Planeswalker Chronicles

"Incredible!" a voice breathed in awe, the anesthesia dulling Twilight's sense of pain as she lay strapped to an operating table, her barrel cut open and her innards being examined. "A sapient creature practically built to manipulate mana. Even a means of self-generating and storing colorless mana. Not only that, but converting it into any of the five colors! This creature could be a living fossil of some long extinct species."

"Imagine the possibilities!" another voice, this one female, said. "This horse could be the key. We could finally create the ultimate life form."

"It'll take a lot of work, but it'll all be worth it," the first voice said. "At long last, the work of the Simic will be vindicated. Even after the atrocities of Momir Vig. His creation was too large and ultimately too limited. But with a living template to work with, we can build upon that work, correct the mistakes that led to his failure."

Ultimate life form? What were they talking about? Who was Momir Vig? Just what were these people planning. Twilight was unable to reach for her magic, not drugged as she was under such a heavy sedative. She wondered if she was barely conscious by design or mistake. Even so, she refused to even glance at her open barrel and see her organs, fearful of how she might react to the sight.

"Magically she is powerful, but physically frail. We must focus upon her body." The sound of tools being shifted around reached Twilight's ears. "Secondary and even tertiary organs, enhanced senses, accelerated healing. But it's not enough to make her robust."

"She has to embody our ways," the female spoke. "She must be able to adapt and evolve. Such is what it truly takes to be the ultimate life form."

"We'll begin at once," the male decided.

Surgeries and tests. Flashes of all the cruel experiments of these creatures. Twilight could only keep sane by counting days. Days spent in either a lab, forced to run until she dropped exhausted, or forced to stand under weight that grew heavier and heavier until she suspected that Big Macintosh would crumble under it.

Twilight screamed in agony, tears streaming from her eyes as she felt her organs being tampered with, blood vessels added and redirected.

"Incredible. She's already adapting more and more quickly to more powerful and higher doses of anesthesia," the Head noted as he worked to merge a third liver into Twilight's body. Once it was in place and functioning, he gestured for another dose of anesthesia to be injected into Twilight's body. Her screams quieted for the moment as her pain dulled again.

"The pain lets her know she still lives," the Aide noted as she gently rubbed Twilight's mane in attempt to soothe her. In the mare's open mouth were the beginnings of her front teeth mutating into incisors and canines. "Just hang in there, dear. The interior additions are nearly done."

A second heart, an extra pair of lungs, strengthened stomach acids, two more livers and two more sets of kidneys. Worst of all was the chosen mechanism by which she was granted accelerated healing abilities. It required making her into an... an omnivore.

"Eat, dear. You must eat in order to heal," the Head said gently as he watched Twilight hold her bleeding foreleg against her barrel as she sat on her haunches with a broken hind leg. "Without extra biomass, you cannot heal quickly."

Twilight sobbed as her survival instinct forced her to bite into the raw meat, blood squirting onto her tongue. Her newer taste buds found the taste delectable, but her herbivorous mindset caused her to nearly spit it out and hurl. Fighting the gag reflex down, she slowly chewed the flesh and swallowed it. She choked back a sob as she saw how much meat was left in front of her. Felt how her palate craved more. Closing her eyes, she bit into the meat again.

Bite by bite, the slain beast was consumed. Muscle, organs, and bones alike. With each bite, Twilight felt her legs mend themselves with what she consumed. Even after she healed, she kept eating, feeling her muscles and bones become denser as the biomass was compacted into her body. She even licked up the blood on the dish, drawn to the iron in it. The next time she was maimed, she healed immediately.

Again and again her bones fractured and healed, her flesh repeatedly torn and mended. Scars healing and fading. Each cycle making her body stronger and stronger. Pitted against creatures she never thought possible. Giant fanged frogs that sought to devour her, only to be devoured from within. Serpents that tried to crush her only to be torn apart themselves.

Phantom sensations of limbs gained and lost. Adaptation after adaptation. Would it ever end? She had lost all hope of rescue. No one would come for her. Her friends and loved ones a world away, thinking her dead anyway. She was on her own. She could rely only on herself. Day by day, her thoughts and senses became clearer. Memories resurfaced after dormancy under the sedatives she was given. Until finally... a singularity.

Fluid. Warm fluid. Like she was floating in her mother's womb again. Though her eyes remained shut, Twilight's ears were sharper. Adapted to hearing through the amniotic fluid like substance she floated in. Tiny twitches to adjust her range, she finally made out words.

"It's incredible! In mere months we have accomplished what took Momir Vig years to do, and the results are looking far better." That head researcher that she had come to detest. "His Kraj was conspicuous, obviously a threat. But our creation is unassuming. None suspect what lies below the surface."

"Truly we have surpassed Vig in every way." The female that was the head's assistant. A calm voice, even compassionate. But Twilight wasn't fooled. Not anymore. She had learned of the callous indifference beneath the exterior. Her body felt so foreign now. The scientist in her admired the changes. But the pony in her was horrified. She wondered if she could even be called a pony anymore.

"And to think it was the Firemind's lapdog that made all this possible!" the head researcher boasted. "The Simic reach our magnum opus by the hands of the Izzet. Perhaps now Niv-Mizzet can be put in his place at last. That vain, self-important dragon won't see it coming."

Niv-Mizzet. Master of the Izzet League. Frenzied engineers. Mad thinkers. And the guild of... him! Twilight's heart and mind filled with rage as she was reminded of her foolishly placed trust. She was so easily deceived. He had caused her to become a monster. Her horn slowly began to glow for the first time in months as her magic asserted itself upon her cocoon. With an application of will, Twilight tore the cocoon apart and landed noisily on her hooves, drawing the attention of all the scientists.

"Get another cocoon! Subject Equs is loose!" An anonymous researcher called.

"Quiet!" The Head snapped quickly before looking at Twilight. "Let us marvel at the fruit of our labor!"

"Fruit... of your labor?" Twilight's voice was raspy from lack of use, but she slowly opened her eyes, pupils slitted vertically. She looked around slowly, fluid dripping from her body. "Do explain."

"For generations, we of the Simic Combine have labored to breed creatures able to survive the heartless city that Ravnica has become. The acts of the late Momir Vig made our efforts more difficult, but thanks to Ral Zarek, we have finally succeeded. From your body's humble template, we have created something greater than even Experiment Kraj. The ultimate life form. A creature that can adapt to any environment."

"So I'm just the end result of your experiments," Twilight muttered, her eyes traveling over the man's body. "What becomes of me now that your experiments are complete?"

"Oh our experiments aren't over yet, they're just beginning!" the Head answered with a smile. "Now that you are lucid, the serious testing can begin!"

Twilight watched him begin discussing plans with his colleagues, her ears picking up snippets that proved definitively what she had long known. These creatures... They care nothing for me. She looked down at her hooves, now concealing sets of five clawed fingers each in the forehooves, complete with thumbs. She clenched her new fists as she frowned. Is that what was intended for me? To be some laboratory specimen? She felt power come to her from the small islands deep within the sinkhole, her irises beginning to glow blue as she felt another power from further away. Even a plane away, she felt the deep power of the Canterhorn. Her eyes shifted from glowing blue to glowing deep purple. Large containers of liquid around the lab began to slowly crack as Twilight began to focus her power. I won't be a lab rat. Glass shattered as she made her decision.

Ecaban had seen a lot of disgusting things in his time with the Boros, but this took the cake. An entire Simic laboratory slaughtered. He knew they prided themselves on their bred creatures, and some even thought it a good thing to be devoured by their creations. But this? These people were perforated with glass, burned alive, splattered against the walls, and otherwise magically mutilated. They had been murdered. "Talk to me, hussar. What have you got?"

"Aside from the multitude of dead bodies missing most of their body parts?" Mirela asked, lifting her pure white robe away from her boots as she stepping around some puddles of blood before pointing at the head researcher's body, impaled against the wall on a sword made of glass. "Seems like he was the most hated target. And it appears the sword is made from the glass in this lab. Melted down, shaped, and cooled, with a telekinetic shell to reinforce it." She sighed as she looked around another area, the runes carved into her armor pieces glowing blue along with her eyes, which stood out under her hood.

Ecaban nodded and sighed as he looked through notes, brushing aside some bones that were in his way as he looked for anything not stained in blood, his armor, decorated with the sun motif of his guild audibly shifting around as a few finger bones were crushed under his foot. "I know the Simic aren't popular with some people, but who did they piss off enough to get an entire lab's worth of biomancers slaughtered?"

"Of that I am uncertain," Mirela answered as she joined him in searching through the notes. "If we don't find something, their guildmaster is not going to be happy." She stumbled upon notes that were different from the rest. Simic always prided themselves on meticulous, easily read notes. This was written in haste, perhaps not long before the writer died. "Perhaps this will give a clue."

"What did you find, Mirela?" Ecaban asked as he walked over to the smaller woman and looked over her shoulder.

"I told you not to call me by name when we're on duty," Mirela lightly scolded. "We have to maintain professionalism here."

"Yes yes. Professionalism. Keep first name basis to off duty in the walls of our home," Ecaban recited, giving his wife a cheeky grin. They had been the talk of the district for quite a while. Even a tad controversial some would say. A Boros legionnaire marrying an Azorius hussar? Unheard of! With his eagerness to fight criminals directly and her preference for more methodical investigations and looking at the big picture, many thought the marriage wouldn't last. But they had somehow managed to make it work. "So what is it?"

"Seems to be a final note from the head researcher shortly before he died," Mirela answered before starting to read aloud.  "We dreamed of creating the ultimate life form... and we succeeded. I haven't got much time. I pray this record of our experiment survives. Six months ago we were approached by Ral Zarek of the Izzet League about a discovery he had made. Something that could be revolutionary. He showed us a creature he had discovered, it was-" Mirela frowned. "Looks like whoever did this didn't want whatever was being done here documented."

"Ultimate life form?" Ecaban asked while glancing around. "They're always claiming their newest krasis is the ultimate life form, I doubt whatever they worked on here is different. Doesn't matter. Whoever did this is either going in a cage or to the ax."

"Agreed," Mirela responded as she set the note down. "I won't let this killer roam free. They must be captured soon."

Twilight's ears twitched in irritation as she listened to the conversation from the upper level. Recapture her? Not on their lives. She silently entered one of the connecting corridors looking for an exit when she heard a voice behind her. "Hey. Where did you come from, little guy?" Her eye twitched. Couldn't even recognize a mare, could he? She played up the scared animal act as she looked up at him, keeping her lips down and over her teeth. "Hey it's okay. I'm not gonna hurt you." She watched him knell down to her level, making himself appear less threatening. She slowly approached him, flinching at unexpected movements. Once she was within arms reach, she made her move.

Ecaban and Mirela were startled out of their concentration by a scream in a nearby corridor that was quickly silenced. Ecaban frowned and drew his sword, raising his shield in front of him and getting back to back with Mirela as she raised her spear, ready to cast spells in support of her husband. "Stay close, Mirela. Looks like whoever did this is still here."

As the pair made their way through the facility, keeping a sharp eye and ear out for the killer, they heard screams from Ecaban's subordinates every few minutes, far enough apart that it was apparent they were being picked off one by one.

"Ecaban..." Mirela voiced, a trace of fear in her tone, "You don't suppose we're dealing with this... ultimate life form, and not some average killer?"

"A sapient krasis?" Ecaban asked. "After what Momir Vig did, why would they allow that? Unless it was made from whatever it was that Zarek offered them?"

"Question is, what did he give them?" Mirela pointed out before they came across a freshly mutilated body. One of Ecaban's subordinates. "Is that...?"

"Jenkins..." Ecaban muttered as he looked at the body. Disemboweled, throat ripped out, looked like some of him had been eaten too. "Not a good way to go." He turned to Mirela with a serious look. "I'm getting you out of here."

"If you think I'll leave you to fight whoever or whatever killed those scientists and your men-" Mirela began before Ecaban cut her off by putting his hand on the swell in her stomach, reminding her that she was with child. "Alright. But just for the baby's sake. You'd better come back alive, Ecaban."

Ecaban nodded and they started moving toward the facility's entrance again, still on the lookout for their mysterious killer. Once they were in sight of the entrance, they picked up the pace, as much as Mirela's pregnancy would allow. "If I'm not back in an hour, send in reinforcements." Mirela nodded and kissed him before heading outside and leaving Ecaban alone. Once she had placed a barrier over the entrance, he started working his way back into the facility, slowly moving and keeping his eyes and ears sharp as he carefully searched.

As he searched, he found more Boros corpses, all stripped of meat. He growled at the thought of his men being eaten by whatever he was seeking. Or was he the one being stalked? His search brought him back to the main lab, where he saw a small purple horse sitting in the middle of the carnage. "An escaped krasis?" He noted the sharp horn on its head, its big, expressive eyes, and the starlike mark on its flanks. "You're rather unique for a krasis."

"Where is Ral Zarek?" Twilight inquired as she looked up at him, getting to her hooves and giggling at his shock.

"You talk?!" Ecaban gasped. "Krasie don't talk!" He leveled his sword at Twilight. "Whatever you are, you're definitely dangerous.

"Good instincts. I can do a lot more than talk." Twilight smirk turned dark before she lunged at his throat with a yell, gasping as she was run through on his sword.

Ecaban grunted in surprise at how heavy Twilight was and threw her aside, watching as her body gouged a small trench in the floor as she landed. His eyes widened as her wound quickly sealed itself, healing in mere seconds. Frowning, he charged and struck again, only for his sword to be repelled by her now thick hide. "Armored hide?!" He knocked back her counterattack with his shield before summoning a massive fire spell and hurling the conflagration at Twilight.

Twilight screamed as the flames cooked her flesh, but quickly quieted as her flesh and lungs healed and her skin adapted again, turning into dragon scales. Running through the flames, she jumped at him and was dodged despite managing to take a bite out of his shield. Chewing the piece, she swallowed it and started circling around Ecaban. "Where is Ral Zarek?!" she demanded through a snarl.

"Don't know what you want with the Firemind's lapdog, but you killed innocent people and my men!" Ecaban shot back. "I'm not letting you go free, murderer."

"These things deserved to die for what they did!" Twilight snapped. "Humans. Vedalken. Elves. They're all the same. You just want to shove me back in a cage and do more experiments! I don't think so! I'm gonna find Ral Zarek, and I'm gonna kill him for what he did!" She growled as she felt her insides shifting around as a new structure grew inside her from the biomass, and leathery wings slowly grew out of her back. "Just try to stop me!" Her eyes glowed red as she unleashed a scream and took off, smashing through the ceiling and out of the facility.

Ral Zarek walked through the Izzet guild hall as his colleagues rushed about preparing tools and gadgets to try against the rogue Simic krasis. He had a feeling in his gut that it was that same horse he'd given them. Of all the things to start raising a ruckus in the city, it had to be that walker. Worse, she was no doubt looking for him, wanting revenge for handing her to the Simic on a silver platter.

He charged up his gauntlet as he exited the guild hall, wondering when she would track him down. He'd heard the rapidly spreading word. That she had already caused hundreds of deaths in her rampage, killing any that stood in her way. Be they civilians, Boros troops, or Azorius arresters. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something flying toward him, a small dragon at first glance. Then he saw the coloration, the hooves, the enraged eyes. Grinning, he blasted her with a strong electrical bolt as he turned and allowed her to crash to the ground, carving a trench as she slowed and became still. "Such a rookie at fighting. Never charge head on," he gloated as he approached the downed dragon horse thing.

"Ah the benefits of a redundant nervous system..." Twilight muttered with a dark grin on her face.

Ral stopped cold. "What?!" He had no chance to react as he was tackled hard down a sewer tunnel toward the undercity. Since there was nobody else around, he decided to try one last trick. Mustering his strength and concentration, he kicked her away from him just before vanishing from Ravnica.

"No you don't!" Twilight snarled as she too jumped into the Blind Eternities.