“So,” he quipped, as he rode atop his loyal horse, Invincible, through the snowy pass, “you’re not upset about me killing you that one time?”
“Don’t be foolish,” the undead necromancer replied. He glided beside him almost serenely, if such a word could ever be applied to a lich. “The Lich King told me how our encounter would end.”
That surprised Arthas. “The Lich King knew that I would kill you?” He frowned, glancing down at the blade that stretched across his lap. It was silent now, dormant. No whispers came from it, nor did the runes pulse with power.
“Of course,” Kel’Thuzad responded, a hint of superiority in his sepulchral voice. “He chose you to be his champion long before the Scourge even began.”
Arthas’ unease deepened. No one had asked him, or even told him about his destiny. But would he have embraced it, had he known? No, he decided. He did not like being manipulated, but he knew that he had had to be tempered if he was to be a formidable weapon. He had to go step by step to his fate, otherwise he would have rejected it. He would then still be with Jaina and Uther and his father would-
“If he’s so all knowing, then how can the dreadlords control him like they do?”
“They are agents of the one who created our master: the fiery lords of the Burning Legion.”
The words sent a shiver through Arthas. Burning Legion. Two words only, but the power they promised was heady, somehow. In his lap, Frostmourne flickered.
“It is a vast demonic army that has consumed countless worlds beyond our own.”
Kel’Thuzad’s voice was almost hypnotic, and Arthas shut his eyes for a moment. Behind the closed lids, scenes played out in his mind as the lich spoke. He saw a red sky arcing over a red world. Over a ridge poured a wave of creatures. They ran like hounds, but no natural beasts were they - they had fearsome jaws crammed with teeth, and strange tentacles sprouting from their shoulders. Stones crashed to the earth, leaving trails of green fire, to come to life as animated rock that marched on their foes.
“Now, it comes to set this world to the flame. Our master was created to pave the way for its arrival. The dreadlords were sent to make sure he succeeded.”
The scene in Arthas’s mind shifted. He was looking at an ornate carved gateway. He knew it to be the Dark Portal, although he had never seen it with his own eyes. It radiated green fire, and a host of demons were clustered around it. Arthas shook his head and the vision evaporated.
“So the plague in Lordaeron, the citadels in Northrend, the slaughtering of the elves… it was all just to prepare for some huge demonic invasion?”
“Yes. In time, you will find that our entire history has been shaped by the coming conflict.”
“Namely, the Burning Legion.”
Even after everything he had been through, everything he had seen and done, a shiver went through Arthas at the sound of that name, like all those years ago. Just two words, two words that reflected an unimaginable power and evil… uttered in a world where they should have never been uttered.
“Why would you want to discuss it?” Arthas asked, despite knowing all too well why.
Celestia’s brow furrowed. “Well, you said that they were a massive army of demons that has conquered many, many worlds, ended all life on them and consumed their magic,” she pointed out; indeed, Arthas had recounted his conversation with Kel’Thuzad as well as the Third War while telling everypony about his past. “I think that would warrant a discussion.”
“Especially considering that the spellbook that helped them start their latest invasion on your world is being kept here,” Luna chimed in, her horn glowing.
With a flash, the Book of Medivh appeared right beside the younger Princess, floating in her magic. As always, the sight of the damned spellbook brought great discomfort to Arthas. He didn’t like Brann’s request to keep it hidden on Equestria for the time being, but at the same time he liked the thought of leaving it in the Everfree Abbey while he was away even less. That’s why before he and his paladins had set out on their expedition to the Dread Isle he had left it in the care of the Princesses.
He hadn’t thought about them using it as an argument in a discussion about the Legion.
Luna’s magic opened the book, rummaging through the pages. “We have skimmed through it briefly,” she continued, her gaze turning to the book before returning to Arthas, “and what was written here about demons only increased the unease we've had about the Burning Legion since you showed me your past in your dream.”
“W-wait, Princess,” Twilight spoke up, looking from Luna to Celestia with worry, “you don’t think that this Burning Legion could attack Equestria?”
“It is a possibility,” Princess Luna replied, closing the book and teleporting it away.
“And while we’re being honest,” Princess Celestia added, “my sister and I have also been concerned how you never brought this subject up yourself.”
Despite that there was no accusation in Celestia’s voice, Arthas winced. They were right, he should have spoken to them about this sooner. However, before he could say anything in his defense, another voice spoke up.
“He probably deduced how very unlikely it would be for your world to be invaded by the Burning Legion.”
Once again within such a short span of time, Arthas found himself staring at Sindragosa in surprise. The blue dragon appeared as disinterested as before, even annoyed.
Turning briefly to the Princesses, he said, “Before I explain myself, can we all listen to what Sindragosa has to say?”
“But of course,” Celestia replied. “Sindragosa, as heartlifting as that thought is, could you explain why you think it’s unlikely that the Burning Legion would invade our world?”
Sindragosa finally turned her blind gaze towards them. “Because if they were to invade this world, they would have done it a very long time ago already. It is not surprising you hadn’t realized this,” she added, then turned to Arthas, “but surely you have noticed how unusual this world is, correct?”
“Of course I have,” Arthas replied, frowning. “But what does that have to do with the Legion not attacking Equestria?”
The blue dragon sighed. She raised one paw, her claws glowing with arcane energies, and waved it. “This is Azeroth,” she said as a big glowing globe appeared before everypony. As everypony looked at it curiously, Arthas noted that this projection had only a single huge continent, the ancient Kalimdor. As if sensing that, Sindragosa added, “Or rather, Azeroth as it was back when I was alive. I’m more familiar with this state of the planet, and for the purposes of this conversation it really doesn’t matter if I show you how it appeared then or now. Regardless,” she resumed, flickering her claws again, “those are Azeroth’s ley lines.”
The projection rippled, and a series of bright blue lines stretched out from the middle of the Kalimdor, where the Well of Eternity was, throughout the entire planet. Turning and zigzagging, the ley lines run, some bigger and more explicit, some smaller and barely visible, and they crossed each other at many nexuses across Azeroth.
“The ley lines are channels of immense power that course through the planet,” Sindragosa said, forestalling anypony’s questions. “You can think of them as blood vessels, except they carry arcane magic instead of fluids. The places where they cross are called nexuses, and beings can tap into them to gather more power at those locations, cast more powerful spells, conjure portals to other planets, and many more. And now that you have a comparison of how a planet should appear, here you have your world.”
Waving her other paw, a second globe appeared beside Azeroth’s projection. Equestria, with the two continents on the opposite sides, one of which was shattered at the northern half.
“Or, more or less, I am not yet quite familiar with its geography,” Sindragosa admitted. “However, this is the point I am trying to make.”
She waved her claws again… and the entire projection of Equestria began to glow.
“So, my assumption was correct,” Arthas mused; he had also sensed that magic flew differently in this world, but as he himself didn’t dabble in arcane magic, he couldn’t be sure if his hunch was correct. “But why would Equestria be like that? What does this mean?”
“Your world, as far as I am able to tell, does not have ley lines. Instead, your planet just sort of… pulses with magic,” Sindragosa explained, briefly looking for the right word. “Radiates with it. Doesn’t make you ponies or any other magic user more powerful than you would be on Azeroth, but makes your planet easier to sense. This is why I think Equestria should have been invaded by demons a long time ago, a world pulsing with magic should be like a beacon among the Great Dark Beyond for them. But they haven’t, which means-”
“Now, hang on a minute there,” Applejack spoke up, interrupting her. “Ah might not know much ‘bout magics and whatnot, but how do ya know it’s our world that ain’t normal and not yars?”
The dragon, visibly annoyed at the interruption, turned to Arthas. “You and the previous Lich King were one being at some point; I assume you have his memories. Didn’t Draenor also have arcane ley lines coursing through it?”
“Yes, it had. Ner’zhul conducted his ritual at a nexus point of the ley lines to tap into Draenor’s power in order to open portals across the planet to different worlds,” he added, looking at everypony. “The energies he unleashed by doing so tore the very planet apart, so you can see what Sindragosa meant when she said that you can gather more power from such places. Anyway, she is right, worlds are supposed to have ley lines like Azeroth.”
“How can you even tell that Equestria doesn’t have them?” Princess Celestia asked.
“I’m a blue dragon, we are the guardians of magic on Azeroth. If my eyes still worked I could plainly see ley lines under the ground, but even without my sight I can sense them. Or rather, should be able to sense them, instead I can sense this magic pulsing everywhere I go. Now, granted,” she said, waving her claws and dispersing the two projections as the glow around her paws disappeared, “I can’t be completely certain that this is the state of your world, as I haven’t been here a long time and didn’t have an opportunity to conduct any research yet. I could do it, though, if you’d like,” Sindragosa told Celestia and Luna, “it is quite intriguing and I don’t have much to do, the matter of our rebirth aside of course.”
“We would be most grateful for any information you could provide us with regarding this interesting issue,” Celestia replied, nodding. “How would you go about conducting this research?”
Sindragosa shrugged. “You don’t have to worry, it would be the most basic of things. Placing several beacons around the world and gathering readings from them would be enough, I would be able to tell you exactly how the magic is spread around Equestria thanks to that.”
A slight furrow crossed Celestia’s brow. “We will have to return to this topic to discuss it in greater detail. For now we’d best continue the subject of the Burning Legion.”
“As you wish, Princess,” Sindragosa replied with a tiny nod of her head. “As I was saying before, the Legion hasn’t found your world despite how it emanates magic. The fact that they haven’t makes me think that they can’t. Or more precisely, that there is something preventing the demons from sensing it.”
“‘Preventing’? What could possibly prevent them from discovering Equestria?” Arthas asked, frowning in confusion.
“There is something far more obvious that is different about this world from Azeroth or any other world,” Sindragosa replied, then turning her blind gaze to others she added, “Which is something you ponies know too, considering what’s written in your astronomy books.”
Once again, arcane energies danced around her claws as she waved them, conjuring an image of Equestria. Except this time, it was smaller, and it was accompanied by projections of the sun and moon, circling around the planet.
“This world has a sun and moon rotating around it, moved by the two Princesses here,” Sindragosa said, with a tiny nod to the alicorns. “The fact that those two celestial bodies need to be magically moved aside, normally, it is the planet that rotates around the sun,” she added, waving her claws, and the projection of Azeroth, with its two moons, circling around much bigger and much further away sun. Sindragosa allowed the ponies to look at the conjured images for a few seconds (with the fillies being especially ensnared) before with a flick of her claws they dispersed. “My theory is that this circular movement of the sun and moon around Equestria somehow hides the unusual pulsing of magic from anybody who could pick it up from the Twisting Nether,” the blue dragon said, crossing her arms on her chest. Arthas frowned slightly, but before he could voice his concern Sindragosa added, “Yes, this theory is a bit of a leap, but it’s the only thing that makes sense.”
Arthas wasn’t completely sure that she was right… but she had a point about this world making no sense, and she understood magic far better than anypony in this room. “Far be it from me to argue with a blue dragon about what makes sense and what not,” he agreed respectfully (“Malygos’ case notwithstanding,” he privately remarked.). “But why would this world… be like this?”
Sindragosa frowned. “As someone who spent about a week on this world,” she began sarcastically, but then she shrugged and continued in normal voice, “between all of that and the fact that we were brought back to life in these bodies, I would risk a guess that this world, like Azeroth, had been visited by the titans, and for some reason they got really creative with it.”
“Oh, wonderful,” Arthas snorted, shaking his head. “Because when they stick to their norms, it works out so well for the planet. How many of Azeroth’s current problems are the result of titans’ mistakes or miscalculations?”
Sindragosa murmured something under her breath (which Arthas could swear sounded like: “Said a vrykul runt,”), her blind eyes rolling upwards in exasperation. Before he could comment on her remark, Princess Celestia spoke up.
“We know nothing about those titans, aside from what Arthas has told us about them,” she began calmly, with a glance at the paladin, “but based on that I would have to agree that this seems to be the most logical assumption. However, I must ask you, is there any way for us to confirm that this is indeed the case?”
Sindragosa scratched her chin thoughtfully. “Assuming that, despite this unusual creativity, the titans hadn’t differed too far from how they ordered Azeroth, there should be some titan constructs, titan-forged and titan facilities around the planet. If this Gate of Tartarus that possibly brought me and Arthas back to life is indeed some titan creation, we should be able to learn more, and maybe use it to track down some titan keepers - construct sapient beings they’d left to protect Azeroth - they would have left behind to look after Equestria, and hopefully get answers from them.”
“That was a lot of ‘assuming’, ‘shoulds’ and ‘ifs’,” Arthas commented, but before Sindragosa could retort he added, turning to Celestia and Luna, “but it does seem like the only way to discover, at the very least, why your world is so unusual.”
“That’s assuming that there are some ‘titan keepers’ on Equestria,” Luna pointed out.
“If the titans shaped your world, they would have left somebody to protect it,” Sindragosa assured her.
“I’m sure we will have our answers once Brann Bronzebeard arrives and we examine the Gate of Tartarus,” Princess Celestia chimed in before her sister could reply to the dragon. “But right now what concerns me most is still this Burning Legion. Even if we were to believe that they cannot find our world, I think they warrant further discussion.”
“Especially since this isn’t the reason Arthas hadn’t brought them up before.”
Surprised, Arthas turned to look at Twilight. The purple unicorn smirked at him.
“Come on, I know you. Even if it did cross your mind that those demons cannot find Equestria, you wouldn’t just leave it at that. You are way too paranoid to think that it would mean we’d be safe from them,” she explained, rolling her eyes.
Arthas sighed while their friends snorted in amusement. It was indeed not his reason for not discussing the Burning Legion properly with ponies before and he was about to explain it regardless. Twilight was also probably right that he wouldn’t have just been content with the thought of the Legion never being able to find Equestria.
“You are right, of course,” he began with a nod to the unicorn. “Sindragosa’s reasoning, while sound, wasn’t shared by me. I have my own reasons as to why I hadn’t approached the subject of the Burning Legion before.”
Rainbow Dash snorted. “Arthas keeping secrets, stop the presses.”
Knowing only too well that she had a point, Arthas didn’t argue. Sweeping his gaze through the ponies, he began, “Initially, I hadn’t spoken of the Burning Legion because I was in shock after being brought back to life. I was confused, and it took me a while to adjust, even with all of your and the Light’s help. The threat of worlds-destroying demon armies…probably should have been the first thing I should have told you about, ignoring the risk of sounding like a doomsayer,” he allowed himself to add humorously, making a few of his friends chuckle, “but I was of no mind to think about such matters.”
“But you eventually found your place among us,” Princess Celestia pointed out, “and some peace, I hope.”
Indeed he had. Thanks to Twilight and everypony else he had found, while maybe not exactly peace, something to anchor himself to. Something that made life not just bearable, but worth living. And then later, while being initially hesitant about training paladins and becoming the head of the order, he had gained a purpose.
Nodding to Princess Celestia in silent reply, he then frowned and resumed, “Once I had, shall we say, sufficiently recovered… I hadn’t spoken about the Burning Legion mainly for two reasons. The first being that…while I hadn’t assumed, like Sindragosa, that the Burning Legion couldn’t find your world, I had found it nearly impossible that the demons could ever start a large, open conflict with Equestria.
“To explain my train of thought,” Arthas quickly added, forestalling questions he could see both princesses, Twilight, Nymph, and few others already had, “I’ll quickly summarize the Burning Legion’s attempts to conquer Azeroth. The first time they invaded my homeworld was over ten thousand years ago, starting a conflict known as the War of the Ancients. It was during that time that Sindragosa died,” he said with a nod at the blue dragon, who could barely stop herself from snorting in annoyance.
Arthas couldn’t blame her reaction to him mentioning her death. After all, it wasn’t demons who had killed her.
“The Burning Legion had been defeated by the combined forces of the kaldorei, tauren, furbolgs, earthens, ancient Wild Gods and dragons, after a long and very destructive war,” he continued, “But even though the demon invasion was fought back, they weren’t defeated. Since they dwell within the Twisting Nether, the plane between the worlds, as well as on the various planets they have conquered, they required a portal. The defenders of Azeroth merely managed to last long enough against the Burning Legion to close the portal before the demons managed to cross in numbers that would overwhelm them. And in the aftermath of the war, the source of practically unlimited magic that the demons had used to create the portal to our world, the Well of Eternity, had been destroyed. With it gone, the Burning Legion couldn’t launch a full scale invasion on Azeroth again.”
“But, they did, didn’t they?” Applejack asked, frowning in confusion. “Ya just told us how-”
Arthas raised a hoof. “Yes, Applejack, I am getting to that. While I said that the Burning Legion couldn’t invade Azeroth again in the same manner, they had other options. As far as I am aware, after their loss in the War of the Ancients, they attempted to invade my world five more times, only succeeding during the Third War, which again ended up in their defeat. As I told you briefly when recounting my past, they created the Lich King and ordered him to engineer the Scourge in order to weaken the defenders of Azeroth and to open the path for the demons. Using the incantations within the Book of Medivh - the same one,” he added with a tilt of his head at Princess Luna,” ironically, that Brann had left for my safekeeping - Kel’Thuzad had been able to create a rift linking Azeroth to the Twisting Nether, and through it demons started to pour, including one of the leaders of the Burning Legion and several other powerful Legion commanders. However, their overall numbers were small. This is what I meant when I said that they hadn’t launched a full scale invasion, even a rift created through this spellbook could only open the path for so many demons. This is why the Legion relied on the Scourge to serve as their army.”
“Which came to bite them in the tail,” Rainbow remarked, smirking.
“Yes, it did,” Arthas retorted, not smiling; while Ner’zhul’s betrayal had indeed sealed the defeat of the Legion in the Third War, it didn’t erase the fact that they had helped to usher them to Azeroth.
“And what about those other four attempts by the Burning Legion to invade Azeroth?” Twilight asked.
“They were stopped,” Arthas answered, shrugging. “The demons constructed an artifact for the master of the Legion, the Scepter of Sargeras, that had the power to tear rifts between the worlds for a short while, to allow an avatar infused with a portion of his soul to go through them. Though he wouldn’t have his full power, he would have been able to summon more demons and lead another invasion. However, Guardian Aegwynn - the mother of Medivh - defeated this avatar.”
Arthas decided to omit the tale of how apparently that was the Legion’s dark master’s true plan. How the fallen titan’s soul - or rather, the portion of it that was inside the avatar - had leaped out of its destroyed vessel and into Aegwynn, infused itself into her womb and then possessed Medivh even before he was born.
Was that always Sargeras’ plan? To discard his own avatar to possess a human, even if it was the Guardian of Tirisfal? If indeed it was, then the Legion’s master was truly tenacious, to commit to a plan that would take a thousand years to yield results. Or maybe he decided that Aegwynn would be more useful to him alive during their fight and just improvised? Discarding even the Scepter in the process, the very weapon demons created for the purpose of starting another invasion?
Arthas knew very well just what power dwelled within that artifact. Through the memories of another, he felt as if he had held it within his own hands.
It was, along with the Book of Medivh, one of the three artifacts that Ner’zhul had used to tear Draenor apart.
“Then again, he was probably going to reclaim it anyway,” Arthas remarked in his thoughts, banishing the memories of the long, ornate scepter, crowned with a floating purple orb decorated with nathrezim wings.
“That was their first attempt at launching another invasion of Azeroth,” he resumed. “Another came a thousand years later, using people from another world. The demons corrupted the orcs of Draenor and bound them to their will, then used them to invade Azeroth, starting the First War. The plan was to weaken the various kingdoms that would oppose the Burning Legion and eventually to open the way for them. However, the orcish Horde was stopped by the Alliance in the Second War, the Legion’s plan was thwarted, and the orcs would eventually free themselves from the demon’s influence.
“Then they came up with the Scourge,” he added reluctantly. “Obviously, that plan worked and the second invasion of the Burning Legion came about, but as I’ve already mentioned they were defeated again. Another two attempts would be made about six years later.”
“Ten thousand years between their first and second invasions, and then they tried again only a few years later,” an alarming thought rose within him. “How long before they’d come up with a new plan? Assuming they aren’t already working on one…”
“The demons had somehow convinced an elven prince to ally with them when he was on Outland,” he said, choosing to not dwell on those dark thoughts. “Prince Kael’thas had attempted to use the Sunwell, the same fount of magical power of the elves that I had used to raise Kel’thuzad years before, to summon another lord of the Burning Legion to start yet another invasion. Fortunately, they were stopped by the Shattered Sun Offensive, a coalition of forces that fought against both Kael’thas and the Burning Legion on Outland. Then within the next year, Varimathras, one of the Lich King’s former jailors, who had allied with Sylvanas and the Forsaken, had staged a coup d'etat and after gaining control of the Undercity attempted to open up portals to start the next invasion, but he was stopped by the Horde as they fought to reclaim the city.”
He tried to ignore the irk or irritation about the Horde reclaiming his father’s kingdom. Arthas knew that this Horde was different from the one corrupted by demons that had fought them in the Second War, and the Forsaken who dwelled in the ruins of Lordaeron were still his people, so he thanked the Light that they had allies, whoever they were.
Didn’t make the thought of Horde’s banners flying over Lordaeron any less irritating, though.
“That Sylvanas really trusted a demon?” Serenity asked, frowning.
Arthas snorted. “I highly doubt Sylvanast trusts anybody. Least of all that she actually trusted Varimathras. But she had probably assumed that if he would indeed plan to betray her she would see it coming. Of course, this happened during the War in Northrend against me, so Sylvanas had been too occupied with the thought of killing me to notice a giant demon standing behind her with a knife.”
He wondered… at Angrathar, when the Forsaken attacked him - and the forces of Alliance and Horde - with their New Plague… on whose orders had they done it? At the time, he had been certain that Sylvanas had been behind it. Even the Scourge hadn’t known about Varimathras’ coup in Undercity, which took place at the same time, and he knew the Grand Apothecary Putress who had unleashed the plague was the demon’s ally. Later Sylvanas had claimed that Varimathras had been behind that…
… except Arthas knew Sylvanas would have stopped at nothing to kill him, and the plague that she had prepared for him had nearly done it.
Seeing no point in dwelling on that, he shook his head. “As you can see, each time the Legion tried to invade Azeroth, they were stopped.”
“So you thought that if they would try to invade Equestria,” Princess Celestia interjected, frowning thoughtfully, “we would have been able to stop them in time as well?”
Arthas nodded. “Creation of a portal for the Burning Legion to send any significant force through would take a very big amount of power. Considering this kingdom is the greatest concentration of magic in this world - and that there aren’t exactly many other nations who can even use magic - it would be easy to detect any disturbances that would alert us that somepony was attempting to open a way for the demons to invade. Even without myself and the other paladins you seemed to be able to handle occasional crises now and then,” he added with a smirk at Twilight and the rest of his friends, “so I assumed that we’d be able to stop any agents of the Burning Legion before we’d have to worry about an invasion.”
“I suppose I can’t fault you for that logic,” Princess Celestia replied before anypony else could interject; he knew Rainbow well enough to know she was about to boastfully claim that Arthas was totally right. “You do have far more knowledge on the subject of demons, not to mention experience. And it would be indeed preferable if we could prevent the Legion’s invasion in the first place. However, it still doesn’t answer the question why you hadn’t warned us about them before.”
“Because there weren’t any signs that we should worry about such things,” Arthas answered. “I’ve been in Equestria for months now, I’ve been reading your newspapers and talking with ponies. There was no strange plague, no mysterious signs in the sky, no sightings of any otherworldly creatures skulking around, nothing pointing out to the work of demons. And if somepony attempted to meddle with the fabric of reality to create a portal for demons, it would create a huge disharmony that I, Sindragosa, and I suspect you too, Your Majesties, could easily sense. So since I expected that we would have plenty of warning signs in case of a Burning Legion invasion, I chose to focus on more immediate matters.”
Princess Celestia nodded with understanding, but her frown betrayed that she wasn’t entirely convinced. “That might be so, but it’s still borderline reckless to not discuss this threat with us. Surely it would have been better if we’d also been on the lookout for any sign of demon activity.”
“He did say he had two reasons, Sister,” Princess Luna pointed out. Turning her gaze to Arthas, she added: “While his first one seemed to be dictated by logic, perhaps we’ll find the second one more illuminating?”
Arthas suppressed a sigh. He had hoped to avoid this. But he had sworn fealty to the Princesses, and those were all his friends. He couldn’t have lied to them, so he said that he had two major reasons, which was true. Still, he had hoped that the lengthy explanation of his train of thoughts behind the first reason would be satisfying enough, or that it would throw them off and they’d forget that there was another reason.
But he should have guessed Princess Luna would have remembered. Hell, she had probably figured out what the real reason was why he had kept them all in the dark about the danger they faced. She had seen his memories, after all… starting with the very first time the darkness that he wanted inhabitants of this world to be spared from had first entered his life.
Seconds passed, but he found himself unsure how to start. Arthas found himself turning his gaze away from everypony, towards the nearest window. Slowly, he rose and began to walk towards it.
“Um, Arthas?” he heard Applejack call, her voice surprised.
He didn’t reply, and ignored the murmur of confusion behind him. Instead, he focused on the sight beyond the window once he reached it.
Canterlot.
The capital of Equestria. City of talking ponies, as ridiculous as it sounded to a part of him even now. And beyond its border, further away, the barely visible outline of Ponyville. Two places filled with ponies walking around, thinking only about their daily lives, of their families and friends.
“Do you know what I think about when I look at Ponyville and Canterlot?” he finally asked in a raised voice so that everypony could hear him. He didn’t wait long for them to answer, not wanting an interruption (and half-expecting Sindragosa to offer a snide comment), “I think about Lordaeron. How it used to be. Not before me, but before the Second War.
“Everything was at peace then. People could walk around towns and villages without having to worry about things that were out of their control. Sure, there were problems, bandits, wild animal attacks, occasional forest troll incursion, but they were rare and were easily handled by the standing army. Which didn’t have much to do otherwise, as whenever there would be some disagreement with the neighboring kingdoms my father would solve them all diplomatically. Then again the only nations that would fight each other at that age were Stromgarde and Alterac,” Arthas amended, shaking his head and snorting softly. “Trollbane and Perenolde… but then, the news came.
“Stormwind has fallen.” Those were the three dreaded words Uther had said to him that day oh so long ago, words that heralded the change of everything. “King Llane was dead. The survivors sailed through the sea and landed on our shores. Anduin Lothar, the onetime Champion of Stormwind, the mage Khadgar of Dalaran and Prince Varian were traveling to the Capital City bearing news of what destroyed the mighty kingdom and threatened everybody.
“Nothing was really the same after that. Even before they reached us with the news of the Orcish Horde. Dread fell over the entire capital, everybody wondering and whispering what could have caused all of this. And then we knew. Just like that, we started preparing for war. Forges were lit and clangs sounded as they produced armors and weapons. Chapels were filled with people praying. Emissaries were sent out to gather provisions, mounts, food for mounts, carts, tents, everything an army would need. Conscription was introduced, for the first time since my great-grandfather’s rule. Rulers and emissaries from the neighboring kingdoms arrived to discuss how to combat this threat, decisions were made… and then silence. The soldiers left to gather with the rest of the army, leaving behind basically a skeletal crew to protect the Capital City. Citizens had left too, many having joined the army, blacksmiths, leatherworkers, or simple workers went with them, leaving behind almost exclusively children and the elderly. Even with the refugees of Stormwind and some Lordaeronians who fled to the capital from the surrounding villages, the city seemed empty. Everybody tried to carry on through the days, waiting for the news from the battlefront and fearing for their brothers, sisters, husbands, fathers, sons and daughters.
“You haven’t known war for two thousand years,” his voice slightly raised, he finally addressed the ponies. Without turning his head, he continued, “You had your share of trials and problems you have faced, and I know you ponies are brave and would rise up to face any challenge… but a war is something completely different. Since I came here, you have learned from me about alien worlds and various powers that were common knowledge on them, and you had to cope with that. But bringing the specter of war against the Burning Legion, not just to you but to all those ponies living their peaceful lives?” Arthas turned his head, looking at his friends with sorrow. “It might have been irresponsible or even selfish of me, but I would rather have spared your entire kingdom this fear.”
They now looked at him with understanding. He had told them before about how his homeworld seemed to be in a constant state of war, but he wondered if they ever thought about how it affected the common people, the civilians. How fear and uncertainty had been thrust upon them and how little they had to say on this matter.
After a few moments of silence, Princess Celestia stepped forward. “I am thankful that you wished to preserve the happiness of my subjects, Arthas. You are right when you point out how those trials we have faced pale in comparison to a real war. But this isn’t something that we could be protected from forever. While I dearly hope that there would never come a day when my sister and I would have to lead Equestria through war, I would much rather that our ponies were prepared to defend themselves against the demons rather than live in a fool's paradise. Your own people suffered uncertainty and fear, but they faced it bravely. Ponies, and other people of this world, would do the same if such time would come.”
Arthas sighed and nodded in what was both agreement and defeat. Celestia was right, he knew that. It would be far better for ponies to know what threats they might face in the future than for them to remain ignorant and lead happier lives. And after living among them for so long, he had a feeling that they indeed would face adversities bravely, even such as the ones that seem intent on plaguing his homeworld.
“Now then,” Princess Celestia added in a briskier tone, “I assume that you don’t have optimistic views on our chances if the Burning Legion would invade Equestria directly?”
“Forgive me, Princess, but no,” Arthas retorted, turning fully around. “I won’t claim to be awfully familiar with your military prowess, but if the Legion were to invade you… it’s not even the matter of experience, your army is in dire need of reorganization if you’d want it to be on par with Azerothian’s armies, let alone combat the armies of demons.” This Arthas could discuss. Military strategies. Increasing ponies safety by improving their defenses, not just traumatizing them by the tales of war and the Burning Legion. “Of course, if you’d begin improving your military, other kingdoms would grow uneasy, as Griffonia had recently once the Order of the Celestial Light had been formed. That being said, the Burning Legion would want to conquer the entire world, so this would affect them too, obviously.”
“Then perhaps this would be the time to reveal to our neighbors how we’ve recently started making contacts with people from another world,” Princess Luna chimed in. “With griffons coming to join the paladin order they’re bound to find out sooner or later. And with the threat of the Burning Legion… Even if Sindragosa is right and they cannot discover Equestria, we should let the other nations know about them and make plans to defend each other just in case.”
Yes, that was a good idea. The Alliance was originally born to combat the Horde. Maybe in this world a similar coalition could be made to prepare for alien threats as well?
But how to convince all those other nations that he was speaking the truth? His friends knew him, which is why they trusted him, and they had met Brann Bronzebeard, a dwarf from Azeroth. Cadance and Shining Armor would believe him, too, and it seemed that he had the trust of Queen Chrysalis as well, but what of other leaders of this world?
“Once the griffon initiates arrive I can use the Proving Grounds to make them face projections of demons, they could tell their people just how dangerous they are…” Arthas mused out loud, wondering how his initiates would fare against fellguards and fellhounds… when he realized there was something nagging him at the back of his mind, but what that was…
Demons.
Arthas turned his eyes toward Sindragosa. Before the whole discussion about the Burning Legion had started, she had said something that had deeply unsettled him, but Celestia redirected the conversation before he could question her.
“What did you mean when you said that demons cannot be killed?” he asked the blue dragon. Sindragosa, who seemed to be paying only half-attention for some time, turned her blind gaze towards him. “I’ve learned that the dreadlords seem particularly tough to completely kill, but I hadn’t heard of any other demon doing the same.”
Sindragosa crossed her arms and shrugged. “The soul of every demon is tethered to the Twisting Nether. When they are killed, they just return to it and reform there.”
His eyes widened while dread crept into his very soul. “What?” he asked numbly, which was all that he was able to muster.
“How would you even know such a thing?” he heard Twilight ask; glancing at her, Arthas realized everypony else was equally surprised, though it was clear that they hadn’t realized the full implications of this.
“Because I’m a blue dragon,” Sindragosa snorted. “When we don’t know or understand something, we observe it and study it. If that something happens to pose a threat to the world, we capture it and study it thoroughly. When the War of the Ancients began, we captured several demons of different species - fellhounds, infernals, mo’args, satyrs, ered’ruins, nathrezim, eredar, an annihilan - and examined them. We have discovered that they were all infused with large quantities of fel magic that warped their bodies and souls, tethering them to the Twisting Nether. We speculated that to completely kill a demon they’d have to be killed within the Twisting Nether or alternatively places where its chaotic energies have leaked into. And as for the nathrezim - the drealords - surviving their deaths on Azeroth and returning,” she added, turning to Arthas, “there was something… unique about them, compared to the other demons we’ve studied. When we’d strip their beings down to their basic elements, we’ve discovered that the demons were either composed solely of the energies of the Twisting Nether - meaning they came to be within it - or that they had traces of elements that pointed out to them to originally being mortal, living beings like us who were infused with fel magic and turned into demons, like Azeroth’s own satyrs. But the nathrezim… we were never really able to discern what their structure was composed of. Of course, we were forced to halt our research once- once we had to join the war,” Sindragosa half-stammered, for a brief moment intending to say something else. Clearing her throat, she finished, “I suspect that might have something to do with how they seem to be able to make their souls linger on the world they had died and possess corpses.”
Arthas didn’t really care about that, or that Sindragosa seemed really reluctant to talk about what had happened to blue dragons during the War of the Ancients. His mind was still reeling at this newest, dreadful revelation.
Beside him, Celestia turned a worried gaze to him. “What does that mean?”
Arthas swallowed. “It means…”
It meant the Burning Legion isn’t just a huge, extremely big army, composed of very powerful creatures bent on destroying all life. It meant that they couldn’t be simply bled out before closing their portals on Azeroth, Equestria, or any other world they’d invade. It meant that all of those commanders of the Burning Legion who were destroyed during the Third War - Archimonde, Tichondrius, Mannoroth - were alive and would one day attack again.
It meant that their armies were infinite.
It meant that they would never stop.
It meant… that there was no hope…
“No,” a soft but firm voice spoke in his head. “There is always hope.”
His conviction reaffirmed, Arthas fought back against his fear. Sindragosa’s revelation might have made the Burning Legion seem invincible, but they had always seemed as such, and yet Azeroth had defeated them twice already. As long as they’d cling to hope and not give in to despair, they’ll always find a way to beat them.
“It means,” he finally said out loud, “that I’ll need Spike to send a letter.”
“Huh?” the dragon asked, blinking. “A letter to who?”
“To Brann Bronzebeard. I need to write to him to hasten his visit to Equestria. He needs to hear what Sindragosa said and inform Azeroth about it.” Even as he said those words, Arthas started to realize that just informing people of Azeroth about demons’ immortality wouldn’t solve much, and even that alone wouldn’t be easy to do. In his mind he began to work on what else could be done while continuing to explain, “Nobody in Azeroth knows that all the demons they defeated during the Third War will be back one day…”
“But, wait,” he heard Nymph interrupt him. “What about the other blue dragons? Sindragosa said ‘we’ when talking about how they examined demons-”
“They all died,” Arthas cut in, in a voice that bordered on curtly. He didn’t have time to dance around the subject to spare Sindragosa’s feelings. He just had an idea. “With your permission, Your Majesties,” he began, turning to Celestia and Luna, “I would also like to ask Brann in the letter to bring along another, if it would turn out to be possible.”
“Another?” Celestia repeated, intrigued.
“Brann is respected among the people of Azeroth, but his voice wouldn’t reach everybody. In order for the information to reach the leaders of the world quicker and more efficiently, we’d need somepony with even more connections and diplomatic experience. Furthermore, considering that the threat of the Burning Legion is even bigger than I had previously imagined, it would be better for Equestria to gather more information about demons than I could provide on my own. Also, since it’s a threat that affects both our worlds, it wouldn’t hurt to start making long-term strategies involving both Equestria and Azeroth. What better way would it be than to have somepony capable of all that coming to this world?”
Princess Celestia nodded thoughtfully. “You seem to have somepony specific in mind,” she noted.
“Yes, Princess-” he began… only to pause.
That name came almost immediately to his mind, and he had almost said it without realizing. But he stopped himself. Earlier, when he talked about his intention, he had been thinking about somebody else, somebody who was more qualified for the task he had in mind. And yet when he was about to name him, he almost said her name.
Did he stop himself because he was thinking logically, or because his emotions got involved? After all, while his initial pick was more qualified, she would also excel in spreading the word, sharing knowledge with ponies and helping strategise.
Except… Arthas really didn’t feel he could face her again.
Shaking his head briefly, he made his choice. “Archmage Khadgar.”
Great chapter and well done installing fear when talking about the Burning Legion because, if you plan on it that is, Equestria will need to be ready when the Legion returns to Azeroth for possibly the last time.
You know, I can't help but wonder what happened to those worlds that the Legion has already consumed. Are they just cold, barren rocks drifting through space? Or has a new paradigm of life started on them after the demons were done with them?
Also, I always thought it was very unlikely that every single demon in the Legion wants to extinguish all life in the universe. As sentient beings, demons would have all sorts of reasons to fight for the Legion, such as being lured in by the promise of gaining more power, being enslaved to fight by more powerful demons, or just fighting for the thrill of violence. It would shock me if even the majority of demons in the Legion actually believed in Sargeras's cause.
Oh snap nice one dude please bring him here ok, please.
10884099
Some of them were converted into fortress worlds. Like the eredar, satyrs, and fel orcs, many who turned into demons because they wanted power and/or they were tricked into it. However, their new nature as demons seems to make them okay with the transformation. Most others just want to kill stuff, like the ones that Sargeras originally imprisoned before he himself was corrupted.
Another excellent chapter.
good chapter. glad to see more is slowly coming out.
hope you have been going well
Is this based off of another story?
10884170
Yes. Blizzard's Warcraft franchise.
Well, until this line I actually suspected the reverse; that Equestria has not been visited, while Azeroth's and Draenor's ley lines are a product of titan engineering.
That actually sounds like a terrible idea, likely to backfire in the worst way.
The Legion's greatest weakness, the one flaw which made it possible for Azeroth to turn back their invasions, is that they can't just show up out of nowhere. In order for them to even get their cloven hooves in the door, it first must be opened from the other side. Someone has to let them in.
The more beings that know about the Legion, the more likely it becomes that one of them decides that the power they offer is worth the threat they represent. For example, if Nightmare Moon had known about the demons 1000 years ago, who wants to bet she would have called some up to help her stick it to her sister?
And then the invasion would begin. That's all it takes, one lapse in judgment from someone in the know.
Which means Equestria's ignorance is actually their greatest defense right now, a defense that grows weaker with every being who learns what it is defending against.
It's a strange case of "damned if you do, damned if you don't," where trying to prepare for a disaster which might happen at some point in the future is the very thing that brings it about right now.
10884306
Ever heard about Warhammer 40k?)
Pretty much the same situation as during the Great Crusade on the topic of demons.
Ah, so the Burning Legion demons are essentially almost exactly the same as Warhammer daemons? I'm saying this as someone who's never played Warcraft, but enjoys this story anyway.
I like the little mention about the Nathrezim. Have you been playing patch 9.1?
10884306
Not entirely.
Though extremely slow, the Burning Legion *can* in fact, travel through space physically.
It may take thousands - even millions - of years, but they *will* come.
Oooooooh dis is gonna be big dis gonna be real big
10884324
I know of WH40K, however I know very little about the Great Crusade era other than that it was the absolute height of the Imperium's power, and the Big Four took that personally.
What I do know is that the Burning Legion doesn't currently know where Equestria is for whatever reason, and thus can't get their insidious claws into anyone's head to convince them to open the way. However that could change real fast if someone starts calling them in of their own accord, and you can't tell me the likes of Sombra or Tirek wouldn't have been eager to strike a deal for some of that powerful Fel magic.
10884486
Like I said, they can get everyone on board to prepare for an invasion happening eventually, but that opens the door for some idiot to make it happen immediately.
Of course, considering who else from Azeroth is currently at large in Equestria, knowledge of the Legion may end up getting out in the near future one way or another, but it's not like anypony in the room actually knows about that.
10884338
I would say they are like different kinds of cookies
Kinda thay all have flour and sugar but one has chocolate with coconut and the has other almonds... Can you say which is the best? Doesn't matter it's up to the preferences...
Damn now I want cookies.
10884654
I was referring how Big E kept almost everyone in the dark about the Warp and gods for the same reason stated here.
10884654
No yeah, I do agree with your point: but I'm sort of with Celestia on this one:
It's better for them to be prepared, for them to be *armed* than to wait and hope that in a thousand years time they'll be ready. Nobody can ever be truly ready for the Legion; but if they know what *is* coming they'll at least have a chance in hell of coming out whole.
There will be another portal situation; of course there would be, but it's already now known: In Azeroth, it was less known that it is now in Equestria.
It's not a matter of keeping it secret or revealing it - it's already more revealed than it was in Azeroth. War is coming.
Good choice in picking Khadgar, considering how he's a neutral third party when compared to the Alliance and the Horde, and that the respective leaders respect him. Also saves Arthas the emotional turmoil of having to see Jaina again... that, and if she were to see him in the form of a little pony, he'd probably die again, this time from embarrassment.
And then it was used by thousands of warlocks including at least one of gnomish descent lol
Playing WoW:Shadowlands seeing the Uther cinematic it makes me realize how much of a different direction this has taken. WoW will most likely deal with Arthas in some point in Legion (I wonder how pony Arthas would feel knowing that part of Uther that escaped his blade became evil) also would be interesting to see how the breaking of the helm would affect him. Which is why when you FINALLY leave Cataclysm and move on what will have when you catch up to Shadowlands since you have to assume that the Gate is connected the Maw and mostly only bad things come from there.
Yes!! I was hoping it would be him as advisor. Big fan.
10884654
Wait, who? Did I miss something? I'm not overly familiar with WoW, my knowledge of Azeroth outside of things that are stated in this story ends with Warcraft II.
10885279
You remember that griffon who could use Arcane magic, and was going to teach other griffons how to do so as well? The one who recruited Starlight Glimmer a few chapters back?
Pretty sure she wasn't originally a griffon.
Also pretty sure this isn't her first time infiltrating a royal court under an assumed name and face.
Not entirely sure she was actually rezzed as a griffon, as opposed to turning into one at a later point
I don't think it's actually been explicitly stated in the story itself, but a number of clues indicate that she is in fact the black dragon Onyxia, daughter of Deathwing, whose main claim to fame is infiltrating the court of Stormwind and manipulating a young Prince Anduin while his father was missing, and afterwards she was one of the first raid bosses in the game (which explains why she was open to being reincarnated in the first place)
Also, (what I assume to be)her brother Nefarian is here too, only he's a pony. Or at least looked like one in his various appearances in the story.
10885493
Thanks, I thought that griffon was important.
The plot thickens. The Griffins thought Equestria was gearing up to try and invade them. How will they react once they learn that there's a more sinister, dire threat more powerful than anything could have imagined, and nothing short of a complete alliance will save them all from annihilation.
10885062
Pegasi, griffons, dragons, and all other creatures that can fly should be VERY Careful when flying above Khadgar. Believe me, I played Warlords Of Draenor pre-patch 😅🤣
Borsuq, ive read since chapter… like 20-30. And im hinestly glad your determined to see this through, even if perhaps you’re not an abide fan of mlp anymore (like i am) theres so many authors’ stories ive read and loved that are just whispers to the wind now since they dissapeared. Im committed to stay till the end here
And there we have "griffins"...
TURN ON THE FANFARES!
10884302
Crystal Ponies. When I'm thinking about MLP\Warcraft crossover I always thinking about them. An artifact which affects all Equestria (and probably the world) that can be dangerous in wrong
handshooves? Living creatures made of solid materials (sorta)? Easy to explain using Titans.10884338
Pretty close, I think.
10884096
Thanks^^ Glad that you enjoyed the chapter^^
😈
10884099
Some, as shown in the novel Illidan, become cold, barren wastelands. More often though it would seem that the Legion would leave some force behind, if not make the world a proper stronghold. Each world can serve as a point for transporting their forces; the reason why the Burning Legion was so interested in the Outland was because, thanks to Ner'zhul, there were a lot of portals to many different worlds, becoming a very convenient crossroads. During Legion we saw a few worlds, or rather their remnants, with the Legion's strongholds, with the Warlock Order Hall actually being on such a remnant (Dreadscar Rift) that we take from the demons. Some of them seem to be sort of personal property of Legion's various commanders, even, like in real world's past counties and castle were, with the Dreadscar Rift belonging to the dreadlord Mephistroth.
That actually was adressed in the Legion, where the shivarra allied with the demon hunters says that she never understood Sargeras' obsession with ending all life. In Mists, during the Warlock only questline, it was revealed that Illidan was able to cure many demons from their fel addiction, apparently breaking them free from the Legion's control and gaining their loyalty. So it would seem that indeed not all demons want to end ALL of life, but it's Sargeras' goal. However, at the same time, many demons seem to worship Sargeras and are bordeline fanatics, so they probably honestly want to see everything burn.
10884107
Glad to see the enthusiasm towards this idea^^
10884113
Exactly
10884118
Thank you^^
10884121
Glad to hear you enjoyed the chapter^^
For the most part, yeah. Had some work troubles and I think I have some health issue (I'm a bit of a hypochondriac so it might be nothing), but overall everything is fine, thanks^^
10884170
As Fireeaters had already replied, yeah, this is a crossover with Warcraft universe, from the games Warcraft, Warcraft 2, Warcraft 3 and World of Warcraft, as well as from several novels in between all those games.
10884302
Actually, while Draenor was "visited" by A titan, it wasn't ordered like Azeroth or any other world. Aggramar had basically infused a mountain with a bit of his power, then shaped it, and made it fight nature, then when it got beaten and shattered he then gathered the pieces and made an army of smaller mountains and told them to continue (which is why the "descendants" of those smaller mountains, orcs, freaking chop every tree they can get their hands on), then left. I don't think his actions had resulted in the formation of the lay lines (I mean, logically it shouldn't, so unless this was mentioned in the Chronicles book and I forgot this would be the case), meaning that all the worlds should naturally have lay lines.
10884306
Arthas has in general a better opinion of denizens of Equestria's world than his own, for obvious, multi-expansion spanning reasons. But yes, it is a fair point.
As Orean pointed out though, the Legion can also travel physically through the Gread Dark Beyond, with Sargeras, in the end, being fed up and just walking towards Azeroth, finally reaching it at the end of the Legion expansion.
Well that's actually not the best example you could have made. I have been hinting that the Nightmare Moon might have had some Void connections, and the Void and the Burning Legion are natural enemies, so it would be unlikely she would have turned to them for extra power. Then again, the Void and the Legion have a long history of using one another (and with Shadowlands it might turn out that we'd add Death into this equation), so who knows
Lastly, at the end of the chapter Arthas realizes that eventually the Legion WILL invade. Because even if Sindragosa is right and this world cannot be detected, if they erase all life in the universe aside from Equestria they'd be bound to notice that there is one more planet with magic. And they would, if their armies are truly infinite.
10884324
Huh. Never really got into that franchise myself, actually.
10884338
As said above I never got into Warhammer franchise, so I'll have to defer to the other commentators' expertise.
10884358
Actually I was, after my recent blog post I went into retail to finish some things and complete a covenant campaign on my alt, and got back into it^^ But then the new raid's cinematic came about, and I saw that the writing has reached the level oof Star Wars' sequels, Game of Thrones season 8, and Chibnall's Doctor Who, so I stopped
In any case, though, while I am not sure how much stuff from Shadowlands I'll keep canon (that part about Sylvanas' soul goes right down the crapper), I decided to at least make a reference to the Nathrezim bit.
10884486
Yep, and then we end up with titans hamping a planet
10884496
10884654
Again, no idea about all that Warhammer stuff
Sombra was also hinted to have Void connections in this story :p But yeah, Tirek probably would happily join the Legion, good thing he's dead already here
10884674
... I'm gonna assume that the whole thing is a Warhammer reference
10884701
10884756
Yeah, Khadgar is a neutral party, plus he was in charge of mages in the Alliance army during the Second War and helped both Lothar and Turalyon with their strategies so he knows how to organize armies, especially their mages, which would be very useful for the kingdom where 1/3 of pupulation can use magic. Also he knows a LOT about demons from his long stay in Outland and from the time he spend with A'dal, and about universe in general. And he's one of the two members of Kirin Tor's Council of Six that knows about Equestria (because of the whole "hide Medivh's spellbook there" plotline... which honestly I'm not sure why I came up with, actually), the other being Rhonin, who, let's say... is a rather tough diplomat to work with and would be more likely to try attack Arthas than Khadgar.
And speaking of Jaina, Arthas would kinda have bigger reason to die of embarrasment than just being a pony. Namely all the stupid stuff I wrote him into in the first part of the story
10884874
Still not sure if it was the right call to make it a destruction spec artifact, considering the main purpose of it was to open portals, but I digress. Honestly, if I HAD to change something about warlock artifacts, I would change the Skull of Man'ari to be... the Skull of OG Gul'dan! Yeah it's a trinket now (actually, around 7.2, I had a timewalking one on my warlock while one of my artifact's relics was the jawbone of the Alternate Gul'dan xD), but it could have been empowered again by demons (like they had done between finding it in Dalaran in undead campaig and then using it in the night elf campaign), and have Gul'dan whispering to us^^ Of course I did enjoy Tal'kiel's whispers, he was a fun character and I wish he had become as popular as Xal'atath, but still.
Don't be surprised if that bit about the Skull of Gul'dan pops up in like 10 years in Rebirth :p
10884888
I wouldn't say Uther became evil per say, more like confused and manipulated due to his soul being torn asunder. I would assume though that Arthas, like with a LOT of things, would blame himself for it (I mean, basically it was his fault). As for how and if the Gate is connected to the Maw, you'll just have to wait and see
10885062
Same, definitely one of the best decisions in Warlords of Draenor was to give that man the spotlight and continue it through the Legion^^
10885279
Oh wow, you should definetly give Warcraft III a try. Regardless if its' OG or the Reforged version (the latter doesn't deserve it's bad opinion, people were pissed that it wasn't AS good as promised and that Blizzard had apparently removed some multiplayer features and the original from their shop, as game on its own it's more than fine, and few missions better fit the lore of WoW now), it will give you a better understanding of the world (of Warcraft) as events in it (known as the Third War) had shaped the political landscape of WoW at start.
10885493
I can neither confirm nor deny that theory
10885869
Well she is, regardless :p
10885887
"... F***ing pony problems..."
10886994
Wait, why? I too had played that pre-patch but I don't recall any problems with flying above Khadgar
10887482
Thanks, always glad to hear from a long time reader Even though I personally do not get how people can read through the entire first part of Rebirth and continue, looking back it has so many cringy moments . I actually am still a fan of MLP, and will probably give gen 5 a look. Anyway, I do plan to finish all my stories, even though that goal keeps moving further and further away it seems
10887792
Meh, I would be more worried about Azeroth "coming", that world invites troubles just by proxy.
^^
10887810
Yeah, if I were to rewrite the whole Crystal Empire bit I would probably make the Crystal Heart to turn ponies into crystal completely, not just their coat, and all the crystal ponies would be like Magni, with them being able to switch back to flesh or something, buuuut I digress.
10896096
Lol and if Jiana jumps in. It will be like da world go boom by a shoop da woop lol I can see that if she get will of it before Brian jump back to Equestria especially if the letter that will be send happen to end up show up as Brian speaks with the mages in dalaran that is a shit storm waiting to happen rofl I mean seriously all hell could come up with a letter showing up out of no where with a unknown magic signature in a city of mages
10896096
Ok, good to know.
10896096
At the rate your WoW universe and the MLP universe are progressing it might just take 10 years to reach Legion
10896096
Funnily enough, Warcraft and Starcraft actually took a lot of "inspiration" from Warhammer and Warhammer 40k respectively. From what I recall, both of those games were originally going to be Warhammer games, but they lost the licensing rights to Games Workshop's properties, and Blizzard decided to make those games anyway, just with a few things changed around so it's legally distinct. It's especially obvious with Starcraft, which is straight up just Space Marines vs Tyranids vs Eldar.
10896096
In WoD pre-patch at some point there was a bug with Khadgar. When you flew abov him, even if you were high-high in the sky, you got dismounted and fall and die. Originaly Khadgar was supposed to dismount those player that were near him.
Hahaha, those machinimas can show you how it (more or less) looked like XD
10896096
It was fixed in 6.1 patch if I remember correctly
As a long time Hots player, I've read this line in Auriel's voice.
Changing topic slightly, are you gonna continue Project Eclipse? I really enjoyed those chapters you posted here, it would be a shame to find it dead.
And caught up after starting all the way from chapter one. :P
Sounds like we've got a "big bad" of sorts and the possible reason he's been brought over here... wonder if they'll find a way to invade that dimension or something someday...
So, I've just finished re reading this again, for I think the 4th time. As to why? I read while on break at work. Anyway, I think with each time I've re-read it, I have to say I have had 2 major thoughts. The first being, "I wonder how much longer it will take for this story to finished?" The second one, admittedly, is just the morbid curiosity as to what exactly happened to Private Pansy. Great Story, would and have recommend it for reading.
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Fair enough lol Honestly it was more jarring than anything, minus that this is a friggin awesome story so far. I read through it about a year ago, but back then I didn't have an account. Decided to come back for a read since I was struggling to find other stories to read while waiting for those on my tracking list got updated. 39 chapters down, 135 to go haha
Me sad it been so long sense dis last updated me hope it can start back up soon me like dis story a lot and it has gotten so deep and you have a lot to work with all the expansions that come after cataclysm and the true origin of the lich king crown blew my mind on where it really came from I originally though one of the old gods had it created to mess up what the titans did but it goes away deeper
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Hey, sorry it has been so long, I'm hoping to motivate myself to work on Rebirth during the next couple of days but I can't make any promises.
I'm not sure how faithfully I'd adapt all the other expansions into Rebirth, aside from not liking some things (I am seriously considering killing off Sylvanas to not have any of that bullshit; all that crap about her missing a part of her soul they came up with 2020, 19 years after her death 2002, goes straight down the crapper, she gets not a shimmer of an excuse in Rebirth for turning into a monster) I also have to consider how anything introduced by Rebirth into straight WoW storyline would affect it (for example, top of my head: if Arthas was somehow present at the trial of Garrosh, he would be cautious about him escaping as another warchief- Orgrim Doomhammer - once escaped from his father's dungeons; while we're at it fuck Augustus Celestials for allowing all that to happen just so they could teach the mortals a lesson, essentially). As for the origin of the Lich King... well, I do like strickly that part, to some extent at least. I always did find it odd how unique the Lich King was as far as the Burning Legion's plan go. Most of what they've done with the Lich King in Shadowlands straight up pisses me off otherwise.
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i am now way more eager to see the coming chapters
Well, completely forgot about this one. Only got like halfway through it seems on my previous go through, before life decided to fuck me over judging by the date of my comments. Welp, time to reread lol
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I stopped playing since Legion, kind of lost interest in the game. The beauty of this story though is you can completely ignore the other expansions or completely change the outcome. Maybe tweak the lore to fit you're story. Yeah, what Blizzard did to Arthas didn't sit well with me, could have done something different. But, maybe you could have Arthas be teleported just before he falls into the Maw or something similar. Just a thought.