After hours expending with the founders of Equestria, made me realize how much fortunate we were after finally managing to be a foal again, never had such fun as we three learned the rules of a new game created by the infants, tag, this was indeed one of a great invention for the foals, and I know that Sonata, Aria and Adagio will love this game.
"Girls, I'm home." I said as I cleaned my coat, and was ready to place my hat over the door. Until I heard a quick sound of hushed hoovesteps.
"DADDY, DADDY, HURRY, SOMETHING HAPPENED TO ADAGIO."
I never felt so much panic in my entire life.
Galloping upstairs over the tower, I found what would be Adagio laying over the floor, trying so much to breathe... My heart stopped, and my world is crumbling.
I tried to use my usual healing spell. As I saw the glow appearing over her, I felt relieved... until the glow diminished as it was being absorbed by her.
"SARD." I cursed as I tried another kind of spell, something that would try to fix any kind of sickness... And still, she couldn't manage to cure. "SARD, SARD, SARD. WHAT I'M GONNA DO... "ARIA, TAKE THE BLUE BOOK ON THE BOOKSHELVES. SONATA HOLD ADAGIO."
I galloped to my room of spells and sorceries. I went over the circles of the runes as I cast on myself the same spell which I would use in my teachings.
I saw the clone's eyes go into a serious frown.
"We don't have time, take care of Sonata and Aria. I will go away and I find somepony who can cure her." I didn't like to command the clone, but he having my memories he could understand deeply inside my thoughts and how serious this is about.
"You don't have time, she can't breathe, you cannot teleport here if that would take minutes to find somepony to cure her." My clone as using a rational part of our mind told me, but now I'm not feeling any kind of rational, my daughter is dying.
"I WILL CREATE TIME IF I HAD TO, I WILL DO ANYTHING TO SAVE HER. NOW WATCH ME." I shouted as I went back to the girls who were crying as they hold Adagio's palled fur. "Oh, no, no no."
I lighted my horn and with all my heart, and all my magic. I CAST YOU.
"STOPZA." I shouted as I used all my magic to save her.
As the constant knocks over my door, I knew it was a sense of urgency that happened since nopony in the right mind would be outside with this rain. I couldn't guess what time was it since all the clouds covered the sky, but at the moment I opened the door, my eyes went wide open as I was both surprised and concerned to see who was the pony in my door.
"Starswirll?" I asked surprised, but that surprise turned into concern after I take a look at the stallion in front of me. The sorcerer over Equestria, the one who could use magic to heal himself, who seemed calm and collect all the time... Was bleeding on his foreleg, bag eyes, breathing tirelessly, and what would be tiny foal covered into a cloak on his hooves.
"Please... save her." My eyes opened in horror, after hearing his voice, he despaired...
Since when the pony whose all Equestria respect... the one who represents the magic of the entire nation representatives, could show such emotion which I never thought it would ever see... The situation must be really grave to come here on this tempest...
I shook my head, and I opened my door wide.
"Come in." I didn't let my thought take much time, the filly on his hooves must be into an emergency state and he must really care that filly since he didn't show any of his authority as the leader... but the same despair I had when my mother was sick... "Tell me what happened."
I knew Starswirl would be blunt and directly at the point, he wouldn't lose time, and neither should I, he has despaired... It must be a true emergency.
The first thing I did was to make flames at the cauldron this way I made sure the cauldron would get warm for starting to prepare a potion.
I saw the tiredness over Starswirl's body, but the one thing that caught most parts of my attention which I didn't notice until now was the fact he was still glowing his horn like he remained to cast a spell. And the glow at the filly on his hooves.
"She was just walking around and playing then I didn't know what happened, but her body suddenly collapsed as she fainted in front of me, I tried to cast a magic heal over her, but her body absorbed the casting and didn't show any signs of interior healing, just exterior. I examined her body and she was coughing and having a fever... So I froze the time around her to maintain the symptoms in check until I come here." Starswirl remained to cast his spell as he weakly replied to me.
"DID YOU CAST A SPELL AND MAINTAINED IT UNTIL NOW?" I shouted in surprise and concern. Casting a spell constantly would just take the energy of the pony who cast, but who knows how much time he cast the spell? That would make him get into a slumber of a week just to recover his magic.
"Please... Help her, I've been holding this magic for 2 days..."
"2 DAYS? ARE YOU CRAZY?" I shouted in disbelief, but from the tone of his voice, I decided to carry the foal in my hooves, the blanket around her was hot as a flame lamp. It was difficult to imagine... no... it was impossible to imagine the stallion on my side released the filly during a second... "Release the spell, I will take care from now on."
"Thank you..." Starswirl's gratitude was something just a few know, it was strange, but when it comes to his true sincerity, it means a lot... I ignored that, I took off the blanket...And it was a surprise to me to see it wasn't a simple filly, it wasn't a unicorn, or neither a pegasus nor an earth pony... It was a filly that has a fishtail... why this filly looks so familiar to me?
I decided to open the little filly's mouth and I examined it close, her throat was closing, she was having difficulty to breathe, she was sweating as the fever was taking so much from her...
She was having an allergic reaction, that must be the reason why Starswirl spell couldn't work on her.
I grabbed a potion that I made not long ago, and I released a few drops on her, making part of her throat not too close, and making her breath easier than before.
After taking a look over the little girl over my hooves, I decided to give back to Starswirl.
"She was having an Anaphylactic Shock from an allergic reaction, that must have been the cause of why your spell didn't work... You acted quick but took 2 days to use the time spell... wait... you couldn't teleport..." I was explaining logically the reason of the reason of the little filly would be sick, but then a sudden thought came to my mind... "You came from your tower to here without using teleport? YOU WALKED 2 DAYS BY YOURSELF?"
I shouted in surprise, I was angry at how careless he would be of using a continuous spell for 2 days, but imagining him crossing 2 days just to appear into my shelter. It was absurd.
From the way I could see Starswirl, I always thought he would be a crazy stallion, but to cross over the regions by 2 days, holding his magic and carrying a sick filly? Are you sure you aren't a fairy tale hero of some kind?
"Please..." Starswirl said weakly as he remained still trying to sit up, "Don't... underestimate me... I'm Starswirl the beared..."
From the way he looked at the little filly, it was sure he didn't treat the little filly as a kind of mere pony or even one of his students. It was far superior to that, it was his personal treasure.
"She's your daughter..." My logic whispered as his ear twitched before nodding his head.
"She is my eldest daughter... Adagio Dazzle." He admitted, leaving me a few doubts in my mind.
"Eldest? Do you have more than one? What about the others?" I asked surprised and in concern about what the other children must be while Starswirl was in front of me.
"A clone of mine is taking care of them, don't worry about it... I would never leave my daughters without supervision... not better than me to take care of them..." He assumed I may have thought about the worse but he assured me in time, making me sigh in relief.
I took a few ingredients and started to make sure to prepare as the cauldron was warming enough to prepare the potion. I went over my shelf and took one stamina potion and gave it to the most tired pony I ever saw in my life. He was fighting himself to remain awake after expending so much magic during days.
"This potion will recover your energy for a while, but I cannot guarantee about your magic recovery, you spent 2 whole days using the same spell. I don't know if I have something to help you with that." I said waiting for a kind of rebuttal from somepony who always finds mistakes from the other ponies or even wants to argue about his superiority on the ways of magic. But after taking a deep look at him he remained in silence as he nodded to me.
"I don't care about me, just focus on her, please." As his response not just made me in shock, but that made me look at the little filly even more, as I waited for him to drink the potion I made.
I went to the little filly, it wasn't for the fact she looked weak and sweating a lot, I can admit that she looks like a cute foal who was ready to make troubles in the nations, but has the good heart into doing the right things...
"Do you know the source of her allergy?" I asked looking at the bearded pony, who slowly shook his head. He indeed looked so different from the pony who wents on the missions, and he acted more resolute, like on the reunions he appeared last time. "It's not your fault."
"Of course, it isn't..." The stallion snapped out, he looked angry but yet too tired to do anything. "But at least I should have known what she was allergic to... That way I could prevent it from happening next time... But I feel so powerless..."
The gray mane stallion, sat down as he slowly approached the little foal... Making my move to the cauldron and start preparing the potion...
The silence over the shelter was awkward as I couldn't find a way to comfort him from what happened... Sickness happens to everypony, sometimes even magic couldn't fix it, but a good remedy potion could.
The preparation of the potion would take a bit longer since we couldn't find the source of the allergy, but leaving on this silence... it would be awful to spend an hour like this.
"Starswirl, if I remember correctly, you created the potion which transformed the white mane of Princess Platinum to yellow... Can I ask you how did you make such a potion?" I decided to use another approach over him, and I can say that discussing something bad about Princess Platinum always seems to cheer him up since I could see a smile forming on his face.
"It wasn't something difficult, I just formed a few runes, and using the magic of transformation I could condense the magic into a liquid form which wouldn't need me to constantly use the magic... It was something most unicorns could do if they learned sorcery..." Starswirl chuckled proudly of his work, however, a few seconds later his face dropped showing a sign of disappointment. "But sometimes the earth ponies can surpass the unicorns by using the natural resources to create potion... knowing that not always their magic could cure a simple allergy."
"Starswirl, stop," I said as I couldn't take anymore. "Stop blaming yourself, sickness happens to everypony, even allergies happen in times we are distracted. But you did nothing wrong, in fact, you did what would be impossible to many ponies... FAUST, you came here using 2 days spell, you didn't let your pride take the life of your daughter... You are a good father."
I stomped at the floor, as I could see the shock on his face, waiting for a kind of rebuttal and start a discussion, I couldn't care less... Sard, I know how it was the feel of feeling powerless to see somepony we care being sick, I worked my flank off to find a way to cure my mother, and watching somepony proud of Starswirl, to come here all by himself, using a spell to make his daughter protected to not let the allergy kill her? Is that what my mother said about parents would demonstrate the most impossible things because of their children?
I could see the stallion in front of me in silence, thinking about the recent outburst I did, but deep inside I could see something I'm unfamiliar with him... Gratitude...
"Thank you Meadowbrook, your words calmed my heart and cleared my doubts... I was needing to hear this." Starswirl tried to move his body, but the exhaustion took part of his body as he crumbled over the floor. "Sard."
"What did you expect? My potion could recover you to not to sleep, but your magic exhaustion would take days of sleep to recover perfectly." I said as I almost finished adding the ingredients over the cauldron. I couldn't take care of the stallion on my floor before I finish the potion. "You will need to stay like that until I finish the potion."
"Just focus on finishing the potion." Hearing Starswirl mumbling over the floor was fun to watch.
I giggled as I was still mixing the potion... well, the tension seemed to be over, now it looks like a perfect time to keep talking.
"Starswirl if you don't mind, why not tell me about your daughters? I'm curious about how 3 little fillies like them could change a stallion like you." I smiled as I stirred the cauldron, as I heard a sigh from the pony laying down.
"To be honest with you... they are the meaning of my life." As he said that I opened my eyes, as I heard him mumbling. "For many years I have sought knowledge... But I discovered that knowledge itself wouldn't make me live forever... Everypony I cared as my parents died... And the only pony who I could give my life to protect and save disappeared in thin air, making my life as walking into unknown... My life became pointless as the age was fighting against me... I was the sorcerer who defeated one entire army with just one spell. I was powerful, I was fearless and every time I went to kill a monster, I knew I would survive."
The thunder soared as the tempest remained around us. But that time I felt that I couldn't hear anything more than just him venting.
"Almost 4 years ago. When Stygian went to me and pleaded to me to help him to defeat the monsters over his village, I was angry. From how wasted potential he had, for being such a coward... It's wise for him to run away, but he never felt that he had the potential to help. I hate him, not because of who he is... but how he views himself. Because... that fool was the same kind of fool I was when I was lost on this world, alone... in the era of monsters... without my parents... without the only pony I respect... and call a friend...somepony more than a friend." I remained in silence, as I never imagined to live the day as I could hear the deep thoughts of the most respected unicorn over Equestria, never imagined how to hurt he has been during that time. "The sirens we fought over that village... showed me how I was a prideful fool, and how time wasn't helping me anymore. Stronger monsters lurked around Equestria, as for me... every day I was feeling I was losing magic and strength... I was feeling helpless...useless... I wanted so much to banish the 3 monsters to another dimension and call that my victory... But I have nightmares on how that was so foolish and how I could have hurt my babies if I did that."
My eyes went wide open, as I remembered that day, we used our powers combined to transform the giant sirens into 3 eggs... I looked at the little filly laying on the blanket, and I finally understood.
"They were..."I didn't even finish, Starswirl interrupted me.
"Adagio, she usually tends to make my day a headache, she acts as the elder but sometimes I know she likes trouble, she likes to be in charge of everything, but does everything she could to make me happy, even on my worst days... when I was having insomnia, Adagio appeared beside my bed and brought me a glass of water, as she decided to sleep by my side... Sometimes I felt that she knows when I wanted somepony to stay by my side. She is responsible, and I swear to Faust... 2 days would be nothing compared to how much magic I would use just to make her safe until she is cured. I would rather lose a foreleg than let her hurt. " As I could hear his voice, I knew Starswirl was speaking with all his heart, my tears were appearing on my face, and I didn't even know what else he can say.
"Aria, hehehe..." Starswirl chuckled weekly. "My precious smart daughter, she is the one I know she can take my legacy and leave in the future, she is my pride, she is my determination... She is the one who pursues self-improvement to show she is capable, she is smart, from a lesson I gave to princess Celestia and Princess Luna when they were 8 or 10 years old, Aria asked me to teach her how to read with 3 years old. I gave her the most important lesson to her at the same level as the princesses... And she is learning from it... She will be the queen of sorcery, everytime I dream, I see her on the biggest pillar of the entire world, she would never lose her pride, she would never lose her knowledge... I see my desire of knowledge on her..."
As he talked, my tears didn't stop falling, as he chuckled again, this time I couldn't help but feel happy for him.
"And my youngest but nopony less important, Sonata, what is happiness? To achieve an empire, show to everypony you are the strongest of all the nations, the prideful stallion, with all the currency, all the mares, all the treasures? Or would be a little filly who would stay by your side, smiling as like nothing matters, be by your side as her sisters would try to steal your desserts, and become the distraction because she wanted to be by your side? I discovered the meaning of life with her... Life is not about the end... it's about the journey, the ponies you care about, the ponies you lost, the fear, the pain, the hurt, but the laugh, the smile, the joy, the dance, the song, something simple... Something nopony even care..."
"I thought time would be my enemy since I was losing strength before fighting them... But today... Hehehehe... I killed a clan of basiliscs lions, by my own hooves, without magic... By myself. I discovered that since I became a father... I didn't become weak, no... it was the opposite, they are the reason I became even stronger. They are the meaning of my life. I would sacrifice everything to make them protect. Isn't that what the desire of all parents?"
I couldn't control the tears that were falling from my face, I started sobbing uncontrollably. After a few years ago, I thought Starswirl wasn't somepony who needed help, because he was bitter on the inside... But today I learned... he was hurt beyond repair, and after having his children, he was in process of healing. I started to remember when he was walking inside of the reunions.
He complimented ponies when it was a good time, he made some snarky jokes which surprised everypony, he pranked the pony he hated a few times, taking us to laugh with him... He wasn't him anymore... He was somepony better... Somepony who smiled more, who laughed more, who have hope in the nation... Somepony who wanted to see the future by staying away from the battlefield... He wanted to see his children grow up, he wanted to see the expectations of their dreams...
It was beautiful to know this secret... And he was giving his only hope to me... I couldn't let him down...
I was decided to make the potion the best potion that could take the allergy of this little filly. If Starswirl's child is the meaning of his life and the responsibility of the good changes... Who am I to disappoint him...
My eyes looked at the cauldron as I proceed to uses all the ingredients I was sure that the effect would make the quickest as possible, I was sweating from the fire being even stronger than before, I didn't stop mixing the ingredients, as the smoke raised from the cauldron into a deep green color, I went to the kitchen and with a bowl, I took the liquid and carefully went in the direction of the little filly.
She was still burning in fever, but still, she was breathing. It was enough for me.
I carefully made the little filly drink sip by sip, without making her choke, I know how serious was the state of the little foal, I finally could see the little fishtail she has inside the blanket, I decided to focus on the little beauty in front of me, she was indeed one of the monsters whose Stygian was afraid asking for help, but still, she was so different, like a rebirth, a new beginning, a filly...
I understand the feeling Starswirl had from this little filly, when my mother was sick I risked everything I could to find the cure. I wouldn't give up until I find the cure, even if I had to sacrifice my nights without sleep, and the pressure of her on that state for a long time was enough to launch me to the edge... Knowing this prideful stallion, he would indeed desire to lose a limb or two instead of the stop his magic and risking the health of this little filly.
Maybe we aren't that different at all.