The Lost Legends of Equestria: Star Swirl the Bearded

Chapters

Searching for Answers
Another Regular Ordinary Day
An Unexpected Hero Arrives (to help)
The Battle/ Fight
The Fury of Wrath
Conversation
Meanwhile...
A New Nickname
(Even) More Conversation
Three Weeks Later.../ Back in the Present
Six Years Later...
Four Years Later...
Back to the Story...
Two Years Later...
Twelve Years Later...
Two Years Later (Again)...
Four Years Later (Again)...
The Apprentice
(A) Royal Request
The Girls Come/ Arrive
Learning
Practical Pranks
Preparation for the War and The Vision
Chaos Comes/ Arrives
The Siren's Song
Meeting Star Swirl
The Lost Night
Going West
The Tree of Chaos
Going North
Going East
Meeting King Cosmos
Dinner Talk/ Conversation
Exploring the Kingdom
The Traitor
Meeting Queen Chysalis
The Queen's Curse
The Mirror
Interlude
The New Apprentice
(The) Confession(s)
Going to Ponyville
Epilogue: Afterwards
The Shocking (New) Surprise
Interruption
The Bullies Attack
Flashback
Another Interruption
Yet Another Interruption
Teaching, Saying Goodbye, and Going Home
The Spell

Searching for Answers

Twilight Sparkle was looking through the Royal Canterlot (Public) Library as it was officially (and still technically is) called. She was looking through the Star Swirl the bearded section, but she could not find exactly what she was looking for, which was even more information about the famous wizard who lived.

But oddly enough, his personal life seemed to be oddly empty and when she first saw it she ignored it, but then questions slowly entered her mind and she became curious and only now did she think that it was unusual and odd and strange, but then again, so many great things of the past had been glanced over, probably because it was a different time then and few if any ponies would care about history, they would only care about survival. The books contained almost no information on his personal life of how he lived except for where he lived and what he did, and he lived in Canterlot and Twilight already knew everything that he did, he created over 200 spells and banished the sirens.

But other than that little information which she did find, there was nothing there, unless you count continual failure as something, but I don’t think we do.

Twilight sighed as she put away the last book, she was disappointed that she didn’t find anything, she wanted to learn and know more about the great master of magic who had set so many records and achievements that she could never hope to measure or stand up against, she was good and great and excellent, but he was better at everything, except perhaps for friendship.

But perhaps there is another pony or source that I could use, Twilight thought, the only reason that the books lacked in detail was because ponies didn’t care enough to write their own history or details, and because no pony could ever hope to remember back to that time because no pony was alive at that time.

Well every pony that is, except for Princess Celestia, perhaps she knows more about this subject matter and could help me out with this problem I have.

And with that thought in her mind she raced to the castle and found the princess there all alone doing her royal duties and tasks as she needed to.

“Celestia, I need to speak to you, alone, in private,” Twilight said.

“Well of course,” Celestia said putting her papers down and then walking into another room to talk with her, “What is it that you want to say to me exactly?”

“I need to talk to you about Star Swirl the bearded,” Twilight said.

“What exactly do you want to know about him?” Celestia asked.

“Well everything, but to be specific I was wondering about his personal life.”

“Twilight, you know there is a good reason it is called ‘personal’ right?”

“Yes, I know that, but I just feel like the greatest wizard ever known really isn’t that well known in his other aspects then what he did or accomplished in life.

But I want to know more, he is after all my greatest source of inspiration that I have, well other than you of course, I didn’t mean to offend or forget you.”

“I take no offense, but what do you wish to know about Star Swirl’s life?”

“I already told you, I want to know everything that you could tell me.”

“That is not what I meant by my question, what I mean was this, where would you like to begin in his life? The start, the middle, or perhaps the end instead?”

“Well that’s a very odd question to ask, but I suppose that I would like to start at the very beginning if you could very well do that for me please,” she said.

“Very well then, I shall, most ponies think that Star Swirl was born rich or famous, but neither is true, to quote from William Hoofsphere ‘Some are born great, some are made great and some have greatness thrust upon them’, and such was the case with Star Swirl, he made himself great, but only because the opportunity and chance to do so was thrust upon him, he did now willingly choose to become famous, that is just a result of other ponies. But he did accept the praise and compliments and awards and prizes better than most who come to fame or power or riches, he accepted it graciously and with both humbleness and pride for his work, he knew what to boast was wrong, but to simply state it as a fact would be enough and true. But despite all that he did and all the praise and compliments and awards and prizes, he was still just a regular young stallion underneath it all, simple, humble, yet strong and proud, ready to act with words and power should the need or situation ever arise, he was one that knew which fights to win, and which ones which to humbly accept defeat and lose. He was a stallion of both peace and war, of both light and darkness, he knew everything there was to know about magic, except for the power and truth of friendship. Yet for all that he did, he still had regrets, choices that were wrong, even if he really believed that it was right at the time, even if they were right, and he always still felt like he was missing something very important in his life, but he never did find it, but you did.”

“Wait, Star Swirl came from a simple and humble home? And he was normal deep down inside? Are you sure that you’re thinking of the right pony?”

“Yes, Twilight Sparkle, the answer is yes to all of your questions, and if you don’t interrupt me anymore I can continue on with my story as I was before.”

“Sorry Princess Celestia, I’ll try not to interrupt you again.”

“Good, for if you have any questions then I will answer them at the very end. Now then, the reason why I say all of this about Star Swirl is for one very simple fact, I knew Star Swirl for a brief time, and he told me his life story.”

“Wait, you once met and knew the great Star Swirl?” Twilight asked in disbelief.

“Yes, yes I did, and while most would try to paint themselves as grand and great and powerful and strong and wise, Star Swirl did not, he was honest.

And so this tale that I am saying now is the complete truth, for he does not boast and he does not lie, wizards after all, have great honor, names, and a reputation and integrity to hold up on. Of course though I do wish I had kept track of him so I could know where he is, but he wishes me not to, and so I respect his wishes, besides, a wizard can’t be found unless he wants to.

Anyhow I was planning to tell you this sooner or later, but since you asked I guess it will be sooner. Anyhow his life is a fascinating and interesting one to say the very least. He was raised in a simple and humble home, and with simple ponies all around him, but he was not a simple pony, he had a mind of brilliant creative chaotic genius ready to be used and explored, there was only one small light problem however, he was a failure at every subject in life.”

“He was a failure?” Twilight asked with even more disbelief.

“Yes, yes, he was, but then again, all great people, I mean ponies, they were all simple and humble and proud at one point in their small tiny lives that they have, and I believe that the same could be said about you when you came to my school, you were mall, young, and not rich or noble, but you were still great and excellent at the things you did. But you still never boasted about what you could do, you were humble, yet still proud of what you did, just like Star Swirl.

But anyhow I guess that this story is not about how you’re supposed to act, though you could do or be wise and learn both a lesson and a moral from it.

Anyhow I guess Star Swirl’s first act of magic would later become irony, and that his real story starts before the age of Equestria, before me and my sister came to restore the balance and peace of this land by stopping Discord…”

Another Regular Ordinary Day

-Before the Age and Time of Equestria…

Star Swirl sat up in his bed as a young colt, and he had no beard, it wasn’t until much later that he would earn the nickname and title of ‘the bearded’.

He yawned and got up and got ready for magic school, but he didn’t know why he even bothered, he was terrible at it, just horrible, all the others teased him at school, they were all just mean bullies who picked on him just because he couldn’t perform simple spells that all the others could do, but he had to, because if he didn’t then his parents would know, and all the others would know too, and so he got up and slowly and reluctantly he went to school.

So, he went to school and sat down and listened to his teacher Mrs. Cake.

“Students, can you please tell me what is the fastest way to travel somewhere?”

The whole class put their hooves up at once and Mrs. Cake looked around for some pony to call on, “Mr. Swirl, would you care to answer my question?”

Of all the ponies in the classroom to pick and call upon, she had to call him, the only one who did not have their hoof up, why did she have to pick him?

“Well Mrs. Cake, the fastest way to travel is with a teleportation spell” he said.

“A teleportation spell?” she said as the rest of the class laughed, “I am sorry Mr. Swirl, but there’s no such thing, we can only walk, but as for the pegasi, they can fly, and so the correct answer I that for us the fastest way is walking, and for the pegasi it is flying, but may I ask why it is you responded this way?”

“Well if you think about logically there is no other way that is faster, and just because something hasn’t been invented yet doesn’t mean that it won’t in the future, because we all have to move forward in life to advance with magic and technology, if we stay in the same place we’ll never learn, don’t you agree?”

“Quite,” she said knowing that despite his failure, he was rather a creative genius who worked in strange and mysterious ways that were chaotic and unknown to the others, and he often found questions to ask like this that made them question what they knew of the world around them, and their reality.

And quite often he always found some way in which the question could be a moral or lesson, and you had to treat everything he said with double meaning that was secret and hidden and could only be found by those wise enough to look for them, and for those smart enough to figure out what the words really meant, and it would be a rare day indeed if he did not plan what he would speak or have meaning and idea and a strange hidden power behind his words.

“Well then, thank you Mr. Swirl for sharing your thoughts and ideas, but perhaps it would be best if you kept them to yourself, now then class, who would like to answer me this next question that I have for all of you?”

Once more again all the hooves except his went up, and Star Swirl remained quiet and silent and was not called on again to answer another question, and he just sat there at his desk and chair writing down his thoughts, ideas, and his notes, and he was only paying the minimum amount of attention that he needed to towards the teacher and the lesson and the class, he was focused on something completely different instead that had more importance than this class, if he was right about this then it could change the world as they knew it.

If not, at least he tried to do something great and good for the world, and it was far better to fail at something good and great then to succeed at something that will eventually fail and fall in the future, or something that would be forgotten.

When class eventually finished up he went out of the class and left school, his classes were finished for the day, and he was glad, he couldn’t wait to get home to try out his new spell, and he could only hope and pray that it would work.

An Unexpected Hero Arrives (to help)

Back in the present he cringed under all the spells thrown at him, but luckily enough for him he seemed to have a high magic resistance, it was that or they were either taking it easy on him as they said they would. But as luck would have it on that kind day, he would not have to face this threat alone anymore.

“LEAVE HIM ALONE!” cried a very loud voice (that he had not heard of before this day) that he would long remember as the voice of his one and only real and true friend, and also his personal hero and savior that day outside on the school playground, and whomever this pony was, he already liked them.

“I SAID LEAVE HIM ALONE!”, at the first cry every pony stopped what they were doing, but on this the second cry, every pony turned around to see who shouted, and to his surprise as well as the others, it was a girl who stood there.

“DIDN’T YOU HEAR ME? I SAID LEAVE HIM ALONE!” she said very loudly as if to try to scare them off, but they would not be so easily persuaded or moved.

“Or else what? Are you going to get a teacher or cry for little mommy’s help? Well I got news for you kid, this is the real world, it gets tough, go back on home where you belong, this is not your place or your time, and this is none of your business anyhow, but I don’t even know why you would stick your neck out or up for some low unicorn like this, he can’t even do a simple levitation spell, and yet he talks about teleportation as if it can ever be a real thing, if you ask me, he’s getting what he deserves and what he should, no more, no less.”

“The reason why I’m sticking my neck up or out as you say, is because it is the right thing to do, and if you don’t stop what you’re doing, you’ll force me to act out against you in violence and anger, and trust me, you don’t want to see what I look like when I’m angry, it’s very bad news.

Now are you going to stop picking on him, or am I going to have to get physical with all of you guys?”

Carl growled with anger, “I can take you down alone, I am not afraid of fighting a girl, even if I know she’s bigger and stronger than me, which you’re not.”

“I wouldn’t be too confident about that if I were you,” the strange, odd, and mysterious girl said stepping closer to Carl and slowly approached him ready for a battle and fight to start at any minute by some unspoken signal, “But then again, I’m not as stupid as you are, so I wouldn’t know anything about that, but then again, I suppose that your parents never taught you how to act.”

“My parents did just fine with how to act and behave around others.”

“Really? Well did they at least teach you never to fight a girl no matter what?”

“They did, but I won’t fight you, not unless you make the first move on me.”

“Well at least I see that you have some manners and aren’t completely rude.”

“Well that’s nice to hear, but I do pride myself on fair chances and mercy, so I’ll give you one last chance to leave this battle and fight before it even begins, if you do I’ll forget that this whole thing ever happened between me and you.

Because trust me, you do not want to make an enemy out of me, because I will be your worst nightmare and dream, and I will haunt you until the day that you die, so I’m warning you right here and now one last time, leave now before it is too late to turn back, I won’t give you another chance like this one here.”

“I don’t take deals or offers from idiots that can’t treat other ponies fairly with love and kindness and generosity, and I don’t take deals from bullies either.”

“You’re really asking for a good beating with all these insults, aren’t you? Calling me stupid and insulting the way my parents raised me up as a colt.”

“Well that all depends on what you define and mean by beating, if you mean that you’ll beat me then you’re wrong, but if you mean me beating you, then you are completely right,” the girl said stepping closer to Carl and slowly and cautiously approached him, both ponies were ready for a fight now, ready to move and act on some unspoken signal that would mark the start of the fight.

The Battle/ Fight

And with that said the two ponies launched into the fight with full power and force, each swung their hooves to try to hit each other, and each cast the spells they knew (which was limited since it was only the sixth week of school).

The battle and fight took some time and it was some time before the two eventually split apart from the physical violence and fight and battle and slowly stepped apart from each other gradually increasing the distance that they were apart, it seemed like neither one could gain the advantage in the physical battle or fight that they had, and so now they were only going to go with spell casting, and clearly the girl must have been strong in order to fend off Carl for so long.

“Alright,” Carl said panting with heavy breath, “You can throw a punch, but can you cast a spell as well as I can?” and with that he cast a spell that lifted a large heavy boulder up off the ground and he raised it to the top of the flagpole that stood in the center of the field, “Beat that,” he said dropping the rock.

“That’s easy,” she said lifting it higher than the flagpole and moved it around in circles around the entire school and then dropped it back down where it was.

“Can you beat that?” she asked with a mocking smile of defiance and revolt.

Carl was both shocked, surprised, and angry at this, he had never encountered any pony that dared challenge his rule, power, or strength, and he had also never met a pony that could tie him in any game or challenge, or even beat him, especially a girl, this battle and fight was his first experience of losing to some pony else, and he did not like it, and since he knew that he couldn’t beat the girl without further humiliating himself, he did something completely out of character and that was surprising instead, he used his magic and with great effort he threw the boulder at the strange, mysterious, unusual, odd girl.

The Fury of Wrath

“But I do know that you should never let a fight or battle endanger the lives or safety of other ponies, I don’t know what you were thinking, or even if you were thinking at all, but you do not put the lives of other ponies in danger and peril.

DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?!” he said with a loud angry shout as his tone and voice slowly rose to a roar ever since he said the word ‘but’ in his sentence.

“Yes, I understand,” Carl said slowly backing away from the rage and anger of Star Swirl, and he was both afraid, shocked, and surprised, he had never seen such anger and hate and fury from Star Swirl, and he had never seen him cast any spells with so much power and strength, and all of this scared him, he didn’t understand what was happening or what was going on, but he did know and understand the anger, hate, and fury that Star Swirl was pouring on him.

“I DON’T THINK YOU DO! I WANT YOU TO PROMISE ME NEVER TO FINISH A FIGHT OR BATTLE IF YOU KNOW THAT OTHER PONIES WILL GET HURT, OR IF YOU EVEN HAVE THE THOUGHT, IDEA, OR PLAN TO HURT OTHER PONIES! AND IF I EVER SEE YOU TREAT ANOTHER PONY LIKE YOU DID TO ME, I SWEAR THAT I WILL PERSONALLY HAUNT YOU UNTIL THE DAY THAT YOU DIE, DO YOU UNDERSTAND AND AGREE TO MY TERMS THAT I HAVE?”

“I promise, I swear I won’t ever finish a battle or fight if other ponies will get hurt, and I won’t ever treat another pony like I did to you, I won’t hurt them in the same way I did to you, and I will try to not hurt them at all if I can avoid it,” Carl said trying to calm Star Swirl down so they could talk with reason.

“Good, but do not think that just because I do not see you does not mean that I cannot know your actions, there are ways to make other ponies talk, and if I ever even hear a rumor or a whisper that you have returned back to your old ways, well you won’t like what I have planned for you, because you will have to pay for your crimes and actions, and the consequences would be most dire when you do, I hope and pray that you can remember this day, for it would be bad for you if you ever forget it, always remember this day, and never forget it.”

And with that said Carl nodded and said, “I will remember this, I won’t forget,” (and in his mind Carl doubted he ever could forget this, even if he wanted to,) and then he ran off and away with his ‘friends’ for he was too afraid to speak anything else or more, and he was also too afraid to stand up to his anger, hate, fury, and wrath any more or longer, what he saw and heard, it was too much for him to take in, he couldn’t process it, and so he ran to the only place that you could go to when you’re afraid, he ran back home, which was a very wise and smart thing to do in this case, staying there would have been too much of a risk and peril and danger for him, he didn’t want to know anything else that he might have to face from Star Swirl, he was already shocked, surprised, and scared at what he had seen already, and he didn’t want to see any more, and so he ran back to his home, which is exactly where he belonged now, no other place would accept him or give him the love he needed other than his home, but then again, that is the case with every single pony that there ever was, and there is no exception, for home is where the heart is.

Conversation

Now that Carl and his ‘friends’ were gone it was only he and the girl that stood there all alone in the field, and she stood there with fear, but she did not move, she must be brave to do so after all that she has seen and heard, he thought.

She still stood with a look of shock and surprise and now Star Swirl finally had a good chance to look at her

for quite some long time. The girl had a white body with pink hair and purple eyes and also had pink hooves and a pink tail too.

Her cutie mark was a simple pink pearl that had nothing else around it, and judging by her looks and her size and the fact that she had saved him, he guessed that not only was she the same age that he was, but that she was also probably in the same school he was, and probably in the same class as well.

“How did you do that?” she said after a long moment of silence between them.

“I don’t know, but I don’t think that’s the question you should be asking right now, even if it is a good one, the real question is who I am, after all, don’t you want to know my name after all you have seen and heard?

Shouldn’t you know the name of the pony that you saved from a fight and battler, but the one who in a kind favor to be returned save d you from being seriously hurt or injured?”

“You’re right,” she said, “And please excuse my manners, I guess I must not be thinking clearly after what I saw, but then again, I guess any pony would be after that. But anyhow I guess you’re right, what’s your name, oh strange and powerful pony who saved my life from me being seriously hurt or injured?”

“You may simply call me Star Swirl, and what about you strange and unusual girl who is both is odd and wears a cloak of mystery around her very aura?”

“My name is Pearl, Pearl Shining, and it’s nice to meet you Star Swirl, but tell me, are you in this school? I’ve never seen you around this place before today and right now, well I might have, but I probably didn’t notice you is what I mean, and I’m sorry if I did” she said shyly with genuine sincerity and honesty.

“Yes, I do go to this school, and I already guessed that we are not only at the same school and the same age, but quite possibly and probably in the same class, but I need to be sure, tell me, are you in Mrs. Cake’s magic class?”

“Why yes, I am, how in the world did you ever guess that?”

“Simple logic of course, is there any other kind of logic? Well I guess there is, complex and paradoxical and circular and confusing and round and time, but I suppose I answered my own question so there is also rhetorical logic as well, and funny logic and magic logic too, I suppose there is all kinds of logic in this world and all other as well, but tell me this, how old are you right now?”

“Why I’m six of course, same age as you if you’re in her class too.”

“Well you’re quite right, I am in the same class as you and the same age as you, what great luck, but not coincidence I do not think, for there is no such thing as coincidence, there is only the mere illusion and appearance of it in life, but I do not wish to speak about something that will surely confuse your mind, perhaps instead we should talk about simple common things that others would talk about, however there is only one small slight problem to which I propose.”

“And what is that” Pearl asked very confused at what he was saying, and she tried to piece it together, but it was no use, he was too general and vague.

“I have never talked to any pony else, and I don’t have any friends either, so I wouldn’t have a clue or idea about any single thing that they would talk about, but perhaps you do, and perhaps you could teach me, and to think about the irony of that, you teaching me when it is I that should be teaching you about what I can do and who I am, but then again, if I never learned what I didn’t know, I wouldn’t ever know that which I did not know, which is very little indeed, but anyhow, on to the matter and topic at hoof, let us talk instead.”

“Sure thing,” Pearl said not sure how to start, “What’s your favorite color?”

“What do you mean? Do you mean my favorite primary color or my secondary color? Do you mean that which is number one and is above all others, or do you perhaps mean something that I value and love equally as well as the rest, but is the one and only thing that gives me the most ideas and inspiration?

Please specify, and also learn that if you do not ask a specific question of me, then you’ll never get a specific answer out of me, if you don’t learn that then you’ll never learn anything about me or what I can do, and I only tell you this as a kind favor, for we wizards can be very confusing, general, and vague when we wish, and when we don’t we still remain that way just to have fun and mess around with the other ponies’ minds, it’s quite fun and becomes habit if you do it often enough, you should try it some time, I can guarantee that you’ll love it.”

“Well okay then,” Pearl said even more confused than she was before, “What is the color that you like or love or value above all the others and rest the most?”

“Why that would be blue of course, take a look at me if you doubt the truth of the matter or answer, but never fear, I do not lie, and neither does a wizard if the matter or topic of the question asked is good enough and one that can be addressed and talked about and one that the wizard also wishes to address, if he does not wish to address it or talk about it then he will never respond, and nothing that any pony else could do or say would persuade him to do otherwise, once a wizard’s mind is set in his course and pathway, there is no turning it back from his one single focus and thought and idea in his mind. And what about you my dear, what is your favorite color that you like, love, or value above all the rest and others? Or do you even have one at all perhaps?”

“Oh, I have a favorite color, and it is pink,” Pearl said starting to figure out the mystery and riddle of the blue pony with gray eyes and brown hair that stood before her that called himself Star Swirl, “But tell me this, is that what you consider yourself as, a wizard? Do you consider yourself a wizard or not?”

“I do now, but up until a few moments ago, I did not, but then again, a few moments ago, I didn’t have my cutie mark either,” he said with a smile.

“What do you mean exactly?” she asked.

“Well take a look,” he said turning his flank towards her, and then she saw.

His cutie mark was a silver star that had purple lines that curled and waved in a slope downwards to his left when he faced towards his left side; and the same when he faced towards his right side, it looked almost like one could paint it if one tried hard enough, and it also just so happened to look like a shooting star, one that could be shot across the sky in a blazing glory of both fire and ice, yet it was not a falling star because of the lines, but one that would be raised and one that would rise into the sky and space itself as it soared.

“That’s amazing,” Pearl said after a moment of silent reverence and amazement.

“I know, and I got it right after I saved you with my magic, and I don’t know how or why I have it just as much as I don’t know how I did my magic to save you, but what I do know is this, I know my destiny now, I didn’t before, but I do now, I know what I am to do, I am to help all other ponies that I can with my magic and power and strength and knowledge, I must pass my wisdom along and unite these cold, harsh, frozen icy lands, I know that my journey will be hard and long, but well worth the effort, time, and energy, and I know that fate is not certain, for it can be rewritten at will and changed just as well and as easily as history and time can be, I know that I am to do great and powerful things, wise and smart things, I know that I am to teach others, and to learn from them as well. I don’t know how I know this, but perhaps I can see the future now, or at least parts and pieces of it that will become much more clear when their time comes near and approaches, or perhaps not depending upon the actions, thoughts, ideas, fears, and dreams of the other ponies that it concerns when the time comes near or approaches. And I know that I won’t travel this pathway all alone, I will have others to help me along the way as I go, I will not be without food or water or a bed or shelter to protect me from the elements of the outside weather, and I know that only if you wish to that you will be one of the ponies that will help me find my own pathway, so I ask you here and now, will you join me on this great quest even though it may hold danger and peril and the threat and risk of both serious injury and death itself? I know that this probably seems crazy to you, but then again, all great things that ever were or will be have been or will be crazy at some point.

So, I’m asking you to take a leap of faith and hope, and not to doubt my sanity, I’m not crazy, or at least not in the way that you probably think that I am, I am crazy in a different way however, a creative chaotic way of inspired genius.

But then again, all the great leaders that ever was or will be, they were all considered crazy or insane at some point, but that was only because they had great and grand ideas and plans for all the other ponies that they serve.”

“Well you seem like a nice pony, but I don’t know if I can ever leave my family to go explore dangerous lands filled with peril, especially if my life is at risk and in danger, so I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to decline your offer right now.”

“Of course you do,” Star Swirl said with a slight laugh, “But I don’t expect you to join me right now, but perhaps after some time I’ll ask you again soon enough, perhaps in one year when your thoughts, ideas, dreams, and fears have changed enough for you to say yes, but perhaps for now we can be friends instead, I would like for us to be friends right now, wouldn’t you like that?”

“Yes, yes, I would, being friends sounds good, so let’s be friends instead, okay?”

“That sounds good; I guess that we are now officially friends now.”

“I guess so,” Pearl said with a laugh, and with that the two went off walking and talking to each other about their lives casually as the day went on.

Meanwhile...

And Now Back in the Royal Canterlot Library

“Wait, Star Swirl made a friend and his first act of magic was to help some pony else? That’s simply amazing” Princess Twilight Sparkle said.

“Yes, it is, and his act of magic did become ironic later because he never learned the magic of friendship as you did, but it was his first act of magic that unlocked his talent and destiny, yet according to what he told me he never did discover the truth or power of the magic of friendship, but if you allow me I would like to continue my story without any further interruptions of course.”

“Yes of course, I’m sorry, I was just so surprised at what you said that I could not help but to say something like my thoughts and ideas and express them out loud, I’m so sorry for interrupting though, please continue the story.”

“I accept your apology, and of course I will continue it, as I was saying…”

A New Nickname

-Before the Age and Time of Equestria…

“So, Star Swirl, I have been thinking a lot ever since we met a few weeks ago,”

“Well that’s a very dangerous thing to do in your spare time; an idea without a reason or direction can become very dangerous and spread like a wildfire from one spark of a small ember, so I hope that you’re going to elaborate for me.”

“I will, I have been thinking that you need some sort of nickname, after all, I can’t keep calling you Star Swirl, it’s a bit too long and too formal to use.”

“What ideas or names did you have for my nickname for me to use?”

“Well I’m glad that you asked, I went through a few names before I came up with something final, I got the inspiration for the name from your cutie mark, since your cutie mark is a shooting star I thought to myself, what other names are there for a shooting star? And then I finally came up with the perfect answer, Comet.

And that’s when I knew that I had come up with the perfect name, nothing else worked quite as well as that did, but tell me, what do you think of it? Do you think that it’s good, or do you want another name instead?”

“I’m fine with it,” he said, “In fact, I think that it’s just perfect, you did well in choosing it from your inspiration, and I think I’ll grow quite fond of the name.

It fits, for my name and accomplishments will be like a shooting star soaring across the sky leaving a blazing trail of fire and ice and of bright glory too.”

“Well that’s good, but tell me Comet, what are your parents like? You keep saying that you have to go home before your mandatory curfew, but you have never mentioned your parents before, can you please tell me why that is?”

Star Swirl remained silent, he didn’t answer Pearl, he just looked at her with a face of sorrow, grief, and pain for quite some long time, and she looked down at the ground with shame catching the unspoken message that came across between them, “I’m sorry,” she said, “I shouldn’t have asked, it’s not my place.”

“Don’t be sorry for asking something that you wanted to know, learning is good, but this matter is a little too close to my heart and mind, but I will still answer your question, I never knew my parents because they died when I was young, and I have been in the care of my guardian, I wish I did know what they were like and who they were, but I can’t even find their names, I don’t even know my parents’ names, how sad is that for a lonely child with only one true and real friend in life? He doesn’t even know his own parents or himself, yet he still expects to make his place and his mark in the world someday in the future, yet he can only hope and pray that someday he will know his parents.”

“Well I’m so sorry for you, I wish I could help you to get over the pain of their loss in some way, just name anything and I can do it or get it for you.”

“Thanks for the offer, but you’re doing that just by being my friend and talking to me, it’s such a relief just to have some pony to talk about my problems, fears, ideas, dreams, goals, and plans, takes off a lot of the stress that I have.”

“Well that’s nice, but tell me, do you always talk in the second or third person when something personal pertains to your past or something like that?”

“Well no, I only do that just to confuse others and mess with their minds of course, and I only do it so that they’ll think I’m crazy, which I am, or at least in some small part or way, and in some small part and way we’re all a little bit crazy, after all, what fun would a world of logical boring ponies be like?”

And with that said they both laughed and smiled at the silly crazy joke that he told, and that was another one of his talents, he always seemed to know how to make ponies laugh and smile no matter the time, place, or whatever crazy event was happening, even if it was a sad, angry, dangerous, or perilous one, he could always find humor and good in the situation, and that was probably because he had an optimistic point of view about the world and life in general and of other ponies, he thought that given the chance and opportunity, and so long as it was fair and equal, all ponies who did wrong could be forgiven in time, eventually. He also believed that it didn’t matter what you did wrong or how bad it was, so long as you were willing and able to change and repent and be honest, warm, loving, kind, and gentle to others and fix the mistake made.

Yet despite all that she had learned about him three weeks ago when they first met, Pearl was still confused about who he truly and really was deep down inside, it was as if some part of him was hidden, or perhaps waiting to be opened and unlocked instead, perhaps after being closed off for so long from others he would only naturally try to hide something or be distant from the other ponies, but not her after so long of getting to know each other, but she didn’t know what it could be or if there was even anything, she felt like he was being completely honest and open with her, yet something still felt wrong and off ever since that day when she first met him three weeks ago when she started asking questions to him after the event at the school playground…

(Even) More Conversation

Three Weeks Ago, after the School Playground Event…

“So, Star Swirl, what is your favorite ice cream flavor?” she asked on the way to her house trying to start off a casual conversation in order to get to know him.

“Why that would be chocolate of course, and an amazing thing it is at that, it doesn’t matter whether if it’s in a bar or not, whatever shape or form it is in, it’s good, and I love it, if you want to try to trap me in the future, try using chocolate as the bait, and yes, that is a deliberate hint and clue for you to use.”

“Well chocolate is very good,” Pearl said, “I agree, but I think vanilla is better.”

“How dare you,” Star Swirl said mockingly, “You dare to defy the name of chocolate? I must punish you for this, but before I do so, tell me why this is the case that your so called ‘vanilla’ is better than my own personal chocolate.”

“Well I would rather be a simple pony rather than fancy and rich and spoiled and not having any friends, I would never trade anything for my best friends.

But anyhow I think that the spoiled rich and fancy ponies can get a little bit too far carried away in their taste testing of simple chocolates and delicacies and treats, and that’s why I like vanilla more, no one ever over analyzes vanilla, it’s simple and plain, like I would rather be despite my parent’s wealth and fortune, and they want me to be rich and famous like them, hence my name, they named me after something incredibly rare that can only be found at the very deepest darkest parts of the ocean, something that is only found in clams, but what they don’t know is that despite all the effort and time and energy spent to retrieve one there is also time and effort and energy spent inside the clam.

A pearl is only formed by pressure inside the clam because the clam does not want the irritating piece of sand inside it, and so out of hardship and turmoil and pain is something so incredibly beautiful and delicate is formed and created, and

I guess that’s how I would rather like my life to be like, after all, if I never know the pain of life and how it can hurt me, I can’t ever learn how to enjoy all the good moments and be happy for what I have and not sulk around in misery asking myself why I can’t have what others seem to have.”

“Wise words you speak, and yet I find it surprising that they come from some pony so young as you, your youngest years are the hardest and the best, or so they say, the time of life where you’re trying to figure out who you want to be and what you want to do and wanting what others have, yet you seem to be wise beyond that which is normal for your age, tell me, do you read books?”

“Yes, I do, I love reading books, especially fantasy, the only problem however is that there aren’t that many books around, even my parents don’t have that many, and they’re rich, and it’s not a problem of price, but of supply instead.”

“Yes, I see, well then, I guessed your secret of success and personal wealth and fortune and joy, and I love reading books too, and I think that in the future a great many and deal of them will be written upon me and other subjects and matters, but not until this land is united, but I shall do my best to record the history of what is happening now so that other ponies in the future will not forget this, but instead remember it, even if only as a time of strife, chaos, and misfortune, and I wish it could be a better time, but that simply cannot be the case, but anyhow, I think we should return back to our conversation now.”

“I agree, okay then, I have one last question for you before I go and leave.”

“Ask and you shall receive an answer, knock and it shall be opened unto you.”

“What are your personal hobbies, goals, dreams, fears, ideas, and thoughts?”

“Well, that’s quite the general and yet still specific question, but I shall do my very best to answer you. My hobbies are reading, writing, poetry, music, and spell making. My dreams and plans for the future are grand and glorious, one in which all of the land and all of the ponies are united as one glorious nation.

My ideas and thoughts vary depending upon the hour and minute and time of the day, week, month, and year, they come and go and I try to write them down when I can for the weakest ink is stronger than the best minds. And finally, my fears, well before today I guess it was of almost everything, especially failure, but now I am not afraid to try anything or go anywhere, for I know that if I never try I will never learn, and if I never learn I will never know. If I never explore then I can never do, and if I never fail I will never know how to accept failure and defeat. Even the best and greatest of minds and heroes can fall with time whether it be by corruption or by history and memory itself, but all will one day die and be forgotten in the vast endless sea and sands of time.”

“That’s a depressing outlook and view on life in general,” she said.

“I have multiple views, realistic like what I just said, optimistic, which I would rather prefer the best, and pessimistic, but who really likes that?”

“Okay then, anyhow my dreams and plan for the future is rather simple, start up and open a jewelry store, and of course fall in love with some special pony and get married. My hobbies are about the same as yours except for the part about making new spells. And I guess that my thoughts and ideas would also have to vary depending upon the hour and minute and time of the day, week, month and year. And finally my fears, well I guess it’s talking to my parents about my real and true thoughts, feelings, ideas, and dreams, they don’t ask what I really want, or at least they don’t take time out to listen to me, and so I gave up hope of trying to talk reason or logic with them, but perhaps there is still a small chance and some hope left for them and me, no matter how small it is, and I guess I have to thank you for talking to me today and letting me realize to know how important it is, and I can’t find a way to express it enough.

Is there anything that you need or want though? I could get it for you, all you have to do is ask, don’t be afraid of imposing, my parents have lots of money that they can spare, and when they do they give the rest of it to me, so just ask, nothing bad will happen, I won’t ask for anything in return except should the time come that you will repay me in favors as I want no matter how small or big it may be. And please do say something, this is the only way I know how to repay you, if there was another way then I’m sure you could teach it to me.”

“There are plenty of ways to repay favors and debts; the only problem is finding a good one or way, but I do think that I need some nice warm blankets.”

“I can get that for you, but can you tell me why and what you need them for?”

“It’s a personal matter,” he said, “And I would rather prefer that you not look into it at all as a favor for me, and it doesn’t matter what I ask for, I need you to promise me that you won’t ever look into it or question it at all, do you understand and agree to that? I need you to say that you do, please, for me.”

“Alright then,” Pearl said, “I agree to that, and I’ll have your blankets for you tomorrow, will that work out or

would you rather prefer another day instead?”

“Tomorrow is perfect, and I guess that I will see you at school soon enough then?” Star Swirl said casually with a big smile lining his entire face.

“Yes of course, I always go to school, except for when I am sick.”

“Well then, I hope and pray that you do not get sick, and you better not, otherwise I’ll come straight on over here and then I’ll stay here until I fix you up until you’re better and all healed and cured, no matter how long it takes.”

“I wouldn’t mind you coming over,” Pearl said thinking of what might happen, “I think I would rather enjoy a friend’s presence when I’m sick, your presence.”

“Well then, good day, see you tomorrow, Pearl,” and with that he left to go back on to his home leaving Pearl there all alone to think her own private thoughts.

She didn’t know who this young colt was exactly, he may be different from all the other ponies she met, but that was what made him so great and unique and special, he was funny, strange, mysterious, kind, and gentle and had lots of great, strange, new ways about the way the world worked and about ponies and spells, and she liked him, she didn’t know why, but she did anyways.

And over at his house Star Swirl had similar thoughts, she was strange, odd, different, unusual, and mysterious, but he couldn’t help but to like her too.

And so, that night the two young ponies went to sleep thinking similar thoughts and ideas, and both of them even had the same dream where they played together and worked together at various tasks and jobs, and later they remarked on the strangeness and oddness of that, but Star Swirl merely said that perhaps it was just meant to be, not fate, but something else that was completely different and unique instead, something new to be explored.

Three Weeks Later.../ Back in the Present

And Now Back in the Present Three Weeks later…

Pearl still liked him even if she didn’t know him that well, but she did consider the request and offer that he said to join him, it sounded like a good one, but she didn’t know if she was ready to accept it now, or if ever at all perhaps.

But she would consider it, he wasn’t one to say no to something very lightly, especially if it would hurt another’s feelings, and especially his feelings as well, they had gotten to know each other so well she couldn’t bear to see him in pain, and she couldn’t bear the thought of that alone either, it was just too much for her to bear or take in, but someday maybe, perhaps she could bear it.

Yet perhaps one day she would change her mind, one day when she was older and wiser and could make smarter choices for herself and her family as well…

Six Years Later...

Six Years Later…

“Come on Pearl, I have been asking you for six years now, and you still say no? I thought that by now you would see reason and logic, but you clearly haven’t.”

“Or perhaps I am still sane instead, have you ever considered that Comet?”

“I have,” he said (of course he did, she thought, he always did), “I always consider all my options before a battle or fight, even if it is only one of words and logic I have to choose what I will say and how to say it very carefully.

The same applies to you, I always consider your thoughts, ideas, dreams, hopes, and fears before I consider my own, and then when I do, and when I have considered all sides and options of something, that it is only when I talk.”

“Well, have you considered that your general vagueness is getting annoying?”

“I have, and I know that, and why do you think I do it? Because it’s fun, I like messing around with other ponies’ head and minds, especially yours, Pearl.”

“I know that,” and she did, because he had told her so many times before, “You’ve already told me this many times before, why repeat yourself more?”

“Because some lessons can take days, weeks, months, or even years of practice and repetition to learn, but this is not the case, the case here is simply for the reason of fun, after all, what good is life if you can’t enjoy any of it? Especially all the good little small moments in your life that really mean something very special when you take the time to question them and learn from them too.”

“Well I think that’s a rather good lesson and point to learn, but if there is one thing in life that I will never fully understand, it would have to be you.”

“Well of course,” he said, “It would be a rare day indeed should a wizard ever open up fully to any pony else, but perhaps maybe if he met the right some special pony an then they had the right special some pony meeting and arrangement and occasion, and perhaps if they loved each other enough, perhaps then maybe the wizard will fully open themselves up to another, but I doubt that any pony could love a wizard as much as that which is needed or required, and I also doubt that a wizard could ever allow themselves to love another pony, perhaps like and make friends with other ponies, but certainly not love, it is far too dangerous and perilous of a risk and danger for them to ever love another pony, and that sadly is out tragic curse that we must bear.”

“Well that’s just so sad to think that you could ever think something like that, or that way, how dare you think that you can’t love or that others can’t love you, and don’t tell me it’s because of your past, because I don’t think it is, it better not be, ponies can get over that, or at least they can, eventually.”

“Do not worry, and never fear, it is not because of my past, or at least I do not think it is, especially not after all my time with you, you have taught me so much more than I could have thought, more than I could have ever dreamed.

And I can’t ever thank you enough for it, though I do wish I could think of some way that I could repay you just as you need to repay me for your life.”

“I’m sure you’ll think of something great and grand, or small and simple, or large and complex, and you’ll think of it someday when you can, eventually.”

“I hope so, I would hate for you to be disappointed, or either of us for that matter of fact, after all, when a gift is given it has to be good, and it can’t ever be taken back, so it would have to be good enough to keep forever in your life.”

“Well of course, and it would also have to be a surprise for the other pony.”

“Well that’s natural of course, and speaking of surprises, I actually have one ready and prepared for you right now, but you’ll have to wait to see it.”

“Oh come on, can’t I open it right now?” Pearl complained loudly.

“No, that would ruin the surprise, and I’ll also need you to wear this cloth I brought for you,” he said holding it up, “That way I can make and be sure that you’re not cheating by peeking, I don’t want the surprise ruined before we get there, otherwise the whole mood and thing would and will be completely ruined for you, and I cannot and will not allow that to happen on my watch young lady, do you understand that, or will I have to get serious with you now?”

“No, I’m fine, I understand this completely,” she said putting the cloth on over and around her eyes, “And I like surprises, so I promise that I won’t peek.”

“Good then,” he said, “Because that would ruin the surprise otherwise.

And speaking of the surprise, we’re already here, you can take it off now.”

With much confusion, she did so, what did he mean by that they were already there? They hadn’t moved an inch anywhere, so they still should be at the same place, but they weren’t they were somewhere completely different and new, someplace that she had never seen or been to before, and it was both amazing and breathtaking, or at least the view and surrounding area was.

They now stood before the rocky cliff edge high up from the ground and far away from the village as it now was just a mere small dot in the distance far away, and Pearl couldn’t help but feel like he could see the whole entire world from up here, and the view, the experience, it was all so amazing to her, and she just wanted to lie down and roll in the grass that was up here and rest and relax and look up at the sky, and let all thoughts of worry finally leave her.

“It’s amazing, I know,” Chris said, “But want to know something even more amazing than this? It’s how we get up here, we didn’t walk or move or fly, so how did we get up here you ask? Simple, a teleportation spell, one that I recently perfected over many long years of hard work and turmoil and effort and energy and time, and now it has all finally paid off in this very moment here and now, and I couldn’t be prouder at something that I have done, especially if it was for you, because you see, I thought to myself one day, you would like to travel the world, right? And what’s the fastest way to travel right now? Many, but all too slow, and that’s when I invented the spell, so that you and I could go anywhere we wanted to at any time of the day, week, month, or even year, and nothing can or will stop us since we can be gone in an instant and a moment, and then we can pop on right back home before they even notice that we were gone or missing, which is why this is a perfect plan.”

“I can’t believe that any of this is real,” Pearl said in disbelief.

“Well you better believe it, even if it may sound impossible, because the only thing in life that’s impossible, it’s impossibility, nothing in this life for any pony is impossible, it’s only just a matter of probability, that’s all, nothing more, and nothing less, and thinking that something is impossible, well that’s just wrong, and I can’t believe you would think like that way after knowing me for so long.”

“Well I’m sorry,” she said, “But this is just a little too much for me to take in right now, perhaps maybe if you could give me some space and time for me to think and figure all of this out, perhaps maybe would be the most helpful thing to do for me right now, would please you do that, for me?”

“Well of course I can do that for you, anything for you my dear Pearl.”

“Well thank you,” she said sitting on the grass, “I need the space and time.”

She just lay there on the grass thinking to herself a time went by, and Star Swirl, well he kept his word and remained quiet and silent as she lay there.

Then after some time she finally decided to speak up when she was ready.

“I think I’m ready now,” she said standing up, “I’m ready to talk to you now.”

“Well that’s good,” he said, “But tell me this, what do you want to talk about?”

“I don’t really know, but perhaps I can think of something, but for now, all I wanted to do was actually ask you something, something very personal.

But if you don’t want to answer the question, I will understand why.”

“Well what is it? Come on, speak up, don’t be afraid, I’m listening to you.”

“I know, and here’s the question that I have for you, do you like me?”

“Well of course I like you, I have for years, after all, I wouldn’t be your friend for so many years and so long if I didn’t like you, now would I? I mean what sense would that make? It wouldn’t make any at all, that’s the correct answer.”

“No, that’s now what I meant at all, I don’t think that you fully or really truly understand what I mean at all, what I really mean is this I guess.

Do you have any… feelings for me? Any at all, strong or weak?”

Star Swirl didn’t know what to say to that now that he did fully and really truly realized what she meant, he had never been asked this question before, and he wasn’t ready for it, he wasn’t ready to answer it, not now at least, and perhaps maybe not ever at all, but maybe one day perhaps he would be ready for it, ready to answer it, but that day was not today, and he needed to get out of this trap, but he couldn’t think of anything that would allow him to escape easily enough, or to hurt her feelings, he liked her enough that he didn’t want to hurt her in any way possible, but what she was asking, it was all too much too soon, he couldn’t possibly deal with it right now, and that is why he needed to find a way to escape, and also a way not to hurt her feelings too badly or deeply, but he didn’t know if there was a right way to do this, but perhaps maybe there was no right way to do it, and that’s what makes love so hard.

“Well I don’t know how to answer that,” he said honestly, “And I don’t know what to say to you, I mean I like you, but I don’t know if I can answer this now.

I wish I knew what to say so that I couldn’t hurt you, but I honestly don’t.”

“Oh,” she said slightly disappointed, “Well then, that’s okay I guess, it’s fine.”

“You know what, it’s not fine, I should give you a better answer instead, and you’re a really terrible liar, I can tell that by your face and tone of voice.”

“It doesn’t really matter, it was too much of me to ask of you too soon.”

“Don’t think that, but I suppose you will, do you want to go home now?”

“Sure thing, there’s nothing left for me to see or say up here anyways.”

And with that being said, Star Swirl used his new teleportation spell to get them back home, and this time Pearl actually saw the whole thing in a flash.

“Thank you for that lovely amazing experience,” she said afterwards casually and plainly as if the question that she had asked had never been spoken at all, but Star Swirl could tell from her voice and her movements that she still carried sorrow and pain within her heart, and he wished that he could get over it in some way, but he couldn’t help her, only she could do that right now by moving on with her life, and away from him, “I loved the view a lot especially, and I hope that we can do something like this more often and again and soon.”

“Me too,” he said, “And I actually have plans for us to do stuff like this more often, that is, if you want to, I mean I wouldn’t want to impose or anything.”

“That will be just fine with me, anyhow, I guess I’ll see you later then?”

“Yes, later, that would be just fine with me too, I guess this is goodbye then.”

“It is only goodbye for now, or at least until the next time we meet each other again, and no goodbye will ever last forever, not even one of loss or death.”

“You do well to say something that I would say, but how do you know that we will ever meet each other again? Our pathways could be separate ones that we must travel all alone, even if the journey is a long and hard one to travel on.”

“I don’t know if we ever will meet each other again, I just feel it deep down inside my heart, and it’s something that I can only have hope and faith in, and believe in my mind, for sometimes that’s all you can do for something in life.”

“True words indeed, well anyhow, goodbye then, until we meet each other again,” Star Swirl said leaving Pearl behind on the front porch all alone.

“Goodbye then, until we meet each other again,” she said returning the call back very loudly to Star Swirl as he slowly left her behind and gradually faded out of sight and distance, but not out of her heart, mind, dreams, thoughts, ideas, life, or feelings, there would always be some small part of him that lived on deep down inside of her, even if she or the others could not see it.

“I’ll always miss you, and I think I will always love you too,” she said to herself when she was sure that he was really and truly gone, which was when he was out of sight and distance, but he would never truly or really ever be gone, not from her life, thoughts, ideas, dreams, heart, mind, or feelings, there would always be some small part of him that lived on deep down inside of her, hidden away from all the rest and others, for they could not or would not see the truth.

And so, the two went their separate pathways, each unsure of their own future that lay ahead of them, each questioning and doubting their choice, and each wishing that things had gone differently, and that they had acted differently too as well, but it was too late to change that now, they could only continue on with their lives by constantly and continually moving forward towards and in new pathways and directions with new thoughts, ideas, dreams, fears, hopes, and other stuff, and they had to discover their own destiny that lay ahead, and even though they couldn’t see it or know what it was or would be, they both felt, and both somehow knew that it would be a great and glorious grand one.

Four Years Later...

Four Years Later…

It had been four years ever since the two had left each other to find their own destiny and pathways, and figure out their own thoughts, fears, feelings, hopes, dreams, and ideas, and they had done so quite successfully, or at least as well as they could during and for their teen years, which is a very confusing time of life for all young people or ponies turning into young adults, I’m sure you know what that feels like and what the experience is or feels like, or at least you will someday in the future, I don’t need to explain it, and I won’t either anyways so let’s get back and continue on with the story now, shall we?

Anyhow the two were now finally meeting each other again for the very first time ever since that tragic day of pain and sorrow for the both of them to feel and experience, it had left marks that lay deep down inside of themselves, marks that they had kept hidden away from the rest of the other ponies, away from the rest of the world, they didn’t want any pony to know, and they did quite well in making sure that no pony ever did know anything about them.

But despite all their effort, time and energy used and wasted, they were still happy to finally meet each other again at long last in a simple café shop.

Star Swirl came in late of course, wizards always seemed to do just that, or they were always early, or they switched it up just to have some fun messing around with other ponies, for it was better if you never knew when they would show up, or if at all since sometimes it took them so long to come anywhere.

“You’re late,” Pearl said when he arrived, “Exactly eleven minutes late.”

“Well I’m sorry for the delay in getting here, but I’m actually on time my dear lady, for a wizard always gets where they want to go exactly when they mean to, no sooner or later, after all, how can you go faster than that which you are?”

Pearl had to agree with this point of logic that he stated and then decided it would be best perhaps to talk about something small and simple first about what had happened to them and in their lives ever since they went away so long ago, but she didn’t know what she wanted to talk about first however.

“So,” she said trying to think of something good or better to say, “How’s life?

Is it treating you well? Could it be better? Just tell me how it’s been.”

“Rough and hard,” he said, “I studied magic and practiced it and finished developing all my spells and I also finished all my school classes and actually graduated top of my class, can you believe that actually happened to me?”

“Yes, yes I can,” Pearl said trying to keep the conversation moving forward, “Anyhow my life’s been real simple, I’m actually in the process of starting that jewelry store that I always wanted and hoped for and dreamed about.

Do you remember that, way back in the pat when we we’re just young ponies?”

“Yes, yes I do, we were so little and young back then, so lost as well too.

We had no idea what we really wanted to be when we grew up, or what our destiny was, or what our dreams, thoughts, fears, hopes, and ideas would be.

But now we do, and we’re here, now, talking about them, to each other.”

“And I’m glad that we are,” Pearl said finishing off their thoughts, “But what have you been doing for the last past four years while you were away and off all alone? Surely school and your spells would not take all of that spare time away, surely you must have done other things while you were away and off alone, right? Or perhaps maybe I am misjudging you and I am wrong instead?”

“Well I’m glad that you asked, in my spare time I was looking for my parents, or at least I did it whenever I could between all the busy moments of life that I had, but tell me this, what did you do all alone here for six long years?”

“I studied my classes, graduated, studied music and now I can play the piano, cello, harp, and flute, and I am also trying to start and open up that new business that I told you about, and I’m sure that’s going to be a lot of fun.”

“I’m sure it will, new stores always bring fun, and customers, and trouble, and lots of problems, and stress, and it takes your time, effort, energy, patience, and passion with your creatively bright genius dreams, hopes and ideas just to keep it running, and that’s not to mention the paychecks or employees or anything else at all that could bother you, all those small problems that you have that are at the same time somehow big, I honestly feel sorry for you.”

“That’s okay, but I want you to tell me this one last thing and question that I have for you, and it’s a very important question so I will need you to pay close attention to me and focus, can you do that for me, please?” she asked nicely.

“Sure I can, that’s no problem at all, I can do that for you,” he said nicely.

“Alright then, here it is, the big final last question that I have for you, have your feelings for me, have they changed at all, or are they still the same?”

“Why don’t you tell me that for yourself once you’ve had a chance to think about this,” he said smiling as if there was some big secret or surprise that he had hidden deep down inside of him that he would not share the ending to.

“What do you mean by that?” Pearl asked very confused at what he said.

“Alright, I can see that you clearly can’t and don’t understand this, but allow me to let me explain what I really mean and say, what I really mean is this.”

And with that said he suddenly leaned over across the table and kissed Pearl squarely right on the lips, and it was a perfect moment never to be forgotten.

Back to the Story...

Back to the Story…

“That was… interesting,” Pearl said after a long moment of silence when they finally separated apart from each other and stopped the embrace of the kiss.

“Sorry if that came as a shock or surprise, it’s just that I couldn’t hold on to that anymore without telling you something, I just couldn’t keep it in anymore or any longer, and I just knew, I just felt like it was the right time to share it.”

“It was the perfect time,” Pearl said, “This is the best gift I could have ever received or been given to or from another pony, and I can’t thank you enough.”

“You’re welcome, and actually you can repay me, with another kiss, did any pony ever tell you that you’re a great kisser? Because you really are a great one, and I mean it, I’m not joking around, this is the honest truth as it is.”

“Stop it,” she said, “And no, no pony ever did tell me that I’m a great kisser since I never went on any dates of any kind with any pony else since you left.”

“Well that’s a shame, I hope you didn’t do it out of my sake, I want you to be happy an enjoy yourself and life, don’t stay where you are in the pit of misery waiting for me to come around, because honestly I might not have, I could have been gone for good, and you would still be trapped there where you were for so long, and no pony else could help you out or rescue you since you would be waiting around for me, a hope that might never come, but you would still insist that I would come for you and then I would rescue you from that deep dark pit.

But you must ask yourself this, what would happen if I did not come back for you? What would your life be like, how much more different would it turn out?”

“I don’t know how it would turn out,” she said honestly, “But I do know that it would not be the same without you, without your thoughts, feelings, hopes, dreams, fears, and ideas, I would never have been inspired by you to act on my alone in defiance against my parents, I might not have ever started or finished my dream that I had, I might have left it to die and I would never pick up the pieces, you’ve changed me Star Swirl, for better or worse, you changed me.”

“I know,” he said, “I know that I have changed you, and I would never ever take that experience away from you, not even if it would cost me my own life.”

“That is so loyal and generous and kind of you, and brave as well, truly there is no pony quite like you, and there may never ever be another just like you, and that’s what I love about you, you’re funny, smart, optimistic, and confusing.

There’s nothing wrong with you and nothing hidden deep down inside of you, you are an open book, or chest. And I wouldn’t prefer you or have you any other way, and that the way I’m going to love you from now on and forever.”

“Truly the words you speak, they are one of the kindest that I have ever gotten or received, and you speak a lot of kind and generous words, especially about me, so what I say now, it means a lot, and it means more than you think it does, it means the world to me, all your words that you speak and say to me.

All your actions too, truly it is you that is different from all the rest and others.”

“Well thank you for saying so, but I don’t think either of us speak the truth.”

“If it is our own honest opinion, and we speak it true with nothing held back, then tell me this, how can we lie, if what we do, is only speak the truth?”

“You’re right,” she said, “But I guess it doesn’t matter now, I don’t think either of us can stay much longer, we have to say goodbye to each other… again.”

“Yes, we do,” Star Swirl said, “But this time, it should be easier, or at least I hope so that it might be and is, goodbye Pearl, until we meet each other again.”

“Goodbye, Star Swirl, until we meet each other again,” she said as he left, but this time instead of being and remaining quiet, she cried out her last thought very loudly as he faded away out of sight and distance, but not out of her mind, “I love you!” she said, “And I will always miss you when you leave or when you’re gone!

And make sure to come back, will you please do that for me?”

“Of course I will! I will always come back for you, I promise!” he said very loudly back to her in reply, “And I won’t forget you either! And I also love you too!”

And with that said both ponies remained silent, for no other words needed to be spoken or said by either of them, and so Pearl was left all alone in the small café shop, and Star Swirl had to travel the lands all alone too, it was very lonely for both of them after that day as the day, weeks, months, and years went by, and time seemed to pass very slowly for them, that was until one very fateful day something happened to change that, something new and unexpected, it was something no pony could have seen or predicted, but what it was, well it was bad, it threatened the safety of all the other ponies of Equestria, and so long as they were in danger, peril, and risk, that could not and would not be accepted by Star Swirl, and so it happened that this event eventually led the two of them to meet back up again with each other in the most unexpected way, but it doesn’t matter how or when they met up, what matters is what really happened on that day, what the real truth and story behind the lies is…

Two Years Later...

Two Years Later…

That’s when all hell broke loose, or at least it would have been if there had been any at all, that’s what Star Swirl had to do, he had to figure out a spell that would open and hold the gates of Tartarus, for a short while and time that is, after all, a gate to the underworld is best not to be left open for too long.

And the two only met very briefly after he trained Cerberus and defeated a hydra, “Can’t talk now, just doing my regular ordinary things and stuff, I’m sort of in a rush, though let’s talk later, can and shall we, agree to that?”

“Sure thing,” she said as he zoomed off, “Anything for a very old friend.”

And they did meet later on after Star Swirl had finished all his stuff and things that he needed to do, which just so happened to be a very long list of stuff and things to do, but it didn’t matter how much he had to do, he always showed up on his own time, even if he always seemed to be late for other various meetings.

“You’re eleven minutes late again,” Pearl said when he finally eventually came, “This is becoming a habit and staple of yours, and I’m actually starting to think that we need to readjust every meeting and talk we have to eleven minutes before whatever time we actually want to meet up at so that you’ll actually be on time for something in your life, which would be a very good and new first.”

“Don’t be ridiculous or crazy, that’s my job description, and you can’t steal it,” he said, “And speaking of time and my ‘lateness’, I really think that I should get a pocket watch one of these days soon enough, I think it would fit me quite well with my sense of style and fashion, don’t you think so and agree with me?”

“Oh yes, I quite agree with that, you do need one, it would suit you very well.”

“Well thank you for saying so, anyhow, how has life been recently for you?”

“It’s been quite well, my store is doing quite well with very little help, and I’m also moving up and advancing in the fashion and jewelry world, don’t you think that’s neat and nice? Not only have I done what I’ve always wanted and dreamed about, but I’m taking it much further in very small steps of faith.”

“Well that’s good, and that’s also nice to hear, and I’m glad to hear it from you.”

“Well, what about you Star Swirl? How has life been for you these past two years all alone out there in the big wide vast world defending yourself from harm, peril, and danger? Has it been fun, or has it been very boring for you?”

“It has been quite fun, even if difficult at times, but I have managed to pull through in the end and continue moving forwards and onwards with my pathway, I can’t and won’t stop or ever give up on what I want or dream for.

Just like you haven’t stopped with your dreams and hopes, you’re doing even better with them by constantly moving forward and onwards with them and not remaining or sticking around the same old place that you’ve always been in.”

“Well I can agree with that,” Pearl said, “But what about your magic and spells? Have they been going quite well for you, or have you been having some or any problems at all? If you have, well then maybe perhaps I can help you out.

“Well I haven’t had any major problems so far, maybe minor ones, but nothing that you could help me out with no matter what you did or how hard you tried to work, magic just isn’t something for every pony, and I’m very sorry that I have to say that to you, but it’s the plain and simple truth that you need to hear, so if I’m hurting your feelings, well just know that I am very sorry.”

“Your apology is noted and accepted even though my feelings aren’t hurt.”

“Well, that’s a relief,” he said casually with a slight relieved sigh.

“I was worried there for a moment, but I guess I have nothing to fear,” he said.

“You’re right,” she said, “Because with a friend what is there that you need to fear? What pain and sorrow and misery do you need to feel in order to move on with your life? What trials must you endure in order to reach the end of the way? What do you need to worry about when you have some pony else close by your side to take care of you when you are feeling sad or sick perhaps?”

"There is none,” he said in reply, “And even more so with some pony that you love, for with them and friends can you share your deepest darkest thoughts, ideas, hopes, dreams, and feelings, the stuff that is very personal to them.”

“Yeah, I guess that’s true, but tell me this, do you think that we can ever be together, you know, as a couple? I mean I have been thinking about it for quite some time now, but I still can’t figure out what the right answer might be.”

“That’s because there is no right answer, love is hard and complicated, and so is life, if it were easy, or should anything have that being the case, then there would be nothing in this life worth having or even worth living for at all.”

“Yeah, well I guess that’s true too, but you still haven’t answered me yet.”

“That is only because I do not know the right answer to this question, and I wish I did, but like I just said, life and love is a hard and complicated thing.”

“Yeah, well I guess that’s true, thanks for the talk, I enjoyed it very much.”

“The pleasure is all mine my dear lady,” he said getting her chair for her.

“Well at least your manners haven’t changed, they’re still the same, even if you’re not the pony that I once knew or met so long ago,” she said.

“Yeah, well I guess that’s true,” he said repeating the phrase she had just used more than once on him, and then she finally realized her fatal mistake and flaw, “Oh,” she said, “I’m so sorry that I keep saying that phrase, and I don’t even know why I keep on saying it, it’s not like it’s something special to me.

But then again, maybe I just don’t know what to say, even though I wished that I did, but tell me this, have you ever wished that you knew something?”

“A whole lot, more than you can ever know or even ever imagine,” he said.

“Well I guess that’s true, you are a wizard after all, lots of stuff to learn, do, and know, and I guess you would want to know everything that there is, right?”

“There you go again with the phrase, and I have no idea what could be up with that or possibly wrong with you, but I must move on now. Yes, yes it is true what you say, I do have lots of stuff and things that I need to learn and do.

But that doesn’t mean I want to know everything, I think that would be too much for me to take in, especially if it was coming in at me all at one time.”

“Well then, I guess that you are satisfied with how smart and wise you are now then, or do you perhaps maybe wish to learn until the day that you die?”

“Yes, yes to me dying and learning, and being satisfied of where I am at now, for I know that I will only get better, so you could say that I am truly content.”

“Well I’m glad to hear that then, but I guess we should say goodbye to each other again, right? I mean neither of us can stay for that long… again.”

“You’re right,” he said, “Goodbye then, until we meet each other again.”

“Goodbye then, until we meet each other again,” she said, “And I love you very much, and I will miss you very much too, make sure to come back soon again.”

“I will,” he said, “I made a promise to you, and I intend to keep it, after all, I am a stallion of my own word, I won’t have my name, reputation, or honor ruined, and I love you very much too, and I will also miss you very much too as well.”

And with that said the two ponies drifted apart and away, and though they were both out of distance and sight from each other, they were not out of each other’s mind, thoughts, dreams, hopes, fears, ideas, and feelings as well.

Twelve Years Later...

Twelve Years Later…

Star Swirl looked down at the town and place that he had called home for so many years and so long, he looked at it with remembrance and respect.

He may not have lived the best life, or even a nice one, and it wasn’t fair, but at least he was content and happy with it, after all, he did have Pearl to help him out, and that meant more than all the gems and money and wealth and fame and fortune in the whole entire world, for she was his whole entire world now.

He didn’t know why he came back here now after so many years, but he guessed that he was finally ready to do something incredibly stupid and crazy, something that he had wanted for a very long time now ever since he had left her so many long years ago, a choice that he was sad about, but one he could not change, but now he would fix his mistake with the choice he made now.

It was the one and only thing that would later become his craziest and stupidest act, or at least in the sense of love and emotion and feelings as well too. But then again, when you’re in love, you do stupid crazy stuff and things.

He rushed into the store and pointed at the item he had in mind for quite some long time now and then said, “How much for this?” to the sales pony behind the counter. “Well let me see,” he said picking it up and glancing at it, “Well for this special and unique item it will be exactly ____ bits to pay for it.”

“Done,” he said paying the pony, “Thank you, dear good sir pony.”

“You’re welcome,” the sales pony said as he left the store in a rapid rush.

And with that he rushed off to find her, and he knew that he would find her at her current house. So, he went there, and then knocked on the door and waited for her. Soon enough there was an answer as a nice young mare stepped outside, “Star Swirl?” she asked, “Is that you? After all these years, you come back to me once more again here and now? Why not any sooner.”

“Because, Pearl,” he said, “I wasn’t ready then, but I am now. After all these years, I finally have an answer for you, but one in the form of a question.

Pearl Shining, will you on this day and this time, here and now, marry me?”

The world suddenly seemed to stop once he has asked the question.

Or perhaps it only seemed like it was that way, or perhaps maybe it really was slowed down or stopped, who could tell? But anyhow, the question lingered in the air for quite some time as she considered her answer and he considered the answer and response he would get, would he be accepted or rejected instead?

The answer of course was easy for Pearl, she had known it for quite some long time now, and of course she had to say it to him now, “Yes,” she said, “Of course, I would always be yours, it doesn’t matter what comes or what will happen to us, I will always love you, I have ever since we were young.”

And with that said they kissed each other, and all was well and fine with them.

And their honeymoon turned out quite well and fine too as well, but it wasn’t until two years after they got married that Star Swirl had his greatest idea ever.

Two Years Later (Again)...

Two Years Later (Again)…

“I’ve got it!” Star Swirl shouted making Pearl shiver with fear and nervousness, whenever he said that it meant that he either had a brilliantly genius idea that was creative (even if chaotic or dangerous), or it was stupid (or sounded like it).

“Miss Pearl White, I’ve really got it this time!” he said (White was now her legal last name, it was faster all better than Swirl, and no better than Shining).

“What is it this time?” Pearl asked cleaning up and organizing the mess that he had just made as he rushed through the house causing chaos in his wake.

“Immortality,” he said, “Think about it, I’ve done lots of other spells, I have done teleportation, aging, duplication, even dabbled with time travel and death and life and light and darkness and order and chaos, but this, this will change the world, imagine if a select few, the wise, the smart, the creative, the leaders, imagine if they were immortal, not every pony for that would cause too much trouble instead, but imagine if all the great ponies lived, and think about how that could change the world, and even if I fail, I can still extend life spans.”

“Well that’s good,” Pearl said in her nice casual supportive tone, “Work on it then, I don’t really care either way, just make sure to clean up when you’re done,” and with that said she started to wander off but was grabbed by Star Swirl instead. “You don’t get it, do you?” he said, “This- could- change- the- world, don’t you understand? And we can also really be together forever.”

“Well I guess that is good,” she said, “But don’t you think it’ll get lonely?”

“That’s why I’ll have you there by my side, and that’s all I need really.”

“But what about my parents? Can they live or should they rather die instead?”

“They must die, this is not for them, it is for us instead, I’m sorry Pearl, but this is the way that it must be, if there was another way, I would chase it.”

“But there’s not another way, is there? If there were, you would chase it.

Why should you get to choose who lives and dies? Isn’t that for them to choose? If we give it to one pony, then we must give it to all who want it.”

“You’re right of course, but don’t worry, this spell, it will be kept secret, it won’t even be available to the public with copies of my spell books or journals, in fact it won’t be in my journal at all, it’s going to be in a completely new different place instead, one that even I will not know about once it is finally done with.”

“Oh, really, and how do you plan on doing that exactly?” she asked.

“Simple, once the spell is done and complete and works, you will take it wo wherever you want, and you can bury it, hide it, whatever, just make sure that it will stay safe, and it will only be known to the two of us, that is all.”

“Wait, you’re going to make us immortal and not any pony else?”

“Yes, and I’m sorry, but I can’t save every pony, too many problems, and I also can’t choose who should live or die, that’s something I leave up to you.

For once I am done with the spell and have cast it, it is rightfully yours, and I’m sorry if you feel like I’m making you chooses something by force.”

“Everything is forgiven,” Pearl said, “I think I can handle the spell and gift.”

“That’s what you say now,” he said, “Wait until later and you will see.”

“See what exactly?” she asked curiously.

“The terrible curse and great gift and price of immortality, you will see it, or at least you will eventually, and

I can only hope that you will not despair over it but instead see both sides as equal even if not fair in justice and mercy.”

“Sometimes you make no sense at all, but that’s exactly what I like about you,” Pearl said with a slight laugh and giggle nuzzling him on the face.

“Thank you for the support,” Star Swirl said revising and editing the spell.

“Are you almost done with that now?” she asked glancing over his shoulder.

“Yes,” he said, “I really just hope that this works out, if not… well let’s just say that I have no idea what will happen to us, but it would be very bad.”

“Well then, I hope that it works out too,” she said readying herself for it.

“Well, here goes nothing or everything I guess,” he said nervously with some slight fear in his voice and then coughing and taking a deep breath he went on.

“Infinite the ocean and sands of time be, but let us be set free. Hold unto the chains of death no more, hold not the same fate as all the others have in store.

Release us now from the bonds death and instead let us have eternal life instead and live as we are now, forever young, forever beautiful, forever immortal.”

After he said the spell nothing happened and Pearl asked, “Did it work?”

“I don’t know,” he said, “There’s only one way to know for sure exactly.”

“And what’s that?” she asked as he examined her hooves and hair.

“What are you doing?” she asked as he continued to gaze at her.

“Looking for signs of aging,” he said, “And you still are by the way.”

“How do you know that for sure?” she asked.

“Don’t ask, but let’s just say that I know that your immune system hasn’t gotten any better, we wizards do have a detailed knowledge about this stuff.”

“Uh, okay,” she said, “If you say so, but now what if I may ask?”

“I work on it of course! I don’t care how long it takes, I will have the secret to immortal life and eternal youth!” he shouted out with an evil maniacal laugh.

“Sorry about that,” he said, “I can be a little bit… eccentric at certain times.”

“I know that,” she said, “Just make sure to leave some time for me, okay?”

“Don’t worry, I will,” he said as he went back to work on the spell muttering incoherent phrases and sentences, “I wonder where I went wrong…”

And with that Pearl just smiled and went on her way doing small house work.

Four Years Later (Again)...

Four Years Later (Again)…

“I’ve done it,” he said, “I’ve finally done it!” Star Swirl shouted with joy.

“Done what?” Pearl asked, Star Swirl had many projects going on at once, and she had no idea which one he could have finished just right now.

“I’ve finally finished the spell of immortality!” he said, “It took me four years, but I finally did it, wow, that spell was hard, I wonder if my time travel spell will take that long?” he asked himself laying the scroll with the spell down.

“How do you know that it works?” she asked curiously.

“I tested it on a dying dog, I think and believe that it is still alive, I just waited this long to tell you since I didn’t want it to fail again like all the other times.”

“So then,” she said, “You’ve done it, but are you sure we should use it?”

“I’m not sure of anything,” he said, “But the choice is yours, if you want to die, then I will die with you, and if you don’t want to share this secret with the world I’ll burn it, destroy it, hide it, make it like it never was. I would do anything for you, but the ultimate and final choice is only up to you alone.”

She sighed and looked at him with compassion, kindness, and love.

“Only if I can remember everything,” she said, “I don’t want to forget all the little small precious moments in life, that is my only condition Comet.”

“Done,” he said, “I can make a memory spell as easily as pie,” he said summoning a full baked pie and then taking a slice of it and eating it.

“Hmmm… Apple,” he said, “Anyhow the potion should be ready soon enough.”

“Potion?” she asked, “I thought that it was a spell, not a potion instead.”

“It was at first,” he says, “But when they failed I tried potions, and eventually one did work, and don’t ask about the ingredients, they’re a secret.”

“Um, okay,” she said as he watched him stir up the potion.

“So then, what will happen if we drink this?” she asked him once he was done.

“We will stop aging, our blood will still flow, our hearts will still pump, and we can still breathe, but we won’t need to just as we won’t need any blood flow.

Our hair won’t grow any longer either, and our immune systems will be better.

We will have more strength, endurance, stamina, better memory, better magic, and better flight if we were pegasi. And while this is not an enhancement potion per say, it does I just lets you remain in your peak condition forever and always. So don’t worry about losing any of your senses that you have right now.

Anyhow, you better drink up, and I just thought about a good joke, we should toast to life, but since we are drinking literal eternal life and youth, well, you see where it goes from there, I guess it was good while it lasted.”

“Very funny,” she said taking a deep drink of it, “Hmmm… this tastes good.”

“Well of course,” he said taking a sip of it, “I wouldn’t make it bad, now would I? I mean that would just be quite rude of me, now wouldn’t it?”

“Yes, yes it would be,” she said simply dumping the rest of the drink out.

“Normally I would say that dumping the rest of an unfinished drink would be and is rude,” he said, “But in this case it’s an obvious and clear exception.”

“Obviously,” she said, “Now then, since we’re immortal now do you have any good ideas of what to do to have fun or pass the time?” she asked.

“Oh,” he said seductively, “I have MORE than a few.”

And with that said they went to have ‘fun’. (NO, IT IS NOT LIKE THAT, I just wanted you make you THINK THAT, HAHAHA, fooled you all.)

The Apprentice

Anyhow for many years after that life was well, and in due time he eventually came to tutor and teach a clever young little filly named Clover.

Clover grew quite well in her studies and always was asking questions.

In fact ever since the day that he had first asked permission of her parents to tutor, teach, and train her, well she had grown so much and even taught him.

“May I teach and train her, tutor her in my ways?” he remembered asking her parents sometime after he had first discovered her powerful magic powers.

“Yes, of course,” her father said, “But when will we get to see her?”

“Whenever she is available not working with me,” he said giving a wizard’s casual uninterested general vague answer, “No more and no less than that which she needs or wants or has earned or deserved, that is all for now.”

“Mr. Star Swirl?” Clover asked, and she was young at the time, only six, so the question that came next was only natural, “Why are you teaching me?”

“Because you have great magical potential,” he said, but then he scolded himself, he needed to give an answer that a child would understand.

“What I mean is that I am teaching you because I find you to be… different, special, unique. And don’t think of this as a curse, but a gift instead.”

“So does that mean I’m like in a special class for disadvantaged ponies?”

“No my dear,” he said surprised at her intelligence, “Not at all, why in the world would you ever think that? Don’t ever think that you’re not special or unique or different, you are always who you are, and no pony else can ever change that.”

“Well, okay then,” she said smiling, “When do I start classes with you?”

“Next Monday,” he said smiling, “And make sure to be on time.”

“I will,” she said with eager anticipation.

“Oh, and also just a few things and rules, one, never lie, when one deals with science, magic, technology, and history, one must never ever lie to another.

The second rule is always to do your best, even if you fail in something great it is still noble. And finally, you must use this knowledge and power for the good of all other ponies, do you understand these terms and agree to them?”

“I do,” she said, “I would never ever lie to you Mr. Star Swirl.”

“Please,” he said, “Just call me Comet, it’s my nickname, and speaking of that, I better find a nickname for you, how about the title ‘the clever’?”

And with that said a long and beautiful relationship began with that small simple little meeting. And as the years went by Clover never failed or ever disappointed Star Swirl, even when she did something bad or terrible he still never ever really got angry and he always forgave her, and she always learned from all her experiences, all her pain, all her sorrow, all her joy and cheer.

And then when the time came for the studies of dark magic, both were afraid.

“This is something that I do not want to teach you this,” he said, “But I must, for you must know how to defend against it, and also why you should never ever use it no matter what the situation or time is, this is dark and magic, and it always has been and always will be evil and only spread fear, hate, and anger. It will only spread evil, and even if you use it for good, evil will still always come. So you must never use this, do you understand me?”

“Yes,” she said nervously ready to face this new kind of magic.

Star Swirl took a deep breath and then with his eyes glowing red with green smoky mist coming out of it he cast a spell at a simple old oak tree that stood still there in the park. When the spell hit the tree it suddenly turned black, then it withered away and died eventually crumbling into dust, it was as if there was never a tree there at all, for even the dust blew away in the wind.

“You see,” he said, “Destruction, chaos, death, and power all are easy to get, but they all can cause pain and sorrow, but power is only neutral, only to be wielded by other ponies. However,” he said going over to the spot where the tree was and then planting a new seed there, “However life, creation, art, music, inspiration, everything that we have built, it is all hard, it takes time and effort.

So while one may be easy, it is never worth it, and while one may be hard, it is always worth it in the end. And I would always want something worth it.”

“I understand,” Clover said, “I don’t think that I ever will use it for any means.”

“Good,” he said, “On to the next lesson then…”

And with that said the lessons went on, and so did time.

Eventually however Star Swirl noticed that tension between the tribes grew, there was more hatred and anger, more wrath and fury, and that attracted the attention of the wind spirits of cold and ice and winter called Windigos.

Then he taught Clover about them and how they spread evil.

(A) Royal Request

And then a miracle happened, the tribes finally united and formed the lands of Equestria, and Star Swirl was glad, this was the beginning of peace and harmony and friendship, but if they were to remain stable they needed better stronger leaders, ones that were not mortal, but immortal, just like he was.

They needed an alicorn, and he just so happened to know where he could find them, and so 184 years after his 36th birthday and finding the secret of immortality and eternal youth [but only 174 years after his ten-year journey that had taken him to the wastelands of the west, the frozen icy cold lands of the north, and the Alicorn Kingdom (named Alicar) in the East].

He was 220 years old when Equestria was first formed, but he was still young just as the day that he and drunk the potion of immortality so long ago.

So lifting a pen to his paper scroll he wrote down a quick message.

Dear King Cosmos, I am sorry to trouble you, but there have been recent matters both political in these lands now officially called Equestria. I am contacting you because I want you to send a leader here, someone to guide the ponies, unicorns, and pegasi of this land.

The citizens will need a leader, and I can’t think of any better example of power, strength, and knowledge than an Alicorn. It also helps that they are a combination of all three tribes.

And while I do not wish to impose any force of favors on you I do remind you of me helping your two little cute daughters, Celestia and Luna were their names if my memory can correctly recall. And while I do know that they don’t have their cutie marks (yet), I feel like that this experience would be good for them to learn and grow up from.

And so I specifically request the two of them, but if you wish to send another I will understand and respect your wishes and command. Anyhow I must thank you once more again for your hospitality while I was visiting your royal and regal kingdom of grace, power, and knowledge. And so with this I do end.

Yours faithfully, forever and always, Star Swirl the Wizard.

And with that written down he magically transported the scroll to him.

It wasn’t long before he received a scroll in reply and return from the king.

Dear Star Swirl, thank you for your letter, I read it and after much thought and time I have finally decided to go with your judgement and send my daughters.

I don’t know why you want them, but I must assume you have a plan.

I do request to know the reason as to why, but if you wish to keep it secret I would also understand and respect your wishes as well too.

My daughters should be arriving soon, within two to three weeks.

Please make them feel welcome and at home, they are the only face that they know from your land after all. Oh, and one more thing also, they must have a place to stay, and somewhere where they can rule from, so I would highly suggest that you build some kind of castle, preferably isolated but also easily accessible, I will leave the place and decision and detail designs up to you.

Yours faithfully, always and forever, King Cosmos of the Alicorn Kingdom.

Star Swirl smiled, of course he expected an answer, and he would give him that, he wouldn’t torture him with vague or general answers, not anymore, he would be exact, he would be precise, and so he wrote one last message.

Let’s just say that I have seen their future, and here in Equestria their future will be great and grand, and their rule will be long, prosperous, happy and one full of joy and cheer. Yet in the Alicorn Kingdom it is uncertain, but many will only bring pain and sorrow and despair. That, my dear king, that is your only answer.

Yours faithfully, forever and always, Star Swirl the Wizard.

And with that he sent the last letter and then received the last one from the king.

Thank you for your response, this comforts me very much my friend.

Yours faithfully, always and forever, King Cosmos of the Alicorn Kingdom.

And with that Star Swirl smiled and waited in anticipation for the two young little fillies to come, he had enjoyed their company, he enjoyed it a lot, very much so that they made him smile just like his wife and his apprentice, but the story of his time in the Alicorn Kingdom is one for a much later time.

The Girls Come/ Arrive

A few weeks later the girls came, and every pony there was shocked and surprised at their arrival, but luckily enough Star Swirl was there to greet them. “Well hello there, girls,” he said as he saw the royal guards behind them, “I assume that these are friends of yours?” he said gesturing to them.

“If by friends you mean royally assigned guards to protect us, then yes,” the young little black filly named Luna said, “It’s so annoying to have them here.”

“But it’s for our own good Lulu,” the young filly named Celestia said.

“Well I don’t really care, I couldn’t care any less,” she said in anger.

“Girls, calm down,” Star Swirl said, “All your opinions, thoughts, ideas, fears, hopes, and other stuff are welcome here, but please keep the fighting and bickering to a minimum. And also there is no need for formality around me, let us call each other our nicknames if we want to, we all know them, right?”

“Of course, Comet,” Celestia said. “We could never forget a unicorn so amazing and wonderful as you, you’re one of the best friends that we have ever had.”

“Well then Tia, I think that is best that we introduce you to the tribe leaders then, they’re going to be so shocked and surprised when they see both of you.”

And with that said Star Swirl walked in front of them as a sign of respect and authority, and while technically they were just as powerful as him (maybe even more so), he had to be the one in front so that other ponies would know that they posed no threat and that they were important ponies of any kind of matter, political, geographical, economic, diplomatic, whatever the case was.

While Star Swirl had no political position, and didn’t get involved in it because, “it was just plain stupid,” he still was a well-respected and powerful member of the community and every pony knew his name, no pony would ever dare cross him or attack the convoy with his presence leading the front of the thing.

Well they wouldn’t attack if they had any kind of common sense or knowledge that is, they had to be plain crazy, stupid or suicidal to do such a thing.

And with that thought in his mind he took the girls to the town hall.

The town hall had been recently built by the strong earth ponies, and rather than taking months as you would expect in the human world, it only took days with every pony hard at work giving it their very best effort, time, and energy.

In fact every house and building had the same care, devotion, time, effort, and energy put into it, which is why the town had a deep rooted connection of emotion deep down below and it was well hidden away from the eyes of others.

When the girls came in the town hall every pony gasped at the sight of them.

They had never seen an Alicorn before, and so naturally they were both shocked and surprised, and naturally of course questions stated being asked and they poured in by the minute each one getting louder as each pony tried desperately to be heard above the rising wave of torrential voices shouting.

“What are they?”

“Who are they?”

“Where do they come from?”

“What do they want?”

These and many more other questions came pouring in like a flood of water.

“Please, every pony, be quiet and remain calm,” Star Swirl said shouting his voice as a spell he cast made it magically amplify around the room.

“All your questions will be answered very shortly in due time. But I shall do my best to answer of all them now, these are Celestia and Luna, two alicorns.

An Alicorn, in case you haven’t figured it out by now, is a combination of all three races, pony, Pegasus, and unicorn. They have far better magic, strength, and flight abilities than any single race here. Their natural abilities respective to each race they have inside them has far more stamina, strength, speed, magic, and endurance according to the race. And they are also immortal as far as I can tell, they are here because I requested them and King Cosmos, that’s the ruler of the Alicorn Kingdom named Alicar, well he granted my request and sent them here, and her they are. But why are they here, I hear you ask, well that’s a good question, they are here to be your rulers and leaders of this land.”

Angry voices cried out in protest at this statement of declaration.

“You expect us to follow them? They don’t even have their cutie marks yet,” a loud voice said and many others took up the cry too as well.

“They look so young, they can’t rule over us,” another said.

“QUIET!” Star Swirl roared at the crowd, and they backed away in fear, they had never ever before seen Star Swirl angry before, sure he could become upset and rude over some things, but he never exploded with anger and hate like this, the fury and wrath that he showed, it was unlike anything they had ever seen before. “DO YOU THINK THAT I WISH TO HEAR YOU ARGUMENTS?” he shouted at them, “THERE IS NO ARGUMENT OR DEBATE! THEY SHALL BE YOUR RULERS AND LEADERS! AND ANY PONY WHO HAS ANY ISSUE WITH THAT CAN COME AND SEE ME DIRECTLY! DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?”

“You’re quite clear,” the crowd said to appease him so that he would be calm.

“Well then, thank you,” he said returning once more again to his calm loving gentle state of mind and voice, “I don’t wish to impose on any of your rights, beliefs, ideas, thoughts, hopes, ideas, fears, or dreams, but their rule will be the best one for Equestria, and while they may look young they are actually thousands of years old with much experience and wisdom and knowledge.

Without their guidance, the only future I see for this land is one in ruins and chaos, so you will just have to trust me on this, and as you know my visions of something bad happening to other ponies or anything else is never wrong.”

The ponies shuddered, they only knew it too well, he had predicted weather patterns and other natural disasters too. But his talent for the future only worked quite well with things that were stable and big, for example weather was not stable, it was always constantly shifting and changing, but he could always predict and know the chance of a big natural disaster coming soon.

It also was clearer for the near future since many actions would become concrete and solid as the time of the event approached closer, but it would also become fuzzy and distorted too, anything could happen to change it after all.

Events in the far future were clear and fuzzy too, he knew which major events and things and stuff was most likely to happen and also which ones that should not be. And he was never wrong once about what could or would happen, and the other ponies had no natural way of explaining any of it.

But they had learned to trust his visions and his judgment over time, and they also had to trust that he would never ever lie to them about anything at all.

“Alright Star Swirl,” Commander Hurricane said, “We’ll accept them as our leaders, but don’t expect me to be all happy about it at all.”

“I don’t,” he said knowing that for the Commander to relinquish power and command was a great accomplishment in itself since he was stubborn.

“Now then,” he said, “While they will are here they will be learning how to lead from both myself and other leaders, and they will stay here in Ponyville until such a time that a more elegant and much larger home is built.”

“Like a castle?” some pony asked in the crowd.

“Yes actually, they are royalty after all if you haven’t guessed by now,” he said.

“Is that all?” Princess Platinum asked politely.

“Yes, you may be on your way now, go, do your duties, tend your jobs, do stuff, and be way with you all, I have much that these two ponies need to learn.”

And with that said every pony left the room leaving the three of them alone.

“Now then,” he said with a smile, “Ready for some fun?”

(Again, not what you probably think it implies, in a sexual sense.)

And with that said they had some ‘fun’, which was just learning.

But it was about stuff and things that were interesting instead.

Learning

When last they met he taught them levitation and teleportation spells, this time however he didn’t teach them about politics or diplomacy like they expected.

“Girls, can you tell me what a ruler and leader does?” he asked them.

“They guide their citizens and help other ponies out?” Celestia said.

“Close enough, but yes, they serve their citizens and give of themselves, their time, their effort, their energy, they do not take, they do not steal, they do not use force except when needed. And in general they should be and remain calm, but can become angry when they want or need to. This is the very definition of a leader, this is what you must become, this is what you must be.”

“But why?” Luna asked, “And what if they don’t love or respect us?”

“Why? Because a good leader is one of the ponies, and they will love and respect you if you simply follow my advice. But don’t worry girls, you’ll be just fine, you’ll learn how to be a good leader within time and some experience.”

“Oh,” Luna said with some shame and humility, “I’m sorry.”

“That’s okay, you just wanted to learn, and I’m always willing and ready to help those willing and ready to learn,” he said offering her his hoof.

“But come with me kid,” he said, “And I can show you the world, take you to places you never knew about, never dreamed or thought about.”

“That would be fun,” she said taking his hoof, “What else will we learn?”

“Lots of fun stuff Luna, and stuff to help you, but it’ll be great, I can promise you that,” and the girls both knew that he never ever broke any promise that he made to any pony, ever. It was his number one rule and moral that he would stand by, even in death or pain or agony or sorrow or despair.

He would keep it, even if it meant great pain and cost for himself.

“Now then,” he said, “Who wants to learn about trading policies?”

They groaned and he smiled and said, “I’m just kidding,” and then went on with his real next lesson and the young fillies once more again enjoyed his presence very much, they and missed him ever since he left their kingdom so long ago to return home, but they were glad that they could finally see him.

Eventually however the fun lessons with him ended soon enough.

Once they were done with them it was time for serious matters.

“Have you yet raised the sun and moon on your own yet?” he asked.

“No,” they said, “We haven’t yet, we’re sorry.”

“Don’t be,” he said, “You’re still young, you have a lot to learn.”

“But how do we raise such big things?” the girls asked.

“Simple,” he said, “You just do, you just feel it, just like an emotion.”

“Wait, you’re saying that we have to do this all alone?” they asked.

“Yes,” he said, “I can’t help you, and no other pony else can either.”

“Alright then,” Celestia said looking at the night sky, “Here goes nothing.”

And with that said Celestia flew up and raised her hooves high up in the air and then ever so slowly the sun climbed its way up to shine the light of day and dawn, “I did it!” she said exclaiming with great joy and excitement.

“I can’t believe that I actually did it!” she said hopping up and down.

“And what’s more,” Star Swirl said, “Is that you have your cutie mark.”

Celestia gasped as she gazed down at the symbol of the sun on her flank.

“It’s perfect!” she screamed hopping up and down with joy and delight.

“Well then,” he said, “I suppose that Luna will be next to perform then?”

“I suppose so,” she said, “But I can do it later on, right?”

“Yes, of course,” he said, “Once the day is over it will be your turn.”

Luna sighed, “Alright then, I will try and do my best to do it.”

And when the night came she too did her best and raised the moon and then got her cutie mark and she acted just like the way that her sister did when she earned her cutie mark and rose the sun that very fateful morning.

Star Swirl laughed and smiled both times when he saw this sight, but then he also started to cry as he suddenly just had a much clearer vision of the future.

“What’s wrong?” they asked seeing his tears fall down his face slowly.

“Nothing,” he said lying to them knowing the painful future of pain, sorrow, and despair held for Luna, and he was sad to know what it was, and he almost wished that he didn’t, but he did, and he could not change that fact, and he hated to lie to them, but they could not know their own futures.

If they did the knowledge could change the very acts and choices they made, or would make, which is why he never looked into his own for that exact reason.

“Oh, alright then,” they said, “So I guess that you’re just really happy?”

“Yes,” he said, “I am very happy for both of your futures.”

“Oh, alright then,” they said and then they trotted off and away while he remained there still and motionless crying over the future that he had seen of Luna, he felt sorry for the poor young girl, the pain, sorrow, and despair that she would have to endure… it was just too much for him to think about or bear, but he had to be strong, for them, for his wife, and for the citizens as well too, and the king of course, and so he composed himself and put on a fake smile, “Wait for me girls,” he said, “I am an old stallion that cannot keep up with you two, so would you mind slowing down for a bit so I can rest?”

“DO you even need rest?” Luna asked, “You are after all immortal.”

“I really don’t know,” Star Swirl said, “But I am sure that I will know all one day, but anyhow you should treat your elders with some more respect.”

“You’re not older than us,” Celestia said, “You’re actually still very much younger, in fact compared to us you are still a child, no offense.”

“None taken,” he said with a smile and then he tried to hide the fact that he was still crying with a brilliant and genius idea, “How about we play a game?”

“Oh, what kind?” Luna asked, “Word game, mind game, logic game? Yes to all!”

“It’s a chase game,” he said touching Luna on the head, “And you’re it.”

“Oh,” Luna said as the others ran away from her, “A game of tag, that’s it.”

And then she ran and they played together for quite some time until the day finally ended and Star Swirl had to go to sleep in order to prepare for the next day, but when he went to sleep that night he had some very uneasy thoughts and dreams, and he still cried over the fate and destiny for the young Luna.

Practical Pranks

1000+ Years Ago,

(Or Roughly the Founding and Establishment of Equestria),

The two girls were bored, it was taking quite a long time, much longer than they expected to start the construction of the castle and build it.

And they wanted to be entertained, and then Luna had an idea (as she was the one that was more for practical jokes and pranks rather than subtle and clever wise banter like her older sister Celestia did), “Hey Tia,” she said, “I have an idea, want to have some fun with the workers or something like that?”

“I’m ready for any kind of fun, action, or humor at this point,” Celestia said, “But what did you have in mind for them exactly?” she asked curiously.

“You’ll see, all will be explained in due time my dear older sister,” she said.

And with that said the two of them ran through the town gathering supplies and then with a devious smile on their faces they readied the traps.

When the first worker came in he was surprised to find that a water balloon landed on his head, and looking up to see who threw it he saw the two girls laughing hysterically on the floor, with an angry sigh he went back to work, he knew that it was no use trying to teach something, besides, making them upset or cry would not be a very good situation for him, it would only cause even more trouble, and so he went back to work in mere humble submission.

When the next worker came in he was surprised to find that his tools and lunch and glue and mortar and cement were all mixed up together in a various random combination, and he too looked up to see the girls laughing, sighed angrily, and then like the first went to work with humble submission.

When the third worker came in he was surprised to find that instead of water for his cleaning agent for his mop and rags it was sticky glue instead.

And like the other two he had the exact same reaction and went back to work in humble submission just like the others, but their reactions were becoming expected at this point, they wouldn’t put up a fight against the two of them.

“I’m bored now,” Luna said, “And I’m also out of ideas, have anything at all?”

“Hmmm…” Celestia said thinking very deeply, “Oh, I know, how about…”

And with that she whispered the idea into her sister’s idea with a very devious smile, “Oh my,” Luna said, “Surely you would not go to such lengths?”

“Why not sister? I am a master of words? And who would dare doubt us?”

“Hmmm… You’re right, but are you sure you want to do this? We could get in some very serious trouble, and surely Comet will be very angry at us?”

“He might be,” Celestia said, “But I’m just so desperate for some fun, action, humor or adventure that I’m willing to risk his anger, wrath, and fury.”

“Alright then,” Luna said nervously, “I guess that I’m in then.”

“Good then,” Celestia said, “We must begin at once then, we must make sure that this will go down perfectly, I just really hope that nothing bad happens that could ruin our plans, I mean that would be very bad for us if it did, right?”

“Yes, of course,” Luna said, “But we’ll make sure that it won’t, right?”

“Of course, right,” she said, “Come on now, we are wasting time.”

And with that said they went on their way to prepare for their elaborate trap, for it was going to have to be an absolute perfect design and trick.

Several hours later Star Swirl came to check the progress of the castle and he was quite pleasantly surprised and shocked to see that it was going quite well.

“I see that all is going quite well,” he said looking at it, “But where are the girls exactly?” he asked looking around expecting to see them somewhere.

“Oh, I don’t know,” one of the nameless workers said, “I would recommend and highly suggest that you follow the trail of destruction that they have left around the place, it shouldn’t be too hard to follow that.”

And with that said he followed the trail left behind the two of them.

Eventually following the trail he found them in an upper balcony.

“Girls,” he said, “Can you please explain to me what you have done?”

“Oh, nothing really,” Celestia said, “Just a few practical pranks and jokes.”

“A few?” he asked, “Well if that’s all, but still, it’s not nice to others.”

“Well we’ll try to be better in the future, we can promise you this.”

“Alright then,” he said, “But you better keep it or else it will be worthless.”

“We will,” they said and then while they were walking they talked to one another about their prank, “I’m not so sure if I want to do this anymore.”

“Yeah,” Celestia said, “I certainly wouldn’t want to break my promise to him, I mean he may not get upset at us for breaking it, but he would surely be disappointed instead, and that is far more worse than him being angry at us.”

“Yeah,” Luna said, “I would hate to imagine the look on his face if he was…”

And she only said that because so far he had yet to be disappointed in them.

“Alright,” Luna said, “The jokes and pranks are off for now, or at least to other ponies, alright sister, can you agree on to this?” she said sticking her hoof out.

“Yes,” she said doing a hoof shake, “But don’t expect me not to prank you.”

Luna smiled, “I wouldn’t have it any other way, not for the whole entire world.”

And with that said the girls separated and stopped talking.

“What were you two talking about there?” Star Swirl asked them.

“Oh, nothing,” Luna lied, “Nothing at all.”

“Alright then,” he said with a curious look on his face that suggested that he knew more than what he asked and what they were actually telling him.

And with that said they arrived at his house, their temporary stay until the castle was finished, but Pearl loved having the two little young girls over, after all, she could bake treats for them (and quite often and frequently she did) and she asked questions of them, they answered, they asked questions of both of them, they both replied, and there were other interactions like games, teaching them to bake, read, or write (but in their own unique, special different way since they had been taught all of this and other basic things and stuff back home), and there was more than enough room in the guests room to let them live in it for as long as they liked (and when they asked Star Swirl why he had so much furniture like beds and chairs and such a large house with so many rooms he merely responded and replied with, “You never know when guests will come and arrive, and I always seek to do my best to prepare and ready myself before they may or may not come, just like with every natural disaster too, I mean you really should see the storage rooms sometime very soon.

I mean, they are bigger on the inside than the outside, just like this house!”).

And so the two young little fillies settled into their beds and lay down to rest, “Good night, my little ponies,” he said kissing them on their foreheads.

(In most cases this would be odd or creepy, but you do have to remember that while the two of them had bodies as young as fillies they were actually quite much older, more than Star Swirl himself, and also he was their Godfather too, so that was another fact to consider, so… yeah… back to the story now.)

Then Pearl looked at them while they slept and said, “Aren’t they just the most adorable things that you have ever seen? They’re just so cute.”

“I know honey,” he said putting one hoof on her back in gentle support.

“I just wish that we could keep them with us always and forever,” she said.

“Me too,” Star Swirl said, and only because he wanted to protect them from the danger and peril that the world held, but mostly from Luna’s Fate and Destiny.

“You do?” Pearl asked in some slight shock and surprise.

“Of course,” he said, ‘I want to protect them from the dangers and perils of this world, but I know that I cannot do this forever, they must face it all alone, and we can only do so much to help them and prepare them for it,” and then he winced once he said this, he really was a terrible liar, he could do it, yes, but not well, but then again after many years he did develop how to lie quite well, and while it was not a lie technically, but it was not the whole truth either.

“Yes, I understand that,” Pearl said, “And I feel exactly the same way too.”

“Good then,” he said, “They may need both of us in the future, after all, they did lose their mother many years ago, and their father is on the brink of death, they have faced much pain, sorrow and despair up until now, but what lays ahead of them, it is both worse for them and greater as well too, but in the end I see that it will all work out quite well, or at least for one future that is.”

“What about the others?” she asked.

“I’m not sure, I guess that we’ll just have to wait and see.”

And with that said he shut the door very gently making sure not to disturb them in their silent sleep and then he let the darkness and night take hold in the room as the two ‘young’ fillies drifted off to sleep very gradually.

And with that Star Swirl stayed up late in the night dedicated to his work.

And all was well in the house and the lands… until 30 Years Later of course.

And what happened Thirty Years Later you ask? Well simple, Chaos.

Preparation for the War and The Vision

Thirty Years Later…

Star Swirl was resting in his home when the message from the Princess arrived and while he was slightly annoyed that he was disturbed he was even more concerned with what he read in the letter glancing over at it and noticing key words and phrases like ‘Peril’, “Danger’, ‘The Lands are in Trouble’, and of course the most common one of all, ‘We need your help (right now/ right away) please (come and assist us in this great time of dire need)’.

He sighed and put on his cloak ready to travel, and while he was more than willing and ready to help other ponies in need he sighed because it was becoming… well… boring (at this point). There was nothing really new that could be explored, no dragons, no griffons, or other various random monsters to fight off, and he just wished for once that something new and dramatic would pop up, but little did he know that his wish would be granted and that it would also eventually end up backfiring on him in the end.

He went to the castle of the Two Sisters and saw them and greeted them.

“Thank you my friend for coming on such short notice,” Celestia said.

“You’re welcome,” he said, “I’m available anytime, but what seems to be the trouble around here anywhere? Politics? Geography? Friendship Dispute?”

“None of those actually, this case… it is… well… different… special… unique.”

“Go on, I’m listening,” he said with great interest in his voice.

“You see we have only been recently made aware that in our land this threat has passed by with some… unusual and strange and odd consequences and results, no pony knows who or what this… ‘thing’ could really be at all.

And that’s where you come in, we believe and think that it may target us here in this land, and we need you to help us protect it and prepare it for war.”

“Surely it will not come to war, will it?” he asked with some slight fear.

“Hopefully not and never,” Luna said, “But that is why we need you, we have no idea how powerful this being, this ‘thing’ may be, but it has enough power to where it completely wiped out an entire village off the map without trying.”

“That sounds impressive, but where did the village go exactly?”

“According to our sources,” Celestia said, “Everywhere, but mostly up.”

“Interesting,” he said and he had a slight suspicion of who or what this might be, “Tell me,” he asked, “Were their cotton candy clouds over the village?”

“Yes, but how did you know that?” Celestia asked with some slight surprise.

“Don’t ask,” he said, “But tell me, did the village look like it was… well… chaotic at all?” he asked emphasizing the word 'chaotic'.

“Yes, that is how the ponies who escaped from it described it, but how did you know that?” Celestia asked once more again of the wizard.

“I will answer your question, I think that I may know who this ‘thing, this being, this entity is, he is a powerful spirit of Chaos known only as Discord.”

It was right then at that moment that Luna shook and shivered along with Celestia, “Is everything all right?” he asked, “It looks like you saw a ghost.”

“Not seen,” Luna said, “But heard his name, we have had an encounter with him before in the past that has left us… well… broken to be quite honest.”

“I have had an encounter with him too, in my visons only of course, but I did know that there was still a very good chance that he might come along too.”

“You knew that he would come and you said nothing?” Celestia asked angrily.

“Yes, and that was only because my visions are uncertain and I did not wish to worry you, and also more importantly so that I would not change the future by influencing your decisions before you even making them changing many events that would otherwise have been left normal without any intervention at all.”

“Alright then, fine, but will you help us out now?”

“Yes of course, but do you think that he would really attack us here?”

“I don’t know,” Celestia said, “But if he does then we must be ready, but I only wish that there was some kind of weapon or spell that we could use against him in case things got out of hoof, he is after all the spirit of chaos.”

“Actually there is such a thing,” he said, “But it is not easy to reach.”

“Where is it located exactly?” she asked

“The Everfree forest,” he said, “In the most dangerous part filled with peril and danger, not that you can’t handle that, oh, and did I mention the Timberwolves already or did I forget about that? Eh, who cares about that anyway?”

“This is no joke, this is serious” she said, “Show us where this weapon is.”

“I know that it is serious,” he said, “But there is always time for humor!”

Celestia sighed, “Sometimes you remind me of my sister’s foolish actions.”

“Foolish? No, never, not ever likely. Fun? Yes, many times in fact,” he said.

She sighed once more again putting her hoof up to her face very slowly, “Very well then, say your words if you must, but do it kindly and fast please.”

“Thank you,” he said, “But how close is he to us anyways?”

“Very close,” she said, “If he comes any closer he will be in our lands.”

“Well that’s a problem,” he said, “But come, let me show you the weapon.”

“Very well then,” she said, “Come sister, let him show us the weapon.”

And with that said the two sisters walked out from their castle very slowly following his lead, and as they walked he reflected and thought upon the strange thing of their size, they had grown so quickly to become even taller than him when they finally earned their cutie marks so very long ago.

They stood towering over him almost like giants, their wings were almost like eagles, probably, perhaps maybe, and their horns were very long as well too.

He sighed as he thought of this memory and reelected upon just how not so very long ago how so very little they were and how they were not so very wise of the world around them and what dangers and perils it held, but now they were wise, and they were tall, they were strong, they were smart, they had power, they had knowledge as well too, and they had love and respect for their citizens as well too, they were good leaders indeed, and he couldn’t be any prouder of them even if he tried to, and with that he smiled in remembrance of the past.

“What are you smiling about?” Celestia asked as they walked.

“Nothing,” he said, “I’m just remembering the past.”

And with that said they walked the rest of the way in silence.

Star Swirl lead them very slowly to the Tree of Harmony where they found the Elements of Harmony waiting for them in their rightful and respectful places.

“Here it is,” Star Swirl said, “The Elements of Harmony, brought to you here today by the courtesy of the Tree of Harmony, and me too of course.”

“It is simply beautiful and divine,” Celestia said looking at it, “But how do you use it? How does it work? What does it do against others exactly?”

“Well,” he said, “What it is exactly is still a mystery even to me, I know that the representation of the power and energy that they hold from every pony is in that gem or crystal, but I also know that you don’t need them to defeat others, all you need is just a representation, even if it is not in a physical form or shape, the mysteries of this tree and what it holds is great and many, but if you do take away the Elements from where they are right now, eventually the tree will grow weak and be able to defend the growth of this strange and mysterious and powerful large forest, but that probably wouldn’t happen for many years so you should be fine taking them out if you will return them.”

“Alright then,” she said, “We will return them, eventually, we can promise you this, and that is all we need to do, right?”

“Not exactly,” he said, “You need to pass a test or trial to get them.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know, don’t ask me, I’m not the one who made all the rules.”

“Then how come you know the rules?”

“Please don’t ask.”

“Alright then,” she said, “Fine, but what is the test or trial must we pass?”

“Touch the stones and you will see, answer their questions and you will pass.”

“That makes absolutely no sense at all,” Celestia said.

“Exactly,” he said with a laugh, “But I can’t help you out this time girls, this is something that you must do on your own, you can have no help from any pony else especially me, do you understand and agree to these terms and conditions, please say that you do, I do not wish for these lands to fall.”

“Of course we do,” Celestia said, “But if you cannot help us will you at least stay with us to watch us even if you cannot guide or teach us?”

“Yes, of course,” he said, “It’s not like I have anything better to do.”

And with that said he summoned a chair to sit upon and a table to write upon in his journal so that he could record any thoughts or brilliant and creative ideas that he had, and he never knew when he would have them which is why he always carried supplied around to write with wherever he went.

He smiled and sat down and said, “Begin when you are ready my students.”

And then it was their turn to smile, he always said that to them right before they had to figure out a very challenging or difficult problem without his help, usually and generally it involved what they had done wrong and right.

This time however it was being used in the context to try to figure out what something meant exactly without being given any clues or hints.

The two sisters examined the statement that he had given them very closely, and then they couldn’t help but to ask one question to gain a hint or clue.

“Comet,” they said, “But what your statement plain and simple or did it hide a double meaning within it? I mean please tell us at least that.”

“My statement was both plain and simple, yet deep and complex and hidden as well too, but don’t you know by not that it is better not to ask me this stuff?”

“Well thanks a lot,” Celestia said, “That sure helped out a lot.”

“It did? Oh no, if that is true then I have violated the rules of the game and have lost, oh well, I guess it doesn’t matter that much anyways, carry on.”

And with that said he remained silent as the two sisters continued working on the problem and riddle.

Eventually however Luna sighed and said, “Come on, why don’t we just rest and relax for a bit and go home, please?”

“No,” Celestia said, “We’re not giving up on this.”

“I never said that we should give up on this, I just said that we might need some sleep, that’s all,” Luna said trying to reason with her sister.

“I heard what you said sister, I am just not willing to listen.”

Star Swirl cursed under his breath, “You should not have said that.”

“What was that?” Luna asked to both of them.

“Nothing,” Star Swirl said, “Just a cough,” and then he faked one and gave a slight fake smile as Luna turned her gaze back to her sister.

“How dare you say that you will not listen to me, your one and only very same sister, how dare you say that I am to be treated with any less respect or love than you, how dare you say that I am less than you ever will be!”

“I didn’t say that,” Celestia said.

“OH YES YOU DID!” Luna roared with rage and fury spewing her wrath upon her sister, “YOU CERTAINLY MEANT IT EVEN IF YOU DID NOT SPEAK IT!”

“Sister, please, remain calm, be reasonable, we can talk this out.”

“NO, WE CAN’T AND THAT’S ONLY BECAUSE YOU NEVER SAY ANYTHING TO ME, AND YOU DON’T HAVE TO! YOUR ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS MY DEAR SISTER OF MINE, AND YOU HAVE BEEN COLD, CRUEL, AND HARD! HOW DARE YOU CALL YOURSELF A SISTER OF MINE AT ALL AFTER THE WAY YOU HAVE TREATED ME! HOW DARE YOU SIT IN THE THRONE AND CALL YOURSELF THE RULER OF THESE FAIR LANDS!”

“Sister, please, I don’t know what to say, but I am so very sorry.”

“YOU’RE NOT SORRY ENOUGH, NOT YET AT LEAST!”

And with that said Star Swirl saw Luna turn into Nightmare Moon and echo a cold cruel laugh of pain as the sky turned black as night all around them.

“Sister, what are you doing?” Celestia asked with panic and fear in her voice.

“What I should have done years ago,” she shouted as she attacked her.

The Two Sisters then fought each other and it was at this point that he knew that it was not real what he was seeing, not all of it at least, he knew that after the apology of Celestia that it was not a dream or reality, but a vision instead.

He blinked in some confusion and then waved his hoof and went back to reality and then saw the real and actual events as it happened.

Luna blinked and sighed after hearing her sister’s apology, “Fine then, I accept this statement of yours for now, but we must and will talk about this later.”

“Of course,” Celestia said, “Now then, can we get back to the problem at hoof?”

“Yes,” Luna said, “But let us start from the start, he said to touch the stones, right? And wouldn’t that in most cases mean to, well… touch them?”

“Yes, I suppose so,” she said, “Which one do you want?”

“The blue one,” she said, “You can have anything else that you like or want.”

“Alright then,” Celestia said, “Let’s do this.”

And with that said they touched the stones and entered another world with their own visons, but what they saw is another story for a different day.

“That was… interesting,” Celestia said once it was over and finished.

“Quite,” her sister agreed, “But at least we know what he means and what he said, but now we have to do this again with every stone that there is.”

“Right,” her sister said, “And let us split up so that it is faster.”

“Agreed,” and with that said they split up into two working on the many stones that were strange and powerful, and soon enough they got through all of them.

“Well done,” he said once they were done, “It appears to me that you have passed all the tests and trials, and now you can and may wield the power of these stones, these gems, these crystals, whatever they are, you can use them against your enemies to defeat them, but make sure that they are always kept safe, they cannot be replaced easily enough exactly if you must know.”

“But how do we use them against others exactly?” Celestia asked plainly.

“You will know soon enough when the time comes, and that is all that I can say on this matter, I wish I could tell you more, but the bond between me and what you hold now is much stronger than yours or any other pony could hope to be.

I know more about what it is and what power it holds than any pony else, yet I also still know so little about it for I still have much that I must and will learn.”

“But if you cannot teach us how to use it, then how will we know to use it?

What if the right time never comes? Or what if it is late or early instead?”

“Do not worry about these fears,” he said, “When the right time comes you will know, and do not ask me how I know that, I just merely do.”

“Alright then, fine, I trust you, I just hope that I am not disappointed.”

“You won’t be,” he said, “I mean have I ever let you down before now?”

“No,” she said, “You haven’t, but there is always room for a first now, isn’t that right?” she asked staring at him with deep intensity of thought perhaps.

“Yes, I suppose so, but me disappointing you will never happen just as much as you can never disappoint me, after all, some things may be possible in this life, but they’re not always very probable, so please keep that in mind.”

“Alright then, consider it in my mind,” and with that said they reached for the gems when Star Swirl stopped them, “WAIT!” he said, “Leave them there.”

“Why?” she asked once more again.

“Because you should only have them if and when the enemy comes, but if he does not, then you have no need for them, so please wait, alright princess?”

“Alright then, fine,” she said, “But if he does come, then we are taking them.”

“That’s fine and alright with me, but anyhow I think that it is time to go back to the castle now, after all, you have duties to attend to, stuff to do, things to finish, just like I do, come now, let us be on our way and not stay here.”

And with that said they all went on their way in silence with an unspoken agreement between them, and when they reached the castle they split up with Star Swirl going to his home while the two sisters stayed there in the castle.

He sighed heavily, he wished that he could stay with them, but he much rather would prefer to spend it at his real home rather than trouble the princesses.

If he did stay with them he would only get in their way since he was no expert on anything political, he only had a basic fundamental knowledge of it.

If they ever did need him he was not too far away and they would contact him either directly, through mail, or other methods that could be faster instead.

And with that in his mind he went home and decided to rest and relax and sleep so that he would be prepared for what the next day might hold.

Chaos Comes/ Arrives

It turned out that the next day held rather a whole lot in store for him.

When he woke up in the morning he knew that he would either find a written letter for him or he would face the princesses themselves directly.

He was surprised and shocked to find it a slight combination of both.

He saw the princesses there in his front room with written letters.

“Huh, that’s a surprise and shock,” he said to himself when he saw them, and then he spoke up louder to them both, “I wasn’t expecting visit from you this early in the morning, if I had known that you were coming I would have made some tea, and speaking of which, Pearl, do you mind making them some tea now? Oh and could you also bring us some little tiny snacks and treats too?”

“Yes,” she said, “I’ll be right on that.”

“Thank you my dear,” he said and then turned to them, “What are you doing here so early in the morning exactly? Is something wrong?”

“You know full well what is wrong,” Celestia said, “And do not pretend to be surprised or shocked to find us here, you probably already knew that we would come and that this would happen.”

“Well I knew that you would come when I woke up, or perhaps maybe a letter instead, but I just woke up so I don’t know the details of it exactly.”

“Well then, let me explain, Discord is here within the borders of these lands.”

“Are you sure?” he asked them.

“We’re quite sure,” she said holding the letters up, “These are hand written letters from all the citizens and ponies of other towns, and they all say the same single one thing in common, that a monster with great power and strength is attacking their town and making everything around them chaotic.

There can be no doubt in my mind that this is our enemy that we seek, the only one, but he is even closer now, much more so than we thought, in fact the rate that he has advanced at is quite shocking and surprising, but it is something that I can only show you and not tell you, but be prepared, the images and things that you may see may and will be… disturbing.”

“I laugh at that statement, I see plenty of strange and disturbing things and images in my dreams and visons, far too many to ever even count at all.”

“Yes, that may be true, but this is the very element of chaos we are talking about here, nothing about this being, this entity, this spirit, nothing about him makes any sense at all, he is far too confusing for even us to ever understand.”

“Me too,” Star Swirl said, “But come, show me what it is that you cannot say or speak, I am sure that it will be quite interesting indeed.”

And with that said Celestia lead him to the castle (even though he could walk there by himself blindfolded) and lead him to a balcony with a telescope on it.

“Look into it,” she said, “And then try to tell me what you see.”

And with that said he did so, and he was as the princess said.

He was quite shocked and surprised at the sight which he saw.

There were thick pink cotton candy clouds (delicious, he thought to himself), and they (the thick pink cotton candy clouds) also poured down thick rich chocolate (even more delicious, he thought to himself), and all the houses of the town which he saw flung in midair in various positions, some stood still (even if not straight up,) others spun around in constant circles forever.

There were also giant animals of various sizes running around and there were also giant cards from many various different decks of cards as well too.

And there were all sorts of other various chaotic things and stuff there as well too, far too many to describe, but I’ll leave it up to your own imagination.

“I didn’t think that he ever could or would get this far,” he said, “And I never expected this, sure he’s been… silly and fun in the past, but this, this is on the border and verge of declaring war on you, or it could be just his nature.”

“Perhaps,” she said, “But then again, maybe not, who knows with him.”

“Perhaps you are right, maybe, but we will have to see, won’t we now?”

“Yes, we shall,” and with that said they sat in silence waiting patiently.

And soon enough the wave of chaos was approaching them.

“Here he comes, you’d better get ready,” Star Swirl said.

And with that said suddenly the world turned into chaos.

All the paintings and bookshelves floated in the air while pink cotton candy clouds formed inside the castle as maniacal laughter filled the air.

“Well hello there, princesses!” Discord said popping up from nowhere, “It’s so nice to see you once more again, it has been so long since we last met, and is that Star Swirl the great and powerful wizard? My, you’ve aged well.”

“It’s nice to see you too,” he said gesturing for the princesses to get out of the room and when they asked him why in their movements he smiled and winked which meant ‘Trust me, I know what I am doing’, and with that they left.

“Do you want to play a game with me?” he asked.

“Well of course I do,” Discord said, “I would love to.”

And then he pulled out a chess set and Celestia couldn’t help ask one last thing before she left, “You’re actually going to play game with that monster?”

“I’m not a monster,” Discord said, “Well maybe perhaps, but thing and spirit are much better terms for me, and have some respect for me please.”

“Forgive her,” he said gesturing for her to leave and then she did so, “She is not quite so wise in the matters that pertain to you as much as I am.”

“Clearly not,” Discord said, “I just wish that she had more respect and was more fun like you are, but no matter. Now then, shall we play our little game?”

“Gladly,” he said moving a random piece to a random spot, for in this game there were no rules of any kind, which made it the best game to play with Discord so that he could distract him long enough while the Princesses got the Elements of Harmony, and hopefully they would arrive soon enough with them.

“You know what,” Discord said, “I don’t think you really want to play with me.”

“Whatever do you mean by that?” Star Swirl said now on a random turn.

“I think that you’re just trying to distract me so that they can get to the Elements of Harmony,

“Surely you must be wrong, and if you are right for the sake of argument then I had no idea about this at all” he said trying to stall and delay him.

Discord merely just smiled at this comment, then frowned, then went on, “I really don’t like ponies who try to lie to me, now then don’t try to deny it and pretend to be shocked or surprised that I know about them because honestly what did you expect, did you really think that I wouldn’t keep a close eye on something that could defeat me? Well you would be so very wrong, anyhow I think that it is time that our little game to an end, don’t you agree?”

And with that said he cleared away the chess game and stretched out his arms and limbs, “I’m glad for the little time that we had to play, but this must end.

And besides, I have a much better game for them in mind…”

“What do you have planned for them exactly?” he asked.

“Oh, you know, the usual, a maze filled with traps to make you go crazy and insane and it splits you up and messes with your mind until you change.”

“Oh,” Star Swirl said, “That is a good game, but is it the best?”

“Yes,” Discord said with a smile, “I am sure that it is, and I am sorry that I can’t stay, but I do want to see what kind of trouble I can cause here, anyhow goodbye my old friend and foe, until next time that we meet each other again.”

And with that said Discord then snapped his fingers and teleported himself to a maze that he just made up on the spot for the princesses.

Star Swirl swore to himself saying “Damn,” (his favorite swear in case you were wondering about that) and he knew that he would have to wait for them to finish the maze on their own, he could not help them in this case otherwise they would never ever learn a very important lesson of pain, endurance, and sorrow and despair as well too, and so he had to entertain himself.

Eventually however they did manage to find their way out of the maze and when he asked them to tell him the details and share they remained silent.

“We do not wish to speak of it,” she said, “Do you understand that?”

“Yes,” he said, “I do understand, and I will respect your wishes, if you do not wish for me to press the matter any further than I will not, but if you ever should feel the need, want, or desire to talk to me, I am always here for you, and my door will always remain open for you my dear friends.”

And with that said Celestia nodded and they went to their beds for they had now defeated Discord using the powers of the Elements of Harmony together for neither one of them alone represented all the Elements of Harmony.

But together, perhaps maybe they did, and so it was that he was now trapped in stone, and although he had only ruled for about a month in real time he tricked Luna and Celestia to believe that it was an ‘eternity’ instead.

But he did not wish to tell them the real time, not yet, they had no need to know right then, for now all they needed was some rest, relaxation and sleep.

And so he closed the curtains and doors around their room making sure that the doors were shut tight and locked (using his magic of course) and then he left for his own home and getting into his bed as the dream of them using the Elements of Harmony to defeat Discord, and so all was quite well.

Well, all was quite well and fine, until the sirens arrived and came, and then that was when even more problems arose from their sudden appearance.

The Siren's Song

Twenty Years Later…

Star Swirl was resting and relaxing when the messenger came inside his house in a hurry and rush, and when he was disturbed from his slumber he was only mildly annoyed and upset as he got up and made himself look presentable.

“What is it?” he asked the messenger, “What is your business here exactly?”

“Sir, there is dire news of peril and danger in this town, three strange creatures with powerful magic voices are enchanting the ponies and citizens to create confusion and chaos which they can feed upon, the princess requests that you help the poor ponies and citizens out since they are powerless against the Siren’s charms, please sir, you may be our only and last hope for all of us.”

“Very well then,” he said getting up, “If I am your last hope, then I shall go, but tell me this, how come you did not get distracted with their song on the way here? Surely if they are in this town then you must have heard them on the way here while you were entering this town unless I am quite wrong?”

“Oh I heard them,” he said pulling out some earplugs, “I just didn’t listen to them, and don’t worry, I have a spar pair if you need to take one.”

“No thank you, I think I’ll be quite fine with my magic,” he said.

“That’s just the thing sir, magic doesn’t really work on them, they just seem to absorb it or deflect it back at the ponies, nothing will hurt them at all.”

“Perhaps maybe they want you to think that instead of showing their one and only weakness which would be their greatest flaw, have you considered that?”

“No sir, I did not, but then again, I’m not paid to think like that.”

“No, no you’re not, but I am, well then thank you for your message, it has been well sent and received and heard and listened to, you may go now if you wish.”

And with that said the messenger left (but before he did he left a spare pair of ear plugs on the table) and waved goodbye from the view of their front door.

“These sirens, they sound dangerous,” Pearl said, “Are you sure that you can handle them? I mean I don’t want you to get hurt out there after all.”

“I know your concern, care, and love, but I’ll be fine, I’m a wizard after all.”

“Yes, you are, but will that alone be enough to stop them?”

“Maybe, but then again, perhaps not, who knows, I don’t, but trust me when I say this, I will be fine, and I promise that I will come home alive and safe.”

“You better,” she said, “You haven’t broken a promise to me yet and I don’t expect you to start now either, well good luck out there Mr. Wizard.”

Star Swirl laughed at this side comment, “Ah, the nicknames never get old.”

And then he smiled and said, “Alright then, I’m going now, I live you.”

“I love you too,” she said as he left, “And makes sure to be safe, and also keep your promise, and dinner is your favorite tonight if you actually live through this!” And as this comment was made he smiled once more again, she always knew just what to say to motivate or inspire him to do great and powerful things, even after all these years she still was his emotional support.

And he couldn’t imagine living life without her.

And with that thought in his mind he moved towards the center of the town.

The center of town (oddly enough) was where the most ‘damage’ could be seen, he saw ponies fighting over almost anything and everything and then he saw the villains behind this act and he was quite surprised and shocked at their forms and shapes. They had front hooves for ‘legs’, but no rear ‘legs’, but they did have wings which somehow supported their weight, and they also looked… well… fishy (he winced and groaned at this little tiny pun he had made).

He glanced up at these strange new powerful creatures and saw that they were each different, special, unique, and odd in their own little tiny way.

One was purple, one was blue, and the other, final, and last one was yellow.

And they wore these strange gems around their necks and he instantly deduced that this must be the source of their strange power as green mist swirled about towards it as they sung their sweet and seductive song.

Luckily however the sirens were distracted by the two princesses who now stood there and even from this distance he could hear them speak as they shouted at each other shaking the whole entire earth beneath their hooves.

“Well look who we have here,” the yellow one said, “The two sister princesses of Equestria, how lucky for us that we can defeat them girls, right?”

“Right,” the other ones said, and with that they began to sing but nothing happened between the two of them for quite some long time.

“Your spells and charms have no effect on us, we’re immune,” Celestia said, “Give up and surrender now and you will be shown mercy, if you do not then you will be banished to a land without any magic of any kind at all.”

“Ha, I doubt that you could do that, and I really doubt that such a place could ever really exist,” the yellow one said (clearly the leader of the group as he now correctly identified), “Besides, we don’t need our song to defeat you, just our words, after all, doesn’t Luna bottle up all her emotions deep down inside?”

“What do you mean by that exactly?” Celestia asked as Luna trembled in some slight fear nervously trying to hold her flight steady as she could.

“Well come on now, don’t you know what I mean? Oh wait, you wouldn’t, and that is only because you never listen to your sister even when she speaks.”

“Those are all lies!” she said, “I do listen to my sister.”

“Not enough, one day you’ll see, she’ll turn on you out of hate, and then you will suffer a fate far worse than what we ever could hope to do to you.”

“Even more lies escape your foul mouth more than I could have thought possible,” she said, “But no matter, we will defeat you.”

“Good luck with that,” the yellow one (the leader) said, “Your magic will not work on us, and we cannot be defeated by the likes of you two so easily.”

“Maybe that is true,” Star Swirl said stepping towards them as they all turned to look at him, “But perhaps maybe with my help they can and will.”

“Who are you, foolish pony, and what do you want?”

“Me?” he asked, “I am the great and powerful wizard named Star Swirl, and you certainly picked the wrong town, time, and day to attack us, but you had better make sure that you never ever face me in a fight or battle, because you’ll lose.”

“Your confidence and pride is amazing, and that makes you either crazy or stupid, or perhaps maybe it is a little bit of both instead?”

“Me, crazy?” Star Swirl asked, “Perhaps, maybe, probably, actually definitely yes, but I am not stupid, I am rather quite smart and genius instead.

But please tell me your names if we must fight, I always insist this.”

“I am Adagio Dazzle,” the yellow one said, “And I am Sonata Dusk,” the blue one said, “And I am Aria Blaze,” the purple one said, “And we will destroy you.”

“Wow, that is amazing,” he said in response to their last line of dialogue which was in perfect sync, “How long do you practice that in the morning each day exactly? Two hours? Three? Four? Five or Six? Seven or Eight? Less than one?”

Adagio growled, “After we destroy and defeat you I am going to cause you so much pain for your snide side remarks and comments, get ready to suffer.”

And with that said the sirens powered up their gems with a red glow and blasted their power and energy at Star Swirl who merely yawned and deflected it away from himself, “Is that the best that you got?” he asked setting up a chair to lay in and pulling out a book to read while putting sunglasses on.

“How dare you mock us with your attitude! How dare you mock me!

Girls, destroy the wizard, destroy him, no matter what it takes just defeat him!”

And with that said they fired more beams of energy at him while he just merely yawned once more again and took a drink of water from a cup that he made and didn’t even look at the beams of energy as they came straight towards him and then he deflected them and then yawned even louder once more again.

“I’m bored,” he said, “Got anything better to entertain me with?”

Adagio looked like she was ready to explode with anger and fury and looked like she wanted to inflict her wrath and fury upon him, but she managed to gain control of herself eventually by taking deep breaths of air in and out.

Even when he flashed a smile and grin on his face at her she still remained calm and cool quite surprisingly enough for him.

“Alright girls, since we can’t destroy him with our magic, how about we sing instead?’ And they nodded and with that said they began to sing.

“What?” he said, “I can’t hear you, I got earplugs, I’m immune to your spells and charms too, so unless you can think of something else I would highly advise and suggest for you to surrender now and give this up.”

“Surrender?” Adagio said after they all had stopped singing, “Never.”

He sighed heavily and got up from his position and then looked at them with a strange look that they had never ever before seen on the face of any pony, disappointment. “I am very disappointed in all of you girls,” he said, “But you leave me no choice but to carry out the punishment by Celestia and banish you to a land without any kind of magic, I hope that you may learn your mistakes there and grow to be wise and smart and to never ever repeat anything like this again, and I also hope that you may someday make some new friends.”

“Is he actually saying that he takes pity on us?”

“Yes, that’s exactly what I am saying,” he said as he raised a staff to the sky.

“Okay, know I know that you’re definitely crazy, I mean what other kind of pony would feel pity for us? That makes no sense at all.”

“Perhaps to you it doesn’t make sense, not yet at least,” and then he began his spell, “Go to that which and where no pony can ever be reached, yet somewhere within sight and mind, and never shall the safety of it be breached, and with this do I bind. Never shall you return to this land, cursed is your blood and fate, should you ever return friendships will not stand, and so this do I must state.

A land without magic, a land without that which you know, a new and different land, one that has fates most tragic, and so you must go, for this land must stand. And even if in the end, your band is broken, I this land will defend, and so this do I say, for all that is done and that will be done must be spoken.

May you remember this well, and learn from my words today, for if you do not, then never can nor shall you return, this I can tell, you cannot stay, but soon you will learn that all may have their time and second chances in their own turn.”

And with that said a portal in the sky opened up with blue and purple energy swirling all around in in a circular spiral and pulled things and stuff into it and even at this far of a distance away from it he still felt a slight tug and pull.

“What is that exactly?” Adagio asked pointing at it with some slight fear in her voice (which was to be expected considering what was happening).

“Oh, that?” Star Swirl said, “That’s just the way to the world without any magic, the one that you thought and believed wasn’t real, but you were wrong of course, and now for your crimes and action you will stay there forever.

You will no longer be able to harm or hurt any pony or citizen of this land.

May fate have mercy upon your souls there if you even have them.”

And with that said the portal tugged and pulled on them as they tried to get free, “Why can’t I get free?” Adagio asked desperately trying to fly away.

“Because the other world wants magic of any kind more than anything else, and that it why no magic can work on it, I’m sorry, but you’re stuck for good.”

And with that said they all screamed and said, “No!” as they were pulled inside and then with a loud resounding boom the portal closed itself for good.

“They are gone my princess,” he said to Celestia and Luna. “You are safe now, and so is every other pony and citizen of these lands, and it looks like you have nothing else threatening the safety of the ponies of

this land so I will leave now.

Good day my princesses, I really hope that I can see you in the future.”

And with that said he started to leave as Celestia cried out something, “We owe you a great debt Star Swirl, one that we could never hope to repay.”

“Then don’t try to repay it,” he said as ponies flocked him trying to get his autograph, “Thank you very much,” he said to them, “But I don’t do that, not anymore, and certainly not now, all I want right now is some rest.”

The crowd cried out in disappointment and he said an apology and very slowly and gradually they all left one by one and finally he could get some rest.

“Ah,” he said once he got home, “It sure is nice to be back here once more again, but tell me, how close is the dinner being to ready?”

“It’ll be done very soon,” Pearl said, “But you’ll just have to wait.”

“Oh well, but at least you do know how to make a man wait.”

“Wait, a what exactly?” she asked in confusion

“Nothing, never mind, that was a different world, what I meant was stallion.”

“Of course you did,” she said, “But you can tell me more about that later.”

And so he did, and then he ate, and the he finally got some rest and sleep, and all was quite well in house, or at least it was… until that tragic night. The night where he had lost everything that was special to him, the night that he lost all.

Meeting Star Swirl

Meanwhile Back in the Royal Canterlot Library…

“Why did you stop?” Twilight asked when her mentor suddenly just stopped.

“Because the rest of the story is not mine to tell, it is his.”

“But why exactly?” she asked in some confusion.

“Because I made a promise to him when he told me his story not to ever tell the last part, the one that I cannot tell you, and I will not break my promise to him, the only way that you will know the end of this story is if you ask him yourself, but be careful, he had become a little bit… different than what I have told you in my stories, and if you hear the rest of it you will soon understand why that is exactly, but still, the sorrow, pain and despair he faced, the tragedy that he had, it is far too difficult for even me to say to you in just mere words.”

“Well then,” Twilight said, “If you can’t tell me the story then how about you take me to Star Swirl so I can hear the rest of the story?”

“I suppose that will work, I am after all the only one to know his location other than my sister of course, and luckily enough for us he is very close.”

“He is?” Twilight asked with some surprise.

“Yes, in fact he has been living on your street for many years.”

“Wait, you mean to tell me that I was a street neighbor of the great and powerful wizard Star Swirl?” she asked with a scream of joy and delight.

“That is so totally cool and amazing!” she said waving her hooves around in the air unable to contain her energy and emotions deep down inside.

“Please, calm yourself down my student,” Celestia asked politely.

“Sorry,” she said, “It’s just that I am so excited, I mean I can finally meet the pony of my dreams, my personal hero and mentor before you came along of course, I mean come on, it’s not every day that a chance or opportunity like this comes along, I mean wouldn’t you be excited if it did?”

“Very,” Celestia said showing no outward display of emotion, but deep down inside her mind she knew who she would want to meet one last time once more again, her parents, for they had both died when she was

too young.

And then very slowly a tear fell down her face, “Celestia, are you okay?” Twilight asked concerned that she might have made her upset.

“I am fine, it is just memories of the past, now come on, let’s go, there is not much time left in the day, and he is not fond of visitors after night time.”

And with that said they left the library and went to the street where Twilight’s old home was, and she couldn’t help remember how soon she was here.

“It feels just like yesterday that I was helping Moondancer get some friends,” she said looking at where her old house stood, “And it seems just like I was also here yesterday trying to figure a way out to stop Nightmare Moon’s return, oh, those were the good old days,” she said with a slight sigh.

“They were indeed,” she said as they came upon a house that was in shambles and torn apart and was frayed at both wood and stone and had the markings that many magic experiments had gone wrong and failed, and the paint, if you could call it that anymore, it was faded on the outside from many years of weather, mostly wind and rain and storm, and while it may have been once blue or white it now seemed to be a dull brown or white or blue color.

It was hard to tell since she could barely distinguish it from the road.

“Here we are,” Celestia said, “The home of the one and only, great and powerful wizard Star Swirl the Bearded, but before you ask, it was not always this way, once it was simple and plain, and it was no better or worse than any other house in the city, but now, now it is the worst one in the whole entire city.”

“But why? What could be so bad that happened so long ago that could cause him to blatantly ignore the state and condition of his own home?”

“It may be his house,” she said, “But not his home, not any longer, his home is where his heart lays, and I have no idea where his could lay now. But what happened so long ago made him stop caring for anything else. But that has caused some problems, if it were not for me his house would be gone by now.

It would have been destroyed by those who deemed it a safety hazard or too old or too ugly, or any other reason, but I have always kept them away from him, mostly because he is an old friend, but also because out of pity too.”

“I always thought that there was no one in there, or that if there was that they would have to be crazy or stupid,” she said, “I guess that I was half right.”

Celestia smiled at that comment, “Most ponies are at first.”

“Is that another quite you got from him?”

“Maybe, you’ll just have to wait and see now, won’t you?”

And with that said she knocked very loudly on the door but when no response came for a very long time

(quite some indeed) then she rang the doorbell.

“I don’t do charities, or buy cookies and I hate sales ponies, so basically if you’re trying to sell me something or take my money than go away!”

“Don’t you know that it is me?” Celestia asked, “Your old friend.”

“How do I know that it is really you and not some changeling spy instead?”

She sighed heavily, “When we were young you used to call me Sunbutt, and also Tia, you had many various nicknames for me, trust me, it is me.”

And with that said the sounds of many locks opening up could be heard.

Eventually after quite some time the door opened up very slowly.

“Is that really you?” he asked, “It’s been so long, but what brings you here exactly? Is there some kind of disaster or danger or peril that I don’t know about? Is it Tirek? Is it Discord again? Is it Starlight Glimmer?

What about Nightmare Shadow? Please tell me that he isn’t real, that would be so very bad for all of us.

What is it, please just tell me, I can bear it and take it in.”

“It is my student Twilight Sparkle actually, she has a question for you. And so do I, I am very curious about the last pony you mentioned by name.”

“You best forget him, it could change the future should I even say or mention his name again, but come now, inside with you, it would be rude of me to talk to you when you have to stand outside all alone out there.”

And so he opened the door fully inviting them in.

“OH MY GOSH!” Twilight screamed with joy and delight rushing over to him “I CAN’T ACTUALLY BELIEV IT’S REALLY YOU! OH MY GOSH!”

“STOP TOUCHING ME!” he shouted flinging her back into a wall with such force that it literally shattered her bones making it hard for her to breathe, “AND DEFINITELY NO HUGGING ME EITHER! DO YOU THINK THAT I

WILL JUST ACEPT YOUR PRAISE AND JOY AND DLEIGHT WITH SUCH EASE?

YOU MOCK ME WITH YOUR EMOTION! YOU MOCK ME WITH YOUR JOY AND DLEIGHT, AND HOW DARE YOU MOCK ME, DON’T YOU KNOW WHO I AM?

OH WAIT, YOU CLEARLY DO, I AM THE GREAT AND POWERFUL WIAZARD STAR SWIRL, AND NO PONY EVER GETS AWAY WITH MOCKING ME!”

“STAR SWIRL!” Celestia shouted, “YOU ARE KILLING HER!”

And with that said he looked down to see that he was indeed, for he was slowly choking her to death, and then with fear in his eyes he quickly made his hoof retreat, “I am so very sorry,” he said, “It’s just that my emotions get the best of me sometimes, especially these days, especially ever since I lost her.”

“Lost who?” Twilight gasped trying to breathe.

“I will tell you,” he said using magic to heal her broken ribs, “But you must make me the same promise that Celestia did, you must promise to never ever tell this to any other pony, even if your very life or honor depends upon it. Do you understand and agree to the terms and conditions of this?”

“Yes, yes I do,” Twilight said, “But do you attack every pony like that?”

“No,” he said, “My anger, hate, wrath and fury vary depending upon the day, hour, and time, you’re just lucky that Celestia was here or it might have been worse, but before you ask, no, I have never killed any pony out of my own hate, fury, anger, or wrath, it had been bad before, many small and large injuries sure, but never death, and I consider myself very lucky it has never gotten that far. But if you are to understand why I am like this now and probably not the nice kind cheerful pony that Celestia has been describing to you, I would assume that she told you stuff like that unless I am wrong of course?”

“No, you’re right, go on.”

“Well as I was saying if you are to understand why I am what I am now, you must know what I was, and also what happened on that sad tragic day of fate.

But before I do I have only one question, is your promise still intact Celestia?”

“Yes, of course it is, that is why I brought my student here to you so that you could answer her question with your very own story.”

“That is very wise indeed, and thank you for respecting my wishes and keeping my promise after all these years, it really means a lot to me.”

“You’re welcome,” she said.

“Yes, well anyhow now that I know that I can get on with my story.

You see long ago I was in love with my wife Pearl as you know, but what you don’t know is why she is not here offering you tea or snacks, and as you can see,” he said pointing at the very dirty room, “This isn’t very

clean at all, and the reason for that is mostly because I don’t care anymore, I don’t care about anything anymore, not even about taking good care of myself.”

And that was clear because he smelled very bad and his blue skin looked not fair or well and he even had a gray frizzled beard that was a sign of age.

“Why do you even look that way? Can’t you change it?”

“Yes, I could, but then I would be lying to you, and I never ever lie to others unless I absolutely need to.

Now anyways as I was saying I was in love with my wife Pearl, and if she were here now you would already have tea and snacks, and I’m sorry that I’m not offering you any, it’s just that I don’t really care anymore, anyhow let me tell you the story of how I lost my wife to something terrible and tragic, you see after the sirens came to this land the tension and hate and anger and wrath and fury Luna felt towards her sister grew even more until one say she snapped and became Nightmare Moon, and that is where we really begin, for on the night that she rose, that was the night I lost it all.”

The Lost Night

1000 Years Ago…

Star Swirl arose from his sleep and at first he did not know why initially.

But then he very slowly realized why, it was the night that she rose.

Well of course, he would naturally be awoken for that, after all, it wasn’t every day or night that you could watch a ruler of Equestria turn dark and evil.

It wasn’t every day that you could see them become corrupted and flawed with time as they gave in to their emotions eventually, fear, sorrow, despair, and finally pain as well too.

This was the night that Luna turned into Nightmare Moon, and he would get the chance and opportunity to watch, and so he would.

When he got up he couldn’t help but to also make Pearl wake up too.

“What time is it?” she asked with a yawn, “And what is it exactly?”

“Oh, nothing really,” he said, “And it is night time, or at least I think it is, who knows for sure, it could be morning, but Luna probably has already changed that by now, now then my dear it’s nothing to trouble yourself over or worry about so why don’t you just go back to bed and lie down and wait for me to come back, and when I do how about I also share what I saw with you?”

“That sounds good,” she said, “But I want to see, you never let me see.”

“And that is only because I love you and care for you, you could get hurt my dear, these villains that I face, they don’t exactly care for other ponies and their safety and their lives when they fight me, or the princesses instead.

And they won’t care about you either, you’re just another simple pony to them.”

“I may be a simple pony to them,” she said, “But I am not to you, right?”

“Of course not, you mean much more to me than just that, much more than you could ever possibly know, but come now, be reasonable, it is not safe to watch, you could be hurt in the process, or even worse, be

lost or die.”

“Don’t be silly,” she said, “If they’re so dangerous then how come you get to watch them? How could you be any more capable than me to defend yourself?

How could you just let me sit here all alone without your protection?

Can’t I come along with you to watch just once if you fear my safety that much? And why would you ever think that I cannot defend myself or have the capacity to do so? Just because I am female doesn’t make me

any less than you are or any pony else, you should remember that the next time you decide to ever speak to me or any other female again, is that clear enough for you?

Or do I need yet make myself even more clear?”

“You’re fine,” he said, “And I never said any of that, but…”

He considered locking her in the house, her room, and the closet before he finally and eventually responded very slowly with a great and heavy sigh.

“But I suppose that you can come along with me just this one time.”

“Yeah!” she shouted with joy and delight, “But let me get ready and pack some stuff and things up first, I want to look good if I am going out.”

“It is the middle of the night!” he said in some protest, “No one cares!”

“I do!” she said, “And besides, you like it when I am pretty for you.”

He sighed, she was right, and she was always right (let that be a lesson to you guys and men, the woman is always right even if she is always wrong).

“You’re right,” he said, “And when you’re right you’re always right.”

“You know it,” she said putting the final touches on herself, “I’m ready now.”

And with that said the two of them walked out of their room and house making sure to lock it before they left and went towards the Castle of the Two Sisters.

“So what villain are they facing this time?” she asked.

“One of family and blood, one from the inside, one that has been secretly hidden away in plain sight for so many long years,” he said.

“That makes no sense at all,” she said, “Please explain this to me.”

“The villain is not one that you would ever expect, she is royal and regal, plain and simple, yet deep and complex too, the villain today, or rather tonight as it now is instead, it is none other than the Princess

herself, Princess Luna.”

Pearl gasped in shock and surprise, “Surely this cannot be so?”

“It is,” he said, “I saw it many long years ago, and nothing could have ever changed this event, only the details maybe perhaps instead, but not this.

Luna is no longer herself since she has given in to her emotions, she has let her fear, sorrow, despair and pain take over her, along with a new madness and power and force of the night, one that makes you, one that turns you into a mere shadow and reflection of yourself while making you think that you have been given more power, in other words, she is now a nightmare of herself.”

“That sounds… scary,” she said after a long pause to think, “But who will prevail in the end? Will it be Celestia or will it be Luna instead of her sister? Oh please tell me that it won’t badly for either of them.”

“It will end well enough in the future for them both, but for now Celestia will prevail and win, but Luna will come back, in one thousand years she will return after being banished, and the stars will aid in her escape.”

“That last part sounds ominous enough,” she said.

“Yes, and that is because it is part of a prophecy that I mad up just now.”

“Oh,” she said, “Well then, I guess that’s… good.”

“Yes, yes it is indeed.”

And with that said they walked the rest of the way to the castle in silence.

When they finally got there they saw that it still remained and was intact.

“Well here we are,” he said, “The show should be starting up soon enough.”

“Alright,” she said, “Fine then, but how will we know when it has begun.”

“I think that we will know when we see it,” he said pointing to a large big huge beam with the color of black and darkness and night all around it as it suddenly burst forth from the castle shooting upwards into the distant sky.

And with that said they gazed up into the sky watching the battle and fight take place, and from this distance they were safe enough from any and all debris that fell down around them as the two sisters blasted beams of great energy, power, and magic at each other which sometimes and quite often and frequently missed the other target and instead hit the castle or surrounding area and landscape around them, but other than that it was quite safe.

Besides, he had his great and powerful magic to protect them in case things went wrong, and he had a feeling that something bad would happen and it would go wrong, but he didn’t know what exactly, and even when the end of their fight or battle came near he still had the feeling for some reason.

He wondered why that could be, and then he had a sudden revelation, tonight some pony would be lost, and then he knew that must be why he was here.

Seeing them fight was good, but he knew that he couldn’t stop them, but perhaps maybe he could save the life of an innocent some pony.

The only problem would be finding them, and from what he saw and heard and felt (using his magic) there was no pony awake other than the two of them for many miles. And that was when he had even more revelation come upon him very slowly as his eyes rose in shock to the thought that he had in his mind if he was right, surely he wouldn’t be called out here just to watch that happen, right? It couldn’t possibly be true, but he knew in heart and mind that it was. And he also knew that he had to try something to stop the event and thing.

“Pearl?” he asked, “Do you mind coming closer to me?”

Pearl now stood slightly farther away from him before and despite his persistence in that she should stay close to him she decided to ignore him.

“Why?” she asked still staring at the sky.

“Please, just do it, and don’t ask why, just trust me,” he said looking into her eyes with a deep stare and gaze imploring her to do this one small and simple thing, and because of this she sighed in some reluctance and defeat.

“Fine then,” she said, “Have it your way like it always is with this.”

“Please don’t be angry or upset,” he said, “Just come here, please.”

“Alright, fine then, but I don’t see why I have to, I was fine where I was, I was perfectly safe, I don’t see why you have to cut in my fun.”

“Pearl, stop complaining and get over here right now.”

“You know what? No, I won’t, and if I am to do it, or will, then you must apologize for your rude and inconsiderate behavior before I come over.”

“Pearl, please, just listen to me for once, if you stay there you could get hurt or worse, and I only act this way because I care about you and love you too.”

“Well so do I,” she said backing even further away from him, “But do I act like you when I want to keep you safe? No, I don’t, I am polite and calm.”

“And that is what I am trying to be right now, so listen to me, please.”

“You keep on saying that, but I don’t think that you quite understand what that phrase really means,” she said, “And until you do I am staying here.”

“Pearl, please don’t make me use my magic on and against you.”

“You wouldn’t dare,” she said, “And besides, I know all your tricks and moves, I can easily enough deflect them even if I cannot defeat you in duel or a battle or a fight instead, so try it against me if you will, but I won’t fall down and I won’t fail either, so good luck, but the only way to get me back is if you listen.”

“I am,” he said, “And I will also talk if you need that as well too.”

“Right now all I need is for you to listen,” she said, “Hear what is around you, and then you can look into my eyes and tell me what you see there deep down inside, for I have something that I have wanted to tell you for a very long time.”

And with that said he did so, and what he heard was rain pouring all around him, strange, he thought, it is unusual that I don’t notice a storm this big or large especially considering that it adds to the mood and theme of this.

It added to the mood and theme of the surrounding landscape and area, and it was so cool, and here were also dark gray and black clouds up in the sky.

And lightning flashed all around him followed shortly by a very large boom.

“This, this is the work of Luna,” he said to himself mostly.

“Do you want to know why I wanted to come along with you?” Pearl asked, “It wasn’t so I could watch, that’s not really that important compared to what I have to tell you, and what I have to say will change your very life.”

“I’m sure it will,” he said, “But what is it that you have to say?”

“I want to,” she started to say but then was cut off as a chunk of debris of some very large stone fell down from the castle and headed straight towards her.

And suddenly it was as if the world was in slow motion, he saw everything around him with perfect clarity, and it was as if the very drops of rain and water hung there suspended in midair, and despite how fast he tried to react to this new piece of information he received he was still too slow, and he watched in horror as the piece of stone debris very slowly fell down on her sealing both his and her fate, and as he watched he screamed out in pain and despair.

And then suddenly it was back in real time and normal motion, the stone debris fell down on her and he quickly rushed over to her to help her out.

“PEARL!” he screamed in pain, sorrow, and despair, “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” she said after he had quickly removed the stone debris aside flinging it far away with his magic, “It’s just hard to breathe, that’s all it is, really.”

“Pearl, don’t lie to me, I don’t want you last and final words to be a lie.”

“Don’t worry,” she said gasping for breath as her ribs cracked as she tried to move and she winced in pain and her efforts to breathe were getting harder, blood was very slowly filling her lungs, and the weight and pressure she endured, it was just too much for any pony, even earth ponies to bear.

She coughed spitting out some blood, and his attempts at healing her with magic failed, and in vain desperation he still tried even harder knowing that he would only fail, for whatever reason this event, this thing, what was happening right now, it was fate, and it could not be undone by any pony’s actions.

“It’s okay,” she said smiling, “I know that you did your best, but it will all be fine and well, we’ll see each other again eventually, and when we do we can finally both have some rest and sleep, rest and sleep forever that is.”

“Don’t give up hope,” he said, “And please don’t die on me, I need you, I need you even more than you could ever possibly know, please, don’t leave me.”

“But it is my time,” she said, “And please promise me that you will move on from me, you can cry if you want to, and you must remember me, but promise me that you will move on and that one day you’ll finally smile again.”

“I promise,” he said, “I will move on, and I will smile, but please don’t leave me, not now, not ever, and if there was any other way, please, take me instead.”

He was mostly talking to himself now hoping that death would hear, but it was silent in response instead, and to any pony else he must have seemed crazy.

“No luck,” he said, “Well then, I guess that failed, but before you do leave me, please tell me what you wanted to say to me, I am ready and willing to listen, say whatever it is that you have always wanted to say to me, but never could.”

“What I was going to say,” she said, “Was that I wanted a child, I wanted to grow old finally, grow old and have a family with you, and then finally die and rest, and don’t ask me why, I don’t know why really, it was just a feeling that was there, an idea that lingered, but I guess that it was silly and I also suppose that I will never get my wish or dream now, huh?”

“Don’t say that,” he said, “Never say that, I can still make it happen.”

“I suppose that you could, but don’t try to bring me back, please, I won’t make you promise, but I do trust you, you don’t need me, not anymore, and besides, what is to come, it will teach you a very valuable lesson that you must learn.”

“I suppose that the lesson is moving on?” he asked, “And if so then why is it that life always keeps on insisting that I always must learn something?”

“I do not know why, and you do not either, all we can do is just ask. But anyhow if there is one thing you must know it is merely just this, I have always loved you, ever since the day we met and we were young, and I always will.”

“I love you too,” he said crying, “And while I may not have always known as long as you, I always have known that you were, are, and always will be my best and only friend, so please don’t leave me, stay just a little bit longer.”

“I can’t,” she said with a smile, “They call me, my family, the one and only, the real and true one, don’t worry though, I will see you again someday, eventually, and please don’t cry because this is over, smile because it happened instead.”

And with that she took in her last breath, closed her eyes, and rested.

And with that Star Swirl let out a roar of rage, fury, and wrath at the sky, and in that moment he just wanted to destroy something, but the two sisters had already made the castle into ruins by destroying it and he would never ever hurt Celestia, and so he tore a scar into the earth to represent his pain instead and using his magic he forged a giant deep rift in the earth around the castle.

And now there stood a lovely canyon that separated the castle from Ponyville.

And then after that he put Pearl into a spell preserving her body, it would never rot or waste away, and it would always remain young, and this was so that just in case he ever found a spell to save her that she would be ready to save.

And so he used his magic to carry her home and then cried out in sorrow, rage, despair, fury, wrath, and pain, and then he looked up at the moon.

“I know how you feel now,” he said to himself, “I know what you lost Luna, and I’m sorry, but now I understand, and perhaps this is why I lost her today on all nights, it is so I can help you and your sister out even if I don’t want to anymore, but I will, but only because I care for your sister, and that is all.”

And so he finished and then put the body of his wife in a glass coffin kissing the lid of it as he lowered it down, “I will find a way for us to be together again, I can promise you this, and I don’t know if you can hear me, but I still love you.

I always have and always will.”

And so he placed the glass coffin in a new hidden room and locked it keeping his hidden secret away from every other pony who would visit him after.

After the event it took many years before he would talk more than a few words or a sentence, and it took longer for him to give up his desperate quest.

And it took him even longer for him to finally mentor his second and last apprentice, but that is a story for another time and later.

He still remained cold and cruel after many years, and he never ever did smile again like what he used to when he was with Pearl, and no matter how hard he tried, no matter how much he did or what he did, he could not let go.

He could not move on, there would always be a part of him that held on and held him back, and that was his greatest weakness and flaw until this day.

Meanwhile…

“And that is my story and tale,” Star Swirl said finishing it up at last.

“But out of curiosity is there anything you missed or didn’t hear about?”

“Yes,” Twilight said, “Your ten-year voyage and quest, your second apprentice, and finally Discord and the Crystal Empire as well too.”

“That’s quite a lot,” he said, “But I shall do my best, and let me begin with my ten-year voyage to the lands of the west, and then the cold icy harsh lands of the north, and then finally the great and grand regal Alicorn kingdom of the east, you see it began so many long years ago when I was very young…”

Going West

1000+ Years Before (Again)…

“You’re going where again exactly?” Pearl asked him.

“West, North, East,” he said, “Basically I will be traveling around a lot.”

“Yeah, I know, it’s just that I don’t really feel safe or comforted not knowing where you are going exactly, I mean what if you get hurt or injured or worse?

What if you get lost? Shouldn’t you bring some pony along even if not me?”

“Yes, I should,” he said, “But I can’t and won’t because this is a journey that I must complete all alone, the lands I will be traveling to are not for regular every day ordinary ponies, it would take one that Is very special, different, unique, odd and unusual, one such as myself for example, to complete and finish this very long and hard journey, besides, they’re not ready to see it either or learn of the great wide vast knowledge and power that these lands hold for them.

Not yet at least, that will come later, eventually.”

“But when will you be back again?” she said.

“I plan on traveling no more than ten years in total, that should give me time enough at each place, and since we are now immortal I don’t really need to worry about food or what I’ll need to carry, I’ll just bring the essentials along.”

“Since your essentials doesn’t include me does that mean that I’m not special?”

“Of course you’re special, never think anything else or different or less of yourself, for if you do you will only be lying to yourself about how great and special and different and unique and odd and unusual you truly are.”

“Alright then, you win this time, you clever little wise wizard, but make sure to come back and stay loyal to me,” she said

“How dare you accuse me of that most heinous criminal act,” he said, “But don’t worry, I will come back in due time, eventually.”

“I know that you will, and I can only hope and pray and have faith that you will not be hurt along the way of your journey, and that you will stay safe too.”

“I will,” he said, “Do you doubt my power and knowledge and wisdom?”

“No, I just worry about your safety because that’s what ponies who care about others do, now then, you better be off on your journey now, you have a long way ahead of you and I wouldn’t want you to get delayed or be behind.”

“Hey, I’m the one that usually says that, you took my line,” he said complaining as he walked to the front door with all his stuff and things.

Pearl merely just smiled and said, “Well then I am very sorry, but go now, please go before I can change my mind and doubt my whole entire sanity.”

And with that said he nodded and then left slowly fading out of her sight into the distance far away, but never out of her mind or heart or her thoughts, ideas, and dreams, and that alone would be enough to sustain him.

He went West first even though he didn’t know why exactly, he just felt and sensed it so it would be better if you didn’t ask him or me as to why exactly he went that way, so let it remain a mere simple mystery instead.

He wandered far and wide and he even eventually found a new strange and odd and mysterious unusual bird just sitting there all alone in a bare tree.

“Hello there,” he said when he spotted it, “What are you exactly?”

The bird squawked a response at him and he understood.

“A phoenix you say?” he said, “How curious and interesting, but tell me this, are you lost or far away from your home? And what is your name exactly?”

The bird squawked again, although this time it was very slightly different.

“You say that this is your home? How odd and unusual, and you also ask why I can understand you? Well it’s a simple answer really, a magic spell of course.

One that enables ponies such as myself to understand all kinds of various both big and large and small and tiny and odd and unusual and different and special and unique of course. But you also say that you have no name yet?

Well then I shall name you Felicia since you are a female, but do you like that name or would you rather I change it to something else better instead?”

Felicia squawked once more again (and like last time it was also different).

“You do like it? Well then, that’s quite good and excellent, but do you wish to come join me on this mighty epic quest as I travel these lands seeking out its vast wide knowledge and power? Will you come join with me now?”

Felicia squawked her agreement to him (also different this time as well).

“Excellent then, our journey begins at once, come with me now and join me to where I know not we go,” and with that said they went on their way.

They went even further west than they had both either predicted or anticipated as they passed several and many little tiny places where a small town could be built and he took note of them and it in his notebook which he always carried with him at all times, even when he was sleeping in his carry along tent, but despite how far they went they still had not arrived at the end or edge yet.

“I can’t believe that after all this time we still haven’t reached the end or edge of this land,” he said to Felicia (but mostly to calm down his mental state of mind), “I mean can you believe it because I know that I can’t.”

She squawked her response.

“Hey there, easy girl, don’t get all sarcastic on me, that’s my job you know.”

She puffed out her chest and squawked even some more.

“Hey, watch your language, this is supposed to be for kids you know!”

She squawked out an apology very slowly.

“Thank you, that’s much better, now then, shall we continue?”

She nodded and they went on their way once more again.

The Tree of Chaos

It did take them a very long time, but they did eventually find something very interesting and different and unique and special and odd and unusual to finally distract them from their very long and hard journey.

It was a tree, a black one, but what made it what it was, well there was ‘black smoke clouds’ over the top of it as he described it even though he (later on) knew that it was very dark and powerful magic that hung over it completely.

“What do you suppose that is?” he asked Felicia and she squawked a response.

“Yes I know that it’s a tree, that much is obvious, you don’t need to be sarcastic with your responses you know, you can be kind and nice for once.”

She squawked once more again and then he looked at her, “If this had a different rating I would say a very naughty word about you, but as it is I can only call you the worst thing that this rating system will allow me to, a jerk.”

Felicia squawked back a response.

“Oh come on,” he said very loudly, “It wasn’t that bad.”

She then merely just turned her head away ignoring him completely.

“Fine then,” he said, “Act that way if you want to, but I’m going to explore the tree and I don’t care whether or not you think it’s stupid to do so or not.”

And with that said he slowly approached the tree and as he did he began to feel uneasy and afraid, and he also wanted to use his magic for evil now too.

The tree was corrupting him with very powerful dark magic, he thought then, I must ignore it and press on,

I must continue this journey no matter what happens to me, and so with that thought in his mind he slowly went on towards it, but as he got closer its influence only ever grew more powerful.

And then it did something he hadn’t expected it to do, it spoke to him.

Well hello there, Star Swirl the great and wise powerful wizard, very to some.

“You can speak?” he asked it with shock and surprise.

Of course we can, but I do not blame you for being shocked and surprised, most would be if they ever came here, but you are the first, and the only reason for that is because you wanted to see the end and edge of this land, and you are finally here at last, for slightly beyond me lies the endless western ocean.

I am the last and only living thing that is this far out west, but some would not consider me to be living, yet

I am, I live within all of you simple little tiny ponies.

I may not be seen, but I am heard of by all, my name may not be spoken, yet I still live on within their memories, ideas, dreams, hopes and fears too.

I am both the end and start, I have no reason or logic and many names.

I am Chaos, I am Discord, I am Entropy, we represent all of them.

We are few and many and lie far in between, yet we are always close too.

“You speak in riddles, just tell me who or rather what you are exactly, and do it right now, I care not for these silly little tiny games, and I am a wizard.”

I am the Tree of Chaos, but we are the Elements that represent Chaos.

Let me tell you are names, there is the Element of Dark Magic, the most powerful one of all, there is the Element of Betrayal, there is the Element of Deceit.

There is the Element of Cruelty and Hatred, there is the Element of Despair and Woe. And finally, there is the Element of Greed.

We are in opposition to the Tree of Harmony which stands in your home town forest, we seek to eventually destroy it even if we know it may take some very long time and that it may be in vain, but we will still try nonetheless.

I speak for all the Elements, but they can also speak for themselves too.

Try to take one away if you will, and see the consequence most ill.

“Okay, the riddles were bad enough, but your rhyming really sucks, did you know that or what?” he said moving over to the gem in the middle of the tree.

I care not for your silly little tiny opinion, you are beneath me, and even though I know that you have made yourself immortal, I also know that I will even outlast this any other universe and world, but you cannot, you will not in the very end.

But go on, try your luck if you dare, for great danger and peril lurks behind every gem, let us see how you do in the end, for surely you will fail.

And with that said he touched the gem in the middle and instantly his mind was filled with thoughts and ideas that were not his own, for they were all very evil and most (if not all) involved him in taking control over all the lands.

Do you feel the power that flows deep down inside you now?

He did, but he also didn’t like it and tried to resist it and all the thoughts and ideas that went through his mind too, he needed to be strong.

Do not try to resist, it is futile, come and join with us and me and we will make you the most powerful wizard of all time, and I will be a great addition to that legacy, come on and put me on, do not fear, no pony else can take me off with any kind of magic once I am worn, just let me in and I will show you a whole new world that is completely different and one that is far more better than this one. Let me in and you will never have to fear for anything else ever again.

Let me in and we could rule this world together as one.

Let me in and I will make all your dreams and wishes come true.

Let me in and all your thoughts and ideas will be reality.

Let me in and you will have great power, fame, wealth, and love.

Let me in and all will know your name and fear and respect you too.

“I already have love and respect,” he said, “And I don’t want to be feared either.

And I already have fame and wealth and great power too, there is nothing that you could ever possibly offer me that would make me ever accept you.

Your attempts at buying me over have failed, and it is you that is the one who is weak instead, not me, for I have resisted all of your vain attempts.”

Not all of them, you still have yet to hear the others, and they are far less kind than me, and I would highly advise and suggest that you do not listen to them.

They cannot give you what you really want, not truly, only I can do that.

“Never trust something that says it can give you all that you want,” he said, “Chances are that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is, besides, your own joy cannot be given to you by others or bought, but only found and looked for and then finally discovered and explored, and you cannot ever give me that,” and with that said he pulled the black gem out of its proper place.

What are you doing? The tree asked in fear and panic.

“I am removing your source of power and corruption, and while I know that you will not die from this, or at least not yet perhaps, it will still make your influence less in these lands at least, and that is worth any price to pay.

It is far better more than any pain that you could ever inflict upon me.”

You foolish pony! Do you not fully understand what I am giving you? Do you not fully understand what I am offering you here? This is a once in a lifetime event and opportunity and you’re just throwing it away like it’s garbage or something else! Besides, even if you did strip me of all my power, my gems still can speak to your mind and all the other minds of ponies, the rest of the world is theirs, and you cannot hide it from them, they will eventually crawl out of wherever you put them, and wherever they are put they will find a way out of darkness and shadow and find their way into another’s heart and mind and soul to corrupt them. Their influence will be great and large even if it is still only very small and isolated and tiny, no matter what you do you cannot hide me, you cannot conceal me, you cannot destroy me, many have tried before, and all have failed.

In the end all of you will fail, and I will still live on.

And know this, the time and day will come where you cannot stop us from being used by another, and when that day and time comes, you will weep.

For then you will remember my warning, and you will curse your stupid foolish recklessness and choice, and then you will wish to change the past.

But you can’t, and you never will either.

“How very inspiring and realistic yet still depressing and misguided,” he said gathering all the gems into his ‘backpack’, “I guess that these gems would work better alone rather than together?”

Yes, we are the Elements of Chaos after all, we have no Harmony.

“Well then, it was nice chatting with you, but I have a new direction to head towards, the North, and hopefully there I can find a spot to hide you.”

Didn’t you hear what I said at all? You can’t ever hide me.

“In the long run, no, but short term, yes, and then you can be forgotten too.”

Hide me, bury me, try to destroy me, it does not matter, I will still win in the end.

“In your dreams,” he said, “But keep that hope alive, it’s good for you.”

And with that said he slowly walked away from the tree as the clouds suddenly vanished, but then he heard a voice from within his small tiny little pack.

I am still here you know, and I always will be, you can’t ever get rid of me even if you wanted to, my power and influence and corruption will be too much.

“Maybe,” he said, “But then again, perhaps not, who knows? I certainly don’t and I doubt that you would know either, now then, please just shut up.”

As you wish, your command is mine, my master.

“I am not your master,” he said, “Or your slave either.”

Would you rather me call you something else completely different instead?

“Call me by my proper name if you must ever speak at all.”

As you wish, your command is mine, Star Swirl.

And with that said the gems remained quiet as he went towards the North.

Going North

It took a very long time before he could eventually find some place to hide and bury the gems, but when he did he was very glad and filled with joy and delight, this was the best place, far away from both the tree and other ponies, and deep beneath the cold icy frozen water no pony would ever find it.

And the ice ponies who did live up here would not be affected by it either.

You think that just by casting us into the ice and water that we will not be found or recovered one day?

Granted it may take a very long time, but we have lots of patience. Besides, we know that you want to keep us to study and examine.

“Yes, I do,” he said, “But do you want to know what the great thing about magic is? I can actually use it to teleport you to me and then back to the ice once more again, but I can’t do that unless there’s an anchor, and that’s why I literally put an anchor in the ice, so I can concentrate and focus my magic on you no matter how far away I am or go, I hope that you like and enjoy your cold icy frozen stay, heck, who am I kidding? I actually don’t wish you that.”

Careful for what you wish for, it just might come true.

And with that final last piece and word from it he tossed all of them into the water and then teleported them back to him once more again.

And then he placed a spell on all of them so that they could never again ever speak to any pony, but he could not place a spell that would stop or even delay the power and corruption and influence of all these gems he had now.

And then after that he went on his way and even passed through the Crystal Empire and saw that it was very happy and joyous, but when he looked upon its future and what it held, and who would come, he was very afraid.

“This King Sombra is a very powerful pony,” he said after he left and it faded into the distance and out of his sight, but not out of his mind.

“But only because he used the forbidden arts of dark magic, I only wish that I could change the future, but I know that I can’t for the greater good of these lands, come on Felicia, we still have a very long way to go yet.”

And with that said they went on their way to the East.

Going East

It also took him a very long time to find anything interesting, but he did, eventually, and it came to him in yet another least expected form and shape, a simple guard pony. There were two of them guarding a gateway that was the only opening he saw to a very large and wide wall that stretched on for miles, and he was glad for once that he had actually taken the path instead.

“Well hello there,” he said walking up to them, “I’m finally glad to see some fellow company of mine even if they are so far out here to the East, but tell me this, where does this gateway lead to? And what might I find on the path?”

The guards didn’t respond and instead merely just looked forward with their cold icy stare glare (and he knew that look, he had met ice ponies after all).

“So then I take it you’re not the talking type,” he said, “Well then, if you don’t mind I must go on through this gateway and on down the path.”

“HALT!” they said stretching out their hidden wing and it was only now that he just noticed that they had both wings and horns, how odd, strange and unusual, and very curious and mysterious too, he would have to study everything about them, their movements, gestures, subtle facial expressions, their words and accents, their hidden thoughts, ideas, hopes, fears and dreams too, he would need to know all if he was to understand them at all.

“Who goes there and for what purpose do you wish to cross?”

“Me? I’m just Star Swirl the great and powerful and very wise wizard, you may have heard of me,” he said to see if they would recognize him, but they didn’t.

“Seriously?” he said, “You haven’t heard of me? Well let me try to jog your memory with a list of some of my accomplishments, I am the father of the amniomorphic spell and many more other various random spells.”

“Amnio what?” the guards said with confusion, “Look, you’re a stranger, we haven’t heard of you and we don’t care whether or not if you’re famous or not, just go away, please, otherwise we will have to use force to remove you.”

“Look,” he said with some very slight annoyance, “I may be a stranger to these lands, but can you please tell me why you won’t or rather can’t let me in?”

“By the royal order and command of King Cosmos we are not to allow any pony in except by his permission, and we are to protect and guard this way from any invading threats and enemies that pose any kind of anger or peril to the safety of the lives of this land, that is our official royal assignment and duty, and we would do anything to enforce and keep it, including sacrificing our very own lives, so I would highly suggest and advise that you please leave now.”

“Alright, I will, but before I go, I just have one question,” he said, “HOW THE HAY ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO GET THE KING’S PERMISSION TO ENTER IF YOU ARE A STRANGER? Being a stranger implies that you are unknown and naturally the threat and peril and anger and fear of the unknown is far too great to ever let it enter all alone without the permission of royalty now?”

“Yes?” the guards said nervously backing away very slowly in some fear.

“Well that has got to be the stupidest thing I have ever heard of before!

Now then here’s the way I see it, you can either escort me to where he lives, which I assume is some kind of big wide fancy royal regal castle, and then I can speak to him personally, or I can write him a letter asking for his permission to enter, so which will it be boys? The hard way, or the easy way instead?”

“The easy way?” they said very nervously with even some more fear.

“Good then,” he said sitting down to write a letter, “I would assume that you’re king is also one of your kind, and by the way, what is your race anyways?”

“We are Alicorns,” they said, “All of us are or will be, and this is the great and wide vast Kingdom of Alicar, and its regal and fame and fortune will speak for itself when you see are lands and the great castle of our King, but he doesn’t consider himself as one, more like just a kind ruler or leader.”

“Well that’s very wise and smart and nice of him, he knows that he serves ponies and is not over them in any kind of way other than name and title.

I like him already, and I can’t wait to meet him, but I think that shall be very soon now since my letter is done, could you please send it for me?

I don’t know where the King lives or is and I haven’t been here before so my magic won’t work as well as it would with normal teleportation.”

“Yes, of course,” they said using their magic to send it away, “But don’t expect an answer to come or arrive that fast, the king is very busy at times and at this very current moment, but don’t ask me what because I do not know, and even if I did I couldn’t tell you because I swore to protect his name and life and honor and reputation too, so you’ll just have to wait in mystery instead.”

“And in the darkness and shadows too, don’t forget that either,” he said, and with that he went silent and then waited for a response and reply back.

And very soon enough he did receive a response and reply back.

“Right on time,” he said picking up the letter which had been sent within a mere hour of sending his letter there, “And what do you know, I can come in, well then, it looks like your job is done here, I can pass through now.”

And with that said he entered through the gateway into the Alicorn Kingdom.

Meeting King Cosmos

And it took him a very long while to find the King’s Castle, but he did find eventually by (get this) traveling East of all things (how very odd and unusual and strange and mysterious, it’s almost like the author planned it that way).

And then he entered the plain castle (and he used plain because he couldn’t decide what color it was, one moment it was one, and then the next it changed to another, but the ones he did see were white, blue, gold, yellow silver, gray, red, orange, sky blue, green, black, white, forest green, night sky blue, purple, pink, turquoise, brown, and even many more other various random colors).

And with that in his mind he entered the large wide vast regal castle and went to the throne room (which literally just stood right there in the room right at the end and was aligned down the very center and middle with a pathway).

“Well hello there King Cosmos and greetings to you, I am Star Swirl the wizard, one that is very wise and powerful and great, so how may I help you out?” he said walking up to the front and kneeling before him out of a sign of respect and loyalty and nothing else, it was only a fake mere gesture and custom after all and it really didn’t mean anything if there was no idea attached to it at all.

It would also mean nothing if there was no pony to enforce that idea too.

“Please,” the King said very casually, “There is no need to be formal in this court, and you also don’t need to call me by my full name or royal title, Cosmos will just work out fine, regality has its cost sometimes, did you know that?”

“Yes, of course I did, I do, I know many things King-, I mean Cosmos.”

“Thank you for coming to me as stated by my request sent to you by my letter, but may I ask you how did you ever find out about this place or come so far?”

Star Swirl smiled, “It’s a very long story, one that I might tell you later, but will if you wish me to, but come, I want to learn and know everything there is about this very large vast wide lands of yours, who are the nobles, how you are born, how you can become an alicorn if it is not natural and instead artificial, how large big wide and vast it really is, how regal and noble and royal it really is.

And finally all the other boring stuff and things, and also how I can help you out in any way that you can think possible, even in ways you can’t think of.”

“Well that’s quite a lot that you want to know, but do not worry, I will entertain your wild crazy stupid notions and humor you, and if you will tell me and my family your story over dinner tonight then I will tell you ours tomorrow.

Is that quite an acceptable agreement of terms and conditions or is it not?” he said holding out his hoof waiting anxiously for the deal to finally be made.

“Yes,” he said, “And you can call me Comet for short, that’s my nickname.”

“I see that great minds with simple desires and passions and dreams and ideas think alike,” he said with a smile shaking his hoof, “But that we also have great and good ideas and dreams and hopes for making the world better by always and constantly improving it, it’s really nice to see some pony like you here.”

“Likewise,” he said, “I was first surprised and shocked to hear your description from a guard, but he seems to have done quite very well about all of you.”

“And what did this guard, what did he say about me exactly?”

“That you didn’t think of yourself above any pony else, and that’s all you really need to know, he seemed

loyal enough to me, although I do detect and sense that some are not so much this way, is my assumption in this correct?”

“It is indeed,” Cosmos said with a slight but very heavy sigh, “Many would wish to take my place on the throne for many various random reasons, but all would not be as loyal or loving or kind or caring towards the citizens as me and my family are. For you see we have ruled this land and all the kings under us for many countless generations, and considering that we are immortal unless killed by another, well that’s a very long time to wait for your place or position.

I do not know who is opposed to me exactly, but some have made their position quite clear in the matter, and that’s just one of the many things that troubles and worries me at night when I try to sleep and finally have some peace.

The list could go on for quite some very long time and I do not wish to trouble you with all my burdens that I bear on a daily basis, it’s not your concern or place, but I still do appreciate your concern nonetheless however.”

“Please continue, I didn’t come here just to learn and sightsee you know, I also want to help other ponies out, it’s my destiny, kind of, sort of, some, a little bit.

Okay, I guess by technicality it is in my contract and job title since I am a wizard, but do tell me more, for if I am to help you out I first must understand what problems that you face here on a daily basis exactly.”

“Well there is also the matter of my children, they need some help.”

“Yes, but with what in exactly? Please do elaborate the details.”

“They need help… with… raising and lowering the sun and moon and stars.”

“That?” he said, “Well that’s easy, I bet a child of yours or any alicorn else could do it, in fact I think that I could do it all alone, not that I have ever tried before, but I know that a great number of unicorns can do all

these feats and tasks if they will only work together and unite in harmony.”

“Well that’s just the thing you see,” he said, “They can’t do it all, and I am very worried for them, I mean think about it, what will happen to the kingdom if and when they can’t prove or show that they can handle all the royal tasks and responsibilities, and what if they fail in just one simple little tiny demonstration of all their powers and knowledge? My throne and kingdom will be ruined for sure and probably won’t ever recover, but if it ever did it would take many generations if my family line was ever so lucky. I can’t allow this to happen, so I request and ask you to try to teach them this before I pass away.”

“You sound like you could die any day now,” he said with some slight worry.

“I could if some pony else tries to kill me, but they probably wouldn’t ever dare with all my security and

protection and guards and advisors who are all loyal to me and would give up their lives in a moment or instant to save me.”

“Careful what you say and claim, and don’t ever say it unless it’s a fact or unless you know it to be true without any doubt, so I must ask you this, do you have doubts about any of them in even the slightest way possible?”

“No, never, just like they don’t have doubts about me and whether or not I will eventually fail them in the end, they know that I will not at any cost or price.”

“Well I would highly suggest that you reconsider that and cross examine and check your sources and ponies because I still feel and sense that you have a traitor hidden somewhere deep down inside you vast wide complex and yet still simple system, and you better find them fast before it’s too late for you.”

“How dare you accuse one of my loyal subjects of such acts, the very thought if it alone is most heinous and punishable by the extents of the law.”

“Well then,” he said, “I guess that I’m lucky not to be a citizen here then now?”

“Yes, I suppose so, but I am considering making you an honorary one just so I could possibly punish you in the right way, but for now you are still my guest here and as such deserve to be treated as such, come

now, rest, for surely you have had a very long journey, rest, for you probably surely need it.

Take one of the many guest’s rooms and beds and furniture.

And then tonight you may come dine with us and eat, for surely you must be hungry after such a long journey and voyage, and after we have eaten then you can tell us your very long story and tomorrow I will tell you mine and let you explore the kingdom with whomever you want to that day.

Come guards, take this stallion to a guest room where he can rest and relax and get some sleep and unpack his things, and when dinner time comes you must go back to get and retrieve him, do you understand this?”

The guards nodded and with that they took him to a guest room where he had to wait until dinner time before he could even get the chance to speak with the king once more again, “Well this is just great,” he said letting Felicia out of the bag and free to stretch out her very sore wings in the small tiny little room.

She squawked, “Yes I know it’s tiny and little and small, but the king here likes to save and be conservative, he doesn’t use any more than he has to.”

She squawked again, “Yes I know that I shouldn’t have put you in the bag when I saw that wall and the pathway, but what could I do? I was worried that other ponies not might not know what you were or are when they saw you and would possibly try to attack you, and I couldn’t put your safety and life on the line, it was just too much of a risk for an unknown danger and peril to take.”

She squawked some more, “Yes I know that you were very uncomfortable in there, and no, you won’t get any snacks until dinner time so will you please just shut up and stop whining? And no, I won’t let you go fly out through the window either, I don’t want you to get lost out there in the big wide open vast world and this new different land, besides, some pony could see you, and you know what I just said about other ponies seeing you out there alone.”

She squawked, “Yes, I know that we have some kind of deep personal connection because I named and found you and put a spell on you so that we could always find each other again in case we ever got lost or separated.

But still I do worry about your safety out there, please be careful.”

And with that said he went over to the window and opened it, “Go, be free, fly away if you will, but make sure to come back before night time, okay?”

She squawked her agreement and then flew away into the distance.

“Females,” he said once she had flown out of sight and distance but not out of mind, “Why do they always have to be so much trouble and pain to me?

Why do they always have to be so much trouble for us stallions?”

But no one was there to reply and respond and so he instead sighed heavily and deeply and decided to try to get some rest in before nighttime came.

Dinner Talk/ Conversation

Eventually there was a knock at the door waking him up from his rest.

“The King, I mean Cosmos, he requests your presence at once now.”

“Oh, that’s good,” he said exiting the room, “The food is here now.”

And with that said he left the room and went on his way following the guard to the dining room which was almost as large as the front throne hallway room. But it still was quite very impressive nonetheless however.

“This is very lovely, quite indeed,” he said, “But where do I sit exactly?”

“Oh, we’re not eating here at one of the square tables,” he said, “Come, let me show you where we really are dining tonight, it just might shock and surprise you,” he said leading him down another hallway to yet another different room.

“I seriously doubt that,” he said, “I may not be as old as you, but I have seen quite a few things and I know that I will still see yet many more too.”

“You’re probably right,” he said, “But then again, perhaps maybe not.”

And with that said he opened the door to reveal a large round circular table.

“Oh,” he said, “What is this doing here exactly?”

“This is where me and my family eat every day when nobles or royalty aren’t in the dining hall, and the table is round because every pony in the family is equal when they have to share their thoughts, feelings, ideas, hopes, fears or dreams, and while we may all be different and unique and special and odd and unusual in our own little tiny way, in a family we are all also equal as well.”

“That’s really nice, and I am shocked and surprised to hear and see it here.”

“Well then, thank you, my family will be arriving here shortly along with the food so please wait, I have to gather them all up for this time now.”

“Of course,” he said, “I do not mind waiting, I am immortal after all.”

Cosmos blinked in shock and surprise, “You’re going to have to tell me more about that later on, but for now I’ll just be going now, okay and alight then?”

He nodded and with that said Cosmos left to gather up the rest of his family.

It took quite a long while before they finally came in and during all that time he found that counting both the floor and ceiling tiles was really quite interesting.

“I’m sorry,” Cosmos said sitting down at a random spot but next to his very lovely and beautiful wife (he assumed it was and was later on proven right), “Did I keep you waiting very long? My family can be hard to gather at some times, especially the little young ones, they’re so wild at this age.”

“Oh you didn’t keep me waiting that long,” he said, “But did you know that there are exactly 46,002 tiles on your floor and 50,210 on your ceiling?”

“No, I didn’t know that, did you count them all out yourself?”

“Yes, yes I did, but tell me this, how old are you and your children?”

“Me? Well me and my wife here are about thirty-five thousand years old, and the children here are just about seventeen thousand years old each.”

If he had anything in his mouth to spit out at Cosmos he probably would have, luckily enough however he did not since the food still wasn’t there yet.

“Holy Faust,” he said, “I can’t believe that, but I do have to say that you all look good for your ages, me on the other hoof, I’m just about forty-one or so, but I am immortal so one day I will eventually be just as old as they are right now.”

“Yes, one day you will, but that is not today now is it? And in case you were wondering why they are so small, well the reason behind that is that we don’t age or mature at the same speed or pace that you normal regular ponies do.

To compare imagine that one year of your lives is a thousand of ours.

And also generally they don’t grow up fully until they have earned their cutie marks which these two haven’t yet, and they still have the mental maturity and age roughly about the same as a teenager, which makes life just great for us.”

“I see that you are also an expert in sarcasm,” he said, “And this clears up things a lot, thanks, but where the hay is our food supposed to be right now?”

“Oh, I’m sorry, chefs, please bring in the dinner,” and with that said a simple yet still elegant meal was brought in for them to dine on.

“Let us begin to eat and feast!” Cosmos said digging into his food.

Star Swirl really wasn’t that hungry but did decide to eat since it looked good.

And when the delicious meal was finally done the chefs who had prepared and served it took away the dirty plates to be cleaned up in the kitchen.

“Now that our dinner is finally done now, let us please hear your story then,” Cosmos said anxiously leaning forward on his chair.

“Well of course, but I do have one last final quick question before I begin.”

“Yes, what is it exactly?” he said.

“Firstly, I never got all of your names, and secondly, why is there an empty chair?” he said pointing his hoof to the chair that was still untouched.

And once he had said this the mood and atmosphere around and in the room suddenly turned dark and sad and he could have sworn that he felt a very cold shill in the air even though his magic always kept him at just the right heat.

“I am sorry, forgive my manners and rudeness,” Cosmos said, “This is my very lovely and beautiful wife Galaxia who is Queen, the white one is Celestia and the other is her little younger sister Luna, and finally, the empty chair, that used to hold the place and position of a friend of ours who was like a daughter to us, her name was Winter Frost, but her tale is for yet another time.

“Come, tell us your story now and let us hear of all that you have done.”

And with that said he did so and when he was done they gasped in shock and awe and wonder and surprise, “I can’t believe that you did all of that,” Celestia said, “And I also can’t believe that you found the way and secret to being immortal without becoming an Alicorn, I mean how is any of that possible?”

“That is a very good and great question to which I do not have the answer to sadly enough, but all that you need to know for now was that it was magic.”

“Well of course it was, do you think that I am silly?” she said.

“Well I really don’t know, I heard that you had the maturity of children or teenagers still so I would still say that you are, just a bit however.”

“Hey!” she complained, but the conversation moved on.

“So then girls I think that you have heard enough for one night, bedtime.”

“Oh come on dad, can’t we stay up just a little bit longer?” Luna said.

“When you can control the stars and night you can do whatever you want, but until then so long as you live in my house you follow my rules.”

“Your father is right,” Galaxia said, “Come on now and be good little girls and I’ll read you another bedtime story, perhaps maybe even your new favorite.”

The girl’s eyes widened with the anticipation of this great and glorious yet still simple prize to be gained and earned, “The First Alicorn?” Celestia said.

“Yes, that one, now go before I can change my mind.”

And with that said they rushed off to get ready for bed.

The parents both laughed and said, “They’ll never ever really change or grow up fully because they have a bit of a pranking side and nature to them.”

And then Star Swirl became curious as something that she had said.

“You said that you would tell them a bedtime story of the first alicorn, is that quite right and correct?” he said after they had left the room.

“Yes, why?” Galaxia said with much curiosity in her mind right then.

“Oh no reason, I was just wondering if it was some kind of fairy tale or myth or legend that could have some real fact and truth behind it, oh, and I would also like to hear it from you even if it is just directed at them.”

Galaxia looked nervously at Cosmos but he just laughed, “Oh, please don’t worry about their safety or innocence,

I would never do anything like that to hurt them and would never try to put their lives at risk either.

They won’t be in any kind of danger or peril and I am not that kind of stallion either, besides, I’ve done things and stuff with my own wife and I would not rather it get complicated with any little tiny young foals of yours, and besides, me and the author don’t even like or read foalcon, I mean that stuff it just icky and gross and disgusting,

I mean have you read any of the fanfictions out there? Me and the author haven’t and we would like to keep it that way, and thank you very much for letting me dine and eat with you tonight.”

Their faces dropped in a mix of both horror shock and surprise and then he sighed as he slowed down time and turned to the screen, “Sorry for this fourth wall break through,” he said, “But the author just couldn’t resist, and besides, I am a very great and powerful wizard, who is to say that I can’t break all of reality as we know it and then somehow put back the broken pieces together once more again? And with that said he turned back to them and resumed time. “How did you know what we were thinking exactly?” they said.

“Oh, that was just a simple little tiny mind trick and spell, really quite simple and easy as it can only interpret emotions, but the ones I use decipher all of your mind completely and entirely covering the whole entire area.”

“Oh, well then, that explains a lot,” Galaxia said, “But yes, I do not mind you listening to my voice as I read to them, even if it seems creepy and somehow still sexual, and I don’t want to say anymore for fear of raising the mood.”

“Don’t you mean the rating of this story?’ he said.

“Wait, what story?” Cosmos said.

“Never mind,” he said, “Just forget what I said about the fourth wall.”

They looked a bit confused but then decided to ignore his very strange and unusual eccentric mysterious and odd nature and habits too.

And with that he followed Galaxia to the girl’s room where she lay down beside their beds to try to get them to sleep with a bedtime story.

“Mama, why is he here exactly?” Luna said pointing at him.

“Oh, he’s just a guest that’s very curious about the story I am about to tell you, just ignore him and focus on the story and close your eyes and relax, once upon a time in this very land of ours…”

“…The End,” she finished up as they fell asleep at last.

“That was a very good story,” he said in a very low whisper careful not to wake them up once they were outside and she had shut the door and gave them kisses on their heads and telling them that she loved them very much,

“And your care and love for them is really quite amazing and wonderful too.

Good job, keep it up and you’ll go very far with those two.”

“Thanks a lot,” she said very quietly in a low whisper too, “But I don’t need your praise or compliments, I am fine with just their love alone.”

“Don’t talk like that, of course you can accept my praise and compliments, the only reason that you don’t do so is because most ponies just can’t or won’t.”

“They do? Huh, that’s interesting, but come now, why don’t you go to your guest room and chambers now and get some sleep and rest now?”

“You keep on saying that and it almost makes me think that there’s some kind of devious evil plot to eat me or put me in a bowl of soup when I get there, and just out of pure simple scientific curiosity, you’re not going to do that, are you?

Or perhaps maybe I am letting my imagination go wild again instead?”

“It is most definitely the second option,” she said with a slight smile and giggle, “Now then off you go, I want to spend some quality time with my husband.”

His eyes widened at that statement, “No, it’s nothing like that at all!”

“Oh good thing then,” he said with a very deep heavy sigh, “I was worried that the rating might go up for a second there, but thank Faust that it didn’t.”

“You keep on using that word,” she said

“What word?” he said trying desperately to avoid this situation.

“Faust, who is that anyways?” she said very curiously.

“Um, nobody important, that’s for sure,” he said lying, “Just forget that you ever heard me say her name, and your husband as well too.”

“Well okay then,” she said just going along and rolling with him, “As you wish.”

And with that said she went into her own room and chambers and shortly afterwards Cosmos came up after her to do… well… something.

“No it wasn’t like that,” he said to Felicia when he got to his room and found her sitting at the window edge waiting for some food and then he went back and got some and then told her his day when she asked him how it went down exactly, “You have a dirty mind for such a noble and wise old creature.”

She squawked, “Ah, yes, that does explain a lot, but come now, let us rest, we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow,” and with that said they went to bed.

Exploring the Kingdom

When the next day came he was greeted with an early breakfast of pancakes and waffles and also actual real cake for Celestia for some kind of odd and bizarre strange and unusual and mysterious reason that he did not know of.

“How come she gets a piece of cake?” he said pointing his hoof at Celestia.

“Because it’s my birthday once more again,” she said, “And I gave her a piece of it since she has this strange obsession over it that we think is very odd and unusual, but we have decided that it’s better not to question it at all, ever.”

“That’s a very good and wise philosophy,” he said, “But can I have some?”

Galaxia looked at him, smiled, then laughed, and so did the children, and then he eventually decided to join along to make it less awkward.

“Yes, you can,” she said trying to contain her smile and laugh, “I don’t mind.”

“Thank you,” he said digging into the very delicious piece before him.

“You know that today is the day that you can explore the kingdom, right?” Cosmos asked him as if he could ever possibly forget it.

“Yes, I know that, how could I ever possibly forget it?”

“Well if you had short term memory loss….”

“No, we are not going into that deep territory by more movie references.”

“Alright then,” Cosmos said with a confused smile, “Very good then.”

“Say, before I begin or start the journey across the kingdom I just have one more last quick question, well two actually.”

“Yes, what are they?” Cosmos said.

“Firstly, do you have any kind of family pets? And secondly, what happened to Winter Frost and where is she now exactly?”

Once more again the mood and atmosphere seemed to drop and he could have once more again swore that he felt a cold chill in the air around him.

“I will answer your second question first, Winter Frost, well she went far away from us to go rule in her very own kingdom, and the last we heard of her she is doing quite well with the ice ponies that she rules and leads over, and we still miss her very much. And as for your first question, yes, we do have a family pet, her name is Philomena, and she is quite a sight to see indeed.”

And with that said a female phoenix flew into the room, “And here she is now finally joining us for breakfast, I didn’t want to show her to you yesterday since I had no idea how you would or could react and whether or not it would be good or bad or whether or not if you would possibly ever attack her out of fear.”

“That is quite a lovely and noble phoenix,” he said, “And before you ask how I know what she is, I have one of my own, come on Felicia, have no fear now.

These are friends here, you can come out of your hiding spot now.”

And with that said Felicia emerged from his cloak or ‘backpack’ and flew over to Philomena and then the two of them started to chat together.

“Amazing,” Cosmos said, “Finding just one phoenix is very rare, making one your friend, pet, or companion is much harder to do, how did you ever manage to do it and where did you find her exactly if I may ask you?”

“I found her towards the far west all alone with no family at all and abandoned, and I trained her through both magic and a natural bond, she both knew and sensed that I was immortal and that there was something very different and unusual and odd and strange about me, and I also have a spell that allows me to communicate with all animals, and one for her specifically too, do you wish for me to go on and elaborate all the details or shall we instead start the journey of the kingdom instead?” he said.

“Forgive me,” Cosmos said, “I was just shocked and surprised by your bird.”

“So was I,” he said, “But come, let us not delay, I am sure that you family can and will take very good care of my pet companion while I am gone?”

“We would treat her like she was one of our own,” Cosmos said, “King’s honor.”

“Well then now that’s settled I would like to begin the journey now,” he said.

“Of course,” Cosmos said, “But who would you like to go with?”

“Well if it didn’t bother you or your queen I would ask for Galaxia and you, but if it did I would suggest and highly recommend for the best loyal advisor that you have with you right now, but you know I don’t mind waiting another day or even a few more for me to see the kingdom with whom I want, so you know… whatever works out best for you and your very busy schedule, that’s fine.”

“Nonsense,” Cosmos said, “We shall have it your way and none other, but your wish shall be granted as if it were my own command, which technically and officially is, but it shall be done today since the whole entire kingdom will be celebrating my wife’s birthday, you can come with me and my family as we do our customary tour of the whole entire kingdom which by foot would take days, but since we have wings,” he said stretching his out, “It will only take a few hours, but as for you, I really hope that you have some kind of spell.”

“Are you kidding me?” he said floating on his chair and levitating every single object in the room, “Suspended levitation and adding wings to any pony is a breeze, besides, I am the father of the amniomorphic spell.”

Once more again they all had blank vacant expressions on their faces.

“OH COME ON!” he said, “NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD OF ME BEFORE?”

“I’m afraid that we can’t exactly say that we have,” the parents said.

“Of course you haven’t, why would you?” he said with a deep heavy sigh, “But when do we leave to explore the Kingdom exactly?”

“Right now,” Cosmos said, “Our subjects are waiting for us anxiously.”

And with that said they all left to explore the kingdom together.

He took him all across the lands as the crowds cheered and shouted at their queen, “This is very nice,” he said standing on a cloud that he had made so he would have an easier and faster mode of transportation, “How old is this kingdom anyways? I know you said your family ruled over it for many generations… but that is a very vague and general answer…”

“No pony knows for sure how old it really is, but it is really old.”

“Alright then, have it your way then,” and with that said the rest of the day went quite well as he explored the majestic and regal large vast wide kingdom.

After they and explored the kingdom together and went back to the castle he decided to do something important, “Happy Birthday Dear Queen,” he said to her. “Thank you very much,” she said with a slight almost blush.

“You’re welcome,” he said, and with that they laughed and went to bed.

The Traitor

The Traitor

It was exactly a month before the summer solstice that he made his discovery about the traitor that lay within King Cosmos’s court, or at least that was the day that he decided to reveal and unmask him since he had been gathering quite some evidence, lot of it, to present before the court on that very same day.

But before we get to that let us instead take a look back on what happened leading up to that very same special day and event too.

The first time that he met the stallion was exactly ten days after he arrived in the Kingdom, and the way that he entered the room was suspicious enough.

He was just talking to the king when he entered from behind in the shadows.

“And now let me introduce you to my most loyal royal advisor, Orion Sky.”

Orion was completely and entirely black, fur, coat, mane, hair, even his eyes.

“It’s nice to meet you,” he said in a cold cruel calm voice of hatred and malice, “The king has spoken kind words about you, but I disagree with him, but he doesn’t listen to me, he never does.”

“I wish that I could say it was nice meeting you too,” Star Swirl said, “But may I kindly point out that you had a cliché villain entrance? Seriously if you don’t want people, I mean ponies to think that you’re the villain don’t act like one or in that particular way. But anyhow I am glad that I can finally see you now.”

“And why is that exactly?” Orion asked.

“You’ll see the reason as to why in a month or so,” he said with a smile.

“Your smile, it is devious, and I know that for many reasons.”

“Right you are, but no matter, what brings you over here anyways?”

“That’s a question that the king should be asking me but I will still answer it anyways because the information will not have any relevance to you.

The citizens of this land wish and demand to know who this stranger is and why he is here exactly, or rather to be more accurate I do at least.”

“Well to answer your question then,” Cosmos said, “He is a friend of mine, and any pony who has a problem with that can take up the matter with me, you tell them that, secondly, he has a name, and it is Star Swirl, and he is a wizard.

And finally, he is here to help us, not hurt us instead.”

“I hope that you are very sure about that my king.”

“I am quite sure and positive, but you may go now.”

And with that said Orion bowed and then left the room in silence.

“I have a very bad feeling about him,” Star Swirl said.

“Nonsense, I am sure that it is merely just nothing my friend.”

“I’m not,” he said, “Oh, and out of my natural scientific curiosity do you have any spells or potions that make other ponies tell the truth to you?”

“Yes,” he said, “But why exactly? And also what for?”

“Oh no reason, none at all.”

And with that said the talk between the two went on as he listened but secretly deep within his mind he was already working on a plan to reveal the traitor.

It took quite some very long time before he could gather enough evidence against him, six months to be rather exact, but when he finally had enough he knew that he was ready, the only question left now was

how to approach it.

He decided to tackle it in a very sideways manner before he attacked it head on, “So king,” he said one day, “Now that I am an honorary citizen (he had been made and appointed that quite some time after he had arrived there), what does that mean and entail for me exactly? I mean am I taxed? Can I raise a complaint or accusation against another citizen or even a member of this court? Please do elaborate and explain this new concept to me.”

“Well that’s quite a lot of questions,” Cosmos said, “But since you asked I will tell you, being an honorary citizen means that should you ever need my help or I need yours, we can ask each other for it, and yes, you can raise a complaint or accusation against another official citizen, even royalty and this court.”

“Well then, thank you for that, because I actually have an accusation against some pony within your court, for one of them is a traitor.”

“And who would that be exactly?” Cosmos said.

“ORION SKY!” he said, “I accuse him of treachery to the crown.”

And with that said Orion looked up to where Star Swirl and the king sat, “Yes?” he asked very slowly and carefully, “What is it exactly?”

“This pony dares accuse you of treason, and you know what that means.”

“The royal court, yes I know,” he said with a deep heavy sigh, “Very well then, let us entertain and humor him and play his little tiny silly game.”

“Very well then,” Cosmos said rising from his throne room and gesturing for the others to follow him very quickly, “To the royal court at once to hear this out, I will gather up all the juries myself,”

And then on the way over he leaned over and whispered to Star Swirl very quietly, “I hope that you have some evidence to back this up or I might just have to take away your citizenship, or ever worse perhaps instead.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve got this under control, and besides, do you really honestly think and expect me to accuse him without any evidence at all?”

“With you, who knows?” and with that said they went the rest of the way there in silence and when they finally got there the king told them to wait.

And with that he used some kind of spell to summon some more ponies.

“All rise for the honorable me, your king, the name’s Cosmos, blah blah blah, we are here today to hear out the accusation of Star Swirl the wizard against Orion Sky, a member of the royal court, blah blah blah, and now let us begin.

Star Swirl, you may bring up any evidence that you have right now.”

“I actually just have one,” he said pulling out a black book, “This is a copy of his journal, word for word, exactly, and the reason why I copied it down is so that he would never get suspicious of me or my activities and so that he would never know that I had spied on him, looked at his journal or even ever took it, and if you wish to compare it to the original, well I have that too.”

And with that said he pulled out an exact match and copy identical to the one he had, “Don’t ask how I got this, just please don’t for your own peace of mind.

Anyways, if you read through it you will find some very interesting key phrases and thoughts and ideas, and to name a few prime examples I memorized, ‘This job tires me, I just wish that the king would die already so I could take his place’, ‘the king is old, but not that old, maybe I will have to kill him to take my place’, ‘but how to kill him? Poison? A direct attack perhaps maybe instead?’

These can only be the very thoughts and ideas of a traitor.

And should you wish for more evidence, well just cast a spell on him or give him something that makes him tell the truth, I know that you have something of that manner and nature so it shouldn’t be too hard to produce.”

“No it is not,” Cosmos said putting the book down very slowly, “But I do not need it, this journal is far more than enough, and I am glad for what measures you have taken to save my life, guards, take this traitor away and put him in the dungeons until I can decide what his punishment shall be.”

“The law is quite clear on this my king, banishment,” a jury said.

“Very well then,” Cosmos said, “Orion Sky, for your act of treachery I hereby banish you from these lands,

and may fate take mercy upon your soul.”

“You… You cannot do this to me, I am your most loyal advisor,” he said very nervously with some fear in his voice which was different and most unusual and odd compared to his normal cold cruel nature that he did show.

“You were my most loyal advisor until now, but I think that the time has come for another to take your place, and perhaps maybe Star Swirl could even be my honorary loyal advisor for some time until we find a replacement for you.”

Orion Sky suddenly tried to attack the king when he heard this, but he was quickly stopped by Star Swirl with a spell and then by the guards.

“YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS, BOTH OF YOU!” he said trying to escape the guards, but it was no use, it was in vain for they were both too strong and powerful for him and he could not escape their iron grip both physical and of magic too. “ONE DAY YOU WILL PAY, AND ONE DAY I WILL RETURN AGAIN! AND THEN

YOU’LL BOTH BE VERY SORRY FOR EVER DOING THIS TO ME!”

And with that said his screams of agony and pain which conflicted with his earlier nature of being calm and cold and cruel, they slowly faded away.

“Do you really think that we have seen the last of him?” Star Swirl said.

“I do not know, I hope so, but he is an alicorn and therefore still immortal, so he quite possibly could come back within centuries seeking revenge on any and all of my descendants if he cannot take it upon me, but to think that I had him as my most trusted and loyal advisor for so long, and yet I never knew that he could possibly do this to me, but if I had…”

“Then it wouldn’t have ever gotten his far,” Star Swirl finished up for him, “But don’t blame yourself dear king, many ponies are blinded by what they think they know or they simply cannot accept the truth and instead would prefer to live their lives happy with the lies that they have been given.”

“That is a very wise philosophy and attitude,” Cosmos said, “But come, there are other far more important things that I have to do today, the celebration of the summer solstice is coming, and that is the longest day of the year, the one which my very lovely wife sees over, for it is a custom tradition that all the citizens see her raise the sun in the morning for all those that wish to see it, but I also must be there so that I may lower the moon and stars and night.

For with new light the darkness of the past must fade away.”

“Are those words really you or am I just rubbing off on you?” Star Swirl said.

“Maybe a little bit of both,” Cosmos said with a smile, “But come now, I cannot stay here any longer, I must visit Queen Chrysalis who comes from very far away offering her very sweet honey,” and with that said they both left together.

Meeting Queen Chysalis

Meeting Queen Chrysalis

“Who is this Queen Chrysalis anyways?” Star Swirl said quite some time after the whole entire affair with the traitor being in the royal court, which was and turned out to be Orion Sky in the very end if you couldn’t guess that at all.

“Oh, she’s just another royal regal alicorn, but she is a bit… different from the rest and others, for one thing she likes to experiments with potions and magic and science, and I am all for those, but she can take it to extremes at times.

For another thing she has a mysterious nature around her, or so many have said, she never reveals her true or real feelings, ever. She’s odd and unusual because she won’t act like the rest of us either, she says that she only shows her true face when she is wearing different masks, but that when she shows her true face she is only wearing one mask of many, and when she is wearing one mask she is only showing a very small part of herself, and so you see her words and wisdom and philosophy seem to be just as confusing as you.

But perhaps maybe you can make something out of her for me this time.”

“Yes, perhaps I can,” and with that said he waited until the day would come that he could go and meet this Queen that he had heard so much about.

He knew only what the king told him, and other than what she was like he had only told him that she exported honey and sugar and various random potions too, in fact her whole entire kingdom was good at doing just those things.

And so the day eventually came that he finally got the chance to meet her, and to be exact and precise it was three days before the summer solstice that he finally did get the chance and opportunity to meet her, and he was very glad for it indeed. She arrived very simply with no ponies to announce her presence.

Well none in the city at least, she did have one for the main hallway of the throne room “Announcing her royal majesty Queen Chrysalis,” a random messenger said before stepping out of the middle of the way and room to give her some entry space and whether that was out of pure common courtesy or respect or tradition or some kind of social status or a combination of them, he could not tell, and honestly he could care even less about it, a whole lot less.

And with that in his mind he watched in wonder and awe as she strode down the middle of the aisle in a brilliant bight white dress that was lined with bright golden yellow lace that seemed so flow and move like honey as she gently glided across the floor not even making the slightest hint or suggestion of a noise.

Her body was equally white as the color of her dress, but perhaps more vibrant for the dress seemed dull in comparison to her natural beauty and splendor, but it was hard to tell with only natural light coming through the windows.

And her hair, it was brown like a very deep and rich chocolate, but it had streaks of the same bright brilliant yellow that laced her dress.

She was quite a very lovely sight to see indeed, and both Star Swirl and the king had to remind themselves that they were already married to another.

“Wow,” Star Swirl said being the first one to state the obvious, “You look very lovely and totally awesome and cool, can I have the name of your stylist and all your personal contact information so I can get in touch with you very soon?”

She laughed at this comment as if remembering a very fond moment from the past, “I remember the first time that the king asked that,” she said with a very light tone and voice that was as sweet and soft as honey and even the speed and flow at which it came out was also as smooth as it, “But no, you may not.”

Star Swirl was both relived and disappointed, relived because he wouldn’t have the temptation to go and see her, and disappointed because he couldn’t go see her. “I see that all is going quite well over here without me here,” she said.

“Yes,” Cosmos said, “But now that you’re here you will certainly bring joy and delight to many, and also your sweet goods and treats too, I mean, what would the party be without you?” he said raising his hoofs to make a point.

“Yes,” she said very calmly and coldly and smoothly, “What would it be like without me to offer my sweet goods and services? You would have even less to offer than you usually do, and you should thank me even more for that.”

The king smiled at that, “What kind of thank you did you have in mind?”

She smiled playfully, “Certainly not the one that you had in your mind just now, sorry boys, but I don’t ‘do it’ with other ponies who aren’t fit or worthy enough for me, and neither of you quite cut it out for me.”

And with that said she gently glided past both of them and it was just then right at that very moment that he finally noticed the details and color of her eyes, they were blue just like the ocean so very far away from them.

“I’ll be staying in one of the guest’s rooms unless you would like it otherwise?” she said from behind both of them.

“That’s fine,” Cosmos said turning around to face her and he did the same too, “But should you ever need anything feel free to ask.”

“Thank you very much, but I think that I will be fine on my own.”

And with that said she gently glided off down the hallway as one of the many various random guards would take and lead her to the first available empty room that there was, but that was no worry since there were many indeed.

“Is she always like that?” Star Swirl said after she left.

“Oh yes she is,” Cosmos said turning back around facing front now, “And she is always playing games with us stallions, and no matter what others say she will never find any pony to settle down with, and she’s said it herself on many occasions, she doesn’t need a long term commitment, just a short term simple little rush of pleasure and joy and delight instead, and that is why despite what others say and suggest that she should do, she will never ever marry.”

“Alright, fine then, but were you thinking of… well you know… that when she said the thing about the giving her even more thanks for her stuff and things?”

“Oh yes I was,” he said with some small guilt, “But I can’t help it, no pony can. It’s like she cast some kind of spell over us or something like that.”

“If it was a spell I would know by now, and trust me, it wasn’t,” he said.

“I know,” Cosmos said, “It was something much better than neither of us can ever really have but it will still be something we wish for even when we die.”

“Yeah,” Star Swirl said in agreement feeling these exact thoughts and ideas.

They sat there in silence together for quite some very long time until he finally decided to speak up, “Is the rest of her kingdom like that?” Star Swirl said.

“I honestly don’t know,” King Cosmos said with a laugh.

“I would certainly hope not because that would mean that you have an entire kingdom with ponies who have all had their hearts broken and shattered to many small tiny little pieces by just one race of ponies,” he said.

“Yeah, I hope that too, but mainly because I want her to be unique and special and different and odd and strange and mysterious too.”

“Well that’s a good reason too I guess, but you were right about her.”

“Of course I was, did you doubt the word of a king and a friend?”

“No, of course not, I just doubted how much you could exaggerate or embellish it, or even if your memory faded with and over time, that’s all,” he said.

“Why you little…” Cosmos said as Star Swirl ran out laughing.

“Come back here! Guards! Chase after him! Don’t let him get away!”

And with that said they had themselves a merry little chase until the king finally caught him, and when he did they both laughed and went their separate ways after they explained to the guards what just happened exactly. And when Star Swirl got back to his room he was too tired to notice the letter that was on his desk by his bed and instead he fell into a very deep sleep instead.

The Queen's Curse

The Queen's Curse

It was a day before the summer solstice that it finally eventually happened.

But what did finally eventually happen? Well let me tell you please.

Queen Chrysalis wanted to meet with Star Swirl and the king in private so that she could test out his potion and spell making skills, and other various random things and stuff. And that was why and how it happened on that very day.

“You are very good with this,” Chrysalis said seductively circling around Star Swirl like a shark swims around its prey, “Perhaps I should take lessons from you, after all, you are inventing this new potion I have never seen before.”

“Please,” he said trying to not take the compliment given for his own morality, “I do not need or want your thanks and compliments, but I could teach you how to make and duplicate this, although I would highly recommend and suggest not to do so since this is one of the most dangerous potions that I have ever made in my life, and I discovered the brew of immortality so… you know. There’s that to consider from the stallion who is now currently speaking.”

“What does it do exactly?” she said leaning over the cauldron slightly.

He pushed her back from the edge slightly, “The first thing that I say is that this thing is very dangerous and your first instinct is to get closer to it?

I don’t know whether or not that makes you just plain stupid or crazy, or perhaps maybe a little bit of both instead. But please, stay far away from this, I wouldn’t want you to get hurt from this thing. But to answer your previous question this is a potion that enhances the heart’s beauty and nature.

If you are good then it will enhance that and no matter what you look like it will make your physical appearance have even more beauty and splendor.

However, if you are not good and instead evil then it will only enhance that and instead of having more beauty you will have less of it for your many actions.

This thing can twist and turn you many ways, and even possibly corrupt you too. And that is why I have named this the heart’s curse,” he said.

“But why did you ever name that?” she said.

“Because no pony will ever have a pure enough heart where this potion could not enhance it anymore, and no pony is ever truly objectively good.”

“Don’t be ridiculous or silly, surely there must be some pony out there?”

“Maybe,” he said, “But they probably haven’t even been born yet.”

“Very well then,” she said, “If you say so.”

“I do,” he said, “And I also say that I should have never made this potion in the first place, I don’t know why I ever did so or agreed to show you my skills.

Well I do know, sort of, but that’s not the real point here.”

“Then what is the real point?” she said.

“I don’t see that your future is ever good at all with that potion.”

“Nonsense,” she said, “Don’t be silly, I am a very good pony and am kind to y citizens, surely nothing bad will happen if I take this potion?”

“I can’t say that for sure,” he said, “I know what the future is and I can see it, but I also know that I cannot change your mind no matter what I say about you or your future and how much pain and sorrow and despair that it holds for you if you take that. And so therefore I cannot stop you from taking it if that is what you really want and wish for, but be careful, that is very dangerous.”

“You have said so before,” she said taking a ladle and dipping it into the potion, “But I can handle this, I am the queen of potion making and experimentation after all,” and with that said she took a big deep sip of

the potion.

Nothing seemed to happen at first and then she said, “See? I told you that nothing bad would happen?” But then suddenly, something very bad did happen. Suddenly she lurched her body upwards let out a scream of agony and pain. “What is happening to me?” she said very angrily raising her voice to match her anger that she had, “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME?”

“Me?” Star Swirl said, “I did nothing, you on the other hoof, you have done it all, you took the potion and I tried to warn you, always remember that when you look upon this day in the future and weep for your very poor choice.”

And with that said she let out more cries of agony and pain as her bones started to snap and bend and reshape into other various random forms.

And then her body started to transform and change before their eyes.

First it was hair, it turned black now instead of her rich dark chocolate brown laced with streaks of her bright golden yellow. And then it was the rest of her.

Her skin and coat started to change from the brilliant white to a very dark black that seemed to suck the life and vibrancy of color within the whole entire room. But oddly and strangely enough holes also started to form in her legs for some reason. And then her horn also turned black and now was curved instead of straight and white. And her wings, where they once had been brilliant white they now seemed insect like and they were made of a very thing light substance that only had the color of light blue instead. And her eyes, they were now green instead of the very deep-sea blue that he had once known that she had before.

And now she stood before them, her very body and form and shape deformed and ragged, even her hair matched the very demeanor of her body.

Then suddenly her bones stopped snapping and cracking and her body stopped changing, and now she stood in her very new deformed shape and form.

“WHAT IS IT?” she said very loudly, “HOW DO I LOOK? GIVE ME A MIRROR!”

“No, you don’t need one,” Star Swirl said, “You look very lovely.”

“Yes, you do indeed,” the king said going along with Star Swirl.

But it was no use, a mirror was taken over to her and then she let out a scream of pain and agony so loud that it could have shattered glass.

“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME?” she said in anger and despair and pain.

“YOU HAVE MADE ME UGLY AND A MONSTER! AND EVEN WORSE, YOU TRIED TO LIE TO ME ABOUT HOW BAD THIS REALLY WAS! WHY?”

“Because I feared exactly this kind of reaction,” Star Swirl said.

“LOOK AT ME!” she suddenly then snapped to him, “DO I LOOK LIKE A QUEEN TO YOU? DOES THIS LOOK LIKE THE FACE OF BEAUTY?”

“No,” he said, “But at least you still have your special talents.”

“WHICH MEAN NOTHING NOW! WHY DO YOU THINK THAT ALL THE KINGS AND NOBLES AND ROYAL BLOOD LET ME EXPIREMENT WITH POTIONS AND MAGIC AND SCIENCE? IT WAS BECAUSE OF MY BEAUTY, THAT’S THE ONLY REASON WHY MY WORK COULD CONTINUE AND LIVE ON! BUT NOW YOU HAVE TAKEN AWAY THE ONLY THINGS THAT I HAVE EVER LOVED!

AND FOR THAT, YOU WILL PAY VERY DEARLY, I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE NO MATTER WHAT IT TAKES, EVEN IF I HAVE TO KILL THE KING FIRST!”

“Surely you do not mean that?” Cosmos said very nervously.

“I DO!” she said, “AND NO PONY CAN EVER STOP MY PLANS!”

And with that said she suddenly tried to attack Star Swirl but then found that she could not when he quickly cast a spell at her to stop her.

“WHAT IS HAPPENING TO ME?” she said, “WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME?”

“Preventing you from ever trying to kill any pony ever again,” he said very calmly, “I am putting a spell on you that will stop you from ever killing again.”

“NO!” she said, “YOU CANNOT DO THIS TO ME! PLEASE DON’T DO THIS!”

“I have to,” he said, “You leave me no other choice or options for me.”

And with that said Star Swirl let her go since she couldn’t harm him now.

She growled with anger and hate and wrath and fury, “DO YOU THINK THAT THIS CAN REALLY EVER STOP ME! YOU ARE A FOOL IF YOU THINK SO!”

And with that said she took off with her wings and tried to fly off to the doors but then saw that they were blocked and so she instead flew straight up into the ceiling breaking one of the many various random windows that was there.

“OH COME ON!” Cosmos said once she had broken one of them.

“Don’t worry,” Star Swirl said, “You’ll fix it, eventually.”

“I know,” he said with a very deep heavy sigh, “But I just hope that she will be alright, and I also wonder where she will go now.”

“Back to her kingdom,” Star Swirl said, “But I would not recommend or advise that you follow her, she’s going to make all her subjects just like her.”

“Why would she ever do a thing like that?” Cosmos said.

“Because she is obsessed with beauty, and no pony else can be more beautiful than her, and then they will all be finally equal to her. And to answer your other question she will not be alright or fine, she has a very sad future filled with pain and sorrow and despair ahead of her, for she will never again be like she was, the potion will prevent that, and no matter what magic she tries to change and transform herself she will always still ever remain the same.

And because of this I think that a new name for her is appropriate, for she no longer rules the lands of Intopia, but instead of one that changes instead.

A changeling empire, one that will always ever change its form and shape.”

And with that said it was on that day that the Changeling empire was born.

And it was also on that day that the queen would always have a curse too.

For the potion would always prevent her from ever changing into her true and real body, she would always have to take on the new forms and shapes of other ponies instead. And so it was that an entire empire and nation and kingdom fell to the desires and wants of what one very simple queen wanted one day.

But this is not the story of what happens to her, that is another different story for yet another time, this is still the story about Star Swirl instead.

“I’m sorry,” he said after she left, “I had no idea that this could ever happen. I mean I knew that something bad would happen to her, but not this.”

“Don’t blame yourself,” Cosmos said, “It wasn’t your fault that she took the potion, and after all, you did try to warn her so at least you tried.”

“And that makes it even worse,” he said, “I tried and failed.”

“But you still tried, and that alone is still worth glory and praise.”

“I guess so, but I don’t really know if that should be true or not.”

“Don’t be ridiculous or silly, of course it is true,” Cosmos said.

“Yes, maybe it is, but is that what you think or is it because you say it is?”

“Maybe a little bit of both?”

“Perhaps, maybe. But who really knows?”

And with that said they sat in silence for quite some time.

“I just wish that there was some place I could go where I could fix all this, a new land, a different world, an alternate universe or dimension.

Just somewhere else where I could get away from all this and rest and relax for a bit, you know, get away from all the chaos and danger and peril.”

Cosmos then looked up at him, “You know, there might just be something like that, but I can’t make any guarantees or promises yet.”

“Really?” Star Swirl said with some shock and surprise, “Huh, who knew?”

“I did,” Cosmos said, “But sadly enough it won’t open for a few more days.”

“Why?” Star Swirl said.

“Because of reasons that will soon be made clear, but come, I think that the other citizens of my kingdom would want to know what happened to Queen Chrysalis, and I’m also sure that they will want an explanation too.”

And with that said he started to write an explanation out.

Soon enough the whole entire kingdom knew what happened to her and knew to look out for her since she would be both very mad and angry and crazy too.

But after they knew of it there were surprisingly enough no reports of any activity from the newly formed Changeling Empire, and while that may have been odd and strange, Star Swirl knew much better, he knew that she would be hiding herself and her subjects very well. And he also soon learned that no magic worked within the kingdom because of some strange mysterious rock.

How very interesting, he thought to himself when he heard the first reports, I must get some of this material even at the cost of my safety, and so it was that he went to the empire, snuck in, and got some of the stuff to study. He never could figure out why it was that way, but he still did nonetheless enjoy his time studying and examining it, and so it sat in his cloak unused always.

The Mirror

The Mirror

After the summer solstice (which was filled with sweets and goods and many parties and game just to give you a very brief summary of what happened there,) he finally got the chance and opportunity to find out what the king had said earlier to him. “You first must understand that not all things are what as they seem,” he said in front of the locked room, “And also even though I have been on the other side of what lays beyond this room, I still do not fully understand the world that you will enter or all that will lay beyond.”

“Alright,” Star Swirl said, “But what is in this room anyways?”

“A gateway and portal to another different new world,” the king said with a smile as he opened the door, “And enter if you dare.”

And with that said Star Swirl entered the room to see a very large horse shoe shaped mirror right in the middle and the center of the room.

“Is that it?” he said pointing at it, “I expected it to be… well… different.”

“As I said, not all is as it seems, now then I must warn you of a few things before you enter, first, you will have a new and different shape and form and body, second, you won’t be able to use your magic there, and finally, should you ever encounter yourself or anything dangerous, just run away, okay?”

“Alright,” Star Swirl said, “But what do you mean by ‘meeting myself’ exactly?”

“You might find an exact copy or image or replica of your new form and shape and body in that different new world, but I highly doubt that will be likely.”

And with that said he gestured for Star Swirl to enter the mirror.

“Well, here goes nothing,” he said stepping into the mirror.

And with that he entered this whole new different world.

On the other side he landed on a very hard stone and then turned to look at what he had come out from, and it turned out to be a stone statue of a horse.

How very fitting, he thought looking at it, and then he started to get off the floor with his hooves only to discover that they were not hooves.

Instead there were five little things on the end of his something that was part of something that attached to his something else. Luckily enough for him however there was a book on top of the statue entitled Human Anatomy.

So this new body, I must be this thing called a ‘human’, he thought, I better look at this book so I know what everything is called and I can be somewhat more familiar with this world so that I can get around to various places.

And with that he soon learned every part of his new body and shape and form.

Even the naughty little tiny parts as well.

“This body is very odd and strange and different,” he said once he had finished the book, “But I suppose that is only to be expected naturally, but I guess that it is time to walk around with my new ‘legs’ I guess.”

And with that said he used his ‘hands’ and ‘fingers’ to lift himself off from the ground until he could finally steady himself from not falling on his new legs.

And then he found a mirror (luckily enough) and got a very good look at himself. He had blue skin and was very tall by human standards at least.

He had the same old wise gray eyes that he always did and the same black hair that was now turning gray just like his eyes were. “Well hello there handsome,” he said to himself in the mirror, “At least I still have my looks here.”

And then with that said he tried to find a way out of where he was.

For above him was a very low ceiling and he knew that this looked like it was an attic or storage room of some kind. Soon enough he did find a door that was open and went through it prepared to face anything that lay beyond the other side. But what he saw on the other side he could never have prepared for at all, for he saw Cosmos there, or rather to be exact, his human self at least.

“Hello there, stranger,” he said, “What brings you from Alicar today?”

“What? How? Where? Why?” Star Swirl tried to say.

“Rest now, I’ll explain everything to you. You see I met myself quite some time ago, it would be very long for him though I suppose, and he explained to me what was up with my stone statue and how it was a gateway and portal to another world, but don’t worry if you feel confused, we both were when we met each other for the first time. But ever since then we’ve understood each other and parts of their lands and world, but we still do not know all yet.”

“Okay,” Star Swirl said very slowly, “Alright, fine then, but why do you even have that thing in your attic or storage room or whatever?”

“Honestly? It’s to keep it safe now, but before it was just there since I couldn’t’ find any proper place for it, but if my daughter ever does become principal of that High School that she goes to then I plan on donating it.”

“Okay then, that explains a little bit,” Star Swirl said, “But why can’t I use my magic in this world, and why don’t I have a horn either?”

“As for the horn, let’s just say it’s our bodies, and for the magic, we just don’t have it, this is a land and world without any magic at all.”

“Oh, alright then, but quick question, do you have a wife? I heard you say that you had a daughter and I was curious about the rest of your family too.”

“Yes, I have a wife, but she’s at work right now, and my daughters are at school, and yes that’s right I have

more than one, two to be exact. And their names, well I think that you should already know them by now, Luna and Celestia, just like my very lovely wife Galaxia. And please don’t ask me or the other me why there are duplicates of us in each universe, it is far better not to question it instead, and I would rather prefer to let it remain a mystery too.”

“Each to their own,” he said, “Very well then, it was nice meeting you, but unless there is something that you could give me to know more about this world I think that I better be going, he didn’t say how long the gateway would remain open,” he said starting to the door but then was quickly blocked.

“The gateway opens once every thirty moons and stays open for a few days, you have plenty of time to stay with me and talk and enjoy the company of my family if you want to, but if you must go then please tell me why.”

“One, I don’t like this world, and two, there’s no magic, and finally three, there’s nothing that really catches my eye or interest at all.”

“And I thought that you were a wizard,” Cosmos said.

“Wait, how did you know that exactly?” he said.

“Oh,” Cosmos said pulling out an old book, “Just this old book that the other me gave to… uh… well… me. It allows us to stay in touch so that we can always contact each other by writing in it, and we can write whatever we want to, thoughts, feelings, ideas, fears, hopes, dreams, it is quite handy to have.”

“Yes, I guess it is,” he said taking note of the catch phrase, and then he thought, I wonder if King Cosmos wouldn’t mind making one for me?

“Yes,” he said, “Well then, I must go now, it was nice meeting you.”

“But why must you go? Why can you not tell me this?” he said anxiously.

“Let’s just say I know that I wouldn’t like what I found here,” he said, and with that he bowed to Cosmos and said his goodbyes and then left through the mirror. King Cosmos was glad to see him once he got back but was very curious as to why he was back and he responded to the question just in the same manner as he did to the other Cosmos that he had previously met.

And Cosmos, the human one, sat alone wondering why Star Swirl would leave before meeting his family, but the answer to that lay in his world and in a vision which Star Swirl saw where there was a single headstone marking a grave and the name that was engraved upon it had just two words: Star Swirl.

Interlude

Meanwhile Back in the Present Current Day and Time…

“And that’s about it for my ten-year journey and the Alicorn Kingdom,” he said, “If you want more details then you should search through my journals and read them, they are a whole lot more detailed than what I am saying.”

“Alright then, fine,” Twilight said, “But what about your second apprentice?”

“I was just getting to that,” he said, “You see after Pearl died Celestia tried out new ingenious ways for me to be happy, all failed, all except for one.

You see I spent the next twenty years after she died looking for a way to heal and revive her, I found nothing, and then I spent the next ten years in complete isolation with my despair and woe and pain and sorrow, but it was not until one very special day that I finally received word that I was getting a new apprentice appointed to me by the princess, naturally I was reluctant at first but I also knew that I had no choice in the matter and so I waited for fate to come knock at my door and for disaster, danger and peril to come save me.”

The New Apprentice

The apprentice arrived five minutes late, typical of a new first year.

“Sorry that I am late sir,” the boy said rushing in, “I-,”

“I don’t care for any excuses that you may have for me, THERE ARE NO EXCUSES IN MAGIC OR SCIENCE! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?”

“Yes, sir,” he said nervously, “My name is Stardust Shine.”

“Do you know what time it is, Mr. Shine?”

“Uh five after the hour?”

“Is that a question or an answer?”

“An answer?”

Star Swirl looked at him with a deep angry cold cruel glare.

“An answer,” he said more resolutely.

“And do you know what time you should have arrived at?”

“On the hour? I mean, on the hour.”

“Yes, and therefore you are late, I don’t like late students, do you want to know why?”

“Yes, sir?”

“A late student is a sloppy student, a sloppy student is not fit or worthy of my mentorship and teaching, so now then, can you please tell me what you will do in the future in order to prevent this from happening again in the future?”

“Make sure that I take time to have time?”

“Yes, that would work, now then pull out your journal and supplies, which I hope that you have for a wizard and student must always have them ready.”

“Yes, I do sir,” he said pulling out his journal and supplies ready to learn and write.

“Good then,” he said looking more closely at his student to see that he was completely black, but his hair was golden yellow, but his eyes were the only things not black and they were silver and that his cutie mark was a simple silver star, “Write this down for your first lesson and moral: Always be on time.”

He did so and then Star Swirl looked at it and said, “Don’t expect every lesson or moral to be so easy, I want you to learn on your own without my help, and every week I shall take your journal away to examine what if any entries that you have and what they say and mean and I hope to not be disappointed by them or you, now then before we go any further can you answer me a few simple questions that I have made to test your knowledge and intelligence?”

“Yes sir!” Stardust said.

“I’m glad to see that you have your manners at least, write that down as another lesson or moral. Now then, can you please tell me what the difference between a gem and crystal is exactly?”

“One has power or magic contained within it, the other does not.”

“Very good then, now then, can you tell me why order and chaos are the same thing?” he said.

“I honestly don’t know the answer to that, sir.”

“At least you are honest, the reason that they are the same is because order is just a word and idea for contained chaos that you can ‘control’. But the idea of control and power and order and chaos and knowledge are all illusions just like coincidence and chance and luck. Sometime things may appear that way or seem like one thing or way or another, but in reality they are different.

Do you understand what I am saying here?”

“Yes sir,” he said writing it down.

“Good boy, you’re learning, but do you have any questions for me before we go any further with our lessons?”

“Yes sir, why is there an empty chair in this room?”

Star Swirl turned to the chair where Pearl once had sat in.

“Did Celestia not tell you about that night or the accident?”

“No sir, she just said that something happened to you that made you this way, that made you sad and angry and caused you lots of pain and sorrow and despair because you lost some pony very dear and close to your heart.”

Star Swirl sighed very heavily and deeply and then sat down, “Her name was Pearl, and let me tell me of my tale up to this point…”

“…And that’s my story,” he said finishing up.

“Wow, that’s a lot,” Stardust said, “If I had known I wouldn’t have asked, but then again I wouldn’t need to ask, you know what? Forget that I said that.”

Star Swirl for one ever since he had lost Pearl, well he smiled.

“Do not worry my apprentice, I trip over my words too, now on with the lessons,” and with that said he continued to teach his new apprentice.

Stardust did quite well and advanced very fast in his lessons soon surpassing his expectations and made Star

Swirl proud and even could make him laugh and smile, but only for a moment before his cold cruel hard nature returned once more again. “Will you ever smile and laugh again sir?” Stardust asked one day. “Not unless she returns to me, and I told you to call me Comet, there’s no need to treat me like your superior when we are becoming very god and close friends, besides, I call you by nicknames all the time, Mr. Star.”

And with that said they both smiled and laughed and soon Stardust finished his learning and left to become his own wizard, one of the night and darkness and shadows and dreams, and Star Swirl even gave him the gift of immortality too when he asked for it, but he did try to warn him.

“Are you sure you want this?” he said, “It has its cost you know.”

“My family is dead and I have no friends except you, I am very sure.”

And with that said he drank it and became immortal.

And they remained very good and close friends ever since then.

(The) Confession(s)

Meanwhile Back in the Present Current Day and Time…

“And that’s just about my story,” he said finishing it up, “There are more details in my journals as I said before, but honestly I do not wish to tell you anymore for it is very late,” he said pointing to the sun which was setting,

“And I had no idea that it would take that long to tell this story, if I had I might have done this over a span of a few days, but now that you know my story you may leave me now and go in peace, there is nothing left here for you.”

“Are you sure about that?” Twilight said.

“Yes, unless you want me to say more to the student of the one who was responsible for the death and murder of my dear beloved wife.”

“I told you before that it was an accident…” Celestia began.

“AND I TOLD YOU THAT I WOULD NEVER FORGIVE YOU FOR WHAT YOU DID! SO WHY DO YOU COME HERE WITH HER TO UNBURY THE PAST AND THE PAIN AND SORROW AND DESPAIR THAT IT HOLDS FOR ME?

WHY? AND HOW COULD YOU? HOW DARE YOU DO THIS TO ME?

I THOUGHT WE WERE FRIENDS, AND I WA YOUR GODFATHER, AND HOW DID YOU REPAY MY KINDNESS? YOU KILLED MY ONLY LOVE IN LIFE!

DOES THAT SOUND LIKE A GOOD FRIEND TO YOU?”

He took in some deep breaths and calmed down, “Forgive me,” he said, “I reacted to my emotions, but they do not control me, I control them.”

“Is that your motto these days?” Twilight said.

“Yes, it is, but come now, please leave me, I wish to have some peace and quiet and rest, that’s all that I can ask for since all that I love and care for has already been taken from my life, not even my friends or pets or even companions can bring me any kind of comfort or joy now.”

And to demonstrate this point Felicia flew down from her hiding spot.

“Not even you Twilight, a visitor, a student, a new friend, you cannot make me smile like she did, no pony can, that time is long gone now.”

“Wait,” she said, “What if I told you that there was some pony who could make you smile and laugh again?”

“You mean Pinkie Pie? Please, I have seen her in my dreams before and she is the one that I hate most out of your group, not even Rainbow Dash and Rarity can compare to how much I hate her.”

“Perhaps maybe you only hate her because she reminds you of something that you have lost and want back, but something that you can never have or gain.”

“That’s exactly what it is and I don’t need you to tell me that thank you very much, but I suppose that I should try to be happy because of my promise to her, and that is the only reason that I will join you tomorrow.”

“Join us tomorrow for what exactly?” they both said.

“Why the journey back to Ponyville of course,” he said as if this was the most obvious thing in the world, “I must entertain your wild and outrageous silly notion of making me smile and laugh and be happy once more again.

But do not worry or fear, I shall play along with you in this game.”

And with that said he slowly pushed them out of his house with his magic, “It was nice talking to both of you,

really it was, but I’m afraid that you can’t stay any longer since it is now nighttime and I never have visitors or guests at night, or at least friends, or at least ever since she was lost to me, but anyhow, I hope that you are safe to wherever you may travel and good luck to your fortune and fate and destiny, oh, and finally, have a very good night.”

And with that said he slammed the door on them shutting them outside and then the sounds of the locks being shut could be heard.

“Is he always like this?” Twilight said.

“Ever since Pearl died he has been closed off and rude and cold and cruel and angry and sad, but yes, he has always been a little bit crazy and odd and unusual and different and strange, so much so that he would make a good match for Discord, and he did, for he distracted him long enough for us to find the Elements of Harmony so that we could use them to defeat us, but of course he separated us in the maze that he made, but that’s another different story for yet another time as much and many unspoken things here today are.”

“Well then,” Twilight said, “Should I go back to my old home or should I stay with you in the castle instead tonight?”

“Whatever you want my student, the choice is yours.”

And with that said the princess flew off to her castle leaving her all alone.

Twilight decided to go along with the princess just to have some company for the night and when she arrived there Luna greeted her.

“Hello there, Twilight Sparkle,” she said, “What did you just do?”

“Oh, talked to Star Swirl the great and wise powerful wizard,” she said.

“Oh, so I would assume that you know about her then?”

“Yes, I know all about Pearl and what happened that night.”

“Yes, you do, but you do not know what pain and guilt I hold.”

“What do you ever mean princess?” Twilight said.

“He told me his tale and story after I came back from the moon, and I was tortured with even more pain and guilt far more than you could ever imagine.

It is one of the many things that lead to the creation of the Tantabus.

And even to this day I still cannot get rid of this feeling of guilt and pain.”

“But you shouldn’t hold it over your head alone,” Twilight said.

“I know, but I still do because I cannot let go of the past, and no matter what others may tell you, sometimes that is the hardest thing to do.”

And with that said Luna left her and went on her way and Twilight went to the guest room of the castle and enjoyed her rest and sleep.

Going to Ponyville

When the next day came she woke up early to make sure that she could meet Star Swirl early, she wanted as much time with him even if he was distant.

“Princess, are you ready yet?” she said knocking on her door.

“Not yet Twilight, I haven’t even raised the sun yet,” she said, “Just give me a minute, okay?”

“Okay,” Twilight said, and with that she waited patiently outside for her to come. Eventually the princess did come out looking just as lovely and young as ever, “You look very well and fine just like you do every day,” Twilight said.

“Thank you for the compliment my student, but come, I am sure that you are most anxious to meet Star Swirl, are you not?”

“Yes, I am,” Twilight said, “Come on, let’s go!”

And with that said Twilight trotted off very fast leaving Celestia behind in the distance and then she sighed very heavily and deeply, “Why are the young ones always so wild and reckless and foolish and fast?” she said.

But she already knew the answer for it was exactly what Star Swirl would say.

“You acted just like that when you were young you know.”

And with that in her mind she took off to follow and catch up with Twilight.

They arrived at his house to see with some shock and surprise that the door was already open and he stood there waiting for them.

“What are you two slowpokes doing here this late?” he said.

“Don’t you know that we’re supposed to go there as early as we can?”

“Um no, we didn’t because you didn’t tell us,” Twilight said.

“Hey, no excuses, I don’t like ponies who make excuses or are late,” he said with a smile, “Now come on, we have a long way to go and I want to take the train there so we can talk and eat and have some fun and play games.”

“Who are you and what have you done with Star Swirl?” they both said.

He laughed and smiled, “Oh it’s the same me, I’ve just changed for the better, that’s all, I had a major discovery about my life yesterday and it changed the whole entire way I think, and while most say that ponies can’t change in one day or night, some can if they’re crazy enough, stupid enough, or really dedicated to their work hard or easy, now come on, we have a long way to go and I want to get there as soon as possible to meet every pony there.”

And with that said the princesses looked at each other in shock and confusion and followed him to the train station, “What do you suppose happened to him last night?” Twilight said when they finally arrived there.

“With him, who knows? With other ponies the same answer to,” Celestia said paying him the right amount that would later on be tax free.

“Do you really think that’s he’s changed for the better and good now?”

“Who knows? With time I’ll suppose that we will see,” and with that said they entered the train and found a room to sit in.

“Hey,” Twilight said once they entered, “You never did tell me how you got the nickname or title, ’the bearded,’ how did you ever get that by the way?”

“Oh,” he said with a smile, “That’s a funny story actually, you see when I was young I wanted to impress the crowds and children and whatnot and one day I said to myself, hey, since I’m telling stories why not make myself look a little bit older? And then I thought, how can I look any older, and then I got my answer, a beard of course! And with that I quickly whipped up a recipe for a beard, and poof! There it was a new old gray frizzled beard, and just so you know the audience and children all loved it, but I also used to put the beard on for many displays of my power and knowledge like when I banished the Sirens or distracted Discord, and so I eventually earned that name with some repetition.”

“Wow,” Twilight said, “That’s amazing and funny.”

“I know,” he said with a smile and then suddenly the treat cart came around, “Treats any pony?” the stallion asked them.

“I’m good,” Twilight said and Celestia looked like she was about to say something but then was suddenly interrupted by Star Swirl.

“I’ll take the whole lot of it!” he said handing the stallion a huge big bag of money and with that the stallion looked surprised and shocked but then smiled and said, “Well then, have a very good day sir.”

“Keep the change!” Star Swirl said as he left.

And then he looked at the shock and surprise on their faces.

“Oh I have lots more in the banks and back at home,” he said.

“How much money do you have?” Twilight said.

“You know how banks loan out more money than they have, right?”

“Yeah, so what?”

“Well let’s say that I am basically the stallion that they lend from when they run low out of money and when they can’t reach the princess or government either, that’s just how rich I am,” he said, “After all, when you are immortal it doesn’t matter how much you earn in on year, if you save it all it will only slowly grow into a big huge pile.”

And with that said he started digging into the big huge pile of sweets.

“You’re not going to eat all of that, are you?” Celestia said.

“Don’t be ridiculous, of course not, most of it is for my friends, and here, you can have some if you want,” he said using his magic to throw some at her.

“Thanks a lot,” she said biting into some chocolate, “Hmmm… Chocolate.”

And with that said they traveled the rest of the way there in complete silence.

Once they got there Star Swirl hesitated before stepping off.

“What’s wrong?” Twilight said.

“If I step off this train this will be the first time in many years that I have come back to Ponyville, I haven’t been here ever since the night after she died,” he said, “And I came here to try to let go of the past, and I guess that it’s finally time to see if I can, but don’t worry, I won’t sing some big Disney musical about it that will earn millions of views online,” he said turning to the screen and then winking at it as they both looked slightly confused at his actions.

And with that said he stepped off into Ponyville.

“Home at last,” he said, “And once more again it’s almost just like I used to remember it, but where in the world could my welcome here party be?”

And with that said suddenly Pinkie Pie appeared from underneath his cloak with her party canon and wagon and started to sing her song.

At this point they all knew that it was better not to question her strange unusual mysterious od nature and instead they ignore her and went on.

“Thanks for the welcome,” Star Swirl said with a laugh and smile, “It does make me feel very loved deep down inside, but did you know that yesterday I would have hated this entrance and probably say a few choice words to you?”

“You would?” Pinkie Pie said “Well than what changed exactly?”

He smiled once more again, “Everything,” he simply said.

And with that vague and general confusing answer Pinkie Pie shrugged it off and continued, “Well then, do you want to be friends with me?”

“Of course Pinkie Pie,” and with that said she jumped up into the air just as her part canon exploded flinging confetti everywhere.

And then after that Twilight took Star Swirl all around town letting him meet all of her current friends and soon enough he was a friend to all.

And here’s just a short little sample of what they went through together.

“Hello there Fluttershy,” he said after they left Pinkie Pie, “I heard that you are good with animals, but can I try my luck out with them?”

“Sure thing,” she said opening the door very slowly with her obvious fear and nervousness showing in her voice and actions, “Go ahead.”

“Thank you very much,” he said, and with that he started on all the animals.

And soon enough every animal was listening to him, even Angel.

“How did you do that?” Fluttershy said once he was done.

“I have a pet companion phoenix named Felicia,” he said showing her to Fluttershy, “And she acts and behaves just like Angel, but she has never won against me because I know tough and rough love, and being smart and wise and logical helps out a great deal a lot in the end too you know.”

And with that said he left Fluttershy’s cottage and left her in some mild shock and surprise, “On to the next one then?” he said going onwards.

Next was Applejack, and she wasn’t too hard to win over either.

“You say that you’re some kind of wizard?” she said, “Well then, I believe you even if Twilight won’t say for sure if you are indeed, but I gotta have some faith in something, am I right?”

“Yes, you are right,” he said, and with that they all went on together again.

Next after Applejack was Rarity, and she too likewise was easy to win over.

“Can I try my luck out at dresses?” he said.

“Sure thing darling, but I have had years of practice and experience and there is no way that you could ever possibly hope to match or beat me-,”

But then she gasped in shock, surprise, horror, wonder and awe at the perfect dress that he had made within just a few short seconds.

“How did you? How is that even possible?” she said.

“Years of practice and experience will never beat one who has even more of it,” he said, “But don’t worry, your dresses are just fine my dear.”

And with that said he left as Rarity shouted to herself in a rant.

“JUST FINE? WELL HOW DARE YOU INSULT THEM LIKE THAT! THEY ARE MORE THAN JUST FINE! THEY ARE PERFECT AND AS SUCH I DEMAND THAT YOU GIVE THEM THE LOVE AND RESPECT THAT THEY DESERVE!

COME BACK HERE YOU STALLION!”

And with that said they went on to Rainbow Dash after Rarity.

“You say that you’re a wizard then?” she said after she met him, “Ha, well then prove it because I heard that wizards are pretty cool and awesome, and any pony who is awesome is a friend of mine.”

“I have no need to prove my worth with actions since my words alone would be enough, but since I know that you will not accept it any other way I will humor your silly little tiny misguided ideas and notions and thoughts.”

And with that said he summoned a tornado and then made it vanish.

“And remember this, I can always do that if I ever get angry enough, so do not push me, and although I wouldn’t because I am wise and wizards are also very wise, it still is not a smart move to push the boundaries and limits.”

“I try to do that all the time,” Rainbow Dash said, “But whatever, you’re now a friend of mine,” and with that said he now had made friends with Twilight’s friends (well most of them anyways since there was one back in Canterlot and a few scattered around various locations and places within the town itself).

And with that all was quite well as they continued their journey in town.

As they went on he made a few comments about some of the ponies they met.

“Ah, the fan base just loves this mail pony, in fact so much so that Hasbro decided to take note of her and include her in toys which just goes to show how fans can actually change the community.” he said about

Derpy Hooves.

“And anyone who thinks those two are ‘just friends’ can die,” he said pointing at Sweetie Drops and Lyra Heartstrings.

“And I have no idea what’s up with her although I think she’s mute,” he said about Vinyl Scratch.

“Oh, and I just love the British accent and many ships of you and Vinyl,” he said about Octavia.

“And she’s good, you are too, and you’re just a chicken who can’t fly,” he said about Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo respectively.

“You’ll never be as great and powerful as me!” he said to Trixie, “And certainly never as wise enough either!”

“But don’t worry, you’re still a very good side character!”

“And you,” he said to Spike, “Don’t worry, the writers will find a way to make a good story about you someday, eventually, hopefully.”

“And the rest of you are just many random various nameless background ponies!” he said to the rest of them, “Except for the few.”

And with that said he had met every pony in town and now needed a place to stay, “How about my place?” Twilight said when he asked.

“That’s perfect,” he said, “I always did like trees and libraries.”

And with that said it was settled and Twilight jumped up and down with joy and delight cheering very loudly as she flew around the very large castle.

“Calm down, please,” he said, but it was no use, it was far too late.

And with that he smiled and then sat down to write in his journal once more again, the first one of his time and stay within Ponyville.

I finally learned how to let go of the past, and now I finally can also keep my promise that I made to my wife Pearl so very long ago, and dear honey, if you can hear me out there somewhere, wherever you are, know that I will always love you, but I can’t let the past hold me back, not anymore after so much lost time. I have some new friends now and they will help me out, but until next time all that I wish and have to say is that the Legends of me are finally done and over with, until next time, I am now finally happy and at peace now.

And with that he closed the book and smiled to himself for he truly and really was happy, and he didn’t have to lie about it either, and so all was quite well within his mind, and all was also well within Ponyville too.

But he knew then and there that he had learned the most important and valuable thing there is to know in this world, even more so than anything else including friendship. He learned that the meaning of life is to be happy, and he also learned that happiness is not given, but instead it is searched and looked for, then it is found, and then once it has been discovered you chase it always and constantly, and then once you have got it, you never let it go.

Epilogue: Afterwards

Epilogue: Afterwards

Sometime after all the parties and celebrations and died down and out he came out of the shower with a bath robe on and then looked at the screen.

“You’re still here?” he said, “Look, I don’t know what to tell you, the story is over, the lesson has been taught and the moral clearly stated, I don’t know what else more that you could want other than this ending scene or an Epilogue or Afterwards of some kind… Oh… wait… that’s already happening now. Well anyhow you can go home now if you want to unless you are and then in which case you can stop reading now, there’s nothing else left here.”

And with that said he turned around and went to his room and then turned back around once more

again, “I don’t know what you’re waiting for or possibly could be expecting, because there’s no cameos, no special guests or any kind of shock or surprise for you at the end of this, although you probably don’t believe me now that I have said that, but anyhow goodbye, go home, stop reading now, I mean that’s all I literally have left to say to you here.”

And with that said he went into his room leaving the hallway empty.

“Oh come on!” Discord said suddenly popping up, “I wasn’t even mentioned in this story at all, barely if you count my defeat, but seriously, how could you ever possibly forget to include someone as awesome and cool as I am?”

“DISCORD!” Star Swirl shouted from his room very loudly.

“Oh, I better go now,” Discord said looking at the screen, “But before I do I have one last treat for you since you have been a good audience for me and us today, and now I proudly present Discord’s Finale Puppet Theater!”

And with that said a little tiny puppet stage popped up and then suddenly burned away, “It seems like the puppet theater is having some problems so I guess that I’ll just have to do it myself,” he said pulling his face into a very famous cartoon character pig, “That’s all folks!!” And with that said the screen suddenly went pitch black leaving the audience in the darkness all alone.

The Shocking (New) Surprise

As the boulder went through the air time seemed to slow down for Star Swirl, both then and whenever he looked back on the memory with fondness, and he didn’t know how he did what he did next, at least not until much later, what he did next was also a complete surprise and shock, he blasted the rock to pieces.

And it was a good thing and a stroke of luck that he did do it, the girl didn’t have time to react, but he had moved so fast on instinct that he saved her from getting seriously hurt or injured, or possibly even worse by dying instead.

As the rock fell into small tiny pieces onto the ground every pony turned their heads to stare at him with a look of complete shock and surprise, they were amazed at what he did, and for good reason too, a spell that blasted rock to pieces didn’t exist then at that time, what he just did was not also an act of saving another pony’s life, but inventing a completely new spell in the process too, and the speed that he had acted with, they had never seen that before either, they did know that in times of great danger or stress a unicorn could cast strange and powerful spells like he just did, but they never saw it before and thought it could only be done by those with great power and knowledge and wisdom, or perhaps by those that were rich and noble, they were not simply to be performed and cast by a simple common pony like Star Swirl was.

“How did you do that?” Carl asked stating the question that every pony had on their mind, but he just happened to be the first one to say and express it.

“I don’t know,” Star Swirl said looking at the chaos and destruction all around him, and it was true at the time, he did have no idea how he did this, and he didn’t know how he could have invented a new spell in a fraction of an instant, the things that he did, they and never been done by any pony in history before.

Interruption

Meanwhile Back in the Royal Canterlot Library...

“I can’t believe that this actually happened,” Twilight said in disbelief.

“Neither did I when I first heard this story from him, but please allow me to continue, and try to keep the interruptions to a minimum if you can.”

“Of course, I’m sorry for interrupting you, I’ll try not to do it again any more from now on, you can continue on with your story now Princess Celestia.”

“Thank you, Twilight, now as I was saying before I was rudely interrupted…”

(Twilight blushed slightly at this comment but the story still went on.)

The Bullies Attack

But his plans were cut short by the bullies that cornered him every day as he left school and there were three of them, and all of them were cutting his escape and routes and ways off, and in the front facing him was the leader.

“Hey there Swirly, you had some strange thoughts and ideas in class today, care to explain them to us?” Carl said using the terrible nickname he had.

“No, I would not care to explain it to those who bully the one who knows it, and while I am happy to teach those willing to learn, you are not willing or able to.”

“Yeah, well me and my friends think differently,” he said pointing to Cliff and Pete, his two ‘friends’ that were more of assistants, “Tell us what you meant, otherwise you’ll get a nice trip and visit to the toilets with your head in first.”

“Fine then, what I meant was that walking is a pointless pursuit if one can simply travel faster, and in this case by means of teleportation instead.”

“That makes no sense to me, but tell you what, how about I let you off easy today, and then you can pay me twice what you usually do tomorrow?”

“You might as well do what you plan to do now, it doesn’t matter when or where it happens, what matter is that it is done, and done very quickly too.”

“Well boys, you heard him, let’s give him our usual treatment today, shall we?”

And with that said the boys swarmed in on him and started casting their spells, and as it happened every single time, Star Swirl had a flash back and remembered his first day when he came to school all alone with no pony else.

Flashback

“It’s going to be okay,” his guardian said, “Your first day is going to be great, it will be just fine, and you’ll be just fine without me, and I need you to understand what I am about to tell you, I won’t always be around to protect you, you’ll have to learn to do that by yourself and on your own, do you understand that?”

“I understand,” the young Star Swirl said, “And I will be fine without you, I don’t need you to comfort me, and you don’t need to worry about me either, I’ll be fine, I can handle myself around others, and I’m sure I’ll make some great friends.”

“Well I hope so, I have to go now, I can’t stay even if I wanted to, but I’ll come back for you later, have a good day Star Swirl,” and with that his guardian left him there all alone in the classroom, and soon the teacher Mrs. Shining made him stand up in front of the class and introduce himself, and then he sat down.

He listened to the teacher and lesson very intently, and he took down the notes that he needed to and remained silent and was polite, but when he was finally called upon to cast the spell, he failed, but the rest of the class did it quite well, and it was a very simple spell as he later learned, and he felt very sad and angry that he couldn’t do it, all the others and rest could, why couldn’t he do it?

But then after class was finished he was picked on for the first time by the very same bullies he faced today right now, and they had stuffed his face down in the toilet water and flushed the toilet, and that’s when he earned the nickname ‘Swirly’, an ironic name of what had really happened to him on the first day of school, and what would later become one of the worst days of his life, and he had many of them ever since that first day of school, and all were equally bad.

Another Interruption

Meanwhile Back in the Royal Canterlot Library…

“WAIT, WHAT?” Twilight asked in a very loud voice of shock and surprise, “THEY KISSED EACH OTHER? I CAN’T BELIEVE THAT THIS IS ACTUALLY TRUE, I CAN’T BELIEVE THAT THIS ACTUALLY HAPPENED EITHER!”

“Twilight,” Princess Celestia said, “Please calm down and lower your voice.”

“I’m sorry Princess, it’s just that I was so shocked and surprised by this.”

“I know, and you had better believe that this actually really happened, now if you will allow me to, I will continue on with this story in peace now.

But I am starting to doubt your capability to remain completely quiet and silent during a story, or at least one of great interest to you, perhaps maybe we can continue this another time that would be better for the both of us, would that work for you Twilight? I know it would most certainly work out for me.”

“No, please continue, I’m sorry that I interrupted, I promise that it won’t happen again while you continue on talking about your story, I swear.”

“Good then,” Celestia said knowing that if Twilight promised to do something for her or to any pony else that she would keep her word even if it meant the risk of death, or even if it meant that she would have to face danger and peril all alone or even with her friends, she was loyal to her until the very end.

“Alright then, I shall continue on with this story, now where was I again?”

“The part where the two of them were kissing each other,” Twilight said.

“I know that, I was just asking myself that in a rhetorical sense.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know that, I thought that you had forgotten your place.”

“Well don’t be sorry, it’s a very common mistake, any pony could have made it, you included, and now I think it’s just about time that I get back to the story that I was telling you, as I was saying before I was rudely interrupted, again…”

Yet Another Interruption

Meanwhile Back in the Royal Canterlot Library…

“Later he explained to me why he lied,” Celestia said interrupting the story.

“And did you forgive him?” Twilight asked now that there was a break.

“Yes, I did, and he also explained what he saw, he saw my sister in pain, sorrow and despair, and that lead her to turn into Nightmare Moon.

But that was only many years later after we started ruling the land, and he told me this story shortly before her return in case you were wondering.”

“Okay, so what happened next then?” she asked curiously.

“We learned from our teachers about diplomacy and politics, I won’t bore you with the details, but let’s just say we might not be who we are today without their guidance, but anyhow the construction of the castle began shortly after that, but there were a few small slight little problems,” she said with a smile on her face at the last part, “And let’s just say that some of them were caused by us, after all, we weren’t always the perfect ponies that you see us as now.”

“How dare you say that,” Twilight said mockingly, “But anyhow please do go on, I would love to hear more about how you caused trouble there.”

She emphasized the word ‘love’ and then Celestia smiled and went on.

“Alright,” she said, “I suppose that is started off with the water balloon…”

Teaching, Saying Goodbye, and Going Home

The time soon came when he had to mentor the two little young girls and showed them the spell to raise and lower both the moon, sun, and stars, and when asked how come he did it so easily, he just said, “Well it’s easy just like a piece of pie or perhaps maybe cake for young little Celestia over here.”

And with that statement some insults and jibes were passed around and they had some fun, but eventually they did manage to get through the lesson.

But the time also soon came when he had to leave, “I am sorry,” he said, “But I can stay here no longer, I must go back home to my loving wife, this is the last day that I could have spent it here and I am very glad for my time here and I sincerely hope and wish that we can soon meet each other once more again.

But if we don’t then I will understand, and should you ever need me feel free to contact me at any time that you wish.”

“The same goes for you,” Cosmos said, “We will miss you my dear friend.”

And with that said they all hugged and nodded with some tears shed and then he took his place with Felecia and his luggage and then used his teleportation spell to go home where Peral lay asleep on her bed.

“Wake up honey,” he said gently shaking her awake, “I’m home.”

Pearl slowly opened her eyes and smiled, “Hello beautifully handsome.”

He smiled, “I like that nickname, can I keep it?”

“No,” she said, “You already have a much better one.”

“Damn it,” he said, “Oh well, at least I have you now.”

“Yes, you do, but where did you go and what did you see?”

“Well that’s a very long story,” he said, and with that he told her.

“How very interesting,” she said once he was done, “And now to think that we have a pet companion, how very nice quite indeed.”

“She prefers to be called by her proper given name which is Felicia,” he said.

“So I take it that you missed my company a lot by her name?”

“How did you ever guess?” he said and with that they smiled and laughed and enjoyed their time now that they were finally together again once more.

The Spell

“From one to another, another to one. A mark of one’s destiny singled out alone, fulfilled.”

Star Swirl had just finished writing down his most recent and last spell, but it was incomplete, something was missing from it, but he couldn’t tell what it was. Yet he knew right then and there that he would never finish it because there was something, just one subject that he did not know about, and so with a sigh he put the piece of paper in his desk and then took out his journal to write in, a habit that he had developed ever since he was a very young colt.

He used his journal for almost everything, notes, spells, thoughts, idea, fears, and his dreams, everything that he deemed important was in this thing.

Today I finished another spell, the word which I wrote on a piece of paper that I had handy, for a wizard should always have a piece of paper and a quill or instrument in which to write your idea, thoughts, dreams, fears, or spells down as I have said before in this book, well the words were these, ‘From one to another, another to one. A mark of one’s destiny singled out alone, fulfilled.

I do not know what they mean or who they will apply to, I only know that I will never finish this spell because there is something, just one subject that I do not know, I plan to look into the future to see if I can see the pony that will discover this work and then finish and end it once and for all, but perhaps it is better if I do not, I can only hope and pray that another may finish and end my work...

Once he had written that down in his journal he put it aside and away, he had other more important things to do right now, like doing his work and his job.

But then again, he had done so much in his lifetime that he deserved and needed a break and rest, and Equestria would be fine in the safe hooves of the Mane 6 there to protect them. But it would be and was many years before they would come, but for now it had Celestia, and that’s all they needed right now, it was who they needed, no pony would need him, not for quite some long time.

Then taking his daily tea he drank it and waited for the arrival of his next student and apprentice, Celestia had promised him one, and now he was anxiously expecting one, even if it was not a very good one that he would get.