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                  The Seeker of Knowledge                  
                     -by Sonata Blaze-                     
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                        Chapter One                        
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Chapter One
Ashjing moaned as she walked out of the Swamp of Sorrows and passed into the one area of the Eastern Kingdoms she had been told to stay away from, because it was 'unsafe' for those who couldn't defend themselves. The red ground and twisted sky greeted her as she left the Swamp behind, as well as the number of creatures that would have tried to eat her if she decided to stay much longer. The area she had walked into was called the Blasted Lands, mainly because it was a place where nothing could grow despite the best efforts of anyone that foolishly called the place home. The reason behind the land's inability to grow anything, from what she had been told, was because of the demonic fel energy that seeped out of the Dark Portal.
She had read about the original opening of the demonic portal that connected their world, Azeroth, to the dying world that had once been called Draenor, which was now known as the Outlands. An army of orcs, secretly lead by the most evil member of their entire race, the warlock Gul'dan, had emerged from the portal and declared war on the world. It had been a long and bloody war for both the original Horde and the Alliance that was created to fight them, resulting in the deaths of many good soldiers and civilians that were unfortunate enough to get caught in the crossfire. Even after the war had ended the Horde eventually regained itself, moved the majority of its soldiers over to the continent of Kalimdor, where its main base of operations now rested, in the form of the city known as Orgrimmar.
From that day forward the Horde and Alliance continued to fight with each other, which she had learned from all of the books she had read, and that they only came together when a major threat threatened to end the entire world.
She moaned again as she started to walk down the hill, but instead of going further down the rocky path she took a seat on a nearby rock, pulled her boots off, and rubbed her paws for a moment. She was not one of the six races that belonged to the Alliance, those being humans, gnomes, dwarves, night elves, draenei, or the worgen. On the other hand she also wasn't one of the six races that made up the Horde, which were orcs, trolls, tauren, the Forsaken, blood elves, or the goblins. She was actually one of the pandaren that called Pandaria their home, though while some of her race joined the Horde and others joined the Alliance, she had remained neutral the entire time. She honestly didn't see the point in the two factions fighting against each other, not when there were other enemies that could strike them down while they were distracted.
Most of her kind had brown colored fur with a wide variety of markings that covered their faces and their bodies, while there were some that had darker colored fur. She was one of the few that had ash colored fur, one of the stranger colors for a dark furred pandaren, though many of her elders told her meant that she would go on to do great things with her life. She suspected that her elders would have been disappointed in her choice of career, as she had dedicated herself to uncovering the past of her home land of Pandaria and the other continents of Azeroth.
The reason she was here, in one of the most inhospitable pieces of land in the entirety of the Eastern Kingdoms, was because she overheard a couple of adventurers mention that the Dark Portal had, by some odd twist of fate, reconnected to Draenor, the world that the Outlands had been before it had been brought to ruin. Lorewalker Cho, her mentor, had sent her a letter some time ago about the amount of knowledge that could be waiting to be discovered on the other side of the portal, but her curiosity had gotten the better of her and she had gotten her things together so she could visit the new world that was now open to them.
Of course she had been in Northrend, the continent that was to the north of where the Maelstrom was located, at the time she had gotten the letter, though she had been completing one of her searches for a rare artifact when it arrived in the mail. It had taken her weeks to get back to the Eastern Kingdoms, as most of the mages she knew were busy opening gateways for the Alliance and Horde troops to get close to the Dark Portal so they could fight what they called the Iron Horde. From what she had gathered the new faction of orcs had the original skin color they had before their entire race had been tainted with the fel energy, though they also appeared to be better armed than the Horde that first attacked the Eastern Kingdoms so many years ago.
She had hoped to get a glimpse of the orcs that belonged to the Iron Horde, but due to the amount of time that she had spent traversing the roads that connected Stormwind to the Blasted Lands she knew that she would never get the chance to see one in battle. Not unless she was willing to pick one of the factions, plead her case to either the King of the Alliance or the Warchief of the Horde, and then join their side in the fight against the Iron Horde. She was just fine with her neutral position on the entire war, even if it meant that it would take her a bit longer to reach some places than it did for everyone else.
Ashjing let out a sigh as she slipped her boots back on, tied them back up, and continued down the rocky road that would take her right towards the infamous Dark Portal, something that she was eager to see before she headed to Draenor. It only took her a few minutes to reach the massive crater that the Portal rested in, which she had been told had been created by the initial opening of the Portal. She had to marvel at the size of the crater as she walked down to her true destination, all while wondering how much power it had taken to actually achieve what she was seeing.
That was before she noticed the large amount of Alliance and Horde soldiers that were preparing to enter the Dark Portal, which was actually flickering between its connection to the Outlands and its connection to Draenor. The two factions were waiting for their chance to invade Draenor, so they could stop whatever was happening on the other side and save their world once more.
"Ah, Lorewalker Ashjing, there you are!" a voice to her left said, to which she turned and found an old mage approaching her, though she immediately recognized him by the staff that he carried.
"Archmage Khadgar," Ashjing replied, bowing her head towards the Archmage in respect, "I did not expect to meet you on this side of the Dark Portal. I thought I was going to have to wait until I crossed over to Draenor to meet you."
Archmage Khadgar was an unfortunate man, as he was actually a young adult that was trapped in the body of an old man, which had been caused by the Guardian Medivh some time before his death. It had been a powerful aging spell that the Archmage had been hit with, because even after the death of the corrupted Medivh the curse still lingered and trapped Khadgar in his new body. Khadgar didn't seem to mind the change anymore, which Ashjing assumed was because of the fact that he had been living with it ever since he had been cursed. His staff, which she had been able to identify him by, was the staff known as Atiesh, or more commonly called the Greatstaff of the Guardian, though it had been Medivh's staff before his death.
It was a powerful staff, which made Khadgar even more powerful than he had been without his master's staff, but Ashjing knew that this was not the time to go crazy over the staff.
"The Portal has been unstable lately." Khadgar said, turning to the Dark Portal as Ashjing joined him, "We do not know when we will be able to access Draenor again... or when the Iron Horde will attack next, so the moment we see a stable connection we'll need to storm the Portal and cross over."
"That sounds a tad bit dangerous," Ashjing commented, taking another look at how many soldiers each side had brought for the initial assault on the Iron Horde, "but it seems that you have enough soldiers to... pull it off?"
She watched as Thrall, the orc shaman that had been partly responsible for the fall of Deathwing, the corrupted Dragon Aspect that nearly destroyed the entire world, approached the assembled soldiers with some of his fellow shamans. That was before she spotted Vindicator Maraad, one of the draenei paladins that had fought against the various evils of both this world and the Outlands, walked forward with his paladins, joining Thrall at the front of their combined forces. Both the Horde and the Alliance seemed overjoyed to have their respective champions with them, along with the various heroes that had stopped Garrosh Hellscream a few months ago.
Ashjing was glad to see that the soldiers of both factions weren't trying to kill each other, considering that their latest foe would soon be knocking on their door again. Despite the amount of time she had spent walking to get here, she knew that she wouldn't be able to truly rest until the Portal had opened and they were on the other side. She truly didn't mind the waiting, as it gave her the opportunity to study how the two factions actually treated each other when they weren't trying to kill each other... and she figured out that they still hated each other within the first few minutes of starting said study.
"I hear that you recently completed your search for one of Northrend's lost artifacts," Khadgar commented, causing Ashjing to turn towards him again, "If you don't mind me asking; what exactly did you find in the frozen tundra?"
Ashjing smiled for a moment and opened her bag, to which she gently removed the purple cube that she had found, while making sure not to hurt herself on one of the five spikes that rested on five of the six faces. Only the front face of the cube was without a spike, but that was because it had what appeared to be some sort of eye that followed whoever it decided to watch, which was her at the moment.
"The Puzzle Box of Yogg-Saron," Ashjing replied, holding it out for the Archmage to see, though she was pleased to see that he was interested in the item she had found, "It is said that this box is impossible to open and that whoever tries to solve it will hear whispers, though whether it is the Old God Yogg-Saron talking or someone else no one really knows."
"May I give it a try?" Khadgar asked, though Ashjing could tell that he was looking for something to pass the time, though she was more than willing to let him try his luck.
Once Khadgar had the puzzle box in his hands he turned it around for a few seconds, as if he was looking for something that would allow him to make an attempt at opening it. Eventually he made a few twists and turns with his hands, but despite his attempt the box appeared to be in the same state as it had been when Ashjing had first found it. Khadgar made several more attempts to try and solve the puzzle box, or to even make some progress on it, but eventually he admitted defeat and stopped trying. That was when he and Ashjing heard the voice inside the box speak, confirming the fact that it spoke after someone made an attempt to solve it.
Have you had the dream again? a voice whispered to the two of them, though Ashjing was amused when some of the soldiers looked around for who was speaking, A black goat with seven eyes that watches from the outside.
"Interesting." Khadgar commented, handing the puzzle box back to Ashjing, who stored it away in her bag, "I will have to study that box more... maybe when we are done with our business in Draenor?"
Ashjing nodded as she tied her bag back up, to which she and the Archmage started a conversation about her expedition in Northrend and how she uncovered the puzzle box. She was glad to finally have the opportunity to tell someone about her journey through the frozen tundra, though with the defeat of the Lich King some years ago her tale wasn't very exciting. Still, Khadgar seemed to appreciate her telling him what she had done to get her hands on the puzzle box, which was all she cared about at the moment.
An hour passed before anything interesting happened, but what Ashjing expected when she thought about something interesting was not what she, and the assembled soldiers, actually got... as the Dark Portal snapped open before their eyes. Ashjing had heard a rumor that the Dark Portal had different colors that indicated what it was doing; blue meant it was inactive, green was the connection to the Outlands, and red was supposed to be a connection to Draenor before it was broken... and the Portal was glowing red at the moment.
"This is our chance!" Archmage Khadgar declared, turning to the rest of their forces for a few seconds, a grim look appearing on his face for a few seconds, "STORM THE PORTAL!"
As the orcs of the Iron Horde charged out of the Dark Portal, and ran down the ramp, the forces of the Horde and Alliance replied in kind, shouting their various battle cries as they pushed the orcs back up the ramp. Thrall and Maraad lead the charge as they pushed back the Iron Horde, allowing their soldiers to pass through the Portal with ease. Ashjing was amazed by the fact that the Horde and Alliance had been able to push back the enemy orcs so easily, but then again both factions had been prepared for the Portal opening again and had brought the best of their forces to deal with the Iron Horde.
As soldiers followed Thrall and Maraad into the Portal, and joined the fight on the other side, Ashjing stayed back for a moment and helped other soldiers through the swirling mass of magic. She wasn't a warrior and had no right being on a battlefield, so she would wait until a proper portal could be opened up to wherever Archmage Khadgar set up his base of operations. Once the last of the Alliance troops were through she turned her attention to the Horde soldiers that were at the back of the pack, ushering them forward while the connection was still there. She made sure that they were through the portal before making sure that there was no one left that was supposed to go in as well, though as she started to let out a sigh she noticed two things.
One, the magical color of the Dark Portal had turned lavender for a moment, which meant that it was connected to a world they knew nothing about. Two, and more important than the first thing she had noticed, was that her right foot was currently touching the mass of magic that made up the Dark Portal. Before she could let out any type of sound the magic of the Dark Portal sucked her in and ripped her out of Azeroth, sending her to wherever it had connected to for that brief moment.
"You wanted to see me Princess Celestia?"
Twilight Sparkle, personal student of the sole princess that ruled over all of Equestria, would normally be annoyed if someone interrupted her studies, but considering that it was her teacher that had called for her she couldn't be mad. Usually she was given an assignment that had some hidden lesson in magic, as if she was constantly being tested and improving her skills with her magic. There was always something for her to learn, whether it was actually in magic or some other field of study that she was interested in, so she didn't mind being surprised by whatever Princess Celestia told her about.
What she didn't know, however, was why she had been called upon today, not when this was supposed to be a day where she could relax and do whatever she wanted... where she had been sitting under a tree and reading one of her new books that had recently arrived.
"Yes Twilight," the solar princess replied, turning her gaze from the window that she was looking out of, "A few minutes ago I felt a magical disturbance nearby... in your tower to be exact. Is there some sort of experiment that you are in the process of performing that I don't know about?"
"No... I don't have any experiments at the moment," Twilight answered, though that got the gears in her head moving almost immediately, "but, now that I think about it, there are some magical theories that I wanted to test when I learned more about magic and the space of the tower would give me plenty of room to perform them without endangering anyone should something happen..."
"Twilight," Princess Celestia calmly said, her voice more than enough to cut through whatever was going through her student's mind at the moment, "I admire your enthusiasm about beginning your own research and experiments, but there is still the matter of the magical anomaly that we need to address. I want you to head back to your tower and see if you can't find anything that caused this anomaly... or if something arrived in its aftermath."
"You can count on me Princess Celestia," Twilight replied, though she waited a few seconds for her teacher to nod before turning around and bolting out the door.
Celestia smiled as she watched her student depart from the throne room, because it was always nice to see Twilight take up an interest in something that wasn't just reading books. She turned her attention back to the window she was staring out of when she called for Twilight to join her, gazing back at the tower where the anomaly had occurred. The last time she had felt such a strong flare of magical energy was when Twilight first accessed her powers, back when she was a little filly, and that she needed to act quickly to prevent any lasting damage. This anomaly was similar to that incident, yet at the same time it was something completely different, which only served to confuse her as to what could have happened in that tower.
There was one thing that she knew for certain; once Twilight had discovered whatever had caused the anomaly, or found whatever had arrived during the surge of magic, there would be either be a report on her throne in a matter of minutes or Twilight herself to explain what she had found. Either way she was looking forward to seeing what had happened in that tower, and she was sure that Twilight was overjoyed to have something new to do.
Ashjing moaned as she opened her eyes, though where she expected to find some pain when performing that task she was surprised to find that there was none. There was some light in the area around her, though she was surprised to find that it wasn't as sharp as the sunlight back on Azeroth. That fact alone made her wonder where she had been transported to, though as she began to see her surroundings she wondered how she could have been so wrong to think she had been taken to a new world.
There were bookshelves all around her, filled with rows upon rows of books that had a variety of colors on their covers and a variety of thickness thanks to the number of pages each tome held. She had to be in the library of Dalaran, where the Kirin Tor practiced magic and launched their assault against the forces of the Lich King. She wondered how she could have gotten to the city, by using the Dark Portal no less, but decided that it was better if she didn't question it... until she pulled herself off the floor and stared right at something that wasn't in the Dalaran Library; an hourglass that rested in the middle of the room.
That was when she noticed that there were some statues that didn't belong in the library either, though these ones appeared to be a depiction of a horse's head. She wondered why someone would want to see those types of statues when they entered a library, but at the same time she was fascinated by the strange culture she had found. That was seconds before she noticed a wall of glass in front of her, to which her curiosity got the better of her as she walked forward and stopped when she gazed at what surrounded the library.
There was an entire city, no doubt at least the size of Dalaran, attached to the side of a mountain, and there were quite a number of buildings around the entire city. There were also quite a few towers scattered throughout the city, though that was before Ashjing laid her eyes on what she assumed was a castle. She was sure that the ruler of this city was somewhere inside that castle, though before she went anywhere she decided that it would suit her to read a few of the nearby books and see if she couldn't figure out where she was... or who the ruler of this city was.
She spotted her bag sitting on the ground, no doubt laying next to where she had suddenly appeared, though she smiled as she gently picked it up, pulled out a nearby chair, and set it down before she got to work. She moved to one of the shelves that were on the level above her, wondering what information she could find about the strange world that surrounded her.
"Are you sure that there was a magical surge in our tower?" a voice asked, causing Ashjing to look at the door as it opened, though she easily identified the voice as a young male.
"If Princess Celestia said that she felt something happen in my tower, then something happened." a second voice replied, though Ashjing noted that this one was more feminine than the first, "Besides, I'm curious as to what could have happened while we were away."
"If you say so," the first voice commented, though that was before Ashjing got a glimpse of who had walked into the tower she had found herself in.
Two creatures stood at the top of the stairs, which she had no idea were even there when she woke up, and they were staring right at her in confusion, though she was also staring at them in such a manner. One of the creatures was a small horse that had a purple coat, almost lavender colored Ashjing noticed, with a darker purple mane and tail that had a streak of magenta running through the both of them. She also spotted that the horse had a horn shooting out of its forehead and, thanks to the angle that the horse was standing in at the moment, that there was some sort of marking on her rear. The other creature looked similar to the dragon whelps that she had read about, only she didn't see any wings and she didn't remember any of them have green scales with a purple body color.
She had no idea what bizarre world she had been sent to by the Dark Portal, but the inhabitants of this world seemed friendly at the moment... though she knew better to make them angry.
"Umm..." Ashjng said, trying to come up with something to say to them, but that was seconds before she waved at them and put a smile on her face, "Hello?"
That was followed by the mare getting the look of excitement in her eyes as she did some sort of dance, while the small dragon crossed his arms in annoyance. Ashjing had no idea what was going on in the mare's mind, but she figured that she had made a good first impression... now all she had to do was figure out where the Dark Portal had taken her.

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                        Chapter Two                        
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Chapter Two
"This is so exciting!" the mare said, running up the stairs and coming to a stop in front of Ashjing, "I have read a few books about the various races that live across the whole of Equus, on the various continents outside of Equestria's borders, but I've never seen a mention of whatever you are! Oh there are so many questions that I have to ask you; like who and what you are, what your homeland is like... and especially how you managed to get in my tower."
"Twilight, you can't go running up to strange creatures and start asking them questions." the whelp said in annoyance, though Ashjing noticed that he had crossed his arms as he followed the mare up the stairs, "Besides, we don't even know if we can trust her yet."
"Wait... how do you know its female?" the mare, Twilight, asked, turning to the young whelp in shock, though Ashjing was also surprised that he had figured it out without even telling them anything about herself.
"I hang out with you all day long," the whelp replied, though its eyes never left Ashjing, "and a lot of the ponies we interact with are mares, so I guess I immediately guessed which gender this creature is based on who we meet around the castle. I should really stop guessing genders and focus on whoever we're meeting... otherwise I might end up like you one day."
Ashjing sensed that there was some sort of bond between the two of them, though she had no idea if it was a teacher and student relationship or a family relationship. They way they talked made her think it was a family type of relationship, but decided not to say anything until she knew more about the two of them.
"Do not worry yourself young dragon," Ashjing said, deciding that it was time that she said something, causing the two to look at her in shock, "you actually guessed my gender right."
"I think its time for a change of pace," Twilight said, as if she wanted to get away from the subject they had been talking about, "Introductions are in order; I am Twilight Sparkle, and I study all aspects of magic under the watchful eye of my teacher, Princess Celestia. This is Spike, my Number One Assistant. If you don't mind me asking, but what are you exactly?"
"I am Lorewalker Ashjing, student of Lorewalker Cho," Ashjing replied, bowing her head ever so slightly to Twilight, because she knew that she had to show some respect to someone, or somepony, that was being taught by royalty, "As for what I am... I am a Pandaren, from the land of Pandaria."
"Lore...walker?" Twilight asked, clearly not understanding what Ashjing was saying, "Pandaria? I'm sorry, but I have never heard of either of those things."
"I did not expect you to, seeing how I'm from another world," Ashjing commented, seeing the look of confusion on Twilight's face deepen, "My home world is called Azeroth. What's the name of this world?"
"Our continent is called Equestria, though our world is called Equus." Twilight replied, amazement filling her eyes once more, "I still can't believe what I'm seeing; a creature from another world, called into our world from a strange magical anomaly that occurred maybe twenty minutes ago... you are real, aren't you?"
Ashjing had heard of the expression 'seeing was believing', though she assumed that Twilight Sparkle was of the mind set that touching that something would confirm it existed... especially if she had appeared from some sort of magical anomaly. She smiled and beckoned for Twilight to approach her, deciding to give her the opportunity to see that she was real and that she was actually standing in the same room that she and Spike were in. Twilight approached her for a moment and held her hoof out, pausing for a moment as if she was thinking about something, before she reached forward and touched her hoof against Ashjing's stomach.
"I don't believe it," Twilight said, joy filling her eyes as she realized that Ashjing was real, "I guess I had better move on to a better question than are you real. Tell me, how did you get here? What events brought you to my tower?"
"I walked through a magical gateway that the people of my world referred to as the Dark Portal," Ashjing explained, taking a seat at the nearby table, though she smiled when Twilight and Spike joined her, "Normally this portal connects to a world called the Outlands, but recently something has changed... because it started connecting to the world that the Outlands had been about thirty years ago. My world was attacked by the natives of the old world, through a force they called the Iron Horde, and we defended our home until this new threat was pushed back. Even though the Iron Horde had been forced back into their world we knew it was only a matter of time until they came back, so the leaders of the Alliance and Horde sent their armies at the portal to battle the Iron Horde on their home world.
Unfortunately the portal was growing increasingly unstable when the armies crossed over to Draenor, so when I... umm... attempted to cross over the portal threw me through space itself... until I appeared in this tower."
"You make it sound like you weren't supposed to be near this Dark Portal at all," Spike commented, to which he earned a glare from Twilight, "What? I'm just making an observation, that's all."
"I was supposed to arrive at the Dark Portal three days after the armies entered the portal," Ashjing said, though she noticed that Twilight was writing notes on everything she was saying, "A friend of mine, Archmage Khadgar, was heading in with the forces of the Horde and Alliance and told me that when I arrived he would have a tower set up in this new world. It was from there that he, the mages that he handpicked for the venture, and myself would study the world around us and uncover the secrets that had been lost to time. Its a shame that I'll never get to see what Draenor looked like or learn what secrets it possessed."
"Its because you arrived at the Portal three days too early." Twilight said, connecting the dots for herself, though she smiled when Ashjing nodded her head, "I can't believe that your friends with an Archmage... and I'm willing to bet that he's already started looking for you."
It looked like Twilight wanted to say more, though before she could do so Spike started tapping on the table with his claws, almost as if he was trying to remind her of something important. Ashjing had figured that the young mare had forgotten something important, because she remembered her mentioning that the Princess she studied under had felt the anomaly that had brought her to this world. No doubt Princess Celestia, if she was remembering the name correctly, had sent Twilight to investigate the tower she lived in, which brought them to what they were doing now.
She had the feeling that she knew what was coming, but decided to let Twilight connect the dots herself before she said anything to the young mare.
"Spike... how long have we been sitting here?" Twilight asked, as if she wanted to check something before voicing what she was thinking about.
"About an hour," Spike replied, a small grin appearing on his face for a moment, telling Ashjing that he was pleased that Twilight had caught onto what he was trying to tell her.
"Princess Celestia must be wondering what's taking me so long." Twilight commented, though the way she said it Ashjing almost assumed that it was meant more for herself than for anyone else, "Oh what am I going to tell her? Its not like I can just waltz into the throne room with a stranger!"
"Oh for the love of Celestia!" Spike groaned, snapping his head with his right hand for a moment, "Twilight, your Princess Celestia's personal student. That means the guards will know to look the other way once you tell them that Ashjing is here on official business. They might question it in their minds, but they wouldn't speak out against the pony that was their Princess' student."
"Oh... your right Spike. I don't know what I was worrying over." Twilight said, turning her attention back to Ashjing, "Well then, follow me and I'll get us to Princess Celestia in no time."
Ashjing nodded as she and Spike followed Twilight down the stairs, though as they reached the tower's entrance she turned back and grabbed her bag from the chair she had set it on. She didn't think it was safe to leave the puzzle box, which was still in her bag, unattended for some unknown length of time. It wasn't that she didn't trust Twilight or Spike, but she felt better having her bag with her at all times... and that included the box that it carried. With the strap of her bag wrapped over her left shoulder, and the bag back where it belonged, she rejoined her companions and followed them out of the tower.
Once they were actually outside the tower Ashjing was able to take in her new surroundings and examine the city, while they walked towards the castle. In the light of the evening the buildings and roads glowed with a golden hue, shimmering and sparkling like a million precious gemstones. A seemingly endless array of streets criss-crossed each other in a spider web-like array, all leading towards a single focal point... the castle itself. Ashjing was amazed by the city that rested before her, though she knew that the palace was likely more amazing than anything she had seen so far.
When they reached the castle she discovered that it was larger than she was expecting it to be, though they were stopped outside the castle by a pair of stallions that were wearing gold colored armor and carried spears on their backs. Ashjing could tell that the guards were staring at her, though their expressionless faces told her nothing about what they were thinking, making her wonder if they were animated stone statues or something.
"Don't worry boys," Spike said, beating Twilight to the punch, before throwing a hand back towards Ashjing, "She's with Twilight on official business."
The guards looked at Twilight for a moment, to make sure that Spike's claims were true, though when Twilight nodded her head the pair of guards moved out of the way and the trio continued their journey towards the throne room. Ashjing guessed that Twilight didn't like to order guards around, though they were lucky that the guards didn't ask what business they happened to be on. As they walked Twilight admitted that the castle was somewhat confusing to ponies that hadn't been there before, which Ashjing could see thanks to the various passages that looked like they could take someone to anywhere in the castle.
It took them some time to reach the throne room, where Spike managed to get the guards to let them through again, but Ashjing thought it was well worth the effort to reach their destination.
On the other side of the room was a massive pony, easily twice the height that Twilight was, that happened to be sitting on the throne. Ashjing's eyes widened as she realized that the mare was about the same size as one of the horses back on Azeroth, which she had seen when the Alliance moved their wagons towards the Blasted Lands. She also noticed that the large pony had a horn and a pair of wings, though Ashjing assumed that meant that she was important to this world. The mare had a coat that was as white as pure snow, with a mane and tail that shone with multiple shades of blue and purple, though they were also flowing in a non-existent breeze.
Ashjing assumed that this had to be Princess Celestia, based on the fact that the mare was wearing some golden jewelry on her hooves, around her neck, and had a crown on her head.
"Princess Celestia, I have returned with my findings on the magical anomaly you sent me to investigate," Twilight said, causing the large pony to turn towards them for a moment, "Your not going to believe what I found."
"I have been eagerly waiting for you to return, my dear Twilight. And I see you brought Spike with you," the large pony said, taking stock of both Twilight and Spike for a moment, before noticing that there was someone else standing beside them, "and also someone else that I'm not familiar with."
"Princess Celestia, meet Lorewalker Ashjing of the continent of Pandaria, formally from the planet called Azeroth," Twilight said, waving a hoof to Ashing for a moment, "Lorewalker Ashjing, meet Princess Celestia, the sole ruler of the kingdom of Equestria."
"Greetings, then, Lorewalker Ashing," Princess Celestia replied, beckoning for the three of them to join her with one of her wings, to which Ashjing watched as the Princess removed herself from the throne and walked down to where they were standing, "I hope that you have found this land to your liking."
"Very much so your highness," Ashjing replied, bowing her head respectfully once more, though she decided to leave out the fact that she hadn't seen anything besides Twilight's tower, the city, and the castle, "It is a beautiful and breathtaking land that you rule over."
Princess Celestia smiled and stared at Ashjing for a moment, as if she was trying to figure out something without actually asking a question, before she turned to one of the nearby guards.
"Inform the other guards that the Day Court has ended and that they are free to relax until their replacements arrive," Princess Celestia said, though Ashjing noticed that she spoke with a hint of kindness in her voice, "Oh, and ask the cooks to send some tea and cookies up when they have the chance... I haven't had the chance to actually eat anything since breakfast."
The guard nodded and left the throne room with the guard that was duty with him, no doubt heading to tell the other guards on the other side of the door what their Princess had told them. With the guards gone Princess Celestia moved to the left side of the room and her horn lit up, to which a small doorway appeared before their eyes. The doorway connected the throne room to a much smaller room that appeared to be a retreat of some kind, which Ashjing assumed was the room where the Princess relaxed before she had to sit on the throne all day long. There was a long sofa in the middle of the room, with two smaller ones on either side of it, and a fireplace that had a steady fire going.
It was a cozy room, one that Ashjing was sure that the Princess enjoyed using from time to time, though that thought was confirmed when Princess Celestia laid down on the larger sofa and set out a sigh. Twilight and Spike took their seats on the sofa to the left of the Princess, so Ashjing took the one on the right and smiled when she sat down. As she got comfortable she wondered what questions the Princess would have for her, because she knew that there were going to be quite a few before the evening was done.
As that thought crossed her mind another door opened and a azure coated mare walked into the room with a cart, to which she moved several cups, a teapot, and a few plates of cookies onto the table before withdrawing and closing the door behind her. The moment the mare was gone Princess Celestia, Twilight, and Spike picked up one of the tea cups, though Ashjing smiled and picked up one herself. That was swiftly followed by the Princess lifting the pot up and pouring some into all of their cups, before setting it down and snagging a few of the cookies for herself.
"Go ahead and help yourself Lorewalker," Princess Celestia said, beckoning to the tray of cookies for a moment, "I'm sure that you could use something to boost your energy as well."
Ashjing nodded and helped herself to some of the cookies, which she noticed were chocolate chip cookies, though she was still surprised that they had been made so fast. Though as she thought about it, and silently ate one of the cookies she was holding, she reasoned that the Princess might actually end the 'Day Court' at the same time every day and the kitchen staff had everything prepared ahead of time. She knew she was hungry, as the last thing she could recall eating was a light lunch so she didn't linger in the Swamp of Sorrows. There was also no telling just how long she had been out before coming to her senses in the tower, but that was more like a few minutes considering what Twilight had told her.
Still, she was grateful to have something to munch on and something to drink, as she knew she needed it after everything that happened to her.
"I assume that you have questions for both Twilight and myself," the Princess commented, snapping Ashjing back to reality for a moment, "and I will admit that I have quite a few of my own. I am curious as to what you are and where you came from, as well as what a 'Lorewalker' actually is."
"I am a Pandaren, from the island of Pandaria," Ashjing explained, noticing that Twilight was prepared to take notes, in the off chance that she revealed more than what she told her in the tower, "My kind stayed on that island for about ten thousand years and we rarely left our land to travel to the rest of the world, save for a brave few that kept the exact location of our home a secret. A few years ago the mists finally parted and the world realized that we were there, though some of my people joined the Horde while others flocked to the Alliance. I, and many more of my kind, remained neutral to their conflicts and dealt with more personal problems."
"Sounds like you lived in a world of warcraft," Spike commented, though he paused partway through eating one of his cookies when he realized that all eyes were on him, "What? I was just adding my two bits."
Ashjing knew of Azeroth's history, and the various wars that had threatened to tear the world asunder, so she knew that the dragon wasn't far off, but decided to say nothing on the subject.
"As for what a Lorewalker is, think of me as a historian of sorts," Ashjing continued, remembering something that her mentor, Lorewalker Cho once told her, "knowledge is my armor, and I carry a quill instead of a sword. Back on Azeroth I visited the other continents and dug up whatever knowledge or artifact I was searching for, whether that was by actually visiting a dig site or searching through a library for the information I needed. Before I came here, by means of a powerful gateway called the Dark Portal, I managed to recover one artifact; the Puzzle Box of Yogg-Saron."
"Do you still have it with you?" Twilight asked, though Ashjing could see the gleam in her eyes, telling her that the mare was definitely a lover of history and books.
Ashjing nodded and reached into her bag, carefully withdrawing the ancient puzzle box and hearing two gasps as it was revealed to the light once more. She could tell that both Twilight and Spike were surprised by the appearance of the box, though she was surprised that the Princess wasn't so surprised. That told her that the Princess was much older than Twilight and that she had likely seen some things that were as strange as the box. Ashjing filed that information away as she attempted to solve the puzzle box again, though she knew what the outcome would be.
After three minutes of trying to solve the box, and giving Twilight the chance to try with her magic, it was returned to Ashjing's hands, where she waited for the voice to speak before she put the box away.
The giant rook watches from the dead trees. the voice whispered, causing Twilight and Spike to look around for a moment, though Princess Celestia merely raised an eyebrow at the box, Nothing breathes beneath his shadow.
"Is... is it supposed to do that?" Twilight asked, though it was clear that she didn't like the sound of the voice that had whispered the words.
"Yes, but why it does was something I was supposed to study back on Azeroth," Ashjing replied, putting the puzzle box away once more, though she was unwilling to admit that the whispering was caused by the fact that it was the relic of an Old God.
"Most interesting." Princess Celestia commented, turning her attention back to Ashjing for a moment, "You never did mention what your diet was... and I'm slightly interested in hearing about it."
"Oh... well that's easy. All Pandaren are omnivores," Ashjing answered, though she knew that the Princess was only asking because she wanted to keep her subjects safe, "We have incisors, so we can eat meat, but to be honest I stay away from that sort of thing when I can help it. I'm more into fruits and vegetables, salads, and the occasional pasta dish from time to time. Do not worry your highness, I can go without meat."
She could tell that the Princess was studying her and analyzing every word that she said, as if she was making sure that she was telling the truth before she made her decision. Truthfully Ashjing hoped that she'd be allowed to stay in this world, because she had no idea how to open a portal back to Azeroth if she was told to leave. She guessed that she could always explore the world until she found someplace to settle into, as she knew there had to be more continents than Equestria. Though it was as she finished that thought that she noticed that Princess Celestia's horn had stopped glowing, as it had been going the entire time they had been talking.
"Lorewalker Ashjing, I sense no dishonesty in your words." the Princess finally said, a small smile appearing on her face, "However, I would ask that you stay in Canterlot for the time being until we introduce you to the public, so I'd prepare for a small conference in the immediate future. Until then you can stay with Twilight and Spike in their tower, as there is plenty of room for someone else to live comfortably along side them. Once the public knows about you we'll go from there. Now, if you'll excuse me, I would like to retire to my chambers before I have to lower the sun and raise the moon.
Oh, and welcome to Equestria."
Ashjing smiled as Princess Celestia got off the sofa she was sitting on and excused herself, leaving the three of them alone for the moment. She was grateful that the Princess was willing to let her stay inside the city, Canterlot as she had learned, and that she would be spending time with Twilight and Spike. There was so much she needed to learn about this mysterious world if she was going to adapt to any sort of life here, and she was sure that there was a lot more questions that Twilight wanted to ask her.
Though as she processed what the Princess had said, or more like the last bit, something crossed her mind that made no sense to her.
"Wait, what did she say about the sun and the moon?"

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                       Chapter Three                       
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Chapter Three
"Princess Celestia said that she was going to her room before she lowered the sun and raised the moon." Spike commented, tearing apart one of the few remaining cookies that had been left on the plate, before he realized that Ashjing was staring at him, "What?"
"Using magic to raise and lower both the sun and the moon... it sounds impossible." Ashjing commented, though seeing how she knew so little about this world she had to wonder if such a thing was even possible.
"Well, she is an alicorn." Twilight said, though while she spoke she pulled herself off the sofa she was sitting on and beckoned for Ashjing to follow her, "So is my former foalsitter, Cadance."
"Alicorn?" Ashjing asked in confusion, but she followed Twilight's lead and pulled herself from the sofa as well, to which Spike joined them by jumping onto Twilight's back.
"That's what Princess Celestia and her niece Cadance are, but I see that I need to explain what types of ponies there are before I truly answer your question," Twilight replied, a small smile appearing on her face while they walked out of the throne room and into the large corridor, "There are three types of ponies that live in Equestria; first off we have Pegasi, which are ponies that have wings, the ability to fly, and the ability to move clouds around and manipulate the weather. Then you have unicorns, like me, who have a horn on their head and can use magic, be it for levitating objects around or for a number of the other applications it can be used for. And finally you have earth ponies, who have neither horns or wings, but instead have great physical strength and a deep connection with the earth.
Alicorns, as you just saw, have both a horn and a pair of wings, so not only do they have the traits of pegasi and earth ponies, but they also have the ability to use a level of magic that's beyond what most unicorns are capable of performing. Even I have trouble with some of the spells from that level... and I was born with a stronger affinity for magic than most unicorns are."
"I see," Ashjing commented, following Twilight outside the castle and into a lush garden area, one that had a good number of stone statues scattered everywhere, "So being an alicorn allows Princess Celestia to move both the sun and the moon, because she commands a higher level of magic than what other ponies use?"
"Something like that... though it also helps that her Cutie Mark is a symbol of the sun," Twilight answered, though she turned back and noticed that Ashjing was confused again, "Right, you have no idea what that is either. A Cutie Mark is a special mark that only appears when a pony realizes what their special talent is, much like when mine appeared during my entrance exam to Princess Celestia's school when I was a filly. For some ponies it takes some time to uncover what their special talent is, while for others its quite simple."
Ashjing nodded and took in the scenery around her, noticing that the garden had quite a number of bushes and trees scattered everywhere. From what she could tell this part of the castle was actually open to ponies, as there were only a few guards walking around the area. She had the feeling that the ponies that worked in the castle came here to relax on their time off, so they could let go of their stress before they had to return to whatever they were doing. Even she felt calm as she followed Twilight into the garden, making her wonder if the entire garden had been enchanted at some point in time.
As they walked Ashjing took some time to look at the various statues that they passed, all of which she knew had to be based on various figures in Equestria's history. She had no idea if there had been any wars in this seemingly peaceful world, as she had been interrupted before she could learn about the land she had appeared in, but she smiled as she looked at the statues. That smile quickly disappeared when she came to a statue that was unlike anything she had ever seen before, because the creature it depicted looked like a chimera of sorts... only it had a mismatch of limbs and a serpent like body.
"What is this creature?" Ashjing asked, causing Twilight to look back at her for a moment, "It is unlike anything I have ever seen or anything I have heard about."
"Discord, the Spirit of Disharmony," Twilight replied, letting out a sigh for the moment, "Sadly, I don't know too much about him, other than this statue was commissioned shortly after his defeat... which was over a thousand years ago. Princess Celestia told me that I wasn't ready to hear his story the last time I asked her about it, and there's no records of what happened during the time he ruled Equestria, so I figured that I would patiently wait until I was ready to learn about whatever he did."
Ashjing absolutely hated the idea that there was nothing, not even a single record, of what happened during the time that this creature ruled the land that the ponies lived in, but she let out a sigh and fell in behind Twilight once more. She could tell that Discord's statue was more lifelike than the other ones she had seen, which all appeared to be made out of solid stone, but she decided to file that information away for a later date. There was too much she didn't know about this world and the list kept growing with everything she had seen so far, but she was sure that Twilight would be able to help her understand where she was.
During their walk Ashjing also discovered that there happened to be a maze of some sort in the middle of the area, though instead of asking Twilight about it she decided that she would merely ask Princess Celestia about it in the future. Eventually the three of them reached the spot that Twilight was searching for, because she sat down under one of the threes and beckoned for Ashjing to join her, all while Spike climbed off her back and took a seat as well.
"Do you see the balcony near the top of the nearby tower?" Twilight asked, causing Ashjing to turn to the tower in question and spot the place that Twilight was asking about, to which she nodded as she sat down, "That's the balcony that's connected to Princess Celestia's personal chambers. In a few minutes she'll walk out of her room and raise the moon while she lowers the sun, so you might want to pay close attention to what's happening."
Ashjing nodded and patiently waited for the Princess to come out of her room, because she was interested in seeing whether or not this was a prank that they pulled on newcomers to their kingdom. She was, however, beginning to suspect that Twilight had spoken the truth, because the young mare had a sense of confidence in her words when she had spoken. She had to have seen the Princess do this many times over her entire life, but Ashjing decided to not say anything and wait until the truth revealed itself.
A few minutes passed before Ashjing noticed Princess Celestia emerge from her personal chambers, though it seemed that her gaze was fixed on the sky above them. She noticed a faint golden aura wrap around Celestia's horn for a moment, but that was swiftly followed by what Twilight wanted her to see. The sun, which had been in the process of setting, lowered itself until it was no longer visible, though that was swiftly followed by a white orb rising to replace the sun. Ashjing's eyes widened as she realized that Twilight had been telling the truth the entire time, that Princess Celestia was able to raise and lower both the sun and the moon with her magic.
The other thing she noticed, besides the movement of the sun and moon, was the fact that there was what appeared to be a black face of sorts imprinted on the moon's surface, though she filed that information away for later as well.
"So, what do you think?" Twilight asked, a grin appearing on her face, as if she was pleased to have shown Ashjing that she had been right the entire time.
"The mages back home would be shocked by what the Princess just did," Ashjing commented, rubbing her chin as she thought about Khadgar asking Princess Celestia about how she manipulated both the sun and moon, "She could have easily decimated my world's understanding of how the sun and moon worked, if our planet's sun and moon were similar to yours. Our planet actually rotates around our sun, not the sun around the planet... but to answer your question, I'm completely amazed by what I just saw."
"Well if you think that was amazing then you'll really enjoy the Summer Sun Celebration," Spike commented, staring up at the moon for a moment, "Its a big celebration that happens once a year. Though that reminds me, isn't that in a week or two?"
"More like five days from now." Twilight answered, turning her attention from the moon and returning it to Ashjing, who had a confused look on her face once more, "The Summer Sun Celebration is where ponies commemorate the summer solstice, where they stay up late the night prior and throw parties until they see Princess Celestia raise the sun. Its the one time where the Princess makes a spectacle out of raising the sun, though the location varies from one year to another. I think she mentioned that it was being held in someplace called Ponyville this year, which is a small town that rests right outside the Everfree Forest."
Ashjing had to wonder what was so special about celebrating the summer solstice, but she had the feeling that only the Princess could answer such a question. As she stared up at the night sky she noticed a flaming bird fly through the night sky and land on a perch outside Princess Celestia's chambers. She recalled a meeting she had with several adventurers that had stormed a place called Tempest Keep, where they encountered a large flaming bird that they had all claimed was a phoenix. Though there was that one member of their group, a blood elf mage if she was remembering things clearly, who insisted on referring to that phoenix as Al'ar, or the Phoenix God.
She had the feeling that she had just seen this world's version of the phoenix, but decided not to say anything about it until she did any research on it and everything else she was learning.
"Do the people of your home world celebrate anything?" Twilight asked, causing Ashjing to snap out of her thoughts and turn to her for a moment.
"Yes, there are a few celebrations," Ashjing answered, recalling several of their names before she truly answered the question, "There's Brewfest, Hallow's End, and Winter Veil to name a few. Each of them hold a special place in the hearts of Azeroth's people. Brewfest, for example, is a time of the year when three breweries come to the major cities and try to outdo each other with whatever brew they brought with them, though for most people it is a time to sit back, relax, and take your mind off the troubles of the world."
"Sounds like an interesting holiday," Twilight commented, writing down a few notes, though it was clear that she wanted to know more about the world that Ashjing came from.
"All of our holidays are interesting," Ashjing said, letting out a small sigh for a moment, "though, if memory serves me, the next holiday we were supposed to be celebrating was the Feast of Winter Veil, where the people of Azeroth are visited by Grandfather Winter near the end of the year. Basically people can sample delicious festive treats, playfully toss snowballs at each other, and receive special holiday gifts from each other, as well as help others that need some help during the holidays."
"It sounds like Hearth's Warming Eve and Day," Twilight said, taking note of the brief confusion in Ashjing's face, "basically its when we celebrate the founding of Equestria. Hearth's Warming Eve is traditionally celebrated with a pageant that reenacts the tale of Equestria's founding, while the actual day of Hearth's Warming is typically celebrated by exchanging and opening presents and raising a flag in honor of the first flag of Equestria sewn by Nimble Thimble."
Ashjing smiled for a moment, knowing that the two of them could exchange information about their various worlds until the end of time, but that didn't stop her from worrying about her home world. She was sure that someone would be looking into the Dark Portal, when they had time, but for now she suspected that their efforts would be on stopping the Iron Horde and not on finding a lone Lorewalker. She guessed that she was going to have to wait and see what happened next... after she and Twilight compared notes on the similarities and differences between their worlds.
Despite everything that's happened she knew that she could have the time of her life in this new world... and see just how many secrets she and Twilight could uncover together.
Author's Note
I would like to apologize for the delay between chapters... and the shortness of this one. I've been busy lately and this story fell behind my other one. I promise to get the fourth chapter out as soon as its ready and hope that all of you will join Ashjing on her adventure.