Equestrian empire: peace in orderby writing dragonChaptersChapter 1: SacrificeChapter 2: Two filliesChapter 3: Magic lessonsChapter 4: Phoebuschapter 5: A new dawnChapter 1: SacrificeYear: 120 BE (Before Equestria) Unicornia, one of three capitals in the Federation of Pony tribes (F.P.T.) 6 unicorns were standing in the middle of an open field. They looked at the moon before them with visible trepidation. There were three mares and three stallions in the group. A mare with a blue coat, dark blue mane, and tail. A mare with a purple coat, pink mane, and tail. A mare with an orange coat, blond mane, and tail. A stallion with a pink coat, purple mane, and tail. And finally, a stallion with a red coat, black mane, and tail, all of the unicorns appeared to be around 30, all except the last stallion. He had a grey coat and a white mane and tail with streaks of grey going through them. He was wearing a blue cape with stars on it. A hat with a similar pattern with a bell on the end of it sat on his head. This stallion was much older than the others around him, he looked like he was nearing eighty but was in fact nearly three hundred years old. The reason he was still alive had to do with a chronomancy spell he had personally developed. The spell slowed down the aging process significantly. Although not immortal he would be able to live at least five times as long as his fellow ponies according to his calculations. All of the other unicorns had differing expressions. The orange-coated mare looked resigned, simply staring at the ground. The red-coated stallion looked resolutely at the setting moon. The pink-coated stallion and purple-coated mare looked like they wanted to run away and were frequently glancing at the surrounding guards. The blue-coated mare had tears in her eyes and looked pleadingly at the old stallion. "Please," the blue-coated mare begged the old stallion. "Don't make me do it, I'll do anything you want just choose someone else." "Stop," The red-coated stallion ordered still looking at the moon. "We were all chosen by fate to perform this duty, we all knew the day we would have to give up our magic would eventually come for us. As it does for all unicorns." "Except for the 'all mighty Star Swirl the Bearded'," the pink-coated stallion shot back with contempt oozing from every word gesturing to the old stallion. "You should be grateful, if not for Star Swirl we'd be standing here with ten unicorns." "I don't want to lose my magic," the blue-coated mare muttered sobbing lightly. "Why did I have to be chosen, my magic is all I have," The orange mare muttered to the sky. "Enough," Star Swirl said softly but with finality to his tone. "I know this is difficult, I for one could not imagine my life without magic. But we have little choice in the matter, it is either us sacrificing our magic or the destruction of our entire world." Star Swirl said, despite his seemingly sympathetic words. His voice had a cold emotionless tone to it like he was merely having a casual chat. "Then why don't you do it on you're own!" The pink stallion said firmly, irritated by Star Swirls' tone. "If you're magic does not disappear after you take the duty of five unicorns why can't you take our place as well." "I am already taking as much of this duty as I can," he responded with a slight exasperation in his voice, like he was trying to explain to a particularly stupid student why 2 + 2 = 4. "If I were to take over for all of you I would lose my magic, and then we would have to once again sacrifice ten unicorns instead of five. Incidentally, If I were to take over for even one more unicorn I would be unable to practice magic for the rest of the day. That would leave me unable to do my duties as a court sorcerer and leave the unicorn tribe all but defenseless." "But, I-" "But nothing. You have been chosen to participate, it doesn't matter what you're opinion is on the matter." Star Swirl said cold eyes meeting the pink stallion's frightened ones. The pink stallion shrunk back after that, he looked at the exit to the plaza where multiple unicorn guards were stationed. They were staring at him expressionless waiting in case he ran off to drag him back and force him if necessary. Even if he somehow managed to slip away he would be proclaimed a criminal to be hunted down, and then brought right back as the majority of the unicorn tribe would go after him. It was in fact common for convicted felons to partake in this ritual. The criminal would no longer be able to use his magic, and one less innocent unicorn was forced to sacrifice theirs. It was why most unicorns were almost excited when they heard that a band of unicorn bandits had been rounded up. The pink stallion had often celebrated with the rest of his friends at the tavern when it happened. The pink stallion sighed in resignation and lifted his head to the sky. "Ready your horns," Star Swirl said as a grey aura began to cover his horn and he lowered his head. The other unicorns followed his lead their auras forming on their horns as they all reached out to the moon. "pull!" the unicorns pulled with all their might. They felt a cooling chill on their horns. That chill slowly began to cover their entire bodies. Then they became colder and colder. Soon it felt like they were standing in the frozen north, then it felt like a blizzard had swept over them while they were visiting the frozen north. The five unicorns barring Star Swirl started to shiver and clack their teeth rapidly. Star Swirl having done this process for decades was less affected by the cold. Slowly agonizingly the moon disappeared below the horizon. As the unicorns gathered their breath they gathered themselves. Most of them had just performed the most exhausting spell of their lives. Even Star Swirl was panting lightly, the pink stallion and orange mare even allowed a small smile to form on their lips despite the fact they were still shivering. Even though it was tough, they reasoned that they could probably handle that one more time since Star Swirl was able to do the job of five unicorns maybe they could handle taking over for just one. They were decently powerful magic users, maybe not as strong as Star Swirl but they could use some advanced magics like teleportation. And the strength of their telekinesis was far above that of the average unicorn. 'Maybe I could even become part of this regularly,' The pink stallion thought. 'It would pay better than my current job.' If the pink stallion had just looked beside him at Star Swirl though he would not have been so arrogant. Star Swirl had braced himself for what was about to happen and glanced at all the unicorns surrounding him, all of them too focused to notice his gaze. And then there was pain, agonizing pain, pain like none of them had ever felt before assaulted them. All of them, even Star Swirl, who had done this ritual a few thousand times by now. Were screaming in pain. They screamed until their throats grew horse and then screamed even louder. The pain was agonizing nothing in the world even came close to it. It felt as if they had taken a literal dip in the center of the sun. They should have been instantly turned to ash by this intense heat. But for some agonizing reason, none could ever hope to understand in their delirious state. They didn't die. The reason for their continued existence was that they were not physically on fire. But because they were using their magic directly on the sun, the most potent source of natural pure fire magic in the solar system, the sun's heat was in direct contact with their magic. The problem with this was that a creature's magic was directly linked to the soul. Hence it wasn't their bodies that were burning but their very souls. They weren't even able to dissipate the spell as the sun was absorbing their magic. And so they could do nothing more than scream. Raising the sun should have only taken a couple of seconds but to the unicorns, it felt like a hundred lifetimes. Finally, the sun fully entered the sky, and all the unicorns felt a final wave of pain more intense than even the previous one. Like their souls being pulled out of their bodies. Then it was finally over and they collapsed to the ground. Even Star Swirl stumbled to the ground hacking up blood and nearly lost consciousness. After lying there for a few minutes Star Swirl rose and started walking away. The pink stallion raised his head having regained consciousness after he passed out. He looked at Star Swirl as he passed him. Star swirl walked up to the guards wincing slightly with every step. "Sun raised successfully." He said as he passed the guards. The guards nodded as Star Swirl passed them and disappeared into the castle. Star Swirl slowly walked through the castle halls trembling with every step, no matter how many times he did this it was always painful. He slumped against a wall and started to violently cough up blood again. "Fuck," he muttered before taking a couple of big breaths. 'The unicorns are becoming weaker, less and less care for training their magic to more than a basic level. I can not even blame them, there is not much use for training a skill that will eventually disappear. But now, unicorns are not strong enough to defend themselves. If this goes on the unicorn tribe will fall apart and after that, the other pony races will not be far behind.' "Star Swirl!" Star Swirl straightened at the voice, not wanting to look weak in front of his student. Quickly whisking the blood away with a spell he turned around to see a unicorn filly with a white coat and a pink mane and tail run towards him. Her pink eyes glistened slightly with tears and her cheeks were puffed out in an angry pout. "Blue is being a meanie!" She said angrily. "Am not!" Another unicorn filly shouted, she had a blue coat and a light blue mane and tail. She simply rolled her eyes as she walked up behind her sister. "Yes, you were. You stole my haycake!" She said pointing accusingly at blue. Star Swirl allowed himself a small smile at his student's bickering. "I don't know what you mean, there were only two haycakes for each of us." "WE WERE EACH GIVEN THREE, AND YOU HAD FOUR! I SAW YOU EAT THEM!" The white filly yelled as she pointed an accusing hoof at her sister. "You must have not seen right, sis. Besides, where's your evidence." "IN YOUR STOMACH!" "Now, now," Star Swirl said, deciding to interrupt the two fillies before things escalated further. "Blue, you should not be eating your sister's food, if you wanted more you could have just asked the chefs." Blue looked down with an apologetic expression while her sister gained a smug smile. "Same goes for you White, you should have talked to the chefs before resorting to fighting with your sister," White looked down guiltily as well. "Remember you should always remain calm and control your emotions. That is how you avoid making mistakes." "Oké," Blue said with a small sigh before turning to her sister. "I'm sorry for stealing your food, White." "I'm sorry for yelling at you blue," White said before wrapping her sister in a hug. Star Swirl watched the fillies for a little bit, seeing how healthy they now looked made him happy. He still remembered how malnourished they were when he first met them. Chapter 2: Two fillies125 BE Earth, one of three capitals in the F.P.T Star Swirl was walking away from another summit he'd had with the other tribe representatives. After the tribe unification and formation of the Federation of Pony Tribes. There was a debate on what would become the capital of the new country. The tribes weren't able to come to an agreement, there was still some resentment between the tribes even after the unification. So the differing pony races weren't quite keen on living together yet. The tribe heads fearing a resurgence of the windigo fiasco decided that until further notice there would be three capitals in the federation. Each of the largest cities of the differing pony races was proclaimed as a capital and the place the summit would be held would switch between them. This time it had been held in Earth, the earth pony capital. Star Swirl was lost in thought thinking about a new magical theory. 'I am certain that all the tribes possess magic,' Star Swirl knew his previous theory on innate magic in races was probably correct. He had witnessed it with his own eyes when an earth pony maid accidentally knocked over a flower pot during the summit. She quickly cleaned up the broken pot along with the flower and brought out a new one. This pot however only had soil in it, Without a flower. It seemed odd to Star Swirl. 'Why would she only bring out soil, couldn't she have grabbed a pot with an actual flower in it? I saw plenty of flowerpots with actual flowers in them when I walked to this hall,' Star Swirl thought confused by the maid's actions, then something happened that made Star Swirl blink in surprise. the earth pony planted the flower in the pot and it sprouted into a new flower almost instantaneously. Star Swirl knew of a few magic spells that would make flowers grow but this wasn't like any of that. Star Swirl felt no unicorn magic being used at all, this was something else. The plant's look was not weird or mutated, as often happened with unicorn magic. It was like the plant itself had a time spell cast on it, and had simply grown to its adult form. As soon as the flower had reached its fully grown form it stopped growing. It may have been possible for unicorns to do the same, but to do so that perfectly would be nearly impossible to all but the best sorcerers. It was practically a form of chronomancy. But she wasn't that powerful, she was just a normal earth pony, and yet she could do something like this without much trouble. The pegasi also had this with their ability to control the weather and walk on clouds. Star Swirl continued walking so lost in thought that he didn't even realize he had walked in the wrong direction. 'I wonder if there are any other innate magics across the races. I know of the ability of pegasi to control the weather. Unicorn magic can be taken. That centaure I fought not long ago was capable of taking unicorn magic. Could he also absorb the magic of the other tribes? Absorbing unicorn magic allows you to use their abilities to a certain extent. Could absorbing earth pony or pegasi magic result in something similar? What would happen if you combine the magic of all three pony races? How would one even go about combining them? Star Swirl continued to ponder his questions, a small smile forming as he thought of all the experiments he could perform. Perhaps he could even create a new spell from this concept. He really should focus on something other than that one spell he just wasn't able to complete. Suddenly Star Swirl felt a shiver run through his nerves from the tips of his hoofs all the way to his horn. His horn began to glow with his aura as if in reaction. Star Swirl stopped walking the feeling bringing him back to reality. Star Swirl experienced a similar feeling whenever he met a powerful sorcerer. It was like his body was acknowledging a fellow sorcerer's magical power. This time it was different though, his horn had never before started admitting an aura without his active input. At least not since he was a teenager. Star Swirl liked his hoof and touched his horn with it, causing his aura to sizzle out. Star Swirl looked around himself trying to pinpoint where the feeling was coming from. His gaze fell on the city's local orphanage. "Hmmmm" Star Swirl hummed pondering to himself why he had walked to this place, it wasn't the first time he had been to this city. Usually, he would not have gotten lost. Even when lost in thought he usually just walked in the right direction if the path was familiar to him. 'It is like something inside of me was telling me this was the right way. Did my body lead me to this sorcerer without me noticing?' Whether to sheer dumb luck or faith, Star Swirl knew he could only do one thing. 'Oh well, no harm in checking it out. It could be something interesting.' 'Or maybe I am just getting old,' he thought with a small grin. Walking inside the orphanage Star Swirl entered a large hall with a reception desk. He saw a few fillies and colts walk around, all of them were earth ponies. They didn't look very healthy, most were looking malnourished and their manes and tales were tangled. 'Why would my magic guide me here? It has never reacted to earth pony magic before?' All of the foals looked at him with questioning looks on their faces, wondering why this old stallion had come to the orphanage. An older earth pony mare saw him standing there and walked up to him. "Hello, sir. What brings you to this humble orphanage." She did not look very healthy either. She had a light brown coat with a dark brown mane and tail, her mane was tied in a bun, and her cutie mark was a picture of a foal. The earth pony mare looked Star Swirl over suspiciously there were not a lot of ponies that visited her orphanage. And from the pristine condition of his clothing, coat, mane, tail, and beard she could tell he was very wealthy and probably important. "Hello mam, my name is Star Swirl and I w-," "Star Swirl?! As in Star Swirl the Bearded, the court sorcerer?!" The mare's eyes nearly bulged out of her head. 'What is somepony with his status doing in a place like this.' "Yes madam, I was wondering if you happen to have any unicorns in this place." "Uhm, no we only have earth ponies in this place. May I ask why?" The mare asked shifting awkwardly on her hooves. Star Swirl narrowed his eyes, he didn't want to tell the mare he had sensed a powerful mage nearby. She was lying to him, Star Swirl had talked with enough ponies in his nearly three hundred years of life to recognize the signs. This is why he hated dealing with other ponies. If she was smart she would have tried to curry favor with him to ensure more funding for the orphanage. "That, I am afraid, is classified. Now then madam would you please show me your unicorns, or do I have to force my way passed." The mare gritted her teeth slightly, before sighing. "This way, sir." Star Swirl followed the mare into a dining hall where several unicorn fillies and colts were using their magic to serve food to clean high spots with their telekinesis and seemed to be preparing the tables for dinner. Star Swirl counted about 15 unicorns in total. Star Swirl turned to the mare. "Are these all the unicorns you keep here?" "Yes, look I know I'm not allowed to put them to work bu-," "I do not care what you do, I did not come here for such a small thing. Tell me, do any of them give off a higher magical distortion, or do they have more magical sensitivity than the other unicorns?" the mare blinked a couple of times in confusion at the words. Star Swirl rolled his eyes. "Which one of them can do the most with their magic?" "Oh, well there isn't one that is really outstanding." "So, none have shown vast capabilities. Not even being capable of using telekinesis on a grander scale than the rest." Star Swirl said while staring straight into the mare's eyes. She started blinking rapidly and avoided his gaze. 'This pony is a terrible liar.' Star Swirl thought "I did say that I do not care what you do with the unicorns. But, I am quite a busy stallion. I do not like to waste time when something more important is to be done. If, for example, I had a gifted unicorn who I had to train in magic. I may not have enough time to pursue illegal orphanages. If I do not have a student, however..." The mare gulped. "A-actually, I just meant that there are two that are more powerful in magic than the others. I don't know which of them is the most powerful." 'Two? Could they both be outstanding? is that why my magic reacted the way it did?' "Show me, please" The mare nodded and started walking towards the kitchen, Star Swirl followed her. Star Swirl followed the mare into the kitchen where he saw a lot of floating utensils and products. He noticed that the floating objects had either a golden or blue aura. This meant that only two mages were making all these objects float. The various knives, spatulas, pots, and pans were all reappearing dinner. It wasn't just the fact that so many objects were being manipulated at the same time that impressed him the most though. It was the fact that all the objects in the auras were working together to make food for what looked like the entire orphanage. The objects were doing this, while the two fillies who were controlling them were sitting in the center of the kitchen casually reading a book together. The larger of the two fillies was a unicorn with a white coat. Her mane and tail were both pink. The smaller unicorn had a dark blue coat with a blue mane and tail. Star Swirl just stood in the doorway, unable to comprehend what he was seeing. 'What?' He thought. 'How are they doing this? They're still so young. I have never seen anypony this young capable of doing such precise telekinesis. Not only that, but they are using telekinesis like it is second nature. This incompetent mare was keeping this kind of talent here, and was making them cook?!' Star Swirl rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I will be taking those two with me," Star Swirl said to the mare. The two fillies looked up from their books, only now noticing the old wizard, and tilted their heads in confusion at his words. 'I normally don't take two disciples at once, but they're both so gifted it would be a shame to leave one of them here.' "What? But I-" "This is not a request, as the court sorcerer I am telling you I will take those two with me." Star Swirl said with finality in his tone. "Or would you perhaps like it if I report the illegal practices that are happening in this orphanage? I could still take them after this place is shut down." The mare gritted her teeth. 'Go on and take the bait.' He thought 'I can not have any other sorcerers know of these filly's existences. It would be annoying to deal with them, I would have constant requests to give them my students, in exchange for stupid things. It would be easier for me if no one else knows of these fillies yet.' "Fine," the mare said through gritted teeth. "But after that, you will leave this place and never mention what I'm doing here to anyone." "As long as you keep quiet about those two, and me taking them." The mare nodded and Star Swirl walked to the two fillies. The larger filly stepped in front of the smaller one. "I won't hurt you, I want to teach you how to use your magic." "Teach magic?" The smaller filly asked looking out from behind the larger one. "Yes, I am a sorcerer. I wish to teach you." The bigger filly squinted her eyes and stared me down. "Go away," she said. "We won't go with you, we get to eat here." "If you come with me, I will give you food of better quality than this place ever could. I guarantee it as a court sorcerer." The smaller unicorn whispered into the bigger unicorn's ear. "maybe we should go with him." "Don't be stupid," The bigger unicorn whispered back. "We can't trust him, we don't even know who he is." "But he said he was a court sorcerer." "He could be lying." "But what if he's not, I don't want to stay here. We have to work hard and everyone here is mean. Besides, we're only here for the food. If he can give us more wouldn't it be better to go with him?" The fillies weren't fools they had been surviving on their own ever since they were five. They had honed their survival instincts and knew when to trust their guts. The bigger unicorn turned to stare at Star Swirl again. She knew very well to be wary of strangers, and yet she couldn't help but want to go with him. The promise of better food was tempting. 'If we go we may end up in trouble, but if we don't we will have to stay here. That mare is only feeding us because we're useful, she doesn't care about unicorns. It is only the earth pony fillies and colts she gives proper care to. And if he's lying we could simply smash his face into the dirt and run away. The only reason we came to this place was because of the approaching winter.' Turning to Star Swirl one more time she spoke to him again. "Do you promise to feed us, teach us magic, and not hurt us?" "I promise." The smaller filly squinted her eyes. "Do the ritual of trust." Star Swirl was slightly shocked at that. "How do you know about that ritual?" "Books." Star Swirl put his hoove to his breast. "I cross my heart and carve the truth in it. As long as there is a sky, I will not break this vow. If I were to do so may a thousand spears enter my eye's to blind me from my lies." The fillies looked wide-eyed back at him. Star Swirl returned their gazes with a look of confusion. "I just meant the hoofie promise." 'Oh, that makes more sense.' Clearing his throat Star Swirl continued. "Yes, sure that too. I promise not to hurt you two. Well, with that out of the way. What are your names?" "We don't have names, they call me white." "Ponies call me blue." Chapter 3: Magic lessonsPulled out of his thoughts Star Swirl's mind returned to the present and the hugging fillies in front of him. "So, shall we go and start your training for today then." "Yes, teacher." The two fillies said in unison. Star Swirl and his students sat outside in the castle's garden, they sat upright in a cross-legged position with their front hooves pressed together, and closed eyes. The sounds of the garden animals all around them. Blue and white were starting to get restless, due to boredom. "Stop moving so much and focus." Star Swirl said, without ever opening his eyes. "But, I'm bored," Bleu whined opening her eyes. "This is important, you must concentrate on your surroundings, concentrate on the magic. Understanding it." "But, why?" White asked, opening her eyes like her sister. "I already understand magic. I recently even teleported!" White said proudly, opening her eyes like her sister. Star Swirl let out a sigh, he never liked explaining something to his students. He was a firm believer that they would learn more if they figured it out on their own. 'I suppose I should get them interested in what I am trying to teach them. Otherwise, we will get nowhere.' "No, you can feel the presence of magic and manipulate it, but you do not understand it." "Yes, I do," Bleu shot back. "Magic is the force that binds everything together. You're more recent theories even suggest that all creatures can use magic to a certain degree." Blue wore a smug look on her face. Star Swirl opened one of his eyes and stared at the fillies. "It is true that you two have an impressive comprehension of the basics of using spells. Which is precisely the issue." He said closing his eye again as Blue and White looked questionably at him. "You understand the basics, you understand how to use magic and use spells. But what I am trying to teach both of you is how to create magic." "What's the difference? Don't we already do so?" Star Swirl shook his head. "Let me explain it to you another way, magic is a tool we can use. Now take telekinesis for example." He said as he lifted a rock with his magic. The rock floated in between Star Swirl and the two fillies in his white aura. "Telekinesis is... like a hammer. Anypony can use a hammer, just like practically any unicorn you see can use telekinesis. Anypony can wack a hammer, but do they understand why a hammer can put a nail through a wall? Can they calculate how much force they need to use to hammer the nail into the wall? Can they even comprehend all the physics, mathematics, and mechanisms involved? Anypony can learn how to whack a hammer, but once they know everything that makes it function they can create something new. Something even better than a hammer." Star Swirls' horns aura intensified and the rock that was being held in his aura changed its shape. First, it became more cylindrical then one side of the cylinder became a sharpened point. The rock then slowly changed from stone to iron. The rock now looked like the point of a spear. "Once you understand everything about magic. How it functions and interacts with the world. The possibilities become endless." He said as he duplicated the spearpoint into two. The fillies gazed at the spearpoints in amazement. "Everything has magic inside of it even this stone. As sorcerers, we are the ones who can use this very magic to change the natural world. With enough control and raw magical power, anything is possible. Even the laws of nature can be manipulated with enough effort." He continued as the two spear points changed again. One became lava and the other became solid ice. "This is the difference between a strong magician and a being without equal." Star Swirl gained a pensive expression as he recalled the moment he learned this difference himself. He quickly regained his normal expression though then he threw the ice spear at Blue and the lava spear at White. The two fillies let out a frightened yelp, but before the lava and ice spears hit them they changed into confetti. Star Swirl panted a little from the magical exertion, but he quickly tried to regain himself so he looked cool in front of his students. "Now, focus. Cast a new spell, one of your own design." Blue and white closed their eyes again and tried to create a new spell. Star Swirl was about to close his eyes again when he felt the chill of magic. The fillies started to float in the air. Four rocks rose alongside them, two had a blue aura, and two had a golden-yellow aura. Star Swirl smiled softly. 'Wonderfull they're starting to concentrate now. Honestly, if they'd just listen to my instructions from the beginning they would easily become powerful sorcerers.' The auras on the fillies' horns intensified. The air started to become denser as the fillies tried to replicate Star Swirl's trick. Star Swirl opened his eyes and stared quizzically at the fillies. 'this is way more powerful than I thought they could achieve on their first attempt. Could it be that their talent is in creating magical spells, like mine? I may actually be able to pass down all of my techniques.' Star Swirl tried not to show his excitement as the fillies poured more power into their horns and the four rocks started to change. Soon the ones in white's aura caught on fire and the ones in bleu's aura were coated in a layer of ice. "Wonderfull that is a very good start, we can stop for now." Star Swirl said, but white and blue were too absorbed in their tasks to hear him. A pulse of magic came from each of their horns, as they tried to bend reality to their will. Star Swirl was getting worried now. "You are using too much force. I told you before you must guide the magic not force it. You must stop now, you are not ready for the next step." The fillies continued to ignore his advice. As the various animals in the garden decided that the best place to be was as far away from the two fillies as they could possibly be. 'Damn brats, listen to me!' He thought trying to remain calm. Then he felt something strange. A strange yet familiar feeling, it was like he was being pulled toward the fillies. But not his physical body, it was something deeper. it was his magic. 'Wait, this feeling. No, it can't be.' Star Swirl recognized this feeling it was something that happened when sorcerers called upon the magic that was naturally present in the air and other creatures around them. This was an advanced technique that sorcerers like him used, it allowed them to cast more powerful spells. However, it was usually the surrounding land that sorcerers pulled magic from. Not other unicorns or living beings. absorbing the magic of other creatures without their permission was a dark magic technique. "Stop now!" It was already too late, Star Swirl was still tired from raising the sun and his magical display from earlier was unable to stop the fillies from casting their spells. He could only conjure up a shield just in time to protect himself as he was hit by a magical explosion. The explosion was so powerful that it pushed Star Swirl back as it smashed into his shield. Creating a streak in the dirt with his hooves. When the dust of the explosion settled, what he saw before left him momentarily stunned. Half the garden was turned into a volcanic wasteland, ash was falling from the sky, and the earth was scorched black in some spots the ground had changed into pools of lava. The few trees that were left were on fire. Star Swirl didn't want to think about what had happened to the birds that were there just a moment ago. But judging from the smell they didn't farewell. The other half of the garden looked like the frozen north, everything had turned to ice. Snow was falling from the sky, threes had turned into icicles. The ground had become hard and the animals were frozen solid in blocks of ice. Star Swirl would have found the site beautiful, the way the garden had changed into two completely opposite biomes so perfectly split down the middle. If it wasn't for the fact that the biomes were still spreading slowly, and were starting to affect the area around the garden. If this kept up half the castle staff would burn to death and the other half would die of hypothermia. Unicorn guards were already using their magic to try and contain the destruction. Meanwhile, the two fillies responsible were looking at Star Swirl with expecting gazes that screamed: 'Praise us'. Star Swirl glared at them. "I told you to stop." He said sighing heavily. "We will discuss this later, I have to help in cleaning this up with the other mages. And you will help too unless you want to be refined to your rooms for the next 100 years." Their expressions darkened immediately and they quickly ran toward the guards to help them with the cleanup. 'Still, this kind of raw magical power. I have never seen anything like it in my three centuries of life. I'm surprised they did not gain their cutie marks yet. And if this is not their talent....' Star Swirl felt a chill go up his spine, he hoped it was just because of the cold wasteland. Chapter 4: Phoebusyear: 117 BE Star Swirl was at a complete loss. He had studied magic for three centuries, raised the sun every day, revolutionized and mastered the arcane arts, and was often called the greatest unicorn to have ever lived. And yet this seemingly simple matter had completely stumped him. White and Blue still didn't have their cuitie marks. White was 15 now and Blue wasn't too far behind. Usually, fillies and colts got their cutie marks somewhere around the age of 10. So why hadn't White or Blue gotten them yet? It didn't make sense to him, these two fillies were probably the most talented students he had ever trained. They may even be capable of surpassing him one day, and yet they still didn't have their marks. To make things worse, the unicorn tribe was in a near state of panic. After so many decades of raising the sun, the unicorns were at a complete loss. Half of the unicorns in Equestria had already lost their magic. riots had become a regular event, suicide rates were at an all-time high, and a cult of sun-worshippers was gaining members. They called themselves: The eye of heaven. They were trying to get the unicorns to go back to the old ways of racing the sun. When unicorns used to kidnap pegasi and earth ponies and use their life as fuel for magic. Several of their people had already been arrested for sacrificing pegasi or earth ponies. This in turn was causing tension between the unicorns and the other two races to rise. It was a complete shit show, and it was giving Star Swirl a massive headache. Speaking of headaches, one was currently busy assaulting Star Swirl full force. He felt like he had drunk 5 bottles of hard cider the night before. Raising and setting the sun every day was becoming more exhausting by the day. And due to the magical draining that occurred when raising the sun Star Swirl's magic was degrading day by day. It didn't help that Star Swirl was getting older either, every unicorn experienced the same thing. At some point, their magical abilities would start degrading. Just like any other physical ability, magic too would fade with age. Star Swirl had slowed the process drastically by slowing his aging with his magic. The fact that he had the greatest magical ability recorded in pony history was also helpful, but even he would not be able to stop time forever. Star Swirl had to do his duty despite the pounding in his head. He stumbled through the halls of the castle when he heard a voice behind him. "Art thou alright, Star Swirl?" He turned around, he saw a white unicorn behind him. The unicorn had a purple mane with pink swirls running through them. Her white coat was shining from the grooming it received every day, and on her head sat a crown made of silver with purple gemstones inside of it. Her cutie mark was a picture of two white opals. "Yes you're majesty, I am fine. Just a bit tired," Star Swirl forced himself to smile at the mare. "Please Star Swirl, call us Opal. Thou has known our grandmother since they were a foal. And thou hast served the royal family for generations." "Of course, how is princess platinum." "Mother has been getting worse, we fear we might have to take their place as ruler soon." Star Swirl and princess Opal made their way to the courtyard not realizing they were being followed by two fillies. 'That is not good news,' Star Swirl thought. 'With so much tension, a change in leadership could be disastrous.' Star Swirl and princess opal stepped into the courtyard, where five guards dragged unicorns to the center. The unicorns were chained, and they all had a sun engraved somewhere on their bodies. They were solar cultists. The cultists were screaming at the guards, raving about how they would burn in eternal fire for their sins. One of the unicorns started casting a spell. Star Swirl quickly cast a cancelation spell, causing the spell the cultist was trying to cast to destabilize. The spell exploded, and the cultist was knocked unconscious. A different cultist stepped forward this one was much calmer than the others. "Brothers, please stop." He said the cultist had a brown coat, with a red mane and tail. His cutie mark was a black circle out of which several lines went a few inches outwards. At his words, the other cultists stopped resisting the guards The stallion walked towards the cultist whose spell had exploded. "Are you alright?" he asked. "Yes, I am fine brother" The cultist replied. The brown stallion helped the cultist back on his hooves. "You still have much to learn brother, for one combat spells take a long time to create. And they're easy to cancel. It is much better to use a quick spell that your enemy won't see coming." Before anypony could even react the cultist's head was held in a red aura and twisted 180 degrees. The guards quickly raised their spears and readied their horns. The stallion merely chucked the dead cultist aside with his telekinesis before bowing to princess Opal. "My apologies for that one's rude behavior your majesty." Star Swirl stepped in front of Opal readying his horn with magic. Casting several spells on himself. The spells would increase his perception speed and reduce casting time for future spells. 'He may have cased that spell too fast last time,' Star Swirl thought. 'But, I'll be sure to catch him this time.' "Guards," He ordered. "Get another participant immediately. And restrain that one" He said pointing at the stallion who had just killed his compatriot. "Please, court sorcerer Star Swirl there's no need for such a thing. I will not harm anypony else." "I have seen your type enough over the past few years. You are all lunatics as far as I am concerned, I will not trust a single word out of your mouth." "We merely see the truth where others cannot. You know as well as I do that unicorns did not always raise the sun this way. We must stop this heinous practice and return to the old ways." "When we would use the souls of the other pony tribes to fuel the rising of the sun? No, I will never allow us to go back to such an illogical practice. At least now there are still survivors, it is the better alternative." The stallion frowned at Star Swirl. "Can't you see it Star Swirl? The unicorn tribe has been getting weaker, our magic isn't as powerful as it used to be. There was a time once when we had hundreds of sorcerers who could kill Ursa Majors. Now, the most powerful mage we have after you could maybe kill a minor, while walking away with major injuries. It's a clear sign from Sol, we must send him sacrifices." "And what of our relations with the other tribes? Would you have us once again divided? Risk war with the other pony tribes? That is not the way forward." Star swirl looked at the remaining guards who had still not restrained the unicorn. "Guards! What did I order? Restrain him now." "I wouldn't do that if I were you," the stallion said. "I am a messenger of soul and she will strike you down if you try." 'Ah forget it, there are plenty less dangerous cultists left we can use.' Star Swirl made his horn flare with power. He was done with this conversation, he was going to kill this unicorn. He was far too dangerous to be left alive. Just when he was prepared to kill the cultist in front of him though, Star Swirl heard a voice that made his blood run cold. "Who's Sol?" A filly's voice asked. 'No,' Star Swirl thought in panic whipping his head around to the voice's owner. Two fillies were standing at the entrance of the courtyard, White and Blue. 'What are they doing here?' "She's the benevolent goddess that looks over us unicorns, she's the one who gave us our magic." The stallion smiled, and a chill went up Star Swirl's spine. Star Swirl felt the use of magic, and the shadows moved. Cloaked unicorns materialized from the shadows of the sisters and opal. The cloaked unicorns grabbed them tight and put daggers to their necks. A few of the guards turned on their fellow guardsmen taking them by surprise as they killed their brothers in arms. The few guards that remained were trying to fight back, but more unicorns appeared from the shadows. They launched knives into the eyes and the joints that the armor of the remaining guards left exposed. "FUCK!!" Star Swirl bellowed as his horn glowed with power. "Perhaps you should reassess your situation before you do that." The stallion said with obvious smugness. Star Swirl looked around at the unicorns surrounding him, quickly assessing the new situation. '23 enemies in total, four of them were guards that turned traitors, four of them are the unicorns brought out initially for the sunrise, and the rest are the cloaked unicorns who used stealth magic. Unicorns who favor stealth magic often neglect the mastering of powerful attack spells, as long as I keep my detection spells up I could kill them quickly. The guards will be more challenging the guards here are trained in incapacitation magic to immobilize any escapees without killing them. I can not get hit by their magic so I will need to keep teleporting to dodge them. Then there are those remaining four, three of them will be no thread, but their leader. I do not know what kind of magic he has but based upon his love for the sun god Sol to the point of becoming a priest to a cult that worships her. I am confident that he probably favors fire magic, ice magic would be the perfect counter to him.' 'On the other hoof, having a drawn-out fight could be risky and it would be hard to protect the princess and my students. Maybe I should just use one powerful area of effect attack and kill them all instantly, no my students and the princess aren't strong enough to survive that kind of attack. And summoning a shield to protect them while simultaneously casting the area off effect spell would take too long to cast. Besides those cloaked ponies holding my students, hostage has a spell cast on them that activates upon death, it is probably an explosion spell of some kind. I could maybe counter it if I had more time, but I do not have the strength to cast a chronomancy spell richt now. I'm still weak from yesterday's sunset.' Apologies for my rudeness, but you were about to kill me. Let us start over," the stallion gave a bow. "My name is Phoebus, priest of the eye of heaven." chapter 5: A new dawn"Apologies for my rudeness, but you were about to kill me. Let us start over," the stallion gave a bow. "My name is Phoebus, priest of the eye of heaven." "I don't care who you are, and you already know who I am. So get on with it and tell me your demands." Star Swirl snarled. Phoebus frowned at Star Swirl. " I see that the rumors about you're personality are true," Phoebus sighed. "Very well, I want you to become the next sacrifice." He said frankly Star Swirl closed his eyes. "You think killing me will solve your problems?" "It's a start, and you are powerful, your soul will be able to fuel the sunrise for a few days." "Do you truly belief sacrificing me will solve anything?" "You are the one who stopped our practice three centuries ago. Sol is clearly angry at you for stopping the sacrifices, and angry at us for following you. That is why we're losing our magic. Your sacrifice will be the catalyst to the reformation of the unicorn tribe." Star Swirl looked back to his disciples and Opal. Opal shook her head. Her eyes showed resigned determination, she knew what Star Swirl's death would cause. But, it wasn't Opal who Star Swirl cared for. Star Swirl knew the importance of all the ponies in this place. They could do without the guards, they could be replaced. Their deaths would affect little. Opal, even though she was a princess, she was not the only princess. Her death would certainly send a ripple of grief through the unicorn tribe. But she wasn't necessary for its survival. Star Swirls' death, however, would cause unimaginable damage to the unicorn tribe. No one would say it out loud, but Star Swirl was almost more important to the unicorns than even the royal family. His survival was of the utmost importance, or it would have been, had it not been for two fillies. 'Cutie marks, the most important thing in a pony's life,' thought Star Swirl. 'Everypony gets one eventually even if it takes a while. Those ponies who do not receive theirs at a certain age were usually mocked for being talentless and lazy. Yet in my centuries of life, I rebuke such a conclusion. For it is not the lack of effort or talent that causes their cutie marks to manifest later in life, as a matter of fact, it's the opposite. The lack of a cutie mark for so long simply means that they have a talent that is not seen often or one that has not been seen at all. Those talents are exactly the ones that advance the pony races.' 'Gustie the great, my mentor had such a talent. I had such a talent. Mage Meadowbrook, Rockhoof, Flash Magnus, Mistmane, and Somnabula. All great ponies of their tribes and trusted colleagues had similar stories. And now there's those two,' Star Swirl looked at White and Bleu, they're eyes were fearful. He met their gazes. 'The two most talented students I've ever had, and yet their talents remain a mystery. I had hoped to witness what great things they would accomplish.' Star Swirl locks gazes with Phoebus. "If I do this, will you swear to let everypony go and that you and your cult will never harm those three?" "Yes, that can be arranged." "We will make a magic contract, if you break your side of the deal you and everypony you know will die. The method of death will be incineration, seems fitting for the likes of you." Phoebus nodded agreeing with the terms, Star Swirl lit his horn and a contract and needle came into existence with a flash. Phoebus read the contract judging if Star Swirl had put any loopholes in the contract. There seemed to be none, it was straightforward with no way around the terms. Phoebus punctured his hoof with the needle. Before pressing his hoof on the contract. Star Swirl did the same and the contract vanished in another burst of magic. "Now then, shall we get to it," Phoebus said with a grin. "No! Don't," White called out, she understood what was about to happen and struggled more vehemently. "Don't listen, teacher," Bleu said also struggling in the unicorn's grasp. "Quiet, this is the only way." Desperation flooded the two fillies. They did not want to lose their teacher. The one pony who had been like a father to them. Then inspiration struck Bleu. "We will do it," she said. Phoebes looked at blue with a raised eyebrow. "Do, what? Do you want to be sacrificed? Is that how desperate the tribe has become?" He asked in confusion. "No, we will raise the sun for you." "That's impossible," Star swirl said. "No, it's not," White chimed in. "Star swirl always says that if there were two of him they could raise the sun and moon without sacrificing so much. The three of us working together will have enough power." "I told you it's impossible." "Please, we know we can do it," Blue said. "You don't know anything." "You can try," Phoebus suddenly chimes in. "You said you wouldn't hurt them." "I won't. Release the fillies," with his command Blue and White were released. "There now, you two are free to try and raise the sun." "Is this wise sir." One of the cloaked ponies asked approaching Phoebus. "Star Swirl can do nothing the contract clearly states that he will sacrifice himself for the sunrise. If he stops us in this endeavor or harms our ponies before his sacrifice he'll die." White and Blue rushed to Star Swirl's side. "I appreciate your courage," he started. "But you are not ready for this task. I am sure you will do great things with your magic. But for that to be achieved you need to continue living and studying." "No," White said. "Not without you," tears formed in her eyes again but she held his gaze. "We can do this," Blue added. Star Swirl wanted to dismiss them. To just sent them away with a teleportation spell. But something in their eyes made him hesitate. It was a determination, not one of desperation but utmost trust in their abilities. 'I am going to regret this. This is way too much of a gamble. But I've learned over the years to trust my gut. Whether it be fate or some form of magic, my gut instinct has never let me astray.' "Fine, but you will follow my lead." The fillies nodded and together they walked to the center of the field. "You're actually allowing them to raise the sun," Phoebus asked raising an eyebrow. He then shrugged his shoulders. "Well, alright. Just remember if this fails you will still have to sacrifice yourself." Star Swirl ignored Phoebus as he began explaining the process of raising the sun to his students. "It is not a complicated spell. It is just like telekinesis, except your targets are the sun and moon." Star Swirl's horn ignited in his white aura. In unison White and Blue did the same igniting their horns in a golden and blue aura respectfully. "Ready?" Star Swirl asked receiving an affirmative nod from the two fillies. "Pull." The moment Star Swirl gave the order he expected to feel the cold of lowering the moon like he always did. Except the feeling never came in fact an entirely different feeling came over him. 'What is happening? I should be feeling the cold about now. I can't feel it. No. I can't feel the moon at all.' Star Swirl thought frantically. He turned to White and Blue, intending to stop them and tell them something was wrong. At that moment, a shockwave of magic the likes of which he had never felt before traveled over the courtyard. It passed through everything in the castle and continued into the surrounding city of unicornia. The shockwave acted like a beacon, and unknown to everyone present at the time, Various powerful creatures noticed it. Artifacts around the world activated in response. And one ancient creature made up of dozens of different animal parts smiled a grin too wide for its face. "How Interesting," It said in a thousand voices. White and blue began floating in the air as a bright white light surrounded them. A golden aura completely covered White's body, and a similar blue aura covered Blue. The celestial bodies began to move along the sky. The moon disappeared under the horizon as the sun appeared on the other side of the world. Star Swirl had to hold his hat to prevent it from flying off of his head. The bells all over his cape and head chimed in the fierce winds created by the two fillies. A grin spread across his grey muzzle, and slowly he began to laugh. Star Swirl laughed as he witnessed the moment his students gained their cutie marks. As the sun appeared completely above the horizon and the moon had completely set. White and Blue collapsed on the ground. The light vanished, and the wind slowly settled. Star Swirl was still grinning until he noticed movement in the corner of his vision. 'Shit, I forgot about the cultists,' he turned around, preparing for a fight. Phoebus stood mouth agape, eyes wide in disbelief. "Salvatores," he said reverently before he lowered his head in a bow. The other cultists quickly followed his lead and did much the same. Star Swirl looked at them with confusion before he locked eyes with Opal. She looked at her surroundings in confusion eyes moving from Star Swirl, to the prostrated cultist, to the place where the moon had disappeared below the horizon, to the sun, and finally, they settled on the two fillies responsible for it all. "What the fuck just happened," She said, dropping her royal way of speech. White and Blue blinked their eyes rapidly, clearing their vision. "What happened," White asked. "You raised the sun," Star Swirl said. "Whiteout my assistance." White and Blue blinked in confusion. "We did?" "You have the cutie marks to prove it. Blue and White checked their flanks. Blue had a picture of a crescent moon on her flank with splotches of black surrounding it, while white had a picture of the sun on hers. They gasped in excitement. Their excitement quickly vanished however as they gazed at the still-kneeling cultists. "Wait, what does this mean for the contract?" White asked. "We will cancel it," Phoebus said, raising his head and walking towards Star Swirl, White, and Blue. "Really? just like that? I would have thought you'd rather kill them for some kind of heresy," Star Swirl said skeptically. "Not at all. We have begged sol for salvation for generations. He likely blessed these fillies to help us. Legends have foretold this day. The day on which the salvatores, the saviors, appear." "You tried to kill us," Blue countered. "That was then. This is now. Besides, the only reason you raised, the sun was because I threatened your lives. It was destiny." "Thou threatened a member of the royal bloodline," Opal said, regaining her composure and fancy way of speaking. "Such a thing is punished with death." "If the saviors wish it, then I shall take my own life. However, I urge them to reconsider. I can be useful." "How?" Opal asked. "I'm an individual with a lot of influence within the eye of heaven. I can help you track down the most radical members of the group. I can even use my influence to stop the sacrificing by telling our members that the saviors of ponykind have shown themselves." "That is a tempting offer," Star Swirl said. "Of course, if we hunt down all the high-ranking members except you and allow you to start worshiping my students as saviors sent by your god. You will become the most powerful member within the eye of heaven." "Unless I offer a soul bond with your students." Star Swirls' eyes went wide. "You would do such a serious thing?" "I would, and if I cancel the magic contract with you, then they will have full dominion over me, and I none over them." Star Swirl sighed and looked at Blue and White. "It is up to you." He said to them. "Would it help?" White asked. "Probably," Star Swirl answered honestly. White and Blue looked at each other, having a silent conversation. Before they both nodded. "We will forge the soul contract," they said in unison. "It is settled then," Phoebus said. "May I also have the honor of knowing your names?" "I'm White." "I'm Blue." Phoebus looked at Star Swirl with a dumbfounded expression. "Who names their kid after their coat color?" Star Swirl shrugged. "Their orphans. That was the only name they had." "It does not have to be so," Opal said. "It is not uncommon to change one's name when thou receives a cutie mark." "Do you want to change your name?" Star Swirl asked. Blue and White nodded after a bit of thinking. Opal put a hoof to her chin while Looking at the cutie marks of the two fillies. "They have the sun and moon, so perhaps a referral to that," Opal said thoughtfully. "How about Solis and Luna." Phoebus shook his head. "Luna is fine, but Solis is too close to Sol. It would be dangerous to refer to yourself as god." "The sun is the largest celestial object in our solar system," Star Swirl chimed in. "So, how about Celestia." Opal looked at White and Blue. "What do you two think about Celestia and Luna for names." White nodded enthusiastically. "I love it!" "Me too!" Blue exclaimed. "It's decided then." Star Swirl said, nodding.
Chapter 1: SacrificeYear: 120 BE (Before Equestria) Unicornia, one of three capitals in the Federation of Pony tribes (F.P.T.) 6 unicorns were standing in the middle of an open field. They looked at the moon before them with visible trepidation. There were three mares and three stallions in the group. A mare with a blue coat, dark blue mane, and tail. A mare with a purple coat, pink mane, and tail. A mare with an orange coat, blond mane, and tail. A stallion with a pink coat, purple mane, and tail. And finally, a stallion with a red coat, black mane, and tail, all of the unicorns appeared to be around 30, all except the last stallion. He had a grey coat and a white mane and tail with streaks of grey going through them. He was wearing a blue cape with stars on it. A hat with a similar pattern with a bell on the end of it sat on his head. This stallion was much older than the others around him, he looked like he was nearing eighty but was in fact nearly three hundred years old. The reason he was still alive had to do with a chronomancy spell he had personally developed. The spell slowed down the aging process significantly. Although not immortal he would be able to live at least five times as long as his fellow ponies according to his calculations. All of the other unicorns had differing expressions. The orange-coated mare looked resigned, simply staring at the ground. The red-coated stallion looked resolutely at the setting moon. The pink-coated stallion and purple-coated mare looked like they wanted to run away and were frequently glancing at the surrounding guards. The blue-coated mare had tears in her eyes and looked pleadingly at the old stallion. "Please," the blue-coated mare begged the old stallion. "Don't make me do it, I'll do anything you want just choose someone else." "Stop," The red-coated stallion ordered still looking at the moon. "We were all chosen by fate to perform this duty, we all knew the day we would have to give up our magic would eventually come for us. As it does for all unicorns." "Except for the 'all mighty Star Swirl the Bearded'," the pink-coated stallion shot back with contempt oozing from every word gesturing to the old stallion. "You should be grateful, if not for Star Swirl we'd be standing here with ten unicorns." "I don't want to lose my magic," the blue-coated mare muttered sobbing lightly. "Why did I have to be chosen, my magic is all I have," The orange mare muttered to the sky. "Enough," Star Swirl said softly but with finality to his tone. "I know this is difficult, I for one could not imagine my life without magic. But we have little choice in the matter, it is either us sacrificing our magic or the destruction of our entire world." Star Swirl said, despite his seemingly sympathetic words. His voice had a cold emotionless tone to it like he was merely having a casual chat. "Then why don't you do it on you're own!" The pink stallion said firmly, irritated by Star Swirls' tone. "If you're magic does not disappear after you take the duty of five unicorns why can't you take our place as well." "I am already taking as much of this duty as I can," he responded with a slight exasperation in his voice, like he was trying to explain to a particularly stupid student why 2 + 2 = 4. "If I were to take over for all of you I would lose my magic, and then we would have to once again sacrifice ten unicorns instead of five. Incidentally, If I were to take over for even one more unicorn I would be unable to practice magic for the rest of the day. That would leave me unable to do my duties as a court sorcerer and leave the unicorn tribe all but defenseless." "But, I-" "But nothing. You have been chosen to participate, it doesn't matter what you're opinion is on the matter." Star Swirl said cold eyes meeting the pink stallion's frightened ones. The pink stallion shrunk back after that, he looked at the exit to the plaza where multiple unicorn guards were stationed. They were staring at him expressionless waiting in case he ran off to drag him back and force him if necessary. Even if he somehow managed to slip away he would be proclaimed a criminal to be hunted down, and then brought right back as the majority of the unicorn tribe would go after him. It was in fact common for convicted felons to partake in this ritual. The criminal would no longer be able to use his magic, and one less innocent unicorn was forced to sacrifice theirs. It was why most unicorns were almost excited when they heard that a band of unicorn bandits had been rounded up. The pink stallion had often celebrated with the rest of his friends at the tavern when it happened. The pink stallion sighed in resignation and lifted his head to the sky. "Ready your horns," Star Swirl said as a grey aura began to cover his horn and he lowered his head. The other unicorns followed his lead their auras forming on their horns as they all reached out to the moon. "pull!" the unicorns pulled with all their might. They felt a cooling chill on their horns. That chill slowly began to cover their entire bodies. Then they became colder and colder. Soon it felt like they were standing in the frozen north, then it felt like a blizzard had swept over them while they were visiting the frozen north. The five unicorns barring Star Swirl started to shiver and clack their teeth rapidly. Star Swirl having done this process for decades was less affected by the cold. Slowly agonizingly the moon disappeared below the horizon. As the unicorns gathered their breath they gathered themselves. Most of them had just performed the most exhausting spell of their lives. Even Star Swirl was panting lightly, the pink stallion and orange mare even allowed a small smile to form on their lips despite the fact they were still shivering. Even though it was tough, they reasoned that they could probably handle that one more time since Star Swirl was able to do the job of five unicorns maybe they could handle taking over for just one. They were decently powerful magic users, maybe not as strong as Star Swirl but they could use some advanced magics like teleportation. And the strength of their telekinesis was far above that of the average unicorn. 'Maybe I could even become part of this regularly,' The pink stallion thought. 'It would pay better than my current job.' If the pink stallion had just looked beside him at Star Swirl though he would not have been so arrogant. Star Swirl had braced himself for what was about to happen and glanced at all the unicorns surrounding him, all of them too focused to notice his gaze. And then there was pain, agonizing pain, pain like none of them had ever felt before assaulted them. All of them, even Star Swirl, who had done this ritual a few thousand times by now. Were screaming in pain. They screamed until their throats grew horse and then screamed even louder. The pain was agonizing nothing in the world even came close to it. It felt as if they had taken a literal dip in the center of the sun. They should have been instantly turned to ash by this intense heat. But for some agonizing reason, none could ever hope to understand in their delirious state. They didn't die. The reason for their continued existence was that they were not physically on fire. But because they were using their magic directly on the sun, the most potent source of natural pure fire magic in the solar system, the sun's heat was in direct contact with their magic. The problem with this was that a creature's magic was directly linked to the soul. Hence it wasn't their bodies that were burning but their very souls. They weren't even able to dissipate the spell as the sun was absorbing their magic. And so they could do nothing more than scream. Raising the sun should have only taken a couple of seconds but to the unicorns, it felt like a hundred lifetimes. Finally, the sun fully entered the sky, and all the unicorns felt a final wave of pain more intense than even the previous one. Like their souls being pulled out of their bodies. Then it was finally over and they collapsed to the ground. Even Star Swirl stumbled to the ground hacking up blood and nearly lost consciousness. After lying there for a few minutes Star Swirl rose and started walking away. The pink stallion raised his head having regained consciousness after he passed out. He looked at Star Swirl as he passed him. Star swirl walked up to the guards wincing slightly with every step. "Sun raised successfully." He said as he passed the guards. The guards nodded as Star Swirl passed them and disappeared into the castle. Star Swirl slowly walked through the castle halls trembling with every step, no matter how many times he did this it was always painful. He slumped against a wall and started to violently cough up blood again. "Fuck," he muttered before taking a couple of big breaths. 'The unicorns are becoming weaker, less and less care for training their magic to more than a basic level. I can not even blame them, there is not much use for training a skill that will eventually disappear. But now, unicorns are not strong enough to defend themselves. If this goes on the unicorn tribe will fall apart and after that, the other pony races will not be far behind.' "Star Swirl!" Star Swirl straightened at the voice, not wanting to look weak in front of his student. Quickly whisking the blood away with a spell he turned around to see a unicorn filly with a white coat and a pink mane and tail run towards him. Her pink eyes glistened slightly with tears and her cheeks were puffed out in an angry pout. "Blue is being a meanie!" She said angrily. "Am not!" Another unicorn filly shouted, she had a blue coat and a light blue mane and tail. She simply rolled her eyes as she walked up behind her sister. "Yes, you were. You stole my haycake!" She said pointing accusingly at blue. Star Swirl allowed himself a small smile at his student's bickering. "I don't know what you mean, there were only two haycakes for each of us." "WE WERE EACH GIVEN THREE, AND YOU HAD FOUR! I SAW YOU EAT THEM!" The white filly yelled as she pointed an accusing hoof at her sister. "You must have not seen right, sis. Besides, where's your evidence." "IN YOUR STOMACH!" "Now, now," Star Swirl said, deciding to interrupt the two fillies before things escalated further. "Blue, you should not be eating your sister's food, if you wanted more you could have just asked the chefs." Blue looked down with an apologetic expression while her sister gained a smug smile. "Same goes for you White, you should have talked to the chefs before resorting to fighting with your sister," White looked down guiltily as well. "Remember you should always remain calm and control your emotions. That is how you avoid making mistakes." "Oké," Blue said with a small sigh before turning to her sister. "I'm sorry for stealing your food, White." "I'm sorry for yelling at you blue," White said before wrapping her sister in a hug. Star Swirl watched the fillies for a little bit, seeing how healthy they now looked made him happy. He still remembered how malnourished they were when he first met them.
Chapter 2: Two fillies125 BE Earth, one of three capitals in the F.P.T Star Swirl was walking away from another summit he'd had with the other tribe representatives. After the tribe unification and formation of the Federation of Pony Tribes. There was a debate on what would become the capital of the new country. The tribes weren't able to come to an agreement, there was still some resentment between the tribes even after the unification. So the differing pony races weren't quite keen on living together yet. The tribe heads fearing a resurgence of the windigo fiasco decided that until further notice there would be three capitals in the federation. Each of the largest cities of the differing pony races was proclaimed as a capital and the place the summit would be held would switch between them. This time it had been held in Earth, the earth pony capital. Star Swirl was lost in thought thinking about a new magical theory. 'I am certain that all the tribes possess magic,' Star Swirl knew his previous theory on innate magic in races was probably correct. He had witnessed it with his own eyes when an earth pony maid accidentally knocked over a flower pot during the summit. She quickly cleaned up the broken pot along with the flower and brought out a new one. This pot however only had soil in it, Without a flower. It seemed odd to Star Swirl. 'Why would she only bring out soil, couldn't she have grabbed a pot with an actual flower in it? I saw plenty of flowerpots with actual flowers in them when I walked to this hall,' Star Swirl thought confused by the maid's actions, then something happened that made Star Swirl blink in surprise. the earth pony planted the flower in the pot and it sprouted into a new flower almost instantaneously. Star Swirl knew of a few magic spells that would make flowers grow but this wasn't like any of that. Star Swirl felt no unicorn magic being used at all, this was something else. The plant's look was not weird or mutated, as often happened with unicorn magic. It was like the plant itself had a time spell cast on it, and had simply grown to its adult form. As soon as the flower had reached its fully grown form it stopped growing. It may have been possible for unicorns to do the same, but to do so that perfectly would be nearly impossible to all but the best sorcerers. It was practically a form of chronomancy. But she wasn't that powerful, she was just a normal earth pony, and yet she could do something like this without much trouble. The pegasi also had this with their ability to control the weather and walk on clouds. Star Swirl continued walking so lost in thought that he didn't even realize he had walked in the wrong direction. 'I wonder if there are any other innate magics across the races. I know of the ability of pegasi to control the weather. Unicorn magic can be taken. That centaure I fought not long ago was capable of taking unicorn magic. Could he also absorb the magic of the other tribes? Absorbing unicorn magic allows you to use their abilities to a certain extent. Could absorbing earth pony or pegasi magic result in something similar? What would happen if you combine the magic of all three pony races? How would one even go about combining them? Star Swirl continued to ponder his questions, a small smile forming as he thought of all the experiments he could perform. Perhaps he could even create a new spell from this concept. He really should focus on something other than that one spell he just wasn't able to complete. Suddenly Star Swirl felt a shiver run through his nerves from the tips of his hoofs all the way to his horn. His horn began to glow with his aura as if in reaction. Star Swirl stopped walking the feeling bringing him back to reality. Star Swirl experienced a similar feeling whenever he met a powerful sorcerer. It was like his body was acknowledging a fellow sorcerer's magical power. This time it was different though, his horn had never before started admitting an aura without his active input. At least not since he was a teenager. Star Swirl liked his hoof and touched his horn with it, causing his aura to sizzle out. Star Swirl looked around himself trying to pinpoint where the feeling was coming from. His gaze fell on the city's local orphanage. "Hmmmm" Star Swirl hummed pondering to himself why he had walked to this place, it wasn't the first time he had been to this city. Usually, he would not have gotten lost. Even when lost in thought he usually just walked in the right direction if the path was familiar to him. 'It is like something inside of me was telling me this was the right way. Did my body lead me to this sorcerer without me noticing?' Whether to sheer dumb luck or faith, Star Swirl knew he could only do one thing. 'Oh well, no harm in checking it out. It could be something interesting.' 'Or maybe I am just getting old,' he thought with a small grin. Walking inside the orphanage Star Swirl entered a large hall with a reception desk. He saw a few fillies and colts walk around, all of them were earth ponies. They didn't look very healthy, most were looking malnourished and their manes and tales were tangled. 'Why would my magic guide me here? It has never reacted to earth pony magic before?' All of the foals looked at him with questioning looks on their faces, wondering why this old stallion had come to the orphanage. An older earth pony mare saw him standing there and walked up to him. "Hello, sir. What brings you to this humble orphanage." She did not look very healthy either. She had a light brown coat with a dark brown mane and tail, her mane was tied in a bun, and her cutie mark was a picture of a foal. The earth pony mare looked Star Swirl over suspiciously there were not a lot of ponies that visited her orphanage. And from the pristine condition of his clothing, coat, mane, tail, and beard she could tell he was very wealthy and probably important. "Hello mam, my name is Star Swirl and I w-," "Star Swirl?! As in Star Swirl the Bearded, the court sorcerer?!" The mare's eyes nearly bulged out of her head. 'What is somepony with his status doing in a place like this.' "Yes madam, I was wondering if you happen to have any unicorns in this place." "Uhm, no we only have earth ponies in this place. May I ask why?" The mare asked shifting awkwardly on her hooves. Star Swirl narrowed his eyes, he didn't want to tell the mare he had sensed a powerful mage nearby. She was lying to him, Star Swirl had talked with enough ponies in his nearly three hundred years of life to recognize the signs. This is why he hated dealing with other ponies. If she was smart she would have tried to curry favor with him to ensure more funding for the orphanage. "That, I am afraid, is classified. Now then madam would you please show me your unicorns, or do I have to force my way passed." The mare gritted her teeth slightly, before sighing. "This way, sir." Star Swirl followed the mare into a dining hall where several unicorn fillies and colts were using their magic to serve food to clean high spots with their telekinesis and seemed to be preparing the tables for dinner. Star Swirl counted about 15 unicorns in total. Star Swirl turned to the mare. "Are these all the unicorns you keep here?" "Yes, look I know I'm not allowed to put them to work bu-," "I do not care what you do, I did not come here for such a small thing. Tell me, do any of them give off a higher magical distortion, or do they have more magical sensitivity than the other unicorns?" the mare blinked a couple of times in confusion at the words. Star Swirl rolled his eyes. "Which one of them can do the most with their magic?" "Oh, well there isn't one that is really outstanding." "So, none have shown vast capabilities. Not even being capable of using telekinesis on a grander scale than the rest." Star Swirl said while staring straight into the mare's eyes. She started blinking rapidly and avoided his gaze. 'This pony is a terrible liar.' Star Swirl thought "I did say that I do not care what you do with the unicorns. But, I am quite a busy stallion. I do not like to waste time when something more important is to be done. If, for example, I had a gifted unicorn who I had to train in magic. I may not have enough time to pursue illegal orphanages. If I do not have a student, however..." The mare gulped. "A-actually, I just meant that there are two that are more powerful in magic than the others. I don't know which of them is the most powerful." 'Two? Could they both be outstanding? is that why my magic reacted the way it did?' "Show me, please" The mare nodded and started walking towards the kitchen, Star Swirl followed her. Star Swirl followed the mare into the kitchen where he saw a lot of floating utensils and products. He noticed that the floating objects had either a golden or blue aura. This meant that only two mages were making all these objects float. The various knives, spatulas, pots, and pans were all reappearing dinner. It wasn't just the fact that so many objects were being manipulated at the same time that impressed him the most though. It was the fact that all the objects in the auras were working together to make food for what looked like the entire orphanage. The objects were doing this, while the two fillies who were controlling them were sitting in the center of the kitchen casually reading a book together. The larger of the two fillies was a unicorn with a white coat. Her mane and tail were both pink. The smaller unicorn had a dark blue coat with a blue mane and tail. Star Swirl just stood in the doorway, unable to comprehend what he was seeing. 'What?' He thought. 'How are they doing this? They're still so young. I have never seen anypony this young capable of doing such precise telekinesis. Not only that, but they are using telekinesis like it is second nature. This incompetent mare was keeping this kind of talent here, and was making them cook?!' Star Swirl rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I will be taking those two with me," Star Swirl said to the mare. The two fillies looked up from their books, only now noticing the old wizard, and tilted their heads in confusion at his words. 'I normally don't take two disciples at once, but they're both so gifted it would be a shame to leave one of them here.' "What? But I-" "This is not a request, as the court sorcerer I am telling you I will take those two with me." Star Swirl said with finality in his tone. "Or would you perhaps like it if I report the illegal practices that are happening in this orphanage? I could still take them after this place is shut down." The mare gritted her teeth. 'Go on and take the bait.' He thought 'I can not have any other sorcerers know of these filly's existences. It would be annoying to deal with them, I would have constant requests to give them my students, in exchange for stupid things. It would be easier for me if no one else knows of these fillies yet.' "Fine," the mare said through gritted teeth. "But after that, you will leave this place and never mention what I'm doing here to anyone." "As long as you keep quiet about those two, and me taking them." The mare nodded and Star Swirl walked to the two fillies. The larger filly stepped in front of the smaller one. "I won't hurt you, I want to teach you how to use your magic." "Teach magic?" The smaller filly asked looking out from behind the larger one. "Yes, I am a sorcerer. I wish to teach you." The bigger filly squinted her eyes and stared me down. "Go away," she said. "We won't go with you, we get to eat here." "If you come with me, I will give you food of better quality than this place ever could. I guarantee it as a court sorcerer." The smaller unicorn whispered into the bigger unicorn's ear. "maybe we should go with him." "Don't be stupid," The bigger unicorn whispered back. "We can't trust him, we don't even know who he is." "But he said he was a court sorcerer." "He could be lying." "But what if he's not, I don't want to stay here. We have to work hard and everyone here is mean. Besides, we're only here for the food. If he can give us more wouldn't it be better to go with him?" The fillies weren't fools they had been surviving on their own ever since they were five. They had honed their survival instincts and knew when to trust their guts. The bigger unicorn turned to stare at Star Swirl again. She knew very well to be wary of strangers, and yet she couldn't help but want to go with him. The promise of better food was tempting. 'If we go we may end up in trouble, but if we don't we will have to stay here. That mare is only feeding us because we're useful, she doesn't care about unicorns. It is only the earth pony fillies and colts she gives proper care to. And if he's lying we could simply smash his face into the dirt and run away. The only reason we came to this place was because of the approaching winter.' Turning to Star Swirl one more time she spoke to him again. "Do you promise to feed us, teach us magic, and not hurt us?" "I promise." The smaller filly squinted her eyes. "Do the ritual of trust." Star Swirl was slightly shocked at that. "How do you know about that ritual?" "Books." Star Swirl put his hoove to his breast. "I cross my heart and carve the truth in it. As long as there is a sky, I will not break this vow. If I were to do so may a thousand spears enter my eye's to blind me from my lies." The fillies looked wide-eyed back at him. Star Swirl returned their gazes with a look of confusion. "I just meant the hoofie promise." 'Oh, that makes more sense.' Clearing his throat Star Swirl continued. "Yes, sure that too. I promise not to hurt you two. Well, with that out of the way. What are your names?" "We don't have names, they call me white." "Ponies call me blue."
Chapter 3: Magic lessonsPulled out of his thoughts Star Swirl's mind returned to the present and the hugging fillies in front of him. "So, shall we go and start your training for today then." "Yes, teacher." The two fillies said in unison. Star Swirl and his students sat outside in the castle's garden, they sat upright in a cross-legged position with their front hooves pressed together, and closed eyes. The sounds of the garden animals all around them. Blue and white were starting to get restless, due to boredom. "Stop moving so much and focus." Star Swirl said, without ever opening his eyes. "But, I'm bored," Bleu whined opening her eyes. "This is important, you must concentrate on your surroundings, concentrate on the magic. Understanding it." "But, why?" White asked, opening her eyes like her sister. "I already understand magic. I recently even teleported!" White said proudly, opening her eyes like her sister. Star Swirl let out a sigh, he never liked explaining something to his students. He was a firm believer that they would learn more if they figured it out on their own. 'I suppose I should get them interested in what I am trying to teach them. Otherwise, we will get nowhere.' "No, you can feel the presence of magic and manipulate it, but you do not understand it." "Yes, I do," Bleu shot back. "Magic is the force that binds everything together. You're more recent theories even suggest that all creatures can use magic to a certain degree." Blue wore a smug look on her face. Star Swirl opened one of his eyes and stared at the fillies. "It is true that you two have an impressive comprehension of the basics of using spells. Which is precisely the issue." He said closing his eye again as Blue and White looked questionably at him. "You understand the basics, you understand how to use magic and use spells. But what I am trying to teach both of you is how to create magic." "What's the difference? Don't we already do so?" Star Swirl shook his head. "Let me explain it to you another way, magic is a tool we can use. Now take telekinesis for example." He said as he lifted a rock with his magic. The rock floated in between Star Swirl and the two fillies in his white aura. "Telekinesis is... like a hammer. Anypony can use a hammer, just like practically any unicorn you see can use telekinesis. Anypony can wack a hammer, but do they understand why a hammer can put a nail through a wall? Can they calculate how much force they need to use to hammer the nail into the wall? Can they even comprehend all the physics, mathematics, and mechanisms involved? Anypony can learn how to whack a hammer, but once they know everything that makes it function they can create something new. Something even better than a hammer." Star Swirls' horns aura intensified and the rock that was being held in his aura changed its shape. First, it became more cylindrical then one side of the cylinder became a sharpened point. The rock then slowly changed from stone to iron. The rock now looked like the point of a spear. "Once you understand everything about magic. How it functions and interacts with the world. The possibilities become endless." He said as he duplicated the spearpoint into two. The fillies gazed at the spearpoints in amazement. "Everything has magic inside of it even this stone. As sorcerers, we are the ones who can use this very magic to change the natural world. With enough control and raw magical power, anything is possible. Even the laws of nature can be manipulated with enough effort." He continued as the two spear points changed again. One became lava and the other became solid ice. "This is the difference between a strong magician and a being without equal." Star Swirl gained a pensive expression as he recalled the moment he learned this difference himself. He quickly regained his normal expression though then he threw the ice spear at Blue and the lava spear at White. The two fillies let out a frightened yelp, but before the lava and ice spears hit them they changed into confetti. Star Swirl panted a little from the magical exertion, but he quickly tried to regain himself so he looked cool in front of his students. "Now, focus. Cast a new spell, one of your own design." Blue and white closed their eyes again and tried to create a new spell. Star Swirl was about to close his eyes again when he felt the chill of magic. The fillies started to float in the air. Four rocks rose alongside them, two had a blue aura, and two had a golden-yellow aura. Star Swirl smiled softly. 'Wonderfull they're starting to concentrate now. Honestly, if they'd just listen to my instructions from the beginning they would easily become powerful sorcerers.' The auras on the fillies' horns intensified. The air started to become denser as the fillies tried to replicate Star Swirl's trick. Star Swirl opened his eyes and stared quizzically at the fillies. 'this is way more powerful than I thought they could achieve on their first attempt. Could it be that their talent is in creating magical spells, like mine? I may actually be able to pass down all of my techniques.' Star Swirl tried not to show his excitement as the fillies poured more power into their horns and the four rocks started to change. Soon the ones in white's aura caught on fire and the ones in bleu's aura were coated in a layer of ice. "Wonderfull that is a very good start, we can stop for now." Star Swirl said, but white and blue were too absorbed in their tasks to hear him. A pulse of magic came from each of their horns, as they tried to bend reality to their will. Star Swirl was getting worried now. "You are using too much force. I told you before you must guide the magic not force it. You must stop now, you are not ready for the next step." The fillies continued to ignore his advice. As the various animals in the garden decided that the best place to be was as far away from the two fillies as they could possibly be. 'Damn brats, listen to me!' He thought trying to remain calm. Then he felt something strange. A strange yet familiar feeling, it was like he was being pulled toward the fillies. But not his physical body, it was something deeper. it was his magic. 'Wait, this feeling. No, it can't be.' Star Swirl recognized this feeling it was something that happened when sorcerers called upon the magic that was naturally present in the air and other creatures around them. This was an advanced technique that sorcerers like him used, it allowed them to cast more powerful spells. However, it was usually the surrounding land that sorcerers pulled magic from. Not other unicorns or living beings. absorbing the magic of other creatures without their permission was a dark magic technique. "Stop now!" It was already too late, Star Swirl was still tired from raising the sun and his magical display from earlier was unable to stop the fillies from casting their spells. He could only conjure up a shield just in time to protect himself as he was hit by a magical explosion. The explosion was so powerful that it pushed Star Swirl back as it smashed into his shield. Creating a streak in the dirt with his hooves. When the dust of the explosion settled, what he saw before left him momentarily stunned. Half the garden was turned into a volcanic wasteland, ash was falling from the sky, and the earth was scorched black in some spots the ground had changed into pools of lava. The few trees that were left were on fire. Star Swirl didn't want to think about what had happened to the birds that were there just a moment ago. But judging from the smell they didn't farewell. The other half of the garden looked like the frozen north, everything had turned to ice. Snow was falling from the sky, threes had turned into icicles. The ground had become hard and the animals were frozen solid in blocks of ice. Star Swirl would have found the site beautiful, the way the garden had changed into two completely opposite biomes so perfectly split down the middle. If it wasn't for the fact that the biomes were still spreading slowly, and were starting to affect the area around the garden. If this kept up half the castle staff would burn to death and the other half would die of hypothermia. Unicorn guards were already using their magic to try and contain the destruction. Meanwhile, the two fillies responsible were looking at Star Swirl with expecting gazes that screamed: 'Praise us'. Star Swirl glared at them. "I told you to stop." He said sighing heavily. "We will discuss this later, I have to help in cleaning this up with the other mages. And you will help too unless you want to be refined to your rooms for the next 100 years." Their expressions darkened immediately and they quickly ran toward the guards to help them with the cleanup. 'Still, this kind of raw magical power. I have never seen anything like it in my three centuries of life. I'm surprised they did not gain their cutie marks yet. And if this is not their talent....' Star Swirl felt a chill go up his spine, he hoped it was just because of the cold wasteland.
Chapter 4: Phoebusyear: 117 BE Star Swirl was at a complete loss. He had studied magic for three centuries, raised the sun every day, revolutionized and mastered the arcane arts, and was often called the greatest unicorn to have ever lived. And yet this seemingly simple matter had completely stumped him. White and Blue still didn't have their cuitie marks. White was 15 now and Blue wasn't too far behind. Usually, fillies and colts got their cutie marks somewhere around the age of 10. So why hadn't White or Blue gotten them yet? It didn't make sense to him, these two fillies were probably the most talented students he had ever trained. They may even be capable of surpassing him one day, and yet they still didn't have their marks. To make things worse, the unicorn tribe was in a near state of panic. After so many decades of raising the sun, the unicorns were at a complete loss. Half of the unicorns in Equestria had already lost their magic. riots had become a regular event, suicide rates were at an all-time high, and a cult of sun-worshippers was gaining members. They called themselves: The eye of heaven. They were trying to get the unicorns to go back to the old ways of racing the sun. When unicorns used to kidnap pegasi and earth ponies and use their life as fuel for magic. Several of their people had already been arrested for sacrificing pegasi or earth ponies. This in turn was causing tension between the unicorns and the other two races to rise. It was a complete shit show, and it was giving Star Swirl a massive headache. Speaking of headaches, one was currently busy assaulting Star Swirl full force. He felt like he had drunk 5 bottles of hard cider the night before. Raising and setting the sun every day was becoming more exhausting by the day. And due to the magical draining that occurred when raising the sun Star Swirl's magic was degrading day by day. It didn't help that Star Swirl was getting older either, every unicorn experienced the same thing. At some point, their magical abilities would start degrading. Just like any other physical ability, magic too would fade with age. Star Swirl had slowed the process drastically by slowing his aging with his magic. The fact that he had the greatest magical ability recorded in pony history was also helpful, but even he would not be able to stop time forever. Star Swirl had to do his duty despite the pounding in his head. He stumbled through the halls of the castle when he heard a voice behind him. "Art thou alright, Star Swirl?" He turned around, he saw a white unicorn behind him. The unicorn had a purple mane with pink swirls running through them. Her white coat was shining from the grooming it received every day, and on her head sat a crown made of silver with purple gemstones inside of it. Her cutie mark was a picture of two white opals. "Yes you're majesty, I am fine. Just a bit tired," Star Swirl forced himself to smile at the mare. "Please Star Swirl, call us Opal. Thou has known our grandmother since they were a foal. And thou hast served the royal family for generations." "Of course, how is princess platinum." "Mother has been getting worse, we fear we might have to take their place as ruler soon." Star Swirl and princess Opal made their way to the courtyard not realizing they were being followed by two fillies. 'That is not good news,' Star Swirl thought. 'With so much tension, a change in leadership could be disastrous.' Star Swirl and princess opal stepped into the courtyard, where five guards dragged unicorns to the center. The unicorns were chained, and they all had a sun engraved somewhere on their bodies. They were solar cultists. The cultists were screaming at the guards, raving about how they would burn in eternal fire for their sins. One of the unicorns started casting a spell. Star Swirl quickly cast a cancelation spell, causing the spell the cultist was trying to cast to destabilize. The spell exploded, and the cultist was knocked unconscious. A different cultist stepped forward this one was much calmer than the others. "Brothers, please stop." He said the cultist had a brown coat, with a red mane and tail. His cutie mark was a black circle out of which several lines went a few inches outwards. At his words, the other cultists stopped resisting the guards The stallion walked towards the cultist whose spell had exploded. "Are you alright?" he asked. "Yes, I am fine brother" The cultist replied. The brown stallion helped the cultist back on his hooves. "You still have much to learn brother, for one combat spells take a long time to create. And they're easy to cancel. It is much better to use a quick spell that your enemy won't see coming." Before anypony could even react the cultist's head was held in a red aura and twisted 180 degrees. The guards quickly raised their spears and readied their horns. The stallion merely chucked the dead cultist aside with his telekinesis before bowing to princess Opal. "My apologies for that one's rude behavior your majesty." Star Swirl stepped in front of Opal readying his horn with magic. Casting several spells on himself. The spells would increase his perception speed and reduce casting time for future spells. 'He may have cased that spell too fast last time,' Star Swirl thought. 'But, I'll be sure to catch him this time.' "Guards," He ordered. "Get another participant immediately. And restrain that one" He said pointing at the stallion who had just killed his compatriot. "Please, court sorcerer Star Swirl there's no need for such a thing. I will not harm anypony else." "I have seen your type enough over the past few years. You are all lunatics as far as I am concerned, I will not trust a single word out of your mouth." "We merely see the truth where others cannot. You know as well as I do that unicorns did not always raise the sun this way. We must stop this heinous practice and return to the old ways." "When we would use the souls of the other pony tribes to fuel the rising of the sun? No, I will never allow us to go back to such an illogical practice. At least now there are still survivors, it is the better alternative." The stallion frowned at Star Swirl. "Can't you see it Star Swirl? The unicorn tribe has been getting weaker, our magic isn't as powerful as it used to be. There was a time once when we had hundreds of sorcerers who could kill Ursa Majors. Now, the most powerful mage we have after you could maybe kill a minor, while walking away with major injuries. It's a clear sign from Sol, we must send him sacrifices." "And what of our relations with the other tribes? Would you have us once again divided? Risk war with the other pony tribes? That is not the way forward." Star swirl looked at the remaining guards who had still not restrained the unicorn. "Guards! What did I order? Restrain him now." "I wouldn't do that if I were you," the stallion said. "I am a messenger of soul and she will strike you down if you try." 'Ah forget it, there are plenty less dangerous cultists left we can use.' Star Swirl made his horn flare with power. He was done with this conversation, he was going to kill this unicorn. He was far too dangerous to be left alive. Just when he was prepared to kill the cultist in front of him though, Star Swirl heard a voice that made his blood run cold. "Who's Sol?" A filly's voice asked. 'No,' Star Swirl thought in panic whipping his head around to the voice's owner. Two fillies were standing at the entrance of the courtyard, White and Blue. 'What are they doing here?' "She's the benevolent goddess that looks over us unicorns, she's the one who gave us our magic." The stallion smiled, and a chill went up Star Swirl's spine. Star Swirl felt the use of magic, and the shadows moved. Cloaked unicorns materialized from the shadows of the sisters and opal. The cloaked unicorns grabbed them tight and put daggers to their necks. A few of the guards turned on their fellow guardsmen taking them by surprise as they killed their brothers in arms. The few guards that remained were trying to fight back, but more unicorns appeared from the shadows. They launched knives into the eyes and the joints that the armor of the remaining guards left exposed. "FUCK!!" Star Swirl bellowed as his horn glowed with power. "Perhaps you should reassess your situation before you do that." The stallion said with obvious smugness. Star Swirl looked around at the unicorns surrounding him, quickly assessing the new situation. '23 enemies in total, four of them were guards that turned traitors, four of them are the unicorns brought out initially for the sunrise, and the rest are the cloaked unicorns who used stealth magic. Unicorns who favor stealth magic often neglect the mastering of powerful attack spells, as long as I keep my detection spells up I could kill them quickly. The guards will be more challenging the guards here are trained in incapacitation magic to immobilize any escapees without killing them. I can not get hit by their magic so I will need to keep teleporting to dodge them. Then there are those remaining four, three of them will be no thread, but their leader. I do not know what kind of magic he has but based upon his love for the sun god Sol to the point of becoming a priest to a cult that worships her. I am confident that he probably favors fire magic, ice magic would be the perfect counter to him.' 'On the other hoof, having a drawn-out fight could be risky and it would be hard to protect the princess and my students. Maybe I should just use one powerful area of effect attack and kill them all instantly, no my students and the princess aren't strong enough to survive that kind of attack. And summoning a shield to protect them while simultaneously casting the area off effect spell would take too long to cast. Besides those cloaked ponies holding my students, hostage has a spell cast on them that activates upon death, it is probably an explosion spell of some kind. I could maybe counter it if I had more time, but I do not have the strength to cast a chronomancy spell richt now. I'm still weak from yesterday's sunset.' Apologies for my rudeness, but you were about to kill me. Let us start over," the stallion gave a bow. "My name is Phoebus, priest of the eye of heaven."
chapter 5: A new dawn"Apologies for my rudeness, but you were about to kill me. Let us start over," the stallion gave a bow. "My name is Phoebus, priest of the eye of heaven." "I don't care who you are, and you already know who I am. So get on with it and tell me your demands." Star Swirl snarled. Phoebus frowned at Star Swirl. " I see that the rumors about you're personality are true," Phoebus sighed. "Very well, I want you to become the next sacrifice." He said frankly Star Swirl closed his eyes. "You think killing me will solve your problems?" "It's a start, and you are powerful, your soul will be able to fuel the sunrise for a few days." "Do you truly belief sacrificing me will solve anything?" "You are the one who stopped our practice three centuries ago. Sol is clearly angry at you for stopping the sacrifices, and angry at us for following you. That is why we're losing our magic. Your sacrifice will be the catalyst to the reformation of the unicorn tribe." Star Swirl looked back to his disciples and Opal. Opal shook her head. Her eyes showed resigned determination, she knew what Star Swirl's death would cause. But, it wasn't Opal who Star Swirl cared for. Star Swirl knew the importance of all the ponies in this place. They could do without the guards, they could be replaced. Their deaths would affect little. Opal, even though she was a princess, she was not the only princess. Her death would certainly send a ripple of grief through the unicorn tribe. But she wasn't necessary for its survival. Star Swirls' death, however, would cause unimaginable damage to the unicorn tribe. No one would say it out loud, but Star Swirl was almost more important to the unicorns than even the royal family. His survival was of the utmost importance, or it would have been, had it not been for two fillies. 'Cutie marks, the most important thing in a pony's life,' thought Star Swirl. 'Everypony gets one eventually even if it takes a while. Those ponies who do not receive theirs at a certain age were usually mocked for being talentless and lazy. Yet in my centuries of life, I rebuke such a conclusion. For it is not the lack of effort or talent that causes their cutie marks to manifest later in life, as a matter of fact, it's the opposite. The lack of a cutie mark for so long simply means that they have a talent that is not seen often or one that has not been seen at all. Those talents are exactly the ones that advance the pony races.' 'Gustie the great, my mentor had such a talent. I had such a talent. Mage Meadowbrook, Rockhoof, Flash Magnus, Mistmane, and Somnabula. All great ponies of their tribes and trusted colleagues had similar stories. And now there's those two,' Star Swirl looked at White and Bleu, they're eyes were fearful. He met their gazes. 'The two most talented students I've ever had, and yet their talents remain a mystery. I had hoped to witness what great things they would accomplish.' Star Swirl locks gazes with Phoebus. "If I do this, will you swear to let everypony go and that you and your cult will never harm those three?" "Yes, that can be arranged." "We will make a magic contract, if you break your side of the deal you and everypony you know will die. The method of death will be incineration, seems fitting for the likes of you." Phoebus nodded agreeing with the terms, Star Swirl lit his horn and a contract and needle came into existence with a flash. Phoebus read the contract judging if Star Swirl had put any loopholes in the contract. There seemed to be none, it was straightforward with no way around the terms. Phoebus punctured his hoof with the needle. Before pressing his hoof on the contract. Star Swirl did the same and the contract vanished in another burst of magic. "Now then, shall we get to it," Phoebus said with a grin. "No! Don't," White called out, she understood what was about to happen and struggled more vehemently. "Don't listen, teacher," Bleu said also struggling in the unicorn's grasp. "Quiet, this is the only way." Desperation flooded the two fillies. They did not want to lose their teacher. The one pony who had been like a father to them. Then inspiration struck Bleu. "We will do it," she said. Phoebes looked at blue with a raised eyebrow. "Do, what? Do you want to be sacrificed? Is that how desperate the tribe has become?" He asked in confusion. "No, we will raise the sun for you." "That's impossible," Star swirl said. "No, it's not," White chimed in. "Star swirl always says that if there were two of him they could raise the sun and moon without sacrificing so much. The three of us working together will have enough power." "I told you it's impossible." "Please, we know we can do it," Blue said. "You don't know anything." "You can try," Phoebus suddenly chimes in. "You said you wouldn't hurt them." "I won't. Release the fillies," with his command Blue and White were released. "There now, you two are free to try and raise the sun." "Is this wise sir." One of the cloaked ponies asked approaching Phoebus. "Star Swirl can do nothing the contract clearly states that he will sacrifice himself for the sunrise. If he stops us in this endeavor or harms our ponies before his sacrifice he'll die." White and Blue rushed to Star Swirl's side. "I appreciate your courage," he started. "But you are not ready for this task. I am sure you will do great things with your magic. But for that to be achieved you need to continue living and studying." "No," White said. "Not without you," tears formed in her eyes again but she held his gaze. "We can do this," Blue added. Star Swirl wanted to dismiss them. To just sent them away with a teleportation spell. But something in their eyes made him hesitate. It was a determination, not one of desperation but utmost trust in their abilities. 'I am going to regret this. This is way too much of a gamble. But I've learned over the years to trust my gut. Whether it be fate or some form of magic, my gut instinct has never let me astray.' "Fine, but you will follow my lead." The fillies nodded and together they walked to the center of the field. "You're actually allowing them to raise the sun," Phoebus asked raising an eyebrow. He then shrugged his shoulders. "Well, alright. Just remember if this fails you will still have to sacrifice yourself." Star Swirl ignored Phoebus as he began explaining the process of raising the sun to his students. "It is not a complicated spell. It is just like telekinesis, except your targets are the sun and moon." Star Swirl's horn ignited in his white aura. In unison White and Blue did the same igniting their horns in a golden and blue aura respectfully. "Ready?" Star Swirl asked receiving an affirmative nod from the two fillies. "Pull." The moment Star Swirl gave the order he expected to feel the cold of lowering the moon like he always did. Except the feeling never came in fact an entirely different feeling came over him. 'What is happening? I should be feeling the cold about now. I can't feel it. No. I can't feel the moon at all.' Star Swirl thought frantically. He turned to White and Blue, intending to stop them and tell them something was wrong. At that moment, a shockwave of magic the likes of which he had never felt before traveled over the courtyard. It passed through everything in the castle and continued into the surrounding city of unicornia. The shockwave acted like a beacon, and unknown to everyone present at the time, Various powerful creatures noticed it. Artifacts around the world activated in response. And one ancient creature made up of dozens of different animal parts smiled a grin too wide for its face. "How Interesting," It said in a thousand voices. White and blue began floating in the air as a bright white light surrounded them. A golden aura completely covered White's body, and a similar blue aura covered Blue. The celestial bodies began to move along the sky. The moon disappeared under the horizon as the sun appeared on the other side of the world. Star Swirl had to hold his hat to prevent it from flying off of his head. The bells all over his cape and head chimed in the fierce winds created by the two fillies. A grin spread across his grey muzzle, and slowly he began to laugh. Star Swirl laughed as he witnessed the moment his students gained their cutie marks. As the sun appeared completely above the horizon and the moon had completely set. White and Blue collapsed on the ground. The light vanished, and the wind slowly settled. Star Swirl was still grinning until he noticed movement in the corner of his vision. 'Shit, I forgot about the cultists,' he turned around, preparing for a fight. Phoebus stood mouth agape, eyes wide in disbelief. "Salvatores," he said reverently before he lowered his head in a bow. The other cultists quickly followed his lead and did much the same. Star Swirl looked at them with confusion before he locked eyes with Opal. She looked at her surroundings in confusion eyes moving from Star Swirl, to the prostrated cultist, to the place where the moon had disappeared below the horizon, to the sun, and finally, they settled on the two fillies responsible for it all. "What the fuck just happened," She said, dropping her royal way of speech. White and Blue blinked their eyes rapidly, clearing their vision. "What happened," White asked. "You raised the sun," Star Swirl said. "Whiteout my assistance." White and Blue blinked in confusion. "We did?" "You have the cutie marks to prove it. Blue and White checked their flanks. Blue had a picture of a crescent moon on her flank with splotches of black surrounding it, while white had a picture of the sun on hers. They gasped in excitement. Their excitement quickly vanished however as they gazed at the still-kneeling cultists. "Wait, what does this mean for the contract?" White asked. "We will cancel it," Phoebus said, raising his head and walking towards Star Swirl, White, and Blue. "Really? just like that? I would have thought you'd rather kill them for some kind of heresy," Star Swirl said skeptically. "Not at all. We have begged sol for salvation for generations. He likely blessed these fillies to help us. Legends have foretold this day. The day on which the salvatores, the saviors, appear." "You tried to kill us," Blue countered. "That was then. This is now. Besides, the only reason you raised, the sun was because I threatened your lives. It was destiny." "Thou threatened a member of the royal bloodline," Opal said, regaining her composure and fancy way of speaking. "Such a thing is punished with death." "If the saviors wish it, then I shall take my own life. However, I urge them to reconsider. I can be useful." "How?" Opal asked. "I'm an individual with a lot of influence within the eye of heaven. I can help you track down the most radical members of the group. I can even use my influence to stop the sacrificing by telling our members that the saviors of ponykind have shown themselves." "That is a tempting offer," Star Swirl said. "Of course, if we hunt down all the high-ranking members except you and allow you to start worshiping my students as saviors sent by your god. You will become the most powerful member within the eye of heaven." "Unless I offer a soul bond with your students." Star Swirls' eyes went wide. "You would do such a serious thing?" "I would, and if I cancel the magic contract with you, then they will have full dominion over me, and I none over them." Star Swirl sighed and looked at Blue and White. "It is up to you." He said to them. "Would it help?" White asked. "Probably," Star Swirl answered honestly. White and Blue looked at each other, having a silent conversation. Before they both nodded. "We will forge the soul contract," they said in unison. "It is settled then," Phoebus said. "May I also have the honor of knowing your names?" "I'm White." "I'm Blue." Phoebus looked at Star Swirl with a dumbfounded expression. "Who names their kid after their coat color?" Star Swirl shrugged. "Their orphans. That was the only name they had." "It does not have to be so," Opal said. "It is not uncommon to change one's name when thou receives a cutie mark." "Do you want to change your name?" Star Swirl asked. Blue and White nodded after a bit of thinking. Opal put a hoof to her chin while Looking at the cutie marks of the two fillies. "They have the sun and moon, so perhaps a referral to that," Opal said thoughtfully. "How about Solis and Luna." Phoebus shook his head. "Luna is fine, but Solis is too close to Sol. It would be dangerous to refer to yourself as god." "The sun is the largest celestial object in our solar system," Star Swirl chimed in. "So, how about Celestia." Opal looked at White and Blue. "What do you two think about Celestia and Luna for names." White nodded enthusiastically. "I love it!" "Me too!" Blue exclaimed. "It's decided then." Star Swirl said, nodding.
