//------------------------------//
// 152. Spreading their Wings 
// Story: Rebirth of the Damned 
// by Borsuq 
//------------------------------//

Having recovered with Fluttershy’s aid, Arthas rose carefully from the ground, wincing. The wound might have been healed, but the body could still “remember” it. After his battle with King Sombra, it took him several days to make a full recovery from all the injuries he had taken. Now, after having a giant blade - one that, in the past, cut his chest open, leaving a mark so permanent that it even carried on to this new body he had, and grazed his heart - pierce through his chest, it ached slightly as he drew breath, and as blood came up his throat he realized that there was still more of it in his lungs.
“It will take me some time to get back to full strength after such an injury,” Arthas thought as he stood up. “Hopefully I will be fine by the time we get to Dread Isle… assuming, of course,” he added, casting the val’kyr a glance, “that fate doesn’t have anything else in store for me…”
He really hoped that whatever the reason behind their presence in Equestria was, this situation wasn’t about to devolve into a fight. Whatever his opinion of what he knew about the Titan Keeper Odyn whom they served and his actions was, those two were without a doubt ascendet warriors of the Light. Arthas had no wish to fight beings like those.
Also, in his condition it would be a tough fight, even if he wasn’t already exhausted after battling the image of Illidan.
“Are you alright?” Fluttershy asked him, taking his attention away from the val’kyr for a moment.
Turning to her, Arthas once again took notice of her reddened eyes and tear marks on her fur. “I must have really worried her,” he thought, immediately feeling even worse than he already had about getting so wounded by an image of Illidan.
“Thanks to you, Fluttershy,” he said, smiling. “Thank you for healing me.”
“Oh, it was nothing,” Fluttershy replied, slightly blushing. She brushed her eyes with her hoof and continued: “I’m just relieved that… I-I mean, that wound looked…” she trailed off, looking down on the ground and not meeting his gaze.
Arthas stopped smiling. “I know, but you saved me,” he told her, truly meaning it. In the state he had been in, he wouldn’t have been able to pray to the Light for healing. He had come close to passing out before Fluttershy began to treat him. “Don’t think too much about what could have been, Fluttershy.”
The shy pegasus looked up at him, his words calming her down a bit. Arthas would have preferred to stay and make sure she was fine, and then ask her about where she had learned druidism, but the silent presence of the val’kyr had became continuously unnerving to everypony.
Arthas turned to the two undead vrykul females and began to trot towards them, pausing only briefly by Al’ar. Stay close to her, he told him mentally, glancing meaningly at Fluttershy. The Phoenix God probably didn’t need such reminder, but he nodded his head ever so slightly and gazed at the val’kyr.
“Stand down, lieutenants,” Arthas told Tempest and Nightcrawler as he passed them. “Those two aren’t enemies of Equestria.”
“But might be mine,” he added in his thoughts.
As if picking up on his misgivings, Tempest commented: “Curious choice of words, Sir.”
Ignoring her, Arthas continued to walk until he stood before the towering val’kyr. As he trotted towards them, he took a quick glance at Doctor Thaumaturgical. The unicorn was still besides his invention, and, as one might expect, was currently more focused on the two unknown creatures instead of figuring out why the Proving Grounds had malfunctioned.
The val’kyr’s heads were turned to Arthas. They were standing still, seemingly unmoved by their surroundings. Which, seeing how they were on an entirely different world and surrounded by colorful talking ponies, was rather unexpected. However, Arthas did pick up on some… nervousness, emanating from them. Nervousness that he suspected had nothing to do with being on Equestria.
“They are, after all, focusing all their attention on me,” Arthas thought. Taking a brief glance at their weapons before speaking, shield and sword wielded by the val’kyr on the right, spear by the one on the left. “Then again, unlike most beings who would recognize me, they hadn’t raised their weapons at me… yet.” Sighing inwardly, he added: “I hope they aren’t as ‘fanatical’ as Annhylde and others made their former sisters be.”
“Honorable val’kyr,” Arthas addressed them finally, bowing his head slightly in respect, “you have come a long way from the Halls of Valor. Regardless of the reason for it, I offer you my gratitude for saving my friend.”
He took some satisfaction in seeing the two females exchange looks briefly. Whether they were surprised by his manners or by his knowledge of the Halls of Valor, it remained to be seen.
“It was not by our choice that we saved her,” the val’kyr on the left spoke. She had a strong, loud voice, as it was typical of the vrykul female she had been in life. “My sister and I were pulled out from the Shadowlands to the land of the living by your plea to do so.”
“We would have thought it impossible for a mortal to force a val’kyr to do her bidding… had the mortal not been you, Arthas Menethil,” her sister added, her voice nearly identical.
Not surprised that they knew him, Arthas shrugged. “I assure you, holy maidens, it was not my intention to force you into anything. My solely concern was my friend’s well being. I had intended to summon a benevolent spirit to her aid; I do not understand why you were called instead.”
“Um…” another voice spoke up before the val’kyr could reply. Everybody turned at once to Doctor Thaumaturgical, who was the one to utter that sound. “I… think I can explain it, Sir,” the unicorn said, slightly put off by the attention he received, especially from the two sisters. “Um, the thing is, I believe it was caused by the Examining Band. It might have detected your mental plea for help, and magnified it using the power of the Nadire Crystal - which explains why it ran out of power right afterwards - resulting in pulling those, um, lovely ladies from whatever those ‘Shadowlands’ are.”
Arthas frowned as he looked down on the hoof where he wore the band. “Now that you mention it, I did feel it burn a moment before the val’kyr appeared.”
“Yes, as I suspected. The Examining Band was probably also responsible for the Proving Grounds’ malfunction,” the unicorn added, nodding. “It must have somehow scanned your memories for the toughest opponent you had faced and caused the Proving Grounds to conjure the image of… that creature. And the alteration in turn also caused it to stop responding to the subject’s, meaning yours Sir, vitals, and made it unable to dispel the image. I’m deeply sorry about it, Sir, I promise I will fix this issue.”
“See that you do, Doctor,” Arthas told him; seeing how one of his best friends could have been harmed and he himself came close to dying, he didn’t bother with being polite. “I do not want my initiates to get themselves killed while fighting fake enemies.”
Of course, he wouldn’t want his initiates to die at all, but he didn’t want the val’kyr - who, as their task was bringing the souls of worthy vrykul warriors to the Halls of Valor, might appreciate honourable death more than life - to look down on him because of that. Aside from the literal sense.
“I apologise for the inconvenience you experienced, maidens,” Arthas told the val’kyr, turning once again to them. “However, if you wouldn’t mind, may I ask: why were you here?” He frowned as he continued. “There’s no way my plea, even if magnified by this contraption, could drag you all this way through Shadowlands from Azeroth. What were you doing on this world?”
Feeling the val’kyr glare at him from behind their helmets, Arthas was also aware that everypony else here must be giving him really confused looks. He would worry about them later, though. Right now determining the reason behind the presence of val’kyr on the world of Equestria was more important.
Unexpectedly, both maidens sheathed their weapon before their replied. “You speak as though you have the right to ask such questions, Arthas Menethil,” the val’kyr on his left replied coldly, crossing her arms on her chest.
“I swore an oath before the Princesses that rule this land, val’kyr,” Arthas countered in an equally cold tone. “If your presence here poses a threat to their subjects, then as their servant, as well as a paladin of the Holy Light, it will be my duty to send you away.”
The spear-wielding val’kyr grimaced under her helmet, and opened her mouth to reply in probably glowering manner, but her sister spoke first. “We did not come all this way to cause troubles for the denizens of this world, Arthas Menethil. You have our word on that.”
“I’m relieved to hear that. Could you tell me why did you come here then?”
The sword-and-shield-wielding val’kyr glanced briefly at her sister, who, while still dismayed, nodded. “In the month following the fall of the Lich King, Odyn had foreseen you returning to life, in this body and on this world,” she told Arthas, utterly surprising him. He had figured that they were here because of him, but not that the Titan Keeper they served actually knew he would be resurrected before it had happened. “He had sent us to locate your soul in the darkest, deepest depths of the Shadowlands and wait. When the Light pulled your soul away, we followed.”
“Wait,” Arthas interrupted her, his eyes wide. “Are you saying that you know who or what was responsible for my resurrection?”
But to his disappointment, both val’kyr shook their heads. “By the time we caught up with you, you were already in your new body, waking up in that forest,” the val’kyr replied.
“Figures it wouldn’t be this easy,” Arthas sighed.
“Odyn was also displeased that we weren’t able to find this out,” the spear-wielding val’kyr said. “Or how exactly they’d done it, either. That is why he had sent us back here, to observe you and see if you lead us to the answers we want.”
Arthas found himself frowning again at the two towering females. “So you’ve been here this whole time? Spying on me? Let me ask you this, then,” he added as before the other val’kyr could reply, “what were you to do if I had died? During this fight, or my fight with King Sombra or Queen Chrysalis?”
While the spear-wielding val’kyr seemed unmoved by his question, her sister appeared to be slightly uncomfortable as she gave him the answer he had expected. “We were ordered to retrieve your soul and bring you before Odyn if such thing were to happen.”
“You should feel honored,” the other val’kyr said before Arthas could reply. “To think somebody like you would be permitted into the Halls of Valor, even if for a short time only, is unthinkable.”
“I assure you, my dismay stems mostly out of worry for what would happen to my friends and ponies who I swore to protect from the hands of somebody able to kill me, all while you two would be performing your duties,” Arthas told her coldly. Ignoring the angry, thin line that her mouth had become, he turned to the sword-and-shield-wielding val’kyr. “If you had been observing me from the Shadowlands all this time, then you know the Princesses theorized I’ve been revived by something called ‘the Gate of Tartarus’. Why didn't you find it and…” he trailed off, the realization hitting him. “You’ve bound yourselves to my soul, didn’t you?”
“It was the only way to follow a soul travelling between such distant worlds, even though the Shadowlands,” the val’kyr confirmed his guess, causing him to facehoof and groan. “We can still go back to the Halls of Valor for a short time, but other than that we cannot leave your vicinity.”
“The irony is killing me…” Arthas muttered as he listened to the val’kyr’s explanation.
He didn’t know what was worse: knowing that this whole time he had two powerful val’kyr bound to him and he, the former Lich King, didn’t realize (admittedly, with his soul having been so torn and his distaste for using any abilities reminiscent of his time as the Lich King, it was understandable how he hadn’t noticed them lurking around him from the Shadowlands); how they could have helped with many battles he had faced in Equestria; that despite no longer being the Lich King he still had val’kyr bound to him; or that now there was something he and Sylvanas had in common.
Arthas should be angry. He was angry. Not only did those two do nothing but observe him for all those months, but also were basically waiting for him to die so they could drag him before Odyn to do Light knows what to him. And on top of that, that meant that for the past few months he had no privacy, even if he were to disregard Bolvar and Ner’zhul, who admittedly paid no attention to what he was doing during more private times.
“Which also means that they were the only two living beings that know about me and Twilight, probably. Well, not living,” he corrected himself, inwardly rolling his eyes. “Still, Twilight will start to panic when she learns about this. Which will be so…” he paused, trying to think of a good way to describe Twilight’s panic attacks. ‘Unnerving’ and ‘potentially dangerous’ came to mind. So did ‘somewhat amusing’, too. Finally he settled for a sarcastic: “... fun.”
He took a deep, calming breath before he addressed the two val’kyr. “Now that I know about this bond, it would be fairly easy to break it, releasing you,” he told them.
It was true. After having bound so many val’kyr - not to mention various other undead - to his will, Arthas had no doubt he would be able to break the bond, something that was impossible to do the other way around.
“But I am not going to do that just yet,” Arthas added. He could practically see both val’kyr frowning in confusion as he continued: “Whether you had done this willingly or not, the fact is that you had saved my friend’s life. In return, I will help you fulfill the mission given to you by Odyn.”
They had saved Fluttershy’s life, so he couldn’t be angry. Which they wouldn’t have been able to do if Odyn hadn’t send them after his soul. And as he calmed himself, he had to admit that considering who he had been and what had happened to him, the Titan Keeper had good reasons for keeping an eye on him. Arthas had also realized that he couldn’t really expect the val’kyr to do anything but observe him. For millennia, their duty had been to gather the souls of worthy vrykul and bring them to the Halls of Valor; not to interfere in any manner.
“Of course,” Arthas added in his thoughts, “if they would find themselves bound to somebody, that could change…”
Standing a bit straighter, he addressed the two surprised val’kyr in a strong voice: “Pass those words to Keeper Odyn, the Prime Designate of Azeroth, from Sir Lightbringer, Grand Master of the Order of the Celestial Light, paladin of the Holy Light and knight defender of Equestria. In return for the assistance your val’kyr had provided, albeit unwillingly, I will ask the Princesses I serve for a leave to examine the Gate of Tartarus, which is currently the only lead regarding my resurrection, in the days following my return with my paladins from the Dread Isle.”
“I had put that off long enough, anyway,” he said to himself. It was probably something he should have investigated right after hearing about it, after all. However, it had been over three months after he had been brought to life on Equestria before the Princesses suggested that the Gate of Tartarus might have been connected to it somehow. The initial interest he had in finding out just who did that had, by that time, mostly dispersed, and besides, he was practically constantly busy afterwards. “I wish I had some means of contacting Brann; the Gate of Tartarus might not be of titan origin - at least, I hope it’s not - but that dwarf has more experience investigating such devices. Hm, I wonder if I could get Daring Do to come along…” 
Deciding to postpone planning this little expedition for later, Arthas continued to speak to the val’kyr. He suspected they wouldn’t like this next part. Especially the one wielding a spear.
“However, it wouldn’t feel right with me, to continue allowing two such valorous maidens to merely observe me. With your permission, I would like to put their skills to use through the remaining time they will spend here. Their abilities would be useful while teaching ponies in the ways of combat and Light, especially if we were to face another accident like today. I eagerly await your response,” he finished, and signaled the val’kyr that he was done.
“‘Put them to work’?!” the spear-wielding val’kyr repeated, her nostrils flaring in anger.
“Knew she wouldn’t like it,” Arthas thought, feeling a little satisfaction.
“Do we look like beasts of burden to you?” she asked, glaring at him from behind her helmet.
“Sister…” the other val’kyr began, probably in an attempt to calm her, but Arthas, doubting it would work, cut her off.
“I am merely offering you two a chance to use your powers for a useful purpose,” he told the angry val’kyr, shrugging. “Also,” he added, both his voice and his look turning cold, “it might be wise of you to remember that, since you two are bound to me, I could simply command you to do whatever I want.”
The val’kyr got really angry hearing what she perceived to be a threat. “Why you arrogant mortal-” she began, spreading her wings and flapping them once.
Her sister, however, put her hand on her shoulder, stopping her. They shared a long look, after which the calmed val’kyr turned to Arthas. “We will carry you words to Odyn… Sir Lightbringer. You will hear his answer soon.”
“I’ll look forward to it,” he replied, bowing his head politely.
The val’kyr replied in kind, unlike her sister, who scoffed. Both sisters spread their wings and began flapping them, raising into the sky. They hovered above the ground for a while as their bodies began to fade away. In a manner of seconds they disappeared.
Arthas continued to stare at the space where they had disappeared for a few more moments. To think that all this time there were beings from Azeroth so near him…
“Sooo,” he heard a pony speak from behind him, “would you like to explain that to us, Sir?”
Sighing, he turned around. “I’m afraid you’ll have to be more specific, Lieutenant Tempest Void. Which part would you like me to explain?”
The female bat pony tapped her chin, as if pondering what should she say. “Well, I think I speak for everypony when I say we would like to know just what were those beings, and, hm, what was they said about you ‘returning to life”?”
“Yes, I would very much like to know the answer to the latter question myself,” Doctor Thaumaturgical added unexpectedly, as he hurried over to join them in the middle of the training field.
“I suppose I won’t get out of this without answering some of their questions,” Arthas noted, finding it a bit annoying that he had to reveal to more ponies that he had been revived from the dead and used to live on another word. Truth be told, he was beginning to lose track of who knew what about him. “Maybe I should ask Twilight to help me write a list or something…”
“I was dead and then suddenly found myself waking up in the Everfree Forest,” he said. “That’s about all I know, honestly. As you had heard, I’m not the only one puzzled by it.”
“And what was all that about ‘this world’?” the unicorn asked, not letting up.
“I used to life in a world called Azeroth, which is where the val’kyr came from,” Arthas replied calmly, despite already finding this questioning tiresome.
“Well, that would explain why there’s  no information regarding you, prior to you appearing in Equestria,” Tempest Void cut in. “If I read the report correctly, you used to say that you came from a faraway land to ponies of Ponyville?”
“Would you expect anypony in such situation to say the truth?” Arthas answered with a question.
“He’s got a point there,” Nightcrawler admitted.
Tempest Void shrugged. “Perhaps. Do the Princesses know about all of this?” she asked Arthas, her expression becoming a little more serious.
“Yes, of course. Well, at least regarding me being brought back to life and having lived on another world,” he amended. “They do know the overall history of Azeroth, but such details like those val’kyr I hadn’t told them about. I would have had I knew they were spying on me from the Shadowlands…” Arthas added, still feeling a little ashamed that he hadn’t realized that.
“Oh, thank you for reminding me,” Doctor Thaumaturgical interrupted, “what are those ‘Shadowlands’, exactly?”
“The realm of spirits, where some of the souls of the deceased reside. From what I had learned, in the world of Equestria it is usually referred to as the Spirit World, mostly by the zebras,” Arthas explained, recalling what he had learned from Twilight’s books. “On Azeroth that name is sometimes used as well.”
“Oh, that makes sense,” the unicorn exclaimed. “Damn, if I had known that it is possible to travel through it between worlds, I would have researched more about it…”
“I doubt it would do you any good, doctor,” Arthas told him. “It’s a realm of spirits. The living can’t enter it easily, and even when they manage that it’s best if they’d stay for only a short time.”
“So what, were those val’kyr or whatever ghosts or something?” Tempest cut in, frowning.
“Sort of,” he answered. “It would take a while to explain, but if you want a simple answer, then yes.”
“Well,” Nightcrawler spoke up, “whatever they were, it was a good thing they were around. Despite your considerable abilities, Sir, and ours, we would have been unable to save the Bearer of Element of Harmony,” he said, turning back to look at Fluttershy.
The pegasus had been staying beside Al’ar, keeping quiet throughout the discussion that had followed val’kyr’s departure. Which, considering she already knew most of what Arthas had to explain to the bat ponies and the unicorn, was not surprising. Also not surprising was her jerking slightly in surprise as the bat pony turned her attention to her.
“We didn’t get a chance to properly introduce ourselves, Miss Fluttershy,” he said, smiling at her reassuringly. To his credit, he seemed to be only slightly bothered by Al’ar, who, still standing beside Fluttershy, was glaring at him. “I’m lieutenant Nightcrawler, and this is my partner, lieutenant Tempest Void. I’m glad that you were unharmed.”
“Oh, um, thank you for your concern,” Fluttershy replied, talking a bit more comfortably with the unknown to her pony.
“It was really brave of you to try and intervene,” Nightcrawler continued. “Although, I must admit, I have no idea what you did exactly. Did you really make those plants entangle the image, and later used magic to heal Sir Lightbringer?” he asked, tilting his head in confusion.
“And there’s the second issue I will have to resolve before we can go enjoy the party at Sugarcube Corner,” Arthas thought. “However, there’s no reason for Fluttershy to explain herself before strangers.”
“That’s enough, Lieutenant,” he told him before Fluttershy could do anything more than look away from Nightcrawler in discomposure. “I will inform the Princesses regarding Fluttershy’s powers myself later, there’s no need for you to question her.”
Nightcrawler, who turned back to look at him, seemed slightly surprised, but quickly nodded. “Right, of course, Sir. Sorry,” he added, turning back to Fluttershy, “just doing my job. And being a bit curious.”
“Yes, I must admit, I’m curious myself…” Doctor Thaumaturgical began, but then he noticed a glare Arthas shot him. “But I suppose I can find out some other time.”
Satisfied that those ponies weren’t going to bother Fluttershy, Arthas relaxed. Glancing at the pegasus, he saw her giving him a grateful smile. Replying with a smile, he hoped that she wouldn’t have any problems with revealing to just him or their friends just how she had learned druidic magic. “After all, she hadn’t spoken about it with anypony…”
Having settled this matter for now, Arthas decided to turn to the third issue.
“Since we’ve touched on the subject of unusual powers,” he began, looking at Tempest Void, “I do have some questions to you, Lieutenant.”
She rolled her narrow-pupiled eyes. “We can’t bother your friend but you can bother me?”
“My friend isn’t the one using void magic,” Arthas retorted.
To his surprise - and annoyance - Tempest Void tilted her head in confusion. “The one using what magic?”
“You mean to tell me you don’t even know what kind of magic it is that you’re using?” Arthas asked, somewhat perplexed.
“Sir, all I know is that the ritual, the Nocturnification Process, was supposed to let bat ponies tap into the power of the moon, and that the powers I’ve been using reminded Princess Luna of the magic King Sombra had used.”
“Not surprising, since I’m almost completely sure this is the exact same type of magic,” Arthas commented in his mind as the bat pony continued.
“It took the Princess and Doctor Angelic another modification into the ritual to finally get the effect they had desired.”
“Oh?” Arthas exclaimed, pulling out of his musing. “I hadn’t heard from Princess Luna about that.”
For some reason, Tempest smirked hearing that. “The Princess might have been worried you would be jealous. Those bat ponies’ powers seem to resemble yours a lot.”
Arthas was only mildly surprised to hear that. Months ago, he had told Luna that to him, the Light was like both light of the sun and light of the moon. Back when he had been on the moon, searching for Moonlight’s body, he could feel the power beneath his hooves. The celestial body radiated with awesome magic, one that, in a way, seemed holy.
“It would appear, then, that those bat ponies can wield the Light through the moon, similar to how the Blood Knights wield It through their Sunwell,” he theorised, intrigued.
“I can’t imagine such night guards to be effective in undercover missions,” Arthas said out loud, letting the conversation go down that way for now.
“Yeah, all those flashy lights would be problematic. Coincidentally, however, by the time the Princess and Doctor made those last adjustments, there was only a hoof-ful left of the Night Guard that hadn’t gone through the process,” Tempest replied, shrugging. “And most of them usually performed more ‘displayable’ duties, anyway, like guarding Princess Luna. As such, the Night Guard had been divided into two divisions. Nightwatchers, like us, who focus on the stealth missions, and Lunar Guard, with those few bat ponies that tap into the moon’s magic, that primarily guard Princess Luna now.”
Arthas began to wonder how come Luna hadn’t told him about any of that, but then he realized that despite everything, she wasn’t required to consult everything with him. After all, he served her and her sister, not the other way around.
“Guess my pride is getting in the way again,” he thought, annoyed at himself.
“Thank you for explaining this to me, Lieutenant” Arthas told Tempest Void. “However, I would be even more thankful if we could get back to our earlier topic: the void magic you’ve been using.”
“Sure,” the bat pony replied. “After all, you seem to know more about it than me. So you said it’s called ‘void magic’? Kinda like this name.”
Frowning in annoyance at Tempest Void’s attitude, Arthas decided he needed to tell her at least a bit of what he knew about void magic. “Void magic, also called shadow magic, is basically the exact opposite of the Light.”
“So you’re preadjusted?” Tempest interrupted him, raising an eyebrow.
“No, far from it. On Azeroth, there had been people wielding dark powers and had brought about a lot of good, while people wielding the Holy Light commited many crimes. As such, I value the intention of a pony more than what kind of powers they wield. However,” he added, “there are a few things about shadow magic that cause me to be wary.”
“Such as?” The question came not from Tempest Void or Nightcrawler, but from Doctor Thaumaturgical instead. “What?” he asked when everypony looked at him after he cut into the discussion. “Professional curiosity.”
Ignoring the unicorn, Arthas turned back to Tempest Void. “The source of those powers is the Void. As the Light brings about feelings of positive emotions, such as hope, courage, or just comfort, the Shadow brings about-”
“-despair, doubt, panic, and all inbetween?” the bat pony mare interrupted, raising an eyebrow again questioningly. “Yeah, I noticed.”
Arthas blinked in surprise. “And… you’re not concerned?”
“Pfft, what for?” she asked, shrugging. “I, along with other bat ponies who realized they can use those powers, am too strong willed to give in to such emotions. Instead, though,” she continued, grinning, “I get to unleash that power on enemies of Equestria and anypony who breaks the law, and they will experience those emotions.”
Arthas’ jaw dropped hearing such… sociopathic declaration, but before he could berate her, Nightcrawler stepped closer and raised his hoof. “Um, Sir? Before you criticize her… she was like this before she went through the Nocturnification Process,” he finished, deadpanning.
The bat pony’s explanation did little to sooth Arthas’ worries. “And she was trusted to serve in the Night Guard regardless?” he asked, frowning.
Nightcrawler opened his mouth to reply, but he was cut off by Tempest Void snorting with laughter. “You clearly hadn’t met too many night guards, Sir,” she said as her partner sighed and facehoofed. Ignoring him, Tempest trotted closer to Arthas. “You’d be surprised how many weirdoes there are among us. Though admittedly I’m probably the weirdest one. But you can relax,” she said as she passed him, swiping her tail by Arthas muzzle, “we’re loyal, to Princess Luna, her sister, Equestria, and to the ponies. Now,” she added, stretching her wings, “if you’re done with your lecture, Sir, Nightcrawler and I should probably report to the Princess what had happened here.”
Arthas wasn’t entirely sure whether he had emphasized enough why void magic was dangerous or not. Perhaps if he told the bat pony about the Old Gods and Twilight’s Hammer cult she would be more cautious about using her powers.
Also, Tempest Void’s demeanor and attitude didn’t exactly endear her to him. Normally, Arthas would have preferred to be sure a pony like that could be trusted before he would leave her out of his sight. However, Princess Luna must have trusted her, if she allowed her to serve in the Night Guard. If she did, who was he to distrust her?
“A paranoid paladin who had once given in to darker emotions and now suspects everypony with similar problems of turning out similar?” he wondered, rolling his eyes in his mind at the description he just gave himself.
“Alright, please do that,” he told Tempest Void. “I will later contact the Princesses and explain what those val’kyr are and who Odyn, whom they serve, is.”
“I’m sure they will look forward to it,” Tempest Void replied. “Want us to mention about your promise to the val’kyr about seeing the Gate of Tartarus, or would you like to surprise the Princesses?”
Arthas shook his head. “No, please tell them about this. We can start planning the expedition sooner if they’ll know about it right away. Assuming, of course, that they will agree to it. However,” he added, “I would like you to report that I’d like to plan two expeditions.”
“Two?” the bat pony repeated, surprised. “What’s the other one about?”
“I’d like to go to the moon,” Arthas told her, causing everypony - the suspicious Tempest Void, the resigned Nightcrawler, the intrigued Doctor Thaumaturgical and uncomfortable Fluttershy - to stare at him, shocked.
“Um, Sir?” Nightcrawler asked, trotting closer. “May I ask why?”
“There’s something I would like to check,” Arthas told him. “When I’d been on it before, I was too focused on finding Princess Moonlight Shadow’s body to realize that there must be more to this celestial body than the magic I could sense. Seeing how the ritual that was supposed to allow you to channel that magic granted you shadow abilities, that is,” he added, looking at Tempest Void. “I will talk about this in greater detail with the Princesses.”
“I had assumed that Luna becoming Nightmare Moon was somehow caused, or at least connected, to C’Thun stirring within Ahn’Qiraj,” Arthas thought. “However… logically thinking about it, there had to be some other reason as well for her transformation. And seeing how trying to tap to moon’s magic caused bat ponies to be able to use shadow magic instead…”
The two bat ponies exchanged uncertain looks before Tempest Void replied: “We’ll make sure to pass your request to the Princess.”
With those words, she jumped into the air and flew in the direction of Canterlot. Nightcrawler joined her, stopping only to salute Arthas before following her.
“One more thing,” Arthas called out before either could get out of earshot. Both bat ponies stopped and turned to him as he saluted. “Thank you for your assistance.”
Tempest Void shrugged and turned around. “Think nothing of it, Sir,” she said as she flew away. Nightcrawler nodded in agreement and flew after her.
“It was interesting meeting them, to say the least,” Arthas thought, turning his attention to Doctor Thaumaturgical. “Now, the next issue…”
“Doctor, I’m afraid your Proving Grounds need some improvements before it can be used by my Order and the Royal Guard for training purposes,” he told the unicorn.
“Yes, I’m in complete agreement with you on that, Sir,” Doctor Thaumaturgical nodded. “I must calibrate the spells in the Examining Band thoroughly before allowing anypony else to use it again. Hopefully, I will fix this issue within the next week.”
“See that you do. The disastrous consequences of this test run aside, I must admit that the Proving Grounds is amazing.” Glancing at it, he continued: “Your invention captured the fighting style and abilities of my old enemy perfectly.”
“I’m happy to hear that, Sir,” the unicorn replied, smiling. “If I may ask, though, what exactly was that?”
“A night elf demon hunter, that became a demon,” Arthas replied, knowing that his answer would mean next to nothing to Doctor Thaumaturgical. Turning to the doctor, he added: “I understand that you must have tons of questions for me regarding that creature, the val’kyr and Azeroth, but I would really appreciate if if those could wait for some other time. Understandably, I would also appreciate if you wouldn’t go around talking about it.”
“Yes, of course. I doubt anypony would believe me if I told them you were brought back to life, anyway,” he added, rolling his eyes. Clearing his throat, he trotted closer to his invention. “I will teleport back to my lab in Canterlot, I’ll need to make notes documenting today’s test and begin making corrections. I’ll let the Princesses know when it will be ready.”
“I’m sure it will be soon,” Arthas told him. “May the Light guide you.”
“Sure, thanks, you too Sir,” the unicorn replied, somewhat awkwardly. His horn began to glow as he concentrated on teleportation spell, and after a bright flash, both he and his device were gone.
“Alright, now that we’re alone...” Arthas thought, turning to Fluttershy.
“I’m sorry you had to wait, Fluttershy,” he said, trotting to her. Concerned, he asked: “Are you alright?”
“Me?” she asked in reply, confused. “O-of course! What about you? Is that wound all healed?”
“I am a bit sore,” Arthas admitted, “but the wound is healed. About the only discomfort I feel right now is because of the dents in the armor. You healed me pretty nicely.”
“Oh, I’m sure you would have been fine without me…” Fluttershy began, but he shook his head, stopping her.
“I would have probably passed out due to the blood loss if you hadn’t begun healing me. You really saved me, Fluttershy, thank you,” he told her, smiling. “Now, though, is my turn to worry about you. You just saw your close friend be pierced by a big blade,” Arthas added when she looked at him with confusion. “Are you sure you’re alright?”
“Oh…” Fluttershy exclaimed, now understanding. She looked down on the ground. “Well, yes, I was pretty shaken. But, earlier, when that… monster attacked me, I was paralyzed with fear,” she added, her ears dropping. “Even when those val’kyr appeared and protected me from his spell, I was too scared to move. But when I saw you… lying there, in blood, I snapped. I flew to your side right away and began healing you. I was crying, yes, but not because of your wound - well,” she amended, “not entirely that is, I was afraid I might be too late - but because… because I know you got hurt so badly because of me. I thought that now I could be of some help to you and the others when you’d be fighting, and I tried to stop that monster. But like always, I just got in the way…”
“So that’s why,” Arthas thought. He sighed, wishing he could hug her, but with him still being in his blood-splattered armor he knew it would be uncomfortable. “Great, I can add ‘making Fluttershy cry’ to my list of today’s failures.”
“Fluttershy,” he told her in comforting voice, “if anypony is to blame for me getting hurt, then it would be either that doctor for making a flawed device or myself for lacking skills to defeat that image before you got here. You were very brave for stopping it before,” he said, and finally the shy pegasus looked up at him, “and like I said, without your healing spell I might have not made it. You were great, Fluttershy. Stop putting yourself down.”
Fluttershy smiled with relief, then giggled awkwardly. “I’ll try.”
“Good,” Arthas told her, happy to see her smile. “Now, I’ll have to get cleaned up for the party… and I think one of the blows I got before damaged one of the clasps on my armor,” he added, glancing at one of the dented spot. “Could you help me take it off in my office?”
“Oh, of course. But before we leave…” she said and trailed off, turning to Al’ar. The Phoenix God stayed by her side this entire time, only now that they were about to live he turned his head back to his nest atop the barracks, ready to fly away. “Al’ar, why didn’t you help Arthas?” Fluttershy asked him sternly.
Al’ar opened his ruby eyes wider, surprised by the question, and cooed something in response.
“Don’t give me that excuse!” Fluttershy replied, frowning and advancing on the abashed phoenix. “He obviously needed help!”
Arthas was torn; on one hoof, hearing that he “obviously needed help” didn’t do wonders for his self esteem right now. On the other hoof, though, it was, as always, really amusing to see the Phoenix God submit to the shy pony like this.
“I don’t care whatever it was between you two back on Azeroth,” she said sternly when Al’ar tried to add something. “He let you stay in the Abbey, treated you with respect, and now is looking after your eggs! You really should start treating him nicer!”
Al’ar, practically huddled in discomfort because of the scolding Fluttershy gave him, nodded, cooeing apologetically.





A few minutes later, Fluttershy trotted alongside Arthas through the barracks towards his office, glancing every few seconds at him. Despite his assurance that he was fine, she was worried whether he was truly healed or not. The wound he received from the image the Proving Grounds - as Arthas explained to her - had conjured was really serious. He was very lucky the curved blade missed both his heart and spine, piercing his body at an angle that caused it to go between them.
“Or maybe, it wasn’t luck, but his skill?” she wondered. Fluttershy knew, of course, that Arthas was a great warrior, even if she hadn’t herself seen him demonstrating his skills too often. Nor did she have any experience that would let her know when somepony is a skilled fighter or not, and whether he avoided a strike at his vital areas because of skill or luck. “Maybe… maybe I should ask Provato if he could teach me about more than just healing? Maybe he could teach me… how to fight?” she wondered; she was terrified at the prospect and surprised she even thought about it, but after seeing Arthas get hurt like that… and knowing she had power to prevent it… “After all, he did teach me how to use the magic of nature to increase my strength…“
“You didn’t have to discipline Al’ar like that,” Arthas said suddenly, breaking the silence and pulling her out of her musing. “He’s not fond of me, but he does have a good reason for that. Despite that, though, if I were to ask him for help, he would help me. He did help me when I had to find Storm Clash in the Everfree Forest.”
“Yes, I know,” Fluttershy replied. “But the point is, considering everything you’ve done for him, you shouldn’t need to ask for help.”
Arthas hummed thoughtfully. “I suppose you have a point.”
Fluttershy smiled, happy that he agreed with her, and turned to look ahead, continuing to trot-
“So, are you going to explain how you learned druidic magic?”
She stopped mid-step for a moment, stunned. Fluttershy had completely forgotten that she hadn’t yet told Arthas or anypony else about her powers. True, that nice bat pony had asked her about them, but after Arthas later talked with her without bringing them up, even after she had alluded to them, Fluttershy just… talked as if he already knew.
“Oh, um…“ she stammered, thinking frantically for some explanation as to how she learned the druidic magic and why she hadn’t said anything. “Y-you see…“
“Seeing how there’s a finite number of steps it takes to reach my office, I’m gonna go ahead and guess that the demigod Provato - the timberwolf we had healed all those months ago - had been teaching you, correct?” Arthas interrupted her, glancing at her with a raised eyebrow.
“Um… yes, that’s right,” Fluttershy admitted, looking down at the floor. “H-how do you know about him?”
“Storm Clash,” Arthas explained. “He had met Provato in the Everfree Forest a few days ago.”
“Oh, right, Provato had told me about meeting him,” Fluttershy said, recalling what the timberwolf demigod had said about the night before she had first met him. Provato had said that he came to Ponyville after crossing paths with a pegasus paladin. “I should have figured that Arthas would know about Provato, then,” she realized, but quickly brushed that thought off and focused on the current matters. Turning to Arthas, she asked him uncertainly: “You… you’re not mad, aren’t you?”
“Fluttershy, you just saved my life using your new abilities,” he sighed in reply and rolled his eyes. “Why in Light’s name would I be mad for?”
“Because I didn’t tell you or anypony about them,” she explained. “I’m sorry that I didn’t, Provato had asked me to. He said that for the time being he didn’t want ponies to know about him.”
“It’s alright, Fluttershy, I understand,” Arthas replied, shrugging. “So Provato had said ‘for the time being’?”
“Yes,” she nodded. “He told me that before he had fallen into corruption, he had been friends with ponies living in the town that was here before Ponyville. I think he’d like to be a friend to ponies again, but just needs some more time.”
“Well, I suppose if anypony can relate to his situation it would be me,” Arthas said, sighing. “However, the Princesses, who also heard Storm Clash’s report, had expressed desire to meet with him. Do you think you could ask him if it would be possible for them to meet?”
Fluttershy wasn’t surprise that they’d want to meet Provato. Just hearing about him from Storm must have piqued their interest. Fluttershy, who by now had spend many days in his company, was still amazed by him.
“I will ask him,” she promised Arthas. “I hope he agrees, it would be wonderful for them to meet.”
“I can imagine,” Arthas agreed. “You will have to contact them through Spike, though. Between this, the val’kyr and the bat ponies, I’m starting to think that I’ve picked a really bad time to go on this training expedition,” he complained, rolling his eyes.
Fluttershy giggled. “Yes, it would seem so,” she said as they stopped by the door leading to Arthas’ office.
“Anyway, I won’t tell our friends about your new abilities and your training,” Arthas said as he opened them and let her through first. “If that’s what you want, that is.”
Even though Fluttershy knew that soon it would come a time when she would have to tell them, she nodded in agreement. “Yes, I would prefer that,” she told Arthas, turning around to talk to him as he enter his office after her, letting the door close behind him. “Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been looking forward to telling everypony, but I am nervous about admitting that I kept this secret from them for so long. Can you imagine not telling something so important about yourself to your best friends?”
To her confusion, Arthas cleared his throat and looked away. “I… suppose I could.”
Fluttershy titled her head, trying to figure out what caused such a reaction. “Oh!” she realized, embarrassed. “He must be thinking about how he kept his real name a secret. Ugh, Fluttershy, you and your big mouth!”
“So since I do know about your training,” Arthas changed the subject before she could apologize, “how is it coming along? I know you can heal even the most severe of wounds, and I noticed you caused those roots to entangle the image.”
“Oh, well...” Fluttershy hesitated, blushing; she was a bit worried that Arthas might think that she was bragging. “I think my training is going well. Provato always praises me about how quickly I learn from him. He taught me how to speak with plants, how to ask for their power to let me heal others, how to give them energy and coax them to grow as I’d like them-”
“Why do I smell blood?” a gentle voice suddenly spoke up, interrupting her.
Surprised, Fluttershy turned to the source of the voice. To her shock, it was Spottedleaf that uttered it. While she could always understand animals after spending some time with them, and now that she had started learning druidic magic from Provato Fluttershy could understand them right away, she realized that the cat had asked her question in equestrian. The tortoiseshell cat Arthas took in so long ago was not the same as she had known her, though. Her eyes shone with silvery light, and as Fluttershy tried to focus and reach to Spottedleaf with her deeper senses, as Provato had taught her, she realized that she had been… blessed by something. Or someone.
“I guess that’s another thing I should maybe ask Provato about,” Fluttershy thought as she watched the cat effortlessly jump on the desk so she could be on eye level with ponies.
Whatever the reason behind Spottedleaf’s sudden ability to speak was, it appeared to affect her in some other ways as well. Fluttershy, despite her lack of experience, could sense some power within her; nowhere near the level of Provato’s, of course, but enough to be intriguing.
Either her curiosity must have reflected on her face or other ponies had already seen her speak and Arthas was used to having to explain this to them, as he turned to Fluttershy and said: “I’ll explain this later. Because I got wounded during training and bled out a bit before my wounds got healed,” he told Spottedleaf, turning to her. “Nothing to worry about.”
The cat shot him a quite bemused expression before leaning closer and sniffing his armor along his chest. “Take that thing off,” she told in commanding tone as she backed away, grimacing and tapping his armor with her paw.
Arthas looked at Fluttershy and rolled his eyes. She giggled, finding the situation quite funny, and stepped closer, helping Arthas with a clasps of his armor. As he had guessed, one was damaged during the fight, and he wouldn’t have been able to unstrap it by himself. It took some effort on Fluttershy’s part, but she soon managed to open it, causing his chestplate to fall down, hanging out on its straps connecting it with the part protecting his back.
“Ah, much better,” Arthas sighed, taking the chestplate completely off.
Fluttershy frowned unhappily as she saw what was underneath it. The wound had been healed, of course, but Arthas’ pure, snow-white coat was drenched in blood on his back where the blade had pierced his body. As she walked around to take a look at his chest - which had an even bigger blood stain - she noticed a small line of blood along his side, probably from a wound he received earlier in battle.
“You know, having such a color of coat is a pain sometimes,” Arthas commented, ignoring Spottedleaf who began sniffing his chest. “Everypony can at once tell if I was wounded or just got some dirt on myself.”
“Yeah, I suppose they can,” Fluttershy said, recalling how back in the Crystal Empire Twilight could at once tell he had been wounded by King Sombra, despite saying he was just going to ‘keep an eye’ on him.
“I don’t even know why when I was reborn I got a body with such coat,” he continued as Spottedleaf, apparently satisfied that he wasn’t wounded, backed away. “Shouldn’t it be similar to the color of my hair? Then again, I suppose I should be grateful that it’s at least not bone-white or pale…” Arthas added after brushing his golden mane, trailing off.
Fluttershy frowned, confused by the remark, and opened her mouth to ask what he meant, but at that moment she heard some strange sound.
“What is that?” she asked, looking around the room the source of the noise.
Arthas and Spottedleaf, both surprised as well, looked around as well. “I think it’s from there-” Spottedleaf said, pointing with her paw, but she was suddenly interrupted.
Fluttershy jumped in shock as the door opened violently, banging against the wall loudly. “Matt!” Scootaloo said, looking at Arthas with her brow furrowed in determination as she walked into his office, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle right behind her with similar expressions. “We need to talk- What the hay?!” she exclaimed, her expression changing to one of shock as she and the other two stared at Arthas’ bloodied chest.
Arthas stared back her, clearly taken aback by the trio’s sudden appearance. His forehoof moved to cover his chest, but then he dropped it, probably realising how pointless it would be. “Um…” he stammered, his head turning to Fluttershy as if for advice. Unfortunately, all she could do was give him a blank and scared look. She had no idea what they could say to the three fillies. “I… fell down some stairs,” Arthas finally said, his voice sounding uncertain even to Fluttershy.
It was clear that they weren’t going to fall for that. “And what, ya landed on a spear or somethin’?” Apple Bloom asked, frowning.
“Nevermind that, I’m fine now,” he told them, apparently deciding that it was pointless trying to explain this situation. He began to unstrap the rest of his armor. “Did the three of you want something from me?”
“Smooth,” Spottedleaf told him, before her attention returned to looking for the source of the noise from earlier (just as it sounded again).
“Did she just talk?” Sweetie Belle asked, taking her eyes off Arthas’ blood-drenched chest to look at Spottedleaf.
Scootaloo waved her hoof dismissively. “Yeah, she talks now,” she said; Fluttershy had guessed that since she had lived here until today she must have witnessed it before. The filly was again focused on Arthas, and as she stood up straighter she addressed him: “Matt, the Cutie Mark Crusaders would like to join the Order of Celestial Light as squires!”
“Out of the question,” Arthas retorted calmly, not even looking at them.
“Told ya he would say that,” Apple Bloom commented, rolling her eyes.
But it appeared that Scootaloo wasn’t going to give up that easily. “You let Liturgy become a squire,” she accused Arthas.
As Arthas sighed heavily, Fluttershy frowned, wondering who Liturgy was. “How long was I with Provato today?” she asked herself.
Once again she heard that noise, this time louder. She realized it sounded like object was being shook by somepony. Worried what it could be, Fluttershy decided to let Arthas deal with the fillies while she’d help Spottedleaf look what was making that noise.
“Look,” she heard Arthas say to them, “first of all, I was practically forced by different circumstances to accept all the squires-”
“Wait, you mean you’ll have more squires than just Liturgy here?!” Scootaloo asked, sounding surprised and even more annoyed than before.
“- and second of all,” Arthas continued as if the filly didn’t interrupt him, “joining the Order means committing to it, not just using it to try and get your cutie marks.”
“We would be committed to it!” Scootaloo tried to argue, but apparently her fellow crusaders had given up and tried a different approach.
“Then maybe you could just teach us how to call upon the Holy Light?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“I could teach you how to pray to it,” Arthas countered. “Or better yet, you can ask Liturgy to teach you, I’m sure she will be thrilled to pray together with you. If your special talent would turn out to be communicating with the Light, like hers, then you will find the Light on your own.”
Fluttershy turned to glance at the Cutie Mark Crusaders, curious how they’d react to those words, but at that time the rattling noise sounded again - and she finally saw what was making it.
It was the case in which Al’ar and Marahute’s eggs were in.
“Um, Arthas?” she called out as the closed case shook again, with Spottedleaf jumping on the shelf beside the it and began to sniff at it curiously.
“What is it?” he asked, while fillies murmured: “Arthas?” between themselves.
Fluttershy and Spottedleaf nodded at the shaking case. Surprised, Arthas quickly trotted to join them, and opened it. Inside, three eggs, an orange one, green one and violet one were shaking.
Arthas turned to Fluttershy, but before he could ask her anything, the three fillies squeezed between them to look at the contents of the case. “Wow!” Scootaloo exclaimed, all three of them staring at the eggs wide-eyed. “What are those?” she asked, reaching to the violet egg curiously.
“Are those three about to hatch?” Sweetie Belle asked, trying to touch the green egg.
“Shouldn’t they be in a nest?” Apple Bloom asked, reaching for the orange egg.
“Girls-” Fluttershy began, not sure if it was safe to touch the eggs, but Arthas nudged her, shaking his head and turning to look at the fillies and the eggs intensively.
The moment they touched them, on the surface of the eggs, that had been shaking all this time, appeared cracks. The fillies brought their hooves back and gasped together with everypony else as the they began to hatch, with small creatures, that were unlike any creature Fluttershy had ever seen on Equestria, emerging from them.
They were birds, that much was obvious. The hatchlings, which became more visible as they pushed away bigger pieces of the egg’s shells, resembled somewhat of eagle chicks, but only in their shape. Those three were already covered in feathers, not down feathers like normal freshly hatched birds would, but vaned feathers as well. Except… those feathers seemed like they were made ouf of flames. In fact, each hatchling seemed like they were living fire, each colored exactly like their eggs were. Fluttershy would have thought that they were exactly like Al’ar, living flames, if it weren’t for their beaks and legs. Although they too matched the colors of their respective eggs, at least they appeared to be organic. Their eyes, too, although they glowed faintly.
“Also…”
“Oh my gosh, they’re so cute!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed.
“Yeah, that,” Fluttershy thought, wholly agreeing with the filly.
“Aww, they’re adorable,” Apple Bloom added, leaning closer. “Hey there little ones!”
“Are these Al’ar’s eggs?” Scootaloo asked, moving her hoof to the hatchling, who turned its tiny head to observe it as it chirped. “I thought he was a guy.”
“He fathered them, their mother left them in his care,” Arthas explained, watching the hatchlings, all which began to emerge from their cracked eggs and watch the fillies curiously.
“Who was their mo-” Sweetie Belle began to ask, but she stopped as the green hatchling began to nuzzle her hoof affectionately and chirped. “Awww! You like me?”
As the orange and violet hatchlings also interacted in similar manner with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo respectively, Fluttershy finally recalled what Arthas had told her.
However, Princess Celestia, after she had read Doctor Angelic’s findings, believes that those eggs require somepony to help them hatch, just like Spike’s had.
“I guess they needed those three,” Fluttershy realized. Her gaze shifted briefly to the remaining four. The yellow egg, the blue egg, the dark blue egg, and the red egg. “I wonder who will help those little ones to hatch?”
Arthas’ voice pulled her from her musing. “They seem to have taken liking to you,” he told the three fillies. “Would you like to take them?”
They gasped in unison.
“Can we?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Yes!” Scootaloo replied to Arthas’ question instead. “I always wanted a pet! Thank you thank you thank you!” she exclaimed, jumping to hug him.
He stopped her with his hoof before she could embrace him. “Maybe let’s not do that while my coat is in this state,” he said, pointing at his chest. “You can thank me later. Right now though I would like you to promise me that you will all take a good care of each hatchling.”
“Ah promise,” Apple Bloom, who was already holding the orange hatchling in her forehooves, said.
The other two quickly promised as well, taking their hatchlings and nuzzling them affectionately.
“Oh, I can’t wait to see how they’ll grow up,” Scootaloo said. “Do you think they'll be as big as Al’ar?”
“What do ya gals think we should name them?” Apple wondered, looking at her hatchlings thoughtfully. “Kinda can’t think of one for mine.”
“Hm…” Sweetie Belle mused. “I think I’ll name mine… Balefire? Or maybe Pyrelight? Hm, no, I’m not sure…”
As the three continued to discuss more trivial matters, Fluttershy felt slightly worried whether they were capable of taking care of pets of their own. She exchanged looks with Arthas and Spottedleaf, all of whom seemed to share her concerns.
“You’re going to tell their sisters to keep their eyes on them, right?” Spottedleaf asked in a hushed voice.
“Of course,” Arthas replied in a similar tone. Turning to Fluttershy, he asked in a normal voice: “Maybe you could take them to your cottage and tell them how to take care of them? And figure out what they eat,” he added.
Fluttershy nodded. “Of course. Come along, my little ponies,” she called to the fillies, who stopped their conversation. “You heard what Arthas- um, I mean, Matthias had said,” she corrected herself, recalling that the fillies didn’t know about Arthas’ real name.
“Sure, but… why did you call him Arthas?” Scootaloo asked, frowning, with her hatchlings sitting comfortably on top of her head.
The violet hatchling chirped as it flapped it tiny wings.





One annoying explanation later, the Cutie Mark Crusaders followed Fluttershy as she left his office.
“I’ll see you at the party,” Arthas called after them as he waved goodbye.
He was about to close the door when he noticed Spottedleaf sliding past his legs. “I’d better go and make sure everything is alright,” she told him as she padded after them.
Slightly surprised, Arthas shrugged. “Have fun,” he said and closed the door.
“I wonder if she’s worried about the hatchlings or the fillies?” he mused, trotting to his desk and putting his discarded armor on the stand in the corner. He frowned seeing the extent of damage. “I’ll have to get it repaired before we board the ship for Dread Isle,” he commented briefly before returning his thoughts to the hatchlings. He looked at the remaining four eggs that were in his care. “So apparently they begin to hatch when a pony they need to help them is near? Hm… I wonder if they will react to Prince John and Lord Francis when they’ll arrive? Although they didn’t react to Liturgy... “ Arthas mused. Recalling that they were the result of a union between being of Azeroth and Equestria, he couldn’t help but chuckle. “Curious things come from the interaction of those two worlds. In fact, ever since I came here, curious things had been happening. Curing a demigod, starting a paladin order, making peace with changelings… Fluttershy learning druidism, and now the Cutie Mark Crusaders taking such unusual pets under they care. I guess you could say that in time everything’s changing, everypony grows…”
He trailed off as he realized his hoof was brushing his chest, where the wound dealt by the image of Illidan had been. Grimacing, he slammed his hoof against his desk angrily, and trotted towards his bathroom to get cleaned.