are finally back on track' she thought to herself. She used her magic to put out the candle then closed her eyes.

When she closed her eyes the vision of the archer on the sand played in her mind again. Twilight's eyes snapped open as she started to cry.

Overactive Imagination

Spike paced back and forth across the Canterlot royal library. He couldn't think of anywhere else to be. Celestia was attending to the days royal duties despite her worry. Luna, as usual, rested during most of the day so she could stay awake during her watch over the night. When they weren't busy Shining Armor and his wife Princess Cadence would keep the young dragon company; though being a captain for the royal guard and a princess they had many matters to attend to.

Spike was alone in the library now, and even with so many ponies who worried for his friends he was still alone. Despite everypony else caring for Twilight's safety just as much as he did, they all had something to keep their minds preoccupied. Spike on the other hand, had spent his time being Twilight's number one assistant and with her gone he didn't have much to do.

Normally Spike would relish the time to relax but all it did now was allow his mind to roam about the possibilities.

Twilight teleported and appeared in Canterlot. She had missed the royal palace by a few blocks but it wasn't too far of a walk. Twilight began to navigate the streets of Canterlot. It was still early morning and the streets were empty. Twilight was glad for the lack of ponies though, it gave some peace to the air.

Then suddenly that peace was broken by twenty ninja ponies falling out of every shadow in site. Twilight's eye's narrowed.

"So I see Poison Mane has sent his league of ninjas, are you sure you want to do this?" Twilight asked.

The ninjas all just stared. Then they ran up and attacked. Twilight incapacitated a few of them but numbers can overwhelm.

Twilight found herself being taken to a strange land she had never heard of, and when the boat finally stopped, the ninjas took Twilight to a large island off the shore of a foreign land mass. The ninja ponies brought Twilight to the head ninja, Poison Mane who, despite his mouth behind a mask, managed to show a smile at their arrival. Twilight glared daggers at the masked ninja.

"What do you want?" Twilight asked.

The head ninja nodded towards a broom. Twilight looked over at the broom and then noticed the condition of the ninjas secret lair. It was a mess. Boxes and dust everywhere, all sorts of crumbs on the floor. Apparently these ninjas were very messy.

"You want me to clean?!" Twilight asked incredulously.

The masked ninja nodded in confirmation. Twilight didn't want to clean for these ninjas but they had bested her in combat once and she knew they could do it again. She moved over to the broom to begin her life as a maid to the league of ninjas.

"I wonder if my friends know how to fight ninjas? Maybe Rainbow Dash knows kung fu?" Spike mussed.

The baby dragon then shook his head to clear it. "If Twilight was being targeted by a league of ninjas then she would have told me" Spike said to himself to ease his mind. All this worrying wasn't going to bring Twilight back any sooner. A voice came from the door before his mind could betray him again.

"Are we interrupting?" asked a familiar voice from the door of the grand library.

"Oh, hi Princess Luna. You're up a bit early, problems sleeping?" asked Spike.

"We have had issues sleeping soundly since we first heard Twilight Sparkle was in the land of Tamriel" Luna told Spike.

"Could you tell me about this land? I mean Princess Celestia said it was dangerous but my brain has been going crazy since I heard Twilight was someplace dangerous" Spike asked.

"We suppose that explains why thou asked if Rainbow Dash knew kung fu. We think" Luna said, very unsure of the strange behavior of the dragon but wrote it off as the worry getting the better of him. "We do not know much but we will tell you what we do know."

"Thank you, but uh, Princess. Most ponies say I now, remember?" Spike told Luna.

Luna blushed a little but was grateful for the correct. She had to remember that times were different and changing her speech pattern was something she had been attempting to fix. Though it wasn't as though she wasn't making progress. She had recently stopped using the Royal Canterlot Voice, a fact that many of the guards were grateful for.

"Oh, sorry. We- I mean I forgot" Luna said with a small smile.

"At any rate the land of Tamriel is inhabited by strange creatures who like violence" Luna said.

There was a moment of silence before Spike finally said "that's it?"

"I said I didn't know as much about it as my sister" Luna told Spike.

Spike sighed in frustration. Luna walked over and put a hoof on his shoulder and said "Celestia has sent Philomena in an attempt to contact them, everything is going to be alright little one."

Spike looked at her and said "I hope so."

Luna picked up the baby dragon and hugged him. "we all do Spike, we all do" Luna said softly.

Shining Armor sat outside the throne room. He had requested an audience with Princess Celestia so he could discuss exactly what kind of danger his sister was in. Shining Armor had been waiting for about two minutes before Celestia called him in. The fact that he was a captain of the royal guard didn't exempt him from the process, but it certainly helped to sped it up.

Shining Armor walked into the throne room and looked to Celestia as he gave her a bow before sitting back.

Celestia spoke first "I think it is fair to assume that you are here to find out more about what Twilight seems to have gotten herself into."

Shining Armor looked at Celestia and didn't bother answering her question, she knew the answer. Instead he simply said "nopony ever told me that grief felt so much like fear."

"You fear for your sister's safety, it is only natural. I too worry for her but there is a search party getting her now. I cannot say what she has been through since she has been there but that is why I sent Philomena" Celestia told Shining Armor.

Having answered most of his questions Shining Armor had one more left unanswered. "Why wasn't I chosen to lead the mission? I volunteered and would have been happy to go."

Celestia sighed before answering his question. "This kind of thing is a very delicate manner. I had you stay simply because I thought if you had gone you would fight anypony who got in your way, which isn't a bad thing if I may add. What I mean to say is that your mind would be clouded and you might do something you'd regret while you were there. Being unable to focus on anything until she is back and that could get the both of you hurt very badly."

"What do you mean? Are the ponies of this land really that unreasonable?" Shining Armor asked, more curious than angry. He knew that when Celestia made decisions they were in the best interest of everypony. If Celestia thought Twilight would be safer with him staying behind then who was he to argue, no matter how much he wished he could have gone.

"Unfortunately yes. The reasons I allowed her friends to go is simply because, as the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, I believe they might be able to Make peace a little easier than and angry older brother just trying to get his sister back" Celestia said with a slight smile at Shining Armor. "And just between you and me, that is the reason I stayed behind as well. If somepony there had hurt her I might do something I would regret. And between the search team and Twilight I'm sure they are getting noticed and measures must be taken to secure relations with this place and fighting wouldn't exactly help."

Shining Armor nodded at Princess Celestia's words. It seemed they were enough to satisfy him, at least for now.

Pinkie's Party

It had been only a day since the inexpiable explosion Pinkie caused but Strillian decided she should be kept away from the alchemy table. Many of the Blades disagreed, thinking if she were to hone her skills she could be quite the formidable foe. Though they obeys Strillian, respecting his judgement. Strillian didn't know where she should go but if they wanted to keep their temple then alchemy wasn't the way to go.

In the mean time Pinkie had been indoors, keeping the Blades who had to fix the hole she made company.

"Wow, that sure is a blam-erific hole up there" said the pink mare said as she bounced around the room.

One of the Blades grit his teeth. Pinkie Pie had offered to help but they had turned her down for fear of having to fix a bigger hole. Though they had been working on the hole for nearly three hours and their patience were wearing thin, non would tell Pinkie to leave them alone, they knew she meant well. That still didn't stop them from being annoyed enough for it to show.

"Are you guys alright?" Pinkie asked, tilting her head to one side. "You guys look tense. OOH! Maybe we should throw a party. A party to celebrate the new part of the roof!" exclaimed the party pony.

"Actually that doesn't sound half bad, a party could be just the thing to help everyone get to know your kind a little better" said one of the Blades.

"That's great!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie. "I remember this one time when we had a party and there was a hole in the roof then. Of course that was because something totally different. It started as a normal day ..." Pinkie Pie continued to talk a mile a minute and the Blades looked at each other worriedly.

"Um, miss, perhaps this isn't a good time for a story" said one of the Blades.

"... and Rarity's cat was on the ceiling fan after that. Didn't come down for days ..."

"Miss!" the Blade said a little louder.

"... then there was that jar of mayonnaise in the wall, nopony ever found it after that, it's probably still there ..."

"Does anyone remember her name?" asked the Blade, his frustration now growing.

"Something about Pie, I think" said another Blade, sounding unsure.

"... so we got a whole cart of cabbage to fight the giant eagle with ..."

"By the Nine, make it stop!" shouted one of the guards.

"I think her name had pink in it! Pink Pie? Pinkie Pie!" yelled out one of the Blades with glee, excited he had remembered her name.

"... and now that mare doesn't see strait ..."

"Pinkie Pie!" shouted a few Blades, not in time whatsoever.

"... then the cupcake imploded, can you believe it? Just fell in on it's self ..."

"Pinkie! Pie!" bellowed one guard at the top of his lungs.

"... then the mayor told me not to come back to Baltimare, something about economic collapse. That mayor is a silly stallion ..."

"Enough!" shouted Strillian as he walked in. "Why is everybody yelling, are you trying to wake the dead?"

"... then he signed Twilight's copy of the Enchiridion, he was super nice an-" Pinkie cut off when she saw Strillian walk in. She bounced over to Strillian. "Hi there Strillian, we were just talking about a part tonight to celebrate the new roof."

"A party?" asked Strillian suspiciously.

"Yup, a party!" Pinkie said excitedly as she pulled out a party blower from seemingly nowhere and gave it a mighty blow.

"Alright then, sounds like fun" Strillian said.

Despite only having a few hours and having to set up everything mostly by herself due to everyone being busy with one thing or another, Pinkie Pie had set up a party at her usual standard. She had managed to decorate the entirety of Sky Ruler Temple. There were balloons floating at the top of the rooms, and in the mane room an assortment of baked goods covered the tables. Pinkie had also had streamers of all sorts of colors going around the entire Temple. Strillian would have asked where she obtained all of the materials, considering they didn't keep frosting, balloons, or streamers in the Temple but decided against it for fear of an answer.

Everyone had finally finished the days activities. Everyone was talking to someone and Pinkie was bouncing between about twelve different conversations, managing to not get any of the conversations even a little mixed up.

"It's amazing how much she can organize in that crazy, mixed up head of hers" said the Blade who had been trying to get Pinkie's attention earlier that day.

Pinkie was bouncing around the room, talking to everyone there and pushing strangers together. "Meet you new best friend!" she would say as she did it. If it were anyone else people might have gotten annoyed, embarrassed, or even just creeped out. But no one could be anything but happy at one of Pinkie's parties. They always tended to bring the everyone out of their shells. Well almost everyone.

Fluttershy was sitting in the corner with Rarity, hiding behind a curtain of hair.

"... and honestly darling I never considered doctor work in my life, it isn't something I exactly like either; there was a reason I didn't go to medical school. Perhaps I can talk to Strillian about this later" Rarity said, more to herself.

"Do you not like it?" Fluttershy asked quietly. She was still smiling but with all the new faces, many of which foreign to her, she couldn't help but feel a little overwhelmed.

"Oh no dear, I actually don't mind it at all. I just wish I could do more with the fashion of this place, I mean everypony is wearing the same thing here. Completely dreadful" said Rarity.

"That's 'cause they are uniforms sugar cube" Applejack said with a smile, a small laugh threatening to break through.

"Well obviously, I'm no fool Applejack. There uniforms are just so, shall I say, tacky" Rarity said, shaking her head.

Applejack started shaking her head to, but at the fashionista before her. "Well did ya'll at least have fun today?"

"Oh, yes. We learned a lot" Fluttershy said, excitement creeping into her whispering words.

"Yes, it was quite enjoyable. What about you Applejack?" Rarity asked.

"We didn't start, we all spent the day listing to proper weapon edicate so we would go hurting somepony by mistake. Though we are starting actual training tomorrow" Applejack said.

"So you didn't have fun?" Rarity asked.

"Now hold on, 'ah didn't say that. Besides 'ah can't see swinging this metal around as fun anyhow. Rainbow sure seemed annoyed at the wait though" Applejack told Rarity and Fluttershy.

"Speaking of Rainbow Dash, where did she get off to?" Fluttershy asked.

"She's over in the other room" Applejack said, pointing her hoof towards a door on the other side of the room. "Some of the Blades said something about mead."

"Mead?" asked Rarity.

suddenly the very large vase holding a potted plant next to them burst open, relieving Pinkie Pie, who yelled "It's a new kind of party drink!"

Applejack was the first to recover from the shock and said "Pinkie Pie, 'am gonna ask you something I swore to myself I would never do. But how in the hay did you get in there?"

"Oh that's easy" Pinkie Pie said as she pointed towards the ground. There was a hole in the floorboards where the pot was. "I was just trying to get over here then I accidentally hit the plant. I heard Rarity ask about mead so I figured it was the perfect time to jump out and explain everything" Pinkie finished with an ear to ear grin.

"Okay then, why where you under the floorboards?" Applejack asked.

"Cause the room was too crowded what with the party and the tables and everything and that was easier, duh" Pinkie said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Fluttershy had fallen to the ground and was still wide eyed but her heart was slowly beginning to return to normal and she was stumbling to her feat.

"A party drink?" asked Rarity, curiosity about the drink rising.

"Sure!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, holding out a serving tray with four mugs on it. Each of the ponies took a mug and Pinkie tossed the tray over her shoulder.

Applejack looked down at the golden drink in her hooves. She brought it up to her nose to smell it. The sent of honey was very strong in the drink and Applejack could tell before it was even halfway to her nose. Deciding to run the risk of drinking distilled honey she gave the drink a large gulp.

When she lowered the drink she saw Pinkie balancing her mug, now empty, on her head. Rarity was still sniffing it before finally pulling it away and asking "is there anything else here, perhaps with less honey?"

One of the Blades overheard this and walked up and gave Rarity a bottle. It was wide and rounded at the bottom and the bottle had a very short neck. The label read "Cyrodiilic Brandy." It looked like quite an expensive bottle so Rarity though she should at least try it, if nothing else out of courtesy. Rarity said "I'll be right back" before walking away to find a glass to drink it with.

Fluttershy was looking at Applejack, waiting to see what she thought of the drink before drinking it herself.

"It ain't bad" Applejack said before taking another drink.

Fluttershy looked down at the golden mixture, sighed, then took a small drink.

New Experiences

The morning light shone through the tree branches and Rainbow Dash started to stir. Rainbow Dash slowly opened her eyes only to swiftly close them and turn her head.

"Why is the sun so bright?" Rainbow asked aloud to no one in particular. She tried to get to her hooves and quickly found herself on her flank. She brought her hooves up to her temples and began to rub them.

Rainbow Dash opened her eyes a little and began to look around in an attempt to get her bearings. It was then she realized she was in the woods. She had noticed it before but it was just now hitting her. Dozens of empty bottles littered the ground, many of which had labels she doesn't remember seeing last night. She couldn't remember how she got there but her panic was subsided when she felt her head throbbing with every thought.

Pinkie Pie was halfway up a tree and there were two of the Blades on the ground. One was face down in some mud by a stream, the other was sitting up against a tree.

Rainbow stumbled her way over to the tree Pinkie Pie was fast asleep in. She started to flap her wings, they moved lazily but she managed to pick herself off the ground.

"Man what is happening today?" Rainbow asked. "And what happened yesterday?"

Rainbow Dash flew up by where Pinkie way in the tree and started to gently nudge her with her hoof. Pinkie groaned and waved a hoof passively before rolling over, apparently oblivious to the fact she was in a tree and fell to the earth. There was a thud but Pinkie did make any sounds. Dash moved as quickly as she could to where Pinkie had fallen.

"Oh my gosh Pinkie, I'm so sorry are you all right?" Dash asked frantically.

A light snore from Pinkie told Dash that she was fine. Rainbow Dash chuckled to herself.

Rainbow looked around, she didn't see any identifiable land marks, just trees in every direction. There was a trail nearby but she didn't know what way to follow the trail so she went to attempt to wake the two hung over Blades that were sleeping nearby.

Rainbow trotted over to the Blade that was face down in the mud and dragged him out and flipped him over. His face was covered in a fine layer of mud. Rainbow kicked his side lightly and the Blade flinched into it. His eyes snapped open, knocking the mud around his eyes away. He opened his mouth to say something but stopped when the mud fell into his open mouth.

Rainbow Dash was smiling at the Blade, holding a hoof in her mouth to stifle her laughter. When the laughter had subsided she put her hoof back on the ground and she realized she was really thirsty. Rainbow clumsily moved towards the stream and began to drink from it. She felt the cold water going down her throat and she began to feel a little better. As she started to drink faster her head began to hurt again and she pulled back.

"What is going on?" Dash asked, holding a hoof to her head.

"A hangover, and I think we are lucky it isn't worse, consider we managed to go about a twenty minute walk from the Temple and completely forget it happened. That is, unless you remember how we got this far out?" the blade with the muddied face said.

"Sorry no" Rainbow said. "But should we get back to the Temple, you sounded like you know where we are."

"Yeah it isn't far but lets wait till those two get up, I don't know about you but I would rather not carry someone on a twenty minute walk ending with a large acceding hill while hungover' the Blade told Dash laying back down, not bothering to wipe his face.

Rainbow Dash walked over to the base of a large tree to wait in the shade, away from the tyranny of the sun light while she waited for Pinkie and the other Blade to wake up.

Strillian was walking around the Temple. It seemed everywhere he looked somebody or somepony was passed out. The few that were outside and had been woken up by the sun simple grumbled and moved inside where they would just go back to sleep.

Strillian was currently contemplating whether he should wake them all or not. He was in charge and they were scheduled to start training hours ago. Though remembering the equines had never had alcohol before then it was probably safe to say they never had a hanger either. Strillian didn't want to make their first hangover any worse by making them do work so he allowed them to sleep in.

Strillian was moving past the sleeping masses on the ground, counting all of them. Strillian began to make his way to the gate when he noticed there were four people unaccounted for. When he was outside again he made his way to the gate guards. Despite the party they had drank little so they could preform their duties and Strillian was glad for their restraint.

"You didn't happen to see two of our men and two ponies leave at some point, did you?" asked Strillian.

"Yes sir, they left about midnight, saying something about needing more booze. Figured they were just going down to Bruma. Since they haven't returned I assume they either got themselves arrested down their or they are sleeping in the streets" the guard told Strillian.

"Well I'll go see, I have a meeting with the Count and will be down there anyway" Strillian told the guard as he began walking towards their stables. Strillian mounted a horse and started moving down towards Bruma.

As Strillian made his way he saw the four slowly making their way up the steep hill. Strillian chuckled to himself as he mentally crossed off one thing on his to do list while in Bruma for the day.

As he passed them he shook his head and smiled slightly as he heard Pinkie say "It was worth it."

A Meeting

Strillian walked through the north gates of the city of Bruma, his horse in the town's stables. Bruma was a large city, not as large as the capital but bigger than most holds. The city of Bruma was built one an incline so the city's layout was unique. For one, there were no alleyways, the buildings were close together. Each street was higher in altitude than the previous due to the natural incline it was built on. Since Strillian had entered through the north gate he didn't have to ascend any of the large cobblestone staircases that could be found throughout the city.

Once inside, Strillian made his way to the castle to speak with the town's Count. He had been coming down once a week to keep up a good relation with the town since most of the food Cloud Ruler Temple received was from the city of Bruma.

Strillian walked past a few city guards who looked at him worriedly but stood aside as they usually do when he comes into the town. 'Well that's a bit unusual' Strillian thought.

As Strillian walked through the large doors he found himself in the familiar hall that the count addressed visitors in. It had a very ceiling, doors to random rooms and hallways could be found on both sides of the long room. There were six pillars that ran the length of the room, they had wide, square bases and arched out at the top to help support the heavy stone above. Yellow banners and lit torches adorned each of the pillars. There were three of these pillars on either side of a long yellow rug that went from the large doors to a throne.

"Count Adrian" Strillian said with a smile and a light bow.

Count Adrian was a kind old man. He was very reasonable and always had the best intentions of the people of his city in mind. Strillian feared the day Count Adrian died, leaving only the nine knows in charge. Count Adrian had greying brown hair. His hair had become more and more grey with each visit but even though his hair showed his age the Count certainly didn't act it. Count Adrian was the sort of man that could act childish with his children but could become very serious when it was needed.

As Strillian rose from his short bow he looked at the Count in an attempt to judge what kind of mood he was in. Count Adrian's face gave no insight though.

"How is the Temple fairing?" asked Count Adrian, his face remaining neutral.

"It's fine, we are currently hosting a few guest to our land but it is nothing to worry about" Strillian told Count Adrian.

"Oh really? Nothing to worry about. Well would like to explain why two of you guest and two Blades came through town at one in the morning? They damn neared woke up the entire town" the Count said calmly, his eyes now closed in frustration.

"I was unaware of this, though I figured they may have stopped in town. I will put stricter rules in place to make sure it doesn't happen again. As for their visit, is there anything I should know about their behavior? I did see them on their way to Cloud Ruler Temple so I know who was involved" Strillian said.

"Well the rainbow one was flying haphazardly, knocking more than a few store signs from their chains before crashed through a window of the church. The pink walked into the local bakery after the baker came out to see what the commotion was about and just started making muffins, without even asking mind. The baker probably would have done something but I can only assume he was too stunned to move at that point. One of your Blades was tossing cheese at a few of the guards and taunting them. The other was just running around and screaming something. My guards couldn't make out what it was but i don't think it matters at this point" the Count was now frowning, staring at Strillian who didn't quite know how to respond.

After a moment Count Adrian finally said "I'm not asking you punished them but perhaps keep them under better watch when they drink, hmm?"

"Of course, and I will be keeping the guest out of the city. And I supposed that's why your guards where giving me strange looks" Strillian replied with a weak smile.

"Oh that's not necessary Strillian. Just keep them under control" Count Adrian said with a light smile.

"So anything noteworthy happen in the past week besides last nights incident?" Strillian asked, glad the conversation was a little lighter and the Count wasn't too upset about what had happened. So why did Count Adrian seem so distant.

"Well actually some rather grave news arrived about an hour ago. No doubt a message meant personally for you is on it's way but it is something, noteworthy, as you put it" the Count said.

"Well?" Strillian asked.

There were a few moments of silence before Count Adrian motioned for his guards to leave the main hall. Once they had done so he let out a long sigh and looked up to Strillian.

"I'm sure you've heard of the Thalmor gaining influence over the southern most reaches of Tamriel. Well now that they have gotten a good foothold on the mainland they sent a letter to Emperor Titus Mede II" Count Adrian began.

"And?" Strillian said, motioning for him to continue.

"And, the letter contained an ultimatum. If Emperor Titus Mede II does not step down as Emperor of Tamriel then we are looking at a war with the Thalmor. The letter that was sent to me simply stated what I have told you and for me to prepare my hold for the worst. Since we are on the precipice of a great war I am ordering my guards to be more prepared for invasions. If what happens last night happens again I can't guarantee their safety." Count Adrian said, ending it with an apologetic smile.

"I completely understand. Though do you really think the Aldmeri Dominion will be able to get all the way up here?" asked Strillian.

"I'm not sure, though I know the Thalmor are not to be underestimated" Count Adrian said. "Now go, no doubt as head of the Blades you will have new orders with this unfortunate change of events. Unfortunately our weekly meeting will probably end with your reassignment. So until we meet again, goodbye old friend." Count Adrian said with a sincere smile as he stood up.

Count Adrian made his way over to Strillian and shook his hand. Strillian gave returned the old man's firm handshake and said "Goodbye for now Adrian." Then Strillian began his short trip back to Cloud Ruler Temple.

The Start of Training

By the time Strillian was back in Cloud Ruler Temple everyone was up and about. Their hangovers were bad but they didn't stop they from completing what needed to be done. Once Strillian walked into the gates one of the gate's guards walked over and handed him a scrolled up piece of parchment. Strillian saw the royal seal and quickly unrolled it and read the hastily written words.

Strillian,

I am going to just cut to the chase here. The Empire has been threatened with war and I need you and your finest diplomats in Imperial City. I know your main function is the guarding of the Emperor but I know the Blades spend time learning as well as training.

I can not be everywhere at once and if I had a few more people to help the masses get used to the idea it would make my job a little easier. Of course my protection is also a key element here. Even now I worry the man I will be handing this letter to is a spy.

As for our guest keep them at Cloud Ruler Temple until they can properly defend themselves. If they are looking for their friend is Elsweyr then they will be in the thick of the action and we don't want them going home horribly maimed. That would scare the others in their society.  And fear breeds hatred. Fear is the greatest enemy of them all, for fear leads us to war. And another war isn't something we need with this one breathing down our necks.

Come see me as soon as possible once inside the city.

Emperor Titus Mede II

When Strillian finished reading it he ordered for everyone in Cloud Ruler Temple to gather around. Once everyone had come he began.

"I'm not going to sugar coat it, we are in serious trouble. War is at hand and Emperor Mede has asked that I and a few others make their way to the Imperial City. You ponies will stay here and train until you can hold your own. It is even more important now with war underway. The ones who will go with me must be willing to speak in public to settle crowds if necessary. While I am away Kolfinna will be in charge" Strillian said.

Kolfinna was a strong, Nord woman. She had long blonde hair that went halfway down her back. She looked up at the news Strillian gave with confusion, but said nothing. She knew what was happening and didn't need clarification. So she simply nodded.

"I leave in one hour, if you wish to go get ready, though know I am only taking a few with me, no more than five. Figure out who is going among yourselves and meet back here. As for the rest of you, I would start training." Strillian told them

With that everybody was on the move, the ponies went to the courtyard and awaited instruction and a fair amount of Blades followed.

After an hour had passed Strillian had left with five other Blades for Imperial City. And, after trying to figure out the best way for a pony to grip the weapons that were designed for man the training was about to begin.

Rainbow Dash stood in front of a Blade who was strong, but scrawny when compared to most of the other Blades. The Blade had just finished explaining how the bow works and a brief history of the weapon. Rainbow Dash was doing her best to stay awake.

"So with that, let us begin" said the Blade, picking up his own bow and looking at the bored Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow's ear's perked up and she said "really?"

The Blade chuckled and responded with "yes really, now hold up your bow."

Rainbow did as the Blade instructed and waited for her next instruction.

"Good, I can't tell if that is a good enough form or not so we will just skip right to the arrow" the Blade told her as he handed her a steel arrow.

"Now what you want to do is get the string of the bow in between the space at the back of the arrow. Once it is one pull back as much as you can, aim, then release. Though you should probably be looking in the general direction you want to shoot in before you draw your arrow." The Blade said with a chuckle.

Rainbow Dash aimed for the target on the other side of the courtyard and released the arrow. The arrow flew past the straw target and towards a Blade who was foolishly walking behind it. The Blade raised his shield quickly and the arrow ricochet off the metallic shield and flew back towards the center of the courtyard. The arrow his Applejack's hat, pinning it to the wooden support beam of the wooden awning.

Applejack stopped swinging her long katana and looked around, seeing her hat pinned to a post. She felt the top of her head and, as expected, didn't find her hat. "Hey! Watch where you shoot that think Rainbow! Aw, look what y'all did to mah hat" Applejack complained.

"I'm sorry Applejack, I was aiming for that target and I don't know what happened" Rainbow Dash said apologetically.

"Ya missed is what happened, it's fine sugar cube just be more careful. You could hurt somepony." Applejack told her friend as she walked over and retrieved her hat. A decent sized hole now in two places on it. "Ah am gonna have to get Rarity to fix this later" she said to herself.

"Don't worry about it Rainbow Dash" said the Blade. "The first time I shot a bow my aim wasn't much better."

"And when that happens you will need to apply pressure to the wound imminently, at that point they can't afford to lose much more blood. Any more questions?" a Blade asked Rarity and Fluttershy. Their training was more of a Q&A due to the lack of injuries in the area.

"Well what happens if the they are bleeding badly but the cut is small?" asked Rarity, she didn't like talking about this kind of stuff and she couldn't see herself doing it. The reason she allowed herself to become interested in such a thing was simply because the knowledge she gets from the Blade might help her and Fluttershy save one of their friends.

"Well then a major artery was cut. Some large cuts will bleed a lot but won't always need attention right away, but when the cut is small and is bleeding a lot then there is an issue. It means they are most likely cut in a place a lot of blood goes though and if the wound isn't taken care of even the smallest of cuts can kill them. Of course it would have to be a deep enough cut that is" the Blade told her.

Rarity continued asking questions and the Blade continued answering. The Blade had never been a teacher and was just now figuring out that a crash course is better than just answering questions. Fluttershy hadn't said anything, mainly because she rarely did but it was also because most of what was being said she already had some sort of understanding due to her work with animals. It wasn't often she needed to bandage up one of the little critters that surrounded her cottage but it was something she was prepared for. Besides, anything she would have asked was asked by Rarity so Fluttershy saw no reason to talk.

The Blade began the crash course of medical science and both mares payed close attention.

"So what am I gonna do?" Pinkie asked one of the Blades.

"I'll tell you the truth Pinkie, you seem to cause enough confusion and destruction without a weapon, I'm not sure you need to be trained. That is I will train you with whatever weapon you want but I don't think it's necessary.

"Oh, can you train me with that" Pinkie said excitedly, pointing a hoof towards a weapon hanging on the wall.

"Really? Are you sure" asked the Blade.

"Yeah, it looks like fun" Pinkie said with a wide, ear to ear grin.

Only a Matter of Time

Strillian and his small squad of Blades made it to Imperial City before nightfall, once there each were assigned a different district to keep calm. Strillian talked at the market district and the other Blades were split up throughout the rest of the districts.

Strillian had been preparing what he would say during their swift trip there and now it seems he was unneeded. The people walked around as if everything was normal. Strillian was about to cry out in frustration when he realized they had probably yet to hear the news. Strillian shook his head, all this talk of war, and so sudden was driving him mad.

It was dusk now, and Strillian was on his way to the Imperial Palace at the center of the city to speak with Emperor Mede. He was making his way though the Market District when he saw a shrouded man running though an alleyway, clutching some long object Strillian couldn't make out. Strillian stood there for a moment, wondering if it was anything he should bother himself with, after all he wasn't a city guard.

Strillian decided to chase the figure down, figuring since he considered this a time of war any suspicious activity in the city. Strillian moved quickly to catch up but was careful and as quite as he could be. He had reached the end of the alleyway but stopped before he turned when he heard talking.

"Do you really think it's safe for us to meet here?" asked the first voice. It was a male, though the voice was raspy, as if coming from an old man.

"It's safe enough, anyone happens by we just kill them. I am starting to draw unwanted attention and with that damned letter the Thalmor sent the city is on high alert. besides I prefer it to those damned sewers that's for sure" responded the second voice. This time the man speaking had a strong, deep voice. Even as they whispered it was clear that this man's voice was strong.

'Where do I know that voice? It's so familiar but I can't place it.' Strillian thought.

"Well our Lord has decided the Thalmor are becoming quite the nuisance. So you are being reassigned, your history with the Thief's Guild should prove useful. Your orders are outlined on this note, once you've memorized them, burn it" the first voice told him.

"A bit unusual isn't it? What will I be doing that my time in the Thief's Guild will be useful?" asked the second voice.

'Wait, I think I know him, it can't be.' Strillian thought, waiting to hear more to verify his suspicion.

"That's not even the start of it, word is you'll be working along side the Dark Brotherhood" said the first voice, surprise showing itself even in the raspy words of the man.

"The Dark Brotherhood? Interesting, I will read these orders and follow them to the letter. Hail Lord Aramoth" came the second man.

"Hail Lord Aramoth" responded the raspy voice. "Oh and Scelian, try not to disappoint, since you are leaving this city you might as well go out in style" the first voice said.

'Scelian? The Captain of Imperial City's Guard Scelian? No this can't be right. Scelian is one of the Emperor's best men.' Strillian began to back out of the alley. Once he was in the street he ran for the Imperial Palace as fast as he legs would carry him.

It was the second official day of training and Applejack and Rainbow were in the courtyard. They were being taught to fight without their weapons in the event they were not able to use them for one reason or another. The Blades who were explaining it to them had Rainbow Dash and Applejack sparring each other for practice after a few hours of explaining different techniques. The idea behind this was since they are both inexperienced fighters and have the same anatomy it would be less of a stretch for the beginners.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack spared as they were told. Each won about half the time. Applejack was strong due to all the apple trees she had bucked growing up, but what Rainbow lacked in strength she made up for in speed. Applejack wasn't slow and Rainbow Dash sure wasn't weak but those were the best things they had going for them.

The two friends had another long, drawn out sparring match that ended up more as a test of endurance than skill, leaving both mares completely exhausted. Both were laying on their backs resting. The sun was starting to set and they hadn't seen their friends all day. They laid there for a moment, allowing their heart rates to return to normal after the extraneous work out.

Applejack was the one to break the silence "What do ya suppose Pinkie has been up to? 'Ah mean she didn't have a weapon or nothin' and we haven't heard an explosion all day so she couldn't have gone back to alchemy."

"I dunno, I'm sure Pinkie has something keeping her occupied right now. It's weird though, being this close to her and having this silence, well almost silence" as Rainbow said this she motioned to three groups two of Canterlot Royal Guards sparing with each other.

"I heard Kolfinna took her a little higher into the mountain for special training. Well not special training more of a, 'I don't wanna fix another hole in the roof so we train out here,' training" said their instructor with a chuckle.

"What is she training with that they think she'll make another hole in your temple?" Rainbow Dash asked as she sat up.

"I have no clue, but I bet if you ask around someone is bound to know" said the Blade.

Rainbow Dash started rubbing her chin in thought but being unable to think of any better idea's she decided asking around was the best option in trying to figure out why they had separated Pinkie Pie. They had finished training for the day and since they had nothing better to do so she stood up and turned to Applejack, who was still laying on her back. "You coming?" she asked, a bit annoyed that the orange mare had yet to get on her hoofs.

"Nope, I figure we can just ask Pinkie when she gets back. What's the rush anyhow?" asked Applejack.

"No rush I guess we can wait. Have anything in mind to pass the time while we wait?" asked Rainbow Dash?

Applejack rolled over onto her hoofs and stood up before saying "why don't we go an' see how Fluttershy's and Rarity's day was went."

"Fine" Rainbow Dash said in defeat. "But the second Pinkie gets back I'm gonna find out what she got, I bet it's some kind of super awesome, amazing one."

Applejack chuckled and said "well we'll just have to wait and see. Now come on Dash, 'ah bet they're waiting for us."

Pinkie's Training

Pinkie Pie bounced along the trail behind Kolfinna. Pinkie couldn't wait to figure out how to use this weapon. Even though when she had asked she wasn't even sure it was a weapon. Kolfinna had agreed to train her in it's proper use if only if they went out into the woods to do it. Pinkie didn't mind though, she was sure it was going to be fun.

The weapon was a metallic staff. An intricate design adorned both ends and a spiral design made its way from one end to the other. At one end was an orb of some sort. The staff broke into three separate strands that moved over the sphere to hold it in place. They strands held onto the sphere in a manner that resembled talons, and the design indicated that it was part of the aesthetic design.

After about thirty minutes of walking Kolfinna said "I think this is far enough. No need to go to far away."

"Awesome, lets go" Pinkie said in her usual chipper, sing song voice.

"Alright, but before we begin you have to realize a few things. First, when you don't have this staff you won't have any real power, the power is in the staff. Second, If this isn't taken seriously then it will be very hard to keep under control" Kolfinna told Pinkie Pie.

At the last part Pinkie pulled out a steel helmet designed for both protection and camouflage out of seemingly nowhere, put it on top of her head and formed her mouth into a line. She moved her hoof quickly to salute Kolfinna.

Kolfinna stared at Pinkie. Pinkie held this pose for a few seconds before falling over into a fit of laughter.

"I mean it, you gotta watch what you're doing Pinkie Pie" Kolfinna scolded.

Pinkie Pie sat back up and looked at Kolfinna with determination. "Alright, let's do this" Pinkie said, raising one hoof in the air.

"That's the spirit. Now here, take the staff" Kolfinna said as she handed it over to Pinkie.

Pinkie took the metallic staff in her hoofs and then raised the staff in a threatening manner towards a nearby bush.

"Okay, now operating a mage staff is easy once you get the hang of it. Basically all you do i-" Kolfinna was cut off as a bolt of lightning shot from the end of staff, setting the bush Pinkie had in her sights aflame. The flame was quickly put out by Kolfinna who used a frost spell to keep it from going out of control.

"That wasn't bad. Not bad at all. But perhaps aiming it at less flammable targets might be a good idea. It wont ignite everything it strikes but the possibility is there. That's why we have to be careful" Kolfinna said.

"Okie Dokie Lokie" Pinkie said in her usual happy demeanor.

"Now, aim the business end towards that big rock over there" Kolfinna aid as she pointed to a very large rock that was embedded in the side of a dirt slope. The rock stuck out of the slope and stood out with it's surroundings. Kolfinna had used this as land marker many times before but never for target practice. Then again, she had never expected to be teaching a talking Pink horse how to use a magic staff.

Pinkie pointed the staff towards the rock and focused again. The resulting bolt of lighting didn't start another fire but did manage to crack the rock. The staff was very powerful and in the wrong hands, dangerous. Kolfinna eyed the pink mare that was bouncing in place, wondering if she truly had the ability to wield such powerful weapon.

Pinkie looked at Kolfinna then stopped bouncing. "Um, Kolfinna, are you okay? You look funny. And not ha ha funny, more of" Pinkie trailed off, getting lost in thought before yelling out "wait." Kolfinna could barely understand a word Pinkie was saying as she talked a mile a minute "Why do they call it funny? Funny isn't bad, funny is good! You don't look funny. Funny brings laughs and this is not a laughing matter" Pinkie Pie slapped one fore hoof into the other.

"Calm down, I'm fine. Now do it again" Kolfinna commanded.

Pinkie Pie kept at the rock for the next couple hours. By the end of the day the rock was missing a few good chunks and had crevice going along much of the rock. Though Pinkie Pie had to stop before she could completely destroy the rock due what Kolfinna described as a "lack of charge."

Pinkie Pie and Kolfinna made their way back to Cloud Ruler Temple. Once they had gotten back Kolfinna had taken the staff and told Pinkie Pie she would bring it back once it was charged. Pinkie only nodded her head vigorously in response before bouncing over to her friends, who were now gathered around a wooden table, drinking again but not nearly as fast nor as much as they did the other night. It was becoming something of a habit, a habit none of them saw any reason to fix.

"Pinkie Pie!" Rainbow Dash half yelled sloppily as she poured a mug of mead for her friend and the rest of her friends said their hellos to the pink mare. "So, hows about you let your friends in on the secret" Rainbow Dash said.

Pinkie Pie picked up the mug Rainbow Dash had given her and drank it all. Not in one gulp as she did the other night, she took her time with this one. Drawing out every second because she knew Rainbow Dash was anxious.

"Come on Pinkie!" Yelled Dash

Pinkie Pie started to laugh then she said "I don't know what you're talking about Dashie."

Rainbow Dash stared at Pinkie Pie, trying to figure out if Pinkie was joking or if she really didn't know what was going on. Knowing Pinkie Pie she figured both were equally likely so she made herself clear. "What weapon were you using out in the woods today?" Rainbow Dash asked curtly.

"Oh that, I was just playing with a magic staff" Pinkie Pie said nonchalantly.

"You can use magic now?"  Fluttershy asked timidly but load enough for Pinkie to hear.

"I guess so, it's weird but it let me shoot lighting" Pinkie Pie said enthusiastically.

A moment passed and Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rarity exchanged worried glances. It was another moment before the relative silence was broken.

"This is going get really weird here soon, isn't it" Rarity asked.

Applejack didn't look away from Pinkie Pie as she answered Rarity's question with a short "eeyup."

Pinkie Pie didn't even notice the exchange as she was preoccupied with the wooden mug as she lifted it high into the air, and finished it's contents.

Reunited

Once Strillian was in the Imperial Palace he made his way right to the Emperor's chambers. Being head of the Blades gave him unlimited access to pretty much anywhere he wanted. Once he was inside put his hand next to the torch by the door and used his magic to light it, then lighting every torch in the room until the entirety of the room was illuminated. Emperor Mede had yet to fallen asleep and simple watched as Strillian got rid of any shadows.

"Are you finished Strillian?" asked the Emperor. "What is this about anyway?"

"It's a bit to early for bed don't you think?" Strillian said nervously.

"I have an address to give early tomorrow morning. You know, the one where I announce the fact we are not at war. So you'd better have a good reason for barging into my private quarters" Emperor Mede said, keeping his voice soft.

"Well actual sir, there is something I wanted to talk about" Strillian confessed.

"Well I would hope you had a reason for coming here. Now, tell me what it is that's bothering you my boy" Emperor Mede told Strillian.

"I overheard your guard captain, Captain Scelian, talking with someone I did not recognize" Strillian began.

"Well I'm glad you barged in to tell me that. Goodnight Strillian" Emperor Mede said, waving for Strillian to leave.

"Well there is more to it than that sire, I'm sure you knew that. May I continue?" Strillian asked.

"Very well Strillian" Emperor Mede said.

Strillian then began to recount what had happened, remembering word for word everything that was said. Once Strillian had finished saying what he came to say he sat in silence. Emperor Mede allowed the information to sink in before speaking.

"Are you sure that is the name you heard?" Emperor Mede asked.

"Yes sire, and the voice matched it as well" Strillian answered.

"Well then we have an issue, an issue I will deal with in the morning. In the meantime stay here in the castle, we can't be sure they didn't see you and are waiting for you somewhere" Emperor Mede said.

Strillian gave a short bow and said "Thank you sire" before exiting Emperor Mede's private quarters, putting out all the torches on his way out.

Emperor Mede sighed, then he laid his head on his pillow stayed awake for the next hour in complete silence.

The training in Cloud Ruler Temple had slowly become more and more intense with each passing day. The five friends had taken a day off and spent it together. It was dark now and they were in the courtyard drinking when a large, fiery object came flying in their general direction. They were about to run when they realized it wasn't an attack.

"Is that ..." Applejack trailed off, in awe at the majestic sight.

"Philomena" Fluttershy said, completing what Applejack had not.

Philomena landed next to Rainbow Dash, who was still in shock at such an unexpected sight. Certainly Philomena was the furthest thing from her mind right now, and yet, here she was.

"What is that in her talons?" asked Rarity.

Rainbow Dash took the letter and unrolled it. She looked over it quickly and said "It's a letter from Twilight."

"Well don't be stingy, what does it say" Applejack said, trying to look around to see the letter.

"Not much" Rainbow Dash said before starting to read it aloud.

"Dearest friends,

I have been away from you for so long. I was told you were only a few hours north of where I am so I am having Philomena take this letter to you to make you aware I am currently staying in the Imperial City. There is so much I want to talk about but wouldn't know where to begin to start writing.

Please make your way to this city, I miss you all very much.

Twilight Sparkle"

There was a moment of silence that Pinkie Pie broke almost instantly.

"Well that's only a few hours away, lets go" Pinkie said happily.

"Now hold on Pinkie Pie, maybe we should wait till morning" Applejack said.

"I just can't believe I learned all the medical stuff for nothing" Rarity muttered.

"Well we still need a way home so it might not have been for nothing" Rainbow Dash told her.

"Can't we just leave now and surprise her when she wakes up?" Pinkie Pie asked Applejack.

"We can just put it to a vote, all in favor of waiting till morning once we've all rested raise yer hoofs" Applejack said, raising her hoof. Rarity raised her hoof too but she was the only one.

"Well that settles it" Pinkie Pie said excitedly. "Everypony grab your stuff we are going to see Twilight!"

Applejack sighed "Ah reckon fair is fair, come on Rarity lets get ready."

Twilight had barely gotten any sleep at all. The same scene replaying in her memory like a broken record. By the time Twilight had gotten to sleep it was only about two hours until sunrise.

Twilight's eyes slowly began to open when she was awoken by the sound of birds chirping. When Twilight's eyes had fully opened and she looked around she didn't see the familiar castle room she was in last night. Now all she were two, big blue eyes.

Twilight cried out in a mixture of confusion and fear and fell off the bed. When she popped her head back up on the other side she was greeted with a sight she was starting to worry she'd never see again, her friends.

Since Twilight was still frozen in shock at the unexpected sight. She did send a letter to them last night but for them to be here already. It was light she was dreaming. Twilight was tackled to ground in a mighty embrace administered by hug master Pinkie Pie. The rest of her friends followed suit and they were having one big group hug.

"I've missed you all, so much" Twilight said, a tear rolling down her cheek.

"Come on egghead, did you really think we wouldn't go out looking for you? Now stop crying you're gonna bum me out" Rainbow Dash said playfully.

"I love all of you" Twilight said, allowing herself to feel the warm comfort of having her five closet friends around her for the first time in what feels like an eternity.

Inside the Palace

It was almost dawn. Celestia and Luna were sitting atop one of Canterlot's many tower balconies talking when a familiar sight came into view. Luna noticed it first.

"Sister, what it that?" Luna asked, pointing a hoof off in the distance.

"I think that may be Philomena" Celestia said as the figure grew closer.

After a few moments Philomena had gotten close enough for both princesses to be sure it was her.

"Does this mean what we think it means?" Luna asked

"I hope so Luna" Celestia responded as Philomena landed on Celestia's shoulder.

Tied to Philomena's right leg were two scrolls. Celestia used her magic to take one scroll and then unroll it.

Celestia cleared her throat and began to read.

"Dear Princess Celestia,

We received a letter from Twilight telling us where she is. Turns out she is not far from us so we are heading to meet her now. We should only be a few hours until we see her again.

You should also know that the airship was lost, along with a few members of the crew during the crash. When we see Twilight again we will try to figure out how to get back but we might need help from you to get back home to Equestria.

Sincerely Applejack"

As Celestia finished she looked to Luna with both worry and comfort in her eyes.

"Sister, are you alright. You seem confused" Luna observed.

"On one hoof I am happy that Twilight's has been found by the search team. On the other hoof a few of my guards are gone and they have no way of getting back" Celestia said, hanging her had at the last part.

"If only they mentioned where they were, we could have just gone there and gotten them" Luna said.

Celestia sighed before grabbing the second scroll in her magical grip and unrolling it.

Once again Celestia cleared her throat and read aloud.

"Dear Princess Celestia,

I have so much to tell you. Did you know they've never heard of you here?

I've learned so much since I've been here, not all of it is good. To answer your question physically I am fine but right now I just need somepony to talk to. For now they will be my friends but when I see you I wish to speak with you about what I've seen.

I miss you, and I miss Equestria. I am ready to come back but I do not know the way.

Hopefully by the time you are reading this I am already on my way home, dreaming of my own bed. For now it seems I must settle for the bed the Emperor has provided.

As always, your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle"

"Well at least she is fine" Luna said, trying to look at the bright side of things.

"Luna, if you would, could you go and get Shining Armor and Spike? They deserve to hear of this." Celestia asked Luna, still looking down but smiling now. Her star pupil was safe.

"Of course, dear sister" Luna said as she began to walk away.

Emperor Titus Mede II had just finished giving his speech and was now on his way to attempt to deal with his guard Captain. Though he had yet to be found before Emperor Mede gave his speech he was hoping that the possible traitor was found soon. 'Possible traitor? Surely his absence now was a statement of where he stood' Emperor Mede thought.

Emperor Mede was about to walk out the large doors of the Imperial Palace when Strillian walked in front of him.

"Stand aside Strillian" Emperor Mede demanded.

"That was quite the speech sire, truly inspiring" Strillian said with a weak smile.

"Is there something you want to tell me?" asked Emperor Mede.

"It's not safe sire, not with the traitor still loose. And only the nine know how many in this city are spies. I'm afraid I must ask you to remain here until we can guarantee your safety beyond the confines of the White Gold tower" Strillian said.

"And if I choose to ignore your warning Strillian?" Emperor Mede asked cautiously, he wasn't sure who he could trust anymore.

"I will not stop you, you are the Emperor and can do as you please but I will insist on accompanying you everywhere you go. If that's fine with you" Strillian told Emperor Mede.

"You said they hadn't found Scelian yet?" Emperor Mede asked, ignoring Strillian's question.

"No sir, not a hair. But search teams are checking every inch of the city. If he is still here, we'll find him" Strillian said confidently.

"Well then I suppose there is no reason for me to leave right this second" Emperor Mede said.

"Thank you" Strillian said quietly.

Emperor Mede didn't usually leave the Palace so he decided to trust his body guard's words and continue the day as he would any other. He turned without saying a word and started walking for the tower where his guest was staying.

He had gotten to the door that lead to the room Twilight was staying in. Emperor Mede was about to open it when he heard voices coming from inside. He stopped to listen. When he identified about four different voices, one of them Twilight's, and none of them seemed to be saying anything threatening he opened the door.

When he did he found six ponies staring at him. Emperor Mede looked at Twilight and asked "I wasn't aware you had guests, care to tell me how they got in without me knowing? Especially since the city has been on high alert since sunset yesterday" Emperor Mede asked, raising an eyebrow as he stared onward at Twilight.

Twilight looked back and said "I don't know how they did it. I just woke up and they were here."

"Well we'll have to have proper introductions later, right now I want to know if you know where I might find Vallius, I have a few new orders for him" Emperor Mede said.

"He stopped by earlier, he said hi to my friends and then said something about Cloud Ruler Temple" Twilight told the Emperor. "That was only about twenty minutes ago so if you hurry you'd probably catch him."

"Thanks" Emperor Mede said gruffly as he walked out the door, closing it behind him. As he started to walk away he heard one of them say "well that was rather rude." Emperor Mede chuckled a little and kept moving.

Strange New Orders

Emperor Mede made his way to the room Vallius was staying in. When he arrived the door was ajar and Emperor Mede let himself in ans closed it behind him. Once inside he saw Vallius straitening out the room and a traveling bag in the corner.

"Going somewhere?" asked Emperor Mede.

"To Cloud Ruler Temple, Twilight's friends mentioned others of her kind there, I figure they'll be safe enough here so I'm going to help around the old place. I just don't like waiting around for something to happen" Vallius told the Emperor, not bothering to stop his cleaning.

"I'm actually glad you said that Vallius" Emperor Mede said.

"Oh? And may I ask why that is?" Vallius asked, stopping and turning to face the Emperor.

"You are one of my best scouts, and I have a special mission for you" Emperor Mede said.

"What kind of special mission are we talking about here sir?" Vallius asked skeptically, keeping his eyes on the Emperor.

"The kind we can't talk about again, the kind that's off the books. Interested?" asked Emperor Mede.

"Go on, I find myself ... enthralled by the thought" Vallius said, choosing his words carefully.

Emperor Mede chuckled before continuing "as you know we have officially declared war. Well I don't think the Thalmor will be the only threat here. From what intelligence has gathered the Dark Brotherhood has been working very close with someone by the name of Lord Aramoth. I also hear you have had more than your fair share of run ins with the Dark Brotherhood as of late."

Vallius nodded in response, allowing Emperor Mede to continue.

"Well we have also received a letter since you started staying in the castle. Here' Emperor Mede handed Vallius a faded yellow envelope. On the front was his name written in neatly in black ink.

Vallius eyed it suspiciously before opening it and looking inside. In the strange envelope there was only a single piece of yellow parchment that was folded three times into a long rectangle. Vallius opened the letter and on it was a black hand print and beneath it were the words "we know" written in the same neat hand writing and black ink.

"Do you know what it means Vallius?" asked Emperor Mede.

"The black hand print was on the cloaks of the Dark Brotherhood" Vallius said flatly.

"My sources tell me this is sent to people the Dark Brotherhood wishes to recruit. The black hand print supposedly represents the five elite members of the Brotherhood that serve directly over who they call, the night mother' Emperor Mede told him.

"Why are you telling me this?" Vallius asked.

"Isn't it obvious Vallius?" Emperor Mede asked.

Vallius stared blankly at the Emperor.

Emperor Mede sighed before saying "I wan't you to join the Dark Brotherhood Vallius. I want you to rise through their ranks and earn their trust. Find out as much as you can about our enemies and this 'Lord Aramoth.' Whomever they may be I don't want to take any chances, not with the Thalmor breathing down our necks."

"What you're telling me to do is-" Vallius began before being cut off by Emperor Mede.

"Is what Vallius? Crazy, ludicrous, unreasonable? These things are true but we are presented with a unique opportunity here Vallius, surely you see it."

"Do you really think it's the right thing to do?" Vallius asked.

"Yes, and remember I need you to do whatever it takes to earn their trust. They are already going to be weary due to the fact that you work so close to me. I will tell you this, whatever you do when under cover you will get a full pardon from once this war is over. I promise you that Vallius" Emperor Mede reassured him.

Vallius chuckled. "And how do I contact them?" Vallius asked.

"Go into the market district and stay at an inn. They'll find you. I'm told that's how they operate. All you have to do is fall asleep somewhere accessible, and in the Imperial Palace isn't exactly accessible, now is it" Emperor Mede said with a smile.

Vallius and Emperor Mede sat in silence for a moment while Vallius thought over the information he was just given. The Emperor gave him time to think, allowing as much time as he needed.

"I'll do it" Vallius finally said.

"Fantastic" Emperor Mede said. "Oh, and one more thing Vallius. Since this is off the books you are likely to be marked a deserter or a traitor. If you are caught I won't be able to help you, I will deny giving orders like this."

"Of course, I completely understand the risks sire and will do what I must to keep the Empire safe" Vallius said with confidence and force behind his voice, even though these unorthodox orders had him worried. He hoped they would not see though his ruse before he can get the information he wanted.

Vallius brought his bag to the Market District and rented a room at The Merchants Inn as instructed. Vallius had thrown his bag into the small room and walked to the bar. He ordered two mugs of Nordic Mead as soon as he got there. He downed the first one almost immediately but took his time with the second mug.

"Rough day?" asked the bartender.

Vallius laughed a little and said "You have no idea. This whole day has been crazy."

Vallius started to look around. there were many people in this inn and any one of them could be the assassin that was looking for him.

Vallius stayed at the bar late into the night. He drank five mugs of mead in all, he always could hold his liquor well. It was late and everyone else had either gone up to a room on the second floor or had left. Vallius decided it was time to go to sleep and stumbled his way up the stairs.

Once Vallius had gotten up the stairs he made his way to the room he was permitted to use and collapsed onto the bed in it, and allowed himself to fall asleep.

Welcome to the Family

"Wake up" came a mysterious voice.

Vallius stirred for a moment before opening his eyes and looking around. Everything was silent outside so Vallius assumed it was still night. He turned to who had made that sound. It was a large Nord.

The Nord's hair was a dirty blonde that came down to his shoulders. It was parted in the middle, showing the gruff face of the Nord. Vallius recognized that face as the Nord from the hospital that took the Khajiit woman back in Elsweyr.

Before Vallius could ask anything the Nord began to speak "My name is Torrvar. Do you know what I am Vallius? Who I work with?"

"No" Vallius said coolly. "But I remember you, you busted your Khajiit friend out of that hospital."

"Have you not heard of the Dark Brotherhood? Of the remorseless guild of paid assassins and homicidal cutthroats? Join us and you'll find the Dark Brotherhood all that and so much more. We are more than anything a union of like minded individuals" the Nord told Vallius. "And she is a bit sore about loosing an ear but is willing to let bygones be bygones. So long as you do something for us" he added with a laugh.

"And what I am getting for doing this favor for you?" Vallius asked.

"We happen to have a position in our organization open that we are looking to fill. You are welcome to join us so long as you prove your loyalty Vallius" Torrvar said.

"What would you have me do?" Vallius asked.

"it's so nice to see you cooperate Vallius. What we need you to do is simple. A man named Lord Aramoth has been giving us a lot of contracts lately. He is very rich and has very refined tastes. What Lord Aramoth wants is the armor and unique style sword of a Blade. He also wants it to have been worn by an actual Blade" Torrvar said.

"He wants me to kill a blade?" Vallius asked.

"No, he wants you to kill a Blade and take his stuff. Sword and Armor, don't forget. Oh, and lucky you there are five in the city. What a relief you wont have to fight that Strillian fellow. I hear he is quite the swordsman" Torrvar told Vallius.

"Anything else?" Vallius asked grimly.

"Actually, yes. Kill him with this" as Torrvar said this he pulled out a black dagger. Its shape was similar to that of an iron dagger but was pitch black. It had a complicated design on the hilt and the higher parts of the blade, embedded in the ebony and made of what appeared to be gold.

Vallius took the blade and Torrvar said "good. Now the rest is up to you. Once you have done as I have asked bring the armor set and sword to the waterfront district. There is an old looked house with boarded up windows. Go around back, the second window from the left is unlocked. Enter through there and put the items in the basement then come back here. I will contact you again once everything has been cleared. Do you understand Vallius?" Torrvar asked once he had finished giving instructions to the Imperial.

Vallius nodded his head silently.

Torrvar chuckled and stood up. "I'll be watching Vallius. Do not fail us."

After he said that he walked out the door and was gone, leaving Vallius alone with the dagger. Vallius decided to wait until morning and went back to sleep. He was going to have to be well rested to do what he had to later that day.

After Vallius had woken up he paid the inn keeper for another night and began to walk around the city. He made his way to the Arboretum. 'The Arboretum will be good. If I'm there a long time people will just assume i'm praying. There are also lots of bushes, and people are hardly there. And when they are they are too distracted in prayer so if i'm quite enough' Vallius stopped his thought's in it's tracks. He didn't like thinking in that manner about one of his allies but it had to be done. Vallius walked the rest of the way in silence.

The Arboretum is, as the name implies, the park of the Imperial City. There are statues of the Nine Divines, including a statue of Tiber Septim in the center. To the southwest is a statue of Akatosh, which depicts a man holding an hourglass who has a dragon's head poking out of his back.

Once Vallius had entered the Arboretum he quickly spotted the Blade he was planning to kill. The Blade was giving some sort of public speech Vallius had no interest in hearing. so he made his way over to the statue of Tiber Septim and he knelt before it.

Vallius stayed in front of the statue for hours. Both meditating and praying for what he was about to do. By the time he heard the Blade stop talking the sun had already set. Vallius stood up and looked around. The crowd the Blade had gathered early were all but gone now and the few that remained made their way to their homes.

After a few minutes the Blade and Vallius were the only ones in the Arboretum. The night watch will surely come by during their rounds soon Vallius thought. It's now or never.

Vallius approached the Blade. The Blade eyed Vallius suspiciously but allowed his guard to drop slightly when he noticed the man approaching wore the uniform of a high ranking legionnaire. "Is there something you wanted to tell me?" asked the Blade.

Vallius was now within three feet of his target. Vallius focused before saying "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

Once he said the words a confused look crossed the face of the Blade. A look that was turned immediately to one of shock and pain as Vallius dug the dagger between a gap in the armor at the stomach. Vallius put his hand over the Blades mouth as he did so to prevent any screams. After a minute or two the Blade bled out.

Vallius shook his head to clear it.

Vallius quickly took the armor and sword from the corpse and put the body in a nearby bush before taking off into the night. Vallius reached the waterfront district and found the house Torrvar had mentioned.

Vallius went around back and climbed in through the open window. He moved to the basement, when he went in the only thing in the room was a wooden table so Vallius put the armor and sword on the table and left  the building. Vallius slowly made his way back to The Merchants Inn.

'Well there is no going back now Vallius thought.

When Vallius had gotten back to the inn it was late so he went strait to the bedroom and went to sleep. Only to be woken up by Torrvar later that same night.

"Not bad, and you didn't have to flee the city, that's a plus" Torrvar told Vallius.

"Yeah, well you know" Vallius said, not knowing what he meant by that.

"Err, right" Torrvar said hesitantly. "At any rate you have proven yourself so I will tell you the location of our sanctuary. It is in Cheydinhal. Once inside the city you will find it just east of the Great Chapel of Arkay and under the Abandoned House in Cheydinhal. Here use this key to open the front door and go into the basement" Torrvar said as he handed Vallius a key.

Vallius took the key and examined it. It was just an ordinary key. 'Well this isn't something I expected' Vallius thought.

Despite Vallius examining the key Torrvar continued. "Once you get to the basement you well see a narrow passageway dug into the east end of the wall. at the end will be a large black door. When you approach it, it will ask you, what is the color of night? To which you will answer, sanguine, my brother. Do you understand?"

Vallius nodded, handing the dagger back to Torrvar.

"Keep it" Torrvar said as he stood up and started making his way towards the door and stopping in the door frame. "Oh, and Vallius."

Vallius looked up, confused 'what else does he want from me' he thought.

Torrvar smiled wryly and said "welcome to the family."

Revelations

"Oh my, that sounds just awful Twilight" Fluttershy said, concern heavy in her gentle voice.

Twilight Sparkle had just told her friends about the time she spent in what the Arena called the 'Bloodworks.' Twilight sighed before continuing.

"That isn't what has me so upset" Twilight said, looking at her friends. Her friends stared back at her in commencements, they didn't think it could get much worse. "It's true that place was scary but that wasn't all of it" Twilight began.

"They threw me into a large circular pit with a layer of sand on it. They wanted me to fight. To, kill" Twilight shuddered at the last word.

Her friends exchanged concerned glances and Twilight continued. "I was scared, I probably wouldn't have gotten out if Vallius didn't jump in from out of nowhere."

"Now hold on a sec" said Applejack. "Ain't Vallius that guy who sold you to those cat people?"

"Well yes he did, but he didn't know. Only three people have even tried to help me and two of them are dead" Twilight said, hanging her head.

"One was that Ra'Zahmirr fellow that had promised to do everything he could to get you home, one is this Vallius man, but who was the third?" asked Rarity.

"I don't know his name, but he jumped into the Arena with Vallius" Twilight told her. "When they came to my rescue the demanded the fight be fairer so they send out more fighters. I was given a shield and a dagger. I was behind my shield for most of it so I really could see what was going on" Twilight told them.

None of her friends had anything to say, so they remained quite and allowed Twilight to continue. "There was this archer. She kept shooting arrows at me, I couldn't do anything any I was getting weaker. If I had waited any longer I wouldn't have been able to hold my shield up and that would have been it."

"What happened?" asked a very concerned Rainbow Dash.

"I took the dagger and flung it at her with my magic. I didn't expect to do much damage, if any at all. But when I turned the shield so I could get a look ... "Twilight trailed off, she looked away but didn't close her eyes for fear of the haunting image of the archer in the sand would return.

Before any of her friends could say anything to comfort her there was a knock at the door.

Twilight sighed and Rainbow Dash opened the door. Before the door was even fully open Rainbow Dash gave a curt "what do you want?"

When the door opened an Imperial guard stood there for a second, his brain making sense of what he was seeing. He was told the guest were unique but this was ridiculous.

"Well?" Rainbow Dash said impatiently.

"Oh, I'm sorry miss. The Blade leader Strillian has called an emergency meeting and you are all in a position where you are permitted to be there" said the guard. "At your earliest convenience please gather in the Council chambers. Everyone will be awaiting your arrival." After saying his peace the guard left.

Twilight was still looking down.

"Ya know we don't have to go if you don't want to Twi, we can just miss it" Applejack suggested.

"No, he said they were waiting for us, might as well see what's going on" Twilight said weakly, giving her friends a smile.

Even though they all knew the smile was fake they decided to go along with it and started to make their way to the Council chambers where they were taking during their first time in the city.

Once they had entered the large room each of the six ponies took a seat at the large round table. At the table sat Strillian, four other Blades, and the Emperor.

"Um, where's Vallius?" asked Twilight.

"That's actually why i asked for the meeting" answered Strillian.

"What do you mean?" asked Twilight.

"Well I came to this city with a small squad of five Blades. Now I only have four" Strillian began.

"Oh my, how awful, what happened?" asked Rarity.

"Well, simply put, we have reason to believe he was killed in the Arboretum, with a dagger, by Vallius" Strillian said evenly.

"Why would you even suggest such a thing? Vallius has been nothing but helpful since I've met him. He is more comment to the Empire than anything else, why would he even do it?" Twilight demanded.

"There is a beggar who claims to have been attempting to sleep in one of the bushes saw the whole thing. And this beggar is absolutely certain it was Vallius" said Strillian flatly.

"Where is Vallius? He should have a chance to defend himself from these claims" Twilight said.

"Well now that is the question. Where is Vallius? I asked around and none of the guards have seen him for the last few days. I checked his room and he packed up and left. This, coupled with the witness' testimony makes it pretty clear in my mind what happened" when Strillian said this he almost spoke at Twilight rather than to her. He was becoming impatient with the unicorn in denial.

"I don't believe you. Vallius is a good guy, he would sooner die than kill someone on his side" Twilight said indignantly. Despite her words her faith was shaken. 'How could you Vallius. Was it really an accident I was sold into slavery? Was Ra'Zahmirr the only one who was genuinely trying to help me? Twilight thought to herself.

"You are right. From what I'm told Vallius is a very loyal man. But what if he was never loyal to the Legion to begin with? Further investigations will start and, until there is no doubt in my mind who killed one of my men then the investigations will continue. But the odds aren't looking too good for Vallius. I'm sorry" Strillian said.

"Emperor Mede, what do you think of all this. I mean Vallius was like your right hand man, the one you personally assigned missions to right? If he was really against the Empire wouldn't he have just attacked you when you two were alone?" asked one of the Blades.

Emperor Mede sighed and said "I don't know. I just don't know anymore." He then ran his fingers through his hair and thought 'I really messed up here, didn't I?'

A New Home

Emperor Mede sat in the Elder Council chambers for yet another time this week. Emperor Mede didn't mind sitting in on the meetings but each one brought depressing news. Last time he was informed that the city of Bravil is besieged, and the time before that was when he was told of the fall of the city of Leyawiin. It was clear the Aldmeri Dominion were making their way towards the Imperial City. It was only a matter of time before the were at the city walls.

The last member of the council had arrived and the meeting was about to begin. The table was full of representatives from all around the city and the fact that they were all asked to join made them nervous.

"As you all may have guessed the Thalmor have been steadily moving their army up towards the Imperial City. Well they are at our doors now. I fear the will attempt to siege the city" spoke Strillian, confirming the fears of the group.

"How long do you think we have?" asked a the voice of a woman. Emperor Mede recognized this woman as one of the guild masters of the city, though he couldn't remember which one.

"The Thalmor are moving their naval forces up the Niben River. We can expect them to reach Lake Rumare within the week" Strillian said.

Lake Rumare is a large lake completely surrounding the island of the Imperial City, if the Thalmor got their naval forced to this lake they would be trapped.

"What kind of ships do we have in our ports currently? Since I can't see any reinforcements coming up through the Niben River any time soon I need to know what we have to work with" Emperor Mede said.

"We have a few ships that are battle capable sir, but at best they can hold off the attacks. They won't last the full force of the ships that are on the move" said one of the sailors at the table.

"Get the ships battle ready by the end of the day" Emperor Mede told the sailor.

"Yes sir" said the sailor with a salute.

"Good, any news on our missing guard captain Scelian?" asked Emperor Mede.

"No sir, and Vallius is still missing as well" Strillian said.

Emperor Mede shook his head slightly.

"Don't worry sir, we will find the two traitors and bring them to justice" Strillian reassured the Emperor.

"I know" said the Emperor quietly. "I know."

Vallius had spent the entire day walking to the town of Cheydinhal that was to the North East of the Imperial City. Once Vallius had entered the city he made his way to the Abandon house as he was instructed to.

Vallius opened the abandoned house with the key he was given by Torrvar. The inside of the abandoned house looked exactly how Vallius had imagined it to look. The only thing inside the main room as a dusty old table that Vallius suspected would collapse if a sword was dropped down on it a little too hard. There were cobwebs everywhere. There were stairs to the right that went up and stairs that went down to the left.

"That Nord said it was in the basement" Vallius said to himself as he started walking down the stairs.

At the bottom of the stairs was a small room. Much like the first room the basement was covered in cobwebs. In one corner however the stone wall was broken. Several pieces of concrete littered the floor around the hole. The hole was barely wide enough for a person to fit through but Vallius managed.

On the other side was in a short dirt tunnel. At the end of this tunnel was a large, heavy looking, iron door. There was a large metallic ring in lieu of a traditional door knob. The door seemed to glow a deep red. On the door were carvings. The top half of the door was dominated by a very large carving of the top of a skull. In the forehead of the skull was a circle, in the circle was a hand print, which seemed to be the source of the ominous red light.

Below the large skull was a carving of four skeletons that seemed to be revering what Vallius could only describe as a zombie, which seemed to be holding a small person and a dagger.

Before Vallius could try to knock on the door a disembodied voice spoke to Vallius.

"What, is the color of night?" asked a raspy voice that seemed to emit from the door.

"uh ... " Vallius stammered. He quickly regained he composure and responded to the door "sanguine, my brother."

"Welcome home" the raspy voice said as the door slowly opened by itself. Vallius felt chilled run up his spine as he walked into the dimly lit room and the door slowly closed behind him.

"And so it begins" Vallius muttered to himself.

"Ah, our newest addition. Welcome to your new home Vallius" came the voice of a female Vallius recognized.

Vallius looked around and quickly found the source of the voice. A Khajiit woman whose head appeared lopsided due to a missing ear.

"You looked shocked to see me Vallius, did you forget I was a member of the Dark Brotherhood?" asked the Khajiit woman.

"No, I didn't forget" Vallius said. "Who are you anyway?"

"My name is Shotherra, and before you say anything. I accept your apology" said Shotherra.

"Oh, right" Vallius said awkwardly. "I'm terribly sorry."

"Think nothing of it Vallius. It is actually the reason I wanted you in the Brotherhood Vallius. Your skills with a blade are phenomenal and, with the right guidance, can help lead us to greatness" Shotherra said.

"Don't you think you might be setting the bar a little too high Shotherra?" asked Vallius.

"Only time will tell Vallius. But for now let's get you properly introduced to the rest of the Dark Brotherhood. You've already met the head of our sanctuary, Torrvar" Shotherra said.

"Ah yes, the Nord" Vallius said.

"Yes, the Nord. And I'm sure he has something for you" Shotherra told Vallius.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go" Vallius said with a smile.

The Clarion's Call

It had been a few days since the meeting Twilight's friends had attempted to speak with her about what was bothering her but whenever Twilight was about to say what had happened with the knife she would always go quite. They weren't stupid and it didn't take a genius to figure out what had happened but they didn't want to push Twilight so they told her they would listen when she was ready to talk about it.

The Emperor's mind was on the Thalmor's naval forces that moved towards the city and on Vallius, whom he had not had any contact with. It was to be expected. Vallius was to only contact him once everything was safe, and then only though notes in predetermined drop boxes. But Emperor Mede couldn't shake a feeling of worry.

Besides that, Vallius had killed a Blade and was labeled a traitor and at this point Emperor Mede wasn't sure he could give a full pardon to Vallius. Even though Vallius had been acting under orders from the Emperor himself. The fact that his plan had blown up in his face, and immanently at that,  did not help to settle his mind.

"Emperor Mede" came Strillian, interrupting the Emperor's thoughts.

"Yes, what is it Strillian?" asked Emperor Mede.

"Scouts say that the Thalmor are on the move again. They reportedly left Bravil and are making their way north. If the reports are accurate, and I do believe they are, then we must prepare our ships for naval combat" Strillian told the Emperor with much urgency in his voice.

"Prepare the ships Strillian. And I want you and your Blades on them" Emperor Mede told Strillian.

"But sire, we have to remain at your side in case they break through the city walls. We have to protect you" Strillian told the Emperor.

"You are the most competent fighters I have and if you and your men can bored the ships we might have a chance" said Emperor Mede.

"Very well sir. Anything else?" asked Strillian.

"How are the ponies, was their training successful?" asked Emperor Mede.

"The reports I read after my arrival in this city say so, but you aren't thinking about putting them in the fight are you? I thought we were just training them to defend themselves" Strillian asked.

"I am not thinking about making them fight, and that is why you were training them. I only ask because they may need to fight today, regardless of where they are" said Emperor Mede.

"That is an excellent point, what should we do with them, should they just remain in their designated room during the fighting?" asked Strillian.

"Why not let them decided for themselves Strillian" Emperor Mede suggested.

"Very well sir, I'll go find them now" Strillian said before turning and walking away from the Emperor.

The six ponies were in the room that was previously reserved for only Twilight that, after a few changes to the furnishing, had been made to accommodate the six of them. Twilight had asked Pinkie how the staff she had brought worked out of curiosity and was feverishly writing down anything of note about the strange magical weapon.

"Is it limited to just the lightning strikes? That is, can it do anything else?" asked Twilight after she had Pinkie Pie explain how she operates it. Pinkie Pie wasn't very good at explaining things but Twilight had gotten the gist of what Pinkie was trying to say, a skill she had acquired during her time in Ponyville.

"No, all it does is lightning" Pinkie said with a smile.

"I suppose it's still pretty cool, even if it is limited. I mean how much use is there for a lighting spell on a day to day basis?" Twilight asked aloud to no pony in particular.

Before any of them could respond there was a knock on the door.

"I wonder what they want this time" Rainbow Dash said flatly.

"Oh don't be like that dear, I'm sure what they have to say is important" Rarity told Rainbow Dash.

Another few more knocks came from the door and Applejack said "ya might as well come in"

The door opened and Strillian walked through the door frame, closing the door behind him. The six mares stared at Strillian, who was still silent.

"Well?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"The fight has finally made it's way to Imperial City. We don't know what will happen but we have reason to believe they are attempting to siege. My Blades and I will be out in the fight and the Emperor has told me to come and ask you where you felt more comfortable" Strillian said.

"What do you mean, comfortable?" asked Twilight skeptically.

"Well the emperor has granted you access to anywhere you might want to be when the fighting breaks out. And I do mean anywhere" Strillian stressed that point. "I have received reports from my subordinates and the reports indicate some of you would be more that capable during a fight."

"Are you asking us to fight with you Strillian?" asked Applejack, uncertainty in her voice.

"Only if you want to, I will not force you to fight and no one will think less of you if you choose not to. The Emperor just thought you'd like to make the choice yourselves" Strillian told them.

"I'll do it!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed immediately. Everyone in the room turned to stare at Rainbow Dash, who apparently didn't need or want any time to think about her answer carefully.

"Rainbow Dash, are you sure?" asked Strillian.

"Since we've been here the Empire has not only protected us but has trained us to protect ourselves. And they even taught some stuff about this place to the others while they let me nap in peace. They are clearly the good guys and if they are the good guys what does that make the ones who are invading, the Talemer or whatever they're called" Rainbow said.

"Thalmor, Rainbow, they are called the Thalmor" Strillian said. "Anyone else?"

"Ah reckon ah can't just let Rainbow go an' do somethin' stupid so I will be there, for her sake" Applejack said, wanting to make it clear she wasn't in it for the fight.

"Well Fluttershy and I aren't fighters but I will help in whatever way I can" Rarity said. Then she turned to her friends and said "If something happens to one of you I want to be sure that I do everything in my power to help."

Fluttershy just nodded her head in agreement with Rarity's statement. Fluttershy would do whatever she could do to help. So while she would probably never be entirely comfortable with hurting others herself she was prepared to help anypony that got hurt.

"Pinkie Pie? Twilight Sparkle?" asked Strillian, gesturing towards the two mares who had yet to answer her question.

Twilight looked up and asked "will Vallius be with them? I need to confront him about ... everything."

"It's possible, I believe he defected but we can't know for sure who he fights for now" Strillian told Twilight solemnly. Though Strillian had never met Vallius he had heard that he was very well trusted by the Emperor himself and supposedly had selflessly attempted to help Twilight. Though after hearing everything that happened and, in light of recent events, Strillian thought he had planned to sell Twilight from the start, and perhaps Ra'Zahmirr's death was planned.

But this was just speculation, speculation Strillian couldn't afford to pay any mind to at this moment.

Twilight sat in thought for a moment, thinking about the pros and cons of each decision she could make. When she had made up her mind she turned to Strillian and said with confidence and determination "if there is a chance that Vallius is there then I want to be there too."

"Maybe after the fight we can have a super awesome fun siege party" Pinkie Pie suggested loudly. "Hey Strillian, what's a siege?"

The Calm Before the Storm

Rarity and Fluttershy were on their way to where the Emperor was staying. Though they were not trained to fight as well as the others they still had some training with a sword while in Cloud Ruler Temple. The Emperor had asked they stay with the him because it was probably the most guarded part within the confides of the city walls since most of the town's defenses were currently on their way to the docks. Besides if Emperor Mede figured they were less likely to be spies attempting to harm him.

The plan was to have Rarity and Fluttershy stay with the Emperor until after the fight then have them go and treat their friends if necessary. The Emperor tried to make the point of having them help out the entire medical division but Strillian talked him into changing his mind by telling Emperor Mede how unlikely it was they knew anything of human anatomy.

When Fluttershy and Rarity walked through a heavy steal door in the basement of the Imperial Palace one of the legionnaires closed the door behind them and brought a thick bar of metal to block the door. The room was fairly large and was very well lit and had several doors and hallways leading off in different directions but the other doors were made of wood, not steel. All along the top of the walls were small, one inch, holes every couple of feet.

There were four legionnaires in the series of rooms that Rarity and Fluttershy and they were all in formation. Two were by the door despite the the heavy steel door that was locked in place with the stone door frame. There was two walking up and down different hallways.

Before the duo could start to look around in the other rooms a fifth legionnaire walked up from one of the hallways and said "The Emperor wishes to speak with you two."

Rarity and Fluttershy walked down the hallway behind the legionnaire to what appeared to be a makeshift throne room.

"Hello, and welcome to the official Imperial City panic room, Emperor edition" Emperor Mede exclaimed.

"This is certainly much more lovely than I anticipated a castle basement to be" Rarity said politely.

"Yes it is very pretty but there is much more to it than that" Emperor Mede said as he got up from his makeshift throne.

"Oh?" asked Fluttershy, though she hadn't been saying much she was just as curious about the design as Rarity was.

"Why yes, I'm sure you noticed the holes in the walls? They actually serve some purpose. the holes actually branch out into a series of tubes running out and allowing fresh air to blow though this place. So fresh air isn't something we would have to worry about" claimed Emperor Mede proudly.

"Well that is rather ingenious though, couldn't you have made the holes a little less ... unsightly? I mean it looks like somepony just knocked holes into the wall, albeit rather uniform holes but unpleasant none the less" Rarity observed.

Emperor Mede chuckled and said "I don't know how they do things where you are from but here, usefulness outweighs the aesthetics. This place isn't used very often and civilians aren't really every in here, you two being an exception. So beautifying it would just be a waste of Septims. Septims we could be using for the city" the Emperor told them.

"That makes sense, I suppose" Rarity said as she looked towards one of the holes.

Emperor Mede laughed again and said "well I hope it doesn't bother you too much."

Rarity smiled at Emperor Mede and said "well if we are lucky we wont have to be in here for long."

Emperor Mede looked towards Rarity and said "well that or we are just very unlucky. So lets pray to the nine in hope it is the first."

Strillian, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Twilight Sparkle were making their way to the Waterfront District to board one of the ships in port. Strillian didn't know what was going to happen but he wasn't sure the four mares walking along side him were going to be extremely useful in a fight. Despite the training Strillian made sure three of the four ponies beside him received he was quite sure none of them had taken a life. He could only hope they wouldn't freak out and distract the legionnaires who were fighting.

The small group had made it to the Waterfront District in great time. Despite the lack of guards regulating the streets everyone seemed to be in their own respective homes. The city had an eerie feeling to it, like a calm before a storm.

When they reached the Waterfront District Strillian turned to them and said "pick a ship and get on it, they are all going to the same place so it doesn't matter which one. Just make sure you let the captain of that specific ship you will be fighting under their command. I need to find my men now so I'll see you four later." And with that, Strillian walked away.

There was an awkward moment of silence. Everypony knew how dangerous this was going to be but they felt they had to do it regardless of the possible peril. The Empire couldn't help them with the Thalmor breathing down their necks and right now the Empire was their best chance of getting home.

Rainbow Dash, trying to get rid of the silence, turned her head to the strap and adjusted her quiver, causing the arrows within to rattle noisily. Everypony looked at Rainbow Dash expectantly. Applejack said "you got something to say sugar cube?"

"We should pick a boat" Rainbow said without looking away from the strap, still adjusting her quiver.

"How about that one?" Pinkie Pie asked excitedly.

"Why not, it's as good as any" Applejack said.

The four cantered up to the boat, not wanting to waste any time. When they got on the deck they were met with a legionnaire waiting by the entrance.

"Hello there, what is your division?" asked the legionnaire without looking up from his clipboard.

"Our what?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"You know your squadron, it helps us organize who is where so we can do a head count after the fight easier."

"We aren't legionnaires, so we don't have a squadron" Twilight told the legionnaire.

The legionnaire began to look up from his clipboard and  said "then you have to go, civilians must sta-" The legionnaire stopped mid sentence when he saw the four mares.

"The Emperor said it was okay, and Strillian said we could pick whatever boat we wanted and we picked this one because there weren't as many people and you guys looked lonely and that made me sad so we are here to cheer you up" Pinkie Pie said in one breath.

There was a moment of both shock and awe on the legionnaires face. Pinkie Pie's ability to speak so much in one exhale was truly a, for lack of a better word, unique talent. Then the legionnaire noticed the weapons they carried. Pinkie Pie had a staff, Rainbow Dash with her bow, Twilight had been given two light weight daggers by a few legionnaires who had likely saw Twilight's first kill. But it was on Applejack that the legionnaire found his eyes resting.

"Is that an Akaviri Katana? The kind the Blades use?" asked the legionnaire with awe in his voice.

"Ah guess so, they gave it to me when they were training me. Ah didn't know it had a name" Applejack said with a shrug.

"You were trained by the Blades?!" exclaimed the legionnaire. "That's a terrific weapon, it has the same reach of a long sword but is significantly lighter. It gives it a better damage to weight ratio and it's the small things like that, which make all the difference in a combat situation."

Applejack looked at the long Katana and thought 'is this blade really that special?'

"So we can stay then?" asked Twilight.

"Of course, though you will be expected to help in the preparation" the legionnaire told her.

"Naturally" Twilight said.

"Alright, first I need two of you to move those boxes below deck by the canons, they are full of ammunition and are extremely heavy so you'll have to be careful and work together" the Legionnaire said.

"Me and Twilight can do it" said Applejack. She knew she was pretty strong and Twilight could use her magic, plus this would give her a chance to talk with Twilight.

"Alright, off you go then" said the legionnaire, motioning towards the half dozen crates on the deck.

"Alright" Twilight said as she started moving towards the boxes with Applejack. but before Twilight got halfway there she turned around and asked "what was your name again?"

"I'm called Carmalo" the legionnaire told her.

"Carmalo, alright I'll remember that. Thanks" Twilight said as she turned and continued to walk with Applejack.

Carmalo looked at Rainbow Dash's wings and said "well if you can fly you can help make sure all the sails are properly tied down. It'd be easier than having one of us climb the mast and make our way over."

"On it" Rainbow said with a quick salute before zooming up towards the top of the mast.

"And then there was one" Carmalo said. "Alright it looks like we still need to load the canons with the first shot. Can you load the all the canons below the deck for us. That would save us a lot of time."

"Okie, Dokie, Lokie" Pinkie Pie said with a smile, her tongue hanging out the side of her mouth.

We Will Survive

Once Strillian and his four men were properly armed they walked down to the docks. Strillian looked around to find none of the ships have left the docks. All the ships were still in port but the docks were almost empty save for a few legionnaires moving final boxes and one legionnaire with a clipboard at the beginning of the docks. Strillian approached the man with the clipboard who seemed to be distracted.

"Something troubling you friend?" Strillian asked. He had come up to ask which ships were to be in the thick of the fight but the trouble on the legionnaire's face was enough for Strillian to ask.

"No reason to trouble you with them Blade" the legionnaire told Strillian.

Strillian stared at the Legionnaire. Upon a closer look Strillian noticed that the legionnaire seemed to be sweating, which was odd considering it was yet to be noon and the air was still crisp.

"Anything that pertains to the fight at hand it reason enough for me to bother my self with, now spit it out legionnaire" Strillian said sternly.

"It's just worry sir. I mean half the people on these ships haven't held a sword before a few days ago and now they stand against the might of the Thalmor forces. Leyawiin and Bravil already fell, what chance do we have if we aren't even using our walls? We are outnumbered ten to one and most of our men aren't nearly at the standards. I just don't know how we are going to win" the Blade told Strillian with a look of fear.

"Well yes, all of that is true. But we have something that the Thalmor doesn't" Strillian said.

"What? Those ponies? Please, even you can't expect them to be enough. Even if they could fight competently, six well trained surprises wouldn't be enough" said the Legionnaire.

"Well first off, I saw to the training of those ponies myself. There is no doubt in my mind they could fair well in a fight. But that is not what I was talking about. Something else that the Thalmor doesn't have" Strillian told the legionnaire.

"Please don't say it's strong hearts or something like that. All hearts bleed, strong or not"

"Well no, something a little more than honeyed words" Strillian said with a little smile.

"Then what? The only thing we have that they don't is inexperienced soldiers" the legionnaire looked worried despite hostile tone his voice was taking on.

"First off, calm down. Second, if you shut up for five seconds I'll tell you" Strillian said, fanning his opened hands up and down to motion the legionnaire to steady his nerve. "What we have is the element of surprise. They won't be expecting use to leave the safety of the walls."

"We shouldn't be leaving the walls. Sure we have men inside but we have a lot out here. At best most of the men here are fodder. It'll take a lot more than surprise to stop them."

"Yes but you don't know Pinkie Pie" Strillian said, walking up to the legionnaire and patting a hand on his shoulder. "She is very powerful. She even destroyed a good part of our temple and even now we have no clue how it happened. They will be shocked by the offensive attack, shocked at the ponies, then shocked a third time at the destructive power of the Pink one."

"I don't know how you can have so much faith in this plan but if a Blade can have faith in this pitiful army then who am I to disregard it so easily?" said the legionnaire. Though Strillian noted a less than hopeful tone in his voice.

"Anyway the reason I originally approached you was to find out which of this lovely vessels will be closest to the fight. I want to be able to jump onto their boat" Strillian told the legionnaire.

"That one their, I assume all of you will be on that one" said the legionnaire as he wrote something that Strillian could not read on the clipboard.

"You have my gratitude" Strillian told the legionnaire before motioning for his four men to follow and said "Alright the rest of you come on."

When Strillian got on the ship he noticed the sailors were sitting around rather than moving about like the rest of the ships.

One of the sailors, a Breton, noticed Strillian and stood up and saluted him. A gesture Strillian returned before saying "Blade Commander Strillian requesting permission to come aboard."

The Breton sailor blinked at Strillian for a moment before saying "uh, by all means come aboard sir."

"You look confused? Not expecting the Blades to be here today?" Strillian asked.

"Well there's that. I did expect you to be with the Emperor but what took me off guard is your knowledge of the proper way to ask permission to enter a ship."

"I was once a sailor before I was recruited by the Blades" Strillian said as he walked over and took a seat next to the sailor he was talking to. The rest of the Blades walked around the ship to find someone they could chat with or to be alone with their thoughts as the person varied.

"What is your name stranger? I just introduced myself it is only fitting you return the kindness" Strillian said with a slight smile.

"I am called Theodane, although I am afraid I own no fancy title like yours, Commander of the Blades. You must be a hell of a fighter" said Theodane.

"One could say that, yes. Though I am not one for boasting" said Strillian.

"You can boast all you'd like so long as you can back up the claim with your sword I will not stop you" said Theodane.

"Theodane, I'm old enough to know that no matter how good you are at something. No matter how much you train and you train, there will always be someone better than you. Now, you may never meet this person in your life but there are too many people in the world for one person to claim to be better than the rest. Leave that kind of decision to the gods" Strillian said with a smile.

"Well we are gonna need all the help the gods have because right now the Thalmor are calling themselves the best. If only Vallius were here" said Theodane.

"You knew Vallius? There are men searching for him, you know this right? For the murder of a Blade and for treason against the Empire" Strillian asked.

"Yes, and I don't believe a word of it. Vallius was many things but a traitor was not one of them. Everything that he has every done in all the time I've known him has been for the Emperor. If he truly killed a Blade then I'm sure he had his reasons, and I don't think treachery was the motivation."

"You honestly believe that. Can you really justify the murder of a Blade. A man who has dedicated his life for the Emperor and the Empire?" asked Strillian.

"No, that is a ridiculous thing to think. Yet if you had known Vallius you'd think the same of him being a traitor. He might as well have been a Blade. He handles a sword like no one I've ever seen and follows all orders to the letter. What would posses him to do such a thing is beyond me" Theodane said.

Strillian shrugged "who knows. Besides if it is his skills with a sword you wish from him perhaps I can serve as help. I'm pretty handy with a Blade myself" Strillian said, trying to change the topic, perhaps inciting anger in the man he had just met who was to fight beside him in the fight. Where the fighting would be the thickest and confusion was bound to ensue isn't a great idea.

"Prove your worth and then we'll talk. I might envy Vallius' skills with a sword but I'm no stumbling fool with one myself. Twenty  Septims says I can kill more Thalmor than you" Theodane said with a smile. War wasn't enjoyable to him but making a game of it always made it easier for him to take in.

"Deal" Strillian said, shaking Theodane's hand.

Just then the ship they were on jumped forward, causing everyone on board to stumble to keep their footing. before anyone could ask a voice called out from the higher platform where the steering wheel sat.

"Everyone, steady your nerves. We'll need souls of thunder and hearts of steel if we want to return home. But if we do we'll be heroes, so I forbid any of you to die like idiots."

That last part cause a few chuckles from the Sailors before they got to grabbing their weapons and double checking their armor.

Strillian looked around as he slowly stood up and drew his sword and said "and so begins the siege party."

The Siege Party Begins

The boat Strillian and his men were on made its way to the southern end of lake Rumare. The ride took only a few minutes but the anticipation made it feel like hours. Strillian was on his feet next to a Breton by the name of Theodane. Strillian was nervous for the coming battle but felt confident. If nothing else in the ability to keep the Thalmor out of the city, at least long enough for the Emperor to escape if needed.

It had been nearly two hundred years since an Emperor attempted to flee the city and then the Emperor was killed, and that was with Blades protecting him. Strillian drew his long, narrow sword and was on his feet. He was prepared for however many forces came up the river and steadied himself.

All together there were only five ships the Empire had at their disposal.They were circled around the water opening connecting Nibenay and Lake Rumare. Three were spread out covering the entrance and the other two ships filled the spaces between the three ships but were further back from where the large portion of the fighting would be.

Strillian was on the ship front and center to Nibenay and had a great view as the Thalmor armada made it's way to the small defense the Empire had put together. Strillian steadied himself and was prepared to jump across, knowing the Thalmor favored magic he had expected them to get close.

Strillian was readying himself for the leap when he noticed the large Thalmor ship leading the armada. It was twice the size of any ship the Empire had and didn't seem to be showing any signs of slowing. Strillian looked around and shared nervous glances with the rest of the crew.

Theodane looked over at Strillian and asked "Do you think they can even see us?"

"I'm sure they can see us, someone would have said something I'm sure. But I don't know why they aren't stopping" Strillian said, scratching the side of his head with his free hand.

"Well they aren't stopping" Theodane said.

The large ship had already covered half the distance between Nibenay and the ship Strillian was on and was still moving forward at the same speed. The ship was made with a thick looking wood and had a gold lining around the ship. Strillian scoffed, 'even on war ships they find a way to waste money' he thought to himself.

The ship was coming up on the boat fast and many of the sailors were moving towards the edge of the ship, many not even bothering with life boats. Those that jumped of swam to another ship but every single Blade stayed on the ship. Theodane stayed with Strillian and his men.

"Any reason we aren't getting out of the way" Theodane asked nervously as the shadow of the Thalmor's ship started to fall on their ship.

"Easy" Strillian said as he made his way towards the front of the ship where the Thalmor ship would be hitting first. "We are going to climb up on when these two ships start to collide."

"You're insane!" Theodane yelled as he quickly followed the Blades towards the front of the ship.

"Who's the bigger fool? The fool or the one who follows the fool?" Strillian asked. "Besides I don't want to get wet, that water is cold." Strillian gave Theodane a quick smile before the force of the impact hit.

Theodane, Strillian, and his four Blades all jumped onto the side of the ship. Strillian and Theodane made the jump first, getting a fine grasp on the side of the ship. Two more Blades were right behind them and they found themselves safely on the side next to Strillian and Theodane.

The other two, however, didn't even get the chance to jump. The wooden planks of the ship's deck fell out beneath them before they got the chance and they fell into the water. The other Blades looked on worriedly, waiting for the other two to come above water. Strillian shook his head and yelled out to them over the sound of snapping wood.

"It's too late for them, we can hope they made it but waiting here and trying to spot them in the wreck will only waste time and energy. Come on lets get topside."

One of the Blades nodded his head and they followed behind Strillian and Theodane as they made their way up the side of the ship.

Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie all watched as the massive ship moved strait through the empirical ship like it was nothing. They were looking at the front of the ship, they were next in it's path towards the Imperial City. But before they could even start for the edge of the ship the massive boat stopped, right where their ship had been.

"What are they planning on doing?" asked Twilight.

There was a moment of eerie silence that fell on the entire lake. No one on either side, Thalmor or Empire, were making a sound. There were no cheers from the Thalmor or screams from the Empire. The only movement was of the ripples of water a few more smaller Thalmor ships moving up to the larger ship created.

Carmalo, the Imperial who had assigned her and her three friends spoke first, breaking the silence. "I think they want us to fight back." His voice was barely above a whisper when he spoke.

"Why would they want that. If they can just go right though us why taunt us?" Rainbow Dash asked Carmalo.

Carmalo looked away from the wreck and towards Rainbow Dash. "Because they know we can't stop them."

"Now is that any way to talk? Ah reckon them acting all high and mighty will help us win" Applejack said with confidence.

"Yeah, their arrogance will be their downfall" Twilight said with enthusiasm.

"Hey, some of the people from the wreck are coming aboard! Someone get some towels or a blanket so they can warm up, those waters are cold!" Yelled one of the sailors to the rest of the crew. Two sailors ran off below decks as two people climbed aboard.

"Those are Blades" Carmalo said as he ran over to them.

The two sailors came up from below decks and handed each a thick blanket. The Blades took them and started to dry themselves as they sat on a few nearby crates.

"Where are the rest of the Blades? Where is Strillian?" asked Twilight.

Neither Blade answered, instead one of the Blades pointed towards the front of the ship. It was then that Twilight noticed four figures moving up the side of the boat.

Carmalo looked at the figures and said "They are going to need a distraction. They'll have enough issue fighting on top of that ship they don't need the extra headache of trying to stay on with the Thalmor actively trying to knock them down."

One of the sailors turned and said "then lets give them one."

The sailor then moved to the steering wheel of the ship and the ship started to move towards one of the smaller ships.

Coping

The boat carrying Twilight and three of her friends sped towards one of the smaller ships around the Thalmor's large behemoth of a vessel. Though the ships were smaller they were just as big as the Empire's ships so ramming into them was out of the question.

As they moved across the water the other three ships got the message and moved to do the same.

The sailor controlling the ship moved it towards the gap between the Thalmor's massive ship and one of the smaller ones. The area between the two Thalmor ships was very small. It was just enough for their ship to get between but it caused scratching along side of the ship. The two decks of the Thalmor's smaller ship and the Empire's ship were right next to each other. The decks of the ships were level. For a moment the Thalmor and the Empire's sailors looked at each other. Then a spell from a Thalmor agent signified the start of the the fight.

The first spell was a fireball. It flew by, narrowly missing Twilight Sparkle's head, and instead finding it's place at the base of the center mast of the boat.

Twilight blinked in shock for a moment before Rainbow Dash yelled out "is that the best you got?"

The sailors ran over at the Thalmor. They quickly jumped over the side railing and onto the Thalmor's ship. The canons below deck wouldn't do much beyond damaging their own ships from the close proximity but this didn't stop Pinkie Pie from dragging a few canons up from below deck.

Twilight's horn lit up. She had been so shaken up at what happened in the Arena but her talk with Applejack below deck when they were moving the canon balls below deck had convinced her that, even if it felt wrong, if she wanted to see home, spike, her brother, Princess Celestia or anypony she loved again she had to do what she had to do. She could feel bad about it later but allowing her to mentally beat herself up over something that saved her life will only cause unnecessary grief. Though Twilight was determined to seek a mental counselor when she was back in Equestria. She knew the images of what happened at the Arena would haunt her dreams for a long time to come and she only hoped it would get much worse with this battle.

Twilight's horn sent a bolt of ice flying. It was thin, and somewhat sharp. The icicle flew through the air and hit the hand of a Blade. It wasn't moving fast enough to sink into skin but the sudden shock was enough for the Blade to drop his sword. The Thalmor in front of him raised his sword at the now defenseless Blade and brought it down.

However before the sword found it's mark an arrow flew past Twilight and hit the Thalmor agent in the arm. The arrow hit the wrist and sunk its self up into the forearm of the Thalmor. The Thalmor agent dropped his sword and the Blade picked up his and thrust it into the chest of the Thalmor.

Twilight turned around to see where the arrow had came from and saw Rainbow Dash with a smile on her face, holding her bow.

"Yes, I didn't miss my first shot" said the rainbow maned pegasus.

"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight exclaimed.

"Yes Twilight?" asked Dash, both confused and a little startled.

"Don't you feel even little guilty?" Twilight asked, the bewilderment still on her face.

"Why would I feel guilty Twilight? That sailor killed that dude, not me" Rainbow Dash said with a smirk.

"No. It doesn't work that way Rainbow Dash, that guy is dead because of you."

"And if I didn't do anything one of the good guys would be dead, seriously Twilight what did you think would happen when we got here?" asked Rainbow Dash.

Twilight looked around, remembering the fighting going on. She knew Rainbow Dash was right, and who was she to question how Rainbow coped with the situation. She focused another spell, this time a force of sheer magical energy and sent a Thalmor agent who had been casting magic at the sailors into the waters below.

Rainbow Dash kept firing arrows, keeping support on the sailors.

Applejack had moved onto the Thalmor ship and began to fight. She was inexperienced but had been taught well. She had yet to make a single wound on the Thalmor she found herself fighting but the Thalmor had yet to draw blood either. An arrow from Rainbow's bow into the left leg of the Thalmor caused him to lean down in pain and Applejack turned around and bucked the Thalmor in the teeth.

The Thalmor fell to the ground, bleeding profusely from his mouth. Applejack continued to fight like this. She would use her sword but when she had an opening she used her hoofs, using techniques she was taught when sparing with Rainbow Dash. She couldn't bring herself to make the final strike. She would make cuts here and there but she couldn't make the final cut.

With the Blade's help and Rainbow and Twilight keeping cover the fight was over quickly. They had lost about half the crew but there were no longer any living Thalmor on the ship.

"Say, where did Pinkie Pie get off to?" asked Applejack.

The three mares eyes widened and they began to look around frantically.

"There she is!" exclaimed Rainbow Dash.

Pinkie Pie was walking up the side of the large ship carrying four large canons, completely oblivious to the fighting that took place below.

Rainbow Dash flew up to Pinkie Pie and said "aren't those things heavy?"

Pinkie Pie giggled and said "of course not silly, they are just canons."

"yeah but the stuff that goes in them was really heavy by themselves" Rainbow Dash said.

"Why would what goes in these be heavy, that's just silly, where did you hear something like that?" Pinkie Pie asked.

Rainbow Dash sighed and decided to move on to her next question.

"Why are you climbing the side of the boat?"

"I saw Strillian and his friends going up here and since it's so big they will need help so I'm bringing these canons to make it go by faster" Pinkie Pie said.

"Make what go faster?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"You are asking a lot of silly questions today Dashie, are you alright?" asked Pinkie Pie.

Rainbow Dash sighed again and decided to leave it at that. She looked down and saw the two Blades had started to climb the side of the ship, as well as Applejack and Twilight.

Rainbow Dash looked at the four figures moving up the side of the ship then to Pinkie Pie. She turned to face the top of the large ship and thought 'Well, it looks like our part isn't over yet' before zooming up towards the deck of the large ship.

First Contract

Vallius looked at the three he was being ordered to befriend. He would have gladly fought any of them given the chance and was silently kicking himself for not killing the Khajiit woman when he had the chance.

He followed the Nord who had identified himself as Torrvar and the leader of the sanctuary. Behind Vallius was the petite Khajiit who, despite her appearance, was a very skilled fighter. A fact Vallius learned the hard way, and one he would be hard pressed to forget as she had giving him quite the scar.

Torrvar led him to an open room with wooden poles and targets lined the walls. Vallius noticed a Wood Elf in the corner casting all sorts of different colored spells at a wooden pole in rapid succession. 'He must be quite the spell caster if he manages to cast the quickly, I'll have to watch out for him' Vallius thought.

"Ahem," Torrvar cleared his throat. The Wood Elf stopped casting his magic and turned to face the three. "And this is Foroch" Torrvar said loudly as he gestured to the Wood Elf.

"Charmed" said Foroch sarcastically as he went back to casting. Vallius found it difficult to look away, felling memorized by the light show of many hues that Foroch was creating.

The snapping of Torrvar's fingers brought Vallius back to reality.

"I know he's handsome but at least give me some attention" Torrvar said mockingly.

Vallius ignored what he assumed to be a playful insult from Torrvar and without looking away said "he is really good at magic, he must rely heavily on it."

"You should see him with a dagger" Torrvar told Vallius. "He doesn't need magic to take out his target, most of the time he just uses it to freak the hell out of whatever unfortunate soul happens to be marked for death."

"So illusion magic?" Vallius said. It was more of a statement than a question but Torrvar answered all the same.

"Yes, illusion. Why, you aren't a battle mage are you?"

"No, I know rudimentary destruction magic but that's as far as my skills reach" Vallius responded.

"Well you can't be good at everything" Torrvar said in an upbeat tone. "Come, there is much to discuss."

'Don't let his tone fool you. He may act nice but he is a cold blooded assassin and a threat to the Empire, no matter how friendly his tone' Vallius thought to himself. Vallius then turned to Torrvar and nodded.

"I'm afraid you two will have to get better acquainted later Shotherra" Torrvar told the one eared Khajiit.

Shotherra smiled slyly, turning to Vallius and saying "I can't wait" before walking off to join Foroch in practice as she drew her sword.

Torrvar laughed and motioned Vallius to follow. Vallius obeyed and followed Torrvar down through the sanctuary and into the lower levels of it. Vallius followed Torrvar down a sloping hallway that lead to a single room. Inside the room was two chairs and a table between them, with what appeared to be a bear skin rug underneath the table. The rest of the room was solid stone, nothing adorning the walls save for a few candles and a large, black hand print painted on the back wall.

Torrvar saw Vallius looking around in confusion and said "you're wondering what we use this room for." It was more of a statement than a question. Vallius nodded slightly.

"We use it primary for two things, one is torture if someone were to wonder down here or we had the need to extract information and normal methods didn't work."

"And the second?" asked Vallius, not looking towards Torrvar.

"The second, is to have a nice, quite place to have a private conversation" Torrvar told Vallius. "And it's polite to look at others when they are talking, you should do it more often."

"Sorry" Vallius said, turning his head to face Torrvar.

"Don't be sorry, just keep that in mind" Torrvar said. "Now, take a seat."

Vallius sat on a chair and Torrvar took the seat opposite him.

"Now this is a very general thing, I just want to ask you a question before I give you your first assignment" Torrvar said.

"So like an interview?" asked Vallius.

"Sort of, yeah."

"Do you do this with everyone?" asked Vallius.

"Normally no, but given how close you were with the Emperor I'm sure you understand why we have take these precautions. Especially in these times" Torrvar answered. Vallius shook his head in understanding and Torrvar began.

"Why did you want to join the Dark Brotherhood? Surely it isn't a decision you made easily or quickly, so why?" asked Torrvar.

"Well when I got the letter I didn't know what to do. When I saw the Thalmor forces moving up Nibenay I knew I wouldn't have a job for much longer, so I decided it was for the best" Vallius said smoothly. It was a good thing he was a good liar and was quick to make something up. Otherwise he'd be in serious trouble.

That seemed to be enough for Torrvar as he said "job security huh? Well that's as good a reason as any. And this is the best field to get into if that's what you're after, because as long as there are two people left in the world, somebody is going to want somebody else dead."

Vallius looked at Torrvar and chuckled. 'This guy is a nut' Vallius thought.

"Well that's good to hear. Though we will need to test your loyalty, that Blade in the garden was only the beginning. You are still a new recruit and there are ... customs to follow" Torrvar told Vallius.

"Customs? Like what?" asked Vallius.

"Well for one thing you have to memorize the five tenets that guide the Dark Brotherhood" Torrvar told Vallius

"And those are?"

"The five tenets are pretty simple," Torrvar said before listing the five tenets of the Dark Brotherhood.

"Tenet 1: Never dishonor the Night Mother. To do so is to invoke the Wrath of Sithis.

Tenet 2: Never betray the Dark Brotherhood or its secrets. To do so is to invoke the Wrath of Sithis.

Tenet 3: Never disobey or refuse to carry out an order from a Dark Brotherhood superior. To do so is to invoke the Wrath of Sithis.

Tenet 4: Never steal the possessions of a Dark Brother or Dark Sister. To do so is to invoke the Wrath of Sithis.

Tenet 5: Never kill a Dark Brother or Dark Sister. To do so is to invoke the Wrath of Sithis."

"Pretty strait forward" Vallius noted.

"Yes, they are. The punishment for breaking any of these is death, and I want you to keep that in mind" Torrvar told Vallius.

"So, what's my first contract" Vallius said, eager to move the subject away from killing him.

"Eager to prove yourself huh? Alright let's get down to it. Your first target is a family in Bravil. Now this won't be easy, normally this kind of contract would be carried out by a more experienced assassin but with your skill I believe it isn't above your head" Torrvar said.

"Why would you normally send an experienced assassin? What are the specifics of this mission?" asked Vallius.

"Well I think you should keep in mind that down here they are called contracts, you aren't a legionnaire anymore. The specifics are interesting. It would seem a feud between families has finally reached it's boiling point. You must get into Bravil, a challenge in and of itself considering the fact it is under Thalmor control. Next you must find the largest house, there lives the richest family in Bravil. In it live a small family of Imperials, kill all of them. The father, the mother, and their two children. One of their kids recently joined the city guard, the other is about eleven years old. Now the giver of this contract wants the father in particular to suffer. So if you can, kill both of his children and his wife first, preferably somewhere where he can watch. Do this, and you will have earned your bonus."

Vallius blinked for a moment, absorbing in everything he was just ordered to do. He didn't take joy in the orders the Emperor had given him but he swore to obey them, but killing a kid, that was low. Vallius became increasingly aware of Torrvar's gaze on him.

"Is there an issue with the order, don't forget the tenets, specifically number three" Torrvar warned.

"No, there is no issue" Vallius said.

"Then why do you look like you have one?" asked Torrvar.

"It's just ... killing a kid?"

"Yes that isn't a contract I usually enjoy but they happen and we must carry them out. What you can do is make it as painless for the kid as possible, don't let him see it coming and don't look at his face. It's easier that way."

"Alright" Vallius said, defeated.

"So you'll take the contract?" asked Torrvar.

Vallius stood up where he was and walked towards the door, only to turn around and give Torrvar a curt "consider it done" before walking out of the room.

Regrouping

Vallius made his way up the inclined hallway and up towards the main hall. There Shotherra waited for him.

"Where is Torrvar?" Shotherra asked rudely.

"I'm right here, calm down Shotherra" Torrvar said as he walked up behind Vallius. "Before you leave Vallius be sure to eat, get rest while you are somewhere safe, and here, take this" Torrvar said as he handed Vallius a set of dark red armor.

Strillian took it and looked over it, the armor was red and black, with many straps and buckles running down the chest and across the waist. It was light and seemed sturdy enough.

"Thanks" Vallius said as he walked towards the room of beds. He didn't know what to think and he just needed to rest for a bit.

"No problem" said Torrvar.

Vallius kept moving towards his destination. When Vallius had made it to the large room full of beds he put his new armor at the end of a bed and laid down on it. It had been a long day, and the next week or so was going to be rough, so he allowed himself the moment of peace and drifted off to sleep.

Vallius awoke several hours later in a daze, the events of last night still fresh in his mind. Could he really be considering going through with this contract. Vallius shook his head to clear it and donned the armor he was given the night before.

Once Vallius was dressed he walked over to a night stand and took a sweet roll that was lying on top of it and ate it.

Having eating as much as he thought he could keep down and being properly outfitted he started to walk towards the exit. Torrvar was waiting by the door.

Vallius stopped his walking a few feet in front of Torrvar and said "I'm just on my way to complete the contract."

"Only if I can trust you to do what you have to when you get there. And right now I don't think you could kill that kid" Torrvar told Vallius. "Tell me why it is so different than killing any of the other people in that family."

"I don't know, it just doesn't seem ..." Vallius paused, looking for the right word. "Right, it doesn't seem right."

Torrvar chuckled and shook his head. He walked towards Vallius and put his arm around him and said "listen, Vallius, we are assassins for hire. If everything were right, we'd either be in jail or dead."

"I guess so" Vallius responded.

"So are you good, do you think you can do this?" Torrvar asked.

"Yes, I will do what I must" Vallius said with confidence.

"Good, glad to see you've come around" Torrvar said, walking away.

'It's easy when the alternative is death' Vallius thought to himself before departing from the sanctuary and beginning his trip to Bravil.

Strillian awoke to find himself in a small room. He sat up quickly only to lay back down in pain. He groaned loudly, alerting the others that he had awoken.

Theodane walked in, he had a few bandages on but was relatively fine.

"You're finally awake, we were worried you wouldn't wake up there for a bit' Theodane said with a smile.

"Where are we?" asked Strillian.

"We are on a small farm called Harm's Folly just north east of the Imperial City. Most everyone survived, the only casualties we could count were the two Blades that came with us to the top deck of that large ship" Theodane told Strillian.

"What do you mean both of them are dead, one of them was still breathing when we were rescued" Strillian asked.

"One of them? Did you forget their names? I didn't think you hit your head" Theodane said, the smile fading from his face, replaced with a look of concern.

"No I didn't hit my head, I just didn't get a good look at who was still alive when I had been wounded" Strillian said quickly.

The look of concern slowly left Theodane's face as he said "well that's good. But to answer your question the other one bled out before he could be properly bandaged up."

"Damn" Strillian said.

"So where do we go now, you are in charge of our little team here and we are awaiting orders" Theodane said, the smile now back on his face.

"We need to get to Cloud Ruler Temple, get the other Blades, and lead an assault on the Imperial City, I only hope the Emperor is still alright when we get there" Strillian said with a frown.

"Sounds good, when you are feeling up to the task of traveling we will begin the trip, but for now, rest. You'll need your energy, and you're probably hungry, here, take this" Theodane said as he tossed an apple towards Strillian.

Strillian caught it and inspected the apple. It was a very large green apple. Strillian took a bite and said "this is quite possibly, the juiciest apple I have every eaten."

"Good, because that's all we have at the moment. So if you want another apple just holler and someone will bring you one" Theodane told Strillian.

Strillian just nodded as he took his fourth bite of the mighty apple.

"Good" Theodane said as he walked out of the small room.

A few hours had passed and Strillian was feeling able again. He got out of his bead and moved out the door to the meet with the rest of his small team.

"Alright everyone listen up. We are going to divided up into different teams" Strillian announced. Everyone turned to face Strillian.

"Where are we going now?" asked Rainbow Dash, annoyed.

"Well you four will be sticking with me until we can reunite you with the other two, assuming they are still fine. Then we will take you to Hammerfell where you will take the first boat back to where ever it is you came from. Theodane and, I'm sorry what's your name?" Strillian asked the Imperial he had not seen before but was with the ponies when the battle had taken place.

"My name is Carmalo" said the Imperial.

"Well Carmalo and Theodane will come with me and you four ponies to Cloud Ruler Temple. You two" Strillian motioned to the two remaining Blades he had with him. "I need you two to find a way into the city and  make sure the Emperor is safe, reinforcements won't be far behind."

The two nodded.

"Is that alright with everyone?" Strillian asked.

"I want to go in the city, our friends are still in there and we can't just sit back and do nothing" Rainbow Dash complained, hovering above her friends.

"Calm down there sugar cube, we are getting some help first. And 'ah reckon they are still safe in that panic room they were talking 'bout" said Applejack.

"Applejack's right Rainbow, beside's with how that last fight turned out we are going to need a lot of help" Twilight told Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash sighed and folded her fore hoofs, and saying with a pout "fine, but this better not take too long."

"It won't, we will move quickly, I promise I won't slow us down" Strillian told her.

Rainbow Dash nodded and said "good" before flying over to the door and saying "well what are we waiting for?"

Strillian turned to the family he assumed to be the owners of the farm as he did not recognize them and said "thank you for your help, we must be off now but we will remember this kindness."

And with that, they were all out the door and on the road again.

Vallius' Decision

Vallius was just outside of the city of Bravil now. He was stalling, trying to find some way to get around his mission. He knew he wasn't capable of such an unthinkable act , but he couldn't think of any way around it.

Vallius walked though the large wooden gates of the city of Bravil and made his way to the largest house he could find. Once he did he knocked on the door, deciding honesty was the best policy. 'Wow, I haven't been stopped by any Thalmor agents yet. I just hope that this isn't a mistake.' Vallius thought to himself.

The door slowly opened and a portly Imperial looked out. "Hello?" he said.

Vallius inhaled and exhaled deeply before looking the man in the eye and saying "Hello, I'm with the dark brotherhood and-"

SLAM

The large man slammed the door in Vallius' face.

"Well that wen't better than expected" Vallius muttered to himself.

Vallius knocked on the door once more, only to be met with muffled screams of fear. Vallius sighed and continued to knock.

"If I was here to hurt you I wouldn't have knocked, I just want to talk with you" Vallius called out.

The door cracked slightly and Vallius tried to push it open, only to be met with heavy resistance. 'Did they move a block of steel behind this thing' Vallius wondered.

"Can we talk somewhere, private? Or at the very least not out on the street?" asked Vallius.

"No, go away."

"I just need a minute of your time. I promise this wont take long."

"I bet. Leave me alone, my son is in the guard and he'll be here soon."

"I need to talk to him as well, please I just want to talk."

"Is there a problem here?" asked a voice from behind Vallius.

Vallius turned around to see a young man dressed in the guard armor of the city.

"You must be this man's son, is that right?"

"Yes, I am. Why do you ask?"

"I really need to sit down and talk with you and your family. It's very important and your father isn't being very cooperative" Vallius told the man.

Before the member of the city could respond his father spoke from behind the blocked door. "Don't listen to him boy, he's an assassin for the Dark Brotherhood!" said the voice frantically.

The young guard turned his head from the door and back to Vallius and raised an eyebrow.

"It's true, I am with the Dark Brotherhood, but it isn't what you think. I'm here to save you and your family, not to harm them." Vallius told him with a pleading stare.

"And why should I believe anything you say. You admitted to being an assassin, something that is punishable by death. Why should I trust you?"

"I can't prove I'm trying to help but all I'm asking is for five minutes of your time to explain to your family what's going on" Vallius pleaded.

"Fine, five minutes. After that I'm taking you to stand before the count. I'll also need you weapons."

"Five minutes is enough, here" Vallius said as he took his sword and sheath off his belt and handed it hilt first towards the young guard.

The guard nodded and drew his own sword and pointed it towards Vallius "this is only a precaution, you understand of course.Now, father open the door."

There was movement and the sound of something heavy moving across the floor from behind the door and then the door opened to revel a middle aged man holding a dagger up in defense.

Vallius shook his head and the young guard started to move towards the door, motioning for Vallius to follow. Once inside he was lead to a small room with a fireplace, three couches and a small table in the center. Due to the lack of a window the only light in the room came from the fireplace.

Vallius was pushed inside first and he gave no resistance.

"Sit in the corner away from the door" the middle aged man said.

Vallius obeyed and the two men followed him in and sat awkwardly on the couches on either side of Vallius so he couldn't escape, not that he had planned on it. Vallius was prepared to accept whatever the outcome of this meeting was.

"So since you probably know all about us why don't you tell us a little about yourself and what has brought you here today" said the guard.

"Actually I don't even know your names, all I know is some rich family wants you and your family to suffer, especially you" Vallius said as he pointed to the middle aged man with the dagger.

"Me? Why?" asked the old man.

"Maybe you insulted the wrong person somewhere along the line but all I know is that someone wants you to suffer. Someone with a lot of money and determination enough to contact the Dark Brotherhood. My orders was to kill your wife and two sons while you watched before I killed you. I couldn't do that so I agreed then came here to take you somewhere safe. Somewhere you can disappear for a little bit while I spread the false rumor of your deaths until I can sort it out" Vallius told them.

"And why should we go along with this plan. How is it our problem if some assassin isn't man enough to follow through on his orders, you'd think a member of the Dark Brotherhood would at the very least be able to kill a family" the guard said, almost taunting Vallius.

"The problem, being that even if I go back and they kill me they will just send someone who does have the disposition to kill a boy in front of his father. Is that what you want?" Vallius asked.

"Good point, though I am curious of your motives. Who are you, and why did join the Dark Brotherhood if you didn't want to kill people?" asked the guard.

"My name is Vallius, and I joined the Dark Brotherhood because I didn't have a choice, but I have a choice now. I did what I had to but I can't say more on the subject. What I can say is that I can get you somewhere safe if you will just trust me, and if you won't trust me then you are already dead" Vallius said, the last word lingering in the air as he looked at the expressionless faces of the father and son, silently decided whether or not they should take the risk.

It was a few minutes before anyone spoke again. The middle aged man broke the silence first "if it's the only way, then I suppose we don't have much choice. Belisarius, go fetch your mother and younger brother, don't tell them any of this just that it's important. Tell them I'll explain more when they get here."

"Actually tell them to meet us by the north gates, we have to leave as soon as possible. And don't take anything, people will suspect you left if you do" Vallius told them.

The young guard known as Belisarius nodded and walked out of the room, leaving Vallius and the middle aged man alone.

"So, do you have a plan young man?" asked the middle aged Imperial.

"Honestly? No, I'm kind of making this up as I go, though I think we will go to Imperial City. I'm fairly certain I can guarantee your safety there" Vallius said.

"You're joking right?" asked the middle aged man.

"Why do you think I'd be joking about this?" Vallius demanded.

"Well for one the Thalmor have finally gotten to the Imperial city. Almost all of the Thalmor in the city moved from here to the Imperial city. It's kind of important, I'm surprised you didn't know."

"Well that changes a lot. I have to think about this, but for now lets get to the north gate and get out of here" Vallius told the middle aged man who had seemed to finally relax a bit.

The two walked outside and started making their way to the gate when a familiar Khajiit quickly exited an alley way. Vallius stopped the middle aged man and stared at the one eared Khajiit.

"You know I never trusted you Vallius, you were always too close to the Emperor" Shotherra said calmly.

"What are you doing here Shotherra?" asked Vallius.

"Stopping a rat, I see you don't even have a weapon, this will be easy" Shotherra drew her sword and smiled slyly as she started moving towards Vallius.

Disturbing Discovery

Strillian led his small group as they made their way through the woods. The six ponies were right behind Strillian, Theodane and Carmalo walked side by side, talking as they followed behind the ponies and the two Blades took up the rear. They walked for an hour before they reached a fork in the trail, one path lead south and the other continued east around the city.

They walked for a short while down the east path until they were just north of the Imperial City. Strillian stopped and turned to face the rest of his small group.

"This won't be easy you know" Strillian said, addressing the two Blades who he had assigned to do reconnaissance on the Imperial City.

"Is there anything you want us to be especially mindful for?" asked the shorter of the two Blades.

"Actually yes, along with searching for the Emperor I also want you to keep an eye out for the two ponies that are presumed to still be in the city. But remember, you are doing recon, that means look, listen, then return. Don't endanger yourselves more than you have to until reinforcements can arrive" Strillian commanded.

The two Blades nodded before heading towards the waters of Lake Rumare. The Thalmor had only enough ships to surround the Imperial City on the south, east, and west. The north, while void of ships, was still under heavy watch and it seemed that swimming at night was the only way they would get past the Thalmor guards.

While the two Blades figured that out Strillian, Theodane, Carmalo and the four ponies moved along the familiar path to the north up to Cloud Ruler Temple.

They walked for a few hours until they came upon the city of Bruma. They were all tired from they lack of rest and food after the battle. Strillian was a little more accustomed to the famished state as he has had years of experience but he decided it was best if they all had a little food in them before trying to ascend the steep climb to Cloud Ruler Temple.

Strillian lead them into Bruma and to the keep so he could talk with the count of the city, a long time associate and friend of his. Strillian was recognized and was let in, though everyone in the city seemed to be nervously staring at Strillian.

Strillian walked through the familiar halls and to the throne where Count Adrian sat. Strillian began to walk forward, hand extended to great his friend but instead of a hand, his was met with a look of confusion and the words "you're alive?" It was more a statement than a question.

"Uh, uh" Strillian stammered, confusion now taking over his face as well. "Why wouldn't I be?" Strillian finally managed to ask.

"Well with what's happened at the Temple and then the Imperial City I assumed all of the Blades were being hunted down" Count Adrian told Strillian.

"What's wrong with Cloud Ruler Temple?" demanded Strillian.

Count Adrian sighed as he motioned to the guards to the door and said "leave us."

Once the guards had left Count Adrian looked at Strillian, not entirely sure of where to start.

"Well" Strillian said impatiently.

Count Adrian cleared his throat nervously before starting. "The Thalmor, to my knowledge, have taken the Temple. They have taken the Temple, and, as far as I know, killed everyone inside."

The words of Count Adrian sounded forced, like even he, who had been in the area to watch the Thalmor march up, to watch the pillars of smoke and the smell of charred bodies consume the air, didn't want to believe it.

"Oh" was all Strillian could mutter before he found it too difficult to stand on his own and he fell back against one of the pillars in the large room.

Theodane walked forward, not bothering with the proper way to address a Count, especially one he didn't know. "So are you saying the Blades, one of the most elite fighting forces in all of Tamriel, is now endangered of being completely wiped out?" Theodane was screaming now. All his life the Blades have been untouchable, sure every now and again a few would get killed, or worse, but when together they couldn't be stopped. Or at least that's how he remembered it.

The Thalmor was far more powerful than anyone could have anticipated, any hope the Empire had of victory was out the window if they could take down the Blades when the Blades were held up in their fortress.

"That's exactly what I'm saying, and yelling at me or complaining to the nine divine won't change that boy" Count Adrian told Theodane.

"So what happens now?" asked Twilight to nopony in particular.

"Now, we find Rarity and Fluttershy an' get home. This isn't our fight Twi, and the sooner we can get back home the safer ah'm gonna feel" Applejack told Twilight.

"But where would we even start?" asked Twilight.

"My guess is that, wherever the Emperor is, they are too" Carmalo answered.

"So what are we waiting for, let's go" Rainbow Dash said, already moving for the door.

"It looks like these talking ponies are more optimistic than even you, that isn't like you Strillian" Count Adrian said.

"Yeah, well. Shit happens" Strillian said flatly.

Count Adrian coughed into his hand to get all of their attention and said "why don't you stay here for the night, eat and rest and fulfill any other desires so you can have all the energy in the world to find the Emperor and your friends. Just go through the doors in the far left corner of this room and at the end of the hall is a large room, usually used for barracks for new recruits but there are none this week so it's all yours for the night."

"Well that's mighty kind of ya mister" Applejack said.

"Yes, thank you very much sir" Twilight said once Applejack had finished.

The four ponies, Theodane and Carmalo all walked to the barracks, Rainbow seeming a little disappointing but willing none the less. Strillian stayed behind. Count Adrian waited until the small group of six was out of earshot before trying to talk to Strillian.

"Is there something else you wanted to walk about Strillian?" asked Adrian.

"No, but I do have something I want to tell you."

"Oh? And what might that be?"

"Thank you for always being there for me and I'm afraid I'll have to decline your generous offer. There are a few things I need to be sure of. Tell the others to go on without me and that I'll catch up" Strillian said, finally standing back up and beginning to move to the large doors that lead out of the throne room and into the city.

"Strillian wait" Adrian called out.

"You can't stop me Adrian" Strillian told him.

"I wasn't planning on it, but if you are going where I think you are then you'll need some help. Go see my court mage, she will enchant your weapons and armor for you."

"Thank you Adrian, you're a good friend."

"I'm just making sure you don't get your dumb ass killed" Adrian said, crossing his arms and shaking his head.

Strillian smiled a little, though only for a moment. He walked to the large doors and on his way out he heard Count Adrian call out "Good luck, old friend."

Bloodletting

Vallius stared at the one eared Khajiit as she moved towards him, she was fast but she was far enough away that it gave Vallius a short window to think.

Vallius quickly turned to the middle aged man and demanded "your dagger, give it to me, now!"

"Wait what?" stammered the man.

'I don't have time for this' Vallius thought as he turned back to Shotherra. Vallius saw the glimmer of her sword and jumped to the side, but he wasn't quick enough. The sword cut deep into the left side of his torso but it didn't appear to have hit anything major.

Vallius was clutching his side, wounded and defenselessness he had to think of a plan quick. Vallius decided to fall back on what he did have, at least until he could get close enough to something he could use as a weapon, his wit, and hopefully it would stall her long enough.

"Even you have to admit this is crazy Shotherra, what is this all for? Do you even know?" Vallius said.

"I don't care, I do what I'm told. I don't need more, perhaps that is the difference between you and I Vallius. I accept the cards fate deals me and don't question it. You have your moral code too high for this kind of thing, it's like a kid in his room at night, finding monsters where there are non."

"What's worse? A boy afraid of the dark or an adult afraid of the light? Afraid of the reality of things in her life? The most sinister aspect of you is your detachment Shotherra, your ability to distance yourself from your feelings. It isn't right and it isn't normal. I refuse to believe that you have always been like this."

"Oh please, you aren't going to give me a whole, 'I know there is good in you' thing are you? Because if you are then I might as well kill you now" Shotherra said lightly.

Vallius was running out of ideas, he was backing away from Shotherra and he had no idea which direction he was moving. He quickly bumped into a building and walked along the side, still facing Shotherra, as he looked for a handle of a door. Once he found the door he walked inside and ran further in to grab a weapon.

"A church? You have got to be kidding me" Vallius muttered under his breath.

"A chapel huh? Want to get a last prayer in I see. Well make it quick, I still have to end that miserable family you were trying to protect."

The priest were huddling in the corner waiting for Shotherra to move so they can make a run for the door. It was midday on a weekday so there wasn't anyone else in the church. The Priest didn't understand what was going on, all they saw were two people dressed in Dark Brotherhood uniforms, one with a deep wound and the other with a sword. They didn't want to be there for whatever was about to happen.

Vallius walked further in, drawing Shotherra in after him. She was taking her time, toying with Vallius. The priest ran out of the door.

"Cowards" Shotherra muttered.

Vallius was at the alter now, out of places to run and nothing to fight with. Nothing, except a book on the alter. 'That's ridiculousness, what can I do with this? Vallius thought.

Vallius didn't have time to ponder, Shotherra was moving towards him and he didn't have anywhere to go. He grabbed the book and brought it up to his chest as Shotherra thrust her sword forward. The book stopped the sword and Shotherra hissed, Vallius smiled.

Shotherra yanked her sword out of the book and thrust again. This time Vallius opened the book about half way, side stepped, and closed it on her sword. The book closed in on the sword and Vallius pushed it up until he had leverage at the hilt and he twisted the book so that the sword was swung out Shotherra's hands and onto the floor.

Vallius laughed and said "what are you going to do no-" his taunt was interrupted with a heavy, soft, fluffy paw came across his face, claws extended. Vallius was bleeding now but he didn't look away from Shotherra, the smile now gone from his face.

"Did you forget I have claws, or was getting killed a different way all part of your plan?" Shotherra said triumphantly.

"Maybe it is all part of my plan Shotherra, and maybe I know what I'm doing" Vallius said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"I can't wait to shut that mouth of yours up" Shotherra said, swinging her paw again. Vallius ducked underneath the swing and brought his fist up, punching her in the chin. Shotherra stumbled back and Vallius ran over and picked up the sword, kicking the book under the rows of public seating.

Shotherra's sword was heavier than what Vallius was used to but it wasn't beyond his ability to control.

Shotherra recovered from the punch quickly but by the time she was preparing for another strike Vallius already had her sword. She stopped mid swing, contemplating her next move.

"Your move, kitty cat" Vallius taunted.

Just then the doors to the church opened and in walked one of the priest and the guard Vallius was ordered to kill, named Belisarius.

"Now what do we have here?" asked Belisarius. The Priest left after he saw Belisarius was where he needed to be.

Shotherra remained silent, staring at Vallius with her claws extended but in front of her body.

"Khajiit, I'm talking to you" Belisarius called out, drawing his sword and moving forward.

Shotherra remained silent, allowing Belisarius to move closer and closer until.

"I said I was talking to you" Belisarius said lowly and he grabbed Shotherra by the shoulder and spun her around. Shotherra grabbed him by the throat, claws digging into his neck as she chocked the life out of the young guard.

Belisarius dropped his sword as he clawed the air as Shotherra slowly ended his life.

"No!" Vallius yelled. Shotherra let go and stepped to this side as Vallius thrust his sword for her. But instead of the sword finding it's way into the furry flesh of the female Khajiit, Shotherra helped guide it into the guard on his knees as he gasped for air.

Shotherra kicked Vallius and twisted the sword outward, making the wound Belisarius had received even bigger, guaranteeing he would bleed out. Vallius was now on the floor and Shotherra had forced his sword into someone he had said he would protect not one hour ago.

"Any last words?" asked Shotherra.

"Yes, just three" Vallius responded, staring Shotherra strait in the face.

A moment of awkward silence passed as Shotherra waited to hear what Vallius was going to say and Vallius said nothing.

"Oh, Kay?" Shotherra said as she raised her sword to strike and as she brought it down Vallius grabbed the sword that Belisarius had dropped and brought it up to defend himself. The sound of steel clashing echo'd in the great acoustics of the church.

Vallius rolled to the side, dodging Shotherra's second swing.

"Why won't you just lay down and die" Shotherra yelled out as Vallius got to his feet and raised his sword.

"Shotherra, I think I'll make you into a nice rug. How does that sound?" Vallius asked.

Shotherra screamed and ran forward. Vallius brought his sword upward and once again, steel met steel. Clash after clash, echo after echo the sounds of their fighting could be heard from the streets outside. Guards were coming now, the fight would have to be ended now or both of them would hang.

Vallius swung his sword from the side and Shotherra blocked it, and while Vallius was locked in another power struggle Shotherra brought her clawed paw up, striking for Vallius' throat and missing by a few inches.

Both were exhausted from the fight but neither was prepared to quit. Shotherra was slipping, the effort she had to put forth was greater because she had been an assassin most her life. She didn't have to get in many fair fights as most of her targets were unarmed. Being a legionnaire gave Vallius more stamina and preparedness for long winded battles. Shotherra was losing, and she knew it.

Vallius began a barrage of strikes, using the last of his energy to beat the fight out of Shotherra. Shotherra raised her sword but her strength was fleeting, and after the sixth rapid swing her sword was knocked clean out of her hands and she had fallen to her knees.

Vallius stopped swinging. He and Shotherra both were breathing heavily. Vallius looked down at Shotherra and asked in a very gentle tone "anything you want to say before I end this?"

"Just hurry up and get it over with, I could have killed ten men while you're messing around, asking me questions" Shotherra spat.

"Aren't you at least remorseful?" asked Vallius, more curious than angered.

"I've had a lot of fun and I've enjoyed every minute of it, I can die happy. But if you want some real last words then I'll tell you this Vallius. Beware, be watchful of every corner because no one invokes the wrath of Sithis and lives" Shotherra said, smiling up at Vallius.

"I'll try to keep that in mind" Vallius said flatly as he brought his sword down on Shotherra's left shoulder, cutting deep into her torso and through her heart, killing her almost immediately. Vallius kicked Shotherra's corpse off of the sword and dropped the weapon.

Vallius walked over to the corpse of the young guard Belisarius and grabbed his sword and sheath and began to fit it back onto his belt.

"I should get out of here" Vallius muttered to himself.

A Plan

Carmalo and Theodane were sitting across from eachother on separate beds, chatting about nautical nonsense that Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Pinkie Pie didn't really care too much about. Twilight Sparkle was curious but would rather be with her friends.

"So, Twilight, how do you think we can get home?" asked Rainbow Dash

"I don't know, I've had a few ideas but so far none of the ideas are concrete yet" Twilight told her rainbow maned friend.

"Oh come on Twilight, you always have some sort of plan for everything so you gotta have something for this" Rainbow told Twilight.

"Perhaps we could help with that" Carmalo said. "Sorry we couldn't help but overhear and, well, while I can't speak for Theodane here I'd be glad to help you and your friends get home. I'm a sailor so maneuvering the high seas shouldn't be an issue."

"But wouldn't ya'll need more help to keep yer boat out in the open waters like that for that long?" asked Applejack.

"I could teach you all basic seamanship. How to tie knots and what not" Carmalo offered.

"And I do plan on aiding you all as well" Theodane said. "You all don't belong here and I understand a desire to return to your homeland. I understand all too well."

"What happened?" asked Twilight.

"The Thalmor uprooted my home and my family, took my wife and daughter. Last I heard they were heading to the southern tip of Valenwood. So I can take you six back and loop around and come at them from the south, get my family and use the boat to get back to safer waters."

Twilight looked on towards Theodane in shock. Shock that such a terrible act could even happen. Sure she had seen many horors in her time but to take a child and wife away from an innocent man seemed unnecessarily cruel. It was one thing when two soldiers fought but to force the horrors of war onto somepony, especially a child, was a truly horrible act.

"I'm sorry for your family Theodane" Carmalo said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I'll certainly help you when the time comes so let's hurry up and get these ones home so we can go get your family back."

"I'll hold you to that" Theodane said with a smile. "But for now we have a more pressing matter. The Thalmor are in the Imperial City and the Emperor is no where to be found. We have a long day ahead of us so lets get sleep while we can."

Everypony nodded in agreement and Carmalo blew out the candles.

They awoke the next morning to find Strillian had not yet returned. Curious, They walked out to speak with the count about their missing leader.

When they re-entered the large hall where the count's throne sat they found the count slouching in his throne.

Twilight Sparkle approched Count Adrian and said "excuse me, mr. count sir." Count Adrian looked at Twilight and raised an eyebrow.

"You know I won't make you stick with all the formalities and even if I wanted to how could I expect you to know them all" Count Adrian said gently. "Just say what you have to say, no need to be nervous."

Count Adrian's words seemed to set the lavender unicorn at ease and Twilight began again.

"It's just that Strillian was guiding us and none of us has seen him since we arived in your city" Twilight explained. "We are starting to get a little worried."

"No need to worry, Strillian had to take care of some personal business but he did leave this" Count Adrian said as he stood up and pulled out a folded sheet of paper and held it out to them. Theodane took the paper and unfolded it and began to read aloud.

"Dear companions,

I realizer this is short notice but there has been a change in plans. I must take care of some unfinished business but your plans will not change much. When my other two Blades catch up to you all tell them to return to Cloud Ruler Temple with both haste and cautiousness once they tell you what they've found out. After which you will have to choose the next move.

As for me I cannot say. My next move will depend entirely on this comming report.

When the time comes I will join with you all again. And when I do this war will end- one way or another.

Good luck, and may you find victory in your coming struggles

you're friend

-Strillian"

When Theodane had finished reading from the parchment everyone let the words linger in the air for a few minutes.

"So he abandoned us?" asked Rainbow, almost accusingly.

"I don't think so" Theodane said. "If I had to guess he is getting vengence for the Blades and just needed us out of the way."

"That seems as likely as anything else right now" Carmalo said. "Though it doesn't really matter at this point now does it."

"So we head back down south until we get north of the city and wait for those other Blade fellas to return and tell us everything they found out and then come up with a plan. Is that right?" asked Applejack.

"Sounds like it, but it's gonna be so lame just waiting" Rainbow Dash complained.

"It'll be okay Dashie, you can help me plan our super awesome welcome back to Equestria Party" Pinkie Pie said enthusiastically.

Rainbow Dash couldn't hold back a grin as the pink party pony began to bounce about in the perpetual state of excitement she always seemed to be in.

Pinkie Pie lead the way through bounce as they started to make their way back down south. All of them, thinking of the comforts of home.

No Breaks

Vallius slowly made his way to the large front doors of the church, clutching his side where Shotherra had cut. The gash was deep but having hit nothing vital Vallius knew he would be fine so long as he stitched, or at least bandaged it up soon.

Vallius had made it to doors but when he reached for the handles the doors were thrown open violently, knocking him to the ground. When Vallius had regained his bearing he looked up to see six guards, weapons drawn already spread out throughout the church. Three were observing the lifeless bodies of Shotherra and Belisarius. Two were checking every corner of the large chapel so they could secure the area. And one guard was standing in front of Vallius, offering a hand to help him up.

Vallius took it with the hand that he hadn't used to apply pressure to his wound to avoid spreading his blood all over the place and rose to his feet.

"Would you mind explaining just what happened here" demanded the guard in an almost accusing tone.

"I tried to help. While I managed to kill the assassin I wasn't skilled enough to save Belisarius or myself from injury" Vallius told the city guard somberly.

"Well no one can expect to be able to fight off a Dark Brotherhood assassin and escape without injury. You're lucky to be alive" the guard reasured Vallius. "Though I am curious how you knew the guard's name and why you seem to be in the same garb as the assassin."

While Vallius wasn't prepared for the question he had expected it to some degree. Vallius looked away from the guard and towards the body of Belisarius before saying "he was my cousin and I was in for a visit. As for my clothes I found them with a bag the assassin dropped and when Belisarius chased the assassin in I knew I had to help and I figured armor is armor so I put it on."

"Fair enough" the guard responded. But before Vallius could breath a mental sigh of relief the guard spoke up again.

"I never caught your name."

"That is probably because I never said it. My name is Vallius."

"Vallius huh? You know it's interesting that Belisarius or his old man never once mentioned you, why do you think that would be?" asked the guard.

Vallius was starting to get annoyed. Sure there needed to be an investigation but why was this guard nitpicking everything. For a brief moment Vallius debated whether or not to just kill the guards and be done with it but not halfway through the thought Vallius stopped himself. 'Woah, where did those thought's come from' Vallius thought to himself.

"Well?" asked the guard impatiently.

Vallius looked back to the guard. It was clear the guard was getting very annoyed so Vallius decided to answer. "How should I know, maybe they do just never around you." Vallius said defensively.

"Either way I'm going to have to ask you to come with us" the guard told Vallius.

Vallius looked around to see two more guards had come up behind him. The other three guards apparently removed the bodies while Vallius was having his conversation as both those guards and the corpses were gone. Vallius started to weigh his options but before he could make a decision the two guards grabed him and started to drag him to the door, the guard that Vallius had talked to close behind.

Vallius decided it was time to act and quickly jerked his right arm free and brought his right hand, still covered in blood, up to the face of the guard on his left, making sure to get blood in his eyes before shoving him away. As Vallius shoved the guard away he placed his left hand on the hilt of the guard's sword drawing it as the guard was thrown backwards.

Before the guard on his right could draw his sword Vallius swung his, the blade held down along the length of his arm, at the neck of the guard. The guard stumbled for a few seconds but only moments later the guard was dead. Vallius turned to the guard that asked too many questions whos face portrayed complete and total shock. Vallius just shrugged and with nonchalantly said "what? I don't like to be touched."

Just then the guard that Vallius had temporarily blinded with his own blood jumped on his back. Vallius flipped the guard over his shoulder and onto the cold, unforgiving stone floor of the church.

"Now what did I just get finished saying?" asked Vallius.

Vallius backed up and kept the sword raised defensively.

"I don't want to hurt you two but I won't hesitate if I feel I have to" Vallius told them. the two guards remained silent. One due to realizing the circumstances the other because he hadn't quite regained his breath after it was knocked out of him when he hit the floor.

"Now, what's your name?" Vallius asked the guard whom he had talked to earlier.

The guard took off his helmet revealing a Breton with shoulder length dark brown hair. The Breton looked at Vallius and said "My name is Captain Marcel, Head of the guard in this city. Disrespect the law and you disrespect me, and I'd say you've broken at least three laws in the last two minutes."

"How do you figure that?" Vallius asked the guard captain Marcel curiously.

"Evading arrest for one. You stole that sword, and and from a guard no less. And of course the murder I just witnessed. And I'm sure you had your part in poor Belisarius' death" Marcel told Vallius. "Any other questions?"

"Actually yes" Vallius said, his tone slightly raising as he did so.

Marcel raised an eyebrow, curious to hear what else Vallius had to say and noting that Vallius liked to talk.

"What would you do, if you were in my position right now?" Vallius asked. "It's a simple question and I want your honest answer, what would you do?"

"Well I'd spend less time talking and more time acting" Marcel spat.

Vallius chuckled a little before saying "yes well how would you act then?"

"I'd probably just kill the guards and get out, the other three will be back soon."

'Why is he sugesting such a thing? It has to be a trap, but what?' Vallius silently thought to himself.

"I think I hear footsteps, better make your move quick, but know that while you might like to think you're fast, I'm not to terrible with a blade myself" Marcel told Vallius. "It's your move."

A Long Night

Vallius looked around for another way out but the windows were too far up and Captain Marcel blocked the way out. Vallius genuinely contemplated just killing the guard captain but with his injury and more guards on the way he knew he wouldn't get far. Vallius knew he wasn't just going to walk away from this so he dropped the sword he had taken from the Guard and slowly raised his hands in the air.

"I will come peacefully" Vallius told Captain Marcel.

Marcel looked a bit confused, like it was not the response he had expected, or hoped for. The Guard Captain didn't ingore Vallius' surrender though and slowly approached Vallius with his sword raised and said "Good, now get moving."

The walk to the Bravil prison was short. The walk was taken is silence as onlookers watched Captain Marcel walk behind Vallius with his sword less than a foot from his back. Four other guards also walked with the two towards the Bravil prison. Vallius kept his head down for the entirety of the short walk, not wanting to see the middle aged Imperial whos son he couldn't protect.

Vallius was now in a cell, it was more of a stone pit with some stairs that lead to some metal bars that acted as the door. The only window was small, barred and above Vallius' head. But Vallius was trying to look at the bright side of things. For one the city guards had bandaged his wound so he wouldn't die before his public execution. And he had a nice pile of straw to sleep on and even a well made wooden nightstand. Vallius noted it was very well crafted and could probably support even his weight.

As Vallius was making note of all the nice things he had in his cozy cell he heard a door that was out of view open up. He heard two sets of feet and two men speaking, though he only recognized one. It was the middle aged Imperial he had been trying to help.

"Alright, fine. You can have your time but do be quick" Vallius didn't know the voice who said this but he assumed it was just another guard.

"Don't worry, I won't be long" said the middle aged Imperial.

"Good to hear. Oh, and if he gives you any trouble or anything happens I will be just in the next rooom over" said the guard.

Vallius wondered why the middle aged man had come here when he was already going to be punished. But before Vallius could ponder his intentions he walked into view.

"Hello Vallius" said the middle aged man.

"Hello, um" Vallius stammered. "I actually never caught your name" Vallius admitted sheepishly with a small smile.

"I am Dunius, and I would have words with you" Dunius said calmly.

"Well I've got a few hours, what's on your mind?"

"I know you didn't kill my son, but I want to know if he suffered" the pleading look in Dunius' eye was too much for Vallius.

"No, his death was quick" Vallius lied. He didn't think Dunius could gain anything from knowing his son bled to death over the course of a few minutes and felt it was better to give him that small comfort.

"I'm glad to hear it. Though there is one more thing" Dunius began. "I am taking your advice and leaving with my young boy and wife. We are going to her cousin's farm a long ways away from here. But we still need someone to spread the rumor of our passing. So here" Dunius said, opening his cloak to exposing an iron dagger and a key.

Vallius raised an eyebrow but remained quite, allowing Dunius to continue speaking.

"This key doesn't go to your cell but rather is used for the chains that are put on prisoners when transporting them. You might be able to make your escape when they bring you to the chopping block. As for the weapon, I think you can use your imagination for that."

"Where is my sword?" asked Vallius.

"Well I image you'd have a hard time sneaking that around so I left it in the woods, burried in a wooden box about a half a days walk north of here. Beneath a fallen tree on about 20 feet from the left side of the path" Dunius told Vallius.

"That isn't very specific" Vallius told him. "For example, how do I know when to turn off of the path?"

"I hired someone else to hide it for me so I could spend more time preparing my sons funeral before I leave with the rest of my family. What I told you is what the man told me."

"Fair enough, keep the dagger though. The key will be tough enough to hide, no need to give myself more to worry about." Vallius said, holding out his hand.

Dunius gave Vallius the key and closed his cloak. "What if you run into resistance?"

"Let me worry about that Dunius, for now just get your family somewhere safe" Vallius told Dunius.

"Thank you, for everything. For your imprisonment and for not trusting you at first."

"I wouldn't have trusted me either, don't worry about it" Vallius said with reassuring smile.

"Goodbye Vallius," Dunius said with a smile before continuing. "And don't take this the wrong way but I hope I never see you again."

"I hope I don't see you again either" Vallius said, grinning a little wider now.

And with that Dunius left. Vallius was now holding the key that completely changed his outlook. He was going to get out of this and save that family. At any cost.

It had been a few hours since Dunius' visit to the prison of Bravil and Vallius was preparing himself mentally for his escape the following day.

Vallius had tried meditation but found it too painful to just sit there, so now Vallius was pacing the small area that made up his humble prison cell.

Vallius had been pacing for about four hours when he noticed someone whispering from the cell across from his.

"Yes you, the Imperial."

Vallius looked towards the sound of the voice and walked over to the cell door. A few feet from him stood a male argonian at his cell door.

"Hello there stranger" Vallius said cheerfully. "What can I do for you?"

"My name is Dan-Ru. I am to be executed with you when the new dawn's light breaks the darkness."

"Well that's a funny way of saying sunrise, but go on" Vallius told Dan-Ru.

"I heard everything, I know you have a key to the shackles of our imprisonment and I want to escape with you. Then we can go our separate ways" said Dan-Ru.

"And if I say no?"

"Then the guards find out you have a key and who you got it from. I believe you said his name was Dunius, and I think he said something about his cousin's farm. Unless I misheard, if you catch my drift."

"Why are you in here?" Vallius asked Dan-Ru.

"A few counts of murder and larceny, now do we have an understanding or not" Dan-Ru demanded, his hand extended across the passageway in an attempt to shake Vallius' hand.

"It looks like I don't have much of a choice now do I?" Vallius said, extending his hand to meet Dan-Ru's "fine."

They shook each other's hand for a breif moment before breaking apart. Vallius walked back towards his pile of hay without saying another wood. Again, making a mental note of and admiring the craftsmanship of the short nightstand.

When the Best Isn't Enough

The three Blades and Theodane made their way up the side of the large Thalmor ship. Strillian was at the top of the ship and over the railing first. Theodane and Strillian's  subordinates weren't far behind.

Once  they were over the wooden railing they were met with a very large and cluttered deck. There were many High Elf sailors moving about the top of the deck but they were talking and laughing and didn't notice the four intruders at first. Strillian looked around, confused at the site. 'They are in the middle of a battle and they are sitting around like they are having a party?' Strillian thought to himself.

Apparently Theodane was having similar thoughts as he pulled out his dagger and threw it, hitting a well dressed High Elf in the upper part of his torso in the side. The dagger seemed to have gone in deep but they were too far away to accurately judge the damage that it had caused. Though they were sure of one thing, it got the attention of the Thalmor.

Everyone turned at the yelp of the Thalmor who had been wounded and then to the guest that had arrived without their knowledge. The High Elf was on the ground, sitting up and shaking back in fourth, as if it was the first time he had been cut in his life. The well dressed High Elf looked towards the four and managed to breath out "what was that for?"

'Wait, do they really have civilians on this ship? Do they not know there is a fight going on? Why is this guy even shocked we attacked?' all these questions circled Strillian's mind. Strillian was more in shock than anything else. He knew the Thalmor was crazy but to bring civilians to something like this.

Theodane was quickest to recover and managed to reply "it's a little TIP for you, get the POINT of what I'm trying to say?"

Strillian turned to look at Theodane and let out a sigh and shook his head. Theodane just glanced and Strillian and laughed. The High Elves who were in armor drew their swords and the well dressed High Elves fled to the lower decks. Strillian, Theodane , and the other two Blades drew their weapons in response.

The two Blades moved first, running forward towards the mass of Thalmor agents. The Thalmor agents moved forward, many to meet the two advancing Blades. The two Blades swiped their swords low and swept the feet of two Thalmor. The Thalmor feel forward and hit the deck. The Thalmor were now circling the two and many more were moving towards Strillian and Theodane.

The view of his two men was blocked by the many Thalmor agents that swiftly encircled Theodane and him. Strillian gave a quick glance to Theodane, who did the same. Both bearing a confident smile before turning to their enemies and striking. Their swords met with the clashing of steal.

Strillian's sword ran the length of the sword of the Thalmor he had clashed with down to the handle, cutting the hands of the Thalmor. The High Elf dropped his sword and Strillian brought it forward running the Thalmor through. Strillian kicked the Thalmor off his sword and continued to fight.

Theodane was clashing with a Thalmor agent. Though Theodane was not as skilled a swordsman as Strillian was but he was still a quite a skilled fighter and was managing to put up a good fight. They were chopping the Thalmor down easily enough, every once in a while they would take a hit.

They were dealing more damage than they were taking, but numbers can overwhelm. The Thalmor managed to push Strillian and Theodane towards the other two Blades. Deep into the fight they fought, covered on all sides as every Thalmor agent converged on them, until they were close enough to smell the breath of the enemy.

Some time passed and the Thalmor masses slowly backed off, separating from the four. Strillian and Theodane were on one knee, looking down. One Blade was on both knees, leaning forward and balancing his weight between his knees and hands. The other Blade lay on his face, dead, in a pool of a mixture of Thalmor and his own blood.

All of the Thalmor stopped, and looked towards the site of the broken warriors with a smile of victory, before sending them to the afterlife.

Theodane fell back on a knee every time he attempted to rise and continue to fight. The living Blade only kept his eyes shut, trying to mentally fight the pain so he could move before the Thalmor ended the pain for him. Strillian looked downward, waiting for what was sure to follow.

BOOM!

Strillian head the cannon and shut his eyes. He had assumed they would use a bow or just just cut their throats. And although a cannon seemed excessive Strillian thought it would lead to a quicker death than an arrow would, and he didn't want to see it coming.

BOOM! BOOM!

Two more cannon fires, 'that can't be right, how could they be missing? Wait, wouldn't firing a cannon on their own ship be recklessly dangerous, these High Elves are too up tight to do anything like that.' Something wasn't adding up and Strillian was beginning to get curious.

BOOM!

Strillian looked up at the sound of another cannon fire. He saw all the Thalmor turned, facing some unknown force. Then, three Thalmor agents were thrown back by a mass of colors.

More cannon shots then the clashing of swords were heard by the three, and though they could not see anything they knew what was there was their best shot of getting to safety and surviving. They looked onward and saw two Blades break through the masses with an Imperial none of them recognized. The three injured warriors were quickly picked put as Strillian tried to look around.

Strillian saw Pinkie Pie, somehow firing four cannons at once. Knowing Pinkie Pie he allowed his brain to focus on other things as he was lead the the edge of the boat quickly and found himself falling off the side, followed quickly by four ponies and four other humans.

Strillian felt himself being engulfed by the water, a sensation that was short lived as a sky blue blur carried him to shore. After a minute everyone had made it to where Strillian was, be it by swimming or carried by Rainbow Dash.

"We have to get help, they need medical assistance" came a voice Strillian recognized as one of his Blades.

"I have a little training, I can see what I can do but without proper equipment and with no connection to the city I can't promise anything" said a voice Strillian didn't recognize.

'Wait, no connection to the city?' Strillian thought. Strillian opened his eyes to find himself on the shore of Lake Rumare instead of the island were the Imperial City stood. He looked out onto the waters to see all five of the boats the Empire had now sinking into the water, and only a small portion of the Thalmor ships.

Strillian managed to will forth enough energy to speak, only to ask the obvious, "we failed, didn't we."

But before Strillian could get an answer, he blacked out.

Never a Dull Moment

Pinkie Pie bounced close behind the Blade as they walked up the steep incline to Cloud Ruler Temple. The few hours they had walked was mostly in silence. Only broken when Applejack or Rarity would comment on the scenery. The trip had taken longer than expected. Fluttershy had made them all stop whenever they would happen across some creatures along the trail. The only time the Blade had spoken was when he had mentioned he was glad none of the animals attacked them on the trip.

The steep trail was a little long and seemed to get radically colder as they moved towards the temple. Once they had reached the top everypony was starting to feel it, though none of the Canterlot guards that remained were shivering it was apparent on their faces.

When they reached the top two large iron gates blocked their path. The Blade stopped a about twelve feet from the doors and Pinkie bounced right into him and fell back.

"Oops, sorry" Pinkie said with a smile.

The Blade ignored Pinkie Pie. Instead he looked up to the top of the wall and shouted "open the gates Strillian!"

A few moments passed an everypony began to look around at each other, but before one could ask the Blade that guided them the iron doors sprang to life. Slowly opening to them. They all walked though to see a few flights of stairs ahead. Pinkie bounced up them excitedly, ready to meet whomever this new friend Strillian was. The others followed behind her.

Just then Pinkie's tail began to spasm, Pinkie gasped. As a Blade walked up to them wearing the same armor the one that guided them did, arms extended in a welcoming gesture, Pinkie Pie tackled the man. A few of the Blades saw this and rushed over, their hands on the hilt's of their blades.

But before they could reach the two a few shingles fell from the roof, landing in front of the Blades that were rushing over, narrowly missing their heads.

"You should be more careful" Pinkie said cheerfully as she bounced away.

"Well you quick reaction time might have saved me an unnecessary trip to the hospital section of our temple, so thank you." said the Blade, looking up at the roof rubbing his head and silently wondering what had caused it.

He didn't dwell on it for long though. He soon got up and dusted himself off. Then, making the same gesture as he did before he said "Welcome, to Cloud Ruler Temple. We are the Blades, we are the hidden eyes and ears of the Emperors throughout the ages. My name is Strillian."

"well howdy there Strillian, mah name is Applejack and these are mah friends, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, an' Rainbow Dash" Applejack said, pointing to each of her friends in turn. "Charmed" Rarity said giving a lady like curtsy .

"Hello everyone, I received word you all would be coming but I wasn't told for what purpose. Care to fill me in?" Strillian said.

It was Pinkie Pie who answered his question, as well as many he didn't ask. "Well you see we have this friend her name is Twilight Sparkle she is a unicorn and she is purple. She is a good friend of our and our princess said she was here, well not here here but here as in this whole place" Pinkie said rolling backwards until she fell.

She got up again in an instant before continuing "Anyway she was born in Equestria and never has been here before, at least I don't think she had been here before. Anyway she came here, probably, and since everypony here is so violent and grumpy we decided to learn to defend ourselves from evil doers across the land" Pinkie said with finality in her voice, raising a hoof to the level of her face and looking slightly upwards.

"What?" Strillian asked.

"We wan't to learn to fight so we can find our friend without getting ourselves hurt" Rainbow Dash told Strillian.

"Well all right then, that can be arranged. We can start tomorrow, but for now why don't go you inside and warm up" Strillian told them. Everypony went inside, excited to get out of the nippy air.

Once everypony had gone inside the Blade that had escorted them walked over and asked "So what do you think?"

"About what?" Strillian asked.

"The pink one."

Strillian chuckled a little before saying "she just kept talking and talking in one incredibly unbroken sentence so that no one had a chance to interrupt her. It was really quite hypnotic."

Strillian and the other Blade walked towards the double doors that lead to the eating hall where their unique guest were now getting settled.

Shotherra followed Vallius as he walked away. She kept him in eyesight but she kept her distance. She followed Vallius until he had reached the cities limits then began walking on the trail. This was her chance.

Shotherra ran up to Vallius, not bothering with stealth on the open trail in broad daylight. Vallius turned to see the female Khajiit running towards him.

"Hello?" Vallius asked.

"Greetings Imperial. I wish to have a word with you, in private" Shotherra said.

"Actually I am married, but thanks for the offer" Vallius said as he began to walk away.

"That's not what I meant" Shotherra said through her teeth as she pulled out her short sword.

Vallius turned back around and looked at the short sword before saying "Anyplace you had in mind?"

They walked for about ten minutes before reaching a small indentation within a few rocks. Vallius looked around, expecting some large animal to have made this a den. Seeing none he focused his attention on Shotherra.

"So who are you and why have you brought me here?" Vallius demanded.

"I just need to know something" Shotherra told Vallius.

"And that would be, what exactly?" asked Vallius.

"Are you working with Lord Aramoth?" Shotherra asked.

"The Khajiit at the mansion said something about an Aramoth fellow" Vallius told her. "I didn't know who he was then and I don't know now."

"Well that was easier than expected" Shotherra said swiping her bladed at Vallius. Vallius was keeping a mindful eye on the Khajiit woman so when she started making the motions to strike Vallius got out of the way.

Vallius drew his own sword as he did so and turned around. Raising his sword just in time to meet Shotherra's blade.

Shotherra cursed herself for not taking his weapon when she had the chance. This was no fool legionnaire, this Imperial clearly knew his way around a blade.

Shotherra jumped back then raised her left hand, extending her claws.

"Are you going to hiss too?" Vallius taunted with a grin.

Shotherra ran up and swung her claws and Vallius who moved out of the way with ease. Then came her short sword from the other direction, Vallius brought up his blade to block but found his strength failing him after he felt a claw slide up his arm.

Vallius backed up, breathing heavily. "Who are you, and what do you want with me?" Vallius asked.

"My name is Shotherra, I am a member of the Dark Brotherhood and someone wants you dead. That is all you need to know" Shotherra said in a dark monotone.

Shotherra ran at Vallius, raising her sword. Vallius stood there, clutching his sword but allowing it to stay at his side.

And then, Vallius smiled his dopey grin.

Address of War

Emperor Titus Mede II stood atop a large balcony overlooking a large open area for which he can address the people of Imperial City. He let out a quite sigh before starting his speech.

"Elves, Best races, and Humans alike:

Yesterday was the 30th of Frostfall in 4E 171, a date that will live on in infamy. On that day I received a letter demanding I surrender my throne and my people to the Thalmor of the Second Aldmeri Dominion. They demanded this with one, simple ultimatum. They threaten our way of life with war.

The Empire was at peace with that nation, and, at the solicitation of the Thalmor, was still in conversation with its government and its leader looking toward the maintenance of peace in the southern reaches of Tamriel. But as of late they have extended their reach into Valenwood and even Elsweyr, and have found there, the confidence to challenge us.

People of the Empire! Of the bravest of nations! I have no doubt of your courage, and none of your victory, which never by any chance or obstacle escaped your efforts.

Most of those who have spoken here before me have spoken of war as something we must fear, something we should avoid if at all possible. This can not be the case today. If we stand aside who will stop the Thalmor? Who will stand up for the families the Thalmor takes? So I stand here, not to say we go to war because we have no choice. Rather, I stand before you to tell you we will fight, and we will win.

We must all come together and tell the Thalmor in one voice, you can not silence us. We will never stand aside while you trample and destroy our very way of life. We will live on, and we will survive.

My people, late last night my faith in one of my most trusted men was called into question. And this morning he is no where to be found. Yesterday our strength was called into question. Will you be absent when the time comes to prove yourselves?

Our form of government does not enter into rivalry with the institutions of others. We do not copy our neighbours, but are an example to them. Let us lead by example. The rest of the world will know of the bravery of every last man and woman of the Empire. We will not surrender, it has never been our way.

Today I stand before you with a simple message. It is a message of hope. Hope for the future and hope for today. Pray to the nine what tomorrow will bring for only they can know.

I am here to tell you that we, as in you and I both, must study politics and war so that our children, and our children's children can have the freedom to study mathematics and philosophy. The only way to secure everlasting peace is through the Thalmor. If we cower now what will happen? What will happen when we show the world we won't defend ourselves?

I know this isn't something you all anticipated but it is a necessary hardship.

And we have not forgotten to provide for our weary spirits many relaxations from toil; we have regular games and sacrifices throughout the year; our homes are beautiful and elegant; and the delight which we daily feel in all these things helps to banish melancholy. Because of the greatness of our city the fruits of the whole earth flow in upon us; so that we enjoy the goods of other countries as freely as of our own.

Then, again, our military training is in many respects superior to that of our adversaries. Our city is thrown open to the world, and we never expel a foreigner or prevent him from seeing or learning anything of which the secret if revealed to an enemy might profit him. We rely not upon management or trickery, but upon our own hearts and hands.

The Thalmor only gained their power through undermining the government system from within. I doubt they have any real strength on the battlefield. They certainly don't frighten me. I have faith in the Imperial Legion.

My people, when we fight you must remember three things. Three core values you must take with you when you go and protect out land.

The first is honor. Now what is honor? What does honor mean to you? I'll tell you what it means to me. Honor is the manifestation of respect; respect for yourself, respect for your fellow man, and respect for your country.

The second core value I want you to take with you when you leave here today is courage. Remember that courage is not the absence of fear, but the acknowledgement of it, and the mastery of it. It means being afraid and doing what you have to do anyway.

The final thing I want you to to keep in mind is commitment. Commitment is simple, a promise. Can you commit to the Imperial Legion and protect your families? And if you can't then you aren't the type of person the Legion is looking for.

Raise your standards, my brave men and women, and set neither measure nor limit to your merited rage. May the lightning of your glory be seen and the thunders of your onset heard from east to west, from north to south. Make no doubt in the minds of our foes that we will stand together as one, and we will not now, nor will we ever surrender!"