New Light

“ Starswril ? Starswril ! “, shouted a pony named Kindtalker, entering the said pony’s office. Her shouting was however received by none, seeing that as soon as she went in, she found the pony she was looking for: a dark blue one, bearing a long gray mane and a beard of the same color. He was wearing his signature blue robe, covered in various stars and moons, as well as a hat with a bell at the end; the one he would always be wearing in the representations made of him, counting his numerous magical feats.

This pony was none other than Starswril the Bearded, soon to be known as the greatest unicorn of his time and for the generations to come. Almost a walking encyclopedia, he was the only one able to raise the celestial bodies every time he’s needed, even though it drained the magic of those who helped him do so. It however made his body look and feel grayer and older each time.

That same living legend was asleep, thrown into his books, snoring loud enough to be heard from the room next to his office; his state for numerous years now. That caused Kindtalker to roll her eyes; she respected the pony, but this sight was almost pitiful to look at, considering all the respect she holds for the mage. She took a deep breath, before shouting:

“STARWRIL! THE MINOTAURS ARE INVADING!”

That sentence alone caused the older unicorn to awaken suddenly, visibly shaken and panicking; he infused his horn with powerful magic, without paying attention to the scrolls that fell to the ground because of that, he looked left and right for the upcoming menace; the minotaurs were a force to be reckoned wi-

“Minotaurs? But their army has been dissolved decades ago… “, he said. He looked at the other pony in the room, his eyes filled with anger, her face almost exploding from restrained laughter. “Kindtalker! These are not matters of laughter! You almost gave me a heart attack, so if you would be kind, I would ask you to quit wasting my time!”

His words were welcomed with even more laughter, as his anger slowly turned into annoyance; before him was rolling on the ground his most promising disciple, Kindtalker, a pink unicorn with a green mane, curly at the points and messy, in which traces of various potions could be recognized.

Her voice was light and jovial; the kind of voice we could expect from a pony inspiring confidence to others, as well as transpiring it. The voice fitting for some kind of leader, yet she wasn’t one, nor did she want to be one; the sounds she produces where the kind of ones that would make anypony try their best.

She bore a cutie mark in the form of a musical note, which was rare for exceptional unicorns who usually had a brand evoking magic. As she was calming down, she now had her tongue outstretched towards her teacher, as well as a provocative look, carried by her dark green eyes.

“Don’t give me your ‘almighty’ tone”, she said as she took a deeper voice as to mimic his. “You can talk like that to other ponies, but to me? You’re just an old geezer with a serious sleeping problem.”

“For the thousandth time, young lady, that’s how I concentrate.”, he said with sarcasm, ignoring the insult he just received. His pride normally wouldn’t tolerate any kind of disrespect coming from anypony. But Kindtalker was like a daughter to him, and he knew she felt the same way. “That’s how I concentrate. That’s done wonders in the past decades, and that will always be my way of doing magic. You know, magic, the thing I teach you?”, he said with annoyance.

“Well, your way of concentrating is making your office look like a freaking dumpster!”, she said, now a little bit more serious. Kindtalker was really talented in magic, but her personality was rather bold. “I mean look around you; it really isn’t healthy when we’re as old as you… how old are ya really anyway?”

Ignoring the remark about his age, the unicorn shifted his gaze around his office: it consisted of a small desk just in front of the entrance, on which could normally be found some of Starswril’s latest works or letters. It now was a river of paper scattered all across the surface, where he was sleeping just moments ago. The room was illuminated by the sun’s light coming from a small window on the right side of the room, providing the light for daytime work. It wasn’t his only area of work; but it was where he made his researches and most importantly, slept.

“I… see what you mean, yes”, he said, a bit frustrated. “I guess I did need a second view on how I was managing myself…”

“You mean an honest view, right? Ask anypony else and they’ll just lick your hooves telling you how your office looks clean and all”, answered Kindtalker as she began to reorganize everything by levitating the scrolls. The room was silent for some seconds, before she said with a softened voice: “Listen, I know it must be hard for you… the big day is coming soon, right?”

How can she know…, said Starswril to himself, before internally shaking his head; she means well to him, and he knows it. No need to be harsh to her, he thought. Regaining his composure, he said:

“Yes, you’re right. It’s the only thing I could focus about for the last two years… do you ever get that feeling that no matter how hard you could try to prepare to do something, you actually expect to fail more than anything?”, he said, looking at her.

Kindtalker locked her gaze with his, looking to find the reason behind that question. Then she understood it; her old master was looking for comfort, although he was too pride to admit it. She rolled a scroll in the air and gently tapped his muzzle with it.
“What are you blabbering about old branch? You’re Starswril The Freaking Bearded; what do you mean, expect to fail? Listen; you are the most talented unicorn in recorded history; if anypony is going – heck, CAN succeed with any sort of magical experiment , it IS going to be you”.

She patted his back with a soft smile, causing Starswril to turn his head. “Ahem, of course, I wasn’t really talking about myself, but thank you for this support”. He tried to keep his cold and usual air, but he knew he couldn’t fool her; that did warm his heart. Noticing this, she held a look of triumph on her face, and said:

“Anddddd you’re welcome, always a pleasure to talk with you”, she said, quickly winking at him.

While she was finishing her cleaning, Starswril couldn’t help but slightly smile at her. He turned from her, trying to find a way to help cleaning, only to notice that he’s too late. Ah, great; now I’m in her debt, he thought to himself. Actually he felt twice in her debt now; he regained his confidence and cool head thanks to her; not a lot of ponies can really achieve that, adding that to the fact that he could only show his slight doubts to her – and none other.

His smile however quicky turned into a stoic face, as he noticed his gifted student almost jumping in place, her face next to his; he knew that look all too well. He personally considered it a bit rude; it was the kind of face telling ‘I know I’m not supposed to ask but I’ll ask you anyway’, one of the many faces Kindtalker can put on that do slightly annoy the older unicorn. She was biting her lower lip, had her eyes wide open at her master. Before he could say anything, she said- almost shouted:

“Come on! Show it to me! The crystal! You know, the one you’ve been trying to hide from everypony to no avail!”

“Having you knowing about it being a crystal is already too much, young one”, he said with a firm voice, making the room silent. His face was now serious and severe, questioning the younger’s unicorn curiosity. He wondered how she knew about it in the first place; she always snuck behind the scenes to get intel about things she’s not supposed to know about. He thought about it a bit; he thought that keeping some things secrets is best than just throwing it all on the table like that.

“I’ll tell you about it tomorrow”, he finally said, suppressing a slight sigh in his throat. He could see the excitement growing in Kindtalker’s eyes, before she suddenly seemed to calm down a bit, keeping however a smug smile on her face. She was always unpredictable, though Starswril knew it didn’t really bother him; she was always a way of escaping routine. He then noticed his disciple pointing to the door by slightly tilting her head, with a slight smile on her face; the old unicorn agreed by saying with a high voice, as he went out:

“Yes; it is time for that, after all”

Kindtalker shook her head while hearing her old master’s boasting, closing the door behind her. She was beginning to feel worried about his sanity and his health; whatever he was preparing was beginning to damage him badly, as it was apparent by the giant dark circles under her teacher’s eyes, and the small pace he was trotting with. He was old, she thought; but not THAT old either. She had to take care of him until all of this is over; sooner the better, she told herself.

She was walking behind him as to mark the respect she held for him. The walk was silent at first, prompting the pink unicorn to look left and right by whistling a small air she would always sing when bored – even when she was attending Starswril’s courses back in the days. There was nothing to look at after all, at least, nothing according to her; her old master’s office was located in a small house, not far from where years later will exist the capital of Equestria, Canterlot; he took care to decorate his home’s walls with some ornaments of his taste- mostly big blue carpets matching the same decorations as his robe.

They eventually stopped next to each over, looking out from a window; it was now almost the time to set the sun down. Kindtalker looked at the older unicorn, worried; she knew he absolutely had to participate in the ritual, but she could see it when nopony else could: he was beginning to tire from it, and some of his fur is turning grayer and grayer – his body was aging at an abnormal speed.

Why does it have to be like this? It never truly made sense to her. There were other stars out of this world, gleaming in the night; different colors, different intensities, it was truly a sight to behold. But she always thought – is it like this with all the other stars other than the Sun? Does it mean thataround every star, there was some creatures moving all this stuff? Magic wouldn’t be special at all in this case - and she didn’t want to believe that.

She couldn’t wrap her head around this – and she knew , or at least, wondered, if her master felt the same way. But she was cut out of her thoughts when she noticed him looking at her, raising an eyebrow; he had seen her worried gaze, and she knew he didn’t like it, to be put in question.

“I’m still not deep below ground, you know; I can still manage myself”, he said with a high voice.

Well continue like that, and you won’t last long before not managing yourself anymore.

She shrugged at her dark thought, while at the same time answering her master with a nervous laugh; she didn’t know how to react, or act at all at the moment. She always tries to inspire others to do greater things by acting all confident all the time, but she was like anypony else – there are just awkward times, she lately told herself, it’s normal to feel lost.

She looked down as she noticed her master getting away, going out of the castle to join the next group of unicorn volunteers to lower the Sun and raise the Moon .She wasn’t going to follow him instantly – he won’t be surprised when he won’t hear her trotting to catch up to him. It’s part of his character, she thought. Just taking the lead, as always…

It didn’t really bother her, as she needed time to collect her thoughts as well; she looked from the window as her master gave the usual briefing to the group of volunteers.

Does he ever get bored of saying the same things every day?

Chuckling at the slight obviousness of her question. Of course, he did, but somepony has to do it – might as well be him. She looked at the other unicorns present there; they were five, apart from Starswril himself, and they all gathered at the usual spot where the celestial bodies would be manipulated – at the edge of a hill near the castle. She always looked at their reaction – some were scared, others tried to seem brave, but ultimately, all of them wanted to do it because of their own choice.

Is it bravery? Craziness? Do they not care enough about their magic that they’re willing to give it up? Or are there so many ponies that can be called heroes out there?

That’s what these unicorns should be called – heroes, for giving up such a valuable tool such as magic for the rest of their life, just so their fellow ponies can appreciate a simple night of sleep; so that nature itself doesn’t go crazy, so plants don’t have to live eternally under the same sun day after day.

But ponies didn’t care, she often thought. Even she, who can see these ponies from the distance, can’t distinguish any particular features. She could know how they felt from the way their shape was moving, but apart from silhouettes, some bigger from others? They weren’t much more to her, to anypony else, other than maybe their family. And she thought that was unfair; she thought this wasn’t right. Unicorn magic , Starswril always said, was a gift; not that it was superior to earthpony or pegasus magic, but it was a gift nonetheless.

She looked at them as they prepared themselves; she wasn’t allowed by Starswril to participate in the ritual. Her master’s voice echoed in her head: “You are too gifted to waste your magic here. Concentrate on finding solutions; you’ll outlive me, I’m sure you’ll do it”. That was always his was of putting her out of this; she knew that it was to protect her, that he was genuine; but she couldn’t help but feel responsible for these unicorns.

But her thoughts got cut short as a bright light suddenly came from the small group on the hill; they were beginning. She could only see them from their back, with Starswril taking the lead; the Sun was going to set just in front of them. It was always the same routine – it would begin simply, quietly, as their magical auras took the same color, matching one on the celestial bodies: golden for the Sun, and dark blue when it came to the Moon.

Concentration was obviously key in the process, as Starswril always insisted in his explanations – they had to synchronize their levitating powers to near perfection at the beginning of the process. It would be the case when the six of them could connect their magical auras from one horn to another, forming what would sometimes be seen from above as a six-branched star. They could continue only when that level of connection could be obtained. It would sometimes take from a mere five minutes to a half-an-hour, depending on the volunteers. Pegasi were forbidden to fly in the area during a certain time slot, so concentration couldn’t be broken.

Kindtalker watched as the connection was formed after twenty minutes of waiting. The easy part is over, she thought.

And then always came the screaming.

It would, most of the time, begin with the weakest build unicorns screaming on the top on their lungs, feeling such a peculiar pain; it wasn’t especially horrible, it was just so unexpected even after Starswril’s warnings. Like when a foal cries just as soon as it accidently lands on their behind, it was like a new set of nerves would discover a new kind of pain.

It was situated near the horn area; the ones that lived it would often describe it as explosions going on in their heads or being ripped of some of their brain. Starswril’s grew accustomed to it after doing it for some years, just like how an earthpony drags some heavy material with something around their neck to work the earth. None tried to suppress their lamentations going out of their throat, nor their tears; nopony had anytime to be judgmental at that moment.

Some of them tumbled, others nearly knelt; but during those moments, it seemed like the ponies’ determination outgrew their pain, as they did their best to keep their concentration on the only important task in that moment: it was a lifechanging moment for all five of them, but they accepted it, they knew what was to come. But their pain was present during the whole and slow operation, after which the Moon was finally up in the sky.

Being the only really lucid one, Kindtalker quickly teleported next to the group and looked left and right; two of the nameless unicorns were unconscious, with one -a female- bathing in her own fecal matter and piss. She quickly covered by forming a blanket around her, out of respect for her intimacy, as she looked at the three other present there: one of them was already going away, lowering his head. Another one had a blank stare, looking at whatever was going on in his mind – if anything was going on.

There was only one - a male - who seemed , while looking completely weak, conscious enough to actually understand his surroundings. Kindtalker looked at him, thinking about how it wasn’t really common for any of the volunteers to keep their head on their shoulders immediately after the experience. She could only see, however, his gaze staring back at her: his eyes have lost their color, not that she knew what their original one was; it just seemed obvious to her.

That was the effect that would be had on anypony – unicorn, pegasus, earthpony – if they happened to lose their magic. However, anypony else would slowly recover it totally, as living beings produce magic until the creature’s body attain some magical limit; then, their eyes would recover as well. But these? They’ll have to keep their blank stare… forever… The unicorns didn’t really lose all trace of magic in their body, but they lost the important part: the one that specifically made them unicorns, able to use complicated spells, conjure charms. Now it’s like they don’t even go in any category of the three tribes…

She shook her head, and went next to her master, who was now sitting on the ground, looking at the lunar majesty. He seemed to be hiding some part of his body with his right hoof, on the right side of the stomach: Kindtalker swore she could see some gray fur there now, but she quickly looked away.

He didn’t look behind him; His apprentice knew how tired he was of always seeing the same sad view behind. She knew it saddened him deeply; but it had to be done, she though, as she came silently next to him, standing still. Their silence was heavy; the atmosphere blank, apart of the smell of bodily fluids filling their nostrils. While Kindtalker swore to herself that she’ll clean that poor pony ,as she thought that’s the least she could do , she could hear her master’s weak voice, only heard by her, claiming:

“I’ll tell you all the details about the crystal tomorrow”, he said. “Soon, I should be able to finally put us unicorns to rest, and it’ll be the work of my life.”