Chapter 01 [Edited: 14/11/15]
This is the first chapter of a new story that I came up with a few weeks ago. The characters involved in this chapter have existed for quite a while longer than that even, and I've always wanted to put them in situations such as this. So, without further adieu, please enjoy.
Chapter 01
Magic: a powerful tool. In the right hands it can be used to explore, discover, create. In the wrong well… things turn out just as well as you expect it to. Fueled by mana; the magical energy required for magic, it is the reason why any life exists at all.
A man sat a desk, illuminated by candlelight, writing inside a book. He raised his hand to his hand, ruffling his hair. “If this works, this will be another mark of progress for people everywhere,” the man said. “But of course it will work, I already know it will. If I haven’t missed anything that is.”
The man yawned. “You know, I’ve been cramped up in here way too long. I need some sunlight, else I might just turn into a hermit.” Getting out of his chair, the man hobbled his way out the room, the wooden floorboards creaking as he went. With one hand against the wall, he reached towards the door, pushing it open with his free hand. Sunlight immediately blasted through, catching him off guard. “Yep, that settles it. I’ve definitely been turning into a hermit.”
Fully illuminated by the sun up above, the man was rather impressive, standing around 6’0”ft tall with hair whiter than fresh snow. His eyes were a gold colour that’d put others such as Gilgamesh to shame, and he had a slightly muscular build with tanned white skin. He bent slightly, wiping dust of his kimono.
“You know what?” the man said. “Stuff this.” Holding out his hand, the air shimmered as an object materialised into existence. It was rather pointly, made of a straw-like material. However it was rather wide, as if to provide shade. “I’m really glad I went to Kamigawa,” the golden-eyed man said, happily, “else I might never have heard of a sugegasa. Really convenient.”
Finally ready to start the day ahead of him, the man walked off in search of his students. Gravel crunched underneath his geta footwear. As much of a chore as they were, they were important to him. He smiled, after all, he did enjoy having them around to keep him company.
“Master,” a voice called out.
The man spun, having just turned a corner. A figure walked, or rather floated towards him, it’s grey-blue skin shining in the daylight. Two wing-like trails leaked out of its back, both different colours. Arkadious knew those features anywhere. “Ah Butler, there you are. How are you doing?”
“I’m fine Master,” Butler replied in monotone.
The man snickered. Sorry, but I can’t help myself. He cleared his throat before continuing to speak. “Hello fine, I’m Arkadious.” He burst out in laughter.
Butler sighed. “Very funny Master, but nows not the time to time to be fooling around.”
“Excuse me, but did I just hear emotion in your voice?”
“Of course not Master. I live only to serve.”
“Hmm,” Arkadious said. He eyed Butler before backing off, clearly satisfied. “Ah well, doesn’t bother me either way. Walk with me.”
Butler nodded, descending. Two legs formed, making contact with the ground. Using them, Butler made sure to stay exactly two steps behind his master. “How are you coping?”
“Coping with what?” Arkadious asked. “If you’re talking about readjusting, I’m perfectly fine. Say, do you happen to know where my students are?”
Butler nodded again. “Yes Master. Red is currently in the well… red room practicing his pyromancy in a rather angry fashion; Newt has decided to take a break by hanging upside down on the ceiling.”
“Something happen between the two of them again?”
“A little squabble Master. Nothing major. I believe it all started when Red accidently shocked Newt, breaking that media device you brought back after visiting Mr Pleasant. Newt got rather agitated and crushed him against the floor using her gravity magic.”
Arkadious sighed. “That won’t be too hard to replace, but I don’t enjoy going to their dimension very often. As for improving whatever relationship those two have, only time will strengthen that.” He stopped walking. “Butler, I want to give them a message.”
“Telepathically Master?”
“Yes,” Arkadious said. “Tell them we’ll be having a special training session today.”
“Of course Master. At what time?”
“Now. And tell them double time.”
“Very well,” Butler said. “Might I ask what for?”
Arkadious smiled. “Teamwork Butler. That’s what they both lack, having been lone wolves for most of their lives just like myself. Working together is something my old teacher taught me.”
Butler nodded. “I understand. By the way, have you tried to contact him yet?”
“It’s rather hard when he’s sealed in a giant hedron Butler,” Arkadious said, slightly irritated. “When Bolas leaves his Meditation Realm, I’ll kill him. I’ll make sure that sorry excuse of a dragon ever left his own personal space. Cadaleon should’ve killed him when he got the chance.”
Mana flowed from Arkadious body animating the environment around him. Nicol Bolas was in lack for a better descriptive term a liar and a scoundrel, a golden elder dragon older than even himself who loved nothing more than power and manipulating others to do his whims.
Butler touched Arkadious’s shoulder. “Master please, you're doing it again. Calm yourself.”
“Sorry about that,” Arkadious replied. He breathed inwards, drawing back the power he’d just released, green wisps flowing into himself. “It’s just, friggin Bolas—“
Butler faced Arkadious, looking at him directly in the eyes. “Clearly, you haven’t fully readjusted yet,” it said, full of concern.
“You know what, maybe we should just focus on getting where we need to,” Arkadious said, eager to change the subject.
“Of course Master.”
The Arkadious Estate residing on Dominaria was an enormous piece of property, consisting of multiple facilities. If one without the proper tools tried to measure its enormity, it would be physically impossible. It had taken them awhile, but Arkadious and Butler eventually arrived at their destination. They walked towards what looked like a huge black dome, its surface gleaming in the light. The top of it was cut perfectly horizontal, making it look as if it was missing a lid of some kind.
Arkadious walked forwards, putting his hand against the dome’s huge metal doors; it felt cool to the touch. Golden energy spiked across it, dancing on the surface before fading away. “Butler, would you please do the honours?”
“Thank you Master. You honour me,” Butler answered. If Butler would’ve closed its eyes, it would’ve definitely done so at this moment. Butler was a rather featureless creature by design. It raised its arm, hand curled into a fist as if ready to punch it open. Butler pulled it back before thrusting forwards. The doors swung open inwards, gold energy arcing across them in response.
“Thank you Butler,” Arkadious said, as Butler bowed. They walked inside. It was rather an enigma this dome. While the outside was completely made of metal, inside was a completely different story, filled with various vegetation, machines, and facilities. The middle was lit up completely in a huge circle, two figures standing in the centre. Arkadious and his servant moved towards them.
“We got your message,” a youthful feminine voice said, the left figure walking up the greet them. She had a grey hair, matched by her grey eyes. Her skin seemed to glow under the sunlight, while her body was curvaceous in all the right places. She was wearing jeans and a short-sleeve shirt with a coat over top and leather shoes. On her elbows and knees, she had armoured pads. “What’s this about?”
“Decided we need to do something different,” Arkadious replied, now standing besides two of them. “Shake things up a little. I can’t have you two biting at each other constantly.”
“Well it wasn’t my fault,” answered the second figure in a young masculine voice. He was short in stature with even shorter brown hair with his brown eyes glowing with fire. He was similarly dressed to his fellow student, also wearing jeans and leather shoes. He wore a trench coat with a suit underneath accompanied by a red tie with two handguns in his pockets.
Arkadious turned to him. “Yeah, heard about that, but that’s not why I’m here Red. Now listen up, even you Newt, because this affects the both of you. You’ve both been restless these last few days, so we're going to have a special training session.”
“Now?” Red asked, surprised.
“That’s right short stuff, but there's a twist.” Arkadious held his arm, a sword materialising in his palm—a shade of black darker than a black hole. “Instead of fighting Butler, today you’ll be fighting me instead.”
“That’s the catch then,” Newt said. “I don’t want to crush you then have you whine.”
Red growled, his hair literally bursting aflame. “This is what I’ve been waiting for!” Red exclaimed, his eyes flaring up.
Arkadious laughed. “Well I’m glad. I want to both to go all out. No holding back. Butler will serve as the referee. You land a single scratch on me, you win. That sound good?”
“What do we win?”
"Beat me and find out,” Arkadious said. He turned to Butler. “You remember the procedure?”
“Yes Master,” Butler said, bowing. He floated to the centre of the field. “All combatants, please head to your respective sides. Once both parties are correctly positioned, I shall explain the rules of this session.”
The three of them headed to opposite sides, turning to face each other. Butler disappeared, its voice echoing across the circular battlefield. “This is a two-on-one fight with the combatants being Newt and Red versus Arkadious. The winning condition of this session is to land a solid hit on Arkadious. You lose when the both of you are no longer able to fight.”
Arkadious scratched his hair. “Sounds good.”
“Combatants!” Butler said, projecting its voice. “I shall start counting down from three. After that you may begin.” There was a pause, silence filling the air. “Three...”
Arkadious moved into combat stance.
“Two…”
Red brought out a handgun, holding it in his left hand. He conjured some fire, holding it in his right.
“One…”
The air around Newt began to ripple as gravity intensified.
“Begin!”
Red and Newt pushed off the ground, concrete cracking from force as they leapt towards their teacher. Red flew forwards, overtaking Newt, eager to strike the first blow. “You’re mine!”
Arkadious sprinted towards him. He brought his left arm out, a black shield materialising before it made contact with the closed side of Red’s fist, blocking the blow. Arkadious turned, bringing his leg up, his foot making contact with Red’s abdomen.
Red was sent flying, the sheer force of the attack disarming him of his firearm. He should’ve known as weapon like wouldn’t even last a few seconds. Out of breath, flames erupted from his feet as he tried to stop himself from hitting the wall. He failed.
Using the momentum, Arkadious twisted, sending his other foot heading into Newt’s face. This should do it, Arkadious thought.
“No you don’t!” Newt shouted, ducking. She slid underneath, pushing on Arkadious’s shield and he flew overhead.
Suddenly, Arkadious found himself falling towards the sky, having his gravity redirected. “Clever!” Newt fell towards him, followed by Red who’d recovered mid-impact. They were heading towards him with tremendous speed.
“Take this!” Red shouted. His fist burst with fire, laced with sparks of lightning. Newt fell past, heading behind Arkadious, preparing to attack him from behind.
Arkadious aggressively raised his sword, parrying the blow as it burst forwards into a blast—the sword cutting the attack in two, separating the different elements. He turned, countering Newt’s gravity enhanced kick with his shield. “Come on! You’re not even making me use my magic!”
Newt looked at Arkadious, determination on her face. She quickly brought back her foot before beginning a flurry of punches. “Damn it, the kick actually ended up hurting me instead. It’s not fair. Why the hell is he using darksteel!”
“Newt!” Red said, trying to catch her attention. “He’s using the force from our attacks to stay in mid-air. Get him on the ground!” He rushed to Arkadious’s right side, delivering a storm of attacks, while Newt attacked from the left. “We’ve got him now!”
Arkadious brought his arms in close, his shield facing left while furiously parrying with his right. They gotten stronger—a lot stronger since the last time he’d fought them. It almost caught him by surprise.
“He’s fighting a war on two fronts!” Newt said. “Let’s finish this!” Newt and Red moved above Arkadious. A pyro-electric beam burst from Red’s hands, while Newt fired a blast a telekinetic force.
“Crap!” Arkadious said, shouting over the wind. The floor underneath exploded from the impact, smoke and dust filling the dome. It clouded the top of the dome as it rose into the sky.
“I think we actually got him,” Red said, floating. His feet were covered with fire and flames shot downwards. His body crackled with lightning, much like that of a Super Saiyan 2. “Mind getting rid of the smoke?”
“Lazy,” Newt replied. The smoke began to part. Her eyes widened. “No way—”
“In hell,” Arkadious said, dusting himself off. “Good try though, I’ll give you that. You managed to get my clothes dirty, but you still haven’t won.”
“But how?” Newt said, surprised.
“Secret.”
“Come on!” Newt said, Red following her as they charged downwards.
Red brought his fist downwards at Arkadious, descending from the sky like a meteor. The ground exploded. “That must have got you,” he said, walking out of the resulting crater. The entire arena was charged with energy.
A familiar voice spoke from behind. “Nope!” Arkadious said.
Red spun, bringing his foot up to kick him, his foot passing through. “An afterimage?” he said, as Arkadious vanished, appearing behind him.
Arkadious brought his fist flying towards his face, as Red stared at him in utter shock, eyes wide open.
Red went flying into the wall, spitting out blood as his body made contact with the darksteel all. He didn’t get back up.
“One down –” Arkadious turned around to face Newt, her eyes filled with shock “– one to go.” Red lay there, unconscious.
“What in the flying,” Newt said. Pieces of debris began to fly at Arkadious; blasts of telekinesis and gravity flying towards him. “I can’t let him reach me,” she said, “otherwise it’s all over. He took Red out with one punch.”
Arkadious flashed past the debris, dodging the projectiles with ease. He jumped, pushing off a mid-flight boulder towards his student. “Checkmate.” He brought his shield against her arm, hearing a crack as Newt went flying, landing next to Red. The remaining floating debris crashed to the ground, the supporting force no longer keeping them up. Arkadious turned around, looking at the resulting destruction from this match between him and his students.
Arkadious shrugged. “Well takes care of that.”
Arkadious walked over to the conconscious duo, scratching the back of his head. He looked around, surveying the damage. There were multiple craters in the floor, various pieces of equipment lying in thousands of pieces—virtually useless.
Arkadious whistled. “Wow, you two did a sheer number on this place.” He turned, returning his attention back to the unconscious Red and Newt. Against any other opponent, the two of them would’ve done rather well, Arkadious thought. It’s not that they’re not fast, strong, aggressive, or smart enough. It’s just that this one time, they were facing me. He crouched down, wisps of energy flowing from his palms, enveloping them in a red-green-white glow.
The injuries on Red and Newt’s bodies began to heal, as Arkadious worked his enhanced healing magic. Arkadious was a Planeswalker, having travelled across various worlds and dimensions at a very young age. Unlike most beings, he was described as being multi coloured; wielding three colours of magic. It was one of the reasons why he’d been able to survive for so long.
Red began to stir, eyelids fluttering. He jumped up in utter shock, seeing Arkadious so close. “What the hell! Alright, how long have I been out this time?”
“Not very long actually,” Arkadious said, laughing. “Only about a minute at the most.”
“Why’d you have to use your darksteel,” Newt said, getting up annoyed, the resulting commotion having awoken her. “Indestructible my arse, it really hurts hitting that stuff.”
“Well don’t get hit then,” Arkadious said. “What was the first lesson taught both of you?”
“Dod— “
“Dodge,” Arkadious interrupted, Butler reappearing besides him from the shadows. “Your enemy can’t kill you if they can’t hit you.”
“Hahaha well that’s all good and all, but was there anything else you wanted apart from beating the hell out of us?” Red asked.
“Actually yes,” Butler said. “Master Arkadious also came here with the intention of wanting to show you the completion of a new spell and see him perform its very first casting.”
Arkadious glared at him. “I wanted to tell them that.”
“Apologies.”
“Whatever.” Arkadious returned to facing Red and Newt. “Basically, that. I’ll need you two to stand a bit further away. I made this spell in hopes that it might give non-Planeswalkers the opportunity to traverse the Multiverse without the use of a Planar Portal.”
“So that spell is essentially a portable one of those then?” Newt asked.
Red grinned. “Sounds like a waste of time, but I’ll have a look.”
The two of the backed off slightly as Arkadious began to float, drawing in energy from the environment around him. This was something that would require a large amount of mana. Luckily for Arkadious, the entire arena itself had been charged just moments before.
Arkadious reached into his pocket, pulling out what looked like a glass orb. He muttered a few words; various glyphs began to project themselves from the object. They moved, mana being absorbed into the object, before the glyphs eventually rearranged themselves into a new arrangement. Arkadious touched the ground, having finished casting the spell.
“What did you just do?” Red asked.
“I just enchanted this object,” Arkadious said, holding the orb out. “Anyone want to test drive it?”
“No thanks,” Newt said. “I’ll just trust that it works.”
“Same,” Red said. “I’ll leave it to you, just in case it backfires.”
Arkadious huffed. “Scaredy cats. Fine, I’ll try it out.” He closes his eyes, channeling a small amount of mana into the object. It started to glow. “See it’s working— “
Arkadious was cut short as lightning began to arc outwards from it. It struck a nearby statue, vaporizing it instantly. “Now look what you’ve done!” Arkadious shouted. “You’ve offended it! I’ll try to get this under control, just get back!” Energy began to build up, Arkadious trying to contain the energy. “Aww sh— “
“TAKE COVER!” Red shouted. Turning, Newt and Red made a run for it, Butler bringing up a barrier of magical energy. There was a blinding flash of light as the two of them were blown back by the resultant force.
Newt shook her head, helping Red to his feet. She noticed Arkadious was nowhere to be seen. “Is it over? Where’d he go?”
“I don’t know Newt,“ Red replied. “But god help them.” He walked over to the centre of the event, picking up the orb, Arkadious’s planeswalker spark lying within.
Equestria; a land of magic, friendship, and ponies was currently under attack.
Responsible for the raising of the sun, Princess Celestia, alicorn princess and co-ruler of Equestria, rubbed her hooves against her forehead. She looked up from her desk, spreading her rather large wings before deciding to move. Celestia was rather tall, standing feet above her equine subjects with a white mane, her multi colored hair flowing freely regardless of the lack of wind.
To say that the last couple of days had been bizarre was nothing short of an understatement. She’d woken up to discover that her country was under attack by an old threat. A spirit of chaos and disharmony. He liked to go by a simpler name.
Discord; draconequus, trickster, and the greatest tyrant of Equestria’s past. Long ago, Discord had been responsible for an age of strife and unhappiness, using his reality bending powers to disrupt the natural order. Now he was back, and with a vengeance.
That spirit has thrown everything in chaos! Celestia thought. Looking outside, no one had a chance in hell of disagreeing with her. The weather was acting on own accord, raining down chocolate milk while buildings were floating off in the distance. The day and night had become random occurrences and worst of all, she was powerless to stop it.
After Twilight Sparkle had sealed away Nightmare Moon, restoring Celestia’s sister to her previous self, the ownership of the Elements of Harmony had passed from teacher to her esteemed student and her friends. She looked outside, eyes full of sorrow. “Please, stop him soon Twilight,” Celestia said. “Stop him before it’s too late.”
Celestia walked to the door of her chamber, once again trying to open her way to freedom. Her horn glowed, using magic to twist the doorknob which stubbornly refused to turn. Celestia had begun losing count of how many times she’d tried to escape. Bust the windows? They just resealed. Tried opening the door? Won’t budge. Break the floor? Fall through the roof back in, floor redone. It was hopeless.
“I’m running of mana,” Celestia said. “This room is sapping it right out of me. Soon, there will be no way at all for me to escape.” Celestia had no way of knowing that another force was about to unwillingly enter the fight, and change everything forever.
Discord clapped his hands, amused by the current state of affairs.Ever since his release a couple of days ago, Discord had made it top priority to make for lost time.
“You know, this is the most fun I’ve had in decades!” Discord said, his voice filled with glee. He was a draconequus, having the body of a dragon the body parts of various other creatures—a natural representation of chaos. Discord clicked his fingers, a various assortment of objects appearing around him. He reached out, grabbing a ballpoint pen and some paper.
“Who knew that causing so much despair could be so fun,” Discord said, “oh wait, obviously me.” It had been rather easy to stir the peaceful country of Equestria into chaos, using his magical powers. He’d started off small, doing things such as cotton-candy clouds, before accelerating the rate of chaos up to eleven, breaking the rules of physics and affecting the physical dimensions in a near irreversible way. It was just how chaos rolled, not caring about anything or anyone.
“I’ve been planning my revenge ever since that eclipse all those months ago, when I begun to feel the power of the Element’s waning,” Discord said, positively filled with glee. “Perhaps I should send ol’ Celestia a message, let her know how her precious student and her friends are doing.”
Having tricked the bearers of the Elements of Harmony into separating, Discord had been able to easily overwhelm them, converting them into opposite versions of their true selves and shattering their precious friendship. Discord laughed at the memory. “It’s too good. Almost too good to be true.”
Discord’s horn began to vibrate. He turned, facing the Everfree Forest. “What was that massive spike of power?” Discord asked, confused. “It’s like nothing I’ve ever felt before. Such pure, raw power. It’s not Celestia, she’s sealed up in her pretty little castle. What an interesting development. Luckily for me, it seems to be heading right this way. Maybe I should say hello.”
“Ouch, better work on my landings,” Arkadious exclaimed, having flown head first into a tree. “Say, why can I see the other side of it?” He pulled, removing himself from the inanimate object, a large hole where his head previously was. “Hmm, I should probably fix that up.” He waved his hand, magic filling the gaps as the tree began to rapidly heal itself.
Steadying himself, Arkadious stood brushing twigs and various small pieces of vegetation off his clothes. The earth underneath him was new and unfamiliar, the air giving off a hostile feel. It had been sunny on Dominaria. Here the weather was miserable, grey-black clouds covering the sky above for miles.
“Say, I should probably figure out where in the hell I am,” Arkadious said, weary of his new surroundings. “Nice to know that the spell worked, I’ll make some modifications and—"
Arkadious stopped, feeling his pockets for the orb. “And it’s not here. Way to go Arkadious. You forgot the make it a two way spell so people could get back by bringing the orb with them.” Without it, he was stuck. He’d have to find his home the hard way; travelling up and sideways through the infinite number of realities until he reached the top plane.
Arkadious knelt, putting his hand to the earth. It felt as if two entirely different sets of laws were clashing with each other; the one inside the area he was currently standing in, and the one outside.
“Somethings not right here,” Arkadious said. Something was seriously wrong with this world. Never before had he ever encountered a place with two sets of conflicting laws. “This is wrong. Very very wrong.” He closed his eyes, digging deep within. Draw from the power within yourself. Dig further and let it flow.
Arkadious opened his eyes, suddenly turning into the distance, a presence having draw his attention. It was rather menacing, malicious intent radiating like a torrent of waves from a mind breaking source. “I should… I should probably find out what it is,” he said, apparently having made up his mind. “I’ll fix nature later. Whatever that is, it’s far too chaotic to ignore.”
Arkadious channeled some green mana into the earth underneath him. What he did wasn’t forcibly bending reality to his will, but rather influencing it to do what he wanted. A pillar of rock formed beneath him. It rose, transcending the heights of the trees surrounding him. It was a rather unusual sight.
Looking around, Arkadious could finally tell he was in a forest of some kind. The weird thing was that the clouds here never seemed to go past a certain point, moving before changing direction. Another thing was that everything seemed to be in utter disarray outside it. That would explain the two natural sets of laws, Arkadious thought.
He willed the pillar upwards, rising further. Arkadious pushed through the clouds, parting them like bubbles. He broke through, and continued to rise until even the clouds were beneath him. “It looks like it’s time for me to introduce myself to the world,” he said, grinning.
So here it is, the second chapter. I'm planning on having the story being split into two different parts; revealing the world of Sunder. First off is the journey to find Arkadious. The second is Arkadious's journey inside Equestria. So here's to the second chapter of Problems of a Dimensional Traveller.
Chapter 02
Butler awoke from its sleep, having begun to formulate a plan to locate and recover its master. Everything had been rather busy yesterday after Arkadious’s unexpected disappearance, with Butler being left with the result which was having been left with complete responsibility over the Estate.
Being the creature it was, Butler didn’t dream at all that night. Instead, it simply fell into the dark abyss of unconsciousness as the Umbra-series Sentinels patrolled the grounds during the late hours of the night. Of course the drones would be gone during the day, but it wouldn’t have mattered if Butler had gone out regardless; they were programmed to attack everyone except Butler and his master.
Butler floated downwards, illuminating the walls with the miniature maelstrom residing in the centre of its chest. Butler had never assumed it possible that Arkadious’s spell would ever have had the chance of backfiring. It was just how he was; how they both were.
And yet the impossible has just occurred, Butler thought. I’ve looked through most of the contingency plans my master created during his lifetime. So far, I’ve only found one plan which seems rather tedious.
Butler stepped outside of its chamber, having decided to travel to the Estate Library, thinking perhaps that there might be some clue as to what else Arkadious might’ve planned for. Butler’s chamber was rather large for a single person, cylindrical in shape. The inside was gold and red, windows lining the upper walls. A spiral staircase lined the wall interior, leading to the top of the room. The top floor was circular with a medium sized hole in the centre. Runes laced the ground around it, a stream of mana rising from the bottom floor and through the hole above it.
It may have been a fair walk, but that didn’t bother Butler—it couldn’t be bothered by anything, created and living under a single prime directive. “I live to serve,” it said, quietly.
Channeling mana from the storm inside it, Butler began to float as its body erupted with light. It felt is flow out, of of his body and into wings on its back which flared from the sudden mana output increase. It flew, heading towards a castle-like structure directly ahead. Butler had always wondered why its master had chosen to build certain things in the Estate as he did; it never asked.
Finding his master would be a difficult task. The first thing Butler and his master’s students had tried to do was contact him via Red’s P.C.D; they’d received an out of range error—a first time for everything. A P.C.D worked using the same principles as a Planar Portal but instead of sending people, it drew mana from the surrounding environment to send signals. The issue they’d had getting it to work was making it two way. Without his spark, Arkadious was just an extremely powerful mage, unable to traverse the different planes of the Multiverse. Essentially, he was stuck. It also meant that he’d be unable to draw mana from the Blind Eternities, leaving him to run solely on the mana of the land around him, and his own mana reserves—as big as they were, they’d eventually run out.
Butler scratched its metaphorical chin. Either where Arkadious was now didn’t have enough mana to communicate or possibly worse; something was blocking the device.The problem wasn’t getting there—that part was already sorted—it was finding the specific place out of all the infinite universes out there. The contingency Butler hoped it’d find would serve as the basis.
The doors to the Library glowed with power, Butler pushing with his magic. The Library was one of the grander buildings in the Estate, it’s walls made from the finest materials in the Multiverse, various arcane designs—plated in gold—covering the exterior. It was circular, four smaller buildings branching off in each direction. Being various stories tall, it looked similar to a gigantic drill reaching towards the heavens.
“This place never ceases to take my breath away,” Butler said, slightly in awe. “However, that’s impossible considering how I don’t have a mouth, or lungs for that matter.”
The inside was even more impressive, a stained glass window above the door—and along the sides of the walls—providing a religious and silent atmosphere. Tables littered the floors various floors surrounded by shelves of books reminding Butler of skyscrapers. The floor was covered by a long red carpet while the interior walls were covered with various pieces of art and tapestries. People were scattered across, reading from the vast collection of books or browsing the walls. They turned as Butler entered the building, conversations dying down. They always did when Butler showed up. A few people bowed—they knew who it was—while others gave Butler weird looks. Ironically appropriate considering that’s what Butler technically was. Technically.
I need to get up there, Butler told itself, looking up. This shouldn’t take long. The top of the Library was the oldest part of the building, also being the smallest segment. Butler ascended, rising to the top of the tall facility. Each part of the building was enchanted to stop unauthorised personnel from accessing knowledge his master believed would they’d either abuse or weren’t ready for. Butler flew up past various stories, the circumferencing walls around him gradually getting smaller; more ancient and filled with history.
Eventually Butler rose over a platform, touching the ground of the highest floor. Everything around it was covered in dust, having been neglected for quite some time. If there’s anything else that I can use, it’ll be here, Butler thought. A section of books lifted out of their resting place, dust filling the air. There has to be something else. Afterall, Master always hated being confined.
“Well that’s certainly interesting,” Arkadious said, looking at the figure in the distance. After a rough arrival in this strange new land—landing head first into a tree—he’d made it a priority to figure where in the hell he was. Using Geomancy, Arkadious had created a pillar of earth to stand on as he viewed the surrounding landscape above the clouds.
Arkadious activated his mana sense, eyes glowing, viewing the world from an entirely different perspective. This was something he rarely did, only really ever used for observation purposes. He saw the flow of magic in the world; where it went, what it nurtured, what harnessed it. He looked gazed down, observing all which lay beneath him. Various lights moved moved around, small and crawling around like ants. What he saw right in front of him made him lose his breath for a moment.
Mana churned around the distant entity, red and crackling like a storm. It bent and curved in unnatural ways as it flowed into the earth and sky around it. Whatever that thing was, something was going on.
“I wonder if any of the local species are magic sensitive?” Arkadious said, shrugging. “It would help me make a little sense of what’s going on here.” Something caught his attention; purple light—magic—coming from what looked a town of sorts, dwarfing the twinkling lights around it. Suffice to say, no one else would actually notice it. He channeled some of his power, feeling it flow into the earth beneath him. Glad I’m rather practiced at this, he thought, scratching his chin. I don’t want to accidentally destroy what’s left here. Now, let’s have a closer look at that light.
The unnatural pillar lowered, descending like a fear tower; Arkadious folded his arms, clearly unperturbed by the sudden g-force increase. The earth rumbled it flowed back into the dirt beneath it. As he lowered towards the ground, Arkadious began to make out features of the native inhabitants. They had what looked like four legs, having an equine body covered in very different colours of fur—colours that Arkadious decided were rather unusual for any animal to have. On their their flanks, he noted that they seemed to have different symbols.
“So… the local sentient race on this world are… ponies…” Arkadious said, unsure about his current situation.
A wave of anger flashed across Arkadious’s face. “How far in the name of Karona did that bloody thing send me!” Pain rocked his head, memories trying to force their way to the surface. Memories of a different place, different time. The screams and then darkness. Arkadious clutched his chest, breathing ragged. He attempted to cool down. “Calm down, you’re not that same person anymore. You're better than that. Come on, okay, seeing as what the local species are, let’s find who that pony is— “
Arkadious cut himself off, realising where the source of the magic was coming from. “Is that a house inside a tree? A living tree? That’s a weird place to live.” He chuckled. “Red would have a field day, seeing how so much of this is made from wood. He’d set it on fire by accident, then go around trying to fix everything while chased by angry mobs.”
Arkadious’s feet finally touched the ground. Proper ground. Looking around from a normal height rather than from stratosphere view, everything looked so more dire. It looked as if the town had become a child’s playground; a patchwork project. In other words, it was utter chaos. Leisurely, Arkadious walked up the door of the house, turning the doorknob. Without even knocking, he entered the house, hundreds of books lining the walls of looked to be the main room and first floor.
“Who’s there?” a small voice asked, coming from the ceiling, filled with despair. “Applejack? Rarity? Fluttershy? Pinkie Pie? Rainbow Dash? Go away, just leave me alone.”
Arkadious moved towards a shelf, fully inclosed inside glowing emission of energy. It was blinding. He deactivated his mana vision, the glow of magic fading away, and began scanning the walls for a particular book that might give him some insight. The person upstairs could wait if possible; he’d just found a library, something he could greatly use to his advantage and use it he would, even without this ponies permission considering how the lives of potentially thousands of creatures was at stake.
“Let’s see here,” he said. He pulled a few books out before finally exclaiming in joy, coming across a promising text. Equestrian History: A detailed looked at the past of Equestria. This might be exactly what I’m looking for, Arkadious thought, humming along as he began to flick through the contents of the book. He began to read, time passing by in a flurry.
Something touched Arkadious’s back, something rather pointy. He turned around, slowly.
A sharp object was pointed directly at Arkadious’s stomach, enveloped in that same purple glow he’d originally come here searching for. A pony; a female unicorn to be precise stood in front of him, drained of colour as if touched by an Eldrazi.
“What are you?” the unicorn asked.
Twilight Sparkle woke up, feeling utterly defeated. It had all started a couple of days ago after a witnessing strange phenomena occurring in Ponyville. She was a bookworm, scientist, but first and foremost a mage. Using her magical intellect, Twilight had invented a new spell to fix everything. It failed. After her assistant Spike, a young dragon, fireballed up a message from Princess Celestia telling her to assemble the other Elements.
“What’s that Twilight?” Spike had said.
“I don’t know,” Twilight had replied, “but it must have something to do with what’s going on.”
Honesty; Kindness; Laughter; Generosity; Loyalty; and finally, Magic. Twilight had gone to Canterlot with her friends to meet Celestia who’d explained that Discord had broken free and was planning to retake the world, throwing it into chaos.
It was shortly after being informed of the current situation that Discord himself turned up, stealing the Elements and forcing Twilight and her friends to play his little game, leaving them with a little message: twists and turns are my master plan.
Assuming Discord was referring to the Canterlot Maze, Twilight and her friends; Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie, had run in a hurry, eager to stop Discord. However, this had all been part of Discord’s plan, using the maze to divide the bearers of the Elements.
She understood that now. Having finally given in to the well of despair inside her, reinforced by Discord’s constant taunts, Twilight walked home and begun to pack up her things. Her once purple coloured mane turned grey and lifeless, having shed a single tear. Ponyville was gone; there was nothing left for her here.
“What’s going on Twilight?” Spike asked, walking in. He was surprised Twilight back, having thought she was dealing with the threat outside. This was rather unusual.
“Pack your things Spike,” Twilight replied. “We’re leaving.” Her horn glowed as she pulled out a suitcase from underneath her bed, various assorted objects floating into it. “Don’t ask where yet, because I don’t know. Just not here.”
“I don’t understand,” Spike said. “I’ll try but it’s rather hard to move right now. The princess has been sending me all these since I came back upstairs.” He belched, green fire roaring from his mouth. Letters formed which slowly fluttered towards the floor.
Twilight and Spike’s room was rather small compared to the rest of the house. The floorboards were made of a different coloured wood to the rest of the tree which made up the walls. A couple of windows faced towards the direction of the rising sun. However this time, the windows only showed rain and sorrow, looking down on the rest of the town below.
Twilight picked one up, taking a quick glance. She crumpled it before dropping it on the floor. “Those are my old friendship reports,” Twilight said, a hint of disdain in her voice. “Why would she send them back? What’s the point? Friendship couldn’t stop Discord, so what are these supposed to do?”
“Well I don’t know, but friendship stopped Nightmare Moon so maybe it is the key to defeating Discord,” Spike suggested. He’d never seen Twilight so down before. This wasn’t like her at all. There was a noise downstairs, someone taking slow steps. “Wait Twilight, did you hear that? Sounds like somepony has come inside. Maybe it’s your friends!”
Twilight looked at him, confused. “Why would anyone be here. Who’s there?” she called out. “Applejack? Rarity? Fluttershy? Pinkie Pie? Rainbow Dash? Go away, just leave me alone.” Twilight continued to pack her things. “Spike, can you go check who that is?”
Spike huffed. “I’ll try.” He turned around, opening the stairway door and began to climb down into the main room.
I think first we’ll head to Canterlot, Twilight thought. We can think of something else once we’re there. She heard panting. Turning around, she saw Spike, apparently having ran back up as quickly as he could in his current state.
“Who was it?” Twilight asked.
“Forget about who was it. What is it!”
Twilight looked at him confused. “Spike, I don’t understand.”
“There’s a monster down there!” Spike answered. “See for yourself.”
Twilight walked out of the room, taking a careful look. What she saw surprised her. Standing there was a creature she’d never seen before nor read about in any of her books. It was bipedal, kinda like a minotaur. It was rather hairless, the only hair she could see being white on it’s head. It wore some rather strange clothes, along with a hat that looked like something from Neighpan. Strangely, it didn’t seem to be attacking anything. If anything, it seemed to be preoccupied, reading a book. Was it also humming?
“Spike,” Twilight said. “Stay up here. I’ll try and get rid of this thing.”
Spike nodded before heading back into their room. Twilight, as quietly as she could, walked down the stairs, heading towards the kitchen. There might be something there she could use frighten it. Deciding on a cutting utensil, she made it levitated, poking the creature on what she assumed to be its back. The creature turned around, its golden eyes looking at her straight in the face. “What are you?”
Aww crap, Arkadious thought, realising the circumstance he was in. You’ve found what you came here for, and already you have something trying to kill you. Just act calm. He raised his hand to his throat, clearing his mouth before deciding to speak. “Oh hello, don’t mind me. I’m just here reading this book. I was trying to find out where I was, and happened to find a library which was rather—”
Twilight jabbed him with the utensil. “What are you?”
“—lucky. Oi, stop it,” Arkadious said. “That’s annoying.” He looked at the metal object, deciding he’d had enough. The metal bent, before forming a liquid metallic blob, gobsmacking the purple unicorn in front of him. It morphed, changing into a small replica of Arkadious. “Here, a gift from me to you.”
“That was my cutting utensil!”
“Yeah? And now it’s a statue probably worth more than what you originally bought the thing for. You could buy, oh maybe five of them if you wanted to.” Arkadious looked the unicorn. “I noticed this was a library when I walked in. Nice place. Mind if I borrow this book? I promise to return it as soon as I’m done—”
Arkadious stopped talking. He looked at Twilight, observing her. A small arc of red lighting crossed her body before quickly disappearing. It looked similar to red storm of mana that was coming from that figure in the distance. Something in Arkadious’s brain made a connection, his face lighting up. “Strange that I didn’t notice that before. Don’t be alarmed alright, but I’m going to do something.”
“What do you mean?” Twilight asked. The creature wasn’t explaining much to her. If anything, it just made things more confusing for Twilight. It wasn’t explaining what or who it was, and it could use magic.
Arkadious closed his eyes for a second, his hands glowing white. His mana sense activated, revealing the red lighting he hadn’t been able to notice the first time round. She’s been enchanted by that thing I felt earlier. I’m doing her a favour. Then, without warning, he pushed his arm forward, a bolt of white lightning shoot from his open palm.
It struck Twilight, arcing through her body. The lighting around her began to disintegrate—eventually completely disappearing. Colour began to return to her body, her mind clearing. She got up, stumbling slightly. “What… urgh… did you do?” she asked.
“Erase,” Arkadious replied. “You were enchanted. I removed it. A little spell I learned from a sage called Zoyge. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to borrow this book and take care of whatever is happening up there.” He pointed upwards. “You’re in no condition to say otherwise.”
Twilight looked at him, trying to speak. She felt weak. Tired. “Wait…” she said, falling into unconsciousness. “Who are you?”
Arkadious smiled. “Why I’m Arkadious, you’re resident Planeswalker. Now sleep. When you wake up, this should all be over.” He looked towards the staircase. “Hey, you up there. Take you friend upstairs.”
Spike walked out of the shadows, running down. “I’ll try.”
“Good enough for me.” Arkadious walked out of the library, tucking the book in his kimono. He raised his arms, the rising as the air underneath him shimmered, light bending around his feet in a circle as if through a through a prism. He shoot forwards into the raging storm ahead that only he could see, reaching the centre. A figure stood, floating in the centre, drinking what looked like tea from a cup. It had a body made from an assortment of different creatures, consisting of but not being limited to the body of a dragon; a lion's paw; an eagle claw; and a snake tail.
“A chimera,” Arkadious said, surprised by the figure in front of him. He’d never known a chimera to have such power of magic. “That’s a first.”
“Indeed,” Discord said, amused. “I am Discord, spirit of chaos and disharmony. You’re that presence I felt for a brief moment down in Everfree. You know, I felt a little insulted when you started moving away. Also, I’m a draconequus and I shall be referred to as such.”
So that place was called Everfree, Arkadious thought. That’s nice to know. He smirked. “Pssh posh, potato patato. Doesn’t really bother me. I'm going to keep calling you a chimera. Say, are you the one responsible for everything going on at the moment?”
Discord grinned at him. A glass appeared in his hand, filled with chocolate milk. Discord drank from it, only to realise the glass had disappeared rather than the liquid inside. Disappointed, he threw it behind him, exploding. “Why whatever do you mean?”
“I’ll take that as a yes,” Arkadious said. “Nice work, love what you’ve done with the place, but I’m afraid I can’t let you continue.”
“Oh, and why might that be?” the chaos spirit asked. “We were getting along so well.. why I thought we might’ve been able to have lunch or something.”
“What you’re doing is a threat to the very balance of not just this world, but potentially the whole plane itself. Rather unfortunate actually—I mean don’t it personally, it’s just my job.”
“Well, you’re welcome to try and stop me.”
“Oh I shall,” Arkadious said. His held his hands out, sword and shield materialising. However, it didn’t stop there. Armour fromed, beginning to cover his entire body, giving the appearance it was made of thousands of scales, runes engraved on every single one. “You see, killing gods is my business and it seems today that business is booming.”
