Thorallis led his life like any other – slaughtering his enemies in the name of the Horde. He has been doing so since the time of his un-death at the hands of Lady Sylvanas Windrunner many years ago. Since the time of his resurrection, he had become a mighty warlock and a hero. He conquered the hellish realms of the Outlands, lain waste to the Lich King’s undead armies, and struck down an ancient dragon determined to end the world.
And now, as luck would have it, he was to join his brothers in arms on a new island that appeared south of the Heart of the World. Riding through the sky on his trusty Drake of the West Wind, he landed onboard Hellscream’s Fist. The airship was a large battleship held aloft in the air by twin blimp-sized balloons. He didn’t know how they held the ship afloat, but he had other things to concern himself with.
Once he touched down on the deck of the ship he dismissed his drake back to the nether, where it will wait until it was needed again. Aznip, his ever loyal imp, phased into reality at his side as always. He walked up to the captain of the ship, General Nazgrim. He saw him coming and approached to meet him half way.
“Quite the beauty eh? Welcome aboard the Hellscream’s Fist!” He barked loudly and slapping Thorallis on the back hard enough to dislodge his jaw.
“Yes, thank you General. Are we ready to depart?” Thorallis asked once he popped his jaw back in place.
“Not yet, the Goblin boys down in the engine room said they were doing some last minute tweaking on one of their do-hickies. Actually could you do me a favor and go see what the hell is taking them so long? We have a battle to win!” General Nazgrim asked. Thorallis reluctantly nodded his head and began to make his way to the lower decks.
Once they were out of earshot, Aznip spoke up in his high-pitched, not-quite-screaming voice, “I thought you were done with being the Horde’s errand boy?”
“I thought I was too, but maybe this new land offers something different and I would finally be free of having to constantly save the world just so the Horde and Alliance can keep killing each other. You know, Aznip, sometimes I envy them.” Thorallis said with a sigh.
Aznip looked up to his master in confusion, “Envious of who? You’re more powerful than pretty much anything.”
“No, I’m not envious in terms of power, nor in their will to keep fighting. I find this war foolish after fighting for as long as I have. I envy them because they can die, and stay dead. While I just pull myself back together and force myself to keep going. I can’t help but think that this war is never going to end and I will be continually forced to fight on the frontlines as I always have.” Thorallis finished as they turned the last corner to the lower decks of the ship. There was a slight commotion as two of the goblins were bickering with one another.
“No! The blue wire goes here and the green wire goes there!” The second in command, Rivett Clutchpop, yelled to one of the engineers.
“If we do that then where does this purple wire go!?” the engineer yelled back.
“What purple wire!? When I designed this there were no purple wires!” Rivett yelled.
“Well there’s one now!” The engineer shot back.
“You mean to tell me someone has been tampering with my prototype photon accelerator engine?!” Rivett was quickly becoming enraged. “Do you have any idea what I had to do to make this thing reasonably safe so we don’t blow up as often?!”
Thorallis listened to them argue until he got the whole picture. “Hey, hey! Calm down!” He said, stepping between them to stop their fighting. “The General wants to know what’s taking so long. Is it fixed enough to get us to the new land or not?” He said, cutting straight to the point.
Rivett gave him a sour look, “Yeah, it’ll go alright. You,” he pointed to the engineer, “forget about the wire, let’s just get going.” He turned around and headed back up the ramp to join the general.
“Bah, idiot has no idea what he’s talking about.” The engineer said as he leaned back into the machine and replaced the wires the way he knew they went.
Thorallis shook his head; he will never understand these creatures. Some of their ideas were downright genius but most of the time they were incredibly unstable and barely managed to do what they were designed to do without blowing up. Not to mention half their crazy machines had no real point to them except to make noise and flash lights.
Thorallis made his way back up to the General, “Did Rivett talk to you yet? We’re good to go.”
“Alright, things get done when you’re on the job! Ready men!? Set sail for the new land!” The General bellowed out. All hands rushed this way and that for a moment before the great airship lurched forward over the ocean.
It was a boring trip, Thorallis thought so anyway. With clear skies and calm winds they made the trip in just a few short hours. Soon a thick fog set in and they were forced to slow to a crawl to avoid hitting unseen obstacles.
After trying to navigate the thick fog for close to two hours, Rivett called out, “Land ho!” and pointed off the port bow. Exited cheers overtook the crew as they saw a few mountains and large rocks sticking up through the fog, but were quickly turned to ones of shock: An alliance ship was beneath them in the water on the port side!
“Alliance ship off the port side! Man the guns! Blood and glory await us, for the Horde!” General Nazgrim bellowed while a rallying cry of “For the Alliance!” resounded from down below.
Shortly after, the two ships began to exchange fire on one another, Thorallis stood casually out of the way as cannon balls and other projectiles shot overhead. He’s seen this all before, one of the ships will be destroyed and if it was the one he was on he would no doubt simply return to life as always, probably go looking for survivors like the time his ship was attacked by a giant squid on the way to Vashj'ir.
The entire ship was rocked by a huge explosion, one of the giant balloons had been dislodged from the ship! With only one balloon holding it aloft, the ship was tilted at an extreme angle, some of the crew slid off the deck and into the water below. Thorallis was holding on to a rail with all his strength, Aznip had grasped on of his feet and together they dangled over the vast ocean.
Thorallis looked around in confusion. Aside from the sounds of cannon fire, burning wood, and screams of the dying, there was another sound. A sort of whine, coming from the engine. A surge of power was routed back into itself in an endless loop, thanks to a certain goblin not doing as he was told. The energy quickly skyrocketed to levels previously unimaginable.
Thorallis didn’t have time to shout a warning before the engine exploded outward with the rage of a thousand suns. The blast radius engulfed both ships and part of a mountain, before collapsing into itself in a miniature black hole, sucking in everything within a half mile. Its destruction done, the black hole vanished with a tiny ‘pop!’ leaving behind a massive crater in the ground.
The skies directly above Ponyville ignited like a second sun, turning a once beautiful day into one of terror and despair. The citizens quickly followed the disaster plan: Run around like mad and hide indoors. Within seconds the streets in the entire town were deserted, just in time for various pieces of debris to bombard the town.
Large chunks of wood and metal fell into the streets and on top of houses, while a frantic purple unicorn put all her might into a shield overhead. She managed to cast it just in time too, for what looked like an entire mountain was about to crush the town. Twilight gulped in fear, there was no way her shield could withstand that much force.
There was a second blinding flash of light and the entire mountain was incinerated. In its place flew Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. They smiled down on Ponyville, happy to have made it just in time. Unfortunately neither of them saw the huge amount of water suddenly appear over their heads. Enough water to fill the lake near Ponyville a million times over crashed onto them, hurtling them both into Twilight’s shield.
Twilight wasn’t expecting such a sudden strain on her magic and her hold on the shield simply broke like twine, allowing the huge amount of water to fall upon the town. Everything not built of extremely sturdy material was either swept away or crushed altogether.
After the flash flood the strange event was over. Houses were completely torn to pieces while statues were smashed to bits; almost everything was destroyed in the sudden flood. Most of the water spread into the surrounding areas, leaving only knee deep water to wade through. It was okay though, most possessions were kept in solid lockboxes due to the number of strange things that seemed to happen all the time, and this one was just a bit stronger than the usual occurrences.
Twilight Sparkle warily made her way out the library. Luckily the tree was, well, a giant tree, and was enchanted with an incredible amount of spells to protect the books held within. She closed the door quickly to keep the amount of water rushing in to a minimum, and turned around to survey the extensive damage. Already she could see a number of ponies pulling themselves from the rubble.
“Oh good, you’re alright Twilight.” Twilight turned to see her mentor, Princess Celestia and her sister, Princess Luna. Both were soaking wet, their manes plastered to their coats and hanging heavily from their bodies. Their fur was dripping and matted in places and they both walked with a bit of a limp while the feathers on their wings have seen better days. “Your shield was pretty strong, I can’t say I enjoyed being crushed between it and this much water.” Celestia said tiredly, Luna nodding in agreement.
Twilight gasped at the ragged state they were both in, “I-I’m sorry Princess, if I knew that would hap-”
Luna held up a hoof to silence her, “You didn’t know that would happen, Twilight, nopony did. Instead of focusing on what might have happened otherwise, let us aide those in need of assistance.”
“Y-you’re right, we should be helping the others. Then we need to find out what caused this all to happen.” Twilight said, and then they spread out in different directions to assist the others.
However, before she could get far she stumbled across the body of an unknown creature. It was twice as large as Princess Celestia and had no fur and sickly green skin. She was about to check if it was alright, but stopped herself when she noticed half its body was gone, severed at an angle from the right arm to left hip. The water around the remains was beginning to fill with red and floating entrails.
Twilight fought down a gag and pressed on; there was nothing she could do for it now, not while others still needed her. She continued walking for some time, pausing at each pile of rubble and helping others along the way. She was nearing one end of town when she heard pained cries from her left.
She immediately ran to a small pile of rubble and began to use her magic to lift the large blocks of wall, floor, and roof off of the pony. She soon revealed Rainbow Dash, bloodied and missing a wing, holding a sobbing Scootaloo.
“Oh my Celestia, Rainbow!” Twilight yelled frantically as she rushed to her friend’s aide.
“Sorry, Twi,” She wheezed, “I… I couldn’t let her… get hurt.”
Twilight was quickly surrounded by others after her yell, and she used her magic to pass Scootaloo to one of the nearby mares. She focused her attention on Rainbow and was about to help her up, but something was wrong. The water around the Pegasus was rapidly becoming a dark red from blood, and it wasn’t bleeding from her wing stump. Rainbow gave a shuddering cough, splattering the ground around her with large globs of blood.
“Oh my gosh…” Twilight said, teary eyed. A large beam had impaled her torso, she would bleed to death before long. “Rainbow!” Twilight was openly sobbing, pressing her head against Rainbow’s.
“D-don’t cry… Twilight… You’ll make me… cry…” Rainbow said, unable to hold back tears of her own. Tears of joy for saving Scootaloo, tears of fear for what’s about to happen to her, tears of anger of leaving her friend.
The moment was suddenly interrupted by a shrill shriek, a tall, bipedal skeleton with still rotting flesh was floating nearby. To everypony’s terror, it suddenly stood up. Its robes were torn to pieces, and its staff was broke off on one end. “Sorry to interrupt, but I heard everything and I might be able to help.” It suddenly said.
The crowd dispersed in fright, all but a pinned Rainbow and Twilight, attempting to hide Rainbow from the possible monster. “Who and what are you!? You stay away from her!” Twilight yelled, shooting a blast of magic at the creature, which it deflected with a simple ward.
“My name is Thorallis, I am an undead warlock and if you don’t want her to die you will let me near her.” He said evenly in his raspy voice.
Twilight was about to argue further but a sudden coughing fit from Rainbow silenced her. She sighed and swallowed her fear, “Just… Just help her… Please…”
He stepped forward as she stepped aside. He knelt down and began to examine Rainbow Dash with a furrowed brow. “She’s too far gone for my bandages, and I need to remove the wood from her body before I can even begin to heal her, but doing that would kill her instantly. No matter, I can still save her.” He looked at Twilight seriously, “What you are about to see is going to be disturbing and can be viewed as an abomination of life, but it will save her. All I ask is you let me work and to trust me.”
“I-I…” Twilight stuttered. If she let him do this he might kill her, but she was dead if she did nothing. “Okay…”
Thorallis stood over Rainbow’s prone form, unconsciousness slowly closing in. He placed his hands over her and began to channel the dark magic that was his talent. A few seconds later and Rainbow was engulfed in dark purple magic, while in Thorallis’ hands appeared a dark purple orb. Twilight watched expectantly, but to her horror Rainbow had succumbed to her injuries and passed from the realm of the living.
She gave a heart wrenching scream of sorrow, she had been betrayed! The skeleton said to trust him but he killed her instead! She launched herself at him in a blind rage but there was another flash of purple, stopping her in her tracks, stunned.
“Calm down, I’m not done yet.” Thorallis said sternly. Twilight was too shocked to move as he reached down and ripped the long bit of wood from Rainbow’s body. He picked her up and placed her gently in front of Twilight. He showed her the purple orb, “This is a Soul Stone, I can use it to store the soul of any one person, and upon their death…” He trailed off as he pressed the orb into Rainbow.
What is this energy? Has the time of my revival come at last? I shall make it so, and this world shall rue the day it thought it could stand before me!
There was silence for a few seconds before a flash of purple engulfed Rainbow once again. Her wing instantly regrew and her grievous wound had sealed itself. She was instantly the picture of perfect health. A moment later she gasped for breath, fully returned to life.
Rainbow Dash looked around in confusion for a moment before she was blindsided by Twilight giving her a fierce hug. “Rainbow! You’re okay! You’re really okay!”
Thorallis stood to one side, smiling at the sight. He flicked his hand and summoned Aznip from the nether realms, “Bailed out I see.”
“You know it.” Aznip said as they shared a laugh.
“That was quite an impressive feat of magic, stranger.” A new voice said behind him. He and Aznip turned to lay eyes on a pair of creatures that gave off an aura of power much like many of the gods he had come across in the past.
He knelt before them respectfully, “Merely doing my duty in service to the Horde. Am I to understand you are the leader of the Jade Empire I am to meet with?”
“Please, rise. While I am glad that you lent aid to my subject, I’m afraid I have no knowledge of this ‘Horde’ you serve, nor of this ‘Jade Empire.’ I am Princess Celestia, co-ruler of Equestria and goddess of the sun, and this is my sister, Princess Luna, co-ruler of Equestria and goddess of the moon and stars.” She said patiently. Whatever this creature was, it remained alive when it should have been long dead, wielded impossible magic, and seemed completely lost.
“And I am Thorallis of the Ashen Verdict. However, now is not the time for pleasantries. If you would allow it, I should do what I can while I’m here; there will be plenty of time for small talk after this mess is taken care of.” Thorallis said looking around at the amount of damage.
“Yes, of course.” Celestia said. She and Luna went their separate ways while keeping an eye on the new stranger.
Thorallis set off in a third direction, closely followed by Twilight and Rainbow.
“E-excuse me, Thorallis was it?” Twilight asked warily. “I just wanted to thank you, for saving my friend. If you ever need anything come see me. But I also have a few questions, if that’s alright?” He gave a slow nod. “If, you know, all your people are…” She trailed off, glancing at the various bodies before clearing her thought, “How are you…?”
“How am I able to survive while my allies do not? I am undead, brought back to life to serve Lady Sylvanas Windrunner and the Horde. I cannot die, when I do I simply appear in a graveyard nearby and walk back to my body to revive once again.” Thorallis said with a pained expression.
“So, I take it you don’t like being able to live?” Twilight asked, growing more comfortable with the new creature.
“You can say that, after a while you just get tired, and knowing that you will never die, that life will never change, the weight just gets heavier. But enough of that, we have a task to do.”
“But where did this all come from? How is it here and how did it kill so many? Equestria has never had something this tragic happen!” Twilight exclaimed.
“I wish I knew myself, we were under fire from an alliance ship when I heard a whining sound coming from a new type of engine. Then an explosion blasted the ship to pieces, then everything got sucked into what looked like a small portal. The next thing I know I’m standing in a graveyard outside of town.” He said. Neither Twilight or Rainbow could think of anything to say to that, so they set about their duty to rescue other trapped ponies.
After searching the wreckage for close to an hour, they were relieved to see that nopony else was seriously injured like Rainbow was, just more bodies of horde and alliance. During the walk Thorallis began to fill them in on the different species and what they were like.
He pointed to the remains of the green body Twilight saw earlier, “That, was General Nazgrim, an Orc, and the captain of the ship you see strewn about here.”
“He was an asshole.” Aznip added.
Twilight and Rainbow diverted their gazes, and then they heard the panicked yells for medical assistance. “Help! Get a doctor! We got a live one over here!” They looked to one another before hurrying off in the direction of the voice.
They arrived at a small gathering of ponies forming a circle around a broken creature, and a nurse applying bandages and magical remedies. Thorallis got closer and noticed, to his dismay, that it was a paladin. A human paladin. He groaned internally, not only will he have a religious, self-righteous nut job trying to ‘purify his evil ways,’ but he’s also an enemy that will stop at nothing to permanently kill him. If he didn’t kill the pally first, that is.
Sensing the Pally was near death, Thorallis simply held out a bony hand. A light blue energy began to leave the pally as Thorallis began to consume his soul, that was until his casting was interrupted by Twilight smashing him to the ground with her magic.
“What the hay are you doing?!”| She demanded.
“That is an Alliance soldier, I haven’t a clue how he managed to survive, but if I don’t kill him now, he will stop at nothing to kill me when he is recovered.”
“I don’t care! That’s not how we do things here and both of you are going to have to just get over yourselves!” Twilight yelled.
“Fine, do as you will, I shall not aide in his recovery. If he recovers, let him know that if he comes for me, I will end him.” He said as he sauntered off.
“Uhg, whatever. Let’s get this Alliance taken care of.” Twilight said. She knelt down to assist the nurse on scene apply more braces and bandages. By the looks of it, the soldier suffered massive brunt trauma, numerous broken bones, and blood loss. For it to still be alive is a miracle in and of itself.
With the help of Rainbow and Twilight, the nurse was able to get the broken soldier to the hospital and laid across a few beds being he was too large for what they had. To everyone’s surprise, Thorallis and Aznip let themselves into the room.
“I thought you hated each other…?” Twilight asked.
“We do, but I’m the only one here that would be able to stop him if he goes crazy when he wakes up.” Thorallis said.
“Oh please, I’m the prized student of the Princess, I think I’m more than capable of handling myself.” Twilight said with an air of smugness.
Thorallis gave a throaty chuckle, “You may think so, but I know otherwise. You see, I can sense the power in others, and even made a scale for comparison. For instance, your princesses have power beyond measure, and cannot fit the scale, so I think of them as a 100. Myself, I am a 90, as is this paladin. You, I would say a solid 80. Most of everyone else I saw would be between 7 and 30.”
“Well, that’s only 10 points, that’s not enough to have me worried about him overpowering me; I just need to be more careful.”
“And therein lays the fault of the numbering system. The difference in power from an 80 to an 85 is about 3 times the strength of the 80, and from 85 to 90 the power is increased tenfold, so if the paladin wanted, he could take your strongest magic head on and crush you without effort. Yet the power difference between 90 and 100 is by a thousand times or greater, meaning that your princes could destroy us without effort.”
Twilight was about to respond, but a groan from the bed caught their attention.
yes… yes! This new body shall be my vessel for my return to power, but until then, I need to regain my strength. I waited this long in that pathetic undead, a bit longer and I can finally return to my true glory. Yes… a bit longer…
Author's Note
Special thanks to Granger for helping me come up with an actual plot.
Also, I was going to wait until he pre-read it but i think its a great start, so im going to go ahead and toss it up here.
