The Curse of Undeath

King Varian nods his head saying, "I understand your predicament and why you have asked for aid, I wish that hatred wasn't so prevalent in our world and was more like yours. Since we are both equals and leaders, might we be able to call each other by name only?"

Princess Celestia and Princess Luna look at each other with questioning glances, asking unspoken questions as Luna is the first to nod followed by her sister. She then turns to look back at the visitors saying, "We do not see any issue with that Ki..." clearing her voice a moment before trying again saying, "Ahem, apologies...Varian, we are presently waiting for your student to arrive from her training as a wonderbolt. I believe that miss Rainbow Dash will arrive sometime in the morning." She then looks at Highlord Tirion and says with a slight smile, "Apologies for neither of us addressing you sooner Highlord Tirion, we have seen through visions shown to us that you fought against the Lich King and defeated him by first shattering his sword then running him through. That battle was challenging but the end result of your action sent him to our world, threatening every soul in it."

Highlord Tirion hangs his head and sighs heavily, saying, "I apologize for what I have done to affect your world, Princess Luna and Princess Celestia, I upheld justice instead of seeking revenge and threatened your world in turn. When the time comes to face him again, I will not spare him a second time. Both worlds would be a better place without that monster plaguing us with his existence, but if he were to die...someone would have to take his place as king."

With a nod of her head, Celestia speaks up and attempts to brighten the mood a little, saying, "We are aware of that, but we are not here to blame either of you for what happened as you were facing evil, and shall be asked to face it again because the Lich King has command of soldiers that came from your world. Would you mind telling us how he came to acquire them?"

Highlord Tirion looks at Celestia and nods, saying, "It happened shortly after Icecrown Citadel was banished along with Arthas Menethil. You see, Your Majesty, the scourge are under the command and control of the helm Arthas wears. Without its presence to keep them in check, the undead horde of countless numbers went on a rampage throughout the land causing major damage to towns and villages across every continent. After we somehow managed to draw them back to Icecrown, Queen Alexstrasza sent a couple of scouts through the newly completed portal that took two years to build to search for either Arthas or the current Lich King. Archmage Malin tried to warn me against using it, but I refused to listen..."

Luna fights back tears at the sad prospect of losing her father and takes the opportunity to learn more about their father, asking, "Since we know so little about the Lich King's life in Azeroth before turning evil, we were wondering if you two knew anything about his life before that? We know that he used to be a paladin like Highlord Tirion is, he was in love with Jaina and was the crown prince of Lordaeron before he killed his father. Can you tell us anything else we do not know about him?"

The paladin sighs and says, "Well Princess Luna, I can tell you that I only knew that he was trained by Uther and that he was very proud of his pupil until Stratholme started..." He pauses to think back on the better days and says, "His love for his people was second to none, he was okay as a paladin."

Varian listens as he tells the two princesses what he knows about Arthas during his time in their order, finishing the story with the attack on Light's Hope. Knowing it is his turn, he then prepares to begin telling his story when he sees Princess Luna look at her sister for a moment as her sister looks off into the distance, deep in thought.

Celestia then lets out a sigh and says with a sad smile on her face, "Well, that helps us understand he was once an honorable person in life." She then turns back to the king and asks, "Do you know anything of his past that could help us understand him more, Varian?"

He nods his head and says, "I do know much more about Arthas, although I'm not sure how much it will aid you in understanding who he used to be..." and starts his tale by saying, "I first met him many years ago after Stormwind was destroyed by the first Horde, I was a boy at the age of ten then... He never once managed to beat me in a match, and he always lamented how I..." and goes on to tell them the story of his friendship with the evil being he once called his best friend. As he nears the end of his story, he looks away with a little anger saying, "Then when I had heard he had fallen in with the Scourge and murdered his father, I felt so betrayed and when he became the new Lich King..." he clenches his fist as he thinks about how his best friend destroyed their friendship and finishes by saying, "To this day, I consider him the Alliance's ultimate traitor."

Luna looks away with a sad expression and says, "Just so you know, his heart is in our possession and guarded by one of our wisest ponies, Twilight Sparkle, our princess of friendship."

The Varian and Tirion look at each other as the highlord lets out a sigh saying, "It is no surprise to me that he has done it again."

She then asks in a hopeful tone, "What if a way could be found that returned him to how he used to be, would either of you want that to happen?" She then looks back at the two of them with curiosity in her eyes.

Highlord Tirion thinks about it and looks at King Varian as he looks back at him, sharing a look of confusion between them before the king sighs and shakes his head. Understanding his wordless reply, Tirion sighs in turn and looks back at Princess Luna saying, "Apologies, Princess Luna, but with every atrocity he has committed in Azeroth and whatever he has done in this world... We feel it unwise and not worth the effort. I have once attempted to purify it myself, but my efforts were in vain as I looked at the heart and realized he could not be saved. Shortly after realizing that, I rushed toward the heart and ran it through with my sword Ashbringer, destroying it. I was knocked out as I did so, but I heard that my action harmed the Lich King greatly."

She watches as Luna remains quiet for several moments, blinking her eyes to keep the tears from spilling down her face, and then takes over for her saying, "I understand why you say that, but we would still like to give him a chance. One of our subjects is searching for a way to cleanse the heart and free it from darkness, we need assistance from the warriors who fought him before which means that you would be fighting alongside the Horde. We will have to go through a third party to ensure that neither of you searches our world for resources, but will provide a monetary reward for the adventurers that join in the fight. As for rewarding the Alliance and Horde soldiers, both shall receive payment through resources we shall deliver. Does that sound fair?"

Varian looks at Celestia and thinks for several seconds before sighing and saying, "As the High King of the Alliance, I cannot make any promises but I can tell the soldiers to put aside their feelings for the benefit of all living beings in Azeroth and this world."

Tirion then looks up at her and says with conviction, "As the leader of the Argent Crusade, we are soldiers of righteousness and justice. Our duty is to protect Azeroth and all of its people, we would be glad to assist your world as well. I must tell you now, Arthas Menethil is no more, only the Lich King exists now."

Celestia sighs and nods her head saying, "Thank you, all that remains is to inform the Horde leader of the plan and to find a neutral third party to request aid for our world against the Lich King."

Varian thinks about her intention to invite the Horde over and says, "I would advise against inviting the horde here to inform them of the plan, my reason is that Garrosh is a brash and headstrong leader that is willing to cross lines to strengthen his people."

Archmage Malin nervously speaks up and says, "E-Excuse me, Your Highness, but perhaps I could recommend either the Kirin Tor of Dalaran, or the Cenarion Circle at Cenarion Hold in Silithus. They both would want something for making the request in your stead though, The Kirin Tor would likely take an interest in the magic used in this world. With the Cenarian Circle primarily focused on the balance of nature, they may take an interest in the nature of this world, however, they are busy with the Firelord Ragnaros.

The princess thinks for a moment and says, "Very well, if they wish to just study our magic, we see no problems with that but they are not allowed in the restricted section. I shall write up a detailed scroll requesting aid against the Lich King. When it is finished, could you ensure that it gets delivered?"

The mage bows to the princess and says, "I will, Your Majesty."

Highlord Tirion clears his voice and says in a polite manner, "Excuse me, Your Majesty, but would you mind telling us about what has been going on lately regarding the Lich King?"

Celestia is about to speak up when her sister stops her saying, "Allow me to do that, sister." and nods in approval.

Luna then softly clears her throat and continues, "Since you have offered to aid us in fighting the Lich King, we both feel that you deserve to know a secret we keep from all others except for those closest to us."

She watches them as they remain standing there, with curious looks on their faces as they look at her. Taking a calming breath, she then casts a privacy barrier around them, including her sister and says, "We hope that you will still help us against Arthas, because you see..." and trails off for a few seconds before taking a nervous gulp saying, "We spent part of our early years inside of Icecrown's halls...as it was our home because Arthas Menethil is...or was...our father."

Tirion, Varian, and Malin's faces go slack at the revelation, with Malin trying to speak several moments later and finally asking a minute later, "W-Wait...YOU'RE his family he told us about, Your Highness?"

Celestia and Luna both nod their heads as Luna says, "We are indeed the Lich King's daughters, the name he picked for me was Lunetha, and chose Celestine for my sister. However, we prefer to be called by the names we gave you."

Varian then looks at the two of them with wide eyes as he then says, "This is a lot to take in, I shall need to ensure that the Horde doesn't find out or they will invade Equestria to hunt you down."

Tirion then looks at the king and says, "King Varian, you should inform Mathias Shaw of S1:7 of this. Surely you remember Arthas said that he had a family, in front of the other leaders?"

He facepalms himself and then sighs saying, "You're right...he did, fortunately, Garrosh was fighting the undead so the chances of him knowing are slim." He then looks up at Princess Celestia and Princess Luna asking, "Would either of you have issues with me informing the leader of my spy network to ensure that your secret stays that way?"

Celestia shakes her head no, saying, "Go right ahead, that is a very wise choice. I really want Equestria to remain out of the feud between the Alliance and the Horde. Can we still count on you three for your assistance against our father?"

Luna watches with bated breath as the three of them slowly nod their heads and choose to help them, then shifts her gaze to the balcony where the sky is a light yellowish-orange. Turning her head to her sister, she smiles and says, "Sister, it is time, shall we give our guests a little show of our power?"

She looks at the balcony, then back to her sister with a smile and a quick nod saying, "I think that would be a wonderful idea sister, could you cancel your privacy barrier please?" She then starts heading down the stairs towards the balcony as her sister begins to drop the shield.

Archmage Malin follows the two princesses out onto the balcony, curious at what magic they could have gotten from their father. He is stunned at the sight of them effortlessly using their magic to set the sun and raise the moon together asking, "How do you two have this much power?"

As they finish setting the sun, Celestia then smiles and says, "This is something we discovered for ourselves when we were young, after we learned how to use our powers, the ponies around us started to treat us like royalty. With the cycle changed, we can conclude today's business and have the maids give you a tour of the castle before escorting you all to your rooms during your stay in the castle. If you wish, your guards can rest in our barracks, and I shall have guards posted at your rooms to ensure your safety." She then looks at Highlord Tirion with a smile saying, "I look forward to receiving training from the warrior who defeated the Lich King the first time, as we observed the battle through a vision shown to us by Matthias Lehner."

Varian looks at his soldiers, then at Celestia, and says, "I don't want to sound rude or disrespectful, Celestia, but as peaceful as your world seems to be with the Lich King preparing for war...I think it would be best to have a pair of our guards outside our rooms, don't you think so, Highlord?"

Tirion looks at him and bows his head saying, "I do, Your Majesty, perhaps we could have one paladin and one of your warriors outside both our doors."

Luna then remembers about the changelings still in their world and says, "We should warn you, there are certain creatures in our world that can change their appearance to look exactly like those they capture. However, we have measures in place to make it impossible for them to return to Canterlot."

The king then looks at Luna with a sigh of relief saying, "That is good to hear, as an added measure, we shall have our guards be vigilant in their duty." then turns his head to look at Tirion and says, "I agree with that suggestion, Highlord Tirion. I think that we both will be rather busy tomorrow with our new trainees."

Celestia smiles and chuckles saying, "I am sure of that, but I'm afraid my training with Highlord Tirion will have to wait until I have finished business with the Element Bearers." She then looks to one of her guards in the room and calls out, "I need one of you to go find a maid and bring her here."

One of the guards bows and says, "At once, Your Highness." then starts heading towards the front doors at a swift walk.

A few minutes later, the guard returns with a maid in tow saying, "Your Highness, I have brought the maid here as you requested."

She looks at the guard and nods saying, "Thank you, you may return to your post. Once they have arranged their guards for the night, please escort them to the guard barracks where they can rest." then looks at the maid saying, "I need you to first give these royal guests a tour of the castle before escorting them to the visiting dignitaries' wing, and see to it that a maid is assigned to each of them to tend to their needs during their stay here." Shifting her gaze to Kaylara, she says, "Thank you for escorting our guests here, I shall notify you when I require your aid once again via scroll through Spike."

Kaylara then bows to Celestia saying, "You are most welcome, Your Highness. I will go find Kalysse and we shall go see the Lich King's preparations before I indulge in learning to read your books."

The maid bows to her saying, "I will see to it at once, Your Majesty." She then looks at the three men and asks, "Milords, are you ready for your tour of the castle?"

Varian smiles and nods politely, saying, "We will be, shortly. We need to arrange shifts for our soldiers first, so please excuse us for a few moments."

The maid then bows to the guest and says, "Very well then, I shall wait until you all are prepared."

Celestia then smiles and says, "Tomorrow, just after daybreak, will you three join me in our private dining hall so I can inform you of what has been going on lately over breakfast?"

The High King and the others nod and voice their agreement to her request, then discuss their guard's shifts throughout the night before letting the maid show them to their rooms.

As Tirion follows the maid down the halls, he looks at Varian and Malin saying in a quiet tone, "I wonder how much of the Lich King is in the two sister's blood..."

Varian lets the maid gain some distance from them before looking at Tirion and saying barely over a whisper, "These princesses are being gracious hosts, do not start acting suspicious and questioning their actions. Remember what Princess Luna said, Arthas was their father...not the Lich King. We are here at their request for aid against the Lich King, it has to be difficult for them to have to fight against a monster that once used to be their father."

He then bows his head to Varian and says, "I was not going to, I was merely voicing my curiosity, King Varian. I can sense goodness inside these two, I think that it might hurt them deep inside to have to divide their family like this..." out of the corner of his eye, he sees the maid's ear twitch and snaps his head forward to look at her as she walks away then says to her, "Maid, if you are listening to our conversation, it would be best if you kept what you heard to yourself. Do I make myself clear?"

The maid then gulps and nods her head quickly saying, "Y-Yes sir, I didn't mean to hear you. Ponies have sensitive hearing, just so you know, so I am certain that the guards have also heard what was said."

The High King spins around to glare at the guards in a superior manner and says in a loud, clear voice, "The same goes for the guards that also heard us... If any of you should spread that information around, I'm sure that the princesses will not be too pleased to hear about it. Understood?"

One of the guards standing beside the door nods his head ever so slightly as a bead of sweat rolls down his face saying, "Yes sir."

The next morning, at the castle's private dining room.

As Celestia sits down at breakfast with her sister and their royal guests, Luna then tries to get to know them a little, asking, "So what does the diet of humans consist of?"

Varian smiles and says, "Meat, vegetables, fruit, bread, and certain types of leafy plants like cabbage, spinach, and lettuce. How about a pony's diet, what does it consist of?"

Celestia takes the question and answers, "Well, it consists of what you may expect, meaning plants, flowers, fruit, vegetables, grain, and of course, baked goods. Personally, I rather enjoy cake."

When the servant comes to take their orders, the three humans ask about what types of food are served there and then make their choices after listening to what ingredients are in each dish.

As they wait for their orders to arrive, they strike up a conversation and exchange information about the differences between their worlds.

Once their food arrives, they all dig in and enjoy it while making small talk in between bites of their food as Luna pauses mid-bite of her pancakes and asks, "Did you all have a good night's sleep? I did what I could to ensure you slept peacefully and without nightmares."

Archmage Malin then swallows his food and says, "I most certainly did, thank you, Your Majesty. I was rather surprised to find you in my dreams after getting rid of the nightmare I was having regarding Deathwing."

Tirion pauses with his fork held in mid-air as he then says, "As was I, I didn't know that one could do that. That is a rather impressive skill you have, Princess Luna."

Luna blushes slightly at the praise and smiles at them saying, "Thank you for your compliment, and you are all welcome. Nightmares are troublesome creatures that rob you of your precious sleep, does that skill not exist in your world?"

The archmage then shakes his head saying, "Unfortunately, it does not. The citizens of Azeroth have to deal with their nightmares on their own. It would be nice if someone could fight against nightmares as you do, but you don't need to worry because in Azeroth, we know that nightmares are just bad dreams."

They continue to talk about each of their worlds' events, finding a few similarities with their holiday celebrations. As they discuss the differences between the celebrations, the door to the private dining hall open up. The sound draws their attention as they all turn to see who just entered the room when Princess Celestia swallows her food and smiles saying, "Rainbow Dash, you have arrived. It is good to see you, please take a seat. Are you hungry?"

Rainbow Dash bows to the ruling princesses saying, "No thank you, Your Highness. I received your message and I came as soon as I could after informing the drill instructor about your summons. What can I do for you, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna?"

She smiles and chuckles saying, "Please rise, Rainbow Dash. I was just asking you to come meet your trainer, King Varian Wrynn of Stormwind."

She snaps her body upright and looks at the princess with a mix of shock, awe, and excitement and says, "Really!?! I get to learn to fight from a KING!?! AWESOME!" then looks at the three guests and hovers above the floor in excitement, asking, "Which one is the king?"

King Varian smiles at the behavior of the young pony, and looks at their mane saying, "That would be me, I wondered who my trainee was going to be. I say that your rainbow hair coloring is quite interesting, is that how you got your name?"

Rainbow bows her head to the king and says, "Yep, it is Your Highness, I was also named Dash because I was so full of energy."

Tirion then looks at the energetic pony and says, "Well don't just stand there like a statue, pull up a seat as your princess asked you."

She blushes and stammers, saying, "R-Right, sorry, Your Majesties." and makes her way to the table to find a seat.

Celestia looks at the three human guests saying, "My esteemed guests, this is Rainbow Dash, she is the fastest pony in Equestria." then shifts her gaze to Rainbow Dash, gesturing to each of the guests in turn from left to right saying, "Rainbow Dash, these three guests are from Azeroth and on the left is King Varian Wrynn, beside him is Highlord Tirion Fordring, and to his right is Archmage Malin."

Rainbow's eyes nearly bug out of her head as she stares at them in shock and amazement, saying in a higher-pitched tone, "You mean the one who beat the Lich King the first time!?! TOTALLY EPIC!! When Matthias showed us the last battle against the Lich King, it was awesome!"

The princess chuckles and nods her head at her reaction saying, "The very same one, and did you know that King Varian once called Arthas Menethil his best friend before he chose to abandon the friends he had and betrayed them by becoming the Lich King?"

Her jaw drops open momentarily before she recovers and glances back and forth repeatedly between the three sitting at the table with her and asks in a hyper-excited tone, "SERIOUSLY!?! He used to be friends with Arthas!?"

Highlord smirks at her enthusiasm and looks at her saying, "The fight against him was definitely not easy, and it had cost the lives of many to get through his guardians. It was a miracle that the light answered my prayer and granted me the power to escape my bonds."

Rainbow's excitement at meeting her recent idol and her teacher fades significantly as she then asks in a more somber tone, "What are we going to do now?"

Celestia grabs her sister's hand and gives Rainbow a reassuring smile saying, "Do not worry Rainbow, we will all train and fight against the monster Luna and I once called father. With the power of friendship, love, and the aid of others, we will defeat him once again and ensure he does not threaten our world any longer."

She looks at the princess with a gentle smile and says, "Yeah we will, we are going to kick his flank so hard, he will regret ever messing with Equestria!"

As they return to their food, Varian looks at Rainbow and says, "After hearing what the Lich King has been up to lately, I look forward to seeing your skills to determine how to train you."

Several hours later in the Frozen North, near Icecrown Citadel

Kalysse stands behind some crates in her nearly invisible cat form, watching with wide eyes as she witnesses the first of several glass containers being constructed as the first two machines roll forward. One of which Has a catapult beside a large, flat platform while the other is a large vat with some kind of alchemist's brewing stand on the front of it with a spout leading from the rear of the vat. Knowing its purpose can only mean bringing death to the ponies of Equestria, she decides to take action and looks for where the materials for their weapons are located. Seeing a large pile of lumber stored in tightly packed stacks, she grins when an idea comes to her mind.

As she looks around for something to destroy the supply of timber, she spots several barrels set side from various piles of materials and waits for her moment to strike. The moment comes when an abomination comes by and sets another barrel by the others with its lid partially open, then makes her way over to the one with an open lid and looks around for any nearby enemies. Seeing none around, she drops her stealth and switches back to her night elf form, quickly prying the lid open to see it full of a clear, thick substance that slowly runs down the sides. She gets close and sniffs it and realizes that it is whale oil, then looks around for something to carry the oil in and sees a discarded wooden bucket.

After she retrieves the bucket, she fills it with the oil and returns the lid so it appears to be closed. Making a trip to the piles of lumber, she then hurls the oil onto one of the piles and returns to the barrel to refill the bucket again.

It takes the druid several trips back and forth to cover most of the lumber, then returns once more to pour a trail of oil from the barrels to the lumber pile. Deciding to do as much damage she can, she uses each opportunity to splash oil onto the rest of the burnable materials the Lich King's army is collecting.

A few hours later, Kalysse holds a flaming blue torch in her right hand, then drops it onto the bucket she was using. While the fire catches the oil on fire, she quickly switches to her cat form and uses her stealth to sneak back to deliver a report to the princesses about what she has discovered during her scouting mission.

Zovaal is sitting in his throne when he hears a loud explosion come from below, causing him to rise up from his throne to gaze down upon the ground to see the source of the noise.

When he reaches the edge, he looks down to see fires beginning to consume the materials he had been collecting and chuckles darkly saying, "So...the ponies are willing to put up a fight to keep their world... I don't really care about this planet, but I will continue with my plans regardless of their pathetic attacks." He then addresses Sindragosa through the link and says, 'Use your frost breath and put out those fires Sindragosa.'

Sindragosa makes her way towards the edge answering through the link, 'At once, sir.' and leaps from her platform to soar through the sky, looking for the fire and locates it almost instantly. With a flap of her wings, she heads towards the blaze and uses her frost breath to put out some of the fires.

Zovaal lifts his gaze as the fires are slowly put out, and turns his head to look at the land of Equestria far away in the distance. With a slight grin, he then says in a sadistic tone, "Oh, so you would like to share your resources...how thoughtful of you."

Kalysse makes her way past the gates leading into Icecrown's territory, and keeps going until the abominations are out of reach. She leans against a tree and tries to catch her breath thinking, 'I must catch my breath before I race to Canterlot to inform Princess Celestia of what I have just seen. We must do what we can to hinder his production of the plague...or Equestria will be the first to fall!' She then shoves herself off the tree and switches to her flight form saying in an exhausted tone, "Must warn...Princess Celestia."