Mists of the Everfree

Chapters

A New Arrival
Fillys, Manticores, and Alicorns, Oh My!
A Lunch Date, A Council, and other Shenanigans

A New Arrival

Lang Yixao leaped over the bolt of unholy magic that erupted from the Undead mage’s fingers, hitting the ground with a roll that brought him within a few feet of the powerful spellcaster and well within his range. The Pandaren rose up to his full 6’2’’ height when he came out of the roll and delivered a powerful strike to the mage, sending the creature stumbling back in a daze. The punch was followed swiftly by a rising kick to the face that nearly sent it flying, then a chop to the right arm that shattered the already-decrepit bones of the one that had already been dead once before. The speed and grace of the Monk’s movements were a mystery when one considered that the Pandaren weighed nearly 630 pounds, but nobody could deny that he was almost blindingly fast as he delivered the combo in less time than it took the mage to cast even its most basic spell. The Undead swung its staff at Lang’s head, forcing him to lean back and roll to avoid getting a nasty bump from the knotted wood. With some distance between them again, the male spellcaster healed his arm before invoking a torrent of fire to incinerate the Pandaren into nothingness. Lang focused his chi and created a wall of energy between himself and the flames, causing them to roll off of the energy as if it were a solid wall.

The sounds of battle raged all around the two as the forces of the Alliance, a group of several nations and races working together to bring order and peace to the world, fought bitterly against the savage conglomerate of races known as the Horde in the Valley of the Four Winds. He was a Pandaren, a bipedal species of sentient bears that had recently returned to the world at large after 10,000 years of isolation due to a deal made by their last Emperor. During the bleak days that preceded the sundering of the world, when demons flooded onto Azeroth and threw the entirety of the mortal realm into jeopardy, the last Emperor of the Pandaren discovered a way to protect his land from the devastation. His deal with fate shrouded his land within an impenetrable mist for ten thousand years, but the nature of his transaction has left Pandaria haunted ever since. Previously, ships entering the mists have lost their bearings and spun about aimlessly before returning to the open ocean. As for the Pandaren, they looked out toward the mist-veiled seas and many presumed that the rest of the world had perished in the Sundering. But it had not, and the world had come to Pandaria in the worst possible way. Garrosh Hellscream's reckless thirst for power led him to do the unthinkable: from beneath the Vale of Eternal Blossoms, he seized the desiccated heart of an Old God to use as a tool of war, unleashing horrors upon the sacred valley.

Now, the combined armies of Pandaria and the Alliance fought against Hellscream's horde in order to reach the Vale and undo the atrocities that were committed. Lang waited until the flames petered out before he released the wall of Chi that he had created and rushed forward, drawing the Jian and the war-hammer that were strapped to his back. He juked a bolt of arcane energy and closed the gap in less than a second, bringing a mighty strike down right on the Undead's chest. Lang heard the ribs and solar plexus crack under the force, and the mage was driven to the ground immediately and forcefully as he put all of his strength and weight behind the blow. There was a momentary lull in the action as he breathed in and out, calming himself from the adrenaline-fueled fury that threatened to take him when he fought, before he lifted his hammer from the creature's chest and shook some of the gore off of the blunt weapon. Lang looked around for a moment at the frantic battle that was being fought for the future of his people and allowed himself a moment of grief as the chaos of war trampled over what had once been one of the most beautiful scenery on Azeroth.

That moment, however, would prove to be his undoing. Unfamiliar with the Undead scourge, he did not know that he had to destroy the head in order to fully kill one of their kind, and as such was unprepared when the creature lifted his hand and summoned forth a well of arcane power that would most likely return his soul to the void, such was its magnitude. A portal opened up above the Pandaren and began pulling on the Monk with all the irresistible force of the tide, mocking his frantic efforts to crouch and cling to the long grass by simply ripping the earth up with him. "Buu!" he shouted out in Pandaren, reverting to his native tongue in his panic as he gave the cackling undead a look that was a mixture of disbelief and loathing. Lang was pulled into the portal which slammed shut with a bang behind him, sealing his fate as yet another casualty in the war against Hellscream.

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Zecora Farseer was a Zebrican Shaman, a resident of the Everfree forest, and a friend to Princess Twilight Sparkle, and as such she was quite used to encountering strange and unusual things every so often. Everything from eldritch abominations bent on the destruction of Equestria to bunnies with the legs of deer trampling through a patch of Poison Joke like it wasn't even there--she had seen it all. So, one would think that encountering an unconscious, bear-like creature surrounded by chunks of rock and earth, some with unfamiliar vegetation still attached to it, would be a rather run-of-the-mill thing for her.

The only problem was that this particular bear-like creature was dressed in armor that was very clearly made of leather, something she had seen on Diamond Dog soldiers before, and clutching two very dangerous-looking weapons that were stained with blood in its paws. The armor itself was articulating and of masterful make--it would probably be able to deflect a weapon just as well as most iron armors could while still allowing for maximum mobility. It was a deep, forest green that blended well with the vegetation around them, though Zecora doubted a creature of this size was entirely concerned about stealth. The Zebra wasn't normally one to judge on appearances alone, given what she had gone through when she had first moved to her hut in the Everfree Forest, but this creature had set off every alarm bell that instinct and experience had ever provided for her. This being was dangerous, more so than almost any creature she had ever encountered in her life. The basket full of medicinal herbs and various other plants that she was holding in her mouth now had what she was sure were permanent bite marks on the handle, and she stood stock still as she prepared to fight this creature or run, depending on which one turned out to be the best option. The creature stirred and Zecora lifted one foot, involuntarily dropping her basket directly upon a dry twig that snapped more loudly than one of Pinkie Pie's fireworks.

The dichromatic bear's azure eyes shot open and he rolled to his feet, looking around in a furtive manner as his body jumped directly into wakefulness. Zecora jumped back and widened her stance, shifting into one of the many martial arts she had been instructed in as part of her Shamanistic training. The bear's eyes moved directly to her aquamarine orbs and locked on as he--for it looked definitively male--shifted into a martial arts stance of his own. Neither one of the two moved as they sized up the creature they faced, and Zecora could tell that this creature was looking for weaknesses just as she was, and just as she was he was finding nothing. Finally, after an unbearable awkward silence persisted for more than a minute straight, Zecora began speaking very softly so as not to alarm the newcomer to her forest. "This has gone on for far too long. I feel that you are confused as I--right, or wrong?" she asked, narrowing her eyes questioningly.

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"This has gone on for far too long. I feel that you are confused as I--right, or wrong?"

Lang's eyes widened in shock when the striped, minature horse began speaking in common--rhyming in it, if his ears were to be believed. His mouth opened and closed at random intervals as he attempted to find some form of response to the query, but his brain refused to cooperate as it devoted its power to trying to discern whether he had gone completely insane. He still had full control of his senses--as far as he could tell, at least--so he doubted he was hallucinating, however the miniature striped horse wearing golden jewelry and speaking in rhymes was picking away at the soundness of that assumption. The Pandaren finally cleared his throat and mind, deciding that he would simply go along with it and see where the winds took him next. After all, he had seen some very strange things in his travels throughout Azeroth, so this may have just been some new, undiscovered species. "Well, miss," he began--for the voice was definitely female, if a bit deep, "you're right on both counts."

The Monk slid out of his Huoshui stance, noting that the mini-horse did the same, and slowly sat down as he came to the realization that he felt like he had just woken up the morning after the Festival of Fire. He groaned and put his right hand on his head, bracing himself on his left knee with the other. "Aiya~, zhè shì zuì zāogāo de tóutòng wǒ yǐjīng zài jǐ nián," he muttered in Pandaren as he rubbed his head, trying to remember how he came to be in this strange place. He remembered being in the Valley of the Four Seasons, and fighting with that Undead mage, but then--. He was surprised out of his thoughts when he felt a hard hoof nudge on his left shoulder, causing him to look up and see the mini-horse offering an unfamiliar root in one outstretched hoof. How she was doing so was more than his aching head could handle contemplating at the moment, and he simply gave her a questioning look to prompt her to explain.

"Chew this root, and you will see, that headache will be history," she rhymed with a voice that would have been melodic if his head didn't feel like a Hozen was using it for a drum. The Pandaren bit his bottom lip for a moment in contemplation, debating the wisdom of taking an unfamiliar root from a talking mini-horse that he had just met, but eventually nodded in thanks and took the plant before sticking it in his mouth and biting down. Instantly, he was rewarded by a decrease in the pain and a relieved smile was painted on his face as he continued slowly chewing the root, allowing its restorative properties to take effect. The herb was more effective than any analgesic plant that he knew of, and he was immensely grateful for that as he relished the feeling of relief that overtook him.

"Thank you, kind mistress. That was a gift beyond value," he said graciously as he paused in his chewing, sticking the thin root in the corner of his mouth where he normally kept the sugar cane stalks he liked to chew on in between meals. "Now that I can think properly, I believe we are in need of introductions. My name is Ling Yixao, sole heir to the White Tiger head family and creator of the Huoshui style," he said as he crossed his legs and clapped his hands together, giving the mini-horse a respectful bow as a way of greeting. It was traditional in Pandaren culture to give a list of accolades after ones name if you could, as it marked you as one who remembered both his achievements and responsibilities. To lie during this exchange was to mark yourself as a Duìxiàn, forever shunned and untrustworthy.

The mini-horse gave a look of what seemed to be surprise before giving him a bow by way of crossing one of her front legs in front of the other and dipping her nose to the ground while closing her eyes. "I am Zecora Farseer, and it is The Way I hold dear. A Shaman is my trade, the sick and hurt are who I save. This forest is my home, where I collect the herbs that have grown," she responded, before she turned and walked over to a basket that was laying on the lush ground of the forest that Lang now found himself in. It was unlike any woodland in Azeroth that he had seen, with no apparent pattern to the vegetation. He was well-versed in herbalism, and as such he could tell that the plants here were meant to grow in many different environments. There were plants that were best suited for deserts right beside some that were clearly meant for cold tundra, with evergreens, broad-leafs, and various other trees that had no business being within a hundred miles of each other growing side by side. He marveled at the biodiversity that was evident in this strange forest before he heard the mini-horse clear her throat.

He looked down to her and saw that she had picked up the basket in her mouth and was motioning for Lang to follow her with one hoof in a manner that should have been impossible for an equine, though he did not question it as he had already had a semi-conversation with her. Lang's memory was still fuzzy, though he assumed that the mage had done something to send him to this place, and as of now he had no real way to return to where he had been. His stomach growled as he realized that he had not had anything to eat all day, and he had no better option than to follow the striped equine and hope that she continued being friendly. Lang got up from his cross-legged position and motioned for her to carry on before following her into the woods, still gnawing upon the root she had given him.

Author's Note

Index- Pandaren Translation

Buu- No

Aiya~, zhè shì zuì zāogāo de tóutòng wǒ yǐjīng zài jǐ nián.- Aiya~, this is the worst headache I've had in years.

Duìxiàn- Dishonored

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Hey there, everypony! This is an idea that I had to get into words or else it was going to drive me crazy. Yes, it's a WoW and MLP crossover, and yes, I know that they haven't had the best track record. But I'm hoping that this story will be different, and to do that I need you guys. In the comments, I want you to give me any questions, comments, or concerns that you have. I want you to tell me if I'm making a character too powerful, or nerfing their power too much. This story will rely on YOU to become the story I have envisioned, and I pray that you will participate.

Also, I am in need of Betas and Editors. Any who want to read the uncensored product before it goes live, message me and we'll talk shop.

'Till next time!

Fillys, Manticores, and Alicorns, Oh My!

Applebloom ran, screaming at the top of her lungs, in the direct opposite direction of the monster that had obviously eaten Zecora and claimed her house for its new den. What other explanation could there be for such a humongous creature sitting in her hut and snarling so ferociously at her when she had intruded upon what looked like him eating her Zebra friend? Tears poured from her eyes--which were clenched firmly shut in a base instinct to hide from the threat--as her hooves pounded a trail through the thick underbrush of the Everfree with no discernible destination apparent.

She just had to get away from the monster that had eaten Zecora, then tell Twilight so that the powerful Alicorn could gather up her friends and wrangle the mean ol' monster, because that's what her sister had always told her to do if she ever ran into a monster while going to her lessons with Zecora. So intent was she on her blind dash to safety, she didn't even notice the obstruction in her path until she ran face-first into it with a dull thud and a good deal of pain as her muzzle flattened against something that felt slightly squishy, mostly solid, and very warm.

She stumbled back a good few steps and landed squarely on her butt as she rubbed her sore muzzle with both hooves, wondering what in the world could have stopped her dead like that without even budging, and really hoping that it wasn't what she thought it was. She opened one sunset-colored eye before she immediately opened both, her irises and pupils shrinking to pinpricks as she swiftly scooted back away from the one thing that she had been told to absolutely, positively, never under any circumstances, disturb while it was sleeping.

An unhappy snarling sound emanated from the massive Manticore as it turned its gargantuan head to gaze upon the idiot who had dared to wake him up from his afternoon nap. He shook out his sanguine mane and yawned, exposing two rows of razor-sharp teeth that were made for ripping through muscle, sinew and bone. He extended two large, bat-like wings in a stretch as he got to his feet and turned to face the easy prey, baring his teeth afterwards as he raised his prehensile scorpion tail in preparation to strike at the little pony that had been stupid enough to stumble into his napping spot.

Applebloom came to her senses just in time to dive out of the way of the strike, causing the poisonous tip to embed itself in the root of a tree as she scrambled to get her hooves underneath her and began to run away from the dangerous predator. Instead of trying to dislodge his tail, the Manticore simply ripped the root out of the ground and flicked his tail in a practiced motion, flinging the root into the underbrush as it let out a roar of displeasure.

Applebloom looked behind her to see the massive beast pouncing at her, propelling itself with its massive, leathery wings. Just before it was upon her, the filly rolled to the side and scrambled to get back up and keep running the way she had rolled, forcing the predator to land and skid to a stop. It began loping along after the young pony, its jaws now slavering at the thought of the delicious morsel that awaited it once it got its paws on the tender young explorer.

Applebloom was crying harder than ever now, mostly from the impossible terror that had gripped her very soul as she literally ran for her life from the apex predator of this forest. She weaved and dodged around boulders, trees, and anything else that provided just a little bit of cover, just barely staying ahead of snapping jaws, reaching paws, and that incredibly dangerous tail. But, eventually, her unfamiliarity with the terrain proved to be her undoing.

The Manticore managed to back her into a small divot in a sheer cliff face, giving her nowhere to go as it stalked forward and snarled menacingly with each step it took towards her. Applebloom ran side to side as she searched desperately for a way out, but found nothing and collapsed to the hard ground, covering both of her eyes with her forehooves so that she wouldn't see her death coming. The predator crouched down low and readied its pounce, rolling its shoulders a few times and extending both of its wings, before it leaped forward with a mighty roar and murderous intent.

Applebloom flinched and waited for the pain to start... but it didn't, and she instead heard a massive thud followed by a second, slightly more solid thud that sounded more than a bit like something being hit, then hitting the ground. The young filly pulled one of her hooves off of her eyes and cracked the optic open to look, only to see the monster that had been sitting in Zecora's hut now standing over the prone body of the Manticore, which looked to be recovering from a particularly nasty blow from the hammer that the monster held in its right paw.

The monster holstered the hammer that it held in a spot on its back, next to a dangerous-looking sword, and gave the massive beast that had been chasing Applebloom a solid kick that sent it tumbling into the clearing surrounding the cliff face before it rolled to its feet, giving the dichromial monster a look of pure malice. Applebloom let out a quiet whimper upon seeing the look, not knowing whether to be more afraid of the monster that she had been running from to begin with, or the one that had started trying to eat her afterwards.

"Stay behind me, young one. I am getting the distinct impression this beast wants us for lunch, and I don't intend for you or me to get put on the menu," the first monster said as it shifted into a weird stance that kinda reminded her of Rainbow Dash's Karate positions. She decided to listen to the one who hadn't chased and attacked her on sight and kept it between her and the Manticore as much as possible, her hooves shaking quite ferociously as she prayed to Celestia, Luna, Cadence, and any other powers that there were that she would get out of this in one piece.

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Lang had never seen any creature quite like this one before, and that was saying quite a bit considering his time spent wandering the wilds of Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms. Its body was that of a lion, but it seemed that a toddler had been given that basic template along with a bunch of animal parts and told to go crazy with the design. He knew he had enough Chi to send this thing packing in a few minutes, should he fight it one-on-one, but he was currently protecting the filly that had run screaming into the woods after their encounter.

It was the second scream that had caused the Zebra and the Pandaren to leap out of their respective positions and tear off into the woods in search of the filly, and it had been sheer luck that allowed him to stumble upon the attack just before the filly was killed. Now, he was gathering his Chi as he kept himself between the monster and the pastel mini-horse, or "Pony," as Zecora had so politely informed him was their species' name in the brief time before they had heard the small one's scream.

The Pandaren batted aside a strike from the scorpion tail with a deft hand, causing the stinger to embed in the ground, before he rushed forward and focused a large amount of Chi in one hand while the beast was still recovering. He struck forward with all of his might and released the Chi, performing a Tiger Palm Strike that sent the beast skidding in the opposite direction. The Monk heard a few ribs creak as it hissed at the pain, coming to a stop a full seven feet away. Lang shifted back into position quickly and the beast hissed spitefully at the Windwalker, causing him to smirk and give a "bring it" gesture with his outstretched hand.

The beast snarled and charged forward, using a serpentine pattern to make it harder to defend against its strike before lunging forward with the full intention of tackling the interloper to the ground and ripping him open with its powerful jaws. Unfortunately for it, Lang was used to fighting creatures much nastier, stronger, and craftier than it could hope to be if it lived a hundred years more. The Pandaren performed a beautiful roundhouse kick that caught the beast full in the jaw, sending it tumbling away before finally stopping a good distance away.

It scrambled back to its feet and rushed him again, this time utilizing its wings to pounce at him and attack from above, which was quickly proven to be a bad idea when the Monk pulled out his hammer and hit the creature full in the face with a swing that he knew knocked a few teeth loose. The beast was knocked straight to the side and hit the ground so hard it bounced a few times, actually making Lang wince in sympathy as it tumbled over the grass. He felt slightly bad as he realized that this creature, while very fierce in appearance, stood very little chance against his training and experience in combat. Honestly, compared to fighting an adolescent black dragon in the heat of the Wound in Kalimdor, this beast was barely even a warm up for him.

The beast shook its head and growled, getting up to prepare to charge again, before it suddenly gave the gentle warrior a confused look that was reciprocated by his foe. The beast looked at its flank, drawing attention to the feather-tipped dart that now protruded from its left flank. It let out a groggy Mrow before its eyes slowly closed and the beast slumped over, falling to the ground in a heap in an action that caused Lang to half-lower his guard out of pure shock. The answer to what had just happened materialized out of the underbrush that surrounded the clearing, as Zecora stepped into the light with a blowgun made out of Bamboo in her teeth and several more darts with multi-colored feathers on the end strapped to her left foreleg.

"You know, I could have handled that one," Lang said with a mirthful grin as he slipped out of his pose, giving Zecora a mock-reproachful look. The Zebra merely grinned as if to say, "Of course you could," before she slipped the blowgun into a slot in the brace on her left foreleg and rushed forward to see to her young apprentice, who was currently looking more confused than ever. In that moment, the young filly asked a question that could best be described as the single most pertinent query that had been posed in his entire time spent in this world.

"What in the name of Celestia is goin' on?"

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Celestia and Luna returned to their physical bodies, which were currently in the northernmost tower of Canterlot Castle, in a room that was guarded by two pairs of Lunar and Celestial Guards and only accessible by the royal sisters. Celestia let out a sigh of frustration as Luna grit her teeth slightly, a rare moment of emotional display between the two as they allowed themselves to show what they felt in the security of the most private room in the entire Equestrian Empire. "This is not good, Lulu," Celestia murmured as she reverted to the childhood nickname she had given her sister, showing just how concerned she really was. "The last time something like this happened..."

"I know, Tia," Luna said, not using the royal "we" in front of one of the only ponies she considered her equal, removing the need for the solar Diarch to finish the thought. "The ether hath been much disturbed by this creature's arrival. However, you know as well as I what the consequences may be should we not handle this with care. We cannot leave Canterlot undefended, nor are we aware of this creature's abilities. If we meet him with force, there is no telling what he may do," she mused as she bit her lower lip, looking down at the crescent moon design that she stood upon, the symbol of her domain. "Perhaps... Twilight Sparkle, she resides near the Everfree, doth she not?"

Celestia looked up and was about to flat-out refuse the very notion of sending her student, almost her surrogate daughter, but she bit her tongue and forced herself to give Luna's train of thought credence. She looked up to the ceiling, where a spiraling pattern of azure, slightly cloudy skies and starry night skies swirled until they met in the middle, where a silver crescent moon rested over a golden sun that both glowed slightly due to enchantment, giving the room a soft, soothing light.

Twilight was a Princess now, the Alicorn whom embodied magic and friendship. She was still coming into her full powers, true, but she was still a magnificently powerful individual who could handle most any threat with ease. She knew the Everfree forest better than even she and her sister, due to her long time spent within the forest whereas the two of them had avoided it like the plague due to the horrible memories they had there. She had a friend who lived within the Forest, a Zebrican Shaman, and the Elements of Harmony to help her should the creature prove hostile.

"You know as well as I that it is our best option, Tia," Luna murmured when she saw the conflict upon her sister's face, reaching out with a wing and placing it upon her sister's back. Celestia's bright pink eyes regarded her for a moment before she closed them and sighed, nodding her head in assent. "I shall write the letter, sister. Thou must prepare to lower the sun in a few hours, and then I shall send two of my Lunar Guards to aid Twilight however they can. She will be as safe as I can make her, I swear it upon my honor as Princess," she said as she placed a hand over her heart before getting up to walk out of the meditation room, leaving her sister to her thoughts.

Celestia looked off into the distance as she thought on what was happening, wondering if she was ready to face the storm that she could sense on the horizon. She could only hope that she was, and she could only pray to her mother that her nation was ready as well.

Author's Note

Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, it was a real doozy to write. I hope you liked the fight scene with the Manticore, but if you didn't please comment and tell me why! As always, I am open to criticism and input, and will definitely use whatever comments I get to improve the story and my writing.

As always, I am still looking for a beta reader and an Editor. You would get to read my stories before they became published, and have input on the course of the story. Please, send me a message or comment if you are interested.

Regards,
Stigma

A Lunch Date, A Council, and other Shenanigans

Lang had to duck in order to clear the doorway into the mildly creepy-looking hut built into the hollowed-out dead tree, though he found that it was marginally more agreeable inside the hut than outside. The various masks on the walls were a bit off-putting, but a large pot of something delicious-smelling was simmering over a bed of hot coals that sent up tongues of flame to lick the soot-blackened underbelly of the cauldron. Various phials and herbs lined the walls, and the Monk even recognized a few of them by their shape or coloration. It was the house of an herbalist, and if the masks and his host's strange turns of phrase were anything to go by, it was the house of a shaman. "This is... cozy," Lang decided as he went over to study some of the plants, trying to discern which ones looked familiar to him and which ones were totally alien. "So, I take it that you live alone?" he asked his host, looking back at her as she began putting away the various herbs that were in her basket.

"Yes, you are right, I do live alone. It might seem a bit lonely, but it is my home," she said in rhyme--again--without looking away from what she was doing. "The soup that I made should be complete. Why don't you get some, then have a seat?" she asked, waving to a table that had two bowls on it. "I was already expecting company, but now I will simply have to set a place for three."

The Pandaren looked and, sure enough, there were already two rather large earthenware bowls sitting on the small shelf that she had motioned to. He hummed, wondering if the company would be another striped mini-horse, before he grabbed a bowl and filled it up with what seemed to be a very well-seasoned vegetable soup. He reached into his pouch, which was attached to his belt right next to a gourd marked with the seal of the Huojin brewery on Shin-zin Su, and procured a pair of chopsticks before he brought the bowl up to his lips and began chowing down. He was starved from the battle that he had been taking place in, and he felt like he could eat his body weight in the delicious soup. The monk tilted the bowl up as he ate, making sure to get every last drop of broth and every scrap of vegetable that he could out of the bowl, before he finally lowered and let out a content sigh after only a few seconds. The Zebra was looking at him with shock in her eyes, as if in disbelief at the sight of someone consuming that much soup in such a short amount of time. Lang smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head with one gloved hand as he said, "Apologies, but it was so good that before I knew it, it was all gone."

The Zebra's shocked countenance transformed into a smile as she chuckled and shook her head, dismissing the notion that there was anything to be sorry about. "You must be hungry to eat so much. So tell me, what were you doing before all this fuss?" she asked as she went to make herself a bowl, spooning out the soup into the bowl with a long wooden spoon that she held in her mouth.

Lang filled his bowl again by dipping it into the soup before contemplating the answer to the Zebra's question, trying to figure out how to say it in a way that wouldn't sound ridiculous. "Well, I was in a battle. I was fighting a Mage, and I think I was winning, but..." he trailed off as his memories grew fuzzy and he furrowed his brow, angry that his own mind was fighting against him in a way that he could not fight back. "It is unclear. The next thing I remember is waking up in this forest with my head throbbing as if an angry Hozen had used it as target practice for its fireworks," he explained before he went back to eating the soup, prompting silence as the Zebra stirred her own broth with a small wooden spoon. He was finished with his second bowl within moments, but set it to the side rather than get another helping. Though he could definitely use it, his current predicament occupied his mind so much that even his appetite was subdued, if only a little.

The Zebra... Zecora, that was her name. Zecora looked up at Lang and studied him closely, particularly the armor and weapons that he had holstered on his back on the way to the hut. "You are a warrior, but not a savage. Perhaps it is not right to assume you will ravage," she muttered quietly, though just loud enough that Lang could hear her. The monk said nothing, though he realized then that the reason she had taken him back to her house was to keep an eye on him, to make sure that he wasn't going to find the nearest living thing and start beating it to death. She was familiar with violence, though she avoided it when possible and tried to actively prevent it where he was concerned. He allowed a small smile to grace his lips before he reached down and unhitched the gourd hanging from his belt before he uncorked the stopper and took a swig, relishing the sweet taste of home that the brew offered.

He took a satisfying gulp before he was pegged with another question from his new dichromatic friend, asking, "You say you were in a battle? Was it a war?" The Pandaren nearly choked on his drink before looking to the unassuming, unthreatening little horse once more, who's face was a perfect picture of innocence.

"Yes... A bad one. I was fighting for my home, to protect those close to me. And right now, seeing as how I am possibly hundreds of thousands of miles away from that battle, I would prefer not to think about my comrades dying," he said slowly, a dangerous glint beginning to form in his eyes as he carefully corked his gourd and moved to replace it on his belt. Zecora looked unfazed by his dangerous gaze and simply locked eyes with him, her large blue orbs seeming to examine every inch of his soul as if she were attempting to find out who he really was, in his heart of hearts. They held this position for a while, neither backing down an inch, before the mini-horse let out a huff of air and began to chuckle in a way that made Lang's skin crawl. She simply turned away after that, leaving the Pandaren to eat and drink in peace while she contemplated several things.

"They have noticed by now, I am quite sure. What happens from here on in is on this one's fur," she muttered to herself as she looked to her fire, not quite loud enough for Lang to hear her. Which was just as well, for he wouldn't have understood what she meant even if he had. While he replenished himself at Zecora's hut, larger forces were already hard-at-work attempting to shape the destiny of the new arrival to Terra.

"Zecora~! I'm ready ta do mah train... in'..." a young, heavily accented voice called out before it trailed off, prompting Lang to turn around and look at the source, which was currently standing in the entryway of the hut. A tiny, yellow horse, so small that it could easily be mistaken for some kind of toy, with a big red bow in its red mane, stood stock-still while it stared at the Pandaren's ponderous bulk. The monk's jaw dropped as he took in just how heart-stoppingly adorable this little thing was, and he did the one thing that every sentient being with any kind of soul would do when confronted with such unrivaled, concentrated amounts of cute. He smiled, unfortunately displaying the long, sharp canines and incisors he had in the front of his mouth. That, of course, got the reaction that any sentient herbivore child would give when confronted with a 630-pound apparent predator.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH~! THA MONSTER'S GONNA EAT MEEEEEE~!" she screamed as she bolted away from the hut with more speed than he had seen in many racehorses. Before he could even yell out, "Wait," the filly was so far gone that he would need his Lion Turtle to even hope to catch up. He was left with one hand extended and a word dying on his lips as he watched her tear away into the forest, disappearing within a matter of seconds. It was quiet for just a few moments before Zecora let a giggle slip, and then a full-out series of deep guffaws followed as Lang's cheeks burned in embarassment and he got another bowl of brew, doing his best to ignore the almost obnoxious laughter of his host.

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In a higher plane of existence, seven Ethereal forms sat in a circle that had one glaringly obvious gap in it. Well, the real description of what was happening is too much for mortal brains to comprehend, so for now we will say that was how they were arranged. One of the Ethereal forms, an Alicorn shape bursting with the unrestrained light of Sol, spoke first. "We all know why this council has been called to order. Something... we are still unsure what... has caused a disruption in the balance." she said, and the rest of the forms gave an approximation of a grim nod--as close as one could get when projecting one's true form onto the astral plane.

"It landed in one of my last sanctuaries, the Everfree, and disrupted the natural flow of energy severely," a pure black entity said in a growl that reverberated in the astral plane. "Calm, my brother. If the being's state of unconsciousness was anything to go by, it was not a purposeful disruption," an identical being of pure white said as she placed a hoof on her brother's rage-filled soul.

"Thou knewest where this being made its entrance into this world, then? And it si only now thou decided to inform the rest of this council, well after the gathering hath started," a midnight blue being said from beside the glowing golden one, raising a hoof and pointing it at the two spirits. "If thou keepest information from this council, it helps no one,"

The black and white beings were about to respond in unison when the largest and most shining of the ethereal forms, a being of purest alabaster with wisps of fiery red roaring through her soul at random intervals, slammed down her proverbial hoof and silenced the group before they could start arguing. Both of the parties bowed their heads respectfully and settled back into their positions, giving eachother sideways glares. "No matter what the circumstances were, we face an undeniable truth: Something has slipped into our world unbidden, or been cast here by forces beyond his control. The first is terrifying, the second... is full of the possibility to be anything," she said as she looked back and forth betwixt the two parties before she looked up to the ever-silent watchers, who took the forms of dragons. They simply nodded in assent to her assessment, prompting the Alicorn to settle back and look over to her two daughters. "This Everfree Forest is the sprawling wild place that grew out of your battle with Discord. As such, it is your duty to seek this being out and determine what, if any, motives he has. Good luck, my daughters," she said with tenderness, causing both of them to nod before disappearing from the council plane to do their mother's wishes in the mortal realm.

Faustia the Namegiver looked out over the astral plane where she ruled, the afterlife of all beings who lived good and harmonious lives, and worried. This new arrival could be the salvation of their world... or its ruination.

Author's Note

Gah, I know it sucks, but I'm building up steam here. It will get better, I promise! Put away the torches and pitchforks.