The Secret Journal of Star Swirl the Bearded

by ThatBronyWithTheClipOns

Rating: teen
Tags: King Sombra, Tragedy, Queen Chrysalis, Adventure, Princess Celestia, Discord, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Princess Luna
Length: 1199

Twilight Sparkle discovers an ancient journal that once belonged to the legendary Star Swirl the Bearded.

While arranging books in her library, Twilight Sparkle discovers an ancient looking book she'd never seen before. Upon opening it she sees that it's a journal that once belonged to Star Swirl the Bearded, one of the greatest conjurers who ever lived. What she discovers is that this is not a journal of old spells, but more personal stories of his past, and ponies that he used to know. In reading the journal, she will discover the origins of a malevolent tyrant, a spirit of chaos, a heartless queen, and even her own mentor and younger sister.

This is a stand alone story that has no connections to my TwiMacVerse. Cover image courtesy of google as I couldn't think of anything else for it.

Published 2013-01-17 16:30:01 UTC
Last updated 2013-01-17 16:30:01 UTC

Prologue: A New Book

Twilight Sparkle was rearranging the various books in the Golden Oaks Library; a fairly common occurrence for the studios unicorn. But on this particular day, she discovered a book she knew she’d never seen before. It a thick book, almost as big as her assistant Spike, and very old. On first glance, Twilight could tell it was a pre classical era made book; making this the oldest book she’d ever come across. There was no title on the front cover, so she opened it up to see if there was any information on what kind of book this was. Her eyes immediately went wide eyed from her discovery. Written in ink read “The Private Journals of Star Swirl the Bearded.” She couldn’t believe it, here in her very library, were personal notes written by Star Swirl the Bearded, one of the greatest spell casters who ever lived. The contents of this book could very well change the face of pony kind as she knew it. She told Spike to go play with the Cutie Mark Crusaders; she didn’t want any interruptions while reading the journal. She went up into her room, turned out the lights (save for one candle), and began to read.

Nopony starts out evil; everypony has the capacity for good in them. But sometimes, circumstances occur that leads one down a path that they are unable to turn back from. One of histories best known monsters is a tyrannical unicorn by the name of King Sombra. For centuries, he ruled the Crystal Empire, before being banished by Princess Celestia and her younger sister Princess Luna. Of course, you’re probably wondering why it took them so long to finally defeat him. The answer is simple my little ponies: they didn’t have the power needed before to stop them. Like evil, celestial beings do not start out celestial. Everything has a beginning, everything starts out simple and then turns complex. Even the spirit of chaos, Discord, wasn’t always a mischief maker. Once, many years ago, both of them were gifted students under my tutelage. Despite my advanced age, I still remember every moment with them…

Chapter 1: My First Student

King Sombra didn’t start out as a king, he didn’t even start out as a prince. He was once known as Ash Cloud, an earth pony by the name of from humble beginnings. His name came from his dark grey coat. He also had a mane as black as the night, and eyes that were bright red. Sad to say, he lived in a time when earth ponies weren’t treated with the most respect by the races that considered themselves superior. But for an earth pony, he had an astute knowledge in history and the workings of magic. While unable to use magic, he was able to make various potions, which he mainly used to play tricks on others.

One fateful day, I was walking down a dirt road, when suddenly, a puff of black smoke burst in front of me. I then heard a strange, almost disembodied voice threatening me.

“Bearded traveler,” the voice exclaimed. “Give up all your possessions and no harm shall come to thee! But should you refuse, I shall devour your immortal soul!”

“My my, that’s quite a fancy trick,” I said.

“I am not to be joked with,” the voice continued.

I then let out a little blast of light, which caused the voice to shout out in shock. I saw the origin of the voice was coming from a tree. Out from the tree fell a tiny earth pony; the very same earth pony I just described in the last paragraph so I feel no need to remind you of what he looked like. He shook his head, which caused a lot of dust to escape from his mane, which was wild and unkempt.

“What’d you have to go and to that for,” the colt exclaimed.

“It’s not very nice playing pranks on ponies,” I said to the lad.

“Colts gotta eat, mister,” said the colt.

It was at this moment, I noticed this colt had no horn.

“How did you create that illusion,” I asked. “You appear to be an earth pony.”

“I am an earth pony,” said the colt. “What of it? Think that just because I don’t have some stupid horn, I can’t make my own magic?!”

“Actually, I was mighty impressed by that,” I told him.

“Seriously,” asked the colt.

“Where’d you learn that,” I asked.

“I just read about it in a book,” he said.

“And you understood it,” I asked.

“Well obviously,” he said.

“I actually created that spell,” I said.

“Yeah right,” he said.

“You saw the bit of magic I just did, didn’t you,” I said. “Well that’s merely a fraction of what I can do.”

“So that makes you a unicorn,” he asked defensively.

“I suppose it is hard to tell with the big hat on,” I said.

I then levied my hat a little above my head, to reveal my horn; this caused the colt to step back a little in fear.

“What’s wrong,” I asked.

“I haven’t had any good experience with unicorns,” he said. “They all treat me like I don’t matter.”

“Well, I’m not one of those unicorns,” I said. “I don’t care where somepony comes from. It’s inside that counts. We all have similar origins after all. And I’ve never come across an earth pony who’s able to use potions.”

“So what,” he said.

“So, this is quite a discovery,” I said. “What if I offered you a chance to be my student?”

“Seriously,” he asked.

“I’m very serious,” I said. “I think you have real potential, and it should be nurtured properly. Although I would have to ask your parents for permission.”

“I don’t have a family,” he said, frowning with his ears flopping back.

“Oh, I see,” I said. “Well then I will take care of you, and teach you the ways of magic the best I can.”

I could tell looking at this small colt, that he was reluctant to believe me. Clearly, he hadn’t had a lot of great experiences dealing with older ponies.

“I promise that I will not betray you,” I said. “Star Swirl the Bearded is a pony of his word.”

“Who’s that,” he asked.

“Me, I’m Star Swirl,” I said.

“Then why did you refer to yourself like that,” he asked.

“Sometimes ponies will refer to themselves in the third pony,” I said.

“Grownups are weird,” he said.

“I suppose they can be,” I said. “Anyway, what should I call you?”

“Most call me Ash Cloud,” he said. “because of my wild mane and fur color.”

“It’s a unique name,” I said. “And with some training, it’s a name that will become known throughout the land as one of the great potion makers.”

“You really think so,” exclaimed Ash Cloud.

“I know so,” I exclaimed.

The colt then jumped around in excitement at the idea of becoming famous for potion making. Ash Cloud was my first student; but he wouldn’t be my last. I only wish I could’ve done more to help him.