Azeroth's Skies

by TerrabreakerX

A Friend in Need

It had been a while, but Twilight knew this feeling. The blinding flash; the sudden loss of sensation, the near (but not quite) immediate return of sensation, and the painful impact of one's body on grass, snow or stone after a hastily cast spell...

Yes - she knew the feeling of teleportation well.

Getting to her feet, Twilight took in the sight of her friends scattered across a familiar clearing, distinguished from any other part of the forest by a couple of stone blocks that had - somehow - found their way there from the nearby ruins. Emmy's hasty spell had set them back by about half an hour, but fortunately - some nausea from their abrupt eviction from the beach aside - that was about the worst of its effects. They were all together and accounted for, at least.

The mage opened her mouth to ask a general "Is everyone okay?", before realising that to do so would be foolish.

Not everyone was okay.

Applejack!

"I need some help over here!" Pinkie was already up and working, running her healing hands above Applejack's wounds. Rainbow snapped out of her daze and rushed over to assist.

The rest of the group - save one - came and stood over them. Anxious, wanting to help, but uncertain how they could.

Applejack was unconscious, her breathing ragged, her blood still staining the snow even as her wounds shrank beneath her friends' light. The drake's swipe had crushed her breastplate, now clearly beyond repair, against the right side of her body.

"Should we take it off her?"

"Please - but be careful."

Out of the corner of her eye, Twilight spotted Memoria, standing apart from the group, her disinterest obvious.

She looked to Pinkie for a verdict and was equal-parts relieved and worried by what she received in return. Relieved, that her friend wasn't panicking... worried by the atypical frown of concern written across a normally upbeat face.

"We can keep her from getting any worse, but not forever," Pinkie said. "We need help."

Rainbow said nothing, but Twilight could see the extent to which she was concentrating from the beads of sweat already dripping from her forehead. Healing didn't come as naturally for her as it did for Pinkie, but she was determined to do her part, all the same.

And help would only be found in one place.

"We'll have to carry her, but the distance we are from Star's Rest—"

Memoria uttered a rasping sigh, loud enough to interrupt and draw their attention. She shook her head and snapped her fingers. A shadowy portal erupted from the ground, and an unholy steed cantered out. It looked almost identical to the one that Valdrana had summoned a few days before; side-by-side, they would have been hard-pressed to tell the difference.

It came to a stop before them, and Memoria said, "Put her on my deathcharger and return to the camp. It'll obey you, for now. You can heal her while you go."

It was an oddly compassionate act, marred only by the gruesome nature of her offering. "Memoria - thank you, I—" Twilight began, as Rainbow and Rarity awkwardly helped Applejack up atop the saddle with only a little hesitation, but Memoria was already walking away in the direction of the beach. "W-wait - where are you going?"

Memoria paused, her helmet shifting with a metallic creak to match the tilt of her head. "Where do you think? I'm going back to retrieve my other runeblade, and then I'm going to finish the job."

The dark implication laced inside her words hung in the air like a curse.

"Wait—" Twilight repeated, but the death knight had reached the limit of her patience. Without another word, she was off again, disappearing into the trees at a brisk pace. The clank of her armour and the crunch of her armoured greaves on the snow swiftly faded, leaving only Applejack's strained, difficult breathing in the otherwise quiet clearing.

...she's going to kill Emmy...

The rest of the group had finished securing Applejack. "Twilight, we gotta go," Pinkie urged.

...but Applejack, and my friends...

...maybe Memoria would fail. Maybe Emmy and the blue flight would get the best of her... and she would die on that grim, grey beach. Did the death knight's condition mean that it was okay to abandon her to her bloodlust? After everything that had happened, could Twilight simply wash her hands of it all, and leave she who had once been Derpy Hooves to her fate?

Fifteen uncomfortable seconds passed, as Twilight grappled with the choice she had to make.

Fifteen uncomfortable seconds and she'd made her choice.

"Everyone, you need to take Applejack back to Star's Rest as quickly and as safely as you can." She threw her compass over to Rarity, who caught it in one hand. "Keep heading north to rejoin the road, and follow it back to the camp."

She turned away, unable to look them in the eyes. "I'm sorry, but I have to save her. I have to save them.

And so she went, breaking into as fast a run as her tired legs would permit.

She heard her friends cry out, "Twilight, wait—" and "No, stop!", but her path was set.

Not that her mind was. Am I doing the right thing here? Is there a right thing to do in this situation?

One of my best friends is gravely injured, and I'm... running away.

But if I don't...

Clutching her staff tight, she darted through the trees, blinking through every open clearing to make up for Memoria's headstart.

It bought her a little distance from her friends, made it easier to take each step... emotionally, at least. She was wearing sensible footwear for their environment, and her physical fitness had improved - but not to the extent that it was easy to run through a forest in the snow.

She was so focused on catching up to Memoria that she didn't notice that Fluttershy was tailing her, right up until the lilac-haired woman was beside her. It didn't help that Fluttershy was moving almost without making a sound, despite her mail armour - a trait that she had managed to perfect throughout their time in the tundra.

"Fluttershy?!"

"I'm coming with you."

Twilight had expected protests from her friends, had expected having to apologise to them later for her recklessness... her selfishness. Assuming she made it out of the situation at all. She hadn't expected this.

"But - the others—"

"They should be okay getting back to the camp," Fluttershy said. "They have Rarity to protect them while they heal Applejack; they're on the main road, and it isn't a terribly long journey. It isn't safe for you to do this alone."

"I won't be alone. Memoria—" The frown that Twilight received from her friend - a look that could be best described as 'withering' - stopped that sentence in its tracks. It wasn't quite "The Stare", but it wasn't far off.

"You can't do this alone. You need me. So I'm going with you."

Words. She needed words to convince Fluttershy to turn around and go with the others - to help her friend understand that Twilight had to brave the beach again by herself.

I can't put anyone else at...

...risk.

Fluttershy had been putting the safety of others above her own since they had arrived in Northrend: pushing far ahead of the group, braving the unknown, scouting their path.

Alone.

Because it was easier. Because losing one was better than losing six.

Because losing yourself was better than losing someone else.

The same way Twilight had thought just now, running off alone...

...had to be how Fluttershy had been feeling too. Even more so, because of what - of who - she had already lost.

The realisation struck her harder than her friend's harsh stare had, moments before. It felt much worse that it had taken her so long to figure it out - how much she had inadvertently neglected her friend.

She'd taken Fluttershy's actions in Northrend - keeping herself to herself, scouting ahead - as an indication that she'd needed space after Wilder's death: an extension of her behaviour in Stormwind. She'd tried to given her the distance she thought she'd needed. She'd realised before that that hadn't been the right approach... but even the last few weeks at Star's Rest, when she'd tried to speak to her - tried to understand... she hadn't pressed too hard in doing so, fearing that doing so would push her friend further away. Her duties had got in the way.

There had always been excuses.

She'd thought she'd understood before. Maybe she still didn't have the full of it, even now. But...

There were too many things Twilight wanted to say. Too many feelings she wanted to express. Her sorrow for what Fluttershy had to have been going through. Her wish that they had talked about this sooner. Her shame at being too preoccupied with the platoon to focus on her friend - on all her friends. Her gratitude for how all of them, how Fluttershy had stuck by her, even so.

There were too many words - even if they weren't the ones she'd thought she wanted at first - but not nearly enough time.

So, for now, two would have to suffice.

"Thank you," she replied, and they forged on together through the forest, chasing after former friends.

---

Memoria heard them hurrying to catch up. She looked back but didn't break her stride.

"If you think you can make me go back with you instead of getting back to the beach, you're wrong."

"I'm not going to stop you from going to the beach," Twilight replied, "I'm going to stop you from killing Emmy."

"Who?"

"The captain. She was my friend, back at the Mage Tower in Stormwind."

"Then your friend is a traitor."

"We don't know that for sure—"

"She was trying to kill your friends!"

"—but she didn't actually hurt anyone! She may just be acting! Something about our conversation didn't sit right with me. I think she's being coerced, or something else is happening. I need to find out what's going on."

"What are you even going to do? Just stroll past all her guards and ask her?"

Twilight looked down. "I don't really... know," she reluctantly admitted. "But I can't let you kill her."

She hated, hated that that was all her plan for this situation boiled down to... what all her plans had boiled down to since the ambush in the Tundra, or even since they'd first arrived in Azeroth. Sure, she'd started strong; trying to get accustomed to a strange new land, trying to learn Azerothian magic and earn the trust and attention of someone who could help. As awful as the Deadmines had been, for all the harm it did to Fluttershy... to me... at least the events had furthered that goal by increasing their renown as a group.

I was so pleased when I received the summons from the king. Now, stuck out here in this frozen forest, do I even have a plan for getting home anymore?

At Star's Rest, their surroundings and her specific duties precluded anything like the kind of planning she'd love to indulge in back in Ponyville. Time for thinking to such a scale was a luxury she couldn't really afford: not when the precarious position of the camp was considered. And outside of the camp - well, her plan for this patrol hadn't involved stumbling on an unexpected hostile outpost, falling down a cliff or the bloodshed that had followed.

It certainly hadn't accounted for Applejack getting so badly hurt.

She knew that she should have better prepared for all of those things, and it was a failing - on her part - that she hadn't. She still wasn't used to this world - where the surprises that lay around every corner were on the wrong side of deadly, more often than not. Where you might have to choose between ensuring the safety of someone so very close to you... and trying to stop one former friend from killing another.

A former friend whose helmeted gaze radiated contempt. "Hmph," the death knight grunted, and turned her attention to Fluttershy. "And you? What's your interest in this?"

"I'm here to help Twilight," she replied. "That's all."

Memoria shrugged, either in acceptance or resignation, and turned to go once again. "Do what you want, but even if you don't have a plan, you know what mine is. I won't be responsible for whatever happens down there, beyond retrieving my weapon and her life coming to an end."

And with that chilling thought, their journey resumed.

They walked the rest of the way in silence. Twilight, contemplating the uncomfortable possibility that she might have to fight Emmy to subdue her... and fight Memoria to save Emmy. Memoria, preferring silence over any banal conversation. Fluttershy, not one for saying much of anything, these days.

Memoria set the pace at a brisk stride. If not for her armour encumbering her, Twilight and Fluttershy wouldn't have been able to keep up. They managed, but it was still a hard slog.

They made it back to the cliffside in good time, peaked over the ridge—

—and there Emmy was. Still on the beach - if a little further away - she was stood by a stone gateway, built into a platform on the sand, speaking to one of her subordinates. They couldn't make out any of what was being said, but the conversation was hasty. Desperate.

And then it was over, and Emmy walked away, towards the stone gateway. She raised her hand, and a portal flared into existence. A moment's pause, a glance behind her, then she stepped inside and disappeared.

But the portal remained active, pulsing with eldritch light. Ten seconds... thirty.

"It's still open," Twilight acknowledged. "She might be alone in there. Maybe we can get inside."

"...she might have more guards in there," Fluttershy pointed out.

Memoria shrugged. "Doesn't make a difference to me."

"It might be an opportunity to talk to her, if she's keeping up an act," Twilight pressed.

Memoria turned her head to regard Twilight fully, and the mage had the distinct impression that she was glowering underneath her helm. "The rank-and-file mages provide precious little sport, and your 'friend' has caused me enough bother today. I will be taking her head, Twilight."

"I won't let you kill her," Twilight repeated, as firmly as she could.

That's my plan, and I'm sticking to it.

"Try and stop me," the death knight said, and then she was up and over the lip of the cliff, sliding gracefully down the side. Twilight and Fluttershy hurried to follow her, albeit via less precipitous route than the one they had taken last time.

"If it comes to it," Fluttershy asked quietly, as they made their way down, "do you think we can stop her?"

Twilight had no reply.

Did she think that they could delay, or restrain Memoria temporarily?

The answer to that would have been yes - she knew so from experience. Memoria could be surprised by her surroundings, as Fluttershy herself had proved using her traps in Tundra, and Emmy had shown that the death knight could be vulnerable to incapacitating magic too if caught off-guard.

Did she think that they could stop her?

Some answers were better left unsaid.

By the time they caught up with Memoria, she had retrieved her lost runeblade and was inspecting its condition. Satisfied that all was in order, she sheathed both swords and turned to them as they approached. "There are fewer bodies around than when we were here earlier," she said, gesturing around at the fallen mage-hunters, and it was clear that she was right. "It looks like they retrieved their wounded, but left their dead in the sand. Sloppy of them, to leave it all unguarded."

"Maybe there's nobody left other than the ones we saw a moment ago?" Twilight suggested.

"I doubt it. The ruins are probably crawling with them."

They made their way towards the gateway across the empty beach, sticking closely to the ground that the mage-hunters had been excavating, staining their boots - and Twilight's long robes - with fresh grey muck.

It took them little time to reach the gateway. Still active. Still unguarded.

Well, mostly.

An arcane bolt exploded above, a wave of force cascading just shy of their heads. Twilight and Fluttershy ducked down reflexively - Memoria merely looked up at the source.

"The death knight has returned!" One of the mage-hunters had turned back at the top of the hill, spotted them by the active portal below and had tossed a hasty bolt. "Call for reinforcements! Call for—" His last words died in his throat as he collapsed, drowning in frost.

"Should've fled while you had the chance," Memoria hissed, turning her back contemptuously on her victim, starting towards the gate. "And now—"

Six more mage-hunters appeared at the ridge above, drawn by the commotion. They saw their comrade dead, saw three foes standing by the portal, and hastened down towards the beach, casting defensive spells and shouting for more help as they went.

The death knight paused, clearly weighing up the choice of hunting Emmy through the portal, or the opportunity of an immediate fight.

Despite her earlier words to Twilight bemoaning the lack of a challenge, expressing a single-minded desire for Emmy... she chose the latter. Runeblades raised high, she charged towards the oncoming mages with a reaver's roar.

Grateful for the distraction - and keen not to think about the grim fate that awaited the mage-hunters - Twilight hurried for the yawning purple gateway... then stopped, and looked around as she realised that Fluttershy wasn't right behind her.

"Go, Twilight!" Fluttershy urged as she set a trap across the path leading towards them. "We both that Memoria will follow you in soon... so when she does, I'll protect the gate."

"Fluttershy—"

"Don't worry; I'll be okay!"

"But—"

"GO!"

"...thank you."

Those two words, again.

Throwing caution to the wind, Twilight took a deep breath and stepped through the portal.

---

Emmy stood in the centre of the platform, hood down, her short blonde hair exposed. She had one hand raised towards an object in the middle of the space - a cerulean orb sitting on silver struts that kept it suspended a little distance off the platform - and she was doing something with it.

And she was alone.

Was she conducting maintenance on the orb? Twilight couldn't be sure without examining the object up close.

She crept forward on tiptoes, keeping her staff raised off the ground, hoping that Emmy's concentration would stay fixed on the orb. It was tempting to shout, get the other mage's attention from the start, and maybe build some trust that way...

...but something held her back. She didn't want to believe that Emmy was truly beholden to the Blue Dragonflight, but she couldn't rule out that her words before had been honest, either. She suspected that further the distance between them, the greater the advantage Emmy would have if it did come to a fight.

So, slowly but surely, Twilight closed the gap.

And when the inevitable happened, she was ready for it.

Emmy heard her at a distance of thirty yards. She whirled around, pooling energy to hurl her arcane chains—

—and staggered, as a counterspell shattered her focus.

Twilight gave her the time she needed to recover. She could have capitalised on the opportunity: maybe could have hit Emmy with an arcane blast, or tried to turn the other mage into a sheep for a minute - a spell that she'd not had much chance to practice against the undead in Northrend, but was fairly confident she could pull off successfully.

But she chose not to. Instead, as Emmy stopped clutching her head and looked up, Twilight said, "Please - I just want to talk."

Building trust.

Neither anger nor malice marred Emmy's pretty face, but there was fear in her eyes. Fear and shame. "Twilight—"

"You said I wouldn't understand before... but I want to. So help me, please."

"I..."

Twilight edged a little closer, an action which elicited no response. Emboldened, she continued, taking a step with each breath. "Here's what I think. You weren't trying to hurt us on the beach. You didn't hit us with a single spell - you didn't cast anything that I couldn't stop, or Memoria couldn't handle."

The fear in Emmy's mossy green eyes grew deeper. "Your friend - she was savaged."

An image of horror, as she recalled the drake's attack hammering deep into Applejack's armour. A pang of guilt, as she knew that she'd walked away from her friend.

To save another.

"She'll be fine." A statement of hope more than a statement of fact, but she felt it was what Emmy needed right now, and Twilight took heart in the relieved breath she saw the other mage exhale.

"What you said before was just for show, wasn't it? To convince the drake of your loyalty, but... are they threatening you? Blackmailing you?"

Emmy flinched as Twilight raised her staff high, the inlaid tigerseye tip glinting against the void, then relaxed as she realised that the gesture hadn't been meant as a threatening one. As much as it was a weapon, it was also a symbol of their friendship.

"Please, Emmy. We're friends. Tell me what's going on - help me understand."

Only a small nod in return, but one that meant the world.

"I was... captured by the blue flight, heading north out of Valiance Keep. My guards were slaughtered, but they knew who I was. Insisted that I serve them as a mage-hunter."

Please, if you ever happen to meet her on those frozen plains… make sure she stays safe. Those had been Archmage Malin's words about Emmy to Twilight before she'd left for Northrend. Had she made it sooner, had she asked around - would there have been anything she could have done?

"I tried to refuse... tried to resist," Emmy continued, her eyes spilling over from hitherto repressed trauma. "But, they knew who I was. Who my father was. They told me that if I refused, they'd never stop hunting him; that Malygos would make an example of him, once the Nexus war came to an end. The things they said he would do... and so, I made my choice."

Discord, Sombra, Chrysalis - if they had held her parents hostage, during one of their mad schemes, and insisted that Twilight act at their beck and call... would she have done any different?

She didn't know. Never wanted to know.

"I've done terrible things these last few months. I've hurt people, enslaved other mages... but I've tried to sabotage the blue flight, too. Disrupt them from the inside. And this focus," she gestured at the orb behind her, "This was to be my parting 'gift'."

'Parting', as in she did not expect to survive.

Ten yards were all that separated them now.

"I want to help. Show me what you've done, and we can do this together," Twilight said, and then asserted, "We can get out of this, together."

Stopping the blue flight's work would be an excellent bonus, but she was here to save Emmy.

"...together?" Emmy asked, confused. "After all I've done..."

Twilight nodded. She couldn't - wouldn't - judge the other mage for her deeds, good or bad. Maybe someone would, later - but not here; not now, not Twilight. As far as she could tell, Emmy was still the person she'd known before, and that - and her intent for the future - mattered the most right now.

"You're my friend. I won't abandon you here. And it's never too late to make things right."

She stretched out her free hand.

---

Emmy took a deep breath. She went to step forward, reaching out a trembling hand—

—and then her eyes shot wide, and the colour drained from her face.

"No—" she managed, then fell to the ground with a crunch, wrapped in chains of ice - a cruel parody of the arcane bonds she had previously used to snare Memoria.

Knowing she would find the death knight behind her, Twilight span around on the spot. "Wait—"

—was all she could say before she too fell down, clutching her throat. She fought against the pain of Memoria's dark spell crushing the air of her lungs; struggled for each gasping breath, as the death knight pushed past her, heading straight for Emmy.

Try and stop me.

That had been Memoria's challenge, hadn't it?

"Don't worry. I'll make this quick," she promised, looming over Emmy with murderous intent.

"You've led me on a merry dance today, captain. I'll give you that much." Was that grudging respect in Memoria's helm-twisted voice... or simply frustration? "But it ends here and now."

Memoria's blades went up. Emmy, shivering against her chains, desperate and defenceless on the ground...

"She..." Twilight choked out with all her strength, "on... our side!"

Emmy screamed as the blades came down. Still stricken - still fighting - Twilight couldn't help but look away, unable to bear the sight.

The scream stopped, and there was silence.

But there was no gut-wrenching sound of sword-on-flesh, no splatter of blood on stone... and Emmy's stressed, haggard breathing continued.

Twilight dared to look up and found that Memoria had stopped short, her weapons an inch away from Emmy's neck.

The death knight swapped her gaze between Twilight and Emmy. "Explain," she demanded.

With Twilight still clutching at her throat, it fell to Emmy to do so. She swallowed nervously. Steadying herself against the effect that her almost-demise had had on her breathing, she began, "T-this orb is an arcane f-focus. It channels ambient arcane energy from various rifts that the Blue Dragonflight has opened to power the surge needles above Moonrest Gardens, which are, in turn, redirecting the flow of the leylines here towards the Nexus.

"I've been secretly manipulating it since I got here, weeks ago; introducing weaknesses, subverting the arcane flow, reducing the output. I've been slowing our - their - operations down significantly."

"You were sabotaging them?"

"Yes! After you all appeared on the beach and I sent you away, I knew I wouldn't have much time... I was trying to finish the job when Twilight found me."

Perhaps now that Memoria had sated her hunger and frustrations outside, she'd be amenable to reason.

"Lies!" the death knight snapped, and drew her blade up again, the slightest impulse away from bringing it back down. "You expect me to believe that your masters failed to notice this? You're lying to save yourself, now that I have you at my feet!"

Perhaps not.

"Twilight!" Emmy yelped. Memoria's chains dropped away - perhaps they were limited in duration or had dissipated because she hadn't bothered to maintain them - and Emmy threw up her hands desperately. "Twilight can examine the orb and confirm everything I've said is true! And then, together, we can finish the disruption!"

"Yes!" Twilight shouted hoarsely, getting to her feet and grasping at a way out that didn't involve the death of her friend. Without waiting for Memoria to agree or offer any protest, she started over towards the orb.

And then several things happened in rapid succession.

A vast shadow fell over the platform.

Memoria's gaze jerked up towards something behind them, and she slowly lowered her swords back to her sides.

Emmy looked around and screamed again.

A sonorous voice growled, "Captain Malin... and guests."

It belonged to the biggest creature Twilight had seen on Azeroth, and as dragons went, it certainly rivalled those she had seen during the great dragon migration... what felt like a very long time ago.

A mature blue dragon, not an adolescent like the drake on the beach - he had to be the true commander of the blue flight's forces at Moonrest Gardens. At least five times as tall as Memoria, and thrice the length of a steam tank. His scales shimmered with a fine cerulean edge, and ice crystals drooped from his neck like great icy stalactites. Majestic - that was the word that sprang to Twilight's mind upon seeing him.

If only his visage wasn't marred by the hatred in his eyes - a deep, fiery hatred so dissimilar from the type of magic he commanded.

If only he wasn't planning to kill them.

"L-Lord Karagos," Emmy stammered. She backed away a few feet towards the centre of the platform. Closer to the focus, and closer to Twilight.

"I was suspicious of you from the beginning, Malin," the great wyrm rumbled, taking his time over the words. Stretching out his condemnation. "I knew that you couldn't be trusted, but your skills and your lineage demanded you receive the honour of a captaincy... that I suspected you never truly deserved.

"Thank you, for proving that I was correct all along," he continued, bristling with contempt. "While you may have had no choice but to join us, this role in Malygos's plan was your opportunity to prove yourself worthy. But you have shown that you are just another mortal mage, misusing your magic - as the one beside you does. As all mortals do."

"I..." Words failed Emmy, and they failed Twilight too. In the face of such rage - she could find nothing to say.

"At least in your treachery you have delivered other nuisances to me. I will take great pleasure in ending all your lives."

"Karagos, stop!" Emmy pleaded, finding her voice. "You know this isn't right!"

"Righteousness is what my father commands, little mage!" he spat, and hurled a mighty blast at the centre of the platform without even the slightest visible effort. "Malygos will save this world!"

---

Twilight could feel the strength of the magic as it soared through the air, knew at once that even the strongest ward she could conjure wouldn't blunt it enough to prevent serious injury. Her instincts screamed at her to turn away, even as she knew it would do no good—

—and then the spell dissipated, shattering as it met a familiar green barrier.

"Carry on with your work, mage," Memoria said. There was an eagerness in her voice that left Twilight a little unsettled... but, right now, she was glad of it all the same. She couldn't help but assume that Memoria was grinning widely beneath her helm. "I now have greater prey to hunt than you."

"Arrogant abomination!" Karagos roared, baring all his teeth at this threat. He flapped his wings hard, pummelling those on the platform with the downdraft, and took to the empty void-dark 'sky'—

—but before he could ascend too high, Memoria broke into a run and leapt upwards, plunging a sword into his forearm.

He cried out in pain, trying to shake her off, but she clung true. He tried to scrape her off, ripping upwards with his claws, but she had already moved on, using both swords to cut into his flesh and anchor herself as she ascended his body.

Her mouth open and closing rapidly, Emmy didn't seem to know how to respond to Memoria's comment or her violent assault on the dragon - but Twilight knew that this was their chance and that it wouldn't last long. "Come on! We need to destabilise that focus - together!"

Emmy blinked, and then let out a deep breath.

"Together," she replied, with a grateful smile, and Twilight could see then just how much her trust had meant to her friend.

They went to work over the orbs, probing it for the weaknesses that Emmy had already introduced, ways that they could further subvert it. It was well crafted, born from the hands of a master artisan of the blue flight - perhaps Karagos himself.

As vital as their efforts were, Twilight couldn't help but spare a fraction of her attention marvelling at Memoria's prowess. The death knight had been vulnerable against the drake on the beach - mostly as a result of Emmy's arcane chains - but she had to have spent her brief captivity watching how it fought and learning from that. Learning from the party's mistakes.

No doubt, the first lesson was: don't let the dragon abuse the skies.

Karagos was much bigger than the drake but fought in much the same way, and his size must have made her strategy easier, if anything. More time to react to his comparatively slow attacks. More meat to plunge her swords into. Much more space to climb up.

He twisted and turned, trying to throw her off onto the platform or the emptiness below. Still, Memoria held true, slicing away or blasting him with her frozen magic whenever she had the opportunity.

And yet, he didn't seem overly troubled or weakened by her efforts. He was moving no slower, attacking no less frequently. She was doing well to survive, but how long could she keep it up? One misstep would spell her end.

The focus's craftsmanship gave it resilience, but Emmy's patient sabotage had left it vulnerable to their combined assault, and slowly but surely... their efforts bore fruit. Tiny white cracks appeared across the azure surface of the focus; almost imperceptible at first, but they quickly grew into fractures, splintering and merging. The focus began to radiate an incandescent, violet light, the magic inside starting to run wild...

Realising that an aerial approach was bearing no fruit, Karagos changed tack. He descended back onto the platform and unleashed a wave of power centred on himself, point-blank. "Your kind are a stain on this world, death knight! I'll scour your blight from existence!"

"Not the first time I've heard that," grunted Memoria, taking the brunt of the energy against her blades as she fought to keep her balance from his landing. Moving swiftly along his back and up his neck, she lashed out at his left ear, and he reacted to the sudden pain by jerking his head to the right...

...drawing his attention back to what Twilight and Emmy were doing in the centre of the platform.

"No!" he roared, and the mages fell to the floor, staggered by the intensity of his outrage. "I will not allow you to disrupt the great work!"

A swipe of his claws sent Memoria flailing backwards through the air, as he made contact at last. Her boots cut a deep gouge into the platform as she landed and skidded, coming to a halt at the very brink of the void below.

Getting back to her feet, Twilight saw the death knight go, saw the oncoming threat. "Look out!" she cried.

But Emmy had resumed casting. "Almost... there!" she panted, as the light corrupting the focus grew stronger... as Karagos grew closer.

It wasn't worth it, just for a few more seconds. What they had done so far had to be enough. Certain death awaited at the looming arm of the dragon, and Twilight hadn't risked so much already to see her friend crushed into a messy paste like this.

She pounced on Emmy, knocking her back down hard and breaking her concentration. The action took the wind out of both of them, but it had the desired effect, as Karagos's slam landed where they had been before.

"Blink - now!" she managed, hoping Emmy - and herself - still had the energy and the wherewithal to execute the spell. They did - a moment later and they were at the edge of the platform, their magic having landed them next to the stunned death knight.

Breathless and exhausted; they were extremely vulnerable, but the blue dragon wasn't focused on them for the moment. He was deeply concerned with the state of the focus, with fixing the damage they had clearly done, with preventing them from affecting Malygos's plans.

And as a result of that desire, Karagos made the final mistake of his life.

He reached out towards the focus with a single, delicate claw; seeking to evaluate the damage, then to push its intricate spellcraft back into alignment—

—too late, as it destabilised entirely, and gave birth to an arcane rift. It was roughly the size of the object that had spawned it, but no longer held the same shape - all that was left was an amorphous tear in space, shimmering between indigo and violet light.

Karagos tried to move his claw away, tried to pull back his entire arm, but found that he no longer could. Instead, the rift seemed to pull him and his innate magic, towards it.

He fought it, twisting and turning away to no avail as it drew him in. Panicking, he exhaled an icy wind, hurled bolts of frost and gouged chunks of rock from the platform with his free claws, but the breach absorbed it all. Emmy, Memoria and Twilight, staggered and winded as they were, only had to stare as the mighty blue dragon succumbed to a catastrophe of his flight's own making.

Karagos gave one final, bitter roar as the last of his body was consumed by the rift... and then he was gone.

Breathing hard, Twilight dared to ask, "Is it... over?"

As if in response, the rift suddenly doubled to twice its size, swelling to cover most of the middle of the platform.

"Oh, that can't be good."

---

Fluttershy ducked behind the gateway, letting the stone take the brunt of an arcane bolt, and smiled as she heard a stifled yelp ring out across the beach. Another mage-hunter had found one of her freezing traps.

At the same time, it was a bittersweet smile... because it meant that she was officially out of traps.

It wasn't like she couldn't make more - not like back in the Deadmines. She knew how to do so, and she even had the materials, but the mage-hunters weren't going to allow her the time to sit and craft them.

So many had made their way down from the garden ruins. Too many to hold off, and judging from their increasingly accurate spellcasting, they all knew exactly where she was. The stone gateway, as an improvised source of cover, was the only thing keeping her alive.

She hastily checked herself over, aware of the voices growing in volume nearby. Finding nothing serious, only cuts and bruises, she pulled out one last arrow, and carefully nocked it on her bow.

She'd done all she could.

She stood up, let loose the arrow in the general direction of the mage-hunters, to deter them just a little longer... and then - hoping that her efforts had been enough - she jumped through the portal.

---

The rift shuddered and expanded a few feet more.

"We need to get out of here. The portal—" Twilight began to suggest, but found herself interrupted by the sudden appearance of Fluttershy. Her friend skidded through, took one look at the rift before her and reflexively threw herself to the ground.

A bolt of energy lanced out of the rift and struck the stone gateway at its very apex. The portal flickered, then faded out entirely.

"Guess that's not an option, then," Memoria said.

"Stay away from the rift!" Twilight cried out to Fluttershy as she got to her feet. "Keep to the edge!"

"I'm sorry," Fluttershy called out as rushed over to join them. "I slowed them down as much as I could,"

"You bought us the time we needed," Twilight assured her, pulling her into a quick hug. "I'm just so glad you're all right."

She was grateful, too, that Fluttershy accepted Emmy's presence without question or comment. Maybe it was enough for her that Memoria was no longer trying to murder the other mage.

She looked around, assessing their options; taking in the sight of the expanding rift and the shrinking amount of space they had at the edge of the platform. "Maybe we can re-power the gateway, and fight our way off the beach?

Emmy shook her head. "No, the energy wave from the rift did too much damage. Even from over here, I can tell we won't have any luck."

As if to punctuate her statement, the gateway chose the moment to collapse. Chunks of grey stone tumbled onto the platform with a dull crash, and the keystone at the very top fell straight into the rift.

"If you have a plan, you'd better hurry up with it," Memoria growled, looking towards the rift. Though her expression was safely guarded behind her helm, her body language was the mirror of everyone else's.

Something approximating fear, and an understandable desire to be as far from the rift as possible.

Emmy baulked at her tone. "I- I'm thinking!"

"Think harder. If we're going to die anyway to this magical nightmare, then I'll be running you through, just for the inconvenience you've caused me."

"Not helping!" But maybe there's a way that she can. "Memoria - can you contain the rift at all? Just to buy us a few more seconds?"

Memoria shrugged with an armoured clank. "What do you want me to do about it? It's arcane magic, and you two are the mages here."

"You've cancelled out our spells and even the dragon's breath with that barrier of yours before now," Twilight pointed out.

"It shields me from some magical harm for a few seconds, but I can't project it outwards, and there's a limit to what it can take. I don't want to get anywhere near close enough to that rift to find out how long it would protect me."

"Can we jump?" Fluttershy offered, looking dubiously over the edge into the inky void below and beyond. She'd holstered her bow across her back, in case there was something that her hands could help with, but had quickly realised that suggestions were the best she had to offer for their predicament.

"No—"

"What would happen if we did?"

Emmy took a deep breath. "It depends on the strength of the dimensional walls," she babbled, and Twilight suddenly had the distinct impression that they were back in Stormwind, being lectured by her father. "You might hit the 'bottom' of this dimension and teleport right back to the top. You might smash into the 'floor' with all the force as if you'd jumped out of a window onto a street - because gravity is clearly still working here. All that might be irrelevant anyway, because this pocket dimension may just collapse as soon as the rift reaches sufficient mass - or it won't, but the rift may expand with exponential speed and catch us—"

She's Archmage Malin's daughter, all right.

"Emmy, we understand - jumping off won't be any better!"

They had barely ten yards, now, and the rift was still expanding. They couldn't afford to waste time on dead-ends.

And then the answer came to her.

"That's it!" she said, so excited that she jumped a little distance into the air. "What you just said now - teleports!"

"What?"

"I've never teleported anyone before," Twilight said, mentally adding, on Azeroth, before she continued, "but can you get us all out of here?"

It seemed like a simple enough request, but to Twilight's surprise and disappointment, Emmy shook her head. Tears dripped down her face to patter on the ground; whether from stress or shame...

"I'm sorry, I can't!" she shouted. "I'm not strong enough!"

Seven yards.

"You sent seven of us away before, on the beach!" Memoria objected.

"The orb I smashed - it stored a significant amount of magical energy to assist with the siphoning of the ley line, and I used it to redirect and widen the effect of my spell," Emmy explained. "I don't have the power to do so on my own! I could maybe save myself with a normal teleport, but the limited power I'd draw to cast it could just be consumed by the rift, now that it's grown to this size."

"Typical." The death knight gave a theatrical sigh; a sound corrupted once again by her concealing helm. "Though I can feel that I can't summon a death gate either. I suppose I'll just have to kill—"

"Wait! Wait. We can still think this through!"

We have a method of getting out of here. A risky one, to be sure, but it's a way out. We just lack the power...

"So we need more power," she said aloud. "More energy to fuel a bigger spell!"

Five yards.

"Um. Sorry if this is a stupid idea..." Fluttershy muttered, "but if you need energy, can't you just use that?"

She pointed at the rift.

And all the pieces fell into place.

"Fluttershy, you're a genius!" Twilight exclaimed, pulling her surprised friend into another quick hug. "Emmy, I can drain power from the rift at a distance, and channel the power to you!"

"That's insane!" Emmy said. "You've no way of regulating the power that you draw from it!"

"I can channel only what you need to cast the more complex spell. It won't miscast if—"

"I mean it's a danger to you, Twilight! Halting the drain once you've started from such a powerful energy source is much easier said than done. The excess energy you draw, if you stop channelling it to me... it'll kill you!"

Memoria shrugged. "Let her try. We haven't got any better options."

For once, the mage was happy that Memoria's indifference supported her plan.

Fluttershy certainly wasn't. "No - I'm sorry I suggested it Twilight - please don't put yourself at risk like this!"

Four yards. No more time to argue.

"I'm sorry, but it's the only way!" And before another word of protest could be uttered, she raised her right hand towards the rift. She reached over to hold Emmy's shoulder, letting the power - such power stream through in a complete circuit.

Seeing she had no choice, that things were already in motion, Emmy began casting her teleport.

Three yards.

Twilight shuddered as the energy flowed through her. It was unlike any sensation she'd felt before, back home in Equestria or on Azeroth.

A thought suddenly appeared in her mind. If she could have access to power like this all of the time - surely she could teleport herself and her friends home? To travel back through whatever opening they had all come through in the first place? It would be a matter of plotting the right destination - no simple feat, to be sure - but with strength like this...

"That's enough - I have all the power I need!" Emmy cried, shaking Twilight's hand loose. "I just need a few more seconds, but you need to stop draining the rift!"

Her left hand slipped loosely to her side, no longer feeding energy to her friend... but her right hand remained raised to the centre of the platform, still siphoning.

She felt like she was supping from a chalice, letting the contents drip down her throat, refreshing, invigorating, burning, soothing, burning—

She was dimly aware of someone shouting her name, but could no longer really hear them, or understand why.

—she never wanted to lose this feeling. No matter how much it hurt, no matter how much it burned, she wanted to hang on to it forever and ever and ever—

—now that she didn't have to channel the power to Emmy, now that it was pouring into her, it could all be hers. Everything, everything could be—

—and then reality reasserted itself. She felt something metal grasp her arm - her vision flooded with sickly green instead of purple - and she fell to her knees on the cold stone of the platform. Her body ached from the energy she had absorbed, and it hurt more even to move a muscle, but she managed to crane her head to look up.

Memoria stood above her, encased top-to-toe in her anti-magic shell. She'd stepped in front and broken the link between the rift and Twilight - before it had killed her.

"You owe me double, Twilight," she said, as the rift connection faded and her barrier went with it.

Twilight nodded weakly as Fluttershy pulled her to her feet.

Five feet.

"I'm ready to cast the spell, but I need a destination to focus on," Emmy shouted. "Somewhere nearby!"

Four.

"Star's Rest!" Twilight managed to shout, biting back the added pain from the exertion. It occurred to her only belatedly that Emmy might not know the camp, but the casting mage offered no objection.

Three.

"Hurry up!" Memoria barked, for all the haste it would bring.

Two.

So close, the intensity of the rift was almost blinding. Fluttershy looked away and closed her eyes. Twilight strained to take her hand, and did the same.

One.

Emmy cried out a triumphant "Yes!"—

—brought her hands down to complete the spell—

—and the four disappeared from the platform with a pop, a heartbeat before the rift overcame them.

---

"Medic! We need medics over here at once!"

The sentry's voice broke the calm at Star's Rest as the group stumbled into view.

Healers rushed over, lending Pinkie their aid. As she'd predicted, they had been able to keep Applejack stable on the journey back - but now she needed more serious intervention if she was to recover properly. Utterly spent, Rainbow dropped to her knees as they crowded round; eased the warrior off the deathcharger, and bore her onto a stretcher carried by two of the camp guards.

Memoria's steed trotted a few yards away, then stood still, awaiting further instructions from its master.

The commotion drew Azuresteel from her work in her tent. She took in the sight of the stricken Applejack and her exhausted friends, and realised immediately that their leader wasn't standing with them.

She could see that Applejack was down and Pinkie was occupied healing her, so she looked next to Rarity for answers. "What happened?" she barked. "Where is Lieutenant Sparkle?"

Rarity needed a moment to catch her breath before she could respond, but then explained it all: their journey to the beach; their fall down the cliffs, their battle against the Blue Dragonflight, and how they had been magically sent away by Twilight's former friend. Even while doing so, her eyes never left Applejack's prone form, nor Pinkie still singing for her, until the warrior had been carried towards the healing tents and out of view.

"So Lieutenant Sparkle ordered you to return here, and she and Scout Fluttershy followed Lady Memoria back to the beach?"

Rarity sighed. "Yes, ma'am."

Azuresteel nodded, looking around for her second-in-command. Going back to the beach might have been a foolish, reckless endeavour for the Lieutenant to undertake, but she couldn't abandon her or the others their fate, nor allow the machinations of the Blue Dragonflight to go unchecked. She needed to organise a search party and prepare the few troops she had to sally out in force.

And then, suddenly, she didn't have to.

pop

---

The teleport spell was sloppy, rushed. Understandably so, of course, as it was cast in desperation with borrowed power, and it did the job... but it hadn't been Emmy's intent for them to materialise five feet above the ground.

Nevertheless, that was where they appeared.

Gravity took its toll immediately, and they fell into the middle of the camp. A foot's worth of snow broke their fall somewhat, but the landing still hurt.

A lot.

Dazed, Twilight tried to stagger up from the snow for the second time that day - and fell back to the ground. Siphoning the rift had taken more out of her than she'd thought.

She looked for the others. Memoria was on her feet, no worse for wear. Fluttershy had earned herself a scrape to her cheek, but was also up, carefully shaking off the disorientation. And Emmy...

Emmy was sprawled on her back, eyes closed, but the rise and fall of her chest was a reassuring sign - the strain of such a disorderly teleport had simply knocked her out. Sometimes, it happened with such unfamiliar or hasty spells - Twilight had experienced similar herself in her early days.

Memoria tapped the prone mage with her armoured boot and shrugged at the lack of response, earning herself a roll of the eyes, but Twilight found that even the death knight's boorishness couldn't dampen her elation.

We all made it out alive.

She closed her eyes, revelling in that fact for a moment, then steeled herself for another try at standing up...

...and then felt a hand gently take her arm, felt someone move close to her body.

She opened her eyes. Fluttershy gave her a nod, and Twilight smiled back, leaning on her friend and allowing her to pull them, to their feet - together.

Then she looked up as they rose, and found Commander Azuresteel standing over them, two guards at her back.

Glaring at her.

Oh.

"Lieutenant Sparkle - first, half your squad returns from their mission without you with a casualty, and now you fall out of midair in the middle of my camp. What happened," Her tone demanded an urgent explanation, especially as she realised, mid-sentence, what the stranger accompanying the group was wearing. "and who is that?"

She'd never been the greatest at dealing with an inquisitive authority figure - even less so when said authority figure was angry, or in a hurry. Somehow, though, having Fluttershy to lean on, having Fluttershy at her side, steadied her - and made it easier to reply.

"The detail... will be in my full report, commander, but..." Twilight gestured down at the unconscious woman in deep azure robes, now being picked up by the guards. "This is Emmy Malin - her father is Archmage Malin of Stormwind. She was coerced into working for the Blue Dragonflight, but aided us today in disrupting their operations around Moonrest Gardens and the nearby beach."

She chose not to mention that Emmy had fought for the enemy at first. That little tidbit would fall under the category of 'detail'.

"The four of us were able to defeat a blue dragon - Karagos - and destroy a siphoning focus they were using to drain the leyline running through the gardens and the beach."

The commander pursed her lips, digesting the information she had been given. For a summation so light on their patrol's specifics, it was still a lot to take in.

She nodded, slowly. "Very well. She will be looked after, here. Take her to the healers," she said to the guards, then returned her attention to Twilight, Fluttershy and Memoria. "Do any of you need a medic?"

Memoria grunted. "I'll heal myself," she said, stalking away from the moonwell to perch herself atop the closest fallen pillar.

Twilight almost went to refuse too, out of reflex. What changed her mind was seeing Fluttershy's face and uncovered hands, seeing her cuts and bruises in the glow of the moonwell, no longer shrouded by void-darkness or rift-light. It brought her own pain crashing back into focus as well; the ache of the near-botched siphoning, not obscured by the adrenaline of their return, nor the immediacy of explaining things to Commander Azuresteel.

So she nodded, instead. "With your permission, we'll go to the healers' tents now, and present ourselves for triage... but I'd like to check up on Applejack first."

"Of course," Azuresteel said, setting off in the direction of her tent, apparently satisfied that things would now progress in an orderly fashion. "But I'll need your report as soon as possible, Lieutenant."

"Yes, ma'am," Twilight replied. She waited for the commander to disappear from view before whispering to Fluttershy, "I'm not sure she's entirely pleased with how we made our entrance just now."

"She isn't the only one!"

Ah. Rainbow.

Twilight had been expecting this.

The paladin marched up to the two of them, visibly seething. Her face and hair were caked in fresh grime and sweat, and this combined with the profile of the hammer slung across her back to grant her a fairly intimidating presence - even if both Twilight and Fluttershy were her equal - or greater - in height. She was swaying slightly on the spot, the extent of her exhaustion clear, but did not waver on what she had to say.

The Moonwell clearing was almost empty - almost everyone not on sentry duty had flocked to the medics, out of morbid curiosity or to help where they could. Had Rainbow been waiting for Azuresteel to go, before confronting them? Did she want to keep this between friends?

"You left us to get back to camp ourselves - leaving only us three to protect Applejack in that forest and on the road. We were in so much danger—"

"Rainbow—"

"—she could have died! If Pinkie wasn't as good as she is, she probably would have!"

"It's—"

"And you," she rounded on Fluttershy next, "What were you thinking, running after the two of them like that?"

Fluttershy opened her mouth meekly as if to reply, but said nothing.

"Rainbow, I'm sorry, I—" Twilight tried to find the right words, but it was no use. Her friend wasn't listening, was already storming off towards the healers.

That did not... go well.

She watched her go with a sinking feeling in her chest - a feeling that somehow seemed to make the ache across her body feel even worse, too. At least she made it back okay.

"I'm sorry the way she just spoke to you, darling," another familiar voice declared behind them. "She's had a rather rough day."

"Rarity!" If Rainbow's condemnation had diminished her morale, seeing Rarity okay - albeit just as tired and dishevelled - did much to improve it. "Did everyone - did Applejack make it back ok?"

"The journey back was uneventful, and Pinkie and Rainbow were able to keep Applejack stable on the way," Rarity replied. "She's with the healers now."

Twilight had seen the priests of Star's Rest at work before in their brief time at the camp - had seen them aid in the recovery of those injured far worse than the state that she had last seen their friend. She breathed a sigh of relief. "She's in good hands."

"Indeed - hands that I must now entrust myself to as well, once they have time to spare."

"Wait - you're hurt?"

"It is nothing new," Rarity clarified, gesturing hastily to forestall further concern. "But my leg - where I was slashed in the tundra - appears to have been somewhat aggravated by the walk back..."

"I'm sorry, Rarity," Twilight called after her, guilt straining her voice even more than the pain already was. "I'm sorry for you leaving you all like that. It's just—"

"I forgive you, Twilight," she said, a sympathetic smile across her face. "You did it to save a friend. I can hardly fault you for that... and it seems to me you have managed that feat twice over, today." Twilight followed her gaze over to Memoria. The death knight had recalled her unburdened deathcharger, which had been lingering at the edge of the treeline, waiting for commands. She was now inspecting her swords for damage, oblivious to and unbothered by Applejack's situation, or the rest of the camp's reaction.

"Thanks, Rarity." It was little surprise that her friend was already gone from view by the time she turned back, but she trusted that her gratitude had been heard, nonetheless.

And then, Memoria's apathetic presence aside, there were two.

"Are you ready?" Fluttershy asked quietly, motioning towards the tents in the distance.

"Yes, let's... wait. Just one thing." Twilight said, easing her arm away from Fluttershy's back, steadying herself to stand on her own.

"What—" Fluttershy began to ask—

—then had her answer, as Twilight stepped into a tight embrace.

"Thank you," she said, letting her head rest on Fluttershy's mailed shoulder, her hair against the side of Fluttershy's face, close enough that she could feel the steady tempo of her breathing across all of her body. She had the urge to apologise - for all that Fluttershy had gone through, for all that Twilight's actions had played a role in... but she felt that her friend deserved something else right now. Something more than an apology.

"Thank you for everything you've done today. Thank you for everything you've done for all of us. I, Pinkie, Rarity, Rainbow, Applejack, Memoria... Emmy. We wouldn't be here, right now, if not for you.

"So thank you. And I just want you to know... I'm here for you. I know you may not want to talk, sometimes... I know that feeling, if nothing else... but if you ever need to talk... I'm here for you."

She felt her Fluttershy wrap her arms around her waist, felt her pull the hug just a little closer.

They stood together in silence. Never mind the cold; their injuries or the war they'd been dragged into.

Never mind, for a moment, what they had lost... or what they had found.

For a moment - for just a moment - there was comfort that they could share.

"...it must hurt to hug me when I'm wearing armour."

"It... does. Ow." Twilight let go. They broke apart, and then... Fluttershy chuckled.

Twilight found herself captivated by the sound, and by the slight, warm smile on Fluttershy's face. It was the first time she'd heard her friend laugh, since... before the Deadmines. The first time she'd seen her smile since they'd left Stormwind.

She wanted to hear her laugh like that again. She wanted to see her smile like that again. Every day, if she could.

She matched the smile with one of her own, and then they set off, as quickly as they could manage, to check on Applejack and Pinkie.

Together.

Author's Note:

I'm sorry.

This chapter has been an absolute nightmare to write - I don't think I've ever experienced writer's block like this before.

It sat at 3k words... then 5k. 7k. 8k. 8.5k... and now, at over 10k, it's the longest chapter I've ever written.

I'm deeply sorry for the wait, but I hope you've enjoyed it nonetheless. I'd be very grateful for your feedback, the good and the bad.

I'm going to aim to reply to comments - both from the last chapter and any to this one - as soon as possible (though as of posting this, right now I need to sleep!) - but to anyone who has liked/favourited/commented on this, thank you for all your support. I felt like it would be best to finish the chapter before replying...and then it stalled. I'm sorry for that, and I don't think I'll take that approach going forward.

One other bit of news: Azeroth's Skies now has cover art, which I commissioned from the amazing Mario Teodosio - please do check out his work!

Comments

[tinmanbrony]

Is Twilight a goddess, an immortal, mortal or something else?

[M4Tiger4014]

Congrats on the feature!

[Waterproof]

Great story, glad you're still updating it.

[Nosoni]

Great chapter but now Twilight has tasted the sweet, corruptive power that is the leyline and should she ever venture down that path she will need her friends more than ever so lets hope that Malygos doesnt get to her anytime soon

[Reese]

...Hm. A thought, a little after reaching the end of the currently-posted chapters of this story:
1: Twilight Sparkle very much wants to find a way back to Equestria, and is naturally willing to do extensive research in pursuit of that.
2: Twilight Sparkle sometimes gets... temptations... when using or considering powerful magic.
3: There's a certain other class that's related to mages, deals with moving beings through the Twisting Nether between worlds, has a bit of an association with temptation, and might perhaps have information on its practices in esoteric books of magic found and searched through by determined researches in the area of interworld travel.
4: Hmmm...

(No idea if the plot will go that way, but I had the idea, and you did say you appreciated comments. :)
Oh, and I've been enjoying the story so far, by the way, if that needed to be said. :))