In Want for a Wand

by Leila Drake

Level 16 - Last-Minute Confessions

It did not take Twilight and her friends long to get used to a daily routine in Silvermoon. Vol'Shalai usually visited the local herbalists and stayed away for hours. When he finally returned his eyes were red, he had a mild smile on his face and it was hard to get anything out of him that made any sense whatsoever.

Arcus and Darren often went to Farstrider's Square in the east of the city to hone their skills in close combat. Arcus was still mad that Sarithra had treated everyone so poorly during their involuntary journey to Silvermoon. He used his aggression to fuel his strength when he sparred with Darren and Blood Elf warriors. Darren told Twilight one evening that he was worried how fast the earth pony learned.

"We shall be careful to keep him from going on a rampage one day", he muttered to her, his icy blue eyes narrowed. "Arcus turns out to become a skilled warrior but his anger needs moderation. Twilight, do you think you can speak with him? It cannot be that he is merely angry at Sarithra. Something else seems to be bothering him."

"Why don't you try and talk to him yourself?", suggested Twilight. "You spend most of your time together. I'm sorry to admit it but I don't know Arcus half as well as I'd want to. You might have better chances of getting through to him."

Darren nodded slowly. "You are right", he admitted. "I will see what I can do. However, if I fail..."

Twilight smiled ruefully. "Of course I'll help."

•°

With the permission of his trainer, a Blood Elf called Beldis, Arcus bought a pair of small black blades that could be attached to the hoofguards on his forelegs. The dark-haired elf, who was an experienced warrior himself, showed Arcus how to put them on and how to use them without injuring himself. When Arcus bent his hooves in a certain way, the blades would snap out of their holsters - with another flick, they would retreat again. They were made of a strange steel that the weaponsmith declared to be a special Adamantite/Obsidium alloy. He claimed that it was even tougher than Saronite, the metal that Darren's sword was made of. A set of runes ran along the right blade, enchanted by Jonathan who enjoyed the challenge of putting a powerful spell on somebody's weapons. He did not tell Arcus what the enchantment was about, though, "so you don't get too confident in your weapons and start relying on them too much", he said. Arcus frowned at that but did not ask again. He was just glad about getting trained and equipped - though he had a suspicion that Beldis had permitted it out of guilt.

Nothing that the friends did happened unsupervised. Gladius was mostly the one who watched Arcus and Darren during the day and stood guard at the door at night. The other guard who was apparently a rogue took it upon himself to escort Twilight to the research facilities.

Twilight did not spend her time fighting or smoking herbs. She insisted that she was supposed to be the one to uphold the bargain with the elves. When her friends left for their daily activities, she would join Sarithra and her... associates in their experiments. They would go to the Bazaar in the middle of Silvermoon, then through a relatively small door, across the Dead Scar that cut right through the city and then into one of the many seemingly abandoned buildings that could be found in the western, derelict half of Silvermoon.

Twilight remembered Darren telling her that half of the city was abandoned. Sarithra admitted that it was not really empty. While the eastern half was still - or again - in good shape, the western half had been left behind by the Blood Elves, only to get populated by roaming 'Wretched' that were addicted to magic and tended to attack unfortunate wanderers to suck up their magical powers. Twilight felt faintly reminded of changelings when she heard that. Many of the houses were derelict and overgrown with weeds. Still, once you advanced further through the old corridors you could find yourself in restored areas. That's where the Department of Research and Development - which, as Twilight soon understood, was a synonym for Department of Dealing With The Scourge Plague - was located. Here they had their offices and laboratories, far away from the unsuspecting citizens of Silvermoon.

At first they asked Twilight a lot of questions about who she was, where she came from and, most importantly, specifics about her physiology. She answered a few - but not all - of their questions and made sure not to mention any means to get to Equestria. She also dodged the questions about her time in Dalaran. Twilight was not sure how the elves had gotten wind of it but she had to admit to herself that it was not entirely impossible.

•°

A week after their arrival in Silvermoon, the real experiments began. Sarithra's elves had a big greenhouse where they kept an incredibly abundant variety of plants. They would shower the plants with different fluids, spread powder on the soil and treat the plants in all kinds of ways. It took Twilight only a few minutes to realize that the entire vegetation of the greenhouse was sick to the core. The plants were twisted and broken, most of them covered with colorful spores and dark mushrooms that gave off a disgusting smell. Twilight occasionally left the greenhouse in a hurry to get to the next toilet. She was profoundly relieved as she discovered that the Blood Elves were familiar with good plumbing.

The only positive thing that could be said about the greenhouse was that the elves had put lots of protective enchantments in place and also wore a special enchanted garment every time they entered the humid halls. They had even made a pony-shaped suit for Twilight. She felt weird wearing it and could not stretch her wings but of course it was better than getting sick or infecting Clara, Jonathan's sunflower, when she returned to 'their' house.

Every day that Twilight returned 'home' she felt more tired. She flopped her saddlebags down on the floor, dragged herself to the table and ate something that Jonathan had prepared. He always greeted her with a smile and she felt extremely grateful for that. After dinner, Twilight completed her notes on the experiments and watered Clara. That was usually the time when Arc and Darren returned from their training.

Twilight noticed that Gladius was warming up to her friends. They included him in their conversations, discussing their training and all kinds of things they noticed about Silvermoon. Jonathan and Gladius got along especially well. They did not have much in common; Jonathan was one who loved writing spells and enchanting artifacts while Gladius was mostly interested in learning how to better absorb and disrupt magic.

To Twilight, that seemed a little odd. Jonathan always said how hard it was to make friends in Azeroth. Up to now, almost everybody that the had met had become a friend. When she told him about her observation one evening, Twilight caught Jonathan off guard.

"Well", he said, clearing his throat, "now that you mention it... It's kind of weird. It's gotta have something to do with you, I guess."

"Me?" Twilight held a hoof to her chest. "I know I'm the 'Princess of Friendship' but I didn't use any magic to gain the trust of anypony here."

Jonathan shrugged. "If you say so."

Gladius, who was watching the two of them, shifted his weight around. He never sat down for some reason, a fact which slightly irritated Twilight. The knight was really tall, taller even than Jonathan, so he always towered over everyone in the room whenever he was present.

"It might be your aura", he said. Noticing Twilight's confused glance, Gladius explained, "Both you and Arcus are emitting a faint magical aura that is unlike that of beings from Azeroth. However, Jonathan's aura also has traces of the same magic."

"It does?" Jonathan raised his brows, then knitted them together in a frown. "Wait a minute. How come you can tell and Twilight can't?"

Gladius rolled his eyes. "I am a Blood Death Knight. I fight by using the life force of my opponent. So believe me when I say that I know exactly what your aura feels like."

Jonathan shivered. "O-kay", he said uneasily. "Let's just leave it at that."

"Relax", said Gladius, the corner of his mouth turning upwards in what counted as a friendly smirk for thim. "I will not try to absorb any of it again. Darren's was quite enough."

Twilight jumped to her hooves, her eyes wide. "Darren has it, too?", she exclaimed, a sparkle in her eye as the science enthusiast in her returned to the surface.

Gladius simply nodded. "Less than Jonathan, but still noticeable."

Jonathan rubbed his chin. "Interesting... oh, hey, Twilight, you all right?" He quickly stretched out his arm to catch Twilight who had begun to get wobbly knees after standing up too quickly.

"I think I'll go to bed", muttered Twilight, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hoof. The spark in her eyes was gone again. Jonathan sighed.

"You sure? I bought you some fruit at the market today. Imported from Tel'Abim!" Jonathan grabbed a banana from the wooden bowl on the table and waved it invitingly in front of Twilight's muzzle.

She lowered her gaze with a tired smile. "Okay. I suppose I should really eat something. Thanks."

Twilight was always happy that Jonathan tried to cheer her up by helping her with the notes and getting her delicious and fruity treats. He gave her a hug every day, a sweet gesture that relaxed her just enough so she could sleep at night.

She was not entirely sure what Jonathan did during the day. He did not talk about it as much as Arcus. He seemed to be studying magic and enchanting, seeking out the local archives as often as he was allowed. Jonathan also appeared to get a little calmer during the weeks. Twilight suspected that he visited some Paladins once in a while for prayer sessions. Was he looking for guidance? Or did he train using the holy Light?

•°

After the plants came the critters. From that point on, Twilight began to deeply despise the experiments. All the big and small woodland creatures were held in large cages which gave them lots of space to move around in. Similar to the greenhouse, the critter house both figuratively and literally stank to high heavens. If anything it was even worse. Most of the creatures sat on the branches or on the grass or in their caves doing nothing at all. Some animals ran around like crazy, especially the wild bears, wolves and other predators. There was a hunted look in their eyes and it often happened that they tore each other apart in a frenzy. The elves would clean up the carcasses once in a while. The animals did not touch them after their fits of madness.

"Don't they need to eat?", asked Twilight, confused about the critters' behavior.

"No", answered Sarithra, looking at her with a deep sadness in her green eyes. "They are undead. They don't need to."

"Oh my goodness", whispered Twilight. "The poor things."

It was a good thing Fluttershy was not here. Twilight was not sure if the timid pegasus could even bear to see living things in so much pain. Finding out about the state of the woodland creatures made Twilight double her efforts to help the elves. But she still insisted on doing it alone.

After about sixty days of working in the labs and greenhouses, Sarithra asked Twilight something that she had apparently waited for the entire time.

"I don't know", said Twilight when she was asked. "I can't ask my friends to take part in your experiments. You see, I helped you with my magic. I analyzed the creatures along with your doctors. I gave you hair from my mane and spit, feathers and even a blood sample for Celestia's sake! This is getting beyond creepy and I don't like it. I can see why you want to heal the critters and the plants. They are suffering, okay, I get that, but this is going too far. There is no cure for the Plague! It's become pretty obvious by now. The tests all indicate the same thing: that the symptoms can be improved by a tiny bit but besides that the curse always remains. You're grasping at straws, Sarithra, and I'm sure you know it."

"You think so? Can you really understand?", asked Sarithra. "Do you realize what we are trying to do here?" She sighed, lowering her voice as she continued, "I must admit that you have cooperated well. I have grown fond of you, Twilight Sparkle. You are a smart pony, honest and an extraordinarily skilled mage. However, research on plants and animals can only get us so far. We need to run tests on people. We also need to examine a cured specimen in order to figure out a way to bridge the gap between healing animals and humanoids. Your friend Mr Baker holds the answer to our research!" She stepped closer to Twilight, even kneeling down before her until their eyes were on the same level. The elf lowered her voice to a whisper. "He has been killed by the curse of Undeath - and returned to life! This has never happened in all the time since the Scourge ruined our city. His secret may be our one chance to reclaim our home, our lands, our families! How can you deny us that?"

Twilight averted her face with a frown. "I'm sorry, Sarithra. This is not my decision to make. You will have to ask him yourself."

•°

"No." Jonathan crossed his arms. "No way. I'm not gonna become your guinea pig. How stupid do you think I am? You'll infect me again! I am not going to take that chance."

Twilight glanced from Jonathan over to Sarithra. The three of them were back in 'the house'. Arcus sat on the bed, listening to their discussion and occasionally looking to the door to see if Vol'Shalai would return.

"Jonathan -", Darren started but he was interrupted by the upset Priest.

"No means no. I'd rather die! Properly, of course", he added in a mutter.

Gladius, who was watching the group today, raised an eyebrow. Sarithra turned to him, looking for allies. "Would you not want to live again?"

He shrugged. "Who could resist the temptation?"

"Exactly!", said Jonathan, raising both hands as if trying to grasp the air in front of him. "And I want to stay that way, thank you very much." He turned away.

"Yes, alright, you made that perfectly clear, human", snapped Sarithra. "But this is not just about you. This is about our people!"

"Your people", emphasized Jonathan, spinning around and pointing at the elf. "I may be a member of the Horde, but this is going way beyond loyalty. I would answer to you if, I don't know, Lady Sylvanas was Warchief and she'd order me to help you. Maybe. And I'd still hate you for it."

Darren snorted, a spark of amusement in his eye. "The Banshee Queen as Warchief of the Horde? A fool's dream if I ever heard of one", he muttered.

"Sort of proves my point, doesn't it?", said Jonathan. "No way you guys would obey the orders of a dead person, isn't that right? You would spend the rest of your ridiculously long elf lives searching for a cure that doesn't exist rather than count your blessings and fucking get over it!"

"But you have been healed!", insisted Sarithra, raising her voice to match Jonathan's. "The Scourge has left their mark on you, boy, and you cannot escape your responsibility."

"Responsibility my ass", spat Jonathan. "Twilight's my responsibility. She helped me get here to get a wand. I promised to get her and Arc home in one piece." His frown deepened and he crossed his arms once again, thus creating a barrier between him and the elf. "You're never gonna change my mind. So just stop trying. I'm done with your shit."

Sarithra clenched her fists, her left eye twitching dangerously. She spun around and all but stomped out of the house, slamming the door behind her.

Jonathan uncrossed his arms and pressed his hands against the wall, trying to take deep breaths.

Gladius slowly shook his head.

"Well, that went just great", commented Arcus. "Way to piss off the people who have the means to blackmail us. Even though I still don't know what exactly they blackmailed us with. You never told us, did you, Twilight?"

Twlight's ears splayed back. She cleared her throat. "I'm not sure I should tell you today."

"Well, maybe you should", said Jonathan, turning away from the wall. His hands were still shaking a bit. He flexed his fingers, chewing on his tongue in anger. Sarithra's request had unnerved him more than he liked to admit even though he had seen it coming from a mile away.

"No", said Twilight firmly.

"Fine, whatever!", grunted Arcus. "Way to trust us, Oh Mighty Alicorn Princess of Friendship." He got off his bed and went upstairs. They could hear the door slam once again.

Twilight fell on her rump as her knees gave way. She covered her face with her hooves.

Darren frowned at Jonathan. "What do you intend to do once the Commander returns?"

"How should I know? She's probably gonna return with a fricking army and take me by force." His eyes widened as the realization struck him. "Holy shit! She's gonna return with a fricking army and take my by force! We've got to get out of here and quick!"

Twilight sobbed into her hooves. "But we can't!"

Jonathan groaned, holding his forehead in frustration. "The spell they put on Arcus. They will trigger it if I refuse again."

"Most likely", nodded Darren. "We should fetch him before things go south."

"I will do that", Gladius said suddenly.

Darren looked at the other Death Knight. "You are leaving your post to help us?"

"There is something about these ponies..." Gladius trailed off with a dark frown. "Don't you dare tell my superiors."

Darren smirked. "I would not dream of it."

Gladius nodded curtly, took his runeblade, and left.

"What about the other warden? The guy with the brown hair, what's-his-face, Endiron?", said Jonathan.

"The rogue? He will be lurking in the shadows, watching the house as always... Ah. He will notice Gladius leaving", realized Darren, frowning. "I will go pack our things. You take care of Twilight, Priest."

He gave Jonathan a stern look, the sort a father gives his upstart son who tends to get into trouble one too many times. Jonathan felt his hair stand on end as the temperature dropped by a few degrees. He chewed on his tongue, biting back a snappy reply. What did Darren think Jonathan had been doing over the last few months?

Thankfully, Darren turned his back to gather the food and supplies. The air warmed up until the temperature had returned to its previous level. Their bedroom/livingroom looked much more homely than a month ago, with all the books and other things lying around. Even Arcus had arranged his personal belongings on top of a dresser, including a tiny framed picture of his wife. Now Darren ran around the house, cleaning everything up as quickly as possible and separating the important stuff from leftovers and trash. He rummaged in a chest and found Jonathan's backpack as well as Arc's saddlebags.

Jonathan sighed and turned to Twilight who was still sitting on the ground. He crouched down next to her.

"Twilight. I'm sorry. I just can't."

She sniffed and wiped tears from her eyes. Jonathan's stomach shrivelled as he realized that she cried because of him.

"Oh, dear Light, I'm so sorry", he whispered. "I don't know how to deal with this. But it's not your fault. I dragged you into this, idiot that I am. For a stupid wand of all things. And now you're the one who's been working your flank off to help the elves with a lost cause."

Twilight hiccuped. "No, it's my f-fault. I should have considered all the options when we planned out our quest. I mean, I knew that it would be dangerous. We've both been to Azeroth before. Or at least I sh-should have been able to rescue you. I'm the worst princess ever. Everything has gotten... completely", she took a breath, "out of control."

"Yeah, it has", sighed Jonathan. He pulled her into a hug, stroking her mane. "But it's still not your fault."

•°

Arcus meekly knocked on the door. As nopony answered, he let himself in. Gladius had told him that he should return to the house, then left him to his own devices as he ran away to Farstrider's Square. Still wondering why the knight would shirk his duty of watching the ponies, Arcus shook his head. Gladius had sounded worried. Closing the door with a click, Arcus cleared his throat.

"Twilight?"

Arcus approached the alicorn. Twilight looked up from packing her saddlebags. Her ears flicked towards him as he spoke.

"Hello, Arcus", she said, her voice trembling a little. Arcus winced as he noticed the bags under her eyes indicating that Twilight had been crying. "I'm glad you're back. We need to get going. Darren just packed your things. Gladius is still gone, I don't know what's keeping him." She continued packing, thankful she did not need to pretend to be busy since she actually had to hurry.

"Thanks, but... Twilight, I need to talk to you." Arcus dug at the ground with his hoof.

Twilight sighed and put down the tin cups she had been holding in her magic.

"Alright, but please make it quick. I don't want anypony to get hurt... more."

Arcus gulped. "I'm sorry. For what I said. That was mean. And it wasn't true. I do trust you, Twilight. And I know you trust us. But there's something I need to tell you. I've put it off for far too long, to be honest."

Twilight took the tin cups and levitated them into the saddlebags. Those had been the last pieces to pack. She stood up as she had been sitting on her haunches. Twilight faced Arcus, giving him her full attention. A confused expression flashed across her muzzle, a mixture of curiousity and a sad smile.

"I... I've been to Silvermoon before", admitted Arcus, his face flushing in shame.

Jonathan raised from his bed, almost knocking over the nightstand as he shot to his feet. His jaw had dropped along with Twilight's. Darren's mouth was slightly open, too. Then he raised his brows.

"That explains it", Darren said matter-of-factly.

"Explains what?", called Jonathan. "How in the world could you have been here before? You were with us the entire time! This isn't the moment to be messing around, Arc!"

"I'm not messing around!", insisted Arcus. "I'm telling the truth. I was here when we were in Undercity. There was this Translocation Orb that I touched and it teleported me to the Bazaar after I escaped a fight with a Forsaken and..."

"Wait a second", Twilight interrupted him, massaging her temples. "When was that exactly? And where was that orb?"

"I think I know where it is", said Jonathan as it dawned on him. "Remember when Arcus took that walk that lasted for hours and we looked for him in the ruins of Lordaeron?"

Twilight nodded, frowning.

"That's when it must have happened. Because there's an orb just like that in one of the ruins. Up some stairs to the left when you come out of the bell tower, am I right, Arc?"

This time, Arcus nodded and cleared his throat. "I met Sarithra back then. She was the one who'd made sure I was healed. And then Beldis gave me some basic warrior training in exchange for my secrecy. I thought we wouldn't go to Silvermoon anyway. I had no idea they would be spying on us, I swear!" His pleading eyes met Twilight's.

Darren hummed thoughtfully. "Was that when they gave you the red crystal?"

Arcus's eyes went wide as the memory resurfaced. "The red crystal? Yeah!" He frowned. "Now that you mention it, I haven't seen it since the abduction. Do you have any idea...?"

"I smashed it", said Twilight with a mixture of smugness and guilt. "They hid it in Clara's flowerpot but I found it. Darren told me it was dangerous so I destroyed it and scattered the shards."

"Good riddance", mumbled Arcus, relieved that at least one problem had been taken care of.

"Not that it helped us", said Jonathan with a frown. "Sari's still got the trump card up her sleeve."

Arcus perked up. "She does?"

Twilight heaved a deep sigh and raised her head.

"Thank you for apologizing, Arcus. But I'm sorry, too. I must tell you something as well." She looked into his eyes. "About Sarithra's way of blackmailing me. Or... us, to be exact. The Elves did something to keep me obedient. They knew I would never hurt my friends. They... they tagged you, Arcus."

"They what?!", shrieked Arcus, his eyes wide.

"They tagged you", repeated Darren. "It is a tracking spell, most likely. They can say a word and the Light knows what will happen to you. Imagine yourself... dispersed across the house, for instance."

"Those bucking Blood Elves!", shouted Arcus, kicking the wall in frustration. Tiny bits of dust and a surprised spider fell off the ceiling. "And here I thought they wanted to to something that matters! This world sucks." He stomped his hoof, then started pacing up and down. "I so wanna smash that she-elf's face in. Like, right now."

"You may get the chance to do that very soon", commented Darren evenly, rolling up the last blanket. "Sarithra is on her way here. Very likely in company of other Blood Elves I am not particularly eager to get acquainted with. We should depart. Now."

"Vol'Shalai is still not back", said Twilight, closing her saddlebags with her magic. "We can't leave him behind."

"Yes, we can", cut Jonathan in. "He stayed voluntarily. They will let him leave because he doesn't know what the experiments were really all about. Besides, we're out of time. We don't have that much of a choice."

Twilight hesitated. Leaving a friend behind did not sit well with her. But Vol'Shalai was a Shaman. He actually had good chances of escaping by himself should he get into trouble. At least that was the impression she had gotten from him. When they had encountered him under the bridge, he had easily held his ground against two opponents at once.

Maybe they elves would interrogate him. He did not know anything but that would probably not stop them from trying to get information out of him. On the other hoof, they had been watched by Gladius and that Rogue Endiron all the time. Even sometimes - she shuddered slightly - in their sleep. There was nothing they had done in Silvermoon that Sarithra did not know about. It was unlikely that Vol'Shalai would get into the worst kind of trouble. Right? Twilight sighed sadly, making a decision.

"I'm afraid you're right. I hate to leave a friend behind. It just feels so wrong. But we have no choice; we have to go now if we want to escape at all."

"Good thing we're still in armor", said Arcus. "Come on, Twilight, remove the spell from me."

"I shouldn't", said Twilight with a hint of hysteria, "I might trigger -"

"I! Don't! Care!", shouted Arcus. "Just do it!"

Twilight flinched and her ears folded back. She backed away from the fuming stallion. As he saw her reaction, Arcus looked away in embarrassment. He took a deep breath. Then another one.

"I'm sorry", he said, ruffling his short blue mane. "I didn't mean to get so loud. Please, remove it."

Twilight swallowed. "Are you really sure about that?"

"Yes! Hurry, Twilight, please!", he urged.

She sighed once again and closed her eyes, trying to concentrate. Her horn lit up as she cast a spell. As the glow of her magic expanded and embraced Arcus, he started floating in midair, encased in the pink bubble. The glow grew stonger as Twilight focused on the bonds of the tracking spell that the Blood Elves had placed on him.

"Why is it taking so long?", whispered Jonathan.

"There are three spells woven into each other", said Twilight, her voice strained from the effort. "Plus, they were hidden really well. I just cancelled out the first one. The next two will be more difficult.

"Ah-ha!" She smiled as a flash of light erupted from her horn, bathing everyone in an eerie light. "That's it! Only one spell left."

Arcus shivered, still afloat in the middle of the room. He paled visibly under his green coat and hugged his stomach. "I don't feel so good."

Twilight began humming a strange melody, probably an incantation, and reared. She raised her horn higher, her face scrunched up in concentration. Her wings unfolded instinctively to keep her balance. "Hold on, Arcus, just one more spell!" The light flashed once again and Arcus fell unceremoniously to the ground, collapsing into a small heap.

"I feel sick", he complained. He struggled to get back on his hooves, fighting back the urge to lose his dinner.

Twilight lowered her head, a faint smile on her muzzle. "I think that did it. The spells are gone." Arcus held his belly, his face still as pale as death, and nodded. "Thank you, Twilight." He shakily held out a hoof and Twilight bumped it. They both did not feel up to hugging right now.

All of them (except Darren) jumped when somebody pounded at the door. Two seconds later, the door slammed against the wall as it was opened by brute force.

"I don't think they are very happy about us leaving", said Jonathan. Everyone quickly grabbed their belongings. Darren drew his sword and Arcus unsheathed his own blades. When Twilight strapped her saddlebags around her barrel, the sunflower inside squeaked with surprise. "Sorry, Clara", whispered Twilight.

"No, indeed I am not. What a disappointment you are", said Sarithra angrily. She had not bothered to put her own armor on. However, she was holding both of her maces up and took an offensive stance. Twilight frowned; the elf seemed tired. There were bags under her green eyes and her golden hair looked slightly less perfectly groomed than it usually was.

"We're outnumbered", stated Darren. The elves entered the house, speading out to every corner of the room. "Slightly", he added after a moment of consideration.

"I don't care." Arcus smirked darkly. He dashed towards the next elf, who happened to be a mage, and stunned him by smacking his own body against him at a dazzling speed.

Darren quickly followed suit and threw himself at two elves at once. He parried their strikes, swiftly pushing the halberd and axe out of the way, and started carving his way through his opponents.

Twilight lit up her horn, creating a magic barrier between the elves and her friends. Then she cast a spell to send arcane missiles at their feet, accidentally setting the transparent blue curtain on fire in the process.

Jonathan ducked and barely dodged an arrow. What kind of a madman used bow and arrow indoors? He took cover behind the table and began his chanting. Golden rays enveloped his hands as the Light created a forcefield around Twilight - she was not shielding herself - and he threw a fiery lance at Sarithra.

There was chaos everywhere. It was hard to make out a thing with all the flashes of magical light and the noise of blades clashing. The elves were not easy to fight; after Arcus' quick surprise attack they fought back with vigor. Jonathan secretly admired the grace with which Sarithra moved around as she dodged his attacks, circling him and looking for an opening to punch him with her maces. His own shield was still holding but would probably fizzle out before long. Still, he had expected more elves to come.

Arcus was busy with his third opponent, pummelling him into oblivion. He tried not to rely on his blades too often but sometimes he would use them to parry attacks and keep the elves at bay. It worked surprisingly well. Was that the enchantment?

It was getting colder with every minute. Jonathan shivered; the water in the crystal jug on the table had frozen over. Darren looked like he was having the time of his life which unnerved Jonathan a bit. He would never get used to Death Knights fighting.

"Thank you for the training." Darren grinned at Arcus. Both of them managed to drive three elves against the wall. Darren stabbed one of them with his sword. A violet mist rose from the unfortunate elf's mouth and eyes and into the Death Knight's runeblade. With a hint of regret, Darren pulled his sword back before he could absorb all of his life force. The elf merely lost consciousness. His lips had turned blue and tiny flakes of snow covered his long dark hair.

Arcus tackled one of the other two. Judging by her red and purple robes and the spells she used it must be a mage. He punched the elf into the stomach, interrupting her spellcasting mid-sentence. The mage bent over, grunting in pain. Her hand got hold of Arcus's hoof. He twisted it and the grip loosened. Arcus jumped onto the elf's back, forcing her down with a muffled thud. He raised his forehooves, rearing on the spine of the mage, then stuck both blades into her back with an enraged roar.

Arcus rolled off the elf who emptied her lungs in a long last breath. The green light in her eyes faded as she looked at something far away.

Thuck.

A sharp pain in his right flank made Arcus cry in pain and forget the dying elf. Something was stuck in his hindleg, something sharp. He hissed, struggling to get back on his hooves, and faced his next opponent. The hunter's bowstring still vibrated from the shot he had released. With an angry scream, Arcus charged.

Jonathan panted heavily as he tried to hold his ground. He was still fighting with Sarithra, a fact which seemed to anger her greatly. It was only thanks to his agility, lightweight clothing and support of the Light that she had not managed to land all too heavy hits on him.

"You should be ashamed of yourself", Jonathan chastised her as he raised his hand to throw another beam of Holy Light at Sarithra. He tried hard to ignore the pain in his left arm; her mace had hit him sometime during the fight. He felt a bit dizzy from dodging her swings. "I mean, tricking Arcus? Blackmailing Twilight? Expecting me to die for your kodoshit after treating us the way you did? Do only elf lives count or what? You're just another bitch with double standards!"

Wow, Sarithra actually looked embarrassed as he said that. Her movements slowed down for a second. Jonathan used the breather to look around the house. The elves were far from defeated but the door was momentarily unguarded.

"Twilight!", shouted Jonathan as soon as he realized that. "Out!"

She nodded and her horn lit up once again. A flash of arcane light blinded everyone as she teleported herself outside along with her three friends.

They could hear the surprised gasp from inside the house. Sarithra shouted something, then a pack of angry elves dashed out and after them.

"Run", suggested Darren, pointing at the gate which marked the left end of the alleyway. It was already dark so there was not much going on in the streets. Jonathan saw that lamps were being lit in the neighboring houses, probably by the elves woken up by the ruckus.

They sprinted towards the gate, running for their lives. Darren was at the front, Twilight at the back. She flapped her wings and rose into the air. Twilight flew ahead of Arcus, casting another forcefield spell to shield them from arrows and frostbolts.

"They're holding back, aren't they?" she shouted.

"They want us alive", Darren agreed. "Never mind that. To the Shepherd's Gate!"

"We're never gonna make it that far", panted Jonathan as they emerged from the other side of the gate. The elves were catching up. Jonathan turned around and threw more lances of holy fire at them. The first two of the pursuers screamed in pain as the beams hit them, holding up the entire group as they bent over in pain.

The gate was not very wide, being in the inner parts of Silvermoon City. It was not even guarded. Twilight thought this was odd. She remembered the gate being flanked by at least four elves during the day.

There was no time to dwell on this, though. They ran along a short alley, passing another gate - the two guards were shot down by arcane missiles from Twilight and a frost spell from Darren - and entered a wide square.

"The Bazaar", said Darren. "Light damn it, we took the wrong turn." He grimaced and turned around, his face unusually alive with emotion. "This is hopeless." He pointed his large sword at the foremost pursuer, trapping his feet within chains of ice that appeared out of thin air.

"We can't escape through here", said Arcus, catching up with Darren. "We went straight ahead. But we should have taken a left turn before the last gate."

Twilight, however, was distracted by something else. She looked up as she noticed a blue light floating across the marketplace.

"What's that?", she asked, pointing at the light.

"Dunno. Looks kinda familiar", answered Arcus. "Anyway, keep going!"

They ran to the middle of the plaza where a small, circular building stood, surrounded by a group of golden-leaved trees and perfectly rectangular bushes. It was the auction house, empty at this time of the day. Jonathan knew that there was a platform at the back of the small room. They needed a place to hold their ground. He just hoped that they could defeat the pursuers before reinforcements would arrive. Their chances of escape were dwindling with every second.

"Auction house!", shouted Jonathan, pointing at the building. The four friends ran for it.

They did not get far. Backup had arrived from the opposite side of the plaza. Twilight skidded to a halt next to Arcus as she realized they were surrounded. The saddlebags felt heavy on her back. She tried to catch her breath without making it too obvious how much out of shape she was.

Sarithra grinned with satisfaction as she ordered her warriors to apprehend them.

As the elves approached, a high-pitched squeak made everyone stop and look up.

Arcus' eyes widened with surprise and disbelief. Jonathan mouth split into a wide smile until he grinned from ear to ear.

Six enormous bats descended over the Bazaar, each mounted by a heavily armed Forsaken warrior. They were accompanied by a familiar undead griffin and a small blue light that swiftly materialized into a translucent pegasus pony. Her long mane and tail flowed around her as if she was underwater.

"Hello, Priest", said the pegasus ghost. She smiled serenely, watching the dumbfounded elves as they looked to their leader, uncertain what to do.

"Get them!", shouted Sarithra, her face twisted in rage. She raised her maces and stormed towards the Forsaken riders.

The pegasus ghost spread her wings wide, opened her mouth and gave off a long, otherwordly scream. It made the elves stumble. Some of them even fell to the ground, instinctively but ineffectively covering their long ears. Twilight gasped in fear as she felt her heart literally skip a beat.

"Quickly, get on the mounts!", shouted one of the Forsaken - a woman with her face hidden behind a mask - and stretched out an arm to help Arcus onto the back of her bat. Twilight and Jonathan hurried to get into the saddles of the other bats while Darren mounted his undead griffin.

The pegasus screamed her banshee screech once again, buying the rescuers time to take of. All of the mounts flapped their wings in quick succession. They ascended from the square, barely dodging the arrows and fireballs of the remaining elves.

Twilight could hear Sarithra's enraged scream fade away behind her.

"Levinia! How did you find us?", she shouted against the wind as they flew over the rooftops, quickly gaining height. Her ears were still ringing from the banshee screams but she had suspicions that she was better off than Sarithra and the poor Blood Elves. Their faces had been contorted with enormous pain.

"Bane showed us", answered the pegasus, grinning widely. She floated alongside the bats with ease, flapping her wings only out of habit.

"Bane? Who's that?", asked Twilight, completely confused.

Levinia pointed her hoof at the griffin. "He can't talk... but he's undead, like me and these humans, so we figured something out to understand what he wants. Also, there was this troll."

"But you... how did you get here? And -"

"Later", said Levinia. She did not need to shout since her ghostly voice resonated within Twilight's mind. "First, let's get out of here."

Twilight nodded and could not help but smile and close her eyes as the bats left Silvermoon behind. They raced towards the sea in the West and soon the bats left the coastline behind, the stars above them and the ocean below.

Finally, they were free! But dear Celestia, she definitely had enough of elves for a while.

Author's Note:

I swear, I have nothing against Blood Elves, I actually like them. But it's just too damn easy to make them want to fight the Scourge... I imagine that people this old can have trouble with letting things go.

Oh, and I'm going to post the remaining chapters in quick succession. It's actually finished. Proofreading and editing is the only thing left to do. :)

Thanks for the positive feedback so far! If you see any typos you can send me a PM.

Comments

[Leila Drake]

8787605
I think Lor'Themar fought on the Thunder Isle in Pandaria and in the Siege of Orgrimmar. I remember him and Sylvanas exchanging weird jokes while holding off mobs for the Raid. :D

[Timuri]

8795351 I had quit during Cataclysm and only recently started again (your fault). I haven't gotten to those yet.

As to this chapter...Twilight still has some elves to deal with, unfortunately for her. They're just undead high elves instead of blood elves. Sylvanas isn't going to let them leave so easily...though Jon did say he'd be willing to listen to orders from her...

I am half expecting a pilgrimage to Equestria from all the Forsaken that want to properly live again...also, starting to wonder if magic items like the Elements would work in Azeroth. Those or a similarly powerful source of Equestrian magic likely would be able to start countering the Scourge magic of the Dead Scar or the Plaguelands.
Also, also...I doubt that we've seen the last of Gladius and Endimon. The rogue not being near the house strikes me as odd, that he may have been a double-agent set to watch Sarithra as much as the ponies.

[FridayPie]

Darren snorted, a spark of amusement in his eye. "The Banshee Queen as Warchief of the Horde? A fool's dream if I ever heard of one", he muttered.

Lol... and she is now...