Chapter 3
CHAPTER 3
“Twilight Sparkle?” The purple Alicorn nodded in agreement as Mikey passed her a coffee, which she began to greedily drink. “Strange name,” he pointed a thumb over his should as Kanyssea “But then again, not any stranger than Moonbreeze.”
Kanyssea smacked him across the back of his head. “Not nearly as strange as 'Mikey' if you ask me. Twilight Sparkle sounds like a perfectly normal name to me.”
“Ah! That hit the spot.” Twilight was fairly sure she was safe, for now. She still made sure to stay between Rainbow Dash and everypony else though. “So now that you know my name, what are your names?”
With a shrug, Mikey answered first. “Mike Rivers, paladin from Stormwind, originally hailing from Lorderan. Everyone calls me Mikey.”
“Kanyssea Moonbreeze, druid from Darnassus.”
“Sharon. Priestess from the Church of the Holy Light in Stormwind, born in Darrowshire before...” Sharon ended with a shrug of her own.
“Shandris Feathermoon, General of the Sentinel Army. You're currently a guest in my garrison.”
Twilight winced at that last one. “A guest? Or a prisoner?”
Shandris nodded to the blue one. “I suspect it makes little difference unless you wish to leave your companion behind, but guest. You are free to come or go as you desire, so long as you obey the laws of the land.” Staring out the hole that used to be the backwall of Twilight's room, Shandris smirked. “I won't even charge you for the damage you caused, as I'm afraid I had a hand to play in letting them find you. I admit, I hadn't believed there were enough agents of the Burning Legion here to actually cause any damage, and you acted in defense. I'd prefer you don't cause such damage again however, but you are free to take what actions you deem necessary to defend yourself from the Legion and their agents.”
Twilight mutely nodded.
“What are you?” Sharon quickly clamped a hand over her mouth, unsure if she asked an offensive question or not.
“I'm an Alicorn from Equestria. You and Mikey..?” At Mikey's nod, she continued “are humans, though different from the humans I met before. I don't know what Kanyssea and Shandris are though.” Twilight was glad Sharon was willing to ask the awkward questions, as it let Twilight ask them in return. She needed all the information she could get.
“Kaldorei, or Night Elf if you prefer.”
“Um..if you don't mind, what is an Alicorn? I notice you have wings and a horn, while your friend only has wings.”
“An Alicorn is a mix of all three pony races, earth ponies whose magic allows them to grow food far more efficiently than unicorns or pegasi, are stronger, and share a strong connection with the earth. Pegasi have wings, and can manipulate the weather, though it usually takes several working together to do more than make or dissipate a few clouds. Then there are Unicorns, which until a few years ago, I was one. They can channel magic through their horn to cast spells or pick up and manipulate objects. An Alicorn has the powers of all three.”
“Are Alicorns common?”
Twilight shook her head “There are only three others.”
“Ooh. Does that like make you royalty or something?”
Twilight nervously laughed. “Well, technically...I'maprincess.”
Sharon elbowed Mikey. “Guess that makes you her knight in shining armor, carrying her out of Dire Maul, eh?” Mikey rolled his eyes at the teasing. He had a feeling that if he wasn't kicked from the guild, he was going to wish he was by the time that little gem got around. That would explain why the other stood and fought their hopeless battle to protect her.
Mikey pointed a thumb towards the blue one. “Alright, so is that one your faithful knight, or something? She fought to the bitter end to protect you.”
Twilight took another sip of her coffee before sighing and moving right next to Rainbow Dash and watching her sleep. “She wasn't really supposed to be there. Tradition demands that I take a personal guard to all official functions, and the least they'd let me get away with is two.” Twilight unfurled a wing and gently stroked Dash with it. “She's Rainbow Dash, one of my best friends. She just became a Wonderbolt a few weeks ago. It's a stunt flying team, but legally speaking, they're also considered reservists for the guard. I sort of abused a few loopholes to make her qualify as my second guard.” She looked back at the group. “Where are we?”
“Feathermoon Stronghold, on Sardor Isle, Western coast of Feralas, the continent of Kalimdor.” Shandris answered. “Judging from the looks, none of that is familiar. The world is known as Azeroth. I believe this is not the world you are from.”
Twilight nodded in agreement. “No, it's not. We only have one moon.”
“So what happened? What brought you to this world?”
“I don't actually know. Me, Celestia, and Luna were on our way to meet with the Unicorn Council about their latest petition when they ambushed us. They had creatures helping them, Celestia called them demons. Like the two that came for me here.”
“The one you obliterated is called an Infernal. It's a nasty one, as even getting close enough to fight it results in severe fel fire burns. The one you beat senseless with the rest of your room is a Doomguard. One of the more powerful kinds of demon. Very few could hope to stand against one on their own.” Mikey informed her.
“Right, they also had many other smaller breeds.”
Shandris raised a hand to cut off Mikey. “You can fill her in on the Legion later” then nodded for Twilight to continue.
“I'm not entirely sure what happened during the fight.” Twilight reached up to the bandage on her head. “I took a bad hit to the head.”
“I'll say, whatever hit you in the head melted whatever you were wearing. When I saw the metal melted to your skin, I was surprised you survived.” Twilight shuddered thinking about what Sharon just said.
“Right. One of the few things I remember was more of the palace guards coming, and the desperate struggle the Council put up against Celestia and Luna before everything went white. The next, and last thing I saw was a few guards forming up in a passageway. They didn't survive, did they?”
Mikey shook his head. “Afraid not. I'm not sure how you came to Azeroth, but it was with a bang. Me and Kanyssea were sneaking around Dire Maul with a gnome. His brother is our guild master, and decided me and Kanyssea had to help him get some more experience fighting. Fat lot of good he did us when we actually needed a hand, but if we weren't there, you'd have died in Dire Maul. You appeared with an explosion, along with several demons, and it pissed off every ogre in the broken city. In our retreat, we managed to overtake the group that overran your guards. The only reason your still alive is because your friend there held the mouth of a narrow passageway on her own long enough for us to hit the ogres from behind. She eventually got pushed back and swarmed by the ogres.”
Twilight looked back at Rainbow Dash. “So can you heal whatever is wrong with her? I saw you could use magic to heal.”
“Nothing's wrong with her!” Sharon answered a bit defensively. “Maybe. I don't know. There was a bit of guesswork involved in the wings, but I can rebreak them and try again if I didn't get it right.”
“But she won't wake up!”
Mikey nodded “Twilight, the body gets used to healing magic over time. It's one of the reasons Paladin training is so brutal. To make sure that even the worst of wounds can be healed quickly without the body going into shock from it. The worst however, is dying. I was bed ridden for weeks the first time I died.”
“What do you mean the first time you died? If you die, you're dead. Is..is my translation spell screwing up? Darnit Twilight, I thought you had that right! Hmm...maybe if I...” Twilight’s horn lit up as she began etching another diagram into the floor.
“No Twilight, it's working fine. Our magics allow us to resurrect the dead, within a narrow margin of time. Your friend died defending you before we could save her, but we barely made it in time to resurrect her.”
“She died!?”
“Calm down Twilight! By the Light, I should have known better than to say that! If you have friends with you and they're quick enough, death is merely a setback on Azeroth. Don't worry, she'll be alright!”
“What about the rest of the guards?”
“I'm sorry Twilight. We were too busy running while we could. We didn't have time to inspect each one, though ogres tend to be very thorough at killing things, and we had to act fast to save the living.”
Twilight's ears drooped as she nodded. “I understand. Thank you for saving me and Rainbow Dash.”
“Sorry that was all we could do. Your friend will wake in a few days, though I don't believe she'll be leaving her bed for a while. You may want to invest in better armor for her if she's going to fight more ogres for you though.” Mikey scoffed as he looked at the armor at the foot of the bed. Nary an enchant on it.
“I don't think anyone is going to accept IOU's from a kingdom that isn't even on this world.”
“I'm sure some of the locals have jobs you can do for money.”
Shandris cleared her throat. “I don't have the authority to forbid you from such a life style, but I can provide a small stipend for your stay.”
“Wait, why does the pony get paid to stay?” Mikey blithely ignored Sharon's attempt to elbow him in the stomach, as his armor more than a match for her elbow.
“Because Tyrande asks that I treat her as a guest. She would also like you to visit her in Darnassus. You will be well protected here...” she trailed off as everyone raised any eyebrow at the damage to the building. “But Darnassus is our capital. You will be much better protected there.
“Who is Tyrande? And I don't mind working for a living. I still work as a librarian when I'm not doing anything as a Princess, or running around Equestria fixing various problems.”
“Oh? What kind of problems? Political disagreements?” Mikey asked.
“Um, things like removing a dragon that took up residence near a town, freeing an empire from the tyranny of an evil immortal sorcerer…” Twilight trailed off at the look in Mikey’s eyes.
“Ha! She's already an adventurer! Twilight, Warrior Princess! I think we're gonna get along great! We’re totally going to have to show you the ropes of adventuring in Azeroth!”
Shandris glared at Mikey. “Tyrande is the High Priestess of Elune, and the leader of the Kaldorei. She has asked me to convince you to see her. I can arrange for a portal, or other means of transport, if you would like to take her up on that offer.”
Twilight laid down beside the bed Rainbow Dash was in, and yawned. “I'll think about it. I'd really like to be alone for a while now though.”
“We'll get you set up in a new room.” Shandris stepped through the hole and into the hallway to confer with her Sentinels.
“Want me to carry your friend?” Sharon flinched at Twilight’s harsh response to her question.
“No!” Twilight looked a little ashamed at how sharp that came out, as they obviously meant no harm to her or Rainbow Dash. That didn't change her emotional response to keep Dash safe, and only made her feel worse as Sharon made a face like a kicked puppy. “I mean, sorry. I can carry her.” Her horn lit up, grabbing both Rainbow Dash and her armor.
“Alright, two rooms down to the left, Twilight. Sharon and Kanyssea are in the room next to you. I'll station two Sentinel's outside your door.” Not to mention keeping others around just in case. “If you need anything, let the Sentinel's outside your door know, and they can help you. Goodnight Twilight.”
Shandris stepped out one last time, and began to rub her head. She had a long night ahead of her. At least she had captains under her to see to the details for keeping a guard posted.
“We're right next door as well Twilight. Don't hesitate to come to us if you need anything.” Sharon nervously bit her lip, unsure if she was overstepping any boundaries.
“Thank you Sharon.” Twilight offered a half smile. The emotional roller coaster was taking too much of a toll for a full smile. “I...if you'd like, you can join me for coffee in the morning?” Sharon nodded in a way that reminded Twilight of a puppy. “And thank you for taking care of us.”
XXXXX
Twilight awoke, not to the sun on her face as she hoped, nor to Spike yelling that she was sleeping as she so desperately wished but dared not hope. She awoke to a figure walking towards her, crying. The sun hadn't risen yet, but it was close enough that gray light filtered through the windows giving her a clear view of her friend stumbling towards her, her face soaked from her tears.
“Dash?”
“I'm so sorry Twilight! I died!” the words came out barely audible through her sobs, the closest she could do to a yell. Rainbow Dash stumbled on her next step and fell. Slowly, she pushed herself back to her hooves. “I kept fighting...I kept killing those things. There were just too many.” She fell again on the next step, and didn't get back up. Rainbow Dash just laid quietly sobbing on the floor.
Twilight rolled out of her bed, and grabbed her friend, hugging her close. “Why Twilight? Why couldn't I save us?”
“It's alright, we're alright. We're both here, we're both alive.” Twilight nuzzled her friend, trying to calm her down.
“It's not alright! I'm dead! If you're here, it's because you're dead too! I couldn't even protect myself, let alone my best friend.”
“Shh. It's alright Dash. I'm here. We're safe now.” Twilight pulled a blanket around the two of them, letting Rainbow Dash cry, safely wrapped in her hooves. “We're safe now, and I won't lose you again.”
Twilight held her friend close and softly stroked her mane as the morning light slowly changed from the gray of pre-dawn, to the orange of sunrise.
XXXXX
Celestia walked through the medical tents that sprung up in the castle courtyard shortly after raising the sun, and smoke could still be seen rising from parts of the castle town itself. The incursion was finally contained and destroyed by late afternoon, but at too high of a cost from the guard and other ponies caught in the fighting. Canterlot had more wounded than many of the smaller villages had residents, and the collection of medical tents were quickly growing to a small town in their own right, as more wounded were brought here, the hospital nothing more than a smoldering wreck.
Various craftsponies constructing temporary lodgings, or setting up more shelters for the wounded, were quick to get out of her way. Any other time, it would break her heart to see such a fearful reaction. Today was not such a time. Too many of her ponies were dead, far too many, and if she couldn't find a way to treat the corrupted and cursed wounds, many more would die.
The Unicorn Council, long resenting the restrictions Celestia put on them to prevent their arrogance from endangering the world, brought the Burning Legion to this world. Until yesterday morning, she had thought the Legion itself was no more than a foal's tale, long forgotten to time. Their references were sparse, even before Discord's reign. The demons the Unicorn Council worked with matched the descriptions too well for it to be anything other than the Legion.
The survivors were very quick to speak after their capture. They were promised power, at the cost of allowing the Burning Legion a foothold. They were promised aid in overthrowing the Alicorns. Their petty need to gather more and more power for the sake of having more and more power brought their very world to the brink of an other-worldly invasion. They succeeded in taking Twilight from her, and they even lost Rainbow Dash. Two of the six elements of harmony, the most powerful weapon they could have used to safeguard the world, were gone. Most importantly, her Twilight was gone. The giant hole where the front of Canterlot Castle used to be stood as a testament to Celestia's feelings on that matter, and even now no pony was sure if the castle would remain standing after Celestia ended the ambush, or have to be rebuilt from the ground up.
Celestia ducked into one of the tents, and stopped as she came nose to nose with a red eyed Luna who was on her way out. Tear streaks were matting the fur by her eyes.
"Tia...you don't have to do this. I've already..."
Celestia nodded. "I failed them. It's the least I can do."
"Steel Wool is in the back. Start with him, he won't live much longer. I...Tia. Tia, let me handle the captured traitors. Stay with our ponies, for as long as you can. We will see justice done for Twilight."
Twilight was her faithful student. Twilight was her closest friend. And that was why she couldn't. She would avenge Twilight, and there would be no justice in any sentencing she passed down. Only the cold satisfaction of murder. Even knowing that, a small part of her wanted to hate Luna for asking to take that from her, but she couldn't. All she could do was nod, not trusting her voice. She couldn’t even meet Luna’s eyes.
“Tia, look at me.” Luna reached out and gently lifted Celestia’s chin. The attack, and the suffering of their ponies, hurt them both greatly, but it cut Celestia far deeper. It had been too long since she had known such loss, but only a scant few decades to Luna, and she found herself in the odd position of being the one who had to stay strong, for her sister’s sake. “We will not let this go unanswered. We will find these creatures Tia. We will find them, and we will teach them fear. The very light of this world will burn them, will consume them. Even the deepest and darkest shadows will give them no solace. Darkness will not hide them. Like every creature that came before, the Legion will learn it’s place.”
“Luna! Look around us!” It came out in a harsh whisper. Celestia cast her gaze about, the majority of the royal guard that was still alive were in this tent. Many more were filled with members of the city guard. “We couldn’t put a battalion in the field right now if Equestria depended on it!”
“Tell me Tia, do you know the difference between a farmer, and a soldier? Six weeks. I have seen the advances we have made. Have you ever considered how many of our ponies we could mobilize? The Legion, if that’s what these are, are here to consume this very world. I will throw a million ponies at them, if I must. Ten million. A hundred million, even if I have to birth them myself! I will throw dragons at them, gryphons, minotaurs. I will even debase myself before the yaks if I must, to secure the troops to destroy this ‘Legion’.”
“We don’t even know where they come from Luna. We don’t know if, or when they’ll be back. We can’t maintain a large standing army if they aren’t even here!”
“Watch me, Tia. This isn’t over. I can feel it, I know it to be true. I have sent for a relief column from our outlying holdings. I’ve stripped nearly every hospital bare to bring more doctors and more supplies here. Pegasi from Cloudsdale should be showing up later this morning, or early afternoon, with the first column. They will also bring Twilight's friends.” Luna took a step forward and leaned into Tia, nuzzling her lightly. She no more looked forward to informing the remaining bearers about Twilight and Rainbow Dash than her sister did, but they had a right to know, even if the information was being withheld from the public. A simple matter, as every other witness is either dead, dying, or will soon be hung from the neck until dead.
“Just spend the morning with our ponies Tia. They still believe in you. In us. I betrayed their trust once, I won’t do it again.” Luna gave her sister one last nuzzle before leaving her alone.
After a few moments Celestia got her legs moving again, and made her way to the back. Twenty-three of her ponies were in this tent, down from forty-seven last night. Not a single one was expected to survive to sunset today. Every step, her heart broke a little further. As she walked past some, she could even hear a few muttered prayers. To her. To Luna. To Cadence. To Twilight. The practice of Alicorn worship was older than Equestria itself, and never truly died no matter how much Celestia tried to discourage it. The guard always turned a blind eye to the practice, so long as it was kept private, and she long realized that Alicorn worshipers were greatly over-represented in the guard. That practice of worship only made her powerlessness to save her ponies that much more painful.
Reaching the end, she found Steel Wool. Twilight's ever faithful guard. She could count the number of times Twilight needed a guard with her and didn't bring the old warhorse on one hoof, and she'd still have a hoof left over. Celestia and Luna once joked that Twilight chose him because he was old enough to be her father, and cantankerous enough to make clear her opinion on needing a guard. Celestia's ever tolerant nature was the only thing that kept him from being kicked out of the guard since even before Shining Armor was the captain.
“Steel Wool?” The poor pony was covered in bandages. Severe burns covered most of his body, to include his head, and the poor pony was blinded by the enemy's fire. It was all the nurses could do to help manage his pain as he died.
“Princess Celestia?” The voice came out barely a whisper. Weakly, Steel Wool reached out a hoof. “I'm flattered. Two goddesses have visited me on my death bed now. How is Princess Twilight?”
Celestia pulled Twilight's melted crown from her saddlebag and brought it to Steel Wool's outstretched hoof. Lightly, the pony ran his hoof over the crown before dropping his hoof.
“I'm...sorry Princess. I failed you.” The cruel monster of hatred that was growing in her heart wanted nothing more than to yell and scream at him, to hate him. To ask why he didn't protect her, like he was sworn to do, but even the growing monster of hate couldn't deny that this pony offered his very life in defense of Twilight, and was painfully losing it. Not even her hatred could impugn Steel Wool's honor. Instead of curses, instead of her hate, she reached out with her own hoof, and guided his hoof to her face, to let him see his Princess one last time in the only way he still could.
“You didn't fail me Steel Wool. I failed you, and the rest. I'm sorry.” Celestia felt him wipe a tear from her eye.
“Then don't fail the rest of us. You have nothing to apologize for, my goddess. Even now, I regret neither serving, nor my faith.” Steel Wool dropped his foreleg, no longer able to support it, and took his last few breaths before slipping into death, and a part of Celestia's heart died with him. Slowly she lowered Twilight's crown onto his chest. It was a symbol of Twilight's office, not something her friends back in Ponyville would care for, but to the guard that was closest, most loyal to her, it was a fitting final gift from Twilight.
Celestia closed her eyes, ashamed that she couldn't live up to the divinity so many of her ponies thought she possessed. Ashamed at her powerlessness, her inability to save her ponies. Ashamed that the light of her sun could only burn her enemies, but no matter how hard she tried, it could never heal her ponies. Ashamed that Steel Wool, like every other pony in here, would be denied a burial, and instead burned in a pit, as the cursed wounds that were killing them would only infect their burial grounds. Even more than the shame, she felt the cold tendrils of hate. There was nothing left Celestia could do for the dead, but she could move on to the next one, provide some measure of peace and comfort to the dying.
Hours later, it was a far more determined Celestia that left the medical tent.
XXXXX
Mikey was running a lot later for breakfast than he'd have preferred. It was a fairly exciting night, even by the usual adventurer standards, and that definitely didn't help his punctuality. The time spent getting in and out of his armor was just adding insult to injury, and he was fairly sure everyone else would have finished breakfast before he even got downstairs. Making his way down the stairs, hhe was unsurprised to see that he was right.
Twilight sat at one of the seats, and seemed to be focusing mostly on her cup, while Sharon sat next to her, gently petting her, which Twilight didn't even seem to notice. What was surprising was an exhausted Rainbow Dash sitting at the table as well on Twilight's other side, with a purple wing wrapped protectively around her. On the bright side, there was a plate left for him.
“I'm worried Twi. This legion sounds like bad news.” Rainbow Dash said with more than a hint of exhaustion.
“Me too Dash, but we gotta trust in Celestia and Luna. They'll keep everypony safe. I bet they're already fixing everything up. We just gotta get home. There's nothing we can do for everypony else until we get back.”
“Good morning folks! Sleep well?”
Mikey wasn't really sure he understood the intricacies of pony body language, but the look the two ponies gave him damn near matched the look Sharon gave him. All three even had bags under their eyes. He brushed aside the feeling of impending doom that their stares were giving him as he took his seat across from the three.
“I'm guessing that's a no? Where's Kanyssea at anyways?”
“She went back to bed. We didn't sleep much last night. Me and Kanyssea had to help Dashie here accept that she died, but she's not dead. I've been helping fill these two in on our world, and the Legion since then.”
Rainbow Dash looked away and mumbled thanks, doing a poor job of hiding her resentment at being saved. Mikey could definitely understand that. Had to hurt her pride something fierce to be the Princesses personal guard and have to get saved. He'd certainly failed enough in his time as an adventurer to sympathize, and rubbing her nose in it wouldn't get him anywhere.
“Don't sweat it. I'll have to tell you about the first time I got my fool self killed some day, but business first.” Mikey poked at his plate of food with a Grimace. He was a lot later to breakfast than he thought. “So, we've pretty much been ordered to body guard you two since it seems the Burning Legion really doesn't like you.”
“You think something like last night might happen again?”
Mikey shook his head. “I'd be real surprised if it did Twilight, at least any time soon, but I haven't made it this far in my adventuring career by lacking in paranoia.” Mikey reached across and ruffled Rainbow Dash's mane, easily ignoring her feeble attempts to get him to stop. He doubted she'd be a serious threat to a puppy at the moment. “At a minimum, we'll be here for you two until 'Dashie' here isn't worse than useless in a fight. Last night, I'd have said two weeks at least, but she seems to be getting over resurrection sickness at a pretty astounding rate. Might only be a few days.” Mikey smiled as he could see the blue pony glaring daggers at him. Calling her Dashie might have been a step too far, but the poor thing was too exhausted to do anything about it.
“Anyways, Twilight, have you given any thought on what you're going to do here? Shandris seems willing to put you up here indefinitely, but this is just a garrison.”
“We're going to head to Darnassus once Rainbow Dash can travel, to meet Tyrande. Do you know anything about her?”
Mikey shook his head. “Not much, really. She's the de facto leader of the Night Elves, though I hear her authority isn't really complete. High Priestess of Elune, but I can't tell you much of Elune. Pretty sure any random Night Elf could give you a much better run down than me. I've met her a few times before, she's a good sort.”
“Wow! You actually met Tyrande!?” Sharon excitedly asked. “How'd you get to meet her?”
“Come on Sharon, I know you've seen my night saber. I've done a lot of work for the Night Elves before they were willing to sell me one. Hang around the Night Elves enough, and eventually you'll get voluntold to report to Tyrande for some job.”
“Do you think she can help us get home?”
“Herself? I doubt it Twilight.” Twilight turned to look at Kanyssea who was coming down the stairs. “She's a Priestess, and she's a ruler. She does however, speak for Elune, and Elune may be able to help you. You may have been invited to meet with Tyrande, but she is only interested in you because Elune is interested in you.”
“After meeting Tyrande, if Elune can't, or won't, help you get home, your next best stop is Stormwind's Mage Quarter. If they can't help you, you may end up on your own.”
“Karazhan maybe?” Sharon suggested.
“By the Light! You're mad woman! Only the desperate or deranged would willingly enter Medivh's tower! There's no telling what traps or protections that mad fool left. I wouldn't dare step in Karazhan without Khadgar, and he died with the rest of the expedition through the Dark Portal!”
“Okay! It was just a suggestion!”
Light snoring interrupted any further argument, as everyone noticed Rainbow Dash was asleep.
“Thank you for everything, you three. I'm going to take Rainbow Dash back to bed. I'll be back in a few minutes.” Using her magic, Twilight placed Rainbow Dash on her back, and took her up to their room while the three silently watched.
“So. Mikey.” Sharon elbowed him in the ribs, before rubbing her elbow. Somehow, she had still managed to not learn that elbowing an armored paladin wasn't a great idea.
“Yea?”
“Armor. You're gonna make them armor, right?”
“Wait. What?” Mikey looked at Sharon's face and groaned. Mikey wasn't even sure if one of Arthas's Death Knight's could resist those puppy dog eyes. “But...I...what would they even use?” Logic and reason slid off the girl to no avail.
“You said Rainbow Dash was standing her ground and fighting off a bunch of ogres, right? She needs heavy armor!”
“But she has wings! What's wrong with the armor she was wearing?”
“The fact that it's a remarkable find in Azeroth by virtue of actually have no magical enhancements on it? Come on Mikey! I know you're one of the best blacksmiths on the market! Those two need all the help they can get!”
Mikey groaned and gave up. “Fine! I'll make her some sort of plate armor!”
“And Twilight?”
“...You owe me for this Sharon.”
Sharon just gave him a smug smile. “On that note, I still have a few jobs to do, I'll be back in a few hours.”
As she practically pranced out, Kanyssea smiled. “I like her, though I'm not sure if she wants to adopt Twilight like a lost puppy, or if she wants to be adopted by Twilight, like a lost puppy.”
“Hahaha. She's still young enough to want to be adopted. She's only fifteen you know.”
“You have to be eighteen to join the guild. She might get in trouble.”
Mikey just waved the concern away. “There's no official law against it, just guild rules. Be honest, when's the last time either of us cared about those? I don't plan on tattling, and you like her too much to get her booted.”
Kanyssea frowned. “How is she out on her own that young? I can't imagine the church letting her roam freely.”
Mikey chuckled. “I'm pretty sure she's been in Kalimdor for so long because she ran away during training. They wanted to keep her in Stormwind, and she wants to get strong enough to help retake Darrowshire.”
Kanyssea rolled her eyes. She didn't really have a leg to stand on here, as before she began building up a reputation, she was always dismissed as 'too young', being only in her nineties. Still a child by Night Elf standards. It didn't help that she was one of the youngest of the first generation of female Night Elf druids. Before joining the Alliance, such a calling was the sole domain of the men, just as being a priest was the sole domain of women. The losses to the Scourge and the Horde brought an end to the old system. Had her master not died two years ago, there was little chance she would have been allowed to leave Teldrassil. “Her secret is safe with me. Lets talk about something more important than guild rules. Twilight and Rainbow Dash.”
“What about them?” Mikey asked.
“Barring further orders, we have nearly a month before we need to be in Blackrock. I think we should stay and help, even if we aren't being paid.”
“You're just as bad as Sharon, you know that, right?” Mikey sighed in defeat. “It's not like there's anything else for us to do anyways.”
XXXXX
“What is it Discord? I am not in the mood for your antics right now.” Celestia stood in front of Discord, who was sitting upon a throne of his own making, and blocking Celestia's access to the barracks where the four remaining Elements of Harmony were being guarded. She had no more excuses to put off informing Twilight's friends of her fate, and dealing with Discord was the last thing she wanted to do.
“You are not in the mood?” Discord stood up from his throne, and leaned over Celestia, looking down on her. “You are not the only one in a foul mood.” With a snap of his fingers, a bound and gagged Dread Lord fell from the sky, to land at Discords feet. It tried to move, but Discord pinned it to the ground with his right foot, the claws on it effortlessly punching through the Dread Lords armor.
“So you were attacked to?”
Discord just shook his head. “No. This little guy had a great many friends, and they wanted to hurt my darling Fluttershy,” Discord put more pressure on the Dread Lord's back, eliciting muffled screaming from the bound and gagged created as it's armored plate crumpled and the claws dug into it's flesh. “along with her friends. Oh, the stories he has told me to make the suffering end.”
Celestia just impatiently tapped her hoof, waiting for Discord to get on with it. Yesterday morning, she would have been taken aback by his display of casual cruelty, but she couldn't bring herself to feel any compassion for the creature. “The good news, first. Twilight isn't dead. She was Banished to the Twisting Nether.” Discord raised a claw to cut off Celestia before she could interrupt. “No, we can't unbanish her. Something else already did. I know not who or what, but she isn't in the Twisting Nether anymore.”
“How do we find her Discord?”
“That leads me to the bad news. I have no idea. Knowing your studious little student however, I have no doubt she is working on a way home rig...oh who am I kidding, she's probably having a nervous breakdown, curling up in the fetal position and chewing on her own tail. Once she's done have a nervous breakdown, she will find a way home.”
“Is Rainbow Dash with her?”
“I would assume every pony that was banished with her was unbanished, but I can't be certain. If I knew enough to check, I'd know enough to bring her home. I'm not as close to her as I am to Fluttershy, but she is a...friend.” The word rolled off his tongue with an awkward sincerity. “This leads into the worse news. The Tree of Harmony was destroyed.”
”WHAT!?!?”
Discord pressed down on the Dread Lord's back even harder, until he heard the snapping of it's ribs. “The Legion put in three separate attacks to remove the Element's of Harmony from play. Unfortunately, it seems they succeeded.”
Celestia grimaced. “This is unfortunate indeed, but the Element's aren't the only power we possess.”
“I so hoped you would say that. I have lost one world to the Legion. I will not lose a second.” Discord pushed his foot the rest of the way through the Dread Lord, killing the creature, before returning to his throne.
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Missing punctuation.
I fucking hate you.
Dying must seriously screw you up if you're used to having no chance of revival.
Okay, so it wasn't a full blown 'Earth and Sky shall burn' Legion invasion. That's good.
foal's tale
Problem is that demons well... don't die. And then there's the matter of their heavy hitters... Luna has no way of knowing this of course.
Clever way of incorporating that!
God damn night elves.
Capitalize Scourge.
Oh shit.
Ooh, there's definitely a story there. Though now, I think they'd better start squeezing him for as much Legion intel as they can.
6546391
Since when do Warcraft demons not die? Dread Lords are persistant, and are often able to eventually resurrect if not killed the right way, and Sargeras survived death via a possession gambit, but everything else can be murdered just fine if you're powerful enough, as far as I know. Archimonde never came back (without time travel shenanigans), for example.
6547040 The first time I saw it explicitly said is here: Banish the Demons
And yeah, the more powerful ones seem to die permanently. My theory is that their power 'implodes' upon their souls and annihilates them.
Do Discord had losse his home to a Legion? So funny enough it will be him who will put sense to a Luna head? You can't win against Legion in theyr home turf. We don't know how many races of demons Sargers had conquered or how many Elementals but we can say this. It's by a good margin more then Equestra can muster.
6547040
Demons in Warcraft are simmilar to this in Warhammer 40k. They are perpetual (ergo they will reshape themselves after few milenia). The only way to kill them is to kill them inside Twhisting Nether or by usuing powerful magic.
6546391
Thanks for the corrections. Got them fixed :)
I didn't actually plan on using the line when I conceived of this story. Then, having to explain that you can be resurrected happened, and I was too weak to resist :(
At the very least, I'd believe so.
No, no she does not :D
6547040
It's sorta-kinda confusing. Demons don't 'die' as a general rule of thumb, they're just banished back to the twisting nether. But some demons have a nasty habit of dying for-realsies, such as pit lords. WoW lore treats it really inconsistently.
6548465
I agree. Going hoof-to-tentacle with an old god can't be good the old mental health.
Qualifying as a demigod isn't actually that high of a bar, if we're honest, and isn't really based on raw power. Twilight's ascension to an Alicorn is pretty much a text-book example of a mortal becoming a demigod.
She's an Alicorn, and to *me* at least, that means something. She isn't all powerful, and she isn't going to solve all of Azeroths problems with a wave of her horn, but she's still a power in her own right, even if that power is dwarfed by pretty much every big name in the setting.
6549228
I think it depends on how powerful demon is on his own. My hedcanon is that lesser demons like Fell Besasts or Infernals to some extnet Dumgards die and they don't reshape in TW unleas they heve help. But beings like Hakkar/Mannorth/Kilejdan/Archimonde will reform after deacde or something. The only exception is Sargeras he is shattered on countless shards and unleas demons find his body and putt it together he can't assume full power or physical form.
It's even vorse. We need remeber that Azeroth is Old Gods prsion so races who lived ther had some kinf of passive resistance on them. Twi and Rainbow on the other hand? Let just I wouldn't be suprised if they start to hear voices at some point of time.
Thrue. But here is a problem. Twillight or Dash would have a lot of problems to get and kill your enemy. For instance Verilatrasz. He is a good guy but after tender care Lord Nefarius he is just beond redemption and killing him is mercy. It might hmm not broke them but they might see that sometimes death is far better then living.
6549467
I don't think so. Sure they may have shared Azeroth with the Old Gods, but the Old Gods spent all that time completely sealed away and only recently have they gained any foothold.
6550001
And yes Neltharion is more insane then Barrel full of squirrels after Met coctail.
6549467
Not seeing the problem here :)
6547068 huh. I'll be damned! Word for word.