Dragon's Dogma: Arisen of Equestria

Chapter 13

A Hero’s Reward

“Wake up whore.” said a male voice as Arisen felt cold water hitting her. The dragon girl’s eyes shot open as she gasped and looked around to see where she was. To her surprise, she found herself in what appeared to be a dungeon cell. To be specific, she was in Gran Soren’s castle dungeon. She knew what was going on once she eyed the person in her cell, though instead of a man, it was a tall fat male dragon with a whip in his hand along with a few torture instruments next to him on a small table. “Good, you’re awake. Didn’t want you to miss out on the punishment you were going to get~”

“Gran Soren dungeon...this brings back some...painful memories.” Arisen thought as she knew what this dream was about. She was asked to come to the duchess’s room at night to take with her. Though things went south the moment the Duke almost killed her and she interrupted the attempt. As a means to escape the Duke’s wrath and possibly having Arisen and The duchess killed, she made up a lie to save both their asses from certain death or worse. It was understandable for her to do that...but it sucked that she had to deal with the beatings from this man...or dragon in this case.

“Must be nice having a private time with the duchess?” The dragon said as he brought his whip up into the air before bringing it down onto Arisen’s back, causing her to wince in pain from feeling it break the scales on her back in the process. “Enjoying some treats of the duchess?” He asked as he whipped her again. “Must’ve been from very good treats if you were ballsy enough to do that~”

“It wasn’t like they would believe me if I told the truth. The word of a hero against the word of the duchess who’s married to the Duke doesn’t work well in court.” Arisen thought as she winced again from the pain she felt on her back.

“I bet you had some of her tea as well, didn’t you~?” He asked while whipping her again as she let out a grunt of pain. “Wouldn’t be surprised. Given how you’re from the stinking town of fish. I bet you drink out of a fish’s mouth along with your meals.” The male dragon pulls his hand back along with the whip in his hand and begins to relentlessly barrage Arisen’s back with his whip. The dragon girl gritted her teeth from the pain she felt as more scales broke off her back, making more freshly made marks and cuts on her backside. All she could do was hang there and endure the pain she felt from the jailor to the dungeon she was in. Did it suck? Yeah, it did. But given the fact that the Duke would’ve killed the duchess, this was a better outcome than anything else.

“We have had enough of this!” said a familiar voice as Arisen felt her shackles disappear and fall onto a soft cloud. Arisen looked around to see that the dungeon she was in was replaced with the open sky and clouds. Her ears twitch upon hearing the sounds of something flapping as she looks up to see Luna looking down at her with a sad expression.

“I keep forgetting that you can do something like this,” Arisen said as she pulled herself up slightly to look at the dark blue alicorn.

“We sensed that you were having another nightmare like before...That place you were in.”

“The dungeon of Gran Soren. A place where criminals are locked up until they’re released or executed depending on their crimes.” She answered while leaning back. “I ended up there due to the Duchess lying about what I was doing there to save my butt.”

“Because she was afraid that you both might be killed when she requested you to come to see her during the night.” Luna finished as Arisen nodded. “It would make sense in a logical way given how she didn’t have magic to teleport you out. But if she did that, then the king would’ve killed her by choking her.”

“Yeah...Better that I suffer then her, no?”

“....If I’m being honest, no. The feats that you told us that you performed, the lives you tried to save, the sacrifices you made. A warrior of your caliber shouldn’t have to go through what you’ve done.”

“Perhaps. But without pain like that, how can a person learn to grow? I have a lot of regrets about the actions that I’ve taken during my travels that got me this far. I just wish things didn’t end as they were before I left.”

“We can’t change our past. No matter how much we want to change it. All we can do is learn from them and move forward with our lives. You especially, seeing how you saved Ponyville from Cerberus.” Luna said as Arisen blushed in embarrassment. “A feat like that deserves a reward.”

“Please, there is no need for a reward or anything like that.”

“We insist. Given that you’re from a distant land, it would be unbecoming of us to reward you for your bravery and valor.” Luna said as her horn glowed for the moment. The moment she did that, an image of the sword she picked from the skeleton monster appeared. With a snap of her fingers, the sword soon changed into a much slimmer and elegant greatsword as it floated over to Arisen.

“R-Really, you don’t need to do this. You have given me enough gifts as it-”

“Accept the gift, Arison. You’ll need it given how you’re in Ponyville. The place is prone to monster attacks daily.” Luna said after she appeared in front of the dragon and pressed the sword against Arisen’s chest.

“....You’re not going to let me out of this place until I accept your gift, aren’t you?”

“Indeed,” Luna answered as Arisen sighed in defeat.

“Fine, I’ll accept the gift….Feels like you and the princess are spoiling me with too much.”

“We always reward anypony doing a heroic act such as you just did,” Luna said before moving back a bit from Arisen. “But for now, it’s time for you to wake up. Because the girls are waiting for you to do so.”

“Wait what-” Before Arisen could finish asking the lunar princess, the world around her began to fade away into nothingness as Luna waved goodbye to the dragon girl with a smirk on her face.

Arisen’s eyes shot open once the dream had ended. She quickly stood up to see where she was as she found herself in what appeared to be Twilight’s home. The dragon girl soon looked over herself on Twilight’s couch. The last thing she could remember was feeling the wind knock out of her lungs due to Pinkie Pie’s hug…for a girl who she could guess never fought before, she sure can knock the wind out of a person with just that type of hug. Her ears twitched upon hearing a pair of footsteps coming out of the kitchen. She looked over at the doorway to see Twilight enter the room, but was taken by surprise upon seeing Arisen awoken.

“Oh thank Celestia you’re okay,” Twilight said as she made her way over to her. “You’re not hurt are you? I mean other than what happened with Cerberus, but more of what happened with Pinkie Pie’s hugging you too hard?”

“Other than the pain in my chest from her hugging me, I’m fine.” She said before pulling herself up a bit as she scanned the room. “How long have I been knocked out?”

“Only for an hour. During that time, Fluttershy led Cerberus back to the gates of Tartarus and the girls are checking to make sure nopony got hurt during Cerberus’s rampage…It puzzles me as to why Cerberus would do something like that.”

“What do you mean?”

“Celestia ordered Cerberus to guard the gates of Tartarus. But he disobeyed her order and started running around Ponyville.” She said before noticing Arisen’s confused expression. “Oh, right. You’re new to Equestria, so you wouldn’t know what Tartarus is.”

“I take it it’s an important place that needs to be guarded?”

“It’s a prison where the most vicious of villains are housed. Seeing how keeping them in a normal prison in the Canterlot dungeon can’t hold them, Tartarus can, given how it suppresses a pony’s or being’s magic.” She said before placing a hand on her chin.

“Shouldn’t there be like other ponies guarding the place? I mean sure having a giant hound to guard the place seems like a good idea to stare ponies off, but what about those who aren’t scared?”

“Celestia figured that Cerberus would be able to handle the responsibility, but it seems somepony must’ve placed a strong spell on him. But who would be strong enough to do that to him?” She said before pondering the thought of who it could be that caused Cerberus to rampage through Ponyville.

“Well I would love to help you out in this matter, but something like this is far beyond my skills of investigation,” Arisen said before pulling herself up from the couch she was on. “I’m gonna go head out into town, and make sure everyone is safe.” She said before heading off towards the door to Twilight’s house, only to feel herself being magically levitated back to her. “Um…is something the matter?”

“Sorry, but I can’t let you do that. Specifically, there’s a reason why you’re here and not at Rarity’s home.”

“...Am I in trouble?”

“Oh, no. You’re not in trouble. Pinkie Pie insisted on hosting a party for you in honor of saving Ponyville not once, but twice. She wanted me to make sure you wouldn’t accidentally come across her store and see her putting up the decorations.”

“Oh, um…t-there’s no need to do something like that.”

“As modest as you are. You indeed deserve a reward for what you did.” Twilight said as she placed Arisen back onto the couch. “Look, I know you’re not the kind of dragon that wants a reward for your efforts, and I can’t blame you for being a bit hesitant in accepting something like this given your…past events. But here in Equestria, things are different. I mean sure it’ll take a while for ponies to accept you, but you can bet the girls and I have your back, no matter what.”

“But-”

“No butts. Butts are for sitting.” Twilight said after pointing a finger at Arisen, who in turn flinched a bit from the sudden action. “You’re going to take the reward. Okay?” She ordered as Arisen stared at the alicorn for a good few seconds before letting out a sigh of defeat as she nodded.

“I…Suppose it wouldn’t hurt to accept Pinkie Pie’s offer.”

“Perfect,” Twilight said as she pulled out a book and a quill pen. “We have a couple of hours before Luna raises the moon and Pinkie Pie’s party starts. So during that time, I would like to write down some notes about the spells you used during your fight with Cerberus.” She said as Arisen was about to leave again, only for Twilight to lock the doors and windows to her home. “Nice try, but you’re not going anywhere until the part and until I get some information out of you.”

“Gods above, give me strength to deal with this pony.” Arisen thought before noticing Twilight opening the book she has.

“Now, question one. That healing spell you performed on yourself. How were you able to not only heal yourself, but perfectly repair the muscles, veins, and bones within your leg from when you pulled that shard of glass out of your leg? Is the spell made up of different healing spells or just one? Can every dragon from where you come from use the same spell as you can?”