The Sleeping Hero

Chapters

Chapter 1a: A World Forgotten: Part 2
Chapter 2: Trouble on the Horizon (minor edits 3/15/20)
Chapter 3: History Repeats...
Chapter 4: Surviving The Aftermath
Chapter 6: The Fall From Grace: Part 1
Chapter 6a: The Fall From Grace: Part 2
Chapter 7: A peaceful day
Chapter 1: A World Forgotten: Part 1
Chapter 5: A Better Day, A New Battle to Survive (Minor part added about halfway through)

Chapter 1a: A World Forgotten: Part 2

Present time in Luna's private chambers

She opens the door and enters, stepping to the side to shut the door once they are inside the room and sees a dark spot showing through some covers. Assuming she threw up again she asks, "Did it occur again, dear sister?" Once she sees Star Swirl walk past her, she shuts the door saying, "Twilight has found a couple old books in the library of our old ruined Castle of Two Sisters, I tried to read what they said but couldn't. I sent a letter to Star Swirl requesting his presence, when he appeared I asked him to try to read them and he said that the first book had a prophecy in it. He says that it may have already came to pass many, many years ago, while the other one also had a prophecy that sounds like is coming true already. He has also informed me of a ruin that was discovered that has nine glowing runes on it matching our Cutie Marks, the Element bearers, and Star Swirl's as well. I do believe that we must go take a look at it and find out what it means, do you agree with me sister?"

Princess Luna stares in amazement at what she just heard from her sister's lips, pauses and thinks for a moment on it before saying, "Yes it has sister, I will never be able to forget the things that I saw in that place. As for what you just told me sister, I agree with you. Let us prepare and make haste to discover what this means." She then makes her way towards her closet to find something suitable for wearing outdoors with a possibility of getting dirty.

Celestia ushers everyone out of the room in a hurry so she too can prepare for the journey saying to the others, "Luna and I will gather a few guards to come with us and bring a carriage large enough for all of us to ride to the ruin and meet up with you at your castle in Ponyville. Please gather the rest of the elements Twilight so Star Swirl can get a brief nap to lead us to where it is, oh and please tell Rarity that getting a little dirty is expected on visiting a ruin as old as this one is."

Twilight chuckles and says, "I will get on that as quickly as possible, but will not hurry to do those tasks so Star Swirl can get some sleep. What happened to Princess Luna, she looked a little unwell."

Celestia sighs and answers her, "She's been having the same dream for the past three nights and it is taking a toll on her, but she shall be fine because I will keep an eye on her."

Twilight smiles saying, "It is good to hear that she is in capable hands, Princess Celestia. We shall be waiting for your arrival!" She then looks at Star Swirl and nods, and then they teleport to her castle in Ponyville.

As they reach the castle, Twilight enters and leads Star Swirl to the closest guest bed, laying the two books beside her backpack on the map table to finish cleaning and sorting later. As she reaches the guest room she calls her assistant Spike over and says to him, "Please make sure that Star Swirl is given food and drink and make sure he is comfortable for when he decides to lay down, and then don't let anypony bother him. He needs all the sleep he can get for the journey a few of us are going on to visit an old ruin that is over seventy thousand years old, I wonder what we will find there. Oh the possibilities! Ok, well I am off to gather the rest of the Element Bearers. I will be back in about an hour or so Spike, so take good care of Star Swirl while I'm gone."

Twilight exits the front doors of the castle and heads towards Rarity's boutique, only to run into the CMC's discussing how cool it would be to see a volcano erupt. She greets them saying, "Hello girls, how is your day going?"

Apple Bloom replies, "Our day is great so far! In class we learned of a volcano that blew itself to smithereens, changing the shape of the world to what we see today."

She giggles and says, "And what might the name of this volcano be girls?"

Sweetie Belle is the first to answer, looking to Scootaloo saying, "Umm...I think it was called Mist Mountain?"

Scootaloo answers the question next saying, "It's name was Fireholm I believe."

Apple Bloom face palms herself in frustration, correcting them saying, "No, girls it was called Mount Rifthelm, remember? Miss Cheerilee told us that recent studies proved that the first time it erupted was about seventy thousand years ago."

Twilight cocks an eyebrow saying, "Excuse me Apple Bloom, how long ago did you say this volcano first erupted?"

As Apple Bloom repeats what she said, Twilight's jaw opens slightly saying, "Wow, that prophecy may actually be true."

Sweetie Belle cocks her head in curiosity saying, "What prophecy is coming true Twilight?"

She shakes her head clear of the thoughts and sends the girls back on their way saying, "Oh nothing girls, it's nothing important I'm sure. Go back to enjoying your day, I have errands to run."

As the CMC's group hi five each other saying, "Cutie Mark Crusaders Volcano Researchers!" They then all hop onto Scootaloo's scooter and zoom off into the distance towards their clubhouse.

Twilight walks into Rarity's boutique saying, "Rarity, are you home?" when she hears Rarity say from somewhere inside, "Greetings darling, I am just finishing up an order for a client. What can I do for you?" As she spots her at the sewing machine in the boutique, she says to Rarity, "Hey Rarity, Star Swirl found an ancient ruin that has nine glowing runes on it that matches Cutie Marks belonging to Celestia, Luna, Fluttershy, AppleJack, Rainbow Dash, You, Star Swirl, Pinkie Pie, and me. I am gathering the rest of the Element Bearers for a journey to the ruin, so Celestia suggests that you should dress up in something that can be expected to get dirty."

Rarity's eye twitches uncontrollably saying, "Dress in something that can be expected to get dirty?!" She huffs and puffs at the thought of allowing herself to get dirty, stomping around the boutique in irritation at the thought of getting dirty. She calms down a few minutes later, re straightening herself and says, "If I must come with you darling and get dirty, I will have to bear it for the benefit of all."

As Twilight turns to leave Rarity's boutique, she says to her, "We are going to be traveling with Celestia and Luna within the hour, so please meet us in front of my castle when you are ready to go. I doubt we will be there long, so please try to pack light."

Rarity chuckles and laughs saying, "I don't know what you mean darling, I always pack light. I will meet you there, don't fret Twilight."

Twilight then exits the boutique and heads over to Sugar Cube Corner to inform her friend of the discovery and meeting. As she finally arrives at Sugar Cube Corner and walks inside saying, "Pinkie Pie are you here?" She jumps as her unpredictable friend pops up out of nowhere.

Pinkie smiles at her saying, "Hi Twilight, did you know that a new ruin was discovered not too long ago and that a few of us are going to go and check it out in about an hour?"

She looks shocked and says, "H-How did you know that Pinkie? I have only told Rarity about our adventure so far, and she was less than thrilled about getting dirty."

The unpredictable party pony replies, "Well, I saw you go into Rarity's and a window was open and overheard what you were talking about. You don't have to worry about telling Rainbow Dash because she was pranking me when you started talking. We both will be there in about an hour so, see you soon!" she then vanishes into thin air and returns to her room to prepare for the Journey.

Twilight then exits Sugar Cube Corner and proceeds to head to Fluttershy's house next to tell her about the adventure that she is required to go on. Arriving a few minutes later, she sees her tending to her animals. When she tells her about the recent discovery of the ruin, she is surprised to find out that she was wondering when the next adventure with all her friends would be.

She then leaves Fluttershy's house and makes her way towards Applejack's. As she reaches the front gate, she spots Applejack waiting for her at the gate, waving to her. As she walks up to Applejack she says, "Let me guess, Rainbow told you already?"

Applejack laughs and pats her friend on the back saying, "Darn tootin' she did, Ah could use a bit of a break from farm work fer awhile. This adventure will be the perfect remedy for that, let's git goin' or we might be late."

Twilight turns around and walks with Applejack to her castle, making conversation as they walk. The castle finally comes into view several minutes later with her friends standing in front of it and a carriage flying through the sky towards her castle to land.

The pair arrives in front of the castle as the carriage touches the ground and rolls to a stop with a small group of ten Pegasi guards and ten Lunar Thestral guards accompanying them as Princess Celestia steps out of the carriage and greets the group saying, "It is good to see you all again my friends, please feel free to just call us by name while we are on this journey together. I ask this because we are not going on this mission in an official matter, I am just going as a regular pony much like yourselves. It pleases me to see that you all were able to make it within the hour, shall we get ourselves on our adventure then?"

They all agree and then enter the carriage as Celestia is the last one to get in saying to a guard pulling the carriage, "We are ready, please listen to the directions that Star Swirl gives you." As the carriage starts moving, the ponies inside the carriage strike up conversation with each other to fill in the time until they arrive at the ruin.

After about a half hour of traveling, Star Swirl looks out the window and spots the ruin they are looking for. With a smile while pointing a finger at the ruin he says, "There it is girls, this is the ruin that I discovered about a week ago, It took a while to get A.K. Yearling to help me on this expedition."

They all look outside at where he is pointing and Rainbow speaks up first saying,"THAT is what we're looking for? It is just a hole in the ground! I bet anypony that all it is is just a garbage pit!"

Applejack smirks and says, "I'll take that bet, I bet you a hundred bits that it's somethin important." She then spits in her hand and holds it out for Rainbow to shake.

Rainbow grins wider, spits into her own and shakes her hand saying, "HA! Easiest hundred bits I ever made, you are on Applesmack."

Everypony laughs at their banter exchange as Star Swirl points out the location where the camp is so they can land. As the guards pulling the wagon start heading in for a landing, Twilight is deep in thought trying to figure out who or what the last part of that prophecy was talking about saying out loud, "Hmmm...An ancient hero, from the old shall they rise, to do battle with the one that came before. I really want to find out what that prophecy is talking about with that last part, it is really bugging me that I can't figure it out."

As the carriage touches the ground, Star Swirl looks to Twilight and says, "Don't worry Twilight, I am confident that you will figure out what that last part is talking about." Just then he remembers about the strange thing about this ruin that makes it so different from the others and says, "Oh one more thing I forgot to mention girls, is that the area all around the ruin has a very high density of magic in the air and the soil. So you may feel a bit weird til you get used to it."

When the carriage comes to a stop, the group hastily exits it. They find themselves all too eager to find out what that ruin is hiding. As they walk through the camp, all eyes are on them as they make their way to the magically sealed door. Fluttershy gets a bit nervous and says, "Umm, I am not too sure about this, but it somehow feels that everypony's eyes are on us for some reason."

Princess Luna looks around and sighs saying, "We'd hate to admit it but we have to agree with thou on that Fluttershy. I believe they are just as anxious to find out what is behind the door as we are."

They walk up the side of the mound of meticulously stacked carved stone and down the stone stairs and stare at the door bearing their Cutie Marks as Rarity asks, "Does anypony have a clue as to how to unlock this seal?"

Twilight steps forward saying, "Hmm, I'm gonna take a closer look at it and see if I can get a clue as to what we are supposed to do."

Rainbow snickers and says, "You have been spending too much time with Zecora, Twilight. You are starting to sound like her."

She blushes and glares softly at Rainbow and studies the door for a moment before trying to touch her Cutie Mark rune. As a few moments pass with nothing happening, she tries firing a beam at the door to blow it off the hinges. The crowd gasps behind her as her Cutie Mark on the door starts glowing brightly and shatters, vanishing into nothing as it is removed. At seeing this, it comes clear as to what they must do and says, "It appears to me that we are required to cast our magic at the door to remove each of our Cutie Mark rune seals from the door." To prove herself right, she asks Fluttershy to try casting her magic at the door through touch.

Fluttershy nervously steps up to the door and tries using her magic on the door but only succeeds in placing Twilight's rune back onto the door in the same spot and says, "Oh dear Twilight, I didn't mean to do that. I was just doing what you asked me to when that happened."

Rainbow gets frustrated and tries to break down the door by performing a flying kick on it saying, "Watch out everypony! I'm gonna smash right through that hunk of old wood!" When she takes to the air and lands a solid kick to the door, she is rewarded with a mild electric shock, making her say, "YEOUCH THAT SMARTS, STUPID SEAL!! So much for your idea, Twilight."

Twilight frowns and takes a closer look at the door and notices a series of lines indicating a specific pattern beginning with hers and says, "Looks like there is a specific pattern we need to follow here. If I read the pattern right, it appears that I have to go first, Princess Celestia second, then Star Swirl followed by Luna. Rarity goes after Luna, then it is Pinkie followed by Rainbow Dash, then it is Fluttershy followed by Applejack." She starts off the sequence with her blast of magic, removing her seal once more.

Celestia steps forth and gives it a shot saying, "Let's see if your theory is correct, Twilight." She then fires a beam of magic at her cutie mark and gasps as it shatters and vanishes as well saying, "You are right Twilight, your theory seems to be working."

Star Swirl casts his magic at the door next saying, "Please don't shock me, I'm too old for it." He winces in anticipation of a shock and is shocked to see that the seal vanished.

As Luna casts her magic at her rune she says, "I sure hope this continues working." She smiles as her rune shatters and vanishes like the three before.

Rarity casts her magic to her rune saying, "Please have lots of gems and new design inspiration, maybe a expensive necklace or two." She beams with pride as her rune also shatters and vanishes.

As Pinkie aims her party cannon at her rune she says, "Give me even more party ideas! Fire in the hole!" She then fires her party cannon and watches as streamers and confetti pepper the whole door. After it shatters and vanishes as well, she prances in a small circle saying, "It worked!" She then puts her party cannon back into her hair somehow and resumes watching the others break their own seals.

Rainbow Dash flies into the air once more and performs a flying kick saying, "Now this time, DON'T SHOCK ME!" As her hoof lands on her rune, it shatters and vanishes. As she throws her hands into the air saying, "I did it, I did it!" the door sends her a mild shock anyway, making her say, "Yeouch, stupid door!" causing the others to laugh at the prank the seal pulled on her.

Fluttershy nervously approaches the door and flies up to her rune saying, "Please open for me this time." The gentle touch of her hoof causes the rune to shatter and vanish, leaving her to inhale as much air as she can and very quietly yells, "Yay."

Applejack trots up to the door with pride saying, "It's finally mah turn, ah hope there's somethin' ah can use on the farm." She raises a hoof up and kicks her rune hard, making it shatter and leaving only the glowing circle with a few short lines at the very top with a bar just below it saying, "They're all gone now, let's git this door open!"

The group starts to celebrate at the runes all going away, Pinkie and Twilight approach the door with curiosity as Twilight tries to open the door. Finding herself still unable to open it and the large glowing ring with several lines up top and a bar below it still remaining she says, "Umm, I don't think this seal is finished yet." As she watches the shorter lines disappear she says, "Does anypony know what this means?"

As a few of the ponies approach and look at it for a few seconds, Pinkie suddenly receives a pinchy knee, double ear flap, a bendy finger, a shaky tail and another pinchy knee. She then smiles and says, "Oh don't worry. It is already done, that is just a countdown indicator until it disappears."

A few ponies sigh in relief at hearing that and start talking among themselves when Star Swirl walks up the steps and walks away from the door in a trance.

Twilight spots Star Swirl going up the steps and turns to walk away and calls out to him, "Hey Star Swirl, don't you want to wait for the seal to disappear?"

The group all stops to turn and look at Star Swirl as a voice not his answers, "The time has come at last. Come, all of you, listen and understand that which you shall find inside ancient Ustengrav."

They follow after him and stop on the side of the ruin he called Ustengrav and see the entire camp and every single guard standing in three separate groups with Star Swirl standing close to the mound facing them as a slow and steady drum beat sounds, followed swiftly by a soft horn gradually rising in pitch as they fill the air with music when no instruments are around, he says, "I shall tell you in your tongue what is being said so you will hear the words and understand them." He then waits in silence for his cue.

Rainbow raises her voice in anger yelling, "Who are you and what have you done with Star Swirl!"

Star Swirl glares at the pony that just spoke and reprimands her saying, "Do not interrupt me pony, for I am known as Akatosh. Your friend is just in a trance right now, he shall return after this song ends. The Goddess Harmony that watches over your world allowed and aids me in performing this task, so be silent and listen well." He goes back to listen for the cue to him start speaking.

She cocks her head and drops her fists quietly, looking at Twilight asking, "Who is Akatoosh?"

Twilight snaps her head to Rainbow and says, "It is Akatosh, not Akatoosh. He is an old god from ancient times before Equestria even existed. Now please shush, I need to write this all down." She then pulls out two pads and two quills, holding one set in her magic to automatically write down what is being sung and use the other to write down what he says to them.

Harmony magic still has a firm grip over the other ponies as they begin performing together as an orchestra, their hums increasing in volume and finally start singing. Her magic and hand start furiously writing down what Akatosh says, flipping pages over as she runs out of room to write.

As Akatosh speaks through Star Swirl, saying the final verse of the song that is sang. As the song begins its ending, he says to the ponies, "Fear not young ones, for when things are at their darkest, there will be hope for you. My message to you is over, I shall depart now and return your hero. Farewell and have faith in each other, live your lives and we shall see you again in Aetherius." He then departs Star Swirl's body, leaving it to the current owner's control.

Twilight tries to ask, "Hey, please wait! I have so many questions I need answered!" Her eyes watch as Star Swirl stumbles forward as exhaustion takes over his body, but catches himself and stays upright.

Star Swirl shakes the fuzzy feeling from his head and asks, "Oh wow, what happened? I don't remember walking up here."

As Twilight relates what happened to him, she notices Luna trembling out of the corner of her eye saying, "Princess Luna, what is the matter?"

Luna's eyes shrink to pinpricks as she holds herself to try to stop her body from trembling in fear at the mention of the large black dragon and its name. She is unable to remain silent about the dreams anymore and says, "So that is who I saw in those terrible dreams these past few nights." She runs up to her sister and holds onto her tightly for comfort as sobs begin to overwhelm her saying, "I sure hope that this Alduin doesn't come here, for there is nothing that we can do to bring him down. I saw what he alone did to a small town called Helgen, so much fire and screams of agony. Death was all around with no hope in sight to defeat him, even archers could hardly do much damage to him."

Celestia holds her sister tightly saying, "Worry not sister, if they come here we will find a way to get rid of him." She then caresses her sisters cheek to soothe her sobs and looks to the others, nodding her head in the direction of the door to have a few seconds with her sister to calm her down.

Twilight and the others get the hint and make their way down the stairs to see if the seal is gone yet. She looks up at the seal and watches as it first fractures, then after a few seconds, it fractures again. Finally shattering a few moments later, it vanishes as an audible click is heard as the door finally seems to unlock. She steps towards the door and tries pulling on it, finding it being stubborn saying, "Hey Applejack, can you help me get this open?"

Applejack steps forward and pulls hard on the door handle with Twilight, sighs and gives up saying, "I don't understand, it should have opened by now with how strong we are together. How can it still refuse to open?"

Pinkie Pie laughs and jogs forward and turns the handle and pushes in on the door hard. She stands firm as air rushes past her into the depths saying, "You girls are so silly, you should have tried to push instead of pull on it. Now come on, our adventure begins from here!" She then jogs past the door and into the entrance.

Twilight and Applejack look at each other and laugh at their foolishness as Twilight calls out to the others saying, "Ok guys the door is open now, let's go explore it! Hey Celestia and Luna, are you two going to join us?"

Celestia looks at her sister, wiping a tear from her eye and says, "Now that you are calmed down Lulu, shall we join them on this adventure?"

Luna smiles back at her sister and says, "Of course we shall join them, it is boring to stay behind and let the others have all the fun, race ya there!" She then takes off for the door with a laugh.

She turns and chases after her laughing sister, feeling glad that she has cheered up. She passes through the door of Ustengrav when a tingle runs through her body as she passes through a barrier spell and stops briefly to check it out, and discovers that it is complex and ancient. She decides to leave it be as it poses no threat to them and returns on her way to catch up to the others.

As Celestia runs into Star Swirl she says, "Oh sorry Star Swirl, I was looking at that barrier spell we just passed through at the door. You noticed it too, haven't you?"

Star Swirl smiles and says, "Yes I have noticed that. It is a harmless preservation barrier, one that is quite old and remarkably complex. I look forward to studying it and learn what I can from it."

Twilight overhears them talking about the barrier spell they passed through at the door saying, "If you learn anything new from the spell, please inform me."

Rarity looks at the barren rooms they pass through, a feeling of disgust overwhelms her as she sees old corpses laying all around the room in various places. She gags for fresh air as she says, "Buck, it really is disgusting in here! Couldn't they at least try to keep the place a bit cleaner! It really smells bad in this Ustengrav you know, I don't think I will ever get the smell out of my fur even if I wash it a thousand times!!"

As Rarity rants on about the state of the ruin, Twilight sighs and says, "This room is thick with the stench of death Rarity, these are probably refugees that were trying to find safety from the volcano that erupted about seventy thousand years earlier. Mount Rifthelm appeared and plunged the world before into chaos as it nearly wiped them out, with its first eruption."

Celestia looks at all the bodies lying about the room and says, "I remember hearing about that volcano in history Twilight, we should arrange a proper burial for them once we finish exploring Ustengrav. Let's pass through this room and continue going farther in, the faster we finish exploring, the quicker we can start trying to rid Ustengrav of this horrid stench."

As they pass through a series of twists and turns, the group comes to a tall black, double stone door with intricate detail carved into them. Rarity looks at the designs on the door and gets new ideas for clothing saying, "Oooh, new ideas are coming to my head!"

Pinkie pushes the door open wide and enters the next room, passing through more twists and turns. As she comes to a large open room, she gazes into the massive cavern in awe saying, "Wow, what a view!"

Everyone follows behind Pinkie and look over the edge of the path and at the vast expanse of the cavern. They see carved pillars acting as supports for the roof. Some are no longer connected to each other by pathways leading to a hole in the wall, appearing to be a room of some sort. In the distance they see flames shooting up out of the floor for some reason and marvel at the size of the room they found.

Pinkie continues onward with the group following close behind, leaving the cavern behind to resume exploring. She then turns a corner and sees some stairs with four square stones on top with five holes in each one. She then looks further back and sees a few more corpses severely burned saying, "Wait! Don't come any farther, my Pinkie sense is telling me that something is off here."

Rainbow scoffs saying, "What? They are just stones with holes in them, they are harmless."

She looks at Rainbow with an evil grin saying, "Oh really? Then what do you say to this then?" She then steps on one of the stones, keeping her body at a distance as gouts of flame shoot up from the five holes in the 'harmless' stones. She then takes her hoof off of it and the gouts stop and says, "Well Rainbow, do you wanna go first?"

She nervously chuckles as everyone gasps saying, "Nah you go first Pinks, you have a better sense for avoiding danger."

Pinkie then smiles and says, "I thought so. I wonder if the other one is the same way." She then moves in front of the other stone and sets a hoof down on it, once again keeping her body away from it. When nothing happens, she then sighs in relief saying, "Phew, now let's try the next one. Hopefully it doesn't shoot flames." She then does the same thing again and to her relief, it does nothing as well and proceeds forward down the corridor and waits for the others to cross over it and join her.

With the last pony of the group caught up, she presses on down the path as she steps onto a pathway leading across a big room below them filled with more corpses and she sighs then continues on through the corridor and into the big room. She begins heading towards the other side when she spots a corpse sitting in a chair wearing strange armor with two horns sticking upwards off the helmet it wears.

As the group continues on its path, Fluttershy's lip quivers and to keep herself from crying she says, "Oh my, I feel so bad for these poor refugees that wanted to find somewhere safe to hide, only to find it and slowly starve." She nearly faints as she spots a table with a corpse on it with what appears to be bite wounds all over its body saying, "Oh how horrible it must have been to be forced to resort to cannibalism to survive."

Pinkie continues going through the corridor ahead and follows the twists and turns, coming to another room with a few more corpses. She then looks around for the door out and sees a couple gates to the left and says, "Hmm, I wonder what is beyond these gates?" She then walks up to it and pulls the handle next to it, but does nothing so she tries again and tries turning the handle after pulling it. After she succeeds, seeing that it raises the inside gate she says, "Somepony please look for another handle like this one that opens this other gate here. Make sure to pull and turn it, for it to do anything."

The group wanders around the room making various minor discoveries as Fluttershy says, "Here is one Pinkie." She then takes hold of it and pulls and rotates it, hearing something happen she asks, "Did that work Pinkie?"

Pinkie replies back, "Yep that worked Fluttershy, good job at finding it!" She then enters the dark room and sees a strange table with a glowing orb on it with long since burned out candles asking, "Can somepony please shed a little light in here, I can't see my hand in front of my face."

Star Swirl casts an illumination spell and spots something interesting at the back of the room and says, "Oh that is interesting, I wonder what they used this magical device for."

Twilight enters the room to look at the device, guessing as to what it is for. Pinkie exits to look for a way to another room and says, "Aha! The way forward is over here guys, we can come back and study things more after we get this awful smell out of this ruin."

The group then catches up to Pinkie again and she leads them further in, looking up to see no way further ahead there. She then looks down and sees another room, walking through it to find that they are back inside the large cavern but on a lower level. She looks around for a path and says, "Watch your step here guys, it is kinda narrow here." She then makes her way across the path, finding a very steep part leading to the floor below and says, "It is very steep here, so it will be tricky to get down having hooves for feet."

Twilight then smiles and says, "I can help with that, I was messing around with a spell the other day and came up with this new spell that increases traction on any surface that our hooves come in contact with." She then casts the spell on everypony's hooves saying, "Okay Pinkie, is it easier to go down and come back up?"

Pinkie nervously makes her way down the collapsed, near-vertical pathway and tries to make her way back up. At finding it easier she says, "Yep it works Twilight, that is a very handy spell you discovered." She then goes down to the bottom and sees even more corpses around the floor of the room.

The group carefully makes their way down the steep pathway and join Pinkie at the bottom with Rarity saying, where do we go now Pinkie darling?"

She looks around the area and sees a main gathering area filled with a few benches, some of which are broken in half. Several corpses sit on the benches with another corpse sitting on a throne, up on a raised platform looking out on the benches, she notices that it has the same helmet that the one from before was wearing and says, "I do wonder what the significance of that helmet is, because that is the second one I have seen like the one from before."

Celestia looks up to see a few corpses lying on a couple plates at the top of the stairs and sighs, then uses her magic to lift them up and off of the plates and set them down onto the floor below saying, "You all have suffered enough, your bodies don't need to be treated like this any longer." As the last body is moved off, the flames stop roaring through the plates and leaves the cavern silent.

Fluttershy smiles and says to Celestia, "That was a very kind and thoughtful thing you did for them, if I could use my magic like you I would have done the same."

As Pinkie walks towards a path that leads down she spots something large made out of stone saying, "Oooh, what is that thing down here!" She then jogs down the path and stops before the structure, seeing a few carvings and some weird, organized scratch marks etched into the stone.

As the rest of the group catch up to Pinkie, Star Swirl looks at the writing and smiles saying, "I haven't seen writing this old since I found one of my ancestors books containing it, telling how it is written and shows what the translations for each letter, and even how a few combinations of letters appear. It is the written form of Dovahzul, it is a pain to learn. Almost as much as the spoken form. It would take me a few hours to translate what is written here, so I suggest we move on and I will come back to this later."

The group then follows after Pinkie again as she starts to head up the path and across the stone bridge that lays across the gap as Rarity says, "Are we almost to the end of this place yet? My hooves are beginning to ache from all this walking and climbing we are doing."

Pinkie laughs and says, "Don't worry Rarity, we are nearing the end as we speak." She walks past a stone with a flat side facing towards her as she hears a dull bell sound from behind her as the first of three gates rise and fall a few seconds later. As she passes by the second stone, the same thing happens again saying, "Now this is a strange puzzle, each stone reacts as you pass in front of it, raising a gate. But it falls briefly after you pass by it, maybe this is a timed puzzle where speed is important?"

Before Rainbow can respond, Applejack steps forward saying, "Ah'd like to give it a try, I have been wantin' to try out this technique using my earth magic to increase my strength through my hooves." She then drops down into a race take-off stance and uses her magic to enhance her ability to move faster, channeling it to her hooves. She takes off at a fast sprint, lighting up all three stones. As she keeps the technique channeled to her hooves, the first gate falls shut and she runs right into it and falls on her rump. As she rubs her sore nose, she gets up and returns to the group. A few ponies start asking her if she is ok and she says, "Ya, ah'm okay. Just bruised mah pride is all."

As Applejack sighs she says, "Hey Rainbow, ah think that since you claim to be the fastest flier in Equestria, you should try it next."

Rainbow beams with pride saying, "Oh yeah, just you watch. I'm gonna zip right through these stones and pass through before those gates fall. Watch out guys, it's gonna get a little dusty in a moment." After she drops down into her stance, she takes off like a shot. She passes through the stones, lighting them all up and raising the gates in return. As she zips past the first gate, the rest begin to fall back down. The last gate nearly comes in contact with her wings, making her double check herself for injuries and turns around saying, "Phew, what a rush! I was nearly a gonner for a moment there!"

Twilight calls out to Rainbow, "Yeah and now you are stuck there with no way back out." Just then, the three gates rise up together and stay there.

She grins saying, "You were sayin, Twilight?"

The group walks around the stones and joins Rainbow as Pinkie takes the lead once more saying, "Okay, now that we are past that, we can continue going further in." She then proceeds down the corridor to find more of those gout spewing pressure plates with holes and says, "Here we go again with the fire plates."

The group then sighs in grief and follows Pinkie as she carefully tests the stones for the right path, it takes a half hour for them to reach a safe spot. Only for Rarity to spot a big hole closed up with spider silk and screaming, "EWWW! I am not going any further until those vile things are no longer able to touch me! They will ruin my hair by getting all tangled up in it!"

Twilight chuckles as she marches to the front, and casts a spell to conjure a small stream of fire with her horn. She aims it at the cobwebs on the floor and closing off the corridor before them, burning off the cobwebs so they don't harm Rarity's precious hair.

As Twilight burns away the cobwebs for Rarity, Fluttershy gets an uneasy feeling that something is very wrong with this room and looks around not seeing why she says, "Umm, does anypony else get the feeling that something is off here, or is it just me?"

Applejack looks around saying, "Y-Yeah, I thought it was the cobwebs and the fire spewin plates that got to me. Now that ya mention it, somethin does feel very wrong here in this room. Hey Twilight ya almost done, this room is givin everyone the willies."

Twilight releases the spell and opens the door to the next room, pushing it open and then says, "Yep, I just finished and the next part is open to us." She then turns to look back at them and her eyes go wide with fear as a massive spider silently begins decending to the ground yelling, "Everypony, run through the door now! There's a massive spider coming down from the ceiling!"

Everypony in the group look back at the spider and start running for the door screaming as a glob of drool falls from its maw onto Fluttershy's shoulder. Fluttershy keeps calm and simply turns around and tries talking to it saying, "Why hello there mister Spider, I am so sorry that we disturbed your slumber. Please accept our humble apologies for the interruption."

The massive frostbite spider slowly lumbers towards its long past due meal, making a few repetitive noises with its mouth.

Fluttershy begins backing up slowly as she understands it as it continuously says, "So long I starve...thank you for being my next meal." Her ears pin back against her skull and she turns around and sprints towards the door as fast as she can.

The ponies call from the other side of the door to Fluttershy yelling, "Come on Fluttershy, run faster!" You are almost there girl, just a few more steps!" Their hopes turn to despair as the spider leaps towards Fluttershy and it catches her arm in its mouth.

She screams in pain as the starving spider's fangs pierce her skin, sending a chill creeping down her arm. With no other choice for escape, she turns around and pokes it in an eye yelling, "I'm so sorry, but I will not be your dinner because my friends need me more!" As the spider screams in pain, Fluttershy starts sprinting towards the door into the arms of her very worried and scared friends.

They all pepper her with questions asking, "Hey are you going to be fine Flutters? Why did you try talking to it at all instead of just running to safety first? Is your arm feeling any different?"

Fluttershy takes a breath and says, "Yes I will be fine. I thought that I could talk to it and get it to forgive us for waking it so rudely. My arm feels a little cold but it is cold down here, so I think that it will be fine."

Pinkie looks at Fluttershy and says, "Do you want to rest for a bit or do you want to keep going, Fluttershy?" She glances nervously between her arm and her face while waiting for an answer.

She smiles and stands up saying, "Let's keep going, there can't be too much more after this. We can get this looked at when we return to the camp or Ponyville."

She looks at Fluttershy with a smile and says, "Ok then, let's get this gate open and continue on!" She jogs up to a chain hanging from a metal object, seeing as it must be pulled, she gives it a strong pull. As the chain is pulled down, a click is heard and the gate rises up to allow further exploration.

The group walks into a room having a large pool on either side of it with a large object at the end of the path, and a large set of doors beyond it. Luna looks around the size of the room, laughs and says, "Well sister, this room may be bigger than the throne room in our castle at Canterlot."

They walk down the path towards the object as Celestia responds, "I tried to make it as big as I could with what funds I could gather, it took me three years to get enough bits to get the castle to be livable."

The group laughs as they come to the object, looking at it from various locations as Twilight eyes it curiously asking, "I wonder what this creepy thing could be?"

Star Swirl looks at the object closely and sees some scratches in the middle of a flat part and brushes it off revealing a line of ancient carvings and attempts to read it saying, "If I understand this line correctly, I think this is a tomb for someone named Jurgen Windcaller. Whoever that may be, and for some reason I feel some sort of reverence towards them. I don't know why that is though, this really intrigues me. Let's move on and keep searching for a safer way back out."

The group agrees and follows Pinkie as she goes up to one door and Applejack goes to the other and push it open together with some effort as everypony behind them gasp in surprise at what they see laying on the floor. Celestia is the first to walk up to the strange, pitch black Thestral having long thick-bodied wavy black hair and tail with a red streak running through them, and larger than normal black, bat-like wings accompanied by very large hooves for feet with black fur feathering covering them. As she kneels down beside them, clearly identifying them as a female as she sees the above average chest size. She tries to wake her by softly caressing her cheek saying, "Wake up my little pony, for it is daytime and the time for slumber has long since past."

A few minutes pass by uneventfully as the female pony remains motionless. Celestia then sighs and looks to Rarity saying, "Can you please find something suitable to use as clothing Rarity?"

Rarity smiles and looks around at the various stuff in the room and the only thing she finds that barely qualifies as suitable are ancient rolls of linen that lay around the room, she growls in disgust saying in a threatening manner, "Don't expect something marvelous, Celestia. With what I have to use here, nopony better breathe so much as a syllable of what I'm going to do. If they do, I'm gonna sew their eyelids and lips shut!" She then gathers up the rolls of linen and pulls out a tape and takes a few measurements and gets started on making something that will work for now until they bring her back to Ponyville. As she finishes the makeshift outfit and fastens the back together, she slides the short skirt into place on her lower half saying, "There, this hideous makeshift outfit shall burn once I make something proper for her when we return to Ponyville."

As a bright glow catches her eye, Celestia turns her head and spots a glowing necklace sitting around a neck of another corpse lying in an alcove with a slightly different helmet than the other two had, with two large jars to either side of it. Curious, she steps away from the strange pony they found and makes contact with the necklace. She picks up the piece of metal hanging about its neck with her fingers and examines it closely. As she looks at it with interest, she notices that it's shape matches the general shape of the symbol on the two ancient books Twilight found. With her curiosity of why it is glowing, she says to herself out loud, "Why does this piece glow on its own when it's owner is dead?"

She is caught by surprise as something enters her mind saying, "Worry not, O loving one. I have need of your aid in my task, will you aid me in completing my duty to this world?"

Celestia answers the voice mentally saying, "What is it you wish me to do, stranger?"

The motherly sounding voice answers her saying, "I have sought the aid of the Goddess Harmony as well, but it is your body that I require to go through with my task of rousing one who refuses to answer me. My name is Mara by the way."

The princess thinks for a moment before asking, "How long do you require the use of my body?"

Mara replies back to her, "For only a few minutes, O valiant one. Do I have your permission to proceed with my task?"

Celestia sighs and says to the group, "I will be right back everypony, somepony requires my aid in their task that will only take a few minutes." Before they have a chance to protest, she answers Mara mentally saying, "Yes, you may use my body to complete your task. All I ask in return is that you allow me to see what is happening."

She sighs happily and says, "Thank you. Very well, I shall grant you that small request. Enjoy the show, princess." Before her host can ask, she takes hold of her body as the necklace stops glowing. As Mara turns towards them, the long hair starts to float out to the side of her head as if a breeze is blowing it. She smiles and looks at the group saying, "Greetings, young ones. My name is Mara and I am wife to Akatosh, I hope he has treated you all well with that song. I hope you all wouldn't mind joining me in singing a song to wake one that is far away in slumber."

Rainbow winces at the thought of singing another song, and sighs saying, "Isn't there any other way to wake them than to sing a song?"

Mara chuckles and says, "There is but you would despise it more than singing, I assure you."

She cocks her head and knows she's gonna regret hearing the answer but asks anyway, "What would that be?"

The old goddess replies saying, "You would have to give him the soul of a dragon to wake him. Which would you prefer to do?"

Rainbow grunts and blushes saying, "I guess singing another song doesn't sound too bad." She crosses her arms and waits for her to get it over with already.

Mara looks up into the air and says, "If you would be so kind, Melody." She then waits for her magic to take hold of the group as the song begins.

As the magic takes hold, the song begins as they burst out singing in unison as Mara lets herself sing along, but sings it as a lullaby she sang long ago to help him sleep.

The song begins to wind down to just the instrumental, Mara turns and starts to slowly stride towards the body that lays on the alcove and begins to draw the excess magic in the air into the borrowed form saying, "I do apologize for what I must do to wake the stubborn one, young ponies. The time for slumber is passed, my son. It is time to continue your duty to Mundus."

As the magic in the air begins to make it tough to breathe properly, Twilight tries to regather her strength and breath and says, "What is going on Mara?"

When a stream of white and blue mist starts flowing towards Mara, slowly turning her hair and tail from a gentle rainbow color into a bright and pure white, she closes her eyes and breathes the mist deeply, and focuses it to a spell that she has to construct from scratch.

While the stream continues to flow into Mara's mouth, Rainbow crawls up to Twilight and says, "Hey Twilight, Is it just me or is everyone seem to be very weak right now? Do you know what she is doing, sucking all that magic in? Can Celestia's body even handle that much magic flowing into her?"

Before Twilight can answer, Mara says, "I am gathering the magic necessary for breaking the spell that is suspending time here as well as preserving some of the things that are in here, you have been away from the outside world for two weeks right now. This body was the only one capable to handle the amount of magic I must draw upon to break this spell we placed on him." As the next stream of magic flows in through her mouth.

As Twilight tries to ask something else of Mara, she is cut off by a very pale looking Discord appearing in front of her. She looks at him in amazement at how he is barely able to crawl and asks, "Why are you here and what in Celestia's name happened to you Discord, why do you look so pale and weak?"

He looks at her with an annoyed glare saying, "I didn't want to be left out of an adventure again, so I just followed the magic to here and sensed you guys. Once I entered this ancient ruin, somepony stole the majority of my magic and strength, If I find out whoever did that, I'll..."

Mara finishes taking in the last of the magic necessary for the spell, hearing someone threatening her and glares at them saying in a deafening, booming voice, "What shall you do to an ancient god of old, you puny little pissant!?"

Discord litterally turns white as a sheet as he sees the brightly glowing, flowing white hair and brightly glowing white eyes and realizes who is before him now saying, "My apologies, I did not know you were making a trip to Equus so soon Aunt Mara."

She stomps over to him and pulls him up by one horn saying in her godly voice, "Don't you dare call me Aunt, you failed experiment! If you call me that one more time, so help me I will tear you limb from limb and part by part and send you to Oblivion!" She then drops him unceremoniously to the ground and moves back towards her son in the alcove.

As he transforms himself into a sheep saying, "Awe, you make me feel so baahhd. It really does make me feel sheepish at times, you know. At least you still care enough to insult me. I am glad I made it in time for the big moment, oh how I love watching the birth of brand new chaos. Oh, this is gonna be good!" He then returns himself to normal to watch the show.

Mara face palms herself, still very irritated at her nephew's appearance. She ignores him and clears her mind of her current emotions and focuses on the feelings and emotions she had before and begins forming them into the spell, focusing on placing the spell into her lips.

Everypony watches with great interest, captivated by how ice cold vapors are coming off of her hair, tail, lips, and eyes. With each step she takes, the ground under the hoof frosts over as she continues towards the body in the alcove. One of them asks, "Anypony have any clue as to what is she going to do to that corpse?"

As she stops before the resting body of her son she says, "Are you ready to wake up, Ysmir?" She then leans down and pulls his body away from the wall and takes his face into her hands and lovingly looks upon him as only a mother could.

Luna sees what she is doing as everyone is wondering who Ysmir is and struggles to get to her feet. As it takes great effort to not fall down due to fatigue she yells, "Please don't do it Mara, My sister will never be the same after that!"

Mara looks briefly to the pony that just spoke and says, "I wish there was another way to break the spell, but this is the only way I know that will be guaranteed to break this spell. I hope you and your sister can forgive me for having to do this, you must understand that I have not been allowed to look upon the face of my own child since birth. So I will do this so that I have something to remember our first time meeting face to face in seventy thousand years since being born on Mundus. That was before this world began to become known as Equus when species already here began evolving on their own without our aid. After I cast this spell, your princess will be returned to you in a exhausted state. She may even be unconscious for a bit, but she will need rest and is not in any danger." She then turns back towards her son, removes his helmet and sets it beside him saying, "It's time to carry on my wayward son. For there shall be peace once you are done, Bayott. I will always be watching over you. Farewell, for I must return to Aetherius. Know that I will always love you" She then leans further in and plants a kiss directly onto the body's lips, casting the spell and making the spell appear on the walls of the ruin.

As Luna sobs for her sister's first kiss, everypony else looks up at the glowing purple ceiling as the spell appears all over the walls, running along the floor to the other rooms of the ruin. They watch in awe as fractures appear along the barrier and gradually turn into large cracks that honeycomb the barrier. Their eyes are blinded as they look back to Mara, finding her whole body shining brighter than the sun and explodes in a flash of light, releasing a shock wave of magic that passes through the walls of the ruin, causing the barrier to turn into dust with a sound of shattering glass.

As their vision slowly returns, Twilight sees Celestia laying across the corpse's lap unconscious and runs up to her saying, "Princess Celestia, are you alright?! Can you hear me?!" After pulling her off of its lap, she sits on the floor holding her mentor's body close to her, hoping she will answer her soon.

Celestia slowly comes to saying, "Yes I am alright Twilight, I'm just a bit tired is all and can't seem to use much magic right now. Can somepony tell me what in Tartarus just happened?" As she tries to remember what happened, everything comes back all at once. As she recalls the part before the flash, her face and entire body turns a bright red begging to know asking, "Please tell me that that didn't really just happen?! Did I really just say I love you and then lovingly kiss a corpse!" She starts to giggle as her eyes shrink to pinpricks, descending slowly into despair and misery at her first kiss being with a corpse.

Discord saves her saying, "Oh don't worry Celestia, he wasn't actually dead. In your defense, she called him son. He was only just asleep for seventy thousand years, and I have a beautiful photograph to make a copy for you to remember it by."

Her eyes snap back into focus as her hair and tail begin to smoke saying, "Don't you even dare think of keeping it! When I get my magic and strength back I will hunt you down and send you to Tartarus! Better yet, I will turn you into a living punching bag and give you to Applejack to use to relieve stress if you make copies of that. What do you mean that he was just sleeping Discord, nopony can live that long while they sleep!"

He sighs and says, "It is a story that I was told by my father, an insanely powerful Daedric Lord named Sheogorath. Don't you remember when Mara said that it was her and her other fellow gods that cast the complex spell protecting this place by suspending time and preserving some of what was in here?"

Celestia sighs and says, "Yes I remember when she said that, what of it?" she then casts a wary look towards him, waiting for him to tell his story.

As Discord is about to speak, a barely understandable gargling voice says sleepily,"M-Mother?" All eyes turn to the Thestral laying on the floor, finding red eyes with vertical black slits with a slightly large pair of fangs looking up at all of them shaking her head side to side saying, "It wasn't me that spoke, so buzz off weirdos. Woah, why in Oblivion am I talking now? And what in Oblivion happened to my huge body and my four hooves!?"

They turn to look at her with Celestia saying, "You have the appearance of a Thestral pony now, wait...you mean that you weren't born this way? Did you come here with someone?"

She looks at her and says, "No I wasn't born this way, and I came here with my master. At the time he and I got here, I once had four legs and he rode me from place to place but I enjoyed his company, the traveling, and the fighting we did together so I tolerated it. It is going to be strange getting used to this new form."

She looks at the Thestral and says, "That means that something altered your form while you too, were a slumber? Don't worry my little pony, we will help you get used to your new body. What is your name? And why do you call him your master?"

Shadowmere looks at Celestia saying, "We were called horses back then, and we were used for working fields, pulling carts and wagons, and transporting a rider to distances far away. I was lent to him by my previous owner, she let him use me for a mission to kill someone. When she and her husband died at the hands of the Penitus Oculatus, I was given to him, My name is Shadowmere, what is yours?"

Everypony is shocked at what she tells them with Applejack saying, "Now you listen up here missy, things is diff'rent nowadays, so you are your own pony. No longer are you a mere servant and slave to them, you can think and do things that you want to do. You are not a beast of burden that can be used to ease their own way of life, you are your own pony now."

As Celestia smiles at the others as they help her get reacquainted with her new body as she looks back to the body as it once again says something as she thinks, 'Oh heavens above, I sure hope that this isn't a hostile being.'

Their eyes turn to the only other possible source of the voice and see the body looking around for something and says, "Where are you Mara? I can't see very well right now."

While the others struggle to form a single thought at seeing the corpse moving again, Twilight says, "I'm sorry but she isn't here anymore. Maybe I can be of some assistance to you, what do you need?"

As Luna watches him fumble around for a bit, feeling his face and body as if checking its state, she says to Twilight, "Uh Twilight, I don't think that he can either see nor hear anything right now if he was asleep for that long. It may take awhile for them to return, we should try to find a way out of here."

His hearing or sight haven't fully returned yet, so all he hears and sees is greatly muted and blurred as he raises his hand and holds the emblem. As he tries to take a deep breathe, he coughs and dust flies from his mouth as he says once again, "Mara? Mother, where are you?"

Twilight sighs and says, "You are right Luna, we should look for an exit. Though I don't want to leave them behind, we should take them with us." She looks around and looks for anything that might lead to an exit, spotting a lever on the wall and walks up to it and giving it a pull. As a stone rises off the floor, revealing a hidden passage saying, "Aha! I found the way out girls, lets get out of here." As she walks towards the door, a loud crash is heard followed by a snap as the door falls down to the ground heavily, shaking the room with how much it weighs saying, "Great, there goes that idea."

Bayott feels the ground shake and says, "For the love of Talos, how long with that shaking keep going on I only just sat down when it began. Will you speak to me and explain what is going on Mara! And why did you take off my helm, If it is gone I will be very unhappy." He then begins feeling around with his other hand, moving and patting around to locate his helm. His hand strikes something hard and uses his fingers to identify the shape, finally finding his helm saying, "Ahh there you are, time to go back to where you belong. I can't believe I look like a fucking draugr, I hope there is a way to return me to the way I looked before. Since you refuse to answer me, I will call you by name instead, Mara."

Fluttershy shakes from seeing a corpse moving on its own and then rubs her arm, trying to warm it back up thinking, 'Oh why won't my arm warm back up! It is really starting to hurt and throb now, my whole body seems to be getting colder too. What is wrong with me?' Fluttershy starts to shiver as her body keeps getting colder.

Applejack notices that Fluttershy is shivering and rubbing the arm the spider bit and asks, "Hey Fluttershy, are ya feelin' awright? You look like you are freezin down here, but it is rather cold though."

She smiles and reassures Applejack, "Oh, I will be fine Applejack. The quicker we can get out of here the sooner we all can warm back up."

As the rest of the group begins to get nervous and slowly start backing away, Luna says to them, "Keep calm and stay still girls, he may ignore us if we just stay still and keep quiet." Their hope is quickly shattered when his head snaps towards them.

His ears finally stop ringing as he heard someone say something, raising his suspicion and calls out, "Who goes there! Speak before I kill you in response to your continued silence! As I cannot see much at all, I must be cautious you understand." As he tires of sitting any longer, he moves to get up and leans forward onto his arms for support, filling the air with sounds of joints popping after years of disuse. He then applies his weight to them and pulls himself towards the edge of the alcove. The screeching sound of metal on stone makes everyone in the group pin their ears back and cover them as his feet finally find the edge and go over it, as he continues pulling himself to the edge he stops when his knees are off the corner of the stone.

Luna sighs and says, "So...your hearing has finally returned I see, old one. What is it that you wish to know? To answer the question you asked before, Mara, your mother, is not here any longer. She came here and left right after removing the spell protecting this place and a few of the things within it."

Bayott sighs and says, "I'm sorry for my appearance, do not be frightened of me I am not an undead draugr that leaves a tomb to find and kidnap the young while they sleep and eat them while they still draw breath to restore themself. Do you know how long I have slumbered here to be in this state?"

She looks at him and answers him, "You have been a slumber for seventy thousand years. I am sorry, but there aren't any others like you on Equus."

Just then, Fluttershy starts to feel tired and lays down for a short nap thinking, 'Maybe I can warm up if I can catch a few moments of sleep...' and closes her eyes to drift off to sleep.

He leans forward, laying one arm in front of him across his thigh for support. He then grunts out of mock surprise and says, "Well that title now suits me just perfectly, now that I am the last Nord in existence as well as the last Dragonborn. Ain't life grand..." He is interrupted by a very foul stench filling the air and rises to his feet suddenly saying, "I know that smell anywhere, you were bitten by a frost spider weren't you?"

Luna looks up at the Dragonborn that towers above her by a few feet, she stammers out, "W-W-What! U-Umm no...no I wasn't bitten, but Fluttershy was. I-Is t-that b-bad?"

As Bayott curses not having his sight he says, "Yes it is bad, because the poison isn't guaranteed to kill unless the spider directly bites their victim. There is a cure for it though, but I can't see to identify the bottle the cure is in. Someone will have to look for a light blue bottle with a light green label with the name Cure Poison written on it."

Twilight quickly speaks up saying, "Which container is it in, we will look for it!" She anxiously waits to hear his reply to locate the bottle quickly to save her friend.

He looks towards where the new voice came from and says, "Umm...well...I'm sorry I don't know where they put everything I had brought here. You would have to look through the various containers and locate the bottle I described. Be careful when you move things around though, I have no idea if they are brittle from age or not."

She turns back and looks to the group saying, "Alright everypony, let's look for that bottle he described and give it to Fluttershy to drink it and get rid of the poison in her system. Make sure to be careful when you move things around in search of it, for time may have made them very fragile over the years they were here." They all then scatter around the room and look through the various containers in the room.

As Bayott hears the sound of them searching through the containers, he glances towards the shadow before him saying, "Just having her drink the potion won't be enough I fear, It has to be administered with the magic that I have." He then sighs and says, "OK now that they are searching for the cure, please inform me of what you know of the past and inform me of recent events."

Luna looks to her sister who is looking at a sword made of metal and bone, having a sharp, slightly jagged edge with a ring at the bottom of the hilt with disgust on her face and gets her attention saying, "My sister would be able to fill you in on that better, she has always been better at remembering things. What is your name by the way? Mara never really did tell us what it was aside from calling you Ysmir."

He chuckles and says, "Even the gods are calling me by that now? Please, my name is Bayott. What might your name be?"

Celestia's and Luna's eyes snap back to the one now known as Bayott. As the pieces finally fall to fill in the puzzle, Luna speaks first saying, "Y-You were the one whose eyes I have looked through during my time in the dream realm. Why did you kill so many that were only trying to find safety and escape Helgen like you were?"

Everypony's ears turn to listen to Luna talk about a dream she had and stop what they are doing to listen in as Twilight finally understands the prophecy a little late saying, "Oh so you are the one that the prophecy mentions in the book, now it all makes sense when I think about it another way."

Bayott fights the urge to search for his Greatsword and cleave her in half saying, "Are you related to the Daedric Lord Vaermina, Weaver of Dreams? How do you know the name Helgen? What prophecy do you speak of?"

Luna takes a deep breath, fighting the rising fear and says, "As far as I know, I am not related to them, and I know the town of Helgen from a dream or vision I have been having for three nights in a row, which always begins at the moment I come to inside of the transport."

Twilight speaks up saying, "There are two prophecies that were in the books, and the first one says..." As she states what the first prophecy she goes onto the second saying, "When the land falls to the rule of madness once bright rain falls from the sky and smoke fills the air. When light and dark work together to wrest control and mend the broken. When family turns on itself and the world is less bright. When the young go forth and save the darkened moon. When the one achieves enlightenment and is granted a new perspective on life. When the enlightened one receives a gift of crystal and the legends of old are free again. An ancient hero, from the old shall they rise, to do battle with the one that came before."

He rubs his chin with his free hand saying, "Well they both do mention me at the end, but I will need to understand what happened while I was slumbering. Go back to searching for that bottle, your friend doesn't have much time left. To answer your other question, it is because the time I come from, if you don't fight to survive you will die."

As Twilight turns to go back to the container she was digging through, she spots something laying beside a chest and exclaims, "AHA there it is!" She then grabs it gently and brings it over to Bayott, grabs one of his hands and lays it there and closes his fingers around it saying, "There you go, now please hurry and save Fluttershy!"

Bayott straightens his back and says, "Please guide me to where she is and I shall begin."

She takes him by the elbow saying, "Right this way Bayott, watch your step because there is debris all over the floor."

He follows in the direction she pulls him to, cautiously feeling the ground with each step before committing to it. He arrives at Fluttershy and gets down on his knees and feels around for how they are oriented. As he finds her soft body and starts to feel along her body when he bumps into something soft and round, squeezing it before letting go saying, "That is not her face, but I am getting closer." As he finally finds her face, he feels around and finds her mouth and says, "Alright let's get this over with shall we?" He then holds the bottle in one hand and uncorks it and channels a heating spell to his lips and pours the potion into his mouth and tosses the empty bottle to the side and picks their head up into his hand, cradling it while parting their lips open. He then lowers his head and seals their lips together in an open kiss and begins to administer the potion.

Twilight's face turns beet red in embarrassment as he gives her the potion through his mouth, also taking her first kiss while Discord snaps another photo saying, "Oh how you have grown up, Fluttershy." and wipes a tear away. She watches as Fluttershy swallows the potion down in small amounts, hoping she wakes up soon.

Bayott finishes administering the potion as she swallows down the last bit of the potion and pulls his lips off of theirs and sits upright and waits for the potion and magic to take effect saying, "Now to wait for the potion to kick in and the magic to take effect and start working."

Fluttershy feels her body start to burn up and gasps as her arm feels like it's on fire and grabs it to try to calm it down. As her body stops thrashing around, sweat starts to run down the fur on her face. Her eyes open to see the body kneeling beside her and scoots away from him quickly. She hides her face with her long hair and starts to shake in fear of him being so close squeaking out, "Who are you and what did you do to me?"

He cocks his head to the side saying, "I'm sorry, what did you say I couldn't hear you at all."

Twilight steps forth and says, "I'm sorry, but Fluttershy is extremely shy around those she hasn't seen before, and with the way you look right now, you are quite scary. She is asking who are you and what you did to her."

Bayott realizes the way he looks and says, "Ahh, now I understand why she is so scared of me. Worry not Fluttershy, I will not harm you. I am Bayott and I was just forcing you to swallow a potion and casting a spell on you to help cure you of the poison from the Frostbite spider that bit you. I do apologize for having to feel my way to your face, I cannot see much at all right now."

Fluttershy starts to warm up to him and says, "It is nice to meet you, Bayott. I feel much better now, and not shivering from the cold anymore, what happened?"

He sighs and says to her, "Well, you were bitten by the fangs of a Frostbite Spider, which is deadly and can only be cured by administering a potion mixed with old magic. If the victim should fall asleep after being bitten, death is almost certain unless they are forced to swallow the potion through the contact of lips while the spell is cast upon contact."

Her face turns beet red after hearing what he said and pokes her forefingers together quietly saying, "So...umm...are you saying that we umm......kissed?"

Bayott sighs and says to her, "Unfortunately there was no other way to force you to swallow the potion and cast the magic at the same time, so yes we did. Though my tongue stayed out of your mouth through the administering of the potion."

Rainbow watches as Fluttershy turns red in embarrassment and hides her face with her wings and tries to hide herself. Shaking her head of the moment, Rainbow says, "This is touching to know that Fluttershy is a bit embarrassed, but alive due to his having a cure and giving it to her. What is more important here is how are we going to get out of here! The door fell down to the ground and I thought I heard the tunnel that led out of here collapse! What are we gonna do now, walk back out the way we came in?"

As Shadowmere sees her master is done saving the pony's life, she smiles and says, "It is about time you woke up Master Bayott, did you enjoy that kiss?" She then taps her hoof irritably on the stone waiting for his answer.

He chuckles and says, "Is there any other way that you can think of that leads out of here?"

She sighs and facepalms saying, "Ughhh fine we will go out that way, but there is a big spider out there that tried to eat Fluttershy. How will we deal with that thing?"

As Bayott answers who answered the question before he says, "Umm, sorry I was focusing on trying to save Fluttershy's life. So I didn't think about the kiss really. Anyways, has anybody seen my horse anywhere, I haven't heard him walking around or making any noise."

Shadowmere's red streaks glow in agitation and she stomps up to him, then raises a leg up and kicks him hard in the posterior, sending him flying into the wall and yells, "Your horse is right here! I woke up here in a different body that I have to get used to now. Now that you can finally understand what I have been telling you from when we first met, I will tell you this...FOR THE LAST TIME...I AM A GIRL, NOT A GUY! SO STOP CALLING ME A HIM OR HE!" She then raises her leg to kick him again and then lashes out.

He senses she is about to strike at him and spins around, catching her outstretched leg in his arm and sidles up next to her and feels the warmth coming off her body and says to her, "You know that you have been my most trusted companion and friend that any man or woman could have, right?"

She huffs in annoyance and says, "Of course I know that! I just couldn't tolerate you calling me a him any more." She blushes at how close he is and how he holds her leg in the air and whispers up to him saying, "You know that when I first woke up here, I wasn't wearing anything...but I still am not wearing much of anything now."

Bayott blushes furiously (but no one can tell with how his body looks right now) and lets go of her leg and hears a heavy thud as it lands saying, "You still have big feet for a...whatever you are now, and uhh...please stop stepping on my toes when you follow me." He leans in close and wraps his arms around her and says, "No I didn't know that, I look forward to seeing what you look like now." He decides to tease her a little and bends down, kissing her squarely on the lips. He laughs as she fights to get free of his embrace.

As she punches his chest in agitation at him teasing her like that, she calms down and says, "I can't help having big feet, you oaf! You definitely need to do something about your look, or some poor pony is going to die of fright at first sight of you. Looks like the two of us will have to fight our way out of this place." The red streaks lose their glow as she calms down and her smile screws up in anticipation of a fight.

As he sighs and feels around the room to say, "What is one more dungeon to clear? Has anyone seen any racks here with weapons on them?"

Twilight cocks her head saying, "Why will we have to fight our way out of here? Everything we passed by was dead except for that spider. There are a couple racks of greatswords and regular swords near where you were resting, one really sinister looking one was just laying up against the wall beside a shorter one. Are the blades made of bone?"

He lumbers back to where the alcove is and feels down the wall for the hilts of the two blades, he finds one that is different from the others and knows it is the battle axe he crafted from the bones of a legendary dragon he slew long ago and says, "Yes they are indeed bone, dragon bone to be precise. I crafted these all myself from the dragons that I slew and devoured the souls and knowledge of the dragons that were returning to Skyrim from not being slain by a Dragonborn."

He picks up a regular sword and calls out to Shadowmere and says, "Hey Shadowmere, do you know how to hold and use a sword?"

Shadowmere smiles and calls back, "Of course I know how, I have watched you fight countless battles with your foes. To this day, you have never lost a single fight, unless you think of that one encounter against that bastard Mercer Frey. Toss me one and I will help you out during the fight."

Rarity scoffs at how he tosses her the sword, letting a lady fight with him and says, "How garish of you, allowing such a pretty female to fight by your side and get all dirty and cut up over nothing of importance."

Before Bayott can speak, Shadowmere interrupts him, twirling the sword in her hand while saying, "Hah, there were many female fighters back then. There were a few that had real talent for it, and took great pride in honing their skills to being known as Battle Maidens."

As Bayott readies himself to proceed, he says to Shadowmere, "Yeah, that bastard Mercer Frey really did a number on me, attacking me from behind like that. I am glad that I was saved by Karliah with that poison she used." He sighs and adresses the group saying, "I shall have to return to this place to recover my things from here after we get some fresh air. I hope one of you have an idea of how to possibly restore the way I currently look?"

A few of the ponies share ideas and opinions with each other as Celestia speaks up saying, "There perhaps may be a way at the spa in Ponyville, but will need to ask for some help from friends that we know. Please lead the way out of here, we will be keeping out of the fight because we do not take life."

He looks back at the group saying, "That is a wise decision indeed, for I am Dovahkiin. My voice alone can affect the world before me as I command it to." He then turns around and exits the room at a walk, remembering the way the tomb was laid out from when he was here the first couple of times.

As they follow him past the door, several statues depicting dragons rise up out of the floor as he passes by them. Rarity then says, "What are these fantastic carvings all over the place? They are in such intricate detail, and how are they rising out of the floor like that?"

The Dragonborn continues to pass by and answers her by saying, "These statues are carved to look like dragons, they only rise out of the floor when a Dragonborn passes by symbolizing their fear of him. In ancient times when Dragons ruled over man with an iron fist, demanding sacrifices to show their devotion to them. Until man was taught the voice of the dragons and began to fight against them, eventually winning when Alduin was cast out of their time by using an Elder Scroll." He then continues down the path and up the other side to the other room.

The group looks at each other confused at what he meant by that and proceed to follow him out of the room. As they reach the room with the spider, they watch as he steps out past the doorway and waits for the spider to descend.

Bayott listens as he hears the spider start to descend from the ceiling and says back to the group, "This is going to be a little loud if you have sensitive ears. " He then turns back to face towards the spiders sounds and readies the shout he is going to use. As he hears the spider getting close enough he channels his power and yells, "FUS RO DAH!"

A loud sound like thunder echoes off the walls while Twilight watches in awe as the spider is flying away from him in an aura coming from his mouth and lands on the fire spewing pressure plates, triggering several of them, causing it to flail and thrash wildly. As the spider falls silent she says, "What was that you just used, a magic spell?" She instinctively pulls out a pad and a pen and is ready to write down every word.

He replies simply as the spider's corpse roasts in the fires from the pressure plates saying, "And the weak shall fear the Thu'um. No that is a skill that very few can learn, even fewer master, it is called The Voice. It is used by the dragons of old to communicate with each other. I can learn the words of power written on walls located all around Skyrim in the day almost without effort, which I know almost all of them. Words of Power are always in threes, forming what I have just used, called a Shout. It is called Unrelenting Force, it's three words are Fus, Ro, and Dah." He walks ahead and uses his greatsword to locate the path that leads out.

The group frustratingly follow him out of Ustengrav when they come close to the room with the three gates and pass through them without issue as they hear shuffling and grunts coming from the other side of the cave. Able to catch a few phrases here and there, Star Swirl says, "I will tell you what those things are saying so you can understand." As Star Swirl listens in he hears one say, "Mu los faan wah ahmik ont zos. in uth ont krii faal Dovahkiin tol uloz ok mein us ahst Sovngarde. (We are called to service once more. The master orders us to kill the Dragonborn that wrecked his plans before at Sovngarde.)" As he translates it for them, he notices them staring at the once dead bodies that somehow walk once more.

Bayott calls back to the group as he runs ahead, "Stay there and do not move! Shadowmere you stand at the end of the path, slaughter all that get past me!" As a horde of undead Draugr run towards him, he pulls out his greatsword and tips it to the side to shout, "YOL TOOR SHUL!"

Everyone watch in horror as the numerous corpses they saw have come back to life as Celestia says, "Keep close girls, he is strong enough to keep them away from us." There are a couple shrieks from the girls back behind her as a shout is unleashed upon the foes. A wall of flame roars forth, returning a dozen back to the dead, others burn and fall off the edge.

Luna watches as her mouth hangs agape at how easily he can slaughter his own people and yells, "WHY DO YOU KILL YOUR OWN PEOPLE SO EASILY!?" Tears fall from her eyes as she watches him cleave one in half and behead another.

He continues to cut through draugr after draugr and finally kills the last one, kicking its corpse as well as any others that didn't fall off the path to clear it for them to walk across without tripping. As he looks back to say, "These things used to be my people, they stopped being my people when they returned from death as slaves! All clear you can move closer now! Shadowmere, please come here and guard the other end of the path. Trouble is still around somewhere, I will check it out."

As the group moves up closer, Shadowmere moves to guard the other side of the path and keeps watch for anything that moves saying, "I'm ready whenever you are!"

As Bayott hears a grumble coming from somewhere followed by something getting up, he hears, "Ahst dii drogro uth, hi fent aav dilon! (At my lord's command, you shall join the dead!)" followed by a sound of something running towards him and hears them begin shouting, "FUS...RO DAH!" With a quick roll to the left, he barely gets out of range of the shout.

After hearing the translation from Star Swirl, Celestia watches as another creature uses a shout that Bayott knows and watches as it strikes a pillar supporting the roof, and sends it crashing down to the room below as large fissures open up in the ceiling, threatening to collapse if another is lost and asks, "Is that another Dragonborn like you Bayott? Please don't let him use that again. If he hits another pillar, the roof will collapse on us all!" They huddle together in a group for safety from the fight.

When he hears her, he replies saying, "No he is not a Dragonborn at all, that is a Draugr Deathlord. He was likely alive during the time that Mankind was nothing more than slaves and food to the unimaginable cruelty of the Dragon's rule over Mundus many, many years ago. It takes time for the body to use another shout. Worry not, for this fight is nearly over." As he readies his next shout, he sighs saying, "I wish I didn't have to use this shout, but you have threatened my newfound friends. And that is unforgivable. KRII LUN AUS!"

Luna watches as a sickly pinkish purple wave races forward, hits the deathlord and dissipates, leaving the enemy with a purple haze around their body. It stabs the ground to keep itself standing as Bayott walks towards it with his greatsword in hand.

Bayott raises his greatsword above and to the side saying to the defeated deathlord, "Sovngarde awaits you at long last, be free from your enslavement to the immortal Dov." He then brings his greatsword down, cleaving him almost in half.

She sees him in a new light as he shown mercy to the enslaved warrior. She smiles and says, "Ok girls, the way forward is safe. Let us move forward and get out of this tomb." As the group cross the path slick with blood, Rarity refuses to cross it.

As Rarity nearly faints from seeing all the blood on the path across, she says, "I absolutely will not stain my hooves with blood, it is near impossible to get it out of whatever it stains!" She looks forward to see Shadowmere approaching her with a soft smile and asks her, "Ahh, my savior! Have you come to take me across the filthy path?"

Shadowmere's red streaks glow as she leans into her ear and whispers, "If you think I am going to carry your prissy ass to the other side, you are sorely mistaken. If you don't move your ass right now, I am going to chop off your hair and tail, tell everyone that you have mange, and inform them that you made this sexy outfit for me out of kindness. If you get over there before I count to three, I will forget everything I said." She then smirks and begins counting.

She hears her say one and takes off like a shot with tears streaming across her face as she starts bawling, running directly into the open arms of her waiting friends and tells them what she threatened her with as Twilight scowls at the offending pony.

She defends herself saying, "You know I only said that to make you move your flank, right Rarity? I would never actually do that to somepony, especially one that takes such good care of her hair, tail, and coat."

Twilight then scolds her saying, "You didn't have to be so cruel about it you know! Her fashion career is her pride and joy, she makes fashions that appear all around Equus!"

Shadowmere then replies back, "I know, but I just couldn't help myself. I am a bit of a sadist after all, I enjoy causing a little misery once in awhile. It helps me keep my sanity."

Bayott chuckles at her antics and says, "Try to keep your threats to a minimum, alright Shadowmere? If you don't, I am gonna give you a longer kiss than the one I gave Fluttershy, I will even include using my tongue."

She shudders in fear as she hears that and says, "You, wouldn't dare!"

He puts on a serious look and says, "Try me." As he turns and heads up the path out, he makes his way through the room with the enchanting table in it and heads up the stairs and down the path and hears a draugr walking about in the room before him and quietly says, "Keep very quiet here or the one roaming around may hear us." He then sneaks forward as quietly as he can onto the path with his greatsword drawn, waiting for the right time to strike. As the draugr passes under him, he turns his greatsword upside down and hops off the edge. Plunging the greatsword through the top of the draugr, he pulls it out and says, "Hold on a moment."

Discord watches the battle in earnest saying, "Oh the fun chaos you will wreak when we get out of here, Mortal."

As Bayott finishes up the fight he chuckles saying, "When you called me mortal, you reminded me of a Daedric Lord I knew back in the day. His name was Sheogorath, Prince of Madness. I met him twice, once in Solitude and once in here just before I walked to the back of the ruin and fell asleep. He was a real pain in the ass to deal with."

His jaw literally hits the floor at hearing he knew his father back in his day, he then picks up his jaw and returns it to his mouth saying, "Y-You knew my father, Bayott?"

He replies saying, "Wait...he had a child! I haven't seen him since that day, how about you?"

Discord smiles and says, "Of course he had a child! How else would I have magic similar to his!" He sighs and continues, "But he has been far too busy with ruling his kingdom in Oblivion to pay attention to me lately, I miss him rather terribly."

Bayott sighs and continues on saying, "Don't worry Discord, I'm sure he hasn't forgotten about you. Ok everyone, let's continue on and get out of here shall we?" He then turns and walks down the room, up the other set of stairs and across the path to the room before it.

As the group hurries to catch up to him, Celestia says, "So you really knew Discord's father, Bayott?"

He sticks to the wall and crosses the pressure plates saying, "I sure did, we only met a couple of times though. I am sure that Discord is a chip off the old block, aren't ya Discord?"

He looks up to the ceiling and whistles innocently as a halo appears over his head saying, "Nah, I don't cause trouble nowadays because it is wrong."

Bayott walks down the path saying, "Uh huh, sure you don't." He then chuckles and continues down the tunnels to the doors and pushes both of them open. As he passes through more corridors, he eventually comes to another path whispering to the group, "Stay here until I say it is safe to move forward."

As the sounds of more fighting erupt, Celestia says to Luna, "I sure hope we are doing the right thing in bringing him back with us sister." A couple minutes later, the sounds of battle stop and he calls them to catch up to him.

Rarity grumbles as they come across more mangled corpses and says, "Yay, more blood stains to wash out of my fur and off my hooves." As she steps on corpses to keep clean, one corpse's rib cage gives way, causing her hoof to sink down into a chest full of goo saying, "EEEHEEEEWW!! Now I will never be able to get the stench of corpse off of my hoof."

Shadowmere giggles and says, "Worry not princess, just lather rinse and repeat as many times as necessary."

The group snickers behind their hands at the exchange between the two as they make it to another room where a few more bodies lay in pieces. As they go up the stairs to the next room, Bayott stops them for a moment.

He looks to the group and says to them, "Whatever you do, please try not to make any noise because these things react to the slightest thing that comes from any direction." He then turns and goes through a corridor and sees several roaming around and gets their attention by yelling, "Come and get me, Sovngarde awaits any who dare to try to kill me!"

As the draugr go after him, Bayott uses another shout saying, "IIZ SLEN NUS!" A white wave races forth and freezes over half of the draugr solid, making the battle go easier until hearing one say, "ZUN HAAL VIIK!" sending his greatsword out of his hands, and skittering across the floor. With no other option, he calls upon his magic to dual cast Ice Spike at his enemies saying, "That was your biggest mistake, now die in despair at the onslaught!"

As the group stares in awe at him dual casting one spell with two hands, killing several draugr faster than with his greatsword. Twilight finds herself wanting to know how to do that saying, "I would love to know how he casts magic with his hands, it would make doing multiple things at a time easier."

Bayott looks and sees one draugr trying to escape outside and quickly dispatches it by riddling its body with ice spikes. He then sighs saying, "Someone please find my greatsword, one of these bastards knocked it out of my grasp with that damn shout they used."

As Twilight quickly finds it and brings it over, she says, "Can you please try to teach me how to shout and cast magic the way you do?"

He searches around in the air for his greatsword and after grabbing it he says, "I may not be the best teacher, but I could try my hand at teaching you if you insist?" He puts the greatsword back into place on his back and waits for them to respond.

She quickly nods her head saying, "Oh thank you, thank you! I will study hard to learn everything you try to teach me, I will surprise you at how quickly I can learn things."

Bayott is about to head outside when he remembers that he may give others a heart attack when they see him and stops saying, "Could any of you tell me if there are any others outside of Ustengrav?"

Celestia steps forward saying, "Yes there are several others like us outside this ruin, why do you ask?"

He sighs and says, "Well you see, when something scary and terrifying was seen near any citizens, warriors or guards were called to take care of it. So some of you might wanna go outside before me and let me know when it is safe to come outside."

Celestia smiles and says, "I can understand that and agree to your request. OK is everypony ready to get out of this ruin?"

Everypony in the group is eager to get out into fresh air and get to know their new friends. They all make their way up the stairs and out of the large door to inform the others of what they have found in there. As they walk up the spiral steps and gather in front of the ruin, Celestia steps forward and says in the Royal Canterlot Voice, "Gather round, my little ponies, for we have a tale to tell you involving the past, present and future!"

Bayott stands beside Shadowmere and cracks the door to listen to what she says as well as wait for their cues to step out of the shadows. He quietly says to his companion, "So Shadow, do you feel ok with going through with this? Can I get the sword back so I can use it to go up the spaced steps?"

She silently answers back, "Sure here you go, thanks for letting me use it. Look who's talking, I will be fine. It is you that should be a little nervous at the moment they first see you. Oh they are going to totally freak the fuck out when they see a walking corpse."

As they both listen to the story being told, it takes an hour of explaining and answering questions before Shadowmere is called up with Bayott saying, "Thank you and good luck out there, you crazy horse."

Shadowmere glares playfully at him and swats him with her tail as she walks by and goes up to join the rest mouthing, "You're welcome, see you soon corpse."

He patiently waits another half hour while they explain Shadowmere to the group and answering questions when he hears one of them call him forth, saying to the crowd, "Please do not be scared by this next being's appearance, for he will not harm you without just cause. He also ensured that we escape this ruin alive by using his abilities to fight and defeat the numerous dangers inside, even without his sight he still fought remarkably well. Please step forth Bayott, also known as Ysmir, The Last Dragonborn, and he is an ancient hero from times before we came to be." He sighs and opens the door wide and steps out into the light.

When Bayott slowly makes his way up the stairs, using his one handed sword to find steps with one hand while the other feels along the wall. As he gets to the top, he hears many gasps and shrieks coming from the crowd as they all begin to discuss what they are seeing. He tries to alleviate their fears by saying, "Yes, what this group tells you about me is true, I am an ancient hero from long ago that is called by the gods in time of great need. My current appearance is because of how long I have been in slumber. As you can see, the seventy thousand years have not been kind to me at all as I hope there might be a way to restore my appearance to how I once looked long ago. I also advise that you seek shelter in strong secure places that do not burn or crumble easily, should any Dragons from long ago make a return and attack. I will speak to the leadership and ask them to fill me in on what has happened during my time a slumber. You will be informed when an accurate description of how the dragons of old looked back then..." Remembering the name of an old friend of his that he could use for a description and then says, "Where are you wise one? I have an idea on how to show them what a dragon from my time looks like if I can get your permission to summon him?"

Chapter 2: Trouble on the Horizon (minor edits 3/15/20)

Outside the Portal to Sovngarde, Somewhere far east in the Crystal Mountains

Alduin sits on a perch atop a tower of the ruins of Skuldafn, looking over the edge at the changed landscape of Mundus saying, "Himdah do muz lost vuldak pogaas mindin dii viik, nii trun ni. Fah Zu'u fent drun nii zek neben rel do dovah. Zu'u fent faan reyzan mahlaan zek wah Lein wah aam zey ont zos, ahrk lahvraan mindah do fos lost vuldak. (Land of men has changed much after my defeat, it matters not. For I shall bring it back under the rule of dragons. I shall call the remaining fallen back to Mundus to serve me once more, and gather knowledge of what has changed.)" He then wonders to himself, 'I never did learn much from the souls of those ponies I ate, they were too busy screaming to answer my questions. Hmm, I shall seek out a most trusted friend for this task...Numinex was his name. Let's see if I can sense where your bones now lay...' and takes off from his perch in search of them.

Seventy thousand years ago...
At the top of the Throat of the World

Paarthurnax sits at the top of his mountain and feels trouble in the air as he watches a large group of ten thousand approach High Hrothgar with malice coming off of them in waves. He continues to intensely watch as their leader walks up to the doors, stepping back down the stairs with one of the Greybeards following them as the other three stand at the top of the stairs standing a short distance apart from each other. After words are exchanged, several members of the large group attack the Greybeard only to be pushed back with their Unrelenting Force Shout.

More words are exchanged and once again the group tries to attack the Greybeards and are quickly killed by their Shouts, causing Paarthurnax to leap off of his perch and defend his students. He flies in and hovers in the air beside the mountain between the two groups and calls out, "WHO AMONG YOU IS THEIR LEADER!"

Elenwen steps forth and says, "It would be I, Elenwen the ambassador to Skyrim! What business do you have interfering with our mission to eradicate the worship of Talos!?"

Paarthurnax hovers in the air and says in anger, "I AM THE LEADER OF THE GREYBEARDS! YOU WILL RESPECT ME AS I LEAD THE DOVAH NOW, INSOLENT JOOR (mortal), YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO COME HERE AND ENFORCE YOUR RULE UPON US! Arngeir, are any of you hurt?"

Arngeir looks up to their leader in concern saying, "Sadly, Master Einarth and Wulfgar require healing. As for Master Borri and I, we are ok. I hope the Dragonborn arrives soon, we need his help to defeat so many if they wish to continue fighting."

He sighs and answers again, "Sad that is true, but we will hold them off until he arrives. Now, do you wish to continue this fight Elenwen?"

Her eyes open wide at the mention of the Dragonborn and gets nervous saying, "Y-Y-You summoned him here...why?"

The speaker for the Greybeards answers, "Haven't you heard of the wrongful massacre that occurred inside of the temple just before it was burnt to the ground by one of your Justiciars over the false rumor of Talos worship there?"

Elenwen flaps her mouth up and down, trying to form words and finally says, "I-If t-that was a mistake, is it true that you are secretly encouraging that the worship of Talos is acceptable in secret, and that you yourself hold secret masses?!"

Arngeir crosses his arms in irritation and says, "How insufferably stupid of you to believe such wild lies, and how pathetically arrogant of you to think that you could bring us to heel! You have just kicked a hibernating bear, Elenwen! I hope you are prepared for what may happen to the Altmer and Thalmor for this grievous sin of attacking a strictly neutral group that wishes for peace and quiet! Bayott is quite fond of us for helping him understand what his purpose is, for he has done many kind deeds across all of Skyrim and in Solstheim. For as many deeds he has done, if he should ask...all of Skyrim would answer the call to war. You should not have attacked us Altmer, for you may have just produced the spark that begins the Great War anew that will doom the Thalmor and the Altmer that support them! You better pray and plead for forgiveness, for if you harmed anyone that he calls friend...the Thalmor's days are numbered."

Before Elenwen can answer him, she hears the shout, "YOL TOOR SHUL!" Screams of agony fill the air as many of her soldiers burn to death or run off the edge in a panic, she turns around to see the very pissed off Dragonborn take off his armor and set it on the ground, his shoulder length pitch black hair blows in the wind coming off the mountain.

Bayott scowls at Elenwen with a newfound hatred yelling, "You just had to kill Svari, didn't you. Isn't anything sacred to the Thalmor at all? After this day, the Thalmor will learn what true fear is! I will rally any and all to my cause, living or dead, be it Dragons, The Greybeards, Vampires, Werewolves, Werebears, Nords, Argonians, Bretons, Dark Elves, Imperials, Khajiits, Orcs, Redguards, Wood Elves, or any High Elf that despise the Thalmor. The Thalmor's vicious rule over the world...IS OVER! Now you shall all be slain by me and me alone, so stay out of this Paarthurnax and the Greybeards! For this is my justice for the wrongful slaughter of innocents at the temple in Solitude!" He then triggers his transformation into his lycan form to butcher them all, causing bones to snap and reorganize themselves.

As Elenwen's eyes widen in horror at hearing what just happened today, she pries her eyes off of the large, White-furred Lycan body to look past him in the direction of the Summerset Isles and says, "My Gods, what have I done...my sympathy goes out to you all, my fellow Altmer that support the Thalmor." She then hardens her resolve and decides to fight to the death saying, "The Thalmor will rule all and last forever!" then charges in a suicidal, last attack as the large white lycan tears her soldiers apart, eating the hearts of those who get too close.

After a few minutes have passed and the white blood soaked lycan still continuing his murderous rampage, the army she brought with her is completely destroyed. With none remaining alive, she charges at him with tears falling down her face. In the blink of an eye, she finds her height rapidly decreasing and bounces on the ground. The last thing she sees is a white furred foot stomp on her head before going completely black.

Arngeir calls out to the Dragonborn and asks, "So...Dragonborn, what do we do now?"

After a few minutes pass by, Bayott finally feels his body begin to painfully shift back into its original form and walks back over to his armor and puts it back on saying, "First, we will push all these bodies off to the side and clean up some of this blood to clear the path for the Jarls to arrive to discuss how we are going to handle these recent events."

He chuckles and says, "Haven't you already decided on going to war with the Thalmor?"

The Dragonborn then sighs and answers, "Oh...right, I guess I kind of did just declare war. In that case Paarthurnax, my friend. Can you call upon a meeting of all Dov to request their aid in going to war against the Thalmor?"

Paarthurnax thinks for a moment and considers his request saying, "It would be my pleasure, Dovahkiin. I shall summon you once they all have gathered at the top." He then takes off towards the Throat of the world to begin calling them all to come to the Throat of the World.

Bayott then looks to Arngeir and says, "As for after that, will you all join me in this battle?"

Arngeir looks to the others and waits for their answer. After a few moments pass by, they all nod a yes as their answer to his request of them joining him in war against the Thalmor. He then turns back to the Dragonborn and says, "We shall all join you, Dovahkiin."

He looks to the wounded Greybeards and hurries over to heal their wounds with his stronger healing spells and a couple strong potions saying, "Worry not my friends, for no one else shall die this day."

Ten years later, outside of Labyrinthian

Wulfgar steps forward with concern on his face as he speaks to Paarthurnax, "What about the children we have fathered Master Paarthurnax, we can't simply leave them to fend for themselves. We should bring them with us to Labyrinthian."

Paarthurnax sighs and looks back at him and says, "Alas, I am sorry to disappoint, but Kyne, Akatosh, and Mara have all told me what is to come. If the Dragonborn is to succeed with his next task, he will need all of our help. They have assured me that the children you all have fathered will continue on in life, you will see your line's children's children again one day. We must come here to slumber for when he awakes once more, our lessons will not be forgotten so easily. Let's continue onward and join him in waiting." He turns his head and looks back at the door to the outside thinking to himself, 'We shall be waiting for you to find us once more, Dovahkiin.'

Present time, just outside the Ancient city of Labyrinthian

A.K Yearling wished she could be at the other ruin with Star Swirl now, but she was called here as they found something new, a massive ruin that would take awhile to fully unearth. As she was examining ancient chains and cages that hung from the front archway that led into the ruin thinking to herself, 'I wonder what those could be for...' As a commotion catches her attention, she quickly makes her way there to see what they have found, weaving around various stones sticking up out of the ground. She comes to the top of a set of stairs and looks at a massive door, then at the ground with a symbol showing two winged serpents with horns on their heads with their bodies arched away from each other with their heads almost meeting with an arrow pointing to the ground between them and says, "I wonder what these two things are, does anypony know?" As the ponies all around her shake their heads she sighs and says, "All right, back to work the lot of ya or no overtime pay!"

Back outside Ustengrav

Celestia looks at Bayott and considers the answer and says, "Who is it you wish to call upon? The two of you were all we found inside there."

He turns to look towards the one who spoke saying, "Someone I once fought and they called me friend and requested that I call them whenever I had need of them, I shall need lots of space to do so though."

She looks at him with an uneasy feeling and doesn't want to leave her subjects not knowing what new threat to look out for and says, "He won't harm any of my little ponies at all will he?"

Bayott chuckles and says, "No, he won't attack anything as long as they don't attack him first or unless I order him to...which I wouldn't do. So, do I have permission to summon him so they have a idea to draw and hand out to the towns?"

Celestia ponders the answer a bit more before saying, "Y-Yes you do. My little ponies, please give Bayott a lot of room so he can show you what a dragon of his time looks like." She then watches as a large circle opens up among the crowd for him to call his friend.

He sighs and says, "Shadowmere, please guide me to the spot that has opened up and show me its size so I have an idea of where the center is? It really sucks not being able to see for myself."

Shadowmere chuckles and walks up to him, takes his arm and says, "I understand that sir, please follow me there. Do remember that I have big hooves ok? So I can't help it if I accidentally step on your toes once or twice." As they get closer to the circle, the ponies part to let them pass through and watch them intently.

Bayott laughs softly and says, "You always step on my toes, whether you are sober or not." He continues following her guidance, hoping they reach the circle soon and thinks, 'Oh, I hope that Durnehviir doesn't flip out when he sees my current appearance, but I am sure that I can calm him down though.'

As they finally reach the circle she says, "Ok we are at the outer edge of the circle now, I will take you to the far side now, then back to the side and do the same the other direction ok?"

He pays close attention to counting his strides as they make it across the circle, then heading to a new side and does the same as they cross it. After carefully measuring the distance with strides, he thinks it may just be enough room for his friend and shouts at the ground before him, "DUR NEH VIIR!" As his friend materializes before him, he waits for him to full appear and says, "It has been too long my friend, I have missed you."

There are shrieks as Durnehviir is summoned from the Soul Cairn, he looks at a very different person and says, "Who are you and how can you summon me!?"

Bayott sighs and says, "You do not remember our fight in the Soul Cairn so many ages ago? You once called me Qahnaarin. The ages have not been kind to me at all," He then waits to see his reaction.

He looks to the vastly different form he once knew and says as his eyes go wide with realization and says, "Qahnaarin, is it truly you?!? It has been far too long since you called me to the skies of Keizaal, I feared you had passed on in life." He gives him a toothy grin.

The Dragonborn chuckles and says, "I apologize my friend, for I had to slumber for a time until I was needed once more. Now here I am once more and look like a damned draugr to boot! I need your help with something real quick, can you help me with it?"

Durnehviir ponders for a moment and answers him saying, "What do you ask of me, Qahnaarin? Ask and I shall obey your command."

Bayott smiles and says, "I don't know if they remember the times past when Dragons ruled over men, I need them to understand that most dovah serve Alduin. Also they need to know that he cannot be reasoned with and must be fought. These ponies do not take life, therefore I must do it for them to ensure they stay free from his reign of terror. It saddens me that Skyrim is no more, and that the world has altered greatly since my slumber. As long as I have friends to aid me in my quest to protect the freedom of others, I shall endure whatever time throws at me." He then looks to the crowd and calls out to the crowd to inform them of what they must know to keep themselves safe and says, "Ponies, hear my words and know the truth behind lies my enemy shall tell you, Alduin and his allies are to be feared and avoided. All dragons have an appearance that is unique to them such as his, and can shout as I can. Please show them your power Durnehviir."

He turns around and calls out to the crowd saying, "Give me room for I require it to show my power that is unique to me and me alone, for most others stick to only fire and frost shouts." He watches as the area before him widen further and shouts, "DIIL QOTH ZAAM!" An unholy creature rises up out of the ground and moves in front of him and just stands there as he stretches his wings and takes to the air and dives at the creature saying, "FOH KRAH DIIN!" a stream of frost flows forth from his mouth and strikes the creature, killing it after a few moments and then swoops back around to land where he was, and says, "I shall see you again, when you summon me Qahnaarin, the masters call me back yet again."

Before his friend returns once more he says, "One day my friend, I shall bring an end to your masters and have you rule the Soul Cairn when they exist no more."

As Durnehviir looks to the sky in hope as he says, "I look forward to that battle my friend, for when they fall I shall make changes to that place to make it better for the souls that dwell within." He then rears up on his hind legs and vanishes into thin air and finds himself back in the Soul Cairn, eagerly waiting for when he is called again.

Bayott sighs as his friend returns to the Soul Cairn, clears his throat and says, "He looks that way because he has been trapped inside the soul cairn for many, many years. That is the general shape of a dragon from my time, should you ever see a large, pitch black dragon with red eyes, send a message to your leaders. Keep away from it, because it is not friendly at all. If you see any others similar in shape to the Dragon that I have summoned for you, send messages to me and I will come deal with them. There are only two other dragons that are friendly, but I don't know what has become of either of them."

Shadowmere sighs in sympathy for the slightly panicked crowd and reassures the crowd by saying, "Fear not ponies, for he has faced the largest and strongest dragon of all, Legendary Dragons and the leader of them all...Alduin himself. I watched and fought as he beat him once at the top of the Throat of the World, wish I was there to watch him actually fall in Sovngarde."

Everything finally clicks and forms a clear picture as the latest prophecy makes sense to Twilight as her pupils shrink to pinpricks saying, "I think it has came to pass, I hope I am wrong about this but I think I might not be..."

Luna and Celestia gasp at hearing what Shadowmere said and decide to handle the quickly rising panic and say, "We highly doubt that these dragons will come here, but as a precaution please listen closely to these instructions I give you my little ponies! In any case of an old world dragon attacking, please get to safety underground or in solid fortifications that can resist fire, and don't hide in caves or mines. They could easily trap you in those places, if you don't have a place underground. Be sure to build one large and deep enough to hold several other ponies." As the panic dies down a little, Celestia waves to Shadowmere to bring Bayott back to further talk to him.

Bayott feels Shadowmere pull at his arm and says, "What do you want from me Shadow. Why do you pull at my arm like that?"

She replies saying, "Well, Celestia waved at me to bring you to her. So I think that she wants to speak with you further...shall we get going?"

He sighs and says, "Yes, let's go see what she wants to discuss with me now." He then follows her lead as she guides him towards them.

As the soldiers begin to gather around the carriage, Luna and Celestia waited for him to get to them so they could discuss how they might be able to restore his appearance as well as find out more about his world. Luna looks to her sister with a very worried glance saying, "I am very worried for all of our futures, Cece. I really do hope that the latest prophecy doesn't come true." A tear falls from her face as she fears for what the future has in store for them all.

Celestia looks at Luna and sees her start to crying again out of fear for what the future may hold for them and pulls her into a tight hug so she can let out a little bit before letting it all out at the castle in her chambers and sees Twilight giggling as her eyes are the size of pinpricks with her hair all frizzed out and glances at Shadowmere guiding Bayott towards them. She then reaches out and pulls Twilight into their hug with her magic and holds them all tightly and says, "Worry not girls, for we will get through this if and when it happens. So please have faith in our new friend and us as well, besides we have to get him looking better before he gives some poor pony a heart attack with that awful appearance of his." They all stop sobbing and look to Bayott and chuckle.

As Luna chuckles at how he looks she says, "You do look far worse than a timber wolf, Bayott. We really should start looking for ways to restore your looks, old one."

Rainbow laughs and joins in saying, "Yeah we should, because you look like something a timber wolf chewed up and spat back out!"

Rarity chimes in saying, "As for you darling Shadowmere, you need some better clothes than whatever those are. The same goes for you as well, for I am sure that whatever you have on now made you look intimidating back in the day...now it is just as hideous as you look on the outside. So are we going to return to Ponyville or what is the plan Princess Celestia?"

Everyone turns to look at Celestia as she ponders what to do as she finally says a few minutes later, "We shall return to Ponyville and see if Aloe and Lotus Blossom can work their magic to aid him with his appearance." She turns to head towards the carriage and turns back around as Twilight mumbles something.

Twilight finally has herself under control again after briefly losing it and says, "Can we stop and see if Zecora can help him at all?"

Celestia smiles and says, "It couldn't hurt to ask, could it? We shall go there first and see what she knows. Let us be on our way little ones, for our task of restoring Bayott to his former, more youthful appearance awaits us! Please follow us this way Shadowmere and Bayott."

Shadowmere follows after them saying to Bayott, "Can you follow us on your own sir, or do you need me to help guide you again until you regain your sight?"

Bayott answers back, "Umm, I think it would be faster if you would guide me until I have my sight back. I think I am a easier target for a dragon if I can't see to fight them, gods above...if Alduin or any of his allies found me like this, I would definitely be an easy target." He then waits for her to take his hand and show him the way.

She takes his hand, smiles and then says with a laugh, "Right this way my lord, mind your toes." She then guides him to the carriage that will take them to Zecora's.

He follows them to the carriage with the help of his companion moments later and says, "Who is this Zecora you spoke of?"

Twilight replies back with a smile saying, "She is a highly skilled alchemist who lives in the Everfree Forest that knows much about brewing potions, she is teaching me what she can about it."

Bayott thinks curiously for a moment and says, "Very interesting, I may have to chat with her about her craft in depth to exchange notes."

Shadowmere stops at the carriage and says to Bayott, "Ok sir, we are here. You will have to take your helm off and your greatsword if you want to fit inside of it."

He reluctantly agrees with a sigh saying, "I hope I don't have to do this very often, because it embarrasses me with how ugly I am right now." As he holds his helm under his arm, he takes the greatsword and its sheathe off if his back and holds it in front of him as he enters the carriage and asks, "Sorry, but where do you want me to sit at?"

Fluttershy smiles and says, "You can sit in the corner with me if you want to, I don't mind." She blushes as he brushes up against her.

As Shadowmere hops in, she takes a seat right on top of his lap and glares softly at Fluttershy, feeling annoyed that she has competition for her partner's affections.

Rainbow glances and notices the soft glare coming from Shadowmere and grins saying, "You two seem really close to be only companions. What do you think Applejack?"

Applejack frowns disapprovingly at Fluttershy but answers, "Yeah they must really have gone through a lot if they act that way around each other."

Rarity throws her two cents in and says, "Especially when you are wearing something that is little more than hideous lingerie that barely covers anything dear."

Bayott finds an opportunity to torment his companion a bit and lightly trails a few fingers up the sides of her body, making her shiver at the touch.

She blushes furiously at the remarks made by the three ponies and feels fingers make their way up the sides of her body and smacks one of them with a hand saying, "Hey! Just where do you think you are touching me sir!?" Her face turns bright red as she scoots off of his lap and sits between Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash.

As everypony bursts out laughing at their antics, Celestia asks the drivers of the carriage to take them to the path leading to Zecora's hut and says, "Alright, now let's fill you in on a bit of history before we arrive at the path to Zecora's shall we?"

The carriage begins rolling down the road at Celestia's orders, they begin to tell him the history of Equestria as Discord appears inside as a painting on the wall to help fill in details that are missed.

Somewhere in the Badlands

Alduin hovers above the resting place of the bones of a trusted friend of his chanting and then shouting down at the buried bones, "Numinex, SLEN TIID VO! Lahvraan hin kruziik qeth, Zu'u faan hi wah ahmik ont zos. (Gather your ancient bones, I call you to service once more.)"

The ground bursts apart as debris flies in different directions as he fights to be free from his rocky tomb. Numinex lets out a triumphant roar as he finds himself free at last and walks towards his lord and says, "Alduin, thuri. Lingrah lost Zu'u kosaan dilon ruzun meyus sent Zu'u vorohah fah dii laas voth gein wen faan Zu'u nis dahmaan, rok spun priidaan tey ahrk nok do vir rok poltor zey. Zu'u fend ni lost gir wah ok miik do Dovah hiiv wah zey. Zu'u nep laat fod Zu'u filok ahrk lost vorohah dovah kuz dii staad, nuz dii krongrah lost maltiid ol rok far zey tum okmaar ahrk nok zey lum voth ok brunikaar. (Long have I been dead since the foolish deal I made for my life with one whose name I cannot remember, he spun vast tales and lies of how he captured me. I should not have listened to his offer of Dragons reach to me. I laughed last when I escaped and had a mad dragon take my place, but my victory was short as he tracked me down himself and laid me low with his savagery."

Alduin hovers in the air before Numinex his old friend saying, "Zu'u lost ahsod fah hi wah kosov, wuth gein. Zu'u laan hi wah yah mindah do fos lost vuldak ruzun dii diist viik ahst haal do Dovahkiin. Waan rok tul lahney, krii tol mey voth nelvaas ahrk irkbaan. Rok fen ni diinek dii mein naan lingrahiik. (I have a task for you to perform, old one. I ask you to seek knowledge of what has changed since my first defeat at the hands of a Dragonborn. If he still lives, kill that fool with haste and hatred. He will not disrupt my plans any longer.)" He watches as Numinex's skeleton restores what was lost to time in death.

Numinex can see once again and answers Alduin, "Nii fent kos drehlaan, Thuri. Zu'u fent yah tir mindah ko daar yun lein, ahrk krii daar Dovahkiin fend rok tul verilir su'um. To rok lost kopraan do joor, rok fend kos lingrah dilon. (It shall be done, my Overlord. I shall seek out knowledge regarding this new world, and kill this Dragonborn should he still draw breath. Though he had the body of a mortal, he should be long dead.)"

He looks at his old friend and says, "Ahrii, Zu'u lost laan Tsun ahst lingraan. Rok piraan tol faal Dovahkiin hasn't rahn naal mok tul, Zu'u lorot nii los pruz wah kos dirunkei um daar gein. Fah rok los vrah mul, rok lost nahmul zey zont ko laas, ahrk Zu'u fen wahl mok biis fah tol. (Alas, I have questioned Tsun at length. He claims that the Dragonborn hasn't passed by him yet, I think it is better to be cautious around this one. For he is indeed strong, he has overpowered me twice in life, and I will make him pay for that.)" He flies off in search of another dovah to bring back, and leaves Numinex to his task.

He watches him fly off into the distance thinking, 'I worry for you my lord, but I know not why. Somehow something tells me I should leave this Dragonborn be. It matters not, for my lord has asked me to complete a task and I shall obey.' He then leaps into the sky and searches for the nearest town to ask a few of the residents.

At the entrance to Zecora's hut, outside Ponyville

As they fill him in on recent events in Equestria's history, Bayott sighs in relief as the carriage comes to a stop as he hears the drivers say, "We have arrived, Your Highness." After he gets out first, he puts his helmet back onto his head and returns the sheath to its place on his back and says, "So which one of you is the leader?"

Luna is the first to speak up and says, "Well there are four princesses, but Cadence rules the Crystal Empire currently. Celestia and I both rule over Equestria, while Twilight has a castle outside of the town of Ponyville and deals with a few issues there. So, there are three alicorn princesses with you now, is there a problem?"

Bayott turns his head to listen to his surroundings and says, "There's no problem, I was just wondering because I overheard the driver call one of you princess."

As the group gets out of the carriage Twilight says, "Ok everypony, please follow me to Zecora's. Keep an eye out for timber wolves, there have been more sightings recently for some reason."

Shadowmere smirks and says, "Don't worry they wouldn't dare try to attack us or Bayott while he is with us."

Fluttershy cocks her head and says, "Why is that, are they afraid of him?"

She grins and answers saying, "Oh you shall see if they decide to show up to greet us, what a sight that will be."

The group feel chills run through their bodies as she said that, not really wanting to find out and continue on their way. They stop as Twilight spots glowing green eyes and says, "Stay close together everypony, there's a timber wolf out there! Where there is one there surely is a pack of them around." She then backs up close to the others in the group as she watches Shadowmere smirk at Bayott for some reason.

Shadowmere continues to smirk at him and says, "I think you can handle this can't you, puppy?"

He looks at her and sighs saying, "Ugh, you have a big mouth to go with those big hooves of yours. Keep behind me and don't freak out alright?" He then makes his way to the front and gets the attention of the timber wolves watching them.

Twilight watches in fear as he steps to the front and just stands there doing nothing as the group of timber wolves jumps into the clearing ahead of them and snarl and bark at him as if he was intruding on their territory and shouts, "Watch out!" and continues to watch events unfold.

Bayott smiles and calls back, "Don't worry, they are just a little scared and nervous at my presence. They sense someone similar to themselves and are just making sure they establish this is their territory. Give me just a moment and I will take care of all of this." He then takes off his armor, sets it aside, activates his power and begins to transform into his other form.

All eyes are on Bayott as his bones crack and shift into a form easily more than just twice as high as they are, making the timber wolves quake as his form takes shape. Shadowmere watches in awe as she sees him take a step forward and stands tall on his hind legs and saying, "Damn, I never tire at seeing you in this form sir, though you look like you have mange."

Everypony fails to form thoughts as to what is going on, even Discord is literally shocking himself, trying to regain brain function. Fluttershy watches in awe as a tall, mangy white being standing there looking down at the two shaking timber wolves. They then turn and run back into the forests yelping and barking in fright as a much heavier set of footsteps sounds farther in the forest, making her say, "Oh my I wonder what could be making those noises now."

As they all listen and wait for the approaching heavy footsteps to arrive, Bayott scoffs and says, "Hey, I've been asleep for several years and somehow you don't look like I do."

Shadowmere chuckles and says, "Awe, you're jealous...how cute. Whatever is making those noises is finally here, it's tall, busty and has a greenish glow, I think it's a Spriggan."

He sighs in relief saying, "I sure hope that it doesn't attack right away like most usually do. They usually protect certain areas they don't want anyone to mess with."

A tall slender feminine creature with a large pair of breasts on her body and a open head with a large crown of roots on top strode out of the forest and spoke, "My children sensed something entering our territory, I never would have thought that the one who slaughtered so many of my children in the many years past, would still exist to this day. I sure hope you don't try to stir up trouble here today, for I am the one that created the Spriggans and Spriggan Matrons. What brings you this way, ancient hero?"

Bayott offers a toothy grin as he looks to the Spriggan Queen and says, "In all my travels, I have never met a Spriggan who could speak. I was just exploring the wilds at the time, they always attacked me on sight if I adventured to far in. I do apologize for slaying so many of them, I am seeking an alchemist that lives in these woods. My appearance has a great need for improvement, as it would cause many others great fright at seeing me."

She looked at him seriously and said, "Are you going to harm the creatures within?"

He sighed and said, "I do apologize, but I do have to keep a balanced diet that includes meat. So may I have permission to hunt what I need to survive? I will defend myself if a creature should attack me first, but I won't start slaughtering anything inside of it. As long as I am left alone, I will keep to my promise of hunting what I need to live. What do you think of my offer, Spriggan Queen?"

The Spriggan leader looks at him and thinks hard on his offer, sighs saying, "I can agree to that as long as you keep to your word. Please call me Freydis, it has been so long since I told anyone my name. I hope we can meet again one day, and what might your name be?"

Bayott's bones shifted and changed back to his human form, he waits to catch his breath again and says, "My name is Bayott, and I am the last Dragonborn. Do you mean to say that you were that Queen Freydis, as in the sword I once fetched for Oengul?" He goes over to his armor and starts to put it back onto his body.

Freydis narrows her eyes at the mention of her sword saying, "So you are the one that stole my sword from me. I do expect you to return it to me one day."

He looks around and says, "I apologize for stealing it from you, I thought that you were an ancient corpse and didn't have need of it anymore. I will try to find it and bring it back to you some day."

With everything that was needed to be said out of the way she says, "Farewell Ysmir, Dragon of the North. May you find what you are searching for, but I fear that fate may have other things in store for you." She then turns and strides away into the forest.

Bayott turns his head towards her location saying, "Wait, how do you know that name? What do you mean that fate has other things in store for me, please explain."

Without turning around she says, "You shall join your mother and father in Sovngarde once your destiny is fulfilled here, and the danger is gone. Do enjoy your day." and disappears into the forest.

He sighs and glances at the group and says, "Well shall we continue on our journey to this friend of yours Twilight?" He then waits for her to take the lead again.

As Twilight shakes her head to shake off the daze of meeting a new ancient creature she never knew existed she says, "Yeah let's get back to finding Zecora's hut, it shouldn't be too much farther now." She then turns back and heads down the path that leads to her house.

They finally arrive at the hut as Twilight raps on the door with her knuckles and waits for Zecora to answer the door and turns around to say, "Umm, Bayott... Would you mind standing just out of sight so I can prepare her for the shock of seeing you for the first time?"

Bayott nods and lets Shadowmere guide him once more to where he would not be seen and says, "Ok Twilight, I am hidden, call when you are ready."

The door opens as Zecora pulls it open saying, "Ahh Twilight, good is it to see you come to visit me in the Everfree, what is it that brings you all to me?"

Twilight tries to think of what to say and answers, "Well Zecora, you are the expert of nearly everything mystical and herbal. I was really hoping that you would be able to help me figure something out by using your vast knowledge to restore one's appearance to what it once was."

Her eyes narrow a little in curiosity and she puts one arm across her chest with her palm supporting her other elbow, her chin resting between a thumb and a forefinger as she shifts her weight to one hoof and asks, "I am intrigued at your request, but why do you wish to do something not so easy I request?"

She then sighs and tells her, "About a couple weeks ago, I found a book that led us to a ruin. When we entered the ruin, we found a few surprising things. Some were a pleasant surprise, others were horrible. When we got to the back, we found a couple of things very intriguing. The first thing we found was a unique Thestral pony aslumber there, along with a corpse that looked much like several others we found. After a god named Mara made an appearance and had us all sing a song with her, she gathered mass amounts of magic and cast a strong spell on the ruin. A few moments after she departed, the corpse in the room woke up and began to speak. After some time, we learned that the being was called Bayott and he is what is known as a Dragonborn, the last Dragonborn as so we read in a seventy thousand year old book. I must warn you, his appearance is very frightening and is not easy to get used to unless you were there with us in the ruin called Ustengrav. Please brace yourself for the biggest shock you will ever see Zecora. Bayott and Shadowmere, please come over and meet Zecora."

Zecora wonders how bad his appearance could be and turns her attention towards the tree that this Bayott was apparently using to hide.

Bayott sighs and steps out with Shadowmere guiding him saying, "Here we come Twilight, I hope you have braced yourself for this sight Zecora." He then follows his companion towards her, hoping she doesn't die of fright.

She is frozen in place with shock as she forces herself to speak saying, "Oh blessed be! Is that a living corpse I see before me? Just how is this a possibility, this borders on insanity!" Her hands grab the sides of her head and starts pulling on her hair.

As Shadowmere and Bayott stop in front of Zecora and Twilight as Bayott says, "I apologize for causing you such fright, I was hoping that you might know some way to return me to the way I looked, before I was sent to slumber inside Ustengrav."

Zecora shakes her head out of shock and tries to think hard on what she could do. After thinking for a few minutes she says, "Hmm, I wonder where I put that one book..." Then turns around and looks through the various shelves for the book she wants.

After some time passes, Twilight says, "Hey Zecora, do you need a little help in searching for it?"

She calls back from inside saying, "Nope, I think I found the book I want I hope." She pulls the book from the shelf and blows dust off of it and returns to them saying, "Here is what I seek, let us see what knowledge lies in this antique."

They remain quiet while she thumbs through the book and finds what she is looking for and says, "I have found the recipe for what you need, but getting some of these ingredients will be troublesome indeed. This recipe asks for many things, most of which I have except for: A still beating heart of a Briar, an unfertilized dragon egg, a giant black pearl." Before she reads off the last one, she gulps audibly and says, "Blood from four Alicorns, and the blood of the one to be restored. There is also an incantation that must be read aloud by one who can use magic."

The whole group gasps at hearing that as Applejack says, "Uh, I dunno bout this Twi, It seems like this spell may be a bit too dangerous and risky to attempt restoring the way he looks."

Celestia and Luna share a glance and Luna asks, "Twilight, if you wish to attempt this spell we will help you. Make sure that you understand what this is supposed to do before you try it ok? What do you want to do Twilight?"

Twilight thinks hard for a moment as Bayott says, "You don't have to worry about the Briar heart, for I had a few at some of the safe houses when it all got moved to Ustengrav. I hope that one survived through the years, the Hagravens were a real nuisance in the day. They were the ones who made Briarheart warriors with black magic, they were worse to deal with than the damned Hagravens were."

She then looks at him and says, "What is a Hagraven?"

He sighs and says, "A Hagraven is a terrible joining of a hag and a crow and are gifted with dark magic, uglier than sin and very hostile, most choose never to talk to strangers."

Twilight ponders for a moment and says, "Let's take a closer look at this incantation so I can get a feel if it is safe or not." She then asks Zecora to turn the book so she can read it and check it over.

After a few moments of reading, Twilight sighs and says, "Well, from what I understand of this spell. It appears to actually be a spell that does what it claims to, the words are a little wierd because this was also written by Mad Hatter Greybeard. I still want to give this spell a shot though."

Luna says to Celestia, "Sister, we do think that Queen Novo might be able to assist us with finding the giant black pearl, and I think we should ask Dragon Lord Ember for the unfertilized dragon egg. Twilight might be able to teleport back to Ustengrav for the heart."

Celestia looks up in thought and says, "Perhaps I can send letters to them and politely see if they have one that we could use for a spell to restore his appearance." She then brings out a quill and a letter and gets to writing the two letters, explaining the situation and what they are using the items for.

She turns her gaze to Twilight and says, "While my sister writes the letters, could you go get the heart from Ustengrav with Bayott?"

Twilight smiles and answers, "Of course I can do that Luna. So Bayott, do you want to travel by carriage or by teleport?"

He thinks on it a moment and then replies, "The carriage is a bit small, so lets try the teleport. There were no ways to instantly teleport back then, I might like to learn what you can do with magic nowadays."

She takes his hand in hers and then says, "I look forward to trying to teach you magic of this age Bayott, shall we get going then?" Just before he answers she remembers one more ingredient from the list and says, "OH, almost forgot one last thing. Do you by chance have any bones left from the dragons you slew? Perhaps also a taproot as well?"

Bayott smiles and then says, "Of course I have bones left as well as the taproots, I use em to craft various things. Why does the spell call for one of em?"

Twilight smiles and says, "The recipe doesn't really go into why these things are needed, all it really says though is that one of those lasts for awhile."

He then tells her, "Ok let's get on our way then, lead the way Twilight."

Inside the palace of Seaquestria

Queen Novo is enjoying a peaceful day in the sea getting a seaweed wrap with her daughter, glad that there weren't many petitioners or problems from citizens to deal with. Suddenly a letter appears in front of her with a pop and she takes it with her magic and reads it.

Princess Skystar looks over at her mother and says, "Who is that from mama?"

She looks to her daughter with a very surprised face and says, "It is from Princess Celestia, and she says that an exploration group she was in found a couple new beings, one of which is a Thestral pony, but the other is a human. She is asking for an extremely rare giant black pearl to use in a spell that will restore the human's appearance to what it was several years ago. Do you happen to have one or know where we can locate one for them?"

She taps her chin in thought with her webbed hands for a few moments before saying, "I might have one in my room, I will go check to see if I have one for sure. I will be right back mother, I hope I do have one because that means we both could go on an adventure together!" Before her mother can protest going on the adventure, she zips off towards her room to rummage around for a giant black pearl, tossing aside a large folded chunk of tattered, battle-worn black canvas and says, "Hey there you are! I'm sorry about this, but some friends require you for a spell to help restore a human's appearance." She then holds it tight and takes off back towards where her mother is.

As her daughter quickly returns with a black pearl bigger than her hand she says, "I'm surprised that you actually happened to find one that big, they normally don't get that size. Where did you pick that up at?"

Skystar takes a breath and says, "I got it from Clammy the giant clam when I tried to make friends with him, he tasted really good later on though in a seaweed salad. I spotted some old ruins close to his location and before I tried to make friends with him a week ago, he warned me to stay away from them for it is filled with untold dangers and traps. So let's get going mama, they need this pearl for a spell!" She turns around and is about to zip away, but is stopped when her mother holds onto her tail with her teeth saying, "Whaaat mama?"

Novo looks to her daughter and says, "Don't you think we should be a little more presentable than in our robes dear?"

She looks down at her body and giggles then says, "Yes mama, you are quite right. We should get into better clothes for an adventure." She then follows her mother towards their home above in Hyppogryffia to get changed.

In the Dragonlands

Ember is about to dispose of her unfertilized eggs when a scroll pops in front of her catching it in her claws, she opens it and reads through it. As she reads towards the end, her eyes go wide at the request and takes off to see her father and ask his advice.

Torch snacks on a few diamonds when his daughter Dragonlord Ember enters his cave and says, "How can I be of service to you, Dragon Lord?"

She looks at her father and says, "I received a letter from Princess Celestia saying that a group of them found a couple interesting things inside of a ruin, a sleeping Thestral and a human corpse. She says that a being named Mara and Akatosh made them sing a couple songs and next thing they knew, they both woke up. The corpse has a terrifying appearance that they wish to restore to what it was, and are asking for an unfertilized dragon egg to use in a spell to fix that. What are your thoughts on this, father?"

A cold chill runs up the former lord's spine as he sits up straight and says, "D-Did you just say A-Akatosh and Mara?"

Ember's eye's narrow a little bit as she gets nervous and answers, "Yes I did say that father, why do you ask?"

Torch starts to sweat nervously as he retells the legend he heard passed down to him, "Do you remember the ancient legends that I told other dragons?"

She remembers them very clearly and says, "I still do father, those tales are my favorite! Mainly just the oldest ones, are those two names somehow involved in those stories?"

He shakes slightly in fear, then sighs and says, "Yes they are my daughter, Akatosh and Mara are both Dragon Gods of ancient times long past. All those stories I told you are true. The newest legend of old I heard my father tell me is that a hero of Mundus, the last of his kind, was lost to time but may return when Dragons threaten to take control once more. Be very careful on your journey not to run into him...and take a guardian with you on your journey. As for my advice on the request for an unfertilized dragon egg, it is your choice whether to provide one or refuse.

Dragon Lord Ember stands tall and says to the previous Dragon Lord, "I expect to hear everything you know about the ancient times long since past when I return from this journey, I shall take Smolder and Garble with me." She notices how he shakes at thinking about the old stories he heard when he was a young dragon and says in a softer tone, "I will be very careful, father. If something is able to make you shake in fear, it is worth being very wary about."

As he watches her head out of the cave he calls out, "If the hero does ever come back, tell every dragon you care for to never fight them."

She hears what he says and an ice cold chill runs down her spine, not liking how he said that and continued back to her cave to bring the two unfertilized eggs with her.

As she sets the two eggs securely in a sack she exits the cave and yells out, "Smolder and Garble, get your hides here NOW!"

Smolder is laughing at a dirty joke that her mother just whispered in her ear when she hears Lord Ember calling her name and says, "OH JEEZ, what did I do now?" and takes off out of her parent's cave at a run calling back to her mother, "I will see you again when I come back mother, that joke was really funny."

Ember frowns and yells again as she sees Smolder stop in front of her, "Garble, you have five seconds to get your worthless, scaly hide here right now before I turn you into a bunch of leather!!"

Garble's face is flushed with fear at her threat and crashes into the ground saying, "I'm sorry Dragon Lord, I was organizing my hoard when I heard you call. I came as quickly as I could, what do you need from me?"

She looks at the two heavy-breathing dragons and says, "We have a journey to make to Zecora's hut in the Everfree, you two are to be my guards during the trip there and back, any problems with that?"

The two of them bow their heads to their leader and say in unison, "No, My Lord. This is a great honor for us, we will protect you with our very lives!"

Satisfied by their answers she says, "Very well then, we will go after I make an important announcement first, "My fellow dragons, I am sure you all have heard the old tales told by my father, the previous Dragon Lord Torch. It is with a uneasy heart that I inform you that all those tales of ancient times long ago...ARE TRUE!! Before you all start to panic, I will personally keep an eye out for this hero of Mundus and inform you of what they look like so you know to avoid them if you spot them. Whatever you do though, it is very important that you never try to fight them! That is going to be the new law if he does return one day, obey it or face banishment or worse. That is all, I have to go on a journey to Equestria. I shall return once I answer to their request of me, now behave yourselves while I am gone!" With that said, she then takes off for Zecora's hut.

In the Crystal Empire

Cadence takes a relaxing walk around the gardens nearby the castle when a scroll appears with a pop in front of her, making her jump slightly and chuckles. Taking the scroll from the air in her magic, she unrolls it and reads it. Her eyes widen first with excitement as she read about Celestia's group's first few discoveries, her mood slowly shifts to sadness at hearing about the many corpses found inside. As she reads about the fate of the one corpse that was awoken by a song from an ancient god named Mara, she feels sorrow for them. She finally reads her request for the blood of four alicorns, three of which are already there, and feels a determination well up from deep inside to want to help the poor human that has lost everyone he once knew. She makes her way towards her husband to tell him about the letter saying to herself, "I have to help this poor unfortunate human, I don't care what my husband says. I will go help them whether he goes with me or not, for I am the Princess of Love and it is my duty to spread love to those that need it."

Shining Armor is inspecting the new Crystal Guard trainees when he sees his wife make her way to him at a brisk pace with a look of determination on her face, waiting for her to get close enough he then says, "I know that look anywhere Cady Bug, what is going on and what are we doing?"

She stands tall and crosses her arms in slight annoyance at hearing him say her nickname out loud and says, "Well Shiny Patootie, we are going to be going to help out a poor human that has lost everything dear to him including their looks. So I am going to spare some of my blood to help restore them, there is no way to talk me out of it so don't even try or I will leave you here and you shall sleep outside for a month." She squints at him in scrutiny and waits for his answer.

He sighs softly and says, "Very well honey, when do we leave?"

Cadence smiles and gives him a quick kiss on the lips and says, "As soon as we can find Starlight Glimmer and get Sunburst to foalsit our little Flurryheart, lets go find her."

Shining thinks for a moment and says, "I think that they are both in the Crystal Library looking up information about the ruins that are appearing everywhere. You are all dismissed until we return, we will then resume this inspection then."

They both make haste towards the library to ask her to teleport them all to Zecoras hut. Arriving a few minutes later, Cadence stops close to Starlight and softly clears her throat to get her attention.

Starlight is finding very little in regards to the ruins showing up everywhere when she hears somepony softly clear their throat. As she turns her head to the source of the sound, she sees that it is Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Prince Shining Armor and bows her head to them saying, "Greetings, Your Majesties. What brings you to the library today?"

As the princess smiles back at them she says softly, "I received a letter from Celestia asking for my aid with restoring a human's looks to what they once were because they lost everything that was dear to them. Therefore, I need your aid in getting there quickly. Sunburst, can you please watch over Flurryheart until we return?"

Sunburst nods and says, "It will be a pleasure Your Highness, please enjoy your journey. I look forward to hearing what happened when you return Starlight, have a good trip." He then gets up from his seat, turns and starts heading towards Flurryheart's room.

She smiles and says, "Well, I hope you can tell me what this is all about, because I haven't learned much regarding those ancient looking ruins. " She then prepares the spell and begins to charge her horn.

Cadence smiles and says, "Please take us to the outside of the Everfree Forest and I shall tell you what the letter said."

As Starlight gets ready to cast the spell she says, "Ok, I look forward to it, let's get going." She then casts the spell and the three of them appear outside of the Everfree and start walking towards Zecora's house.

A few minutes earlier...Just outside Ustengrav

Twilight and Bayott arrive in front of Ustengrav when Twilight gags at the stench coming from the open door to the ruin, she turns her head to the side and sees a massive grave yard for over fifty corpses that have been removed and says, "WOW, I never saw so many graves before, I feel bad for how they suffered so much when they tried to find shelter."

He hears her speak and replies hastily, "You mean to tell me they buried them first?"

She looks at him and asks, "Why, is that not the proper way to do it in the days passed?"

Bayott answers her saying, "That is not what bothers me, what bothers me is that they can still be called back to Alduin's service unless they are burned to ash. I am sorry but can you help me do this so these poor souls can rest?"

Twilight smiles softly and says, "I don't like having to burn a body... but if that is the way you respect the dead in those days, I will help you do so."

It takes a few minutes for them to explain to the ponies the ritual that was performed in the past to keep the dead from rising again before they finally surrender and let the two burn the corpses.

It took a half hour for the two to burn all of the corpses from inside Ustengrav before they could go inside to look for the ingredients. As they began searching the various rooms, Bayott learned where some of his first set of armor was and feels out what it is. Learning that it is a unique steel horned helmet without that stupid spike up top, he takes off his Helm of Yngol and places it where the other helmet sat on the shelf. He then calls out to Twilight, "Do you see steel boots, gauntlets and armor laying anywhere in this room Twilight?"

She looks around a bit and says, "Yes, it is laying on and under the table to your right, watch out for the broom handle that is poking out between the containers. Why are you looking for armor instead of what we need?"

He feels around towards the table she mentioned and finds it and says, "As much as I love the fearsome look this gives me, I must use something a little more useful. Besides, the armor I am looking for is the first set I enchanted using that enchanting table inside of this ancient Fane or temple." As he begins to rummage through the various piles of armor laying about the table, he slowly begins to find piece by piece and replaces it with what he now wears.

She looks back to see him replacing bits of his old armor with the new and asks, "How do you enchant things using the table? I can't believe this place is a temple, it looks so bad now."

Bayott chuckles and says, "First thing you need is an enchantment that you can cast onto an item, second thing you need is a filled soul gem. If you would like to watch me do that, I can show you. I am sure that this temple used to look much more spectacular back in its early days."

Twilight becomes more curious and asks, "What is a soul gem and how does it work? Thank you, I would like that very much."

He finishes putting on his new armor and stands up to say, "Well a soul gem works like this. First, you use a spell or a weapon enchanted with the ability against the enemy you are fighting against, that harvests the soul from them when they die by you or some other way. Then the spell or the enchantment sends the soul to an empty soul gem that you carry. I have quite a few, so you can take a couple full ones and a couple empty ones to study them if you wish."

She chuckles nervously and thinks, 'SHUT UP AND STOP ASKING ABOUT THIS BARBARIC PRACTICE TWILIGHT!!!' Unable to ignore her curiosity, she says, "Gee thanks I think, Bayott. How do you learn an enchantment?"

As he rummages through an urn containing some items, he finds a couple of the things he is looking for and says, "Aha, found a Briar Heart and a Taproot! To learn an enchantment, you first need an enchanted item. To explain it better, I would need to actually walk you through it. So we shall have to wait to continue until I can see what is happening, ok?"

With her curiosity still unsatisfied, she sighs and says, "Alright, I will be right over there so you can hand them to me so I can place them inside my backpack. Ok then, I will be looking forward to continuing the lesson then. I hope we can find the rest of what we need here. I really hate the smell of this place, it really bucking stinks!" She then looks along the edge of the wall and finds a bone and picks it up saying, "Is this a dragon bone I have here?"

She then makes her way over to him and sets the bone on the floor, removes her backpack, sets it down and opens one of the smaller compartments and takes the Briar Heart from him and places it inside the smaller compartment and zips it shut. She then opens the main compartment for the huge Taproot and takes it from him and sets it inside, she then picks the bone back up and holds it out for him to check.

Bayott searches for the object she has and finds it, accidentally brushing against some part of her arms and says, "My apologies, I hate not being able to see anything." After a few more attempts, he finally finds it and turns it around in his hands saying, "Yep this is definitely a dragon bone, you can tell by the absurd smoothness as well as the smell it has coming off of it. Place it inside your bag and we shall search for those soul gems I promised you." He then hands it back to her and turns around to look through the other large urns.

Twilight smiles and says, "Alright, then we can finally get out of this stinking hole in the ground." She then places the bone inside the large compartment and zips it shut, and lifts it onto her back with ease and begins to search the remaining containers asking, "What do these soul gems look like aside from the crystal description?"

He continues to feel the objects inside this urn, thinking he found one of them and pulls one out saying, "They look kind of like this, does this one have a glow to it?" He then holds his hand open so she can look at it.

She pulls her head out of a dark container and moves towards him to look at it. She stops in front of him and says, "Yes it does seem to have a glow to it."

Bayott then reaches into the urn and pulls out another about the same size and says, "Good, that means that this one is full. Now tell me if this one glows or not."

Twilight takes the gem and looks at it carefully and says, "Umm, not that I can tell it doesn't."

He sighs and says, "Alright then, that is an empty one. It also tells me that whoever moved my stuff here didn't take time to properly sort everything. Can you look in here and pull out one each of these and place them into the bag? After that, we can get out of here. I should try to find a place to stay once I get my eyesight back, do you have any ideas?"

She leans over the edge of the container and feels around for the gems, thinking for a few minutes and says, "I guess you could stay with me then if you wanted to, or there is Fluttershy if you like animals, or Applejack, she could use an extra hand every once in awhile, I suppose if you had the bits, you could talk to Princess Celestia or Luna about buying a piece of land to build a house on it. What would you want?" She then finds what she is looking for and pulls herself back onto the ground.

Bayott thinks on the offer for a minute or two and says, "I think that I will stay with you until I can get my Septims examined, is that ok with you?"

Twilight blushes a bit and says, "Yes that is fine with me, y-you said that these gems hold souls of the people you have killed? What happens to them afterwards?" She then puts the two gems she holds on the floor beside her and takes off her backpack and sets it on the ground and opens another compartment and sets the four gems inside and zips it closed.

He then says, "Enchanting is as some people say, unclean or an evil thing to do. Most of the souls that I harvested were creatures that attacked me, I don't like trapping the souls of innocent people. Only creature souls, or white souls can get sent into a regular soul gem, only black soul gems can hold Sapient souls. Any souls that are trapped into black soul gems get sent to a cruel place called The Soul Cairn which is lead by the Masters, which one day I hope to defeat to free a friend from their tyranny so he can change it for the better."

She then lifts the backpack up and returns it to her back and says, "What is it like there, because the way you said that seems like you have been there before."

Bayott thinks back on his time there and says, "Well it is a barren wasteland with ash and bone piles everywhere, there are several houses there but not a single living person is there. It is a land of the suffering dead affected by either the Soul Trap spell or the enchantment. I hope you never go there, only way for a living person to get in is to partially trap their soul, which feels very fucking strange."

Wanting to change the subject to a more cheery one she says, "Ok then, it looks like we have everything we need. Let's get going back to Zecora's hut." She then charges up her horn to teleport them back to the others.

Bayott then remembers about his battle axe and says, "Hey wait a minute, I want to switch my weapons before we return. This one is good and all but I would like to get my favorite weapon to use."

Twilight drops the spell and says with a slight groan, "Ok let's go get it, do you know where it is by chance?"

He then puts a couple fingers to his chin in thought and then says, "I think I remember seeing it last where I sat down and went to sleep. I think that would be the best place to look right now, plus I would like to get a few coins from my time to see if they have any value today. Could you lead the way there please?"

She smiles and takes his hand and says, "Please follow me and I will take you there." She then proceeds out of the room and down the corridors, past the traps and to the room he woke up with. She watches him move forward and take the greatsword off his back and leans it against the wall, standing up point down on the floor and feels around for the right handle.

Bayott finds a rounded shaft leaning against the wall and feels down its length, finding the right one at last. He grabs the handle and pulls it to him saying, "Alright girl, let's go on another adventure shall we. If we get lucky there may be a dragon or two that we can fight when I can see once more." He then swings it up into the air and sets it into where the greatsword once sat and says, "Now this feels a bit more familiar, let's get back there Twilight. It would be rude to keep em waiting any longer."

At hearing he is finally ready, Twilight smiles and says, "Ok let's return to them, we have been away for long enough. Let's get your former appearance back so you don't accidentally kill anypony by heartattack." She then charges up the spell to return to the group. After she casts it, she finds herself and Bayott outside the forest. She then guides him down the path towards the hut.

A few minutes ago, at Zecora's hut

Celestia and Luna are waiting outside Zecora's for Bayott and Twilight to return, as well as wait to see if Dragon Lord Ember will come. She says to the other guests that have arrived, "Thank you for being so patient with us waiting for the other guests to arrive to hear the story we have to tell you about a very important discovery we all made today." She sees movement in the background behind the group she is looking at right now and shifts her view up and notices that it is the final guests she is expecting besides Twilight and Bayott. She waits for them to reach them and says, "Thank you everyone for answering my request by coming here, Luna and I will be telling you the whole story from the very beginning. It all began when Twilight found two books that she couldn't read and brought them to me..."

Ember begins sweating nervously at hearing how he is an ancient hero that has slumbered for the past seventy thousand years and only returns now for some reason and thinks, 'I sure hope this isn't who my father is scared of.'

Garble guffaws after Celestia and Luna finish telling the story saying, "Hah! What an unbelievable story that is, a warrior called a 'Dragonborn' wakes up after being asleep for seventy thousand years! OH puhlease don't tell such untrue funny stories, how can he be a dragon and a...human was it? Such a thing does not exist."

Bayott hears someone insulting him and lets go of Twilight's arm and nudges her to the side as he begins to get angry and calls out, "Who dares to insult the last Dragonborn in existence created and blessed by the great god Akatosh himself!"

Her eyes begin to widen in fear as the only thing that goes through Ember's mind right now is, 'Oh shit, please don't tell me that idiot didn't just insult the greatest threat to dragonkind...'

He jumps and spins around and finds the sight of a walking corpse revolting and says, "That is right, I think that the story I heard from Princess Celestia and Luna, is complete shit."

Ember instinctively grabs Smolder by a horn and backs away with the rest of the group, leaving Garble to his fate only saying, "You shouldn't have said that Garble, can't you feel the faint sense of familiarity that comes from his scent?"

Garble turns and looks at Ember and asks, "Please don't tell me you believe those scary bedtime stories that Torch told us that were passed down through centuries? I don't feel anything at all coming from that disgusting corpse. In fact, I think I will return him to the dead and claim that cool looking axe he has sitting on his back." He then takes off towards him at a run, preparing to breathe fire and turn him to ash.

Bayott pulls his dragon bone battle axe from its place on his back and draws it back, holding the head just below his waist and says, "Your funeral, little salamander. I fought real dragons, so I know the sound they make when they walk, run and fly. They are easily a hundred times larger than you, give me a taste of what you can do lizard." He then listens to the sounds he makes as he rushes forth, breathing fire at him and says, "How pathetic, you couldn't even boil water with that pitiful flame. Now it is my turn to show you what I can do and end this sad attempt." He readies himself to swing while he moves and shouts, "WULD!" As he appears in front of Garble, he swings his axe hard at his neck. Cleanly separating the head from the body, the flames stop shooting forth.

As Garble's body falls to the ground lifeless, Bayott says, "I am sorry you all had to witness such an ugly show like that, but what you are about to see is why they call me Dragonborn."

Smolder tears up at looking at her brother's headless body when it starts to glow with a strange light and several streams of light come from his body as everything catches fire and disappears, leaving behind his skeleton. Shocked to the core, she isn't able to do anything but shed tears for her slain brother.

Ember's eyes are wide with fright as she asks, "W-W-W-What just...what did...Y-you do to Garble?" She holds Smolder in a hug as she begins to wail and sob over the loss of her brother.

He sighs and answers, "This is the ability that belongs to the dragonborn, they can absorb the knowledge and the very soul of a slain dragon, killing them permanently. As I have said, I am the last dragonborn that Akatosh will ever make. I will continue to be here until all the dragons from the days before are dead and gone, and I will claim Alduin's soul if he refuses to change his ways and stops trying to rule over Mundus. I came into existence just a handful of years before his fated return just over seventy thousand years ago. If I have returned to life, then so has he also returned."

Wanting to change the mood, Twilight slowly steps forth and says, "It is good to see you all again, I have missed talking with you. To get our minds off of the sad event that happened just now, shall we begin restoring Bayott's looks so he doesn't look like something from a nightmare?"

Still reeling from the sight of a death in so long, the group nods in agreement. Seeing their reactions makes her feel sympathetic for the first time seeing a brutal death like this one and looks to Zecora and says, "Ok, let's see how we are supposed to prepare for this spell Zecora."

As Ember holds a wailing Smolder, she pats her on the back to show her that she is there to support her saying, "There there Smolder, everything will be alright. Garble is in a better place now, he should have listened to my warning. We will have to return his bones to your parents and explain to them what happened when we return to the Dragon Lands."

Smolder's wails begin to quiet down a little bit as she hears what Ember says to her and sniffles saying, "I am going to miss my big brother, but he should not have done something so rude and thoughtless. Any of us can feel the power and strength he has, at least he was given a clean death. My parents are going to be very upset at hearing of his death, but after some time they will understand and get over it."

After a half hour of checking and rechecking the ritual and placement of the items stresses Twilight out a bit as she begins setting things in place in a large circle with Bayott at the center of a pentagram with each of the items inside of a point in the star. She looks at the book one more time and says, "Ok now for the final and less fun part, I am going to need each one of you to place a bit of blood into a single cup, adding his blood to the cup last. Can you hand me a knife or a sword, Bayott?"

Bayott nods and draws his sword, then flips it over end and catches it by the tip saying, "Careful it's sharp, try not to cut yourself with it."

The whole group laughs at the bad joke he made as Twilight blushes slightly and says, "Ha ha, very funny you corpse."

He strikes a pose and fires back saying, "I hope you don't hold my looks against me, because I have been quite boney.

She then slices her palm open with a sharp point on one edge of it and makes a loose fist over the cup that Celestia holds for her and waits for there to be enough in there and pulls it away as she uses a little magic to heal her hand and takes the cup from Celestia and turns the hilt around in her other hand and holds the sword out towards her hilt first and retorts, "Hey I would race ya to the grave, but you already beat me there."

The whole group guffaws in laughter at how good that joke was as Celestia frowns and gasps as she quickly takes the sword and slices her hand open, holding it over the cup like Twilight did and pulls it away when enough blood has been added to it, and then heals it and hands the sword to Luna hilt first.

As Luna watches Twilight move to her, she takes the sword and does the same thing her sister did and says, "I really can't believe we are doing something this barbaric, this is so disgusting!" After adding enough blood to it she pulls her hand away and heals the wound, then holds the sword hilt first towards Cadence.

Cadence watches her sister move in front of her holding the cup of blood as she takes the sword from Luna and repeats what the rest of them did with a sharp and loud inhale as the blade slices her hand open as she holds it over the cup, adding her blood to the mix and says, "I agree with you Luna, this isnt very pleasant to be a part of, but we are doing this to help him out by making everyone's life less terrifying each time they see him by restoring his appearance to what it was before." When she sees that there is enough blood, she pulls her hand away from the cup and heals it and then holds it out to Bayott hilt first.

Bayott takes the hilt as Twilight stands before him with the cup held in waiting for the last bit of blood, he then slices his hand open and holds it over the cup and puts the sword in its sheathe on his waist. When enough of his blood is in the cup, he pulls his hand away as Cadence heals it for him and waits for instructions saying, "Ok, now what happens Twilight?"

Twilight hands the cup to Bayott and says, "When the chant is completed, you will have to drink this entire cup of blood when we connect with you, which you will definitely tell when we do connect because you will suddenly feel a big difference. First though I will need the four of us to stand at specific points beside this pentagram. Celestia, I will need you to stand on the east point of the circle because you represent the sun and life. Luna you stand opposite of your sister on the west point because you represent the moon, and regeneration. Cadence you will stand on the south point of the circle because you represent Unity and love. Last but not least, I will stand at the North point because I represent Hope and Magic." She then takes her place as everypony else does and holds the book open to the proper page and begins to read through it all one last time to make sure she didn't miss anything and is satisfied.

He listens as she begins chanting the spell, holding the cup in both hands and waits for the right moment to drink the contents.

A good twenty minutes pass by as Twilight completes the spell, causing all four of the alicorn's bodies to float up into the air and begin to connect to each other as their eyes are closed.

Bayott hears Mara's voice in his head yelling, "DRINK IT NOW MY SON, HURRY! BEFORE THEY CONNECT TO YOU OR THIS CHANCE WILL BE LOST FOREVER!" Without a moment to waste, he starts to chug the contents of the mug down. All of a sudden he feels this intense magic and warmth surround his body as he hears the voice say, "Accept this final gift from me, my son. After this spell is finished, each soul you collect shall increase everything about your body. I will no longer be able to speak to you again as my godly powers are spent and I can only watch your journeys. Enjoy life to the fullest and have a big family. I long to be a grandmother someday and remember that I love you, Initiate God Ysmir. Oh, one last thing...don't worry, they might have a chance to inherit your ability to easily learn and use The Voice when they reach eighteen."

The entire crowd is blinded by the intensity of the light connecting the four alicorns to Bayott, but Discord sees all that is happening and has a videocamera out and recording this momentus occasion from the very beginning. As he continues recording, he catches the moment when all four of the alicorn's eyes fly open at the same time to reveal glowing pure white eyes. With Bayott's eyes finally opening last, glowing a sharp Arctic Blue with a stronger intensity. As all five of them slowly float down to the floor with their eyes falling closed, he keeps recording until the very end when they rest completely on the ground.

Celestia gets up groaning and holding her head like the other princesses and says, "Oh buck, I feel like the bug that got swatted for being annoying."

Twilight rubs her temples and responds saying, "Ugh, how do you think the rest of us feel. We were the main source of magic that fueled that spell, forgive me but I feel like hammered shit right now. I couldn't lift a piece of paper with my magic right now."

Discord is replaying the whole video, absolutely giddy at the chaos that is about to unfold without him making any effort to aid it. He notices that the four alicorns slowly get up expressing their pains and says, "Welcome to the land of consciousness, my little Princesses. I recorded the whole thing so you could watch it over and over again. You shouldn't move too quickly because that spell was about to drain all your magic, but Mara provided what she had remaining to keep you all alive, and to complete the spell."

Cadence looks around slowly, still rubbing her temples. As she tries to ease the pain, she spots an even taller form where Bayott once stood and crawls her way towards him, too weak to even stand up. She pulls herself closer and checks for signs of life, a huge smile crosses her face and says, "It worked girls, he is alive and his appearance is much better than it used to be. He will be out for about six hours though." She yawns and then crosses her arms and lays her head down for a nap saying, "Hey Shiny Patootie, please wake me up in about six hours ok?"

Celestia looks over to Cadence saying, "A nap really does sound good about now, come on girls gather round Bayott to keep him cozy." She isn't able to walk over and resorts to crawling up close to him and crosses her arms and lays her head down on them as Luna crawls up beside her and crosses her arms ontop of her lower back, laying her head down and falls asleep curling her tail around and in front of her face. With a chuckle, she then shifts her position and imitates Luna's position and curls her own tail around.

Twilight looks around dreamily, looking for a open spot and snuggles up against her sister in law, as she shifts around for a comfortable spot to sleep.

Discord senses trouble that is occuring in the distance and gets up to say to Shining Armor, "Hey Prince, can you please cast a bubble of protection around them until they wake up, everypony else is out like a light. I have another important matter to distract until they wake up so ta ta!" He then flies up into the air and glances down at the sleeping groups and sees that they form a set of symbols and takes a quick photo capturing them all and says, "Hmm, what is this... another prophecy? Let's see what it says... 'The Dragonborn shall bring balance to equestria, but will need to know the magic of love if he is to save equestria.' How very intriguing, I shall give them a copy of this pic but keep the prophecy to myself." He then resumes his journey of finding the troublemaker and keeping him distracted for a few hours.

Shining Armor watches over the group as he casts a shield over the entire group and says, "Buck that Discord, he is always pulling these stunts! Ugh, this is going to be a very long day it seems..."

Somewhere in Aetherius, The Realm of the Gods

Akatosh gazes down at the world of Mundus below him and says to Mara, "That was not part of our plan Mara, I hope you can live with the consequences of your decision to spare the others. I sure hope it was worth using up the last of your powers, now you are just an observer to his journey."

Mara strides over to him and looks at the sleeping form of their son and says, "Of course it was worth it, just wait and see what happens next. I'm sure the rest of us will get a lot of entertainment from what happens in the years to come, just you watch."

Chapter 3: History Repeats...

Discord is using every trick he knows to keep Numinex occupied, but his having very little success at keeping him busy and thinks, 'I think I made a mistake in trying to keep this one busy until he wakes up...'

Four hours ago, outside of a burning village in the Badlands

Numinex isn't getting much useful information regarding the Dovahkiin that defeated his lord in Sovngarde, so he decides to continue taking his frustration out on the town of Brayville below him.

Discord sees the chaos the ancient dragon is wreaking on the town his evil side enjoys it while deep down he feels sorry and wants to help them out and approaches them.

He looks towards the creature flying towards him and curiosity gets hold of him and asks, "Nunon wo ahrk fos eylok do ulfah los hi? Fahraal zey nu uv Zu'u fen luv hi oraan! (Just who and what are you? Answer me now or I will tear you apart!)"

The Draconequus hovers in front of the dragon, cocks his head and says, "I'm sorry, I don't speak that language. Do you understand what I am saying?"

The ancient Dovah sighs and says, "I do understand what you say, I have many questions that require answers. You will answer them or I will kill all these ponies."

Discord smiles and thinks this will be simple and will only have to answer questions for them and says, "It is nice to be able to talk things out isn't it? What is your name by the way, mine is Discord and I am a Draconequus."

Numinex looks at them and replies, "I am called Numinex, I am a dragon that lived very long ago from the time when Dragons ruled over men and I died at the hands of a strong warrior that was not Dovahkiin. That is Dragonborn in your tongue, but I digress. I was resting atop my mountain when I was woke by the sounds of boots and crunching snow, a battle was fought between four of the mortals that lived on Mundus. After a few moments, only the strong one remained and begged me for his life and offered me a place to rule over many subjects. I followed my nature and accepted his offer and met him at the hofkahsejun, the palace in Whiterun called Dragonsreach. As he led me into the back of the palace in a large space, he asked me to try knocking down the wall to greet my new citizens. I then heard an order yelled out saying, "Do it now!" I was beginning to turn my head when something extremely heavy fell and was wrapped around my neck just past my head. Years passed by as he called me his pet, I was greatly depressed when my friend, Paarthurnax visited me and was worried for me. One day, a dovah whose mind was not there came to visit me, he just so happened to look similar to me so I said to him, "You can rule this palace in my place if you would get the guards to raise these chains and stand in my place." As he threatened the guards, the chains were raised. As he took my place, I made my escape and commanded them to flee, when they let go of the cranks, the beams fell upon him and I told him, "Thank you for freeing me." I returned to my mountain and slumbered when Olaf returned with a large force of men that succeeded in killing me." He stops talking about his past and then says, "Now that I have told you what happened to me, I demand you answer my questions!"

The two make conversation for four hours answering questions each other had, when Numinex says, "You have satisfied my hunger for knowledge of this world, but you haven't yet told me of what I must hear. What became of the Dragonborn that defeated my lord Alduin, answer me now or I shall kill you!"

He nervously scratches his cheek with a claw and answers him with a half truth, "Well, through rumors I hear that there is a legend about an ancient hero that slumbers in a place called Ustengrav and will grant the one who wakes him a kiss and riches. I don't have any interest in finding out if it is true or not though."

He continues to hover in place and says, "Then there is where I shall go, farewell Discord. It was kind of you to answer my questions, but speaking any further would make me try to kill you out of aggravation." With that said, he takes off and heads in the direction that Ustengrav should be located with what he heard from the aggravating conversation with Discord.

Discord heads down to the panicked ponies below and helps them out by putting out the fires and asking if any ponies are still hurt and says, "Hmm, how funny. I am behaving like my best friend Fluttershy, she would be so proud of me for helping others without wanting anything in return. I will have to tell her of this later when I am done here."

Numinex arrives at the destination and sees Ustengrav below then lands there to get a better sense to see if the Dragonborn is still there or not, he roars in frustration at not sensing any sort of presence, living or dead. He then turns to face the group of ponies beginning to gather around him in curiosity. He squints his slitted eyes in suspicion and asks, "What has become of the one that slumbers here?" He then turns the rest of his body around to face the crowd.

A cream colored female earth pony steps forward and says, "Well, we brought out many old corpses that were inside of it and buried them. Then a little bit later, he returned here with Princess Twilight Sparkle and set fire to them so they could not come back to serve Alduin again and then went back into the ruin. After that I couldn't tell you because they haven't came back out at all, they may have teleported away to Zecora's."

He lets out a low growl, as his patience runs out and says, "And where is this 'Zecora' located?"

She pushes a pony off of her that tries to keep her quiet and answers him, "I don't know what house is hers but I think it is a tree by Ponyville." She then points in the direction of the town.

Numinex smiles and says, "Thank you for telling me, here is your reward for giving me what I want to know so quickly." He then roars in anger and opens his maw wide and brings it down towards her body to eat her.

The female looks back around and sees a giant open mouth and screams in horror and turns to run away when jaws close on her body. She feels its teeth pierce her abdomen, nearly splitting her in half and lets out blood-curdling screams of terror as he opens once more, and feels herself starting to slide further into the dragon's mouth towards his stomach to her death.

After an hour passes by while Discord helps the surviving ponies get back to some sort of order as he feels a great fear coming from the direction of Ustengrav and takes off quickly and says, "Take care all of you, and be sure to notify the princesses of what happened here ok, bye!" As he races towards the ruin he thinks, 'Oh Celestia, I hope that what I am feeling isn't coming from the workers at the camp...' He finally arrives a half hour later and sees the death and bodies that lay about as others continue to try to run away as Numinex burns them alive with flame and uses his body to crush them. Outraged, his eyes glow red and he loudly yells, "WHAT IN THE NAME OF TARTARUS ARE YOU DOING TO THESE POOR PONIES YOU FILTHY DRAGON!"

He crushes the last screaming pony with his tail and jumps into the air to hover and speak to the one that was so rude in speaking to him like that saying, "Ahh Discord, what brings you here? You didn't seem to care for these pathetic, weak ponies before. These ponies answered my questions quickly but they annoyed me greatly by answering my questions vaguely, so I rewarded them for their trouble by eating and killing them all. For there is no greater reward for a job well done than death."

Discord glares angrily at a smiling Numinex and says, "Of course I do care for these ponies, for I was only stalling you for time. I had to wait until the Dragonborn known as Bayott recovered his previous appearance, because he was blinded due to being asleep for seventy thousand years! Now I am going to be facing you because you have really pissed me off!" He then snaps his fingers and makes him see an illusion.

Numinex falls to the ground as the vision shifts around him suddenly, and finds himself back inside the hold of the heavy beams with a smiling Olaf One-eye looking back at him.

Olaf looks back at Numinex and says, "Welcome back, stupid dragon. Did you actually think I would allow my favorite pet to get away so easily by killing you? Oh no, you were merely just forced to remain unconscious while we carried your fat fucking carcass back to Dragonsreach and back into the trap. Get comfortable because you are going to be here awhile, just so you don't escape again, we are going to hack away on your wings so you can't fly with them ever again."

He gets lost to the illusion and yells out, "NOOOO! ANYTHING BUT THAT, PLEASE! DON'T YOU DARE HARM MY WINGS, I WILL STAY HERE IF YOU JUST LEAVE MY WINGS ALONE!"

He smiles evilly back at his pet dragon and says, "That is a very tempting offer but I have to refuse it, for I cannot risk you escaping again." He then orders the guards to begin chopping away at the soft membrane between the wing bones.

Numinex roars out in agony as they hack away at the soft tissue. After the membrane is chopped away, he hears Olaf walk away and say, "Enjoy your new look, pet.

About half an hour passes when he senses something is off about this and finds out that it is an illusion and breaks free from it, and sees Discord hovering in the air with glowing red eyes and a wicked sneer across his face and says, "You nearly had me there talented foe, but you lack the constitution to solidify it. Now, I will show you what a true dragon can really do..." He then roars in rage at him and takes to the air and shouts, "GOL NOS VAAZ!"

After he hears the shout, he can't react fast enough as a spear rises from the earth and pierces Discord in the center of his front, close to the right side of his body and screams in pain as it rips its way out through the rest of his side. He holds his side as blood runs out of the nasty gash in his body and looks back up to see a large gout of fire rushes forth and engulfs him completely.

He watches as the blackened form of Discord falls down to the ground un-moving and turns to face the direction that the pony pointed and takes off saying, "Now to avenge the defeat of master Alduin."

Two hours earlier, Outside of Zecora's

The group of girls sit and chat with each other while they wait for him to wake up when they go silent as they hear a groan then a voice say, "Damn, my head feels like I have been kicked in the melon by Shadowmere."

Cadence softly says, "Oh hey everyone, he is waking up finally." As she steps back a little bit to give him some room, they all begin to gather around Bayott's restored form and talk among themselves about his much improved look.

Shadowmere's gaze shoots towards Bayott and says, "Hey, I didn't mean to kick you that time! I was trying to kill a skeever that was leaping for your neck!"

He opens his eyes and looks around to see who just spoke and finally gets to see the forms belonging to everyone and looks at the closest form touching him right now. He looks to see a female having black fur, a large chest size with a large pair of fangs showing from under her upper lip, red eyes with vertical black slits, long thick-bodied wavy black hair and tail with a red streak running through them both, large, black, bat-like wings and very large hooves for feet with black fur feathering with red tips growing over the top part of them. He watched her shift slightly and he could see a couple images on the front of her right shoulder, one was a red horse rearing on it's hind legs just above the arrow of the symbol of the dragonborn.

Bayott chuckles and teases her back saying, "You still missed it and hit me in the head still, and damn those really are some big hooves. They may be the exact same size as what you had when you had four hooves instead of hands. What exactly are you, you are rather cute to be a vampire."

She blushes and pounds on his chest with balled up fists saying, "Will you stop tormenting me with that incident! I said I am sorry that I missed, I will work on improving my aim! Stop saying how huge my hooves are, I can't help having large hooves because I was born in Skyrim long before you were!"

He pulls her into a hug and kisses her cheek whispering in a tufted ear atop her head, "Hey, at least those big hooves will come in handy when we get into a fight. I like the outfit you are wearing, it shows how curvy you are." To tease her a little more he gives her butt a gentle squeeze, causing her voice to squeak out, "EEEP!" He laughs as she then shoves him off and stands up, stomping back to the group.

Shadowmere glares back at him with a stronger blush on her face as she sticks her tongue out then says, "You are such a flirt, corpse."

Bayott smiles and asks, "By the way what is with the red marks on the front of your shoulder and why is one of them the symbol of the Dragonborn?"

Celestia pipes up saying, "She is a pony with the form of a Thestral, though some features are definitely unique to her like her larger wings, her fangs, and the feathering covering her hooves. That is called a Cutie Mark, every pony can get them with the exception of changelings, Hippogriffs and Seaponies. Which one is the symbol of the Dragonborn?"

He looks to the one that spoke and sees that she is obviously female. Having a white coat with wings and a horn, also having a sun cutie mark on the front of her right shoulder including light magenta eyes, long floating see through hair and tail made up of light cerulean, light turquoise, very light cobalt blue, and pale heliotrope hair. He answers her, "It is the largest image of the two, the one with the two dragons and the arrow in between them, the rearing horse is not part of it. So who are all of you then, since I can finally see."

They all scowl at the usage of the H word as Celestia clears her throat saying, "Ahem, we are ponies, not horses. Please refrain from using the H word when referring to any of us and call us ponies instead. My name is Princess Celestia, I am what is known as an Alicorn and I am co-ruler alongside my sister In Canterlot, Princess Luna. I also raise and lower the sun every day as well as hold court for about three hours per day to deal with issues and petitions from the citizens."

Bayott laughs when he hears her say that and responds, "That is impossible, from what knowledge I picked up from the dragons I slew, we are on a planet and it spins around and moves in a circle around the sun which is at the center and the moon rotates around our planet. Nice joke, tell me another."

Star Swirl steps forward and says, "My name is Star Swirl the Bearded, I am a unicorn and a world renown wizard. I am sorry to inform you that this is no joke, past studies have revealed that it is only Equestria that needs to raise and lower the sun and moon as well as control the weather, but we know that it started about seventy thousand years ago. It has not been explained yet why that is, we hope to one day find that out. The ponies since then have evolved and learned to use their inherited magic, they only ever cooperated with each other to keep the cycle going. Just over two thousand years ago, two sisters were chosen to help with the cycle but took it all on themselves to spare the other ponies their lives and thus became the first Alicorns ever to exist. If you would like to know more later, just ask because I have all the materials that will prove those facts to you."

He looks to the older looking pony that just spoke and sees that he has a purple pointed cap on his head and a cape over his body having a light grey coat, with long light grey beard, hair and tail with streaks of white going through it all and a horn, showing his age. He has dark violetish grey eyes and has a cutie mark showing a crescent moon with a yellow star at the lower part of the moon. He says to Star Swirl, "So how do you deal with the weather?"

He is about to answer when Luna steps forth and answers for him, "My name is Princess Luna and I also am an alicorn. We have teams of weather ponies that balance out nature, making sure places get enough rain and other places get enough sunlight, and bring winter in when it is that time of year. I raise and lower the moon every night, as well as watch over the Dream Realm. I guard the dreams of ponies against nightmares and hold the night court for about two hours if there are any issues that need to be addressed at that time, the rest of the night I guard the Dream Realm."

Bayott looks at her and sees that she has moderate cyan eyes, a long floating see through moderate sapphire blue and grayish persian blue outline hair and tail, with a dark blue coat with wings and a horn and a cutie mark depicting a crescent moon on a dark purple background.

Twilight steps forth and introduces herself saying, "My name is Princess Twilight Sparkle, and I am the second newest Alicorn to Equestria. I represent the Element of Magic as well as teach at the School of Friendship I founded, in between teaching the magic of friendship I also hold short one and a half hour session court at my castle just outside of Ponyville. I really look forward to the experiments as well as learning what you have to teach me from your time, I was the one that guided you around Ustengrav when we teleported there to get the rest of the ingredients necessary for the spell.

He turns his head and looks at her seeing that she has purple eyes with a medium length dark blue, purple and raspberry streaked hair and tail on a pale mulberry coat with wings and a horn and a cutie mark depicting a pink, six pointed star surrounded by five smaller white ones.

Cadence then steps forward and introduces herself saying, "I am Princess Mi Amore Cadenza or Cadence for short, I am also an Alicorn. I rule the Crystal Empire alongside my husband Shining Armor since it's return a few years ago, and we have a beautiful Alicorn daughter together, which has never happened before. I am the Princess of Love for it is my duty to show love to those who need it most.

Bayott looks at her and sees that she has light purple eyes, very long hair and tail of violet, rose and gold streaks, a pale pink coat with wings and a horn and a cutie mark depicting a blue crystal over gold lace.

Queen Novo steps forth and introduces herself saying, "I am Queen Novo, I rule over Seaquestria and Hippogriffia and have two forms. This form is a Hippogriff, the other is a Seapony but I can only switch to that form when I am in the water.

He turns his head to look at her and sees that she has a beak, wings and clawed hands, long feather like appendages sticking out of the top of her head and tail with a medium length bright fuchsia filmy substance for hair and a tail, claws for hands, magenta eyes with a light fuchsia gray coat and ears that look like seashells.

Princess Skystar steps forward and introduces herself with a smile on her face saying, "I am Princess Skystar and Queen Novo is my mother, she may be a bit strict at times but she has good intentions. I also have two forms, this one is a Hippogriff, the other I can only use in the sea is a Seapony."

He looks at her and sees that she has brilliant cyan eyes with slightly long, light arctic blue filmy hair and tail, a light gambogeish gray coat with wings and a beak, as well as having clawed hands.

Ember nervously steps up and introduces herself saying, "I am Dragon Lord Ember, I rule over the dragons in the Dragon Lands, my father was the previous Dragon Lord. He told many stories, a few were ancient legends that mentioned a foe that the dragons all feared to fight. Should they ever fight him they would lose everything to him, from seeing what happened earlier I suppose you are the one that we should fear. What are you going to do to the rest of the dragons I rule over?"

He spins his head around and looks to the female that just spoke and rises to his feet, standing above her by about three feet. He notices that she is very different from a dragon from his time, standing on two legs with clawed hands and feet with three toes and retractable claws. She also has a smaller frame similar to what the dragons of his world have, with brilliant red eyes, an elongated snout with brilliant cyan scales with a pale turquoise underbelly and moderate indigo membrane that shifts to a light cobalt blue closer to her body. On top of her head she has a pair of horns protruding down from the sides of her head and curling to the front, light apple greenish gray in color with moderate blue backward pointing spikes on her head going down along her spine to the tip of her tail. As he takes in her appearance, he sighs in relief and slight disappointment and says, "Do all dragons look like you do?"

She nervously grabs her tail and gently wrings it inside of her claws and shuffles her feet at his intimidating look and says, "Y-yes we do. There isn't a problem with that, is there?"

Smolder glances at Dragon Lord Ember and sees that she likes him and smirks and looks back to the quite tall human named Bayott and sees a pair of crystal blue eyes, a helmet made of metal with horns that stick out from the sides and curve towards the front like those of a minotaur. He also has tanned clear caucasian skin in desperate need of a bath, armor covering his chest and the top part of his biceps with black fur attached to the collar at the back of the neck. He has a thick padded shirt under it with a pair of pants made out of the same fur mixed with metal plates covering it in some places attached to the leather that the fur is sewn onto, his boots look much the same as his pants and hand guards and can't help but ask, "Aren't you hot under all that metal and padding?"

Bayott answers Lord Ember first saying, "No there is no problem with that, I was merely asking for reference to compare your dragon's appearance to the ones from my time. As for you, I am warm but I will be fine. I have been to places warmer than this, but I do say I will need to bathe once these introductions are over."

Ember sighs in relief at hearing that and releases her tail but still fidgets due to her attraction to him and looks at his eyes and gets lost in a fantasy.

Pinkie Pie bounces up and says, "Hi! I'm an Earth Pony, my name is Pinkamena Dianne Pie or just Pinkie. I represent the Element of Laughter and I'm also the Friendship Ambassador to Yakyakistan. I teach at the School of Friendship, I also love throwing parties for any and every occasion. I am a sociable baker at Sugarcube Corner, I live on the second floor with my toothless pet gator Gummy. If you like sweet treats, you should come visit."

He looks at her to see she has no wings or horn, light cerulean eyes, a medium length extremely curly and poofy brilliant raspberry hair and tail, a pale light grayish raspberry coat with a cutie mark depicting two blue objects with yellow strings and says, "I sure hope that the parties you throw turn out much better than the last one I went to, a lot of people died and I ruined a high elf named Ondolemar's life by having him play a prank on someone and cause a distraction."

Several ponies gasped at hearing that and Pinkie pie replied, "Oh Celestia of course they are way better! The only fighting you will do there is for cake if a certain pony is there." She sends a wink to Celestia, earning her a soft glare back.

Everypony chuckles in humor at the joke that she just made as Rarity steps forward to introduce herself and says, "Hello darling, your appearance is much more pleasant to look at now that you look less...grotesque. I am Rarity and I am a Unicorn like Star Swirl, I represent the Element of Generosity. I also teach at the School of Friendship, as well as, a seamstress, and design outfits and sell them. I have a boutique in Ponyville and Canterlot and currently looking to expand to other locations, if you ever need an outfit please come visit me at my home in Ponyville at Carousel Boutique."

Bayott looks at her and sees that she has moderate azure eyes with long, curly moderate indigo hair and tail. Her coat is a light grey with a horn sitting on top of her head with three diamonds for a cutie mark. He then says, "You only make clothing, no armor at all?"

Rarity's eye twitches in aggravation as she hears him say that and replies, "Yes, I only make fashionable clothing. Armor is not very appealing though it is functional and has its purpose, I despise getting dirty and avoid it whenever I can. Speaking of which, thanks to a certain Thestral I have to scrub and scrub to get all this blood out of the fur on my legs and out of my hooves. At least I have a reason to go visit the spa today..." She gets lost in a dream about returning to the spa.

Rainbow Dash strides forward and introduces herself saying, "My name is Rainbow Dash, or Dash, RD or even Dashie for short and I am a pegasus. I am the fastest flyer in Equestria, I represent the Element of Loyalty. I am also a teacher at the School of Friendship, I am a member of the Weather Patrol in Ponyville. I would like to race against you using that shout to go really fast sometime."

He grins and sees a female Pegasus with wings and moderate cerise eyes, medium length rainbow hair and tail containing: amaranth, vermilion, pale light olive, harlequin, cerulean, and purple. Her coat is a light cerulean with a cutie mark depicting a red, yellow, and blue lighting bolt coming out of a cloud. To tease and taunt her a little bit he says, "Heh you don't stand a chance against that thu'um...Tomboy."

Everyone snickers as Rainbow's face turns red from blushing as she replies, "We will just have to see about that one day, stinky!"

As she returns to her place, Applejack steps forward and introduces herself saying, "Hiya, mah name's Applejack or AJ and ah'm an Earth pony like Pinkie. Ah am the Element of Honesty and the teacher at the School of friendship as well. Ah work and live at Sweet Apple Acres wit mah family, mah grandmother Granny Smith, mah big brother Big McIntosh, and mah little sister Apple Bloom. Granny and ah are talented cooks, so if yer ever hungry, feel free to drop in round lunchtime or dinner cause there's always enough to go around."

He looks at her and notices she has sap green eyes with long, pale light olive hair and tail with some kind of hat on her head, a brilliant gamboge coat with a cutie mark depicting three red apples. He then asks, "What is that you are wearing on your head, I have never seen something like that. It looks really good on you, maybe one day I will show you my cooking."

She cocks her head slightly and says, "This ol' hat, It is my favorite Stetson. I would be interested in seeing how you made food then."

Starlight then steps forward and says, "My name is Starlight Glimmer, I am a Unicorn as well as The Principal of the School of Friendship. I live with Twilight, Spike, and her pet owl named Owlowiscious."

He turns to look at her and sees persian blue eyes with moderate purple hair and tail with lighter purple and pale light aquamarine streaks. She also has a pale light heliotrope coat with a cutie mark depicting a purple and white star with two two-toned glimmering blue streams.

Fluttershy shuffles nervously and introduces herself saying, "Hello, my name is Fluttershy. I am a Pegasus like Rainbow Dash, an animal caretaker, a teacher at the School of Friendship, and part time singer for the Pony Tones. I represent the Element of Kindness, and when Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and I get together, we form the Elements of Harmony to win against our foes. Thank you for saving my life Bayott, I am really grateful that you have done that, I owe you my life."

He looks over to her and sees moderate cyan eyes with a very long pale light rose hair and tail, her coat is a pale light grayish gold with a pair of wings and a cutie mark depicting three butterflies with cyan bodies and pink wings. He answers her and says, "You are welcome, I just couldn't allow myself to watch someone die from a frostbite spider's bite."

Outside Ustengrav, A few minutes earlier...

Discord opens his eyes to see Numinex flying off towards ponyville and says weakly, "I need to...warn the...others...I am sure...he will handle this."

He blacks out for ten minutes then comes to again and snaps his fingers to teleport but it fails to work. He then tries three more times and finally succeeds on the fourth try. He finds himself outside Zecora's and coughs saying, "I'm sorry everypony, I have bad news for you all."

Presently, at Zecora's hut

Everyone jumps when they hear a bang as a badly burned Discord arrives on the ground hacking and coughing telling them about having bad news. Bayott is the first to run up to him yelling, "What happened to you? Did an ancient dragon attack you? TALK DAMNIT, TIME IS AGAINST US!"

Discord gasps and says, "Spell worked, consumed tons of magic. I sensed chaos, went to help, distracted beast called Numinex at Brayville. Told half truths, sent him to Ustengrav, stalled for time best I could. Hoped you would wake soon, sensed great fear and chaos by Ustengrav, much death, fire and carnage. Dragonborn, go to Ponyville, for it's in grave danger now!"

They all have a scared look on their faces as they turn to look at each other as Bayott rapidly turns towards Shadowmere and yells, "COME WITH ME, SHADOWMERE WE GOTTA GET THERE GIRL!"

Fluttershy steps forward and says, "Maybe we can just talk to them and get them to stop? Then we won't have to fight at all."

Bayott sighs and walks up to her, cupping her cheek in one hand while kneeling down on one knee to look into her eyes and sadly says, "It would be much more pleasant if things worked that way all the time, but with these dragons from my world...I'm sorry but they only respond to strength. What makes this situation worse is that I have heard and read about him in books and from a very close friend and ally to me. He was cruel and vicious, and burned towns and their citizens to ash without a second thought, dragons from my world follow their base nature and seek more power. Numinex has to die, I am sorry." He kisses her forehead, turns and then walks away from her saying, "Let's get going Shadowmere."

Shadowmere feels a new ability awaken and wants to find out what it does and says, "Ok I am going to try something out, one moment please."

He pinches the bridge of his nose and begins to walk down the path saying, "Hurry up, we don't have all day!"

She starts running at a slow jog looking over her shoulder at Rarity and says, "I'm sorry about this Rarity, you may have to make something different or repair this when I shift back." She then activates the ability and jumps into the air as her body contorts back to its original form, retaining the wings, fangs, red streaks and feathering. She lands on the ground and trots forward a few steps before nudging Bayott with the side of her nose and saying, "Get on you corpse, we have a town and its citizens to save."

Bayott feels something nudge against him, pushing him to the side and tells him to get on. He turns his head to look and sees Shadowmere's new form and says, "I didn't know you had this ability girl, this will speed up our traveling time at least."

The entire group is stunned speechless at seeing her transform into a giant four legged pony towering above Celestia, as Twilight says, "Right now I can't use my magic much at all, can some of you tend to Discord's injuries while I show him how to get there?"

Celestia answers her saying, "Several of us will stay and help Discord recover from his brave attempt. I fear that the Elements of Harmony would have no effect on these creatures so we must rely on Bayott, for I think the rest of us alicorns are also feeling the drain on our magic."

Ember and Smolder step forth as Ember says, "We will come with you so we have an accurate description for these ancient dragons to keep an eye out for them. Anyone else want to see this as well?"

Queen Novo steps forth and despite her objections, her daughter joins her. She responds by saying, "My daughter and I shall be going with you as well."

He gets annoyed and calls back, "Is that all that is coming to watch the fight? We really need to get moving now." He then looks to Shadowmere and asks, "Can you lower your back a little bit so I can get on?"

She looks at him and says, "No I won't because you have gotten up here many times before without any aid, now hurry up so we can go fight Numinex."

Rainbow Dash darts forward and joins the group that is going to watch the fight saying, "I gotta see this for myself, I sure hope that Ponyville's citizens are ok though..."

Bayott leaps up onto Shadowmere's back and calls out, "Take to the skies and lead the way Twilight, fly fast for time is not our friend!" He grabs a couple handfulls of her mane and holds tight and yells, "Hyah Shadowmere, make haste towards Ponyville!"

Twilight takes off into the air, heading in front of them and begins leading the way saying, "Ok follow me everyone!"

Shadowmere rears up on her hind legs yelling, "I am glad that I have four hooves again, here we go!" She then returns to the ground and breaks into a full gallop, faster than most ponies could ever hope to be. She raced down the path, loving the feeling of the wind in her hair as she runs towards the prospect of another foe to defeat.

Rainbow Dash follows after them, eager to watch some action after doing nothing for a few hours. She looks at how fast Shadowmere is going and is impressed by the speed she moves and catches up to her asking, "How can you move so well with a body like that?"

Shadowmere watches where she is going and says, "It relies on coordination and not stepping wrong, because one misplaced hoof will lead to you coming up lame and getting put down or being retired to the stable if your owner really likes you."

She replies and says, "That is such a horrible fate for a pony! How can humans be so heartless?"

Bayott answers her saying, "What do you expect us to do when we don't have the means to heal anything more than a superficial cut like skin and muscle, it is considered a mercy to put a horse down when they break a leg and can't put any weight on it."

Shadowmere adds to it and says, "It is horrible, but they do what they can to ease the suffering. Can any of you hear that?"

Ears tune forward to listen in as Princess Skystar says, "Yes I can hear it, whatever made that noise just said 'Yol Toor Shul.' Is anyone else getting a bad feeling about where we are going?"

Ember looks forward and exclaims, "I see smoke coming from Ponyville!"

Bayott yells to everyone, "Everybody stay here and DO NOT ATTRACT ATTENTION TO YOURSELVES! I am going to go fight the dragon, you will see just how deadly they are." He then gets off of Shadowmere's back and runs towards Ponyville with Shadowmere closely behind him.

Rainbow Dash looks around and sees Twilight's castle and says, "Umm Twilight, you are totally going to freak the buck out. I am sorry but your castle is seriously messed up right now."

Twilight turns to face Rainbow Dash and exclaims, "WHAAATT! Please tell my you are joking! I have so many books in the main room that I want to catalogue, and OH BUCK SPIKE!! COME ON RAINBOW DASH, HELP ME LOOK FOR HIM AND SEE IF SPIKE IS OKAY!" Stopping for a brief moment before taking off for her crystal home, she looks back to say, "I am terribly sorry Queen Novo, Princess Skystar, Lord Ember, and Smolder but I have to go see if my brother Spike is okay."

Queen Novo smiles at Twilight and says, "Worry not Twilight, for we all understand your concern for family. Go and check on him, we will watch the fight from here and take note of this new threat's appearance. Good luck and we hope that you find him in good health."

Bayott runs through the fields outside of Ponyville and says, "Shadowmere, I want you to follow me on the outside of the town while I go and draw him out here to make the fight safer for the citizens."

Shadowmere runs alongside him and says, "Ok that sounds like a good plan to me, I will keep him occupied until you get outside of the town to fight him."

He runs into town and weaves between burning buildings, keeping out of sight to get close to Numinex, when he is close to him he shouts, "FO KRAH DIIN! Come fight me in the fields you coward!" He then takes off in the direction he came from, trying to lead him to the field just outside of Ponyville.

Numinex is caught by surprised and twists his head around to look at the Dragonborn and roars in anger at the fleeing foe, glad that he finally found the one he was looking for. He chases after them and flies a short distance away in the direction he is running and hovers in the air just outside of town and calls out to him, "I have found you at last, Dovakiin. My lord Alduin asked me to kill you for defeating him at Sovngarde. I look forward to taking your corpse to Alduin!"

Bayott calls out to him and responds with, "I will kill him for sure this time, even if it means that I have to turn the gods against me to do it. I shall look forward to doing the same, for Mara told me that whenever I kill a dragon and take their knowledge and soul, the soul is consumed and permanently increases my power. So come on and feed my hunger you lizard!" Waiting no longer to get the battle started, he conjures an ice spike spell in his hands and shouts, "KRII LUN AUS!" and begins firing his ice spikes at his eyes, trying to blind him.

Ember and Smolder are stunned at the sheer size of the Dragon called Numinex and the battle that is just beginning, a wave of purple light races forth from Bayott's mouth as he starts throwing ice at him through spells from his hands, trying to bring his life to an end. She looks over to Queen Novo and Skystar and notices that they are both just as mesmerized as they are at the fight taking place and says, "This is a terrifying fight isn't it?"

Queen Novo looks over to Lord Ember and smiles nervously and says, "Yes it is, I can not believe that he is fighting something that so much larger than he is. I sure hope he succeeds in this fight, because there is no other hope for us beating something that size. Even the Storm King would have trouble beating him."

She is about to ask Queen Novo something but is silenced when a roar of pain comes out of the dragon with something in his eyes and says, "I feel sorry for any dragon that fights the Dragonborn."

Bayott finally manages to dodge his attacks enough and get a good strike on his left eye, rendering it useless and wants to start hacking and slashing away at him. Wanting him on the ground, he draws his battle axe shouting, "JOOR ZAH FRUL!" Causing Numinex to roar in pain as he forces him to the ground, he charges forth with his axe ready to swing and yells, "NOW Shadowmere, attack!"

Numinex is confused by what just happened and looks away from Bayott for a moment to locate the other foe and feels an intense pain in his chest as there is a severe cut starting just to the right of his sternum and goes halfway to the wing joints. He then feels a bone break as a horse bucks his sternum, robbing him of breath briefly. He recovers his breath and looks to the horse and shouts, "FO KRAH DIIN!"

Shadowmere gets hit by the freezing cold whirlwind that passes over her and slows down just enough to feel a wing knock her away to the side, she gets up slowly and screams in pain as her right front foreleg is broken in two places and stays down to avoid getting in Bayott's way and yells, "I can't fight anymore, kick that scaly ass for me!"

Bayott hears her and swings his axe to his left, tearing a nasty gash along the side of his neck close to the backside of his jaw. He then turns it and swings upward with it, trying to cut its throat but is grabbed in the dragon's mouth and screams in agony as teeth rip through the armor and padding on his upper body and on his legs. The axe is torn from his grip as he is shaken around like a rag doll and thrown back into the ground, gasping for air as he hears, "YOL TOOR SHUL!" Briefly having time to cast a steadfast ward as his skin is singed in places before the shield goes up.

He stops his attack on the Dragonborn and bites at the shield, shattering it and staggers him. He then goes in for the killing bite but his jaws snap shut on themselves as the human barely escapes his grasp and hears him shout, "SU GRAH DUN!" He feels the first strike of the battle axe that the Dragonborn wields as it tears a deep gash close to his wing and whips his head around and tries to grab him by the legs but is surprised as the battle axe hits his jaw hard, fracturing it and breaking several teeth. Causing him to raise his head high, roaring in pain and rage at the attacks he is swiftly inflicting.

Bayott rolls underneath the dragon's neck and begins hacking away at the flesh under his wing, hearing bones break and sees them start to pierce his hide one by one as he wails on the area with the axe saying, "Damn you have some serious problems here dragon, prepare to die forever!"

Numinex is beginning to feel the numerous heavy strikes that the Dragonborn is landing on him, greatly injuring one wing but still usable, four shattered ribs that poke through his hide, and a fractured jaw then thinks, 'It was a mistake to fight this one, but I will at least know peace and not be forced to serve Alduin again. I do hope that this Dragonborn is able to either change Alduin's ways or end his existence, it is time for this fight to come to an end.'

He stuns Numinex with a heavy strike to the head with the axe and climbs up his neck, fighting to keep his balance as he brings the axe down on Numinex's head. The strike leaves a deep gash in the skin on his neck, leaving the bone to show beneath the opening, causing him to be thrown off as the dragon rolls his head and tries to return to the air where his strength is.

He breathes a stream of fire at him shouting, "YOL TOOR SHUL!" Thinking he did great damage against him, he attempts to fly away in fear of the Dragonborn.

Bayott gets moderate burns and continues to fight on and sees him trying to escape and uses one last shout yelling into the sky, "STRUN BAH QO!"

Numinex's eyes widen with fear as he hears that and tries to go faster to escape the gathering clouds as the first of many lightning bolts strike his body, further weakening him and force him to turn around to land to continue fighting. Large rain drops and winds strike his body, making him struggle to reach the edge of the village when three more lightning strikes sap the rest of the strength from him and he hurtles forth, landing ungraciously on the ground and making a large ditch as his form continues to slowly come to a halt near the terrified group of various beings.

The Dragonborn catches up to the downed stunned dragon, ignoring the wind and rain and his wounds and leaps off of its back and aims to bring his axe down onto its neck to lop off its head yelling, "Die Numinex and pay for your crimes against mankind and now these Ponies! Now OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!"

He turns his head towards the left as he hears the Dragonborn leap onto his back and says, "Farewell Dragonborn, I will look forward to joining my brothers and sisters as your eternal power source. Beat Alduin until he is bloody and has learned his lesson or make him join us all!" He closes his eyes for the last time and waits for the blade to sever his head once more.

Bayott is too focused on ending Numinex, so he isn't able to notice the group of ponies standing several feet away watching every move he makes. He swings his axe down full force onto his neck, slicing all the way through and cleanly severing his head as he lands on the ground and says, "Return to death Numinex, I will remember your valiant effort to defeat me."

About twenty minutes earlier...

Ember looks to her left as the battle is underway, hearing a noise she looks towards the woods to find the rest of the group including a healthy looking discord and says, "How did you heal so fast Discord?"

The group scowls at Discord for the prank he just pulled on them as he answers, "Well, I wasn't really hurt that bad. I wanted Bayott to go on ahead because it did take a minute or two for me to heal, but I am glad that I got here in time to record this lovely chaos!" He then pulls out a video camera and begins recording the fight.

Thirty five minutes earlier at Twilight's castle

Twilight and Rainbow Dash arrive at her castle, which is a complete mess that will take a lot of time and effort to repair. She starts sifting through piles of crystal debris looking for Spike and sees a purple tip sticking out from underneath some rubble and says, "Rainbow, here he is! I think I found him, help me dig through this rubble carefully."

Spike groans as the rubble is pulled away, rubbing his head and saying, "Dang Twilight, next time warn me before you do an experiment that dangerous." He sits up and shakes his head clear from the fuzziness and exclaims, "Twilight! You're here, there is a dragon attacking your home! I managed to drag the heavy bag under the table to protect them but I got hit by something while trying to get to safety and got knocked out. Is the dragon gone now or is he still around?"

Twilight is about to answer when she hears a voice ring out yelling, "JOOR ZAH FRUL!" she then sighs and tells Spike about the events that occurred when they got to Ustengrav. After ten minutes of telling a shortened version of the story, she tells Spike, "The Dragonborn Bayott, is fighting the Dragon called Numinex. We should get out of here and head to the forest where it is safer. Thank you Spike for saving the books." she then gives him a hug and asks him to stay close to her and exits the castle and begins heading for the forest when something large tumbles towards them and stops with an audible crack as a bone breaks, exclaiming in pain.

Shadowmere calls out to Bayott as he fights Numinex, "I can't fight anymore, kick that scaly ass for me!" she then shifts to her bipedal Thestral form and gets up to her feet. She sees Twilight a short distance away and cradles her arm as a wing hangs limp, walking towards her saying, "Hey Twilight I see you found a survivor, he is pretty cute for a dragon. We shouldn't stay here too long, Numinex is a strong foe and is merciless. Let's get to a safer place."

Twilight nods her head and the group makes their way swiftly to the forest, reuniting with the group of ponies when they hear, "STRUN BAH QO!" She watches as the sky turns dark grey as winds begin to pick up when lightning shoots down from the clouds and strikes the flying dragon.

Rainbow watches in awe as the weather seemingly has a mind of its own and is filled with rage, striking Numinex about fifteen times as rain begins to fall from the sky. The drops are so large they hurt when they hit the fur or a wing and says, "Hey this rain hurts! Can somepony please put a shield up or something before I am black and blue all over?" She yelps in pain as another two strike her face and opens her eyes to see a form falling from the sky, making contact with the ground and the momentum carries it forward, making a large ditch when it finally comes to a stop about thirty feet away as it says something barely audible over the wind and rain.

Then a form comes leaping off of its back with the axe held high over its head yelling, "OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!" Just then a sickening slicing noise is heard, followed by a thud when the head falls to the ground as the body slowly begins to burn and an aura of light surrounds it as it stands by the severed head.

Rarity's eyes turn to pinpricks as she shrieks in terror and faints at the sight of the head being severed. As she begins falling to the ground, she is caught by Fluttershy who is a little green herself at the sight of the blood and the severed head saying, "O-Oh my, look at all the b-b-blood. Poor Luna is going to be so busy fighting nightmares for awhile after today."

The light is so blinding, they have to look away to avoid getting blinded. When it dies down to a tolerable level, they turn around and see the aura surrounding Bayott as the rain, wind, and the sky clear up. After the light show ends, Rainbow exclaims, "That...was...AWESOME! What just happened there after you killed it? The beheading was gross but watching the rest of the fight was cool!" She sees him stagger and slowly start falling to the ground and races to catch him before he hits the ground when Applejack meets her there at the same time, arresting his fall and gently lower him to the ground and call out, "We need to get him to the Hospital quickly! There are holes through his stomach and legs, as well as a few ribs poking out through the skin!"

Celestia steps in front of the group and looks at the severe state of Bayott's body, seeing all the holes and frowns saying, "Come on everypony, we must hurry to Ponyville General Hospital and hope they can save him!" She then starts trotting towards a burning Ponyville, passing by the numerous bodies of citizens that lay on the road as tears make their way down her face.

Every being in the group has tears running down their face as they pass through the vision of Ponyville in flames when Luna begins crying and saying, "It has happened again, I weep for the subjects lost this day. Please keep moving forward everypony, there is nothing we can do for them right now. I wish that this could have been prevented, but I feel that this was fated to happen no matter what we did. Discord can you please put the flames out so we can stop further damage to the buildings and begin to make repairs and bury the dead?" She then lets the tears flow freely as she follows after her sister.

Discord literally blows his nose into a kleenex, then pulls out a handkerchief and cleans it out saying, "Yes Your Majesty I will do that right away." He then puts his nose back on and snaps his fingers, summoning cotton candy clouds and chocolate milk rain to douse the raging fires that are consuming Ponyville. As the fires die out, he thinks to himself, 'I sure hope that Bayott will be ok, this world really needs him right now.'

Celestia throws the doors open in a hurry and calls out with the royal voice at full volume saying, "WE DEMAND A DOCTOR THIS INSTANT, WE HAVE AN EMERGENCY HERE!!"

Everyone including Luna wince at the volume she uses as Twilight sees a doctor and Nurse Redheart come racing towards them with wide eyes answering, "Are you alright Princess Celestia, where are you hurt!?"

Luna quickly answers, "It is Bayott the Dragonborn that is gravely injured and needs urgent attention, make haste doctor and tend to his wounds and save his life. For he single handedly saved many lives this day by slaying the ancient dragon Numinex that attacked and nearly burned Ponyville to the ground entirely."

Dr. Greymare looks at her and asks, "Ok which one of you is he so we can examine him?"

She points to the one clad in armor and says, "He is Bayott the Dragonborn, he is human but the books say he has the blood of a dragon. You may have to verify this to be sure to get the right kind of blood he needs, now hurry for his wounds are terrible!"

He quickly walks up to the being and sees the wounds are indeed severe and yells out, "WE NEED A GURNEY HERE STAT! DOC TOP GET YOUR TAIL HERE NOW, WE NEED YOU FOR SURGERY! Nurse Redheart, send a pony to fetch Dr. Fauna!" As she yells out orders to various staff members around, Doc Top comes racing around the corner.

Doc Top sees the being clad in armor and sees the severity of the wounds and helps the nurses raise his body to get the armor and padding off of him and throw it into a pile on the floor so they can wheel him to surgery to begin working on him. As they finish removing the armor he says, "ON THREE! Ready, one, two, three!" They heave him onto a gurney and race down the halls towards surgery, blood falling from the body and leaving a trail down the hallway.

The large group comes together in a big hug and cry together at everything that has happened lately with Luna sobbing and saying, "Don't worry...my little ponies, for he will survive this. He must survive this, because our world needs him to save us all. If he should fall to his injuries, we shall rely on the dark arts and bring him back ourselves."

Nurse Redheart takes a syringe and takes a blood sample, capping the needle and then races it to the hematologist to rush a test on the blood. As she reaches the room, she goes through the door and breathes heavily saying, "Sorry, but we need this blood identified now!"

The hematologist takes the sample and grumbles saying, "Do this, do that, you all treat me like a slave you know! Getting me to constantly check the blood of every creature that comes through, I expect some vacation time when this crisis is over!" He then puts the sample into the machine and it works on identifying it.

After a few minutes, the results come through and shock the hematologist. He reads the results saying, "This says his blood is dragon blood. There is an infection in his body but it isn't dangerous or contagious, so it seems that we can safely give him clean blood since dragon blood is all the same. We would need to find a donor or two because we don't have any in stock."

The group stops sobbing and breaks from the group hug and make their way to the waiting room as Celestia picks up the big pile of armor and sword, moving it to the waiting room with them. She sighs and thinks to herself, 'I think he may want to get this repaired, I shall take it with me to see if the armorer can repair this in Canterlot.'

She turns and walks away saying, "You will get your vacation after this, thank you so much for doing this." She races towards the group heading to the waiting room and says to them, "You were right, he does indeed have the dragon blood in his body. I do not know how this is possible but we will need a couple donors, for we do not have any dragon blood in stock. Are any of you willing and able to give blood to save his life?"

WARNING: CONTAINS NEEDLES, BLOOD BEING DRAWN DESCRIBED IN DETAIL. SKIP THIS PART IF YOU CANT STAND NEEDLES OR THE DRAWING OF BLOOD AT ALL.

Ember, Smolder, and Spike step forward with Ember saying, "I'm sorry Spike, but you are not big enough yet to give blood. Someday you will though, just be patient my friend."

Spike sighs and says, "I'm not big enough to do a few things, this stinks." He returns to his seat and looks dejectedly towards the floor in disappointment.

Nurse Redheart leads them down the hall to where they will take their blood, and begins preparing them for the procedure saying, "Have you given blood before? Do you have any history of diseases or illnesses we should be aware of before we take your blood?"

Ember and Smolder both answer saying, "No we don't as far as we know, we get a yearly exam to check our health for mating season."

She nods her head and walks into the room and begins preparing their arms to begin taking the blood and explains every step to them as she executes it saying, "Ok, you are going to feel a prick when the needle passes between your scales and into your arm. If you feel faint at all, please notify someone immediately."

They wince as needles are pushed into their arms to take their blood and watch as the dark red fluid runs through the tube and into a bag as it is rocked back and forth to keep it moving. They both watch in curiosity as the bags slowly begin filling up. They watch as the bags are replaced with empty ones as they get full.

Nurse Redheart finishes the process and clamps the tube shut after taking three pints of blood from Ember saying, "Alright Lord Ember, that is all we can safely take from you today. Please help yourself to any of the food available at the tables and more gems will be brought out momentarily." She then removes the needle and puts a piece of gauze under the scale and wraps it up with some sticky wrap, and slaps a sticker on her arm that reads in black lettering: 'I Donated' over a red heart.

Ember sighs in relief as she makes her way to the table and begins eating an apple. She grumbles at the meager amount of gems that are on the table and asks, "Has Spike been raiding your gem supply lately? There are hardly any gems here on the table."

She then goes and replaces a second full bag that is making slow progress saying, "I am sorry about that. We weren't expecting any dragons to come visit, so we normally don't keep many gems on the table as snacks. You seem to be slower than Lord Ember, Smolder. We may have to reposition the needle if this keeps up, for the wounds on Bayott are very serious. What in Equestria made those large holes? If he wasn't wearing that armor, he would have died before making it here to us."

Lord Ember sighs and answers her by saying, "An ancient dragon that my father told me tales about, made those large holes with it's teeth." She then begins telling her the story from when they came to help Celestia with an urgent request.

Nurse Redheart listens to the story while she waits for the last bag to finish filling up saying, "Wow, he won against something that size and removed its head? Then with some ability of his, he absorbed something from the dragon and reduced it to a skeletal state? I wonder just what exactly this being is." She looks back and sees the bag is full and quickly finishes it up, removing the needle and placing gauze under the scale and wrapping it up in some sticky wrap and slapping a sticker on her arm that says the same thing as Embers. She then cleans up the tubes and the needles, placing them in the respectable bins and takes them to the lab to prepare them for transfusions.

THIS IS THE END OF THE MENTION OF NEEDLES AND BLOOD BEING TAKEN

The doctors get to work on the wounds, marveling at how he is still alive after receiving such severe injuries. Dr. Fauna speaks up and says, "I don't know why you called for me to help you two, I know nothing of the anatomy of this species."

Dr. Top sighs and says, "We called you here because we need help sewing up all of these broken and damaged pieces inside of this being. If you have a question of what something is, just ask us ok? Now get back to sewing up that stomach, if the acid in there gets into the body, he will be in serious trouble."

Nurse Redheart begins scrubbing up and puts on a gown and enters the surgery room saying, "Doctors, the blood is being prepared. Tests have proven that the patient does indeed have dragon blood in his veins. We only have four pints of dragon blood to work with though, I sure hope that will be enough to save him."

Doc calls back, "Are you serious? He has dragon blood pumping through his veins? How is such a thing possible, I would love to figure out how this happened once we are finished here if we save his life. Now get over here and provide suction so we can see what we are doing more clearly!"

Chapter 4: Surviving The Aftermath

Meanwhile, In Sovngarde

Bayott looks to the skies and frowns at seeing the swirling purple skies of Sovngarde above him, he sees a slowly moving line of ponies and waits in line to see Tsun in the far distance shrouded in the fog of the World Eater's mist. As he listens to the steady drum beats and the non-stop humming, he notices that the song isn't being sang yet and asks a pony, "Sorry to bother you but, do you hear a song being sung all around us?"

The female pony turns around and says, "Ummm...unless you call the drum and humming a song, then no. The humming and drums have been constant since I got here earlier today. Who and what are you and why are you here?"

He looks to the Pony and says, "I am an ancient hero that has been forgotten through time, my name is Bayott. I am a dragonborn, the last to be exact. I battled an ancient foe that returned and attacked Ponyville, and was gravely injured and collapsed after I brought his life to an end."

She moves forward in the line and says, "My name is Summer's Day, I helped Forsythia run the flower stall in Ponyville. The last thing I saw was fire when somepony raced past me and yelled at the dragon to make him chase him, that was you? Thank you for defeating that awful dragon, for many ponies from Ponyville, a small camp, and a town called Brayville are here.

Bayott talks to her for a bit until another Pegasi pony with speaks up and says, "So yer the one who got rid o' the dragon that terrorized Brayville earlier today? Where were ya when we were being attacked! That lousy dragon ate me, how are ya a hero when ya weren't there ta save us from him!!"

He answers the other female that spoke saying, "I was rendered unconscious after a group performed a spell to restore my eyesight so I could see. I am sorry I was not there for you earlier, for I could barely see to fight. I did well inside caves because I could listen to echoes and locate the foe, but outside...there's no echo to go by. My name is Bayott, who might you be?"

She introduces herself saying, "Mah name's Colonel Cluster Apple, ah'm a part o' the Apple family. I still appreciate ya gittin rid o' that Dragon though, but it would o' been nicer if ya'd o' been there fer us."

Bayott shrugs and says, "I can't always be everywhere where I am needed at that second or people might start to call me a god or something, though I am very strong. I am in no way a god..."

He is interrupted by the soft voice of Mara coming from the sky softly saying, "Oh but you are Ysmir, don't you remember me saying that during the spell we cast to restore your... more appealing look?"

The line breaks and ponies back away as Goddess Mara floats down from the sky, making her way through the fog towards the one she called son.

Mara smiles and comes down the rest of the way to hug her son, very happy to be able to hug him herself for the first time ever and says, "Why are you here so soon? Surely you can't have defeated Alduin yet, there are still many empty cells upstairs! What happened that causes you to be here so early?"

Bayott sighs and says, "Sorry mom, Alduin brought Numinex back to life and he grabbed me around the torso with his mouth and shook me like a rag doll, his teeth pierced my body and I collapsed shortly after taking his head and absorbing his soul and knowledge. His body went back to it's previous state when I began falling forward feeling very weak. Am I finally dead, I am needed there to save the others from Alduin's rage. It was nice to finally see you mother, for I look forward to when I get to return here to stay."

Mara smiles and lets go of him saying, "Of course my son, I am very upset that Alduin brought him back so soon. I was hoping that he would resurrect him when you were more recovered. It is good that you defeated Numinex though, that fight was not an easy one for you. Go see Tsun so he can send you back, you have time yet because your body is being repaired in Equestria by skilled hands. Farewell, initiate god Ysmir. For we shall meet again someday." She then returns to the place she came down from, leaving her son to his duty to return to Equestria.

He smiles and looks at a shocked Summer's Day and Colonel Cluster Apple saying, "What's with the shocked faces, I don't believe that I am a real god. I just don't feel anywhere near that powerful right now, so please don't stare at me like that."

They shake their heads clear from the shock as the line begins to reform and moves forward once more a few spots, they strike up conversation again to pass the time. They both nervously avoid talking bout him being a god and ask him about the way things were back then as he begins to tell them about a few of his travels as they get closer and closer to the bridge leading across.

The ambience around them changes as the rhythm gets a bit louder and heavier as Bayott chuckles and says to the two he met, "Are you both ready to hear me sing the song that I heard when I first got here many, many years ago?"

They both look at each other first curiously and then at him with Summer's Day saying, "I am curious to find out what this song is because you asked me about it earlier, so yes I would like to hear you sing it for us."

He then turns to Colonel Cluster Apple and waits for her answer to his question saying, "How about you Colonel Cluster Apple, do you want to hear the song about the last Dragonborn?"

With her curiosity piqued, she says, "Ah reckon it couldn't hurt to hear some actual singing. So go ahead, let's hear you sing."

Bayott holds his necklace in his palm and calls out, "Father, please allow me to lead in the singing of this song for this day!"

Tsun looks up from the crowd to try to locate the Dragonborn among the group and sighs saying, "I sure hope you are here to defeat Alduin once more, this fog is a big nuisance to my keen eyesight."

Just then a booming voice is heard across the skies of Sovngarde and answers, "Very well my son, I shall allow the ponies to understand what is being said. May you all feel hope anew when you hear this song!" He sends down a shimmering mist that touches the ponies, granting them the brief blessing understanding the words to the song.

He listens to the song as it starts over while a strange magic takes hold of him, filling him with pride and joy of spreading the knowledge of his tale that took place here in the body of a mortal as the song begins to pick up, he lets his voice ring out loud and clear above them all so they will hear him.

Bayott finishes singing the song when he begins to hear cheers, whistles and claps rewarding him for singing so well and bows to the line of ponies and calls out loudly to the line of ponies that are cheering, "I am glad that my singing was not as bad as it usually is when I try to sing for someone. I swear to you all that the one responsible for all this pain and misery that you have suffered will pay the consequences of their actions!"

Summer's Day compliments him on his singing as Colonel Cluster Apple slaps him on the back saying, "Hooo boy you really can sing well you know that, it can't be easy to make your voice carry like that so everypony can hear you. Where did you learn to do something like that?"

He smiles and thanks her for saying that and says, "Well I learned to do a variety of things at the Bard's College in Solitude, the teacher I had whacked my head every time I hit a wrong note and made me sing it over again. I also learned to play other instruments while I was there."

Tsun feels pride at hearing him lead the song that tells the story about the Dragonborn. He continues questioning the ponies on where they want to go when he finally spots a familiar figure a ways back in the line and patiently waits for him to make his way up there. He continues to ask each pony that comes forth, "Which do you seek most? A life where you can have a new beginning, or would you like to drink, listen and retell stories of valor and great achievement?"

A few hours pass by and Bayott watches his new friends Colonel Cluster Apple and Summer's Day make their choices, with both choosing the vast plains and cross the bridge with Summer's Day looking back and calling out to him and hears her say, "We hope to see you again one day, my friend!" He smiles and waves back at her with a tear rolling down his face as he steps up to Tsun saying, "We meet again old friend, how have you been these past few years?"

The guardian says to the Dragonborn, "I have been wondering what happened to you these past several years, because I haven't seen your soul return here when the last humans passed by me. I was beginning to worry about your soul being lost to us until I saw Alduin return and leave from his burial mound. Where do you wish to go, Bayott? The Hall of Valor or The Plains of Aetherius?"

Bayott chuckles and says, I am sorry Tsun, for I am not yet ready to leave the living world behind while Alduin is still around and acts like every being should worship him. I want you to return me to that world so I can finish my task there and save Equestria from his reign of tyranny. We shall meet again once my task is fulfilled there, farewell my friend."

Tsun sighs and then nods saying, "I agree with that choice, for the time of the dragon's rule over the world is long since passed and Alduin needs to learn to accept change or die. Fare thee well on thy journeys, Bayott. For I shall be watching over you during your travel among the world of Equus, and watch while you beat Alduin to a bloody pulp and force him to accept defeat and change or accept death. I bid you goodbye, Dovahkiin." He then uses a shout to return him to his body on Equus, and resumes to his duty of guiding others to where they wish to go.

Back in Surgery, A few hours ago.

Dr. Fauna hears the monitors and says, "Doc, he is slipping away again! We must hurry or he won't last much longer." She continues stitching together more blood vessels as Doc handles the large intestine.

Doc Top replies, "If he slips again, he will have to ride it out until we can get all these severed blood vessels stitched back together. He will just keep on flat lining until he can keep blood pumping through his body. By Celestia, what time is it now Nurse Redheart?"

She looks at the clock and says, "Its 5PM now, we have been working for 14 hours now. How much longer until we are finished here, I really gotta go to the bathroom?"

Dr. Greymare replies, "I know how you feel, I have to go too. Can you two handle this while we go relieve ourselves and come right back?" He finishes stitching together the last few holes in the punctured liver and waits for an answer.

Doc Top says, "Hurry back you two, we have a ways to go yet with the repairs before even attempting to run another bag through him. We wasted one bag trying to keep his circulation going, we won't be making that mistake again. Ok Fauna, let's tackle another blood vessel that was severed. You are doing good so far, you should attend classes for becoming a surgeon, you have the talent for it." He notices another pony replace her and continues to keep the area clean for them to see and work.

Nurse Redheart goes to the bathroom first before she makes a mess, washes her hands and goes to the waiting room to provide an update to the ones waiting so patiently in the waiting room for news on the surgery and clears her throat and says, "We are not out of the woods yet, but we are making great progress on repairing the injuries. I am sorry I can't tell you more at this current time for we still have a ways to go yet before he is out of danger, I must return to surgery now. We will inform you when he is out of danger finally." She then swiftly makes her way back to surgery and takes the nurses place, providing suction for them as Doc Top puts down his needle when Dr. Greymare returns from the restroom to go himself.

He swiftly tosses his gloves into a bin and exits the room, heading for the bathroom to relieve himself and closes the stall door behind him. He takes care of business and washes his hands and heads back into surgery to continue working, a nurse keeps him sterile and puts the glooves on for him and he steps up to the body to continue working on one of his damaged legs saying, "I don't know how he was able to keep moving on a shattered leg like this without screaming in pain, I guess the body is capable of great things when adrenaline kicks in and takes the pain away."

A grotesque, floating black mass appears in the room, made of tentacles and blinking eyeballs and introduces itself saying, "Greetings, mortals. My name is Hermaeus Mora, and I am here to aid you in your efforts to save my champion. Do you accept my assistance?"

Several of the nurses in the room shriek at seeing the creature appear out of nowhere like that and offers his assistance yelling, "DEMON!!"

Doc Top sighs and says, "What do you want in exchange for your assistance, foul creature?"

Hermaeus Mora answers, "I want nothing from you at all, this assistance will be free of charge. I am quite fond of Bayott, he has helped me sort out a few issues in the ages past."

He breathes a sigh in relief and says, "Thank you, then we accept this assistance. For I doubt we would be able to save him if this goes on any longer than four more hours."

The mass blinks an eye in confirmation and says, "Very well then, I shall do my best to keep him with us. We will be here for ten more hours before he is out of danger. Let us begin working, there's not a moment to lose." He then conjures a mist that flows into Bayott's mouth and forces it to continue working though it tries to refuse the help.

Ten hours later in surgery

Hermaeus says, "There, now that all the blood vessels have been repaired, he can sustain life on his own. I will remove my mist and leave the rest of the work to your capable hands, farewell young mortals."

Doc Top sighs in relief as the creepy black mass winks out of existence, leaving the rest of the repairs for them to handle and says, "Whew, that was definitely an interesting creature. I wonder why he is so fond of the patient to earn the offer of aiding us in preserving his life. Those are questions for a different time when he recovers though, let us start finishing up the final touches."

Two hours later in the waiting room

Twilight Celestia are all pacing worriedly in the waiting room, hoping that someone tells them something soon or they are going to go insane from not knowing as Nurse Redheart rounds the corner looking very tired and haggard saying, "It took another ten hours before he was stable enough to close up. He is in recovery room 101, who will be paying for the hefty bill for the 24 hour long surgery and treatment afterwards? Once he is strong enough to leave, we strongly recommend he gets a bath, goes to the spa, and gets physical therapy for the shattered femur he suffered during the fight with the dragon. I have other patients to check on, if you excuse me."

Celestia says to Nurse Redheart, "The Two rulers of Equestria shall be paying for the expenses, please send the bill to us. Thank you for seeing him so soon, sorry to ask but can you tend to Shadowmere? She hasn't complained but her wing is not sitting right and she is cradling her arm."

Nurse Redheart sighs and says, "Ok please come with me to the x-ray room and we will check you out." She turns and walks towards the x-ray room to take a look.

Shadowmere silently mouths a thank you to Celestia and follows her down the hall saying, "After I finish with this, I will come see you all in Bayott's room."

Twilight and the group anxiously heads to the room to see if Bayott is awake yet and sigh as he is not yet awake from the surgery saying, "I wonder if he is in the Dream Realm now, Princess Luna, what do you think?" She then turns her head to a very tired Luna that barely can keep awake as it is now night time.

Luna shakes her head side to side saying, "I'm awake, I'm awake, Twilight. I think that I can surely check to see if he is there, I sure hope I don't experience another nightmare like the vision I had to watch before. I threw up every time I watched a human being devoured or burned, or having its head chopped off. Can you please come with me sister, I'm scared of what I will find there." She then settles down gently by the foot of the hospital bed as her sister joins her, they are both amazed at how far his legs stick off the edge of the bed and enter the Dream Realm together when Twilight decides to join them out of curiosity.

Inside the Dream Realm

Luna spots Celestia and Twilight beside her and sighs saying, "Thank you for accompanying me on this journey Twilight, but I fear you may be scarred forever if you see what horrors lie beyond his door. Do you still wish to come with us?"

Twilight beams with confidence and smiles saying, "Of course I insist on coming with, I love learning new things. This is just a new opportunity to learn something I didn't know before, so of course I am not going to miss out on this chance."

She then smiles back and says, "Very well then, let us get going then." She leads them down the very long path that leads to an isolated door far off in the distance, separate from the doors of the inhabitants in Equestria.

It seems like they have been walking for hours when the door finally comes into Luna's view. She sees a very different door than the one she saw in the vision, it is a black door emitting black mist with a red skull on the front of it. As Luna hears an eerie heart beat coming from the door, she tries to open it by pushing on it.

The skull on the door replies in a super fucking creepy quiet whistling voice saying, "What...is the foundation of life?" waiting patiently for an answer, the heartbeat continues.

An eerie shiver runs down their spines as Luna tries to think of an answer when Twilight answers, "Isn't the answer Death?"

The skull answers in its creepy voice saying, "Your answer is correct, Welcome home." and then unlocks itself to allow passage.

Luna leads the way through the door and has to ask, "H-How did you think of that answer Twilight?"

She answers with a sly grin saying, "Umm, I was just taking a wild guess at it because there is a video game series that Spike told me about that has this creepy black door where you have to answer it with 'Silence my brother' or you won't be able to enter it. I think he called the game Skyrim." Then something clicks in her mind and she stops in her tracks and realizes that the game is too similar to the game to be a coincidence and says, "Wait a minute...Bayott is a Dragonborn. The character in that game is a Dragonborn, I will have to check this out myself, but I think the game is somehow based on real events from the past."

Celestia and Luna both look at Twilight with a serious look and both say, "We will check this out with you Twilight, this is most interesting indeed." They arrive in a dark room where Luna spots a barely visible wooden red door with blood and black smoke oozing out from between the gaps in the planks.

Luna walks up to the door and turns the knob when blood falls out of the door, covering the floor under them and retreats back into the frame, taking them with it into the world where Bayott is reliving his darkest moments in his life as Luna weeps saying, "OH NO! Not this again..." she breaks down and starts crying when she lets Nightmare Moon out of her cage, full of pent up rage and anger, letting her deal with the horrors of his life.

Inside Bayott's dream

Twilight and Celestia step away from Luna as they watch her colors change into those belonging to Nightmare moon. They both gulp audibly and wait to see what Nightmare Moon is going to do now that she is free.

Nightmare Moon bellows in the royal voice, "AT LAST I AM FREE ONCE MOOORE!! PONYVILLE AND EQUESTRIA SHALL BE MINE TO RULE, HAHAHAHAAA!" Her attitude changes slightly when she feels something warm, sticky and wet run around her hooves. When she looks down and sees a river of blood rising up to her knees with body parts floating by her and bumping into her legs, it seriously grosses her out and makes her say, "Where in Tartarus am I, and what is this horrendous place? This is no normal nightmare!"

Celestia looks around to go back through the door, but watches as it vanishes when she tries to grab the door knob and says, "Heavens above...I think we are stuck here now girls!"

She looks at Celestia with hatred and starts charging a spell to banish her to the sun for a thousand years, but is shocked when nothing happens when the spell dissipates. Greatly annoyed at this, she asks the pony that defeated her the first time and yells, "What have you done to me, you pathetic pony!! Why is my magic not working here!!"

Just then Bayott strides forth saying, "You have no power inside of this dream where you are only a traveler at seeing what I wish for you to see, I see evil and hatred inside your heart and mind. I will show you where that will lead you by letting you watch the worst events of my life, after that I will find out if you still want to continue down this path or change your ways. Let us begin, follow me."

Nightmare Moon calls out to him as he starts walking away saying, "Who art thou to command thee in such a way! Introduce yourself at once!"

He then grumbles loudly at Nightmare Moon, warning her not to test his patience and says, "My name is Bayott, I am the last Dragonborn, I am both a hero and a butcher of thousands. My name is known far and wide in this world by every bandit that tries to take up residence in any old tomb or cave. Even the dead are weary of me, for I have stopped Potema from resurrecting and taking up her rightful crown since her family is all dead and gone. Hell, I even faced Alduin the World Eater and defeated him twice. You would be wise not to anger me or I will tear you limb from limb and let Luna take your place as the only living consciousness inside of it."

She starts shaking and nearly wets herself at being put in her place like that, arousing her a little. She regains her composure, then she plays along and says, "Ok, where do we go first?"

Bayott first says, "I recommend getting out of that river first, or does standing knee deep in the blood of innocents get you off?"

Nightmare moon fights the urge to throw up and hurries out of the river and says, "My name is Nightmare Moon, I...apologize for being rude. Please take us where you need us to go."

He smiles and says, "Respect goes a lot farther than threats doesn't it? We don't need to travel anywhere, this is inside of my mind. I will allow you to exit when I permit it." The river of blood and body parts disappears as a scene begins to play out inside of his mind, showing them the events of what happened at the town of Riften where he butchered a cruel woman and where that led him.

Twilight and Celestia watched in fear at the numerous murders he committed and the ghastly things he did to distract the guards to get away from them. Nightmare Moon is unfazed by seeing the things he has done during his time spent with the Dark Brotherhood saying, "Well it certainly looks like you know how to have a good time, show me another."

Bayott thinks for a moment and begins playing his time with the Companions and what he did on the first time he transformed and went wild saying, "Let's see how you handle this memory next."

She rolls her eyes and watches the events play out, boring her beyond measure until she sees the carnage he wreaks on Whiterun after his forced transformation and gags a little as she sees him rip bodies in half like they were paper and eating their hearts for some reason. She utterly loses it and pukes all over the floor while Celestia holds a trembling Twilight under her wing, shielding her eyes from seeing the blood soaked horror of his rage towards the Silver Hand members. Getting herself back under control she says, "Is that all you have to show me oh great terror?" Her confidence trembles, not feeling too sure about being able to handle something a little worse than that.

He grumbles, not really wanting to show them this but has no choice and says, "I am sorry for the trauma I am about to inflict on you two, but I must change her mind if she is going to become stronger than letting her rage and hate rule her. This last one I am about to show you is what happened when The Great War was reignited and what I did to those that I truly hated." Just then, the area around them changes to a snowy terrain as a grand army of around 50,000 pissed off Nords, Khajiits, Dark Elves, Werewolves, Vampires, Draugr, The Greybeards, Paarthurnax and many other dragons, and Stormcloak remnants marched against the Aldmeri Dominion appears in front of them as they look down from a small cliff. He then begins to play the memory out after telling them who and what the various beings in the army were.

Nightmare Moon, Celestia and Twilight watch with horror as they watched, seeing what Bayott did to those that surrender or try to run. Nightmare Moon begins to tear up as he sees him order the slaughter of every single High Elf they find. She places her hands over her eyes with her fingers spread as tears flow like a river down her cheeks as she sobs when Bayott begins to skin Thalmor agents alive to get information and then burn them to death after they answer him. Unable to handle the horror and screaming any more she finally breaks and screams, "NO MORE! NO MORE PLEASE, I CAN'T TAKE THE SCREAMING ANY LONGER!"

Bayott dismisses the memory as he walks up to a bawling, Nightmare Moon rocking back and forth with her head buried in her knees with her long ethereal hair covering her face. He bends down and slides a part of the hair in front of her face hiding her eyes from him and lays it behind her ear and says, "Do you understand where Rage and Hatred get you, Nightmare Moon? They will get you nowhere in life but misery and loneliness, will you change your ways to better benefit Equestria? Many of my closest friends were lost in that great war because I let my rage and hatred rule my actions instead of using my head, strategy, knowledge and listening to my friend's advice when they offered it."

She slowly stops rocking back and forth to look up at him with one starry, moderate cyan eye showing and says while sniffling in between, "I-I-I will try to change my ways and learn to not let my anger and hatred control me. Will you help me if I get stuck along my way to recovery?"

He lifts the other part of her hair away and lays it behind her ear and says, "Only if you promise to aid me whenever I need help against Alduin when I am ready to face him again. Do we have an agreement Moonie, or do I have to kiss you for being too adorable just like Celestia is when she is flustered? Oh by the way, I do remember when you kissed me Celestia, it could have been a bit better."

Celestia's face turns bright red in embarrassment as smoke comes out of her ears, her mind to overheated to think properly, and tries to talk saying, "But, but, but...That wasn't..." she scrambles to find words and tries again saying, "I...I never...really...had a...choice..."

Bayott winks at Nightmare Moon and she gets the hint and says, "Oh, so then why did you slip him the tongue while he was asleep in the alcove huh?

She struggles to form a coherent thought as her coat changes color to a dark beet red and she falls into Twilight's arms and snuggles into her hold saying, "I couldn't help myself, I was curious what it would be like to kiss someone..."

Twilight is flabbergasted at hearing that baited confession and is only able to say, "HUH?! I-I don't understand Princess Celestia, you willingly kissed him just because you never kissed anypony before?!"

Celestia sighs and says, "It is in the past now, let us move past that moment and deal with the situation at hand." She then looks at Moonie and says, "Please return control to Luna so we can deal with her newly acquired inability to face the horrors that lie within Bayott's mind."

Moonie sighs and says, "If I must, but I shall see you all another time. I look forward to duel you one day to see how skilled you are. Goodbye everypony, sweet nightmares to you!" She winks at them and retreats back inside of Luna, letting her have control.

As Luna comes to, her body reverts to it's original coloring and sobs while saying, "Please don't make me see these horrid things anymore, I want out of here!"

He sighs, then walks up to her and says, "Do not worry young one, you have friends that will help guide you through what scares you. There are many moments in my life that are scary, some creatures are even scarier." He then runs a finger through her hair and lightly rubs one of her ears.

Her sobs slowly come to a stop as she tilts her head into his hand and makes a soft coo noise, and immediately blushes as she realized she did that out loud and turns to glare at him then says in a deeply embarrassed tone, "I-I-I don't want to be petted like some pet, so stop that! I am a princess of Equestria you know!"

Bayott chuckles at her embarrassed tone and says, "Yes you are, but you are very cute sometimes without meaning to be." He then begins to reach out to rub her cheek with his thumb.

Luna sees him reaching to pet her again and bites his hand quickly, making him pull it back in shock and she warns him and says, "I will not tell you again, I am not a pet. Next time you touch me, you will lose a finger."

He rubs the side of his throbbing hand where Luna bit him and says, "I sure hope I don't get rabies from that bite, I will keep my hands to myself then and spoil those who want me to pet them."

Twilight and Celestia are both rolling on the floor laughing at what just happened as Twilight gasps for air and says, "That was a priceless reaction, I can't wait until you recover and come stay with me." She then eventually stops rolling on the floor laughing and stands up with a serious face and says, "I will have to do several repairs to the town as well as my castle that stupid Numinex wrecked!"

She glares in annoyance at Bayott and says, "I can't believe you just offered him a place to stay with you, Twilight. You better watch yourself while he is around you, I feel that he may be a pervert!"

Bayott squints his eyes at her in irritation and yells, "Hey, I have been asleep for seventy thousand years by the way. For your information, I am not a pervert because I have not slept with a female yet. I am definitely not attracted to men, I still find it hard to believe that I never checked to see if Shadowmere was a male or female while she was with me. I will definitely be working to make it up to her in the days to come."

Twilight and Luna look at him and fall to the floor laughing as Luna says, "I can't believe it, you're a seventy thousand year old virgin!" Twilight holds her stomach as she gasps for air.

Celestia clears her voice and frowns at the two hysterically laughing girls and says in the royal voice, "I for one, do not find this funny at all! Pull yourselves together and put yourself in his shoes, he most likely did not have the time or luxury to find the right one for him."

The two princesses stop laughing immediately and stand back up and feel bad for laughing at him as Twilight says, "I'm so sorry for laughing at you Bayott, I understand if you don't want to stay with me until you find a place of your own to call home."

As Luna apologizes to him as well, Bayott waves a hand in the air, dismissing their apologies and says, "Don't worry about it, I actually found that really funny myself. Perhaps I should have found time to fool around with Aela or Ysolda when I had the chance to, but you are right about me not having enough time to do so. While Alduin was going around resurrecting dead dragons, I was clearing out ancient ruins to find words of power that were scattered around Skyrim. I believe I have cleared out a few hundred of them before I tried to face Alduin the first time, I was able to greatly weaken him but not end his life. After a bit, I trapped one of his allies and got them to aid me by taking me to Sovngarde, in the realm of Aetherius as the world of the dead is called. I then met three heroes of old Hakon, Gormlaith, and Feldir, who then aided me in breaking his power over Sovngarde and make him face us in battle. It took quite a while for us to finally kill him, but I never was granted his soul." He then brings himself back to tell her, "I will stick to your kind offer Princess Twilight. If I don't stay with you, I would have to stay in that smelly old ruin. I hope you can find a place at your home to store the stuff I have."

The three princesses gawk at him in stunned amazement as Twilight manages to answer first saying, "YOU HAVE BEEN TO THE PLACE WHERE THE SOULS OF PONIES GO WHEN THEY DIE?!?! Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh I can't wait to find out what you know of there."

Luna quickly interjects saying, "So would we Twilight, but I can sense this dream is fading. So we will have to discuss it later, let us leave this place before he comes to."

He smiles and says to her, "Well to be honest, I was just there a little while ago. I had to wait in line to meet Tsun the bridge guardian, when I met Summer's Day and Colonel Cluster Apple. We spoke for awhile and they both thanked me for stopping the dragon that attacked some town called Brayville, the campsite outside Ustengrav, and a few ponies from Ponyville."

Twilight hangs her head in sadness and sobs saying, "I-I knew Summer's Day, she was kind and was learning how to garden from Applejack and Forsythia. There are going to be a lot of very sad ponies today when we find and bury the bodies."

Bayott walks up to Twilight as she sobs and pulls her into a hug and says, "The sadness will pass young one, Alduin will be stopped by my hands once more. This time it will be permanent, for I may try to think up a new shout to use on him."

She wraps her arms around him and continues to cry it out and says, "I sure hope you find a way to deal with him soon, because there is going to be more sorrow and pain until he is dealt with."

As he starts to feel the dream beginning to fade away, He watches as it starts to disappear and breaks the hug to look in her eyes and say, "It is time for you to return to the waking world, for this dream is beginning to fade away. I will be seeing you in a bit young one. Hope is not lost, for it is always darkest right before the dawn."

Celestia looks around and sees the door appear before her and she turns to the others and says, "The door has appeared girls, lets return now so we can inform the others that he is going to be ok." She then turns and heads for the door, and prepares to open it for the other two when they get to her.

Luna walks to her sister and stands close to her while she waits for Twilight to get there and says, "I sure hope he doesn't have any nightmares that I need to deal with."

Bayott then thinks of something after remembering that those two raise the sun and moon and asks, "So if you two control the sun and moon, who is continuing the cycle now?"

Twilight is making her way towards the door when she hears Luna and Celestia say in unison, "Oh no! We were gone for over two weeks, things are going to be so hard to catch the cycle up!" She then races towards the door as Celestia opens it for them to walk through and says, "Worry not Princess Celestia, we will have to think of a schedule and come up with a way to make up for the time we were away."

His necklace begins glowing as a female voice fills his head saying, "Please tell them what I say Bayott, it is important they hear this. Do not worry about that, my little ponies. I have been continuing the night and day cycle while you were away, this is the last day I will be able to raise the sun. I am tired and need to rest, I shall leave the moon raising to you Luna." He parrots the words for her as Celestia spins around with a shocked expression.

Celestia is shocked to hear that somepony has been handling the momentus task for them and asks, "Who could have done this for us, nopony we know can handle such a difficult task?"

Bayott then looks to the necklace and asks it, "What is your name, I don't know your voice?"

The melodic voice sounds once more and says, "I have many names, Harmony, Equestria, Mundus, Equus. I am the one that created the Elements of Harmony, I am the spirit of this planet you all live on, please just call me Melody."

As he repeats what she said, Celestia says, "I can't believe the Goddess is speaking to us! Thank you so much for doing that for us, we did not know we were gone for two weeks until Mara told us."

Melody's voice fades from Bayotts mind saying, "You are welcome little ones, you better get going or you may wind up trapped here. I shall see you all again one day, goodbye for now."

They all walk out through the door as Celestia closes it behind her and runs after Luna and Twilight who are starting to run for the other door to exit Bayott's dream. As she passes through the other door and closes it, it changes shape into the black stone door with a red skull on it. She then turns back around and catches up with Luna and Twilight and they begin making their way out of the Dream Realm.

As Luna leads them out of the Dream Realm, the doors begin to disappear as the ponies wake up from sleep. While the once pitch black realm around them begins to slowly turn a dull greyish white, she finally sees the door that leads out to the waking world and says, "We are almost there girls, we need to hurry! This Realm won't last much longer as the ponies keep waking up." She opens the door in a hurry and watches as Twilight and Celestia go through it first and follows after them, closing it behind her as she returns to her body.

Back inside the waking world

Celestia, Luna, and Twilight get up off the floor and look at the curious group of ponies in the room when Luna says, "He is alive and shall return to us soon, it is a miracle that he even survived the major surgery that lasted a full day. I wonder how long it will take him to heal from those injuries?"

Twilight hears movement on the bed and turns her head to look at the heavily bandaged form of Bayott, when she sees him move she says, "He is waking up Everypony, stay calm and let him come around first before you pepper him with questions."

Rainbow Dash squints at Twilight and says, "Like we're the ones you have to worry about doing that??"

She chuckles and lightly blushes then says, "I can't help that I am a curious pony with a thousand questions for everything."

Bayott slowly comes to and squints as the lights of the room are too bright and says, "Damn, someone turn off the sun please, it's too bright in here."

Princess Skystar walks over and flips the switch off and sends the room into darkness and says, "There you go, anything else we can help you with?"

He looks at her in a daze and says, "A kiss would help me wake up faster, if you wouldn't mind."

Before anypony can protest, she walks right over and kisses his hand and giggles as she says, "Nice try Romeo, you are going to have to work harder to get a kiss on the lips mister." She then blows him a raspberry teasingly and goes back beside her mother with a smile.

Bayott chuckles and says, "I guess that will have to do for now, how long was I being worked on?"

Just then Nurse Redheart comes into the room and says, "Wow I'm surprised you're up so soon, you were on the table for twenty-four hours! So how are you feeling today, any pain anywhere, feeling lightheaded at all?"

He looks at the nurse and says, "Well I am feeling a little woozy, hospitals have come a very, very long way since when I was fighting against the Stormcloaks. The hospitals then were, well to put it mildly...very bloody. There were several amputations, the limbs were chopped off if they couldn't be healed by magic, it bothered me that so few could use the greater healing spells."

Nurse Redheart put a hand over her mouth as she got an image of what it must of been like back then and says, "That is expected for the morphine we have going through the IV into your body, a side effect of it is drowsiness. You will be in here for a couple weeks due to the severity of your wounds, after that we will put a cast on your leg because your femur was broken in two places due to where the teeth had punctured your leg."

Bayott grins and says to her, "Wanna see a magic trick?"

She cocks her head and says, "Sure, what will that be?"

He continues to grin and answers her, "Remove the IV for now, replace it if it doesn't work completely ok?"

She tries to listen to her training and refuse to take out the IV but her curiosity wins over it and says, "U-Uhm...okay, I guess I can do that if I can put it back in if it doesn't work. What are you going to show us that requires the removal of the IV though?"

An idea pops into Twilight's head and she starts to say, "Don't tell me...that you can..." when she is cut off by Bayott holding a finger to his lips.

Bayott then softly says to her, "Shh just watch the trick I'm about to show you Twilight!" He waits for the nurse to finish taking the IV out to ready the spell.

Nurse Redheart clamps the tube closed and gets ready to replace the needle if it should be needed and says, "There you go, the IV is out of your arm. What are you going to show us?"

He then smiles and brings up both hands and prepares the two-handed spell he came up with while he was the Archmage at the College of Winterhold. He then charges up the spell to its required amount of magic and says to them, "I'm sorry if this is a little bright for you all but watch the results of this spell I came up with during my time as the Archmage of the College of Winterhold." He then casts the spell and tosses the ball of brightly shining golden yellow light a short distance, and then waits for it to strike his body and begin making the repairs needed.

Twilight struggles to wrap her head around how he can be a grand teacher of magic and feels immense magic coming from the ball of light and watches as it falls back towards Bayott, striking his chest and bursts apart to cover his entire body in the same golden-yellow glow of the ball of light and she can't help but say, "There is a lot of magic coming from that spell you just cast, that is more than the amount of magic I have right now."

Bayott stiffens up as the spell begins to take effect, causing his body to heat up a little bit as his wounds and bones begin to knit themselves back together and grunts loudly in discomfort saying, "God this part always sucks because of the heat it causes when putting things back together." His body begins to slowly heat up even more as the rest of the bones begin to fuse back together like they once were. The last of the wounds knit each other back together as the spell releases his body and disappears, letting him relax his body slowly as the heat begins to dissipate.

Nurse Redheart hangs the IV on the machine and rushes over to look at the state of his wounds saying, "You moron, why would you do something like that to your body when you are still recovering from surgery a few hours ago..." She stops mid sentence as she looks under one of the many bandages on his body, she is completely dumbfounded at what she sees. She begins to remove the bandages one by one as she checks them, finding nothing but scar tissue where there were horrendous wounds and says, "Im-Impossible!" She continues to remove more bandages and finds more scar tissue and says, "H-How can this be! The wounds are all gone, only thing that shows they were here is scar tissue. Just what in Celestia's name did you do!!"

He grins and sits up saying, "Well you see, I was fooling around testing a few spells one day when I thought, 'How great would it be if one spell could speed the recovery time of someone's injuries from battle and return their body to its original state?' The sad thing is that it can't restore the fluids that were lost after the wound was inflicted up to when the spell was cast. It took several tests to get it right with the help of our expert in restoration magic, Colette, who would test the spell I came up with and made corrections on it, and the Orc librarian Urag Gro-Shub, who broke one of my arms or legs for the test to be conducted. We succeeded after enough failed attempts, Colette really enjoyed doing the testing for that spell almost as much as Urag enjoyed breaking an arm or a leg from the lack of getting out of the library. Only downside to it though is that it does require quite a bit of magic to successfully cast it though."

Twilight Looks to Celestia and Luna and asks, "Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, do you two think you have enough magic to cast that spell?"

They look at each other and Celestia says, "With how strong the magic was compared to what we have, It might prove difficult at best to hope to succeed at using it. Star Swirl and Twilight may have to learn what they can for spells from Bayott some day and run a few tests on how to make it easier for some unicorn ponies to cast."

Nurse Redheart struggles to understand it and starts to feel like it was pointless to perform the surgery and gets mad at him and then says, "After so many hours of working on putting your body back together to save your life, you could have just cast that spell and saved yourself?! We even had help from a strange being known as Hermaeus Mora to help save you!"

Bayott growls angrily and says, "Wait a minute, did you just say that Hermaeus Mora helped you save my life? What did he ask you to do in return for it?"

She jumps back and gulps at his sudden outrage at hearing that name and answers, "He said he didn't want anything at all, that the assistance he provided us was free this time because he is quite fond of you and that you helped him in the past with some issues. Why are you angry at hearing his name?"

He grumbles in annoyance and says, "Because the First Dragonborn was in his service and betrayed his true calling, when I was formally recognized as Dragonborn, he sent his acolytes to kill me. So, after some time hunting him down, I eventually caught up to him in the realm of Hermaeus Mora. There is tons of knowledge there if you are willing to do dirty and evil tasks for him in exchange for that knowledge. I am glad that he offered his service without a cost or a deal."

Nurse Redheart sighs in relief and says, "Ok that answers the questions I wanted to ask you once you were healthy enough to leave here."

Bayott sighs and then says, " I am saddened by the fact that I had to kill him, even though we were technically brothers. But no, the surgery saved my life. If I was able to cast that spell in that state, I likely would have died during the process due to the extent of the injuries. My body wouldn't have been able to handle the heat from the increase in temperature, so the surgery was vital in saving my life. Thank you very much for spending that much time and effort to repair the damage that was done to my body and saving my life."

A smile crosses her face as she tosses the bloody bandages into a waste bin and says, "I guess if you are feeling strong enough, we can see if you can walk yet?"

He grins and says, "That is a great idea, thank you nurse... What is your name, sorry?" He then swings his legs over the edge of the too small hospital bed and scooches closer to the edge so his legs reach the ground. He waits patiently for the nurse to come help support him in case he falls.

Nurse Redheart comes over and helps pull him onto his feet and says, "My name is Nurse Redheart, it is a pleasure to meet you. Do watch your head when you try to fully stand up, the door frame might be a bit low for you since you are really quite tall."

Bayott looks at her with a smile and says, "Let's see if I have the strength to get up..." He then places two hands on the bed and starts to push himself to his feet and stumbles back on the bed. He tries again and this time, he puts more muscle strength into his legs as he pushes up and manages to get to his feet and starts to take a few steps slowly. He manages to make it to the door without stumbling and looks back to her and says, "Thank you for all you have done for me if you ever need my aid, please feel free to send a courier to hunt me down to deliver a letter."

She smiles at him and says, "Don't try going anywhere just yet because you have to be checked out and there is paperwork to fill out and we need to schedule a series of tests to start a medical record on you once the town is back in order and we are less busy trying to save other pony's lives. So wait right here and I will have a nurse bring in the forms." She then leaves the room to go tell the clerk to bring the patient the forms necessary to check him out.

Shadowmere enters the room and sees Bayott already fully healed and says, "You just had to test that spell of yours didn't you, you pain in the ass? The least you could do is cast it on me too when your magic recovers!" She smiles at him and punches his shoulder and says, "Heh, I bet if you tell Jarl Balgruuf that you killed Numinex, he will lead the toast to commemorate you killing him."

He pulls her into a gentle hug, being careful of her injured arm and wing and says, "I sure will do that when we get out of here and start to help with the reparations to this town. It is going to be tough getting over the loss of my Wife Ysolda and two adopted daughters Lucia and Sofie, as well as all the people I met and saved in the past. It will take some time to get past their loss, but time heals all wounds right Shadowmere?"

She holds him close and rubs his head and says, "Yes it does sir, one day you will see them all again when you are no longer needed to protect this world from Alduin."

Bayott sighs and pulls away from her and says, "You know you really should put some better clothes on because you have nice curves and such soft fur."

Shadowmere blushes and whacks him upside the head with her good arm and says, "Stop saying such perverted things or people will think that you really are one!"

He laughs at that and says, "I can't help it, it is fun teasing you because you blush every time I say something about your body."

Just then a nurse knocks on the door and walks into the room with the small stack of papers that Nurse Redheart asked her to prepare and bring them to the patient in room 101 and says, "Here are the papers that you need to sign and fill out before you are signed out today. Please let us know when a good day would be, to set up a full series of exams to start your medical file once this latest emergency has passed for Ponyville, and we are not quite so busy."

Bayott takes the forms and says, "Does anyone have something I can write with?"

Twilight pulls out one of her older quills and inkwell thinking it might be more familiar to him than a ball point pen and says, "Here you go. Its an old quill I used, up until they created pens that contain ink to write with, though I still prefer to use quills instead. You can use it until you find time to acquire some of your own."

He smiles and sets the forms aside, then accepts the quill and inkwell saying, "I am glad that some things haven't gone out of use yet. This is indeed familiar to me. I must ask though, has the written language changed through the years? If so, then I may have to learn it to be able to read and write in today's words."

She pulls out a small pad and holds it out for him and says, "Can you write something on here for us to look at and see if we can read it at all?"

As Bayott looks for a flat surface to write on and place the inkwell on and lays the quill down and pulls the rolling table over to him and sets the inkwell down on it and picks the quill up in his right hand and then takes the pad from her saying, "Hmm... what should I write down?" He then thinks of something and accesses the knowledge he has of the written form of the dragon language and writes down a couple things and then hands it back to her saying, "Here you go, let's find out if you can read it at all."

Twilight looks at the pad and looks at the top set of writing and see a series of wierd scratches and dots and says, "What in Tartarus are these marks at the top? These were on that wall in Ustengrav." She then looks at the other one down below and sighs saying, "Just as I thought, you would have to learn Ponish to be able to understand words, messages, books, and forms these days. Ugh, more work for me...yay!"

He chuckles and says, "Oh well, I guess it is only natural that those languages have been completely forgotten by now. The one on top is the written form of the dragon language, the bottom one is Nordic and it says, "I am Dragonborn, my name is Bayott." I guess one of you shall have to fill in the information for me" He then hands the pile of papers towards Twilight for her to take them.

Celestia takes the stack of forms from him before Twilight is able to grab them and says, "I will fill the information out as you tell me what to write in each box, so lets begin with your full name and birthday?"

Bayott scrunches his face in thought as he tries to remember what it is and says, "I believe my full name was Bayott Hearth-Spring, and I was born...let's see here. I was 22 when I saw Alduin attack and destroy Helgen, it was Sundas the 17th of Last Seed of the fourth era in the year 201. I was born on Middas the 19th of Frost Fall of the fourth era in the year 179. I was 33 years old when I was told to travel to Ustengrav and slumber until I was needed once more."

They all cock their heads at hearing his birthday as Twilight says, "Uhm...I'm sorry, how did your calendar work back then?"

He sighs and says, "Well from the beginning of a new year to the end, it goes: Morning Star, Sun's Dawn, First Seed, Rain's Hand, Second Seed, Mid Year, Sun's Height, Last Seed, Hearthfire, Frost Fall, Sun's Dusk, and Evening Star. For the standard working week, it starts with: Morndas, Tirdas, Middas, Turdas, Fredas, Loredas, and Sundas."

Twilight writes down the names of the months and days and figures out what month it would be and tells her, "I did a comparison and he was born on Wednessday the 19th of October of the 4E in the year 179 age is 33. If you must be technical about it he is 70,033 years old, making him your senior as oldest living being in existence."

Celestia narrows her eyes at Twilight, sighs and then says, "Don't remind me of that Twilight..." she then writes the birthday down and notates both years of age though it greatly annoys her and continues onto the next box, asking for the information to put in there.

As they spend about a half hour filling in the information necessary to satisfy the forms, Celestia hands them to the nurse and says to the nurse, "Please send the bill to Princess Luna and I, for we will pay for the surgery from the royal treasury."

The nurse takes the forms and bows saying, "Yes Your Highnesses, please be sure to sign the outpatient roster at the Reception Desk before you leave and we hope you have a better day."

Bayott then walks to the Reception desk with Princess Celestia, Luna, and Twilight, as Queen Novo, her daughter Princess Skystar, and Princess Ember and friend Smolder follow after them. He then says, "Does some kind of danger always happen in this town?"

Princess Twilight chuckles nervously and says, "Well... I would hate to admit it, but it does seem to happen every wednessday or friday. Everypony has learned to be on alert on those days of the week."

He then waits as Princess Celestia signs the outpatient roster before turning towards the door to exit the hospital, he resumes to follow after her and says, "Where are the others at? I haven't seen them around at all."

Princess Celestia sighs and continues down the hall towards the doors that lead outside and says, "Some of them have been busy working to put out the fires and gather the ponies that fled from Ponyville to get to safety when Numinex attacked, the others have been busy tending to the wounded and bring them to the hospital to receive treatment. So far, about 20 ponies from Ponyville have died here today, I am awaiting further information on the camp and the town of Brayville that were attacked just the other day. We haven't notified Applejack of her relative's death yet, we thought it would be best to come from an eyewitness as well as a friend." She then looks at Bayott, not realizing that her eyes are beginning to change color and her hair is beginning to smoke and yells, "This Alduin must...be...stopped by any means necessary, ensure that they pay the price for causing such misery and pain to the citizens of Equestria!"

He backs up and wishes he had his battle axe with him and wonders what to do when he hears Princess Luna yell at her older sister in the royal voice saying, "Princess Celestia, that is no way to condone thou's behavior! Gain control over thyself and correct the wrong thy hast done to him!"

She snaps her head towards her sister after hearing how she just scolded her and hangs her head and regains control over her emotions and her eyes and hair return to normal and takes a deep breath and hangs her head in shame and says, "I'm so sorry I lost my temper like that Bayott, I was just so upset at how many ponies have perished at the hands of a single dragon from your time and let my anger take control. Please forgive me for doing something so extremely harsh and unfair to you."

Bayott covers his ears at how loudly she scorned her sister and says, "At this rate I'm gonna go deaf with how loud you two can be, any ideas on how to protect your hearing when they do that?"

Luna glares at Bayott in annoyance at how he pokes at how loud the royal voice is and scoffs when she hears Twilight giggle and removes a pair of ear plugs from her ears and says, "I'm sorry Bayott I should have offered you a pair of these but I didn't have any others I could offer you, but you can buy them at a General Store in Canterlot. You should make a trip there one day when you have the time."

He taps the side of his head with one hand, trying to get rid of the ringing. Sighing in relief as the ringing finally stops he says, "I will have to do that when I have a chance, maybe one of you could show me around there. Oh by the way... where might my armor and weapons be located, I feel a bit... drafty... if you get my drift."

Queen Novo and Skystar are looking off to the right with bright red faces, while Princess Ember and Smolder are also heavily blushing and looking off to the left trying to pretend they didn't see anything either, when Shadowmere decides to torment them a little bit by saying, "He is rather gifted isn't he girls?"

Twilight looks back in shock as their faces get redder and they continue to look off to the sides and decides to change the topic by saying, "Yes I do, they moved it into the closet inside your room. It does needs cleaning, and heavy repairs too so you will have to go to a blacksmith in Canterlot to repair the metal pieces. Rarity might be able to repair the cloth parts for you."

Bayott looks at Twilight and says to her with a smile on his face and says, "Lead the way Princess Twilight." He then follows her down the hall back to his room for his equipment.

A half hour passes as she waits for him to get his armor back on and talks with him about various things, like what the world was like back then and is shocked to learn that it had mammoths and giants that were even taller than he was. When he finally steps out from behind of the curtain, she sees that his armor is covered in dried blood and says, "I-I could cast a spell to remove that dried blood from your equipment, some ponies might freak out at seeing it all covered in blood and try to offer you aid or to take you back to the hospital."

He then looks around for the battle axe he had and can't seem to find it and says, "Do you know where my battle axe is by chance, I can't seem to locate it? That would be very kind of you to do Princess Twilight, I wouldn't want to cause a panic when there is already panic outside."

Twilight smiles and casts a spell around him to remove the dried blood, sweat, and filth that stick to the armor and says, "Yeah it is still stuck in the ground, over where you removed Numinex's head yesterday. We can go get that after we exit the hospital okay?"

Bayott smiles back and answers her, "That was amazing Princess Twilight, I might have to study what magic you ponies are capable of once we get the town back in order. I would like that very much, I don't like to leave good weapons lying about where anyone can take it."

As they make their way back to the group to head outside, Twilight says, "Okay then, but you don't have to worry about anyone trying to steal anything that doesn't belong to them. Ponyville is a place where you can trust each other."

They return to the group as Ember turns her head and sees the extensive damage to the armor and whistles saying, "Wow, Numinex really treated you like a chew toy and a rag doll didn't he?"

He smiles and chuckles saying, "Yeah he sure did, he was one of the strongest and most ruthless dragons that ever served Alduin. I think that was the only time I have ever been inside a dragons mouth, I surely hope I don't get swallowed alive next because that would be a major pain and bloodbath for the dragon and my greatest fear."

Princess Celestia clears her throat and says, "Well everybeing, shall we leave the hospital and aid the others in the recovery of the town?"

Bayott smiles and steps forth saying, "We are all ready to go whenever you are, but I will help out as soon as I go recover my battle axe that is still by Numinex's severed head. Like a pain in the ass I know used to say, It's not a party unless there is cheese, a severed head, and a few other things that I can't quite remember."

She puts a hand over her mouth as she recalls the moment when Numinex's head was chopped off, it being the first beheading she has ever witnessed in her life. As she takes a few deep breaths, she calms herself down and says, "Ok everybeing, let's get out there and assist the others with the rescue effort."

They all exit the hospital when Bayott spots Applejack throwing water on a still burning pile of remnants of a house and calls out to her saying, "Anyone still in there Applejack?!"

Applejack holds the empty bucket in her hand and looks back towards a standing Bayott and runs over to him, giving him a hug and saying, "Nah pardner, Ah am just putting a stop to any potential threats that might reignite and cause more fires to break out. Ah see yer walkin' about. How is that possible with the wounds you got from that fight?"

He smiles and tells her, "Well there was a spell I came up with a long time ago, I used it and it helped return my injuries to normal. The drawback of that spell is that it doesn't restore the fluids that were lost up to the moment the spell was cast."

She looks at him and sees something in his eyes that makes her curious and say, "That is really sad to hear about that, but at least you are able to help them make a complete recovery if they haven't lost too much blood. Uhm... Is there something else on your mind? You kinda give me the feeling that something is wrong."

Bayott sighs and loses the smile and pulls her into a very strong hug, lifting her off the ground and whispers in her ear, "There is something I have to tell you Applejack. While I was in the realm of the dead, Sovngarde or Aetherius as it is called. I met a couple ponies there, one from Ponyville, that was Summer's Day and the other one was a relative of yours. Her name was Colonel Cluster Apple."

Applejack's eyes grow to the size of dinner plates as she hears that a close friend and one of her cousins are dead and starts to push away from him, using more force to try to get out of his death grip he has her in and says, "L-Let me go, I-I-I want to be alone." As if he didn't hear her she yells out, "I SAID LET ME GO..."

He holds her tighter as she fights to be free, ignoring the bites and strong kicks she gives him in hopes that he drops her and says to her, "It's ok Applejack, all of your friends would do the same thing as I would right now. So let it all out, you are safe here so go on and let out your feelings. No matter what, you will always be my friend and I will support you whenever you need a hug or to talk. I know how you feel Applejack, I have lost so many of my friends that I have met. There is a saying in my world that says, Time heals all wounds."

She then begins to slowly sob and starts to say, "I-It-It hurts, please let me go it hurts!" She finally breaks down, giving in and starts bawling into his shoulder, holding him back in a strong bear hug as the dam of tears she has been holding back all day breaks and surges forth and wracks her entire body as she lets it out.

Chapter 6: The Fall From Grace: Part 1

Bayott follows Shadowmere outside and waits for her to finish shifting forms to her four legged one and hops on top of her saying, "Let's go kill another enemy Shadowmere, to the Badlands!" He then readies clairvoyance and casts it to lead the way while he holds on to her for dear life.

She then rears up and whinnies and takes off at a gallop down the road to where the Badlands are as he illuminates the path with his favorite spell. She races towards the skeleton of Numinex and gracefully jumps over it and lands on the other side and continues to follow the spell down the road to where they were heading.

Currently, Somewhere in Equestria

A.K. Yearling is making her way back towards Equestria after hearing a rumor that Ponyville was attacked and burned by a dragon. She silently thinks to herself, 'I hope that everypony is not hurt too bad from the attack. I can't help but wonder what the significance is of that symbol that is on the ground in front of that massive door? I can't believe that nopony could get those two massive doors open, I wonder what is inside of there.' As she continues her way towards Ponyville to survey the damage and offer her aid in making repairs.

Sky Dancer looks at her friend, apparently is lost in her thoughts and tries to distract her from her thoughts and says, "So A.K. what do you think could be behind those massive doors that are sealed?"

She looks at her friend and continues on their flight towards Ponyville as it slowly comes into view and says, "I am not sure, but I really want to know. I will ask Star Swirl to see if he has any ideas." She is interrupted as she sees the extent of the damage to Ponyville and flies faster to check on the health of the ponies inside. She lands beside Star Swirl and asks, "What happened here, is everypony ok? Do you all need help in making repairs to the town?"

Star Swirl turns to look at a tired A.K. Yearling as he is figuring out what to do next with the town and sighs in relief at her being ok and gives her a big hug saying, "Thank goodness you weren't still at the camp when the dragon hit it right after Brayville!"

A.K. and Sky Dancer tear up at hearing about the camp and say, "Why, what happened there!?"

He then hugs them both and tells them of the events that happened from what he heard from Discord, he holds them even tighter when he informs them of the fate of a few of their friends that were at the camp.

A.K. and Sky Dancer weep at hearing how some were eaten and others were burned and cry out, "NOO! That is the worst way to die! How can a dragon be so cruel to others without a single care."

Star Swirl then tells them who saved the residents of Ponyville and the fate of the dragon called Numinex. He then continues to hold them while they continue to sob over the loss of the friends they had at the camp and says, "There there girls, justice has been done for the loss of so many lives. Be thankful that Bayott arrived in time to save so many others. He is away right now fighting another named dragon called Nahagliiv that was last seen in the Badlands from what Princess Cadence tells me."

An Hour Later, In the Badlands

Bayott sees the wide and tall rock with a flat top and steers Shadowmere towards it with his voice saying, "There it is, that is the illusion that Cypher mentioned, I hope we haven't gotten here too late."

Shadowmere gallops over the ground, finally starting to feel tired from running so far. She begins to pant and says, "We are finally here, I was wondering if we were ever going to make it in time to save their queen. I need to catch my breath for a bit before we head back after the fight."

He feels a tingling as they pass through the illusion's barrier to see Nahagliiv laying waste to the changelings that try to defend the hive. Several being burned to a crisp or being chomped on and then spit back out to splatter against a rock like an insect being squashed. He then watches as a scream of rage and a bright green beam of light shoots through a hole in the hive, striking Nahagliiv and causes a little damage. Not wanting Nahagliiv to turn his attention to the Queen, he says to Shadowmere, "Go aid the injured while I draw his attention from the hive to me, now GO!" He then jumps off Shadowmere and runs a short distance from the momentum and stops himself. He watches her run a bit further away and then shouts to the sky, "NAH AG LIIV!!"

Nahagliiv swings her head around to face the dovah that just issued the challenge and her eyes widen as she sees a mortal human standing alone with a weapon of some sort on its back and a fire in their eyes, realizing that only one being would stand alone and face off against any dovah saying out loud, "Dragonborn so it is you that issued a challenge, I will test your mettle and strength and decide if you are worthy!" She then roars out in defiance against the Dragonborn and flies off in their direction to answer the challenge.

Chrysalis watches as the large dragon takes it's attention off of her when a thunderous sound echoes through the chamber, says something and then flies away. She sighs in relief and collapses to the floor as a gash in her side causes her to pass out saying, "Whoever just drew that dragon away I owe them my life, maybe even offer them my hand if they are worthy enough." She then hears some of her subjects come running to her side and begin performing first aid.

Shadowmere yells out to any changeling outside, "If any of you can hear me, listen to what I have to say! There is going to be a major fight out here and we need to get the wounded inside to safety!" A loud humming buzz sound fills the air as the changelings that are able to move, begin to collect the injured and start carrying them inside.

Bayott looks at the dragon and is surprised at hearing it's female voice and asks, "I did not know that there were female dragons, are they that rare or do they just keep to themselves mostly?"

She senses that he has a few questions first and chooses to answer them and lands near him and then says, "Female dragons are indeed rare, males compete against each other for the right to mate after issuing a challenge to the female they want. We are free to do as we wish mostly, unless we have eggs to protect, then we don't leave them at all and rely on the mate to provide the food. If the mate dies, we must then choose another and rely on them for food or destroy the eggs. What makes you want to become my new mate? I don't think that it would be possible though, with you being a human and me a dovah." She watches as his expression changes and his face turns red, making her curious and asks, "What's the matter, can't you stand the sight of a strong, female dovah? Or did you just not know the mating rituals of the dov?"

He blushes fiercely and struggles to form a single thought and loses his balance and falls on his ass and finally says, "I-I-I had no clue that I was requesting to be your mate, I was calling you to fight and slay you to save the home of the changelings and their Queen." He is then startled when he hears a few snickers coming from her and asks, "Why do you find that amusing Nahagliiv?"

On the balcony overlooking Mundus/Equus in Aetherius

Arkay and the other divines snicker at the situation unfolding before them as he says, "Oh I find it hard to believe that you planned to make this happen! We haven't had this much entertainment since Sanguine played a few pranks on Talos when he was on mundus back then."

Akatosh chuckles softly at remembering the antics that used to happen back then and says, "I remember how he pranked someone by putting some manure in a burlap sack and set it alight in front of the house, oh how mad they got when they stomped it out with their bare feet!"

Mara then speaks up and adds to it saying, "Or how you used to prank our children when you discovered that ground chili powder can cause a dragon to sneeze and fart fire at the same time, oh how they hated us for doing that to them. They always got us back for it, except for Alduin..."

He slowly stops chuckling and sighs saying, "Yes, he only got madder and madder with every prank. When we created mankind, he began ruling over them with an iron fist."

She then walks over to him, gives him a hug and a kiss saying, "Perhaps things would be a bit different if we left him out of our pranks... Oh well, no one can change the past. All we can do is deal with the present and hope the future is brighter."

Back outside of the hive in the Badlands

Nahagliiv's body shudders as she can't hold back the laughter after hearing what he said and replies while writhing on the ground in laughter, "I do apologize for laughing, but I never thought that you were actually trying to get me to fight you. I heard my name called and turned to look for the dovah that said it, requesting to be my mate when I felt you and answered your challenge. It amuses me that a Dragonborn could be such a clueless heroine towards the ways of the dov!"

After a few minutes of laughing she then calms down a bit, then takes a few breaths and switches to a more serious tone and stops laughing, rights herself then asks him, "How many dovah have you slain since you were first awakened?"

Bayott scratches his head and thinks for a moment and then says, "Well, the very first dragon I have fought and slew was Murmulnir, I then found out from a Whiterun Guard that I was something called a Dragonborn. After I heard that I remembered finding a book about the Dragonborn and read it, the prophecy in it that suggests that I am the Last Dragonborn. Since then I have slain around a hundred and fifty dragons since, I am beginning to tire of slaying dragons all of the time. It got worse after I fought Numinex and almost lost my life after taking his soul and knowledge, I can't believe how close he came to actually killing me when he had me in his mouth and shook me like a rag doll and threw me onto the ground. He would have won if he didn't try to fly away. Thank Akatosh that Alduin didn't show up just then to fight me, I wouldn't have stood a chance. So what are you going to do now? Are you going to try to kill me like all the rest, or will you fly away?"

As she hears him tell of how many he has slain, she quivers with excitement when she hears him say he fought against Numinex and says, "That is quite a few for a Dragonborn to be able to survive through the fights, Numinex was one of the contenders to be my mate one time, but lost to Vulthuryol. I wonder whatever happened to him though, because he disappeared on me a few decades after becoming my mate. He and I only had half a dozen clutches of eggs that hatched. I haven't decided whether or not I want to fight you, or to be your mate." She then watches as he turns his eyes down from her in sadness, making her curious as well as anxious and asks, "Why did you look down when you heard me say the name Vulthuryol? Do you know something about him, tell me!"

He sighs and answers her saying, "I don't know how, but I was shouting at this artificial sun the ancient Dwemer created in Blackreach where they mined the Aetherium one day to see if I could knock it down and take the power they had powering it and then Vulthuryol somehow was summoned from it and began attacking me. After a troublesome battle with him I claimed his soul and knowledge, It astonishes me that you were not mentioned among the knowledge I received from him. I am sorry for the loss of your mate though."

Nahagliiv looks up at the sky and exhales smoke through her nose from hearing that the Dwemer found a way to trap a dragon inside of something as a power source and then looks back at him says, "Only their knowledge of the dragon language is transferred to the victor, not their memories of their lives. It is not you I am upset at, it is those accursed Dwemer for taking my mate from me when I had a clutch of eggs to protect!" She then closes her eyes, takes a few deep breaths and regains control of herself and reopens her eyes saying, "Thank you for telling me of his fate, in your own special way, you have saved him from something worse than death. For that, I thank you." As she thinks on what to do now, she falls silent for a few minutes.

Bayott then gets back up to his feet and tries to change the subject a little bit and asks her, "Please tell me more about the ways of the dov, I haven't found any other dragons willing enough to tell me anything about them. You are the first dragon ever to tell me anything at all aside from them fighting each other for status, and land.

She sighs lightly and then ponders whether or not to tell him more of the customs of the dragons when she says, "I am the first one that has told you anything at all? I am flattered at hearing that, I'm amazed that you managed to scrape by in your fight against Numinex. Only reason Vulthuryol won over Numinex was that he was more cunning, he didn't have his strength though. With you being a Dragonborn though, that could mean you are cunning and strong. That would make for an interesting pair, don't you think?"

He sighs in relief and starts to feel a little nervous at where this might be heading, he scratches his head a bit and says, "It would make for an interesting pair, but I am not ready for a relationship. I am sorry but that is where I am at right now, because I just woke up a few days ago and found out that I woke up alone with my companion Shadowmere, who somehow had her body altered and was given the ability to shift from her four legged form and her current one. There is a lot that has happened over the years here on mundus, like how it is called Equus now and a portion of it is ruled by a sentient race of Ponies. There are other Sentient races as well as a very different version of dragons when compared to the ones of times long past such as you, one of the princesses I met told me about minotaur, deer, buffalo, yaks, even some cattle that can speak though I haven't met any of the other creatures yet, but who knows where my travels might lead me in the future."

Nahagliiv chuckles and holds her head a little higher then says, "What is your name, Dovahkiin? Do you know what ever became of Paarthurnax? He is my uncle and I miss him greatly, is he still alive or did you kill him too? Who says the male has the option to just walk away after challenging a female Dovah. You are as the humans would say, 'up shit creek without a paddle', you are at my mercy now and shall await my response to your challenge. You seem to have a few tales to tell, so I shall choose you as my new mate. If you don't like the idea of being my partner, tough shit because I made my choice and you are stuck with it. I look forward to our life together and... 'there goes your canoe'. If you have any requests to make, I shall listen to them and follow if they are within reason." She then drops her head down a little bit and waits for his reply.

Bayott fights to maintain his balance and then sighs as he answers her, "I can't believe that you are related to the master of the Greybeards, my name is Bayott, I haven't seen his scaly hide ever since the war against the Aldmeri Dominion regained its fervor and was waged anew, lasting for ten years with Skyrim winning it. He told me just before he left to head back to Skyrim, that they had a journey to make before returning to High Hrothgar. They left on their journey the same day I had to leave for mine, I wondered if they slumber like me or if they are dead. I hope they are still alive, I don't have anybody but Shadowmere to talk to about the old days. It started to get really lonely when I had to kill Miraak, who was in service of Hermaeus Mora. I was really hoping to have some sort of actual family in the world, but fate was cruel and made me slay him. I really miss everyone I knew back then, but time is always moving forward with or without us being here for it. I guess that fate still wants to torment me in this life, I will have to just roll with the punches then. I have no choice in the matter, I must request that you refrain from seeking out territory, do not attack any sentient creatures, and aid me fighting against Alduin. Since I am to be your mate, do you have any requests of me? Is there some kind of a ritual to signify our union?"

Nahagliiv is shocked at him letting her make a request of him and blushes, turning her head away and says, "I do hear and understand your request and will stick to it. Though I don't want to fight my father, but I don't like how he ruled over mankind, he was extremely ruthless and unforgiving. If you need me to aid you in fighting against him, just call on me for aid and I will join the fight. If you desire to take other partners, all I ask is that you acknowledge me as your first partner, but love us all equally. I only request to be the first is due to the fact that female dovah go into season once every three years, that and I am most likely to be the elder unless you seek out other female dovah. If you are already partnered with another, I shall be fine with being the second in charge under her. I was slain by a band of warriors days after my cycle passed, there is a ritual, but it is very simple to complete. To complete the pairing ritual, we both say together, 'Through battle we prove our strength. We bind a wing together as one pair, through health, life, and fury. May our enemies know defeat at our hand. Should one of us return to the earth, may the other protect our young. When life leaves the other, our bind together shall time tear. We suffer the cold to find peace over our loss of the other before starting again.' that is it for the ritual except the fact that we must shout these words of power in unison in this order with a pause in between each pair, they are, 'Grah Mul, Gron Viing, Haas Laas Nah, Viik Haal, Dal Gol, Laas Gron, Tiid Vaaz, Aus Krah Drem.' After that is said, we touch our foreheads together and typically bite each other to taste the others blood and signify our union. After the blood is shared, we take to the skies to go to our new mountain. Just let me know when you are ready to begin."

He sighs, shakes his head and freezes saying, "Wait...are you screwing with me right now? Alduin is your father?! I beat him twice in battle, once at the top of the Throat of the World and traveled to Skuldafn. I actually killed him in Sovngarde, but couldn't absorb his soul. How are you not furious with me and wanting revenge?!" He slowly starts backing away, waiting for her to attack him.

She casts her eyes to the ground in brief sadness before looking up at him again and says, "No I am not screwing with you, Alduin is my father. You proved that you were stronger than him when you beat him twice, you shook the other dov's belief in him by doing that just once. I have no reason to be angry or want revenge for your feat. Stop backing away from me, I am not angry at you. How did you get up to Skuldafn without wings to take you there, don't tell me you enslaved a dragon and forced him to take you there."

Bayott chuckles and rubs the back of his helmet and says, "Sorry, it's become an instinct when facing a dragon. Umm... no... not really because I learned of a dragon's name called Odahviing and made plans to trap one of Alduin's allies using Jarl Balgruuf's palace that is called Dragon's reach, which held Numinex prisoner many years ago. After trapping him, I made a trade for his freedom to fly me to Skuldafn and stop helping Alduin. After I returned to the Throat of the World, many dragons he brought back acknowledged my power and he called me thuri. I wonder whatever happened to him after the war with the Thalmor."

Nahagliiv's eyes widen at the mention of her son and quickly moves her face closer to his and says, "You know my son! He is alive! I think he will return to us one day since you did not kill him, I will rejoice the day he returns to me once more! He is one of the children I had during my pairing with Vulthuryol." Realizing how excited she got, she clears her throat and backs off a little bit.

He then chuckles and crosses his arms saying, "Yes I know your son, he is strong, the last time I saw him was when I summoned him to fight against the Thalmor. By the way, what is it with you dovah and blood, I am ready to get this over with whenever you are. I hope you don't mind me having to use this weapon on my back to draw your blood in order to taste it, feel free to bite me anywhere you wish. I wonder how he will react to my partnering to you."

She chuckles and sighs in amusement at her method of torturing Bayott with no way to get out of partnering with her saying, "Whaaaat... blood is good, it has lots of nutrients for a dragon! I am ok with you using that weapon to draw my blood, if you are ok with me biting your arm. We will find out once he returns to this world one day."

Bayott then gives her a loose grin and tells her, "I don't have any issues with your request either, you shall be the first after the loss of my previous wife. I am fine with you biting me on the arm to taste my blood, let's begin."

Nahagliiv lifts her head into the sky and looks down at him and says, "Stand beside me and speak together with me, watch for my cue when I open my mouth to speak and look up into the sky to begin saying the oaths. After the first part is over, we will then move on to the next shout part which will take a little time due to our souls needing to rest for each grouping. When this is all over though, I do expect you to clean yourself properly because you stink somewhat horrible."

He moves to stand beside her, then scoffs and jabs her in the wing with his elbow saying, "Look who's talking, you smell like you bathed in sulfur mixed with that stinking red mist from the Red Belly Mine, it's making my eyes water."

She knocks him over with a wing and shouts, "FUS!" then says to him, "Hey! I couldn't help where my bones were buried okay, what is your excuse rotting corpse?" She then thinks to herself, 'Oh yes, you will make a fine mate indeed.'

Bayott then gets back onto his feet with a light grunt and says, "I'm sorry, I couldn't help being told to travel to Ustengrav to sleep for seventy thousand years, when I woke up I couldn't see or do anything else until my other senses returned. I felt my face when I could feel, smell, and hear things around me. I used my sense of touch to find out how I appeared, I looked like a damned draugr. That is a story for a different day though, let's get back to this ceremony." He then returns to her side and readies himself to recite the oath he heard from her.

Nahagliiv chuckles at hearing that and says, "I pity you for sleeping that long and waking up looking like one of those old servants, I am sure you really had to 'go' after waking up."

He then laughs a little at the humor and replied, "There wasn't a river running through Ustengrav until I got there... Amazingly, somehow the enchantment that was placed over the ruin by Mara suspended most of my body's functions."

Discord silently sits on a cloud with a video camera and is catching the whole thing to use to mark a momentus event in history and says to himself, "I was right indeed, you will wreak fun chaos all across Equestria with your various travels. I will not allow myself to miss recording a single event or fight you have."

Shadowmere is staring in disbelief at what she is seeing and is too stunned to move as she watches Nahagliiv and Bayott having a conversation and not fighting to the death. Too stunned to react, she says to a passing changeling, "Do you see what I am seeing and having a hard time believing!?"

Thorax stops and looks in the direction she is staring and replies, "Looks like they are talking it out instead of fighting, is that a problem?"

She stares at the two as they begin speaking into the sky in unison and answers him, "I...don't think so...but this is just the last thing I was expecting!"

The two of them slowly attract more and more changelings to watch after the wounded have been moved inside to recover when a tall changeling limps in to join them in watching what is happening and then breaks the silence saying, "Thorax, what in the name of Tartarus is going on here, can you explain to me why these changelings are standing around doing nothing but watching those two out there talk!"

Thorax whips around and says, "My Queen! I apologize for neglecting my duties, but that smaller creature out there stopped the larger one from attacking the hive any further! BACK TO WORK EVERYLING!"

Chrysalis replies back to Thorax, "I will permit them to take a short break while those two talk to each other, but when they are done, I expect everyling to get back to work." She then turns her head to watch the two speak into the sky as they lower their heads for a moment.

Nahagliiv takes a moment to lower her head and say to him, "Are you ready to begin the next part Bayott?"

He turns to look at her and notices that she has really pretty bright green eyes with vertical slits and says to her, "I am ready, let us continue."

She then turns her head back around and says, "Very well then, here we go." She raises her head into the sky and then begins the second part of the ritual.

The two of them shout out to the skies together, announcing the formation of their union to any who can hear it. Several minutes pass by when they finish the last few words of the shouts. Nahagliiv lowers her head and nods at him, signalling him to stand before her for the last part of the ritual.

A Few Minutes ago, Somewhere in Equestria

Alduin is just about to resurrect another of the Dov when he hears the distant shout of a pairing ritual happening somewhere in the distance. He gets a chill up his spine and decides that checking that out is more important than resurrecting another dovah and races off in the distance to investigate it.

Arriving a few minutes later, he sees a horrifying sight before him. His daughter choosing to partner with the Dragonborn that defeated him twice, and succeeded in killing him in Sovngarde the second time and roars in a rage and then races forth to keep the ceremony from completing.

Presently, near the Changeling hive

Bayott then moves in front of her as she arches her neck and lowers her head just enough so that he can touch his forehead to hers. He stops just in front of her and removes his helmet and holds under his arm as he leans his head forward and lays it against hers and closes his eyes.

Nahagliiv feels the heat from his forehead as it makes contact with hers, acknowledging each other as partners and pauses a moment to let the sensation sink in before raising her head and then lowers it close to the ground to finish the ritual saying, "So Bayott, do you want to go first or do you want me to?"

He thinks for a moment and then answers her, "I will go first, do you have a preference where I inflict the wound?"

She considers that for a few seconds and says, "Anywhere past my neck and before the shoulders on the upper left side of my body will be fine, that is not close to my heart so you don't have to worry about killing me on our pairing day. Any preference where I bite you?"

Bayott responds almost instantly saying, "Anywhere on the meaty part of my upper arms is fine, that way you don't have to worry about making me a crippled Dragonborn who can't fight with both arms anymore. I hope you aren't too grossed out by the weapon I created." He then sets his helmet down and reaches up for his battle axe and then begins to pull it free from his back.

Nahagliiv watches as he pulls the battle axe off of his back and exclaims in disgust as she says, "Great Akatosh! Is that made from dragon bones!? You are an absolute barbarian you know that, to complete the ritual that will bind us together as mates! Hurry up and get it over with, at least that isn't one of Vulthuryol's bones you used to make that thing."

He holds his battle axe in one hand with the handle resting on his shoulder with the blade just behind his right shoulder and looks at her and says, "No, this one was Murmulnir, I can't remember what I did with the bones I got from Vulthuryol. If you can tell which bones are his, you can have them back if you want something to remember him by, or I could craft you a necklace or something? Do you want me to cut you with the big end or the small end?"

She ponders for a moment and then says to him, "I shall let you choose which end to to use, for you shall live with the mark you make on me."

Bayott smiles and says, "Very well then, let me show you how skillful I am in my smithing. As well as how sharp dragonbone weapons are." He then walks to her left side and pulls the axe off his shoulder with two hands and drops down into a stance for a diagonal swing starting from the upper right going down to the left and looks at her one more time before he swings saying, "Are ready for the pain this will cause you, Nahagliiv? This will hurt, a lot."

Nahagliiv steadies her breathing and calmly says, "Yes I am ready, just do it already. Don't make a female dovah wait, its cruel."

He moves his hands together and begins the swing, letting the axe head come close to the ground to pick up momentum. He then rotates his hands to keep the blade steady and picks up a little speed and swings hard, bringing the head of the axe above his head.

She watches as he swings the battle axe with practiced motions, the blade somehow catches the light beautifully and makes a small rainbow as it slings off droplets of water that are on the blade. It makes its arc up and over her head and down towards her left side, then makes contact with her hide and slices clean through, causing her to shout, "YOL TOOR SHUL!" and leaving a big gash in her side, allowing blood to flow through the heavy wound.

Bayott lets the weapon bite into the dirt and lets go of it saying, "Oh shit, I didn't mean to go that deep, I'm sorry. I will finish this up quickly then you can do your part ok?" He then moves to the wound and leans forward, and takes a mouthful of the blood leaking out from the wound and swallows it, feeling his body warm up a bit. He then readies his Grand Healing spell and charges it, then casts it on her wound. As the wound begins to heal, he hears a loud roar of a dragon come from a short distance away and spots something flying their way in a hurry and says to her, "You better finish your part quickly because something is coming this way, fast." He then pulls his axe out of the dirt and sets it back in place on his back and hurries to stand in front of her within reach, and holds his arm out for her to bite.

Nahagliiv sighs and then says, "Thank you for healing that, a wound like that would leave a nasty scar on me. I agree with you, that roar belongs to my father and he is very mad. Brace yourself, this will hurt a lot." She then opens her jaws wide and takes his whole arm into her mouth, and bites down on his bicep. The blood begins to rush into her mouth and she gets an unpleasant after taste but continues to take his blood until there is enough there to swallow. When she finally swallows the small mouthful of blood, she turns to him and says, "I should warn you that the link between us will be formed in a few hours, so you don't have to worry about being weakened from it right away. Now that we are mates, please call me Naha instead of my full name."

Alduin gets angrier when he arrives just in time to watch the two taste each others' blood, completing the ritual and calls out in anger at his daughter first and saying, "Vir krilon hi kuz daar nizah dovah ol hin liin! Zu'u zent hi wah lost lok qurnen fod hi tinvaak vahrot voth laas feliig! Vir gut hi lost mahlaan nol ustiid, Zu'u los rinik vosotivaal ko hi mon! (How dare you take this false dragon as your mate! I expected you to have high standards when you speak oaths with a life partner! How far you have fallen from the past, I am very disappointed in you daughter!)"

She looks at her father and yells back at him saying, "Zu'u los drehlaan voth vir hi vahraan joor mal zos wey setkiir ahrk kip! Rok vorohah zey nep fah diist tiid ko dii ulaan ahkos, drus Zu'u frundiin faan mok dii liin! Hi vust mindos truk uv ziin nol joor waan hi nunon ofan nii grozein. (I am done with how you treat the mortals little more than toys and food! He made me laugh for the first time in my entire existence, therefore I gladly call him my mate! You could learn a thing or two from the mortals if you only give it a chance.)" Before she can say any more, her mate Bayott steps before her and faces him.

He stands in front of her and picks his helmet up off the ground saying back to her, "I will deal with this, you get to safety because this will not be pleasant. Make sure no one else is within range or they will almost surely die when he casts that meteor storm he loves to use on his enemies."

Nahagliiv turns and flies a short distance away towards the group in front of her and spots the tall female that looked strong and lands saying, "We need to get out of range of the fight before Alduin uses his favorite power, while my mate is going to fight him."

Shadowmere walks up to Nahagliiv and says, "What do you mean by mate? Was that what you two were doing earlier with the speaking, shouting, and blood?"

She looks to the four legged female horse and says to her, "Yes, when he shouted my name, he did not realize that he was requesting to be my mate. As I am a female dovah and female dov are rare, we have all the power when it comes to deciding who is worthy to become our mate. After he found out, he tried to back out of it but I told him it was too late and he had no choice but to wait for my decision. Wow, my father is really pissed at me for mating with the one who killed him once before at Sovngarde, this will be an interesting fight to watch."

Shadowmere and Chrysalis are both shocked and turn to look at her and say, "Alduin/That creature... IS YOUR FATHER!!"

She walks up closer and says, "This will be an interesting fight to watch, we will wait to see if he needs our help to drive him off once more." They all settle in to watch the all out brawl happen, eager to see who the victor will be.

Bayott glares up at Alduin's form and says to him, "You do not have the right to tell who your daughter to mate with! I admit I did not know that calling out a female dovah's name was actually a request to mate. When she told me that, I tried to back out and explained how I wanted to fight her instead. Then she told me It was too late and I had to wait for her decision, in which she still chose to mate with me! You are as good as dead to Naha, I will make sure to give you a swift death by taking your head like I took Numinex's!" He then draws out his battle axe and prepares to use a shout.

Alduin glares back at the Dragonborn who slew him filled with rage and yells at him, "You are not worthy of being a dovah or mating with my daughter, I shall return you to a pile of excrement so that the world forgets you even existed." He then shouts to the skies, and summons the meteors to strike him down.

He then races forth and skids to a stop as the meteors begin falling from the sky all around him and shouting, "JOOR ZAH FRUL!" and hits Alduin, making him roar out in annoyance and mild pain. He watches as the dragon lands in front of him and lunges at him with his jaws, sidestepping them easily and swings the axe at his neck, leaving a long horizontal gash running up the upper part of his neck and ending just past the back part of his lower jaw.

The World Eater roars in pain and twists his head around and shouts, "FUS RO DAH!" Pushing him back a few meters so he can use his fire breath against him next and shouting, "YOL TOOR SHUL!" and spews fire at him, trying to roast him alive.

Bayott then feels his skin starting to char and burn and charges forth through the flames and falling meteors, trying to close the distance to stun Alduin. As he gets close enough, he swings the flat side of his battle axe at the side of his head and succeeds in stunning him for a few seconds when he remembers that Mara hoped his ways could be changed and comes up with a thought of how to punish him for his crimes against man. He then sets his battle axe on the ground and switches his hands around, in a position where he can't swing it and yells to the skies, "Alduin The World Eater! For your crimes against Mundus and Equestria, I find you guilty and deserving of harsh punishment in hopes to change your ways of treating the world.

In Aetherius, The floating palace of the gods

The remaining divines watch on in curiosity as a dark aura begins to surround Bayott as he prepares a shout when Mara begins to worry, wringing her hands and softly says, "Please don't do it my son, not like this."

Akatosh looks to Mara in concern and asks, "Dear, what is wrong? Why do you talk so softly?"

Mara sighs and then says, "Do you see that dark aura that is forming around him?"

He nods his head and says, "Yes I do, why?"

Mara then says, "Do you remember that shout our son just used on Alduin, and when it was created?"

Akatosh is beginning to wonder where she is going with this and says, "Yeees..."

Mara sighs and looks at him and says, "That is the same dark aura, but this is darker still. He is thinking of a shout to use to punish Alduin for what he did back then and now."

They watch with baited breath, hoping that he doesn't break the laws of nature. They all prey for a miracle to keep Bayott from making a shout this dark.

She watches as he finishes the shout, turning the aura around him pitch black and exclaims, "NO! DON'T USE THAT MY SON!!" Tears stream down her face as she watches in horror as he prepares to use it yelling, "Brace yourselves, the after effects of this shout may hit us hard!"

At the fight between Alduin and Bayott, outside the Changeling hive

He then looks up the skies and takes his necklace in one hand as the meteors continue to fall and says, "Please forgive me for having no other hope to changing his ways..." He then drops the necklace and returns his hand to the battle axe and brings it up and sheathes it, then braces himself to use his new shout.

Alduin gets an uneasy feeling in the air and looks to the Dragonborn and says, "What is your name, pathetic little mortal? What are you planning to do to defeat me? You have no hope of surviving this day, so surrender to me and perhaps I shall allow you to live as a servant."

Bayott ignores the falling meteors, then sighs and answers him saying, "My name is Bayott, I hope you are able to forgive me for the pain I am about to inflict upon you Alduin!" he then takes in a breath and uses his new thu'um and shouting, "DUR UL VAAZ!" A black wave races forth and strikes Alduin, having no effect at first.

Nahagliiv gasps in horror as she watches the meteors fall less frequently when she hears the new shout and feels her body collapse and fall to the ground as she doesn't quite understand why he would come up with a shout this cruel.

Shadowmere looks to Nahagliiv with concern and asks, "I haven't heard that shout before, what does it do?"

She turns her head slowly to her and sighs saying, "That was a completely new shout he just created. If I understand the words enough, that was a curse shout he created that shouldn't exist. I think that it is supposed to rip away a dragon's immortality, which inflicts extreme pain to them because immortality is an important part of the dov's existence. I hope he doesn't incur the wrath of the gods for making something that harsh."

The World Eater feels the wave passing over him but has no effect and laughs saying, "That was what you were planning! That was utterly pathetic, it didn't do a single thing to..." his words are cut off by a massive thump of his heart, followed by a searing pain suddenly start raging across his whole body. He then screams out in agony from the pain and thrashes violently, hoping the pain stops soon. As it keeps on going, he is filled with rage and forces himself to ignore the pain for a few brief moments and lunges at the Dragonborn screaming, "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE! WHAT MADE YOU TWIST THE WORDS TO FORM THAT DESPICABLE SHOUT? DIE you insolent fool!"

Bayott is relieved that the meteors are slowing down and will stop before too long. He can't react fast enough to dodge his jaws and is grabbed in about the same place Numinex had him, this time just barely missing his heart with a tooth. He then feels the jaws clamp down tighter on his body as he is then shaken once more like a rag doll for a few moments longer and his vision begins to darken around the outsides as if he might pass out from it.

Alduin gets sick of shaking him as the pain refuses to die down and lets go of him, flinging his body towards the crowd in the distance and watches with satisfaction as it bounces and skitters across the ground. He watches as the axe is flung from its sheathe, spinning in the air end over end and gets embedded in the dirt just shy of removing some creatures head and calls out to his daughter, "Hi vis lost hin liin zek, Zu'u los kiird voth mok fah nu! (You can have your mate back, I am finished playing with him for now!)" then takes to the air as the pain returns to continue plaguing him as he thinks, 'I sure hope this effect will not last much longer, it will not be easy to constantly have to ignore the pain.'

His body slides to a stop as he forces his upper body to move and looks at the fleeing Alduin saying, "I have won again Worm! I hope you enjoy how long that spell lasts, even I don't know how long it will continue to cause you pain and make you feel what it is like without your immortality. I PRAY IT LASTS FOREVER AND REMEMBER THIS, IF YOU DIE WHILE THAT IS IN EFFECT, YOU STAY DEAD THIS TIME!!" His vision then fades to black as he finds himself unconscious and inside of a pure white area with nothing to look at but the remaining divines, who have scowls upon their faces in disapproval of what just happened.

Nahagliiv tears up and worries for her new mate, hoping that he is able to make it through a bite like that when she watches the changelings start to gather around him and growls a warning to not get too close.

Shadowmere sighs and says to the tall changeling, "I'm sorry to ask this of you, but is there anything you can do to slow down the bleeding at all so I can take him back to Ponyville for Surgery? I am sure he has a few broken bones after being thrown like that and landing so hard."

Chrysalis scowls softly and sighs saying, "It would be a shame for this one to die, wouldn't it? After all, he is responsible for saving my life isn't he?" She then orders some of her workers to step forth to encase the parts of his body that have been punctured in some of the material they use to wrap the ponies they catch in to hopefully slow the bleeding just enough for him to survive the trip back to Ponyville.

She watches as the workers approach the unconscious body of her close friend but stop when Nahagliiv growls a warning at them and she intervenes telling the protective female, "Nahagliiv, can you please allow them to cover some of his body so he can survive the hard run back to Ponyville?"

The dragoness growls in protest but nods in acceptance and then says to the workers, "Work quickly for my patience is thin, I will show you what the dov used to do to your distant ancestors, the Chaurus."

The workers look at each other unsure of what to do and move forward nervously to begin covering the wounds with the hardening gel like substance, being careful to ensure not to let it make a solid ring around his body or the ponies won't be able to remove it.

A few minutes pass as Nahagliiv gets more and more impatient when they are about to lay him across Shadowmere's back to transport him to Ponyville General Hospital when she speaks up, "I shall take him back. After all I think it would be best if you arrived before I did to inform those who must know of me and my arrival and give them the necessary information so they understand the current situation."

Shadowmere looks at Nahagliiv and tells her, "I don't want to admit it, but that is a good idea. He might fall off my back when I am running to Ponyville, but where will you carry him?"

She looks to her and answers, "In between my jaws where there aren't any teeth to add to his injuries, where else would I carry him? He would fall off my back from the flapping of my wings and die if he were to be placed upon my back. So get going already, you are going to have to run hard to make it to Ponyville ahead of me."

The mare rears up on her back legs and says, "I shall be there waiting at the hospital for you to arrive, I will have a different form but still recognizeable by the coloring and appearance. You will have to land outside because the Hospital can not accommodate your size, see you at the Hospital Naha! You will be able to see me waving at you with both arms to show you its location." before the dragoness can react, she takes off at a dead run towards Ponyville to inform the others of their new guest.

Chrysalis spots the battle axe and brings it over to her after some great effort to rip it from the ground, sweat running in small trails down her forehead and then down her neck as she sets in place upon her savior's back and then levitates him in her magic and then asks, "Please open your mouth please so I can set him in place."

Nahagliiv lowers her jaw enough so that he could be placed in a safe spot saying, "Is this good?"

The Queen nods to her and answers, "That is perfect, now give me a moment and I will let you know when you can close your jaws and be on your way." She then begins moving his body further towards the middle part of her jaws where there is a spot just big enough to hold his body without impaling him once more. Satisfied at how he is situated in her mouth she says, "Ok, you can close your jaws gently and be on your way towards Ponyville. Hope you two have a safe journey, now get off of our land."

She squints her eyes at the creature and takes to the air, being cautious not to shake him too much and begins to take her time to get to the Hospital to allow the mare time to get there and tell the others.

Somewhere in Aetherius

Mara strides forth angrily and slaps her son across the face yelling, "You idiot, do you know how much damage you have caused by choosing to use that shout you thought up!? Thanks to you, we are going to be making significant repairs to the Hall of Valor and to the Plains of Aetherius. You even managed to wreck the house and the lands where we live! For this, we have decided to give you a warning. If you do it again, you will receive one final warning. If you do it a third time, you will not be allowed back into Aetherius at all, for you shall be sent to Oblivion! Do you want to go there, it is nice and hot and miserable there with no greenery or beautiful views!" With that said, she backs up a little ways and transforms into her Dragon form.

Arkay leans over and whispers to Akatosh, "She must be really angry for deciding to inflict this warning upon her own son, It has been many many years since any of us last saw her Dragon form."

Bayott looks over at the other divines and sees one with their arms crossed in front of him, having eyes that seem to be glowing from silent rage then looks to the massive silver and misty rose pink dragon form his mother has transformed into and says, "I didn't know you had such a remarkable form."

She roars at him and bellows, "Do not flatter me mortal, for you have angered me to the point where I wanted to be the one to punish you! Stand still and accept your punishment, for you shall be struck three times on the face by one of the claws on my wings and three times on the back. These marks of shame shall look like black scars, if any ask about them... tell the truth."

He then stands at attention and looks straight forward and waits for the punishment to begin then says, "Yes Goddess, I shall take this punishment in silence." He watches her as she turns her body to the side and turns her head around, glaring at him as she lifts a wing and makes the first strike upon his face going from the top right side to the bottom left side of his face and counts it off by saying, "One!"

Mara forces herself to hold back tears that are threatening to form in her eyes and continues with the punishment, slashing him across the face with her wing claw and hears him say,"Two!" She then makes the final one to his face as she hears, "Three!" and then executes an about face and turns his back to her to continue the punishment. She is stunned at seeing how he forces past the pain to continue with the rest, causing her inner dragon to wake and takes over and gets it over with quickly with three rapid slashes across his back from his top right shoulder down to just above his left hip.

Bayott almost loses his composure at the rapid succession of the long strikes and counts them off saying, "One! Two! Three!"

She is unable to stand it anymore and takes her leave of them to go weep alone in her room, turning her head around to look at him one last time she says, "Even though you made me angry beyond words, you are still my son, and I still love you. You shall return to your body now and contemplate why you were punished." With a flick of her tail, she sends him back to his body.

A few minutes ago, back in Equestria

Nahagliiv is flying towards a forest in the distance when she hears her mate counting out numbers saying, "One! Two! Three!" and does it once more, causing her to wonder why and thinks, 'Oh no, I hope they don't do anything drastic to punish him for making that shout.'

Shadowmere breathes heavily as she barrels towards the first aid tent, getting the attention of a few of the ponies she met earlier and skids to a stop just shy of bowling Princess Celestia over and gasps saying, "Nahagliiv... mate... Bayott... greatly... father... battle... Alduin... hurt bad."

Princess Celestia cocks her head in confusion at what she just heard and says, "I am sorry Shadowmere, I do not understand what it is you are trying to tell me. Where is Bayott and why is he not with you, what happened?"

Pinkie Pie appears beside Shadowmere and pats her gently on the back saying, "Catch your breath Shadowmere, you had a very hard run to make it back to Ponyville before they did." She then turns to Princess Celestia and says, "Many apologies Princess Celestia, what she was trying to tell you is that Bayott went to fight Nahagliiv, wound up becoming her mate and greatly angering her father Alduin. A battle then took place where Bayott used a new shout he made to punish him for the crimes he committed in the past, but as a consequence of using that shout, he was greatly injured at the end before Alduin left. Nahagliiv is now a friendly dragon and she is bringing Bayott to the Hospital, speaking of which... You better get to a spot big enough for her to land so we can get him to the nurses pronto!"

Shadowmere wastes no time and takes off towards the Hospital, leaving a dust trail in her wake saying to the ponies that are in the way, "Excuse me, emergency coming through!" She barrels past the curious ponies trying to get to the Hospital quickly.

She stands there staring and blinking occasionally at Pinkie Pie for a few moments before finally saying, "Wait... WHAAT?!" She calms herself down a bit and then says, "Alright, let's get going." She then uses her royal voice to summon Cadence, Twilight, Luna, Applejack, Rarity, Twilight, Rainbow, Fluttershy, Ember and Smolder.

As the group arrives at last, Celestia fills them in on the current situation and raises her hands to silence them as they all try to talk at once to get answers. As they quiet down, she sees the form of a large dragon flying in the sky and says, "Ok here they come now, let's go to the Hospital and sit in the Waiting Room to find out what is going on when he gets out of Surgery. I am sure he has quite a story to tell us when he comes to."

The Thestral looks to the sky and sees Nahagliiv reach the outskirts of town and stands there waving her arms in the air for the dragoness to notice her and land near her saying, "This would have been impossible with my other form, I''m glad I shifted and put my somewhat covering clothes back on to stay decent."

The dragoness notices the being standing and waving her arms thinking, 'Ah, that must be the mare from before.' She then swings around and comes in for a landing. As she glides in, her legs make contact with the ground. Causing a tremor to race forth and softly shakes the buildings from the force of her landing. She then folds her wings up and lowers her head as the group of beings finally arrives behind the mare, and waits for them to come take him inside to treat his wounds and opens her mouth for them.

Twilight and Applejack run forth and take him from her mouth and begin to rush him to the Emergency Room as Twilight glances back saying, "We will be in the Waiting Room to receive updates on his condition during surgery, we will tell you as soon as we hear anything Nahagliiv." The two of them then disappear around the corner of the Hospital building carrying Bayott as Shadowmere follows after them.

Nahagliiv sighs as her mate Bayott leaves her sight and sadly says, "Please survive this treatment, it is too soon for you to leave me and this world behind."

Chapter 6a: The Fall From Grace: Part 2

WARNING: The ending of this chapter gets a little dark, just forewarning you.

Nurse Redheart is making her rounds to the different patients when she hears the doors fly open and shouting coming from the Reception area and walks swiftly out of the room to see what the problem is and enters to see Princess Twilight and Applejack carrying the patient called Bayott from before, looking in very rough shape and asks, "Please tell me what happened that caused him to be in such a state." she then calls to a nurse in the hall, "Bring me a stretcher quick, we must race him to Surgery once more! One of you come with to explain it on the way until we get to Surgery." The nurses then begin to remove his armor and weapons from his body and then set him on a stretcher and begin to rush him down the hall and around corners to the room where he will be operated on.

Shadowmere follows after the Nurse and tells her, "I don't know the entire story but the one that does know is too large for these halls, but we were going to the badlands to fight another dragon and he challenged her to a fight. To our surprise, there was no fight, but we were surprised by the unexpected arrival of another dragon named Alduin. They appeared to be extremely mad about something and then attacked Bayott, after using a shout to force Alduin to land, he fought and struck him with his weapon. Alduin then roared in pain and lashed out at him with a shout to push him back, then another to start roasting him alive with his fire breath. Bayott then somehow got close enough to stun him with his battle axe, then stopped fighting and used a shout that had a very dark aura to it. After Alduin was hit by it, he roared and writhed in pain. He then somehow ignored the pain enough to reach out and took hold of him in his jaws, bit down hard and then shook him even worse than Numinex did and threw him through the air. He hit the ground then bounced off of it, tumbling end over end a few times and skittered across it before coming to a stop before us barely conscious. I then asked the changelings to do something to control the bleeding so he would survive the trip here." She then sees the doors to Surgery and stops as the Head Nurse stops to look at her.

She stops and lets the nurses take him towards Surgery as she says to Shadowmere, "Thank you for telling me what happened, we will do what we can and where is this other dragon at? We cannot ask Lord Ember and Smolder to donate again, they are still recovering from the first donation. So we have to chase it down and take some blood from it for a transfusion if he requires it."

The Thestral chuckles and says, "Oh you mean Nahagliiv? She is just right outside the hospital, most likely a nervous wreck right now worrying about her mate."

Nurse Redheart's eyes shrink for a moment as she says, "Wait, there is a dragon outside the hospital! We need to clear the patients..." She then stops mid sentence and then says, "Uhmm, what do you mean by her mate?"

She giggles at the nurse's reaction and then says, "Yes, but that is a story for after you save his life. I will ask her to allow you or the nurses to draw her blood to give to Bayott." She then turns to go ask Nahagliiv to permit the nurses to draw the blood needed for future transfusions.

The Head Nurse then says to her, "When did he have the time to get those new tattoos. With that much ink used, it would take a few hours to complete them all. It makes him look rather handsome with his bright arctic blue eyes and black hair."

Shadowmere looks over her shoulder and says, "I didn't notice anthing when he was carefully placed inside of Nahagliiv's jaws, I will have to ask her if she knows anything about it." She then continues on her way towards Nahagliiv as Nurse Redheart goes inside of the Surgery room.

Dr. Fauna and Dr. Greymare begin working on the more serious wounds, deciding to handle setting the bones later with Dr. Greymare saying, "At least this time, the wounds were covered by the changelings cocoon material to control the bleeding so we might not need more than five pints of blood for the transfusion. Though it will still be awhile for us to fix the organs, blood vessels, and broken bones."

Nurse Redheart enters the room and says to Dr. Greymare, "I forgot to tell you that this patient has a spell that can knit itself back together, but isn't able to replenish the lost blood. The more that is set back together, makes it less work that the spell has to do to repair the body. Ensuring that it burns the least amount of required energy while healing, but it has a side effect of raising the body temperature during the healing process of the spell."

His eyes shoot up to the Head Nurse and says, "Thank you for telling us this now, we can save so much more time with getting things to the point where the bleeding is stopped and the spell can handle the rest. Perhaps he could teach that spell to a skilled unicorn for us to use to save time during operations."

Outside the hospital

Nahagliiv is laying on the ground when she sees the mare from earlier approach her with a confused look on her face and lifts her head off the ground as she asks her, "What is going on with my mate mare?"

Shadowmere looks up at her and says, "My name is Shadowmere, you can call me Shadow though. Here is what I know so far, the nurses will need to come out and draw some blood from you to possibly use to give Bayott a transfusion. That means he will get your blood through tubes to replace what he has lost, does the nursing staff have permission to draw blood from you?"

She thinks on it for a moment and says, "I don't like anyone using me for any purpose, but if it will save Bayott, I will allow them to take some of my blood. My name is Nahagliiv, you may call me Naha it is nice to meet you Shadow."

The Thestral looks to her in amazement and says, "Everyone has questions about what happened earlier and why you didn't fight him, you will have to tell that story when they all ask about it. I will go tell the nurses that you agreed to let them draw blood from you to give to Bayott, I will lead them here so they can draw your blood. Oh and when did he get those tattoos? One more thing, try not to eat any of them, it really tends to work against your friendly nature."

Nahagliiv cocks her head in confusion and says, "He has new tattoos, I don't know what those are? I will restrain my actions and be polite, I will be sure to inform them of what happened if they should ask."

She then looks to her and chuckles saying, "I am guessing these 'tattoos' are the black paint marks that have appeared on his face recently. I have confidence that Bayott will make it through this surgery." She then turns around and hurries back towards the nurses to ask them to inform Nurse Redheart of Nahagliiv's decision.

Back at Surgery

As Nurse Redheart trades places with a nurse, she heads out to check if Shadowmere came back with an answer to their request to draw some blood from the dragon outside. She arrives at the Reception Desk to see her standing there talking to one of the nurses and calls out to her, "Well, what is her decision to our request for her blood?"

Shadowmere shifts her gaze to the Head Nurse she was looking for and says, "She reluctantly will allow it for Bayott, I don't know if you will need a larger needle because of her thick hide. Sadly, she doesn't know anything about the tattoos, are you ready to go out and meet her?"

She stops in front of her and informs her, "Oh that is good news to hear, I will gather a few assistants to set up a temporary tent to keep the area clean for when we draw the blood so it stays sterile and uncontaminated. I will go grab what I need for it and be right back, please lead us to the dragon when we return so we can locate and sterilize an area to draw the blood from." She then tells the nurse at the desk to gather a few nurses to set up a temporary tent to draw blood in it, then goes on her way to retrieve the equipment she will need.

As she stands there for a few minutes while the nurses gather what they need, some nurses arrive carrying a tent and a few extention cords and power strips. She waits a little bit more as the Head Nurse shows up with a white duffel bag with a red cross on it and makes her way to them.

Nurse Redheart stops beside the group and says, "I think we are all ready, let's get going." She then follows Shadowmere as she leads them to the dragon.

Shadowmere exits the door and turns to the right, heading to where Nahagliiv is waiting and says to them, "Now when you see her, try not to panic because she is friendly now."

As the group of nurses rounds the corner, they are finally able to see the dragon and take a big breath as the Head Nurse steps before them and says, "Hello dragon, what is your name? We are here to set up a temporary tent to sterilize the area to keep the blood clean and uncontaminated by germs, bacteria, viruses, and such. After the tent is set up around the area we are going to extract the blood from, I will tell you what I am doing and when I will stick the needle inside of you. With you being different from other dragons, we are not all that familiar with your anatomy. So I will have to search for a suitable vein to use to draw the blood from, may we continue and begin searching your body with our hands for a suitable area to begin?"

WARNING: SKIP THIS PART IF YOU CAN'T STAND THE MENTION OF NEEDLES AND THE EXTRACTION OF BLOOD!

Nahagliiv looks to the nurse that spoke and responds, "My name is Nahagliiv, and you may proceed with your business. There is much that is different from the age I remember, perhaps a better area to begin would be around my neck. Due to its smaller size, would that make it the better choice to take the blood?"

Nurse Redheart smiles softly and says, "Thank you for allowing us to take some of your blood, it would be a wise choice indeed, but we need a secondary vein instead of an artery because if you poke a hole in an artery with a needle, they squirt blood out and make a mess until you get them closed up again. Before we start filling a few bags with your blood, I will take a few small samples and have them tested first as a precaution to ensure that your blood is safe to use to transfer to him." She then walks towards Nahagliiv and says to the other nurses, "Ok girls, lets work together to locate a suitable vein ok?" She then starts feeling around her body and underneath scales for a decent vein to use.

One of them finds a vein after a half hour of searching and says, "Here is one, I think it might be suitable. What do you think Nurse Redheart?" as one of them holds a few fingers on one of her muscular wings and waits for Nurse Redheart to come and double check.

The Head Nurse walks over to the nurse that thinks she found a usable vein and carefully feels along where her finger is before telling her to remove her hand then says to her, "Good find Nurse Craddy, lets get this area sterilized and ready to take some samples first." She then asks one of the nurses to hand her some swabs, alcohol and Idoine to clean the area and sterilize it with.

The nurses work on setting the tent up before she gets started on cleaning the area, pulling out poles and assemble them. Then they pull the fabric across her wing and attach it to a few of the spikes that are protruding from her back. As they push the fabric up with the poles, they get the peak formed and then work on fastening the other sides down before fully raising the peak.

When Nurse Redheart sees the tent fully raised at last, she gets started on cleaning the area with alcohol first. Then once satisfied with the results, she switches to the iodine to finish sanitizing the area. She then grabs a needle and looks at Nahagliiv, who wanted to watch the process and tells her, "Ok Nahagliiv, you will feel a sting as the needle pierces your outer layer as I search for the vein I found. So please don't hurt any of us, we are trying to draw a few samples to take to the Lab for them to analyze it to ensure it is safe to use for the transfusion."

Nahagliiv looks at her and answers, "Worry not, I will restrain myself from reacting from the needle piercing my thick skin." She then watches her prepare the needle and look back at her once more.

The Head Nurse looks back at her and says, "I wish I could use a piece of elastic tube to restrict the blood flow a bit to keep your skin clean, but there isn't a way due to the membrane connecting your wings. I will clean up any blood that leaks out, are you ready for me to begin?"

She sighs and says, "Thank you, and yes I am ready to begin." She inhales sharply as the needle pierces her skin and finds the vein.

Nurse Redheart begins filling three vials with her blood to take to the Lab for testing. After about a minute or two, she finishes the last one and removes the needle from her wing and puts a cotton ball underneath a adhesive band aid and then tells her, "I will run this to the lab and be back as soon as the results come in, I will return within an hour with an update on how he is doing." She then turns and takes the vials with her towards the Lab inside the hospital, and exits the tent.

THIS IS THE END OF THE MENTION OF NEEDLES AND BLOOD BEING DRAWN!

After a sample is taken, Nahagliiv waits nervously for the nurse to return and says to herself, "Oh Bayott, please survive their treatment."

She knocks on the door of the lab, then opens it and tells the hematologist to analyze and test the blood samples for any reason not to use it. She then hands them the blood samples and exits the room to head to surgery to get an update for Nahagliiv. She walks into the operating room and asks them, "What is the status on the patient Doc? I am drawing blood from the female dragon outside and would like to inform her of the progress on her mate."

Dr. Greymare looks up and says, "This one is a mate to a dragon, how is that at all possible? We have the arteries back together, but unfortunately we will need at least four pints of blood if she can bear sparing it if he is going to survive this. He has a severed spine due to one of the teeth going through the middle of his body and shattering the spinal cord, but there is a chance for a miracle if that spell is able to mend the wounds to his body with that spell. If he uses the spell again, we will have to watch and monitor how it effects the body. Go inform her of the progress so far and come right back, we could use another set of hands for the work we are doing."

Nurse Redheart nods her head and exits the room and makes her way to the Lab for the results of the tests. As she reaches for the door to open it, she hears the knob begin to turn and steps to the side to allow them to open the door without hitting her.

The hematologist opens the door and is surprised to find Nurse Redheart and says to her, "I was just about to look for you, Nurse Redheart. It appears that the blood sample you brought me matches his and will work for the transfusion, if you excuse me, I have other duties to tend to right now. So I bid you a good day." They then turn back around and go back inside to return to the other tests waiting to be done.

She smiles and thanks the tired hematologist and heads down the hallway towards the front doors, making a right turn and heads for the dragon with a tent over part of her body as she sees her head turn towards her and waits for her arrival.

Nahagliiv watches anxiously as the nurse get close enough to her and asks, "I must know, what is the state of my mate?"

Nurse Redheart sighs and says, "The surgery is going well, the bleeding is coming under control. The bad news is that one of Alduin's teeth...have severed his spine and the spinal cord. I am sorry to tell you this but it will be a miracle if he can use the spell he cast before to mend his body, including his spine and cord and be able to walk again."

The dragoness hangs her head a little, then she removes her head from inside the tent and arches her head high into the sky shouting, "YOL TOOR SHUL!" breathing a gout of flame from her mouth. She calms down after a few seconds and says, "Tol munax firok, dii rax wah bormahro ruus!"

She stands a bit stiff after seeing her breathe fire and cocks her head at an angle then says, "I'm sorry, what did you say? I did not understand what you said."

Nahagliiv sighs, then pushes her head back into the tent and says to her, "All I said was, 'That cruel bastard, my teeth to father's neck!' I really do hope that the spell will work. Will my blood be suitable to use for the transfusion?"

Nurse Redheart relaxes her body and then tells her, "Yes it will be vital to use, let's get started shall we?"

The dragoness looks at her and then says, "Alright, lets get this out of the way so I can get back to worrying for my mate."

WARNING: SKIP THIS PART IF YOU CAN'T STAND THE MENTION OF NEEDLES OR BLOOD BEING DRAWN!

The head nurse then looks around for a blood donation kit and a small machine to keep the blood from clotting in the bag, finds one and sets it on a small white sturdy plastic table and calls for nurse Craddy to come and help her move the table near her wing where the blood bag will sit on the rocking machine as her blood is drawn.

Nurse Craddy comes and helps her move the table to where it will sit and then asks the dragoness, "Can you balance yourself ok on three limbs while one wing is laying in a relaxed state on a stand?"

She cranes her neck around and replies, "Yes I can, it is a bit tricky to do, but I think I can manage to balance myself while one wing rests. Is that necessary for the wing to be relaxed while the blood is drawn?"

Nurse Redheart then says to her, "Yes it is, it makes it a bit easier and less painful if your completely relaxed. I apologize if it is inconvenient for you."

The assistant nurse then thinks of something to use to rest her wing on and then turns to go check the storage rooms for anything suitable to use and says to the Head Nurse, "I am going to find something to use to rest her wing on, I will be back in a few minutes."

END OF THE MENTION OF NEEDLES!

Meanwhile, In Aetherius

Mara is lying on her bed curled up on her bed in her female form crying over how guilty she feels for striking her son and punishing him that harshly. She wrings her hands inside of a large bowl of water and stares at her forever stained fingernails, trying to get the blood off of her nails. Deciding that it is futile due to the harsh punishment she dealt her son by her own claw saying to herself, "How could I let my rage take over like that... It was only supposed to be just the three on his face. I hope he can forgive me for doing that to him someday, now I have to live with these blood stained nails and claws." She sighs and buries her head in her hands and continues to weep over how harsh she was on him.

Kynareth enters the room and walks towards her handmaiden, then runs a hand along her body saying, "There there Mara, I am positive that Ysmir has learned the lesson and will forgive you after some time passes. I am envious that you still have a living breathing son on Mundus, he sure has not had an easy life.

She sobs and says, "It is a wonder at how you survived the grave wounds you received during the fight with Molag Bal, I honestly thought you were going to die within a few days. It was a blessing that Harmony showed up when she did and did what she could to mend your wounds, she even said that it was not time for you to die yet as you still had a purpose to fulfill." She then sits up and throws her arms around Kyne and continues to weep at what she has done.

Back on Mundus

The assistant returns with a few antique cots and assembles them then stacks them under different places on her large wings to elevate them above the bag and asks, "Can you please raise and set your wing on top of the cots please? I will adjust them so they will make it more comfortable for you."

Nahagliiv raises her left wing and carefully extends it a little and rests it on top of the cots and says, "The position right now will work, I can relax it like that with ease and balance my body." She then balances herself so she doesn't tip the cots over on accident.

WARNING: THIS PART MENTIONS NEEDLES AND THE MENTION OF BLOOD BEING DRAWN!

Nurse Redheart feels around for the vein and marks it with washable marker, grabs a pair of latex gloves and puts them on, then takes an alcohol pad and tears open the package, then removes the pad and wipes down the area and uses Iodine and a swab to sanitize the area and takes a needle with a tube at the end of it and then holds it in the air near the vein and says, "Ok when I stick this larger needle in, you will feel a bit more of a sting as the needle first pierces your skin. Are you prepared for it?"

She turns her head back and watches her work and answers her, "Yes I am ready. This is my first time offering blood, so this will be interesting to watch."

The nurse then begins pushing the needle towards the vein saying, "Ok here we go, just relax. You will feel a sting when the needle begins to pierce your skin." The needle pierces the skin right when she says that and slowly inserts the needle further into her trying to find the vein, but she doesn't feel the right sensation from the needle. She pulls the needle back and tries again and finds it, she then moves the stopper on the tube to allow the blood to flow into the bag and says, "Alright, now we just need to wait for the bag to fill before starting another. With your size, I think we can safely try to take four pints from you, five at the max."

Nahagliiv curiously watches the machine rock the bag back and forth as it fills up with blood. As the bag gets big enough, she hears a strange beeping noise and asks, "What does that noise mean?"

Nurse Redheart then gets a new bag hooked up and starts it again saying, "That sound means that the bag is full and needs to be exchanged for a new one. That is one down, three more to go."

An hour passes by when the last bag finishes filling, she moves the stopper to stop the blood flow and squeezes the remaining blood in the tube into the bag. She then pulls the needle out, disconnects the tube, puts the protective cap on the needle and separates it from the tube. She then tosses it into the biohazard waste bin for sharps and the tube into another bin. She takes a cotton ball and places it over the hole the needle was in and sticks a bandaid over it saying, "Thank you for donating so much blood, we hope you choose to donate again one day Nahagliiv. Now just relax that wing until the hole stops bleeding, the bandaid can be removed in about six hours. I'm sorry I can't stay longer, but I have to rush this blood to the lab and prep it for the doctors to use during the surgery. Have a good day, I will have a nurse come out and keep you informed on his status."

THIS IS THE LAST PART OF BLOOD BEING DRAWN FOR THIS CHAPTER!

After completing her task, she places the bag into a special cooler and takes off towards the lab to prep it for a transfusion. She passes through the entrance and tells the receptionist at the desk, "The tent needs to be taken down, cleaned and the equipment picked up and cleaned." She then makes her way down the hall towards the lab with the cooler in her hands to get it ready.

A half hour passes by as Dr. Greymare works on piecing the veins together so he can start working on the legs and says, "Where in Celestia is Nurse Redheart with that blood from that dragon, we need to start resupplying his body with blood soon or his heart is going to stop." Just then he hears the doors open and turns to briefly look at who it is and sees that it is Nurse Redheart and responds saying, "It's about time you got here, what took you so long? Did you decide to stop and chat for awhile? Hurry over here so we can get the transfusions started."

WARNING: NEEDLES AND BLOOD ARE MENTIONED BRIEFLY HERE!

Nurse Redheart walks over to him saying, "Sorry It took so long, we had to find a way to elevate her wing above the bag to draw blood. Then we had to take the blood to the lab to prep it for a transfusion." She stops and sets the chest down and opens it, pulling out one bag and hangs it up on a stand near the bed and says, "There, the bag is ready to start the transfusion. Just say when you want me to start it."

He glances over to her and says, "Better start it now, because I am almost done with this last vein here, and I'm about to start working on the punctured organs and then the bones."

She unwinds the tubing and connects it to the bag and then removes the air from it, then inserts the needle into his arm to start replenishing the blood that was lost after the fight.

Dr. Greymare finishes up sewing the vein back together and then helps out Dr. Fauna with a lacerated liver saying, "after we finish up these organs, do you want to start on getting the bones set back together and then wait for them to come to and cast that mending spell? You are doing great work so far, you really should consider becoming a surgeon part time."

Dr. Fauna blushes and continues stitching together Bayott's small intestines then says, "If he keeps getting this torn up in fights, I may have to take the proper training."

As they work on through the day sewing organs back together, they spend twenty hours getting his body to the point where it can heal itself. They close him up as Dr. Greymare says out loud, "I wish there was something we could do about his spinal cord and spine, but all we can do is hope that spell of his can repair the damage to it. Nurse Redheart, could you please close this patient and take him to recovery room 101? Thank you."

She replies, "There is nothing you or I could do, it is beyond our current ability and skill. So all we can do now is just pray and hope that this spell he has can repair his spine and spinal cord."

Nurse Redheart changes the bag over and closes for the doctor, then unhooks the wires from him and rolls him down the hall with an assisting nurse that was in the room assisting the two surgeons. As they roll him down the hall towards his recovery room she says, "That was a long and brutal session, I can't believe how complex his body is."

Nurse Craddy pushes the gurney down the hall with the Head Nurse and replies back, "Yep it sure was, twenty hours is a long time to be in surgery trying to save somepony's life. Especially with how odd his body is organized, the way everything is organized is so different to us ponies. I sure hope that he will be able to make a full recovery with that spell of his."

They arrive at the room where Bayott will be staying temporarily until he can cast the spell to heal himself, hoping that he will be able to walk again after he casts it. Nurse Redheart says to Nurse Craddy, "Hey Craddy, can you stay here and watch over him while I go inform the group in the waiting room that he is out of surgery?"

She turns to look at her and says, "Sure thing Red, I wonder when he will be waking up. I will be sure to ask him to wait until the doctors arrive to watch him cast the spell to see its effects."

The Head Nurse turns and helps her switch him over to the more comfortable hospital bed as two more nurses arrive to help move him over. With a count to three, they lift him together with a grunt and set him on the bed. Then they return the gurney to the operating room to clean it and prepare it for the next surgery.

As Nurse Redheart walks out of the room, Nurse Craddy waits for the patient to come to saying, "I wonder how long it will be until you wake up."

The group of girls wait in the waiting room for any new information on the status of Bayott's surgery when Shadowmere turns her head and looks at Pinkie and asks her, "How in Oblivion did you know what happened back there at the hive when even I didn't know that much detail about it!"

Pinkie beams a wide smile and says, "Well, my Pinkie sense told me about it. Here is how it works..." She then goes into how her 'Pinkie Sense' work and what the various signs mean.

She feels a little dizzy as Pinkie explains how her Pinkie Sense works, then shakes her head, feeling very confused and says, "I'm sorry, what signs mean what again?"

Twilight giggles and puts a hand around Pinkie's mouth and says, "Don't worry Pinkie, I will hand her a copy of the small booklet I made to save everypony the hassle of memorizing them."

The party pony's smile gets wider and she nods as her way of saying thank you while her mouth is clamped shut.

She lets go of her friends mouth and then pulls a medium sized booklet out of her purse that she had on her shoulder and hands it to her and says, "That should make it easier to understand her Pinkie Sense a lot better."

Just then Luna watches as Nurse Redheart comes into the room and asks, "How is Bayott's surgery going? Is he going to live?"

Nurse Redheart raises her hands in the air and says, "He is out of surgery now and is in recovery room 101. The good news is that he will live, the bad news is that we are unsure if he will ever walk again due to his spinal cord being severed below his rib gage by a tooth. It would be miraculous if his spell manages to repair the damage that has been done to his body, the doctors have sewn many blood vessels, organs, muscles, and carefully pieced his broken bones back together. he will survive though if the spell fails to heal his spine, he is currently unconscious and may take a bit to wake up. If you excuse me, I have a few duties to perform, please ask him to wait for the doctors to come see him cast the spell and watch how it works." She then turns and leaves the room and goes to check on the patients looking over her shoulder to say, "When he wakes, please notify a nurse and tell her to come find me and I will come ask him a question or two."

They all turn to leave the waiting room and go check on him and make their way out and then down the hall towards the room where Bayott stayed last time as Shadowmere makes her way towards the exit to inform Nahagliiv of his status saying, "I will be right back girls, I am going to inform Nahagliiv of Bayott's current status."

Twilight turns and looks at her and says, "We will be waiting for you in his room Shadowmere."

Shadowmere exits the hospital and turns to go tell Nahagliiv Bayott's current status thinking, 'Oh I hope that she won't roast me alive or eat me for telling her this...'

Nahagliiv sleepily waits outside the hospital, wishing she was smaller so she could go in to see him when he is out of surgery when she spots the dark mare from earlier the other day and says, "How is my mate doing, is he out of surgery yet?"

She approaches the dragoness nervously and stops in front of her and says, "Yes he has finally gotten out of surgery and is inside room 101 right now, would you like to wait outside the window to his room? We are waiting for him to wake up after being in surgery for fifteen hours."

The dragoness narrows her eyes a little and says, "I would like that very much, thank you. You haven't answered my first question yet, how is my mate doing now that he is out of surgery?"

Shadowmere sighs and tells her, "Well the surgery went well, they weren't able to do anything for his severed spine. They are not sure if the spell he used to heal himself before will heal his severed spine or not, so currently...he is not able to walk. Shall we be on our way towards his room so you can wait for him to wake up?"

Nahagliiv smiles and says, "Lead the way Shadow, I am eager to see my mate after being here so long. I am beginning to get tired, so I need to find a place to rest once he wakes up."

She leads the way towards the room as the dragoness turns around and follows after her, each step making an audible sound due to her massive size.

A few passing ponies walk by on their way to various locations and watch in curiosity as the dragon passes by, following a pony and talk amongst themselves wondering why they are here until they part ways.

Shadowmere stops at Bayott's room window and looks at Nahagliiv and says, "This is the window to his room, I will open it when I get inside so you can speak to him once he is awake. I shall see you later Naha, I will go inside and wait for him to wake up."

The dragoness looks at the window that still has the curtains drawn shut and glances at Shadowmere and says, "Thank you for coming to tell me that he was out of surgery and for bringing me here Shadow."

She stops and looks over her shoulder to Nahagliiv and says, "You are welcome, I understand that there are others that worry for his fate as well. He is apparently mentioned in a prophecy from this age as well."

Nahagliiv raises her brow in curiosity and says, "There is a prophecy mentioning him? That is interesting to hear, that doesn't usually happen very often."

Shadowmere turns and faces forward and smiles saying back to her, "I'm sure it doesn't happen that often, he is in fact...the Last Dragonborn that will ever exist." She then starts heading back towards the entrance of the hospital to open up the window for Naha to be able to speak with her mate.

She makes her way through the entrance and down the halls to the room where Bayott is staying, she arrives a couple minutes later and walks into the room and makes her way through the slightly crowded room trying to get to the window to open it for Nahagliiv to talk to Bayott.

Twilight notices Bayott starting to stir and says, "Hey girls, he is starting to wake up! Don't rush him with all sorts of questions, give him time to answer."

Rainbow Dash turns her head to face Twilight and scoffs saying, "You're one to talk! Who is the one that always has a hundred questions going through her head at all times?"

She chuckles and says, "Ok ok, I may get a little carried away with trying to get answers. I will try hard to restrain myself so he doesn't get overwhelmed.

She squints suspiciously at her and says, "We shall see about that, we shall see..."

Shadowmere grumbles at them and softly says to the two, "Will you two shut up already, you are making too much noise."

The two girls smile sheepishly at each other and softly chuckle and wait for him to fully wake up.

Celestia quickly turns her head and looks at him, feeling really eager to know if he managed to win the fight against Alduin and quietly says to herself, "I hope you won against him, this world would be safe again with him gone."

Bayott slowly starts to wake up feeling a bit groggy and says, "I am guessing by how I feel that I somehow survived yet again?"

Celestia anxiously wrings her hands and is the first to speak up saying, "Did you manage to win your battle with Alduin when you faced him yesterday?"

He chuckles and sighs saying, "Sadly, it was a draw because I inflicted some damage to him and he inflicted a bit of damage to me."

While everyone's mouths hang open, she hangs her head in sadness and says, "I was hoping you would have said yes, but since you said no, I believe that you are going to need help in defeating him."

Bayott grinned widely and said, "I did leave him a nasty little present though, not sure how long it will last but I hope it lasts a long time." He tries to sit up but finds that he isn't able to move anything past his hips and gets a little worried and says, "Umm I can't feel or move my legs, that can't be good. Can someone go get the nurse or the doctor and tell me what is going on here?"

Fluttershy makes her way to the door and says, "I will go get Nurse Redheart, please remain calm. I will be right back."

Nahagliiv lays down outside of her mate's room and hears him talking and moves her eye to the window and looks inside and sees that he is indeed awake and says, "My mate you live and are awake, I am so happy to discover this!"

He turns his head to the side and sees Nahagliiv right outside and says, "You must have caused a bit of a panic when you first got here with me in your mouth. Alduin will have to try harder than that if he wants to kill me, I sure hope that no dragons attack anywhere recently because I could do with some time to relax and get to know everypony a bit as well as help rebuild the town."

Twilight cocks her head and looks at Bayott and says, "I do not know of any other ruins that were found with a seal like the one at Ustengrav. I will have to ask around to find out, maybe Star Swirl might know something about this."

Across town, Star Swirl is catching up with A.K Yearling on recent events and discoveries as she tells him, "A few days ago, the crew unearthed a large circle involving two dragons with an arrow in the middle of them. Do you know anything about that? They tried to open the doors but they won't budge an inch."

He looks at her and smiles saying, "That is most unusual indeed, sorry but I don't know anything about that. Maybe the Dragonborn would know something about this, the group I was with came across a magical seal that had 9 cutie marks on it that needed to be activated in a certain order. Once we got past that, we ventured inside after listening to a song translated by a being known as Akatosh to discover several corpses laying on the floor in various places. After passing through a few dangerous traps, we found a tomb at the far back of the ruin with a corpse sitting inside of an alcove. Then a being known as Mara took control of Celestia's body and used a song as well as gathering the magic that was in the air to break the complex spell that was apparently keeping things asleep. Some time after the spell was broken, the creature woke up. After some time passed, we learned his name was Bayott after he saved Fluttershy's life when she was bitten in the previous room by a starving spider." He then recounted the rest of the tale to A.K. Yearling, who was listening intently to his story.

A.K. Yearling listens to the last bit of the story and says, "That is some tale, I look forward to meeting this Bayott. Let's get going, and what happened after getting out of the ruin?"

Star Swirl tells her the story of how they restored his look and how that led to the fight to save the town and then said, "Follow me, let's go find out if Bayott is back yet." He then turns and tries to locate one of the ponies that were in the group that went into the ruin with him and discovered Bayott's place of slumber.

They walk down the street, not finding anypony of the group as Star Swirl says, "I wonder where they all are at?" Just then he asks a pony that is helping clear rubble around a collapsed home, "Excuse me, do you know where Princess Celestia or Princess Twilight might be?"

The pony holds a piece of a charred beam in her hands and says, "Oh, hello sir Star Swirl. Yes they are in the hospital visiting somepony that Applejack and Twilight rushed in seeking medical attention."

He stops and said to her, "Thank you kindly miss, have a good day." He then left and made his way towards the hospital to ask the princesses where Bayott was so they could ask him about the strange symbol.

The Doctors arrive outside the room along with Nurse Redheart when she enters the room and walks up to him, looking into his eyes then lays a hand on his shoulder with a sigh and says, "I am sorry to have to tell you this, but you received a severe wound to your spinal cord. The surgeons were not able to do anything about your severe injury, but we are still hopeful that the spell you cast earlier can repair the damage to it. We would like to know how you cast that spell and would like to learn it for ourselves to use to save a life when a pony has received a fatal injury that would kill them within moments, can you show it to us please?"

Bayott chuckles and says, "I guess I have to give that a shot to see if it will work at all, please watch closely and see if you can learn how this spell works."

Twilight is about to speak when Star Swirl enters the room and says, "So this is where you were Princess Celestia, who is it that you are..." His words are cut off as he spots who is in the hospital bed and sees that it is Bayott that is laying on the bed with several bandages around his midsection, arms, and legs and says, "What in Tartarus happened to you that leaves you in such a state Dragonborn?"

He laughs and scratches his face and says, "Well it happened like this. I cast a spell I created when I was lying in this very same bed after I fought and killed Numinex who apparently attacked Brayville and the campsite outside of Ustengrav that burned up most of my magic and energy, as well as causing my body temperature to increase several degrees while it healed me completely. After that spell healed my wounds, I explained to a few of you that were here to see that, that it does not restore blood that was lost from the time the injury was inflicted until the bleeding was brought under control. I then heard from a changeling that I caught right outside of town that their hive is under attack by a dragon called Naha something and I went to go aid them. When I arrived, I told my companion Shadowmere to get the survivors and wounded to safety while I got Nahagliiv's attention. When I saw a green beam shoot out of a massive hole in the top I shouted the dragon's name to challenge it to a fight." He then looks over to his mate Naha and says to her, "It's your turn to tell them what happened in the other half of the story dear."

Nahagliiv chuckles at hearing him say that and says, "I heard my name being called and with me being a female dovah, I naturally thought I was being challenged for the right to mate. When I felt the presence of only one dovah, I looked around for the one who challenged me and saw only a puny human standing all alone on a field. I decided to humor his challenge to mate and after talking for a little bit, I learned that he did not realize he was requesting to be my mate and the embarrassment that was on his face was amusing. I then told him a few more things about our kind and informed him that since he issued the challenge already, that he had no choice but to wait for my decision. After the ritual ceremony was over, my father Alduin showed up and he was not happy...at all about my choice for a mate. Bayott, my new mate then asked me to stay out of battle and said that if he needed me, he would call for aid. He fought bravely against Alduin's flaming rock shout and landed a couple heavy blows to him, but then he created a new cursed shout that should not exist and used it on him, causing my father to writhe and scream in pain. He then fought through the pain just enough to grab him in his jaws and shook him terribly and threw him back at me across the ground, bouncing along like a ragdoll and stopped just in front of a group of curious creatures as he told him he hopes the pain lasts forever and if he dies while it is in effect, he stays dead. After that, his wounds were treated temporarily and was placed in my mouth to rush to get treatment at this town."

Star Swirl then caresses his chin with two fingers and says, "That is an interesting tale indeed, disappointing that it ended in such a way. On the bright side, hopefully we will have a bit more time to prepare for the next time you encounter him. I am curious as well about this spell you created, perhaps if Twilight and I can study and analyze you as the spell is being cast, we can learn it and improve it's efficiency. There is also a ruin that my friend A.K. Yearling discovered that has a strange symbol involving two dragons and an arrow in front of the entrance. The workers tried to open it but discovered that they refused to even budge, do you happen to have any knowledge about that?"

He arched his eyebrows in curiosity and said, "I think that may be an ancient Akiviri seal, but I don't know who could have placed it there because the last of The Blades died at the siege of The Imperial City in Cyrodil. Once the town is back in order once more, let's go check it out because I am curious as to what might be inside of it. Alright, I am going to start the spell. Anyone who is going to try to learn it watch closely."

The ponies move back while the ponies with horns move forward to watch carefully as Twilight and Star Swirl watch his every move intently, not wanting to miss a single thing when Twilight brings out a couple notebooks to write notes in. She casts an auto note taking spell that writes down her thoughts saying, "Ok, I think we are all ready to watch and try to learn this spell Bayott."

Bayott sighs and grumbles, "I hope that this works, because I do not want to go through life not being able to move." He brings his right hand up and looks to the others and says, "Ok I am going to prepare to cast the spell, watch closely." He watches as they nod their heads, indicating that they are ready.

Twilight gets into scientific mode and watches as he raises his hand up as a light begins to appear in it, taking notes on everything he does. She watches as the magic levels in his body begin to drop as the spell charges in his hand as it begins to vibrate from the amount of magic that is stored there. She continues to take notes when he thrusts is hand into the air and casts the spell, sending the ball up into the air then slowly begins to fall back towards him and strikes him. A glow rapidly engulfs his body in a golden aura and begins to work on repairing his body as Twilight fills page after page with information while watching the spell proceed to heal his body. She feverishly fills the first notebook and switches to the other as he hisses while breathing in air from the spell raising his body temperature. As the spell winds down, she continues to take notes until he is breathing hard from the effect of the spell.

Concern is all over her face as Nurse Redheart walks up to his side and asks, "How are you feeling now, Bayott? Did that spell work at all by chance?"

Cautiously, he tries to move one of his toes then looks at Nurse Redheart and says, "Can you see one of my toes moving Nurse Redheart?"

She lifts and pulls the blanket covering his feet back to look and to her shock, sees a big toe wiggling and says, "I'm amazed...it worked!" She pulls the blanket further back and lays it down to show the others as well as his mate that is looking through the open window eagerly and steps back so they can see.

Every pony and Nahagliiv release a breath they did not know they were holding as they then look at each other then begin to hug each other, feeling glad that he will be able to walk again.

Star Swirl smiles as Twilight hugs Nurse Redheart and says, "That spell is crudely crafted and works, but it does need to be improved to be more efficient. Me and Twilight will have to run a few tests as we work on making it better, we will try to teach you the spell when it is finished. I have a few tasks that I need to take care of before we go to that ruin that was found. I bid everypony a good day, and congratulations on a healthy recovery Bayott."

Twilight separates from the hug with Nurse Redheart as she sees the black marks on his face and asks, "I don't mean to be rude, but what are those marks on your face from? When you used that spell the last time, your wounds healed and left scar tissue behind. To what I have seen, your scars match your skin roughly, but they don't turn black like that."

Bayott's face turns to look at the wall as he remembers what happened in Sovngarde, then sighs and looks back to Twilight with a frown on his face and says, "These marks you see were given to me by my mother Mara in her dragon form. Apparently, the shout I used caused quite a bit of mayhem up there, making quite a mess out of everything. She and the other divines were not happy at all that I created a new forbidden shout as dark as that one I used on Alduin. Dragonrend is dark as well but nowhere near as dark and cruel as that one, I think I shall call it Curse of Mortality. Well Nurse Redheart, shall we begin the exam that you wanted to do the first time but didn't have the time to the first time I was here?"

Twilight and the others gasp in shock at hearing that and look anywhere but at him as they all tell him how they will be there for him if he ever needs to talk about it. Twilight moves in for a hug, wrapping her arms around him and then steps back saying, "I am sorry for wanting to know about those marks on your face, I didn't mean to force you to suffer the pain of remembering how you got those."

She smiles at him and says, "Oh good you remembered, yes let's get that out of the way. Don't worry, it will only take about an hour once we get started. Follow me to Exam Room 1 please." She then leads the way down the corridor and waits patiently right outside of his room for him to catch up to her.

He slowly pushes himself into a sitting position and looks at Twilight and says, "Don't worry about it, I am already past it. I have just gotten a warning is all, but it isn't just those three on my face that I received. I received three more across my back as well." He then looks over at Nahagliiv and says to her, I am going to be fine Naha. I will go through this exam and come out to continue talking with you, I would like to know more about the culture of ancient dragons. Since I did not know anything when I found myself mated to a female dovah. I seriously wonder if we would be able to produce children due to our obvious difference in size."

Naha blushes and stammers as she tries to say, "Y-You sh-shouldn't have been s-so ignorant and eager to kill dragons then and just asked them about it, I-I am s-sure that one of them would have told you what you wanted to know."

Bayott gets up off the bed carefully, testing to make sure that his legs will take his full weight before getting off the bed completely and says, "These robes are really drafty back there you know? Someone needs to make a better robe that actually keeps you somewhat warm and doesn't leave your ass hanging out in the breeze? I will see you in a bit love, I'm gonna go have fun getting probed and prodded by Nurse Redheart."

She narrows her eye in a glare as she stares at his turned face and yells at him, "YOU BETTER BEHAVE YOURSELF OR I WILL HAVE YOU FOR DINNER!"

He laughs and starts walking away saying, "I know, I will my darling. I love you too." He blows a kiss to her and follows the nurse out of the room.

With Bayott up and moving about, the ponies in the room exit it as well and head off to resume the effort of rebuilding the town. Celestia looks to Luna and Twilight and asks, "What can we do to improve the town of Ponyville so it will fare better during the next dragon's attack?"

Luna and Twilight then think of how the ruin they were in was built and both say in unison, "Build it from stone and wood, with stone on the outside to resist the flames with wood on the inside to function as support for the stone."

Several hours ago...Just outside of The Badlands

Alduin pants from fighting through the pain, hoping to make it to Skuldafn without having to stop for a breath and thinks to himself, 'I sure hope that this stupid effect wears off soon, I am really going to enjoy killing that damn Dovahkiin that did this to me when I get my strength back." He then roars out in rage, pain and frustration as he is forced to land on top of a mountain to catch his breath.

Ashara wakes rudely as something shakes her out of her slumber, going out to look at what caused it and grumbles angrily to herself as she storms out of the cave she was in saying, "If I find out whoever or whatever woke me up, I am gonna..." Her rant is cut off abruptly when she looks up to see a large black dragon twice her size but only having two legs and wings that also function as a set of front legs with beady red eyes staring right back at her. She instantly remembers that she always began her cycle after the other females laid theirs and tries to crawl backwards back into her cave and says, "Keep away from me! Wh-Who a-are you a-and wh-why do you disturb me!?" She nervously keeps stepping backward as her tail twitches side to side as if it is a male.

A strange smell fills his nostrils and ignores it as he stares down at the strange female dragon with four legs, having long, sharp horns sticking out the back of her head with a wicked spiral twist to them, a hide of red scales with an alabaster white underbody and pale violet slitted eyes and continues to stare down at her. He guesses that she is about half his size and then says, "Dii faan los Alduin, Zu'u los faal Lein Naakin. Nid filok dii zokoraav miin, ahrk Zu'u los diist kiin do Bormah. Zu'u los zok lov nahlii hi fen alun ofaal koraav nahl rah. (My name is Alduin, I am the World Eater. Nothing escapes my watchful eyes, and I am the first born of Akatosh. I am the nearest being you will ever get to seeing a living god, and you will serve me)" He continues to watch her, enjoying the fear that he can sense from her.

She continues to walk backwards into her cave not understanding what he is saying, trying to keep away from the male that is currently terrifying her. Trying to force her tail to stop swaying side to side in arousal, she looks back to look for another way out and doesn't see one. With no other choice, she turns back around and says to the other dragon, "I'm sorry, I don't understand what you just said. Can you speak plain Equish?"

Alduin scowls at her trying to escape him and repeats what he said earlier in the Human's tongue and says, "You refusing to serve me irritates me greatly, you will make a fine servant once I force you to." He leaps forth and lands on the ground, making her lose her balance from the impact. He then stalks towards her and takes her throat into his jaws, as he increases the pressure he punishes her for denying him and jerks his head to the side.

Ashara hears him speak and tears roll down her face as she is flung against the wall, eliciting a shrill cry of pain from her jaws as she smashes through a stalactite hanging down from the ceiling. She slowly gets to her feet and says, "Why do you want me to serve you, you are not the Dragon Lord!"

As he hears what she says, he roars at her and shouts, "YOL TOOR SHUL!" After breathing fire at her causing a few scales to crack and fall from her hide, he grabs her by the neck once more and threatens to bite through her neck, intent on making her serve him to keep his mind off the pain.

She tries to break free of his jaws but is unable to as she is flung against the other wall, crashing through another stalactite and cries out in pain saying, "I have never seen another dragon like you before, are you a hybrid or something?"

Alduin pauses for a moment and growls deeply and reluctantly answers her question saying, "THERE ARE NO OTHERS THAT ARE FIT TO RULE OTHER THAN ME! THE RIGHT TO RULE IS MINE BY RIGHT, WHO DARES TO CALL THEMSELVES THE LEADER OF YOU ALL!? I DEMAND TO KNOW THEIR NAME, I SHALL PUNISH THEM FOR TRYING TO TAKE MY PLACE! First though, I shall break you and force you to serve me. I despise informing you that a great deal of time has passed from the time that dov ruled over Mundus or whatever you now call this realm. All other dovah were similar to me and served me as I ruled over all that lived on this realm, I intend to make it so again and will continue to punish you until you serve me!" He approaches her then then grabs her by the neck again and remembers how his daughter defied him and bites through her scales, sending them to the floor in pieces. He then bites down harder and pierces her hide and twists his head and hurls her into the back of her cave, crashing through a column of stone and causes the cave to shake in warning.

Ashara slowly struggles to get to her feet after being thrown that viciously she gives in saying, "I-I yield... I-I yield..." She hangs her head and looks down at the ground defeated.

He looks down at her triumphantly and says, "I YIELD...WHAT?"

Tears continue to make their way down her face as she stares at the ground and says, "I yield, My Lord."

Alduin narrows his eyes at her and says, "Now tell me this other lord's name or I will kill you in frustration."

Ashara lets out a sob and says, "Her name is Dragon Lord Ember and she has a cave in the Dragon Lands."

Chapter 7: A peaceful day

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 1: A World Forgotten: Part 1

Author's Note

If you want to know where I got the Dovahzul (Dragon Language) translations here is the tool I found on the net: https://www.thuum.org/translate-legacy.php

Nar'l is pronounced Nah-re-el

" " Indicates spoken words

'Italics' Indicates a thought

"Bold Italics" Indicates a letter or book read aloud

'Bold Italics' Indicates a letter read silently

Chapter 1: A World Forgotten: Part 1

Somewhere in Aetherius

Akatosh stands on the balcony overlooking the mortal realm of Mundus, breathing deeply and releasing a sigh of brief pity of the fate over the last dragonborn they would ever be able to create saying, "There is no other choice my dear, not many mortals worship us or make offerings to us. If things continue as they are, Mundus itself shall perish." He glances over to Mara and Arkay saying, "Has everything been gathered for us to begin changing fate for the last time before we become mere watchers over Mundus?"

Mara rushes forth and stops just a couple feet from Akatosh pleading, "Is there not an other way for things to proceed? Certainly we can search for our lost armory to further bless our last child with weapons and powers to save Mundus once more...?"

Arkay strides forth saying, "Alas, there is not. For time itself fights us Mara, time has fought us since Stendarr perished at the hands of the Daedric Lord Boethia." Arkay looks up, places a couple fingers on his chin in thought and asks, "Of all the daedric lords, who still lives?"

Akatosh growls at the mention of the Daedric Lord Boethia and says, "It is good that Azura, Meridia, and Hermaeus Mora allied with us against their fellow lords, but it grieves me that we had to divide the realms of the fallen lords equally among them. The others that still live are: Boethia, Sheogorath, Mehrunes Dagon was mortally wounded during our last battle but died just a couple days ago, Nocturnal, Sanguine and Vaermina."

Mara weeps silently at remembering the death of Stendarr saying, "It saddens me to think on the current state of Kynareth, for I feel there is not much left of their time among us. It will sadden me greatly once we lose our ability to interact with Mundus anymore, perhaps we can bless a special item so our child can have the ability to talk to us on occasion?"

Akatosh pinches his chin with two fingers in momentary thought saying, "That might be something we can do after we finish changing the fate of Mundus, now is everything in place and set for the alterations to begin?"

Arkay breathes deeply and looks down at Mundus and answers, "All is in place. All is ready, say the word and we will start working."

A single tear falls from Akatosh's eye and falls to the balcony as he utters a single word, "Begin."

The Realm of Mundus

Solitude

A group of Thalmor make their way through the streets after they butchered everyone inside of the Temple of The Divines, destroyed the shrines to Stendarr and Kynareth, and accidentally set fire to the temple. The leader of the group looked back with a wicked sneer on her face saying, "I just love the smell of infidel blood in the morning, now they shall know their place among the Thalmor."

One of the Thalmor wizards accompanying the Justiciar looks back with a grin thinking, 'Now my revenge against the Thalmor will begin if this all goes according to plan.' Keeping the act going he says, "Was it really necessary to go to such extreme measures like that Nar'l?"

Nar'l looks back to the wizard that just questioned her judgement saying, "Ondolemar, wasn't it you that pleaded to me to give you a chance to redeem yourself by rooting out several Talos worshipers in a single city?"

Ondolemar winces, sighs and then says, "Yes it indeed was me, the Thalmor is all I know. I have no clue as to where I would go or what I would do if I hadn't begged and pleaded for a second chance."

She looks down at Ondolemar with a frown on her face saying, "I will permit you to come with us freely, as thank you for providing so much proof of the lies Jarl Elisif told us. They have been punished for their crimes against the Thalmor."

He looks down to find that his boot has came untied saying, "Curses! My boot came untied, I will catch up in a moment once I tie it." He then kneels down and begins retying it, stopping briefly to let the wizard behind him provide security for the Justiciar in front.

The other wizard walks right by Ondolemar, knocking the disgraced high elf onto his side saying, "You are so clumsy Ondolemar, I don't know how you ever became a liason to the justiciars in Skyrim." He bursts out laughing at him and hears Nar'l laughing at him too and keeps walking.

Ondolemar gets back onto one knee and finishes tying his shoe quietly mumbling, "Time for the next step in my plan." He then pulls a skinny dagger from his sleeve and stands back up and catches up to the wizard, getting right behind them and jams it in the side of the wizard's head. Holding tightly onto the wizard so he doesn't fall and alert the Justiciar of his betrayal, he lays him down gently and then puts his dagger away and grabs a heavy branch alonside the road and then keeps walking with long strides to kill Nar'l.

An uneasy feeling comes over Nar'l, calling out, "Ondolemar, did you catch up yet!" turning her head slightly to the left to try to see if he caught up or not but can't see much behind her.

While holding onto a thick, heavy branch, Ondolemar replies back to her, "Yes I have caught up, but hold up a moment please. Bern walked off to check out a noise he heard in the bushes." He brings the branch as far back as he can to whack her upside the head.

Nar'l scoffs at hearing that saying, "That idiot is always hearing things, but it is always wise to be on alert in the wilderness. You never know what is gonna sneak up behind you and.....AAAGHH!" The last thing she hears is a loud crack as something makes contact with her head, while everything goes black as her eyelids fall shut.

Ondolemar tosses the branch aside, noticing that it broke in half due to the force of the swing. He then quickly ties her hands and feet together and lays her down near the entrance of Wolf Skull Cave, feeling thankful for Bayott clearing this cave out a year ago. He goes to retrieve the corpse of Bern and returns to the cave, going inside to dump the body for the various creatures to munch on. He then picks Nar'l up and gets as far away from solitude as he can and sets up camp, waiting for her to wake up.

She wakes up with a splitting headache and looks around to see Ondolemar whittling a stick out of boredom. When she tries to get up to her feet, she learns that her hands and feet are tied and loudly asks, "What is the meaning of this Ondolemar, where is Bern?"

He grins and looks her in the eyes and replies, "Oh good, you are finally awake I see. His corpse is feeding the wildlife, as so will yours before long."

Nar'l's eyes tear up and she cries out, "Why did you do this to us Ondolemar, what reason do you have for killing the two of us. I thought you wanted to get your position among the Thalmor back."

Ondolemar bursts out laughing and says, "You actually believed me when I told you that? What a fucking joke, I actually hated that position. Too damn boring for my liking, but it paid well and kept my appetites satisfied. You want to know why I did this, the answer is simple. I want to see the Thalmor burn and fall into ruin."

Her eyes widen in fear as a piece falls into place saying, "What do you mean, why would you want that? Don't you have any love for our home?"

An evil grin crosses his face as he answers her once more, "Don't you remember when I pleaded you to give me a chance if I took you to a temple full of Talos worshipers? It was a lie. I want the Thalmor to die because of what that bitch Elenwen did to me over a simple bad joke someone asked me to play, she had me whipped and tortured for answers."

Nar'l looks in horror at Ondolemar over the information she just got, the final pieces fall into place and paint an ugly picture and says, "Y-Y-You m-m-mean to t-t-tell me that all those people in the temple...and the hidden evidence you provided me with were all..."

Ondolemar continues to grin and chuckle as he says, "Innocent and false, you didn't even second guess me after you saw them. You just assumed they were all guilty and deserved a harsh lesson, but I was the one who started the fire."

She squirms on the ground trying to get free, but finds it useless as the bindings are too tight and screams at him, "Do you know what you have done, Ondolemar?! You have cost several people in Solitude their lives, and may just have caused the great war to start back up again! Skyrim doesn't have a chance in Oblivion to defeat the Thalmor, you have doomed them to die."

He tosses the stick into the fire and puts his dagger away saying, "Yes I have just created the spark to reignite the great war again, but my plan is only half finished you see? I still have to get Elenwen's tight ass to attack the Greybeards so they join the fight. It is time you joined Bern, be sure to tell him I said hi." He then rises to his feet to slit her throat and slowly makes his way to her with his dagger drawn.

Seeing that she only has a few moments to act she tries to beg and plead for him to let her live saying, "Please don't kill me, I will do anything you want...just please let me li..." Her words were cut off abruptly as Ondolemar's dagger tore through her throat, painting the ground red with her blood.

Ondolemar stepped away from the thrashing, gurgling corpse of Nar'l and took off the Thalmor disguise he had been wearing. He then threw the disguise into the fire, happy that he was wearing a green shirt with long brown trousers and a pair of brown shoes underneath the robe. He then lets the robe burn down to nothing and snuffs out the fire and begins making his way to the Thalmor Embassy to begin the final stage in his plan as the sun rises into the sky, shedding light across the land before it.

Meanwhile, at Yngol Barrow

Bayott looks at the Helm of Yngol's that sits on Yngol's skeleton that still remained in the stone throne, falling to pieces as he pulls it off of the skull, then spots a necklace hanging on the edge of the throne's back and sees that it has a silver piece in the shape of the Imperial Legion's symbol. Taking it and quickly throwing it over his head, he begins to gather up whatever he might be able to sell.

He then sorts through the stuff he brought up to the puzzle room, moving the stuff he wants to keep into one pile and the crap into another. It takes three hours running back and forth to Windhelm and the Khajiit Caravan just outside on the banks of the river to get to the last load of junk that he wants to sell off.

Bayott scoops up the last few pieces of junk up into a bag separate from what he is taking home and leaves the tomb for the last time thinking, 'With this Helm of Yngol in my hands, my Ancient Nord Hero look will be complete.'

Four Hours later, At The Forge in Windhelm

Oengul prepares to start work on a new piece of armor but can't seem to locate it saying, "Blast, I can't seem to find my damn hammer. Did you happen to use it Hermir?"

She has been slaving away most of the morning smelting the new shipment of ores down into ingots, dumping out another onto the table saying, "No I haven't touched it, I have my own hammer. You told me that If I wanted to apprentice under you, I better get my own because It will be like family to me."

He rubs his chin with his right thumb and forefinger in thought saying, "I swear it seems like that hammer has legs sometimes. Haven't you seen it at all?"

Hermir drops another chunk of ore into the pot and waits for it to melt down, as she waits for that she looks around the bench for it and spots a handle sticking out between the forge and the bench saying, "I can see a handle sticking out between the forge and the workbench, maybe that is it."

Oengul looks down and spots the handle of his favorite hammer saying, "Ahah! there you are girl, we got armor to shape! I must have forgot that I set it down there or maybe it just fell off the table, I must be gettin' old if I'm forgetting simple stuff such as that." Just then he spots movement out of the corner of his eye and turns his head to look, and sees that it is the Dragonborn that has been making regular visits that day commenting, "You are such a pathetic milk drinker for joining the Imperials, you know that?"

Bayott looks at Oengul and sighing saying, "I would have joined the Stormcloaks if Ulfric wasn't so hateful towards other species and wanting to keep Skyrim for Nords, though I can understand his hate for the Aldmeri Dominion, the Thalmor, and high elves...but the rest haven't done anything to deserve such anger."

Oengul looks at Bayott with a slight unfriendly gaze saying, "Skyrim is the home of the Nords because no other races can tolerate the cold temperatures better than us, it takes strength to survive in such a harsh environment. Skyrim will always be our Fatherland.

He shakes his head saying, "That is true, but there is no other good reason to just outright refuse to help others because they aren't Nords. Skyrim is big enough for everyone to live together, one thing I do believe that Ulfric was right about was the liberation of Skyrim from the Empire."

The blacksmith grunts and nods and gives the Dragonborn a brief smile at the two of them reaching a better understanding of each other's views on the war that ended with Ulfric losing his head saying, "Did you need something or want some metal hammered?"

Bayott smiles and says, "I just finished clearing out Yngol Barrow, I found the Helm of Yngol in the deepest part of the tomb. It was sitting on the skeletal remains of Yngol, where I also happen to notice this necklace on the edge of the throne. What do you think of it?"

Oengul eyes the necklace saying, "That necklace is high quality, no doubt. It almost looks exactly like the Imperial's symbol on their standards, though the shape is more precise and looks more like a dragon but has flawless rubies for eyes that seem to have a glow to them. Can you pull out the helm you found so I can take a look at how our ancestors hammered steel?"

He sets down the sack of junk he wants to sell and pulls out the helm for them to examine saying, "I didn't notice that at first, but now that you have mentioned it, its' eyes do seem to have a glow all their own. You know what is strange, Oengul?"

The blacksmith looks up at him crossing his arms and says, "What is strange, Dragonborn?"

The Dragonborn looks down at the necklace and says, "Somehow it feels like it was made just for me, almost like it was a cherished item I lost awhile ago and found again, you know what I mean?" He then switches hands and grabs it by one of the horns protruding from the top of the helm, and extends his arm out for him to examine it.

Hermir glances over at the helm and whistles in admiration of the helm saying, "Wow that is in remarkably good shape to be so old, how is it that it hasn't rusted or decayed at all hardly to be able to withstand the aging like that?"

Oengul chuckles and takes the helm and turns it in various directions, examining the detail on it closely before saying, "I bet that when those old barrows were built, the ancestors had a little magical assistance from the dragons to ensure they last forever and somehow to a degree, preserves what is in them. For being so old, this has to be a bit better than what Eorlund Grey-Mane can make currently." He then hands the helm back to him smiling and saying, "A few ancestors sure knew how to hammer and shape iron and steel in their day, this is some fine craftsmanship."

Taking the helm back and returning it to the sack, Bayott picks up his sack of junk and starts stacking it on the table and asks, "How much can I get for this stuff?"

He looks over the stuff, looking closer at a couple of the pieces and says, "Well based on the quality, age, and state of the items here... I would say I could give you 750 Septims for these, do you agree?"

The Dragonborn lays his right thumb and a forefinger under his chin in thought saying, "I think that is an agreeable price for this stuff cus it can always be remelted down to make new pieces."

The blacksmith brings out the bag of septims and holds it towards Bayott, spotting a courier running towards them with a panicked look on his face, stopping a couple feet away from the Dragonborn panting heavily.

The courier takes several deep breaths as he tries to calm down a little bit before continuing to say, "I have been running all over Skyrim hoping to find you Bayott, The Dragonborn. I have several letters for you, all from Solitude. Let's see here, here is one that looks important. It's from High Queen Elisif, woah you sure have some powerful friends. Now the rest of these are Letters of Inheritance. Oh my, I'm sorry for your loss...here is the coin that was left to you." He then holds out the bag of coin and the letter from High Queen Elisif to him first.

Bayott grabs the coin purse and ties it to his belt quickly and then takes the letter and opens it to read it aloud saying, "My loyal officer and good friend Bayott, it is most important that you know of the recent attack in Solitude made by the Thalmor. Earlier today a law enforcing party involving a Justiciar and two strong wizards made claims that many citizens were worshiping talos and made an example out of them all by destroying the altars to the divines and trapping them inside the temple and setting it alight, killing them all. We will not stand for this injustice, for I am calling a moot for all Jarls to gather and discuss this matter and how we shall deal with it. We hope you could attend as well, we shall be meeting at High Hrothgar. Safe travels Dragonborn, High Queen Elisif of Skyrim and Jarl Elisif the Fair of Solitude."

Everyone was shocked at the news of the attack at Solitude as Oengul holds his hammer in a fierce grip, overcome with rage yelling, "HOW DARE THEM SHIT EATING, MILK DRINKING SONS OF WHORES BURN DOWN A TEMPLE AND BUTCHER EVERY SOUL INSIDE JUST TO STAMP OUT OUR WORSHIP OF TALOS!" He then brings the hammer down onto the anvil, making a loud ring echo throughout the quarter.

The Dragonborn looks at Oengul saying, "Worry not my friend, for all of Skyrim shall be ready and eager to bring them to justice if that choice is made." He then takes the Letters of Inheritance from the courier and puts them into his sack full of loot to read later.

Just then the ground around them shakes as a loud thunderous boom echoes throughout the sky yelling out, "DO...VAH...KIIN!!"

Oengul looks to his friend with a nervous look on his face saying, "Huh, a second time in just over a year? I wonder what the Greybeards could want with you now? Better not keep them waiting to long, something tells me it may be important."

The courier turns around saying, "Looks like that is all I have for you today, safe travels to you sir." and takes off back down the street to make other deliveries.

Bayott also takes off down the street, trying to get to High Hrothgar as quickly as he can. He runs through the gate telling the guards, "I'm being summoned, gotta move!" He quickly darts down the path to where he left Shadowmere.

As he closes the distance to High Hrothgar, the necklace around his neck vibrates. Coming to an abrupt stop, Bayott raises his right hand and lifts the emblem in his palm to gaze at it curiously. As his face gets a little closer to the emblem, a male voice speaks inside of his head, "Oh this is pleasant news, the necklace we created has indeed been found by you...My Son."

Bayott is caught off guard by what the voice says and asks, "What do you mean 'my son', you are not my father. You didn't raise me, I don't even recognize your voice, who are you?"

A female voice chuckles and softly says, "Keep calm my son, for there is something we need you to accomplish once your last fight ends. I am your mother, my name is Mara. We can finally hear your voice for the first time my son, we have enjoyed watching your journeys and adventures greatly. We could not raise you among ourselves because we knew Mundus was in great need of a savior, therefore we had to send you."

A male voice speaks up saying, "Enough! We don't have much time to tell him what he must know. I am your father, my name is Akatosh. As my wife Mara has said, we have a request for you to fulfill after your last fight of the struggle. You must go to the great tomb Ustengrav, once there you are to rest at the far back and wait until you are called again to the waking world of Mundus. You are allowed only one companion to accompany you during your rest, and take whatever you shall need to fight dangerous enemies. Hurry on your way, my son and fight well Ysmir."

The Dragonborn is confused at hearing the request and says, "I still don't quite understand how I am your son. I have many questions to ask you, please don't leave me with more questions than answers!"

Akatosh's voice slowly fades away into nothing as he says, "Farewell for now my wayward son, may you succeed in your journey..."

Bayott drops the emblem, letting it dangle around his neck as he resumes his journey to High Hrothgar to answer the Greybeards' summons saying, "They just couldn't explain themselves a bit better, they have to be so mysterious all the damn time."

Ten years later, Outside Ustengrav

Bayott's Housecarl, Lydia stood there in front of her thane, tapping her foot impatiently calling out, "Sir.....Sir....SIR!"

'It was a long and bloody ten years against the Thalmor until the last of the leaders finally died at my hands, I can still hear his screams of agony as I killed him in the worst way possible. It still surprises me that he actually survived being skinned alive, but I poured dwarven oil all over his body and set it alight to finish him off once and for all.' Bayott shakes his head as he is torn from the flashback saying, "Y-Yes? Sorry, what is it Lydia?" He then looks and waits for her to say what she wants to tell him.

She stops tapping her foot and says, "Remembering the end of the Great War are we my thane? I want to let you know that we all will wait for you until you wake once again, I still can't believe that the divines have requested you to return to that old ruin to sleep of all things. The last of your items from all your houses in skyrim have been moved into the old ruin called Ustengrav, the larger items are laying against the wall. We shall keep a detachment of guards here to keep watch while you slumber, don't want to let those pesky bandits and thieves to get their hands on any of those items you have collected through your travels, would we?"

Bayott keeps walking along the road towards Ustengrav and says, "Yes I was and definitely not, do you know how much danger Skyrim would be in if a couple of those enchanted items got out! Thank you for accompanying me on my way here, once I enter and close the doors, you may as well return home until I wake again."

After reaching the destination, Bayott gets off of Shadowmere and takes hold of his reigns and carefully leads him down the stone steps leading down into the tomb. As they reach the bottom and prepare to open the door to go inside, Shadowmere freaks out and tries to run back up the steps as a massive tremor shakes the ground violently.

He quickly grabs the reigns of Shadowmere and holds his ground as he fights to get away calmly saying, "Easy boy, easy. You are going to be fine, just trust me ok? There is no one else I trust more with my life than you boy, that is why I chose you to be my companion to join me in my slumber."

Lydia bursts out laughing saying, "Why are you treating that horse like a lover? You know horses can't understand a damn thing we say, they are little more than beasts any way. Only good thing about Shadowmere is that he isn't afraid to try to defend you when you get into a fight."

Shadowmere calms down a bit more and lays his ears back and swats Lydia across the face with his tail in annoyance thinking, "You're just jealous because he likes me better than your flat-chested ass, not to mention how I'm still standing while you are always the first to drop out of the fight being so weak."

Bayott scoffs at Lydia's remark saying, "I wonder what in Oblivion was that, I sure hope that Red Mountain wont go crazy again. I don't treat my horse like a lover, just a trusted companion like you. I think that most horses have some ability to understand what we expect of them. Well boy shall we go in and begin our slumber?" He then opens the door and steps through, leading Shadowmere inside.

He reaches the first room to unexpectedly find Sheogorath standing before him and saying, "What in Oblivion do you want you mad milkdrinker!

Daedric Lord Sheogorath leans against the large supporting column saying, "You know I just couldn't let ya go without sayin farewell, I'm gonna be quite bored and lonely for awhile until you wake once more. Oh well, I will keep a strawberry torte and a good ale waiting for when you are back. Farewell for now my puny, tiny little mortal friend. TA TA!"

Bayott finds himself inside the corridor and shakes his head saying, "UGH Nine Divines I hate it when he does that to me!" He then resumes his way towards the tomb of Jurgen Windcaller, founder of the Greybeards and the one who built High Hrothgar on the Throat of the World.

As he finally reaches the final large room with the sarcophagus, he stops to stand in front of it saying, "Sorry sir, I hope you don't mind having company for awhile. I was sent here by my father Akatosh and my mother Mara to slumber here for awhile, I sure hope you don't snore." He bows in respect to the founder's resting place, unexpectedly catching Shadowmere doing the very same thing for some reason. He rises and walks around the tomb and enters the back room saying, "I'm curious as to why you would do such a thing like that, I never taught you to do that."

He then walks around the tomb and enters the room at the back and sits down on top of the makeshift stone table between a few urns and shifts his position around until it is somewhat comfy saying, "Well boy, I guess we better try to rest for a bit." He looks at his closest friend and chuckles that he is already laying on the floor fast asleep and comments, "You beat me again boy, you always were so eager to go into battle."

The whole tomb shudders once more, with such violent force as if it's actually trying to destroy the room they are in. As Bayott's eyes start to get heavier he yawns wide saying, "Wow Shadow, I wonder what is going on out there. I'm gonna get up and take a look outside to see what is happening."

The necklace comes to life as Mara's voice speaks into his mind saying, "Hello my son, I am here to sing you a lullaby to help you fall to sleep." She then begins to softly sing a lullaby to her sleepy son.

Bayott leans back against the wall, resting his head against a stone corner saying, "What a beautiful lullaby mother, but I guess I am a little tired, so I will take a short nap and check it out when I wake up. Goodnight mother."

She finishes the lullaby as he falls asleep completely and says, "Sleep tight my little Ysmir, may you wake when Mundus has calmed down once more, and may you be able to change your elder brother's way of seeing and treating the world."

Seventy thousand years later...

Sovngarde

Tsun stands guard before the whalebone bridge checking and testing the souls that came to seek entry to the Hall of Valor, looking back at the plains that have shown up inside of the realm of the dead. He recalls the day when the realm of Sovngarde grew larger, changing forever.

Thirty thousand years earlier...

Tsun continues to test the souls that seek entry to the Hall of Valor and sighs in relief at the end of the line finally coming into view thinking, 'I wonder what is going on out there that so many souls are suddenly appearing and seeking entry, I will ask one of them to see what they have to say about that.' He then asks the approaching soul, "What causes me to be so busy these days, are the mortals of Mundus trying to kill each other again?"

The female soul replies, "That is pretty much what is happening right now ever since a fire mountain appeared over twenty nine thousand years ago with an explosion that plunged Skyrim into utter chaos! Right now it finally stopped spewing smoke and ash everywhere, some mages left to study that mountain a few years ago and have confirmed that it is actually larger than Red Mountain."

He looks at her stunned and says, "You mean to tell me that the snowy region of Skyrim has altered forever? I do pity the mortals that still live there now, are there many Nords still living?"

The female looks at him, scrunching her face in curiosity saying, "There might be one or two left, but the majority of them perished the day Mount Rifthelm made its presence known to the world. Right now for all we know we could be the only ones left living, for we haven't had any outsiders visit us in a couple centuries."

Tsun shed's a tear at hearing the fate of the citizens of Skyrim saying, "Thank you for telling me what has happened recently in the realm of mortals, you may proceed across the whalebone bridge."

Five thousand years earlier...

Tsun feels the ground shudder under his feet and turns to see the forms of Akatosh, Mara and the other remaining divines changing the location of the Hall of Valor far to the left. He watches in awe as Mara lifts the Whalebone Bridge in her aura and makes it longer to reach to where the Hall of Valor now resides, and sets it down to rest.

Tsun looks on as a vast island of plains rises into view beside the Hall of Valor, an old looking rope suspension bridge appears in the air and one end plants itself firmly on the edge of the mainland. The center support of the bridge plants itself into a rising chunk of land just big enough for the large posts as the other side plants itself into the edge of the vast plains. Tsun looks up to the divines and asks, "For what reason do you alter Sovngarde so?"

Akatosh looks to Tsun and greets him, "Hello Tsun, you have been doing your duty well. We commend you for your continued efforts, Mara shall explain to you on what is going on. Fare thee well Tsun, keep up your diligence." He then looks to Mara saying, "I shall see you when you finish with your task dear." He turns away from her and moves towards the center of the swirling skies above as the other divines follow after him.

Mara floats down a little closer towards Tsun saying, "It is good to see you once more Tsun, I am to inform you that we shall be expecting new residents of Sovngarde to be arriving here after some time passes, be sure to ask these new residents where they wish to move on to, the Hall of Valor or to the Plains of Aetherius and then send them on their way to the realm they prefer. Farewell Tsun, stay true to your purpose here and you too may join them once your replacement arrives."

He looks to Mara with confidence and says, "I shall look forward to the day my replacement arrives, for I would like to spend some time with my friends. Until next time we meet Mara, farewell and make sure to keep an eye out for Bayott. I haven't seen his return to Sovngarde, I worry that his soul may be tainted and lost to us."

She chuckles and soothes his worries saying, "Fret not Tsun, he still has duties to perform on Mundus. He shall return here one day, once he has finished his duties there." She then turns and makes her way towards where Akatosh headed.

Tsun then looks away at the entrance to Sovngarde thinking, 'May you keep yourself safe on your journeys Dragonborn, may we meet again one day. He then says to himself, "I wonder who this replacement Mara mentioned shall be, I look forward to finding out who it is."

Present time, Sovngarde

Tsun stands guard before the two bridges, questioning those who wish to pass as a stream of rainbow colored light and white and yellow flames fall down in a beam upon the ancient burial mound of the fallen World-Eater Alduin saying, "Oh Divines help us, he returns once more. Where are you Dovahkiin when Mundus needs you most now."

The land shudders heavily as the skeletal form of Alduin fights to be free of the rock and dirt trapping him inside. The stone cover shatters and flies off in various directions as he finally frees himself, taking his first few steps out of the tomb saying, "Ahrii Zu'u daal wah joor lein. Zu'u fent drun Lein zek neben rel do dovah. Zu'u fent lost dii nahkriin wah hi Dovahkiin, hi fen mindos wah faas zey. (Alas I return to the mortal world. I shall bring Mundus back under the rule of dragons. I shall have my vengeance against you Dragonborn, you will learn to fear me.)" With a mighty roar he stretches his joints and takes to the sky above Sovngarde, looking to regain the strength he lost after falling to the Dragonborn .

10 Months later, inside the library of the ruined Castle of Two Sisters

Twilight stands on the floor, using her magic to remove years of dust off some books she hasn't yet relocated to the new library inside of her crystal castle. Then after she sets her duster down, she lifts and moves them to a pile on the floor when she hears a crack and a shelf full of books fall slide and fall onto her head yelling, "YAHH!" A dust cloud rises into the air as she hits the floor unconscious.

A couple of hours later, she comes to and rubs her head in pain saying, "Ouch, that really bucking hurts." As she rises to her knees and looks around, she finds herself surrounded by dozens of dusty books saying, "Heh, talk about literally getting brained by knowledge."

Twilight gets busy dusting the books off and setting them with the others she has dusted already, and notices two with raised symbols on the cover. One symbol vaguely looks like a dragon but the other looks a bit newer with the symbol almost identical to the other but the dragon has a much more detailed form. and dusts them both off and says, "Hmm...what are these? I haven't seen a symbol like that anywhere before."

She then tries to open the first one up, finding that it is in a language that is somehow barely similar to Old Ponish. With a sigh she sets it aside and tries to read the newer one, once again it is the same language and can't make any sense of it saying, "Ugh, I wonder if Princess Celestia or Luna can make heads or tails of this. I'm glad that there is a preservation spell that kept these books safe for so long. I am also happy that Luna taught me this spell and how to cast it." She then looks around for any more books to relocate, after a half-hour of finding nothing else on the shelves or in secret rooms or hiding places, she calls out to her assistant, "Hey Spike, please gather what you can and let's get back to the castle so I can clean and catalogue these books later."

Spike wakes up with a start saying, "WAH! Sorry, what do you need Twilight?" He stands up and scratches his head with a sheepish grin at falling asleep when he was supposed to be helping his sister Twilight find and dust books that she wants to take to the castle.

Twilight sighs and repeats herself to spike saying, "Please gather what you can and let's get back to the castle so I can clean and catalogue these books later." She then begins picking up the large pile of books she has set aside, leaving the last two that she has found out so she can carry them in her arms.

He cheers up and begins to set what books he can fit into his Power Ponies backpack saying, "Sweet! I can't wait to return to the castle so I can go back to reading the latest edition of Power Ponies!" With his backpack full, he lets out a huff as he lifts it onto his shoulders saying, "Well what are you waiting for Twilight, lets get going!"

She turns her head and shoots a soft glare at Spike saying, "If you want to get back to that new edition so bad, why don't you help me finish placing this pile of books into my backpack. Thank Celestia for Star Swirl coming up with a way to store a nearly infinite number of items and reduce their weight to make it easier to move around without all that weight to overburden you, otherwise I would be forced to make a lot more trips back and forth to the castle."

Spike quickly helps her put the remaining pile of books into her backpack of nearly infinite storage, spotting the two remaining books and looks to Twilight saying, "What about those two Twilight, want me to put them in as well?"

Twilight stands up and lifts the backpack up onto her shoulders with a very unfeminine grunt saying, "Don't worry about them Spike, I will carry them in my arms back to the Castle." She then bends down, hastily picking up the two books and starts making her way back home.

He follows her out of the old library saying, "Gee Twilight, are you going to make it back home? I thought that backpack was supposed to take the weight away from the items you have inside of it? After all, you do have nearly a thousand books in there."

She looks to Spike and says, "So did I Spike, I will have to ask Star Swirl about that. Last count I had was one thousand, two hundred and thirteen books to clean and properly catalogue. We are going to have so much fun the next few days off we get!"

Spike hangs his head in grief, sarcastically saying, "Yay, I look forward to it too."

A day later at the castle in Canterlot

Celestia sits at the private dining room in the castle snacking on a cake she asked the cook to make as she was hearing a pair of hooves make their way down the hall, getting closer and closer to where she was. She takes another slice of cake and starts devouring it when she hears the doors swing open and looks over to see Twilight standing there.

Twilight looks at Princess Celestia and says, "Aha there you are Princess Celestia, I was trying to find you. I found a couple of books that I can't read, and was wondering if you might know what this language is?" She stands in the doorway waiting for the princess to allow her to approach.

Her curiosity is piqued at hearing that and swallows the portion of the slice of cake she bit into saying, "You actually found a book that you're not able to read Twilight? Come here and show me what you found, let's see if I can tell you what it is."

The second newest Alicorn to Equestria walks up to the princess, the sound of her hooves echo through the room and down the hall. As she stops before the princess, she holds out the two books for her to look at saying, "I'm sorry I interrupted your breakfast, Your Majesty. I was making my final trip to the ruined Castle of the Two Sisters to relocate the books there to the library inside my castle by Ponyville, when a bookshelf broke and dumped its contents onto my head. When I woke up, I dusted off the books and moved them to a pile and found these two odd ones. I opened them and tried to read them, but one is older than the other and have nearly the same raised symbol, though they have the same language that is barely close to Old ponish."

Celestia giggles and takes the books from Twilight and sets them on the table, pushing her cake to the side saying, "I know I taught you Old Ponish, but yet again you surprise me with your ability to find something new and interesting. Please take a seat Twilight, let's see what we have here." She then opens the older book and tries to read it, but being unable to, she sets it aside with a sigh. She attempts to read the second one, feeling a little useless, she sighs in frustration saying, "I'm sorry Twilight, it seems that even I can't read these. I recognize the shape of a few letters from a scroll I used to try to understand when I was a young filly, but one night it flew into the fireplace I used to read by and burned up." She hangs her head in brief sadness at her foolishness when she was younger, but lifts when a thought occurs to her and says, "You know, I think that Star Swirl might be able to help you because he taught me Old Ponish. I will send him a quick letter requesting his presence when he is not busy." She then quickly writes a letter and sends it off with her magic as it vanishes with a pop.

Twilight sighs, takes a seat and says, "Well at least you tried Princess Celestia, you can't know everything or you might go insane if you actually tried to learn everything in the world. Y-You didn't really have to send him a letter, I could have waited until he was..." She is abruptly cut off when Star Swirl appears beside them, looking like he hasn't slept in a week.

Star Swirl opens his tired eyes with a smile saying, "You requested my presence, Your Majesty?" he stands and waits for Princess Celestia to reply.

The two princesses look at Star Swirl when he teleports beside Twilight as Celestia speaks first saying, "Greetings to you Star Swirl, you didn't need to come so soon. Are you feeling alright my old mentor and friend, you look like you haven't slept well in the past few weeks."

He shakes his head and replies, "Don't worry about me Your Highness, my expedition has discovered another ancient structure that dates back to over seventy thousand years ago. This one is strange however because it has a glowing rune with 9 cutie marks matching yours, Luna's, the Element bearers, and myself. What is it that you wish to ask me?"

Celestia smiles and says, "Oh really, well we may have to travel there with you and check it out. I was wondering if you could tell me if you could read either of these two books that Twilight found inside the ruins of the old Castle of the Two Sisters?" She slides her chair aside to give him room to read the two books.

Star Swirl curiously steps forward and opens one of the books saying, "Hmm...This is Nordic Script here in this older book here, the title reads: The Book of the Dragonborn, and it is written by Prior Emelene Madrine. Here is what the book says..." he reads off what the book says and comments, "Heavens above, This book is the oldest one in all of Equus! I am surprised it isn't dust right now as it very should be for being just over seventy thousand years old, it tells what a Dragonborn is, their connection to a being known as Akatosh, and that they have the ability to steal the power of dragons they kill. It seems to me that this piece at the end is a prophecy that may have came to pass already, Now let's see what the other one says."

Twilight's jaw is open and snaps it shut to say, "Wow, I wonder who this 'Last Dragonborn' is and why they had to kill dragons back then. I would like to know more about them, but I doubt that there are any other books about them that survived the ages."

He started to read from the book saying, "This newer one is titled Legend of the Dragonborn and it is written by Mad Hatter Greybeard. Hmm...this is written by one of my ancient ancestors." He then resumes reading the book saying, "This first part of the book is just like the first but pretty much says the same thing but has a different prophecy that says, "When the land falls to the rule of madness once bright rain falls from the sky and smoke fills the air. When light and dark work together to wrest control and mend the broken. When family turns on itself and the world is less bright. When the young go forth and save the darkened moon. When the one achieves enlightenment and is granted a new perspective on life. When the enlightened one receives a gift of crystal and the legends of old are free again. An ancient hero, from the old shall they rise, to do battle with the one that came before."

Celestia stares in shock at how the prophecy seems to mention Luna, herself, and the Element Bearers saying, "I can't believe that it seems to mention Luna as well as the Element Bearers and myself, we must get Luna and investigate these ruins you have found involving all our Cutie Marks. She leaves her half-eaten cake on the table and leads the group towards Luna's chambers to fetch her for the journey.

Twilight grabs the books off of the table, carrying them under her arms as she and Star Swirl follow Princess Celestia down the hall when Twilight looks to Star Swirl saying, "Hey Star Swirl the Bearded, I placed the spell you created to store nearly infinite items and reducing the weight of the items on a backpack I have and I wanted to know why it doesn't completely take the weight away?"

Star Swirl looks at Princess Twilight and laughs saying, "The spell cannot completely remove an items weight, because If they were to lose all weight, they won't exist at all. I am trying to understand the reason why that they vanish when I take an item's weight completely away, and what I think so far is that they disappear due to a law of the universe stating how all things have a weight or value to them."

She looks down at the ground saying, "Well I guess there is only so much that can be done to lessen the burden you feel, maybe we can work together on figuring out how to improve its effectiveness? Would you be willing to teach me how to read the language that those two books are written in, just in case any more are found written in that language?"

The old wizard looks at Twilight with a smile and says, "It would be my pleasure to teach you what I know Princess, let's start your lessons after our adventure to the ruin and I catch up on missed sleep ok?" Being a close friend and past mentor to Celestia and Luna, he decides to tease her a little saying, "I sure hope you are better at learning languages than the two Princesses were, they had a hard enough time learning Old Ponish. Maybe that is why I look really old."

Celestia flicks her head around and glares daggers at her old mentor saying, "It wasn't our fault that the words and how to use them didn't make much sense to us, I blame the teacher!" She then huffs in mild annoyance, then glances back briefly and sticks her tongue out at Star Swirl. As they reach the door to Luna's room, she firmly knocks on the door saying, "Sister I have an urgent matter to discuss with you, are you decent? I have Twilight and our old mentor Star Swirl with me."

Luna rolls over groaning after having the same dream for the past three nights in a row, letting out a sigh and says, "Yes sister I am decent, please come in." She then rises out of bed and quickly throws a robe over her nightgown before the door opens thinking, 'That's the third time I was drawn into the same dream, reliving it each time I enter. I wonder what it means.'

The first night, Three days ago inside the Dream Realm
(Luna's Point of View)

Luna wanders the Dream Realm, chasing the sensation of great fear coming from a door located in the distance. The sensation finally brings her to a barely visible door covered with blood and a heavy black mist oozing out of it, she throws the door open and passes through the door and everything goes black around her as she is knocked unconscious somehow. When she comes to in a rickety, wooden transport, finds herself unable to control the body that her vision is tied to, leaving her no choice but to watch as it plays out.

She sits in the transport and hears someone say, "Hey, look at who is still alive. The Imperial bastards nabbed you along with us at that damned ambush set up by General Tullius, I bet the Thalmor helped him out by telling him where we were going."

Her eyes turn towards another prisoner who says, "We shouldn't be here, The Empire is after these damned Stormcloaks. If you didn't kick the hornet's nest and murder the High King, I would be on my way to Hammerfell now."

Her eyes shoot to the right to a new prisoner with his hands bound as well as the first two. Unable to speak, he lets out a muffled growl in protest to what the second prisoner said.

Her eyes then shoot to the left as the first prisoner speaks again saying, "Watch what you say, that there is Ulfric Stormcloak. He is the rightful ruler of Skyrim."

The second prisoner speaks again saying, "By the gods, the Jarl of Windhelm? If they caught you, what is going to happen to the rest of us!"

She finds herself looking back towards the first prisoner as he says, "We are all in binds, Horse Thief. I guess that makes us brothers and sisters in a way."

Her eyes turn to look straight ahead at a pair of dual opening gates of a town as she hears the first prisoner say, "Ahh, I miss Helgen. I was sweet on a girl back before the rebellion started. I wonder if Vilod continues making that ale containing Juniper Berries."

As her eyes gaze at various structures, the first prisoner continues, "I can't believe I used to feel safe behind Imperial walls, now look at the state of them and the towers, almost ready to collapse if a heavy rain hits it the wrong way. There's General Tullius now, kissing the ass of the Thalmor no doubt."

As the carriage rolls through town, a citizen says, "Who are the people in that caravan Papa?"

A citizen beside the boy says, "Don't ask questions, just go inside now my son."

The boy speaks up, "But I want to watch them Papa."

The father speaks up again, "Do as you're told and get inside!"

The boy sighs and gets up saying, "Very well Papa."

The transport comes to a halt as other prisoners are standing in a line waiting for something. As her eyes turn to face forward, she hears the second prisoner say, "What are we stopping for, what is going to happen to us now?"

She looks at the first prisoner once again as he says, "Sovngarde waits for us, feel some pride at being allowed to die in our homeland, Horse Thief."

As she gets up and follows the other prisoners off the transport, she hears a female soldier calls out, "Ulfric Stormcloak, Windhelm's Jarl please step forward and be recorded." She watches as Ulfric steps forth and is marked down on the list and guided to the line of prisoners. As she looks forward once more, she hears, "Ralof from Riverwood, step forward to be recorded." She watches once more as they step forward, being marked on the list and ushered towards the line. A sense of dread wells up deep inside the body that Luna is seeing the perspective of as they hear the soldier say, "Lokir from Rorikstead, step forward to be recorded." The named male prisoner steps forward and is recorded while saying, "You can't kill us, we aren't with the Stormcloaks. I will tell General Tullius about this!" and tries running away only to be brought down by an arrow to the back of his head.

The sense of dread heightens even more as it is her turn to be called up and hears, "The prisoner in the rags, step forward." She hesitates while watching someone in a robe say a prayer for the prisoners, not knowing why yet as they repeat themselves saying, "Get up here now and be recorded prisoner!" Her eyes shoot to the front and steps up.

The male soldier beside the female soldier says, "State your name, prisoner."

As her mouth opens to respond, a voice answers in a deep, manly voice, "My name is Bayott, I was just a traveler heading to Skyrim to study magic when I was caught by surprise. I haven't committed any crimes so you can't treat me this way." The male looks to the female asking, "What now, he's not on the list Captain?"

The Captain looks at Luna with a grin saying, "To Oblivion with the list, he goes to the headsman like all the rest!"

She is ushered to the line of criminals just as a prisoner's head is lopped off, making Luna feel very sick. Being unable to do anything to ease her sickness, she watches on as another prisoner walks up to the block when a roar echoes from somewhere around them. After that prisoner's head rolls, the roar sounds again with someone saying, "There it is again, I wonder what it is."

The Captain calls for the next prisoner and Luna steps forth as her dread reaches a new level, watching as the body drops down to its knees. Her eyes look down into the basket that is filled with heads and feels even sicker than before, but finds relief shortly when her eyes turn to the left to watch the headsman take her head just when a motion in the corner of her eye catches her attention. As a massive, black creature similar to a dragon of Equus appears and lands on top of the tower, unleashing a roar that turns the sky nearly black as night as flaming boulders rain down from the clouds.

As everything devolves into madness, the body slowly gets up and follows a voice calling it to safety. As it tries to catch its breath, a conversation ensues that she listens to. After running up the stairs to safety, the body jumps through a hole in the tower down into the hole in the roof below.

She then follows the male soldier from before, running through the streets, watching chaos happening all around as a soldier calls a boy to safety from the attack of the strange dragon. After hiding against a wall, keeping quiet for a moment till it leaves, they make their way into the keep. After being freed and gathering anything useful to fight with, they make their way through the rooms. They pass through caves with caution after the body kills a bear with one arrow and takes whatever he can from it, making Luna feel sick for a brief moment before feeling better. As they finally exit the cave, she wakes up screaming.

Three nights ago, outside The Dream Realm

Celestia holds Luna tightly in worry after hearing her sister's screams come all the way down the hall to her room and says, "Can you hear me now, Luna?"

As her eyes come back into focus and finally looks at who is holding her and sees that it is her sister and says, "Yes Cece, I can hear you now. I had the most horrifying experience in the Dream Realm tonight when I was chasing after a great fear I was sensing coming from a door far back in the Realm. When I finally got to the door, It was barely visible to me. I could see the door covered in blood with a heavy black mist oozing out of it. When I opened and walked through it, I was trapped inside of a body I could not control at all. I had no choice but to see, feel, and experience what happened around them."

Luna's sister continues to hold and comfort her, stroking her hair gently and says, "Please tell me about this experience Lulu, it must be important to know if you were not able to do anything but watch and experience what happened."

Luna calms a bit more, slowing her breathing and begins telling what she experienced starting with saying, "I have never before seen creatures like the ones I saw in this dream, or more terrified of what happened."

An hour passes as Luna finishes telling her story to her sister, she then says, "I am curious to find out who this Bayott is and find out why he did those things."

Chapter 5: A Better Day, A New Battle to Survive (Minor part added about halfway through)

Twilight watches her friend cry out her feelings and runs over to join the hug, unable to hold back the tears anymore and lets out the tears she has been holding back saying, "We are all here for you Applejack, you don't have to be strong all of the time, its alright to be the one that needs the support once in awhile."

As he holds the two crying ponies, Applejack's tears and sobs eventually begin to subside as he runs a hand down the back of her head to the middle of her back when he hears her softly say in his ear, "Yer a good friend ta know when somepony needs ta let out their feelings like that, thanks. You have warm hugs despite having this armor on, but can ya let me down now please?" He chuckles and gives her a final squeeze and sets her down on the ground and picks up Twilight to hug her back and let her cry it out.

Applejack watches while he holds Twilight in a hug until she asks to be put back down and says, "I shall get back ta extinguishing potential fires so we can begin repairin the damage, can ya go check on the others to see if they need help?"

Bayott wipes a tear from Twilights eye and says, "There there little one, everything will be alright. Can you come with me so we can help them out by helping the injured ponies and putting out the fires, so the reparations can begin to rebuild the buildings that were either damaged or destroyed from the fires? This is going to take awhile."

She slowly stops sobbing and brings out a clipboard with a list on it and says, "I will come with you and help organize everything so it goes by faster and takes less time to get Ponyville back in order."

As Bayott and Twilight go around to organize everyone's efforts to help in returning Ponyville to how it was before the attack, he looks around him and spots a few similarities and says, "This used to be where Helgen once stood."

Twilight looks at him with surprise and says, "This is where the town of Helgen used to be located? I'm sorry if it brings back bad memories for you."

He smiles at her and says, "Don't worry, I got over the events of that day. I no longer have nightmares from that night, but my hatred towards how dragons treat mortals angers me beyond words. Therefore, I take it unto myself to force them to accept change or accept death to keep them all enjoying freedom from unimaginable cruelty from when they used to rule over all Mundus or Equus as you now call it."

They are checking on the progress of the search for remaining injured ponies when Fluttershy and Rarity come by to give their report to Twilight when she says, "How is the progress going on the search for the remaining ponies that have yet to be found?"

Rarity speaks up first saying, "Well we had a minor surprise when Discord already had the ponies that were inside of burning houses and had them just oustide of town, but aside from that all the injured ponies from town have been to the first aid tent until the surgeons can finish treating the wounds. Many of us had our hands full until you were finally out of surgery"

Fluttershy then says to Twilight, "All of the fires that were still burning are now out, a few are still smoldering but are being cooled down by rain so they don't start burning again."

Bayott looks at the two of them and sees the sadness in their eyes and walks up to them, then pulls them both into his arms and says, "Come here you two, a good hug can treat most sour moods. Everything will be alright after this, so just let it out so your day will begin to get happier for you as many ponies you care about are still here. I'm sorry to tell you two this but I met Summer's Day and Colonel Cluster Apple in Sovngarde, I don't know if you knew them but they have died. I have already told Applejack of their passing, now I am informing the rest of Twilight's friends that might possibly have known them." He then pulls them a bit closer and holds them in his arms.

Fluttershy and Rarity both squeak in surprise at being picked up and tightly hugged and snuggle into him as they let the tears fall as they both weep for those who perished in the attack as Fluttershy cries out, "We both knew Summer's Day, she was so kind to everypony. We met Colonel Cluster Apple a couple times at Applejack's family reunions, she was a little rough around the edges but a kind heart at the center of it all. I really feel sorry for Applejack losing a friend and a family member like that."

He holds the two firmly as they snuggle into him, enjoying how warm he is compared to the colder temperature outside and says, "Its late fall if I have to guess, Hearthfire to be specific by how it feels outside, am I right?"

Twilight gawks in amazement at how accurately he guessed the season and the month saying, "Y-Yeah it's Wednesday the 20th, how'd you know it was September from just the weather?!"

Bayott chuckles and says, "We Nords are more sensitive to changes in the weather than most, but I have an advantage over most Nords. My sense of smell is keener with me being a Moon-born Werewolf, it is different from a normal Werewolf as their blood acts as a contagious curse as well as not being able to control when they shift forms. Moon-born don't suffer from such things as our blood is not contagious, nor do we lose control over when we shift forms. With those two tasks done, what is left on the list to check on?"

Her mind is struggling to understand how that is possible and looks at the list and says, "We have to check on the first aid tent to see how they are doing, and then see how the Pegasi are coming with the fires. I am sorry to ask this of you Rarity, but do you think you two can assist the others in cleaning up the debris from the burned down buildings?"

Fluttershy says she will be glad to help as Rarity lowers her head and squints her eyes and growls at hearing her request then suddenly stomps her hoof and says, "Even though I loathe getting myself dirty, I shall do it to aid in the recovery of our hometown."

Twilight's mind doesn't quite register her reply and says, "It's ok Rarity, I don't blame you for despising getting yourself dirty... Wait what!! You will allow yourself to get dirty to help clean up and repair the town?! Who are you and what have you done with the real Rarity!" She then gets in a fighting stance to attack the changeling that she thinks has replaced her friend.

Rarity exclaims in surprise and quickly says, "Hold on Twilight, hold on! It's really me, I will prove it to you now by telling you something that only I would ever know."

She narrows her eyes then stays in her stance and says to it, "Better say it quick or this will be over in the blink of an eye, because my horn is getting itchy."

The fashionista makes a short 'eek' noise and quickly says, "I know the secret you have been wanting to try but haven't found the right subject yet."

Twilight's eyes turn to the size of dinner plates as her face turns a very bright red in embarrassment and races over and puts a hand over her mouth to silence her from saying any more and whispers in her ear, "How in Tartarus did you find out about that, I haven't told anypony about that yet!"

Rarity grins and then leans into her and whispers to her ear, "Because during that one sleepover we had a few months ago during Hearth's Warming Eve, you talk in your sleep and mentioned it. You got really excited over it and I feared you would wake the others so I took it upon myself to quiet you down and help you over the edge so you would go back to sleep. You know you taste like oranges right?"

Her face glows bright red, causing her head to overheat and collapses against her friend as steam comes rolling out of her ears and says, "OK OK OK! You are the real Rarity after all. I never knew that that happened..."

He chuckles at how embarrassed she became and decides to save her from it by saying, "So Twilight, since that is taken care of, shall we go check on the first aid tent to see how they are holding up?"

Twilight smiles weakly at the save and sighs saying, "Alright let's go take care of that real quick before we go check on how the Pegasi are handling the buildings that are still hot and smoking."

As they leave towards the First aid tent and begin making their way there, as they make their way down the path, Bayott swears that every time he gets a short glimpse of her face and eyes checking out his form head to toe very, very closely.

She forces herself to stop looking back and stealing glances from him and leads them to the front of the tent, then spots Pinkie making the patients laugh and forget about their pain for a brief moment with her various antics and tricks. She calls her over saying, "Hey Pinkie how are things faring on your end?"

Pinkie comes to them looking like a circus clown, wearing big clown shoes that make various noises whenever she takes a step. As she takes one final step, a fart noise comes out of the shoes and makes her gigglesnort saying, "Hiya Twilight and Bayott, what brings you here to the tent today? Are you hurt and need somepony to make you forget about your pain with happiness until you get into surgery?"

Twilight chuckles and grabs her friends muzzle, forcing her to stop for a second, smiles and says, "No Pinkie, we were just coming to see how the remaining patients were doing while they wait to get into surgery?"

She smiles and says, "We are goody good good good! The last patient is almost ready to go to surgery, is there anything else you needed? Like maybe a cupcake or a sweetroll or an orange?"

Bayott's mouth waters and he says, "I'm surprised you have those nowadays, I never would have thought that a few recipes survived from back then."

Pinkie pulls a wrapped sweetroll from out of her curly mane and says, "I just followed the recipe that is written in this really old journal I found one day by somepony named Balagog gro-Nolob. Here you go, just remove the plastic before you try to eat it okay?" She then holds it out towards him.

He casts his eyes down to the ground, sighs and takes the sweetroll saying, "Thank you Pinkie Pie, I'm amazed it survived the ages. Where did you find it?"

She grins widely and says, "I'm not really sure where I found it, but I was looking in my hair for a bag of balloons for a party when I found this journal instead and looked through it to find a bunch of recipes so I started to try them and..."

Bayott does the same thing that Twilight did with her muzzle to silence her rambling and looks her in the eye and says, "I'm sorry to tell you this but hearing that the journal is by The Gourmet reminds me of a dark time in my life. Be sure to enjoy the recipes that are in there for an Orc, he was a very talented cook. But let's put my dark past away, because there is something I must tell you. It saddens me to inform you this way, but Summer's Day and Colonel Cluster Apple were killed by Numinex." He then lets go of her muzzle and holds his hands out wide and pulls her into a hug when he sees her eyes grow to the size of saucers and begin to water.

She begins to to wail as her poofy hair and tail falls flat as tears shoot out of her eyes forming a fountain saying, "N-N-No...N-N-Not Summer's Day and Colonel Cluster Apple! Summer's Day had a birthday party coming up soon, but now we h-h-have to make it a remembrance party instea-head!"

He holds her close to him as she continues to wail and reassures her by running a hand down the back of her head to the small of her back and says, "Don't worry you party pony, there are many more friends that are still alive and will need consoling and a good strong hug. Did you know that a good hug has the best magic of all to help others feel better when they are down."

Pinkie Pie slowly begins to calm her wails to loud cries, then eventually down to frequent sobs as she is able to respond coherently, "H-H-Hugs...a-a-are...m-magi-magi-magical?"

Bayott moves his arm to hold her up to behind her knees in a princess carry position and says to her, "Yes they are because they are very warm and after all, you are the element of laughter so you can't let yourself down and give up just because someone close to you has passed to the next life. You can take time to work through the grief you have for their death, but you cannot take too long because you have a duty to help other ponies through their grief as well. Some you will be able to save, others you won't be able to but that is the way life is. Remember that the ones you lost will always be with you in heart and memories you have shared together, enjoy life to it's fullest and you will see them again on the other side of life." He then clears his throat because he was getting too serious for his own liking and then tries to cheer her back up and says, " Did I forget to mention that yours truly will be turning seventy thousand and thirty four on the 19th of Frost Fall or October as you call it?"

Her hair and tail slowly regain their poofiness and she sighs and looks up in thought, she then says, "I will have to consider about planning to throw one for you if I am feeling up for it."

He scrunches his face considering that and decides it isn't good enough and says to her, "Hmmm...sorry, that won't cut it Pinkie Pie. I guess I will have to torture you to get the right answer." Without warning, he then takes her to the ground and begins a merciless assault on her stomach, lifting her shirt up just enough to expose her abdomen and runs his hands up her sides to begin to tickle them as well as blowing incessant raspberries on her stomach.

Everypony gasps at first but then put a hand in front of their mouths to hide their laughter as she is getting 'tortured' with tickles and raspberries on her stomach, turning Pinkie into a jerking, tittering mess.

Pinkie's hair and tail begin to brighten up and return to their full poofy nature as she finally has had enough of the torture after ten non-stop minutes of it and says, "OK OK OK I GIVE I GIVE I GIVE MASTER TORTURER! I will be happy to plan your birthday party, just let me go before I die in a laughing fit!"

Bayott yields his assault and gets up, pulling her to her hooves as she continues to giggle and snort involuntarily from the aftermath of the attack and says to her, "That sounds better, from what I heard from Twilight, you are thee pony to talk to for any sort of event that involves laughter, enjoyment, and snacks."

She beams a huge smile at him and gives him a final hug saying, "Thank you for helping my friends and I through the first part of our grief, I sense there will be many, many parties in the future thanks to you. Though right now is not the right time for a party, but maybe after we get Ponyville back the way it used to be, we can hold a gigantic Welcome back to Mundus Ancient 70,000 year old hero who slept the years away to find it changed dramatically and saved Ponyville, died but came back to save all of Equus party." She then gasps for a breath of air after saying all that and giggles and hops away to help remove the debris from the damaged and destroyed buildings throughout the town.

He raises an eybrow and looks at the other Ponies around him tittering at her antics, looking for an explanation as to what just happened and asks, "What in oblivion just happened there? Is she a demon of some kind or is she related to Sheogorath in some way?"

Twilight then looks to the group and then sighs saying, "It's my turn to give him 'the talk' isn't it...?"

They just look back at her, nod and then say in unison, "Mmhm it sure is." They then snicker as they watch her lower her head in annoyance.

She sighs audibly and then raises her head up and looks at him saying, "Pinkie Pie is a pony that no law can explain, so it is best to just go with it and accept her antics rather than make sense from them. Oh and if her body starts acting a weird way and she warns you about something, don't try to understand how it happens or why. Just accept that she has that ability and leave it at that to save yourself the frustration of trying to make sense of it all like I did and nearly went mad trying to explain it."

Just then out of nowhere Pinkie pops up next to Bayott and then says, "As far as I know, I am not related to Sheogorath. You never know though, because I found a connection in my family tree that I found out I was a relative to Applejack's family. So maybe I am, maybe I am not, we will find that answer some day. I have to get back to moving debris so I will see you later Ysmir." She then hops away to another destroyed building and starts to move the pieces into the ever growing pile of debris.

Bayott tries to catch his breath as Pinkie startled the crap out of him and says, "She always does that?!"

Twilight giggles and says, "Yep she does, and we love her for being Pinkie. Let's go check on Rainbow Dash next to see if they have the buildings all cooled down now."

They make their way through the wreckage of burnt out buildings when they spot Rainbow get rid of the last rain cloud and Twilight calls out to her saying, "Hey Rainbow Dash, do you have a minute to talk?!"

Rainbow hears her name called and looks down to see Twilight standing beside Bayott and flies down to them saying, "Sure I have a minute, we just finished cooling down the last of the hot spots and can now help out with moving the debris so we can start rebuilding Ponyville! By the way Bayott, How are you moving around right now after 24 hours of surgery!?"

Bayott looks at her and chuckles saying, "I used a spell I created many years ago to restore my body when I woke up, but the downside is that it doesn't replace the blood that was lost to the moment the spell was cast." He then nudges Twilight with his elbow, letting her know he wants to tell her something personal.

Twilight feels the nudge and looks to him and then looks back to Rainbow Dash and says, "Hey Rainbow, can you land for a sec, Bayott wants to talk to you."

She then cocks her head in curiosity at Twilight and answers, "Sure thing Twi, what is it that he wants to say to me?" She then lands on the ground and folds her wings behind her back and turns to look at Bayott as he begins to walk towards her.

As he gets within arm's reach he softly says to her, "What I have to tell you is personal, so can I whisper it to your ear?"

Rainbow lightly blushes and then says nervously, "S-Sure, just don't get too close..."

Bayott closes the distance and leans forward and whispers, "I have to tell you that I am sorry for what I'm about to tell you, as well as for what I must do to help you get past the first part."

She then begins to respond, "What do you mean for what you are about to tell me and do..." as he quickly wraps his arms around her back, pinning her wings in place and holding her across the small of her back, holding her against his body tightly. She then begins to try to break free as he places his mouth by her ear and speaks.

He takes a deep breath, holds her tighter and whispers to her, "I am sorry to inform you of the death of Summer's Day and Colonel Cluster Apple, I know they are no longer among us because I met them in the land of the dead, they both thanked me for ending Numinex's reign of terror."

Rainbow freezes for a moment and softly says, "W-W-Wait...Summer and Cluster...are gone? N-No, you are lying to me! Don't you dare lie to me like that you bastard, there is no way that my girlfriend and wingmare could be dead! Where are you holding them you asshole!" Her eyes start to tear up and fights even harder to get away, bashing her head against his and knocking his helmet off and bites his cheek and then tries punching and kicking him, having no effect due to the armor.

Bayott stands firm, tightening his grip as much as he dares without harming her wings and says, "Go on Rainbow, let out your feelings. There is no shame to crying and grieving over the loss of loved ones, I shall be your shoulder to cry on now. So feel free to express yourself however you need to, I will not budge until you are ready for me to let go. I know how you are feeling right now, so let the tears and cries flow. I am here for your support Rainbow Dash, I will be here if you ever need to talk about it or just want to hang out."

Her dam that she constructed from seeing the state of Ponyville and the ponies she knew that were dead in the streets crumbles, letting all of what she was refusing to deal with rushes forth and overwhelms her defenses. She wails out her response, "N-No...no...no no no...NO NO NO NOOOOOO!!!" as she weakly beats at his armor, tears flow in rivers down her face.

Ten minutes has passed when Twilight senses that Rainbow needs a little more support than Bayott, and leaves to go get Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack.

He holds her tight as she stops hitting his armor as her hand is covered in her own blood from cuts. Blood drips from his cheek onto her muzzle and down her chin. He then spots a group coming towards the two of them as he softly says to her in a sing song voice, "Though we are born to die, we live our lives without regret. Though sadness makes our hearts heavy, our fellow brothers and sisters in arms help us through hard times. Though we continue to live our lives and grow old, our tales of adventure and achievements make life worth living. Our tales will continue on through the ages of time and be eventually forgotten, thus life continues on while we have made our mark on it, so time itself will remember us." He blinks away a tear and notices that she sleeps against him in his arms, softly sobbing occasionally.

Rarity and Twilight both light up their horns as Twilight softly says to Bayott, "We shall take her and look after her while she sleeps, can you help the others continue moving the debris into the pile outside of town Bayott?"

Bayott smiles and gently opens his arms to let them take her when she moves her hands to cling onto him and says while still sleeping, "Noo...comfy...warm." He grins and wraps his arms back around her to support her better, letting her adjust her arms and looks to Twilight with a raised eybrow wondering what to do now.

Discord pops up out of a stone and brings out his camera, turns off the flash and snaps a photo whispering to Pinkie, "I am sorry for her loss, I didn't know that she could actually be this cute, adorable...and cuddly. Now I have something to tease her about when this is all over."

Fluttershy is about to scold him when he vanishes into thin air and sighs saying quietly, "When I see him next time, I am so going to give him 'the stare'. Hey Twilight, now that the first aid tent is empty of ponies waiting for surgery, we could go there and rest for the rest of the night before we get back to working on the town."

Twilight looks at Fluttershy, to the sky and then back saying, "That is a wise choice for it is close to midnight, let's go girls." She then leads the way to the tent when she spots Bayott walking towards the edge of town with Rainbow and asks, "Hey where are you going, the tent is this way?"

He turns around slowly and softly says back to her, "I have to go get my battle axe, it is far too dangerous to leave unattended any longer because it has a strong enchantment on it that drains life with each hit."

She shivers at hearing about such a wicked enchantment and says, "Ok well don't take too long, okay Bayott. We still have a lot that we need to do tomorrow, so grab it and come right back to get some sleep."

He then smiles and says back to her, "Don't worry, I'm just going to grab my axe and come right back. I don't plan on raiding another ancient temple, or to go pick a fight with anything. Oh and here is what I promised you Shadowmere." He then prepares his unique healing spell and casts it at Shadowmere, then turns and walks away towards where the skeletal remains of Numinex lay.

Shadowmere collapses to her knees as she is struck by the spell and says, "You are a real jerk you know that corpse, but thank you for fulfilling your promise to me."

Twilight then watches as her wounds are healed and stands up on her own when it completes mending things back together and says, "That was a rather cruel thing to do when you weren't expecting it, are you ok?"

She rotates her arm and flexes her wing and sighs in relief saying, "Yeah I'll be fine, I'm just glad that he did what he said he would do for me before he forgot about it."

Bayott continues to walk towards them as he spots eyes similar to that of a Chaurus Hunter looking back at him in the distance and reacts swiftly by readying an ice spike spell and hurls it at the creature in the darkness, hearing a screech follow after it, he readies another and continues his way towards the skeletal remains where his axe is stuck in the ground in his view. As he gets close enough to his axe, he picks it up and sets it in it's place and begins to walk towards where the creature was, wanting to know it was dead or not.

Cypher cringes in pain while she clutches her shoulder where the spike is lodged and gasps for air, having a hard time to catch her breath. She wonders what the hell that was that hit her when she sees a creature coming towards her direction, standing taller than she is by at least three feet and tries to scamper away on a injured ankle and a slightly burnt wing.

As he closes the distance on the injured creature, he instantly notices it's not a Chaurus Hunter and says, "Shit...Stop there for a moment and I will take you to safety, or I will land a spike of ice through your head."

With nowhere else to go and no other options to choose from, she is forced with one choice and says, "I will not tell you anything you hear! I would rather die than become your prisoner, so go ahead and kill me!"

Bayott feels Rainbow stir in his arm and scolds the loud creature with a finger over his mouth and shushes them and says, "I am not going to kill you, but if you want to fight, tough shit." He then brings up an unconsciousness spell and casts it on them, causing them to hit the ground out cold. He then picks the creature up and discovers it is female when its chest accidentally touches him on the neck and makes his way to the hospital mumbling to himself, "This is going to be a long night."

The hospital comes into view as some guards make their way towards him and pull out a ring of some sort and slip it over the creatures horn and then return to their post as one of them says, "Please take the Changeling to the hospital to see to that nasty wound there, some guards will then take turns guarding her when she gets into surgery. We will notify the Princesses of the capture you have made, please enjoy the rest of your day."

He goes to reception and lets the nurses take her off his shoulder and lay her onto a gurney and rush her away to surgery. As he makes his way out of the hospital, he looks at Rainbow Dash, who amazingly is still asleep after all that noise.

As he passes through the door to the empty first aid tent, he sees a large group of ponies huddled together with a large spot open just between them and carefully sets Rainbow down, ignoring her soft protests of leaving his arm. He then begins to take his armor and padding off, deciding to let his body breath for the night and picks Rainbow back up and works his way in between the large cuddle pile and makes himself comfortable, using his arms as a pillow to rest his head and drifts off to sleep.

Meanwhile, with Princess Celestia

Princess Celestia watches over her sister in the first aid tent away from the pony cuddle pile while she is in the Dream Realm dealing with the nightmares that have been a regular occurrence there ever since they have returned from Ustengrav after being away for two weeks. She worries for her sister and says, "Oh sister, I hope you have an easier time dealing with the nightmares tonight after being away for two weeks and were unable to deal with them until now."

A guardspony approaches Princess Celestia and says, "Princess, I have come to inform you that Bayott managed to somehow capture a Changeling, who looked pretty beat up as if she was here when Ponyville was attacked. She is in surgery at the moment and is unconscious, I don't know when she may wake but a couple guards are standing outside of the surgery room and will stay with her until she is able to answer questions."

Celestia looks to the guard and tells them, "Keep me informed on her condition and come get both Bayott and I so we can ask her why she was here, you may go now guard Light Flight." She then hears an odd noise coming from the fur pile and gets up quietly to go see what it is. As she gets close enough, she notices that it is Rainbow Dash sucking on one of his earlobes, with Fluttershy sucking on the other with the tip of Rarity's tail tickling his nose, causing him to blow raspberries to try to get the annoyance to leave him alone. She softly giggles at the cuteness of it all and goes back to watching over her sister Luna, humming a soft tune to help the others sleep a bit easier.

The guard nods their head in acknowledgement and says, "Very well Princess Celestia, I shall follow your command. I shall return to my post then Your Highness."

Inside the Dream Realm

Luna is dealing with the last few nightmares the ponies are having right now when she feels great sorrow and loneliness coming from farther back in the Dream Realm and chases after it to find the pony it is coming from.

As she gets closer to the source, she spots a familiar black door with a red skull on it where it seems to be coming from. She then shakes her head, not really wanting to go in there after her last experience. Going against her better judgement, she tries to open the door when she hears, "What is the blessing that sustains Life or ends it once lost?"

Luna then ponders the riddle for a few moments before saying, "Blood."

The skull replies back, "Welcome home Nightmare Moon."

Her eyes widen in shock at how the skull knew her secret and says, "How do you know of my secret?"

The skull answers her and says, "I know all, and see all that happens in the shadows where most don't want to know of it. For instance, I know that you know what it is like to take a life because you have murdered an innocent before as Nightmare Moon, but have not killed an innocent as Princess Luna yet." It then swings open to allow them to pass by.

Luna then walks through and the door closes behind her, she then turns her head to find that she is inside of Bayotts dream. She feels relieved that she doesn't have to go through two doors anymore and sees Bayott standing in front of a large group on top of of a mountain path exchanging heated words with some female that is scared of him. She then watches as he shifts forms into a beautiful tall white furred lycan with the same brilliant arctic blue eyes and a black mass of hair atop his head and running down his neck and just past his shoulders in a mane.

She watches on when he suddenly jumps into battle, tearing into the large army and rips out hearts to eat them for some reason and feels sick to her stomach and empties it beside her. She continues to watch the bloodbath go on as he rips one soldier in half out of sheer rage, with the upper half landing by her with an intestine still connected to the other half further up the path. She hears the female shout out her battlecry and fights on as he continues to tear the remaining soldiers to pieces, she watches as he then uses his claws to cut off the females head. She gasps as she watches the head fall and the eyes still glance around and blink once before her head bounces on the ground, then is crushed by his massive paw.

Bayott looks over as he hears a shriek of horror come from someone, he looks around and identifies the source as Luna and says, "I am so sorry you have to see this vicious side of me Princess Luna, what brings you to my memory today?"

Luna stares at him with wide eyes in shock at how the memory pauses and he responds to her presence and says, "W-Wait so th-this is a memory?"

He sighs and softly smiles saying, "It is a memory I am reliving for some reason, but I decided to make it so I can react to others if they make an appearance in my dreams."

She sighs and then says, "Ok, that is interesting to hear. I am here to figure out why you are feeling sorrow and loneliness, and help you slowly get past it." She looks at the wounded well aged Nords and then at the flying dragon who looks weary an battle worn then says, "So did you kill all of these people too including the dragon?"

Bayott sighs sadly and says, "No but I may as well have when they said they would join me in going to war against the Thalmor. They were a group of humans known as the Grey Beards, who strictly kept to themselves and stayed disconnected from what happened in the rest of the world. Amazingly they were able to tell what happened in it, but just when the war ended, they told me they were going on some sort of journey back home. I assumed they were going to High Hrothgar but I never checked up on them because I had to make my way to Ustengrav very soon."

He holds his head in sorrow and starts to miss them even more and says, "I destroyed all their hard work to remain a peaceful, kind group of people and asked them to cast it all aside in my desire for revenge and justice for them killing a young child named Svari that was inside the Temple of Solitude when those Thalmor bastards burned it down and butchered every single soul inside, soldiers and civilians alike."

Bayott then shifts back into his human form and collapses onto his knees and begins to weep as he starts to remember the many friends that perished in the fight against the Aldmeri Dominion and says, "I have lost so many friends in the war I considered like family to me. I watched every companion I know except for Farkas and Vilkas fall before my eyes, those two told me that they were leaving the companions to settle down and start a family with someone once they were both rid of the werewolf curse. Aela was the very last companion to die in battle, I witnessed her being skewered by a bolt fired from a balista and pinned to a tree. After I saw that I lost myself and became like an animal with a lust for blood that would eclipse that of even Alduin. I can't help but wonder where the greybeards have gone, I wish they would have told me more than that." He then puts his hands over his eyes as tears begin to run in streams down his face and through his fingers and begins to sob uncontrollably.

Luna doesn't know how to react at hearing that and starts to walk towards him to hold him to ease his tears and says, "I know I am not your mother, Bayott but I can at least be there to soothe you." As she sits cross-legged, she pulls him over gently to lay him on her lap. When his head lays upon her lap she begins to run her fingers through his hair and softly sings, "Hush little Bayott don't say a word, Luna's gonna find you a mockingbird. And if that Mockingbird don't sing, Luna's gonna find you a diamond ring. And If that diamond ring turns brass, Luna's gonna find you a looking glass. And if that looking glass is broke, Luna's gonna find you a billy goat. And if that billy goat don't pull, Luna's gonna find you a cart and a bull. And if that cart and bull turn over, Luna's gonna find you a dog named Rover. And If that dog named Rover won't bark, Luna's gonna find you a pony and a cart. And if that pony and cart fall down, you'll still be the sweetest little Bayott in town. So hush little Bayott, don't you cry. Your friends love you and so do I." As she finishes the song, she gives him a kiss on the forehead and notices that he is fast asleep.

She then snuggles up beside him and whispers in his ear, "It is ok to miss your friends, Bayott. The friends you make now will help you to move on with your life, so friendship is happiness here." She gives him a kiss on the cheek and then carefully gets up and leaves him there now that he is taken care of, and makes her way to exit when she hears Bayott unconsciously says, "Thank you, I needed that." Luna smiles and then exits the dream and goes back to guarding the other ponies from their nightmares.

Outside the Dream Realm, in the real world

Celestia cleans up the pile of puke off her leg as she hears a guard walking towards the entrance and says, "Oh Luna, I wonder why you have gotten sick this time..."

The same guard from earlier walks into the tent and says, "Your Highness, the prisoner is awake now, do you want me to wake him up?"

She then looks up at him and says, "No I shall do that myself, so that the others aren't disturbed. Return to your post and ensure that she doesn't try to escape Light Flight. I will join you as soon as I gently wake Bayott from his slumber." She then sighs carefully shifting Luna's head off of her lap, then stands up and makes her way over to where he sleeps.

Light Flight salutes Princess Celestia and says, "Have a good night Your Highness, I shall keep an eye on the prisoner until you both arrive." He then turns around and leaves the tent, returning to his post.

Celestia drops down to the floor into a sitting position just above his head, gently running a hand through his hair and then leans in close to his ear that is being nibbled on by Rainbow Dash saying, "I am sorry I must wake you so early my little pony, for the hour to wake is not yet upon us. The world has need of you, so please awaken now and answer my call to you Dragonborn. The creature you took to surgery has been moved to a hospital room, and we must question why it is here."

Bayott slowly stirs from his slumber when he feels someone running fingers through his now very long black hair, he feels someone or something nibbling on one ear and something else sucking on the other. As he gets curious, he opens his eyes and tilts his head down and sees that Fluttershy is on one side and Rainbow is on the other and then tilts his head up, looking for whoever woke him and catches a glance up a medium length skirt of a pony with white legs with golden horseshoes with something fancy going up the front only serving as a decoration. He then turns his attention back to following where the legs went and catches a glimpse of yellowish red lace panties with a sun emblem on the front of the fabric with a highly maintained region, showing that it belongs to someone and then looks for the face of the person it belongs to. His eyes land on the furiously blushing face of Princess Celestia and blushes himself and opens his mouth to apologize when she puts a finger over his mouth to silence him and points to the pile of cuddling ponies, indicating him to stay still.

She forces herself to remain calm after he caught a glimpse of her special region, carefully shifting the ponies around so he can get out from under them all. She freezes when she sees that Princess Cadence's cheek is resting on top of Bayott's groin and forces her attention to removing Fluttershy and Rainbow from his ears carefully so they don't wake. She then softly says in his ear, "If anything happened between you and Cadence, I will send you to Tartarus for eternity as punishment. Work your way out when I nod ok?" She then shifts to the side to give him room and then carefully lifts Cadence's head and upper body, sliding her arms out from under his rear and nods her head for him to start working his way out.

He doesn't question her why she said that and looks down to see where her head was laying and his face turns an even deeper shade of red as he quickly but carefully works his way out of the soft furry cuddle pile. After he is free of the pile, he rolls to his side to start to get up by getting to his knees first and pushing himself up with his legs and then offers her a hand to help pull her to her hooves.

Celestia takes his hand and pulls against him to help herself to her hooves and accidentally coming face to face with his chest and releases his hand, she backs away rubbing her nose and softly says with a slight chuckle, "Oww, my nose is sensitive you know?"

Bayott chuckles as he says to her, "I am terribly sorry about seeing everything that was down there, Undergarments sure have came a long way from using a single, long piece of cloth to cover ourselves. Why do you wake me so early Your Highness? Has there been another dragon sighting?" He then begins to look for where his armor and padding is so he can put it back on if needed.

Her eyes drift down as he says something about underwear, her face going deep red as she sees three inches of the end of his member stick upwards out of the loincloth. She forces herself to look up, struggling not to steal a glance back down to see if she was seeing things and says, "The prisoner you have captured last night is awake and we must question her, how did you manage to find and defeat that changeling?"

He doesn't realize that he is sticking out of the cloth and answers her, "I was going to get my axe from where it was left when I caught a glimpse of eyes that have a slight greenish glow to them similar to a very dangerous creature in my world called a Chaurus Hunter. I responded by instinct and readied a spell I know called Ice Spike, cast it and threw one in the direction of the eyes. I retrieved my axe and went to investigate where I saw the eyes last, to my shock it was a creature I do not recognize. One thing for sure though is that it is similar to any form of Chaurus, I told it that I wasn't going to harm it. When it said it would prefer death over life, I told it tough shit and cast a spell to render it unconscious. I found out it was female when I picked it up and their chest touched my neck, after that I took her to the hospital to get looked at due to the spike hitting her shoulder blade when a guard approached and placed a ring on the horn and sent me on my way again. Amazingly, the ice spike didn't hit her heart or she would be a corpse right now. What is a changeling, are they related to the Chaurus from my world at all?"

Celestia shrugs her shoulders and looks down at his underwear and sees that his member is sticking a little bit further out of it and looks back up. Keeping her face straight, she clears her throat softly and says, "Sadly, we do not know much about the history of the Changelings. Please come with me to question the prisoner Bayott, but first it would be wise if you made yourself a little more decent first."

Bayott then feels stiff in a certain area, then blushes and says, "I guess it is a look for a look then, we even?" He then turns around and heads to the pile of armor and begins to put it on.

She is still blushing from the sight of him getting bigger still and then sighs and then says, "I guess we are even in that case. You don't need to put on the metal armor, we are only heading to the room where she is recovering."

He nods and then ties his leather padding around his waist with his member forced down the inside of one of the legs and puts on his boots and then stands back up, turning around and says to her, "Ok I'm ready Your Highness, let's go interrogate this prisoner."

Celestia gulps as she sees how gifted he is as she sees the size of his member and says, "Follow me to the room please." She then leads the way out of the tent and to the hospital.

Bayott forces himself to look anywhere but at Princess Celestia's nice ass and notices that the females seem to have a shocked look in their eyes when they glance at him walking past them and asks Celestia, "Excuse me Your Highness, but is it just me or are the females all watching me when I walk by them?"

She continues walking towards the hospital and glances around and sees that they notice it too and says to him, "I hate to have to admit this but you are rather, gifted. We are almost there, keep up with me."

He blushes and tries to walk a little different so his size doesn't show so much, but ends up looking weirder and goes back to how he walked before. He sighs in relief when they finally reach the doors to the hospital's entrance and make their way to the reception desk to find where the prisoner is staying.

Celestia walks up to the desk and asks the receptionist, "Excuse me, where is the changeling's room? A guard informed me that she just got out of surgery and is recovering, we have questions to ask."

The receptionist checks the list and tells her, "That patient is in recovery B01 under the care of Dr. Frank Enstein."

She shudders as she hears that and thanks them for the information and heads for the stairs that lead down to the basement saying, "The basement of this hospital gives me the creeps, it was here before the hospital was. Dr. Frank Enstein is in charge of this floor, he was the first doctor that was employed here. He is still striving to becoming a surgeon though, but is having a hard time passing the entrance exam to get into the college of his choice."

Bayott follows after her and gets an uneasy feeling as they go down into the basement to speak to the prisoner and says, "At least you don't have a person that butchers others to bring a loved one back from the dead with dangerous magic called necromancy."

Celestia turns her head around rapidly and stops in her tracks, feeling Bayott run into her as his shaft presses against her skirt between her cheeks and blushes saying, "Certain types of Necromancy has been banned for as long as I can remember, conjuration is fine as long as it isn't used upon the dead. It is considered highly taboo to use it on a corpse and is frowned upon."

He backs away from her with a blush and says, "My apologies Your Highness, I didn't know you were going to stop suddenly. Back in my time, Necromancy was treated like it was just another field of magic to be explored, but it was also taboo to use it in view of the public eye. People back then didn't really trust those who could cast magic, I think they were just really jealous that they didn't have the ability to use it. I know several spells for the Conjuration school of magic such as..." he then readies a spell and casts it at the landing before them, summoning a small transparent bed and says, "A bed for someone if they are too tired to go back home. Do you want to try it out?"

She blushes furiously and stomps down the rest of the stairs saying, "NO! I don't want to try it out, definitely not with you!" She then steps onto the bed and walks over it, finding it remarkably soft and comfortable. She then steps down off the bed, slightly disappointed she has to step off of it, making a blush race across her face as she continues down the hall when she hears a poof from behind her. She looks behind her to see that the bed has disappeared and asks him, "What happened, where did that thing go?"

Bayott chuckles and says, "It was just a temporary object, so it vanishes once it is used. Do you want me to summon another?"

Celestia whips her head around blushing even more saying, "N-No, we have questions to ask a prisoner, we cannot take too long or she will fall back asleep or try to escape." She then continues on around the corner when she hits the landing, and heads towards the first hallway on the left. She then spots the guards standing outside and heads towards them and turns into the room on the right side of the hall as they salute her then return to their previous pose.

He follows her down the winding hall and enters the patient's room and sees the changeling sitting on the bed with a very surprised look on her face as she looks at him and hisses. He then chuckles and says, "I see you remember me, can you tell me if your species is related to the Chaurus?"

Cypher cocks her head, momentarily forgetting her anger at being made a prisoner and says, "If we were, would that mean something to you?"

Bayott places a hand on Celestia's shoulder and lightly squeezes, informing her that he would take over. He approaches her with a sinister smile on his face and readies his Ice Spike spell saying, "If you don't answer every question I have, I am going to turn you into a shish kabob with the spell I used on you earlier."

Her eyes go wide and she nods quickly and says, "Alright, alright we are very distantly related to them. I don't know exactly how though, our leader didn't tell us that."

He then relaxes his spell and smile and says, "That is all the questions I have for you right now, but now I think that Princess Celestia has questions of her own. If you refuse to answer them, I'm going to switch to a stronger version of the spell I used on you called Icy Spear and cast it so it skewers you up the ass and comes out of your mouth. Oh one more thing, it better be the truth or I will heal your corpse and bring it back to life again and again until you tell the truth." He then looks to the princess and says to her, "Well now it is your turn to get answers."

Cypher squeaks audibly and holds onto her tail tightly with two hands, shaking in fear of what he would do to her if she lied to Princess Celestia.

Celestia shivers when she hears what he would do to the prisoner and clears her voice saying, "I'm sorry for his behavior, he just got up from a 70,000 year nap. His manners are severely outdated and needs to be brought up to date with current customs these days, what is your name young one? What were you doing in Ponyville, and what was your purpose there?"

She continues to shake as she looks at him when he readies a spell in his hand and sits up straight and quickly answers her, "My name is Cypher, I was sent to Ponyville to gather love from the Ponies to help increase our numbers because they are beginning to dwindle as it is harder to find love without kidnapping ponies and taking it from them. I was injured in an attack by that dragon from the other day, today I just heard that one of the scouts spotted something near our hive similar to a dragon but far larger than normal with black scales and beady red eyes hovering over a pile of rock casting magic at it with its mouth when a skeleton rose up from the rock as its flesh returned to it with red and black scales. The scout thought they heard it called Naha something."

Bayott then rushes forward a few steps and says, "Cypher, Is your hive nearby where the dragon was resurrected?"

She then squeals when he gets in her face and replies, "Yes, ummm... w-why do you need to know that Mr. uhhh... what is your name?"

He then looks in her eyes and says, "My name is Bayott, that dragon is called Nahagliiv, and he is from my time and has caused much misery and pain in Skyrim, as well as during the rule of dragons over all. Not as much misery that Numinex has caused, but still... this dragon is not one to be taken lightly. If you want to protect your hive, you will tell me its location now or I might not arrive in time to save it! SO ANSWER ME NOW!" He raises his voice and causes the room to rumble from his anger.

She feels the room shake from his voice somehow, causing Cypher to wince and shrink in on herself answering him, "I-It is in the eastern part of the Badlands along the edge of the mountains, follow the main path until you spot a very wide and tall rock with a flat top. That is an illusion to hide the location of the hive from other ponies. Please hurry now and save our queen, all is lost if she dies!" She shakes in place, holding herself and begins to sob.

Celestia glares at him and says, "You didn't have to be that cruel to her! She does have feelings, you know! I will look after her while you go handle that dragon, do you need to take any of my soldiers with you for the fight?" She walks over to Cypher and holds her in her arms and holds her close, letting her feed on her love and says, "Take what love you need from me little one, no pony will harm you so do not worry."

Bayott then sighs sadly and says, "I would like to, but no I can't take guards with me to fight a dragon. They would just end up as cannon fodder during the battle, so I will go fight it alone. Don't worry princess, I will be more careful this time around. I underestimated how strong Numinex was and nearly paid the price for that mistake." With that said, he turns around and hurries out of the room.

She watches as he turns around, his waist-long black hair twirls around in the air as he runs out of the room and hurries to get the rest of his armor on saying, "Be careful and come back in one piece Bayott, for many females will be sad and miss you very much if you should perish and fail to return."

The guards are standing guard outside the room after watching him rush past them and dart down the hallways towards the stairs and one asks, "Your Highness, do you want us to follow him?"

Celestia sighs and says, "No, he says that this dragon has a name as well and the guards would have little to no effect on it. So please just remain here and keep watch over our guest until we can move her to a better location than the basement of the hospital."

Just then Cypher gasps and says, "Wait, I'm in the Ponyville Hospital's basement?!"

She looks curiously at her and asks, "Yes, is there a problem with that Cypher?"

She then continues to feed on Celestia's love and says, "No, not really. I have heard some awful rumors about the basement and Dr. Frank Enstein involving forbidden experiments. I heard that he was expelled from college for his unusual hobbies he did after class. I don't know if there is any evidence to prove that or not."

He makes it out of the hospital and ignores the receptionist as she asks if anything is wrong, in too much of a hurry to get to the hive and try to save it and the Queen changeling. He makes his way towards the tent sprinting across the ground, arriving a few moments later and rushes through the entrance.

Rarity gasps as she is startled at the sudden intrusion and sees that it is Bayott and forgets that her hair and tail are in curlers and says, "Oh it is just you Bayott, where did you go and why are you in such a hurry? Did something happen?" She then watches as he looks at the rest of his armor and sighs as he throws it on grumbling.

Bayott then puts his armor on without waking the others up and answers her, "I went with Princess Celestia to ask the changeling prisoner I caught last night some questions when I was grabbing my axe. I then found out that another dragon from my time was spotted near their hive named Nahagliiv. I must go and put it down to save them for if the queen dies, so do they. Ugh, I will have to pray this armor holds out through the fight, before I go do you think you can quickly cut my long-ass hair down to about shoulder length?"

She can't help but worry for him and smiles saying, "Sure darling, just sit down and I will take care of that for you." She pulls out a pair of scissors as he sits down in front of her, she makes quick work of it as she holds the remainder of what she cut off in her hands and tosses it into a trash can as he then gets up and starts to put the rest of his armor on.

He then reaches for his battle axe when he hears a shuffling of hooves that work their way out of the pile of cuddling ponies. He sets his battle axe in place as he puts his helmet on and turns around, seeing that it is Shadowmere that stands before him with a grin on her face and says, "How did you know I was going somewhere, Shadow?"

Shadowmere crosses her arms with a grin and tells him, "I know the sounds you make when you are about to go into another fight, besides, you know you won't make it there on time if you hope to save them and the hive."

Bayott then hears a voice call out from the bottom of the pile saying, "Oh pah lease, you are very noisy when you get dressed. You try to be silent, but you are not silent enough to fool our keen ears! Where do you think you are going Bayott?"

He then sighs and says, "I have to go fight another named dragon, this one is called Nahagliiv. He is not as strong as Numinex but I still have to be wary around him when I fight, Princess Celestia is watching over the prisoner I caught last night when I was retrieving my axe. The prisoner told me that a large, black dragon with red eyes cast magic at a pile of stones, causing the dragon buried under them to wake and gather his flesh again. I know that he will aid Alduin in re-establishing the dragon's rule over the world, therefore I must answer the call for aid.

Cadence looks out between the tangle of wings, arms and legs to look at Bayott and says, "You better hurry up and come back in one piece, we are missing our fleshy pillow." She then lays back down and returns to sleep

Bayott then looks back to Shadowmere, crosses his arms and says, "Well girl, are you ready for a long ass run into the badlands?"

She chuckles at him and turns around to go outside saying, "Of course, lets get going old man!"