"That's quite a story." the elf said with a worried look.

"Yes, Mr. Starblaze. It is." Zorann replied with a heavy sigh. "The Warchief wants us dead, and Moonglade is the only safe place we could find."

"Please, there is no need for formality." laughed the elf. "You may all call me Dendrite."

"Thank you very much." Said Twilight, as she and the others unpacked their saddlebags.

"You may stay here for as long as you need, Zorann." Dendrite said reassuringly. "As one of our pupils, you are always welcome."

"Thank you, Dendrite." said Zorann, bowing slightly. "I will do what I can to help out around town."

Dendrite smiled and turned to Luxxoria.

"Normally, we don't allow users of arcane powers here." he said. "But since you are a friend of Zorann's, and because you helped them get here safely, you too are welcome to stay."

Luxxoria bowed. "Thank you." She said quietly.

Dendrite turned to Twilight and the others.

"You have all been through so much in your short time here." he said gently. "Please, rest. Tomorrow Zorann and Luxxoria will teach you all you need, and then we can work on sending you back to your own world."

The ponies smiled wearily as they snuggled into their sleeping bags with a contented sigh.

"I will go now." Dendrite said, turning to leave. "I shall see you all in the morning. Sleep well."

"Goodnight." said Zorann as Dendrite left the inn. He turned to the ponies. "Get a lot of rest." He said. "Because you've got a long day ahead of you."

Turning out the light, the room soon descended into a cacophony of different snores.

***
"Gordul..." the voice was gentle. "Wake up, Gordul."

Gordul groaned, his eyes flickering open.

"Where am I?" he asked. He ran his hands over his body to find that it was intact. "I died. Is this the afterlife?"

"No, this is Orgrimmar." Replied Garrosh as he stepped into Gordul's field of vision. "I had you resurrected so you could do something for me."

"W-what?" asked Gordul, saluting briskly.

"YOU CAN EXPLAIN HOW THOSE TWO IDIOTS MANAGED TO ESCAPE WITH THOSE DAMNED ALLIANCE SPIES!" Garrosh roared, swinging his fist into the side of Gordul's head.

Gordul groaned as he felt his teeth breaking. He spat them onto the floor as he struggled to regain his composure.

"I succeeded in killing Luxxoria," he said, "but Zorann used his bear form to overpower me."

"THEN HE KILLED YOU, AND RESURRECTED THE MAGE!" Garrosh screamed, his usually brown face turning red.

"I-I'm sorry I let you down, Warchief." Gordul panted. "I will find them, and this time I will not fail."

"It's a bit late for that." Garrosh sighed. He held up two bloodstained insignias, emblazoned with the crest of the Horde.

"When we found you, we found these nearby." he said, throwing the insignias to Gordul. "There was also a high concentration of arcane energy in the air."

"What does that mean?" Gordul asked.

"It means that they were able to manufacture a portal!" Garrosh snapped. Gordul shook his head.

"But no such spell exists!" he cried. "The only spell like that is a teleport, and only Druids can cast it."

"Then it would seem Luxxoria's abilities are better than I thought." Replied Garrosh. "When they told me that story about attacking that pony town, I actually thought it was a load of crap. I thought they made up the whole thing to try and gain my favour."

Garrosh sighed again.

"And when they brought those ponies to me, I still refused to believe it. I had my suspicions that the Alliance were behind this, but seeing the evidence for myself has made me realise that they are actually innocent ... for once."

Gordul gasped.

"So you honestly believe that Luxxoria did in fact create a portal to another dimension?" Gordul asked, his nervous disposition gone.

Garrosh laughed. "Yes, it's amazing isn't it?" he grinned. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a parchment adorned with magical runes.

"What's that, Warchief?" asked Gordul.

"While Luxxoria was in custody, I had her bags searched. I believe this scroll," he waved it around, "to contain the spell she used to create her first portal."

Gordul's eyes widened and a fanged smile spread across his face. "You mean that's the portal to the ponies' home world?"

Garrosh returned the smile and nodded.

"I have a new mission for you, Gordul." he said. "One that will let you atone for your failure."

Gordul stood up and dropped to one knee.

"I will have my magi open, and maintain, this portal."

Gordul looked up. "Maintain the portal?" he asked. "I assume my mission is in this new world?"

Garrosh nodded. "Maintaining the portal will not only allow you to get back," he said, "but it will also allow for a constant flow of reinforcements, supplies and building materials."

"I-I don't understand." Gordul said, looking at the floor again.

"This Equestria, as it's called, will soon belong to the Horde." Garrosh cackled. "Your mission, Gordul, is to assassinate this 'Princess Celestia' Luxxoria and Zorann mentioned in their report. If they could best her, I'm sure you can as well."

Gordul stood up. "I will not fail you again, Warchief."

Garrosh smiled. "Good. Our invasion begins soon. Make sure you are ready, Gordul."

Gordul saluted again. "I will prepare immediately." he said, and quickly left the room.

As Gordul left, Garrosh let out a hearty guffaw.

"Soon, the citizens of Equestria will kneel before me." He said to himself. "And if they refuse, then they will see for themselves the full power of the Horde."

***

As the sun rose over Moonglade, Twilight and her friends stretched themselves and yawned.

"Morning girls." said Fluttershy. "Such a beautiful morning."

"Well, we're still alive." said Rainbow Dash. "That's good."

"I told you already," said Zorann as he entered the room, "that you would be safe here."

"Well pardon me for still not trusting you." Rainbow Dash replied, her eyes narrowing into slits.

Zorann sighed and opened his mouth to speak when a small explosion rocked the inn, followed by shouting in Thalassian.

"Oh, no." He said. "What's she done now?" He rushed outside, followed by the six ponies, to find Luxxoria rifling through her bags, their contents scattered all over the immediate area.

"Er, Lux?" Zorann slowly approached the frazzled elf. Her gaze met his and he froze.

"Yes?" said Luxxoria, in a deliberately calm voice that caused Zorann's hair to stand on end.

"What are ... what are you doing?" Zorann timidly asked, almost sounding like Fluttershy.

"I appear to be missing a certain roll of parchment." Luxxoria replied, still using that calm voice.

"Was it important?" asked Twilight.

"Considering the fact that it had the spell I used to transport Zorann and I to your world on it, yes." Luxxoria replied.

Zorann groaned. "I thought you only had one copy of that?" he asked through gritted teeth.

"Well," Luxxoria's demeanour turned from one of anger to one of hesitation, "I enjoyed our journey to Equestria, so I made another copy. I was, er, hoping that you would be up for another trip."

The elf blushed and looked at the ground, avoiding the glares of Twilight and the others.

"So you could attack us again?" Twilight snarled.

Luxxoria didn't reply.

"We'd better find that parchment then." said Twilight. "Do you have any idea what could happen if it fell into the wrong hands?"

Zorann walked over to Luxxoria and grabbed her, shaking her viciously. "THINK, ELF!" he shouted in her face. "Where was the last place you remember seeing it?"

Luxxoria snapped her fingers and disappeared in a flash of light, reappearing a few feet away. She put a hand to her chin and was soon lost in thought.

Twilight turned to the others. "Everypony check around for any loose rolls of parchment." She said to them. "Maybe it's been blown away by the wind."

Just as the six were about to split up, Luxxoria snapped out of the trance she was in.

"Oh, felfire." she said slowly. "I think I know what happened to it."

"Oh, good." Zorann replied, looking around expectantly. "So, where did you leave it?"

"I didn't LEAVE it anywhere." Luxxoria said. "Remember when we were taken before Garrosh in Orgrimmar?"

Zorann nodded.

"Were your bags taken away to be searched?" Luxxoria said, raising an eyebrow.

"No, they stayed with me." Zorann replied. Suddenly, realisation dawned on him and he gasped. "Oh, crap."

"What?" asked Twilight nervously. "What's wrong?"

Luxxoria sighed and covered her face with her palm, but she didn't answer Twilight's question.

"WHAT IS IT?!" cried the purple unicorn, panic-stricken.

Luxxoria uncovered her face and looked into Twilight's eyes. "You said you were worried about the worst happening if that parchment fell into the wrong hands?"

Twilight nodded slowly.

"I think I can safely say..." Luxxoria paused, unable to finish.

"SAY WHAT?!" yelled Rainbow Dash.

"... that Garrosh has the parchment." Zorann finished.

The six ponies gasped.

"If that's true ... " Twilight began.

"... then Equestria is done for." Luxxoria replied.

Shaking profusely, the six friends came together for a group hug. Twilight looked up at the bright morning sky and shed a tear.

"Celestia help them."