The Curse of Undeath

Priestess Tyrande waits for the mage to come when she spots a night elf hurrying toward her and asks, "Are you the mage I'm waiting for, or do you have a report to make?

The mage stops and bows in respect to the priestess, catching her breath and says, "I am the mage, Priestess. What is it that you need me to do?"

She looks at the mage and says with urgency in her voice, "I need you to open a portal to Dalaran, there is a recent development that calls for my immediate attention."

The mage nods her head and begins to cast a spell to open a portal there saying, "At once, Priestess."

In Dalaran a few minutes later

The group rides through the city to the flight point to take gryphons down to the surface, ignoring the curious looks that they get from passing adventurers on their own missions.

Tyrande stops and hops off her mount, making her way towards the flight master quickly and says, "I need four gryphons to take us down to the surface now, we have urgent matters to tend to."

The flight master nods and whistles for more gryphons, watching as three more come in and land nearby saying, "There ya go, Priestess, have a good day."

She tosses him a few coins for getting them gryphons so quickly and hops onto a gryphon, then looks to their mounts and says, "We shall call for you all when we return to the ground, see you soon." She then pulls the reins to turn the gryphon around and then kicks the gryphon lightly, causing it to take off as the others follow after her.

As they land on the ground near the portal in Icecrown, they whistle for their mounts that leap out of their shadows and land beside them.

Tyrande and the others get on their saber cats and head towards the portal, coming to a stop before the captain of the outpost saying, "We have urgent business beyond the portal, let us pass."

The captain nods his head saying, "Uhh...yeah...go right ahead Priestess Tyrande." and watches them continue on towards the portal and disappear through it.

As they reach the other side, they continue past the guards as Tyrande calls out to the druid saying, "Now lead us to where it is, we don't have time to waste."

The druid nods and says, "It is a fair distance from here, but we should get there by nightfall."

A few hours later, on their way to the Crystal Empire

Kalysse leads them north, spotting a town up on the side of a mountain when she hears a whistle from somewhere ahead of them. She scans the horizon for the source, on the lookout for any of the Lich King's soldiers when she sees the large object from before exiting a tunnel below the mountain city saying, "That looks like the object that was near where I hid it, shall we observe it to see where it stops Priestess?"

Tyrande looks at the object and says, "We came here to get the heart, not to see the sights, however, that would not be a bad idea. Let's go see where that object is heading, then we will continue to head north to get the heart."

The druid nods and leads them towards the train to follow it to its destination. As they start to near a town, she slows her saber and says, "We might stand out too much if we just head into the village, I will go check it out first and return."

The priestess nods her head saying, "That would be wise as we have not encountered the beings in this world yet, so we should be cautious. We shall find cover outside of the town and watch the object from there."

Kalysse hops off her mount and shifts into her flight form, then takes off towards the village. As she passes over the slowing object, it comes to a stop to allow some citizens to get off of it. Realizing that it is a transportation vehicle, she lands on the roof of a nearby building and sees the same group that were in the cold, snowy region where she buried the heart. She then heads to another building to watch where they go, overhearing their conversation.

Twilight dances happily saying, "I'm so happy that I passed my test, let's go to Sugarcube Corner! I'm treating you all to cupcakes because I passed!"

Fluttershy smiles and follows her, noticing a different animal that she doesn't know thinking, 'What a pretty animal, I should find it after we have a snack and celebrate together.'

The druid watches them as they head inside a building and then flies off the building thinking, 'Did that being actually notice me up here, I wonder if she could sense me there. If so, she is quite powerful to sense me from so far away.'

Tyrande sees the druid return to them and says, "Well, what did you learn?"

Kalysse shifts to her humanoid form and bows her head saying, "I learned that the object is a transportation vehicle, it appears to use rails to travel back and forth. A group of citizens appear to live in the area that were in the cold snowy lands up north where the heart is hidden, should we continue to watch them to see where they live exactly, Priestess?"

She thinks about it for a moment and nods her head saying, "It would be good to know where they can be found if we need to take action and get information from them. Go and continue to watch them, we will keep out of sight here."

The druid nods her head and shifts to her storm crow form, then flies back to watch the building she saw the ponies enter. As she lands on the lowest part of the roof, she gets comfortable not knowing how long they will be there.

Ten minutes later...

Fluttershy and the others say their goodbyes, then part ways as Rainbow flies off to her home. She then heads off to her own home, looking up at the building that the bird was on before but doesn't see it there now and continues heading towards her home saying,"I shall have to look for that strange bird another day after I take care of my animal friends."

Kalysse watches the butter-yellow creature make their way back home and becomes very curious to know what her connections to animals are, and decides to follow her home as the pink creature waves goodbye to each of the creatures before heading back inside.

As she gets to her home, she opens the door to see Angel tapping his foot on the floor in annoyance and giggles saying, "Alright then, I will feed you once the others are taken care of."

The druid watches curiously as the creature tends to her animals, figuring out that she must have a connection to them and thinks, 'I think that she would be the best chance we would have at getting information, I should head back and inform the Priestess of this.' and prepares to take off.

Fluttershy looks out the open top half of the door to see a strangely colored crow fly away, pausing for a moment to think, 'Perhaps if I just be patient and wait, that bird will come back and let me meet them.'

Kalysse returns to where the rest of the group is and shifts to her humanoid form and says, "I have found that one of them has a connection to animals, they would be our best bet for information if we are forced to make contact with them. Shall we return to our quest for the heart, Priestess?"

Tyrande nods her head saying, "At least coming here turned up a potential source of information, let's continue on and get it before that monster sends his soldiers to get his heart back."

She nods and gets back onto her saber and resumes their journey to the snowy lands of the north saying, "Very well Priestess, right this way."

Several hours later, in the cold lands of the snowy lands of the Crystal Empire

Kalysse hops off her saber and starts to look for the platform where she hid the heart, finding it quickly and calls out, "Here it is, I removed this board here and dug a hole with my bear form. I hid it inside the hole and then marked the end of the board, I made sure no one was around when I hid it."

Tyrande quickly approaches the platform and watches as the druid pries up one of the boards, then begins to search through a pile of loose dirt and asks, "Did you bury it that deep?"

She reaches the bottom of the hole and sighs saying, "No...I didn't Priestess, the heart...is not here. I don't know who would have known to look for it here..." She then sees several sets of fading tracks heading towards the platform and heads towards them saying, "Priestess, several creatures have passed by here, I think it might have been that group of creatures from that village because I saw them come here and protect the city over there from a dark creature. There was a vehicle sitting here when I buried the heart in this hole, and we saw that very same vehicle heading towards the village. Perhaps the ones who used the vehicle were on it and traveled there, what should we do Priestess Tyrande?"

The priestess sighs sadly that the heart isn't here and looks over at the pretty city behind them and says, "It looks like we need to make first contact, unfortunately, and get information from that possible source you found. Let's return to that village, we will have to possibly abduct and interrogate the source you found." She then heads back to her companion and rubs her hand against her neck saying, "I am thankful that you are always at my side when I need you most, Ash'alah."

Kalysse nods and returns to her saber, then says to her, "Sorry to have to push you so hard, but the world of the living is at risk now that the Lich King threw his heart away." She then turns her around and makes her way towards the village they found before.

Several hours after they leave the Crystal Empire

As they approach the sleeping village, they look up at the beautiful night sky as the druid asks, "May I have a chance to make first contact, Priestess? When I was watching the group the first time, there was one that seemed to notice me. When I watched them the second time, I followed them to where they lived and they seemed to have a connection with animals. I might have a good idea of how to approach them peacefully without causing much trouble, may I give it a try?"

Tyrande thinks for a moment and nods her head saying, "It would be great if we could start out on good terms with these creatures, so go ahead and try it. If it doesn't go well, just incapacitate them and we will interrogate them in an isolated area."

She nods and heads to a group of bushes that are a little east of the village to avoid raising any alarms, then hops off her mount. She then shifts to her flight form and takes off towards where the one creature lives, hoping to make peaceful first contact with the beings here in this world.

As Kalysse lands near the door, she walks towards it and pecks it with her beak hard in attempt to get the one inside to notice and come out.

Angel hears an annoying pecking at the front door and frowns unhappily while thinking, 'It better be an emergency to be knocking at a door in the middle of the night like this! Some ponies have no respect at all for those who should be asleep at this hour!' He then makes his way towards Fluttershy's room and hops up onto her bed, then thumps his foot at the end of her bed to wake her up.

Fluttershy wakes up with a start, she looks at Angel and smiles asking, "What's the matter, did you have nightmares again Angel?"

He shakes his head and points towards the door, then knocks on the bedpost to inform her that someone is knocking on the door.

She tilts her head asking, "There is someone at the door, at this hour of the night? This is most irregular, I will go check it out. Somepony or some creature might be hurt and needs help." and then yawns, rising up from her warm bed to see who is at the door. When she gets to the door, she reaches for the latch on the top half of the door and unfastens it. She then pulls the top door open and looks outside, seeing nopony around. She hears a pecking at the bottom door and looks down, wiping her arm across her tired eyes to see a large crow looking up at her and says, "Hello there pretty bird, is there something wrong that you need my help with?"

Kalysse shakes her head side to side and softly squawks, "Hello. Sorry...to wake...so late."

Fluttershy gasps and smiles saying, "Oh you can sort of talk, that will make it easier to understand what you need from me. It is okay, if anypony or anycreature needs my help then I am happy to assist them."

The druid faintly smiles back, finding it very difficult with her beak and flies up to a post and lands upon it then replies, "Yes...talk...some. You follow? Talk...quiet place?"

She looks at the animals laying around in their places around her home and then heads outside, closing the door behind her and nods softly saying, "That would be wise because there are others here that are trying to sleep." with a smile on her face.

Kalysse nods and hovers in the air, then flies around in a circle to lead her to a quiet place where they won't disturb anyone still asleep at this hour. She leads her to a spot a little distance away from where the others are hidden and lands upon the top of a large rock, then waits for the creature to land near her.

Fluttershy lands a short distance away and walks closer asking, "Okay we are here, what is it that you want to talk about pretty crow?"

The druid looks around for any other creatures around and doesn't see anything and squawks, "No...fear...me. I...not hurt...you. Just...have...questions."

She looks at the creature curiously and says, "Oh I am not afraid of you, you seem really kind like me. What questions do you have?"

Kalysse takes a breath and squawks, "Keep...calm." and then shifts into her humanoid form, taking a seat on the rock and crossing her ankles and says in a gentle feminine voice, "Ishnu-alah, I am Kalysse and I am a night elf druid, and I am also a member of the Cenarion Circle. Who and what are you?"

Fluttershy's mouth falls open in shock to see a tall, pale, medium blue-skinned creature with thin ears longer than hers, silver objects in both of her ears, her violet hair in a long ponytail going over her right shoulder with glowing light blue eyes and short, well-trimmed eyebrows extending from above her eyes a short ways. She also has no scars on her face, but has two red tattoos that look like lightning bolts over each eye running down her long narrow face with an uplifted smile. Wearing a long silver chain with a silver pendant and a violet jewel matching her hair color around her neck, she wears an outfit seemingly made from an animal coat, covering her chest but exposing her midsection. Her skirt ends just around her knees, made of the same material. Her shoes reveal that she has feet somewhat similar to a dragon, but without scales and the sharp claws at the end of each toe. She remembers that she asked her something and hides behind her mane, closing her mouth, and quieting her voice saying, "My name is Fluttershy, and I am a pony.

The druid smiles and says, "Awe, don't be so shy Fluttershy, I mean you no harm. After all, we both have a love for animals and nature. I also have a friend that is an animal, she is a saber cat named Falysse. She has kept me safe from those that wished me harm. Would you like to meet her?"

She comes out of her shell a little bit and turns her head, asking nervously, "I-Is she nice?"

Kalysse giggles lightly and nods her head saying, "Oh of course she is, she is also quite affectionate."

Fluttershy faintly smiles and nods her head softly saying, "I would like to meet her, is she nearby?"

The druid places a couple fingers into her mouth and whistles for her companion saying, "Falysse, come over here and say hello please."

Falysse trots over to her caretaker, rubbing her large head and neck against her leg in greeting as she purrs.

She sees the large cat having silverish grey fur with black spots and blue eyes, making her smile become much wider as she comes out of her shell completely and says, "Awwe, what a big, beautiful cat!"

The loveable cat spots the one that just spoke, finding her small and adorable then pounces at her.

Fluttershy lets out an eep as she is taken to the ground, giggling as the large cat starts to lick her face while purring loudly.

Kalysse giggles at the display of affection her frost saber is showing to Fluttershy saying, "Awe, how cute, she likes you."

She giggles with delight as the cat lays beside her, looking up at the tall night elf and asks, "Where are you from. I have never seen a night elf before."

The druid nods her head and says, "Well I am not from here, I am from a world called Azeroth. My homeland is a continent called Kalimdor, I come from a place called Feralas."

Fluttershy gasps and looks up at her in shock saying, "The Lich King Arthas Menethil is from your world, a-are you friends with him?"

The druid narrows her eyes at the thought of being friends with that monster and shakes her head saying harshly, "Of course not, he is a cold-blooded murderer who has only hatred for those that won't side with him. His only friends are the slaves he raises when someone dies, he delights in the pain he can inflict on others."

She lowers her ears at angering her and says softly, "O-Oh...sorry for angering you. Wha-What questions did you want to ask me? What is the Cenarion Circle you mentioned?"

Kalysse sighs and calms herself down then says, "The Cenarion Circle is a group of druids like myself whose duty is to protect and maintain the balance of nature, and it is composed of night elves, as well as several other races on Azeroth meaning night elves like myself.I am not angry at you, but the Lich King made an enemy out of nearly every living race on Azeroth meaning. I am surprised that this world is still untouched by his vile presence, speaking of the Lich King... Good work on keeping him out of that city, by the way. What I wanted to know is that did anyone in your group find something unusual there?"

Fluttershy thinks about what she said and sighs at how the Lich King has no friends at all and then answers her, "Well there was a ghost there named Matthias Lehner that said we needed to find something to have a better chance of defeating somepony, after some searching, we found something scary. Why are you looking for it, were you the one that found and hid it there?"

The druid's eyes widen and she asks, "Yes, did any of you touch the item itself?!" She then looks over to the bushes and waves the others over saying, "The priestess will want to speak to you, be very respectful to her because she leads the Night Elves."

She gulps and hears several footsteps coming their way, seeing a large white cat making its way toward them silently as another tall night elf walks forward wearing a long, white dress with a circlet around her forehead, glowing blue eyes and long bluish-green hair in twin braids that come over either shoulder. As she comes closer, she can see that she has a light lavender skin and very long, thin ears that stick far behind her head.

Kalysse looks at her speechless face and hops off the rock, landing silently on the ground in a kneeling position and lightly places a hand on Fluttershy's shoulder and asks, "Fluttershy, did any of you touch what was in the cloth?"

Fluttershy turns to look at Kalysse's face, her glowing blue eyes filled with worry and shakes her head saying, "N-No we didn't, my friend held the heart but listened to Matthias's warnings and only touched the cloth it was wrapped in. W-Why do you want to know about it so badly?"

The druid looks to the priestess standing a short distance away and says, "Priestess Tyrande, fortune favors our search. She and her friends did indeed find the Lich King's frozen heart, but did not actually touch it thankfully. This is Fluttershy, and she is a pony. I must warn you that she has a very shy nature, so it would be best to treat her as gently as you can."

Tyrande then kneels onto the grass and looks at the scout saying, "Thank you for letting me know, I will try to be as gentle as I can though this is an urgent matter that we need to deal with right away so I can return to the needs of my home and its people." She then turns her gaze to the timid pony and takes a breath saying, "Ishnu'alah, I am Priestess Tyrande. Can you tell us where the heart of the Lich King is right now? It is very important that it remains in a safe place and out of his hands, that is a very important weakness that can increase the chances to defeat him and send him out of your world."

She fidgets nervously and hides behind her mane a little but softly says, "I think that my friend might still have it if she didn't give it to the princesses..."

The priestess looks at her with a smile on her face and gently asks, "Do you think that you could go find her and bring her here?"

Fluttershy stammers a little and glances up at her behind her mane saying, "U-Uhm...I could, but it is rather late and she had a long day."

Tyrande sighs and says, "It is really important that we know, could you please bring her friend here?"

She sighs and nods her head slowly saying, "I can try, but she won't be in a good mood because of the late hour. I will be back, with her or her answer." She then gets up off the ground and makes her way toward's Twilight's home, really not wanting to disturb her peaceful slumber.

At Twilight's house in Ponyville Library, a few minutes later

Twilight is asleep in her bed, having disturbing dreams about what she and Princess Celestia were shown by Matthias. She turns over as she has yet another dream, seeing herself at the top of Icecrown Citadel amidst a raging battle alongside several others when everypony gets frozen in a block of ice. Arthas walks up to her and grabs her by the throat and lifts her up off the floor saying in a deep, threatening voice, "You cannot save me, so stop trying so desperately. Your resolve is weak, leaving you unable to act while I slowly kill everything around you...starting with your friends."

Arthas holds her in the air and walks towards Applejack, pulling Frostmourne back and swinging it down and to the left. He chuckles as he watches the ice shatter, causing her body to fall in two halves as her soul leaves her body and flows into the sword.

She watches as tears stream from her face as her friends are killed one by one, with Fluttershy being stabbed through the chest. She sees Fluttershy's eyes open and emit a glowing blue light as cold mist slowly drifts off of them screaming, "NO! STOP IT, DON'T DO THAT TO MY FRIENDS!"

He turns back to her and gets closer to her saying, "What are you going to do to stop me!? You lack the strength to do what is necessary and just watch as your friends fall like flies!" He then raises his two daughters up from death to serve him and says with an evil chuckle, "Now...it is your turn to join them. We shall rule over this world in death and you will be my queen, we will create and raise so many monsters together...my love." He then kisses her lips as the tip of his sword pierces her chest, causing her to writhe out in pain as she feels her soul being sucked out of her body by the sword.

Twilight breaks the kiss as her eyes begin to glow blue and start to emit blue smoke from them and says in a loving tone, "Yes my love, we will have a large family and welcome this world with the friendship of undeath..."

Fluttershy shakes Twilight violently as she writhes and screams on the bed yelling, "Twilight! WAKE UP, IT'S ONLY A NIGHTMARE!"

She feels herself being shaken and grabs them by the throat, thinking that it is Arthas shaking her and shouts, "I will not let you hurt my friends!" She then pushes them onto their back and gets on top of them, raising her fist to punch them in the face when she realizes it is Fluttershy. She is rapidly waving her hands in front of her face, pleading for her to snap out of it. As reality sinks in that it was just a dream, she then feels tears of joy start to fall from her face and wraps her arms around her friend tightly saying, "Y-You're alright...you're alright."

The shy pony hugs her friend back, ignoring the pain of her really strong hug and says hoarsely, "There there Twilight, it was only a bad dream. C-Could you perhaps ease up on your grip? You're hurting me."

Twilight continues to hug her and sobs saying, "It was the worst nightmare I have ever had...EVER! We faced him with a large group of soldiers and we still lost, and everypony died. What's worse...is that he raised you, Celestia, and Luna to serve him. After he raise you three, he then kissed me saying that we would rule over the world in death and I would be his queen. He also said that we would create and raise many monsters together and then killed me. When he raised me, I stopped kissing hi and said that we will have a large family and welcome this world with the friendship of undeath!" She then sobs harder and cries saying, "Oh I am so glad that it was only a terrible dream, I wouldn't want to live in a world like that!"

Fluttershy sighs and caresses the back of Twilight's head saying, "I'm here Twilight, it was just a dream. We won't let that happen, we will find a way to save all of Equis. Now dry your tears Twilight, there is somepony important that wishes to meet you."

She relaxes her death grip on Fluttershy and looks up at her curiously then asks, "R-Really? Who could it be at this late hour?"

The shy pony rises to her hooves and smiles at her saying, "You will have to see that for yourself, they are quite unique. Now come on, they are waiting for us just outside of town." She then makes her way to the front door and smiles saying, "You may want to bring some paper to write on, this might be an important first meeting."

Twilight cocks her head in confusion as she looks at a worried Spike standing beside her bad and says, "Sorry to wake you Spike, you can go back to bed." She watches as he nods sleepily and returns to his bed, then gets off of her own bed and stands on the floor in her silk nightwear. Unaware of how she is dressed, she hurriedly grabs her backpack, some paper, a couple of quills, and inkwells. She then remembers about the heart, seeing it right next to where she was lying on the bed, still wrapped in the frostweave cloth. Realizing she must have subconsciously grabbed the heart sometime in the night and sighs, not sure what to do about her warring emotions over what Arthas did. She then puts it in her bag as well then hurries out the door after Fluttershy as her mane trails behind her.

Fluttershy leads Twilight to where they wait and sees four pairs of glowing blue eyes looking at them and says, "Get ready to meet some unusual beings Twilight, because they are also from Azeroth. Maybe they could tell you more about Arthas, or a possible way to save him?"

Twilight smiles at the possibility of learning more about Arthas and says, "Oh, do you really think so Fluttershy?!" She then frowns at how someone he trusted the most betrayed him and continues, "It would be so great to get more information about his past as well as his relationship with Jaina, as well as why things happened the way they did."

Priestess Tyrande waits for the two ponies to get closer and says, "Ishnu'alah, I am known as Priestess Tyrande and I lead the night elves alongside my husband, the druid next to me with the red blade tattoos over both her eyes is Kalysse. What is your name little pony?"

She stands stock-still as Fluttershy lies down beside her, taking in the beings that are before her and asks, "My name is Twilight Sparkle, it is nice to meet you. Y-You're from Azeroth, like Arthas?"

The leader nods her head and sighs saying, "All four of us night elves are, we come from a continent called Kalimdor. We are on an important journey here to find something that belongs to the evil Lich King, Kalysse informed me that the object she buried was found by you. I hope that you still have it, that is very important and will help lead the Lich King to his defeat."

Twilight pulls her bag off her back and sets it down before her and holds it close saying, "I still have it...Matthias says I should never let it leave my side. I am hoping that there might be a way to remove the darkness that is tainting his heart. Would you have any idea about how to accomplish such a thing, Priestess Tyrande?"

Tyrande sighs in relief at her still having his heart and says, "Unfortunately, I am among those who do not care if he is saved or if he should die. His evil nature is an affront to all life, and both our worlds would be much better places if he were dead."

She hangs her head a little and lays her ears back slightly, feeling slightly depressed about her offering no opinion on the matter. Determined to make the most of this meeting, she then asks, "Do you know much about Arthas past life in Azeroth, priestess?"

The priestess sighs and says, "All I know is what everyone else knows in Azeroth...That he was the crown prince of Lordaeron, who turned to dark forces in a desperate attempt to save his nation's people from the undead that were threatening them. The dark forces then led him to murder his own father, then he proceeded to destroy the rest of the kingdom. After that, he became the Lich King and began to wage war on the living a few years after that."

Twilight frowns and says, "Well, that is more than what I knew...would you by chance know anything about a certain Jaina that was close to Arthas?"

Tyrande thinks for a moment softly saying, "Jaina...Jaina...it sounds familiar, but why is that name familiar..." She looks off to the side and searches her memory, tapping one of her fingernails against her cheek in thought and asks, "You wouldn't happen to have a description of who the name belongs to, would you?"

She then nods her head hopefully and says, "I do, she is human with light tan skin, blonde hair, and blue eyes. She also has a staff that has brass strands coming out in a spiral with blue gems or crystals at the tips of each strand at the top of the staff, there also was a large blue crystal floating at the top between the spiraling strands. That is all I could see from the visions that Matthias shared with me, is that any help Priestess Tyrande?"

The priestess remembers who she is describing and says, "It appears you are describing Jaina Proudmoore, the only thing that I could tell you is that she and an orc named Thrall helped us fight off the Burning Legion that had minions of the undead scourge backing them."

Twilight then asks, "How long ago was this, was Arthas a part of it? What is the Burning Legion, I have never heard of it before? And who is Thrall?"

Tyrande tenses slightly and thinks of a way to describe the near-infinite army and says, "It was eleven years ago on Azeroth when the Burning Legion came to Azeroth the second time, and was before Arthas became the Lich King. Thrall is a talented orc shaman who led the Horde at the time, though he stepped down as Warchief a few months ago before the cataclysm happened when Deathwing escaped from Deepholm. The Burning Legion is a vast army of demons with nearly infinite numbers that has destroyed countless worlds in their crusade to extinguish all life in the Twisting Nether." She watches as Twilight uses her magic to pull out a large stack of papers, followed by an inkwell and a quill. Her horn then lights up and surrounds the quill with a magic aura, making it begin writing something down and asks, "What is it that you are doing, curious Twilight?"

She then smiles sheepishly and says, "Sorry, I tend to take notes about new things I hear and find fascinating. Please forgive my curiosity, but we know next to nothing about your world." Her horn stops channeling magic as she finishes enchanting the quill to write down the information onto the stack of paper and asks with wide eyes, "How is this possible, Arthas has been in our world for about 1,500 years?! What is Deepholm, and the Twisting Nether?"

The priestess finds her reaction surprising and forces a smile then answers, "About 3 years ago, when the Lich King was defeated...I heard that a spell was used and banished Arthas from Azeroth, taking Icecrown Citadel with it. The spell apparently sent him back in time to another world which we later learned was yours. Deepholm is the Elemental Plane of Earth in Azeroth, I am one of the few that remember that Deathwing used to go by another name...Neltharion, and he was the Aspect of Earth as well as the leader of the Black Dragonflight, charged to protect Azeroth alongside the other Dragon Aspects. Unfortunately, he was corrupted by the old gods and started referring to himself as the Aspect of Death. So now some of the races of our world are working to stop Deathwing's attempt at destroying everything on Azeroth. The Twisting Nether is the vast expanse where many planets like yours reside."

Twilight worries a little and asks, "Umm, do you think that the Burning Legion will come after our world? Also, do you know if Deathwing will try to attack us as well?"

Tyrande sighs and answers, "Unfortunately, they might, though currently, they are focusing on Azeroth at the moment because they have made two successful invasions that were repelled and another attempt was made but it was stopped before it could complete. As for Deathwing attacking your world...well...it is most likely that he will if he learns of the portal, succeeds in destroying Azeroth, and locates the portal. I would recommend not worrying about it that much because the citizens of Azeroth will not let him destroy their world without a fight."

She thinks for a moment and says, "I need to inform Princess Celestia of these potential threats, would you please join me at my home so that we can continue talking? I have so many questions about Azeroth, and you are the second being I met from there that actually answers the questions I have and doesn't talk endlessly about Titans and their relics."

The priestess thinks about it for a moment before smiling and nodding her head saying, "I wouldn't mind spending a little time in your company, you have not been hostile in any way towards me or my escorts. I see no harm in telling you more about where we come from. Perhaps you could show the heart to us? we have never seen it before but have heard about it from an adventurer that unfortunately touched it."

Twilight nods her head and says, "Alright then, please follow me to my home Priestess Tyrande." She then uses her magic to put the stack of papers, quill and inkwell back into her bag then stands up. She then picks her bag up and returns it to her back, illuminating her horn and turns around, then starts heading for her home.

A few minutes later, close to Twilight's house in Ponyville

Tyrande and the others look around at the quiet town and says, "It is not wise to leave your town unprotected at night, or you may come under attack."

She sees her home in the distance and answers, "Normally the towns and cities in Equestria don't need to be guarded because it is very peaceful...usually. Every once in awhile, something will happen in or around Ponyville, however, with Arthas now without his humanity...Equestria and this whole world is in danger from his vast army of solders he just received. Is there any way that we could get help in dealing with him and his army from the races of Azeroth?"

The priestess sighs and says, "Unfortunately, most races have their hands full with dealing with Deathwing and the evil cult that is led by him, called the Twilight's Hammer."

Twilight sighs at hearing that and asks hopefully, "What about those that defeated him the first time, can they help?"

Tyrande shakes her head saying, "The Alliance and the Horde could...but not for free. There are neutral parties that just might assist you, but will need time to deal with the current issues that have came up. My people are busy now trying to make room to house the Gilneans that have lost their land to the cataclysm and the invading Forsaken."

She gets curious and then asks, "When was the first time the Burning Legion attacked Azeroth?"

The priestess thinks about it for a moment and says, "It has been about ten thousand years since they first invaded Azeroth, I fought in it after all."

Twilight freezes in her tracks as the last bit of information causes her eyes to go wide with surprise, then slowly turns her head around to look behind her and quietly asks, "I-I'm sorry, could you repeat that? I must have heard you wrong."

Tyrande smirks at how her face looks and says, "You didn't hear me wrong, because I fought in the War of the Ancients that was about ten thousand years ago."

She blinks a few times, not believing what she heard, and asks, "T-There's no way that you could be that age and look so young...unless......you are immortal."

The priestess briefly chuckles and nods her head saying, "We were...until the battle at the world tree in Mount Hyjal."

Twilight then asks, "Sorry to be rude, but exactly how long have you been around Priestess Tyrande?"

Tyrande looks at her softly then says, "Thank you for trying to be polite, unfortunately, I have lost track of how long I have been around but I know that I am over ten thousand years old."

The gears in Twilight's shock-frozen mind slowly start functioning as she then gasps and says, "Wow, you have been around for much longer than the two princesses have. As far as I know they have been around for only about one thousand years, give or take a few centuries or decades."

She then smiles and nods her head saying, "They are children when compared to my years. Would you care telling me about how you came across the heart?"

Twilight continues on towards her home and gestures for them to continue following her saying, "Of course not, let's go inside so that I can tell you what happened a few days ago." She then opens the door and holds it open for her guests saying, "It may be a little small in here for you all, and I apologize for that in advance."

Tyrande smiles and ducks down to enter the dwelling, looking around curiously and says, "So you live in a tree as well, the one thing that I find most interesting about this tree is that it was assisted in growing with magic."

She smiles and looks around as the others make their way inside saying, "I am not sure who was responsible for growing this tree, but I would like to find out someday." She makes her way to one side of the room and sits down saying, "I am sorry I don't have chairs for any of you, but let me begin telling you what happened a few days ago..."