Star Swirl: Who Who Hoo?
It was a quiet and peaceful night that visited Ponyville that day. The pegasi had left the sky devoid of clouds and Luna's full moon shone on beautifully as a result. There was a faint haze visible, the humid air carrying away the rains of the past few days back from whence they came. Even the nightly noises of animals and insects seemed to be somewhat muted.
It was a good night to tuck in early and the majority of Ponyville had done just that. Here, perhaps, could be found a strolling couple, lost in love and the romance of the eve. There, maybe, one might observe a late night arrival, a traveling father returning home from business. But most of what could be seen of Ponyville was dark and at rest. Stallions, mares, and foals all blissfully asleep and pleasantly dreaming.
One building stuck out amongst all this tranquility: the large, hollowed out tree that served as Ponyville's library. Like the last sputtering flame of a spent candle, its windows were brightly lit—a lone soldier standing vigil against the darkness. With a careful eye, an observer might see the occasional movement within those windows. Movement that indicated the building's occupant was hard at work and pulling another lonely, late night research session.
A keener eye might notice that the industrious pony was, in fact, not alone this night. Amongst the upper boughs, outlined against the moon, silently perched a squat shape. For many hours it had sat there, completely unmoving, completely silent. Despite the brightness of the moon, it was a dark silhouette pocked with a pair of gleaming lights—its eyes reflecting the brilliant moonlight.
One of the first floor windows was pushed open as a pony leaned out and politely called, “Owlowicious? Are you out there? Could you come in and help me with something, please?”
The dark shape expanded as Owlowicious readied his wings. With a great push he launched up and over, descending to the open window. The pony inside—none other than the studious Twilight Sparkle—retreated to allow the graceful tawny owl to enter. Settling on his usual perch beside Twilight's work desk, he awaited his instructions as she closed the window.
“As available at a moment's notice as ever, I see. What would I do without you, Owlowicious?”
“Hoo,” he replied.
“Why, you of course!”
“Hoo?”
Chuckling at the old joke, Twilight trotted over to her desk, magicking open the thick, old tome that sat upon it. A light cloud of dust rose up only to be blown away by Owlowicious before reaching the filly's nose.
“Thank you, Owlowicious,” she said, nodding her head before flipping through to the section she planned on studying.
“Hoo,” came the predictable reply. Bowing his head in return, Owlowicious patiently waited for the inevitable request from his diligent owner.
Murmuring to herself as she turned page after page, Twilight's eyes took on their typical focus as she turned her significant mental processes to the task at hoof. Stopping to read a particular passage, with only half a mind she said, “Can you fetch me Transmogrifications, Conjurations, and Everything You Should Know About Them?”
With another hoot of acquiescence, Owlowicious took flight towards the far side of the library. For some reason, the title sounded familiar to him and he suspected he knew right where it should be. Flapping up to the topmost shelf, he found he was right.
It was one of his own books, penned so very long ago.
He looked over the text filled spine once more, to ensure he had read the title and author correctly: Transmogrifications, Conjurations, and Everything You Should Know About Them by Star Swirl the Bearded. Yes, it was one of his earliest texts. Written in a different time, a different place, and in a completely different body.
For while Twilight knew him to be an incredibly intelligent owl, she couldn't even begin to suspect the truth—that her pet owl, so lovingly named Owlowicious, was really Star Swirl the Bearded, one of the most heralded of unicorns in all of Equestrian history. One that many justifiably believed was long since dead.
But he knew. He could still remember: the prestige of not only heading the Royal Magical Research Academy but founding it; the privilege of being one of the few amongst the King's personal retinue; the honor of seeking answers to the kingdom's direst and most dangerous magical conundrums.
Carefully gripping the book in his talons—a skill mastered after much practice—he pulled it from the shelf and dropped slightly due to its weight. Carrying it over to Twilight, he privately cursed himself for being so very thorough and verbose in his writings. Laying it beside the other book she had already procured, he returned to his perch and observed the young unicorn at work.
He hadn't taken many apprentices in his days at the academy, but they had all been incredibly dedicated and skilled pupils. Owlowicious had to admit that Twilight would rank right at the top, despite her young age. Of course, the filly's personal teacher had been Star Swirl's best and brightest student—the Princess Celestia—so it was of little wonder.
That had been an amazing and especially shocking discovery: that Celestia was still alive and ruling Equestria with her sister. If he could have any one question answered, Owlowicious constantly thought to himself, it would be to find out exactly what happened those many centuries ago. The histories were surprisingly lacking in such regards.
Twilight had become particularly engrossed in whatever topic she had chosen to study this night, so Owlowicious let his mind wander. He hadn't thought of the old days in months. How curious, that. He had been so incensed when first arriving and finding himself trapped in the body of an owl. Now he felt at peace with his situation—pleased even.
But despite his acceptance and enjoyment at it, he could recall with perfect clarity the events leading to his present situation...
~----~
Star Swirl the Bearded was not pleased by what had barged into his laboratory mere moments before. Three children—two fillies and an eyesore of a draconequus—stood before him, their eyes filled with innocent pleading and hope. Heavens save him, why did he ever promise Lucent he'd teach these kids?
“What portion of, 'No, I am immensely preoccupied with a task that the entire kingdom of Equestria is relying on me—the great Star Swirl—to perform and quickly running out of time in which to complete said task.' do you three not bloody understand?!” he exclaimed hotly.
It looked like the draconequus creature was about to speak up but the largest of the three—a very pale pink alicorn with a kindly but shrewd expression—moved her wing to silence him. He seemed to consider ignoring her but shrugged and took a step back.
Smiling, the alicorn cleared her throat and addressed her mentor, saying, “We understand, sir. But our fathers insisted we see you for magic practice today. But since—“
“I do not have the time for this! I have an incredibly delicate and vital spell to complete! One that will lead to me solving this kingdom's greatest crisis since Harmony and Chaos broke the orbits of the sun and moon! A crisis—need I remind you—solved by your fathers who should very well understand I cannot be bothered by such trifles!”
She waited until he had finished his mini-tirade before continuing, her voice filled with caution and respect. “We understand, sir. As I was saying, since you are so very busy, might I suggest perhaps we make today's lesson one of observation? There are not many opportunities for us to witness the casting of such a clearly advanced spell, let alone one performed by the best wizard in all of Equestria.”
Star Swirl, while flattered, almost told them no. They were saved by the smallest of the trio speaking up, her voice full of desire and innocence, “Please please please, sir! I look forward to magic day so much! More than anything else in the entire world! Pleeeeease!”
While normally he couldn't stand the whining of children, Star Swirl had an admitted weakness for the stunted filly's desires. He let out a slow sigh to calm down then gave them all a hard look before announcing his decision.
“Very well, Princess Luna. I could not very well tell you no, I suppose. Princess Celestia,” he paused to give the third an extra hard look, “and you, too, Prince Discord—all three of you may stand next to my desk over there. But be very quiet, very still, and—above everything—no magic!”
The three quickly promised they would do as he asked and let out a whoop of celebration before heading across the laboratory to take their places near his desk. Lightly shaking his head at the delay, Star Swirl caught the attention of his five assistants.
“Very well. With the preparations complete and distractions dealt with, let us begin. You five have been shown countless times the spell I'm requiring of you. You five recreated the spell and efficiently sustained more magical power than any other tested. The future of Equestria rides on the success of this experiment.
“Time travel. Amongst the sagest of unicorns, known to be possible but considered risky and impossible to properly control. I myself am a being who has been moved beyond my own present time stream—from the time before Equestria was founded to about five years ago. A difference of several centuries. So evidence exists to prove it is indeed possible.
“What we hope to achieve here today is control. If my research is correct, then this spell should deposit me precisely at this location, twelve months in the future.
“I hypothesize that if we gain control of moving to the future, we can then learn to move just as easily to the past. In so doing, we may hope to meet the deadline the Court has set for us in regards to the necessities of ensuring Equestria's future.”
There was a general murmur of agreement with this statement. While they all knew how important the Court's decision had been, it had been a nearly impossible request. All of them had lost a countless number of nights' sleep to the never ending research and discussions on the matter. None had lost more than Star Swirl, however.
That's why—despite the danger—they were all here voluntarily and even eagerly. Through his unbelievable dedication and intelligence, Star Swirl had been the only unicorn to really produce any promising results. If this day's experiment was a success, it was hoped it would only be a matter of time until they could all rest.
Wasting no more time, Star Swirl began directing his assistants to their places as he took his own place in the center of the room. Upon the floor had been scrawled many mystic symbols and logical calculations. They provided no literal benefit in casting the spell but rather helped the less experienced unicorns to hold focus on the magic.
When everypony had settled in place, he took a deep breath and spoke with more confidence than he felt, “Let us begin.”
One by one his assistants' horns were wrapped in the glow of their magic. Allowing them to build up the magical energy they held for a moment, Star Swirl focused and activated his own magic. His horn awash in brilliant emerald energy, he took a quick glance at the royal children against the far well. They seemed completely enraptured by the ritual, there would be no worry of them disrupting or harming it in any way.
Satisfied at their behavior, he turned back to the task at hoof. He didn't need another mistake, like last time. The spell was perfect—he knew that. The unicorns surrounding him were some of the most magically talented ponies he had ever instructed. Everything was juicy and ripe, all he had to do was harvest the result.
That proved it--he had to have been incredibly nervous to be making a crass earth pony expression like that. He shook off his insecurities and cleared his mind of such nonsense. Now he needed complete focus.
The energy of the five unicorns began to circle around him, their myriad colours converging into a blinding white light that continued to move faster and faster. It was this energy that would create a bridge between the present and future time streams—when that bridge was solid enough to cross, Star Swirl would simply launch his own magic across it like a tether to pull himself from now to then.
It was foolproof. Absolutely foolproof.
It wouldn't be until far later that he would trace his own memories of the moment and discover what exactly went wrong. His plan, his spell, his research—yes, they were perfect. They were foolproof.
But Star Swirl the Bearded—Equestria's most famed and celebrated conjurer—never anticipated a simple sneeze.
The torrent of energy swirled ever faster, throwing papers and notes everywhere and filling the air with dust and sand. While the three young royals were behaving themselves like they promised—none of them had seen anything like the spectacle before them and they didn't want to miss a moment—the dust flying through the air struck Discord in the face, causing him to sneeze.
While not intentional or even noticed by Discord himself, with that sneeze accidentally went a little of the Chaotic power he possessed as his very essence. It wasn't much—in any other situation it might cause a quill to break or perhaps a cup to be knocked over. But here, amongst the awesome fluctuations of magical energy, it was just enough.
So absolutely focused on the spell was Star Swirl that he barely had enough mind to notice it was working exactly as he predicted and planned. The moment was nearing as a smile touched his lips. The bridge was almost complete. His life's work was about to be achieved. He had never felt such a rush in all his years.
As soon as the bridge was complete and stable, Star launched his own magic through it. It was at that very moment Discord accidentally released his Chaotically laced sneeze.
Star Swirl the Bearded was transported through the portal thinking he had succeeded, but rather than the peace of his lab twelve months in the future, he was instead greeted with terrible pain and the black of unconsciousness.
Back in his lab, it wouldn't be until twelve months later that anypony would realize something had gone terribly, terribly wrong. A mad rush to discover what had happened followed. Not only had they lost most of another year to fulfill the Court's request, but they also had apparently just lost their most ingenious magic researcher. Nopony ever figured out what had truly happened to Star Swirl the Bearded.
He would go down in history, forever immortalized for his work and talent. But the histories would never know what fate he ultimately succumbed to.
~---~
When Star Swirl came to, his world was naught but black. Immediately he regretted and despised consciousness since it seemed to only offer him a burning pain from head to hoof. He tried raising a hoof to rub at his eyes, but his entire body felt odd and didn't seem to be working as it should.
Unless his sense of hearing was also not working, he took the surrounding silence as a good sign that the spell had worked. To what degree was still yet to be seen. With that thought, he grew increasingly annoyed at the darkness.
Lighting the magic of his horn, he bega—why hadn't his horn activated? He was an old pony, so it was the barest of mental efforts to simply conjure light—but try as he might, there was absolutely no reaction. Regaining some control over his limbs, he reached up to his forehead and felt—nothing?!
“What the blazes?!” he called out. Or rather, he tried to call out. Apparently his ears were messed up for all he heard was a quick, “Hoo-hoo hoo?!”
In a panic, he attempted to stand up and found his usual posture felt completely wrong. His hind legs seemed to end in hooves smaller than his forelegs and the overall shape of his body felt different.
Blast this darkness, he thought, too afraid to try and vocalize, I need some light!
Though he could not stand proper, Star Swirl managed a sort of lurching crawl. Feeling around him every now and then—his hooves not feeling anything at all like his hooves—he determined he was in some sort of small earthen cavern. Believing the air ahead of him to smell slightly more fresh than that behind, he stumbled on.
It was about twenty minutes later, to his best estimation, when the darkness finally began to lessen. Excited, he double timed it, all thoughts turned only to the light and freedom. This cave was stifling him terribly.
In his haste, he failed to notice that the cave led out to a sudden and quite steep drop. Trying to catch himself on the edge, he screamed as he missed and began to fall. Desperately he flailed out with his arms, thinking soon he would hit the ground and meet his demise. His only regret was that he'd never know if his spell had succeeded in moving him through an exact measure of time or not.
It was after a moment of such thoughts that he realized he had stopped falling. And he could hear the most peculiar...flapping sound?
Turning his eyes to his left—the dread of what he would probably see evident in his eyes—he saw that where his arms should have stretched on and ended in a flailing hoof, there was instead a feathery, brown wing flapping rapidly to keep him aloft.
No, he thought as he looked to his right—there was another wing, identical to the first and working just as hard. Oh no!
With that his efforts began to falter and he started to drop again. Most other ponies would probably have simply fallen to their death, but Star Swirl wasn't most other ponies. His mind raced as he took stock of his new body and calculated the proper way to establish stable flight.
He managed it but only just, brushing his tail—or rather his tail feathers—lightly against the trees below him before taking off into the air and rising somewhat erratically.
So I've got flying, now let's see about landing.
That took him several more tries and a couple of close calls with the ground again. But finally he was able to land atop a large branch. Breathing heavily, releasing a small hoo with each exhale, he caught his breath then took a closer look at himself.
Clutching the rough bark of the branch tightly were two clawed talons. His body was rather rounded and covered in light brown feathers. Raising his hooves he saw they were indeed wings. He could see the beak on his face if he crossed his eyes and another search came up empty as far as his horn was concerned.
If he had to venture a guess (and considering he let out another, “Hoo hoo!” in a vain attempt to curse), he would say that he—Star Swirl the Bearded, unicorn master of all things magical—had been transmogrified into an ordinary owl. An incredibly boring one, too, to his chagrin. And though with his skill he would normally be able to reverse such a spell, his magic was gone.
His whole body shivered and he felt a splinter tear through his mind. His magic: gone. That had been who he was, heart and soul. But now no more. What in the name of the sun and the moon would he do now?
Well, isn't it obvious, fool? he berated himself. Now you'll fly around and go, “Hoo!” and become the terror of field mice everywhere! ...actually, where in Equestria am I?
Ignoring his current bodily situation for the moment, Star Swirl took a long, hard look at the area around him. Discounting the cliff not too far behind him, he seemed to be in a thickly overgrown forest. All he could see were trees for miles around.
Except there! Was that smoke in the far distance? Civilization perhaps? It wouldn't be the easiest of tasks, considering his, uh, speech impediment, but surely he could find a unicorn of sufficient magical aptitude and convince him to shift the owl back to his blessedly natural pony form. Any hope at all, even a fool’s hope, was more than he had mere moments before.
Adjusting his weight accordingly, he lifted his new wings and vaulted up into the air. While a little maladroit, Star Swirl felt it was a decent enough takeoff considering it was technically his first. Climbing ever higher, it took him a few moments to judge that the smoke he had seen was a good ways off. Even as the crow flew (or, in his case, the owl) it would still be a flight of several miles.
I am not lacking in any time to practice, I suppose.
Letting out a hoot of annoyance, he adjusted his wings slightly and began the flight towards the only sign of civilization he could see. A flight he desperately hoped would lead to his salvation from the life of a bloody owl.
~---~
Though it took a couple hours, Star Swirl the Owl made much better time than he expected. After about the first hour he felt he had more or less mastered the basics of flight. While he still occasionally made the mild error, generally speaking he cruised along evenly and efficiently. He had never envied non-unicorns growing up, but he had to admit the pleasure of flight was one rivaled by little if anything else he had ever experienced. Perhaps, despite their barbaric attitudes, the pegasi weren't as daft as he'd always believed them to be.
What was he thinking? There was nothing pleasurable or even remotely positive about this horrific situation. Ignoring the first pangs of tiredness in his--it grated to say, but he had no choice--wings, he took a closer look at the place he had come to.
It appeared to be a small town, or perhaps a large village. Regardless, while it looked quaint enough for a settlement in such an out of the way location, the design and architecture were unfamiliar to him. It was enough evidence to convince him that he had indeed traveled through time--and that he had failed, a change like that would take more than a single year’s passing.
Another failure...no, worse! A disaster! Without me, how will those amateurs ever figure out immortality?! The country is doomed... He paused his internal despair to land high up on a nearby tree. And even more terrifically terrible--the control failed and even altered my very form! How could I have made such a mistake?!
He may well have gone on like that for hours--he was somewhat infamous for his long brooding periods when things went awry--if not for a shriek of alarm that pierced the air.
“OPALESCENCE! Get back here this instant!”
What in the world could make such a terrible screech? thought Star Swirl as he turned to look in the direction of the shouting.
He was met with a rather alarming sight: a white cat--correction, a hungry white cat--was approaching him from behind along the branch he rested upon.
Freezing where he perched, his mind raced for possibilities. While no expert in the earth pony specialty of animal behavior, he was all but certain that if he moved, the cat would pounce. And this was one experiment where he would happily take ‘all but certain’ as proof enough.
Flying away wouldn’t work--the cat could surely leap faster than he could take off. While his clawed feet might strike fear into the hearts of small rodents, a cat nearly his size would shrug them off easily. His beak was just as useless. Again, he bemoaned the loss of his magic. Wizards were supposed to keep cats as pets, not be devoured by them!
“Opalescence, what are you doing? You leave that poor bird alone, do you hear me?! Opalescence! We’ve got to prepare for the meteor shower tonight! Everypony is going to be there and I simply must look my best.” cried the same voice from earlier. While laced with a peculiar accent, it sounded like any regular pony, but Star Swirl couldn’t risk looking down to find the source and possibly setting the cat off.
Down! That’s it! he thought with mad glee, having found a suitable solution.
Moving carefully as he could, he slowly backed one foot further along the branch. As he had hoped, the cat moved one paw forward in turn. Step, step, step--one at a time he took them and the cat followed, the anticipation in its eyes sending chills down Star Swirl’s spine.
When he estimated they were nearing the end of the branch, Star Swirl took in a large breath and released his grip on the tree limb. Gravity took hold immediately and he felt his body fall to the side and down. As expected, the cat was caught off guard by this maneuver--seeing as birds typically went up, not down--and was slowed in its pounce at the feathery weight falling to the ground.
When he was certain that the cat was fully invested in its leap, he let out the breath and gave a mighty flap of his wings, shooting himself skyward. The cat hissedin frustration as it continued to fall, swiping a paw that only managed to ruffle the owl’s tail feathers slightly.
He heard another cry of, “Opalescence!” as he continued to climb. That had been close enough for him to risk any more chances.
When he felt suitably safe up in the air, he turned to look at the pony bawling over the fallen cat. To his immense relief, it was a pony--to his astonishment, it was a unicorn!
By the heavens, perhaps my luck is finally changing! To have found a unicorn so immediately...But I mustn’t get ahead of myself. Remember, finding a unicorn is the easy part--getting them to understand is something else entirely.
Gliding down to the unicorn’s level, he hovered for a moment to wait for her to notice him. She was still fretting over the cat--with such dramatics that Star Swirl could have easily seen her on the Royal Equestrian Stage--despite the feline’s perfect and completely safe landing.
She looked like any unicorn he might have seen in his own time--her light grey coat was pristine and well taken care of, matched only by the gorgeous style of her indigo mane. While the accent of her words was different, the tone of her voice matched any lady of the court easily. She was clearly cultured and sophisticated, but Star Swirl had to admit she seemed to hold herself with a somewhat...less refined air than the unicorn mares he had met.
“Ah! Shoo! Shoo, you filthy thing!” cried the unicorn when she noticed the owl so close to her. She threw her forehooves into the air and shrieked again.
Unicorn or not, the headache Star Swirl was getting from all the noise was not worth it. Letting out an angry series of hoots, he turned and took wing again, heading further into town.
Such a melodramatic mare wouldn’t possibly possess the magical skill needed to transform me back, regardless. At least I know there are ponies here--assuming I am in the future as I surmise, it seems they figured out some way to continue moving the sun and moon without relying upon the entire unicorn class. Equestria still stands. That’s a burden off my back.
Returning to his vigil, he searched throughout the entire town. He had been wrong when he had described it as quaint--quaint was far too weak a word to describe the...well, pure quaintness of the place.
After several hours of flying around and disturbing countless ponies, he was exhausted and no closer to finding a solution. First he was baffled by seeing members of all three tribes mixed together and living peacefully. The idea of such integration was impossible in his own time. Next was the fact that most of the unicorns he observed seemed to have only the most general of magical talent. The rare few he had determined capable of the spell had--predictably--not understood his frantic hooting and waving of wings. Some had even ran away with cries of, “Crazy owl!” and “Rabid bird!”
Tired, hungry, and with his spirits sinking ever deeper into hopelessness, he found a large tree to perch atop and rest. It was only then he noticed that night was coming on fast, with full darkness probably just minutes away. The wind began to pick up, causing him to shiver. It was going to be a very cold night.
This is it then. Forever trapped in the body of an owl--at least it won’t be for too long, I suppose. Though ‘death by exposure’ is no more enviable a position to find myself in. But what can I do?
His thoughts continued to wander the dark paths of despair when the sounds of conversation caught his ears. Hopping lower into the tree, it wasn’t long before he could understand what was being said.
“...the book would have helped me identify different planets and stars tonight!”
“Well,” started another voice, “Maybe someone borrowed it. Besides! You don’t need that book. You can already name all the planets and stars ‘cause...you’re super smart and astronomically awesome!”
“Thanks Spike, you’re such a flatterer.”
“Yeah, I’m a sweet talker.”
“And a number one assistant--right?”
“Check!”
Despite his current situation, Star Swirl’s curiosity got the better of him. With nothing else to do, observing the local ponies would surely distract him from his troubles. And maybe, perhaps, he could even find a unicorn he could convince of his problem.
Flying carefully so as not to be seen--he was rather impressed with just how quiet he could move--he found the source of the conversation: gathered on a nearby hill were several ponies and--
A wyrmling?! By the sun and the moon, what is a child dragondoing amongst ponies?! Will the wonders never cease?
From the snatches of conversation he caught, the pony and dragon he had first heard were friends with five others--another unicorn (the same unicorn from earlier, he noted), a pair of pegasi, and a pair of earth ponies. It was like nothing Star Swirl had ever seen before--despite their different shapes, the group was obviously very close with one another.
So different from the Equestria of the past he had left behind. So much...better, if he was to be completely honest. It was true that he succumbed to some of the societal pressures placed upon a unicorn of the court. But while the pegasi were a bit rough for his tastes, he honestly had never had a real problem with them or the earth ponies--a sentiment shared by his King. And Star Swirl had never known a more honorable and wise stallion as Lucent Concord.
Perhaps being stuck here wouldn’t be so terrible after all.
Despite the heartwarming and thought provoking scene, he was careful to notice that the pale purple unicorn--Twilight, as she was seemingly called--was apparently preparing to study the coming meteor storm, not just watch like everypony else. The way she talked also bespoke to her intelligence and studious mind.
Perhaps she could break the spell and return him to normal. Star Swirl decided he would not give in to despair quite yet, he still had at least one more option--for now he would continue to observe this unicorn and await an opportune moment to ‘speak’ with her alone.
So he watched and waited, slightly envious of the joyous scene in front of him. Not only for the camaraderie, which was wonderful enough, but his stomach was growling like he had never known before. The myriad foods and snacks they had prepared looked delicious.
When the meteor storm began, however, any thoughts of food or anything really quickly fled as he was captivated by the beauty of the heavens. It was somewhat bittersweet--a meteor storm not so different from this was what inspired him to study magic so tenaciously. From as far back as he could remember, when he was just a naive little filly, he had been fascinated with the stars. The unicorns had controlled the sun and the moon for decades before he was born, but the stars? They simply were.
He had originally hoped to tame the stars, so many years ago. But as life is wont to do, he had gone off on other, more practical paths. His work in conjuration, while reasonably fulfilling, had always simply been to eke out a living. His work into time travel magic...Why had he done that? It had been so many years, he had forgotten. Of course, under King Harmony’s rule it had been to save the land.
That was what he loved most about the stars and the heavens--they were so vast, so beyond him that it shifted his mind to strive to fill that space. And so his thoughts and ideas continued to grow and grow and grow, but even if he lived a thousand years he could never hope to conquer the sky. That was why he had been so interested in time--to find more of it so that he might learn and discover forever and ever.
A burst of laughter ended his reverie--it seemed the group of friends were going to call it a night and head home. Feeling more determined and refreshed, he caught sight of the one called Twilight. Had he still possessed the eyes of a pony, he would never have been able to pick her out amongst the dark pony-shapes walking down the hill. But his new owl eyes saw her easily, walking into town with the wyrmling deeply asleep on her back. As quietly as he could, he took to the air and followed her, praying endlessly to the heavens he revered so much that she might be the solution he sought.
~---~
The purple unicorn led him near the center of the town to a large tree that had been converted into a building. Star Swirl vaguely recalled that the King’s friend, the Lord Chaos Fair Chance, had lived in a similar fashion. He found the parallel somewhat humorous for some reason.
It struck like a bolt of lightning--how had he not realized it sooner? Lucent and Chance were both incredibly talented unicorns--adding in the power of Harmony and Chaos that they possessed, they would be more than capable of changing him back to normal.
Most importantly, they were immortal. Seeing as Equestria obviously hadn’t been destroyed, the two stallions should be around somewhere. All he would have to do is find the capital.
Of course, that was easier said than done, considering he had absolutely no clue as to where he was currently located. For all he knew, Ravaalon could be on the other side of the world. He would need to find a map and get his bearings.
Which meant his plans hadn’t changed--surely, if this unicorn was as studious as the conversations he had overheard led him to believe, she would possess at least one good map of Equestria, if not the world. Somehow, he would have to follow her into her home.
It was too risky to just follow in after her--she would notice him for sure and that would simply be asking for trouble. Doing a quick fly around the building, he saw several windows he could easily fit through but they were all closed. He’d have to wait it out, maybe even until morning.
The breeze picked up again, sending him tumbling through the air as another shiver wracked his body. Try as he might, he couldn’t quite regain his composure and he continued to fall. Thankfully it didn’t end with a final nosedive into the unforgiving ground, but rather with a painful crash and slide upon a wooden veranda high up in the tree house.
His feathers muffled the noise of his hitting the deck but nothing could stop his tumble into the glass door. It was just his luck that his clawed foot happened to tap into the windows--there was no covering that noise. Despite his tumbling and throbbing head, he managed to right himself and take off into the air just as he heard the door open behind him.
As he flew around to the other side of the tree to avoid being seen, he heard a confused, “Huh!”
Just barely avoided that disaster--perhaps she’s left a window unlatched on this end?
His mind was still a little woozy as he attempted to land on a nearby windowsill. Had it been clear, he would have seen that the perch was too small and he was merely inviting more noise by crashing into the window. He hit the sill and distinctly heard his feathers rub against the window.
Cursing himself, he took to wing once again. Just a second later, he saw the unicorn lean out a in front of him window, looking in the direction of the noise he had made. He curved to the left to avoid being seen. To his relief, he saw her retreat back inside.
“Oh, shoot!” he heard her cry out.
What was that about? he wondered.
His head beginning to clear, Star Swirl flapped hard and moved to a position above the tree. He saw Twilight standing on the veranda, looking somewhat worried and forlorn. She appeared to be looking for something.
It was small and moving fast, but that’s exactly what his owl eye’s were designed to pick out. There, caught in the cold night breeze, was a piece of parchment blowing away. Considering the look on the young unicorn’s face, Star Swirl guessed it was rather important.
She’ll never catch it on simple hooves--but with these wings, it should be no problem for Star Swirl the owl!
Lowering himself into a dive, he swooped along after the parchment. His adrenaline rushed, giving him an immense thrill, as he caught the errant paper in his beak without even so much as a scratch.
Laughing to himself, he turned quickly and headed back to the window he believed the unicorn had left open. Coming around, he saw she had left it open and there was even a nice desk to land on just inside it, too.
Effortlessly gliding in, he landed upon the desk. Next to him sat a lit candle, lending its familiar illumination to the otherwise dark room. A book and a well used quill finished out the desktop. It seemed his guess has not been foolish--this was the desk of a researcher and therefore an intellectual.
Across the room from him was the purple unicorn, the one he had heard called Twilight. She was stamping her hooves in a nervous fashion, which matched the tone of her voice as she cried, “Ooooh, this is a job for Spike! If only he were awake!”
It seemed she was in too much of a panic to notice him, so Star Swirl did the only thing he could think of.
“Hoo!”
That immediately caught her attention. Star Swirl couldn’t imagine what she must think: here was some strange owl, a piece of parchment in its beak, sitting on her desk just looking at her. Had it happened to him, he would have shooed the creature away.
Not feeling particularly like being shooed, he carefully laid down the scroll, turned, and began to take off out the window.
A cry of, “Wait!” stopped him in his tracks. Landing, but not turning around, he heard Twilight speak again.
“Don’t go! Don’t be afraid!”
Afraid? Well, I suppose maybe it would seem that way to her... he thought, turning his head 180 degrees--as only an owl could--to see what the young pony wanted.
“Thank you for returning my scroll!” she said, the appreciation evident in her voice.
He might not have been the best gentlecolt in regards to the mares back in his day, but he knew he would have to respond to such heartfelt gratitude.
Unfortunately, his elegant reply was reduced to a simple, “Hoo! Hoo!”
It was at that moment the nighttime wind picked up and sent a gust in through the open window. His feathers blown all about, Star Swirl let out a weak hoo and shivered as the freezing air cut him to the bone.
Twilight saw the shiver and said, “Gosh, it’s cold tonight. Say! Would you like to relax in here and keep me company while I work?”
Star Swirl stared at her blankly for a moment, his thoughts dashed to tatters at this unexpected turn of events. Did he have such luck considering what had happened? Did he just receive an invite into his possible savior’s home?
He noticed a clothes rack setting by the desk, so he hopped along towards it, letting out hoots of happiness and relief. As he made his way, Twilight turned back to the now returned parchment and asked, “Now where was I?” Star Swirl noted the gleam in her eyes--he had seen it in his pupils as well as any time he had glanced at a mirror. Those eyes were hungry for knowledge and the recording of that knowledge.
He sat upon the rack as she continued--it seemed she was indeed talking about astronomical topics, comets in particular. As he listened to her work, he let his own thoughts muse upon the specifics of this situation.
Equestria had been saved without him, it seemed. So there was no dire need to return to his own time. Here was clearly a pony of great intellect and dedicated study, not to mention a kind heart. She had specifically asked him for his company--nopony had ever done that before.
Would it really be so bad? It would be a bit like retirement, in a way. No demands on my mind or time--I could simply relax and enjoy this unicorn’s, well, young Twilight’s studies.
On his perch he looked about him. The room was large with modest but fitting decoration and furnishings. But what really caught his eye were the shelves and shelves filled with books along the wall.
A library, surely! Oh that decides it. If I am able, I shall simply stay here. After all, it has been somewhat fun being an owl. I think I shall simply call it fate.
Twilight continued to talk aloud as she wrote her report, completely lost in the words and information as Star Swirl knew he had done many times himself. He closed his eyes and simply listened to her go on and on, a smile in his mind’s eye. Yes, this would be a fine retirement. Or at least a vacation. There was always more time, after all.
~---~
“Owlowicious? Owlowicious? Did you fall asleep?”
Twilight’s voice brought Star Swirl--now fully Owlowicious--back to the present.
He looked over at her. She was wearing a slightly worried look as she patiently awaited his response. He had to admit, she was truly possessed of a good heart, and Owlowicious was happy as he could be being her owly assistant.
Though it saddened him somewhat that he could never truly share his gratitude, he knew friendship--true friendship--went beyond words and physical forms. He knew Twilight understood how happy he was to be here, working beside her however he could. Even though she called him her pet, their relationship was as equal as any ponies--or dragons--could hope for.
So it was with joy and excitement that he let out his age old response, ever dependable and always available, he said, “Hoo!”
Chuckling at the silly owl’s enthusiasm, Twilight flipped another page and asked her best nighttime assistant to fetch another book for her. What would she do without her skillful assistant?
What we she do without him, one of her treasured friends?
The super intelligent and always dependable, Owlowicious the owl: it was his time to shine--Star Swirl the Bearded could rest his fame in history. And he--both of him--was happy with that.
The End
