• Published 14th Aug 2020
  • 2,796 Views, 84 Comments

Extradimensional Owl Quest - Thought Prism



To stop a grave threat from unleashing havoc upon all the realms, an infamous rogue warlock, the king of demons, and a student of a lost arcane art must embark on an epic quest to the most dangerous part of Equestria. Well, dramatically speaking.

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Just another normal day for the Owl Housemates

"Ooo, this is so exciting!" Luz squealed as she skipped happily down the winding roads of Bonesborough. Various folk took advantage of the sunny afternoon, from toothy demon children playing games in the park to gelatinous buisnesslimes hawking their wares. Overhead, bat-winged things with too many eyeballs perched on the tiled rooves of the medieval buildings or the town's namesake giant, ancient rib bones. None of this particularly bothered Luz anymore, she had gotten used to the pervasive weirdness of the place by now, and had actually come to appreciate it greatly. Really, it all barely registered to Luz, overcome with gleeful anticipation as she was. "I still can't believe Willow hasn't invited me to hang out at her place before now!"

"I know, right? You must not actually be very good friends," replied King, whom she was currently carrying in front of her stomach in both hands. His exposed skull shone in the light. "That's why I prefer minions."

"I dunno, you've been spending less and less time with your 'minions' lately," Luz quipped, grinning. King's plush collection had been languishing in disuse as the two of them spent more time together.

King tried to explain this discrepancy without sacrificing his image, turning away. "Well, that's just 'cause you're more useful than they are, and a better conversationalist. Also cooler."

"Especially when she's practicing her magic. Get it? Huh, huh?"

That was Eda, who followed behind them with a level of nonchalance usually not seen in wanted fugitives with bounties of over nine figures. Her grey mop of hair waved in the noxious-smelling breeze.

Luz's eyes widened. "Oh, because it's an ice spell, I get it." After a few more silent footsteps, Luz peeked over her shoulder, asking "Hey Eda, why are you coming with us, anyway? You never take this much of an interest in my friends."

The old witch picked at her pointed ear. "Eh. I was bored. Nothing like a little aggravation or confusion to liven things up, I always say!" she declared, laugh-snorting. "Besides, I need to know what young ones like these days if I'm gonna shake 'em down for their parents' hard-earned snails!"

"Oh, okay," Luz cheerfully replied, seeing nothing wrong with that. Typical Eda.

"Well, they better serve up royal delicacies to their esteemed guests, or this guy is leaving," King declared.

"Don't worry, I'm sure Willow will have treats for her favorite widdle monster," Luz cooed, rubbing King's belly. He made a token effort of obstinately batting her hands away, but eventually relented to being pet.

"When are we gonna get there, anyway?" King asked, once he'd recovered.

"Why are you complaining? You don't even have to walk!" Eda pointed out.

"Oh, that's rich, coming from miss 'flies-everywhere-on-a-magic-staff'," he retorted.

"Willow's place should be just around that corner, going by the map she gave me," Luz said, gesturing to it with a thumb.

Said map was flying in front of Luz. Instead of a boring old GPS app, this one was a big firefly shaped like a glowing green arrow, flitting along with stubby wings. This was unsurprising; lots of stuff on the Isles was alive that probably didn't need to be, like her locker at magic school.

"Excellent," King uttered, rubbing his paws maniacally. "Soon my bottomless hunger for sustenance shall be sated by the toil of my lessers."

Luz just shook her head. Silly King, how could he ever be full if he really was always hungry? His tiny stomach could only hold so much.

Anyhow, they were approaching Willow's place now, the two-story house standing out by virtue of the many varieties of colorful flowers and thorny, carnivorous vines in pots on the balconies. Willow was a super talented plant mage, after all. However, as Luz and Eda rounded the bend, putting the front door into view, they abruptly froze in their tracks. For standing at attention on either side of the wooden entrance were a pair of figures in black uniforms and white cowls, bird masks hiding their faces.

"You have arrived at your destination," the map buzzed. "My purpose is complete." Then it screeched in agony as its young burst out of its abdomen to take flight in all directions, the oozing carcass of the mother map falling to the street with a plap.

The trio barely noticed, though, as they were still too busy gawking at the motionless witches standing outside the door. "Are they..." Luz began, in disbelief.

"The Emperor's Coven," Eda said, shaking her head. "Fantastic. I guess I'm getting my workout in today."

As she summoned her staff, with Owlbert, into her hand, Eda rolled her opposite shoulder, limbering up for a fight. At the same time, the masked witches noticed, one of them shouting "It's the Owl Lady!" and readying a spell while the other ran inside.

King tugged on Luz's collar. "Now would be a good time to run and hide, Luz. These guys are out of my league, no way you can win."

"What? No!" Luz protested. "Willow could be in trouble, I have to help her!" She bounced on the balls of her feet, intending on making a break for the door once Eda made an opening.

However, before either Eda or the Coven witch made a move to attack, the door opened again, and out stepped Lilith, Eda's estranged sister, in her ebony dress. Her teal eyes twinkled with mixed emotions, though her expression betrayed nothing. "If it isn't Edalyn and her human ward. As if I needed another headache today."

"'Sup, Lily," Eda waved, shooting her a fanged smirk. "What an unpleasant surprise."

"What do you want with Willow?" Luz pressed, her brow furrowing. She'd been through enough recently already, Willow didn't need any more trouble on top of that! What could such a sweetie have possibly have done wrong?

At this, Lilith blinked. "The girl? Oh, you misunderstand, child, I'm not here for her. It's her father; he brought something critical to our attention."

"Ooo, a mystery. And one more important than apprehending me?" Eda leaned forwards, resting her weight on her staff. "Care to share the juicy deets with your dear sibling?"

"Actually..." Lilith muttered, rubbing her sharp chin. "You know what? Yes, I believe I will." Then, she stepped to the side, waving Luz, Eda, and King inside.

Luz wasted no time, dashing inside to find her dear classmate, while Eda strutted smugly after her. The house was suitably inviting, with typical furniture and knicknacks (at least for Bonesborough) contrasting the Owl House's cursed relics and eldritch decor. But all that fell by the wayside when her gaze met Willow's through an open archway. The bespectacled, squeezably-figured teenager stood behind three of the Coven people, peeking between them in desperation alongside her two fathers, one of whom was being pressed for information. "Luz!"

"Willow!" Luz exclaimed. They rushed towards eachother, the adult witches allowing Willow to pass. Luz dropped King in order to embrace her friend. "I was really worried for a hot minute there! Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Luz," she replied, relaxing into the hug for a beat before pulling away. "I'm glad you're here. Honestly, this is just a case of really awkward timing." Willow scratched the back of her head. "It's just that Peyote found something important at work, and had to alert the government."

That sure was a weight off of Luz's shoulders. "Peyote's one of your dads, right? What does he do?"

"He's in the Scrying Coven," Willow explained, pointing to a crystal ball on a desk in the next room. "It's a smaller offshoot of the Oracle Coven that focuses on gathering new knowledge through the observation of other realms instead of this one. It's a lot harder to do."

"Oh, that sounds really interesting!" Luz clapped her hands together. "Does he ever look at Earth?"

Before Willow could answer, King piped in, having finished readjusting himself to standing. "Who cares about your crummy home, Luz? I wanna know what has the Emperor's mooks so worked up."

"I was getting to that," sighed Lilith as she and Eda closed the distance between them. Lilith cleared her throat. "According to Peyote, during his latest survey of one of the more recently discovered magical realms, he saw... a giraffe."

Eda and King gasped in surprise, while Willow nodded solemnly. Luz, though, after observing their reactions, tilted her head, uncomprehending. Eda had mentioned giraffes offhand before, but she still didn't get what the big deal was. "Why is that concerning? Giraffes are nifty, they just wander around quietly eating off of trees. There's plenty of stuff here way more threatening."

"And you would be right, human-ling, if the giraffe was in your realm with all the others," Lilith explained.

"It's Luz," she interjected. "And that answer really just raises more questions."

"Wait, I got this!" King insisted, pulling out his Book of Demons and flipping to a specific pace before presenting it to Luz. On it was a picture of a giraffe and the accompanying lore. "A long, long time ago, giraffes struck terror into the hearts of all on the Boiling Isles, truly nightmarish creatures. Not as powerful or scary as me, of course, but close. What made them especially dangerous was that being near sources of powerful magic - natural leylines, witches, whatever - made them smarter AND more powerful. But the opposite was also true, so you could make them stupid and useless by putting them somewhere without much magic."

Lilith actually looked somewhat impressed by King, humming appreciatively before taking over. "The Second Emperor led a great hunt to cleanse the land of all the giraffes. After many grueling battles with heavy losses on both sides, those demons which remained were banished to Earth, a place with no native magic at all. At least, we thought they'd all been banished there." Lilith crossed her arms. "Unfortunately, one seems to have escaped somehow."

"It's a serious problem, Luz," Willow confirmed. She looked wrong without her usual chipper, dimpled smile.

Luz's mind raced as she connected the dots, all thoughts of a relaxing evening scattered. "So, like... somebody needs to get to this giraffe and put it back on Earth before it becomes a threat?"

"Perhaps," Lilith said. "There is quite a bit of risk involved, as some people should know." Frowning, she pointedly faced Eda.

Eda, for her part, waved in dismissal. "Pfft. I may have a blatant disregard for the rules, but I'm not stupid. Why do you think I only go back and forth to the human realm? Apart from the huge piles of free garbage, obviously."

Willow clearly didn't know what to make of this. Leaning down to King, she quietly asked "Garbage?" King just nodded and rolled his eyes.

Luz, though, was hung up on the other part of that statement. "I'm missing something here," Luz said. Then she clasped her hands behind her back. "Care to enlighten me, O mentor mine?"

Eda couldn't help but grin. "Well, kid, actually going to other realms is strictly forbidden. Technically." With a pose, Eda raised her hands, conjuring two distinctly different blobs of illusory energy, one green and roiling, the other a stable orange. "Sources of magic from different worlds can sometimes react unpredictably. And not in the fun way." Bringing her hands together, the two magics met, exploding into a violent - but harmless - shower of sparks.

Understanding dawned within Luz. No wonder even Eda was hesitant, if there was a chance of that happening! "Woah."

"If she ran around hopping dimensions willy-nilly, Eda could lose her magic entirely. They she'd just be a kooky old bird everyone hates!" King laughed.

"Thanks, King," Eda said, the insult bouncing off. Verbal jabs were just how they rolled, Luz had learned.

"Normally, serious matters of public safety fall under our jurisdiction, but for this particular matter, the risk is too high," Lilith said, lips pursed. "That's why, under these special circumstances, I'm going to ask you to do this, Edalyn."

There was a long pause as this soaked in. Then, Eda's smile widened. "You sly dog." She rested a hand on her cocked hips. "Either I stop the giraffe for you, and your pristine hide stays out of hot water, or I get beat, and you can sweep in and pick up the pieces. How very underhanded, didn't think you had it in ya!"

"So, do you agree?" Lilith asked.

It wasn't that easy to convince Eda, though. An eyebrow rose. "What's in it for me?"

"Nothing too consequential," Lilith made certain to note. "Perhaps I'll put in a good word with the post office, get them to stop sending you those death hexes."

"Deal!" Eda agreed. They then shook on it, Lilith making sure to cast an Everlasting Oath, the flash of binding magic ensuring neither party could renege on the terms.

While the two of them were hashing that out, Luz's hype levels had shot through the roof. What an incredible opportunity, a whole new land to explore, possibly even with new magic to learn! She just had to tag along. After shooting an apologetic look at Willow, she turned to Eda. "Can I go with you? It would be so amazing! Pleeeease?" Luz begged, putting on her best baby-doll eyes. Might as well use 'em while she was still young enough, right?

Eda tried to remain resolute, but eventually relented with a sigh. "Ugh, fine, but only if you promise to never do that again. Too much more cuteness from you and I'll have to start carrying around sweetness wards."

"All right!" Luz exclaimed, pumping her fist. "Onward, to adventure!"

"Guess we're tabling our get-together for later, huh?" sighed Willow, her smile restored. Before Luz could apologize, Willow pulled her in for another hug. "It's okay, you have fun. Just make sure to tell me all about it when you get back."

After one last squeeze for good measure, Luz broke away, giving a salute. "Count on it. Later, Willow!"

"Alright, that's enough of that, time's a' wasting," chided Eda. Then, she reached into a pocket and extracted the key to her magic briefcase-door. Pressing the eye shaped button, it appeared in the air, unfolding downwards.

Without needing to be prompted, Lilith then drew another magic circle in the air, changing the color of the door from brown to soft pink, and presumably the end location along with it. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but... good luck."

Eda brandished her staff with a flourish. "I won't need any luck, I have skill."

"Just get out of here before I change my mind and arrest you," Lilith deadpanned, drawing her own bone white staff to poke her along.

"Yeah, yeah," went Eda, moving towards the door between realms.

Luz, meanwhile, was already next to it as she squatted shallowly and rapidly, chanting "Let's go, let's go, let's go!"

"Somebody's eager. And hey, why're you just standing there, King, you're coming too," Eda added, beckoning.

King, who had been spit-shining his horns, scampered over, huffing in annoyance. "Does this mean I'm not getting any snacks?"

"There'll be snacks on the other side, probably," Luz insisted. She still had almost no clue what this new world would actually be like, but if a giraffe could live there, there had to be plants, at least. Logic.

"Good enough for me," he said.

"Alright, one banished monstrosity, coming up!" Eda declared, pulling open the door. A shadowy space beckoned beyond the threshold. And Luz boldly leapt forwards into the unknown.