Chapters Is Brotherly Violence Magic?
The shadows of the warp whispered and beckoned him, his eye peered over it all and his reach continued. It was an odd allure, but he found it rather comforting. He could hear the whispers and feel the will of the warp, the pull of what he would later know to be Chaos. But there was something else present, something touching his senses, it was pleasant. Loving and kind even, confusing feelings to him within the warp. Inching forward he looked on at the anomaly It was so small and so powerful. He could touch it, hold it in his very hand, though he knew such things were dangerous. With focus that would put any expert psyker to shame he gently cupped the warp energies with his red hands. Peering within he could feel millions of souls, living breathing souls. His eye widened in awe, he was holding an entire plain of existence within his hands. He doubted his father even got the chance to do such things. He smiled warmly wondering what new knowledge and power existed within. He was the Primarch who mastered the warp entities to save his children, sure it cost him his eye but he took on the worst of the warp and saved the thousand sons. He could handle anything this new plain of existence had.
He looked within again happily when suddenly a loud voice bellowed into his ear. "heya book banger!" He could feel his real body nudge harshly. Russ had struck his physical body back in the material world. He grit his teeth in anger clenching his fists. Russ had no respect for the warp or for the endless power and knowledge held by him and his thousand sons.
He froze in sudden realization. He had clenched his hands. He was holding the warp anomaly. His eye panned down at the hand which was quickly being enveloped by energy. He tried to back out and escape but the grasp was far too powerful. He tried to whip up a counter spell but he could feel Russ's hand swatting him over the head back in the material world. Quickly he did the only thing he was confident would work. Forcing himself back into the material world he just hoped he did not damage the warp anomaly in any way. His eye snapped open and he smashed a red fist in to the face of his brother in anger. He was about to go off on how dangerous it was to interrupt his focus when he noticed the fist he had hit Russ with was covered in warp energy. He did not escape the anomaly, it had followed him into the material world and now glued his hand to Russ's face.
Russ's words were muffled and but not panicked, more than anything they were utterly livid. The rest was complete and utter chaos. The warp energy expanded like a slow motion explosion and began to swallow them both whole. Vulkan spotted the event and quickly began to call or assistance, he was smart enough not to touch the massive pulsating bundle of warp energy but at the same time he only wanted his brothers to be safe. It did not take long before the anomaly had swallowed them both whole. Being pulled to the center of the anomaly Magnus knew he could get them out again if he had time to prepare, he just needed to make sure that wherever they landed, A: Russ did not hinder his progress in returning them back to Terra, and B: Whoever or whatever they ended up along side within this new world would not try and hinder him either. Just as he could feel the nucleus of the anomaly penetrated to let them in, he cast a spell to suppress their power. It would be quite a bit easier to make his way around if the were not 12 foot tall demi Gods just romping about . Stealth was key in a situation like this and he needed to keep himself and Russ safe.
His eye snapped open and he gasped loudly as his magic flared. At first he saw the same sight as before, a white furred pony with a luscious flowing ethereal mane staring at him, but he blinked and noticed it was the other one. Dark blue, "Luna" He remembered the name having it so close to his brother Horus's children the Luna wolves made it a little easier.
Luna's eyes peered calmly into his single optical orb, but cautiously at his horn still glowing, then up at dresser he had hefted as he subconsciously readied for an assault. Her eyes bounced back and forth with a calm monotone look. "Do you mind?"
He dropped the dresser and dipped his head a little to avoid eye contact. "S...sorry..."
"Do not be, I apologize, I am the guardian of dreams here in our world, I felt it necessary to see your mind as you slept." Magnus felt a spark of anger but it subsided. He did not blame her, he would have done far worse in her shoes. " I must say Magnus the Red, I did not quite understand your dreams as well as I should have, but I could see everything, the utter vastness of your reach before you came here. It makes me feel... well... small. Me and my sister are some of the oldest and most powerful well recognized beings in the world, yet... you and your brothers, from what I could tell... are recognized even more so across thousands, possibly even millions of worlds. When I step back and look... all I can feel is just... small... so small..." Luna looked over at the one eye'ed pony.
Magnus was quite flattered but he shook it off. "I understand why you would do so but please, my mind is my own and I do wish to keep it sacred... " He cleared his throat and wiped the sleep from his eye. "But yes, there are many MANY more worlds than this one, though don't be so quick to discount your worth, I have never seen a world like this in my entire life... its so... pure"
He looked back at Luna before peering up at the ceiling. His room in the castle reminded him of the royal palace back on Terra but far less masterfully crafted. "... well... as you can guess from how long he cursed your powers and how much he questioned your... um... sexual decency, my brother Russ is no fan of magic, back at home he ALMOST has justification in his hate. The warp is filled with evil and monsters that are eager to just hop on into your body and possess or mutate you, but here... the darker parts of the warp are absent, and yet the entirety of the world is covered head to toe in magic... it flows like a great sea... This would be a paradise for me and my children... I only wish I had not found it the way I did..." Deep down he actually felt very glad about it. Had any of his brothers or even his father found it first it would have been very likely that the world would have been utterly purged of Xeno life and then quarantined when they could not find a way to satisfy their caveman superstition fear of magic. It was better that the Imperium NEVER found its way here, at best he could use it as a retreat for himself and his Thousand Sons, at worst Russ would kill all these pure magic users. He shuttered at the horrifying thought of all these beautiful magical minds burning to nothing in the flames of an exterminatus.
"Are you alright Magnus?" Luna peeked in a little closer and he flinched. He was so deep in thought that he had not noticed that he just fell silent for about full minute.
"Ah, yes I apologize. I have a lot to think about, but alas, the sun rises I must get back to work... How has my brother fared through the night?"
Luna sighed. "He has not slept or even attempted to eat the food presented. He appears to not trust us at all."
"Do not think too harshly of him, he was raised by wild rabid wolves after all...and he is strong, just as strong of mind as he is of body and of heart. To him magic is dishonorable and cowardly, he may be ignorant but his disposition is a product of his upbringing. I just ask that you do not judge him too harshly..."
Luna smiled. "I have never seen anypony, even a blood relative so ready to defend someone so... brutish... you must really love your family."
Magnus had to suppress his urge to laugh. His reasoning for defending Russ was on behalf of what was practically the only person in the galaxy he loved. His father, Though they did not see eye to eye on matters of he warp, he had known and spoke to his father since even his gestation period. Though, technically the princess was right. It was love for his family, specifically his father that made Magnus even bother speaking on his barbarian brother's behalf. "I suppose so...oh! I forgot, do I now have permission to study within the libraries?... I am a little eager to see the knowledge this world has, the warp is a tricky mistress but the problems here seem utterly null and void compared to the problems in our neck of the woods...."
"Certainly Magnus, in fact I think you made quite an impression when you were explaining it all after we finally got your brother back in the box. Princess Twilight Sparkle has requested the position to assist you in your studies and research on how to return to your world, she will however be very likely to ask you about the magic you have attained..."
"Oh, that would actually be rather fun, I will be overjoyed to share my knowledge in exchange for the knowledge you are offering me." He smiled warmly though paused and looked back deeper into the palace. "Um... I think I should go visit my brother... Eventually we have to remove him from that box even if only to get him home, better to do it after we have convinced him to be calm about it."
Luna nodded and gestured to him. She made it clear the previous night that if ever Magnus was to go near Russ again either she or her sister needed to be there due to Leman's habit of breaking out and beating Magnus half to death every time he was near. Making their way into the makeshift prison four of the ten guards were crying in the corner as the other six looked like they just stopped yelling and whipped quickly back into their positions. Russ however, was happily standing with a condescending humored look about him.
"Your guards are weak moon ass.... maybe you should leave the milk drinking wussies back in their cribs...." The guards grit their teeth in anger looking like they were about to start yelling at him again.
"Captain!... your blood pressure... just let it go... and stand aside..."
"Yeah, listen to moon ass...." Russ chuckled but then his eyes caught Magnus, once again he glared angrily. "So then, Ill bet you are just having the time of your bloody life.... finally you get to suck up to someone who values your filthy magic more than honorable combat."
"Russ, calm down. We are working on a way to get us both home, you know that you would not be in there if you would just NOT try and kill everyone every chance you got."
Leman scoffed and Luna sighed. "I cannot sense any change in him at all, its safe to assume that hes not going to be decent today either... lets get you to the library."
"Yeah you fucking one eye'ed book banger! Go to the library..." Magnus shared Luna's aggravated sigh and left.
Luna leaned in calmly eyeing the earth pony. "You are the only one who is keeping you in there, all you have to do is be at least a partially decent pony and you wont have to stay in the box..."
Russ scoffed louder and turned away. "I swear to father I will eat her whole race...."
"AH! Magnus!" Twilight happily rushed up to him, a string of books floating behind her. He was genuinely happy to see someone who valued knowledge as much as he did. He made note to request copies of magical texts for storage back on Prospero when finally he found a way back home.
"It is good to see you your Majesty..."
"Oh! please Magnus just call me Twilight, anypony as eager to learn as you is counted among my friends, and my friends don't need to use fancy titles or anything."
He paused in thought for a bit, he had never seen anyone refuse a glamorous title, even if it was for something so petty in his opinion. These pony creatures are rather humble...
"Well, I have these tomes prepared, its only vague references but they speak of our world's connection to a form of afterlife... mind you its very VERY vague, but the way it is worded it almost sounds like its talking about this realm of souls, or warp you have been going on about. Ill be happy to go through it with you, and I do hope you have time to spare and share with me about the... warp as you call it."
"Perfect... If I can see how this world is connected to the warp then I can manipulate that link, hopefully in a way that will not harm your world..." Magnus smiled happily drawing the books to him in a circle. "If we are lucky your world and other worlds like it are very distantly placed and just accessible through the warp like how our ships go through the warp.... it is very likely, though with a catch... it probably requires a very specific ritual to breach past the outer shell. As I told you, I accidentally broke through by being careless with the warp powers when I fist found the anomaly that ended up being your world..."
"It's a little overwhelming... realm of souls... the source of all magic....VERY different from what we learn here... but not contradictory... this is just so fascinating..." Twilight eagerly scribbled down more of her observations and previous discoveries.
"Well.. normally only Psykers can access the warp and use magic, though here, its like the warp is untouched by all the darkness, well not only that but also stretched out and intertwined in every last piece of this world... It is fascinating. The warp is literally on the same level as the material world within this realm, it is utterly fascinating...If ever stable travel is ensured I would gladly bring back some of my own personal library to show you... My Thousand Sons could learn much from this world and we could show you so much more." He found himself rather enjoying the freedom of magic in Equestria. He knew that his father would likely demand that the world be purged, the Thousand Sons would likely be called on to do so and take all the knowledge it had, even if he could just avoid speaking of it as to spare the world he knew for certain Russ would demand the world be purged. It bothered him but he would cross that bridge when he came to it, for now he was going to enjoy the company of those who did not fear or shun magic. He would happily indulge in the power and knowledge present as he found a safe way home.
"Magnus?" He jumped a little, he was so in depth with his focus that he had not realized he had began to stare into space. "I was wondering... this spell you used... to further um... blend in and seal away your powers... Its safe now isn't it?... can't you just unseal it?"
He looked up in thought before looking back. "I can yes... but... um.. I would look kinda... kinda REALLLLY weird to you I think... I don't think I would even reclaim my original form... but I would certainly give everyone quite a fright...."
Twilight was even more intrigued now. Was Magnus really so vastly different? And was his knowledge of magic so thorough that he knew things without even trying them? She often would read accounts of Starswirl the bearded doing such things. Complex spells and easily foretelling the exact outcome before the research even started, like math, he could look at an extremely complex group of equations and just know the answer without working through each problem. Only everyone knew that advanced magic was thousands of times more complex than most math.
"If I find a solution Ill be happy to pop out of my seal to complete the work... I might even need it. Traversing the warp is no easy task even for me... and I will most likely need all my power to do so and find my way home." He smiled warmly looking back at her. Despite the whole xenos bit he quite enjoyed her company. She was so eager to learn, just like he was. Though he found that the more he enjoyed her company the more dread he felt in wondering what his father would do about this world when they returned. Even if his father would not do anything to it, Russ would certainly demand something be done, if nothing else then for the revenge of being locked up for so long.
"Well... No time like the present!... lets get to this."
It was already past midnight now. In fact neither of them had looked at the clock since they started, for all they knew it could have been midnight of the next day. All they knew was that two guards ponies came in with a cart of sandwiches and hot cider. The give away that it was late was actually a casual glance outside the window to see the moon in the sky.
"Princess Celestia was a little worried about you two... its been all day and then some, you have not even been out to eat or drink once."
Magnus and Twilight glanced at each other with questioning eyes. "Wow... I am legitimately surprised.... I guess time does fly when you are having fun... Well Twilight, break?"
"Yeah... lets just get some break time in..." A loud a rumble came from Twilight's stomach. Shifting her face to a light blush she smiled to play off the event. Though a near booming echo rolled in from Magnus's belly. With that they both happily laughed. Even the guards chuckled as they left.
Starting into the food and drink, the two happily continued their back and forth lessons.
"So just remember, here its absolutely vital to uphold a constant stream of draw from the latent magical field. As to where Psyker magic appears to be grabbing a hunk out of a rift from within and using it as you go..." She let out a soft burp and giggled, looking back at Magnus who smiled approvingly letting out a slightly louder burp.
"Yes.. Psyker magic is a bit dangerous, but I imagine that if brought here even the problem Psykers would be safe from warp predators. " They too even now did not seem too concerned that so much time had passed.
Getting up and moving back to a small loft area where he had left his books open, he aimed to dig them out and recheck a chapter. He was almost sure that he could figure a way out of this world safely if given a few more days. However, his train of thought was derailed and his mind triggered into a near inquisitive fit when his head hit the low ceiling. He had been up in that loft a dozen times that night and his head never hit the ceiling. He paused for a moment and brushed aside all the fun he had been having to try and put two and two together.
"... Magnus?.... were you always a dark orange?...." He turned to face Twilight who looked a bit concerned up at him.
Quickly he stepped back down and stood in front of a mirror. There right in front of him was the image of a one eye'ed pony with a dark orange and near red coat. Twilight stepped up and froze. Her head only came to his neck. They used to be almost the same height.
The awkwardness was interrupted by another booming rumble. "Magnus?... please tell me that was your stomach again...."
The boom echoed again. "... That was indeed NOT me..." He looked up and out deeper into the castle but whipped his head back when he felt one of his limbs brush up against Twilight. "Oh sorry... um.."
Her eyes were wide and intensely staring at him. Her eye level was not at his chest. "Your wings are pushing up into my face..."
"Oh.. sorry...but, um, why do I have wings?"
Again Twilight's eyes shot wide as dinner plates and her pupils shrank. "Why do you have wings? ...what in Equestria is going on?"
He looked back into the mirror at a one eye'ed alicorn with a dark red coat and a matching mop of a red mane. Though he was growing taller and overall bigger by the second.
"The spell is fading!..."
"Wait.. what spell?"
"The spell I put into place when I entered your world... to make me blend in and to suppress my physical form and power."
A booming roar shook all of Canterlot, making books fall from their shelves and windows rattle. "Didn't you cast that on you AND your brother?"
".... shit."
Is Brotherly Violence Magic?
Chapter 3: Wolf King of Fenris
The roars shook the palace and trembled the mountain. The two Alicorns dashed through the halls trying desperately to get to the makeshift prison. The red one eye'ed Alicorn intentionally moved ahead feeling his much smaller friend would most likely not be able to stand up against what he was certain was coming, his brother was not called the wolf king of Fenris for nothing, and he was certain that the odd magics in this realm were very likely to change Leman just as they had changed Magnus.
"Listen... Twilight, before we get there. I want you to stay back, my brother is EXTREMELY powerful and is unlike anything you have ever seen..."
Twilight smirked and lifted her chin confidently. "I may be a princess and I may not be all that big, but me and my friends have stood up against monsters like Tirek and Sombra, I doubt tha-"
She was cut off as Celestia blasted through the door they were just approaching and continued topping end over end until she by sheer force of magic and physical might, righted herself and dug her hooves into the marble floors. The moment she came to a stop she bolted back out at a five story tall wolf sitting in the small courtyard clearing.
"... Yup... That is what I was afraid of, And I think the transformation is making him a wee bit more bonkers than before..." Magnus grumbled biting his lip. As Twilight stared with wide eyes and shrunken pupils.
"THAT IS YOUR BROTHER? WHAT HAPPENED?!?"
"The suppression spell is wearing through. I either need to reapply it to him or break the natural magical hold this realm has on him. Then he will turn back to his normal self."
"What then?" Twilight stared up at him, worry plastered across her face.
"Then we are not fighting a giant wolf...." He stared straight ahead trying to think of what to do next as he spotted a heavy axe hanging on the wall. Moving closer, his magic tore it from its place and he closed his eye. Focusing his power inwards to feel the fine layer of Equestrian magic coating his soul and altering his physical form. "Twilight!... this will take just a few seconds. Go and get everyone out of the courtyard... EVERYONE!... not just the guards. Then get to a safe distance. If you have anything similar to artillery then do me a favor and bring it to bear on Leman as soon as possible..."
Twilight stalled for a moment then nodded quickly bolting out shouting warnings and orders of which, all the guards were all too happy to follow. However, one certain Princess of the sun seemed to ignore all else as she desperately did battle with the wolf. Twilight flew in quickly to try and relay the information. However, she witness something she would never forget.
Celestia swooped in low at very high speeds forming a mass of magical energy as managed to get under the wolf and then rocket upwards into its belly. Leman cringed and doubled over as he puked and out of his mouth plopped Luna.
"BLAAAH!!! HOLY SOLAR SPANKINGS...YOU ATE ME YOU BUCKING INGRATE!!!" Spitting and spewing bile and saliva, Luna quickly bolted away coming to a halt as she reached the walls. Celestia met her there and quickly Twilight made her way there as well.
"HE ATE YOU?... w...what?.... what?" Twilight flustered and panicked as it dawned on her that Leman had been saying he would eat them for a while. Panic shot back up inside her as she came to the realization that he may literally eat her if she were to help fight.
"What in Equestria happened?" Celestia held her sister, looking her over for injuries, though Luna brushed her off and glared up at the monstrous wolf who turned and glared at them all starting a slow advance.
"I don't know sister, he just started to growl, then to laugh then he grew. He grew literally to that size and snapped his cage to pieces. The last thing I saw was his mouth opening as he rushed me." Luna shuttered but the quickening pace of the gallop of a heavy wolf stopped the conversation.
Twilight took to the skies quickly followed by Luna and Celestia. "Princess Celestia!... Magnus says he can help fight, but we have to get everypony clear of the courtyard and get artillery on Leman. What can we get on short notice?"
Celestia's horn glowed bright, she did not bother responding right away. "We will do for now... Twilight, go and alert all local pegasus. Get anypony you can here to bring in thunder clouds. Tell them it is utterly vital that they stay as far away as possible from Leman." She stopped and looked down at the courtyard. Curious at Leman's continued advance despite that they had already flown out of range. They all watched as he pounced on somepony who was too slow. They were tempted to dive in and try to save him. But, all at once they hesitated when they heard Blueblood's voice screaming for help before Leman Russ tossed him up and swallowed him whole upon returning to mouth level.
"... Well at least the casualty count will be low...." They all shared a nervous and somewhat guilty few nods of agreement before they turned and charged their horns, preparing to bombard the giant wolf from far above him.
Magnus opened his eye and his magic roared up in flames as the warp energy swirled about him. He stood on two legs and as the last layer was peeled away his form blasted away the last of the pony form. He flexed his fingers and brought the axe into his right hand before charging into the courtyard just in time to see Leman leap high snapping at three princesses that were only just barely out of reach. However, as he fell back to the ground his tail whirled about and swatted one of them out of the sky. Twilight landed with a yelp of pain. Her right foreleg bled and she struggled to get back up and shake off the pain as he wings spread. But she was far too late. A pair of wolf jaws closed in over her.
Twilight clenched her eyes shut waiting for the inevitable quick pain before empty blackness. But instead she got booted in the head. Standing up she heard growls and yells as she saw something massive standing in the mouth of the giant wolf. Easily 10 feet tall. His grip held firm onto Leman's teeth as a pair of boots firmly pressed into his lower jaw. His other foot was back and bracing against the ground which did not help him much.
"Brother! fight it... The magic of this realm is effecting your head. This is not you!" Magnus tightened his grip hesitating to actually swing the axe into his own brother.
"Oh suck my balls Magnus!... you had your fun, now I'm having mine!" He spoke messily with his mouth open, letting out annoyed growls as Celestia and Luna blasted him with magic.
"Magnus?... is that you?" She looked back and tried to stand, wincing and gritting her teeth at the pain in her foreleg
"Twilight... run... get back into the sky and get yourself and them up higher than that... I have to have a personal conversation with brother dearest here..." Twilight nodded, still worried and fearful. She got to her hooves keeping off her injured leg, her wings spread and the moment Twilight took off still wincing at the pain of her leg, Magnus swung the axe and sank it into his brother's nose. Quickly he recoiled with an annoyed growl shaking his head hard, Magnus with it.
Magnus finally lost his grip and smashed into the far wall before flaring up his magic once more. Connecting to the warp on a deep level he allowed his body to soak in all the power he could manage quickly growing in size until he had nearly doubled in height. Celestia and Luna stared down in awe before Twilight caught up with them and explained it.
It did not take long for the fight to get very messy. Buildings were quickly getting knocked over and shattered. The air filled with smoke and screams. Soon not only did all the pegasus around show up to start raining down lightning onto the giant wolf, but the wonderbolts too showed up to dish out the electrostatic pain. Soon even chariots carrying more unicorns appeared in the sky. Though to their frustration Leman seemed to utterly ignore them despite obvious heavy burns in his fur and on his back. Instead the giant wolf seemed 100% dedicated to fighting the 20 foot tall red giant who was slugging him with his fists and blasting him with magic.
As the time dragged on the courtyard and all surrounding buildings were practically rubble and the extensive power of three alicorns and a few dozen unicorns combined with nearly two hundred blasts of lightning over the length of two hours, finally made the giant wolf stagger. Magnus jumped on the opportunity mounting up on Leman's neck to choke him out with a scissor hold as he forced his way into the magical hold that bound his brother into his bestial form. Magnus's one eye glowed bright and he clenched down on his brother's neck with all his might. Straining to keep him down for the safety of this one beautiful world.
Shredding through the layers of magical power that the realm pushed onto Leman, Magnus tore away at them with immense effort and focus as his brother kicked and squirmed. In his new wolfy form he lacked any hands or any real methods of getting Magnus off of him. To his credit however, Leman never stopped fighting despite the lengthy excessive choking that would have ended the life of any lesser being. Magnus's physical body held his brother as his psychic form tore away at the magical barriers, he could only just barely see his brother's true form under the last layer of magic.
Seizing the last layer he tore it off with all his might and returned to his body. The very moment his eye snapped back, Magnus rose his hands and clenched them into fists like ceramite and with a mighty roar and every last ounce of his strength he brought his fists into the back of his brother's head.
The sound was booming and it had an instant result. His blow, combined with the magical power being ripped off of him created a shock that finally combined with the constant bombardment had brought Leman into unconsciousness.
Releasing his magical form Magnus quickly returned to his normal 8 feet of height just as Leman's wolfy form turned back to his original massive human form. Magnus sat firmly, his labored breathing was interrupted with a laugh. Slow at first then he slipped into a fit of the giggles
"Ha!.... stupid furry fuck... I finally beat you..." He smiled happily and leaned back against the wall as three exhausted and concerned princesses landed near him.
"Is it over?... is it safe?" Luna inched forward still quite cautious after being eaten the first time.
"In a matter of speaking, yes. He is out cold. But he will wake up and he will even in this form, still most likely try and eat you. It will be best if we put him back in a ca..." His one eye opened wide and his expression of satisfaction vanished. The princesses too noticed it. Looking at his own hand he saw the warp energies amassing over his body. "... I removed the seals, could it really be that simple?... The seals appeared the moment we entered this world, I added my own power on them to prevent us from... well this... but..." He stared at the gathering energies.
"Magnus... what is happening?" Twilight looked at him worry thick on her face.
"I broke the seals that gave us forms that was suitable for this world. That seal was a part of this world. By rejecting it, this world is now rejecting us. We are being thrown back into the warp!"
Luna and Celestia shared a sigh of relief and Twilight grit her teeth. "But... but we were going to figure it out!! please, stay... I want to know more about you... about your worlds, your culture..."
Magnus stood up and though he had to lean over to do it, he patted her gently and shoot his head no. "Please, Twilight. This is important. Do NOT try to follow us. Do not search for me. The warp is a dark and twisted place. The Imperium of man is a hateful and fearful people. They kill anything that is not human. They hunt those who can use magic, they treat magic as some sick twisted thing that needs to be guarded. The warp is not safe, none of it.... none of what my realm is.... can be good for this place... Thank you Twilight, thank you so much. You have done more for me than most ever have. This land of yours, it is a Psyker's paradise... the darkness does not touch here. These few days, they have been wonderful. Please do not forget me..." His hand on her head began to phase out of existence as he scratched her ears playfully. "I yearn to place as free as yours... please never forget me and never let this land become any lesser than it is. Fight back the darkness and keep this realm safe. If ever I return... we will read every last book in your entire library together." He smiled warmly and she desperately grasped at his fading image only to find her hooves meeting cold air as the last of their presence vanished.
"Magnus...." Twilight's voice sounded out into the cold air of the night.
"MAGNUS!!!"
He could feel his consciousness returning as something harshly grabbed him by the hair and hauled him back into the physical world. He could feel the warp closing firmly as he lay in a pile with Leman, dazed and confused. That is until his father's open hand slapped him up across the head.
"Wake up mop hair!" The slap was two fold bringing forward then back across his face. The sound of Leman mumbling and stumbling about at the same time told him that Magnus was not being singled out.
"Father?... I... We are back?" The Emperor of Man stared down at his sons as one hand shot out and grabbed Leman by the head.
"Slow down you obnoxious drunk... what happened?" His gaze bounced between Magnus and Leman.
Magnus hesitated not wanting to reveal what he knew in fear that the mere chance that Equestria would not be left alone. His eyes went to Leman as Magnus prepared to counter everything his brother said.
"Father... I was just teasing him... all I remember is swatting him over the head and everything went dark... Did you hit me you cyclops book banging little shit?" Magnus froze up in in surprise and in disbelief. Whether it was the magic, or the smack over the head, Leman did not appear to remember Equestria.
"Yes..." A monotone voice spoke out. "He did strike you, and the warp enveloped you both, me and Vulcan both witnessed it, all you managed to do about it was flail about like a fish out of water..."
"Shut your mouth Rogal... I could have handled it... but... I still don't know why... Why does my head hurt so damned bad?" Leman rubbed the two large lumps on the back of his head, now swelled up to a single red lump.
"As long as you two are alright." The Emperor swatted them both upside the head. "Now, Leman, no more disturbing Magnus when he is doing warpspace ooga booga horse shit, and Magnus, don't do warpspace ooga booga horse shit here in the temple. Do that somewhere else where a little bump is not going to suck you and some other poor sod into the warp for a few days."
Magnus hid his joy that the pure realm he had found was spared. "Y...yes father."
Leman grumbled before he received another smack over the head. "I will spank you, you drunk little furry brat"
"FINE!!!... But Im going back to Fenris for a month..." He stormed off angrily.
Magnus looked up at his father. It was almost never that anyone stood up for him. It was refreshing, but not nearly as refreshing as the bright eyed blissful girl he had left behind in that perfect world free of darkness and the taint of the warp, the taint of hate and fear that plagued humanity. "Father, I am going back to Prospero for a while, I have some things I need to work on."
The Emperor nodded and sighed as he walked off. Watching him leave without concern was one such memory that remained with him. The unknown methods and motives of his father. Despite all Magnus's might and mind, he could never begin to understand his own father. But, his thoughts on this would have to wait.
He turned and gathered a mass of power that surpassed almost all others on Terra, with a single forced blast of power he opened his eye on Prospero with a genuinely happy smile as he pulled out from under his cloak a small book for his private library. He flipped it open as he made his way to his private chambers disregarding any who spoke to him. His fingers trailed over the cover looking at the title with a soothing hapiness. Magic and beyond theoretical possibilities. By Starswirl the Bearded
"Don't worry princess, its a library book, I'll return it some day"
Is Brotherly Violence Magic?
Chapter 4: The Call of Chaos
Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Is Brotherly Violence Magic?
Everypony's eyes were still wide, their mouth's agape. Had this been a planned attack the 'attackers' surely would not be sitting there in confusion as they were, nor would they be simply not attacking while Celestia was mere inches away.
It was the end of the summer sun celebration. After a few dozen alternate cities Celestia and Luna had decided to have it in Canterlot this year. The feast had just began, Celestia in good humor had challenged Pinkie to a cake eating contest, a contest she knew she would both lose and could not afford to be seen actually trying to win. They had just sat down comfortably and everyone was having a grand time. Even the guards smiled happily as they patrolled about.
But when the massive cake was set on the main table and Celestia had happily raised the serving knife to it, the cake violently exploded. There on the table simply inches from Celestia's face were two ponies. One earth pony with a long blonde mane strung with braids, large taut muscles under thick weathered skin. He looked like he could simply walk about and headbutt the living daylights out of every guard in Canterlot with ease. The other was a unicorn that had a large bushy red mane with a soft orange coat. Though the most interesting feature was that he had only one eye, and not that he lost it but it looked like it just never existed to begin with. There was no eye socket, there was no eyebrow, there was not even a bump or anything. Just a smooth piece of skin over where his right eye should have been.
The blonde maned one stared down at Celestia with wide shocked eyes then his hooves came up for him to see as if he had never seen his own hooves before in his life. Silently even as everypony stared on in confusion he continued to look at the hooves, then his left eye twitched. Slowly his head turned to the left at the one eye'ed pony. Turning with so much built up energy he looked like he was going to hurt himself or strain something. His twitching eyes narrowed as his teeth grit and every muscle in his body tensed. The one eye'ed pony slowly turned at the same time looking at the other pony. His ears flopped back and a nervous smile tried to form on his face as he began to speak. But he was drowned out by the deafening roar from the blonde maned pony.
"I WILL FUCKING MURDER YOU!!!" He pounced and plowed into the one eye'ed pony smashing his hooves into his face. The guards instantly rushed in to try and break it up. "FUCKING PONIES MAGNUS?... FUCKING PONIES? EVEN IF I DON'T KILL YOU... BLAARRRRG!!!! I DON'T CARE WHAT FATHER SAYS, YOU ARE FUCKING DEAD!!!!" With some relative surprise the first guard who clobbered the rampaging pony was uprooted and chucked across the room with what looked like no effort at all.
The angry pony turned back to the downed one eye'ed pony who quickly teleported behind Celestia. But he began to run, bolting through the doors, the way his head whipped back and forth made it clear to the wise and honed eye, he truly had no idea where he was, he came here by accident. The violent one roared and charged after the fleeing pony only to be uprooted in a glow of golden magic. He roared and thrashed about. "GET YOUR FILTHY MAGIC OFF ME YOU FILTHY FUCKING XENO!" Twilight gave Celestia a quick glance and gestured at the door which the other pony had fled. Celestia gave a firm nod and Twilight, accompanied by a fair amount of guards charged after the other fleeing pony. Celestia turned the wrathful equine about in her magical grip inspecting his flank. His cutie mark was a sword crossed with an ax in front of a shield. Magically seeking deeper within the pony she could feel the natural magic that was inside all ponies. The enhanced strength and connection to the earth found in earth ponies was easily ten times that of a normal earth pony. There was something even more odd about this one, and she could easily feel a very powerful magic holding even more of this same natural power back. She spared a glance back at the door as more guards moved in hoping to form a plan to get this pony under control.
"Be careful Twilight.... these ponies are not what they seem..."
Twilight's magic lead her to paths that the guards did not so easily follow. Popping back and forth she followed what seemed almost like an intentional flare of magic. She could easily pick it out like bread crumbs being left behind by the one eye'ed pony. It confused her a great deal. If he was trying to get away then why did he leave such and obvious trail? She could feel him teleport just to beyond the wall. She followed suit and almost regretted it as much as the pony she was following. It was a sheer drop off, they had teleported outside of a tower. Twilight easily spread her wings and her eyes tried to pick the mop of red mane and orange coat out of the cold evening air up in Canterlot. She saw him too late. He had fallen what was clearly a lethal distance and crushed some crates below him. She quickly moved in from above hoping to save his life with anything she could conjure up. It was over a two hundred foot drop.
Her hooves touched down and she nearly jumped out of her skin in fright as a loud voice rang out. "OW!.... damned crates... well... I think no one is going to be eating that fruit... oh bother... why did he have to mess up my focus, can't he get it through his thick skull that the warp is not some petty physical thing you just drop on command?... now I'm stuck here... father will kill me if I can't get Russ back with me..." He paused and glanced behind him at Twilight. "Oh..... um... hi... Can you understand me?... I mean I can't Imagine you could but here's hoping... the spell I cast when we were coming here was supposed to suppress our physical presence and make it easier for us to blend in... Sort of a merging spell... but it looks like this plain of existence already has something close to that which effected us upon entry... you ... um...well to say..." He fumbled awkwardly with his hooves trying to speak in a manner that felt comfortable.
"Stop!..." Twilight shook her head, she did not expect this behavior nor the odd rambling. "If you are not here to cause harm to anypony then you don't need to run... let me just get a look at your injuries and we will go back..."
He stepped back and looked over Twilight once somewhat amused that she spoke his language and a little put off by her words. "I... um.. I am not really injured... but... I warn you, I am quite powerful, I will fight back if this is some ploy to lure me in... I am NOT weak and I am not one to be manipulated..."
"Not weak says the pony who just got his plot handed to him by an earth pony in front of 200+ other ponies..."
"That was Russ... I can't win in a fight against Russ, and even if I could father would never forgive me if I went all out on him, magic is not some toy you can whip about in fights without hurting someone...or worse." He backed up a little more. "Look, We came here by accident, I just need a place to recheck my spells and maybe study up a little, feel this out until I can find out exactly where in the warp I was thrown. Then I can take me and my brother back home, the only other option could hurt your world."
Twilight's eyes narrowed at him but she sighed. "Fine, I will speak on your behalf to Princess Celestia, now come on. Just follow me and don't try anything funny...We will get to the bottom of all this."
He happily nodded and cautiously followed a few steps behind her. She took the chance to sneak a peak at his flank and noticed a red sun as his cutie mark, four small straight rays and four larger wavy rays protruding from the round red circle. "How are you not hurt from that fall?"
He let off a light smile. "Oh a fall like that is nothing to me or for that matter, anyone even close to me. What really sucked was landing on crates, twists my joints up really bad...Not damaging, but painful"
"I... um.. see... I think" Twilight tried to make sense of it but put it off until she could hear what Celestia had to say.
Twelve guards limping and bruised applied ice packs and bandages to each other as Luna sighed and shook her head. All the guests had been escorted out and everpony present did their best to subdue the single earth pony. Those who were not thrown into walls like they were made from feathers were head butted and bucked into the same walls. In the end Celestia simply held him still in the air with her magic and Luna conjured a cage around him. Though again, this failed as he bucked the magical cage to pieces and Luna tried again, only using marble from the floor and walls to create the cage. He broke that one too, screaming and cursing away, suspended in the air thrashing about until somepony brought in extremely heavy duty materials for a heavier cage which finally he could not instantly break out of. The steel bars bent violently with each buck but reformed near instantly through Luna's magical imprisonment seals.
"Why didn't you just put him to sleep or something?" A guard fresh on the scene looked over at Luna and Celestia.
"Your foul Psyker powers are no match for the Wolf King of Fenris you filthy milksops! And once I'm free I will eat every last one of you over a spitfire! YOUR WHOLE DAMNED WORLD!! AND THAT FUCK MAGNUS WILL BE NEXT!!!!"
He continued to scream and shout even as Luna added a silencing spell over the cage. "He seems rather resistant against spells... extremely in fact...Telekinesis is the only thing that seems to work on him and only by lifting him. He is powerful enough to force his way past our magic if he gets any leverage between our magic and himself. To a point, his physical strength dwarfs the power of even our maximum effort through telekinetic magic." Luna shot a glance back at the raging pony just in time for Twilight to pop back in.
"Princess Celestia!... has he hurt anypony?" She looked to the guards who were still awake and the pile of guards that had been near literally used to wipe the walls, thus her question was answered. "Ah... well I um.. caught up with our runner, and hes not a threat from what I can tell. Princess... meet Magnus the Red..."
Almost sheepishly the one eye'ed pony stepped in and gave a short bow. He got a quick rundown of who was who on the way back to the room they started in, Introductions were made between Twilight and himself to break the rather awkward silence, extra awkward as more and more guards joined them. He was certain he could take apart anyone present but he did not want to test his luck, they were restraining Russ and if he got loose then it would be a death sentence. He could even see Russ screaming and savagely beating his cage through the sound proof spell. "I am so very sorry your majesty... I am Magnus the Red, and the very unpleasant foul mouthed, foul smelling, ill tempered ignorant furry one over there is my brother, Leman Russ... please for the love of all that is holy do not let him out...."
Luna and Celestia gave a quick glance at each other but shook their heads with a chuckle. "We don't plan to...At least not until he calms down. So, do you mind explaining why and how you managed to drop in on us during our celebration?... perhaps where you come from is the first thing we should note."
Magnus did not like the prodding questions, but if he could not make his way back to Terra with ease then these lesser magical beings could not do it in a thousand years, there was no real harm in talking a little. "...it is very hard to explain your majesty... you see..." He seemed uncomfortable saying the phrase 'majesty' but used it anyway. Celestia had seen this sort of hesitance before. He had a lot of faith in his own power, perhaps even an ego to him, though the self absorbed pieces were well hidden if they were there at all. "We are from a world called Terra, and we did not come here on purpose. I was just exploring the warp on my own and my brother... ahem... 'interrupted' me while I was doing something very delicate... the resulting burst of magic sucked us both into the warp. Unfortunately I could not pull us both back out, and all I could do is seal away our overpowering presences and hope to blend into wherever we popped out long enough to find our way back. However, my brother does not take so well to change and new or delicate situations as I do..."
"Um.. Princess?..." A guard spoke up
"I swear to you I have no ill intent or malice in me, I simply wish to take my brother and return to Terra without any further incident" He calmly and confidently gestured to himself as he spoke.
"Princess?..." The same guard's voice rang out again with a little bit of distress.
"Very well then, for now I have no reason not to believe you, but be warned, I do not take kindly to anypony trying to harm my ponies...."
"PRINCESS!!!"
Luna and Celestia both whipped about giving a firm shout. "WHAT?"
"FUCKING MAGNUS YOU LITTLE SHIT!" His voice hit their ears before the sound of the magical barriers and cage exploding outwards did.
"I DIDN'T DO IT ON PURPOSE RUSS!!!" One tan colored earth pony resumed beating the ever loving hell out of the orange unicorn who seemed to just want to run away.
