It had been a week since the young Dawn Glimmer had returned from her long program at Canterlot to find that her small, modest house had been abandoned. She had desperately searched for her parents, crying out for them. Alas, she did not find them. They had fled the nest, leaving the poor young filly to care for herself. She had traveled throughout the whole of Manehattan, trying to find her mother and father. Dawn had called upon the feeble amounts of tracking magic that she knew, but to no succession.
Dawn Glimmer was lying down on a small and worn bedroll, in the somewhat small living room of her family home. The room was dark except for a small blue fire that was smokeless and crackling peacefully in a corner, surrounded by stones to keep the fire from spreading to the rest of the wooden floor. Above the fire was a small stick, held up by a few other sticks wrapped in wire, a makeshift rotisserie. Close to the fire was a small loaf of bread wrapped in a layer of green leaves, the bread peeking out from underneath. In the room there were various supplies scattered around; small bottles of spices and cooking supplies. Next to the fire, in the corner closest divided by the middle of the room, was Dawn Glimmer.
The smallish rectangular living room was bear of furniture and ornamentation, just a blank empty room except for Dawn's belongings strewn about the room. In the living room, there were two doors, the door closest to Dawn and her belongings, was slightly open. The other door, however, was shut. Leading to the closed door were small splatters of dried liquid, and on the door was the same liquid. There were small scuffs of the same colored stuff here and there throughout the room, but otherwise the room was devoid of its presence.
Dawn's sleeping body shifted gently on top of the discolored bedroll, which has been visibly repaired many times. Partially hidden next to the bedroll is a normal saddlebag, with elastic cords to wrap around the torso. The bag was open, with object handles poking out of the opening at the tops.
Dawn slowly shifted again, letting out a yawn as she stretched her spine out, eliciting cracks and pops as she rolled onto her hooves. She shook out her light green mane, which complemented her stunning ice blue eyes. Her mane was long from the time spent in her family home, she feared leaving her home, for what would become while the owner was gone…
Dawn Glimmer, the unicorn mage, a young prodigy bent on conquering all forms of magic. After a small scuffle in a small public school in Manehattan, she had unleashed her magic for the first time. She had accidentally frozen a few other students in magical explosion of energy. She soon after, had been contacted by a rather uppity mage from Canterlot.
The mage had commented on her unusual affinity for the magical fields around her, which explained the aptitude of the flash freezing spell. She then had gone on about how Celestia would personally pay for a scholarship after she had done an examination. She had been given a few days to pack her belongings, and then they would summon her to the outskirts of the city, before transporting her to Canterlot.
The days leading up to her departure were spent with general merry making, and then stressing. Usually in that order. Dawn spent much time with her loved parents Stella Aurora, and Lunar Agnitio. After they had used up their days, the young scholar packed the little objects she found worthy of taking with her, and left.
When Dawn had arrived in Canterlot, she was whisked to the palace, her escorts wanting to go home and relax after the long journey. She was led to a personal room, filled with little baubles and banners baring the royal sun, constant reminders of who's in charge. When the guards had left her, she started unpacking and placing her things about the room, various books, pictures, and writing supplies; little else was worthy of bringing.
As it was towards the evening hours on the linear scale of things, Dawn was getting tired, and as thus, she decided to go to sleep. That night, she experienced the wonder that is Canterlot palace bedding.
The next morning, she started her studies. She delved into the world of magic, studying everything and anything that was even loosely related to magic; science, physics, mathematics. There was nothing that she wouldn't study. She didn't even study spells, like the other students did. She used all her time studying the theory behind the spells, what made them work and tick. She became adept at spell theory, as a master pianist would be able to easily weave chords and complex melodies with but the simplest of thoughts, Dawn could weave and overlap spells, making up spells off the top of her head which adjusted already existent spells. She could create a spell for just about anything with some time to think about the process behind it. There was even a rumored way to divide your mind into two different parts, both capable of doing different things at the same time, but not things that cannot be separated. There was even a rumor that someone with enough mental capacity for the strain could do three! Oh, Dawn wished for the day when she could do that, so she could effortlessly put spells together.
Celestia had provided her with all the books she could ever read! What with her access to the royal library, and a lifetime membership there. Dawn used this privilege so often; one would be hard-pressed to not call it abuse! She even had access to the restricted section, but she found herself not even going into that dusty room, it hardly ever got used after all.
When the mage overseeing Dawn's curriculum found out about all of the progress that she had made, he tasked her with creating a useful, yet practical spell. It had to be completely unique, it could draw on other ideas, but it could not just be an altered spell.
After a few weeks of study and dedication to this new project, Dawn developed a perfectly unique spell, fitting into the guidelines masterfully. She created a special form of mage light, which reflected certain colors, and absorbed others, powering itself. The special thing was, it had a proximity radar, whenever the caster, or someone the caster had marked, approached the dim magelight, it would flare brightly and settle down. This way, it would save energy when no one was around, but would still serve the purpose of a light.
The mage, Enchiridion, was surprised. He had taken Dawn for a smart filly, but one that lacked initiative and ambition, seeing as she rarely went outside of the library or her room, while the other students actively looked for help from the mages. The tutor, proud of one of his charges, rewarded her with words, and a set of enchanted robes. For learning purposes of course.
After this Dawn started competing almost, it seemed like she was trying to best her peers in academic combat, but as if she was holding back. She then systematically started reading all the books in the library, regardless of subject. A book, then that shelf, starting at the bottom until she had read that entire bookshelf, she did this mass reading in sections, going to specific places and subjects in the library. It took her months to finish one of the four quadrants the library was divided into, but her knowledge had grown.
More time had passed, and Dawn had read most of the library, excluding the restricted section. Yes she would skip books occasionally, but only those that she felt had little value in her pursuit of knowledge, such has romance novels, and foal books. When she had exhausted most of the books in the royal library, it was undeniable to her that she would need to read the books in the restricted section, for knowledge and nothing else.
Thus began her third course under Celestia and the talented, but haughty and cowardly mages. As Dawn grew older, so did her tastes, she found herself wondering things she never cared about before, and wanting to know all of the magic in the restricted section, which she had again, put off.
As she slowly approached her fourth and final term in Canterlot, she discovered a hidden room, a small alcove in the library behind one of the old stoneworks in the lesser used parts. As she looked through the dusty stone room, rummaging in the large desk and drawers that were the only thing in the room, she made mental tabs on everything she saw.
Inside of the desk, was one thing; a book, a small, old, leather bound book. The sole pony in the room took the book out of the desk, and placed it on the cold and dusty wooden top, unlatching the book, and opening it to the first page.
She was amazed. It was filled with spells that she had never even heard of! She was in paradise as she read, taking mental notes on each page and filing them away in the archive of her mind. She knew that the spells and rituals would come in handy later, even if she didn't know what any of the incantations did. She would find out.
Dawn slowly stretched out her tight muscles. She winces as her horn let out a bright spark and the bedroll smoothed out before her, folding itself neatly up against the wall in the corner of the room.
Dawn sighed and smacked her lips together, grimacing at the taste of sleep in her mouth. She walked over to the blue fire; now nothing but faintly flickering embers. Her horn started to glow as a look of calm concentration came over her, as the fire started to grow slowly. The fire grew calmly, casting light over the room, and warming Dawn's cold body.
She was content with the size it was at now, so she walked over, opening the southern door, into the living room. The room was for looks, it was just to go to the rest of the house. The living room had various pictures of Dawn and her parents, along with the doors leading to the outside world, which had a chair propped against it, you never know after all.
Dawn smiled as she went to the east side of the room, admiring all the pictures of her family, as tears filled her eyes. She shakily sat down on a stray pillow and took whispery breaths, closing her eyes as she tried to stop herself from shedding even a single tear.
"Come back," She whispered aloud, "I miss you, I need you… I don't know how to do this anymore…" She let out small breaths as she looked up at the many photographs, eyes filled with crystals. "This isn't worth, I mean, I. Just come back, please." She stuttered over her words as she sniffled into the large pillow she was now laying on.
She sighed and wiped her eyes, "Oh who am I talking to?" She asked herself pessimistically, "Nopony can hear me." She sighed deeply as she stood up and walked back into her camping room, before opening the door to the northern room, the scent of spices mingling with the air.
She walked into the dark room before closing the door behind her silently. She stayed in that room for unknown time, before she walked out, with a small smile on her face. She walked back out into the living room, standing before one of the partially open windows.
Dawn smiles has the first rays of her namesake started to slither through the blinds, smiling in wonder as the room was painted in splatterings of pink-gold light. She pranced about the room happily before throwing open the curtain, spraypainting the room in liquid light. She sat down on the pillow once again and looked outside at the leaves of the trees across the street, fluttering in the wind. Dawn smiled as nature laughed with her, wrapping her in the embrace of its beauty and washing away her worries.
Today would be a good day after all.
