Dan watched the cart through his binoculars as it passed the forts gate. It was filled with four ponies, all of them restrained by hoofcuffs. He replaced the binoculars back in his bags and slowly glided off the tree. It was located on a small hill, not far away from the fort.
As soon as he landed, a red earth pony came up to him. "Well" Big Macintosh asked. "how bad is it."
" Pretty. The cart just passed the gate." Dan's eyes darkened. "They are already preparing the block for the execution." Big Mac cursed and trotted back to the others. Dan followed close behind. He shortly glanced at his companions.
Together, they were four. Not much, considering the number of griffons garrisoned in the fort, but they were the best the Storm Cloaks could offer. There was for once, Big Macintosh, commander of the earth pony forces. Not only was he huge, but with his buck, he could easily take out two griffons at the same time. Next up was Shining Armour, commander of the unicorn division. His magic was something to fear. The only one that could actually take him on was his little sister, Twilight. The third was Spitfire, commander of the pegasus armada. Not only fast, but also incredibly skilled with her wing blades.
And last but not least, there was Dan himself, better known as Blue Bass or Ace for short. Very few knew his real name. Once a human that got transported to Skyrim, he was now the right hand of Storm Cloak's leader, prince Blueblood. But more importantly, he was the element of love and with his scimitars, he could fight off pretty much everything.
Dan snapped back to attention when Spitfire called out to him. His friends looked at him expectantly. Dan took a deep breath and spoke up.
"Alright, guys, things won't be as easy as we hoped. It seems we underestimated the griffons. We are terribly outnumbered and the cart just entered the fort." All of them cursed now. Dan let them release their frustration for a while. The Storm Cloak's leader, prince Blueblood was on that cart and they had been tracking it for days now, hoping to reach it before it was behind a fifteen feet tall wall.
After a few moments, Dan decided it was time to stop his companions. "Alright guys, that's enough now!" The authority in his voice snapped the other back to attention.
"We obviously can't just charge in. That would be suicide. We need to observe a little while longer. I'll see if I can find a way in. Meanwhile, I want you to rest. That's an order." Spitfire, Big Mac and Shining Armour silently complied and made themselves comfortable. Dan took off and flew back up to the tree.
He took out his binoculars and spied on the griffons. What he saw made him choke. They had lined up the prisoners in front of the block. Just as Dan started watching, the first head rolled. Fortunately it wasn't prince Blueblood, but now the four ponies had to act immediately. He prepared to speed back down when he saw who trotted up to the block next. It was a small unicorn, hardly more than a foal. Dan felt his rage build up. It took him less than a second to zoom back to his friends. Luckily, they were still awake.
"Get your flanks up!" the urgency in Dan's voice alarmed the others, and so they ready immediately. "The execution just started" the others gasped. "Next up's a little foal! We gotta hurry, or else..." Dan was interrupted by an ear shattering bellow, coming from above.
Four eye-pairs looked up as a huge shadow flew over them. It was huge, blanking out the sun for a moment. Then it was past the four dumbstruck ponies and flew straight towards the fort.
Dan looked at his friends. "Was that...?" he started, but didn't dare to finish his sentence. Shining Armour picked up "A dragon? Most likely."
"But I thought the only dragon still alive is spike?" Spitfire piped up.
"So did the rest of us." Mac flatly stated. They fell silent for a few moments, each if them pondering what just happened. But the roaring beast and the griffons shrill screeching made the four ponies turn towards the fort. Dan gritted his teeth.
"We need to get down there and safe prince Blueblood, before that dragon gets him. Let's go!" the others nodded. Dan and Spitfire took off, while Shining Armour and Big Mac made their way through the forest. It didn't take the two pegasi long to get to the complete chaos that was once a proud fort. The garrison tried to uphold some kind of order, but the raging dragon made that completely impossible.
Dan and Spitfire flew high up in the air to observe the chaos beneath them. There was no sign of prince Blueblood. Dan turned to his companion.
"Nothing we can do up here. Let's split up and search at the ground." Spitfire shortly nodded and flew off. Dan took the other side of the fort and started his descent. He briefly saw Shining Armour and Big Mac bursting through a wall before he entered the fiery hell. Almost every building was burning. Dan quickly galloped down the street and rounded the corner. He was greeted with ponies running towards him, griffons right behind them.
Uncontrolled rage fueled Dan as his two golden scimitars appeared in his hooves. He charged past the fleeing ponies and impaled two griffons through their chests. Incomprehension adorned their beaks as Dan slid his bladed out. He immediately dashed to his right, a big battle axe crushing down on the spot Dan had been standing just a moment ago. He flapped his wings forcefully and catapulted himself back at the griffon and beheaded him with swift slash.
There was only one griffon left, fearfully staring at Dan. He turned around to flee, but Dan knew better than to let him escape, so he charged after the griffon and killed him the same way as his former foe. Dan glanced back at the ponies he rescued. They were staring at him in awe.
Dan waved a hoof and barked "Go! Leave this place! Now!" The ponies snapped back to attention, nodded and ran off. Dan turned and continued his search. There were some other griffons Dan had to take care of, but still no sign. The dragon flew over Dan a few times, but luckily paid no attention to the pegasus. The beast was too busy with burning down the fort.
Eventually, Dan heard an ongoing battle and thus, quickened his pace until he reached a big plaza. Dan recognized it instantly. It was the same place the execution were held. In the middle of it stood a tall defense tower. Just as Dan arrived, a bunch of griffons were blasted out of the tower through the door by an soothingly familiar white magic.
Dan Sighed in relieve. At least, prince Blueblood was still alive. He was about to rush to the tower when he heard hooves behind him. He turned around to see Big Macintosh and Shining Armour galloping towards him. Dan could only hope Spitfire was alright. He nodded at his companions as they silently started running to the tower.
There were some griffons on their way, but the three Storm Cloaks quickly took care of them and it didn't take them long to reach the tower's door. Inside, they were greeted with more fighting. Several ponies were holding off griffons from reaching some mares and foals cowering in a corner. In front of them stood Blueblood, barking orders and casting spells. It was obvious the equines were losing, and already, the feathered beasts were advancing on the defenseless ponies behind Blueblood.
However, they never reached them. Upon entering the tower, Dan and his companions instantly charged at the griffons unprotected backs. When the griffons finally noticed their fault, most of them were already dead and the rest was terribly outnumbered. As soon as the last bird fell, Dan and his fellows rushed to prince Blueblood's side. He was obviously tired, but still managed a small smile.
"Ace...It is awfully good to see you and your warriors. Though I must say you are terribly late!" Dan grinned back.
"Sorry your highness, but we got a little bit...distracted on our way." Blueblood lightly chuckled.
His mirth didn't last lang however when they heard an uncomfortable familiar roar above them. The dragon was still on his rampage.
"As glad as I am to see you, we really need to get these captives and ourselves to a safer place." Dan, Big Mac and Shining Armour nodded in agreement, and thus quickly sent the ponies out of the tower. Outside, they formed up with the mares and foals surrounded by all combat ready ponies.
They didn't get far however, as there were still griffons with the will to fight lingering at the plaza. Just before they reached a street leading out of the city, the survivors were attacked from two sides. The ponies engaged, but now it was them who was outnumbered.
Soon enough, Dan found himself fighting five griffons at a time. He just finished off one of them when he saw a sword coming for his head. He tried to dodge but instantly saw that it would be too late. He closed his eyes and readied himself for the end. It never came though. Instead, a golden blur smashed into the attacking griffon.
"Take this, fucker!" Spitfire yelled. Dan was at her side in an instant. Together they quickly finished off the rest that attacked Dan. The latter turned to his savior.
"Thanks, Spitfire. I'd be head shorter without you." the other pegasus grinned. "You know, I don't actually fancy the idea of explaining to Rainbow Dash why I didn't bring you back in one piece. Buuuut, you're welcome anyway." Dan smirked and glanced at the others.
Big Mac and Shining Armour were just cleaning what was left of the griffons. Dan noticed with grief that more than half of the stallions guarding the mares and foals hadn't survived the fight. His mourning however was interrupted by a crashing sound and a tremor coming from behind. The bellow came shortly afterwards. Dan spun around, only to be greeted with an angry dragon standing in front of him. The foals screamed in panic and the guardians had a hard time with maintain the formation. Looking behind himself, Dan came to a quick decision. He flew a feet off the ground and summoned his scimitars.
"Get the ponies to safety!" He barked over his shoulder. "I'll hold this creep off as long as I can."
"Ace! That's insane!" Shining Armour yelled, but Dan shot him and his two other friends a short glare that stifled any protest. Prince Blueblood agreed with Dan. "You heard him, pull back!"
The captives didn't hesitate to turn tail. Shortly after Big Mac, Spitfire and Shining Armour followed. "We're coming back for ya!" Big Mac shouted before disappearing into the streets.
Dan turned back to the dragon. It was watching him with a hint of curiosity. Everything else he had chosen as prey this day had run away in fear. This thing however hovered in the air and challenged the dragon with its glare.
They stayed like that for a little longer before the dragon finally got annoyed by Dan's insolent stare and sent forth a torrent of flames towards the pegasus. Dan quickly dashed to the side and charged instantly. Before he could reach however, Dan had to dodge another fiery breath. And so it went on, Dan getting near the dragon only to be forced to pull away.
Then, finally Dan managed to corkscrew around the fire and cut the dragon's unprotected chest. It let out a bellow of pain, and Dan quickly bailed out, fleeing from the dragon's wild thrashing. He flew high up. The fight had lasted mere minutes, but for Dan, it felt like hours. Panting heavily, he looked down at the dragon, which was coming to its senses again. Suddenly, it hit Dan like a train. He slightly tumbled in the air from an incoming headache. His head was flooded with memories of him fighting a dragon, and in the end, somehow burning a hole through its chest.
'What the hell?! I didn't to any of that!' Dan was snapped out of his thoughts by a deafening roar, only watch in horror as again fire approached, too close to evade this time.
He didn't get time to pity himself though, as two legs were wrapped around his neck and Dan was yanked aside, away from the flames.
As soon as he had steadied himself, Dan's head whipped around, expecting Spitfire and preparing to give her a piece of his mind about not following orders. What didn't expect though was the wide grin of the pink pony, whose upper body was coming out of Dan's saddlebags.
"Really you silly" Pinkie Pie scolded merrily. "You should totally pay more attention when fighting a big mc meanie pants like that dragon over there!"
"Pinkie!!" Dan exclaimed, "What the...? How...?" Dan didn't get to finish his freaking out when Pinkie Pie smacked him on the head, making him drop a few feet and thusly evading another stream of fire as the dragon rushed past them.
"Oh come, you silly knucklehead! What did I just say?" Pinkie pouted. Dan sighed resigned and decided to deal with the crazy party pony when he was back in Windhelm. The dragon had turned around angrily and roared at Dan and Pinkie.
"Come on, there has to be a way to kill this creep!"
"Of course there is one!" Pinkie piped up happily. "Just do it like last time and burn a hole through its chest with your super awesome shining rainboom!"
"My what now?" Dan called out as he dodged yet another assault of the dragon.
"Shining Rainboom! You know, the phenomena that occurs when you become faster as sound and light and leave behind a sparkling golden beam?" Dan was about to pry further, when Pinkie looked at her left foreleg, checking an imaginary, at that time not even invented, watch.
"Oh look at the time! Sorry Ace, need to take the cupcakes out of the oven! Can't have them burnt, can I?"
"Pinkie, wait!" Dan tried to grab hold of her, but she had mysteriously vanished inside his bags. Dan's head whipped back towards the dragon. It was even more pissed off than before, but had stopped attacking Dan for the moment. That gave the latter time to ponder what Pinkie had said. As he thought about it, more detailed memories started to come back. He saw himself, accelerating beyond what Dan thought to be possible for a pegasus and finally a huge, golden ring emitting around himself.
'Well, it's worth a shot, I suppose' Dan turned around and flew up in a straight line, till he could hardly breath. As Dan turned, he noticed the dragon was ascending as well, at a much slower pace however.
'Alright, let's do this!' he crossed his scimitars and, with a powerful flap of his wings, catapulted himself towards the approaching dragon. The world became a colorful blur and soon, a white cone started to form in front of Dan. He kept going, the dragon roaring and charging as well.
The air around Dan got hotter and hotter, the cone becoming slimmer. Finally, just as the dragon breathed out a stream of fire, a deafening boom resounded and a golden ring blasted forth from Dan, the latter one trailing an isochromatic streak behind. Scimitars crossed, Dan blasted through the shocked dragon's chest. Remembering the shape he had been in last time after colliding with the ground, Dan strained to slow down. The gold faded, and though the landing was still rough, he wasn't harmed. The dragon was not so lucky though. It crashed down right behind Dan and made the earth shake.
Panting heavily, Dan took in his surroundings. He had landed outside the fort, maybe half a mile away.
"Ace!!" Dan looked up, and smiled. Spitfire was flying in towards him, the surviving ponies following close behind. Dan was about to respond, when he was suddenly enveloped by a blue light, coming from the dragon's dead body. Spitfire and the others stopped dead in their tracks as the light got brighter every second, only to suddenly fade away and leave a refreshed, but pretty confused Dan behind.
Slowly Spitfire approached him, cautiously this time.
"Ace? Are you alright?" Shining Armour asked.
Dan rubbed his temples "I guess so. Strange, but fine, I'd say." A loud and angry shriek prevented any further conversation and every pony's head spun around, only for the mares and foals to cry in fear and the stallions take a defensive stance. Dan slowly turned around. There, coming from north of the fort, was a small army of griffins, glaring daggers at the ponies.
A single griffin stepped forth with an angry scowl. "What happened here, pony scum? Did you do all of this?" He was addressing Dan, seeing as he stood in front of the others.
"And what if we did?" the pony smirked mockingly. He knew there was no way out , the griffins clearly being in superior numbers, so he could as well laugh death in the face.
The griffin snorted. "No matter, you're dying anyway. Slaughter them!" The griffins charged. Dan, Shining Armour, Bic Mac, Spitfire and Blue Blood stood their ground while the others turned tail.
"So, this is it then, huh?" Big Mac mumbled. Dan was about to encourage him, when he felt something building up inside of him. He looked at the approaching griffin. He reacted on pure instinct as he opened his mouth and let forth a powerful bellow.
"FUS RO DAH!!" A shockwave exploded from where Dan was standing, hitting the griffins like a sledgehammer and blowing them away like fallen leafs. Dan watched in amazement as the army, that was about to crush him and his companions, was completely obliterated.
It was silent for a moment. Dan stared blankly at what he had just done. Then, Dan could hear whispering from the surviving ponies. He turned around to his awestruck pals.
"Uhm" Dan shuffled uncomfortably. "Any idea what buck just happened?" he asked hopefully. Blueblood was the first to recover.
"Well Ace, I think we need to talk, but not now. We have to be a few miles away from the fort before we can set up a camp for the night." He turned around to the rescued ponies to address them.
"Get back in formation. We're heading northeast. Move!" Everyone complied instantly and moved back into position. Dan followed suit. Blueblood obviously knew something, but Dan knew he wouldn't get anything out of the prince right now. The ponies quickly marched away from the smoldering clearing that had once been a fortress, the sun already setting.
