It seemed to him that the bustling streets of Dalaran were a bit louder than usual. Archmage Aethas was on his way down to the busy square, doing his best to improvise a speech that would assure the growing crowd of people gathering at the base of the Violet Citadel that being polymorphed halfway through a portal was not as serious of a concern as everyone made it out to be. The unofficial report from several eyewitnesses stated, during a scuffle between Horde and Alliance forces, retreating Alliance magi were creating portals to Stormwind when a unknowing Orc mage attempted the polymorph spell on a Alliance druid mid-portal. The resulting crater that ended the battle, spanning more the two hundred and fifty meters across the Southern Barrens was now the concern of the citizens.
"People of Azeroth, be not concerned." Aethas began to address the now restless crowd, "I have been assured by my superiors that the incident in the Southern Barrens was not the work of a mage casting a polymorph spell."
"What is it, then?" A man yelled from the middle of the mob.
"That," Aethas began, "I cannot tell you," The crowd let out a sound of disgust and moaning. "for we are not sure ourselves. But what I can tell you is this: The Kirin Tor are investigating the incident, along with members of the Shadow Hunters and SI:7."
A hush fell over the crowd. "Horde and Alliance members working together? This is going to be the Wrathgate all over again!" A woman from the front exclaimed.
"Whatever made this incident happen, the Kirin Tor need full cooperation from both Horde and Alliance leaders, as well as full disclosure. We have already contacted the representatives from both factions, and Kirin Tor agents are in the Southern Barrens as we speak. But, in the meantime," Aethas motioned for someone, "To prove to you all that this was not a doing of a rogue magi accident, we are going to have a demonstration."
"Mike," Jaina Proudmoore called over her shoulder, "Your queue is about up." She was surprised when the response was silence. He was just here, she thought as she turned back into the room, Where is he now? A scan revealed the room was empty. A moment of frustration passed, then realization, before Jaina teleported to the top of the tallest spire in Dalaran, known as the Purple Parlor. She found him, leaning against the railing, observing the growing chaos below. "Mike..."
"I know."
"What's wrong now?"
He stood back up and faced her, "Jaina?"
"Yes, Mike?"
His glowing blue eyes met hers, "Will they accept me for what I've done?"
"You knew not what you did." She moved over to the railing beside him, "You can't be held responsible for what you did when you were under the Lich King's command. When your will broke free, you came back to us. When the Lich King was defeated, your soul and the souls of all the other death knights were avenged. And when we discovered and removed Ner'zhul's tainted magic within the other death knights, you were free to do whatever you chose to do. You decided to try a life of arcane magic with resounding success. So much success, that the ruling council has even been debating on whether to take you on as an archmage." She suspiciously glanced around the room, "Don't tell them I told you that."
He looked away from her and back down at the crowd. Something had made them stir and uneasy. "That's not what I mean. I'm a human, former death knight turned mage, representing the Horde in Dalaran. I've made a commitment against just about everything I am supposed to stand for." He turned back to her. "How am I supposed to face them now?"
She looked into his runic-corrupted eyes, moved up, and embraced him in a hug. "Sometimes, it's about what needs to be done. It shouldn't have to matter where you're from or who you are. I think you are the first step in that direction." She thought, Even if you are still cold to the touch.
The crowd began to move steadily backward after Aethas mentioned the demonstration. He reached into his pocket and removed a rune of portals. After a brief spell, a portal opened to a vast ocean. "Just to put everyone's mind at ease, the other side of the portal was conjured as well, so that, just in case, the warnings are in fact true, no one will be injured. We are going to have our volunteer go through completely, then step halfway in between the portals, and then be polymorphed." Aethas looked off to the side of the improvised stage and Mike came walking forth.
"Well at least we'll be blowing up a traitor!" A man blurted from the front.
"Mike is only doing his part. His secure relations with Horde leaders have eased tensions that would --"
He was cut off. "He's a traitor! If he does survive, I'm pushing you off this island so you can hit the ground below!" The crowd began to grumble with disguest.
"Silence!" Aethas roared over the crowd while casting an arcane burst. The sudden blast of bright purple light made many gasp in surprise. "There will no further outbursts from the crowd, or I will send you to the sewers myself!" A hush came after, then he turned, "Mike, if you don't mind," and made a motion to the portal.
Mike looked at the portal for a moment, then stepped through. It was the same feeling as usual with every portal that was conjured to a random location. A sense of electric energy followed by a slight tingling sensation that left his ears ringing and slightly disoriented. This time, he was even more disoriented from stepping onto the swaying ship. He then turned around toward the portal, and took one step. "I will now polymorph Mike into a sheep." Aethas raised his hands and began to cast the spell, when Mike saw a glimpse of golden blonde hair from behind the archmage. The last thing he saw was her blue eyes and her million gold coin smile before a brilliant flash, then, darkness.
Mike seemed to be in freefall, still stuck in the shape of a sheep. Of all the days he couldn't change me into some flying form, he thought to himself. He had been falling for fifteen seconds when he managed to cast a anti-magic spell. Now back in his human form, he continued to hurdle toward the ground, which he didn't know where it was. It was night wherever he had been teleported to, and the only thing that was visible was the bright glow of a moon and a few yellow lights on what he thought was the ground. Well, looks like they were right...I am going to meet my end. Mike couldn't help but to give a long "WHOOOHOOO!" as he continued to hurl toward the ground. The moonlight was bright enough he could see a few buildings, and the shape of what looked to be a barn. He looked back down to what he thought were trees arranged in rows. Unless...and with a quick incantation, Mike entombed himself in a block of ice.
He awoke what must have been an hour or two later to find himself still in his ice pod. A faint glow of daylight was beginning to shine through the fogged ice that had begun to melt from the inside out. A quick wiggle of his fingers and toes made Mike aware he still had at least his physical senses, and then a shiver. Hypothermia was beginning to set in. It took what seemed to be the rest of his strength to cast a powerful enough arcane blast to break what remained of the ice prison. Idiot...a fire spell may have been a little more appropriate.
The top of his pod now removed, he began to sit up, when he felt a strange magic. Arcane magic users always felt a tingling sensation when in the presence of great power, but this was different. A feeling of warmth and comfort now filled his body. He hadn't felt a sensation like this since before the invasion of the Scourge...since before he became the specter of death itself. He laid back down in his icy pod, exhausted and absorbing the warmth of the energies around him.
The feeling was quickly replaced with surprise when he saw the familiar shape of a spearhead pointed at his chest. Mike's first instinct was to hold completely still, making sure not to make any sudden movements if needing to shift his weight in his continually melting ice pod. It was still too dark to determine what his captive looked like, but he could tell it was a quadruped, perhaps a centaur. His discoverer spoke, but in a tongue he could not even begin to comprehend. To Mike, it was like listening to the Forsaken language when he first heard it in the Undercity. "I'm sorry?" was the only thing he could mutter back. The creature looked to another that had appeared out of the darkness, and Mike could see the outline of a horse's head. By the gods, what is this?
More unrecognizable words were transpired between the two creatures, and the one holding the spear poked his chest. "Hey now," he batted the spear away, "No need to get feisty." Mike immediately regretted the decision. The spear was now being held at his neck. A lantern came out, and he could clearly see the figure. A pony, standing above him, spear in...air? A glow surrounded the spear, and from the horses...horn? What in the name of Aman'Thul is going on here!? A feeling of fear rushed down his spine. A leg motioned upward, and Mike stood up in his pod. The pony then pointed at the ground, and Mike stepped down onto the soft earth. A sweet smell filled his nostrils as he took a breath, cold shackles snapped their way around his wrists, and a prod from the spear told him to move forward.
The sun had begun to rise over the hills that surrounded the settlement he was now walking through. Mike looked around in awe at what he was seeing. Ponies in hats, with curls, sitting on park benches, flying. What world have I been brought to? He couldn't help but notice all the stares he was getting from all the ponies he passed. Many just looked, others went into the nearest building and shut windows and doors. He passed through what looked to be the local produce market. Sellers still setting up stands paused for a moment to see the guards escorting Mike.
One in particular caught his ear. He still couldn't understand the words that were being exchanged, but the tone of their voices had a particular drawl to it. He picked his head up to look, and saw a trio of ponies unloading apples from a cart. They had stopped to observe the commotion that he was creating. The smallest of the trio didn't seem to have the worried look that all the others did. A child. The small one took a step forward, but was stopped by a hoof from one with a mark of three apples on their flank. Mike took one last glance at the group, and pointed his head back at the ground.
The group passed a giant tree with windows. A quick peek up at the "building" and he could see an array of books. What a peculiar place for a library. Another horned pony stuck a head out one of the windows near the top of the structure. The pony yelled down to Mike's guards. The voice had a smoother and higher pitch, so he could only assume that was a female of the species. The guards yelled back at the mare in the tree, to what he surprisingly saw to be frustration. The pony in the window then went back into her abode in the tree, and they began to walk again.
A few more minutes of walking passed, and he was led to a building on what looked to be the outskirts of the town. The building looked to be nothing more than a large storage shed that hadn't been used in many months. A quick exchange between the guards, and the door glowed and opened. One of the guards stood in front of him now and began to speak. Mike couldn't do anything more than put up his arms in a way to hopefully convey he couldn't understand. The guard then turned his magic on him, pulling him into the building. The magic field surrounding Mike had the same warm feeling like when he first arrived. He didn't fight the magic, and went into the shed. It was empty inside, and two opposite facing windows were the only objects that allowed light in. As soon as Mike had passed the threshold of the door, it slammed shut behind him, and he heard a click by the handle. So, he began to think, this is my prison until they figure out what to do with me. Still bound, he sat in the middle of the floor and awaited whatever fate he had.
An hour went by and Mike was starting to become hungry. The glow of the morning sun was at full strength now, and sitting in the light gave him some strength again. He brought up his hands, closed them together, and said a quick incantation. Upon opening, he found a warm strudel now rested where there was an empty void. It was enough to get him through the next hour. The thought of blasting a hole in one of the walls crossed his mind. Oh, please, he quickly changed his mind, I'd become an immediate outcast. Maybe these people...or ponies can help me. Mike removed a rune of teleportation from his pocket and said a spell that should have brought him back to Dalaran, but upon completion, the rune turned to blackened ash and slipped through his fingers. No...Mike began to dread, Wherever I am has no correlation with Azeroth.
He contemplated meditating in the dusky shed before hearing the familiar voice of the pony in the tree library. A banter between the guards and pony took place right outside the door, and Mike could tell that each were becoming increasingly frustrated with the other. A small "poof" from outside quickly brought the argument to an abrupt end, much to his surprise, and the door glowed and opened. The figure of the purple unicorn was silhouetted in the doorway as she began to walk inside.
Mike continued to sit in the far corner, bringing his hand in front of the bright light that shown through the door. The mare cautiously approached him and tried to mutter a few sentences. He shot back a confused look on his face, and as far as he could tell, the unicorn could now tell what the problem was. She made a downward motion with her hoof, and bolted out the door. A few moments later, she was back, this time being accompanied by a small creature that resembled a dragonkin...or at least a whelp. The whelp was holding a book that was then levitated by the unicorn. She opened the book, flipped a few pages, and must have found what she was looking for, for her eyes lit up. She read a short passage from the book, then looked at Mike. A few moments of silence passed, the dragon whelp muttered something to the unicorn, and looked back to him. The mare unicorn walked up to Mike, pointed to her mouth, and repeatedly open and closed it.
"You...want me to say something?" That was Mike's best guess as to what she wanted him to do. The mare's horn started to glow. Mike pointed to it. "Is that supposed to happen?" The mare motioned Mike to keep talking. "You want me to keep talking?" Mike asked while pointing to his own mouth. The unicorn nodded. "What do you want to talk about?" After that question, a shot of purple light came out of the unicorn's horn and hit Mike. It was the same kind of warm feeling with more intensity this time, but with a disorienting after effect that left him dizzy. He tried to stand up, but fell back down to the ground and lost consciousness.
"You have arrived." There were no figures in the now pitch black area. The voice was a faint whisper to his ears. "He has arrived."
"Who has arrived?" Mike called back to the emptiness. "And who are you?"
"You know who we are..." A pause. "...death knight."
Before he could even begin to ponder the voices, Mike felt a feeling of sweat on his forehead. He awoke to a massive headache, and the purple unicorn above him. "Try not to move," she said. "You took quite a fall."
Mike rolled over and held his head. "Ugh...my head. What'd you do to me?"
"Language spell. Though I wasn't sure it was going to work." She turned to a book being levitated. "I've never heard your language before."
"Haven't heard yours either, and I've been around a large manner of other races." He looked around the building and out the window. He must have been out for at least another hour. The sun was at its peak in the sky. "Then again, never really seen a pony that could talk."
She looked at him quizzically, "I know the feeling. I haven't ever seen anypony like you either."
Anypony? Mike thought that was a weird way of saying "anyone." His mind raced back to the pitch blackness of his unconscious state. How did whatever was in the void know what he once was? Was it just a dream? Many death knights, after being freed from the Lich King, never dreamt again, and Mike was one of them. To be pulled to that kind of a state was no coincidence. He was certain of this. "Where am I?"
The mare continued to have her nose in a book. The whelp was now bringing in books three at a time to the shed, drop them off, and scurry away to retrieve more. The mare would levitate a book, flip through pages, and discard it. She was either a fast reader or not finding what she needed. "You're in Ponyville, right by the railroad station. Sorry we had to treat you like this. We didn't know what you were or if you were dangerous."
"I can give you my assurance that I mean no one any harm," Mike began as he raised his still bound hands. "So long as they show me the same respect. Waking from my ice block to a spear pointed at me wasn't the most reassuring greeting."
She continued to toss book after book aside. "And for that I do apologize." She stopped on the last book of the pile and turned to face him. "But I hope you do understand why."
"Of course." He thought back to the days during the Pandaria campaign. "I'm all too familiar with having to deal with hassles in the name of national security." She looked puzzled. "Anyway," he began to change the subject, "I do believe introductions are an order now that we are both able to be on the same page. My name is Michael. You may call me Mike for short."
She nodded her head. "I'm Twilight Sparkle. You can call me Twilight for short. It's very nice to talk to you finally. It took quite a while to convince the Princess to have me cast a spell on you." It was instinct that made Mike stretch forth his hand to reach for a handshake. The mare looked at his empty hand and stretched forth a hoof. They shook hands, or hooves.
"It's nice to be able to talk to someone again. Now I can see if I can get my bearings..." He looked out the window, and back to Twilight. "...which may have to wait until it gets dark."
The whelp had brought in another stack of books and Twilight had begun to go through the first three. "Why do you have to wait?"
Mike looked up at the crystal clear blue sky. "I need to observe celestial bodies and see if I can recognize at least two or three. They might be able to point me to wherever I have been transported."
She stopped looking through her books. "Astronomy? I can help you with that! What are you looking for?"
He thought for a moment. "More along the lines of astrology. I'm looking for home," Mike sighed, "but I don't know how I'll be able to find it. I may well have been blasted into another place in space-time for all I know."
Mike thought for a moment that the language spell had already worn off, because when he looked back over to Twilight, she had the most confused look about her. Her mouth was agape and an eyebrow was trying its best to reach the ceiling. "Beg your pardon? Another place in 'space-time?'"
"Infinite universe theorem," Mike answered. "One of the lesser known theories by the late Archmage Antonidas." She still looked at him like he was speaking Orcish. "Basically, at any given time, there are an infinite number or universes to account for an infinite number of possible realities that may happen based on an infinite number of choices, decisions, or circumstances. He was theorizing a way to possibly travel to one of these dimensions, but then the Third War occurred."
Twilight seemed a little less perplexed. "Wow, that's way over my head. So he had to go fight?"
"No," Mike looked back out the window, "Antonidas, by this time, was 72. He was killed by Arthas when the Scourge invaded Dalaran." Arthas, he thought, Damn that name!
"You're going to have to explain to me later what all that means."
"Of course." Mike didn't want to have to tell her of the stories of the war; the death and destruction of his land by the Scourge.
The whelp came in once again, with scroll in hand this time. "Twilight, a message came for you from the Princess." The unicorn unscrolled the letter and read it, then looked back up at Mike with a dread face. "Everything alright?"
"The Princess wants to see you."
Mike looked back at Twilight. "Princess? Princess who?"
"Princess Celestia, the raiser of the Sun, ruler of Equestria, and my magic teacher." The sunlight was still coming in the window, and shimmering off Twilight's mane. It almost shone in a way to make what Twilight was saying that much more regal. "She's wise and fair. The raiser of the sun each morning. She would like to have a word with our guest."
"I have a feeling it's going to be more than just a word," the whelp muttered back to the mare.
"Spike, stop it. You have been nothing but negative since he arrived." She turned back to Mike, "I'm sure she just wants to see for herself what has happened here."
"Well," Mike began, clearing his throat, brushing off and readjusting his robes, "we mustn't keep the dear Princess waiting." A moment of silence passed, "I would appreciate an area to at least refresh myself. I don't want to give a bad first impression."
Both the whelp and Twilight began to walk to the door. "You'll have plenty of time to freshen up." She had stopped just before the door and faced him again. "Canterlot is at least a quarter-day journey by train."
Mike walked up to the door, standing as tall as he could, "Well then," he made a hand gesture toward the door, "Shall we?"
Such an odd little place, Mike thought as he now stared out the window of the moving locomotive. So green and lush, untouched by corruption. "Tell me," Mike said aloud, "are all areas of this planet this...lively?" Mike was trying to speak to one of the guards in the passenger compartment in where he was being held. His presence still frightened the ponies, as he was the only one in the car, save for the guards and Twilight.
"Most of them, yes." Twilight finally responded. "To the north is a land of endless snow and ice. There are arid areas as well, but they're few in number and far between."
"This place is just so...pristine. So untouched by the ravages I have witnessed...so full of life." Mike had told her some of the Scourge. He spoke of the Lich King, how he would raise armies of the dead and bind them to his will. He turned to Twilight. "I'm almost glad I was blown here."
"What do you mean 'blown here'?"
Mike turned and faced her fully. "I was taking part in a demonstration of magic. There are written rules about the usage of arcane power and when it should and should not be used. One of the times that is in the 'should not use' section is polymorphing a person while they are mid-portal. Apparently those suspicions were correct."
Twilight looked at him quizzically, "No one knew the effects beforehand?"
"Everyone was too scared to try." Mike sighed. "But they have their answer now...hopefully."
A guard walked up to them, "We will be arriving in ten minutes."
Twilight looked up at the armored pony, "Thank you, sir." and back to Mike. "Do you still want to refresh yourself?"
"Of course." Mike gladly replied. "It's not every day that one gets to meet royalty."
"Sir?" Twilight called to another guard. "Will you escort this fine gentlecolt to a washroom?"
"At once." The guard said with a grunt. Mike stood to size the guard up. He stood almost as tall as he did, around two meters. Considerably more bulky than Mike. His horn glowed a baby blue and the compartment door opened. "Through here and to the right. And no funny business, stranger."
"Do I look like I'm going to be causing any funny business to you?" Mike mockingly asked.
"I do not know," the guard firmly replied, unshackling Mike's hands, "Just make it quick."
The train came to a halt after Mike had thoroughly washed what he could. A rinse is still better than nothing at all. The guard knocked on the door. "Hurry, please. It seems there is other matters that the princess must address to Twilight and her group."
"Group?" Mike asked as he opened the door. "I was under the impression that we were travelling alone."
"It seems that no matter where we go, Twilight's closest friends are always with her." The guard showed Mike to the station platform where Twilight was surrounded by other ponies. He could feel the warm energy again, now more present than ever. He could almost see a radiant glow, swirling and moving through Twilight and the five others that stood around her. "They are, after all, keepers of the Elements of Harmony."
Mike eyed over to his guard. "I have no idea what that is," then back to the group, "but if I were to guess, it's some kind of powerful magic that is created when all six of them are together."
The guard snapped to Mike, mouth agape and stunned. "How did you know that?"
Mike made a head nod toward the group. "I can feel the bond between them."
Simply amazing, was all Mike could think as he was being led to the grandest building of Canterlot. The guards had backed off some, letting Mike now freely examine the surroundings. These cobblestone streets, the crystal clear windowing, towering purple spires. Reminds me of...home. A blonde-mane pony passed within close proximity to Mike. Jaina? He was brought back to reality by Twilight's voice.
"Hey, keep up. We can't leave the princess waiting."
Mike used a short distance teleport to catch back up to Twilight. "Sorry, I..." Mike looked around.
"What is it?" Twilight asked.
"It's nothing." Mike lied. "Just thought I'd admire the scenery."
Twilight knew he was lying, but seemed too distracted to care. "We'll have to admire it some other time. It seems that the princess is getting impatient." She levitated a letter and unscrolled it. "She's demanding to know where we are, even though I messaged her when we arrived."
"Right. Later." Mike now had a feeling of homesickness. His stomach ached with the agony of seeing such sites that reminded him so much of his home city. Even the interior of the palace reminded Mike of the Purple Parlor.
"Alright, ladies." Twilight had turned to address her group. "And Mike. The princess is undoubtedly pacing back and forth with worry. So let's try to not stress her more than she already is." After that had been said, a purple glow surrounded the double door entrance, and they swung open. Inside the hallway was a stunning, multi-colored mane mare, standing taller than even the guards, the size of a full-grown horse.
Magnificent...no, that word doesn't do her justice. Mike could feel great power about Celestia, greater than that of any magic user that he knew. What else does this world have in store for me?
"Princess Celestia!" Twilight called out. "We came as quickly as we could."
"Thank you for coming, Twilight Sparkle. And the rest of you, as well." She turned her attention to Mike. "And you must be the newest visitor to Equestria."
Mike looked around the room. "What gave me away?" That tended to be his best entrance line when meeting with other diplomats who called his presence. This princess, however, did not share the same enthusiasm. "Apologies." He bowed before her. "My name is Michael. I am a junior diplomat to -"
"Michael, even though you are a stranger to these lands, I will hold you to obey the rules and laws that govern this kingdom." She seemed rushed and uneasy.
"Of course, madam. I will abide."
"I trust that you will not cause havoc or disarray."
"No, ma'am. I seek only to return from whence I came, and, if possible, give aid to wherever I can."
"Very well." The princess turned to a large stain glass window. "You have full access to any information that may aid your progress." She shut her eyes. "Now, to the matter as to why I have called you six here." She reopened her eyes and faced the group. "It seems that an old foe of mine has returned. Someone I thought I had defeated long ago. His name...is Discord." Mike heard a shriek from one of the others in the group. "He is the mischievous spirit of disharmony. Before my sister and I stood up to him, he ruled Equestria in a state of unrest and unhappiness. Luna and I saw how miserable life was for earth ponies, Pegasi, and unicorns alike. So after discovering the Elements of Harmony, we combined our powers, and rose up against him, turning him to stone."
A flying Pegasus with a rainbow-like mane swooped in. "Alright, Princess!"
Celestia continued, "I thought the spell we cast would keep him contained forever. But since Luna and I are no longer connected to the Elements, the spell has been broken."
Twilight, always one step behind the Princess, stopped in her tracks and had a look of dread. "No longer connected?"
"I have brought you to Canterlot Tower. The Elements have been kept inside here since all of you recovered them. I need you to wield the Elements of Harmony once again, and stop Discord, or he will thrust Equestria into eternal chaos!"
"Princess, you can count on us!" Twilight confidently responded. The princess managed to sneak out a smile before turning around and inserting her horn into the door. A glow of light transferred from horn to door as the familiar feeling of warmth washed over Mike once again.
Is that what this magic is? Warmth and harmonious, with no ill-intent? I am certainly out of place. Mike shut his eyes to let the feeling of magic into himself, and began to doubt if he really wanted to leave, when he was startled by the screams of the group.
"The Elements!" Twilight shouted. "They're gone!"
Uh oh, Mike thought, This isn't going to be good. "Princess," Mike uneasily began to ask, "as my first task as a new visitor -"
Celestia cut him off. "That chamber is protected by a powerful spell that only I can bring down. This doesn't make sense."
"If I may, Princess..." A deep echoing laughter came from what seemed to be everywhere in the hall, "Chaos doesn't have to makes sense."
"What is the fun in making sense?" The voice rumbled to the group.
"Discord!" The princess shouted back to the hall, stomping a hoof down, "Show yourself!"
A flash of light came from one of the stain-glass windows, and a small creature now moved within it. At first, it reminded Mike of some kind of small deer, but it had one wing of a bat and another wing of a bird, and several other creatures' parts. He certainly looks chaotic to me. "Oh, I'd forgotten how dreary you were, Celestia." Discord was resting on his side, looking down on the group. "Did you miss me?"
"Hey!" The rainbow-mane pony roared back. "No one insults the princess!" She flew at the window, but only managed to run head first into a now blank stain. She reeled back from the window, wobbling.
"Ah," Discord reappeared in the window, "the famed Rainbow Dash, most known for her loyalty, the Element you represent."
"Yeah!" Rainbow Dash angrily shouted back. "I'll always be loyal to the princess!"
"We'll see about that." Discord darkly responded. "And you, Twilight Sparkle, the Element of magic, the most powerful of all."
"So you know who we are." The familiar drawl made Mike snap his head to the pony in the hat. "Big deal."
"Indeed, I do, honest Applejack." Discord was bounding from window to window. "Rarity, the Element of generosity. Fluttershy, the Element of kindness and Pinkie Pie, my personal favorite...laughter." A pause came from Discord, "And..." he stopped to look at Mike, "Hold on, who are you?" He asked as he pointed downward to him.
Mike couldn't help but to look around at the group. He then looked back up. "I'm...the element of...surprise?" That was the only thing he could think of as he shrugged. "Are you?"
"Hmmm...not really." Discord flew down to the bottom of a window, "I've seen stranger. But there's just something...out of place about you." One of Discord's hands was at his chin, "And that's saying something from the chaos master that I am."
Mike heard the hoof steps behind him. He turned his head only to see the group had taken a few steps away from him. He looked back to Discord, whispering, "You know nothing of the chaos I have seen."
"Is that a challenge?" Discord's figure grew to the full length of the mirror.
"Enough!" The princess called out. "What have you done with the Elements?"
Discord sighed, "Oh, fine. Take the fun out of everything. I've hidden your precious Elements of Harmony, and I will let you know where they are, but only in my way. To retrieve your missing Elements, just make sense of these change of events. Twists and turns are my master plan, then find the elements back were you began." Discord disappeared once again.
The group couldn't do much more than stare at one another. Finally, one of them broke the silence, "Now what in the hay is that supposed to mean?" It was Applejack.
"Twists and turns." Twilight mumbled to herself. She walked to one of the opened windows facing toward a hedge maze. "That's it! I bet Discord hid the Elements in the palace labyrinth!"
Celestia spoke, "Good luck, my little ponies." The other ponies bowed. "The fate of Equestria is in your hooves."
The group began to turn to make their exit when Mike cleared his throat. "Princess, if I may be so bold to ask, I may be a resident here for longer than expected, until such time when I can find a way back to my home." He walked toward the group. "As proof of my loyalty to this new place, I wish to aid these six in their quest." Celestia gave him a questioning eye. "I may not be an Element of Harmony, however I have certain unique abilities, practiced again and again over years of disciplined study that may be useful."
"What kind of studies, may I ask, did you take?"
"The ways of arcane magic." Mike answered. "The art of" he used his short teleport spell "teleportation, scrying," he summoned a water elemental "conjuring, and" Mike casted mirror images of himself throughout the hall "illusion." Also blasting my enemies to the Twisting Nether using pure arcane energy. But he dared not to mention the offensive usages.
Celestia seemed uneasy with Mike's offer of help, but she closed her eyes, "It is with great reluctance that I accept your offer. Were this any other time, there would be other ways to prove yourself, but, in this hour of greatest need, I sense no deception from you. I can think of no other way."
Mike bowed, shocked. That was not the answer he had expected to hear. "Thank you, Princess. You may rely on me fully."
"I certainly hope so." The group was then off, running down to the castle garden, being mocked by the maniacal laughter of Discord until they reached the entrance of the maze.
They all gasped. "Do we have to go in there?" Fluttershy asked as she shook in fear.
"Nope!" Rainbow Dash happily said. "Dopey Discord forgot about these babies." She flapped her wings and took off from the ground. "I'll just do a quick fly-over and we'll have the Elements in no time." Mike felt a surge of energy as he watched Rainbow Dash flying, and then falling. "My wings!" She exclaimed after she hit the ground. Mike noticed where there used to be a set of Pegasus wings were now just an empty place on her body. He spun around when he heard the shriek of Fluttershy. She had suffered the same fate. Another surge of energy came by, and another scream was heard. This time, both Rarity and Twilight's horns were missing. Even Mike was not spared. He suddenly felt lighter, and when he reached into his pocket, his runes of teleportation and portals were missing.
A green ball formed before them, and Discord in body appeared. "You! You should all see the look on your faces!"
"Give us our wings and horns back!" Twilight defiantly demanded.
"You'll get them back, in good time." Discord vanished, and reappeared behind them. "I simply took them to ensure there's no cheating. You see, this is the first rule of our game. No flying, and no magic."
"The...first rule?" Rainbow asked.
Discord was now laying on a hedge. "The second rule is: Everypony has to play, or the game is over...and I win. Good luck, everypony!" He vanished in a blinding flash.
Mike yelled at the place where Discord once stood, "Does that include me, since I'm not a pony?"
Silence overcame the group, until Twilight spoke, "Never fear, girls, we have each other." Hedges rose from the ground, separating at least Mike from the group. It must have separated everyone else, for screams came through the hedge. "Calm down! We can still do this! Everypony head for the middle as fast as you can!"
Right...middle. Mike attempted to say an scrying incantation to see where he was, but it was fruitless. He must have found a way to nullify even my magic. Mike looked forward at the hedge. Do I follow the left of right wall to get out?
He walked for what was at least thirty minutes when he came across a large clearing. Mike immediately recognized where he was. It was one of the many parks in Dalaran. This park bore the statue of Antonidas himself, complete with the memorial written by Jaina. "Mike..." she heard her whisper.
"Jaina!?" He hollered back. All he could hear was the whisper of his name. He called again, to no avail. "No," he stopped. "This isn't real."
"Oh," Discord appeared, "it's real, alright. Your home, back to the ones you love...or at least the one." He pointed to the statue, and Jaina came out from behind it. Mike felt a sudden sadness. "I can take you back to here. Your one-way ticket home!" Discord snapped his fingers, and a golden-colored ticket appeared in his hand. He brought it before Mike.
Mike began to reach up, but the retracted his hand. "And jeopardize the ones who you now torment?"
"Hahaha! Torment? I can't even imagine to know what it was like to be ripped from your home!"
"Ripped?" Mike thought. "I-it was an accident!"
"Was it? Did they know what they were doing? Sending you away to be one less problem?" Mike was in awe. "Yes, I know who you are. Junior ambassador, representing the Horde in your widdle council. Now that they don't have such of conflict of personalities to deal with, they feel more at ease."
Mike became angry. "I was appointed to my position because I was able to see past racial bigotry. We were one step closer to peace...and harmony."
Discord looked down at him. "Oh, pish-posh." He teleported next to Mike. "It's time to rearrange your political point of view." Discord placed a finger on Mike's head. Mike immediately knew what he was trying to do. Discord was trying to peer into the very essence of him, when the flashes of Mike's life came by. His first acceptance into the Knights of the Silver Hand, studying to master the art of holy magics, meeting Jaina, Mike's participation in the Third War...his death...and second life.
A discharge of energy sent Discord and Mike in opposite directions. Discord first sat up, breathing heavily. "What...is this?" Mike arose back to his feet. Discord still sat, looking now at his hands. "Your soul...incorruptible because..." he paused, lost in thought, until he looked back up at Mike, "...you don't have one."
"Such was the penalty of falling to the Lich King." He smiled at Discord, "And it also appears to by my immunity to you. Surprised yet?" Discord vanished once again, leaving only Mike in the cleared area. The statue, park, and Jaina disappeared, and all that remained was the ticket that now lay on the ground, until it disintegrated. "COWARD!" Mike yelled at the sky. A section of the hedge dropped, and Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy walked into the clearing.
"Mike!" Twilight seemed relieved to see him. "Thank goodness we found you!" She ran up ahead of the group. "Something's gone wrong with the others."
Mike looked the remaining ponies. What was once a lively bond had now gone dark, and he could no longer feel the warmth of their connection. "I can tell."
"Well, lookie there," Applejack piped up, "Rainbow Dash is flyin' away. She's abandoning us!"
Twilight looked up, "Now I know that's a lie." Mike looked up as well, not expecting to see Rainbow Dash flying upwards and then toward the horizon. "No! It can't be!"
The hedges began to fall around them, until all that was left was the barren, grassless ground. Discord appeared in front of the group. "Well, well, well. Someone broke the no wings/no magic rule." He snapped his fingers, and the missing horns and wings returned to their rightful owners. Even Mike felt his arcane power reawaken within him. "Now it looks like we're due for some eternal chaos!" Discord proclaimed gleefully, opening an inside-out conjured umbrella. Dark clouds began to form in the skies, as lighting crashed through them.
"Not so fast, Discord." Mike said, as he took point in front of the group. "You may have taken the life-force out of these ponies, but you were unable to take it from me." Mike unfurled his arms and said an incantation for a circle of frost around Discord. "Now, you will face true magic! You face organized chaos!" Mike brought down his hands as if to slam a rock against the ground. A circle of runes surrounded Discord, and before he could move, the circle condensed and froze, encasing Discord's feet in ice.
"Impossible!" Discord exclaimed. "No magic like this is conceivable!"
Mike stretched out his arms, hands open, with glowing balls of arcane energy in each. "And you call yourself a master of chaos!" He combined his hands to produce one sphere of energy, which he shot at Discord. "Nothing is impossible where I am from!"
"In that case," Discord responded, breaking the ice at his feet, and catching the arcane blast sphere, "you won't mind if I return the favor." Mike was dumbfounded by what he was seeing. So much so, he was unable to move when Discord shot the arcane ball back at him. When it hit, the blast knocked him back and onto his back. The last thing he saw was pink clouds roll in and the taste of chocolate milk on his tongue.
"Champion." He was back in the darkness, the voices whispering to him again. "You have arrived."
"A champion of what?" Mike called back to the voices. "For who?"
"Equestria."
"Why me?"
"You must fight the needed fight."
"How long was I out this time?" Mike awoke to a painful headache and a burning sensation across his chest.
"Nearly four days." Twilight was at a bedside where he now lay. "I brought you here when your condition became worse. You would fade in and out, saying weird things like 'champion' and 'fight' every once in a while." Mike looked around the room. He must have been taken back to the Canterlot castle. The room was mostly what looked to be marble, shining, with elegant drapery. He turned his attention back to Twilight. She looked as if she hadn't left the room in days. Her eyes were puffed, red and baggy, and her mane was a mess. "What was that all about?"
Mike looked back up at the ceiling. "I'm not sure. But I can tell you it didn't seem like that long for me." He sat up in the bed, and noticed the sun was shining in radiant glory once again. "What happened? Did Discord get away?"
"Hardly." Twilight began to walk to a window. "When you took that blast of energy, something happened to my friends. Here you were, a stranger, with no ties to us or to the rest of Equestria, defending it from disharmony. Your selfless act triggered something within me, and I unknowingly cast a memory spell that cleared them of whatever was wrong. We realized that friendship is always worth fighting for, no matter how impossible it seemed. Even Rainbow Dash came back to us.
"When Discord told us the riddle, I overlooked the phrase 'back where you began.' He meant the Elements of Harmony were in Ponyville. He must not have known the memory spell was cast, because he teleported us to the library, and there they were, inside the 'Elements of Harmony Reference Guide.' Using our powers, we turned him back into stone, where he'll remain forever."
"Well," Mike scratched his head, "at least revealing myself as an offensive magic user wasn't in vain after all."
"About that," a new voice entered the room. Princess Celestia was now standing in the doorway. Twilight immediately bowed. "I believe you may have some explaining to do."
"Ummm..." Mike scuffled about the bed. "You'll forgive me. I'm not exactly in the position to bow."
"No matter." Celestia said, "I only wish to hear the truth as to who you really are."
Mike looked at Celestia, and then at Twilight. She almost seemed to have a saddened look, a disappointed look. Mike sighed, "You really want to know?" Celestia nodded. "My name is Mike, and I am a mage of the neutral faction, the Kirin Tor. I'm a junior representative, speaking on behalf of the faction known as the Horde. I have studied the ways of arcane magic, learning not only defensive spells like teleportation, illusion, and conjuration, but also offensive spells, like arcane blasts and summoning localized blizzards."
"So," Celestia began, "you are a very great threat to the peace and harmony of this land. Power like that should not be held by anypony."
"With all due respect, your highness," Mike knew he was on the defensive, "the mere showing of my magic may or may not have saved this place. Had I not taken my own arcane blast," he pulled up his undershirt, revealing the jagged scar across his chest, "Twilight and her friends wouldn't not have realized the need to fight...for friendship at least." The room was silent as Mike pulled down his shirt. "If fighting is to result in victory, then one must fight."
"And fight we did." Twilight said, as she stood next to him. "Without his selflessness, his willingness to act on our behalf, we would be lost in our own doubt."
Celestia looked at the both of them. "Is this what you believe, Twilight?"
"No," She replied. "It's not what I believe. It's what I know."
Celestia lowered her head and took a deep breath. "I may not like it, but I am forced to agree." She brought her head back up, focusing directly at Mike. "You have great power, power that concerns me, for I have never seen it before." She began to pace from the foot of the bed to the window and back. "This power must be held in check by another user of magic." Mike tilted his head in confusion. "With that in mind, you will remain in Ponyville and Equestria under one condition. You are to teach Twilight Sparkle, my student, in your ways of magic, until you find your way back to your own world. Power like yours needs to be understood." Celestia turned her attention to Twilight. "My faithful student, you are to learn what you can from this stranger. During this time, you are also to aid him in whatever way you can so that he may return home to his own world." She stood before the both of them.
Twilight stood tall. "I'm eager to learn, as always, princess!"
"And Mike," Celestia stood over him now, "Are you willing to show her what you know?"
Mike looked up, "If it means finding a way home, yes, ma'am." He turned toward Twilight, "Though it will not be easy. It has taken me four years of dedicated study to master just one aspect of the arcane."
"Twilight has been one of my fastest and most dedicated learners." Celestia interjected. "She is one of the most eager students that I've ever had in over a thousand years."
Mike uncovered his bed sheets and stood. He was still disoriented from the blast that should have killed him. "Well then, let's get started." He fell backward into the bed. "Tomorrow." He heard both Twilight and the princess giggle.
The next day, most of the disorientation had cleared, and he returned to Ponyville. Before leaving, Mike asked the princess if he could leave a permanent rune in the castle to serve as a portal and teleportation receiver.
"For what purpose would this serve?" Celestia wearingly asked.
"Instant travel to here from wherever I may be." Mike confidently responded. "All I would have to do is conjure a portal, and we can be back in Canterlot in an instant, no matter where I, or Twilight and her friends, might be."
Celestia nodded. "Very well. I just hope it is not too large."
"It won't be," Mike stretched out his arms, "Just about this large," he paused, "and carved into the floor," another pause, "and requiring a lengthy incantation to activate." She looked at Mike in disgust. "It doesn't have to be here. We can always put it outside or in a wing you're not using." Celestia seemed skeptical of the entire idea of having a rune of teleportation placed in her palace, partially since she hadn't ever heard nor seen of a rune before. She told Mike he could place it in the statue garden. When Mike began carving the rune on the marble slab where Discord once stood, she thought the rune to be more a piece of art than a thing of magic.
"That's lovely." She commented. "That is where you will arrive?"
"Yes, princess." Mike had been kneeling, putting the finishing touches on the rune. "Now comes the hard part." He began the exhaustingly long process of activation, or so he thought. The abundance of magic in every corner of the land made channeling magic into the rune go quicker than expected. Mike stood after channeling for thirty minutes, "It is done." That should have taken three hours. Powerful magic, indeed.
"The rune is complete?" Celestia meandered her way back to the slab.
"Charged, active, and ready for a test." Mike took off back into the palace and proceeded to the main chamber. Once there, he removed a rune of teleportation from his pocket and cast the spell. He was immediately pulled back down to the rune in the garden. "Works for me!" Mike turned to the princess. "I'll place another one in Ponyville when I return. If you ever want to drop in, give me the word, and I'll come open a portal for you."
She smiled, "I will. Good luck to you, sir."
The feeling of unknowingness and fear had been replaced by curiosity by the townspeople...or townponies, as many of them came up to Mike as soon as he stepped onto the train platform in Ponyville. His fight against Discord must have spread quickly, as many of the ponies came up to him just to say, "Thank you."
"Mike!" He heard Twilight holler. She was followed closely by the other five Elements. He began to walk to the group to close the distance. When they were but only a few feet from each other, there was an awkward pause of motion from both Twilight and Mike. In Twilight's mind, she wanted to tackle hug him for seeing him again...and Mike wanted to do the same.
"Hi, Twilight. Ladies," he acknowledged the other five. "It's good to see you all again."
"HEY!" Pinkie Pie shouted. "Do you know what this reunion calls for!?" A moment of silence passed. "A PARTY!" And she was off, back to the place where Mike later learned was called "Sugar Cube Corner."
Mike gazed where Pinkie Pie had just stood when Rainbow Dash explained, "Eh, don't worry about her. She's just being Pinkie Pie."
She knows how to throw a party. Mike thought in the festive atmosphere of the tree library. The entire town must have turned out. He was surrounded by Twilight and the rest of her group as the guests of honor. Games we played throughout the night, music was blaring in all corners of the tree. He couldn't imagine a better welcoming party.
At one point in the night, the image of Discord's statue caught the corner of his eye. Mike excused himself from the party, saying, "I just need to step out for some air." Mike stepped out the door of the library, making sure he wasn't seen darting off to Discord's stone form. He approached the statue, remembering their dialog in the maze. "Yes," he said to the statue, "I have no soul. It was consumed when I was raised to serve the Lich King. My soul served to give the Lich King greater power." He began to circle Discord. "I was not alone, however. There were hundreds of other death knights before me, and hundreds after. At the Battle of Light's Hope Chapel, Arthas used us to draw out one single person." He stopped, looking directly at Discord's frozen eye. "It was an unwin-able battle. To be an agent of unholy magic and fight on the most holy ground; we outnumbered them at least ten to one, and yet, we were defeated." He could almost hear Discord ask him why. "The Lich King knew we wouldn't win. He sent us to die. The cleansing of the weapon known as the Ashbringer forced Arthas to retreat, and his connection to us severed. We were free again.
"I chose to go back to Stormwind. I was spat upon the moment I arrived by a guard. Rotten food was thrown at me. I was to be executed. It was only after pleading with King Wrynn that he spared me from execution. We then turned our attention to the only thing we death knights had left: Revenge. And we attained it." Mike placed his hand on Discord's shoulder. "You think being torn away from home was torment? I was reborn from it. Remolded by it. But now, you know too much." Mike began to step back. "And to ensure my secret life is never known to my new friends," two glowing arcane balls appeared in his hands, "I must complete what I started."
Nopony ever knew what caused the statue of Discord to shatter. An investigation was launched by Princess Celestia, but it proved unsuccessful. It remained a mystery.
I think the word 'established' is a good way of putting it. Seven months had passed since the Discord incident. After Mike returned to Ponyville, it was suggested that he try to make some 'bits,' the local form of currency. Celestia had offered to pay for Mike's new flat in Ponyville, but he refused her generosity, saying he wanted to be one with the ponies without having any kind of special treatment. He had no real trade skills, and besides being a mage full time, he had only dabbed in becoming an inscriptionist. The only thing that Mike could think of would be to conjure strudels, pies, water, and even lollipops and sell them to any aspiring unicorn who needed a boost. He even went so far as to ask the local bakers and candy shop owners what the going rates were for their culinary goods.
"I don't want to intrude on your business," he told them both. "I'm just trying to get my foot in the door here." He eventually worked out a deal with the local bakers, Mr. and Mrs. Cake. He would sell in the early morning and weekends, mainly the strudels, and they would sell the rest of the day. They appreciated the relaxed hours, while Mike reeked the benefits of being able to provide for himself again.
Mike had taken residence with Twilight for several weeks before he could get his feet on the ground. After two months of selling mana strudels, he could afford to move out, to what seemed to be to Twilight's dismay. "Spike is usually the only one I have for company at a moment's notice, except for you. But now..."
"Hey, I'll just be right across the way," Mike tried to reassure her as he pointed across the gravel path. "Literally, right across the way. Feel free to drop in any time. You or the other five." At the time, she joked that she would probably be in all the time, but as time went on, the joke became true.
The search for home had hit a dead end for Mike. It seemed that not even the stars could give him a guide to where he was, or even point him in a general direction. Not even the magic of Celestia seemed to help.
In the seven months, Twilight had nearly absorbed all what had taken Mike years to learn. If there ever was a candidate for an archmage, she would be it. Every single teleportation spell they could both conscribe failed, except for the one to Canterlot. In the fifth month of his exile, he began to teach her the offensive side of his craft. "Sure," Mike told her one day, "I could destroy Ponyville by myself if I wanted to, but the instructors in Dalaran beat into us the dangers of too often of magic use. Abuse leads to grave things."
Twilight had been uneasy and uncomfortable when learning offense spells, "Is the line for use always clear?"
"No," Mike sadly answered, "Many have fallen to do unjust and horrid deeds in the name of attaining greater power." Twilight looked away. "Remember when I told you about Kel'Thuzad?"
"How could I forget?" She was still looking away, still troubled by the story, "Lured away from his life, only to serve the Lich King, die, and be resurrected by the person who killed him." She broke away from staring at her tree trunk floor and made contact, "Is the power that great people of your world are willing to do this?"
"Kel'Thuzad is a rare example. The Lich King preyed on his frustrations with the ruling council of the Kirin Tor."
She raised an eyebrow, like the countless times during her studies with him, "What was he frustrated about?"
Mike sighed, "He tried to petition the council to allow students to study the forbidden art of necromancy. When they refused, he set out to do his own experiments anyway." He looked outside to see weather ponies gathering rain clouds for an afternoon shower. "Then he heard the call of Ner'zhul." A drop of rain hit the window as Mike turned back to Twilight to see her placing logs in a fireplace, "I agreed with the council that the practice should be outlawed, but it needed to be studied and understood...instead of mearly cast aside."
"Wouldn't that just make the students want to learn it?" Twilight asked as she prepared the kindling.
Mike walked over to the sofa he had given her as a birthday present and sat, "I'd like to think that just going over the topic would sate their curiosity, or horrify the students, as long as the instructors stressed the dangers of following its path." He concluded just as Twilight managed to start the fire.
"I suppose that could work," she said as she trotted over to him, "I'd still fret the idea that someone would still want to try it."
Mike laid down on his side, "As would I, but the tellings of a necromatic magic user are pretty obvious." She made her way onto the sofa and laid beside him. "They become paler, like the life-force is being drained out of them, and they become extremely paranoid."
Twilight sighed, "Enough depressing talk," she said as she snuggled up to him, "Tell me another story."
"What's the longest you've ever had to survive on this stuff?" A young mare unicorn had walked by to browse Mike's goods on an early morning.
"I haven't ever had to use any of my mana strudels just for survival," Mike responded, "However, when I was on a quest to retrieve some stolen artifacts, I went with a group that had a cook with pretty awful cooking skills. It was nothing from him except burnt worg meat stew with cabbage, stale bread, and rock-hard jerky." Mike shuddered, remembering the cuisine. "I ate the slop, then went back to my quarters and flushed my palate with mage food."
"What's a worg?" The mare asked.
"It's a big wolf-like creature."
She made a disgusted face, "Gross."
"Tell me about it." He put two strudels in a bag and handed them to the mare, who took them with her levitation. "Have a great day."
An hour passed before Mike heard the familiar voice of Twilight, "Hi, Mike!"
Mike's smile reached ear to ear when seeing her, "Good morning, Twilight."
"Isn't it a lovely morning?" She said as she did a twirl.
Mike looked up into the crystal clear morning sky. The afternoon shower the day before had left a cool, damp feel in the air. Some of the ground was still wet, while dew had formed on the grass blades. "I don't think I've yet to experience a bad morning in Ponyville."
"They're so great!" She said as she finally seemed to compose herself. "When I woke up this morning, I had a thought."
"Oh?" Usually this meant she had a question about the previous days studies, "Do ask."
"Well, it's less of a question." Mike kept his full attention to Twilight while handing off a bag of strudels. "There's another pony who lives among the creatures in the Everfree Forest. Somepony who has her own unique magics. Her name is Zecora, and since we've kind of hit an end to our search, we should see what she has to offer."
Mike was intrigued by hearing somepony who lived in the forest. When he first was told the tales of the "dark, mysterious, and dangerous" forest, he simply brushed them off, saying that his entire world was an Everfree forest. "What kind of magic does she practice?"
"Haven't really come up with a name for it," Twilight responded, "but I know she uses many different brews for medicinal purposes."
"I'll have to see her magic in action." Mike stood, waving a hand over the remaining strudels. All but one disappeared; the one remaining he picked up and quickly took a bite. "How far into the forest is it?"
"Not too far." Twilight and Mike began to walk along the path leading to the wooded area, "But far enough that it makes most ponies tremble."
Mike finished off the strudel in one big bite, "An adventure. Let's go!"
Mike had been in the Everfree Forest only a couple of times since his landfall. Once was to assist Fluttershy in the retrieval of lost critters and again to search for three young fillies who referred to themselves as "The Cutie Mark Crusaders." He hadn't quite understood why the ponies of Ponyville feared it so much. The creatures didn't respond to the will of the ponies, the weather moved on its own...it was the closest thing that resembled home for him. The forest was damp, seeping into the clothes Rarity had made for him and weighing him down. "This place reminds me of Un'Goro. Damp woodlands, thick flora," he heard a squish beneath his feet, "Mud...everywhere." Mike looked around at the densely wooded area, "No volcano, though."
"That doesn't make any sense." Twilight responded, "How could there be an area immediately around an active volcano and be so green?"
"No idea." Mike stopped walking, "In fact, I never really thought about it until now."
She gave a small laugh, "Well I wouldn't dwell on it right now. We're here."
"Ah, good," he said as he observed the exterior of the hollowed tree. Interesting, he began to think, masks, totems...she's either a shaman or witch doctor.
Twilight knocked on the door, and less than a moment later it opened to reveal a black and white striped pony with mane shooting upward. "Twilight Sparkle, my good friend! What brings you around the bend?"
"Hello, Zecora!" Twilight jubilantly exclaimed, "I was wondering if you had any more of that tea I like."
The zebra turned, "Of course, I always have it in store. Perhaps this time I should send you with..." she stopped speaking when Mike stepped through, "...more." They met eyes and stood, not really knowing what to make of each other.
"Oh," Twilight caught on in the awkward moment, "Zecora, this is Mike...a human."
"A pleasure." Mike did a quick bow. "I'm told you have some magical prowess."
Zecora said nothing. She simply stood beside a caldron that seemed to take up a majority of the room. A nervous moment passed as Mike saw her gaze on his figure, up and down with great detail, almost as if she was trying to peer into him.
"Anyway, Zecora," Twilight broke the silence, "I was wondering if you might be able to help in a common problem we both have."
"For you, Twilight, I will gladly aid," Zecora turned to Twilight and smiled, "Now what is this that keeps you at bay?"
"As you may notice," Mike started, unsure how she would react, "I'm not a native here." Zecora looked up, still giving him an uneasy eye. "There was a freak magic accident involving portals that led me here. With Twilight's help, I've exhausted all portal knowledge that may have otherwise sent me home."
Zecora's demeanor eased slightly, "A wayward wanderer, and home is lost. This must fill your heart with frost."
"Only to be thawed by Twilight and her friends," he gladly replied. "I don't think I could have fallen into better company."
The zebra moved toward Twilight, "A good friend," she grinned while bringing her gaze to her, "will always help after the fall. No matter the size, big, or small."
The three spent the rest of the remaining daylight to talk and practice magical techniques, honing methods, and theoretical practices. Mike was amazed how a non-unicorn knew so much of pony magic. "Minds clear, and free of doubt," she began as Mike sat centered above a pond, "and home will come about. Focused visions are our aims; pictures of forests, deserts, and plains." Twilight was keeping Mike levitated while channeling power that would, theoretically, boost the range of his runes. When he felt the rune held all the magic it could, he attempted to cast a portal back to Dalaran. The rune began to glow, then turned burning in Mike's hand. The rune then shot a bolt of magic at Twilight, ceasing her concentration, and sending Mike into the water. When he surfaced, Zecora waved him back to the shoreline. By the time he reached land, Twilight was staggering back to all fours. "Wha-" she started, "What happened? Did he make the portal?"
Mike looked back out over the water where he'd just been, and saw only empty air, "No," he said as he inspected his red hand, "Just another failed attempt."
Zecora trotted over to him and took his hand in hoof, looking at the injury, "Our work is far from through. But at least we know what not to do."
"Quite." Twilight said, still dazed from the incident.
"Are you alright?" Mike asked while Zecora disappeared into a thicket of bush.
"Yes, I'm fine," Twilight responded, before looking at his hand, "What happened? Have you ever had something happen like that?"
Mike removed another rune from his pocket, "No," he said while inspecting it, "I've never had that happen to me." He sat on the soft grass, looking at his injured hand. The rune had left a seared, black impression in his hand, and was singed in areas. Blisters were beginning to show. "Maybe I'm too far."
His hand was taken by Twilight's magic. "You can't be. You said in the past you've been able to teleport to other planets."
"Draenor was close," Mike said as the healing magic of Twilight went at the burns. He winced, "Like telescope-range close." He felt the magic in his hand cease, and the once pink flesh returned. "Thanks."
"You're welcome." Twilight responded, "I wish we could show healing magic."
"I know you would," Mike put the rune back into his pocket, "but do you remember what I said about the Burning Legion?"
Twilight knelt before sitting on all fours, "Yes, unfortunately."
Zecora burst through the bushes, carrying a bottle in her mouth. "This will make you twist and turn, but it will help with the burn."
"No need," Mike replied, showing her his palm. "I managed to resurrect some of the things they taught us about healing magics."
She put the bottle on the ground, "What magical powers you have. I do hope they've never been used for bad."
"Depends," Mike began as he stood, "by what you mean bad. I used to turn people into sheep for fun."
Zecora raised a brow. "Oh," Twilight chimed in, "It's a spell called polymorphing."
"It's quite funny, turning people into animals." Mike removed the top layer of his robes, laying them out on a nearby branch. "They just wander around on the floor or roll over." Zecora and Twilight had a brief giggle of imagining the bipedal humanoids trying to walk on four legs.
The sun was just beginning to set, "Well, it looks like we'll have to pick this up again some other time. I just realized I left Spike at the library all by himself."
"You go ahead." Mike called back, "I'll catch up. There are a few things I'd like to discuss with Zecora here." Throughout the afternoon, Mike couldn't help but feel Zecora's presence, always keeping watch of him, noting his moves and actions. He also couldn't shake the feeling of being torn apart, like someone had opened up a chest, and was searching for something.
"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow!" Twilight called out before disappearing in a thicket. Zecora had taken Mike's robes in mouth and thrown them on her back.
"I think you need to ask me some things." Mike said slyly.
"I know not of what you-"
"Don't toy with me." He interrupted, "You've been watching me since the first moment you saw me. And I can't help but to feel like you're always trying to get a read on my soul. I can feel your presence come in and out."
"We must not talk in this place." She started. "To my home, and keep pace!"
Zecora reached the tree hut before Mike had. A burst of blue flame appeared when he walked in the door. "I know of what you are, stranger from afar."
Mike turned his head, then turned back to Zecora, "Are you sure?"
"You bring about unholy rule, ice that kills, and ghouls that drool. You take life and power, and leave only dower."
Mike didn't know how she knew of his former life. "I don't think you understand-"
"You take all things that live and are bright." She cut in. "For you, are one of the fabled death knights." Mike brought his hands to his mouth, like he was about to pray to the gods, and began to pace. "I DID look into your soul, and much to my surprise, I saw only a hole. Left you only a shell of a man, to serve a master with a plan."
He stopped, "How do you know about that?" he said without bringing his gaze up.
"In voodoo magics, we do the same," She brought a hoofful of green powder out of a bag, which gave Mike a sickly feeling. She took another bag, and dumped out a dead rat...or what used to be a dead rat, after Zecora threw the green powder on it. "Zombies, of the same game. Ours can be controlled, without having death in the toll."
Mike had a hand behind his back during the resurrection. He immediately summoned a small fireball and took aim at the rat, incinerating it in one hit and leaving only ashes. "I don't do that now," he said, readjusting himself, "I'm only a mage."
"A responsible one, that is for sure," she said as she swept the ashes of the rat, "So destroying Ponyville, it did not occur?"
"Of course not." Mike was appalled by Zecora even asking, "Destroy those who housed me, fed me, gave me new life, no pun intended, when I was in my hour of greatest need?"
Zecora had finished sweeping the remains outside. "A rebuilt heart, but one made of rage. I hope you can keep it in your cage."
Mike frantically walked over to where she was standing and threw himself before her. "Please don't tell them." He put his hands on her shoulders, "It will undo everything I have worked so hard to achieve."
"You're secret," she brought her hooves in his hands, "is locked with me. As long as Ponyville stays intact, and free."
"I'd rather incinerate myself before harming anypony in that town." He looked off into Ponyville's direction. "Some of those ponies could still get me home."
"This may make you groan," Zecora started, saddened, "but Equestria may be your new home."
Mike took his still wet robes over and arm and walked to the door, "I still have hope we can find it. I haven't given up yet."
She would come over now and again, and sometimes during the night. She would talk of how she felt like she knew she could talk to the others of the Mane Six (as he called them), but how she seemed to want to go to him first, since they had something in common. "Certainly there's someone you miss, too. Someone close." This was another lonely night for her. She would talk of her brother most nights, how before she came to Ponyville, he was the one that she was the closest to, and how Mike reminded her of him.
"Well," Mike began, "there was one. Kind of a professional relationship that turned personal."
"Oh?" She seemed excited to hear a story from him. "Tell me about her."
"She was another powerful magic user." Twilight curled under his arm. "Long, golden hair, river blue eyes, a personality not too far away from yours." He felt her look up at him. "A natural leader, only when she needed to be. She was a master of teleportation, teleporting entire regiments of soldiers to where they needed to be." Mike sighed, "She was the last person I saw before I was transported here." Mike felt Twilight's gentle breath on his neck, as she gave a nod to indicate she was still awake. "She was the Alliance representative in Dalaran, and I was the Horde. You would think that being advocates for opposing factions would drive a rift between us, but it was quite the opposite. Because we knew each other, and because we could tell when one of us was full of ourselves, we had to be honest. We knew what needed to be done." He missed her...badly. "Light knows they need me there now...that she needs me there now." Twilight had fallen asleep in his arms, like all the previous nights. She must really miss her brother. He didn't object to being a temporary replacement.
Mike got up and tucked Twilight in his bed. "Goodnight," he said as he gently placed his hand on her head. He tried his best to quietly walk out of the one-story home he was renting. He once again would go outside, go to the nearest empty pasture, and lay on his back and observe the heavens. The only time this process was interrupted was when old Granny Smith was banging her pots and pans, shouting "The zap apples are a-comin'!"
A full moon shone brightly on this night. Why can I not find any of my stars? Mike had spent most of the nights since he first arrived pondering whether he would ever see Dalaran again. I just...want to...see...her... He drifted asleep.
"It seems you have a choice to make." A shadowy figure of a pony came swooping down in his dream.
This wasn't the first time he had seen the alicorn. "And what choice is that?" Mike called back.
Princess Luna was now visible in the dream's moonlight, "Do you want to go back?"
Mike looked at the moon, at the ground, and gave a long sigh, "At this point, I can take it or leave it." He began to pace. "Twilight and I have been through every single book in her library, the palace library, even the magic repository in the Starswirl the Bearded Wing." He ground a rock into the dirt with his foot. "It seems every day, getting back is becoming more of an impossibility."
"That may be part of it," Luna approached him, "but there is more, isn't there?"
Mike brought his eyes to hers, "I have...grown attached to the six. I've seen some strange things happen in my time, but if seven months ago if someone would have told me I'd be enjoying myself with ponies that could talk, I would have thought them crazy and walked away. But that is exactly what has happened." Mike turned toward the moon. "I've never felt so..."
"Loved?" Luna asked.
"That," Mike replied. "And warm."
Luna trotted to his side, "That is an odd thing to feel."
"It's one of the first feelings I had when I arrived." Mike recalled to when he fell out of Equestria's sky. "The feeling of warmth and harmony. Grant it, I do also feel the overwhelming presence of love here. It must resonate so much...it makes its own power."
The light of the moon disappeared in an instant. He heard the familiar whisper in the total darkness, "And you...you will be called to defend it."
"Seven months you had let me alone." Mike called out to the dark. "I was beginning to wonder if the first two visits were just delusions."
"You know there are no such thing as delusions when you have died, death knight." A bright figure now appeared. It was another pony, ghostlike in color, clad in ancient armor that he had seen in the books of Canterlot, wings, bigger than those of the largest alicorn. The voice was louder now, speaking in a smooth, gentle female tone, and finally a gleaming, smiling face was visible. "Only a fool would believe the dead can go insane."
Mike could do nothing but look at the ominous mare spirit figure. Moments passed before he could finally mutter out, "How do you know-"
The figure interrupted, "We know much, death knight. For it was us...who re-birthed you into the world."
"Re-birthed? That would mean..." He made a fist, "The val'kyr. The Lich King's servants in the realm of spirits." Mike paused, "The reanimators of the dead," he angrily concluded.
"We are the val'kyr who serve this realm, and we dare not use the magic to raise the fallen." Other spirits began to form out of the darkness. "I was once known as Bulwark. Three thousand years ago, I was burdened with the glorious purpose of the defense of this kingdom. When I passed two thousand years later, I was given the honor to continue my purpose in the afterlife. Celestia and Luna took my place as the watchers in the mortal realm. One thousand years passed with no enemies from whom to defend our kingdom. When the Lich King was first created by the one called Kil'jaden, Ner'zhul's energies were felt by all aspects of the universe. We rose to defend this peaceful place from them." They approached Mike, "And now, you will be called to defend it in the mortal form."
"Why me?" Mike asked.
An ancient colt spoke, "I am the one called Stronghold. Since that time, many of Equestria have forgotten to do what is necessary. We were able to defend the concept of the Scourge invasion and the creation of an army of the damned, but alas, the magic of disharmony and suffering managed to slip through our shield. Thus, the first to succumb to these feelings was the one known as Discord."
Bulwark began to shine, "Because we failed, we gave the gift of the Elements of Harmony to our heirs, the Princess sisters, and together, they managed to defeat those who were tainted by the effects of Ner'zhul."
"Wait," Mike spoke, "The creation of Ner'zhul wasn't one thousand years ago. It was more along the lines of-"
"The passing of time is different here," Bulwark said. "You have only been gone for less than a day on Azeroth."
"I see." Mike replied. "Please, continue."
Another mare took over, "Once, I was known as Bastion. But we did not foresee the corruption of Luna. Because she was the younger, she was more susceptible to the remnant negative energies. She began to doubt herself and her purpose as the bringer of night."
"I thought her corruption that lead her down the path to becoming Nightmare Moon was due to her jealousy." Mike commented.
"That did not help." The val'kyr continued, "Jealousy and doubt are two very dangerous feelings, especially when they are affecting one very powerful alicorn in conjunction."
Bulwark shone again, "But Celestia was able to wield the Elements herself, a feat once thought impossible, and had the heart to only banish her sister to the moon."
"The history of Equestria I am quite familiar with." Mike responded. He felt like Twilight was giving him another one of her lectures. "What does this have to do with me?"
"In the one thousand years before your arrival," Bulwark answered, "ponies of Equestria have since forgotten what it is to do what is necessary. To bring a permanent solution instead of simply banishing or freezing in stone."
Mike thought, "To bring a permanent solution? I don't understand."
The light of the val'kyr began to fade. "The one known as Twilight Sparkle is coming. Know this, champion," Their light continued to fade, "in order to defend those who you love, you will need to accept his gift again."
"Who's gift?"
Mike sprang back to the waking world after the val'kyr departed. He awoke to find Twilight and Spike hovering over him. "Is he gonna be okay?" he heard Applejack ask in the distance.
"Yes, I assure you I'm quite alright." Mike sat up in the cool morning air, "Just fell asleep out here."
Twilight breathed a sigh of relief, "Good, we thought you had gone crazy and gone somewhere."
Mike thought to himself, Ha, the dead can't go crazy, just like she said. "Oh, I went somewhere," Mike replied, "but it was only in a dream." He turned to the dragon, "Spike, I require your assistance later when you have a quill and paper."
"What for?" Spike asked.
Twilight backed up to give him room to stand. "Is everything alright?"
"Of course," Mike tried to sound as reassuring as he could as he stood. "I simply need to know what the princess wants me to teach you now that you have learned the offensive side of the arcane."
Twilight's eyes lit up. "There's more?"
Mike had not shown Twilight fire spells. He believed that the very nature of their destructive nature would make her see him as just another war-monger, like Hellscream. Mike had told her of Hellscream's brutal Northrend offensive and his overall barbaric nature during the wake of the cataclysm. "There's so much more!" Mike excitedly told Twilight. "I haven't shown you conjuration yet."
"Can we start today?" Twilight asked.
"Oh, darling," Rarity spoke up, "I thought we were to have a picnic this afternoon."
"Oh, right," Twilight brought her hoof to her face, "I forgot about that." She looked toward Mike, "Looks like we'll just have to wait on those. It sounds exciting!"
"Why not do both?" Mike suggested. "It's not that too terribly hard. We could work it in at the picnic. Might be able to sample some delicious mana cake."
"I'm up for that!" Pinkie Pie said as she bounced around the group.
"Well, I will see you all this afternoon then." The six were about to disperse when Spike belched a letter bearing the insignia of Canterlot royalty. The letter was promptly grabbed by Twilight's levitation before hitting the ground, and unscrolled.
Twilight made a quick buzz through the letter, but got to a point where she looked up at Mike, then read through the letter again. "That's odd," Twilight finally said. "Mike, you've been called to see not only Princess Celestia, but also Princess Luna requests an audience."
Mike had a feeling he already knew what they would be discussing. The val'kyr must have pulled Mike out of the dream with Luna quite suddenly and without any prelude. "Most peculiar," he rubbed his chin after inspecting the letter himself. It appeared to have been written hastily.
"Any idea what it's going to be about?" Twilight curiously asked. "Maybe future lessons?"
"No idea." Mike had to answered. "I'm just as curious to find out what this summons means." He looked at Twilight, and she still had the image of an eager student waiting for the next class. "However, I shouldn't delay the dear princesses. I will return with the answer in time for cake."
Celestia herself was waiting at the receiving rune. "It appears you have more to tell us, stranger." She hadn't called him 'stranger' since the day he arrived.
"Ma'am?" Mike was surprised in the aggravated tone of Celestia's voice. Something else had also caught his attention. The feeling of great warmth was there, as it always had been when close to the princess, but there was another energy. A familiar energy to him that left a rotted sour taste in his mouth. He knew he had felt it before, but was too distracted by the distraught mood of the princess to fully analyze what magic it was.
"Don't 'ma'am' me, stranger." Mike could tell Celestia was furious. Being ripped from the dream state must be bigger of an event that he thought it would have been. She began to walk back to the palace. "My sister was trying to have a conversation with you, a conversation that would have determined your future here in Equestria. And you were pulled away from her when she could sense that your heart was open and honest." She was silent until they reached the throne room, where he saw Princess Luna flanking the throne. "Just why did you come here?" Celestia finally asked after five minutes of stern silence. "Did you run out of war on your planet and must now go elsewhere?"
"Princess, please." Mike tried to console, "It was not me who-"
"I possess the ability to keep subjects asleep during the dream." Luna interrupted. "But you managed to elude this power. How?"
"It wasn't me who got away. The val'kyr of this place-"
Celestia made a sour face. "The val'kyr? Those are just myths we tell to young colts and fillies. They do not exist."
"I can tell you that they do, for certain, exist," Mike began. "In fact, one of them-"
"To believe we gave you sanctuary," Celestia cut him off this time, "and you devise this story to keep us from the truth. You have some nerve to speak of such insults."
Mike had to make a firm stance, "Princesses, please! Bulwark was trying to explain to me-"
Neither princess had expected to hear him say that name. Feelings and appearances of rage and frustration were replaced by dumbfoundedness. "We have never spoken the name of our mother to you. How do you know it?"
"She told me." Their expressions didn't change. "I know you don't believe me, but what I say is truth. I left my dream because she pulled me out of it."
"That's impossible." Celestia was trying to make sense of what she had just heard. "We believed that the val'kyr only existed in fairy tales and legends. But," she stopped, "she was right. All this time, we scoffed her."
"Sister," Luna had walked to Celestia's side, "do not fret, we both believed that they were not true." Luna turned to Mike, "Are you sure it was them?"
"I am as sure it was them as I am sure I am standing before you," he confidently replied. He went on to describe the ancient armor of the val'kyr, and the cutie mark of the Bulwark, a shield with sword sheathed behind it. "Bulwark and others are protecting your kingdom in the realm of spirits."
Luna and Celestia turned their attention to each other, and they embraced as they began to weep. The sight of them in tears made even Mike become teary-eyed. "Mother..." Celestia said between a sob, "We loved you..."
"Fear not, Princesses." Mike came down to console them, "I saw her face." They turned to him, "It was bright, shining, always smiling during the time I was there. It was the last thing I saw before I was awakened."
"Always smiling," Luna tearfully said, "Just like in life."
"It was her and the other val'kyr that have brought me to Equestria." Mike told the two. "Apparently, I have some greater purpose here."
"What purpose?" Celestia asked as she was trying to come back to normal.
"I am not sure." Mike crossed his arms. "This is not the first time I have had to deal with val'kyr. They often talk in code and rhetoric, not revealing events that are to come."
"You talked to them on Azeroth?" Luna asked.
"Not exactly," Mike turned and walked a few steps, giving the alicorns space. "We fought them." Luna and Celestia's mouths dropped with surprise. "The val'kyr of my realm were different. They were enslaved by the Lich King, spreading death wherever they roamed...sometimes worse."
"What is worse than death?"
"Undeath." Mike's spine shivered, "They were the reanimators of the dead, making the Lich King's unholy army. But they, and the Lich King, were defeated."
"I see," Celestia had come back to her senses, "Back to the val'kyr of Equestria. Did they say anything that you could understand?"
Mike shook his head, "Not much. The only words I have managed to understand them say have been 'champion.' and 'defend."
"You spoke those words when you were unconscious after the Discord incident."
"So I was told." Mike thought, "I believe..." He brought his hand to his chin, "...I am to champion some cause in the name of Equestria."
The sisters looked confused, "What cause?" They both asked.
"That," Mike drew in a large amount of air, "I must discover." He strolled over to the open veranda and gazed down on the ponies of Canterlot. So much of the city reminded him of Dalaran, down to the fountains. He had a dreadful thought, "Whatever the purpose, it may mean that trouble is on the way."
A guard burst through the chamber door, "Princess Celestia!"
"I am not to be disturbed at this moment, captain." Celestia agitatedly scorned at the guard.
"I would not interrupt if it weren't important. We have just received this letter. A civilian found it nailed to a statue in Harmony Square." The blue-mane, white coat guard was breathing heavily. "It speaks of action against Canterlot, directly calling out an attack on the day of the wedding."
"Wedding?" Mike asked as he attempted to look over Celestia's shoulder.
"You haven't heard there yet?" Celestia asked as she was still reading. "The wedding of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Captain Shining Armor is all the other ponies in Canterlot seem to be able to talk of. You and your Ponyville friends are invited to come."
"Well," Mike turned to the guard, "hopefully this won't be a rain on the parade."
"I know Cadance would be disappointed." The guard stared at Celestia, "If anything were to happen on our wedding day, a lot of other ponies could be in jeopardy."
Mike brought his chin up to the stallion. "Ah, so you're the older brother of Twilight Sparkle." Armor's head quickly turned to Mike, "She has told me many stories concerning you."
He gave a chuckle, "Well I hope they were all in good nature." He looked down, and back with saddened eyes, "How is she?"
"She is well," Mike said with a smile. "She misses her brother greatly."
Shining Armor patted at the ground, "I know she does. And I miss her, but I hope we will see each other soon. Hopefully later today."
"Is that when the wedding is?" Mike inquired.
"No," Armor responded, "but we're asking Twilight and her friends to help with it."
"I am sure they will all say yes," Mike said with a grin. "Although a little bit of a short notice."
"This looks bleak." Celestia said with a hint of concern. "No direct person is called out in the attack. The only real warning I can see is here, where it says 'Your love will be ours.'" The room fell silent, as everyone tried to process what the warning could mean. Celestia turned to Shining Armor, "Shining Armor, as head of the royal guard, I am entrusting you to guard this city. Use whatever means you need, including the city-wide protection spell."
"Yes, princess." Shining Armor saluted, "I will cast one right away." He ran out of the room.
"As for you...champion," Celestia spoke to Mike, "I hope you can forgive us for our overreaction."
"None needed," Mike started, "I would have done the exact same thing. Sometimes better an overreaction than none at all."
"Very well." Celestia took out a quill and paper, "As your first order of business as champion, I need you to deliver this message to Twilight and the others requesting their assistance in the royal wedding."
"And I have just sent the invitation to Spike," Luna added. "They should receive them almost at the same time."
Celestia gave Mike the rolled up paper. "Go to them immediately and bring them here. We will discuss the situation with them when they arrive."
A crack of thunder echoed through the hall, and a beam of purple erupted from outside. The beam shot straight into the air before reaching a point and fanning out, encasing the city in the magic shield. Mike looked at the sisters, "I will return shortly."
Celestia looked to Luna, "Go rest, my sister. You will need your strength for the night. I will speak to the six."
"A Canterlot wedding!?" Rarity exclaimed before fainting into the tall grass. Mike had beat Spike to the picnic sight. When Spike finally arrived with the invitation with her brother's name on it, she was understandably furious.
"Twilight," Mike was trying to explain, "he wanted to tell you in person. But-"
"I can't believe my own brother wouldn't even tell me he was getting married!" She levitated a sandwich, "'Oh, I'm Princess Mi Amore Cadenza,'" she said as she manipulated the bread to mimic talking. "Who in the hoof is that!?"
Twilight had gotten to the point where she was visibly shaking. "Ummm, Twilight?" Fluttershy softly flew in by her side, "are you going to be alright?"
"Sorry," Twilight walked off the checkered sheet, "it's just...before I came here to learn the importance of friendship, he was the only pony I accepted as a friend. Ever since I moved here, we've been seeing each other less and less." She looked toward Canterlot. Shining Armor's shield was visible around the city even from their distance. "I guess I missed him more than I realized."
"Well," Mike broke the sad silence, "we need to make haste. The princess is expecting us immediately. The situation has become a little more...complicated." His words fell on ears that weren't paying attention.
"Just cast the portal." Twilight begrudgingly said.
"Right."
Fluttershy was the last to make it through the portal before a quick flip of Mike's hand shut it. The energy of the shield was resonating so much an audible hum could be heard. The rotten sour taste was still present, at least to Mike. "Alright, ladies," he addressed the group, "I must speak with Celestia to be briefed on the situation. I'm sure you're all eager to get to work," he turned to Twilight, "and I'm sure you're eager to see your brother."
"Yeah," she said as she trotted off, "to give him a piece of my mind!"
Oh, dear. I hope you have a spell that will soften harsh words. Mike made his way up to the main chamber, but Celestia was not sitting on her throne. "Guard, where is the Princess?"
"She is in the observation wing." The stallion pointed to a flight of upward stairs. A quick jog up what seemed to be at least four floors led Mike to a lookout balcony. The princess was peering through a moderate telescope.
"Princess," Mike announced his presence, "Any more intelligence on the threat?"
"Only little." She continued to look through the telescope. "We have learned that the threat has come from the outer regions of the kingdom, in the domain of Queen Chrysalis."
"The name doesn't even sound pleasant." Mike commented. "Any particularly telling characteristics they possess?"
"From what we have in the royal repository, she is queen of the Changelings." Even though she seemed to be steadfast in her stance, she sounded disturbed and uneasy. "Shapeshifters, capable of taking any form through evil magic."
"What kind of evil magic?" Mike asked as another brilliant purple beam went skyward.
"We aren't sure," she responded as Shining Armor's beam created another layer around the city, "but we do know it's an ancient power, one that our ancestors had to fight."
Mike's attention shifted to a whisper in his ear, "Accept the gift." He recognized Bulwark's voice.
"Mike, are you still there?" Celestia waved her hoof in front of Mike's face a few times before he snapped back to reality. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
"Sorry, I ...I heard Bulwark's voice in my ear." Mike felt dizzy and leaned against the tower's railing.
"Really? What is she saying?"
"The only thing I heard was 'accept the gift.' That's the last thing she told me when I awoke from my last dream."
"What gift?"
"I have no idea." The dizziness had passed and Mike stood erect again, "The last gift I received was a basket full of socks." She finally turned away from the telescope to raise an eyebrow and gave a huff of a laugh. "What? I go through socks quick."
"That, I can understand." She turned back, "Mike, onto serious affairs."
"Of course."
"I need you to watch over the kingdom. I cannot observe every last inch of Canterlot, and I can't seem to shake the feeling that there may already be agents inside the city. Because you are new and foreign to those in the outer regions, they will not know how to react to you. If you see anyone suspicious, detain them."
"In what manner would you like me to hold them?"
She still had her back turned to Mike, but he could almost hear her smirk. "Put them on ice."
He gave a grinning nod. "As you wish, princess." He turned to begin the decent back to the palace grounds when he saw the shape of Twilight bouncing up and down. Behind her was her brother, and in front was an alicorn he didn't recognize. "Who is that? The other alicorn?"
Celestia didn't even have to glance. "That is Princess Mi Amore Cadenza."
"Ah, the bride to be." Mike responded. "I believe it's time for an introduction."
Well, that was a disappointment, was all that Mike could think after introducing himself to Princess Cadenza. I've heard of grouchy brides, and not only is she one, she's the queen of them all! Mike had spent the remaining day among the ponies of the city, which mainly consisted of visiting the local outdoor bistro and carefully observing ponies as they walked by. He realized the criticality of his assignment, but he couldn't shake the feeling of the familiar magic now in the city. Perhaps the magic he had taught Twilight was showing outward effects. No, I would have felt that in Ponyville. The only thing different is...Cadenza, he thought as he sipped on a glass of wine. Maybe she already knows of the arcane. The magic of Azeroth was almost all arcane in nature, except for shamanistic and druidic spells. Even the healing magic of priests had the arcane base. Maybe this is a new form.
The sun had set behind the mountains when he saw Princess Luna fly through a hole in the shield that closed behind her. "Night time," he muttered quietly to himself. I should go give my report.
"Oh hey, Mike." Spike was passing by.
"Hey Spike. What's the good word?"
"I'm still planning the bachelor party. It's going to be epic!"
Mike scratched his head. "I know it's customary, at least in my realm, to have the bachelor party the night before the wedding. Is that not true here?"
"Uh oh," Spike said, "So...I'm supposed to have it tonight, aren't I?"
Mike decided to help, "You don't know what a bachelor party is, do you?"
Spike hung his head, "No...I don't."
"It's alright, bud." Mike stood from his chair, leaving behind a few bits on the table. "For my realm, a bachelor party was always a party night," he explained as they walked along the cobblestone street, "There was a running gag in my society that the party was seen as one last night of freedom for the groom, where we would partake in acts of debauchery with our best male friends, and those of the fairer gender that may have questionable morals. Cigars were smoked, many casks of ale were consumed, fights were had. We made our ancestors proud." He looked down at the dragon. Mike got the sense that he couldn't keep up with what was being told to him. "Since this is a place of peace and harmony, I really don't know how that would work. I suppose a night of indulgence on sweets to the point of self-loathing would do."
Spike snapped his fingers, "That's a great idea! I gotta go talk to Donut Joe. Thanks for the suggestion!" And he was off into the night. The only thing that Mike could do was smile and shake his head as he began to make his way back to the palace. The streets by this time were devoid of ponies, save for the guards that would pass by two at a time. Celestia must have informed him of his assignment, for other ponies would be stopped and questioned. The only time he stopped was when he was at the palace entrance.
"Who goes there?" He heard Luna call down from the observation balcony.
"It's just me." Mike called back.
"Ah, good," the princess called back down. "Any luck?"
"No, ma'am. Nothing to report," Mike said as he entered.
"Very well. Stay indoors. Celestia's orders."
She doesn't have to tell me twice. Two teleports, a portal, and the mission have exhausted me, Mike thought as he reached his palace suite. I wonder what the val'kyr are going to tell me tonight. A quick change into pajamas and a dive into bed was all that separated him from sleep, but he was overcome with a feeling of sickness. The feeling did not last long, but the rotten sour taste was now more present than before. Mike brushed it off as a reaction to something he ate. He changed and was about to crawl into the bed when a lone green spark came in through the window. Odd, he thought, I've never seen this color of magic here before. He reached out to collect the fragment of magic in his hand, caught it in his cupped hand, and closed it, absorbing the magic of the spark. He was filled with the feeling of overwhelming power for several seconds before it faded. It was a nice feeling to end the day, and crawled into bed. Mike had just pulled the covers over him when he longed for the feeling again. "Maybe tomorrow," he spoke to himself, "we can find whoever made that spark."
His mind violently responded, "NO! NOW! MORE!"
Mike sat up, putting his face in both his hands. He was surprised at his mind's reaction. The need for power, I've never felt such a strong demand for it, except in rogue warlocks and mages...no, not here. That's impossible. The thirst for the power faded, and he promptly fell asleep.
Mike awoke the next morning having not been visited by the val'kyr. A note had been slid under his door. Mike stood from his bed, stretched, and opened the note.
"Dearest Mike, I hope you have found your accommodations suitable. I will be with the parties of the bride and groom today for the rehearsal ceremony, so I will not be able to hear your full report on yesterday. If you could simply write a short summary, and do the same for today up until the time for the wedding, I would appreciate it. Signed, Princess Celestia."
Great, Mike sighed at he finished the last of the letter, More boring, meaningless quests to do for the good of the state. The rehearsal was to be that morning, which he no doubted slept through, with the wedding to be that afternoon. He slowly dressed himself and began to walk to the bistro when a frantic Spike ran up to him.
"Mike! You missed it!
Mike looked up to the sun. It was still clearly morning. "Missed what?"
"Twilight's gone all protective and possessive on her brother," Spike managed to get out between pants. "She interrupted the rehearsal, calling Princess Cadance evil. She accused Cadance of keeping Shining Armor under some kind of spell. But anyway, Cadance ran off crying, and now Twilight isn't even in the wedding."
"Intriguing," Mike concernly said, bring hand to chin. "Where is she now?"
"Last I saw her, she was in the main hall."
"I should go to her, " Mike started to pace toward the hall, "See what went wrong."
"But she's gone crazy!"
"And the crazy times are the times that people need to listen the most." Mike exclaimed. "It's not like Twilight to act out without some kind of reason. She's got something on her mind, and she needs someone to talk to."
Spike ran off, "Well, good luck with that. I need to go get ready!"
Mike could feel the unease that was permeating the city due to Twilight's supposed outburst. "Can you believe her?" and "I don't know why she would do such a thing" were the only conversations he heard as he passed through the gathering crowds. He arrived at the main hall that was being guarded by spearponies.
"Gentlecolts, if you would?"
"What's your business?" One of them asked.
"I'm here to see Twilight."
"She's not to be allowed inside for the remainder of the ceremony." The other rebuked.
"Then where is she?" Mike asked.
"Elsewhere in the palace."
"Then again," the opposite guard said, "we never saw her leave the room." The guard's horn glowed and the door opened slightly. "Make it quick."
"Thank you." Mike said to the guard as he entered the main hall. Palace Pegasi were setting up decor throughout the hall. Fine, white drapery were being hung on pillars, but Twilight was nowhere to be found. "Has anyone seen Twilight?" He called out to the nearest Pegasus.
"Nope," one responded, "and why would we want to?"
"Oh, I'm just here to make sure she stays clear of the wedding," Mike lied.
"Good," another piped up, "We don't need another outburst like that."
Mike couldn't shake the feeling that a great energy had been spent in the hall. He approached the steps where the bridesmaids would stand, and the remnant energy became greater. The Pegasi had completed their work and flew off. At the center of the alter, the energy was the greatest. Mike circled around the alter setup to ensure the magic was the most intense at that particular spot. He basked in the energy for only a moment before keeling over and falling to his knees. He braced himself with one hand, while the other arm was clinching his stomach. He rolled off the focal spot, finally able to breathe again. He stood after laying on the ground, wobbling, when another green spark floated down from the air. The current of air made by the Pegasi must have kept it airborne.
He cupped it in his hand. "TAKE IT!" His mind screamed. "YOU WANT IT!"
I know not what this is, he thought back. This could end me for all I know.
"WORTH IT! ABSORB IT!" His mind demanded.
I will not.
"ABSORB IT!"
No, he defiantly commanded his mind to accept. After forcing his mind to calm, it felt like a small piece of it fragmented out. The green spark in his hand started to spin, becoming faster until it burst into a shower before dissipating. Of all the things I've experienced, what drives a person or pony to think they need constant power just to survive? What possesses them to-
Possess.
Shadow magic.
Fel magic...the magic of demons.
My dearest Princess Celestia,
My observation assignment yesterday proved fruitless. No suspicious activity was found. However, I must report on a most disturbing revelation I had just now in the main hall, where the wedding is to be had. l sensed a great energy there, the same energy that I have been feeling since I have arrived last in Canterlot. Not to bring you or Luna to alarm, but I have felt this power on Azeroth as well. It is the feeling of an unquenchable desire for power, and the need to sustain oneself with its steady flow...at the expense of others. This is the unknown ancient magic that you discussed with me on the previous day. Unfortunately, this kind of magic has a name in my realm. It is known as fel magic, or the magic of warlocks and demons. It is a corrupting, destructive, and manipulative kind of magic, and is not to be underestimated.
I fear that this magic may have been unleashed against Twilight after her incident this very morning. I wish to know if there was anypony else in the room other than Twilight, the wedding parties, and yourself.
Your faithful subject,
Mike
P.S. The audible hum of the shield is less today, as is its color. Please let Shining Armor know.
Mike hoped the letter had found the princess before he arrived at the wedding. Mike was dressed in a tuxedo that Rarity had made for the next Grand Galloping Gala, but decided this was the best opportunity to show off her adaptive skills. He waved off a guard as he earnestly approached Celestia. "Princess," he whispered, "did you receive my letter?"
"Yes, I just read it no longer than five minutes ago," she whispered back. "Why do you need to know who was there?"
"Because if no one else can be accounted for, I fear a terrible truth." He looked around before speaking again. "Where was Princess Cadance after the incident?"
Celestia eyed Mike with suspicion. "She went to her room. We knocked on the door, but there was no answer."
"She was crying after the incident, yes?"
"Of course. Would you not?"
"Could you hear any sobs or other noises that would indicate she was in her room?"
"What are you implying?" Celestia said at full volume.
"My terrible truth." The sudden outburst from Celestia had caught the attention of the bridesmaids, which, to Mike's surprise, were the remaining members of the Mane Six. He saw them whisper to one another. "Assume, for the moment, Cadance was not in her suite. Is it possible, that after running off, she could have circled around and flown back here?"
"I'll bite," she responded, annoyed. "Yes, it's possible. Her suite is just one story up, almost above where we are standing."
"She did have quite the head start." Mike looked up to where her suite would be, and then back at the open veranda behind them. "By the time Shining Armor would have done chewing out Twilight, he may have heard Cadance slamming her door shut. That would have given this room plenty of time to clear out and her a chance to come back."
"Are you really insinuating that Cadance is evil?" Celestia bitterly whispered.
Mike scanned the room. It seemed as if the ceremony was about to begin. "I've spent the entire morning trying to think of other scenarios, but they all proved to be impossible for the given time and conditions. My people have a saying; Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."
The organ began to play. "We will discuss this later, as well as your future here if you keep up with these wild accusations. Please take your seat."
Mike let out a disgruntled huff. "Yes, ma'am." The doors swung open and Princess Cadance began her walk down the aisle. Twilight, I just stuck my neck out for you. Now it's time for you to come through.
Nervous minutes passed as Mike kept a vigilant eye on the door, each time being disappointed by her not being there. The ceremony was about complete when he heard the comforting holler from Twilight. "STOP!"
A mutter came from the crowd. "Why is she trying to ruin my special day?" Cadance cried.
"Because," another voice took over from the doorway, "it's not your special day. It's mine." The crowd muttering became even louder now in the presence of two Princess Cadances. "She's a changeling. She takes the form of somepony you love and gains power by feeding off your love for them."
The Cadance dressed in wedding attire summoned a ring of green fire around her that erupted into a column that revealed her true form. More insectoid than pony. Mike much preferred the guise. "Right you are, princess," the changeling cackled, "and as queen of the Changelings, it is up to me to find food for my subjects. Equestria has more love than any place I have encountered. My fellow Changelings will devour so much of it, and then we will be more powerful than we have ever dreamed!"
Well, Mike thought, when you're right, you're right.
"Shining Armor's protection spell will stop you and your kind!" Cadance exclaimed to the queen.
She laughed, "Oh, I doubt that. Isn't that right, dear?" Her horn glowed the fel green Mike had come to expect from the demon magic user, and Shining Armor gave a nod. "Even now, my minions are chipping away at the shield." She pointed up, and once where there was a blue sky was now a swarm of black. "Soon, they will break through, then we will take Canterlot, then...all of Equestria!"
"No!" Celestia's regal voice emanated throughout the hallowed hall. "You may have made it impossible for Shining Armor to perform his spell, and now that you have so foolishly revealed your true self, I can protect my subjects," Celestia soared into the air, "from you!" She fired a radiant beam at the changeling queen, and the insectoid queen fired back with a beam of fel magic. The two magics collided in a brilliant flash, and the changeling coward down as if she was losing ground before standing tall once again. The fel energy was beginning to overwhelm the princess, and Mike looked up at Celestia, as her demeanor went from solid, to worry, and in a flash, she fell to the floor, her royal crown rolling away from her still body.
Aman'thul...I was there when I saw a goddess fall.
"Consuming Shining Armor's love has made me more powerful than Celestia! And now I, Queen Chrysalis, will use it to consume the love of all!" She cackled an evil laugh that made all the ponies attending the service run in fear.
Mike stood and walked calmly into the aisle, cleared his throat, and adjusted his robes. Time to rise, champion. "Well then, how would you like to test your mettle against an unorthodox target?"
"Mike!" Twilight shouted.
"Attend to the princess. I got this."
Chrysalis looked down at Mike, and floated back down to the floor. "And what do you have that she doesn't, foreigner?"
Mike looked around, "Opposable thumbs?" He stuck out his thumbs. "No? Oh!" He pointed to his feet. "Toes!"
"You dare mock me?" The six ran out of the room. Mike assumed they were retrieving the Elements of Harmony.
"Yes, yes I do." Mike said with a mocking smile.
The queen was airborne once again, "You have no fear. How is this possible?"
"Please," Mike began, "I have slaughtered many fel magic users like you in my time, and now," he brought forth a hand and summoned a fireball into it, "you will be among them!" and he turned his palm toward her. The fireball found its target, hitting the changeling queen and exploding on impact, knocking her to the ground once again.
"The shield is collapsing!" Mike heard a bystander yell. He looked up and fragments of the shield were crumbling down as the bubble shield fell. The flying minions started moving in as soon as their section cleared.
"Right...minions," Mike said as he turned his attention skyward. The first of the minions were crashing into the ground in green explosions. He pulled a round ball out of the inside of his jacket and walked to where Chrysalis lay. "You see this?" She turned her disoriented head. "This is a miniature mana bomb. The Horde was working on one during the Lich King campaign. I managed to get the schematics, and have been working on it in my spare time. The big one supposedly had the power to flatten a small city." He placed the rolling bomb on her shoulder. Chrysalis's eyes widened. "Even I don't know what this one will do, but as far as I see it, you have two options. You can-" A mortar minion had strayed too close to the castle, breaking through the veranda cover. The force of the resulting blast blew Mike back, and he landed on his head.
"Champion, you must accept the gift." Bulwark was shining.
"What gift?" Mike called back. "Make sense!"
Glowing runes now appeared before Mike in the darkness. Red, blue, green. Their shapes familiar...the runes of a death knight. "The gift of Ner'zhul."
Mike stood, motionless in the presence of the runes. "That was not a gift." He angrily yelled at the val'kyr, "That was a curse."
"You must accept it again." Stronghold spoke, "Without it, Equestria will fall."
"And sacrifice my humanity again!?" Mike shouted to the spirits. "To undo everything good that I have done here!? TO BECOME AN ABOMINATION IN THE EYES OF EVERYPONY!?"
"You must take it." Bastion said.
"I will not!"
"Then Equestria is lost." Bulwark's shine faded. "We have failed."
"I will return to the realm of mortals." Mike stepped forward. "I will find a way."
"We are the val'kyr, the seers and keepers of the future in this realm." Stronghold now sounded irritated. "There is no other way."
"Becoming a death knight also means abandoning my only chance at a way home." He thought back to the progress that he and Twilight didn't make on conjuring a portal to home.
"Your home is not in your future."
Mike's heart fell out of his chest when Stronghold spoke those words. He felt his knees buckle beneath him before falling to them. "Wha...what?"
Bulwark came down to Mike's level, and took his hand in hoof. "I'm so sorry, Michael, but what Stronghold speaks is truth. When you were floating in the Nether, we combined our powers to reveal your future. You would still be floating in nothingness had we not intervened. Of course, we saw the future if we did. We were all saddened that you would not be able to return home again."
"You..." Mike was trying to grasp the reality of what he had just heard. "You doomed me here."
"You were doomed no matter where you went."
"Surely someone would have found me." Mike proclaimed.
"You know our visions to be true," Bulwark explained, "For it was us who, from afar, saw the rise of the Burning Crusade, the rise and fall of the Lich King, the breaking of your word, the Pandarian campaign, the incident in the Southern Barrens, and your landfall."
Mike could do nothing in the dream but bring his arms down and weep. He sat before the three val'kyr, sobbing uncontrollably. Bulwark and Bastion came to his side, but Mike brushed them away. "Why didn't you leave me to die?"
"We needed you." Bulwark tried once again to at least give him the comfort of an embrace. Mike accepted it. "You can do great things here."
Mike sniffed and wiped his eyes with a sleeve. He stood, "I will accomplish great things, but I will not sacrifice my humanity. Not again." He slowly stood, and lasered in on Bulwark, "Not when it's my choice."
Bulwark had almost lost her luster entirely, "Then all is lost."
Mike awoke to minions carrying what looked to be Celestia entrapped in some kind of green goo. They brought her up to the ceiling, where she dangled. He had also been bound to the wall, at least ten feet up, hands and feet covered with the same sticky substance. He could smell it, too. It had the odor of brimstone and sulfur. "You'll never get away with this!" Cadance defiantly yelled. "Twilight and her friends will-" The door burst open and in flew a swarm of minions either carrying or escorting the Six.
"You were saying?" Chrysalis asked and she embraced her certain victory. "Go!" She shouted to her minions, "Feed!"
Most of the swarm of changelings flew off. Moron, Mike thought, calling away your own means of protection.
Chrysalis made her way to the balcony, observing the chaos surrounding her. Twilight took the opportunity to silently approach the bound Cadance and cast a spell that cleared the bindings. She ran over to the mentally-dominated Shining Armor when a visible heart popped out of her horn and fell onto him. Mike saw the visible green affecting his eyes fade, "My head...is the wedding over?" he said as he managed to regain control.
"Cast your spell!" Twilight shouted.
Shining Armor stood tall, closed his eyes tight, and attempted to cast the protection spell. All that came out of the stallion's horn were purple sparks. "I can't. She's drained me of my strength."
Cadance put her front leg around him, "My love will give you strength." They combined horns, and a swirl of magical energy formed. They levitated into the air, and a blast of green came flying into the room.
"Your efforts are futile!" Chrysalis hovered back into the room. "Shining Armor has made me powerful, and now," she pointed up to where the princess was hanging, "I feed off of Celestia. I am invincible, and there is nothing you can do to stop me!"
The blast had separated Cadance and Shining Armor from each other. Cadance slowly rose to her hooves again, while Armor lay motionless on the marble floor. She ran to him, shaking his limp body. "I can't get him to wake up!" His head picked up for only a second before falling back down. "Wake up, my love!"
Mike looked back to the Mane Six, but he could only count five, as Fluttershy was missing. He saw three minions fly up with another green case, and a shimmer of Fluttershy's pink mane still shown through. "Git yer stinkin' hooves off me!" Applejack yelled before being struck on the head and falling unconscious. They dragged her to a corner and began wrapping her in the goo.
So, Mike looked down, this is how it ends. At least I will see her in the Nether once again. Mike brought his vision to the remaining ponies. They were all standing in a single file line, surrounded by Chrysalis's guard that hadn't gone to feed. Mike's gaze found Twilight, and she felt his vision upon her. Her nose hadn't left the floor until just then, and Mike saw the familiar face of hopelessness before her head fell once again. It was the same face he had seen when he razed village after village during the first days of the Scourge campaign to draw the champions of the Horde and Alliance to Northrend. Unless...unless they were right. Jaina, forgive me. "Twilight?"
She brought her gaze to him, "Mike?"
Mike brought frost bolts to his hands, and the coldness froze the binding substance. He started to fall forward when he shot the bolts at his feet. The chill snapped the other entrapping fel bindings, and he fell to his chest. With the wind knocked out of him, he sprinted over to the remaining free ponies. A changeling noticed his approach as he reached the group and started to advance. Mike quickly stopped, and threw a fireball at him. After the changeling was dispatched, he embraced Twilight in a hug, then gently kissed her forehead. "Forgive me."
She looked back at him with teary eyes. "For what?"
"For what I am about to do." One final hug, and he darted off to the open balconies.
"Stop him!" Chrysalis commanded. Other changelings in the room flew to give chase. They were only a few feet from him when Mike made a leap over a balcony ledge. The remaining ponies in the room gasped at what they had just seen. Twilight could only bring her hoof to her mouth in stun. "Well, looks like the reception is over...for him anyway." Chrysalis mockingly joked.
Mike continued his dive at the ground, spotting where he was going to land. Before landing, he flipped over, hitting the cobblestone street with his back. He felt the last bit of air moving out of his lungs and the last bit of light leave his vision when he was back in the black, surrounded by the dim-lit val'kyr. He could hear them all whispering "All is lost...all is lost." The death knight runes were still floating in the center.
"All is not lost..." Mike grabbed the runes. His voice changed to the deep echo of the knights, "...not yet."
Bulwark immediately waved her hoof, sending Mike back to the realm of mortals. "Our champion fights," she said, now shining brighter than ever. The three flew with great speed, chasing after Mike's spirit.
Where did I park? Mike thought as he ran back to his body. A few frantic moments of searching, he found it being carried away by two minions. He dove back into his mortal shell, reintegrating what remained of his spirit. He awaited the arrival of the val'kyr, and became alarmed after they hadn't appeared for several minutes. The changelings were dragging Mike's body back into the palace, to where Mike presumed, back to Chrysalis.
The three val'kyr appeared with great brilliance. The minions carrying Mike's body dropped it, and they flew into the ceiling, in shock at what they had seen, and stunned from colliding with the solid stone. "It is time," Bulwark told the other two as they touched hooves, encircling Mike. They condensed an energy from their ghostly horns and brought it upon his corpse. The energy began to mend his broken body, and Mike became conscious once again as his spirit reintegrated with his body.
The val'kyr began to mend the physical breaks, but did not stop the pain. Mike rolled in agony as bones began to snap back into place. He managed to roll to his back, looking back at his healers. They bore straight faces, closed, concentrated eyes with a single tear rolling from one. When the healing had completed, his clothes were burned from his body, leaving only his undershirt and shorts intact, and he felt cold metal on his feet. Mike looked upon his body as the val'kyr were giving him the armor he first wore when he arrived in Acherus. Metal upon cursed metal clacked and snapped back into place, standing him upright. When at last the hood of his armor came into shape, he felt weight in his hand. His old runesword, Sorrowmourne, appeared once again. Mike stood, clad in his plated armor when he saw the two changelings who carried his body. Their stuns had wore off, and they hissed at the now armored Mike. They darted to where he stood, and Mike simply cleft both of them in two as they approached.
The last cleaving blow had forced Sorrowmourne to hit the cobblestone path. Mike fell to his weak knees, surveying what he had done. He brought a gauntlet before his vision, clinched his fist, and exhaled, "I am death, once again."
"No," Bulwark came down to Mike, "You are the means to permanent peace and harmony. You may use dark powers to achieve this goal, yes, but when we first brought you here, we peered into your soul." Mike reeled, "Yes, you still have it, at least a rebuilt fragment of it." She took his hands in hoof, "You have proven, time after time, through your memories, you possess a great power." She came closer, "With all your gifts, all your strengths and ability, you could have easily burned Equestria to the ground." She pulled back his plated hood, "You know restraint," and gently laid a blessed kiss on his cheek, "the most powerful magic of all. Do me a favor."
"Yes, my lady." Mike said, recovering his face.
"Tell Celestia and Luna I am very proud of them. They have done well, and I forgive them for not believing in us. I love them, and miss them, and will see them in Neighalla."
Mike nodded, "I will, when the day hath been won."
"Now go, champion. Enemies are inside the gate." They dissipated in a white mist.
Mike looked upon Sorrowmourne, frozen blood already coating its runed surface. "Well then," he sheathed his sword on his back, "let's get started."
It seemed as if ages had past for Twilight. She stood in line, waiting for her turn to be incarcerated into the power draining capsules. She still could not get over what she had just seen. He just leaped over the side. Why? Did he not love us? Maybe all of this was in vain after all. She was overwhelmed with disgust and depression. Twilight thought back to the nights he had spent with Mike, the laughs they had, the tears she had shed while with him. She liked him...dare she say, loved him, even though he was not of her world. Being of science, she was seldom to believe in coincidences, but perhaps...just this time...
"Keep moving." She heard a changeling say behind her with its insect voice. She looked up to see Rarity now being carried away in the vat of goo. Twilight lowered her head. She was next, but before she made a move forward, something else caught her attention. To her, it sounded like a clicking noise of a wind-up toy. She faced the noise, seeing Pinkie Pie, her teeth clattering.
"Pinkie?" She depressingly asked as she turned back around to the front, "Are you having another Pinkie sense?"
"N-n-n-n-n-no!" She said while shivering, legs trying to wrap themselves twice around her frame, "It's f-f-f-f-freezing in here! Someone turn the heat back on!"
Twilight hadn't noticed the drop in the room temperature until now. The cold chill against her coat sent shivers down her spine and goose bumps over her skin. She gazed upon Chrysalis and exhaled, her breath now visible. The changeling queen seemed troubled by the sudden change of her surroundings. "What magic is this?" she shouted. Chrysalis darted over to Twilight, "Are you causing this?"
"No," she responded nervously, "I'm not the one doing this. Mike never showed me anything that just made the room temperature fall."
Chrysalis tossed Twilight aside, sending her sliding across the floor, "Hurry with the others. With their power, I should be able to find out-" She stopped when a crack came from the door. "What was that?" she asked aloud as she pranced over to the double door. It appeared to be a lighter color than what she last knew it to be, and somehow, shimmering. She dragged a hoof across a door, revealing a trace where it had been. "Frost?" she wondered.
Mike had made his way to the main hall and was pressing both hands against the locked doors. C'mon. Break for me. He was hoping the lock would become brittle enough that a blast from his howling wind ability would cause it to snap apart. He heard metal in the lock crinkle and twist. At last, he thought as he took two steps back and unsheathed his sword. He summoned the cold winds of the North to his hand, the chill of death and despair he had once known to serve him as an agent of the Lich King, and threw it at the bolt.
Chrysalis was struck by the flying door she was standing in front of, sending her back several yards. She gave a shiver due to the howling cold that permeated the room, and seemingly into her. She quickly rose back on her hooves and spun to face the door, when she saw the dark figure of Mike. His face was hidden, but she could see his glowing ice blue eyes, the shining runes of Sorrowmourne being held in hand. Mike began to walk into the room. "Minions, attack!" she shouted to the three changelings still left in the room. One started in a nose dive, but did not expect Sorrowmourne to intercept him right before reaching Mike, being impaled in the chest. Another approached, and was met by the lifeless body of the skewered changeling midflight. The last changeling hovered down to the marble floor, hissing at Mike. The two began to circle, when the changeling pounced. Mike simply raised his hand, casting an icy touch on the minion, freezing it solid. It shattered on impact with the floor.
"At least make it a challenge for me." Mike said, after watching the changeling fall.
"Who are you, stranger!?" Chrysalis said with fright. "What have you done!?"
Mike pulled back his hood to reveal his face. He had lost color, but was recognized immediately by the changeling queen. "YOU!" Chrysalis shouted. "You are dead!"
"Yes," Mike hissed back, "Yes I am."
Chrysalis reeled by his acknowledgement of death. Even Twilight was taken aback by what she had just heard. "But...how?"
Frost was beginning to permeate throughout the hall. The ceiling where the trapped Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Celestia froze over, and made their way to the hanging vats. The chilled cases could no longer bear their own weight, and snapped. "The val'kyr of this realm hath granted me yet another life so I may fulfill a purpose." Mike continued to approach the altar where Chrysalis was standing. The power-draining capsules hit the floor with a squished bounce, and began to dissolve. "A purpose many if not all ponies have forgotten." Chrysalis began to back up, "The need to do what is necessary. The need for necessary and lawful evil."
"Wha-wha-what!?" Chrysalis hit a column.
Mike brought forth Sorrowmourne, blood dripping, and pointed it at the queen. "The need to bring a permanent solution."
Chrysalis powered her horn with fel energy once again, and fired it at Mike. He consumed an unholy rune and activated his anti-magic shell. The spell that saved him during the engagement in Quel'Thalas from a blood knight paladin attempting an exorcism did its job, absorbing the magical energy, dispersing it in the sphere that surround him. Chrysalis ceased her spell and was stunned to see Mike still standing with the swirling energies of his shield still in place.
The shield faded, "Pathetic," Mike sneered at Chrysalis. "You are weak." She stood with mouth agape before becoming airborne once again. "Oh no, you don't," Mike darkly observed. He gazed upon Chrysalis as he gripped around her with death's hand. "Get over here!"
The queen screamed as she was pulled toward Mike. It was a scream Mike had heard too often: The frightened shout of fear. He drew Sorrowmourne up toward the changeling, preparing for a clean slice, "STOP!" Celestia shouted, radiating light glowing from her eyes and horn. An explosion of illuminated energies circulated the princess, then were thrown out into the room. To every pony in the hall, a feeling of great warmth and love filled their entire existence, melting the ice and frost.
To Mike, he may as well have been on fire. Holy energy.
"It has never been our place to kill another," Celestia spoke with the greatest regality he had ever heard, "and we will continue to honor this tradition." She stepped before Mike, still seething in agony from the holy wave, cringing more when she approached, "All of us will honor it."
She ceased the use of her holy energies, and Mike could breathe again."It's only a tradition that started with you." Mike said as he staggered back to his feet using Sorrowmourne, still coated in blood, "Bulwark seemed to know what needed to be done."
"It was a...darker time for all ponies." Celestia turned to the stain glass windows, "Before the coming of Discord, my mother ruled Equestria with a fair, but iron, hoof. War was not common during her rule, but she was never afraid to fight."
"A wise leader," Mike commented, "never seeks out battle, but must never back down when it is needed."
"But why is it needed?" Celestia asked, "Everypony is capable of listening to reason."
"Everypony is capable, yes," Mike crossed his arms, "but there are those that don't want to, or what they hear counters their wishes." He looked over to Chrysalis, "Take the queen, for example. They need love from other ponies to feed, and in order to maximize the amount of love per pony, they put you in those vats of whatever disgusting fluid that was to drain you of your power without any resistance." Back to the princess, "You want to retain your power and freedom. This goes against the changeling's wishes. So she gives less than a damn about what you have to say." An explosion resonated from outside. "You." Mike placed chains of ice around the queen that bound her to the ground. "Stay put."
The six, Celestia, and Mike rushed over to the balcony to observe the chaos that was happening outside. Minions were still coming down from the sky, crashing around the terrified ponies who were running from building to crashed-out building. "We have to deal with these guys," Twilight said, "They're wrecking the place."
An explosion was heard by where Chrysalis was standing. She had used her fel energies to break the icy chains. "You may be a powerful warrior, but even your magic isn't strong enough to keep us contained." She took flight, "You should have listened to him," she said to Celestia, snickering while in air, "This could have all been over by now, but your inaction has cost you!" Chrysalis shot out the open balcony window, and several changeling minions fell into formation, flanking her sides. "We will consume you all!" She yelled down at the terrified ponies. A charge of her horn, and she began to raze the buildings, collapsing them. "Find them all! Feed!"
"We need to respond. Now." Mike said to the group as he began to walk to the door. His cape whipped behind him as he turned.
"We can't." Celestia admitted, "Our warriors are too few for these numbers, and most have likely have already been captured."
Cadance had joined the group, "Shining Armor is still unconscious. I've tended his other wounds, but he must have taken quite a hit on his head. I can't perform his shield spell without him."
Mike had stopped walking to the double doors when he saw his miniature mana bomb sitting beside the changeling vat work area. "I have an idea." He hastily walked over and retrieved it, attaching it to his belt. "If we can't use the army we have, we will raise one."
Every pony seemed to turn to another, and then back at Mike, "Do you really think we have that kind of time?" Rarity exclaimed.
"For my army, yes." Mike extended Sorrowmourne once again, the cold air now circulating throughout the room. Frost began to reform at his feet. "Celestia..." Mike said, mid-cast, "Luna, my friends, the ancients...forgive me."
"For what?" Celestia responded.
"For the abomination I am about to unleash." Mike took Sorrowmourne, with runes now glowing brighter than ever, charged with his unholy energy, and brought it to the floor. He plunged the sword through the hard marble, sending the unholy power through the castle and into the outlying yards. The magic spread further, encompassing all of Canterlot.
"What did you just do?" Twilight asked as she trotted over to Mike.
"I damned myself," Mike replied with a weak voice, still grasping the hilt of Sorrowmourne, "in the eyes of everypony, and the princesses," He looked at Twilight to reveal a single frozen tear from his right eye, "and of you. Everything I have become...has just been undone."
Chrysalis and her flanking guard had landed on the bistro Mike had visited. She looked up at the minions that were still stationed outside of the city, raised a leg, and swung it down, calling in the next wave. Bombing changelings hit the streets a moment later. Chrysalis gazed upon the destruction she was causing when she heard a distant scream. She had been hearing the yells of the ponies that were running from the bombardment of her horn and her minions, but this was different. It was a scream of sudden fear, shock and horror. She saw a wave of ponies running toward her, "What is going on over there?" She questioned, squinting her eyes into the distance. "You," she pointed to one of her flanking guards, "Fly over there, see what is happening to cause this commotion." The minion gave a slight nod before buzzing off into the distance. The queen observed her scout when other dreaded screams came from behind her. "More?" she wondered aloud. She turned her attention to another guard before pointing to the new direction.
Chrysalis brought her focus back to her first scout after sending her new scout out. It had covered more ground than she had originally anticipated. It shifted right, headed down toward the ground, before coming to a halt in midair. It hovered for several seconds before a flash of blue came up at met him. She looked in awe as her minion fell from the sky, mouth agape. She quickly spun around to alert her other guard, but it could not be found. "What in the name of..." She heard the flapping of wings coming from above. The queen pointed her snout skyward, just in time to see a gryphon fly overhead. But it was glowing blue, she thought, and a skeleton? Chrysalis watched as it flew toward the castle, and up to the open balcony where Celestia's flowing mane could be seen.
"What do you mean?" Twilight asked Mike as he brought himself back to his feet.
"She has an army," He removed his blade from the marble flooring, "and now, so do I."
The skeletal gryphon dropped in on the balcony, landing with enough force to crack the solid stone. It reared back its head and brought forth a dreadful roar to announce it had arrived.
Celestia jumped back, flowing mane shooting straight upward. "What in the name of the sun is that!?"
Mike stepped to the balcony, sheathing Sorrowmourne on his back. "This," He put a hand on the gryphon's neck and pulled himself onto it, "is how we will win the day." With a prod from a heel, the gryphon took flight.
"What has he done?" Celestia asked as she observed the chaos ensuing her kingdom. Even she could hear the horrified screams of her subjects. Many of them had started fleeing back into the palace to her surprise. She looked back up to the scene of Canterlot, green bombing minions now mixed with blue magics coming from the ground. Some met the dive bombers, causing them to fall in regular freefall.
Twilight was still standing where Mike had plunged Sorrowmourne into the stone. "He was...dead," was all she could manage to mutter to herself.
"Do you know what he did?" Fluttershy asked as she walked to Twilight's side.
Twilight continued to stare at the hole Sorrowmourne had made, "I think so," she responded, warily, "Mike told me of the powerful agents he fought during what he called the Third War. They would take the most powerful warriors that had fallen, and raise them into walking bringers of death and destruction. He called them 'death knights,' raised by the val'kyr to serve their dark king."
Celestia couldn't help but to overhear, "My mother gave life to death on wings," she realized as she hung her head, "We are all doomed."
"I don't think so." Twilight rebuked. "I think he fights the needed fight...in the only way he can."
Mike scanned the battlefield atop his gryphon, surveying his risen army. The risen Pegasi were harassing airborne minions, drawing their attention and leading them to undead unicorns, who blasted them with runic power. Risen Earth ponies gathered in numbers to protect cornered civilians, running interference while ambush groups would run in from behind and subdue the changelings. A few changelings attempted to morph into the shape of the undead, but the lack of the runic energies made them easy to differentiate. His undead numbers were in the hundreds, and were gaining ground. Those not airborne quickly became so, but the swarming Pegasi were unrelenting in keeping them grounded. Well done, my army. He thought, hoping the rest could hear. Keep pushing.
Other Earth ponies not helping in the task of corralling changelings were clearing buildings, pointing lost civilians to the safety of the castle. All were hesitant to take directions from a skeletal pony standing before them with runic power glowing for eyes. "Go," the ponies heard them say, and they didn't waste the opportunity to leave and run to the palace grounds. Other risen ponies were tasked with freeing those bound by the green goo, citizens and soldiers alike. Most ran to the palace, but there were some who braved the chaos they were witnessing and joined the counteroffensive push.
The thought of raising those minions that died during the engagement ran across Mike's mind. No, he kept saying to himself, I will not fall to his level. The skeletal soldiers the changelings did manage to stop shattered into hundreds of fragments, only to reform and continue marching like nothing had happened. The circle of risen soldiers began to close the gap when Mike spotted Chrysalis fending off swarms of Pegasi. He pulled his gryphon , turning toward her position, still standing atop the bistro. He swung over to the left side of his mount, waited until he was flying over her, and let go. He began to fall, pulling the mana bomb from his belt.
Mike only fell for five seconds before colliding with Chrysalis. The resulting contact sent the queen down to the cobblestone street, and Mike uncontrollably followed. Falling to the ground from the roof had hurt more than the drop from the gryphon, and Mike laid on his back while he attempted to muster the strength to rise again. "Complete the mission," he heard Bulwark whisper in his ear, "Bring peace." The mana bomb had fallen out of his hand and rolled near a gutter. It took what was left to roll over to his stomach and crawl to it. Feeling its power renewed his fighting spirit, and he stood once more, staggering over to where Chrysalis continued to lay. He knelt by her head, grasping her horn and forcing her to look upon him.
"I never asked for this!" he exhaustingly spoke, "I am blessed with great power, but not because I chose to!" Chrysalis stirred, her legs moving as if they were trotting. "You forced my hand, and now, I'm no longer human." He let go of the horn, and Chrysalis's head hit the street. Mike brought the mana bomb in front of himself, and twisted both hemispheres in opposite directions, activating the twenty-second fuse.
A bolt of magic made him fall backward, flailing his arms forward. "Fool!" Chrysalis hissed as she rose, "You think your victory is secured?" The knockback was enough to make Mike lose his grip on the mana bomb, sending it in the direction of Chrysalis. "You cannot defeat the power of the love that I have acquired!"
Mike watched as the mana bomb rolled into a nearby gutter. The bolt had made him dazed, and everything around him was moving in slow motion. A mortar changeling dropped on a squad of risen unicorns, shattering them all. Undead Pegasi were still fighting airborne units. Risen Earth ponies were still moving in, shuttling stranded survivors away and bucking ground changelings. The ground around him grew dark as Chrysalis stood above him, charging her horn for one final blow.
"Finish the fight." Bulwark's voice entered his mind.
"You have been a thorn in my side for long enough today. Once I have defeated you," Chrysalis's horn grew even brighter, "nothing will stop me from consuming the love in this kingdom." She brought her head to Mike and whispered, "And I think I will start with your friends."
Mike had been counting to himself, and seized the opportunity to summon the last of his strength and grab Chrysalis by the horn. His sudden approach broke her spell concentration, as her horn went black. Mike summoned death's hand to bring the mana bomb to his, "You underestimate two missing elements of friendship..." The queen, still dazed, shot a look of confusion. "Tenacity: A friend never gives up on a friend. And," he shoved the mana bomb into Chrysalis's mouth, "Sacrifice. Only the most loving of friends would trade their lives for the sake of another." Mike mentally commanded his units to move away from his current position. The other changelings seized their window to close on Mike. The bomb began its final countdown. The unstable energies within the miniature bomb began to mix, signaling the final five seconds.
"Time to cull the herd." Mike said as he gave the bomb one last jab to make sure it wouldn't leave. He heard the insectoid wings of the approaching minions, which was exactly what he wanted to hear.
"Mike!" He heard another pony yell. He spun around to see Twilight and her friends running down the castle steps. "We're coming!" Twilight frantically yelled.
Mike held out his hand to stop them, and placed an anti-magic field around the six, exhausting his last runic power. He heard a beep come from the bomb, and he could do nothing but to look at Twilight and smile, "Thank you," he managed to say before the bomb detonated. The last he saw was a brilliant flash of white light engulfing him and the remaining changelings. The white light had faded to black.
"Well done, champion." Bulwark's shimmering figure appeared out of the darkness.
"Albeit," Stronghold materialized at her flank, "a might unorthodox."
Mike had fallen to his knees, "A MIGHT unorthodox? I became the very thing I told them I fought. What will my friends think of me now?"
"You will have the opportunity to ask them yourself." Bulwark answered. "You are in a shield that we created with the last of our energies."
"I still live?" Mike asked, uneasily rising back to his feet.
"Yes. However, our ancient powers have been exhausted, and our time as guardians has passed. The burden of guardian now falls to you."
Bastion appeared before Mike, "You have great power and wisdom. I know you will do great things in the name of Equestria."
"Desperate times may call for desperate measures," Stronghold began, "but never forget your honor. It's the only thing that will follow you to your grave."
"If I ever reach it." Mike muttered.
Bulwark floated down to Mike. The luster in her figure continually faded. "We haven't much time left here." A shimmering light appeared at Mike's heart, and Stronghold and Bastion flew into it. "Do you remember my message?"
"Of course, m'lady."
"Good," she replied with a smile. "Please, I hope you can forgive us for bringing you here." She was taken aback when Mike reached out and took her hooves in hands.
"All is forgiven." Mike said, a tear moving down his face, "I'm glad you did. These last seven months have been...something special." He looked toward the light, and back to her, "Though I do miss home."
"I will pray for the day that you will no longer be needed," Bulwark started, now levitating toward the light, "and when that day comes, I hope you will find a way to call this place home."
Mike nodded, "As do I. I will see you again on the other side." Bulwark's figure converged with the light, and Mike awoke to a room in the castle, much like the room he was brought to after his bout with Discord. He heard the chirping of morning birds and the glow of the sun rising over the eastern mountains. He sat up and observed his armor piled in a corner of the room, Sorrowmorune sitting close by. He turned his head and saw Twilight, fast asleep in the only chair in the room. She once again looked as if she hadn't left his side in days.
"Oh, Twilight," he said softly, "I really need to stop doing this to you."
She stirred as she opened her eyes to see Mike sitting upright in his bed. Upon realizing he was conscious, Twilight's eyes grew, and she hopped from the chair up into the bed with him. "Mike!" she exclaimed as she wrapped both hooves around him, "I'm so glad you're okay!"
He hadn't expected such a warm reception to him being alive, after what he had done. He embraced her and sighed, "I'm glad to know you made it." He looked down to his hugging arms, which had, to Mike's surprise, regained their color.
She let go of her hug, keeping hooves in his hands, "What did you place around us?"
"An anti-magic shield," he answered. "I wasn't entirely sure what was going to happen when that bomb went off. I figured my final act would be to protect those I held dearest." She blushed, and after composing herself, she took her hooves out of his hands and looked back at him, saddened, "I think I know what your next question is going to be."
"You raised the dead," Twilight sorrowfully said, "That magic you used...that you said you fought..."
"Twilight," he put his hand under her chin, and she looked into his glowing blue eyes, "when I explained to you who I was, I didn’t lie. However, I may have left a few things out."
"A distinction without a difference," she scornfully replied.
"I'm sorry, Twilight. I know I should have been honest with you from day one, but if I would have told you that I was once the very thing I fought on Azeroth, things would not have turned out the way they have." Mike paused to look out the window, and saw the last bit of Celestia's tail pass by. "I only did it to protect you."
"I..." she started before sniffing, "I don't know what to think."
"I think," Celestia said as she entered the room, "it is time you revealed to us who you really are."
Mike inhaled deeply, letting out the air slowly. "My name is Michael, and I am a mage of the neutral faction known as the Kirin Tor. I am a junior representative of the faction known as the Horde." Celestia gave him an uneasy eye. "Before that, I was a paladin in the faction known as the Knights of the Silver Hand, whose purpose was to drive and cleanse the presence of the unholy away from our lands. When the Scourge invaded, I was at a town known as Andorhal where I fell in battle, only to be resurrected and trained as a death knight of Acherus, fighting for the will of the Lich King.
"In that life, I razed villages, ransacked towns, and murdered innocents." Mike saw both Celestia's and Twilight's skin tighten. "My soul was consumed to give the Lich King greater power. The turning point came when the Lich King used the knights of Acherus to draw out the leader of the Argent Crusade. Our forces outnumbered theirs at least ten to one, but we could not withstand the might of the holy ground we fought upon. In the end, the Lich King was forced to retreat, and our connection to him was severed forever."
Celestia gazed upon Twilight, who never batted an eye during the entire time Mike talked. "So..." Celestia began, "You were a puppet of a greater force."
"Yes," Mike responded.
"And you retained your powers and your abilities, as you have so clearly demonstrated." Celestia made her way over to an open window. "Many buildings have been destroyed, or have needed to be condemned because of your little act."
"I did what needed to be done." Mike tried to assure the princess. "I deployed the mana bomb only as a last resort. My power was spent, and I was on my last legs as it was."
Celestia brought her nose up, "You caused much damage to my city."
"You still have a city," Mike called out.
"H-h-he has a point, princess," Twilight nervously injected as she raised a leg. "After the bomb went off all the changelings fled."
"Silence!" Celestia quickly snubbed her off. Twilight brought her leg back down and brushed the sheets with it. "Of all the protectors my mother could have sent, it had to be a reckless...dead warrior, who cares so little for life, he raises the dead to serve his own purpose."
He could feel his cheeks becoming warm, "I did that only to combat-"
"And then," Celestia's voice brought an end to his rebuke, "tries to justify it!" She stared at Mike, bringing her head down and wings up, "I have a right place in mind to have you take Luna's place on the moon."
Mike became infuriated, throwing off his sheets, crawling to the side of the bed and standing, using the mattress for support. "There's something else I retain, something that haunts me to this very day! The memories of my former self!" He yelled at Celestia. Twilight had sunken into the pillows, cowering at Mike's sudden burst into rage. "I remember every last person I killed! Every single man, woman, and child!" Even Celestia was taken by surprise when Mike stood and began his tirade, mouth never closing. Mike walked alongside his bed, before lunging over to the wall where Sorrowmourne rested. He grabbed the hilt of his sword and brought it to his side, resting the tip on the floor and bearing his weight on it. "I remember the pain...of having my soul torn from my body, the torment of punishment from the grandmasters, the faces..." Mike stumbled as his weight shifted to his left side, and he fell, breaking his fall with his arm. "The faces of the cowering people. And I...could do nothing to stop it." He looked up at Celestia, who had folded her wings and still stood in stun at Mike's burst.
"What happened here," Mike continued from his knees on the marble floor, "reminded me too much of my last life, and I ensured it would not come to pass...no matter the cost."
Celestia stood above him, still with no words to reply to Mike. Tense moments passed as Mike breathed heavily, eyes leveled at Celestia. "There must have been some other way," she finally said.
"There wasn't." Mike confidently responded, managing to rise back to his feet. "Bulwark assured me of it."
"I see." Celestia took Sorrowmourne, still stained in blood, in a levitation spell. "While I don't approve of your methods," she cast a spell that made the sword glow, filling the room with radiant light. It faded, revealing a clean blade, "you saved my city, and this kingdom," She returned it to Mike hand, only for him to feel it's chill again. The runic power surged, and he felt the captured soul fragments still tethered within, "without even harming one citizen of Canterlot."
Mike stood tall, "I believe I have brought about a permanent solution."
"Indeed, you have." She turned to Twilight, "Twilight, take a letter, please." A quill and paper materialized in front of her. "I, Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria, take Mike, stranger from another world, as a citizen of Equestria, and into the personal guard of my army." Mike's eyebrow raised. "There, he will become my strategic advisor, planning and preparing my armies so that an event like the wedding day attack does not occur again. During this time, my student, Twilight Sparkle, will continue to study alongside Mike's place, with the mission to understand and defend against his new powers. These strange and dark magics need to be understood."
Twilight's quill fell silent a few seconds after the princess stopped dictating. "Done!" Twilight said with a smile.
"Good." Celestia motioned to Mike. "Now," he helped him to a set of clothing, "it looks like we all have some work to do. Twilight, you still have a wedding to plan."
Twilight didn't take a moment's hesitation to run out of the room to begin her duties. The parchment fell to the floor before being taken in Celestia's levitation, quill ready to write. "Amendment 1," she began. "If Mike fails to perform any of his duties, or acts in a way which counters the interest of the ponies of Equestria, he will be banished to the moon."
"Just kill me." Mike responded, "If you can. I'm not really sure I can die. This is my third life, after all." Celestia gave a smile before scratching out what she had written. "Oh, princess, I am to deliver a message from Bulwark." She stopped writing. "She said she loves and misses you and Luna. You have made her proud, and will see you both in Neighalla."
"Where the honored dead go to feast and drink." she finished before sending the scroll off. She looked down at Mike, "I look forward to it."
Wrath of the Crystal King: Part I
Author's Note
I'm changing the format a bit. Thought I would keep the chapters shorter, easier to digest segments instead of 10k word epics.
Wrath of the Crystal King: Part I
Exile, Mike thought as his boots plowed through the snow, exiled in their hearts for my sin. One year had passed after the wedding incident. The wedding wasn't held until the next month so the other ponies could rebuild and repair the damage done during the attack. He had tried to offer aid where he could, but no pony would even dare look him in his runic eyes. Celestia had addressed her kingdom concerning the events that had transpired on the day that came to be known as "The Verdant Wedding."
The risen army had returned to their resting places only hours before Mike regained consciousness. Risen Pegasi made sure those changelings not caught within the blast zone were quickly dispatched. Undead Earth ponies were gathering the bodies dead changelings who hadn't disintegrated in the mana bomb's energy. Risen unicorns were preparing a mass grave to the north of Canterlot, on the other side of the mountain. At least I had the courtesy to throw some dirt on them and return their essence to the soil. Mike thought as he raised a hand to block a spot of sunlight that had broken the veil of blowing snow. I could have ended up like...him.
The training of Celestia's army had hit a standstill. Soldiers were reluctant to show after they learned they would be taking lessons from Mike, if they even showed at all. Some deserted and became pacifists, while others simply went AWOL. Cowards. Hellscream would have their heads, he thought as he picked up a handful of snow, placing it in his mouth.
While his back was turned to the other guests, Mike couldn't shake the feeling that everypony in the room despised what he did, raising their passed family members to fight. As the wedding parties preceded down the aisle, Celestia motioned for Mike to walk with her. A murmur of fluttered, hushed voices filled the hall; he could hear them. "How can she stand with such a vile beast?" "After what he did, I'm surprised he's not on the moon." "I think I saw my parents on that day. They passed away two years ago. They were to be at peace forever." Peace? The last pony's words clung to him like the snow and ice now did on his cape, only to be blown and whipped by the arctic winds. Do they really think they find peace in death? There is nothing there. Nothing but emptiness.
Mike had not dared show himself at the reception. Twilight was the first to notice his absence, and quickly galloped to Mike's suite to find him packing his things. "I thought I would find you here." she managed to say between puffs.
Mike hadn't brought his sight to her until she spoke. "Then you understand why I wasn't at the party." He noted her wedding attire. "You look lovely, by the way."
"Thank you," she started, "but no, I really don't." She walked to a window which overlooked the reception. "Cadance herself gave you her blessing as her first royal duty. It was her way of thanking you for saving-"
"But her blessing meant nothing." Mike butted in. "It needed to have come from Celestia." Mike threw a backpack over a shoulder. "Then, in the eyes of everyone, they would have at least understood why I did what I did."
"They DO understand though." Twilight trotted over to him, bringing a front leg to his stomach and pushing him down onto the made bed. "Celestia told them what happened and why."
"The ponies heard and understood the 'what' part." He stood, "They don't care about the 'why.'" He made it halfway to the door before Twilight took his hand by magic.
"Please, don't." Tears now began to fall. "Please don't leave."
"I have to, Twi." He knelt down, taking her in his arms in a deep hug that lasted what felt like a lifetime. "What else am I supposed to do?"
"Come stay with me." she whispered in his ear.
"And do what?" he said back.
"Teach me," she sniffed, "Continue our lessons."
Mike backed away from her, keeping her hooves in his hands, "There's nothing more I can show you." She frowned. "In these eight months that I have taught you, you've absorbed what should have taken years of dedicated study."
"You never did show me portals." she said in a whimper.
"Portals? Those are easy." He walked over to his nightstand and grabbed two runes of portals. "Here," he placed one in her hoof, "it's simple. You think of the destination that you want to go that has a receiving rune, create the image of the place, channel the image to the rune for ten seconds," he thought of the rune in Ponyville, "and give it a toss."
Mike was too flustered with his explanation to realize the rune he had in his hand started to glow with arcane energy. Only after the rune hit the floor and the portal to Ponyville opened did he take notice. "What the..." he tried to comprehend his ability to open portals, "That shouldn't have happened."
"You retain your mage powers as a death knight?" Twilight asked.
"I must have." Mike quickly shut the portal. "The magics here must be stronger than even I can realize. Or..." He thought of when the essence of the val'kyr disappeared into him, "That was their final gift."
"Who's gift?"
"Bulwark's, and the others." Mike put his hand over his heart, "Whatever remained of their powers must have been transferred into me."
"So you can go back to teaching me the ways of the arcane?" Twilight hopefully asked.
"You already know more than enough." he responded as he adjusted his backpack. "Now it's time for you to create your own magic."
"Create...magic?"
He put his pack on the ground, "Twi, the ways of the arcane are infinite. Archmage Antonidas theorized we were just barely scratching the surface when it came to magical prowess." He approached her. "I was trying to summon weapons that would be bound in hand, made purely of arcane energy. Some magi were beginning to toy with time-space manipulation when I left." He turned, now observing the commotion in the courtyard. "Can you imagine what kind of power a person...or pony, could have if they could be anywhere, at any time?"
"You could go back to when you weren't a death knight!" She frantically blurted out.
"Twi," he swung back into the room, "by the time Antonidas even considered the possibility of infinite uses of magic, I was already dead." I'll never get used to saying that. "And we never had the time to consider the possibilities of experimenting with space-time. We had to deal with the reintegration of the other death knights, the patching of relations after the Wrathgate incident, and, on top of it all, the cataclysm."
She trotted over to him, magic taking both hands this time, extending them forward. She placed her hooves in his open palms, trying her best to maintain balance on her two hind legs. "We will find a way. If what you say is true, we can at least banish the curse of Ner'zhul from you once again, just like your council did."
"Those powers are lost to me now." He held her hooves in place, "It took the combined powers of six aging archmagi eleven agonizing days to purge the taint that now resides within me, in a process that damn near killed me...permanently." Mike pulled his hands back, now letting Twilight rest on all fours again. "I know that you, Celestia, and Luna are all powerful...but I don't think it will be enough." He glanced over to beside his bed, seeing Sorrowmourne standing upright, propped up against a dresser. A swing of it around to his back sheathed the sword. "I hope, in time, you can forgive me for what I did." he said as he started again toward the entryway.
"I forgive you." he heard her say. "And," he heard a hoof come down in his direction, "I need you."
"Twilight, this world holds no place for me. We Death Knights are the remains of an age long lost. Who I was died with me on the day of my falling, both on the first and second day. These ponies will never accept me, as I will always be an abomination to them. This place is full of love and life, something I am not. Arthas may have been a tyrant and a monster, but he gave us purpose. He gave us meaning, one that this mortal realm cannot offer. And now, I am doomed to wander." He opened the door. "And that is exactly what I intend to do."
Stupid, he thought, now slowly making his way down the backside of a mountain, I could have been nice and warm-ish, with good food instead of this mage garbage. The land he traveled was mostly barren, with only sharp rocks jutting up out of the ground, blocking the blowing snow. Their formation puzzled him, as they looked more crystalline than they did rock.
There was no feeling of cold to him. Whenever the wind would whip around him, or a gust came in, all he felt was a dull ache in his joints. It was the same feeling he remembered as the armies of the Horde and Alliance approached Icecrown Citadel. The snowstorm had let up some, and visibility was returning. Mike hadn't noticed until he reached the bottom that he stood at the basin of a circular bowl, surrounded entirely by the raised edges of small mountains. Eerie, he thought, observing the landscape, Completely flat. Prime real estate. Another break in the clouds brought his hand up, blocking the light that shown through, but also illuminating the other side. "Can't be more than twenty clicks." he told himself as the light was hidden by clouds again. He hadn't taken more than a couple of steps when another break in the clouds appeared, this time shining directly on him. The blinding light past over him, paused, then shone over him again. What in Celestia's name is going on?
Oh, no...Celestia, he thought as the warmth of the sun turned to fire on his exposed skin. They're looking for me.
A break in the wind caused Mike to hear what he thought was a faint voice. "Mike?" the light called out. The wind blew again, closing the break in the clouds.
He didn't know what possessed him to start running. Mike's legs just moved, trying to get out of the holy rays. Beams of light started streaking through, penetrating and shining on the snow. Even the reflection off the pure white snow burned Mike's skin. Crisscrossing beams of light formed around him, and he did his best to try to become the artful dodger death knights were not usually known to be. A beam fell on his shoulder, irradiating his cursed armor. It was enough pain to cause Mike to lose focus on moving his feet, sending him face-first into the pure white snow. He reeled in agony, only to notice his armor had either been superheated or the magics of the light melted the snow beneath him.
He managed to sit up in the wet snow, only to see the beams of light beginning to converge in front of him. Still on the ground, he shuffled back when he saw another crystalline-shaped rock. He leaped to take cover behind it before being rebuked by a bluish-white flash.
Mike was flung several feet from the rock, landing on his back. He cursed under his breath, and brought himself upright. The impact with whatever magic had left him dazed, as he could only see a blur the still converging light and where he came into contact with the now arching magic. He could hear it crackling, and when his vision returned, Mike could see arcs of energy coming in from all directions, curving in from above and laterally. They seemed to be converging around a circle where he hit.
"What in Celestia's name is this?" He unsheathed Sorrowmourne and approached the impact point. "Some kind of..." Mike gave the circle a poke from Sorrowmourne, "shield?" The circle flashed, throwing his sword back, and grew in size. The arching energies were coming in greater numbers, coalescing around the zone.
The force of Sorrowmourne being thrown back took Mike with it. Landing on his back again, he became so infuriated with the shield that he didn't notice he had landed on soft grass until he stood. The holy rays had melted the snow and softened the ground, but had now disappeared, and the green grass was becoming snow covered again. He looked back to the shield, the impact circle now decreasing in size. He assumed it must have been damaged when he came into contact.
Mike recovered Sorrowmourne, and brought both hands around the hilt. He yelled, bringing his unholy blade from an overhead swing down to the shield's scar. In a flash that left him blinded by light, he had felt the blade hit snow. After reopening his eyes, he observed blue-hued cracks forming on the curve. The once invisible shield became distorted, turning from a bright blue to a violet-black. The ground began to tremble, and he saw chunks of the shield disintegrate.
It took no more than sixty seconds for the shield to fully reveal what looked to be a city. Tall, jagged spires took the place of distant mountains. Mike found it most peculiar to why someone would want to keep a city hidden under a blanket of snow and ice, but when the final remnants of the shield fell, it revealed green grasses that seemed to be untouched by the weather. He felt the winds shift direction, now blowing in the direction of the city. Why not? he thought as he stepped from thick snow to grass.
The snowstorm had ceased by the time he reached the outer edge of the city. Moving from dirt to gleaming crystal streets made a satisfying "clink" when his boot came down. The sun had broken through the clouds, illuminating the great crystalline structures lining the path, giving it almost a heavenly glow. He took note of one great spire positioned on what he assumed was the center of the city. Hmmm...might be a good place to start, he thought as he turned to move toward it. Figure out where I am...or, he looked around, where everypony else is.
Mike hadn't taken note of the eerie absence of any ponies that might be inhabiting the city. He had been too focused on the crystal buildings and replaying the collapse of the shield in his head. "Hello?" he called out to the empty air. "Is anyone...or anypony, there?" Silence and a gust of a breeze were the only responses. "Anypony?"
A creak of a door hinge made him swing around in time to see a pony close a door. He walked up to the door, knocking three times. "Please," he tried to reason to whomever he saw, "I'm just a wanderer." Desperation got the better of him. "I need help."
A latch on the door turned, and Mike was relieved to see the nose of a pony emerge. "I'm sorry," the voice sounded shaken, "but I've never seen anypony like you before."
It reminded him of Twilight, That's one of the first things she said to me. "Well, I've never seen anypony like you, either. Do you know what this means?"
"No?" The voice from behind the door asked.
"We've known each other for less than twenty seconds, and we already have something in common." He heard the sound of a huff for a laugh, and the door opened a little more. The pony had eyes he'd never seen, with sharp edges and vibrant color to them, though they looked sad and tired. The mare's ears were down, and her mane almost looked artificial the way it shone in the light, with clear separation between the highlights and lowlights.
"I suppose that's true." The pony stepped onto the stoop, revealing an aqua coat and a cutie mark of a head of wheat. "I'm Autumn Gem."
"Hello, Autumn Gem." He did a shallow bow. "My name is Mike."
He saw her eyes flash down to his boots, then back up to him, "Where are you from?"
"It's a complicated story I'll have to tell you another time." he answered. "For now, let's just say I'm not from around here."
"Okay." she said with an upward inflection in her voice.
Mike brought his head up to observe the surrounding landscape. "So, can I ask you an awkward question?"
"Of course." she said, apathetically. "I don't think this day could become any more awkward that it already has."
Mike huffed, "Well, prepare to be in awe." He stepped back. "Where am I?"
He could tell she hadn't been ready to ask such a mundane question. "You really don't know?"
"I'm sorry, no I don't."
"This," she motioned to the towering spire, "is the capital city of the Crystal Empire." She paused, "I don't know why they call it an empire anymore. It's just this city now."
Mike brought his gaze from the tower to Autumn Gem, "It used to be bigger?"
"That was before the subjugation of the throne by the pony sisters." she replied, still speaking in a monotoned mood. "Until then, King Sombra ruled over an expanse that stretched from here all the way south to the town of Canterlot." She looked down at the crystal steps. "He made us work in the mines day in and day out, mining the crystals that lay underneath this land. He was obsessed with the magical power they contained...or the magic they supposedly contained."
He looked to the top of the spire. "What happened to him?"
"We don't know." she replied as she brought her sight to his. "After the alicorn sisters came through and freed us, there wasn't a trace of him found. All we know is he took the Crystal Heart with him."
Mike sat on the top step, "What's that? The Crystal Heart?"
"I don't really remember." The mare stopped talking, making Mike turn to see her sitting down in the doorway, "Sorry, I seemed to have gotten light headed. It's some kind of relic. All he said was that we would never find it, because we would never think to look there."
"Intriguing." Mike muttered. "Never think to look there..." his eyes caught a glimmer that shone from the spire. "I'm willing to wager it's there." he said as he pointed to it.
"How...why do you think that?"
"Because," he stood, "no one ever thinks to look at themselves for answers." He took a quick look around, "Is there a library around here? Somewhere I might be able to get some more answers? Maybe a map?"
"Yes. I'll give you some directions."
She gave Mike a piece of parchment to scribble the location of the library. "Autumn Gem, I thank you for your assistance. If you remember anything more, please find me if you can."
"Of course. Goodbye." She said as she backed back into her home and shut the crystal door.
Mike looked down at the parchment and his hastily written notes. Okay, Mike thought as he stepped from the porch to the street, let's find out why these ponies have amnesia.
Autumn Gem had under-estimated the time it took to get from her home to the library. The city landscape was deceiving big, and what she said would take a pony fifteen minutes took Mike thirty. Must be the difference between quad and bipedal locomotion, he eventually concluded. As far as he could tell, it was approaching mid-morning when he reached the large double-doors of the library. He had walked past several other ponies during his trek. Some raised their heads to observe him, but many of them didn't look at all, keeping their sights set on the ground or wherever they were walking.
They must still be under some kind of suppression spell. Mike thought as he burst through the doors. Closing the doors behind him, he spun around to see almost endless rows of crystallized bookshelves packed full of books. The days I wish Twilight were here... He didn't have a chance to complete the thought before being addressed by an older mare.
"Can I help you?" she calmly asked, seemingly not fazed by his appearance.
"Um, yes." Mike began, regaining his composure. "I was wondering if you had any books on the history of the Crystal Empire and anything to do with or that covers the artifact called 'The Crystal Heart.'"
"I believe we do." The librarian replied.
"Ah, good." But the pony just stood, not motioning or moving. A few uncomfortable moments passed before Mike finally said, "So...can you point me in the direction of those?"
The mare's mouth opened, but no words escaped. "I seem to have forgotten." she sadly replied.
"That seems to be the running theme of the day." Mike said under his breath.
"I don't really remember if I work here or not."
"Well then," Mike stepped toward the towering columns of books, "I'll just have a poke around."
"Let me know if you find anything or need any other assistance. My name is Agatha." The librarian called out. The search on his own proved fruitless for the next hour. The sun was at the top of the sky, gleaming down into the library through the crystalline ceiling, giving the bookshelves a radiant glow. The only question Mike had for the librarian was where the index catalog was located. He found it peculiar that she knew the location of it like she had been asked it several times before.
Mike jogged over to the catalog and quickly found the "H" section through the hundreds of drawers. Flipping through the cards brought him to "Histograms, A Study of" to "Hitting the Books: A Guide to Better Studying." "Odd." he thought aloud.
"Find anything?" The mare asked as she walked by.
"Quite the opposite." he replied. "It doesn't seem there's even a record of a history book being here."
"It could have been lost." Agatha said. "Many things were when Sombra ruled."
Mike brought a hand to his chin. "Suppressing one's own history? Why?"
"I couldn't tell you." she replied. "We think he managed to destroy all books relating to the past of the Crystal Empire in his four year reign."
Mike was taken aback. "When was he defeated?"
Agatha raised an eyebrow. "I don't remember the date, specifically," she began, "but it must have been a year and a half ago."
"Interesting..." Mike said quietly, folding his arms.
"Not to make assumptions, but I think you would have liked it," she started with an animated tone that she hadn't previously displayed. "since you look like the warring type. Have you ever fought in a battle?"
"Just a light skirmish or two." Mike replied with a shrug.
"It was fantastic. Glows of light streaking across the sky like the shooting stars, magic spells illuminating the night air with the brilliance of the sun, and when the pony sisters delivered the final blow, the rainbow...oh the rainbow. I had never seen such colors before." A flash came off Agatha, and her coat had transformed from a dull shade of gray to a more vibrant hue of blue. Her eyes became alive, and for the first time, he saw her smile. "Ponies almost mistook it for a celebration."
Mike had become enthralled with the story, not only because it was a good tale of Celestia and Luna fighting, but it was giving him information he was starving for. "So what happened after his defeat?"
"He was banished to the north." she answered. "Whatever the alicorn sisters did turned him into a shapeless form, a cloud of black smoke and mist." Agatha walked to a window that faced the giant spire. "In that form, though, is the location of the Crystal Heart. Without it, the Crystal Empire is defenseless."
"In what way?" Mike questioned. "Just what kind of relic was the Crystal Heart?"
"The magic of the Crystal Heart is powered by the love and hope of the Crystal Ponies." Agatha turned to her left, facing a crystal bust. She tapped the nose three times, and the deceivingly solid pedestal opened, reviling a dust-covered book. "Think of it like a conduit, or a concentrator." She opened it to a page that showed an illustration of the Crystal Heart in action. "It focuses that energy and projects it outward, creating the shield that keeps the kingdom safe."
"Wait." Mike held out a hand. "As I was approaching, I took down a shield that was encasing the entire city."
"That can't be." she said, stunned, "Since the Crystal Heart is still missing, there shouldn't have been one."
"This doesn't make any sense. My landfall was..." Mike's words trailed off as he brought his attention from the book to the nearby window that showed the capital building. The spire was a breathtaking building in its own right; a feat of engineering, even by Azerothian standards. The tripod structure must have been at least five hundred meters tall from base to flagpole, glowing and shimmering in the sunlight. He felt the light reflecting off of it, not really feeling what one would consider a feeling of warmth, but more of an absence of cold. He brought his folded hands to his mouth, extending his index fingers on his nose. "What was the Crystal Empire's reaction to Luna's fall, subsequent banishment to the moon, and now reintegration?"
Agatha brought her head back, "Excuse me?" she asked, in awe of the words that had just been said. "When did this happen, and why have we not heard about it?"
"That would be my next question." Mike replied. "But I think I have an explanation." He closed the book. "This place - this city - must have been put on a temporal hold for some reason. The banishment of Luna to the moon happened one thousand years ago, right around the time that, if I go and ask them about it, the princess sisters defeated and banished Sombra from your kingdom. Either they or Sombra, in some twisted, evil revenge, put the Crystal Empire in a temporal flux, freezing time." Mike turned to Agatha to make sure she was keeping up with him. He only saw her with mouth agape, staring into oblivion. "You've been gone...for a thousand years."
Agatha had not moved since Mike began his theory. Finally she blinked after he concluded. "Sorry...it's not every day you learn you've missed a millennia." She shook her head, as if to get the cobwebs out, "Are you certain of this?"
"I'm almost willing to bet my life on it." Mike said as he stood, book in hand, "And I fear that my tampering of the shield may have put you and the other Crystal Ponies in danger. So, if you don't mind, I need to place a receiving rune of teleportation, so that I may bring the sisters here."
"By all means," Agatha had finally brought her composure back, "Do whatever you need to do."
"I am also going to borrow this book." Mike added, patting the cover.
"Of course." she called out as she made her way back to her desk. "Keep it as long as you need."
Making the rune in the crystal floor of the library turned to be a tedious task. Whatever crystalline structure it was proved to be more robust than any gem or crystal Mike had ever had to cut in Azeroth. It had become late afternoon by the time the rune was carved and charged, which, with his thanks, had taken no longer than the ones at Ponyville or Canterlot. After calling out he would return the next day with answers, and a teleportation incantation, he arrived back at the Canterlot statue garden, rain pouring from the sky, and the familiar shape of a spearhead to greet him.
"Gentlecolts," he began, "I must speak with the princesses."
"For what purpose?" one of the guards asked. "Our orders are to take you to the dungeon."
"The Crystal Empire has returned."