The Gift That Keeps On Giving (Giving Starswirl a Headache)
It was still hard for the all powerful Starswirl the Bearded to come to grips with the world he now found himself in. In the blink of an eye, over 1,000 years had passed, and so much had changed that he hadn't been around for. None the least of which, was the fact that the two little fillies he'd tutored were now the sovereign rulers of Equestria.
Oh how long ago those memories seemed. The high and mighty Starswirl, completely at the mercy of two absurdly powerful alicorn fillies. If the old wizard was being completely honest with himself, he would've quit after the first day if it hadn't been for the generous salary he'd been given by the royal family. No other tutors would even dare to go near the fillies, terrified of their overwhelming powers.
But now Starswirl would give anything, even the bells on his hat, to have been there to see his young pupils grow up. Heck, he wished more than anything he could've been there to see Celestia take on her first student. Every teacher always dreamed of seeing the day when their students surpassed them, and being trapped in limbo had robbed Starswirl of the chance to see the sisters come into their own.
The wizard shook his head, the bells on his hat jingling ever so slightly. "There you go again, getting all reminiscent again, Starswirl," He thought to himself, as he strolled down the vast hallways of Canterlot Castle. "Unless you were to travel back in time, you'll never be able to relive those memories. And you locked away all the time travel spells you ever knew for a very good reason. The fabric of time is not something to be trifled with."
Pushing such thoughts to the back of his head, Starswirl made his way up to the tower to where his old study (which had doubled as his living quarters during his time in Canterlot) was located. He knew already that Celestia had allowed Sunburst to access it, such was how he'd come to learn about Starswirl and the Pillars. But apparently, Sunburst had taken good care of the study in the brief time it had been in his control. Not a book was out of place, and everything seemed the way it was the day Starswirl had packed up his things and departed to join his fellow pillars. It was so good to be home again.
Starswirl knew he couldn't stay for long, far too many new sights had yet to be explored, and his fellow pillars had surely already gotten a head start on him in regards to exploring. But just as he turned to leave, Starswirl saw something out of the corner of his eye. Turning to look, he found a faded grey book with a swirl on the front cover, resting on a wooden book holder near the shelves. Attached to the book's cover, was a note:
I may have had the luck of finding it, but this rightfully belongs to you.
Sincerely,
Sunburst
Starswirl removed the note, blew off the dust, and opened the old book carefully. His green eyes scanned the pages, and suddenly they lit up like stars in the night sky! It was his old journal! How nice of Sunburst to leave it for him.
With a youthful vigor flowing through him, Starswirl scanned through page after page. Many of his greatest personal accomplishments had been chronicled here, along with many memorable moments in his life. Then, suddenly, he came upon a portion of the journal that had been tagged with a purple bookmark. And as he read over what he'd scribbled down in it (a task made difficult by his fairly sloppy horn writing, he'd have to try and fix that someday), memories from long ago came flooding back to him in an instant!
A much younger (though no less bearded) Starswirl smiled at the little classroom that had been set up for him. His calling may have been in magic, but the wizard always felt a longing for teaching, especially to students who he could hopefully pass down his knowledge to. Two wooden desks stood next to each other a good distance from the door. Behind them was a window to the outside. And in front of them was a chalkboard, which Starswirl had taken the liberty of writing "Starswirl's Magic Lessons" on. Everything was ready.
And just in time. At that very moment, the door swung open, and into the room rushed two little fillies. The elder of the two had a snow white coat, a mane and tail that had streaks of pink, blue, and green, and purple eyes. And the younger of the two had a somewhat dark blue coat, a lighter dark blue mane and tail, and dark blue eyes. Both of them had a horn on their foreheads, and wings on either side of them. Such ponies were known as alicorns, and as fate would have it, these two were sisters. The white one was named Celestia, and the blue one Luna.
Not one to waste time with childish antics, Starswirl clapped his hooves and instructed. "Alright, fillies, please take your seats. It's time for class to begin."
But Celestia and Luna just stuck their tongues out at him. "Nu-uh!" They both protested, and continued to run around the classroom, giggling and laughing as if it were all a game!
Starswirl just sighed, as he lit up his horn and enveloped both fillies in his golden yellow aura. He plopped them both into their desks, as he sternly scolded. "There will no more of such foalish behavior in my presence! You are here to learn magic, and apparently some manners too," He proceeded to introduce himself. "My name is Starswirl the Bearded, but you can call me Starswirl, or Mr. Starswirl if you want. And even though I'm your teacher, I want to be your friend."
"You look like a grandpa!" Celestia rudely teased, chuckling to herself.
Luna quickly chimed in. "Yeah! Are you sure you should be teaching and not doing... whatever it is old ponies do?"
Starswirl only rolled his eyes at the sisters' juvenile behavior. He had expected them to be difficult. "I assure you, there is nopony more qualified than me to teach. And I'll have you know that I am NOT old! I'm in the prime of my youth, and I have no time for your nonsense! Your parents asked, nay, begged me to teach you. And I don't think they'll be pleased to hear their daughters are acting like spoiled brats. So I suggest you can the rude remarks and silly jokes, this is a time of seriousness. Education is no laughing matter."
"Whatever, you're not the first pony who's tried to teach us," Luna snorted. "Tia and I don't need to learn magic from a wizard like you."
"Yeah!" Celestia added, blowing a raspberry. "We know everything!"
"Oh, is that so?" Starswirl asked with a raised eyebrow. "Well then, by all means, prove it. I'd like to see either of you try to levitate the likes of me. I'll even make it easier for the both of you and hold still."
Starswirl expected both fillies to try, and fail. So it was quite a shock to the wizard when he felt himself effortlessly being floated into the air by Celestia, who seemed to barely be breaking a sweat. "See, Mr. Starswirl?" Celestia huffed in a snobbish tone of voice. "We don't need a grandpa to teach us!"
"Nonsense! This just means you already have a grip on the basics of magic!" Starswirl replied quite stubbornly, even though he found that he couldn't break Celestia's hold on him. "And that means we can delve into the heavier stuff, the stuff your parents want you to master."
"You mean, like raising the sun and the moon, like all those unicorns do all the time?" Luna asked with intrigue.
Starswirl nodded, sensing that there was a subject that intrigued the younger of the princesses. "Indeed. But I cannot teach either of you a thing if you keep doing stuff like this. Now will you please put me down?!" He demanded of Celestia.
"Of course, Mr. Starswirl." Celestia grinned, and released her magical hold.
Starswirl was still suspended in mid-air, and he had little time to react before he hit the ground with a thud! Luckily, he wasn't hurt, and he picked himself up as both Celestia and Luna were laughing and pointing at him. "Oh, you think that's funny, do you?" He ominously asked, as he approached Celestia.
Celestia's happy mood quickly faded, replaced by one of worry. "W-what are you gonna do to me?" She reluctantly asked Starswirl.
"What your parents advised me to do should you misbehave, which you just did," Starswirl explained, as he lifted Celestia from her chair, floated her close to him, then plopped her down in front of the chalkboard. "You're going to write: 'I will not levitate my teacher', one hundred times."
"What if I refuse to obey?" Celestia taunted, still feeling somewhat defiant.
Starswirl replied by lighting up his horn, and Celestia felt a small twitch at the tip of her horn. "Try to use magic now, young filly." Starswirl encouraged.
"Oh, you're gonna regret saying that, you stinky old wizard!" Celestia chuckled. "Oh, what I'm gonna do to you!" But try as she might, she found that she couldn't get her horn to light up or even spark. "Hey, you did something to me!" She shouted at Starswirl.
"A simple magic disabling spell," Starswirl explained. "Only I know how to remove it." (He decided to leave out the fact that it would eventually expire on its own after about an hour)
"You flank head!" Celestia snarled at Starswirl. "How am I supposed to write on the chalkboard, if I can't use my magic?"
"Simple, use your hooves," Starswirl instructed. "Remember, you are to write exactly one hundred times. No more, no less," Then he turned to Luna and cautioned. "And the same will happen to you too, Luna, if you cause trouble. And if you keep this up, I may have to take additional measures. So act up at your own risk, because I won't tolerate any nonsense from either of you. Do I make myself clear?"
"Y-yes Mr. Starswirl, sir." Luna sheepishly answered. She felt not unlike that time her father had caught her doodling on the palace walls, and she'd tried to blame it on her sister. It was a miracle her eardrums had survived his "Royal Canterlot Voice" as he'd called it.
Starswirl couldn't help but chuckle a bit upon looking back at that entry. "I almost forgot how much those two used to drive me crazy," He laughed, wiping a lone tear from his eyes. "But they made up for it by being so adorable, whenever they weren't getting themselves into trouble. Oh, they were such little terrors." Then he went back to reading his journal.
A couple of entries passed before Starswirl's eyes without fanfare. They just chronicled him teaching Celestia and Luna, and them gradually coming to accept that Starswirl wasn't going to leave like all the other tutors they'd successfully chased off.
Then, suddenly, the old wizard stopped on an entry that caught his eye. It began as follows: "Today, I decided to take the sisters outside for their lesson. Little did I imagine, it would be a life saving decision."
And indeed it was, for Starswirl anyway. The same couldn't be said of his majestic beard (at least he grew it back eventually, longer and more commanding than before), which burnt to a crisp. All thanks to a stray bolt of magic from Luna.
The memories of the day were still fresh in the wizard's mind, as though they'd happened just yesterday.
It was a lovely Spring day in Canterlot, not a cloud in sight and the air filled with the scent of pollen from blossoming flowers. The perfect day for some magic target practice. After all, Starswirl always did believe that one learned best by example. All the books in the world meant nothing if you couldn't translate thought to action, as one of his students had learned the hard way.
"Now, the key with offensive magic is control," Starswirl explained to the young sisters, both of whom had only recently gotten their cutie marks. "You must judge the target carefully and use just enough magic to achieve your objective. Too little and your spell will fizzle into nothing, too much and your target may not survive the blast. Above else though, remember that magic is not a toy, it is a tool. And like any tool, if used improperly, it can bring harm and destruction."
Celestia yawned. "You're boring me to death, Starswirl. When do we get to the fun part?"
Luna found herself slightly more intrigued. "Is that why Mom and Dad don't want us to learn about dark magic?" She asked Starswirl.
Starswirl firmly nodded. "Dark magic is the most destructive force known to pony kind. Few have wielded its almighty powers and lived to tell the tale. So don't go getting any ideas that you can trick me into teaching it to you. I'd rather stay in your parents good books, thank you."
"Just get it on with it already, Mr. Important Wizard," Celestia commented. "Luna and I are itching to show you what we've learned."
Starswirl just laughed, as he lit up his horn. "Patience, young princess. That and a good dose of humility will serve you well one day. You'd be wise to remember, there's always someone better than you," Aiming his horn with precision, Starswirl shot off a strong beam that effortlessly hit the bulls-eye in the center of the target! "Now then, fillies, give it your best shot. And watch where you aim!"
Celestia had little trouble hitting all of her assigned targets. She struck all of them in the blink of an eye. "Is that good enough for, Starswirl?" She asked, bowing in respect to him. "I did just as you taught me."
Starswirl allowed himself to smile, something he'd seldom done since he'd begun teaching the fillies. "Yes, that was most impressive indeed, Celestia. I must say, you're progressing in your studies much quicker than I anticipated."
"Thank you, I was hoping you'd notice," Celestia smiled, before she turned her attention to her little sister, who was struggling just to get her horn to spark. With a sigh, she added. "Now if only Luna wasn't such a slowpoke."
"You're not helping, Tia!" Luna groaned in reply, as she continued to try in vain to get her horn to light up.
"Now now, you mustn't strain yourself, Luna," Starswirl cautioned. "Everyone learns at their own pace."
"But I can do this!" Luna protested with a huff! And then, suddenly, her horn started sparking like crazy! The filly got all excited, and started prancing about with little thought! "Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!" She shouted at the top of her lungs, making both Starswirl and Celestia plug their ears! Then Luna aimed her glowing horn at the targets Starswirl had set up for. But everything Starswirl had advised her on earlier wasn't dwelling in her mind, she was too excited to think about it!
Starswirl soon took notice of Luna's enormous magical display, and became alarmed! "Luna! You've got to get your horn under control!" He shouted, as he rushed towards the eager filly! "You're gonna blow us all up!"
But Luna didn't listen, she was in no state to do so! She just pointed her horn at the target and shot off a blast! The beam of dark blue magic went completely through the target, destroying it! Then it kept on going until it finally bounced off a castle wall, then bounced off another, and another!
Then it happened in the blink of an eye! One moment, Starswirl felt something whiz past him, and the next his beard was on fire! It took every ounce of his being not to scream in pain at the searing flames, as he lit up his horn to summon a small rain cloud and douse the flames.
"Oh my gosh, I am so so so SO sorry, Starswirl!" Luna exclaimed, as she and Celestia rushed to the wizard's side!
Starswirl just looked down at his face, and struggled to hold back tears. His beautiful long beard that he'd spent years growing and grooming to perfection was no more. It was nothing but ashes now, which he brushed off his face. Still, it payed to remember that Luna hadn't done such an act on purpose. "It's quite alright, Luna," He calmly reassured his young charge. "Hair can grow back. What's important is that nopony was injured. And now you understand why it is necessary for you to control your magic. If I hadn't been around, there's no telling what or who your beam could've hit."
Luna gulped, not wanting to think of the possibilities.
Celestia couldn't help but rib Luna for her act though. "No fair, sister! You knew I was going to give Starswirl a trim!"
"I thought you were joking." Luna commented back.
"Since when do I ever joke?" Celestia asked, as if she were being put on the spot.
"Alright, alright, that's quite enough of that," Starswirl interrupted, silencing the two sisters. "This marks the end of today's lesson. And I expect a full page essay from the both of you on the importance of self control."
"But... but..." Celestia and Luna protested together.
"Buts are for sitting, not protesting," Starswirl commented, as he trotted off. "I look forward to seeing those essays in a month, girls. You deserve time to work on them, but I better not catch either of you slacking off."
Starswirl never did get those essays. Every time he asked, the sisters would come up with some sort of "reason" why they weren't done yet. In secret, Starswirl knew the truth, they'd never even started on the essays. But despite the trouble they caused him, he never had the heart to call their bluffs.
The years went by, and Celestia and Luna grew older, but by no means less of a nuisance for Starswirl. Even so, part of him couldn't help but grow attached to the two trouble makers. The wizard lamented the fact that he was always too busy traveling or pursuing new feats of magic to ever consider settling down, despite how much he longed to have foals of his own to pass down his legacy to.
In a way though, tutoring Celestia and Luna gave him that dream. He'd had a few students before, but none that he'd ever felt as personal a connection to as the alicorn sisters. Maybe it was their eagerness to learn and eagerness to impress him, maybe it was their playful, fun loving nature, or maybe it was something completely unknown. Whatever it was, Starswirl became quite fond of the princesses, even as years passed and they stopped being fillies.
But even as they entered their teenage years, Celestia and Luna still gave Starswirl some memorable experiences. One of which he'd written down in his journal under the following entry: "Today, my blossoming students sought to challenge me to a magical battle. And I, of course, accepted their challenge."
To call it a magical battle would've been an overstatement, because Starswirl was easily a match for two teenaged alicorns (especially since Luna's body hadn't quite caught up with her age just yet). But he still felt it fair to give them a sporting chance, so he held back.
Celestia and Luna were pouring every ounce of magical power they could muster up from their horns, just to counter Starswirl's beam, which was constantly pushing their two beams back.
Starswirl did his best to look concerned, even though he was hardly using half of his power. Eventually, his beam overpowered Celestia and Luna's two beams, and the battle ended with Starswirl victorious.
"Not bad, young mares," Starswirl commented afterwards, as he helped the two defeated alicorns to stand. "It's been a while since anyone has truly come close to requiring me to put in a great deal of effort. I didn't expect that I would have to use half of my power to defeat you two, I expected to use significantly less."
"It's not fair, we'll never be as strong as you are!" Celestia complained loudly.
"Yeah! Couldn't you let us win, just this once?" Luna pleaded with puppy dog eyes.
Starswirl wasn't tempted for even a second. "If I took it easy on you two, it wouldn't be a victory that you deserved now would it? I certainly never got to where I was because I took it easy on those who challenged me," He advised. "And one day, when I am no longer around, it will fall to the both of you to defend the realm. And those who would seek to conquer Equestria certainly won't let you win just because you ask them to."
"What are you saying, Starswirl?" Celestia asked with concern. "You're not dying, are you?"
"Dying? Me? Goodness, no!" Starswirl laughed quite heartily. "I'm certainly not going anywhere anytime soon. You two still have much to learn, and I'm the only one who can teach you. I'm simply using my inevitable absence as an example. When my time comes, I want to be sure that I can leave the realm in capable hooves."
"Do you think we'll ever become as great and powerful as you are?" Luna asked as she looked up at Starswirl.
Starswirl stroked his beard with a hoof, as he contemplated. "Maybe, but nopony knows for sure what the future holds, not even myself. Either way, neither of you are going to get any better unless you continue to practice what I teach you. Now then, let us begin today's lesson. I think the time has come for you two to learn about transformation."
"Are we gonna turn into bats? Bats are awesome!" Luna eagerly grinned.
"Oh please, only you think that," Celestia rolled her eyes. "Bats are creepy. Everypony knows phoenixes are way cooler!"
"Now, now, don't start any of that nonsense you two," Starswirl scolded. "We won't be transforming ourselves. We'll be experimenting with fruits and vegetables."
The day after that "battle", Starswirl found himself confined to bed. His horn ached badly, and he was running a temperature. "I strained myself too much in that battle. It's been too long since I've had to push myself to the lengths I did." He thought to himself, trying to keep his mind off his throbbing forehead.
Just then, there was a knock at the door. Starswirl barely found the strength to mutter. "Go away, I'm in no condition to be receiving guests."
But whoever was on the other side wasn't going to take no for an answer. The knob turned ever so slowly, and then someone trotted into Starswirl's study/living quarters, or rather two someones. "Hi Starswirl!" Celestia and Luna cheerfully greeted, having donned nurse caps. Using their combined magical powers, they were wheeling a small cart into the room.
Starswirl sat right up in bed, eyes widening! "What are you two fillies doing here?! Can't you see that I'm sick?!" He demanded quite bitterly.
"We know that, Starswirl," Celestia began. "And we know that you're sick because of us, because of what we made you do."
"So we decided to do something special for you as a way of saying sorry," Luna added. "I made you some soup, like Mom and Dad used to do for us whenever we got sick as fillies."
"But I heated it up so it'll taste better," Celestia boasted, carefully levitating a spoonful of soup towards Starswirl. "Go on, eat up."
Reluctantly, Starswirl accepted the generous gift of his pupils. The warm soup tasted wonderfully. "Not bad. But please, you two must leave. I couldn't live with myself if you caught my horn flu."
"Oh but Starswirl, we can't, we already brought you your medicine." Luna innocently commented, as she used her horn to grab the medicine bottle and pour a drop of sickly green colored liquid onto a spoon.
"Luna, that's not the kind of-" Starswirl began, only to be cut off as the medicine was poured down his throat!
"Oh we know," Celestia innocently giggled. "But this one has a special ingredient, love. Besides, we couldn't get into the adult medicine cabinet, Mom and Dad put a lock on it that we can't pick."
Starswirl gagged at the medicine's overwhelmingly strong taste, very nearly spitting it back up onto his bed sheets! "What has gotten into you two?! I certainly didn't teach you to do things like this!" He scolded quite sternly, his sour mood only serving to worsen his already aching horn.
"Oh... but Starswirl, we just wanted to help you get better." Celestia said sweetly. And Luna innocently nodded.
"If you really want to help me, then you'll leave me to my rest!" Starswirl said with a humph. "That's an order."
Luna and Celestia reluctantly bowed. "As you wish, Starswirl." And they then left with the cart, though not before Luna whispered. "Don't tell Mom and Dad we were in here, they'll totally freak out."
"I almost forgot about that one," Starswirl commented to himself, as he finished reading the journal page detailing that fateful sick day. "With the number of headaches they caused me, it's a miracle I didn't get sick more often. But every time I got over an illness and returned to teaching, they'd be all but hugging and kissing me when I entered the classroom."
The wizard continued to read through entry after entry, as he had chronicled the developments of his bright young students. From their first days under his wing, to the last time he'd seen them before his disappearance.
Of course, at the time, none knew that they would not see each other again for over 1,000 years. In many respects, it was an ordinary day that was only made not so ordinary by Starswirl's personal decision.
Almost a decade had passed since Starswirl had first signed on to teach Celestia and Luna magic, and now they were all but adults. Even Luna had finally hit that big growth spurt and stopped being the "little" sister that Celestia always teased her for being.
But on this day, from the way Celestia and Luna reacted, you would've thought that they were children in the bodies of adults. For they wept and clung to their mentor's leg, begging and pleading with him. "Please, don't go."
Alas, Starswirl had already made up his mind. "I'm afraid there's little left that I can teach you two. My help is always needed in order to protect Equestria and ensure there's a nation for you two to grow up in," He informed his students. "It saddens me to have to leave you like this, but I will cherish the memories of our time together dearly."
"Promise you'll come back someday to say hello?" Celestia offered. "I know Luna and I didn't always show it, but we've really grow attached to you. You're like a second father to us."
"Or that fun and crazy uncle we never had," Luna chimed in. "And we're still working on those essays we owe you, honest."
Starswirl only laughed and shook his head. "Something tells me those essays will never be ready to be turned in. But I suppose I can let that detail slide. Do give your parents my regards and let them know I'm forever in their debt for the opportunity they gave me. Oh, and one more thing. Be sure to keep my study neat and tidy, for I will be coming back someday, and I'll know if anything's out of place." Then, tipping his hat to the princesses, he turned and departed from Canterlot. Something had come up at Ponhenge which required his attention.
That "something" ultimately resulted in Starswirl's decision to trap himself and his fellow pillars in limbo, in order to keep the Pony of Shadows from conquering Equestria. A decision he still felt was right, even after all the time he had to think it over. "Celestia and Luna weren't ready to combat such a threat, they hadn't even taken the throne yet," He thought, as he read through the last of his journal entries, right up to the one he'd written just before trapping the Pony of Shadows. "Had I allowed it to escape, Equestria would've been destroyed for sure, and Celestia and Luna along with it. But now, thanks to a magic greater than my own, I'm back. And my students have grown into fine young mares."
Thinking again of the princesses, Starswirl found himself getting nostalgic. They'd looked up to him not only as a teacher and mentor, but as a friend and even family. And since their parents were no longer around, he was now the closest thing they had to a father. He'd already informed them of his intent to look around before settling down again, but that was hardly a reason not to at least visit with them again for a while. After all, he'd just gotten back from limbo.
Besides, if he was going to travel, he'd need the guidance of the royal sisters to tell him what had changed since his absence. So, with his mind made up, Starswirl closed up his journal and departed his study.
Boy would the princesses be surprised to see their old mentor again so soon. But this time, when he told him he was going to come back, he darn well meant it!
Author's Note
Welcome to 2018 everyone!
I feel like this is one of many possible stories that could be done with the Pillar/Legend Six, and I don't know whether or not the show intends to explore any such possibilities.
I know I probably made Celestia seem somewhat snobbish early on, but to be fair she was like that in Legends of Magic #1 before she grew out of it. And I tried to balance it out by having Luna give Starswirl trouble too.
