Part One: Starswirl and the Crystal City
Part One: Starswirl & The Crystal City
Starswirl had bought a map. Well he hadn't actually bought it, instead he had purchased a cheap bit of parchment to replace his dwindling supply and then swiped the antique map of a country that may-or-may-not exist that just so happened to catch his eye, and left the store before the merchant could have realized he had cut the parchment price in half as well.
After all, he knew the young 'Unicorn' who ran the tome store had a drop of pegasus blood in his family line and therefore wasn't worthy of such a valuable object, especially since Starswirl wanted it.
This was one of the few trips the wizard made into the large valley that was the entire country-and world-to the three tribes of ponies who dwelled within it. Other than that, he lived in a small valley somewhere below the mud pony and Unicorn border.
Nopony except those pesky navigators knew the technical names for directions, but of course Starswirl wouldn't tell anypony that. He also wouldn't tell anypony that if they followed the setting sun under the barbaric floating city of pegasi and over the frigid mountains, they would find a boundless body of blue water whose surface was as changeable as the mood of Princess Platinum.
Nor would he tell a single pony that if the mud ponies were to ahh...'lend' you one of the large river-boats they used to send the tithes of food to the other races, you could bob along this stormy surface for many a day and night until you were swept to a land other then the Known Valley that was also filled with ponies.
No, not a single soul from that valley at least could ever hope to learn of any of this journey taken before Starswirl ever became 'the Bearded'.
But that did not stop the almost worship-like reverence among the Unicorns of this stallion born to one of the noble families, and yet he discarded almost all association of them to travel beyond the Known Valley-a feat believed to take much power indeed-and not only establish a location but to return from this Unlivable Nothing as well! Of course there was always his mystic powers to assure him recognition as well; how he could have ponies travel to events that occurred within the previous sun's cycle and his unparalleled skill in casting wards.
Although what would he need this map for? After all, who could travel to a place that most likely doesn't exist?
Starswirl was entirely sure he could after all, since he was the closest thing these ponies had to a god in his mind and he would never let them forget that.
He wasn't constrained by their laws and limits, already he had lived way past the age countless had perished at.
Why if he had faith in any god or unseen force he would surely declare himself one, if of course, he didn't already subconsciously believe he was above that.
It was pretty safe to say that Starswirl the Bearded did not think he was able to die. After all, dying was for peasants.
...
Once he returned to his valley, Starswirl pored over the map he had swiped and tried to figure out how the location depicted would fit into the mostly unknown world by drawing countless maps on that newly bought parchment. These roughly drafted maps to connect the Known Lands and this strange country were quite terrible considering how Starswirl not only had no navigation skills but that a pony who thought the world was flat would have produced results that were a bit more...readable.
But what was it that the map depicted, and why was it so important?
Its importance was less then a bard's verse to most and was about as easy to come by as cheerful tax collectors. Starswirl heard the first tidbit in a back alley-type tavern outside of the austere and unwelcoming castle of the Unicorns on a bleak winter's day that had most sorts crowded into any ale-dispensing location since nopony had much worth doing if you thought about it hard enough.
It was there on one of those rare frequents outside of his home-probably on crown-sanctioned business, swindling or harassing any poverty-stricken flea-ridden peasant or another round of actively drilling how he believed, how he knew that he was just better then everypony else Unicorn or not. There was also the possibility that he was laughing at grieving Unicorns hunched miserably over a tankard of watered down mead whose relatives had perished in the raising and lowering of the sun and moon.
None of this mattered to him after he heard those words:
"... ol' story me da used to tell me and my sister...somethin' 'bout a city made 'o cystals? Yeah, that's it, I ain't no bard though so why're ya asking me ta tell it to ya?"
Immediately Starswirl found the speaker over all the songs, gusts of cold wind, and shouting and practically materialized next to him-a thin and rugged looking Unicorn stallion clad in rusted armor and a splinted leg bound in bloody rags, a spear propped next to him. The stallion was clearly a border guard who must have been injured in some sort of skirmish and couldn't afford a proper healer. The pony he was talking to was another Unicorn, a jolly looking tavern maid levitating a tray holding a hodgepodge assortment of bottles, goblets, and other mugs.
"A city made of crystals," Starswirl roared, "how absurd!"
Starswirl glared into the stallion's eyes frowning even more deeply as he noticed that they seemed to have a rather unusual shine to them although he couldn't understand why.
The maid sighed in a manner suggesting annoyance and muttered something along the lines of 'he's always like this, don't take it personally' to the guard before being called away by some bloke demanding more to drink.
The stallion stood up, hobbling a bit on his broken leg, he was quite tall with a unwashed white coat, green eyes, and a mane and tail the color of hay.
"Am I 'earing this right? You callin' my pa a liar?"
Starswirl waved his hoof in a dismissive gesture at the young stallion. "With that uneducated dialect of yours it would be easy to say that not only is your father a liar but that your whole family is nothing but mud pony beggars."
His opponent gritted his teeth. "Oh? Well yer jest a bumblin' sot who pritends to be reading them scrolls an' has pro'lly never done two solar hours worth o' work in yer life."
Starswirl's nostrils flared and some of the other tavern-goers began to turn over and watch.
"Ahh, but I am better then you peasant, because I do not even have to look at mud ponies and stab at them with a crude stick such as that for my line of work. I also have no need of a healer as I can heal myself like a proper Unicorn."
"So what if I ain't got much magics? I've heard quite a bit o'bout ya since I've been stayin' in these parts an' it seems you have the power to vanish into the unknown. Which ya should try doin' more often."
"And where are you from, little hick?"
The glistening eyed stallion fixed his gaze on Starswirl. "My name is Duke Sigurd Goldenrod an' I'm eleven days away from the Earth pony border and the mountains ranges where I hear you've been livin'. An' if I was you I wouldn't be callin' names in a place like this we tavern goin' types can be awful rowdy."
A mocking laugh escaped Starswirl. "Pish-posh! Now I know for sure that you are no hick-you're lower then that! Even beggars are above border-pony excuses for nobility like you!"
Goldenrod lunged at Starswirl as best as one could in his state his emerald eyes afire. Instead, he landed in a heap where Starswirl had stood only a moment before with both sober and not-so-sober occupants casting looks of sympathy in his direction.
That was the first Starswirl the Bearded heard of this land, that got his brain going. From then on he went from tavern to tavern, bard to bard, any out-of-the-way place he could to find out more he could about the city that piqued his interest so much. But his favorite part may have been the insults he gave each 'Goldenrod' he met, each word slung like a stone from a sling.
From all the bits whispered in Unicorn Territory he pieced together quite a tale.
A tale of a city made of crystals, inhabited by ponies with twinkling eyes and coats, whose craftsmanship exceeded anything known to Tribesponies and who curiously enough, knew some sort of magic. Yet they seemed like something out of another time to Starswirl, although he scoffed at the idea. There was nothing but the Tribes, nothing before the Tribes, and there will never be anything except the Tribes (and maybe, just maybe this shining city).
If all went as he wanted the Tribes would have to bow to the one thing above all...him. Or so his thoughts went as Starswirl packed the last bit of supplies for his journey.
Nothing could defeat him, he would never die.
And so he left his three apprentices-without any farewells from either side-trapped in the prison that was both apprenticeship, wardship, and then of course actual wards.
...
It took one year of journeying across an endless wasteland of nothing but snow and ice dragging at least three years worth of provisions with him. Starswirl may have lived in snow but he hated it. In the land of the Tribes there were two months of a sort of summer one month of some sort of excuse for spring and six months what was without a doubt winter. Starswirl hated winter, and summer, and spring, If he knew what autumn was, he'd hate that too.
Nevertheless, he made it. Or at least he thought so. After a year of that stupid snow he finally came to some mountains. He found them to be very strange mountains that glistened faintly and were almost purple in colouration in the sunlight as opposed to being nothing but jagged gray snow-colored masses that could just be viewed as nothing but big roadblocks if you wanted to think like Starswirl did.
When he looked up at the sky he noticed that while indistinct silver-white snow-laden clouds drifted on this side-you almost couldn't tell the ground from the sky-just over the mountains. The sky was bright, clear blue with swirling vibrant clouds floating lazily and there was not a speck of snow he could see.
Starswirl went to find a pass of some sort as quickly as he could.
...
It took a little while but Starswirl was eventually able locate such a pass before the sun began to set. The camp was really just an old wood cabin that could only be lit by a bit of torch-light.
The sparse and impersonal interior suggested that the inhabitant would only reside here seasonally as the furniture was no more than a single size bed, a double chest, and a rather nondescript craftspony's work table. Scattered on the floor were bits of rough gem and crystal.
Starswirl lugged all his supplies into the humble abode, mumbling how much he loathed the wooden plank cabin, with only a tiny window on its flimsy wooden door. His cobblestone tower was so much better, he thought.
Besides, who slept in the same room where their door was, it was a most perfect way to get killed if some madpony or monster were to rush in with a sword and stab you. Oh and steal all your things. Even as Starswirl sorted through his supplies he just knew his house was better. That he was better then anything in this supposed utopia.
Utopia...
The word hung in the air for a moment like undesirable food lingering on a table. This word had no meaning to Starswirl or any other pony born of the three Tribes.
By magical means, he lit the torches and fell asleep in a house that was not his own, in a land far from his. Despite this, he didn't miss anything except the reverence given to him by many. Starswirl didn't even think the Unicorn Court would be lost without him because Starswirl never thought about anything outside of HIMSELF...and perhaps he never would.
...
A small beam of sunlight shone through the glass-less window forcing in a small mountain breeze untainted by the smell of pestilence, taverns, and others things which may be generally be considered impure when in contact with the air. Starswirl arose cursing so hard any dunkard, criminal sort, and other sinner would have been like the manifestation of Pure Good and What You Should Aspire To Become in comparison with him.
He continued to make such a ruckus as he moved that down a little lower in the pass, a pony native to the mountain-enclosed land on a morning walk thought that a whole group of gem-miners had encountered some working hazard over in one of the quarries close by an old cabin.
Starswirl did not entirely know what to expect from the ponies who lived here as he was too busy with already knowing what he wanted to find. He was somewhat collected now, and was busy staring at the 'visitor' in the doorway, a shiny stallion with a glistening mane and tail of amber and shimmering coat of amethyst. Just like the peasant-duke who had mocked him in the tavern there was something curious about his eyes: they were as radiant as gems, and shone like big blue sapphires. On his flank was the mark of two scales of clear crystal.
But all Starswirl saw was the lack of a horn or any wings. Yet, this clearly wasn't a mudpony...so what was he?
The strange stallion looked him over warily.
"Let's begin with the simple stuff: My name is Tanzanite-" he pointed to his chest as he said this, and Starswirl came to the conclusion that this feeble, and inferior...rock pony...was insulting him by suggesting the Superior and Educated Starswirl the Bearded, God-being Conjurer of the Unicorn Tribe was unable to hear anything past his accent.
"-now who are you?" the rockpony concluded gesturing his hoof right at the esteemed Starswirl. What nerve!
Starswirl adjusted his hat and flared his star-patterned cloak as if he had prepared for something important when he really appeared to present himself somewhere between flamboyant and foolish.
"I AM STARSWIRL THE BEARDED, YOU INSIGNIFICANT PEASANT! I STRIKE FEAR IN THE UNWORTHY! TAKE ME TO YOUR LEADER!"
Tanzanite stared blankly at him. Sure this stranger was a bit funny looking for a unicorn, and he clearly wasn't Crystalline. Instead he bore some resemblance to ponies that were said to have passed through the area a few centuries ago-which added wings and horns which were traits unheard of except on the reigning Alicorns that preceded the current Queen-to the gene pool. He presumed that this bearded stallion must have gotten some sort of madness from the snow, or quite possibly was a drunkard who just so happened to be very, very, lost.
Thankfully, he didn't seem to be much of a threat. Tanzanite asked the foreign-accented stallion if he would care to leave this mountain.
This pony-Starswirl-nodded. Tanzanite was relieved, this way he might be able to observe if this guy was sick or perhaps a bit mad by how he behaved in larger crowds of ponies. He didn't seem like a loner either, lugging all those supplies around. This led Tanzanite to rationalize that he must want something if not from here, from somewhere.
It wouldn't hurt to bring this guy into the city since the Empire was so well defended. After all, it wasn't as if he'd do anything important, this Starswirl was just another a rare visitor whose actions would fade away to a half-remembered market tale.
Tanzanite felt himself give a slight nod of reassurance, as if to assure himself even more that his conclusion was sound. Even an unusual looking fellow like Starswirl the Stranger, Tanzanite thought, couldn't have much impact on others. It would be safe to bring him into the city and surrounding area even if they lacked the Heart. If he were to leave the stranger here he would've found his way into the city eventually but at least he would be able to keep an eye on him.
There was a slight chuckle as Tanzanite led Starswirl the Stranger outside, ignoring the constant cursing remarks of how he had to levitate so much and how why couldn't somepony else take care of it, along with some rambling about 'mud ponies'.
Still, it was not this annoying behavior that was the cause of the chuckle.
The Empire without the Crystal Heart, Tanzanite thought again, almost laughing at the idea on the inside, how could that truly be possible? It would be like having a sky without stars at night.
The Crystal ponies 'thought' more with their hearts then their heads in many areas.
...
Starswirl hated this place. He hated the ponies in this place (excluding himself). He hated the way they did things.
This place-'The Crystal Empire'-was even more backwards then mud ponies! Their buildings were made of shining crystal with a raw and unsculpted look instead of stone bricks, wood, and thatch. Of course Starswirl despised them instantly, scoffing at the attempts; how could something less then mud ponies be expected to run a country, after all?
Starswirl still had some hope there was a decent social order.
Please let there be a Unicorn to lord over them, he thought as he continued to ignore Tanzanite's babbling.
Probably some rock pony nonsense.
Tanzanite stopped and pointed to a building in front of them-a two story thing made of gleaming purple crystal that almost appeared to be sunning itself. "Like I said, with the recent crop failures there's been a recession so the food might cost you more then you would like, but plenty of ponies more patient then I come here."
The sign swinging next to the door stated that the building was some sort of diner. Starswirl immediately concluded that this country was so backwards that they probably didn't even have a decent source of ale.
Tanzanite walked away muttering about how much he hoped the next crazy pony he found in the mountains was not an unpleasant xenophobe who mumbled everything under his breath and held his head so high that he slammed into lampposts repeatedly, including the same one twice.
Starswirl headed down a different street, he didn't trust that rock pony. The lampposts were starting to annoy him with their inferiority, even though they didn't even have lampposts back home.
...
It was a secret to all but Starswirl that he wanted to be above everything. Especially, death. He was afraid of death like he was afraid of nothing else-well, mostly since he wasn't afraid of anything else. The god complex he had didn't allow it. Starswirl would do anything to cheat death and ironically to do this he needed time. Three apprentices were a pain but since one was graduating soon that would be okay, right?
No, because Clover 'the Clever' or as he called her You-with-the-ugly-mane did a good deal of the work. With her gone that work would fall on him. This would distract him from not dying of course and his brief time travel spell just wasn't adequate.
Ergo, the work would get done of course. Just not by him.
...
It was no secret, at least to Onyx, why his parents got rid of him. Or why everypony stared at him, why none of them wanted him. It was especially obvious why nopony really bothered to talk to him. Even if he wasn't that clever or even remotely smart, it was hard to ignore the absence of crystallokinesis followed by an utter lack of a few other things, oh but they were just itty-bitty little things really, not things you needed. Just empathy, regret, mercy, and remorse. Or so it seemed.
Anypony who knew Onyx well enough knew that he also didn't have any foresight either. He barely planned anything out, and if he did bother to formulate any kind of plan at all it had as many holes as an amnesiac's memory. He was stubborn and incorrigible to the utmost degree and loved others’ suffering more then anything else, even more so if he was the cause of it.
But nopony knew Onyx well enough. He never really hid much from anypony but it was hard to piece him together because despite his extroversion he normally placed himself near the sidelines or was alone, sometimes gone entirely. You would only see him in fragments: unrestrained laughter in another room when somepony got hurt, a bratty nature, absurd amounts of attempted manipulation and swindling.
Of course things also got worse: a missing knife one day, and bloodstains around the bird feeder. All these were fragments of the seemingly nonsensical puzzle that was Onyx, the more you tried to piece it together the less sense it made: Where did it start? When did it start? What was the trigger? How could somepony who enjoyed mutilating other creatures possibly turn out as an adult?
He also never told anypony about his anger. Nopony would ever see him angry, irritated maybe. Frustrated. Perhaps a bit glum, but never angry. Mostly he smiled, demonically leering at all.
He knew that nopony liked him. He knew his parents abandoned him due to the unexplainable lack of magical ability. He just knew it was true.
Sometimes Onyx's most subtle trait would emerge despite the utter lack thereof surrounding the rest of his nature: a hatred for authority that was as confusing as the rest of him. Nopony ever gave him anything but the most basic of orders.
You would think somepony would take a closer look and properly analyze him.
Nopony ever did. If life was a painting Onyx was less visible than a muted background color that nopony ever thought was capable of too much trouble.
Why?
Because on the day Starswirl entered the Crystal Empire, Onyx was no more then a vaguely disturbing eight year old who never knew the world was bigger then the city in which he was born, even if it was all he knew. He would get his wish however gruesome and obsessive it was.
He could do magic somehow. There had to be more then crystallokinesis out there.
Onyx subconsciously lived for the day where he could make everypony in his small, minuscule, world suffer, where nopony would have the power to stop him and he would never kill another bird again.
...
The thing about wandering about in a city you know nothing about and in a place you know nothing about is that it's confusing and the smart thing to do is generally to stand still somewhere quiet and create a logical street layout in your head by calculating things based on the probability of cities and general, consider how terrain affects possible architectural variations and layout, what should appear next, and all the data you should have been collecting to create a pattern of this unique location to increase the success of not wandering in circles.
Starswirl did none of these things instead he prefered to run through the streets still carrying his luggage on some sort of mental breakdown shouting half-garbled slurs and occasionally slipping into the language of arcane magic, which in turn was the language of the Unicorn Court having been carried with them from who knows where.
As expected his head hit another lamppost.
Furious, Starswirl stared at the lampost up and down yelling that it should remember to move aside for a noble who was also a wizard who was also superior in species. He continued to lecture this lamppost for a few minutes until he noticed that part of the crystals were wrapped around the edges of a parchment flyer of some sort, holding it open for all to see.
~Clarity & Light's Orphanage is looking for donations!~
Even in these tough times, the Crystal Faire still goes on.
As many of you know we want the foals in our care to be able to open a pie stand like in years past.
Unfortunately we barely have enough funds for this extra treat. All our other fundraisers to support the happiness and wholesome lifestyle of our wards had to be cancelled due to recent financial trouble we have been experiencing.
We do not ask for the funds themselves, we ask only for supplies listed below. Please consider donating and remember the charity, love, and kindness our empire values.
Sincerely,
Clarity Alms & Light Seeker
He continued to stare at the paper, skipping over the list written and instead peering at the bottom third of the paper: it had an address.
A land experiencing some economic woes.
A land filled with inferior ponies who cannot perform magic like Unicorns, being less than mud ponies.
An orphanage.
An orphanage filled with inferior orphans who cannot use magic run by two desperate ponies who live in a...
Starswirl scowled even harder then normal-he never smiled, he only scowled unpleasantly-and all the pieces began to fit together in his head.
All he had to do was lie, cheat, steal, and manipulate those who were suffering.
He re-read the address and peered at the street signs.
The madness had only just begun, machinations resembling a twisted game of cards.
A wizard, a killer, a leader, and a wanderer.
The secret card in this game however, was a wild card. An illegal fifth ace.
A shadow.
Part Two: The First Day of Their Lives
Onyx read the book in front of him, brown eyes scanning the pages impatiently as they devoured every word which he half-whispered and half-mumbled the under his breath.
Both the sisters were gone. Clover had long since graduated. But most important of all is that Starswirl was out, and would be so for a long while. Today was the day, who knew when he would ever get another chance to take his freedom. He was thirteen-going-on-fourteen, four and a half years older then when he arrived under the lie of being an apprentice.
The candles in the room flickered, their light wavering as they threatened to die. He couldn't let that happen, it had taken to much of the meager magic Onyx had just to light them, and already he could feel what was left draining away as the spell continued. He just had to hope he could read in the dark.
Onyx gulped slightly, not in fear but in worry. He was never afraid.
He continued to recite the spell written clearly on the page letters thin, neat, and precise as knife strokes. This magic worked best with his anger and hate, as if this and other emotions were the infinite food source needed to perform such powerful spells, unlike the pathetic wisps of arcane magic he had picked up.
He knew it was the right time not just because of these circumstances but because of the cover of the mysterious book he found all those years ago in the library. The cover always had a new title and today it said 'Everything You Ever Wanted' in the same spidery letters that everything else was written in. If that wasn't a sign that today was his lucky day he wasn't sure what was.
After all who could argue with a book that said 'Everything You Ever Wanted'?
Nopony, Onyx thought, nopony at all.
...
4 years and 11 months earlier (Onyx is 9)
That wizard's a liar.
He never wanted another apprentice, he just wanted to trick somepony into doing a bunch of chores.
*Stupid wizard, Onyx thought leaning against a covered shelf. He was in one of Starswirl's disused storerooms of old books. It was incredibly dark since the place was essentially a cellar, the floorboards not even having the decency-at least in Onyx's mind- to give off enough light to let him see his own forehooves and muzzle.*
At least it could try to illuminate all the dust motes I know are in here. Onyx slouched against the bookshelf even more trying to pull the very damaged flour sack cloak around him.
Even though he was from *the place, which was how he'd come to the Crystal Empire, it was almost unbearably cold here in the valley.*
At least he was fairly safe from being bonked over the head by a sword hilt. Or from Solara taunting him. And the stupid blue one calling him Kawblance.
Kawblance, Kawblance, Kawblance! He hated it so much. He just wanted to go...go where? He didn't know.
Onyx closed his eyes and pictured mushrooms. He loved mushrooms, they were his favorite food even if they sometimes did weird things to his head. Unlike *the place which was always rather clean, and of course shiny, the Magicy Spire was positively full of them.*
He was also fed rather poorly here and his weight loss should have been obvious to anypony who even glanced at him, except they never did. Onyx desperately wanted something to eat that wasn't stone-stale rye bread, mushrooms (however much he enjoyed them), birds, and of course that awful three leaf plant that hurt his throat so bad the one time he ate it. Even though the birds were so good.
Wishing for all this food made his stomach hurt even more. Furious and desperate to get his mind off the glory that was edible substances he slammed his head into the bookshelf behind him.
Stupidwizardstupidmushroomsstupidfoodstupidponiesstupidstupidstupid. Stupid everything!
Onyx knew that to one day make everypony suffer he had to get better at this magic sort of thing despite the fact that he had no crystallokinesis...and no mark...and* no hope of ever getting one after all that's why his parents-Stop it!, He told himself, unsure of where these thought came from. He doubted they were his, denied it.*
Again he slammed his head against the bookshelf. This time a book fell on his face. A very big book.
Strangely, there wasn't much of a thunk. His face acted as a nice book-muffler much to his chagrin.
Onyx bit his tongue to keep from making any noise because if you have ever had a big, ancient book fall on your face you would know how much it hurts.
After this lovely incident he thought it might be best to remove the book that was balancing on his face.
Onyx discovered the book was as charcoal-colored as he was. It was also glowing a purply-green. The cover simply stated *'Read Me'.*
Without a second thought he did.
...
Onyx swallowed again, his throat was getting sore. He hated feeling pain of any kind, to him pain was always for others. A purple mist was streaming from around the edges of his eyes, and his world had taken on a stronger green tint then when he normally read this book.
He glanced at the spell again, it said it was a species changing spell but the letters were growing a bit blurry and his legs began to shake.
Onyx felt tired but kept on going.
Earth pony. Pegasus. Crystal pony. Siren. Sea pony. There were a few others he didn't know and one was definitely missing-or so he thought-but it didn't matter because it was only the one he focused on that matters:
Unicorn, the most powerful written there and Onyx's means to fuel his greed.
Magic.
Power.
Revenge.
Eventually the whole room began to glow, and so did he.
Onyx couldn't even tell if he was laughing, crying, or screaming when the spell slowly burned away his body one atom at a time.
After that he wasn't just Onyx anymore, somepony was created from this spell along with a new body for this new pony, and Onyx was reduced to viewing the world through eyes that were never his.
Although he never says it like that, to him this pony wasn't that at all. The one who would become known as Sombra was just a weapon in the second part of Onyx's life.
Onyx began what he thought was the first day of his real life.
It was a day marked with the blood of Starswirl the Bearded.
Then, with an enormous, violent and almost uncontrolled burst of dark magic there was a chink formed in the wards out of this valley.
To Sombra, this is where he felt his life began:looking out on a blurred world of white from the top of a mountain. It wasn't technically true, his life began two days before, but at the time it was all the truth he needed to know in that moment.
Like eyes, the stars followed these two ponies as they made their way out into the world were so much could begin...
...And so much more could end.
