The Jasmine Dragon
The doors automatically closed behind Twilight and Tippi, cutting them off from Flipside.
“I can sense the Pure Heart…” Tippi said. “It’s a long ways away, but I have a clear signal…”
“You can do that?” Twilight asked.
“It is what I was made for…”
“I’ve been meaning to ask about that, how were you made? You’re an amazing piece of magically integrated technology unlike anything I’ve ever seen!”
“Uh…”
Their conversation was cut short by a surprise visitor. A large, pudgy human man with a wiry gray beard came out of one of the side rooms, scratching his side and yawning. He walked right past them to the simmering tea and added a few crushed leaves to the brew. In the midst of pouring it into some teacups, he stopped himself. Cautiously, he turned to Twilight, Tippi, and the large red door behind them.
“...Hi,” Twilight said, waving with a hoof.
“Hmmm…” The old man set his teapot down and examined the creatures before him. A few seconds later, he broke out into a grin. “It appears my tea has become so legendary it is even drawing customers from the Spirit World! Yes, come, come…”
“Spirit… world?” Twilight asked.
Tippi fluttered forward. “Records on this world show it has a subdimension filled largely with spiritual entities…”
“Oh!” Twilight smiled. “I’m sorry, sir, we’re not from your Spirit World. But…” She took in a deep breath through her nose, allowing the tea’s soothing aroma to calm her. “I would really like some of that tea. Tippi?”
“I cannot drink…”
“The double-edged sword of needing no sustenance,” the old man said, setting out a cup for himself and one for Twilight. “You don’t need food, but you can’t have food. I am sorry, Tippi. Is there anything I can provide you so that you may join us?”
“No, thank you…”
The old man nodded solemnly, bringing the cup to his lips. “I am Iroh. You are in my tea shop, the Jasmine Dragon.”
“Wonderful place,” Twilight said, gesturing at the dragon rug with her wing. “I’m Twilight Sparkle. And w—” She stopped taking when her attempt to levitate the teacup went horribly awry. Instead of surrounding the cup in a magenta aura with her magic, when her horn lit a swirling bubble of air appeared under the cup and spilled the beautiful tea. “S-sorry! Sorry! That’s not supposed to happen!”
Iroh chuckled. “This is a tea shop, Twilight, I am in no danger of running out of tea.” He poured her another cup.
She crossed her eyes to glare at her horn. “Why aren’t you behaving?”
“Different worlds have different magic rules,” Tippi offered. “The levitation spell does not appear to exist, here…”
“Oh.” Twilight blinked. She opted to use her wing to lift the cup to her lips instead, finding this much easier. “This might prove problematic…” She took a calm moment to sip the tea, a warm sense of bliss filling her as the drink slid down her throat. “Iroh, this tea is amazing.”
“If it wasn’t I would be out of a job before the sun was down!” Iroh chuckled.
Twilight nodded in agreement, opting to drink more of the soft, yet slightly tangy drink instead of responding.
“So, travelers from beyond the Spirit World…” Iroh leaned in. “What is your story?”
“We are searching for the Pure Hearts,” Twilight explained. “They’re… powerful artifacts hidden in each world, from what I understand. About this big…” She traced an outline with her free wing. “And just… beautiful to look upon.”
Iroh shook his head. “I’m afraid I’ve never heard of such a thing.”
“I hadn’t before today, either, but apparently they’re really, really important! Like, save all worlds kind of important!”
Iroh’s face became stern. “Ah… so that’s what the thing outside means.”
Twilight cocked her head. “...Thing outside?”
Slowly, Iroh walked to the front doors of the Jasmine Dragon and slid them open. Twilight couldn’t help but take in the scenery revealed to them: that of an immense city stretching as far as her eyes could see. The buildings were largely made of stone and tended toward a rectangular composition. What would have been the horizon was a wall that must have been absurdly high if she could see it from all these miles away. However, she hadn’t been led here to look at the earthen city—the actual target was a small purple vortex hovering just above the walls. It was hard to see in the glare of the morning, but it was unmistakable once noticed.
“It’s larger in this world…” Tippi observed ominously.
Iroh closed the doors with a sigh. “What, exactly, does that darkness wish to do?”
“Destroy all worlds. I’m… not sure why,” Twilight looked at the floor and scuffed her hoof across it. “I just know the creature behind it, Count Bleck, took my friends…”
“Then it appears time is of the essence!” Iroh clapped his hands together, suddenly moving with speed to the back of the Jasmine Dragon. “You no doubt have a long journey ahead of you, noble heroes, and I will do what I can to make it easier for you.”
“You really don’t have to,” Twilight said. “...Though, considering that I don’t know anything about this world, and that my magic isn’t even working properly, I might need it more than I think.”
Iroh came out of the back with a satchel. “In here are detailed maps of the world, navigation equipment, food, some spare change I keep around, and, of course, the most important thing…”
“A tea set?” Twilight guessed.
Iroh let out a belly laugh. “You met me five minutes ago and you already know me like the back of your hand!”
Twilight held up her hoof and raised an eyebrow.
“Hmm… I’m going to need a new idiom…” He laid the satchel over her back. It was made for humans so it slid downward, becoming more like a necklace than a proper satchel. He had to tighten it considerably to keep it from scraping on the ground. “There you go.”
“Thank you.” She moved to adjust it with her hooves, but found that her hooves slid right off the strap instead of grabbing onto it like they did back home. They were flat and solid—no different from a wild deer’s hooves. Mundane. “I can’t even pick things up with my hooves? That’s… that’s going to be really annoying.” She had to use her wing once again to comfortably adjust the satchel.
“Now, it would be best if you kept a low profile,” Iroh said. “I sugges—”
Someone kicked in the doors to the Jasmine Dragon, drawing their attention. It was a short black-haired girl with bangs that were an utter mess while the rest of her hair was done up rather neatly in a ball-like bundle. This bundle was kept in place by a headband with puffy balls on the ends. Her outfit was somehow both simple and standout; a loose wrap of simple cloth held in place by a tall belt overtop a forest green undergarment. As she walked in, she took every step with a forceful thud that would have made most people’s feet hurt—and she was completely barefoot! She took a seat at the counter and held out a hand.
Iroh gave her a cup of tea without another word, suggesting this had happened many times before. She downed it like she was taking a shot, slamming the cup back onto the counter. “So, Iroh, why do you have a new door and a unicorn-bird?”
“You noticed the door, did you…?” Iroh chuckled.
The girl swiveled around on the stool, stomping on the ground with one of her bare feet. “It’s hard for me not to notice. I feel the nothing behind it. Really stands out.”
Iroh chuckled. “Well, I suppose it would be impossible to try to hide it from you, Toph.”
“You haven’t even tried!”
“I was planning on putting a curtain up before we opened officially.”
“Official opening times are for losers.” Toph kicked her feet up on the counter and leaned back, picking her ear with a loose finger. “You always say to go with the flow.”
“Yes, and the flow of the city is to have an opening time.”
“Eh, whatever.” Toph waved a hand dismissively. “You still haven’t explained to me why you have this stuff.”
“Well, Twilight? Want to explain?”
Twilight cleared her throat. “We are travelers from another w—”
“Stop it right there,” Toph said, holding up a hand without even looking in Twilight’s direction. “One, holy bat-cows you can talk. Give me a moment to process that. Two, ‘we?’ I only feel you and Iroh in here.”
“Um, I’m here as well…” Tippi said. “Can you not see me?”
“Nope!” Toph swiveled around in her stool to look right at Tippi with glazed over eyes. She waved her hand in front of her face. “Totally blind!”
“Oh, I’m so sorry…” Tippi shrunk back. “I didn’t know…”
Twilight furrowed her brow. “You can’t see… but you can feel. That’s why you stomp on the ground, isn’t it? And why you couldn’t sense Tippi, she’s flying.”
Toph clapped her hands together. “We got ourselves a regular detective here, Iroh! Amazing, where did you find this one?”
“She found me,” Iroh said. At this point, he had returned to his work, continuing to prepare tea for patrons that would presumably be arriving soon. “I still have no idea where she came from.”
“Another world,” Twilight explained. “We’re here searching for an artifact called the Pure Heart to stop an evil man from destroying all worlds.”
Toph pointed an accusing finger at Twilight. “That sounds like a quest.”
“Uh…”
“I’m going with you.” Toph crossed her arms, grinning. “I’ve got nothing better to do.”
“That’s… not technically true,” Iroh pointed out.
Toph pointed a finger at his head. “Zip it.”
Iroh shrugged. “You are your own woman…”
“Uh…” Tippi said. “I’m not sure we should take on a… Er…”
“Not sure you should take on a blind girl?” Toph finished for her. “Let me show you something.” She stomped on the ground, prompting a pillar of rock to erupt from the tiles, smacking Tippi to the side. “You got yourselves a master earthbender right in front of you!”
Tippi recovered from the light smack quickly, but she backed away from Toph nervously. “Um…”
“Earthbending…” Twilight experimentally tapped the ground with her hoof, prompting a small chunk of rocky tile to bounce out of the ground. “This magic works!”
“You didn’t tell me she was an earthbender!” Toph called.
“I thought she was an airbender,” Iroh said with a shrug.
“I’m not… any of those things.” Twilight shuffled around on her hooves. “My world’s magic just works differently. Apparently.”
“And do stop earthbending in my shop,” Iroh said. “I can’t put it back.”
“Fine, fine…” Toph pressed her feet carefully into the ground and thrust her hands downward, pushing her pillar and Twilight’s chunk back into the floor. Then she waved her hands flat against the ground, smoothing the floor out as if nothing had happened. “There you go, good as new!”
“This magic is versatile…” Twilight mused. She spread her wings, sending out a burst of air. “Earth and air… what other kinds of ‘bending’ does this world have?”
“Fire and water,” Iroh answered.
Twilight was easily able to create a fireball at the tip of her horn, but when she tried to alter the water in nearby tea… nothing happened. “Hmm. I’m not getting a response.”
“I was thinking she was some kind of alien Avatar, what gives?” Toph asked.
Twilight stamped her hoof as she got an idea. “Aha! I’m an alicorn, a combination of three different pony races—unicorn, pegasus, and earth pony. Fire, air, and earth! I simply don’t have a water component.”
“That’s not how bending works,” Toph said.
“Who are we to say what bending is like in other worlds?” Iroh asked.
“I… shut up.” Toph folded her arms and blew her hair out of her face. “Let’s just get going and save all worlds or some junk.”
“All right!” Twilight cheered.
“Now, we’re going to need to get out of the city,” Toph said. “And to do that, I’m gonna have to stuff the floating thing I can’t see in a sack and Twilight’s gonna have to act like an animal.”
“W-what?” Tippi and Twilight sputtered in unison.
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Are you planning a 1 ally per world thing? Just curious.
10566460
No, there are too many worlds for that.
-GM, master of numbas
10566461
any chances of disney's gargoyles showing up?
10566489
All franchises are supposed to be a surprise, you know I can't say anything!
-GM, master of soup.
10566461
shouldn't there be just 8 worlds cause 8 hearts.. or wait, are you letting some worlds 'fail' ?
10566493
There are "8"* worlds (Asterisk to be explained in story much much later) and 8 is a bit too large of a number of main characters in the main group, considering the kind of focus this story has.
Also if characters joined at the ending worlds they wouldn't have time to integrate with the group in a satisfying way.
-GM, master of chars.
10566495
makes sense, so no 108 stars of destiny or 4 heroes of light. Heh, good luck with this story man
Cool!
10566495
So based on the episode with the alicorn amulet, zebra would have water bending?
10566535
Not everything needs to be defined.
-GM, master of lotta questions today.
Iroh seems surprisingly unsurprised by Twilight’s arrival. Does he know more than he’s letting onto?
10566535 Do you read the comics? Because the kelpies from Zecora’s homeland are basically waterbenders.
10566606
It's Iroh. He's seen shit.
I love how Toph was just like "Yep I'm part of this adventure now and you can't stop me"
Very in character. And also just funny.
Welp, we've peaked. The greatest character in all of fiction has made his appearance, nothing else will top this, feel free to go home everyon- wait no guys I wasn't serious it was a joke come back
Oh hey, it's the ever-present, ever-expanding hole in the fabric of reality that threatens to consume all of space and time, The Void! It's my favorite character! ... Well, except for Luigi. I like Luigi.
Wow, it's almost like hooves aren't designed for grabbing things, who would have thought.
Toph joined the party without your consent.
Quick, someone find a sea-pony and staple it to Twilight! She needs to complete the set!
Ah Toph. Always one for the most subtle of tact.
And so begins our journey in the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender. It may not be our first time seeing this world from you, but this is a fresh take, with a different focus and a new kind of adventure. Sassy blind rock girl has joined the party, (Even if I still can't find the [REDACTED] button on my controller) and our quest is underway! Onwards to Chapter 1-1! Wait what do you mean we're not using the sub-chapters in this one? Wait what do you mean "there's no gameplay, this is a story"? Wait GM I thought this was a video game I've been lied to I want my money back what do you mean I didn't pay anythin-
Why is it that it took the Iroh appearing to figure out what world this was.
This is why having a good Electric or Ice-Type is so handy in your part- oh wait, wrong Nintendoverse interface.
The legendary Alicorn, master of "almost all four elements"
In the spirit of Paper Mario.
10567339
Ooooh, yes, I approve.
-GM, master of tattletale.
And we're in the Avatar world once again, still haven't watched it but thanks to your stories and memes I'm familiar enough with characters.
The funny part is, this is the same ability spread as Avatar Twilight by the 3rd book of Avatar: The Last Alicorn. Which I know GM has not read.
Of course, if you know your Avatar, it will always be that order if Twilight starts as a Unicorn.
10567339
Damn, this is a great idea. I always forget these exist, otherwise I might have done this myself. Ah well, guess I'll stick to failing to be funny instead.
I could feel that primer in my bones.
Ah, going for the "two halves of the same whole" approach. Makes sense.
Oh. Oh dear. This could go very nastily in the future depending on just how different the rules can get...
Oof. No sticky hooves. That'll be quite obnoxious. Especially if it proves to be a running theme.
Bah. She's the bluest member of the Mane Six. Of course, that's a different set of rules entirely...
This should be quite interesting. Especially if Toph decides to follow them out of the local universe. If Twilight's hooves are inconvenient, nonfunctional tremorsense will be a real bother. But first, time to sneak out of the city!
... And the thought occurs that Toph doesn't know that Twilight is purple. This may be a harder sell than she realizes.
10566654
I see you too are a person of exquisite taste.
Considering my exposure to Avatar is "not a whole heck of a lot," this will be interesting to see play out. Toph is kind of a bitch it seems, so that'll foil hard against Twilight. Especially since her magic and basic-pony-ness is hindered. Can she even still fly?
Speaking of magic,
>Distinct lack of water bending
This amuses me, since I frequently compare magic and the movements of earth pony magic specifically to that of flowing water, and pegasi naturally having abilities to bring rain via various weather-related special talents. I like this sharp contrast, since it stands out against my own writing.
…Iroh?
IROH!!!!!!!!
I find it interesting how Twilight's magic has to conform to the kind of magic the world she's in has.
I imagine we might be seeing Toph take on O'Chunks. I look forward to that.
soooooooooo, we aint getting the other pixls?
thats a shame, would have loved to see how you expand on them and their characters
This is exactly what I would expect from twilight just randomly showing up in the world of Avatar and I love it.
I’m barely even part way into the story’s first chapter and I want someone to make this into a Super Paper Mario hack, plus Paper Mario art style.