I don’t remember Luna’s exact words to me, so I can’t recount them in exact detail. Which is probably a good thing, as her tale was littered with some obscure middle-pony terms only the most dedicated of scholars would understand today. But I can tell you the general gist of what she said.
Like she claimed, Luna and by extension her sister Celestia, had known my ancestor Star Swirl the bearded personally. In fact, he was their long-time friend. But it turns out their connection to him was far more profound than I could have ever imagined. No doubt you have all heard of the First War of Chaos, the time the two sisters defeated the villain Discord, spirit of disharmony, and restored peace to Equestria? (Actually, at the time Luna recounted her tale to me, it was the only War of Chaos. Nopony could have imagined Discord would break out of his prison to terrorize the world a second time. But that’s irrelevant here.) Well, it turns out Star Swirl the Beared was one of the Six Heroes of that war, the first Circle of Friendship, the original bearers of the Elements of Harmony. Joining him were the sisters themselves, along with two others I can’t seem to recall. I remember hearing vague allusions to the name ‘Sir Reginald’, and Luna seemed to avoid mentioning the Element of Laughter at all, but those were the only clues.
It was the sixth member, the Element of Loyalty, who was the important one here. A silver-maned stallion named Midnight Lance. Who was, as it turned out, a fierce rival and lifelong friend of my ancestor. This puzzled me, I didn’t remember ever reading about him in the history books. Come to think of it, I didn’t remember reading about any of these element bearers. To my knowledge, all accounts of that battle tell of the sisters alone wielding the Elements against Discord. But as it turned out, there was a good reason for that…
It had seemed like the Heroes were inseparable. No threat could sever their bonds of friendship… or so they thought. On the eve of the final battle, Midnight Lance betrayed the six, and turned to Discord. To this day, not even Luna knows why. But without his element, they all knew they were powerless. And so Star Swirl the Bearded decided to take matters into his own hands. He vowed to the princesses he would bring back his friend, or failing that, at least recover his Element of Loyalty. But before he went, Star Swirl left his own element behind. He knew that moment he was going to his death.
Star Swirl tracked down his former comrade and tried to reason with him, but he would not be swayed, by then his heart knew only hatred and betrayal. My ancestor knew there was only one option left to him to save his friend. He challenged him to a magical dual, like he had many times before when they were still students. But this time the stakes were altogether higher. Their battle raged on for what seemed like days. In the end, Midnight Lance was defeated, and cast into the pits of Tartatus. But as he fell, he gave one final parting shot: with the last of his strength, he cursed Star Swirl’s line. He decreed that from that day on, his descendants would all be born with the gift of magic, but be unable to use it. With those final words, he vanished.
But Star Swirl had been gravely wounded in their battle. He sent the recovered Element of Loyalty to the sisters, but knew his time was growing short, and he would not be returning to them. As his last act, he sealed himself inside a cave, there to pass on alone. That way, his family would never know the truth.
That he had failed them.
And, well, you probably know the rest of the story. Celestia and Luna defeat Discord, peace returns… and Star Swirl’s name is forgotten. As for why the other two Element Bearers were indisposed at the time, and what became of them, Luna told me that was a story for another time.
But for now, it’s back to mine. After Luna had finished, I simply stood there, stunned, for what seemed like an hour. It took me a while for all of it to sink in, but when it did, everything made sense.
“So you’re telling me”, I finally broke my silence, “that I… that my family… are not earth ponies, but… hornless unicorns?”
“Precisely.” ,she replied. “And that is why Star Swirl’s name has faded into obscurity, though his decedents survive.”
“You mean… that my family is cursed, and will stay cursed, forever?”
The whole thing was still difficult to swallow. But at least I finally knew the reason behind my Cutie Mark: the curse decreed I would be born with my ancestor’s talent for magic, but would never use it.
But her response was something even more surprising.
“It depends.”
“W-what?”
“We mean to say, it is up to thou whether thy family remains cursed forever.”
I immediately knew what she meant, but I had difficulty believing it. “You’re saying”, I asked once again, “that I can… lift the curse?”
She smiled.
“If thou wishes.”
I didn’t speak. The last few moments were playing endlessly in my head. I had convinced myself they couldn’t have happened. That I must be dreaming. But my breath, my heartbeat, the stones beneath my feet, they felt real enough. But that means…
This was the moment I had always dreamed of, I could finally be who I was meant to be, I could finally realise my true potential. I could do what I always wanted, and Equestria would learn to know the name Star Swirl once more.
But then it hit me. I had always imagined a day like this to be the happiest moment of my life… and yet I wasn’t. But why? I had always dreamed of using magic, becoming a sorcerer but… now that I knew it could become a reality, suddenly I wasn’t so thrilled by the prospect.
But then something strange happened, I thought back to my mother, always staring out the windows at the unicorn family next door. She never showed it, but I could tell she was hurting. All the time I’d known her, she had never known true happiness.
And right now, I had the power to change that. That was it; I had made up my mind.
“How?”, I asked.
“If thou wishest to end the curse, thou must first track down its cause.”, Luna began, back to her usual dramatic manner.
“Wait… you don’t mean…”
“Yes, Midnight Lance yet lives. Of course…”
I gulped. I had I feeling I knew where this was going, but I hoped to Celestia I was wrong…
“He remains imprisoned in Tartatus. They say its deepest circles are reserved for traitors, if thou wishest to find him, thou wilt do so there.”
And I wasn’t. It took all my willpower to stave off fainting.
“I… you… me… Tartarus… go…” I was gasping for breath “Oh no. Oh no nononononononono NO! I mean… I’m just one pony. One. Pony. You seriously can’t expect…”
Luna stared at me and simply stated, matter-of-factly:
“Either go to Tartarus, or learn to live with thy curse. The choice is thine.”
And with that, she turned and made her way to the opening she had entered from.
“Discover the true meaning of thy ancestor’s Element, and thy curse shall be undone!”
“W-wait!”I yelled, “You can’t just leave me like that! Tell me, what do I do? Where do I start?”
She turned and smiled at me once again.
“We suggest finding some friends would be a good start. Good luck, child of the Bearded One, FARETHEEWELL!”
There was another deafening crash and another flash of lightning. By the time my sight returned, Princess Luna had gone, a single black feather floating to the floor the only sign of her presence.
So basically, that’s how I agreed to go to Tartarus. Not your average pony’s idea of a midnight outing. ‘It’s not too bad’, I tried to reassure myself, ‘all I need to do is go to the place where the most vile villains and malicious monsters are imprisoned and confront a murderous backstabbing lunatic who clearly has it out for my family, what could possibly go wrong?? I mean, it can’t possibly be as bad as enerypony says, they clearly have no frame of reference, seeing as nopony’s ever been there and returned alive…’
“Come on Star Swirl,” I thought out loud as I approached the castle’s entrance, “get a hold of yourself. Before you can start thinking about your inevitable painful death down there, you first need to actually find the place. Oh, why didn’t Luna at least give me a hint? Where to start, where to…”
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!”
“EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!”
Lost in thought, I didn’t notice the shadowy figure standing in the doorway. We collided, and the sound of screaming filled the ruins. But wait, I recognised that voice…
“Eeep! A monster! I knew it, I knew this wasn’t a good idea! Please don’t hurt… oh, it’s just you. Hi again.”
As my vision returned, the figure revealed itself to be the same lavender pegasus I met earlier that night. Unaccustomed to the very thought of another pony in the forest at this time of night, I was at a loss for words.
“Lilly Blossom, wasn’t it? But what are you… how did you…?”
“I was worried about you, of course”, she replied, as if it should have been obvious to me. “I mean, what kind of pony goes into the Everfree Forest at this time of night? So, naturally, I followed you to make sure you were okay.”
“Err… thanks, but you really didn’t need to…” Then it hit me. “Wait a minute. You followed me here? B-but how…? I mean, I would have heard your wings if you were flying behind me, but I don’t remember hearing anything.”
“Well that makes perfect sense then”, she said in the same tone, “because I wasn’t flying.”
“Oh, right.”, I replied… before realizing that made things even more confusing. “Wait, WHAT? You’re telling me you were walking behind me this whole time, and I didn’t hear anything?”
Lilly Blossom stood still for a moment, as if she needed to let those words sink in. Next I knew, she was… smiling. It was a small smile, barely even noticeable, as if she was flattered but desperately trying to be modest about it. She didn’t do a good job of hiding the glee in her voice though.
“R-really? I was that quiet? This is great! Oh, sorry, It’s just that I’m learning to be more graceful on my hooves. I’m training to be a dancer, you know.”
I wondered for a moment if ‘dancer’ was code for ‘ninja’.
“Although… I did hear heavy breathing at one point… was that you?”
“Oh no, that was just a Timber Wolf.”
“Oh, okay. Wait, WHAT?!?!” I really wished she would stop doing that. She thankfully elaborated.
“Yeah, there was a Timber Wolf behind you at one point. So I… protected you.”
‘Protected’… silently? I had a feeling that was something I didn’t want elaborated on. Thankfully, something interrupted us before she had the chance. It sounded like… panting?
“Don’t just run off like that, Lilly Blossom! You know I can’t keep up with your ‘dancing’… Star Swirl dear, is that you?”
I knew that voice. And that Cutie Mark.
“Bumblesweet? You too?”
“Y-yes”, answered the honey-coloured earth pony. “Actually, I think I’m a little out of the loop here. I came after Lilly Blossom after I saw her run off…”
“You see?”, the lavender one interjected, “When you see somepony run off into the forest at this time of night, you worry, it’s a natural reaction. I knew I wasn’t going crazy!”
“So you mean…”, her friend was starting to put the pieces together, “you went in after her, and she…”
I completed the picture. “Like I told you, I came in here to meet somepony. Look, I have somewhere I need to be right now, I’d appreciate if you didn’t follow me this time, you’ve endangered yourselves enough as it is. I’m sorry, but could you just let me...”
“Get back to your epic quest to uncurse your family and restore your ancestor’s good name?”, said Lilly Blossom.
This was getting ridiculous.
“WHAAAAAAAT???? Y-y-y-you heared!?”
“Well of course!”, she replied, “whoever it was you were talking to clearly had no concept of an indoor voice.”
“Oh, right.”, I said sheepishly. In hindsight that was pretty obvious. “I assume you heard everything too, Bumblesweet?”
The earth pony turned to me. “Well, I do remember hearing what I had assumed was a rampaging dragon…”
“Don’t worry”, said Lilly Blossom cheerfully, “I can fill you in on the details on the way.”
This was the final straw.
“SHE DOESN’T NEED TO KNOW THE DETAILS! You two! Home! Now! Please! I never asked you to…”
Lilly Blossom tilted her head and smiled. “I know you never asked, but we’re going anyway. Look, you clearly need our help, that Timber Wolf back there was proof of that. Come on, just let us see you to your… destination”, she approached me, her hoof outstretched. “After all, nopony should have to brave the Everfree Forest alone.”
It was a gesture as old as the foundation of Equestria itself, a hoof extended in friendship. I’d read about it, of course, but I never thought I’d be on the receiving end. I didn’t want to involve them in this, and I certainly wasn’t going to let them follow me into Tartarus, but… for the moment, I felt… safer. Perhaps Luna was right, maybe this was the ideal first step? At least it was nice knowing I wasn’t alone. And so I reached out my hoof in return. I accepted.
“You’re in this too, right Bumblesweet?”, said Lilly Blossom.
The yellow earth pony said nothing, she simply trotted forward and added her hoof to ours.
“Of course, dears. I couldn’t let you young ones run off on your own, could I?”, she said, then turned her head towards me and whispered:
“Where are we going, again?”