//------------------------------//
// Passing Through the Gate 
// Story: How the Beard Became the Legend 
// by peacevic 
//------------------------------//

Passing Through the Gate

Morning came when it did, and with it their parting from Root.
The trek since then had been fairly quiet. Downward was walking better, Star Swirl had noticed, but what of her speech? There was only one way to find out. "What do you know of this Wellspring we're supposedly heading to?"
"The Wellspring is an outpouring of pure spiritual energy," she answered immediately, and with confidence. "It existed long before the Sister's Descent, and rumor has it that they're waiting for something there. That's why they haven't left in ages."
Star Swirl was stunned. In truth, he had expected her to ask what the Wellspring was when he mentioned it. She was leading him to the Sisters, true, but even amongst those who studied the legends the Wellspring was little more than whispered conjecture. It was years of research before he first found mention of it.
"How do you know all of this?! Even I didn't know that last part."
She smiled at him as they broke the treeline. "Well, maybe you aren't quite as special as you thought."
"Of course I'm special!" Star Swirl protested, quite foalishly.
"You couldn't even tell the difference between male and female griffins."
"That was one time! I am the most powerful mage of this era."
"One time out of one is still one hundred percent," Downward quipped. Then she turned serious and pointed ahead. "Look, we're almost there."
When Star Swirl did as she said and looked, he saw an awe-inspiring gate looming before them. Bricks and columns of marble, hewn smoother than any masonry technique he knew of could manage, comprised the majority of the massive portcullis, with the remainder being intricate designs traced in inlaid silver. The academic recognized some of the symbols depicted, ancient representations of nature and the forces of life, and surmised the rest were more of the same. Only far, far older.
Behind the gate stretched a tunnel, though Star Swirl could not see what it stretched to. "What... What is this?"
"This is the entrance to the Wellspring, a structure so old it doesn't need a name. It simply is." Downward frowned, seemingly searching her memory, "Though I have heard some call it 'y cyfnod pontio'."
"Incredible... A pony could spend their life studying just the gate. Wait- the Wellspring is supposedly saturated in spiritual energy, correct? I very much doubt it will be easy for ponies to enter if that's the case. Will you need me to carry you?"
Downward hesitated briefly as they stood before the cavernous entrance, then said, "That might be best..."
Star Swirl carefully swaddled the pegasus in his magic and lifted her up. Then, with a final fortifying exhalation, he passed through the archway.
The effect was instantaneous. The sudden infusion of the life force of the world set his heart to racing, and forced his breathing to become short, shallow gasps. It felt as though the full power of a thunderstorm was coursing through his body. Star Swirl's flesh tingled. Raw magic came leaking from his right side, causing the aura surrounding Downward to thicken. For a moment he worried that he would crush her, but he found he now had finer control over his magic than ever before. His left hind leg went numb.
Star Swirl the archmage once thought he knew what power was, but it was a foal's understanding. This...
"Star Swirl! Don't stop now, we're almost there!" Downward urged.
Her words overthrew the part of Star Swirl that wanted nothing more than to fade into the simple truth of life. He started forward again, thoughts of his family and his mission bracing his every step. He was going to find the Sisters. He was going to save everypony from Discord. This tunnel would never stop him.
Suddenly, the crushing pressure lifted. Star Swirl collapsed onto a patch of grass, and as he laid there huffing a set of night-blue hooves strode into view. Star Swirl looked up.
"Look, 'Tia, a pony!"