The real Chapter 2
Authors note—after some complaints constructive feedback, I have decided to completely remove the whole Twilight becoming a Vampony bit. It didn't fit the the story in any way, shape or form. So without further adieu, I give you the real chapter 2!
---
Twilight groaned as a shaft of sunlight struck her eyes, and she rolled over in bed, burying her face into the pillow. Her head ached and her throat was dry, and the bed she was in was soft and comfortable.
“Good morning,” a voice Twilight didn’t recognise said. Waking up fully, Twilight remembered fighting Sombra, and drifting through that weird void, before landing at the feet of some strange creature.
Slowly, Twilight raised her head and looked at the speaker. Across the room—a luxurious and ornate bedroom, filled with expensive red silks and golden curios—sat a creature she had never seen before. It was bipedal, and tall—easily as tall as Celestia. It was swathed in thick, black clothing, hiding most of it’s physiology, but from what Twilight could see it resembled a skinny minotaur, yet there was a certain confidence in it’s pose, as if it was more powerful than most of it’s peers. It’s face... Twilight had seen nothing like it before. It didn’t have a muzzle or a beak, instead having a small, pointed snout in the middle of a flat, hairless face, topped by a short, white mane. Two piercing, red eyes sat on it’s face, and Twilight shivered as she realised that they were a hunter’s eyes, a killer's eyes, and it’s casual smile, filled with predatory teeth, only confirmed this.
Twilight shrank back under the creatures gaze. “What are you?” she asked, trembling.
“Ah. Now that is an interesting question,” the creature said. “What am I? Once, I was but a mortal man—”
“You’re immortal? What’s a man?” Twilight immediately asked, her curiosity overcoming her fear. The creature glared at her, clearly angered by her interruption. Twilight shrank back even further under his gaze.
“A man,” the creature said, slowly and deliberately, “is the male of the species Homo Sapiens, or Human, in the common tongue. I, however, only resemble a Human superficially—five thousand, nine hundred years ago I was changed into a Vampire, a blood sucking creature of the night. I trust you have heard of those?”
“That sounds like Vamponies,” Twilight said nervously, worming her way deeper into the bed. Five thousand, nine hundred years! He's not quite as old as the princesses, but that's still impressive. And if the stories about Vamponies—or Vampires in this case—are true... “You’re not going to drink my blood, are you?”
Sorin chuckled dryly to himself. “No, no—Only the blood of humans can quench my thirst. Which leads me to my question—what are you?”
“I’m a pony,” Twilight replied. “An Alicorn Pony to be exact, although I used to be a Unicorn Pony, before I ascended.”
“A pony? Why not a horse?” he asked.
Twilight gasped in response. “How dare you!”
The Vampire raised a hand—Twilight noticed that it was very thin and dexterous—and spoke softly. “I’m sorry, I did not mean to offend you. And it’s your turn to ask a question, Miss Alicorn Pony.”
“Um...” Twilight thought for a moment, before realising she didn’t know this creature’s name. “Who are you?”
“A question most would have started with. My name is Sorin Markov,” he said, his tone turning dry, “Lord of all Innistrad.” Twilight opened her mouth, but Sorin wagged a finger at her. “Ah ah, it’s my turn to ask a question. Who are you?”
“I’m Twilight Sparkle,” she replied. “Actually, my full title is Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria, but that’s a bit of a mouthful, so most ponies just call me Twilight.”
Sorin gave a bow. “I didn’t realise I was in the presence of royalty, Your Highness.”
Twilight blushed, and looked off to one side. “It’s mostly a ceremonial title. I won’t have any official responsibilities for a few more years. I only became a princess recently, you see. Um, you said you were the Lord of Innistrad? Is that where we are? I’ve never heard of it before, and I’ve studied geography extensively. How did I even get here?”
“That’s several questions. But yes, we are currently in the plane of Innistrad, specifically the province of Stensia, in my home, Markov Manor,” Sorin said, walking over to a window obscured by thick, red curtains and throwing them open. “Well, it’s my Grandfather’s home, really, but he’s away on... business.”
Sunlight shone into the dark room, causing Twilight to flinch backwards, but her eyes quickly adjusted to the light. Slowly climbing out of bed, Twilight walked over to the window and looked out. Stark, jagged mountains filled her view, throwing shadows across each other. The sky was filled with dark, foreboding clouds, with an angry red sun shining down through it all. Markov Manor was perched high on one of these mountains, a sheer drop from the window. At the base of the mountain, a small, rural village was located, shrouded in shadow. In the distance a walled city on top of a hill could be seen.
“I’m not in Equestria, any more, am I?” Twilight asked.
“No,” Sorin said. “When you were wounded, your Planeswalker spark must have ignited, flinging you across the Blind Eternities from your home plane to this one.”
“Planeswalker Spark? Blind Eternities? I don’t understand,” Twilight said. “Wait, my injuries!” She looked down at herself, patting her body. “They’re gone!”
“Yes, you are quite lucky to have landed before me,” Sorin said. “That poison was very powerful. There are few with the talent, skill and experience to deal with something that potent.”
“Well, then, Mr Markov, I thank you for your help,” Twilight said, bowing.
Sorin simply nodded his head in reply. "As for your other questions, the Blind Eternities is the realm between realms—you must have seen it when you traveled here."
"You mean that weird void? The one with all the spheres?"
Sorin nodded. "Yes. Those were the planes of the multiverse—Innistrad is one such plane, as is your home plane, and countless others."
"What about the Planeswalker spark?" Twilight asked. "What is that?"
"The spark is a fundamental part of our souls, and is what lets beings like you and me walk between the planes. It is a gift from the Blind Eternities, and protects us from the energies within. Only one in a million are born with it, and only one in a million of those can prove themselves worthy and ignite it."
Twilight bounced into the air, hovering at Sorin's eye level. "That's so amazing—how does one Planeswalk?"
The Vampire smiled. "You just need to concentrate on the Blind Eternities, and take a step forwards. Nothing can stop you from walking, and can walk from anywhere—there is no cage or jail that can keep you in one place, except for those in your own mind." He spoke that last sentence in almost a whisper, so low that Twilight almost couldn't hear it.
"That's amazing!" Twilight said. "I now have first hoof evidence of Coin Toss's many worlds theory! I could write a paper on this—no, a book, no! A thesis! This could revolutionise... Everything! We could make contact with other worlds! By the Sun and Moon, I've met somepony from another world!"
Twilight began to kick her legs excitedly in a poor approximation of a dance, bewildering Sorin.
"I'm gonna write a thesis! I'm gonna write a thesis!" she sang, confusing the poor Vampire next to her even more.
Sorin coughed gently, and Twilight came to a stop, blushing furiously. "I got a bit carried away there, didn't I?"
"Just a little bit," Sorin replied. "But I wouldn't tell anyone you are a Planeswalker—most people tend to fear and distrust us, and for good reason."
"What? Why? Why wouldn't people trust us?" Twilight asked, confused.
Sorin sighed. "Because for every Planeswalker who fights to protect people, there are two that fight for personal power. And when you can go anywhere at a whim, it is hard to tie down roots—many walkers become apathetic to the problems of the locals."
"That's terrible! Power should be used responsibly, to help ponies, not for selfish reasons!" Twilight said, anger boiling over.
"I disagree—power should be used however you desire to use it, no more, no less. And if somebody tries to interfere, you stop them. By any means necessary."
Despite herself, Twilight shuddered. There was a hard edge, a coldness to Sorin's voice that Twilight had only heard in a few others before—Sombra, Chrysalis, Nightmare Moon.
"How can you think that?" Twilight asked.
Sorin stared at her. "It is a fact of life. To believe otherwise is the height of naivety."
Twilight shook her head. "But that sort of philosophy is not only self destructive, but it conflicts with the Elements of Harmony."
"The Elements of Harmony?"
Twilight rolled her eyes. "You know; Honesty, Kindness, Loyalty, Generosity and Laughter." Looking at his blank expression, Twilight came to an awful realisation. "You don't know, do you? You've never heard of the Elements of Harmony."
"I've never heard of your plane—Equestria, I believe you called it? Let alone your religion."
Twilight shook her head. "Equestria is just the nation I come from. We call the world Concordia, after the Creator-Goddess."
"Concordia... I can't say I've heard of it." He frowned, looking pensive. "That is quite unusual—it is a rare plane indeed if I haven't heard of it. But you were telling me about these... elements?"
"Yes, of course." Twilight settled in to what her friends called 'lecture mode'. "Concordia is founded on five principles—Honesty, Kindness, Loyalty, Generosity and Laughter, which in turn are bound together by the sixth element, Magic. By not only exhibiting these traits, but also encouraging them in other ponies, it forms bonds of friendship, love and harmony, binding our society together and strengthening it. These bonds then become the source of all magic, regardless of race."
Sorin raised a skeptical eyebrow. "You believe that friendship is magic?"
"I don't believe it, I know it," Twilight said. "I've spent the last three years studying the interactions between friendships and magic first hoof, and the link is as clear as Celestia's day."
"And where does mana fit into this 'Elements of Harmony' creed of yours?"
Twilight paused, uncertainty etched on her face. "Mana? I... I've never heard of mana."
"You know, the energy spells are crafted from. White mana, blue mana, black mana, red mana and green mana? Comes from the land around us?"
Twilight shook her head. "I don't know what you're talking about—magic comes from within us, not from the land."
Twilight turned her head, her horn glowing with a magenta light. Moments later, a similar glow surrounded the four poster bed, lifting it into the air. Twilight rotated it once, before turning back to Sorin. "See?"
Sorin walked over to the bed in silent shock, staring at the light. Slowly, he pushed his hand into the levitation field, causing Twilight to yelp.
"Don't do that—it feels weird," she admonished.
Sorin quickly pulled his arm back. "Sorry, it's just... I've never seen anything like this. This is certainly not mana. Magic that not only comes from within you, but is fuelled by friendships? I don't know what to say."
"Well, you could start by telling me what mana is," Twilight said, setting down the bed.
"Certainly," Sorin replied. “Mana is the life force that binds the differently planes of reality together. Where mana is plentiful, life thrives. Where it is absent, life withers and dies. It originates in the Blind Eternities, where it flows through leylines into the planes themselves. The plane with the most leylines is called the nexus, and is the lynchpin the multiverse revolves around. The current nexus is the plane of Dominaria. Because of its importance, it is often referred to as the wheel.
"When these leylines bisect certain environments, one of the five colours of mana is created—plains create white mana, islands create blue mana, swamps make black, mountains, red and finally forests make green.
"Each colour has its own specific identity, a series of traits that limit the types of spells that it can be used to create.
"White mana is associated with order, morality and control. It’s symbol is the sun. Spells cast with white mana focus on strengthening the power of the group, even at the cost of individual freedom.
"Next is blue mana. Blue is the colour of knowledge, logic and technology. It’s symbol is a drop of water. Spells cast with blue mana seek to understand the nature of the world, and to manipulate it for the benefit of the caster.
"After blue comes black, the colour of death and decay. It is symbolised by a skull. Black mana is selfish, greedy and amoral. However, it is not evil in the strictest sense of the term. It endorses personal might and individuality, unlike white, which values the group over the self. For black, might makes right—but it doesn't care how it is used. I favour black mana."
"Why am I not surprised, mister 'use power how I wish'," Twilight deadpanned. Sorin merely smiled in response.
"Next is red, the colour of fire, passion and freedom. Red mages often act on impulse before thinking. Its symbol is a flame, and many red spells revolve around fire. The typical red solution to a puzzle is to smash it—a crude, by highly effective solution.
"The final colour is green, colour of nature, of trees and wild beasts. Green mana focuses on primordial strength, but also on growth, and the cycle of nature, as well as the creatures of the wild co-operating together.”
"Magic coming from the land... that sounds amazing. And terrifying. You said that where mana is absent, life withers and dies. Is it possible to completely drain an area of mana?" Twilight asked
"Yes, but it takes many years of intense magical battles for the effect to be noticeable. It was millennia before the plane of Dominaria began to fall apart from the constant warfare over its leylines."
"So it's safe? I won't destroy the land if I draw upon its mana?" Twilight asked. Sorin nodded in reply. "Then I would love to study it—have got any books on mana?”
Sorin smiled. “Even better—I can teach you.”
Twilight’s squeal of joy shattered the windows.
---
Card unlocked!
Sorin Markov, Vampire Lord 4BB
Planeswalker—Sorin MR
+1; Sorin, Vampire Lord deals 1 damage to target creature or player and you gain 1 life.
-4; Destroy target creature. If that creature dies this way, put a black Vampire creature token onto the battlefield. Its power is equal to that creature's power and its toughness is equal to that creature's toughness.
-6; You get an Emblem with “Whenever you gain life, target opponent loses that much life.”
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Nice chapter, but I did like the whole Twilight being a vampire thing. That was definitely creative.
2841921
I kinda liked it too, but I realised that in the grand scheme of things, it would be detrimental to the story—I want it to be about Twilight's adventures in the Multiverse, not Twilight being angsty about her fate. The two ideas just didn't mesh properly, so I ditched the vampire one.
2841990
Horse puns everywhere!
Oh man! I didn't get to read the part about Twilight being a vampony...
I completely missed it! Dumb downvoters... 
The old chapter was good but this is better I find. Now to what for the next one.
This chapter i feel is better done than the original and while vamptwi
is always fun it didn't seem to fit in the chap. Looking forward to more soon.
Again, the Mirror of Truths should not have an effect on a token creature. Seriously, imagine that shit with this.
2842005
If you really want to, you can read the old chapter here.
It was, however, taking the story in a direction that, in hindsight, I didn't really want to take it.
2842052
Mirror of Truths can not affect Marit Lage, because it is indestructable. It can't be destroyed, so it can't die, so a token wont be created.
Of course, you could use Turn to get rid of the indestrucatbility, but then it becomes a 0/1 creature anyway, producing a 0/1 token. And casting burn to kill it would be a lot cheaper anyway.
Then there is the fact that if you have Marit Lage out, you've pretty much won if your opponent has no answer for it.
2842080
There are ways to remove the indestructibility, and you can activate Mirror of Truths at instant speed.
Either add something about not affecting tokens, or make it so 'You can only activate this ability any time you could activate a sorcery.'
2842056 Thank you.
2842112
Personally speaking, I see no reason to nerf it because of one difficult to cast, legacy legal only card. I mean, should I also make it target non-artifact creatrures as well so you can't hit a phyrexian dreadnought before the sacrifice trigger comes in?
There is no point in nerfing it, simply to prevent a small handfull of players creating an army of 20/20 tokens. If anything, I kinda want to reward them for doing something that epic
If anything, Worldspine Wurm would be a better target, because the wurm goes back into your library and you get 4 tokens—3 5/5's and a 15/15. Throw in a doubling season and some populate cards for funsies.
I definitely prefer this version of Twilight Sparkle.
2842259
It's just that almost every other spell, effect or activated ability that generates tokens through losing creatures has the 'non-token creature' part as a condition. I know that there are exceptions, but that seems to be the general rule.
2842381
Hmm... I wasnt't aware of that distinction. Of the course, the creature I copied the abilty off dosent have that clause, so it's not that uncommon. And I think the Mana cost of Mirror of Truths is pretty prohibative to start with—4 to cast, then 4 to use, and you have to tap it.
And doubling season and parallel lives are just crazy anyway.
While Sorin's position here does fit black's philosophy, Sorin also exhibits white on Sorin, Lord of Innistrad. He also shows tendency towards responsibility and forward-thinking when he created the angel Avacyn to protect the humans of Innistrad from being completely wiped out by the monsters. You can say that it wasn't a selfless act -- that protecting the humans meant the vampires wouldn't die out due to losing their food source -- but remember that Sorin could simply walk to another plane and nom some humans there. The creation of Avacyn doesn't really affect him personally, but it does indirectly protect his kin.
Eating humans may not be very nice from the perspective of the humans, but Sorin single-handedly saved his race from self-destruction.
It doesn't really matter what spelling you use (lay, ley, lea, lee, or leigh), just make sure you're consistent!
Also, regarding Sorin's monologue about the colors of mana:
When you've got a multi-paragraph dialogue, the standard is to include an opening quote at the beginning of each paragraph, omitting the closing quote until the end of the dialogue.
2842450
Quest for Renewal, Verdant Haven (or something similar), Clock of Omens, a way to generate a crapton of articacts and a sufficient number of mana dorks and you could potentially clone the crap out of any giant/annoying creature you wanted, especially ones with a 'activate on death' ability. Combine with the aforementioned Doubling Season or Parallel Lives, and that's four mana for two huge creatures. Unlikely, but Wizards have to consider pretty much everything when making a card.
Army of Thragtusks, anyone? I feel dirty even thinking of that...
While I would have continued reading the story from the previous version of the chapter, I like this version much better. It fits Twilight's personality much better. Continue please.
Good work, keep it up!
2842457
With Sorin's philosophy, I see it as he does what he wants with his power—and on Innistrad, that meant he wanted to protect his homeland. Elsewhere, he might not feel that same compulsion—I can't see Sorin going out of his way to help the Guildless in Ravnica, for example, and he certianly did not stay to help the natives of Zendika.
Just because Black is selfish, doesn't mean it doesn't want to help people. Sometimes, that's the same thing. If anything, it was selfish of Sorin to create Avacyn, for doing so forged a balance between light and dark—a true hero would have elminated the vampires, whilst a villan would have just left everyone to their own devices. Instead, Sorin chose the path that would keep his kin alive, despite the suffering that path would inflict upon both the humans and the vampires.
So yeah, he created Avacyn out of selfishness, rather than a desire to be a hero or anything like that. It's the same reason he saved Twilight—she is something unique, that he has never seen before, and his curiosity got the better of him. Whereas a walker like Elspeth or Ajarni would have saved Twilight because it's the right thing to do, or Tezzeret or Bolas saving her to manipulate and use her, Sorin did it out of selfishness—who knows, maybe saving Twilight can provide some sort of benefit to him, whereas if he left her for dead, that's an opportunity wasted.
Besides, a 6000 year old vampire needs hobbies.
And thanks for the grammar stuff. I'll go fix it.
2842703
Well, he did trap the Eldrazi there originally (along with the help of Ugin and an unnamed 'walker), and he tried to re-imprison them after they were released with the help of Nissa... but then Nissa unleashed them on the multiverse to try and get them away from her plane. (Talk about selfish!) No, he wasn't really trying to help the natives of Zendikar, but he was trying to help the multiverse as a whole -- plane-eating monstrosities are not healthy for anyone in the long term.
And that's exactly my view on his character. I'm not saying the creation of Avacyn makes him a hero, but it makes him a forward-thinker. He plans ahead, which is a good thing for an ageless creature. None of the other Innistrad vampires saw their path to self-destruction, and they probably wouldn't have until it was too late. Sorin saw the patterns and did something about it.
2843006
Yeah, actually, now that I think about it, not thinking ahead is a red thing, whilst Sorin does make plans to, at the very least, maintain the status quo. Still, I get the feeling that Sorin likes to pretend, both to others and himself, that he isn't really a good guy.
2843085
> I get the feeling that Sorin likes to pretend, both to others and himself, that he isn't really a good guy.
Now that's an amusing character quirk. I like it.
You Sir have created something Wonderful ...
AKA The Twilight Thesis Dance
with Song! WOOTS!
2843680
Would it be terrible of me to say that it's something I've done?
Hmm. I like where this is going!
That is n awsome Sorin Markov card
It's funny how Sorin, Lord of Exposition neglected to tell Twilight how he desires to use his power responsibly. Relatively speaking.
Also, elves have handily demonstrated that mana can come from within as well as without, and I know Sorin's run into at least one elf in his journeys. And mana production fueled by friendship is hardly unprecedented, though admittedly not in Sorin's area of expertise.
Sorin, Vampire Lord's first ability is horrendously broken. It's Kalitas, Bloodchief of Ghet, only it costs half as much time and mana (Five mana to cast Sorin and activate the ability in a single turn versus seven for Kalitas and three to activate the ability the turn after.) His abilities actually get progressively worse as one goes down the card. If I may, I recommend the following:
Sorin, Vampire Lord 3BB
Planeswalker — Sorin
+1: Sorin, Vampire Lord deals 1 damage to target creature or player and you gain 1 life.
-2: Target player sacrifices a creature. You gain life equal to that creature's toughness.
-6: You get an emblem with "Whenever you gain life, target opponent loses that much life."
4
Sorin Markov!!! Aww hell, Twilight's doing all sorts of networking right now. Seriously THE most important person on Innistrad, and she just lands on his doorstep. Given the theory of how mana works in the magic universe, if it was applied to the FiM universe, wouldn't that imply that several powerful casters in the series draw on mana themselves. Afterall, Celestia draws from the Sun, and Sombra alters the land itself with his presence.
Why Sorin Markov and not Sorin, Lord of Innistrad?