Starswirl the Bearded sat at the table, cup of tea in hand, as he listened to the conversation in front of him. Said conversation was currently between Princess Celestia, his old student, and Twilight Sparkle, the purple alicorn that had freed both the Pillars and Stigian. He smiled slightly to himself as he sipped his tea. 'I taught her well.' He thought to himself.

The current topic of the conversation was something to do with what to do with the returned Pillars, as they had been imprisoned for over one thousand years. Any family they had would be long dead, and while saddening, it did give them a chance to live an actual life other then the hell they had experienced fighting Stigian constantly, never aging or winning the battle. He frowned as an old memory began to resurface at the mention of one thousand years. What exactly it was though, he couldn't place it.

Getting up and excusing himself, he walked out, racking his old brain for this seemingly important memory. He suddenly stopped, eyes widening in horror and fear. 'No' He thought, stepping back before turning around, running toward the balcony.

Reaching it, he charged his horn, preparing a spell that he hadn't had to do for years. Hopefully he wouldn't be too late...

_________

Meanwhile, an alternate Earth...

_________

The ruins of Auckland lay around him, a once sprawling city reduced to rubble. He walked through it, kicking small pieces of rubble out of his path. After countless years, this was the best he could get out of this world, what with almost everybody dead. It was quite boring in fact, but it wasn't like he had a choice. Yep, he was stuck on this godforsaken rock. He spotted a decrepit restaurant, looking more intact then the rest. Shrugging he walks over, the smell of dead bodies failing to penetrate his gas mask.

He remembered when he wasn't like this. Back when he was just normal like the rest of them, until that one day. He didn't even remember his own name, having no need for it if there was no one to talk to. He had been lonely for quite some time, the seals on the planet, still imprisoning him here, forever cursed to wander the wastes. Looking up a faint glimmer catches his attention out of the corner of his eye. Turning towards it he gazed up at the source of the light, revealing a purple glowing crack. Curious he watched as it began to spread, slowly but surely until the light from the cracks all combined caused him to shield his eyes.

As he did, he began the process of flying up towards the cracks, their intensity increasing as he approached. Now almost at the original crack he reached forward, his gloved fingers lightly touching it. An explosion shook the world as he felt himself launched back, only managing to stop his fall by teleporting quickly down to the floor. He watched in shock as the cracks expanded, covering the entire sky before a sound like glass shattering boomed across the Earth. A weight in his chest was lifted, like an anchor around his heart had been cut loose.

His eyes widened behind the gas mask, as he realized what had just happened. The seals were broken, their accursed enchantments no longer affecting him. Flying up he reached the point on which the barrier usually rested. Cautiously reaching a hand forward he came on nothing but thin air. Waving it back and forth through the no longer existing prison, he smiled in glee.

Free. He was finally free. Memories came flooding back to him, each one broken and shattered, yet there was one memory that stayed strong. He grit his teeth in anger and rage, as he looked up to the approximate position of that fucking planet.

'Equis.' He thought, beginning to shake with rage. He was cut off though as what looked like a blue wave came from the position of Equis, causing him to tilt his head in curiosity.

What was that? Why was it coming at him? And why did it feel so familia- Oh. So they want me back in there?

Like fuck that was gonna happen.

_________

Twilight froze mid word as a huge burst of magic from the castle came, bringing all the unicorns in the room to avert their attention to the burst. Getting up she sprinted out the room.

'How was there that much magic, the only one who can have that much magic other than I and Celestia is...Starswirl.' She thinks in panic, as she locates the source soon enough, finding the bearded wizard himself, standing on the balcony, a large blue beam streaming out of his horn. He was clearly struggling however, sweat pouring down his face staining the blue wizard robe.

"Starswirl!" She yelled, causing Starswirl's eyes to flick to her before flicking back to whatever he was shooting at in horror. A visible shockwave shot down the beam into Starswirls horn, pushing him back slightly. The shockwaves increased in speed and intensity, as Twilight could only watch in confusion. Snapping out of her trance she rushed to his side, bracing him as another shockwave shot down.

"Starswirl! What's going on!" She yelled, grunting as another shockwave pushed both back more.

"Twilight!" He yelled, struggling to speak from the amount of pressure building on his horn. "I need help!" He managed to get out as another shockwave pushed them back even more. Seeing the look of desperation on his face, Twilight complied, charging a support spell before shooting it into Starswirl's horn. She gasped as she felt something pushing against his magical beam, sending it's own blasts towards them.

What was this thing? She thought to herself as she soon began struggling as much as Starswirl, her horn aching from the amount of sheer magic she was putting into her support spell now. Another shockwave came again this one being stronger then the others, sending her and Starswirl into the stone floor of the balcony. Her support spell fizzled out as Starswirl lost focus, cancelling out the spell.

"Oh no." He said, looking up in fear and horror as a yellow ball of fire appeared in the sky, heading straight toward Canterlot.

Confused, Twilight crawled over to Starswirl, tapping him on the shoulder causing him to jump. "What was that?" She asked, her voice mixed with curiosity and fear at the sheer power of...whatever they were fighting against.

Before he could answer though, the door to the balcony slammed open, revealing a panting Celestia and Twilight's friends. A look of worry and relief came over her face as she spotted the pair on the balcony. Her gaze then drifted upwards towards the ever growing ball of fire headed towars them, eye's widening in shock.

Before anyone could do anything to explain or ask questions, a golden aura surrounded everyone, bringing them tightly against Celestia as she stepped back into the hallway, a shield was summoned around them. Just in time too, as the meteor suddenly crashed into the balcony sending dust flying everywhere as it coated the shield, and hall around them. Opening her eyes, Twilight watched as a figure from the balcony, that should have been destroyed, stood.

"I'm back fuckers."

Author's Note

Sorry that pacing is weird, I honestly just wrote this one cause it was an idea.