The shadows of the warp whispered and beckoned him, his eye peered over it all and his reach continued. It was an odd allure, but he found it rather comforting. He could hear the whispers and feel the will of the warp, the pull of what he would later know to be Chaos. But there was something else present, something touching his senses, it was pleasant. Loving and kind even, confusing feelings to him within the warp. Inching forward he looked on at the anomaly It was so small and so powerful. He could touch it, hold it in his very hand, though he knew such things were dangerous. With focus that would put any expert psyker to shame he gently cupped the warp energies with his red hands. Peering within he could feel millions of souls, living breathing souls. His eye widened in awe, he was holding an entire plain of existence within his hands. He doubted his father even got the chance to do such things. He smiled warmly wondering what new knowledge and power existed within. He was the Primarch who mastered the warp entities to save his children, sure it cost him his eye but he took on the worst of the warp and saved the thousand sons. He could handle anything this new plain of existence had.
He looked within again happily when suddenly a loud voice bellowed into his ear. "heya book banger!" He could feel his real body nudge harshly. Russ had struck his physical body back in the material world. He grit his teeth in anger clenching his fists. Russ had no respect for the warp or for the endless power and knowledge held by him and his thousand sons.
He froze in sudden realization. He had clenched his hands. He was holding the warp anomaly. His eye panned down at the hand which was quickly being enveloped by energy. He tried to back out and escape but the grasp was far too powerful. He tried to whip up a counter spell but he could feel Russ's hand swatting him over the head back in the material world. Quickly he did the only thing he was confident would work. Forcing himself back into the material world he just hoped he did not damage the warp anomaly in any way. His eye snapped open and he smashed a red fist in to the face of his brother in anger. He was about to go off on how dangerous it was to interrupt his focus when he noticed the fist he had hit Russ with was covered in warp energy. He did not escape the anomaly, it had followed him into the material world and now glued his hand to Russ's face.
Russ's words were muffled and but not panicked, more than anything they were utterly livid. The rest was complete and utter chaos. The warp energy expanded like a slow motion explosion and began to swallow them both whole. Vulkan spotted the event and quickly began to call or assistance, he was smart enough not to touch the massive pulsating bundle of warp energy but at the same time he only wanted his brothers to be safe. It did not take long before the anomaly had swallowed them both whole. Being pulled to the center of the anomaly Magnus knew he could get them out again if he had time to prepare, he just needed to make sure that wherever they landed, A: Russ did not hinder his progress in returning them back to Terra, and B: Whoever or whatever they ended up along side within this new world would not try and hinder him either. Just as he could feel the nucleus of the anomaly penetrated to let them in, he cast a spell to suppress their power. It would be quite a bit easier to make his way around if the were not 12 foot tall demi Gods just romping about . Stealth was key in a situation like this and he needed to keep himself and Russ safe.
His eye snapped open and he gasped loudly as his magic flared. At first he saw the same sight as before, a white furred pony with a luscious flowing ethereal mane staring at him, but he blinked and noticed it was the other one. Dark blue, "Luna" He remembered the name having it so close to his brother Horus's children the Luna wolves made it a little easier.
Luna's eyes peered calmly into his single optical orb, but cautiously at his horn still glowing, then up at dresser he had hefted as he subconsciously readied for an assault. Her eyes bounced back and forth with a calm monotone look. "Do you mind?"
He dropped the dresser and dipped his head a little to avoid eye contact. "S...sorry..."
"Do not be, I apologize, I am the guardian of dreams here in our world, I felt it necessary to see your mind as you slept." Magnus felt a spark of anger but it subsided. He did not blame her, he would have done far worse in her shoes. " I must say Magnus the Red, I did not quite understand your dreams as well as I should have, but I could see everything, the utter vastness of your reach before you came here. It makes me feel... well... small. Me and my sister are some of the oldest and most powerful well recognized beings in the world, yet... you and your brothers, from what I could tell... are recognized even more so across thousands, possibly even millions of worlds. When I step back and look... all I can feel is just... small... so small..." Luna looked over at the one eye'ed pony.
Magnus was quite flattered but he shook it off. "I understand why you would do so but please, my mind is my own and I do wish to keep it sacred... " He cleared his throat and wiped the sleep from his eye. "But yes, there are many MANY more worlds than this one, though don't be so quick to discount your worth, I have never seen a world like this in my entire life... its so... pure"
He looked back at Luna before peering up at the ceiling. His room in the castle reminded him of the royal palace back on Terra but far less masterfully crafted. "... well... as you can guess from how long he cursed your powers and how much he questioned your... um... sexual decency, my brother Russ is no fan of magic, back at home he ALMOST has justification in his hate. The warp is filled with evil and monsters that are eager to just hop on into your body and possess or mutate you, but here... the darker parts of the warp are absent, and yet the entirety of the world is covered head to toe in magic... it flows like a great sea... This would be a paradise for me and my children... I only wish I had not found it the way I did..." Deep down he actually felt very glad about it. Had any of his brothers or even his father found it first it would have been very likely that the world would have been utterly purged of Xeno life and then quarantined when they could not find a way to satisfy their caveman superstition fear of magic. It was better that the Imperium NEVER found its way here, at best he could use it as a retreat for himself and his Thousand Sons, at worst Russ would kill all these pure magic users. He shuttered at the horrifying thought of all these beautiful magical minds burning to nothing in the flames of an exterminatus.
"Are you alright Magnus?" Luna peeked in a little closer and he flinched. He was so deep in thought that he had not noticed that he just fell silent for about full minute.
"Ah, yes I apologize. I have a lot to think about, but alas, the sun rises I must get back to work... How has my brother fared through the night?"
Luna sighed. "He has not slept or even attempted to eat the food presented. He appears to not trust us at all."
"Do not think too harshly of him, he was raised by wild rabid wolves after all...and he is strong, just as strong of mind as he is of body and of heart. To him magic is dishonorable and cowardly, he may be ignorant but his disposition is a product of his upbringing. I just ask that you do not judge him too harshly..."
Luna smiled. "I have never seen anypony, even a blood relative so ready to defend someone so... brutish... you must really love your family."
Magnus had to suppress his urge to laugh. His reasoning for defending Russ was on behalf of what was practically the only person in the galaxy he loved. His father, Though they did not see eye to eye on matters of he warp, he had known and spoke to his father since even his gestation period. Though, technically the princess was right. It was love for his family, specifically his father that made Magnus even bother speaking on his barbarian brother's behalf. "I suppose so...oh! I forgot, do I now have permission to study within the libraries?... I am a little eager to see the knowledge this world has, the warp is a tricky mistress but the problems here seem utterly null and void compared to the problems in our neck of the woods...."
"Certainly Magnus, in fact I think you made quite an impression when you were explaining it all after we finally got your brother back in the box. Princess Twilight Sparkle has requested the position to assist you in your studies and research on how to return to your world, she will however be very likely to ask you about the magic you have attained..."
"Oh, that would actually be rather fun, I will be overjoyed to share my knowledge in exchange for the knowledge you are offering me." He smiled warmly though paused and looked back deeper into the palace. "Um... I think I should go visit my brother... Eventually we have to remove him from that box even if only to get him home, better to do it after we have convinced him to be calm about it."
Luna nodded and gestured to him. She made it clear the previous night that if ever Magnus was to go near Russ again either she or her sister needed to be there due to Leman's habit of breaking out and beating Magnus half to death every time he was near. Making their way into the makeshift prison four of the ten guards were crying in the corner as the other six looked like they just stopped yelling and whipped quickly back into their positions. Russ however, was happily standing with a condescending humored look about him.
"Your guards are weak moon ass.... maybe you should leave the milk drinking wussies back in their cribs...." The guards grit their teeth in anger looking like they were about to start yelling at him again.
"Captain!... your blood pressure... just let it go... and stand aside..."
"Yeah, listen to moon ass...." Russ chuckled but then his eyes caught Magnus, once again he glared angrily. "So then, Ill bet you are just having the time of your bloody life.... finally you get to suck up to someone who values your filthy magic more than honorable combat."
"Russ, calm down. We are working on a way to get us both home, you know that you would not be in there if you would just NOT try and kill everyone every chance you got."
Leman scoffed and Luna sighed. "I cannot sense any change in him at all, its safe to assume that hes not going to be decent today either... lets get you to the library."
"Yeah you fucking one eye'ed book banger! Go to the library..." Magnus shared Luna's aggravated sigh and left.
Luna leaned in calmly eyeing the earth pony. "You are the only one who is keeping you in there, all you have to do is be at least a partially decent pony and you wont have to stay in the box..."
Russ scoffed louder and turned away. "I swear to father I will eat her whole race...."
"AH! Magnus!" Twilight happily rushed up to him, a string of books floating behind her. He was genuinely happy to see someone who valued knowledge as much as he did. He made note to request copies of magical texts for storage back on Prospero when finally he found a way back home.
"It is good to see you your Majesty..."
"Oh! please Magnus just call me Twilight, anypony as eager to learn as you is counted among my friends, and my friends don't need to use fancy titles or anything."
He paused in thought for a bit, he had never seen anyone refuse a glamorous title, even if it was for something so petty in his opinion. These pony creatures are rather humble...
"Well, I have these tomes prepared, its only vague references but they speak of our world's connection to a form of afterlife... mind you its very VERY vague, but the way it is worded it almost sounds like its talking about this realm of souls, or warp you have been going on about. Ill be happy to go through it with you, and I do hope you have time to spare and share with me about the... warp as you call it."
"Perfect... If I can see how this world is connected to the warp then I can manipulate that link, hopefully in a way that will not harm your world..." Magnus smiled happily drawing the books to him in a circle. "If we are lucky your world and other worlds like it are very distantly placed and just accessible through the warp like how our ships go through the warp.... it is very likely, though with a catch... it probably requires a very specific ritual to breach past the outer shell. As I told you, I accidentally broke through by being careless with the warp powers when I fist found the anomaly that ended up being your world..."
"It's a little overwhelming... realm of souls... the source of all magic....VERY different from what we learn here... but not contradictory... this is just so fascinating..." Twilight eagerly scribbled down more of her observations and previous discoveries.
"Well.. normally only Psykers can access the warp and use magic, though here, its like the warp is untouched by all the darkness, well not only that but also stretched out and intertwined in every last piece of this world... It is fascinating. The warp is literally on the same level as the material world within this realm, it is utterly fascinating...If ever stable travel is ensured I would gladly bring back some of my own personal library to show you... My Thousand Sons could learn much from this world and we could show you so much more." He found himself rather enjoying the freedom of magic in Equestria. He knew that his father would likely demand that the world be purged, the Thousand Sons would likely be called on to do so and take all the knowledge it had, even if he could just avoid speaking of it as to spare the world he knew for certain Russ would demand the world be purged. It bothered him but he would cross that bridge when he came to it, for now he was going to enjoy the company of those who did not fear or shun magic. He would happily indulge in the power and knowledge present as he found a safe way home.
"Magnus?" He jumped a little, he was so in depth with his focus that he had not realized he had began to stare into space. "I was wondering... this spell you used... to further um... blend in and seal away your powers... Its safe now isn't it?... can't you just unseal it?"
He looked up in thought before looking back. "I can yes... but... um.. I would look kinda... kinda REALLLLY weird to you I think... I don't think I would even reclaim my original form... but I would certainly give everyone quite a fright...."
Twilight was even more intrigued now. Was Magnus really so vastly different? And was his knowledge of magic so thorough that he knew things without even trying them? She often would read accounts of Starswirl the bearded doing such things. Complex spells and easily foretelling the exact outcome before the research even started, like math, he could look at an extremely complex group of equations and just know the answer without working through each problem. Only everyone knew that advanced magic was thousands of times more complex than most math.
"If I find a solution Ill be happy to pop out of my seal to complete the work... I might even need it. Traversing the warp is no easy task even for me... and I will most likely need all my power to do so and find my way home." He smiled warmly looking back at her. Despite the whole xenos bit he quite enjoyed her company. She was so eager to learn, just like he was. Though he found that the more he enjoyed her company the more dread he felt in wondering what his father would do about this world when they returned. Even if his father would not do anything to it, Russ would certainly demand something be done, if nothing else then for the revenge of being locked up for so long.
"Well... No time like the present!... lets get to this."
It was already past midnight now. In fact neither of them had looked at the clock since they started, for all they knew it could have been midnight of the next day. All they knew was that two guards ponies came in with a cart of sandwiches and hot cider. The give away that it was late was actually a casual glance outside the window to see the moon in the sky.
"Princess Celestia was a little worried about you two... its been all day and then some, you have not even been out to eat or drink once."
Magnus and Twilight glanced at each other with questioning eyes. "Wow... I am legitimately surprised.... I guess time does fly when you are having fun... Well Twilight, break?"
"Yeah... lets just get some break time in..." A loud a rumble came from Twilight's stomach. Shifting her face to a light blush she smiled to play off the event. Though a near booming echo rolled in from Magnus's belly. With that they both happily laughed. Even the guards chuckled as they left.
Starting into the food and drink, the two happily continued their back and forth lessons.
"So just remember, here its absolutely vital to uphold a constant stream of draw from the latent magical field. As to where Psyker magic appears to be grabbing a hunk out of a rift from within and using it as you go..." She let out a soft burp and giggled, looking back at Magnus who smiled approvingly letting out a slightly louder burp.
"Yes.. Psyker magic is a bit dangerous, but I imagine that if brought here even the problem Psykers would be safe from warp predators. " They too even now did not seem too concerned that so much time had passed.
Getting up and moving back to a small loft area where he had left his books open, he aimed to dig them out and recheck a chapter. He was almost sure that he could figure a way out of this world safely if given a few more days. However, his train of thought was derailed and his mind triggered into a near inquisitive fit when his head hit the low ceiling. He had been up in that loft a dozen times that night and his head never hit the ceiling. He paused for a moment and brushed aside all the fun he had been having to try and put two and two together.
"... Magnus?.... were you always a dark orange?...." He turned to face Twilight who looked a bit concerned up at him.
Quickly he stepped back down and stood in front of a mirror. There right in front of him was the image of a one eye'ed pony with a dark orange and near red coat. Twilight stepped up and froze. Her head only came to his neck. They used to be almost the same height.
The awkwardness was interrupted by another booming rumble. "Magnus?... please tell me that was your stomach again...."
The boom echoed again. "... That was indeed NOT me..." He looked up and out deeper into the castle but whipped his head back when he felt one of his limbs brush up against Twilight. "Oh sorry... um.."
Her eyes were wide and intensely staring at him. Her eye level was not at his chest. "Your wings are pushing up into my face..."
"Oh.. sorry...but, um, why do I have wings?"
Again Twilight's eyes shot wide as dinner plates and her pupils shrank. "Why do you have wings? ...what in Equestria is going on?"
He looked back into the mirror at a one eye'ed alicorn with a dark red coat and a matching mop of a red mane. Though he was growing taller and overall bigger by the second.
"The spell is fading!..."
"Wait.. what spell?"
"The spell I put into place when I entered your world... to make me blend in and to suppress my physical form and power."
A booming roar shook all of Canterlot, making books fall from their shelves and windows rattle. "Didn't you cast that on you AND your brother?"
".... shit."