Into the Colorful Abyss

The town of BattleOn, a relatively peaceful place when it isn’t being ravaged, razed, and invaded by demons, aliens, and ice-cream. In that order, but on relatively peaceful days quite like this one, one of the resident guardians Maxii just loves to lay underneath a well shaded tree. No evil tyrant asserting his/her dominance over Lore, no Intergalactic threats to rally against, and since just recently, definitely no trouble being caused by-

“Shadow wolf!!!” “It’s tearing into my inn!” “Someone stop this thing!” “Splinter! Splinter!! I have a splinter, it’s in my pinkie!!”

Scratch that, Shadow activity still hasn’t completely stopped. Our hero rises from her incredibly comfortable nap underneath her well shade- “Alright, they get it already! Jeez, you make it sound like I DON‘T want to help.” At the moment, the hero wears the Frostvale Mercenary Garb which on top of granting her increased movement and protection from ice, also allows her to break the fourth wall at will much like a mouthy merc would.

The hero makes her way to BattleOn square where the inn keeper, his assistant, the town ranger, and the town treasure hunter are busy fending off a rapidly growing Shadow Wolf. Robina, the green clad ranger, spots the hero as she rushes in for the fight.

“Maxii! This thing is starting to eat up all the wood in BattleOn. Take it down while we evacuate the civilians!”

“On it!” The hero rushes in while unsheathing The Blade of Awe!!! But before any swing could be made the Blade activates Power Word: DIE! And summons the reaper.

“Prepare thyself, for oblivion!” The reaper declared, and rushed the now gigantic shadow wolf. The battle had ended as quickly as it began, and the shadow began to disappear leaving behi- “Hey, is that wood?” I was going to point that out now. “Sorry about that.”  -Sigh- It’s cool. The hero walks towards the remains left by the dissipating shadows and realizes that what was left was a wolf made entirely of wood and leaves.

“Maybe Warlic can tell me something about this golem.” The hero begins walking towards the mage shop (which was surprisingly left intact) and while also switching into her UltraGuardian robes “HEY!” Just covering my bases. Peeved, but not entirely angry, enters the shop to find the town’s Arch Mage already at work.

Warlic, the blue mage, doesn’t stop his work but acknowledges the Guardian nonetheless. “Maxii, It’s good that you‘re here” The hero is caught off guard, but remembers who she is talking to. “Warlic, I’m guessing since you’re here and you weren’t out there you’re probably figuring out which big bad sent that wolf.”

The blue mage finally making eye contact unnerves the hero. It doesn’t help that the news isn’t what she expects. “What attacked the town is not of this world”

“So, the network is still enslaving alien races to do it’s dirty work.”

The blue mage’s expression did not waver at the response but spoke with a worried tone.

“Allow me to re-iterate. What attacked the town is not of this universe, it doesn’t even belong to this dimension.”

The hero, quite shocked and curious, draws closer as Warlic beckons her to the cauldron in his shop.

“Warlic, I don’t think I’m gonna like  what you’re going to say. I can guess that wolf didn’t come from Lore, but please tell me that Shadow did.”

“I’m afraid it didn’t.” The hero swallows hard, expecting the worse.

“Do you remember just before Ultimon was sent back to the Shadow world? His essence had split in hopes that he could at least destroy Lore.”

“Yeah, I remember. He was incomplete after reforming.”

Warlic continued “But as you also remember, multiple rips in reality had been made during his initial conquest” The hero, finally catching on, plays with the though and completes it. “Wait, so what you’re saying is a piece of an all powerful Shadow being escaped to a different…Oh no…Warlic I have to go-” The blue mage raises a hand to silence the now nervous Guardian. “I’ve found the creature’s place of origin and have prepared your equipment.” Warlic hands Maxii a small backpack and continues. “This backpack will allow you to hold all of your equipment and gold and will enable you to use anything you own at will excluding your pets. I’ve also packed enough food and water to last you a year or so.” Maxii, at hearing the words “no pets” and “year” felt just a little uncomfortable. “Wait what do you mean, “year”? And why can’t I take any of my pets!?”

And instead of explaining himself, Warlic decides to open a rather violent portal into the unknown. “I’m sorry I cannot tell you more, but the fate of both Lore and this unknown land rest upon your shoulders! Kamui also left you a parting gift in the backpack!”

And with a slight push on the blue mage’s part, Maxii is sent hurdling into the unknown, angry, disoriented, and very, very worried.

“WAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaarrrrrrliiiiiiiii-”

Canterlot Castle

“…and that is all the news I have to report”  An armored pegasus finishes his round of reports to the co-ruler of Equestria, Princess Celestia.  “Thank you, you are dismissed”

As the guard leaves the now empty throne room, Celestia couldn’t help but sense a magical disturbance in the air around her. “What is going on? And why does the air feel so magically saturated?” She would soon receive her answer in the form of a slight tear in the fabric of time and space which the princess of the Sun could only stare at in horror.

“iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiIIIIIIIIIIIII-OOMPH!! Ow…why‘d I have to land on my-oh, hello there.”

Celestia sat dumbfounded at the being garbed in a strange red robe that landed in front of her, worried if it was hostile, and curious as to why it looked so calm despite having been violently spat out of a tear in reality. “Creature, state your name, purpose, and place of origin.” Maxii, no stranger to royalty, gathered herself, and kneeled as a knight would to her queen. “First and foremost your highness, I come in peace. I am Maxii, a Guardian of BattleOn from the world of Lore. I was sent here to stop a threat to both our worlds. Although, I didn’t expect to meet the royalty so quickly.”

Celestia, surprised at this beings presence and how she acted became quite cautious at the mention of a threat.

“How did you know I was royalty, and what exactly threatens our worlds?”

Maxii only smiled which threw the princess off even more.

“I too follow a queen, it’s second nature to me. And this may be kinda strange but, I don’t suppose you know anything about wolf golems made of wood?”

Celestia could only smile at the being in front of her. “I am no queen, I am a princess and a co-ruler to my people along with my sister who guards the night. The creature you speak of is known as a timber wolf, but I doubt you would have to travel such a ways from your home for mere beast. Though, what I’m curious about is how well you are taking my appearance.”

It was the guardian’s turn to smile, even if it was for but a second.

“I travel with a Shadow Pony  back on my world, so you aren’t really the strangest thing I’ve seen. You are a lot more colorful though, and you’re right. I wouldn’t bother if it was just a golem, but I’m afraid that a very dangerous Shadow has made it’s way to your world from mine via tears in reality which it had created in order to amass an army large enough to take the planet”

The princess lost her smile as well at hearing the Guardian’s final words, but she would be unable to inquire about any of this traveler’s tale.

“As much as it would benefit me in learning more of this impending threat and the pony with which you travel, it is time for me to end my day and for my sister’s night to begin. You are welcome to stay here in the castle and we will be able to continue this conversation in the morning.”

Curious as to what this horned and winged pony ruler means, Maxii follows her into the balcony as the princess of the Sun’s horn begins to glow and forces the Sun to completely lower itself as the moon begins to rise.

“So…see you tomorrow?”  the princess could only smile.