Warm Your Frozen Hooves by the Fire
A lone set of hoof prints trailed through the snow-covered road.
It wasn't a terribly unusual sight to the natural denizens of Azeroth. Wandering adventurers traveled through harsh locations on their faithful steeds all across the world, not to mention the large number of inhabitants who happened to be hoofed themselves. What did cause a stir was that the prints did not belong to a human astride a noble horse, or a pair of particularly small tauren, but a small unicorn, standing about as tall as a dwarf, who's purple coat stood out horribly against the endless white of the world around her, armed with nothing but the saddlebags strapped across her back.
When she greeted local passerby, they would usually mutter something about too much to drink and stagger on their way.
Twilight Sparkle had gotten used to such reactions by now, and she couldn't really blame them. She had been pretty weirded out herself the first time she 'met' the horses of this world. But she shook such thoughts from her head - she was supposed to be actively repressing that awkward first trip here, so she focused instead on her destination, a shining beacon in her wintry journey.
Casting an inviting light into the night was a cozy little inn, which at first glance would have been the loneliest building for miles around, if it weren't for the raucous laughter and boisterous shouts booming from its walls. Twilight mused that she once wouldn't have spared such a place a second glance, obviously being far too hustly and bustly to be conductive to proper learning. Nowadays, she relished in the friendly atmosphere, letting the jovial rumblings serve as background noise for her studies, and even joining in on the fun on occasions.
That other powerful practitioners of magic were known to drop in was just icing on the cake.
As she reached the door, Twilight paused for a moment, taking some time to collect herself. While she had adapted to more outgoing ventures, the inn could still be more rowdy than she might like, and she had learned to mentally prepare for the more rambunctious patrons. With a slow, calm exhale, Twilight put on her best smile, pulled the door open with a magical tug, and let the cacophony of comradery swallow her.
"Come in! And shut the door. It's cold out there!" Twilight was more than happy to oblige to that, quickly stepping in and closing the door behind her. The crackling fire of the inn welcomed her, and she savored its warm embrace. She glanced around to find her host, and spotted the shaggy, large-nosed dwarf standing behind the counter, cleaning out a used tankard. He looked up from his work to greet the new arrival, and his eyes twinkled with recognition. His face stretched with mirth as he gave Twilight a grin that would've made Pinkie Pie proud. "Ho ho ho, it's good to see ya again!"
Even above all the clamor, the innkeeper's voice sounded loud and clear across the tavern, and Twilight nodded an emphatic greeting back, weaving between tables and patrons alike, trotting up to the bar. "It's good to see you again too." She reared up on her hind legs, letting her forelegs rest on the counter top. "It looks like the inn is doing well."
"Ha! You can say that again, lass. Busiest night we've had all season, in fact." The innkeeper gestured around, and Twilight finally took in just how packed the place was. All around the inn was merriment and revelry. An orc and a human swayed into each others' shoulders, singing a song that only they knew the words to, and had gathered quite a crowd. A group of goblins and gnomes debated excitedly over whether the Foot-Attached-Realm-and-Territory-Shrinker was too explodey or not explodey enough. A troll peddled exotic goods of questionable, but assuredly one-of-a-kind, value to a night elf priestess. And everywhere she looked, people of all races and places gathered at tables, laughing and rubbing elbows with anyone willing to share in the joy of the night with them.
The slam of a mug against the counter broke Twilight from her trance, and she turned back to the innkeeper with a start. For his part, the innkeeper smiled even wider as he crossed his arms. "So, what brings a pretty little pony like you all the way from Equestria? Get yourself into another one of your magical mishaps?"
Twilight reeled back at that, gasping in indignation. "I do not mess up that often! The only time a magical mishap happened here was that time with the horses-" Twilight coughed and sputtered, catching herself before she continued any further down that particular line of thought. "No, not a mishap. I received a...an urgent invitation to be here today, so I'm here to see to that summons."
"Hooo, must be someone important indeed for you to be using words like 'summons!' Tell ya what, there's a nice empty table in the back over there." The innkeeper pointed towards the table in question, ordinary besides the secluded position. "Why don't you go have a seat, and I'm sure whoever it is that's looking for a magical talking unicorn will spot you right away!"
Twilight nodded graciously. "Sounds good to me."
"Great!" The innkeeper clapped his hands together, and somehow his already impossibly widened smile grew larger still. "Fancy something to drink while you wait? The usual apple cider?"
"Not today I'm afraid." Twilight hopped down from the counter, and began making for the table. "It's imperative that I be at peak mental condition for this meeting."
The innkeeper slapped his face at that. "Ach, I always forget what teetotalers you little ponies can be. But, no matter," he shouted after her. "Good luck with your tête-à-tête with this mysterious stranger!"
Twilight smiled warmly back, giving a parting wave as she turned to her destination. When she reached it, she pulled herself up onto a chair and, with a few grunts of effort, managed to find a sitting position that wasn't entirely disagreeable. Satisfied with her comfort, she opened her saddlebags, pulled out a book, and lost herself in her reading. After all, other than knowing she had to be here tonight, she was unsure exactly when tonight her company would arrive.
She had barely turned a page before she realized something was wrong.
Perking her ears up, she heard nothing but dull whisperings, compared to the roaring thunder of banter mere moments ago. She looked up from her book, glancing around to see what was going on. When her eyes settled on the entrance, she had to suppress an alarmed yelp.
Standing at the door to the inn, looking over its patrons with open contempt, was a green-skinned orc. Even shrouded as he was in eldritch robes of cloth, chain, and bone, the cowl he wore could not mask the malice in his eyes. His malignant gaze scanned the premises, slowly, deliberately, until his eyes met Twilight's. With a grunt, he made towards her table, shuffling along while using a shamanic staff for support. The sight would've made him look a frail old man, if it weren't for the enormous pauldrons he bore on his shoulders. Large even by orcish standards, they were beset by spikes, that were themselves impaled by skulls that wriggled unnaturally as he walked, writhing in a chorus of silent agony. As he moved closer, his piercing stare never left Twilight. It made her heart race in fright, but she dared not look away. Attuned to magic as she was, she could taste the demonic power surrounding him. This orc, this warlock, was not someone to drop your guard around.
When at last he reached the table and stood opposite Twilight, he leaned in closer to her, rubbing a hand that more accurately resembled a claw through his scraggly grey beard. It took all her will not to flinch back, both from his terrifying visage and his awful breath. He stayed there for far more moments than Twilight was comfortable with, and she could feel pinpricks of sweat start to form, her mouth twitching uneasily.
She was just about to blurt something when the orc snorted and pulled back, apparently satisfied. She immediately relaxed, letting out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding.
Then she gasped that breath back in at a resounding CRACK as the orc stabbed his staff into the floor, letting it stand on its own as he settled himself into his seat. He gave her a smirk in response, which only served to make him look more menacing.
"I greet you."
His voice dripped with sinister venom, but it was a civil enough place to start, Twilight figured. "Hello," she replied, closing her book.
The orc glossed over the title of the book. "Ah, Azerothian Artifacts and Antiquities. Aspiring to learn more of this cursed world, are we, Twilight Sparkle?"
She blinked at that as she stuffed the book back into her saddlebag. "I'm sorry, I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage, mister...?"
A mirthless chuckle escaped the orc's mouth. "Oh, did I neglect to include my own name in my missive? Then allow me to introduce myself. I," he paused, for what Twilight assumed was ego-inflating dramatic effect, "am Gul'dan."
"You 'neglected' to include more than just your name," Twilight replied, squinting at him, "such as how dangerous that terrible demon carrying your message was. One of my friends took it for an animal, and it nearly sucked her dry of magic!" She slammed a hoof on the table. "She could've died if I hadn't been there to banish it!"
Again, a dark chuckle was Gul'dan's response. "Then you would have been better off had you let it finish the job." Twilight's blood boiled at that. "Your friend was a fool, to mistake something as twisted as a felhound for a beast to be tamed. I understand your world, this 'Equestria', is far removed from such terrors. To be so naive..." He shook his head and tsked. "But that you are capable of banishing such a creature, a demon who's very purpose is to resist and devour magic, that is interesting. Yet another reason to seek you out."
"What reason could you possibly have to seek me out?" Twilight scoffed. "You're the most transparently evil person I've ever met, and believe me, I've seen some pretty transparent villains. What could we possibly have to discuss?"
"Power," Gul'dan answered, curling a hand open and letting a purple flame spring to life within it. The unnatural heat pouring from it broke Twilight into a sweat as it danced in his palm, though Gul'dan was unfazed. "Yes, obviously your goals and mine will never align. But I care not for your aims. Your raw magical power, on the other hand, I will not see squandered. You settle for mediocrity, yet command a power that puts this world's greatest magi to shame. Truly, I wonder if even the mad Guardian in his prime could have stood against you, had you the spine to unleash your potential. Since you do not, I have decided to relieve you of your power..." He smothered the fire in his hand, and it flashed brilliant green between his fingers. When he opened his hand again, a deck of cards stood in its place. "...and make it my own."
A large, parchment-yellow board slammed onto the table, bare save the little decorations in the corners, and two slots on one side. From somewhere far away, a voice shouted out, ringing clear across the inn.
"Twilight versus Gul'dan!"
"You asked for it!" Horn alight, Twilight's magic flared, and a deck of her own sparked into being before her. She slotted it into her side of the board, drawing three cards from it as she did.
"Your soul shall be mine!" Gul'dan shouted as he slotted his deck and drew his own trio of cards.
A coin flipped through the air, clinking onto the board. It spun on its side, whirling unpredictably around, until it finally fell flat on Twilight's side, proudly displaying a number one. Gul'dan grunted at that, drawing a fourth card from his deck.
Twilight looked at her cards, judging the quality of what she was starting with. Mana wyrm and frost bolt to start? That's sure to give Gul'dan a headache. But Flame Leviathan? You're supposed to be my secret weapon, and you're no good in the opening hand. She took the card and shuffled it back into her deck, drawing a new one to replace it. Her heart sunk at the sight of it. Pyroblast is even worse! I'll just have to hope I can draw into what I need to last long enough to cast it.
She looked up, and saw Gul'dan looking thoughtfully at his own cards, a hand scratching his chin. After some time, he nodded. "This hand will suffice." At that, the coin floated into the air, hovering for a moment until, in a flash of bright blue magic, it transformed into a card, gliding into Gul'dan's hand. "The first turn is yours, Twilight Sparkle. Do try to at least put up a struggle."
"I'll do better than that," Twilight said, drawing her card for the start of her turn, "and I'll start by summoning a mana wyrm!"
With a magical pulse, the wyrm's card flew out of her hand and onto the board. The card rippled, and a miniature serpent floated out from within, hissing at the orc it faced off against.
Gul'dan eyed the wyrm as he drew a card. "A decent, if predictable, opening move. But it cannot withstand even the weakest of the demons I command." He placed a card of his own on the table.
In a flash of fire, a red imp stood where the card had been, juggling balls of flame and cackling madly. "Yeah," it squeaked, "I'll get right on it." Without a care, it tossed the fire over its back, singing Gul'dan's beard. He scowled, rubbing away the embers with his free hand.
Twilight smirked at him. "Well, it looks like for all your posturing, you can't even keep 'the weakest of demons you command' under control." She drew a card "And my wyrm may not be able to handle your demons now, but as it feeds on the ambient energy of my spells..." One of the cards in her hand whirled up to her horn, dissolving into swirls of frost. She tilted forward, aiming straight for the imp and firing a bolt of ice at it. It cried out as it was struck full on, freezing solid before dissolving into flakes of snow.
As Gul'dan's imp fell, Twilight's wyrm glowed, absorbing the latent magic energy. It hissed and lashed out at Gul'dan, striking him with its tail before settling back to its position on the board. He grumbled at the miniature attacker, the lash stinging more than he'd expected. "It seems you have some bite to you after all." He drew his next card, eyeing it sternly. "Perhaps a bit of goblin ingenuity is called for here."
The card pulsed with dark power, blackening and curling into an orb. It took on a metallic appearance, and mismatched wires and timers formed along its surface. A yellowed smile painted itself on as it filled the air with black smoke. It was only when it started to whistle dangerously that Gul'dan lobbed the bomb at the mana wyrm.
Shadow blasted out from the impact, engulfing the wyrm in darkness. Malign energy contorted and twisted as it imploded on itself. When it cleared, no trace of the wyrm was left.
"Amusing, what those insane little creatures come up with."
Twilight winced at the loss of her minion, but pressed on, drawing her next card. "If a little dark magic in explosive form is all it takes to amuse you, let's see what you think of this!" One of her cards hummed, and she placed in the center of the board. The card flashed and split down the middle, tearing open a rift in the board. Myriad realms flashed before them, from mundane to incomprehensible, never settling on a destination long enough for either of them to grasp the nature of what may be on the other side. With a flash from her horn, Twilight reached her magic in, and fished out a single card. The unstable portal buckled and collapsed in that instant, leaving the board no worse for having been a conduit to things unknown.
"Typical magi," Gul'dan snorted. "You prattle on about the dangers posed by demonic magicks, while tearing holes in reality without a care for the consequences. Let us see if your recklessness pays off." Twilight did not respond to that, and continued to flatly stare at the card she had brought into the world. "I should say not, then."
Groaning, Twilight played her new card. It had barely touched the board when a jet of magma shot from it. It fell back to the board in a bubbling pool, and churned as it rose up, taking on a form that resembled a disembodied torso.
One arm exploded out, then another, spraying volcanic ash to its side. Finally, with a shout, the head formed. "GRAAAAA-HA HA! Needed some extra fire-power?" Its body ignited brighter at his pun, to ensure no one missed it. "The flames of Ragnaros course through me! From the patriarch of silverback gorillas to the fiercest of chillwind yetis, none can take the heat of magma rager!"
Gul'dan threw his head back and laughed, and the magma rager shrunk back into itself. "S-stop laughing!" it said, unable to keep the quivering of its body from its speech. "O-or I'll show you that this fire isn't so friendly!"
"Sorry," Gul'dan said mockingly. "Your legendary might robbed me of my senses. What hope can one have against such elemental fury?" He leaned in close, glaring down at the rager. "Careful now. I feel a sneeze coming on."
"AAAAAAH no don't murder me!"
A hoof smacked the table. "Ok, I get it," Twilight said. "Not exactly the best result from an unstable portal. Can we please move on now?"
Gul'dan pulled back from his sneering, and the magma rager pulled itself back from the quivering puddle it had been reduced to. Composing himself, Gul'dan drew a card. "Very well. I'm afraid my turn will not be nearly so flashy as yours. However, it will be far more effective."
The card that had been the coin flashed blue, dissolving in blue light. Awash with borrowed power, one of the cards in Gul'dan's hand coalesced into a dark purple cloud. It drifted to the board, where it took the shadowy, globulous shape of a demon from the void.
"From the void, I come," it rasped, to emphasize this point.
"Your magma rager may be able to handle my void caller," Gul'dan said, folding his arms, "but can you then handle the terror it will leave in its passing?"
Twilight looked between the two opposing minions, then raised an eyebrow at her opponent. "I find it hard to imagine that I couldn't," she said, drawing a card. "Seeing as my magma rager somehow survived a turn, let's see what demons you're holding!"
The magma rager roared, "Time to make like a tree and burn!" as it launched itself at the void caller. Fire and shadow collided.
And then they exploded.
Billowing smog flooded the board in the aftermath. The miasma was impenetrable, though Twilight knew it must have been obscuring some terrible demon. She squinted into it to discern the presence within, when a pair of yellow orbs flashed open.
She yelped and lurched back, as the orbs rose tall above the board, revealing themselves as demonic eyes. The smoke began to clear, and now she could make out the details of her quarry. Clad in a plated waist coat and little else was a hulking being of rippling red muscle, supported by cloven hooves and balanced by a scaly tail. He puffed out his chest, and shouted his name for all to hear.
"YOU FACE JARAXXUS, EREDAR LORD OF THE BURNING LEGION!"
Twilight could see clearly now. The demon's roar dispersed the remaining fog, as well as rocking the world. Or at least the table. She gaped at the fiend, fumbling over what to say.
"If all it takes to render you helpless is this blustering loudmouth, perhaps I've overestimated your ability."
"JARAXXUS IS STANDING RIGHT HERE!"
Shaking her head, Twilight collected herself. "I'm just surprised, is all. Jaraxxus has a tendency to, well, take over for his summoner. I didn't think you were the kind of orc that would let one of his minions take charge."
"TRIFLING PONY! JARAXXUS IS NO MERE MINION. HE IS AN EREDAR LORD OF-"
"Quiet you!" Arcane runes enveloped one of Twilight's cards, and both it and Jaraxxus disappeared in a puff of smoke. The smoke quickly cleared, and where an eredar lord once stood, there now was a harmless sheep.
"BAAAAAAA," bellowed the sheep.
"The eredar are the Legion's elite. Jaraxxus may lack for subtlety, but I can not deny his power. His sheer might has secured me many victories." He prodded the sheep. "Though he is useless as this woolly beast."
"BAAAAAAA," retorted the sheep.
"Regardless," Gul'dan continued, drawing a card, "the momentum is now mine. With your polymorphic magic spent, I doubt you can handle this."
He placed a card on the board, and it whirled into a distorted, sickly green portal, a hole into some dark abyss. The clop of hooves echoed within, growing closer at an alarming pace, when in a burst of green fire a tusked, centaur-like demon shot forth at an impossible vertical charge, streaming flame and wielding a wicked glaive the length of its entire body. It alighted onto the board, rearing back and swinging his glaive in a menacing arc. "To the slaughter!" it yelled, sending jets of green fire flying. Most of which flew straight into Gul'dan's already singed beard.
Grumbling guttural curses in his native tongue, Gul'dan wiped the fel embers away. He clenched his hand into a fist, inhaled sharply, and composed himself. "Pit lords demand a steep toll for their cooperation. The demon fire may burn me now, but that pain will be dealt back to you seven fold when-"
A piercing howl interrupted his monologue. He looked down to see his pit lord burst apart in a flare of light and fire. He looked up to see Twilight's horn ablaze, trailing wisps of smoke.
She smirked as she blew the smoke away, flipping her mane. "The elusive fireball spell," she said. "Simple, effective, and with absolutely no side effects."
"There's no need for your lecturing," Gul'dan growled, drawing a card. "This next demon will see to your demise. In fact..." He laid the card on the board, and it faded away, replaced by a fiendish sigil. It pulsated, and a jellyfish slithered out. Or it seemed a jellyfish, until it opened its myriad eyes, its razor teeth barred.
"I see everything!" the floating watcher proclaimed.
"I see," said Twilight, as she drew a card. I don't have anything in my hand that can deal with that right now, she thought. I'll have to settle for building up my side of the board. "Let's see if you can see through this then!" One of her cards suddenly split in two. The halves morphed and wobbled, slowly hovering to the board as they took on a vaguely equine shape. By the time they had reached the board, they were perfect, if miniature, replicas of Twilight. The sound of a hammer on metal resounded, as a large emblem, shaped like a shield, appeared over each of them.
"And I'll follow it up with this!" She placed another card on the board. It alit with blue fire, and an azure drake flew from the blaze, roaring mightily. As it did, the next card in Twilight's deck took on a life of its own, flying into her hand.
Gul'dan grumped at the display, drawing a card. "So, you choose to spend your turn cowering behind illusions? It's only a matter of time before they fall, and neither you nor your little dragon will be safe. For now, I will give you something to truly dread." He placed a card on the board, and it rippled with shock waves, small at first, but rapidly growing larger. Jaraxxus panicked, realizing what was happening, but powerless to do anything but bleat one last time.
"BAAA-"
With a shriek, a meteor slammed onto the card, burning with green fire. The flame engulfed the board, and Twilight flinched as it licked at her face. When she recovered, a new terror had taken form on Gul'dan's side of the board. A being of solid rock stood tall over the images, burning an everlasting green. The images themselves were flickering dangerously, though her drake stood strong.
Gul'dan's side of the board fared much better. Though the sheep that had been Jaraxxus was incinerated, his watcher fed on the pain. It was aglow with fel energy, cackling evilly as the energy welled in its eye. A beam of light shot from it like a cannon, piercing through one of Twilight's images and disintegrating it.
This is looking bad. If I don't answer Gul'dan's board soon, I'm going to lose this! Twilight drew her next card, and her ears drooped. But none of these cards help right now! I'm going to need to take a hit this turn, but I have no choice but to dig for something to get me out of this. One of her cards streaked straight up, fading away as a mystic eye pulsed above her head. As it did, a pair of cards floated into her hand. She looked them over. Blizzard! That will at least slow him down. I don't have the mana for it this turn, but it looks like I might be able to keep him busy until next turn.
She placed a card on the board, and it reassembled into a brass machine, spewing snow all around and happily chugga-chugging as it did so. Another card split in two, and once again a pair of mirror images came to life on her side of the board.
Gul'dan tsked. "More illusions? I know your kind is known for its cowardice, but this is getting pitiful."
"It's not cowardice! It's tactics. Your minions have to spend their entire turns getting through, and I get more time to prepare my counter offensive. And speaking of offensive..." Her azure drake breathed deep, and let loose a jet of arcane energy. It whisked straight into Gul'dan's beard, singing it even further than it already had been.
He recovered quickly, apparently getting used to the motion of rubbing stray embers from his facial hair. "Whether you choose to call it by another name is irrelevant," Gul'dan said as he drew his next card. "I will show you the cost of your cowardice, and the frailty of your so-called tactics." One of his cards burnt to ash, and with a wave of his hand, fire surged from his body. The hellfire rocked the board, consuming it entirely. Even Twilight was not spared its scorching kiss, the sheer force of the wave knocking her back in her chair. When she recovered, she came back to the sight of her minions wracked with the fire. Her dragon let out a final wail, her snowchugger let out its last mournful chug, and her images shattered.
And then there was pain.
The infernal torpedoed into her, crashing into her snout and socking her with enough force to knock her face to one side. The watcher, strengthened even further by the widespread destruction, fired a salvo of lasers. The foul energy burned at her flesh, and she cried out as pure agony coursed through her body.
The barrage mercifully ended. Panting and sweating, Twilight readjusted in her seat as she drew a card. Gul'dan let out a low, dark laugh. "You should think more carefully before relying so much on such fragile magics. Especially if a single wave of attacks is enough to send you into such a wretched state."
"You...you're not doing much better! I can tell, your dark magic is taking a toll on you!"
"And that is the difference between a warlock and a mage." Gul'dan raised his arms up and sniffed loudly. "I embrace this pain. I accept that this power has a cost. You mages are unable to accept even the smallest sacrifice. You play at magic, claiming to be its master, yet spurn those who would choose to go further, simply because you yourselves are afraid to take the risks. And now? Now that you are faced with true power, against one such as I?" He pointed at Twilight. "You are breaking. You can not possibly hope to-GAH!"
A spark stung Gul'dan's nose, interrupting his gloating. He glared at Twilight, who's horn was red at the tip. "I think that's enough monologuing from you. This match isn't over yet." She drew a card. "My magic comes from something greater than your demons. Something you could never understand. Magic can bring more than raw devastation. And I'll show you!" The blizzard she had drawn thundered, dissolving into a whistling stream of icy wind. It whisked above the board, and began pelting Gul'dan's side with shards of piercing ice. The demons howled as the hail slammed into them, but the magical storm froze them in place, keeping them from escaping the tempest. By the time it stopped, they were frozen completely solid.
Gul'dan rolled his eyes as he drew his card. "Yes. A localized blizzard. That is entirely different from raw devastation." He stared at Twilight for a while, and when it became clear she was not going to respond, he moved on. "Your frost magic may delay your demise, but not for long." He placed a card on the board, and it began to grow over with fungus. The blighted mushrooms grew at an alarming pace, twisting into each other and contorting into a single entity. Soon they had formed into a lumbering bipedal aberration. It pointed at Twilight, glaring.
"I see you."
Its voice was guttural and unnatural, sending shivers down Twilight's spine. It stretched its limbs, and released vile spores that drifted towards Twilight. When they reached her, her telekinetic hold on her hand faltered. Her mind fogged over, drifting in and out of focus.
"Let us see you magic your way out of this, now that your will has been sapped away."
Twilight shook herself and drew her card, collected enough at least to do that. Still, as she looked at the spells in her hand, she found they took far more effort to even think about than they normally would have, let alone cast. There's only one option here. After this turn, I'll have enough mana to cast pyroblast. That alone won't be enough, but if I set this up right, I can beat him on my next turn!
While it took some effort, she managed to place one of her cards on the board. It rippled, and another mana wyrm floated out. That on the field, she strained with all of her will, and managed to force another of her cards to spark with magic. It froze over, and shattered outward. The frost nova washed over Gul'dan's minions, and once again he found his side of the board unable to act. It had taken all of her mana, but she had bought herself another turn. And with that, her concentration returned, and she breathed a sigh of relief as her magical ability was restored.
For his part, Gul'dan was furious, and the anger was plain in his face. His teeth bared, he drew another card. He looked over his hand, and Twilight silently rejoiced that she had finally given the warlock pause. "What's the matter? I thought all this frost magic was just 'delaying my demise.' Is one mana wyrm all it takes to turn the tables on you?"
Gul'dan eyed her, then smiled, a stark contrast to the rage he had displayed seconds ago. Twilight didn't like that very much. "I've been watching the cards you've been playing. One of those cards in your hand." He pointed. "That one. You've contemplated it since the match began, after you discarded one of your cards from your opening hand for it." Twilight watched him as he scratched his chin thoughtfully. She certainly wasn't paying that much attention to the cards her opponent was playing. That Gul'dan had been so observant during the match told her she may have made a mistake not doing the same. He rubbed his chin in mock thought. "So many possibilities for one little card. What devastating creature, or what great magic, would a mage obsess over for so long?"
He grinned an evil grin. "That card is pyroblast."
Twilight's eyes widened in shock as she recoiled back. "W-what!? How did you figure that out!?"
Chuckling darkly, Gul'dan shook his head. "I'm no fool, Twilight Sparkle. You've been whittling away at me, bringing me ever closer for that spell to seal my fate. That's one reason. The primary reason, however," he paused for what Twilight assumed was, again, ego-inflating dramatic effect, "is because you told me yourself."
Twilight mentally kicked herself. Oh. I guess that is deserving of a bit of ego stroking.
"To answer your original question then, yes, one mana wyrm would be enough to allow you to finish me off. While your pitiful leech is hardly deserving, my only recourse is to call upon the Legion for aid." He placed a card on the table, and dark tendrils whipped forth, latching onto two cards in Gul'dan's hand. They were pulled into the swirling dark vortex the card had become, and even though they were just cards, Twilight couldn't help but blanch as terrible screams followed their disappearance. Satisfied with the sacrifice, a fearsome winged demon burst forth. Its war cry resounded across the inn.
"Who dares summon me!?" The doomguard immediately flexed its might, rushing down the mana wyrm. Caught completely offguard, the wyrm was picked up and strangled in the doomguard's hand. It thrashed around, growing more desperate for precious seconds before its strength failed, and it was crushed in the doomguard's grasp. Triumphant, it flapped back to Gul'dan's side of the board. "A paltry task."
With that, the ice freezing Gul'dan's minions in place melted, and Twilight now faced a line of some of the most powerful demons she, or even all of Azeroth, had seen. I needed that mana wyrm to live! Now I still don't have an answer for this, and I still can't win! I have to turn this around with this next card, or I'm finished! Gulping, Twilight drew it, and her lips twitched up. She couldn't help but laugh.
"I've seen many reactions to the full might of the Legion, and despairing laughter will always be among my favorites." Twilight continued laughing, and Gul'dan grunted in annoyance. "Though I pictured you facing your doom with far more grace."
Twilight cleared her throat, and the smile she flashed Gul'dan made it clear to him that her laughter was not that of one overcome with hopelessness. "Looks like buying all that time finally paid off. I'm not just going to stop you this time. I'm going to turn this entire game around!"
A portal opened on the back of her newest card, far more stable than her last one, to the great mage city of Dalaran. In a shower of sparkles, a gnomish mage pirouetted out, landing on the board in a flourish. He twirled his mustache and fastened his turban as he struck a dramatic pose. "I am master of magicks!" he declared.
"You're insane. One gnome will not save you." Even as he spoke, one of Twilight's cards flared up, and subtle pulses circled his side of the board. "No." Deep red cracks formed, glowing ominously. "No!"
A pillar of flame completely engulfed Gul'dan's minions, empowered by the Dalaran mage. Inhuman howls screamed within, all cut short by the consuming flames. When the pillar died down, not one of his demons remained.
Gul'dan was clutching a hand to his head, breathing heavily. Twilight scoffed at him. "It's over Gul'dan. Even if you summon a wall of demons, with this master of magicks here my pyroblast will finish you. Your dark dealings weren't up to real magic, despite all your talk of power."
"Power," Gul'dan mumbled through his hand. "Power," he repeated, taking his hand from his head. "That's what I said this was all about. My reason for tracking you down, calling you to this miserable tavern. Power." He pulled a single card from his hand, and the entire inn quaked as it pulsed, raining dust from above. Twilight's eyes widened as her fur swept back from the force of it. "Very well, Twilight Sparkle. You have forced my hand. You think you know power? You know nothing!"
Like so many cards before it, the card Gul'dan had singled out burst apart in a shower of fire. Unlike so many other cards before it, the fire spread, taking all the cards remaining in his hand in devouring flames. A crack appeared in midair where Gul'dan's card had been, a seam in reality. A draconic shadow engulfed the board, rearing up and beating its enormous wings, preparing for flight into this world. It let loose an earth shaking roar, and the hole in reality tore completely open as the awesome black dragon announced its arrival to the entire world.
"I. Am power. INCARNATE!"
The board was fire. It simply ceased to be a board, replaced by unforgiving, all-consuming fire. The gnomish wizard stood no chance, falling into an abyss of hungry flames. It closed up above him, sealing him to his horrible fate. The tyrannical black dragon ripped through the air, distorting it with the magma coursing through the adamantium plates of its body, and alighted on the board.
Deathwing.
Twilight could scarcely keep herself from cowering under the table. She had read of The Destroyer, of the great Cataclysm he had wrought on the world, not to mention the brutality he wrought during The Second War. Seeing it not just before her, but standing against her was too much.
I'm out of tricks! Pyroblast is the last card in my hand! That can't deal with Deathwing, and now it won't do enough damage to defeat Gul'dan! But I can't survive a hit from that thing! She held her head in her fore hooves. Is this...the end?
Come on, Twi! Don't let some big dumb dragon bring you down!
Twilight perked up. That scratchy voice in her head wasn't hers.
She's right, sugarcube, you're made of sterner stuff than that.
You can do it, Twilight. We all believe in you.
Absolutely, darling. That brute must face his comeuppance for what he did to poor Fluttershy.
Yeah! Show Green and Mean there what you're made of!
My friends...She didn't know how, or why, but Twilight could picture all her friends, together, cheering her on, believing, knowing she would pull through.
A young voice perked up. Sorry about that, Twilight. When you said you were going to Azeroth again, I figured you might be off to play that card game you like so much, so I invited everyone over to the library to watch with one of your fancy magic doohickeys if they stayed quiet. Heh, guess they messed up that part. But hey, uh, go get him! You can do it!
She could feel herself smile just a little bit. It's no problem, Spike. That was just the thing I needed. She didn't know if her thoughts reached him, or just what 'magic doohickey' he was referring to, but even still, she picked herself up, flowing with confidence.
"It seems you've finally seen the futility of your situation. This game is over. Draw your last pathetic card so I can end this, Twilight Sparkle."
She smirked back at him, and Gul'dan scowled. "My deck has no pathetic cards, Gul'dan. But it does contain..." she drew her card, and it sparked to life on its own, rising above the board. Gul'dan raised an eyebrow at that. "...the unstoppable Flame Leviathan!"
"WHAT!?"
Electricity coursed through the card that was Flame Leviathan, and mechanical clunks and whirs sounded as a cannon, far too large to properly be concealed by the card but there all the same, shunked into place. Orange energy charged inside it, building into a roaring inferno.
"Countermeasures enabled!"
The canon fired, and the board was once again ablaze. The fires spread far and wide, and Gul'dan himself was not spared the Leviathan's wrath. He gasped as the heat engulfed him, bringing him too close to falling. Too close.
When he recovered, he looked up to see Twilight already overflowing with fiery magic. It absolutely poured into her horn, welling up bigger and bigger, creating a veritable boulder of a fireball. He couldn't even bear to look at it as it shone like a sun. "This is impossible! Nobody plays that card! Nobody!"
With a yell, Twilight released the pyroblast.
It flew straight into Gul'dan.
Gul'dan screamed.
"GAAAAAAAAH-aa-augh!"
He flew backwards. The fiery boulder's impact carried him off several feet. He landed on the floor with shattering crack, skidding for a painful moment before coming to a halt. Coughing and sputtering, the wind knocked out of him, Gul'dan lied there for several seconds.
With a gasp of pain, he pulled himself to his feet, staggering forward towards the table. The board was gone. The cards were gone. All that was there now was Twilight, beaming with a satisfied smugness that filled Gul'dan with utter hatred.
"I'm glad we got to have this discussion, Gul'dan." Her expression grew serious. "Don't ever hurt my friends again. I don't know if you intended your felhound to hurt Fluttershy or not, but your lack of remorse speaks for itself. If I hear anything about Burning Legion influence in Equestria, I'll be the one seeking you out. And it won't be for a card game."
Shaking with both searing pain and barely restrained rage, Gul'dan grabbed his staff, and pulled it out of the floor. "I will be damned before I hear the threats of a whelp such as you." A black, spiked portal crashed through the foundations of the inn behind Gul'dan, and he turned around, hobbling towards it. "But you are right about one thing. If we meet again, it will not be for cards. But you win, Twilight Sparkle. You win." He entered the portal, fading away as he stepped into it, the portal itself slowly sinking back into the ground.
"This time."
Twilight sighed as she watched him leave. Gul'dan was too dangerous to just let go, and she knew it. But the innkeeper was an odd one, and had strict rules. One of which was 'no violence outside of friendly cajoling, jovial rough housing, or card games.' And he was a surprisingly effective enforcer. She briefly wondered if that was why Gul'dan chose this as their meeting place.
Her wonderings were interrupted by the slap of a heavy hand against her withers, backed by resounding cheers and fanfare.
"Hooooo, that was one of the best matches I've seen in a long while! Old Gul'dan always had a thing for picking out mages. Was wondering how long it'd take him to want to challenge you!"
Twilight picked herself up from the flat position she'd found herself in. "You're talking like he's a regular here."
"He is!" Twilight's jaw dropped. "Him and I got a deal going. I let him come in here and play Hearthstone, and he doesn't up and rip a hole to the Twisting Nether and send my inn hurtling into unknown, terrible places!" He elbowed Twilight. "Between you and me, I think I got the better end of the bargain."
"Yes, well..." She glanced around the inn, seeing all the patrons back to their good-natured selves, the cheery atmosphere back in full force. "I think I've had enough excitement for one inter-planetary trip. It was nice seeing you again, but it's about time I got back to Equestria." Her horn flared, and a portal opened behind her chair. She jumped off her seat, and strapped her saddle bags onto her back.
The bags sunk with added weight, and she turned to see the innkeeper plunging a bottle into it. "One for the road, eh? Those friends of yours you're always talking about probably never had dwarven ale before. Bet it'll knock their little horseshoes right off!" He waved to send her off. "Hey, maybe next time you can bring some of them over! Always room for more around here!"
Twilight smiled. "I think I might. Until next time, Harth." She stepped through the portal.
"And we can tell them about the horses!"
The portal spazzed erratically, then winked shut.
Author's Note
I've wanted a fic featuring Twilight battling Gul'dan for ages. Never felt I had the ability to do it the justice it deserves. Then I hit on the idea of a Hearthstone match between them, and just had to write it. I hope you enjoyed it.
