Celestia frowned. Before her was the kneeling form of a dark blue earth pony stallion, but she kept her guard up. With a vision few knew she possessed, she looked at his aura, the other colors washing away. But he was surrounded by an enormous rippling blue aura, moving in simple, if unpredictable ways.
No other being should have an aura like this, but here he was. She sighed, and closed her eyes, releasing her spell, and the colors flew back to the world. "So," She began. "You wish to meet with a tyrant who many believe is dead, and you think that I can just summon him like a mundane servant."
The stranger simply nodded, and Celestia sighed. "After all these years, I thought I would be done with your kind. Very well, Mind Artist... I shall take you to the dragon's cave." She said, reservedly. "Shining!" She called out, summoning her captain of the guard. "I need you to prep the carriage. And to ready Drakewing and Firestorm."
"You highness?" He began, inquiringly, before he was cut off.
"Now, Shining." Celestia said, leaning down and smiling at the young soldier. "This is incredibly important. Make haste." Shining nodded, and ran from the room, giving Mind a strange glance, before shaking his head and running off.
"You are godess of the sun, yet they question you." Mind noted, drawing a harsh glare from Celestia. He shrugged. "My only confusion comes from your lack of punishment. How you manage to retain control is beyond me."
Celestia kept her disdaining frown for a moment, before a smile cracked her face. "You do not understand the power of faith, outsider." She said, standing from her throne. "We should begin our walk. Drakewing and Firestorm live on the other end of the castle, and the walk is not brief." Mind nodded, and followed her out of the chamber, down towards the royal hangar, and awaiting chariot.
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"Who dares approach the Elder Mountain?" the lone mountain boomed, causing tremors in the nearby areas. Mind could see a few avalanches form in the wake of the shaking, and he smiled slightly.
"Celestia Solaris of the Sun, and an accompanying friend," Celestia called back, and the mountain shook again.
"Ah, Celestia, my dear. It's been far too long. Please, come in." With that, a large boulder slid out of the way, and the two ponies walked into the opening. In the darkness, the two could just barely make out the shape of the enormous dragon. "Now then, Daughter of Faust, who do you bring to my presence today? It isn't every century I get a visitor, after all," his voice, now much quieter, said.
"He calls himself Mind Artist, but I'm almost certain that it is an alias," Celestia replied, before Mind stepped forward.
"You are Nicol Bolas, Elder Dragon of Dominaria and Planeswalker. Is this correct?" The blue pony asked, watching as the long, snakelike dragon uncoiled himself.
"Not many know my full title, and even fewer live here. Tell me, little one, why you have come here," The dragon commanded, power laced into his very words. "Have you come to slay me? To bind me here, and let me rot? To take my knowledge and power, and to rule the multiverse with it?"
"To bring you before the council, to face charges for crimes you have committed across the multiverse." At that, Mind began glowing with blue energy. "I have been authorized to use any amount of force deemed necessary. Though they'd rather have your body as well as your mind."
At that, the dragon laughed, a loud, booming sound. "Ah, and with that, your disguise is broken, Mind Artist." At that, Mind cocked his head. "Tell me, little blue one, did you ever meet another who was a kindred spirit? A Mind Sculptor, perhaps?" At that, Mind stiffened. "Oh yes, Jace, I know who you are. Your disguise was just flimsy enough to fool these equines, but to fool the last of the elder dragons? You must have lost your touch."
"Enough, Bolas!" Mind shouted, his physical features distorting. "You will face the charges, and judgement shall be passed."
Bolas only chuckled lightly. "Now now, Jace. No need to be so aggressive against an old friend, right? After all, I am your elder by millennia, give an old dragon some peace and quiet. And don't lie to your elders; We're old enough to see right through them." He added, waving his hand, and Jace's transformation spell failed, his body reverting to it's original proportions, along with the cloak.
Jace immediately took on a defensive stance, raising his hands in preparation to cast a spell, yet Bolas just waved his claw dismissively. "You have no power here, Jace Belren." Jace looked at his hands, confused. "This cave was built as a mockery of those crypts in Zendikar." Bolas said, waving a claw and drawing a hedron from within the depths of the cave. Jace smirked, and tried to cast ghostfire, only to have the spell fizzle and die. "I said a mockery, Jace, not a replica. No magic exists here, save that of the native population." He motioned with his claw towards the recently forgotten solar deity. "Celesita, if you'd please."
Slowly, Celestia's horn flickered to life, and a light was cast in the dark chamber. "I carved these myself, you know? Sorin's Geomancer wasn't too pleased with my work elsewhere, so he forced me to make these myself." Jace shook his head, and Bolas sighed. "You wouldn't understand, anyway, little Belren. Eternity is fun, for a few million years. Then, sometimes, you just want to take a break. I'll return to the scene of the action, but not until there's enough out there for me to learn something new.
"You mean like Karn?" Jace blurted out, and Bolas' eyes narrowed.
"The silver golem? What of him?" Bolas inquired, mildly interested.
"Karn was going to cut you a deal."
"A deal? That machine, bargaining with an elder dragon?" Bolas shouted. "Don't make me laugh."
"It might hold some pertinence to you, seeing as all your domains are in jeapordy."
At this, Bolas' head whipped down, so that he could stare eye-to-eye with the human. "A dragon never takes threats against their domain well, Jace Belren. Explain to me why I shouldn't just kill you where you stand." Bolas demanded, his tone dead flat.
Jace took a step back and smirked. "Karn, if you recall, was Urza's prodigal project. But, to bring life to the otherwise dull automaton, Urza used a phyrexian heart. Karn becomes a planeswalker during the mending, and..."
"We all know the story, Jace. Now, get on with the point." Bolas said, waving his claw.
"There's an art, to storytelling, I'll have you know. Now, let's fast forward to a few decades ago. Memnarch, guardian of Karn's plane, goes insane, and tries to ascend to planeswalkerhood. This is stopped by Glissa Sunseeker, Slobad, and Bosh. Years after, Phyrexians engulf the plane, and the world is converted to a new Phyrexia, while Karn is trapped in a trance. Venser gives his planeswalker spark to Karn, cleaning Karn's phyrexian heart."
"And then the good guys flee Mirrodin and leave it to the phyrexians. What is the problem there?" Bolas stated, growing weary of the tale.
"Mirrodin had to have come into contact with phyrexia somehow before it could have converted. What is phyrexia's main contaigon?"
"The black oil."
"And what leaks the oil?"
"Everything made by the phryexians. Why the pop quiz on phyrexian subculture?" Bolas demanded, and was ignored.
"Who made Karn's heart?"
"The phyrexians..." Bolas whispered realizing what was coming next.
"And Karn, curious like you, visited thousands of planes during his years. Many of which you own. And his heart was leaking the whole time." Jace concluded.
Bolas leaned back, and put a claw to his chin. "And what kind of deal was the silver golem going to cut me?"
"He would clear your name, if you help him scour the multiverse for the black oil."
Bolas laughed, and then stepped forward. "Well, we would have little time, then, don't we." He said, flaring his wings. Then, remembering something, he kneeled, and gently caressed Celestia's cheek. "You served well, my little keeper. I free you from my service, and I hope we meet again." She shuddered, and nodded, before turning and leaving the cave.
Jace quirked an eyebrow, and Bolas shrugged. "So what, I did a good deed for the day. Maybe this plane's overabundance of white mana is starting to get to me." He stood again, and motioned for Jace to follow. "Now, come walk with me for a moment."
Jace followed the elder dragon from the cave, and Bolas made a wide sweeping motion with his arms. "This world has appealed to the peaceful drake within me. As much as it sickens me to admit, I'm going to miss the peace of this world." With that, Bolas snapped his fingers, and a massive blast of planar magic erupted. "Let us be off, to save the multiverse then." He said, motioning Jace towards the planar rift.
Neither of them noticed the oil that dripped from Jace's boot.
"What's this?"
Author's Note
Dun dun dun..! 
I found that I had some time on my hands, so I decided to write this. I hope you all enjoyed, even if it wasn't great.
A change, and not for the better.
Twilight re-read the letter. Then she read it again. Something just wasn't feeling right about it.
Just a few minutes ago, Twilight had received a letter from her mentor. It read:
Twilight,
Please come see me in the Canterlot castle immediately.
Your mentor,
Celestia.
Twilight shook her head, trying to shake the grim feeling. Her teacher needed her, so she would go. "It can only be so bad, can it?" She asked herself, trying to raise her morale.
Oh how wrong a naive young princess could be.
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The castle was eerily silent as Twilight passed through the golden gate. That, and there wasn't a guard in sight, which was worrying on its' own. "Hello?" Twilight called warily.Much to her dismay, nopony answered. Slowly, she passed down the hallways, heading towards the royal chamber. The longer she was in the empty citadel, the greater her sense of foreboding grew.
This was much different than her weekend trips to the Everfree castle, where the silence was serene; This was torturous. There should be hundreds of ponies scuffling about, but right now, there was hardly a mouse to disturb the pristine silence. There was only the sounds of her hoofsteps and her breathing to keep her company, which led the fortress down a spiral into a whole new dimension of eerie.
Finally, she had reached the twin doors which led to the princess' throne room. These too, were unguarded, which usually meant that the room beyond was empty, but if Celestia is as punctual as is believed, then she would surely be beyond these brazen doors. Slowly, Twilight pushed the door open, and was comforted by the sight of Celestia sitting serenely on her throne.
"Princess Celestia," Twilight stated, relieved to see her mentor safe. "What's going on here?" She asked, itching to know the answer.
"Ah, Twilight, You're here. Good," Celestia said, completely dodging the question as if it hadn't been asked. "I bet you are wondering about the summons. This," Celestia stated, motioning towards a glass jar filled with oil, "Is why. I summoned you here to further your education."
"This jar contains a magic substance which will transform your body. We simply call it "The Black Oil." I summoned you here so that you can further your knowledge."
"But what does it do?" Twilight asked slightly curious.
"It is not the question of what it does, but the fact that it does. Don't worry, the change is painless, and then you can join us." Celestia stated, her eyes slowly boring into Twilight's own pair.
Twilight stood motionless for a few moments, conflicted. Celestia has never misled me before... But this is strangely reminiscent of the wedding... Twilight thought, holding her position. "I'd like to study it first, If that's alright," Twilight said warily.
"You can have all the time in the world to study it after you expose yourself to it." Celestia said, coldly.
That was the key that Twilight needed. This wasn't her mentor; Her mentor would always be willing to let Twilight experiment. "I think I should leave," Twilight said, uncertainly, backing away slowly. "I need some time to think this over."
Celestia glared down at Twilight, her eyes cold and expressionless. "But Twilight," She said, her voice disconnected and cold. "Isn't the pursuit of knowledge the most noble goal?" She added, her voice warbling in pitch and tone. As she stood, Twilight started to notice other changes between this creature and her beloved leader.
After all, her beloved teacher had fur, not a strange, cracked porcelain body plating. Nor did thick, viscous oil leak from her tear ducts. "Who are you?" Twilight cried, pleading with a cracked voice.
"Do you not remember your own mentor?" Not-Celestia taunted, oil oozing out of her mouth, dribbling down her chin. The impostor rose, and slowly approached the paralyzed Twilight. "Maybe the warm embrace of your loving mentor will help," She drawled, drawing closer with stiff, jerky motions. "Wouldn't that be nice? A comforting presence, and your memories, if only you would join us."
"Yes," Moaned a cadre or guards which had suddenly surrounded the purple princess. "Join us..." As she glanced at the crew, she realized that they all had the same porcelain skins and jerky, marionette motions. The worst part: She had known a few of these once-noble soldiers, before they changed. Before they became these mindless... things.
Realizing her fate, she shouted "No," and quickly teleported. She didn't aim, but she moved as fast as she could. Before any of the guards or Not-Celestia could cast a counterspell, Twilight had vanished in a flash of light.
Only to reappear above the throne Not-Celestia had recently been sitting on. With an "Umph," she fell into the once proud seat. As one, the impostors turned, and Twilight shook her head to clear the recent fuzz from teleporting. "Now now, Twilight," Not-Celestia cooed. "No need to run."
With those words, Twilight stood up, and stepped forward, challengingly. "Now listen here, you fiend," Twilight spat, reaching her hoof forward. "You will tell be where Princess Celestia is, and I'll spare all of your horrific lives." Not-Celestia only laughed. "I mean it," Twilight shouted, fighting to hold her composure. "Tell me!" She shouted, slamming her hoof down.
The group stopped their slow chuckle, and only stared at her. Twilight then heard the sound of doors opening, and she saw even more fallen guard pour into the room, filling it with a sea of porcelain faces. "Your fate is sealed," they all say, a perfect choir. "Join us," They finish, before slowly advancing on the now surrounded princess.
"No... No... Stay back," Twilight protests, yet they advance heedlessly. "No!" Twilight shouts as they surge forward, and she casts another rapid teleportation spell, this one with far more power.
The next thing she hears is the silence. Normally, it would be suspenseful, but after that moaning chorus, Twilight finds peace and safety. Slowly, Twilight cracks her eyes open, and she finds herself on the outskirts of the Everfree forest. An apt location if there ever was. And thankfully, she was on the outer edge near ponyville.
"Maybe something in the library will be able to help me," Twilight said, optimistically, as she began stumbling in the direction of her home town.
Oblivious to the oil sticking to her hoof.
Author's Note
Well, turns out I had some time to write after another exam, so I went ahead and churned this out. Hope it's alright.
