NOTE: This chapter contains heavy spoilers for the My Little Pony movie, and mild possible spoilers for future chapters of the main My Little Planeswalker story.
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The early morning sun peered through the window, its light reflecting off the crystalline chambers to dazzling effect. It had been difficult to deal with the blinding display every day at first, but in short time Twilight had adjusted, to the point where it had become more jarring to sleep under a roof not made of reflective crystals.
After quickly making a detour to the kitchen to scarf down some buttered toast, Twilight returned to her room and began packing. She’d learned to travel light on her trips across the multiverse, as bringing anything more than a few small items in her saddlebags would cause them to disintegrate as soon as they entered the Blind Eternities. Extensive testing had shown that her planeswalker spark somehow extended an aura around her that protected inanimate objects traveling with her, but only when they had a very small total mass.
As she put the last of her possessions in the bag, trotted out the room and into the crystal hallways, making her way through the winding corridors to the staircase. Assuming she stuck to her usual routine, Spike and Starlight Glimmer would be in the dining room, having breakfast. Twilight’s assumption proved to be correct when she saw them both enjoying a meal of pancakes.
Starlight levitated a fork upwards, and took a large bite of something that was more syrup than pancake. “Good mowning Twiwight,” she said. Starlight swallowed the mouthful of food, and continued. “Heading out somewhere?”
“Yup!” said Twilight. “I’m heading over to Ravnica to visit the Gatewatch. I figure it’d be nice to surprise them.”
“Geez, planeswalking again?” said Spike. “I’m starting to think you’re spending more time on other worlds than on this one.”
“Don’t worry, Spike, I’m not going away,” she reassured. “I just enjoy having the opportunity to learn so much about other worlds. I wouldn’t leave you behind.”
“Nah, it’s alright,” said Spike. “I know you wouldn’t turn your back on us. Now if you’ll excuse me...” He suddenly grabbed the plate of pancakes and dumped the entire stack into his mouth, swallowing it all at once with a very loud gulp. His body shuddered in enjoyment as he rubbed his belly, and he let out a very loud belch.
Twilight stared aghast at the young dragon’s poor table manners. “Spike!”
“Sorry, can’t talk,” said Spike. “I promised Rarity I’d help her at the gemstone quarry today. Wouldn’t miss it for the world!” He pushed against the table with his legs, and the chair slid back with a scraping sound against the floor. As he hopped off and ran towards the front door, he waved back at Twilight. “Seeya!”
“Alright, you have fun!” Twilight couldn’t be upset at Spike for long. No matter what, she felt like the luckiest mare in the world having him around.
“So I take it you’re heading out, too?” said Starlight. “I hope you at least had some breakfast first this time.”
“Don’t worry about it,” said Twilight. “Just keep things running until I get back, okay? And try not to make out with your special somepony in the throne room.”
Starlight’s face turned bright purple. “H-hey, that was one time!”
Twilight giggled. “Relax, I’m only joking,” she said. “I’ll probably be back by tonight. See you later, Starlight!”
Twilight turned around, intent on making her way to the throne room. Though she could planeswalk anywhere, she found that the ambient magic of Harmony soothed her magical senses, greatly reducing the amount of mana she needed to travel between planes. As she took a few hoofsteps forward, she heard something fall to the ground with a “clink!”
Oh, horseapples.
“Huh?” said Starlight. “Hey, Twilight, you dropped something.”
Twilight immediately swiveled around to face Starlight. Her horrors were confirmed when she saw that a single potion bottle, labeled and capped with a sturdy cork, had fallen out of her saddlebags. The liquid contained within was a bright blue, fizzing violently as it rolled across the floor and to the feet of Starlight’s chair.
“W-what! No!” Twilight stammered. “I didn’t drop anything! There’s nothing there! Just pretend you didn’t see that!”
“Why?” said Starlight. “It’s just a potion.” Twilight felt all the hairs on her body standing up as Starlight levitated the potion up towards herself.
“H-hey, stop that!” said Twilight. “That’s extremely important planeswalking material!”
Starlight arched her eyebrow. “Why would you need a potion for planeswalking? Aren’t your spells capable of doing all of the magical things you’d need?”
Twilight recognized the curious look in Starlight Glimmer’s eye. It she had seen in Jace’s eye on many an occasion, and one that had no doubt appeared in her own just as often. Starlight wasn’t going to give up without an answer. With a sigh, Twilight finally relented. “It’s... it’s complicated. You know how I told you that most planes have those weird, nonsapient horses? And how humans like to ride them? O-on their backs, I mean.”
“Yeah,” said Starlight. “Why?”
“W-well, uh... that’s what that potion is for,” said Twilight. “For when I’m disguised as a human, and need to ride on horseback for whatever reason. It makes things, less... shall we say, awkward.”
“How exactly would a potion help with horseback riding?” said Starlight. As she spoke, her eyes slowly drifted over towards the potion’s label. “Hold on, I recognize this chemical name. Isn’t this an estrus suppress—”
“GIVE ME THAT!”
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After a very embarrassing exchange, Twilight was more than happy not to show her face to her former student for a while. Ravnica, thankfully, was a plane where nobody particularly cared about whatever awkward conversations she could get into. With the help of her illusion spell, she was virtually indistinguishable from any other face in the crowd. At least, aside from her clothes.
Locating Jace’s sanctum wasn’t especially difficult. Jace had given her a map of the teleportals that led to it, complete with a schedule detailing when each of them was active. She peered at the map, memorizing the location of the nearest teleportal, before stuffing it back into her saddlebag-turned backpack.
The map had brought her to a disused alleyway, just as most of the teleportal locations did. It was within the Eighth District, very far away from the Tenth, yet it was the closest to where Twilight had planeswalked. She gave a knock on the door, which was shortly answered by a very wide-eyed and very jittery Jace.
“Twilight! So glad you’re here! Good to see you!” said Jace, reaching out to grab her illusory hand. He grasped it with surprising strength and shook her in more ways then one. As his arm moved, it actually managed to vibrate, so much so that Twilight could almost feel it in both her real and false bodies.
“Whoa! Uh... you seem excited today.”
“Excited?” said Jace. Twilight had suddenly noticed that his teeth were chattering as he spoke. “Right, sorry. That coffee you gave me is very strong.”
Twilight flashed Jace a sheepish grin. “I’m, uh... glad you’re enjoying Princess Luna’s special blend. Mind if I come in?”
“Not at all,” said Jace. “You’re always welcome here.” He opened the door and motioned for Twilight to follow. As she entered, she dismissed her disguise, revealing her natural form as she passed through the teleportal.
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After taking a moment to calm down enough for the floorboards to stop vibrating when he stepped on them, Jace led Twilight through the apartment complex to the common room. Chandra, Gideon, and Nissa were all sitting at the central table, eating a meal as they approach. Gideon and Chandra both had fried eggs on their plate, as well as some other foodstuff Twilight didn’t recognize, wavy strips of something greasy and almost indescribably foul-smelling. Nissa, for her part, had been content with plate of fruit salad.
“Ah, Twilight!” said Gideon. “Good to see you! How have you been?”
“It’s... it’s been great,” said Twilight. Her nose wrinkled, the stench continuing to assault her senses until her eyes watered. “Gah! I’m sorry, but that smell is disgusting! Are you eating meat again?”
Gideon’s eyes widened, the grip on his fork beginning to loosen. “Ah. I’m sorry about that. I wouldn’t have made bacon if I knew you were coming.”
“Eh, bacon’s overrated anyway,” said Chandra, idly playing with a fork. “Shame it’s the closest thing you’ve got to a real breakfast food here. I’ll give it credit, though, the grease is great for burning stuff in a pinch.”
“Glad to see you still have a one-track mind,” Twilight teased. “So how have you all been doing?”
“Not a whole lot,” said Gideon. “I’ve been trying to find suitable tasks for the Gatewatch, but nothing major has come up so far. In the meantime, I’ve been doing my usual work assisting the Boros.”
“Same here, minus the Boros part,” Chandra added. “It gets awfully boring when you’re not doing big hero-y things. In the meantime, I’ve been trying to get Nissa to come out of her shell.” She turned towards Nissa and grinned. “You know, loosen up a little bit.”
Nissa pursed her lips. “This city is very large,” she said. “I can’t even begin to comprehend the scale. I don’t know how I’m supposed to connect to it when I can’t even make sense of this world.”
Ignoring the lingering smell of cooked flesh, Twilight flew upwards to Nissa’s side, and placed a hoof on her shoulder. “You’ll do fine, Nissa. I know it’s not easy, but there are so many things in life worth learning and experiencing for yourself. You just need to trust in yourself, and the others who’ve helped you come this far.”
“Trust...” Nissa closed her eyes, drifting into a moment of deep thought. When she opened her eyes, she turned towards Twilight and smiled warmly. “...Yes, I think I understand that. Thank you, Twilight.”
“Don’t mention it,” said Twilight. “After all, isn’t that what friends are for?”
Nissa opened her mouth to reply, but before any further words could be spoken, there was the sound of a door being opened. Heavy armored footsteps fell on the floor, and Twilight turned to see Lavina briskly approaching Jace.
Lavinia’s eyes met Jace’s, glinting with rigid determination. “Guildpact, I have news that requires your immediate attention.”
“Another petrification?” said Jace.
“That is correct,” replied Lavinia. “Grand Judge Locutus IV was found petrified in his private chambers this morning. These assassinations are increasingly targeting more high-ranking members of the Azorius. If something isn’t done, I fear the consequences will be dire for all of Ravnica.”
Jace’s brow wrinkled heavily as he frowned. “Yes, I think I’m aware. I’ll look into it this afternoon. Is there anything else?”
“No, Guildpact. That is all.” As Lavinia turned to leave, her eyes were suddenly drawn towards Twilight. For a split-second, she received a glare from Lavinia that was absolutely murderous, one that spoke to her without a single word. More specifically, it said ‘if you make me deal with Jace on that coffee again I will kill you with my bare hands.’
“Sorry,” Twilight croaked, but by then Lavinia had already stridden out of the common room. It was only after she was gone that the conversation had finally caught up to her. “Wait, Jace, what’s this about people being petrified?”
“That would be the work of a gorgon planeswalker named Vraska,” said Jace. “She has a vendetta against the guilds, as well as any other authority on Ravnica.”
“Let me guess,” said Chandra, “she’s been screwed over by society and wants revenge?”
“That seems likely,” said Jace. “But if I’m going to be perfectly frank, I couldn’t care less about her motives. She’s threatened many lives to get what she wants, including mine.”
A sudden pang of recognition struck Twilight’s heart. Her wings became heavy as she descended back onto the floor, her eyes gliding away from Jace’s gaze. “...Small multiverse, huh?”
“You’ve met her, too?” said Jace.
Twilight shook her head. “No, it’s not like that. What you said just... reminded me of something else,” she said. “I think it’s time I told you about what I’ve been up to since we last met.”
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“...And that’s what happened.”
As Twilight finished telling her story, the other planeswalkers had become fully immersed in the tale, leaning forward to hear as much of it as possible. They had each taken seats around the table to better experience it for themselves. Seeing her friends enthralled by her recounting, Twilight couldn’t help but be reminded of the many oral traditions, both ancient and modern, that existed throughout the multiverse.
“Wow,” said Chandra, dumbstruck. “That sounded like one hell of an adventure.”
“It certainly was a rollercoaster going through it, let me tell you,” said Twilight. In the past she would have been shocked by Chandra’s profanity, but now it was so rote that it had become almost unnoticeable.
“I would have liked the chance to deal with this ‘Storm King’ myself,” said Gideon. He stopped, briefly, to rub his chin. “Actually, now that I think about it, why didn’t you come to us? The Gatewatch exists to defend the peace across the multiverse. We’d have been more than willing to help if you’d called us.”
“I’m sorry,” said Twilight, “I must have been distracted by the fact that we were “literally running for our lives the entire time.”
“You could have planeswalked,” said Chandra, prompting an angry stare from Twilight. “What? It’s true!”
“Yes, I could have planeswalked, but that would mean leaving my friends behind... although, I guess I did do that, kinda,” Twilight said, wincing. “But that doesn’t make it any better an idea!” she hastily added.
“There’s also one detail I’m wondering about,” said Jace. “You’ve shown me that you can teleport before. Wouldn’t that have made this Tempest pony much less of a threat?”
Twilight froze. “T-teleport?”
“He has a point,” said Gideon. “I imagine teleporting would be immensely useful against those petrification grenades. An attack is powerless if it can’t even hit you, after all.”
Twilight groaned loudly, wanting nothing more than to find a large, sturdy wall to bang her head against. “Teleport! Of course I could have teleported! Why do I always forget that I can do that? Ugh, I’m so stupid!”
Twilight felt a warm, steady hand rest upon her shoulder. She turned to see Nissa looking at her with deep, thoughtful eyes. “I know what it feels like to make a mistake. But I also know there’s nothing to be gained from dwelling on a past you can’t change. What matters is learning to accept what there is now.”
Twilight felt the tension in her body melt away at her friend’s touch. “Yeah... thanks, Nissa. I guess you’re right.”
“And things did turn out pretty alright in the end, didn’t they?” said Chandra. “It doesn’t even sound like anyone actually died. Well, I guess that Storm King, maybe, but he sounded like a massive jerk.”
Twilight winced. “I’m... not so sure about that, actually. I’ve talked to Princess Celestia, and she told me she was still conscious the entire time she was petrified. It’s possible the Storm King might still be aware of everything, even with his body in pieces.”
“Yeesh, that doesn’t sound pleasant,” said Chandra. “Might even be less pleasant than dying.”
Twilight shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “...Can we not talk about that right now?”
“Huh? Oh, right, sorry,” said Chandra.
“Personally, I’m impressed that you managed to convince Tempest to have a change of heart,” said Gideon. “You seem to have a knack for getting your former foes to join your side. If only things were so easy for us!”
“Hey Jace, there’s an idea,” said Chandra. “Gids has been looking for more Gatewatch recruits for a while now. Why don’t we get this Vraska person to join?”
“Absolutely not,” Jace replied tersely.
Twilight gave off an exasperated glare. “Jace, you have an actual necromancer on your team. If you can look past all of the horrible things she’s almost certainly done, you can afford to give Vraska a second chance.”
“I would have to agree there,” said Gideon. “All things considered, I think killing people is probably the least of Liliana’s crimes.”
“I... I already told you, that’s complicated,” Jace replied. “But recruiting Vraska is out of the question. I’d sooner have my mind wiped than ally myself with her.”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “Yeah, sure. And Liliana’s better, somehow. I swear I just don’t get you sometimes.”
Before the conversation could continue, a door suddenly opened. Lavinia quickly made her way through the entrance and quickly walked up to Jace, her stony expression seemingly engraved upon her features with a chisel. “Guildpact, I will remind you that you have a meeting scheduled with the Orzhov representatives in one hour and thirty minutes. Have you made preparations?”
“Ah. No, not yet,” said Jace. “Sorry Twilight, but I’ll have to cut this conversation short. I have important matters to attend to.”
Twilight gave Jace a knowing smile. “Hey, don’t worry about it. Bureaucracy, am I right? I’ll see you sometime later!”
“And you as well,” said Jace. With a wave, he followed Lavinia out of the common room.
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It was a dark and stormy night. That itself was a cliche that had been overdone long before she was born, yet Tempest somehow found it fitting. She’d always had an appreciation for that kind of weather, and it felt all the more appropriate to name herself after it.
After the Storm King’s defeat, many of his minions remained loyal to her, enough to provide a full crew for her airship. It carried them across the rainforest, past dark and misty jungles that teemed with monstrous wildlife. The Western Continent was completely uncharted by Equestria, and unknown to the rest of the world. Tempest had found it in a fit of chronic wanderlust, hoping to find a place where she could leave bitter memories behind.
The airship landed outside of a massive city, with spires of gleaming silver rising tall above fortified walls. This was the capital city of the cuetzpali, a race of bipedal, feathered lizardfolk that had made the Western Continent their dominion. As the exit ramp unfolded, Tempest turned back, her eyes meeting her pudgy, hedgehog-faced minion.
No, not a minion. Grubber was something else. He was something different, and infinitely more valuable to her. It was strange, she’d never truly realized before how much he’d meant to her before. No matter what hardships Tempest faced, he’d always been there with her, right by her side.
“Take care of the ship while I’m away,” said Tempest. “I’m heading in alone.”
“You got it, boss!” said Grubber. “Be careful out there!”
The city was no less impressive within its walls, with a complex, grid-like structure of roads, buildings, and canals. Along the central road, the path led to an immense pyramid in the distance, the greatest symbol of the mighty Cuetzpali Empire. She ignored the perplexed stares she received as she made her way through the rain-soaked streets. Most cuetzpali had never seen a pony in their life before.
Her path eventually took her to a dark alley, in one of the city’s slums. A cuetzpali rogue with dark blue feathers had attempted to accost her on the way, but a fierce glare and a display of sparks from her horn had sent him running. She never intended to hurt him, of course, but seeing the terrified look on his face was worth more than all of the city’s silver spires combined.
As she further delved into the alley, she reached into the pocket of her jacket, and put on a pair of magical sunglasses she had made certain to carry with her whenever she visited the city. She and her benefactor met here every six months, and today was the next day they’d agreed to see each other in person.
Through the magical view of the sunglasses, the alley appeared even more darkened than it was normally, enough that Tempest could only barely see two feet in front of her. She cautiously stepped forward, then immediately stopped when something appeared on the edge of her vision, far into the darkness. It was a single pair of eyes, glowing brightly even in the shadow, with a mass of serpents illuminated by their sickly light. Even with the sunglasses’ protection, Tempest had instinctively tried to avoid meeting the gaze directly.
“Tempest Shadow,” a voice spoke. “It’s good to see you again. As usual, I have exactly what you need.”
An object flew outwards from the darkness, landing just before Tempest’s front hooves. It was a simple brown bag, its surface bulging from multiple spherical objects contained within, and tied with white string. As it landed on the ground in front of her, the string loosened, revealing the familiar glow of the exotic grenades. She wasn’t sure how the monster had managed to preserve her gaze in glass, and she wasn’t keen on finding out.
Tempest pushed the bag away, being careful not to spill or damage its contents. “Sorry Vraska, but I’m not here to purchase your wares. I’m here to tell you the deal is off. This partnership is over.”
The monster’s eyes narrowed dangerously, and a chorus of agitated hisses sounded from the depths of the shadow. “You say the deal is off, yet you still lack your horn. Are you telling me you’ve given up on your ambitions?”
“No!” Tempest blurted out. “It’s... it’s different than that, alright? This whole deal was a mistake. You don’t know what it is I’ve been doing. You don’t know how badly I’ve messed this up.... or who I was foolish enough to trust.”
“Perhaps not exactly,” said Vraska. “But I think I can make a guess. You were planning to use my weapons to usurp the Storm King. For you, he was never anything more than a means to an end. You would take his power the moment he was no longer useful to you.”
Tempest’s jaw went slack. “What!? H-how did you—”
“Don’t think you can hide who you really are from me,” Vraska spat. “I know you, Tempest, and I know you better than anyone on this world. I know because I have lived your life. Pushed away and cast into the fringes of society, looked down and spat on because of what I am. That’s why I want to help you, Tempest. I can give you the power to earn the respect you deserve.”
Tempest’s body tensed, and she met the monster’s eyes. Even through her protective gear, she could feel a tingling sensation overtaking her from head to hooves. “You’re wrong!” she shouted. “I... I thought nopony would accept me, but I was wrong! I have friends now! Real friends! I don’t need my horn for that, and I don’t need to turn ponies to stone either! So you can take your weapons and shove them!”
Silence hung over the alley, two sets of eyes locked together in an intense meeting of wills. Tempest could feel herself becoming numb, as though her body had been glued in place.
“How disappointing,” said Vraska. “And here I was, thinking you understood.” Without another word, the eyes closed, and the monster disappeared back into the darkness.
Tempest let out a breath that she didn’t know she was holding in, and turned around to leave the alley, her entire body feeling like a limb that had fallen asleep. She made her way back through the city, hanging her head in silence.
As she approached her airship, Grubber came out to greet her. “Hey, boss! You’re looking kinda glum there. Everything okay?”
Tempest removed her glasses, looked up at Grubber, and smiled. “Yeah... everything’s fine. Come on, let’s go home.”
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Petra Grenades XX
Artifact
Petra Grenades enters the battlefield with X charge counters on it.
3, T, remove a charge counter from Petra Grenades: Put a stone counter on target creature. While that creature has a stone counter on it, it can’t attack or block and its activated abilities can’t be activated. Activate this ability only any time you could cast a sorcery. (Creatures remain stoned even after Petra Grenades has left the battlefield.)