Ch.1 - Wanderer
My Little Sacrifice:
Chapter 1 - Wanderer
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Eldred felt the Astral Void pulling at him, tearing at his magic and his soul. He would have lost himself to it, to the endless, swirling chaos around him, to the madness that danced at the edges of his thoughts as his mind and soul struggled to understand this realm between realities, comprehend its nonexistent laws. Few could safely travel through the Astral Void, Demons from the various Hell Dimensions being among them. For a Wizard, they either had to create a Gate and anchor it between two worlds, or rely on the help of another. In Eldred’s case, his other was his trusted Imp, Zyzyx, the only constant companion he had anymore.
“Master,” Zyzyx said as he guided them both safely through the Astral Void, “where shall we go now?”
Eldred did his best to block out the Astral Void’s chaos and focus on Zyzyx, sighing. “I do not know, Zyzyx. I know even less than when we left Jhaera. We were running, then. Now, we are truly just wandering.”
“Do you think Stratos will send anything after us?” Zyzyx asked, concerned.
Eldred shook his head. “No, Stratos has plenty to do now that he is the only God of his ‘civilized’ world. He was happy enough for our assistance, and didn’t even take his boons. We should have nothing to fear from him.”
Eldred couldn’t help but growl as he thought of the God of the Heavens and his manipulations. Eldred had been happy for the knowledge and his place as one of The Servants. He expected deception from the God, but to think the insane balloon had actually summoned Marduk? Eldred was happy he had been able to finish his feud with the Demon Lord, and for that pleasure he sought no revenge against Stratos, but he would no longer involve himself with the God any further and take his knowledge and magic as payment for his services.
“Let us wash our hands of him, Zyzyx, and of that world,” Eldred said. “Take us to a world with magic. If I am to wander the worlds of the Astral Void, I will do it seeking the only true pleasure I can carry with me: knowledge.”
“As you wish, Master,” Zyzyx responded, casting his senses throughout the Astral Void, “Now then, let us see… ah! Here is one that could be interesting!”
“Interesting, you say? How so?”
“The world is… young, full of life and untapped power. Despite this, I can sense that it once had a barrier around it, and that it has had contact with other worlds. Many of them.”
“Hell dimensions?” Eldred asked, both concerned and curious by his familiar’s descriptions. He didn’t want to find himself in a world ruled by Devils and Demon Lords.
“No, actually. The world seems to have had only limited contact with any of the Hells thanks to its barrier. These are other, normal worlds, accessed via some form of Gates.” Zyzyx explained, Eldred surprised by his familiar’s curiosity.
“So they have experience with other worlds, and not just of the Demonic sort,” Eldred said, considering.
“Yes, Master. I can not tell who, if anything, rules it, but they are likely to be receptive to you.”
Eldred considered. Did it matter? He was confident enough in his strength that even should the world prove hostile, he could hold his ground until he escaped back into the Astral Void. He was wandering, and this world seemed suitable enough for him to wander too.
“Yes, take me there Zyzyx. We shall see what this young world is like.”
“As you wish, Master.” Zyzyx said, altering their movements through the Astral Void and heading directly towards the world.
It had been a rather normal day for Starlight Glimmer. Well, as normal as her life could be. Ten years had passed since Twilight's coronation as Princess of Equestria, since Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow had been defeated and imprisoned in stone. These ten years had been peaceful, to a point. While there was the occasional villain or magic artifact gone out of control, there had been nothing large. Twilight spent much of her time focusing on bringing the world and the races together, and as a result Starlight found the school she ran growing at an ever steady rate. It was a lot for her and the others, though the CMC and few of the original students becoming teachers had certainly helped divide the workload. It wasn’t stressful for Starlight, running the school, but it was a lot. The variety of students certainly made it more fun and interesting.
However, it was because of this that Starlight came to better enjoy her time alone, losing herself in her magical research for a couple hours she had off while everypony else was busy with something else. Twilight had left all but her private collection here in the Castle of Friendship, and the various races that decided to send students also tended to send bits of their own magic and relics, both to brag and so their students could show off their culture and their race’s achievements. As a result, Starlight found she had no shortage of things to examine and dissect, and had filled up more than a few tomes over the past ten years.
And so, Starlight stood in the library, holding a small Diamond Dog artifact, a stone tablet with several gemstones set in a pattern. It was rather old, old enough that the Diamond Dogs didn’t know really what it did or how it even worked. Which had been partly why they had sent it with little Bernard, an absolute saint of a pup; after more recent events and thanks to Daring Do’s efforts, the Diamond Dogs were beginning to reform under rediscovered traditions of their old kingdom, which had fallen or been destroyed long ago. This tablet was but one piece of that puzzle, and Starlight was determined to see it fit into place. Her studies and concentration were interrupted, however, when she heard a familiar crackling sound.
The mirror? Starlight turned to look at the Crystal Mirror as its various machines suddenly activated and began to sputter and move. As she watched, she stole a glance at her copy of Sunset’s message journal, and saw no signs of movement to indicate messages. This was either a surprise visit, or not Sunset at all. You can’t go through the portal without having magic or the help of someone with magic, so it shouldn't be an accident. But if it isn’t Sunset, who could it be? One of the girls? Why?
Starlight’s curiosity turned to concern when she noticed there was something wrong with how the Crystal Mirror was acting. It seemed almost supercharged. Smoke billowed from the devices and red lightning crackled from its parts as the magic made its way through to the mirror. Beams of red, silver, and blue shot out and struck the mirror’s surface, and Starlight let out a shriek of surprise as the mirror’s surface turned black, becoming less a portal and more a black hole. Loose papers were sucked away and books torn from the shelves, and Starlight’s main and tail were pulled towards the mirror-turned-vortex.
Starlight was ready to put a bubble around the acting up mirror, and send Twilight and Sunset rather alarming notes, when something came out of the mirror.
“My, this is an interesting world.”
Considering the nature of the vortex-portal, Starlight hadn’t been expecting anything to come out of it. And if something did, she would have thought it some tentacled, eldritch horror straight from one of Rarity’s horror-mystery novels. So she was rather surprised to find herself staring at a small owl-like being. Owl-like, because while it was the size of one and easily could have mistaken for one, it only took a second glance to see the strange creature was in fact not an owl.
While it had the basic shape of an owl, its wings were sticking out the sides of its head where most creatures would have ears. Its feathers were silver and platinum colored, its irises black as the vortex it just came out of while its pupils were like small stars. It wore a pair of tinted purple reading glasses, and it lacked a beak and instead had a small pudgy nose and large mouth with black lips, giving it an elderly appearance. It wore a solid grey shirt with three black buttons, and had two legs that ended in two taloned feet. Perhaps the oddest thing, however, was that she could easily see through it and it had an almost ghost-like form. It was certainly among the stranger creatures Starlight had ever seen.
The strange thing glanced around the room, then looked back to the mirror and nodded to itself. “Interesting, very interesting.”
“Um, excuse me?” Starlight dared to draw whatever it was’ attention to her, prepared to teleport away at any sign of danger, though admittedly she didn’t even know what that would look like. “Who… what are you?”
“Ah, greetings Miss Starlight Glimmer, I am Zyzyx, a faithful Familiar. I’m afraid I’ll have to ask you to wait a few moments, my Master should be coming through now and he will want to speak with you.” The thing, named Zyzyx apparently, said in a polite, refined tone.
How does it know my name? Starlight wondered, shocked. She was certain she had never met the creature, so had it examined her memories like Sunset could without having to touch her? A dozen questions danced on her tongue’s tip, but she held them off as she heard what he said. His Master? So something else is coming through too?
As if answering her thoughts, a pair of hands emerged from the vortex and gripped the mirror’s frame. They had little in common with hands of the humans on the other side, having only four fingers and appearing much thicker, and possessing pale grey skin. Fingerless black leather gauntlets covered the hands, each with a single large, smooth green gem that glowed softly set at the hand’s back. A dark grey boot made of hard leather with green gems set into each heel emerged before the entire thing pulled hauled themself through the vortex, which finally closed as they did so. The new creature was humanoid, most of their body covered in leather armor, with a cape going down to their waist fluttering behind them. More stones were set into the armor, a green one and blue one set into their stomach, and a green one and red one set into their throat and the very top of their chest. The only things uncovered were their arms and their head. Their arms were much less like those of the humans compared to their legs, appearing bulbous with the grey skin seemingly almost stretched across their large, bulging muscles and veins, and their lower arms seemed a darker color as they almost looked forced into the gauntlets, making Starlight wonder of their appearance was even natural to the creature or if they were somehow deformed. The creature's face was human-like, a much paler grey color, almost white. Their neck and lower jaw and cheeks were covered by a skin tight black suit that they looked to wear beneath the armor. Long, wispy white hair bound in a ponytail covered the top of their head, and a pair of odd black dots were set into the ridges of their forehead. Their eyes were perhaps the most normal and recognizable characteristic, and were a deep ocean blue color.
Those eyes surveyed the now rather messy library of the room, before they spoke: a deep, grim voice that made Starlight guess male, if the creature’s biology had genders that was. “Zyzyx, where are we?”
“The world of Equus, Master. Specifically, in a nation called Equestria, a small city called Ponyville, and the library and study of a castle,” Zyzyx said, shocking Starlight. How could he have known all of that?
“Hmm, odd names, but certainly not the strangest I’ve heard by far,” Zyzyx’s Master said, then turning to look behind him at the mirror he has come through. “Is this the Gate you pulled us through? It felt rather… odd, coming out of it.”
“Whoever created the Gate put a transformation spell on it, so the subject would be changed into the dominant race of the world when they went through or change back. A rather clever bit of disguise magic, I must say.” Zyzyx informed his Master, “Of course, your and mine magical protections stopped the spell from affecting us, resulting in some level of resistance from the Gate.”
His Master nodded, his gaze finally falling to Starlight. “And who, and what, is that?”
“‘That’ is Starlight Glimmer, a Unicorn, which is a type of Pony, the dominating species. She’s the Headmare of the School of Friendship, and a talented, if rather basic, Wizard in her own right. She used to be evil, but you wouldn’t notice it now, and was the student of Princess Twilight Sparkle, the ruler of this nation and the one you probably want to see.” Zyzyx said, finally pushing Starlight over the limit.
“Okay wait, wait, WAIT!” Starlight shouted, shaking her head as she tried to make sense of this very sudden crashing of her normal. “Who, and what, are you? I’m guessing you aren’t from the other side of the mirror, and you,” she pointed her horn at Zyzyx, “whatever you are, how do you know all that? You just got here!”
Zyzyx’s Master, to Starlight’s surprise, chuckled softly, before finally speaking. “My apologies, Miss Glimmer, it has been… a long time since I was able to laugh so earnestly. I am Eldred, a Wizard seeking a home, a wanderer seeking refuge.”
Starlight’s disposition softened considerably at his words, and Eldred felt some relief. His host was compassionate despite her power, and hopefully, the rest of her people and her ruler proved similar. “Well, at the very least, feel free to rest here for awhile, Eldred. I’m certainly not about to turn a weary traveler away, even one who arrived as oddly as you have. And please, call me Starlight.”
“Then you have my thanks, Starlight,” Eldred responded.
“And no, Starlight, we are not from the otherside of the Gate. We are from the Astral Void, and I was able to breach through the passageway to take us here. As for how I know all that I do,” Zyzyx chimed in, “It is because I am Master’s Familiar.”
“And what is that?”
“A Familiar is an artificial being, created by and bound to a Wizard. They are made of the Wizard’s blood and magic, and also Truth,” Zyzyx explained. “I am an Imp, a rather advanced type of Familiar.”
“How are you made of Truth?” Starlight asked, staring.
“It means he is made of the fabric of reality itself, and thus has knowledge of reality,” Eldred said, having found a chair to sit in and seeming to relax with a tired sigh. “Most Familiars are made of the Wizard’s homeworld, and thus have knowledge of that world. But due to… unique circumstances, I was instead able to use the Astral Void itself in Zyzyx’s creation, giving him knowledge of all realities and all worlds.”
“Wow,” was all Starlight could say, looking at Zyzyx more curiously, and his strange eyes that she realized could likely see far more than any other creature.
“Starlight, Zyzyx said you were a student of this nation’s ruler?” Eldred asked, looking at her.
“Yes, I was Princess Twilight’s first student. When she became the sovereign Princess of this nation, she left me this castle and her school.” Starlight said.
“I see, so she has quite a bit of trust in you, then?” Eldred asked, leaning forward with interest. “As I said, I am a Wizard seeking refuge, and have the talents and skills to work for it. If possible, I would like to meet with her.”
“Oh, of course! Twilight’s a rather curious Pony, she’s going to freak when she hears about this!” Starlight said with a laugh, before grabbing a journal and beginning to write in it. Eldred could feel the journal's magic, and guessed it was some form of communication.
Primitive, and basic. If this is considered real magic here, then I may have quite a bit to offer, Eldred thought. The Princess being described as curious and ‘going to freak’ made him somewhat nervous, but that was countered by Starlight addressing her by name and without title. Looking to Zyzyx, he spoke, “What can you tell about this ‘Princess Twilight?’”
“Hmm, I can only tell so much without looking at her, Master,” Zyzyx said, “Princess Twilight, known as the Princess of Friendship, and recently appointed sovereign of Equestria when her predecessors retired. She is an Alicorn, and a Demigoddess in terms of power. She holds dominion over this continent, none of the other nations have anywhere near enough power to fight against her. She has sought to bring the other nations and races together in Harmony, of which the School of Friendship is key too.”
Eldred considered that, a peaceful ruler then, but how much so? While he had been confused on what a ‘School of Friendship’ could possibly offer, a place to foster diplomatic ties and bring different races together and under a single ideology made sense. No wonder she had left her own personal student in charge. She was also a young ruler, and a Demigoddess. Eldred had once been a royal advisor and helped grow an entire empire across Jhaera, so perhaps he could offer her such services as well. As for her being a Demigoddess… “Are there any Gods in this world? Or Devils or Spirits?”
“No, Master, there were Gods though they are long dead and too broken to return. The last ruler of such levels was a pair of Devils, both deposed and no longer having such levels of power.”
Another thing he could offer than. While Eldred lacked the power, he did have some understanding of Gods and ascension. He could offer Princess Twilight help in such matters, as much for himself as her. Serving a God had its prices and strings, but also considerable rewards.
“Alright, that’s done, she should be here soon-” Starlight began as she closed the journal.
*Poof
“A Wizard from another world!?” Princess Twilight Sparkle shouted as she appeared directly in front of Starlight.
“-or, now.”