Chapter 14 - The Seven Pillars of Equestria
I found myself working quite busily with Mac all day. Normally, we’d have had AJ on hoof to help us speed things along, but she’d been called away on some friendship quest or another. I was a little on edge because of that. Remember my theory about counting off episodes? Well, we hit twenty four last week when Sunburst had dropped by Ponyville. He’d come to see Starlight.
And from what I’d heard, it was Sunburst who had set the present events in motion. Without going into too much detail, Sunburst has a love of collecting antiquities, as does Twilight Sparkle, and when he came to visit Starlight, the two of them went on a bit of a spree. One of his purchases included a sealed barrel. I guess you could compare it to when people buy old storage units and try to sell whatever is inside. What Sunburst had allegedly found was quite intriguing.
He claimed to have found the actual journal of Starswirl the Bearded; the legendary unicorn wizard who once crowned Celestia and Luna as princesses and mentored Clover the Clever, one of Equestria’s founders.
The subject of the unicorn had been one of the first things I looked into when I first settled down here in Equestria. While it is something of niche subject, I had the perfect lecturer; Twilight Sparkle. She showed me how history officially records Starswirl as missing, having disappeared off the face of Equestria just over a thousand years ago. That was where this journal came in. Supposedly, it told of how Starswirl had formed his own precursor to the Mane Six, and that this group was responsible for the Tree of Harmony’s creation. They were now stranded in Limbo, along with their most bitter of enemies, the ‘Pony of Shadows’, who until then, I thought to be a children’s tale.
So, Twilight had set herself the goal of freeing these Pillars of Equestria as they were known. Like their modern day counterparts, they had six objects which allowed them to channel their magic into a near unstoppable force. That was what Applejack had gone to lend a hoof with. She told me before she left that she was setting out for a village in the Coltic region of Equestria, something along the lines of the Scottish Highlands. Here she hoped to find the remains of Rockhoof’s village.
I’d learned about this particular pillar from her, although until now, he was believed to be just an old folk tale. He was supposed to be the strongest Earth Pony ever, and with his shovel had saved his village from a volcanic eruption. AJ was now going to try and recover that shovel as part of the spell to bring him and the others out of Limbo.
Now, there wasn’t really much I could do about all this. I know that I have to let events run their course, but I couldn’t help but feel on edge. The last finale had seen Equestria once again attacked by changelings. I didn’t even want to think about what this Pony of Shadows might be capable of. Still, I trusted AJ to look after herself. In all honesty, my presence would probably be more of a hindrance than anything else. So, I agreed to stay behind and tend to the farm as I always do. I would just have to wait and see what happened.
Mac felt just the same of course, more so even, given that AJ is his little sister. But he also knows that there hasn’t been a single threat to Equestria that those girls haven’t been able to defeat.
So the two of us did our best to keep working and not dwell on the worrying subject. But when Twilight and the others got back, I intended to go through the whole affair very carefully. I may not be an expert, but I might be able to spot something Twilight and the others overlooked.
As things turned out though, this particular finale was over and done with rather quickly. While there was something of a risk to Equestria as a whole, it ultimately turned out that this Pony of Shadows’ bark was far worse than his bite. It also turned out that he wasn’t quite as evil as had been originally suggested.
You see, while there were six Pillars, there was another member of the group; a young unicorn named Stygian. He was the brains of the operation, coming up with the plans the Pillars used to defeat threats to Equestria. But, like most typical ponies, he didn’t have that much magical power. This was back in the days before dark magic was particularly well understood or documented, and its risks not made clear.
Stygian sought to be like his friends, nothing more, in order to better help them on their various quests. However, his attempts, instead of attracting approval, invited criticism and fear. Starswirl in particular thought that Stygian was becoming too powerful and would become dangerous. This ultimately led to the magic Stygian had discovered taking him over, turning him into the Pony of Shadows.
Starlight, being the most recently redeemed pony about, saw Stygian’s plight, while Twilight wanted to follow her idol’s suggestion and use the combined power of the Elements of Harmony and the Pillars’ magic to blast the Pony of Shadows back to Limbo. She, at the last moment, actually broke through the shadow layers and found Stygian. With Twilight’s help, they were able to free him, while banishing the demon that overtook him back to Limbo where it belonged.
Thus, the whole misunderstanding was cleared up. Stygian and the Pillars reconciled, and the threat of the Pony of Shadows was over. There was now only one issue to deal with; seven ponies who had leapt forward in time over a millenia. Starswirl and the others decided that, given that the Elements had rendered them somewhat obsolete, they would go off to explore Equestria as individuals. In particular, Starswirl sought to improve his understanding of the magic of friendship; something which had previously eluded him.
And that is why, upon Applejack’s return, she had with her a rather unique visitor.
Equestria has many different and diverse regions, many of which are analogues of our own nations. Manehattan, Baltimare and Fillydelphia are modelled after similarly named cities on the East Coast of the United States, Vanhoover takes after Canada, Appleloosa resembles the Old West, Trottingham is a Britain of yesteryear, Saddle Arabia is akin, curiously, more to Egypt than anything else, and fortunately does not have quite as stringent rules about its faith, while the Prench region is modelled after France, finally, Neighpon is modelled after feudal Japan.
One that I hadn’t really come across until now though, was the Coltish region of Equestria. If I were to make a guess, I would say it is modelled after Scotland. It’s inhabitants are remarkably similar to the Yaks in temperament, and they are infamous for the amount of salt they can swallow and remain standing.
Nowadays, the region was less populated than in the past, with many residents moving to larger cities. The culture had been somewhat diluted and came close to being lost forever. It was now more a scene for archaeologists, looking to study the old civilisation that once made home in one of the most geologically active regions of the realm.
I however, was about to meet perhaps the original Coltic warrior.
Having finished our work for the day, Big Mac and I were walking back through the orchards. So far, we’d heard nothing from AJ or her friends about their quest. Actually, at this point, despite the whole crisis being over, we didn’t even know the Pony of Shadows was real, never mind that he’d escaped from Limbo and briefly run amok in Hollow Shades, the ancient Thestral settlement.
“Ah hope Applejack and the others are doin’ okay,” I said, a little nervously. Big Mac smiled.
“Relax, Bones,” he replied reassuringly. “At least this time we got warnin’ before all this happened.”
That was true. After all, the last major event had been the incursion. We didn’t find out about that until the Royal Guard were raiding the castle. I used to mock the transparency of changeling disguise spells, and yet I spent a whole evening talking with that...thing, none the wiser.
Big Mac was right though. It was very much a case of no news is good news. In the absence of clear changes in the world around us, and given that we’d seen no monsters or other creatures to cause us alarm, I came to agree with him that the others were probably doing alright.
The pair of us were just coming towards the farmhouse, when we encountered Apple Bloom. It was about the time the little filly got home from school. Usually though, she either went to find Granny Smith, or, more typically, she’d be off to the CMC clubhouse with her friends. As I understand it, their books are kept quite full with new clients.
“Bones! Big Macintosh!” the filly exclaimed, running towards us as fast as her legs could carry her. “Applejack’s back. Ya gotta come see who’s with her!”
Inwardly, I let out a sigh of relief. If AJ was back, it meant the business was done and dusted. We’d got through the finale without trouble. Now we could all look forward to some time to kick back before the next opener. It certainly seemed to prove my theory about counting off adventures in any case. I made a mental note to let Twilight and the other princesses know.
“Who is it, AB?” Mac asked as she ran over and hugged us both. “The princesses? A dragon?” Apple Bloom shook her head.
“No, it’s Rockhoof!” Both of us were left speechless.
I didn’t know too much about Rockhoof, apart from the story I’d heard Applejack tell once or twice. I knew plenty about Starswirl of course, but the other Pillars were pretty much a mystery to me. The opportunity to meet somepony from over a millenia ago, who may well have more knowledge of that time than even the princesses was...intriguing.
And so, the two of us followed Apple Bloom back to the farm house. Along the way, Apple Bloom part way related the events I described earlier. Apparently, all the Pillars were presently in Ponyville. Starswirl was at the castle with Twilight, going through her library, Flash Magnus was with Dash, Mistmane was with Rarity, Meadowbrook was with Fluttershy and Zecora, and Sonambula was with Pinkie. I was eager to meet the lot of them. The knowledge they had would no doubt be extremely useful in the future, and who says no to meeting some heroes?
Reaching the farmhouse, we found Applejack quite happily chatting with Rockhoof. He was just like he appeared in the old stories; a positively massive Earth Pony that dwarfed even the likes of Big Mac. He actually looked like a scaled up version of Dewdrop; Lizzie’s coltfriend, with a light blue coat and a gold coloured mane and tail. Like Starswirl, he had a fairly thick beard, although his was more the mountain man style than Dumbledore. His outfit was similarly archaic, with a leather looking chest piece (ponies in those days had far fewer scruples about clothing than now) with cloth tied around each hoof for protection. Slung across his back was a large shovel. It couldn’t be the original one of course, from what Apple Bloom had said, that priceless artifact had been destroyed when the Pony of Shadows broke loose. Still, I imagine even Mac would have a hard time handling it, and as we approached, the stallion was doing tricks with it, much to AJ’s amusement.
He was throwing the large implement up in the air, twirling it, as if it weighed no more than a bit. But judging by the size and metal construction, it probably weighed as much as Apple Bloom. I couldn’t lift it any more than I could lift Thor’s hammer. As Mac and I walked over, he stopped his tricks, letting the shovel land deftly next to him, impaling itself in the ground.
“Bones, Big Macintosh!” Applejack greeted. Like her younger sister, she ran over and gave us both a hug. I was glad to have her back, safe and sound. She turned to the large stallion behind her.
“Ah’d like ya to meet Rockhoof, former member of the Mighty Helm.” Both Mac and I looked up at the massive fellow that stood before us. He stuck out a large hoof.
“Pleasure to meet ya both,” he said in a thick Scotch accent. The two of us each gave him a hoof bump.
“Likewise,” I said with a smile. I was glad ponies hoof bump instead of shaking, no doubt he’d have crushed mine if he had. “So what brings ya to our little farm than?”
“Applejack said I could spend a day or so here to prepare for the journey back to my old village. I’m gonna be helping these archaeological folks unearth the old place.” He gestured to the shovel that sat on his back.
“We were just ‘bout to head in when we ran into AB,” Applejack explained. “Ah figured y’all might wanna meet our guest before supper.” I smiled at her.
“Well Ah reckon we both appreciate that, Applejack,” I replied. “Ah don’t know ‘bout you two though, but Ah’m as hungry as a horse.”
We all had a good laugh at that. I still find it strange that such similes make sense in a land populated by ponies and other equines. As we walked back toward the house, Mac went to be with AJ, leaving me with Apple Bloom on one side and Rockhoof on the other. As the large stallion walked, he began to whistle a tune; a tune I knew all too well. Without realising it, I began to sing the words, at least as I knew them.
Hark when the night is falling,
Hark hear the pipes are calling.
Loudly and proudly calling,
Down thro’ the glen.
There where the hills are sleeping.
Now feel the blood a-leaping,
High as the spirits of the old highland men.
Towering in gallant fame,
Scotland my mountain hame.
High may your proud standards gloriously wave.
Land of my high endeavour,
Land of the shining river,
Land of my heart forever,
Scotland the brave!
“That’s not the words I remember when I was a nipper but it’s pretty close,” Rockhoof commented. “Ye got a drop a Coltic blood in your veins too have ye?” I pondered that for a moment.
“Ah s’pose,” I replied. “One side of my family is ancestrally Irish Ah think. And there’s plenty of Briton in there too.” Rockhoof looked puzzled.
“Bones ain’t from round these parts, Rockhoof,” she explained concisely. “He used to look like that human feller ya met in Canterlot.”
“Oh aye?” Rockhoof asked. “Must’ve been some pretty serious magic to do that to a pony.” I nodded.
“It sure was,” I replied. “It’s been a few years since Ah got here, and Ah know a lot about magic. But Ah’ve still got no idea how Ah ended up like this, nor does Twilight, or even the princesses.”
“Maybe Starswirl can help ya, lad?” Rockhoof suggested. I bit my tongue at that. I had no doubt that insulting the mage would tick him off.
A magical genius Starswirl may be, but if you ask me, he is nothing more than your typical unicorn of the period; arrogant, pompous, self-righteous, and deeply closed minded. He is, directly or indirectly, responsible for more than a couple of Equestria’s woes, including the creation of the changeling species. In my opinion, now that he’s back, he ought to be held to account for his actions. And based on what I learned from AJ, he did seem to line up with my view of him. It was his reaction to Stygian’s harmless attempts at self-improvement that got them all stuck in Limbo in the first place, and if it had been up to him, the poor lad would be there now, still trapped within the Pony of Shadows.
But I am in the minority. I certainly never voice my views around his number one fan either. Well, I did once, and I’ve no desire to undergo a repeat experience. Still, I stand by my analysis of his character. I can certainly see why he was passed over for ascension.
Still, Rockhoof did make a good point. As much as I may take a dim view of him, Starswirl has knowledge of magic that, in some areas, surpasses even the princesses, who he himself tutored all those years ago. I suppose there was no harm in going to see him. At any rate, Sunburst was still in town as well, and it would be nice to catch up with him as well.
Before too long, we had Rockhoof all settled in at the farmhouse. It would be a little awkward, but it was only for one night. Given his size, the only one with a bed that was both big enough and could take the weight, was Big Mac’s. That left Mac himself sleeping on the sofa. Well, I knew that wouldn’t fly, so I ended up giving up my room for the night instead. It made sense, with me being the smallest of the three, actually being around average for a full grown stallion.
We all got together for dinner after that had all been sorted. Luckily, Granny Smith was able to make a few servings extra for our guest. Apple Bloom was greatly taken with the many stories Rockhoof was spinning. To be fair, I was too; the stallion could spin a good yarn, and who wouldn’t want to hear about how a pony actually defeated a full grown ursa major? It was a good story and all. I would have though, had it not been for his cutie mark, that Rockhoof’s special talent lay in telling stories instead of brute strength.
After dinner was over and done with, I decided to head out to Twilight’s for a little while. I wanted to see Starswirl, as per Rockhoof’s suggestion, but I also wanted to check in with Twilight; maybe learn a bit more about this Limbo place and what precisely the Pony of Shadows was. From what I’d heard, it was a manifestation, similar to Nightmare Moon, and that had more than piqued my interest.
Heading out into the night, I cast a simple illumination spell to light my way. Combined with the full moon shining high in the sky, it was more than enough light to help me find my way. Still, all this talk of a pony made from pure shadow had me jumping at the dark from time to time as I made my way to Ponyville. Before too long though, the bright lights of the castle came into view. The place actually glows you know.
Heading up the stairs, I found the front door once again unlocked, and at this time of night too. I made a mental note to remind Twilight of the importance of security. Walking into the map room, my sensitive ears picked up the sound of two ponies talking. One was clearly Twilight, and the other was presumably Starswirl.
As I made my way along the corridor, I considered what I was going to say. I’ve already made it quite plain what my personal opinion of Starswirl is. But I could hardly come out swinging, now could I? At the end of the day, he was a gifted scholar and wizard, and from what Rockhoof had told me, he was beginning to come around to the idea of friendship.
Stepping into the library, I found Twilight and Starswirl sitting together at one of the desks, pouring over some tome or another. Starswirl looked exactly as he had done in all the pictures I’d seen; a gaunt, grey unicorn, with a long, sharply pointed horn, and a long white beard. He wore his signature robe and hat, complete with bells. Twilight had actually done quite a good job back when she dressed up as him for Nightmare Night all those moons ago. The ancient wizard looked up at my entrance and I got my first taste of his personality.
“If you don’t mind,” he said severely, with the cold tone of a vicious schoolmaster. “We are engaged in private lessons. If you wish to have an audience with the princess, kindly sod off and come back later!” I stood where a was, frozen to the spot. Twilight quickly jumped in.
“Starswirl, wait, that’s Blade Star, one of my friends!” she exclaimed, shooting him an angry glare. Rolling his eyes, Starswirl set down the text he was reading.
“Very well, Twilight,” he said tiredly. “But really, how do you expect to learn all I have to teach if these interruptions keep up?”
“Blade Star is a friend, Starswirl,” Twilight replied. “A good pony is always willing to set their time aside for friends.” Starswirl pondered that as Twilight trotted over to join me, for I had stopped where I was in the doorway.
“Hi, Blade Star,” she said, rousing me out of my state of shock. “Sorry about Starswirl. He’s still learning the finer points of friendship.” I let out a chuckle at that.
“It’s alright, Twilight,” I replied reassuringly. “Ya already know Ah don’t exactly hold him in the highest regard.” That got her to let out an angry snort, so I backed off.
“Anyway,” I went on. “Ah came by because Rockhoof suggested that Starswirl might have some idea about my little magical mystery.” Twilight’s eyes lit up at that.
The two of us have been trying to work out why I was changed into a unicorn pony for ages. Neither of us have been able to work out an answer. We know it involves high level, almost harmony grade magic, and that it doesn’t respond to or correspond with any known spell. It wasn’t Poison Joke, although we did think it was possible that the Everfree Forest had some role in it. The big question though was why only I was affected. Mum, Dad and Lizzie all came through the exact same portal at the exact same time as humans, when I had been turned into an exact copy of an OC I’d created.
Twilight let out an adorable little gasp and squee when I said that, and she clapped her front hooves together excitedly.
“I’m sure he’d love to work on such a magical mystery,” Twilight said gleefully. “Come on, I’ll introduce you two properly and we can make a start.”
And with that, I found myself encased in her magic and pulled over to the table where Starswirl had returned to his reading.
Initially, things were a little awkward between the two of us. Starswirl may be a magical genius, but he wasn’t the most sociable of characters. Considering that I’d introduced myself by interrupting his lesson, I didn’t exactly start off on the best footing.
He also didn’t care much for my accent, putting me down as a ‘bumbling country bumpkin.’ Bristling, I replied that he was an overbred unicorn who spent so much time in Canterlot he’d forgotten the rest of Equestria existed. From there, things turned into a bit of a shouting match. I brought up a few ugly moments from his past, and he hurled earth pony stereotypes from a few centuries back at me..Eventually, Twilight could take things no longer.
“Enough!” she bellowed, actually dipping into something close to the Royal Canterlot Voice. The two of us found our lips transfigured into zippers, which promptly sealed themselves shut. After a few moments of yelling unintelligible gibberish at one another, we both calmed down and looked to the alicorn princess that now stood between us.
“You two are both experts when it comes to magic,” Twilight said sternly. “But you’re acting like a couple of foals. Have either of you learned nothing from my studies on friendship?”
The two of us took on a downcast look. We were being a bit stupid. By the time Twilight had stepped in, our arguments had degenerated to the point that even the House of Commons would have thought it petty. Twilight continued.
“Now I’m going to unzip you both. I want you to stop squabbling and actually give each other a chance.” She turned to me. “Blade Star, I know Starswirl made some mistakes in the past, but everypony has a right to change and learn from them. We do them no good by never letting them go. And Starswirl, just because Blade Star’s origins are a little unusual doesn’t mean he lacks knowledge when it comes to magic.”
With that, she unzipped us both. We stared at one another sheepishly, neither willing to make the first move. In the end, it was Starswirl himself who broke the silence.
“Twilight tells me,” he said. “That you underwent some kind of transformation upon your arrival in Equestria.”
“Yeah,” I replied quietly. “Ah used to be a human. Rockhoof tells me ya met Roger in Canterlot; he’s my dad.” Starswirl’s eyes widened at that.
“Indeed. I’ve heard of transfiguration spells being used on living creatures, but none last as long as yours. And the spell itself is usually detectable and simple enough to undo.” Activating his magic, he did a bit of searching, something Twilight had tried ages ago.
“I can’t find any indication of any spell,” he said after a moment. “If Twilight hadn’t told me, I’d have said you were naturally a pony. This is indeed a puzzle.” Now feeling a little more at ease, I put forward one of my own pet theories.
“Ah’ve always reckoned it has somethin to do with harmony level magic. That’s the only thing Ah know of that's both powerful enough and able to hide itself. You probably know more about that tree than anypony else alive.”
And so, the two of us got to talking. After a while, our earlier animosity had evaporated completely. Starswirl, in person, was far removed from the character I’d known before coming to Equestria. His arrogance had been humbled by his failure with Stygian, and he was now more willing to listen to new ideas from unusual sources. I even got to teach him a thing or two about ‘new’ magic that had been created after his disappearance.
In the end, what was meant to be a quick stop turned into an all-nighter, with the two of us staying up until dawn going over various theories. While we didn’t manage to prove anything conclusively. Starswirl did agree that the tree itself may have had a hoof in my change, although its motivations were anypony’s guess. I’d certainly not played much of a role in saving Equestria; I was no seventh element. But there were few other explanations we could arrive at that both accounted for the power required, and the apparent masking and damn near invisibility of the spell that had affected the change.
Twilight enjoyed herself immensely too. If nothing else, she fulfilled her role as Princess of Friendship by getting the two of us to reconcile. In all honesty, Starswirl and I had more in common than I initially suspected. I know that among my failings, I can be a bit of a hothead at times, and I can rush to judgement, the same could be said of the old unicorn wizard.
We finally parted ways when the sun came over the horizon startling us and letting us discover that Twilight had fallen asleep in the next room, a large old book wrapped in her hooves. Spike got her to bed, and I began to make my way to Sweet Apple Acres.
Before I left though, I asked Starswirl what he planned on doing in the immediate future. As I said before, Twilight and the others had pretty much replaced him and the pillars. The old unicorn declared that there was much for him to learn. He planned to tour Equestria, making friends and attempt to learn all he could about the magic of friendship which had both brought him and his friends back and defeated his greatest adversary.
So yeah, that’s how I met Starswirl the Bearded, and Rockhoof of the Mighty Helm. How many celebrities is that now?
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One must wonder where the magic leads.
fluff hum i was hopping Blade Star was going to finely tell Big Mac to mind his own business about AJ and him self.
I wonder, will the Pillars be able to reconcile with Stygian or will they all just shrug and forget it all happened?
Coltic. Heh.