The Sleeping Hero

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."