"Welcome to the Farbog," Sorin declared, his boots squelching through the mud. Twilight followed behind, hovering a foot above the ground. She had tried to walk through the swamp, but chose to fly after sinking up to her knees. It was the morning after she had first woken up in Innistrad, and the sun was rising, the moon having set hours ago. "Now, Twilight. If this is a swamp, what colour mana would it produce?"
Twilight didn't have to look around to know, having memorised the answer hours earlier. "Black mana."
"Correct," Sorin replied, turning to face her. "Now, what are the traits black mana favour?"
"Power, individuality, and selfishness. It is amoral and parasitic, and believes that the ends justify the means." Twilight recited from memory. "Which are all traits I feel uncomfortable with, to be honest. In Equestria, self sacrifice for the good of the herd is what is valued most."
"Black," Sorin admonished, "does not care how it is is used, only that power is gained and exercised in its use. It does not care if you raise a legion of the dead to conquer a nation, or to defend your nation with a minimum of bloodshed. It does not care if you murder a thousand innocents, or execute a single murderer. It is apathetic to your goals—all that matters is that you achieve them."
"So I can twist black to my own ends?" Twilight asked. "Make it work for me?"
"Exactly." Sorin turned away and began to gather mana together. He shaped it into a bipedal form, then released it onto the field.
Twilight took a step back in shock. The mana had solidified into a hulking, black humanoid creature with glowing red eyes, horns and a pair of leathery wings. The creature turned towards Twilight and growled, a fierce hunger in his eyes, but a sharp command from Sorin halted it.
"Now this," Sorin said, patting the beast on the shoulder, "is a summoned creature—a demon, to be exact. Demons embody all the worst traits of black—the casual amorality, power at any cost, cruelty unbowed. They are powerful, and the strongest ones can share their power—for a price. This one, however, is a token—a a fully sapient duplicate, shaped from pure mana and given a semblance of life by inserting a spark of Æther."
"Æther is the material the Blind Eternities are made from, right?" Twilight asked, recalling one of Sorin's earlier lectures.
"Correct. Now a summoned token will always obey the commands of the one who summoned it, and its summoner can dismiss it at any point, making them very reliable servants, regardless of colour. For example—demon, attack Twilight."
The demon launched into motion immediately, throwing itself forwards. Twilight dodged a massive fist with a yelp, backing away frantically.
"What are you doing?" she cried out.
"Consider this your first test—defeat the demon!" Sorin cried back.
Twilight bit back a scathing retort as the demon swung once more. Twilight shot upwards in response, the demon flapping its own wings and following her.
Twilight flung a telekinetic bolt at it, striking it in the chest and knocking it into the ground hard. At first, Twilight thought she had stopped it, but it picked itself up a moment later, none the worse for wear.
Twilight flung more bolts at it, but they all had similar effects.
"You need to do better than that!" Sorin cried, his voice impossibly loud. "Form a connection with the land and use its mana!"
Twilight flung one last bolt, stunning the demon, before closing her eyes and concentrating. She mentally probed the land beneath her, searching for its stores of mana, just as the Vampire had shown her earlier. All at once, like a floodgate opening, a veritable bounty of mana revealed itself. Twilight eagerly sucked it in, drawing in more and more of it into herself.
Her concentration was broken by its fist, hitting her like a sack of bricks—or a grand piano, Twilight thought to herself afterwards.
Twilight dropped from the sky, surprise etched on her features. Quickly righting herself, she glided down to the ground, landing on a stone outcropping. She could feel a bruise develop on her chest, and she spat up some blood.
She heard a shrill cry above her, and looking up she saw the demon dive towards her, long, black talons extending from its fists.
Twilight panicked and flung herself into the air. She shuddered with fright as the demon's punch pulverised the stone she had been standing on.
Twilight began to gather mana back into herself, this time keeping a wary eye on the demon, deftly dodging it each time she approached.
Eventually, she judged she had sufficient mana built up, and as the demon turned for another pass, she flung it at the demon. A cloud of black mana flew into it’s path, dissipating as the demon passed through it.
Twilight stared in shock, barely dodging another swipe of the demons fist. As she backed away from the demon, she heard Sorin shouting.
“You can not simply fling mana about as if it was mud! You must first shape it! Think! What does black value? Concentrate on it, and it will come to you!”
Black values power... Twilight thought to herself. It is amoral, but not always immoral. To black, being weak and subservient to others is unacceptable... Wait a moment, I think I've got it!
Twilight began to gather mana into herself once more, still evading the attacks of the demon, despite exhaustion beginning to take hold.
Eventually, Twilight judged she had enough black mana accumulated, and began to shape it, this time reaching into the Æther for a spark of individuality to build the spell around.
Twilight released the mana, and this time it clung together, taking form. Four hooves, long and black, thundered onto the ground, a pair of large wings spreading out before it.
"The night will last forever!"
Twilight could only gape in shock—rather than creating a creature based upon Nightmare Moon, she had created Nightmare Moon herself. Twilight barely noticed as the heron marked moon rose up into the sky, pushing the sun below the horizon, bathing the Farbogs in shadow.
The Dark Alicorn of the Night in question looked around herself in confusion. "Where am I?" Turning, she caught sight of Twilight. Marching over, she pointed a hoof. "You. What is the meaning of this?"
Twilight trembled under Nightmare Moon’s glare. "I... I don't understand. We defeated you! How can you be here?"
Sorin, who had approached during this exchange, snorted. "Summoning tokens of your old enemies. That one never gets old."
"Who and what are you?" Nightmare Moon demanded.
"My name is Sorin Markov," the vampire replied. "And yourself?"
"I am Nightmare Moon, Dark Queen of the Night!" she declared.
"But we defeated you! With the Elements of Harmony! How can you be here?" Twilight asked again.
"Let me explain,"'Sorin said. "Twilight, when you summon a creature from the Æther, you need a template in mind. In this case, you were thinking of Nightmare Moon. The spark of Æther you pulled down latched on to this template and created a faithful recreation of the original—right down to her sapience."
"I am not a copy!" Nightmare Moon shouted.
"Yes, you are," Sorin said shortly. "And you must obey the orders of your summoner—which is Twilight."
"I bow down before no one!" she spat, turning towards Twilight, horn glowing.
"Stop!" Twilight cried. Immediately, the glow on Nightmare Moon's horn winked out, and she ceased all movement.
"How can this be?" she cried, despairing. "Am I really just a fake?"
"Yes, and we really don't have time for an existential crisis right now," Sorin said, looking pointedly at the demon flying high above them.
Twilight caught on. "Nightmare Moon, destroy the demon!"
With a look of equal parts hatred and despair, Nightmare Moon launched herself into the air. She flew, impossibly fast, towards the demon, who met her head on.
Nightmare Moon lowered her head, horn faced towards the demon like a lance, and struck the demon in the chest, piecing it like a needle through cloth. The demon shuddered once, before dissipating back into pure mana.
Nightmare Moon circled over the battlefield once, before diving and landing before Twilight and Sorin.
"It is done, Mistress," Nightmare Moon sneered. "What now? Want me to lick your hooves? Massage your back? Humiliate myself?"
Twilight shook her head. "No... I don't know what to do with you."
"If you no longer need her," Sorin said, "you can simply dismiss her. Just reach out with your mind and remove the spark of Æther."
Twilight did as she was told, and moments later Nightmare Moon was dissolving into mist, a look of rage and hatred still etched onto her face. Twilight shivered.
"Could I have done that with the demon?" Twilight asked.
"No, only your own creatures."
Twilight looked back at where Nightmare Moon had stood, clearly shaken by the experience. "I think I want to go back home now."
Sorin nodded. "Follow me, then." He took a step and vanished. Twilight blinked in shock, staring at where he had been a moment ago. Shaking her head, she concentrated on the Blind Eternities, and took a step.
Twilight found herself back in the endless void, bodiless and discorporeal. All around here where different spheres, each one showing a snapshot of the world contained within—endless cities, perilous jungles, machines of death and steel, lakes of fire, snowy tundras. This time, Twilight detected a series of thin wires made of mana holding the planes together, weaving in and out. Those must be leylines, she thought to herself.
Besides her she felt a dark cloud of thoughts and energies. "Sorin?" she said.
"Took your time," the cloud—which gave off a clear sense of Sorinness—said. "Now, where's your home? I'm interested to see it for myself."
Twilight gave a start, having forgotten her reason for being there. Quickly, she looked around, then once again more carefully. None of the planes looked like Equestria.
"I can't see it," Twilight said, concerned. She spotted some planes that looked familiar, and wondered why, before she realised that she must have passed them on her way to in Innistrad. "I think it's this way!"
Quickly, she set off, navigating the Blind Eternities as if she was a born natural. In a way, I suppose I am.
More and more planes passed her by, Twilight paying only the slightest bit of attention to them.
She dove deeper into the void, growing more panicky as she failed to find the plane of Concordia.
"It should be here!" Twilight cried, pointing at an empty space. "It's missing!"
Sorin came to a rest besides her. "I was afraid of that—many planes drift within the Blind Eternities, and some do so erratically, with neither rhyme nor reason to their movements. In my six thousand years, I have never heard of Concordia. I believe that this means your plane moves around the void so much it is virtually impossible to find."
"No..." Twilight said. "It can't be gone, it just can't! It has to be around here somewhere!"
Twilight dove back into the void, her searching becoming even more frantic as time went on.
Time immeasurable passed, the void caring naught for seconds or hours, and still Twilight could not find Concordia.
"Twilight," Sorin said. "Enough—we're not going to find it like this."
"Just a little bit longer—it has to be around here!"
"Twilight, it's gone."
Twilight stopped and looked at Sorin, despair rolling off her in waves.
"I'm going back to Innistrad, I think it would be best if you would join me," Sorin said, turning back the way as came. Grudgingly, Twilight followed.
They arrived where they had left—the Farbogs. High above them, the moon hung, shining its silver light on the land.
Twilight didn't know if it was a leftover effect from Nightmare Moon's summoning, or if that much time had simply passed by.
"I hope I didn't upset whoever raises the sun and moon," Twilight said, looking upwards.
Sorin looked at her oddly. "No one raises the sun or moon—they raise themselves."
Twilight blinked with dull surprise. "Well, how on Concordia does that work?"
"Can't say myself—I've never studied the matter. It's actually considered normal, although I have seen some planes where day and night cycles are manipulated with magic, but those are typically rare—much like your Concordia, I assume."
Twilight felt another wave of despair overcome her at the mention of her home, and she sagged into the muck of the swamp.
Sorin crouched down besides her. "Twilight, we will find your home again, I promise you that. I have contacts that I can call upon—surely there are other Planeswalkers who have heard of it."
Twilight looked up at Sorin, a glimmer of hope in her eyes. "Thank you, Sorin. You're a good friend."
Sorin paused, his mouth moving silently. "I'm not a good anything," he said after a moment. He recovered, shaking his head and standing up. "We should leave—artificial or otherwise, the Farbogs are dangerous at night."
"Dangerous?" Twilight asked, concerned, as she too stood up.
"Yes, many undead roam here at night, and our actions here are bound to attract unwanted attention." Sorin strode purposefully across the bog, Twilight following him.
---
Despite Sorin's concerns, they arrived at Markov Manor in good time, without any trouble. Twilight had seen the building when she had left earlier that morning, but she was still in awe at the large, stately castle, black granite carved into gothic arches, ominous towers and grimacing gargoyles.
It reminded Twilight of Canterlot Palace, if in function rather than form. Where the palace was bright and open, the manor was dark and closed off. Rather than standing tall on a mountain for all to see, it was hunched, as if hiding some great and terrible secret. And instead of being filled with life, the manor was filled with the silence of the grave, with even the gardens dead and dying, creating a dreary and oppressive mood.
Twilight shuddered as they passed a particularly frightening gargoyle. Sorin ignored it, however, and carried on.
“Hmm... Grandfather isn’t back yet. Good,” he mused to himself.
“Why would that be good? Don’t you want to see your grandfather?” Twilight asked with concern.
“Not really. We don’t get on very well.” Sorin contiuned on walking through the courtyard and into the manor, barely looking at Twilight.
“Sounds like you have a friendship problem,” Twilight said.
This time, Sorin did stop and look at her. “What I have is a foolish, short sighted, power hungry idiot of a grandfather who is convinced that I have betrayed him and our entire race, when all I did was ensure our survival,” he ferociously snarled, causing Twilight to back away from him in fear. Still snarling, Sorin spun round and stormed off, quickly leaving Twilight by herself in the manor, with no idea where anything was.
---
Cards unlocked!
Nightmare Moon 3BBB
Legendary Creature—Alicorn Princess MR
Flying, First Strike
When Nightmare Moon enters the battlefield, choose a non-black creature with power 5 or greater and exile it.
When Nightmare Moon leaves the battlefield, return the exiled card to its owners hand.
Other black creatures get +1/+1.
5/5
Demonic Servant 2BB
Sorcery U
Put a 3/3 black Demon creature token with flying onto the battlefield.
You may cast this card at any time you could cast an instant if you pay five life in addition its the casting cost.
Farbog
Land R
Farbog enters the battlefield tapped.
When Farbog enters the battlefield, choose a creature card in your graveyard and return it to your hand.
T; add B to your mana pool.