“Starswirl, if you ever expect to get any better at spellcasting, you simply must remember the basic components of the feat.” Spelltome ran a hoof up and down his beard.
“First, you have to raise the energy from your center into your horn, and then program it to do what you want.”
“Yes, I know.” Starswirl conceded, getting his bearings for another try.
“Now then, no pressure. I want you to focus. Don’t worry about failing or succeeding. That isn’t what this is about.”
“Then how am I supposed to gauge…”
“I already said don’t worry, didn’t I? Just trust me.” Spelltome winked.
Starswirl set his mind on gathering energy for the spell. His mentor wanted him to lift a rock as training today. Not a rock, really, more of a pebble. Spelltome didn’t want the colt to get too tired out. After all, Starswirl was just starting his magical training. He had learned quite a bit in the way of book-smarts, but this was his first field exercise. Starswirl braced himself and sent his gathered willpower to the pebble that lay there almost mockingly, but it did not lift. In fact, it did nothing.
“Dammit…”
“Heheh, that was great!” Spelltome declared.
Starswirl interjected. “I’m sorry Spelltome, but…what?! That was miserable!”
“No it wasn’t! Not at all. That was perfect. It’s going to take time to get stronger, but you did exactly what you were supposed to do, and you did it quite well.”
“Oh. Well, I suppose you’re right.”
“You know, when I was younger, I was taught differently. I was taught that power was everything and that failure was not an option. This is not the way of the universe, Starswirl. It was only much later that I discovered that power and success meant nothing and only happiness truly mattered. This is what will make you a true sorcerer, detachment and the removal of all illusions.”
“That’s what I taught him. He had wanted to learn magick ever since I used it to save him from an Ursa Major. When I arrived to help, his parents were already dead, mauled by the monster. I could only save him. He was, strangely enough, not all that flustered about his parents’ death. Personally, I think it was a grief induced taciturninity. I did not want him to use the magical prowess for revenge against the monster, so for the longest time, I declined his wishes. I told him that he would never reach a high level of skill with such blatant intentions to use the gift to annihilate a beast which was, in the long run, innocent, as all animals are.”
One day, Starswirl asked Spelltome to come along with him to one of his famous meditations. Spelltome contemplated this for a moment, he did not know if the colt would be able to fully appreciate such matters, but decidedly, he said,
“Very well, I’ll make it an easy one for you!”
“Thank you!” Starswirl was quite happy about this due to the fact that this could mean gaining Spelltome’s hard to get trust with his teachings. With both of them agreed, the Stallion and colt were off.
“Now then, let us try something rudimentary, yet powerful. This is the first thing I’d like you to remember: never forget the bare basics.” Spelltome blurted. They were now at a beautiful lake after travelling for some time. “…you like it?”
“Yes, it’s breathtaking.” Starswirl responded promptly.
Spelltome continued, “It’s one of my favorite spots around this mountain. You see how the water trickles perfectly down those rocks over there, and how the waterfall is divided just so…? Pretty nice view.”
“Anyways…” Starswirl started, “Is this gonna be my first lesson?” He said it with hope and apprehension.
“You have grown quite a lot since the day I saved you. I think you are ready for this.”
With pride, Spelltome had taken a pupil. The only one ever. Be it a stroke of luck or divine intervention. Starswirl was on his way to becoming one of the best spellcasters in Equestria.
Chapter 2:Spellcasting is easy!
Chapter 2
Spelltome watched as Starswirl tried to lift the small stone with magick. The first few tries were less than triumphant, but they kept at it. “As I said, you just need to focus your energy on the rock, and then program the energy to do what you want. Raise the energy from your center to your horn.” Spelltome reiterated this quite a few times. It needs to stick, as it is the most important aspect of the unicorn’s magick. Without the ability to raise and send energy, you essentially have no magickal prowess. At least, that’s the way Spelltome looked at it.
“I think I got it!” Starswirl exclaimed as the rock finally lifted into the air.
“Good!” Spelltome nodded. “Now try and put it down without dropping it!” Starswirl raised an eyebrow and lowered the piece of earth slowly. It was a herculean task for him, but he managed to do it.
Spelltome clapped. “It’s looking good. I think you’re starting to get the whole concept.”
“Really? Thanks. I feel really good doing it now.” Starswirl said decidedly.
“Well good. Just remember the basics for now. That’s most important.” Spelltome lectured. “Don’t ever slack off when it
comes to the core concepts of magick or you won’t be good at it. Sure, you may be able to get your spells to look pretty, but there’ll never be any real power behind them unless you truly understand what you’re doing.”
Starswirl looked at Spelltome for a second. “Very well, I’ll remember this forever!” He gave a sarcastic salute just for fun.
“Please do!” Spelltome said caustically.
Starswirl felt that he needed to loosen Spelltome up a bit. Not that the Stallion was uptight or anything, in fact, nothing could be further from the truth. It’s just that sometimes, Spelltome would go on rants. Maybe not rants, but lectures, long ones. Starswirl felt it his duty to snap him out of it.
“Anyway, lesson one over, although technically this is lesson two.” Spelltome stated.
Starswirl asked “What’s on the agenda for tomorrow? Do I get to shoot lightning yet?”
“Let’s just go over lesson one...I mean…two tomorrow. Then we’ll go on from there.”
“Okay, that sounds good.” Starswirl came back around to training mode, suddenly remembering that they were trying to help the Princess and all of Equestria. “So, Spelltome, What do you think is going on in Canterlot that’s so important?”
Spelltome thought archaically for a minute. “Hmmm. It has to be something pretty dangerous. Perhaps Nightmare Moon has come early? We would have noticed that though.”
Starswirl chimed in, “ Well, whatever it is, do you think we can take it out? I mean, what if we can’t help?”
“I surmise that we’ll need the Earth ponies and the Pegasi to help us if needed.”
“I thought we weren’t supposed to like them.”
“Oh please! They’re exactly the same as you and me.”
“I’m joking!”
“Hahaha, alright, that was really convincing!”
“Seriously though,” Starswirl worriedly spoke, stuttering a bit. “This is freaking me the hell out. Celestia really seemed….anxious.”
Spelltome closed his eyes typically. “I know. It’s best not to worry. The Princess clearly thinks you and me have what it takes to finish whatever it is that started.”
The duo found their way back to Spelltome’s cabin. “We must sleep now.” Spelltome said. “We have to really get going tomorrow on spells and invocations.”
Starswirl decidedly nodded his head. “We should write the Princess, she probably wants to be in contact with us as much as possible.”
Spelltome, walking to his study, only said, “I’ll write. Don’t you worry about her!”
Starswirl was confused by Spelltome’s shorthand speaking style, but he shrugged it off and went to his bedroom to sleep.
Spelltome woke to a crashing noise followed by an odd static sound. He cantered over to his oaken door and opened it.
“I did it!” Starswirl was jumping up and down outside, admiring his triumph. He had shot a lightning bolt and destroyed some old wine bottles Spelltome had set up for target practice.
Spelltome smiled softly to himself. “Kid’s got it.” He said quietly to himself before yelling over to Starswirl. “Hey! I heard you shot your first lightning bolt!” Spelltome was leaning on the wooden windowsill, his herbs partially obscuring him from view.
“Yes, do you see? The bottles are demolished!” Starswirl was still very excited.
“Well, that’s just the first step.” Spelltome jumped and glided down to Starswirl’s impromptu battleground, He looked around at all of the broken objects. “How long have you been at it?”
“A little while. I just did what you said! I centered and concentrated.”
Spelltome laughed. “Good! Good! Now I want you to try some fire, and how about turning that hawk up there on the branch into a chicken!”
Starswirl huffed and rolled his eyes. “Sometimes, I can’t tell if you’re serious or not, Spelltome.”
“I’m dead serious. Transmutation is an essential part of magick.”
Starswirl lowered his head. “I guess I’ll try some fire first.” He set up a target made of hay a few yards away. He stood and took a deep breath to ground himself. “Okay, think fire, fire.” Starswirl’s horn lit ablaze. “Fire! Yay!” Starswirl was elated at his newfound power. “Okay, let’s propel this now.” He waved his neck as if to toss a dead fish off of his head. The fire didn’t budge.
Spelltome saw this little folly and spoke up. “What the hell was that? That was pathetic.” He said the last part jokingly.
Starswirl looked around as if Spelltome could have been talking to someone else. “I thought it would work out, heheh…”
“Ground, invoke, project. These are all you need to know for a truly great spell.” Spelltome adjusted Starswirl’s posture a bit. “Just visualize!” Starswirl focused hard on the haystack. He swore he was going to go crosseyed. “Fire!” Spelltome yelled.
“Okay.” Starswirl Drove a hefty fireball into the bale of hay.
“Very good, Starswirl. It looks like you’re officially a wizard!” Spelltome said, proudly.
“Thanks, Spelltome! It feels great to finally fire some spells at things.”
Spelltome laughed. “I’m sure it does!” He looked at the pyre his adopted protégé created. “For your next challenge, I want you to put that fire out!”
Srarswirl was beside himself. “I…I didn’t know I would have to! I thought you would!”
“Ha! Yeah, okay.” Spelltome said sardonically. “Just do what I told you, only this time, use water. Aspect an undine if you must!”
Starswirl once again centered himself and was able to create enough water to put the fire out. “I…I did it!”
“I told you that you could.” Spelltome said, “Once you know how to do one spell, the others become much easier. They are
all one and the same.”
The sun seemed to find its way behind the trees all at once. “It’s getting late.” Spelltome yawned a cavernous yawn. “I think I’m going to go to bed. Starswirl, you should too.” Starswirl nodded and followed his teacher inside. The two went on training like this for a few weeks. Spelltome told Starswirl everything he needed to know about magick and casting spells and rituals. The pair of wizards had great fun doing it, too. Spelltome, in his letters to Celestia, would speak of how amazing Starswirl was at picking up new spells. “I have never known anyone with this much raw power.” He wrote. “I expect him to be the best spellcaster in the world if he continues for his entire life.” Celestia finally explained to Spelltome what was going on in her replies. “Do you remember the Elements of Harmony?” Her chickenscratch barely readable with the subject of the words being written. “Something very strange is going on.” She elaborated, “The ponies charged with holding them are under attack. So far, the royal guard has protected them. I have opened the castle walls to them so that they will be safe, but these attacks keep becoming stronger, and I think we need the help of someone like you and Starswirl.”
Spelltome thought and thought. “The Elements, under attack?” He stared at his wall for a long time, meditating. “I think I may know what’s going on here. I killed Bandersnatch a long time ago, but he may be who is causing this dilemma.” Spelltome shuttered. “Nearly died in the process, too. If he is stronger now, I don’t know if I can…” He stopped himself, “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.” Spelltome dozed off into a dreamless sleep.
“Spelltome! A letter from the Princess. She says to start an expedition to the castle immediately!”
“Give me that!” Spelltome ripped the letter out of Starswirl’s hoof frantically. Silently reading, he them blurted. “Oh my. Some of the royal guard has gone missing. She suspects foul play. She’s been seeing the Element of Laughter, Elysia Chartreuse Pie, sleepwalking at night as well.”
“We must go now!” Starswirl cried.
“Of course. Get your things! We have a series of murders to solve!” Spelltome said as he kicked his saddlebag on.
Chapter 1: Necessities
Starswirl had gone to that same lake quite a lot. Spelltome told him to spend 100 hours meditating. Then he would start his magickal training. Starswirl invested a fair amount of that time being bored at first, not knowing how to meditate properly. Spelltome decided to leave him to his own devices for the most part. He had taught Starswirl quite a few exercises to focus his mind and bring about a healthy mental environment for magickal energy to make its residence. Other than that, Spelltome told him that he must gain his own insight if he was ever to become adept at spellcasting.
Spelltome told him, “Starswirl, now that you have the necessary tools to begin your training, I will let you experiment with them. Do whatever works for you. You must separate your emotional mind from your physical mind to become good at this. I want this to be your first task.”
Starswirl asked, “How do I go about that?”
Spelltome joyfully cooed, “I don’t know!” He winked upon finishing his sentence. “You just have to keep at it and it’ll sink in eventually. Don’t worry, that’s the main thing.”
“I swear, if I had a nickel for every time he said ‘Don’t worry’….” Starswirl was venting in his frustration. “Why can’t he just teach me how to shoot bolts of lightning and shit like that?” Starswirl paused, “I guess I’m being a bit childish.” He continued to meditate. “How the hell am I supposed to get good at magick just sitting here though?”
As he silently thought to himself, Spelltome showed up, winking in rather suddenly as usual.
“Spelltome! You really gotta stop doing that, I think I almost had a heart attack that time.” Starswirl shouted.
Spelltome looked at him. “You need to meditate more deeply. You should have sensed me coming.”
Starswirl gave him his “not the time” look.
“So…” Spelltome’s voice became serious, “I wanted to come out here to tell you that it’s time to do some field exercises.”
“Huh? Why so suddenly…?”
“Celestia sent me a letter today. She says that she knows I’ve been training you, and that she wants me to pick up the pace a bit. There is a need for spellcasters in Canterlot and she wants every unicorn she can get.”
Starswirl looked distraught, “What about my meditations, I haven’t even come close to mastering…”
Spelltome closed his eyes and spoke stoically, “Don’t worry about that, you have your whole life to master magickal discipline, but right now, I’m sure you’re more than ready for a few spells.”
“Oh, hum….very well, let’s get to it, then.” Starswirl sighed, feeling robbed of his training time.