Twilight Sparkle the Adventurer

Chapters

Chapter 1 – Escape from Helgen
Chapter 2 - The Road to Riverwood
Chapter 3 - Gift from the Gods
Chapter 4 - The Riverwood Adventure
Chapter 5 – Shortcuts lead to Long Delays
Chapter 6 – Lending a Helping Hand
Chapter 7 – All Roads Lead to Bleak Falls Barrow
Chapter 8 – Preparations for the Journey
Chapter 9 – Journey to Bleak Falls Barrow
Chapter 10 - False Start
Chapter 11 - Bleak Falls Barrow
Prologue: A New Adventure

Chapter 1 – Escape from Helgen

The soldier looked at the list confused. “Of all the things to appear in Skyrim at a time like this… A rare race from outside our borders that hasn’t been seen since the days of the Oblivion crisis. Captain, what should we do? She’s not on the list.”

The captain looked unconcerned. “Forget the list, she goes to the block.”

The soldier didn’t seem to like the order, but he obeyed it. "By your orders, Captain. I’m sorry. I wish I knew how to treat your remains. Follow the Captain, prisoner."

Twilight did as instructed… hoping to bide her time to escape. She still had wings but wasn’t sure she could fly fast enough to avoid the Imperial soldiers’ arrows and while she still had a horn on her forehead, she instinctually knew that spells would be cast from her hands like the other races of this land. With her hands bound, she was nearly powerless.

The man that had been pointed out as General Tullius spoke. "Ulfric Stormcloak. Some here in Helgen call you a hero. But a hero doesn't use a power like ‘The Voice’ to murder his king and usurp his throne."

Ulfric was only able to grunt in response, the gag preventing any real conversation.

General Tullius continued, sounding angered. "You started this war, plunged Skyrim into chaos, and now the Empire is going to put you down, and restore the peace."

A loud roar was heard in the distance. The townsfolk either didn’t seem to notice or they didn’t understand the significance of the sound.

The soldier with the list looked towards the sky. "What was that?"

General Tullius replied dismissively. "It's nothing. Carry on."

The loyal captain replied without concern. "Yes, General Tullius.” She turned to a priestess that was in attendance. “Give them their last rites."

A Priestess of Arkay began to speak solemnly. "As we commend your souls to Aetherius, blessings of the Eight Divines upon you, for you are the salt and earth of Nirn, our beloved..."

A random Stormcloak Soldier interrupted the priestess and began walking towards the headmen’s block. "For the love of Talos, shut up and let's get this over with."

The Priestess of Arkay sounded miffed and replied stiffly. "As you wish."

The Stormcloak Soldier continued with disdain in his voice. "Come on, I haven't got all morning.”

He couldn’t seem to force himself to kneel but the Imperials had no trouble forcing him to the ground and forcing his head onto the block. The town seemed to go completely still, waiting for the axe to fall. He continued to taunt the Imperials to the last possible moment.

“My ancestors are smiling at me, Imperials. Can you say the same?"

With those last defiant words to everyone in attendance, the Stormcloak was beheaded by the executioner. The Imperial Captain then shoved his lifeless body off to the side of the chopping block. Twilight watched in horror.

This isn’t justice! No trial. Merciless. Brutal. This isn’t how you maintain a happy and loyal populous. How dare they?

A female Stormcloak called out, enraged. "You Imperial bastards!"

A random male citizen of the town rebuffed her. "Justice!"

Another random female citizen seemed to continue the jeering. "Death to the Stormcloaks!"

Ralof sighed, hope beginning to fade.. "As fearless in death as he was in life."

The captain sneered. "Next, the pony! I wonder what color your blood is…”

A second dragon roar was heard, causing some pause amongst the people who heard it. It sounded like it was a little closer this time.

The soldier with the list looked towards the sky again. "There it is again. Did you hear that?"

The captain sounded angry. "I said, next prisoner!"

The soldier with the list sighed. "To the block, prisoner. Nice and easy."

Twilight approaches the chopping block, confused, yet determined. As she kneeled down and places her head into position to be sliced off by the headsman's axe, her eyes are momentary fixed on the head of previous Stormcloak prisoner in the headsmen’s basket.

Twilight looked up at the headsman as he raises his axe to execute her, hoping for some last second mercy. The headmen had no mercy to give but was interrupted as the Dragon roared a third time and was finally seen. Twilight’s eyes widened at the sight.

That dragon is nearly as big as Torch. By Celestia, I hope he’s friendly…

General Tullius exclaimed. "What in Oblivion is that?"

The Captain seemed confused, not having seen what the general saw. "Sentries! What do you see?"

An Imperial soldier called out. "It's in the clouds!"

The sound of weapons being drawn was heard as all eyes turn to look at the dragon, now perched on the Helgen Watchtower after a hard landing had knocked the headsman off balance.

A female Stormcloak cried out… "Dragon!"

The dragon roared with a voice that invoked a Meteor-shower. It would have been pretty if it wasn’t so deadly.

The headsman fell dead upon the next attack with a dramatic. "Hunh..."

The dragon was clearly speaking, although not the common tongue. His very voice invoked a strong and seemingly ancient magic. "Fus... Ro... Dah!"

General Tullius was yelling but not quite panicking. "Don't just stand there! Kill that thing! Guards, get the townspeople to safety!"

The dragon’s shout had knocked Twilight off the headmen’s block at the same time that it killed the headsmen, but it left her disoriented and confused.

Ralof cried out. "Hey, Pony! Get up! Come on, the gods won't give us another chance!"

Twilight picked herself up and ran for all she was worth towards the tower, not at all concerned that it was all Stormcloak soldiers gathered there.

Ralof continued to call encouragement. "This way! This way, come on, In here! Over here!"

The Imperial Soldiers were clearly panicking as she ran past them towards safety. She was only halfway listening to all the yelling the Imperial Soldiers were doing.

"What in the Eight Divines is this thing?!"

"Keep your eyes on it!"

"How in Oblivion do we kill this thing?!"

"It's still coming!"

"By Ysmir! Nothing kills it!"

"Die! For the love of the gods, die!"

Another soldier was hit by a meteor and was killed almost instantly, screaming as he fell. "Yeargh!"

Twilight was terrified of the chaos around her as she really started to understand the danger of this situation and was grateful to be indoors again.

I didn’t think those meteors were coming this way. The precision of that strike leads me to think that it’s a spell of some kind. So much for the dragon being friendly…

Ralof closed the door as soon as Twilight was safely inside. None of the soldiers were idle as they tried to recuperate while tending to their wounded. Ulfric Stormcloak removed his gag.

Ralof was holding it together, but just barely. "Jarl Ulfric! What is that thing? Could the legends be true?"

Ulfric shrugged, not looking or sounding afraid, just like a natural leader should. "Legends don't burn down villages."

The whole tower seemed to shake with a thundering explosion from outside. The dragon had clearly used another magical shout.

Ulfric raised his voice and issued an urgent order. "We need to move. Now!"

Ralof nodded quickly in agreement. "Up through the tower, let's go!"

One Stormcloak briefed Ulfric quickly about the wounded. "They're hurt, but they'll live. Another second out there with the dragon, and they'd both be dead..."

Ralof turned to Twilight "Let's go! With me, up the tower!"

Twilight followed him up the stairs towards the roof. The obvious plan being to get to the roof, and then climb down the tower to safety. Right?

Well… as long as the dragon doesn’t eat us. We can’t exactly defend ourselves while climbing down. Completely separate from my hands still being bound… How am I suppose to do anything like this?

About halfway up, the stairs were blocked with fallen stone. A Stormcloak soldier turned to Ralof. "We just need to move some of these rocks to clear the way!"

Before Twilight or Ralof could in any way help, the Dragon burst through the wall and blasted the Stormcloak soldier with a fiery breath that left absolutely no doubt that the man was dead.

Ralof didn’t pause to mourn the loss as he turned to give Twilight instructions, looking out the hole in wall of the tower. "See the inn on the other side? Jump through the roof and keep going! Go! We'll follow when we can!"

Twilight gulped but backed up for a running start and went for it. She used her wings to give her a softer landing than a human could manage and was careful to avoid the parts of the building still on fire. Quickly leaving the ruins of the inn, Twilight was shocked by how much damage the dragon has done to the entire town.

Helgen will never recover from this… I can’t imagine something like this happening to Ponyville. I need to get strong enough to be able to stop it.

Twilight banishes those wayward thoughts and runs into the street, looking for a way to escape the town. An Imperial soldier, the one with the list, was speaking urgently to a child. "Haming, you need to get over here. Now! That a boy. You're doing great. Torolf! Gods... Everyone get back!"

The dragon had landed right behind Torolf and shouted. "Yol...Toor...Shul!" Torolf’s death was instant but probably not painless. Twilight winced at the idea of being roasted alive by dragon fire. Spike's fire never seemed that dangerous but it could have been.

The soldier gave a defeated sigh but turned to Twilight. "Still alive, prisoner? Keep close to me if you want to stay that way. Gunnar, take care of the boy. I have to find General Tullius and join their defense."

Gunnar nodded seriously and gave a farewell. "Gods guide you, Hadvar."

Twilight hummed to herself, deep in thought and considering her next move.

So… his name is Hadvar. Can I really trust him? He was going to let me be executed even though he didn’t agree with it. I suppose there are worse things than following orders. I can’t hate him for doing his job although it is easy to question the morals of executing people without a trial. Would Shining Armor defy Princess Celestia about an execution like this? Well… I suppose a situation serious enough to warrant an execution would have to happen first. I still don’t know what’s going on here.

Twilight followed him reluctantly and he shouted. "Stay close to the wall!"

Twilight just barely had time to crouch down close to the wall when the dragon landed on it above her. A quick bout of fire later and the dragon launched back into the sky. Rounding the corner, another dead Imperial soldier was there, clearly no match for the dragon.

Hadvar swallowed hard. "Quickly, follow me!"

Moving around the corpse and ducking through a destroyed house, they made a break for it out into the open where most of the survivors, both villager and soldier, were still trying to fight the dragon, seemingly in vain.

General Tullius caught sight of them. "Hadvar! Into the keep, soldier, we're leaving!"

Hadvar acknowledged the order. "It's you and me, prisoner. Stay close!"

Twilight hesitated for just a moment; her eyes caught on a dying citizen of the town.

The man was speaking softly. “Tell my family that I fought bravely…”

He was wearing armor and still took a mortal blow. If I’m going to survive here, I’m going to need some decent armor… and I’m going to have to learn how to use it quickly.

General Tullius noticed Twilight lingering. "Run, you idiot!"

That snapped Twilight back to the present moment and she hurried behind Hadvar. They approached Helgen Keep, only to find Ralof having made it there himself, having broken off from Ulfric and the other Stormcloaks to escape alone.

Hadvar sounded angry. "Ralof! You damned traitor. Out of my way!"

Ralof replied almost jovially. "We're escaping, Hadvar. You're not stopping us this time."

Knowing that he couldn’t really stop Ralof without risking becoming dragon lunch or losing his prisoner, he huffed. "Fine. I hope that dragon takes you all to Sovngarde."

Ralof turned back to Twilight and beckoned to her. "You! Come on, into the keep!"

Hadvar also beckoned to her from a different entrance to the Keep. “With me, prisoner.”

Twilight was looking back and forth at Ralof and Hadvar. It was clear that she was going to have to chose who she wanted to travel with, one over the other. They seemed to know each other or have some kind of past together but convincing both of them to travel with her for a ‘safety in numbers’ concept wasn’t going to happen. Both men struck her as honest so she would be safe with either of them… but it wasn’t just choosing who to go with. It was choosing a side. In a war that she knew nothing about.

Ralof called again. "Through here. Let's go!"

Hadvar countered. "If you’re really innocent, then you’ll prove it by coming with me. I can cut you loose inside the keep. Come on! We need to get inside!"

Twilight sighed, unhappy with her limited options and even more limited time to evaluate her feelings on the matter. These last 20 minutes had been the longest 20 minutes of her life.

This must be part of what Celestia meant. Making snap decisions. Trusting your gut. Figuring out when someone is lying to you or trying to use you. Staying alive when the whole world is trying to kill you.

The dragon then swooped down and picked up a soldier off the wall and threw him high into the air to fall to his death. The dragon spoke an ancient language that no one seemed to understand.

"Hin sil fen nahkip bahloki."

That was enough to force Twilight forward. Despite some misgivings… she ran to Hadvar and followed him into the Keep.

* * *

Twilight followed Hadvar into the Keep, the doors shutting behind them. They entered a large room that looked like was sleeping quarters for the guards of the Keep. She walked towards him and he cut her bindings with an iron dagger, setting her free.

Hadvar cleared his throat. “There you go… Go ahead and look through those chests for some gear… I’m going to look for something to treat these burns.”

Twilight’s eyes were drawn to a couple of books on a mostly empty bookshelf and a few gold coins on the desk. “What about the coins? Should I grab them too?”

Hadvar looked up. “Coins? Oh… the septims. Yes. We will probably need the gold for supplies when we make it to a town. Take whatever you can carry. Anything you don’t want to use yourself you’ll be able to sell or smelt and repurpose. Selling weapons, armor and other loot that you find in caves or old ruins is how most adventurers make their money. And the things that don’t sell for a lot of coin, like basic iron swords and cheap iron daggers, you can smelt back into iron ingots and use the material for something else, like lockpicks.”

Twilight’s face fell as she put the coins in a coin purse, the books into her backpack, and then looked through all the chests. She wasn’t too keen on the ‘adventuring lifestyle’ but that seemed to be exactly what Princess Celestia had intended for her to learn.

She found a full set of both Imperial Light and Heavy Armor plus a steel axe, an Imperial Bow with about a hundred steel arrows, and both one-handed and two-handed Iron swords along with a couple of different styles of shields. The most valuable item she recovered was an enchanted necklace that gave 20% Resistance to Frost.

With Hadvar’s back still turned to her, she took off the old rags she was wearing and threw them into a chest, not wanting to carry the extra weight of something she wouldn’t be able to sell. She then decided to equip the light armor set, opting for ability to dodge over physical protection, along with the Necklace of Resist Frost. The Imperial Light Helmet, Imperial Light Armor, Imperial Light Gloves, and Imperial Light Boots along with an Imperial Light Shield to block with felt good on her fur. A matching set… if that mattered.

With her free hand, she tried to channel her magic. In Equestria, her favorite magical attack had been a beam of pure magic that had been effective at nearly everything it hit. She focused and focused, holding her hand out to blast the empty bookshelf.

Nothing happened.

Okay… let’s try something else…

She tried to focus the same pure magic beam into her horn…

Nothing happened.

With ever so slight a panic, she tried something different. She tried using a message spell that could teleport a letter or book to a specific person, if you didn’t happen to have a dragon that could do that for you.

It worked… but she had no letter or book targeted to send, so nothing really happened.

So… I could, in theory, still write Celestia letters… so at least send letters to other people within this land without waiting for a mail courier to deliver it.

She tried to teleport herself from one part of the room to another using both her hands and then with her horn.

Nothing happened.

She then tried to open a magical storage portal. It didn’t work with her hands, but it did work with her horn, being more of an Equestrian magic. She was confused when more than one portal opened and was equally confused to see them labeled with almost an information bubble near it.

She read the bubbles next to the portals. The five portals were named, ‘weapons,’ ‘armor,’ ‘potions and food,’ ‘reagents,’ and ‘miscellaneous.’ The descriptions explained a lot but also seemed oddly out of place.

Did the Elder Scroll imbue this ability into me? Can anyone else see it? I wonder if I’ll encounter more information presented to me in this fashion in the future…

She didn’t have an answer for herself, and she had no one she could ask, not wanting to sound crazy. She opted to busy herself reading the information descriptions instead.

Weapons portal can store unused weapons that you don’t want in your backpack.

Armor Portal can store unused armor that you don’t want in your backpack.

Potions and Food Portal can store extra potions and cooked food that can used later. (Recommended to keep some of both in the backpack.)

Reagents Portal stored reagents used in Potion crafting along with some other ingredients used in cooking that wasn’t beneficial to consume without cooking, such as uncooked meats.

Miscellaneous portal could store books, scrolls, letters, keys, and other items commonly used in smithing, such as ingots and ores.

Upon further examination of the portals, her backpack, and the armor she had equipped along with the other items simply in her bag, absolutely everything had a defined ‘weight’. She was shocked to find that she had a default carry weight of ‘325’ and each portal matched her carry weight. A warning was listed that she couldn’t store anything in any portal that exceeded the carry weight of that portal and that if she held more than 325 weight on her person, her stamina would drain, and she wouldn’t be able to run. However, the portal carry weight would increase to match her normal carry weight every time her stamina increased.

Huh. A hypothetical 1,950 carry weight would make it very easy to loot, at least.

She frowned at another thought and seemed to search herself. Her inner mind. She found a menu, of sorts, that listed 18 talent sets, with a rating of 15 to 25, and a series of corresponding skills she could learn with ‘talent points.’ Scrolling through the information about herself, within her own mind, she only knew ‘Flames’ and ‘Healing’ as spells. Her ‘Destruction’ magic was 25, so the ‘flames’ should do a fair amount of damage, but she could only heal herself with that basic Restoration spell, and that talent set was only 15 so it would use a lot of magicka to cast.

I can use some basic, non-combat Equestrian Magic but I only know two spells used by the races of this land. If I want to be a mage in this land, I’m going to have to learn more of their spells. Which means… I have no real way to defend myself. I’m going to have to use either the bow or a traditional melee weapon until I can learn more combat magic. Flames, alone, might not be enough…

As if reading her mind, Hadvar returned to her side. “If you don’t know any combat magic… you should give that axe a few swings. See how it feels in your hands.”

Twilight nodded and equipped the axe. She tried a few normal swings and then one heavy swing.

Hadvar raised an eyebrow at her. “That… was terrible. Who taught you how to fight?”

Twilight looked away from his gaze. “No one… This is the first time I’ve held an axe.”

Hadvar shook his head with a sad sigh. “And we were going to execute you. There’s no way you are a Stormcloak if you don’t know how to swing an axe. Do you know any magic?”

She nodded and put away the axe, drawing the flames from the now ‘equipped’ spell into her hand. She let loose a bout of fire from her right hand that completely destroyed the bookshelf she was aiming at. Hadvar whistled in amazement.

“Yes… you should stick to magic. Those are some powerful flames you have there.”

Twilight smiled sheepishly. “I was a mage back home… but most of my magic doesn’t work here. I guess the ah…”

How am I supposed to explain that I’m from a completely different realm of existence?

“… resonance… is off. I’ll have to learn your people’s spells sooner or later if I can’t figure out how to fix my resonance.”

Hadvar nodded, seeming to understand. “I’ve heard a few battlemages speaking about the importance of resonances in certain magical situations. In any case, you’ll want to go to the College of Winterhold. It’s the best place in all of Skyrim to learn magic. However… it’s also in Stormcloak territory… so you’ll have to be cautious if you go.”

Twilight was ready to move on and steeled herself. “I guess I’m as ready as I’m ever going to be. So… what’s next?”

Hadvar cocked his head towards the hallway. “This Keep is pretty big. We’ll need to explore a little and see if we can find a backway out where the dragon won’t kill us. If we’re lucky, we may find some surviving Imperials to help us. If we’re unlucky… we’ll have to fight and… kill… the other Stormcloaks that survived in order to escape the Keep.”

Twilight sighed at that. “Well. I’ll follow your lead.”

Hadvar lead the way down a short hallway to a locked door. We could hear voices coming from the other side. He took in a deep breath before he pulled the lever to open the door.

“Hear that? Stormcloaks… Maybe we can reason with them…”

Twilight swallowed hard as she readied her spell, no longer willing to be optimistic. Hadvar stepped through the door and didn’t even get a chance to speak before the Stormcloaks charged him with weapons raised. He jumped out of the way of a downward slice from a two-handed Iron Sword and Twilight knew she would have to beat the Stormcloaks back.

She unleased the full force of the flames spell and the female Stormcloak soldier screamed in pain. The Stormcloak couldn’t seem to get her bearings and died under the onslaught of the spell. Twilight dropped the spell and Hadvar rushed around the corner into battle, attacking the other Stormcloak relentlessly. Hadvar got a few good strikes in with his sword and the Stormcloak fell.

Twilight walked up to the female Stormcloak that she killed. It was so odd… she died from fire… but there were no burns. The armor she wore could still be used, as if it had no battle damage. No weakening of its protection. If looted… it could be sold as if it had never been used. However… Twilight could still hear her screams. It was the first life she had ever taken.

Hadvar put a hand on her shoulder. “Hey… are you okay?”

Twilight shook her head ‘no’ as a tear rolled down a cheek. “This is the first time I’ve ever taken a life. Even back home, when I had to fight bad guys, we always seemed to take them alive. Convince them to stop fighting. I’ve never fought someone so willing to die as these guys are…”

Hadvar sighed and rubbed his face. “That’s Nord stubbornness at its best. We don’t really surrender. It makes us great soldiers for the legion… but hard to fight in a rebellion.”

Twilight pursed her lips to ask a question. She had to know. “Why isn’t she burned? I killed her with fire…”

Hadvar shrugged. “The gods decided a long time ago to make combat less gruesome for the innocent bystanders or children that happen to witness it. There is very little blood, unless a learned skill perk gives you a skill that would allow dismembering. Fire ‘burns’ the target but doesn’t leave a mark, usually. With the right skill, you could turn them to ash… which only happens at higher, expert level Destruction magical skill. Flames is the most basic novice spell, but very efficient. Trolls, vampires and other undead will take extra damage from fire. Only Dark Elves and maybe Dragons will take less damage from fire. Sparks… is the only element that no race has a natural resistance to, but it also costs the most magicka, so you’ll need to choose your spells wisely.”

Twilight accepted the explanation with the same level of understanding as the rare and unique abilities that the Elder Scroll seemed to have given her… unless that’s just how it was here. It would somehow be scarier if everyone could do what she did… it meant she had no edge. She took all the gear from both dead Stormcloaks, hoping to sell or smelt the gear later, leaving both of the corpses completely naked.

Hadvar seemed a little shocked at the open looting, but then, it had been him that had said that’s how Adventurers made their money. His own thoughts rebuked him.

Who am I to deny her the ability to eat? It’s not like I’m going to be taking care of her once we leave the Keep. Though… I would like to teach her more before we part company so I have the peace of mind of at least hoping she’ll be able to survive alone.

Twilight finished shoving all the gear from the Stormcloaks and the extra gear from her backpack into the appropriate storage portals. She looked up to see Hadvar’s slack face.

“Oh… did you want a moment with her?”

Hadvar seemed extra shocked at the suggestion. “NO! I would never… to a corpse?”

Twilight got beet red as she stood… “I didn’t mean… that…” She sighed. “It seemed like you knew Ralof. I thought that maybe you also knew her. Maybe… wanted to pay your respects to her even though you were on opposite sides of the war…”

Hadvar walked towards the door at the opposite side of the of room and unlocked the door with a key. “Me and Ralof grew up together. The Village of Riverwood. My uncle is the village blacksmith and Ralof’s sister owns the sawmill. Nice little town… a little under-protected with the threat of rebellion… and now… dragons. Come on, let’s keep going.”

Twilight followed him down the stairs and towards another door, picking up literally everything as she passed. Lettuce, salt piles, salmon. Every cart, Every bag. Looted. Hadvar said nothing about it.

In the distance, she could see four Stormcloaks, but a cave in of stone prevented them from being able to get to each other or fight. Hadvar opened the door and two more Stormcloaks attacked. One charged Hadvar while the other went for Twilight. She had the Flames spell ready and simply dodged the enemy while pelting him with flames. She managed to kill her opponent before Hadvar but was unable to get close enough to Hadvar to help him before he finished as well. He sheathed his sword with a wariness of knowing he would need it again soon.

He sighed. “You seem to be getting the hang of it.”

Twilight nodded with less enthusiasm than she would normally have. “My teacher always said I was a quick study. So, what now?”

Hadvar looked around. “This appears to be a storeroom. Check around for food or potions. Stock up on what you want, and we will continue. I’ll wait for you.”

Twilight looted the two Stormcloaks and collected a few bottles of wine, a few potions and various other ingredients that would be useful later, including some rabbit and pheasant that had been hanging up to cook. It didn’t take her long to check everything before they continued.

Hadvar continued to be both impressed and miffed about both how quickly Twilight seemed to be learning the way of Skyrim and how long it was taking to move on to the next part. He kinda wanted to live…

“Done then? Let’s keep moving.”

They left the room together and headed down more stairs. The sounds of fighting could be heard with both magical attacks and melee weapons.

Hadvar swallowed a lump in his throat. “Gods… a torture room. I wish we didn’t need these…”

Hadvar drew his sword once more and Twilight still had her flames ready. The torturer and his assistant were battling two Stormcloaks but both Stormcloaks fell to the onslaught of Sparks and the Assistant’s mace before Hadvar or Twilight could join the battle.

The Torturer sounded pleased at his handiwork. "You fellows happened along just in time. These boys seemed a bit upset at how I've been entertaining their comrades."

Hadvar wanted to scream at the man but held onto a civil tone. "Don't you even know what's going on? A dragon is attacking Helgen!"

The torturer scoffed. "A dragon? Please. Don't make up nonsense.” He paused. “Although, come to think of it, I did hear some odd noises coming from over there."

Hadvar beckoned to him. "Come with us. We need to get out of here."

The torturer refused to leave his torture room. "You have no authority over me, boy."

Hadvar raised his voice, a little exasperated. "Didn't you hear me? I said the keep is under attack!"

The torturer still wouldn’t budge but the assistant was moved by Hadvar’s warning. "Forget the old man. I'll come with you."

Before Hadvar could leave, he noticed one of the cages. “Hey… there’s something in this cage.”

The torturer scoffed again. “That cage? Forget it. Lost the key ages ago. Took the man weeks to die.”

Hadvar returned to Twilight and gave her 12 lockpicks. “Here. Take these. I was never much good with lockpicks, but you can give it a go. We might need that gold when we get out.”

Twilight looked at the picks and the lock. She placed the pick within the lock and experimentally tugged on it. It rattled but didn’t turn. She loosened the pressure and adjusted the picks, looking for some kind of mark or imperfection that might could point to the correct placement of the picks. She saw a slight nick and went for it. Turning the picks with an almost expert level of patience and steady skill, the lock clicked, and the door opened.

Her lockpicking skill increased to 16 and a magical bar that rated experience seemed to move closer to the next level. She blinked at the internal information, not sure what to say.

Hadvar chuckled. “Are you sure you were a mage back home? You’re a natural thief.”

Twilight smiled nervously. “Like I said… I’m a quick study.”

She took the Novice Robes of Destruction off the dead mage and put it on, over her armor like a cloak. She also placed the mage hood over her light helmet and placed the gold in her coin purse. She picked up the spell tome of Sparks, but when she opened the book, it seemed to dissolve, and the knowledge flowed into her.

She gasped. “Is it supposed to work like that?”

The torturer nodded. “Yes. You ‘absorb the book’ to learn the spell. And the higher your level of magical knowledge is, or I suppose, the more practice you have, the less magicka it will cost to cast the spells.”

Twilight changed her equipped spell from Flames to Sparks. She grabbed more lockpicks, a few more books, a potion, and more gear from around the room, after also looting the Stormcloaks. She then proceeded to unlock every lock within the torture/dungeon area for ‘practice,’ only breaking 3 picks between the 6 locks.

The torturer looked miffed at her actions but didn’t really try to stop her. "Sure, take all my things, please.” Then as an afterthought, he added. “There's no way out that way, you know."

They proceeded anyways, careful to look around the corners before moving on, not wanting to run into anything unprepared. Twilight checked the skeletons for coins and was surprised to find something called ‘bone meal.’ After examining the substance, she discovered that it was yet another alchemy reagent, and placed it in her bag. Not knowing what was useful she couldn’t risk leaving anything behind.

The torture assistant asked the question that Hadvar wouldn’t. “Why did you put the robes and mage hood on over your armor?”

Twilight frowned. “How else would I wear it?”

The assistant rubbed the back of his head, not sure how to explain it. “Well. Spells like Oakflesh and Stoneskin gives you extra armor rating but with the mage armor perks, it doubles or triples the protection value when wearing clothes or robes and not armor. Plus, there’s weight to consider. Most adventurers travel as light as possible to have more ability to loot. As a mage, the robes are all you really need. I suppose there’s nothing wrong with having the robes over the armor like a cloak, but it’ll weigh you down a little. Most adventures will wear armor or robes… but not both.”

Twilight shrugged. “So I won’t be able to take everything I see. So what? I’ll live long enough to sell what I do take. The robes do make me a more efficient mage and it really doesn’t weigh that much extra. And… I don’t have the skill perks you’re talking about, nor do I even know the spells that you speak of. There is no point in risking death just because of how everyone else does it. I want to live, thank you.”

Hadvar felt better about her chances of survival after hearing her say that. The group continued on and they came to a large room with four Stormcloaks. The Stormcloaks were arguing.

“Where is the way out? This water has to be flowing out somewhere…”

Hadvar drew his sword again and whispered to Twilight. “This is a larger group than the previous three smaller battles. Are you ready?”

Twilight nodded seriously. “We have to get through them to make it out. We already know that they can’t be reasoned with. I’ll take the one to the left, you take the one in the center. First person to reach the archers, win.”

Hadvar smiled at the light-hearted comment and charged forward. Twilight ran to the left, unleashing a wave of sparks and just seemed to rip the Stormcloak apart. The sound of magic alerted the Stormcloaks to their presence but she couldn’t be worried about that now. She could hear both Hadvar and the Torturer’s assistant battling the other Stormcloak, so she rushed over the stone bridge to close in on the archers.

Her movements didn’t go unnoticed, and she was hit with not one, but two iron arrows. The arrows impact was blunted by the light armor, and she closed the distance, putting away her light shield and calling flames into her left hand and sparks into her right.

The Stormcloaks cursed. “Damn it all… she’s wearing armor under those robes. Die!!!”

They both notched another arrow, but Twilight was faster. The sparks shot out at them directly and the flames ignited a red liquid on the floor, catching fire and burning both Stormcloaks alive. Twilight fell to her knees, breathing hard once they both went down.

The torturer’s assistant nodded to Hadvar. “I’m going to go back and check up on the old man. Good luck to the both of you.”

Hadvar shook his hand and ran over to Twilight. “Are you hurt?”

Twilight shook her head, her healing spell fading from her hands. “Not anymore. That armor saved my life… had I only been wearing robes…”

Hadvar swallowed the lump in his throat. “Are you going to be okay?”

Twilight nodded again and stood back up. “I was just musing about the battles. We’ve killed 10 Stormcloaks so far. We haven’t seen Ralof or Ulfric. Lokir was killed before the dragon showed up and then there’s me. Unless I missed a wagon, or unless Ralof and Ulfric are still nearby, that should be all of them. We shouldn’t run into any more Stormcloaks.”

Hadvar smiled warmly at her logic. “That’s the best news I’ve heard all day. Did you want to loot these four before we continue?”

Twilight nodded. “I can still carry a bit more before I’m overburdened. I literally have no money other than what I’ve gathered so far since you set me free. The more I can sell, or repurpose, the happier I’ll be. I have a feeling that I’ll have to craft what I can’t afford.”

Hadvar waited with the patience of a parent while Twilight quickly took all the gear off the corpses. If the legion didn’t have strict rules about looting, he’d probably take his fair share of the loot. Being a soldier paid the bills, but it wasn’t going to make him rich.

“Come on, let’s see where this goes.” He pulled a lever that dropped a draw bridge.

Twilight and Hadvar crossed the bridge with Twilight musing out loud. “This is an odd thing to have back here. It’s like an escape tunnel… with the bridge up, people can’t come in from outside. Very clever… However… the one thing I don’t understand is why the Torturer said there was no way out down here if this is here?”

Hadvar shrugged. “Maybe he didn’t know. This tunnel is probably only known to Generals, Legates, and other trusted high-ranking officials. Helgen was one of the bigger border towns on the Imperial side of the rebellion. An escape tunnel like this would have been useful if the Stormcloaks attacked in force and the ranking officers had to retreat. I never thought I’d ever have to use something like this… but I’m glad it’s here.”

Just as they finished crossing the bridge and before Twilight could reply, a loud roar was heard from above them and then a huge piece of rock came falling through the bridge right where they just had been standing.

Hadvar placed a hand over his heart. “Whoa. No going back that way… I guess we should be glad that it didn’t land on top of us. Let’s keep moving.”

Twilight’s heart was in her throat as well from the near miss, but she calmed down as she continued to follow Hadvar. They followed the stream, which lead to a skeleton and a dead end on one side and an opening to the right. Twilight took the opportunity to add to her loot; taking the coin purse, potion and dagger but frowned and asked quietly.

“If he had a healing potion… how did he die?”

Hadvar seemed uncomfortable answering the question but tried to address it anyways. “He could have been poisoned… or maybe starved to death. A healing potion, much like a healing spell, will heal your injuries but won’t prevent hunger or thirst from overtaking you. That’s why it’s important to keep food with you. A journey into a cave or ruin could take longer than you planned. It’s not like you’re going to be able to stay at an Inn every night.”

Twilight made a mental note to remember that, and they continued yet again. Following the only path downwards, they came to another large cavern-like room with two spiders the size of Spike.

Twilight gasped. “What in Tartarus are those?”

Hadvar’s eyes tightened. “Frostbite Spiders. They can spit poison and their bite can be pretty bad. Luckily, those are actually on the small side for them. I’ll take the one on the left, you take the one on the right. Fire or Sparks should be fine to kill them.”

Twilight called forth Sparks in both hands, opting for the more power element, not worried about the magicka cost. The Frostbite Spiders noticed them immediately and spit Frostbite venom in their general direction but missing. Twilight unleased sparks from both hands, nearly exploding the spider while Hadvar used a power strike to impaled the spider square in the middle. Without warning, two even larger spiders dropped from the ceiling.

Twilight cried out. “Watch Out!”

She unleased her sparks, focusing the right hand on one spider and the left hand on the other. The spiders seemed almost stunned under the effects of the lightning-based spell, and having relatively low health despite their size, died quickly.

Hadvar once again sheathed his sword. “What’s next… giant snakes?”

Twilight wasted no time harvesting some frostbite venom from each spider, as if she already knew exactly how to do it. It gave her pause.

Do I know how to do this because I have 15 skill in Alchemy granted from the scroll or is this a crossover of other skills I learned in Equestria and I just didn’t know it could be applied like this until now? Maybe it’s better if I don’t ask questions that nopony can answer.

She shook away those thoughts and also managed to recover the tails of large rats and some spider eggs, which both seemed to also be alchemy ingredients.

Continuing to trudge through the cave, Twilight was starting to ger tired. Or perhaps worry was starting to overtake her.

Are we ever going to get out of here? We have very little food and most of it is uncooked. Are we going to starve like that other poor guy did?

Twilight saw yet another skeleton, which reinforced her worry, but took no time in recovering another small coin purse, another iron dagger and potion of a different type.

Huh. This one increases my maximum health for a short period of time. I guess there could be advantages to increasing my health before a large battle if I know the battle is about to happen.

She rejoined Hadvar and was surprised when he stopped and crouched down. Twilight kneeled down beside him, trying to see what he was looking at.

He spoke softly. “There’s a bear up there. See her? As tired as we are from all the fighting, I’d rather not tangle with her. We can try to sneak past. Or… if your feeling lucky, you can try to take her down with a bow. Might can take her by surprise. I’ll follow your lead on this one.”

Twilight frowned. She’d rather not kill an animal for no reason, especially a dangerous one that could hurt them if they mishandled it.

She whispered back. “Are there advantages to killing it?”

Hadvar frowned. “A few… you can harvest four bear paws… used in alchemy. The bear pelt itself is valuable sold or can be used to make a decent amount of leather which can be used to make armor and other traveling accessories. Plus… it is large enough to be a threat to travelers on any nearby road. Killing it could be considered a public service.”

Twilight nodded slowly. All of those were good reasons… “What about the meat? Can bear meat be eaten?”

Hadvar shuddered at the thought but nodded yes. “Bear meat is… questionable… at best. Bears that eat fish taste horrible but bears eating berries or normal wildlife is fairly edible. Of course… if you're starving… you’d probably be happy to eat anything. A bear that size could net you up to 100 pounds worth of meat… however, you probably won’t be able to sell it. I also doubt you could eat 100 pounds of meat yourself before it goes bad. Once again. It’s your call.”

Twilight frowned, considering the information at length.

My magical storage portal for food would also preserve everything from going bad… almost like being vacuum sealed… but he doesn’t need to know that. I could easily store 100 pounds worth of meat given that very little of what I picked up today was food or alchemy, however, I’m probably already carrying more than a normal adventurer can manage, so I’d rather not tip my hand to how much loot I can carry. If I am going to ‘hunt’, I need to hunt things that would sell for decent money. I can’t afford to carry around things I can’t sell and I’m still not sure I’ll eat a lot of meat myself.

She shook her head. “I’m not sure it’s worth it. I don’t want to slow us down being overburdened and there is no point picking up anything that I can’t sell. Let’s just sneak past it.”

Hadvar nodded and followed Twilight. They hugged the cave wall as far away from the bear as possible and followed the bend, past a pile of bones from where the bear had obviously been eating both wildlife and people and started to ascend the path towards a light.

Hadvar pointed to the light. “That’s the entrance to the cave… we found the way out.”

Twilight practically sobbed as she stepped out of the dark cave and back into the light of Skyrim’s open sky.

We made it…

* * *

Author's Note

6 votes for Imperials, 1 Vote for Stormcloaks. You guys either really hate Stormcloaks or really thought Twilight was a better Imperial. I'll make it work.

Next Chapter polling question. If you were given a boon of 3 perk points (for the skill tree) at level 1 to give you an edge on the dangers of Skyrim, but had to apply them as 1 point on the warrior path, 1 point on the thief path and 1 point on the mage path... What 3 skills does Twilight start with?

Chapter 2 - The Road to Riverwood

Chapter 2 – The Road to Riverwood

The bright light of the open blue sky blinded Twilight as she exited the cave. Once she could see again, the scenery took her breath away. The air was crisp with a chill that seemed to go straight to her bones. It felt natural to the environment but was also nearly the polar opposite of the warm breezes of Ponyville. The greenery around her seemed to stun her as the sense of cold further settled in. It didn’t seem possible for things to grow in this kind of cold weather. It was colder than she was comfortable with, and she knew that it would be even colder at night.

Before she could say or do anything, the dragon roared overhead, and she found herself ducking next to a giant rock beside Hadvar. To both their surprise and relief, the dragon continued on its way without spotting them, flying directly above an ancient nearby ruin and then, finally, out of sight.

Hadvar exhaled. “It looks like it’s finally gone. My home village of Riverwood is just up the road. I’d like you to meet my Uncle Alvor and see if maybe he can hook you up with some supplies. After that… you will be free to go wherever you please. Though… I would request that you consider traveling to Solitude and join the Imperial Legion. You handled yourself well against the Stormcloaks and we will need magic to take down dragons. The pay isn’t bad, and you’ll be able to fight for a worthy cause. Legionnaires typically aren’t allowed to loot but we could give you an exception to that little rule as an enlistment bonus.”

Twilight considered the offer while she walked beside him. “I will consider it, but I want to weigh my options. I still don’t know much about the situation here. If I’m being completely honest… I’m not sure it’s my place to interfere in the conflict.” She shivered as they walked. “Can you tell me more about where we are? Is it always this cold here?”

Hadvar looked at her with some concern. “Well… we are near the southern most region of the province of Skyrim, technically in Falkreath Hold currently but once we reach Riverwood… we’ll be in Whiterun Hold. Skyrim has nine holds, each with a different ruler, and is itself at the upper-most part of Tamriel as an important part of the Septim Empire, currently under the rule of the Mede Dynasty. It gets colder the further north you travel and… this is mid fall, the 17th day of Last Seed. It will get colder during the actual winter months and places like Dawnstar and Winterhold have snow on the ground year-round. You will have to dress warmly if you plan to travel at length, or carry soups heated with fire salts to warm you up or be prepared to set up a camp. Camping can be dangerous with wildlife or bandits, so you’d have to pick the camping ground with care. The safest option would be to stay at an Inn. It only costs 10 gold to rent a room for the night and nearly all the Inns will let you cook your own meals at their fire if you pay for the room first. Of course, if you have nothing to cook, you’ll have to pay for your meal. The meals at the Inns cost more than the room does, usually. It helps to be prepared.”

The road they travelled on was rustic and despite the dragon attack on Helgen, or perhaps because of it… deserted. The quiet allowed Twilight time to think.

That explains why he didn’t complain about all the food and wine I grabbed in the Keep even when it was slowing us down. I’ll have to cook for myself until I can afford not to. If I can ever afford not to… Life sounds expensive here and its not like I have a royal stipend anymore.

She reached into her bag and grabbed a piece of cheese and bread. She broke both in half and handed Hadvar his half. “Here. Eat something. After all that fighting I bet you’re hungry and we need to keep our strength up until we reach the safety of town.”

He took the food gladly and ate quickly, not wanting to be caught off guard by bandits or wolves. He swallowed the last of the meager meal and pointed.

“See that? That’s Bleak Falls Barrow. I used to have nightmares about that place… draugr crawling down the mountain at night… that sort of thing.”

Twilight looked at the ruin with both awe and dread. She pursed her lips. “What’s a draugr?”

Hadvar glanced at her curiously. “You’ve never heard of a draugr? I wish I could travel to where you’re from…” He cleared his throat. “Draugrs are Ancient Nords that were cursed with un-death for betraying their dragon overlords. Now, they guard the now ancient ruins, protecting it forever from all threats while waiting for the return of the dragons. Now that dragons are back… maybe their behavior will change. To be honest… it scares me to think what else might happen.”

Twilight was somber as she considered the fact that she appeared right at what would be considered an important change in daily life here in Skyrim. An important change that would be noted in history or stories or songs… however these people recorded such things.

I wonder if history will remember me… or if there will be a song about me?

Twilight turned back to Hadvar. “Do you recall any stories about ponies? From your reaction to my presence… we aren’t common here.”

Hadvar scratched his face. “You’re the only pony I’ve personally met, that’s for sure. And only two old stories stand out to me. The first story is from about 650 years ago. There was a pony named Celestia that traveled with Talos of Atmora and helped him conquer all of Tamriel, where he was then crowned Tiber Septim and founded the Septim Empire. She disappeared without a trace shortly after he was crowned Emperor. The second story is from about 200 years ago. Another pony named Luna traveled with Prince Martin Septim and helped him defeat Mehrunes Dagon to end the Oblivion crisis… although Martin did die in the effort… efficiently ending the Septim bloodline. If any other ponies did travel here, they did nothing to be remembered by.”

Twilight’s eyes shrank to pinpricks as the ramifications of the story filtered through her mind and she was having trouble trying to rationalize it in a way that made sense to her.

Okay… no problem… either time works differently here, or the Elder Scroll simply sent all three of us to random different parts of these people’s history without regard to the flow of time in my world. Just don’t panic…

Hadvar picked that time to ask an inconvenient question. “Have you heard of them? The legendary pony heroes?”

Twilight winced. “I have… um. Would you call me crazy if I told you something… um… completely unbelievable?”

Hadvar shrugged. “You seem to have a good head on your shoulders. You’re smart… well educated, if still a little naïve. You’ve said or done nothing to strike me as crazy, although, you do seem to be a little lost and unsure as to where you are or what you were supposed to be doing, which does give me some cause for concern. You do seem to be honest, whenever possible, and I doubt you could keep an important secret for very long, especially if it was weighing on your mind. If it makes you feel any better, I could promise to hear you out, and if I can’t believe it… I’ll simply pretend you never said anything, and we can still be friends.”

Twilight took in a deep breath. “Okay… first… Celestia and Luna are sisters. Second… they share the rule of my homeland of Equestria as immortal Goddess Princesses, and they are still alive to this day. Third… Celestia was my personal teacher and under her guidance… I became the 4th Goddess Princess of my people. And finally… Celestia herself sent me here… to become stronger. To learn the law of tooth and fang. To be worthy of replacing her on the throne of my people. I am lost… but only because I was sent here with magic and I only have a vague sense of how this world works. With enough help… I may be able to fulfil my destiny… whatever that may be. So… I’m sorry in advance if I ask any weird questions that should be commonsense.”

Hadvar took in a deep breath and released it. “Okay… well… oh! These are the Guardian Stones… three of the thirteen stones that dot Skyrim’s landscape. One is the warrior stone, another is the thief stone, and the final one is the mage stone. The stones are said to bestow a magical blessing to those that seek their power.”

Twilight face palmed. He doesn’t believe me. Oh well… it is hard to believe.

Twilight cleared her throat. “And what kind of blessing does it bestow?”

Hadvar pointed at each stone. “All experience is divided into 18 skills. These stones increase the experience gained from actions related to five to seven skills per class by a full 20% which will in turn help you gain levels and access more skills in the form of divinely gifted ‘perk points’. The mage stone increases Alternation, Conjuration, Destruction, Illusion, Restoration, and Enchanting magics. The thief stone increases Archery, Alchemy, Light Armor, Lockpicking, Pickpocket, Sneak, and Speech. The warrior stone increases Block, Heavy Armor, One-handed weapons, Two-handed weapons, and Smithing. The other ten stones across Skyrim do different things but could be more useful depending on the path that you choose to walk.”

Hadvar pursed his lips and offered his take on it. “In your case… you are naturally gifted in magic… so the mage stone would be a natural choice. The thief stone would aide you in general adventuring, if you wanted an early edge in those common skills. The warrior stone would help you survive combat… at least in the general sense of improving the core melee fighting skills faster… that is… if you ever put yourself into the position to use them.”

Twilight pursed her lips. “That makes it a hard choice. I expect that I’ll use enough magic that I won’t need a boost to the experience that I need to earn… levels? Also… my teacher made it clear that I need to learn skills other than what I already know. I suppose… that given that I’m wearing light armor and need more experience with both speech and lockpicking… the thief stone makes the most sense for me, at this time. Can I change my mind later?”

Hadvar cleared his throat. “According to legend, you can choose a standing stone blessing once every 24 hours. However… unless you’re very special… you can only have one standing stone blessing active at a time… so you’ll need to choose wisely.”

Twilight nodded and touched the thief stone. She hummed. “The legends appear to be true. I can feel the magical blessing enter me.”

Hadvar cleared his throat. “I’m sure that you are content with your choice, shall we be off?”

Twilight nodded toward him. “Of course… lead on.” She cast a quick glance at him.

He’s probably miffed that I didn’t choose warrior. Why would I choose the stone that gives the experience improvement for five skills over seven skills?

As they left the Guardian Stones, the conversation had stalled. Twilight was silently worried that she had ruined their friendship with the hard truth of who and what she was, or with her choice of thief over mage or warrior. She frowned as she observed Hadvar’s movements.

He seems rather tense. Maybe I should just observe and learn from him?

Hadvar was alert, as if he knew danger was nearby. As they rounded another bend, three wolves seemed to abandon a deer and charged for them.

Twilight raised her hands with the charged sparks spell immediately and took down two of the wolves while Hadvar had put the last one to the sword. The fight was intense, but short.

Hadvar sighed. “This seems like the perfect chance to teach you how to harvest a wolf skin as well as a deer skin, antlers and venison meat.”

Twilight watched closely, despite her stomach protesting, and quickly learned everything that Hadvar was willing to teach. He insisted that she take the dagger personally and clean the kill as well as make the cuts of venison. Under his expert hunting skills that seemed to come from having lived in Skyrim all his life, she managed to get 20 cuts at 2 pounds each.

He seemed pleased with her work and his own teaching. “40 pounds of meat is more than I expected from a deer this size. You did a good job of cleaning it. That should feed you for a decent amount of time.”

Twilight inwardly cringed at the idea of eating the meat herself but smiled at him. “Thank you for teaching me. If everything else you’ve said is true, I’ll need this food.”

They resumed their walk down the road and Hadvar asked her a question she wasn’t expecting.

“What is your unique racial trait and skill?”

Twilight blinked. “Pardon?”

Hadvar explained. “All ten common races within Tamriel have one passive racial trait and one activatable racial skill that can be used once per day. As a Nord… I am 50% resistant to Cold, which lets me take less damage from Frost magic and I’ll freeze to death 50% slower than a non-Nord, which would let me travel longer while taking fewer precautions. I can also use Battle Cry, which will force weaker foes to flee for a short time, allowing me to focus on the stronger foe. I’ve never met a pony… so I’m curious what your racial trait and skill is…”

Twilight looked within herself to the menu of information that was previously unavailable to her. She was more than happy to answer Hadvar although the information was weird.

“Um. I have four racial traits and one active skill.”

Hadvar stopped walking. “How is that possible?”

Twilight met his gaze. “There are three normal pony races; Earth Ponies, Pegasi, and Unicorns… and then there are the Alicorns… which rule over them. Alicorns have the traits of all three of the other pony races. While I was born a Unicorn… once I became an Alicorn through magical means, I gained the traits of all three other races plus my own unique Alicorn trait. At any rate… I have four passive racial traits and one activatable skill.”

Hadvar nodded slowly, coming to terms with what she said. “And what are they?”

Twilight was slightly apprehension about sharing the information, worried that it might be used against her, but she trusted Hadvar and was willing to enlighten him. She spoke calmly and factually.

“The Pegasi in me… with their ability to control the weather, grants me a 50% reduced damaged from Lightning-based Magic. The Earth Pony in me… grants 50 extra starting Stamina with 25 extra carry weight because of their physical strength. The Unicorn in me… with our advanced understanding of magic… gives me a 25% reduced mana cost on the casting of any spell from any school of spellcraft. And the Alicorn in me, being a race of advanced magical prowess, gives me 100 extra starting Mana. My level one stats give me 100 health, 150 stamina and 200 mana.”

Hadvar seemed stunned but recovered quickly. “That is different from any of the other 10 races of Tamriel but isn’t overly overpowering… until you consider that you have all four at the same time. What is your activatable skill?”

Twilight cringed but answered. “It’s called ‘Panic Attack.’ It gives me 50% extra damage dealt while taking 50% reduced damage for up to 30 minutes at a time, once a day. It doesn’t specify physical or magical, so I assume it affects both. Prefect for long, planned battles. Or taking out large bandit camps?”

Hadvar snorted. “I’m just glad you’re on my side. I’m far above level one but I’m not sure I could defeat you with the skills you possess. Beautiful and talented… a rare combination.”

Twilight blushed under his praise, and they continued walking down the path. A short time later, they spotted Riverwood. Hadvar was more than happy to race forward towards his hometown, but Twilight was left with her jaw dropped, staring at the town.

It’s like Ponyville was dropped into the middle of the Crystal Empire. Riverwood is smaller than Ponyville, but the comparison stands. It’s such a quaint little town… a little too close to home.

Twilight was forced to recollect all the things she had learned today.

Things can grow but life is hard here. It’s painfully obvious that you would freeze to death if you tried to travel a full day without shelter… or at least a source of warmth. The armor itself seems to have a warmth rating built into the stats that I can see but only by the virtue of wearing both the armor and the robes am I not coming closer to freezing to death. Of course… it’ll probably get colder as night falls and my current level of warmth may not be enough for trying to travel at night. I may have to invest into getting some clothing to wear under the armor if it has its own warmth rating or researching ways to make the armor warmer. Once I discover what I’m meant to do… I don’t want to be slowed down by something as inconvenient as the weather.

Just as Twilight entered through the entrance of what had to be a guard station with no gate… that also apparently wasn’t presently manned by any guards, an elderly woman started shouting.

“A Dragon! I saw a Dragon!”

A nearby man looked over at her. “Really mother? Dragons now, is it? Perhaps you should go inside and rest…”

The elderly woman persisted. “I tell you, I really saw it! It was as big as the Inn and black as night. It flew right over the barrow.”

Her son seemed exasperated. “Mother! If you keep saying things like that, people are going to think you are crazy. So please, come inside.”

The women allowed her son to escort her inside but retorted. “That dragon will come back someday and kill us all. Then you’ll believe me…”

Twilight sighed. I’m going to have to work extra hard to make her that her prediction doesn’t come true.

Twilight witnessed Hadvar greeting his Uncle Alvor and she walked over to join them.

“Ah, and this is my friend, Twilight. She helped save my life today.”

Alvor looked her up and down. “Hmm. Any friend of Hadvar’s is friend of mine. It’s getting late and it’ll be dark soon. Let’s go inside and get something to eat and you can tell me the whole story.”

With that, Twilight entered Alvor’s home with the sense that her adventure was really about to begin.

Author's Note

Okay, so that's some backstory on how Celestia and Luna previously effected Tamriel plus an explanation of experience and perk points from the point of view of how it works from the perspective of a normal citizen.

Hopefully, the next chapter will finish what I had hoped to do with this one.

Chapter 3 - Gift from the Gods

Chapter 3 – Gift from the Gods

As Twilight entered the cozy little home, Alvor shut the door behind them. He called out to his wife. “Sigrid! We have company!”

Sigrid came upstairs from a lower basement level and was pleasantly surprised to see Hadvar. “Hadvar! It’s so good to see you. We weren’t expecting you…”

Alvor motioned to the chairs at the table. “Come. The two of you look pretty done in… like you lost a fight with a cave bear. Sit down and Sigrid will get you something to eat.”

Hadvar moved to do exactly that, but Twilight paused when she saw the tense look on Sigrid’s face. Twilight wasn’t keen to sit down and hear the re-telling of their harrowing escape from Dragons and Stormcloaks and she was even less interested in adding to the story, not wishing to relive it again so soon after the actual events. So… she instead went to Sigrid and joined her near the humble cooking fire and stove pot.

Twilight whispered to Sigrid… “Is there a problem?”

Sigrid was wringing her hands as she whispered back. “We weren’t expecting company. My husband is a blacksmith… not a hunter. He makes a decent living sharping the saw at the mill for Hod and Gerdur but it’s not like he sells a lot of weapons or armor in a town this small. If we’re lucky… he might sell some arrows to Faendal or a new weapon to a traveler passing through. It’s not a secret that Hadvar is in the Legion. I firmly believe that if Gerdur could find a new blacksmith to run Alvor’s forge, she’d run us out of town. That being said… I don’t have enough food to serve all five of us and it’s not like I can run to the Inn or to the general store to pick up something real quick. The cost of entertaining two guests…”

Twilight nodded and opened her bag. “As it happens… we ran across a deer that was recently killed by wolves near the road in-between Helgen and Riverwood. I was able to clean it and got a fair amount of venison from it. Plus… I was able to find a fair amount of salt, leeks, potatoes and other ingredients in the Keep while we were fleeing. Would a Venison Stew be okay?”

Sigrid smiled tightly. “That would do just fine. A two-pound cut of venison plus the other ingredients will give us exactly five servings. Which is exactly what we need. But I wouldn’t want to take away from your own stock when you’re supposed to be our guest.”

Twilight shook her head. “We are unexpected. I know from Hadvar that the average room at an Inn costs 10 gold. I’m not too proud to take help from a stranger that means well, but I don’t wish to impose on your family during these trying times. The least I can do is offset the cost of the meal so that our presence doesn’t put you out. Besides… I got this food for free and you’re saving me the cost of a room at an Inn. I would consider us even.”

Twilight set to work adding all the ingredients into the pot and Sigrid guided her in the proper process for cooking it… the process being a little different from what she was used to in Equestria… completely separate from it being meat… and completely separate from the fact that there were some gaps in her magically acquired knowledge from when she entered this realm.

Twilight served a portion of stew to each of them, and they all ate in near silence with Hadvar’s story about their escape from Helgen already having concluded.

Once everyone was done, Sigrid turned to Hadvar. “I have some extra furs that I can lay out onto the floor to make a bed-pallet for the two of you. I also have one spare blanket… but you’re going to have to share.”

Twilight turned beet red but didn’t argue. Dorthe, Alvor’s daughter, spoke up. “I’m still a little hungry. Is there anything else I can have?”

Sigrid sighed. “The girl is going to eat us out of house and home. I swear I don’t remember being that hungry at her age.”

Not one to let a child starve, Twilight turned to Dorthe. “What would you like?”

Dorthe seemed unsure but offered an opened-ended suggestion. “I’m just a little hungry, it doesn’t have to be as big as the soup was. Whatever you are willing to make is fine.”

Twilight looked through her bag and smiled. “How about a salmon steak?”

Dorthe’s mouth was watering at the idea and Twilight went back to the cooking pot to make it for the child. Twilight frowned at the salt pile compared to the size of the piece of fish.

Hadvar noticed her tension. “What’s wrong?”

Twilight shook her head. “Well. It’s the salt. It’s twice the weight as the fish. Surely that is too much?”

Hadvar frowned and nodded. “I think you’re right. One salt pile was enough for over 2 pounds worth of ingredients to make five servings of venison soup. I don’t suppose I ever noticed how much salt we use for other recipes, but then, that might be why I never cared much for pheasant roast or salmon steak. What do you want to do?”

Twilight searched her bag. “I have ten pieces of salmon meat from the Keep. Should I cook them all with the one salt pile?”

Hadvar thought about it. “I don’t see why that wouldn’t work. All of the Legion’s food is cooked like that in mass. It’s never hurt me.”

Twilight nodded, grateful for the sound reasoning and approval, and cooked all the fish she had. She gave Dorthe one of the salmon steaks and the child ate it.

“Yum. The fish tastes light and fresh. I think using less salt was a good thing.”

Twilight was relieved about that. “Are you still hungry?”

Dorthe smiled. “Nope! All full. I think I’m going to go outside and play for awhile before it gets too dark.”

She ran off without a second thought and Twilight sighed. Hadvar placed a hand on her shoulder. “Is there another problem?”

Twilight shrugged. “I’m glad that she liked the meal but I’m afraid that maybe the food will go bad faster now since I didn’t use the normal amount of salt. I am vaguely aware that salt is used to preserve meats in certain situations. Letting the food go bad now that its been cooked would be a horrible waste in both the ingredients and time used to prepare it.”

Hadvar was able to offer reassurance on this issue. “Food works much the same way as a potion here in Tamriel. Cooking food gives you Alchemy experience in much the same way as making a potion would, albeit, a smaller amount of experience. However, since the same skill set guides it, the cooked food will never spoil, much like how a potion will never spoil.”

Twilight was intrigued by the level of magic that must be present in this world for that to be possible. Food went bad even in Equestria. Twilight hedged around the fact that there had to be a downside to it.

“Are there any downsides to carrying a large quantity of cooked foods?”

Hadvar sighed. For every question I answer she has another.

“Some adventurers claim that carrying cooked foods attracts the wildlife more aggressively. I’ll concede that it’s possible that it could be true… however, Skyrim is a harsh land with little food, and I would wager that bears, wolves, sabercats and trolls will attack anything that comes too close to their lairs regardless if you are carrying cooked foods or not… because to them… you are the food. I believe you should carry more than enough food with you for whatever journey you plan, for it’s better to have food left over than to run out.”

Twilight conceded that it made sense, given that the food doesn’t go bad. “Is there any other adventuring advice you can offer?”

Hadvar shrugged. “I’ve served in the Legion since I came of age to enlist, but I’ve never been an adventurer myself. Most adventurers I’ve spoken to claim that it’s better to have a companion with you. Someone to watch your back. Someone that can carry some of the loot. Someone to heal your wounds if you get in too deep. I’ve heard a few others claim that it’s better to go alone, so not only can you hone your skills faster… but there is nobody else to attract attention to what you’re doing. A lot of adventuring is sneaking around and hoping not to awaken Draugr or other threats… unless you’re okay with fighting your way through the ruins. Of course… I don’t recall ever seeing too many of those adventurers twice. I hope they’re okay… but adventuring is a dangerous game. High risk, High reward.

Also, you should buy a horse. I know that you can carry more than the average adventurer, but you may need the freedom of climbing on the horse to haul back an extra large find without having to walk at a slow, overburdened pace. You should also buy a house as quickly as possible. Having a permanent place to call home is a good feeling. It’ll also help you protect your gear and make it easier to save up for even better equipment. Adventuring is one-third skill, one-third equipment, and one-third supplies.”

Twilight was horrified at the idea of owning a horse, but she acknowledged that the horses of Skyrim, while hardy, weren’t sentient. Hadvar had yet to give her bad advice.

“How much do horses and houses cost here?”

Hadvar rubbed the back of his neck. “The average horse is 1,000 gold. Plus it’s 500 more gold if you want armor for your horse. Some adventurers claim its just for show and they won’t waste the gold on it, but I’ve seen horses killed in battle with bandits. There is nothing worse than walking home knowing you have to spend another 1,000 gold for a horse when 500 gold worth of armor could have saved it. Houses range in price based on size and location. The smallest of houses run about 5,000 gold. The average home is 8,000 to 12,000. The most expensive I’ve seen was 25,000. With enough fame, you could build your own home on your own land, but there’s no telling much that would cost.”

Twilight was considering all of that while looking at her coin purse which held under 100 gold. Hadvar took the opportunity and helped Sigrid to make the bed pallet on the floor while Twilight was lost in thought.

Alvor approached her. “Now that we have a spare moment, I wanted to ask you if you’d do me a favor?”

Twilight’s interest was piqued. “What kind of favor?”

Alvor sighed. “The Jarl needs to know about the Dragon. Riverwood is defenseless. Please tell Jarl Balgruuf to send whatever soldiers that he can. If you can do that… I’d be in your debt.”

Twilight nodded. “That sounds reasonable. From what Hadvar said, we are in Whiterun Hold so I assume you mean the Jarl of Whiterun. Hadvar had also suggested that I join the College of Winterhold if I wanted to learn more magic and he asked me to travel to Solitude to join the Legion. I suppose that Whiterun would be on the way?”

Alvor nodded but also frowned. “Whiterun is on the way… but Winterhold and Solitude are in opposite directions. I suppose you’re going to have to choose whether you want to learn more magic first and then join the Legion… or join the Legion and learn spells as you go.”

Twilight didn’t like her choices being less than straightforward. “I suppose that since Whiterun is a larger town, it would be a good chance to gather more supplies and get more information. Maybe I should hold off on life changing decisions until I know more. In the meantime, I have no problem relaying your message.”

Alvor nodded. “To show my appreciation for saving my nephew, I will show you how to smelt your old weapons and armor back into ingots, including a special technique I use to combine an iron ingot with a corundum ingot to craft two steel ingots. The Ancient Nord weapons you took off the Stormcloaks should give a fair amount of corundum ingots and the iron weapons and shields should give enough iron ingots to really have some fun tomorrow. I’ll show you everything I know.”

Alvor went outside to clean up his work area and to bring Dorthe inside while Twilight was left with a horrifying realization after pondering the rest of the evening. Hadvar came back over to her now that the bed-pallet was made and Twilight was no longer speaking with his uncle.

“So… what do you think?”

Twilight forced a smile. “It looks… comfortable… but I’m not sure I am.”

Hadvar frowned. “Not sure you are what? Comfortable?”

Twilight leaned in to whisper to Hadvar and he leaned in to listen to her. “I’m naked under this armor. I discarded my old rags in the Keep. I didn’t find any replacement clothing while we were fleeing, and I haven’t had a chance to shop at a general store yet. What am I supposed to do?”

Hadvar gulped, the prospect of sharing the bed now a little more than he was used to. “A lot of Adventurers sleep in their armor. If you get attacked on the road, it’s best to be prepared. While staying in some place safe, like an Inn, or your own home, I could see you wanting to dress down into something more comfortable and you’ll certainly be safe enough here to do so, but you might want to take the opportunity to get used to wearing your armor while asleep.”

Twilight sighed. “It’s been a hard day and I really need a good night sleep to prepare for tomorrow. Can I trust you if I take the armor off?”

Hadvar gulped but nodded. “I promise I’ll be a gentleman.”

Twilight had drifted to sleep finally, and she found herself in a strange place. It reminded her of the realm she had travelled to when she became an Alicorn.

She called out. “Hello? Is anyone there?”

A great dragon appeared before her and she raised her hands to defend herself with her spells, only to find that she couldn’t seem to use any of her magic. Panic seemed counterproductive and yet also seemed to be her only option.

The dragon spoke. “Fear not, Princess of Equestria. My name is Akatosh, and I am the Chief Divine of this land. I rule over the other eight divines and all of Mundus.”

Twilight gasped. “How do you know who I am?”

Akatosh snorted in the way only a large dragon could. “We are nearly equals, you and I. You may not have yet come to terms with your Goddess status… but I see you as the Goddess that you are. You have travelled here to aide my people at a most perilous time, and I am grateful that Celestia granted me the aide I requested by sending you here to us.”

Bolstered by his words, she asked seriously. “How can I help?”

Akatosh smiled at her eagerness. “I need you to defeat my son, Alduin. He has returned to Mundus too soon and he is misbehaving. Don’t let his title of ‘World Eater’ worry you… He is only a minor dragon god. I trust that with enough training, he will be no match for you.”

Twilight gulped. “I find myself at odds with the oxymoron of ‘Minor God’ being used in a sentence, short of him still being an adolescent. Even the weakest God… is a God. With my friends and the Elements of Harmony, I’d say it would be easy. But without my friends… I’m still trying to gather my bearings.”

Akatosh could see that she needed a little confidence. “You, yourself, Child of Equestria, would probably rank a mid-level Goddess with the potential to become a Major Goddess. You may be weak within the realm now, but I believe that once you start to travel in earnest… you will see your own strength.”

Twilight crossed her arms and looked unsure but explained her feelings to the elder God. “I was trained as a mage in my homeland, as most Unicorns are. Becoming an Alicorn gave me nearly unlimited magical power, but I was still basically a mage. When given the chance after I arrived here, I picked the thief stone to increase the odds of me gaining experience quickly, given the number of skills that the stone improves. But… to face a dragon god? It feels like I would need to be a warrior. With the land in a state of war and enemies everywhere, gaining battle experience will probably be easy… unless I die tomorrow before I can really even get started.”

Akatosh could at least see her point. “That is why I have brought you here. I wish to give you a gift to aide you in this task. However… you have a say in what the gift is, so long as you follow the rules.”

Twilight dared not turn down a divine gift. As far as she understood it, the Gods of this realm aided its people in much the same way as Celestia, Luna, Cadence, and herself aided her people, even if these Gods weren’t physically seen by most mortals.

“And what gift would you offer?”

Akatosh smiled warmly. “I wish to gift you with three perk points to give you that early edge you need to survive. You will have to apply them evenly… one on the warrior path, one on the thief path, and one on the mage path… to preserve balance. But… you can choose any entry level skill you want… even if you don’t presently possess the skill level normally required to get the skill. This gift, combined with your natural talents, should be enough to allow you to survive.”

Twilight was shown her skill tree with the three available perk points. She looked over her options closely, reading what each skill did at the first level. It wasn’t an easy choice to pick 3 of 18, but she had to reflect on everything Hadvar had taught her today along with the knowledge imbued into her from the Elder Scroll itself.

Twilight looked at Akatosh. “I’ll take Steel Smithing in the Smithing skill tree, the first level of Enchanter in the Enchanting skill tree, and Novice Locks in the Lockpicking skill tree.”

Akatosh nodded and bestowed the skills. “Interesting choices. Would you care to explain it?”

Twilight took in a deep breath and exhaled. “Having good weapons and armor is a matter of life and death in Skyrim. Steel Smithing seems like it could give me an early edge, given that I could make or improve steel weapons, armor, accessories and tools. As an adventurer, opening locked treasure chests in caves or ruins is how I’ll make most my gold, so making Novice Locks easier to open seems like a smart early choice, although I’ll confess that I don’t know how many locks I’ll encounter that are novice grade. And magic seems to be as important here as it is in my homeland, although in a vastly different way. I don’t know any enchantments yet, but once I do… having a stronger enchantment in my weapons and armor feels important. Also… these skills feel like they are…extra. I’d like the first few perk points I earn from gaining actual experience levels to go to combat related skills, but since these are extra… I’ll get what looks interesting and feels important. I hope that you don’t feel like I wasted your gift.”

Akatosh waved a clawed forelimb, and the perks were applied. “The choices was yours to make, and you did at least follow the rules I laid out. I hope that you’re happy with your choices. I shall return you to your body to deal with pressing matters. Farewell… Princess of Equestria…”

With that… Twilight woke up to face her next problem…

Author's Note

Okay, Poll Question time

As Twilight starts her adventure in earnest, Riverwood has a few small problems to solve.

As a Pony, Twilight has more in common with the races of Mer than Man, so should she side with Faendal the Wood Elf or Sven the Nord when it comes to their attempted courting of Imperial Camilla Valerius? Or does she help neither of them or both of them in a completely Twilight-like way.

You decide.

Chapter 4 - The Riverwood Adventure

Chapter 4 – The Riverwood Adventure

Twilight returned to consciousness and silently took stock of her surroundings and situation, taking Akatosh’s warning of pressing matters seriously. She was a little confused… given that she should be safe here on the floor of Alvor’s house, protected by the big, strong Legionnaire that had his arms wrapped around her and his hands resting gently on her breasts…

Oh. OH!

Twilight’s rapid intake of breath didn’t seem to wake Hadvar, but she kinda wished that it did. If anything… it made him hold her tighter, adding a gentle squeeze to her naked and now sensitive chest.Twilight was left pondering her situation, unwilling to move.

I’m not in estrus, and even if I was, I’m not sure I would let a stallion I barely know do this to me. I just don’t know why it feels so good… I’m still a pony, but with a lot of human features. Maybe humans mate differently? Or more often… I’ll have to find a book about their dating and mating rituals… if one exists…

She didn’t really want him to continue, mostly. Well kinda. No. She had to do something.

She focused her sparks spell into a single finger and touched his hand. Just enough to startle him but not actually hurt his health points. Hadvar woke up with a start and realized where his hands were. He pulled his hands back carefully but winced when Twilight giggled.

“Gentleman, eh?”

Hadvar sighed. “You’re warm and my hands were cold, and I haven’t been in bed with a beautiful woman in ages, and I’m just… sorry.”

Twilight turned to face him. “I knew something like this would happen. I’m touched that you think I’m beautiful and I don’t hold our situation against you. Courtship among my people is a long process. I take it that the same is not true here?”

Hadvar shook his head but wrapped his arms around Twilight, pulling her closer to him. Her breasts pressed against his bare chest, and he tried to not let that distract him from whispering the information she had asked for without waking up everyone else in the house.

“Skyrim is a harsh place, and the people are toughened by it. There’s no room for a long courtship in a land where you could die tomorrow. People often take love when they can find it. Most people respond to deeds. Simply doing something nice for someone is usually enough for them to be willing to marry you, given that very few people have the time or the ability to complete a favor. Wearing an Amulet of Mara signals that you are seeking a spouse. And anyone who sees you wearing it that responds favorably could propose to you. Divorce is unheard of here, but widows and widowers do remarry at times.”

Twilight nodded. “I’m not wearing an Amulet of Mara declaring my intent to find a spouse. Is the act of taking a lover common here?”

Hadvar nodded. “Lovers are somewhat common as well. Adventurers in particular take as many lovers as they can manage for the ‘Lover’s comfort’ magical effect gained the next morning after coitus. It gives a 10% experience boost to all skills for 8 hours. Very useful if you’re going into a dangerous place and want more experience from it.”

Twilight frowned. “Is such an intimate act so causal here, and for such a base reason?”

Hadvar sensed that he had to be careful with this one. He sighed and spoke with a level of honestly that reminded Twilight of Apple Jack.

“You have to understand… strength is everything here. Physical strength or magical strength. The strong control the weak. The most unfortunate of people will cap at level 25. The average person will cap at level 35. Exceptional warriors may be able to reach level 50, including villains. A lot of Bandit Chief’s have the potential to reach level 50, which is why they can be so unexpectedly dangerous. Only a handful of legendary people can go past level 50 and most of them cap at level 81. The leader of the Graybeards on High Hrothgar is rumored to be level 150, but no one can verify that. The higher your level, the more likely you are to survive. A lot of people recognize that fact and are willing to help. Making love at the right time can boost your experience and increase your odds of survival. While most people would prefer a spouse, most of those same people are willing to do a favor to see their favorite adventurer return alive.”

Twilight smiled up at him. “Am I your favorite adventurer?”

Hadvar gulped. “Yes… I believe you are.”

Twilight snuggled into him. “Well… I’m staying in Riverwood tomorrow, so I don’t need a lover’s comfort. Go back to sleep.”

Hadvar smiled as Twilight returned to sleep beside him and quickly joined her in slumber.

The next morning was bright. Alvor got an early start and dragged Twilight out of bed to join him. He was only slightly embarrassed at her being nearly naked in bed with his nephew but didn’t raise a fuss about it while Twilight put on her armor. She followed him outside and stretched. After a moment, she was ready to start learning.

Alvor taught her everything about smelting old weapons and armor down into ingots to be repurposed, plus his special technique of combining iron and corundum ingots to make more steel ingots. He seemed impressed with her ability to make nails, hinges, locks and other tools, like lockpicks, with nearly no training and was even more shocked at her ability to work with steel, having the perk point obtained with under 20 smithing skill experience.

With all the gear she had to smelt, and with steel ingots to make from combining iron ingots with corundum ingots, her smithing skill rose from 15 to 20 within just the morning hours. Her smithing skill probably could have gone a little higher, but Twilight decided to keep some corundum ingots just in case she needed some for something else. She didn’t figure she needed anymore steel ingots anyways. Between the melting of actual steel items and the combining of some corundum and iron ingots, she had 60 steel ingots and no idea what to use them for.

She received a notice that she was ready to level up to level 2.

Twilight looked at Alvor. “It appears I have gained a level. Should I accept it now?”

Alvor hummed. “That is a personal choice. Accepting the level will give you the chance to increase your health, stamina or magicka and gain a perk point to apply to your skills. However… gaining a level also heals you. If you were to wait until you were in combat, and leveled up while near death, it would restore you to full health.”

Twilight frowned but nodded. “That sounds dangerous. Surely you wouldn’t want to do so during combat?”

Alvor shrugged. “When you are in that menu, it’s like time stops. You have all the time you need to make your choices. But in the real world, only a second passes. You could be a moment from death and then, wham! Full health and a perk point applied to help you survive combat. As a mage… you’ll want to focus on magicka, but don’t neglect health.”

Twilight mused about it some. “Are there any other benefits to waiting?”

Alvor smiled. “Yes. Every level, you can gain up to 5 points worth of skill training, if you are willing to pay for it or have a friend that can teach you. Faendal the Wood Elf is an Adept Archer and can help train your archery up to a max of 50. If nothing else… you could try to see if he would be willing to give you a few pointers.”

Twilight smiled. “And where might I find him?”

Alvor rubbed his chin as he considered. “Well… it’s nearing mid-day. He’s either working at the mill, having lunch in the Inn, or spending time with Camilla in the Riverwood Trader General Store. It’s a small town… unless he’s hunting, you should be able to find him fairly easy.”

Twilight agreed with that notion and left the forge to go find Faendal. She decided to check the Riverwood Trader first, given that she wanted to go there anyways to see if they had some clothes she could buy. Luck was on her side as Faendal was inside the store, although hanging off to the side waiting for Camilla to finish her argument and a man that she had to assume was either her brother or maybe her father.

The older man was yelling at her. “I said no! No theatrics! No thief chasing!”

Camilla shot back. “Well, one of us has to do something! What’s the plan, anyway?”

The man was shaking his head, a little angry that she wouldn’t drop it. “We are done talking about this… oh… a customer. I’m sorry you had to hear that.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Did something happen?”

The man sighed. “Yeah, um. We… did… sort of… have a… break in. Don’t worry! We still have lots to sale. The thieves were only after one thing. A golden ornament in the shape of a dragon’s claw.”

Twilight’s brows furrowed. This seems like a good chance to get my feet wet. Defeat the thieves… retrieve the stolen item. Save the day for the merchant.

She locked eyes with him. “I might could get that claw back for you… if you know where they went… or have a spell that might could tell me where to find them.”

He perked up. “Really? I got some gold coming from my next shipment. It’s yours if you get my claw back. Also… the spell ‘Clairvoyance’ can lead you to your destination if you have the magicka to cast it. I’ll give you the spell tome for free to help you find the thieves.”

He handed her the tome and Twilight opened it, learning the Illusion spell.

Camilla raised an eyebrow. “That’s it? This is your plan? Send some poor young women up to Bleak Falls Burrow to die!”

Faendal picked that moment to interject. “She’s at least wearing armor. She’ll fare better up there than I would… however… if you’re worried about her safety… I could give her a few archery lessons for free… but not more than the Gods allow in a single day.”

Camilla smiled widely at him. “Yes please. That would make me feel much better.”

Faendal bowed to Twilight. “If you’ll follow me to the archery practice area… I will give you 5 free lessons.”

Twilight smiled coyly. “What if I level up from your training? Would you consent to 10 free lessons?”

Normally he wouldn’t… but Camilla was still watching him. “Of course. And if that levels you up again, I’ll do another 5. I doubt we’d have time for more than 15 lessons in a day… even if the Gods allowed it. I hope that’s enough?”

Twilight nodded. “I do hope it’s enough. This is… my first real adventure alone. Maybe you could give me some tips on killing draugr while we’re at it?”

Faendal nodded, now serious. “I’ll teach you everything that I can.”

Twilight lined up the Imperial Bow that she had from the Keep and fired another iron arrow at the target. She was listening to Faendal speak.

“Now… some of the bodies resting in the ruins are simply dead. And you can tell which ones those are… usually by how they are completely wrapped in linen. However… you will see some draugr resting in the alcoves… wearing armor… and looking like they are simply waiting for a reason to wake up. When you see that… you have two choices. You can either sneak past them or fight them. You are wearing robes and light armor so sneaking past them should be easy enough… but… if you choose to fight them, a sneak attack is best. I would advise that you shoot any target that you think is alive with the bow and then follow up with flames magic. You should be able to take down most of them very easy with that combination.”

He continued to instruct her. With Twilight’s archery starting at 15, she didn’t seem to gain much experience from the first 5 levels of training, not that could see the bar rise with it maxed out waiting for her to accept her previously earned but not yet redeemed level up, but they were also quick lessons since her skill was so low.

Twilight chose to level up to level 2 from the previous experience gained from the smithing and earlier combat skills gained in the Keep, and was shocked to see that her health, stamina and magicka all rose by 10 points without giving her the option to choose. She had to assume that she bypassed the normal rules for leveling up because Akatosh had described her as a Goddess.

Adding to health, stamina and magicka evenly would let me walk the warrior, thief or mage path with no problem. It’s borderline an unfair advantage… but perhaps that’s what Akatosh meant. What was his exact words? ‘You may be weak within the realm now, but I believe that once you start to travel in earnest… you will see your own strength.’ I suppose we shall see.

She applied her perk point to Destruction magic, choosing to unlock Novice Destruction, allowing her to cast the novice spells for half the regular cost. Faendal nodded serenely, as if expecting her to level up, and continued to instruct her through the next 5 points of skill. The experience from the archery training did carry over and going from 20 to 25 did level her up again, much to Faendal’s annoyance.

She had to choose the next skill with great care. Being pragmatic, knowing she was about to enter an ancient ruin, she chose the first perk of the Sneak skill tree, Stealth. Making her 20% harder to detect while sneaking sounded important.

The lessons got a little longer, with the higher associated skill and she reached level 30 on Archery with little effort, although it was close to 5 pm by the time they finished. The last five points of Archery, being worth more experience than the previous levels did level her up again to level 4, with a fair amount of experience left over. At this rate, with the increase of experience per point gained… she might hit a point where 5 points of training might level her up twice.

She applied the perk point to Apprentice Destruction, which would allow her to cast Apprentice level Destruction spells for half magicka… if only she knew any of the spells.

Twilight looked at him. “Are you ready for another 5 points?”

Faendal sighed. “I can’t. The Gods limit skill trainers to no more than 15 points per day, even if it’s with different clients. And even if I could… I can’t really afford to. I normally charge 200 gold per point of skill… so you’ve already gotten 3,000 gold worth of training for free. I’m going to need more gold if I’m ever going to propose to Camilla.”

Twilight sighed. I suppose 15 points is more than I should have counted on in the first place. Skyrim isn’t the type of place that gives much charity, even in life or death situations.

She turned to him fully. “You really like her, huh.”

Faendal nodded stiffly, as if expecting to have to defend his feelings. Twilight noticed this and asked gently. “Tell me. What draws you to her?”

Faendal relaxed slightly but was still uncertain about her intentions. “Camilla has good business sense, like most Imperials. However, unlike most Imperials., she wants to try new things, not just stick with what works. She is braver than her brother, Lucan, despite the fact that he’s a Nord. She’s also the youngest woman in Riverwood that is of age to marry. I’m old enough to be her grandfather but I’ll still outlive her, given my Elven heritage. I just want to be happy for as long as I can before I have to look for love again.”

Twilight frowned at that answer. It sounded true but also wrong. “How can Camilla be an Imperial and her brother be a Nord?”

Faendal snorted. “The magic that controls our racial traits are very specific. You can’t really be half of one race and half of another, magically. As a Bosmer, I am 50% resistant to both poison and disease plus I can tame and command a wild animal to fight for me, for a short period of time. The same is true with every race. Camilla’s mother was Nord, and her father was Imperial. So… she was born an Imperial and her brother was born a Nord. That is why a lot of people prefer to marry their own kind. At least you know your children will be the same race as you if your spouse is the same race as you.”

Twilight narrowed her eyes. “If that’s true… then why don’t you marry a Bosmer?”

It was Faendal’s turn to sigh. “There aren’t many Bosmer in Skyrim and most of the ones that are here are either fleeing the Aldmeri Dominion or are bandits. Finding a female Bosmer that is looking for a husband and is not a criminal sounds impossible. I can’t go home for the same reason. I don’t want to support the Aldmeri Dominion but any speaking out against them carries severe punishment. I prefer the simple lifestyle of Skyrim, but I don’t want to live it alone.”

With that… he walked away, and Twilight was left knowing that loneliness was something she didn’t have the power to fix. Twilight returned to Alvor’s house and made another batch of Venison Stew, content to feed the whole household again. The meal passed quickly and Hadvar turned to Twilight.

“Hey. Let’s go get a mug of ale at the Inn.”

Twilight normally wouldn’t have agreed but she knew that she’d have to stay at am Inn at some point and it would be better to have the first experience with a friend she trusted. Also… while she had consumed some wine with her meals… she had yet to try the mead or ale. The two of them left the house and headed for the Inn.

Along the way, they met a beggar. “Hey… can you spare some ale or mead?”

Twilight frowned at him. “I have a few bottles of wine… is that okay?”

The beggar nodded. “As long as it gets me drunk… I don’t care what it is.”

Twilight gave him a couple of the cheaper valued unnamed bottles of wine she had taken from the Keep and was shocked at the speed in which he drank it. He seemed pleased with the near instant effect.

“My name is Embry, by the way. Thanks friend. This should do me for a few hours…”

They got to the Inn quickly enough and went inside. Sven was playing a flute while Camilla was watching him. Hadvar walked with Twilight and led her to the bar. He spoke to the barkeep.

“Hey Delphine, it’s been a while. Two mugs of ale, please.”

The older Breton lady smiled at him. “Ah, Hadvar. Looks like you’ve grown into a strapping young man, Who’s your lady friend?”

He smiled at Twilight. “This is Twilight Sparkle… she’s a pony. We helped each other survive the destruction of Helgen in the recent dragon attack.”

Delphine tried to look unconcerned, but her eyes tightened. Twilight noticed but decided not to call her out on it. Delphine poured two mugs of ale and put on a fresh smile.

“First round is on the house in honor of your service in the Legion. Any other rounds you pay for will be 5 gold for two mugs.”

Twilight accepted the drink and took a sip. The ale reminded her a little of Apple Jack’s hard apple cider and found that it reminded her a little of home. The barkeep, having no other customers to deal with was just waiting for someone else to order something.

Twilight looked the bar menu and cleared her throat. “So… how is two glasses of ale 5 gold but one bottle of ale to take with me is 12 gold?”

Delphine smiled at her. “The glass used to make the bottle is expensive. When you’re buying a bottle of ale, mead or wine; you’re paying more for the bottle than you are the liquor inside it. With a high enough speech skill, I might be persuaded to sale it cheaper.”

Twilight took another sip. She was starting to gain a sense of the level of technology versus magic in Skyrim compared to Equestria and it was nice to have more context on why certain things cost so much compared to other common items. She continued talking as if she had a lot of experience with being at a bar or Inn.

“That makes sense, I guess. Any news or gossip worth sharing?”

Delphine shrugged. “I’m not sure what you would consider to be ‘worth sharing.’ Riverwood has something of a love triangle going on. Sven and Faendal are both trying to court Camilla. She seems to like them both but hasn’t chosen who she’d rather be with. Also, there’s a kid named Aventus Aretino who is trying to contact the Dark Brotherhood in Windhelm. If you’re a traveler and you’d like to see the sights of Skyrim… what few there are, there is a shrine to the Daedric Prince Azura near Winterhold. It’s supposed to be a sight to see.”

Hadvar and Twilight finished their drinks. Twilight turned to him. “I’m going to go talk to Camilla. You can enjoy another ale while you wait for me to come back if you like.”

He nodded and Twilight went to where the others were and sat down beside Camilla, listening to Sven play. Twilight cleared her throat.

“He’s pretty good with that flute, huh?”

Camilla smiled. “Sven’s father was a bard. One of the best in Skyrim, at one point. He taught Sven everything that he knows. Sven already is a better bard than most I’ve seen, and he hasn’t even officially attended the Bard’s College in Solitude. Though… the reason he stays in Riverwood is because nowhere else would accept him as a bard without being a member of the Bard’s college. It’s almost not fair… but I’m just as glad that he’s not planning to go to Solitude for the official training. I would… miss him.”

Twilight nudged her. “I hear that you like both Sven and Faendal but haven’t made a choice on which to pick. I’ve been told at courtship is normally short in Skyrim. Is there a reason that you’re holding back?”

Camilla blushed but also sighed. “Courtship is short here… too short if you ask me, but I was raised as an Imperial in Cyrodiil. I’m used to having partners wanting to date you. Not just do one favor and expect a proposal. An Amulet of Mara is cheap. You can get one for 200 gold from the Temple of Mara in Riften or from the Temple of the Eight Divines in Solitude. Any idiot can afford one to show off that they are available to take a spouse.”

Twilight seemed to understand even though love wasn’t her special talent. “Is there anything I can do?”

Camilla frowned. “Maybe… perhaps you can tilt the scales and give me a clearer picture of who to pick. If you’re willing. I, um, I’m not sure what reward I could offer you.”

Twilight thought about it. “Your brother has more spell tomes in your shop that I don’t already know. Most of them are valued less than 250 gold so I suppose that any spell that I don’t already know would be an acceptable reward. I wouldn’t want to be unreasonable about it, but it would probably help me survive Bleak Falls Burrow, which helps all of us.”

Camilla couldn’t argue with the otherwise reasonable request. “You have a deal. Help me pick a partner and I’ll let you pick one of the remaining spell tomes that we have for free as a reward.”

Twilight set out to work on her new quest. Sven had taken a break from playing and was about to order a drink at the bar when Twilight went to stand beside him,

“Delphine… a cup of ale for me and Sven here.”

Twilight placed 5 gold on the countertop and Delphine poured the drinks.

Sven seemed both surprised and puzzled as to why she had brought him a drink. He looked at her with a slight smile. “Thanks.”

Twilight nodded. “That’s just your payment for the music. Word around town is that both you and Faendal are courting Camilla. I spent a fair amount of time with Faendal today… and he seems to have a plan. Do you have a plan?”

Sven’s eyes narrowed. “I earn decent money at the sawmill, and I’m well liked here for my bard skills but for all that I do for Camilla… I can’t seem to out-do Faendal. Say… can you give her this letter and say it’s from Faendal? It should sour her feelings for him.”

Twilight was appalled at the idea but smiled. “I’d be happy to help.”

Sven gave her the letter and she was half-way across the room when Faendal walked into the Inn. Faendal waved to Twilight, and she veered over to him. She smiled at him warmly.

Faendal smiled at her. “I was thinking about everything from earlier and I realized that I already have everything I need to propose to Camilla. I have a letter that I need you to deliver to Camilla. Just tell her that it’s from Sven and I believe that once reads it that she’ll no longer listen to him.”

Twilight accepted the letter and nodded. Faendal went to sit down, and Twilight continued to Camilla. Twilight sat back down and sighed.

Camilla smiled at her apparent indecision. “It’s not as easy a choice as you thought, is it?”

Twilight shook her head. “Actually… It is. Neither of them deserves you.”

Camilla’s smile faded as she processed what Twilight said. “What do you mean?”

Twilight leaned in close. “They both are trying to win your heart with underhanded means. Sven gave me a letter that he wanted me to deliver to you and say it was from Faendal. And then Faendal did the exact same thing. I didn’t read them… I don’t know what they say…”

Twilight handed both letters to Camilla and she reads them. After a few moments, she sighs. “This is horrible… I wanted to narrow down who to pick… not have neither of them as an option. What should I do now?”

Twilight shrugged. “You can decide who you like more, despite the trick, and choose. Or pick a third option.”

Camilla cast a sidelong glance. “I can’t marry my brother. The Barkeep’s assistant is unmarried but he’s a bit on the dumb side, even for a Nord. Unless you’re suggesting yourself, I don’t know who you’re talking about.”

Twilight blushed at the suggestion. “No. No. Not me… What about Embry?”

Camilla paused to consider. “The town drunk. Really?”

Twilight could feel her chances at that free spell slipping through her fingers. “Maybe he has a good reason for why he’s always drinking? Maybe he would be willing to change his ways?”

The door opened to the Inn, and Embry walked in.

Camilla sighed deeply. “Speak of the Daedra and they shall appear… Embry! Come over here!”

Embry was stunned but did as requested. “Yes?”

Camilla looked him straight in the eye and boldly asked… “Why do you drink so much?”

Embry smiled a little sheepishly. “I like you. You’re pretty. So… why see one of you when I can see three of you?”

Camilla’s breath hitched and Twilight cocked an eyebrow. “That… was unexpectedly sweet. I hear that you work at the Sawmill occasionally.”

Embry nodded. “Hod lets me work when I feel like it. If I had a woman like Camilla in my life… I’d work more. I couldn’t promise never to drink again but I wouldn’t get drunk.”

Camilla smiled and decided to take him up on that. “Fine. Prove it. You may drink, so long as you don’t get drunk, and work more hours at the sawmill. If you are sincere in being willing to provide for me… I’ll marry you.”

Embry seemed to instantly sobber. “I will work hard… I promise. Can I buy you a mug of ale?”

Camilla smiled back. “Sure.”

Embry left to go the bar and get the drinks and Twilight whispered to Camilla. “So… what do I tell Sven and Faendal?”

Camilla pursed her lips and then replied. “Tell them both that it worked. The letter soured my feelings for the other man; however, I wish to remain friends with them, but I’ve chosen Embry. If Embry messes up… I may give one of them a second chance. Come by the store tomorrow morning before you leave town and I’ll give you that spell.”

Camilla smiled up at Embry as he returned to her with their drinks.

Twilight nodded and left her to her evening.
Sven was still at the bar, so Twilight told him first that Camilla no longer wished to consider Faendal but only wanted to be Sven’s friend while she worked out for feelings for giving Embry a chance. Although it wasn’t part of the instructions, Twilight also advised Sven to not try a similar trick in the future.

Faendal was just as easy to find, being outside the Inn, waiting for good news. He seemed stoic when Twilight told him the same thing that she had told Sven.

Hadvar seemed to appear out of nowhere once Faendal left the Inn to return home. “Are you done for the night?”

Twilight smiled up at him. “Yes. It was satisfying to solve a simple friendship problem and I think I managed to help all four them, after a fashion. At least none of them are angry with me.”

Hadvar nodded. “So… what now?”

Twilight yawned. “How about some cuddling? I’m going to need a good night sleep before I tackle those ruins tomorrow.”

Hadvar smiled. “I think I can manage that.”

Chapter 5 – Shortcuts lead to Long Delays

Chapter 5 – Shortcuts lead to Long Delays

It was dawn when Twilight awoke. Hadvar was holding onto her, still enjoying her warmth. If she was being honest with herself, she liked how he held her. He had been loving and gentle… without crossing boundaries. She would be lying if she didn’t admit, at least to herself, that part of her wished she could just stay in a place like Riverwood and settle down. The idea of being a Heroine or a Goddess was still too much for her to process, but it was clear that she was here for a reason. A reason more than what Celestia had originally said.

Hadvar grabbed her tighter as she moved to get up. He whispered. “Leaving already?”

Twilight snuggled back into him to whisper back. “Yes. If I’m going to get the golden claw back, I’ll need an early start. I’ll be in a world of hurt if it’s after nightfall when I leave the barrow. My armor just isn’t warm enough to travel at night.”

Hadvar sighed. “I wish you wouldn’t go at all…”

Twilight sighed as well. “You could always go with me… watch my back.”

Hadvar shook his head. “I can’t risk being accused of looting and if I’m well enough to explore a ruin with you then I’m well enough to return to my post in Solitude. Unfortunately, there are both advantages and disadvantages to being posted to a position as important as mine.”

Twilight frowned at the true, but inconvenient answer. “Well… if you don’t want me to go to the ruin alone, and you can’t go with me, and I can’t stay here… then what should I do?”

Hadvar shrugged slightly. “My Uncle already asked you to request aide from the Jarl of Whiterun. I would suggest that you go to Whiterun first and get more supplies before you head to Bleak Falls Barrow. Whiterun has two blacksmiths, a general store, an alchemy shop, and the Jarl’s court wizard probably sells spells and other mage supplies that won’t find elsewhere. I would love it if you gained more levels or obtained better armor or both, before going into a place as dangerous as any Ancient Nord ruin. Who knows… maybe you could even join the Companions Warrior Guild. Having a Shield Brother or Shield Sister watching your back might be better than even I could manage. At the very least, you probably need more gold. For all the stuff you took from the Keep… you repurposed over half of it, turning it into ingots. You don’t have much of that original loot to sell and you would probably have to sell what’s left in a larger town anyways.”

Twilight considered his point at face value. “Going to Whiterun first always seemed to make more sense to me. I was going to go to Whiterun before deciding if I wanted to head to the College of Winterhold or to Solitude. Agreeing to retrieve the Golden Claw was just a way to make some gold which I’ll need for my journey. What will Lucan say if he has to wait for me to finish his request?”

Hadvar nodded, serious. “The hard truth of it is that if you can’t take out a few small bandit camps… then the Draugr will eat you alive. Lucan would also prefer for you to survive. I suspect that the payment he is offering you is less than it would cost to hire a professional. You need to practice your combat skills in smaller, less dangerous situations. Also… you’re worried about freezing to death while traveling, which is a valid concern. A lot of bandits use fur armor. Fur armor is the cheapest armor available and wouldn’t sell for much anyways. You could probably tear the armor apart and use it to give your armor a fur lining that would not only enhance the defense but also improve the ‘warmth rating.’ Anything you can loot or recover from the camps will add to either your supplies or add to what you can sell. When all else fails… there is no such thing as having too much gold.”

Twilight gave up on the argument. “Fine. I’ll go to Whiterun first but you’re going to tell Lucan why he’s going to have to wait longer for his claw to be returned while I sneak out of town. I’m not sure I can face him knowing that I’m not immediately going to work on his request.”

Hadvar smiled as he kissed her gently on the cheek. “I’ll gladly bear that burden if you survive your trip into the barrow as a result of talking the time to prepare for it better.”

Twilight blushed fiercely while she pushed him back some, causing the blankets to slip. “Do that again and I’ll shock the Tartarus out of you.”

Hadvar raised his hands placatingly but looked down at her chest. “Fine… you win. At least get dressed before you threaten me… little pony.”

Twilight looked down at her nakedness and huffed. Her chest was smaller than most of the adult women she had seen so far but her chest wasn’t that small…

She huffed. “Stallions…”

Hadvar chuckled at her reaction as he turned the other way… trying to give her the illusion of privacy while she dressed. Twilight wasn’t sure why he bothered… he had already seen her naked. The thoughts coursed through her head while she considered her feelings.

Hadvar is nicer than Sven and more honorable than Faendal, but he also couldn’t resist a playful jab at my expense. Maybe that was just part of courtship here? Maybe there was more to it than simply doing a favor, in some cases…

Another thought crossed her mind and she winced. “I have to go to the Riverwood Trader General Store before I leave anyways. Camilla owes me a spell for helping her last night.”

Hadvar didn’t turn towards her. “I hope it was worth it. Playing matchmaker like that is challenging and carries the risk of making enemies. If you really want to help spread love… you should consider becoming a Priestess of Mara. I’m sure that the Temple of Mara in Riften or the Temple of the Eight Divines in Solitude could help you figure out if that would be a good move for you.”

Twilight finished dressing in record time and turned towards him. “For what it’s worth. I’ve enjoyed the time I’ve spent with you. I know you wanted more… but adventuring is as dangerous a lifestyle as being a soldier is during a war. I think I was just trying to shield my heart in case I never see you again.”

Hadvar finally turned towards her. “There is no need to apologize. I do understand. We will see each other again if you join the legion.”

Twilight closed the distance and hugged him tightly. “I’ll see you later then.”

With that, she left Alvor’s house. She crossed the street to the Riverwood Trader and discovered that the front door was unlocked even though the shop wasn’t officially open yet.

Camilla was behind the counter. “Good! I was hoping you’d show up early. My brother doesn’t usually wake until the last second to open the shop, opting to skip breakfast in favor of a larger lunch. Here are all the spell tomes that we have. Pick one as a reward for helping me.”

Twilight looked over her options. After careful consideration, the Alternation spell ‘Oakflesh’ was her best option. Increasing her physical defense sounded like a good idea. Twilight asked Camilla more about the spell, hoping for some insight from a native of this world.

Camilla furrowed her brows in thought. “Um. I’m no mage, but if the spell description means anything, it increases your armor rating by 40 points for 20 minutes. So… ideally, you cast it on yourself before you start the battle and it’ll help reduce physical damage but not magical damage. It’s a novice level spell but fairly expense to cast. You should consider getting Novice Alternation mastery at some point to reduce the casting cost.”

Twilight nodded, grateful for the advice. “I’ll take that one. Thanks.”

Camilla gave Twilight the tome and she learned the spell. She went ahead and cast the spell on herself to see how it felt. She seemed to be covered in a magical aura, but she didn’t feel any different.

Twilight shrugged and smiled at Camilla. “I hope it actually reduces the damage I take from hits. At my level… I don’t have a lot of health.”

Camilla winced at the obvious jab about Twilight’s own mortality. “I was thinking that maybe you should go to Whiterun first and stock up on supplies. We just don’t have enough of what the average adventurer needs for a ruin that dangerous…”

Twilight’s head cocked at the advice. “That’s funny. Hadvar said the same thing. I’ll see you soon. Try not to hire any other adventurers to go get the claw. I just need some time.”

Camilla snorted. “Don’t worry. My brother won’t spend any gold that he doesn’t have to.”

Twilight chuckled at that but then remembered something. “Um. How do I get to Whiterun from here?”

Camilla pointed. “Just take the main road out of town and over the bridge. After a little bit of a winding path, you’ll come to a fork in the road. The path to the right will take you over a bridge and towards Windhelm and the path to the left will take you past the Honningbrew Meadery and towards Whiterun. Here… I’ll mark it on your map.”

Twilight was shocked to see that she had a map, given that she didn’t remember obtaining one but was grateful for a clear goal. “Any other last minute advise you can give?”

Camilla frowned. “If you’re going to stock up on supplies… you’re going to need the gold to buy those supplies. I would check the Inn before you leave town. Most Innkeepers know what current bounties are being offered.”

Twilight nodded to her and left, finally finished with her business. Opting to follow Camilla’s advice, Twilight went to the Sleeping Giant Inn and walked straight to the bar.

“Good morning, Delphine. I’m looking for work… do you have any leads?”

Delphine nodded. “The Jarl’s men left this bounty letter for the bandits of Halted Stream Camp. From what I hear… it’s one of the larger and more dangerous camps. You should be careful.”

Twilight gulped. Not quite what I was hoping for.

“Any other offers?”

Delphine shook her head. “The Jarl can usually only afford to offer a bounty on one bandit camp at a time. You see… the Civil War has hit all of the Jarls hard on tax collection. Reduced trade means reduced taxes. Killing bandits helps restore trade but still costs gold. If you want a different job, you’ll have to travel to one of the 8 other holds and just hope they have work. And even then… the work will be killing bandits, killing giants, killing Forsworn or hunting down dangerous wildlife up to and including… maybe even dragons.”

Twilight supposed that made sense. “How do I collect the bounties and how much should I expect?”

Delphine winced at having to explain something that should be common knowledge. She decided it would be best to explain the whole bounty process now so some other poor barkeep wouldn’t have to.

“Most bounties involving wildlife are set as a standard rate throughout the province. Wolves are generally worth 10 gold each, but the more powerful Ice wolf is worth 25 gold. Bears are generally worth 25 gold each, but the more powerful Snow Bears can be worth up to 50 gold if the Jarl finds them problematic enough. Sabre Cats are worth 25 gold and Snow Sabre Cats can be worth 50 gold. Trolls will generally rate 50 gold each if a bounty is offered. Giants sometimes make the list if they become a big enough nuisance. The bounty for a Giant is usually 100 gold… which isn’t enough, in my opinion, for how dangerous they are. There’s no telling what a dragon will be worth if a bounty is offered… I guess we’ll find out soon enough. Most other wildlife are never dangerous enough to warrant a bounty although you will occasionally find a bounty for Spiggans… if you believe that they even exist.

The average bandit is worth 25 gold and the Bandit Chief is worth 100 gold. Forsworn in the Western part of Skyrim are more dangerous than the average bandit. They are worth 50 gold for each Forsworn and 200 or for a Hagraven or the ‘Briarheart’ leader of a particular camp. To collect the bounty for bandits or forsworn, you need to cut off both ears of each person killed. Each full set gives you the bounty. In the case of animals… the pelt is usually enough.”

Twilight was shocked silent. When she finally could speak, it was a whisper. “That seems… like a small amount of gold. Is life so cheap here?”

Delphine shrugged. “The murder of an innocent person will give you a wanted bounty of 1,000 gold. If captured afterwards… you’d have to serve your time in jail or pay off the bounty, which is, of course, taxed by the Jarl and the rest is given to the victim’s family. The rich can literally get away with murder. But for poor criminals being hunted… yes… life is so cheap.”

Twilight shook off the sense of wrongness in the statement. “Can you put the camp’s location on my map please?”

Delphine nodded and honored the request. “Good luck. You’re going to need it.”

Twilight decided not to retort to the other negative comment and simply left the Inn. She started to follow the road towards the general direction of Whiterun at first but then decided to cut across the countryside and head in the most direct route to the Halted Stream Camp.

This proved to be a mistake.

She first encountered a wolf. She was surprised by its sudden appearance, but she was able to quickly take it down with magic. Being by itself, it was no challenge for her, but she was forced to skin it out of fear of not wanting to waste anything. It didn’t take long since all she was harvesting was the pelt, but it was still time she’d rather not waste.

After a bit of more travel… she came up on a grove of trees on a hill near the camp that she was travelling to when she encountered a Saber Cat. Larger than wolf and much more powerful… Twilight found herself dodging the attacks while showering the beast with sparks. The large apex predator’s HP was far above a mere wolf and Twilight took her first big hit from the claws of the cat. Her HP dropped a fair amount.

Oh Celestia… I forgot to cast Oakflesh after it wore off earlier. That hurt…

Twilight equipped the Oakflesh spell in her left hand while wielding an Imperial Sword in her right hand. She cast the protective spell over herself, gaining a point of Alternation magic, raising it to 21, and then just barely blocked another attack with the sword. She still took damage, but it was far less between the spell and the block.

So… it’s like adding an extra layer of armor. Or wearing a better type of armor. It doesn’t prevent damage, but it does reduce it as if I was wearing better armor. That’s… useful. 40 points of armor rating would be the difference between basic Imperial Armor and something like… Scaled Armor? Alvor had told me what all the Light Armor types was when we were working the forge together, but I wasn’t paying as close of attention as I should have.

Twilight dropped the spell in favor of a shield and did a proper block with the shield while using a power strike with the sword. The successful block knocked the cat off balance and the power attack had done a fair amount of damage. In the time this took, her magicka reserves were building back up fast, so she went back to Sparks to finish the cat off. It fell before her magical might and she gained a point of destruction skill, raising it to 26.

A closer fight than I would have wanted. And this is just the wildlife! Hadvar was right… the draugr will kill me if I rush into a ruin unprepared. I need to pay closer attention to Oakflesh wearing off. The cost of casting it during battle put me at risk. But I am closer to the next level now. Of course… I wanted more skill training before I leveled up.

Twilight sighed as she skinned the cat for its pelt and then took both eyes and all 4 paws as alchemy reagents. She also sat in the grass and used a healing spell to heal all of her wounds. Once fully healed, she took the time to eat a quick lunch consisting of one of the salmon steaks she had cooked previously while waiting for her magicka to fully recover. Fed and rested, she cast Oakflesh once again and crouched down into a sneak stance while she approached the camp.

There were three bandits visible on the outside of the camp and what looked like a cave or mine shaft that led deeper into the camp underground. She sighed as she assessed her situation.

I could turn around and head to Whiterun. Maybe I could hire some help or find someone who would be willing to accept half the bounty as the payment after the fact. No. These people aren’t very trusting… they will want the gold up front, and I don’t have enough to pay for their services. A frontal attack is probably suicide with my armor being nearly the weakest in the realm. I guess… it’s time to put those archery lessons to good use.

Twilight drew her Imperial Bow from her backpack and equipped both the bow and the steel arrows. Looking at her possible targets, the first one that stood out was a female bandit sitting in a chair on a raised platform. Twilight assessed the situation further.

The bandit was probably working as a lookout watching one of the main paths leading to the camp, but she is focused solely on the road and not of other possible threats around the camp. She’s practically a sitting duck… and a prefect stationary target.

Twilight fell back into the training Faendal had given her. Deep breath. Notch the arrow. Breath out. Deep breath. Draw the bow. Breath out. Deep breath. Hold. Aim. Fire!

The arrow sailed through the sky like an unstoppable force. Perfectly aimed, the arrow went through the un-armored part of her chest, just above her breasts, and right through her heart. She didn’t even make a sound as she died instantly. And the other two bandits didn’t seem to notice.

Twilight’s sneak skill went up from 15 to 17, the experience from the sneak attack being increased by the Thief’s stone, further enhanced from being well fed and rested and from the successful attack resulting in a kill.

Twilight shifted her aim to a non-human that her magically infused knowledge from the Elder Scroll was telling her was an Orc. He was huge and clearly a warrior and she didn’t want any part of that. She went through the process again and let loose an arrow that seemed to fly perfectly straight and hit the Orc in the back right where the heart would be, and he fell.

Twilight’s sneak went up again by one point to 18 but the death of the Orc did alert the last bandit in the camp. That bandit seemed to home in on her and charged out of the camp through a gate and directly towards her. Not at all confident and shooting at an enraged moving target, Twilight put away her bow in favor of her magic.

With Sparks in both hands, she started to fire the spell as soon as the bandit entered range. As a mage himself, he found his magicka drained from the onslaught of Sparks coming from both of her hands and ended up dying without doing any damage to Twilight at all.

With that, Twilight set about to the unpleasant work of looting the corpses. She took the weapons, armor and all the items she could find. Exploring the camp, she found one locked treasure chest to open and another unlocked one that had a simple booty trap to avoid.

The booty trapped chest had some gold and Spell Tome of Frost. Twilight eagerly learned the spell, knowing that she now knew all three of the novice level destruction magic spells. The locked chest was Apprentice level and Twilight frowned at her own clumsiness as she broke 2 lockpicks before managing to open the chest. The locked chest proved to be something of a tease. Only having a little gold and a one-time use spell ‘Scroll of Guardian Circle.’

Twilight had no doubt that the Scroll of Guardian Circle could be useful in Bleak Falls Barrow but given its value, she was more interested in selling it. The loss of so many lockpicks on a seemingly easy chest gave her pause.

I have plenty of iron ingots. I need to make more lockpicks before I go into the barrow.

A deeper thought stuck her harder.

I helped Alvor make a lock while he was teaching me the basics. Locks are made from corundum. If I make lockpicks out of steel… they would last a lot longer.

Twilight continued to wander around the camp, gathering food and other useful tools while considering the possibility of making steel lockpicks.

Alvor had said that it wasn’t impossible to make tools out of steel but most people prefer iron tools so the steel can be used for more important things like weapons and armor. I suppose it would be impractical for mass production, but nothing is stopping me from making my own personal stock of steel tools for my own use.

After gathering all the food and anything else of use, she went back into sneak mode and opened the door to the mineshaft. She slowly crept forward, avoiding a poorly hidden trap button that would drop rocks on her from overhead. At the base of the ramp she had walked down, she was able to see a bandit wearing Iron Heavy Armor using a pickaxe to mine ore at the end of the current shaft.

That’s not good. If he gets more ore, then he might could improve his gear. Bandits are hard enough in light armor. Heavy Armor is a challenge I’m not sure I want to face. But… that is Iron Armor… my arrows are made of steel.

Deciding to trust her training and her gear, she followed the same practiced steps.

She notched the arrow, drew the bow, took a deep breath, aimed, and fired.

The arrow flew true and hit the bandit in the back right where the heart should be. The bandit himself flew forward into the rock face where he had been mining. If the arrow hadn’t killed him, then braining himself on the rocks would have.

She decided to try her hand at mining ore later but looked around. There were at least 5 mammoth tasks in a cart separate from the armor and weapons to loot. She looted the gear off the bandit and placed all the gathered gear into either the weapon or armor storage portals as well as the mammoth tasks in the miscellaneous portal. After a moment, she also found the keys that opened the door leading deeper into the mine.

She proceeded cautiously, careful not to break her sneak as she travelled further down. Once she cleared the passageway, she saw at least 3 more bandits… including the bandit chief. The Chief was another huge Orc, this time wearing a full set of Steel Armor. One of the other bandits was a dark elf and the last one was another female… Nord or Breton, Twilight couldn’t make out which at this distance.

Three on One isn’t great odds. Wait… what is that?

Above two of the bandits was a round thing that looked like a trap of sorts. She saw another one near where the Chief was, but she also saw a spell tome on a nearby table near the Chief and knew that she couldn’t risk damaging it. Taking a chance, she drew her bow and shot the round vessel and then retreated back up the ramp. Shortly afterwards, she heard an explosion and screams of pain followed by an angry roar. She sat patiently and waited for a sign. She could hear the remaining bandit talking to himself…

The Bandit Chief sighed. “No sign of an intruder… so that thing falling was just an accident? What bad luck… I’ll have to tell the others about it tomorrow.”

Twilight crept back down the ramp and saw the bandit chief walking away from her. She took a chance to fire a final steel arrow from her bow, striking the bandit in the back with bonus sneak attack damage, but not killing him. The Orc roared a challenge as he charged back up the ramp and Twilight put away the bow in favor of her Sparks spell in both hands. The Bandit Chief ran straight into the Sparks and was showered by them as he continued to charge.

Twilight dodged out of the way of his forward charge; his great sword lodged into a wooden support beam while she peppered him with unending sparks. His attempts to dislodge his weapon ended with his own death as he finally fell to the sparks.

Twilight sighed with relief as she wiped sweat off of her brow.

That was too close.

She made quick work of the room, looting all 3 bandits, unlocking a locked chest, retrieving the spell tome to read later, and opening the main treasure chest.

The locked chest held a small amount of gold, almost not worth unlocking. The main chest held an old iron sword that might hold sentimental value but looked useless plus some more gold and an enchanted weapon.

Steel Sword of Soul Trap. I’ll probably have to figure out how to use this to learn the enchantment. I still don’t know any enchantments.

Looking around the room, she retrieved a dozen books that she didn’t already have, more mammoth tasks, plus an axe called the Poachers Axe. A dead mammoth was in the middle of the room.

Should I skin it? That feels like a lot of work… Damn it… I can’t afford to waste anything.

It took her a few hours, but she skinned the mammoth and also took 100 cuts of mammoth that would make mammoth steaks from the fresh kill. There was more she could have cut, but she lacked the one-handed skill to make more cuts from the kill. The uncooked portion of mammoth weighted 3 pounds each so she efficiently maxed out her Reagents storage portal with some of the meat left over in her regular backpack. Looting every sack within the mine, she found plenty of salt piles and a few other food ingredients.

Satisfied that she had absolutely everything she was able to loot, she grabbed a pickaxe and tried her hand at mining the ore veins. She ended up with 36 iron ore and 3 corundum ore. The mine had a smelter, but she knew that her storage portals plus her normal backpack was full to bursting so she knew she’d need to wait until she reached Whiterun to do any major repurposing of weapons, armor and other loot.

As an afterthought, she cut off the ears of all the bandits as she exited the bandit camp. It was dark… and very cold… by the time she started to run for Whiterun. Her armor wasn’t keeping her warm enough and she could feel herself starting to freeze to death, her health bar slowly shrinking in a way that healing magic couldn’t fix.

Damn it… I knew I was spending too much time in there! But… it’s not like I could hide in the mine until morning. What if some other adventurer took the same request I did? I wouldn’t want to fight a random Adventurer if they thought I was one of the bandits in the camp.

She didn’t even have a torch to warm her slightly as she ran towards town. Casting Flames towards random objects as she ran didn’t help either.

I don’t know where the nearest campground is. If I can’t start a real fire or get inside soon… I’m going to die…

At least she wasn’t overburdened so she could still run… but even running didn’t seem to warm her up in the darkness of a near arctic environment.

As she followed the path, it became clear that Whiterun really wasn’t that far from the Halted Stream Camp. If she had to run back to Riverwood or to Rorikstead, she might not have made it, but before she knew it, she was in front of the main gates to Whiterun.

Two guards halted her progress. “Halt. No entry with the dragons about. Official business only.”

For the love of Celestia, these guys don’t care that I could die out here? Wait…

Twilight cleared her throat and tried to sound official. “Riverwood calls for the Jarls aide.”

The guard sounded stunned, but it was hard to tell with that full face helmet. “Riverwood is in trouble too? You better go on in. The Jarl is in Dragon’s Reach. The Castle at the top of the hill.”

As the gate opened to let her in, Twilight only had one thought.

I made it…

Chapter 6 – Lending a Helping Hand

Inside the walls of Whiterun was no warmer than outside on the plains of Skyrim but the walls did block some of the breeze. Looking to her right, she saw the ‘Warmaidens’ Blacksmith Shop and it did have a forge right beside the building. Looking around, she noticed that there were several large torch sconces near the gate that did wonders for warming her up. She stood there and just took in the absolute wonder of the night sky while warming her hands by the fire.

Oh my gosh… there are two moons. How beautiful… I wish my friends could see this… they would never believe it.

A guard paused in his patrol to look at her. “Wow… don’t see your kind much around here. What business brings you to Whiterun?”

Twilight put on her best winning smile despite how cold she was. “Riverwood calls for the Jarl’s aide. I’m just warming up a little by the fire before I make the long and cold trip up the hill to the castle.”

The guard looked back towards the castle at the top of the hill and then turned to face her once more. “The Jarl will have retired to his personal chambers by now. You’ll be able to speak to him during regular court hours tomorrow morning. In the meantime… you can sell all that junk that you’re carrying at either The Drunken Huntsmen, Belethor’s General Store, Warmaidens or at the Skyforge by the Companion’s warrior guild mead hall. And while I respect members of the legion… that armor is garbage. You definitely will want to upgrade to something better as soon as possible.”

Twilight nodded to the guard. “Thank you for all of your help. If I can’t see the Jarl until tomorrow, then what should I do?”

The guard pointed up the road. “The Bannered Mare usually has an available room for rent. It’s fairly clean by the standards of most Inns. At the very least you’ll get a good night sleep out of the cold.”

Left with nothing better to do, Twilight went ahead and went to the Inn. She walked straight to the bar and sat down in front of the older woman behind the bar. The Innkeeper smiled at her.

“Always nice to see a new customer. My name is Hulda. What can I do for you?”

Twilight smiled and fished out a clean mug that she had taken from the bandit camp. “I’d like one glass of ale and a room for the night.”

Hulda took the mug and filled it to the rim. “Ale is 3 gold per mug or 5 gold for 2 mugs and the room will be 10 gold.”

Twilight dropped 13 gold on the counter and thanked her. Hulda came from around the counter and walked Twilight up to the room. It was a nicely appointed room for an Inn, with a double bed, and all the comforts of a small house.

“Here’s the room, it’s yours for a day. I haven’t seen you around before so you must be new in town. Once you settle in, come back downstairs, and socialize. Making some friends probably wouldn’t hurt.”

Twilight sat down and drank her ale. After the hard battle at the Halted Stream Camp and the long run back to the city with all the loot while nearly freezing to death… she had earned that drink. She considered the ale in her hand.

With the way the ale is warming me up, I now know why the Nords drink so much of it. I may have to carry extra with me… though I’d rather not have to pay overpriced Inn prices. I should remember to grab what I can from the next bandit camp I clear. Halted Stream Camp had a lot of food but not a lot of drink…

She thought more about the bandit camp itself from both before and after she cleared it. In hindsight, it might have been smarter for her to have waited at the camp until morning… the mine shaft was pretty warm, and the bandit chief had a nice bed… but she didn’t want to be mistaken as a bandit by some other adventurer that took the same job she did. Unless each Inn had a different job posted, which from what Delphine had said isn’t likely… or unless it was a smaller Hold with only one Inn within the entire Hold and she took the only copy of the job posting… which also doesn’t seem likely. Those facts made the risk too great for her to consider staying in a ‘cleared’ camp. Of course, a smart adventurer might be able to put two and two together and figure out from all the corpses that she wasn’t a bandit… unless they thought she was something worse… like a monster. At least it worked out in the end… this time. She would have to be more cautious in the future, especially travelling after dark. Finishing off the drink, she went back downstairs to enjoy the roaring fire in the middle of the room.

She couldn’t help but pay attention to the bard playing a lute while the conversation around her flowed. A young woman sat down beside her, also admiring the bard’s playing, Twilight turned to her.

“He’s pretty good… but not better than the bard in Riverwood.”

The young lady smiled. “That’s a bold statement but not unexpected from a person who travels a lot. My name is Ysolda, and I plan to buy this Inn someday. As such, I have an invested interest in making sure it runs smoothly even before I buy it.”

Twilight couldn’t fault her logic. “Buying an Inn would surely be expensive. How do you plan to raise the funds?”

Ysolda smiled and leaned in to whisper in a conspirational tone. “I’ve made a deal with Ma’dran, one of the leaders of the Khajiit Caravans. He’s going to help me get started with trading with the Caravans if I can get him a mammoth tusk. The caravans have very exotic items that would fetch a nice price in the city, but the normal townsfolks won’t even give the caravans a second glance. Meanwhile… since the caravans aren’t allowed in the cities, I can get them basic supplies that they actually have a hard time buying for themselves, like basic food and camping supplies. The end result would make them more comfortable and provide both parties with decent profits. My biggest problem is getting the mammoth tusk in the first place. They are expensive to buy, and mammoths are nearly impossible to kill. I can’t afford to spend too much, or I won’t have enough left to actually start trading.”

Twilight nodded slowly, understanding her problem. “So… if you can’t afford to buy a mammoth tusk with gold… what would be willing to trade for one?”

Ysolda looked at her askew. “You ask that question like you have one to trade…”

Twilight smiled and winked. “I just might… for the right price.”

Ysolda chuckled. “Spoken like a true novice trader. I’ll tell you what… I’ll teach you a few basic haggling techniques so you can barter and trade better. Should raise your speech skill a couple of points… I wouldn’t want a shifty merchant to give you a raw trade.”

Twilight reached into her backpack and pulled out a mammoth tusk. “I believe this would be good enough…”

Ysolda nodded. “Yes… this should turn that old cat’s gaze. As promised… here’s a few techniques for getting a better deal at shops.”

Ysolda explained the basic haggling process and had Twilight practice the phrasing with her. At the end of 20 minutes, Twilight’s speech skill had gone up by two points and Ysolda moved on to the next person to talk to. Twilight checked her stats.

Huh. Those two points of skill didn’t count as ‘paid’ training. I guess receiving skill points as a reward for a ‘quest’ isn’t the same as paying a trainer for the knowledge. Odd…

An older Imperial woman sat down beside her next. “I wish I had gotten to speak to you first. I have a mighty need for some mammoth tusks myself.”

Twilight cocked an eyebrow. “Oh? Are they more valuable than Ysolda led me to believe? It would figure that a future merchant like her would give me a raw deal on a trade before teaching me how to avoid getting a raw deal on a trade.”

She giggled a little. “The tusks are only valuable to people who know how to use them. My name is Arcadia and I’m Whiterun’s only official alchemist. An Alchemist, like myself, could grind a mammoth tusk like this into units of ‘Powdered Mammoth Tusk.’ The reagent isn’t very valuable on its own but is used in several potions that fetches a high price. With the ongoing Civil War between the Empire and the Stormcloaks… stamina potions for the front-line soldiers are in high demand, and they sell for quite a bit of gold. I’m completely out of powdered mammoth tusk and bandits keep raiding shipments heading to our city so I’m falling behind on my orders with no way to catch them up. I could make the powder myself… if I had a tusk to grind.”

Twilight nodded. “How much Powered Mammoth Tusk can a single Mammoth Tusk make and how much do you actually need?”

Arcadia considered the question, as if wondering how much to actually say, but then seemed to answer honestly. “A true master alchemist, working in a controlled room with no outside interference, could get a full 50 units of Powdered Mammoth Tusk from a single tusk. An Expert Alchemist, like myself… even with a shop or a controlled room, would be lucky to get 40 units. I need 100 units right now just for my current orders…and more later. Under the best of conditions… I really need 3 mammoth tusks right now and probably more later when I get more orders. Unless the trade routes can be secured better, I’ll be relying on adventurers like you.”

Twilight pursed her lips. “That’s a tall order… what can you trade for them?”

Arcadia shrugged. “Gold has been tight with the war raging on. I could teach you some alchemy, so you’d be better at making your own potions. While the tusks themselves aren’t super valuable, I could justify 5 points of alchemy training per tusk for the first 3 tusks due to the value of the potions they’ll make. Depending on your current level and your alchemy skill, it may take a few days to fully train you but I’m willing to make the trade if you are.”

Twilight nodded as she pulled out three more tusks from her bags. “That’s fair. I’ll come by tomorrow morning for the training. And here you go.”

Arcadia was stunned but nodded as she accepted 3 mammoth tusks. “Of course. My shop opens at 8 am. I’ll be happy to teach you something useful. What is your skill at?”

Twilight closed her eyes to access her inner skill set and stated pointedly. “15.”

Arcadia furrowed her brows. “So you’re a true novice then. What level are you?”

Twilight was wondering where this was going. “I’m level 4 but I’m already able to ascend to level 5. I just haven’t yet because I haven’t done any ‘paid’ skill training for level 4 yet. As a ‘new’ adventurer… I can’t afford to pass up these types of opportunities. Training is more valuable to me than gold.”

Arcadia nodded. “You’re a low enough level that 15 points of skill training should get you to level 7, especially if you can already hit level 5. In that case, I can probably do all 15 points of training in one day, but it’ll take nearly all day.”

Twilight nodded. “That’s fine. It took nearly all day to go from 15 to 30 archery while I was still in Riverwood. I’ll probably need to handle some business at Dragon’s Reach before I come by, but you can be sure that I’ll be there tomorrow.”

Arcadia nodded as a silent reply and Twilight smiled as Arcadia left the Inn, probably to store the tusks in her shop. Twilight was barely able to enjoy the fire before a Redguard male sat beside her and started to speak to her.

“You look like you have a large number of mammoth tusks… would you care to explain why or how you have so many?”

Twilight was a little annoyed at the directness of his question. “While I have been willing to help those in need… your question is more accusing than asking for a favor. Therefore… if you want this conversation to continue… you will pay to refill my empty mug.”

Twilight shocked herself with the assertiveness of what she just told him to do but was equally wondering if it simply had to do with the fact that she had just recently finished practicing haggling with Ysolda. She sat her empty ale mug in front of the Redguard and he took it to Hulda, who happily refilled it for another 2 gold, owing that even though someone else was paying for it, it was Twilight’s second cup of ale.

The Redguard scowled. “Here’s your ale. Are you happy?”

Twilight took a long swig of the ale. “Ahh. Yes. Happy enough. So what do you want?”

The Redguard introduced himself. “My name is Amren. My family’s Ancestral sword was stolen recently by bandits, and I’d like it back. Rumor has it that it was the bandits of the Halted Stream Camp. Those bandits were renowned for killing mammoths… and you seem to have a lot of mammoth tusks. Tell me… did you clear the Halted Stream Camp?”

Twilight took another sip of ale. “As it happens… the Halted Stream Camp was this week’s bounty offer from the Jarl. And I did manage to clear it… alone. There was this one older iron sword that seemed to stand out… is this it?”

Twilight presented the Armen’ Family Sword to Armen. He exclaimed. “You found it! My father fed his entire family with this weapon… and while I do use a better steel sword, I’d rather honor my father by keeping the sword in a place of honor. Here. My father had a favorite sword and shield technique. I’ll teach it to you… in honor of his memory.”

Twilight and Armen headed outside into the freezing night long enough for him to teach her the moves without hitting any of the Inn patrons or risking damaging any of the furniture. After only a few moments, her one-handed and blocking skills went up one point each. They quickly returned inside, and Twilight continued nursing her drink. She turned to him.

“So why didn’t you try to get it yourself? You seem like you have some good moves.”

Armen nodded with a twinge of regret. “I was a soldier for a while. I would have made a decent mercenary, but I gave up the soldier’s life when my wife got pregnant. I was determined not to leave them without a provider should the worse had come to pass. Recently, my Saffir has grown more concerned that the civil war will pull me back into military service and she really hasn’t liked how obsessed I was with recovering my stolen property, not caring about the legacy it represented. I know I could have recovered it myself if I hired one or two men to go with me, but she threatened to leave me if I left town in search of the sword. I don’t think I would have been in much danger against common bandits, but I couldn’t risk her making good on her threat. I don’t know how she’ll feel if the Jarl orders me to join the town guard. So, here I am, simply grateful that you recovered it and was willing to accept a couple of simple lessons as payment.”

Twilight shrugged. “I couldn’t righty charge you to go get the sword when I already had it. And I appreciate the training more than I would have appreciated gold. At least both you and your wife can be happy now. You have your sword, and she doesn’t lose her husband. Though… as dangerous as Skyrim can be, her threat doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. Could she really afford to just leave?”

Armen shrugged in response. “I’m not sure. She’d have to make her way to Solitude and take the boat to Hammerfell if she wanted to return to her family. The journey would be difficult but not impossible for a woman and a small child but between bandits and the wildlife, I don’t think she would have made it without weapons and armor of her own. Not without hiring the carriage at least, and then that’s not full proof. I don’t think she thought this completely through. She is stubborn but she isn’t stupid. Still… it’s not wise to stand between a man and his honor.”

Twilight shook her head and finished her drink. “Given how things seem to work here, it’s a wonder that everyone doesn’t wear armor at all times…”

That got a chuckle from Armen. “That’s why I still wear mine. You never know when you’re going to run into trouble. Even a city can be dangerous in times of war.”

Twilight nodded to him as he took his leave. She got up and stretched. When she finished… she noticed a child sitting in the far corner of the room, alone. Curious, Twilight went to investigate. Before Twilight could say anything, the child looked directly at her.

“Miss? Can you spare a coin?”

Twilight nodded and gave the child a coin. “Why are you begging?”

The child sniffled. “That’s what Brenuin said I should do. He’s been the only one that has nice to me since my momma died. My Aunt and Uncle threw me out after they took over my parents’ farm and stole my inheritance. I barely had the strength to make to the city and I guess I’m lucky that bandits didn’t find me first. Most days I can afford a meal here at the Inn… or I afford a room… but usually not both. Given the choice, I usually choose to eat and then I sleep outside behind the Inn where the city wall and the building shields me from the wind.”

Twilight was horrified at the thought. “Well, today you’ll in luck. I have extra food and a room with a double bed. So… I’ll feed you and then you can sleep with me in the room I rented. Save your gold for another day. What’s your name?”

The child smiled warmly. “My name is Lucia.”

Twilight took her hand. “My name is Twilight. Come with me and sit down at this table. I’ll be right back with food.”

Lucia took a seat and Twilight went to the cooking pot in a side room that was in-between the main room of the Inn and where the rented guest rooms were located. Twilight pulled out an uncooked cut of mammoth meat that was slightly larger than a cut of venison. Using common sense, Twilight realized that neither she nor the child could eat a ‘Mammoth Steak’ that was that big, so she improvised and used the mammoth meat to make a ‘Mammoth Stew’ that was nearly identical to ‘Venison Stew’ except that she used mammoth meat instead of venison. Adding the salt and the other vegetables, she got 7 servings of the Mammoth Stew, which was two more servings than she managed with the Venison Stew… owing in large part to the larger cut of meat.

Twilight returned to Lucia and presented the stew along with a piece of bread and cheese. For the drink… Twilight had no choice but to pour a cup of Alto Wine, running a little low on drink options. Lucia’s mouth seemed to water as she dug into her provided meal.

Twilight cleared her throat. “I’m sorry that I don’t have a drink that’s more child friendly.”

Lucia swallowed. “The laws are a little looser in Skyrim than they are in other parts of the Empire. Most kids stop drinking milk at age 8. We drink wine and ale like our parents, least we want to be taunted as a ‘milk drinker.’ And we are adults at age 16 here. I’m 12 already… so I can handle a little wine. I’m surprised your giving me the good stuff… most kids drink the cheaper unnamed wines. I’ve never had Alto Wine… it’s really good.”

That barely eased Twilight’s conscience as she was distracted by another overheard another conversation coming from the bar counter. An older woman was having to try to placate her young daughter.

“I’m sorry, my little fairy, but I don’t have the gold for such an expensive meal. You’re going to have to pick something cheaper or we’re going to have to go home for another batch of cooked cabbage.”

The child seemed so sad, and Twilight was drawn to the conversation. “Pardon me for overhearing… but you’re both welcome to join us. I have a few extra servings of stew if you want some. It’s fresh… I just made it.”

Hulda seemed upset at the prospect of losing a sale, but the child seemed pleased, and the woman was a little ashamed of her circumstances but accepted the offer. Twilight led them both to the table and gave them both a bowl of the stew while also pouring some wine.

The woman cleared her throat. “My name is Carlotta Valentia, and this is my daughter, Mila. I have to thank you for your kindness.”

Twilight snorted as she sat down to her own bowl of stew. “Nonsense. My teacher would scold me if I didn’t share my bounty. I can’t eat all this food myself and I don’t want to carry all of it with me to eat later. So enjoy. Life is hard and we’re in it together, regardless of if anyone else wants to acknowledge it. This is an improvised recipe, so I hope it tastes okay.”

Carlotta took a bite and sighed. “It tastes wonderful. What meat is this?”

Twilight took a bite and actually appreciated the favor. “Mammoth.”

Mila gushed at the prospect. “I can’t believe that I’m eating mammoth! That’s like the rarest meat in all of Skyrim. It’s not like a normal hunter can kill a mammoth.”

Twilight chuckled. “I’m glad you like it. So… what’s your story Carlotta?”

Carlotta frowned slightly. “I sell fruit and vegetables in the market, harvested fresh from local farms. Sometimes, I throw in home-baked breads or pies when I can get the flour. There are days that the sales are an absolute bounty and others where it feels like I wasted 12 hours standing at the booth. All I care about is my daughter. She’s at the age where she’s always hungry and I don’t care if I eat as long as she does. I didn’t really earn any gold today, so your offer was well timed for us, and I’m very grateful.”

Twilight nodded while eating her own stew. “I got lucky with this bounty of food, and it would be wrong not to share. I’m grateful to have this opportunity.”

Carlotta smiled while swallowing her last bite of stew. “If you ever need ingredients for another batch of stew, I have all the vegetables you could need… and I’m willing to give you a discount if you’re able to help us with some of this stew every once in a while.”

Twilight smiled at her. “It would be my pleasure to help. In fact… I came across some flour at a bandit camp that I cleared today. The Inn doesn’t seem to have an actual oven, so I don’t really have any use for the flour. You’re more than welcome to take all of it. No charge.”

Twilight produced 10 sacks of flour from her bags and Carlotta just stared at it. Twilight got a little uncomfortable with just how transfixed Carlotta was on the amount of flour she had just been given.

Twilight cleared her throat. “Are you okay? You look like you can’t believe your eyes.”

Carlotta swallowed a lump in her throat. “I can’t believe it… 10 sacks of flour will let me make between 20 to 30 items, depending on what I make. The amount of gold I can earn from my home-baked goods usually exceeds selling normal fruits and vegetables. I had everything I needed for baking except the flour. You have no idea what this means to me…”

Twilight took a sip of wine. “It’s only 10 gold worth of flour… it’s not like I saved the world.”

Carlotta sighed. “10 gold worth of flour if you sold it to a greedy merchant. 30 gold worth of flour if you bought it from the same merchant. 150 gold worth of finished products if I can bake everything that I had planned on making. At least I won’t have to worry about not being able to feed my daughter for a while. I get that your new in town… maybe even new to the province but I don’t understand how you don’t understand just how hard life is here…”

Twilight swallowed nervously. “I’ve had good friends teaching me and helping me from the first day that I got here. Maybe that’s made it easier than being alone and trying to teach myself. I am accustomed to helping my friends and my generosity is genuine. At least I can feel a little better about accepting a discount from your fruit and vegetable stand now that I’ve helped you with more than just a single meal.”

Carlotta swallowed hard. “I wasn’t trying to talk down to you. I do have a few friends in town but none that really ‘help’ me. Then… there’s that bard, Mikael. He’s always boosting that he’s going to conquer me as a true Nord conquers any harsh beast. I’m not trying to get remarried… I just want to take care of my daughter and live in peace. I’m sorry if I took my frustration out on you.”

Twilight pursed her lips… “What if I talk to Mikael?”

Carlotta snorted and took a sip of wine. “If you want to try, go right ahead. I don’t think anything will get through that thick skull of his, though.”

Mikael had stopped playing to take a break and Twilight took her chance. She walked right up to him and smiled. “Can I buy you a drink?”

Mikael smiled widely… “Sure.”

Twilight and Mikael both walked to the bar counter and Twilight dropped 5 gold on the counter.

“Two ales please.”

Hulda nodded and poured the ales into clean mugs from the tab in the giant beer barrel behind the bar. Twilight was given a minute to consider how she wanted to handle this one. This was the second time in a day that she had to step in with relationship help but convincing someone to break it off sounded harder than trying to set them up.

Mikael took a swing and sighed in appreciation of the free drink. “So… which song was your favorite?”

Twilight thought about it for a moment while taking a sip of the ale to buy herself some time. She had been spending so much time talking to the other patrons that she really hadn’t been paying that close of attention to the music.

“The Age of Aggression was an interesting song. It definitely paints the Stormcloaks in a negative light. Ragnar the Red was… colorful… but honestly not my cup of tea.”

Mikael shrugged and took another swig of ale. “Ragnar the Red is a local favorite because the events are a true story that happened in this very Inn. I’m fonder of the slower love ballads that I learned at the Bard’s College, but Hulda wants to keep the Inn ‘lively.’ I personally think a little variety would do the place some good. Maybe have a more romantic ‘date night’ atmosphere for the couples of Whiterun… at least once a week.”

Twilight hummed at the idea. “Maybe once Ysolda buys the Inn from Hulda such a thing might be possible. Tell me… I’ve heard that you’ve been pursing Carlotta… what’s the story behind that? You do know that she doesn’t care much for your advances?”

Mikael gave Twilight a grin that nearly chilled her. “Carlotta put you up to this, didn’t she? I saw you talking to her earlier. That fiery widow will be mine… she just doesn’t know it yet.”

Twilight put her ale down and turned to face him directly. “And what have you done to deserve her affection? Have you done a noteworthy favor for her? Have you purchased items from her stall? Have you offered to buy her and her daughter dinner here at the Inn? You heard the same conversation that she was having with her daughter as I did and yet it was me, a stranger, that provided for her family. Publicly claiming that you will conquer her like a Nord tames a harsh beast isn’t something a man would say if he was interested in being a husband and a father. Face it, Bard. Your fancy speech skills aside from all your talking and singing… you don’t deserve her and at the rate your going… you never will. Do everyone a favor and just give it up.”

Twilight picked up her ale, and continued to drink, as if what she had said was the most natural observation in the world. Meanwhile, Mikael was chewing his lips and nursing his ale. After a moment of silence, he sighed.

“You’re right… on my honor… I will leave her alone. Maybe someday I’ll be worthy enough of her that she’ll come to me.”

Twilight smiled at him. “That’s the spirit. And good luck in the future.”

Mikael licked his lips and pushed his luck. “What about you? Are you single?”

Twilight paused with her cup halfway to her lips. “I’m not officially in a relationship but the closest person I have to a current love interest is in the Legion. I’m hoping to join him in Solitude soon when I officially join the Legion myself.”

Mikael, having learned his lesson, decided not to push his luck further. “Well. Good luck with that. Also… thank you for the advice. I’ll keep it in mind.”

Twilight shrugged. “You may yet make a decent husband someday… but not to me and not to Carlotta. Plenty of ladies out there… just be patient.”

Mikael finished off his drink and went back to playing while Twilight finished hers and returned to Carlotta at the table.

“It’s done. He promised to stop chasing you though he expressed hope that someday you’ll take a fancy to him on your own.”

Carlotta snorted. “Fat chance of that. I’d thank the Gods, but I’d rather thank you. Here, take this gold as a reward.”

She handed Twilight a coin purse with 200 gold and Twilight bulked at it. “What’s all this? I thought you didn’t even have enough Gold to feed you daughter… I can’t take this…”

Carlotta smiled. “It was something of an emergency fund and I will have to build it back up now, but you earned that gold. With the meal tonight and the free flour you gave me plus the load off my mind from the bard finally leaving me alone… it’s worth every coin.”

Twilight shrugged. “If you say so… I’ll make sure I put it to good use.”

Carlotta and Mila got up to leave the Inn and an older man in Priestly robes sat down in Carlotta’s vacated space. Twilight raised an eyebrow at him.

“Let me guess… you need help too?”

He nodded. “Please forgive my intrusion. My name is Andurs and I’m the Priest of Arkay for Whiterun. I lost my Amulet of Arkay deep in the catacombs and now the dead appear to have gotten restless. Without my Amulet… I’m powerless to stop them. Armen came by the Temple to pray and told me about how you took down a whole bandit camp. A few skeletons would be easy compared to that.”

Twilight pursed her lips. “And how do I stop them?”

Andurs nodded sagely. “Basic skeletons are weaker than wolves. A single hit from any offensive magic or weapon strike should do it. However… they could still be dangerous in large numbers or if you had weaker than standard armor, like a bandit would. There is also the issue of reanimation. One of the reasons why every city has a Priest or Priestess of Arkay is to prevent the dead from overtaking the living. The only way to permanently stop an undead from reanimating is to kill it with a weapon enchanted with soul trap or casting the conjuration spell ‘Soul Trap’ upon the target before killing it. However, you also have to have a soul gem of the appropriate size or the effort of using Soul trap will fail. Skeletons have the smallest soul type… so you will only need ‘Petty Soul Gems’ for them.”

Twilight was happy to receive the information and was determined to buy some parchment or a journal along with some ink and a quill so she could take notes. It wouldn’t do for her to forget anything important. Lucia tugged on Twilight’s robe to bring her back into the conversation from her thoughts…

“Miss Twilight? May I have another bowl of stew… I’m still a little hungry.”

Twilight’s eyes went wide as she considered her own failure as a host. “Where are my manners? Of course you can, Lucia. And you too, of course Andurs. I didn’t even ask if you’ve eaten yet.”

Without delay Twilight placed two more bowls of the stew out and was happy to continue to learn from Andurs. He had a surprising amount of insight on the different types of undead and Twilight paid close attention, hoping to transcribe the information later.

He cleared his throat. “The main three types of undead are Skeletons, Draugr and Vampires.

Skeletons are the weakest type of undead and normally wear no armor and wield Ancient Nord weapons, however, in some deeper or older caves… you might encounter an ‘Armored Skeleton’. These wear leather, Iron or Steel armor and wield weapons of a similar grade to the armor. These are harder to kill but still only give a petty soul.

Draugr come in a variety of types. I will note early on that all draugr, regardless of level, are 100% immune to poison and 50% resistant to frost. They are also completely immune to illusion spells unless you have the Master of the Mind Illusion perk, which only a master illusionist can have. So while muffle might work as an enchantment on boots… muffle and invisibility as Illusion spells won’t work on them at all. Fire spells do 50% extra damage to all types of undead and Lightning based spells do normal damage but can be beneficial in draining the magicka of the target, if the target is known to have magicka.

The weakest two types of draugr are known as Draugr or Draugr Thrall. They are roughly level 1, and they both have a petty soul. They are more dangerous than a skeleton, but only because they have more health.

The next step up is the Restless Draugr. Restless Draugrs are roughly level 6 and can use the spell Frostbite in addition to normal draugr weapons. They typically give ‘lesser’ souls to fill lesser soul gems.

Draugr Overlord’s are the next step up but don’t let the name fool you… they are only level 7. They typically guard the most important areas of the lesser important Ancient Nord ruins. They are the first draugr type to use dragon based ‘shout’ magic. The spell is rumored to be called ‘Unreletening Force’ and while the shout itself doesn’t do damage, it will stagger you and make it momentary impossible to attack or block. Stronger versions of that shout might knock you completely off your feet. They also give lesser souls.

Draugr Wight’s are where they start to get dangerous… The Draugr Wight is roughly level 13, and they have both the Frostbite and Ice Spike spells. Once you’re exploring ruins dangerous enough to have this type of draugr present… I would hope that you process at least one type of enchanted jewelry or armor to resist frost damage. Despite the extra danger they represent… they still only have lesser souls.

Just above the Draugr Wights are the Draugr Wight Lords. Draugr Wight Lords are roughly level 15 and don’t seem to have normal magic but are the first draugr class to have more than one Ancient Nord Dragon Shout. In addition to Unrelenting Force, they also can use ‘Disarm.’ Unless you are stronger than them, they can make you drop whatever weapon you are carrying. Despite there overall weakness, they carry a ‘Greater’ soul for Greater soul gems.

Draugr Scourge is just about the hardest Draugr that an adventurer of ‘normal talent’ can handle. Roughly level 21, they cast the same destruction Frostbite and Ice Spike spells of their weaker brethren, but they can also conjure a Frost Atronach with Conjuration magic and can use the Ancient Nord ‘Unrelenting Force’ dragon magic shout similar to the Overlords. They carry a ‘Common’ sized soul for common soul gems.

Just above the Draugr Scourge is the Draugr Scourge Lord. Roughly level 24… I would advise having a travelling companion with you to help you take down a monster of this power level. Unless you are well equipped or exceedingly talented, this level of draugr and above will kill you. This draugr type uses three different dragon shouts, being the first to use Frost Breath. Despite the difficultly of this foe, it only gives a Common Soul.

The next type of Draugr can be a little tricky to tell apart. There are two types of Draugr Deathlord, an archer type and a two-handed weapon type. The two-handed weapon type is typically level 30 whereas the archer type is level 40. Both types tend to use Ebony Weapons, which is among the best weapons in the world, and a variety of high-level ice-based spells and dragon shouts that are sure to give you a hard time defeating them. The level 30 gives a Greater soul whereas the level 40 version gives a ‘Grand’ soul.

The final type of draugr is the Draugr Death Overlord. The lowest level they tend to be is 34 and I’ve heard some adventurers rate them as high as level 45. They typically use Ebony weapons exclusively and give greater to grand souls depending on their actual level. Unless you have above average equipment, are a decent level or have a travelling companion, I would recommend just turning around and not even trying to fight one of these things. They are just too dangerous…

Vampires are the last type of undead and I just don’t know a lot about them. I bet that the Vigilants of Stendarr or the newly re-formed Dawnguard could tell you more about them.”

It was admittedly a long explanation, but Twilight felt invigorated by it… Lucia… not so much. By the time the explanation was finished… the stew was finished as well. Lucia was almost asleep in her chair. Twilight turned to Andurs.

“I don’t have any soul gems on me at the moment, but I’ll be sure to buy some tomorrow before I come to the Temple of Arkay. I have some business at Dragon’s Reach and then a little more business at Arcadia’s Cauldron, but… I promise that I’ll help you sometime tomorrow. In the meantime… I need to get this little one to bed.”

Andurs nodded his head. “I don’t mind if you can’t come by for a while. It’s sad but also true that most folks don’t seem to visit their honored dead much. I just need the problem fixed before I have to turn someone away from the catacombs citing it to be too dangerous for them to visit for the time being.”

Twilight smiled at him as he got up to return to the Temple. “Of course… I’m always happy to lend a helping hand.”

Andurs smiled at her as he left the Inn. Twilight picked up Lucia and carried her to her room. She gently placed Lucia in bed and covered her up, deciding to lay beside her on the other side of the bed and covering her up.

Cuddling close, Twilight smiled at the situation, doubly happy to lend a helping hand.

Chapter 7 – All Roads Lead to Bleak Falls Barrow

Twilight awoke the next morning with Lucia in her arms, the child resting comfortably as if it was the best night sleep she had gotten in months. To Twilight’s regret, her own movements from waking up also woke up Lucia.

Lucia yawned widely while rubbing the sleep from her eyes. “Good morning mommy… er… I mean, Miss Twilight.”

Twilight felt a pang of guilt, but she simply couldn’t adopt an orphan without a house of some kind to let the child live in. The open roads of Skyrim were dangerous enough for a well-equipped adventurer… it was no place for a child. She tried to smile anyways, pushing the awkwardness of the misspoken familiar title away from the conversation.

“Good morning, Lucia. I have one serving of mammoth stew left over from last night that you can have for breakfast. I’ll be gone all day running errands and finishing tasks around town, but I’ll be back tonight so just come back to the Inn after it gets dark, and I’ll be sure to rent the room again for tonight. I don’t know how long I’ll be in Whiterun but as long as I’m in the city, I’ll do my best to provide for you. So try to save up as much gold as you can.”

Lucia nodded in acceptance. “That’s more than fair. You’ve shown me more kindness in one day than most people have in the entire time I’ve been in the city.”

Twilight felt a little bit of rage at that. Sure, Equestria had orphans… but Princess Celestia made sure they were taken care of. The population imbalance caused a lot of single mothers to have to give up their foals if they couldn’t afford to raise them, estrus forcing them to want to mate even if they didn’t have a husband that could provide for the family. Herding was allowed but was less common than it used to be. Still, most orphans ended up in an orphanage until either adopted by a family able to afford their care… or until they hit 16 and could opt to do early enlistment into the Royal Guard… or 18 when they could leave and get a job. Even then… they weren’t thrown out… they were allowed to stay until they could afford a place to live, at least until age 21. At 21… they were on their own. But still. Lucia was 12, by her own admission.

Twilight cleared her throat and tried to speak with a sincere but honest tone. “I would adopt you if I could… but I don’t even own a house. I know that Brenuin told you to beg… but maybe you should try to work? Offer to serve drinks here at the Inn… offer to sweep floors at one of the shops… offer to run messages or other errands around town. Anything that would allow you to earn enough gold daily to pay for a room and some food.”

Lucia nodded. “I can try to ask around… again. I know that Hulda is always looking for people to chop wood for the fire and she’ll pay 5 gold per piece of firewood… but swinging the axe kinda scares me a little. I can do it… but… she only needs so much firewood per day. As to the rest… Saadia helps Hulda serve drinks already so I can’t do that. I might could become an Apprentice at Warmaidens but working the forge is harder than chopping wood. I doubt any of the other shops are hiring, or at least, they weren’t the last time I asked.”

Twilight winced. Of course she has explored all these options on her own… she’s not stupid.

“I’ll pay for the room before I leave, that way no one else gets it today. Even if I don’t come back for some reason, feel free to sleep here tonight.”

Lucia nodded and they both got out of bed and went downstairs. Twilight set Lucia up with the mammoth stew and more wine before going to Hulda and dropping another 10 gold on the counter.

“I’d like to rent the same room for tonight. Even if I don’t come back, I’d like Lucia to be able to enjoy the room. Is that okay?”

Hulda took the gold and nodded. “To be honest… I wish more people would buy the room for her. At least that way I get the gold from the room being paid for and the child doesn’t have to sleep outside. I wish I could justify letting her sleep here for free when the room doesn’t get rented but I can’t set a standard that I can’t give to other people unable to pay, like Brenuin.”

Twilight did have to concede the point. Setting those types of precedents could hurt the Inn’s business in the long run. With nothing left to do, she left the Inn and headed towards her first important errand, Dragon’s Reach.

Climbing the stairs to the castle was good exercise first thing in the morning but Twilight didn’t like it much because her bags were still full to bursting. Getting rid of 4 mammoth tusks, the food ingredients for one batch of Mammoth stew, and one rusty family heirloom had only reduced her backpack weight by about 32 units of weight. She would definitely need to offload more before going to clear another bandit camp or Ancient Nord ruin, but that would require her to either sell or repropose the rest of her inventory. She still didn’t know how much gold she would need for day to day living, her recent daily expenses having been small. But she knew that weapons, armor, and tools was worth more than gold if she needed what she had… which was why she was reluctant to part with anything.

It was a problem that she would have to solve soon.

Her outstanding request to retrieve the Golden Claw, presumably from Bleak Falls Barrow, was still in the forefront of her mind. She didn’t know long it normally took to ‘clear’ a ruin therefore it was hard for her to judge how long Lucan would wait before trying to either get the Claw himself or hire another adventurer to retrieve it. Given the danger, it wouldn’t be hard to imagine a novice adventurer dying in the attempt. Without armor… going into the ruin was a death trap, and Twilight knew it. So… she owed it to Lucan to wrap up her business in Whiterun as quickly as possible to return to her previous quests… except… what about Lucia?

She wasn’t able to address her own thoughts as she arrived at the castle faster than she thought she would. The Guards didn’t attack her when she opened the doors to enter the castle, so she had to assume that they had the same type of day court schedule that Princess Celestia held. She walked past a few maids and other guards patrolling the hall and past a long table that seemed to double for meals and meetings.

Before Twilight could get passed the table, a Dark Elf that seemed to be serving as a bodyguard of some kind drew a steel sword and walked towards her. Twilight stopped where she was and allowed the Dark Elf to approach.

“What is the meaning of this? Jarl Balgruuf is not receiving visitors.”

Twilight cleared her throat. “Riverwood calls for the Jarl’s aide.”

The Dark Elf’s eyes narrowed. “You have my attention. What threatens Riverwood?”

Twilight took in a deep breath. “A dragon destroyed Helgen.”

The dark elf put away her sword. “You know about Helgen. Well… that explains why the guards let you in. Come with me. The Jarl will want to speak to you personally.”

Twilight followed the Dark Elf to the throne a respectful distance behind her and allowed herself to be presented to the Jarl. The Jarl looked her over before turning back to his bodyguard.

The Jarl was still a little hot tempted from his argument with his advisor. “Irileth… who is this?”

Irileth bowed ever so slightly. “This Adventurer witnessed the destruction of Helgen. I thought you’d want to personally ask her some questions.”

The Jarl’s brow rose. “So… you were at Helgen. You saw this Dragon with your own eyes?”

Twilight nodded. “The Imperials were about to execute Ulfric Stormcloak when the Dragon appeared. It nearly toppled the watchtower by landing on it. It destroyed Helgen in short order, took no apparent injury from arrows or spells, and I last saw it flying over Bleak Falls Barrow in the general direction of Whiterun. This was… 3 days ago now. I haven’t seen it since, but to be honest, I haven’t been looking for it.”

Balgruuf grunted. “It doesn’t surprise me that Ulfric was mixed up in that somehow…” He turned back to his advisor. “So what do you think now, Proventus? Do we trust in the strength of our walls… against a dragon?”

Before Proventus could speak, Irileth spoke again. “My lord, we should send troops to Riverwood, at once. If that dragon is still lurking in the mountains…”

Proventus’ eyes went wide. “No! That would be a provocation! The Jarl of Falkreath might think we are prepared to join Ulfric’s side and attack him. We should…”

Balgruuf roared in rage. “I will not sit idly by and watch as a dragon burns my Hold and slaughters my people! Irileth… send a detachment of Guards to Riverwood, at once.”

Irileth smirked at Proventus before bowing to the Jarl. “Yes, my Jarl.”

Proventus shook his head. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll return to my duties.”

Balgruuf huffed. “Yes, that would be best.” He turned to Twilight and appraised her. “I didn’t catch your name, Adventurer.”

Twilight smiled at him warmly. “My name is Twilight Sparkle of Ponyville.”

Balgruuf nodded slowly. “So… you’re a pony? I’ve heard of your race, but I’ve never had the privilege of meeting one. Tell me… is your homeland far from here?”

Twilight hedged around the answer. “Well… I assume so… it requires powerful magic for my people to come here and powerful magic to get home. I don’t know how to get home without that magic, in fact. I was sent here to learn. And being an adventurer… is a good way to meet lots of people and to travel to lots of places. I’m at your service, Jarl. Do you have a task for me?”

Balgruuf thought about it and then nodded. “Yes… there is something you can do for me… something for someone with your particular talents, perhaps. Come, lets speak to my court wizard. He’s been looking into these dragons and rumors of dragons.”

As Balgruuf got off his throne, Twilight took a respectful step backwards to give him more space and then proceeded to follow him into an adjacent room. He turned to a second man wearing mage robes.

“Farengar. I believe I found someone that can help you with your dragon project. Go ahead and fill her in on all the details.”

As Balgruuf walked away, Farengar appraised her in turn. “So the Jarl thinks that you can be of use to me. Yes, I could use someone to fetch something for me. Well. When I say fetch, what I mean is delve into an Ancient Nord ruin in search for an Ancient Stone Tablet that may or may not be there.”

Twilight’s enthusiasm for this task was fading fast. “And what does that have to do with dragons?” Twilight was expecting a displeased reaction from her questioning his ‘wisdom’, but he seemed almost pleased by her snark.

He actually smiled a little. “Ahh. No mere brute mercenary but a thinker! Perhaps even a scholar? You see, when stories about dragons started to resurface, people dismissed them as nonsense. One sure mark of a fool is anyone who dismisses anything as being impossible without trying to prove it. But where did they go all those years ago and why are they coming back now? I have my own theories, but it will require more research which is why I need the ‘Dragonstone.’ Once I have it, I can use it to update a map of Skyrim and then we can go from there.”

Twilight nodded. “That sounds easy enough… so which ruin am I going to?”

Farengar blinked. “Oh, yes. I didn’t say. It’s Bleak Falls Barrow, near that miserable little village of Riverwood.”

Twilight decided not to comment on the disrespect he had for a village that not only had friends of hers but was within the territory of the Jarl he served. She was, however, shocked that she now had a second reason to enter the ruin.

Looks like I was going to have to go to Bleak Falls Barrow regardless… is it fate?

She cleared her throat. “I will need more supplies before I enter a ruin that dangerous. I need soul gems and more spells if you have any for sell… however… I don’t have a lot of gold on me at the moment. Is there anything you would be willing to trade for or something that you need?”

Farengar hummed to himself. “I am in need of some gold rings for enchantments. I need at least 20 rings. The rings made by Eorlund Grey-Mane are simply overpriced. The base value of a Gold Ring is 75 gold, and they want nearly 5 times that. It’s preposterous. If you can make me 20 gold rings… I’ll give you… hmm… 150 gold each, double what they are worth. What do you say?”

Twilight nodded. “That sounds fair… but will 3,000 gold pay for all the spells you sell that I don’t already have?”

Farengar shrugged. “I don’t know what spells you already have so I can’t answer that. I will say that I only sell Novice and Apprentice spells so not only are they not that expensive, but there also isn’t that many of them. I wish I could offer you a better deal but with nearly all my needs provided for me by the Jarl, I simply don’t need much. Still… getting the gold to make the rings might be harder than you think. But still… I’ll honor the deal no matter how long it takes you. Just, please, try to hurry.”

Twilight shrugged. “Sure, I’ll work on that. Do you have any other errands I can do for you in the meantime if you need 20 gold rings for the other project?”

Farengar nodded. “There is one other task. Could you deliver these Frost Salts to Arcadia? She’s the Alchemist that runs Arcadia’s Cauldron.”

He handed her the frost salts and she nodded. “Of course, I was going there today anyways. I’ll need some potions for the barrow.”

Farengar almost sneered. “Well, I’m sure she’ll give you some potions as a form of recompense. If you’ll excuse me, I need to get back to work. Don’t come back without some gold rings or the Dragonstone.”

Twilight left the Court Wizard’s quarters a little bewildered.

If all mages act like that in Skyrim, then it’s no wonder that mages and magic isn’t trusted here. I swear he was speaking in the third person away from being worse than Trixie Lulamoon.

Author's Note

Happy New Year and hopefully many more chapters to come

Chapter 8 – Preparations for the Journey

Chapter 8 – Preparations for the Journey

Twilight left Dragon’s Reach with a mission. She had a ton of last-minute errands to do, promises to fulfill, and items to obtain for her journey to the barrow. This was going to take all day and then she’d probably have to stay at the Inn overnight and then go to barrow tomorrow.

What I wouldn’t give for an ordered checklist right now…

She walked right back down the stairs that she had come up from and towards the Whiterun markets. She waved at Carlotta before entering Arcadia’s Cauldron. Arcadia smiled when she closed the door.

“Welcome! I’ve been expecting you. Are you ready for your lessons?”

Twilight nodded. “Yes. I do have a delivery before we get started though.”

Twilight handed over the Frost Salts and Arcadia gushed. “Oh! The frost salts! They’re for a special love elixir like none other… maybe I’ll try it on Farengar first…”

Twilight grinned. “I hope for your sake that the potion works, but I found him to be an intolerable ass. Maybe being lovey-dovely will fix his personality.”

Arcadia blushed. “Maybe that’s part of his charm. Here, take these healing potions and let’s get started with your lessons. It’s been a slow morning, as all mornings are.”

Twilight joined Arcadia at the Alchemy table within her humble shop and the lessons started. The first five lessons were short, as expected. Alchemy 16 through 20 was literally the basics of mixing potions and how to make them slightly stronger. If Twilight had been paying closer attention to Zecora when she made the remedy for poison joke… Twilight might have had higher than 15 alchemy when she arrived in Skyrim. Potion making wasn’t one of her interests in Equestria, but it was clear that she was going to have to make her own potions if she didn’t want to pay out the tail to buy them or trust her luck in finding them or trusting her magic to simply heal herself.

Having finished five lessons in what would have had to of been record time, Twilight accessed her inner mind and leveled up to level 5. She decided to leave the perk point for later, opting to explore her options more completely before making a decision. She was shocked to see how close she actually was to level 6, but she did get quite a few skill points from finishing quests after already being eligible for level 5 from the earlier combat.

A couple of customers came in to disrupt the continuation of Twilight’s lessons and so she sat on a bench to bide her time, knowing that she had to be understanding in that Arcadia did have a business to run and 15 points of training was a generous reward for a quest that had been rather easy. Twilight couldn’t really afford to delay too long but neither did she want Arcadia to back out of the promised reward. She would have to occupy herself with something else.

Opening her bag, she pulled out the spell tome she had recovered from the Halted Stream Camp. It was an Alternation Spell… ‘Transmute.’ She opened the tome, and the knowledge flooded her mind with a magical rush that she wasn’t sure she’d ever get used to. Once the magic settled, Twilight reached within herself and came to a most startling realization.

Transmute would allow her to transform iron ore to silver ore and then again transform silver ore into gold ore. It wouldn’t work on refined ingots, but it did work on the ore… and she had 42 iron ores from the mining she did at Halted Stream Camp before returning to Whiterun yesterday. She would have plenty of iron ingots from melting down iron daggers and swords and probably plenty of corundum ingots from melting down Ancient Nord equipment. It took 2 ores to make an ingot since you were purifying the ore in the process, because some of it was lost in the refining process. That was probably why the spell only worked on raw ores and not refined ingots… there wasn’t enough raw material left to ‘transmute.’ And knowing that she needed 20 gold rings for Farengar… transmuting the ore was a good way to kill time.

Casting the transmute spell over and over again didn’t seem to bother Arcadia or her customers. Arcadia worked tirelessly making potions, custom to order, if she didn’t have the potion on hand and dealing with the wealthier citizens of Whiterun that had manners which made Spoiled Rich look like a Saint. The customers all seemed to come in at once and all seemed to leave at once after the conclusion of business. Meanwhile, Twilight had managed to cast her little spell 84 times, turning all 42 iron ores into gold ores. She was a little disappointed that her Alternation magic only went up 1 point, from 17 to 18, but then, transmute gave a lot less experience per cast than Oakflesh did before going into battle.

Arcadia sighed. “And that’s the daily rush. I probably won’t have a customer for the rest of the day unless someone gets sick or has an accident. I’m sorry it interrupted your training for so long…”

Twilight waved it off. “I know you have a business to run. Me getting the mammoth tusks for you doesn’t help you if I prevent you from making money by serving your customers. We will continue with my training when you’re ready.”

Arcadia smiled, grateful for the chance to rest. Twilight sensed an opportunity to get rid of some of her food.

“I have a few Salmon Steaks if you’re hungry?”

Twilight gave Arcadia a salmon steak and sat down with one of her own, suddenly hungry from all the spell casting. Twilight managed to eat the steak, another small piece of bread, and drink a bottle of ale. Arcadia supplied her own bread and ale, which was kinda good because while Twilight had a lot of meat to get rid of, she didn’t have a lot of cheese, bread, or beverages.

Refreshed from the meal, they both continued Twilight’s training. Alchemy was easier than Archery, at least in the sense that alchemy required the same level of focus as spell casting, which was something that Twilight was already good at. As a result, Twilight gained five more points of Alchemy, leveled up to level 6 and then knocked out five more points of alchemy, leveling her up to level 7, all by early-afternoon. Twilight was a little surprised to find herself only about half way to level 8. She would need to find another skill trainer before she leveled up again. Unless it would be impossible to find someone else that needed something that was willing to trade the training for goods or services.

Arcadia smiled warmly. “You’re a wonderful student. That might be the fastest I’ve ever done 15 lessons, especially since we stopped to both help customers and eat.”

Twilight turned back to Arcadia and returned the smile. “That’s high praise. I believe that concludes our business. If you need any more mammoth tusks, or any other reagents, I hope that you’ll ask.”

Arcadia nodded, more serious. “I hear that you got those tusks by wiping out the Halted Stream Bandit Camp. I know you probably recovered more tusks than just the four you’ve already traded. Unless you’re ready to take on a mammoth, I would hold onto the ones you have left to trade at a later time. I know they are heavy in the backpack but please try not to sell them to a random merchant if you can avoid it.”

Twilight shrugged. “I don’t own a house to store them. Unless I can rapidly expand my backpack space… I may need to get rid of them.”

Arcadia spoke up. “If you have any leather or hides to turn into leather… you can craft additional backpacks. The four main options are: Adventurer… which increases stamina, Hunter… which increases bow damage, Mage… which increases available magicka or Thief… which increases lockpicking success. And all four gives you 75 extra carry weight. Unfortunately… you can only equip one at a time, but they do help. There are also Hold Backpacks and Faction Backpacks which give a boon and 25 extra carry weight. It may be hard to narrow it down which ones you need the most, but you can have one of each type equipped at the same time.”

Twilight pondered that.

I wonder if my magical storage portals will increase their carry capacity also by equipping a backpack? Or three backpacks? Would I have to keep them equipped at all times to avoid losing the bonus granted by them? I suppose I would have no reason to unequip them.

Twilight was non-committal but replied honestly. “I guess I’ll visit the forge and see what I can make. Who knows… maybe making a few backpacks and getting rid of the materials used to make them will free up enough space to not sell the remaining tusks to someone else. Of course you could commit to a payment in advance, and I could give you the tusks now and you can store them until you need them… your choice…”

Arcadia chewed her lip nervously. “I really can’t afford to do that. The prices and values of everything changes based off of need. If the war ended tomorrow, I would end up with less than a quarter of the orders I have now for stamina potions. So… as much as I need you to hold onto those tusks until I need them… I also can’t justify buying them right now. I could maybe let you trade one with me in exchange for a certain reagent of similar value… if you needed something.”

Twilight smiled, happy with the compromise. “I’ll try to hold onto them as long as I can but once again, I make no promises.”

With that, she left the shop and headed for Warmaidens. It was a short walk from the markets to the blacksmith shop and Twilight was pleased to see the owner outside working.

“Excuse me? May I use your forge and tanning racks?”

The tall Imperial woman looked Twilight over with a critical eye. “I don’t have a problem with it as long as you have the skill. However… you use the equipment at your own risk. I won’t pay for any healing you need from accidents.”

Twilight nodded. “That’s fair. My name is Twilight.”

The blacksmith nodded. “My name is Adrianne. My husband, inside the shop, is Ulfberth. I do sell leather and ingots of all kinds if you run low of a material that you need to finish whatever project that you’re about to be working on.”

As Twilight went to the tanning racks first, since Adrianne wasn’t using it at the moment, she was reminded of what Alvor had taught her. Blacksmithing and tanning required skill but also seemed to use something of a physical magic that allowed weapons, armor, ingots, or leather to be produced much faster than realistically should be possible.

However, taking advantage of that magic also led to wasted supplies.

A single piece of leather could be magically finished into four leather strips. But, if you took your time and used actual skill, you could produce ten leather strips from the same piece of leather. Same thing with silver or gold jewelry. One silver or gold ingot could make two rings, two earrings or one necklace. However, by being extra careful, you could make three rings, three earrings or two necklaces with a single ingot. It just took longer.

Using the tanning rack, Twilight turned all four wolf pelts into one leather each, followed by the sabercat pelt which also became four leathers. Adrianne’s eyes got big when Twilight pulled the massive mammoth pelt out of her bags but said nothing about it.

The mammoth pelt became something of an unexpected treat.

Although it had been a pain in the flank to skin, an adolescent mammoth was 8 times larger than a bear or sabercat and a full adult mammoth was 16 times larger. The bandits did manage to lure and kill an adolescent mammoth, which probably would have fed them for months, but it would have also allowed them to make better heavy leather armor had they been given the chance. The adolescent mammoth pelt became 32 pieces of leather… which was unheard of. It may have very well been the first time Adrianne had seen a mammoth pelt turned into leather like that,

Adrianne eyed Twilight’s bounty of leather with a sour expression… as if knowing that she wouldn’t be selling Twilight much, if anything, today. To prove the point, Twilight began to make some leather strips, but she used Alvor’s technique which let her make 30 leather strips from just three of the pieces of leather.

Adrianne couldn’t even comment as Twilight moved from the leather rack to the smelter for other crafting. Twilight proceeded to turn her 42 gold ores into 21 gold ingots, which was worth its weight in gold, literally.

In no time at all, Twilight moved to the main forge. Pulling out some of the fur armor she had taken from the bandits as battle spoils, she measured it all closely and then used a total of 9 leathers and 8 leather strips to forge a Leather Armor, Leather Helm, Leather Bracers and Leather Boots that encased the existing Fur armor, and in effect, created a ‘Fur lined Leather Armor matching set.’ Twilight looked at the new armor closely.

The Fur Lined Leather Armor set doubled the warmth rating of either set individually and took half the armor rating from the basic fur armor and added it to the Leather Armor… in effect creating a leather armor set that had better damage protection than Orcish Heavy Armor but maintained the reasonable weight and maneuverability of light armor.

Adrianne cleared her throat. “That is most impressive for someone with Apprentice level skill. If you keep that up… you may be better than Eorlund Grey-Mane someday. And certainly better than me.”

Twilight acknowledged the compliment with grace. “I’m not trying to be better than anyone… I just want to survive and not freeze to death. Skyrim is colder than I’m used to, and the bandits are problematic. Blacksmithing is a… hobby… not my trade.”

Adrianne nodded. “I’m grateful for that… I’m not sure I could stay in business with the type of competition that you could bring if you put your mind to it.”

Twilight resumed her work and found the four backpack options exactly as outlined by Arcadia. The Mage Backpack made the most sense… increasing her magicka by 20 points would make it easy to cast spells in spite of being on the thief path. The Hunter Backpack came in a close second… 10% extra bow damage would aid sneak attack damage which would make it easier to clear a ruin, especially since she’d be ‘sneaking’ anyways to avoid waking the draugr. She honestly didn’t think she’d need the Adventurer Backpack… a basic increase of 20 stamina didn’t do much for her given that she wasn’t planning on doing a lot of melee combat. The Thief Backpack helped with lockpicking while sneaking so… it was ideal for opening treasure chests in the ruins she would be exploring.

Twilight was weighing the pros and cons of each backpack when Adrianne asked her about it.

“Can’t decide what to forge?”

The question snapped Twilight out of her indecision, and she swallowed her pride and decided to explain her choices to Adrianne. She patiently listened to Twilight’s analysis of the pros and cons of each backpack while Adrianne herself was sharpening a sword on the grinding wheel.

In the end, Adrianne just shrugged. “There are 4 main types of backpacks in 16 styles, 9 hold backpacks and 4 faction backpacks. Realistically, you’re not going to be able to just pick one from each category and move on. Just like you can switch from spells to bows to melee weapons of all types to prepare for a fight… you could probably also change the backpack you’ll wearing to match your situation too. For all the materials that the backpacks require to make… the backpacks themselves only weigh 1 unit of weight. With all the extra leather you have… it might be smarter to forge a variety of them and just equip the ones you need the most for whatever situation you find yourself in.”

Twilight facepalmed at the obvious solution. Adrianne was right. Twilight sighed and got back to work. She forged one of each main backpack, which required a total of 19 leather and 4 corundum ingots, and then returned to the tanning racks for the other backpack options.

Adrianne was pleased with the solution herself and took advantage of Twilight no longer using the forge to continue with her own work. Twilight mused to herself.

I’m lucky I still had some corundum ingots that I didn’t turn into steel with Alvor’s technique. But then… I did melt down enough iron, Ancient Nord and steel weapons from Helgen Keep to give me more than enough iron, corundum and steel ingots to last for a while.

She checked the faction backpacks and found that she was largely out of luck. The Dark Brotherhood backpack required a human skull to forge. The College of Winterhold backpack required void salts. The Companions Warrior Guild required a wolf skin… which she no longer had because she turned them all into leather.

She could make a Thief’s Guild Faction backpack given that it only required 2 leather, 1 leather strip and 1 gold ingot. So she did… though she wasn’t happy about it being her only choice.

The Hold backpacks were largely easier, although a handful required a rare material. Twilight was forced to remember that she only had 9 pieces of leather left and she would need 4 leather to tempter the leather armor for an even higher armor rating… which meant that she could only really hope to make one or two… and even then, she should save some leather in case she needed it for something unexpected.

Weighing her options yet again from the list of Nine different Hold backpacks, she decided to make the Dawnstar Hold Backpack for the Frost Resistance that it offered. If draugr could use frost magic, as Andurs had suggested, then having a resistance to Frost would be important for her exploration of Bleak Falls Barrow.

Having completed that set of difficult decisions, she actually equipped the Thief Guild Faction, Dawnstar and Mage Backpacks, giving her an extra 125 total carry weight. She risked freaking out the local population by opening her magical storage portals to see if their carry weight increased also. After only a moment of double checking, she was able to verify that all 5 storage portals did indeed increase in their carry weight so long as the backpacks were equipped.

Huh. So… between the normal backpack space and the magic storage portals… these backpacks increase my total carry weight by 750, more or less. I can’t control what types of loot I will find in the caves and ruins I explore but this greatly reduces the odds of me having to leave something behind… or worse… taking it and being overburdened. I could buy a horse… but I’m still not completely comfortable with the idea…

Finally done at the leather tanning racks, Twilight moved on to the Armor Station so Adrianne could use the tanning rack next. Using a total of four pieces of leather, Twilight tempered all 4 pieces of her fur-lined leather armor, increasing it’s rating to ‘Fine.’ It raised the Body’s armor rating by two points and the other three pieces went up by one point each. Twilight had to wonder if five points of armor rating would save her life in a real fight, but she also had to suppose that every point counted, or it wouldn’t be measurable.

It did make her wonder what the armor rating of pony brass armor was… given that brass was weaker than Skyrim Iron… let alone steel.

Done at the armor table faster than she had planned on, she made her way to the grinding wheel. She had no clue how to ‘sharpen’ an Imperial Bow with a steel ingot… but it was apparently possible… somehow.

Skyrim magic is weird.

Still… with the perk point in Steel smithing… the Imperial Bow upgraded to ‘Superior’ with much better damage that would be further increased with sneak attacks. She also took the opportunity to sharpen a steel dagger… hoping that making it ‘superior’ would make it both faster and more meaningful to harvest meat from hunting kills. In Twilight’s mind… the only thing worse than killing an animal… was wasting anything from it. If the kill was to have any meaning… she needed the most she could get from each one, if only to minimize how often she had to hunt.

I wonder how long the meat on that mammoth in the Halted Stream Camp will stay good for? It’s weird to admit that I like the taste of mammoth meat, but I’d rather not have to hunt a mammoth if I can avoid it and I don’t want the rest of it that I couldn’t get the first time to go bad.

To her displeasure, she lacked the required perk point to sharpen the Steel Sword of Soul Trap that she recovered. Upon further investigation, she learned that she had to have 60 smithing skill and the ‘Arcane Blacksmith’ perk to improve anything that possessed an enchantment. So… if she was going to enchant something herself… she would need to improve the equipment to the best of her ability before the enchantment is added… at least until 60 smithing skill.

She sighed. “Blacksmithing is hard work… even when you’re only doing it for yourself.”

Adrianne nodded. “It’s an honorable way to make a living though. I don’t have a lot of customers… gold being hard to earn with the ongoing unrest, but I only need to make 2 or 3 sales a week to feed my family. Sometimes only one sale if it’s a big-ticket item… like something enchanted. Me and my husband don’t have any debt and we don’t have any children, so our weekly expenses are low.”

Twilight agreed with the sentiment. “Well. I only have two final things to make now. Farengar needs 20 gold rings for enchantments. And then I need to make some extra lockpicks. If I can use the forge one final time, I’ll be done for the night.”

Adrianne returned to the grinding wheel while Twilight returned to the forge. The steel ingots were weighing her down some. She had 58 steel ingots left after having used two to sharpen the dagger and reinforce the bow.

Looking at her options, she could see that one iron ingot could make three regular lockpicks or one steel ingot could make three steel lockpicks. For reasons that couldn’t be explained, the lockpicks weighed nothing so it didn’t matter if she had 10 or 100, except that making them lowered her carry weight by getting rid of ingots that she didn’t need.

Erring on the side of caution, given her low lockpicking skill, she decided to forge 90 lockpicks consuming 30 steel ingots. It may have been excessive, but she knew 90 lockpicks would last a fair amount of time even in her clumsy hands and it left enough more than enough steel ingots for other projects while also getting rid of the excess quantity that she had.

Going back to the gold ingots, using Alvor’s technique again, she managed to use 7 gold ingots to make 21 gold rings. Only needing 20 for the wizard, she equipped the extra ring as a placeholder for a better ring later.

However… she did have 13 gold ingots left and she saw the option for gold earrings. She decided to repay Adrianne and Arcadia in a more compete way.

Using two more gold ingots, Twilight forged six gold earrings. She equipped two earrings for herself and gave two earrings to Adrianne.

“Here, a gift for you in thanks of letting me use your forge and the sincere hope that you will continue to let me use your forge.”

Adrianne nearly blushed at the expensive gift. “It cost me nothing to let you use it, but I will accept your gift in the spirit in which it was given. If you are heading back to the castle to give Farengar those rings, maybe you could do me a favor?”

Twilight smiled. “Sure. What do you need?”

Adrianne sounded nervous. “I just finished my best work ever. It’s a sword for the Jarl. I would deliver it myself to present it to him… but he’s been so busy lately that I don’t want to give the perception of wasting his time. My father serves as the Jarl’s Stewart. Could you give the sword to my father so he can present it to the Jarl at an appropriate time?”

Twilight nodded. “Of course. It’s an easy errand.”

Twilight placed the heavy steel great sword into her bags and continued back up the road towards the markets. She returned to Arcadia first and was welcomed back into the shop with a smile.

“So… how did it go at the blacksmiths?”

Twilight giggled. “It went well. I crafted better armor for myself, made at least one each of the three different backpack types, and I forged the gold rings I needed for Farengar. Between the extra carry weight afforded from the backpacks and using materials to make everything, I should be able to hold on to those remaining mammoth tusks for you.”

Arcadia released a breath and seemed to say a silent prayer to the Gods. “That’s the best news I’ve had in weeks. I’m glad that my advice seemed to help us both. Was there anything else you needed while you’ll here?”

Twilight nodded, “Actually, yes. I will need one unit of ‘Void Salts’ to craft a College of Winterhold faction Backpack. I was wondering if you had any or could arrange to get some for me?”

Arcadia looked under the counter and pulled out one unit of void salts. “Void Salts are hard to get. This one unit would normally sell for 400 gold but I know you don’t have that much yet. I would be willing to trade the one Void Salt for one mammoth tusk.”

Twilight pulled out a mammoth tusk and nodded. “Deal.”

Once Twilight had the void salts safely in her reagent storage portal, she pulled out the gold earrings for Arcadia. “Also, I’d like to give you this gift for all the help you’ve given me.”

Arcadia was speechless as she put the earrings on. “They’re lovely, thank you.”

Twilight smiled. “Well. I have to finish my errands and I’ll probably be leaving town to go to Bleak Falls Burrow tomorrow. So, I guess I’ll see you when I see you.”

Arcadia’s good cheer seemed to leave her. “Good luck in your journey. May the Gods watch over your battles, friend.”

Twilight was mindful of the time… she’d have to go straight to the castle to avoid having to wait until tomorrow. Fortunately, none of the townspeople seemed overly interested in talking to her. Twilight entered Dragons Reach Castle and went straight to Farengar.

“I have your rings, Farengar.”

Farengar was startled, yet pleased, by the announcement. “Truly? Well… if you were able to secure such a large order so fast then maybe you really can handle Bleak Falls Barrow. Now. I told you I’d pay you twice what they were worth and that equals 3,000 gold. Do you want the gold, or do you want to trade the rings for spell tomes and other items that I sell?”

Twilight answered without having to put any thought into it. “I need soul gems and some spell tomes. I know a few spells… but not enough to really increase my odds of success in the barrow. What would you personally recommend?”

Farengar hummed to himself. “That depends. If you want to master a specific school of magic, then you should get all the spells for that one school and other spell tomes as needed. If you want to be a magical generalist, then I would recommend getting at least all the novice level spells for every school to start with. Only the best of the best ever come close to knowing every spell or succeed in making their own spells. Every mage knows at least some destruction magic for self-defense. I will tell you that 3,000 gold is not enough to buy all the spell tomes I sell, even without buying the soul gems, and I don’t extend credit. Robes and spell tomes are cheaper than armor in the long run but being a mage is an expensive venture to get started with.”

Twilight grunted at that. What should she do?

I don’t need every spell just yet. I need to focus on survival. And I need to fulfill my promises. So what do I need? Alternation for protection. Maybe Soul Trap from conjuration. Apprentice level destruction magic sounded nice. A few restoration spells for sure.

Twilight looked at his inventory of spell tomes. “I’ll take Candlelight, Mage Light, Stoneflesh, Bound Dagger, Bound Sword, Soul Trap, Muffle, Fast Healing, Healing Hands and Lesser Ward. Then I’ll take 5 empty lesser soul gems and 10 empty petty soul gems.”

Farengar gave her the requested items and whistled softly in amazement. “That’s exactly 3,000 gold worth of my inventory. Conjuration, Alternation and Restoration is an interesting combination of magical efforts. It will allow you to attack, defend and heal yourself though I worry about the lack of destruction magic. Will you be okay in the barrow with what you chose?”

Twilight shrugged. “I do know Flames, Frost and Sparks already but if you’re worried, you could always give me a ‘gift’ to help me on my journey.”

For the first time in any of their encounters, Farengar looked truly apologetic. “I’m afraid that I have no gifts to give. I don’t know if you’ve realized this yet, but Mages aren’t well liked in Skyrim. The Jarl does not fully fund all of my research, although he should, given that I serve him and Whiterun Hold as a whole. Half the reason I keep an inventory of spell tomes and other enchanting supplies is to sell to adventurers that need magical aide is to earn enough coin to fund the research that the Jarl won’t pay for. I do apologize if I come off sounding irritated. It’s just that most Jarls agree to fund their court wizard’s experiments separate from normal pay as part of the contract we sign to give our magical counsel. I know the civil war isn’t Balgruuf’s fault, but it has left him financially unable to uphold his end of the bargain. There are days that I’m not sure why I stay.”

Twilight could feel at least a little pity for him. “I hope the 20 rings helps you in your research then. And I can make more for you if you need more. If I can sell them to you cheaper than a normal merchant and still get something I need in return… then maybe, we can have a most enjoyable business partnership.”

Farengar actually smiled. “I will probably need 20 more rings in about a week. I’ll be sure to seek out your services when the time comes.”

Twilight took the time to read all 7 spell tomes, learning the spells instantly. She took a moment to consider the fact that she no longer needed the Steel Sword of Soul Trap now that she knew the spell, so she went to the Arcane Enchanting Table and learned Soul Trap by destroying the sword and absorbing the knowledge of how to imbue the spell into another weapon. It barely nudged her enchanting skill, but she wasn’t worried about trying to level up again just yet.

She returned to the main hall part of the castle near the throne itself and found the Jarl’s steward eating dinner. It was clear that normal court hours were over, but it wasn’t uncommon for important citizens to have a meal with the Jarl and his family.

Twilight leaned in to whisper to Proventus. “I have a delivery for you. From Adrianne.”

Proventus opened his eyes wide. “Oh. This must be that sword for the Jarl that she was talking about. Poor girl tries so hard… I’ll present it to him when his mood is more agreeable. Here… take these coins for services rendered.”

Twilight accepted 10 gold from the steward and then cleared her throat. “Also… the bandit chief and all the bandits of Halted Stream Camp have been killed, per the bounty letter left at The Sleeping Giant Inn in Riverwood. I have proof of the deaths of the chief plus 6 other bandits.”

Proventus verified the ‘proof’ and paid Twilight another 250 gold. He chuckled lightly. “Don’t spend it all in one place.”

Twilight walked away a little discontent. She knew it was a simple errand and yet 10 gold seemed like a poor reward. Barely enough to buy a room for the night, had she not already secured one. At least she was able to make good time in cashing in the bounty.

She then had one final errand for the day.

Going to the Temple of Arkay and Whiterun’s catacombs was only slightly creepy. Andurs was waiting for her.

“I was starting to lose hope that you’d show up today. The catacombs are right through those doors. Be careful.”

Twilight harnessed Soul Trap in her left hand and Flames in her right hand. She walked through the door and was almost immediately attacked by a skeleton holding an Ancient Nord sword. She cast soul trap and waited just a second for the skeleton to grow an eerie purple before blasting it with flames.

The skeleton’s soul seems to rush towards her and was captured within a petty soul gem without her having to do anything else.

Unfortunately, the sounds of combat and spells being cast alerted two other skeletons to her presence and they both came around the corner to attack her. She rapidly cast soul trap two more times and finished them both with a bout of flames. The other two souls joined the first and left Twilight a little puzzled as what to do.

So casting these spells are going to give me away to other lurking enemies, at least if they are too close. That’s going to make the trip a lot more dangerous. I guess that’s why Adventurers use enchanted weapons… no casting noise. I’m glad I learned that here… where it wasn’t as dangerous.

With the room cleared, she started to search for Andurs’ Amulet of Arkay. It was a small catacomb, all considering, but then… a lot of warriors dying on the battlefield or adventurers dying in caves probably never have the chance to have their remains returned to their hometown for burial. Or perhaps there was an even better or more honored place to be laid to rest.

She searched every corner of the catacomb and spotted the amulet on a table in the very last room. Grateful for an easy and otherwise uneventful end to the quest, she turned to leave… when she saw something strange.

In the opposite corner of the same room, was a pink to purple-ish gem floating and spinning within a golden case. She picked it up to examine it closer and saw that it was marked simply as an ‘Unusual Gem.’ She tried to return it to its rightful place and found that she couldn’t discard it.

Examining it magically within her inventory, she now saw that it was marked as a ‘quest item.’

Huh. A quest item for a quest I haven’t apparently started yet. The first of many, I suppose. Not being able to put in down or in a chest is going to be problematic. I already feel like I have too much inventory.

She made her way out of the catacombs and returned the amulet to the waiting Andurs.

“Thank Arkay! Here. Take this gold as a reward.”

He handed Twilight ten gold and she sighed. He frowned. “Something wrong?”

Twilight didn’t want to complain but she really needed to vent and who better to vent to than a priest?

“I’ve been getting some really inconsistent rewards from the ‘quests’ I’ve done in this city. Carlotta gave me 200 gold for helping her with her problem involving the town’s bard and maybe as thanks for free flour and some mammoth stew… but you gave me only 10 gold to kill three skeletons and retrieve your amulet and Adrianne had me deliver a sword to the castle in which the person I delivered it to also only gave me 10 gold. Meanwhile… I received 3,000-gold worth of free alchemy training for 3 mammoth tusks and another 3,000-gold worth of spells and items for 20 gold rings. Others in the city have given me almost random skill training that while I wasn’t opposed to receive… they don’t seem to be a skill trainer to teach me further. While I’m happy to help, it all just seems so random.”

Andurs looked apologetic. “Skyrim isn’t a wealthy place so people will pay what they can… even if all it is turns out to be a simple lesson. Farmers earn more than most people would believe because food is hard to get up here. Nobles collect taxes from the people in their domain. And believe it or not… the average adventurer can be wealthier than most shop owners from the sheer number of items they sell after a successful adventure. As for myself… I don’t have a lot of gold to give. Most priests live on the generosity of the town they serve in the form of donations. I knew I didn’t have a lot of gold to give as a reward and that’s why I suggested you soul trap the skeletons. Using the soul gems to enchant some armor or a weapon will improve its value which I hope you can sell for a more appropriate reward for your efforts.”

Twilight sighed and nodded. “I suppose all the information you gave me about the different types of undead could be considered a form of payment as well. It will help me with my trip to the barrow. I just don’t feel all that prepared for the trip even though I’ve spent all day preparing for it. I’m not sure what to do!”

Andurs smiled. “I would venture to say that the fact that you’re worried about it proves that you have a better chance of survival than the average person. Just take your time and be cautious. The ruin isn’t going anywhere.”

Twilight shrugged. “Well… I made myself better armor and I stocked up on some supplies. I collected the bounty from the Halted Stream Camp and I obtained some potions. I guess I’m as ready as I’ll be. But… first… I want one final good night’s sleep.”

Andurs smiled. “Then rest well, friend.”

Twilight returned to the Bannered Mare Inn and cooked another batch of 7 servings of mammoth stew. Lucia eagerly awaited her return which made Twilight’s heart both dance and sag with the weight of responsibility. They ate with Lucia telling Twilight about her day. Once they were finished eating, Twilight gave Lucia the 10 gold she had gotten from Proventus for the sword errand and the other 5 servings of mammoth stew.

“Okay. That gold will pay for at least one night at the Inn… I’ll pay for tomorrow’s room myself before I leave town, and those five servings of stew should last you at least 2 days. With luck… I’ll be back from my errand to Riverwood before you run out of food and gold.”

Lucia nodded slowly. “I can stretch the stew up to 5 days by only eating once per day. Trust me… it’s better than going hungry. Please… promise me you’ll be careful?”

Twilight smiled at the child. “Of course… I take my own safety very seriously. Now. Its bed time.”

Twilight and Lucia returned to their room at the Inn and settled in for a good night’s sleep.

Twilight yawned as she held the child close again. “Good night, Lucia.”

Lucia was already half asleep and nodded into the warmth of Twilight’s neck. “Good night, mommy.”

This time… she didn’t try to correct herself and Twilight was left wondering what she should do.

I need to buy a house… even if I can’t enjoy it while I’m travelling… at least Lucia could live there while I’m gone…

Chapter 9 – Journey to Bleak Falls Barrow

Twilight woke up with Lucia in her arms once again and smiled at the marvel that was taking care of someone who needed it badly. Somehow, she managed to untangle herself without waking the child up this time and proceeded to go downstairs to speak to Hulda.

Twilight cleared her throat. “I would like to rent the room again tonight for Lucia to enjoy in my absence. I will be leaving Whiterun today on business, but I should be back soon.”

Hulda accepted Twilight’s gold. “I wish I could allow you to rent the room for more than one night, but I do have polices and standards to uphold.”

Twilight tilted her head. “I’m afraid I don’t understand the logic of that.”

Hulda shook her head sadly. “I only have 3 rooms to rent out daily. I can’t take the gold for say… seven days in advance to hold a room for an adventurer while another adventurer is sitting out in the cold with nowhere to go when the original adventurer that rented the room could be dead in a cave or a ruin somewhere. Equally not fair for the adventurer to have a room paid for and held for them if they end up having to rent a room in a different town if they weren’t able to make it back to Whiterun. Riverwood and Rorikstead both have Inns as well and they both fall within the territory of Whiterun hold. Any job you take within the Hold could send you to far reaching places. You can’t count on making it back here every night and it’s wise to save your gold in case anything comes up.”

Twilight pursed her lips. “But… I’d be paying on behalf of the child. Surely you could take my gold to rent the room for her for more than one day in advance? I’m not taking her with me to an Ancient Nordic Ruin and while I haven’t officially adopted her… she is a resident of Whiterun, and I’d like to see her safe while I’m gone.”

Hulda could see the bigger picture. “Your heart is in the right place, lass. Tell me this… how much food have you left her with?”

Twilight considered the question from the standpoint of it being a test of some kind… in the end it didn’t really matter… Twilight knew the truth was best in this situation.

“That depends on her… She has five servings of mammoth stew from the most recent batch I cooked last night. If she eats properly, it’ll last two days… if she stretches it by eating one serving a day… it’ll last five days. She, herself, admitted that it’s better to be a little hungry by stretching it rather than eating it too fast and then going hungry later. Why do you ask?”

Hulda took a serious stance. “I’ve heard the story of how her Aunt and Uncle threw her out of her parents old farm. It’s horrible and it honestly shouldn’t have happened, but given her orphan status, her extended family didn’t technically break the law even if it was morally reprehensible. Even if a crime was committed… the Jarl simply doesn’t have enough guards to police the entire Hold. As I understand the law on inheritance of property… she can’t take legal possession of her parent’s farm until she’s 16, and even then as a woman, preferably not until she’s married. That may be a matter for her to consider later. The only boy in town her age is Lars Battleborn and I doubt Olfrid Battleborn would let one of his heirs marry an orphan.

Her entire situation and misfortune notwithstanding, she made it to town safely, by some miracle, and now that she’s in town she should be safe… however I can’t allow a child without food to stay in the Inn. And I can’t allow her to ‘stretch her meals’ to make those meals that she does have last longer, given that it would look bad on me as the owner and hostess of the Inn. And I, also, can’t adopt her. I’m a little too old to commit to raising a child and I can’t afford to convert one of the rooms I rent into a permanent room for her. That being said… I can allow you to rent the room for two days… covering the length of time of the meals you have provided her. If you’re not back in three days when she runs out of food… she’ll have to pay for her own meals and the cost of the room… if she’s able.”

Twilight paid an additional 10 gold. “I gave her a little bit of gold also. Hopefully I’ll be back faster than three days.”

Hulda nodded. “The Jarl doesn’t hire adventurers often, so I’d wager it is a dangerous request. Oh, um, did you want to take the newest job posting with you as well?”

Twilight sighed. “I guess I should take a look at it given that I’ll need to earn a lot more gold if I ever want to buy a house here. It’s obvious that Lucia needs a home and no one else is going to try to provide her with one.”

Hulda pulled out the newest wanted poster. “Here you go. This one is for the bandits of Silent Moon Camp. Good luck and may the Gods watch over your battles.”

Twilight placed the wanted poster in her backpack and risked asking another question. “I received some Alchemy training from Arcadia recently and I would like more training before I level up again, but I don’t have the justification or the gold to get more of the same training. Are there any other skill trainers in town?”

Hulda had to consider the question. “Eorlund Grey-Mane is a Master Blacksmith, but he tends to only offer smithing training to members of the Companions Warrior Guild. Warriors do have to care for their weapons and armor, so it does make sense, after a fashion. Nobody knows why he doesn’t offer the training to other people… Gods know that the Grey-Mane family could use the extra gold. Separately, Danica Pure-Spring is a Master Restoration trainer and the Chief Priestess of the Temple of Kynareth. From what I hear… she could use some help from a mage with a decent mana pool if you wanted to try to see if you could lend a hand…”

Twilight left the Inn with a renewed sense of purpose accompanied by a shadowed sense of dread. Now she had a time limit on top of everything else… but she couldn’t let Lucia down…

Three days…

Despite the new and unexpected time limit, Hulda’s suggestion to go to the Temple of Kynareth was interesting enough to peak Twilight’s interest. She really wanted whatever training she could get before she left Whiterun.

Walking into the temple wasn’t quite the scene Twilight had envisioned. The temple itself was almost plain. While the wood pillars had intricate cravings and such, there wasn’t any gold or silver decorations that she felt would be normal in a temple such as this. The walls were lined with storage cabinets that seemed to hold very ordinary household items that seemed a little out of place in the Temple, unless of course, the Chief Priestess slept in the Temple itself… which actually seemed to be the case. Not much different than Twilight sleeping in a library, actually.

The actual Shrine of Kynareth itself was very small against the far wall. The whole thing was rather humble. Of course, with Kynareth being a Goddess of Nature, perhaps that was the point. The Temple was ‘earthy.’ Applejack would have approved.

The most startling thing about the temple was that there were four sick or injured townsfolk on tables around the room A few men, who seemed to be acolytes, appeared to be milling around the room, either attempting to heal the injured or sitting down and eating while resting.

The Chief Priestess was standing in the middle of the room, seemingly praying with her arms stretched towards the ceiling of the room. She was bathed in a warm light coming in from a well-placed window that gave her an other-earthly presence. If it was meant to grant her a divine appearance, then it worked. She turned to face Twilight.

“Hello, Child of Kynareth. What brings you here today?”

Twilight cleared her throat, suddenly a little nervous.

Why does she have a Celestia-like aura?

“Hulda told me that you needed a mage with a large mana pool to help you. I was hoping to see if I could be of help?”

Danica nodded and walked Twilight over to a table that held a badly injured soldier. “This soldier was hurt fighting a spriggan. Spriggan magic makes it hard to heal the wounds because it’s like a fungus. Unless healed completely, it just grows back and reinjures the poor man. If you know the apprentice level healing spell ‘healing hands,’ you may try.”

Twilight raised her hands and charged the spell. A soft yellow-white aura flowed over the man, healing his wounds. Twilight could see her mana bar draining under the strain of casting the unfamiliar spell. She held the spell until the last possible second and despaired when the spell frizzled and stopped from a lack of magicka.

Danica sighed. “You’ve come closer to healing him than any of us have. I’m afraid he’s going to die if I can’t find a better mage soon. It’s not your fault… I’ve never seen spriggan wounds this bad that didn’t already kill the man.”

Twilight was distraught at the idea that her failure could cost a man his life.

How could I fail? I have both a larger alicorn mana pool and the unicorn 25% cheaper spell casting in all schools. Wait…

Twilight stopped Danica from walking away. “Wait. If you could give me five lessons in Restoration magic… I could get the Apprentice Restoration Perk… and it might be enough to save his life.”

Danica started at Twilight in disbelief. “You… you mean to tell me… that you held that spell for that long without even having Apprentice Restoration? By Shor… you may have a larger mana pool than myself… although, far less trained. Mind you… I don’t normally do skill training for free, but this is something of an emergency. Let’s get started.”

Despite being magic, healing wasn’t a skill that seemed to come naturally to Twilight. She knew no Equestrian healing spells favored by unicorn doctors or nurses or even military medics. Given the number of fights that her and her friends had been in over the years… that seemed like a really bad oversight on her part. As such, the training took almost 3 hours for the five points of skill and since her skill was only going up from 15 to 20, it didn’t level her up to level 9.

Twilight had been saving her perk points for a time when they were desperately needed for something, and that time was now. She applied one point to Novice Restoration and then another point into Apprentice Restoration. She still had one point left to apply to something and she would earn yet another when she finally did hit level 9, but she was still determined to save the point until she knew exactly what she needed to survive the next adventure.

With her Restoration magic at 20 and the perks applied, she tried again. Once again, the yellow-white aura surrounded the soldier and Twilight felt considerably less strained casting the spell. The soldiers’ wounds closed completely and the remnants of the spriggan’s magic was banished as well. Once the soldier opened his eyes… Twilight ceased the casting.

Admiring her handiwork, Twilight smiled brightly. “Looks like you’re going to be okay.”

The soldier groaned. “Thank you, healer. Gods’ mercy upon you.”

Danica confirmed the successful healing. “I can’t thank you enough. How can I reward you?”

Twilight shrugged. “More free Restoration training after I level up would be nice. And of course, my services are open to you if you need anything else.”

Danica nodded. “I’ll keep you in mind. Safe travels to you in the meantime.”

Twilight decided to drop in on Warmaidens on her way out of town.

Adrianne greeted her warmly. "Good morning to you, Twilight. What are you up to today?”

Twilight sighed. “I need to sell my excess inventory before I leave town. You buy old equipment, right?”

Adrianne nodded. “I sure do. Let’s see what you have.”

Twilight proceeded to empty, not only her bags, but her magical storage portals as well. Adrianne looked at all the loot with wide eyes.

“By Shor… that’s a lot of junk. You’re sure you want to sell all of it?”

Twilight shrugged. “Um. Well. I didn’t see a magical option at the tanning rack to deconstruct fur armor back into the original furs that they were made out of… so I can guess that the forging magic doesn’t go that far. The Stormcloak armor might could be torn apart back into the leather used to make it, but I didn’t try. I’ve already used a full set of fur armor to make myself a fur-lined leather armor for myself yesterday so short of making a matching set of it for a traveling companion… which I don’t presently have, or a smaller child-sized version of it for Lucia as a gift… I just don’t need all this stuff weighing me down.”

Adrianne shrugged as she looked through all of it. “Well… I can only buy the weapons and armor. The other items would have to be sold at the General Goods Store or at the Alchemy shop. Children are allowed to wear a dagger for personal protection but may not wield anything more dangerous than that. There is no law that I’m aware of for letting children wear actual armor, but I suppose that you would have to stick to light armor to match the endurance of a child if you were to try to make her some real armor. A matching set to what you are wearing presently would actually look kinda cute on her. The Stormcloak Armor can be deconstructed into useable leather, just not as much leather as went into making it, much like everything else. I suppose it comes down to what you need more. Do you need the gold… or do you want to make the armor for the child.”

That was a real question that Twilight needed to answer.

Twilight swallowed nervously. “I suppose she’ll be safe enough in town and the faster I can buy a house the faster I can take care of her. She needs a home. So… how much is all this stuff worth?”

Adrianne looked it over. There were eight sets of Stormcloak armor and a couple of sets of fur armor, plus some miscellaneous boots, gloves and helmets. All of it was light armor, given that Twilight had smelted and repurposed pretty much everything piece of heavy equipment and most of the weapons.

“I’ll give you 500 gold for the lot.”

Twilight looked it over. “That’s it?”

Adrianne smiled weakly. “That’s honestly all it’s worth and its actually more than I would give most random adventurers that hadn’t helped me out. Nothing is enchanted and nothing is heavy armor. And there’s no weapons. Sorry, Twilight. It’s the best I can do.”

Twilight nodded with a deep sigh. “All right. I’ll take the 500 gold.”

The walk back to Riverwood was largely uneventful. Following the actual road instead of taking a short-cut across country led to an opportunity to see the Honningbrew Meadery and a few unique old bridges. She encountered no bandits, wildlife, or even other people, other than a few guards on the road. The hours she spent training and trading in town had slowed down her departure to a time that she considered regretfully late. The fur lined armor seemed to be doing its job for keeping her warm although she was still doubtful of the warmth it would provide after nightfall. Even so… it was better than what she had before and it made her greatly appreciative of the effort she put into making it, even if it cost her some gold from not being able to sell the equipment or supplies used to make it.

She sighed at her own thoughts. Circular logic could be a real downer sometimes.

She was relieved at having gotten rid of so much stuff and was finally prepared to take on the barrow. Her equipment wasn’t ‘great’ as she understood it, but it was somewhat unique, and it was much better than the average bandit. Maybe better than the average adventurer too…

Using the illusion spell Clairvoyance to divine the correct path, she bypassed Riverwood completely by turning up a mountain path before even reaching the bridge that led back into Riverwood.

This spell is amazing! I can’t recall any Equestrian magic that would point the way to a goal or destination. I’m going to have to figure out a way to create an Equestrian version of it for when I go home.

Twilight was so enraptured by the spell and the fact that it was rapidly leveling up her illusion skill… that she completely missed the wolf hiding behind the rock she had just passed until it attacked her.

It was an odd sensation. She felt the impact, and she even experienced seeing her light armor skill go up after having taken the hit, but she felt no pain. The armor was really doing its job.

She turned to face her attacker and unleased a volley of lightning at the otherwise helpless wolf. Despite being in a hurry, Twilight took the time to skin the wolf before continuing on her journey.

I guess that’s the wolf hide I need for a Companion’s guild backpack.

The higher she went up the hill, the more snow seemed to appear. It seemed odd to find so much snow all of a sudden, but the hill was a higher elevation than the surrounding areas and it was admittingly very cold up here despite not being much higher in elevation than the small town below the path.

Maybe the past snow fall simply doesn’t melt because where in Tamriel I am?

She saw a tower in the distance and was eager to reach it on the chance to warm herself up briefly before continuing up the path. Her steps were loud in the silence of the deserted old path, but she paid it no mind. She could have casted the spell muffle, but she wasn’t trying to sneak just yet. She could vaguely see a man leaning up against a tree when a woman exited the tower and seemed to look straight at her.

Before Twilight could call out a greeting, the woman drew a bow and called out a warning to the other man, whom upon closer inspection… appeared to be a bandit.

Of. Course. What else was I expecting?

Twilight raised her left hand and quickly cast Stoneflesh upon herself, enjoying the increased physical protection for the first time. A moment later, an iron arrow bounced off her reinforced leather armor, dealing only a small amount of damage.

Okay… that spell really works.

Steeling herself for a battle that she didn’t want, she raised both hands with a charged Sparks spell. Closing the distance, she showered both bandits in sparks and watched their health wither away under her magical onslaught. Neither one of them managed to hit her a second time with their weapons of choice. Taking no time to admire her victory, she looted both bandits of their weapons, armor, and supplies.

Hmm. They are bandits… I wonder if I could get away with it…

After a moments consideration… she also cut off the ears of both bandits. While somewhat unethical to do so… these bandits might could increase her bounty reward for the bandits of Silent Moons camp. Afterall… a bandit was a bandit and Bleak Falls Barrow was within the territory of Whiterun… so why shouldn’t the Jarl pay her to kill them? More gold in the coin purse equaled buying a house faster.

She explored the tower quickly, finding a third bandit to slay. This one was wearing Iron Armor and Twilight gulped nervously as he charged downstairs towards her.

Twilight jumped out of the way as she noticed that he seemed to lose control of his momentum and he crashed headfirst into a stone wall. She showered him with sparks, not allowing him time to recover. His death was swift although a lot of the damage he took was self-inflicted.

She looted this third bandit with efficiently, remembering to take both ears.

Looting the bandits was getting easier for her, but only because she knew that the end game was being able to sell the items to buy a house. She doubted that she would need to repurpose this set of equipment since her supplies were caught up. Of course… making more steel ingots and then crafting steel equipment to sell might be worth more gold, completely separate from leveling her smithing skills. Something to consider, maybe.

Exploring the tower didn’t take long, given that it was rather small. One chest to loot and a couple of dresser drawers which held ‘treasures’ that weren’t worth the title. She took everything of value and moved on, back towards her goal.

The one thing that bothered Twilight the most about the tower was that there was no fire and no cooking stove set up. How did the bandits stay warm up on the mountain, more or less in the elements? The tower didn’t even have a roof. It was barely warmer than outside, only blocking the wind. Did they only make a fire long enough to warm up and then put it out to avoid attracting attention? That seemed like a horrible waste of time.

Resuming down the path illuminated with Clairvoyance, Twilight quickly came across her goal.

The massive ancient stone temple stood before her, very… intact… to be ruins.

As she looked upon it in wonder, her eyes caught on two more people walking back and forth, apparently keeping watch.

Are all these bandits’ part of the group that stole the Golden Claw? How valuable is the damned thing? It’s obvious that Lucan isn’t going to pay me what its worth for its return.

Deciding to exercise some caution, Twilight renewed her stoneflesh and then cast muffle. She crouched and drew her imperial bow. She moved forward, careful not to make noise or too much movement. She had already noticed a pattern to the bandits’ patrol, so she walked to where she needed to be and waited with the steel arrow notched and ready to go. Once the bandit appeared and then stopped to survey the scene, Twilight loosed the arrow and it found its mark in the bandit’s chest, dropping her like a stone.

Having gained a better sense of the nature of combat and the use of the weapons that she wielded, Twilight almost instinctually knew that even with a sneak attack bonus, she barely killed that bandit with one shot. She dove into her inner mind and used her last saved perk point to unlock the first level of Overdraw, in the Archery skill tree.

Twilight slowly climbed the steps of the temple and found another target. Drawing the bow again, she shot the bandit in the back, killing him instantly. Two other bandits became aware of her presence and closed in on her, forcing her to put away her bow and draw upon her sparks spell once again.

By either random chance or luck, skill barely being a factor, she managed to dodge both of their attacks while casting the Sparks spell in both hands, damaging both of them until they both died from the onslaught.

The combat was both simple, yet terrifying. With all four targets dead, she proceeded to loot the corpses, careful to remember to take the ears as well.

Between the illusion skill ups from casting Clairvoyance and the sneak increases from successful sneak attacks, Twilight found herself eligible for level 9. She decided to wait for a better moment to level up, sensing that the barrow was going to be the most dangerous place she’s explored so far.

She surveyed the scene around her. The temple entrance was impressive. The snow covering the stone pillars and ground was almost peaceful next to the violence of combat that had just finished. Having walked around the entire courtyard, Twilight eyed the massive double doors to the temple proper and proceeded to go in.

Lucia was walking around Whiterun, asking a passersby for a coin. She had managed to chop 6 pieces of wood for Hulda’s fire, earning 30 gold. She had been willing to do more but Hulda didn’t want her to tire herself out on chores that an adult should be doing, least she injure herself or be forced to eat more than normal to keep up her energy in the draining cold of a Skyrim autumn day.

Lucia had wished that Twilight was still in town. She had gotten used to her company in even the short amount of time that they had spent together. Foolish of her to get so attached.

Even worse for her, she knew that Twilight was out on a job.

A dangerous job… that she might not come back from.

Lucia had spent the day praying for Twilight to survive the adventure she was on. She prayed at the Shrine of Talos, the Shrine of Kynareth and the Shrine of Akatosh. She wished could pray more but those were the only three shrines in town.

She had eaten two portions of the mammoth stew Twilight had provided her and she was still satisfied from from the second portion. While three meals a day might be standard in a normal family, Skyrim was a rugged place where minor inconveniences were normal. She didn’t need a third meal. She wasn’t sure if she could force herself to eat more than a piece of cheese with a small piece of bread as a snack at this point, which was something she didn’t have but could afford with the money she earned that day.

She did manage to play with Lars Battle-Born and Mila Valentia briefly, having the energy to do so from having eaten those meals earlier. It helped pass the time, but Lucia was still drawn to the main gate of town… wondering if it would open anytime soon.

She walked the town in endless circles, chatting with random citizens and looking at the main gate every time she passed it.

At the end of a long but uneventful day, Lucia returned to her room to rest. It was harder for her to fall asleep without Twilight holding her, and she felt cold without Twilight’s presence, but she managed to fall asleep eventually.

Chapter 10 - False Start

Chapter 10 - False Start

Twilight winced at the noise the door made when she opened it, but no one seemed to care to investigate, which seemed odd to her. The bandits outside seemed to be on high alert… why wouldn’t the rest of them on the inside not be?

They must have figured that no one would make it this far. Or that maybe that I’m just one of their little group coming inside to warm up. It is warmer in here… somehow.

Twilight couldn’t decide if she wanted to stick to the bow or to magic or to actually try melee combat. She was supposed to be broadening her horizons, but she also knew she needed to practice what she was good at. What was the point of having a larger Alicorn mana pool and unicorn reduced spell casting cost if she wasn’t supposed to use it?

And then it hit her.

I’m not supposed to abandon magic… I’m just supposed to learn more. A wise ruler will use all the tools at their disposal. Of course that’s what Celestia meant.

With that little piece of uncertainty settled, she summoned a Bound Sword to her right hand and refreshed her stoneskin and muffle before summoning a second Bound Sword to her left hand. She couched and approached two bandits that were speaking to each other.

A female bandit asked a question. “How long are we supposed to wait for him to come back?”

The male bandit answered. “As long as it takes for him to come back. He said wait so we wait.”

The female bandit shook her head. “I don’t like waiting in a cold abandoned ruin.”

The male bandit scoffed. “Well… I don’t like it much either but if we don’t wait for him to come back then we don’t get our cut. Worse than being out here for days would be not getting paid for it. At least it’s warmer in here than it is outside.”

Twilight smiled at herself as she managed to sneak up on the bandits without being heard. Without missing a chance for extra damage, she jammed both of the summoned blades into the back of the female bandit. Her death was quick, but not silent as she cried out in pain, alerting the other bandit to the threat.

The nameless male bandit seemed to hesitate before the conjured magical blades and that hesitation was all Twilight needed to stab both blades into his chest and then used a power swing to cut off the man’s head. While she was prepared for battle… the extreme act of violence committed by herself seemed to startle her back into a more passive state as she breathed in the stale air of the ruin. She looked around herself for other threats before settling down to think about what just happened.

Did I really just do that? Was I able to stab a woman in the back in cold blood and then cut off a man’s head just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time? Or is the fact that they were bandits enough justification? I don’t like what this place is making me… the law of tooth and fang leaves little room for mercy. Hmm. Is that why Celestia is so merciful? Did she not like this either? And is that why Luna became Nightmare Moon… did she like it too much?

Twilight decided to put those thoughts behind her as she continued on with what she had already been doing. She looted the two recently killed bandits of their gear and deprived them of their ears. She took the time to explore the large open atrium and was disappointed to find only a few skeever corpses, useful only for their tails as an alchemy regent or for their meat if she was desperate enough to eat one. She shuttered at the thought and found herself grateful to have so much mammoth meat still. As much as she hated how much it weighed her down, it would be a cold day in Skyrim before she allowed herself to eat a skeever.

Buck… it’s always a cold day in Skyrim… bad analogy.

There was one chest near the campsite where she had killed the two bandits that was easy to unlock but it had nothing of real value. After a little more searching, she found a third bandit corpse laying on an old table to loot and take the ears from as well.

This third bandit had clearly been dead for a while and was already in the process of rigor mortis. While scientifically, rigor mortis was a natural process regardless of what species you were, in actuality, it could create some very bizarre situations, like the one she found herself in now.

This bandit’s penis was as hard as if he had an erection, fully revealed from Twilight having taken his armor. The shaft was huge, and the head was shaped oddly compared to what she knew of a stallions’ anatomy… her working knowledge of such derived from books… Greymane’s Anatomy specifically. She found herself touching her own sex, safely protected by her armor.

How is something that big supposed to fit inside of me? Hmmm. I wonder how big Hadvar is…

That train of thought derailed as Twilight realized that she was staring at a dead man’s penis while touching herself. She moved back to the camp area by the bandit’s fire to collect herself. After taking a few deep breaths, she realized that she was both tired and hungry, the day already being late with her having done more than her fair share of combat, spell casting, and shopping.

She had a few choices. First choice, she could eat in the ruins and use the bandit’s camp to rest. Or, second choice, she could leave the ruin and return to Riverwood, using the Inn to eat and sleep under the relative protection of a township.

After a moment of consideration, she remembered that the bandits she had killed was waiting for someone to come back to share whatever loot he was gathering… so therefore it wouldn’t be safe for her to stay in the bandit camp. Her only choice was to backtrack to Riverwood and hope that she didn’t miss catching the bandit.

Twilight opened the door to the Sleeping Giant Inn and closed it behind her.

Delphine raised an eyebrow at her. “I wasn’t expecting you back so soon. What brings you here?”

Twilight gave the Innkeeper a tired smile as she made her way to the counter. “I finished a few tasks in Whiterun and I gained enough experience to want to try my hand at Bleak Falls Barrow. However… I’ve had a long day and I feel like my odds of success will go up fully rested and on a full stomach. Do you have a room to rent by chance?”

Delphine nodded. “10 gold and it’s all yours. Feel free to use the cooking stove to make your own meal if you have the ingredients to do so. I never liked pressuring guests to buy my food…” She leaned in to whisper. “… neither myself nor Orgnar are very good cooks. Whatever you can make yourself would probably taste better… although I do stand by the quality of our ale.”

Twilight giggled as she put down 10 gold and went to the cooking pot. Adding the ingredients, she made herself another 7 servings of the tasty mammoth stew that she had grown fond of, counting her blessings that she wasn’t cooking a skeever, though part of her wondered if she shouldn’t harvest the meat anyways.

Surely any homeless beggar, like Brenuin, would take even a cooked skeever over having nothing to eat?

Twilight’s only regret of the evening was having nobody to share the stew with. She had gotten accustomed to sharing with Lucia and it still unnerved her not to have her friends or Spike with her. She wasn’t sure if Hadvar was still at Alvor’s house, and she was reluctant to check after her earlier thoughts at Bleak Falls Barrow.

No, as much as I want to explore that more, now isn’t the time.

Her stew cooked in the normal amount of time, and she ate one serving alone, washing it down with some cheap wine. Having finished eating and having nothing better to do, she went to her rented room and went to sleep.

One final thought crossed her mind as she fell asleep.

I can’t afford more delays… Lucia is counting on me to get back to Whiterun in three days or less… and now I’ve used up a whole day already. Tomorrow needs to be better.

The next morning came faster than Twilight had expected, and she found herself rested from sleeping in the bed provided by the Inn. She opted to quickly eat another serving of the mammoth stew from the previous night but abstained from the wine, knowing she would need to be ready to fight.

Delphine asked her a question as she was preparing to leave. “Are you going to sell off your loot before returning to the ruins?”

Twilight paused at the question. It sounded simple but it really wasn’t. “I was going to wait until I returned to Whiterun… is there a reason I should sell my loot now?”

Delphine shrugged while wiping down an already clean bar counter. “Ancient Ruins can have some valuable loot in the main chamber. It would be ashamed if you had to leave some behind because of some random bandit loot. Most adventurers don’t explore the same ruin twice so you can’t count on being able to go back for what you left behind. Or worse, have some other adventurer tail you and steal what you earned.”

The advice sounded sincere, and Twilight couldn’t fault the reasoning behind it, but she still hesitated. “I’m not sure that Alvor or Lucan could afford all the loot I have. I have looted no less than ten bandits.”

Delphine understood the problem. “You have two choices then. Either buy something to offset what you’re selling or if they have nothing that you need… then only sell them what they have the coin for and hold onto the rest. Skyrim might surprise you in how much good equipment costs, especially enchanted equipment. In one-on-one battles… skill is only half the factor. A person’s equipment often decides a contest. The good guys don’t always win here.”

Twilight left the Inn and considered the information. She truly had a problem with this one. She couldn’t risk dying just because she was cheap with buying equipment, but she also needed to be able to afford a house for Lucia. She still had less than 1,000 gold, given that she had traded a lot of ‘loot’ for skill training instead of outright selling it like she probably should have. There were several other quests within Whiterun she could do for more coin as well.

And then, as if fate itself would have to directly intervene, a wolf pack ran into the sleepy little town. This wasn’t a problem for Twilight, as she was more than prepared to fight wolves… but they weren’t heading for her… they were heading for the town’s children… Alvor’s daughter Dorthe and another boy that she didn’t know.

Twilight called out a warning. “Wolves!”

The children turned and screamed as they saw the threat bearing down on them and Twilight raised her hands with Sparks ready to go but she couldn't cast the spell so close to the children. She opted for a bound sword instead and charged the wolves… yelling and making as much noise as possible so the wolves would rightly see her as a threat and either run… or attack.

As luck would have it, the four wolves did move to attack her, leaving the children alone. She ducked and weaved, striking down the wolves with her conjured blade. The children watched in awe and clapped when the battle was finished.

“Thank you for saving us, miss!” The young boy exclaimed,

Twilight lowered her hands, releasing the conjured blade and smiled. “It was no problem. I thought the Jarl dispatched guards here… where are they?”

The boy frowned. “There is no guardhouse here, so the mere three guards dispatched here have sleeping bags on the ground outside the lookout posts. While they aren’t on duty… they are out hunting for food to feed the detachment… Or in the Inn drinking. Honestly? I don’t feel any safer now than before they got here… Gods help us if a dragon really attacks us here.”

Twilight felt her stomach tighten. “Do you have no other means of defending yourselves?”

Dorthe sagged and answered her. “My father can’t justify giving us daggers. Not only would it hurt his available inventory of things to sell, but he doesn’t want us to do anything stupid… like attack each other with the weapons or be heroes if wolves or bandits appeared.”

As a pony who hadn’t been a parent personally, she could see the logic in the argument presented. However… as a pony that had witnessed the many actions of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, she could see the holes in it.

Twilight smiled at both of them. “You are both smart enough to know that daggers are weapons and not toys, right? And you are both also smart enough to work together to take down dangerous wildlife, yes?”

The boy smiled. “Of course! We’re real Nords!”

Twilight could just barely picture Spike having said something similar, and her heart ached.

“Okay then. I’ll make you some weapons and armor so you can defend yourselves. How does that sound?”

Dorthe hugged Twilight. “It sounds like a lot of fun!”

Twilight grinned. “Not for the person working the forge… this is going to be a lot of work.”

Twilight led them both to Alvor’s forge and she sat to work. Using leftover steel from previous weapon melts, Twilight forged three steel daggers. Then. She measured both children for armor and using the bandit loot she had acquired, she made three sets of child-sized fur-lined leather armor. The armor she made was similar to her own armor with one set for each of the Riverwood children and a third set for Lucia, ever present in her mind. Once the armor and weapons were finished, she outfitted them and ensured that everything fit. She was pleased with herself when the children proudly wore their armor and drew their daggers.

Dorthe proclaimed proudly. “Let’s protect Riverwood!”

The young lad agreed cautiously. “Yes. Let’s protect our home! Daggers in their sheaths until we need them. We wouldn’t want to disappoint Twilight, would we?”

Dorthe sheathed her dagger. “Of course… we wouldn’t want to get carried away. Shall we play a game of tag?”

The children ran off while Alvor greeted Twilight. “It was a fine thing you did, outfitting the children to protect themselves. Even I wouldn’t have expected wolves in town but I expect that the military and the bandits are forcing the predators to hunt inside of towns now that wild game is less available. Is there anything I can do for you?”

Twilight sighed. “I have some leftover bandit loot that I didn’t use to make the children’s equipment. Would you buy it from me?”

Alvor nodded. “I’ll take a look.”

A few minutes later gave Twilight another 500 gold but reduced her inventory of everything bandit related except for the equipment that she forged for Lucia.

Twilight smiled at Alvor. “How’s Hadvar doing?”

Alvor rubbed the back of his head. “Hadvar headed back to Solitude not too long ago. He hasn’t sent a letter saying that he arrived, but I suspect that he’s okay.”

Twilight bit her lip but nodded. “Okay. I guess that’s good news. What do you think I should do now?”

Alvor frowned. “It’s getting late. Maybe you should rest at the Inn again and get a fresh start tomorrow."

Twilight nodded. “I don’t want to delay further but it seems like I have little choice. Thank you, Alvor, for everything.”

Alvor nodded. “Of course. Gods watch over your battles, friend.”

Twilight walked back to the Sleeping Giant Inn and dropped another 10 gold on the counter. She ate another bowl of mammoth stew and went to bed early, one thought lingering on her mind.

Tomorrow for sure. No more delays. I promised Lucia, I’ll get back in time.

Chapter 11 - Bleak Falls Barrow

Twilight groaned as she got out of bed, not at all well rested from the worry of missing her deadline to get back to Whiterun. She sat down at a table in the Inn for another serving of her almost now famous mammoth stew and considered her options.

Should I go back to Whiterun just to see Lucia and give her more food and pay for additional days at the Inn? No… Lucia is a Nord also and she would probably be disappointed in me for not finishing the job I took. She is a big girl… she can take care of herself… hopefully… at least for one more day. I just need to finish the job.

She steeled herself for a hard day but knew what she had to do.

I’m going to finally meet and then kill some draugr, commit some grave robbing, and then, hopefully, find both the Golden Claw and the Dragon Stone. Easy. Right?

Twilight sagged in her seat. This was not easy. Equestrian law on stealing was solid enough without adding the moral ambiguity of stealing from the dead.

Who am I kidding? I’m doomed…

Delphine seemed to sense her mood from across the room. “Problems, Princess?”

Twilight stiffened. No one had called her a Princess since she had arrived in Skyrim. It was both welcome and yet, not.

“No… no problem. Just thinking. Why do you ask?”

Delphine raised an eyebrow while wiping the bar countertop. “You look like you’re about to keel over from stress. Is there an issue that you need help working out?”

Twilight swallowed. “It’s just the ‘adventuring’ lifestyle. Do all adventurers steal from the dead?”

Delphine paused and then continued wiping the already clean counter. “I’m a Breton, not a Nord, so I couldn’t tell you about the morals of exploring and then looting Ancient Nordic burial ruins. I will say that most Nords don’t give a fuck about who they kill or what they take as battle spoils as long as it’s ‘honorable combat’. When fighting draugr or bandits or vampires… it’s all honorable combat. The dead won’t miss it so take what you earn and don’t feel sorry about it. If it’s not you, it would be someone else, so enrich yourself and be happy about your battle prowess. I can’t tell you how many boastful adventurers I’ve had to host over the years.”

So, the moral ambiguity of Skyrim is that might makes right? What the buck?

Twilight nodded. “That actually does help… kinda.”

Delphine smiled at Twilight. “Happy to help. Now get moving… you’re burning daylight.”

That actually did get Twilight moving as she slowly climbed the mountain back to Bleak Falls Barrow. She couldn’t help but grumble to herself though.

Stupid Mountain and stupid snow. Stupid already looted corpses from previous battles. Why haven’t the wolves eaten them already? Oh yeah… I killed them too.

Opening the door to Bleak Falls Barrow didn’t bother her as much the second time. She walked past the slain bandits without a second glance. She approached the only path that led both forward and downward… deeper into the barrow.

This is it… I’m really going in there this time. No turning back.

Erring on the side of caution, she equipped her Imperial Bow and Steel Arrows, and went into a crouching ‘stealth’ mode, hoping to not alert any draugr. She passed through a few sets of spider webs and was immediately paranoid that a frostbite spider might be around the corner. She was happy to be wrong but also saw a burial urn.

Should I really be looting?

Twilight checked the three urns that she saw for curiosity’s sake and found two of them already empty with the third having 25 gold and a random gemstone.

The urns wouldn’t be here if nothing was in them originally… so someone has already done some looting here. Lucia is counting on me so maybe Delphine was right. Enrich myself because if I don’t, someone else will.

Continuing down the path set her on edge. No enemies so far but that couldn’t be true for long. She didn’t understand why the path had so many stairs, both up and down. It’s like they took a natural cave and added features to make it livable, although still inconvenient if you were trying to watch out for enemies.

Or maybe it made it easier to defend from enemies… I should remain on my guard…

Turning to the left, part of the ceiling crumbled and fell before me as dust and debris, momentary making me wonder if she was going to die in a cave in.

That would be an irony, certainly. Exploring abandoned ruins is a Tartarus of a way to make a living.

The path continued downwards now. Right turns, left turns, but all downwards. Twilight turned a corner and halted in her tracks. There was a bandit there. He didn’t see her and was walking away from her towards a lever of sorts. She decided to watch his actions to see what he was going to do.

The bandit pulled the lever, presumably to open the barricaded door that was further in… only to be shot with dozens of poisoned arrows. He fell, death quickly taking him.

She gulped. Well buck me… how do I open the door?

Twilight took the time to loot the bandit while exploring the room and avoiding the lever. To her left was three statues that you seemed to be able to rotate the side facing outwards and above her was similar symbols in the mouths of a craving of giant heads, with the middle head having fallen to the ground near her. She noticed that the symbols on the rotatable statues didn’t match the ones in the mouths of the effigies. Then, it dawned on her.

It’s a puzzle lock. I need to make the rotatable statues match the symbols in the effigies.

Rotating the statues, she made them match.

Snake, Snake, Whale.

Twilight pulled the lever with a gulp, but the door opened, and no poisoned arrows struck her.

She walked through the door and noticed a book, a treasure chest and a soul gem. She looted the chest of all its riches and took the soul gem, leaving the book for last. The book was titled ‘Thief’ and when she opened it, her pickpocket skill increased by one point to 16.

Huh. So a skill book. A book that helps improve a skill simply by reading it. I’m going to keep this one. I really must read it later in its entirety.

Twilight headed down some stairs and heard some scurrying up the same stairs. She backed up a respectful distance and waited for what was approaching to appear.

A pack of three skeevers topped the stairs and headed straight for her. It was the first time she had seen a living skeever.

She adopted a Fluttershy-like tone. “Ah. Aren’t you cute… Do you want to be my pets? I’m sure I could… AH!!! Stop biting me!”

The skeevers had jumped at her, not caring about how friendly she was trying to be and persisted to try and eat her alive. Twilight didn’t really have time for this anyways and so she proceeded to roast them alive with fire magic. They died quickly but not as painlessly as she would have preferred. The smell of cooked meat made her hungry, and it reinforced her notion that if cooked properly, the skeevers shouldn’t have any diseases to infect people and wouldn’t taste that bad. Still might be a hard sell for anyone that wasn’t despite for food, though.

She looted them of their tails, useful as an alchemy reagent and harvested the meat, to experiment on later, continued down the stairs. Upon reaching the landing, she found a Scroll of Fireball and a Weak Paralysis Poison on a table and continued to walk cautiously.

In the distance, she could make out a male voice. “Is someone coming? Is that you Harknir? Bjorn? Soling? I need help!”

She slowed her pace further.

Was this the bandit that stole the Golden Claw?

Looking to the end of the passage, she noticed a skeleton at the end of what appeared to be a dead end but then noticed that the spider webbing here seemed extra thick. Shooting it experimentally with Flames, it melted to reveal a hidden treasure chest. Looting the chest made her slightly richer with the items that she would be able to sell but there was nothing of note worth keeping for herself.

Rounding the corner, she noticed that the next passage had been blocked by frostbite spider webbing. It was a simple matter to melt the webbing with fire magic, but she continued to proceed cautiously.

If the voice was coming from beyond this webbing… then the spider is probably still close by…

She walked through the doorway only to have the biggest frostbite spider she had ever seen drop down from the ceiling. Calling it a Giant Frostbite Spider was no exaggeration. Twilight ran around in circles while dodging piercing legs and acid spit while peppering it with fire. While a normal frostbite spider died fairly quickly, from a single weapon stroke or brief spell hit, this giant frostbite spider had endurance. It died from extreme exposure to fire, and she was grateful not to have suffered a direct hit. She wasn’t sure her armor would have helped against something three times her own size.

Twilight turned to the thief with disdain. He spoke very quickly. “You did it. You killed it. Now cut me down before anything else shows up.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Where is the Golden Claw?”

The thief seemed to grin; despite being trapped in frostbite spider webbing. “Yes, the claw. I know how it works! The claw, the markings, the door in the hall of stories. I know how they all fit together! Help me down and I’ll show you! You wouldn’t believe the power the Nords have hidden there.”

She growled, fearing a trick. “Hand over the claw first.”

The thief grunted. “Does it look like I can move? You have to cut me down first!”

Twilight grunted in reply. “I don’t trust you. You did steal the claw after all. What is stopping you from running away the second that I help you?”

The thief sighed. “Fine. I’ll introduce myself. My name is Arvel the Swift. Like you, I am an adventurer by trade, which at times, requires some morally questionable choices. I’ll admit that I did steal the claw from the Riverwood Trader but it’s not like Lucan Valerius would have sold it to me. Nords don’t write or read a lot, so most of their history has been lost as the masters of oral history have died in battle or of age. The various claws are a key to the inner sanctum of Dragon ruins. There are 11 Dragon Claws in total, each lead to treasure beyond most adventurers’ wildest imaginations. I promised to share the treasure with my travelling companions but if you’re here that must mean that they are dead. So… you saved me from the Giant Frostbite Spider and I’m grateful. Cut me down… and we’ll travel to the inner sanctum together and I’ll spilt the treasure with you in equal halves. Sound good?”

She nodded slowly. “I’ll set you free. But I’m warning you. If you run off with the claw, your death is certain. Just because we haven’t seen draugr yet doesn’t mean that there is none in here… it would be safer for us to travel together.”

Arvel smiled. “I promise that you won’t regret it.”

Twilight used her fire magic to carefully melt the webbing away, doing her best to avoid injuring Arvel.

He sounded excited. “It’s coming loose, I can feel it.”

Once free, he turned to run. “You fool, why should I share the treasure with anyone.”

Twilight watched him run away and sighed. “Well buck me. I saw that coming.”

She continued to proceed cautiously, in no hurry, and not at all worried about catching up to him. She looted burial urns as she came across them and was happy to find another lesser soul gem. Walking down a pathway, she saw a draugr in the distance, laying down in a burial alcove.

This one had a weapon at his side and looked like he was wearing armor. This was a far cry from the mere bones or bodies that were wrapped in linen cloth. She remembered Faendal’s advice and lined up a shot. It would be better to waste an arrow than to risk letting it attack her.

She let loose the arrow and was very shocked at the draugr wincing in pain before actually dying, the sneak attack damage being enough to kill it.

Nice to see all those archery lessons starting to pay off…

She turned to her right and saw another draugr standing there. She quickly lined up another shot, killing it with her sneak attack damage. The sounds of battle awoke another one, further off to my right and she was forced to fire three arrows to kill it due to no longer having a sneak attack advantage.

It was at that point that she found Arvel, dead. He was lying beside a button trigger hidden in the ground that seemed to activate a swinging door of iron spikes. She huffed as she shook her head.

And he called me a fool. Barely dodged a set of draugr and died at the very first trap that he encountered after I set him free. It’s a wonder that he got past the rotating statue lock.

She looted the corpse, cutting off the ears just in case she could get paid for having killed yet another bandit, and verified the claw.

Yes, definitely gold and recovered. But I’m not done. I still have to find the dragon stone, which should be in the main chamber, and if anything that Arvel said was true, then I’ll need this claw to open the final door. But how do I use it?

Searching through her newfound loot, she found a journal. She had to hope that the answer was in there, otherwise, she’s kinda screwed. She opened it and read.

‘My fingers are trembling. The Golden Claw is finally in my hands, and with it, the power of the ancient Nordic heroes. That fool Lucan Valerius had no idea that his favorite store decoration was actually the key to Bleak Falls Barrow.

Now I just need to get to the Hall of Stories and unlock the door. The legend says there is a test that the Nords put in place to keep the unworthy away, but that “When you have the golden claw, the solution is in the palm of your hands”.’

Twilight frowned at the very vague instructions and looked more closely at the golden claw itself. On the palm of the claw itself were three symbols.

Bear, Moth, Owl.

Oh… so the final door has a puzzle lock too. These symbols must be the answer key. And then… like a key… I’ll have to insert the claw somehow to open the door. I suppose I’ll see when I get there.

She walked past the door trap and spotted another draugr in an alcove and almost causally shot it.

Only, this time, it didn’t die. It stood up and she realized that this one was one of the stronger ‘Restless Draugr’ and slightly panicked as it started to run towards her.

Twilight shot it again and again, but it wouldn’t die. She was terrified when she had managed to shoot it through its mouth and out the back of its head, and it still didn’t die.

It can’t be that much higher of a level than me…

She dropped the bow and went for Flames again, hoping that the undead weakness to fire would give her the upper hand. To her great relief, it fell to the fire and died, only hitting her once.

I barely felt that. This armor was worth the time it took to craft.

She looted the draugr of its weapon and continued to walk down the stairs along the path, healing my wounds. The buzz of magic echoed loudly in the barrow and as one, three more draugr rose to challenge her.

I can’t fight three! I can barely manage one at a time!

Twilight retreated to a safe distance, careful not to trip the door trap again and was breathing hard.

“What am I going to do? I need a plan…”

Out of nowhere, behind her, she heard a voice. “Hiya, Twilight!”

Twilight jumped halfway out of her skin and towards around towards the voice. Her eyes became pinpricks with panic as a fully pony Pinkie Pie was behind her.

Pinkie giggled. “Wow! You look cool as a Anthro-Pony. I bet all the humans love you, you gotta be warm compared to how cold it is here.”

Twilight gasped. “Pinkie! What are you doing here? I’m supposed to be doing this alone!”

Pinkie giggled again. “I know! I was just taking a little vacation because Princess Celestia said you had this big secret quest to do. I guess I got lost on the way. I knew I should have taken that left turn at Albuquerque…”

Twilight sighed and Pinkie looked back up. “Are you sure I can’t help? I could be your pony and let you ride me and carry your things?”

Twilight giggled at the image of her riding a pink pony across Skyrim but then sighed in defeat.

“I’m sorry Pinkie. The horses here can’t talk so I’d have a hard time explaining you to the population. And I am supposed to be doing this alone and I really can’t ask you to put yourself in danger to help me. Can you find your way home?”

Pinkie blew a raspberry. “Oh sure, no problem. I just have that get out of this funny ruin first.”

She started to walk downwards towards where the draugr were and Twilight stopped her.

“No! Not that way! There are three enemies down there and I have trouble beating one at a time. You’ll get hurt!”

Pinkie smiled. “I know how to help you without helping you. I’ll distract them long enough for you to take them out while I’m going home, just like you told me to.”

Pinkie sucked in a large breath and yelled out. “LEEROYYYY JENKINSSSS!”

Pinkie bolted past the three draugr and deftly dodged three swinging axes in what appeared to be another trap. The draugr turned to pursue her but Twilight was able to shoot each draugr in the back, gaining sneak attack damage as they had tried to pursue Pinkie.

Twilight was breathing hard but was happy to have taken them down without taking any damage. She explored the large room a little more, giving Pinkie Pie time to escape the dungeon and giving any draugr she disturbed time to settle down. As part of her exploration, she went up a set of stairs that had no lighting and seemed to dead end. Casting Mage Light, she was able to see another treasure chest that wasn’t exactly hidden, but that you would never see without a torch or one of the two spells that created magical light.

Huh. Does Celestia raise the sun or does she cast a more powerful version of Mage Light?

She picked the Adept lock was some difficultly, breaking a couple of lockpicks until she got it correct but was happy with the skill she was gaining from her efforts. Taking her time to loot the draugr of yet more Ancient Nord gear, she studied the timing of the swinging axes trap.

I should be able to dodge them if I walk at a slow but steady pace and don’t hesitate.

Walking forward, she did manage to pass through the blades unscathed although hearing them swing passed her certainly terrified her. She didn’t know how Pinkie was able to do it other than with her Pinkie Sense.

Going back into a crouch and keeping her bow at the ready, she quickly recast stoneflesh on herself to increase her armor rating, now that she had remembered to use it. Heading down a narrow path, she saw another draugr standing in an alcove waiting to awaken and attack.

Drawing her bow, shooting it for sneak attack damage again killed it instantly. Looting it quickly and moving on, she turned a corner to the right and found another draugr in an alcove waiting for slaughter.

This is almost too easy.

Turning a third corner, she did the same, shooting a draugr in an alcove except that this time, killing the first draugr alerted a second draugr and losing the sneak attack advantage, it took three arrows to kill it, allowing it to hit her once.

Spending magic on healing wasn’t a waste but it certainly slowed her down given that she had to stand still and cast the spell until it was completed to avoid alerting more enemies.

Turning another corner, the path headed back up and then back down in a winding pathway that still didn’t make sense to her. Continuing on the path, she hit a main open chamber with a treasure chest and a iron wrought gate that barred the passage further. Before she could figure it out… a draugr popped out of an upright casket like a jack in the box, forcing her to loose two more arrows in rapid succession. The chest was unlocked, which allowed her to continue her journey. There was a simple chain, that when pulled, opened the gate.

The ruin didn’t seem to be getting more dangerous, but it was larger than she expected. Probably had a lot to do with the fact that most of the barrow was underground. The path continued forward over a creek and Twilight wasn’t happy to get her leather boots wet, but at least her feet stayed dry.

The path took a right turn and all of a sudden, it felt like she was in a regular cave, not unlike the secret exit out of Helgen. Glowing Mushrooms grew on the walls, which she could see was an alchemy reagent, and the stream continued although there was dry land to walk on too, now.

She harvested the glowing mushrooms, hoping that they would be useful for something, and briefly explored the area. She found another skeleton with a pickaxe next to an iron ore vein. She hadn’t tried any mining yet and she had to wonder how hard it was.

Picking up the pickaxe, she used the innate magic of Skyrim to mine the iron deposit and was shocked to get 3 iron ores in less than 5 minutes before the magic faded and indicated that there was no more to mine at this location, at this time.

The steam in the cave dead ended at what became a waterfall, with beautiful sunlight pouring in an opening in the roof of the cave. To the right, was another unlocked treasure chest with more semi-useless things to sell. It was a little frustrating that the treasures here seemed more like junk, but she could sell the Ancient Nordic stuff to collectors or melt them down for more corundum ingots.

Twilight continued down the only way forward and harvested every batch of glowing mushrooms that she was coming across. The pathway led ever so downward into the depths of the ruin in a way that was starting to make Twilight lose a little hope.

This place is so big. Is it even possible to explore it in one day? I do not want to have to sleep here tonight.

Popping out an exit at the bottom of the passageway, she realized that she was in the large open area that the waterfall from above fed into. A lone draugr was on patrol and was easy to take out. To her right, there was a path that led even further down. The slopes were slippery due to the moisture of the waterfall but she made it safely to the bottom of the path only discover that it was a dead end with nothing of note except for a locked treasure chest with a basic novice lock.

The scrolls were useless to her but would be worth selling. Climbing up the slippery slope was harder than going down, but she did manage to navigate it without falling. Continuing down the original pathway, she was startled when the normal cave quickly returned to an Ancient Nordic Ruin structure, and she realized that she had to be getting closer to the end.

Peeking into the next huge room revealed a stronger Restless Draugr on alert, pacing back and forth with a two-handed great sword. She opted to kill it with flames, hoping that the draugr weakness to fire would be more beneficial than an arrow sneak attack, and she was fortunate enough to have been able to maintain a safe distance, peppering it with fire while it swung uselessly at her, never hitting her.

Taking her time to unlock yet another apprentice grade treasure chest, she became uncomfortable with just how much loot she now had, given that her storage portals had to be getting closer to full. It wouldn’t have been a problem if there was anything of real value but most of this stuff only had value from the standpoint of just having a lot of it.

Pushing through the next door, she could feel a shift in the local magic as the area appeared to change. Looking back at the door, she noticed that the innate magic told her where she was. She had been in the Bleak Falls Temple. Now she was in the Bleak Falls Sanctum.

Refreshing stoneflesh and muffle onto herself, she reequipped her Imperial Bow and proceeded with caution. The lack of anything to loot was almost ominous. The long corridor only led one way with no side paths and brought her directly in front of another narrow passage with a second set of swinging axe traps.

This set only had two axes instead of three, so getting the timing correct on avoiding the swings should be easier. Should be… being the key word.

The swing on these axes had slightly off timing so one of them did hit her, causing a fair amount of damage to her despite the good armor she was wearing. But more importantly, Twilight crying out in pain alerted, not one, but three draugr to her presence, and there was no way to avoid this fight. And no distraction like she had with Pinkie Pie earlier. It was hard for her to admit that she wished that she hadn’t sent Pinkie Pie away.

Twilight took aim and quickly killed the draugr closest to her, which luckily only took two arrows this time. The other two draugr seemed to charge her at the same time so there would be no avoiding having to face both of them. Her custom armor had served her well but she just wasn’t ready to test the limits of it.

It was at that time that she noticed some red liquid on the floor in front of her, halfway in-between where she was from where the draugr were charging her from. Thinking back onto it, it looked like the same red liquid that she accidentally ignited while escaping from Helgen some days ago. There also seemed to be some kind of rigged fire trap above the liquid, something that would burn an adventurer alive if they tripped the trap while going through the ruins.

Lining up a shot, Twilight fired a single arrow into the fire trap, knocking it down from the rope it was hanging from and was satisfied by the trap bursting into flames, killing both of the charging draugr and saving her from tripping the trap herself.

Looting the draugr was slowly becoming routine but searching around this larger room gave no loot other than a single Potion of Resist Frost. Studying the bottle, she could see that it would give her 20% resistance to frost for a period of time long enough to fight the main guardian of the main chamber. If it was indeed a high level draugr, she would need that potion to protect her from his frost magic.

Heading up the stairs and across a stone archway bridge, there were more of the fire traps hanging from the ceiling, but nothing appeared to trigger them as she walked across the bridge to safety. The pathway continued until she reached an Iron Door.

She pushed it open and was shocked by what she saw.

On both sides of the corridor, there were very detailed engravings in the stone, apparently telling a story.

This must be the Hall of Stories that the elf was talking about.

It was too bad that there were no words to accompany the pictures because without knowing the history of Skyrim, the images were next to meaningless to her.

I need to try to find some books to read. Everyday can’t be one adventure after another.

Walking up to the puzzle door, I moved the outer ring twice, the middle ring twice and the inner ring also twice. Placing the claw into the keyhole, the lock opened, and the huge door seemed to sink into the floor.

Twilight knew by instinct that this had to be the main chamber so she cast Stoneskin and muffle again, noticing that her illusion skill was going up. The Stoneskin would lessen her damage but all that muffle would do is allow her a sneak attack, she hoped.

She sighed. There is no avoiding this fight.

She went back to Flames, hoping that her natural magic would overcome the draugr no matter what level he was. Abandoning any attempt to sneak, she walked straight into main chamber. The bats fluttering away startled her but she wouldn’t give in to fear.

Light poured into the hall from the ceiling and seemed to illuminate a large black wall. It looked like it was made out of solid obsidian. She drawn to the wall in the same way that was drawn to the engravings in the Hall of Stories. It was just ashamed that she didn’t know what they meant.

As Twilight approached the wall, she could swear that she heard chanting in some ancient language and could see a white magical glow just engulf her.

And then… all at once, she felt as if she had gained vast magical knowledge in the form of a magic that she couldn’t directly seem to use yet. Whatever Unrelenting Force was… it would be interesting once she could use it.

At that moment, the coffin behind her seemed to explode as the lid was thrown violently off and a draugr started to climb out of it. She was shocked to see a Draugr Overlord pop out of the coffin, as it was clearly the most powerful draugr she had ever seen to date.

She peppered the draugr with fire and then, out of nowhere, it used a strange type of voice magic. It caused her to stagger back, breaking the focus of her spell casting. Almost instantly, she realized that it had used the magic that she had just obtained but couldn’t use yet.

Fortunally, the Draugr Overlord wasn’t much stronger than a Restless Draugr but she was grateful to be a higher level than she would have been if she had tried this without clearing out at least two bandit camps first.

Looting the Overlord proved interesting. He had the dragonstone on his person, so quest complete, but his weapon was very interesting. He carried a ‘Honed Ancient Nord Sword of Chills.’ It was sharper than the standard Ancient Nord Sword and the frost enchantment gave frost damage to health and stamina. It wasn’t worth a whole lot of gold but learning the enchantment itself would be valuable.

Also in the room, was a total of two treasure chests. One was unlocked and beside where the Overlord had appeared from but there was a second Novice Locked chest behind the black wall.

Between the two treasure chests, was a Ring of Minor Blocking and a Ring of Minor Stamina. Blocking 15% more damage with a shield or weapon and gaining 20 extra stamina would definitely help combat. One of the perks of having ten fingers was being able to wear ten rings.

Following the stairs to the top of the main chamber, it looked like a dead end at first, but a handle embedded into a pedestal opened a secret passage which may have also served as an emergency exit. She was grateful to find no more enemies but was disturbed to find a human skull on what looked like a small shrine. There was also an unlocked treasure chest near the shrine and Twilight had to wonder if this was the personal treasures of the person buried there.

Opening the chest revealed gold, soul gems, potions and scrolls. It could be surmised that the person was a mage at some point in life. Looting the chest, she headed up and out, back into the wilds of Skyrim.

* * *

Twilight was grateful to be out of the dusty old Nordic ruin and took a deep breath of the crisp Skyrim air. Instead of the pleasant scent of the nearby lake and the surrounding flowers, she smelled the sticky scent of blood.

“Twilight… help me.”

She froze at the sound of the voice and followed it to behind a rock near the cave exit where she found Pinkie Pie laying on her side, gasping for air, with three Ancient Nord arrows sticking out of her flank.

“Hold on Pinkie, I can heal you.”

Twilight pulled the three arrows out of her side and used her restoration spell, healing hands, to heal all three of Pinkie’s wounds. When the last wound was healed, Pinkie leaped up and hugged Twilight tightly.

“Whoo… you’re a lifesaver. Those draugr things are scary…”

Twilight was beside herself with worry and grief. “I’m sorry that I tried to send you away. Skyrim is super dangerous, and you shouldn’t be here alone.”

Pinkie frowned at Twilight, her voice a mere whisper. “But Twilight… you’re here alone.”

Twilight was going to retort but found nothing coming to mind.

Hadvar told me that according to the legends, Celestia travelled with Tiber Septim and Luna travelled with Martin Septim. I guess I could have travelled with Hadvar, but our paths aren’t following the exact same trail. Buck it… I’m not doing this alone if the other Princesses didn’t.

Twilight placed a hand on Pinkie’s wither. “You can stay and come with me. Just help me carry my stuff, try not to freak out the locals too much, and for my sake, try not to get hurt again. Celestia sent me here to get stronger and I was supposed to do this alone or with local help… but you found your way here all on your own, so I guess it’s okay if you stay. For now…”

Pinkie cheered. “Yippee!”

Her voice echoed off the walls of the cliffside and the cave at large and Twilight looked around to see if any predators had been alerted.

Twilight sighed. “Alright… we are going to walk back to Riverwood first so I can return this golden claw. While we are walking, I am going to explain how Skyrim works. The magic. The people. The bandits. And the wildlife. If you’re going to travel with me then you’re going to have to take it seriously. This is not a party adventure, and this place is far from safe.”

Pinkie’s face took on a serious look. “I can do it. If you were meant to get stronger then maybe me accidentally finding my way here also means that I’m supposed to get stronger. It can’t be worse than my family’s rock farm.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Do the rocks try to kill you?”

Pinkie shifted her gaze. “Sometimes? Not on purpose though.”

Twilight nodded with a chuckle. “Okay then, let’s get started.”

As she started to explain everything for Pinkie’s benefit, she was reminded of the three tasks she still had to do. Return the Golden Claw for the reward. Return the Dragonstone for a reward. And make sure that she returned to Lucia before the child ran out of food and money.

It was hard to call Whiterun home… but she was glad to be heading somewhere that she could spend a couple of days resting. Having Pinkie at her side would make a world of difference.

* * *

Author's Note

My PS4 stopped working and it's almost impossible to write a story like this without playing the game. I finally got a PS4 copy of Skyrim on my PS5 and was lucky enough to be able to download all my saved data from the cloud.

I still have other ongoing stories that I'm also trying to finish but you can expect more chapters, more often, than the break between Chapter 10 an 11.

(I had no idea it had been over a year until I went to upload the newly completed chapter.)

Prologue: A New Adventure

Princess Twilight Sparkle was sitting in Princess Celestia’s study, enjoying some tea with her mentor. The conversation had been light so far, and Twilight had the uneasy feeling that when Celestia finally did speak about why Twilight had been summoned… that she wasn’t going to like the conversation much. She was a little lost in thought while sipping on her own tea.

Have I already failed in some way as a Princess? What am I supposed to do?

She was nearly on the verge of a silent panic attack until her eyes caught on Celestia’s movements… and noticed that she had put her teacup down and cleared her throat to finally speak. Twilight barely calmed her features before Celestia looked right at her.

“Twilight… now that you are a princess… I need you to branch out and learn more of the harder and lesser used skills of a princess. Being the Element of Magic and the Princess of Friendship serves you well… but you will also need to learn more about some of the more unsettling things that come with being a ruler. Things that a book cannot teach you.”

Twilight’s eyes brightened at the prospect of learning something new, even if it might be ‘unsettling.’ If nothing else, it felt like a chance to redeem herself from any possible failures.

“Like what, Princess?”

Celestia sighed heavily. “Many things, Twilight. The Art of Combat and War. Diplomacy. How to recognize when you are being lied to or otherwise misled while trying to choose the right path. And when times are tough… how to gather, hunt, cook and camp in the wilderness. Most of all, you need to know how to survive in an unforgiving world should the need come to pass.”

Twilight’s ears folded back unto her head. She didn’t know the first thing about how to even start learning all of that and it gave her more reason to panic.

“But… Equestria is so peaceful. Given that I don’t think I can learn what you want me to from a book, even should such a book exist… how am I supposed to learn… that?”

Celestia smiled brightly but spoke seriously. “There is a magical scroll in the library that can teach you these things… but it isn’t to be trifled with. It can transport you to a world with humans and other non-human races that is very similar, yet different, from our own world and from the world in the crystal mirror. It will turn you into an anthropoidal pony, complete with hands and feet to allow for a bi-pedal existence. Once there… you will try to survive. Make friends… gain allies. Master physical combat and war spellcraft. You will do things that you never thought you would ever do… but you will do it to grow stronger and to survive. But… be warned, my faithful student… you can die in that world and if you do… you will die here as well. There are no second chances.”

Twilight’s face paled with the realization of the danger involved.

She asked timidly. “Can I take my friends with me?”

Celestia shook her head. “I’m afraid not.”

Twilight’s voice was barely a whisper. “Why not, Princess?”

Celestia sighed tiredly. “I need you to understand something Twilight. I’ve ruled for a very long time and I’m getting tired. Now that you are an Alicorn… you very well may replace me on the throne someday… or at least be able to grant me a much-needed vacation. Your friends can help you rule if you want them too, for a time… but they are mortal. Unless they ascend, you will be left to rule alone someday, much like I had to do after Luna’s banishment. No, Twilight, this is your lesson. Your task. I need you to be as capable as I am.”

That last statement gave Twilight pause. “Have you ever used the scroll?”

Celestia nodded. “Me and my sister have both gone into that realm, one time each, when we were younger, but after we became alicorns. We went in separately, as we were instructed, and we learned a great deal. Luna took it to better than I did but we both survived.”

Twilight cocked her head to one side. “How many other ponies have survived that have tried it?”

Celestia winced at the expected question. “I have sent seven others over the years. None have survived. Of course… none of them were Alicorns. I had considered sending Cadence but now that she rules the Crystal Empire… that is no longer possible. You don’t have to go… but I’ll never be comfortable letting you help me with my duties, let alone ever rule Equestria, if you don’t.”

That… was the one thing that Twilight couldn’t allow to happen. The worst possible thing… She couldn’t afford to lose the trust of her mentor. Twilight may not have been brave in the same way as a Royal Guardsmen or a Knight, but neither was she a coward. She knew a great number of spells but had almost intentionally not learned military grade combat magic, leaving that to her brother. She never expected to become a Princess so not knowing how to defend herself or the kingdom was now something she was starting to regret.

Thinking back onto it… she had a book about camping and sleepovers, and while she did manage that one sleepover, she had never went camping… unless the tree in her bedroom counts. She never did figure that out. Hunting… well… hunting suggested killing an animal for its meat… but she would never need to do that, right? Even as an anthropoidal pony that could eat meat… would she ever actually do so?

Twilight cleared her throat… “About the hunting…”

Celestia cut her off, her voice with a slight edge to it. “The place the scroll will send you is very harsh. Similar to the Crystal Empire, it is cold all year round, even in the summer. As a result, not a lot of food grows there but there is a decent amount of wildlife. It is entirely possible that you will need to eat meat to survive. Even if you don’t eat the meat yourself, you will need the furs and other supplies you can harvest from what you hunt to craft weapons, armor and alchemic potions. The food itself shouldn’t be wasted either and can be sold or traded if you don’t want to eat it yourself. However… learning how to hunt and camp and generally survive is also important because a Princess should understand what her people and the common citizens of other nations have to do to survive. It grants us the understanding we need to be merciful in situations that are sometimes hard to judge.”

Twilight withered under the cold but honest tone and nodded absentmindedly, considering all of her options, while sipping on her tea trying to warm herself up. It didn’t take long for her to realize that there was only one choice.

“When do I leave to use the scroll? And where do I to go to use it?”

Celestia smiled at Twilight’s choice. “The scroll is in the castle library. The head librarian will fetch it for you when you had her this parchment.”

Twilight took the parchment and asked one final question. “Is there anything else you can tell me about where I’m going?”

Celestia nodded. “It is a realm with 10 major accepted races and about 4 other acknowledged sub-races. Ponies like us don’t ‘exist’ in their world but the scroll will give you a general magical acceptance amongst their people. When you tell people that you are a ‘pony’, they will acknowledge that you are from a rarely seen race that came from a different continent. I hope that your time in the crystal mirror will allow you to remember how to live in a bi-pedal lifestyle. It is a dangerous place, and you will have to kill to defend yourself… unless you are comfortable with being robbed daily and raped weekly. The weak do not survive there. I know that you are kindhearted… but you are too kind to rule. I need you to learn the hard truth of the law of tooth and fang. I will understand if you can’t do this.”

Twilight blanched while still holding the parchment.

Raped? I’ve never even had a colt friend… how could I allow my purity to be stolen?

“I honestly don’t want to do this, Princess… but I also feel like that I have no choice. I want to help, and I admit that I’m a little soft. I expect that this will be a hard learning curve for me, but I also expect that when push comes to shove… my desire to not die or be raped will kick in and give me what I need to push through. I just have to remember to not be afraid to reduce people to ash.”

Celestia smiled widely. “That’s the spirit. Now. The library awaits you.”

* * *

Twilight entered the library with a sense of dread that she had never previously experienced. The librarian was chirper, having recognized Twilight from years of her staying at the castle.

“Good afternoon, Princess. What can I help you with today?”

Wordlessly, Twilight magicked over the parchment. The librarian looked at it and her eyes widened. With a curt nod, she walked away to fetch the requested item from a locked back portion of the library. Twilight took a moment to look around the library that she had practically lived in growing up in the castle when she wasn’t self-confined to her tower.

Gosh… I’m going to miss this place. Will I really never see it again?

She shook off those thoughts and steeled herself.

No… I will survive. I will learn the lessons I was meant to learn, and I will come back and read every book in this library!

Her promise to herself seemed to help calm her down until her thoughts were shattered by the loud thud of a wooden box placed on the counter. Twilight turned to look, and her jaw dropped.

In front of her was a beautiful rectangular dark oak box with gold hinges and a symbol that she had never seen before burned into it. The librarian opened the box to reveal a scroll that seemed to be made of ivory and gold. In a tone of whispered awe, the librarian said…

“Behold… the Elder Scroll.”

Twilight nodded and reached out to touch it. “I will return… I swear.”

With a light tap on the scroll… she was teleported to a distant land…

* * *

Twilight slowly came back to consciousness, the teleport knocking her out from the power it used. A human she had never met before spoke to her.

“Hey, you. You’re finally awake. You were trying to cross the border, right? Walked right into that Imperial ambush, same as us, and that thief over there.”

Twilight looked over at the indicted thief with a frown. She was distressed to find that her hands were tied behind her back, but she was dressed and otherwise modest, although the clothes were just worn-out rags that did little to keep out the cold as they traveled by wagon.

“Damn you Stormcloaks. Skyrim was fine until you came along. Empire was nice and lazy. If they hadn’t been looking for you, I could’ve stolen that horse and been halfway to Hammerfell. You there. You and me — we should be here. It’s these Stormcloaks the Empire wants.”

Twilight wasn’t comfortable with the so-called thief talking to her and was saved from having to reply by the first human. “We’re all brothers and sisters in binds now, thief.”

The driver of the wagon called back in a harsh tone. “Shut up back there!”

The thief looked over at a gagged man wearing what seemed to pass as a noble’s attire. “What’s wrong with him?”

The first human seemed offended at the thief’s words. “Watch your tongue! You’re speaking to Ulfric Stormcloak, the true High King!”

Twilight’s eyes were drawn to the gagged man while the thief spoke in hushed worry.

“Ulfric? The Jarl of Windhelm? You’re the leader of the rebellion. But if they captured you… Oh gods, where are they taking us?”

The first human sighed. “I don’t know where we’re going, but Sovngarde awaits.”

The thief started to panic. “No, this can’t be happening. This isn’t happening.”

The first human replied with a comforting tone and asked a question. “Hey, what village are you from, horse thief?”

The thief sounded angry. “Why do you care?”

The first man seemed to sigh, a little lost in thought himself, his tone a little melancholy. “A Nord’s last thoughts should be of home.”

The thief almost seemed to accept his fate. “Rorikstead. I’m…I’m from Rorikstead.”

An Imperial Soldier called out to his officer, “General Tullius, sir! The headsman is waiting!”

General Tullius nodded. “Good. Let’s get this over with.”

The mood in the wagon was somber with those words. Twilight’s eyes narrowed to pin picks.

I’ve been here five minutes and I’m already about to die? What! There is no way my luck is that bad… well… there have been a few times…

The thief rattled off a hasty prayer. “Shor, Mara, Dibella, Kynareth, Akatosh. Divines, please help me.”

None of the other humans could feel it, but Twilight could feel a magical response to that prayer. However… it also felt… ominous.

The first human scoffed. “Look at him, General Tullius, the Military Governor. And it looks like the Thalmor are with him. Damn elves. I bet they had something to do with this.” He continued softly. “This is Helgen. I used to be sweet on a girl from here. Wonder if Vilod is still making that mead with juniper berries mixed in. Funny…when I was a boy, Imperial walls and towers used to make me feel so safe.”

Twilight’s eyes caught onto a child and what looked like his father.

“Who are they, daddy? Where are they going?”

The father replied softly “You need to go inside, little cub.”

The child protested. “Why? I want to watch the soldiers.”

Not having any of it, the father replied sternly. “Inside the house. Now.”

The Imperial soldier driving the wagon pulled back on the reins. “Whoa.”

The panic in the thief’s voice still managed to build. “Why are they stopping?”

The first human scoffed again. “Why do you think? End of the line. Let's go. Shouldn't keep the gods waiting for us.

The thief’s panic was now fully apparent. “No! Wait! We're not rebels!”

The battle hardened first human rebuked him “Face your death with some courage, thief.”

Twilight jumped out of the wagon with the rest of the humans while the thief was still trying to talk his way out of this.

“You've got to tell them! We weren't with you! This is a mistake!”

A female officer in steel armor called out a command. “Step toward the block when we call your name. One at a time!”

The first human quietly scoffed. “Empire loves their damn lists.”

A lower ranked soldier started to read off of a scroll. “Ulfric Stormcloak. Jarl of Windhelm.”

The reverence could be heard in the first human’s voice. “It has been an honor, Jarl Ulfric!”

The soldier continued. “Ralof of Riverwood.”

Twilight looked at him. Ah. Ralof… now I know his name.

In a bored tone, the soldier continued. “Lokir of Rorikstead.”

The thief lost it. “No, I'm not a rebel! You can't do this!”

Hands tied behind his back; he never stood much chance. Even if he managed to outrun the soldiers he could very well die in the wilderness. He makes a break for it anyways.

The female captain was angry at the attempt. “Halt!”

Lokir called back breathlessly. “You're not going to kill me!”

The captain was not amused. “Archers!”

The archers drew their bows with practiced precision. Lokir was downed with one bowshot. Twilight gulped as the bile started to rise in her throat. The captain’s next words destroyed her shaky train of thought.

“Anyone else feel like running?”

The soldier frowned at Twilight. “Wait, you there. Step forward. Who are you? What… are you?”

Twilight put on her best winning smile. “My name is Twilight Sparkle… and I’m a pony from a faraway land.”

* * *

Author's Note

Okay. Vote as to if Twilight should join the Empire or the Stormcloaks.