"What was the point of making such a world, when you can't claim Frostmourne?" Mira asked, speaking the instant Sunset returned to their hideout, while Kairoz and Murozond stood nearby, observing what her deeds were doing to the timeline she had been interested in making.
"First, I wanted to massacre the Scarlet crusaders again, and tearing them down after their victories is the rush I wanted," Sunset replied, as she figured that she might as well be truthful with her allies, especially since collapsing and wiping out the timeline she had returned from would catch the eye of the bronze dragons, before she held her runeblade out, which also stopped Mira as she admired the blade, "Second, it allowed me to siphon the anima, the power of one's soul, from those I slew and added it to my own, allowing me to grow even stronger and elevating me to a new level... and I also stole a val'kyr's power to raise the dead."
"I see. You inquired about the other timelines to sake your own curiosity and lust for power." Murozond said, though this was one of the rare instances where he was fine with someone pulling the wool over his eyes like this, because Sunset was no longer mortal, thanks to the Lich King's dark tampering, and he knew she needed the strength to take Frostmourne, no matter what point in time it was taken from.
"Call it what you will, but it just confirmed the powers of this runeblade for me." Sunset stated, though as she glanced at the blade she noticed something she had missed beforehand, there were six runes on the weapon and only one seemed to be responding to the power of Death, making her wonder if her desire to see the other Cosmic Forces claim her had some justification she hadn't been aware of, "With this information in hand we can focus on finding other targets of great power, allowing me to build my strength before I make my move on Frostmourne... once that's done, and the runeblade is in my hands, I'll be able to set things right in this world, starting with the heroes and their war in Northrend. Also, keep a link to the Scarlet timeline open, since I'm planning on going back to massacre them from time to time."
Murozond nodded, as he understood that it was both to kill the Scarlet crusaders and to add their power to her own, just as she claimed was possible with her runeblade, before he considered the other timelines where Sunset was taken in by one of the other Cosmic Forces, making him wonder if she was thinking of killing herself, in a way, to get a massive surge of power in a short period of time.
"So, where do we attack next? Stop Thrall from escaping his prison, prevent the opening of the Dark Portal, or do we mess with the battle of Mount Hyjal?" Kairoz inquired, because while he was specific with some of his choices, since the infinite dragons had tired and failed to do so on their own, he was simply curious as to what might happen if they sent Sunset to do what the others couldn't accomplish.
"We go after one of the others... her, to be exact." Sunset replied, gesturing to the five orbs that were now floating nearby, the timelines that her alternate selves were responsible for creating due to her own curiosity, though they found that she was interested in the Life timeline, where the dryad version of her was working to undo the Scourge's presence in both parts of the Plaguelands, "The Western Plaguelands are all but gone in her timeline, no doubt due to her spreading Life's influence, but the same cannot be said for the Eastern Plaguelands... I wonder how she'd react to seeing a deathly version of herself standing between her and her mission, and if I kill her I'll get a massive boost in power."
Murozond and the others glanced at each other for a moment, as it was dangerous to send Sunset to fight one of her five alternate selves, as it was obvious that the bronze dragons would be interested in those timelines, in fact he was sure that agents were already being sent to investigate, before he opened the portal for her. Sunset wasted no time in traversing time and space as she appeared in another version of the Eastern Plaguelands, where all sorts of druids were aiding the Argent Dawn in preparing to purge the sick province and return it to what it used to be before the plague hit it. She could sense the Scourge gathering in this province, trying to bolster their ranks for when war came to their domain, though such a thing caused her to realize the perfect way to force her other self to come here, all she had to do was slaughter everyone in the towers. If the dryad was attuned to nature, as they thought she was, she would sense the deaths of the druids and likely come to investigate, or maybe she'd just wait until all of the damage done to the Western Plaguelands was healed before making such a rash decision.
Either way didn't matter to Sunset as she called forth her deathcharger and got to work, as it looked like Murozond placed the portal in the northern half of the province, allowing her to ride passed all four towers and even Light's Hope Chapel, giving her plenty of people to slaughter on her way to the river that separated the two plaguelands from each other. Sure enough the paladins and druids tending to the towers were surprised to see a death knight riding through the land, due to most of her kind having been either expelled, killed, or turned into allies, though that initial confusion worked out quite well for Sunset. It allowed her to slaughter the first set of guards before they even realized what was going on, where the next bit of shock took hold as she raised those she slew into undeath, forcing even druids to serve the Lich King and kill all of their former allies, and as the paladins realized what was going on she slaughtered them as well. Anyone who dared to run from her was yanked back with her dark lasso, allowing her to stab them in the heart for their insolence, though she grinned as she finished slaughtering the tower's defenders, giving her a chance to annihilate all of their preparations, just to prevent Life from seizing this area, and gaining more power before moving to her next target.
Once more she zeroed in on the locations that her foes had set up, allowing Sunset to slaughter guards and villagers alike as the undead started to regain control of the Eastern Plaguelands and push the living back, even though she found that it was odd they'd move in before the plague was gone, not that she was complaining about the situation. The druids were in the province in force, that much she could tell as feline creatures emerged from the shadows and leapt at her, though as she killed them they reverted to their night elven forms before she forced them to be reborn as members of the Scourge, much to their horror. As she did that the wave of undead grew, some having hidden themselves at the Lich King's order, to attack when the druids were least expecting it, and in no time she undid a chunk of what the living had done since beating back the Scourge, allowing her to make her way towards the river that connected the lands. Such a thing allowed her and her force to take down the remaining three towers, not to mention their guardians, essentially erasing everything that her other self had done since being claimed by Life's champions, before eventually stopping at the river.
On the other side of the bridge she found her final target, the version of her who had the lower body of a fawn, who had been reborn as a protector of the forest, a harbinger of nature, and a force that would allow Life to spread it's influence over the rest of the world, and carried a polearm that looked like a mix of metal and nature.
"How sad... the source of the disturbance is none other than myself, corrupted by Death itself." the dryad said, where it was easy for Sunset to tell that her other self was saddened by that fact, as if she had been expecting something else, or maybe it was due to the fact that she had discovered what happened to another version of herself, though she shifted her stance and weapon for a few seconds, "Very well... Sunset Shimmer, I, Erith Moonglow, shall bring you the peace that you rightly deserve."
"Really? You gave up your name, in addition to your form, when you were reborn as Life's minion?" Sunset remarked, as the dryad's hair was more green and slightly wild looking as she focused on it, looking more in place with nature, meaning she had let go of who she used to be to become Life's champion, causing her to sigh as she climbed off her deathcharger and approached the lone bridge, "Very well, let's see which force is stronger... is it Death, or is it Life?"
Erith said nothing to that as she leapt into battle, as in she bound through the air and crossed the entirety of the bridge in a single jump, where Sunset called upon her power again as she drew her runeblade and swung it, causing their weapons to collide not even a few seconds later. Such a thing caused their powers to clash for supremacy, due to the fact that light green energy was coming from Erith's weapon, not to mention all of the flowers that were starting to spring up all around her, while the deathly energy wrapped around her runeblade and her area decayed. She had to admit that the dryad was far stronger than she initially assumed, confirming that being reborn by a Cosmic Force's power granted her far more power than simply learning how to control said power, but it didn't stop her from shifting her stance and changing how her blade rested to force Erith back. The dryad jumped back for a moment, landing on her new legs and moving like it was nothing, confirming her bond to her new power source, where Sunset used her skills to track down her opponent, making sure to swing her runeblade whenever her foe got close to her, though she was somewhat pleased that her first real tough foe, as in one who didn't fall easy or cheat, was herself.
Of course Erith's speed was nothing to underestimate, as she was faster than Sunset was and managed to slip in a hit, that being her landing in front of the bridge and kicking her with her back legs, though she regained herself as she flipped back and raised her empty hand, summoning spheres of fire, shards of ice, and bolts of lightning that she hurled at Erith, all to take her down or weaken whatever defenses she had.
As she expected the dryad was capable of using magic, in addition to her new Life powers, given the horn in the middle of her forehead, protected by armor like Sunset's was, where Erith quickly raised her left hand and summoned a barrier that tanked all of the spells that came at her. Erith then followed that up with lashing out with some of her new magic, to which she summoned a few spears in the air, which looked like they had been coaxed out of the trees with music or something, and they rained down on where Sunset was standing, forcing her backwards. As she dodged the attacks, finding that many of them got close to hitting her, she realized that challenging Erith might have been a mistake, as she expected them to be about equal, with the stolen power being what allowed her to stand on equal ground with her foe, but Erith was faster and stronger than she expected. Only one thing made sense to her, they must have also sent Erith back in time as well, which had to be tampering due to another bronze dragon, though she also considered the fact that Life might be unfair as well, just like what happened during her battle with Tirion and the Light ruining everything.
She knew exactly what was going to happen in due time, Erith was going to overpower her and kill her, where it looked like Murozond or Kairoz agreed with her since a time portal opened nearby, causing her to beckon to the new undead and let all of them head through, hoping her allies sent them to the Scarlet timeline, before swinging her runeblade and parried another attack from Erith.
"I won't let you leave, minion of Death." Erith stated, showing Sunset that she was less concerned with the undead that had departed by using the portal, even if some had been her friends and now it would be impossible to reconnect them to nature, and that she was more concerned with the true threat that was in front of her.
"You don't have a choice, Erith." Sunset replied, where her magic flared for a moment and several large fireballs formed in the air nearby, which went flying towards the purified Western Plaguelands, aimed right at a number of druids that were currently in the middle of finishing their duties while the dryad kept her contained, "What's more important to you, pawn of Life? Is it killing me... or is it saving your friends?"
Erith knew how damaging her spells could be, because she was another version of herself and that meant most of their memories were the same, causing her to sigh as she disengaged from the battle and rushed to aid her friends, allowing Sunset to see another difference between them as she climbed onto her deathcharger and passed through the portal her allies had provided, ending up back in the mansion.
"Looks like you bit off more than you were expecting." Mira commented, as they knew that Sunset was strong, since she had been chosen by the Lich King, though discovering that Erith had the power to stall her meant they needed to do some more research onto all of the other aspects they had created to sate her earlier curiosity.
"That might be so, but it confirmed one thing: the other versions of me are the keys to great power." Sunset replied, where she dismissed her steed as Murozond carefully sealed off the portal back to Erith's timeline, as they didn't want the dryad to suddenly appear and ruin things before she was ready to make her move, before she grinned for a moment, as while it hadn't been a win it was more fun than she had been expecting it to be, "I'll take her down in due time, but first I need to find a point in time that is ripe for harvest to boost my power..."
"What's going on here? No one's supposed to be on this..." a voice asked, where they turned and found a female gnome, in the same time related attire that Kairoz was wearing, standing in the doorway, something that informed them that they might have been found out, but the figures eyes were on someone else, as she dropped the small staff that had been in her right hand, as if in fear, "Oh no! Not Sunset Shimmer! I have to..."
Sunset wasted no time in calling forth her dark lasso to yank the gnome her way as she readied her blade, surprising the disguised time dragon, as she had spent more than enough time with Murozond and Kairoz and could recognize it now, as the runeblade pierced her chest, causing her to look down at it in shock. In the following moment she glanced at her allies and it wasn't long before a portal back to the Scarlet timeline was formed, allowing them to travel through it and arrive in the fallen monastery she had taken over, because if one time dragon had found their hideout there was a chance that it would come under siege by the heroes in an attempt to take her own. She walked out into the main courtyard, which was in front of the seat of the structure's power, an area she had ordered to be empty since those she had raised could defend the outside of the building, and finally let the gnome pull herself off her blade, who hit the ground and stared up at her for a few seconds, with fear in her eyes. Oddly enough she didn't try to heal herself with her power, making her wonder if the flight in question prohibited the use of time power on themselves, but it mattered little to Sunset as she raised her sword and readied her power, allowing her to steal the dragon's anima before raising her as a member of the Scourge.
As the revived beast shifted back into her dragon form, and letting out a roar to let the Scourge know they had a dragon in their ranks, Sunset noticed that her scales had darkened as well, becoming more deathly, before turning her attention to the next potential point in time she could attack, as she needed more power to complete her goal and she had all the time in the world to complete her mission, and she was looking forward to what might happen next.