> A Dash Of War(craft)
>  by Alexander Bolt
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> A Not Too Bloody Welcome
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


A Dash of War(craft)

Arvenell, some time associate professor, explorer, and "Bane of the Horde" woke up to a crash and a splitting headache. Not the worst thing he'd ever been through, but quite close. He near instantly came to his senses, realizing he had crashed through an uncolored glass window into a large room, long, with an arched ceiling, white marble. Why did it have to be marble? Arvenell never crashed into water, or sand, or even plain dirt. Always solid rock. He was also aware of noises, almost like hooves, mixed with gruff, urgent voices. This led him to believe he had crashed into some Blood Elf's private stable, in which case the sudden transportation wouldn't be a complete waste.
As he sat up, he heard a different voice amidst the ramblings. It was melodic, dripping with power. It sounded Elfin, but at the same time it didn't. It had an elf's melody, but at the same time it was as terse as one of the gunship captains he had met. It certainly wasn't familiar, and at this point, unfamiliar could very well be hostile. He flipped onto all fours, and found himself staring at the shoulders of what appeared to be a small horse. 
So, definitely a stable. thought Arvenell. The aforementioned small horse had a grey coat and a golden chest piece, which made Arvenell's suspicions of Blood Elves seem closer and closer to becoming correct. As he stood he drew his sword from over his back, and was rewarded for this by having the sword knocked out of his hands before it was halfway out of the sheath. He had just enough time for his eyes to widen before a point of ice was pointed at an uncomfortable angle to where it could easily go through the neck of his plate, and at this all he could do is stop moving, or at least try. The weight of a full set of plate armor, as well as that of the bulky human body it was placed on, was not in agreement with a hasty stop, and physics took its course. Arvenell was once again on the ground, looking at the ceiling, only this time he expected to take the full brunt of a spell cast on him.
However a spell never came, yet the sound of a number of weapons being readied filled the air. Arvenell took joy in the fact he could identify each weapon by sound. A dozen spears and two swords, at least. He had no swords, he was on his back, and he was surrounded by most-likely hostiles. 
I've gone and made a mess, he thought.  or at least I will soon enough.  Arvenell flipped over and grabbed his sword, using his unholy energy to grab the nearest thing that appeared armed. He raised his sword and prepared to smite the would-be attacker, when he realized what it was in his hand. At first he thought he had made a mistake and grabbed one of the steeds kept in the stable, right before he was corrected by the unicorn, as he realized, blasted him  with a dull spike of blue magic. Two things flashed through his mind as Arvenell was thrown through the air. The first was that something was quite wrong, when a fully armored Death Knight didn't instantly inspire fear or dread in an enemy. The second was that for a pony, those things could hit hard.
Arvenell braced himself for another crash into the marble floor when he felt velocity suddenly stop. He looked at himself and realized that a faint yellow aura surrounded his armor. He was turned right side up and released, at which point he saw what he had been up against.  It was not fourteen armed elves, but rather twenty heavily armed and armored... ponies? The things going through Arvenell's mind increased in number, now ranging from Where in Azeroth am I? to Did I just get beaten, then saved, by unicorns?
As Arvenell's thought process continued, the voice Arvenell heard during his first heart to heart with the marble floor spoke up again, and he was able to identify the origin as well. At the far end of the hall, to his left sitting on the larger of two thrones, was a strangely majestic creature. It, or rather she, was a winged unicorn with a pure ivory coat. She wore a crown with a precious looking gem cut into it, and a collar around her neck with a purplish gem in it. Her voice, now that Arvenell could hear it clearly, was filled with power as he had noticed before, but it was more noble than he originally thought. A certain elegance was in it, but, looking at the mare gave a sense of order to the room. She gave a single yes or no question, but it still put Arvenell at a lack of words by its demeanor.
"If you're quite done being beaten by my guards, could we discuss this like civilized beings?" Was the aforementioned question.
"I, ahem, suppose." Was all the death knight could respond after an awkward moment. He slung his sword over his back and made a mental note that has was most definitely NOT in Azeroth. Maybe he had just gone insane. Wouldn't be the first time...
"Well then, as you just got on the bad side of a recently promoted lieutenant," the winged unicorn made a slight gesture to the armored pony who had force fed Arvenell a dose of magic to the face. "as well the 'strange' circumstances of your arrival, I believe that we should speak in a bit of a private matter. Sergeant Whirlwind, please fetch Captain Permafrost for me. Our guest and I will be on our way to my sister's room." A shorter member of the guard, which Arvenell identified as a pegasus, oddly enough, gave a salute before flying out of the room. At this queue, Arvenell began to walk through the crowd of guards who were returning to their posts in the room towards the apparent monarch who was rising from her throne.
"You seem to be familiar with strange things happening, Lady...?" He asked when he neared the mystical being, which, unlike her subjects, could stare the six foot tall armored death machine in his eyes.
"I am Princess Celestia of Equestria, and to answer your other question, this castle recently acquired a new, er, more chaotic member to it's staff. Strange things crashing through the ceiling are a tad more frequent now than they were about a month ago. Please, follow me." The now identified princess motioned toward a side hallway, and began walking into it, giving Arvenell no choice but to follow.
"Strange would be a matter of opinion, if you don't mind me saying, milady." The perplexed human responded deftly, reverting to his more educated side.
"I know all about your kind, human. I know where you came from, in fact more about Azeroth than you most likely do, and all about your conflicts. I would say that it is quite fair to call you strange, and to be quite honest you should take it as a complement. It will most likely be the best you get from me." The demeanor behind the monarch's words dropped like a stone, and would have even stung Arvenell's heart, had he not heard worse on a weekly basis.
"Good. Then I can skip introductions and get straight to the point. I don't belong here." Arvenell responded with an edge to match Celestia's. He wasn't sure whether the princess rose one eyebrow or both at his response with her flowing mane blocking half of her face.
"By the stars, a human who doesn't instantly make himself the most important thing in the surrounding five miles?" The alicorn retorted, indicating she had only raised one eyebrow.
"You really don't like me, do you?"
"What was your first clue?"
"That second comment, the sarcastic one about humans." To this comment Celestia opened her mouth to respond, but was promptly interrupted by a large, gray, heavily armored unicorn breaking up their rapidly escalating arguement.
"If you're going to have an argument with anything here, human, you chose the worst pony to do it with." Came the casual voice of Night Captain Permafrost. "Then again, arguments come naturally to you, don't they?"
"Great. Another sarcastic magical pony. I'm guessing all your subjects know what I am, Celestia?" Arvenell sharply shot at the princess.
"Only Captain Permafrost here, my sister, who informed him, and myself know of what you are. And so far I see that being beneficial. Don't worry, Luna loves aliens, no matter how insanely dangerous they are." The princess answered. "And here we are. The observatory."
"I used to like horses before this." Arvenell mumbled to himself. As the two ponies and human walked into the circular room, Arvenell took a moment to marvel at the architecture, which seemed to match that of Uldaman, before having a golden hammer slam into him. A heavily armored Blood Elf in golden-red plate stood opposite him beside a shocked looking alicorn that looked like an indigo Celestia. The paladin drew his sword and shield and approached the rising human.
Arvenell chuckled. "You were right, Celestia. I am violent."
> Aren't You A Bit Short For Magic?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Melkiv Sparkwelder was not a happy gnome. First he had been thrown through a massive portal with his short time partners by an unknown entity, then he happened to land on some undeveloped civilization's planet. THEN it happened to be some prissy prince's room he landed in, whom promptly called in a battalion of guards. Need he mention that all of the aforementioned creatures were shrunken horses? They were no match for his "superior" magic, as he quickly realized, but were about ten times stronger than his match. He had been subdued, wrapped in a rope, and apparently was going to be taken to their leader, who was no doubt some arrogant half-wit of a king. And to finish it all off, that's when the goblin showed up.
There were few things Melkiv hated in the world, but before him there were three. Horses, goblins, and warlocks. The arrival of the demon summoning lunatic was first a surprise to the guards, who then proceeded to try and subdue the green devil. He would have none of this, instead deciding to summon every demon he could in an effort to demolish the guards. The only thing this accomplished was to make the guards form a protective phalanx at one end of the hallway while also loosening the magical bonds on Melkiv the Distressed, as he had come to calling himself. While the sheer weight of magic thrown at the gnome earlier was enough to subdue him, a simple dabbler in dark magic was less than a challenge. Melkiv restored his own power and began hurling bolts of fire and ice at the demons, managing to down one and send the others running back through the ill conceived portal. He then progressed into a magical duel with the goblin, whom began throwing all kinds of chaotic and burning projectiles at the gnome magician. 
The duel began to turn in Melkiv's favor when the strangest thing happened. Both he and his opponent were frozen solid. Not the usual kind of ice that Melkiv was used to pulling from thin air, but ice that fed off his magical attempts to escape. He was now being pulled along on his side by a larger horse, glaring as best he could at the warlock who was dragged opposite. Their destination was unknown, but Melkiv knew without a doubt he would strangle the black clad demon summoner as soon as he was released. What did surprise him, however, was to view and almost Titan-like room which appeared to be the ill feeling trio's destination. 
What gave him another slight shock was to see one of his companions from Azeroth standing, arms crossed and obviously unhappy, on the polar opposite side of the room as a blood elf in paladin armor, who looked equally unhappy with the situation. Melkiv noticed a few words going between his captor and a larger horse, who was a winged unicorn with a pure ivory coat and flowing rainbow mane. There was another of the winged unicorn, this one standing beside Melkiv's "friend", with a much darker coat, a very indigo color and a darker variant of the other's mane. The armored unicorn and the ivory alicorn finished their conversation, as far as Melkiv could see, and he suddenly felt much warmer. This could be contributed to the ice surrounding the gnome suddenly disappearing, quickly replaced with a marble floor.
The mage wasted no, time scrambling to his feet before pouncing on the also recently released goblin and wrapping his hands around the unfortunate warlock's neck. He got a satisfying two seconds before promptly being yanked off of the lesser creature by, as he would later find out, Arvenell's darker energies. He was still halfway through the preparations of throwing a fireball at the goblin, who was running to his own friend's side, when a very convincing voice decided to ruin his spell mid-cast.
"CEASE THIS INCESSANT SKIRMISHING AT ONCE!" an unforgiving bombardment of high decibel words from the indigo colored alicorn. Melkiv, who promptly grabbed the sides of his head, was dropped on the ground by his human compatriot.
"By the Titans! What was that?!" Came the gnome's high pitched voice.
"Our somewhat generous hosts, shorty. Better not hit the goblin again, they don't like it when we fight." Came the deep and heavily enchanted voice of the death knight, followed by a small chuckle.
"You would know much about fighting, wouldn't you, death knight." Came the equally enchanted voice of the blood elf paladin.
"You hit first. And if Lady Luna didn't pull me off you I would've finished that fight." Retorted the human.
"You all are going to drive me insane." Said a new voice, originating from the ivory alicorn, moving a hoof to her face.
"Ah'm confused, who're the talkin' ponies?" Came the voice of the goblin, who had peeked out from behind the paladin's boots.
"Shut up!" Answered 4 combined voices, belonging to Arvenell, Melkiv, Celestia, and Luna. The paladin, who merely rolled his eyes, responded in a hushed tone.
"The 'talking ponies' are the ruling monarchs of this kingdom. I would deem it wise you don't insult them. They've already proven more than enough to subdue you once. With their current opinions of us, I doubt they would give second thought to doing it again." 
"Yeah, shorty. We're in the presence of goddesses." Added the taunting voice of one irritated sounding human.
"Luna, as much as I hate to stick this ticking time bomb with you, aliens fall under your specialties. And to be quite frank, if I have to listen to the dead one's voice for much longer, I'll get a migraine." Came an even more irritated voice from the white alicorn. As she turned to leave, Arvenell opened his mouth, no doubt to call some joke at the goddess, before thinking it over and shutting it.
With a sigh, the other alicorn stepped into the center of the room and cleared her throat. "Well then, it's time to discuss what could happen here. And, as the work has been nearly doubled, I have even more to talk about."
"Like what?" Came an unconvinced Melkiv.
Their host responded with a smile. "Like how if I deem it worthwhile, my sister and I will obliterate you and spread your little bits all throughout the vast expanses of space."
> Don't Anger The Moon
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

   "From henceforth, you all will listen to and obey every order I give you, as you have most likely done with others in the past. However, the only difference is that if you try to disobey me, I will painfully pull you apart atom by atom and turn those atoms into dust which I'll place on the moon. And if at any point that dust begins to form anything larger than a decimeter in diameter, I will incinerate the combined sediments in Equestria's local sun. Am I clear, you four?" Was the first thing that Princess Luna said to the combined group of misplaced humanoids around her.
She couldn't help but inwardly smile at the reactions of the two shorter creatures, whom responded with dropped jaws and wide eyes. Even the elf's eyes had widened at the threat. The only one who appeared unaffected was the human, who was smiling to himself.
"You're much more fun than your sister, Miss Luna. I'll play along. I might even use your title, every now and then." Was all he said. 
"You'd be wise to do so, human. Princess Luna doesn't make idle threats. And that consequence is one she's done before. A shame to, I miss that maid." Contributed Captain Permafrost, idly reading the day's newspaper from his position beside the door. He was lying, of course, but it still scared the paladin a bit more. It even made the human shift in his place.
"Yes, anyway, it's time for you to answer some questions for me. Firstly, you, paladin. How many do you remember being with before being thrown out of Azeroth?" Luna stated plainly, turning he head towards the blood elf.
"I had counted four, counting myself and Splug here." He responded near immediately.
"My name's not Splug! It's Spolge!" The shorter of the Horde soldiers interjected.
"I find myself not caring, Splug. I do care about those numbers, however. Who are you missing, elf?" Luna questioned further.
"A Tauren shaman and a Forsaken rogue. The Tauren was a woman, the Forsaken a man. And my name is Rel'Shalor, your majesty." The paladin answered.
"Hm, the shaman won't be a problem to find. The rogue however... Regardless, Arvenell, how many were in your group?" Luna asked after a moment of thought.
"Same as real shalot's group. We had a Draenei and a Night Elf druid. I'd worry about the druid more, she had a tendency of vanishing without a trace." The death knight confirmed. "And aside from Melkiv here, that priest was the smartest out of all of us. You would probably be able to reason with her."
Luna nodded, turning to Permafrost. "Captain, please fetch Princess Twilight for me. And also send a flyer out to Ponyville to find Miss Fluttershy, her expertise with animals may be able to help find the druid and shaman. I want you to join the search after seeing Twilight. If you wish, you may take one of these four with you, though I ask that if you do so to bring one of your lieutenants with you. If anyone asks, just say they're a foreigner looking for a friend. It would be at least partially honest. I'll stay here with Twilight and a pair of guards to devise the next stage, which is to get them all back."
Permafrost nodded with a low 'Yes ma'am.'  and turned to Rel'Shalor. "You look to be the most useful, as well as the least annoying. I might even need your help." The elf nodded and donned his helmet, striding to the bulky unicorn's side. Before they left, Luna pointed her horn at the elf and sent a spell at the paladin. 
"There. That's a more localized variant of the translation spell in this room. You should be able to talk to anyone you meet, Rel. And don't act out of line, as I'll be watching." She added as they opened the door.
"Now then. As we are now lacking the more civilized of your merry little group," Arvenell gave an annoyed  huff at this. "I feel we should set some ground rules. First off, no fighting. You'd get blood on the marble floors. Secondly, and this goes to you specifically, Arvenell, no flirting with visitors. We're going to have a few, most of them likely to be mares." Luna started.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. I don't flirt with ponies. I barely even feel emotions like that any more!" He shot back at the lunar monarch.
"I don't care. You leave the impression on me that you would flirt on any sentient female, and I feel better getting that out of the way. Third rule, feel free to ask questions about all subjects except MY past. I'll be lenient. And finally, absolutely no leaving this room. I'll be here for the majority of your time here though, so that shouldn't be too much of a problem. As for what we will be doing, as soon as your friends, or companions, whichever you prefer, we'll start working on getting you back to your broken and distraught world. I'll pretty much be babysitting you until then." Luna concluded, giving an exasperated sigh. "Any questions?"
"Just one. What's the plan if more than the eight of us were sent through?" Arvenell  brought up, removing his helmet. His face was  a heavy one, dark rings under his eyes and creases knit on his forehead. His hair was gray, not from age but from a case of short-term death. He appeared old, but it was impossible to tell his age. There was a long silence before he was answered, and it was none other than Luna who answered him.

"We improvise."

> Killing With Kindness
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Permafrost couldn't believe his luck. He hadn't taken more than three minutes locating Princess Twilight, whom had heard of the "guests" from rumors, but was still shocked by the sight of Rel'Shalor. The elf seemed to have a bit of comedic value, despite being socially oblivious. He had also caught the fastest flight to Ponyville, which wasn't too special, with him being the only current Guard Captain in Canterlot. Celestia had yet to choose a replacement, and Shining Armor seemed to be in a permanent occupation up in the Crystal Kingdom. This still wasn't close to the highlight of his day. Officers had already marked the landing zone, and cleared the area. No annoying press or civilians to get in the way. And still his luck was getting even better.
He was directed to one Miss Fluttershy's cabin, with Rel'Shalor in tow with a strangely compliant manner. When he got there, what he found was the crowning achievement of the day. There, with a yellow coated pegasus, was a cow with hands and a shaggy purple cat, all sipping tea in a civilized manner. This made Permafrost not even bother to hide his happiness. The only way it could have been better was if the two stranger of the trio had ribbons tied to their heads. Rel'Shalor had rushed down to meet them, greeting Miss Fluttershy with a curt bow and greeting the captain was too far away to hear, and began to converse with the tauren. What Permafrost duly noted was a the elf completely ignoring the tiger, and as Rel had greeted them that its had flopped down beside its neck.
Wow. Tough crowd. Permafrost thought. Good thing she's going to be with friends soon enough. Miss Fluttershy then noticed the armored unicorn trotting over, and began to put up the tea party. The Captain couldn't help but feel a small pang of guilt, but that soon passed. "Apologies for party crashing, miss, but it looks like you have a few guests that don't exactly belong." He opened the conversation with.
"Oh, don't worry. I knew they wouldn't be able to stay, but I just couldn't say no when they asked to stay. They were extremely kind, and even helped me with some of the forest animals." The pegasus said, with an unusually accepting voice.
"Well then, thank you for that, you've made my job and that of others quite a bit easier. Pardon my informality, but you are one of Princess Twilight's friends, are you not?" He questioned, remembering a little task given by the newest member of the royal "family".
"Well, yes. How is she?" The pegasus answered with her own question, he head cocking the slightest bit.
"She is doing quite well, as I have seen. She asked me to give you this, however." Permafrost responded, removing a small scroll from his saddlebags that was closed with a stamp depicting a simple "T" in a light purple wax seal.
"Oh, thank you. Please tell her I said hello, if you would." The shy mare replied, a smile returning to her face.
"That shouldn't be a problem, miss. Now, I believe it's time we take out leave. Thank you again." The Captain nodded, looking at Rel'Shalor, who gave a nod of his own, relying the message to the tauren. The lavender tiger seemed to perk up at the news, however, and stood up, becoming eye level with Permafrost. She stared into his eyes for a moment before moving on to a team of guards who were a few meters away. The tauren did the same, taking a position beside Rel before the two moved on. Permafrost gave one last curt nod to Miss Fluttershy before departing himself. It was at that moment that he began to think over his strange encounter with the strange thing some called luck. It was at this time things took an unimaginably bad turn.
"NOW!" a gruff, more than alien voice boomed. The tiger's skin seemed to crawl at this voice, and it instantly began to change. In an instant it was a tall woman, still with lavender skin, though in a full bodice of leather armor, a wicked scythe whipping around her back. The two other foreigners going into similar stances, Rel'Shalor pulling out his sword and shield, the tauren pulling out her own shield and axe, the latter of which glowing with a fiery aura, while also summoning a quartet of totems seemingly straight from the ground. Just as they did this, a menagerie of creatures burst from the surrounding forest, and Permafrost felt dread deep within his stomach.
Withing the group of attackers were half a dozen short, green creatures, with green fire dancing around their hands. After them came five larger,  dark purple skinned beings with pointed tails, all carrying twin blades. Not a second passed when two more demons joined the fray, these being massive creatures made of stone and green fire, shambling across the clearing towards the group. 
Finally, the leader seemed to appear from the thicket. He was unlike his underlings, yet eerily similar. He had purple skin, like the blade wielding reptile men. He had wings that even the Night Guards under Permafrost's command would have envied. He was impossibly muscular for his stature, and green markings marked his entire left side. He had a black band wrapped around his eyes, making Permafrost wonder how exactly he could see at all. Finally he pulled two double sided curved blades from out of thin air, green fire wrapping around the blades in a slow, fear inducing manner. The, thing grinned, barring a mouthful of perfect white canines.
"I must thank you for gathering here. Your destruction is made all the easier by it. This world belongs to Lord Sargeras, and I will see his will done!"

...

At the same moment, Arvenell was hit with a realization. "Quickly, alert the guards and muster the troops. We're in trouble."
Everyone in the room, which now counted Melkiv the mage, Spolge the warlock, Princesses Luna and Twilight, and four of the Princesses' guards, gave him a look like he was crazy. 
"And why would we do that?" Asked Luna.
"Because soon we're going to be attacked by some things alot like me, only not nearly as fun to be around." Arvenell answered, donning his helmet and strapping his sword to his back. Luna and Twilight looked at each other. Melkiv stared at the death knight with an inquisitive look, and Spolge's eyes widened.
"Canterlot is the greatest  bastion ever created in all of Equestria, Arvenell. Why should we worry?" Luna questioned, raising an eyebrow. At the exact moment Arvenell opened his mouth to answer, an impossibly loud war horn sounded, as well as a massive collective shout that made Arvenell cringe.
"Because we've got an angry army of undead creatures around. And I'm being slowly driven insane by them." Arvenell answered grimly. "And I'm not sure I'll be able to keep my mind straight to help you fight them off."
> Seeing Double
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Princess Celestia was getting a bad migraine indeed. First, a human falls into her throne room, then the human nearly kills another foreigner whom she disagreed with the presence of. Then two more off-worlders revealed themselves and nearly killed each other. After that she had nearly an hour of peaceful paperwork before being called to the walls for some daft reason. This daft reason happened to be a shambling undead army, with a particularly pale orc riding an undead steed doing what could  only be classified as raising morale.
"Surrender, puny horses! For I am Ner'Zhul, the Lich King, and with me I bring death and unmerciful end! Behold the army bestowed upon me by Lord Discord and by extension the all powerful and ever forgiving Master Sargeras!" He bellowed, raising another cheer from the undead army, which Celestia guessed was a number of about five hundred. She noted a vein physically popping in her skull at the mention of Discord, as well as the group of Arvenell, Melkiv, Spolge, Luna, and even Twilight.
"Give us some time to think of your terms, Mister Zhul. Surrender is a complicated thing on this world." Celestia lied to save time. As she turned three dots formed in the sky, rapidly descending towards the wall at a somewhat cautious speed.
"Do whatever you wish, puny pony! It matters not when you surrender, as you will all fuel the Scourge!" The orc called back, getting yet another cheer from his army. The three dots in the sky became more defined, and Celestia noticed a chariot, two pegasi, one holding onto the other, and a small bird of prey. They all moved towards Luna's group, who all were walking towards Celestia. After a moment, in which the solar princess gathered herself, the three groups were together, and news was buzzing.
"Illidan is here." Rel'Shalor said as soon as his feet left the chariot.
"Oh boy, more sociopaths!" Arvenell responded, rolling his eyes.
"You don't seem surprised, death knight." The tauren, later identifying herself as Fraln Flamehand, said following the paladin off the chariot.
"Of course not. Nothing surprises Arvenell. It's a physical impossibility." Chimed Aliyina the night elf, as she changed into a her modified star form, giving her a slight glow. After this comment a light blue pegasus dropped down to the area, carrying a battered and bruised Permafrost in her hooves. As they landed, another pegasus, this one with a yellow coat and pink mane tip-toed out of the chariot, looking like she hadn't slept in days.
"Rainbow Dash! Fluttershy! What are you two doing here!" Princess Twilight gawked as she recognized the two.
"Those things were attacking Fluttershy's cabin, and when I saw smoke I came flyin' in." The rainbow maned pegasus responded, saying 'Things' with more curiosity than anger. She set the beaten Captain down on his hooves before landing beside Twilight. "What are they?"
"Demons, undead, and if we're very unlucky, mutated dragons." Arvenell answered with a dismal tone in his voice.
"Well, I was more asking about you and your group."
"Oh, in that case, we're friends of Celestia." the death knight said, a smile appearing on his lips.
"No. You're not. Infact, I doubt we'll ever be friends, human." The annoyed elder princess retorted.
"But Princess Celestia, friendship is magic!" The human quoted what he had heard Twilight say early, giving a few small laughs after. At this Twilight rolled her eyes and pulled Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy away from the group, beginning to explain the happenings as best she could.
"Not where you come from. In fact, Melkiv  could probably prove that with your world's barbaric methods." Luna said in her sister's aid.
"My methods are not barbaric! I am a dabbler in the arcane arts! A conjurer of ice and fire! I am-" The gnome began, earning a "SHUT UP!" from the other humanoids.
"Now that the jokes are aside, perhaps Rel, Fraln, and Aliyana could properly tell me what happened out there?" Captain Permafrost asked, speaking for the first time since his arrival.
"Well, first off, we were surrounded by demons, then we were attacked by a night elf I could have sworn was killed years ago, and at that point you got smacked about by an infernal. Does that work out, Permafrost" Aliyana responded with a comical attitude, even getting a chuckle out of Arvenell.
"Good enough..." the Captain responded, with a  demeanor that could match Celestia's.
"So then, let me get the points straight. We have Illidan out there, leading at least a small group of demons. We have Ner'Zhul here, with a considerable threat with his undead army. And finally, connecting the two, we have Discord, who I will properly turn into a squirrel when next we see him. Why is it every time we have foreign visitors, it seems things go horribly wrong?" Celestia pondered, bringing a hoof to her face.
"Well, at least these foreigners can crush the opposition, assuming I'm incorrect." Arvenell assured her.
"What was that last part?" The Solar Princess asked.
"Well, if these two are here, serving Sargeras, it might be possible another big servant of Sargeras is here. Emphasis on 'big', mind you." The human responded, his voice becoming more and more dismal throughout the sentence. The other misplaced adventurer's eyes widened as he finished, with Fraln cringing.
"Who do you-" Celestia never got to finish her question as a cataclysmic  roar sounded over the horizon.
"Ohhhhhhhh boy." Arvenell said, he himself cringing.
"I AM THE DESTROYER OF WORLDS! CONCEDE TO YOUR FATE, EQUESTRIA! I AM DEATHWING, AND THE HOUR OF TWILIGHT HAS FALLEN UPON THIS WORLD!" A massive voice bellowed as a long black ling appeared on the horizon.
"Does he ever say anything original?" Rel asked, actually sounding serious.
"No. And I must say that I have an idea." Arvenell confirmed. "But Celestia and Luna won't like it."
"Don't say that just yet, human." Luna said.
"It involves a near carbon copy of myself." The death knight revealed.
"Oh no." Celestia said, her voice dripping with dread.
"Well, it's all we have." Luna sighed.
"Melkiv, do you have the one-way portal available." Arvenell asked.
"Well yes, but I can only place the end point nearby. The entrance can be anywhere, though." The gnome answered, his voice becoming a bit edgy.
"Good enough. Power it up, bring him through." The human said with a sigh. Melkiv did as was told, and opened a shimmering blue portal. At first nothing happened, then a colorful being rolled into the fray, producing a bow with four arrows already notched in the draw string.
"Who dares to summ- Oh, hey. It's you guys. How's it goin', little brother?" A familiar yet strange voice called, standing up and sheathing his bow. The human stood, covered in mail that was more colors than Celestia's mane. He was fidgeting even when he was plainly standing up, as if he had an itch he just couldn't scratch.
"Oh, .he usual. Thrown through dimensions, placed on an alien planet, and now being chased by Lord Ner'Zhul. And I'm not your little brother, Alvich, it just seems that way since I don't age." Arvenell answered, a small twinge of anticipation in his voice. The others couldn't help but notice a bit of respect put into the word 'Lord' that came before Ner'Zhul.
"Uh, you doin' okay, Arv? I don't think that an undead orc needs that much respect." Alvic answered, ignoring the second half of his older brother's words. At this Arvenell raised an eyebrow for a moment, his eyes widening after the revelation.
"Damn, he's getting more of a hold with every minute." The death knight swore.
"Arvenell, is there something you'd like to tell us?" Celestia asked, her only visible eyebrow raising.
"Well, Ner'Zhul is the Lich King. The Lich King happens to be the thing that killed me, stole my soul, then made me into what I am now. During that time, I was practically enslaved, with no actual will of my own. now it seems that the control is being used AGAIN, and at this rate he'll have dominance over me in about, hm, fifteen minutes." The older human answered with a casual tone which barely hid the dread in his mind.
"This day is perhaps the worst day in all of Equestria. I don't remember a worse day in recorded history. And I've lived longer than that history." Celestia said in a nearly pained demeanor.
"Look on the bright side. Atleast this doesn't happen every other year in this world." Fraln said, a hint of comedy to mask the desperation.
"Spolge, we need our own fifth here. You know what to do." Rel ordered with an emotionless voice.
"But last time we did that he said he would rip my arms off and stick them in my eyes!" The goblin protested.
"I don't believe I care. Deathwing will do much worse, and I can't heal death if I'm a victim of it as well." Rel stated, keeping a steady tone.
"Fine..." The warlock said, beginning to make runic marks on the floor in a circle.
"Well, while that's going on, let's make a plan." Aliyana proposed.
"Indeed. I elect that we try no dying." Alvich said with sarcasm.
"While you're arguing, I'm going to delay the assault." Celestia said.
"I'll rally the guards." Luna decided.
"Luna, I want you to be sure that we do one thing exclusively if things go horribly wrong." Arvenell asked before she left.
"Yes?"
"Improvise."