//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: The Most Important Conjurer Of The Pre-Classical Era // Story: Does Faust Play Dice? // by herfaithfulstudent //------------------------------// With Celestia probably crying her eyes out who knows where, only Starswirl The Bearded and I are left in the living room. He stares at me intensely, and I have no idea what’s going to happen. He’s probably thinking of ways to hurt me. I just made his… tenant? Friend? What is she to him? I made soon-to-be-Princess Celestia cry, and now I’m going to be killed! My heart begins pounding in my chest. I want to run away so badly, but I know that wouldn’t make a difference. “Please don’t kill me, Mr. Starswirl!” I shout, hoping that I’ll still have my life and some of my dignity left after begging. Starswirl immediately flinches and looks at me with confused amusement. “What are you talking about, colt? I’m not going to kill you.” “But I made Celestia cry and you…” I manage to say as my heartbeat begins to slow down slightly. Starswirl lets out a roaring laugh. “Why in the world would I kill you after Celestia confirmed you’re not a threat? She asked me to help you!” “But Luna mentioned you transforming someone because you got mad at them.” Wait, am I arguing that he’s supposed to kill me? After he suppressed his laughter, Starswirl tries to look guilty. “That was one of my more recent and less-well-received jokes. The stallion was my assistant. I had asked him to knock my drink over so I could pretend to get angry and turn him into a cloth to clean up the mess. I thought it was hilarious, but,” Starswirl frowns, “Celestia and the other ponies in the main hall didn’t seem to agree.” “So, Luna was able to intimidate the castle guards by bringing up… a prank you pulled?!” Who the fuck is this guy? “King Carat would have loved it,” Starswirl grumbles. “And what everypony seems to forget is that I transformed him right back into a pony. Unharmed! Albeit a little wet. I even told the crowd he was my assistant, which completely ruined the joke.” Starswirl looks more annoyed than remorseful. I have no idea how to respond to this, but the grey stallion doesn’t seem bad, even if he is a shitty practical joker. “So, Mr. Starswirl the Great, Sir, would you mind helping me get back to my world?” This seems to make him forget his annoyance, because he turns to me and says, “Of course! Where are my manners? I’ll do everything I can as long as you drop all of this Mr. and Sir business. In fact, you’re not from this world so I haven’t even saved your life. Just call me Starswirl. Am I clear?” I nod. “Good. Now, I’ll need some time to retrieve my mirror from the vault and find my old notes. We can start in a few days.” “A few days? I thought you could just sort of zap me with your magic and send me home,” I say hopefully, really not wanting to have to make up an excuse for missing my midterm on Friday. The bearded stallion snorts in amusement, “You really have no idea how this works, do you? I can’t simply teleport you home; I have to rip a sustained hole in the fabric of our dimension to access other worlds.” Then, with a bit of annoyance, he adds, “And I’m the only mage in all of recorded history to do this, by the way, so don’t think I don’t know what I’m talking about. Got it?” “Yes, sir,” I reply immediately, and Starswirl gives me a sharp glare. “Yes, Starswirl.” The former archmage’s expression softens. “Now I want you to describe your world to me. What kinds of magic does it have? What are the intelligent species on it? I need to know what we’re looking for.” I spend the next half hour or so talking about earth, its lack of magic, humans, how the sun and moon move, and answering all of Starswirl’s ‘basic’ questions. Once I finish, he smiles, “I don’t want to needlessly get your hopes up, but I’m almost positive I can get you home much easier than I previously thought.” “Really?!” This is great! I’m really glad Luna brought me here instead of some pegasus torture room. Starswirl smiles confidently. “So, for now, let’s both get some rest, and I’ll have you home as soon as I can get my things together. Do you mind moving to the side of the room for a moment please?” I’m a little confused, but I do as he asks. After clearing away the cushions by the fireplace with his telekinesis, Starswirl’s horn lights up and a wooden framed bed with white sheets appears in front of us. The unicorn must have noticed my surprise, because he grins and says, “I am a conjurer by trade, you know. Just one more thing…” Starswirl’s horn flashes again but this time I feel a tingling all around my body that fades after a few seconds. “What was that?” I ask. “Luna made Celestia promise not to let you leave until she came in the morning. Since Celestia is somewhat indisposed at the moment, I’m keeping her promise for her.” Starswirl glances up the stairs with a concerned look. “That spell will prevent you from leaving this room until I lift it. And the bed will disappear at sunrise, so no sleeping in. Consider it punishment for waking me up in the middle of the night and upsetting Celestia,” Starswirl says with a smile as he turns toward the staircase. “Now, if you need anything, my room is the floor right above this one, so just call up and I’ll hear you. Goodnight…” He stops walking and looks back at me apologetically. “Astraeus,” I offer. “Yes! Goodnight, Astraeus.” With that, my weird, but surprisingly nice, host leaves me alone. The fire has died down to a few embers by now, so the living room is nice and dark. I realize that I’m not wearing any clothes and toothbrushes probably haven’t been invented yet, so I get into the incredibly soft bed, finally ending my long day in Equestria. ~~~ “Astraeus, wake up,” someone loudly whispers, ruining my sleep. I open my eyes to see a bright yellow flash and a white horse with a pink mane leaning over me. I freak out and fall off the other side of the bed before everything that happened hits me. “So, I didn’t just have some freaky dream,” I say as I untangle myself from the sheets. I stand up to face the unicorn who lets out a small laugh, “No, I’m afraid this is all very real, Astraeus.” Oh right, my pony name. I forgot that I told Luna and Celestia… “Celestia! You’re here! And you’re not yelling at me or crying anymore!” The white unicorn’s smile fades slightly, but she doesn’t look angry. Just a little sad. “Do you mind coming with me for a moment? I’m sorry I disturbed your sleep, but there’s something I want you to see.” All my irritation from being woken up is replaced by curiosity about Celestia’s request. I follow her up the staircase along the back wall of the living room. We continue our ascent past the doorway that I assume leads to Starswirl’s room, and then reach another door that Celestia opens with her magic. We enter what looks like a repurposed storage space. There are about a dozen wooden trunks and crates with illegible scribbles on them piled up on one side, along with various large metal and glass instruments, some of which hold massive gemstones. The rest of the room is made up of a simple bed, a dresser, and a nightstand, the last of which has a few books on it that look like they’ve gotten plenty of use. Celestia walks to her bed and lies down, motioning for me to join her. I notice there’s a book on her bed that she opens, once I’m next to her. She begins wordlessly turning the pages, giving me time to look at each one. It’s mainly filled with drawings of three ponies that I assume are Celestia, Luna, and their father, based on the ponies’ appearances. Some of the ones at the end of the book look almost like black and white pictures, although the earlier drawings look more like weird blobs than ponies. One page of the book has two locks of hair tied in it: one light blue and one pink. Some pages are just filled with lines of scribbles that I have no idea what to think of. Maybe it’s some sort of gibberish that one of the sisters wrote when they were foals. Finally, Celestia breaks the silence at one of the pictures of the adult stallion and the unicorn filly. “The poems and writings are mostly mine, but Luna did all of the pictures. I haven’t seen her draw portraits in years, but she used to love drawing the three of us.” “They’re really good. Did you save all her drawings?” Celestia nods. “At first, it was just the ones she gave me, but I collected the rest when we moved out, after our dad died. She might not be the most social pony, but Lulu didn’t get to go out and be with others as a filly that much. Mom used to bring me with her to the castle all the time, but dad wasn’t allowed to take her on patrols with him.” I have no idea where this is all coming from. “Celestia, why are you telling me all this?” “I just want you to know that the two of us didn’t have the most normal of foalhoods, Luna especially, but she has a good heart. Luna’s not a bad pony, I swear!” Oh no. I had really hoped Celestia had given this up. “I don’t know what will happen to turn her evil, but I know you can stop it! Faust sent you here for a reason, and I think it was to tell me about what my sister will become if we don’t do something! Please, Astraeus, we have to prevent her from hurting anypony.” “No!” I exclaim. Celestia shrinks back. That was probably too forceful for telling someone you won’t try to stop their sister from turning into a monster worthy of moon-banishment, but I need her to give this up. “I’m sorry, I’m really sorry. But there’s too much at risk if I do anything to change your futures. It could end terribly.” There’s no way I can risk fucking up Equestria’s future like that. Celestia shrinks back, looking defeated. “Can you at least tell me what turns her evil?” I don’t meet her gaze as I shake my head. “I’m sorry.” The words feel hollower every time I use them. “I just don’t see how my sister could hurt anypony. Manipulate or spy on, yes, but not harm.” Celestia begins to cry. I put a forehoof over her shoulder in a pitiful attempt at comforting her. “I promise, even though this might not make sense now, I’m just trying to do what’s best for you and everyone else.” After a few more sobs, Celestia begins to calm down. “I’m sorry, you’re right. Sometimes there are things we all have to do for the greater good, no matter how much it hurts.” Good, I think I finally got through to her. “Exactly,” I say with an empathetic smile. “Just please trust me, even if you don’t understand.” It’ll all be fine in the end. After 1000 years of banishment, Celestia can live out the rest of eternity with her little sister. The two of us sit in silence for a while until Celestia speaks up. “I’m sorry for being so angry with you this whole time Astraeus, your message was just hard to accept. Now, I think it’s time we both got some rest.” “Right.” I get up and begin walking toward the door, but stop as Celestia says, “Your appearance here truly is a miracle, regardless of whether or not you believe that. I promise I’ll help you in any way I can.” “Thanks, Celestia. Goodnight.” She responds in kind and I return to my bed, finally returning to sleep.