If there was any particular sight in Equestria that Starswirl the Bearded knew he would always appreciate, it was the grand road into Canterlot.
Months had passed since he and the pillars were released from Limbo and freed Stygian from the Pony of Shadows. It had certainly been a hard few months for him and his friends as they learned to adjust to life in this new millenia. Starswirl personally had found very little issue adapting to the new advancements in magic, even in his old age. His pursuits through Flim and Flam’s “Friendship University,” no matter how incredulous Princess Twilight Sparkle seemed to think it was, proved interesting to him. And indeed discussing with said Princess and her pupil, Starlight Glimmer, gave the aged wizard a multitude of considerations into the advancement of magic and ponykind.
“And yet I always find myself back here,” he muttered to himself as he crested the hill into view of the city gates. The city of Canterlot had certainly seen better days - the castle in particular being mostly in shambles following the fight between the Elements and the ne’er-do-wells that threatened Equestria a few weeks ago. Starswirl had certainly missed the rush of fighting against a significant enemy to Equestria but an enhanced and well-fed Tirek had certainly proved far stronger than Starswirl could ever imagine. He once again silently thanked the higher powers that Equestria was well protected.
Entering into the city, Starswirl exchanged smiles with numerous passerby’s and looks of shared relief with the heavy influx of tourists visiting the ruined capitol. To one who long held himself to such a high regard, he realized how much he had yearned for the ability to share these feelings with the everyday pony. For so long he had kept his feelings and opinions bottled up, only able to trickle out when around those one or two ponies that he had allowed himself to trust all those moons ago.
In this day and age however, such empathy seemed to be commonplace, especially in the vast reaches of Equestria that Starswirl had seldom visited in the past when he was so focused on his work in and around Canterlot. It was among the growing list of reasons he began to compile that he grew contemptful of his former self.
Pulling himself from his thoughts as he strolled through the main street of the city, he was pleasantly greeted in passing by the numerous shopkeepers lining the buildings to either side of him. Surely they were beaming with the increased quantity of hoof-traffic in lieu of the recent catastrophe, even if the reason for said influx was quite dire. He even spotted one of Twilight’s friends - Miss Rarity if he recalled correctly - tending to the display pieces in one of the shops alongside a rather beautiful orange-maned mare. She noticed him in turn and blissfully offered a wave which he returned before returning to her work.
Finally passing through the checkpoint into the castle grounds with a nod from the stationed guards, Starswirl could finally properly assess some of the damage that was done to the grounds. The three assailants, Queen Chrysalis, Lord Tirek, and Cozy Glow - whom Starswirl truly had to wonder as to how she obtained any comparison to her two compatriots - had more than decimated the Main Hall and Throne Room, and the resulting debris had surely caused damage to numerous buildings across town - not to mention the shattered windows from all the magical bursts. Starswirl was glad to be back to help with reconstruction if for nothing else.
As luck would have it, Starswirl would not be alone as he ventured through the halls of Canterlot Castle to reminisce, as he noticed Twilight Sparkle approaching from a different direction just ahead of him, an orange associate in tow. He put on a small burst of speed to catch up with the Princess and her company.
“-really was a harrowing fight, and we’re really lucky nopony got hurt in all the catastrophe,” Starswirl heard Twilight say as he approached.
“Twilight, my dear, it is so good to see you!”
Two heads turned to meet the wizard, one with a heartfelt smile and the other with surprise visible on her face.
“Starswirl, I’m so glad to see you’ve recovered well from your run in with Tirek,” Twilight outstretched a hoof in offering to which Starswirl happily obliged and embraced Twilight. As they separated, he let a cocky grin crawl onto his face.
“Pah, Tirek may have had the upperhand in physical strength, and he may have had the strength of a hundred unicorns on his side with which to overpower me, but he lacked the wits to recognize that my ploy was merely to stall him so that you may gather your strength.”
He and Twilight held an even glance for a second before erupting into a lighthearted chuckle. After a moment of their shared mirth, the mare to Twilight’s side elicited a small cough to garner their attention. Twilight, ever cheerful, jumped to introduce the two.
“Oh, Starswirl, this here is my good friend Sunset Shimmer. She was one of Princess Celestia’s prized students just as I was.”
Starswirl removed his cap and held it to his chest, “It is always a pleasure to meet one of Celestia’s esteemed students, Miss Sunset Shimmer.”
A small blush came onto Sunset’s face as she crossed a foreleg over the other, “Well, like Twilight said, I was one of Celestia’s students. Sort of had a big screw up that made me into a bit of a bad guy for awhile there.” Her face rose with a more honest smile emblazoned on her muzzle, “But I’m doing much better now that I have my friends back home. And Twilight, of course.”
“Redemption is a noble feat,” Starswirl nodded, “It was Twilight Sparkle who taught me that as well when she helped me save a friend of mine from a darkness that overtook them.”
“Y’know, it’s crazy,” Sunset started as the three continued walking towards the castle, “All my life, I read works of yours in an attempt to become a better magic user. I never would have imagined I’d be able to meet you.” She flashed a smile at Twilight. “When Twilight told me that she had freed you and the other Pillars from Limbo, I honestly couldn’t believe her. It was something that just felt too good to be true.”
Starswirl chuckled lightly, “It amazes me that so many ponies remember me so vividly even in this modern era. Never in all my years had I imagined that I would be so praised even eons after my time.”
“Actually,” Twilight piped up, “In Sunset’s case, your work means more than she’s even letting on. It’s thanks to your studies into spellcasting and enchanting that she even has the friends she has today.” Sunset smiled and nodded surely as they approached the guard post outside the castle door. Starswirl could only nod curtly in return.
The guards studied the group with haste, giving them a quick magical check before letting them enter the main hall of the castle. Sunset whistled with appreciation as they strolled towards the throne room. “No matter how many times I see this place I still find myself in shock at how beautiful this place is.”
“Best hold your shock for the throne room,” Twilight said with a dejected smile, “It’s still being repaired, but you can definitely tell there was a fight in there.” Sunset’s ears tilted down but her head stayed high as they trudged forward.
“From what I’ve heard, the new style will be quite fitting of it’s new hosting,” Starswirl chimed in with a wink to Twilight, “Your Highness.”
Twilight blushed in response and babbled for but a moment before clearing her throat and nodding with a smile. Sunset and Starswirl shared a chuckle as the grand doors of the throne room loomed over them. Little ceremony was held as Twilight opened the doors and Celestia took notice of their entrance, a delighted grin coming onto her face as she turned to approach them.
“Sunset, it is so good to see you.” Celestia leaned down to wrap her former student in an embrace, “You really must visit more often.”
“I agree, and I really want to bring the girls over to see Twilight more often as well,” Sunset said with a wry smile.
“I’m more than happy with you to prioritize your studies Sunset.” A small giggle came from Twilight, “Even if alot of it is stuff you already learned in Equestria years ago.”
The three mares shared a laugh together. When the moment passed, Celestia turned to Starswirl with great anticipation.
“So I hear that you’ve finally planned to return to Canterlot at last?”
Starswirl nodded with confirmation, stroking his beard with his hoof as Celestia started walking the group out of the throne room. “Indeed. Equestria has certainly taken a bold turn for the better since I disappeared. Evil and those who wish ill of ponykind have almost all but disappeared. I certainly wish to believe that we have you Princesses to thank for watching over all of us in our most desperate moments.”
Twilight, still embarrassed receiving praise from her idol, blushed and turned to hide her face. Celestia spoke her opinion of the praise. “While Luna and I did do a number on Discord and Sombra back before Luna succumbed to the Tantibus, it was Twilight and her friends who really brought out the magic in all of Equestria’s citizens.”
Starswirl rested a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder, “My own experiences have proven this to be quite the case.”
Sunset threw in her two cents, “She is kind of incredible.” Twilight smiled wide with a blush but held her head high with pride.
“However,” Celestia steered the conversation back, “A lot of our efforts would be in vain without your efforts Starswirl. Your work has been vital in our nation’s defense of those that would do it harm.”
“This much I cannot deny.” Clearly, humility was still something Starswirl was working on.
A hum escaped from Celestia’s throat as she smiled. “And as such, I’m very pleased to let you know that despite recent events, I have found that your chambers have not been disturbed at all.”
“The catacombs?” Starswirl’s facial hair stood on its ends as they turned a corner. “They survived an attack that almost blew half the mountain away?”
“Most of the damage was only to the castle and surrounding structures,” Twilight interjected. “The mountain itself probably only noticed the dust shifting off it, let alone the caves inside.”
“How long has it been since anyone has been down there Celestia?”
“Only a few months. I made periodic checkups on your more curious prototypes to ensure nothing became too volatile,” the Princess guided them down a hall that looked to have had very little hoof-traffic, “but after most of the magic had faded from the less stable prototypes, I was comfortable enough to let most everything else remain in hiding until either they too became nullified or another powerful mage could work on them.”
“Me and my friends actually came down once to help Celestia return peace to an alternate Equestria using one of your portals,” Twilight winced after noticing Celestia’s ears fall for a moment. Starswirl remained silent for a moment, his eyes wandering as though scanning his memory for said portal.
“Portal…” His eyes regained focus and he frowned at Celestia, “You wouldn’t by chance be referring to the Portal I specifically deactivated so that you would not chance a dimensional collapse? The one with a particular black stallion whom you knew you shouldn’t have associated with.”
Celestia’s head hung as they came to the end of the hall. Her horn shone with gold light as she spoke. “I studied your notes for centuries. It was so hard not having you or Luna to guide me and help me escape from my daily worries and struggles. Surely you must understand the stress I was under.”
Starswirl studied the wall as Celestia's magic enveloped it, opening into a stairwell. He flared up his own magic to light the sconces lining the walls and took the lead. “Even so, to add such risk to not just yourself but to both ours and Sombra’s worlds. It was reckless.”
Sunset cut between the two, “Hey hey. I’m sure she realizes that now, but considering that the world is in tact, it can’t be that bad.” She leaned in to whisper to him, “Besides, look at her, I’m sure things figured themselves out. For better or for worse.”
Starswirl chanced a glance back at Celestia. Her downcast gaze, however well she hid it, was as broad as her sun’s daylight to those close to her. He sighed, turning to her as they hit the bottom of the deep spiral. “I...apologize, Celestia. I don’t fully understand how much my absence must have stung for you following the banishment of your sister. It must have been simply tantalizing to have even the tiniest bit of escape from this world that taunted you so.”
Celestia stared at Starswirl, eventually resorting to offering a curt nod and pained smile. “I have mostly moved on from my actions. I can live easier now knowing that Sombra is happy in his world with little strife and that I have more ponies to distract me from my struggles than I have ever had before.” She wrapped a wing around Twilight’s barrel as she continued, “And thankfully, I will be not much more than an advisor in but a few short months. The reduced stress is certain to improve my mood to the utmost degree.”
Twilight smiled, nuzzling her mentor, “And I’ll do my best to ensure that your retirement goes off without a hitch.”
“I’m sure you will.” Celestia’s motherly gaze and smile still proved to be one of the greatest joys in Twilight’s life.
Of course, one of the ones that fell just below that but also came to her much less frequently - interacting with magical artifacts and reading ancient scripts. Much to her glee, they happened to walk into Starswirl’s workshop not but a moment later.
A sigh escaped from the wizard as he cantered deeper into the cavern. Scattering the various pedestals and tables around the large room were endless quantities of scrolls, stalves, and unfinished products that would result in the betterment of ponykind. Twilight closed her eyes and breathed deeply, murmuring to herself, before calmly following suit to allow Starswirl his time to recollect rather than once again sate her curiosity.
Celestia did much the same, having seen most of these items and knowing of their nature much more than either of her students could have, possibly better than Starswirl even in some instances. Sunset, not wanting to stick out, also followed idly, but let herself wander a good amount. Her eyes cast to the old scriptures wishing she had kept up on her lessons of Old Poneish before fleeing through the portal to Canterlot High.
Starswirl walked up to a cloak on a mannequin that greatly resembled his own, the stars and streaks glowing with a vibrant, shimmering blue as the fabric billowed lightly in the draft of the cave. “Magic is something I could not imagine living without. There have been numerous times where I have tried but have come up short. I often look to Pegasi and Earth Ponies with such high regard for they have such resolve to live with the comparably limited magical potential that Unicorns have.”
“Pegasi and Earth Ponies have their feats of magic to worry about,” Twilight said to him, “While we Unicorns have great mages such as yourself and Clover the Clever to live up to, Pegasi are nothing if not competitive about their ability to fly and keep control of the natural world. And Earth Ponies must keep up with the stress of feeding all of Equestria and then some with their harvests and other such tasks.”
Starswirl nodded to her, “It is good to see such important notions are held to similar regard in this day and age.”
“Hey Starswirl,” Sunset called out from somewhere else in the room, “By any chance, did you come up with this thing over here after visiting another world?”
Starswirl and Twilight followed her voice over to a large four-wheeled contraption welded into place atop a giant pedestal. It was quite box-like, with a narrow front end and windows within the back carriage portion.
“Ah yes,” Starswirl said, stroking his beard once more, “an ‘automobile’ I believe is what they called it. It runs on a chemical foreign to our world so I attempted to get one to work in this world via magic.” He flared up his horn, aura enveloping the nose of the contraption as it sparked to life with a large cough and horrible grinding and popping noises. Sunset winced and reared back and Twilight summoned a barrier out of reflex. Starswirl guffawed into a coughing fit as he let the contraption return to silence once more. “Ah, how I recall making the same reaction to streets filled with these monstrosities.”
“A question if you would, Starswirl,” Sunset stepped forward again. “I’m familiar with the world that developed these things. And I actually for a long time now wanted to ask you a few questions about that world.”
Starswirl stared at her for a moment, inching closer as he inspected her features. When he was barely a few inches from her, sweat beginning to form on her brow, he finally spoke; even if only in a whisper. “Sunset Shimmer. S - S.” A short pause came as his features softened into a look of long regret. “You wouldn’t by chance recall the name ‘Silver Scepter,’ would you?”
Twilight’s entire head cocked to the side in confusion and Celestia’s eyes widened upon hearing the name. Sunset herself only had an eyebrow raise as she answered. “Uh, kinda. If I remember correctly, she was a renowned artificer from before even Princess Celestia and Luna’s rule. Why?”
Starswirl turned to rub his chin before looking frantically around the cave. After a moment his eyes settled on a rather unimportant nook on a far wall, empty of displays. “You said you’re familiar with the world this machine comes from? How is that? Why is that?”
Sunset took a few steps back from the mage, Celestia being the one to speak first as she wrapped a wing around her former student. “Sunset and I had a misunderstanding, and as a means of avoiding her wrongs, she fled through one of your mirror portals that I had no realization had been standing as a regular mirror within the palace. It only opens every thirty moons so I had very little realization that it was one of yours until she had already planned to use it.”
“Every thirty moons…” Starswirl mumbled. He rubbed his chin in thought before snapping to attention. “Of course! The human Equestria. I simply must apologize for the mixup Miss Sunset Shimmer.”
“It’s no problem…” Sunset grimaced, “But now I’m curious, why is it you asked about Silver Scepter? And why was how I knew about cars so worrisome to you?”
“Yeah,” Twilight stepped forward, “I can’t say it’s unlike you to have an outburst like that but I also can’t say that was what somepony could consider a normal concern.”
Once again, Starswirl’s eyes fled to the far nook in the stone walls. He sighed as he began guiding the group to the wall. “I suppose it would make far more sense for Sunset Shimmer to know about more modern human technology from Human Equestria than the world I was thinking about, but I need you all to understand that when I last travelled there, the world was quite medieval in nature.”
“Oh of course, it was over a thousand years ago!” Twilight exclaimed.
Sunset hummed in thought, “I suppose that renders most of the questions I had in mind null in void then. I hadn’t really thought about that myself.” She looked back to Starswirl, confusion still clear on her face. “But wait, if you were working on the mirror portals over a millenia ago, how was it that you know of technology that’s not even a century in the making?”
“Psshh,” Twilight blew a raspberry as she wrapped a wing around her, “C’mon Sunset, this is Starswirl. He engineered a time travel spell.” Her face fell deadpan for a moment, “Believe me, I would know.”
“I assure you I did not fiddle with time travel over something so trivial as mere curiosity of future technologies,” Starswirl grumbled as his horn flared up, igniting the wall in his aura. “Dimensional fluxuations are tricky to detect and even harder to pinpoint and latch on to. Sometimes, there is so little leeway for different worlds to interact that they are pinched shut for long periods of time or indefinitely.”
“Kind of like how I was holding open the magic to your world with the magic from the journal,” Twilight nudged Sunset.
“If there’s one good thing about all the rampant magic in my world it’s that we don’t need to use that anymore.”
Starswirl eyed the two mares for a second before focusing on his spell. “While magic is certainly one way to maintain a dimensional rift, some worlds are almost entirely inert to magic as we know it. It fails to function how we understand it and those worlds are either independent of others or rely on other methods to communicate with other dimensions and keep rifts stable.”
Before the mares’ very eyes, the nook in the cave retreated into the wall, allowing the wall to disappear into the surrounding cave, unveiling an entire new subset of the cavern.
Said cavern was filled to the brim with a whole category of styles of mirrors to choose from. Each one was paired with either a table or a hook riddled with scrolls and charts trying to decipher Faust-knows-what.
In awe, Twilight and Sunset wandered into the room behind Starswirl as he meandered towards a central bench of notes and scriptures. Celestia was far more cautious of the room, ducking her head as she entered and keeping her distant from a number of the mirrors with more emboldened wording on their partnered readings.
Starswirl sat himself at the workbench and rifled through the scattered notes in a quick suit to organize them and set them aside. “This project was likely one of my more ambitious ones, and definitely has taken more time out of my life than any of my other works. Why, I do believe I was working on this project when I was about your age, Twilight.”
Sunset came over and leaned over on the bench, “Wow that’s pretty crazy, even for you Starswirl.” She chuckled nervously at his glare, “Aheh, no offense.”
“Be that as it may, the work is not without its danger. Each portal may only be open for a specific period of time, some may close for a recharging period once you’re on the other side. Sometimes, time will flow differently between worlds and oftentimes the portals will be so unstable that even sending one particle from our world to the other is enough to implode the rift.” He shuffled through his notes, seemingly on the hunt for one particular piece. “And as I stated earlier, sometimes the means of opening one or holding it open is entirely different.”
Starswirl’s shuffling hastened as he continued. “There was one particular world that I became fascinated with that was allowing it to communicate using chronal energy. Basically a time sync.” His magic flared up and began throwing scriptures into the air. “Based on the mathematics I did, even though it’s been over a millenia in our world, it will have likely only been, roughly speaking, eighty years give or take in that one. Now, this assumes that it hasn’t sped up and if there was a raw, unfiltered source of Equestrian Magic in that world then the chronal sync would stop progressing and to be frank, I don’t rightly know what would happen if the worlds were to fully sync but…” his magic released its contents into a violent burst as he cleared the table. “Gah! Where are my notes!?”
“The Terran Compendium,” Celestia spoke from elsewhere in the room, “a Scholar’s Guide to Exploring Terra.”
Starswirl teleported to her without hesitation and levitated the book to himself, his face incredulous to the finding. “Where in Faust’s name did you find this!?”
Celestia pointed to the floor just in front of where she was standing. “It was just sitting here. I know you’re well organized in your chaos Starswirl, but surely keeping better track of your things would be better than just leaving them about?”
The old wizard simply stared at the cover for a moment, letting his haunches come to rest on the ground and the book come to rest in his hooves. He brushed one over the cover gingerly before allowing the front cover to open, seemingly for the first time in decades. His breath caught in his throat as he read what was left of the writing on the first page.
“‘This guide is dedicated to Starswirl the Bearded. Without his dedication to this topic, such amazing opportunities would not be available to us. Swirly, your work is truly an inspiration to us all.
“‘With love, Silver Scepter.’”
Celestia’s eyes grew with surprise upon hearing the pet name. Peeking to see the reaction of her students, she could tell both mares were in equal shock to the message from their agape mouths.
“B-but wait,” Sunset started, struggling to find the words, “Didn’t Silver Scepter disappear?”
“Starswirl,” Twilight rose, beginning to trot over to him, “Whatever happened to her?”
The elderly stallion looked at her for a moment before clearing his throat and walking back over to the workbench. He sat down and let the guide down gently. The three mares took places opposite him and sat down, seeming ready for a story. Sighing, Starswirl began.
“Silver Scepter was unlike any other mare I had ever met. Frankly speaking, I don’t think there was another mare that ever sparked my interest either for companionship or peership. As Sunset Shimmer mentioned, she was an artificer; a skilled enchanter whose ability to enchant was unparalleled in both quality and durability. When I first began my research into dimensional travel, I was but a young court wizard for one of the remaining Unicorn factions before Equestria was united. I had not done much by that point to earn any sort of major notoriety except maybe just by showing my raw ability to perform magic rather than creating it. Be that as it may, I decided that I could not truly show my value as a wizard unless I could manage to create a new spell and not only that, I wanted to make the spell I made a big one that could open up endless new possibilities for Ponykind so that they could prosper for generations to come.”
“Well, you certainly accomplished that,” Twilight said through a slightly pained smile. Sunset could only nod in tandem, her smile more honest.
“Thank you both, but please, allow me to continue.” The two mares smiled sheepishly at each other before returning their attention to him. “Unlike me, Silver’s resumè within our guild was incredible before she even stepped foot into a mage’s quarters. Why, her very cutie mark represented the brilliant staff she crafted when she was just a foal trying to make things easier for her father whose magic began to fail him.
“Naturally then, when it became known that I was working on something such as this and I sought a grant for such a task, I was given the opportunity to work alongside Silver Scepter to develop these mirrors. It took many failed attempts but once I got the hang of spellcrafting, I was able to develop a spell that could pinpoint magical anomalies within the very fabric of reality. Silver, being the genius that she was, then considered the possibility of me casting such a spell in rune form so that not only could she reverse engineer the spell but also have it applied to objects. After she and I perfected the spell, her heart and soul went into perfectly enscribing her runes on numerous mirrors over a span of several weeks. The best way to describe her when she would be working on her runes is that she was meditating or in a trance; her entire being focused on ensuring each nanometer of those runes was in line so as to never falter or let fluxes latch on easier.”
With a creak in his joints as he stood. The mares watched as he returned to the spot where Celestia had found the book simply lying on the floor. Once he stood firmly in that place, he brought their attention to a mirror standing mostly alone just near him. The surface of the mirror seemed to shimmer - as though not even a single particle of dust had ever disturbed its presence. Though the same could not be said about the frame that held the mirror firmly in place, even it seemed to hold strong against the tests of time. Being kept underground away from wind and water would easily allow for this.
Starswirl gently ran his hoof along the frame of the mirror. “This is the mirror to Terra. A human dimension unlike many of the ones we’ve seen.”
“Pshh,” Sunset scoffed, “How different could it possibly be?”
“Quite different,” he scowled, “considering that none of us do, have not, and seemingly never will exist in its history.” His gaze softened. “Not without or own influence of course.”
Sunset blinked, “Oh. That kind of different.”
“Indeed.” He sighed as he returned his look to his own reflection in the mirror. “Terra was, believe it or not, the first portal to be created by the project. I made such a point about chronal sync being a potential for a mirror to be held open because of this but ignoring that fact, this is the only mirror we ever encountered that had this property.”
“Define ‘Chronal Sync,’” Twilight said slowly.
Starswirl clicked his tongue a few times as he thought about how to explain it. “Hrm, as far as Silver and I were able to understand, most of the other worlds we were able to open a portal to were synced in time with ours. Technologies and societal norms may have differed due to the minute differences, such as a reversal of alignment or what species everyone was, but the universal age of that dimensional was exactly the same as ours. These worlds were forced to be held open utilizing the shared magic between us, basically forcing a communicative link via magic.
“Terra was vastly different and rather unique. It is almost entirely inert to magic as we understand it. In fact, as far as the humans that inhabit Terra understand it, magic in general is only superstition. This of course means that we weren’t able to form a link via magic but it still responded to our energy.” He turned his head to whisper under his breath, “I wonder if Silver ever confirmed our theory…” He shook his head and returned to his explanation, “Terran energy was quite different from ours. The majority of the planet resonated not with magical radiation but with electromagnetic radiation.”
“But my world has both,” Sunset piped up, “and the majority of the magic it has was introduced to it by our world, either by you or myself.”
“Excellent observation, Miss Shimmer. While it may be true that until I entered your world that it was without natural magic, and even still an inconsequential amount by the time I had banished the Sirens there, it is still receptive to magic. The lack of magic in your world is why until recently, the mirror could only open every thirty moons. It needed time for both sides to recharge its magic to sustain the charge - which, on your side, takes exponentially longer.
“Going back to Terra. It is inept to at least ninety-nine point nine-nine percent of practical magic as we understand it. That remaining margin is simply one that allows for us to be wrong because we never found any practical applications, at least not while I was around. Thankfully for us, the world is not in sync with us in timeflow. It must so happen that Terra is much older than Equus and only recently the two worlds are starting to come closer to their window of equilibrium. It’s impossible to say what would happen when the worlds do sync up, if that property works as we think it does, but our best guess right now is that when it does happen, the portal will crimp shut forever.”
Celestia silently trotted over to the stallion and placed a gentle hoof on his shoulder. “This is all quite fascinating Starswirl,” she chided, “but it doesn’t answer what happened to Silver Scepter.”
“You mentioned that time flows normally when unfiltered magic enters Terra,” Sunset cautiously stepped forward, “Does that include...Equestrian life?”
Starswirl looked wistfully into his reflection. “I fear there may be no chance of her returning.”
The cavern grew dire as the answer ended his breath. Twilight and Sunset shared a look of helplessness as Celestia simply sat next to Starswirl to wrap a wing around him. The mares all carefully looked to one another, each one not sure what to do as the stallion stared at the ground. The silence was as painful as it could be, extending for what felt like hours. Thankfully however, none of them had to be the one to speak as Starswirl rose from his space on the floor to return to the workbench. His magic cleared a large space off the table and gathered a plethora of unmarked scrolls and fresh quills seemingly out of nowhere, organizing them with utmost precision before placing the Compendium in the middle of his workspace.
“I must apologize for my dour mood, but I think I would like to be alone for some time.”
Twilight took a careful step towards him, Sunset placing a hoof on her flank to hold her back. The young princess chanced a look at Celestia who frowned sadly but nodded all the same, making her way to exit the cave. Sunset motioned for Twilight to follow and began making her leave as well.
“Starswirl…” Twilight muttered, still frozen in place.
“Miss Sparkle,” Starswirl returned over his shoulder, “We will talk later. In a few days, I ask you return here. If you may, bring your friends. Please.”
Her lips part to speak, but no words formed in her mind. She gave a noise of affirmation and turned to rejoin the others, leaving Starswirl alone within the long deserted cavern.
His eyes found rest on the journal, decades worth of study resting within its bounds. He took a deep breath, dipped his quill, and opened the journal to the first page.
