My Little Planeswalker: Glimmering Oil

by Zennistrad

Phyresis

Something terrible had happened.

That was immediately obvious the very moment Sunset returned. The entire building now resembled less of a school and more of a factory, built from dull and muted grays and spouting multiple smokestacks that choked the sky with thick black smog. But the more Sunset looked, the more it sunk in just how terrible things must have been in her absence. The air was thick with pollution, so thick that she could barely breathe, and the sidewalks leading up to the building were coated in a thin layer of grime. But perhaps worst of all, there were no students to be seen.

An icy grip clutched at Sunset’s heart. She bolted into through the front door, a sturdy object built from unnaturally cold steel, and into the building proper.

What she saw nearly made her shriek in horror.

The interior still resembled the school, superficially speaking. The usual assortment of lockers, bulletin boards, and classrooms were still there, just as they always were. But the walls and floor of the halls had become entirely transformed, the drywall construction being replaced by a mass of tubes, wires, and plates, all seemingly without purpose. In stark contrast to the dirty and graying exterior of the building, the metallic interior was built entirely from a pure white metal that looked like it was halfway between bone and porcelain.

But that wasn’t what horrified Sunset. What horrified her was what had happened to the students.

Wandering the halls with vacant, drooling expressions were the students of Canterlot High – if they could even be recognized as such. Much of their natural bodies had been seemingly torn apart and reconstructed, with entire limbs and large sections of their skin replaced with the same porcelain-like metal, leaving gaps of their muscle and sinew exposed. Were it not for the backpacks and clothing that they wore bearing the icons of Sunset’s fellow students, they would not have been recognizable at all.

Sunset stepped backward slowly. Her skin crawled, and her heart pounded in her chest, a slick cold sweat dripping down her forehead. Her lungs burned as her breath quickened, verging on hyperventilation.

Twilight. I have to get Twilight, she thought.

But you can’t get Twilight because you damaged her spark in your little soul-borrowing stunt, remember?

Okay, yes! That’s true, but I still have to find help! The entire school’s been zombified, and it’s somehow a thousand times worse than when I did it!

But who am I–

Sunset gasped. “Oh my god, the other Twilight! What if something happened to her? I... I have to find her!”

Her footsteps clanked cacophonously against against the floor as she bolted forward without a moment’s hesitation. She weaved deftly through the corridors, pushing past the grotesquely modified students, who didn’t even notice her as she moved.

“Twilight!” Sunset called out. “Twilight, where are you!? Twilight!”

Sunset must have circled the entire ground floor at least twice. Nowhere, throughout any of its hallways, did she see any sign of Twilight. A part of her wondered if she’d recognize Twilight now, a thought that both parts quickly decided not to consider any further. Soon her legs gave out and she came to a full stop in front of a stairway. She rested her hands on her knees as she paused to catch her breath.

Okay... no sign of her on the first floor. Gotta check the second. I... I can’t give up yet. I can’t lose hope. She has to be here. She has to be.

“Well, hello there! What do we have here? A new student?”

A shiver ran down the entire length of Sunset’s spine. The new voice was sickeningly sweet, yet at the same time vaguely threatening. But most importantly, it was a voice she had definitely heard before.

Sunset turned around to face her new visitor, and saw herself staring into the eyes of a very familiar face. Familiar, yet at the same time much older than the person Sunset remembered her as, a woman who was easily in her mid-forties. Her outfit was like a snapshot of the ideal housewife as envisioned at midpoint of the twentieth century. She wore a dark purple dress that flowed to her ankles, matching heels and lipstick, a white cooking apron, and a wavy purple-and-teal hairdo that swept backwards and split in two as it reached the back of her neck. Her body modifications were light compared to the students, her pink skin still mostly visible, but both of her arms had been replaced by skeletal prosthetics made from the same porcelain-like metal as the others. In glistening black oil, the letter phi was scrawled across her apron, and rivulets of the same oil flowed freely from her eyes, leaving slick streaks across her cheeks that slowly dripped onto the floor.

“Welcome,” she said, “to Our School.”

————————

Starlight, Voice of Oneness 3WWW

Legendary Creature — Cleric

Nonlegendary creatures lose all abilities.

Creatures you control with no abilities get +2/+2.

“Surrender your individuality. Join us in the harmony of mind and flesh.”

2/4

————————

“You...” said Sunset, “you’re Starlight Glimmer. This world’s Starlight Glimmer. Why? Why would you do this? What have you done?”

Starlight shook her head, her voice dripping with mocking insincerity. “Oh, you poor, lost little girl. You haven’t heard? I’ve helped the students of Canterlot High find their true purpose in life. As well as everyone else in the city. And the military. Aaaaaand since this is your capital city, you can go ahead and count most of your elected leaders, too. Isn’t it just wonderful?”

“What!?” Sunset shouted. “No! No it isn’t! That’s the exact opposite of wonderful! That’s horrible!”

“It sounds to me like you don’t get it,” said Starlight. As she stepped forward, Sunset found herself reflexively backing against the wall. Starlight swept her arms outward in a grand gesture, drawing attention to all of her surroundings. “This school, this city, this entire world was filled with chaos and disharmony. Every day, people were driven apart by their differences, forced into conflict because they couldn’t see through each others’ eyes. I’ve showed them all a better way. A way where all are free from the tyranny of the individual, where all are one in mind, body and... well, I’d say soul, but I don’t believe in superstitions.”

“Y-you...” Sunset’s fists clenched. She stepped forward, locking eyes against the monstrosity Starlight had become. “You won’t get away with this!”

A thin frown crossed Starlight’s lips. Her nose curled upwards, wrinkling as it did. “Oh dear. Is that a whiff of dissent I smell? That means you’re still thinking as yourself. We can’t have that now, can we?”

Then, in a swift motion, Starlight raised her right hand and snapped her skeletal fingers, a bright flash of white light and magic echoing alongside the sound. Instantly, the students that were wandering mindlessly through the halls turned their attention to her, their sluggish gaits snapping into purposeful, firm postures.

With her right hand still raised, Starlight pointed her left finger towards sunset, her face twisting into a vicious scowl. “This human has escaped compleation. Kill it and harvest it for parts.”

Sunset’s entire body went rigid. Her rational mind ground to a halt as every instinct, every base impulse screamed at her to act. It took her less than a fraction of a second to respond.

Without even thinking, she pulled mana from across entire planes, pouring it into her hands. With her palms extended outward, she thrust them both in Starlight’s direction. Two bolts of intense orange plasma erupted from each of her palms, spiraling out and twisting into a double-helix pattern as they traveled.

Starlight’s eyes went wide. She let out a yelp of pain as the plasma helix struck her straight in the center of her abdomen, catapulting her backwards, straight to the other side of the hallway. The students paused, as if taken aback in surprise, then turned to face Sunset with murderous glares in their otherwise empty eyes.

Sunset sprinted forward without another moment’s hesitation. She pushed past the zombified students as she ran straight for the exit, her sleeves tearing up as their claws swiped at her passing by, only narrowly missing her flesh. Behind her, she could hear the Starlight cursing at her fading into the distance.

Just before she reached the front exit, a large mass of students formed in front of the entrance hall, blocking the way out. By then, however, Sunset’s thoughts had caught up to her, and she was able to quickly form an escape plan. Pulling the same magic into her hands she felt before, she channeled it into a different spell. Her field of vision disappeared in a flash of orange light, and reappeared just outside of Canterlot High’s front door. Her lungs still burning from the effort, she paused to catch her breath.

Her respite was short-lived, however, as the front doors soon burst open, and the students began pouring outwards in a single, flowing mass of bodies. Pushing herself even further, Sunset bolted past the school grounds and into the city proper.

To her utter dismay, the rest of the city had fared no better. Though the architecture she was familiar with was almost entirely intact, they were now all covered by the same thick grime that permeated the ground outside Canterlot High, and nearly all of the buildings had additional construction scaffolding added, as smokestacks and chimneys of unknown purpose were in the process of being built onto them. The construction was attended by more people, modified into porcelain abominations in much the same way the students of Canterlot High were. They paid Sunset no mind as she darted past them, utterly enthralled by their own work.

A familiar sight came up in the distance, that of a malt shop. It too was in the process of being transformed into an industrialized building, with more vaguely-human creatures attending to its construction. As her eyes crossed over it, a familiar and horrifying recollection came to Sunset’s mind

Pinkie worked there over the summer. Oh god, Pinkie! What happened to her? Don’t tell me she’s been—

Sunset didn’t have time to finish the thought. The sound of rolling tires and roaring came crashing onto the edges of her hearing, and they were rapidly approaching by the second. Before she could even question the source, several military jeeps drove up to her, still bearing the symbol of the National Guard, screeching to a halt as they came to stop around her. Sunset’s heart dropped into the pit of her stomach as she realized that they had surrounded her on all sides.

The things that poured out of the vehicles were dressed in combat fatigues befitting a war zone, but their bodies had also been modified with the gleaming porcelain-bone parts as everyone else. They moved into position in perfect coordination, brandishing porcelain guns that Sunset could have sworn were grafted to their forearms.

There were no orders given to fire. They simply acted, as though they simply knew what Starlight had demanded be done to Sunset to begin with. Sunset quickly threw up a shield spell, an orange dome of solid light that separated her from the hostile forces outside. The bullets slammed against the shield like raindrops, and within seconds Sunset could feel the shield beginning to crack from the force.

“T-they’re actually going to kill me!” Sunset cried out, despite knowing that nobody would listen. “I-I’m actually going to die!” As the words forced themselves from her throat, she felt the tears flowing falling freely from the corners of her eyes, her mind so numb with despair the she couldn’t even contemplate the possibility of escape.

It was then, unexpectedly, that someone actually responded.

“Psst! Down here!”

The voice came as a stage whisper, only barely making an attempt to sound subtle, yet the soldiers showed no notice of it beneath the gunfire. Sunset turned her head down, towards the source of the voice, and saw a manhole cover that was just lifted up from beneath. Peeking out from below was a pair of bright blue eyes and a tuft of very fluffy, very pink hair.

“Pinkie!?”

“Get in!” said Pinkie “There’s no time!”

“What? But—”

“Don’t worry, the Phyrexians won’t notice,” said Pinkie. “In case you couldn’t tell, they’re not too bright. Now come on!”

Sunset didn’t need to be told again. Any reservations she might have had about traveling into a sewer disappeared as she lifted the manhole cover and climbed down the ladder after Pinkie. When she reached the bottom, she stood on a walkway just beside a large stream of water flowing through the implausibly spacious sewer pipe. Despite the walkway being coated with the same grime that covered the city outside, sunset couldn’t help but notice that the sewer water was unusually clean, and that there was no unpleasant smell in the sewer at all.

Before she could question it any further. Sunset found herself being pulled into a hug so tight that it forced all of the remaining air out of her lungs, and very nearly crushed her ribcage.

“Ohmigosh, Sunset! I’m soooooooo happy to see you! We all thought you’d disappeared!”

“Breathing, please,” Sunset barely managed to choke out. Pinkie pulled away, her face somehow turning even pinker as she gave a sheepish grin.

“Whoops, sorry. Forgot about my new strength for a bit,” said Pinkie.

Sunset initially didn’t register the words, as she was too busy making sure she was getting enough air to her oxygen-deprived brain. When she finally realized what had been said, her eyes went wide. “Wait, new strength?”

“I’ll explain later. Now come on, we have so much to show you! And don’t worry about the sewage, Phyrexians don’t poop.”

“I... what? Pinkie, what’s— whoa!”

Before she knew it, Sunset was being forcibly grabbed by the arm and almost literally dragged through the sewer. The path that Pinkie led her on wound through dozens of identical passages through the sewer, so much so that Sunset couldn’t even tell if they’d gone in circles, but eventually they reached their destination. It was an unmarked green door, built into the side of the concrete wall, the kind you saw in maintenance corridors that didn’t even have a doorknob. Pinkie reached out with a closed hand, and gave three loud, forceful knocks.

“Does the black moon howl?” came a muffled voice.

“No, but its cheese curds are dee-licious!” Pinkie replied.

With a click of a lock, the door slowly opened. Pinkie slowly walked in, beckoning Sunset to follow.

As Sunset stepped inside, what she saw was far from any maintenance room she’d ever expected. Though the concrete walls were dirty and pipes jutted out in awkward places, it proved to be exceedingly spacious. In one corner was a series of bunk beds and dressers, decorated with various personal touches, and in another was a patch of soil that was entirely out of place in its environment, with miniature apple trees growing unimpeded from it. Resting against the far wall of the room was a very large computer, consisting of a tiny monitor and a disproportionately massive body, seemingly constructed entirely out of scrap and pieces of trash.

But more importantly, all of Sunset’s closest friends were present. Applejack was attending to the trees with a watering can, Rarity was sitting on her bed and helping Fluttershy brush her hair, and Rainbow was lying down on her own bunk and reading a Daring Do novel. Sitting in front of the computer, atop an old and tattered office chair, was Twilight.

Twilight swiveled around in her chair, and turned to face the new arrivals. “Glad you made it back safely, Pinkie. Did you find the source of that magic I...” Her words died off in her throat. As her jaw hung loose, she was forced to hold up her glasses to prevent them from falling off her nose. “Sunset!?”

“Twilight!”

Sunset rushed in as quickly as she could. In less than a second, both of their arms were wrapped tightly around each other, as they shared their mutual embrace. After what seemed like an eternity, but didn’t even feel half long enough, they pulled away, gazing deeply into each others’ eyes.

“Sunset! I... I can’t believe it’s you! I thought I’d never see you again!”

“I... know,” said Sunset. “I’m sorry I disappeared like that. I never meant to, and I...”

“It’s okay, Sunset.” With a gentle touch, Twilight brushed away a tear that had formed in Sunset’s eyes. Her soft smile shone radiantly, its very presence a soothing warmth that permeated into the core of Sunset’s heart. “You’re here, and you’re alive. That’s what matters.”

“I... Yeah,” said Sunset. “You’re right. I guess it is.” As she stepped back, she saw all of her other friends had gathered around her. “So, uh... it looks like I missed a few things.”

“Darn tootin’ you did,” said Applejack, flashing her a smirk. “Welcome to the Resistance, Sunset.”

————————

Concordant Consecration 2W

Enchantment — Aura

Enchant land

When Concordant Consecration enters the battlefield, remove all -1/-1 counters from creatures you control.

Whenever enchanted land is tapped for mana, target creature you control gains protection from creatures with infect until end of turn.

Harmony’s power is anathema to Phyrexia, and her slightest touch can drive away the strongest contagions.

Author's Note:

And here we are, the next installment of the main MLPlaneswalker story. I’d said in my blog that this would be the darkest entry in the series, and you can probably see here why that is.

I won’t spoil the ending, but I will say that the resolution I have planned here is going to quite radically alter the MLP duoverse’s role in the wider MtG multiverse, so don’t count the bleak setting as necessarily being a permanent thing.

Comments

[FanOfMostEverything]

I’ve helped the students of Canterlot High find their true purpose in life. As well as everyone else in the city. And the military. Aaaaaand since this is your capital city, you can go ahead and count most of your elected leaders, too.

Oh no! Phyrexia has mastered the changeling art of the offscreen takeover!

Aside from the Season 6 finale flashbacks, great work in setting the mood. And no one said we wouldn't be getting more details later on. Definitely looking forward to seeing where you go with this.

[Guldane]

I would totally make a commander deck out of Starlight's card, but the people I play with would probably refuse to play against it more than once.

As far as the card's actual abilities go, I almost think that having her make all creatures other than her lose their abilities would make sense, given that's exactly what she did in her first appearance on the show. Then again, Linvala is similarly opponents only, though it's more specific, and at that point she may as well just be giving all your creatures +2/+2

I'm not actually sure how two Starlight Glimmer cards on opposing sides would interact; the other examples I can think of (Linvala, the archetypes) are more clear, as copies of them wouldn't prevent the original from working.

[Zennistrad]

8732062

If two Starlight cards are on the battlefield, the one with the most recent timestamp would negate the abilities of the others. Effectively, that means only the instance of Starlight that was most recently played has an effect.

Her ability is meant to affect your opponents disproportionately, since one of the core mechanical concepts of New Phyrexia is "insult to injury." That is to say, cards that don't just grant you an enormous benefit, but also hose your opponents even further on the side. This is seen in the design of all of the Praetors, which not only grant hugely powerful buffs to your board state but also shut down your opponents by making their board states weaker.

[Honey Lavender]

Viva la Resistance

[Drachos]

8731988

Oh no! Phyrexia has mastered the changeling art of the offscreen takeover!

Ok, I have to admit, I got a giggle out of that. At least all hints point to actual build up from our beloved Changling Queen this next season instead of just, "Suddenly Changelings."

This is a brilliant start to the story, although while it is cannon that Elesh Norn effectively rules Phyrexia now, and its world view meshes very well with Starlight, I hope we get to explore what remains of the other factions as time goes on. Cause this first chapter was a WHOLE lot of he Machine Orthodoxy.

We have confirmation Jix-Gitaxias and his Progress Engine faction survived in some form or another. I HOPE Sheoldred survived, although Elesh Norn is not one to leave loose ends so I doubt it. Her type of traitorous evil will be missed.....although its possible a new Thrane has risen in her place. Geth and Kraynox were the most heavily described in cannon, although the Thrane's on the whole were largely ignored from what I can find out.

Urabrask is almost certainly dead sadly, Elesh would never abide by its effective rebellion and view on freedom. Let alone its refusal to help in the Atraxa project. It would have been fun to see how the Main7 react to Urabrask's inevitable offer to help. Well for a set definition of the word 'help.' IF it lives, and I honestly think its the most likely of the praetor's to be dead, it will likely be working hard to bring Elesh down.

So....Friendship is magic, right? Even if the friend in this case is made of metal, on fire, and violent beyond all reason.

Who am I forget.....oh....right....Vorinclex. I really REALLY hope it is dead. Surely the Machine Orthodoxy wouldn't accept the presence of the Vicious Swarm, right? Cause honestly, if they are still floating around, those sewers are no where near as safe as the Main7 think.

[Gavier]

Harmony’s power is anathema to Phyrexia, and her slightest touch can drive away the strongest contagions.

Well, it is convenient, but they would't have a chance otherwise.

[titanhades70]

You do know that that world's Starlight would be the same age as Starlight when she goes through the portal, right?

Seeing as Starlight is younger than Twilight, and pony Twilight as a human looks exactly like human world Twilight. You know where I am going with this.

[Zennistrad]

8732693

Nope, in this canon counterparts don’t necessarily have to be the same age as each other, nor necessarily even live at the same point in history. (Case in point, the human Celestia is most definitely not twelve centuries old.)

[Bugsydor]

Interesting that both sides claim to fight for harmony, even if only the good guys get a legitimate claim to represent it.

So is Glimmer the chief Phyrexian in charge on this plane, or does she get to report to the Praetors?

[kathador]

You know, I actually have seen the subject of Old Phyrexia vs. the real world more than once on the debate site I frequent. The arguments i saw were all very sound and well sourced, and were conclusive in that Phyrexia would almost inevitably win. they would simply merge Rath with the Earth with no old-school planes-walkers to stop it, and they would have billions if not trillions (I s**t you not, with phyrexia being an industrialized hell pit that is nine hollow sphere each within another with "life" being engineered, sustaining such numbers is entirely feasible. Hell Coruscant is able to single a 1 trillion citizens in SW legends canon, so Phyrexia has it easy) of troops flooding the planet everywhere at once on all fronts. Everything would be the front line, and countless super-plagues would rip across the planetary population, raising all killed as undead.

Our infrastructure would collapse, leaving their air-fleets (an actual canon MTG comic showed that even single attack fleets can be 1000 ships strong) to transport their armies while we finally run out of anti-air missiles.

Worst of all, the Phyrexians would completely appreciate the tactical advantages of RL tactics and weapons and would immediately start on reverse-egineering everything, accelerated by the knowledge of those they convert into phyrxians.

I am so tense right now righting this. This chapter isn't that scary, but I fully realize just how horrifying Phyrexia is. They are like a fantasy fusion of the borg and zerg, except actually well-written, and with brains. I see that these are the newer Phyrexians, who are more like a plague than a military force per se, but its the same idea

In Yawgmoth's name: