The shock that ran through Starswirl's hoof was like nothing he'd ever experiened, it seemed to crawl,ever so slowly, along his nerve endings, tingling as it headed up his spinal chord. Starswirl's brain was afire, his eyes going white with raw magic as unused pathways in his brain lit up. .
"W-what did you do?" he asked, fighting to stay conscious.
"Spiced up your life,my little pony friend." he said, smirking before waving his paw "It has been so nice to chat, but I have things to attend to." He snapped his fingers and Starswirl was forced back into his body. The sun was just beginning to rise on the horizon, the light playing through the leaves.
Starswirl steadied himself, a deal was a deal. He still didn't know what Discord had done, but it felt like he could see...more... clearly, that the flow of magic coursed in a rushing torrent withing him, where once it had been a calm stream, only coming to a stop at the focal point of his horn.
The Mage's horn glowed a bright yellow as he gauged the power necessary to breach the seals, before he could, however, the yellow beam of concentrated magic fired, missing the statue completely and burning a hole through the dense foliage to one side. The ground underneath where the beam had passed was scorched, and a little critter, that'd narrowly escaped incineration, stared through the hole and waved a tiny fist at the Mage.
"Seems I fired prematurely." Starswirl said to himself, snorting. It wasn't even that funny,but here he was, laughing his head off like a schoolcolt. He shook his head "Control yourself,man!" He concentrated and focused the magic into a tiny beam and fired it at the statue. His efforts were accompanied by a sad, musical sound, as if the seal were some living creature that he was maiming, he almost stopped,but grimly set his mind to the task and completed his part of the bargain . Starswirl felt a stab of guilt as the sad sounds faded, the justification of the "Greater Good" sounding hollow in his mind. He turned away and headed for the palace.
***
Celestia sat at her throne, straight-backed and with the appearance of alertness as she listened to a proposal on tax reform ;the riveting subject,and her own tiredness, caused her long eyelashes to droop at regular intervals. the princess could barely stay focused as the droning voice of the speaker lulled her into the hooves of sleep.
"Highness?" a voice asked, "Are you alright?
Celestia jumped, startled, eyes going wide. She rubbed her temples "Yes...forgive me,my lords,I did not rest well. Please continue, esteemed speaker."
She was annoyed at herself, to let them see such weakness! It was unbecoming of a ruler.
The day wore on oh so slowly, Celestia fought to keep herself alert, it didn't help that she'd been troubled by a recurring nightmare. There was one item on the agenda that she was curious about: an official audience with Starswirl and the Mage Council...odd, usually these meetings would be held in a more causal setting, the subject must be dire. Celestia stored away those thoughts and gave her full attention to a new petition.
***
It was only the frequent puffs of smoke that betrayed the Council's nervousness. "Even if Princess Celestia allows us to probe her mind," said one "If this 'entity' is real, how could we stand against it?" This coming from the Mage nicknamed "The Dragon" for his quick temper,and impetuous nature- this was not lost on the other members.
"Grand Master? " said Mage Brighthoof, "You are the most powerful of us, can we contain this threat?"
Starswirl's expression was glazed, as if he were daydreamoing. "Grand Master?" she repeated. Starswirl shook his head "Er, yes! I am confident that , with our combined powers,and Ceslestia's permission, we can contain any danger." he shook his head again, colour and sound seemed to shift, things that couldn't possibly be real seemed to float at the corners of his vision. "Matters will be decided at our meeting with Celestia." he said, managing to concentrate. "However,we must be ready for any eventuality"
The assembled nodded sagely "We will follow your lead, Grand Master."
***
The throne room was cleared for the meeting and Celestia waited on her throne.
The doors opened with ominous slowness and the multi-hued cloaks of the Council of Magi came into view as they walked in, with Starswirl at the head.
"Starswirl, my oldest friend, is there something the matter?"
The Mage relayed his dream in a clear voice and Celestia grew pale, her eyes widening.
"This worries me greatly,my friend...I have had the same dream of which you speak, this can be no mere coincidence"
"What I would suggest is that you allow myself and my companions the chance to examine your mind, just as a precaution"
Celestia swallowed and nodded "If you believe it best, but be careful, my little ponies, I could not bare it if something happened to you."
"Trust us,my lady," came the deep voice of "The Dragon", "we will be."
The group powered up their horns, brilliant displays of yellow, green, purple,and blue.
"I need you to think back to the dream, my lady." Starswirl said gently, "That's the only way to get to the root of this." The Mages continued their probings, finding strong resistance.
"I-I " Celestia said, frowning. "There's something-" Her mane and tail erupted into flame and the Magi were repulsed from her mind with powerful force.
A voice emerged from the princess's mouth assaulting their minds and ears, a deep bass rumble. "Who are you to disturb me?!" It thundered, "conjurers of cheap tricks!" "YOU.ARE.NOTHING!" it said, horn flaring, battering at the group's barrier in a wave that they could barely repulse.
"We have to contain it!" Starswirl yelled above the roar of the flames. "Concentrate!" The others' faces were set in lines of grim determination, the heat did not abate,but the strength of the fiery lance only seemed to increase. There was a scream as one of the Council, unable to take the intensity dropped his barrier and was consumed.
the entity laughed,a mixture of Celestia's and the bass of its own. "I have drunk of the Sun's fire! I am Death made manifest!" It yelled, triumphantly,the blasts getting more and more powerful as if to punctuate the statement .
Starswirl felt a tickle at the base of his skull, a reserve of power that had gone unnoticed before, Discord's gift. He knew not the effects,but the situation was dire and he drew from it, immediately feeling the strange magic course throughout his body. Starswirl's eyes went pure white, leaking energy. He fired a beam of unbridled power that matched the lance of flame.
Even with this boost, Starswirl could not gain ground and he didn't know how long he could maintain this level of power. It seemed that all hope was lost, until the other Magi, in an act of bravery dropped their protective barriers and added their strength to his own.
"What? Impossible!" the thing yelled.
"We are the Council of Magi" the group said, in one voice, "By our powers combined we bind you, that you might never escape."
There was a brilliant flash of white light as the beam struck Celestia's horn, all of them collapsed to the ground.
***
The Council kept a close eye on Celestia from then onwards; Although Celestia still commanded immense power, it seemed inhibited, as if tied to the entity that remained sealed in the depths of the monarch's mind.
Celestia had no memory of the incident, and the Council agreed never to speak of it. As for Starswirl? He was never the same. Although his magic was more potent than ever, his mind was increasingly...unhinged. He laughed aloud for no reason, held conversations with things that weren't there. The Grand Master was given the best treatment available.Yet,none could discern the source of his disturbia...save a grinning statue in the Palace gardens.