Planeswalker Gothic 2

Part 10

Gargoyle Castle. Equestria.

As soon as I got back to the place that was the closest thing I had in the entire multi-verse to a home, I relaxed right away. It had been a stressful time for me lately, although things had gone smoothly over the last few days.

I'd taken Clark Kent to the Wall, he'd burned the army of the dead as planned, and I'd killed the Night King using a drone from my Puddle Jumper, also as planned. Which was a bit worrying as things were rarely that easy.

Rather than stick around for the celebrations I'd taken Clark home so I could pick up Twilight, who'd stayed at his place, and bring her home. Which turned out to be good timing as her older brother and sister-in-law now had a baby, well foal, who Twilight and her friends were going to go visit.

This left me plenty of time to settle back in at my castle, and to do some research before Twilight was ready to leave again. Apparently she wanted to see some more worlds, which meant I needed to sit down and plan where we would go. They had to be places with magic, as she wanted to learn more about that, and also at least somewhat friendly. Which was a tall order.

Perhaps we could risk a quick visit to the Wizarding World. She'd love Florish and Blotts, and she was going to travel the mutli-verse in human form then she'd need a wand. It was a bit risky, as I might run into someone who knew me, but I could dye my hair or something.

Besides I had been meaning to do something to pay back the Wizarding World for locking me up in their prison. It would be a good idea to scout the place out, see what was going on in the news. Then I could plan some pay back.

I was suppose to be a Planeswalker, nothing less than a magical god, yet people kept getting away with hurting me. Lord Ao had denied my revenge on that drow bitch, but he'd had good reasons, an entire realm to worry about. But there was nothing stopping me from doing something nasty to the wand wavers. Right now I didn't know what I'd do, however I was sure I'd think of something in due time.

Soon I made my way into the study, and I was just about to start emptying my bag of holding, which always got filled with odds and ends I didn't really need, when I noticed the increased amount of books in here. My study was a big room, yet now every wall was now lined with shelves, which filled with books. Stuck to one of the shelves was a note. It looked as if it had been there for a while.

Dear Gothic

The books were donated to me by a unicorn called Avid Reader, who passed away recently. Since I already have most of his collection I let myself in and made sure your study was fully stocked.

Hope to see you soon.

Love, Twilight

There was a scribble on the lower left corner of the letter, a little love heart. She had it bad for me. Could just be a crush, a strong one, but it might be more. I'd have to talk to Princess Candace about this, she was the Princess of Love, and a married mare, she would have some advice for me on this matter.

There were some issues with me getting involved with Twilight. We were two different species, at least in mind, plus she was young, and I wasn't sure if I loved her back. I very much cared for her sure, and there was Dany to think about. She was expecting me back at some point. Perhaps I should visit her and break things off.

Also there were letters on my desk, many letters. I'd not gotten any before. Twilight must have teleported in and left them on my desk. I didn't think she would have snooped around, wasn't her style, besides nothing in my castle was personal or private.

The letters didn't interest me, they were just invites to parties, requests for donations of charities, and ponies asking for appointments, that sort of thing. Things I chose to ignore, at least for now.

I made my way through the corridors, heading for the bathroom, I wanted a nice soak. Thankfully this wouldn't be too much work as I could conjure water with my wand magic and also heat it that way. Took a bit magical power, and time, but I had that to spare.

When I heard splashing I spent just a moment feeling annoyed that someone was already using the bathroom, but only for a moment since I then remembered that no one else lived here.

I trotted into the bathroom and found a unicorn mare having a nice soak, and at once I knew who she was.

"Trixie!" I shouted.

That bloody show pony was in my castle.

"Hey get out!. I'm in the bath!" she yelled back.

Why that mattered since nudity was so common here, I didn't know.

"Yes you're in my bath" I stated "Why?".

She then realised whom it was she was talking to, well yelling to.

"Oh Sweet Celestia you're him aren't you" she said as she climbed out of the tub "The alicorn who owns this castle".

Tub might be the wrong word, it was more a pool than anything else.

"Yes I'm me" I agreed "And yes I do".

Trixie went for a towel.

"I only came here because everypony told me that nopony lives here anymore, they all told me you'd left and weren't coming back" she said.

Well I had left without mentioning anything, but since I'd helped saved all ponykind I didn't think I owned them anything else.

"I see" was my reply "So you decided to not only trespass, but also to move in".

Trixie looked very nervous, and somewhat comical since she now had a towel wrapped around part of her body, as well as a shower cap on her head, also a rubber duck chose this moment to float by.

"Well I live in my trailer" the unicorn told me "and I'm between shows these days, and I thought you were gone, so I figured nopony would care if I crashed here for a while. It is a big castle, and its spooky so that keeps everypony else away".

I was now calmer, and this allowed me to consider things. I could just throw her out, but it was a big castle, and I was rarely ever here. Leaving it empty of people seemed a bit of a waste.

"Fine, you can stay" I told Trixie "As long as do some housework".

Trixie beamed a smile at me.

(Line Break)

Crystal Empire. Equestria.

Upon reuniting with Twilight we had travelled to a small diner, not far from the Crystal Palace. Once we had ordered our food and sat down to eat it, I became aware that some of the other patrons were staring at us. Clearly they considered a prince and princess having lunch to be a matter of extreme interest. Having so many eyes on her made Twilight feel self-conscious, I could tell that just by looking at her.

"Maybe we should have gone somewhere a little more... private" she said.

After getting some advice from the Princess of Love I had decided to take Twilight on a date. It being the first one I'd figured a meal somewhere public was a good idea.

I didn't want to take this too seriously as I hadn't broken things off with Miss Stormborn, and I wasn't sure I wanted to as she was hot. However I didn't think she'd be bothered if she found out that I had a meal with someone. Not she could find out.

Also there was another valid reason for this to be public. I was going to tell Miss Sparkle about Trixie living with me, and there was less chance of her making a scene here.

"Don't worry about them" I said "We're just two ponies having lunch".

A lunch date wasn't very romantic, which was good for me because I wasn't trying to be too romantic.

Soon Twilight began to relax and to tell me about how she was planning to start translating ancient Mareabic texts. When Princess Cadence and Shining Armor, who was sporting a sour look, came over to our table.

"Hi, Shining" Twilight greeted.

Now ponies were really staring, and who could blame them. Their rulers had just entered this diner.

"Hey, Twily" he replied.

Shining smiled for a moment, but only for a moment. His sour look returned as he turned to face me.

"Gothic, my wife has brought it to my attention that your having a date with my little sister" Shining said sternly.

Well I was attempting too.

"What are your intentions regarding Twilight?" he then asked.

If only I could answer that question. I didn't really know, I had ideas, but nothing was certain.

"Shining!" Twilight said hotly. "That's none of your business!".

I was very tempted to Planeswalk out of this reality.

"Considering I'm your big brother, I'd say this is my business" he said before turning to me "Now answer the question".

I did my best.

"Well my intention is to travel the multi-verse with your sister" I told him "Visit strange new worlds, check out alien civilisations, learn lots of cool new magic. Also my plan is to return to Ponyville between trips for rest, and so Twilight can perform any princess duties she has".

It would be nice to have a companion who could keep up, and there were universes out there with magic that weren't too dangerous, at least for powerful beings like Twilight and I.

"If you ever hurt Twilight, or fail to protect her, in any way whatsoever, I swear I will come down on you like a ton of bricks" Shining Armor promised "I will hunt you down and show you no mercy. I'll make you wish you had never even heard my sister's name. Do I make myself clear?"

I was about to say something, only I never got the chance.

"Wait a second, Shining!" Twilight yelled, no doubt incensed at her big brother's threats. "What makes you think I need your 'blessing' to date somepony?".

Now I wanted to Planeswalk in order to avoid this family drama.

"Easy, Twilight." Cadence said, trying to calm her down. "Shining's probably just been wanting to pull the 'protective big brother' act for years now. Though I must admit, he did overdo it a little."

Cadence glared at Shining as she said that. Shining actually took a step back. Now I knew he wore the trousers in that marriage.

"Maybe a little" he admitted as he rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Sorry, Twily. I really do just want to protect you, I don't think Gothic can do that, he's never around".

That made me laugh, and everyone stared at me.

"Yeah because you were such a help with Sombra" I said to Armor "And which of us stood up to Tirek?".

At least he had the dignity to back off and not start a fight.

(Line Break)

Field. Outside Ponyvillie.

"What a beautiful day." Twilight said as she smiled warmly "And look at that sky. Just perfect for a nice flight".

Was that why we were out here?

"Flight?" I asked, a little nervously.

I'd never flown aside from when inside my ship. Which I was happy to have back.

"Sure" the princess said with a nod. "You've got wings, right? Might as well make use them".

This could be bad.

"I'm not that good of a flyer" I admitted "I prefer to let machines handle that whole gravity defying thing".

Machines that I could perfectly control with my mind. I didn't trust my wings, mostly because I rarely ever had any. I spent most of time in human form, and we were tool users.

"Sounds like you could use a crash course in the fundamentals of flight" Twilight said "I had to pay for my lessons".

That seemed odd to me.

"Why didn't Rainbow Dash or Fluttershy teach you?" I wondered.

Twilight looked a little guilty, and my thinking was that she'd never asked.

"Well, Fluttershy's not the strongest flyer" Twilight explained to me "And Rainbow Dash? To be honest, she doesn't really have the patience to be a teacher".

Made sense.

"Think of it, Gothic; You and me, flying through the clouds together, just the two of us" Twilight went on to say.

I didn't think I was going to get out of this, besides I did have cards that could grant the power of flight, and so knowing how to fly might come in handy someday. Although given that I could teleport it didn't seem likely.

"Okay, grant me the benefit of your wisdom" I said to the alicorn princess.

That made her smile again.

"First up, let's see how you fly right now" Twilight instructed.

I should have told the truth about my total lack of flying ability. I'd never even tried.

"Okay" I said, as I took a breath.

I opened up wings and flapped, lifting myself a few feet off the ground before landing.

"How was that?" I asked.

Actually rather impressive in my view, no one had been injured and I wasn't currently stuck in a tree.

"Not bad" Twilight stated "But there are a couple of problems. First, you keep flapping your right wing ahead of the left. But that's probably just instinct. You're used to putting one hoof, or leg, in front of the other as you walk, so you're doing the same with your wings".

That made sense.

"I guess that's what happens when you get a new pair of wings from out of nowhere" I figured.

They really made no sense. Where had the extra mass come from? I wasn't overweight at all in my pony form, and you'd think growing new bones would hurt. Only it hadn't.

"Try this" the princess said as she spread her wings, and then flapped them "Slow and steady, up and down"

I mirrored her movements.

"There you go" Twilight said with a smile. "Get those wings in sync. It'll be second nature to you before you know it".

Up. Down. Up. Down. Up. Down. Up. Down.

"It's pretty easy, once you get the hang of it" I said "So, what's next?"

Twilight spread her wings once more.

"Come on, let's fly" she said.

So that was it for flight school in this world.

"If you insist" I replied with a sigh.

Quickly I opened up wings and rose up into the sky.

"Try to feel every muscle in your wings" Twilight instructed as we went further up "Feel the wind blowing against each feather".

How would that help?.

"But don't think about it" the princess added "Feel it. It should be as natural as breathing"

As best I could I followed her instructions.

"I think I'm getting the hang of this" I soon remarked.

Also I flying pretty fast if I was any judge.

"Doesn't it feel great up here?" Twilight asked. "Looking on the beautiful world below, wind flowing in your mane..."

Sadly I did look down, and when I saw how high I'd gotten it totally freaked me out.

(Line Break)

It had been a crash more than a landing, but thankfully I was a true alicorn and therefore clouds could be solid for me.

"I think I'll stay here. I like this cloud. I live here now" I said.

Twilight sighed and let her head drop down onto my back

"The depressing thing is that you are still doing better than I did when I first starting flying".

I turned my head to look at her.

"Really?" I asked "I thought I was doing horribly".

Well maybe not that bad. I'd crashed into a cloud, things could be much worse.

"You are not leaving craters behind, are you?" she said with a grin

We shifted to untangle from each other, and then she looked down at me, before she settled down next to me on the cloud, stretching her wings before folding them again.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

She'd tried to stop me from crashing, it hadn't gone well.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Twilight answered.

She glanced back at her wings before twisting to nibble along a couple of out of place feathers to get them back in line.

"You learn how to catch high-speed pegasi quickly, living around Rainbow" she told me.

Nodding, I followed her example to study my wings, stretching them out in search of out of place feathers before flapping them twice and folding them again. Wings I was starting to think were quite high maintenance.

"Nice to get away from it all, even if it is just for a while" Twilight was now saying "Up here no one needs me".

I had a feeling that I knew what this was about.

"Not enjoying being a princess?" I enquired.

Twilight frowned and poked at the cloud

"I don't know. I mean... I still do what I always did, but now I have all this responsibility and ponies keep referring to me even when I have no idea what to do" she told me.

There was a reason why I'd locked myself in a spooky castle as soon I became an alicorn. Well reasons, mostly it had been so I could get some studying done.

"Better you than me" I said.

Twilight shrugged her wings as she frowned at me.

"You could help" she pointed out "I'm sure the world's only alicorn prince would be in high demand for boring social functions".

Twilight then corrected herself.

"Well the only alicorn prince who looks like an alicorn" she said.

Sombra had dragon wings were as mine looked like Pegasus wings so it made sense that ponies would see me as the only alicorn prince, plus he hated court life.

As my mind wandered a little I noticed that clouds were awesomely comfortable and despite the slight wind, I wasn't at all cold. That was something really useful about this entire alicorn thing. I could still feel the cold. But there is a difference between knowing its cold and feeling cold.

"We should head back" Twilight said after a while "Race you to my castle".

She took off before I could even stand up.

(Line Break)

Twilight's Castle. Everfree.

"You sure you're okay?" the princess asked.

I wasn't sure that I was, landing outside of the castle had been a bit painful. I should have teleported.

"My wings are a little stiff " I admitted.

Which was a bit of an understatement really.

"Maybe I can help with that" Miss Sparkle offered "Lie down".

Was this going where I thought it was going?

"What?" was I could say.

Twilight gave me a reassuring smile.

"Just trust me" she said "Lie down and open up your wings"

Once I complied, I found my wings being gently caressed by the Princess. This was either a massage or some form of foreplay.

"Um, what are you doing?" I asked.

Hopefully it was the former rather than the latter as I still hadn't told Twilight about a certain dragon queen.

"A wing massage" she explained "To deal with the soreness. Helps you relax, too".

As she rubbed my wings with her hooves I sighed with contentment. It had been a while since I had felt so relaxed.

"Hey, Twilight" Spike said as he entered the room "I made you some teaaaaaaa and what exactly are you two doing?".

I didn't even open my eyes

"Nothing" Twilight said, sounding rather flushed. "Just a... wing massage".

My thinking was that she was enjoying the massage as much as me, but for totally different reasons.

"Uh-huh" Spike said.

I smiled.

"Totally on the up-and-up!" Twilight insisted. "I swear!".

I didn't open my eyes to see, instead I just imagined the face the princess must be making.

"And its none of your business what we do" Twilight then said.

She'd seemed to have remembered that she was the adult in this house and him the baby dragon.

"Hey, I'm not judging you" Spike replied "You're totally right. What you two do together is your own business".

And with that, Spike left the room, or that was how it sounded.

"That was... awkward" Twilight whispered.

Not for me. I was too relaxed.

(Line Break)

Diagon Alley. The Wizarding World.

"Welcome Twilight Sparkle to Diagon Alley" I said.

Her reaction wasn't what I'd expected.

"Seems a bit empty" she remarked "Where are all the pon... I mean people".

There were reasons why it was like this.

"Its a weekday morning" I told her while picking up a copy of the local paper "Everyone will be a work or school".

Which along with my effects to alter my appearance, which were sunglasses and using the colour change curse to make my hair blue, should keep me from being noticed, should anyone still be looking for me.

There was nothing major in the paper, ministry corruption, pure blood love affairs, some band was having a bad breakup, and there no deaths mentioned, or disappearances, or anything other than gossip. If Voldemort had found a way to recover he was staying well out of sight. Also no one was bad mouthing Potter so that must have blown over, if only because no one cared any more.

"So why did you bring me here?" Twilight asked.

Had I not mentioned this before?

"Two reasons" I answered "One is to get you a wand, you don't have your unicorn horn when in human form, and that limits what you can do with magic. A wand will give you the ability to use wand magic, which is simple to use and easy to learn. Also there's an ice cream place that sells really good ice cream, like the best the multi-verse".

Well I'd never had any better.

"So for our third date you brought me out for ice cream" Twilight said "I was hoping for a romantic dinner".

She had her count wrong.

"Second date" I corrected "the flying lesson doesn't count, and given what happened on the first date I'm not sure it should count either".

Twilight did look pleased, but nor did she argue.

"Fine this can be the second date" she said "But there will be a romantic dinner, you have to cook something because the last time we went somewhere in public everypony... I mean everybody kept staring at me".

Well she was a celebrity.

"I can cook... I think" I replied

Although it had been a while, and all the dishes I knew how to make involved meat. The princess wouldn't be able to stomach eating animal flesh even in her human form as it would horrify her.

"No I can't promise that I'll cook" I told Twilight "But I can get someone else to prepare the food, and I will set up a romantic dinner, you know candles and all that. Then you can teleport over so no ones sees you".

Twilight's facial expression informed me that she approved of that plan.

"Will Trixie be there" Miss Sparkle asked to know.

I understood why Trixie didn't like Twilight as the princess had everything Trixie wanted, vast magical powers, friends, the admiration of the masses, a nice castle, but I couldn't understand why Twilight returned the dislike (hate was too strong a word) Trixie simply didn't compare to her in anyway.

"No she left to put on a show in Pony Vegas" I told her "I doubt I'll see her again for a while as I intend to take a trip myself".

I should break things off with Miss Stormborn. I'd soften the blow with presents, magical stuff. Not weapons in case she tried to use them on me.

"By the way, I still want that ice cream" the princess was now saying "You have to treat me to it, like a good Coltfriend".

That was fine by me.

"Its Boyfriend not Coltfriend when your acting human, and aren't you too old to be taken out for ice cream?" I wondered "How old are you anyway?".

She soon told me.

"I'm 21 this year" she said "Why wondering what to buy me for a gift?".

This was surprising considering that in her human form she looked to be about sixteen. However ponies didn't age like humans did. Granny Smith, Applejack's grandmother was at least two hundred years old. Although given that Twilight had been sent out on her own to Ponyville so she should be considered an adult. It was just a shame she didn't look it when human.

"No reason" I replied.

Then I changed the subject.

"Oh there's something I should tell you about Ollivander before we enter his shop" I said as we began moving towards his place "He'll know your Planeswalker just by looking at you, and he's odd".

Twilight stopped to think.

"Pinkie Pie odd, or Maud Pie odd?" she asked.

I had no idea who had second pony was, but I assumed she was odd in a way that Pinky Pie wasn't.

"Not Pinkie Pie odd" I said "More... well you'll see" was my attempt at an answer.

We entered the store and Ollivander bowed before us both, addressing us both as 'Your Highness' which meant he somehow knew we were royal.

"You have a wand which is twelve inches of aspen" the mad old man told me "With with a thick strand of unicorn hair to channel your great power. A wand for an accomplished duellist, suited for charm work and martial magic. "Normally unicorn hair does not make for the most powerful wands, and they dislike being mishandled. However you still seem to have some affinity for unicorns and combined with the Aspen, your wand is made for adventuring and battling evil".

It served me well.

"I have some things to trade for my friend's wand" I told the strange man.

In a small box I had collected hair from the mane of an Earth Pony, and a Crystal Pony, a Griffon's feather, a Pegasus's feather, as well as few few things Fluttershy had given that she assured me were parts of magical creatures that wouldn't mind me using. I tried not think about it.

"Oh yes these will do nicely" Ollivander said "I can make some amazing wands from these".

Twilight gave me an odd look, but didn't speak, even as the mad man forced different kinds of wands into her hand.

"Walnut, ten inches, Unicorn hair" Ollivander told Twilight "Give it a whirl".

What we got no less than an indoor fireworks display.

"Interesting that you should both be suited for unicorn hair" Ollivander said, mostly to himself.

It wasn't surprising really, we'd both been unicorns after all. Twilight for much longer than I had.

"Walnut is suited for witches of great intelligence and the unicorn hair in yours in also oddly thick" the mad man was now saying to the Princess "I suspect that while you are a scholar, you have also battled evil".

It was like they'd already met.

"Err yeah" said Twilight, while looking at the wand "I did save my world a few times".

Ollivander didn't react to that sentence at all.

"Well since we traded there's no need for me to tell you the price" he said "I'll throw in hostler and a wand cleaning kit as well".

I'd not gotten those things. He must like her more than me.