142. From Politics to Gossip
It took several minutes for Chrysalis to return to her senses. Several minutes which everybody else spent worried and confused; the ponies more confused, changelings worried. Soon after everybody had realized that the Changeling Queen wasn’t responding to anybody, only repeating that one sentence over and over, her four advisors had begun to speak to each other in a strange, clicking language that was indeed not unlike nerubian. Though Arthas couldn’t understand a single word of it, the concern radiating from them was clear.
He had quickly offered his help, as had Doctor Angelic Touch. However, the way Unscathed looked at him made him rethink that offer. It’s amazing how one doesn’t need pupils to say with just eyes ‘Make a sudden move and I’ll kill you’, Arthas thought as he sat back, unlike Angelic who needed to be hissed at by Dragon Blood to be discouraged.
While the two warriors and Ghost Step watched everypony carefully, Lucid was doing what she could to help Chrysalis. After a brief hesitation, she immobilized her Queen with magic and, her horn still emanating magic, lowered it to Chrysalis’. When the two horns touched, the Changeling Queen finally fell silent, though her eyes continued to stare in the direction where the image of the Eye of C’thun had been, blind to everything else.
“Um… Shouldn’t we talk about this?” Twilight asked Arthas in a hushed voice, glancing at Celestia, who, like the rest, was waiting patiently for the changelings to help their queen (though patiently was a term used loosely in some cases; Spitfire, for one, was tapping the table with her hoof).
“Discussing anything while Chrysalis is incapacitated wouldn’t look good for them,” Arthas replied shortly.
After his response, Twilight didn’t reply back, taking his explanation to heart. Thankfully, she didn’t need to worry about it for long; moments after their exchange Chrysalis closed her eyes and and groaned quietly. Lucid took a step back and dispelled her magic while her Queen shook her head slightly and touched her temples. Arthas couldn’t help but notice that none of the changelings were speaking; at least, not out loud. Though he already knew that Chrysalis could communicate with other changelings telepathically in some manner, it still unnerved him a bit.
Thinking about it brought back unpleasant memories of the Lich King’s telepathic powers.
Arthas pulled himself from the unpleasant thoughts, focusing on the present moment. The Changeling Queen had finally opened her eyes and straightened up… and immediately turned to him with anger in her green eyes.
“Of course,” Arthas thought, no surprised at all.
“You’ve got some explaining to do,” Chrysalis hissed at him.
Before he could reply, Celestia tried to intervene: “Queen Chrysalis, we are glad to see you are better, but-”
“I wasn’t talking to you, Princess!” Chrysalis cut her off angrily, glancing at her briefly, before turning back to Arthas. “I demand to know, Hivespeaker, what those words I said meant, and more importantly why I said them!”
Hoping he seemed more calm than he really felt, Arthas replied: “I cannot answer either of those questions-”
Chrysalis’ snort interrupted him. “Right, because I’ll believe it just like that. You clearly have a vast knowledge about that world of yours. I don’t care who you were, but right now I want answers.”
“It is true that I know a lot about Azeroth,” Arthas admitted. “But I really don’t know what those words mean, let alone why you spoke them at the sight of a piece of the Old God.”
“Piece?” Daring asked, interrupting him.
“It was just his eye; I thought the whole body of C’thun would be too horrific to show you. Besides, I don’t exactly know how…” Arthas trailed off, trying to think how to say ‘the adventurers who had fought it in Ahn’Qiraj and later perished in Naxxramas, letting me know their memories of the event after they’d been resurrected as death knights, had first saw only its Eye, and the rest emerged after it got destroyed, so I cannot say how C’Thun’s Eye was attached to it…’ in a way that would make sense. Finally, he shrugged and said: “Let’s just say that the information I have regarding C’Thun come mostly from a second hoof. But let’s get back to the subject,” Arthas said, turning back to Chrysalis. “As I said, I cannot say what those words mean, besides two of them being the name of the Old God and his home, of course. But,” he added, frowning, “I can tell you that there is no doubt in my mind that it was the language of the faceless ones you had spoken.”
He could see that Chrysalis and her changelings weren’t happy with his answer. The ponies were more confused than anything else, though Arthas noticed some glancing at the other side of the table with new suspiciousness, no doubt remembering his earlier remark about whom the faceless ones served.
Celestia frowned, pondering. “Are you sure it’s the language of those foul creatures, Sir Lightbringer?”
Arthas nodded. “I know the sound of it well; during my trek through Azjol-Nerub I faced hordes of the faceless ones. There’s no other language so foul as the one of those creatures. Nobody on Azeroth other than them and their dark masters can speak it; even their mortal servants can only repeat the phrases they memorized, though pronouncing them correctly is nearly impossible… Though that’s not what makes the faceless one’s language so… unpleasant,” Arthas paused briefly before frowning. “How should I explain this… the Old Gods have powerful telepathic powers, able to reach into the minds of others even from within their prisons. Their minions, the faceless ones…the powerful ones possess some form of telepathy, affecting the minds of those around them, and automatically translating their words directly into their minds. Meaning, for example, that if it was a faceless one who said those words, not you Your Majesty,” he said to Chrysalis, “we would have all heard dark whispers in our minds speaking in a language we understand.”
Chrysalis’ eyes narrowed while everybody digested those information. “That’s very interesting to know, but it doesn’t explain why I spoken those words. No,” she said, raising her hoof, as Arthas opened his mouth to retort, “I heard when you said that you don’t understand that either, Hivespeaker. As such, it seems only logical that we should try to pursue the answer to that ourselves, doesn’t it?”
Even before she finished that rhetorical question, Arthas had already realized what she was about to suggest, and felt a cold shiver run down his spine. “I cannot let this happen!” he thought as Chrysalis turned to Celestia.
“Would Equestria be interested in mounting together with us an expedition to that world?”
Ponies looked at her, surprised, as Arthas’ fears came true. “I don’t necessarily see wisdom in such action,” Celestia replied calmly; Arthas realized that she too must have anticipated this. “But that matter aside, how would you even propose to accomplish such a feat? Azeroth is practically on the other side of the galaxy, as my student had learned after studying astrological charts and listening to Sir Lightbringer’s descriptions.”
“Come now, Princess Celestia,” Chrysalis said, not pausing when Celestia took a moment to glance at Twilight with pride, “surely somepony with such magical prowess as yourself knows that creating a portal to this world would be easy. You are still visited by that ‘dwarf’ creature from time to time, right? With his amulet serving as a medium, we could conjure a portal without anyling as much as breaking a sweat.”
Arthas blinked. That hadn’t even occurred to him. He had suspected of course that creating a portal to Azeroth would be possible for Equestria (after all, the orcs managed to create a stable one, and even considering that they had the help of Medivh and that Draenor was much closer to Azeroth than Equestria, ponies had known arcane magic for thousands of years longer than orcs dabbled in fel magic), but he hadn’t counted on anypony using Brann’s amulet as a medium. With all the memories of the mages he had slaughtered in Dalaran still in his head, Arthas grew to understand magic enough to know that in this case, they could practically have a portal ready within the hour of Brann’s next visit.
Not wanting to allow this idea to grow any longer, Arthas spoke up: “Your Majesties, everyp- everyone; I’d strongly advise against such action. Creating a portal to Azeroth, or worse, launching an expedition into it, could bring about massive threat to the entire world of Equestria.”
“My, how dramatic,” Chrysalis commented. Arthas looked at her; despite her mocking tone, her eyes held nothing of her usual amusement. “I am sure you must have a good reason for thinking so, Hivespeaker. You certainly wouldn’t be concerned about the reaction of anyling on Azeroth who you had wronged with whatever it is you had done to the news of you being alive, wouldn’t you?”
“She’s unsettled by what had happened to her,” Arthas noted. “She wants to know why, and going to Ahn’Qiraj seems like the only place she would get her answers. Light, grant me clarity to convince her to not pursue this path.”
A smile crept to his lips on its own as he answered. “Your Majesty, if my death could prevent problems of the magnitude I fear Equestria would face in an event of those two worlds meeting, I would present my neck to the executioner’s axe,” he said, meaning those words. His gaze traveled around the table as he addressed no longer just Chrysalis but everybody. “However, the issue of me being alive and what it could mean to some Azerothians isn’t what I fear. Creating a portal between worlds, even if to such remote places like Ahn’Qiraj, would undoubtedly attract attention. Among those who I am certain would sense it would be Kirin Tor, the conclave that leads the magocratic nation of the city-state of Dalaran, and from there the rest of the world would quickly learn of it.”
“And why exactly would that be a bad thing?” Daring Do asked.
“Because there are currently three world-scaled wars raging across Azeroth, and in my opinion the probability of Equestria getting dragged into those conflicts is too great to risk a contact.”
Everybody turned to him with wide eyes and open mouth. Even Luna, who knew the most about Azeroth from seeing it in his memories, was shocked. This world hadn’t seen a real war in over two thousand years; the concept of three wars raging at the same time must have been hard to grasp for them.
Luna was first to recover her composure. “I’m starting to think we should have questioned you more often about Azeroth,” she noted calmly.
“I’ve only learned about the third one recently,” Arthas admitted, “so even it-”
“Nevermind,” Luna interrupted him. “Could you please describe those conflicts for us shortly, so that we may decide if it’s really too dangerous for us to attempt contact?”
“Of course Your Majesty,” Arthas replied; as he had guessed earlier, he was going to explain the entire political scene of Azeroth. “For everybody here to get a good grasp on Azeroth’s matters, I will first need to tell you about the various allegiances that play major parts in them.”
He reached to the crystal, summoning back the image of Azeroth. Except this time, several lands appeared highlighted in a blue color; most of the southern Eastern Kingdoms and northern Kalimdor, with several more scattered locations as well.
“The Alliance,” Arthas started to speak, focusing his thoughts through the crystal so that beside the model of a planet appears the symbol of the Alliance; a blue-gold shield with a lion’s head as shield boss, flanked by golden gryphons on both sides, a hammer’s head above it, and below arrows crossed over mechanical gears, “is one of the two major political factions of my former world. Its major members are the human nations of Stormwind, Theramore, Stromgarde, and Gilneas;” Arthas decided to not divulge whether Gilneas could be still considered a ‘human nation’ or not; instead, he focused on creating an image of a human male and female. Ignoring the others’ reactions to the sight of the race he had formerly belonged to, Arthas spared only a moment before he named another member of the Alliance; “the dwarven Kingdom of Ironforge;” the images of humans were replaced by Bronzebeard dwarves, he would present the other two clans later; “the Frostborn;” dwarves with light blue skin, “the Gnomeregan Exiles;” several ponies and changelings made borderline amused expression at the sight of the images representing tiny gnomes. Arthas found it amusing, considering how the races of Azeroth would react to them in turn; “the night elves of Darnassus;” the images of this nocturnal race, already seen by the gathered, were more respectfully accepted, though whether it was due to their height or their silvery glowing eyes Arthas wasn’t sure; “several scarce organisations of high elves, the most notably being the Silver Covenant;” the images of the shorter and light skinner cousins of night elves appeared; “and lastly, the draenei of Exodar.”
The forms of draenei were, ironically, the most easily acceptable to ponies and changelings so far. It wasn’t surprising; their features - blue skin, hooved hind legs, reptile tails and glowing eyes - which were considered alien on Azeroth, weren’t really that unusual on Equestria.
“Diverse crowd,” Ghost Step commented once Arthas let the images of draenei fade.
“You would think that, but in truth all those races share same ideals of honor, nobility and justice,” Arthas replied. “Though they are of different races, all members are loyal to one another.”
“You’ve mentioned human nations of Stormwind, Theramore, Stromgarde and Gilneas,” Cadance mused out loud before turning to him questioningly. “What of the Kingdom of Lordaeron? I recall you saying that you used to live there.”
The slight curve at the edge her mouth told Arthas that she hadn’t forgotten about the remark he made on her and Shining Armor’s wedding as well. “The Kingdom of Lordaeron was destroyed during the Third War several years ago,” he said, somehow managing to speak without flinching. “Though I suppose one could say that it still exist in a fashion; you will understand that in a moment.”
“Sorry for bringing it up,” Cadance apologized.
Arthas shook his head, showing that he took no offense. “Don’t be,” he wanted to say, “I was the one who destroyed it.”
“Now, the second major faction on Azeroth,” he started again, “is the Horde.” Once again the image of Azeroth appeared, but this time the lands highlighted (by a red light) were the northern Eastern Kingdoms and central Kalimdor. Beside the globe Arthas summoned the crest of the Horde; the red and ivory shield with a turned crescent surrounding the shield boss, with a long, adorned in feathers tusk behind it, as well as painted masks and chained bones above. “It’s composed of the orc clans, mainly living in the nation of Durotar;” strangely, the sight of sturdy, green-skinned forms of orc male and female hadn’t caused ponies and changelings to express nearly as much of a shock as when his father’s court had first heard of them. They still blinked in surprise though; “the jungle trolls of the Darkspear Tribe,” the more grotesque forms of trolls, the male’s hulking ones ever more so with their tusks, did cause a greater impression; “the forest trolls of Revantusk Tribe;” the images basically just changed colors from blue to green; “the United Tauren Tribes;” being so alike to minotaurs aside from their hands, the images of tauren male and female didn’t cause much of a reaction; “the taunka tribes;” the images almost didn’t change, except of the male and female gaining more fur and flatter muzzles; “the blood elves of the Kingdom of Quel’Thalas;” again elven shapes formed, only this time they had glowing green eyes; “the ogres of Stonemaul clan;” this time, only one image appeared. Even with all the knowledge he had gained as the Lich King, Arthas had never actually gotten to learn how the ogre’s female looked like. Still, the image of the massive, hulking, half-naked giant was surprising enough for ponies and changelings to not ask any questions; “the goblins of Bilgewater Cartel;” the short images of goblins, after the massive ogre, taurens and trolls took the gathered by surprise; “and… the Forsaken.”
He hesitated briefly before he summoned the last images. He purposely left the Forsaken for the last, knowing that their appearance would lead to uncomfortable questions. As he predicted, when the half-decayed forms of undead human male and female appeared - the most numerous among the Forsaken’s ranks - several of the gathered in the chamber gasped.
“Okay, I take back what I said;” Ghost Step said, perplexed like others; “this is a diverse crowd. What’s with the zombies?”
“At the start of the Third War, the Plague of Undeath swept through Lordaeron, killing everything, raising their corpses, and making them fight for a necromancer that created the plague.”
That was the truth… to some degree...
“However, shortly by the end of the war, a group of the undead managed to break free from the control,” he continued. “They created their own nation in the ruins of Lordaeron, making Undercity their capital, and later allied themselves with the Horde.”
He glanced at Twilight briefly, concerned as to how she was taking the sight of undead. To his relief, she didn’t appear too traumatized by it; she was appalled, but she wasn’t covering her eyes or looking away.
“So what, you’re saying that those Forsaken are not dangerous?” Shining Armor asked, pulling Arthas’ attention away from Twilight. “They’re not… eating brains and stuff?”
Arthas looked at him, bemused. “Why would they eat brains?” Not waiting for an answer, he continued. “They’re dangerous alright, but I assume you were asking if they are not evil like the faceless ones for example? They have a free will, like they had back in life, and although regarding their queen I have some words I would not utter during such a formal meeting like this, they are generally not bad.”
“‘Not bad’, huh?” Cyclone Strike asked, clearly doubting his words. “And they named their capital ‘Undercity’ to not make a contradicting impression?”
“The Undercity was so named years before Forsaken had claimed it,” Arthas retorted, rolling his eyes. “It’s made out of dungeons and ancient royal crypts beneath the capital of Lordaeron. When the Forsaken came, they worked to transform those catacombs into a city.”
“Or rather, finished the work I started,” he thought, and to his surprise and mild annoyance he realized that he was slightly bitter about it.
Cyclone Strike’s voice shook him out of those musings. “Out of curiosity, what was the name of Lordaeron’s capital?”
“Capital City.”
“Yeah, what was it’s name?”
Arthas looked at the Captain of the Royal Guard, bemused. “Capital City.”
“Yeah, what- oh,” the pegasus exclaimed, now understanding it. “Wait, their actually named their capital Capital City? Are all of those humans so unoriginal?”
Arthas blinked, utterly shocked. “You know, Captain,” he started after a second when he regained his composure, “I would be inclined to feel embarrassed if you ponies hadn’t given all your cities save maybe three names that are equine puns,” Arthas said flatly.
“Enough of this idle chatter,” Chrysalis interrupted before Cyclone Strike could retort. “We can leave the discussion whether it is ponies or humans that come with sillier names for later.”
Though inwardly Arthas rolled his eyes, he nodded to the Changeling Queen. Cyclone Strike did the same, although Arthas could swear he heard the pegasus mutter something that sounded alike to “the Hive”.
“As I have said,” Arthas resumed, “those are the two major political factions on Azeroth, and one of those three wars I had mentioned is the Alliance-Horde War.”
“Wait, didn’t you just say they allied to face the qiraji in the Second War of the Shifting Sands?” Cadance asked.
“They did; however, at the time, they weren’t in the state of open war, and the qiraji were too much of a threat for one faction deal with by themselves, or worse, while fighting with each other. That wasn’t the only instance when the two united against a common enemy.”
“Then why are they fighting now? Don’t they have to deal with… another thing?” Twilight spoke up, shivering briefly.
Arthas observed her carefully. The shiver was without doubt caused by the memory of Deathwing… but there was something else about her that unsettled Arthas, though he couldn’t put his hoof on it.
“How should I explain this…” he said, making a mental note to ask her when this was all over if she was alright. “Though the current forms of both Alliance and the Horde were formed after the Third War, their history is much longer than those last eight years. The Horde came into being first, and was comprised solely of orcish and ogres clans, though ogres were, for the most part, second-category members. It was founded on the world of Draenor.”
He pressed his hoof against the crystal yet again, conjuring an image of another world. Draenor. However, he didn’t summon that image of how it looked now (as the shattered, floating pieces of land called Outland), but as how it was before Ner’zhul’s reckless actions tore it apart.
Ignoring the snort on the other side of his soul, Arthas pointed at the landmass where the events he was about to describe had transpired. “This world was dying, it couldn’t provide food for the numerous orc clans.”
Arthas could have told them about the slaughter of the draenei, how the Horde was first formed, but decided not to. He was asked to describe the current conflicts on Azeroth, and though that required explaining bits of history, this part wasn’t necessary and would only serve to portray orcs as monsters.
“They created a huge gateway known as the Dark Portal, creating a permanent link to Azeroth, a world full of space living for them. The only problem-”
“The inhabitantsss?” Dragon Blood guessed.
“The First War, between the Horde and the Kingdom of Stormwind, erupted. The Old Horde had a huge advantage in numbers, and after the assassination of King Llane Wrynn, they won. Stormwind City was almost entirely destroyed, and the humans of the kingdom fled north to Lordaeron. There, the Alliance of Lordaeron was founded, originally formed from the seven human kingdoms. It was joined by the high elves, dwarves and gnomes, and it faced the Horde in the Second War. The Horde had similarly gained allies in forest trolls, the goblins of Steamwheedle Cartel, and enslaved red dragons. The Alliance won the war, and the orcs were placed in the internment camps. Those that weren’t killed, of course.
“What followed next was about ten years of relative peace. Most of the orcs started to suffer a strange lethargy that made them easy to keep in the internment camps. There were several bands causing troubles, most prominent being the Warsong Clan led by Grommash Hellscream, and the group that became known as the Dark Horde, consisted mostly of Blackrock and Dragonmaw Clans, led by Dal’rend Blackhand, son of the first Warchief of the Horde, Blackhand the Destroyer. However, most of the firepower that faction had dispersed when agents of the Alliance had freed the red dragons from the Dragonmaw’s control. Regardless, the rebirth of the real Horde took place about ten years ago, shortly before the Third War. A ‘pet orc’ of the head of the internment camps, who was taught how to fight for a gladiator arena, broke free and escaped into the wilderness.The orc’s name was Thrall; he first met the Warsong Clan, and then he found his own clan, the Frostwolves, who had been banished during the First War. There he learned the art of shamanism, and after meeting the Warchief that led the Horde during the Second War, Orgrim Doomhammer, they liberated all the orcs in the internment camps. During one of those raids, Orgrim suffered a mortal wound, and named Thrall his successor. Once the orcs were freed, Thrall had tried to negotiate some form of peace with the Alliance, but… we were uncooperative,” he admitted, wondering how differently the history would have played if they had listened to the words of Lord Karramyn Langston, protége of the late Aedelas Blackmoore, when Thrall sent him with his message. As Arthas himself was then fighting Blackrock orcs in Alterac, ignoring that offer of peace was one of the few things that he wasn’t responsible for, and yet… “Furthermore, Thrall soon received a vision that led him to lead his people across the Great Sea to Kalimdor. During their journey, the saved an exiled tribe of jungle trolls, the Darkspear Tribe, and on Kalimdor they helped the taurens, forming strong bonds of friendship with them.
“On the other hoof, things didn’t go well for the Alliance during the time of peace. One of its members, the Kingdom of Alterac, had betrayed the Alliance during the Second War and was put under martial law at first, but several years later its own people abandoned it. The matter of Alterac was causing a wedge between leaders of the Alliance, with Gilneas supporting one heir to the throne and Stromgarde wanting a portion of its territory as war contribution. There was also a lot of disagreements within it regarding what should be done with the lethargic orcs. The upkeep of the internment camps was high, and the increased taxes were causing the people in the kingdoms to speak against them. The high elves of Quel’Thalas were first to leave the Alliance, followed soon by both Gilneas and Stromgarde. Stormwind, rebuilt after the Second War, had faced a different problem: due to manipulations of a certain third party that I will mention later, riots erupted within the capital, which resulted in the death of Queen Tiffin Wrynn, causing King Varian Wrynn to fall into a great depression. With all that, it’s not surprising why the Alliance of Lordaeron suffered so greatly in the Third War.
“The Kingdoms of Lordaeron and Quel’Thalas were destroyed, as was the nation of Dalaran.”
“All by my hand…”
“Many people had survived, as a lot had earlier fled to Kalimdor, where they would later found the nation of Theramore. High elves were less fortunate, as around ninety percent of their population had been wiped out. The survivors had taken the name blood elves to honor their fallen comrades, though later several ideological differences led a small portion of them to take the name ‘high elves’ once again. The Kingdom of Stromgarde managed to survive, although severely weakened, and after the assassination of King Thoras Trollbane, Stromgarde City came under siege from a criminal organization known as the Syndicate - which is led by nobles of the fallen Alterac- and ogres of the Boulderfist clan, resulting in them claiming about half of the capital. Gilneas, safe behind the Graymane Wall they erected after leaving the Alliance to isolate themselves, faced two threats; a civil war known as Northgate Rebellion and an outbreak of the Worgen curse, which would change, over time, the majority of the population into ferocious beasts known as worgens.” As he spoke, Arthas reached for the crystal. A huge form of lupine humanoid appeared. “Only recently had they found a way to retain their human minds in those forms. Gnomes of Gnomeregan didn’t take part during the Third War, because they were facing another enemy: a primitive race known as troggs.” The image changed yet again, showing a small, about the size of a dwarf, hideous creature. “Hordes of them broke through the lower reaches of the city - Gnomeregan is a subterranean city - catching the gnomes by surprise. In order to defeat them, one of High Tinker Gelbin Mekkatorque’s advisors, Mekgineer Sicco Thermaplugg, suggested using toxic gas, claiming he had tested its radiation level and that it was lethal to troggs and that it would stay in the quarantine areas. The plan backfired catastrophically, forcing the gnomes to abandon the city and seek safe haven in Ironforge City. As for the night elves, during the war they lost their immortality and most of the forests they called home.
“Within the year following the end of Third War, the orcs had founded the nation of Durotar and began to build Orgrimmar City. However, they soon found themselves under attack of Kul Tiras. Grand Admiral Daelin Proudmoore ignored the non-aggression pact between humans of Theramore and orcs and used the human city as a base of operation. The Horde, consistent then of orcs, Darkspear trolls, tauren and Stonemaul ogres, faced him and ended his life, sparing Theramore and those of Daelin’s men who surrendered. In the Eastern Kingdoms, the remnants of the Alliance, led by Grand Marshal Othmar Garithos,” Arthas couldn’t stop himself from snorting at the memory of the racist baron who attained his rank in military more so because of his rank and his father’s reputation rather than his skills, “fought with the undead. The blood elves, wanting to avenge their homeland, joined him, but it almost cost them their lives. Garithos hated elves, and as soon as he found a legitimate sounding excuse he arrested all the blood elves serving under him and wanted to execute them. They escaped, though, and would remember the betrayal of the Alliance for years to come. Garithos, however, wouldn’t live long, as he himself was later killed by the undead that became known as the Forsaken.
“For the next four years, there was peace between the Alliance and the Horde. However, tensions were growing; the orcs continued to cut trees in Ashenvale Forest for lumber, much to the anger of the night elves, who joined the Alliance during that time. The Forsaken, besieged by the enemies like other undead and the humans of the Scarlet Crusade - a very corrupted order of paladins that believed everything is impure and that all beings other than them should die - joined the Horde, which didn’t make the remnants of humans in southern Lordaeron and Stromgarde feel comfortable. After the third year of peace, it was decided that a summit should be held between the Warchief of the Horde and King of Stormwind, the member of the Alliance considered to be the most powerful and influential, to write down a formal peace treaty. The summit was to be held in Theramore, but unfortunately, King Varian had been abducted on his way there and disappeared for years.
“The fourth year marked the end of peace, though there was no open war. Rather, it resembled the skirmishes the griffons of Outcasts Mountains have with the zebra tribes of Aaztai and Sovati, with major fights taking place only in Warsong Gulch on the outskirts of Ashenvale, Arathi Basin within the lands of Stromgarde, and Alterac Valley in the ruins of Alterac. Still, the two factions remained able of putting aside their differences and uniting against common threats like the qiraji. A year since the start of this cold war, blood elves had joined the Horde and Alliance was joined by the draenei, which didn’t do much to mend the relations between the two factions. The Alliance, the high elves especially, considered the blood elves to be traitors, while the draenei had a history with the orcs. When the King of Stormwind was finally found almost two years ago, the two sides attempted to once again hold a peace summit. However, a third party intervened, with members of the Alliance’s races attacking the Horde and vice versa, causing the summit to fail as each side blamed another for it. However, that wasn’t what ultimately changed this cold war into an open conflict.
“During another conflict with a common enemy, the two sides again cooperated. Unfortunately, a tragedy struck. A group of Forsaken staged a coup d'etat within Undercity and turned on both the Horde and the Alliance. The King of Stormwind in particular took those events hard, as among the casualties was one he considered as close as a brother. After discovering the reason behind it, King Varian had personally led an attack on Undercity, intending on both bringing the guilty to justice as well as reclaiming Lordaeron’s capital for the Alliance. However, while he was there, he discovered evidence that despite the small peace between the two factions, the Forsaken were developing a deadly chemical weapon. He confronted Warchief Thrall, who also lead a party to liberate the city, and declared that peace couldn’t be achieved. Though it wasn’t official, Varian had practically declared a war then. Luckily, a mage teleported them out before a fight could erupt.”
“So technically it was the Alliance who started the war?” Ghost Step asked.
Instead of replying at once, Arthas just glared at him. “I almost managed to get to the end without getting interrupted.”
The changeling raised his forehooves and spread them slightly, showing that he was done. Arthas ignored his question and continued: “Throughout the rest of the conflict, the two factions wouldn’t cooperate, unless pressed to by other neutral factions taking part in it as well. Though neither of the two sides went as far as to start attacking outposts of the other faction, they would fight with one another several times.”
“Like at my doorstep, right when they were storming Icecrown Citadel,” Arthas thought, mentally facehoofing. “Looking back, I’m starting to understand why I thought undead were better…”
Banishing the thought, not even wanting to joke about it, he resumed: “However, once that conflict was over, they declared a cease fire while each side pulled their armies from Northrend. Even King Varian, who has good reasons to hate and distrust the Horde, agreed with that idea. If the Cataclysm hadn’t happened, maybe they would have found a way to return to the previous state at least.”
“The Cataclysm?” Lucid and Spitfire asked at the same time.
“A worldwide disaster, caused by a mad Dragon Aspect, Deathwing the Destroyer. Dragon Aspects are the five most powerful beings on Azeroth, each imbued with the powers of the titans that so long ago had shaped that world and left these dragons to guard it. As I’ve mentioned, they are much different than dragons from your world. Unfortunately, one of the greatest of their kind had been driven mad by the whispers of the Old God many millennia ago; the Cataclysm he had caused five months ago is only one of the latests atrocities he had committed.”
“Great plan on the titans' part, to give one of the protectors of the world power of the earth… under which they’ve buried arguably the greatest threat to the world,” Arthas thought, snorting inwardly. The more he thought about the titans, the more they struck him as incompetent, which was why he hoped so much that Brann’s guesses regarding Equestria were wrong.
If titans had also visited Equestria, what could go wrong here?
“The Cataclysm reshaped the face of the world, with many coastlines shifting, exposing new lands or flooding old ones. Resources became scarce; and what’s worse, the Horde had a new warchief. Thrall, being a shaman, had to put his duties to the world first and joined many other shamans from a group called the Earthen Ring in their attempts to heal the damage the Cataclysm was causing. In his stead, he appointed Garrosh Hellscream, son of Grommash, as Warchief. Garrosh is a warrior, not a shaman, and a firm believer in the Horde’s supremacy and its right to take what they need.”
“It seems weird,” Celestia spoke up, interrupting him, “that this Thrall would knowingly appoint somebody like him as his successor.”
“As a shaman, he puts the world first,” Arthas agreed. “But as the leader of the Horde, he also had to consider what is best for the Horde. Like you yourself had mentioned earlier regarding P’aqo, Your Majesty, it’s not easy following two paths. I cannot say what exactly Thrall must have thought when he decided to appoint a known warmonger like Garrosh, but if I were to make a guess, there were several reasons behind the choice. One was that Thrall had originally thought that he would be gone for a short time only; according to what I know, he may yet decide to resume the mantle of a warchief once the Cataclysm ends. Another reason was that his people craved for a war hero to lead them, and Garrosh had certainly proved himself a great warrior and commander during the earlier conflict. The reputation of his father, who is revered as one of the greatest heroes of the Horde, also played an important factor.” He paused for a moment, pondering. Having once been one being with an orc shaman, Arthas had a unique insight into how an orc’s mind worked. “His youth was probably also important; orcs, who are the core of the Horde, tend sometimes to think less of the elderly, which is probably why Thrall hadn’t chosen High Overlord Varok Saurfang, a veteran orc hero.”
He winced. The thought of Saurfang, like earlier, brought memories of his son, Dranosh Saurfang - a Horde’s commander at Wrathgate. Unlike most of the soldiers that died that day, he wasn’t struck by the Forsaken Blight, but by Arthas’ blade. Frostmourne devoured his soul and he raised him as his most powerful death knight, Deathbringer Saurfang. He died defending the entry to the upper floors of Icecrown Citadel, and his corpse was taken away by his father so that he could have a proper ceremony in Nagrand.
“By all accounts, Dranosh was known to be a mighty and wise warrior, like his father. Would Thrall have chosen him as the Warchief if he had lived?” Arthas mused. “Does it always have to be my fault in the end?”
“Regardless of the former Warchief’s reasons, what is fact is that war broke out between the two factions,” he resumed, wanting to finish. He reached for the crystal to show which territories were currently most contested. “While Garrosh had set on securing the Horde’s position in central Kalimdor - with himself leading the offensive in Ashenvale Forest - he also ordered the Forsaken to similarly secure northern Eastern Kingdoms. Aside from taking over Hillsbrad Foothills, the last remaining part of the Lordaeron Kingdom where living humans lived, as well as the city of Andorhal, they also attacked the, until then, neutral Gilneas, taking advantage of the Cataclysm breaking the Greymane Wall and forcing its people to flee their own country, which is how the Gilneas rejoined the Alliance. Most refugees now live in Darnassus, the capital of the night elves, while their King, Genn Greymane, is in Stormwind, formulating plans of retaking Gilneas together with King Varian. The Alliance sent in their finest, the 7th Legion, who together with the Gilneas Liberation Front - a resistance group formed from Gilnean soldiers who remained behind, a feral worgen pack of Bloodfang, and Hillsbrad survivors - led by Lord Darius Crowley, continued to battle the Forsaken in Gilneas, Silverpine Forest and Hillsbrad.”
Arthas’ grip on the edge of the table tightened as he finished talking. His gaze rested on highlighted lands of his father. “Lordaeronians are killing Lordaeronians,” he thought, thinking of the Hillsbrad refuges and the Forsaken. His jaw clenched. “All because of that elven witch!” His eyes moved from Gilneas to Pyrewood Village, Shadowfang Keep, Ambermill, Fenris Isle, and to Dalaran Crater. “If only Celie were alive and I could find her, I could-”
He blinked, surprised at the ideas and scenarios that came to his mind, and shook his head. Where did that came from?
“Sir Lightbringer, is something wrong?” Luna asked, frowning.
“No, Your Majesty,” Arthas replied, calming down. “Forgive me, I think I simply got a bit winded from this overlong exposition.”
“Even if Celie is alive, I would be the last person she would want to talk with,” he chided himself. “And that is beside the fact that I am now a pony in another world. Thinking up ludicrous plans would serve nothing but indulge my pride, sense of duty and need for forgiveness.”
“In Kalimdor, the Horde, like I mentioned, focused on pushing the night elves from Ashenvale, launching two offensives. Aside from that, they also focused on claiming Stonetalon Mountains and combating the Alliance in Southern Barrens, where they established outposts wanting to create a military line between the land of the night elves and Theramore. When the goblins of Bilgewater Cartel, whose home on the Isle of Kezan was destroyed during the Cataclysm, joined the Horde, they made their home inside the Bilgewater Harbor in Azshara, and started to work on transforming the entire area into the Horde’s symbol. There have also been naval fights over key trade routes, and one island known as Tol Barad became a battlefield as well. There had also been some fights in Twilight Highlands, though I know little of that,” Arthas said, finally finishing.
After his last word, there was silence for several seconds. “So,” Daring spoke up, breaking the silence, “just to clarify; all of that was just a short version of your world’s history from the last… twenty years?”
“More like thirtiesh, actually,” Arthas corrected her.
“Wow,” Daring replied, then turned to the rest. “Anypony else want to go there just to buy the first history textbook they can find?”
“Thank you for this explanation regarding the Alliance-Horde War, Sir Lightbringer,” Celestia said, ignoring Daring Do. “It gave us an important insight on your world. Taking into the account how widespread this war is,” she added, turning to Chrysalis, “it does seem very likely we would be engulfed by it if we were to make a contact with Azeroth. Perhaps it would be better to postpone such ideas until we hear that the Alliance and the Horde found some form of coexistence?”
Chrysalis frowned, but before she could reply, Daring Do once again spoke. “I’m all for exploring and leading expeditions, but I would prefer to not get mixed up in a war of people so silly that they wage it while their world is falling apart around them.”
“Really?” Ghost Step asked her, smirking. “I was under the impression that you enjoyed working in a hostile environments… and with hostile people. Hadn’t the chieftain of the Jurassica Tribe threatened to cut your head off if you ever returned to Forgotten Island?”
Everypony glanced at Daring, who seemed slightly surprised. “How did you… oh right, who am I talking to,” she answered her own question. “But no, it wasn’t my head.”
“Oh, really?” Ghost Step asked, blinking in surprise. “Your hooves perhaps?”
“No, it was… it was a misunderstanding. So, are we also going to listen about two other wars on that world of yours or have we heard enough?” Daring questioned.
Arthas frowned, surprised (and somewhat amused) by her change of topic. “The other two are the War against Deathwing - waged between the Old God’s forces led by Deathwing and forces of Alliance, Horde, and neutral parties like the other four dragonflights - and the War against the Zandalari, the progenitor of all troll tribes whose homeland had been destroyed in the Cataclysm. Because of this, they now attempt to rebuild the fallen troll empires of Amani and Gurubashi.”
“I can understand why the war with this Deathwing is being waged, but who are those trolls fighting, exactly?” Shining Armor asked
“Basically, the rest of Azeroth,” Arthas explained. “In the wake of the Cataclysm and the destruction of Zandalar, the Zandalari believed that only unifying trolls into the single mighty empire will save them. To that extent, they are willing to even imprison their own Loas - the primal gods the trolls worship, not unlike the Spirits the zebras pray to - and drain their powers. There is no telling how far they would go in their plans, and left to their own devices the troubled world would have to face the legendary savagery of the troll empires on top of everything else. Furthermore, Zul’Aman, the capital of Amani Empire, is located near Quel’Thalas, posing a threat to the blood elves, and Zul’Gurub, the capital of Gurubashi Empire, is near the border with Stormwing Kingdom, not to mention all the outposts of Alliance and Horde within Stranglethorn Vale. Vol’jin, chieftain of the Darkspear Tribe who had refused the Zandalari offer to join them, gathered allies from the Horde and even sent envoys to the Alliance to combat that threat.”
“It’s heartening to see that there are some among them still willing to cooperate,” Celestia commented. “And what of the War against Deathwing?”
“I suppose it’s not really as much ‘against Deathwing’ as ‘against forces of the Old Gods’. Since his initial flight over Azeroth as the Cataclysm had started, during which he had severely damaged Stormwind City, the great wyrm had only made several appearances. I have no idea where he is hiding, but even without him the forces of Azeroth have plenty on their plate. Twilight’s Hammer cult, obsessed with the end of the world, make the bulk of Old Gods’ forces. Though since the death of their leader, ogre mage Cho’gall, they have been disorganized. Another force following Deathwing is his own Black Dragonflight, all of them as wicked as he is, though most of the black dragons have been killed, including Deathwing’s mate Sintharia and their two oldest children, Nefarian and Onyxia. The Black Dragonflight was the party I mentioned earlier regarding manipulating events in Stormwind that led to Queen Tiffin’s demise.”
“How can a dragon ‘manipulate events’?” Spitfire asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Captain Spitfire, I’ve mentioned several times that Azerothian dragons are different than the ones you are familiar with. Among those differences is their ability to take shapes of mortal races, like humans. Onyxia had taken a guise of a human noble and was the one responsible for the riots, as well as King Varian’s disappearance.”
“I think we’ve heard enough at this point,” Luna spoke up, before Arthas could continue. Turning to everybody, she said: “Getting mixed up in those wars wouldn’t benefit anybody on Equestria. Even if one were to argue that we should at least offer them equanitarian help, what we learned about the Warchief of the Horde points out that he would try to come to us and take what the Horde needs. Am I right?” she asked, turning to Arthas.
“I believe so as well, Your Majesty,” he agreed. “Although to be honest, I cannot be certain.”
“Regardless, it is indeed too big of a risk,” Celestia said. “Though I wish we could do something to help them, at least with those seeking to destroy their world, it is best to leave them combat that threat by themselves.”
“Do not worry, Your Majesty; Azerothians have faced many threats in the past,” Arthas said. “I am certain they will be able to defeat Deathwing.”
He did not add that he - together with Bolvar and Ner’zhul- was working on a plan to help them.
“Then we will not work on creating a portal leading to Azeroth,” Celestia said, nodding. “Unless you wish to disagree, Queen Chrysalis?” she added, glancing at the Changeling Queen.
Chrysalis didn’t look too happy, but she nodded. “I know my changelings would be able to operate on Azeroth undetected, but if you promise we will return to this issue once the situation on that world becomes more stabilized, I don’t mind waiting.”
“Of course,” Celestia agreed. Turning to others, she said “The discussion regarding the world of Azeroth distracted us from more important matters; namely, how there are those who would wish us harm. Whoever had manipulated you into attacking Canterlot,” she said, turning to the changelings, “they must have had some reason for doing that. It would seem logical that they are also behind the disappearance of one of your changelings.”
“And that they were the ones responsible for Apple Bloom’s sudden ‘aging problem’ two months ago,” Arthas thought, thankful that Celestia hadn’t brought up that subject. The less ponies knew about it the better it was for Apple Bloom.
“Hopefully, with both the Night Guard and your spies looking for her, we will get to the bottom of this” Celestia continued, “but until then I would want everybody here be on the lookout for anything unusual.”
Arthas fought off the urge to ask her to define ‘unusual’, since for him just the fact that his heart was beating was unusual.
“With that, I believe we can bring this meeting to an end.”
“Tucker, I want you to go with Doctor Do and the changelings and guard them.”
Shortly after leaving the Council Chamber, the Changeling Queen bid everypony farewell, teleporting herself and all of her changelings save four; Grand Magistrix Lucid, Spymaster Ghost Step and two Praetorians. First they were going with Daring Do, so that Lucid would receive a copy of her report.
“And to have something to read while I wait for the spooks to be done playing so I can teleport us all back to the Hive,” Lucid added.
Ghost Step ignored her comment, though Nightshade looked at her with near outrage before saying that he needed to go see if Operative Vendetta had returned. Others had similarly dispersed, leaving Arthas, his paladins, the changelings and Daring Do together with Twilight, the Crystal Empire’s Royal Couple and their guards.
“Oh, and Twilight, Lightbringer?” Celestia asked as she and her sister started to leave to take care of some duties. “After you see Cadance and Shining Armor off, please come to my chambers. Luna and I would like to have a word with you.”
“Of course, Princess,” Arthas replied together with Twilight back then, though inwardly he winced, recalling his last ‘word’ with Celestia.
“I really hope this is something unrelated to that…”
“A unicorn will slow us down,” Lucid said. “It will be much faster if we just fly.”
“It wouldn’t do well to warm up citizens of Canterlot to you if they would see you flying,” Arthas explained. “Your flight is a tad intimidating. They would become accustomed to changelings more easily if they saw that you aren’t much different from ponies. So, walk and make smalltalk with Doctor Do. Besides,” he added, shrugging, “if Nightshade’s operative had reported back, he would need time to debrief her.”
Neither Lucid nor Ghost Step looked too happy, but they nodded in agreement. Arthas turned back to Tucker Out. “Once they part with Doctor Do, escort them to the Night Guard Command Center. I’ll send somepony there with a message, filling you in on your next orders.”
“Can't I just hang around the changelings?” the aqua unicorn asked, glancing at Lucid. “I have a target I wouldn’t mind filling in. Bow-Chicka-Bow-Wow.”
Arthas’ eyelid twitched, but it was Lucid who replied. “Sorry, but I don’t think that’s going to happen.”
“Why? Wind Reaver told me you changelings have nothing against casual sex.”
“I made a pony who talks about sex in the presence of royalty a knight…”
“Oh, that’s true,” Lucid said, blinking and tilting her head a bit. “However, every changeling has been ordered to not engage in sexual activities with you.”
Tucker’s jaw dropped. “W-T-Fuck!?” he exclaimed. Arthas, who had enough, walked over to him. “What did I ever do to he- AUGH!” Tucker grunted as Arthas’ hoof hit him in the back of the head.
“Stop talking or I’ll demote you,” he told him. “You have your orders.”
“But…” Tucker started, but he sighed and looked down. “Yes Sir.”
Arthas was aware of several others chuckling, but he ignored them as the two changeling’s “officials” said their farewells and left with their guards. “I bet Uther never had to deal with this…” he muttered, but trailed off before he cursed. He then turned to Guard Shield: “Not that I am overly curious about this matter, but do you know anything about it?”
“No, Sir,” the older earth pony replied. He, too, had found the situation to be amusing. “Although this explains why Wind Reaver was smiling oddly when talking with Knight Tucker.”
He decided it would be best to forget about this altogether. “Well, no matter. Knight Guard Shield, I would like you to head to the kitchen where they prepare food for Canterlot’s garrison, and see if any of the chefs there would be interested in joining us in Everfree Abbey.”
Guard didn’t need it explained to him why he was searching for a chef. He understood that with all the new initiates coming, they couldn’t rely on scheduling cooking duty. “Of course, Sir.”
“Also, I would like you to make sure they know how to cook meat,” Arthas added before the paladin had turned around.
The knight looked at him, surprised. “Meat?”
“I’ll explain when we will get back to the Abbey. Once you’ve completed your objective, join Tucker in Night Guard Command Center.”
The paladin nodded and trotted away. Arthas finally turned to Twilight, Shining Armor and Cadance. “I’m sorry for the wait, Your Majesties,” he said, bowing. “As well for the scene you had to witness.”
“That’s alright, I’ve been warned by Serenity about Tucker,” Cadance replied, and then frowned. “Also, stop calling us ‘Your Majesties’.”
“Of course, Your Grace,” Arthas replied.
“So, how’s life been treating you two, Prince Shining Armor?” he asked Shining Armor a few moments later, as they trotted through the streets of Canterlot; Twilight and Cadance were walking a little behind them, having their own talk.
Shining Armor rolled his eyes. “You know, I’m starting to understand why this annoys Cadance so much,” he said, although he smiled in the corner of his mouth.
“Good; if you hadn’t and found this amusing, it could mean some sort of inferiority complex,” Arthas told him, grinning as the unicorn deadpanned at him.
“All is well in the Crystal Empire,” Shining Armor said once he rolled his eyes. “Serenity helped a lot of ponies who lost their relatives and loved ones during King Sombra’s reign, which made everypony happier. You know, because when crystal ponies are sad and depressed you can see it,” he added.
“I am relieved to hear that. However, I wasn’t asking about the Empire.”
“Oh, well… we’re fine,” Shining Armor said, uncomfortable. Before Arthas could be alarmed, he quickly added: “We’ve been both very busy. Last week for instance we had delegates from Griffonia, while at the same time we were dealing with investigations in the crystal mines and construction of a stadium. Nothing too difficult to handle, but all of it piled up together has caused us to have little free time.”
“I see,” Arthas said, feeling sorry for them.. and a bit nostalgic. He recalled how his father had him help him with some of his duties. “Stadium?”
“Yes, we hope the Crystal Empire will be chosen as the location for the next Equestria Games,” Shining Armor explained. “Surely, you heard about them by now?”
Arthas nodded. Indeed, he had heard about them. Equestria Games were an event that took place once every four years, during which competitors from each town in Equestria, as well as representatives from other nations, competed in series of various activities. It sort of resembled tournaments.
“Since the Empire had disappeared several hundred years before Equestria Games had been established, there are no facilities like stadiums or swimming pools,” Shining Armor continued. He then sighed. “Not to mention things like movie theaters. You have no idea how hard it was for the crystal ponies to grasp the concept of the cinema.”
“Yeah, I wouldn’t know anything about it,” Arthas murmured.
“But we’re slowly introducing them to all that. But since we want to really impress the Equestria Games Inspector, we made the stadium our priority, so that crystal ponies could start training and stuff.”
“Sounds logical,” he replied. “So, since both of you’ve been so busy, I take we will have to wait for the news of Crystal Empire’s heir?”
Shining Armor stumbled, making several Canterlot ponies who they were passing on the street look at him briefly (with increased interest; a Royal Couple with family, pony in paladin armor and a few crystal guards already were doomed to receive some looks). Cadance and Twilight also turned to him, but quickly resumed talking.
“Is this payback for asking about you and Rainbow Dash?” Shining Armor asked quietly, embarrassed… and a little angry.
“No, that was a legitimate question. It’s only natural that rulers of the kingdoms would secure their rule by producing an heir.”
“In case you hadn’t noticed, we live in Equestria, a nation that hasn’t needed to worry about it for the last thousand years,” the unicorn retorted.
“So that’s a- wait, is Cadance immortal?” Arthas asked, frowning.
“It’s… a bit more complicated,” Shining Armor explained uncomfortably. He then deadpanned again. “And personal.”
“I’m sorry, it’s just occurred to me that’s a possibility,” Arthas apologized. “I won’t pry on that matter anymore.”
He wondered what Shining Armor meant by “complicated”. Arthas couldn’t imagine Cadance to be able bear living forever after her husband would have died of old age… but then again, he couldn’t imagine Luna capable of that either, and yet she had been prepared to marry Shadow Bolt.
“So, back to the heir thing,” Arthas said, turning his thoughts away from that matter. “That’s a no, I take?”
Shining Armor glanced at him. “Now it is payback, isn’t it?”
“Maybe,” he replied humorously, but he quickly became serious “Honestly, though, are you two thinking about a kid?”
His seriousness helped Shining Armor get over his embarrassment. “Isn’t that the kind of talk guys should have over a beer?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. “We’re not mares to gossip like this.”
“Well, I had been hanging out regularly with six mares for several months, you will have to excuse me,” Arthas replied, smirking. “But that sounds fair, next time we get together we will need to find some time for a couple of drinks.”
“I’ll look forward to it. Oh, that reminds me, how are Sound and Cherry doing?”
“So Twilight, what’s wrong?”
Cadance’s quiet question almost startled her. “What?” she asked in the same volume, her heart skipping a beat. “What do you mean?”
Her sister-in-law frowned. “Twilight, I used to be your foalsitter, I know when something’s bothering you.”
Twilight cringed and looked away. “Do… do you think anypony else noticed?” she asked, hoping to hear a negative answer.
To her great relief, Cadance slightly shook her head. “No, I don’t think so. Why?”
She bit her lip. Should she tell her? Twilight looked at Cadance again; on one hoof, she trusted her completely, and hopefully talking with somepony would make it easier for her to decide what should she do now, but on the other…
… she didn’t want anypony else to know about it.
“I…” Twilight started. She looked at Arthas and her brother to make sure they weren’t listening, then leaned a bit closer to Cadance and lowered her voice even further. “I… I think I figured out what Arthas did before he died.”
Cadance’s eyes grew wide. “Really?” she asked, surprised. “I didn’t think there was anything in what he had said that shed any light on his past.”
“Yes, well…” Twilight said and trailed off.
Was she right? Of course, Twilight knew she could be wrong. And even if her hunch was right, she knew she didn’t know everything. Or that she wasn’t even close to knowing everything. However, today, she had finally got an inkling as to what Arthas did that was so horrible; that led to his soul be sent to Tartarus; that made him loath himself…
… that led him to Equestria.
Twilight closed her eyes, recalling that short conversation they had so long ago that Arthas had probably forgotten about it; otherwise, he would have probably not mentioned them.
And the... Forsaken?
They... they were people that I harmed... a lot.
And now, today, Arthas had said:
At the start of the Third War, the Plague of Undeath swept through Lordaeron, killing everything, raising their corpses, and making them fight for a necromancer that created the plague.
“Arthas… a necromancer?” Twilight thought, the very notion so ridiculous that she hardly could believe it.
She had read about this forbidden magic; it was a dark magic that manipulated the dead, raised them from their graves, and brought pain and death to the living. A Light-wielding paladin was practically an exact opposite of a necromancer. To think that Arthas could have been one was beyond ludicrous, and yet… and yet it made perfect sense.
Why else would he so loathe himself? Why else would he say that the fact that somepony he could call upon the Light again was the biggest proof of Its magnanimity?
“It even explains how come he says he’s ‘twenty fourish’. If he really was nine years old when the Second War had started like he said back on the train to Altomare, he should be over thirty now. Necromancy could have stopped his aging process.”
But still, it didn’t add up. Necromancy was a school of magic deviating from the arcane school. It wasn’t something that one could learn from reciting psalms and prayers and by devotion. To learn it, it would take years of study. Though Arthas certainly possessed a vast knowledge, Twilight just couldn’t see him studying magic. He was a warrior, a knight, the Light’s champion, not a mage.
“And besides… why?” The question again crossed Twilight’s mind. “There’s no way Arthas would have simply just decided one day to turn everybody he knew into undeads. Everypony can see it in his eyes and hear in his voice whenever he talks about his family. He truly loved them… Something must have happened. There must have been a lot more to his story.”
She came to that conclusion even before he finished describing the conflict between the Alliance and the Horde. So then, why…
“So?” Cadance asked. “What about it makes you so unnerved?”
“It’s… not that I am ‘unnerved’,” Twilight replied slowly. “It’s just… it made me understand him more- wait a minute!” she snapped, looking at Cadance. “You don’t want to know?”
Cadance chuckled. “Twilight, I’m sure you remember where I came from, right? That I’ve been found by ponies as a foal, abandoned?”
“Y-yes, of course” Twilight said, surprised by the change of the subject.
“When I was younger, I often used to think about who my parents were, and why they abandoned me,” Cadance started, gazing ahead. “Back in that village, I used to hear adults whisper how I must have been a bastard, or worse. When Celestia adopted me as her niece, I once had a talk with her about this. She told me that ‘my past doesn’t define who I am. It just gives me the starting point for who I’m going to be’.” She looked at Twilight and smiled. “I know that my and Arthas’ cases can’t exactly compare, but even so, I want to know the Arthas of Equestria rather than whoever he was on Azeroth. It would have been good to know his real name earlier though,” she added, rolling her eyes.
“I know, tell me about it,” Twilight replied humorously. “And I also think so. It’s just… I don’t know what I should do with this. Should I tell him that I know? Because I’m not sure how he would react.”
It would be most logical that, if he knew that Twilight had some inkling to what he had done in the past and still...felt the same about him, he would be relieved. But, Twilight knew Arthas well enough to know that when it came to him and relationships with others… for all she knew, he could grow more distant, not just to her but to their friends as well.
Cadance smiled sadly. “Do you think you would be able to hide this from him forever?”
Twilight blinked, surprised. She hadn’t thought of that.
Since the answer was obvious, Cadance continued. “If he would learn that you knew and hadn’t said a word, he would think that knowing about his past had changed how you… thought of him. And it hasn’t, has it?”
“Of course not,” Twilight replied.
It hadn’t. It couldn’t after all the times she saw Arthas being in pain as he recalled his past, the guilt as he stared into his reflection, or when he showed nothing but dedication to all the Light’s virtues or how he cared for friends. The Arthas of now and the Arthas of then are two different ponies.
“Well, persons, I suppose,” Twilight corrected herself. “Anyway, this means I’m up for an uncomfortable talk tonight.”
She opened her mouth to ask Cadance if she could advise her how to handle this talk, but just then she noticed her brother stumble as he talked with Arthas. “I wonder what they are talking about,” Twilight said instead, watching as her brother recovered and turned to Arthas, appearing slightly angry, while the other pony seemed amused.
Cadance frowned. “Well, if those were ordinary colts, I would say they are comparing their achievements, but since this is my husband and your Arthas that we’re talking about…” Twilight started to roll her eyes, not even wanting to argue at this point, “... I think Arthas asked if the Empire is going to have a new heir.”
Twilight stopped her eyes mid-roll. “‘Heir’? As in… Cadance, are you...”
Cadance shook her head and chuckled. “Twilight, if I were, you would have already knew.”
“Oh… but are you two trying?” Twilight inquired, smiling. However, it then hit her that this seemed odd. “Wait, why would Arthas ask about this?”
“It is considered to be polite to ask newlywed princesses and princes this kind of question,” Cadance replied. “Or queens and kings. After all, you would expect the royal couple to prolong the line. Of course this has hardly been needed in Equestria for the last thousand years. Arthas, however, comes from another world, where there were many kingdoms of his race. He was probably asking out of habit; you’ve said once that he mentioned he met the kings of Stormwind and Ironforge, right? Also, he might have wanted to get back on Shining for asking him earlier about Rainbow Dash.”
Twilight frowned. She had been within the earshot of both Shining and Cadance since then, and she could have sworn that they hadn’t spoken about this. “How did she…” she began to think, but decided to forget about it.
“No matter. Are you two trying?” she asked with renewed enthusiasm.
“Prepare the letters for other rulers informing them of the situation with the Changeling Swarm,” Celestia instructed Raven as she laid on her bed. “I want them ready before I open the court, so that Luna and I might review and sign them.”
She had no doubt that they wouldn’t need to correct anything. Raven was an excellent aide; she trusted her with all state affairs.
“Of course, Princess,” Raven replied, bowing, and started to leave her chambers. However, she stopped in the doorway and moved back to let somepony in. The unicorn bowed her head in greeting. “Princess.”
Luna replied with a nod and smiled, and trotted over to her sister. Raven closed the door behind her, leaving the two sisters alone.
“That E was more to you than just a friend,“ Luna stated before Celestia had a chance to say anything.
Celestia sighed. “Am I this easy to read?
“Only to me,” Luna replied, smirking. Her expression grew serious as she leaned over and nuzzled her. “How are you feeling?”
“Considering that the only colt I ever met that I considered having a future with was shown to suffer in the Changeling Queen’s nightmare? I think I am doing fairly well.”
“You’ve met him only once, when you were a kid,” Luna pointed out, tilting her head. “Have you really never sought a consort or husband because you were waiting for E?”
“Honestly, no,” Celestia replied. “While it sounds romantic, reality isn’t that poetic. I simply hadn’t sought a mate because I didn’t want to see him grow old.”
“But you could have-” Luna started, but Celestia cut her off.
“I needed to wait for you, to see you be saved from the Nightmare Moon.” She leaned and hugged her sister. “I was prepared to wait a thousand winters… though of course I had no idea how long it would take.”
“Sorry for being so late,” Luna retorted, making her chuckle.
“Also,” Celestia continued, “I hadn’t found any stallion to be that interesting.”
“Well, considering that you had a crush on a colt with wings stitched to his back, that’s not surprising. The only being that meets those criteria is Discord.” Luna blinked, then smirked. “Sister, have you ever considered him to be attrac-”
She stopped and erupted with laughter under the bemused gaze Celestia send her. The white alicorn shook her head and giggled silently.
“Let’s leave my love-life for a moment,” she said once Luna had calmed down. “Is everything ready?”
Her sister nodded. “Yes. Are you sure you still want to go along with it?”
“I appreciate your concern, Little Sister, but I’m fine. Besides, I’m going to do my part of the plan either way, so we might as well start as we had planned.”
“Very well then,” Luna replied. Her smile turned into a grin. “Then Operation: Honeymoon is a go!”
Twilight chuckled as they trotted through the castle’s halls, amused by Arthas’ comment.
They hadn’t had to wait for Daring Do too long on the station. Almost as soon as they arrived the tan pegasus landed next to them. However, they hadn’t parted then. Twilight wanted to use the opportunity to talk with the famous archaeologist, and Daring in turn wanted to hear from Arthas what happened to Storm Clash. So they sat in Cadance and Shining’s train drinking tea for some time, during which they also discussed Storm, Rarity, Big Mac and Nymph going on dates.
“The day started with ponies and changelings making peace, discussing the political scenes of two worlds and realizing that the pony I love was responsible for killing his entire nation and raising them as undead… to gossiping,” Twilight summed up in her head.
Unfortunately, the Princesses needed them, so she and Arthas had to leave the impromptu tea party. However, that didn’t stop them from continuing the talk between themselves.
“All I’m saying is that Rarity is definitely not going to make Storm into a stand-up guy,” Arthas continued. “She will have him wrapped around her hoof in-”
“You’re awful,” Twilight interrupted him, giggling. She grew more serious as she realized that they were nearing Princess Celestia’s chambers. “What do you think they want to talk about with us?”
For some reason, Arthas cringed. He replied, however, a second later so calmly that Twilight wondered if she had imagined it: “Maybe they want to talk about the situation with Everfree Forest. You know, what I’ve mentioned about this Provato and his mother. Or ask us to do something to make ponies more friendly towards changelings?”
Twilight nodded. Both sounded plausible. A moment later they’ve passed the two guards beside Celestia’s door and entered. Twilight smiled as she looked around the familiar room, before focusing on the two Princesses.
“I’m glad you came,” Luna started.
“Forgive us for taking it so long, Your Majesties,” Arthas said, bowing.
“Don’t worry, it’s alright,” Celestia replied. She looked at both of them. “We’ve summoned you two to help us with the matter of utmost importance.”
Twilight shared a look with Arthas. “We’d be happy to help with anything, Princess.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” Luna said. “Celestia has to open court’s proceedings, and as for myself, I need to-ooaugh,” the Princess of the Night raised a hoof to cover a long yawn. “Forgive me. I need to retire for some rest.”
Both of them nodded with understanding.
“And now that one of my nannies had fallen sick-”
“Wait, what?” Twilight thought, blinking dumbfoundedly.
“-you two are the only ones I can think of who would look after Moonlight while I’ll rest,” Luna finished, smiling.
“Why don’t we go and see little Moonlight right now?” Celestia asked her sister, smiling as well.
“That’s an excellent idea Sister,” Luna replied, raising. “You two, come along now,” she called as both alicorns walked around them and left the room.
Before they moved to leave as well, Twilight turned to look at Arthas, whose expression mirrored her own. “What just happened?” they asked in unison.
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Squeee!
That just happend.
Wait wait, there were sapient Griffons and Zebras? I mean, I know griffons existed on Arthas' homeplanet, but zebras?
Guess who's confused...
6020293 The Outcasts Mountains are on Equestria; look two chapters back ;p Also, there are no griffons on Azeroth, only gryphons
6020298 Agreed.
6020300
Writing it in a different way doesn't make it a new word.
And you did not understand my comment, I practically didn't read 'resemble'.
Thank you for your half-useful comment.
6020309 Considering that griffon on Equestria can talk and have a civilization, for the needs of this story I consider them to be a different species than gryphons of Azeroth. Ergo, two different spelling of the same word. Also, it was a joke ;p
... okay, and how was I about to know that through "understanding your comment"?
6020318
You weren't, my dear Watson, you weren't...
*smokes through a pipe(?)*
That ending. What the hell
That's either going to go well or right back to square one. Hoping for the former because Christ we've gone this long already and it's still a tug-of-war at this point. Like "can someone just pull a side into the mud already!"
Unless I'm seeing this differently then ignore the previous statement.
Anyway, wanted to ask this for a while but wanted to wait till a new chap was released. It's been a while since I've read this so a couple of things may be forgotten. I'm curious though, if Tucker's the same as he was in at least the first five seasons of RVB, has is it been mentioned or if he remembered, that he has a son? Just for two reactions in general: the first being everyone completely shocked he actually produced, let alone actually being a good father... then the realization of him being in the cryo pod or whatever it was and his son, well not. I think that could work to an advantage.
6020357 As I have stated numerous times, Tucker Out is not Tucker from RvB. He was inspired (okay, heavily inspired) by him, but that's it. They are two different characters.
6020364
Auhh, that would have been awesome.
Also did not know that due to not reading the comments. Just read through the story. My bad.
I don't know how often i checked for a new chapter, but when i saw it today i smiled ear to ear...
hope the next chapter comes sooner
but take your time... no pressure...
6020442 It probably won't
I've got exams to worry about for the next couple of weeks, and after that, two next chapters will be for other stories. And one of them will be probably as long as this one...
....am i the only one that could "feel" this chapter a day or two before it came out?
Wow, there was a lot of exposition in this chapter. I'm curious as to what's so complicated about Cadence having to rule....on the other hand, I was laughing when Tucker was forbidden from getting any from the Changelings along with Plan Honeymoon.
6020450 what grade are you in?
6020563 4th year of studies, 1st year on master grade studies (already a bachelor) of archaeology. Yep, that's right, a year more and you can start addressing me "Master Borsuq"
Yay a new chapter is out!
6020450
Warcraft Lore nut here, and as such I feel I should point out that during the first war, the city was just called Storm. It wasnt named Stormwind untill after it was rebuilt.
6020566 well I'm on 12th grade I'm a senior now I'm going to be graduate.
ZOMG AN UPDATE!!!!! and it's AWESOME
i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll78/De_ressurect/SOAWESOME2.png
Keep up the great work!
If I was Arthas, my argument for not creating world spanning portals would have included the Burning Legion and how it might attract their attention.
Well, now everyone is starting to draw rather conflicting conclusions from these last 2 chapters.
Changelings are connected to the Old Gods in some fashion...
A history of Azeroth in a nutshell... WHILE lampshading the Burning Legion and Scourge...
And several key players are starting to realize that Arthas was one of the big bads he didn't detail...
What would Twilight find worse? Lich King, Kel'thuzad, Mal'ganis, or Kil'jaeden?
And what would she think of Arthas' faustian bargain?
Also Candace is an orphan appearing from nowhere...
And Arthas's sister is MIA since the time of Lord Daval Prestor...
That both these facts popped up in the same chapter is not likely mere coincidence.
Red Herring, Chekhov gun, or circumstance?
this will be interesting for those two taking care of Moonlight this definitely will drive twilight nuts and maybe jump lightbringer
I cant wait till the next chapter Arthas spilling the beans is a long time waiting! (its good to learn your mate/lovers past int order to better understand their future!)
Praise be to the Nine! You updated!
6020686
A senior, and you misspelled senior.
6021200 thanks for the tip.
6020841
Actually, continuing my thought, how much do you want to bet that Tirek and Scorpio have some sort of connection to the Legion?
So she figured out some of his history but didnt question how or why he knew so much about politics or the wars aka being a prince/general then a king
While I agree with Arthas about the dangers of a permanent portal between Equestria and Azeroth, I think it would be awesome to have changelings on Azeroth.
6021863 And have Garrosh tear shit up in Equestria.
6022139
While I do enjoy the occasional well written fight scene, I am greatly turned away by anything that brings widespread destruction or ruin to Equestria.
6022154 Well that's what would happen if a Dark Portal was opened to Azeroth
6020662
This is from the first ever Warcraft.
well damn shit has gotten a going..... also that last part fc07.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2011/048/9/2/__it__s_a_trap___badge_by_kevinbolk-d39rd83.jpg
or rs2img.memecdn.com/its-a-trap_o_491986.jpg
Certainly looking forward to Twilight making her assumptions on Arthas' past life known to him. As uncharacteristic of Twilight as it might sound, I get the feeling that it's going to cause a lot of problems for her (if not everyone else, should the beans be spilled to them too), way beyond what a simple 'You're a better person in this life' argument can fix.
Granted, some of the blame for his atrocities could be passed off to Frostmourne's influence, but even before he claimed that runeblade he'd already committed increasingly deplorable acts of his own volition. Some due to perceived necessity (the Culling of Stratholme), others to sate his own selfish (but justifiable) desire for revenge against Mal'Ganis and the Scourge (ignoring Medivh's warnings, refusing to allow his men to return home despite his father's specific demands, etc).
In short, I feel that when Arthas does reveal the true extent of his past evils - if he ever does - the personal challenges posed to those that now trust him will be enormous. After all, Arthas' good deeds might indeed have led to him being regarded as a hero now, but he was a hero in his past life too, and if there's anything that he's demonstrated to us in the past?
The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/the-lions-call/images/3/34/Culling.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20130301224132
6022573 Considering how it has been said a few times now that they wont judge Arthas on his past (not saying it wont start and argument or two with some characters just all in all i think it will end with acceptance) I'm more interested in the fact that addressing his past will bring up the fact that he's a king (witch is still one of his secrets and one i think is a bit bigger then his real name) so ya thats inbound.
6022462
Must be a retcon because I swear somewhere it was said to be called Storm City before it was rebuilt.
I'd love to see some draenie show up in Equestria.
6020450
*sniff* well, i can wait... maybe... or maybe not...
nah just kidding, keep up the good work, and good luck with you exams
Hahahahaah that ending! omg! anyway Loved the chapter, I cant wait to see the next one. Good luck on your exams! Im waiting for Twilight to confront him on her thoughts about him.
Too sick for indepth comment.
Nice chapter.
Since I already know most of Azerothian history, I scrolled a little in the middle of the chapter.
But, as always, the way you intertwine dry facts with Arthas' personal feelings about his past is compelling.
6020662 I think you mixed it up with Stromgarde which was the capital of the first human nation called Strom.
http://wow.gamepedia.com/Strom
I believe you mean Nefarion.
6020686 Cool :)
6020662 Hm... I think I heard about it somewhere as well, though for the life of me I cannot remember where. Even in "The Last Guardian" book I think it was called "Stormwind".
If you wanted to out-lore me, you could have pointed out that at the time the Kingdom of Stormwind was more commonly called "Kingdom of Azeroth" (which in turn made me name the entire world Equestria rather than Equus as most stories here do, or something else).
However, remember that Arthas was more focused on giving everybody a picture of what Azeroth is like. True, I used this as an exposition of WoW's plot for those who don't know it, but adding to that such details would have been unnecessery
6025384 thanks.