Chapter 4

While the tour of the castle had certainly been impressive, Starswirl had most enjoyed viewing the festivities. The 500th anniversary of the crowning of Empress Corona was truly a sight to behold. The entire palace was decorated in the colors of her imperial majesty, banners of shimmering gold proudly displaying the sigil of the Sun. In the surrounding town, organized chaos reigned as citizens flooded the streets to enjoy the celebrations that were taking place. Ale flowed like water andt he delicious smell of spiced flat bread mingled with the scent of hot cinnamon rolls and a hundred other foods all at once. There was jousting, shows of magical feats, and an opportunity to join her majesty's Holy Equestrian Army as a soldier, although not many desired the glory of the battlefield. In this time of peace, the citizens were content with their lots in life. What with the continuous years of prosperity and security, there were hardly any ponies who knew that they were at war. It was a happy, carefree time for subjects of the empire not part of Equestria's vassal states.

Starswirl had spent the rest of the day with Silent Night and her friends Stormy Skies and Winter Frost, a pegasus filly and a unicorn colt. Together, they had roamed as far into the castle as any initiate dared before drifting out into the palace grounds and into the streets of the town. Starswirl became fast friends with the group, balancing out the amiable foals with his serious yet pleasant demeanor. He even befriended an earth pony colt named Titanus, who had been sitting behind the group of friends in the jousting tournament. They had become associated with one another when Winter Frost accidentally threw his drink up in excitement and it landed in Titanus' face. Titanus seemed to take it in good stride, however, and even laughed at the situation with the young friends.

Now traveling in the group of five, Starswirl and his friends had stayed out in the streets until nightfall to witness the ceremonial raising of the moon by her majesty Princess Luna, supreme commander of the Holy Equestrian Army. The crowd gasped collectively at her beauty, regal and majestic as she gently nudged the eternal moon into the darkening sky. While his friends had mainly been impressed by how pretty it looked, Starswirl was amazed by the display of magic that was being shown to them. The energy required to manipulate the moon from however far it was away from here must be massive, something only a goddess could accomplish. Starswirl would never forget that night, even as he grew older and more advanced in the magical arts.

"Next!" Professor Iron Blood commanded another hapless student up to the front. Today was the most dreaded day of everyponies Class 2 third year: exams. Each professor would be ruthless in giving their students these tests, for they decided where they would be placed when graduating into Class 3 of the Institute of War. While some would be held back for tutelage amongst masters of the art, it was extremely common for one to be sent into the field of battle, serving as a weapon of war for her Imperial Majesty, Empress Corona of the Equestrian Empire. The deciding line between those who passed and those who didn't was thin, so thin that the difference between a passing mage and a failing one was nigh upon indistinguishable.

If there was one mage in the entire Class 2 water molders who wasn't in the slightest worried, it was Starswirl. He had spent the last two weeks practicing his weakest area: summoning water elementals. He was solid in the field of water manipulation and even minor weather creation, which his professors astutely observed when he had accidentally caused the entire classroom to freeze over during his storm-making exam. Now, sitting comfortably and waiting for his turn to be called, he felt a hoof casually poke at his shoulder. He turned to face his friend Winter Frost, whom he had met all those years ago during the 500th celebration of Empress Corona's reign.

"You feeling nervous yet?" While Winter had tried to play it cool, Starswirl observed the sweat that was slowly beginning to form at the base of his neck and decided to be tact with his response.

"A lot more than I look," he replied thoughtfully, sure that if he had revealed the ease he was currently feeling it would only cause his friend to worry excessively more than he already was.

Winter's face let up a bit, his eyes now showing the slightest relief. "Glad I'm not the only one. This test pretty much decides our futures, you know. How do you think Silent and Stormy are doing in their wind mage exams?"

"Considering how last week they completely 'blew' us away during weather practice, I'm sure they'll be fine. Besides, all pegasi are inherently born with the ability to control the weather. It's just a matter of which ones are better at it than others"

"I guess you're right, Star." Winter sighed, the look of stressed worry reappearing on his face. His body was tense, shoulders hunched and head kneeled towards his desk. Starswirl couldn't blame him. He was right; this test was one of the defining moment's of a young mage's life, and yet Starswirl seemed to draw his confidence from an inexhaustible supply. While he pretended on the outside that he was concerned, he simply couldn't bring himself to even think of the notion of him failing.

"Next!" Professor Iron Blood sent a water molder mare sprawling, her water elemental now in ruins around her feet. She returned to her seat in front of Starswirl, her eyes clearly holding back the dam of tears that was sure to erupt by the end of the class period. Starswirl stood up and briskly walked to the front of the room, where he faced his burly professor with a quiet sense of confidence just short of arrogance.

Iron Blood was not a typical water molder. Originally a general of the arcane warfare division of the Equestrian 10th, he was forced to retire when a Griffon had snapped his horn in two during the Great Uprising in year 348 of Empress Corona's reign. In that war, the Griffins had teamed up with beings known as the ghuuls and rebelled against the crown, causing Empress Corona to halt her plans of expansion to deal with the new threat. It was a short, bloody conflict, with the Holy Equestrian Army losing an entire division of 10,000 troops while the rebel forces had been slaughtered from a force of 50,000 strong to a mere 200.

Even with only half his horn left, Iron Blood was a unicorn endowed with an impressive amount of magical power, although the only art he managed to retain any skill in was his childhood talent of animating water into elementals that could be used for peacetime and war alike. He gained a reputation amongst the third years of Class two for forcing those who didn't behave to mock spar against his elementals in 100 consecutive duels after hours, though none dared to even assign a nickname to him lest he hear about it.

This same former general eyed Starswirl up and down before nodding approvingly. While the previous mages had been quavering at the knees and unable to tear their eyes from the floor, Starswirl readily met the gaze of his professor and stood his ground without any sign of fear. Such traits were indicators of a mage with great potential, although Iron Blood did not comment on it. It did an initiate no good to develop a head of hot air after being complimented by a professor, something that is as rare as diamonds around these parts.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Give me your best shot, and pray that it's better than the other works I've seen." Iron Blood waited, expecting Starswirl to fail regardless of how he thought of his other traits. In fact, he had designed his exam purposely for the initiates to fail. Of course they wouldn't be able to create and maintain a water elemental clone; they had hardly begun discussing the binding runes that held magic to water, much less discuss something as complex as clone magic. Iron Blood preferred rather to test the resolve and confidence of his initiates, things that Starswirl had passed with flying colors.

Starswirl closed his eyes in concentration, muttering ancient words that nopony knew the exact meaning to anymore. With a grunt, his horn blazed alight with a violent cobalt aura, the temperature of the room dropping as he condensed floating watervapor into enough water to create his clone. Suddenly, an explosion of light shot from his horn, blinding everypony for the merest second before everything returned to normal.

It took all of Iron Blood's resolve not to gape at the sight. Starswirl had not only managed to create a clone of himself with water, but it appeared to be perfectly functional. He watched as Starswirl hoofbumped his clone, giving himself a supreme smirk of accomplishment.

"Better than expected," Iron Blood said gruffly, his eyes shooting daggers at Starswirl as he continued to revel in his success. "You're almost mediocre. Get back to your seat!"

Starswirl wilted. While he wasn't expecting praise for his spell (who would expect praise from Prof. Iron Blood?), he had at least hoped for some sense of recognition. With his head bowed low, he slowly walked up the aisle as Iron Blood called up his next victim. Unbeknownst to Starswirl, Iron Blood scrutinized him from the corner of his eye for the rest of the testing period, his mind wild with the implications that came with Starswirl's talents.

"You scared the living daylights out of me in class, Star!" Winter Frost exclaimed. It was a lunch period now and they had decided to go together to the dining hall and hope to meet up with Silent Night and Stormy Skies. Titanus had a habit of training after class with his head professor, Boulder Slam, and so was never present during the lunch hour. "You actually managed to summon up a clone of yourself!"

Starswirl sighed, dejectedly collecting his tray of potato stew coupled with a loaf of crisp, golden bread. "Yeah, but the professor didn't seem to like it too much. If I didn't know better, I'd think he was expecting me to fail."

"What teacher would want to purposely have his students fail? Relax, Star. He was probably trying to hide his surprise at how well you pulled off that spell. You must be the most talented unicorn in our entire Class!"

"Yeah, well. I just hope that I don't get sent out to battle. There are nasty rumors going around the Institute about the current status of war against the Sky Tribes of Pegasopolis. Who knew that a clan of Pegasi who broke off from our own Equestrian tribes thousands of years ago would establish themselves on the other half of the world? The Empress is starting to get frustrated that her land troops do no good in these mini sky skirmishes, and her researchers still haven't perfected the cloud walking spell. As much as I hate to say it, the Holy Equestrian Army might meet it's match if only it's air divisions can participate."

Winter punched his shoulder. "Relax! The Empress isn't going to force-draft all of us. Besides, you hold the highest grades in Class 2. If anything, she's going to hold you back and give you special training under the Magi."

"I'm not even sure how powerful the Magi are at this point. Everypony keeps talking about how skilled in magic they are supposed to be, but our current Magi are elderly ponies. Heck, even the current Magus Aquus is at least seventy years old!"

"So? I'll bet they have tons of experience a- HEY! OVER HERE!" Winter stopped mid-phrase, waving his hoof wildly to signal to the approaching duo of pegasi. Silent Night and Stormy Skies trotted over, mouths holding trays of delicious hay stir fry.

"Hey boys. Did I miss anything?" Silent said through gritted teeth. As a unicorn, Starswirl never had to hold anything in his mouth and was amazed at the dexterity with which pegasi wielded theirs.

"Not much. Me and Star were just talking about the exams and the war. Scary stuff, I'm telling you. It's a bad time to be sent out as a battle mage, although us unicorns can't really do much until the research mages finish that cloud walking spell." Winter Frost offered his friends a wide grin. "Starswirl here completely blew the professor away, I swear!"

"Winter!" Starswirl exclaimed, his eyes shooting wide open. "That's not how it-"

"Pshaw, you definitely blew him away! Listen Silent, this stallion here managed to create an actual clone of himself out of water. You should have seen it! I actually felt moisture forming on my own coat as he pulled in the vapors from around him to create it!"

Silent Night looked admiringly at her friend. "Wow, Star! That's amazing! How do you even do that?"

Starswirl looked at his hooves and shuffled awkwardly, a slight blush tinging his grey coat.  "It was nothing, I mean it's not as if it impressed the prof' or anything. I just want to get some food in my belly; making water elementals uses too much energy for my liking."

"Whatever you say, champ," Winter butted in, giving him another punch to the shoulder. "Hey, there's a spot over there, we shou-"

"Starswirl of Class 2, year 3! Your presence is requested in the royal study! Her Imperial Majesty, Empress Corona, demands that you accept the summons at once!" A voice blared over the magical PA system, sending the message out via bone shattering sound waves that pounded themselves into the floor. Starswirl jumped up in shock before starting to grow nervous. Why would the Empress want to see him!? He did nothing wrong!

"Now, Mr. Swirl!"

Galvanized into action by the commanding voice, Starswirl dropped his tray of stew as it clattered against the marble-tiled floor and galloped as fast as he could towards the corridor connecting the Institute and the castle. His friends watched worriedly, whispering as his hoof-clops echoed into the distance.

"Do you think he's alright?" Silent voiced her concern, heart filled with affectionate concern for one of her oldest - and closest - friends. The others shook their heads. Whatever Starswirl had done to warrant a personal summons by the Solar Empress, they weren't sure they would see him again.

"Starswirl, are you aware of the reason why I sent for you?" Empress Corona languidly plucked a grape from a nearby gold platter before allowing her eyes to wander to the young charge in front of her. He had a look of calm resolve, although her mind's eye could see the way his mind quavered under her lazy gaze. She smiled inwardly, wondering if he remembered their first meeting all those years ago. She certainly did, and he had grown to become more handsome in his adolescent years.

"No, my Empress; I can't say that I am." Bowing his head respectfully, Starswirl didn't dare allow emotion to break onto his face. Silently casting a spell so that the blood in his legs would prevent his knees from shaking, he straightened up as much as he dared and moved his eyes only as high as her Majesty's chest-plate. One did not simply make eye contact with Empress Corona.

"Come, my charge; sit with me." Motioning to a couch adjacent to her, Corona tracked him through the corner of her eye as she sipped a long draught of wine, making note of the stars that adorned his flank. An interesting cutie mark, to be sure, for the stars only blessed those destined for greatness. "Are you comfortable?"

"Yes, my Empress. You are kind to consider me."

"Good. Listen, my young charge; are you familiar with the Council of Magi?"

Starswirl automatically stiffened at the mention of the esteemed council, thoughts running wild in the back of his mind as he recalled his earlier conversation with Winter Frost. Please don't tell me that-

"Your professors in all of your classes have recommended you to be the next apprentice to the current Magus Aquus - Darkslick Blizzard," she said, taking his silence as acknowledgement of his familiarity. "I've heard especially well of you from Professor Iron Blood, who just conducted his examination today - it appears you were the only one in your entire Class to produce a water double?"

"The only one? Surely that ca-"

"Silence!" Corona suddenly barked at Starswirl, her eyes barely concealing her rage. "You do not talk back to me, do you understand!?"

Starswirl, shocked into silence, hastily bowed his head in an attempt to appease his sovereign. "I'm sorry."

Her anger subsided as quickly as it had appeared. "Good. Now, as is customary, each potential candidate has the choice to accept or refuse the rites of challenge. Be forewarned - if you should fail the rites and another candidate be chosen over you, you will be immediately conscripted to the front lines with no chance of return. We cannot allow the secret magics involved in the rites be revealed to the rest of the Institute, is that clear?" She watched with satisfaction as he nodded his head, still bowed before her. "Then rise, young one. The rites shall start tomorrow at dawn - be sure not to disappoint. I have great expectations of you."

Slowly obeying his Empress, Starswirl rose to his hooves and bowed once more before exiting the room, carefully closing the doors behind him. "He really is a rugged thing, isn't he?" Corona mused to herself, calculating how long it would take to conquer the rest of the world before she could allow herself to claim Starswirl as part of the royal harem.

Starswirl wandered through the halls, dazed by what he had just heard. Iron Blood, acknowledging him? Her Imperial Majesty having high expectations of him? He shook his head as his mind attempted to wrap itself around the implications these presented, with one question burning foremost in his mind. "Why did I accept?" he whispered to himself. Starswirl despised the Council for their power-grubbing ways. Corrupt and weak in mind, the Magi were the shadow rulers of the Equestrian Empire, controlling Empress Corona from the background and continuing the engine of war to expand their own agendas. So why did he decide to join them? "I'm the biggest idiot ever." In all of his seventeen years of living, Starswirl had never expected that he would be offered the chance of apprenticeship to the empire's most powerful watermolder; now, the eventuality was staring him straight in the face. After all, it was either pass the exams or be forced into semi-exile as he gets sent to the front lines and inevitably his demise.

Lost in thought, Starswirl didn't notice as he crashed into a nearby marble pillar, furiously shaking himself out of a daze before giving the rock a smoldering gaze. While Starswirl was usually as adroit in body as he was in mind, he had been lacking sleep the past couple nights due to terrible visions of a village on fire and strange unicorns being torn to shreds by griffins. While he wasn't sure why he was dreaming such things, he would always awake covered in cold sweat in the middle of the night and unable to sleep once more. Combined with the stress of exams and his recent, shocking assignment from the Empress, he was unable to concentrate on what was in front of him. Shuffling to the left of the pillar, Starswirl staggered towards his room, unaware of the magic he leaked in his sudden exhaustion that caused waves of intense heat to travel down the hall and burn a nearby pot of flowers to a crisp. His mind only desired one thing at this point - to sleep.