//------------------------------//
// The Five Unicorns: The Sorceror's Homecoming 
// Story: Where We May Lead 
// by Shadowmane PX-41 
//------------------------------//

Twilight, Starlight, Starswirl, Stygian, and Sunburst were all climbing the mountain of Canterlot, already a good distance away from the sprawling haven of a city beneath them. The winds pounded against them and their coats as they climbed the treacherous path up and around the spiraling mountain.

Starswirl, in his age, had been quite apprehensive in the past. When the fate of the world is at stake and you're always in danger of being attacked by a new force wanting to plague the world, it's natural that you would have a sixth sense to danger and a lack of trust with other ponies. But now that Twilight had opened up his eyes and finished his fight for him, he was starting to heavily reconsider all that he had been in the past, and whether or not he was still useful in this new modern-day Equestria.

As for Sunburst and Starlight, the daunting task of climbing the mountain was beginning to get to them. More and more, they felt the air around them grow colder and their vertigo start to kick in as the ledges got more and more thin. Sunburst nearly spiraled off the edge entirely if Starlight hadn't caught onto him.

"I didn't think one of the most powerful unicorns in history lived somewhere so..." Sunburst took a quick glance out at the path, seeing no end in sight. "Treacherous."

"It can be a bit hard to take in the first time." Starswirl pushed his own mane out of his face as the winds played around with it. "But it is all worth it when you feel like no bothersome intruders would follow you."

"Starswirl's the strongest pillar of them all. It would only make sense that someone like him lives somewhere safe." Twilight was using her wings for the majority of the climb, so she wasn't afraid of falling. But, even as she looked down, she could see why the others were. "Even if his house is right on top of Canterlot's mountain, almost a mile above the actual city itself."

"But why do you think he chose to settle there at all?" Starlight asked, lifting a brow. "Sure, he's a powerful unicorn and your idol, Twilight, but a fall from this height would still get him a date with his maker..."

"I don't know much about it, but I did find some parts of his books and manuscripts that said he stayed up there for a specific purpose. Though, I'm not quite sure what that purpose actually is..." Twilight tried looking up to the top of the mountain, but still couldn't make anything out. "Well, whatever it was, it must have been important."

"Time will have done a considerable amount to my old home; or whatever remains of it at all. Even though there's no threat to Equestria at the moment, it still doesn't hurt to check every now and again." Starswirl eventually lead the group to a small cave in the mountain, using his own horn to illuminate the darkness within. "In here, everyone."

As the five horned ponies all entered the cave and hid themselves away from the violent and cold winds of the outside world, they eventually came to a large door with seven massive runes in a hexagonal formation on it. There were slight hints of jade, topaz, and cobalt on the door, but no actual handles or knobs in sight. Though there were spider webs and other cave-dwelling creatures inside, none of it had marked their territory on or around the door itself.

"Whoa..." Twilight looked up at the large door and stared at the runes on display, before seeing another set of them around the door itself. "I don't think anypony's ever seen these runes before! Well... apart from you, Starswirl."

"Before I became the Pony of Shadows, Starswirl once brought me up here to have a chat on bringing the Pillars together." Stygian walked up towards the door. "I watched as he both created and used these runes to open and seal this door. We were the only two ponies in the world who ever laid eyes on this door."

"And now, Twilight, Starlight, and Sunburst, you shall be the next." Starswirl closed his eyes and channeled his magical energies into the door itself, igniting the gems and characters on it. Small tremors burst through the cave, causing tiny plumes of dust and chippings to fall from the ceiling, but the cave remained fairly intact. "After a whole millennium, these doors finally open again..."

The massive slabs finally sunk into the sides of the cave, opening up a whole new section to the ponies. Blinding light met them first before they finally readjusted to a miraculous sight.

Starswirl's house was nothing like any of the other ponies had been expecting. A large globe sat in the center of the room with a couch, fireplace, and number of chairs behind it. A giant fireplace sitting at the back of the room with a large circular carpet underneath the living room furniture. A whole library of books trailed off to the left of the entrance, with even more obscured by the doorway. A small kitchen was tucked underneath a wooden staircase on the right, and above said starircase laid a bed with a lamp and a desk, all protected by a thin banister stretching around it. There were even more runes scattered around the roof and walls of the room, with a large multi-coloured crystal of all different colours hanging from it, rooted deeply into the stone like one giant, well-refined stalactite.

"Oh... my... Goodness!" Twilight's eyes bulged out so much that they very nearly popped out of their sockets. She let out a large, giddy fangirl scream as she shot herself into the place straight away. "Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh! I'm actually in Starswirl the Bearded's ACTUAL HOUSE!"

"Incredible..." Starlight's reaction was much more controlled than Twilight's as she drank everything in. "I've never seen anything like this!"

"The stuff in here must be ancient!" Sunburst jogged into the room. "Like this chair! Over a thousand years and this fabric and woodwork has still held up even today! Though, I wouldn't really recommend trying it out just to prove it. But still! It's like an exhibit in a history museum!"

"I'm glad that you all like it." Starswirl nodded as he entered his home at long last. "It might be a bit dusty here and there, and most of these books are all likely outdated, but it's still nice to know that you feel welcome here."

"Outdated? Are you kidding me?" Twilight giddily picked Starswirl up and lifted him off the ground. "These books belong to or were written by you especially! This is a treasure trove of timeless texts! I feel like this is a dream that I'm never gonna wake up from!" Without another word, she darted off to the library to start reading.

"Is that a globe of old Equestria?" Sunburst scampered towards it, running on the spot as he eyed up every single piece of it. "It is! Look at all that unmarked land, Starlight! I bet that practically every corner of Equestria's yet to be added to it!"

"Well, of course. I mean, it has been a thousand years since we were last here. Who knows how many new settlements and cities sprang up in that time? Why, the whole globe itself could do with a rework!"

"True, true. But such a thing could take some time, given how hard it would be to purchase an updated globe of Equestria, or even where we'd find it or how much it'd cost." Starlight twisted her hoof. "Then, there's the whole issue of carrying the thing all the way up here and putting it somewhere Starswirl would like, which, given this place wouldn't be all that—"

"As much as I appreciate the offer, ladies, I can handle the refurbishments myself." Starswirl smiled and stepped towards the globe. "That, and I've been a bit out of practice. Might as well keep up with the times."

"Are you sure about that? It's an awful lot of work, Starswirl." Stygian's eyes were focused on the globe, mainly, the blank areas that had yet to be updated. "Not that I'm doubting your abilities, it's just that, you've barely even seen the new Equestria since Twilight and her friends pulled us all out of limbo."

"True, but Twilight was gracious enough to show me a map of the place. Or, moreso, the areas that are still a part of it." Starswirl ignited his horn once more. "For the time being, that'll be all I need."

Starswirl shot a white beam up at the crystal, causing it glow and shine brightly. Every single piece of the giant jewel shot illuminated, enrapturing the room in a bedazzling light show. Even Twilight pulled her head out of the books in the library and poked her head back in to see what was going on. She was just in time to witness the large crystal shoot a tiny, yet powerful laser of energy down at the globe, causing it to shimmer with magic. A quick flash of light engulfed the room, and when everyone's eyes readjusted, the globe's map now highlighted every part of Equestria, while the areas beyond it still lay blank.

"There we go. Everything on Twilight's map all accounted for." Starswirl looked at his new and improved globe, tapping his hoof on Canterlot and the mountain they were on. "Now... all of this new land. Where to start? That truly is the question that boggles the mind."

"So, Starswirl..." Starlight slowly trotted forward and felt butterflies in her stomach begin to surface."What kind of limits would you say you have?" She crossed her front hooves.

"Limits are just an excuse to restrict a pony's power, my dear Starlight." He pulled his eyes from the globe of Equestria and turned to face her. "In truth, if a pony does not believe in limits, then everyone in Equestria would be nigh unstoppable in the arcane arts."

"Oh. Really?" Starlight was very proud of her magical prowess and the achievements she had made over the years, but now she was beginning to wonder if she could take it another step further. "I... kinda figured that there was a certain level of power we all had."

"And there is. Discovering how strong you really are is the hard part, though, as you and Twilight have been growing each and every day since you first met." Starswirl nodded. "Even I, for as ancient and aged as I am, still have a lot to learn; and a lot more that I have yet to show the ponies of this world."

"I'm sure you'll fit right back into Equestria, Starswirl." Twilight came over and nodded. "Just as soon as all of the major fanboys and fangirls stop mobbing you like a celebrity, that is..."

Sunburst quickly stood in front of her. "What Twilight means to say is that there's a lot of ponies that admire your work, Starswirl. In the streets, they might surround you and ask for an autograph, and you might not get a whole lot of time to learn yourself when they keep on bugging you."

"Oh, trust me, Starswirl's used to popularity at this point." Stygian nodded gently. "Whenever the Pillars battled a great evil, there were songs, feasts, and many more all in their name. Eventually, it just became one of their traditions, if you can call it that."

"I remember the days when bards used to play some of the most enchanting melodies." Starswirl stroked his beard as he began to reminisce on his past. "Flash Magnus and Rockhoof would try to see how many ponies he could out-drink, Meadowbrook, Somnambula and Mistmane would spend their time inspiring ponies, and I would just sit there, listening to the wondrous sounds of an old Equestrian lute for minutes on end..." He let out a small sigh. "But now the world has changed. And as with all things, we have to change along with it; just as you and your friends have since you took up the Elements of Harmony."

"There are so many tales I have to tell you, and that I'd love to hear back." Twilight's tail began to swish back and forth. "All that work I read on you and told my friends about, I'd pay anything to see your side of the story and your views on it all."

"I think we could gather that from all of that squealing you did back in Canterlot Castle..." Stygian mumbled under his breath.

"Before we just jump ahead to the whole 'Starswirl is great and we could spend forever listening to his tales' thing, I'd actually like to know a little more about this place." Starlight gently levitated Twilight away and looked up towards the crystal. "How did you find this place? And more importantly, how'd you make it your home?"

"Well... it's not really an interesting tale, but I suppose I could spare some words." He strolled towards an armchair and sat himself down on it, using a quick spell that curled around the worn wood and restored all of the decaying wood to normal. "It was long before I even became a Pillar in the first place."

Twilight was already sitting before him, her legs crossed and a big grin on her face like she was a filly in school listening to a story time story. Starlight and Sunburst followed her, but Stygian remained where he was and started to examine the globe for himself.

"Before Celestia and Luna were even born, I once pondered to myself about the mountain Canterlot was situated on, and what more we could do to improve it." Starswirl laid down his forehooves on the armchair arms. "Most other ponies didn't dare to climb above the city, but I decided to break that trend and make the ascent; if only out of sheer curiosity on what lied on top.

"As you witnessed before you, it was a long and arduous climb at that. I would have met a gruesome and grizzled end myself if not for my talent at magic. For you see, the mountain was much more dangerous that it was a thousand years ago, and much more icy than it is today." He let a tiny wisp shoot out of his horn that flew into the fireplace and made the flames burn hotter. "Many other ponies would have suffered from a terrible fate, and even pegasi were at risk in those harsh conditions. The mere fact that I made it there alive was a miracle; and by the skin of my teeth, no less.

"I made it into the cave and saw two blank slabs, which you saw as the doors for my humble abode. Brute force wouldn't even crack the rocks, and teams would have had trouble if they to move them together. So, my only resort left was magic." He pointed towards the doors, which had the same design on the inside as they did on the outside. "Those runes you see on the walls? I created them, in the hopes that it would pry the door open. And, as luck would have it, they did. Though, you have to take into account that I was much less powerful and a whole lot younger back in those days."

"So, those runes are yours?" Sunburst adjusted his glasses as he took a second look at the characters scrawled into the circles. "They've held up very well for all those years."

"Runes are not like your average unicorn magic. With the right caster, mental state, and conditions, runes can last far longer than the ponies who created them can." Starswirl looked at the ones in his home itself. "For instance, the ones inside this cave I also made, but they had far less power than those on the doors. I only planted them there because the cave nearly collapsed on me upon entry; and even then, I almost ended up failing at casting them in the panic."

"Interesting..." Twilight couldn't take her eyes off of Starswirl, nor could she filter out anything of what she was saying. She always had admired him, and now she was learning straight from him. "Can... I learn runes, Starswirl?"

"Anypony can, but it is a lot harder to do than just casting unicorn and alicorn magic. Even Earth Ponies and Pegasi can make their own runes, but the process is a little different, and they have to fill out even harsher criteria to do so." Starswirl nodded. "As it stands, you and that white unicorn, Rarity, have the best chance at becoming runic users like I am. The others can try, yes, but they'll get frustrated and struggle with it. Some of them might probably quit altogether."

"What about that crystal above us?" Starlight asked. "Was that there in the cave when you found it, or did you magic it up?"

"It actually was there in the cave, Starlight." Starswirl smiled. "In fact, I called it the All-Seeing Eye of Canterlot. Most likely for the fact that it has the power to allow anyone to see all of the affairs of the world."

"All the affairs?" Twilight twisted her neck towards the crystal. "So... you can see—"

"Anything and everything. All around the world. At any time." He said. "If children are learning in a far away city, I can see that. Thugs and brutes stealing from others? I can see that. I can even see beyond the borders of Equestria; though that might need a little re-calibration in this new Equestria you live in."

"Whoa..." Twilight, Starlight, and Sunburst all stood in awe of the crystal once again. At first, they had just passed it off for a really pretty looking centerpiece in an already awe-inspiring pony's home, but now, they were even more blown away than ever before. They had the power to see anything and everything wherever and whenever it was happening.

"So, why didn't you tell anyone about this place? And the All-Seeing Eye of Canterlot?" Twilight stood up. "If we had known about it, we could've been much more protected from evil like this, and you could've stopped Stygian long before he turned into the Pony of Shadows."

"The climb up here, like I said, was VERY dangerous back in those times. Even the other Pillars had trouble ascending it." Starswirl clambered off of the chair. "So, I decided to take it upon myself to make it my home, and seclude myself within it, keeping a watchful eye over the world."

"And, what about Clover the Clever? Did he know about this place too?" Sunburst felt a smile grow on his face as well.

"Of course. In fact, it was one of his seven trials." Starswirl walked off towards the doors. "The manuscripts dictate that Clover himself climbed all the way up this mountain in an attempt to find spiritual power and inner peace with himself. He managed to succeed, in a way, but he was so worn out that he could not even make the trip back down again."

"So, it was said that Clover did eventually make it to the top and get that power, but really, you just helped him down?" Twilight asked.

"Not exactly. In his catatonic state, I gave him a powerful aura; one that would last even if he left this world through one means or another." Starswirl put his hoof on the door. "I knew that destiny would choose him for greatness and legendary feats like my own, so I gave some of my magical power to him and took him in as my apprentice when we next met in our lives. From there, he was able to take on the rest of his trials, and he became immortalized in the eyes of the people."

"I see, I see..." Twilight was doing a very good job of holding herself together. So many new truths and holes were being filled out in what she thought of the relationship between Starswirl and Clover that she was getting so close to exploding with joy again.

"If you want, I could tell you more. But first, I think that you could all do with something to eat." Starswirl went back towards the fireplace. "You four have been through an awful lot, and you probably want to rest a spell. Between bringing me and the other Pillars back, saving Stygian from the darkness, and hearing of all of my epic feats, you've barely had any time to yourselves."

The others were about to argue with him, but, as if on cue, all of their stomachs began to rumble. Twilight and Starlight just gave weak chuckles and blushed, while Sunburst and Stygian started their walk towards Starswirl's kitchen.

"Come. Take a seat and rest on your laurels, everyone." Starswirl began the process of gathering natural water from the spring and placing it into a makeshift kettle, before putting it onto a small rune that burst into flames. "I haven't had company in over a thousand years, after all..."