I can still feel where the arrow lodged itself between my shoulder and wing joint. I wonder where it is that they’re taking me to?
“Where are they taking us,” asked one of the men in the cart.
“Where do you think thief,” replied a second man. “Just know that Sovengarde awaits us.”
Where did my life go so wrong?
Canterlot, One Year Earlier
I polished my chest plate again and smiled as I saw my yellow eye reflected in the lustrous purple and grey armor.
It was hard to imagine, me a royal guard. I grew up with nothing, always looked down on for what I looked like, and here I was. I had gone from being a street urchin of Canterlot to a soldier in service to Princess Luna; it was like something out of a dream. Little did I know then that it would become a nightmare.
Near Helgen, Present
I wondered sometimes if I knew what I know now that I would’ve accepted the deal I was given.
“Hey,” called the man across the cart from me. “Where are you from?”
“I’m from a place far from here called Equestria,” I replied.
“Is it full of creatures like you? I mean if it’s filled with winged horses.”
“I’m what’s called a Nocturne pony, a pegasus pony with bat wings instead of feathered ones. There are also unicorns and normal ponies there. Heard stories that there were Nocturne ponies that were unicorns and earth ponies but I never saw one.”
The man looked towards where we were going. “Tell me about it. What’s this Equestria place like?”
“We’re going to die, aren’t we?”
“I believe even you want your last thoughts to be of home.”
“Home eh?” I sighed. “I never knew much about Equestria, lived off scraps on the streets of the capital. We Nocturnes, we’re looked on with disgust by other ponies. My parents were normal pegasi, but they abandoned me on the streets after they saw what I was. I was barely more than a foal when they told me never to come home ever again. I found a cart in an alley and lived out of it for a long time. When I was a lot older I was caught stealing food from some wealthy pony’s kitchen and they dragged me off to prison.
“I was visited in there by a unicorn that told me a new order of soldiers was forming for the newly returned Princess of the Night, Princess Luna. Said I’d fit right in, but he’d understand if I’d want to rot in my cell for the next few years.”
“So, you took the offer right,” asked the thief.
“Yeah, I mean it had to be better than returning to my crate after a few years in jail. I was scrubbed down, looked over, and given a bunk in a barracks. Would be six months of drills before I was even allowed to even practice with a weapon and even then, it was some rusty lance that was barely held together.”
“What about armor,” asked the other man. “Surely you learned how to defend yourself in armor?”
I chuckled. “Yeah, my armor was better than that lousy lance though. New, spiffy armor to compliment the appearance of Princess Luna, who I swore fealty to after a few months of weapons training. I was put on sentry duty one night, to patrol the outer castle wall, and I saw the alley I lived in. My joke of a home was gone, but it didn’t matter, I had a new home. I didn’t have to fight other ponies on the streets for scraps of food, three warm meals a day, and a mare I was sweet on.”
“If you had all of that, then what brought you to Skyrim?”
My heart sunk. “You might say it’s stupid but it was destiny I guess.”
“And now you’re going to die here,” the thief scoffed, “some destiny.”
“I didn’t have much of a choice. I was approached by Princess Luna one night; she said the stars revealed to her what my destiny was. She would provide me with a way there, but I would have to find my own way back.”
I glanced over to the man beside me. He had such fine clothes compared to the armor of the man adjacent to me and the rags the thief was wearing. “Tell me, who is this guy?”
“That’s Ulfric Stormcloak,” said the man across from me fiercely, “he’s the true High King of Skyrim!”
Ulfric stared at the man but then turned away. I caught a glimpse of a gag wrapped around his mouth as he moved his head.
“I’m sorry, I know you’re a long way from home and you probably don’t know a lot about what’s going on.”
“If you don’t mind, could you tell me why his mouth is gagged?”
“He shouted at the former High King using the Thu’um, the Voice. It’s a strange power, a gift of the gods, but some men can learn it with enough practice and discipline. Ulfric challenged High King Torygg and bested him in fair combat.”
“Well, mind if I ask another question?”
“Sure.”
“What’s your name?”
“Ralof, come from a little hamlet nearby called Riverwood.”
“Will you both shut up back there,” harped the driver of the carriage. Ralof and I glanced from the driver then back to each other.
“If you don’t mind me asking,” said the thief, “what’s your name Nocturne Pony?”
“My name is Duskshine.”
“I thought I told you to shut up back there,” harped the driver.
“What do you expect us to do sit here and wait to die,” I replied smugly. “It’s not like I can fly with my wing injury or gallop off with my forelegs chained together, may as well let us talk while you cart us off to die.”
“It won’t be long anyways,” added Ralof. “There’s no way they’ll risk taking us to the capital in Cyrodil so they’ll probably just execute us in Helgen.” He glanced ahead, my eyes quickly following his to see the tall stone walls of a nearby town.
“If there ever was a time that I wish I could heal in a flash, it would definitely be now.”
“But you’d have to contend with the archers at this point, they’d pick you out of the sky without much trouble.”
“I guess, not really acrobatic up there anyways. Celestia’s mane, I never even learned how to work clouds and weather.”
