The Invasion Cycle

     Twilight stared at her teacher, jaw dropped open. It took her several moments to regain her composure. "Here, in Equestria?" she asked. A mere nod in response. "Well, what do you want me to do then?" This time it took the princess longer to respond.

     "What I want you to do, Twilight, is to be my emissary. My champion." Questions flew almost instantaneously from Twilight's mouth, and Celestia waved them aside. "Twilight, this threat is too great for us to fight alone. We are not a warlike people. The people who lived in Mirrodin were, and they fell all the same." Celestia levitated the table in the corner of the room to the center of it, along with several of the chairs which she placed around it.

     "No, we need help. And I know who to call." The alicorn's horn began to glow.  A ball of blue energy filled the room, a strange bubble almost, and Twilight found herself staring, falling into it, mentally if not physically. The purple mare felt as if her very soul was being torn from her body. She felt empty. Then a flame lit inside of her, warming her body, drawing her back into herself. The bubble popped, and Twilight was flung against the wall, and with her footing went the flame. Celestia slumped to the floor, exhausted.

     In place of the bubble stood a dark figure, tall and imposing. It was robed in blue, with odd marking decorating it's clothing. It's face was masked in shadows, it's head covered by a hood. A few sparks flew off of it, the energy it released standing Twilight's hair on end. For awhile it just stood there, then finally it spoke.

     "Owh sha llceda em?" it demanded. He demanded, for it seemed to have a male voice. It cast back it's hood, revealing a narrow face atop a short neck -short in comparison at least- wild spiky hair, and piercing blue eyes. Slowly his face changed from what appeared to be indignation into a kind of humor. "Inesop? Rylela?"

     Twilight looked away from it for one moment to Celestia. "What is it saying?" she asked.

     Celestia's face went blank for a moment, her brain still recovering from the mental exertion it had just gone through. After a few seconds her mind registered with her ears, and her horn began to glow again. This time an odd circle formed around the thing's throat, slowly closing in with a gentle pop, and then it was gone. The thing seemed rather unfazed by it all. A similar circle appeared around Twilight's throat, and it closed in on itself also. Celestia indicated that Twilight should try to talk to the thing.

     Twilight turned to face it. An emissary, she had said. Her champion, she had said. She gathered herself, and then took the plunge.

     "My name is Twilight Sparkle, Champion of the Princess of the Sun. Who and what are you?"

     It spoke. "My name is Jace Beleren, and I am a Plansewalker. A human one to be more specific. A pleasure to meet you, Twilight." He turned to Celestia. "And I can merely assume that this other pony is this, oh how did you say it, 'Princess of the Sun'?" Twilight nodded. Jace nodded. Celestia just nodded off.

     "Oh, of course, she can sleep whenever she wants to," Twilight thought, then quickly pushed the thought away as the human seemed to read her mind.

     "Well, she does deserve the sleep," he said, taking a seat. "She summoned me across whole planes of existence, and without even having the Spark herself." Jace shook his head. "And that would kill most people." Twilight was stunned. Celestia had risked her life to bring this, thing, here? Twilight felt a small tingle behind her eyes, then Jace spoke again. "I wouldn't risk thinking things like that around me," he said.

     For the second time that morning, Twilight found her jaw loose. "Are you reading my mind?" she asked.

     "Yes I am," a voice in her head whispered. Her voice. But not. "I am the greatest mind manipulator in the universe," it said. "I could dance you like a puppet on a string, if I wanted. I won't though. For now." Then Twilight's mind was hers again. The man's face showed no signs of boasting, just a cold determination, and the mare felt fear.

     "What are you?"

     "Like I said, a Plansewalker. Like you." Well that got to Twilight.

     "What do you mean, 'like you'?"

     "You have the Spark, Twilight. You have a gift given to a select few." Twilight just shook her head.

     "What is this Spark?" she asked. "You mentioned it earlier, said something about Celestia not having it."

     Jace nodded. "So I did. The Spark is what ties Plansewalkers together. It is where we draw our power from. In some, the full potential of this Spark is realized. Some become gods in their own rights." Jace's eyes clouded over, for a second, then flashed back into a frightening blue color. "Others never realize they have it."

     "I certainly didn't," Twilight mumbled. Jace smiled.

     "Explain to me how you feel right now." Twilight paused for a moment. Her emotions were all over the place, from fear to excitement to irritation to... calmness.

     "Calm. Somehow," she responded. "It's like my emotions are all skewed, yet a piece of me is just sitting there, watching." Jace nodded, sagely. Twilight thought about that. This human looked relatively young, she guessed, but his eyes were old. They seemed to almost radiate knowledge.

     "Now, that is your Spark," he said. "While I was in your mind I saw what happened while I was being brought here. You felt yourself being torn out, then pulled back in. Your body tried to reject your Spark. Your soul wasn't being torn out. Your Spark was. And without it you would have died."

     Twilight was shocked. She had almost died?

     "Is that a normal thing, your body rejecting it?"

     "No, it's not. Your Spark has been lying dormant, soaking up your own personal magical energy. Your mana. The pull of another Spark nearby awakened it, but it was too powerful. So your body rejected it. I absorbed most of the energy," Jace tapped his chest, "and your body accepted your Spark again."

     Celestia chose that moment to wake up, her head lifting groggily off the floor. She looked first to Jace, then to Twilight, then back to Jace.

     "So, that kind of hurt," she remarked. With a visible effort the princess pushed herself off the floor, stretching out her wings to full length. "I can see you two have been talking. That's good.” She folded in her wings. " Now, how much has Jace told you, Twilight?"

     The unicorn relayed as much back to Celestia as she could, who just nodded. Once the mare was done, the princess turned to Jace.

     "Do you know why I have brought you here?"

     "Honestly, no. I assume it has something to do with her though," he said, pointing to Twilight.

     "That is correct. I had hoped to ask your assistance in training her to be a Plansewalker. The Phyrexians are going to invade." At the last sentence, Jace's face grew pale.

     "When?"

     "Several months time."

     Jace looked to Twilight, then seemed to reach a decision. One that shocked both of the ponies.

     "No."