The Lost Legends of Equestria: Star Swirl the Bearded

by Silver Inkwell

The Traitor

The Traitor

It was exactly a month before the summer solstice that he made his discovery about the traitor that lay within King Cosmos’s court, or at least that was the day that he decided to reveal and unmask him since he had been gathering quite some evidence, lot of it, to present before the court on that very same day.

But before we get to that let us instead take a look back on what happened leading up to that very same special day and event too.

The first time that he met the stallion was exactly ten days after he arrived in the Kingdom, and the way that he entered the room was suspicious enough.

He was just talking to the king when he entered from behind in the shadows.

“And now let me introduce you to my most loyal royal advisor, Orion Sky.”

Orion was completely and entirely black, fur, coat, mane, hair, even his eyes.

“It’s nice to meet you,” he said in a cold cruel calm voice of hatred and malice, “The king has spoken kind words about you, but I disagree with him, but he doesn’t listen to me, he never does.”

“I wish that I could say it was nice meeting you too,” Star Swirl said, “But may I kindly point out that you had a cliché villain entrance? Seriously if you don’t want people, I mean ponies to think that you’re the villain don’t act like one or in that particular way. But anyhow I am glad that I can finally see you now.”

“And why is that exactly?” Orion asked.

“You’ll see the reason as to why in a month or so,” he said with a smile.

“Your smile, it is devious, and I know that for many reasons.”

“Right you are, but no matter, what brings you over here anyways?”

“That’s a question that the king should be asking me but I will still answer it anyways because the information will not have any relevance to you.

The citizens of this land wish and demand to know who this stranger is and why he is here exactly, or rather to be more accurate I do at least.”

“Well to answer your question then,” Cosmos said, “He is a friend of mine, and any pony who has a problem with that can take up the matter with me, you tell them that, secondly, he has a name, and it is Star Swirl, and he is a wizard.

And finally, he is here to help us, not hurt us instead.”

“I hope that you are very sure about that my king.”

“I am quite sure and positive, but you may go now.”

And with that said Orion bowed and then left the room in silence.

“I have a very bad feeling about him,” Star Swirl said.

“Nonsense, I am sure that it is merely just nothing my friend.”

“I’m not,” he said, “Oh, and out of my natural scientific curiosity do you have any spells or potions that make other ponies tell the truth to you?”

“Yes,” he said, “But why exactly? And also what for?”

“Oh no reason, none at all.”

And with that said the talk between the two went on as he listened but secretly deep within his mind he was already working on a plan to reveal the traitor.

It took quite some very long time before he could gather enough evidence against him, six months to be rather exact, but when he finally had enough he knew that he was ready, the only question left now was
how to approach it.

He decided to tackle it in a very sideways manner before he attacked it head on, “So king,” he said one day, “Now that I am an honorary citizen (he had been made and appointed that quite some time after he had arrived there), what does that mean and entail for me exactly? I mean am I taxed? Can I raise a complaint or accusation against another citizen or even a member of this court? Please do elaborate and explain this new concept to me.”

“Well that’s quite a lot of questions,” Cosmos said, “But since you asked I will tell you, being an honorary citizen means that should you ever need my help or I need yours, we can ask each other for it, and yes, you can raise a complaint or accusation against another official citizen, even royalty and this court.”

“Well then, thank you for that, because I actually have an accusation against some pony within your court, for one of them is a traitor.”

“And who would that be exactly?” Cosmos said.

“ORION SKY!” he said, “I accuse him of treachery to the crown.”

And with that said Orion looked up to where Star Swirl and the king sat, “Yes?” he asked very slowly and carefully, “What is it exactly?”

“This pony dares accuse you of treason, and you know what that means.”

“The royal court, yes I know,” he said with a deep heavy sigh, “Very well then, let us entertain and humor him and play his little tiny silly game.”

“Very well then,” Cosmos said rising from his throne room and gesturing for the others to follow him very quickly, “To the royal court at once to hear this out, I will gather up all the juries myself,”

And then on the way over he leaned over and whispered to Star Swirl very quietly, “I hope that you have some evidence to back this up or I might just have to take away your citizenship, or ever worse perhaps instead.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve got this under control, and besides, do you really honestly think and expect me to accuse him without any evidence at all?”

“With you, who knows?” and with that said they went the rest of the way there in silence and when they finally got there the king told them to wait.

And with that he used some kind of spell to summon some more ponies.

“All rise for the honorable me, your king, the name’s Cosmos, blah blah blah, we are here today to hear out the accusation of Star Swirl the wizard against Orion Sky, a member of the royal court, blah blah blah, and now let us begin.

Star Swirl, you may bring up any evidence that you have right now.”

“I actually just have one,” he said pulling out a black book, “This is a copy of his journal, word for word, exactly, and the reason why I copied it down is so that he would never get suspicious of me or my activities and so that he would never know that I had spied on him, looked at his journal or even ever took it, and if you wish to compare it to the original, well I have that too.”

And with that said he pulled out an exact match and copy identical to the one he had, “Don’t ask how I got this, just please don’t for your own peace of mind.

Anyways, if you read through it you will find some very interesting key phrases and thoughts and ideas, and to name a few prime examples I memorized, ‘This job tires me, I just wish that the king would die already so I could take his place’, ‘the king is old, but not that old, maybe I will have to kill him to take my place’, ‘but how to kill him? Poison? A direct attack perhaps maybe instead?’

These can only be the very thoughts and ideas of a traitor.

And should you wish for more evidence, well just cast a spell on him or give him something that makes him tell the truth, I know that you have something of that manner and nature so it shouldn’t be too hard to produce.”

“No it is not,” Cosmos said putting the book down very slowly, “But I do not need it, this journal is far more than enough, and I am glad for what measures you have taken to save my life, guards, take this traitor away and put him in the dungeons until I can decide what his punishment shall be.”

“The law is quite clear on this my king, banishment,” a jury said.

“Very well then,” Cosmos said, “Orion Sky, for your act of treachery I hereby banish you from these lands,
and may fate take mercy upon your soul.”

“You… You cannot do this to me, I am your most loyal advisor,” he said very nervously with some fear in his voice which was different and most unusual and odd compared to his normal cold cruel nature that he did show.

“You were my most loyal advisor until now, but I think that the time has come for another to take your place, and perhaps maybe Star Swirl could even be my honorary loyal advisor for some time until we find a replacement for you.”

Orion Sky suddenly tried to attack the king when he heard this, but he was quickly stopped by Star Swirl with a spell and then by the guards.

“YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS, BOTH OF YOU!” he said trying to escape the guards, but it was no use, it was in vain for they were both too strong and powerful for him and he could not escape their iron grip both physical and of magic too. “ONE DAY YOU WILL PAY, AND ONE DAY I WILL RETURN AGAIN! AND THEN
YOU’LL BOTH BE VERY SORRY FOR EVER DOING THIS TO ME!”

And with that said his screams of agony and pain which conflicted with his earlier nature of being calm and cold and cruel, they slowly faded away.

“Do you really think that we have seen the last of him?” Star Swirl said.

“I do not know, I hope so, but he is an alicorn and therefore still immortal, so he quite possibly could come back within centuries seeking revenge on any and all of my descendants if he cannot take it upon me, but to think that I had him as my most trusted and loyal advisor for so long, and yet I never knew that he could possibly do this to me, but if I had…”

“Then it wouldn’t have ever gotten his far,” Star Swirl finished up for him, “But don’t blame yourself dear king, many ponies are blinded by what they think they know or they simply cannot accept the truth and instead would prefer to live their lives happy with the lies that they have been given.”

“That is a very wise philosophy and attitude,” Cosmos said, “But come, there are other far more important things that I have to do today, the celebration of the summer solstice is coming, and that is the longest day of the year, the one which my very lovely wife sees over, for it is a custom tradition that all the citizens see her raise the sun in the morning for all those that wish to see it, but I also must be there so that I may lower the moon and stars and night.

For with new light the darkness of the past must fade away.”

“Are those words really you or am I just rubbing off on you?” Star Swirl said.

“Maybe a little bit of both,” Cosmos said with a smile, “But come now, I cannot stay here any longer, I must visit Queen Chrysalis who comes from very far away offering her very sweet honey,” and with that said they both left together.

Author's Note:

Edit (1/11/17): This originally was a bonus, but now it is an official chapter, so please do enjoy!

Next Chapter: Meeting Queen Chrysalis

(Oh yeah, this is going to be very GOOD.)

So stay tuned for more!