• Published 8th Oct 2012
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Rebirth of the Damned - Borsuq



Months after his death, Arthas Menethil, long known as the Lich King, is given another chance. In a world populated by talking ponies, of all places.

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80. Shadows from the past

“All I’m saying is that Kael swore allegiance to the Burning Legion.” Matthias told Brann as the two of them followed a different corridor of the chapel. “That makes him a bit worse than me in my book.”

“Right, cause exterminatin’ all life and raisin’ dead as yer soldiers is soo much better.” the dwarf replied as he shoot sidelong glances at the walls.

Brann was well aware that continuing further this conversation, which visibly upset and annoyed the one who was considered to be the one of most terrifying entities in the history of Azeroth, was probably not the wisest thing to do. Especially now, as they descended into the catacombs under that chapel all alone. But Brann was curious. About what exactly he wasn’t sure: how long would it take for Matt to lose patience; what would happen if he cracked?

Inwardly, dwarf cursed his curiosity.

“As much as I wish it wasn’t truth, at least Scourge was about the only major force on Azeroth that didn’t have anypon- anybody working for Burning Legion, which sadly cannot be said about either Alliance or Horde.”

“Nay, ye just ushered their leaders to our world, and made us clean up.” Brann commented, pointing out at the spellbook he held in his hand.

That finally had gotten a reaction out of him. The pony glanced back, anger at his eyes, at both him and the book.

“Do not start this argument with me, Brann, not after bringing that into this world. How did Kirin Tor even get that? And for Light’s sake, couldn’t you at least wipe out Antonidas’ blood from its cover?!”

“What?!?” Brann exclaimed, shocked and surprised. He quickly looked at the book, which had nothing on its cover aside from exquisitely tooled black raven, and then back at Arthas. His eyes had no anger in them, but anguish and fear, just like his voice just had. “There’s no blood on it!”

He brought up the spellbook closer to him. The pony that was once a human looked at it attentively, then blinked and shook his head.

“I wondered why none of them screamed...” he murmured, more to himself than to Brann, and resumed walking.

The dwarf was so confused by those sudden mood swings than it took him good few seconds to snap out and catch up to him. Brann opened his mouth, but Arthas answered his question before he even asked it.

“I... sometimes have this... flashes.” he spoke uncomfortably. “They usually come when something happens that is similar to certain memories of mine. But before this, they always lasted less than a second.”

Neither of them said anything after that. The pony was clearly contemplating about his past, while Brann had simply no idea what to say. What could one say to someone, who was once a prince loved by his people and a paladin of the Silver Hand, and later slaughtered nearly everybody he knew, only to become truly himself after being brought back to live as a pony?

“How did Kirin Tor came into possession of this book, anyway?”Matthias asked, breaking the silence, as he turned left after leaving stairs.

“After yer death, the Alliance ordered High Captain Justin Bartlett to shoot down Naxxramas with Skybreaker’s cannons.” Brann replied, glad that they had something more practical to talk about. ”A sorta victory lap, if ye ask me. The book was in the rubble.”

“Besides you and Rhonin, who else on Azeroth knows the spellbook is here?”

“Khadgar. The other four from the Six will be simply told that it was moved.”

Matthias nodded to that, and stopped in the middle of the corridor. He turned to the right wall, and pressed his hoof against it. Before Brann had a chance to wonder what he was doing, an outline of doors appeared on the wall, and they opened, revealing a small chamber with nothing in it.

“The Vault is about as well-protected as Dalaran’s Arcane Vault.” the pony said, a hint of pride in his voice. “Only those touched by the Light, which means paladins, can open it. Had you tried that, you would be knocked out and woke up in the dungeon beneath the barracks. The dungeons themselves could also compete with Dalaran’s Violet Hold in term of security.”

“A bit paranoid, aren’t ye?”

“It pays to be prepared.” he replied with a shrug. “This reminds me: you said you caught Rhonin’s attention after trying to get some of the things I asked for. Do you have them?”

“Aye.” Brann said, reaching to his backpack.


“That was so boring!” Rainbow exclaimed as they left the chapel. “I would’ve thought that this chapel will be place of pure coolness, but the first thing we did here was organize few books in order.”

“Rainbow-”

“Without being able to read about a half of them!”

“Yes, we know, we were there.” Twilight interrupted her friend complains.

Twilight herself also wasn’t exactly in the best of moods, but for an entirely different reason than Dash. As the cyan mare said, they couldn’t understand symbols on nearly half of those books. Other than Thalassian, Twilight trained eye spotted three other main languages that she didn’t know about in which those tomes were written in. Besides them, there were also few singular books like that one in Zandali, each in a different language. Twilight wondered if Matt could teach her at least some of them. She was curious beyond words at the context of those books. Even though she knew that they all were about the Light, the unicorn wondered as to how all those different species saw it.

“Ah wonder as to what that old book that made Matt freak out as worm on a cider makin’ day is about.” Applejack said, looking back at the chapel.

“He said that it contained knowledge about dark powers.” Twilight reminded her with a shrug. “I don’t think I want to know what exactly those powers are. Trust me, the bit I know about King Sombra’s spells is enough to make a pony disgusted with that kind of magic.”

She shook slightly at the memory of a sensation of wrongness in her very horn while she used the dark magic. Twilight hoped she would never be in a situation that required of her to use those spells ever again.

“But why would a book like that have a picture of raven on it?” Fluttershy wondered. “They’re such smart birds, I doubt they would have anything to do with anything evil.”

“Oh, I don’t think this was supposed to be something literal.” Twilight explained. “Ravens were once perceived as guardians of mystical secrets in times before Equestria. I guess that’s also how they were or are seen on Azeroth. That picture is probably there as a symbol of the secrets it contains, or to warn anypony that would try to read it.”

Something has twinged at the back of her mind, but Twilight dismissed the strange sensation as she thought once again about another book. The one in Thalassian she picked up shortly before Celestia reply arrived, one that came from a place called ‘Tempest Keep’. She didn’t notice it at first, but the dust the book was covered in had some strange residual magic in it. Twilight couldn’t exactly put her hoof as to what the feeling she got from it was, but despite how alien it felt, it was also... familiar. Strange was also the symbol on the cover: fire. What had a fire to do with the Light? Granted, it could be interpreted as source of light and warmth, but...

“Twilight? Ya spaced out there, sugarcube.”

The lavender unicorn shook her head and looked at the others, noticing that Rainbow Dash was missing.

“Sorry. What happened?”

“RD just went there.” Applejack explained, pointing at the armory on the other side of the training field. “Ah figure Matt wouldn’t be happy about this.”

“Probably not. Let’s go before she breaks something.”

As they raced to the armory, Twilight put her thoughts about the book on hold. She could ask Matt about it later. Right now, she could spend her time better planning the last evening the three of them (Matt, Spike and herself) would spend together. Spike had already planned to make some grass pancakes for supper, so she could scratch that one out of her list. Being as organized as ever, Twilight also prepared several conversation topics, putting much effort to avoid subjects that could upset him, like those Forsaken. And she had a farewell gift for him.

I hope he’ll like it. I wouldn’t want to upset him... Nah, he will be happy with it... right?

Shaking her head, Twilight and the others entered the armory.

It reminded her about what she knew about royal guard’s armory. It was lined with weapons on the walls, had sets of armors on stands near them. There was also an anvil and a forge on the side of the building, to repair those pieces of equipment that were damaged, even though there was no trained blacksmith here.

Being sister of the Captain of the Royal Guard, and a pony that liked to know everything there was to be learned, Twilight knew that at least part of those weapons was only for training purposes. However, even if that gear was more expendable, she doubted that Matt would appreciate Rainbow playing with them as she was now.

“Rainbow, you shouldn’t touch those.” the unicorn said sternly while the rainbow-colored pegasus swung around a short sword.

“Oh, lighten up, would ya?” Dash replied, smirking. “Get it? Lighten up?”

Twilight wasn’t amused by it - unlike Pinkie, who giggled - but was happy that at least Dash put the sword back where she found it. Her joy was short lived, though, as the pegasus then reached out for a huge two-hooved one.

“Rainbow...”

“Yeah, yeah, I know, I will put it back in a sec.” she cut her protest of as she raised the weapon over her head. “Anyway, is the slumber party still on this night?”

Twilight watched her carefully, preparing to use her magic if she needed to.

“Yes. Point eleven p.m., half an hour after Matt will leave.” she replied, a pang of sadness in her voice.

“How are ya holdin’ up?” Applejack asked, and seeing the annoyed gaze Twilight replied with, she added: “Ah mean, after livin’ together for so long, ya two are probably feelin’ a little down on the whole thin’.”

“True, both Spike and I are going to miss him, even if he only moves to the other side of Ponyville. But at least now we won’t bother each other. Remember, my studies have stepped up a notch.” she reminded them with pride. “I have to learn a spell that allows me to change one thing to another permanently by next Wednesday, and I still need to read that book with it few times before I actually try. We wouldn’t want any accidents.”

I think I will try changing apple into an orange first.” Twilight thought to herself, and an idea of making a prank (even as it would be unlikely she went with it) on Applejack popped up in her head. With great effort she stopped from laughing as her mind was filled with images of Sweet Apple Acres having oranges instead of apples.

“Sound fun! Could you change me into something else?” Pinkie Pie asked jumping up and down in her excitement.

Twilight turned to answer her, when a sudden clang made her realize she stopped paying attention to Rainbow. The sword slipped out from her grasp, but thankfully landed on the floor harmlessly, instead of hitting one of them. The unicorn looked sternly at the mare responsible, who scratched her head in embarrassment.

“Oops.”

“You know, in some places, unapproved usage of a military property is a punishable offense.” Matt voice sounded from behind them.

Turning around, Twilight saw him and Brann at the entrance of the armory. They must have seen them going in here, and followed.

“The book is safely hidden within the Chapel’s Vault.” Matt continued to speak as he made his way to the sword that Rainbow dropped. “I would like to ask all of you to not mention that to anypony; the last thing we need right now is some power-hungry pony searching for it.”

“Sure, sugarcube.”

“Of course.”

“My lips are sealed.”

“What book?”

“I’ve already forgotten about it.”

“Naturally.”

“Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!”

It seemed to be enough to Matt, who just picked up the sword with his hooves. He glanced at Rainbow, looking more annoyed than angry. The cyan pegasus chuckled uncomfortably and flew back to stand besides other mares.

The paladin’s attention shifted to the weapon he held, which was about the same size as his Holy Avenger. He pointed it the nearby stand with suit of armor, and swifter than a pony’s eye could follow, he brought the blade near the neck area, then with great speed he backed away, slashing right in front of the chest. Matt then backed away, seeming satisfied as he once again regarded the sword.

“Wow.” Spike exclaimed, and Twilight had to admit that it was impressive. She had never saw before how Matt was skilled with swords.

Matt accepted Spike’s remark with a nod, and then, swinging the sword in his hoof, placed it back from where Rainbow Dash took it.

“I have no idea how ye did that just now.” Brann commented.

“I have enough reasons to become insane as it is; don’t make me question how my body works.” Matt replied before ponies could voice their confusion at Brann’s words. No doubt noticing it, the paladin explained: “Back on Azeroth, hooves aren’t exactly... good for grabbing things.”

Twilight was puzzled by his explanations, but she once again reminded herself that Azeroth was a different world; it was bound to function strangely to her. Heck, maybe even such things as gravity or time could be different there. The lavender unicorn briefly wondered how she would fare if she was in Matt’s horseshoes.

“Anyway, if th’ is all, then I need to get back home.” Brann said, clearly not wanting to go further into that discussion. “Oh, and just one more thing I thought I should mention: did’ye know there are various shops in Dalaran with things that supposedly belonged to ye?”

“What?” Matt asked, confused.

“Ye know, trinkets, prayer beads, rings, and so on. All of them fake by the looks of it.”

“People are making money out of my death? That’s just... degrading. And how exactly they expect others to believe that they’re selling the real stuff?” he asked, exasperated.

Twilight felt for him. Dying was one thing - one that he was happy for, in fact - but being treated after death as a source of profit was another.

“Well, the sellers are all Forsaken, so when they claim they found it in-”

“Wait, back up. The Forsaken, the ones that hated me the most, save maybe for Knights of the Ebon Blade, are making profit out of my death?” when Brann nodded, Matt sighed and began pacing back and forth. “Light damn it. I know I don’t deserve much after everything that happened, but this...”

“Hey, if it helps, know that not all Forsaken hate ye.” Brann interrupted him. “The Dragonslayer, for example, spoke of ye with sympathy when-”

“What?” Spike asked, scared. “D-did you just said ‘Dragons-slayer’?”

“Ow.” the dwarf exclaimed, probably only now realising that there was a dragon nearby. “Look, lad, Azeroth has dragons that aren’t always comin up tae mind when yer thinkin’ about a tea party.”

“Right, I get it.” Spike replied, but he was clearly still scared at the thought of somepony being called ‘Dragonslayer’, as he moved closer to Twilight.

“So, who did that one Forsaken that doesn’t hate me killed to get such title?” Matt asked the dwarf, glancing briefly at Spike to make sure he was okay.

“Sinestra, former prime consort of Deathwing.”

Prime consort?” Twilight repeated the weird title in her head. “Do dragons of Azeroth have multiple consorts, like sultans of Saddle Arabia? Strange... wait, she was Deathwing’s consort? How in the hay did she survived mating with that giant living volcano?!

And then the uncomfortable image followed her thought, making her shake with disgust.

“Wasn’t she already dead?” she heard Matt inquired further.

“So were Nefarian and Onyxia, and they too were seen, within Blackrock Mountain.”

“Undead. How cute.” the paladin replied with a disdain in his voice. “So, that Forsaken killed Sinestra, huh? Not many weapons can give mortal wounds to a dragon old as she, although strangely the number of people eager to swing those weapons in the direction of dragons is even less impressive.”

“True, but I figure that weapon that left that is powerful enough to do the trick.” Brann replied, pointing his finger at...

... at Matt’s chest.” Twilight thought with dread.

Matt looked down on his two scars, brushing the one that she knew was from a mortal wound.

“Shadowmourne?” he finally asked, puzzled. “It belonged to a night elf... Oso Ragerunner. How did it fell into the hands of a Forsaken?”

“Durin’ the conflict within the Ashenvale Forest, those two fought. Jarim won and took the weapon, but later admitted to me that it was a fluke.”

“Such waste...” Matt muttered, but quickly his ears perked up. “Wait! What did you say his name was?”

“Jarim.” Brann replied. “Jarim Balnir.”

The sound of this name had a strange effect on Matt. His face went through many different expressions, starting with confusion and shock, to a mild joy and puzzlement...

“But... that’s impossible!” he murmured. “He was...”

.. to pure-hearted.

“That elven bitch!” he shouted, bucking the wall behind him in his rage.

Twilight jaw dropped. Not only Matt was now even angrier than before, but also cursed!

“I... take ye dinna know about those val’kyr, dinna ye?” Brann asked, taking a step back.

She wondered if she should do the same.

“I know about them, alright, as well as what happened in Andorhal, but I hoped there were just rumors!” Matt sneered, and began once again pacing back and forth. “I hoped she had some semblance of morality left in that carcass of hers! She thinks she tasted pain and suffering at my hoof before!? Let her come here and find out how terrifying paladin’s retribution can be!!!”

“Stop!”

That shout, which was so out of place given the source, made Matt stop and look at the pony who said it.

“Please stop screaming.” Fluttershy continued, returning to her normal voice, but still shaking. “And cursing. You’re so... scary when you do that.”

And like that, all of Matt’s hatred evaporated, leaving only horror in its wake.

“Oh Light, I’m so sorry.” he immediately began, looking at Fluttershy and the rest. Twilight was not surprised to see panic in his eyes. “I didn’t mean to... I just...”

“Matt, its okay.” Twilight said, understanding that he truly didn’t mean to get so angry right in front of them. “We know you have troubled past. Just... try to not curse like that next time.”

Understanding at once what she meant, he shoots an apologetic glance at Spike, before he once more turned to Brann.

“You better leave. I fear how else I might react upon hearing anything else.”

The dwarf nodded. He reached to his pockets, and took out the medallion that allowed him to travel between Equestria and Azeroth.

“Lasses, Spike, it’s been a pleasure.” Brann said. “I hope I will have a chance to drop by again in few months.”

They murmured their own goodbyes, but, still shaken after witnessing Matt’s outburst, they were half-hearted. If Brann minded, Twilight couldn’t see it. He grabbed the amulet tighter and vanished.

“Everypony...” Matt said once he was gone, and his voice was laced with pain. “I’m truly sorry you had to hear me... say that. And in such manner.” he added, eyeing Fluttershy, who stopped shaking. “Twilight, if I ever start going on like this, please, blast me with some spell, okay?”

“Um... sure.” she replied, feeling a bit uncomfortable at the strange request, but seeing the pained expression of his, he would even preferred to be bucked right in the face by Applejack.

“Fluttershy, are you going to be alright?” he asked, once again regarding the pony that was most affected by his outburst.

“Yes, don’t worry about me.” she replied, now completely back to her normal self. “No hard feelings.”

Relief was evident of Matt’s face, and he even gave them a half-smile.

“Great. Now that’s settled... what time is it? I told the initiates that they had two hours.”

“It’s been only half an hour.” Twilight replied, but as much as she wanted to stay and comfort him, maybe even question him about why did he react like he did, she know that he would prefer to be left alone for now. And besides, she had things to do. “Sadly, I need to leave; I have to finish reading ‘Nature of changing matter’, and then re-read it few times.”

She quickly cast a meaningful look to the rest, and suddenly it turned out that everypony had something to do.

“And Ah need to lend Applebloom a hoof with repearin’ their clubhouse. Oh, and Pinkie,” Applejack added, looking at the pink pony, “the girls kinda... destroyed yar party cannon.”

“That’s okay; I’ve gotten a newer model few days ago.” Pinkie Pie waved her apology away. ”The Z&R model! Wanna see it?”

“Err, maybe later, sugarcube. And... try not to borrow them any power tools when they start makin’ that float for Summer Harvest Parade, okay?”

Twilight shook her head, amused at her friends’ antics. She was a bit curious as to how would the work of those three fillies turn out. The Summer Harvest Parade was only three weeks away, and yet that seemed too long for her to wait to see their float.

They were leaving the Abbey, making few jokes along the way and once again voicing their admiration of the entire complex. Twilight stayed at the back of the group, so when they began saying their goodbyes she was the last one to leave. Glancing back to make sure others weren’t paying attention, she looked at Matt.

“Don’t be too upset about this.” she quietly told him. “Everypony gets mad from time to time.”

“Maybe, but I’m not ‘everypony’.” he replied with slight amusement.

“True.” Twilight chuckled. “I will see you tonight, then?”

There was suddenly a strange gasping noise from both royal guards at the entrance, but once she glance their way everything seemed normal.

“Yeah, I should be wrapped up here by eight.” Matt replied, also shooting glance their way.

“Great-” she said as she was about to follow the rest, but paused as she remembered that she wanted to ask him about that tome that got her attention earlier. “Oh, wait, I almost forgot, what’s the name of that book from this ‘Tempest Keep’?”

Matt raised an eyebrow in surprise. “‘Tome of Fiery-’”

“Wait, wait.” Sound interrupted him, leaving his post and coming closer to them. “Are you two dating?”

Twilight looked at him in shock, blushing in embarrassment.

“No, why would you think that?” Matt asked him calmly, although her ear caught a slight hint of discomfort in his voice.

“Well, you were just talking about meeting around eight-”

Matt sighed loudly and facehoofed, motioning at Sound Wave to stop.

“You can go, Twilight, I will sort this out.” he told her, and as he switched to regard the royal guard, the gentleness in his eyes was replaced by what she knew to be a pretended fury. “Right after I’ll make sure they will never eavesdrop again.”

Nodding and waving goodbye, Twilight turned around, so that Sound and Bomb couldn’t see how amused she was by sight of terror on their faces.

Author's Note:

Friendly advice: don't travel by bus for two days, it's really uncomfortable. Other than that, everything is great. A bit hot, but nothing unusual for Greece.

Yes, there's still a reason as to why Shadowmourne was originally in night elf's hands. Don't expect it to be clear anytime soon, though.

Anyway, I have a strange question. Recently, I grow curious about the age of those who read this story, so I would mind writing your age while writing a comment? I would be grateful for that. Don't just write your age and nothing else, though, I enjoy your comments much more than satysfing my curiosity. I would just like to know which age demographic is dominant here, if you don't want me or others know that, that's fine, I won't mind.

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