The Warlock

Little did most people realize, but when Gareth first used his magic, something began. A signal spread out from his body. That a being that would bring about great change had just discovered their amazing power. This signal would be felt by almost none, save for only the most powerful creatures and beings in the world.

O0o0O

On the other side of the planet, a force was awakening. The force had been bleeding her energy into the world unconsciously while she slept. But for the first time in eons, she was beginning to wake up. The magic of the world had begun to wake up.

Magic in and of itself is a sentient being. Magic inhabits the planet in the same way a soul inhabits a body. Magic bled energy into the world in the same way you or I bleed heat into the clothes we wear. It was not as potent as when Magic was awake, but there was magic none the less.

The being had not been awakened for so long, that she did not even know what the creatures utilizing her energy looked like. She did not mind that tiny creatures were using her bleed off energy. It was what it was meant to do.

What a nobody knew was that Magic had a body. A center of her very being. Hidden away in an enchanted sleep, deep within a forgotten, inhospitable island cavern. The cavern was so stifling, that almost anyone would have spontaneously combusted with the heat.

She wanted to go back to sleep, but knew that she could not manage it. She could tell however, that a very powerful being had awoken their powers. More powerful than the being that had caused her to stir momentarily, or even the more recent one that caused her to wake for a few minutes. This one was actually waking her up, and keeping her awake. It would be a long time before she was really awake, but she could tell that she would not be awake for a few hundred years. A being as old and ancient as her would take a while to fully wake up, but she would be awake.

Slowly coming to her scenes, she opened her eyes.

O0o0O

Celestia and Luna were mildly preoccupied with the situation down in Ponyville. Celestia was comforting and reassuring the towns folk that the human would be dealt with, and only felt a twinge of magic she had assumed was simply the tension of the day. Luna had been busy with shadowing the human, and was too focused on making sure she did not loose him.

Cadance had felt the wave pass her over, but thought nothing of it. She had only been immortal for a hundred and fifty years, and had no knowledge of what a pulse like that would mean.

But this did not mean that no entity in Equestria felt the pulse.

He had sat in the same spot for over a thousand years. No matter how hard they tried to move him, he had not budged. It was a side effect of the elements encasing him in stone.

He had been so bored for so long, that he was just itching for anything interesting to happen. HE felt the pulse wash over him. He had only ever felt one other being like this one. Only one other being who put fear into his heart.

'This will be sooo much fun.' The statue could not physically smile, but anybody near him felt a distinct feeling of unease.

O0o0O

Buried deep in the Badlands (also known as the Cursed Salt Planes) there laid a massive hive of activity. A literal hive, the members of the swarm having not real personality for themselves. Drones moved back and forth almost unceasing. The drones had their purpose, and they carried out their orders flawlessly. The changeling hive was one of the most efficient machines in the world, as it only had one person operating it.

The wave washed over the hive. Every Changeling stopped in mid task. With eerie synchronization, they all looked to the land of the ponies. Something big had happened. Bigger than when the Moon Goddess had returned. A fundamental change in everything was about to take place.

Reviving new orders, the drones began creating a hanger. They had a trip to make.

O0o0O

There was a small spit of land, far away from any living creature. This spit of land was deep in the arctic tundra. The island was only a few hundred feet long, and two or three dozen wide, but the entire island was encased in a thick layer of enchanted ice. Harder than titanium, and colder than death, the ice could only be removed by the one who cast it into existence in the first place.

The island was protected by the frigged winds and churning waters that could only be attained in an arctic environment with no magic. The magic that had once been here naturally had been forcefully removed. With no magic in the area, the weather was untamed by magic, and uncontrollable by pony hooves, the weather for hundreds of miles in any direction of the island was  in a constant hurricane state.

Deep under the ice laid the island, a small jut of rock, there was nothing really special about the island. Except for the mound of crystal in the middle. It did not extend up more than five feet at the highest point, but it shot down over a thousand yards.

If someone managed to get past the enchanted ice, and past the thousand yards of solid quartz, they would reach a door. Made of pure aluminum, the most magically resistant material known. The door was fifty feet thick, and had no hinges, as you needed either immense strength, or the power to move the stars to lift it up enough to walk past. Behind the door was a small chamber, only big enough to hold two items. One a solid steel sphere. And a pillar of diamond.

The pillar of diamond held something. A single figure. A human. His brown hair patchy and interspersed with thorn like protrusions. He had stark white skin from a lifetime underground, bulging with black veins threatening to burst out. Adorned in ceremonial robes dyed with the blood of his fallen enemies, he stood an imposing six foot eight. If magic could be felt here, the room would have been overwhelmingly swampy with unspent magic.

The area might have been warded against magic, but that did not protect against the pulse that the young man in Mzark released when he cast his first spell.

Sensing the pulse, the man opened his eyes.