A/N: I'm finally writing the second chapter of the crossover version of part 2 of the Hour. Who's like "About Fucking Time"? Don't be afraid to review, BTW.
And so we go.
As he waited, Rhonin decided to test his memory, as well as how much energy he could manipulate here, by beginning to create a magical scale 3d model of Azeroth as he knew it, starting with the one place he knew better than anywhere else: Dalaran. From the soaring spires of the Mage Towers to the dirty sewers of the Underbelly, his recreation of the floating city was perfect. From there, he moved west to Icecrown Citadel, the largest landmark in the frozen wastelands of Northrend. This took more effort than Dalaran had, as it took up a full 5th of the continent. Eventually, he finished it, and had even included the Frozen Throne, where the current Lich King, Bolvar Fordragon, sat entombed in ice as he held the undead Scourge from overrunning all of Azeroth. After that, he moved east, forming the Storm Peaks and the legendary titan fortress known as Ulduar.
Upon completion of Ulduar, he found his task to be much easier, speeding through the reconstruction of the rest of Northrend, from the Nexus in the Borean Tundra all the way to the Vrykul fortress known as Utgarde Keep in the Howling Fjord.
Floating backwards, Rhonin decided to start the western continent called Kalimdor. At the northern end, he placed Nordrassil, the World Tree, the source of the Night Elves immortality. With barely a flicker of a thought, two large islands appeared off the northwestern coast of Kalimdor. One sprouted a tree that continued to grow until it was roughly the same size as Nordrassil. This was the tree known as Teldrassil, the current home of the Night Elves, and the location of their capital, Darnassus.
The other island split into two halves, a northern half, and a southern half. The southern half had crystals spring up out of the ground, as well as what appeared to be a crashed spaceship. Known as the Exodar, the spaceship served as the capital of the Draenai race. The northern half was tinged blood red as an arcane fog settled over it.
Hurrying now, he rushed through the rest of Kalimdor, focusing on important sites as he went. Orgrimmar, Thunder Bluff, Theramore, and the Caverns of Time were all brief pauses as he focused on the details.
Next on his memory was the Maelstrom, the bridge between Azeroth and the Elemental Plane of Earth, Deepholm. Simply twisting the magic with his mind caused it to create a miniature vortex, easily kept from becoming a true world destroyer.
Now came the Eastern Kingdoms. Beginning at the South end, now, Rhonin started with Booty Bay in the Cape of Stranglethorn, followed by the massive troll ruins known as the Gurubashi Arena. Just east of that was the ancient troll city of Zul'Gurub. Moving north, he started on the colossal magical castle of the Guardian of Tirisfal, Medivh. This was much more difficult for Rhonin to recreate, as he had never been inside, and many areas were warded against magical scrying.
Glad to be finished with that cursed place, he moved further east, to the area known as the Blasted Lands. Here, he paid special attention to the Dark Portal, as well as the Kirin Tor outpost of Nethergarde. Both were crucial when it came to the safety of Azeroth as a whole.
Focusing his mind back to the western side of the continent, Rhonin watched as Stormwind was built, brick by brick, until the majestic Temple of the Holy Light stood proud beside the sprawling Stormwind Keep, home of the Human and Worgen Kings, Varian Wrynn and Genn Greymane, respectively. Finally moving north again, he formed Blackrock Mountain, home of the Dark Iron Dwarves.
Past that was the city of the Bronzebeard Dwarves, Ironforge, as well as the Gnome capital, Gnomeregan, just west of Ironforge. Ever northward, his memory moved, the Twilight Highlands next on the list. With the massive Twilight Citadel, it was a center of power for the Twilight's Hammer Cult, but it was also the home of the valiant Wildhammer Dwarves, riders of the gryphons of the Aerie Peaks. Overshadowing all of the Highlands was Khaz Modan, the ancestral mountain home of the entire Dwarven Race.
Moving Northward still, the ruins of Stromgarde rose out of the ground. 200 miles north of that were the ruins of Lordaeron, now known as the Undercity, home of the Forsaken, Undead who had left the Scourge, revolted by it's mission to destroy all life. East of the Undercity was the Scarlet Monastery, home of the Scarlet Crusade, as well as the Plaguelands, the decaying remains of the once glorious lands of the Lordaeron Empire. Key locations include Scholomance, the school where the Scourge trained new necromancers, Stratholme, the razed city now a source of bodies for the unstoppable Scourge war machine, and Light's Hope Chapel, the center of the efforts to stop the Scourge in the Plaguelands. Home to the Argent Crusade, Light's Hope is, appropriately enough, a beacon of light amidst the darkness of undeath, as well as a training ground for new paladins who wish to join the Argent Crusade. It's appearance is quite contrary to it's reputation, however, as it is nothing more that a small, single room church, capable of holding 30 people max.
Leading North out of the Plaguelands was a large stretch of dead land, known as the Dead Scar. It traveled straight through the lands of Quel'danas, straight into the Blood Elven capital of Silvermoon, and the corrupted remains of the Sunwell. On an isolated island north of Quel'danas was the Magister's Terrace, home to the new Sunwell, uncorrupted by the dark energies of the demons surrounding it.
Finally finished, Rhonin floated backwards to examine his work. It was then that he noticed the human off to one side. Pseudo-Human, he corrected himself, seeing the wings on her back. But that wasn't the only thing he noticed. Besides the fact that she was completely nude, he saw that she had the exact same hair as the Winged Pegasus from earlier. And right now, she was staring openmouthed at the magical model of his home.
Rhonin cleared his throat, startling the Winged Human out of her stunned stare, "Would you please be so kind as to tell me where I am?"
The Winged Human straightened up, oblivious to what it made her anatomy do, "You are in Equestria, of course," she smacked the palm of her hand against her forehead, "Of course, you don't know what that means, since you obviously come from a different world," she gestured to the map of Azeroth.
'Don't worry," Rhonin said, "I've got plenty of time to learn about this world, as I don't see myself returning to mine anytime soon."
"Perfect!" the Winged Human exclaimed, "But first, what's your name? I can't teach you properly unless I know your name."
"Rhonin Dragonheart. What's yours?"
"Twilight Sparkle, Personal Protégé of Princess Celestia, and current ruler of Equestria. Or rather, what's left of it. Ever since I became an Immortal Princess, things haven't turned out so good," Twilight said, growing somber.
"What happened?" Rhonin asked, truly concerned.
Several hours later, Rhonin finally understood what was happening, "These important people you mentioned, the Immortal Sisters, Your Step-Sister and onetime babysitter, the Spirit of Chaos, and this Gryphonian Reich, they all have their counterparts in my world. Let's start with the Sisters, Celestia and Luna. In my world they are Dragons, of the oldest order. Celestia is known as Alexstrasza the Life Binder, the Dragon Queen, Aspect of Life, and head of the Red Dragonflight. Luna would be Ysera, She of the Dreaming, Aspect of Dreams, Guardian of the Emerald Dream and leader of the Green Dragonflight.
"Your stepsister, Cadence, would be a Dragon as well, though male. Nozdormu, she would be called, the Timeless One, Aspect of Time, Guardian of the Hourglass of Eternity, and head of the Bronze Dragonflight. This Discord character is most troubling, however. His counterpart in my world was known as Deathwing, the Destroyer, Aspect of Death, head of the Black Dragonflight, though he was once known as Neltharion, the Earth Warder, Aspect of Earth. A few years ago, he was struck down to prevent him from destroying all life on Azeroth.
"You, however, seem the most interesting. You said you were the Element of Magic, as well as the Princess of Magic, is that correct?"
Twilight nodded.
"Judging from what I've learned about you, who your counterpart is isn't all that surprising. You would be Kalecgos, Kalec to his friends, Aspect of Magic, and head of the Blue Dragonflight."
"You speak of these dragons as old friends, as though you know them personally, and regularly talk to them. I thought dragons were incredibly solitary, very rarely leaving their homes."
Rhonin shook his head, "On this world, maybe they are, but where I come from, their home is open to anyone who wishes to visit. In fact, I can show you it."
Rhonin floated over the continent of Northrend, and pointed out the spire in the center of the continent, "That is Wyrmrest Temple, ancient meeting place of the five original Dragonflights. It was here that the Aspects convened every thousand years, and discussed the state of the world, and whether or not it was still as their creators, the Titans, wanted it. Over the millennia, they withdrew from the world, letting us lesser races take over, reshaping the world as we saw fit."
Again grasping the magic, Rhonin brought the continents together, showing the world how it was, over ten thousand years ago.
"Let's start at the beginning. This was how Azeroth originally looked, before the Sundering. It was a lush, primal world," as Rhonin spoke, the surface of Azeroth changed, becoming as it had been ten thousand years before, "The Night Elves, one of the oldest races of Azeroth, lived on the shores of a giant magical lake known as the Well of Eternity. Their entire society revolved around the power of the Well, and every elf, from the youngest child to the oldest mage, could tap the Well and use it's power. But there was a select group of elves, known as the Highborne, that saw themselves as above the rest of their race, and sought power beyond what the Well could offer them.
"It was then that they found the Burning Legion, a limitless army of Demons who want nothing more than to destroy all life. But they didn't care about this, as the leader of the Burning Legion, a corrupted Titan known as Sargeras, promised them untold power if they opened a portal that his armies could pass through. Once the Queen, a self-centered Elf known as Azshara, heard about Sargeras, she encouraged her Highborne Magi to open the portal, as she wished to become the mate of the powerful Sargeras, who she saw as a Divine Entity."
Twilight looked confused, "Why would anybody want to mate with someone who wanted to destroy all life on an entire planet?"
"The exact reason is unknown, but there is much speculation: Mind Control is a common idea, as is just plain Greed. Whatever the case, Azshara's Highborne Magi opened the portal, and the Burning Legion walked upon Azeroth. This became known as the First Invasion. Due to a mysterious fraying of the Time-Space Continuum, myself, my friend, Krasus, also known as Korialstrasz, Prime Consort of the Dragon Queen, and an Orc named Broxigar, were taken 10,000 years into the past, to the eve of the First Invasion. Without our help, Azeroth surely would have fallen. However, three Elven Champions rose during the hardships of fighting the Burning Legion: the Priestess of the Moon, Tyrande Whisperwind, and the Stormrage Brothers, Illidan and Malfurion. Malfurion was the first Druid, and the personal student of Cenarius, a demigod of Nature. Illidan was a powerful mage, extremely gifted with natural talent, but his hunger for power led to some bad decisions. During the fight, he convinced Sargeras to gift him with Demonic power, increasing his strength, both physically and magically, at the price of his eyes. Using this power, Illidan turned against his Demonic benefactor and slew hundreds of Demons with their own magic.
"However, the corruption in him grew slowly. But what happened to him is best left for later. Back to the First Invasion, while Broxigar and I helped the Night Elves hold the line against the Burning Legion and their Highborne helpers, Krasus went to the Dragonflights, seeking their help in repelling the Legion from Azeroth. At this point in time, Neltharion was still sane, and still Warder of the Earth, but it was almost time for his descent into madness. By capturing demons of the Legion, he had begun infusing their essence into a simple golden disk, initiating the creation of a powerful weapon that would be used against the Legion, the Dragon Soul. Once it was also infused with the essence of the four other Aspects, it reached it's full potential, becoming a weapon of mass destruction. Used against the Demons, it cut down hundreds of them every second. Eventually, Neltharion turned it on his draconic brothers and sisters, all but wiping the Blue Dragonflight out of existence, and driving the original Aspect of Magic, Malygos, insane from the loss of his entire flight.
"However, channeling the powers of the Dragon Soul through his body was causing him to fall apart. Retreating to an underground complex, he had his mortal slaves affix metal plates to his body, bolted directly into his flesh with barbed screws so he wouldn't fall apart," Rhonin paused, reflecting, "What time is it?"
Twilight jumped, not expecting him to ask her a question. She looked up at the sky, "It's about 9 p.m.. Why?"
Rhonin shrugged, "I just think it might not be wise to be outside when night falls, especially since we've been watched this entire time."
"WHAT?"
"I thought you knew. A pair of Gryphons have been circling above us for the past 4 hours. One would occasionally fly off, and return about 20 minutes later."
"This isn't good," Twilight muttered to herself, "Now they know I'm still alive, and that means there will be more assassins. Great."
"What do you mean, now they know you're still alive, and that there will be more assassins?" Rhonin asked, feeling protective of this seemingly fragile woman, though he knew she was anything but.
"A while back, while I was still pregnant with my daughter, the Gryphonians sent a score of assassins after me. I created a magical double, not pregnant, that they killed. This double was not sentient, but had enough of my knowledge of magic to make it a realistic fight. Only one assassin lived to report success. Now it's all for nothing. They know I'm still alive, and that means there will be more assassins."
"Don't you have a special place where you can be safe from anything? A pocket plane, or extra dimensional room? Something?" Rhonin asked.
"Of course. If you will allow me to cast a spell, I'll take us there."
Rhonin dropped the anti-magic field, "You are clear to cast," he said with a smirk, seconds before a flash blinded him.