Far Away From Equestria...
I look upon what I have done, the destruction I have caused with sorrow and guilt. I murdered millions, ruined billions of generations, and soured my very existence. I, Alduin, first born of Akatosh, don't deserve a second chance, but that is also more reason for me to live, redemption. How could I have gone so low without realizing? It doesn't matter, I am here and now, I am here to help, I am here to become the angel I was meant to be.
As I stared at the stone wall with determination, a small female light blue scaled dragon with white horns was flying as fast as she could in a random direction. Her eyes had tears in them as she recalled what had just happened mere minutes ago.
She was sitting on her throne with her father beside her with a frown on his face. He had disapproved of the relations with ponies, but his authority didn't matter anymore. That was until a large crowd of dragons being led by none other than Garble through the great hall. He had aged into a fully grown monster, always beating up and killing. All of them had angry scowls on their faces as they drew closer. They stopped in front of her and growled.
"We are here to overthrow you, Princess Ember!" Garble said ever so bluntly. Ember shot up from her throne and glared dangerously at them.
"You won't win this fight, Garble! Guards, seize them!" She ordered, but the guards did not respond, rather they turned towards Ember and started stalking forward. Now she was furious. "Traitors! Fine then, me and dad will destroy you, right?" She called up to her enormous father. What she saw made her tear up. Her own father was just looking away while other dragons try to kill her. Now she was desperate to escape this, to run away from the sorrow, to run away from leading. "How could you?! Im your own daughter!" She screamed at her father, who glowered down at her.
"You're no daughter of mine, runt." He spat coldly and turned his back on her. After that was a blur as she flew as fast as she could away from the dragon lands with a few dragons chasing after her.
Ember was still flying as hard as she could in the random direction she chose, but was quickly becoming tired, she was female after all. The five dragons that were following her were catching up now and she had to strain her wings to get her to keep going at the same speed. Soon, Ember saw a lonely mountain with a large cave surrounded by several smaller mountains and she saw this as her only opportunity to escape death or worse. She shook her head of the thoughts of what they would do to her and flew a crash course directly into the cave entrance. She flew in at high speeds and tried her best to not crash, but hit her left wing on a stalactite, breaking it in an instant. Ember gave a yelp and tumbled across the stone floor of the cave until she slammed into the jagged rock wall, knocking her unconscious... or what she thought was a wall... And so the return of the first born begins...
Alduin
I was meditating when I heard a yelp of pain echo from the entrance of my cave. Someone had come here and they were in pain, this was my chance at redemption. So I rose my body off the ground, something I haven't done in decades, and stalked down the vast cave network in my mountain, looking for the being in need. It was as I peeked my head around another corner that something hit me in the side, unmoving. I slowly move my head around to look at the thing that caused this, only for my blood to freeze. A beautiful, young, small, light blue dragoness laid on the ground unconscious. I felt my blood boil as I saw five dragons, much smaller than me, come running towards the dragoness with claws outstretched. I am no stranger to violence, so I let mother nature take its course.
"Gaan Lah Haas!" I shouted and a wave of purple energy consumed them and they fell to their knees, struggling to breath. "Mey! Hi dare Bo Het Ahrk defile Dii Hofkiin Voth Hin Pahlok?! (Fools! You dare come here and defile my home with your arrogance?!)" I boomed. They looked confused, of course they would not know the ancient dragon language, they look like idiots! I was surprised when I heard an authoritative voice come from the dragoness, stricken with panic and awe.
"Kruziik Gein! Nust Los Unt Wah Krii Zu'u! (Ancient One! They are trying to kill me!)" She said quickly as the males started to regain breathing. I turn my head back to the males, giving the sense of danger in the air.
"Treachery." I hissed. "Ven Gaar Nos!" I shouted and a giant cyclone appeared and swept the dragon males off their feet while I held the female in my claws. It slammed one of them into the wall and snapped his neck, another two got impaled by a stalactite and a stalagmite, and the last two were hurled out of the cave and off the mountain, one didn't get lucky and met a sticky end. The last one flapped his wings and scurried off back to where he came from. Lucky. I then remember the little female in my claws and went back into my cave. "Who are you, dovah?" I asked. She looked depressed and then stoic.
"I am...Ember, just Ember." Ember said hesitantly. She was hiding something, but seeing how depressed she looks, I won't press.
"Well then Ember, what brings you to my Strunmah (mountain)?" I ask, hoping to maybe get her to somewhere safe. She looked even more depressed and started lightly crying as I set her down in the massive ball-shaped room. Unable to take the sight of a beautiful dragoness cry, I tried something. "Kaan Drem Ov." I spoke softly so there wasn't a blast of energy as I watched the affect on Ember take place. She calmed down immediately and gained a peaceful smile on her face. "What happened, young dovah? I will protect you from the harmful world, you have my word." I said with an even softer voice (Kinda like Liam Neeson, except Alduin's.). The smile on her face faltered and it turned into a scowl, but no tears.
"I was betrayed by my friends, my family, MY OWN FATHER!" She yelled in pure rage. Betrayal at the hands of one's own family is not lost on me, Paarthurnax was a 'good guy', I was a 'bad guy', so we chose our sides. She had looked down at the floor and started crying again, so I lifted her chin up and shed some wisdom upon her.
"You are not the only dragon who has suffered from betrayal, my brother, Paarthurnax, was purer than me and helped the beings I so cruelly enslaved, setting them upon me to trap me in a time loop. I commend Paarthurnax on his decision, I was evil, and he was good, thusly I needed to be defeated. I brought that prophecy upon myself, not Paarthurnax." I noticed I was staring at the wall and shifted my gaze to her crimson eyes. "Even though we are betrayed, we must reflect on ourselves to find our wrongs and how to right them before it is too late. I failed in that regard and perished to the dovahkiin, as was foretold." I raised a claw and pointed it at her chest. "You have a destiny brighter than the brightest star, your future holds happiness and love." My expression darkened. "And my destiny is blacker than my own heart, destined to misery and death, never to stop killing." I said with sorrow and loss. This time, she brought herself up to my level and gazed deeply into my eyes.
"There is always a sliver of light for those who know how to find it, so you just need to know how to find it." She said, surprising me with her kindness. I felt happier now that I know that she believed in me, I just need to find my purpose. I did something I haven't truly done in over a millennia, I smiled. This small dragoness mortal made me, an immortal dragon god, smile. Maybe there are more to mortals than meets the eye, both good and bad. "I suppose you are happy now, so I guess I should be leaving. Goodbye, Ancient One." She said sadly as she got up and walked over the entrance of the room.
"My name is Alduin, first born of Akatosh, brother to Paarthurnax, second born of Akatosh." I said in a hollow tone, remembering my past. "You will not make it far, the hazards are too harsh for a mortal. Besides, you have a broken wing, I can fix that." I pointed out, much to her annoyance that she has to stay. She came back and sat in front of me with her arms crossed.
"How can you fix my wing?" She asks skeptically.
"Like this, Tiid Slen Qeth (Time Flesh Bone)." I spoke, creating my own shouts. "If I am correct, this should speed up the healing." Just as I said that there was a sickening 'POP!' and she yelped in pain as the bone realigned. "And it seems I am indeed correct, it should heal in a week and a half. Then we can go deal with your dova...situation." I growled the last part, a brother is one thing, a father is another. That idiot better be cowering, for Alduin the World Eater is angry with his insolence. I coiled myself around the unconscious form of Ember and drifted off into a deep sleep that would take me to next week, unknowing that a war was going on...
I woke up with a jolt as I came down from nightmare. I have been having the same nightmare again and again, the dovahkiin killing me. This time, however, there was something different, I felt like I was being watched and when the memory ended, I thought I saw an Equine, but that's impossible, no mere mortal can break into my mind and watch my...nightmares. I rose up off of my stomach and looked down at the sleeping form of Ember. She was the most beautiful dragoness I have ever seen and she looked so peaceful, a peace I must protect. My gaze hardened as I remembered yesterday, the traitorous father, the heart to heart conversation, the wisdom, and the plan. I was going to leave this hell-hole at last, so much misery was made in this cave, not to mention the dead bodies here now. It would be my first time exploring the world I lived in now since when I arrived, I immediately crawled to this cave to drown myself in my self pity and sorrow. Pulling myself out of my thoughts, I looked down upon the slowly stirring form of Ember and checked her wing. It looked much better now, though it still needed some time to heal the ripped muscles from pushing herself too hard. I sigh as I realize that the only option is to have her ride on my back, how humiliating. Ember rose from the ground, stretched her sore muscles, and gave a cute yawn.
"Is my wing fixed yet?" She asked drowsily.
"Yes and no, the broken wing is healed, but you pushed yourself too hard and tore some muscles badly." I stated simply.
"Then what do we do?" She asks.
"You have the honor of being the first mortal to ride my back, most wouldn't survive long enough to do so, especially a female." I stated slyly. She started blushing and biting her lip, I just chuckle. Me and Ember walk out of the cave and out onto the ledge where I let loose a mighty roar followed by a clap of thunder. Ember had hardly realized how humongous I was inside that dark and damp cave, so she was just stuck there ogling at my size and power. I eventually picked her up and placed her on my back so that we could depart. My Black Wings Unfurled and I jumped up into the air and began flying around the mountain once before heading to where Ember was pointing me. We broke through a cloud in our way to see a massive battle raging in the middle of a large plain! The dovah and equines were at eachothers throats. It was a bloody battle, the dovah showed no mercy to the equines and ripped them apart, while the equines obliterated what little dova they could while getting ripped to shreds. A regal white equine was battling fiercely with a large red dovah who had an arrogant air to him. I quickly took action and landed so I could drop off Ember and return to the battle. She offered no resistance and I took off towards the battlefield once again. The white equine and red dova just separated themselves when I landed in between them, simultaneously squashing several dova and equines. "SILENCE!!!" My voice boomed with a deafening thunder clap. Everything went silent, even the air itself seemed too scared to make a noise. "You puny mortals have learned nothing, always fighting the balance and each other!! I am disappointed in the dovah for becoming... this!! Settle your petty differences and leave or my wrath will bring death and agony to ALL who dare challenge me!! Hi Mey Fent Mindok Faaz Fah Daar (You fools shall know pain for this!!)!!" I boomed, making all the equines quiver with fright. Most of the dova didn't seem too frightened, but the elder dova looked scared out of their wits. The red dovah from before walked up to me and gave me a sour look.
"You can't boss me around, I'm the dragon lord! You will obey me like all the other dragons or you will die!" He announced. This arrogant, foolish, impudent child thinks he can command me!!!
"Good, that makes things easier! Gaan Lah Haas!!" I shout and a purple wave of energy hits the red dova and he's brought his knees holding his chest while glowing purple, gasping for breath. "You will die, fool! Rii Vaaz Zol!!" I shouted and a spiral of purple shot forward and hit him in the head, killing him instantly. Everyone gasped as his eyes glowed white and became undead, waiting for a command. "Die" was all I said as his body crumpled to the floor. Everyone just stared in shock at the body of their 'dragon lord'. There was a red glint and I saw a scepter on the ground with a ruby on the top. I could sense great magic in it, terrible magic, something that is too powerful in the wrong hands, so I crushed it with my foot and turned back to the dovah. "Any others who wish to defy me, Alduin, first born of Akatosh,The Eater of Worlds, will die the same way!!" The dovah were dumbfounded by the sheer power of which I possessed while the equines were shocked a dragon learned a form of magic. "Your leader is dead, turn back and leave with your lives. Alduin does not show mercy to his enemies often, but I am turning a new leaf." I growl and they compiled, albeit with hurt pride, but complied. I watched them walk away until they were out of sight and then turned to the white equine. "Leave, you have spilt enough blood on this land, do not make more lives pay the price of war." I could easily tell who the oppressors were in this war, and I am going to teach them a lesson in respect.
"What about the dragons? You would have us throw down our weapons in the face of an enemy?" The white one squeaked.
"I shall take care of the dovah, you shall take your army and leave." I told her with authority. She glared at me before turning around and leaving. Once they were out of sight, I let out an exhausted sigh. When will the mortals ever learn their place? Now I must deal with the dovah before looking for a place of solitude and meditate for the rest of my days, just like Paarthurnax. I sigh to myself again before lifting off the ground and soaring over to Ember, who was sitting on the ground, shocked. I mean I did stop a battle without even raising a claw, all I used was my voice, hehehehe. "Come now, Ember, we must depart to teach these dova a lesson in reality and respect as well as put them in their place." She nods and climbs onto my back, so we depart to the 'dragon lands' as she called it...
TO BE CONTINUED...
Fear. I can smell it coming from the crater I am circling above with all the dragons in it. After a few seconds of drinking it in, I landed in front of a castle and entered. It was as if it were a cave that had torch, carpets, and pillars, very fitting for someone of royalty. I noticed that lots of eyes were drawn to Ember and I distinctly heard a growl, this does not bode well. I kept going forward until I entered a large room with a humongous blue dovah sitting on a large throne in the middle of it. He bore resemblances to Ember with his horns and scales, but otherwise as different as can be, but there was no doubt that this was the father of Ember. I let loose a mighty roar and stand up on my hind legs with my mighty wings stretched out.
"I challenge you for the title of Dragon Lord, so that I may pass it down to the one who should be the rightful Dragon Lord!!" I thundered. He looked amused, then incredulous when he saw Ember on my back, then he glared at me.
"What are you doing?! He will kill you!" Ember whispered in my ear, showing genuine concern.
"I am more powerful than you think." I replied cooly.
"I, Lord Torch, accept your challenge, only if we do it outside." He begrudgingly accepted. Yes, the perfect place for this indeed... We stepped outside into the massive crater and started the fight.
https://youtu.be/gQW3JHQpohA
I started with my roar which summoned a maelstrom above the crater and started raining meteors upon him, then I lunged towards his neck while he was distracted."Hi Fen Haalvut Faaz Fah what Hi Drey Wah Ember, Mey (You will feel pain for what you did to Ember, fool!!)!!" I roared and snapped my jaws around his neck, piercing his scales. He let out a howl of pain and rage and smashed his arm into my head, making me let go and pull back. "Krii Lun Aus!!" I shouted and a wave of purple energy hit him and his eyes bulged out of his head from the extreme pain. Now that he was weakened, I snapped at his legs, trying to make him fall. I delivered severe damage to his legs before he kicked me away and into a stone wall. "Strun Bah Qo!!" I shouted and a blast of energy exploded from my mouth causing a massive storm to encircle above the crater. I took to the skies and Torch soon followed as we ascended higher and higher into both maelstroms. Torch was being struck by both meteor and lightning, so he was weakening fast. I took this opportunity and do something drastic and risky. Rain was pelting me as I dived towards torch and collided with him, which sent us cascading towards the ground. We both crashed into the ground, creating a massive impact crater. I didn't hesitate as I re-latched myself onto his neck and sunk my pike-long teeth into his flesh again. He tried and tried to beat me off as I dug my teeth deeper into his neck and blood was flowing freely from his wounds. I un-latch myself and used the Unrelenting Force shout to propel him into a stone wall, where I proceeded to bathe him in my flames. He limped out blackened and beaten wearing a defeated look upon his face. "You are beaten, Joor (mortal!)! I am not the dovah I used to be, so I will mercy you. I hereby claim the right of Dragon Lord and sentence Torch to exile. Begone with you before I change my mind, Joor." I announced. Torch slowly limped away into exile and the other dovah watched as he went off into the distance without a word, not even an apology to his daughter. I turned towards Ember, this was were we part ways. "Ember, I am ready to pass down the title if you want it." I told her. I was expecting acknowledgement or a nod fervently, I wasn't expecting her to hesitate and deny it.
"I can't, without the scepter, I cannot hope to lead them even if I tried my hardest, they would just try to kill me again. So no, I don't want it." She states with finality. I grin, she is a lot smarter than I thought at first.
"Then so be it, I renounce my title as Dragon Lord! if I find out that this happens again, I will personally kill every single one of you who were apart of it!" I announce to the kingdom of dovah, who shuddered at the thought of being ripped apart by me. I start walking away when I was stopped by Ember.
"Can I come with you to wherever it is you're going, it is clear that I don't belong here in the dragon lands anymore." She says sadly. I look down at her with a fixed stare. Should I bring her along? Will she be bored with my meditations? Will she be safe? Maybe it is fate that she is here with me, telling me that I shouldn't give up, that there is still hope for me. With that in mind, I smiled down at her.
"Yes, but be warned, I am going to pay the equines a little visit, I saw their mountain when we were flying over." I answered and she grew a huge smile on her face.
"If we're going to Equestria, could you stop by a little town in the shadow of the mountain? There are friends there that I want to make sure they are ok." She asked and I nodded. She gave a squee of delight and hopped onto my back, coaxing me to depart immediately. I have never seen her this eager in the short time I've known her, but I have enough knowledge to know that this meant a lot to her. I walked out of the castle for hopefully the last time and let my black wings unfurl. I gave a ground shaking roar and took off into the skies, letting my shadow pass over the dragon lands. After an hour, we were flying over the Everfree forest, Ember had fallen asleep on my back about halfway through, and several griffon hunting parties tried killing me, only to die, of course. Never underestimate a dovah. I see off in the far distance a town with cottages and a very large crystal castle. Interesting material, but it must be a show of how far along they have come in terms of economy, very admirable.
"Who is it you wish to speak to?" I ask the now awake Ember on my back.
"Twilight Sparkle and Spike the dragon. Why?" She asked with a cocked eyebrow. I grin back at her.
"You shall learn what it means to be a true dov, to have power." I say as I landed ON the castle. "Twilight Sparkle, Spike Fin Dovah, Zu'u Bel Hi!! (Twilight Sparkle, Spike the dragon, I summon you!!)" I boom with a thunder clap at the end. It was pandemonium. The terror, the fear, the...disgust?! How dare they!! I will not take they're impude-OOF!! I was literally knocked back to reality by a swift kick to my snout by a ~~familiar~~ light blue pegasus with rainbow hair. This one had an air of arrogance and stupidity to it, fun. "back Tum Nu. (back down now.)" I growled with fury blazing out of my eyes. It dived for another kick at my snout. "Fus Ro Dah!!" I shouted and with the power of my thu'um and how light it was, it was sent flying towards the mountain city. Now that that...itch was done with, I needed to find-ARG!! Again?! I was struck in the back by a powerful blast of magic (luckily Ember was protected by my spines), and when I turned around, I was met with an orange hoof. My head snapped to the side from the impact and I whirled around with my tail, hitting it in the side, barely missing a spike on my tail. I was then hit by another blast of magic and I was done with these mortals. "ENOUGH!!" The sheer power of my voice sent all of the surrounding equines into the walls of buildings.
"I have had enough of your mortal playing!! I came here to meet Twilight Sparkle and Spike the dragon! Show yourselves!!" I roared out into the crowd that was slowly getting up and groaning from my knockback. A lavender equine with wings and horn landed in front of me with a purple and green lizard on its back.
"That would be us! Why are you here, dragon?!" She sneered the word 'dragon'.
"I have come to tell your leader that the dragon war is over! But I might start it again just because of that, Joor!" I roared and she blanched at the thought of what her teacher might say about her starting a war. "But the mighty Alduin is feeling merciful today and I have someone else who wants to meet you two." I said and lowered Ember down with by one claw. Twilight gave a gasp seeing who it was and started apologizing again and again.
"It's fine Twilight, it was just Alduin being Alduin. I mean he did just come back from humiliating my good-for-nothing father and single handedly stopped a war." She said with the littlest care. The ponies looked like fishes with their mouths open. Mmmmmmm, fish~
"Oh? You're setting my standards so low for me~ I am practically an Aedra, or in your tongue, a god." I said, feigning offense. She and the ponies just stared wide-eyed at me. Ember and Twilight talked quite a bit about the happenings, but left out the betrayal for obvious reasons, while I was with Spike.
"Soooo, you're a dragon right?" He asked in his scratchy voice.
"Yes and no. I am a dovah, which is dragon in your tongue, but I am from a different realm, one where dov are honorable, not these spineless lizards in the dragon lands. Sahlo Dovah. (Weak dragons)" I said. He looked up at me confused.
"How are you from another realm?" He asks.
"I died, but my soul was carried here and purified. I hope to find my better purpose in life, even if it means keeping the peace, something I've never been inclined to doing in the past." I explained with a scowl. He looked sympathetic and stared down at the floor.
"Yeah, sometimes I wonder what will happen when I grow up and what I'll do." He said.
"You show the heart and soul of a true dovah, you can do anything when you put yourself to the task, even saving the world. Come find me when you are older to learn your inner Thu'um." I said with a fatherly smile on my face. He smiled back at me like a child would to an elder after helping with their troubled mind.
"Thank you, I really needed that, things have been getting stressful lately." He said while gesturing towards Twilight and the other ponies I met earlier.
"Kul heart Ahrk Sil Los Lot Suleyk (good heart and soul is great power), you have a lot going for you in the future, do not let it down by sagging along now." I warned him. His only reply was a nod of his small head. I looked to the skies to see the sun setting in the west. "It is unfortunately time for us to depart, I have my own battle wounds to recover and Ember needs to stay with me at all times." I announced, much to the annoyance of the town.
"*sigh* Very well then, I hope to see you soon Ember!" Twilight said and waved as Ember climbed onto my back. She smiled and waved back before I lifted off and went to the nearest mountain. It had a large cave, big enough to fit me, Ember, and another dragon my size with some treasures already inside from the previous occupant. This will do for a nice home, close to the joor to keep an eye on them, cozy, and isolated.
"Sleep Ember, you will need your strength for the coming days, I sense a familiar presence, a soul that has been CARRIED through like I have. I thank Akatosh for this second chance Ahrk Krosis. (and sorry.)" I said before falling asleep... but there was another presence, a pink dragoness followed them from the dragon lands.
"All that power will be MINE!" She whispered greedily to herself before flying to the top of the mountain.
I groaned as I awoke from my slumber...or my death. I look down upon myself to see I was unharmed and unscathed. But how? I died trying to kill a dragon with the dovahkiin, but then it used a shout I never heard before and I was killed from being impaled. No matter, I must find my kin and sort this out. And with that in mind, I lifted off to go to the summit of a nearby mountain.
"The Joors shall remember the name Odahviing!" I said into the night...
TO BE CONTINUED....
