Archmage: Square One

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Chapter 1: Starting at the beginning.

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It all started... Well, I guess I'll start with me getting my cutie mark. I was a pretty awkward little filly growing up in Trottingham. The city's old, and so is our education system. Fillies were in one class, colts in the other. We all went to the same school, but we seldom saw the other kids of the opposite sex. All of our lessons were taught on blackboard with chalk, and if we didn't pay attention we got swatted across the hooves with a ruler. Disciplinary issues were dealt with harshly and swiftly. Rumor had it way back in the olden days, before Nightmare Moon, students would go to a dungeon for their punishments.

We didn't have anything quite that traditional, but it certainly felt like it when you came out of the headmistress' office with sore flanks. She was awfully accurate with that paddle of hers. Maybe it was because my schooling was so strict, but I came out of it none the better for all the attention I was supposed to be paying. I still had a penchant for daydreaming and lollygagging, enough to have me removed from school. Ever since then, I studied at home with my mother and father.

Being home-schooled wasn't the most ideal, but I actually loved it. My mother (A pegasus) fully understood my desire to go play, while my father (An earth pony) kept me grounded in my studies enough to help me learn what I actually needed to know. More than that, he fostered my love of reading. My mother said I struck a delicate balance between 'free-willed spirit and studiousness.' It was under the shade of my favorite tree with one of my first Daring Do books that I got my cutie mark. None of us knew what the three shooting stars meant, but it was exciting nevertheless. I loved reading, and learning new things excited me, but I was also adventurous and eager to explore. If my nose wasn't in a book, it was poking into every nook and cranny in the old city that I could find. Daring Do was my idol, and I spent a lot of my time trying to embody the spirit of discovery and excitement I always read about.

To me, the dusty old ramparts of Trottingham became the walls of the fortress housing my rival's forces. The undersides of stairwells and dirty hallways became spooky caves and troves of treasure. Old mouse bones and dustballs fascinated me, as I thought they were jewels and artifacts.

My delusions seem to perpetuate into today. I find myself in the library, perched atop some secluded bookshelf or another, reading about tales of old where magical heroes and daring valkyries explore the long-lost mysteries of the world; my head filled with dreams of grandeur and recognition...

All to be grounded in reality as Bookend throws another... Well, another bookend at me. Those things hurt.

I stayed in Trottingham until I matured, but my magic was still very unrefined. My parents loved me and thought I had so much talent, but they weren't unicorns. They didn't understand that spells aren't supposed to explode in your face, singe your mane, and unceremoniously remove your eyebrows. They don't know that you aren't supposed to slam the item you're levitating into the wall, or not even be able to lift a pebble.

Outside of my home, I was a menace. Everywhere I went, every bit of magic I tried to do, it ended in failure.

Like the jelly incident.

It came to the point that the guard in Trottingham began fining me for my accidents. Whenever I'd try to help somepony in the street and instead smashed their belongings to pieces on the cobblestones, fifty bits. Whenever I'd try to retrieve a frisbee from the tree for the little fillies down the street and instead do some impromptu landscaping, seventy-five bits.

You get the point.

So my parents sent me to Canterlot. Here, magical accidents were not just allowed, but prevalent. I wouldn't say they're disastrous by any means, but you see unicorns fail spells or drop telekinetic items all over the place. I thought I'd be welcomed with open hooves. But the ponies who make those mistakes are taught and corrected. They improve, and don't make them again. If anything, my own shortcomings became worse. I still dropped items, or smashed them into wherever it was I was trying to send them. My spells still erupted in my face, or had some rather unforseen consequences. (I won't tell you about the time I tried to be a barista at the cafe... That poor stallion.)

And that brings us to today. Or rather, yesterday. I was doing some work in the library (Actual work, mind you. I had already been snapped at for reading that day,) when she just... Appeared. I won't say she teleported, but I was checking items off of the most recent acquisitions list when bam. I looked up, and there she was.

Twilight Sparkle. By the stars, she looked beautiful. I always loved her mane, and just like the other princesses, she had that mysterious 'I'm way older and much more powerful than you'll ever hope to imagine' sort of appeal to her. I glanced at her horn, her wings, and her head that was way taller than mine.

"Hello," She said to me. "I'm looking for Star Caster?"

"That'd be me." I had to re-adjust my glasses (Damn things kept slipping down my muzzle.) "Wh-what can I do for you?"

"One small favor," Twilight smiled and handed me this slip of paper. On it was a list of books I'd never heard of before. "Bring these to my office day after tomorrow, and some stationery."

"Wh-what? Why?" I took the paper from her, glad I didn't scorch it right in front of the most powerful magician in all of Equestria.

"Because," she winked at me. "You're taking your lessons from me now."

So here I am. Canterlot Castle. I've been here a grand total of four times. Three times to report some of my more noticable magical errors, and a fourth to pay the fine for giving a thirsty stallion second-degree coffee burns. I've got my saddlebags, the books the princess asked me to get, and what little stationery I had that hadn't been doodled on or used for notes. The books were thick and heavy, and I am not the strongest unicorn. Just hiking to the castle from my tiny little house at the edge of the city had turned me into a sweaty, frumpy mess. I blew the stray strands of my mane that had come free from my braid out of my face and ascended the steps to the grand double doors. Two guards stepped in my way, looking rather imposing with their spears and gleaming armor.

"Business?"

"Pr-princess Twilight Sparkle sent f-for me..." I had always been intimidated by the guards, as they tended to jump on any magical disturbances rather quickly. Not to mention the stories I read were riddled with tales of corrupt and cruel guards who'd just as soon stick a spear in a pony than give them directions.

Maybe I was biased, but given my previous interactions with the guard in Canterlot, I had reason to believe they weren't terribly pleased with me.

"Oh, you're Star Caster." The guards smiled and stepped aside, opening the doors for me. I blinked in shock. The guards were being nice to me? What in the name of all things in the sky was happening? I hesitantly stepped forwards, my eyes gone wide in wonder at the sight of the grand hall. I paused on the threshold for a moment before turning to the guard.

"Where is-"

"East wing, third floor. You'll recognize her cutie mark on the signs." He cut me off with a kind, patient smile.

"Right. Thank you." I blushed furiously and made my way into the grand hall, turning towards the stairwell on my right.

"East wing!" One of the guards called out to me. Flushing brighter, I turned to the opposite end of the hall and mounted that staircase. A million questions ran through my mind, and I didn't have an answer for a single one of them. When the Archmage asks you to her office, you go. No ifs, ands, or buts. I felt trepidation and doubt build up in my throat as I made my way up to the third floor. Sure enough, Twilight's cutie mark emblazoned several signs on the foyer, pointing me on my way. Thankfully enough, as the hall was cluttered with a million other signs that could just as easily have been misinterpreted.

When I found the warm, oaken door with the plaque reading 'Archmage Twilight' on it, I hesitantly knocked.

"Come in!" A cheery voice greeted me, and I pushed the door open.

"Fuck me running." The words espaced me before I could stop them. I shoved my hoof into my mouth hastily, though the damage was done. I expected Twilight to chide me on my language or appear displeased, but she just beckoned me over the threshold with a smile.

"Not the first time I've heard those words." Twilight stood at the edge of a well-worn table piled high with books. Her 'office' was actually a library, warmly lit and decked out in comfortable-looking furniture. There was even a fireplace here, crackling merrily. Why Twilight wanted a fire in the middle of June was beyond me, but it wasn't unwelcome. As I stepped onto the lush red carpet, I had to look around in awe. The library was two-tiered, with a second balcony level circling the first. I could see up to the level above ours, and the multitude of shelves lining the walls there. The ground floor was a mirror to the top one; every wall was covered with books. There were two windows set opposite each other to my right and left, but aside from there there was no other source of light save the multitude of candles and the crackling fireplace.

"Come on over here," Twilight chuckled. I shut my mouth and trotted to her, my blush rising even more. I stopped at the edge of the table, still rather unsure of what I was supposed to be doing here. Twilight's horn began to glow as she cleared the table of books, smoothly levitating the dozen or so volumes back to their respective shelves. I found myself envious of the easy way she handled so many small things. For me, trying to do the same task would have taken a half an hour and more than a few damaged bindings.

"Did you bring the books I asked?" She smiled at me. I scrambled to take off my saddlebags as I unceremoniously dumped the books out on the table, though much to my dismay the stationery joined it.

"Damnit." I watched with dismay as the ink well splattered all over one of the books Twilight had asked me to bring, darkening the pages. Twilight just smiled and wrapped the whole mess in her magic. I was mystified as the ink peeled off of the pages, floating harmlessly back into its bottle. "Th-thank you... I'm sorry."

"Relax, Star Caster." Twilight continued to smile at me, even as the books neatly stacked and the stationery arranged itself on the table. "I know you're probably nervous, but let me tell you now that you needn't be. I only called you here because I heard of your struggles." To hear that Twilight had learned of my shortcomings as a unicorn was embarassing to say the least. There were plenty of other unicorns in and around Canterlot who knew they couldn't trust me to levitate a feather, but I had hoped to escape the interest of the most powerful being in existence. I could have lit a fire with my cheeks, but Twilight cupped my chin, drawing my eyes up to hers.

I could have died. Twilight Sparkle was touching me! She was every bit as much my idol as Daring Do was. I had heard hundreds of stories about Twilight, both from her time as the Archmage (before the title had become hers and hers alone,) and when she had become a Princess. Since then, Twilight had fostered several Archmages, but almost seventeen hundred years ago, had discontinued the position, to be filled solely by herself. Rumor had it she still trained skilled magicians, further developing and empowering them...

But I was anything but skilled. If anything, I needed therapy, not advanced lessons. It was that concern I addressed now.

"Pr-princess, I-I don't think I'm qualified to-"

"Relax, Star Caster. I called you here to help, not to worsen your workload."

"O-okay." I was cowed into silence, staring helplessly at the table's worn finish. I nearly started when Twilight cupped my chin once more, drawing my eyes up to hers.

"I want to start mentoring more ponies, Star Caster."

"Please, just Star..." I offered meekly. Twilight smiled and nodded warmly.

"Star. Well, I want to expand my repretoire, as it were. There are only a few ponies who could have aspired to call themselves Archmage way back when, and those standards are still in place today - even for my own students... Personally, I don't like them." Twilight stood and padded a short distance away to stop in front of one of the bookshelves. She pulled a few tomes out before settling on one. "I want magic to be available to every unicorn, young and old, skilled or not." She returned to the table with the book, setting it before me. The cover was incredibly worn, and the pages cracked with age.

"So what does this have to do with me?" I asked quietly.

"I want you to be my first student." Twilight smiled as she carefully opened the book to the first page. "Just like Celestia did with me long, long ago, I wish to do for you." My eyes widened at the text on the page. It was Twilight's diary from when she was just a filly.

"We'll start at square one."