Yet Another Human In Equestria Story

by Bardic_Knowledge


Chapter 28: January 16, The Purifying Fire

Yet Another Human in Equestria Story

By: Bardic Knowledge

Chapter 28: January 16, The Purifying Fire

“I just don't get it,” I said, as my players gathered in the library side room. “Is there some form of narrative causality keeping us from meeting anywhere else or something? I mean, really. The number of things that kept us from meeting for two months!” There was a chorus of groaning murmurs of agreement. I cleared my throat. “Okay, so. I've offered Twilight two different characters to potentially play as, because the second one was more similar to her than the other. She knows when she's supposed to show up and will be waiting until then, and has been given her back story.” After some nods of agreement, I opened my scroll of notes to the relevant section. “So, when last we left off, Gilgamesh had explained a few things, then shoved you out of the plane when a horde of monsters appeared.”

“Can we go back in to help?” asked Rainbow.

“The entrance closed after his parting words. Also, Dawn, you notice the corridor seems to be destabilizing from where it used to be.”

“I'll tell the others,” Trixie said quickly.

“We'd better run before we get separated,” said Pinkie.

“Upon reaching the other side of the corridor, you emerge in what appear to be some ancient ruins, partially overgrown with vines. The buildings are made of tan clay and have a fire motif to them. Directly in front of you is a tall pillar topped with a jewel, refracting a beam of sunlight onto a section of a circle of strange symbols.”

“I'll scout out above,” said Rainbow.

“It's an entire city complex of similar-looking buildings, though you can see some oddities in the streets between them. Behind the rest of the group is a building that looks like a large temple with a grate in the ceiling and a large fire burning on the other side. There seems to be a human man walking towards the group, with a woman in a different part of the complex walking towards the fire.”

“I guess I'll have to let everyone know someone's coming.”

“Just after you finish, the man comes into sight and stops dead on seeing you. He screams, 'No! No more death! Must protect them, must save the dragons!'”

“Fight time!” While Dash seemed happy, the others looked mostly concerned. “I'll spend two effort to go fast and attack him with another effort!”

“I'll scan him with a Blue effort,” said Trixie.

“I'll draw my hammer and ready myself,” said Spike.

“I'll cower behind Derrin,” said Pinkie, before hiding behind Spike.

“Before you start to move, he glows with power, makes some arcane gestures, and a large dragon appears in front of him, blocking your way. You bounce off the dragon, dealing almost no damage to it. Dawn's scans reveal him to be suffuse with Red and Black mana. The dragon itself is made of pure Red mana, despite it's green colouration.”

Rainbow's jaw hung open. “This guy can summon dragons? How the hay are we supposed to beat that? And how'd he manage to move faster than me?”

Spike glanced at his character's background for a moment, then nodded. “'A dragon? You have called on the wrong creature, for I have slain two dragons in my time! And one was possessed by an Archfiend!' I'll spend three effort on a hammer attack on the dragon.” This proclamation was met by a whistle from Trixie. She checked her own character sheet.

“Not to be out-done, I'll throw some Red effort into a Blizzara. Which is worth... two.” I nodded. Between the two of them, that'd take out the Shivan Dragon.

“If this guy's going to be stealing my speed, I'm going to spend three effort into speed, then two to attack him, flying around the dragon he summoned!” said Dash, stomping her hoof. In truth, I'd had their opponent go at the same time as Dash, but she didn't need to know that. Pouring that much effort into her attack would fatigue her character, too.

“Peregrin's out of his element in a fight, still. Is there anything I can do?” Pinkie said.

“As part of her instruction on how White Magic works, Dawn has told you of a series of spells that offer protection from certain types of attack, as well as an ultimate White Magic attack spell. You don't have enough skill to use any of those right now.” I replied.

“Then I'll ready a cure spell and wait.”

“Okay, here's what happens: Prism flies around the dragon and slams into the guy, knocking him into a wall. He roars in pain, then breathes fire at you. As the dragon prepares to breathe fire as well, the combination of hammer and Blizzara deals enough damage to the dragon to make it dissolve into red light. Prism takes two damage and one fatigue from the fire breath and overexerting herself.” I then nodded to Twilight.

“'Hey! Dragon dork!'” she said, affecting a voice that reminded me of Ben 10. Which made sense when I thought about it: they're both voiced by Tara Strong. “'Pick on someone your own size!'” As everyone looked confusedly at her, I added:

“Standing on top of the temple you found yourselves in front of, is the woman Prism saw earlier. She's wearing a brown and red outfit and a pair of goggles over her eyes, which are currently glowing orange. In her hands are a couple fireballs, and her hair is currently made of fire.

'You!' shouts the man. 'I'll destroy you!'”

“'I'd like to see you try!' And I'll throw a fireball at him. Three Red effort.” Everyone looked, shell-shocked, at the both of us.

“With a snarl and a flash of fire, the man disappears, just barely avoiding the fireball.”

“Now that he's gone, I'll cast that healing spell on Prism,” Pinkie said. “Which is all my one White effort.” I hadn't been expecting her to say something, but I let Dash erase one of the wounds and the fatigue.

“Now that the battle's over,” said Twilight. “I jump down from the roof, letting my hair turn back to normal, and say 'Yo. Name's Chandra. Looked like you guys could use some help.'”

“'Oh, thank you,'” said Pinkie. “'He was scary.'”

“'Yeah, yeah,'” said Twilight, waving a hoof. Wow, she was really getting into character. “'Fought the guy once before. He turned into a dragon that time. So, what brings you to the Sun Warrior's city?'”

“'Is that the name of this place?'” asked Trixie. “'Gilgamesh didn't have time to say much before he sent us here from Argentum.'”

Twilight looked thoughful, “'Nope, doesn't ring a bell. In fact, it doesn't even sound like a place in the Elemental Nations.'”

“'Is that the name of this plane?'” asked Pinkie, almost echoing Trixie.

“'Wait, plane? You guys are Planeswalkers?'”

“'Gilgamesh was confused, too,'” said Spike. “'He thought Dawn was the only Planeswalker among us.'”

“'Huh. Well, glad I could help you guys. I'm guessing you don't know how to find the Sun Warriors, do you? I'm always looking for a new way to use fire.'” The party shook their heads. “'Guess I'll just keep looking for them. Where do you think you'll be headed next?'”

“'Um, Miss Chandra?'” said Pinkie. “'We don't know how to Planeswalk. Mister Gilgamesh was going to tell us, but we were attacked and he sent us here before we could do anything.'”

Twilight adopted a pensive look. Wow, she was really getting into this. Wasn't really expecting that. “'Don't know how to Planeswalk? Sheesh. Are you sure you're 'Walkers?'”

“'Well, we did survive in the Blind Eternities,'” nodded Trixie. “'Gilgamesh said that non-Planeswalkers would just dissolve if exposed for long enough.'”

“'Fine. Maybe you are 'Walkers,'” Twilight sighed. “'But I'm not very good at teaching. Who do I know...?'”

I decided that was a good spot to step in. “After some contemplation, you remember the mind mage that you've encountered twice. You don't like him very much, but he should know how to help. Last you heard, he spends most of his time on Ravnica.” I paused, furrowed my brow, then looked down at my campaign scroll.

“What's wrong?” asked Trixie and Twilight.

“I seem to have made a plot hole in my notes.” Trixie bit her lip (I had explained the euphemism to her a while back; turns out it was purely an Earth joke). “I have this meeting between Chandra and you guys, then I kinda skip straight to meeting with Jace on another plane. I'm... not sure how to resolve this.”

“Why not just have Chandra go get Jace and bring him back there?”

“I guess. I do want the Planeswalking lessons to be held in a specific plane, though... Ah!” I quickly wrote down some notes for my solution. “Okay, Chandra 'Walks away to get Jace... Which leaves you guys at the Sun Warrior's complex. A couple minutes after Chandra's left, a man in face paint and tribal clothing approaches. He gasps and turns to run away.”

“'Wait!'” said Pinkie. “'We're not going to hurt you! We're just waiting for a friend of ours!'”

“The man ignores you and keeps running, quickly vanishing from your sight.”

“Great,” grumbled Rainbow. “Are we going to have to deal with more misunderstandings?”

“Actually, just as the tribal man returns with friends, Chandra appears beside you with a man in a blue cloak. He looks each of you in the eyes, then turns to Chandra. 'I see what you mean.' With a wave of his hands and a splash of blue light, the approaching men blink and walk away. The man in blue introduces himself as Jace Beleren and starts explaining how Planeswalking works.”

“Chandra gets bored and walks off,” Twilight said. “According to your notes she was here to learn from the Sun Warriors anyways.” She shuffled some papers, then looked over to my notes.

“As you leave, he reminds you that you owe him a favour. Anyways, each of you add “Planeswalk” to your skill list at 'Novice.' It's linked to your mana effort. In addition, each of you adds one to your mana effort in the colour of your choice, out of those written on your sheet.” Trixie and Dash went for Red for combat purposes, while Spike and Pinkie chose White for protection and healing purposes, respectively. After a bit more explanation, I had them all Planeswalk to somewhere new, though I had them take a couple points of fatigue damage each.

“Jace nods at your arrival. 'Good. You were able to follow my directions here. I'm sure you noticed that travel through the Blind Eternities can be difficult if you don't have enough power. This plane is known as The Realm of Light. During the event known as 'The Mending,' it underwent a strange phenomenon that has turned it into a smaller scale version of the greater multiverse. You will learn how to Planeswalk better and follow someone without directions here. Find me.' And with that, Jace disappears.”

Spike yawned, prompting me to look at my watch. Midnight. “Okay. I think that's actually going to be a good stopping point. I do have some more details about this to iron out, but you guys are going to have much more free reign for exploration in the next session as you try to find Jace in The Realm of Light.”

Pinkie and Rainbow nodded and started out the door, chatting on their way home about the battle and Twilight's acting. Spike yawned again and stumbled off to bed.

“That was fun,” said Twilight. “I think I'll join in again next time, though I might make my own character.”

“Alright. I think I can figure out a way to work them in, too.”

“See you guys later!” Trixie and I waved as we headed out the door.

“What kind of character do you think she's going to make?” asked Trixie.

“My guess is white/blue, but she might surprise us by going for another red-based character.”

“Hmm. I'm with you on the white/blue thing. That is so her.”