//------------------------------//
// Chapter 3 
// Story: Beyond My Years 
// by Pinktuxcat 
//------------------------------//

	Several years had passed since my first day in Canterlot. During that time, I had taken the princess’s wishes to heart and studied unicorn magic nearly as religiously as Twilight Sparkle had. I didn’t forget about friends though. As a young filly I joined the Cutie Mark Crusaders and gained a dozen friends instantly. 
The Cutie Mark Crusaders had grown exponentially since the original three fillies started the organization as a little club in Ponyville ten years prior. I had learned about the group from a couple of blank flank fillies in my magic kindergarten class shortly after starting school. As nervous as I was, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to make friends AND get my cutie mark at the same time.
After 3 years of being in the group, it was apparent that I wasn’t going to get my cutie mark through them. I was the oldest member of the group, no longer a little filly, but a young mare. All of my friends had grown up and earned their cutie marks one way or another, moving on to bigger and better things in their lives. They all encouraged me to keep trying, but ultimately just caused me jealousy and disappointment that I was far behind them. 
“Princess Celestia?” I had asked one day, “Do you think I’ll ever get my cutie mark? I’m very skilled in magic, only a few levels behind Twilight Sparkle. I’ve tried everything I can think of. I even planted a garden on my veranda hoping somehow farming was my cutie mark. Nothing is working. I can build machines with ease too, but if that was my special talent, I would’ve gotten a tool of some sort as a cutie mark. Something is wrong with me.” I sobbed, holding my head in my hooves.
“Nothing is wrong with you, Sunny,” Princess Celestia reassured. “Granted, I haven’t seen as late a bloomer as you in many years, but remember, you are a special case. Perhaps your cutie mark is a special case as well.”
I was still distraught. “But Princess, I even tried working with the weather. My spells are no stronger than any other unicorn playing with clouds. I am not like the pegasi born to unicorns. My unicorn magic isn’t honed to weather. Maybe I don’t have a special talent…”
“Every pony has a special talent. Don’t give up just yet. I believe you should look to the past for your special skill, since you’ve tried all modern forms of magic.”
“You think my special talent is something that’s been gone for hundreds of years? Like playing an outdated instrument or learning a dead language?”
She smiled. “I’m not sure. As I’ve said before, that is up to you to discover. It was merely a suggestion. Perhaps you should look into the historical section of the Canterlot Archives for more direction.”
And so I did. I poured through volume after volume, turning delicate page after delicate page, searching through every book, scroll and manuscript that had ever been written since the dawn of time.
Well, not quite. I did go through many, many books, scrolls and manuscripts, and most of them were weathered and falling apart in my hooves, but there was far too much for me to go through. It would take me the rest of my life just to read everything in the archives. 
I decided to focus on Starswirl the Bearded’s works. I knew from Twilight Sparkle’s writings and findings on magic, that she held him as the highest unicorn magician to ever live. Well, that was before she had redone his messed up spell and ascended as an alicorn princess. 
But to simply go through Twilight’s works would be to skip every important piece of history she had founded her research on. And that meant I would have to research Starswirl’s spells myself. 
There were three separate magics Starswirl had studied: physical modification, psychological alteration, and quantum mechanics. Every single one was was far more advanced than I was sure I would be able to do with my magic, but nevertheless, I had to try.
I began with the physical modification, the easiest of all three magics. Twilight Sparkle had been able to alter different objects into something they were not, such as rocks into clothing, or books into sandwiches, although the latter she did only once, absentmindedly, and never studied on an empty stomach again.
She was able to do other types of physical modification, like growing facial hair and eventually was able to do the most advanced spells, age spells and species changing spells. I heard Spike, her dragon assistant, had flipped out after being turned into a pony, but calmed down and enjoyed his new body after learning the spell wore off after a few hours.
After studying age spells and practicing them on some of my garden flowers, I wondered, why wouldn’t high level unicorns, such as Starswirl, age themselves down when they got too old, so that they might achieve a sort of immortality through regeneration, like a phoenix? I decided to ask the princess.
“Advanced level unicorns such as Starswirl DID age down for a few centuries to keep themselves alive long after their time has passed. However, consider this: when you are able to stay alive forever, and your friends and family have long passed on, despite your wishes to age them down with you, wouldn’t you eventually stop aging down and let nature have its way with your mortality?”
I considered this. “I suppose that does make sense. But what about higher level unicorns who didn’t care about such things? King Sombra for example? Couldn’t they age down forever and rule with evil as long as they liked?”
Princess Celestia nodded. “That is correct. And there have been a few such unicorns who have done that very thing. All of them grew tired of their reign of terror, though, finding in their wisdom of years that they are missing something, namely the love of their peers and subjects. Eventually they gave in and I gave them appropriate punishment, as well as pardon if they promise to never use the aging spell again.”
“As for King Sombra,” she grew stoic, “he was young in his leadership. I had grown tired of trying to reason with unicorns such as he, and attempted to step in, only causing more pain for the crystal ponies, because he enacted a protection spell that would hide away his kingdom and himself for a great number of years.”
“I later discovered that he had hoped that a force greater than himself would have overthrown me, and unsuspecting, he would launch his own attack upon his return and vanquish the foe that overthrew me, thus bringing him to leadership of all of Equestria. He had not yet used the aging spell, and luckily, never got the chance to.”
I had learned much from a simple question, and had so many more regarding the other spells and the other magics. But there would be time for all that later, once I had studied more.
“Thank you for your time, Princess,” I said, bowing.
“Always a pleasure for your company, Sunny. Come to me with any other questions you have in your studies. I’m here for your guidance, whenever you need me.”
With that, I retired back to the library and to the huge pile of books and scrolls that were sure to unlock the reason why I didn’t have my cutie mark yet. I would figure this out if it took the rest of my life, I vowed.
‘And if I have to use the aging spell to do just that,’ I mused, ‘I certainly will.’