141. Worlds Collide
For a heartbeat, Celestia was deaf to the world.
She stared with wide eyes at the image of a colt she hadn’t seen since she was a little filly, ignoring everything else. This was impossible; Chrysalis just said that she had seen him in her dream, like that, begging for help. But how could that be?
A whisper finally broke her stupor. “Sister?” Luna asked.
With great difficulty, Celestia turned her eyes away from E’s image and looked at her sister. She was gazing at her with worry. Celestia knew why; Luna must have realized that this colt held special meaning to her. Otherwise, she wouldn’t let everypony see her react like that.
“I’m alright,” Celestia replied in the same voice, so that only her sister would hear her. Pushing away her worry and shock, as well as thousand questions that were surging through her head, she turned to the others.
“Well, that’s a surprise,” Chrysalis said, staring at her intentively. “Princess Celestia, do you happen to know this colt?”
Mindful that she was being watched by not only some of her most prominent subjects and ponies she counted as friends, but also people who not long ago were their enemies, Celestia regained her composure before she replied. “Yes, I do. Although, closer to the truth would be to say that I’ve met him.
“It was a long time ago,” she started to explain, gazing at the image, “during Discord’s reign over Equestria, when our family was hiding in the old ruins in the Everfree Forest, today called the Castle of the Royal Sisters. I was but a filly then, eight years old. I just… bumped into him in the gardens.”
“He was on the old castle’s grounds?” Luna asked, surprised. “And nopony besides you knew about it? Forgive me for doubting your words, Sister, but between the guards and our father’s spell, I find that unlikely.”
“I know,” Celestia sighed. How many times had she pondered how he had done it? “And I’d wished I was a bit older and had a better understanding of just why that feat should have been impossible to accomplish. Or was more intrigued by his unusual features,” she added, glancing at his wings. “But being as young as I was, I was too busy being happy with finally having somepony my age to play with… somepony who was also different, like me.”
“So back when you met him, he was the same age as in my dream?” Chrysalis asked, rubbing her chin thoughtfully.
Celestia nodded. “Yes, as bizarre as it sounds… then again, that whole day I spent with him was bizarre. He kept asking me what happened to Equestria, what became of the King, and was surprised when I told him I was his granddaughter… as if he didn’t know about Discord. And he also often talked to himself as if he was talking with somepony else.”
“Are you sure he was alone then, Princess?” Nightshade asked her. “Maybe there was somepony invisible there as well?”
“And he would have talked to them with the Princess at his side?” Chrysalis’ Spymaster retorted. “If one wants to hide, why would their accomplice risk revealing their position?”
The bat pony shrugged. “Maybe they had thought that the Princess wouldn’t have realized? With all due respect,” Nightshade added, bowing to Celestia, “Your Highness just said that you were very young.”
“I’ve taken no offense, Captain,” Celestia replied. “But I don’t think there was anypony else with him. Even though E had somehow passed through the various spells and wards mine and Luna’s father had placed around the castle, I think they would have still detected somepony invisible. They would have also stopped him from contacting others outside, whether by magical means or otherwise.”
“E?” Luna asked.
“That’s how he called himself. When I asked him for a name, he said ‘Just call me E; every friend I had called me that.’ He didn’t want to explain further.”
“What had become of him?” asked Chrysalis.
“He disappeared the next morning,” Celestia said, still saddened, despite how much time had passed. “But he had told me he would need to go; that there was something he had to do, no matter what price he would have to pay.”
She didn’t add how much it hurt when she had realized that he left without even saying goodbye. Or how he slept in her bed.
Or how he and her kissed.
“So what does that mean?” Luna asked; Celestia noticed the look she gave her before she had turned to the image. She knew her younger sister must have sensed that she had left out some details, and was trying to change the subject for her. “A bizarre earth pony colt with pegasi wings stitched to him, who was only seen once over thousand years ago, now appearing in a dream of the Changeling Queen? Which, according to a zebra seer, is tied to Canterlot?”
“Maybe he’s somewhere in the city?” Shining Armor suggested. Celestia’s heart skipped a beat at the thought. “It could be that this E character doesn’t age. Or perhaps he somehow traveled through time?”
“You’ve read too many comics,” Twilight retorted before anybody could. She smirked. “Time travel is impossible. There’s only one spell that allows a brief jump into the past, and the spell’s structure won’t let you change anything.”
“That’s not exactly true…” Arthas, sitting beside her, muttered, but then trailed off, lost in his thoughts.
Celestia was very curious as to what those thoughts entailed. She recalled what her student wrote her about what Arthas had mentioned about his homeworld, how there were dragons who were charged with protecting time. However, he also knew of Chrona, an alicorn whose powers were tied to time, and that she had made sure time travel spells would not work.
“What I wonder about,” Chrysalis spoke up, “is what’s this colt’s connection to me? It could be that I had met him during that period of my life that I cannot remember, but that raises further questions. Assuming that I am right and somebody somehow ‘sent’ me that dream through some spell, then this somebody knows about our kind’s origin.”
“Or perhaps had a hoof in their origin,” Celestia realized, pushing all thoughts about E further away into corners of her mind.
She cleared her throat. “Something had occurred to me; have you taken notice of one of the paladins standing guard outside?”
“You mean the unicorn that appeared in Canterlot shortly after your student, her brother prince, the Hivespeaker, one pegasus and strange creature called ‘dwarf’ went to the Everfree Forest? What about him?”
Celestia rolled her eyes inwardly. “He was found enclosed in a green crystal, very similar to the one you changelings can create, in an abandoned facility in Everfree Forest.” She had to try very hard to not smirk at the sight of surprised expressions of Chrysalis and Ghost Step. “The facility was located underground in a mountain that we have reasons to believe used to float in the sky before it crashed around eleven hundred years ago, and it was tied to something called ‘Project Eclipse’. Does any of this ring any bells for you, Your Majesty?”
For a few long seconds, Chrysalis just stared at her. “No,” she finally said. “Neither of those informations brings any memories into my mind.”
“Interesting,” Celestia replied. “That paladin also had no memories of his time before getting trapped in that crystal. Also, as you probably know by now, he possesses a strange ability to project his life-energy from his hoof into the form of a blade, which is oddly familiar to how you can form ‘claws’ through your hooves.”
Angelic had learned her lesson; she did not react to those news by interrupting her with a question. Instead, Celestia heard her pencil scratching against the surface of her notepad.
“And there is also the timing of all those things,” she finished, “me meeting E included. It seems like a strange set of coincidences to happen in a span of less than a century.”
Chrysalis continued to look into her eyes. Celestia wondered if she was trying to read her mind. “Since we’ve already agreed to exchange information, you wouldn’t mind giving us access to all you know about this Project Eclipse, as well as allowing my changelings to examine the site?” she finally asked. Before Celestia could reply, Chrysalis quickly added: “With your supervision, of course.”
Celestia glanced at her sister, and saw in her eyes that she was of the same mind on this. “Captain Nightshade will present your Spymaster with the information you asked when they confer later, as well as arrange for you to examine the site,” Luna replied. “Of course, we will expect to hear from you if you discover something we had missed.”
As Chrysalis assured that they would, Celestia pondered whether Project Eclipse was tied to changelings. “Or to E,” she thought. It would seem most likely. Celetia thought back to that list they’d managed to display from the rune Twilight had recovered at the site. “Could ‘E’ be a short for ‘Eastin’? The one listed as ‘unknown’ and had the biggest threat level assigned?”
She looked at the changelings, feeling more certain than ever that becoming allies with them was necessary. It was the only hope to uncover all those mysteries, at the bottom of which perhaps she would find E again. “And since we’re on the topic of secrets,” Celestia thought, turning her eyes to the one who undoubtedly had more than a share of those, “I think it’s time we talk about what Arthas thought regarding the origin of changelings.”
“It would seem that discovering what Project Eclipse really was is even more important than we had originally thought,” she spoke up. “The possible connections between it, Knight Tucker, my foalhood friend and changelings are unsettling… however,” Celestia added, and all eyes narrowed, “there is one more connection that should be discussed.”
The moment Celestia’s eyes turned to look at Arthas, Twilight had realized what she meant. So had Arthas, judging by the brief frown of his brow.
“He doesn’t like that Celestia had asked him to tell them,” Twilight thought.
But who could blame him? How often does one find himself talking about being dead, unspeakably evil, not a pony and having hailed from another world?
“Surprisingly often when it comes to Arthas, come to think of if…”
She thought back to how long it took him to admit it to her and the others, his closest friends. It hadn’t taken him too long, just a couple of days, but Twilight knew this was mostly due to everything building up inside of him during those few days. Unable to cope with those terrible secrets - and having been pestered repeatedly by them - Arthas had to tell them; and yet, they still didn’t know a lot about him. Like his name, until recently.
And now he was being asked to tell that again, and to people who were strangers to him. Of course, all present in the chamber were sworn to secrecy, or at least all the ponies were, but still…
However, he didn’t try to talk Princess Celestia out of her unspoken order. “As I assume everybody here knows,” Arthas started, turning to address ponies and changelings, “I’m not from Equestria. However, only few of you here know where I came from. When several months ago I appeared in Ponyville, I’d introduced myself as Matthias Lehner, and said I came from a distant land on the other side of the planet. While the former was truth to some degree-”
Twilight resisted an urge to pull him by his ear again.
“- the other was a complete lie. I didn’t come from the other side of this world; rather, I came from a completely different world.”
Those few who didn’t know about it stared at him in surprise and confusion. To her surprise, Twilight noticed that two of the changelings, the Grand Magistrix and Wing Leader, also looked surprised. She had been sure that Chrysalis had shared what Arthas had told Nymph with all of her advisors.
“Then again, Princess Celestia hadn’t told Raven or Doctor Angelic by the looks of it,” Twilight thought, seeing their expressions. “Not to mention the three captains.”
Arthas waited a few seconds for his words to sink in before he continued. “However, the reason why Princess Celestia wanted me to bring up this matter now is because there are many races inhabiting that distant world, and several of them have a striking resemblance to changelings.”
“You’ve already mentioned that to my daughter,” Chrysalis replied calmly while others processed those information, “but I would like if you could tell us more about those races, Hivespeaker. Thanks to those crystals, you will be able to show us what they look like, won’t you?”
“Hold on,” Daring interrupted as Arthas was about to nod. “Before we go any further, can those of us who just learned about the other world learn just how exactly Sir Lightbringer arrived here?”
Twilight saw Arthas frown at Daring Do (who appeared to be strangely amused by it) before he turned to Celestia. The Princess nodded, letting him know that she wished him to explain.
Sighing, Arthas closed his eyes. “This is going to take a while…” he muttered. “Most of you must have seen the scars on my chest,” the paladin said, opening his eyes and poking at his chestplate. He then smirked: “At least, I hope so; I don’t plan on doing a strip tease just to emphasize my point.”
His words caused a ripple of laughter to wash over the gathered ponies and changelings. Twilight would normally made a mental note to berate him for making such joke in the presence of Princesses, but it was so unexpected that she, too, had to cover her mouth as she almost snorted.
When the short amusement faded down, Twilight braced herself for what was about to come. “I died from the wound that left the scar above my heart.”
Arthas statement, so calmly uttered, was met with silence.
“I died,” he continued, undisturbed. “Furthermore, in years prior to my death, my life - if it can be called such - was vastly different from whom I am today. Due to events I would rather not discuss in greater detail, I had turned away from the Light, and instead followed a much darker path, in my foolishness and arrogance believing that it would lead to the salvation of my people.” Despite that his voice remained the same, Twilight caught a glimpse of pain and shame in Arthas eyes. “It didn’t. All that awaited on that path was more darkness. For my sins, I had been killed, and I assure you all, it was a just punishment. What awaited in hell or Tartarus, or whatever you want to call the realm where souls of the damned go, is beyond description. However, for reasons unknown to me, something, somehow, brought me back to life. My soul was pulled through the Gate of Tartarus and I awoke in the Everfree Forest, alive, in the body of a pony. That is how I came to Equestria.”
Nightshade was first to respond. “What sort of sins-” he started to ask, but Princess Luna cut him off.
“The nature of Sir Lightbringer's sins in his past life is not the subject of our debates here. However,” she added, her eyes moving through captain to captain, “I would like you all to know that I have seen all of his past through his dreams and still trust him. I hope this dispels any unease you might feel towards Sir Lightbringer.”
Twilight blinked in surprise. She had no idea Princess Luna knew everything about Arthas; heck, even she didn’t know anything specific about his previous life. For an instant, Twilight felt a pang of jealousy, but then realized that it made sense. If there was anypony capable of understanding what Arthas has been through, it could be only Princess Luna. Twilight suspected that Arthas was relieved to finally have somepony he could talk to about his past.
“Should that be me?” she wondered suddenly. “I’ve told him I don’t care about his past, because I know about his present self, but…”
Twilight shook her head when she had realized that Daring Do broke the silence; she would ponder about how much interest she should show in Arthas’ past life later.
“Why did you add that ‘in the body of a pony’ bit?” the famous explorer ask Twilight’s friend.
“Because I wasn’t a pony,” Arthas replied casually; Twilight had to hide her smirk. “Before I was resurrected, I was a human, a two-legged creature somewhat resembling a minotaur, except much shorter and without horns, hooves and fur. Getting used to this body wasn’t exactly easy,” he admitted, continued to speak in a tone of voice as if not paying attention to the shocked stares (or amused, in case of her, Celestia, Luna, Cadance and Shining Armor) he was receiving, “but now I actually feel more comfortable in this body than in my previous one.”
He winked at her, making it even harder for her to not burst with laughter. She was about to berate him quietly when she noticed Ghost Step, on the other side of the table, leaning towards Lucid and Dragon Blood and muttering something. Lucid appeared unmoved by whatever his remark was, but the Wing Lord apparently found it amusing, as he snorted and grinned.
“But who brought you back to life?” Daring Do asked, pulling Twilight’s attention away from the changelings. “According to what you’ve just told us, whoever it was, they pulled your soul out of Tartarus, conjured you a brand new body… I’ve never heard of anything like that.”
“Perhaps you should examine the Gate of Tartarus,” Arthas replied, shrugging. “Maybe it has the power to do that, to bring others back to life as ponies. As to who drew my soul out from hell, I don’t know their identity. It could be some powerful mage; could have been the Light itself, bringing me to life in the world in its time of need. It also could be simply another stage of my punishment; when you are in eternal torment, you have little time for contemplating just how horrific a person you were.”
Twilight looked at him, shocked; did he really think of those past five months he spend with them to be another chapter of his torment?
“But enough about me,” he spoke, giving her no time to ask him. “As I’ve mentioned, I came from the world of Azeroth.”
Just like Twilight had done so before, now Arthas pressed his hoof to the crystal embedded into the table where he sat, and summoned an image of a world. Twilight had previously seen Azeroth through her telescope, but due to how far away it was from Equestria, she hadn’t gotten a good look at it. Now she observed with interest Arthas’ homeworld, comparing what she was now seeing with what he had told her. In the center of the planet lay the Maelstrom, a whirlpool so huge that it was visible from space. Surrounding it were four continents and several smaller islands. At least, Twilight knew that there were four continents; on the image, the southernmost land appeared as if covered by clouds.
She perked one ear as Arthas started to explain basic geography of Azeroth, already knowing it in more detail. The hidden land was Pandaria, and it was literally hidden from the rest of the world for ten thousand years by an impregnable cover of mist (which had given Arthas the idea of what to tell them when they first met to explain why he came from a land nopony knew of). On the east were the Eastern Kingdoms, named so because unlike the other three, it was a birthplace of many nations. Kalimdor on the west, while also home to many races, never had any proper countries until recently. And in the north, at the roof of the world, lay Northrend, a very inhospitable place. Out of the island, only a few were of bigger significance, Kul Tiras not far from the northern coast of Eastern Kingdoms, Azuremyst Isles and Teldrassil near northern Kalimdor, and Zandalar and Kezan at the South Seas, between Maelstrom and Pandaria.
Everypony continued to listen as Arthas then said how long ago all those lands were part of Kalimdor, forming a single continent, and how there was one insectoid race called aqir inhabiting it. Twilight, who also heard that part, listened with one ear as he quickly described their conflict with another empire that caused the aqir to separate into three colonies over sixteen thousand years ago.
“Living in different lands caused those aqir to slowly change into another races,” Arthas said, fiddling with the crystal. “I think those changes became even more drastic after the Sundering ten thousand years ago, when they became completely separated from each other. Those that fled north and found the kingdom of Azjol-Nerub, which lies below Northrend, became spider-like beings called Nerubians.”
The image of his world disappeared and was replaced with depictions of creatures from an arachnophobic pony’s worst nightmare. There were several of them, all the same species but of different kinds, similar to ponies, but that was about all those two races had had in common. One was walking on six thin legs and had two two appendages with fingers that it apparently used like hands, and observed the world around it with multiple eyes, which resembled a spider the most. Another one which was massive, with thick carapace, walked on four legs, with vicious looking claws and horn resembled more a beetle to her. Two others were much smaller, seemed less intelligent (as despite their strange look, the other two emanated almost eerie intelligence) and more animalistic. The main difference between them was that one of them could fly thanks to skin between its six appendages, while the other had to crawl around on four legs. The last one looked most bizarre; it was very tall, stood straight on four legs, had four hands, and was wearing clothes.
Twilight looked at them, fascinated, then turned to the changelings, who were also watching them with fascination. “Hm… yeah,” she thought, looking back between the two groups, “I think I can see those two being relatives… the changelings kinda look like the mix of them and ponies…”
Sounds of vicious scribbling made her turn her attention to another part of the table. Doctor Angelic was quickly moving her pencil up and down while looking at nerubians, no doubt making sketches of them.
“Interesting,” she heard Chrysalis say. Turning back to her, Twilight saw that she was still taking in the sight of nerubians. “What does their society and culture look like?”
Arthas shrugged. “They were master architects, their libraries contained many works of literature, philosophy and arcane lore. They were also cruel and xenophobic; bad mix. They used to occasionally kidnap members of other races for experiments.”
Twilight had an unpleasant twist in her stomach at the thought. As bad as Chrysalis was, she at least hadn’t experimented on her or Cadence.
“Their society was divided into castes,” Arthas continued. “The kind like that one that resembles a spider the most was the most common type; they could serve as workers or as soldiers. The biggest ones, like that one that looks like a cross between spider and a beetle, were something along the lines of aristocracy. They were called spiderlords, and they usually were kings of specified portions of their empire, with the mightiest one ruling all of Azjol-Nerub as the King. Also, the spiderlords were the only ones allowed to mate with the nerubian queen, of which there was only one at the time.”
All five changelings looked at him in surprise. “Judging by their shock, I’m guessing that’s not how things work with them…”
“Interesting,” was all what Chrysalis said, though. She turned to the image of the tallest nerubian. “Is that their queen?”
“No, that’s a nerubian vizier; they were advisors, sorcerers and seers for the empire. As for the queen, I don’t think I can show her to you, as her image would not fit in this room.”
Twilight suddenly thought back to Arthas’ suggestion concerning Brann and the Nerubian Queen, and how the dwarf hadn’t denied it. She wasn’t sure if she would bash her head and puke or start to laugh.
“That tone…” Celestia mused out loud. “You’ve met one, hadn’t you?”
Arthas cringed slightly. “Yes. Her name was Nezar’Azret. However, it wasn’t the happiest of meetings; she and her court stood in my way and I was in a hurry. As for the remaining two,” Arthas continued. “The one on the ground is called a spiderling, and they are simply young nerubians; they would later mature into one of the other castes. They had similar functions to that of an average nerubian. The flying ones are simple drones, they never change since the moment they hatch.”
Chrysalis, who was listening to him thoughtfully, spoke when he had finished: “I couldn’t help but notice that you had used past tense when describing their culture.”
“Most of the nerubians were killed during the War of the Spider ten years ago,” Arthas replied. “Death now rules the halls of Azjol-Nerub, if not worse. However, the small number of living nerubians have an enormous stash of hidden eggs stored away, so their species isn’t endangered. What this spells for the future of Azeroth…” he trailed off, obviously dubious of what they would do.
“What did you mean by ‘if not worse’?” Cadance asked.
“During the war, Nerubians tunneled deeper underground, and by accident unearthed malicious creatures, known as the faceless ones,” Arthas said, after which he turned to Celestia and raised an eyebrow. “I would prefer to not show their image, though, on the grounds that I do not wish half of the room to have nightmares.”
“Very well,” Celestia replied, ignoring frowns on several faces, like that of Cyclone Strike and Spitfire. They’d probably taken offense to Arthas’ words; Twilight, on the other hoof, knew that he wouldn’t have said it unless it would have been very possible. She still felt shivers at the memory of Deathwing. “But could you explain what they are?”
“They are monstrous servants of the Old Gods; I would hazard a guess that they were also created by them. The Old Gods,” he added, turning to the others, “are extremely powerful creatures of pure evil that used to rule the world of Azeroth uncount millennia ago. Then a race of godlike beings called Titans came, defeated their armies, imprisoned the Old Gods deep under the planet, reshaped Azeroth, and then left, leaving behind several guardians.”
“Well, that’s a detailed story,” Daring commented.
Arthas sighed. “If I were to explain everything in full detail that will come up today, we would spend days here. And since I expect that I will end up telling you about the entire current political scene of Azeroth, I would prefer to avoid distractions.”
“More importantly,” Celestia interrupted him, frowning, “could you explain why exactly did those faceless ones attack the nerubians? The first time you mentioned aqir to me and Luna, you said that they also served the Old Gods.”
“Oh, right,” Arthas said, and then smiled. “Actually, this is something that I probably find most remarkable about nerubians. At the dawn of their empire, there were five or six schools of religious thought in Azjol-Nerub, all devoted to the Old Gods. However, they eventually came to a conclusion that worshiping creatures is insane. One of their seers, Ul’Tomon I believe his name was, even said-”
Twilight eyes went wide as Arthas words changed into an incomprehensible hisses and clicking sounds. Everybody was as much as surprised like her, but the stallion continued to speak in this strange manner until he finished his sentence… while looking at the changelings.
She realized what was Arthas’ intention a heartbeat before Chrysalis spoke: “Did you just speak in their language to see if me or my subjects would react somehow to it?”
Twilight turned to look at them. While Chrysalis and Unsceathed remained calm, the other three were obviously moved and unsettled after hearing the Nerubian language.
“Maybe,” Arthas replied, looking at Ghost Step, Lucid and Dragon Blood studiously.
Chrysalis snorted. “We didn’t understand any word… however, it is unsettlingly similar to our own language.”
“You have your own language?” Twilight blurted before she could stop herself.
“Racist,” Chrysalis commented, although she appeared more amused than offended. “All of my subjects know two languages, changelin and equestrian, and a lot learn all the others as well. Also, changelings often stop using changelin when we… grow up.”
While Twilight pondered her words, Arthas shrugged. “Getting back to the subject… in translation, those words meant: ‘worship makes as much sense as a fly caught in a web worshiping the spider who is about to devour him’.”
“An interesting analogy,” Celestia commented. “As you had said, Sir Lightbringer, it is indeed remarkable that they chose by themselves to stop worshiping those dark beings. But what of the other aqir’s descendants?
“I don’t know about the mantid, as they live in Pandaria and as such, gathering information regarding them is impossible. However, as for qiraji, I’m afraid that all of them continue to worship and serve the Old Gods… however there aren’t many left of them. Almost the entirety of their species was wiped out during the Second War of the Shifting Sands by Might of Kalimdor, the combined Alliance-Horde army, after Shiromar the Scarab Lord opened the Gate of Ahn’Qiraj more than two years ago. Although, word had reached me that several months later a very powerful qiraji prophet was found locked in Arcatraz in Outland; how in Light’s name did the naaru managed to…” Arthas slowly trailed off. When he stopped talking, he sighed heavily and closed his eyes. “You’d like me to explain what all of those are, correct?”
“Indeed,” Celestia replied, amused. “But to avoid confusing anybody, first finish telling us about qiraji.”
Arthas, who took advantage of the short break to drink a sip of water, nodded and put away the glass. Twilight, although also amused, felt sorry for him.
“Qiraji lived in Ahn'Qiraj, in the desert called Silithus in southern Kalimdor,” he said. “Similarly to nerubians, they’d also diverged into different types.”
Once again the image flickered. Twilight looked at the qiraji; unlike their nerubian cousins, all types of them were standing upright and had two legs, aside for one that resembled a nerubian vizor in a fashion; like it, it was very tall, and had eight legs, coming out from under its gown. The creature also had two antennae, almost as long as its body. Twilight couldn’t tell where its clothes ended and where carapace began. The other one was almost as tall as it, but this one was much bulkier and had pincers instead of hands. Another was the first one that Twilight thought could be female; the bulges under its clothes on its chest seemed very alike to breasts of minotaurs and diamond dogs. This qiraji was very lithe, had long, similar to a dragonfly’s, wings and its face was covered.
The last type… it didn’t look as exotic as the others, aside from the one with wings it was the smallest one, and yet… Twilight had this strange feeling that it was the most dangerous of them. It almost looked human (based on the statue of Uther in the Abbey). Like with the tallest one, it was impossible to tell which part of its body was carapace and which was its clothes. It had two strange growths coming out of the bulge on his back, and underneath its hood was an alien face with glowing eyes.
“I’ve never been to Silithus,” Arthas started to speak, “nor have I actually seen a qiraji. As such, I have much less information about them that I have regarding nerubians. I do know that the big hulking ones were the most common type, and they are powerful fighters. The winged ones seem to be all females, but I don’t know how they reproduce. They mostly served as guardians in their city rather than in the field. The tall ones were often called prophets and wielded powerful magic. The last one...” he frowned as the image changed, and now depicted two near identical specimens of that type, “there were only two of them. The Twin Emperors, Vek’nilash and Vek’lor. They ruled over the qiraji.
“The qiraji, due to their fanatical devotion to the Old Gods, have a bit more colorful history than their nerubian cousins. Their capital Ahn’Qiraj used to be a Titan research station that served as a prison of one of the Old Gods. Once the aqir commandeered it, they’d also gained control over several Titan constructs inside, adding even more firepower to their forces. It took them many millennia, but finally, about a thousand years ago, they had an army ready to enact their and their god’s revenge of Kalimdor. However, the night elves, or kaldorei as they are called in their tongue,” the image changed as Arthas talked. Now it depicted two of those night elves, one female and male; both had purple skin, no fur, stood upright, had blue hair (Twilight knew from Arthas’ tales that their hair was usually shades of either blue or green, though some also had white hair), long ears and glowing silvery eyes; “stood in their way. The War of the Shifting Sands erupted, and lasted for months. The night elves were losing, and were pushed back, out of Silithus. But then the dragons joined them, having realized how much of a threat the qiraji was. Still, their numbers, spawning endlessly from Ahn’Qiraj, seemed infinite. Coming to a conclusion that they didn’t have the strength to win, the dragons and night elves pushed at the city’s limits and held the line. Together, they erected a magical barrier called the Scarab Wall around Ahn’Qiraj that would contain their threat until the world of Azeroth would have the means to end the qiraji threat permanently.”
“So there are dragons on that world as well?” Lucid asked once Arthas took a longer break for breath.
“Yes, except that they are much different that those you have on Equestria,” Arthas replied. “But please, try to not interrupt me; I’ll get to dragons later. As I was saying, the War of the Shifting Sands took place over a thousand years ago-”
“A very strange coincidence,” Chrysalis interrupted, her tone of voice suggesting that she was suspicious of this ‘coincidence’. “Especially considering what you’ve mentioned about the Second War of the Shifting Sands; when it took place, to be specific,” she added, glancing at Princess Luna.
Arthas nodded. “Indeed. I’ve discussed this matter with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna as well, and we’ve agreed that it is very likely far more than coincidence that all the things that happened in the past, and the return of Nightmare Moon occurred while the Old God increased its activity in Ahn’Qiraj.”
“So you suspect that it might be responsible for Princess Luna’s corruption?” Daring asked, raising an eyebrow. When Arthas and the two Princesses nodded, she frowned. “But how?”
“We don’t know,” Arthas quickly replied. “There is no evidence of any connection between Azeroth and Equestria on Azeroth’s side-”
“What about the amulet Brann uses?” Twilight asked, frowning.
“It’s a Titan artifact, it doesn’t count,” Arthas replied, but Twilight didn’t give up easily.
“You just said that Ahn’Qiraj was a Titan research station,” she reminded him, nearly breaking her tongue on the odd name. “It could be that there was another such amulet or a similar artifact in it.”
To her surprise, it wasn’t Arthas that replied her, but Celestia. “You raise an excellent point, Twilight, but you forgot one detail that speaks against this theory.”
“What detail? Your Majesty,” she quickly added.
“It wasn’t just a research station, but also a prison. For a being that, according to Sir Lightbringer, is evil incarnate, I might add. You don’t put a key next to it, and certainly not an artifact that could transport it to another world. Regardless,” Celestia continued while Twilight blushed with embarrassment, “while there is no evidence on Azeroth that would point to a connection between our worlds that would allow the Old Gods to corrupt my sister, there is here.”
“You mean us?” Chrysalis said, her voice indicating that she was dubious of it. “Perhaps you’re right, but even if you are, we have no way of knowing it for certain. Hivespeaker, you said that almost all qiraji are dead, right?” she asked, turning to Arthas. “Those two emperors included, I assume?” Arthas nodded. “Then I guess we have noling to ask whether they had something to do with my race’s origin. And what became of that ‘Old God’, exactly?”
Arthas frowned before he replied. “It… When the Might of Kalimdor destroyed all of the qiraji on the surface, the mightest heroes of Azeroth traveled to the tunnels beneath it. There they faced the Old God, C’thun.”
Twilight was surprised to see him reach for the crystal again, but before she could say anything, the image flickered again.
In the middle of the table, a huge purple sphere appeared. But Twilight quickly realized that it wasn’t a sphere. As it turned, she saw a golden crack running through it vertically, with a dark slit inside of it. An iris.
It was an eye!
The ponies gasped as the eye slowly turned around, gazing at them. There was something utterly horrific about this, this mere projection of this… C’thun. A mere projection, an image… and yet already Twilight wanted Arthas to dispel it.
What kind of horror would it be to look at the real Old God?
As she gathered her strength to whisper to Arthas a plea to make it disappear, the eye turned to the changeling’s side of the table.
Chrysalis sprung up from her seat and backed away; everybody, even her changelings, turned to her with surprise as she stared at the eye with eyes wide open and her mouth ajar. She was trembling.
“My Queen...” Unsceathed began to say in his raspy voice, but he quickly fell silent.
“Ahn’Qiraj…” she whispered, so quietly that Twilight almost didn’t hear her. “C’thun… Ahn’Qiraj… Ph'nglui mglw'naft C'Thun Ahn'Qiraj wgah'nagl fhtagn!”
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Iä! Iä! C'thun fhtagn!
As good as ever my friend
... Does this mean that Chrysalis is Shub-Niggurath? The black goat of the woods with a thousand young?
Dang it Chrysalis knows about them...
Jokes aside, an excellent chapter! As always, it makes me yearn for more!
damn (visible) twists.
they gonna getcha in the end.
I really enjoyed Arthas' exposition about Azeroth's culture and his past. It was pretty interesting, especially Chrysalis' reaction to C'thun. Thanks for the amazing chapter.
good place for a stop, but now I just need to read next.
Equestria is Chrysalis' prison, filled with creatures capable of resisting her and her kind. The titans pulled a macguffin to depower her, or something, clearly.
Or not.
:P
IT BEGINS.
***WHAAAAAAT****
Dam it, what a cliffhanger.
And I have this funny image in my mind :
Arthas sitting at the table in a hawaiian shirt saying : " and this is where I ordered Stratholme purged, "click sound" and here is where I pick up Frostmourne and gave up my soul ..........
Quick, someone give Chrysalis a Chibi Cthulu Plushie to keep her company at night.
The translation for the last word in this chapter are probably this:
"In his house of C'Thun at Ahn'Qiraj , dead C'Thun waits dreaming."
Is that right ?
yep ponies be racist
5797539 That's what I found as well. Which makes sense, considering that Old Gods can't really be killed by anyone except the Titans, only defeated. Cho'gall nearly managed to revive C'thun before Med'an brought Ahn'Qiraj down upon both of them, though this would have happened before the events of Wrath of the Lich King. Even so, part of the story of this battle tells us that, as Med'an landed on top of C'thun's corpse, he heard voices in his head promising horrible things.
Sounds like C'thun isn't nearly as dead as we thought...
If the mere Eye of C'thun has that effect, I'd hate to imagine what the face of Yogg'Saron would do to those present.
Also: Let's not forget about the evil that had possessed Sombra. That certainly gave the impression of an Old God, did it not?
The time of them finding out he is a king should be close now if hes telling his history
5797539
5797790
Close, although I think it's more along the lines of ""In his house at Ahn’Qiraj, dead C'thun waits dreaming"
And I would say that C'thun is dead, or as dead as can be expected. I think Chrysalis's words date back to when C'thun slept beneath Silithus and Ahn'Quiraj, and is not about the present. Basically she's repeating something from the long forgotten past.
Fhtagn
5797953 Headcanon time! Nightmare Moon came from Luna being influenced by an Old God. Calling it right here.
5798130
That's pretty much been stated already.
Now that is how you work a cliffhanger, and now we have to wonder, is what Chrysalis saying racial memory or a hold over from what manipulated her and her race.
i guess they can say now the changelings are from azroth
5797016
But, it then goes and says they might actually be the same thing. So... who knows?
5798638 Oh, I am humbled.
A herald or Avatar then?
5798679 Potentially; Either way I am on the edge of my seat waiting for the next chapter.
5798133 Did it? It's been such a long story, I don't remember...
Guess I need to re-read the whole thing.
Huh...I was not prepared.
If any Old God corrupted Luna I would put my money on N'Zoth, He is the one who corrupted the Emerald Dream.
Also, The Old Gods are based off The Old Ones from Lovecraft but they arn't related, two completely different mythos. Nice use of Cthulhu's chant though.
5797790
C'thun was dead when we were fighting him, that's how unimaginably powerful these things are, his corps was a raid boss.
Oh the horrors of Azeroth are not meant for pony eyes xD lol
I am hedging my bets that E is a bronze dragon, time traveling and agelessness are two of their defining characteristics after all.
5808697 E is obviously "Eastin" from borsuq's other story: project eclipse. Read that one first, it's quite a good read, even if it's unfinished
I wonder, will Thrall ever make it to Equestria? Now that would be something.
I must have more!!! This was an awsome chapter. Im still waiting for when he confesses about being the lich king to the mane 6 and celestia
5798762
Well read this chapter. They make pretty blatant allusions that the old gods were connected to Nightmare Moon.
So the changelings are descended from Ahn'Qiraj. On another note GREAT STORY!! Can't wait for more!
Uh... can this be translated?
Holy crap that last line.... It genuinely made my hair raise...
One thing that came across as odd, however. Arthas stated he did not want to show them the image of a faceless being, though understandable his reasoning sort of falls short, consider how he then proceeds to show them one of the Old Gods themselves
5845727
In his house at Ahn’Qiraj , dead C'thun waits dreaming.
The author replaces the words from another work so that's an accurate translation there.
Its really really hard to create a new language especially one for eldritch abominations so some forgiveness for the author would be appreciated.
5846574
Yeah your right probably should be rewritten to "For the sake of brevity lets move on" or something like that then the reveal of C'thun would make much more sense.
5866429
Thank you!
5814963 Yes it would.
5866438 He only showed the Eye of the Old God; eye alone isn't that scary or traumatizing. Whole C'thun would be another case
todowow.com/wp-content/uploads/cthun-437x350.jpg
Whew, now I'm glad that I can still remember most of Warcraft's lore...I admire how you can make so much information sound interesting even though it's so tightly packed.
Arthas' remark about why meeting the queen wasn't pleasant. "she and her court stood in my way and I was in a hurry"
Hehe.
And Old Gods are so creepy. Thoughts written in CAPS LOCK always send a shiver down my spine in raids.
So...Many...Chapters.... -dies-
Bronze Dragon magic is some serious shit.
Oh, it IS just like that isn't it?
… maybe it's short for Eclipse?
think of it
How would that even work? Unless a planet is in the same solar system there's no telescope that can simply see that far. You need other kinds of mathematical trickery.
Oh please, the faceless ones aren't THAT horrific in appearance. Really, they look more like elephants than anything Lovecraftian.
Ah, so your interpretation of PvE guilds is that it's one guild comprised of the Horde and the Alliance?
The emperors...
Oh... shit that's right, isn't it?
Well actually it wasn't a prison; C'thun feigned its death so the Titans didn't construct it as a prison.
Okay, so... that confirms it, changelings are CERTAINLY connected to the Old Gods. Which makes them being allied to demigods who wielded Titan weapons deliciously ironic. Eat your black heart out, N'zoth.
5797790 I don't know about not being able to kill them, it seems like Y'shaarj is absolutely, utterly gone for good.