The highest peak of the tallest mountain is where you will prove your worthiness. Starswirl’s words echoed through Candlelight’s mind. She had not questioned his statement at the time, but now, after her journey had begun, she had started to wonder about his true intent.
“Why does he want me to climb this mountain in the first place?” she said aloud as she slammed the ice axe into the glacier and hoisted herself up once more. “It has nothing to do with magic. Maybe its one of those philosophical things that will prove my willingness to work with him or something.” The axe hit the ice once more, sending small cracks into the hard glacier side. “Either he has something big in store for me, or he has one really messed up sense of humor.”
The mountain was huge, seemingly insurmountable, and with the day fading, the journey was getting even more difficult at every step. Her backpack was heavy and her footing on the ice was all but secure, but that did not suade her from her mission. She continued up the side of the glacier, the thought of working as Starswirl’s personal assistant driving her every step. A brisk freezing breeze whipped across the glacier, threatening to push Candlelight off of the glacier, but she clutched onto the handles of the axes in her hooves with all her might. The cool air chilled her to the bone, but could not snuff out the flame of her resolve.
After the gale had passed, she resumed her climbing. It took her several minutes to reach the top of the glacier and several hours after that to make her way toward the summit. The hike was dangerous and filled with many treacherous drops and ever changing caves that littered the surface of the glacier. The only light that was present was coming from her horn, and that was slowly fading as she grew more and more tired. The strange nature of the glacier was disorienting and dangerous, but the old friend of sleep called Candlelight to lay down and close her eyes.
Candlelight’s eyes cracked open, a thin layer of snow had covered her through her night of rest. Thankfully she had woken up, but now she was confronted with an even more daunting challenge, the morning sun had begun to make the glacier even more slippery than before. She could barely stand, let alone walk to the top of the mountain. She reached out with one of her axes and drove it into the ice. With all of her strength, she slid her body across the ice, pulling herself toward the axe. It’s something. She thought as she repeated the action with her other axe. The progress was even more laborious and time consuming than before, but her resolve continued to fuel her to the top.
By the time the sun had reached its apex in the sky, Candlelight had managed to slide herself to the side of the glacier and begin the treacherous climb to the top of the mountain. The rocks were easier to ascend, but the journey was still rough. The challenge now was vertical. Scaling the rocky cliff had its own set of challenges, most of which involved the inability to place an axe into its surface for a quick hoofhold. The ascent was slow going, forcing her body into awkward positions as she pulled herself up different craigs toward the summit of the mountain. The drive that compelled her to accomplish this feat continued to burn in her heart, instilling a passion that overrode all other desires she had ever attempted to follow.
The last few steps are always the hardest. She said to herself over and over again as she neared the summit. The ground had leveled out a bit, but there was still a treacherous hike to the top. She carefully trotted through the deep snow, ever mindful of the fact that one misstep could cause an inescapable avalanche. The snow cover would reach her shoulder at each step, making the last few hundred feet a remarkable nuisance to traverse As she neared the summit she noticed something sticking out of the snow.
“What’s this?” Candlelight wondered aloud as she examined the small metal pillar on the very top of the peak. “Is it some sort of altitude marking?” On its surface a small inscription was engraved.
To whom it may concern, this pillar contains everything Starswirl the Bearded formulated during his early endeavours in magic. This is only to be opened by a unicorn who is willing to take on the heavy burden of putting that magic to practice.
signed, Starswirl.
“Take the burden?” Candlelight asked as she looked around her. Beneath her was the world, all of it seemingly beneath her hooves. This was what she had been waiting for all of her life, to become the assistant to Starswirl the Bearded, but a small voice inside her kept her from opening the box. Something told her that this was a horrible idea.
This is everything you ever dreamed of.
A nightmare waiting to happen.
You can have it all.
Taken away.
Open the box. Follow your heart.
Open it and unleash your doom.
Candlelight looked at the box for a long while, the small box that would change her life forever. Inside was an entirely different life, and by venturing in, she was agreeing to live in that alien world. Around her the daylight was fading, the sunlight slowly trickling into nothingness like sand in an hourglass. It was now or never. She looked to the box, then at the world around her.
Do you really want to do this? She questioned as she eyed the box, studying every detail to its most minute detail. Do you really want to put your life into the hooves of a stallion whom you don’t even know? She looked at the sunset one last time. As the last rays disappeared over the horizon she knew the answer.
Yes.
