Prologue: A Night to remember
Author's Notes: And here begins the first chapter of my first story, italics are character's thoughts, enjoy.
Dovahkiin.
The title by which Haj-Ei the Argonian was mainly known to the people of Skyrim among others. Slayer of Alduin, Legate and War Hero of the Empire, Harbinger of the Companions and Archmage of Winterhold College to name a few.
Wherever he walked people would almost instantly recognize and hail him as a hero while any Imperial soldiers would salute their Legate as he passed by and why shouldn't they? Without his talents the world would've ended a long time ago.
But was it truly over?
It has been close to a year since he defeated Alduin in Sovngarde and that one question has plagued his mind since then, after all, Alduin's soul had escaped his grasp.
While Both Arngeir and Paarthurnax had said that he would return "At the end of time" to fulfill his own destiny and consume the world the main question being when and if there was going to be another Dragonborn after his own mortal life ends to stop him when that time comes or is it the world's destiny to be inevitably destroyed? So it can be reborn?
His philosophical reverie was cut short when his horse suddenly stopped and stomped the ground, trying to get his attention.
"What's wrong Frost?" he asked his loyal steed, despite the fact Frost couldn't speak the two understood each other almost perfectly, an understanding which had saved them both on more than one occasion. Even Haj-Ei had to admit he was much smarter than the more common horses in Skyrim.
Frost pawed the ground and drooped his ears, after following his gaze he noticed a group down the road, coming towards them, only needing one glance to recognize the uniforms.
'A Thalmor patrol, looks like i'm in luck.' he thought with a smile. To say he despised them would be an understatement of an era and who wouldn't hate those arrogant, racist and condescending elves who think they're entitled to everything just because of some treaty?
Even after he had aided the Empire to victory during the civil war, he had been waging his own small war against Thalmor oppression. Squashing their patrols wherever he found them, sneaking into the embassy and taking everything of value, while assassinating a few more elves on the process.
Even General Tullius had applauded his efforts (secretly of course) and would sometimes offer to slip him some 'misplaced' gold for this. Haj-Ei had refused however, stating that the Thalmor would no-doubtedly investigate the goings of imperial gold with a close eye and if it could be traced back to him, he could be accused of violation of the treaty or worse, treason.
"Good eyes." He whispered to his steed as he unmounted and started making his way towards the approaching Thalmor, before he could get too far however he glanced back at him.
"Stay" He said sternly. Frost replied with a snort and a huff, irritated by the idea of being left out of a battle, but Haj-Ei knew he would obey. He made his way to "greet" the Thalmor.
"Halt!" He raised his hand as he yelled to the elf at the front.
"What? Who dares to give orders to a Thalmor Justiciar?" The elf replied.
'They dont recognize me? Must be the helmet.' He thought, grinning behind his Daedric helmet as an devious idea came to mind. "I think you know who i am Thalmor scum, especially once i do this."
Tiid Klo Ul!
As time slowed to a near standstill he unsheathed his greatsword from his back and dashed right into the group of elves. To them appearing as no more than a blur as he zipped among them, carving the soldiers one-by-one with mighty swings, leaving them no time to so much as scream.
When time returned to normal, the patrol's warriors had all been left on the ground in bloody heaps, leaving only the mages left. The head Justiciar glanced at the scene behind her, horror evident in her eyes.
"H-h-how did you?" She stuttered, still trying to comprehend what had transpired.
"Now do you know who i am?" He asked with a smug grin, which unfortunately for him, went unnoticed by her.
"Oh g-gods." One of the mages said with an almost trembling voice "It's the Dragonborn!" He finished with a yell.
Haj-Ei, instead of responding, sunk his sword blade first into the soft ground before proceeding to remove his helmet and placing it on top of the pommel, as if to mark a grave.
He gave them a wide grin, exposing all of his sharp teeth.
"Correct."
Before the remaining Thalmor could respond he continued "I've been itching to try this new spell i've been developing, and you'll make for an excellent test group." He spoke as he cracked his knuckles and began channeling magicka into his palms.
"Don't just stand there!" The head Justiciar yelled to her remaining subordinates.
"Kill him!"
The other mages began charging their own spells, apparently they were still more afraid of their superior than the Dragonborn, however, he had anticipated that they'd try to interrupt his casting.
Feim Zii Gron!
As the Thu'um left his lips his body was coated in the familiar etherealness, giving him the appearance of a ghost.
The Thalmor mages desperately tried to stop him from casting whatever spell he was trying to cast, Thunderbolts, Icy spears and Firebolts all were thrown at him but they could only look in horror as each and every spell they hurled at him simply passed through, as if he wasn't there at all.
"Our spells aren't having any effect!" Yelled one mage.
"What foul sorcery is this?" Spoke another.
The mages abruptly stopped when several hovering Bound Swords materialized around the Dragonborn.
"Bound Swords? Really?" Asked the head Justiciar with her normally arrogant voice, making no effort to conceal her sarcasm. "That's nothing new, even an Altmer child could accomplish that." She continued with a tinge of disappointment in her voice.
Haj-Ei merely grinned at her, before flicking his hand and as if on cue the Bound Swords turned to a horizontal position, blades towards the mages.
"Take your last breath." He spoke darkly as the swords were sent flying towards their hapless targets with another flick of his hand, with two swords impaling each mage in the chest. "I'm not done yet." And as he snapped his fingers, the blades began glowing brightly and promptly exploded, while still stuck on their targets.
Unfortunately he had vastly underestimated the force of the explosion as the mages were turned into giblets and fountains of crimson, quite a fair amount of it landing onto Haj-Ei's armor and face.
Once the dust had settled he gazed at the scene he had created with awe, and spoke the first thing that came to mind.
"So much blood!" He roared.
"I guess i poured a bit too much magicka into that spell." He continued as he pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the blood from his face.
Now only Haj-Ei and the lead Justiciar remained, she glanced the scene behind her with complete terror. Almost effortlessly the Dragonborn had devastated her entire entourage, six warriors and three mages lay dead, some in unrecognizable heaps. She turned to face the Dragonborn, mute, unable to form any coherent sentence.
"Not so high-and-mighty now are you?" He spoke with a wide smile as seeing those arrogant Thalmor broken like that brought pleasure like none other to him. "Now stay right there and this'll be relatively painless, not that you'd deserve a quick death, Thalmor scum." He finished the last part with a snarl as he began charging a Thunderbolt into both of his palms, combining them in a dual-cast
"Now, before i destroy you, there's one thing i want you to remember as i send you..." His gaze trailed of as he fell into deep thought before refocusing "Wherever it is you elves go when you die."
At those words she seemingly snaps out of her stupor and tries to run away "Mercy!" She yells.
"Talos rules!"
Haj-Ei yelled at her back before unleashing his charged Thunderbolt, which hit it's target dead-on, causing her body to disintegrate, leaving only a pile of smoking ash behind.
'And that takes care of that.' His job done, he retrieved his helmet and sword, placing the former on his head and sheathing the latter on his back.
He whistled for Frost who promptly galloped to him and as he mounted, he took one last look at his handiwork.
'Clearly that spell still needs some work.' He thought as the pair set off along the road once more.
The night had been mostly uneventful after that encounter with the Thalmor and after reaching Whiterun, he swiftly made his way to his local dwelling and collapsed on his bed, both the journey and the fight with those elves having taken their toll.
The next morning however he immediately regretted falling asleep with his armor on, as pain assaulted every muscle in his body. "Oh gods that hurts." He muttered to himself. Much like the way it looks, Daedric Armor is NOT comfortable to sleep in.
Struggling against the pain, he stood up and proceeded to flex his limbs and back, creating a chorus of popping sounds, he sighed in relief as the aches began to subside. 'I seriously have to stop falling asleep in my armor, would save alot of aches.'
As he glanced out of a nearby window he saw that the sun was already high in the sky, not that it mattered much, being an adventurer meant quite liberal use of one's sleep cycle, with nobody telling him when to wake up for work or something of the sort.
With a smile he left his room and started making his way towards the front door, before he got halfway though, his stomach decided to growl loudly.
"Oh yea, better grab some grub before heading out." He spoke to no one in particular as he walked to the table to take inventory of items that might sate his hunger.
His usual diet consisted of whatever he could get in the wilds, be it rabbit, pheasant, deer or fish and what he didn't eat immediately, he would cook, salt and preserve for later use as convenient field rations. Although one time when game had been scarce, he was forced to eat a frostbite spider, something he wasn't looking forward to doing ever again.
Not only did it taste like rotten eggs, his breath smelled so horribly rancid he had to wash his mouth daily for three days with raw alcohol just to get the stench off.
Shuddering at the memory, he continued rummaging through his enchanted knapsack that served as his inventory which had been made especially for him, it could hold any reasonably sized item in unlimited amounts but it did have a single weakness.
Any item placed in it would have its weight completely unaffected, meaning he couldn't go around carrying tons of stuff without feeling like he was hauling boulders.
After some consideration he opted for a simple Salmon Steak sandwich with some vegetables, or 'Soldier's meal' as he called it. After finishing his impromptu breakfast with a bottle of mead, he departed from his home towards Jorrvaskr to see if The Companions had received any job requests that awaited for completion, before he could get far however, an all too familiar figure approached him.
"I've been looking for you, got something im supposed to deliver, your eyes only." The courier spoke in his usual flat tone.
'Oh gods, what does he have for me this time? Someone died again and i'm to inherit his gold?'
"Let's see here. I've got a letter addressed to you, didn't say who he was, just that he was a friend of yours." He handed out a letter from his satchel. This got his attention, the only time the courier said the letter was from a friend was the time when Delphine had discovered another Word of Power, but that didn't make sense. He already knew every Thu'um there was. Looking at the letter, it was a simple folded piece of paper with a wax seal.
What threw him off guard however, was the insignia on the seal; A Thorny Rose.
"Looks like that's it, gotta go" The courier finished but at this point, Haj-Ei wasn't listening. Instead his eyes were glued on the wax seal, an insignia he knew all too well, reluctantly he opened it and began to read, it was written in the most elegant cursive he had ever seen.
To my favourite Champion.
I must say after watching your progress, not only have you brought an endless amount of joy to your dear old Uncle Sanguine, but you have also crushed plenty mortal dreams and spirits with your actions, which means more mortals for me to drag down the path of sin.
Not to mention your simply epic battle against Alduin in that realm the Nords call Sovngarde which was simply splendid entertainment in itself. With that in mind, seeing as the anniversary of that very battle is fast approaching, i believe that a celebration is in order, with ME as the host and YOU as the guest of honor.
The fun begins 13th of Frostfall.
Signed by your favourite Prince.
Uncle Sanguine.
PS. I'd advise you to take this offer, it's not often i give my favor so freely.
PSS. No there wont be any of my 'Special Brew' (Unless you specifically ask) and no i won't make you spread merriment this time around, you have already provided more than enough entertainment to last me atleast a century.
He folded back the letter, still flabbergasted by what he had just seen, the very Prince of Debauchery had just contacted him who wanted to throw him a celebrationary party, the same prince who had once before gotten him seriously drunk, and THEN had dragged him half-across Skyrim doing drunken pranks.
Pranks that He had to fix the following day.
But then again, what choice did he have? Like he said in the letter, trying to defy and possibly angering a Daedric Prince would have very serious repercussions, his head falling in defeat, he checked his calendar.
"13th of Frostfall, that's.... Oh, that's today." But what surprised him was that Sanguine hadn't described a location or even a time of day.
'How in Oblivion am i supposed to get to this party if i don't even know where or when it is. Oh well, no use worrying about it, might as well prepare for what's to come.'
After he retrieved his gear he thought was suitable, he decided it would be best to take a nap prior to the 'party' Sanguine was going to throw him to gather strength as he knew this would be a long night.
During his slumber, he suddenly felt slight tingling course through his entire body as it was engulfed in a purple aura, and then his body vanished.
When the teleportation spell finished, he instantly jumped to his feet and gripped his sword's hilt, ready to counter any threat.
"And there's the guest of honor." A voice spoke behind him, a voice he hadn't heard in a long time.
Slowly he turned to face his captor, his hand still gripping the hilt, what he saw before him was a black skinned figure with an equally black hair and horns on it's head, blood-red tattoos adorning it's face and eyes like black pits, lacking both pupils and irises and wearing a set of Daedric Armor, same as he.
When he recognized who it was he visibly relaxed.
"Couldn't you at the very least warn me first before teleporting me?" Haj-Ei asked with annoyance.
Sanguine however was smiling "Now now, where would the fun be in that, this is a surprise party after all." He replied, his voice carrying a slight slur as if he was on a constant state of inebriation, which made sense since Drunkenness was part of his sphere.
He began tapping his chin, as if in deep thought. "Although now that i think about, maybe i shouldn't have written that letter if i did intend this as a surprise."
Before Haj-Ei could facepalm at the statement, Sanguine continued "Ah but that's in the past, this is now. Now the party can begin." He took a step to the side and gestured at the banguet table behind him, where several guests had already gathered at the benches, seemingly waiting for the Guest of Honor to join them.
Sanguine lead the Dragonborn to the two elaborate thrones sitting at the far end of the table, once he was seated, Sanguine began tapping a wine glass with his clawed gauntlet.
"My faithful worshippers." He began "Your Uncle Sanguine would like to raise a toast." And on cue the other guests raised their own glasses.
"To the Dragonborn, for being such a fabulous source of entertainment, and for delivering so many mortal souls for me to drag down the path of sin and debauchery with his actions and adventures."
"To the Dragonborn." the guests spoke in unison.
"Skool!" Sanguine spoke loudly as he emptied his glass. "Mmm. Say what you want about the Cyrodiils, but they make darn good brandy." He finished with a grin.
The party got into full swing after Sanguine's little speech and for the following hours, people ate, drank and laughed as Sanguine recounted some of the Dragonborn's more... eccentric adventures, some of which made him slightly embarrassed but despite himself, even he chuckled at the memories, especially the part about a female Dunmer mage practicing her spells on him.
As the party dragged on, he silently cursed himself for being born an Argonian as his immunity to poisons gave him a way higher tolerance for alcohol than other species, fortunately, the liquor being served to him had been spiced up just right, courtesy of Sanguine so he too could enjoy the delights of drunkenness.
He chuckled slightly as he remembered one boast he once made in a tavern, that he could drink enough for even a Nord to die from alcohol poisoning without him passing out, a boast he had won by the way, that empty mead barrel being a testament to that.
Looking around him, the other guests all had passed out at this point and were either leaning on the table or lying on the floor, leaving only Haj-Ei and Sanguine still conscious, though the former only barely.
Sanguine looked around the unconscious guests and whistled "Amazing mortal, you have quite the endurance to stay up for this long, i'm honestly impressed." Despite the fact he had drank just as much, if not more than him, his voice was only slightly more slurred than it had been at the beginning.
"H-hey, howsh come... yous can shtill speak no-nos-normally?"
He merely smiled at the question "My dear mortal, what do you think i've been doing these untold millenia that i've been in existence? Drinking liquor is like shagging a good courtesan or eating a well prepared pork roast, you just need to know what you're doing." Haj-Ei snickered at his bluntness, an another trait of his sphere.
"Wellsh, i thinks i'm ready to calls it quits." He tried to stand up from his throne, a feat that proved to be quite the challenge, after some stumbling, falling and a few curses which invoked a hearty laugh from Sanguine, he finally succeeded, albeit barely.
"You're definitely going to have a serious hangover the next morning, oh well, your fault for not stopping early enough." He spoke in a slightly mocking tone as he took another sip.
"Whassever, now couldsh ya send me back already?"
He gave him a wide smile before replying "It would be my pleasure, my Favourite Champion. Do keep ol' Uncle Sanguine in your prayers as you continue your life." As he finished, his gauntlet began glowing and he snapped his fingers.
The Dragonborn once again felt the jolt course through his body as it was coated in a purple aura, and then he was gone.
But this time something was different, the transition seemed to last longer, atleast to him, when his body finally reconstructed itself, there was a strange feeling accompanying it.
The air whistled in his ears, his body felt limp and weightless, as if he was floating.
'Why are those clouds moving so fast?' it took a while for his drunken mind to process what was going on but when it did, it struck him like a Warhammer blow to the head.
He was falling, fast.
Turning his body over in the air, he looked in horror at the rapidly approaching building he was falling towards. He knew that from this height, even with a suit of heavy armor, the fall would kill him. Almost instinctively he began focusing his Thu'um, his only chance at survival.
'I only have one chance, i need to get this right, if not, then bye bye Haj-Ei.'
Feim Zii Gron!
Mere moments after the shout, he fell through the roof with a loud crash, but after that he felt himself sinking into something soft.
'Am i dead?' he turned his head to look at his hand and smiled when he could see through it, the shout had succeeded.
'That was too close for comfort... say, this hay feels... kinda... soft, i think i'll take a nap.'
And with those thoughts, he closed his eyes and allowed darkness to take him. What he didn't realize however was how close exactly, someone was listening.
It was another quiet and beautiful night at the Sweet Apple Acres as Luna's moon shone brightly in the sky. Or it would've been if not for a strange object that was falling rapidly towards their barn.
Feim Zii Gron!
A sudden, loud yell and an equally loud crash snapped Applejack out of her slumber.
"What the hay was that?!" She yelled.
Author's notes: And there you have it folks, the first chapter of my first story, this turned out quite long for a Prologue since i wanted to squeeze everything i had in mind into this.
A/N: The second chapter of my release bundle, this one is written mainly from the ponies POV, enjoy.
The whole Apple family had gathered just outside the barn, besides Granny Smith who had somehow managed to miss the whole incident and was still sleeping soundly, mere minutes after they heard that strange yell and the crash.
"W-what do ya think it was?" Asked Applebloom, worrry evident in her voice.
"Ah dont know, but whatever it was it's probably still in there." Replied Applejack.
"Eeyup." Spoke Big Mac in his usual stoic voice.
Opening the door just a crack, Applejack peeked inside. The inside was an utter mess, towards the back end, a gaping hole adorned the ceiling, allowing Luna's moon to cast it's light on the interior while stray strands of hay danced around in the light draft that was now present, what caught her attention however, was the messy pile of hay bales that just the previous day had been neatly stacked.
She recoiled slightly however, when she heard light snoring coming from that very same pile of hay. "Somethin's definitely in there." She said without turning away.
"Applejack!" A distant voice called out for her. When she turned to face the speaker, she saw the rest of her friends who were quickly galloping towards the farm, still dressed in a variety of nightgowns, with Rainbow Dash flying ahead of them.
"Applejack, you okay?" She asked
"Ah'm fine sugarcube." She turned to the others "But what are the rest of ya doing here?"
"Well we... heard that bizarre... shout come from here... so we came to make sure you're okay." Replied Twilight Sparkle, still trying to catch her breath.
"Wait a minute, ya mean ya'll heard that all the way in Ponyville?"
"We all heard it darling." Answered Rarity, who was trying to straighten the rollers in her mane.
"Yes, sound tends to travel quite far in the air, especially if the winds are favorable, which they are tonight." Continued Twilight.
"Whoa, did you notice you have a pretty big hole in the roof of your barn?" Said Rainbow, who had flown high up to get a better view.
"Ugh, yes Rainbow we noticed, that's kinda the reason we're out here." Answered Applejack matter-of-factly.
"After we all heard that 'shout' there was a really loud crash, woke us all up. So when we came tah' investigate, we see that the whole barn's a mess, with that hole in tah' ceiling, but that's not all." She lowered her voice to a whisper.
"There's somepony snorin' in there too."
At this the group changed nervous glances, all except Pinkie Pie, who had a smile on her face. "Why would somepony go through the roof if they wanted to sleep when they could just use the door." She began tapping her chin with a hoof. "Well Dashie maybe but she's here and not there and her home is made from clouds and not wood which tends to give ouchies if you dive through it. Unless yo-hmmphmhp." Her voice was muffled by Twilight's hoof on her mouth.
"Yes Pinkie, we know. So anyway, we need to figure out what exactly this creature is that's in there." Twilight gestured towards the barn "and if it's dangerous."
"W-what if it's a m-monster?" Fluttershy squeaked.
"Don't you worry none Flutters, if it's a monster i'll send it back where it came from. In ten seconds flat." Rainbow declared and threw a few punches in the air for emphasis.
"Well, there's only one way to find out." Continued Twilight.
The others simply nodded "Applebloom, go back inside for now." Applejack said to her younger sibling.
"Aww, but ah' wanna' see that monster."
"Now sugarcube." She replied sternly.
Applebloom merely sighed in defeat as she started trotting towards the farmhouse, one she was out of sight, the six mares and Big Mac entered the barn, the snoring beginning once again, slowly they made their way closer to the source of the sound.
Once they were close enough, Twilight's horn lit up as she began to scour the pile of hay with her magic, once she felt it contact something solid, she proceeded to pull it away gently, so as to not wake up the sleeping creature.
She was shocked however when it came into view, so much in fact that she lost her concentration long enough for it to fall into the floor with a loud clank. 'That sounded almost metallic' She thought.
"Ow." They gasped in unison as the strange creature groaned and began to stir.
"By the godsh, haven't ah had enough falling down for one night?" It muttered as it shakily lifted itself, the ponies gasped again when it stood to it's full height. What they saw before them, looked like something straight out of a nightmare. It was a bipedal creature, standing easily twice as tall as the rest of them besides Big Mac, a black skin adorning it's whole body which had a seemingly metallic sheen, with parts of it glowing in a red light, making it look even more monstrous.
Spikes protruded from it's shoulders, head and forehooves, with them ending in wicked claws which Twilight reasoned could easily tear through pony flesh. Where she guessed it's eyes should be, she saw only two black, soulless pits. What she found odd however, was the way the creature was swaying slightly, like a leaf on a wind.
While they couldn't see it's eyes, they could feel it's gaze burning through them, as if it was studying them.
"Whooaa." It spoke "Oh greats, another of those wacky hallushinationsh, i'm sheeing colorfully horshes." It spoke with a heavy slur.
Before anypony could respond however, Rainbow had already closed the distance and was now hovering at the creature's eye-level staring it straight into those dark pits "So who do you think you are? Coming in here like you own the place, breaking up AJ's barn and scaring my friends?" She said with a scowl "I ought to teach you a lesson."
"Rainbow get back!" Yelled Twilight "It might be dangerous!" What she didn't expect however was when the creature started snickering and then broke out in full laughter, stumbling around a bit before recomposing itself.
"What's so funny?" Rainbow asked with slight irritation.
"Y-y-you." It responded and pointed a clawed finger at Rainbow.
"What?"
"Yesh you, sheriously, how could anyone poshibly take your threatsh sheriously? When wash the last time you looked at yourshelf in a mirror?"
"Huh?" Rainbow was now clearly confused.
"Aw comon do ah have to sphell it out for ya? yous is a little flying skyh-blue horsie with a... a." the creature broke out in another laughing fit "Rainbow-mane of all things! Ah mean... Rainbowsh..*Hic*"
"Aw darns... *hic* Now ya gave me a darnsh... *Hic* Hiccup. Gimme a shec'."
He, atleast they thought it was a male from the deepness of it's throaty voice, gave a few strong blows to his chest before letting out a long and deep belch "Ah, muchs better..."
Rainbow immediately grimaced at the display "Eugh! Nasty!"
Pinkie on the other hoof was rolling on the floor in a giggling fit "He's so funny!" She yelled, still giggling.
Applejack though wasn't as confident "This feller's drunk outta his cups, ah dont like this."
"Now, where wash i?" He began "Oh yesh, a little skyh-blue horsie with rainbowsh mane trying to intimidate me. No way yous chould scare even a hatchling." He leaned his head forward so that it was almost touching her muzzle. "If anythingsh i find your little bravado... Adorable." This caused her cheeks to blush a bit, not out of embarassment, but out of rage.
Rainbow was practically seething at this point. This stranger was clearly insulting her, and she wasn't going to take any of it. "Oh yea? You think i'm funny? Let's see if you think that way after i do this!"
Before he could respond, Rainbow had already flown back and delivered a strong tackle to his face, seemingly knocking his whole head off. Everypony gasped as his 'head' landed on the floor but when they turned their gazes back on him they were greeted by a grinning, scaly and reptilian face with yellow eyes and black scales. three pinkish scars running diagonally across his face.
What really scared them however, was that he looked very much like a Dragon, complete with the sharp teeth that were lining his mouth. "You call that a punch? Evensh Mudcrabs hit harder than you little horsie." He spoke with a mocking tone while still grinning. When he turned his head to the others, he seemed to notice their horrified gazes "Whatsh with the shtares? Never sheen an Argonian before?" He asked.
"What's an Argoonyan? Are you some kind of reptile? Iguana? Alligator? Ooh ooh i should definitely introduce you to my friend Gummy who's an alligator, i'm sure you could be best friends." Pinkie was by some miracle balancing herself on the stranger's head while looking straight into his face from an upside-down position and smiling widely.
"Uh? Huh? Wuh?" His drunken mind was struggling to comprehend what had just transpired. When it dawned to him just how close she was to his face, he seemingly snapped "Ahh! A pink freak! Get away fro-" He was cut off when he tried to punch her off his head but thanks to his stupor only succeeded in punching himself in the jaw.
He groaned in pain and began cradling his hurt jaw, the pain bringing him to his knees. Big Mac, seeing a chance to take this monster down, decided to charge at him before spinning around and bucking him in the face. "Huh?" Was all he could utter before a sickening crack echoed throughout the barn.
"Big Mac! Was that really necessary?" Twilight yelled, shocked at the clearly excessive force he had used.
Big Mac glanced behind him towards the creature before speaking "Eeyup."
Unsurprisingly, Fluttershy was the first to recover as she galloped towards the creature that now lie motionless, ever so concerned for any hurt creature, pony or otherwise.
"Oh... My gosh." She whispered, horrified by the sight. His snout had caved in, lower jaw was disfigured and blood was trickling out of his mouth and nostrils. Before Fluttershy could tend to his wounds however, his body was engulfed in a golden aura and the ponies watched in awe as his injuries began to heal before their very eyes.
Once the light had subsided, the bleeding had stopped and all the previous deformities had disappeared, as if the wounds had never been there. Although the three scars at the side of his face remained.
"W-w-what was t-that?" Fluttershy asked with a shaky voice.
"I'd guess healing magic." Twilight replied "But i've never seen this kind before, or the sheer magnitude of it. Not even the most powerful and experienced unicorn doctors can repair wounds that severe that fast. Atleast not without completely exhausting themselves." She turned to Big Mac with a scowl "What were you thinking? You could've killed him!"
"He's better off Twi, ya saw how drunk he was, unpredictable too. Better to let him sleep it off." Applejack countered.
"I guess you're right AJ."
"Umm, what about those? That is, if you dont mind me asking." Fluttershy pointed a hoof at the various objects strapped on the stranger's back and waist. Twilight gulped audibly when she recognized exactly what Fluttershy was pointing at, various scabbards adorned one side of his waist, with a blunt club-like weapon on the other side and what she believed a hilt and a piece of wood pointing over his shoulders.
"I believe those are his weapons, i'd better take them for safekeeping." And with that she promptly removed them with her magic and placing them in a neat pile next to the wall. "Though why he'd need so many i have no idea." She began tapping her chin with a hoof "If i'd have to guess, he's probably a warrior or a soldier from a foreign land. We can't leave him here though, i'd better take him to the library and inform the princess, she'll know what to do."
Without wasting anymore time, she lifted him and his equipment with her telekinetic grip and proceeded to trot towards the barn doors, her friends following close. Before they got too far however, Applejack turned to her older sibling. "Big Mac, could ya go inside and keep an eye on Applebloom while we're gone?"
A simple "Eeyup." was his answer.
The walk back to Ponyville had been uneventful. The streets had been empty at this time of night, even after pretty much everypony in town had heard that loud shout earlier tonight, for which they were thankful since it meant nopony would see their curious companion who was floating slightly above them in a purple aura.
After they reached the library, Twilight promptly entered, her friends following behind her, when a familiar voice called out to her.
"Twilight is that you?"
"Yes i'm back Spike." And with those words, Spike quickly made his way down the stairs "You were gone for so long, i was starting to get worried." He turned his gaze to the floating stranger "What's that?" He asked while pointing a claw at him.
"The thing that crashed into mah' barn and wrecked the roof." Applejack answered with a slight scowl. Spike turned to face her with a raised eyebrow before returning it to the stranger.
"I'll explain later Spike, for now, can you go get a quill and paper? I need you to take a letter after i take him." She glanced at her floating companion "To the basement."
"Sure thing Twi." He left to perform his task. Once he was out of sight, Twilight made her way to the basement placing her load on the stone floor after which she made her way back to the ground floor, locking the door behind her.
Returning to the common area where her friends and spike were waiting, the latter who had a quill and paper in hand. "I'm ready Twilight." Spike said. After she placed the stranger's items beside the nearby wall, she began reciting.
Dear Princess Celestia.
At the time of writing, earlier tonight Ponyville was shook by a sudden and loud "shout" that echoed across the town, which to my best knowledge composed of the words Feim, Zii and Gron. When we heard that these words echoed from the direction of the Sweet Apple Acres, me and the rest of my friends went to investigate.
In the barn, we discovered a strange reptilian creature who claimed to be Argonian, dressed in an equally strange armor that had fallen through the roof of their barn. While 'he' did not seem overly hostile, besides a few slanderous words. He was in a highly inebriated state and after being knocked out by Big Macintosh, i brought him to the library for safekeeping, and to try and sober him up.
I'll await your response in regards to what to do with him.
Your faitful student.
Twilight Sparkle.
With the letter finished, Spike sent it with a puff of green flame "So who's this other guy you discovered at Applejack's barn?" He questioned.
"Well what little we could gather from his drunken rants, he is from some previously unknown reptilian species named Argonians, who are not related to dragons oddly enough, since there is a staggering resemblance. And if i had to guess from that armor and weapons he was wearing, he may be a warrior, or a soldier from some distant land, who also possesses, at least some, magical capability."
Twilight started beaming when the realization hit her. The concept of meeting a visitor from a far away land, who was also capable in magic endearing to her.
"Cool... Check out that wicked sword." Twilight was cut from her reverie when Rainbow had flown to the items she had confiscated from the stranger and was now eagerly pulling at the hilt of one of the swords, trying to unsheath it.
"Rainbow be careful! Those are not to-" She was cut of when RD managed to loosen the blade from it's sheath and it made a loud crackling noise.
"Yikes!" She yelled, the shock causing her to drop it, what surprised everypony present was when frost began to spread onto the surrounding floor where it now lay.
"Whoa. That's... cold." Spike was flabbergasted by how a sword could cause the floor to freeze up, Twilight was equally shocked, hastily she lifted it from the floor with her telekinesis, taking a closer look at it. The hilt was made from a golden coloured alloy she didn't recognize and the blade was colored light blue and seemed to be made from some slightly transparent, crystalline material, almost like glass.
'No that can't be it, glass would be far too brittle to be used on' she gulped 'weapons.' She turned it a bit in her grip, making the blade glisten in the library's soft light, while she knew little about blacksmithing, even Twilight admitted it was clearly of master craftsmanship.
What caught her attention though, was the constant crackling noise it was making, like breaking ice. The blade also felt unnaturally cold to the touch, as if raw blizzard was barely contained within.
"It's beautiful." Rarity's eyes were sparkling at the display "See how it reflects light as you turn it? It's almost like a fine-cut gem, so dazzling."
"It's a weapon Rare." Applejack corrected her.
"True darling, but you have to admit it's still quite a piece of art. Why it's like practicality and art melded together." she sighed and blushed slightly "Just imagine how much more handsome the royal guards would look if armor could be fashioned from that same material."
While Rarity got lost in her imagination, Twilight had placed the sword back in it's sheath whereupon the crackling instantly ceased. 'Binding magic into weapons? Just who is he exactly? What more is he capable of?' Her mind was brimming with questions she had thought to ask the stranger but was brought out her thoughts when she suddenly yawned,
"Oh my, everything that's happened tonight made me forget my need to sleep." She giggled slightly. "I guess we all should head to bed and get back on this at morning."
While hesitant to leave her alone with the stranger, they eventually conceded when Twilight had assured them she had everything under control. Once they had left, she and Spike made their way to their bedroom.
'Tomorrow is going to be such an exciting day.' she thought as she closed her eyes and within moments, was asleep.
A/N: And there you have it, the second chapter of my first story, might have to go back to edit it at some point as i'm not quite convinced i got all the glaring errors removed.
