In Want for a Wand

by Leila Drake

Level 5 - Death and Knight

Shroom-Kah sat on the stairs, its eyes emptily staring into the distance. Now and then it slowly chewed on a mushroom.

Its neighbor did the same thing though the stuff seemed to affect him much more. Drool dripped out of Gary's mouth and he kept humming to himself.

"Shroom good?", asked Shroom-Kah for the umpteenth time.

"Yeahhh", sighed Gary. "Shuddup... I wann... wanna watch the fountain. It's melting... so... beautif'lly!" He raised his hands, drawing a circle in the air to emphasize his words.

"No", disagreed Shroom-Kah, "not melting. Is growing."

"Wha'ever."

Their trip suddenly became more colorful when a purple creature stepped into their line of sight.

"Excuse me", said the purple wolpertinger that lacked antlers, "have you seen a green pony about my height?"

"Nope, nope, nope, nope", Gary said, shaking his head vehemently with each word. The remains of his dark eyebrows knitted together as he demanded more mushrooms.

"Oookay?" The Forsaken next to the wolpertinger crossed his arms. He had a frowney face. The wolpertinger's purple wings folded, its feathers rustling. To compensate for that, the fountain now grew and melted at the same time.

Shroom-Kah came to his aid and slurred, "There was been no pony. Serious." It sighed. "Shroom-Kah used to be clever. Sell much stuff, not just mushrooms. But... before Shroom-Kah died."

The Forsaken rolled his eyes. "Come on, let's go to the inn and ask Norman."

"Sell informatiun, too, but is all over, yes", added Shroom-Kah.

The purple wolpertinger hung its head. "All right. I just hope he didn't get into trouble. It's been hours..."

"I know." The man touched the wolpertinger's shoulder to comfort it.

"There was a dog, though", continued Shroom-Kah. Gary giggled hysterically, then the giggle turned into a desperate whine. Shroom-Kah hesitantly patted his back. "But is gone", it said.

Gary nodded slowly. "Gone..." His voice trailed off and he hummed a tuneless melody, bobbing his head with the rhythm.

"Which way did the dog go?"

Both pointed at the passage at the top of their staircase.

•°

Arcus limped away from the Translocation Orb and quickly hid behind the edge of a building as soon as he heard voices.

They were getting closer and the last thing he wanted was to get into trouble. Now after three hours of warrior schooling and four more of actual fighting. His legs were heavy, heavier than that time when he had walked fifty miles through the White Tail Woods. He could feel his mane clinging to his neck; he had forgotten to ask for a towel to rub his coat dry. The cold air made him shiver and wish for a warm bed... a coffin would be okay, too.

It seemed his wound had been healed just to make him ready to get mangled again. But what use was there in complaining? He had agreed to this. So it was time to suck it up and get back to the inn.

The voices were distinguishable now, a female and a male one.

"I swear, when I get my hands on him, I'm gonna teach him to wander off", said the male.

The female sighed. Wait a minute, she sounded familiar. "I'm sure he had a good reason. At least somepony saw him walk past here, we might be in luck this time!"

A groan. "I know I'm not really responsible for him but seriously, we've got to stick together."

Oh dear. He needed an alibi, and fast. What would be a good enough reason to stay away for hours? A long walk? Spiders? Diarrhea? Ahh crap, here they were.

"Arcus!", shouted Twilight. "Are you there?"

He sighed and walked around the corner, hiding his farewell gift from the elves - a small red crystal orb - underneath the barding.

"Arcus! Oh, Celestia, I was so worried!" Twilight stormed over to him and hugged him.

Arcus awkwardly patted her back. Then the alicorn let go of him, stepped back and cleared her throat, suddenly aware of their surroundings.

Jonathan seemed to be torn between a frown and a smirk. Eventually, he settled for a frown. "I would say you could have gotten hurt but apparently we can skip that part. What the hell happened?"

Arcus dug at the ground, a strange knot in his stomach that had nothing to do with his training. "I... have no excuse. I'm sorry for disappearing like that." He inhaled, unsure whether to add something else or not. He waited and just stared at Twilight's hooves.

He could feel Twilight's gaze on his barrel for a moment, right where his armor had been repaired, but she didn't say anything.

"I understand why you left", she said suddenly, "but you've been gone the entire day! We looked for you everywhere!"

"Except the Royal Quarter", added Jonathan.

Twilight glared at him for a moment, then focused on Arcus again. "Is there anything you want to share with us?"

"Uh... no?" He didn't manage to sound as firm as he had hoped, his tone rising with the last word.

She sighed, disappointed. "Be that way, then... I'm sure that you're hungry, though."

Arcus nodded and finally raised his head to look at Twilight. "Thanks for looking for me."

She shook her head. "It's what friends do, Arcus. But we would really appreciate if you told us where you're going the next time you decide to get 'some air'."

"I already thought someone caught you, or worse", said Jonathan without elaborating on 'worse'.

Arcus nodded again and promised, "I will. If that happens again... which I doubt." I have learned my lesson, he added sourly in his thoughts.

•°

Arcus followed the Priest and the Mage back though the archway, his ears down as they passed two apathetic figures on the broad stairway down into the courtyard. The ghoul was sitting more or less upright (meaning that his feet were lower than his head), its stare unfocused, while the other one rested face-down in the corner under a handrail, muttering under his breath. He seemed somewhat familiar to Arcus. He winced as he recognized in him the attacker from before.

They went through the bell tower - the echoes were still there, putting Arcus slightly on edge - then the roofless hall and the abandoned throne room. The hollow steps of hooves on stone reverberated in the cavernous tunnel to the elevators. Twilight and Jonathan still didn't say a word. When they stepped out of the elevator cabin, Arcus noticed the difference in temperature. It had been freezing on the surface; only a few degrees less and there would have been ice covering the grass. Down here, in the center of the Undercity, it was simply bucking cold.

Arcus felt increasingly uncomfortable as the silence stretched out like sticky green goo. He sighed in resignation. The search for him had put a real damper on their initial enthusiasm, and he didn't like it one bit.

"Guys, I -", he began.

"Look, Arcus -", said Twilight at the same time.

Jonathan snorted.

"You go first", offered Twilight.

Arcus glanced at her. "Seriously, what's up with this mood? I mean, I get why you are sulking or whatever, but I'm back, and I said that I was sorry..."

Twilight frowned. "I'm not 'sulking'. Your apology is not the issue here."

"Then what is?", demanded Arcus.

Her ears splayed back. "It's just... when you didn't return we really assumed that something pretty bad must have happened."

Tell me about it, thought Arcus and grimaced.

"Then I realized that we don't even have a backup plan. Something really bad could happen, even if we don't want it to happen. We have to take the possibility into account."

Arcus nodded slowly. "That makes sense", he admitted.

"How about we think of a way of communicating over a distance?", suggested Jonathan. "In case we get separated again."

"Or a point for regrouping", offered Arcus, tapping his chin. "I think the real problem was that I got lost, though."

Twilight hummed thoughtfully. "We are going to move around a lot on this quest. I doubt we'd easily find each other again in the deep woods."

"Right... right." Arcus huffed in frustration.

They walked along the gallery and finally arrived at the Inn's alcove.

"Jon's idea sounds good, though", commented Arcus. "But I have no plan how to pull that off. I mean, we can't write letters or use a megaphone. Or could we?" He raised an eyebrow.

"I used to write letters to Princess Celestia on a weekly basis", said Twilight, sitting down at the inn's small round table, "using Spike's dragon fire. There are spells for that as well. I have learned them some time ago, they're basic teleportation spells for small objects, pretty easy ones actually."

Arcus slumped down on the other chair. "Yeah, for unicorns or alicorns all right", he countered.

"I can't cast teleportation spells either", added Jonathan. He sat down on the edge of the next coffin. Then he rolled his shoulders around until a resounding crack made Twilight flinch. "Ahh." The human momentarily closed his eyes, seemingly relaxing.

Twilight frowned. "Do you have to do that?"

"Give me a break, we've been searching in the cold all day. No offense", he said in Arcus's direction.

"None taken", said Arcus, still feeling guilty.

"But what if", continued Jonathan, "the letter remains at the same place and only the message travels?"

"Errr, what?" The earth pony was completely confused now.

"There must be a way to copy a text", explained Jonathan.

Twilght's eyes widened. "Oh, I see! Of course!" She pulled her saddlebacks out of her coffin and floated them over to the table to get her writing materials.

Arcus heaved a sigh. Finally the mood was more or less back to normal.

•°

Twilight prepared three parchment sheets and enchanted them so that whatever was written on one of them appeared on the other two as well.

"I read something about books like that some time ago", she remembered. "I think Princess Celestia used them occasionally but creating entire message books is pretty tedious. I guess we'll have to do with just a sheet but that should be enough in case of an emergency."

Dinner was uneventful. Jonathan and Twilight discussed the enchantment some more, comparing their experience with magical scrolls, while Arcus quietly ate his soup. He was still occupied by repeating the warrior lessons from earlier in his mind.

The trio cleaned up their wooden bowls and returned them to their respective bags, then decided to hit the hay.

•°

The next morning, Jonathan was already done with packing as Twilight and Arcus woke up. The ponies stretched their limbs, yawning with their mouths wide open. Jonathan folded a cotton towel around a small stack of bread slices, tying the corners together to a knot.

Arcus blinked and climbed out of his coffin. "Mornin'", he mumbled.

"Morning." Jonathan flashed him a brief smile. "You ready for some flying?"

Arcus slowly shook his head. "Not really. What about breakfast?"

Jonathan gestured at the towel. "In there", he explained. "We are supposed to meet our guide in half an hour at the sewer exit. So you and Twilight better roll up your blankets."

Twilight's eyes widened. "So soon?"

"I wanted to wake you earlier but after yesterday I figured you needed the rest."

The alicorn rolled up her blanket and pillow and tied them to her saddlebags. "I can't argue with that. I'm still not looking forward to flying on mounts. Is it going to be wyverns again?"

"No", grinned Jonathan. "You'll see."

•°

Twilight stared at the two bats that sat on the ground next to the Flightmaster, a Forsaken called Garrett. The bat ignored her, eyeing a mouse that Mr Garrett held close to its mouth. It swiftly grabbed it with its fangs and bent its head back to swallow the critter, not without sucking its blood out first.

"There, take it slow", cackled Garrett, patting the bat's furry grey back. It spread its huge pink leathery wings as it forced the breakfast down.

Arcus's face was awfully pale beneath his leaf green coat, his ears down, and he swallowed dryly. "Forget what I said yesterday. I am so not ready for this."

Twilight tore her gaze from the bat and gaped at Jonathan. "You can't be serious." She shuffled her wings uncomfortably.

The human frowned. "Damn right I am. Look, bats are the flying mount of choice here. In fact, their flight is way more steady than the wyverns, they glide less but when they beat their wings it's pretty regular. They're nothing like the small fruit bats you probably know."

Twilight shook her head. "I only wish we could use just one bat."

"You shouldn't", cut Garrett in. "The weight would be too much. The big ones are airborne right now so you either take Finn and Redwing or wait another five days. What's it gonna be?"

Jonathan spread his arms, an apologizing gesture towards Twilight.

She rolled her eyes. "All right, but I'll secure Arcus and myself with a rope, just to be sure."

"Would've recommended it anyway", drawled Garrett and continued, "So, Mr Baker, you should take Redwing since he is the alpha. Finn is gonna follow him anywhere you wanna fly. Any questions?"

"How much?"

"Five Silver a day. Feeding not included."

Jonathan counted some money from his still bulbous purse and handed it over to Mr Garrett who, a content smile on the remains of his face, gave the other bat its breakfast and stepped back after that.

"Save journey. And bring my bats back in one piece!"

"Thanks", replied Jonathan, giving a lopsided smile, and helped Arcus to climb into Finn's saddle.

Twilight flew up, sitting down behind Arcus with her forelegs on on side of the saddle, her hind legs on the other. "Don't give me that look, Arcus, I can only fly this way." She drew a rope from her saddlebags and tied their barrels to the saddle.

The earth pony, who sat on his haunches, grinned but refrained from commenting on her slightly awkward-looking position. He was still way too nervous to criticize.

Jonathan then climbed onto Redwing's saddle and looked back at his friends. "Brace yourselves", he warned them.

He bent forward and pressed his knees into the bat's sides. It squeaked and started flapping its red wings which were even larger than Finn's. The bat leapt off the gallery and flew upwards in a big spiral around the bank house. Finn followed suit, right on his tail. The two beasts left the Trade Quarter through a pipe which led them directly to the outer ring.

"Wah!", came a shout from Arcus.

Jonathan turned his head. "What?", he called back.

"Nevermind!" The earth pony's grin was wiped off his muzzle as he hung on for his dear life. "J-j-just keep flying."

The human rolled his eyes. "Killjoys", he muttered to himself. Of all the ponies to accompany him, it had to be the two that hated flying. And one even had wings for Light's sake!

He led the mounts through the sewer system, upwards to the entrance cave. They passed the monstrous guards in a heartbeat. The bats eased through the tunnel, taking each turn with a grace the ponies had not expected. Jonathan heard no more comments from Twilight and Arcus and drew the conclusion that they preferred to keep their mouths shut during the flight.

It still didn't keep him from enjoying it; the fresh wind blew the used air of the city away as they left the cave; Jonathan's dark purple scarf fluttered in the breeze behind him; his hood slipped off his white hair but he didn't care; he blinked at the pale sun that shone through the mist and smiled. They were above the forest now, and still on time for the meetup.

He muttered a silent prayer to the Light to take the airsickness away from his pony friends. The warm embrace calmed him down, too, taking some of the nervousness.

Jonathan only knew the guide's name, a Darren Houndslayer. Innkeeper Norman had insisted that he was the man for the job so Jonathan had taken the hint and written a letter to the guy. He still had some doubts about that character but if Norman said he was fine then he probably was. Meaning that he would actually lead them through SIlverpine and not murder and/or rob them in the dead of night.

He directed his bat to turn hard starboard and landed at a small crossroads in the forest close to the ruins of the city, the meeting point that Houndslayer had suggested in his reply. Jonathan turned his head, looking around for the guide. He spotted a figure just above them as Finn landed next to Redwing.

A groan escaped Twilight while Arcus simply stared forward into the distance.

"Are you okay?" Jonathan frowned, not without an indistinct wave of guilt.

Arcus waved at him weakly. "Yeah, yeah. It got... less worse... during the last minutes."

"Good. I can see our guide over there." Jonathan raised his hand to greet the bony creature and its rider that descended next to him.

It was a griffin or, to be more precise, it used to be one. The griffin had no meat on its bones and an eerie blue glow filled his ribcage. Its flight seemed to be supported not by its wings but by some kind of dark magic. Jonathan tried not to think about it. The rider pulled at the reins, making the bird raise its front legs and flap its bony wings repeatedly to come to a halt.

As far as he could tell, the heavily armored person was a human of average height and a fairly muscular build. The dark ice blue plate armor, complete with a deep purple tabard that depicted a black blade, reflected what little sunlight managed to get to the ground through the treetops. He was carrying no obvious weapons with him expect for a gigantic two-handed sword on his back. The sword glowed in a cold blue mist that rose from the engraved blade, leaving a faint trail behind the knight's cloak. It was as if he was a harbinger of winter, slightly ahead of schedule considering that Winter's Veil was still a few weeks away.

Jonathan lowered his hand and gave his friends a worried look, hoping they would not comment on the knight's appearance. Twilight and Arcus straightened up in their saddle and eyed the stranger suspisciously.

That was when the man spoke. His deep voice was as cold as his looks; the hint of an echo in his speech. Jonathan saw Twilight and Arcus shiver in the corner of his eye.

"Are you the Forsaken Baker?"

"Yes. Yes, I am", said Jonathan, trying to ignore the knight's cold tone. He had met Death Knights before and Light dammit he wouldn't make the mistake to piss one off, especially now that he had a life and two friends to lose. He was regretting his poor choice already but turning away after asking him to be their guide? Nope.

"I've been to Silverpine and the Plaguelands before but, as it seems, there's been some shit going on down there. I wanna make sure that we get through in one piece."

The knight smirked, his humorless grin the only visible part of his face under the hood. "Fair enough. I am Darren. They call me the Houndslayer."

Arcus gulped audibly.

The death knight turned his hooded head to look at the ponies. "You have curious luggage", he observed.

Jonathan raised an eyebrow. "Just to be clear about that: They're not luggage. This is the mage Twilight Sparkle", the alicorn waved a hoof at the knight, "and Arcus Tangens, a surveyor." The earth pony nodded politely.

"And why would I help a living man and his unlikely company through Forsaken land? I am not so foolish as to make a journey not worth its compensation."

"Not this again", groaned Jonathan involuntarily, heat rushing to his cheeks. He roughly pulled the cloth from his head, exposing his completely healthy face but also his white hair. Light, give me patience, he prayed. "I'm gonna say this once: I am a Forsaken. I've only encountered some weird-ass magic that healed me. But you of all people should know that loyalty is not about a friggin' pulse. We will travel through Silverpine, with or without a guide. So either take it or leave it, Death Knight, because I will not discuss this any further. Got it?"

The knight's grin widened and he chuckled. "Calm yourself, boy. This could turn out to be a nice little distraction. Your behavior at least suggests a certain familarity with the Undead. I will guide you, provided that you tell me what it is that you seek."

Jonathan relaxed a little. "I want to get wood and a gem for a special wand."

"Hm - very well. Are you properly prepared for a flight to the Sepulcher?"

"We can take off any moment."

"Naturally, I expect some of the payment in advance."

Twilight and Arcus watched curiously as Jonathan turned all businesslike. They had rarely seen this side of him before.

The priest pulled a small purse from his backpack and tossed it over to the knight who caught it easily with his left hand. After a brief look at the purse's content, he nodded. "We have a deal", he confirmed.

"One more thing, though", said Jonathan. "We are not flying directly to the Sepulcher. There's a place halfway to Ambermill we're going to visit first."

"All the same to me", commented Houndslayer. He yanked the reins around without hesitation. His griffin took off and rose above the trees.

Jonathan quickly urged his mount to do the same and lead it ahead of the griffin. Finn followed close behind. Jonathan heard the surprised gasps of the ponies.

At least they did not seem to feel sick anymore. They were probably still trying to make their mind up about the Death Knight. Jonathan did not assume Twilight had seen one before. Dalaran had been full of mages after all.

•°

Arcus poked Twilight's side as Finn rose to follow Redwing. "What kind of knight is that?", he asked as quietly as he could above the wind.

She frowned deeply, an expression she had hidden a few moments before. "Death Knights are undead, mostly human or elves though other species died in the Scourge War, too. Look, he's wearing a tabard of the Ebon Blade. That means he vowed to take revenge on the Lich King for enslaving and killing his people. They are extremely dangerous fighters. I read a lot about it yesterday."

Arcus groaned and rolled his eyes. "Great."

"I'm sure Jonathan knows what he is doing. We have got to trust each other."

He nodded reluctantly. "Fine. But I don't like him. He gives me the creeps. And it's different this time, not like Undercity."

Twilight looked ahead at the shilouette of the two other flying mounts. "I know what you mean. Being close to him feels dangerous. It's like he's carrying around his own winter night and can freeze you to death any moment."

"Yeah, exactly."

They continued the flight in silence, keeping their bodies close to each other in the biting winds.

•°

"There!", shouted Jonathan over the wind and pointed at a clearing below.

A stream snaked through the woods, heading towards the lake. It had been easy not to lose the way despite the monotonous pine tree landscape. The lake had come into sight a few hours ago and had been at their left for the entire time. On the clearing, a few hundred yards away from the stream, stood three small wooden buildings, arranged in a rough U, its open side facing away from the lake.

Jonathan guided Redwing downwards, landing right between the buildings. Finn and the griffin followed suit, descending on both sides. Redwing shook his head, shrieking and looking here and there in rapid movements. It was already late afternoon. Jonathan hoped that they did not have to continue their flight at night. It was already cold enough; in the dark their butts would probably get frozen to their mounts. He climbed off and led the bat to the barn at the left. Finn followed in a weird wobble, reminding Jonathan of a dromedar.

The barn door was unlocked. Jonathan entered and let Redwing rest on a pile of hay that was still surprisingly big. Only the lower parts of it had turned to earth. Then he turned around to help Arcus off of Finn's back but Twilight was ahead of him. She had already loosened the security rope and the two ponies stiffly climbed down.

The bat shook his fur, then joined Redwing in his box, slumping down next to the taller alpha.

"Finally", sighed Arcus. "Hello, oh dearest ground, never have I missed you so."

Twilight eyed him. "How are you feeling? I didn't feel too bad this time." She adjusted her blue saddlebags with her hoof.

"Nah, me neither. Just wanted to be a bit melodramatic", grinned the earth pony. "Besides, the lunch break helped."

The death knight led his griffin inside by the reins and placed his mount in the box next to Redwing's. "How long will we remain here?", he asked.

Jonathan tilted his head. "Depends. I want to look for something. Should take an hour at most. Theoretically, we could fly to the Sepulcher then. But it's so cold that it might be a better idea to stay here for the night. What do you think?", he asked Twilight and Arcus.

"I think so, too. We are not in a hurry after all. The flight was exhausting", said Twilight.

"Yeah, let's look for whatever you wanted to see and have dinner after that", suggested Arcus.

Jonathan nodded. "Sounds good to me. I'm gonna visit my sister's grave so yeah, you don't have to come along if you don't want to."

Twilight's eyes went wide. "Of course we'll come with you!"

Arcus nodded assertively.

Houndslayer crossed his arms. "I will watch the premises. There might be wolves around. Or worse, werewolves."

"Wait a minute, werewolves?" Jonathan was aghast. "That's new!"

The knight nodded. "Yes, it is. Did you not hear that the Gilnean Wall has been opened?"

"No! Definitely not! Don't tell me there's Worgen roaming the land! Does the Queen know about this?"

"Of course she does", snorted Houndslayer. "There was a battle. And after that, the Gilnean Worgen joined the Alliance. It turned out they retained part of their sanity even when transformed."

Jonathan was speechless. He had never thought that there would be a cure to lycanthropy, partial or not. Worgen were the stuff of nightmares, even Forsaken were used to talking about them in disgusted whispers. "Okay", he said finally. "We'll still keep our guard up."

Arcus and Twilight's ears splayed back but Arcus still raised his head and Twilight proclaimed, "Let's go."

•°

The clearing ended only a few feet behind the barn. It seemed that the forest was successful in slowly reclaiming the place as its own. Younger trees and bushes grew on the edge and ivy covered the entire backside of the barn. A cart with a broken axle lay next to a splintered barrel.

"Kinda gloomy here", commented Arcus.

Jonathan hummed. "No one's lived here for over six years."

"Was this your home?", asked Twilight meekly.

The human nodded. He chewed on his lip, unsure whether to add anything, then straightened up. "This way", he decided.

Twilight and Arcus followed him along a narrow path. It seemed to be used frequently by the local wildlife. Jonathan needed to duck now and then to avoid hanging branches and the ponies had some trouble climbing over the underwood. The hooting of owls and the distant repetitive knocking of a woodpecker reminded them that they were not alone. Something briefly brushed against Jonathan's leg, maybe a mouse or a squirrel.

Jonathan was nervous. The forest suddenly felt so unfamiliar to him; its appearance had changed a lot. It was darker than before, not only because of winter approaching. Jonathan hoped he would not miss the spot where the grave was. He did not know what he was hoping for anyway. Maybe he just wanted closure and say goodbye to his sister for one last time. Maybe he wanted to check if the grave was all right, lay down some flowers and clean the stone a bit. It was probably very mossy by now.

Eventually the path ended and they stood at the edge of the stream they had seen just before landing.

Jonathan frowned, trying to recall the right direction. Finally, he recognized the tree with the funny face. A thick branch had broken off, the remaining stump looking like a long nose. A hole sat next to it and it was not hard to complete the features in your mind. The tree winked at him from across the stream. He turned left, against the direction of the flow, and kept following the water. He could still hear Twilight and Arcus, panting and breaking twigs, but they did not speak, busy trying to keep up.

•°

Twilight quietly trotted after Jonathan, her head low to watch the ground. It soon became more even; less and less bushes blocked their path. They arrived at another clearing, this one very different to the one where the houses stood. Her eyes widened and she gasped, stopping abruptly. Arcus bumped into her rear end and muttered an apology.

The clearing had a diameter of roughly thirty yards. The ground was dark and firm, only a few tiny plants grew on it. The trees on the edge, black and crippled, showed scorch marks. But what kind of fire just stopped after burning down a circle in the forest? The place smelled like nothing Twilight knew. If she had to describe it, she would have said, 'hollow'.

"What happened here?", whispered Twilight. "What is this?"

"A magical explosion maybe", offered Arcus, as stricken as Twilight.

"Priest, wait up!" Twilight ran after the man who was already several steps ahead.

He turned around, registering the ponies, and shook his head. "That was me", he said, just loud enough for them to hear. "I did that."

Twilight mouthed, Why?

"I wanted the ground to be clean."

"Clean?"

"For her."

Twilight lowered her gaze, her stomach tying into a knot.

"Its - it's over there." He pointed at the center of the black clearing.

"Should we wait here?", offered Twilight. "To give you some privacy?"

Jonathan nodded curtly.

"Okay." Arcus sat down on his haunches, only to immediately get up again. "Cold", he explained.

The two ponies watched Jonathan walk away from them. He went slowly, like a sleepwalker.

•°

Jonathan searched the area for the stone. It was a small regular rock, not bigger than a plate, the name "Elizabeth Baker" roughly scratched into the surface. It had taken him two days to get the letters right. He was sure he would not miss it.

•°

He could not find it.

Jonathan went up and down, circling the area. He eventually spotted something.

This was not right. The clearing had been nearly flat after his nice little fire. He came closer and bent down to inspect the small hill. The earth had been broken open and it was now covered in grass. It looked as if someone had tried to dig a hole. But he remembered flattening the grave after... it.

"Oh no", he muttered.

A flat stone as small as a regular dish plate lay next to the patch of grass. Jonathan turned it over. The letters were still mostly there.

E IZA ETH B KER

Jonathan stared at the desecrated grave. A gag got stuck halfway up in his throat.

They couldn't have. They mustn't have! Not his sister! Not Lizzie!

But it seemed that they had. Nobody had tried to dig a hole here. Something had digged its way out. Somebody had awoken her, most likely the Scourge. And now she was gone.

Jonathan gasped, clenching his fists in helpless anger and sadness. Was he not even allowed to mourn her?

•°

"He's taking awfully long", muttered Twilight. There was something about the clearing that made her keep her voice down.

"Let's walk over. I don't like this at all." Arcus stomped over to Jonathan with determination. It was time to get to the bottom of this.

When Jonathan fell to his knees, touching something on the ground with his hands, Arcus hesitated for a moment. Then cantered over to his friend.

"Jon, what are you... doing?" His voice faltered.

The human slowly faced Arcus, still half-sitting, half-kneeling on the ground. His face was like a mask and much paler than it should be.

"She's gone." His voice was steady, too steady, and very quiet. He shook his head. "She's undead. Or worse. She's gone." He covered his mouth and squeezed his eyes shut.

In front of him there was a small stone with foreign, scratchy letters on it. Arcus figured it must be the sister's name. Grass grew around the stone.

Arcus swallowed dryliy. "Damn", he breathed. He felt pity for his friend rising up in his chest. Arcus rarely cried; he could hurt his head on the edge of hard furniture without uttering a word of complaint. But now he was struggling to keep his composure.

Jonathan bent over, covering his face with both hands, and shook with silent sobs.

•°

Arcus averted his face and slowly trotted back to Twilight who was catching up. "Leave him be", he said quietly and, to his surprise, Twilight simply nodded and grimaced. She looked deep in thought, as if remembering something.

They waited for as long as they could despite the cold but eventually Arcus got over his embarrassment and approached Jonathan again. Twilight followed, nervously shuffling her wings under her cloak. Arcus gently nudged him.

"Come on, dude, let's go back to the house", he said. "We can get a fire going, rest for the night."

Jonathan's head jerked up. It seemed that he suddenly remembered where he was.

"Yeah. Okay... Right. Let's do that." He quickly wiped his nose and cleared his throat, then, with determination, he rose back to his feet. "Sorry", he muttered, clearly embarrassed.

"There's no need." Twilight tried to smile at him, though the smile turned out pretty sad, not reaching her eyes, and her ears were still down. She focused and cast a spell. The tip of her horn lit up like a wand.

Arcus nodded at the human encouragingly, still unable to think of anything clever to say, then led the way back. He was immensely grateful for his almost eidetic ability to remember paths now. Jonathan looked in no condition to concentrate, much less find the way back. On top of that, it was already pretty late and the trees cast shadows so dark that it was hard to recognize anything at all. Twilight's light shone just bright enough to illuminate the next few steps. The alicorn herself stayed behind Jonathan, occasionally looking back to make sure nothing dangerous was nearby.

•°

When they returned to the yard, they saw that somebody had lit a fire in the main building. A warm light shone through the window on the right to the entrance.

Arcus and Twilight looked at each other, with no clue why Jonathan was suddenly alert again. Jonathan tensed up, then ran for the door. He pushed it open with force; it was heavy and only moved slowly. They went through a short corridor, then another much lighter wooden door.

The death knight sat on a dusty padded chair close to the fireplace.

Jonathan relaxed immediately. "Ah, it's you", he breathed.

"Who else would it be?", replied Houndslayer. "I figured you would like it to be warm when you return. Unfortunately, there is not enough wood available to heat up more rooms."

Jonathan nodded, a tiny polite smile on his face. "Thanks. And it's only for one night. We can sleep here."

Twilight extinguised the light of her horn; the shine of the fire easily lit the entire room.

They took off their cloaks and spread them on the sofa. Twilight and Jonathan sat down; Arcus stepped closer to the fireplace and sat down on his haunches. He did it slowly; everything was dusty. At least the walls had kept out the humidity. The dust aside, the simple furniture was unharmed. Apparently the trading post had not been very lucrative.

Twilight took her saddlebags off and placed them close to the sofa. She started rummaging in them and finally found what she had been looking for. She used her magic to float a small kettle over the fire and set it down on the iron grid that stood above it. Another spell and the kettle was filling with water.

Everyone watched in fascination as the alicorn produced three tin cups and placed them on the dusty table before the fireplace. Her muzzle disappeared in her bag once more and she gave Jonathan and Arcus some bread and cheese, along with an apple for each of them. She cast a questioning look at the knight who simply shook his head.

"I do not eat", he said, his breath turning into mist as if he was outside in the cold.

She nodded. "I thought so", she smiled and sat down on the sofa.

They ate their food in relative silence. Arcus was the first to finish; he even ate the apple's core and stem. When the water boiled, Twilight added some herbs to it. Up to that point, Jonathan was still not finished. He chewed halfheartedly on his piece of bread, leaving the cheese untouched.

Houndslayer simply sat there and watched them. His gaze, still hidden under the hood, seemed to wander from one to the other. "What is the matter? Arcus Tangens?"

Arcus huffed sadly but refrained from a comment.

Jonathan cleared his throat. "Ah, well, that's my fault. I probably shouldn't have gone to the grave."

"Why?", asked Twilight very seriously. "It was probably the last chance in your life to do that."

He grimaced. "Yes. But if I hadn't done it I'd still think that she's dead. Like, properly dead", he added quietly.

Houndslayer tilted his head curiously. "Your wife?"

He shook his head. "Sister."

"I'm sorry", said the knight abruptly, his voice almost normal.

"Was it your fault?", asked Jonathan, a hint of sharpness in his inquiry.

"No."

"Good." He looked away, embarrassed that he had even asked, then perked up when something came to his mind. "You... you haven't heard of anybody raising the dead again, have you?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact. It was the Val'kyr", grunted the knight. "Four of them are now under orders of Sylvanas. Shouldn't you know that, being a Forsaken?"

"I've been away for years, so no, not really", replied Jonathan, ignoring the accusation in Darren's voice. "How in the world did she - "

"She recruited them after the Lich King fell."

"Damn it. Connect that with the battle against the Worgen and there you have it", explained Jonathan to the ponies.

"Oh dear", muttered Twilight. "Are you thinking the Val'kyr raised your sister to fight the werewolves?"

Jonathan nodded slowly. "I had hoped that she wouldn't have to go through the same shit as me. Apparently I was wrong." He clenched his fist, crumbling his remaining piece of bread.

When he fell silent, Houndslayer added, "She could have perished in the battle, or continue her existence as an undead, probably unrecognizable to you." He seemed agrravated, shuffling around in his armchair. A cold breeze emanated from him.

Arcus wrinkled his muzzle in confusion. "What are Val'kyr?"

"Tall undead women with wings. They have the ability to raise the dead and turn them into undead", explained Twilight quickly.

Arcus whistled through his teeth. "Dear Celestia... There's no way to find her, is there?", he wondered. Jonathan shook his head.

"I'm not hungry", he stated after swallowing down the last of his bread. "Anypony want the cheese?"

The knight scoffed. It sounded a little creepy with the echo, yet he seemed to be genuinely amused.

"What?", asked a bewildered Jonathan.

"Your words. You said, 'anypony'", observed Houndslayer.

"Yeah. So?"

Arcus raised his hoof. "I'll take it." His mouth watered as he fixed his eyes on the food.

"Ah, I suppose the term fits. Still, it sounds strange coming from a man." Darren shook his head.

Jonathan smiled briefly and handed the cheese over to Arcus. "You get used to it. After all, you can get used to a lot of things. That includes talking ponies."

"Or undead humans", retorted Twilight, raising her eyebrows.

"Yeah", smiled Jonathan, the sadness retreating from his face. "Oh!" He opened his backpack and removed a paper bag from it. "I just remembered I still got this. Maybe I can eat some more after all", he mused, eyeing the bag.

Arcus rolled his eyes. "There was nothing wrong with the cheese."

"Are those what I think they are?" Twilight smiled encouragingly.

Jonathan opened the bag and peered inside. "Five of them. Figures." He gave Arcus and Twilight two of the cupcakes. Both had pink sugar frosting. His own had was coated with chocolate.

"Who made these?", asked Houndslayer, getting curious again.

He somehow seems to be thawing, observed Arcus.

"Pinkie Pie, an earth pony as pink as a Naaru crystal", said Jonathan between two bites. "You can try one if you want. The taste is fucking awesome." He all but shoved another chocolate cupcake into the knight's hand.

"Seriously?", deadpanned Houndslayer.

"Just eat the damn thing", insisted Jonathan.

He carefully took a bit. "Indeed." Surprised, he ate the rest of the baked good with enthusiasm.

"I know, right?!" Jonathan kept smirking, then sobered up again, chewing and enjoying the sweet flavor. He stared into the fire and mulled things over, his thoughts returning to his sister.

Why did it shock him so much? He used to be undead, too. His sister would manage... hopefully.

Damn it, why did he have to go there? Six years were a long time, why couldn't he let it go? Sometimes it felt so distant but then it was all fresh again.

At least he was not anymore in zombie mode like on the way back. Jonathan straightened up and decided never to go to the grave again. She was the last of his family and now that he would not ever find her there was nothing keeping him in Azeroth. It was time to get the wand materials and return to Equestria as soon as possible.

"I've been mourning her for so long... For far too long actually", he finally said, his voice sounding as dusty as it had before he had been healed. "I can't go back. In any way. This place is not my home anymore. It's all empty and... useless. Better for the whole thing to rot and disappear." Jonathan wrung his hands, staring at the fire, and hung his head. He sighed, sniffling a bit.

"What Sylvanas did... I can't say in earnest that I blame her for raising people from the dead. One way or another, I can't undo it. Maybe my sister got lucky and isn't in any trouble at all." He smiled sadly at Twilight. "As I said, I can't go back."

There was an awkward pause, then Jonathan rubbed his nose. "Oh, man. Pinkie would probably know how to raise the mood. Hell, only this one cupcake of hers does wonders." He decided to eat the fourth cupcake, staining his fingers with sugary frosting in the process.

"What's your sister's name?", asked Arcus quietly. "You never told us."

Twilight decided to hazard a guess. "Her name is Lizzie, isn't it?"

Jonathan nodded. "You're remembering my Nightmare Night story", he concluded.

She poured tea into the three cups. "You looked so sad when you told it. Was any of it made up at all?"

"Yeah", admitted Jonathan, "but not much. Only the part about the ghost and some minor details." He frowned and rubbed his neck.

"I see", muttered Twilight. She still remembered the entire story.

And when they grab her and raise their blades she recognizes one of them: The one right at the front is her brother.

"We'll be with you no matter what happens", she said warmly.

Jonathan nodded curtly and wiped his wet cheeks. He felt deeply thankful that the death knight didn't give a snarky comment.

They went to sleep after finishing their tea. Arcus had shared the last cupcake with Twilight and washed the tin cups with some snow from outside. Houndslayer wordlessly stood up and positioned himself near the windows.

For some reason, Jonathan slept much better than the previous night, completely undisturbed by the distant howling from outside.