• Member Since 30th Dec, 2011
  • offline last seen Jan 19th, 2020

Blueshift


E

History teaches us that Star Swirl The Bearded was one of the greatest unicorn mages ever to have lived. But history is notoriously fickle. Was Star Swirl really the stallion everyone thinks he was? What was the secret of his beard? What the heck was the amniomorphic spell? Discover the truth about Star Swirl, and the greatest con in Equestrian history...

Chapters (8)
Comments ( 157 )

This sounds like a good story! I love your interprrtation of Princess Platinum and Star Swirl. I'm really eager to find out how she went from such a swindler, to somepony who would apparently risk their life for a family/town? That sounds like some serious character development to me!

The picture looks like a mare with a beard.:duck:

Hmmm. Wonder what a time-travelling Twilight Sparkle would say to that revelation...

Even funnier of Starswirl did invent the anmiomorphic spell, but couldn't see it cast until Clover came along?

Hmm, not bad, reminds me of a famous pirate who was known for being extremely manly, it was until he died that it was discovered he was a she, I hope you make this even more curious, I just hope the "drink and fillies" part doesn't steal so much spotlight :pinkiecrazy:

OH GOD. :pinkiegasp: STAR SWIRL IS FREAKING TRIXIE.

If that wild assumption is true and I just ruined the entire story, then I apologize.

um....does anyone see the va j-j on the cover title? Or is it just me?:twilightblush:

I thought Starswirl the Bearded and amniomorphic spell was a pun on "Hairy Potter".

I'm really liking this historical twist, can't wait to see where this goes.

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She'd probably be happy that her costume is even more accurate than she'd thought!

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Star Swirl the bearded would never use telekinesis to sign autographs, of course. Such a vulgar display of power that would be!

Animal Farm reference is best reference.
Star Swirl is best con artist.

Animal Farm reference? Check. Doctor Who reference? Check. Epic con artist-ness, coupled with a brief stint of your typical WTFery? Check.

This is hilarious.

Now I want a signed horn warmer for my horn... oh wait, I don't even have a horn! :derpyderp1:

Saw this fic on EQD, and I've got to say, color me impressed!

When I first started reading, there was just something about your writing style that struck me as strange, but I couldn't quite figure it out. But though I thought it strange, I loved it! And then I figured it out! Your writing style - it's that perfect balance between sparse and descriptive. It only struck me as weird because I knew I was reading a fanfiction, but it felt like I was reading a published work. ^^ That's how smooth this story reads! There's just a certain flow that I always look for in stories, and that, quite frankly, I've come not to expect in fanfictions. And you've most definitely got it!

Haha, well, enough about your writing style (which is fantastic). ^^; On to the plot! I'm really enjoying your characterizations, and the very first sentence of the very first chapter was a brilliant hook. When I read on and saw some Clover, I was even more interested (Twi's my favorite pony, and since she played Clover, well, of course I love that character as well)! Then you went on to the first "real" chapter and introduced Star Swirl and (we're back to the writing style again ^^; ) pulled off the ambiguity needed to write a hidden-gender-character with ease!

Greatly loving the roguish feel you've given to Star Swirl, and your world-building of the pre-Equestrian land. Already you've given a great feel to this past setting, with the obvious class distinctions between unicorns and Earth ponies (and, briefly mentioned, pegasi) and the hillside bandits and such really give a feel to the more medieval setting of the world, as well as the chaos and disorder (not Discord's kind) that comes without a stable kingdom and a steady ruler.

You've hooked me. I absolutely can't wait for more updates! :twilightsmile:

Paint me green and call me envy, this is great stuff. Star Swirl as the greatest con artiste ever is simply brilliant. I loved the beginning and implication that Clover learned the truth. The setting and world building is equally excellent. The divided caste system is wonderfully done with the resentment of the earth ponies and hauty arrogance of the unicorns. Looking forward to reading more about Star Swirl's adventures and how she takes Clover on as an apprentice. :rainbowdetermined2: :twilightsheepish: I wonder what Twilight would do if she found out the truth... :twilightoops:

I WIELD THE MIGHTY SWORD OF FIRST!

300886 ok Envy. this was a good story. Give me more Blueshift

Oooh. A promising beginning!

I can sense this story becoming a big hit. Can't wait to see more! :yay:

286131 I was thinking exactly that :pinkiehappy:
"When you're as deeply involved in the studies of Magic as I am, it is a relief to perform more mundane tasks like writing without it!"

Well, blueshift, colour me impressed. This story is tracked :)

First rule of cosmic irony: Anytime you say, even to yourself, 'what could possibly go wrong', something will go wrong.

Ah, mind daggers. Don't we all wish we could use them?

Great story. Looking forward to seeing how Swirly does among the pointies.

This the second time I've seen someone drag Zeno of Elea into a ponyfic, though the first time using it literally. I'm not sure if I should laugh or facepalm at this. Both, it seems.

Anyway, this is looking pretty interesting at the moment.

I don't suppose we know much about Pre-Diarchial Equestria. Where are the Princesses during all this? That's the bit about the Hearth's Warming play I didn't get. Supposedly immortal Alicorns, who weren't doing their jobs back at that time? Perhaps they had not yet descended from the Eternal Herd? (Or some such - there are as many theories about the Princess' origin as there are fanfics about it.)

And didn't Starswirl just accidentally her fireworks? How will she impress those ever-so-magickal unicorns? Unless, they're not really that magickal...? :trixieshiftright:

Unicorns arnt that smart here, are they? :facehoof:

Wow. I hope she won't hurt poor Clover's feelings.

HAHAH. In truth i had hoped Clover would be a pony so clever she saw trough the ruse, but i suppose this more predictable plot line works just fine. It is a very clean cut written part, but i miss an antagonist. Sure the king might work as one for now and I am invested in seeing Starswirl face his constant demand for entertainment, there must be something more to the tale? Other than the king and the obvious angry goat assassination attempt.

Surely Starswirl wont just vanish after just a few days of tolerating the king. ;p

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Ho ho ho, no, trust me on this ;)

As for antagonists, yes, there will be several and you've already met most of them in the story. Let's see where it goes from there!

(And of course, Star Swirl is an antagonist as well as a protagonist I guess, it depends how you look at it) :trixieshiftright:

This is fantastic, and I cannot wait for more.

I'm loving this. I just know the rest wil be brilliant.
Also I love the owrds of wisdom
"If you’re going to lie, make it so big, so ridiculous, so outrageous, that nopony could even comprehend that you might not be telling the truth."
That is something I'm gonna remember.

Star Swirl is evil and I love it.

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HAHHAH. She's not gonna pull a Clark Kent is she? Just take away the beard and the horn. Pretend to be a different pony and have everypony accept that? xD she is isn't she ? XD So brilliant. So cutting edge. How daring. I love how you made the faith she had in her own lies falter yet Starswirl picked herself up with memories from her past.

Invisible magic act. <33333 Best ever.

When in doubt, substitute charisma for any skill check. Unless the target calls your bluff and defeats you in a charisma check, you win. A great actor knows how to sell the impossible and a great con artist knows how to take advantage of pride. Star Swirl is both.

Interesting (Surprise you didn't add a donkey to the list of representatives.)

btw i remember something from a novel i read, a connecticut yankee in king arthur court, something star swirl can use
(This part is taken from wiki)
Hank secretly manufactures gunpowder and a lightning rod, plants explosive charges in Merlin's tower, then places the lightning rod at the top and runs a wire to the explosive charges. He then announces (during a period when storms are frequent) that he will soon call down fire from heaven and destroy Merlin's tower, then challenges Merlin to use his sorcery to prevent it. Of course, Merlin's "incantations" fail utterly to prevent lightning striking the rod, triggering the explosive charges and leveling the tower, further diminishing Merlin's reputation.

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Better known as a Bavarian Fire Drill or the Big Lie

Also gotta give props for the Hans Christian Andersen ref

u know, i feel silly for expecting this to be a serious account of starswirl's life. i shant expect such things from you again, blueshift. you never fail to appoint. :pinkiecrazy:

This cannot help but end in a fashion both wonderful and terrible. It remains to be seen which wins out. However, we know that Clover the Clever survives, and even aids in the founding of Equestria... :trixieshiftright:

Star Swirl will indeed teach Clover. She will teach her street smarts, and outside-the-box thinking, and how to get ahead with nothing but the clothes on her back and a little wit. And I eagerly await seeing it. :twilightsmile:

Interesting! if you have Clover the clever perform a random spell (Perhaps the time one.) have Star swirl scream "THAT WORKED!" making everyone turn to her."
"What, you have to admit, even i can be surprise that one was able to move back in time." Star swirl said quickly changing to calm profession tone to hide her shock.

ohh she made a enemy of the future chancellor puddinghead, that can't be good.

This chapter.
This chapter is what took the story from "tracking" to "favorites".

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