Daal Do Fin Dovahkiin

The creature that had just saved them from the changelings was now lying unconscious before them. Twilight’s overly-orderly mind did several things very well. Making check lists, hyper analyzing, and reading were some of those things. Right now, she was hyper analyzing.

Subject has lost consciousness after displaying phenomenal magical powers. Seemingly capable of speech, intelligent based on clothing and use of weaponry. Note to self: stop referring to things as ‘subject’ when no experiment is being conducted. It’s rude.

“Shouldn’t we, um, help him?” said Fluttershy, surprisingly speaking first.

“Uh, I agree with Fluttershy.” said Applejack after a moment’s hesitation. “Wait, how’d y’all know it’s a ‘he’?” she asked.

“Oh, um, it sounded like a male?” probed Fluttershy, as though afraid of being yelled at.

“I agree with Fluttershy.” Stated Princess Celestia, beginning to walk towards the downed creature. She stopped as a groan was heard. They thought he was waking up for a moment, until they saw Pinkie poking him with a stick.

“Pin-kie!” the remaining Elements of Harmony cried as one. She grinned sheepishly at them.

“Sorry, just felt compelled.” Was her excuse as she bounced over to them. The princess continued walking, stopping beside the creature. The rest of the girls followed behind her.

“So what’re we gonna do with it?” asked Rainbow Dash as she hovered overhead.

“Maybe we should take him to a hospital?” suggested Fluttershy. Before any of the ponies could respond, a new voice interrupted them.

“I don’t believe that will be necessary miss.” They all jerked in surprise, before turning to the seemingly unconscious creature.

“Um, are you awake?” the timid Pegasus’ question was directed at the body before them. It was difficult to tell if he was or not, seeing as he hadn’t moved at all.

“Yes. Though I suppose that I’ve been in better shape.” he said, finally beginning to push himself up. The ponies backed away as he got into a sitting position. He held a hand to his masked head and shook it a bit, before looking up. He sat there seemingly staring at them for a few moments.

“Huh. Multicolored, talking, equines. Strange, though I’m pretty sure that night of drinking with Sanguine still takes the cake for unusual situations.” He said to himself. He moved his hand to the top of his head, and pulled, the mask sliding off easily. For the first time they saw his actual face. Brown eyes, straight and short brown hair, and a small scar on his right eyebrow. Altogether mundane by the standards of humans.

“Now if you don’t mind, I have a few questions. And judging by the stares that you all are giving me, I’d wager that you have some as well. So, let’s swap questions.” He said, smiling at them like it was the most ordinary thing ever.

“What are you?” asked Twilight, her curiosity taking control.

“Species is human. Subspecies is Breton. We are the most magically adept of the human races and skilled inherently in politics and negotiations.” He answered, as though reading from a textbook.

“Now, where am I?” he asked back.

“You are in Equestria, ruled by myself and my sister.” The princess answered.

“Ah, a pleasure to meet you your highness.” He said, performing a sort of sitting bow.

“What’s yer name partner?” asked Applejack.

He had to think for a moment before speaking. “Magnus Mirith, named after the god of magic. Strange, I had a bit of trouble remembering that…” he trailed off thoughtfully.

“Do any of you know how I got here?” he asked them once he had come back to himself.

“I’m afraid not. We found you entombed inside some form of blue stone in the cairn. Well, we thought it was a cairn, but seeing it retract like that…” Twilight trailed off herself, also in thought.

“Cairn? Well, let’s take a look at this.” He said, standing. They stepped back again, as he was the same height as Princess Celestia. He strode quickly over to the marker stone and bent to read it. “Hmmm…”

“What language is it?” Twilight asked, deciding the question for them.

“The tongue of the dov. The dragons.” He answered.

“Well I’m a dragon and it looks like gibberish to me.” Said Spike, coming out from his place behind Fluttershy for the first time since the changelings arrived. Magnus turned to look at him.

“Small stature, bipedal, lack of sharp spines, arms rather than wings. You may be a dragon, but of a different kind than the ones I know.” He said, turning back to the stone.

“Judging by the work site, I’d say you were excavating this. Which would mean that I’ve been inside for a long time… There’s no way… but I have to check.” He stopped and closed his eyes. As they watched he was surrounded by an electric blue glow. Suddenly his eyes snapped open and he collapsed against the stone. They took a few steps forward, prepared to help him.

“H-how long has this been here.” He asked them in a shaky tone.

“Our tests show it’s been around for about six thousand years.” Answered the princess.

“Six thousand…” he muttered. “I’ve been in there for six thousand years. No wonder the world’s changed so much.”

“Um, Magnus, what’re you talking about?” asked Twilight.

“This place, Equestria, it used to be the province of Skyrim. The magicka flow is identical to Tamriel. I’ve been in that cairn for six thousand years. But how am I alive? Is there anything left of that blue stone I was in?” he asked, a strange light now in his eyes. A light that they had seen in Twilight all too often. The burning desire to learn.

“Yes it’s right over-“ before she could finish, he had rushed past Twilight to the remains of the stone.

“Yes.” He said. “That makes sense. It’s stalhrim. Enchanted Ice. It has many magical properties and only a few are actually known. It makes sense that I could have been in a type of hibernative state all along. But when did it happen? I don’t remember anything after the beginning of the attack on the Aldmeri Dominion…”