//------------------------------//
// Avertanlas 
// Story: Observations 
// by BaeroRemedy 
//------------------------------//

Spring, Twenty-Second Day of the Third Moon, Year of Peace

I have received a message.

King Bullion dispatched my student, Clover the Clever, to come find me. When I saw the magical flare go off on the horizon, I thought myself insane. I am lucky that Celusastisina and Celuleunelnen were not at my camp or following me around or else I would have had to explain them.

When I first saw them, I thought they might be the discovery of a lifetime. They still might be, but I need more time with them first. My pupil is a curious and good pony, but I cannot trust her not to tell the King.

The King must not know yet either. In my idiotic youth I already gave him too much knowledge without any safeguards.  I have already jeopardized the safety of not only my tribe, but the world as well. I will not endanger these fillies. As they have both wings and a horn, I do not know how he would react. I have heard his screeds against the pegasi in the past and what he would like to do to the young Commander Hurricane. That fate shall not befall these two.

Clover imparted some troubling news that may change some equations, though. King Bullion has fallen ill. I know the stubborn old goat, though. He will not be taken by sickness. Death will need something stronger than a mere cold to take him down.

Even at two-hundred years of age, he is still as hardy as the day he saved my life during the siege of Mareacuse. He is still as fiery. I also doubt that the young Princess Platinum is ready to take over for her father. Her vanity would not serve Unicornia well in matters of diplomacy. 

Then there is the matter of winter. It still lingers back home. Our spring is usually frigid so I thought nothing of it, but then Clover told me that it still persists in the lands of the pegasi and earth ponies as well. That is troubling. Especially for the earth ponies. While our relations with the other tribes have always been difficult, the earth ponies have always been less hostile. After all, without us they would not have the sun to raise their crops and we would not have the food they grow. 

I instructed Clover what to do in my stead. I even told her how to handle the death of the King if that unlikely outcome comes to pass. I told her to bury that damned vault of his, preferably with him in it.

I do not think she is holding up well. 

I asked how the raising of the sun is going without me in the council of mages. They are doing fine for now, but she does not know how long they can keep going without me.

I told her I must stay here as I have discovered something important, but I could not tell her what. 

“I hope it’s worth it, Starswirl.”

It is.

-Starswirl


Spring, Twenty-Third Day of the Third Moon, Year of Peace

I tried to get Celusastisina and Celuleunelnen to cooperate with more research, but they seemed uninterested. They were down in their cave, staring out at the sea. They seemed very intent about a storm on the horizon. That is notable as the weather in the area has been rather nice and placid since my arrival. There has rarely been a cloud in the sky and the temperature has been unremarkable.

Perhaps they are worried about their home. Maybe that storm is coming from the same direction. 

I suspect the storm will be upon us in the next day or two. I attempted to put up a magical barrier over the opening in their cave so the rain does not flood it, but they did not like that. They told me ‘yetan’ repeatedly until I dropped the shield.  Maybe they like the fresh sea air. I will monitor their dwelling as the storm approaches. The last thing I would want is for them to be washed away.

For today I will instead focus on the leyline that runs through this area. My notes for that will be within another journal as this one has assumed a very particular purpose. 

-Starswirl


Spring, Twenty-Fifth Day of the Third Moon, Year of Peace

Celuleunelnen has awoken me in the middle of the night. She is crying and babbling a few words over and over again. I am following her back to the cave as the rain falls around us. I am hoping that her sister is not hurt.


“Epil es gentan. Es epkres lepil goda trak. Es legil anvitarve et legil nitam anwerne antakane. Ortamfet lepil anismervne: es Skaroseliswer gatan. Upalas rakinti deulentan, nit deulentan dreblen. Ansotelve...”


“Es fetelis legil.” -  You are the future of them and their promises.


Spring, Twenty-Sixth Day of the Third Moon, Year of Peace

Yesterday was not a good day.

I am still having trouble processing what I have experienced. 

I suppose I will write about it. It must be recorded for this to be studied while the memory is still fresh.

I met their other parent, their Avertanlas. Her name was Cer. I learned that from her daughters. 

I am finding it hard to write about this. I must detach myself.

Subject Three (Cer): 
Appearance: Subject Three is was approximately six and a half feet tall. Her coat was blue, the same color as the sky, and her mane was yellow and white…it flowed as if constantly blown by the wind. Her eyes were gold. She too possessed a horn and wings just like her progeny. She had wounds and burns across her body, deep lacerations and blistered skin. Her blood was pink and shimmered. It looked just like the mana that flows through the leyline beneath our hooves.

Personality: I cannot say. What can you know about a creature when the only moments you knew them in were their last? She was loved. I know that much. Their wails will haunt me

I heard her speak. With the last of her strength she instructed me to take down her words. Then after I had done so, she used what little magic still coursed through her body to cast one last spell to let me understand her. I heard the words that she spoke, but in my head I understood them.

“Es fetelis legil.” 

“You are the future of them and their promises.”

This provides the much needed cultural context for the pronouns. Perhaps she knew I needed it, or perhaps this was the last desperate grasp at hope for her children. Serendipity. Providence. It is impossible to say which, but I am eternally grateful for the knowledge and I accept the burden placed upon me by it.

Es - Es - You. Second person pronoun. Singular. 

Fetelis - Fet-eh-lees - Literally ‘place of next’. Translated means ‘future’.

Legil - lehg-eel - Their. Third person pronoun. Plural. Possessive.

Their pronoun system is unique if I am to believe the message that I was made to understand. There are two sets of pronouns. One for an individual, and then the other for an individual plus something else. They call this a promise, or that is what they understand it as. That is what the suffix -il seems to denote: this other thing that resides within or around the individual. Whatever this is, I do not have one. Cer, Celusastisina and Celuleunelnen do though. I suppose it may be tied to their tribe.

From this, I might be able to translate some of the message.

“Epil es gentan. Es epkres lepil goda trak. Es legil anvitarve et legil nitam anwerne antakane. Ortamfet lepil anismervne: es Skaroseliswer gatan. Upalas rakinti deulentan, nit deulentan dreblen. Ansotelve...”

This is now just a mix of pronouns that I think I now understand and unknown words. The only word I recognize in this entire body is “epkres” and that is because Celuleunelnen has spoken it before to say good morning. I will give them space before I ask them for help in translating this.

After this, I buried Cer. I made sure to put her next to her partner on the hill. 

I thought the last time I would need to bury a parent was when my father died. I thought myself insulated from such tragedies. I thought I had protected myself from seeing foals cry over the corpses of their parents.

Perhaps I never should have come here.

I should’ve stayed in my tower among my books. There are no tears there. Here they are falling from the sky.

-Starswirl