• Published 14th Feb 2014
  • 4,644 Views, 35 Comments

Twilight Goes to Dalaran - Leila Drake



Twilight Sparkle, the princess mage of Equestria, is stranded on a foreign world. Her hopes lie on a mysterious city in the sky and her new, strange friends.

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Level 6 - A Cold Welcome

Twilight had been right. During the fight they had lost altitude and even though the two orc guards had made it possible to retake the small airship, their captain as well as two other sailors were badly hurt. Without them the rest of the crew was unable to get the Mighty Wind up on their own.

"Sorry", said a goblin sailor whose left arm was in a sling, "but we must land now. We are close enough to the coast so we can make it there before the ship's too low. If you go straight to the north, you should make it to Warsong Hold."

"Hm", said Tak. "If you say so. Do you have a healer?"

"Yes, he's below deck, taking care of the Captain. We'll be fine."

- - -

"We are not going to Warsong Hold", declared Tak.

As they crossed the shallow but icy water, Twilight was glad she could fly and did not have to swim between icebergs.

"Why?" asked the undead. He did not seem to be troubled by the cold as he swam steadily alongside Tak who shivered and threw longing glances at the beach fifty yards ahead.

Tak did not answer until they were out of the water. In his mind he asked the Spirit of Water for mercy – and it answered. A few moments later he and Twilight felt a bit warmer and Tak's armor dried up as if it was nothing. "Ugh. That was close. I could have died if I had to stay in there for much longer..."

"I'm glad you didn't", smiled Twilight. "But back to the question at hoof, Tak, why not Warsong Hold? You told me it was the next Horde settlement."

"It is, but I have a bad feeling about this. The Warsong Hold is an orc fortress and right now things are not looking so good. We might get into trouble if we got there and told them about the zeppelin."

Twilight frowned. "Why? It wasn't our fault, was it? We even managed to" – she gulped – "take out the attackers and make it to the coast. If anything, shouldn't they be grateful that ship and crew are mostly okay?"

"They should", said the undead. "But they won't."

"He's right, Tw- Star Dust. We are not orcs and right now we can't be sure they will take us in. It will be safer for us to go north and east, to the village of Taunka'le. They are distant relatives of my people and will welcome us with open arms and hearts. On top of that, Warsong Hold is still surrounded by Nerub'ar as far as I've heard and nothing is getting me near those wretched spiders if I can help it.

"Thank the sun we still have our supplies and food – and a mage who can conjure up some more of it", he added, winking at Twilight who smiled and nodded.

"That makes sense to me", she said. "What do you think – actually, what's your name?"

The undead hesitated. Then he said slowly, "I don't remember."

Twilight's eyes widened. "I am sorry - I had no idea -"

He shrugged, his shoulders creaking. "Whatever." He started walking but was stopped by Twilight who flew in front of him.

"But we need to call you something", she insisted. "I don't want to have to call a friend 'you' or 'the undead' all the time!"

The undead raised his head, a strange glimmer in his yellow eyes. "You think that I am your friend."

"Wh- of course!", said Twilight. "You saved us! You healed Tak's arm and you are still coming with us. Why would you do that if you were not our friend?"

Tak frowned. "Don't force it, we don't know him-"

"I know what I need to know", stated Twilight.

"I see", said the undead. He scratched the remains of his chin. "Then – you can call me... Priest."

Tak grinned and shook his head. "Now that's not a name, dude. That's your class."

Priest looked at him. "So?"

"Fine", shrugged Tak. "Come on, let us go and find some shelter."

- - -

They followed the coast and after two hours of walking the group was lucky. Ancient ruins were scattered along the beach, some were covered by water, some had fallen apart, but a group of columns still supported a piece of roof. At one side of the stone ruin there was a wall. Twilight felt reminded of the buildings of Cloudsdale. This was probably what they would look like if unicorns wanted to copy their style. Minus the decay.

"The Riplash Ruins", said Tak. "We can rest here. Let's just hope there won't be any naga attacking us."

"Now what are... ugh, nevermind, I don't want to know", sighed Twilight.

She and Priest sat down while Tak gathered some frozen wood that lay on the beach.

"So..., Priest, have you ever been here before?", asked Twilight.

"Yes."

"Ah. Um. Do you like the tundra? Doesn't the cold bother you?"

"No. No."

Twilight sighed, gave up and magicked a scroll out of her bag, followed by a bottle of ink and a quill. She levitated the scroll in front of herself and started scribbling.

When Tak returned, he put the wood down, sat down and closed his eyes. Moments later, sparks that seemed to come from nowhere in particular ignited a fire.

"What are you doing, Star Dust? Is that a map?"

"Uh-huh", said Twilight.

"Don't tell me you are actually keeping a journal."

"Sorry, what? Ah, yes, of course. Everything needs to be documented. What do you call that projectile weapon the goblin had?"

"That's a crossbow. They fire wooden bolts. Are they unknown in the place you are from?"

Twilight raised her eyebrows. "I've seen some pictures in books about the griffin lands but the author called them differently. When we have to fight, ponies prefer weapons that have more than one shot and don't need reloading– or short-range weapons like spears or swords."

"I guess that makes sense", mumbled Tak.

Priest got up and walked away until he stood next to one of the ruins covered by water. Twilight saw him tipping his bony foot into the water and moving it around.

Tak frowned when he saw a shiver run down Twilight's spine. "What's wrong?", he asked.

Twilight shifted uncomfortably and turned to him. "Tak, there is something about Priest that really bothers me but I don't know how to tell him", she confessed.

"What do you mean? He doesn't have to talk if he doesn't want to", said Tak.

"That's not it." She hesitated, then whispered, "He... he smells... really bad. I mean, not just the regular bad but the stomach-turning, awful kind of bad, and I'm so sorry but I don't know if I can take it much longer! I feel so terrible about this because how could I ever tell him without hurting his feelings?"

Tak inhaled but he got interrupted by Priest before he could reply.

"I heard that", said the undead. Twilight spun around. He was standing right next to them.