Story of a Stick

by Xinrick

Stick goes to Yakyakistan

In the frozen north, in Sombra's very old house, in a weirdly enchanted bed, I had the best sleep ever after all the horseshit I went through. “Holy crap I never felt that relieved for some sleep in a long time.” I muttered, stretching out and feeling some satisfying pops.

I got up and after some more stretching, I got out of the room I was in, the smell of rice and beans hitting my nose. I spotted Sombra at the fireplace/kitchen I guess with two pots. One boiling rice and one boiling beans. "These were all that was still good. Everything else was rotten or stale as stone." He said.

“Well, you can never go wrong with Rice and Beans.” I shrugged. “But morning Sombra.”

"It's three in the afternoon." He informed.

“Jeez, how long was I out?” I frowned.

"Two days."

“Jesus…okay I didn’t know I was that exhausted…” I said nervously. “I mean…sure I went through a lot of horseshit in a day and a half so…”

"Just relax and wait. Food will be done soon and given you slept for two days, water is in that barrel over there." Sombra pointed out the barrel in the corner. "Only good thing about living in a snow covered wasteland is no shortage of snow, and therefore water."

“Always a good thing.” I nodded. “Any cups here or do I have to just drink from the barrel?”

"A few old tin mugs are in there." Sombra motioned to the wall mounted cabinet a bit above the barrel.

With a nod I reached up, opening the cabinet and pulling one out and using it to scoop up a drink. The water tasted rather clean, seemingly free of any dirt or other particles snow usually collects either before or after it falls to the ground.

“Now that’s refreshing.” I said with a smile. “Pure clean water, haven’t had this in a while.”

"The snow here in the frozen north is made purely by a wild magical storm, as a result the snow, when melted for water, is even purer than natural spring water. Back in the ancient times the Empire made quite a boon on exporting it to desert dwelling cities and counties. It was cheap, hundreds of gallons of fresh water for just coppers, gained them fortune and allies across the land faster than any expected."

“When someone literally control’s the most important resource on the planet, you tend to make friend’s and profit real fucking fast.” I said honestly. “But could also accidentally make everyone real pissed just as quickly if you're not careful.”

Sombra nodded. "Hence why the water was extremely cheap. The only hard part was exporting it, back then trains didn't exist."

“Fair.” I nodded. “Plus Stick Figures might have also been a problem from what little I’ve heard about them here and there in this world.”

"They were, but they were also helpful. Back in those days there were multiple faction of your kind, some wanted genocide, some wanted enslavement, domination. Others saw us as equals, and fought for us like they would their own. With how chaotic those days were it's no wonder Discord largely stayed out of messing with the world during that time." Sombra said, sturing both pots with magic. "In a way though, they were just as amazing as they were tragic. A thousand years of peace and Harmony has brought Equestria nothing but weakness and stillness. Ignorance may be bliss, but it has also bred contempt, prejudice and isolation."

“I’ve only met Discord once, he’s probably been the one leading me to certain places…but he’s a reality warper, not many Stick Figures can do that, and even then it’s kinda limited in some cases.”

"Discord isn't a mere reality warper, if he were then at least his abilities would be more understood. No, what discord does is far beyond the realm of reality warping. Reality warpers are still largely bound by the laws their reality follows as it's foundation. Discord ignores all laws and reshapes the foundation of reality like it's sculptures clay."

I blinked at that. "Damn...that's...pretty powerful."

"Yes. I suppose that's the point, being a physical, conscious embodiment of chaos itself it makes some sense but nothing explainable, which I guess is the point of chaos in the end." Sombra shrugged.

"That's fair." I nodded. "Haven't heard of embodiments like that before...only in fictional media half the time."

"Given how the Multiverse works and the various energies flowing through it, in many dimensions we are considered fictional in some form or another, it's both impressive and confusing to see something be so similar yet also so alien to your home world existing in another."

"It's extremely confusing." I nodded. “But that’s life for ya.”

After some time passed the food was done and I greedily ate several plates. Once I was finally full Sombra showed me around more. Turns out there was more to this small shack than first glance. Behind one door was the Bathroom, which used melted snow for water to flush the toilet and magic to incinerate the sewage, and apparently other trash they had. It also used magic to allow hot showers, which I jumped at the opportunity for one.

After that Sombra took me to the basement, where as well as storage it lead to the heart of the mountain, being a small dormant volcano where slow from the outside was heated, melted and blown back into the main cabin to keep everything warm up there. From there was an indoor garden that… was quite overgrown. "Huh, I guess that automatic watering system still works." He said, using magic to cut through the various vines and branches.

"Alright, so should I be worried about either sentient man eating plants or poisons?" I asked carefully, bringing out a simple machete and cutting the vines and branches as well.

"No, all these plants were herbs for alchemical healing potions and crops for our own food stocks. Mostly grapes, potatoes, carrots, and a small apple tree and a small bed of wheat to experiment using Solar stones as an alternative source of sunlight. Judging from the overgrowth it's all gone quite well." Sombra said, picking an apple off a random branch and biting into it. "Hm, not bad. A bit more crunch than the original apples, must have evolved to grow tougher over the years."

“Makes sense.” I said, picking a grape off the vine and eating it to see how good it was.

I was surprised to bite into a slightly crunchy grape. It was actually more like biting into a cherry really. It tasted good, a bit tangy with a sweet aftertaste.

Moving from the subterranean garden we arrived at the mix laboratory/magic shop. This must be where Sombra and Tina worked on stuff. One sided was all electronics and stuff, the other was books, pots, bottles that I assume are potions and a desk with paper and pens piled high on it. "And this was our workshop." Sombra said bluntly. "Everything here was, at the time, the peak of your world's technology and my world's magic.

“Still impressive in some cases.” I shrugged. “Especially since it looks like these all still work.”

"They should, Tina built them herself and a little spell craft to avoid rusting or decay helps preserve them."

“Fair enough.” I nodded. “So what sort of nonsense did you do in here?”

"Sexually, a lot, invention wise we mostly focused on creating circuit boards and building electronics in the shape and form of spell matrixes to see if where technology or magic alone can't obtain the desired result then together they'd achieve what was formerly impossible."

“Again, I don’t need to know how you were plowing the fields.” I said nervously. “But the new tech is rather interesting, even if it’s been upgraded to hell back home.”

"Funny enough most of this was, and still is illegal." Sombra said. Confused, he showed me as he turned on one of the machines. It was some kind of weird looking pressure cooker. He tossed in several lumps of coal and pushed a button. Ten seconds later it popped open, revealing the coal was all now uncut diamonds.

“Excuse me what?” I asked in surprise. “Also…why is this illegal?”

"Well, for one while gems, gold and precious metals are not as rare in Equestria as they are in your world, they still hold value and counterfeit gems and metals are still seen as bad. These however are not counterfeit. Coal naturally becomes diamond, this machine just magically/mechanically recreates that process in a few short seconds. They are real gems, passing magic scans and dragon taste tests. She mostly just used this as a means to fund her work back in your world. Apparently your people pay a lot of money for these gemstones."

“Yeah, gem’s are pretty needed for many of the magical item’s and magic user’s back home.” I nodded. “So the reason this is illegal is because it can mass produce the real things?

"Yes. The right mix can also produce rubies emeralds, ECT. Any gemstone really. Much like your home, gemstones have a variety of magical potential for enchantment or even spellcasting. With the proper set up near or under a ley line any race can use gems to house spells for use later."

“Fair enough.” I nodded. “So what other tech you got in here?”

"Well, there's that up there." He motioned to something that looked like a robot fish. "Tina mentioned your worlds industry led to mass pollution. That device was built to swing through and filter out harmful chemicals in the water and devour trash to help clean the area and uses the bile it takes in and uses it in a mana conversion "stomach" that turns the trash into more mama energy to keep seeking out trash and pollution."

“So that’s why some of the more polluted area’s were getting cleaned by weird robots…” I hummed. “The rest of the world wasn’t as polluted, but there were some places that definitely need the help.”

"Then there's that." He pointed towards a large ring hanging on the wall. "Same as the mechanical fish, but placed on the chimney of factories, using a transmutation matrix and gems for mana batteries, turns the smog and such from factories into harmless steam."

“Sounds about right.” I nodded.

"Then there's that." He pointed at- shit is that a nuke?! "She based the design on some weapon from your world, the material used for the Explosive actually works as a power source for the matrix inside. It's basically a bomb that terraforms everything for hundreds of miles from deserts into a jungle."

“So…she created a terraforming nuke?” I asked in surprise.

"She thought it would be funny to drop that into a place, set it off and watch as everyone panic only to end up suddenly in trees and lost in tall grass." Sombra smirked. "Would love to see that too personally."

“Would scare the shit out of anyone that’s nearby and or lives there.” I shrugged. “But…well seeing something explode dramatically and having the scenery change tends to happen a lot back home…”

"The last thing we worked on was that." He motioned to the ceiling. Hanging up on chains and from frames was something that looked like a small plane, only more unfinished and in several parts. "She spoke of flying machines in your world that let people and goods travel all over your world. That would have made the water transportation in the Empire to the other kingdoms and small settlements cheaper, easier, and revolutionized travel."

“Yeah, a Cargo Plane would help out a lot for transporting goods, and making it passenger would have also been great for moving everyone around.” I nodded.

"Well, that's my home. I suppose whenever you want rest or to take a break you can come here."

“That’s good…cause I’m going to need it for what comes next.” I sighed out. “And that’s whoever I’m going to have to fight next.”

"Here." Sombra said, opening a nearby desk drawer and pulling out a book and a box of shiny looking carved gems. "This is a form of Shadow Magic I learned picking through the ruins of the Umbrum Kingdom. Umbrum like myself possess the natural ability to dive into shadows and travel vast distances within the darkness. Other creatures can't navigate this darkness as they lack the inborn natural navigation. This is a special anchor almanac and is similar in use to what Tina used. Just place a stone to the book and then bury it in the ground. From there you can open the almanac to the maps with stones placed around and it will Drag you through the shadow plane from one location to another. There already one outside the door, another at the Crystal Empire."

“Waypoints? That’s awesome.” I said with a smile. “And Shadow Magic? I’m pretty well versed in that actually.”

"Really? How so? Majority of races here can't wield it without some form of corruption or mutations."

“It’s just another form of energy.” I shrugged, pulling out a Scimitar that Sombra could tell was completely fueled my Shadow Magic. “This thing took a while to both master as a weapon…and also a while to master as apparently Shadow magic can give these thing’s sapience…and it got a dominatrix woman’s personality…” I said carefully, blushing in embarrassment at remembering the crap I had to do in the mental realm while trying to master this version of a Scimitar.

"Interesting." Sombra said, his horn glowing as he seemed to be examining the weapon. "It is definitely shadow magic, but like all dimensions there is a distinct difference in how it flows and how it effects itself, the user and in this case, the item imbued with it. I didn't get much chance to study the magics of your world, it acts rather differently than Equestria's magic."

“Magic has…always been weird, and I’ve mastered all the schools.” I said honestly. “But yeah…it’s also a problem cause it weirdly got a personality to it…though I’m surprised they haven’t said anything…or acted horny…”

"To each reality is their own. Well, I'll be here, cleaning up and… probably working on a disguise so I can enter the empire and buy more modern items and other supplies. If I'm going to be a hermit out here I'll at least live in comfort."

“Works for me.” I nodded. “And I’m going to have to head off and fight whoever the hell popped up here next…” I sighed out. “What’s the nearest town or city?”

"The Crystal Empire is the only civilization here in the frozen north."

“Really?” I asked with a frown. “Nothing else? There has to be some race that lives up here, bears or yaks?”

"There is Yakyakistan but they are basically in the North Pole of the planet, passed the mountains that line the frozen ocean coast."

“Right then.” I nodded. “Out of the way location that not many would even think would be attacked…sounds like a prime location for a Stick Figure to attack.” I nodded.

"Probably. You'd have to get a guide to take you there, not many even know there is a kingdom up there, fewer know how to reach it."

“Goodie…” I muttered. “And I’d rather not get hypothermia again just to get there…”

"I'm sure you can find a coat to wear once you enter The Empire."

“True…” I nodded. “Hopefully they won’t try to attack me or anything weird if I get to the place first.” I shrugged.

"Doubtful, the guard in the empire are competent."

“As long as I don’t do anything bad, they shouldn’t immediately try to attack me.” I started, thinking about what ‘competent’ means to the ponies and competent to Stick Figures here.

I used the Waypoint book to travel to the Crystal Empire. It was a blink almost, and when everything came back into focus I stood just outside the main city, still inside that barrier and inside the warmth. Wow, Crystal Empire was really literal.

“Wow, this place sure looks fancy…” I muttered to myself, starting to walk around the place. “Wait…I don’t have money…” I muttered. “Sssshit…” I grumbled.

With a sigh I walked into the city. I was surprised to see the ponies all looked like they were made of crystals too. Eventually I found a clothing store. Crap… where can I…

I turned around. Directly across the street was a pawn shop. Huh… convenient.

“Uh…sure…” I muttered while walking over to the pawn shop, and even though I didn’t really want to pawn off one of my thing’s, I knew I had at least something that could at least get me a bit of money.

The door opened with the ring of a small bell above it. The shop had various odds and ends. "Welcome to Low Income Pawn and Supply. You need bits, we'll buy almost anything." The pony behind the counter, a mare with a light blue crystal like coat and green equally shiny mane.

“Hello.” I nodded. “So uh…mind telling me what Bits are? As you can clearly see I’m…new around here.” I said carefully.

"Bits are Equestrian currency, but it is also a general term for any government currency made of a gold coin." She said, opening the register and pulling up a small gold coin from it that she quickly put back.

“Cool.” I nodded. “Good to know, so what are you willing to buy and for how much?”

"We buy a bit of everything honestly, even gems. Are you looking to sell or pawn? Pawning will let you pay the money back but we won't give you as much as if you were to sell us the item." The mare informed.

“Fair enough.” I nodded as I pulled out a simple, but extremely well made knife from my little pocket dimension. “How much will this go for either selling or pawning?” I inquired, gently putting it down on the counter hilt facing the cashier.

The mare looked it over for a time before running a glowing emerald over it. "This is a real good quality item. It's enchanted too? Wow. Well, we can only pay three hundred bits if you sell, one fifty to pawn but you can definitely get a better price if you went to the Royal Guard Quartermaster. They buy lots of third party weapons and armor so long as it's good quality."

“And where would that be?” I asked simply, gently taking the knife in a non-threatening manner as to not spook the crystalline mare.

"Just head towards the Palace, you can't miss it and look for the nearby building that kinda looks like a mix between a wearhouse and a squatters shack." She stated.

“Fair enough.” I nodded, putting the knife away. “Thank you very much ma’am, and I hope you have a nice day.” I said politely.

"You too stickman." She replied.

I walked through the roads up to the palace and spotted the building. She was right, this looked almost like an abandoned warehouse squatters would live in. I managed to find the door and knocked on it.

The door opened and I was greeted by an older stallion in royal guard armor. He looked up at me and chuckled. "Well, I'll be damned. They are back. Looks like the empire came back from Sombra's curse just in time for me to see y'all twice in my lifetime."

“Well, from what I’ve heard here and there it has been over a thousand years.” I said honestly. “The name's Simon sir.” I said politely to the old veteran if he has met Stick Figures before. “And right now…I kinda need money and a way to get to Yakyakistan.”

"Heh, no need to be so formal kid. I fought alongside and against a lot of your kind and I can tell the good from the bad. Ya make it pretty obvious." He chuckled. "Come on in, welcome to the Quartermasters stockhouse." He said. I followed him in and was met by lots of wooden crates all stacked high. In the center of all this was a couch, radio, bookshelf and tv and lots of DVDS. "So, what brings ya here?"

“I’m currently on a weird world wide field trip so far dealing with a lot of shit…” I sighed out. “Don’t know why, but Faust really wanted me to be here to solve somethings, and why I’m currently here? Well I just helped a…new friend get past some old grievances and hopefully have him get better as a person, and now I’m on my way to Yakyakistan because that’s probably the next place a Stick Figure might show up.”

"Found Sombra and hung out with him in that house he and his girl used to share huh?" I was surprised by his bluntness. He laughed. "Kid, I trained Sombra back when he was a royal guard here. Knew his girl Tina. Hell only reason I didn't stop him when he took over the place was because I was just as depressed as he was y'all were gone. And drunk, really drunk. Let me tell you, waking up to a thousand year old hangover is not pleasant."

“I can imagine.” I nodded. “So yeah, I helped Sombra get out of his whole ‘I will be your Doom’ schtick, and now he’s chill…for the most part.” I shrugged. “Only took him wondering how I broke out of his nightmare curse to calm down.”

"Heh, sounds about right. So, need to get to the Yak kingdom huh? Gonna be quite the hike."

“Yeah, cause I have a bad feeling that there might be someone else spawning there.” I said carefully. “Plus it wouldn't be the worst hike I’ve had to go on…”

"Heh, nice. Mind if I tag along?"

“Sure.” I nodded. “The more the merrier, plus it would be really good to have another person around that isn’t trying to chase me for no reason or…or whatever the hell the Changeling’s went through…” I sighed out.

"Yeah, shame too. Queen Larva was hot." The older stallion sighed. "So, Simon, I'm Iron Hoof." He introduced.

“Nice to meet you Iron Hoof.” I nodded. “And…wish there was a way to fix that whole thing…but right now, we need to get to the Yak’s before things get weird or bad, and I also need a lot of money and items cause I also need to fix a weapon that Duster broke cause he’s a prick.” I frowned, remembering that I need to fix my Water Greatsword after he broke it in half with his Sable sand attack.

"Heh, help yourself to the stuff we got in here." He said, using a rear leg to kick the wood box next to him. "everything here is currently being kept packed away case Princess Peach Bottom up in the castle right now thinks they're 'too dangerous' and 'alien in origins and should be studied with the utmost care'." He grumbled. "Big push over I swear. Now Princess Amore, now that was a mare. Ruled the empire and slaughtered her enemies all before lunch."

“That’s what Peace does.” I said as I moved over and opened up the box. “You learn that you don’t need weapons or the want to kill, when you can finally see there’s other ways to solve things.” I shrugged. “Oh, do you also have a forge I can fix some weapons of mine?”

"And the Blacksmith that runs it." He said with a grin.

“Thank you god.” I sighed out thankfully. “Cause I’m seriously going to need to fix a weapon and also…maybe create a new weapon or two based on what kind of blacksmithing techniques I can learn from the Blacksmith.”

Majority of these boxes didn't have anything all that impressive. Some armors and such. Guns, a lot of guns and explosives, and to my surprise MRE packets. I took everything anyway and once the last box was empty I also packed the DVD and stuff here away in my pocket dimension since they are Iron Hoofs.

He lead me to A building across the street. Here I spotted the blacksmith, a stallion as old as he was. He was a dark grey in color for his coat, and a dark red for his mane. He looked over and upon seeing me, smiled. "About damn time you lot came back." He said with a chuckle. "Swear if something interesting didn't happen soon I'd usurp the new princess and prince."

"Hell, it seems like it happens once a month." Iron chuckled. "Good to see ya Smog Iron."

"Nice ta see you cousin." Smog Iron said with a nod.

“Nice to meet you sir.” I said politely, wanting to show respect to my elders apparently. “I need some help with reforging a weapon, and…well since you’re about as board as can be, I might as well also ask if there’s any blacksmithing techniques I can learn from you cause Sombra’s already told me some pretty interesting thing’s him and Tina figured out.”

"Heh, sure can. Come on over, bring out your weapons and I'll show ya a thing or two."

“Right then.” I nodded while bringing out my Aqua Greatsword first, which was currently in two halves still. “So how this broke, I was fighting some jackass with Sand powers…in a Mountain Valley esc cowboy area.” I said carefully, the name of the actual geography escaping me for some reason.

"Ah, hmm… let me check something…" He said, taking my sword and taking the handle off. Under the handle in that part of the metal I spotted some symbol, a hammer and a horseshoe. "Ha! Knew it. This is one me and my friend Russell made." He smiled, then gave me a kick to my foot. "The hell you doin breaking one of our best works?!"

“Bitch I hand made this thing!” I countered, hopping as I had a horse literally stomp on my foot.

"Then explain this mark?" He asked, showing me the horseshoe and hammer mark on that part of the blade. "We marked all our works with this, so why did ya put it on if ya did make it?"

I blinked, looking over that symbol, and then looking back at the symbol of that hammer. “Wait…hold the fuck up…” I said as I went into my pocket armory and pulled out another of my weapons, a Kukri I enchanted with earth magic…it had the same symbol. “Hold on, I know I made these myself…it took me forever to find the necessary minerals and materials…hold on, what’s the name of this Smithy?” I asked quickly, super confused as to how I managed to have their symbol when I knew I made this by hand.

"The Heavy Hoofed Hammer." Smog Iron responded.

“Oh…” I started, before realization hit me. “Hold up, you’re the Smog Iron!?!” I gasped in shock.

"Yeah, and I'm old, not def." He huffed, rubbing his ears.

“S-sorry.” I said sheepishly. “But yeah, I knew this symbol looked familiar when I first saw it, your symbol was on some of the best crafted weapons back home, I always wanted to make thing’s as good as your work or other’s that craft stuff like this…so I joined the smithy guild and started making a whole lot of things.” I said eagerly.

"Ah, must be our old works Russell had on him when he went back. He knew his metal and I knew enchantments and magic. Between the two of us we armed most every soldier back in that war."

“And the techniques were brought over to my world and it flourished in many incredible ways.” I said honestly. “But…I get to learn from the master himself? Everyone back home is going to be jealous as hell.”

"Heh, well let me see what you can do so far. Go on, use whatever ya need to fix up your sword."

I nodded and immediately went to work, having personally made this thing and having trained with it for months on end, I knew what I had to do as I started up the forge and looked around for the proper materials. “Hey, got any water gem’s or sapphires lying around? Cause while the enchantment’s still, oh so thankfully, still intact, I’m not entirely sure if it’ll withstand the reforging by itself.” I inquired.

"Box to the right there." He motioned.

“Thank you.” I said while grabbing a few of the necessary gems and putting them down carefully on the table as I put more coal in the fire, making sure the heat is steady and high as I prepare the forging process. “Alright…let’s get started…”

So, after several hours under the stern gaze of Smog Iron and Iron Hoof, I finally put my blade into the last cooling and enchantment process. “Alright…now it’s time to see if I didn’t majestically fuck this up…” I muttered, carefully pulling the greatsword out and making sure the water enchantment was fully in place and stable in the blade, which I found out during the process that smithing magic into a weapon was both a fuck ton easier, and a shit ton more difficult with said ease.

Smog Iron looked over my finished work, eyeing it like a teacher grading a test. "Well, there is a talent, and you have some good skill." He said. "Though it seems you don't know how to smith the mana properly with the metal."

“I do, just…a thing I noticed while in the smithing process is how easier it is to add in and let the enchantment work properly, and that threw me off a bit.” I explained nervously. “It probably has something to do with the ambient magic around adding in to the mana working’s and the like…I don’t actually know since I’ve never forged in such a mana enriched environment before.”

"Hm, fair. Typically with a mix of magic stones like gems and metal, the ambient magic in the air adds to the work and the heat mixes the two into a single body, giving it it's own magic aura and allowing it to self resupply from the ambient mana and the mana in the wielder, something you Stick people seem to have in abundance."

“We tend to have a lot of magic in ourselves from time to time.” I nodded. “But so far…I haven’t really noticed due to me running around the world without a break…but this world is saturated in mana.” I pointed.

"Yeah, has been since day one." Smog Iron nodded. "It's a unique thing. For every ten planets with life in the cosmos, roughly four have enough mana in the environment for active use, the rest have something called Passive Mana. This magic can't be actively used for one of two reasons. One is that there isn't enough, another is that there is too much."

“Fair enough.” I nodded. “And this world might have a tad too much mana, but the inhabitants adapted to be able to use said mana in some way?” I guessed, considering I’ve seen Pegasi, Unicorns, and other such magical creatures I had to assume.

"Almost. True this world has a lot of mana, it's still within the usable range for us as an organic species. Other worlds with too much, the organic life can't use it simply because it's too much. Consider it like… trying to pour the ocean into a water balloon. It simply can't fit nor will it last long. It will fill up way too quickly and burst instantly, so the life growing on these worlds evolves to just ignore the magic entirely as if it ain't even there."

“Fair enough.” I nodded. “So how do I fix this?”

"First of all I'll need to see if you are capable of using magic yourself. I see you have a little pocket dimension in your belly button there but that's more a form of passive magic than active." Smog Iron said. He walked through a nearby door and came out with a book. Opening it he showed me the contents to be various diagrams of circles and symbols all arranged together. "This here is how magic on Equestria works. The Spell Matrix is like a means of telling, or as Russel put it, Programing, the magic to do a certain thing. Unicorns can just keep a mental image of these Spell Matrixes and use their horns for the rest, but Pegasi and Earth Ponies use magic more passively through our bodies, but can draw out these things to achieve a similar effect."

"Oh like my spell books?" I inquired as I brought out one of the many, many tombs I had, this one colored red as it held mostly fire based spells. "Magic is a weapon after all...but now I'm not sure if it's because the book is inherently magic or if I am." I said carefully, putting the book away as I looked over the books spell matrixes carefully.

"Who the hell told you magic is a weapon?" Iron Hoof asked, his tone rich with offense.

"I'm sorry, let me rephrase that. Magic can be a weapon." I corrected myself. "It all depends on who uses it, cause...well technically everything can be a weapon if you want to get semantic about it." I shrugged.

"True. Let me see that there." Iron Hoof said, picking up the tomb and looking through it. "Hmm, it's similar to what we use, but they're been modified. Must be when the rifts closed the knowledge they took back with them was adapted for the way magic works in your own world."

“Yeah, that’s kind of why I’m a little concerned that maybe I’m not magical, or at least as magical as I thought I was.” I said carefully. “Cause…well I’d rather not try to cast a simple fire spell to act as a light source and accidentally get a fireball.”

"Those are two completely different spells kid." Smog Iron stated with a chuckle.

“Not when there’s an ass ton of mana around.” I brought up. “Sometimes things happen like that if you put too much mana into a spell.”

"Maybe back in your world, but that rarely happens here." He shrugged, opening his spell book and opening it to the first page. The matrix displayed showed on the page and the info next to it told me this was a levitation spell. "This spell is the first one any unicorn learns. It's the Simplest and most basic. Since you don't got a horn on your head, draw the matrix on paper, then tap it with your finger. The reaction will tell us how much magic you can muster."

“Alright.” I nodded as I grabbed a sheet of paper and a pencil as I carefully drew the matrix , then after I got done with that I lightly tapped it with my finger. As I tapped the spell, it started to glow. “So how bright should it be for…let’s say average?” I inquired, wanting to at least see if I met that simple bar in the magic department,

"I'd say that's average for a unicorn." Smog Iron said.

"It's definitely a sturdy foundation to build upon." Iron Hoof nodded.

“Well…I’m in a different world where magic’s a lot more prevalent…” I muttered, trying to salvage at least a little bit of my pride here.

"Ain't nothing to be ashamed of. If anything it's good news. Means you have a fair range of potential." Iron Hoof said.

“Which is always a good thing.” I nodded. “Plus it could maybe help me figure out some other things with all my weapons.”

"Yeah. Now, as for your weapon, it's an easy fix." Smog Iron informed, showing me the way of heating and hammering the weapon to properly forge in the magic.

I watched intently on how Smog smithed the magic into the blade correctly, enraptured at the technique that I’ve been striving to be as good as. “So that’s how you do it…” I muttered to myself.

"It's a bit tricky, but your weapons powers will flow way better and be far stronger than before. Plus they won't break as easily."

“That would be fantastic.” I nodded. “Still sucks that this broke to begin with…damn sand powers…”

"Heh, well if the mana had been forged properly into the metal it wouldn't have happened, but in the end considering how well it worked while… scrambled, magic wise, it shows you at least knew enough to make it work. Somehow." Smog Iron said with a chuckle.

"Hard work and determination." I said simply.

“Well, fix up anything else then get ready, we’ll grab ya a coat and then head out.” Iron Hoof stated.

“Alright.” I nodded while I pulled out a lot of fire weapons and went to work fixing them all up for the upcoming fight. “Just gotta make sure all my fire weapons are ready to go before heading out, and thanks Iron Hoof.” I nodded.

I worked for several long hours, even with Smog Iron’s help. Finally though the last of them was finished and I began heading out. Iron Hoof got me a coat by calling in a favor with the local cloth makers to make me a nice warm suit.

The last things we packed were some extreme weather camping gear. “I have to say, that pocket dimension thing you got on your stomach comes in handy.”

“It comes in very very handy.” I nodded. “Especially when you have thousands of weapons, tombs, shields, and items that have become feasible weapons.” I said honestly.

“Huh, ya know I think I remember a stick person with a similar power. She’d pull out whatever seemingly from thin air, but she was actually pulling it out of some portals that came and left quicker than the eye can catch.”

"That...weirdly sounds familiar." I frowned. "What was their name again?"

“Don’t remember, just know she wasn’t on our side so we fought her.” Iron Hoof said with a shrug. “Was scary fast.”

“What kind of weapons did she use?” I inquired, making sure all our stuff was properly packed and it wouldn’t fly away from any wind or us falling from a dip in the snow.

“Swords. Only swords. Same kind too, it didn't matter if you got one out of her hands or they broke, she’d just pull another one from wherever.”

“Huh….” I hummed. “Yeah that sounds familiar but I don’t remember…” I said, trying to think of who that person is. “Also, is this everything we need or is there anything else?”

“Yeah, well, thanks for the help Smog, see ya around.” Iron said.

“Here.” Smog said, handing me a map with several marked places. “Russel and I had to travel a lot for weapon repairs and so we had a lot of forges set up all around Equestria. They should still have some ores and maybe some left behind weapons. If you’re in the area feel free to use them.”

"Cool." I nodded as I grabbed the map and put it away. "That will help immensely. Anything else?"

“Try not ta die.” Smog said simply.

---

Fucking hell… Even with this coat it’s still cold as hell.

We were deep in the mountains between the Empire and the Yak kingdom. So fucking cold here…

“We’ll be crossing an old battlefield soon! Keep an eye out on the snow below ya. Who knows what might be under your feet!” Iron Hoof yelled back through the heavy snowfall.

“Alright!” I called out carefully, still cold as shit and trying not to bring out a fire weapon in case something beneath us gives way.

As we walked I saw small parts of various frozen metal objects largely stuck under the ice and snow. We came across an ice wall where, after looking inside… bodies. Stick people and ponies all frozen corpses in the ice.

"The fuck happened here?" I asked worriedly.

“The war.” Iron Hoof said simply, looking up at the ice wall of bodies. “This was how it was. Land soaked in bodies and blood, and the only burials they got were the ones time gave to them.”

“I…didn’t think there was this much damage…” I said carefully. “I know stick figures can be…pretty bad but damn.” I said, as I looked over the stick figure bodies, and while a majority of them were gray’s…there were colored stick figures that still held their weapons or items.

“Yeah, well, learning about a war in books and seeing it up close can be two very different things.” Iron Hoof sighed. “Hmm… hold up…” He said, running along to the far end of the ice wall. I followed, finding a bright green stick figure, one side of their head shaved and the other had long brushed over hair. “Hold crap, it’s Toxic!”

“Who’s that?” I inquired, not knowing any of these stick figures as…well this probably happened way before I was born.

“He was one of us… sorta. Come on, help me break him out.” Iron siad, hitting and chipping the ice apart.

I pulled out an ice pick and smacked the ice swiftly and powerfully, trying to help Iron get his friend out of the ice. “There might be a way to bring him back if you care.”

“Trust me, I know this guy and he ain’t dead in there.” Iron said quickly as he managed to break apart the ice and free him. Toxic hit the snow, stiff but shivering. He was alive?!

“Fuck… Cold…” Toxic huffed.

“Hold on.” I said while pulling out a fire tomb as I flipped through it. “Warmth.” I said, casting a simple but strong aura as the three of us started to feel a budding warmth surrounding us, like we were at a humble campfire. “That should at least help you get feeling back into your body.”

“Thanks…” He shivered.

“Shit, I thought you got sent back, how did you stay here?” Iron asked.

“Usual reason, was dead for just long enough to get frozen and then… swapped and been doing that since…” He shivered.

“Shit.” Iron sighed. “Sorry you went through that. How are the others?”

“Usual.” Toxic shivered.

“Well, good thing we brought extra’s.” I said, pulling out a large heavy winter coat and carefully putting it on the poor guy. “So hi there, I’m Simon…and how the hell are you still alive?”

“Hey. I’m Toxic and… Heh, well that’s a funny story. I’m kinda… immortal. In a sense anyway…” He sighed. “I’ve got Split Personality, I’ve got four others and none of us even know which was the one born into the world or all that. All we know is that if we receive fatal amounts of damage, my body changes and alters to the form for the next one. Healed and it keeps going like that until the next fatal amount of damage. We at least all have some unique powers.”

“Huh, that’s…rather interesting.” I said honestly. “Cool to know, and for me…well I’m a Master of Arms.”

“Neat. As the name might suggest I actually have control and immunity to all toxic substances. From poison, pollution, and even radioactive crap I can absorb, nullify and use for myself. I’m also an unarmed and explosives expert.”

“That’s a pretty good ability.” I nodded. “Wish I had it when I fought Bog in a nightmare realm…” I grumbled to myself. “So, right now me and Iron are heading to Yakyakistan, want to tag along?”

“Rifts are open again?” Toxic asked.

“Yeah. Not too many are coming out of them, but they are largely dangerous.” Iron stated.

“Welp, once a soldier always a soldier… “ Toxic groaned. “Got any food? I haven’t eaten in a thousand years…”

“Yes.” I nodded while digging through our belongings and bringing out some smoked jerky. “And hey, at least you’re halfway to the next rift, I had to get slingshotted three times across this world to get to where I need to be.”

“Ouch.” He said, taking the dried meat and eating it rapidly. “Almost wish I.Q was out. She’d at least be able to make you some transport. When she’s not trying to get in your pants…” Toxic huffed.

I flushed at that sudden bit. “Uh…why do you say that?”

“I.Q is smart. She’s really smart. She can learn anything. Back home she made technology and advancements that the government had to hide to keep from falling into the wrong hands. Here she made magical advancements that threw your worlds magic users for a loop at the potential. She can create anything by mentally reforging atoms at the sub atomic level. She’s a genius with one problem… she’s a fucking whore…” Toxic groaned. “Men, women, ponies, didn’t matter, if they had a mind and genitals she was interested… and very, very persuasive. She had a lot of kids…”

“...So that’s why…” I muttered. “Alrighty then…also good lord she can warp reality on the subatomic level? How is she dead?”

“She’s not dead, she’s in here.” He said, pointing at his own head. “Remember, she’s one of my split personalities. I die, and my body reforms and shapes to fit her own form. Right now she’s basically in a mental waiting line for our body to die so she or one of the others can take over.”

“Fair enough.” I nodded. “But…the hell happened here?” I asked, motioning to the giant ice pillar filled with corpses.

“We were in a battle against multiple ice based enemies. They made an alliance with this world's Wendigos, some kind of ice elemental spirits that helped boost their powers to incredible levels.”

“Damn.” I said in surprise. “Well…gonna suck if we happen upon one of them, either still alive or just came back through the rifts.”

“Tell me about it…” Toxic sighed.

“But all I can say is about the world is that I’ve only met two other Stick Figures, one was friendly and the other…well I kicked his ass back home.” I said honestly. “And there might be a third, but so far things are going well enough.”

"Well, it's better than when I got frozen that's for sure."

"Yep." I nodded. "Feeling good enough to head off now?"

"Sure."

With that we moved forewords again, Toxic keeping up well as we walked through the snow. I am not sure how long we've been walking, but soon I began to hear…

"Screaming…" Iron Hoof said.

"Never a good sign." Toxic added.

“Shit, this bastard better not be trying to eat the Yaks…” I growled, pulling out two fire swords and preparing for the worst. “We better hurry before we find…more dead bodies.” I muttered, assuming there's already dead or dying.

We rushed rapidly, finding a tall wood wall surrounding a closed interior that was rapidly filling with Ice. Rushing in through the large wood doors we spotted many Yaks frozen to the ground or frozen completely. In the center of this village there was a light blue colored stick figure, a wind of Frost circling them.

“It’s been over ten thousand years.” The stick figure said with a creepy grin, their piercing arctic blue eyes looking straight at us. “I was thrown back to our world when you slaughtered my father…” They growled.

“Whoa there, hold on a minute!” I said quickly. “First off, what the hell are you doing to all these Yaks?”

“Showing them the real power of the ice and snow.” The stick said, which was reminding Toxic and Iron of someone more and more.

“My guy, this isn’t right.” I said carefully. “Just relax and-whoa!” I yelped as I jumped away, a weird phantom horse suddenly slamming it’s front hooves into where I was originally. “Alright, what in the hell is going on here?”

"Shit he has one of those Windegoes!" Iron Hoof yelled.

"I think I remember you…" Toxic said, stepping up and in front of the light blue stick man. "You were too young for the war you got dragged into."

“And one of your previous selves was very pissed to see me with my dad.” The stick figure growled, the Wendigo appearing around him protectively. “And you killed him right in front of me in that massive fight…”

“So Wendigoes…do they have anything to denote their age?” I asked Iron carefully, not entirely sure what that ice spirit was fully as the only Wendigo I knew was a cannibalistic shapeshifter.

"Maybe. They are a form of Spirit so I can only assume when they took residents inside the ice elementals they did more than just give them a power boost." Iron Hoof stated.

"Yeah… that was Instinct if I remember." Toxic said. "He was the one to decapitate your old man. Guess that ice spirit ran with their tail between their ethereal legs before he died."

The teen created a fist of snow and slammed it into Toxic. “No…they died as well on that day…and guess who I found when I got here a week ago?” He asked, gently patting the Wendigo’s head. “Their daughter…and you took away both our father’s…and I’m going to make you all pay!” The stick figure shouted furiously, a sudden whirlwind blizzard starting up in their anger.

“Uh…huh…” I started carefully. “Well then, glad to know their relationship might be…a little weird.” I said carefully.

"Shame it's gonna be short lived." Toxic said, jumping back up as suddenly he began to radiate with heat, melting snow and ice around him. Iron Hoof immediately rushed out of the way. "Well come on then Glacius, let's see if your ice can freeze Radioactive heat!" He said, punching fist to palm and creating a small explosion in the process.

“Are you completely insane!?!” I shouted quickly. “What are you trying to do get everyone killed!?” I asked as I also got out of the way very quickly.

“I’ll show you what I can do!” The young teen shouted as he raised his hands high, two giant fists of snow rushing towards Toxic, who simply punched away the constructs with his super heated fists. “Icicle Crash!” He shouted as dozens of ice shards descended onto Toxic, who dodged and weaved around them all carefully.

“Huh, hollowed ice, able to withstand a fuck ton of heat eh?” Toxic hummed, seeing that the ice shards didn’t immediately melt to his heat as he started rushing towards Glacius.

Glacius started jumping away as he made the ground uneven and jagged, trying to get the veteran stick figure to lose his foot, which sadly didn’t work as the times he tried to force it the ground melted around him. “This isn’t…” Glacius growled as he started to channel his abilities with the magic of his Wendigo. “SHEER COLD!” He shouted as he threw his hands down as a massive gust of wind threw itself at Toxic, giant pillars of spiked ice raising up as it rushed towards Toxic.

“Elephant’s Foot.” He said as he slammed his foot into the ground and for a split second suddenly everything around him was unmelted, unfrozen, and looked like a piece of summer hit that one single spot as it blocked the Sheer Cold attack, as the area somehow managed to stay within a two foot radius around Toxic, as it didn’t affect a single Yak so far.

“This guy’s absolutely insane.” I said to Iron Hoof carefully.

The two fought ferociously, the longer it took the longer it looked like Toxic was heating up. “I’m almost up…” Toxic panted from exhaustion, as well as Glacius.

"Getting tired old man?" Glacius growled as he channeled more of his magic.

"Heh, not even close." He shook his head. "One last attack…" He said as he started to channel his powers into one final attack, with the help of his Wendigo friend. “ICE AGE!” He shouted as he thrust both his hands forward, creating an incredibly dense wave of ice and snow towards Toxic.

“FAT MAN!” Toxic shouted as he reared his fist back as he threw a punch that produced the same amount of heat and power as the famous nuclear bomb.

“Twin sword style…” I muttered as I blitzed over to the two, wielding an ice and fire sword. “Jotun’s Collapse!” I shouted as I slammed both swords into the ground between the two, as a cataclysm of Fire and Ice stopped both of them in their tracks, as flames started to consume Glacius’s attacks and Ice enveloping and imprisoning all of Toxic’s radiation and heat.

After a few moment’s my attacks settled down, Toxic in an ice cage, which I saw him absorb whatever radiation he was producing and cooling down…while with Glacius and his Wendigo, they both looked burned and defeated. “Ya two done?” I asked, taking a deep breath as I used a lot of energy and magic for that attack.

"Dude, the Fuck?" Toxic asked as he broke the ice cage apart.

“You would have nuked the whole fucking city if those two hits landed.” I frowned. “And more death is not something we need right now.”

"Firstly, fair point, secondly," Toxic raised a hand, a blast of some liquid shooting from his skin and hitting the knocked out blue stick figure. They immediately began to spasms and twitch violently.

“The fuck!?!” I panicked, as the Wendigo whinnied in panic as well at him suddenly having a very violent looking seizure.

"This is a war, he wanted to fight in it so he'll die in it." Toxic said, walking over towards them. "That poison targets the nervous system, quickly and painfully paralyzing and then killing them as it moves to the organs and shuts them down."

I immediately moved over and stabbed Glacius with a fire weapon. “Like hell that’s happening.” I growled as Glacius looked at me through his seizing. “Sorry Glacius, but thing’s are going to get a bit…hot for ya.” I said in my attempt at a shitty pun as I used my blade. “Funeral Pyre.” I muttered as his body suddenly went up in flames, slowly catching onto the Wendigo spirit as Toxic and Iron Hoof both saw them starting to flicker a bit.

“S-sorry…” Glacius muttered. “I…”

“Revenge sucks, I know.” I said carefully. “But all I can say is…at least you can go home with your new friend.” I said softly.

“Th-thanks…” Glacius muttered, closing their icy eyes as he and his Wendigo friend started to disappear, which I now noticed a portal appearing above us as the spirit dust of the two made their way back, most likely to get reformed back home.

"Sorry about that…" Iron Hoof said, walking up and sitting next to me as the last of their spirit dust floated into the portal. "At least they got to go peacefully. More than their fathers got in the end."

I got up and punched Toxic. “THE FUCK WAS THAT!?!”

He shrugged the punch off, as if unaffected. "A teaching moment." He said, looking me dead in the eyes. "You said it yourself, out of all the others from home you fought, only one wasn't so bad. But the others… no hesitation for them to start killing and slaughtering. You think sending them back home will change their opinions? Their hatred. These rifts will keep getting worse and if one you spared comes back, they'll be out for your blood specifically. Hardened by hatred and a craving for revenge. It's either deal with them now, or risk death the next time you meet."

“Wow, that talk is completely outdated in the best of ways.” I said honestly. “So I’ve only met two others before you and Glacius, and one was ‘bad’ was because he wanted to kill and eat the Bison in this world cause…reasons.” I said carefully. “But all of that…my guy, it’s been ages since this apparent war, and the only reason why he was still pissed was because, highdy fucking ho, a part of you killed his father right in front of him…which happened to be permanent.”

"You think I haven't lost people either? At least the way you sent them off they'll be at peace! I have to live eternally, back home and here I've seen more people I cared for die than I could ever hope to remember. You would do best to listen to my advice, I've lived long enough to experience the consequences of misplaced mercy."

“I never said you didn’t lose people.” I stated simply. “I understand being Immortal sucks in every way shape and form, but I just explained why he would be pissed at you, not because of some dumb ass war like you’re on about…the war’s over, the Rift’s might get worse, but thing’s won’t be like they used to. And you can immediately tell by the fact this whole city wasn’t a massive crater when we got here.”

"...Maybe, but I've learned one thing in my fucking long ass life. You can never fully trust others." Toxic said, grabbing a chunk of sharp ice nearby. "I'm taking a break." He added, taking the sharp ice and stabbing through his chest.

Before I could react his body glowed with a near blinding light. Chains and locks floated around him in the light covering him. Soon it all returned inside their body, and standing in Toxic's place was a chrome/silver colored stick figure person.

“Uh…hello?” I asked carefully.

The new person shook their head, looking around. "Huh. Yakyakistan. Interesting. I expected Toxic to have traveled further than just here." They said, finally spotting me. "And you are?"

“Names Simon.” I nodded politely. “And…who are you if I may ask?”

"People call me Instinct. So, what I miss?"

"Toxic killed the kids of that ice mage and wendigo you killed." Iron Hoof stated.

"Ah. Upsetting. I'd have preferred those kids weren't present for that event."

“And then Toxic tried to kill the kid when he was truly beaten.” I added. “I sent him back home thankfully…while Toxic talked about things…only a depressed immortal veteran would say.” I said carefully.

"Out of all of us, Toxic has taken our joined immortality the hardest." Instinct admitted. "Once he was shy, kind, gentle and compassionate. Over the centuries that has been beaten, tortured and killed out of him. Too many times hurt, too many times betrayed and far too many regrets."

“Well…” I started. “That’s…absolutely terrible…”

"With what we are, it's something we all have dealt with, and we each deal with it differently. Toxic hurts and harms those who would harm him or others first. I.Q whores herself, drowning in sex and caring for the children born from it… even when she outlives them. Hazard farms and builds, and I do what I do best. Combat."

“Right…” I said carefully, preparing for a possible fight than might erupt from this. “But uh…we’re gonna need to save all the Yak’s first.”

"Alright. Got a sword I can borrow?"

“Yep.” I nodded. “What kind of sword do you want?”

"Any will do." He shrugged.

“Alright.” I said while handing him a simple long sword.

"Thanks." He said, taking the sword. I blinked and suddenly all the frozen and stuck yaks were free. "Here you go." Instinct said, giving it back to me.

“Damn, how’d you do all that so fast?” I asked in surprise, taking back my sword.

"It's my special powers. I can train with any weapon to mastery, and continue to break all physical limits of standard and even some superhuman reflexes."

“Right then.” I said carefully as I saw all the Yak’s getting up and shaking off all the ice and snow like nothing happened. “Well…at least all the Yak’s are okay…”

"Come on, if the root plants still grow here I can blend some herbal medicine and make a decent soup for everyone."

My stomach growled at that. “Yes please.” I nodded.

“Root Plant this way.” One of the Yak’s said gruffly to the three of us.

“Thank you.” I nodded as we all followed after the Yak.

To be continued...