Star Swirl before he was bearded (Choose your own storyline fanfiction)

by wariyoshi

Rating: teen
Tags: Adventure
Length: 4064

What was Star Swirl like before his image was forever etched into history? You decide!

Star Swirl the bearded left a legacy the likes of which most can only dream of. There is not a single history book bare of his name since his death, and there is not a single unicorn who does not aspire to become like him. His various feats and deeds range from slaying dangerous and grotesque monsters to inventing hundreds of useful spells we take for granted each day.

And yet…

All we know about his life before his greatest contributions is that he was born in Trottingham. Other than a few simple mentions of his name splattered across Equestria, there are no known records of his youth. Worse off, nopony was alive back then to witness and properly document what he did, so it's not like you could simply ask somepony who knew him what he was like, right?

…right?

-

I came up with this idea a long time ago, and I wrote this story shortly after. After a few tweaks here and there I decided this was healthy enough for public consumption, but I would strongly recommend consulting your local veterinarian before reading this fanfiction. In all seriousness, though, I think this turned out well, and it's a nice concept considering that there are almost no "Choose-your-own-adventure" fics on this site. Still, an author should always seek to improve, so I'm open to feedback if you don't like it.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2013-02-05 00:38:32 UTC

Prologue

     "Bye, Mom! I'll see you after school!" Twilight chirped as she neatly packed her satchel full of lengthy books.

     Her mother yawned, "Already? You're an hour early, Twilight. I haven't even packed your lunch yet! What are you going to do while you wait for classes to start?"

     "The princess is making time just for me this morning! I wanna make sure I'm not late" Twilight answered, already half through the doorway.

     "Yes, but can you at least wait for me to make you some-" her mother said before she realized that Twilight was already halfway down the block.

     She sighed and her husband laughed, "I don't think Twilight ranks eating as high as studying. In fact, I don't think she ranks ANYTHING as high as studying"

     Twilight trotted along happily through the crowded streets of Canterlot, humming her favorite tune as she pondered about what would happen today. She was so excited to be talking to her mentor in pony once again! It had been ages since she sat down and had a proper conversation with the Princess, and she was starting to miss her quite a bit.

     She made her way through the busiest section in the city which used to be the marketplace for Canterlot during ancient times, but was now lined with shops that had the latest products for sale. The newest videogame releases were out, with their posters confidently plastered on shop windows in an attempt to catch the attention of every passing adolescent. A countless number of young adults stood in a line outside of one, waiting eagerly to get their copy of the newest game release, Royal Duty: Deniable Cloperations 2. They gave Twilight some off glances as she skipped past them, as they couldn't imagine why any pony would be going to school on a Saturday.

     Untouched by the mass of ponies, however, she noticed a lonely bookshop that nopony would give the time of day. She felt a bit guilty, being the only pony there who would have had any business being in a book shop in the first place, and felt obligated to go in. She DID have some time to kill before her appointment with the princess, so why not?

     As she walked in, the first thing she noticed was that many of the books were tightly packed in cardboard boxes. She caught the eye of the shop owner, who only frowned and looked away slightly. Twilight shot him a questioning glance as she walked toward the counter, but he only responded with a disappointed shake of his head.

     He broke the silence with a sigh, “I’m sorry, kid, but we’re going out of business. If you’d like to browse my wares, go ahead and take what you’d like since I’ll be throwing everything out anyway”

     She frowned, walked up to the counter, and set down her week's allowance on the counter with a smile, “Anypony who enjoys learning as much as I do shouldn’t have to close this place down. I hope this helps to keep you off the streets, sir!”

     He smiled and nodded lightly, “Thank ya kindly, little miss. Like I said, take what you’d like”

     She looked around, but she knew it was virtually inevitable that the Canterlot archives had pretty much all of these books. She let out a heavy sigh at the gloomy atmosphere, blowing dust off of some of the bottom shelves.

     Just as she was about to turn and leave, she noticed a single book sitting on a shelf all alone that had yet to be packed alongside its kin. She blew off the dust and discovered that it was-

     “Star Swirl the bearded!” she almost screamed.

     The colt at the counter snorted neutrally, “Oh, yes, that’s one of my favorites”

     “But, sir, you don't understand! I’ve read the ENTIRE Star Swirl the bearded section in the Canterlot archives, and I've never seen this one before! You could sell this to the archives,  I’m sure they would pay you very well for a book like this” she said a excitedly as she practically shoved the cover into his snout.

     He took a step back and took the book, studying it for a moment before smiling slightly, “Really? I’ve got two copies of that book…”

     She smiled widely, “Well, they don’t need two…but I’m sure you’d be able to keep your store open for a little while with what they’d pay you! You don’t have to close down!”

     The old stallion frowned at her optimism, “Sorry, but I won’t be reopening this store regardless, little miss. It’s a lost cause; most young folk just don’t like books anymore"

     Her face fell, but he handed her the book back with a warm smile, "...but bits in my pocket is something that would help me quite a bit now more than ever. You can go ahead and keep that copy, little miss. I’ll just sell the extra to them”

     The offer of a new book cheered her up a bit and she took the book from him eagerly, “Wow, thank you so much, sir!”

     He shook his head and smiled, “I should be the one thanking you; I never thought of doing that! Heck, I might even have a few more books to sell'em. You might've just saved me from homelessness for a little while, kid”

     "I'm just glad to help a fellow...um...book-reader!" she said with a wave as she felt her social awkwardness kick in.

     He nodded back, "You take care now, miss"

     After leaving, she made her way to the castle with her new book in hoof. She tried to fit it in her satchel, but it was already crammed full of her studies and it wouldn't budge.

     When she arrived at the castle, the receptionist informed her that she was early for her appointment and that the princess was not out of her meeting, yet. Twilight had anticipated this and eagerly trotted to the nearest seat and tore into her new book like a predator.

Chapter One

     Star Swirl the bearded was born to a peasant family in Trottingham. After making his way to Canterlot, he immediately set to work on-

     Woah, woah, woah. One sentence? One sentence on his life before his great achievements? That's it?

     Twilight had never thought about that before, had she? Come to think of it, she had never read about his early life in any OTHER biography about him either. What was he like as a kid?

     She tried to shake it off and continue reading, but no matter how hard she tried, her interest would always veer from the book to that one, simple question.

What was he like as a kid?

     It kept repeating inside her head like a stubborn math problem that she just couldn't seem to forget.

     After a long while, the princess herself emerged from a large doorway accompanied by two solar guards.

     Everypony in the room dipped to the floor rather quickly, almost as if they thought that she would send them all to the moon on the spot, whereas Twilight ran up to her mentor and hugged her viciously, "It's so good to see you, princess!"

     The solar princess nuzzled her student affectionately, “And you as well, my faithful student. Shall we begin?”

     “Oh, yes, just one second,” Twilight said as she grabbed her book, “I got this book on the way here, Princess”

     Celestia smiled, “Always the avid reader, aren’t you Twilight?”

     “Of course! But this one I haven’t read yet. It should be making its way into the Canterlot archives soon” she nodded complacently.

     Princess Celestia gave her guards a smile, "You may both take a break; I doubt Twilight will try to assassinate me while you're gone"

     The two guards stiffened up, "By your leave, ma'am!"

     Twilight frowned as they marched away, "They're always so serious"

     "Eh, don't even get me started. I'd be wearing a full suit of armor all the time if they had it their way" the princess responded with a bemused look on her face.

     They both sat down at a small table in the princess' private quarters. She set her book on the table as the princess poured her some tea.

     The princess spotted the book’s title and took a sip of her tea, “Star Swirl the bearded, eh? He was a bright pony. He had a certain sparkle in his eyes when you spoke to him. It was almost as if he was just thrilled to be around you, even in his old age”

     Twilight’s jaw dropped, “YOU met Star Swirl the bearded?”

     The princess smiled as memories flowed back, “Of course! He and I were actually friends...or, as close to 'friends' as one could get with him. I met him when he was...well, just a teenager, really, He was just a few years older than yourself”

     As Twilight sat there gaping in silence, the princess rolled her eyes, “Right. Because it’s not like I’ve been around for thousands of years or anything like that”

     Twilight shook her head quickly and stared at the book intently, “Princess…do you know what Star Swirl was like before he was famous?”

     The princess thought for a moment before responding, “Well…yes, I did, in fact. I didn’t know him before he came to Canterlot, but he told me all about his adventures before that”

     Twilight grinned brightly, “Is there anything you can tell me? I would LOVE to learn about him”

     The princess smiled, pleased to see that adorable look in her star pupil's eyes when she learned something new, “Even when you’re taking a break, you’re learning. Very well then, Twilight. As you probably know, he started out in a peasant family in Trottingham…”

The adventure begins

     Star charged at the large, powerful dragon with the fury of a thousand suns. Swipe, stab, swipe, stab, swipe, stab. With each motion he added a new mortal wound to the deadly creature.

     With his powerful greatsword in hoof, he slashed the beast's massive, scaly belly. The blade carved into the monster like a great turkey on Hearth's Warming Eve, exposing its vital organs to the daring hero.

     The dashing stallion smiled handsomely, "Is this the best you have to offer!?"

     "GRAAAH! CURSE YOU STAR SWIRL THE UNDEFEATABLE!" the terrible dragon raged as he swiped at our hero with his vicious claws of tyranny and, uh, communism. Yeah, communism. AND OTHER BAD STUFF!

     Dodging the attack perfectly, the brave warrior effortlessly lopped off the beast's front leg. Howling in pain, the dragon cupped his wound with his other claw and attempted to retreat, only to find his scaly back to the cave wall. Steaming-hot blood shot across the wide cavern, melting some of the dragon's hoarded gold treasures.

     Sir Star Swirl the undefeatable laughed deeply, "I will give you one last chance to surrender, Takkindoth the Unquenchable, before I kill you in the most HEROIC WAY POSSIBLE!"

     "Never shall I bow down to YOU, incredibly handsome rogue!" the wretched monster spat venomously.

     Star smiled.

     An honorable death for an honorable foe. How...honorable. And stuff.

     Lifting his massive sword above his muscle-bound and heavily-armored body, he leapt from the ground toward his foe's head at near-impossible speeds.

     With a swing of his mighty sword, he-

SPLASH!

     Star woke up from the shock of the freezing water that had been dumped on him. He sat up and noticed a ceiling, deducing that he was probably in prison again as most alleyways didn't have ceilings...or beds.

     He blinked and looked at the now open cell doors. A large guard dressed in leather armor stood at the entrance with a dripping bucket in hoof.

     "Nap time's over, buddy. You're free to go" the guard announced unceremoniously.

     Without another word, the minimum wage guard casually walked away.

     Star got up, shook his mane dry, and winced in pain at his pounding headache. He had difficulty remembering what had happened last night, but attributed that to the alcohol he smelled in his breath. With a shrug, he followed the guard with mild apathy.

     At the time, nopony had really expected him to be anything special; he was your standard, lanky, adolescent unicorn with a light blue coat and a pearly white mane that was almost always messy. His slender body was less muscular than most colts his age, but he had a head full of ideas and an optimistic attitude.

     Well...as optimistic as one could be waking up in prison, anyway.

     He almost walked out of the prison before he was stopped by another guard. In his grumpy mood, Star probably would have told the stallion to piss off were the stallion about a foot shorter and not carrying a sword.

     But, since he had just gotten out of prison, he decided that it would be a better idea to cooperate, "What do you want?"

     "I'm going to need to speak with your parents" he rumbled.

     Star rolled his eyes, "Check the graveyard in Trottingham"

     The guard looked away, "I see...did you move to Chicoltago recently?"

     "Yeah, I made the trip here yesterday. It seems like the poverty and unemployment followed me here. You wouldn't know about that, though, would you?" Star asked emotionlessly as he prodded the guard's slightly flabby side.

     The guard scowled, losing all semblance of sympathy in his voice, "Don't get cheeky with me, boy. Do you know why you were put in prison last night?"

     Star shrugged. "Slightly rebellious indifference toward the law?"

     "You have a pretty high vocabulary for a street rat" the large pony growled.

     "Aaand you have a pretty high vocabulary for a giant sack of meat" Star shot back venomously.

     The guard scowled, "You were drunk. You flashed every mare that walked by and shouted incoherent pickup lines. When we found you and told you to go home, you tried and failed to take my coin purse. What do you have to say for yourself?"

     To the large stallion's surprise, Star wrapped his forehooves around him, seemingly on the verge of tears and just barely managing to choke out, "I-I am so sorry, s-sir! I lost my parents an-and everything I owned had to be sold to the debt-collectors, and I came here to find work b-but couldn't and I just...just...I just had to drink away my troubles! I'm so, so sorry!"

     The guard returned the hug slowly, unsure of what to do, "Uh...it's okay, kid. You didn't hurt anypony so I guess I can just let you off with a warning"

     Star quickly pulled out of the hug, and quickly headed for the door as if nothing had happened, "Haveagooddaysirgoodbye"

     "Wait!" the guard jumped.

     Star's heart stopped, Sweet Celestia, I hope he didn't catch me...

     The guard pulled out a leather rucksack, "These were confiscated from you last night"

     "Oh, uh, thanks" Star took his things with a sheepish smile.

     After a long pause and a sniffle from Star for the extra effect, the guard nodded wordlessly and Star awkwardly shuffled out of the building.

     Exiting the building, Star smiled as he pulled out the guard's coin purse and counted his loot.

     "What do I have to say for myself?" he imitated the guard's rough voice with a stern frown, then smiled mischievously, "I have to say that I'm glad I got your cash this time"

     He put away his bits, then began to rummage through his rucksack restlessly, searching for the only thing that really mattered to him. He found it and quickly checked it to see if it had been damaged during his drunken escapades the night before. He let out a sigh of relief when he realized that it had been unharmed.

     Looking down at the front page, he read the title aloud, "Common Spells and Enchantments by Sun Swirl"

     He nodded and placed the book in his rucksack carefully. Nonchalantly walking away from the jail and onto a street, he tossed his bag of bits up and down a few times and pondered his next move. It wasn't often that he had any gold to spare, so he felt that he needed to make the most of his bits, especially since he was in a new town.

     His pounding hangover headache festered in his skull and sent a steady shot of pain up his horn, urging him to get some water, find the town inn, and use his money to pay for a room to take a nap to finish sleeping. He felt as though he had only gotten a couple hours of sleep last night, anyway.

     As he pulled out his map of the town, however, fragrant smells wafted up his nostrils from the town market to his left. His stomach raged, trying to cause more pain than the migraine in Star's head in hopes of getting him to spend his bits on food. He then realized that it may be a better idea to stock up on food while he still had the bits to spare. He hadn't had a decent meal in a long time, and he hadn't had any breakfast.

     Suddenly, several ponies were thrown into a heap in front of him, "AND STAY OUT!"

     To his right he found a worn-down pub with cracked windows and dangling bits of wood from the ceiling. How it was still standing was a wonder of the modern- Er, medieval world. The bartender stood on the porch, huffing at the drunk ponies he had just kicked out before storming back inside. His splitting headache said no, but his newly acquired alcohol addiction said HELL YEAH!

     "Hmmm..." Star looked to his bag of bits, then to his options.

Choice:

Star could ignore his rumbling stomach no longer. He walked into the market and started eyeing the fresh produce stands. Click here

Yawning loudly, Star gingerly stepped over the small pile of drunken ponies and headed to the inn. Click here

With a slight smile, Star trotted into the pub with his newly acquired bag of bits in hoof. He needed to get some things off his mind anyway. Click

Light fingers...if ponies had fingers (Choice 1)

     Star could ignore his rumbling stomach no longer. He walked into the market and started eyeing the fresh produce stands.

     The marketplace was crowded with ponies of all classes as they ran their errands for the day. Different produce stands shouted to passersby in an attempt to stand out, whereas colorful street performers let their actions speak for them as they accomplished spectacular feats on the side of the road in front of large crowds. The air was so thick with fragrances from fresh bread being baked that Star could taste it on the roof of his mouth.

     He took out his coin purse and began to count his bits when-

THWACK!

     A mysterious pony in a purple cloak ran into Star hard, knocking him to the ground and spilling his coins everywhere, "Sorry about this, buddy!"

     Star's head hit the ground with a noticeable thud. He was dazed for a few moments, but quickly looked up to see a pink pony galloping away.

     He shot up to his hooves angrily, "Watch where you're going, punk!"

     Snorting angrily, he looked down to pick up his coins when he discovered that, to his amazement, a purple cloak had been draped around him.

     "Stop right there, criminal scum!" he heard a voice behind him yell

     Star spun around quickly just in time to see the business end of a mace hitting his face. He was immediately knocked unconscious.

     He awoke several hours later in a cold, damp jail cell. This one was different from the previous cells he had been in, however. There were no loose or uneven bricks along the floor; it was a smooth, cement surface that had its cracks filled in. The bars themselves looked like they had been cleaned regularly to keep them sturdy and rust-free. Beyond the bars stood two armed soldiers that had just taken notice of Star, who deduced that he was probably in a high-security cell of sorts.

     "Look who finally woke up" the lower-ranking of the soldiers said with a smile.

     Both of them were stocky with high and tight manecuts. The one on the right built like a brickhouse wore iron armor with enough dents and scrapes in it to signify that he was not the type of pony you would want to meet on the battlefield. The one sneering on the left had polished steel armor on and a purple crest attached to the collar around his neck, signifying that he was a captain. His craning neck and skinny face made him look like a vulture, but Star decided not to mention that considering the circumstances.

     Bowing sarcastically, the captain spoke at last, "Captain Stringent, at your service. Just in case you never caught my name from the many times you've knocked me unconscious over the years, Purple"

     Slightly taken aback at what the captain said, Star tried to stand up to walk closer to the bars, but discovered that his hooves had been chained to the floor.

     Blinking awkwardly, he looked around slowly, then looked back to the captain, "Er, obvious question, but, uh, may I ask what's happening right now?"

     Captain Stringent snorted loudly, "You can ask, but I think your situation is pretty clear right now"

     Star rolled his eyes, "Well, let's just assume that I'm an idiot for a little while so that you can explain it to me"

     "Ha! Saucy to the end! I guess that's how I always hoped you'd go out, Purple," Captain Stringent laughed as Star's eyes widened.

     "What? You're executing me!?" Star gasped, "Sir, I have a legal right to know what crime I am being accused of"

     The other guard snickered, "Yeah, and you have a legal right to a trial too, but that implies that we give a damn about your rights as a pony. You've acted like an animal all this time, so now you'll get treated like an animal"

     "But perhaps we SHOULD read him his crimes. After all, it will make later tonight all the more enjoyable to remember all the good times we've had with him" he said coldly, putting gritted emphasis on 'good times'

     Captain Stringent unrolled a massive, winding scroll, cleared his throat, and began to read it aloud, "23 accounts of murder, a whopping 1076 accounts of petty theft, 559 accounts of grand theft, 3 accounts of loitering, 738 accounts of burglary, 1 account of fraudulent clown license (though, I will admit, that was a really good disguise that time), 28 accounts of-"

     "Woah, woah, woah, hang on a minute! I didn't do any of those things! And my name isn't Purple, my name is Star Swirl, and I'm from Trottingham. I was framed; you have to believe me!" Star pleaded desperately.

     The Captain scowled, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. You've fooled me with that act eight times so far. Eight. How dumb do you think I am?"

     Fortunately, before Star could answer that, a guard opened the door and popped his head in, "Captain, there's a pink mare here saying that she has orders to cater for a party here, and she's asking to speak with you"

     After thinking for a minute, Captain Stringent shrugged, "I guess it is close to lunchtime"

Silly Filly (Choice 2)

     Yawning loudly, Star gingerly stepped over the small pile of drunken ponies and headed to the inn.

     Sure, it may not have been the wisest choice, but he was exhausted.