//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: Alliances // Story: Friendship is Magic: the Gathering // by DRKLCNS //------------------------------// “So, Jace Beleren comes to see me of his own free will.” Bolas' grin widened as he spoke. “Now that is amusing.” “I was hoping we could make this quick.” Jace, though wanting nothing more than to leave as soon as possible, kept himself calm in the dragon's presence. “I'm in a bit of a rush” Bolas' grin faltered. “Very well then.” He leaned back in his throne, resting his head upon his claw. “Be quick.” “I'm following another planeswalker.” “That's no surprise.” Ignoring the interruption, Jace continued. “I chased her to the outer edge of a plane near Ravnica. I tried to follow her, but there's a strange barrier surrounding the plane. I don't think that I could follow her through it – nor would it be wise to do so.” “I should think so,” Bolas rubbed his chin in thought. “She must have been rather desperate – that or merely stupid.” “She's... eccentric, to say the least” Bolas chuckled .“So I see. And you wanted to learn more about the barrier instead of just forcing your way through?” “You know me: I've never been one for brute force. I can use mana with precision, but to get through the barrier, I'll need something with more... power.” He stepped forward “I assumed you would know some way to get through the shield.” “I might.” Bolas' smile began to grow again. “But that doesn't mean I'm going to just tell you, now does it?” The ancient dragon rose from his throne, his bones creaking as he approached Jace. He leaned down above the human and whispered “I'll need something in return.” Jace unflinchingly met the dragon's gaze. “If you're looking for an errand boy, forget it.” “Oh, don't worry.” Bolas rose again, and began pacing around Jace. “I have something simple in mind. I'm almost certain you won't even have to go out of your way for it.” Jace turned to follow the dragon “What do you mean?” Continuing his pacing, Bolas explained “The plane you described is actually one I've been watching for some time. However, more recent events have kept me...” He paused, searching for the right word “...distracted. I have not recently been observing it, but your arrival provides an opportunity I've been seeking: I need someone to observe the plane from the inside.” “How do you know it's the same plane?” “Jace, we both know that I've been around for several millenia. I've seen virtually every corner of the Multiverse. I recognized the description of the plane as you made it.” “Okay, then. So what do you know about it?” “The plane is called Equestria.” His grin widened even further, as if he found the name highly amusing. “I have merely observed it from afar: for obvious reasons, of course. I cannot provide you with any specific information. I can, however, tell you about its inhabitants.” He slowed his pacing as he approached his throne once more. “For starters, the dominant species are not humans. In fact,” he continued, seating himself back on the throne “from what I have observed, there are no humans present at all on the entire plane.” “No humans?” Jace frowned, confused by the statement. “Then what is the dominant species?” If Bolas' smile could have gotten any wider, it would have split his skull. He answered in a slithering whisper “Ponies.” - Chandra stared at the purple unicorn, not believing what she had just heard. “Say that again.” “It's just like I told you,” Twilight repeated “You're a unicorn.” Quite confused at this point, Chandra simply started babbling “But...I...huh?” Twilight opened the bedside drawer, and pulled out a small mirror. “Here, see for yourself.” She used her magic to levitate it in front of Chandra's face, and Chandra gasped at the sight. Her face had been altered, and was now shaped just like the purple unicorn's. She was covered in a burnt orange fur, and her legs and hooves had the same. Her hair, however, was still the same fiery red as before, and it lay across her head in the same fashion. The strangest feature lay just beneath her hairline: a small orange horn protruded from her forehead. After staring at the mirror for another minute, Chandra simply collapsed back onto the pillow behind her. Concerned, Twilight asked “Are you alright?” “This can't be happening.” Chandra stared up at the ceiling, and started talking to nobody in particular. “This isn't real. I just hit my head after 'walking here, and now I'm dreaming about a talking unicorn. Oh, and apparently I'm a unicorn too.” She rolled over, and buried her face in her pillow, her muffled voice still going. “I just need to wake up, and my head will be clear and everything will be back to normal.” “Um, I'm pretty sure that I'm not a dream” Twilight said indignantly. “And you are a unicorn, although I don't know why you're surprised by that.” Chandra sat back up “Because I'm not a unicorn! At least, I wasn't before now! I used to be a human, but now I apparently got turned into a unicorn or something!” Twilight was rather confused by the panicking unicorn before her. “What's a human? And what do you mean you weren't always a unicorn?” Just then two ponies walked through the open doorway. One was a tan unicorn with a brown mane, wearing a white labcoat. He was using magic to hold aloft some papers and a clipboard. The other was a blue pony with a rainbow colored mane and tail, and a small tattoo was on her flank, just like Twilight's. It was shaped like a cloud emitting a single lightning bolt, colored like a rainbow. There also appeared to be two wings were attached to her sides. Oh great, Chandra sighed. Now there's apparently pegasi wandering around too. This just keeps getting better and better. “See doc, I told you she was awake!” The pegasus spoke with the same rough voice that Chandra heard earlier. She walked up to the bedside to look at the bedridden unicorn. “Hey, glad to see you're okay! I was worried you'd been really hurt.” “Alright, Rainbow Dash, let me take a look at the patient.” The doctor shooed Rainbow away from the bed as he turned back to Chandra. “Hello there! Now, you were unconcious when these two found you, so we haven't had a chance to get your name.” After a small silence, she answered “It's Chandra.” “Chandra, huh? That's an unusual name. At least we know that you didn't suffer any amnesia. Now then, I'm going to take a quick look at you.” He set the papers down on the dresser, and started examining Chandra. Still in awe, she let him begin his examination. Okay, so we can rule out the dream idea. So what exactly is going on? After a couple of minutes of poking and prodding, he announced “Well, everything seems to be fine. You're probably a little sore, but you didn't sustain any serious injuries. I'm sure that you've been told about your concussion: just get some rest and you should be just fine by tomorrow morning.” He looked back at Twilight and Rainbow Dash, who had been standing in silence during his examination. “I'd just like to know more about that explosion these two told me about.” Chandra, well versed in concealing her planeswalking, simply answered. “It's... complicated. I'm not even sure I remember exactly what happened.” The concussion was a good excuse, if nothing else at least. The doctor continued. “Well, whatever it was, at least nopony was badly harmed. Now then, I'll leave you all alone for a while.” He started out the doorway before turning back to the other ponies. “You can stay for a few more minutes, but then you'll have to leave. She needs her rest.” Twilight stopped him at the threshold “Oh doctor! I have a question!” “Yes, what is it?” “Have you ever heard of humans before?” The doctor thought for a moment. “Hmm, can't say that I have. Why, did your friend mention them?” “Yes, actually. She said she used to be a human, whatever that is, but for some reason she's a unicorn now.” Twilight looked at the doctor pleadingly “Do you know any way that could have happened?” The doctor simply laughed. “Now really, Twilight, that's just preposterous. I'm sure that her concussion is causing her to say some strange things right now. In the morning, she should be just fine, and then you can find out all you want from her.” He continued back out into the hallway. “Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to attend to some other patients. I'll be back in about 10 minutes.” Before anypony in the room could argue, he was already walking down the hallway to the next room. Defeated, Twilight returned to the bedside. “Well, that wasn't much help at all. At least he says you're okay, though.” “Yeah, we were super worried about you.” There was an uncomfortable silence for a moment before Rainbow spoke up “So, you aren't really a unicorn, huh?” “No, I'm not – at least, I wasn't.” Chandra stared down at her hooves, mesmerised by how different they were from her hands. “I'm just wondering how I turned into a unicorn in the first place.” “I was wondering the same thing.” Twilight looked at her with concern. “Do you remember what might have caused this to happen?” “I'm not quite sure.” Chandra rubbed her head with her hooves (which she found quite weird) and tried to remember. Whatever had happened during her planeswalk somehow had caused her to transform into a unicorn. That also must have been what caused the explosion they're talking about, she thought. Normally I just appear in the middle of an alleyway with all my- Suddenly, she remembered something else from before her blackout. “My satchel!” She looked about the room, panicking. “Where are my belongings?” “Oh, those weird clothes you had on?” Rainbow quickly flew over to a set of drawers in the corner, and opened it revealing Chandra's armor and satchel. “We cleaned them off and put them here. We didn't take anything, if that's what you were worried about. Though, we did see a lot of neat stuff in that bag of yours.” Chandra sighed, relieved that she at least hadn't lost her clothes, bag, and the Orb. Not that clothing is something I'll be seeing a lot of. These ponies seem content with wandering around wearing nothing at all. “Well, that's one thing that's gone right today.” Rainbow laughed. “Yeah, I'm sure that if I woke up as a unicorn, I'd feel pretty freaked out too.” Twilight gave her a dirty look, and Rainbow hastily added“Not that there's anything wrong with being a unicorn, though!” “Yeah, I guess not. I still need to figure out how to change back, though.” “Hey, maybe Twilight knows something!” She turned to her unicorn friend. “She's a real egghead! She probably has a book that talks about something like this happening before. Right, Twilight?” “Hmm...” She rubbed her chin, thinking for a moment. “I'll have to look through my books tonight. I can't recall reading about anything like this ever happening – and I don't think I've read about humans either.” Chandra's head fell. “That's not very promising.” Twilight smiled at the crestfallen pony. “Don't worry Chandra. We'll do whatever we can to help you fix this. Right, Rainbow?” “You bet! We'll find the solution in no time!” Chandra smiled at her strange new companions. They might be ponies, but they certainly are friendly. And they're willing to help me just because I need it, no questions asked. “Thanks a lot you two. I can't tell you how much this means to me.” A yawn escaped her lips, and she blushed. “But right now I think I just want to rest, okay?” “Okay then, Chandra.” Twilight said, happy that Chandra was at least okay. “We'll leave you alone until tomorrow.” She started out the door, followed closely by Rainbow Dash, leaving Chandra alone in her room. She lay back on her pillow and stared at the ceiling, trying to piece together exactly what she was going to do now. Her main problem was explaining her planeswalker status to the others. After a few minutes, she gave up, not coming up with any solutions that would let her keep her secret. Well, I'll just have to figure something out later, she thought. At least it can't get any worse, right? - “You're joking.” Jace stood there, dumbfounded. He almost didn't believe that the word ponies had escaped the dragon's mouth. “Hardly” Bolas answered calmly, though he continued grinning like a madman. “As much fun as it would be to joke about this, I'm afraid it's entirely true. This plane is dominated by equine beings.” If that revelation had come from anyone else, Jace would have probed their mind to see if they had gone insane. But coming from Bolas, he had no choice but to take it seriously. “But how in the hell do horses-” “Not horses” Bolas interrupted, wagging a finger jokingly at Jace. “Ponies.” “Fine, ponies.” He was getting rather annoyed at Bolas' constant taunting. “So the plane is just filled with ponies running around everywhere?” “Yes, and no.” Bolas quite enjoyed the look on Jace's face, each answer he gave eliciting a greater reaction of incredulity from the mind mage. “While they are the dominant species, they don't behave quite like the horses and ponies you would be used to seeing. They actually behave almost exactly like humans do.” “What.” “Oh yes. They've formed governments, social structure, and even have their own towns and cities. You could replace them all with humans and not tell the difference – other than the obvious, of course.” Jace continued to stare at the dragon. He wanted to believe it was all a lie, that the dragon was just poking at him for his own amusement. But even with Bolas' insane smile, Jace still could tell he was telling the truth. “Okay, so I'm going to a plane of ponies.” He gathered himself again, and continued. “Why do you need me there?” “It's just like I told you, Jace: I need someone to observe the plane from the inside.” He leaned forward, his smile disappearing, and his voice growing deadly serious. “I want you to observe the inhabitants of the plane, and learn more about them. I am especially curious about their leader. She is supposed to be a being of great power, and has been able to keep the peace on this plane for millenia. Find out how she has done this. But most importantly, I want to know more about the nature of the mana on Equestria. I'm sure you noticed how different it was to normal mana.” Jace nodded. “I had noticed that, but I didn't pay it much thought. I had other things on my mind at the time.” “Of course. You still have to find your planeswalker friend.” “That's right.” He held out his hand, palm open to the ceiling. “And to do that, as well as complete your little research project, I'll need a way to pass through the barrier.” “Very well, then.” Bolas held out his own palm, and within it two dark spheres slowly began to materialize. Each of them was roughly the size of an apple, and colored a violent purple. Their bodies were smooth, but small pointed shards floated around each of them. “These are a unique spellbomb of my own creation, forged from a combination of red and black mana. They are designed to break apart spell shields, and they will have a similar effect on the planar barrier.” He lowered his claw to Jace's level. Jace reached out and took the two spellbombs. “So, if you had these all along, and you wanted to get inside the plane, why didn't you just do it yourself?” “You assume I have not already made that attempt” Bolas growled. “The energy from these can damage the shield, but only temporarily. And I cannot make a large enough breach to allow one such as myself entry. Even if I were to do so, the barrier seems designed to keep out darker forms of mana, like my own.” He pointed to Jace “You, however, should have no trouble entering through the gap you make.” "Fine." Placing the spellbombs in his satchel, Jace turned to leave. “I'll do your little project, but my job takes precedence. I'll inform you of anything I learn only after I've finished my other task.” He began the procedure that would lead to his planeswalk. “Have fun,” Bolas taunted, as Jace dematerialized in a haze of blue light.