The Lost Epic of Starswirl the Bearded
Chapter 6: The Two Sisters and The Elements of Harmony
Every step rattled the old pony’s bones. His muscles ached, and complained. Starswirl would not heed the protests of his worn body, he would continue steadily up the mountain, even as its freezing wind pommeled him. By some amazing feat of endurance and willpower, Starswirl did not rest once. He climbed up the mountain, with his bruised body, for three days straight. Each day felt as long as a life time to him, each step dragging on terribly. But he did not stop, not once. Not even on the verge of collapse. He kept putting one hoof in front of another, kept pulling himself up the slope of the mountain, time and time again, as each step felt like it would be his last. The pony was old, and the mountain and the cold made him feel all the older. He had found strength in his magic, strength in the energy of the earth, but this strength was sapped from him in his last battle. Now he had only to rely on the sinews of his legs to carry him upwards, to the only hope he had left in saving his friends. And he did know that every moment that he delayed was another moment that his friends had to endure the misery that Discord brought them.
On the third day, at long last, Starswirl had pulled himself up onto the great porch of the mountain, and he collapsed. The weakened body of the wizard slept for at least a few hours, utterly exhausted. Knowing that he couldn’t rest forever, he pulled himself up onto his hooves, as he strode carefully into the cave. He was hoping that he would find something different, but just as he had seen before; the dark cave was filled with emptiness, darkness, and the remains of the dragon of the earth bones. Starswirl looked around with a concerned look on his face. He was led here, but he was not sure what he was meant to do. He looked onto the bones of the dragon with sadness in his eyes. As he did, he recalled that he still felt the warm gusts of air, coming to and fro steadily throughout the cave. They almost felt like breathing. When he had first come to the mountain, and met the great dragon, he was sure that it was his breath, but now that he felt it in his death, he was not sure. His original suspicions would prove to be correct.
“And so Starswirl the Bearded returns to me again, welcome child of the earth,” he heard a soft echoing of a voice.
Starswirl was astounded at this; he looked around frantically, trying to find the source of the voice, “Great dragon! Is that you?” he asked, “Where are you my lord?”
The voice spoke again, “I am at your feet Starswirl, as I have always been,” he answered.
He looked down, confused. He shook his head and looked around the cave, “My lord, great dragon, I… I don’t understand,” he said looking distraught.
“I am this mountain. I am the lands you plant your crops upon, and the hills, and the rocks, and the valleys. I did tell you that I was the great dragon of the earth bones, but what I have not told you is that I am the spirit of the earth. And a spirit such as mine will not be so easily expelled, even if I have been parted from my shell. I have been watching you ever since you left me Starswirl; I have felt your power above me. I have felt the vibrations of the ponies on the land, and I have sensed their distress.”
Starswirl kept his eyes on the skull of the great dragon, even though he knew now, that his voice was all around him, “Then you can help us Great Spirit?” he asked zealously, “You can banish the demon Discord from our home and restore order?”
“No Starswirl, I cannot. I have passed into the beyond, and can no longer touch the physical world that lies before me,” said the voice, its sound rumbling deep in Starswirl’s soul.
He looked to the ground with disappointment, “Then… there is no hope for us, and pony kind will be forever ruled by chaos…” He said with despair.
“I did not say that he could not be defeated. I may be able to help you child, but the power to truly stop the aspect of chaos lies within YOU,” said the dragon of the earth bones.
Starswirl looked distraught as he shook his head with confusion, “Great dragon, I do not understand… I used all of my might against the creature, but none of it was as much as a match for him. Please my lord, what must I do?” he asked in desperation.
The sound of the voice gave a great sigh, “Before I tell you what you must do, you must know this, Starswirl the Bearded. What I am about to ask of you will require a sacrifice. To bring about the power to free your lands from chaos, you will have to give all of your magic. To save your people Starswirl, you must give me your horn!” the voice said with great conviction.
The pony looked a bit shocked at this, but he did not waiver. “I will pay any price to make safe Equestria,” he said confidently.
The voice stopped for a moment, he felt a very strong and sudden gust of air, “Come over to where I once lay, and take two of my bones. Bring them outside of this cave,” commanded the voice. Without a reply, Starswirl obeyed. He took two of the large, heavy dragon bones, and dragged them onto the surface of the great porch, “Now look to the sky Starswirl, and tell me what it is you see.”
Starswirl looked up. With the green clouds below him on the high mountain he could only see the clear blue sky, the bright, warm morning sun, and the setting moon to the east, “I see the sun, and the moon in the sky, my lord,” he said this quietly, and was again, awed at the sight of the two great orbs in the sky. He had not taken enough time in his life to appreciate them.
“You remember how the unicorns of the past would call them into the sky?” said the great dragon, “You must do this now, only you shall call them onto this mountain. Call them Starswirl; call the sun and the moon to you, your last feat of magic.”
Starswirl remembered when he was just a foal how awe inspired he was, when he saw the unicorns of old raise the sun and the moon into the sky. This was one of the most spectacular things he had ever seen in his youth, and was what inspired him to study the ways of magic. He closed his eyes, and raised his hooves into the air. Slowly, his horn began to glow, and he used the last of his energy to call upon the sun and the moon. This was a most difficult thing to do, as even the mightiest of unicorns could only call upon one or the other at a time. But Starswirl none the less managed to do this. The sun rose higher, and higher, until it was at the crown of the sky. Then he concentrated on the moon, and it too rose higher and higher, until it was over the sun, creating a beautiful eclipse for a moment. Starswirl shook, cringing for a moment as the force of his magic strained him. But his horn shone brighter than ever, as he used all of his might to bring them both down slowly, until the illumination of them drew close upon the mountain. The two spheres light appeared to shrink, making their brilliance more observable by the awe struck Starswirl. At last they would make themselves touch the surface of the great porch on the mountain. Starswirl feel to his knees, exhausted by his magical effort. He looked upon the two great lights with reverence. With his part done, he watched as the two lights approached the two dragon bones, encompassing them. A tear came to Starswirl’s eye as he heard the beautiful humming of the lights. This was the song of their spirit, the song of creation and magic. Never again in his life would Starswirl behold such majesty.
The breath of the dragon exhaled deeply, whisking warmly past Starswirl, and around the two great spheres of light. The globes before him flashed, blinding Starswirl for a moment, his ears ringing, and is body vibrating from the magnificent transformation that was taking place before him. As he regained sight, Starswirl beheld the saviors of his people. Two of the most majestic, and regal ponies he had ever laid eyes on stepped out of the glorious light. The spirit of the sun now was held within a body of a white pony, taller in stature than any, and of a coat as white and pure as had ever been seen. The spirit of the moon was held within the body of a pony, of tall stature, and of a coat of the beauty of the starry night sky. The sun’s mane held many, pale, gorgeous colors, that flowed and glittered in the wind. The moon’s mane was a deep blue mist that twinkled with the wonderment of the stars. Both of them beheld beautiful crowns atop their heads, and both of them had the wings of pegasai, and the horns of unicorns.
Amidst his awe, Starswirl fell to the ground, kneeling before the two regal mares, and they spoke to him, “My dearest pony, I am Celestia, the spirit of the sun,” she bowed her head gracefully.
“And I am Luna, the spirit of the moon,” said the dark colored mare.
“With your strength my child, you have called upon us, and we have come to the aid of the ponies of Equestria” said Celestia.
“My… my great spirits in the sky… my saviors. You have come to vanquish the evil that is Discord?” he asked, his eyes wide with awe as he stuttered.
Luna stepped forward, “We have come to aid you my pony, but we cannot do it without your help,” she said.
“We have been brought here as ponies, in physical form. Indeed we are great, but Discord is in his perfect form, and as mortals we cannot defeat him by ourselves, we require a greater magic,” she said looking to Starswirl.
Starswirl finally stood up before the spirit sisters, “But my mares, what sort of magic is there that can fell this dreaded being?” he asked in confusion.
Celestia gave him a kind smile, “My dearest pony, you’ve had the magic inside you all along! It lies within all of the ponies of this fair land of Equestria. Inside of all of you lies the Element of Harmony, the most powerful of elements,” she said kneeling down to be closer to him
“When the Pegasus, Unicorn and Earth Ponies first learned to put aside their differences, and work together for the greater good of Equestria, they reflected their ability to maintain harmony,” said Luna, stepping forward.
“And when your faithful student, your daughter, followed you to the top of the mountain, she showed her loyalty to you,” said Princess Celestia.
The dark blue mare turned her head to the side, showing that she had shed a tear, “And when Commander Hurricane fought Numinex, not for victory, but to save the ones he loved, he showed his bravery…” both of the sisters hung their heads for a moment of silence.
Celestia lifted her head from sorrow, “And when the ponies of Mare’omer were willing to fight against the forces of chaos, against the unknown, they showed their determination. And now you come here to us, Starswirl the Bearded, to make a great sacrifice of yourself, to save Equestria. We would ask this of you, that you might let us use the Elements, from your own horn.” Both of the Sisters stood regally before him.
Starswirl simply nodded to them, he slowly began to understand now what must be done. He knelt before them. The two spirits lowered their heads, and touched their horns together. They began to glow, and soon the illumination moved forward and encompassed Starswirl’s horn. The magic began to increase in intensity, shaking Starswirl to his very core. He began to cry out in agony as the magic coursed through him. He felt as if his very life was being wrenched from his body. With a loud snap, his horn was broken in two, and the old pony fell to the ground, feeling weaker than ever. Slowly, he opened his eyes, and beheld before him, two golden necklaces. The very sight of them brought a smile to his eyes, for they were the hope of his people, the song of harmony. Each illustrious necklace was set around the busts of the very special sisters. The spirit of the sun knelt down next to him, and brushed over him with her muzzle, “Come Starswirl, lift yourself up with our strength, follow us, and let us make safe the world of ponies” she said, whispering in a voice so soft and soothing, that it eased the pain on his tormented body.
Slowly, the rattled Starswirl stood up, he feel once to his knee, no longer having the strength to stand properly. Luna flew over swiftly into the cave, and she returned with one of the dragon bones. It was a smaller bone that was just about the right size for Starswirl to use as a staff. Luna set it in his hoof. “For the last gift that I give to you Starswirl the Bearded, Use my bone to help carry your body through the land. As your magic has been taken from you, you can no longer use it for your once great spells. But perhaps one day, it will have a use that you do not know of. Go no, Starswirl, elder sisters, and bring Harmony to Equestria,” where the last words of the Great Dragon of the Earth bones. Starswirl propped himself up on his white bone staff, standing up as tall as he could. The two sisters carried him with their magic, and left the mountain, down into the town of Mare’omer.
There was no grass or stone roads to be found in the city. The whole surface had been replaced with colorful stained glass that cracked underneath the hooves of Starswirl as he hobbled across it slowly. All around him, he saw that things were even more disorderly in town that when he had left. All of the houses were completely upside down, some of which even hung completely in midair, held up by some invisible force. The lakes and ponds that dotted around town had now been filled with cake batter, and would occasionally bubble out a muffin, or cupcake, or some other odd pastry. The once disciplined Pegasus soldiers now bore pink frilly outfits, and instead of throwing spears at targets, they were throwing pies at target plates, and sometimes each other. Several other ponies were dancing around town in sporadic ways, looking quite unhappy, as they were surely doing it out of force from their terrible ruler.
Out of a makeshift tree house Clover popped her head out, and her face beamed with joy as she laid eyes upon Starswirl. She ran to him, suddenly gasping as she saw his horn, and his condition, but he raised a hoof to her, “I’m alright dear… I’m alright. Where is this Discord fellow now?” he asked, his voice sounding more raspy, and weaker than before. Clover pointed to the center of town, where the castle was. It’s once beautiful stone had been completely overtaken by plant life that towered high into the air. Starswirl hobbled towards it, and looked to his student, “You’ll want to stand back my pupil,” he said to her. She still bore a look of great concern, “It’s alright my dear, I would not leave you and these ponies to their fate, I shall make everything right again,” he said giving her a warm smile.
A crude chuckling echoed throughout the town, as a stain glass figure appeared to move below Starswirl, “Well well if it isn’t my favorite old wizard! Have you come to play another game? Oh I do hope so, none of the ponies here have the same spunk as you do, and I could certainly go for another game!” he said, as the figure moved and twisted itself on the stain glass. The figure then disappeared, and the real Discord appeared before Starswirl, he looked down at the wizard, and cackled quietly, and evilly, “You don’t look so good old pony, why the long face?” he asked, grabbing his gut as he burst out in laughter at his own pathetic attempt at humor.
Behind Starswirl, the two great pony sisters flew in, landing beside him. Discord withdrew slightly, but then he simply grinned, “Oh, what’s this, you’ve brought more ponies to play with? How fun! I suppose you wouldn’t be much in the state you’re in greybeard,” he said.
Celestia stepped forward, looking scornfully at Discord, “Discord, you have brought chaos and disharmony to the ponies of this land, I’m afraid I cannot let this continue,” she said with a hint of finality.
Discord let his grin fad a way for a moment, and he began to move around dramatically, putting on an act for everypony, “Oh no! My two elder sisters have come to punish me! What EVER shall I do! I’m surely doomed!” his acting soon faded into laughter again, “But what’s this… you’re not looking like your old splendid selves dear sisters. And it looks like I AM in my full splendor that means IM the greater element here and there’s NOTHING you can do to stop me”. He narrowed his eyes at them with spite.
Luna stepped forward, “But you aren’t, my misguided little brother. There is an element here more powerful than all of us. The ponies of Equestria possess a power that you could never comprehend,” said the pony of the moon.
Discord frowned for a moment, before bursting out into laughter, “THESE poor souls? You can’t honestly think that these mortal ponies could possibly possess any kind of strength do you? You’re much more foolish than I thought dear sister, but that’s alright, it just makes it that much more entertaining for me!” he said finishing his laughter. Nopony seemed taken aback by is laughter as they all stood there staring at him. Discord rolled his eyes, “Oh well ALRIGHT, if you’re so determined to try then go ahead, strike me with the ‘magic of harmony’. But please do hurry up, there’s much chaos to attend to!” Discord struck a pose, bringing his paw up to his chest and singing up into the sky.
The two sisters approached the draconequus. The glorious necklaces around them began to glow warmly. Soon, their light would be blindingly bright, making all the other ponies turn away and close their eyes. Power and energy emanated from the two sisters, and their eyes began to glow. Then the most wonderful, most spectacular thing happened. Two beautiful and mighty rainbows came forth from the power of the spirits, and struck the corrupted Discord. Slowly, he froze into stone, his reign of chaos ending in Equestria once and for all. The rainbows turned into a sphere, that encompassed the frozen Discord, and the sphere began to grow. It grew, and grew, flashing a bright light, turning, for a very brief moment, the whole of the land into white light. When the flash had faded, and everypony could see again, their town was restored to its majesty. The houses and buildings were in their rightful places, the guards where in their rightful uniforms and splendor. And the great castle mare hall was clean, and shone its beautiful stone work. All was right again in Equestria.
The ponies came out of their homes, and looked upon the two regal sisters, and they all began to cheer. They cheered for the two glorious sisters, and the old pony that had saved them time and time again. The day was for Starswirl, the greatest unicorn that had ever lived in Equestria. The grateful town cheered and lifted him off the ground, carrying him off in a joyous parade to honor him.
Starswirl the unicorn, like all mortal unicorns would not live forever in this world. One day, he would come to face his final destiny. On his death bed, Starswirl would look into the sky, and beheld the sun, the most beautiful and most amazing sight that he would see. The day was warm, and crisp. The wind was gentle, and it kissed Starswirl’s withered face, comforting him in his final hour. Even on his last leg, Starswirl could not help feeling anything but joy, for his eyes had at last seen his people in harmony. He had seen his great nation of Equestria restored, and it was such a thing of beauty, that it would bring him to tears. The two royal sisters of Equestria, Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna were at his side. Behind his most faithful student, Clover the Clever, the rest of the town attended to him, hundreds of ponies from all over Equestria where there to honor him. Starswirl looked up to the princesses, trying to bow his head in honor weakly, with what little strength he had. But they raised a hoof to him, “Starswirl, you have given so much, sacrificed so much to save others. You truly are a hero among ponies, and an example for all,” said Princess Luna, Clover smiled up to her as she stood close to her father.
Princess Celestia had tears in her eyes, she reached forward onto Starswirl’s bed, and hugged him passionately, “My child… at one time long ago, I saw disharmony among ponies. I saw such discourse and darkness, that I thought there could never come light in this world…” she smiled joyously to him, tears streaming freely from her face now, “But you proved me wrong, you proved me that there is still good in this world, and that these ponies are worth saving. Thank you, Starswirl the Bearded, for all you have done, I will never forget you.” Celestia stepped back, as did Luna, and they graciously knelt before Starswirl. All of the ponies did, they knelt before the hero of Equestria, a pony that had put others above himself in every instance of his life, a pony that had fought the greatest terrors they had ever seen. Starswirl the Bearded was a living paragon, an angel, a savior to them all. If there was ever a single injustice that he had done, it was that he would not fight against the death that now took him.
Clover the Clever cried as she approached the bed. She felt so happy for all that he had done, and so proud that she had known him, but she did not want to see him in pain, she sniffled, “S-Starswirl… I don’t know how I will get along without you. I’ve always needed you … you’ve always been there for me… I… I just don’t know how I’ll make it…” she said crying into his bed.
Starswirl looked at her, and smiled with all the strength he could muster, “Clover, my most beloved student, you have such strength in you, that I know you will carry on…” he weakly brushed the side of her face with his hoof, “…There is still much in this world for you to discover, still so much for you to learn. Know that you have made me proud my dear, and I know you will make the ponies of Equestria proud…” his voice weakened, “… my only daughter, I love you,” he uttered.
Clover’s tears welled up, as she laid her hooves on him, “And I love you too… father…” And with those last words came the final hour of Starswirl the Bearded. The greatest unicorn of his time.