A grave to dig, and a body to rise
It was a good day for Twilight and the other members of the mane 6. They had just defeated another villain that threatened the ponies of Equestria. Though some would question how someone who would not stop talking in the library could really hurt someone, some have called it propaganda but not in public. As they don't want to be treated by outcasts. Celestia came to pony Ville to tell them what other lesson they have learned and how the magic of friendship will always be strong, no matter what. Of course pinkie pie just had to throw a party to celebrate. Applejack could not stay for the party though as she had important family matters to attend to.
"Once again I am proud of you, all of you. You have proven once again, that evil, no matter how big can never truly defeat the magic of friendship." Celestia said with a smile as the party was ongoing. The ponies were having fun, than again most of Pinkie's parties are good.
"I could have taken this baddie out in ten seconds flat, but I decided to go easy on him." Rainbow cash boasted as he flew around gaining a few glances from some ponies, mostly from the friends of the villain who were currently discussing his hospital bill.
Pinkie Pie was bouncing around happily. "I can't wait to plan the other two parties.!" she shouted as she defied all laws of reality.
"Other parties darling? I mean I know you love throwing parties, but shouldn't you take a break? Rarity asked her as she was reading a beauty magazine.
"Nonsense, I still need to throw a party for Applejack when she gets back, and also one for our new bipedal friends!" Pinkie shouted once again, this time confusing everyone
"New bipedal friends? Pinkie, I don't see any...…" Twilight was cut off as one cue a massive explosion is heard, which causes everyone to rush outside to see what happened. Over the everfree is a massive portal.
"Oh come on...…." they all say in unison as the portal soon covers most of the everfree.
"Twilight...…..will we ever catch a break?" Rarity asks as she comforts the scared Fluttershy.
"No I do not think we ever will." Twilight replies as she holds Rainbow back with her magic to stop her from just rushing to the portal
A few moments earlier
Some where in the farthest snow mountains of Skyrim is a tower. Barely anyone knows of this tower, the combination of dragons and a civil war raging on has drawled their attention away. Pretty much the only people who knows of it's existence is the residents. One particular resident and the ruler of the tower is a necromancer known to his allies as Skaler. Over the years he had amassed a bunch of servants who all are incredibly loyal to him as most of them are outcasts or criminals on the run as he has given the, shelter.
They consist of a banished mage from the college of Winterhold who was found experimenting on dead bodies, a disgrace captain of the guard who failed to protect a village from a bandit attack, as the reports were false. Triplets consisting of a alchemist, a blacksmith, a enchanter, and all of their assistants, the enchanter was using humans and black soul gems to make decent enhancements, and where one brother goes, the other two follow. A ranger who killed a Thane he found poaching in his personal forest, and was of course forced to hide. A steward and Skaler's closest friend who shares in Skaler's dream to start a kingdom. He also has human soldiers as his Steward and Captain of the guard have done some recruitments over the years, money and power can buy almost anything
Of course those are just his living subordinates, he is a necromancer after all. Most of his undead consist of soldiers that Skaler has raised over the years. He mostly watches on going battles, like a fight between bandits and guards, like a hawk. He than swoops in and kills or knocks out the survivors, depending on the situation. The undead soldiers under his command are able to follow commands, albeit sorta iffy. He plans to solve this by further delving into necromancy. However one does stand out, a monster of a man, his personal body guard. Most of them are loyal to him, and that's all that matters.
"Alright, everything is in order. the ritual can be preformed!" Skaler shouts out to everyone in the room. "Now I know you are wondering why we are doing this ritual. You see with this ritual I will be able to further grow my powers and will be one step closer to raising an undead that isn't completely brain dead and can have somewhat of a will of his own. "But before we start I'll like to thank all of you. Ryker my captain, Raft my wizard, Jack my blacksmith, Henry my alchemist, Qarth my enchanter, Ranger Mike, and of course Harkon my close friend. "Now time to get this party started!" They all smile as they begin to help get the ritual started
Skaler takes a deep breath as he walks to the center of the room and opens his spell book and flips through the pages.
"Alright after I cast this spell I should be knocked out for a little bit, do not worry though I will not die. When I wake up I should have gain a little bit more knowledge and understanding of the dart arts of necromancy, now time to do this." He begins to cast the spell as his friends look on stepping back a little bit, just in case. They trust Skaler, but sometimes magic can fail.
As he begins to finish casting a spell, sheer bad luck happens as a bird flies into the room and knocks over a vase which shatters against his head. "You have got to be kidding me....." he says as he falls to the ground miscasting the spell which causes a portal to open and he is sucked in. His friends are in shock as they all begin to get sucked in, and despite their best efforts it's no use. Soon pieces of the tower begin to get sucked in as the tower just crumbles and the entirety of Skaler's forces just get sucked in. After a while the portal closes leaving the area where a mighty tower once stood, barren. Skyrim is now rid of one problem, but soon Equestria will have to face this problem
Author's Note
Alright here you are. I have wrote in the past but I vieweed most of the stories I have came up with as utter garbage and never published/or even countiied to work on them. I wrote this because I want to become a better writer. Please post your honest opinions on this and how I can make it better. I will continue to work on this whenver I can
A grave to dig, and a body to rise
Present Time
Skaler is lying down on the ground near a tree. With a grunt, he opens his eyes and groggily gets up using the tree to lean on. "My head... what happened....where am I." He says as he slowly begins to inspect his surroundings. "A forest, what hold am I in?" he asks out loud before coming to a realization. "No snow...I'm not in Skyrim," he says as he stops leaning on a tree and begins to wander around.
After some wandering, he finds a stream of water and kneels down and drinks from it. He suddenly looks up and sees the still open portal and his eyes widen. "Oh no.... the ritual...it failed." He says as he begins to remember the outcome of the ritual. "All this caused by a bird..... I hope my friends are...." Skaler is cut off when suddenly the portal violently closes causing a shockwave that sends Skaler into a tree. He screams in pain, which attracts the attention of a particular wooden predator of the everfree.
As Skaler is trying to recover, he hears growls and looks around, spotting a wooden woof slowly approaching him. He attempts to unsheathe his dagger which causes the wolf to bolt towards him and leap at him, but before it can even get close enough to take a bite out of him, a bolt of fire strikes it, knocking it back and making it howl in pain. Before the wolf can do anything else a consistent stream of fire hits it. Soon the wolf collapses, dead from the intense flames.
Skaler takes a look at his savior and sighs in relief. "Raft... if you are here than the others are here. Skaler says as raft helps him up. "Raft, what really happened... I didn't really see when I was knocked out?" he asks. "As you were preparing the spell, a bird flew into the room and knocked a vase on you, which knocked you out and caused you to miscast the spell, which opened a portal and brought us here." Raft replies as he inspects the burnt body of the timberwolf.
"How interesting, a wooden wolf. Sort of reminds of the Spriggans ." Raft says as he drinks a mana potion. "Come, Raft, we have no time to lose, if creatures such as these inhabit these woods, there must be more of them and probably other dangerous foes lurking, we must find the others. Skaler says as he begins to go deeper into the forest followed by Raft.
Meanwhile
A timberwolf growls as it collides with a shield and is pushed back. "How are you faring, Mike!" Ryker shouts as he swings his sword at incoming wolfs while Mike shoots arrow after arrow at the wolves, using his agility to evade them and using a dagger if they get too close. "I am doing fine, I am used to facing wolves, but wooden ones..." Mike responds as he rolls away from a wolf.
The same timberwolf charges Ryker again, and Ryker responds with a shield bash, stunning the wolf and then drives his sword through the wolf's eye. "I wish I had an ax, it would help with dispatching these creatures quickly, he says as he pulls his sword out and slashes at a leaping wolf. "Fire enchanted weapons would be better, but I believe most of our enchanted equipment is gone." Mike says as one of his arrows hits a timberwolf directly in the eye. Suddenly more and more Timberwolves appear and lunges at Stryker from behind and pins him to the ground.
However, a pained shout is heard, followed by more. Suddenly an undead rushes out of nowhere with an ax and tackles the timberwolf off Stryker and begins to mercilessly hack it to death. The other timberwolves growl and move in to attack when suddenly, more and more undead charge out of nowhere. They begin to attack the wolves putting them on guard. One of the undead gets its arm torn off, but its sense of pain and most of its emotions have washed away as it continues to brutally tear the wolves to pieces. Soon the wolves are overrun by the horde and, soon all of them are dead.
Mike helps Stryker up as the soldiers employed by Skaler arrive with Harkon, Henry, Jack, and Qarth in tow. "A bit too late for the party," Stryker says as he catches his breath. "We would have come sooner, but we ran into a much....bigger problem and had to take a detour," Harkon says as the soldiers form up a perimeter. "Define big?" Mike asks as he collects his arrows. "Well...I think this forest has....mantikoras" Harkon replies.
"You have got to be kidding me.... aren't they only suppose to be in Craglorn....are we in Craglorn?" Ryker asks as he sharpens his blade. Harkon sighs. "Yes, and no we are not in Craglorn....this place is...lively." Harkon says as he readies his blade. "I believe one may have followed us, get ready." Harkon says as everyone readies their weapons as the tree leaves rustle, and suddenly a manticore rushes put and roars causing everyone to back up a little. "Come one men, to arms!" Ryker yells to his men and they all shout their battle cry. "A grave to dig, and a body to rise!" and prepare to battle the manticore. which roars in response and prepares to attack them.
Meanwhile in ponyville
Celestia had forbidden anyone from venturing into the everfree. She herself chose not to go, as she wanted to stay near her ponies and protect them, should any danger arise. The portals sudden emergence had put everyone on edge. To face a problem so soon after the other is just stressing, and Celestia has a feeling this problem will be much more troublesome than mild annoyances. "No matter what, I will protect you." Celestia says as she has Twilight write a letter to Luna, telling her to don her armor and gather up as much guard she can to prepare for anything.
Author's Note
Sorry about cutting the chapter short before the manticore battle. I just didnt want to drag on the chapter too long. The next chapter will mainly focus on the manticore. If you want me to detail my stories more, just say so and I will see what I can do.