Arcane Unbound
A new student enrolled in the School of Friendship. A thin, small-statured blank-flanked unicorn with pinkish-violet fur and a striking white mane. A first year student who was hardly more than a filly. Now ruling for 200 years, the Alicorn Princess Lustre Dawn was amazed at her entrance exam - not only did she seem to have a deep understanding of friendship, but her knowledge of magick seemed impossible for such a young pony. With a close and keen eye, Lustre watched over this new student.
Good grade after good grade, Lillia-el was earning high marks in magick classes grades ahead of her - yet, when asked to perform said magick... she could not. She knew of it's workings, she knew of it's power, she knew of how to cast, uncast, write, dispell, and ward nearly every spell teachers put before her. She could identify and quell animals and spirits, using no magick - just her knowledge of them. Yet as always, when asked to use magick, the quiet teenager could not. This bewildered Lustre and the teachers - all ceatures in equestria possess magick, yet... Lillia-el showed none of it. They would watch as she tried and tried but could not.
Lustre made the decision to pull Lillia-el from her studies and asked her to live in Canterlot, as a personal student. Surely her knowledge comes from somewhere, and maybe her magick is simply late blooming. Lustre wanted to ensure her talent, when blossomed, would be under her wings and trained appropriately.
But that day never came. Lillia-el still was unable to use magick, and after many years of living in Canterlot, studying personally under Lustre Dawn, she was still a blank flank.
Lillia-el became discouraged, and Lustre could tell. Lillia-el began to believe that out of everyone - she had no destiny. She had no magick, no purpose. She simply existed among the world. Lustre did her best to encourage her, to keep her spirits high and bright, but the Unicorn's heart kept falling.
One night, Lillia-el was walking through the Canterlot gardens, and she stared at the moon shining above. A butterfly, sparkling with hues of violet, blue, pink, and red, landed on her nose. It chimed and danced as the nighttime breezes blew by. It sang a song of dreams on the wind. It danced to the beat of love and light from the moonbeams. And it started to flutter off.
Lillia-el started following.
The butterfly lead her down through Canterlot streets, down the mountain, through forests which lined the city and it's mountain host, and into the heaviest woods she had ever seen. The sound of nightjars calling, of phoenixes singing to the moon's descent...
Between the trees, through the horizon, a pool. Uneven and wild, glowing with light and the reflection of the moon above. Nearby was a very old wooden shrine, and next to the water, a bench. Inscribed in the shrine and stone bench was a crescent moon. The butterfly landed on the ancient wood of the shrine, as if calling her to it.
Inside of the shrine was a large book, damaged but salvable, with lines for even writing. Inside, a single page was marked, with a symbol of a butterfly eclipsing the moon. Below the symbol was written "All hail the love and wrath of the moon."
At that moment, the butterfly that led Lillia-el there sprang up, and chimed as it climbed in the sky. The wind began whirring in anticipation. The pool reflected the sight as the perfectly crescent moon reached it's peak in the sky. As she watched, the stars shined brighter. Her horn began to glow, and she began to float, rising above the pool and perfectly above the treeline as the butterfly ascended. It eclipsed the moon - and waves of violet, rose, cerulean, and white seemed to melt over the atmosphere and into the sky. The symbol above branded her flank in the waves.
In a flash - Lillia-el fell. The water of the pool below was cold. She shook herself dry, grabbed the book, and ran through the forests, up the mountain, and back into Canterlot. All kinds of creatures had emerged from their homes and were watching the sky. Lustre Dawn was pacing around the throne room - worried and afraid something terrible was happening. As Lillia-el entered the castle, she managed to slip away past her mentor and into her bedroom, unaware of her new mark and unsure of what just happened.
The moon stayed in the sky during the dawn, Lustre was unable to control it. As Lillia-el emerged, she quickly knew why.
"Lillia!" Lustre's eyes lit up, sparkling with glee, "You have your cutie mark!"
"huh?" Her voice was quiet, as she peered at the same symbol from night before now branded on her flank.
Lillia-el smiled softly to herself, and Lustre threw a large celebration for her student - ponies and non-ponies from all across equestria flocked to the event on Lustre's calling.
But her magick was still non-existant.
Through the years Lillia-el wrote hundreds of books documenting spells, animals and magickal creatures, potions, cures for magickal diseases, and nearly everything anyone could ever need. Without performing any magick of her own, somehow - Lillia-el knew exactly what worked. She began to take pride in knowing, despite being unable to perform anything herself. She may have not had magick- but she knew of it, she knew nearly everything involving it- and that was seemingly enough for her.
Lillia-el became prideful and happy that others were succeeding with her notions and examples, with her knowledge shared. But in her heart grew depression and resentment that she had no magick of her own. In her quiet longing for magick, for ability, she found herself within a strange place. Inside this place the Moon alone shone above. Waters below were crystalline and reflective. She saw her soul surrounding her, and it was chained. The perfect silver chainlinks stretching deep into the depths of the calm waves. Despite this, she felt calm.
The waters began to stir, and the resenment in her heart grew stronger now as the moon began to eclipse - and Lustre appeared. Within seconds, the quiet waves became a tsunami. Lustre called out to her to remember the good and to calm her heart.
Her soul swelled with black - and Lillia-el started crying within.
"It's not fair!" she wailed.
"Let me make it fair!" Lustre called out, flying above the waves, trying to help her student as she always had before.
The waves kept rising, and Lustre knew if she could not calm Lillia's heart, she would not be the mare she knew and mentored by morning. With the light of the Moon, Lustre used her magick to sever the chains.
As the citizens of Equestria awoke, they found the moon apexed and changing phase rapidly, and the ground beneath them lifted from the mantle of the earth, floating in the sky.
As Lustre opened her eyes, she saw the walls of the castle destroyed, and before her, her student, eyes wide and glowing with power - and feathered wings, with a pair of butterfly accents spread upon the unicorn's back. Her skin and fur glistened and glowed, lines of white trailed across her body.
"Lillia... What have you done?"
