The present day. Canterlot Castle Library, the Star Swirl the Bearded wing.
“It's strange how different everything seems, in hindsight,” Celestia said as she pondered the fragments of the burning eggshell in the chest. “At the time, I thought his voyage was a complete disaster. It seemed like Star Swirl might have destroyed a kingdom, and permanently weakened my diplomatic influence. The political fallout in Saddle Arabia turned into a bloody civil war that shook every corner of the country. It would be decades before we could attempt a closer friendship again.”
“What happened after the fight?” Twilight asked, hanging on every word. “How did Star Swirl get back to Everhold?”
Celestia winced at the memory. “That was not one of my most gracious moments.”
– – –
“What is this?” Celestia asked as the guard ponies lowered the enormous rolled-up carpet to the floor of the throne hall.
“A present from the King of Saddle Arabia, your highness,” said the foremost guard, and presented her a scroll of parchment bearing the seal of the Khalif.
“How delightful! Please unroll it and let us take a look.” She opened the scroll and began to read. “To their most revered majesties the Royal Sisters of Everhold, from his august highness Hassan al-Rashid, the Khalif of Saddle Arabia, we regret to deliver... oh dear...” Her smile faded. Then her eyes widened in shock. “Capital offenses including but not limited to... Banished from the kingdom in perpetuity on pain of...”
The ropes holding the carpet roll were loosened, and the carpet practically unrolled itself in a grand sweep. There in the center, bound and gagged, with a magic-suppressing ring on his horn and looking absolutely livid, lay Star Swirl.
“Your highness?” the captain of the guard began. “What news? Is Everhold under attack?”
Celestia looked up from the letter, all good cheer gone from her face. “No, no thanks to this— step away from him.” This last was a command aimed at the guards who had approached Star Swirl to loosen his bonds. “He can stay right where he is for a while longer, I think.”
“What are your orders, your highness?”
“Tie the carpet back up, with him inside. Bring it to my sister's office. He is her adviser, so let her deal with him.” She glanced back down at the letter. “I will speak with her later. First, I must speak with the ambassador.”
Star Swirl glared at the princess and cursed through his gag as the guards rolled the carpet back up around him.
– – –
Luna had found the carpet in her office when she woke up some hours later, with a note attached that simply read: “Take care of this. -Celestia.”
The first thing Star Swirl had done when he was released was leap for the jug of water on Luna's desk and guzzle it down.
He hacked and coughed and gasped for air. “I needed that. Could I have some more?”
“Star Swirl?” Luna asked. “What has happened to you?”
“I had a disagreement with the Saddle Arabians... I'm sorry, let me try to do this properly,” he coughed, his voice cracked and weak. Then he stood to attention, or as best as he was able to, and bowed to her. “Your highness, I have returned from my mission and I am ready to deliver my report.”
“Please do so!”
“Strictly speaking the mission was a success. I gained entry to the royal palace and examined their artifact to try to find out if any outside force was somehow subverting it.” He paused for a moment before continuing. “The answer was no.”
“Well, what on earth happened? Why were you tied up like a prisoner?”
“I was a prisoner. It's a long story. Never mind that, that's not important,” he muttered, as he cast his eyes about the room. “Your highness, I need ink and parchment. Lots of it.”
– – –
When Luna stepped out of her office she found Celestia outside the door, waiting for her. “We need to talk,” the elder alicorn said, and in spite of the sun her voice was cold enough to freeze oceans.
“Celestia...”
“Perhaps now we can agree that this appointment was a bad decision, Luna?” Celestia asked matter-of-factly. “Now that your new astronomer has single-hoofedly undone years of careful diplomacy in a matter of days?”
“Celestia—”
“The Khalif's government is in an uproar!” she cried. “The Khalif is demanding that we keep him here, while the Sphinx is demanding that we send him back to face the death penalty! She is threatening upheaval in the state if the Khalif will not support her demands! Frankly I am seriously considering giving him to her as a peace offering. One of my most experienced diplomats is dead and all his work is undone!”
“Celestia, listen to me!” Luna shouted, holding up a piece of parchment. “Star Swirl just wrote this, and you need to see it.”
“Is it a letter of resignation? If not, I am not interested.”
“It's a magic spell,” Luna said. “I want you to read it.”
“What, a homework assignment? He already dropped out of school, it's a little late for that.”
“This is important, Tia!”
Celestia sniffed, snatched the parchment from her sister's grip, and began to read.
As she read her face turned from anger to horror, from horror to curiosity, and from curiosity to disbelief.
“Is he serious?” she asked once she reached the end of the sheet.
“Completely,” Luna answered.
Celestia's face contorted into a scowl. “This is forbidden black magic, Luna.”
“Yes, it is. How many lives could it save?”
“Lives.” Celestia clenched her eyes shut tight, and drew a deep breath before she spoke. “Little sister... do you have any idea what the Sphinx could do if she turned against the Khalif?” she took a step forward, and Luna took a step back. “We will lose Saddle Arabia for a generation. There will be chaos. Lives will be lost as well as saved. Do you want to do math with lives, Luna? I have done so before. It is a grim work that has no answer.”
“I believe in him,” Luna said, meeting her sister's eyes. “If any charges of dealing in forbidden magic are forthcoming, I am prepared to bestow a royal pardon. I will not give him as a sacrifice to the Sphinx, or strip him of his title.”
Celestia stared down at her sister. “This will not only be on your head, Luna. If this fails, you are going to drag all of Everhold down with you.”
“I know,” Luna said, stepping closer. “That's why I need your support, sister. Just this once, will you please trust me?”
Celestia winced. “You truly believe this will work?”
“Yes.”
Celestia sighed, exasperated, and shook her head. “I swear by Mother… Fine then. So be it. We will take what comes.”
“Thank you, sister.”
Celestia nodded. “This discussion is far from over, little sister,” she warned. “With this spell you have purchased your astronomer's life today. Now we will see how long it lasts, and if it was worth it.”
– – –
Twilight listened with rapt attention as Celestia spoke.
“The Mared was a master of flesh-crafting,” Celestia said. “It was among the cruelest and foulest of the forbidden arts. She preyed upon outcasts, brought them under her sway, and turned them into monsters, to instill terror into the hearts of all who looked upon them. To know this magic was a capital offense. All those who had been touched by the Queen, and wielded her magic, were condemned to death.
“What Star Swirl had figured out was that he could take the same spell the Mared had used to create monsters, and use it to explore the inner workings of living bodies without harming them. He stripped the ancient sorcery of all malice, adapted it to unicorn magic and used it to create a biological scanning spell that became standard for unicorn doctors worldwide.
“In no time flat, our understanding of medicine made vast leaps forward. Birth defects could be easily corrected. Many common diseases were wiped out. Injuries that would previously have left a pony disabled for life became treatable. Average life expectancy increased by twenty years.
“He called it the 'Amniomorphic Spell'. Amniotes: four- or six-limbed land creatures, such as birds, ponies, griffons, and dragons. Morphic: pertaining to form. It was the greatest leap forward in unicorn magic that the world had seen in centuries.
“And yet... In the middle of the noise and bluster of Star Swirl's return, we didn't even realize the most important thing of all. Star Swirl himself didn't find the egg-shells tucked away inside his robe for weeks afterwards, and it would be years before we saw it.” As Celestia spoke, her pet swept in and perched on the desk beside her, and leaned in so the alicorn could stroke her beak.
Celestia looked on the bird with love. “Torn free from the Mared's cage in the final eruption… Out of fire and ashes the Phoenix had returned to the world.”
Behind her, Twilight still stood deep in thought. “What ever happened to Womeluki?”
“She continued on her own voyage, and eventually reached her own destiny,” Celestia said. “She escaped the Queen's lair with the surviving ghûl and led them back to the capital city, including Prince Mussadas. With the Mared gone their minds returned to them, but they still kept the powers she had given them. The Sphinx wanted to see them all hanged as wielders of forbidden arts, including the prince. But the Khalif was loath to execute his only son. Thanks to Womeluki and the prince, the ghûl were united as a faction in Saddle Arabian politics: the Order of Blood Magi. They became known as defenders of the downtrodden, and as terrifying adversaries. In time, Womeluki traveled between three continents and fought both the Sphinx and the Gorgon in defense of her homeland. She is quite unknown in Equestria, but in Zebrica she is a national heroine.”
“I just thought of something,” Twilight said. “You remember that first Nightmare Night after Luna returned, when she came to Ponyville to make friends?”
Celestia nodded.
“I was dressed as Star Swirl the Bearded, but you know my zebra friend Zecora? She was there too.” Twilight's eyes were lit up with sudden realization. “She was dressed as a witch. A zebra witch with spiders in her mane.”
Celestia smiled. “Perhaps if you ask her she would like to tell you the stories herself.”
“I will. Gosh, she must know so many stories that ponies have never even heard about.” Twilight grinned at the thought. “But what happened next? What about the peace talks? Did something happen there?”
Celestia laughed softly. “Am I Scheherazade, that I should always start a new story just as the night is ending?”
Twilight's eyes and ears both drooped at the thought that the story was over. “All right… the history books don't tell it anything like this… Wait.” Twilight stopped in her tracks. “Can I ask just one more question?”
Celestia smiled. “Just the one, then.”
“Did Star Swirl the Bearded really kill Discord's mother?” Twilight asked her teacher. “Does Discord know? How does he feel about that?”
Celestia paused, and for a few moments was deep in thought. “To be quite honest, Twilight... It is one of my greatest hopes that someday Discord will come to feel anything at all for his mother. If he does… I think that will be the final proof that he is ready to be something other than a monster.”
“Fluttershy swears that he's getting better,” Twilight said. “I'm still not sure.”
“She has achieved something incredible,” Celestia said. “But Star Swirl was wrong about one thing. Contrary to what he believed, the Mared didn't actually die. Things like her are not killed easily. When Star Swirl broke the connections feeding her magic she lost the power to take a physical form, and to bend others to her will. She has never risen to her former strength again, but she is still alive. Even now, she floats half-sleeping in the mists under the stalactites of Tartarus.”
Celestia looked up through the window at the moon, and Twilight saw a multitude of lights glittering in her eyes. “I've thought about going down to see her, you know. To tell her that her son is free, that her war against us is long ended… that even the wild things have a home in Equestria now. But I think the message would mean more coming from him, and as yet he has shown no interest in the matter.”
They were silent then for a moment, before Celestia yawned and stretched her wings, Philomena mimicking the gesture on her back. “I think that's enough storytelling for tonight. I'll tell you the next part some other time, about the peace talks, and the conspiracy… Come on, I'll show you to your guest room.”
Twilight nodded, struggling to restrain her own yawns. It was long past midnight, and Luna was working in the halls below the library tower.
They left the library behind, and Twilight was still thinking about the story as she drifted off to sleep.
Well. That was a trip. Star Swirl was right; magic is neither good nor evil. Morality lies in the appendages of the magician. He wrought life from death, hope from despair, creation from destruction. A heavy price for a massive benefit... in the long run. In the short term, there was a lot of fire and screaming. Celestia probably learned a valuable lesson about keeping Star Swirl in sight at all times.
A fantastic arc. Thank you for it.
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Thank you for reading :) And it's not over yet*: now that this is done, I can finally go back to working on Clover Just give me some time to catch my breath first.
*: ETA, well, this arc is definitely over. The story of Star Swirl continues.
Meanwhile, one of my prereaders was telling me that Star Swirl's arguments were exactly what someone in the process of being corrupted by the dark side would say
That awkward feeling when you realise that that your primary medical spells are only a short hop away from the most loathsome of black magicks...
That must have flummoxed Sombra and Discord to come back after a millennia away to see ponies all across Equestria using modified flesh-crafting spells with gay abandon.
6344829 *insert clumsy comparison to nuclear weapons and radiation therapy here*
6344829
The most effective medicines have always been poisons themselves.
No tool is ever inherently good or evil, the same can be said for magic. No matter how corruptive or dangerous something is, it still can be helpful if used in the right situations.
Even nuclear weapons for example, arguably one of the greatest evils made by man, prevent active war between any states possessing them.
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"Oh sweet Chaos, it's like the entire world has turned into my mother. Only nice. Which makes it even worse!" *horrified Discord face*
Right now I am actually quite shocked that there isn't a Discord emote. You'd think out of all the users on this site there'd be one somewhere capable of designing emotes for every major character and badgering Knighty to implement them.
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I remember that it was all in good fun though: I rather enjoyed those comments myself.
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Like, really. It was the first line of the chapter. This is why I preread my own stuff multiple times.
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I console myself by telling myself that in the one year and five months since it was published nobody else seemed to notice it either.
I tell myself that I'm good at spelling and grammar, but sometimes they slip through, despite the best efforts of myself and my prereaders. And, in this case, of all the previous commenters.
...whoa. I'm glad I took a chance on this story. This is easily one of the most epic Star Swirl stories I've ever read! Major kudos go to you, Daedelean. This latest bit, especially, with the Marid. That was intense and awesome!
I eagerly look forward to more!
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Thanks! You should go check out the sequel if you haven't already.
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I was actually going to wait for it to finish, along with this, so I could move right from the finale of this to the intro of the sequel. But something tells me that's not the best idea I've ever had. x3
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Unless you have a time machine I would strongly suggest just going straight to the sequel now :P waiting for me to finish this one first... probably isn't going to work out anytime soon.
Adding to the confusion is the fact that the first chapter of the sequel went up before the first chapter to Crown of Night. So people saw Clover first, and generally think that one is better xD
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But...but...Star Swirl! He does Impossible Things! And stuff.
Nah, I kid. I just finally finished Background Pony, so I'll be adding The Education of Clover the Clever to my reading to fill that gap.
Oh my god. Oh wow. BEST AMNIOMORPHIC SPELL EVER!
Oh my god. Oh wow. Stop it! I cant take much more amazingness! Ah it ties in so well and is just so well fitting and everything and I don't even know how to properly respond to this its just so DARN GOOD!
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Hey! Glad to see you're back! For some reason you always seem to point out the things I was most proud of
Did you see the story notes?
Y'know, I'd been having kind of a rough week (well, month). This actually really picked me up. Thanks.
So this is the end? We have yet to really learn about what "his greatest failure" was, or why he isn't being remembered. I'm thinking that his failure was not saving the princess of the night. Or maybe that he ruined negotiations with the Saddle Arabian people. Or there was a war between the Gordon people.
Also wtf is with white knight.
Does The Education of Clover the Clever answer my questions?
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Well, this story is still ongoing and there is still quite a gap between The Crown of Night and The Education of Clover the Clever.
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Oh thank god. It's just that the last chapter was named as an epilogue, and that usually means the story is done. I'm assuming there is gonna be a story in between this and Education of Clover the Clever?
6589909
The last chapter here is the epilogue to the Saddle Arabia storyline only: The Crown of Night is still set to Incomplete, and I work on both stories side by side. Confusing, I know
Anyway, don't be afraid to read The Education of Clover the Clever just because The Crown of Night isn't done yet: they're pretty independent of each other. And thanks for the watch
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Oh wow I completely missed the incomplete part. Although it makes since now, and I'm incredibly glad that the story isn't over. Would be the least satisfying ending I think I've read on this site.
Also I just got done reading The Education of Clover the Clever, and loved it. Can't wait for more.
Wonderful story. Very Ursula LeGuin.
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That's high praise, thank you very much
I can't wait for the next part in the story! So exciting! I feel little like Pinkie on a sugar rush. Just a tiny little bit.
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Glad you enjoy it
You see Celestia??? This is why you hire your highest positions based on TRUE MERITOCRACY! >=)