Happy Anniversary, Star Swirl

by Luna Arc

Rating: everyone
Tags: Romance, Adventure
Length: 610

A mysterious artifact is stolen from the Star Swirl the Bearded exhibit and it reveals a long lost friendship.

Star Swirl the Bearded is one of the most iconic Magic conjurers in all of Equestria but little is known beyond his work. As the Ponyville History Museum closes for the night an unexpected visitor arrives to view the traveling exhibit. Reluctantly, a curator of the museum, Freckles, allows the mysterious visitor in only to be knocked unconscious. When he awakes he discovers a powerful artifact from the Star Swirl the Bearded exhibit is missing and he must track down the culprit whom he had let in. Through his investigation he discovers a long lost friendship and that there is more to Star Swirl than he thought.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2014-04-04 19:47:19 UTC

Chapter 1: Closing Time

It had been another long day for Freckles the curator. The travelling exhibit on Star Swirl the Bearded had kept the museum of Ponyville busy and as lead curator, Freckles was pulling double shifts. This wasn’t the first time a travelling exhibit increased their sales but this one seemed particularly popular. Freckles mused over the exhibit as he walked through the museum halls. Perhaps the visitor increase is due to the fact the two Princesses came to visit just last week, he thought. After all, before Twilight had made her love of the old sorcerer known in Ponyville no one had even heard of Star Swirl the Bearded. Freckles reached his office and ducked in. He grabbed his briefcase and hat and closed the door behind him. "I’ll have to check the weekly sales report on Monday," he thought.

Freckles walked through the halls as security guards called for all clears. The museum looked daunting in the dark, the large arched ceilings allowed the halls to fill with black and only the small glows from the torches lit the way. Freckles never liked the musuem at night, too many installations on nocturnal creatures made him uneasy over the years. And then there was the installation on the Descent. Freckles hated the Descent installation, but he was cursed to walk by it every night because of the geographical location of his office to the front door. As he walked by Freckles looked up to the installation. There stood a tall stone monolith of Nightmare Moon, along with a descriptive sign and some artifacts. The statue seemed to glare down at Freckles as he walked by and the eyes were piercing and cold. Freckles quickened his step as walked past the statue and met the guards at the front door.

“All clear?” Freckles asked. “Yes sir. We are ready to lock up.”  Freckles and the guards stood still as Freckles armed the alarm and they all stepped outside as it beeped. Freckles was last to leave and he fumbled with his keys to lock the door. “ All set guys. Have a good ni…” Freckles turned around to find the guards frozen in place staring up at a tall dark figure. Freckles looked up and stepped back in shock to find Princess Luna standing right in front of him. “ Your highness…” he stammered. Freckles bent down in a bow nervously and looked back up. “Please, you may address me as Luna.” She said bending down to Freckles to motion him up. “What...what can I do for you?” Freckles asked hestiatenly. Freckles had never been this close to the Princess since she had returned to the throne and her tall stature was intimidating to say the least. “I have heard you have a travelling exhibit on Star Swirl the Bearded. I have come to see if I may gaze at his artifacts.” Freckles looked nervously to the guards who still stood frozen with their jaws open in awe. “ Well, it looks like we just closed.” mumbled Freckles. He looked up at Luna and she gazed into his eyes. “Her eyes are still so piercing,” he thought, “But they seem warmer than the statue.” Luna lowered her head to Freckles. “So than I am too late?” she whispered sadly. “Oh, well. No, I guess I could open it for you. After all you are uh…” Luna quickly swooped Freckles into an embrace and shouted excitedly “ Oh thank you! This is most appreciated. Mr?” Freckles gasped for air and said “Freckles, your Highness. I’m the curator.” “ Well then Freckles Curator, let us journey to into the museum.”