//------------------------------//
// The Rise and Fall 
// Story: Star Swirls Babel 
// by Never-After-All-Readings 
//------------------------------//


Star Swirls Babel


He has finally done it; he has finally managed to complete his masterwork, the crowning achievement of his studies as a mage, the spell that would be the last step in his path to ascension. The spell that would push him past the mortal plain of magic and into the realm of the gods. The domain that all mages so aspired to, all of his studies led to this one point. He, the master of the magic craft, will take his first steps into godhood. The spell has been prepared, and the details that have led up to this monumental occasion have been recorded in his journal. The safety wards have been cast; the next time he would see the mortal world would be through the eyes of a god.

Star Swirls' horn lit with the golden hue of his magic, and the spell was cast; the next thing that the old mage saw was a wall of white. The only thing being felt was the pain of what he thought to be ascension; Star Swirls' body was being ripped apart as he shed his mortal chains, his magic growing and joining the world around him so that he may better control what he was to become, his soul taken so that he may be given a new place in the cosmic scale. He felt this whole process; to say it was painful would have been an understatement, yet a small price to pay for immortality and mastery of the cosmic power.

The pain seemed to last for an eternity, yet it had only been seconds since it started and ended soon after. Star Swirl was lying on his side when he awoke, the pain but a memory as he quickly clambered to his hooves, throwing the star-clad cape on his back to one side. Doing his best to contain himself, he looked for the wings that signaled the godhood he so worked for, yet he found nothing upon his back other than the cloak he always wore. Star Swirl looked around, trying to see where he was. The spell had left him on a bridge of solid magic in a void of stars, where the cosmic power was overwhelming to the senses.

Star Swirl looked down at the magic bridge where he stood; the reflection of an old stallion with a great white beard looked back at him. The promised youth of the spell was nowhere to be seen; he was still mortal and old. Had he not paid for his transformation, had he not bled and poured years of his life out for this spell. He, Star Swirl, the great archimage of Canterlot, teacher of the Alicorns, master of the arcane arts, He, how could he not ascend? Was this not his destiny? He lit his horn to cast the spell again, only for his magic to fizzle. He stood puzzled; what manner of trickery was this? What way of the world would stop him so he couldn't ascend.

He was brought out of such thoughts to the sound of hushed crying; some pony was here with him; he looked about for the unknown, spotting the pony in question not far from him, sitting on the edge of the magic bridge staring into the void. There before him sat a young white Alicorn, her white wings and godly demeanor that had inspired Star Swirl to make such a spell laid out before him in full display, her mastery of the magic arts was second to none, even with all his power he was but a speck to the god before him. He recognized her immediately, of course; how could he not have? It was one of his best students. Knowing this, he didn't hesitate to walk up behind the crying mare; as her teacher, it was up to him to find the source of what bothered his student and to help however he may.

Star Swirl did his best not to startle her too much as he walked up behind her moving to grab her attention, and with a fit of irony, surprised himself when she suddenly turned around to face her teacher and caught him in a hug that was like a vice. He was not used to such acts from the ordinarily stoic Celestia; she had been growing more distant with ponies in every sense, the fight with her sister and the banishment that came from it. Star Swirl had done his best to fill what role he could in her life, but what role she needed, he could not have been.

Yet now, here in this void, it seemed that he would have to face that monster he had been hiding from; he freed a hoof from Celestia's hug and patted her on the back as the mare started to cry, tears running down her and falling on the old stallion's shoulder. He let out a small sigh and spoke, doing his best to calm the emotional student. “Come now, Celestia,” his rough voice let out, doing his to soothe, “what could have caused you so much distress to latch yourself to me like this”

It was a simple question with a weighted answer; even when she had banished her sister, she hadn't come to him like this. She had not shone in public that such a thing had affected her. Celestia was the princess, the ruler of a nation; even behind closed doors, her mask was starting to become more permanent; for her to show such color and such emotion to him now, he feared that the world had ended.

Sadness flowed from Celestia like a broken dam, her sobs and cries leaking out into the void around them with a title wave of emotion; she cried the tears of a broken mare onto his shoulder as Star Swirl did his best to calm her long enough to find out what was wrong. On the other hoof, Celestia couldn't stop the sadness she felt as she looked upon the apparition that took the form of her past teacher. There was little that she could save at the time of the casted spell, and she could do even less with what little she had saved; for now, all she could do was mourn.

She was mourning the death of a teacher and her father, and with time permitting, she would tell him. She looked upon him and saw the father she never had; she saw the life that came for Luna and her; she saw Star Swirl taking them in as their mentor. He taught them of the world and the ways of magic; he showed them and taught them more than they could have ever learned from the ponies around them.

Celestia seemed to hug the old pony even tighter at this thought, speaking through half sobs and tears, “I am so, so sorry, Star Swirl” she pulled him in, thinking about what she would say next and the best way to say it.

Star Swirl was confused at that, but he did his best to play a role he never meant to. He did his best to comfort her and calm the crying mare “oh, come now, my little star, what could you be sorry for? You have done nothing to warrant an apology to me” he slowly ran a hoof through her pink hair failing to notice the translucent form it started to take.

It was with the sigh of a broken mare that Celestia let out a final broken sob. She let go of the ghost in front of her not once looking away from him as she spoke “I am sorry that I couldn't save more of you, Star Swirl” she let more tears silently flow as she broke the news, “just like Luna all I could do was watch as you were ripped from the world, you died, and I was powerless to stop it, even now I can't save you.”

Star Swirl froze at that; dead, he was not dead. He may not have known where he was, but he was far from dead. His confusion was evident as he spoke, "what do you mean little one? I am here with you now am I not, we are together in this void, where ever it may be"

Celestia shook her head, letting go of the apparition of her former master. "I was hoping that you could have felt it or figured it out on your own; you are dead, Star Swirl, you played in the realm of gods, and for it, you paid the price with your life" she turned away from him looking out into the void doing her best to keep her voice.

Star Swirl back away from Celestia, the calm expression that once covered his face was replaced by confusion and a hint of panic in his voice "what do you mean? I am here with you now. I am me; I can feel it; my memories, my magic, and my body are all here. How am I dead if this is so."

Celestia let out a shudder, keeping a steady breathing rhythm as she did her best to explain. "That is because of me; when you cast that spell, the magic of the cosmic ripped not all that was you from the mortal plain” as Celestia spoke, she raised a hoof to the void around them; very magic around them rippled in a wave across the surface. “Your body was the first to fail. The mortal chains that held you to the plain burned away, giving back what you were to the world. Nature took your body and gave it back from once it came"

Celestia cupped a group of stars in her magic making dancing them around the void, trying to distance herself from the truths that she told: "your magic, without the mortal form to bind it, was given back to the heavens from which it came, forming five new stars that dance with Luna’s moon."

Star Swirl stared dumbfounded at the news, the realization washing
over him "what of my soul? The spell was to grant me never-ending life; what of me is still alive? Something must be left if I am still here."

"I have no idea what became of the parts I couldn't save, and even what little before me, I could, is still slipping away no matter how hard I try to keep it. You are nothing but an apparition, a ghost in the system, held together with my magic, and what little of you has yet to fade" Star Swirl sat for a moment, his body giving away under him from surprise. Celestia turned back to look past him, past the void, past the world itself, looking for the answer that she didn't know.

Star Swirl had known such a thing could happen; such was the world he studied. His spell had failed, and with such failure, his death was the price; such was the world he had called home, it was on wax wings that he flew, and every risk put him closer to that sun he called godhood. He knew that with every spell, he had a chance of dying, of something going wrong, and even with having made peace with that, he was afraid
of the world that waits after.

It was here now, while he was dying, that Star Swirl found he wouldn't be afraid anymore; his spell had failed, his own hubris had led to this, and in that action, his own student gave all that she had to slow his death. He could only be thankful to his student. To die with no regrets would have been the best, but that is only a fantasy of the young and stupid he had to focus on the here and now with her "how much longer do I have to be with you, little star” he asked quietly. 

Celestia stopped looking past him, and he could tell that her red puffy eyes were staring into his very soul as she thought, "I have no idea; whatever spell I used to hold you here was cast an in a moment of panic.”

Celestia turned her gaze to see him, looking for anything that would give away that he was fading; much to her dismay, the old stallion's body was turning more translucent her spell was failing. She could feel him fading faster and could do nothing to stop the second death of the one she loved like a father. She sighed, “the only reason that we can even talk is that I dragged you into the plain of ascension that Luna and I were born in; this a place between life and death,"

Star Swirl let out a long sigh; what was left to do than accept one’s mortality. If he was to die, let it be with the one he loved, with what little he could call a family. He stood, walking over to the side of Celestia, sitting next to the young alicorn and letting her place her wing around him, settling into its warm embrace. "If I am to die, I am glad to die with one that I consider a daughter; thank you for giving me the time to be with you, my little star" the old stallion leaned on the mare next to him. His whole body truly began to fade as he did so, his once gray coat turning translucent as if he was a ghost.

Celestia leaned into the last embrace the two would share, doing her
best to keep the spell that was keeping him here going, doing her best to slow the fading that now that quickly threatened to take Star Swirl from her. The strain keeping the spell going must have shown on her face as, with a light tap, Star Swirl used a hoof to wipe the tears from her face.

"It is time to let go, my little one; if I am to die here, there is no point in fighting fate. I have lived a long time, taught many ponies, I have left behind a legacy that will outlive many generations " He moved his body sitting in front of her letting their eyes meet "I will die with little regrets, one of the very few is that I can't see both of my daughters before I die" He muzzled Celestia "none of which is your fault"

Celestia went to speak only to stop when star Swirl placed his hoof over her muzzle "it was my own hubris that led to my downfall. I made a spell to rival babel, to play the part of god that I was never meant to play; in the end, all I did was copy its fall" It was with that Star Swirl faded faster, giving into the death that waited so long to claim
him.

Celestia fought this, of course, doing her best to keep him with her for longer, yet nothing that she did seemed to keep the old pony solid. The more she pushed, the more he faded, until with the last breath, he called out, “I shall see you in the next life, my little star; tell little Moonbeam I'm sorry I couldn't see her” with that final message the pony that was Star Swirl faded away, leaving behind a starry cloak and falling wizards hat.

The only sound filling the now-empty void was the sobs of an alicorn mare and her final words, "NO, PAPA.”