A dark night in an unspecified city on the eastern seaboard of the USA. In the distance, a storm was brewing. Lightning flashed, then many seconds later the low rumbling of thunder. The storm was still many miles away.
A young boy, no older than 6 or 7 years, sat on a swing in park, not far from the apartment building in which his home should be. He wouldn't call it a home though. Not since that woman came into their lives.
During arguments between his parents, his birth-mother had screamed that it was a mistake to have had a child, how she regretted marrying his dad over one silly mistake.
That had hurt. He loved his mother. Apparently one-sided.
His father wasn't that much better. Their argument before and during the divorce was which one of them would be stuck with him. His father “lost”, his mother left with another man. He hadn't heard from her in years. Didn't expect to either. He cried back then. A long time … until his father “reminded” him he was a boy and boys should not cry. The scars were meant to remind him of that.
It was supposed to change with a woman in the house. A fleeting dream.
He was happy at first, having a new mother, and in the beginning it could be called happiness.
The animosity became even more apparent after his sister was born only a year ago. Again he was happy at first to get a sibling, hoping that this time they could be a real family. That illusion lasted only days. After his step-mother and the new baby came home it was made it clear that he wasn't welcome anymore. The new child, a link between his father and his new wife, had made him obsolete.
She even refused to give him food. After telling his father of this he was astonished to learn that his step-mother had already complained how he wouldn't eat the meals she made.
Suddenly everything was his fault. At least he got food now, only until it was decided he could make food for himself. When his father took him to the side and told him not to ruin this new relationship.
He became an outsider in his own home. So he began to stay outside whenever possible. Usually only until the neighbors saw him, than he was quickly brought back inside. Couldn't have the neighbors speak poorly now, could they? When he started learning to read, he found solace in books . Seeing pictures of noble knights and happy families urged him on to improve his reading skills quickly.
His step-mother reacted with disgust in no uncertain terms: she wouldn't care for him even if he were smart. The boy stopped caring months ago, though the words still stung, considering his father was in earshot and didn't respond. Too busy doting on his daughter.
That had happened this evening. He left the home with a book about a magician that left on a wondrous adventure learning about all kinds of animals. He had gotten the book from the public library. One of the ladies was sweet enough to lend it to him. Thus we find the little boy on the swings in a park just outside his apartment building.
Thunder woke the boy out of his musings. He hadn't seen the lightning. Unsure how far away the storm would still be the boy dreaded having to return home soon. He looked back to the building that was supposed to be home.
A flash of bluish light, much closer than the lightning should be, illuminated the boys back, casting a large shadow in front of him. He quickly turned around expecting to see where lightning had struck.
Only a faint shape in the shadows of darkness could be found there. A “good” boy would have probably refrained from the action our young protagonist was about to take and instead scurry home. Alas he wasn't taught to be wary of strangers (in later life he would muse that maybe they wanted him abducted... only on darker days)
“Hello?” the boy cried out.
The strange shape moved, its owner probably startled being addressed, “my Apologies, young colt, pray tell, where is this place?”
The shape appeared to walk on all fours, vaguely resembling a horse.
The boy squinted his eyes, hoping to better see the person and stepped closer, into a light-cone of a street lamp on the playground.
“Curious, nay ... marvelous, Thou art not at all what I had expected ... ,” the strange shape gasped and uttered.
“Mister, you talk funny … and why are you on the ground?”
“Oh, ooooh … wait but a tic, or a tock, and I shall show myself ...” answered the shape in the dark. A bluish light quickly expanded around the shape.
*Poof* a blinding light, then a puff of smoke.
The boy shielded his eyes with his hand while firmly grasping his book with the other. As his sight adjusted to the dark again he saw a man, presumably as old as his father, step out of the smoke into the light-cone of a street lamp. He was wearing what appeared to be a blue suit with a blue cape and he had the makings of a brown beard in his face. A dark blue hat covered the upper part of his face so the boy was unable to see his eyes. Around his neck hung a red crystal amulet.
Excitedly the boy shouted “Are you a magician? Was that a magic trick?” It had been awhile since he had been this exited.
“Yay and nay, dear Youngling! Yay, I am a magician, though I prefer the term Wizard, nay, t'is was no mere magic trick! T'is was a polymorphic spell I have developed! The first of its kind I might add.”
“Wow, no trick but real magic? That was awesome!”
“Of course no trick, I am called Starswirl, Wizard of the High Court, counselor to the Unicorn King, and Chief Researcher of Spells at the Academy of Wizardry … even if they choose to deny it”
“Incredible!”
“Why, of course I am ...” the man played around with his amulet
“I wish I could do magic … maybe then my family would like me ...” the boy's visage darkened, which didn't go unnoticed by Starswirl.
“What darkens thy mood, young one?”
“It... it doesn't matter, not if got to meet a real life wizard ...” the boy tried to brighten up by smiling, a poor attempt at a facade.
The sound of thunder rumbling brought rain with it, cutting the conversation short.
“I gotta go back home... Good bye, Mister Wizard!” the boy shouted while running back towards his home, pressing the book against his chest, the firm believe that Wizards and Magic were real!
Starswirl watched on as the boy ran towards some towers in the distance, a frown adorning his face due to thoughts of the troubled creature he had met.
The rain started falling heavily now, but he did not run for cover. Starswirl had a reason to come here. Mostly to satisfy his curiosity, true, but also to search for ways to stop the coming winter in his homeworld.
Few shared his believe that the climate was changing. The Pegasi protested any such claims most strongly. But Starswirl had traveled far between the kingdoms and even towards the White Seas as well as the Edge Mountains.
There he had encountered snow and ice, a marvelous experience, yes, but the cold weather refused to bow towards his magics, he doubted even Pegasi could control such winds and clouds.
His countenance darkened as he remembered the frozen animals and the dead plants. What earth pony could stand against such forces when even his magics failed?
Then there were the eerie howls, whispering to him of a dreamless sleep, until the end of time.
Tensions were already rising between the Tribes and food shortages would severely impact relations between them.
Even the Unicorn King only listened half-heartedly to Starswirl, even if he was allowed to continue his research into new spells.
Then he discovered a way to look into other planes of existence. Especially this plane, with its wondrous technology not run by magic, sparked his curiosity. If they could control the weather by means other than magic, the future could be secured.
What he could learn simply by observing from afar was quickly exhausted. He couldn't even make out what the inhabitants looked like.
His biggest problem was the lack of magical energy. Watching other dimensions was already consuming great amounts of energy, but travel between them proved to be on another scale altogether.
It took him years to store enough magical force to open even a rift large enough to pass through, and possible back again.
This was his first trip to this world in particular and the bipedal sentient creature just now shocked him. Walking on two legs, no tail … how did they manage not to topple over? …
Another lightning strike and the low rumblings of thunder raised him out of hist musings.
The initial Test proved successful. Travel between the planes was possible. Now all he had to do was return.
Starswirl glanced one last time towards the towers the young creature ran towards. The troubled face flashed before his mind's eye. A lump formed in his stomach.
Any thoughts other than his immediate surroundings were pushed to the edge of consciousness.
Back to work, Starswirl
Energy surrounded Starswirl's body as he went down on all fours. Another blinding flash of light and the man was replaced with a Unicorn Pony of similar color and apparel.
Once more he concentrated his magical energies, but instead of his horn glowing, the crystal around his neck started pulsating with a weak red light. An arc of red lightning sprang force and struck the air a few meters ahead of him, opening a portal, framed by red lightning. The crystal started losing color.
Almost out of magical energy, huh.
Once he trotted through the portal, Starswirl looked back towards the strange world he had just left one last time.
He would have to return as soon as possible. The Image of the boy with his held hung low flashed before his eyes once more.