World of Warcraft: Burning Skies

by Blackdrag-rose

Prelude: Into the Field

A week had gone by since Spitfire had found herself in the strange land known as Outland and had been taken to the Black Temple by Kayn and Kor'vas, where she encountered the lord of the ruined world, Illidan Stormrage, and joined his forces, the Illidari, so she could help them combat the Legion and save all of creation from their crusade across the stars, killing any that stood in their path as they conquered the planets that were in their way. Spitfire had spent her time learning the basics on how to fight like an Illidari, how to move like the rest of the demon hunters, and how to walk with her new body so she didn't fall over in the heat of battle, allowing her to walk like this had been her form since the day she was born, even though it was different from her original pegasus form that she had been used to. In addition to her actual lessons Spitfire learned more about the other races that made up Lord Illidan's forced, as in the orcs that were hanging outside the front of the temple, with their huts and their dark purple scaled dragons that were apparently their mounts, meaning that the front entrance was guarded against invaders, as there were a few factions out there that did want to bring them down, despite the fact that they didn't have the means to do so yet. In addition to the blood elves and night elves, along with the few members of the Broken that she had seen, Spitfire also had the chance to see the naga that were their allies, where the males were bulkier than the ladies were and seemed to be the warriors, while the ladies, who had four arms instead of the usual two, seemed to be the magic users.

Spitfire had to admit that she had never seen creatures like the naga before, but at the same time she wasn't about to complain, as they were here to help them take down the Legion and save the rest of the universe from being wiped out, just like all of the other races that were part of the Illidari, though the fel orcs were another matter, since they seemed to have been following the orders of the demon that Lord Illidan killed, so he got them along with the land he ruled over, but they seemed to be in the mood for a fight and nothing else.

She did learn that there were members of the Alliance and Horde stationed in Hellfire Peninsula, guarding the bases they had established nearly twenty years ago when the Dark Portal was opened and they chose to remain on this side to make sure no one used it again, or at least that seemed to be the gist of the information she had learned, and there might be more scattered throughout the other provinces, but for now they weren't a threat, hence why Lord Illidan had spies to study their movements, just in case the situation changed. Spitfire was sure that if the Dark Portal was reopened, which might be possible due to there being a powerful demon somewhere in the same province as the magical gateway that connected Outland to Azeroth, Lord Illidan would feel it and would likely start preparing for whatever happened next, be it them trying to talk to the two factions or readying their defenses in case they were attacked. Of course she was hoping for the latter, where they could try and convince the two factions that they weren't enemies and that they could benefit from combining their forces into a single force, at least until the Legion was taken care of, but for now that rested in the back of her mind as she focused on her lessons, since there was no use worrying about something that wasn't happening. The rest of the Illidari, especially the blood elves and night elves, didn't share her opinions on the matter, clearly thinking about the fact that the two factions didn't like each other all that much, but she didn't let that get in the way of her considering the peaceful option, even if such a thing didn't exist when one thought about the Legion, because she was sure that there might be some way to get the Alliance and Horde to stop whatever feud was between them.

There was one major change to her training sessions after the first day, which was Lord Illidan taking the time to show her how he fought, due to him having wings as well, giving her several pointers and demonstrations on how one fought with wings and how to avoid doing damage to their own limbs, something that caught Spitfire off guard since she wasn't expecting him to go out of his way to do for a newcomer like her. She also discovered that there was more to the sessions than what she originally thought, as he did seem interested in the world that she came from and asked about the life she had, before being brought to Outland, and so Spitfire told him about some of the cities she had been to, the training that she went through to become a Wonderbolt, how she became the leader of the group, and a few of the events that had happened since the return of Nightmare Moon, a pony they had thought to be nothing more than a story. As it turned out he was rather interested in everything she had to talk about, as whenever they stopped their actual training he would have her relax and just talk, no doubt to let her cool off and prepare for what was coming next, be it another round with him or a session with Varedis and the other trainees, who, despite what she had worried about, weren't annoyed that she was spending a few hours with their Lord, rather it appeared that they expected it to happen and were okay with it, even if she was weirded out by their actions. Still, the couple of chats reminded her of what she was fighting for, as in all the ponies and creatures back home, in addition to the worlds that she was only just discovering, and she was happy to go through with them whenever she trained with Lord Illidan, even if she had to wonder if there was another reason as to why he was asking her questions about her home world.

In the end, however, she decided that it wasn't worth worrying about, since he was trying to save the universe and was entitled to have some interests in the worlds that he and his forces encountered on their quest to stop the Legion, so Spitfire focused her efforts on going through the lessons that were being offered to her and making sure she was ready for whatever the future held.

---

It was during the morning of her eighth day in Outland, after spending seven days training with the Illidari mentors and even Lord Illidan, that Spitfire felt that she had a good grasp of the basics on how to fight like one of the demon hunters that lived in the Black Temple, though at the same time she knew that there was plenty of room for improvement, since a week was barely enough to allow her to make any real progress, but it was a start. Some of the other trainees, as she soon found out, were actually impressed by her current skills and pushed themselves to at least learn at the same pace that she was doing at the moment, to show their mentors that they would not be done in my someone that just joined them, even if she was only tackling the lessons like that to catch up to those that were ahead of her. Fortunately such a thing didn't mess with the mentors at all, rather some of them even seemed happy by the fact that Spitfire was encouraging the others to do so well, but none of them flat out said such a thing and seemed to keep their opinions to themselves, which was fine since Spitfire was used to all of the Illidari keeping most of their feelings to themselves, with a few even appearing to be totally emotionless to others at times. Almost all of the Illidari, be they demon hunters, naga, or the other demons that had joined them after their previous leader's defeat, seemed annoyed at the Legion, something she understood after a few days of just being near several members of the group, meaning that some of them must have lost their friends or their family to the Legion, but she decided not to bring it up at all, just in case that anger was directed at her for a few moments, or something similar to that anyway.

It was when she was training with Varedis, this time without any supervision since Kayn and Kor'vas knew she could handle herself quite well, that Spitfire found the session interrupted not by enemy forces coming near the temple and an alarm being sounded, like she would have expected, rather Kor'vas stopped Varedis in the early stages of the lesson and a quick glare from her was enough to make him growl and walk away for a moment.

"Spitfire, Lord Illidan has called for you, Kayn, and I to join him at the temple's summit." Kor'vas stated, where her tone revealed that it was likely a mission that they were going to be assigned, though at the same time Spitfire found it a little odd that she might be doing something like this so soon after joining the Illidari, especially with her lack of overall skills due to this being the start of her training, but at the same time if their Lord was calling on her there was no arguing with what she was hearing at the moment.

Instead of arguing, and trying to figure out what was going on, Spitfire nodded her head and followed after Kor'vas as she led the way to the temple's summit, though she had to hold onto her warglaives with her hands, since she couldn't place them on her back like the rest of the demon hunters, thanks to her wings being in the way, but it was a good way to make sure she had the strength to wield her new weapons. The path to the summit took them through the quarters that the rest of the demon hunters rested in, even though all of them were busy training at the moment and the area was basically empty of people, so she focused on what they were doing as she followed Kayn through the halls and reached the start of the stairs that would take them to their destination, where the Lord of Outland rested every single day. Spitfire did wonder if Lord Illidan had a room that he slept in, one that none of the Illidari knew about, though it was hard to say if that was wishful thinking on the part of her new friends and allies, to make their Lord more like them, or mere speculation to pass the time as they rested between the various training sessions. She honestly didn't care one way or the other, as it was none of her business to talk about whether or not Lord Illidan slept in his own bedroom, or if he slept in the open area of the temple's summit, hence why she pushed that thought out of her mind, even if she was surprised that it had even come up for a few moments, and focused on why he might be calling upon her, Kayn, and Kor'vas right now, something she was going to learn the reason for once they reached their destination.

It only took her and Kor'vas a few minutes to arrive at the temple's summit, where they found that Kayn had arrived before they did, which made sense to Spitfire since Kor'vas had to come and get her, but none of them said anything as Lord Illidan got up from the area he happened to be crouched in, a motion that meant he had either been thinking about something or he had felt something, which was what Spitfire's understanding of the form meant, before the three of them knelt as their Lord came to a stop in front of them.

"I am sure that you are all eager to learn why I have called upon you," Illidan said, where Spitfire, Kayn, and Kor'vas readied themselves for what he was about to tell them, because he could be sending them out on a mission to kill some of the demons in Shadowmoon Valley, or he could order them to head out for one of the other provinces and see what was going on in the area in question, or this could even be a progress check on how Spitfire was doing with her lessons, to see if any changes need to be made, but none of them said anything as he continued speaking, "One of Kael'thas' mages has informed me that the Legion has started to build a new forge at the entrance of Shadowmoon Valley, no doubt believing that we are here and that such a place will be able to stop us and our allies from joining forces in the future, when it comes time for our assault to begin. I want the three of you to head out and find the area that the forge is being built in, so that we might gain some intelligence on what they're doing, how many demons they plan on bringing to this ruined world, and any weaknesses you might be able to spot while you are there, to give us an edge for when it is time to deal with them and push them out of Shadowmoon Valley."

"It will be as you command, Lord Illidan." the group replied, where Spitfire had quickly learned that when their Lord gave an order it was followed without hesitation and that whoever he sent on missions usually gave this sort of response, to let him know that they understood what he was asking them to do and that they would do their absolute best to succeed in their mission.

"Then fly, my Illidari," Illidan stated, a command phrase that was basically him dismissing them in his own way, to let whoever he was talking to know that he was done briefing them and that it was time for them to move, hence the reason that Spitfire, Kayn, and Kor'vas bowed their heads before standing up and leaving the summit, so they could prepare for the trek to their destination.

Since neither of her superiors were in the mood to talk, since they were focused on gathering whatever gear they felt they might need, mostly food and water by the looks of it, Spitfire reflected on what she had learned and recalled that a forge, in the terms of the Legion, was an area where Infernals could be made and, this part was unconfirmed, could be an area where Fel Reavers, massive machines that could tear an entire base apart in minutes, might be built. If the Legion was able to build one of those camps, without the Illidari interfering with their plans, the demons would be able to assault both the Alliance and Horde bases that rested throughout Outland, and possibly send them at the Black Temple as well, to bring down the one massive thorn in the Legion's side, which was them. It was easy to understand why they were being sent to scout out the area, so they could determine how much progress the demons were making, what type of demons might be in the area, and the progress they might be making on the Fel Reavers that they were planning on constructing, that way their Lord could determine the best course of action for them to take, in terms of when they were going to ruin the forge and disrupt the Legion's forces. As she finished thinking about that, however, Kayn and Kor'vas started to leave the temple, to which she followed after them as they made their way to the area that was in front of the temple, so they could follow the path that would eventually bring them to their destination and allow them to start their scouting mission, even though it would take half an hour or so to reach the forge.

Spitfire found that neither of her fellow demon hunters seemed to be in the mood to talk, rather they seemed to be focused on making sure there were no enemies in the immediate area for them to take out, be it demons or any of the other creatures that called Shadowmoon Valley home, but as far as she could tell there was nothing out there for them to worry about and focused on making sure they were headed in the right direction.

As it turned out it took them about forty minutes to reach the area that Lord Illidan had told them about, as all three of them had moved fast while making sure to keep themselves safe from the potential enemies that were in the province, before they reached the area that the forge was in and they couched behind some of the large rocks that were in their way, which provided some decent cover for what they were going to do. The area in question looked like a ruined fortress of some kind, one that must have belonged to the orcs before the world was ruined to the point that it was currently in, but that was when they spotted a few large brutish looking creatures that had a mechanical pincer for their right hand, a cannon or something for their left hand, mechanical parts over their arms, shoulders, and back, and looked like they had been patched together, either by their own accord or by their superiors. Spitfire identified them as Mo'arg engineers, who had gone through the process of replacing parts of their bodies to enhance their own abilities and skills, hence the various mechanical parts that she was seeing at the moment, though they weren't the demons that they needed to worry about at the moment, as they were the lesser demons that served the true leader of this area, which was who Kayn and Kor'vas were looking for at the moment. There were some Shivarra, tall six-armed female demons that looked like humans to some degree, who carried six identical weapons into battle and might be overseers for the demon that ruled the forge, but as Spitfire spotted them she knew there were a number of them in the Illidari as well, at least according to her mentors anyway, and that was before she spotted a demon that was around the Shivarra's height, only more brutish with dark orange colored skin and a pair of wings, that was walking around the area, a Doomguard to be exact.

That was when they spotted a red skinned creature, who was shorter than both the Shivarra and the Doomguard, and had legs and feet that looked like they belonged to a goat or something, who also had a tail that allowed him to balance while he walked and plate armor that covered a good portion of his body, while the fel green eyes gave away the fact that he was allied with the Legion, where Spitfire realized that he was one of the Eredar, or the Man'ari as some of the demon hunters called them, meaning it was a powerful member of the Legion... but, as luck would have it, the Eredar nodded his head and opened a small rift in the space behind him, disappearing from the area as his minions worked.

"So, the Legion has sent an Eredar to maintain this forge," Kayn commented, though he wasn't at all surprised by that piece of information, and Kor'vas shared his feelings on the matter while Spitfire focused on studying the types of demons that were in the area that the forge was being built in, causing him to glance at the rest of the ruined fortress, be it outside the structure or inside the part that they could see, "though it doesn't look like they're making any progress on building any Fel Reavers at the moment... its sloppy of them to not have something in the works."

"Well, we were told that they were just starting to turn this place into a forge, so it makes sense that there would be next to nothing here," Spitfire replied, not that she wanted to piss off one of her mentors, as that was the last thing she wanted at the moment, but the only reason she was even saying that was due to the fact that it would be rather hard for the Legion to already have something partly made when they came here as soon as someone discovered it was here, and by the looks of things their enemies had nothing set up yet, hence why the other demons were moving pieces of metal and other pieces of equipment out to the areas they were supposed to be in, "Still, it looks like it might take them a day or two to get things set up, to the point where we can identify any weaknesses in their operation, but at least we have an idea of the types of demons that we're dealing with and who their leader is, even if they aren't making anything, despite an area that looks like it could house a number of Infernals."

Kor'vas opened her mouth to say something else, to add to the discussion with her own observations, but before she could actually say anything there was a blinding flash for a moment, which both she and Kayn were able to resist thanks to their blindfolds while Spitfire had to look away, though it happened to be located in the area that was near where they were standing, knocking several of the demons off the ground. When the light faded Spitfire found that there was no holes or craters in the area, or at least no new ones, though that was the moment that she spotted someone who looked like she did, as there was a female figure not too far in front of them that had the same type of legs that she did and had a pair of wings as well, though it was the cyan colored body and the rainbow hair and tail that gave away who the pony girl, as some of the Illidari called her, was, as it had to be Rainbow Dash, even if she was wearing some ragged clothing over the majority of her body at the moment. As the Doomguard and the couple of Shivarra started to get back up, and were able to see what had happened to the area they were in, even if a new arrival was the only major difference, Spitfire, Kayn, and Kor'vas were the first ones to react as all three of them rushed forward and assaulted the dazed and confused demons, where Spitfire quickly swung her warglaives at the lone Doomguard and cut it down, while at the same time both of her mentors cut down the couple of Shivarra that were starting to realize that they were under attack, meaning they would be leaving behind a number of dead demons that would inform the Eredar that someone didn't want him and the rest of his forces in Shadowmoon Valley.

With that done Spitfire handed Kayn her weapons and picked Rainbow up off the ground, who seemed to be out cold from whatever had brought her to this planet, before they started to pull out of the area and headed back to the Black Temple, as none of them wanted to be around to witness the Eredar's rage at seeing a number of his forces dead, so they could tell their Lord what they had discovered.

The first thing that Illidan did, upon the group's return to the Black Temple, was wait for all of them to take a moment or two to catch their breath, since they had done a brisk walk to get back to their base of operations without any demons finding out what they had done, though upon their arrival in the quarters of the Illidari Rainbow had come to and Spitfire helped her walk up to the summit. Once the four of them were in front of him, however, Illidan inquired as to what they had found at the forge and listened to their report, which mostly came from Kayn and Kor'vas as Spitfire made sure Rainbow didn't freak out or faint in his presence, since he was one of the strongest beings in the entire planet, but their report did give him a good idea as to what the forge held for them. Of course he spent a few moments considering what he had been told and thinking about the fact that it was odd to have two residents of the same planet end up in Outland, with the same sort of event happening both times, as both of them had felt the exact same to him, but none of them said anything as they waited for him to think about what he had learned over the last minute or two. He did have to wonder if there was a chance of Rainbow joining them as well, since it would be impossible for them to find a way back to Equus, but that question would come later, once she had some time to consider what it was that she would be signing up for, but if she was anything like Spitfire he suspected she'd join up in a heartbeat.

"So, the Legion sends an Eredar to oversee their new forge, only for him to leave before his minions are cut down after a new arrival appears in Shadowmoon Valley," Illidan commented, though from what he could gather from the bits of information his Illidari were able to gleam the forge was a place they could ignore for a week or two, before they started to make a few raids to ensure that the demons failed to complete their mission, which would annoy the demons that they served and cause problems for the Legion, minor ones to be exact, before focusing on the newcomer, "Tell me, Rainbow Dash, how did you come to cross the distance between Equus and Outland?"

"Honestly, I have no idea what happened. I was heading into a cave, when suddenly I was knocked out and ended up in this odd land, being carried by Spitfire, of all ponies!" Rainbow stated, clearly not caring about the fact that her body had been changed or the fact that she was in a new world, rather she cared about the fact that she had found Spitfire and that she had, apparently, rescued her from a terrible fate, or so she had been told, not that Spitfire was at all surprised by what they were seeing, before she focused on Illidan himself for a few moments, "And you... you look awesome! I bet if Spitfire and I joined you we would become more awesome as well!"

Spitfire chuckled for a moment, because it seemed like Rainbow might be coping with being stranded on a brand new world with her, in unfamiliar territory with unfamiliar creatures, but she was going to do everything in her power to make sure Rainbow understood what joining the Illidari meant, even if she didn't know everything herself, and then they would see if she was willing to join them.

Comments

[PrismStrike]

its good to see spitfire adjusting well to her new body and lifestyle and am looking forward to seeing her be able to really let loose in some combat at somepoint. Of course rainbow would think Illidan is awesome, though I wasn't expecting her to just offer to sign up with them lol as despite all of the adventures she ahs been on sdhe is still a civvie. Give it some time to sink in though and i bet when it comes to do the eye stabby thing she will hesitate. AS always a great chapter though, looking forward to what is next. Keep up the great work

[zachary12]

nice work

[Comickook]

Again, excellent work on the exchanges, action, characterizations and future chapter set-up in all the right places. Again, I DID love Spitfire's reflection on what she learned about the world in general and especially the Illidari so far as well as how she handled herself as part of the team when they encountered that group of Mo`arg engineers and Shivarra in addition to the Doomguard. Plus, yeah, now we know where Rainbow Dash comes into this. I have a hunch Rainbow will probably adapt just as well as Spitfire, if not even better.

VERY certainly looking forward to more of this.

[badninja]

Well I think Spitfire is going to be learning quite a bit about Rainbow here. Let’s hope Rainbow impresses both sides, because even though you can trust her completely she can be quite the lazy one.

[PrismStrike]

10480078
hence why I have been reffering to her previously as a quasi military pone. Though the training she has gone through would have helped in the mindset needed for a proper military role. Remember that even though they failed horribly against greed growth spike they still charged in while the actual guard was running around being useless (not a single guard pony charged spike that whole episode) so no not a soldier but the bolts have the mindset and courage for it