• Published 16th Aug 2017
  • 8,106 Views, 507 Comments

My Little Planeswalker: Twilight's Spark - Zennistrad



Twilight Sparkle discovers that the "spark" that awakened the Element of Magic is more than it seems, and learns the true nature of her own planeswalker abilities. A Magic: the Gathering crossover.

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Training Grounds

It had taken a moment for Time Turner to refocus his attention on the mana line that would lead him to Twilight, but once he did following it proved to be surprisingly easy. Almost boring, even. He’d not seen another soul within the Rubblebelt, no doubt thanks to his little monster-fighting episode scaring people away from his general location.

Of course, even if he saw any others, they wouldn’t have seen him thanks to the perception filter he threw up over himself. He wasn’t especially well-versed in illusion magic, but he’d learned enough of it since the Mending to keep himself from being noticed. He couldn’t afford to allow his presence in the multiverse to become common knowledge, not with the enemy he’d be making in the near future. Bitterness tinged his thoughts as he remembered his old mentor, and the humiliating defeat that Teferi had suffered. Perhaps if he had been there, things would have turned out differently.

Time Turner shook his head. Now wasn’t the time to be worrying about him. That time would come soon enough.

It had taken more than an hour before he left the Rubblebelt, and as he did the change became noticeable almost immediately. Broken roads and overgrown paths gave way to well-maintained streets and solid stone buildings. More importantly, there were actually people around, making their way across the city to take care of whatever errands they had that day.

Staring at the populated scene, Time Turner inhaled sharply, and hoped that his illusion would hold.

————————

Chandra had led Twilight through the building to an outdoor hallway, which opened up to a courtyard on the interior. Rays of golden sunlight from shone on a carpet of grass and shrubbery, one of the few green spaces Twilight had seen since arriving on Ravnica.

In the courtyard, Nissa stood beside Gideon and Jace. Her eyes were closed in deep concentration, and a powerful aura of green mana gathered around her. When she opened her eyes again, a series of lines began to carve themselves into the courtyard’s ground, pulsing and emanating with raw power. Gideon and Jace then began to glow with mana of their own—white and blue, respectively—and the lines pulsed ever stronger with magic, circling and twisting around each other in abstract patterns.

Finally, with a flash of light, the lines disappeared. In their place was a circle in the center of the courtyard, a large patch of land where the ground itself seemed to glow with power, and surrounding it all was a golden, translucent dome of energy.

As Twilight watched the display, she perched herself on top of the balustrade and leaned over, her front legs and torso hanging over the scene below. As the three planeswalkers finished their ritual, Gideon took notice of Twilight’s presence.

“Hello there, Twilight! You’re just in time!”

Gyaaah!” Twilight let out a scream as the air flew past her, and she found herself lying on the ground below with a mouthful of dirt.

“Are you okay?”

Twilight opened her eyes and looked upwards, seeing Nissa staring down at her with... something. Most likely concern, but Nissa’s eyes made her emotions remarkably difficult to read.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” said Twilight. She forcefully spat to the side, ridding her mouth of the acrid taste of grass and soil.

Gideon approached Twilight and knelt down, offering a hand. “Apologies for startling you. You’re not hurt, are you?”

Twilight reached out with a hoof, allowing herself to be pulled back upright. Despite Gideon’s imposing stature, there was a gentleness to his touch that brought a smile to Twilight’s face. “Don’t worry, I’m fine. I’ve crashed a lot worse than this, believe me.” As she stood back on four legs, Twilight stepped forward, taking a closer look at the shimmering dome that had engulfed the center of the courtyard. “What is this?”

“An energy suppression field,” said Jace. “Within the boundaries of this barrier, any spell or physical impact will be dampened to minimize the harm it would cause.”

“Oh!” said Twilight. “You mean like the dueling grounds ancient unicorns used to practice magical combat! This must be what Chandra meant by training!”

“Indeed!” said Gideon. “Jace told me that your species has large amounts of raw magical power. I’d like to see some of that for myself!”

Twilight glanced at the training barrier. Its magic seemed plenty powerful at first appearance, but she had no idea of its true limitations. That uncertainty had already begun to manifest, bubbling up uncomfortably inside her stomach. “I’m, uh... I’m not sure if that’s a good idea. There’s a reason I don’t usually go all out with my magic.”

“Scaredy cat!” Chandra’s voice called from above.

“What?” Twilight called back. “I am not!

Chandra crawled up over the railing and jumped off, landing feet-first onto the ground with a thud. “Pssht, don’t lie. You’re just afraid ‘cause you know I’d kick you right in your tatooed little butt.”

“Tattoo?” said Twilight. “What are you talking about?” Her eyes drifted unconsciously toward her own hindquarters, and a sudden realization brought her head snapping back to glare at Chandra. “Okay, first of all, that’s not a tattoo, that’s my cutie mark. And second, it’s not on my butt, it’s on my flank.”

“If you say so,” said Chandra. Even through the faux-dismissiveness of her reply, she was unable to conceal her massive grin. “I’ll still kick your butt, though.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Alright, fine. I’ll do...” she paused, and turned towards Gideon. “...what exactly are we doing here, again? I get the training part, but I’m still not sure how this is going to work.”

“A simple duel,” said Gideon. “You’ll be free to use any means available to you to combat your opponent. If your foe remains down for ten seconds, or gets knocked down three times, you win.”

“So, like hoofboxing,” said Twilight. Her eyes darted around as her mind turned to images of the very violent sport of her homeland. “I’m uh... not so sure about that, actually.”

“You don’t have to go through with this if you’re not comfortable with it,” Gideon replied. “You can sit aside and watch us, if you prefer.”

“It’s really fun,” said Chandra. “You’re missing out if you skip this, let me tell you.”

Twilight glanced at Chandra, then at the barrier, then back to Gideon. She did want to make sure that she could defend herself against whatever threats she might face in the wider multiverse. Finally, she relented. “Alright, fine. I’ll join you. Just don’t hurt me, alright?”

“That’s the spirit!” said Chandra. “And don’t worry about getting hurt. You’ll just be lightly singed, that’s all.”

“Wait, singed?

Just before Twilight could protest any further, Chandra ran over to the training grounds, the barrier rippling as she passed through it. “Hey! What are you waiting for?”

With a sigh, Twilight stepped forward. She knew she wasn’t going to talk Chandra out of it now. The barrier tingled against her skin as she stepped through, and she stood herself across Chandra, at the opposite corner of the makeshift arena.

Chandra smirked in a manner that looked uncomfortably like the face of a predator. “You ready for this?”

Twilight inhaled, then let out a deep breath. This was a training exercise, she reminded herself. Jace wouldn’t really let her get hurt. Recalling the dueling stances depicted in historical unicorn texts, she shifted her body into a sturdy, wide-legged position, and lowered her horn.

“I’m ready,” said Twilight. “Do your worst!”

“Alright! You asked for it, Sparky!” said Chandra. “FLAME ON!

Chandra’s shout was so intense that the air itself seemed to shake from its ferocity. The pegasus magic in Twilight’s wings alerted her to a rising air current, and the heat that lapped against her skin the next instant made its cause unquestionably certain.

Then, not one second later, Chandra ignited. Twilight would have described her hair color as ‘fiery’ before, but in no circumstance had she imagined that it would be so strikingly literal. She blazed with such an intensity that Twilight was forced to shield her eyes, as though she were staring directly into Celestia’s sun.

She barely had enough time to react when the flames barreling straight towards her. With a single thrust of her gauntlet, Chandra launched a massive stream of fire, expanding outwards into a broad cone shape that threatened to completely engulf her.

With no opportunity open to dodge the attack, Twilight instinctively threw up a quick shield spell, a shimmering dome of purple magic surrounding her. The fire impacted the shield with an unnatural concussive force, and Twilight could feel a dull pain throbbing in her horn as the barrier began to crack. Even with the full brunt of the flames kept away, the temperature of the air skyrocketed. Twilight’s hair became matted with sweat as the heat began baking her body alive.

Then, without warning, her barrier shattered. As its last remnant flickered out of existence, light blinded Twilight’s vision as the flames washed over her body. Ignoring the protests of her more rational mind, Twilight let out a scream, her primal instincts expecting her to die as a charred husk of her former self.

To her surprise, she found herself lying on the ground only a moment later, still fully conscious. Her entire body was covered in a sharp sting, yet it was far milder than she expected, barely more than an irritation. As she struggled to her hooves, she could hear Gideon’s voice counting aloud.

“Four! Five! Six!”

The counting abruptly ceased as Twilight finally uprighted herself, gasping for breath. She shot Chandra a pointed glare.

The fire in Chandra’s hair suddenly extinguished itself, and she immediately burst into laughter, nearly doubling over on the spot. “Great fires of Regatha! Look at you!”

“H-hey! There’s nothing funny about this!” Twilight shot back. “Just what are you even—”

A breeze came by, and Twilight was suddenly made aware of an unusual chill running up her tail. When she turned around to look, she found all of the hair on her tail completely burned off, leaving a tiny, blackened appendage right at the base of her spine.

My tail!” Twilight shrieked. “What did you do to my tail!?

Chandra wheezed, allowing the rest of her breath to catch up with her. “Hey, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Twilight could feel every muscle in her body tense at once. She was a princess. A princess. Millions of ponies across Equestria looked up to her as a leader and role model. She couldn’t afford to look anything less than presentable in public, and the hair on her tail would take weeks to grow back, if not months. And just what would Rarity think?

Chandra immediately took notice of Twilight’s sudden change in demeanor, and any amusement that she expressed had vanished. “Huh? Hey, come on, it’s not that bad,” she reassured. “It’ll be fine! You can probably just find some spell to grow it back.”

No. No, she couldn’t. The hair in a pony’s mane and tail had a special magic aura to maintain its shape and color, one barely understood by Equestria’s top magical scholars. Artificially regrowing that hair with its aura intact was virtually impossible. And worst of all, Chandra had no idea how any of it worked, or just what she had done. Rage boiled within Twilight’s veins, and she could feel it engulfing every part of her body. At the same time, however, an idea began to form in the back of her mind.

Pyromancy was considered a very dangerous magic in Equestria, and notorious for being extremely difficult to control. Only those given express license by Celestia herself were even allowed to practice it. But Twilight understood something that Equestria’s magical scholars didn’t. Pyromancy wasn’t a magic of books and scrolls, of memorization, or of mentally reciting spell formulas. It wasn’t structured or rigorous like unicorn magic was broadly assumed to be. It was a magic of emotion; a magic of pure, distilled feeling given shape by force of will.

And Twilight had felt that kind of magic before. Once, when she’d been so intensely consumed by frustration that her body literally burst into flames. That was Chandra’s power. Red magic, the very same magic that Twilight had come to realize was a part of herself.

Anger gave way to understanding, then to the excitement of a new possibility. “Hey Chandra! You know the old saying, ‘fight fire with fire?’”

“Duh,” said Chandra. “You should fight everything with fire.”

A grin spread across Twilight’s muzzle. “Well, if you don’t mind, I think I’m going to do that right now!”

Chandra blinked. “Wait, what?”

Twilight focused her mind inward, on the raw passion that she had felt so many times throughout her life. For her studies, for her friends, and for everything that she had experienced along with them. Mana flowed into her, and once she gathered enough, her body erupted with power. Twilight felt a blazing heat ignite from her mane, and though her gaze remained firmly on Chandra, in the bottom corner of her eye she could see her coat turn pure white.

What the hell!?” Chandra jumped back so suddenly that she nearly fell over backwards. She rapidly assumed a defensive stance, but by then it was already too late.

Twilight shot into the air like a rocket, leaving a blazing red trail behind her. As she neared the top of the shimmering dome, she turned her head downwards. She could feel her horn literally igniting, sending a jet of flame in Chandra’s direction.

Chandra raised her arms, placing them in front of her in a cross. She grunted as the fire impacted her, and her body was pushed back slightly. She remained standing straight upright even as the force of impact shoved her backwards, leaving a pair of short grooves in the grass as her feet dragged across the ground.

As the fiery assault died down, Chandra looked up and met Twilight’s eyes. “Hah! That’s nothing!” she boasted. “Let me show you how real pyromancy is done!”

Chandra’s hair ignited once again, and this time she let loose with a truly massive display of fire and fury. Dozens upon dozens of incendiary projectiles erupted from her hands, ribbons of pure flame that spiraled and twisted in the air, converging upon Twilight from all directions.

This time, however, Twilight was ready. She called upon an ancient and powerful magic, one that had left hundreds of Equestria’s most powerful unicorns utterly defenseless. It was a spell that was spoken of in whispered tones among the plane’s greatest scholars. A spell held in reverence by those it served, and scorned in the epitaphs of mages unlucky enough to be on its receiving end.

Steeling her nerves, Twilight let in a deep breath, and cast counterspell. In an instantaneous flash of blue light, all of Chandra’s fiery rockets dissipated into nothing.

Chandra threw her arms into the air. “What!? Oh, come on! That’s not fair!” She immediately followed her outcry by turning to glare at Jace, who wore a very self-satisfied smirk. “Can it, you!”

“I didn’t say anything,” said Jace.

“I know you were thinking it!” Chandra shot back.

“A-hem,” said Twilight. “I’d be paying more attention to me if I were you.”

With a startled cry, Chandra turned back up to look at Twilight. By then, however, she was already gone. In another flash of light, Twilight had teleported right behind Chandra’s back.

“Gotcha!” said Twilight.

Chandra turned around, and was promptly greeted by Twilight hovering just inches from her face. Twilight’s horn began to glow red-hot, burning with the heat of a hundred-thousand embers.

Chandra’s face suddenly went pale. All she could bring herself to do was silently mouth a single four-letter word.

A second jet of flame erupted from Twilight’s horn. It was no more powerful than the last, yet at point-blank range there was nothing that Chandra could do to defend against it. The force of the attack sent her flying through the air, soaring more than a dozen feet backwards, before crash-landing into the dirt.

Nissa let out a gasp. “Chandra!”

Chandra gave no response. She lay sprawled on the ground in a heap, showing no signs of movement. Immediately, Gideon began counting.

“One! Two!”

As the count continued, Twilight felt a pride welling up in her chest. It was hard to imagine that, just one day before, she had felt utterly helpless. The fire that burned in her mane died down, and she looked over the scene of her victory.

“...Nine! Ten! Knockout!” Gideon called out. Beaming, he immediately headed into the barrier to greet Twilight. “Great job, Twilight! I have to say, I’m very impressed. I don’t think I’ve met a planeswalker with such a versatile command of spellcraft.”

“Thanks,” Twilight responded. She could already feel any remaining tension in her body beginning to relax. For a man with such imposing stature, Gideon carried with him a remarkable gentleness.

“Chandra!” Nissa called out. “Chandra, are you okay?”

Twilight felt a sudden pit forming in her stomach. She’d nearly forgotten about who she was dueling to begin with. She and Gideon both turned to see Chandra lying on the ground, completely motionless.

“Ch-chandra?” said Twilight. “Chandra? Chandra?” Before she knew it Twilight was by her side, frantically prodding at her with a hoof. “Chandra, please wake up!”

Twilight had barely even noticed that Gideon had already come to Chandra’s aid. He held Chandra’s hand in his own, placing a thumb against her wrist. “Her pulse is steady. It looks like she’s unharmed, thank the gods.”

“Nggh. Gideon?” Chandra’s eyes pried themselves open. With her hand in Gideon’s, she slowly rose to her feet.

“Chandra!” Twilight promptly stood upright, wrapping her front legs tightly around Chandra’s waist. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t meant to hurt you!”

“Whoa!” said Chandra. “Hey, easy there. I’m okay.” She reached out and placed her hand on top of Twilight’s head, ruffling her mane affectionately.

“Oh, thank Celestia!” said Twilight. “I was so worried!”

“Nah, don’t be,” said Chandra. “I promise I can take it. Besides, you beat me. You should be happy about that, right? Even if you did cheat.”

Twilight couldn’t help but let out a laugh. Somehow, that had seemed like the most Chandra thing she could have said. Her eyes drifted towards the west, noticing that the sun was already well into the afternoon sky.

“Say, Gids, what do you say you and I go at it?” said Chandra.

“I, er... you should get some rest first,” said Gideon. “It’s not healthy to keep going after exhausting yourself like that.”

“He’s right,” said Twilight. “Besides, it’s getting late. I’d like to go in and get some reading done before the end of the day. I want to study a few illusion techniques I can use to disguise myself and, well...” her eyes drifted, briefly, to the singed, rat-like appendage that some would call her tail.

“I can give you a few pointers before dinner, if you’d like,” said Jace.

Twilight smiled. “I think I’d like that, thanks.”

————————

Firemane Aspect RR

Enchantment — Aura

Enchant creature or planeswalker

If enchanted permanent would deal noncombat damage to a permanent or player, it deals that much damage plus 1 to that permanent or player instead.

Author's Note:

I think we can safely say by now that this isn’t really a side-project anymore. This fic, I can say with some confidence, is the one that I’ve had by far the most fun writing in recent times.

I’ll still strive to finish my other fics, of course, but this one may be updated with slightly more frequency until I can get my groove back with my more ambitious projects.

Of course, that’s not to say that there isn’t a fair bit of ambition that I have for the My Little Planeswalker multiverse, going forward. You’ll just have to wait and see where that goes. :trollestia: