Many ponies nowadays do not question Starswirl the Bearded's destiny as the one of the most influential figures in pre-classical-era magic, but in the year before his death he began a project to change it, to live beyond where those twisting paths led.
This is the true story of his "disappearance". The story of the pony who taught me all I know.
Written as a last-minute entry for SPark's One Year Older contest, and so is a (rather liberal) interpretation of that theme.
Cover art by Espeonna.
Chapters (1)
The contest judging is finished, here's a link if you'd like to take a look.
I agree with SPark. This story is criminally underrated. How this doesn't even have 10 ratings yet is beyond me.
Your use of the old English you/thou distinction was good - best as I could tell, you were using it accurately.
The story flows well. I didn't feel like any section was unnecessary, nor could I easily notice anything that was missed. The pacing is solid, and it presents the story in a show-don't-tell manner. The ending is arguably predictable, but that was the whole point of the story; it shows the inevitability of fate.
I was pleased to see a good use of show canon (at least how the canon stood when written) and thought the characterizations of both Starswirl and Clover were solid.
Overall, and in the details, a very strong story. I hope more people stumble upon it. (I found it through a chain of stories, ending with Shortmane's entry, which lead to SParks' post about the contest, and I'm glad this story won, as it made me want to read it.)
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Thanks for the comment, and the favourite! My best guess at the lack of views is the rather generic title/description, but it's nice knowing people are still stumbling across it one way or another. You make the ninth rating, by the way, so that grey bar is nearly colorized.
Honestly, I'm rather surprised at how little of my headcanon got jossed by the finale, this story included. Going out in a time loop is a bit different than trapping himself in limbo, but his connection to the Tree isn't that far of a leap. If you'll permit me a bit of self-indulgence, the least compatible part of it was Luna joining Celestia in remembering his teachings -- Celly makes sense since I do cast her as Clover in more than this story, but I like Luna as Private Posey/Pansy, and there's no way to accept a pegasus in as a second non-traditional apprentice, especially one who gets back in the legions.
Sorry for that digression. Anyway, I'm glad you liked the pacing; that was part of it that I was paying particular attention to, since I tend to plot (though not necessarily write) multi-chapter, five- or six-digit-word-count novellas. Something like Starswirl always makes me worry I'm rushing things. Nice to hear that's not the case!
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Well, I just realized how I might be able to help: I added your story to the Time Travel group. Hopefully that gets it a few more views.
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Ah, that's the group I forgot. Thanks!
Hello! Have a review. Also have an upvote. I appreciated the tension between Clover and Starswirl's differing personalities. A bit of a shame that S7 canon kind of overtook the story not long after publication.