Through the Nether

by StormDancer

The Void Between Worlds

Celestia, Princess and immortal ruler of Equestria, lay upon a cushion of rich red satin, a gift of some remark from years gone by. Before her stood a glistening white unicorn whose overcoat displayed numerous marks of importance and whose voice spoke not only of his request, but of a sense of self importance likely bolstered by those self-same marks upon his coat.

Outwardly, Celestia smiled pleasantly, nodding as he made 'points' or raising a delicately penciled eyebrow as he denounced 'grievous' harms upon his person, tactfully showing exactly what would garner the most comfort without giving undue license with his story.

Inwardly, she was rolling her eyes at the fickle and spoiled brat of a noble who was seeking remunerations for the slight of a pet cat 'gracing' and 'befouling' his 'priceless' sculptures.... the piles of vegetation that he dried and worked into different colored piles. It did not escape her attention that his latest 'masterpiece' had been constructed of nearly 120 pounds of catnip.

Such was the cost of having an open court, one where her subjects could come to her with any concern. Quietly, she sipped a cup of tea, one of the few liberties she allowed herself while at court, and considered the issue. While certainly a trespass, it could not be said that the cat was privy to the rule of law. Likewise, the harm done, regardless of what the noble said, was of such dubious degree as to not even merit a police report... which was likely why he had sought her out. The cat's owner, if there even was one, had not been found, and even if they had, the fine would be so trivial as to necessitate a check to reimburse them for their travel.... less fine of course. She briefly wondered who was 'protecting' the 'sculpture' in question while the noble was in court and had to stifle a laugh at the thought of him returning home to likely find dozens of strays in his yard eyes glazed as they stumbled around.

Privately though, she had heard enough. Whatever this stallion's desires were, he was seeking aid from the wrong source. Politely sipping her tea again, Celestia carefully raised a gold plated hoof to silence the petitioner before speaking.

"It seems to me that you have been brought to great harm by this event, and I wish to commend you on your stoicism in the face of such hardship." The stallion smiled slightly at the half-praise. "And to that end, I will do what I can to see that this devious creature is brought to justice. You have the offender with you I am told?"

With a nod, the unicorn lit his horn and floated a wooden box, locked with a dark metal clasp, before her and set it down at the foot of her throne.

"Then we shall see to it personally." Celestia stood, her mane flowing out behind her in an ethereal wind as she flared her wings dramatically. Lighting her horn, the lock exploded as the top of the box was wrenched free. Inwardly she chuckled at the noble's reaction to the destruction of what must have been a rather expensive box... which he expertly stifled.

Glancing down into the box, she almost dropped her act. A kitten, mottled white and chocolate brown, blinked tiny green eyes up at her as it stumbled on legs that couldn't have been more than 2 weeks old. Fixing the kitten with a fiery glare she knew it couldn't understand, she lit her horn and, in a flash, the box was empty. For effect, she conjured a bit of smoke and the scent of smoldering hair.

Smiling as she looked up, she met the eyes of the stallion who now looked as if he were about to make a mess upon her throne room floor.

"It is done. That beast shall trouble you no further. I am always happy to serve my humble subjects and would offer you my company should you wish to join me for lunch, as a way of apologizing for the long wait."

The stallion, shaking slightly, swallowed before speaking. "Ah.... why thank you Princess. Your hospitality truly knows no bounds. But... I would never seek to impose upon you as such... so I must decline. Thank you again.... for helping with my troubles."

She nodded politely, dismissing him as he rose.

And the moment the doors were closed, she barked out laughter most unprincess-like as the guards gave her quiet smiles. It was not unheard of for the Diarch of the sun to have a bit of fun with her subjects, far from it... she fully enjoyed spending time with them and celebrating whatever seemed most sensible at the moment... but occasionally, her fun had led to misunderstandings.

One of which was what the guard approaching the throne had in mind.

"My Princess, was it wise to egg him on like that? To suggest you had invoked your wrath upon whatever was in the box?"

Celestia, valiantly containing her mirth, turned to address Ardent Bulwark, one of her older, and perhaps more sensible, guards. "Perhaps not, but at the same time I doubt he would have settled for a firm 'no' without feeling slighted. Besides, this is the third time this month that he has been in here for something silly - it was about time he found satisfaction."

Bulwark smirked before curbing his reaction. "Even so, your highness, it is a fair chance that you may have frightened him somewhat... and you know what kind of damage a frightened noble, however foolish, can cause."

Celestia's smile slowly stilled. There was more truth in that statement than she would like to admit. As petty and silly at he was, he was yet a noble, and his words had weight amongst the citizenry. Sighing, she turned toward one of the stewards and whispered a few words before he trotted off.

"There, now he shall be properly compensated as well as assured that the feline in question has been returned from the moon and set straight in its ways." She rolled her eyes while another smile graced her features. "Wouldn't Luna be thrilled to have gotten a word in on that one."

Bulwark, shaking his head slightly with a smile, returned to his post as the next petitioner was announced. Oddly, the Princess suddenly rose as a startled look crossed her face. Taking their cue, the stallions of the guard fell into position forming a glittering circle of gold plated enchanted steel around their Princess.

Now was not the time for petty concerns.

-~oOo~-

---

Drifting in the frozen space between worlds, she continued to tumble. After hearing the voice, she had worried she would be caught up by one of the olde gods or whatever Draenor's equivalent were. The voice had been clear and pure, so unlike any voice she had heard in recent memory, and far and away different from what she had encountered in dungeons and the forgotten parts of the world, but it had been so different that she could not imagine it being anything she knew. It had been warm, full of concern, and entirely alien. Hearing it had been like seeing one of the Dranei for the first time: both curious and frightening. It was both familiar and wholly strange, like a familiar face glimpsed in a dark hallway. It was comforting in its tone but terrifying in its impossibility.

Her reflections had been interrupted, however, when she noticed a small fleck that seemed to be growing between her tumbles. Curiously, even though she had lost sight of any of the other victims as she had drifted further and further away, this speck was seeming to grow. The slow realization that it was likely another piece of debris careening through space brought up the suddenly frightening notion that she might, once more, actually be able to find solid ground. The frighting part being that said ground was tumbling towards her at an entirely unhealthy speed.

The collision with the speeding lump of stone was so swift that she hadn't even time enough to recognize the impact. One moment she had been tumbling, watching as the lump of dark something continued to approach, and the next she had lost sight of it as her tumble took it out of view. A moment later and she felt a lurch as her tumble abruptly changed course and she was graced with the brief sight of the cart sized stone continuing on, apparently unconcerned with its recent collision with her lower half - which spun further and further away as she watched.

Momentarily stunned, she would have blinked had she eyelids or the capacity to move them. In that brief moment, she had lost the lower portion of her body, shattered and torn away by one of the last acts of a dying world. The irony was not lost upon her. She had, after all, gone to Draenor to insure its destruction to protect her own world... and in so doing, Draenor had obligingly perished and yet returned the favor by striking back at her before she was even gone. Time was funny like that she supposed.

It took her a few minutes for the reality of her situation to truly set in. She was frozen, careening through the vast reaches between worlds, broken and undying, witness to the great emptiness that was space, and she would remain such until the time when she either crashed, silent and frozen, into another world, plummeted into a star, or (perhaps worst of all) simply faded from creation. She was Forsaken, the undead, and most likely timeless in that respect, but her body had been reanimated by the Lich King and her soul had been scavenged by his dark magics. It was only through the slow weakening of his magics that the Forsaken had even come to be... deals struck with demons and an unending wrath of a banshee to give them purpose... but she knew deep down that she was not immortal.

On Azeroth, one did not die a true death but rarely. There were priests and shamans, paladins and even warlocks, any of which could bring one back from the grave... and failing them, the spirits themselves would grant new life were one to request it. But out here... between the stars... she could not imagine a single spirit wishing to persist.

And if they did, she had no thought as to how she might reach them.

So she was left with the frightening concept of a slow, painless, fading as the magics that bound her soul to her own tattered remains simply ran out. What would it be like? Would she simply start to lose her senses? Would she find it harder to think or remember? Would she even know?

"Thou poor creature, abide thy passage but a bit longer, for we are coming for thee. Ours has heard your plea and seek to hasten thy return, the eyes of the Herald Sun and gaze of the Fey Moon be upon thee."

And now another voice?

Comments

[The Blessed One]

Will read later.

[Maximum Stupid]

Interesting.