Author's Note

This here is the final chapter of what I guess is technically the prologue of the story, sorry that it's considerably shorter than the others. Between this chapter and the next, there is a bit of passage of time, and events will finally be catching up to what we know as "canon".

~Jaya Ballard, Task Mage

The Dying of the Gales

The unicorn awoke to the chirping of birds amongst rustling branches. A welcome sound, or at least, would normally have been, had she not actually remembered what had happened the previous night. Skipping straight past the groggy stage of waking up, Crystal jumped to her hooves, reeling in panic. Roughly five feet ahead of her, still emanating heat, was a still faintly smoking black scar in the ground, arcing jagged marks of seared dirt coming from the small hole left by the lightning strike.

“There’s no way… I… no. I couldn’t have… could I…?” Crystal had no words for what lay ahead of her. Luckily, something else did.

“Yes, Crystal. You did that. You, and your magic alone. But that’s not the question. Why didn’t you tell me?” Cinder spoke up, her thought carrying a tone of contempt and at the same time, worry. The unicorn knew exactly what was being questioned. Her dream. Cinder must have seen it all right before the spell.

“I… didn’t think it was going to be important! It was just a dream…” She felt dejection. Here she had cast the second most powerful spell in her life, completely unintentionally, and was being chastised for not explaining to her mentor what caused it. Wait, mentor? Is that who she is to me already?

“Crystal, something you really need to learn is that… Wait, no, I have a better idea. Try and do that again. You remember the feeling, right? Try and call the lightning again. But this time, without thinking of your dream.” The request seemed impossible to Crystal, and ended up being just that as she sat for nearly five minutes, struggling to even make her horn glow. “Can’t do it, can you? That’s exactly what I want to show you. Your magic is so closely entwined with your emotions that you become nearly inept when not feeling anything.”

This revelation made perfect sense to Crystal, but completely dashed her hopes. “So… then… what do I do about it? How can I ever hope to cast more powerful spells? I can’t live my whole life feeling pain and anguish and anger just so that I can do things!”

“And you don’t have to,” Cinder acknowledged. “Magic works in mysterious ways; ways that you will come to know and understand, all given time and practice. And I will be here to help you along as much as I am capable of. So you know what I want you to do as a first step in this journey?”

The unicorn was at a loss for words.

“Take a walk. Forget that you’re a unicorn, that you have magic. Don’t consider teleporting, or flight, or anything like that. All you want to do right now is walk. The only bit of this place you’ve seen is this now ruined clearing. There’s more to your world than just this. Go find it.”

“Uh, but Cinder, I… where do I go? Cinder? Are you still here?” Crystal was alone once again. Cinder had seemingly left, or at least gone silent. Shaking her head, the unicorn decided that, with nothing else to do, she might as well listen to the strange voice, and start walking.
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It was late in the afternoon when Crystal finally stopped, her hooves begging her to do so. In her silent wandering, she discovered she was in fact on an island. A small, alpine forested island with no land in sight from anywhere around the coast. It was probably about twice the size of Canterlot, and in a roughly horseshoe shape. There was a gradual slope up one half of the island which gave way to precarious cliffs and a crashing surf. The other half was roughly around sea level, with thick forestation and some random boulders and rises. Closest to where she had appeared, there was a short sandy beach littered with driftwood, though most of it rotten and wormholed.

Resting at the peak of the cliffs, Crystal looked out over her new home, sighing. It was so peaceful, so natural, and so lonely.

“Hey, not totally lonely, though. I’ll be here when you need me.” Cinder had returned, breaking the monotony of Crystals thoughts. “So, you know where you are now. And you understand that you’ll be here awhile.”

“A while?! Unless you can help me build a boat, I’ll be here forever!” the unicorn thought miserably. She thought she heard a giggle, but passed it off as only the sea breeze passing her ears.

“C’mon Crystal, let’s get back to the clearing. It’s probably best that you start your fire earlier on today. That way, you’ll have plenty of time to get it right.”

Sighing, her complaint seemingly going unheard, Crystal picked herself up and began trudging back down to the forest.
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Time passes. Minutes turn to hours turn to days turn to weeks turn to months turn to years until it all blurs together as simply “Life”. This is as Crystal knew it. WIth only the voice in her head to guide her, she lived, though some might even say thrived in her self-imposed isolation, learning, seeing, being. She was… until she wasn’t anymore. Crystal was no longer Crystal; but something else, something more. Something she would not know of until the day she was ready to return to the world. To truly and finally discover what she was meant to be.