Chapter 7: The Beginning of a Long Journey

Applejack looked towards the sky and sniffed at the air, the storm clouds from the previous day had returned, and now loomed overhead in an ominous display. The air smelt crisp and moist, the earth having so recently been soaked added more crispness to the scent. Applejack moved her forelock out of her face with a hoof, the humidity causing it to stick to her face like plaster. Peering carefully as she walked, she could see light droplets of rain splattering the path, so she pulled her cloak over her helmet.

The talk with Applebloom had gone surprisingly well, apparently she was excited to take over the farm, and even more excited for Applejack, as she was finally getting her dream-come-true. Applejack knew that this was likely not going to be fun and games, but that was what made it exciting. Striding into the unknown to experience places and creatures she had only ever heard of in fairy tales. The Eastern Kingdoms had it's fair share of strange creatures and such, but Kalimdor was the more mystical of the two continents. More exotic and wild creatures lived there, some of which were rare enough to only be known through legends.

If she hadn't been born a farmpony, Applejack would have liked to be an archeologist and joined her hero; Brann Bronzebeard's, Explorer's Guild. She was always fascinated with history and the likes. Exploration and discovery were her dreams, and now that they were finally happening...she could dance with excitement. Her father had always told her she was "..the smartest little filly in Azeroth." Nowadays she knew that was mostly flattery, but she had been a very studious filly. When she wasn't working the fields with her pa, she was nose-deep in an archeology book, most often written by Brann.

Applejack's smile widened when it occurred to her that she might be able to visit Ironforge after this quest. The thought alone made her begin to skip with joy. Why, if she visited Ironforge - home of the Dwarven Ponies - she could probably even meet Brann Bronzebeard! But now wasn't the time for fantasizing about the future, as Applejack realized she had come upon the gates of Stormwind.

The farm-mare had never been to Stormwind, she only left her farm during short trips to Redridge or Westfall with Rainbow Dash. As those two zones were within minutes walking from her farm. Now, straight across Elwynn, staring up at the magnificent gates, she felt a lump in her throat. How tiny she was compared. The wooden gates were - as usual - wide open to accommodate merchants and travelers. Applejack nodded to a guard, who smiled back at her before resuming his stoic stance. As she entered the Valley of Kings her jaw dropped, her hooves suddenly clinking against hard marble. The bridge reaching across the moat was wide and thick, guarded by many sets of guards, both mare and stallion. Four statues of well known heroes of The Alliance lined the edges of the bridge, each well detailed and bigger than a giant. Applejack stopped by each of them to read the golden plates embedded into the bases, the names of the heroes carved into them.

With a new smile on her face, Applejack continued on, trotting down the length of the bridge. The entrance into the city was divided into two separate gates, both of which had cobblestone paths that curved around a wall in the middle to meet the bridge. Applejack went around the right side, nodding to more guards as she went. She had entered the Trade District, where the houses were marked as such by blue shingles. There were many merchant's houses, and traders had set up stands and were either calling out for customers or bartering.

Applejack realized something in that moment, "Rainbow didn't tell me where to meet her!" she bit her lip and looked around, the sun had just come up moments ago, they couldn't have left yet. She decided her best bet at finding them was the inn, so she made her way through the bustling crowd, mindful of her axe. Applejack had just tripped over a box and righted it when she came face-to-face with the cyan Pegasus she had been searching for. "Gah!" she yelped, falling on her haunches in surprise.

"There you are! Just in time too, we're leaving within the hour." Rainbow helped the frazzled earth pony to her hooves with an apologetic grin.

"Thanks. Glad Ah made it." Applejack smiled back, keeping right on Rainbow's tail as she made her way towards the inn. Huh, Ah was right about the inn.. Applejack thought to herself.

"Hey Shining! Where's Twilight? We are leaving soon, one of her Mage friends just stopped by and said they were ready." Applejack watched as Rainbow called to a white unicorn stallion, who stopped packing his satchel with food to ponder.

"I don't know, I haven't seen her this morning." he furrowed his brow in concern.

Rainbow's ears drooped as she remembered something, she turned to Applejack with a fake smile on her face, "Can you excuse me for a moment? Just make yourself comfortable, we'll be leaving soon." she assured.

Applejack raised a quizzical eyebrow, but nodded and sat down at one of the tables. Rainbow disappeared up the stairs, trailed by Shining. Another white unicorn, this one a mare, sat down across from her. "Hello, I'm Rarity. You must be Rainbow's friend." she held out a dainty, cloven hoof for Applejack to shake.

"Applejack, nice to meet ya." she smiled, the unicorn grinned back.

Walking down the stairs again... Twilight tossed and turned in her sleep, grimacing and clenching her teeth, .."Mom?" don't turn the corner..."No... "No..." Twilight mumbled, scratching at her face with her hooves in desperation, as if it would stop her dream, "No!!" She screamed, sitting upright in bed as she awoke in a cold sweat.

Just then the door slammed open, "Twilight?! Are you ok?" Rainbow rushed in and slid to a stop on her knees by her bed. Twilight barely registered her question, she simply stared at her hooves and took careful breaths, trying to slow her racing heart. She grimaced and clenched her jaw again, tears collecting in her eyes. "Twilight..." Rainbow whispered, "...look at me." she placed a comforting hoof on her shoulder.

Twilight ignored her and lay back on the bed, curling into a ball and letting her emotional dam break. She hiccuped quietly, "Why won't they go away?"

Rainbow sighed, "The nightmares..." she mumbled.

Twilight laughed in a somewhat sarcastic manner, "Y-you know what's worse?" Twilight didn't turn to look at her friend, she stayed put as she spoke, she chuckled again, sounding like a madmare, "What's worse is the fact that they actually stopped for a few days...and I....I actually had hope that they were gone...but they aren't! And they never will be!" Twilight's voice raised in volume, and in her sudden rage her horn crackled with a surge of magic, instinctively grabbing threw the nearest object.

The magenta glow encasing the vase vanished the moment the clay shattered against the wall. Rainbow jumped, and Shining - who had been standing in the doorway - rushed to Twilight's side. He gathered his sister into his arms and hugged her close, letting her sob into his shoulder. She still hadn't told him what the nightmares were about, or why they bothered her so much. One might think such nightmares might lose their touch, what with being so repetitive.

Rarity had trotted up the stairs after she heard the vase break, Applejack following curiously behind. Rainbow blocked them from entering and went out the door, shutting it behind her, "Let's go downstairs, she needs her space." she murmured to Rarity, who sighed and nodded.

"Who?" Applejack asked, her curiosity piquing, she and Rarity had heard the muffled scream, then came shouting by the same pony. Followed by the sound of something smashing against a wall , which finally drove them from their seats.

"My friend, I'll tell you about it later." Rainbow said sadly, her demeanor suggested that she was not going to elaborate any further.

Applejack nodded, "Ok." Who is it, some crazy pony?

Shining gently stroked Twilight's mane, shushing her quietly, "It's ok Twily...everything is fine."

"B-but it's not!" she cried, "I've been having them for over three decades!" she slammed her free hoof against the bed to punctuate her words. Her magic began to sputter and spark at the tip of her horn as a result.

At that Shining held her at arm's length, "Twilight! Calm yourself! Your magic is reacting and you'll likely get restrained by the guards if you break anything more than that vase." he scolded sternly, looking her in the eyes.

Twilight looked up at him, pouting. But he was right, letting her emotions loose was dangerous, and another surge might not be so easily fixable. "I'm sorry." she muttered, looking down at her hooves in shame. Although she didn't entirely feel sorry, she had a right to be upset over these nightmares. Yet she was going to take her brother's advice, it was better to stay in control of her magic.

"It's alright, you just need to be more careful." Shining pulled her in for another hug, "But you know we need to go soon. The mages won't keep that portal open forever."

Twilight sighed, "Of course, I'm just...tired because of the nightmares." she pulled away from Shining and stepped out of bed, pulling her clothes on. Shining made the bed and swept up the vase while she fixed herself up.

"Twily?" Shining said without turning around.

"Yes?"

"What are they about?" he asked, cringing in wait of her response.

Twilight inhaled sharply, "I..." she gulped, "...I don't feel ready just yet...maybe when we make camp tonight?" she suggested, looking for Shining's response.

Shining turned around and nodded, though his brow was creased with worry, "Of course, take your time."

Twilight smiled in relief, she had managed to put off the question, for now...

Twilight made her way downstairs shortly after Shining, everypony was chatting and eating an early lunch when she stepped onto the main floor. Rainbow noticed her entrance almost immediately and trotted up to her with an unsure smile on her face, "Hi, how you feeling?"

"Perfectly fine." Twilight gave a poker face, which Rainbow saw through with a scowl. "Now, who's this friend of yours?" she changed the subject on her cyan friend, who broke into a grin and led her over.

"Applejack!" she said in a voice loud enough to startle the orange mare.

"Yeah?" Applejack turned in her seat with a gentle smile.

"Here's Twilight, she's this expedition's leader." Rainbow presented her friend, who smiled shyly.

"Hi."

"Well howdy! Pleased to meet ya!" Applejack shook the third cloven hoof that day, A lot'a unicorns on this trip huh? she noted.

Twilight noticed the orange mare's Westfall twang with a smile, then she pulled out a map and put it on the table she sat at, waving her other companions over. "I don't know if Rainbow's told you yet, but we are headed to Silithus." Twilight pointed to one of the two continents on the map, the one on the right being Eastern Kingdoms, and on the left being Kalimdor. Her hoof rested on a zone near the bottom left of the western continent. It was colored a dull tan, and labeled: Silithus in a bold text.

Applejack nodded, excitment bubbling in her veins, "Will we be seein' the Windseeker? Ah hear his blade is legendary." she asked, eager for the answer.

Twilight smiled at her expression, "No, I'm afraid not. Although it would be nice, our mission is far more pressing." she pointed once again to the map, this time towards a greenish zone on the right side of Kalimdor, labeled: Dustwallow Marsh. "We are taking a portal to Theremore..." she pointed to a small depiction of a garrison on the coast of Dustwallow, "...from there we are headed through the Marsh, down the southern Barrens..." Twilight trailed her hoof along the small, brown lines on the map that indicated roads. She pulled it over a break in the mountains surrounding Dustwallow and across a light brown zone labeled: The Barrens, "...and then we take The Great Lift down to Thousand Needles. That's where this starts getting dangerous, that's centaur territory." her hoof came to rest on a tribal-looking elevator on the map, obviously lowering into the orange zone labeled: The Thousand Needles.

"Isn't the Barrens quillboar, kodo, and Tauren territory?" Rainbow asked, nibbling on the edge of her hoof.

"Yes, but quillboar are stupid, kodo are mostly docile, and the Tauren know that the road from Dustwallow is often used by the Alliance. On the other hoof, Centaur have no truce with anypony. They are smart, cunning, and they practically own Thousand Needles." Twilight explained, looking up from her map as she spoke. "But back to business, we'll be headed down to the Raceway, from there we can stay at the inn before we cross the Salt Flats to get to Tanaris." she pulled her hoof along a trail that winded around the depictions of mesas and through a racetrack, then across a blank space and through a break in the mountains separating Tanaris and Thousand Needles.

"Afterwards, we'll likely not need to stay at Gadgetzan, but either way, there are no paths there. So we shall have to cross the desert by landmark alone." she trailed her hoof across the light yellow zone of the paper, pointing to a depiction of two obelisks at the western end, "Here's the path to Un'Goro. That's probably the most dangerous part of our journey." she pointed to a green, mostly circular zone, with a depiction of a volcano in the middle. "Not only is it hot, muggy, and filled with bogs, but it's infested with raptors, pterrordax, diemetrodons, and devilsaurs." she grimaced at each name.

"Ugh.." Rainbow groaned, "It's gonna be a big party with them around isn't it?" she asked sarcastically.

"There is a safe spot; Marshall's Stand...here." Twilight pointed to a small encampment in the Un'Goro mountains. "We'll surely be staying there, and afterwards we are headed to the final path. This one leads up the mountains and into Silithus, from there it's less than a twenty-minute walk to Cenarion Hold." Twilight dragged her hoof across the final path, from Un'Goro through a break in the mountains, and into Silithus, "Now..." she concluded, "...any questions?"

Rarity raised her hoof, "Why not just take a portal straight there?"

Twilight chuckled briefly, "Because portal take a lot of energy, especially cross-continental ones. On top of that, it takes having a portal rune bound to the destination, as well as the leaving point. Remember how anypony who takes a portal to Stormwind always ends up in the Mage Tower? That's because the rune is bound there, so anyone who chooses Stormwind as a destination automatically ends up there. Otherwise we'd have ponies popping up everywhere in Stormwind."

"So what does that have to do with Silithus?" Shining asked.

"I'm getting there. Simple answer, Cenarion Hold doesn't have a portal rune bound to it, nopony can simply teleport there or take a portal. Teleportation requires that the Mage has been to the destination before, I have not. And portals require a bound portal rune for stability." she explained, "If we sent this many ponies through a portal to Silithus without the rune, it would likely disrupt the ley-lines in the Nether and we'd all be incinerated." Twilight concluded for a second time.

All four other ponies widened they're eyes and nodded they're understanding. "I see." Rarity grimaced.

"Now, are we all ready?" Twilight rolled up the map and placed it in her pack. All her companions stood and shouldered they're bags on.

"Ready." they all said at once, chuckling at the sound.

Twilight smiled, "Then let's go!" she tossed a pouch of gold coins to Allison, who curtsied and went about her duties. They walked out of the inn and up the first road, leading away from the bustling of the Trade District. Twilight turned down a short tunnel, coming out onto a cobblestone path, separating each district was a canal. They crossed the white, marble bridge that had been built to join all the districts. Straight ahead, the roofs marked with purple tiles, was the Mage Quarter. Twilight trotted through the tunnel, and turned left onto the surprising path of grass, through the houses and towards the middle, where a magnificent tower stood. It was more than three stories tall, a winding ramp twisted around from the base to the entrance.

The ponies trotted up the ramp, there was no door to the entrance, so they simply entered. Inside was a staircase, winding up like the ramp, they climbed the stairs and made for the main floor. They shortly entered onto the floor and were greeted by an elderly Mage who reminded Twilight of the legendary Starswirl the Bearded. "Good morning young ponies, I assume you booked the portal to Theremore?" he approached and asked.

"Indeed we are, I'm a friend of Archmage Celindra." Twilight answered with a respectful nod to her elder in magic arts.

"Ah, Celindra!" the old pony smiled, "Well feel free to enter, no doubt this is a favor, so I shan't be collecting any coin." he said good-heartedly.

"Oh but you must accept some payment!" Twilight exclaimed, "Portal runes are costly, and maintaining one is even more so." she insisted, giving him a small pouch of silver coins.

The elder pony smiled, "You are knowledgable and generous, thank you." he accepted the coins and motioned that they enter the green, swirling doorway behind him.

Twilight curtsied and led her fellow ponies through the doorway, which contained the magic used to make the inside of the tower larger than it would be if they hadn't used a spell on it. All ponies shuddered slightly at entering, it felt as if the world skipped for a moment, everything pausing before resuming at a normal speed. "Twilight! Just in time." a light red mare trotted up to Twilight, an earth pony - no doubt a prodigy - with Mage abilities was rare, but Stormwind had more and more recently. Earth pony mages were similar to the Zebratic Trolls who occupied the Horde's ranks, using incantations to cast spells rather than a horn. This worked by weaving the magic through ley-lines naturally occurring in their hooves and eyes instead of horns.

"It's good to see you, Celindra." Twilight hugged her friend briefly, "I trust the portal is prepared?"

"Most certainly." Celindra tucked her blonde locks back behind her ear with a smile, "Are you ponies ready?" she asked the quad of ponies behind the lavender unicorn. Twilight's friends nodded with confidence, and the mare smiled, "Alright then, let us begin."

Celindra led them to a rune that was carved into the floor, a strange dust had recently been poured along the lines, and there were four points around it adorned with a smaller circle. Celindra moved to stand with three other ponies, each stationed on the smaller runes, all of which were stallions, two unicorns and another earth pony. Celindra nodded to them and began in anyone a spell quietly, her earth pony companion also incanted the same spell, whilst the two unicorns closed they're eyes and channeled magic through they're horns.

The familiar swirl of watery-looking magic appeared in the middle of the rune. Celindra's eyes glowed, as well as those of her earth pony companion, and the magic seemingly collapsed upon itself briefly before opening wide into a stable portal. "There..." she murmured, looking to Twilight and her friends, "It is open, go on ahead, Celestia's Light bless you." she smiled.

Twilight nodded respectfully, "Thank you, Celindra. Come friends, Theremore awaits." she trotted up to the portal and disappeared into it, followed by Shining, Rainbow, Rarity, and lastly Applejack, who hesitated briefly, having never been in a portal, but steeled herself and went through.

Twilight took a few steps forward when she felt her hooves touch ground, leaving room for her friends to appear through the shimmery magic she had entered the tower through. She stepped onto a rune almost exactly like that in the Stormwind tower. One by one, her fellow ponies appeared, "Nice trip?" asked with a knowing smile. All four ponies scowled at her, as they were dizzy and had throbbing heads from having used a portal of such distance. "Let's go then." she grinned and chuckled.

They made their way out of the tower they had appeared in, the residents of which hardly spared them a second glance, used to ponies suddenly appearing onto the rune. Twilight inhaled the sea air with a deep sigh, Stormwind may have been on the sea, but it was entirely cut off by a mountain, and the salty air was marred by the scents of the city. Theremore was only a garrison, and contained far less ponies in manner of population. Trotting down the stairs of the tower, they headed straight ahead for the gates, which led across a long bridge, connecting the isle Theremore sat upon to the mainland.

The guards nodded in acknowledgment to the travelers as they passed, and each of the ponies nodded back with a smile. Twilight looked at the marshes they were drawing closer to, this was it, the first page in a long book, and the ending was not yet written. How will my story end? she pondered, looking back at her friends as she trotted along. Seeing their confident smiled instilled a sense of both pride and concern in her heart, what would happen to them? What party would they play? And would - perhaps - some of them not return?

Twilight lingered on that last thought, she knew she had only met Rarity and Applejack, but she was already fearing their fates. And as for Shining and Rainbow...she would never recover should anything happen to them. But she shook these thoughts away, this was only the beginning of her journey, they were here because of her, and she would never let anything happen to them.

They had entered the marsh, and it seemed as though the sounds of Theremore disappeared in that instant. Now only the sound of frogs and insects filled the air, with the occasional sound of a slithering beast, and a loud, distant roar. "The sooner we get through the better..." Twilight began when she noticed she was not the only one to stop in apprehension, "...might as well get a move on, night is far more treacherous in the marshes." she warned, immediately turning to trot down the path at a brisk pace.

Her companions hesitantly followed, eyeing the bogs around with disdain and distrust. The land was dull, grayish and wet, every step they took felt as if something were squelching beneath their hooves, despite the cobblestone path. Every here and there the path went up to three feet underwater, and although Twilight still heard her moans of discomfort, Rarity had thankfully chosen a wiser outfit for such a mission, thus not ruining an expensive gown, but rather a replaceable pair of breeches and a loose shirt.

The hours in the marsh were miserable. By the time they reached the final crossroad all ponies were exhausted, wet, and had been bitten multiple times by mosquitos. "Final turn, then we're in the Barrens. We can make camp within the hour." Twilight announced after rolling her map up and trotting down the correct road.

"Thank Celestia!" Applejack exclaimed, "Ah've never felt so dirty in all mah life!" she grumbled.

"Oh pshaw! This is nothing, you should see how dirty you can get after a battle." Rainbow teased.

"Ah have...this is worse.." Applejack deadpanned. Rainbow smirked and continued trotting along.

"Twilight, I don't mean to be a bother, but exactly how much further is it?" Rarity asked, scraping her hooves in a vain attempt to get the gooey mud out of them.

"Only a few minute's walk." Twilight assured, looking at the path ahead, the road was heading uphill, the trees were thinning, and the air wasn't so humid anymore. "I think it's just up ahead." she broke into a canter, sliding to a halt and sighing in relief as she came to the top of the hill. Her fellow ponies joined her seconds after, and they all sighed in relief. "We'll need to keep walking down the road just a little ways, and there should be a pond to wash in and refill our canteens."

"Let's get moving then!" Rainbow grinned, trotting with her tail and tailfeathers held high. Twilight smiled and caught up with her, slowing to a trot.

"First leg of the journey down, it wasn't so bad. Dustwallow could have been much worse." Twilight stated matter-of-factly.

"Meh, I suppose." Rainbow shrugged, "But it was still pretty tiring, I don't believe I've had the luxury of experiencing long journeys as you have." she sighed, "Or maybe I'm just used to using my wings instead of my hooves."

Twilight smiled again, "My hooves were always sore in the first few journeys. Picking rocks out is the worst." she skipped on her other three legs while she picked up one hoof to show Rainbow the rocks lodged in her hoof.

Rainbow grimaced, "Hey..." she murmured when she noticed something off about the unicorn, "Why are you limping?" she asked.

Twilight was caught off guard and tripped over a pebble, "Gah! Uh...I had a run-in with a hydra."

"A hydra?!" Rainbow exclaimed in surprise, "Damn! That must have hurt." she looked at Twilight's right hind leg, as she had pulled her breeches up to show her the jagged scars. "When did that happen?"

"Less than a week ago." Twilight replied.

"What?!" Rainbow exclaimed again, "By Celestia, aren't you tired yet?"

"Not really, I hardly notice it." Twilight shrugged.

"Hmm.." Rainbow hummed.

"Oh look! We're here!" Rarity called, galloping past her companions and towards a moderately deep pool. She wasted no time leaping into it and scrubbing the sweat and caked mud away.

She was quickly followed by her eager friends, those who wore chain mail and plate stripped themselves of it before they cleaned up. Afterwards everypony lay in the setting sun to dry, Rarity was brushing her mane and braiding it. Applejack was laying on her stomach and playing with pebbles. Rainbow was perched in a tree that twisted above the pool. Twilight was studying the map while simultaneously brushing her mane. And Shining was leaning against the tree whilst sharpening his sword.

Twilight finished with her mane and braided it before she stood, "Let's make camp everypony." she clapped her hooves together to ensure she had caught their attention, and everypony scrambled to unpack tents and cooking supplies.

They were busy working on the tents when Rainbow stiffened, "Guys! Hold still, something is coming." she warned, spreading her wings and suddenly becoming ethereal as she took to the skies, the only indication she was there being the last rays of sunshine reflecting off her silhouette.

Twilight and the rest of the company grabbed their weapons and stood in a circle, eyeing the tall grass with suspicion. It seemed as though it was a false alarm, for nothing moved within the next few moments, but Rainbow called out a warning from her place in the sky. There was a sudden squeal as strange, brown, quill-backed pig-men burst from the foliage. Twilight charged up her horn, gulping at the sheer numbers, of all the creatures, it had to be quillboar! "Bucking horse-apples..." she cursed before charging into the fight, sword raised and horn blazing with magic.

Author's Note

Cliffhanger!! Hahah! don't worry, next chapter before the week is out!
I'm so excited over this chapter! You guys have no idea how long I've been working on this story's plot line. It spans over 5 books already! And this is the official first step in a long, and hopefully wonderful journey that I am too happy to share with all who read this. This is part one of the book by the way.
In case of any confusion, here's the map: of Kalimdor so you can see what Twilight's describing.
Time lord technology in that tower tho! Say whut?!