Short Story: Daily Life of Star Storm
Star Storm is an Unicorn Mare with a passion for the unknown arcane arts. She was born into a wealthy Canterlot family and was named after the great Star Swirl the Bearded in hopes she would attain great power like him.When she was four, the time for enrollment to Iota, the most exclusive and prestigious magic academy for gifted mares in Equestria, she lived up to her namesake and aced her entry exam with flying colors. The basic level magic instructor took interest in Star, and bumped her up to a one on one class with the headmaster, where her abilities could be observed more closely. She showed great potential, and had immense magical power to prove it. By the time she was eight, Star had already mastered many types of magic, such as Elemental, Conjuring, and Healing. She never participated in social events, instead preferring to pursue knowledge. However, her curious nature got her in trouble many times when she stole books from the forbidden section of Iota's Library. These particular books were on the topic of Mind Magic, the manipulation of thoughts and emotions, similar to what changelings use. When Star was ten, the Iota Administration, a group of powerful wizards that run Iota, deemed her worth to set out on an research trip. Her assigned research topic was on some simple potion brewing, but Star wasn't too privy to learning things she already knew; Star wanted to venture into the unknown. Blatantly breaching at least half of Iota's rules, Star instead set off into the deep Everfree to observe a known Changeling hive there, study the creatures, and hopefully learn something about that Forbidden Magic she was curious about. This time, her curiosity didn't get her in trouble; Star's mind was in danger. A week into the expedition, she was found and captured by the Changelings. Sensing her immense magic power, the Queen of this particular hive, Phage brainwashed her, and slowly drained her magic energy and will to fight over six, long, and grueling years. However, a small part of Star's mind was observing the effects of the magic, how it works, and how it's applied. On the night of her sixteenth birthday, Star broke free and escaped to the nearby Ponyville, and caused quite a stir after discovering she was making ponies emotions run wild without trying too. Things were about to get violent, until Princess Celestia intervened and took Star back to Canterlot. The princess offered Star lessons to control her magic, but Star was terrified of herself and instead took a magic amulet which dampens her magic abilities. She also occasionally has build-ups of Changeling Magic which explode out of her horn, breaking her amulet and controlling those around her on rare occasions while she is under extreme stress or otherwise in danger. Despite this, Iota has begrudgingly let her back into the academy to struggle through her final two years.