This story is a sequel to What I Am
With the invasion repelled, and both planets in the process of rebuilding, there has come a moment for our heroes to stop and take a breather, and reflect upon the events that have led them to this point, and to investigate the nearly forgotten fragments of the past. One such fragment holds secrets that are easily revealed, however, mysteries that have been hidden for centuries behind an ancient tongue, and are finally within the grasp of the Royal Sisters to uncover.
At the special request of the sisters, as well as the curiosity of their new human allies, the last record of the old pony that the sisters had once called teacher are finally translated, and his last words have finally been revealed for all to see.
Yet, their shared history is not a happy one, and even though his story ended on a fair note, a dark shadow loomed over his last remaining years. Starswirl saw many things that others could not, and though he did not live long enough to prevent the tragedies of the future, his warnings still echo from the dust.
These are his writings. The last testament of his life.
* * *
Exactly what it says on the tin, this is the account in the book that Celestia showed Alex in What I Am, and ties directly into that story. It is a bit of a spinoff, yes, but it will have importance to the story as a whole, and will be very short (only around 6-7 chapters at most), so it will not be that big of a detour.
Lucky me!
Is this a Stargate Reference?
10715857
Nope, sorry!
10715984
Stargate makes the reference that Myrddin is another name for Merlin, but is it also just a historical thing?
10716079
If you ever even think to ask about whether something from Stargate is a reference to real world history or mythology, the answer is almost certainly "yes". The writers of that show referenced real world stuff all the time.
Wait... I’m confused. Last chapter the “the gods” were mentioned instead of “God” and in previous stories you seemed to indicate that those who fought discord were of an ancient Hellenic origin. This would imply our character is from before the Rome conquered Greece or aided in the spread of Christianity to the majority of Europe. Yet this statement would imply that our character was born in AD 400+ if it is assumed he is referring to the western empire. When is this story taking place?
10716505 I actually did a bit of research on this, and it's really quite interesting, though my source might not be the most accurate. While yes, christianity was spread around at the time, it wasn't completely widespread, aka it hadn't spread all across England. Not to mention there were pockets of the old religion scattered here and there throughout England as late 650ad-700ad. To put a specific time period on this, it's about 610ad, just after the fall of the roman empire, with the majority of England facing poverty and fractured governments, and not quite with a unifying religion yet.
10716518
Oh. I thought the guy was from Central Europe for some reason. What about the aforementioned Hellenic warriors?
10716532
They're from before the creation of the Roman empire. Yes, the changelings took *that* good of care of their armor and weapons, which is why they're in such great shape. Providence remembers.
10716535
Are you saying this story is following a different human separate from that group?
10716547 Since some of these questions aren't really going to be answered, I'll give you a timeline.
~around 400-300bc: Oracle of Delphi calls Greece's mightiest warriors to her, to combat the vision of doom that she had seen concerning Gaia. Many are summoned, but few arrive. They journey through the portal created, never to return. The old oracle dies soon after, before she is able to summon more, while her replacement, a young child without the gift of sight, sees the statue as nothing more than a vanity project from her predicessor. It is sold off.
The statue trades hands through the centuries, with some coveting it dearly, while others shunning it, for the nightmares it seems to induce in them, slowly migrating north, until it falls into the hands of a young roman official in England.
395-476 ad: The fall of the roman empire. The statue continues to trade hands in the remaining roman forces, and then into the hands of the emerging english factions that arise to fill the power vacuum that followed the Empire's fall.
610ad, the statue comes into the possession of one Lord Æthelnođ, a minor noble in the kingdom of Wessex. As it is being transported, however, a deep torpor overtakes the men ferrying the statue, and it disappears from public eye.
~675 Ad, the statue is found near a rotten cottage by a group of lumberjacks, and is sold off.
Hopefully this has shed some light on the timeline, here.
10716547 so, yes, it is following a different human than the Greek soldiers that died fighting Discord.
10716079
Myrddin (mir-thin) is the Welsh form of Merlin. The Welsh legends of the character are way, way different from the character depicted in Le Morte d'Arthur and other Arthurian stories.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myrddin_Wyllt
10716712 Eyup. Sorry, but no actual arthurian legends are going to be involved, here. This is more based off of the real life Myrddin, who was a notable madman/prophet during around 600 ad.
10716724
*shrug*
It's still the origin of the name.
Amazing so far.:D
10716728 Oh, no, I was agreeing with you. Not correcting you.
Not really. As long as you have a trained army with better guns (and cannons, tanks, bomb Carriers, etc..) you have the advantage.
10717820 a well trained army certainly helps, but Mao, Stalin and Hitler all have the exact same thing in common: before they started slaughtering their own people, they disarmed them.
As I read this, I can’t help but think of what Arthurian scholars and other historians would give to get their hands on this book.
“Let’s see, I can offer up a lung, a testicle, a kidney, my left arm, both legs and can I interest you in my first born?”
10718070 hate to disappoint them, but this has little to do with aurthurian legend. Lots to do with the actual Myrddin that lived at the time, who was a notable madman/prophet whom the character of Merlin was at least partially based on, but not Merlin himself.
10717939
No. The key was indoctrination, and convincing them that some among them (ethnic minorities, free thinker, dissenters in general, etc..) were the enemy. And that only the Great Leader could protect them from said enemies and guide their nations to glory.
Freedoms are brought by the masses realizing their oppression and organizing against it.
10718132 Doesn't change the fact that they outlawed the common citizenry from owning weapons. Look it up, it's a thing that happened.
Discord must be getting bored of the pure chaos to not immediately dispose of Myrddin like he did some of those ancient warriors.
10720726 remember, he didn't dispose of them immediately, he first tried to get them to remove their armor.
Myrddin has none.
A couple of the time you used "weaved" where you should have used "wove". Otherwise, I look forward to more.
10725877 Thanks for the catch! And yeah, next chapter should be out pretty soon: baby girl's finally sleeping by herself, now.
Interesting... So he took on Starswirl's identity! I also got some Moses and the Burning Bush vibes from that last scene.
Hold' on.... so Starswirl was a different individual?
"Starswirl and Merlin knew each other" cliché. *chug*
10738247 Yes. This was actually explicitly stated by Queen Titania in What I Am.
10738308 This isn't Merlin, though. This is Myrddin, one of the real-life people that Merlin was *based* on, but not actually Merlin himself.
If you haven't caught on by now, this guy has absolutely nothing to do with Arthurian legends, literally all he shares in this story with Merlin is the name, and the fact that they were both wizards.
BTW, I just noticed this story isn't listed as related to "What I am", might want to link it as a sequel to that.
10738700 Thanks for the catch! Just fixed it.
soloquotes.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Motivational-Quotes-Stay-Amazing.jpg
10717939
Only half true for Hitler. He disarmed the people the Nazis called ''undesirable', so jew's, communists etc. Gun control for the rest of Germany was actually relaxed.
Wiki article: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_gun_control_argument
I don't know how much truth is behind the others named, but I think the better general argument argument would be they disarmed those they wished to suppress / kill and brainwashed the rest. And if the brainwashing fails they have the army to terrorise their people.
10787109 doesn't change the fact that he disarmed them first before throwing them into camps. Always be wary of those that would disarm a population.
Hm. Yep. Take that feeling... and multiply by a few billion people. Humanity is not going to be happy with Discord. Just about time for a new Crusade I think. I said as much a loooong time ago now. Or at least it feels like it. XD
Certainly sounds like the sorta-assholish StarSwirl we know and "love", heh.
there something I don't understand, How did Myrddin bring the Argonauts?
Didn't it disappear with the crystal empire?
Although in another paragraph Discord mentions having fought against his people, will they be the same Argonauts?
or others before him?
10822397 Uh... what? I'm not sure what you are talking about. The mirror was the only thing he left behind, I have no clue what you mean by Argonauts.
If you're talking about the humans who came before Myrddin, they've been dead for over 900 years, buried in a tomb inside Queen Titania's hive, far, far removed from the crystal empire.
Will the epilogue be posted on this site? I'm a bit confused by the author's note.
10822524 in what way are you confused? I meant that this particular short story is almost done, and at most, will have one more chapter, and *possibly* an epilogue chapter. If it doesn't get one, it'll be marked as "completed," and you can consider A Darkened Sky, which is the next book in the series, as the epilogue, since it effectively continues the story, and ends this short tale.
10822558
Ah. That explains it. Thanks for clarifying.^^
10822560 np.
10822411
sorry i confused the argonaut names with the promethean ones, hehe.
oh! so they weren't brought by Myrddin,
I thought he was the one leading the expedition.
10822958 Nope. Myrddin came much, much later. This story is basically here to explain how he got there, and what he did.
10823061
Given the effect "Chaos Vision" had over Myrddin during the rest of his life, could that be true for Discord too? Jaded and insane to the point he didn't even care if the Sisters one day would find the Elements and use them to imprison him?
10824227 Well, he's sort of the embodiment of chaos. Insanity is kinda his whole shtick.