Starswirl had bought a map. Well, he hadn't actually bought it, instead he had purchased a cheap bit of parchment to replace his dwindling supply and then swiped the antique map of a country that may-or-may-not exist that just so happened to catch his eye, and left the store before the merchant could have realized he had cut the parchment price in half as well.

After all, he knew the young 'Unicorn' who ran the tome store had a drop of pegasus blood in his family line mixed in from an old war - there were always those - where a pegasus raider stallion would have had his way with some lower-class Unicorn mare, and therefore that 'Unicorn' wasn't worthy of such a valuable object, especially since Starswirl wanted it.

This was one of the few trips the wizard made into the large valley that was the entire country - and world-to the three tribes of ponies who dwelled within it, festering in a yawning basin. Other than that, he lived in a small valley somewhere below the mud pony and Unicorn border, tucked to the side of all the war and famine of ponykind.

Nopony except those pesky navigators knew the technical names for directions, but of course Starswirl wouldn't tell anypony that, not ever would he bother with the uneducated so much as he would exploit them for all his wants and needs. He also wouldn't tell anypony that if they followed the setting sun under the barbaric floating cloud-city of pegasi and remained unmolested by such a savage race, went over the frigid mountains that most all thought the world's border, they would find a boundless body of blue water whose surface was as changeable as the mood of Princess Platinum.

Nor would he tell a single pony that if the mud ponies were to ah... 'lend' you one of the large river-boats they used to send the tithes of food to the other races that had them live as hostages to their whim, you could bob along this stormy surface for many a day and night, with numbers greater than the number of hooves of a Unicorn house and a pony's typical lifespan combined, until you were swept to a land other then the Known Valley that was also filled with ponies, and those ponies spoke of all things Starswirl knew to be utter nonsense as he shuffled among them: equality among races and sexes, gods, and enlightenment. All of which Starswirl safely knew to be shit - a good curse of his nation, and the summary of what mud ponies lived in and fashioned their every hut out of in these three nations of squalor.

No, not a single soul from that valley at least could ever hope to learn of any of this journey taken before Starswirl ever became 'the Bearded' and came to live in his little wintery valley.

But that did not stop the almost worship-like reverence among the Unicorns, the race above races, of this stallion born to one of the noble families, and yet he discarded almost all association of them to travel beyond the Known Valley - a feat believed to take much power indeed, and only when he returned alive - and not only establish a location but to return from this Unlivable Nothing as well! Clearly, Starswirl was a master of magics and the workings of the universe to pull off such a feat! Of course, there was always his mystic powers to assure him recognition as well; how he could have ponies travel to events that occurred within the previous sun's cycle and his unparalleled skill in casting wards. Yet, none of those compared to Starswirl's true talent, and the one his flank marked him for: the ability to swirl the mind of its sense of direction, to sway those who disagreed with him, to have many a young Unicorn Court mare warm his bed with the glow of his horn, and receive many an item for free by that same light. It was as though Starswirl could command anything with that spiral, that horn flicker, and extract the words and actions he wanted from any with nothing but the light of his horn.

Although, what would he need this map for? After all, who could travel to a place that most likely doesn't exist?

Starswirl was entirely sure he could, after all, since he was the closest thing these ponies had to a god in his mind and he would never let them forget that, even without his magic he was well-worshipped and in constant favor.

He wasn't constrained by their laws and limits, already he had lived way past the age countless had perished at, and he had a bread to prove it! His face was without the scars of any pox, but there was a harshness to his voice that came from his own nature and an old cough alike.

Why if he had faith in any god or unseen force, he would surely declare himself one, if of course, he didn't already subconsciously believe he was above that nonsense.

It was pretty safe to say that Starswirl the Bearded did not think he was able to die. After all, dying was for peasants.

Once he returned to his valley, Starswirl pored over the map he had swiped and tried to figure out how the location depicted would fit into the mostly unknown world by drawing countless maps on that newly bought parchment. These roughly drafted maps to connect the Known Lands and this strange country he now saw were quite terrible considering how Starswirl not only had no navigation skills, but that a pony who thought the world was flat would have produced results that were a bit more... readable. That wasn't to say that Starswirl wasn't educated at a young age as any noble youth would have been - all the finest tutors that money could buy taught a young Starswirl that the world - the Known Valley was indeed flat.

But what was it that the map depicted, and why was it so important?

Its importance was less then a bard's verse to most and was about as easy to come by as cheerful tax collectors. Starswirl heard the first tidbit in a back alley-type tavern outside of the austere and unwelcoming stone capital city of the Unicorns on a bleak winter's day that had most sorts crowded into any ale-dispensing location, since nopony had much worth doing if you thought about it hard enough. Those that could not shivered in stone buildings built barely any different from tombs if they lacked the means to heat them with mud pony peat and Unicorn coal, but plenty still froze in the streets.

It was there on one of those rare frequents outside of his home -probably on crown-sanctioned business, swindling or harassing any poverty-stricken flea-ridden peasant or another round of actively drilling how he believed, how he knew that he was just better then everypony else Unicorn or not because he simply was, obviously, that Starswirl's creaky recollection sprung. There was also the possibility that he was laughing at grieving Unicorns hunched miserably over a tankard of watered down mead whose relatives had perished in the raising and lowering of the sun and moon, for the celestial cycles could only happen through deadly ritual if the world was to be held in any balance at all, and the Unicorns had the perfect death lottery to do it.

None of this mattered to him after he heard those words:

"... ol' story me da used to tell me and my sister... somethin' 'bout a city made 'o cystals? Yeah, that's it, I ain't no bard though so why're ya asking me ta tell it to ya?"

Clearly, the words of a peasant likely to be thick in skull as he was in accent.

Immediately, Starswirl found the speaker over all the songs, gusts of cold wind, drunken shouts and sobs. He practically materialized next to him - a thin and rugged looking Unicorn stallion clad in rusted armor and a splinted leg bound in bloody rags, with a spear propped next to him. The stallion was clearly a border guard who must have been injured in some sort of skirmish and couldn't afford a proper healer, but those were reserved for the rich with how rare they were. The pony he was talking to was another Unicorn, a jolly looking tavern maid levitating a tray holding a hodgepodge assortment of bottles, goblets, and other mugs. Starswirl paused to look her over, letting his eyes roam and rest upon her like an uncomfortable weight until her smile vanished entirely and she tried to mask a nervous swallow, shifting on her hooves.

"A city made of crystals," Starswirl roared, "how absurd!"

Starswirl glared into the stallion's eyes, frowning even more deeply into the wrinkles of his muzzle, as he noticed that they seemed to have a rather unusual shine to them although he couldn't understand why such a luster was present.

The maid sighed in a manner suggesting annoyance and muttered something along the lines of 'he's always like this, don't take it personally' to the guard before being called away by some bloke demanding more to drink. Starswirl almost found himself surprised, since he knew the mares in this establishment very well. Either this one was new or so awed by his reputation that he wouldn't even need to use his magic to compel her to do anything for him.

The stallion stood up, hobbling a bit on his broken leg, he was quite tall with a unwashed white coat, green eyes, and a mane and tail the color of hay.

"Am I 'earing this right? You callin' my pa a liar, ya bloke?"

Starswirl waved his hoof in a dismissive gesture at the young stallion. "With that uneducated dialect of yours, it would be easy to say that not only is your father a liar but that your whole family is nothing but mud pony beggars who fumbled with pottery until they had horns to put on their heads."

His opponent gritted his teeth. "Oh? Well yer jest a bumblin' sot who pritends to be reading them scrolls an' has pro'lly never done two solar hours worth o' work in yer life."

Starswirl's nostrils flared and some of the other tavern-goers began to turn over and watch what was likely the seventh outbreak of some sort of violence that day - what else would there to be to break up the constant knowledge that they were all freezing to death?

"Ah, but I am better then you peasant, because I do not even have to look at mud ponies and stab at them with a crude stick such as that for my line of work," he sneered, "You shall find I am far nobler with my actions, and have safely sold out a ward of mine into the war effort, for they are more fitting in dealing with such ghastly things than adults. Do you know nothing of the dark creature that has become known as Starswirl's Monster that I have lent so graciously to the troops years ago? I also have no need of a healer, as I can heal myself like a proper and true Unicorn."

"So what if I ain't got much magics? I've heard quite a bit o'bout ya since I've been stayin' in these parts an' it seems you have the power to vanish into the unknown and bend wills like th' smithy bends iron by their magics. Which, I should say, ya should try doin' more often. Not a soul will miss ya, Starswirl of House Glimmer, it it's much of a House at all, with a cripple-filly and a sot like you as their only excuse for heirs! In a thous' years, nopony in the whole Valley will remember your family!"

Starswirl only sniffed. "And where are you from, little hick?"

The glistening-eyed stallion fixed his gaze on Starswirl. "My name is Duke Sigurd Goldenrod an' I'm eleven days away from the Earth pony border and the mountains ranges where I hear you've been livin'. An' if I was you, I wouldn't be callin' names in a place like this, we tavern-goin' types can be awful rowdy."

A mocking laugh escaped Starswirl. "Pish-posh! Now I know for sure that you are no hick - you're lower then that! Even the frost-bitten beggars are above border-pony excuses for 'nobility' like you!"

Goldenrod lunged at Starswirl as best as one could in his state, his emerald eyes afire. Instead, he landed in a heap where Starswirl had stood only a moment before with both sober and not-so-sober occupants casting looks of sympathy in his direction.

That was the first Starswirl the Bearded heard of this land, that got his brain going. From then on he went from tavern to tavern, bard to bard, any out-of-the-way place he could to find out more he could about the city that piqued his interest so much, not that he would say so. But his favorite part may have been the insults he gave each 'Goldenrod' he met, each word slung like a stone from a sling, how he would watch many shamed from a place they thought some pathetic illusion of 'acceptance' might be. Sometimes, they even left limping from a magical attack or with new bruises laid out from the hilt of the sword Starswirl the former Glimmer usually kept upon him, not wanting to dirty his hooves with by contact with their flesh.

From all the bits whispered in Unicorn Territory he pieced together quite a tale.

A tale of a city made of crystals, inhabited by ponies with twinkling eyes and coats, whose craftsmanship exceeded anything known to Tribesponies and who curiously enough, knew some sort of magic. Yet, they seemed like something out of another time to Starswirl, although he scoffed at the idea. There was nothing but the Tribes, nothing before the Tribes, and there will never be anything except the Tribes... and maybe, just maybe this shining city.

If all went as he wanted, the Tribes would have to bow to the one thing above all... him. Or so his thoughts went as Starswirl packed the last bit of supplies for his journey.

Nothing could defeat him, he would never die.

And so he left his three apprentices - without any farewells from either side - trapped in the prison that was both apprenticeship, wardship, and then of course actual wards. Clover, Solara, and Selene would fare without him.

It took one year of journeying across an endless wasteland of nothing but snow and ice dragging at least three years worth of provisions with him. Starswirl may have lived in snow, but he hated it. In the land of the Tribes there were two months of a sort of summer one month of some sort of excuse for spring and six months what was without a doubt winter. Starswirl hated winter, and summer, and the brief interlude that was spring, If he knew what autumn was, he'd hate that too.

Nevertheless, he made it. Or at least he thought so. After a year of that stupid snow he finally came to some mountains. He found them to be very strange mountains that glistened faintly and were almost purple in coloration in the sunlight as opposed to being nothing but jagged gray snow-colored masses that could just be viewed as nothing but big roadblocks, if you wanted to think like Starswirl did.

When he looked up at the sky he noticed that while indistinct silver-white snow-laden clouds drifted on this side - you almost couldn't tell the ground from the sky - just over the mountains. The sky was bright, clear blue with swirling vibrant clouds floating lazily and there was not a speck of snow he could see.

Starswirl went to find a pass of some sort as quickly as he could.

It took a little while but Starswirl was eventually able locate such a pass before the sun began to set. The camp was really just an old wood cabin that could only be lit by a bit of torch-light.

The sparse and impersonal interior suggested that the inhabitant would only reside here seasonally as the furniture was no more than a single size bed, a double chest, and a rather nondescript craftspony's work table. Scattered on the floor were bits of rough gem and crystal.

Starswirl lugged all his supplies into the humble abode, mumbling how much he loathed the wooden plank cabin, with only a tiny window on its flimsy wooden door. His cobblestone tower was so much better, he thought.

Besides, who slept in the same room where their door was, it was a most perfect way to get killed if some madpony or monster were to rush in with a sword and stab you. Oh and steal all your things. Even as Starswirl sorted through his supplies he just knew his house was better. That he was better then anything in this supposed utopia.

Utopia...

The word hung in the air for a moment like undesirable food lingering on a table. This word had no meaning to Starswirl or any other pony born of the three Tribes.

By magical means, he lit the torches and fell asleep in a house that was not his own, in a land far from his. Despite this, he didn't miss anything except the reverence given to him by many. Starswirl didn't even think the Unicorn Court would be lost without him because Starswirl never thought about anything outside of his almighty self... and perhaps he never would.

A small beam of sunlight shone through the glass-less window forcing in a small mountain breeze untainted by the smell of pestilence, taverns, and others things which may be generally be considered impure when in contact with the air. Starswirl arose, cursing so hard any drunkard, criminal sort, and other lowlifes would have been like the manifestation of Pure Good and 'What You Should Aspire To Become' in comparison with him.

He continued to make such a ruckus as he moved that down a little lower in the pass, a pony native to the mountain-enclosed land on a morning walk thought that a whole group of gem-miners had encountered some working hazard over in one of the quarries close by an old cabin.

Starswirl did not entirely know what to expect from the ponies who lived here as he was too busy with already knowing what he wanted to find. He was somewhat collected now, and was busy staring at the 'visitor' in the doorway, a shiny stallion with a glistening mane and tail of amber and shimmering coat of amethyst. Just like the peasant-duke who had mocked him in the tavern there was something curious about his eyes: they were as radiant as gems, and shone like big blue sapphires. On his flank was the mark of two scales of clear crystal.

But all Starswirl saw was the lack of a horn or any wings. Yet, this clearly wasn't a mudpony... so what was he?

The strange stallion looked him over warily.

"Let's begin with the simple stuff: My name is Tanzanite-" he pointed to his chest as he said this, and Starswirl came to the conclusion that this feeble, and inferior... rock pony... was insulting him by suggesting the Superior and Educated Starswirl the Bearded, God-being Conjurer of the Unicorn Tribe was unable to hear anything past his accent.

"-now who are you, eh?" the rockpony concluded gesturing his hoof right at the esteemed Starswirl. What nerve!

Starswirl adjusted his hat and flared his star-patterned cloak as if he had prepared for something important when he really appeared to present himself somewhere between flamboyant and foolish.

"I AM STARSWIRL THE BEARDED, YOU INSIGNIFICANT PEASANT! I STRIKE FEAR IN THE UNWORTHY! TAKE ME TO YOUR LEADER!"

Tanzanite stared blankly at him. Sure this stranger was a bit funny looking for a unicorn, and he clearly wasn't Crystalline. Instead, he bore some resemblance to ponies that were said to have passed through the area a few centuries ago - which added wings and horns, which were traits unheard of except on the reigning Alicorns that preceded the current Queen and the small population of cross-breeds - to the gene pool. He presumed that this bearded stallion must have gotten some sort of madness from the snow, or quite possibly was a drunkard who just so happened to be very, very, lost.

Very.

Thankfully, he didn't seem to be much of a threat. Tanzanite asked the foreign-accented stallion if he would care to leave this mountain.

This pony - Starswirl - nodded. Tanzanite was relieved, this way he might be able to observe if this stallion was sick, or perhaps a bit mad by how he behaved in larger crowds of ponies. He didn't seem like a loner either, lugging all those supplies around and being so willing to talk. This led Tanzanite to rationalize that he must want something if not from here, from somewhere.

It wouldn't hurt to bring this guy into the city since the Empire was so well defended. After all, it wasn't as if he'd do anything important, this Starswirl was just another a rare visitor whose actions would fade away to a half-remembered market tale.

Tanzanite felt himself give a slight nod of reassurance, as if to assure himself even more that his conclusion was sound than the stallion in front of him. Even an unusual looking fellow like Starswirl the Stranger, Tanzanite thought, couldn't have much impact on others. It would be safe to bring him into the city and surrounding area even if they lacked the Heart. If he were to leave the stranger here he would've found his way into the city eventually but at least he would be able to keep an eye on him.

There was a slight chuckle as Tanzanite led Starswirl the Stranger outside, ignoring the constant cursing remarks of how he had to levitate so much and how why couldn't somepony else take care of it, along with some rambling about 'mud ponies'.

Still, it was not this annoying behavior that was the cause of the chuckle.

The Empire without the Crystal Heart, Tanzanite thought again, almost laughing at the idea on the inside, how could that truly be possible? It would be like having a sky without stars at night.

The Crystal ponies 'thought' more with their hearts then their heads in many areas.

Starswirl hated this place. He hated the ponies in this place - excluding himself. He hated the way they did things.

It was all wrong.

This place - 'The Crystal Empire' - was even more backwards then mud ponies! Their buildings were made of shining crystal with a raw and unsculpted look instead of stone bricks, some wood, and thatch. Of course Starswirl despised them instantly, scoffing at the attempts; how could something less then mud ponies be expected to run a country, after all?

Starswirl still had some hope there was a decent social order.

Please let there be a Unicorn to lord over them, he thought as he continued to ignore Tanzanite's babbling.

Probably some rock pony nonsense.

Tanzanite stopped and pointed to a building in front of them-a two story thing made of gleaming purple crystal that almost appeared to be sunning itself. "Like I said, with the recent crop failures there's been a recession, so the food might cost you more then you would like, but plenty of ponies more patient than I come here."

The sign swinging next to the door stated that the building was some sort of diner. Starswirl immediately concluded that this country was so backwards that they probably didn't even have a decent source of ale. All he heard was talk of 'wine' and 'vodka' more than anything else. Horrible.

Tanzanite walked away muttering about how much he hoped the next crazy pony he found in the mountains was not an unpleasant xenophobe who mumbled everything under his breath and held his head so high that he slammed into lampposts repeatedly, including the same one twice.

Starswirl headed down a different street, he didn't trust that rock pony. The lampposts were starting to annoy him with their inferiority, even though they didn't even have lampposts back home.

It was a secret to all but Starswirl that he wanted to be above everything. Especially, death. He was afraid of death like he was afraid of nothing else - well, mostly since he wasn't afraid of anything else. The god complex he had didn't allow it. Starswirl would do anything to cheat death and ironically to do this he needed time. Three apprentices were a pain, but since Clover would be tossed to the Unicorn Court under Platinum's hoof, that would be okay, right?

No, because Clover 'the Clever' or as he called her You-with-the-ugly-mane did a good deal of the labor, since she was more 'servant' and her 'apprenticeship' was just her being taught to read and do a few pages' worth of spells that were above average at their best. With her gone that work would fall on him, which was utterly unacceptable. This would distract him from not dying, of course, and his brief time travel spell just wasn't adequate.

Ergo, the work would get done of course. Just not by him.

It was no secret, at least to Onyx, why his parents got rid of him. Or why everypony stared at him, why none of them wanted him. It was especially obvious why nopony really bothered to talk to him. Even if he wasn't that clever, or even remotely smart, it was hard to ignore the absence of crystallokinesis followed by an utter lack of a few other things, oh but they were just itty-bitty little things really, not things you needed. Just empathy, regret, mercy, and remorse. Or so it seemed.

Anypony who knew Onyx well enough knew that he also didn't have much of any foresight either. He barely planned anything out, and if he did bother to formulate any kind of plan at all it had as many holes as an amnesiac's memory. His impulse held control of much of him. He was incorrigible to the utmost degree and loved others’ suffering more then anything else, even more so if he was the cause of it.

But nopony knew Onyx well enough. He never really hid much from anypony but it was hard to piece him together because despite his extroversion he normally placed himself near the sidelines or was alone, sometimes gone entirely. He had to, to do what he wished, to avoid scolding, and because none of the other fillies and colts liked him.

You would only see him in fragments: unrestrained laughter in another room when somepony got hurt, a bratty nature, absurd amounts of attempted - and always failed - manipulation and swindling towards the other foals that never succeeded.

Of course things also got worse: a missing knife from the kitchens one day, and bloodstains around the bird feeder. All these were fragments of the seemingly nonsensical puzzle that was Onyx, the more you tried to piece it together the less sense it made: Where did it start? When did it start? What was the trigger? How could somepony who enjoyed mutilating other creatures possibly turn out as an adult? A pony who ate meat, had feathers clinging between the teeth of his wide grin, and a fondness for other's tears and breaking things was sick, sadistic, and warped. A truly bad seed.

He also never told anypony about his anger. Nopony would ever see him angry, irritated maybe. Frustrated. Perhaps a bit glum, but never angry. Mostly he smiled, demonically leering at all, and even though true anger - vile thoughts nurtured properly - were not witnessed, he had temper tantrums a-plenty.

He did not get what he wanted, the other colts wouldn't let him play with them even if he clearly sought to ruin their game... and cried anyway at their rejection. His lessons were too hard. He didn't see why he needed to read. Baking pies for the Crystal Faire wasn't fun. Storytime was boring. His new toy could only be broken once. Nopony talked to him enough. His new manecut wasn't to his liking. He wanted to go outside and play. He wanted to talk to strangers. He had no friends, despite wanting to hurt them. He was in desperate want to hurt others. He wanted somepony to pay attention to him on every event where another needed the affection of the caretakers... or stern correction - both which were reluctantly offered to him with muttered prayers to the gods in hopes of improvement... before steadily being given less and less over the years.

He knew that nopony liked him. He knew his parents abandoned him due to the unexplainable lack of magical ability, because that is what he concluded, and he just knew it was true.

Sometimes Onyx's most subtle trait would emerge despite the utter lack thereof surrounding the rest of his nature: a hatred for authority that was as confusing as the rest of him. Nopony ever gave him anything but the most basic of orders now that he was held as an unspoken outcast.

You would think somepony would take a closer look and properly analyze him.

Nopony ever did. If life was a painting Onyx was less visible than a muted background color that nopony ever thought was capable of too much trouble.

Why?

Because on the day Starswirl entered the Crystal Empire, Onyx was no more then a vaguely disturbing - for he really was just a child - eight year old who never knew the world was bigger then the city in which he was born, even if it was all he knew. He would get his wish however gruesome and obsessive it was.

He could do magic somehow. There had to be more then crystallokinesis out there.

Onyx subconsciously lived for the day where he could make everypony in his small, minuscule, world suffer, where nopony would have the power to stop him and he would never kill another bird again.

The thing about wandering about in a city you know nothing about and in a place you know nothing about is that it's confusing and the smart thing to do is generally to stand still somewhere quiet and create a logical street layout in your head by calculating things based on the probability of cities and general, consider how terrain affects possible architectural variations and layout, what should appear next, and all the data you should have been collecting to create a pattern of this unique location to increase the success of not wandering in circles.

Starswirl did none of these things instead he preferred to run through the streets still carrying his luggage on some sort of mental breakdown shouting half-garbled slurs and occasionally slipping into the language of arcane magic, which in turn was the language of the Unicorn Court having been carried with them from who knows where.

As expected his head hit another lamppost.

Furious, Starswirl stared at the lamppost up and down yelling that it should remember to move aside for a noble who was also a wizard who was also superior in species. He continued to lecture this lamppost for a few minutes until he noticed that part of the crystals were wrapped around the edges of a parchment flyer of some sort, holding it open for all to see.

Clarity & Light's Orphanage is looking for donations!

Even in these tough times, the Crystal Faire still goes on.

As many of you know, we want the foals in our care to be able to open a pie stand like in years past.
Unfortunately we barely have enough funds for this extra treat. All our other fundraisers to support the happiness and wholesome lifestyle of our wards had to be cancelled due to recent financial trouble we have been experiencing.
We do not ask for the funds themselves, we ask only for supplies listed below. Please consider donating and remember the charity, love, and kindness our empire values.
Sincerely,
Clarity Alms & Light Seeker

He continued to stare at the paper, skipping over the list written and instead peering at the bottom third of the paper: it had an address.

A land experiencing some economic woes.

A land filled with inferior ponies who cannot perform magic like Unicorns, being less than mud ponies.

An orphanage.

An orphanage filled with inferior orphans who cannot use magic run by two desperate ponies who live in a...

Starswirl scowled even harder then normal-he never smiled, he only scowled unpleasantly-and all the pieces began to fit together in his head.

All he had to do was lie, cheat, steal, and manipulate those who were suffering.

He re-read the address and peered at the street signs.

All he had to tell them was that he wanted an apprentice, to do just enough to get him a new slave.

The madness had only just begun, machinations resembling a twisted game of cards.

A wizard, a killer, a leader, and a dreamer.

The secret card in this game however, was a wild card. An illegal fifth ace.

A shadow.