//------------------------------//
// Instill Infection 
// Story: My Little Praetor: Phthisis is Magic 
// by FanOfMostEverything 
//------------------------------//

A council of the praetors of New Phyrexia was always a tense time. Put the five most powerful beings in the world, united in theory but divided in purpose, and stick them all in the same room, and egos are bound to clash. Especially if the five are siblings. Even more especially if the one who requested the council is late.

"WHERE IS HE!?" bellowed Vorinclex. The bellow wasn't very indicative of his anger, of course. Twice the height of a human, hulking with muscle and mandibles, the Voice of Hunger wasn't physically capable of speaking in lowercase. And that was just the way he liked it.

"Patience, Brother," counseled Elesh Norn, "he will come." The Grand Cenobite was one of the more attractive praetors, though this was still a highly relative description. Of course, if the beholder didn't mind razor-sharp claws and porcelain-like armor plating instead of skin, she was rather becoming, in a "'Bad Romance' Lady Gaga meets Lord Zedd" kind of way.

"If he isn't here soon, I'm leaving," grumbled Urabrask. "Some of us actually have work to do." His vaguely saurian form rippled with heat and impatience.

"Yes," noted Sheoldred, "you've got pet refugees to look after, after all." From the waist up, she was the mirror image of her sister, black corrosion to Norn's ivory pseudoceramic. From the waist down, she was a hulking quadruped with a secondary mouth that could swallow a man whole.

"What I do or do not do to further the Great Work is no concern of yours," Urabrask snarled.

"YOU DISGUST ME," boomed Vorinclex. "ALL THE HEAT IN YOUR PRECIOUS FURNACE HAS MADE YOU SOFT."

A fifth voice made itself known. "And we wonder why he doesn't attend councils more often." It was rich with the frustrated amusement of someone long accustomed to being the smartest person in the room. Its owner strode into view, a gangly, hunchbacked figure all in spikes and chrome, Jack Frost as designed by H. R. Giger and Cadillac.

"WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG!?"

Jin-Gitaxias essayed a shallow bow. "My apologies, esteemed siblings. Certain critical experiments took longer than I had anticipated."

"And what isn't a critical experiment with you?" sneered Sheoldred.

The Core Augur ignored this. "In any case, I have excellent news." He held up a spindly hand. "Don't bother guessing. Between the four of you, you've got about a one in seventy-two thousand chance of getting it right."

Urabrask sighed, a few flames licking out of his occipital exhaust vents. "So you don't have a more reasonable chromium requisition."

"Nothing so mundane. My fellow praetors, I am pleased to announce the first successful practical trial of the interplanar portal project."

"TELL ME," shouted Vorinclex, "HOW MUCH TIME DOES ONE OF YOUR TRINKETS HAVE TO TAKE BEFORE IT EXPLODES TO COUNT AS SUCCESSFUL?"

"It didn't explode," Jin replied, exasperated. "That's why it was successful. Lummox."

Elesh Norn interceded. "To what world are we to spread the Glorious Word?

"If you've been following my studies via photonic probe and the tumblrskite, you'll be familiar with the plane in question."

There was a pause as his siblings considered half-remembered, seemingly inconsequential rants. Then there came a chorus of groans. Vorinclex spoke for them all: "NOT THE DAMNED PONIES!"

Gitaxias defended his position, reciting rationales he'd long repeated. "The world is poorly defended, rich in magic and materials, has an easily manipulated ecology; in short, a perfect first plane beyond our own to compleat."

"IT'S NOTHING BUT PONIES!" pressed the Voice of Hunger. "DOCILE GRAZERS! BARELY WORTHY OF BEING EATEN!"

"It also contains manticores, griffins, hydrae—"

"There is no industry, little metal," Urabrask said dismissively. "Why bother?"

"There is still great mineral and biological wealth to process—"

"It's an insult to all we've worked for!" cried Sheoldred. "It is beneath us, an afterthought!"

"An afterthought that will give us a foothold in the greater Multiverse..." Jin waited expectantly, surprised when his fourth sibling didn't interrupt. He turned to her. "Well, Elesh? Aren't you going to raise some objection that I've addressed in the past?"

She pursed her flayer husks, deep in thought. "Tell me again, Brother: What is the nature of these ponies' spiritual lives?"

If the Core Augur had eyes, he would've blinked in surprise. "Rather similar to those of your drones. They serve and revere a central figure whose will is law."

The Grand Cenobite nodded. "And that will would be?"

"To summarize it as much as possible: Be nice."

Norn's lips pursed in distaste. "'Be weak,' you mean. 'Be willfully flawed.' 'Be constrained and separated by the tyranny of skin.' We must bring them the Argent Etchings. The sooner the better."

Vorinclex buried his face in his primary hands. "REALLY, NORN? REALLY?"

"It's for their own good."

"OF COURSE IT IS."

Gitaxias had no lips, but he would've been smiling even if he did. "I don't really see why you all think this is up for debate."

Sheoldred frowned. "Surely you didn't expect us to just go along with this fool's errand?"

He shrugged. "Perhaps you would, perhaps you would not. Either way, I have already begun the invasion."

Urabrask perked up at this. "Explain."

"Gladly. It was why I was late. You see..."

Ditzy smiled as she closed the mailbox. She hadn't been making the rounds lately, not after the big restructuring of the post office. As Luna had promised, a week after the elementals had been brought up and put down, Ditzy had found herself in charge of five postponies, a mail wagon, and even a small dragonflame brazier that acted as a direct line to the younger princess.

This was all well and good, but one of the pegasus's subordinates, one Hornrims Bottlebottom, was clearly a castoff from his old town. Oh, he was a nice old pony, but his sight was so bad that he couldn't tell a mailbox from a lawn flamingo. Ditzy had assigned him the sparsest route, reasoning that if she had to use him (and she did, according to union rules,) she might as well minimize the damage.

Of course, that had been before the "New Fluttershy" incident. After that, Mr. Bottlebottom had been given a much-deserved vacation and Ditzy handled the Kindness Bearer's mail personally, despite the butter-coated mare's protests and apologies.

"Your mail's got to get here somehow," the blonde had reasoned, "and I've been getting sick of administrative work anyway."

"I just didn't want Mr. Bottlebottom to feel bad after the horrible way I treated him."

"Are you kidding? Hornrims feels worse about bringing you the wrong mail. It finally convinced him to get a stronger perscription. I was about to resort to mind control."

Fluttershy pouted. "Oh, Ditzy, you really shouldn't, especially not in your condition.""

"I was just jo... What condition?"

"You didn't know?"

"Didn't know what?"

"Well, with Address back, I'm sure you and he..." The gentle pegasus blushed.

Ditzy followed suit. "Th-that's kind of personal..." It clicked. "You mean..?"

Fluttershy beamed. "I'm sure Dinky will be thrilled to know that she's going to have a little brother or sister."

"But I just... We only just... How can you know already?"

The pink-maned mare's smile lessened, but she was clearly pleased with herself. "When you spend enough time with mice and squirrels and bunnies, you learn how to recognize the signs in any creature, ponies included."

"...huh."

"Um, you aren't upset, are you?"

The grey mare shook her head. "No, no," she answered absently. "It's great. Fantastic, even. Have a nice day." She wandered off in a daze.

A quick look at her body's mana circulation confirmed it. Ditzy was pregnant. Had been for almost a month now. How about that. At some point, she wandered into the park and half-collapsed into a sitting position. Her mind raced, but exactly what she was thinking, she couldn't say.

As the pegasus contemplated her navel and the growing life beneath it, there was a sound like screaming metal, crunching rock, and the chainsaw of the titans. A ragged, roughly circular hole appeared in the air. Naturally, everypony who wasn't deep in thought went running. Something that clearly wasn't a pony peeked out from the other side.

The flagrantly nonpony creature considered the view for a moment. Though hunched over, it still easily towered over the average Equestrian. It was very roughly humanoid, in the sense of having two arms, two legs, and a head. However, these were all elongated, spiked, and chrome-plated. It had no lips, but gave an impression of smiling beyond that of the average skull. In a voice like honeyed razors, it crowed, "We're in!"

It noted Ditzy, still lost in her ruminations. "Excuse me?"

"Uh huh?" came the distant reply.

"Is this Equestria?"

"Yup."

"Excellent. Thank you, miss."

"Sure thing."

The portal snapped shut with a world-shaking whipcrack. This was enough to disrupt Ditzy's revery. She shook her head. "Wait, what?"

"DITZY!"

"Ahh!" The pegasus launched herself several yards into the air before looking back down. "Pinkie Pie?"

The party pony was uncharacteristically panicked. "I came as fast as I could! I was in the Sugarcube Corner making almond horns when my knee started pinching pinchier than it's ever been pinched and I knew the scariest thing ever was gonna happen!" She looked around frantically. "But now it's not pinchy anymore, but I can't tell what happened, and that's even scarier because I don't know why it was so scary! What happened?"

"Um..." Ditzy gave a nervous chuckle. "I'm... not sure."

"Not sure? How couldn't you be sure? This had to be the scariest scare since Luna's first Nightmare Night!"

"I was kind of preoccupied..."

"With what?"

"I just found out that I'm going to have another foal."

Pinkie's face became a riot of twitching regions, the struggle between joy and panic playing out before the grey mare's eyes. Finally, the earth pony took a deep breath and composed herself. "What do you remember?"

The pegasus landed and wingshrugged. "Somepony... no, someone asking if this was Equestria."

"Hmm..." Pinkie examined the area, then turned back to her fellow planeswalker. "You're the one with MacGuffin eyes. What do you see?"

"MacGuff— never mind." Ditzy focused on where she recalled the question. She moved next to it and pointed at the site. "Right here, there's something like a bruise or a scar. It's blue. I think I can follow it."

The party pony shook her head until her eyes spun. "No no no no no. Bad idea. No going into Creepytown: The Plane. Especially not when you've got a passenger."

Ditzy winced. "Of course." There was no telling what effects the Bastard Plane would have on her child, and she had no intention of finding out. "So what do we do?"

"Hmm..." Pinkie tapped a hoof against her chin. "I think I have an idea. Where did you say the rift was again?"

The blonde stuck a hoof into the seemingly wounded area. "Right here."

The bubblegum-coated mare cracked her neck and gave a rather worrisome grin. "Okie dokie lokie." She reared up and planted her forehooves on the "bruise." Impossibly, it supported her weight. The extremities began to glow red and the mare drove them into the middle of the disturbance. Muscles and veins bulged as, with earth pony strength and space-warping magic, she slowly split the rift. With a final grunt, Pinkie went back to all fours, the portal reopened.

On the other side, panicked chittering and howling klaxons indicated that the intrusion had been noticed. Grotesque beings of polished metal and pallid flesh peered back at the pink pony standing halfway in their world.

The syrupy, barbed voice made itself known again. "Will you calm down, you fools? What is it now?" It noticed the gateway. "Oh. Well, that was unexpected." It had no eyes, but Pinkie could somehow tell when its attention shifted back to her. "Ah," mused the monstrosity, "Pinkie Pie. That explains a great deal."

"Is there anything in the Multiverse you haven't met?" cried Ditzy.

The earth mare shook her head as she backed back into Equestria. "Whoever this is, I've never met him before."

"That's a him!?"

The chromed creature nodded. "Indeed. This is our first meeting. And, insofar as your understanding of gender applies to me, yes, I do identify as male." It moved closer to the aperture, looking for the other speaker. Upon finding her, it nodded again. "Ah, Miss... your pardon, please. My sources have been inconclusive. Do you prefer Derpy Hooves or—"

"Ditzy Doo, thank you." Ire simmered in the pegasus's voice. How, how, how had that nickname crossed the planar barrier?

"Miss Doo, then. I suppose I should introduce myself next." The being bowed, an impressive feat for one already hunchbacked. "I am Jin-Gitaxias, Augur of the Core, Praetor of the Progress Engine, intellectual apex of New Phyrexia, and future sovereign of Equestria." His smile was as warm and welcoming as the middle of a compost heap. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"You introduced yourself?" Sheoldred couldn't believe her ears. "Well, I'm glad you seem to have such confidence in our success, Brother, because you just threw out any chance of infiltrating their plane unnoticed."

Gitaxias shook his head. "Do you really think so little of me, Sister? This has all been carefully planned."

The Whispering One was unconvinced. "Carefully planned to subvert our own success, maybe."

"The park ruse was a distraction. Even if the witnesses' peers believe their wild tales about metal creatures from beyond their meager imaginations, they will be expecting an invasion that will be similarly overt and grandiose."

"And instead?" asked Elesh Norn.

The Core Augur chuckled, a sound like bubbling sludge. "As I said, it has already begun. My dramatic appearance was not the first practically sized portal opened to Equestria, nor was I the first Phyrexian to witness our new conquest."

"Then who was?" Urabrask was trying to feign indifference and failing miserably.

The chromed horror looked over his shoulder. "That would be your cue."

A rhythmic sound answered him, a regular series of clanks like bone on metal. Its source came into view, a cobalt-blue unicorn stallion with silver mane and acid-green eyes. His cutie mark was a bubbling flask, and his demeanor was a blend of confidence and awe. He bowed before the assembled praetors. "My Aunts. My Uncles. It is an honor and a privilege."

Norn considered the pony. "And you would be?"

"Clinical Trial," responded Jin. "Only the best could be trusted with an infiltration mission of such importance. As such, I put one of my own larvae through a specialized hypertrophy cycle. Thus did I resurrect one of the most effective methods of Old Phyrexia: The sleeper agent. One of ours, undetectably disguised as one of theirs."

Vorinclex was unimpressed. "TELL ME WHY I SHOULD CARE. OR WHY I SHOULDN'T JUST DEVOUR THE WASTE OF FLESH HERE AND NOW."

"You are welcome to, my Uncle," said the kowtowing Trial. "My purpose is fulfilled, my existence surplus to requirement."

The Voice of Hunger considered this for all of a second. "WELL, YOU HEARD HIM!" One of his primary arms lunged for the stallion.

Urabrask caught it before his "nephew" was within reach. "Hold it. What do you mean, 'your purpose is fulfilled'?"

"Just that, my Uncle. I have proven the success of my Father's portal technology. I have begun the phyresis of Equestria. I have dismantled the mightiest weapon in their meager arsenal. There is nothing more for me to do to serve the Great Work."

"Tell us how, child," urged Elesh Norn.

"Yes," added Gitaxias, "report. You have undoubtedly gathered data whose value you do not yet realize."

Trial did not rise from his prone position. "As you wish, Great Ones."

Vorinclex gagged cacophonously. "HE IS ONE OF YOURS, GITAXIAS. ONLY YOU COULD MAKE SOMETHING SO DISGUSTINGLY SMARMY THAT IT COULD MAKE ME LOSE MY APPETITE."

"In any case," said the stallion, "I was first deployed some distance from Ponyville..."

The fields to the town's north were left fallow, a peaceful stretch of greenery that stretched out between the foothills of the Canterhorn and the Everfree Forest.

With a sound like a metallic phonebook getting torn in half, a hole was briefly gouged in this idyllic scene. Out of it dashed a pony, or at least a cunning approximation of one. Grime streaked his coat, especially on the legs. He used the tall grass to brush off the industrial gunk and nodded in approval as it seemed to soak into the vegetation. Every little bit would help, after all. Adjusting his saddlebags, he made for town, blades of grass already yellowing and wilting as he left.

Soon enough, he could see his destination, a large tree incongruously surrounded by primitive structures. These were inconsequential. It was the tree that mattered. More accurately, the tree's occupant. He knocked on the door with a forehoof.

"Hello?" A small reptillian creature answered. The dragon whelp. Not quite as immature as forecasted. That wasn't good. Every deviation from the primary source meant greater uncertainty, but if he could fulfill his primary mission, it wouldn't matter.

The sleeper pony realized he hadn't answered the hatchling's greeting. Right. Have to act the part. "Hello. Is Dr. Sparkle in?"

The whelp looked at him as if he were crazy. "'Doctor' Sparkle?"

"Doctor Sparkle!?" An equinoid rushed into view, mildly panicked. "Who called me a doctor? I don't have a doctorate! I don't even have a thesis topic! I'm still working on my Bachelor's of Harmonic Studies." She turned to her scaly minion. "Spike, you did make sure that was a thing a pony could get, right?"

"Yes," sighed the dragon, rolling his eyes.

"My mistake," demurred the stallion. "My name is Clinical Trial. May I come in?"

The mare's attention went to her guest. She paused for a moment, and he worried that there might have been some minor flaw in his disguise. Then she smiled and cleared the way. "Of course, of course! Welcome to the Books and Branches Library, Mr. Trial!" She paused again, pondering something. "You know, I think I know your aunt."

Inequine creatures garbed in white and black briefly flickered in the Phyrexian's mind. "I rather doubt that."

Twilight tilted her head. "No? Double-Blind Trial? She was my professor for Modern Spellcraft Techniques."

"No relation, I'm afraid." Trial looked around the room. It was admittedly rather respectable, considering the incompleat nature of the plane and society that built it. Plentiful knowledge, but with the invaluable mixed haphazardly with the inconsequential, and certain essentials left out entirely because of the arbitrary decrees of "morality."

"So..." The mare grinned at him, her tail accidentally brushing his left gaskin as she moved back in front of him. "What brings you here?"

Ah, yes. The cobalt-blue pony slipped something out of his saddlebags as he began the prepared story. "Well, I'm something of a researcher, you see. I discovered something unusual on my way into town." A vial of black, viscous fluid floated in a telekinetic field the same bilious green as his eyes.

Twilight's focus immediately shifted to the mysterious substance. "Huh. May I?" Trial nodded, and the aura around the glass went from green to magenta. The mare brought up to one eye, tilted it back and forth, and held it up to the light of one window. "Strange. It seems like some kind of petroleum product, but I'm getting some weird feedback just by holding it in my magic."

The stallion feigned surprise. "You noticed that too? I wasn't sure if it was just me or not."

She shook her head. "No, no, there's definitely some kind of... well, echo, for lack of a better term. Almost like the interference pattern caused by holding something living. Hmm..." Her eyes lit up with inspiration. "Spike, fetch me Slithering a Mile in Their Membranes."

As the dragon busied himself, Trial nudged the mare further in the right direction. "You think it's alive?"

"It's the only reason I can think of that could explain this interference pattern." The glow along the top of the vial intensified, and the stopper came out. "I'll admit this isn't very scientific, but..." With a few waves of a forehoof, Twilight wafted the aroma of the oil towards her muzzle. It immediately wrinkled in disgust. "Ugh! Phew, if that isn't alive, then something clearly died in there. You don't get that kind of smell without biology getting involved somehow."

To the sleeper agent, it smelled of home, but he put on a displeased face nonetheless. "Yeah, sorry. Should've warned you about that."

"Don't worry about it." The studious mare replaced the stopper and snorted, trying to purge her sinuses of the reek. "Though is there anything else you think you should share about this stuff?"

"Well, for the most part, the grass where I found it was yellowed and withering. However, a few blades looked closer to cornstalks than wild growth."

"Hmm. Interesting..." Twilight frowned and looked about for her assistant. "Spike, where's that book?"

The hatchling's voice echoed from another room. "Wherever it is, it's not in Travelogues, Academic Works, or Cryptozoological Studies! Did somepony check it out?"

The pony frowned further and floated the library ledger to herself. "Highly unlikely. Hardly anypony checks out nonfiction, especially not something like... oh." She groaned.

"What is it?" asked Trial.

"Ugh, that creepy radio host. I know the subtitle is The Amazing World of Oozes, Slimes, and Jellies, but it doesn't mean that kind of jelly!"

The stallion got the distinct hint that he was missing something, but dismissed it as unimportant. "Well, you could at least do some independent research, right?"

Twilight considered this. "That's true..."

"Hypothesize, experiment, analyze..."

She nodded, her attention beginning to drift. "Yeah. Yeah, that sounds... nice."

"All for the sake of knowledge. Of seeking answers to the big questions, greater understanding of the world."

"Yeah."

"Clearing away ignorance and superstition, leaving nothing but the indisputable, beautiful truth!"

"Yeah!"

"Looking the world in the eye and telling it, 'You can't hide anything from me! I am a scientist, and it is my duty to take you apart and see how you tick!'"

"Yes! Yes!"

"Bringing enlightenment, reason, and perfection to..." Trial caught himself and coughed into a forehoof. "Um, pardon me, Miss Sparkle. I suppose I got a little caught up in the moment."

She blinked, breathing heavily, hairs splaying out of her main like broken springs. "Huh? Oh. Right. Caught up." She blushed and bit her lower lip, her eyes darting in seemingly random directions. "E...excuse me for a moment."

He shrugged. "Of course."

Twilight retreated to the bathroom, shutting the door behind her. Her blush was fully visible against her lavender coat, her mind awhirl with decidedly unscientific avenues of inquiry. She looked in the mirror, locking gazes with her reflection. "You're above this, Sparkle. You are a professional. He is a professional. You are having an adult, professional discussion. Like adults You both just got caught up in the thrill of discovery for a moment. So stop staring at those luscious flanks of his. You are not going to treat him like some sort of delicious, sexy science cake. Of science. And a rump you could bounce a bit off of." Her expression, which had been slowly going from determination to lust, abruptly switched to horror. "Oh Celestia, I just ended a sentence in a preposition."

There was a knock at the door. "Everything alright in there?"

"Just a second!" the mare answered frantically. She turned back to herself, her chastisement quieter. "Okay, so he's cute. He's smart. He thought you were a doctor. You've dealt with crushes on colts before. Like... like..." Twilight's ears drooped as she realized that her studies had left her as little time and interest in romance as in friendship. As for Ponyville, most eligible stallions already had a special somepony in the gender-imbalanced town. Even if there was a decent choice, she hadn't felt confident enough in her friendship studies to move to a more advanced subject.

There was only one logical conclusion: "I'm doomed."

"I distinctly heard something about doom," called Clinical Trial. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. Fine. Just fine. Why wouldn't I be fine?" A high, nervous giggle forced itself out of the mare's throat until she clamped her mouth shut. "I'll be coming out now!"

Trial looked askance at her as she left the restroom, and even that was cute in that amazingly inquisitive way. "If you're sure..."

"So, um, if you aren't doing anything later..." Twilight's eyes widened in horror. Her mouth was rebelling! She hadn't told it to say that! This was anatomical insurrection of the highest order! "I, um, I know this great place in town, and... and maybe after that, well, um, I know I said I wasn't a doctor, but I could always, um... play one?"

That was it. Brain over. Embarrassment equals very yes. The mare prepared to collapse into a singularity. Surely the amount of shame and humiliation contained in her volume exceeded that needed for her Schwarzsfoal Radius.

Trial gave a grin as he brought himself muzzle-to-muzzle with her. "Why wait?"

Oh. Or this. This could happen, too. "I... uh... Spike is..."

"Surely there's some errand you can send him on."

A grin burst into place on Twilight's face. "Yes! Errand! Sure! Spike!"

"What!?"

A small satchel was brought into the air, loose coins flying into it like circular bees returning to their cloth hive. "You've been such a great assistant lately, I think you deserve a little reward. Why don't you take the rest of the day off and go do something fun?"

The hatchling came back into the room, uncertain. "I'm not complaining, but what about that book?"

"Oh, it's just a book. We can wait until Mr. Jelly returns it, can't we, Clinny?"

The stallion hesitated only slightly when presented with the pet name. "Er, yes, not that important."

"Okay..." Spike took the makeshift wallet out of the air, looking from pony to pony suspiciously. "Just don't try any funny stuff while I'm gone, got it?"

Despite herself, Twilight couldn't help but giggle at her assistant's authoritative expression. "Yes, sir, Mr. Dragon, sir."

Head high and ego inflated, the dragon strutted out of the library.

The door slammed shut behind him, encased in violet. His mistress turned to the other pony, a hungry look in her eye. "So where we?"

Trial returned the expression as he came closer. "About here."

As first kisses go, there have certainly been worse over the history of the Multiverse. There have certainly been better ones as well, many because one kisser's tongue didn't sprout a stinger or inject the other kisser with a potent narcotic.

The sleeper agent broke the loosening lip lock with visible disgust, letting Twilight slump to the ground, still bearing a look of dreamy bliss. He retrieved the vial of glistening oil, the quintessence of Phyrexia, and unstoppered it. "Alright, Miss Sparkle, time to take your medicine."

The mare, barely conscious, found this hilarious. "Hehehe. Shekshy medishin."

"Oh, yes. Sexy indeed. Say 'ah.'"

Reflexes carefully honed by pediatricians kicked into gear, and Twilight obeyed. The vial was emptied into her mouth, the oil slithering into her system by its own accord. Trial nodded in approval. "Good girl. Now, in these saddlebags are seven more vials. I'll leave it up to you what to do with them. All I'm going to need is this." A circular device with a single large button floated out of the storage device. "Now then, I must bid you farewell, Twilight Sparkle. Good luck in your future studies. All will be one."

"All'l be one." Twilight smiled. What a nice sentiment. Her and her friends and Celestia and Luna and everypony else, all together forever, with no discord or strife. Who wouldn't want that?

"Thus, the Element of Magic has been compromised," concluded the pony. "Harmony is no threat to us. It may have already been made our ally in its entirety."

"Their greatest hope lost before they even know they'll need it." Sheoldred smiled. "Oh, I like this one."

"YOU'VE STILL FORCED OUR HAND, GITAXIAS," Vorinclex deafeningly grumbled. "WE'VE GOT LITTLE TIME TO ACT BEFORE SOMEONE OUTSIDE YOUR PITIFUL AREA OF INFLUENCE NOTICES."

"True," conceded Jin. "Still, would I be correct in assuming that you will be participating in this campaign?"

"AND LET THE REST OF YOU TRY TO OUTMANEUVER ME? YOU'RE NOT GOING TO GET RID OF ME THAT EASILY."

Urabrask shrugged. "Might as well. If nothing else, maybe the dragons will make effective workers."

Norn grinned. "Then it is decided. 'Skin is the prison of the blessed and the stronghold of the heretic.' Plate sixty-four, passage seventeen. For the glory of Phyrexia, let us raid these new strongholds and free those who do not know they are imprisoned."

Clinical Trial trembled with joy, ecstatic that he had proven his worth to those inherently superior to him in all ways. Jin-Gitaxias merely smiled, and nodded, and planned.




Strange Obsession 2(gu)(gu)
Enchantment
As Strange Obsession enters the battlefield, choose a subtype.
Whenever you cast a spell of the chosen type, you may draw a card.
"I judge not. I ask only that I not be judged in return. And for strawberries, if you have any to spare."
—Hugh Jelly, jam enthusiast

Gitaxian Sleeper UU
Creature — Unicorn Minion
When Gitaxian Sleeper enters the battlefield, target opponent gains control of it.
Whenever you draw a card, if you aren't Gitaxian Sleeper's owner, then that player may draw a card.
"My purpose is simple: Guide this world towards the perfection that created me."
3/3