To be an Alicorn

by Jonuts

Chapter 4

 
Sharon yawned as the movement woke her up, but didn't quite bother to get up, or even open her eyes yet. The past week had been downright weird, but completely worth it, in her opinion at least. To an extent, this is what she joined the guild for. To help people. To have friends. To have work together with others. Kanyssea and Mikey had taken turns helping her out the past week while on stayed and kept on eye on the two ponies, though she did lose out on the opportunity to run down a Titan artifact in Dire Maul, what she originally wanted to get someone from the guild out here for.
 
The gossip around the Feathermoon was that the Shen'dralar, the less friendly Night Elves that still called parts of Dire Maul home, had acquired it before an imp ran off with it and accidentally activated it with fairly explosive results. From what the other adventurer's pieced together, it was supposed to bring a powerful entity from the Twisting Nether, and the Shen'dralar were planning on using it as a battery to fuel their immortality. It was a piece of gossip that none of them dared to share with Twilight, because it didn't take a huge leap of logic to realize that the pony in question was nearly turned into someone's mana battery.
 
Sharon smiled as a large furry leg wrapped around her, because the sleeping arrangements weren't half bad either. It was almost like being back home, sharing a single bed with her two other sisters. Opening her eyes to the moonlit room, Sharon's smile only got larger. It wasn't quite like sharing a bed with her sisters as a kid. After all, none of her sister's were druids that had a habit to sleep as an oversized cat. A small part of her mind wasn't quite sure if she was the cuddly one, or if Kanyssea was the cuddly one. Or maybe Twilight was the cuddly one. Looking down she barely contained her gleeful grin at the Alicorn she was cuddling, who in turn was cuddling the pegasus. Sharon was quite glad that Twilight was a cuddle-buddy, instead of some elf's mana battery.
 
Of the four girls on the bed, Twilight had the largest reservation about their current sleeping arrangements. She was simply unused to sharing a bed. To Kanyssea or Sharon, the bed was large enough to fit six, easy. Maybe eight if they really needed to house extra. It was simply a matter of practicality, as often times there were far more would-be heroes responding to the call for aid, than there were spare beds. In a fit of honesty, Sharon could admit that crowding into a bed with a large cat and two ponies wasn't just practical, it was the sort of stuff a little farm girl's dreams were made of.
 
Kanyssea thought the idea was great, because she could clamp a paw around Rainbow Dash's mouth if she woke up screaming, and that in theory, they might be able to help the poor pegasus get a decent night's sleep which, in turn, meant they could all get a decent nights sleep. The second night hadn't been particularly restful, as the pegasus often woke up screaming, which was quickly followed by a pair of Sentinel's kicking in the door, and because it might be another attack by agents of the Burning Legion, it meant Kanyssea and Sharon came running from their room, and Mikey came running wearing nothing but underwear and a mail shirt he could throw on quickly, which had to be uncomfortable without anything under it.
 
Sharon's solution was simple. Instead of going back to the room she shared with Kanyssea, she stayed with the ponies after the third time it happened that night. One puppy dog eyes moment later, and Kanyssea stayed too. Twilight didn't think much of that idea, but sandwiching the pegasus between a large cat and Twilight really helped calm her down, and Twilight wasn't willing to argue with a Rainbow Dash who was trying to get what comfort she could. Since that night, Sharon and Kanyssea had moved in with the ponies.
 
Closing her eyes, Sharon snuggled in a little closer to the pony and drifted back to sleep, preferring not to dwell on this being the last night she would be doing this. Later today, they would be getting a portal to Darnassus, and that was where their job ended. She knew she'd make an excuse or two to spend more time with the two ponies, but she couldn't put her own life, her own goals, on hold for them.
 

 
Once Rainbow Dash heard the light snoring from Sharon, she again began wiggling out of the pile. Finally getting herself free, she quietly walked out the room.
 
Stepping out her room, Dash gave a nod to the Sentry on duty before making her way downstairs and out the building. She found the sleeping arrangements much better than sleeping on her own, the amount of relief the physical contact gave outweighed the shame at needing it in the first place, but as she physically recovered and the bone deep exhaustion of resurrection sickness faded, sleep came less easily. Being awake, Dash wanted a chance to explore the town without Twilight fussing over her. She couldn't blame Twilight, but it was irritating.
 
A few minutes of wandering, and Dash was beginning to think she hadn't missed much. Not everything was actually closed, as the garrison seemed to never sleep, though it slowed down a great deal. A few of the adventurers she came across gave strange looks, but didn't seem particularly concerned or impressed by her presence. She wasn't sure she blamed them, since after seeing a walking tree, not much seemed very surprising anymore. It made Equestria look downright mundane. It wasn't long before Dash's wandering brought her to the still active forge, and the human currently working it.
 
“Hey, what you up to Mikey?” The Paladin in question looked up from the shield he was working on. He was, as usual, in his full set of gear other than his gauntlets. Barring a few times he came in wearing just a mail shirt, she'd never seen him out of full armor. Even seeing him without gauntlets was strange in it's own way. He even had both his swords, the shorter one on his waist, and the much larger one on his back.
 
“I'm just doing a bit of routine maintenance on some equipment. What got you out of bed this early? It can't be much past three.”
 
“Couldn't sleep.”
 
“I don't think you have a frame of reference for this Dash, but that's utterly insane. No one should get over resurrection sickness this fast. Well, since you're here, I got something for you.”
 
Dash began hovering and curiously looked over his shoulder at what he was working on.
 
“No, it's not this. I don't even know how you would wield a shield, it's something else. I think you're gonna love this.” Mikey motioned her towards the equipment laid out on the ground. Reaching down, he grabbed a piece and tossed it towards her.
 
Catching the piece from the air, Dash looked at it. One side was shaded blue, a pretty good match for her own coat. The other side had some soft padding. It didn't take long to understand what she was looking at. “Armor?”
 
“You're going to need something heavier than that stuff you were wearing. We're not going to be around forever. The only one you can really rely on is Twilight, and the only one she can rely on is you. Kanyssea and Sharon are both rather enamored with you two, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't sympathize with your plight.”
 
“I don't think heavier armor would be of much help for me. Those ogres hit far too hard, even the heaviest pegasi armor Equestria's got wouldn't have helped a single bit against that.”
 
“This isn't the heaviest armor your world has. This isn't even close to the best armor I can make, but it's leagues better than what you had. Trust me. We've been using magical armor for a long while in Azeroth. Just try it on.”
 
“Alright, I'll give it a try.” Dash grimaced at the thought of wearing heavy armor, but she couldn't argue against it. There was nopony else to stand between one of her best friends, and this violent world.
 
“Great. It's going to take a bit of time to put on the first time, as everything is going to have to be fitted and adjusted. Just stand still and I'll get to work.” It was nearly ten minutes before Mikey had the breast plate and back plate on her. The general body shape and her wings made fitting the armor a bit more difficult than he expected.
 
“Be glad Sharon and Kanyssea brow beat me into this. It's way too early for this shit.” It took a few tries to come up with a workable design, since any standard horse armor design wouldn't work for a pegasus, but Mikey was pretty sure his design was workable, even if trying to put it on Rainbow Dash was turning into an unmitigated pain in the ass.
 
“Sharon's the dangerous one. I'm half afraid Twi is going to try and adopt her like a pet.” Rainbow Dash winced and turned to look at Mikey as he roughly handled her wings. “Easy with the wings back there!”
 
“Hey, doing the best I can here. No one's ever done this before! I think. Don't quote me on that one. Some folks have seen and done some weird shit.” Mikey readjusted his grip to make sure he wasn't touching her wings, then began pulling on a few straps to finally secure the armor. “I figured you'd be happy if Twilight took Sharon home. Between the three of you, I can't figure out which is supposed to be the puppy. If Twilight doesn't adopt Sharon as a pet, then she's almost certainly going to try and adopt one of you two as a pet, if not both.”
 
Rainbow Dash smiled. She couldn't deny it. Getting her ears scratched just plain felt good, though she'd probably buck somepony who wasn't Sharon for trying it. Maybe she'd even let Kanyssea and Mikey get away with it since they dragged her and Twilight out of that place, but that was as far as she was willing to show that side of her. They've already seen her at her worst after all.
 
“There you go Dash, got you tucked in nice and tight. How's the fit?”
 
Dash gave herself a shake, before smiling up at Mikey. “Pretty good. Little loose around the flank though. It feels like it barely weighs anything too!”
 
Mikey chuckled. “Give me a minute, I'll see if I can fix it.” Rainbow Dash yawned as she felt Mikey go to work. “Ideally, it should feel weightless for you.”
 
“How would it be weightless? Some sort of magic material?”
 
“Well, it's mainly mithril, so it's fairly light weight for it's strength, but no. The magic imbued in it during creation is what causes it. I'm pretty sure we went over this several days ago.”
 
“You mean when I had a habit of passing out standing up?” Neither mentioned that it was often accompanied by waking up screaming. Mikey figured it would be unnecessarily rude, and Dash didn't want to even think about it.
 
“Yeah. You probably were asleep. Twilight interrogated us for damn near three hours about this stuff. Broadly speaking, there's several magical effects that can be imbued in your equipment. Most folks don't know the actual technical names for them, as I'm not entirely sure they're even pronounceable. Their common names are pretty well known. Strength, Intellect, Agility, and Stamina.”
 
Mikey finished his adjustment and gave Dash a swat on her armored flank. Taking her cue, she shook herself again, before nodding in satisfaction. “So it seems weightless because it made me stronger?”
 
“Pretty much. Don't let the names fool you though. Strength, Agility, and Intellect all make you stronger. Stamina does, well, freaky stuff. You end up surviving blows that should have killed you. It minimizes blood loss, cushion’s impacts, makes your very flesh harder than iron. Well, in theory at least. If I'm in full gear, you're more likely to break your hoof than my face.”
 
“So what's this armor got? Why the different names if they all do the same thing?”
 
“Strength and Stamina. Agility doesn't take too well to heavier armors. They also don't do the 'same' thing. Agility and Strength have the main difference in how well they can be applied to different pieces of equipment, though there are other minor differences. Enough agility, and you can bend in ways that, well, you really shouldn't be able to, and precision hits become a bit easier to pull off. Intellect however, is a wholly different beast. It makes the wearer physically stronger, but not very much so. Not enough to make a difference in a fight against someone with agility or strength gear at least. Mostly, it improves spell casting. The simple version is that it empowers your spell casting, while increasing the amount of mana you can use before exhaustion. Really, these enhancements do a bunch of small things, it isn't really as simple as I made it sound. I'm sure there's a bunch of elven mages rolling in their graves at my explanation of this.”
 
“So...how much stronger and tougher am I?” Mikey smiled at the question, with the kind of smile that made Rainbow Dash uneasy.
 
One sucker punch later, and Mikey was laughing at the poor pegasus. “Honestly, that would have easily knocked you unconscious.” Dash was too busy glaring at him while holding her head with her hooves. She could already feel the swelling beginning. “Here, let me heal that for you.”
 
After the quick flash of light ended and the swelling began going down, Rainbow Dash lashed out with a hoof in her own suck punch, only to have her hoof easily caught in Mikey's grip. “Not too bad. Pretty sure you were hitting the ogres harder than this though. You had to have been if you survived them that long.”
 
Dash just looked away. “I was trying to, you know...but I only wanted to bruise you.”
 
Mikey smiled. “Don’t worry Dashie, I can take it. The question is, do you think you can take me?”
 
“Hey! Name the time and place buster, I’ll take you any day!” Dash punctuated the statement by floating into his face and tapping an armored hoof to his chest.
 
“Excellent! Let’s head a little ways out of town so we don't cause a scene, and give you a test run.” Grabbing the shield he was working on, he slung it on his back over the larger of his two swords, and put his gauntlets back on. Feathermoon Stronghold wasn't particularly large, so after a moment of clean up, and a few minutes of walking, they were on a relatively secluded part of the isle.
 
“We'll start nice and easy Dash, so we can get a feeling of how far we can push each other without doing something that might take more healing than I can do. Go ahead and start attacking me.” While Mikey was sure the experience gap meant he could easily take Dash in a fight, he'd rather play it safe. She was killing ogres in Dire Maul without the benefits of the magical armor he always took for granted. She was probably a great deal more dangerous than she seemed.
 
The first few hoof strikes, he easily deflected with his forearms. They weren’t particularly fast or dangerous. He could have blocked them with his sternum had he wanted. The next few came somewhat faster, but had no better luck. The next strike would have probably knocked him clean out when he first started training. To his current ability, Dash may as well have not even been attacking him.
 
“Need to do a lot better than that!” The next hoof strike came in straight, and he even had to move his head a little to avoid it.
 
“Just getting warmed up!” Dash threw out a few more strings of predictable straight hoof strikes, continually getting faster. The angle kept her from really putting her strength into it, and it was undeniably awkward, but even with those disadvantages, Dash was known for speed. She wanted a good idea of what speed he could keep up with.
 
It only took a couple more strings of attacks before she was attacking fast enough that Mikey could no longer simply parry every strike, and began having to move his body as well to prevent clean hits. That was when Rainbow Dash switched it up from straight jabs with a leading leg to leaving the ground. Without the momentum of flying in, it robbed her of some power, but it opened up far more attack options.
 
The next string came in as a real combo. A jab from floating with her lead right leg, followed by a swinging kick from her back left leg, and as her body twisted in the air, she added in a hard straight shot from her back right leg.
 
Instead of hitting him right in his smug face, Dash found herself caught in his grip, his left hand curled right around her back right hoof. Before she could launch another kick, he swing her leg, and by extension, her, around and let go, throwing her into a tree. Dash simply landed on all four of her legs, and stuck to the side of the tree somehow being held aloft by the movement of her wings.
 
“Good try, but I already know you can do more than jab with your front hooves. You need a much better feint than that if you want to hit me.” Despite his comments, Mikey found himself mildly impressed. He really didn’t expect her to leave the ground, let alone to be able to strike that quickly or powerfully from floating. She was definitely far more dangerous off the ground than on it, in his measured opinion.
 
“Then try this!” Her next charge was met with just as little luck, even as she ramped up the speed. What Mikey didn’t keep from hitting him, hit at poor angles. What little force didn’t bounce off with the armored hooves did next to nothing.
 
“You’re way too direct. You telegraph your attacks, and even if you’re fast, I know where you’re trying to hit me probably before you do. You need more than just speed” Mikey grinned as the pegasus redoubled her efforts. Her attacks didn’t get much faster, but they started coming from several directions as Dash began twisting and spinning on all three axis, often stopping and reversing directions. He would block a descending axe kick only to have to avoid a rising uppercut and a round kick towards his head.
 
Mikey just returned the biggest grin he could as not a single strike managed to land flush. “Not too bad. Now it’s your turn!” Pulling his arm back, Mikey stepped forward and threw a jab. Flinching instead of dodging, Dash took the hit right in her muzzle. Exploiting success, he grabbed her front leg and threw her against another tree.

Twisting in the air, Dash kicked off the tree and renewed her assault, only to stop as she flinched again, taking another punch straight to the muzzle, hard enough to knock her to the ground that time. Walking up, Mikey patted her back a few times on the side as she was spitting blood.

“Trust me, it ain't easy coming back from your first death. Quite a few retire after the first time they take that step. It wasn't easy for me to keep going after the first time. It was in the back of my mind for months, the fear that next time, I won't be brought back. The fear that a necromancer would raise me as a mindless undead, to serve the Lich King.”

Dash looked to the side, refusing to meet his eyes and quietly asked “How did you deal with it?”

“Hate.” Taking a seat on the ground, he wrapped an arm around her. “Hate is the simplest answer. If I give up, if I give in to my fear, I can never kill those that took everything from me. I've seen my friends and family butchered, my home destroyed. I want to restore my home more than I want to live. You however, are all Twilight has. You're both will have to rely on each other. You'll get over this in time, because you have no choice. Enough of that, get up Dash. We got plenty of time to practice.”

 
“Really you two?” Twilight arched an eyebrow at Mikey and Rainbow Dash, while an amused Sharon and Kanyssea watched.
 
“He started it!” Dash pointed an armored hoof at Mikey.
 
“Just throw me right under that wagon. Thanks.” All Mikey's comment got in response was Dash sticking her tongue out at him.
 
“We're supposed to leave in a couple hours! First you made me look everywhere for you, and now here you are, a complete mess!”
 
“Come on Twilight, the blood's gonna scrub out!”
 
“YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE BLOOD TO SCRUB OUT!” Twilight stopped for a moment, and took a deep breath.
 
“Come on Twilight, I'm fine. It was just a sparring match. A little rougher than back home, but Mikey here keeps healing me back up, so it's alright.”
 
Twilight sighed in defeat. “Just be careful. Where did you get that armor though? General Shandris gave me some money, but we can't afford something like that!”
 
“I made it for her. Consider it a gift.” Mikey shot a dirty look at his two companions, though he wasn't as bothered by his 'generosity' as he liked to claim. “Those two talked me into giving you both some real armor. Now that you're up, your turn for a fitting while Rainbow Dash gets cleaned up. We can skip the part where I hit you over and over though, if you'd like.”
 
Twilight opened her mouth to argue, before shutting it with an audible click. It would not only be rude to refuse such a gift, but as little as Twilight liked it, you needed armor if she was going to travel in this world. Banditry, all but unheard of in Equestria, was common here. There were many that would attack anything they saw, from crazed cultists, to wandering undead, to political rivals, not to mention the Burning Legion showing up on occasion. Twilight primary concern was to get herself and Rainbow Dash home, safe and sound. If she could bring back this armor, she may even be able to replicate the enchantments on it. Something Equestria may need if the Burning Legion really has a foothold there.
 
“I don't know if I'll be able to repay you. Thank you. For everything.”
 
“Oh, just come on Twilight! He's giving you armor! I want to see it! Rainbow Dash's armor just looks so awesome!”
 
Twilight cringed, and really wished that Dash wasn't rubbing off on Sharon so much. She feared it was only a matter of time until she too started using 'twenty percent cooler' as a common phrase.
 
Sharon threw an arm around Twilight's neck and began dragging her towards the forge. “I bet your armor is going to be super amazing!” Twilight rolled her eyes and smiled. She would almost swear Pinkie Pie was possessing Sharon to make that statement.
 
“So! Come on Mikey! What'd you make her?”
 
“Armor. I made her armor.”
 
“That's not what I asked, and you know it!”
 
Rainbow Dash came into the conversation. “It can't be as awesome as mine!”
 
Mikey smirked. “Go get cleaned up Dash. I should be about done fitting her by the time you finish up. I'll let you judge which is more awesome later.”
 
“Yea, yea. I'll be back in a few Twilight.” Lifting off the ground, Rainbow dash started flying off before stopping, and turning around. “Uh, how do I take this off?”
 
“You should be able to reach all the latches. Just feel around under the seams with your fingers…oh. Uh. Kanynssea? Can you help her out? I'll have to come up with something she can do with her...hooves...oh, I have no idea how I'm going to do that.”
 
Twilight rolled her eyes. Again. “Dash, land.” As soon as the pegasus touched the ground, Twilight felt all around her with magic, and in a few moments, had her armor off, earning an appreciative whistle from Mikey.
 
“Can you put her armor on that fast? Worst part of wearing the stuff is getting in and out of it.”
 
In not even ten seconds, Twilight had it back on Rainbow Dash. “Sure, that's easy enough.” With one more sweep of her magic, Twilight removed Rainbow Dash's armor and carried it with her, letting the pegasus fly off to go get cleaned up after yelling out a quick thanks.
 
“Hmm. The armor is going to need a redesign eventually, she may have to armor up without help sometime, but that can hold off for a while. Lets get you fitted in your armor.”
 
It only took a little more prodding for Mikey and Sharon to pull Twilight to the forge, while Kanyssea remained 'on guard'. By sunbathing in her cat form.
 
“Your magic is going to make putting this on and taking it off real quick and easy, but let me handle the first time, so I can make sure it's properly fit.” Mikey began laying out pieces of armor around Twilight, all of it colored purple to match her coat.
 
Despite asking asking Twilight to let him handle it the first time, she still helped by holding pieces of armor in place with her telekinesis, and sped the process along. It wasn't even twenty minutes, with occasional bits of small talk thrown in, before Twilight had her armor attached, and properly fitted.
 
“So? How's it feel?”
 
Twilight trotted a quick lap around the forge, finding the armor surprisingly light, and more comfortable than she would have expected. “Not too bad. No chaffing, fits well. It's a bit thicker than Dash's though.”
 
Mikey nodded. “Yup. I made hers first, and taking what I learned there, I found a few places to improve the basic design. I'm also taking advantage of your slightly larger frame. In terms of magical enhancements, the armor is on par with hers, but the armor itself will stop a bit more abuse. This stuff is just mid-grade, but between that and your natural strength, physical and magical, you should be able to survive anything you run into. In alliance territory at least.” Grabbing the last piece, Mikey held up the helmet for Twilight to stick her head into. He didn't like putting a hole in it for her horn, but he didn't have much choice. That meant it would take a bit of care to put it on and take it off. Or perhaps not, he wasn't really certain how tough the horn was.
 
“Looking good Twilight! Not quite as awesome as mine, but I'll let you be seen in public with me.”
 
“Dashie! You're back!” One hug from Sharon later, and Rainbow Dash wasted no time in getting Twilight to put her back in her new armor.
 
“Come on, how cool is this Twilight? This armor is so much better than anything the guard had! Hey, what's yours got?”
 
“She's got a mix of Strength/Stam and Int/Stam gear. I wasn't sure which she wanted to specialize in, so I figured I'd give her a taste of both. Who knows, maybe once you two got some money, you'll buy a new set off me.”
 
Twilight laughed at that. “I'll think about. Hopefully it won't be a problem.”
 
“Catch!” Sharon tossed a pair of soft packages at the two ponies. “It's presents!”
 
“You didn't have to.” Twilight gave a token half-hearted protest.
 
“Of course I didn't have to. If I had to, it wouldn't be a present!” Twilight had no response to this, suspecting that any attempt to argue would be as futile as arguing with Pinkie Pie. Opening her package, Twilight pulled out a beautiful cloak, matching the shade of her mane, while the border matched her mane's highlights with her cutie mark proudly embroidered into the center of it.
 
“Awesome! Uh...how do I put it on?” Dash had her own cloak, light blue with a darker blue border, the same shade as the blue portion of her mane, and her own cutie mark was also prominently in the center. With a few moments of work, Sharon helped them both secure their cloaks at both the back of their necks and their midsection so they didn't drag off to one side.
 
“Dashies gives Strength and Stamina. Twilight's gives Intellect and Stamina. I'm so glad you two like them!” One vigorous group hug later, and she yelled out. “Stop being shy Kanyssea!”
 
Sheepishly, a large cat stepped out of the shadows, surprising both Twilight and Rainbow Dash, since there was no possible way for the shadow to actually hide it. Smugly, Kanyssea dropped a package at both their feet before standing back and giving a toothy grin. Inside the packages were leather harnesses for them to use, with several bags attached to each, as well as plenty of places to attach anything else.
 
Sharon cheered as they opened their last set of gifts as Kanyssea shifted out of her cat form to explain. “The harnesses should give you plenty of options on carrying equipment. Also, the bags are mageweave, so they aren't particularly deep, but they should be plenty. If you need bigger bags, you'll probably be in position to afford them.” One of the other advances this world had compared to Equestria, was the ease with which they could create bags that were larger on the inside than the outside. It would take some fairly powerful magics to do this in Equestria, but here, even people that couldn't nominally use magic could create such a thing, albeit not even close to the scale that could be accomplished with Equestrian magic.
 
Another minute of fiddling with their equipment, and both Rainbow Dash and Twilight had their harnesses on, and properly adjusted. It was unlike anything the three adventurers wore, but their body shape allowed them to carry a great deal more on their bodies before things started getting in the way.
 
“Not that I'm complaining, but you three really didn't have to do all this for us.” Twilight noted.
 
“Oh come on Twilight” Sharon said, “what are friends for, if not mooching off of? Who knows, maybe one day, we'll be the ones who need a helping hand, and we can mooch off you!”
 

 
"RAAAAAAA!" The dragon let loose the full might and fury of his rage, and charged his opponent. His implacable advance would crush anything foolish enough to be in his way. "Oof!" Or the dragon would bounce off the orange Earth Pony. Again.
 
"Give it up Spike. I ain't budging, and that's final!"
 
"She was my sister Applejack! My mother! My best friend! I'm not going to just sit here after losing her!" Spike picked himself back up from the ground. He wasn't going to be stopped that easily. He was a dragon! Maybe a baby dragon, but a bucking dragon! The Burning Legion took his family from him, and he couldn't just hide away from them. He was never too sure what Twilight was to him, but he knew he loved her. He knew she was family.
 
"If you can't even push your way past me Spike, then what use would you be? When Twilight comes home, I ain't telling her I let you run off and get yourself killed!" The deal was, if Spike could push past Applejack, then she wouldn't stop him from enlisting.
 
“And I'm not going to just sit here! I'm a dragon, I can fight!” Before spike could charge again, Fluttershy wrapped her hooves around him.

“Spike, please don't. Please don't go.”

Applejack shook her head with a sigh. “I know you ain't stupid Spike. Even you can see that every time the guards send ponies out, fewer return. It's too dangerous. If you want to help, you can help Rarity prepare winter clothing and blankets for everypony that lost their homes, or help Pinkie cook for the camp. You don't have to join the guard!”

“We just don't want to lose you Spike. You're just a baby dragon.”

“STOP TREATING ME LIKE A CHILD!” With a roar, Spike shook off Fluttershy, and bowled over an unprepared AppleJack, before making a run for it.

“Consarnit.”
 

 
Doomguard Kazziz, the Legion commander now in charge of razing this pitiful world as everything above him on this world had been killed or captured, grimaced at the maps. This foolish 'Unicorn Council' started too soon. Had they waited even two weeks, the Legion would have had the foothold necessary, instead of their troops being widely spread amongst several areas. As it was, the Legion's tenuous foothold on this planet was slipping from his grasp. This Crystal Empire destroyed any demons that dared march on it without even deigning to notice they were under siege, protected by powerful magics well beyond his ability to handle.
 
To the south, dragons. Innumerable dragons, unlike any the Legion had ever faced before. Their resistance to corruption was too great to overcome. At least, with his resources. Yet, they were utterly unlike any dragon flights the Legion encountered before. They didn't seem to actually have flights. Dread Lord Narzethium thought he could enslave a few, and only died for his troubles, while leading a group of angry dragons to one of the few Forge Camps the Legion had set up on this miserable world.
 
Sharing terrain with the dragons were a race of shape shifters. Dread Lord Velo'thas sought to 'entice' them, having heard of their conflict with Equestria. Dread Lord Velo'thas was no longer here to lead, have suffered the indignity of being captured by the Shape Shifters. What forces he had in the south were heavily engaged with the creatures as a result. The Legion was steadily pushing them back, grinding them away, but it was too heavy of a diversion of what little he had. It would be weeks before he had the portals needed to pull through more than cannon fodder!
 
To the center was the Forest of Nightmares! The very forest itself fought the Legion, every step of the way. Dread Lord Sulthanis himself led a force through it, to strike down these 'Elements of Harmony', yet never made it to the little pissant town they called home! He did however, burn out the heart of the forest. A course of action that only made the forest angry as monstrous black vines began sprouting. It would take more than Kazziz could mobilize to get anything through that forest now.

Attempts to circumvent the forest of Nightmares have led to conflicts with Diamond Dogs, a subterranean species noted for their digging abilities. Despite the constant hit and run ambushes, it was only a matter of time until the beasts fell before the Legion, if he didn't run out of troops first.

To the west side of the map where archipelago's belonging to the Griffon Empire. He wasn't particularly impressed with their martial ability, but they had enough scouts to prevent him from doing anything about them with what little he had.

He didn't have enough of the local unicorns to summon meaningful numbers, leaving his only options as hide, or to take prisoners that could be used as sacrifices. It was a cruel smile he gave as he took note of potential villages. Hiding was overrated, there was a planet to be consumed.

It wasn't often that Twilight got to look down at someone. Not in this world at least. This mage currently opening the portal that would take them to Darnassus however, was a gnome. It was a close thing, but Twilight did stand slightly taller.

“Boring. How long is this gonna take?”

Twilight shot a dirty look at Rainbow Dash, but Mikey answered. “It takes a few minutes to get a temporary portal set up. It's also fairly expensive to get the reagents, so do try and not bother the mage while he's casting.”

It was only a couple of minutes later that the portal came into existence. It was like an open window to another city. Looking through, Twilight could see hundreds of people walking around. Most were Night elves, though the other races of the Alliance were present as well.

“Alright, everyone through. I'm paid by the portal, not by the hour.”

Taking a breath, Twilight stepped through after Mikey and Sharon entered the portal. Unlike teleportation, there was no sensation of movement. There was no instant of not existing. For all the magical effects she felt, she may as well have walked through an open doorway. Dash and Kanyssea brought up the rear, while the mage stepped through as well.

“Fizz Cogsworth at your service. Keep me in mind for all your portal needs! For now, duty calls!” The gnome mage began casting another spell, a personal teleport instead of a portal, and in a few seconds disappeared.

“Is that normal for getting a portal?” Rainbow Dash asked.

Mikey nodded. “Yup. Skilled mages can make decent coin porting parties around. One of the safer ways to make money too. Anyways, lets get you two to the Temple of the Moon. I don't think Tyrande is going to let us sit in on her meeting with you, but we can at least get you there.” Raising an arm, Mikey pointed to the Temple. “That's the temple, just across the bridge.”

Hesitantly, Twilight followed behind Mikey. Her hesitation didn't go unnoticed by everyone else.

“Feeling nervous?” Twilight nodded at Sharon's question. The crowd didn't help much, but it paled in comparison to the prospect of meeting a head of state, as well as the leader of the local religion. For being a Princess, Twilight had rarely engaged in actual diplomacy, and wasn't too eager to have to do so. Even now, she still thought of herself as a student of magic first and foremost. Equestria nearly ran itself, so her contributions to the political process were non-existent. Foreign diplomacy wasn't her job as princess, that falling on Celestia's shoulders on the rare occasion a matter came up. As a Princess, Twilight had two main jobs. Show her face on sufficiently important occasions so as to not offer insult by her absence, and to live as a paragon of one of Equestria's virtues, a shining example for all Equestria, which she found the much more important and satisfying royal duty. That unfortunately left her feeling unprepared for this upcoming meeting.

“Relax Twilight.” Mikey looked over his shoulder at the nervous pony. “Can't say I have any worthwhile advice here, but the Night Elves seem to like you. You'll be alright.”

“That's one of the things that worries me. Why do they like us?” Her question was only met with silence.

Twilight wasn't the only one nervous. She may not have shown it, and she certainly didn't dwell on it the way Twilight did. The nervousness here paled in comparison to what she felt when she had to hold the line against Archimonde's implacable advance just a few years past. It was nothing compared to what it took to gather and lead her people after the sundering, or to stand the long vigil.

Unlike all that however, it was something new. Something Tyrande had never had to do before. She had dealt with Elune, she had lived and learned amongst Elune's children. What she had never done before however, was greet one of her peers, an Eternal. What some would call a god, or others would call a demi-god. Not that such a title truly meant much. There were many entities that one would call a 'god', and many more that had been killed. Few were truly worthy of the title, such as Elune, or as much as as she hated to admit it, the Old Gods whom even the Titan's couldn't destroy.

This 'Alicorn' however, unlike every other Eternal, was neither in hiding from the mortal world, nor aligned. Her mission from Elune herself, was to ensure that if the newest Eternal in Azeroth wasn't allied with the Kaldorei, then she was at a minimum, not hostile nor aligned with her enemies. Neither Elune, nor Shandris, were of the opinion that she would be hostile, yet she had enough sentinels present to end her threat the moment it begins.

“My lady, they have arrived.”

“Treat them with the utmost courtesy. The pegasus” She found the word strange, “is her guardian. If she is armed, permit her to keep her arms.” The instructions weren't really necessary. Her personal guards knew exactly what this was about, and everyone present had already been instructed on what to expect. That Twilight was an Eternal wasn't general knowledge, and hopefully, it would centuries before it was. The sentinels present here, her own personal guard, were the only Kaldorei other than her that were aware. Other Eternals were likely aware, and their closest followers may be aware as well for the same reason she was. It was unlikely any of them would see such valuable information spread carelessly.

Unfortunately, the secrecy in which she must operate prevented her from asking important questions. Such as what exactly is Rainbow Dash to Twilight Sparkle? A simple guard? Her priestess? Her Paladin? Her High Priestess? What information she had merely said “guard”, but an Eternal walking the mortal world wouldn't advertise herself lightly. Especially one fleeing the Burning Legion, which seemed the most likely explanation for their appearance. She was fairly certain no Eternal would find herself in Azeroth by accident! It was a curious situation, to strike a balance between not offering insult to a high priestess or perhaps her equivalent of a High Paladin, while still treating her as a guard on the off chance that's what she actually was.

Walking to the balcony that provided her with an excellent view of the entrance, she watched her guests walk in. Twilight Sparkle, the purple Alicorn, walked in first looking every inch a warrior. Her purple armor and cape looked new, so she took excellent care of her equipment. Her helmet was hanging from side from a harness. There was ample room for weapons, yet she had none to be found. Immediately behind her and to her left was Rainbow Dash, the blue pegasus. Again, the equipment looked brand new, meaning it was excellently cared for. It remained to be seen if it was ceremonial in nature, or meant for actual use. She was completely unarmed as well. Perhaps their weapons weren't on the harnesses? Surely no Eternal would bring guards with them and leave them unarmed!

Two humans and another Kaldorei also walked in behind. She knew that the adventurer's that 'found' them were hired to supplement her guard, but she had expected that relationship to end by now. Perhaps they had become friends? The five of them shared a few words before one of the humans, the young woman, hugged the two. Tyrande made a mental note to keep on eye on those three. They were certainly closer than mere hired adventurers. If Twilight proved a problem that needed to be removed, those three may need to be dealt with as well. Optimistically, if Twilight wasn't a problem, she could see to it that the three adventurers were allowed to accompany Twilight, if she so wished it. For now however, the sentinels turned the three away.

The captain of her guard introduced herself, and began leading them up the ramp that circled the temple and lead to her balcony. The two followed, both apparently enjoying the beautiful temple's décor. Neither seemed particularly bothered by the present sentinels, and seemed to be engaging her Captain in small talk. A good sign. Her Captain was ever courteous, and seemed to be responding. Both the ponies seemed please with that.

She continued following their progress, before returning to the center of her balcony before her guests arrived. A more private meeting was likely to follow, but for now, it seemed best to meet them here, overlooking the temple proper. It was barely a minute before they were close enough for her to hear their quiet conversation.

“Don't you dare introduce her as that! Be serious Rainbow Dash!”

“Come on Twi! You ruin all my fun.”

“We're visiting a head of state, take this seriously Dash!”

“Ugh. Fine, Element of Loyalty. Next time Twi, I'm totally being introduced as the Amazing Ultra Mare!”

The group entered her field of view just in time to see Twilight bring a hoof to her face. To talk to an Eternal in such a way, Rainbow Dash was no mere guard, that was for certain. Element of Loyalty? Tyrande was unsure as to what that was, but it was certainly important.

Her guard captain stepped forward while the two ponies held back a few paces. Dropping to a knee, the captain saluted by bring her right fist to her chest. “My Lady, presenting Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Equestria, Element of Magic, and her guardian, Rainbow Dash, Element of Loyalty.” Both the ponies did an approximation of a bow when introduced, lowering the front of their bodies and raising their left front hooves. Twilight's bow was shallower, a courtesy to a peer. Rainbow Dash's was much deeper, as though bowing to royalty.

Tyrande returned the salute. “Thank you Captain.” Looking to her two guests, Tyrande returned the bow to 'Princess' Twilight, and nodded her head to Rainbow Dash. Both seemed quite satisfied with the display of formalities. “I am Tyrande, High Priestess of Elune, leader of the Kaldorei. I welcome you to Darnassus, and to the Temple of the Moon on behalf of Elune.”

“Thank you for the welcome High Priestess. To what do we owe the pleasure of this invitation?”

“Princess Twilight, I would like to know your intentions on Azeroth.”

The two ponies shared a quick look. “We are uncertain as to how we arrived here. My only intention is to get us home. I'm afraid that our home is under attack by the Burning Legion, and I mean to help defend it.”

While Tyrande wouldn't believe an Eternal accidentally banished herself to Azeroth, enemy action was more believable. Yet why to Azeroth, of all places? A world that had resisted the Legion time and again. It would be foolish for the Legion to banish an obstacle here. Tyrande could just send the ponies on their way. Opening a bridge between worlds wasn't particularly 'easy', but it was simple. To merely send two to another world, a competent mage would have the technical knowledge. Certainly, without an anchor stone such as what the major cities in Azeroth had to allow portals, it would take far too much power for a simple mage. Even Medivh had to build a massive structure to house the Dark Portal that allowed the Horde to invade. For an Eternal however, it should be simple to move just two beings. Maybe a few weeks worth of setup.

“My apologies Princess Twilight, but Elune is understandably uneasy about a new Eternal coming to Azeroth. If all you wish is to return home, we can of course provide some assistance.”

This time it was the guard, Rainbow Dash, that spoke up. “Um, what's an Eternal?”

“You may use a different a word in your language. Eternal's are Immortal beings who are conduits for divine power, and most have existed since creation. Many empower their worshipers. The goddess Elune is an Eternal, and it through her power that Elune's priestess's cast their holy magic.”

“Huh.” Rainbow looked to a stunned Twilight. “Did she just say you're a goddess?”

“WHAT!?!?” Twilight's eyes rolled to the back of her head as she fainted.