//------------------------------// // Prologue // Story: The Legend Of Star Swirl The Bearded // by Blueshift //------------------------------// It had not stopped snowing for five years. The snow continued to fall in a never-ending flurry, flakes whirling in circles in the grey sky before settling in huge drifts that blanketed the Lonely Mountains. It was almost beautiful, Clover thought to herself, as she struggled unsteadily through the mounds of snow that blocked her path. Almost beautiful, if it weren’t so painfully cold. The surroundings had lost any semblance of clarity, causing her to stumble forward on the heels of her companion, keeping the faith that the next step wouldn’t plunge her off an icy precipice to her certain doom. It had not stopped snowing for years. The land was cold, dead and grey, and it felt like that was the way it had always been. Little foals in the schools grew up hearing stories about something called ‘sun’ and ‘rain’, never quite understanding the concepts. But once, she knew, it had not been that way. Once, the sun had shone. Once – Her train of thought was broken by an enthusiastic shout from in front of her. Blinking the chilling snow particles from her eyes, she almost barrelled into the rear end of the pony in front who had stopped suddenly in excitement. Her companion bounced up and down slightly, the myriad layers of cloth and satchels that covered her body causing her to look like an animated shop floor. Albeit one covered in snow. “It’s there Clover, there! Look!” Coconut the Curious could not contain herself as she turned to Clover. There was a gleam in her eye that Clover recognised. The gleam of youthful exuberance, unsullied by age and experience, which she remembered in herself so long ago. Had it really been only five years? “You were right Clover!” Clover strained to peer through the white shroud that continually obscured her vision, flaring a slight amount of light from her horn to help her peer through the gloom. At first there was nothing, just a whiteness against the never-ending snowstorm, but then in the distance, deep in a valley that nested between two mighty mountainous spires, she saw it. A small wooden cabin, barely visible against the snow that enveloped it. Coconut started to scramble down the mountainside, slipping and sliding and whooping with exhilaration until she lost her footing and catapulted head over hoof off a ledge. “Coconut!” Clover shouted out as she scrambled after her young assistant, almost choking as the snow invaded her mouth as she spoke. “You stupid stupid…” She trailed off as she looked over the ledge, to see Coconut only a metre beneath her lying sprawled dazedly on a snowdrift, her baggage scattered around her, her white body almost invisible in the snow. Coconut gave an unsteady grin as she clambered to her hooves, her horn glowing with magic as she picked her belongings up and once more wrapped her body in her warm blankets. “I know what I’m doing!” she chirped unconvincingly. “’sides, I’m with Clover the Clever, the one and only apprentice of the great Star Swirl the Bearded! What could possibly happen to me?” “You could have broken your neck,” Clover carefully made her way down the slippery ice towards Coconut, tutting as she dusted the snow from her coat. “Or run straight into a pack of yeti. Or snowponies.” At this, Coconut gave an audible shiver. They had seen the telltale signs of snowponies only yesterday, huge grooves ploughed through the snowy tundra. It was said that many an unwary pony had been snatched by their twiglike hooves, and all the warning they ever got was the briefest glimpse of coal-black eyes. “We’ll be safe when we get to the house though!” Coconut exclaimed, regaining her earlier vigour and immediately scooting down the snowy mountainside to the building below. “There’s bound to be all sorts of magical protections around it, isn’t there? I mean, it is the place, right? That’s where Star Swirl used to live before he came to Unicornia?” She paused in her decent, looking back at Clover expectantly. Clover paused, shivering in the snow, before nodding slowly. “Yes. I mean… I think so. This is where all my research has led me.” If Coconut saw any sign of hesitation in Clover, she didn’t show it, instead continuing to bound down the slope, bobbing happily down into that frozen valley. “Imagine, all that history! There’s so much about your old mentor we just don’t know! Maybe there’ll be mysterious items of power left there! Maybe even copies of his secret spell books! They never found what happened to them did they Clover? You know, after he…” she started to trail off as she realised Clover was not replying. Perhaps she’d gone too far. But like her descent, she could not stop the momentum of her dialogue. “…died.” There was silence on that mountainside then, only the howling of the wind and crashing of avalanches in the distance as the two made their way to the cabin. After a while, Coconut turned back to Clover. “…I mean, that is what you’re looking for, right?” “I…” Clover trailed off as they reached the cabin, a strange feeling of trepidation overcoming her as she stumbled across the valley floor to stand silently in front of the old wooden building. The snow had piled high around the walls, and the windows were almost opaque with grime. “I guess I just want some answers” she finally stated with a slight waver in her voice. “You bet!” Coconut was by her side, hooves tapping and then straining to push the door open. With a sudden creak it snapped open, causing a flurry of snow to pile into the dark interior. “Look at that!” she breathed, her horn glowing softly, illuminating the simple insides. “This is where the greatest ever unicorn lived! It doesn’t look much, but I bet he even created the amniomorphic spell here! Such history!” Eyes twinkling with anticipation, she stepped in. Clover just continued to stand in the open doorway, the snow pelting at her coat as she stared at the threshold as if it were some invisible barrier. Finally she followed her young friend inside. “Thank you Coconut” she said softly. “I couldn’t have got this far without you. But please…” Coconut paused from rummaging around in a cupboard, finding only old pots, utensils and various cheap knick-knacks and staring at them in confusion. “Ah, I’m sorry,” she coughed sheepishly. “It’s just… I’ve read all the books and seen all the plays, but there’s still so little we know about Star Swirl. The things we could learn from his undiscovered works! That’s why we’re here, isn’t it? His legacy?” Placing a pan carefully back where she found it, Coconut smiled. “I never met him but he was my inspiration, you know? Why I wanted to concentrate on magical studies. I still remember my mother holding me tight all those years ago on that terrible night and telling me that it was okay, that Star Swirl would save us." Her voice became softer. "The awful sound of the Demogorgon as he rode out to face it alone.” She shuddered. “I’m sorry.” Clover slowly sat down on the cold wooden floor, the old boards creaking under her weight. It had been five years since it happened, five long years before she had discovered the location of Star Swirl’s original home, but she knew the moment she had stepped through the door that whatever she had expected to find wasn’t there. Nothing that would make the pain go away or help her to understand. Just an ordinary abandoned house full of ordinary abandoned junk. “They’ll write his stories for years to come,” she sighed. “But none of them will ever know the truth, Coconut. None of them will ever know the real Star Swirl. And I’ll never tell.” The sharp tick-tock of a clock echoed from the far side of the room as the two unicorns sat in the house in silence, their quest at an unsatisfying end. Outside, the snow continued to fall. It had not stopped snowing for five years.