Planeswalker Chronicles

Twilight took in the sight before her from the hilltop. Below her lay a massive lake, rock formations and dragon ribs jutting out of the water. Moored to these points was an intricate web of bridges and platforms that floated on the water's surface, surrounding a large island stronghold. Twilight's training allowed her to sense the blue mana coursing within the island, something she found extra soothing. "Six months on this plane, and only now I'm visiting the Dirgur Stronghold for the first time." Out of habit had she spoken aloud, but she was alone this time. Narset had her own responsibilities to attend to, so Twilight had left Sage Eye Stronghold on her own, to find a skilled blacksmith that Narset spoke highly of. The gentle breeze ruffled her clothes: a pair of loose fitting red pants with a hole for her tail, her feet bare, and a mass of bandages wrapping around her breasts and shoulders to allow her wings freedom of movement if she were to shed the blue cloak that lay draped over her shoulders. And hanging from her waist on either side was what was technically a kama with a folding blade. These weapons however, were more akin to smaller scale scythes. When Narset told her that every member of the clan chose a weapon to train with, Twilight had designed the twin scythes at her waist and the best smith in Sage Eye Stronghold had forged them under her close watch.

Taking a deep breath of the air, she set off down the hill, enjoying the soft feel of the dirt between her toes before that gave way to warm white sand. She gave a smile to the pair of burly men keeping watch over the bridge as she approached. Her friendship with Narset and her draconic appearance had made her something of a celebrity among the Jeskai, but she wasn't about to take advantage of that.

Walking across the bridge, she started exploring, seeing all manner of craftsmen at work either creating or selling their wares. She even saw uneasy trading going on with Abzan merchants and recalled that both the Abzan and the Jeskai made use of the nearby trade route that Narset called the Salt Road. Taking a moment to buy a couple of fresh fish from an aven fisherman, she snacked on them as she kept walking, being in no hurry to find the man she sought. She was knocked from her musing by the impact of bumping into someone.

"Push off! I ain't done nothin' to you!" the irritated sounding man snapped as he pushed Twilight back with surprising strength. Twilight quickly flared her wings to help regain her balance, retracting them as she got a good look at the man: tall and well built with a blood red robe draped over his shoulders and partially covering his otherwise unadorned torso, held closed by a curious looking broach. His pecs and abs were very well defined, and his blue pants were tucked into well made boots. Twilight's nose wrinkled as she smelled alcohol on his breath.

"What are you starin' at?!" the drunk demanded, his left hand tightly gripping a gourd that carried the same alcohol scent as his breath while his right hand curled into a gesture, blue mana swirling around it as the water near the bridge began to roil slightly. Twilight wasn't intimidated and raised her right hand, small magenta flames coming to life around it as red mana gathered around it and her eyes glowed red.

The surrounding people looked on in silent nervousness as the tense standoff continued for several seconds. The drunk then grinned and started laughing, allowing the mana he'd collected to disperse. "I like you already! Not intimidated in the slightest, are you? Just what I'd expect from Narset's pet dragon girl." He took a swig from his gourd as Twilight's flames and mana dispersed and she lowered her hand. "Walk with me."

Twilight looked around the drunk's shop in curiosity. She was quite surprised to discover that he was a blacksmith. The walls were covered in all manner of weapons and tools, but there was a special display case with a broken sword in it. Curious, she approached it and lifted her hand to the glass and pressed her palm against it. Closing her eyes, she let her magical senses extend to peruse the broken blade. Her eyes shot open as she felt the darkness of black mana coming from the blade. Intermingled with the other four colors yes, but black was the dominant one.

"My greatest work," the drunk said from behind her, taking a swig of liquor as Twilight turned to face him. He fixed her with a knowing look as he lowered his gourd. "So tell me. How are things on Ungula?"

Twilight gasped at the question, the realization dawning on her. "You're a planeswalker."

"Correct. I have many names on many different planes. Here on Tarkir I use my birth name, Rodin."

"Wait!" Twilight interrupted. "You're Rodin? You're the master blacksmith that Narset speaks so highly of? You're clearly an alcoholic, so I don't see how you could be a master of any craft as precise as forging."

Rodin took another swig of liquor and grinned. "I've had thousands of years to perfect my craft, pup. I work my forge drunk more often than when I'm sober. I only sober up when I have a really important project. You actually know of me from Ungula's legends. Ever heard of Aesir the Watcher?"

"Aesir the Watcher?" Twilight took a step back as she stared at him. "The same Aesir that showed the Royal Sisters how to bind Tirek, and created Tartarus and Cerberus?" She shook her head. "That happened thousands of years ago. You can't be that same Aesir. It's impossible!"

Rodin let out a laugh as he fell back into a chair, finally getting his laughter under control. "You're a little late to the planeswalker party, pup. Up until a few years ago we planeswalkers weren't just people that can travel the Multiverse. No. The most accurate term for us back then was god." He grinned widely. "We didn't age, we could shapeshift, we didn't need to eat or sleep, there was no limit to how much knowledge we could memorize, and we had the raw power to create entire planes." His grin faded to a smirk. "I'm old, pup. Very old. I was there when your princesses were born. I was there when your nation was first coming together. I've lived a very long life, pup. Around 20,000 years to be exact."

Twilight looked into Rodin's eyes as he spoke. She was no lie detector like Applejack, but she didn't sense any deceit from his gaze. He was being honest. "So. How did we lose all that godlike power?"

"The Mending." Rodin took a extra long drink, frowning in disappointment when he noticed the gourd was empty. "About ten years ago, there was a crisis on a plane called Dominaria. A series of time rifts were threatening to tear the plane apart. Normally I wouldn't have cared about the destruction of a single plane beyond the potential loss of knowledge and relics. But Dominaria is the nexus of the entire Multiverse. Its destruction would mean the destruction of every other plane, and the Multiverse would basically reset. Me and a few other planeswalkers managed to get the rifts sealed, but the Mending was triggered as an unforeseen side effect." A gesture brought a full gourd to Rodin's hand and the cork came loose, letting him take a swig. "The Mending sealed every time rift in the Multiverse, big and small. But more importantly, it altered the fundamental nature of the planeswalker spark. The shock of this alteration killed most of us, I'm one of the few that survived." He took another swig of liquor. "Since then, we planeswalkers are mortal, we lost most of our arcane knowledge, planeswalking is tougher now, and we don't have the raw power of gods anymore."

Twilight stared at him in silence, slowly processing what he had just told her. "So... If you're mortal, and as old as you claim, then shouldn't you have aged into dust by now?"

Rodin chuckled. "Sharp. Once I realized I was aging again, I took steps to stop it." He gestured to the broach that held his robe closed. "This broach keeps me from physically aging. Had to use some pretty rare materials to make it." He fixed Twilight with a look. "But enough about me. You haven't answered my question yet. How are things on Ungula? Last I heard, Luna was imprisoned in the moon."

Twilight took a seat in one of the free chairs, her tail slipping through the open lower back. Taking a breath, she began her tale. "Things on Ungula are pretty good. My name is Twilight Sparkle, by the way. I was born in Canterlot and became the personal student of Princess Celestia. Didn't have friends until she sent me to a town called Ponyville to oversee the Summer Sun Celebration. Long story short, Nightmare Moon returned, and me and some girls I befriended blasted her with the Elements of Harmony. Princess Luna rules beside her sister now."

Rodin nodded and took another drink. "How did your spark ignite?"

"Got swallowed whole by a hydra in front of a few of my friends," Twilight said. "That was a year ago."

"And judging by your appearance, I'll bet Ravnica was the first place you planeswalked to. That body of yours has Simic written all over it."

"Yeah. Experimented on for six months."

"Sad to hear that happened to you." Rodin took a drink and looked up as a voice from the front of the shop called his name. "Well, love to chat more, but back to work for me." He stood and gave Twilight a genuine smile. "My door's always open if you want to talk. Catch ya later, pup."

"Twilight."

"Compared to me, you're a pup. Pup will do."

Though she had planned to further explore the stronghold, Twilight found herself standing in Rodin's workshop as he forged a knife, the sun having long set and the moon risen into the sky. She sat in a chair out of Rodin's way as she watched him work, enjoying the heat coming from the forge, and blushing lightly as she caught herself staring at his muscular, sweat coated physique. Despite being constantly inebriated, Rodin's hands were surprisingly steady in every blow, his every movement sure. Had he simply grown used to forging under the influence? In fascination, she watched as the ingot he'd first placed in the forge was beaten into shape, slowly becoming the rough shape of a knife before her eyes. Once the steel was shaped, Rodin set aside his hammer and put the metal through what Twilight vaguely remembered was called heat treatment. Once he was finished with that process, Rodin set the cooled steel aside and started working on another piece of steel, making this one into a curved piece of cylindrical metal with a rounded end. Once it was finished, the knife was picked up and applied to a grindstone, sharpening the cutting edge before Rodin polished the blade and attached a piece of beautiful oak wood to either side of the handle. Finally, the cylindrical piece was polished and welded onto the knife as a hand guard, Twilight realized.

The finished product was a beautiful weapon that also spoke of durable lethality. One could never guess from the craftsmanship that its maker was drunk as he worked.

"I underestimated you," Twilight breathed. "Your craftsmanship is beautiful."

Rodin grinned as he gave the knife a few test swings. "If you think this is good, wait till you see what I can forge sober." He tossed the knife up and caught it by the flat of the blade, holding it out to Twilight hilt first. "A gift to commemorate our friendship."

Twilight smiled and accepted the knife, holding it in her left hand as she gave it some swings. It was very well balanced and easy to manipulate. "Thank you, Rodin," she finally said as she stored the knife in one of her new rune tattoos.

Rodin nodded. "No problem, Twilight." He looked at Twilight's waist. "If you don't mind, I'd like a look at those scythes of yours."

Twilight nodded and handed him her weapons, curious as to the master smith's opinion of them.

Rodin flicked his wrists to swing the blades down and lock them into place before looking them over with both his eyes and his carefully honed magical senses. "Gotta admit. I've been forging weapons for thousands of years, and this is something I've seen before, but not pulled off this well. In the past they were horribly impractical. Great in theory, but never really perfected." He scrutinized the blades closer. "Whoever forged these knows their stuff. But I'm guessing the high end magnetic seals on the pommels and blade hinges are your doing?"

Twilight nodded with pride. "Yes they are! I started as a student of magic back on Ungula, so I'm really good at spellcraft."

Rodin nodded in agreement. "The ones on the blade hinges make up for the blades not being full tang." He flicked his wrists and the blades straightened up, becoming more like swords. "Interesting. Are these meant to be joined at the hilts into a polearm?"

"Yup!" Twilight chirped. "I even designed them to be like magnets. The poles match up if the blades face the same way, so there's no way they won't face away from each other when being joined!"

"Ingenious," Rodin noted with a tone of praise. "I'd say you've got a lot of untapped potential as an artificer." He grinned and handed her the scythes once he folded them back up. "Those scythes are high quality, but not the same as the steel I use."

"What makes it so special?" Twilight asked as she drew her knife and looked at it curiously, wondering what the difference was when they looked alike.

"I melt down dragon scales and add them to the molten steel," Rodin explained. "The result is an extremely sturdy alloy that doesn't sacrifice ease of being worked. And I never found scales better than those of Tarkir's Light Dragons." He sat down with a sigh as he summoned a gourd to his hand and took a swig. "Dromoka hated me. All because I would hunt her brood just to harvest their scales." He took another swig from his gourd. "If I had known that Ugin's death would cause the dragon tempests to stop, I'd have saved him."

"Ugin?"

"Another planeswalker," Rodin said before drinking more liquor. "He was called the Spirit Dragon, and there's no telling how old he was. But he was older than me, and had lived so long that he transcended color entirely, becoming a master of colorless magic. His magic apparently caused the dragon tempests, the storms that Tarkir's dragons formed from fully grown." He drained the gourd and loudly belched. "Nowadays I get dragon scales from a little world called Jund..." He slumped back and went limp, the gourd falling from his hand and rolling across the floor as he peacefully snored.

Twilight called the gourd to her hand and curiously sniffed the opening, recoiling as she winced. "Strong stuff," she muttered as she put it down and put out the forge's fire before gently putting a blanket over Rodin to protect him from the night's chill, tucking it behind his shoulders. Stepping back, she looked at the sleeping man with a small smile. "I'll do something nice for you," she decided as she summoned her cloak from the rune tattoo at her throat and secured it around her shoulders, pulling the hood onto her head and activating the concealment enchantment on the clasp that hid her true appearance and made her look fully human.

After securing her scythes and knife, Twilight sat crosslegged on the floor of the shop and closed her eyes, breathing deeply as she focused, looking deep within herself. After several moments, she found it. The spark in her soul that connected her to the void. Concentrating on that spark, she felt herself being lifted and becoming lighter. Opening her eyes, she found herself floating in the Blind Eternities right outside Tarkir. She smiled at the plane. "I'll get you some dragon scales." Turning away from Tarkir, Twilight ventured out into the void, wondering how difficult Jund would be to find.

After traveling for what felt like maybe minutes, Twilight saw something very strange. A cluster of five planes hovering quite close in the Eternities. Setting her curiosity aside for the moment, Twilight approached the planes, wondering if one of them was Jund. Picking one to enter, Twilight pressed against the divide between reality and Chaos, landing in a crouch right before her nose was assaulted by the stench of death.

Standing up with a hand over her nose, Twilight's eyes widened at the sight that greeted her eyes. Everywhere she looked there was something dead, nothing alive as far as the eye could see, and if not for her constantly evolving immune system she had no doubt that she would already be suffering from the plane's toxic atmosphere. "No dragons in sight. I seriously doubt this is Jund," she muttered, preparing to planeswalk again, only to stop as she heard noise over a hill. Walking to the top, her eyes widened as she beheld a small horde of zombies assailing a pair of humans that were trying to hold them back and out of the remains of a small bunker. But Twilight could tell they would be killed without help.

Gathering red mana, Twilight lifted her left hand as she worked a spell, a tenth of the zombies bursting into magenta flames as her eyes glowed red under her hood. Her flames drew the attention of the zombies, who sensed an easier meal and started rushing at her. Unintimidated, Twilight's hand lit up with more flames that she unleashed in a wave at the undead, who were engulfed and consumed in their singleminded drive to devour this new living creature. One lucky zombie made it through the inferno, only to have its neck grabbed. "Burn to nothing," Twilight muttered before another burst of fire incinerated the zombie. Cutting off the flow of mana, Twilight's eyes lost their glow as the flames died. With a glance to make sure the humans were alright, Twilight turned and walked back the way she came, planeswalking away once she was out of sight.

On a nearby ridge overlooking the altercation stood a well dressed man in a white suit with black pants and black boots. His hands were adorned by white gloves, and his neck covered by a red scarf. He had fair skin, black hair, green eyes, and adorning his head was a red banded black fedora with a white feather. He frowned and lit a cigar with a small fire spell and puffed it as he thought to himself. "This will complicate things..."

Floating in the Blind Eternities, Twilight looked at the five planes before her, hovering next to the land of death she had just departed. "Hm... That plane is saturated with black mana. Five planes, five mana colors. I'll bet each is ruled by one. So going by the arrangement of color agreements and disagreements, then the red and blue planes would be to either side of black. Wonder which one is red." Turning away from the black ruled world, Twilight entered the plane to its left, landing on a cliff jutting out of a volcano.

Looking around, Twilight beheld vast mountain ranges separated by dark valleys, and the sky was clogged with volcanic ash. Before she could further admire the view, Twilight heard a roar from above her. Jumping back, she rolled back and to her feet, seeing a massive hellkite where she had been standing mere moments ago. The dragon snarled and roared at Twilight, fluttering her cloak with the accompanying gust.

With a smirk, Twilight reached up and stored her cloak in the tattoo at the base of her throat, dispelling the enchantment that hid her true appearance. "Bring it on, big boy," she challenged as she spread her wings and crouched, her eyes glowing purple as she took deep breaths to help control the flow of mana. Beside her, a winged fire elemental appeared, snarling as it awaited her command.

With a mental command, Twilight sent the elemental to attack the dragon, meeting it in midair as they clawed at each other. The dragon quickly tore the elemental apart, but not before sustaining several gashes to its softer underbelly. Seizing the opening, Twilight darted in with time slowing around her to make her able to strike the dragon's weak spot with a powerful punch, damaging its organs beyond repair and sending it plummeting into the valley dead.

Following it, Twilight folded her wings and started tearing scales from the carcass, storing them in a free tattoo. She didn't know how many scales Rodin usually collected during a given trip, so she decided she'd just strip the whole carcass clean. But as she went to tear another scale free, she heard a noise behind her and allowed her honed reflexes to take control. Turning, she caught the incoming spear by its shaft and disarmed her attacker, running him through with his own weapon and tossing him over her shoulder past the dragon carcass.

Surrounding her was a group of humans all armed to the teeth and looking very eager to kill her. Drawing her scythes and flicking the blades open, Twilight fell into a stance with the scythes in reverse grips and the blades pointing upward behind her back as they crossed. Allowing the humans to come to her, Twilight began methodically tearing through them, disemboweling several before joining the scythes at the pommels and throwing them in a spinning arc controlled by her telekinesis to slice off several heads. As she caught the scythes, she kept them joined and extended the blade of one out into its spear form and jabbed behind her, impaling a man that tried to attack her blind spot.

As she pulled her blade free and let the corpse fall, a burly man took advantage of her lapse in concentration to swing down with his huge sword, which was tinged with black mana. Twilight moved to dodge, but wasn't quite fast enough as the blade connected with her horn. Twilight's senses became flooded with pain as her horn shattered, bringing a scream of agony from her throat as the shards clattered to the ground. Twilight's scream was cut off as a pair of blades pierced her from behind, sending her to her hands and knees coughing up blood.

Fighting through the pain, Twilight's irises glowed red, the glow spreading to envelop her eyes and becoming brighter as she called on the plane's abundant red mana. As the massive blade was raised to take her head off, Twilight unleashed her spell with a roar of pain and fury, engulfing her attackers in magenta flames that reduced them and their slain comrades to ash. Twilight panted from the exertion of the spell, hearing the roars of dragons coming to investigate her roar as she telekinetically pulled the swords in her back free, feeling her insides knit themselves back together as the entry and exit wounds closed. Knowing she was in no condition to fight, Twilight managed to focus on her spark and planeswalk away from the volcanic world, making a blind jump to one of the other planes.

"Too easy." Irene Vos glanced up from her hand mirror to look at the man seated beside her on the wagon. Gwafa Hazid. A merchant with a keen mind for one sided business. Irene watched him shine the enchanted dagger he'd conned off a blacksmith back in a tiny Jhessian coast town who thought one of the sigils that defined Bant's caste system could get him a better life. Instead he got a jail sentence for fraud. Pity they couldn't have hired the man. The dagger was a work of art. Small. Easily concealed. Perfect for ending lives. Irene found the caste system amusing because of how ridiculously easy it was to take advantage of. Her mastery of mind magic had enabled her to assume the identity of a member of the sighted caste in order to further her benefactor's plans. She didn't know those plans, nor did she particularly care. As long as she could enjoy the finer things in life, then she'd do whatever she had to do, kill whoever she had to, to keep it that way.

"Master Hazid. Madam Vos." The voice of one of the men got her and Hazid's attention, bringing to it a knight of sigiled caste making rounds through the caravan. The broad white bird emblazoned on his tabard identified him as a Knight of the Bright Dove. Difficult to bribe, reasonably intelligent, but would be alone.

Irene looked at Hazid as she stowed her mirror away and pulled a lipstick from her generous cleavage, coloring her lips scarlet. "I'll handle this." Hopping from the wagon, Irene slid the lipstick back into her cleavage as she approached the knight, shading herself under her umbrella. "Good day, sir knight. How may I be of service to you this lovely day?" She moved with grace and a sway to her hips, making sure to emphasize her curves.

"Good day, milady," the knight greeted. "May I see a manifest for this caravan, please?"

"But of course," Irene answered as she slowly pulled one from where it had been tucked next to her breast, feeling the knight's gaze linger for the briefest of moments as she passed it to him. "Mostly farming tools and miscellaneous items. We've been as far as Jhess this month. Anything catch your fancy? Perhaps toys for the children? Or a gift for the wife?"

"No wife or children," the knight muttered. "This manifest has an out of date stamp. Please step aside so I may check the contents."

Irene gave him a pleasant smile as she channeled some blue mana into a spell she had used countless times in her previous occupation. "You don't need to check the contents." Her smooth, seductive voice entered the knight's ears and made his eyes glow a light blue.

"I don't need to check the contents."

"Everything is in order."

"Everything is in order," the knight repeated as he updated the stamp on the manifest.

"We can go about our business."

"You can go about your business."

"You'll remember us as an ordinary caravan come sunset."

"I'll remember your caravan as ordinary come sunset."

"Move along."

"Move along please."

Irene smiled and gave the knight a small peck on the cheek before returning to Hazid's wagon, settling into her seat as they began moving again. "What would you do without me, Hazid? Oh yes. You'd have killed him and that would have made your task more difficult." She pulled out her mirror and admired her reflection. "Shame what that task is though. I hear Giltspire Castle is quite lovely this time of year."

The caravan made camp that night, only a few more hours from Giltspire. Irene stood up after finishing her meal and looked at Hazid. "I've business to tend to. I'll return before dawn. No one is to follow me." With that order made clear, Irene mounted up one of the leotau and rode into the darkness. As she rode, she noticed a light in the distance. A brief flicker that heralded a shape appearing. Curious, she rode to the shape and found it to be what she could only describe as a dragon woman. But she wasn't dressed like anyone from one of the shards. She had to be a planeswalker. "Are you alright?"

Twilight looked up at Irene and summoned her cloak, donning it and activating the veil. "I'll be fine. Though... I don't understand... Why isn't my horn regenerating? I always regenerate when I'm injured."

Irene thought on that. Before the veil had activated, she saw the broken stump of a horn on this woman's forehead. Leverage. "I may know someone who can assist you with that little problem. You just have to follow me."

Twilight got to her feet and fixed Irene with a glare. "I've been deceived like this before. If you're lying to me, I will kill you."

"No lie, sweetie," Irene assured. "We're not far from the meeting place."

Twilight nodded. "Alright. Lead the way, Ms..."

"Vos. Irene Vos." She smiled as she introduced herself.

"Twilight Sparkle."

In the middle of a plain far from civilization, Irene dismounted her leotau and securely held its reins as she waited with Twilight. Soon enough, a large light flickered in the sky, giving way to a black shape that fell and caught itself on wings. As it came in to land, Twilight realized the shape was a dragon. The dragon landed gently before them and tented its claws as it regarded them. Its scales were deep black, yet reflected the moon light with a strange golden glow. On its head was a pair of horns that curved upward, and a strange, egg shaped orb floated between them. The way it had appeared clued Twilight into its status as a planeswalker. This regal titan of a dragon was without doubt the strongest she'd ever encountered.

Irene smiled at Twilight as she held her closed umbrella against her shoulder with her free hand, the other keeping the nervous leotau in place. "Twilight Sparkle, allow me to introduce my employer: Nicol Bolas."