Rex Unicornis

by Magi Tail Welkin

Chapter 3, Knowledge and Wisdom

The vision changed to the study of the Northwest Tower. Star Swirl showed Bullion a map scroll. It showed a flat disc with the then known areas of the Equus, with the cloud settlements of the Pegasi. The flat world sat on the backs of four elephants, which stood on the shell of a giant turtle.

“Now,” the Sorcerer began “first of all lad, we’ve got to get all these Medieval ideas of your head.” He shut the scroll “Clear the way for new ideas.”

Twilight scoffed “That drawing was a hoax from two-hundred years ago, how could the most important conjurer of the pre-classical era think every-pony in his own time thought the world was flat?”

Bullion shared Twilight’s views “But the world is round.” He said walking over to the globe close by “The Pegasi first documented the way you would see a mountain’s peak appear first, like slowly climbing up a hill. Then their philosophers worked out the rough size by measuring shadow lengths at different locations. And the Reverend showed me the works of Venerable Prayer from two-hundred years ago, he said the world is,” he shut his eyes “not merely circular like a shield, or spread out like a wheel, but resembling more a ball.”

Star Swirl blinked “Maybe I was assuming, see, in about nine-hundred years’ time most pony believe ponies of this time think the world is flat. I’ve know a few at Hogwash’s Arcane Academy. I’ve also meet on my travels a few tribes of Earth Ponies who maintain the flat Equus idea for religious reasons, some of the eastern Unicorns think the world is flat and square.”

“Well,” Bullion said “Equus is round, because it’s confined within the circles of heaven.”

Star Swirl smiled “Well, in the future ponies will discover that Equus is but a tiny speck in the universe. And neither is it the centre. True our sun and moon revolve around us, but there are heliocentric solar systems, where the planets revolve around the stars.”

“Heliocentric?”

Clover groaned “You’re only confusing the boy.” She flew down onto the globe. “Before your through he’ll be so mixed up he’ll be trying to walk upside-down.”

Star Swirl lit his pipe and started to angrily puff and Clover ranted.

“Ponies have always learned from the past. After all you can’t learn history in reverse, history’s confusing enough as it all for goodness sake!”

Star Swirl coughed and stood tall “Alright Clover, have it your way. You’re in charge.” He huffed to his chair “You’re the Head-Mistress now, so from now on he’s your pupil, let’s hope you have better luck with him then I’m doing with you.”

Clover sniffed, huffed herself. She composed herself and turned to Bullion “So, from now on boy, you do as I say.”

The colt nodded “Yes mam.”

“Alright.” She made her look a stern as possible “Now to start off, I want you to these books.” She pointed her wing to the pile next to them, a pile which reached the ceiling.

Bullion gulped “All of them?”

Clover proudly smiled “That my boy, is a mountain of knowledge.”

Flash smirked and looked at Twilight “Are you drooling at that yet?”, she looked at him annoyed “No, I would never salivate onto a book, it’s disgusting. Besides I’ve probably read them already.”

Bullion turned back to Clover “But I can’t read!”

“What?” Clover exclaimed “And I don’t suppose you know how to write?”, the colt shook his head.

“Well what do you know?”

“Well I…”

“Never mind, we’ll start at the bottom, the alphabet. And we’ll also train your magic too.”

Clover flew over to a chalkboard and carefully wrote, in a fancy calligraphy the letters of the Equestrian Alphabet, in capitals. She new flew onto Bullion head and held out the chalk “Now then, are you able to levitate this?”

“I should, it’s not heavy and only one thing.”, he charged his magic, a golden energy and took the chalk. He looked at Clover’s letters and did his best to imitate her movements. But having never written before and not used to using magic the letters ended up all rough and squiggly.

Clover said a rhyme to help “First the A, and now the B, loop and around, and there’s the C.”

Bullion smiled and glanced back excitedly “Star Swirl look, I can write!”

The Sorcerer rummaged through a few draws of his cabinets, but looked to them and chuckled “Oh yes, that’s very good boy.”

Clover wave her wing about “Come on, let’s continue.”, the colt returned to the board and Clover continued “D, E, F, and now the G,” she chuckled with her eye close “You see it’s a simple as…” she opened her eyes and looked at the board. To her horror she found Bullion wrote the F and the G backwards, “No, no.” She yelled and kicked her talon onto his head “Use you head, use you head! How do you ever expect to learn anything!”

“Clover?” Star Swirl called, they turned around and the wizard asked, “Have you seen that flying machine model, the aeroplane one?”

Clover crossed her wings “I have nothing to do with your futuristic fiddle-faddle, you know that.”

Bullion pointed to something “What’s that thing up there?”

Star Swirl looked above his head and smiled “Oh yes, of course. Here we are.” His magic took hold of a strange model hanging on a string, it didn’t look like a zeppelin, no balloon, just a single pair of fixed wings, with a three-flap tail, and something like a fan blade on the front.

Bullion tilted his head “You mean ponies will fly in one of those someday?”

Twilight blinked “I’ve never seen one of those before.” She glanced at Flash “Have you?”, he shook his head.

Star Swirl meanwhile turned the fan around one way, not noticing his beard wrapping around the shaft as well. He started running to the window “Here we go!” He didn’t stop in time and hit the stone frame. The model flew out the window, snagged on his beard, fell slightly, then unwound itself from the beard. Then twirled in its rapid descent.

Bullion and Clover ran up. The witch turned owl chuckled “Ponies will fly alright, ha, just like a rock.”

The model hit the moat, the wing snapped off and the body snack.

Clover burst out laughing and she couldn’t stop.

Star Swirl looked at her “It would have work if it wasn’t for this.” He pulled his beard up and trudged off to his chair while Clover continued her hysterics, he took a puff of his pipe, before proclaiming “Earth Ponies and Unicorn will fly. I have been there, that isn’t the only flying machine to be made. That one won’t be invented for a thousand years, I have seen it!”

At the window Bullion smiled “Oh I do hope.” He watched a blue bird flutter in the sky. I’ve always dreamed that I was flying, I’m sometimes wondered if I was meant to be a Pegasus or a bird, be free to go wherever I like whenever I like, high above everything.”

Star Swirl smiled boldly and crept up behind the colt. He mutters some words and charged his horns.

Om a quiet flash, Bullion turned into a sparrow. Unware the colt sighed “It’s my favourite dream, but I suppose every-pony dream about flying.” He moved his arms, but the felt different. He looked down and, well, did his best to smile widely with a beak “I’m a bird!” he yelled excitedly, and repeated this. He started flapping, but a little uncontrolled.

Star Swirl laughed and took hold of the sparrow before he fell into the moat. “Hold it boy, not so fast. First I’d better explain the mechanics of a bird’s wings.” He glanced to Clover and with his magic opened her wing “Now the large feathers are called the Primaries.”

Clover shook off the spell “And since when do you suddenly know all about bird’s wings?”

“I have made an extensive study of birds in flight. And I…”

“And,” Clover said putting her wing tips to her hip “if you don’t mind, I happened to be in the form of a bird, and have been for some time.”

Star Swirl huffed and poked her with his horn “Alright, Little Miss Know-it-All,” he put the transformed Bullion in front of her “He’s your pupil!”

Clover nodded and fluttered next to Bullion “Now boy, flying his not some crude mechanical prosses,” she cleared her through, Star Swirl cleared his and turned away.

“It is a delicate art, purely aesthetic, poetry of motion. And the best way to learn it is to do it.” She carefully shuffled to the edge and looked down “Now since we’re pretty far up, we’ll start with a glide. First, spread your wings,” she did so “way out, way out, that’s it,” she started laughing “that’s it. Now fan your tail.” She jumped a little it “Tiptoe, and off we go!” She leaned down and pushed off with the tips of her talons.

She glanced back and Bullion glided down just behind her, the thermals caught them and they straightened out. She glanced back to Bullion “Tuck your feet under.”

He did so. He started to shake and buffet.

“Don’t fight the air currents, use them.”, Bullion followed the advice and soon steadied. After a few experimental flaps he did a spin and dived.

Before Clover could react, Bullion turn upwards, just brushing a bunch of seed headed dandelions. Clover smiled “Say, boy,” her mouth dropped as Bullion flew upside-down and then went one his aerobatics, Clover sang his praises “you’re a natural! Are you sure this is the first time you…” as she followed Bullion she caught sight of something above them, her blood ran cold “Wart! Hawk!”

A large bird of prey loomed over them, it readied for a dive. The two transformed ponies dived too and flapped hard.

The hawk swooped over Clover. Its talon opened. Clover pulled a tailfeather out of the bird.

Bullion flew into the Everfree Forest. He didn’t know where to go. He saw something. It looked like a house.

Twilight blinked “Isn’t that the area of Zecora’s Hut?”

Flash nodded “Yeah, but that’s not Zecora’s Hut.”

Indeed not, it looked more like a round version of Star Swirl’s cottage. The thatcher tapered sharply into a tall point. And the trees forming the barrier of the clearing looked darker and many looked dead.

Not caring Bullion landed on the chimney pot and paused for breath.

The hawk flew over the clearing and spied him. It dived and called. Bullion jumped. He dived down the chimney, just missing the talons. He tumbled down, soot covered him. He landed in an unlit fireplace with a thud. The ash, dust and soot made him cough hard.

Over on a nearby table sat a Unicorn mare, dress in a reds and purples, with a black pointed hat and cloak over her shoulders. She played Solitaire, as she pulled out another card she heard the coughs and smirked “Sounds like some-pony’s sick. How lovely.” She cackled “I do hope it’s serious. Something dreadful!” she looked to the fireplace, paused and grumbled. Slammed the cards onto the table and stood up “Oh bat gizzards,” she picked up Bullion “It’s nothing but a scrawny little sparrow with a beak full of soot.”

Bullion shook his head “I’m not really a sparrow, I’m a colt.”

“A colt?” she dropped him onto the table. The soot fell off him as he stood up and brushed himself down “Star Swirl changed me with his magic. He’s the world’s most powerful wizard.”

The mare laughed “Star Swirl? That young whippersnapper? Star Swirl, the world’s most powerful bungler! Why boy, I’ve got more power in my back hoof.” She cackled again and skipped about “Now don’t tell me you haven’t heard of the Marvellous Madam Mini?” she bowed.

Bullion shook his head “Well, no, I don’t think so.”

Clover arrived just in time to witness the meeting from a window, she gasped “Madam Mini!”, her wings already starting to tire from the catch up, flutter as hard as she could back to Star Swirl. As a Witch she needed to prevent another of her craft from causing trouble.

The elder Clover sighed and took a determined look “There is one overarching reason to why, as the last true Witch of Equestria I decided to integrate Witchcraft into Wizard’s Magic, the Wizards and Sorcerers have rules, regulations and checks and balances to keep them from truly causing problems to the rest of the world, true “Dead Ponies’ Pointy Horseshoes” exists, but that only happens between Wizards. No, I did it to put an end to Cackling.”

There is a reason why Witches never use magic as freely as a Wizard would, a Witch exists to solve problems, it’s an important job in the grand scheme of things, and one Clover hoped she passed on to a select few, including the Royal Sisters.

If a Witch tries to solve all her problems with magic it would be easy, but magic always has a price, a certain Witch may consider it a cost worth paying so she does it for all her problems. More and more of them and you begin slide down, you start thinking you know better than every-pony else, so you might as well run their lives for them.

And if they don’t like it, well, that just makes them another problem, and so the ignorant fools would look so much better as a frog or a cockroach. Then the madness starts.

Clover finished her explanation by saying “At the very least, at that point in time anyway, Mini was yet to turn her house into gingerbread.”

Twilight blinked, she had a few things to think about, but one she managed to voice now “That would explain why Mini’s house is no longer there.”

She considered Cackling, she saw a few Cacklers in her time as a Hero of Equestria, Nightmare Moon and Queen Chrysalis sprung to mind immediately. Trixie must have while using, and under the influence of, the Alicorn Amulet. Sunset Shimmer may have Cackled when the Element of Magic turned her into a demon, she couldn’t remember, a lot of stuff happened then. She couldn’t recall Starlight Cackling, maybe she did it internally. Tempest Shadow neither, she didn’t seem the type to laugh at the time, again maybe internally.

But, this idea of running pony’s live. Well, Twilight did have some thoughts herself about it. Both Starlight and Tempest were driven to commit terrible acts because of traumatic events during their childhood. For Starlight, the loss of Sunburst, her only friend, and for Tempest, the loss of her horn. Childhood calamities caused two mares to become villains.

Somewhere out in Equestria some filly or colt could be going through a terrible experience. For she knew it could happen to one of her foals. She put her hoof to her swelling abdomen and her lip trembled at the thought.

A lot of ponies she met could have turned rogue without friendship. Cheese Sandwich left his home as a colt, what might have happened if he never stumbled into one of Pinkie’s parties?

Or Vapour Trail, if he never met Sky Stinger he would have spent his life lamenting his lack of ability, and who knows, he may have ended up hating the Wonderbolts instead of wanting to join them.

Even within her immediate vision she saw ponies who could have fallen. If Rainbow didn’t defend Fluttershy when the pair were fillies, she could have become a further recluse then when Twilight met her.

Apple Bloom could have become a recluse if not for Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. Heck, Scootaloo could have as well. And she heard Applejack mention something a cousin become a bully. Speaking of which, Diamond Tiara because of her mother, nose ever in the air, went around with a superiority complex and spent about a year and a half as a bully to the CMC.

Twilight did consider trying to think of ways to crud these events, but interfering with pony’s live, and trying to run then? She started to reconsider, and she admitted to using a quick magical solution every occasionally, although not to Starlight’s degree.

Flash looked at her and nodded “I know what you’re thinking Twi, the road to Hell is paved with good intensions. But we also must do good actions too.”, she nodded.

The vision of Madam Mini and the sparrow formally colt named Bullion.

The Witch slammed her hooved on the table, making the boy jump, “Why boy I’m the greatest!” She twirled over to the window, a rose sat in a pot “I’m truly marvellous!”

She then struck a pose and started singing “With only a touch,” she raised her hoof and charged her horn, a green fire like energy “I have the power,” she put her hoof to the rose “Zim zabberim zim,” the rose wilted and turned black “To wither a flower, I find delight in the gruesome and grimly…”

Bullion shook his head “Oh that’s terrible.”

She bowed “Thank you boy, but that’s nothing, nothing for me” she twirled again and finished her first verse “Because I'm the magnificent, marvellous, mad Madam Mini…” she bowed once more.

After pause she looked up at the transformed colt “You know what? I can even change size.” She charged her horn again “I can be huge!”, she filled almost all the available space, her head hit the thatched ceiling “Fill the whole house!”, then she turned to a ball of green fire and shot down to the table, with a puff, leaving an unsightly sickly green could of smoke, she became smaller that Bullion in his bird form.

“I can be ting, small as a mouse,” she disappeared in a teleport spell, then faded back to sit on the saucer next to the colt “Black sorcery, is my dish of tea.” She chuckled and jumped off, with a wave of her hoof she produced a broomstick “I come easy to me.” She hoped onto the broom “Because I'm the magnificent, marvellous, mad Madam Mini!”

Madam Mini start flying about the house. She flew over Bullion, nearly knocking him over, before flying under the table and returning to normal “Say lad, did you know I can make myself uglier yet?”

“Oh, that would be some trick.” Bullion blinked and covered her beak with his wing “What I mean is…”

“Want to bet?” She took off her hat and covered her face with it. A flash of green burst from behind. She took the hat away “Boo!”, her face resembled warthog.

Bullion gasped and nearly fell.

Mini laughed “You see? I win! I win!” She cackled again and clasped her forehooves together “Aren’t I hideous boy? Perfectly revolting?”

Still reeling from the shock Bullion mumbled “Well, uh, yes ma’am.”

“But you ain’t seen nothing yet. Watch this.” She touched her snout. The green fire engulfed her. It dissipated and Mini suddenly resembled a mare like Fleur Dis Lee “I can be beautiful, lovely and fair. Silvery voice, long purple hair.” She started posing, to an agape Bullion.

Twilight raised an eyebrow “Her magic looks a lot like Changeling magic.”

Flash shrugged “We’re never going to find out unless we can interrogate Chrysalis, even then she may not know her species origins.”

“But it only skin deep,” Mini went on, she gasped her mane “For, zim zabberim zimy,” she pulled and returned to normal “I am an ugly old creep! The magnificent, marvellous, mad, mad, mad, mad Madam Mimi!” She jumped about cackling “Now what do you think boy? Who’s the greatest?” she cackled again.

“Well, Star Swirl’s magic is always, well, useful, for something good.”

Mini smiled turned more fixed as her eyes narrowed, she paced around the table “And must see something good in you.”

“Oh, I suppose so.”

“Yes!” she snapped “And in my book, that’s bad!”, she rushed to the window and shut it. She glanced back at him with her grin “So my boy,” she stepped forward with a hurt expression “I’m afraid I’ll have to destroy you.”

“Destroy me?” Bullion exclaimed as he flew back, to get away from her.

“Yes,” she cackled “I’ll give you a sporting chance. I’m mad about games you know.” She climbed onto the table and her green magic appeared around her as she faded into a large cat. “Well come on! Get going boy, you got to keep on you toes in this game!” she pounced. Bullion fluttered back.

Table and chairs flew over each other. Bullion flew around the house. Mini leaped onto furniture, tipping them and there content over. The boy landed on a dresser. Mini appeared behind him. She grabbed a tailfeather. Bullion flapped. She let go. He shot across the room. His beak went into a dartboard. Bullseyes.

“I win!” Mini cackled taking Bullion in her claw. She panted “Oh, the game’s over.”

Bullion pecked her on the noise. She popped back to normal with a short shriek “Why you little devil you! I’ll wring your scrawny little neck!”

The door busted open. A swirling mass of stars and blue clouds spun in. Star Swirl faded into reality and shouted about “Mini! Mini!” He looked about the wreckage and spotted her “What are you up to?”

“Oh,” Mini’s pupils shrunk and she shuttered “Star Swirl. Your, your just in time.” She started stroking Bullion’s feathered head “We were playing a little game.”

Bullion looked to his mentor “She was going to destroy me.”

Mini huffed, with the cover gone she stood up and trudged to young Sorcerer, who towered over her, she put Bullion on the remains of a chair “And what are you going to do about it?” She jumped up and almost into Star Swirl’s beard “Want a fight?” She smacked her hoof into his face “Want to have a Wizard’s Duel?”

Star Swirl rubbed his cheek before regaining composure “As you wish, madam.”

“Well come on, step outside.”

Star Swirl stepped aside and bowed “After you, madam.”, Mini scuttled out and Star Swirl marched behind her.

Bullion flew after them and flew to a tree near on the edge of the clearing. He saw them below, he also noted the small cliff and pond just beyond the field.

Another fluttering sound and a patting Clover perched beside him “What’s up boy? What’s going on?”

“They’re having a Wizard’s Duel. What’s that mean?”

“Oh, it’s a battle of wits.” She sighed “The players change themselves to different things and attempt to, to, well, destroy each one another.”

“Destroy?” exclaimed the colt turned sparrow.

“Just watch boy, you’ll get the idea.”

The two magic users came to a stop beyond the very tree the transfigured ponies watched from. Madam Mini turned around and started speaking, only to get, muffled in Star Swirl’s beard. Pulling herself out she repeated “First of all, if you don’t mind, I’ll make the rules.”

Clover scoffed “Rules indeed, she only wants rules so she can break them.”

Mini glanced at her “I’ll take care of you later featherbrain.” She returned her attention to Star Swirl “Now, rule one, no mineral or vegetation, only animal. Rule two, no make-believe things like, oh, pink dragons and stuff.”

Flash raised an eyebrow “But dragons are definitely real.”

Twilight tapped her hoof “I can’t remember ever seeing a truly pink dragon, raspberry yes, amaranth too, but those are shade of red, according to Rarity. I don’t know much about colour theory.”

Mini continued “Rule three, no disappearing.” She tugged at the young Sorcerer’s nose. Star Swirl sniffed “Rule four, no cheating!”

Mini waved it off “Alright. Now,” they turned away from each other “pace of ten. One,” Star Swirl started to march other, Mini, doing to counting, first stayed in place. Then right at the start contradicting herself slowly vanished.

Bullion shouted down “Star Swirl! She disappeared!”

Star Swirl stopped and looked about annoyed, he shouted to the air “Now Mini, you made the rules!”

A laughing came from behind. Mini, in the form of a big crocodile opened her jaw. Star Swirl jumped into his hat. Mini snapped onto the cloth. She noticed a wiggling lump at the tip, now the bottom of a makeshift bag. Mini cackled and delved a hand into it. Something bit her. She pulled her hand out and flapped it about.

Star Swirl, as a tortoise flew off Mini’s finger and rolled shell up onto the ground.

Mini licked her lips and stalked towards him. Star Swirl struggled to get upright as Bullion and Clover called down. Once on his feet he moved as fast as he could and shouted back “Yes, give me time to think.”

“Quickly Star Swirl hurry!”

Star Swirl started bouncing. In a burst he became a Hare. Pounced away. Mini snapped. Star Swirl landed on her feet and looked down. His cottontail missing. He trudged back to the crocodile “Madam, just a minute.” He tugged at the fluff in her permanent smile. In-between tugged she changed into a racoon. Cackling she chased the hare around the field.

“Come on!” Clover shouted down “Something bigger!”

“Something smaller!” Bullion suggested.

The chased and chaser ran into a fallen and hollow log.

After a moment Mini called out “Star Swirl? No disappearing.”

A small caterpillar crawled out of a knothole in the log. An eye spied him. Star Swirl climbed up a branch.

Mini came running out as a chicken. She jumped. He beak clamped onto the end of Star Swirl. He stretched like a rubber band. He slipped out and went flying high. Mini laughing started guessing where to he would fall with her eyes shut.

Taking an advantage, the young Sorcerer grew into a walrus. He landed and looked about “Mini?”, something stirred under him, then grew from under him. A trunk grabbed him and Mini, as an elephant growled “You, big blimp!”

Star Swirl changed, into a mouse. Mini shrieked and ran off. Star Swirl gave chase. Until a roar. Star Swirl became the chased to a tiger Madam Mini, she cackled “Squish me, will you?” She jumped. Star Swirl scurried into a hole. When she landed he jumped out another hole and took hold of her tail. He readied a bite. Until the tail started rattling. Mini, now a snake lunged her fangs.

Star Swirl lifted the tail up. She bit into herself. She chased him down another hole. He emerged first from the network. Rolled a big rock over the exist. Mini rammed into it. The rock shifted out the way.

On a chance the young Sorcerer became a crab. Mini stuck her head out. He took a snap. She ducked.

After a few more attempts, after she started toying with him, his claw latched onto something. The solidity of it reverberated though his shell. Mini emerged. Revealing the thing Star Swirl held to be the horn of a rhinoceros “So,” she growled “you want to play rough, do you?” She turned around and charged. Towards a tree, on the edge of the cliff “I’ll smash you good!”

Star Swirl let go and quickly clambered over her. Unable to stop, Mini rammed into the old tree and jammed herself in it. The tree tipped precariously over the pond.

The young Sorcerer backed up. Changed into a ram. Charged “Here I come, ready or not!” He heads butted the tree. The rots lost their grip. Both Mini and tree tipped and got dunked.

Star Swirl smiled.

Then the water bubbled. Mini remerged, as a big purple dragon, fire cascaded off her scales.

Star Swirl backed up “Now Mini no dragons remember?”

Mini smirked “Did I say no purple dragons? Did I?” She spat fire at him. The Sorcerer ran from the Witch.

Flash fumed “Now that’s just exploiting a loophole.”, almost as cheesed off Twilight nodded “Thank Celestia that Wizard Duels no longer happen.”

The vision of the past continued, Star Swirl changed back to a mouse to outrun the fire. But he couldn’t outrun dragon Mini. He dived into a hole. Mini blew fire into it. Star Swirl flew out in the burst, tail alight. A pair of purple talons closed around him. Mini cackled “I win!”

Bullion scowled “That horrible old Witch! I’ll peck her eyes out!”, Clover quickly grabbed him.

Still laughing Mini opened her claws. Only to discover a few sparks of magic.

They all stared, Bullion and Clover voiced the thoughts in the air, “He’s gone!”

“Disappeared.”

“Madam,” Star Swirl’s voice, and echoing whisper and around Mini “I have not disappeared. I am very tiny. I am a gem, a rare disease.”

Clover, and Twilight, smiled.

“I’m called Malagolintomontorosis.”

Twilight’s face fell.

“And you caught me Mini!”

“WHAT!”

Clover laughed.

Star Swirl continued “First you break into spots.”, Mini’s skin turned green and red spots popped about.

“Followed by hot,” she started steaming, “and cold fleshes.” She shivered.

“And violent sneezing.”, Mini blew so hard she burned a tree down. Clover and Bullion bucked under the fire jet. Mini wailed “You’re a sneaky infantile scoundrel!” she started crying as she laid down on a tree.

The scene changed to Mini back as a pony bedridden.

Twilight sighed. Flash turned to her. “Malagolintomontorosis is fatal to dragons. I studied a bit on dragon when Celestia gave me Spike.”

“Of course, you did.”

Star Swirl took a thermometer out of the Witch’s mouth and spoke “It not too serious madam, as a Unicorn you should recover in a few weeks and be as good,” he chuckled “I mean as bad as ever.”

Bullion and Clover chuckled at this.

“But I would suggest plenty of rest.” He then charged his horn and pulled away a chunk of the thatch “And lots, and lots of sunshine.”

Mini covered her face with her mane “I hate sunshine! I hate horrible, wholesome sunshine.”

Rolling his eyes Star Swirl and the ponies-turned birds existed the house. Star Swirl locked the door. And they proceeded to leave the forest and back to the castle.

Clover looked back to the house.

The elderly Clover returned and wrote “I made sure to contact some of the other witches of the area to keep an eye on Mini. Miss Treason and Mistress Wildwind, since the reputation of a witch is marred by a Cackling Witch, well, other Witches don’t want Witches Cackling.”

Sitting on the tip of the Sorcerer’s hat Bullion spoke “You were really great Star Swirl. But you could have been killed.”

“If was worth it lad, if you learned something from it.”, the colt sparrow rubbed his chin with his wing “Knowledge and wisdom is the real power.”

“Right you are young Bullion, so stick to your schooling boy.”

“Oh, don’t worry I will sir.”

Flash raised an eyebrow “Why have I got the feeling something’s going to go wrong.”

Comments

[Godslittleprincess]

Wow, Starswirl was quite the Cloudcuckoolander when he was young. Also, great chapter. This was very insightful. You're really good at world building.

[Magi Tail Welkin]

8650942
Going by the trope I'd say my Young Star Swirl is more The Wonka than a Cloudcuckoolander. The Cloudcuckoolander is completely up in the air, whereas the Wonka has his feet, or in this case, hooves on the ground. Like Sir Isaac Newton and Nikola Tesla.

I do have fun world building.