Chapter 1

It has been a century since "The Day of Ash" completely wiped out the Solar Ponies. Magus Firus Ignis the Searing has now been entrapped in his tomb of light for the past hundred years, the rest of his fellow Magi dead of old age. Hardly any pony even remembered the existence of Solar Ponies, their records being carefully hidden by Ignis before his self-imposed exile. Even history had been altered to wipe the Solar Ponies from the minds of every preceding generation, and with time they came a thing of legend. Race divisions still existed between the remaining three pony tribes, however, as the Council of Magi tried time after time again to heal the old wounds between their races.

It was only after the successful coronation of Princesses Celestia and Luna that Equestria truly gathered under one flag, one diarchy. On the day of the ceremony, hundreds of tribesmen from the far reaches of the continent travelled long distances over unexplored territory to pledge their fealty in person. For the first time since their union, the pegasi, earth ponies, and unicorns entwined their fates to each others and to that of the princesses. However, old grudges are hard to forget, and a deep resentment still resided in most of the general populace that slowed the process of union even further. As such, the Princesses employed the Council of Magi as their advisers and keepers of the peace, elevating them to the highest position in the land where they answered to none but royalty. The Princesses were loathe to keep an old relic of the past in the workings of the new government, but they recognized the need for the advice advice the experienced hooves behind the council could offer to keep the peace of their newly founded reign, being as young as they were.

Their youth when making this decision ultimately proved to be their downfall for a half century of their reign. Being pure and naive in the ways of the world, they had written into law more powers for the advisers than necessary, power beyond their wildest dreams.  When previously these ponies had worked for the sake of their tribesmen, they were now corrupted by the power and wealth that royal status had bequeathed unto them. Slowly but inevitably, the Magi created their own shadow agenda as to how the country would be run, confident in their own magical powers and their abilities to hold off the alicorn powers of the princesses should things come to a stand.

And so the first five centuries of Celestia's rule was tainted by corruption and chaos. The Council of the Magi created wars between Equestria and its neighboring countries to line their own pockets with war tithes and vassal offerings as the highly trained forces of the Equestrian military crushed any resistance underhoof. It was only a matter of time before Equestria's boundaries encompassed the whole of the continent and started Princess Celestia's rule as Empress of the Holy Equestrian Empire. Princess Luna became her right hoof and elite general and tactician of the armed forces, her specially trained Lunar Stallions raining death and blood from the skies across countless battlefields as Solar Infantry marched tirelessly over kilometers of land and mercilessly wrested power from the local regimes. All the while, the Council controlled Equestria from the shadows, even starting to gaze hungrily at lands across the sea in their maddening quest for power and wealth.

Celestia eventually turned from a loving ruler to a tyrant, darkened by the influence of her advisers. She changed her name to Corona and imposed a military rule on the general populace that was nearly as harsh as the one she placed over her vassal states. The tribes that had so willingly pledged fealty and devotion to her five centuries to her now bent their heads in servitude, providing more and more ponies to serve in the machine of death that was the Holy Equestrian Army.

Only Princess Luna remained aloof from the devious machinations of the Council. Each day, she watched as her sister fell deeper and deeper into an insatiable lust for power. Only Luna alone could see the puppeteering influences of the Council on her sister and the whole of Equestria, and it sickened it to the bowels of her stomach. No matter how much she despised being manipulated on such terms, however, she was forced to bide her time. Her strength alone was not enough to oppose the arcane mastery of the Council, nor was it enough to stand against the iron hoof of her sister that commanded her into battle.  She merely kept a facade of loyalty and acceptance, waiting for the day to come when she could rescue her sister from the clutches of Council and remove them from the face of the earth.

Born in the small village of Rasaterra, which would eventually be replaced by the mighty city of Manehattan, Starswirl was an oddity. As the child of two proficient water molders, he was expected from an early age to show the same amount of magical potency that his ancestors had before him. His life was filled with impossible expectations and desperate hope, for ponies with magical talents were collected by the Equestrian government to be trained in the Institute of Warfare and become fearsome warrior-mages on the battlefield. The village that produced such a valuable asset would enjoy tax reductions for the following five years and a 10,000 bit reward. However, Starswirl displayed no such adeptness in controlling water as he should have and was promptly denounced as a failure of genetics, eventually being ignored by his peers and elders alike.

His parents, undeterred by the shame piled upon them by their fellow villagers, continued to teach him the basic principles of water manipulation in hopes that he would at least be able to use magic. These days, those born with the "Spark" that enabled for great feats of arcane arts were pitifully few. Geomancers from the earth ponies and wind mages from the pegasi slowly died out, leaving unicorns as the only tribe where all of it's members could use some form of magic. Even so, water molding became an ability just as rare as geomancing and wind magic.  It wasn't an uncommon case, however, for a unicorn to be born with no magic at all. When this occurred, it signified a tragedy for that entire unicorn family's bloodline, for it meant that the gift of magic had abandoned their household for good.

Starswirl, much to the despair of his parents, seemed to follow this path until one fateful day when everything would change for him forever. He was ten years old at the time.

Starswirl scratched figures into the dirt outside of his family's stone dwelling. It was a low ceilinged structure that would induce claustrophobia for any other kind of pony, but common unicorn folk relished the feeling of security and closeness that it brought.

As he continued carving mindlessly into the earth, his parents held a hushed conversation within the hut while silently observing from a nearby window. "It's hopeless, Rose. We've waited for ten years now and not the slightest smidgeon of magic to be found," Starswirl's father, Gray Streaks, spoke sadly. His grief weighed down heavily on his features, his voice the slightest whisper. He had the look of a pony who had his life spit upon by the gods and thrown back to him like a useless ragdoll, the inability of his son to use magic a wound against his very being.

"We can't give up yet. He could still be a late bloomer!" Starswirl's mother, Rose Thorn, replied fiercely. Her eyes, unlike Gray Streaks', still held the light of hope that their son would not have to suffer such a terrible fate for a unicorn folk. Her body stood firm and unyielding as she displayed her unshakable resolve to her husband. Even if all the ponies around her insisted that her son was a hopeless case, she refused to simply give up on her own flesh and blood. Even as she said this, however, Gray Streaks shook his head. "I'm tired of waiting, Rose. Tired of waking up every day to have my hopes dashed against the rocks. Tired of having to see him," Streaks said, pointing a hoof towards his son, "have to play by himself every day without friends just because he can't use magic. I'm sick of it, Rose." Gathering up his courage, he said, "It's time we moved west. We can disguise ourselves amongst earth ponies and grow his hair long to hide his horn. He can be happy there, Rose," he pleaded, eyes growing soft with tears. He had lived in this village for whole life, as his ancestors had before them. They had been a proud line of water molders, with each succeeding generation more powerful than the last. He had met his own wife, Rose Thorns, here.

Yet he was ready to throw it all away, to sacrifice it for his own son's happiness. Tears ran down Rose Thorns cheeks as she finally accepted the fact that her son would never be normal, and she nudged her snout into her husband's grey-streaked black mane, venting the pain and immeasurably sadness that came with her acceptance. Staring up into her husband's eyes, she made one last request of him. "Let me just try for a week longer, just so I can know that I gave my all."

Gray Streaks nodded his consent. He too would like to have a week to say goodbye to his fellow tribesman before leaving into self-imposed exile for the rest of his natural life. Embracing his wife for what he didn't know would be the last time, Gray Streaks trotted down the path towards the village where his friends would be taking their evening siesta. Little did anypony in Rasaterra know that their peaceful, inane lives were soon to be cut short by a griffon raid.

It was around three in the afternoon. Celestia's sun had long passed it's zenith, and it's sweltering heat disappeared with it. Starswirl had moved away from his house to meditate quietly as was his habit, away from the pressures of his parents and society at large. He resented the fact that he was cast out from failing to meet expectations that he felt he was not obligated to live up to. "Stupid unicorns and their stupid magic." Starswirl bit his lip petulantly, allowing his eyes to sweep across the beautiful expanse before him. He was perched atop a high cliff overlooking the sea, shimmering in all it's glory. Foam gathered by the base of the cliff, where the sea spray drenched anypony who stepped too close. It was in this spray that Starswirl now stood, fervently praying to his ancestors to give him magic. "Please, just the smallest spark. Anything! I don't want to be alone anymore..." Tears coated his cheeks, the taste of bitter salt and dejection atop his lips. While Starswirl was usually a reserved youth who rarely showed emotion, alone as he was he let loose the pent up frustration and misery that he felt every day of his life since he discovered that he was not like the rest of the village foals.

"Get away from us, No Magic! You're going to infect us with your curse!"

"Haha, how does it feel to be a weirdo, No Magic?"

"Why don't you just kill yourself, you useless twig?"

"Go away! Get away from me!" Starswirl cried out through the tears, covering his head in his forelegs as if to ward off a rain of blows. "Why, Celestia, why!" He sobbed, lowering himself to the ground. "Why me..." Ignoring the cold splash of the sea as another wave crashed against the cliffside, he wallowed in his depression. Starswirl, born a friendly and intelligent colt, was forced to guard his emotions day after day, hardening him to be cold and reserved. He hated himself for failing the village, hated his family for giving up on him, and hated himself for being born. "I never should have been alive..."

Dark thoughts unfit for a colt swarmed to his mind. How easy would it be to just jump off this cliff, to end the suffering he had to go through. His parents could have a new colt that had magic, his village the battlemage that would bring them much needed wealth. He could find peace. Shaking, Starswirl rose up and stood at the edge of the cliff once more, shivering as he felt another splash of the sea drench him to the bone. As he moved to simply fall onto the jutting rocks below, he immediately recoiled from a pungent smell that reached his snout. Wheeling backwards towards the safety of land, Starswirl forced himself out of his depression and concentrated on his surroundings. Just as his father had taught him, he attuned himself to nature and became one with the environment around him.

Suddenly, he realized what was amiss. A strong wind was blowing from the direction of his village, carrying the smell of fire. Normally, this would not have been enough to alert the young Starswirl, who was familiar with the cooking fires that unicorn mares prepared for dinner. This time, however, the fire carried the smell of something new; Starswirl crinkled his nose at the pungent scent. It smelled of blood and tears, and of ash. Wracking his juvenile mind for what could possibly be wrong, he became frightened. His father had told him of tales of griffin raids when he was younger; a favorite strategy of theirs was to rain fire from the sky where earthbound ponies could not reach them, then pick them off one at a time before delivering one concerted effort to raze the village. He had shuddered at his father's description of griffins tearing ponies from limb to limb, feasting on their entrails and crying out with bloodlust. While previously he had just thought of them as a tale to scare him into go to bed, it seemed that griffins were very real.

Worse, they were attacking his village. Starswirl galloped as fast as he could towards his parent's house, eyes streaming tears of fear. He wanted his mommy to tell him that everything would be ok, that his father would take care of the bad griffins and everything would be alright.

When he got to his house, the place was in pieces. Scorch marks scarred the stones that used to be a stable structure, now collapsed around itself. Hearing soft groans from where the living room use to be, Starswirl found his mother and wailed.

"Mommy!" Rushing to her side, he tried shaking her awake but his infantile efforts proved to do little but cause her to grimace in pain. "Mommy, wake up!"

Hearing a voice calling her from beyond the void, Rose Thorns opened her eyes. "Oh, Starswirl...I'm so sorry I can't protect you... Mommy's going to go soon to meet her family... I love you so much Starswirl..." Coughs wracked her body as she spit up blood, adding to the veritable amount that pooled beside her broken body lying under a large boulder. Starswirl shook his head violently. "No, mommy! You can't go! I need you!" Tears threatening to overtake his entire being, he opened his mouth to wail when his mother raised a hoof to his cheek. "Starswirl, I need you to be strong. Get as far away from here as you can and hide, alright? Promise me that you won't come out until you see ponies dressed in golden armor. Those are the Royal Guard, they'll help you..." Starswirl nodded his head, forcing back his tears as best as he could. "I love you, Starswirl, be a big boy for mommy and don't cry, 'kay?" At that, Rose smiled and breathed her last breath, her hoof falling lifelessly to the blooded ground beside her.

Starswirl stood hiccuping for a moment, trying his hardest not to break down and cry again. He promised his mommy that he would be safe, and crying wouldn't help him with his promise to mommy. Turning his head wildly and trying to see through the dry tall grass, he spotted smoke coming now where the village was supposed to be. He decided to run in the exact opposite direction, away from the scary griffins when a dark shadow flew over him and landed with a thud somewhere behind him. Quivering from a combination of fear and cold, he slowly turned to face one of the largest creatures he'd ever seen.

Adult griffins grew to be at least eight feet tall on two legs, their bodies supported by massive wings and piercing claws that can shear through the strongest iron armor. Their beaks were designed to tear through the flesh of their prey, sharp and hooked as an eagle's should be. They were death to ponies, in both shape and function. This one that confronted Starswirl, however, was enormous even by griffin standards. Rearing back it's head, it gave a mighty roar that nearly burst his eardrums and cause him to piddle. It was around 12 feet tall, it's claws covered with the gruesome remains of it's last victim. It's light blue eyes seemed to pierce through Starswirl's soul, being filled with bloodlust and blind battle rage. With a swipe of it's tail, it knocks Starswirl ten feet to the side. There is a noticeable crunch as his body contacts a broken boulder; his left shoulder was bent out of position, causing him to cry out pitifully in pain.

The griffin leaps forth to secure it's kill when a wall of ice materialized in front of it, causing it to ram into six feet of hardened snow. Screeching, it attempted to pull itself out of the wall as a familiar voice called out to Starswirl.

"Son! Get away from that thing!" Gray Streaks galloped to his son and pulled him in for a quick embrace before pushing him in the opposite direction of the griffin. There various cuts and wounds on his torso, and his left eye was half shut from bruising. However, there was a defiant glow in his eyes as he turned to face the intruder. "Hands off my son, you bastard, or you'll answer to me!"

Starswirl stood frozen on the spot out of fear and sheer relief. "Dad! I don't want to leave you! You're going to die!" If Starswirl hadn't been bawling before this point, he was now. His tears started to pool at his feet along without another liquid that smelled suspiciously of piddle. His father simply smiled at him and said ," I love you, Starswirl. Your mother and I both loved you very much. Always remember that." With that, he conjured a solid dome of ice that encircled both him and the griffin, making escape impossible for the either of them. As the griffin finally pulled itself free from the wall with a squawk, Gray Streaks charged the beast with his horn aglow with potent magic. The member of a proud race, the griffin met the challenge head on. Starswirl only watched in terror as the griffin plunged forth with it's beak, burying itself deep into his father's chest where his thoracic cavity was. Gray Streak smiled through the intense pain in victory, and allowed his horn to touch the griffin as he fell dead.

A sudden flash of light blinded Starswirl's eyes, and he shivered as the temperature drastically dropped for the slightest moment before everything faded at once. Where the griffin once stood was now a mighty ice-statue, frozen in time for all eternity. The dome of ice collapsed, allowing Starswirl to go to the body of his dead father. "Dad, dad!" Starswirl had no more tears to cry anymore, his voice croaking. With all the strength he could muster, he slowly dragged his father to where his mother had died and laid them together. In their culture, it was bad luck for a couple to be buried away from each other, and while Starswirl didn't have enough strength to dig one for them he at least had to place their bodies together.

Staring at the broken bodies of his dead parents, Starswirl became deathly silent. All the sadness in his body had now been released. There was only rage. Blind, murderous rage. Needing to lash out at something, he aimed his horn at  a nearby rock and concentrated. The rock shattered in a burst of ice. All around him, water vapor condensed into tiny orbs of water that floated above his body. His vision turning red and his mind losing all sense of rationality, Starswirl ran towards the village as fast as his legs could carry him. So consumed was he in his need to destroy every single griffin that still stood that ne never noticed the trail of burning grass he left in his wake.

Captain Spark Plug , commander of the 5th Division of the Equestrian Air Force, whistled at the scene. His men had flown for an hour straight from the royal barracks near the Castle of the Ancient Pony Sisters when they heard reports of a griffin raid on their eastern seaboard. Luna sent a full division of fifty ponies armed with wing blades and solar-enriched steel armor to drive the invaders away and rescue any survivors, but by the time they had reached the village it had already burned to the ground.

What caused Spark Plug to whistle, however, was the sight of one unicorn colt laying in the middle of a ring of griffin corpses. Each corpse was completely frozen, as if suddenly blasted by an arctic wind. There were even the remains of shattered corpses where the bodies had been frozen beyond absolute zero, causing them to disintegrate upon falling to the ground. Sending the rest of his division to investigate the surrounding area, Spark Plug approached the lone colt. Upon closer observation, Spark found that the colt was alive but unconscious. Feeing the colt's head  with a wing, Spark discovered that the little one was suffering from arcane feedback, something that happened when a mage expended more energy than he or she was supposed to and the sudden loss backlashed on the owner's body in the form of a fever. Spark slowly made the connection as he noted that this was the village of Rasaterra, one that housed unicorn tribesmen.

"Little blighter must have frozen them all to death himself, he did," Spark Plug said hesitantly, as if not fully believing it himself. "I'd better bring him back to Empress Corona for judgement. She'll want to see how we can use him for his raw magical energy alone." Scooping up the colt with his wing, Spark Plug called in the rest of his division and gave the orders to go home to rest after cordoning off the area that used to be Rasaterra. Plans for future development would be created by the throne at a later time, and it was not the duty for common footsoldiers such as they to complete. Spark Plug then flew swiftly towards the Royal Castle, a mix of confusion, curiosity, and fear ruling his thoughts as he considered the colt that rested fitfully on his back. "Who in the world are you, kid?"