The Failing Light Prequel

Studying under Starswirl was a dream come true for any student of magic, one that only a few ever realized. Imagine my surprise, then, at learning that there another that was another already assisting him, but that this other was Earth Pony named Turner rather than a Unicorn capable of applying the master's teachings.

Although somewhat more excitable than I was accustomed to, I quickly learned that Turner had a brilliant mind and was able to help my new master in developing and applying theories that even the most experienced Unicorn would have a hard time following. Despite having no innate ability to influence the world directly through magic, even the master could not keep up with Turner when discussing and projecting theories about the influence of magic on the physical world although it must be said that with Starswirl it was often hard to tell; he had a tendency to let us discover what he already knew rather than simply giving us the answers to our questions.

The research we had been recruited for was the study of a new application of magic, one that had long been viewed as taboo; the alteration of the flow of time. Starswirl said that he had spent half his life learning, the other half teaching, and now that he had taught all he could to those who listened and learned all he could from those who didn't, he wished to return to the quite of research and the peace of contemplation.

Time had always been considered unapproachable via the manipulations of the unicorn, no matter how powerful; even today it's study is all but heresy. Starswirl was determined to test the limits however, if only for his own satisfaction as he retired from the role he had assumed in his youth. In truth, rumors had long been passed around that he had experimented with time magic when he was younger, but of this he said little. During my time with him I got the impression that he hoped this research would keep him busy until his dying day, and in a way I suppose it did.

We set up a modest shelter in a living tree as was not uncommon in those days, but far enough away from everypony so as to be sure that no misguided spells or failed castings could not wreck havoc on any unsuspecting passerby. The nearest town was the Royal Castle itself, a little over a day’s travel through a wild and largely untracked section of the Everfree Forest. The location was chosen to prevent casual visitors, we were told, but also because the forest provided much for our table and the site was conveniently close to the Royal Sister's famously large library.

The chosen tree was manipulated to grow and flow as desired, providing us with a small but comfortable two-story shelter to work in. The first 'floor' was a circular area perhaps 20 paces wide where spells could be cast and contained by reflective wall panels, a feature known at the time as a practitioners arena. The second level was not above the first, but rather a set of ledges overlooking the arena. These were reached by a pair of staircases set into the sides and were just  wide enough to accommodate sleeping quarters and a private study. The master did not believe in wasting space, or at least not inside a tree.

The first few months of study were for me tremendously boring. I was very much a practical practitioner; at that point I could build a number of intricate devices and manipulate them in the highest degree, but all the master and Turner wanted to do was discuss theory and complete horribly long sessions of calculations... I confess, it was all beyond me.

To keep me occupied while their theories were developed and explored, or perhaps to nudge me in the right direction, I was asked to review the material that had been brought in from the castle and a number other places to aid in our research. This proved to be most interesting. I know not by who or even where most of the scrolls and books came from but they spoke of strange new ways to control the flow of magic, of how to contain and direct it, and a few even discussed ways to manipulate magic itself for greater effect: all things that hadn't even been hinted at in the martial I'd studied in school.

Several of the pieces in the collection even discussed dark magic, which is to say castings and spells designed with the explicit intent of hurting other ponies or altering their free will. While the master thought me mature enough to study such material with scholarly detachment, he did direct me to store these scrolls and books in a hidden compartment behind the walls of the arena as a precaution against visitors. As it turns out we never had any in our remote little tree, but such caution was not groundless: In later years I am told a couple of the scrolls in that collection passed into the wrong hooves and caused quite a disturbance before they could be recovered.

But before all that, time passed as it always had; weeks and months slowly went by for us, me happily compiling indexes and cross-referencing spells while they endlessly babbled on. Then one afternoon a silence disturbed my re-re-reading of one of the more cryptic scrolls, a work discussing transformational magic which didn't seem to have been written by a pony. Disturbed by the sudden lack of activity below I decided to venture into the arena and see what they were stuck on; several times before I had been able to provide inspiration, if not solutions, to their problems. This time something rather different awaited me.

When I reached the arena both were studying a complicated string of symbols and figures spread out across a long slate set into the wall. The symbols meant little to me, but I distinctly remember that Starswirll contemplated them with a slight frown while Turner had a glimmer in his eyes. It was explained that they believed their calculations showed the flow of time could be briefly interrupted by tucking a spell within a spell that canceled the first one out, and somehow causing both to take place at the same time on the same subject; doing so would create a magical void that should cause time to act erratically as reality tried to stabilize. The problem, they explained, was how to cast such an incantation?

They had initially tried to make their theory work assuming two ponies were casting the spells, but the variance in strength and origin seemed to suggest that a perfectly paired casting was next to impossible. This led to the exploration of having a single caster involved, which addressed the initial problem, but only created a even more difficult one; a talented manipulator may be able to control several spells at once, but it is impossible to cast two spells at the same time: you'd need more than one horn!

Had I known the ultimate effect of my entering into that conversation I often wonder if I would have gone down those stairs. You see, in my research I had come upon a reference to a curious property which certain types of crystals were known to have; it seemed, or so the source insisted, that a spell cast at such a crystal would be absorbed into the stone rather than reflected off it as magic often is from shiny surfaces. This is why, even today, gems and crystals are usually mined instead of being simply pulled from the ground by a Unicorn: accidentally reflected spells can be very dangerous.

I mentioned all of this to the others and the conversation turned to what happened to the spell that was absorbed and lost, and with growing excitement we came to the conclusion that the casting had to go 'somewhere' rather that cease to exist, and that if it was 'somewhere' then surely it could be brought back... and being able to store and recall a spell would surely be as good as casting two at once; one could simply cast two spells into a stone and let them out together! The very next day we set out to find the crystal cave the scroll mentioned and collect a few samples.

Curiously, the cave which held the unusual gems was rather close to our research lab. I have often wondered if this was sheer coincidence or if the master had known all along and simply allowed me to discover the relevant material on my own... Regardless, the cave was beautiful. It went deep but the main chamber had a high skylight which cast an off-blue light into the cavern, reflecting duly off an oblong mirror pool and gently lighting the cave with a soft glow. Growing out of the center of the pool the crystals stretched as if reaching for the sky, looking for all the world like frozen smoke curling around some ancient tree growing in the water. Adding to the beauty of the place, the crystals seemed somehow alive with little flickers and sparks of golden light trapped within.

For myself the sight was deeply moving, and for Starswirl as well I suspect. Turner instantly launched into a examination of the pool and the crystals, trying to determine the source of the flickers and expounding various other details, completely missing the beauty of the place. Eventually Starswirl joined him and I followed shortly after, although the stillness of that underground pool with its flickering crystals has never left me.

After some careful scrutiny from the edge of the pool we noted a particular crystal that had cracked at some point in the past, leaving a small section perhaps 3 hands long sitting atop the structure that extended out of the water. Taking advantage of this and being ever so careful to prevent our castings from being reflected, the master and I managed to reach out through our horns and grasp the upper part of the crystal and draw it towards the edge of the pool for closer examination.

We quickly confirmed the curious property that had been mentioned in the scroll; while moving the stone towards our place on the shore we both momentarily lost our grip on it when the gold flecks flickered brightly. In terms anypony can understand, it was as if a stone held tightly had suddenly ceased to be affected by our touch and fallen right through our hooves... It was a most curious and impossible sensation, but luckily it did not last more than an instant and we were able to retrieve the stone without dropping it into the pool.