Fall Of The Lich King

Interlude: A Pale Horse

"You're late. Again." A pudgy man spoke from the center of the hall, flanked on both sides by humanoids of many types as they all exchanged words with the nearby bankers in the walls. "If you keep this up, you won't be lasting long at this establishment!"

Syrus' skinny figure stumbled through the bank's front door, her shoes clicking on the smoothed stone as she brushed her golden bangs out of her eyes.

"S-Sorry sir, I was just-" She tried to explain, but found herself quickly cut off with a wave of the man's hand as he passed her.

"To your station! The evening rush is upon us!" He simply exclaimed, walking out of the building and merging with the townsfolk.

Syrus sighed, before hurriedly making her way to her designated bankers window. As she took her place she heft the hip level bag that'd been hanging by a shoulder strap down onto the floor and out of sight. Breathing a sigh of relief, she readied herself and locked her green eyes onto the queue of patrons accumulating ahead.

She pursed her lips, before nodding at the person in front.

Syrus huffed as she exited the royal Stormwind bank and walked into the trade district, the moon's glow and nearby burning street lights offering just enough light to those still roaming about. Few adventurers did though, all going either to the auction house which never closed or the nearby inn offering warm beds.

Syrus only glanced to the latter, before forging her own path down the darkened roads. She pulled a hood over her head, tucking her golden ponytail away and hiding her skin from the moon. She practically glowed under it's blue shine, her pale complexion caused by years of dedicated isolation from the sun.

All self inflicted of course, courtesy of the library dwelling hermit she was.

She scurried about the city in a practiced manner and made her way to a familiar spot. The decrepit building came into view as she took a few last second glances around, before slipping away inside. Pushing the damaged door as shut as possible, and finally being away from prying eyes, she doffed her hood.

Syrus breathed a sigh of relief, before turning around and locking eyes with the only other occupant in the room.

"Hey girl." Syrus spoke softly to the sitting Deathcharger, it's piercing blue eyes boring into her.

The undead horse lay with it's legs tucked under itself, hiding it's glowing hooves from sight as it continued it's stare. Syrus moved towards the creature as she dug into her bag, pulling out a single apple and placing it just a foot away from the stoic equine.

The horse stared down at it for a moment, before leaning it's head down and giving it a once over. Syrus watched eagerly as the horse seemingly accepted the fruit, but lost all that hope as it just turned to look back up at her.

"Apples neither, huh?" She huffed with a shrug, before turning away and striding towards the middle of the room.

She stopped just short of a small mark on the smooth floor, the barely noticeable faded remains of past conflict. Sitting just in front of it and crossing her legs, she took the shoulder strap off and set her bag down before digging into it, retrieving a leather bound tome which had obviously been repaired numerous times along it's seam.

She carelessly pried it open, flipping to the page number in her mind before dragging her finger down the written lines. She did this numerous times, sometimes with the same book... other times with another, older looking one. Even occasionally she'd put both her hands out, just to swear under her breath when it only produced but a pathetic spark at most.

After a multitude of attempts, and an exhausted dictionary of curses, she stopped reading a book mid passage and rubbed both her eyes.

The nearby animal let out a small whinny as Syrus turned to look at the horse. It stared her down from it’s same spot as Syrus paused her experiments to walk over. The creature stayed still, not even breathing as it watched her approach.

She lightly placed her right hand on the back of it's head, just behind it's ear as it flicked slightly at the touch.

"You always manage to find him, even when he casts you away. But... I don't think we’ll find him this time." The woman said softly, electing a snort from the horse.

She knew it couldn't understand her, but she was right about it always finding him. She'd been there, many times, when the charger had managed to track Dalandor and the human whenever they would leave the city... and how he'd reject it in anger each time, the same look of regret on his face whenever he saw it. When she stumbled upon the horse this time, however, it was different.

It whined to her in urgency when it found her on the road from Goldshire to Stormwind, and after accepting a ride from the beast it had hurriedly brought her to the City. The guards, while not keen on letting the Deathcharger through without it’s knight, seemed to not say a word so long as it was behaving under her watch.

It came right here to this decrepit building, which is where it had been staying in silence for days.

"Come on girl, are you sure you can’t sense him?" She pleaded, tugging slightly at the reins.

The horse didn't budge, and only stared back at her in silence. Though, for a moment, it flicked it's gaze back to the slightly stained floor.

Groaning inwardly, Syrus moved back over to the same spot from earlier while rubbing her head in frustration, peering at the tome still in her grasp.

"There has to be... something. Something I'm missing... come on..." She mumbled to herself as she paced, before closing the book and staring at the ground in thought.

Looking one more time at the book in her hand, she shook her head and tossed it back into her nearby bag.

"Lot of good those were." She said in annoyance, before crossing her arms and looking down at the strange marking.

"..."

She bent down, hesitating for a moment before reaching out and placing her hand on the cool floor. Closing her eyes, she tried to block out all other senses and focus entirely on the sensation she felt through the contact. At first, she only felt the cold stone seeping into her skin.

She steadied her breathing and tried to peer into it with her own magic. She couldn't quite explain what it felt like, but it was as if she could feel the history printed into the stone. She focused, listening for any kind of change as the cold sensation suddenly turned warm for only a second.

Heat, life... death. Someone had died here, but there was something else which was almost covered by the distracting warmth.

A faint line... like a bridge that's been cut.

"A portal!" Syrus suddenly exclaimed, her eyes shooting open as she turned towards the nearby horse. "But... wrong. Very wrong..." She trailed off with a shake of her head, standing back up and peering just ahead where the portal would have been.

With a couple readying breaths and a shake of her right arm, she slowly lift her hands up in an arc while focusing intently on her destination. The bridge she'd felt, it was barely there, the trail already butchered and unusable. She couldn't even see it's end, as if it was shrouded in nothing.

So she focused not on the destination, but the familiar feeling... the feeling of her friend.

She imagined him in her mind, his terrifying figure, the cold presence... the undeniable need to help the weak, regardless of what he claims. The search seemed vain, and her face strained with the effort. Almost an hour ticked by as her confidence wavered... until a small shiver suddenly ran down her skin.

She sensed him! Out there, in the middle of the void and nearly completely concealed. Each time she tried to latch on, he would slip from her grasp. He was simply too far... too shrouded to make a direct connection with her current talents.

But tried she did, over and over. Attempt after attempt subsequently failing until she began to feel the familiar buildup of fatigue within her body. Her mana had quickly been draining with each attempt as her spirit wavered. A connection had to be made soon, or she might never get the chance again. Reluctantly, she lit up the area around her in blueish runes as the room burst into a violet hue.

Grasping out with her mind, she latched as close as she could to his presence and let loose her spell in an explosion of magic. Reality rippled ahead of her as it strained against the spell, as if almost refusing to obey.

The portal shifted one last time, before suddenly opening a window to an entirely different area. Syrus brought her hand up as the sudden change in light momentarily blinded her, the landscape beyond the portal differing from her current location in many ways.

The most obvious being the time of day.

She looked at the rolling grassy hills and sunny clear sky as she tried to ponder just how far across Azeroth Dalandor had truly ventured. She didn't get to ponder long, however, as the portal violently rippled causing the scene to shudder. She reeled back in surprise, the reality of what's happening suddenly dawning on her.

Something was trying to cut her off!

The nearby horse, which had until now been sitting silently and observing, let out an alarmed whinny as it barreled towards the portal. Syrus couldn't even begin to stop it as it careened through, the image starting to distort violently as the edges of the portal fizzled.

"Crap... agh!" Syrus groaned in frustration, before grabbing her nearby bag and jumping through the portal.

The trip was violent as the pull from the portal threw her tumbling into a floating void. The sense of being pulled from every direction tugged at her being, lasting only a moment but feeling like an eternity. Then, as if she just crashed through a cool later of water, it all washed away.

"Oof!" She let out the unceremonious sound as she crashed onto a grassy field, hills sprawling in every direction.

She slowly looked around from her prone position, before glancing back at the portal as it neared the size of a coin and disappeared.

"D-Damn..." She mumbled, pushing herself up and brushing her wrinkled skirt.

She went silent, however, as she peered at the monstrous monument in the distance ahead... towering over much of the land like an imposing titan. A marbled and golden castle lay perched upon the mountain just ahead, and before she could even soak in the sight of it much longer a nearby whinny caught her attention.

Snapping her head to the right, she came face to face with the Deathcharger as it trot towards her. It stopped just a few feet away, shaking it's head and letting out a snort as it looked around cautiously.

Syrus brought her hand up and scratched behind it's ear again, before looking up towards the massive landmark.

Shaking her head clear of the shock, she looked back at the charger in high hopes. "Which way, girl? Can you take us to Dal now?" The horse simply looked around the landscape, before glancing back at Syrus... much to her dismay.

She tried coaxing the horse a few more times to begin it's search, but it seemed it had no idea which way to go either. With no solid direction in mind, Syrus sighed and peered back towards the massive city atop the mountain.

"Well... good enough first step I suppose." She said to herself with a shrug, before making her way around the horse and onto it's saddle.

It didn't care, or at least if it did it didn't show it.

It listened to her commands for now, at least. Syrus lightly pulled the reigns to the right and the horse obliged, trekking on towards the city. From atop the saddle, she peered around and looked for any other landmarks. She spotted what seemed like a town behind her, further away than the mountain was, as the barely visible square shapes of houses could be seen in the distance.

Turning ahead, she lightly kicked her feet as the horse reared up and tore off towards their destination.

Celestia sat atop her throne, lightly sipping from a small cup held in her magical grasp. The cup wasn't the only thing which she held, however, as various documents hovered about as she absentmindedly glanced between them. She was at the second part of her daily routine.

Raising the sun was the first, obviously. Second, catching up on any overdue paperwork from the previous day. Only when she was finally done that, was it time for step three... day court.

This meticulous routine is something she'd stuck to for... centuries at this point; it was basically second nature.

That's why when a sudden crash sounded from the throne room entrance, it caused her focus to waver as she dropped a couple documents held in her magical grasp. The pages fluttered to the floor as she glanced to them, before turning to the source of interruption with annoyance.

"I had not given the order to start court yet." Celestia boomed in a motherly, but clearly annoyed tone as she stared down the armored pony heaving deep breaths at the doors.

"I-I'm sorry your highness! But there's a situation at the gates!" The officer explained, a hint of worry in his voice.

Celestia raised a brow at the pony, setting down the teacup from her magical grasp. "The gates? Is this not something the guards can handle?"

The pony hesitated for a second, before shaking his head. "They're using magic we've never seen before! And they're riding this... thing." He explained, a hint of disgust evident in his tone.

At the mention of unknown magic Celestia frowned, before standing up and nodding once.

"I'll handle it."

"I said get off!" Syrus screamed as an earth pony wearing armor grappled her to the ground.

The Deathcharger whinnied in panic nearby, laying on it's side and flailing slightly as a red aura held it down. A second nearby guard grit her teeth, her horn glowing the same color as she focused on the strange creature she was subduing.

Suddenly, Syrus vanished. Only to reappear in an instant ten feet away. She was still prone, and looked back at the confused earth pony as he growled in annoyance and stood back up. He began his charge again, but this time the human had a plan of her own. She waved her left hand out as she rolled onto her back, sending out a wave of ice that froze the ground in front of her.

It washed over the guard, freezing him from the knees down and surprising the nearby unicorn. The moment of distraction was enough as her grip on the horse loosened. The charger hurriedly stood up, before running over towards Syrus.

The human, quickly standing to her full height, jumped onto the side of the horse with a grunt of effort. She held onto the saddle as it ran, climbing over it and sitting correctly with a sigh of relief. Looking back, she could see the unicorn help her fellow accomplice break free from the ice as they shrunk in the distance.

"Wh...what the hell..." She mumbled to herself, looking to the skies for a brief second and trying to find the third one which had flown away when the fight started.

She didn't even have a chance to communicate, they were on her from the moment she rounded the mountain and approached the gate. Syrus charged through the open green field on horseback, back in the direction she came, as her mind raced to think of a strategy.

In-between the rapid beats of hoofsteps she focused and closed her eyes for a moment, before stretching her right arm out with a flourish. However the only thing she produced was a faint crack of static in her palm as she looked on in confusion.

She tried again, and again, grunting in annoyance as the spell refused to work.

Pulling on the reins, the horse reared back for a moment before stopping with a hard stomp.

"Wherever this is, it can't be right." She once again spoke aloud to herself as she hopped off the horse and readied her posture. "So why. Won't. You. WORK!"

She finished with a grunt of effort and another flourish of her hands, her attempt to conjure a new portal as fruitful as her last. At the realization her portals weren't working she looked to her right hand in confusion.

The moment was cut short, however, as the sudden sound of heavy wingbeats could be heard in the sky. Syrus snapped out of her stunned state and ran to her mount again, jumping onto the saddle and just barely glancing back. Her eyes widened at what she saw, a massive winged creature soaring straight towards her and glowing like the sun.

The horse needed no more convincing to run as it tore off in a straight line, but much to Syrus' dismay... only open fields lay before them. Swallowing the dry pit in her throat, she grasped behind herself and into her bag as she realized what she had to do.

She knew she must have stumbled deep into horde territory. Their language made no sense to her, and everything she'd seen so far had been completely foreign to her. Regardless, she couldn't dwell on the details and steeled her focus for the upcoming scene.

Finally finding what she was looking for, she pulled the items out as they glinted slightly in the daylight. She held two vials in her hands, one a calming sky blue while the other a sickening green filled with rising bubbles. Before she could even pull the corks off, her horse suddenly lost all momentum as a golden glow surrounded it.

The loss in movement caused her to lurch forward, flying off the saddle until a moment later she too was surrounded in the aura. She was floating, upside down, just in front of her charger that stared back at her in shock.

"Another human?" A motherly voice spoke from behind her as she heard something lightly impact the ground. "Riding a... in my mothers name... what is that!?"

Syrus couldn't understand the voice's language, but she could understand the tone, clear as day. It held surprise, worry... disgust. She squeezed the potions in her right palm, hiding them from view as she was slowly spun in the air towards her captive.

What she saw, almost made her confidence falter.

The creature before her she could only describe with one word, beautiful. It, on the other hand, seemed to stare back at her with a mix of emotions. Syrus caught the glow surrounding it's horn, noticing the constant concentration needed to hold the spell, and made a split second decision.

Twisting her empty palm towards the pony, runes spiraled around her fingers and caused Celestia to let out an unceremonious gasp as her head snapped back slightly. The counterspell severed the magic binding her as the aura sputtered out and Syrus fell to the ground.

Before making impact, she blinked a small distance away and dropped on the soft grass below with a thud. She quickly stood up, facing the winged pony as it shook the unfamiliar attack off and turned to meet her gaze. Dalandor's horse had also been freed, tearing off in the direction opposite of them both.

Syrus swore under her breath as she watched her ride gallop away, before locking eyes with Celestia as her wings slowly spread out to full size.

"Relax." She spoke, shaking her head. "You will stand down now."

Syrus took a few steady breaths as she focused on the creature that had just spoke. Even if she didn't understand the language, she knew what she was being told... to surrender.

Syrus' mind reeled, glancing around the land she stood upon. 'Dalandor had to be here, he had to be, they must've done something to him! If they did...' Her jaw clenched as she twist the two vials together in her palm.

With her mind made up, Syrus ripped the corks out and threw both potions back.

The mana potion did it's job quickly, refreshing her reserves and easing the fatigue of her spellcasting. The green vial however, was a whole different beast.

The Spellpower Elixir ran down her throat like lava, like it was igniting all the nerves inside her body. She could feel her magic dripping with potency as she took in a deep, steadying breath and locked eyes with Celestia once more. The pony looked hesitant, and just as she went to speak was cut off by a flourish of the humans hands.

The air around Celestia rippled for just a moment, long enough for her to notice and put up a shield. An arcane blast imploded down onto the pony, crashing into the shield and vaporizing it in an instant. Celestia reeled from the sudden strain, but wasted no time as she gave a mighty flap into the air to dodge the next blast.

The ground dented inwards from the second attack, just barely missing the pony as she tore off into the sky. Not a second later, and she felt herself being targeted again. Syrus aimed skyward, unleashing a barrage of arcane missile waves that curved towards the princess as she stopped and stared back at the projectiles.

Just as they all curved inwards for impact, Celestia teleported a few feet to the right to avoid them. The missiles all hit air, dissipating into nothing as Syrus groaned in annoyance and started focusing her next spell.

Nearby, watching the display with a mix of reactions, was a small crowd that seemed it wouldn't stay small for long. They say word travels fast in Canterlot, especially rumors. But when word gets out that your princess is dealing with a problem at the gates? Now that's some juicy gossip.

More guards had arrived at the gates, holding back the quickly forming crowd of ponies as they all watched their princess seemingly dodge magic spells.

"There is NOTHING to see here, ponies! Please return to your homes or businesses!" A guard spoke over the crowd, trying to block sight of the battle, albeit fruitlessly.

With each flash of magic the ponies would all gasp in surprise, horror and amazement.

Another Alicorn stood nearby, midnight blue with a mane of stars, as she examined the ongoing battle. She watched her sister carefully... the way she would only use her magic to conjure shields or teleport herself away.

"Y-Your highness! The crown is in danger, we should be helping!" A nearby guard sputtered in worry as he ran up to the lunar princess.

Luna didn't answer him for a moment, focusing on the fight ahead as her sister dodged another barrage of purple projectiles.

"Princess!" The guard spoke again, this time getting the attention of the diarch.

Luna simply turned her eyes to the pony, her head staying straight as she looked down at him in annoyance. The guard shrunk slightly, awaiting his princesses orders.

"...do you think so lowly of your princesses, that you do not believe her capable?" Luna spoke slowly, electing a rapid shake of the pony's head.

"O-Of course not! I-"

"Then be silent." Luna spoke bluntly, shutting the guard up as he turned to the battle ahead.

The worry on his face remained, at first, but slowly transformed as he began to look on in wonder. As did the rest of the guards, no longer were they holding back the civilians... but had seemingly joined them in gawking. The ponies watched breathlessly as one spell after another was lobbed from the ground and seemingly dispatched by Celestia.

Fireballs fizzled out, arcane barrages dodged... even frost attacks would be melted by a fiery shield before they could land.

Everypony seemed entranced, all but one.

Luna watched with annoyance, shaking her head at every spell choice or sighing under her breath whenever Celestia missed an opening. Her only weakness was currently on display for the world to see.

Her kindness.

Syrus brushed her damp bangs away as she huffed, charging another spell to aim at her flying target. This time, however, she was giving it everything she had. The spell ebbed and pulsed in her palms as she pushed her two hands together with increasing force.

Her eyes burned on her target, the pony hovering thirty or so feet above, and with a grunt of effort let loose her pyroblast. As it left her grasp, the fireball bloomed into a hulking boulder of flames. Celestia's eyes widened in surprise as she lit her horn up and teleported away just in time.

She was, however, unprepared for what came next.

As she popped out of existence and re-appeared in the sky, the massive ball of flame steered itself midair and careened towards her. She didn't even have enough time to take in a full breath, before the spell slammed her side with the power of a train.

The blow was accompanied with a fiery explosion that engulfed her for a moment, obscuring her figure from view as all the ponies watching gasped in horror. Her form appeared a second later as it plummeted to the ground and crashed hard. A few screams rang out from the crowd as ponies all watched the scene with absolute attention.

The guard who'd spoken before reeled, before moving to aid the felled princess.

"HOLD!" Luna suddenly yelled, the Canterlot voice spooking everyone nearby and causing the nearby guard to stop. "You will not move another step. Or so help me, I will discharge you here and now."

Luna's face beamed with fury, and the guard couldn't help but obey the command as if there was more than just his job on the line. Luna tore her gaze from the pony, and locked onto where her sister had hit the ground.

'Come on...' Luna thought as she watched the small cloud of dirt settle. 'It's time to wake up, sister...'

Celestia lay half collapsed, but quickly regained her footing in the miniature crater she had created. She let out a small snort of annoyance and shook her head, her rainbow mane rippling in response. Her right shoulder burned in pain, but only a slightly darkened patch on the fur was any indication of the damage... marring her otherwise pristine coat.

Turning to face the human again, Celestia's eyes shined with confidence... and a hint of something else. A nearly non-existent emotion which their subjects have never witnessed from their princess.

Anger.

Luna looked on with a small, barely visible smile as her sister once again spread her massive wings.

'There you go...'

With a single flap Celestia tore into the sky again, but this time didn't stop to hover. She carried her momentum as she turned into a nosedive, igniting her horn and aiming towards the human who's face quickly filled with panic. The human let loose another barrage of missiles, but this time Celestia didn't bother dodging. Her shield shone bright, much brighter than before, causing them all to ricochet away on impact.

Syrus had barely a moment to process her next spell, blink, as the pony made contact with where she'd just been standing. Celestia slammed into the ground, but without missing a beat, quickly turned and fired a beam of magic straight at the Human. Syrus could barely react to the attack as she flung her hand up and erected a mana shield.

The beam pierced the barrier like paper, slamming into her shoulder and sending her rolling onto the ground.

It felt like she'd been struck by a ray of pure heat as her shoulder cried out in pain. The shield had subsequently drained her of mana as well as she fumbled with the bag hanging on her hip. She tried to grasp for a mana potion, but never got the chance as Celestia slammed into her from behind with her forcefield and pinned her down.

The pony pushed her weight down onto the human for a second, before using her magic to grasp and twist her around. Syrus' body lurched at the force as she was pulled to her feet and spun to face the Alicorn. They met eyes again, but this time Celestia's calm façade was replaced with a look of righteous fury.

Syrus tried to fight against her hold like before, but the magic was different this time... stronger. It's grip confined her like a hot steel prison, as if at any second it could turn molten.

Her magic grip faded as Syrus fell to the ground with a hard thump. The human looked up at the pony hesitantly, before slowly raising both her hands in surrender.

"Sister." A new voice interrupted the two as Luna landed nearby. "I'd say you handled it. May I?"

The blue pony walked up to her sister, glancing down at the blemish on her shoulder once before smirking. Celestia didn't say a word and took her leave from the group. Stopping for a second, she spread her wings and tore off into the sky as Luna watched her go.

As she flew... her mane, which had slowly begun to turn a whitish hue as the fight picked up, faded back to its normal rainbow design.

The human glanced at the flying princess for a moment, before she was held in a new grip quite different than the last... but also very much the same; the feeling of cold iron holding her in place as Luna peered back at her with curiosity.

Syrus could only manage a small, nervous chuckle.

Far away from the rapidly calming gates of Canterlot, a horse of darkness trampled across the land with unwavering stamina. It's glowing blue hooves stormed against the terrain, beating like war drums as it's eyes burned in a single direction.

She couldn't feel him at first... but she could now, the familiar cold calling out to the dark steed from across the land.

As snow began to crunch under-hoof and the day turned to night, few ponies bore witness to the steed as it barreled past landmarks and towns, unimpeded by weather and obstacles. It's one and only burning desire fueling it onward... to return to the one who had recalled it's spirit to this plane.

The only thing which pulled the charger's attention during it's journey, was a single lone knight.

The figure gripped it's runeblade and produced a dark smile, watching the horse shrink into the horizon and towards a brilliant kingdom of crystal.