The sorcerer remembered many things: His arrival in Equestria, his motivations for coming, the battles he had won, and the ponies he had seen. He could never forget a face even if he tried. However, what he remembers most vividly is how he was gifted with the power that was alien to Equestrian society, but familiar to his kind. The power that had allowed him to steal the cutie marks from those three fillies and emerge triumphant in most magical battles he found himself in.
Two years prior to his encounter with the Crusaders..
“If I’m going to assert myself as someone to be feared, I’ll have to find some way to grow stronger.”
The sorcerer wandered through the darkness of the woods, the sounds of the animals and other woodland creatures constantly in his ears. He was not just a magic user, as he had some form of hand-to-hand combat experience, but this alone would only get him so far. He knew it, too, and this lonesome trek through the wilderness was a price he had to pay in exchange for power.
“These wretched woods and its creatures irritate me, but it will be nothing more than a minor inconvenience once I finally obtain what I seek. With it, I could challenge anyone and no one could stand in my way.”
Through the darkness, he could see an old cave. It was hardly visible, but it was unmistakably a cave. Could this cave hold the power he was looking for?
As he advanced, the creatures of the woods started to act more aggressive, and attacked him. They surrounded him, but despite the situation, he still would have the upper hand. As they attacked, he struck back. Snakes were the biggest issue, with their sharp fangs and their speed. Already annoyed with the creatures, he swatted them back with his cane, grabbed some of them bare-handed, and threw them out of his way. Not before suffering a few scratches and bite marks, however.
Once he had reached the cave, he explored the interior. It looked as if it had been untouched for years. He felt the dirt beneath his feet, the sharpness of the pebbles and rocks that lie in the dirt, and the coarse feeling of the cave walls as he ran his hand across them. It was not a very large cave, but certainly not a very small one either.
“What I seek must be here, but how long will it take until I find it in this cave?”, the sorcerer asked himself in thought. He had no answers, only questions. How long had the cave been here? Who discovered it? What had him make the connection between his goals and this place? He could only wonder until everything hopefully became clearer.
As he explored the cave, he took notice of some of the more intriguing things the place possessed. Such things included ancient drawings of what looked to be a lost civilization, seemingly shattered and discarded remnants of ancient artifacts, and odd crystalline structures here and there. Nothing made sense. How could a civilization that lived in a cave such as this one possibly go extinct? How come he had never heard of such people before? What was the meaning of these odd artifacts and abandoned structures that had littered certain areas of this cave?
”Could this be something that odd civilization was trying to create? Is that the key to the power I seek?”
As he wandered further, something peculiar caught his eye: a book. The book was covered in dirt, and was easily missable under the untrained eye. However, the presence of such a book in a strange place such as this one was too unusual for the sorcerer to not investigate closer. He picked up the book and dusted the dirt off of it. The book was not an ordinary one, as it had a dark and foreboding illustration on the front and back. One that exuded the possibility of it being a spell book. Now more curious than ever, the sorcerer opened the book and immediately took note of the incantations inside. He then carefully recited them as best as he could.
After his recitation ended, he immediately saw a magical force extract itself from the book and enter his body. The experience left him feeling more powerful than ever before, as his confidence and strength increased a thousandfold. He had never experienced such a feeling before, nor had he experienced such power before.
“At last, I have what I seek! Now, no one could possibly stand in my way!”
However, he was still curious about the place where he had first discovered the book. The place that he was seemingly drawn to for no reason. The place he had correctly assumed would lead him to what he wanted most. But there were still too many questions that needed answering, so he would have to keep searching for those answers himself.
The ponies of Equestria won’t even know what hit them.