The night held heavy over the city of Canterlot as the moon lazily made its way across the sky. The city was quiet, all its inhabitants asleep while the night guard kept watch. All, but one pony. In a small house with a sign emblazoned with a spiral of star settled in a small wooded area just within the city limits, the sound of a quill scratching across crisp parchment echoed along empty halls. A grizzled, old unicorn stallion with a large bushy white beard sat on a cushion at a desk, horn alight with the magic holding his quill. Burned down candles sat all about, with a solitary one, burning low, giving off just enough light to read by.
"Trial thirty seven of weight reduction spell, specialized for construction applications, has left us with the subject uncontrollably floating for hours on end," the stallion said to himself as his quill slowly marched across the parchment, leaving a trail of words. "Solution should be worked towards setting limit to the magic and its variability for different weight classes. Also, must make sure to write an apology letter to subject's parents." The parchment was filled with lines and lines of similar text, the rambling of spell research. So deep in thought was he that he did not notice the sound of hooves in the hallway, nor the thump of a knock at his door.
"Ahem!" a voice sounded as the door opened. "Sir Starswirl."
"Hmm?" the stallion, Starswirl, turned to face the intruder. It was an earth pony, dressed up in the garb of a royal messenger, all dark burgundy and gold. "'What is it? Can't you see that I am deeply involved in research at the moment?"
"I am sorry to disturb you such, Sir. But it is imperative that I give you this information," the messenger said. "You have been summoned by the royal regents. They didn't tell me the specifics of why, but they did tell me to stress the importance of the summons. They implore you that it is of the utmost urgency."
"Utmost urgency is it? I assume that it has something to do with the abnormal patterns of the sun and moon recently. Tell the regents that I shall arrive with due haste."
"Absolutely, Sir!" The messenger saluted and quickly spun about and left quickly.
Starswirl set his quill in a holder with others, capped his inkwell, and moved his parchment to an empty shelf to dry. "The spell can wait for another day, the results of the tests won't change just from not writing them down." He rose from his cushion and stretched, his limbs cracking and creaking in response. "Ooh," he said in response to his body as he glanced out a window and saw the light of a new day. "Another all night session. I should work on that." He gave a short laugh at that. "I don't know how much longer this old body of mine'll be able to keep up with it."
A short while later, Starswirl was on his way into Canterlot city with his trademark hat and cloak, both dark blue and decorated with stars and crescent moons and jingling bells. Like always, the sounds drew the attention of those ponies who were up early; the merchants setting up their stalls for the day gave their hellos and a few passed some fresh fruit his way; the guards, setting the change in shift, haling him; and the young children, up and about ready for school or helping their parents, ran towards him asking for small demonstrations of his famous magic.
"I'm sorry, kids." He said to the small crowd that had surrounded him. "I have business today at the castle that I must see to. Maybe some other time." The crowd of children dispersed, allowing Starswirl to continue on his way. He soon arrived at the gatehouse to the castle.
"Halt," a guard pony said, lowering a spear in front of Starswirl before noticing who he was speaking to. "Oh, Sir Starswirl, I am sorry. You are expected inside. You may continue." The guard raised his spear and beckoned Starswirl onward. As he entered the castle proper, he was quickly taken to a comfy sitting room by a butler to await his summons.
In no time, the butler returned and lead him to the main throne room. "Presenting Sir Starswirl, known as Starswirl the Bearded within the community of spell research and development, to make his appearance to there Graces, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, and Regents Dela Cruz and Elfheim."
As Starswirl entered the throne room, he immediately took in the four ponies standing and sitting upon the throne dais, watching him. Standing next to the twin thrones were the regents. Dela Cruz was an elderly unicorn mare, light blue coat and greying mane kept prim and proper beneath her royal robes of burgundy and gold. Elfheim was a younger unicorn stallion, from the looks of him, he used to be with the guard, as he wore an extravagant variant of their armor over his orange coat and his light brown mane was cut short. But it was the two ponies sitting upon the thrones that caught his attention. The two unicorn princesses of Canterlot. He had been there both times they had been presented to the citizens of the city. Celestia was the older of the two, her pristine white coat and pink mane and tail in stark contrast to her sister Luna, with her dark blue coat and much lighter blue mane and tale. But there was something different about the two of them from the last time he had seen them. Their robes had been altered to allow for wings that hadn't been there before free range of movement.
"I was summoned," he said as he approached.
"Yes, Sir Starswirl." It was Dela Cruz that replied. "I am sure that you have noticed the strange activity of the sun and moon recently, correct?"
"Yes, and I assumed that was part of the reason that I was summoned."
"That is indeed true," Elfheim replied this time.
"Do you require my assistance in determining the cause for this?"
"No, that is not the reason you have been summoned today. We know the cause for the abnormalities." As Elfheim said that, Starswirl saw the two princesses cringe and try to shy away into their robes.
"Yes," Dela said. "The reason we have called you today is to offer you a position here in the castle, as mentor to the princesses. As I'm sure you've noticed, there have been some changes to them. And before you ask, yes, these changes are directly tied to the abnormalities in the sun and moon. Girls, if you could enlighten Sir Starswirl on the matter?"
"Um... uh..." princess Celestia sputtered while princess Luna stayed silent.
"I'll take the job," Starswirl said.
"You will?" Elfheim eyed him warily.
"Of course. I can see that the princesses are in need of magic tutelage, and I am the best pony for that job, and you both seem to think so too, elsewise, you wouldn't have summoned me."
"I see," Dela said. "It seems you've made up your mind. In that case, we will have quarters set for you post haste. You may return to your house to pack. We shall send some ponies to help move your things to your new home. You may leave now."
"With your graces leave," he bowed towards the two princesses and turned to leave. "I shall return within the day."
After Starswirl left the throne room, Celestia and Luna were allowed to retire to their rooms for the day, as the day to day runnings of the court were tasked to Dela and Elfheim. As they entered, Luna ran to her bed and huddled underneath the covers.
"Sister," she said as Celestia stood by the window, looking out over the landscape of the city.
"Yes, Luna?"
"Do you think that pony, Sir Starswirl, will be able to help us?"
Celestia turned away from the window and made her way over to her sister. "I don't know, but he's the best chance we have." She hopped up onto the bed and nestled herself next to her sister. "You saw how he reacted to Regent Elfheim's statements. I don't think he'll want to keep us locked away."
"Was what we did wrong, sister? Are we monsters?"
"No, Luna," Celestia said, reassuring her sister. "If it was wrong, would we have gotten our cutie marks?"
"But, we became these things? Who's ever heard of a winged unicorn before?"
"Don't worry. I won't let anything happen to us." Celestia hugged her sister, and, still embracing, the two fell into a fitful sleep.
Starswirl was slow in returning to his home. His mind was awash with thoughts on everything that he had seen and heard in the throne room. Two young unicorns were responsible for what was going on with the sun and moon. But there was more to it then that. They were scared of their Regents, especially Elfheim. He remembered the days when their parents had still been alive, the two princesses were much like any other little fillies, always running about the city, though always with a pair of guards not to far off. Yet, now, now they were nothing like that. Maybe that was the reason why he had agreed so readily. He couldn't stand to see any child sad. With that thought in his mind, he found himself once again surrounded by children begging to see some of his magic tricks. He smiled as he bowed to their demands and spent the better part of the mid morning entertaining the young ones. Only after their parents had dragged off the last to help with chores did he continue back to his house.
As he approached his house, he took the time to wander through his small forest, enjoying the sights of the trees and recalling all the marks that he and the children of the city had put on them over the many years. He knew that this might be the last time he got to see these trees, and it would be the last time he called this place his home. Packing up his belongings took less time than he thought. He didn't realize how little stuff he owned until he'd managed to pack everything within half a dozen boxes, and of those, four were filled to the brim with scrolls on magic research.
As he awaited the movers, he took the time to wander about his now empty house, placing the memories to each room. Here was where the incident involving a failed casting of an amniomorphic spell that caused a table to fall apart into bowls. There was the remnants of a fireball, inadvertently created while trying to work out a water heating spell. A knock came from the front door, signalling to Starswirl that the movers were here to pick up his things.
"Hello, gentlemen," he said as he showed the movers where his possessions were. "If I may, where am I to be relocated?"
"Regents said to have you set up at the retreat castle within Everfree," one of the movers said as he oversaw the others carrying out Starswirl's boxes. "We'll make sure your stuff gets there. But you'll need to find a way there on your own."
"Of course they would make it so," Starswirl said under his breath. "I thank you for your assistance in this manner." He bid the movers farewell and watched as a pair of pegasus hauled his possessions off with a flying cart. He turned and took one last look at his house. It's simple wooden walls had weathered the years just like he had, and he hoped that whoever came to live here next came to appreciate it as much as he had.Readjusting his hat and cloak, he let magic flow into his horn. He had an idea where the Everfree castle was located, though he had never been there before, so teleporting would be tough, but he felt up to the challenge.
"And what better way to show myself as the pony they want then to perform complicated magics just to arrive." With a short chuckle, he let the magic flow free, and with a blip, he was gone.
With the arrival of Starswirl the Bearded at Everfree castle, all motions began to turn. Within a week of getting himself situated with the castle's layout and staff, the princesses were delivered into his care to start their studies in magic. Though, those studies did not start for several weeks following their arrival. It seemed to Starswirl that the two princesses did not trust him much and were actively avoiding him. It didn't help that we soon found that there were several traps and tricks set up within the castle which lead him to frustration as he found himself falling into pitfalls or getting caught in revolving walls.
Though, it was princess Luna that broke the standoff between the two sides.
It was late in the night, the rest of the castle having gone to sleep while Starswirl wrote by candlelight in his room. Even with his new duties, he still found the time to work on his magic research. This night was like many others, except that a small knock came from his door, drawing him out of his thoughts.
"I wonder who that could be at this time of night?" he said as he rose and crossed over to the door. As he opened the door, he got a welcomed surprise in the form of the young princess Luna, standing in her nightshirt and carrying a small stuffed bear. "What can I do for you, your grace?"
"I... I had a nightmare, Sir Starswirl," Luna replied softly. "I didn't want to wake mine sister with it though. She's been really tired recently."
"Yes, I can imagine. Keeping away from me all this time must be tiring work. But, come in, come in and tell me about this dream. Maybe I can help you feel better."
Luna looked apprehensive for a moment, before slowly walking into his room. "Go on, you can use the bed as a place to sit. Just give me a moment to finish up these few thoughts and I'll be at your service." A moment back to his desk and a quick surge of magic set the last lines of Starswirl's thoughts to paper. Once that was finished, he turned towards Luna.
"What is it that you do with yourself up here?" Luna asked after a moment.
"Oh, now we're onto me? Well, I create spells. In fact, I've created over a hundred spells so far. Some big and some small. This one is but a minor conjuring. Would you like to see it?"
"... yes."
Starswirl smiled as he sent a small bit of magic through his horn, leading to a glowing ball appearing in front of him. He concentrated as he began to mold the ball, to sculpt it into the shape he desired. In a short time, there was a small glowing dog running around the room. Princess Luna gasped in delight as the magic dog hopped up on the bed with her and let her pet it.
"Now, about that scary dream of yours?"
"I... forgot what it was about, Sir Starswirl."
"You don't need to refer to me as Sir," Starswirl replied as his magic faded, and with it the dog too. "Would you like for me to return with you to your room?"
"Um... could I stay here the night?" Luna asked.
"Yes," Starswirl replied. "You may stay."
Celestia, upon waking in the morning to find that her sister was not with her in bed, ran immediately to Starswirl's room and banged on his door.
"Sir Starswirl!" she cried. "Please, I need your help!"
"Yes?" he yawned as he opened his door. "Oh, Princess Celestia, what assistance do you require."
"My sister is missing!"
"Oh, is that all? Well, then why don't you come in? She's been here the night."
"That all! She's my only... did you say she was here?" Celestia pushed her way past Starswirl and jumped up onto his bed to embrace her missing sister before turning to face his with hard eyes. "Why is she here?"
Starswirl locked his eyes with hers and held her stare. "She had a nightmare and didn't want to wake you. She found her way here and I helped her calm down and offered her my bed when she asked to stay."
"I... see." Celestia looked away from him and out the rooms window. "I may have misjudged you. You don't seem to be a pony that will treat us badly, or keep us locked up like the regents did. I am sorry."
"It's of no matter." Starswirl walked over to the two princesses and pulled them into a hug. "You are, if I'm not mistaken, supposed to be my students. How could I ever hope to teach if I did those kind of things. Now, take your sister and go get your breakfast. I'll expect you in the library at midday for your first lessons."
"And as such, the basics of proper spell work and manipulation relays on a healthy mind and strong concentration." Starswirl was in his element, to him, this was just like any other time he had opened himself up to students. His students this time were even falling asleep at the theory of magic production just like all the rest too. "But it seems that this lecture is a tad boring for you at the moment. How about we take a break here and get to know each other a little bit better?"
"Luna, it's time to wake up," Celestia said as she poked at her sleeping sister to no avail. "Does that mean you'll tell us about your life?"
"I will in time," he replied. "But, I think the more important note here, is about you two. How did this happen to you both?"
"Um..." Celestia turned her eyes from Starswirl, trying to avoid his question.
"There's no need to hide anything from me. I won't tell anypony."
Celestia looked at her sister again before turning back to Starswirl. "Ok," she said. "It all started a few months ago..."
~A few months ago~
"Sister! Sister! Look!" Luna shouted as she hopped on the balcony in their room. "I can see the ponies responsible for rising the sun and moon!"
"Really?" Celestia asked as she moved to look. "They don't normally do that in public."
"Do you think we could do that some day?"
"I don't see why not. But I'm sure that it'd take years and years of training to do."
"I dare you to try and lower the sun."
"In that case, I dare you to try and raise the moon."
"You're on!" Luna looked out across the dusk sky and caught a glimpse of the raising moon. "I can see the moon, now let's see..." She closed her eyes and concentrated as hard as she could. Her sister did the same thing next to her and, while their horns began to glow softly, nothing seemed to be happening. Then, a surge of power flowed through the pair, flooding their horns with magic as they managed to grasp the sun and the moon in the sky, leading to a short time of erratic movement before their power ran out.
As the two came to their senses after the surge, they realized that they had both gained their cutie marks, Celestia had a bright sun adorning her flank, while Luna had a crescent moon on a patch of night sky.
"Sister!" Luna exclaimed upon seeing their marks.
"I see them, Luna," Celestia replied before a glowing aura emitting from their newly gotten mark wrapped around them. When the light faded, the to found that they had been changed. They were no longer simple unicorns as they had once been, they each now had a pair of wings adorning their backs. Needless to say, they panicked and their cries, along with the lights display, drew the attention of others in the castle. The following hours were filled with tests and records of everything that had lead up to their transformation, before the Regents shewed away everypony else and made sure the two princesses were safe and secure.
~Present~
"So, after the two of you managed to move the sun and moon without any assistance, you gained your cutie mark and turned into... into these forms?" Starswirl's thought were already racing at the thought of such a display of magic and what it could mean to the very structure of magic itself.
"Yes, that's correct."
"I see, well. That is all for today's lessons I think. Tomorrow we'll get to work on some simple spells. Let's get your sister off to bed. I'll see to dinner and come get you both when it is ready."
As the years passed, both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna came into their full magical powers. Under Starswirl's careful guidance, the two eventually took over control of the movement of the sun and moon from the groups of unicorns that had previously held that duty. He was there when the two took their rightful places as the rulers of Equestria from their regents and stayed with them as a voice of cool reason and a source of steadfast reassurance for both princesses when they found their new positions tedious. Yet, there was something that Starswirl could not handle, and that was the thought that he would not be around for Celestia and Luna for much longer. He could feel it in his aging body, and he could see it in the way the princesses grew. Something within their transformation into what he decided to call "Alicorns" in reference to ancient tales of creatures of great strength and authority, had altered how their bodies worked.
As he lived with them, he noticed that after a certain point, their aging slowed to less than a snails crawl compared to normal ponies. Where a normal pony would age at a rate of one year per year, he hadn't seen a single sign of change in either princess for more than a decade.
He knew that every pony had to face the end of their days at some point, but he couldn't accept the fact that he might be seeing his soon. And this was brought all the more to the forefront by a late night conversation he had with Celestia.
Starswirl had retired early that day, having grown tired with the day to day toil of the royal advisory duties and was deep within his thoughts on a new magical process when he heard a knock at his door.
"Come in, it's unlocked."
"Starswirl," Celestia said as she entered, she was still wearing her court clothes from earlier. "I just came to check on how you were. It seems that you've been having a hard time handling things lately."
"Nonsense," he replied as he turned to her. "I just need to take things slower than I've been and everything should be fine."
"If you want, I could appoint an understudy for you that could help you with your duties."
"No, no, that won't be necessary." He stood and stretched, his joints creaking in protest to the movement. "I'll be fine come the morning."
"Ok, but do try to take care of yourself." She hugged him tightly. "You're not as young as you once were. You shouldn't push yourself. Both me and Luna don't want to see something happen to you. You've been like a father to us all these years."
"And the two of you have been like the daughters I never had." Starswirl returned the hug. "And I mean that from the bottom of my heart. The two of you have had as much an impact on my life as I did on yours."
"Thank you, Starswirl. Well, Ii guess this is goodnight. Try not to work through the night again." She gave him a large smile as she turned and left.
"It's true... they have made a huge impact on my life," Starswirl said after Celestia had left. "And I want to be there for them as they continue to grow. But how... how can I do that with this body of mine?" His eyes wandered around the room before coming to rest on his magic research. The thoughts began to race through his head, maybe magic could do something to help him. Maybe he could find a way to halt time for himself, or replicate whatever had caused the princesses to change. "Yes, if there's anypony that can break through time, it's me."
Months passed after Starswirl's declaration, and yet, he came no closer to solving that puzzle. Within that time, he did take up Celestia's offer of appointing an understudy for him to train and teach the duties of his position. After completing that, he was left with all the time in the world. He locked himself away in his room, leaving only when it was necessary, for food or to relieve himself. While his behavior drew attention from the castle and the princesses, they attributed it to him having stumbled onto something amazing and left him be.
But, so far, nothing had materialized. "Trial number three hundred and sixty four." As he spoke, a pen automated through a spell of his making followed along, marking everything he said. "After the failure of the last trial, I will be cutting back on the material components of the spell and shall attempt to manually manipulate the magics solely with my mind and concentration. I seek to replicate results in line with trial one hundred and thirty five where I believe I managed to make a small window in time. Here goes, nothing."
Starswirl drew all his attention into himself and the magic that laid there. He had figured out that time was similar to a river, it lead him in one direction and to work against that current it would take some powerful magics. He needed to utilize all that he had within him and visualize something, anything that could be of use. Taking the river analogy of time, he envisioned a boat, a small, one pony craft with a pair of oars to fight the current. The harder he concentrated on the image, the stronger he felt his magic grow. He took his image and set himself in that boat, working the oars back and forth, propelling himself back up the river.
With a start, he felt a jolt of power run through him as the magic released itself, enveloping him in a bright flash of crackling light. He opened his eyes to watch as the room fell away and was replaced with a tunnel leading into the distance. He moved along and found himself nearing a source of bright light. Once he reached it, he felt another jolt and found himself, back in his room, but it was not the same room he had been in. It was cleaner and his notes on the desk were not the same. He grabbed one and read it.
"This is last week's trial results," he said as he grabbed another page of parchment. "I've done it! I've managed to break through time!" As soon as he said that, he felt another jolt pass through his body, like a piece of rope tied about his midsection pulling at him. The room soon fell away, back to the tunnel through time as he was flung back to his own time. He landed hard as time shot him back to the present, but that didn't break his joy.
"I did it!" he shouted. "Trial successful in breaching the walls of time. But limited to nothing more than a minute or so. Next trial will seek to add additional time to trip and possibly increasing the time difference between the present and the landing point. If I can deliver this to myself in the past, I can have more time to work this out."
He stood and tried to perform the spell again, this time, imagining a different type of craft to travel the river of time. But, try as he might, he could not replicate the feeling from the first time. He attributed it to him being tired after such an exertion, but when he tried the same spell in the following days, it came to the same result. Dejected with this development, he shelved further tests of the spell.
"Trial three hundred and sixty four lead to favorable results, but it seems that that spell has limited uses, limited in being only once. From here, I shall instead try to find a way to replicate what happened with the princesses."
"Sister," Luna said as she and Celestia were eating dinner.
"Yes, Luna?"
We have not seen Starswirl in many days now. Don;t you think that we should see to him?"
"I don't think he'd want for us to disturb him. From what he told us last, it was something extremely important."
"Yes, but... he was still taking time to see us at that time." Luna looked down at her food. "I am concerned for him."
Celestia looked at her sister. She had been having the same kind of thoughts lately, something was off with how Starswirl had been acting as of late. Maybe there was cause for concern in this. "Alright," she said, causing her sister to raise her head. "We'll go and check up on him."
"We should go right now then!" Luna jumped to her feet and motioned for a servant pony to clear away the dishes. "Come, sister. Let's go visit Starswirl."
Celestia rose from her place and, with her sister, made their way up to Starswirl's private rooms. When they arrived, Luna went to knock on the door, only for it to move inwards under her hoof. This set the two of them off, they both knew that he was not one to leave his private quarters so accessible, the door was always shut fully, whether he was there or not. The two looked at each other and nodded as Luna pushed the door fully open. As they entered, they felt that something was wrong with the room. It was dark and there was an air of abandonment hanging about, as if no pony had been there for years, but that was impossible.
"Starswirl," Luna called out. "Are you in? We came to see if you were ok?"
No response came from the darkness of the room. Celestia set her magic to work, pulling a candelabra from the hallway, shining light cutting through the room. Parchment was scattered all about, books laid open on any flat surface available, and, sitting alone on the desk was a single letter addressed to the two princesses.
"Oh no," Celestia said as she set the candelabra down and grabbed at the letter.
"What is it?" Luna asked as she moved closer to her sister to see. "A letter to us?"
Celestia ignored her sister's question and opened the letter.
My Dear Girls,
If you're reading this letter, then I can only assume that that means that my spell has failed in some way that leaves me unable to return, I am sorry for that. As of late, some things have been weighing heavily on my heart. The fact that I am nearing the end of my lifetime and that I would not be able to continue to watch over the two of you as you continue to grow into fine mares.
Over the past several months I have been working on a way to change my time. I succeeded once in traveling through the river of time, but it was for but a short time and it could only be done once, which lead me to somewhat abandon that path. Following that, I sought a way to replicate your experiences that lead you to transform into Alicorns, which, also, met with failure.
I can say that, and you both know, these setbacks only drove me further on in my research. And through sheer single-minded determination, I think I may have found something. I'm seeking a way to change my destiny, and this may be what I have found. I will be entering what I have created once I am done with this letter. I wish that you never have to read this. Just, know that I love both of you, and that I do this for your sake.
~Starswirl
"What does this mean, sister?" Luna looked at the letter, dismay clearly showing on her face. "What does he mean by unable to return? He can't be gone, can he?"
Celestia gave her sister a sad look before turning her attention back to the room. He had said that he'd created something that he could enter, and if she knew her magic, and she did thanks to Starswirl, that kind of magic took a very long time to fully close. As she looked around, she found what she was looking for, a small crack floated a few feet off the ground, next to Starswirl's desk.
"Luna."
"Yes?"
"I am going to follow Starswirl."
"You know where he went?"
"I have a good idea." Celestia's horn flared with magic as she concentrated on the crack, pouring her power into it, willing it to open, to recreate whatever Starswirl had used to enter it. The crack began to expand until it was a portal the size of the room's door. The thing gave off a weird feeling, it was as if time itself flowed forth from the opening. "I think that's where he went."
"I... don't like the feel of that thing."
"Neither do I. But one of us needs to go in to find Starswirl. And the other needs to stay out here to keep the portal open. I don't want anything to happen to you, so that's why I'm going."
"But—"
"No buts. Not this time. I'm the older one here, so I should be the one to do this. Don't worry Luna, I'll be fine. I'll return, I promise."
Luna gave her sister a look of distress as her thoughts ran with the idea that she could lose not only Starswirl, but Celestia as well. She shook her head to rid herself of those thoughts then grabbed her sister in a tight embrace. "I'll hold you to that promise."
Celestia pulled herself from her sister's embrace and turned towards the portal. She took a deep breath and plunged inside.
Whatever it was that Celestia was thinking of finding on the other side of the portal, it could not compare to what she actually found. She found herself in a field of grass, hills rolling gently off in the distance, and a small creek lazily snaking by beneath the shade of evergreen trees lining its banks. The sky was in a state of perpetual twilight, but there was neither a sun nor a moon in the sky, and to make things stranger, there were not any stars in the sky either.
She looked around the general area, but could see no sign of her absent teacher, but she could feel his presence, somehow, she knew that he was here, and he was near. She took a step, and as her hoof moved through the grass, for a brief instant she saw a scene from her past. It was the day that her and Luna's first lesson with Starswirl. Another step, and another vision, this time of her parents, back when they were but children running around on a warm summer's day. Each step she took, another image came before her of some past event. She could have lost herself in the visions, but she remembered her sister back home, and the promise she had made, and she drove onward.
Soon the images faded away and she found herself standing in the shade of one of the evergreens. She could feel Starswirl all the more here, but, still, she could not see any sign of him. Thinking that he may have fallen into the creek, she looked over the bank and into the water below. What she saw was not him, but a scene that she didn't like the look of. It looked like Equestria, but everything was wrong, the sky was a strange color, the ground was checkerboarded, and there was a generalized chaos everywhere. Everything about it screamed wrong to her, yet, she couldn't pull herself from it, in fact, she felt herself moving closer and closer to the water.
"You don't want to go that way, Celestia," a familiar voice said nearby. "If you do, you'll never be able to return."
That voice cut the hold the water had over her and she snapped to attention. "Starswirl!? Was that you?" She spun around and looked everywhere. There, sitting just out from under the trees, was the ever familiar belled hat of Starswirl. Celestia cautiously approached it, keeping her eyes out for her teacher. Here was his hat, but where was the rest of him. She sat down and pulled the hat towards her, then remembered the warning that she had heard. What if Starswirl had touched the water? What if he had fallen to the visions of the past? What if something else entirely had happened to him? These thoughts finally caught up to her and she broke down crying as she held the hat to her chest.
"Don't cry, child." Starswirl's voice seemed to flow from everywhere around her. "Come on, you're stronger than that. Where's that rambunctious little firebrand that I knew."
"Starswirl?" Celestia sniffed back some of her tears as she looked around. "Is that you?"
"Yes," his voice said again, this time coalescing into a single space in front of her. In front of her eyes, a ghostly vision of Starswirl appeared. "And I'm sorry. It seems that my spell didn't work out like I wanted."
"What's wrong? W-why can I see through you?"
"I'm afraid that I am no longer of the world you inhabit. And even here, I am but a shade, the last remaining vestige of the pony once named Starswirl the Bearded, greatest conjurer and spellcrafter of Equestria."
"No, please tell me that's not true," Celestia moved to grasp him, but her hooves passed right through him. "Please tell me that this is not true."
"I'm sorry. My attempt to change my destiny and extend my life failed. Maybe, I should have sought out help rather then had gone it alone. Maybe if I had aired my fears, something better could have come from all of this. This is the repercussion of that. For attempting to mess with time, I am to be forgotten. But don't worry." He placed a hoof under her chin and raised it, defying his previous formlessness. "I've beaten time once, and though my life may have ended, my legacy will live on." He pulled Celestia into a hug and held her as she began to cry again. "You can't stay here. Even though time effects you differently then it does for us normal ponies, I'm sure if you stay too long, even you will begin to fade. Do you understand me?"
Celestia looked at him and nodded.
"That's my girl. You need to be strong and you need to take care of your sister and Equestria. At times you will face challenges, some with dire consequences that will affect the lives of ponies for ages to come, but you must stay strong. Do you understand?"
Celestia nodded again and wiped away a few tears. "I understand."
"Good girl." Starswirl ruffled his ghostly hoof through her mane. "Know that I love you and your sister. Apologize on my behave to her." As he talked, his form began to fade away. "Oh, and don't forget to take that hat with you. That's extremely important."
"I will. And I love you too, Starswirl. Me and my sister both thank you for all that you have done for us all these long years. Goodbye, we will never forget you." By the time she finished speaking, Starswirl had vanished completely. Celestia looked at the place where he had stood and slowly turned towards the exit to this place and made her way home.
Luna watched the portal, eagerly awaiting her sister to return. She had promised to do so, so she would. Luna was certain that she'd return, yet her mind kept going to the dark place of her being left alone. She shook her head again to throw out those thoughts and concentrated again on the portal. Celestia had told her to make sure it stayed open and she wouldn't falter on that duty.
Hours later, the portal fluxed, and Celestia stepped out. Luna ran to her sister and embraced her, still watching the portal for the sign that Starswirl was returning. When nothing happened, she turned to her sister. Celestia just shook her head and showed Starswirl's hat. Luna knew what that meant, after everything, her sister could not find their mentor and teacher and with that thought, she broke down in tears, crying deeply into her sister's mane.
"There there," Celestia said, holding her sister as she cried. "I met him, on the other side. He was already gone when I did, but, he said that he loved us both and told us to never forget him."
The two sat there in each others embrace in Starswirl's room as the night wore on, each shedding tears of grief for their loss. But, neither could forget their duties to the land. As dawn approached, they both turned to the room's balcony and let their magic get to work. The moon slowly sank beneath the horizon and the first rays of the sun rose as it began its passage across the day. And, there in the light of the dawn, Starswirl's hat began to change. It lost its form and became a ball of floating light. It floated slowly over to the two princesses and then shot out into the morning sky.
"What was that, sister?" Luna asked as her eyes followed after the ball of light.
"Starswirl's last gift to us I think." Celestia had a good idea of what that ball of light was. "I think he managed to leave his soul to flow back into the world." The two sisters stood and watched as the ball of light that was Starswirl's soul faded into the morning.
Many ages passed, the two princesses learned to rule over the land of Equestria and fought off those creatures that would see it destroyed, even if, those creatures came from within. But throughout all that time, they kept the hope within their hearts that they would meet with Starswirl again, be it the he came in a different form or somehow managed to return as he was.
And, as it was, that day came. Celestia was overseeing the duties of the royal princess of Equestria when she felt a familiar pressure of magic and her heart skipped a beat. It was Starswirl's, she was certain of it and it had come from the school she had set up, Canterlot's School for Gifted Unicorns.
"Starswirl, you have finally returned to us." Celestia sped from the throne room to the source of the presence. What she found was a small purple unicorn filly overflowing with magical power that she could not control fully, judging by the effects of magic all about. She tapped the filly on the shoulder and drew her attention, allowing for her to let her magic dissipate and for things to return to normal.
"Twilight Sparkle," Celestia said, remembering the filly's name from her registration form.
"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean it," Twilight began.
"You have a very special gift. I don't think I've ever come across a unicorn with your raw abilities."
"Huh?"
"But you need to learn to tame these abilities through focused study?
"Huh?"
"Twilight Sparkle, I'd like to make you my own personal protege here at the school." As she watched Twilight jump around in joy, she thought back to Starswirl. He may be gone, but here was a chance for her to give back. This filly contained the spirit of her teacher, and now, she would get the chance to pass on the teaching he had given her to one that she knew would shine like the stars in the sky.
Dear Twilight,
What I am about to tell you is something that means a lot to me. When you come to stay at the school, you will learn what I too have been taught. I will try to do my teacher justice in teaching you. And one day, I may tell you of him, for he was much, much more to me than just a teacher. He was my mentor, and he was my father, though we may not have been related. I await the days that I may pass on his knowledge to you.
~Princess Celestia