It was almost a century ago that the great kingdom of Equestria was founded. The brave leaders of the unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies finally learned to forgo their differences and live in harmony. Every year since, the ponies celebrated with great feasts, songs, dancing, and gifts so that they too could delight in the fires of friendship shining brightly above Canterlot city. Clover the Clever became one of Equestria’s greatest magical leaders, bringing happiness and guidance to the ponies with her amazing talent for magic. She lived in the Canterlot castle with a wing of her own, where her she wrote the wisdom of her mentor Starswirl the Bearded.
Starswirl the Bearded was a legend. He held more magic than any pony could conceive. He was immortal, spending his days training those worthy in the ways of magic. But the more decades he lived, the less he was seen by ponies. After some time had passed, he had made it a habit only to show himself to other ponies when he trained a new apprentice. Every hundred years Starswirl would appear and select a pony with great magical potential. This apprentice would study with him until such a time that he deemed them ready and disappeared again leaving the task of magical leadership to his prodigy. The magical leaders he trained became legends themselves with their magical contributions to pony kind. Clover the Clever was no different; she had left her mark by bringing the ponies together and igniting the first fire of friendship that had saved every pony’s lives.
It had been exactly one hundred years since Starswirl’s last appearance, and it was time for him to select a new apprentice. Clover the Clever had been a magical leader for ninety nine years and had reached an old age where she could not fulfill her duties anymore. In the past, only a unicorn was selected as an apprentice, but now that Equestria had been formed, Clover the Clever had decreed that any pony may audition for the coveted role. On the longest day of the year, Starswirl would make his appearance, and more importantly, his selection.
~*~
On the outskirts of Canterlot city, a quiet settlement of earth ponies greeted the dawn prepared to work the fields. A young pony with a coat as dark as night and a mane as bright as the sun was curled on her straw bed pouring over one of Clover the Clever’s volumes in fascination.
“Astelle!” a filly called out to her, Astelle pushed the book out of sight before angrily replying.
“What is it now?”
“Papa wants you; it’s time for chores.”
Astelle looked out the window, amazed that dawn had come so quickly. She dowsed the lantern she had been using to read and joined the filly downstairs. Their mother placed a bowl of fruit before them for breakfast. She noticed the dark circles under Astelle’s eyes and scolded her.
“You’ve been up reading again, haven’t you?”
“Only for a little while.” Astelle mumbled.
“Astelle we’ve talked about this! There isn’t time for study in this house. We need to plant the crop, sheer the sheep, and attend to the farm. Your father cannot do everything himself.”
“And that’s all we ever do! Don’t you think, maybe, I have a shot of Starswirl choosing me? I’ve read all of Clover the Clever’s works and I think he might be impressed if I--“
“What on earth are you talking about? You know very well that you cannot abandon your family and this farm. Do you want us out on the street so that you can pursue this… fantasy?”
“Of course not! If I’m chosen you, papa, and little sister would live in Canterlot in luxury for the rest of your lives!”
“If you’re chosen. And what if you’re not? Astelle, dear, I have to insist on this one. Fetch me the book.”
“I’ll get it mother! I know where she keeps it!” chimed her little sister, racing up the stairs.
“No! Mother please! This is all I’ve ever wanted. It’s all I’ve dreamed.” Astelle pleaded, her eyes watering.
The filly returned with the book in her mouth, dropping it on the table between their mother and Astelle. Astelle reached for it in protest, but her mother scooped it away.
“I’m sorry, dear. We just can’t afford any distractions right now.” She turned to her younger daughter and tucked the book away in her school satchel. “Now I want you to return this book to the library on the way to school. Don’t stop for anything else, you hear?”
The little filly nodded and her mother tied the satchel to her back.
“Your father’s outside," Her mother said, sending the little sister on her way to school with Astelle's precious book. "You best be getting on with your chores Astelle.” She noted the tears forming in her eyes and nuzzled her oldest child. “This doesn’t bring me any joy seeing you like this. I wish things were different, I wish I could give you two the life you deserve but--“
Astelle pulled herself away from her mother and ran out the door, tears streaming down her cheeks. Her mother knew better than to believe someone as important as Starswirl the Bearded would see anything but a poor earth pony and pass her by for a Canterlot scholar. She almost resented Clover the Clever for giving Astelle the idea in the first place.
~*~
The city of Canterlot was never dark, even at night. Clover the Clever had created a beautiful array of streetlamps that illuminated the city when it was dark. Each street had a row of lamps that gave off a color of light from the spectrum, and the ponies of Canterlot could find their way by following the specific color of light; different for every street. The red lamp lights took ponies down to the main square, the blue lamp lights lead to residential areas, the green lamp lights led out to the Canterlot gardens and fields, and so on. The rows of lamps all joined together in the center of Canterlot, just a few feet from the castle gates. In the center, a large open white flame burned that lit the front of the castle and the town square. The white flame was ignited by the last ray of sunlight when the sun set in the evenings. From this flame, the light scattered and lit the rows of streetlamps that wound through the city; it was quite a sight to behold. When the sun rose in the mornings, the first ray of light dowsed the flame, which caused a domino effect among the other street lamps as their light was extinguished. On the longest day of the year, Clover the Clever appeared from a castle tower overlooking the town square as soon as the sunrise had dowsed the white flame. Unicorn guards trumpeted her arrival, alerting the ponies below her.
“Announcing lady Clover the Clever, magical overseer of Equestria.”
The crowd below cheered as the old pony made her way to the edge of the balcony.
“Fillies and Gentlecolts, I bid you welcome on this most glorious day. As I foretold, the great Starswirl the Bearded has come our humble kingdom of Equestria to select the next great magical leader of our generation. Each colt or mare will be escorted into the castle one at a time where they will demonstrate their talent and magical ability before the legend himself. Whoever impresses him the most will be his chosen apprentice. Good luck my little ponies.”
The ponies cheered again as Clover the Clever disappeared from the balcony using her magic and lowered the gates. Somewhere down the street of purple street lamps an eager earth pony strained to see and hear Clover the Clever.
“Ugh, move! I can’t see! Stupid Pegasus.” Astelle muttered
“What’d you say?” the Pegasus colt snapped in her direction. She didn’t respond, hoping he didn’t know who had spoken. He snorted and resumed flying directly in her line of sight.
“Sissy…” her little sister protested a frightened look on her little face. “We’re gonna get caught.”
“We’re not going to get caught. Mother thinks I’m selling eggs at the market and I brought you along to back up my story to her later.”
“But she strictly forbade us!” she protested.
Astelle sighed and rolled her eyes.
“Are you going to rat me out?”
“N-no.”
“Don’t you want to see Starswirl the Bearded?”
“I guess so.”
“Good. Then don’t worry about mother.”
Somewhere behind them ponies laughed. Astelle turned and noticed a group of Canterlot unicorns giggling and mocking her. She turned away, breathing a sigh trying to ignore them.
“Can you believe that? A ragged earth pony thinks she has a shot with Starswirl,” one of them mocked.
“What could she possibly show him? Her oh-so-talented herding skills?” Another added.
“How quickly she can plant a seed?” the third said.
They erupted into a fit of giggles again. Astelle could no longer hold her temper; she turned to them and shouted.
“I have just as much chance as anyone! More so than you three. I’ve studied more about magic than anypony else. Just you wait; he’ll pick me for sure.”
“Puh-lease. As if reading would impress him. He’s looking for magical talent, not a history lesson.” The purple unicorn in the center said, walking up to Astelle with a smug grin. “Let’s see how your book smarts fair against my magic.” She turned to a nearby shop and levitated an apple from its basket.
“Levitation? That’s the easy trick in the book.” Astelle mocked.
“I wasn’t finished.” The purple unicorn interjected.
The apple twisted and bubbled for a moment before it turned itself into a bar of soap. Astelle’s stomach dropped. Transfiguration was an impressive talent, one that was not easy to master according to the books she had read.
“Here,” The purple unicorn scoffed, giving the soap bar to Astelle. “Why don’t you leave the magic to the unicorns and do yourself a favor; from the way you smell you could do with a nice long bath.”
The other unicorns erupted in laughter. Astelle’s little sister ducked behind her leg and pleaded with her to go home. Astelle’s anger boiled.
“How about this?” the blue unicorn said, “I can light the street lamp without the use of the white flame.” She pointed her horn at the street lamp with a smug little smile.
“No, don’t!” Astelle warned, but the blue shot of magic had already reached the lamp and the flame inside burst into purple light.
“Beat that if you can.” She started to brag, but Astelle was watching the flame in horror as it began to grow inside the lamp.
“Get down!” she screamed, covering her little sister and closing her eyes. The flame grew too wild for the lamp and it shattered the glass that held it there. The unicorns screamed and ducked from the falling glass shards and the flames that erupted. Astelle moved quickly, she kicked a support beam holding up the awning to the fruit shop causing the fabric to come crashing down. The shop owner yelled in confusion, but Astelle had already ripped off a piece of the fabric and stomped it into a puddle formed from the previous night’s storm. She draped the fabric over the lamp and stomped out the little flames that had started to grow. The fire fizzled out and she pulled the fabric away to see the remains of the lamp where only a few pieces of broken glass sill clung to the iron frame.
“The lamps aren’t lit by actual fire! It’s magical fire, and it only works if the white flame reflects the purple spectrum down this street!” Astelle scolded. The dazed blue and purple unicorns didn’t say a word, but the third unicorn approached her.
“That was a remarkable reflex. You knew exactly what to do. Hmm, I knew you would surprise me.”
“What are you talking about?” Astelle growled.
The unicorn shook his mane and he began to change before her. A long white beard formed on his chin and his grey fur coat was hidden under a cape of blue with bells around its edges. Astelle was dumbfounded and her little sister tugged gently on her mane saying, “Is that…”
“Yes child, I am Starswirl the Bearded.” He turned to Astelle and smiled.
“Magic is not about being the best; it’s about helping others.” He turned a disapproving eye to the blue unicorn who backed away in embarrassment. He smiled at Astelle with pride.
“Would you like to be my apprentice?”
Astelle couldn’t get the words out quickly enough, so instead she just nodded.
“Then you might need this.”
He touched her forehead with his horn and made a horn appear on the earth pony’s brow. “You have a lot of potential, and I know you will do great things.”
Author's Note
Any feedback/criticism/encouragement you can offer would be greatly appreciated! I am working on drawing an image of Astelle to upload as the story's image.
The Transfiguration Spell
Chapter 2
It had been two months since Astelle had been chosen. As she had predicted, her family was moved to a lovely place in Canterlot where they could be close by while she learned the art of magic. Her parents were proud and deeply apologetic for attempting to hold back her potential, and of course she forgave them. She loved to see her family blossom in the city; no longer weighted down by the toil of hard labor, they were free to pursue their own dreams. Her mother had always wanted to learn to play an instrument; now she was a cellist learning to play for royal Canterlot events. Her father was too deeply rooted in his ways to give up farming. However, he found himself enjoying the far more leisurely lifestyle of a florist with a modest garden to tend. Astelle’s little sister had to transfer schools, and was educated along with classmates of high-ranking. She found it intimidating at first, but she found some new friends who accepted her for who she was without the pedigree.
From what Astelle could tell, their lives were as perfect as hers. However, she was not permitted to live at home. Starswirl did not show any leniency when it came to her study load and she was pressed for time each day just to see them. She impressed him with how rapidly she could control her magic; her years of studying had finally paid off. She mastered levitation in only a few days, and though it was remarkable to everyone else, Starswirl did not show quite the same amount of pride as he did the day they had met. With every trick mastered, he presented her with several more. Hours and days passed and Astelle had not left the tower, trying in vain to keep up with his expectations.
“Try again.” He said standing beside a bookshelf absent mindedly looking through the books
Astelle exhaled shakily and closed her eyes. Her horn lit up with white magic and a rose floated up from a stool. Her breathing was ragged as she tried to change the rose into a tulip. The petals started to change color from red to orange and the thorns were beginning to disappear. Finally, Astelle let out a weak cry and collapsed, causing her magic to fail and the rose to fall to the ground. Astelle snorted and stood up, ready to try again.
“That is all for today. You may go.”
“But I haven’t--“
“We will work on it again tomorrow. In the meantime, have something to eat and get some rest. We begin again at dawn.”
And with that, the magnificent unicorn vanished.
Astelle screamed and stomped her hoof in frustration. How could it be that a unicorn in the square could so easily change an apple to a bar of soap and yet she could not turn a rose into a tulip? It seemed so trivial in comparison. Clover the Clever was passing by when she heard the new apprentice’s frustration and knocked on the tower door. Astelle looked over and turned the handle with her magic to let her in.
“Clover the Clever?” she asked in awe. She had only met her once, and had spoken no more than a few words to her as they passed in the halls of the castle. Clover was still looked up to as a magical guardian to lead Equestria until Astelle was worthy enough to take over. Starswirl was far too busy training her to give Clover much assistance. Clover smiled and approached the young pony.
“What has you so upset, child?”
“Transfiguration. I can’t seem to master it, I get so close and then it’s like my body becomes too energy drained to carry on.”
“Transfiguration, you say? That is not such an easy thing to master.”
“Didn’t you master it after only a week?”
Clover the Clever laughed and smiled, “You’ve read my books?”
“All of them. Some of them more than once. Compared to you, my magic is pathetic.”
Clover shook her head.
“Never in all my years have I seen a filly such as yourself. An earth pony, blessed with a horn, who is able to even attempt such magic after only a few weeks. When Starswirl found me, I had been using magic for years and even I could not do such a spell without his guidance.”
Astelle’s ears perked up at the mention of Clover’s selection.
“That reminds me, I’m very curious to know how Starswirl selected you from the other unicorns?”
“Come, sit with me and I will tell you my story.”
Astelle was thrilled, taking a seat beside one of her greatest idols near a fireplace. Clover turned to the flames and transformed them into her iconic rainbow glow, each flame a different color. Astelle watched in fascination, Clover made such magic seem effortless.
“The first thing you should know about Starswirl is that he never teaches the same way twice. When I was a filly, our land was divided until--“
“You created the fire of friendship.”
“No, until the ponies of Equestria created the fire of friendship, I was merely the vessel. Before that, it was everypony for his or her self. The rumor that Starswirl the Bearded was coming made every pony anxious and excited, but it created more anger and jealousy among the aspiring unicorns. I was working as an apprentice to a blacksmith at the time. I was fascinated by fire and all the things we could use it for. The shop owner was an older man who kept to himself except to sell his wares every Wednesday in the town square. I had approached him three years earlier and asked for a job; mostly because I was eager to get out on my own. He was only too happy to accept my help and at first, it was like any other job. He taught me how to make horseshoes, weapons, armor, and all manner of iron works. When I had mastered these skills, he moved on to more complicated things.
“On the day Starswirl the Bearded was scheduled to arrive, he didn’t show up. Another day passed, and still no sign of the famous unicorn. The unicorns were getting worried and upset, and blamed the Earth ponies and Pegasi. No one knew where he was, nor even what he looked like. You see, we had assumed he would make a grand appearance like the one this year.”
“Only he didn’t make a grand appearance this year, he was masquerading as a regular unicorn.”
“Exactly. It wasn’t for a few more days that I began to realize that my mentor was teaching me more than tricks of his trade. He always wore something over his cutie mark, and it never crossed my mind to look. I still remember the day I saw it, and put two-and-two together. I’d never been more surprised in my life! Of course, I couldn’t keep a secret for long, Starswirl had been living among us unicorns for almost a decade and no one was the wiser! Once I’d found him out, we were moved to the unicorn king’s castle and allowed to stay there for the duration of my studies.”
Astelle was surprised, and then confused.
“Why didn’t you ever write that down? I mean, he could have been living with us all this time too.”
“I doubt it. Starswirl never repeats himself. There are many spells, secrets, and mysteries that I did not write in my books. There are things that cannot be read but must be understood. There is a lesson here, and it was one that I didn’t want to be misunderstood. It would have been pointless to tell other ponies my story if that meant they went searching for him. Starswirl had already made me his selection even before we had met. So don’t judge your performance by comparing it to anyone else’s, including my own. If Starswirl sees potential in you, then you must have the ability to wield great power.”
~*~
The next day, all Astelle could think of nothing else but what Clover the Clever had said:
“Starswirl had already made me his selection even before we had met.”
How could he do that? Could that be true again in her case? Did he tell Clover the Clever to throw everyone off by announcing a formal audition? Did he tell her that his new protégé was going to be born an earth pony, and if so, is that why she lifted the restriction of unicorn-only apprentices? These are the questions she wished she could have remembered the night before. She knew when she saw him again today she was going to ask him.
Starswirl appeared in the same place he had been before and asked her to begin again.
“Wait, before we get to that, I wanted to ask you--“
“There’s no time to ask questions now. You’re falling behind; I need you to master transfiguration as quickly as possible. There are far more things that need to be learned.”
Astelle didn’t argue and she turned her attention back to the rose. She practiced for hours, but to no avail. Starswirl insisted that they move on to other spells and come back to try again later. He didn’t seem cross in any way, but it upset Astelle all the same. It didn’t matter how many other tricks she could perform, the image of that haughty purple unicorn turning an apple to soap still taunted her. The more she failed, the more upset she became. She tried to take Clover’s advice and let these things come naturally, but she so desperately wanted to please Starswirl that she clouded her own good sense. After a few days, Starswirl noted the desperation in the pony’s attempts and softened. He approached her and smiled.
“One failed trick won’t make me rethink my decision, Astelle.”
Astelle choked back her tears before she responded.
“I know I can do it.”
“I know you can too. I believe in you.”
Astelle looked up at him and her heart stopped. No one had ever said anything like that to her before. It was almost unfathomable that the greatest unicorn in history could feel that way.
“You don’t have to try so hard just to please me. Magic should be something that you enjoy, not a chore. I may seem tough but that’s only because I know what potential you really have.”
“How can you know that?”
“I’ve seen it.”
Astelle marveled in that fact as he continued “The magic that will come from your lineage will be the greatest known to pony-kind. I marvel in the fact that I can be the one to teach you.”
Astelle looked at the unicorn in a different way. She’d always seen him as an icon, maybe even like a god who was so far above any other pony that he didn’t seem real. And yet, here he is now, with soft empathetic eyes and a warm smile. She’d never seen anything more beautiful. Something in her heart changed in that moment and she felt a spark unlike anything she’d felt before. Holding her breath, she tried again to change the rose into the tulip.
He believes in me.
The rose began to glow, and then twist.
He believes in me.
The flower spun, its petals changing color.
He believes in me.
The spell was almost complete; she had a new surge of energy rippling through her; a new reason to succeed. The flower spun faster and faster and then it dropped to the ground. Astelle looked on in horror at the perfectly unchanged rose.
“It’ll take time.” Starswirl encouraged. He began another lecture on a new type of spell he wanted her to try, but she wasn’t listening. She stared at the rose and hated it. She hated it so intensely that before she realized what had happened the rose withered and died before her.
