Chapter 2
The air crackled with energy as a pillar of fire burst into existence. From the flames came an onyx circle that was suspended in the air, as swirling nether energy built up inside of it. After a minute of the energy building it finally stabilized and the portal was complete, the green swirling energies churned as three forms emerged one after another. The first to cross over was the Blood Knight, then followed by Helix and Weaver.
As Helix stepped out of the portal he immediately noticed what he had forgotten to take into consideration, the leyline dropped off whatever came through about a thousand feet in the air. Helix fell immediately, but fortunately he had prepared his deploy-able glider. As he began to sail through the air he was suddenly jerked downwards as Weaver grabbed a hold of his leg.
"What the hell did you do?!" Weaver exclaimed as Helix stabilized the glider and set back to steering it toward where he wanted to go.
"I forgot about the drop, when I previously came here it was with an Eye of Kilrogg. Luckily I had this prepared so we will be able to save the foot time and get there in not too long." Helix called behind him was he focused some magic into keeping the glider at a good altitude.
"But Diz has our supplies on him." Weaver said looking to where the Blood Knight was still falling.
"He'll need it if he is making the journey, we will get there by nightfall like this anyways." Helix said casually.
"Well, at least this is kind of getting me even with him..." Weaver said as she watched the dot in the distance that was Dizastrous hit the ground.
Dizastrous hated how often he found himself in a situation like this. Too often had he fallen to what should have been his certain demise, whether it was from hitching a ride on Weaver's flying mount, or slipping off of a cliff. A Blood Knight however had ways to survive things, and before reaching the ground Dizastrous wrapped himself in a bubble made of divine light. The bubble stopped all damage from occurring to him for eight seconds, so as his feet met the ground and formed a small crater, he was unharmed.
"When I get my hands on those two..." Dizastrous grumbled as he stared off in the direction the two had flown with their glider.
As he grumbled the Blood Knight began his trek, marching by himself off towards the horizon his friends had disappeared over. As he walked he noticed the environment seemed to suddenly shift, after a certain point it went from a dry red soil to a prairie landscape. Dizastrous looked back and could clearly see a line where the terrain changed, and shook his head at the familiarity.
After only an hour of travel the sun was beginning to set, and Dizastrous was feeling tired. He was going to need to find a place to rest, hopefully some sort of structure that he could commandeer for the night. He looked down at his armor and noticed how dark it was getting now by how pronounced the glow from his armor was. Looking up at the gold and silver halo that emitted an aura of light, he realized he would stick out like a sore thumb and get spotted easily.
"I need shelter soon before it become pitch black out and I attract every predator in these lands..." Dizastrous mumbled to himself.
Off in the distance he could see by the light of the setting sun a settlement. He smiled as he noticed a few light coming from windows in the distance, they had civilization, that meant beds. Doubling his pace, Dizastrous set off toward the settlement.
"Hold still Spike, I have to aim this very carefully..." Twilight said as her horn glowed dangerously bright.
The baby dragon fidgeted as he looked between Twilight and the purple gem that was balanced on top of his head. He still could not remember how the mare had talked him into it, but here he was with the target on top of his head.
"Why can't we just, I dunno... Put this on the ground or on a table for you to test the spell?" Spike asked, eyeing Twilight's glowing horn that was ever growing in intensity.
"Because Spike, the spell could potentially cause a very bad backlash if it striked anything other than it's intended target. Only you being a dragon could be safely hit by it because of your tough scales." Twilight said while closing one eye and taking careful aim.
The spell began to spark dangerously from her horn as Twilight locked on to where the gem sat. Only a moment more and the spell would be fully charged and she could release it to see the results. Spike gulped as he stared at the powerful sparks of magic coming off of Twilight's horn, but he remembered now what he had been promised, the spell would turn the amethyst into a diamond, and he was promised the right to eat it. That is what kept the little dragon in place.
A serious of knocks were pounded on the front door of the library and both librarian and dragon jumped. The magical bolt flew higher than where it was aimed, but luckily the gem was also airborne at this point and the two connected. In a bright flash of light the purple amethyst turned into a glorious diamond that fell into the claws of a blinded baby dragon.
Twilight blinked furiously, trying to get the spots in her vision to disappear as she made her way to the door. The pounding sounded again and Twilight frowned at the impatience, and the late hour of her visitor.
"Hold on, hold on, I'm coming." Twilight called as she bumped into a table as she stumbled closer to the door.
As the mare reached the door she shook her head and blinked a few final times, finally regaining her vision. She then opened the door just a crack and peered out. Within seconds she slammed the door shut and bolted the lock.
"What is it Twilight?" The baby dragon said with a concerned look at the fear that was on Twilight's face.
"There's a monster out there!" Twilight yelped.
"A monster?!" Spike exclaimed, forgetting about the delicious treat he had in his claws.
"Yeah, its standing right at the door." Twilight said peering out the window to look at the figure that still stood, arms crossed in front of it as it waited, at the door.
"What does it look like? What is it?" Spike asked beginning to become curious.
"Well, it's bipedal like those diamond dogs, it is wearing clothing it looks like, it has glowing green eyes, and it looks like it is... soaked..." Twilighted pulled her head back from the window and blinked a few times before turning to Spike, "Did I just say it had glowing green eyes?"
The baby dragon nodded and watched as Twilight gasped and rushed back to the door with a sorry expression on her face. The mare bit her lip in consideration before finally undoing the lock and slowly opening the door again and stepping aside to let the strange being inside.
"T-Twilight what are you doing?!" Spike exclaimed.
The tall figure ducked inside of the door and looked around before turning his attention towards Twilight, "Sorry to come uninvited Twilight, but I had a little bit of a mishap in coming to this world..."
Twilight smiled in recognition of the voice, "Kiridan... This is what you look like?"
"Yes, but before we strike up conversation... Do you have a fireplace that I can dry myself off at?" Kiridan said as he looked down at his dripping robes.
"Sure this way, Spike can you light the fireplace?" Twilight said with a still shocked smile on her face as she looked at the intricate robes Kiridan wore, they were a rustic red color, covered at the chest and down the sides by metal plates. But in front there were glowing runic symbols that shone a deep orange.
Spike ignited the fireplace with a deep breath of his, making sure not to use the magical flames that would send a message to Celestia. The fire sparked to life and the Blood Elf sat himself before it and sighed.
"Much better..." Kiridan mumbled.
"So... What are you doing here? Why are you soaking wet?" Twilight asked as she stared at the scary looking mask that hung from the elf's side.
"Well, I came here in your world in search of something. And when my friends and I arrived we found ourselves about a thousand feet in the air." Kiridan said calmly as he felt the steam coming off his clothes.
"Are your friends alright? How are you okay?!" Twilight exclaimed suddenly.
"Well, I have a deploy-able glider, so I was fine and one of my friends hitched a ride partway here. Your maps are not very accurate by the way, we ended up at the base of the mountain your capitol is on, that is where she jumped off into a river. Then I followed the river south until I got here. The only safe place to land was the river though, hence the status of my attire." Kiridan said as he reached into a satchel at his side and procured a bottle that should not have fit.
Twilight stared for a second at the bottle Kiridan now drank from, but then turned her attention back towards him, "Wait, did one of your friends... Fall?"
Kiridan laughed, the sound of his laughter almost seemed cruel to the mare and baby dragon, "Yes, he fell. But he will be okay, his kind have ways of surviving things like that. He is probably mad at me though, best we let him make his way here and cool off in the meantime."
"Where is your other friend then?" Twilight asked, relieved that nopony had died.
"Who knows, most likely searching for what we came to your land for." Kiridan said as he finished off his bottle of ambrosia.
"And what is that?" Twilight asked, a hint of suspicion in her voice.
"A cure for my people's addiction..." Kiridan said with a solemn voice as he stared directly into Twilight's eyes.
Cherry Jubilee and a few of her workers held lanterns as they investigated what was making so much noise in the factory. One of the worker stallions heard a loud crash and alerted everypony that something had broken into the warehouse. The factory was done running for the day and all the goods were stored next to it in the warehouse until they would be shipped in the morning.
"Ya' reckon it's thieves?" One of the workers asked as he inspected the broken door.
"If'n it is, they will be sorry..." Cherry Jubilee said with a frown.
The small mob of ponies slowly moved into the warehouse and immediately noticed the empty pie tins. They all shared a glance before continuing further in search of whatever had broken in. They came across many more empty pie tins, and a few of the crates seemed to have been shifted around as if something carelessly bumped into them.
"I'm startin' ta' believe it's an animal..." A different Stallion mumbled while looking at the mess.
The ponies all snapped to attention as they heard a yawn coming from the office that lay just a little further at the back of the warehouse. They all readied themselves and a few of the stallions even set their lanterns down to grab pitchforks off of their backs.
Cherry Jubilee nodded to her right hand Stallion, and he took the lead. He gently pushed open the office door and took a step back as he saw a tall figure in the darkness, light glowing from a ring over its head, and on either side of its face. Its eyes also glowed a deep emerald color as it stared back at the stallion.
"Anar'alah..." Mumbled the creature in a strange language.
The stallion then noticed that the stranger had something on its back, something that looked suspiciously like a hilt.
"It has a weapon!" The stallion yelled as he jumped back from the door and rejoined the rest of the workers who had formed a semicircle around the office door.
Dizastrous yawned as he stretched his arms over his head. He had been on the move for a while now, and the pies he found in this place had filled him up. Now he just needed to lay down his sleeping roll and he could finally get some rest.
The door creaked and he looked up to see who was intruding on him. From the darkness he could see what appeared to be a small horse that had a pitchfork held in the crook of one of its forelegs. The Blood Elf squinted in disbelief as he saw the look of intelligence in the eyes as it stared at him.
"By the light..." Dizastrous mumbled.
The small horse then screamed something that sounded suspiciously like the human language, but was undecipherable to the Blood Knight because of the thick accent. Dizastrous followed it out the door where it had run off to, and found that he had been discovered by a small mob of the short horses. Some of them held lanterns, and the others held pitchforks.
Dizastrous reached for his sword, grasping the hilt over his shoulder as he prepared for an attack. Something was wrong however, these things did not look like guards, or even militia. Their weapons shook like they were unused to wielding them as such, as if they were farmers protecting their land. Dizastrous had a flashback to a memory he witnessed in the plaguelands.
Farmers desperately fought off the undead, fighting for dear life, in a vain attempt with hopes of protecting their families and homes. The Blood Knight had witnessed elf and human alike share the same desperate look in their eyes that these things had.
"Great, now I feel guilty for eating their food..." Dizastrous mumbled.
A pitchfork was thrown and bounced harmlessly off the plate armor the elf wore. Dizastrous looked down to the crude iron weapon at his feet, then to the pony (he finally remembered was the name of such a creature) who had thrown it, a look of fear now donning its face.
"And now I feel less guilty..." Dizastrous said simply before casting a blessing upon himself.
Glowing with holy might as he activated a few spells Dizastrous drew his great sword and lowered into a ready stance. The ponies backed off in fear as the elf pulled the blade back and readied to swing, but the strike was not directed at a pony, it was sent into the wall. The holy strike did more than cut, it burst and splintered the wood apart with the force of his holy magic. Dizastrous then pulled his knee up and kicked at a section of the wall, finishing the job and leaving a hole large enough for him to walk through.
Dizastrous then exited through the exit he made, casting his eyes back and staring hard at the ponies, boring his eyes into theirs. The warning while not worded, was received and the one who had opened the door on him nodded eagerly in understanding that he was not to follow.
"Great, now I have to find a place to camp..." The Blood Knight grumbled as he stomped off into the night.
The moon hung high in the sky, illuminating the path before the female warlock. The land itself here seemed to give off an air of peace, and a hint of magic. But that was not the goal here, feeding the craving for magic was not the mission, finding a cure for it was. Weaver would not feel the intense craving for magic for at least another few days. However, the tempting presence of several very large sources of magic at the top of this mountain was driving Weaver up a wall.
"This is ridiculous, it feels like there is a sun inside of that castle..." Weaver commented as she looked up the side of the mountain at Canterlot.
The warlock shook her head as she continued up the road that wound up with mountain and went to the castle. As she walked Weaver thought over what Helix had told her about what he had learned from the residence of this land. Intelligent ponies that lived a peaceful existence with all of their neighboring races. The other warlock had even mentioned hearing about wise princesses that lead the country and were powerful enough to stave off the years, living for millennia.
While living for thousands of years was not unheard of, most night elves being that old or older, beings that lived that long always had methods to curing what ailed normal mortals. Hopefully Weaver could attain any information these princesses had without having to resort to force.
Weaver stopped in her tracks as she sensed one of the large sources of power moving at an alarming speed toward her direction. The warlock reached into her mana pool, and embraced the familiar feeling of using her magic. The warlock was wreathed in flames as she prepared to defend herself if need be.
The sound of galloping could be heard, and Weaver saw up the path a couple dozen armored ponies who carried spears rushing toward her. She then looked up into the sky where half a dozen more winged ponies flanked a larger pony. Weaver's eyes locked onto the larger one as it sped toward her, the power the larger one held was clearly visible to the elf.
Raising her arms in the air Weaver caused molten balls to rain from the sky and pelt the earth around her, warning the ponies to stay back, and the message was received. The armored ponies halted a safe distance away and the flying ponies landed beside them, all of them held resolute expressions, telling Weaver they were without doubt soldiers.
The warlock allowed the fiery rain to cease, but increased the intensity of the fire that flowed around her. The larger pony slowly stepped towards Weaver, her mane billowing in a nonexistent breeze. The mane itself resembled a starry sky, and was topped with an onyx crown.
"Who dares trespass on our fair kingdom?" The pony spoke in a commanding voice in the language of the humans, a language that Weaver like her friends had learned in their time guarding Dalaran before the scourge ever rampaged across the land.
"A better question may be what are you..." The pony said in wary tone.