//------------------------------// // Chapter Two – Blast from the Past // Story: The Scion of Harmony // by Thornwing //------------------------------// “Come now, Princess Twilight Sparkle, we have a long day ahead of us, and we can’t afford to miss our train at the start.” The sun had been up a mere ten minutes as the first bright shafts of morning light streamed through the window of Twilight’s bedroom and steadily crept up the edge of her bed. From her balcony, a pair of chirping finches welcomed the day. Inside, a grey Unicorn stallion, seemingly not much older than the princess herself, dashed from pillar to post yanking various articles from the drawers in Twilight’s dressing table and vanities. Twilight sprang to attention, still somewhat groggy and needing to work out the crust that had formed in the corner of one eye. Quickly realized, she focused on the odd form pillaging through her private things. “Ahhhh!” Twilight screamed and pulled the covers up past her nose. “Who are you, and what are you doing in my bedroom?” Her usual dragon wake-up call surreptitiously supplanted by this foreign—male—invader, caught her by surprise. She proceeded to freak out. After shoving a number of items into a pair of starburst emblazoned saddle bags, the intruder tossed the loosely packed sacks at the foot of her bed. Twilight, still in shock from her rude awakening, locked eyes with the stallion. To her surprise, she wondered why she hadn’t woken sooner what with all the clattering of hooves clopping about the room and the further scuffing and scraping deep into forgotten corners of drawers. The depth of sleep she had enjoyed masked all he had done to wake her. The stallion scratched at his chin like he was working out a burr. “What does it look like I’m doing? I’m helping you pack for our journey. Hurry up now, and get out of bed so we can get going.” His voice struck just the right chord and Twilight flinched. She was on the fence with this one. On one hoof, this pony could be a crazed intruder stalking her in her sleep. On the other, he could be part of an elaborate ruse dreamed up by one of her more jovial friends. It seemed to her rather more Rainbow Dash subterfuge than overt Pinkie Pie shenanigan. “Excuse me, sir,” Twilight squeaked as she tried to maintain her cool, “but who exactly are you, and why are you going through my things?” “Oh, goodness me, where are my manners?” The svelte pony in the prime of life twirled and bowed before the princess, nearly touching his nose to the floor as his forelegs splayed in either direction. His silver traveling cloak mushroomed around him before drifting softly down to his sides. “Starswirl, at your service.” Twilight’s jaw dropped a couple inches as she stared at the unexpected visitor. ‘It can’t be,’ she mouthed without being able to force the air from her lungs. Her mind did a double back flip before coming to rest unsteadily between her ears. She stumbled out of bed, tripping over the sheets as she rolled off the edge. The floor stopped short of making contact with her nose as she nearly planted her muzzle in the unyielding rock-crystal below. The pony identifying himself as Starswirl reached out and caught her as she fell. “Steady there, young one. We can’t have you taking a tumble like that, now can we?” His moves were graceful; his touch like velvet. In one fluid motion, he reached out and swung her around—drawing her near with the pull of his charming embrace. The only possible conclusion Twilight found approximating reason at the moment: this is all a dream. She looked up into the Unicorn’s smoldering gaze and words gushed from her mouth. “Starswirl? As in, Starswirl the Bearded?” A clear mixture of annoyance and doubt laced her punctuated speech. Her sour tone contrasted heavily with the melodic timbre of the young stallion. Setting the princess aright, the so-called Starswirl moved to a respectable distance—at least out of hoof range should Twilight care to take a swing. “What other Starswirl could there be?” He joked as he stroked the small grey beard at the tip of his chin. “Do you know many other ponies by that name? Especially with that—the Bearded—part; it tends to be a dead giveaway.” Twilight thought for a second as she worked to untangle her hooves from the bed sheets. Her mind still reeling from the surprise wake-up call, she fumbled for awareness in separating dream and reality. “Ummm, please forgive my bluntness, but aren’t you supposed to be dead?” The princess was beside herself with doubt. She had just awoken to a strange pony rummaging through her drawers who claimed to be the one and only, Starswirl the Bearded—the royal wizard pony, who, without the benefit of being an Alicorn, had lived to be over two hundred years old. She knew everything there was to know about the actual, ancient pony mage. This obvious fake couldn’t possibly be the stuff of legend—she had the books to prove it. Confused, she looked into his eyes and scanned her way down his long face, ending at the scruffy beard oozing from the tip of his chin. Her reasoning belied the image that lay before her. She conceded there was no way this young pony could be the great wizard, Starswirl the Bearded. This stallion barely even had a beard to speak of, much less one so impressive as to suffix to his name. She had to call his bluff. This is definitely one of Rainbow Dash’s practical jokes. The only possible solution to her dilemma settled in her brain. “Not last I checked,” the stallion’s belated reply sailed into Twilight’s ears. “I guess I have my daily exercise routine and healthy eating habits to thank for that—oh, and just a touch of magic as well.” He backed away and nudged up the saddle bags that lay nearly forgotten at the foot of the bed. Glancing back at Twilight, he gave his head a couple prodding shakes in the direction of the door. “But that would mean you’re over two thousand years old,” Twilight stated bluntly as she laid out the facts. “I thought only Alicorns were supposed to be immortal. Starswirl was a great wizard and all, but I’m not sure even he could pull this one off.” Hoping that it couldn’t hurt to play along a bit, she adjusted her posture. Maybe, she thought, it could buy her some time to figure out what this imposter’s game was. “How in Celestia’s name did you manage to stay alive so long?” “Ah, my dear, sweet Celestia. How I have missed our stimulating conversations regarding the order of the cosmos.” Starswirl, as he claimed, seemed to have lost himself in past reflection as he flitted around the room. There was a momentary pause as he bowed towards the rays of sunlight that stretched across the floor. Following the introduction, his dance continued as he pranced around the shafts of light. “It seems like only yesterday you were just a foal playing at my side.” The moment passed, and with a final twirl and nod to the sun, he returned to his former task of readying the sacks, now pushing them anxiously toward the door. “Excuse me?” Twilight tried to snap some sense back into the stallion. “I don’t see how it’s possible that you could be Starswirl. You don’t even have the proper beard to be the great wizard.” Starswirl laughed as he replied, “Silly, filly. Anything is possible if you set your mind to it. I thought you would have learned that by now. How great of a wizard would I be if I let a measly two thousand years get in my way?” Twilight sputtered and rose from the tangle of bedsheets to pace the floor. “But that goes against the basic theorem of time and tenure that is clearly stated in A Unicorn History of Time—a book that you wrote—unless, of course, you aren’t actually Starswirl.” Twilight resumed her stance of defiant disbelief. A more decisive thought settled in her head. This has got to be Pinkie Pie—no doubt about it. Starswirl winked as he returned the volley, “Live and learn, my dear. Live and learn. Maybe you should try having a little faith. Perhaps, in time, you’ll come to see what a good friend I can be, and you might also grow to trust what you already know in your heart, but can’t yet see with your eyes.” Twilight probed deeper. “That’s just it. If you really are Starswirl—a couple thousand year old Unicorn with the ability to bend space and time—why are you going through my dressers?” Twilight practically yelled at the Unicorn for his unwelcome invasion of her privacy and moved to block his exit from the bedroom. “I thought we covered that. I’m helping you pack, my dear.” Starswirl slipped a hoof under the strap and tossed her the saddle bags filled with he-only-knew what. “Wouldn’t it be absolutely dreadful to take up a journey like ours without being prepared? Come to think of it, why would anypony want to travel in the body of a two thousand year old Unicorn? The very thought of it makes my fetlocks sore. Please hurry, we don’t want to miss our train.” He slipped around Twilight and walked out into the hallway. Twilight was utterly discombobulated. She caught the saddle bags midair with her levitation spell and floated them over to set down on the sheetless bed. It was unsettling to try and wrap her head around the possibility that the actual Starswirl—the Bearded—may have just walked into her bedroom and insisted she leave with him on some unexpected trip to Celestia-couldn’t-know where. She looked to the doorway as the last bits of tail and cloak disappeared from the room. She swung back to the waiting packs that lay on the edge of her bed. As her gaze passed back and forth, it settled on the basket bed in the corner of the room. “Spike!” The small dragon came waltzing through the door a half-second later, licking his claws. “No need to yell, Twilight. I’m right here.” The last bits of a sticky, blue substance took a lashing from his tongue and sunk into his throat. Twilight growled as she fought back a growing rage. “What was that pony doing in my bedroom? Did you let him in?” “Oh, Starswirl? He let himself in. It’s not like we have locks on the front door or anything.” Spike rubbed his tummy as he savored the last drops of whatever breakfast he had just consumed. “He sure can make a mean blueberry pancake. You want a stack?” Twilight snapped—she was in full denial mode now. Pulling on her mane, she repeated aloud, “This isn’t happening. It’s all a dream.” She bonked herself on the side of her head to try and wake from the nightmare she was so obviously engulfed in. It only served to give her a bit of a headache as well as a small lump that formed above her right temple. “Ouch!” she exclaimed rubbing the sore spot she had just given herself. “Princess Twilight,” the dapper young Unicorn stuck his head through the doorway, “as much as I would love to stay and debate the finer points of the pancake culinary arts, we really must be on our way. The train leaves in half an hour.” Twilight tried to take deep breaths as the panic attack continued. “This isn’t real. It’s all a bad dream. I’m going to wake up soon and it will all be over.” “Princess—pull yourself together!” Starswirl reared up as his horn began to glow. He landed with both front hooves slamming into the floor and sending out a small shockwave that reverberated throughout and turned back in on itself, shaking the entire room. All the drawers and dressers rearranged themselves into a neat and tidy state. Twilight’s saddle bags disappeared from the bed as the covers wrapped themselves back under the mattress and a stack of decorative pillows piled up at the head. The bags reappeared, draped across Twilight’s back with the strap winding its way through the buckle and cinching down tight around her belly. “Now, if you please, follow me. We must be on our way.” The tightening of the saddle bags helped to snap Twilight out of her frantic state. She fell back on her haunches. A bedraggled tail in dire need of a comb-through provided little cushioning support. With a final gulp, she took a steadying breath. Possibly giving in to the inevitability of it all and composing herself enough to ask a simple question, she ventured a reply. “Where are we going?” “To see The Guardian, of course.” Starswirl’s ironclad response was direct and unfazed. “I thought my message would have informed you as such.” “Message?” Twilight’s state of confusion returned. Reaching out a hand, Spike produced the crumpled scroll that arrived only the day before. “The message!” The light flicked on in Twilight’s head. Pulling from memory, she ran through the contents of the letter to herself. “So you’re—Servant to The Master?” “All your questions will be answered in time, my dear.” Starswirl’s tough-horse exterior melted away. The dashing beau from a young mare’s lucid dream stood before her. He held out his hoof, which she reluctantly accepted. Helping her to stand and steadying her under the negligible load cinched around her midsection, he winked over at Spike. “You’ll take good care of the place while we’re gone, I trust?” Spike nodded. “Yeah, yeah. You told me over breakfast. Another adventure for Twilight and more castle sitting for Spike.” Starswirl turned his attention back to Twilight. “For now, my dear, we must get going. There is a long journey ahead and we can’t afford to be late at the start.” He turned and took off down the hallway. Twilight spread out her wings to get a better lay of her feathers—the bag load ate up some valuable backside real estate. Spike said nothing, arms crossed, as he tapped his foot on the ground. At a loss for words and being drawn away from the comforts of home once again, Twilight took another deep breath, bit her lip, and stepped through the door. Her faith in the grey Unicorn barely registered, but it was a start. Trust was a long way coming, especially for whatever kind of cruel joke she was getting herself pulled into now. Starswirl called out from down the hallway. “Last call for pancakes, princess. Perhaps you can grab some to go.” Twilight nearly tripped over her own hooves as she tried to move forward while also holding back to speak to Spike. “What’s going on, Spike. Who is he really?” Spike jogged along behind. “He says he’s Starswirl the Bearded—seems like a nice guy. You should try some of his pancakes. They’re really good.” Twilight reached the top of the stairs and peeked over the railing to see the interloper wasn’t waiting around for questions. “What did he say to you?” Spike ran his hand under his chin. “He didn’t say much. Just that you had some guy to meet and that it was real important and all. I asked him if I could come, but he said it was princesses only.” Twilight reached down and grabbed Spike’s shoulders. “And it doesn’t seem strange to you that a two-thousand-year-old pony just happens to show up and wants to have me run off with him on some crazy meet-and-greet?” Spike tilted his head in thought. “Well… he did have the letter and it looked pretty official like. Plus, you gotta admit, it’s not like this is the craziest thing you’ve ever done. Ever since we came to Ponyville, abnormal is the norm.” Twilight released her captive. She heaved a sigh and started down the winding stairs. “Just tell me this is all a bad dream. I don’t know if I’m ready for a full-on adventure.” Spike hopped on the railing and sailed down the stairwell. As he passed Twilight, he got in a few words. “What’s the worst that could happen? It’s not like you have to save the world or anything.” Reaching the end of the staircase, he hopped off and finished up his thought. “Just go meet the guy and tell me all about it when you get back. Easy peasy.” He brushed his palms together and rushed over to open the door. Starswirl waited by the entrance. He called over as Twilight hit the landing. “We really need to pick up the pace if we’re ever going to be able to keep to our schedule. Could you please try a little harder to keep up, princess?” He tossed his cloak over his shoulder and dashed out the open door. Twilight trotted over to Spike. “If this isn’t all a big joke, send a search party if I’m not back by the weekend.” She gave Spike a small hug and bolted out the door in pursuit of her mark.