The world is full of life, full of light. Yet all life must end, all light has shadows. The world is a place of contrast. These exist naturally, and cannot be stopped. Yet there are those who embrace the shadows, who hate the light. There are those who have abandoned life, and made death their mission.
In the world of peace that Aurus Marz, new king of the changeling nation, seeks to create, these creatures have no place. Yet they cannot be easily stopped. The darkness that rebels against the light of his vision of a bright future will prove a strong adversary.
When assassins come again for the young king and his many ambassadors, it will fall to one of their own to rise against them, and bring them to justice.
This is the legitimate direct sequel to Visionary.
I've gotten bored and started writing the Malik fiction for the Visionary universe, which just recently got into my head and won't let go. I realize that Malik is not one of the Mane Six and so he shouldn't be this early in the line-up, but that's just how it is. I write what I feel like writing.
Anyways, this is one of the longest first chapters I've ever posted. A lot of it is just back-story in the form of dreams and such, but even so it was a fun write, and hopefully a fun read.
Since I posted and wrote more or less all of this away from my own PC and without using my usual methods, there may be formatting issues, amongst other things. Please let me know if any of you find anything. Also, that cover art is a definite placeholder until I get one of my usual custom-made ones.
Happy reading!
Shouldn't there be a changeling character tag?
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I've gone this far without using it.
2968849
Eh, fair enough. Just thought it would be helpful to have it on there, so people searching for changeling stories would see this.
Cant wait for more!
Very nice. Malik already seems more developed than in Visionary. Having the story in his perspective helps with that, I think. Looking forward to the rest of this.
Woot! Loved Visionary, and I look forward to reading this new arc.
A good start. Haven't been exposed to the Visionary universe for some time now, so I'm confused as to who Aria is. I'm also curious about this:
Did you mean to use that term? It feels odd, and unless Aurus is now a changeling human, the sentence wouldn't even be the least bit affected by its absence.
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It was intentional, truth be told. While it is not necessarily correct, I prefer to use it and 'woman' in such contexts. It is nothing more than a simplification, which I take to mean 'sentient [gender specific] creature' rather than simply 'human being', not to mention that it is easiest to treat my characters as human equivalents, for relational reasons.
Sorry for the short and flat reply, but I hate typing by phone.
2969831 Thanks for the explanation. I was just curious as to why you decided to use it.
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How do you get your covers? Or perhaps, who do you get to make them? Are they all by the same person?
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This I collected randomly from dA, though I usually have them done by either one of my roommates, myself, or via commissions. As for ones I do myself, consider them very limited, lol.
Oh heck yeah, a sequel that starts barely a week after the end of Visionary? That's everything I could have hoped for.
And daaaaamn, that's both a rough way to go and a fate that's hard to sympathize with. Those three changelings biting it aren't exactly a great loss to society.
Fav! I have spoken!
Loved visionary, and am loving this. Malik is a boss
That high pitched sound is me squealing for more Visionary goodness. Especially for Malik. I think I've got a soft spot for him!
my body is ready. favorite mother fucker.
Oh my fucking god did he just do it again?! And in one chapter?!
"Do what? And who?"
This fucker called Razorbeam! He's been writing some pretty fucking good shit. And he just keeps going on when you think it couldn't get any better!
Damn it son! U so awesome that it hurts... in a good way, ya know... like when you put your arm back on its place after dislocating it? lol I dunno.
Fucking can't wait for more!
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OH SHIT FUCKING HELL! GOD that's bad! Ah! Fuck sake man!
...
Good job, Malik! :D
Hrn I hope the 'dark' tag is referring (mostly) to the events in his past...
I don't want to see him suffer after Wings of Courage
This... This is what ive been waiting for from you. Visionary is one of the first fics i was invested in (that and The Heart of a Dragon). For me to see a sequel up... it just brings me to tears.
I dont usually give compliments, but 4/5 of your stories are in my favorites. Take that however you wish.
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Well, some of his past, and some of his future. Not everything is rainbows and sunshine in this fiction universe, especially at the point in time we've decided to visit next. Malik's new life is just beginning, and everything new struggles to grow old, eh?
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I take that as an incredible compliment. I would say that I don't deserve it, but it's not really a matter of you giving me something, lol. People will like what they like, and I am honored to have provided you with four such things. Hopefully even more in the future!
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Yes you can.
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We meet again, Heimobauss...
Glad you're liking it so far, my friend. Hope it continues to keep your attention and wring those lovably spastic comments out of you going forward.
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New story, new comments.
If something shit happens, I'll flip out like always, if something awesome happens, I... well... flip out like always ._.
Writing a comment is its completely own art of literature. It can be a goofy, completely pointless comment, or it can be an epic, story-level comment. It's sometimes hard to choose the words, and the way to express things right is important. Comments are important. Even if they're shit.
But you can always trust on my comments (Warning: They may or may not cause brain-damage... okay fuck it, they will).
Edit: Oh, and the comments will always overreact to something awesome (everything), which is my way of showing my appreciation to a story. Sometimes the reaction might be neutral-overreacting, sometimes over-overreacting.
All of my yes
I don't think they─
images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120826020606/mlpfanart/images/a/a1/Changeling_Vector.png
Huh, they do.
Anyway, I'm eager to see you carry out this anti-hero. I'm almost sad I read his file during the tournament, it feels like spoilers now when it was once just tactical data. Damn you, munchkinry.
I'd totally forgotten who Aria was. She seemed... background at first and I don't really remember her showing up in the later ninety-percent of Visionary. I suppose she became more important after getting more fleshed out?
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Thanks for the catch on that typo, I'll fix it shortly. As for the mane bit, I prefer to think that they all have 'manes' and 'tails' like Chrysalis, despite the fact that the show depicted them otherwise. It makes more sense to try and make each changeling more distinct, at least to me, since I'm one of the few who don't treat them like insects (to my knowledge).
As for Aria, she'll get more screen-time in this story at certain points, and her own story at a later date. She was very much a background character in Visionary, because she had no real role that she could play: the important thing to remember is that, during the time of Visionary, she's only thirteen, which in my head is only a few years older than the CMC.
Think of her like a changeling Sweetie Belle, if that analogy works for you. She wasn't anything close to a fighter or old enough to be anyone's romantic interest (and still is not, as this story is in the same time-frame as Visionary, for now). To put it bluntly, what little utility she has for the time being is exclusively as Aurus' little sister, and she's supposed to be a d'aww generator.
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I would ask what role a thirteen year old princess─is that what sister of a king is? Eh, not important─found in a dark tale of assassins, but I suppose that would be a spoiler. I can see what you mean about the manes, it does look better with a more... flowing texture.
I loved this story. Especially the part where Malik killed the rapists. My ex girlfriend was raped and impregnated, and the guy who did it walked away free, she felt too ashamed by what happened to relive it in court. I had dreams just like the one Malik had, and while they may not be based on a memory, they were very hard dreams to have. Extremely violent. The difference being of course that I never actually did any vigilanty justice. You wrote it well. Right in the feels.
Certainly can't wait for more, I've read the rest of the Visionary Universe before joining, and this sequel has high hopes. A question, though. Will we be seeing characters from your other Visionary stories in this installment?
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Unfortunate at times, that the things I write for fiction can be accurate in other people's lives. It's a strange division of feelings for me, I suppose: in a sense, I'm pleased to have captured it realistically. Yet at the same time I feel for you and anyone who has experienced such a terrible past as Malik did, even if not so dramatically.
Even so, I am glad you've enjoyed it so far. It is very far from over, I assure you.
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I can't say for certain. I have the odd habit of not planning my stories very far in advance, and so I can't say where in the Visionary timeline this particular tale will leaves its hoofprints. Still, you can count on seeing some interesting things, I am sure. Tie-ins amongst other things. As always though, you may not realize a tie-in is a tie-in until I write a later story!
Round three. Begin.
Maybe without dragons or "wings' in the title, it'll work out this time.
3012797 That's why most writers recommend that you write it down on paper first, before you start typing.
3012797
It is also why most writers encounter writer's block and get bored.
Alrighty, chapter two is out. Took me longer than I would have liked, but whatever. Anyways, it's all mostly set-up and such for the big string of flashbacks that are coming in chapter three. I promise not to redo any of the flashbacks that we have already seen in Malik's dreams, as that would be pointless. In other words, expect chapter three to jump around a whole bunch.
Also, there's something weird about Aurus. Something a lot of you probably noticed in Visionary, but it never got explained. Well, it gets explained in this story, and I'm setting it up in this chapter. Don't expect to see it really, truly explained until chapter four or so, though.
Happy reading!
Enjoying it, yes, but chiming in mainly to let you know that at the beginning of the scene in Malik's chambers, you have an italics tag that wasn't opened correctl: Whitespace got into it.
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Thanks for letting me know, didn't catch that one. It's been a busy morning, lol.
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If u had a nickel for every extra character that got into my code... I'd be having gelato right now.
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Well, I would have a nickle.
3034307
... you don't have to rub it in. Meanie.
Well, I certainly look forward to this tale of intrigue, murder, and emotion.
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No, I don't. But I can.
Asleep for three days, and now taking a confession? How biblical.
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Lol. Didn't even think of that.
Funny thing about that. Most people don't quite care for titles, but I like the authenticity it adds so I'll leave this link.
"Visionary" was a great story, and I'm happy that you made a sequel. This one is, for now, as good as the original, so keep doing what you doing, and it'll be awesome.
Tis nice to see Malik being better defined as a character. Watching him grow from the uncertain ex-assassin to what he is during the time of the Unity Games is gonna be good. Good chapter, and I'm looking forward to seeing the flashbacks.
Ohboiohboiohboi... this is gonna get even more interesting •3•