The Phoenix and The Illusionby Alasdair EdomChaptersChapter one: ConfusionChapter two: Unsteady RelationsChapter three: Setting up ShopChapter one: ConfusionChapter one Jace gave a nonchalant sigh as he rested his head on the pillow of his makeshift bed. The planeswalker had been running from yet another organisation who wanted to capture him/kill him, and it was getting old. "Somehow provoke a mysterious secret organization, check. Get chased by them as they scream for your head on a pike, check. Find out that you're either a heretic by their standards, or have accidentally taken something from them, working on it." I give an irritated groan, and close my eyes. "I wonder what it's like to be just a normal person with no special powers or a planeswalker spark... Boring? Sure, but I think there would be much less running involved, and maybe, just maybe, I would go more than a few months before someone is vying for my blood." Even though there would be less chance of me getting killed living a normal life, I still wouldn't give up mine for anything... No matter how many horrible things I've done... I relax and try to sleep without having to sedate myself to get rest, again... But why do I feel like I'm falling? Did someone "Get the drop on me"? Heh... "Stop wasting time with terrible puns and OPEN YOUR EYES!" I scream inside my head, and I do just that... Only to find myself falling through planes. "What the... What?" ... I am completely lost. Why am I planeswalking? Did my spark ignite? I can't just wander between planes in the Blind Eternities for no reason. Finding no way to steady myself, I continue to fall. I try to cast a spell to stop my travel, but my magic is contested for some reason. "Why can't the Blind Eternities work normally for once? Wait... There is no up or down here... So how am I falling?" I twist my body so I'm facing the direction I'm "Falling", only to see I'm being pulled into another Plane. "IT'S ALWAYS ME!" I get a good look at the small rift that's pulling me in, and it's unlike anything I've encountered before, not even anywhere near the very strangest of planes... But it wasn't aggressive or yanking at me, like some planes do, but instead... It was guiding me in, pulling me in gently, with no noticeable aggression. But it was a very powerful plane, full of every mana type. I could even hear the mana singing to me... It was at harmony, no flaws in it's notes, and it sent shivers down my spine it was so beautiful. Still, I was being pulled into some strange plane, no matter what it's like, It's still cause for some degree of panic. I was getting closer to the plane, unable to pull myself free from it's grasp, yet I was surrounded with openings to other planes. So why couldn't I hang onto them? Even the planes that have been eager to snap up unsuspecting planeswalkers had just let me by without even trying to latch onto me, and at the same time, stopping me from grabbing onto it. If there is one thing I've learned, it's that planes are like living things, and they can grab and manipulate you like any other being. They don't exactly "Feel" like most know it, but they have some form of equivalent that you can interpret as feelings. And it was strange... they were all letting me past, as if they wouldn't, or couldn't, or both, try to grab onto me, or contest the plane that was pulling me in, as if the plane that was holding onto me was respected, or feared, or too powerful to contest. All of this just made me more nervous. I stop trying to jump to other planes, and just watch the rift get closer, and closer, until I was about to pass through. "For the love of my spark, please don't drop me from a thousand feet in the air. Again." I would know soon enough as I passed through the rift, and was basked in sunlight and pleasantly colored, if a bit bright, flora... Underneath me. "Not again..." I fall through the air, passing through a few clouds on the way, and I try to think up what I did last time this happened... I pass through the cloud layer to reveal a slightly dark forest with crowded trees slowly getting closer and closer. "Come on Jace, think..." A feather falling spell come to mind, and cast it just in time as I fall through the tops of the tree not much later. The spell slowed me down considerably, but I was still going faster than I could run. The tree's branches all give way as I make my way through, but they still manage to leave cuts and scrapes over my body. I land with a loud thud and quite a lot of pain. "What are you doing here?!" I hear a females voice exclaim in fiery anger, one I'm only too well acquainted with. "Chandra Nalaar." ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Twilight was in her home, and the local library, re-reading a book she was rather fond of as of late; "Advanced theories of inter-dimensional shifting", written by Starswirl himself in his late years, and was relaxing. Well, she was until a massive nearby magical disturbance broke her concentration. "Gah, what was that?!" "What was what Twilight?" I shake my head, "I just felt a massive magical recirculation in close proximity to Ponyville!" Spike just stares at me with glazed eyes, "And in Equestrian?" I roll my eyes, "It means somepony, or something, just used a dangerous amount of magical energy close to Ponyville." Spike looks out the balcony window, "I don't see any explosions, magical fields, zombies, or aliens Twilight. Maybe you just got the shivers?" I give a loud groan, "Spike, I know when I feel something like that, and only somepony like me or the Princesses could use that much magical energy! Whatever, or whoever, caused the disturbance, we need to locate them in case they're hurt or in danger." Spike rolls his eyes, "Whatever you say Twilight. I still think it was just the shivers..." I wasn't listening at this point, "Spike, I need you to go tell Pinkie and Rarity to meet up here pronto, and I'll get Applejack, Rainbow, and Fluttershy." Spike gives a mock-salute, "Yes ma'am." and makes his way out the door, and I follow in rapid succession and gather up everypony. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Why are you here Jace?! Did you follow me?! Answer me before I turn you into ash!" We both stand in rock-solid stance, ready to attack at a moments notice if either side makes a move. "I did not follow you Chandra, I was pulled here against my will, and I have no reason to follow you." I reply, knowing better than to get angry with her. "Why should I trust you, mind-mage?" I keep eye contact, "I don't have a reason for you to trust me, and after what I've done in my life you have all the right in the multiverse to distrust me, but I don't know where I am, we don't know where we are, and I don't want to spend the rest of my life here." Chandra narrows her eyes at me and grits her teeth, "Then why don't you just planeswalk away? We could both just planeswalk away and forget this ever happened, not that that isn't a reason to burn you to a crisp before I get out of here." "We can't planeswalk Chandra, the rift closed behind us, the power of this plane is interrupting our sparks, and even if none of that was an issue, none of the other planes would even let us in, this plane has complete authority over us, and every other plane." I slowly relax my stance as if I was backing away from a viper, leaving myself vulnerable. "We're both trapped here Chandra, without our sparks to help, and no noticeable way out. As much as teamwork isn't either much of our thing, we're both trapped in an unknown, and incredibly powerful plane with no way out. So, as long as we're trapped here, I can't see any benefit in you killing me, or vice-versa." Chandra stares into my eyes for a good half-minute, scanning me, and trying to read me while considering the options. She slowly backs down, "I still don't trust you mind-mage... But... Gah, just don't piss me off and we'll get along fine." I allow myself a small smile, "I know better than to provoke you." "Hmph, good. Now, let's find a way out of this forest before I burn it down." I nod, "I believe I saw the edge of the forest somewhere this way." I point to the direction I briefly saw the edge from while I was falling. "And how exactly do you know that?" I look up to where I fell through the trees, "Let's just say I a habit of planeswalking really high up..." It takes about a second for her to catch on, but when she does, she breaks out into hysterical laughter. "HahaHA! Perhaps you should look into getting a pair of wings then!! HAHA!" I roll my eyes, "The sooner we get out of this forest, the faster we can start searching for a way out of here." After her laughter calming down a little she gives a groan, "Typical blue mage. All brain, no fun." "I can have fun when I want to." "Yeah right. Let's just get out of here." ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Everyone was gathered in front of the library, and I gave them a quick briefing. "Listen up! Something, or somepony created a massive magical disturbance nearby, and not many ponies can stand channeling that much magic at once, and could be seriously hurt or injured, so we need to find them. I will track them by following magical residue, and we can treat them on-site if their hurt, or if we need to, get them to the hospital ASAP. Is everypony ready?" There was a chorus of "Yeah!", and I gave a smile "Alright! Let's go everypony!" Author's Note This is a small project I'm working on in my spare time, and any advice as to how I can improve it would be greatly appreciated. Along with that, do tell if the story is even any good, that helps too :P Chapter two: Unsteady RelationsChapter Two "Are we getting closer Twilight? I don't want to be stuck out here for long with all this iky... Dirt." Rarity asks. I nod, "We're almost there. There are two distinct distortions, but they both happened at the same time, so we're heading for the closest one." "I hope they're okay..." Fluttershy quietly adds, I smile. "I'm sure they'll be fine Fluttershy, and if not, we can use the medical supplies you brought along." Rainbow flies down and lands beside the group. "Any news Dash?" Dash nods, "I saw movement just a little ahead, two ponies by the looks of it." I raise an eyebrow, "Were they injured or slow-moving at all?" She shakes her head, "They were moving at walking pace, so I don't think they're hurt." "From what I felt... They should be at least mentally exhausted, and that's about as generous as it gets! That couldn't have been them, it's impossible..." "We'll soon find out anyway, they're coming this way." I look around to make sure there aren't any predators following us, "Dash, can you hover just above us and tell us if you see anything?" "Already on it." She says as she hovers up just above the trees as we wait for the mysterious source of all this fuss. And we'll be finding out soon. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ All was reasonably quiet between me and Chandra as we strode through the thick forest to get out, but the silence was broken as I sensed another powerful magical mind nearby. I hold out an arm, stopping Chandra from moving. "What is it-" "Shhh! Someone's nearby." I whisper. Chandra rolls her eyes and whispers back, "Why don't we just walk up to them, and if they aren't friendly, I fry them?" I shake my head, "We're on a strange plane with no knowledge of what live here, I would prefer to find out what the sentient species is like, and maybe there's more than one." "If they try to kill us, then can I fry them?" I give a quiet groan, "Maybe, it depends on how things work out." I make a gesture for her to follow, and she reluctantly does so. She isn't one for stealth, but right now I think it would be best for us to stay hidden. I don't want to confront this mage if I have the option not to. We make our way to a thick part of foliage next to the presence, but I don't see anything... "...can you hover just above us and tell us if you see anything?" I hear a feminine young adult sounding voice say, she's not alone. "Already on it!" I hear another young adult voice say, female, but heavily masculine. I look around to search for the source of the voices to have my eyes land on five... Ponies... Pastel colored ponies... As well and unicorns and pegasi... What... "One part of me wants to burn them to oblivion, and the other part wants to hug them all." Chandra whispers sarcastically, I just ignore her. "I'm going to find which one of them is the powerful one, then I'm going to try and talk with them." Chandra just rolls her eyes for the hundredth time. I begin to peer into each of their minds, interesting memories to say the least, but I wasn't bothering with looking over their minds, I was looking for the powerful one. I begin to look into the mind of the purple one, now only noticing she has wings as well as a horn, only to see her look around warily and I quickly decided to withdraw from her mind. "W-who's there?" "So you're the mage?" I say within her mind, only for her to freeze in place. Telepathy is probably a new experience for her. "M-mage? No, I-I'm just good at m-magic..." "Who y'all talking to sugarcube?" An orange one with a hat, a Stetson if I'm right, says to her purple partner worriedly. "Were you looking for us?" "N-no, not y-you specifically, I-I just felt a magical d-distortion and came to s-see if you were alright... I-I guess y-you are." Her companions were looking at her like she was insane, but didn't say anything. "Are you curious as to meeting us?" "Y-yes... I s-suppose so..." "We will show ourselves then, just don't attack us. I'm not responsible for the actions of my partner." She nods, and I turn to Chandra, "We're going to approach them, so don't start throwing fire-axes everywhere." "Fine." She grumbles, and we both rise from out position and make our way through the foliage to meet the group face-to-face. To say that their expressions were priceless would be an understatement. They all were completely confused and terrified at the same time. "What is your name?" I ask, Chandra was completely ignoring the conversation and probably fantasizing about roasting me there and then, I didn't need to read her mind to know that. "T-Twilight Sparkle, and these are my f-friends." I give the smallest of bows with my head, "It would be nice to get to know you all, but we need to get out of this forest." "Twilight! Yo, Twilight!" I hear the voice I heard earlier call from above us, and a cerulean blue pegasus with a rainbow colored mane appears above us. She soon spots us and narrows her eyes at us, "What are they? They look like overgrown monkeys..." This immediately snaps Chandra out of her daydreams, "Can it idiot before I turn your bones into charcoal!" All but one of the ponies recoil at her aggressiveness, and the one pony who doesn't, the arrogant pegasus, zips up close to Chandra's face which just causes her to get more angry. "Oh yeah? What can something like you do? Crawl around? I could fly circles around you!" Chandra was near the point of catching fire, "IF JACE WASN'T HERE THEN I WOULD HAVE ALREADY BURNED DOWN THIS ENTIRE FOREST, YOU'RE LUCKY YOU'RE STILL ALIVE, EQUINE!" I step in between the two, before Chandra kills everyone. "Calm down! Both of you! As much as I don't like being called an overgrown monkey, I would rather not be turned into a mound of sizzling flesh!" The pegasus slowly backs down, keeping eye contact with Chandra as they stare one another down, or did until there was a colossal roar from close by. "MANTICORE!!" Twilight exclaims, and I turn around to see a massive lion crossed with a scorpion with bat wings stomping it's way over to us. "Now can I get angry?" I roll my eyes, and make an offering gesture towards the creature with my hands. Chandra give an evil grin before she sets fire and charges at the manticore, although, the beast doesn't flinch and just swipes at her with it's large cat claws, only to get singed by Chandra's flames. "NO GAMES!" Chandra exclaims as a pillar of flame encompases the manticore and burns it alive. I only see glimpses of it's body as it turns to ashes, and after the pillar disappears, all that's left is a rather large pile of dust. Chandra triumphantly strides back over from the ashen remains. "Feel better now?" I ask rhetorically. "What? Someone's got to do the dirty work." I look over to the group of ponies, all of which had shocked, or horrified looks on their faces. "Good going with first impressions, you've now labelled us as giant-cat killing bipedals." Chandra just gives an exasperated huff, "Not like we weren't already hated across dozens of other planes." Before any more retorts could be passed back and forth, the silence was broken by none-other than the cyan pegasus. "That. Was. AWESOME!!!" Twilight was the next of the group to recover, "Rainbow Dash! She just killed another being!" Rainbow crossed her arms, "It's was still awesome." "Looks like you've got a fan Chandra." I say as I nudge her arm, and she just smiles triumphantly. "Y-you killed it..." I just about hear the butter-colored pegasus with a rose pink mane say. "It's always the quiet ones..." I think to myself, just as Chandra get's her second facefull of pony, with said pony staring daggers into her eyes. "YOU KILLED IT! WHY WOULD YOU KILL IT?!" Chandra didn't look impressed, "Because I'm not in the mood to get eaten by an overgrown mouse, and please stop staring like that." The pegasus just keeps staring. "Yes, I get the point. Your eyes are cute, now, could you please get out of my face? I won't ask next time." The pegasus backs away after that, with a more than surprised expression. Even her friends seemed to be looking at Chandra with awe, even if it was still mixed with fear. "You're... Not affected by her stare?" The white one with an amethyst mane says as if she just saw the Blind Eternities for the first time. Chandra just crosses her arms with an annoyed huff, "I don't know what's so special about your friend's "Stare", but I've stared down worse. Much worse." I just shake my head, "Look, I'm sure there will be plenty of time for questions later, but we need to get out of this forest now." They all started whispering to each other, and I heard little bits of "Are they safe?", and "We can't trust them!". I rub the bridge of my nose a few times before I gave up waiting, and took the discussion into my own hands. I cast a mind read spell on all of them, learning their names, significant events, and cultural knowledge. I was curious about things like the arrival of Luna, the co-ruler of this country, Equestria, on the world of Equis, and her corruption and purging. There was something else about a being called Discord, but I would go over that later. I release the spell, none of them noticing except Twilight who was eyeing me suspiciously. "We are not evil, we don't want to kill you, or eat you, or turn you into pony jam, we don't want to take over Equestria, and I would prefer if we got out of this forest, and to Ponyville, as soon as possible. So please, can we get going now?" At the mention of "Ponyville", Chandra starts chuckling, but the looks of wonder in the ponies faces were of more importance. "How... Do you know about Ponyville? You only just arrived here..." Twilight asks, eliciting more chuckles from Chandra. I roll my eyes. "Long story. Now, can we get going?" Twilight shakes her head in confusion, and she starts walking in the direction of Ponyville I assume. "Come on girls, let's get back home." She said, causing all the other ponies to look at her worriedly, but complied, and we followed. ~~~ "So..." Twilight begins, "What are you exactly?" Lovely, question time. "My species name is commonly known as Human, along with my colleague's race, but we come from two very different places." "Thankfully, I wouldn't have been able to stand him in the same plane as me." Chandra adds, and nudges my arm rather painfully with her elbow. "Plane?" Twilight asks with curiosity. "This is going to get annoying eventually." ""Plane", is a term we use for different worlds, or dimensions. What she means is we weren't both born on the same world." Twilight seemed perplexed, "I don't understand... How is that possible?" "Don't ask me how the planes work, but long explanation short, were Planeswalkers." She just gives a confused look. "You haven't encountered any Planeswalkers before?" I ask, she shakes her head. "That's interesting... Such an eager plane with so much control... You would think planeswalkers would at least be known here..." I sigh, "Planeswalkers can travel between worlds and dimensions, or a more common term used, planes. It's the ultimate form of teleportation if you like, and only those who have a spark inside them from birth can do it." Her eyes lit up, "Does that mean anypony could be a Planeswalker?" Chandra chuckles at the use of the word "Everypony", but I just ignore her. "In theory, but the chances are close to none, and you have to discover your inner spark before you can use it. It's similar to when you ascended to an Alicorn state, but everyone's experiences are different." Twilight's eyes widened, "How could you know about that? We only just met!" Chandra butt's in, "Because he's a good-for-nothing blue mage bastard who takes pleasure in knowing everyone secrets." I narrow my eyes at her, "You're not the only dangerous one here, Chandra." She just hmphs and crosses her arms. I turn back to Twilight, "It's because I looked through all of your memories, along with your friends as well. I needed to know incase of a misunderstanding." Twilight looked shocked more than anything, "But... But that's an invasion of privacy!" Chandra just laughs, "He could do a lot worse than that if he wanted to." "Destroying someone's memories and life isn't something I take pride in, unlike you." "In my defence, the ones I do kill tend to either get in my way, or are incredibly annoying." She says, emphasizing the "annoying" towards me. "And yet, look where I got us. I'm the one who will get us out of this plane, and you'll thank me later." "That doesn't mean I trust you!" She exclaim in my face as we both stop walking to face one another. "I'm having to tag along with the man who has turned others to mindless shells! I am the one worse off here! I didn't choose to be here! And I bet if you had it your way, we would be stuck here for several dozen lifetimes just so you can so your stupid thing of reading every book in the largest library you can find! I DON'T WANT TO BE STUCK HERE, AND IF I HAD A CHOICE, I WOULD HAVE KILLED YOU WHEN I ARRIVED HERE!" Her hair was ablaze by this point, and I could see the fire barely contained behind her eyes. There was no use in arguing. "...You're right." I say, surprising her a little. "I know you feel like a caged animal, and are fed up of being treated like dirt... I can't say I've felt pain, and anger like yours... But I know being treated like a mindless animal is one of the worst experiences I know, and I'm sorry. I should be staying level-headed, and get us through this, and not be trading petty insults... I'm sorry." Chandra calmed down considerably, and began to cool down, her hair extinguishing in the process. For the first time, I can see the fire in her eyes calm, no longer thrashing, burning violently, or trying to escape, but just calm. Like an average campfire. Dangerous, but calm, and delivering in warmth. "...I've still got my eye on you." We start walking again in silence. Not even Twilight broke the silence, I could tell she knew to keep quiet. She knew to let matters like these calm down on their own, but it didn't change the fact that there are six anxious ponies in front of me, and all these arguments just make it worse. ...I think I might be getting a soft spot for these ponies... Author's Note If you didn't know already, Chandra is easy to anger. I KNOW RIGHT? WHO WOULD'VE GUESSED! Chapter three: Setting up ShopChapter three We all arrived at the Ponyville library with the same silence following us since the short argument. We got plenty of stares through town, not that I care. Probably the only thing stopping someone from calling the Royal Guard is that Twilight and her friends are with us, otherwise, I would have to deal with some tedious politics, and possibly a fight. "Golden Oaks library. Ponyvilles only real source of historical, scientific, and magical knowledge." I announce to Chandra, who is cautiously standing next to me, "And is a tree, so watch yourself." Chandra doesn't reply, she only continues to stay stoic, and keeps her arms crossed. I inwardly sigh at her. Twilight opens the door for us, and we all walk in, Chandra nudging me out of the way. "Right then. I'm going to need every magic, and magic history book in this library, and I need you to make sure Spike doesn't freak out, and yes, you can write to Celestia if you wish." I think for a moment, then make a dismissive wave of my hand. "Nevermind, I know where all the books are anyway." I ignore any expressions, or looks passed my way and immediately begin to telekinetically stack all the books on magic in the library in the center of the room, and begin reading the first one. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ I shake my head dumbfoundedly. "What... Just what... Chandra seems to notice my musings, "He's always been like that, always will. And I still hate him, the memory-pruning bastard." I look to face her, who is now leaning on the wall with her forelegs crossed. "Why do you hate him so much?" I ask. She glares at me, but quickly starts looking into the distance again. "I may have helped him on occasion, but you can never tell whose side he's on. One minute, he's a member of a prestigious guild of Ravnica, the next he's doing tasks for the scum of the city. And he doesn't do assassinations, he wipes memories, searches them, twists them, and I swear he did something to me once, he must have just wiped my memory so I can't remember." She looks down to me, "I don't trust him, I don't like being around him, and he's always in some sort of trouble. And now, I'm stuck with him. Does that answer your question?" I avert my eyes to the floor to avoid her glare. "She's so aggressive, not much different from Gilda even. But the other one, Jace, seems calm and logical, so it can't be to do with the species. But they did say they were born in different places, so perhaps cultural influence is the reason?" "...Chandra?" I ask, lifting my head to meet her gaze, which glared back at me, "If you don't mind me asking... Why are you so... Angry all the time?" "She's a red mage, they tend to be very expressive emotionally, and are quite passionate towards activities they like." We both turn our gaze to Jace, who still had his head in a book, "Chandra also had some experiences in her past that made her the way she is." Chandra glared at him, "What do you know about that?!" she says through clenched teeth. "Nothing at all except that your childhood was a great influence in your personalities development." Jace explains simply as he flips a page of the book he was reading. Chandra seems to relax a little, but still glares at him. "Then keep it that way you escort." Jace rolls his eyes, "You know I don't care for petty insults Chandra." She just harrumphs and, goes back to leaning back on the wall with her forelegs crossed. They both seem uncooperative, but maybe if I can find some common ground between us, she might open up a little? "So... Do you have any friends?" She doesn't seem to react at first, but eventually starts to speak. "No. Don't need them. They either get in your way, or stab you in the back. If fine without friends, thank you." My mouth hung a little agape. She doesn't have any friends?! She wasn't just refusing the possibility of making friends, she was blatantly disregarding friendship as a whole! How could anypony be so bitter? "Not even work colleagues? Family?" Her face didn't change expression, nor her gazes direction, "I have no "Colleagues", and my entire family is dead." "...She's all alone... She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, "...They died thousands of years ago. I don't care anymore." So that explains- wait, thousands of years?! Exactly How long is their lifespan?! "Thousands of years?! Exactly how old are you?" I ask, just able to form my words after I regained control of my gaping mouth. She actually gives a genuine laugh, "I lost count of the years a long time ago. Let's just say... Around ten thousand years? Give or take." She opens her eyes, "And Jace here is about the same age as me, although I think I'm a little older than him." "Oh really?" Jace asks rhetorically. "Yeah, really." Chandra replies back in equally rhetorically. A new, yet unencountered race that has alpha individuals with the ability to travel inter-dimensionally, and live for possibly indefinite amounts of time. My head... "Does your species normally live this long?" I ask now the tension in the room has died down since before. Jace speaks up without lifting his head from a book he was reading, now different to the one he was reading before, "No, the average lifespan of a human lies between seventy, to ninety years depending on living conditions." Jace flips a page, "Planeswalkers can live for indefinite periods of time, can change their physical form, don't need to eat or sleep, and can't be killed by diseases, natural causes, or even most forms of dismemberment." To say I was amazed by this information would be an understatement. They were practically immortals, and they are older than even Celestia! The selection of "Planeswalkers" must be a natural magical phenomena, since such things could never be achieved through evolution. I need to write about this to Celestia, she will be fascinated about this I'm sure! I just wonder why the girls haven't asked anything yet, they seem awfully quiet... In fact they haven't said anything since we got here. I take a brief look around to see they were all still near the doorway, talking to one another, and occasionally glancing at Chandra and Jace. I walk over to them and sit down on the floor next to everypony else. "So?" Rarity asks. I raise an eyebrow in question, "So what?" Rarity momentarily facehoofs, "So, what are they like? Dangerous? Aggressive? Pony eaters?" She asks with dramatic abbreviation. I just roll my eyes, "No, they're nothing like that... Well, Chandra is a bit aggressive-" "I knew they were up to no good! We must get the Canterlot guard here immedia-" Applejack sticks a hoof in Rarity's mouth. "You ignore her sugarcube, what else?" "Despite that they are potentially dangerous, they mean no harm. I learned a bit about Chandra, and she has her reasons behind being so... Edgy." Applejack removes her hoof from Rarity's mouth, "Eugh! Did you really have to do that?" "Yup." Everyone says in unison. Rarity just harrumphs. "Well, Celestia is the oldest pony in Equestria. Maybe she had some dealin's with their lot before?" Applejack suggests. "Maybe, but she isn't the oldest pony in Equestria now." "What'ya mean by that Twi? Everypony knows Celestia is over two thousand something years old! Who could be older that that?" Dash asks with a raised eyebrow. I sigh, "They are." "What?!" Everypony exclaims confusedly. *Sigh* I guess I should explain. I explain what I had learned, clearing up a few misconceptions by Rainbow thinking they were immortal, and I had to clarify that they were near-immortal. Although, they are so near-immortal that I suppose there isn't much of a difference anyway. "But you still haven't told us why Chandra is so... Grouchy." Rainbow says. I sigh, "...Let's just say she's had a rocky past." Rainbow's face scrunches up a little in irritation, but soon gave in. "Ugh, fair enough." There was an awkward silence. "Well ah had best get back to tha' farm. Can't be layzin' off now." Applejack cuts in after a while. "Yes, and I have some orders to fill too, so I had best be off as well." Everypony nods and makes their way to leave. "Oh! Twilight! Don't forget to send that letter to the Princess, I'm sure she would be really interested in Chandra and Jace! They seem like nice ponies." Pinkie says before she leaves, surprisingly leaving out most of the jibbering that usually happens when she talks, not that anypony is complaining. I nod, "Yes, I'll get that done now. Bye Pinkie!" I close the door and take a glance over at the two humans. Jace was on his seventh book by the looks of things, and Chandra was just leaning on the wall in exactly the same position as before with her eyes closed. I make my way over to the small desk I use for writing, and levitate a quill and dip it in some ink while pulling out a piece of parchment. Dear Princess Celestia... Author's Note *Whew* I just about managed to get this out in time. Hopefully the dialogue isn't too dry, as I was trying to make this more of a personality-developing chapter to set the basis of what Chandra is like in this story. Now granted, she isn't exactly like she is in the comics, and she may now be like you envision her, but this is the way I see Chandra anyway. Cautious, fiery, stubborn but not stupid, and playful if you catch her in a good mood. Of course, she is mature (Obviously, she's bloody ancient), but just because you're old and mature, doesn't mean you can't have fun :P I'll probably do some similar character-development for Jace soon too, but thats still in the future. I nearly missed my deadline for this, but I hope that it's an entertaining chapter. (At least a little bit maybe?)
Chapter one: ConfusionChapter one Jace gave a nonchalant sigh as he rested his head on the pillow of his makeshift bed. The planeswalker had been running from yet another organisation who wanted to capture him/kill him, and it was getting old. "Somehow provoke a mysterious secret organization, check. Get chased by them as they scream for your head on a pike, check. Find out that you're either a heretic by their standards, or have accidentally taken something from them, working on it." I give an irritated groan, and close my eyes. "I wonder what it's like to be just a normal person with no special powers or a planeswalker spark... Boring? Sure, but I think there would be much less running involved, and maybe, just maybe, I would go more than a few months before someone is vying for my blood." Even though there would be less chance of me getting killed living a normal life, I still wouldn't give up mine for anything... No matter how many horrible things I've done... I relax and try to sleep without having to sedate myself to get rest, again... But why do I feel like I'm falling? Did someone "Get the drop on me"? Heh... "Stop wasting time with terrible puns and OPEN YOUR EYES!" I scream inside my head, and I do just that... Only to find myself falling through planes. "What the... What?" ... I am completely lost. Why am I planeswalking? Did my spark ignite? I can't just wander between planes in the Blind Eternities for no reason. Finding no way to steady myself, I continue to fall. I try to cast a spell to stop my travel, but my magic is contested for some reason. "Why can't the Blind Eternities work normally for once? Wait... There is no up or down here... So how am I falling?" I twist my body so I'm facing the direction I'm "Falling", only to see I'm being pulled into another Plane. "IT'S ALWAYS ME!" I get a good look at the small rift that's pulling me in, and it's unlike anything I've encountered before, not even anywhere near the very strangest of planes... But it wasn't aggressive or yanking at me, like some planes do, but instead... It was guiding me in, pulling me in gently, with no noticeable aggression. But it was a very powerful plane, full of every mana type. I could even hear the mana singing to me... It was at harmony, no flaws in it's notes, and it sent shivers down my spine it was so beautiful. Still, I was being pulled into some strange plane, no matter what it's like, It's still cause for some degree of panic. I was getting closer to the plane, unable to pull myself free from it's grasp, yet I was surrounded with openings to other planes. So why couldn't I hang onto them? Even the planes that have been eager to snap up unsuspecting planeswalkers had just let me by without even trying to latch onto me, and at the same time, stopping me from grabbing onto it. If there is one thing I've learned, it's that planes are like living things, and they can grab and manipulate you like any other being. They don't exactly "Feel" like most know it, but they have some form of equivalent that you can interpret as feelings. And it was strange... they were all letting me past, as if they wouldn't, or couldn't, or both, try to grab onto me, or contest the plane that was pulling me in, as if the plane that was holding onto me was respected, or feared, or too powerful to contest. All of this just made me more nervous. I stop trying to jump to other planes, and just watch the rift get closer, and closer, until I was about to pass through. "For the love of my spark, please don't drop me from a thousand feet in the air. Again." I would know soon enough as I passed through the rift, and was basked in sunlight and pleasantly colored, if a bit bright, flora... Underneath me. "Not again..." I fall through the air, passing through a few clouds on the way, and I try to think up what I did last time this happened... I pass through the cloud layer to reveal a slightly dark forest with crowded trees slowly getting closer and closer. "Come on Jace, think..." A feather falling spell come to mind, and cast it just in time as I fall through the tops of the tree not much later. The spell slowed me down considerably, but I was still going faster than I could run. The tree's branches all give way as I make my way through, but they still manage to leave cuts and scrapes over my body. I land with a loud thud and quite a lot of pain. "What are you doing here?!" I hear a females voice exclaim in fiery anger, one I'm only too well acquainted with. "Chandra Nalaar." ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Twilight was in her home, and the local library, re-reading a book she was rather fond of as of late; "Advanced theories of inter-dimensional shifting", written by Starswirl himself in his late years, and was relaxing. Well, she was until a massive nearby magical disturbance broke her concentration. "Gah, what was that?!" "What was what Twilight?" I shake my head, "I just felt a massive magical recirculation in close proximity to Ponyville!" Spike just stares at me with glazed eyes, "And in Equestrian?" I roll my eyes, "It means somepony, or something, just used a dangerous amount of magical energy close to Ponyville." Spike looks out the balcony window, "I don't see any explosions, magical fields, zombies, or aliens Twilight. Maybe you just got the shivers?" I give a loud groan, "Spike, I know when I feel something like that, and only somepony like me or the Princesses could use that much magical energy! Whatever, or whoever, caused the disturbance, we need to locate them in case they're hurt or in danger." Spike rolls his eyes, "Whatever you say Twilight. I still think it was just the shivers..." I wasn't listening at this point, "Spike, I need you to go tell Pinkie and Rarity to meet up here pronto, and I'll get Applejack, Rainbow, and Fluttershy." Spike gives a mock-salute, "Yes ma'am." and makes his way out the door, and I follow in rapid succession and gather up everypony. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Why are you here Jace?! Did you follow me?! Answer me before I turn you into ash!" We both stand in rock-solid stance, ready to attack at a moments notice if either side makes a move. "I did not follow you Chandra, I was pulled here against my will, and I have no reason to follow you." I reply, knowing better than to get angry with her. "Why should I trust you, mind-mage?" I keep eye contact, "I don't have a reason for you to trust me, and after what I've done in my life you have all the right in the multiverse to distrust me, but I don't know where I am, we don't know where we are, and I don't want to spend the rest of my life here." Chandra narrows her eyes at me and grits her teeth, "Then why don't you just planeswalk away? We could both just planeswalk away and forget this ever happened, not that that isn't a reason to burn you to a crisp before I get out of here." "We can't planeswalk Chandra, the rift closed behind us, the power of this plane is interrupting our sparks, and even if none of that was an issue, none of the other planes would even let us in, this plane has complete authority over us, and every other plane." I slowly relax my stance as if I was backing away from a viper, leaving myself vulnerable. "We're both trapped here Chandra, without our sparks to help, and no noticeable way out. As much as teamwork isn't either much of our thing, we're both trapped in an unknown, and incredibly powerful plane with no way out. So, as long as we're trapped here, I can't see any benefit in you killing me, or vice-versa." Chandra stares into my eyes for a good half-minute, scanning me, and trying to read me while considering the options. She slowly backs down, "I still don't trust you mind-mage... But... Gah, just don't piss me off and we'll get along fine." I allow myself a small smile, "I know better than to provoke you." "Hmph, good. Now, let's find a way out of this forest before I burn it down." I nod, "I believe I saw the edge of the forest somewhere this way." I point to the direction I briefly saw the edge from while I was falling. "And how exactly do you know that?" I look up to where I fell through the trees, "Let's just say I a habit of planeswalking really high up..." It takes about a second for her to catch on, but when she does, she breaks out into hysterical laughter. "HahaHA! Perhaps you should look into getting a pair of wings then!! HAHA!" I roll my eyes, "The sooner we get out of this forest, the faster we can start searching for a way out of here." After her laughter calming down a little she gives a groan, "Typical blue mage. All brain, no fun." "I can have fun when I want to." "Yeah right. Let's just get out of here." ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Everyone was gathered in front of the library, and I gave them a quick briefing. "Listen up! Something, or somepony created a massive magical disturbance nearby, and not many ponies can stand channeling that much magic at once, and could be seriously hurt or injured, so we need to find them. I will track them by following magical residue, and we can treat them on-site if their hurt, or if we need to, get them to the hospital ASAP. Is everypony ready?" There was a chorus of "Yeah!", and I gave a smile "Alright! Let's go everypony!" Author's Note This is a small project I'm working on in my spare time, and any advice as to how I can improve it would be greatly appreciated. Along with that, do tell if the story is even any good, that helps too :P
Chapter two: Unsteady RelationsChapter Two "Are we getting closer Twilight? I don't want to be stuck out here for long with all this iky... Dirt." Rarity asks. I nod, "We're almost there. There are two distinct distortions, but they both happened at the same time, so we're heading for the closest one." "I hope they're okay..." Fluttershy quietly adds, I smile. "I'm sure they'll be fine Fluttershy, and if not, we can use the medical supplies you brought along." Rainbow flies down and lands beside the group. "Any news Dash?" Dash nods, "I saw movement just a little ahead, two ponies by the looks of it." I raise an eyebrow, "Were they injured or slow-moving at all?" She shakes her head, "They were moving at walking pace, so I don't think they're hurt." "From what I felt... They should be at least mentally exhausted, and that's about as generous as it gets! That couldn't have been them, it's impossible..." "We'll soon find out anyway, they're coming this way." I look around to make sure there aren't any predators following us, "Dash, can you hover just above us and tell us if you see anything?" "Already on it." She says as she hovers up just above the trees as we wait for the mysterious source of all this fuss. And we'll be finding out soon. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ All was reasonably quiet between me and Chandra as we strode through the thick forest to get out, but the silence was broken as I sensed another powerful magical mind nearby. I hold out an arm, stopping Chandra from moving. "What is it-" "Shhh! Someone's nearby." I whisper. Chandra rolls her eyes and whispers back, "Why don't we just walk up to them, and if they aren't friendly, I fry them?" I shake my head, "We're on a strange plane with no knowledge of what live here, I would prefer to find out what the sentient species is like, and maybe there's more than one." "If they try to kill us, then can I fry them?" I give a quiet groan, "Maybe, it depends on how things work out." I make a gesture for her to follow, and she reluctantly does so. She isn't one for stealth, but right now I think it would be best for us to stay hidden. I don't want to confront this mage if I have the option not to. We make our way to a thick part of foliage next to the presence, but I don't see anything... "...can you hover just above us and tell us if you see anything?" I hear a feminine young adult sounding voice say, she's not alone. "Already on it!" I hear another young adult voice say, female, but heavily masculine. I look around to search for the source of the voices to have my eyes land on five... Ponies... Pastel colored ponies... As well and unicorns and pegasi... What... "One part of me wants to burn them to oblivion, and the other part wants to hug them all." Chandra whispers sarcastically, I just ignore her. "I'm going to find which one of them is the powerful one, then I'm going to try and talk with them." Chandra just rolls her eyes for the hundredth time. I begin to peer into each of their minds, interesting memories to say the least, but I wasn't bothering with looking over their minds, I was looking for the powerful one. I begin to look into the mind of the purple one, now only noticing she has wings as well as a horn, only to see her look around warily and I quickly decided to withdraw from her mind. "W-who's there?" "So you're the mage?" I say within her mind, only for her to freeze in place. Telepathy is probably a new experience for her. "M-mage? No, I-I'm just good at m-magic..." "Who y'all talking to sugarcube?" An orange one with a hat, a Stetson if I'm right, says to her purple partner worriedly. "Were you looking for us?" "N-no, not y-you specifically, I-I just felt a magical d-distortion and came to s-see if you were alright... I-I guess y-you are." Her companions were looking at her like she was insane, but didn't say anything. "Are you curious as to meeting us?" "Y-yes... I s-suppose so..." "We will show ourselves then, just don't attack us. I'm not responsible for the actions of my partner." She nods, and I turn to Chandra, "We're going to approach them, so don't start throwing fire-axes everywhere." "Fine." She grumbles, and we both rise from out position and make our way through the foliage to meet the group face-to-face. To say that their expressions were priceless would be an understatement. They all were completely confused and terrified at the same time. "What is your name?" I ask, Chandra was completely ignoring the conversation and probably fantasizing about roasting me there and then, I didn't need to read her mind to know that. "T-Twilight Sparkle, and these are my f-friends." I give the smallest of bows with my head, "It would be nice to get to know you all, but we need to get out of this forest." "Twilight! Yo, Twilight!" I hear the voice I heard earlier call from above us, and a cerulean blue pegasus with a rainbow colored mane appears above us. She soon spots us and narrows her eyes at us, "What are they? They look like overgrown monkeys..." This immediately snaps Chandra out of her daydreams, "Can it idiot before I turn your bones into charcoal!" All but one of the ponies recoil at her aggressiveness, and the one pony who doesn't, the arrogant pegasus, zips up close to Chandra's face which just causes her to get more angry. "Oh yeah? What can something like you do? Crawl around? I could fly circles around you!" Chandra was near the point of catching fire, "IF JACE WASN'T HERE THEN I WOULD HAVE ALREADY BURNED DOWN THIS ENTIRE FOREST, YOU'RE LUCKY YOU'RE STILL ALIVE, EQUINE!" I step in between the two, before Chandra kills everyone. "Calm down! Both of you! As much as I don't like being called an overgrown monkey, I would rather not be turned into a mound of sizzling flesh!" The pegasus slowly backs down, keeping eye contact with Chandra as they stare one another down, or did until there was a colossal roar from close by. "MANTICORE!!" Twilight exclaims, and I turn around to see a massive lion crossed with a scorpion with bat wings stomping it's way over to us. "Now can I get angry?" I roll my eyes, and make an offering gesture towards the creature with my hands. Chandra give an evil grin before she sets fire and charges at the manticore, although, the beast doesn't flinch and just swipes at her with it's large cat claws, only to get singed by Chandra's flames. "NO GAMES!" Chandra exclaims as a pillar of flame encompases the manticore and burns it alive. I only see glimpses of it's body as it turns to ashes, and after the pillar disappears, all that's left is a rather large pile of dust. Chandra triumphantly strides back over from the ashen remains. "Feel better now?" I ask rhetorically. "What? Someone's got to do the dirty work." I look over to the group of ponies, all of which had shocked, or horrified looks on their faces. "Good going with first impressions, you've now labelled us as giant-cat killing bipedals." Chandra just gives an exasperated huff, "Not like we weren't already hated across dozens of other planes." Before any more retorts could be passed back and forth, the silence was broken by none-other than the cyan pegasus. "That. Was. AWESOME!!!" Twilight was the next of the group to recover, "Rainbow Dash! She just killed another being!" Rainbow crossed her arms, "It's was still awesome." "Looks like you've got a fan Chandra." I say as I nudge her arm, and she just smiles triumphantly. "Y-you killed it..." I just about hear the butter-colored pegasus with a rose pink mane say. "It's always the quiet ones..." I think to myself, just as Chandra get's her second facefull of pony, with said pony staring daggers into her eyes. "YOU KILLED IT! WHY WOULD YOU KILL IT?!" Chandra didn't look impressed, "Because I'm not in the mood to get eaten by an overgrown mouse, and please stop staring like that." The pegasus just keeps staring. "Yes, I get the point. Your eyes are cute, now, could you please get out of my face? I won't ask next time." The pegasus backs away after that, with a more than surprised expression. Even her friends seemed to be looking at Chandra with awe, even if it was still mixed with fear. "You're... Not affected by her stare?" The white one with an amethyst mane says as if she just saw the Blind Eternities for the first time. Chandra just crosses her arms with an annoyed huff, "I don't know what's so special about your friend's "Stare", but I've stared down worse. Much worse." I just shake my head, "Look, I'm sure there will be plenty of time for questions later, but we need to get out of this forest now." They all started whispering to each other, and I heard little bits of "Are they safe?", and "We can't trust them!". I rub the bridge of my nose a few times before I gave up waiting, and took the discussion into my own hands. I cast a mind read spell on all of them, learning their names, significant events, and cultural knowledge. I was curious about things like the arrival of Luna, the co-ruler of this country, Equestria, on the world of Equis, and her corruption and purging. There was something else about a being called Discord, but I would go over that later. I release the spell, none of them noticing except Twilight who was eyeing me suspiciously. "We are not evil, we don't want to kill you, or eat you, or turn you into pony jam, we don't want to take over Equestria, and I would prefer if we got out of this forest, and to Ponyville, as soon as possible. So please, can we get going now?" At the mention of "Ponyville", Chandra starts chuckling, but the looks of wonder in the ponies faces were of more importance. "How... Do you know about Ponyville? You only just arrived here..." Twilight asks, eliciting more chuckles from Chandra. I roll my eyes. "Long story. Now, can we get going?" Twilight shakes her head in confusion, and she starts walking in the direction of Ponyville I assume. "Come on girls, let's get back home." She said, causing all the other ponies to look at her worriedly, but complied, and we followed. ~~~ "So..." Twilight begins, "What are you exactly?" Lovely, question time. "My species name is commonly known as Human, along with my colleague's race, but we come from two very different places." "Thankfully, I wouldn't have been able to stand him in the same plane as me." Chandra adds, and nudges my arm rather painfully with her elbow. "Plane?" Twilight asks with curiosity. "This is going to get annoying eventually." ""Plane", is a term we use for different worlds, or dimensions. What she means is we weren't both born on the same world." Twilight seemed perplexed, "I don't understand... How is that possible?" "Don't ask me how the planes work, but long explanation short, were Planeswalkers." She just gives a confused look. "You haven't encountered any Planeswalkers before?" I ask, she shakes her head. "That's interesting... Such an eager plane with so much control... You would think planeswalkers would at least be known here..." I sigh, "Planeswalkers can travel between worlds and dimensions, or a more common term used, planes. It's the ultimate form of teleportation if you like, and only those who have a spark inside them from birth can do it." Her eyes lit up, "Does that mean anypony could be a Planeswalker?" Chandra chuckles at the use of the word "Everypony", but I just ignore her. "In theory, but the chances are close to none, and you have to discover your inner spark before you can use it. It's similar to when you ascended to an Alicorn state, but everyone's experiences are different." Twilight's eyes widened, "How could you know about that? We only just met!" Chandra butt's in, "Because he's a good-for-nothing blue mage bastard who takes pleasure in knowing everyone secrets." I narrow my eyes at her, "You're not the only dangerous one here, Chandra." She just hmphs and crosses her arms. I turn back to Twilight, "It's because I looked through all of your memories, along with your friends as well. I needed to know incase of a misunderstanding." Twilight looked shocked more than anything, "But... But that's an invasion of privacy!" Chandra just laughs, "He could do a lot worse than that if he wanted to." "Destroying someone's memories and life isn't something I take pride in, unlike you." "In my defence, the ones I do kill tend to either get in my way, or are incredibly annoying." She says, emphasizing the "annoying" towards me. "And yet, look where I got us. I'm the one who will get us out of this plane, and you'll thank me later." "That doesn't mean I trust you!" She exclaim in my face as we both stop walking to face one another. "I'm having to tag along with the man who has turned others to mindless shells! I am the one worse off here! I didn't choose to be here! And I bet if you had it your way, we would be stuck here for several dozen lifetimes just so you can so your stupid thing of reading every book in the largest library you can find! I DON'T WANT TO BE STUCK HERE, AND IF I HAD A CHOICE, I WOULD HAVE KILLED YOU WHEN I ARRIVED HERE!" Her hair was ablaze by this point, and I could see the fire barely contained behind her eyes. There was no use in arguing. "...You're right." I say, surprising her a little. "I know you feel like a caged animal, and are fed up of being treated like dirt... I can't say I've felt pain, and anger like yours... But I know being treated like a mindless animal is one of the worst experiences I know, and I'm sorry. I should be staying level-headed, and get us through this, and not be trading petty insults... I'm sorry." Chandra calmed down considerably, and began to cool down, her hair extinguishing in the process. For the first time, I can see the fire in her eyes calm, no longer thrashing, burning violently, or trying to escape, but just calm. Like an average campfire. Dangerous, but calm, and delivering in warmth. "...I've still got my eye on you." We start walking again in silence. Not even Twilight broke the silence, I could tell she knew to keep quiet. She knew to let matters like these calm down on their own, but it didn't change the fact that there are six anxious ponies in front of me, and all these arguments just make it worse. ...I think I might be getting a soft spot for these ponies... Author's Note If you didn't know already, Chandra is easy to anger. I KNOW RIGHT? WHO WOULD'VE GUESSED!
Chapter three: Setting up ShopChapter three We all arrived at the Ponyville library with the same silence following us since the short argument. We got plenty of stares through town, not that I care. Probably the only thing stopping someone from calling the Royal Guard is that Twilight and her friends are with us, otherwise, I would have to deal with some tedious politics, and possibly a fight. "Golden Oaks library. Ponyvilles only real source of historical, scientific, and magical knowledge." I announce to Chandra, who is cautiously standing next to me, "And is a tree, so watch yourself." Chandra doesn't reply, she only continues to stay stoic, and keeps her arms crossed. I inwardly sigh at her. Twilight opens the door for us, and we all walk in, Chandra nudging me out of the way. "Right then. I'm going to need every magic, and magic history book in this library, and I need you to make sure Spike doesn't freak out, and yes, you can write to Celestia if you wish." I think for a moment, then make a dismissive wave of my hand. "Nevermind, I know where all the books are anyway." I ignore any expressions, or looks passed my way and immediately begin to telekinetically stack all the books on magic in the library in the center of the room, and begin reading the first one. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ I shake my head dumbfoundedly. "What... Just what... Chandra seems to notice my musings, "He's always been like that, always will. And I still hate him, the memory-pruning bastard." I look to face her, who is now leaning on the wall with her forelegs crossed. "Why do you hate him so much?" I ask. She glares at me, but quickly starts looking into the distance again. "I may have helped him on occasion, but you can never tell whose side he's on. One minute, he's a member of a prestigious guild of Ravnica, the next he's doing tasks for the scum of the city. And he doesn't do assassinations, he wipes memories, searches them, twists them, and I swear he did something to me once, he must have just wiped my memory so I can't remember." She looks down to me, "I don't trust him, I don't like being around him, and he's always in some sort of trouble. And now, I'm stuck with him. Does that answer your question?" I avert my eyes to the floor to avoid her glare. "She's so aggressive, not much different from Gilda even. But the other one, Jace, seems calm and logical, so it can't be to do with the species. But they did say they were born in different places, so perhaps cultural influence is the reason?" "...Chandra?" I ask, lifting my head to meet her gaze, which glared back at me, "If you don't mind me asking... Why are you so... Angry all the time?" "She's a red mage, they tend to be very expressive emotionally, and are quite passionate towards activities they like." We both turn our gaze to Jace, who still had his head in a book, "Chandra also had some experiences in her past that made her the way she is." Chandra glared at him, "What do you know about that?!" she says through clenched teeth. "Nothing at all except that your childhood was a great influence in your personalities development." Jace explains simply as he flips a page of the book he was reading. Chandra seems to relax a little, but still glares at him. "Then keep it that way you escort." Jace rolls his eyes, "You know I don't care for petty insults Chandra." She just harrumphs and, goes back to leaning back on the wall with her forelegs crossed. They both seem uncooperative, but maybe if I can find some common ground between us, she might open up a little? "So... Do you have any friends?" She doesn't seem to react at first, but eventually starts to speak. "No. Don't need them. They either get in your way, or stab you in the back. If fine without friends, thank you." My mouth hung a little agape. She doesn't have any friends?! She wasn't just refusing the possibility of making friends, she was blatantly disregarding friendship as a whole! How could anypony be so bitter? "Not even work colleagues? Family?" Her face didn't change expression, nor her gazes direction, "I have no "Colleagues", and my entire family is dead." "...She's all alone... She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, "...They died thousands of years ago. I don't care anymore." So that explains- wait, thousands of years?! Exactly How long is their lifespan?! "Thousands of years?! Exactly how old are you?" I ask, just able to form my words after I regained control of my gaping mouth. She actually gives a genuine laugh, "I lost count of the years a long time ago. Let's just say... Around ten thousand years? Give or take." She opens her eyes, "And Jace here is about the same age as me, although I think I'm a little older than him." "Oh really?" Jace asks rhetorically. "Yeah, really." Chandra replies back in equally rhetorically. A new, yet unencountered race that has alpha individuals with the ability to travel inter-dimensionally, and live for possibly indefinite amounts of time. My head... "Does your species normally live this long?" I ask now the tension in the room has died down since before. Jace speaks up without lifting his head from a book he was reading, now different to the one he was reading before, "No, the average lifespan of a human lies between seventy, to ninety years depending on living conditions." Jace flips a page, "Planeswalkers can live for indefinite periods of time, can change their physical form, don't need to eat or sleep, and can't be killed by diseases, natural causes, or even most forms of dismemberment." To say I was amazed by this information would be an understatement. They were practically immortals, and they are older than even Celestia! The selection of "Planeswalkers" must be a natural magical phenomena, since such things could never be achieved through evolution. I need to write about this to Celestia, she will be fascinated about this I'm sure! I just wonder why the girls haven't asked anything yet, they seem awfully quiet... In fact they haven't said anything since we got here. I take a brief look around to see they were all still near the doorway, talking to one another, and occasionally glancing at Chandra and Jace. I walk over to them and sit down on the floor next to everypony else. "So?" Rarity asks. I raise an eyebrow in question, "So what?" Rarity momentarily facehoofs, "So, what are they like? Dangerous? Aggressive? Pony eaters?" She asks with dramatic abbreviation. I just roll my eyes, "No, they're nothing like that... Well, Chandra is a bit aggressive-" "I knew they were up to no good! We must get the Canterlot guard here immedia-" Applejack sticks a hoof in Rarity's mouth. "You ignore her sugarcube, what else?" "Despite that they are potentially dangerous, they mean no harm. I learned a bit about Chandra, and she has her reasons behind being so... Edgy." Applejack removes her hoof from Rarity's mouth, "Eugh! Did you really have to do that?" "Yup." Everyone says in unison. Rarity just harrumphs. "Well, Celestia is the oldest pony in Equestria. Maybe she had some dealin's with their lot before?" Applejack suggests. "Maybe, but she isn't the oldest pony in Equestria now." "What'ya mean by that Twi? Everypony knows Celestia is over two thousand something years old! Who could be older that that?" Dash asks with a raised eyebrow. I sigh, "They are." "What?!" Everypony exclaims confusedly. *Sigh* I guess I should explain. I explain what I had learned, clearing up a few misconceptions by Rainbow thinking they were immortal, and I had to clarify that they were near-immortal. Although, they are so near-immortal that I suppose there isn't much of a difference anyway. "But you still haven't told us why Chandra is so... Grouchy." Rainbow says. I sigh, "...Let's just say she's had a rocky past." Rainbow's face scrunches up a little in irritation, but soon gave in. "Ugh, fair enough." There was an awkward silence. "Well ah had best get back to tha' farm. Can't be layzin' off now." Applejack cuts in after a while. "Yes, and I have some orders to fill too, so I had best be off as well." Everypony nods and makes their way to leave. "Oh! Twilight! Don't forget to send that letter to the Princess, I'm sure she would be really interested in Chandra and Jace! They seem like nice ponies." Pinkie says before she leaves, surprisingly leaving out most of the jibbering that usually happens when she talks, not that anypony is complaining. I nod, "Yes, I'll get that done now. Bye Pinkie!" I close the door and take a glance over at the two humans. Jace was on his seventh book by the looks of things, and Chandra was just leaning on the wall in exactly the same position as before with her eyes closed. I make my way over to the small desk I use for writing, and levitate a quill and dip it in some ink while pulling out a piece of parchment. Dear Princess Celestia... Author's Note *Whew* I just about managed to get this out in time. Hopefully the dialogue isn't too dry, as I was trying to make this more of a personality-developing chapter to set the basis of what Chandra is like in this story. Now granted, she isn't exactly like she is in the comics, and she may now be like you envision her, but this is the way I see Chandra anyway. Cautious, fiery, stubborn but not stupid, and playful if you catch her in a good mood. Of course, she is mature (Obviously, she's bloody ancient), but just because you're old and mature, doesn't mean you can't have fun :P I'll probably do some similar character-development for Jace soon too, but thats still in the future. I nearly missed my deadline for this, but I hope that it's an entertaining chapter. (At least a little bit maybe?)
