Lore-Mage Imaginative Spark bent down and sniffed at the scorch-mark a few times before a bright orange aura gripped a shaft of chalk, scribbling a few corrections to the arcane runes lining the chamber. A soft cloud of magic kept the sea-green unicorn afloat, his blazing-orange eyes scanning for any other defects.
Running a hoof through his ruddy brown mane, he muttered a few incantations before scribbling a few extra runes on the North side of the magic circle. A quick flare of magic and Imaginative floated upwards as he surveyed his work.
It was impressive work, he thought to himself. It had taken the better part of three days researching the runes and then another eight hours clearing the room and inscribing arcane runs into it. Two guards were posted outside under his strict orders not to let a single soul inside.
“Arright - let’s just focus here…” he said to himself, his horn lighting up.
Princess Celestia had requested him personally to investigate the magical properties of Devoted Shield’s appearance. He had all but leapt at the opportunity - it was finally his chance to prove he wasn’t completely incompetent after all!
Imaginative’s magic faltered for a second at his own self-doubt, before he steeled his concentration and it flared brightly again.
No - no naysayers this time. It was his life's work to study the history and nature of magic and all things arcane. He had studied in intimate detail practically any form of magic - from arcane runes to Glyphic, to even the mysterious Bell-Magic from the goats of Southern Zebrafrica. Nopony understood the magics of the world better than him.
“Okay, now...a little spark.”
A bright blue shard of energy flung outwards from his horn, arcing towards a key rune near the edge of the room. A tiny zap later and the ignition rune began to glow softly. Several more bolts shot outwards, igniting a total of six more runes.
“Start.”
All seven runes began to glow brightly, before rapidly spreading outwards. A slow grin formed of the unicorn’s face as admiration built up inside his chest. ‘It’s working!’
Soon the entire chamber was awash in a bright arcane glow as the energies thrummed in the air. A spell-circle materialised above the scorch mark, slowly twisting in the spot. The spell had combined virtually every aspect of magic schooling he had come across - it was needed to try and trace the roots of whatever magic had sent Devoted here.
He floated down towards the spell-circle, whipping out a large blank scroll and levitating it carefully towards the centre. Inserting it into a waiting spell-rune, the entire spell matrices exploded outwards in a shower of red and purple energy, before being sucked inwards.
“Yes...yes!” he cried out as the entire room went dark, the scroll falling to the ground with a soft rustle. Energy crackled around it, smoke rising as writing burnt itself into the paper. The grin widened as all the lingering magic died down, leaving nothing but the grinning unicorn and the spell-marked scroll.
Snatching it up in his magic, Imaginative cancelled his levitation. “Now, let’s see where you came from,” he said, pulling the scroll open.
A large diagram had inked itself onto the parchment depicting several levels of reality. Lines glowed faintly, representing traces of arcane energy that had lingered in the room moments before.
Imaginative was very proud of this spell - he had written it himself; a method to trace even the faintest of spellcasting or magic to its origins. His proof of concept was to trace a lamp Discord had decided to re-arrange in an image of himself.
He shuddered, trying to repress the memory. The Chaos God wasn’t happy somepony found out his hiding spot underneath Celestia’s bed-chamber. Imaginative Spark didn't really remember much after than other than a pink pony forcing him to promise secrecy.
Imaginative Spark closed his eyes briefly, before refocusing on the task at hoof. Opening them, he studied the markings.
“But...this is astounding...this is unheard of!” he exclaimed. His eyes traced along the fragments of the strange mare’s existence. The problem was that they fell outwards towards an nondescript disc.
Each level of reality had its own plane - Tartarus, the Heavens and the world they resided in. But his spell had revealed a fourth, unknown plane; part completely separate reality far outside the world they lived in now.
“I have to tell the Princesses at once!” he yelled, rolling up the scroll and bolting out of the door. “She’s from a different world!”
~~~~
Tea was such a nice drink. It soothed the soul and kept bad thoughts at bay. The therapeutic waiting involved while the leaves steeped inside the steaming water gave room for thoughts of control and warmth. Generations of culture, tradition and farming all boiled down and reduced to a single mug of flavour and aroma. Great minds and even greater nations negotiated while sharing the drink and even those as quiet as a mouse enjoyed the soothing feelings it brought.
Coffee didn’t afford that same calmness. Like a blunt-force trauma, it usually slammed the consciousness awake - and brought the mind out kicking and screaming like a newborn refusing to leave the mother’s womb. The same great minds spent sleepless nights in manic-induced caffeine hazes as the greatest discoveries were brought forth by the bitter drink, and during trying times it kicked the mind into a gear of elevated understanding in order to brave through them.
There was a reason Adrias preferred coffee.
Bon-Bon sat at the table opposite to him. The cup of tea was almost untouched in its saucer as her blue eyes levelled a judgemental stare at him. Any normal pony would have flinched at the cold glare that Bon-Bon gave.
Unluckily for most, he wasn’t a normal pony.
Taking a deep drink from his own mug, Adrias return the glare with his own icy blue-white eyes. They betrayed no emotions or thoughts, who unlike Bon-Bon’s showed a deep and simmering hate like a passionate furnace fuelled on misgivings and misunderstandings.
“So, we meet again,” Adrias said steadily.
Bon-Bon nodded. “So it seems.”
A dread silence seeped into the room. Lyra sat between the two, an uneasy look on her face. She didn’t dare speak, terrified of provoking a reaction from either of the two ponies.
“You know it wasn’t my fault.”
“What?” Bon-Bon leaned forward, her eyes narrowing. “My house burning down, changelings kidnapping Lyra, or the dragon almost eating me?”
Adrias paused for a long time, before taking a swig from the mug. “Okay, that last one is my fault,” he admitted with a shrug. He looked down at the mug, giving a deeply concerned frown. “My coffee’s empty.”
Lyra butted in with a large, false grin. “I’ll get you a refill!” she chimed, her voice several levels too high.
A twitch developed on Bon-Bon’s temple but Adrias could see the sheer level of restraint the other earth-pony was exercising. Somewhere in his heart, he was sure he held a soft-spot for the endless crap she put up with - especially with Lyra’s eccentric nature.
Speaking of which, the mint-green unicorn waltzed in, a refill of coffee held aloft in her magic. “Here’s your coffee, Adrias!”
He nodded, taking another swig of the brown liquid. “Thank you, Lyra. Not often I get coffee - trying to get water to boil when the weather is below zero is a little hard.” He stole a glance at Bon-Bon - her steely gaze did not waiver. Damn; his change in topic didn’t work to dissuade the mare.
Adrias sighed, pushing the mug to the side. Bon-Bon’s eyebrow raised, her patience evidently reaching its end. “Are you ready to explain why you’re here, Adrias?” she asked, the tone in her voice firm and dagger-like.
He nodded, before wiping away an itch on his face. “Bon-Bon, I’m sorry - I really am - for what I’m about to say,” he began. His face was a calm, expressionless void but deep inside the earth-pony a storm of doubt and worry raged on. He turned to the unicorn. “Lyra, do you remember how I said that there was absolutely zero chance of anything following me through when I was booted into Equestria?”
Lyra nodded. “Uh-huh, you said that your reality and our reality were effectively sealed off from each other. Why?”
Adrias idly noted the wide-eyed expression of shock and sheer utter terror overcoming Bon-Bon’s face before he even started to speak. “Well, it turns out I was wrong.”
Lyra stared at him for a few seconds. Adrias swore he heard the gears turning inside her head and could pin-point the exact moment the lightbulb went off as her mouth broken into a toothy grin. “You mean - ,” she began.
“I mean that something else has followed me through. I don’t know who or what it is but I can promise you now it is in no way a good thing.”
Bon-Bon almost lunged forward, suddenly nose-to-nose with Adrias. “Of course it’s not a good thing, nothing good ever follows you!”
The stallion gave off a soft growl, a deep frown contorting his face. “I remind you that I like my personal space.”
Bon-Bon didn’t relent, a furious look on her face. Lyra gave a sheepish smile as she pulled her away. “Easy now, Bonnie,” she said uneasily, settling Bon-Bon into her seat. “Let’s hear him out, okay? I’m sure he’s come to us for a reason.”
The earth-pony mare settled down, before reaching and taking her teacup into her hooves, sipping on it lightly.
Adrias nodded. “Lyra’s right. The only reason I’ve come to you is because…” Adrias hesitated. He hated to admit it - for all his life he’d lived alone and the other two were well aware of what he used to be - but that was a different lifetime. “I came to you because you two are the only ponies I can trust. I mean that - honest to truth, I have no-one else to turn to right now.”
Bon-Bon levelled an unknown stare at him. The anger left her face slowly as she set the teacup down again. “Well, when you put it like that…” she said softly. “But how are we supposed to help?”
Adrias got up out of his chair. He walked and stood by the window, staring out at the streets of Ponyville. In a way he envied them - their lives were so simple and worry free. He found it tragic that his thoughts had come to such things; envying the common pony. Heaving a flat sigh, he turned back to the two. “It’s...complicated. I know how this entity arrived, and it wasn’t pretty.” He closed his eyes and shuddered - the memory of a white fire flashing in his mind briefly - before opening them again. “I need to find him or her - because if two of us have come through, then we need to prepare for more.”
Lyra cocked her head quizzically. “Well, what else could come through?” Adrias shot her a warning look. “I mean - look at you. You’re not half-bad.”
“There are beings that have devoted their entire existence to hunting me down. If they’ve followed me through, then they will burn and destroy anything in their path to take me down.”
A silence chilled the air. Adrias could only offer a sullen look as he took his seat again. Lyra pulled in another chair, joining him. “Bummer,” she said.
A chair scraping cut through the silence. Two sets of eyes fell on Bon-Bon as she stood up, whisking her teacup and Adrias’ coffee mug to the kitchen. “I suppose that settles it, then,” she said. “I’ll get the bags packed.”
Lyra’s face lit up as her posture straightened. “You mean…?” she asked hopefully.
“Yes, Lyra. I do mean.” Bon-Bon gave a tired smile to the unicorn. “Looks like we’re going on another adventure.”