Ascendance: The Starswirl Chronicles

Pain. Glorious, earsplitting pain. Starswirl groaned as he awoke with one of the biggest migraines of the century. "By Corona's mane..." he moaned, struggling to pick himself up from the cold floor. The aftereffects of using so much magic in the past couple of hours was hitting him with the force of a freight train, and he felt as if every muscle in his body was burning at the same time.

Groggily, Starswirl tried to remember the final rite of challenge that that scumlord Darkslick had assigned to him. "A...door?" He made out the faint outline of the mysterious portal carved into the wall in front of him, reasoning that he must have attempted the rite before passing out. "Well, let's get to opening this thing." Forcing magic to materialize from the depths of his being, Starswirl filled the carving with his magic. Even as he pumped more energy into it, however, it fizzled out as quickly as it materialized. He finally came to terms with the fact that opening the door through pure magical force was futile, and let vent a sigh as his exertions placed more strain on both his body and mind.

Slowly shutting off the flow of his magic, Starswirl felt his breath grow ragged once more, filling the cavern with his echoing gasps. "By Luna's backside, what a waste," Starswirl said, becoming increasingly aware of the time that was quickly trickling through his hoove. He cursed under his breath. Although Starswirl had no way of telling the time within the caverns, he gave himself a reasonable estimate of about five hours before he failed as was either pronounced dead or immediately sent to the front lines should he even come out alive. The urgency of the situation was quickly impressing it's importance into his foggy mind, and he shook himself in an attempt to ward off some of the exhaustion.

Try as he might, however, Starswirl could not convince his brain to concentrate. It insisted on wandering amongst foggy halls of memory, where time and time again he encountered a mare and stallion that haunted his subconscious. Who are you? Starswirl would always plead, tortured by the sensation that he knew who these two were but the knowledge was just out of reach. Are you my parents? Somepony from a past I can't remember? The stone silent figures would never respond, instead fading away into the mists before he could follow.

A faint pulsing at the back of Starswirl's mind became increasingly apparent, jarring his concentration further. "What in Equestria is wrong with me?" he muttered, gritting his teeth against the uncomfortable feeling. The pulsing grew warmer as he stood, trying to ignore it like he would a fly in summer's heat.

Young one... Whispers laden with power entered his ears, and Starswirl became startled. "Who's there? Show yourself!"

Open the door...face your true destiny...

"I don't know how! Get out of my head!" Starswirl shoved his hooves over his ears, trying to block out the sound.

Embrace the blessing of moon and sun...become at peace with the path presented before you... only then will you start to tread towards greatness...

"And if I should refuse? Why must I be forced to join the Council that I despise? Their corruption knows no bounds, and I already sicken at the thought of being apprenticed to that bastard Darkslick."

You are chosen... Your light will purge the darkness from both the Council and this realm... You will bring about the greatest peace this world has ever experienced... But you must first ford through the darkness...

Starswirl became conflicted. His head told him that if he entered the darkness of the Council it would consume him, but his heart held a sense of duty to both his deities and his nation. If what the voice was saying was true, this could be his chance to bring about the great sweeping changes his heart so desired for the lives of his countrymen and himself. "Wait, why am I even listening to you! I have no idea who - or what- you are!"

Take a leap of faith, young one...

"You take me for a fool to listen when you could just as easily be some foul demon." Starswirl said, setting his jaw squarely in conviction.

Search your feelings... do what your blood calls you to do... With that, the pulsing slowly faded away as the whispers of power slowly retreated beyond the wall.

Sighing, Starswirl finally caved in. His mind was too frazzled to think of another way out of the cavern, and passing the exam was slowly taking second priority to getting out in once piece. "And one mind..." he said darkly to himself, taking a traditional water molder meditation stance allowing his mind to  fade away from consciousness.

Starswirl journeyed deep into the depths of his subconscious, a mysterious maze of twists and turns that seemingly had no end. Although his rationale screamed against it, he pushed further and further onwards until he was irreversibly lost with no idea what he was looking for. "Follow what my blood tells me, eh?" Starswirl pondered on the meaning of these words. What could that voice have possibly meant? Did it mean him ill or good? There would be time enough to answer these questions, he decided, after he figured out how to get through that door.

Eventually, Starswirl found himself at the center of the maze. He found himself looking at his very first memory of waking up in Corona's study that one day six years ago. Beyond that memory, however, the maze lay foggy and unapproachable as if he were held back by an invisible force. It was here he found the two figures, once again, standing just beyond the fog's edge.

"Please, tell me who you are!" he yelled out to them, garnering no response from the prone ponies. Instead, they simply stood there, two shadows lost in the mire of his forgotten memories. Suddenly, Starswirl noticed something he had not noticed before. The insignia of Corona, which was proudly emblazoned on his now tattered cloak, shone brightly on the ground leading towards the fog. It blazed an ethereal light, giving off a muted glow by which Starswirl could see.

"Why would her Majesty's mark be in my memories?" Starswirl became confused. Why did he have no memories past waking up in Corona's study, and why is her mark where that memory is? Suddenly, his brow furrowed as he made the connection. The goddess must have fouled his memories, blocking him off from a section of the past that she did not want him to see. What exactly she had prevented him from remembering, he could not say - he felt that it had to do with his parents, however. "I've been deceived all my life," he growled, pointing his newfound aggression towards the fog. "I WILL find out my own past - even if it kills me!"

Charging up his horn with new energy, Starswirl rammed himself into the fog that felt like a wall of bricks. His water magic, being as strong as ever, did little to remove the barrier. He started to blast haphazardly at the wall with his power, sending wave after pounding wave towards it to little avail. Eventually, his rage overtook him and he finally did what he never realised he could do - summoning a mighty blast of solar magic, he watched as the fog slowly began to crack and crumble, the magic slowly dematerializing it into nothingness.

Out of nowhere, the memories hit him like a ton of bricks. Garbled, scattered thoughts plagued his mind as he attempted to control the flow of information with little success. He felt sadness, failure, and an increasingly growing sense of rage as he remembered how he had grown as a child.

Suddenly, he remembered it all. The griffin raid, how his parents had died trying to protect him, the bodies of dead villagers littering the ground around him. Images of bodies cut in twain flashed side by side with the last images he saw of his parents - their tear-streaked, smiling faces that would haunt him forever.

"Make it stop!" Starswirled cried out, his hooves covering his head as the rush of emotions overwhelmed his senses. He was crying, laughing, and seething in rage all at the same time while a feeling of guilt continued to rise from the pits of his stomach and began to overtake his other senses. "Mother...Father..." he wept uncontrollably, tears coming out in fat globules across his face and splashing against the ground.

"Young one, why dost thou cry?" A soft, feminine voice echoed towards his ears as a figure emerged from behind him. "Dost the loss of thy parents hurt you so?"

Starswirl looked up, eyes red with tears, to face General Luna, guardian of the Night. "W-why are you here?"

"We are goddess of maths, sciences, and the moon; goddess of the night and of everything that occurs in it. It is within our power to delve into one's subconscious in order to help them with their fears." She slowly folded her legs beneath her and descended to the floor, resting on her belly as she stared into his distraught eyes.

"I d-don't need help...not from y-you." Starswirl hiccuped, unable to control his emotions. "I was b-betrayed by your sister- forced to never remember these memories until now..."

"Starswirl-" Luna extended a hoof to pat his back, only to have it slapped away.

"Don't pretend to be so familiar with me!" Starswirl's voice dropped two octaves, rage starting to seep into his very being. "Get away from me. Now." Growling, he stared at his goddess with a black hatred that caused her to flinch.

Her expression a mixture of sorrow and regret, Luna shivered slightly but stood her ground underneath his accusing gaze. "We art sorry for what thou hast experienced," she whispered.

Starswirl found that the anger drained out of him as quickly as it came, leaving only a hollow cavity where his heart should have been. "I-I..." It was clear that he had not expected the goddess to apologize to him; after all, she was not the one responsible for the pain he was experiencing.

It was her sister who was to blame. Starswirl found strength to rise, focusing all of his energies towards hating the one who had deceived him with honeyed lies in his youth and went so far as to destroy his past - to what end? To have him break down in the midst of one of the most important trials of his life? Growling, he gritted his teeth. No. He would get out of this cave, and he would give Corona a good hoof to the face despite her status as a goddess and empress.

Luna watched after him somberly as he lurched into the section of his mind that had once been hidden from him; his gaze was kept resolutely forward, never swaying from the two figures he had sought to meet all his life only to find that he knew them more personally than he could currently care for. He stopped just short of the apparitions, sweat dotting his brow as he wiped his hooves over his tear-stained cheeks. "Mother? Father?"

"Oh, Starswirl...look how you've grown." The mare spoke first, her voice lilting delicately. "You're almost as tall as your father."

"Taller, I'd say." The stallion said, a grim smile decorating his face. "Hello, son. We've been waiting for you." Glancing behind Starswirl, the stallion's eyes widened as he recognized the prone figure that lay on the floor, watching with a sort of detached interest even while her eyes reflected the turmoil within her. "Your Highness; It is a pleasure to meet face to face with the Regent of the Night." He curtly bowed in the Rasa-terran fashion, his neck aligned straightly with his back before he allowed himself to rise. He gave a slim smile. "In a manner of speaking, of course."

"Likewise, mage Gray Streaks. May good fortune fall upon you and your wife Rose Thorn." Luna seemed to have mastered her feelings, her voice betraying none of the emotions she had displayed a few minutes earlier. She rose slowly, turning her head towards the other end of the maze. "It appears that you are to guide him from here; we shall take our leave." At that, Luna simply faded away, leaving the slightest after-image before that too dissipated into the darkness.

Starswirl slowly turned to the pair before him, his face slightly paled as if seeing a ghost. Which, technically, he was. "Wh- how are you here?"

The mare gave a small, warm chuckle. "We're not actually here, Star. We're magical constructs, created from your memories to guide you in times of need."

"Indeed, son." Starswirl turned to see his father's eyes blazing with pride. "To think that you became talented enough to enter the Institute of Warfare... I'm happy for you, Star."

Starswirl allowed a small grin to fleetingly play across his lips. "Thanks Dad."

Standing next to his wife once more, the construct of Gray Streaks motioned with a hoof. "Shall we?" Without waiting for a response, he began to quickly walk down the hallway, forcing Starswirl to catch up after a moment's confusion.

"Dad, I'm still confused...why are you here? I'm supposed to be looking towards my blood to see how to go forward, so why...?"

Gray Streaks cast a long sideways glance towards his son before returning his attention to an object in the distance that grew increasingly brighter as they approached. "As constructs, we have no will other than the one you impose upon us. For some reason, your mind replicated us as we were when we were alive and had us remain in the mists of your memories until you were ready to move forward. I'm guessing there was still a section of your subconscious that remembered who we were and created us as you remembered. There might be some discrepancies depending on your memories of us and who we really are, but there's nothing to be done about that. Also w-"

Rose Thorn cleared her voice, giving her husband a humorous stare as a smile tugged at her upper lip. Gray Streaks coughed embarrassedly. "Ah, yes...We can go into the technicalities of constructs later. For now, let's get you out of here alive." He stopped before the object, now clearly visible to Starswirl's eyes.

It was a magnificent obelisk, created of a substance Starswirl had never seen before. Light pulsed slowly underneath it's surface of crimson red streaked with cobalt blue, imitating the beat of his heart. Carved into the rock was a multitude of intricate carvings done in a language that Starswirl was unfamiliar with, yet felt an attachment to. The top of the obelisk had been decorated with a capstone of pure sapphire, whose light shone brilliantly as a beacon in the darkness and had guided him and the constructs of his parents to it. "What...is this?"

"This, Star, is why we were here - to guide you to the 'Spark'." Rose Thorn replied. Starswirl's eyes widened. He remembered all that he learned about the Spark - it existed in each pony who was destined to use magic. It was quite literally the base of their power, for if one were to ever lose the Spark they would never conjure magical energy again. To come face to face with his own was nothing short of shocking for the young initiate.

Reaching a hoof out to touch the obelisk, Starswirl was surprised to see that a magical barrier separated him from the actual stone. It felt uncomfortably hot, yet frigidly cold at the same time. Images of sun and moon flashed before his eyes until he broke contact. He stared at his father questioningly, hoping for answers.

"Normally, your Spark should not be able to be found in the first place," explained Gray Streaks, his brow furrowing slightly as if trying to remember what he could on the subject. "In the cases that it was found, however; those stories end up tragic in some shape or form as the ponies who found them became able to shape their own destinies. Play god, as it were. In your case," Gray Streaks said, now glaring at the obelisk as if it were some vile object, "not only has your Spark been changed for you, but it has been locked from any future change and made so that you are able to find it at anytime you wish."

"Wait, if my Spark has been changed...and is no longer able to change... then that means-" Starswirl gulped, the implication hitting him hard.

"Your destiny has been set for you, son. You've been forced into a path originally not your own, whatever this path may be."

It must have been the goddesses and their damned blessings. They've decided to take my destiny into their hands? Not if I can help it. Starswirl thought to himself, rage slowly bubbling to the surface one more.

"What was the point of all this then!? What's the point of looking into my own blood to make my choice, if I no longer have any other!?"

Gray Streaks gave him a sad smile. "There are many different paths to reach one's destiny. You still have your free will. The pony you will become, however...that can no longer change. Everything that happens to you will inevitably lead you to this destiny, no matter what choices you make - but the choices themselves are still your own."

Gently patting his back, Gray Streaks returned to his wife before facing his son once more. "We must leave you here; being in the presence of the Spark poisons us, as divine magic is not meant to mix with normal magic such as ours." At that, the two constructs disappeared into the maze once more, swallowed up by the darkness.

Starswirl stared after them, a dull ache reappearing in his heart after they left. "Come on, Star...they're not real. They'll never be real again..." Shuddering, he returned his focus to the Spark.

"Do blessings by the goddesses always cause this sort of thing?" He moved in close to the obelisk, peering into it's clear depths. Images moved in the pulsing light of places that Starswirl had yet to see and spells that he had yet to learn. Suddenly, his mind fixed on one image that recurred over and over again - Equestria, torn apart by a war the Council had created.

He knew what he had to do.

Starswirl gasped, violently coming out of his meditative state. He immediately began shivering as his body registered the lack of external heat.It must be night time outside, he thought to himself.  Teeth chattering, he stood to his hooves and stared confidently at the door, feeling within him until he could reach the Spark he had discovered. "Open." Starswirl's voice became laced with power, power that was both his own and that of the goddesses who had blessed and subsequently cursed him.

With a groan the door shuddered open, revealing yet another dark passage. Warm winds rushed past him from this passage, warming his body to the core.

"Here we go again..." Starswirl took one look back into the cavern as if expecting to see his parents before plunging himself into the passage beyond the door.