Act Four
Long ago, in Aetite.
On the third day a messenger came to Star Swirl the Bearded and knocked on his door.
“The King will see you now,” he said.
Star Swirl nodded.
The pony left his chambers with his garb, leaving nothing behind. He walked steadily and calmly, and all around him griffons paused their conversations and watched him as he went past.
He said nothing as the messenger led him through the aerie, and he took in all around him.
“The moon is rising,” one griffon muttered under her breath.
“What will happen to him?” one asked, not caring if he was heard.
“Are we really going to just let him walk out of here?” a tiger said to a crow, who shrugged, black feathers fluttering.
“There might not be any point to keeping him. There will be nowhere for him to go by the time he gets back.”
They took him to the barricade, the fortress within the mid-ring, from which the guards could watch over everything that happened in the aerie below. The gates were unlocked for them, and they led him inside.
They climbed through a series of guarded passages, doors unlocking and locking again, and finally onto a landing high up on the king-tree’s exterior, its branch pointing west.
“There is no earthbound route to the palace,” the messenger said their escort took up positions on the pony’s sides. “From here we fly.”
The guards closed in, and took hold of him. Their talons wrapped around his forelegs, claws gripping him firmly. They spread their wings and lifted him up, the landing and the branch fell away beneath them, and the vast extent of Aetite Duchy stretched out before him as they climbed.
Far below, in the camp outside the aerie the armies were moving. For days and weeks supplies had been pouring in from the plains below, arms and armor from the mines and forges of the mountain, and griffon soldiers in great number flying from across the provinces to answer the king’s call. Now they took to the air and beat their wings against the rain, a great flock rising like black smoke into the sky.
They carried the pony to the top of the tree, and the ducal palace finally came into view.
Sitting at the top of the central trunk, at the nexus where it split into disparate branches, it loomed ominously above them as they approached.
It was shaped like a nest. Not one of the pleasant bowl-shaped nests of singing forest birds in peaceful woodlands but the great cluster of a nest built high up in a forbidding tree, a huge and chaotic structure of wood and stone. To Star Swirl it looked like an extension of both the mid-ring fortress and the Countess’s parlor, as opulent as it was warlike, covered in spires and thick branches at all sides like spears reaching for the world.
They carried him inside and flew him through its chambers until they reached the highest, deepest place within it. There he stood before a huge arched doorway flanked by ceremonial royal guards in heavy armor, and carrying silver spears.
They put him down, and Star Swirl stood on the floor on his own hooves before the door. Slowly, heavily, it swung open.
He passed through alone, and it closed shut behind him.
The hall was enormous, and as he entered it Star Swirl was like an ant stepping foot in a cathedral.
It was unworked wood, yet twisting unnaturally in a crown to a wide glass skylight far above with bright sunlight pouring through. And it was empty of all furnishings and distractions, for nothing could be adequate to the creature within.
He stepped forward, and he stood before Blaze, king of the griffons.
“Ah. The legendary Star Swirl the Bearded. We meet at last.”
He looked up, and further up.
The king was a griffon, and he was eagle and lion. But no griffon was a hundred feet long, whose head reached twenty feet above the floor while lying at rest, with wings whose reach could shroud the sun over the mountains, or had draconic scaled ridges along his part-yellow, part-black beak, and over his brow. Black twin nubs protruded from his head that would someday grow into horns.
“They did not tell you, did they?”
King Blaze rested on his forelegs, his talons curled before him. One of them alone was the size of the pony’s entire body. His voice was as powerful as a landslide, but as steady as the mountain, neither overpowering nor violent.
He turned his head, and the motion sent a fluttering wind moving through the hall. “It has been long since I showed myself in public. And stories change in the telling, as fast among griffons as ponies,” the King said. “You may tell others what you have seen, if you wish. It will just be one more tale among many.”
Star Swirl made no gesture or motion in response. “I do not tell tales.”
“Indeed.”
King Blaze turned back and looked at the pony with giant, deep, black eyes that seemed to see straight through him. “So. You’re the pony who stood by Nightmare Moon’s side.”
“And you are the griffon who fought with her against the dragons,” Star Swirl said. “I see now that story held more meaning than I knew.”
“Does that change your plans?”
Star Swirl tensed up, his jaw clenched.
King Blaze stood up.
The floor trembled beneath Star Swirl’s hooves at his weight, every small movement taking titanic force and shape by the king’s scale alone. The rising of his claw, the pressure of his talons resting on the ground, the rustling of his feathers like wind whispering through the leaves of a forest as he came to rest and spread his wings.
“What, then, do you have to say to the king of the griffons?”
Star Swirl took a step back, and the Griffon King thought he saw a flash of uncertainty in the pony’s eyes. But the stallion stood in a formal pose and cleared his throat, and began to speak.
“From his majesty the Unicorn King Titanium the First, to his majesty Griffon King Blaze, I come to deliver a message of peace and cooperation. In order to avoid a war that is sure to be bloody and costly on both sides, Titanium is willing to discuss paying tribute to the Emperor. In order to secure the independence of the Unicorn Kingdom, with the lands of earth ponies and pegasi as well if the Emperor is willing, he is prepared to offer gold and jewels, the arcane knowledge and power of unicorns that would be of great benefit to the Griffon Kingdom. He wishes me to say that the Unicorn Kingdom would be more valuable as an ally, with powerful sorcerers like myself in the Kingdom’s service, than a conquered colony. If the Emperor is willing, the King will also offer to be an intermediary in negotiations with the other pony tribes to ensure their compliance. The King has much to offer, and wishes the Emperor to understand that ponies have much to offer if the relationship is willing.”
Star Swirl concluded his message and stood silent. For a moment it hung in the air, the two of them watching each other without speaking.
“Is that all your king has to say?”
King Blaze snorted, and the breath was hot enough for Star Swirl to wonder if it was his size or his draconic heritage that did it. “If this is his best attempt, if all he can do is try to buy my favor, he did not need a great wizard to do so.”
Star Swirl the Bearded kept his eyes on the griffon, shifting his stance slightly. “What is it you mean to say, great griffon king?”
“I was curious, when I heard you were coming. That he would send you, of all ponies, and what that meant. What you would say. But now I think perhaps the messenger is the message.” King Blaze peered down at the pony with dark, piercing eyes. “Do you know what I see? I see a pony who is exiled by his own kind, who is feared rather than loved. A pony of means, a pony of ability, but a pony without a heart. Star Swirl the Bearded cares nothing for the thoughts of others. Your king did not send you here because he believed in your powers of peacemaking.”
Star Swirl twisted a hoof into the floor, gazing up at the king along his horn. “I did not come here to anger you.”
“No? I have seen the look in your eyes before.”
Star Swirl did not look away. He drew a calm, deep breath through his nose, not moving his lips before he spoke. “I doubt that.”
“But I have. It is the look of someone searching for ways to kill me.” The giant griffon turned, catlike, and stalked across the great hall with deft steps. “You are not so hard to read as the others think, pony. Since you stepped inside this chamber you have been watching me like a warrior. Gauging my strength, searching for weak points.”
He spread his wings, and a sudden gust of wind rippled through Star Swirl’s cloak, and set his bells a-jingling. “Did your king send you here to kill me, pony? Or to die trying?” He asked. “Or perhaps in the hopes that we would kill each other, and rid this world of two monsters at once? That the last traces of old darkness would be banished…?”
Star Swirl took a few swift steps to the side, and stood calmly as in the center of the storm while the winds split around him. He looked up at the king. “If you think that, why did you let me come?”
“I would not be king if I was afraid of death.” Blaze’s eyes narrowed. “And nor are you, I think. You are alone, and far from home, and surrounded by enemies. Yet you do not seem afraid.”
The giant griffon easily crossed the room in a single bound, suddenly, and stalked around him while Star Swirl turned to keep facing him.
“I thought that was why he sent you,” the King continued. “Perhaps he thought a coward would be laughed out of these halls. And whatever else you are, you are not a coward.”
King Blaze stopped, and sat upright, and looked down at the pony in thought while Star Swirl met his eyes. “Is this your king’s plan, then? Kill me, and cut off the invasion at a stroke? Does he hope that in my absence the Empire would turn on itself, that Godfrey and Gloriel and all the rest would fight each other to succeed me, and the offensive abandoned and forgot? If so then I must disappoint him. Even if you kill me the invasion will proceed regardless.”
“I am sure I do not know what King Titanium thinks of your empire. I only have my message.”
“And that message brought you into my halls, within horn’s reach. His deadliest weapon of all, aimed at the greatest threat his little kingdom faces. Do you deny it, pony?”
Star Swirl said nothing.
King Blaze chuckled. “You are not a deceiver, wizard. Poor material for a diplomat.”
“Deception requires caring for the opinions of others, and as your majesty has noted I was never any good at that.”
“Hah!” King Blaze laughed, genuinely pleased. “So you have come to kill me then… or try to.”
“That’s where your mind goes,” Star Swirl said. “Do you think every creature’s imagination is so limited?”
King Blaze smiled.
And then he slammed his claw down on the floor.
In a flash Star Swirl teleported across the room and into a fighting stance, his hooves dug in, tense and ready to spring, his horn charged with magic and glowing, a shifting dark and light aura like clouds racing across the full moon.
King Blaze laughed. “You see, little pony? Life is war. You of all ponies know that. We are made of the same stuff, you and I. I can see what your king sees in you.”
Star Swirl’s eyes burned. “You know nothing of me.”
“Don’t I?” King Blaze raised his head in satisfaction. “You will be a formidable foe on the battlefield… I don’t doubt that you will take many griffons down with you. They will sing songs of your death for decades. It will be glorious.”
Star Swirl bit back his tongue until the bile receded. “Do you really care so little for life?”
The King shook his head slowly. “You don’t understand. The griffons are many things but they are not cowards. The more power you contain, the more dangerous you seem, the more they will dream of hanging your head on the wall for all to see. Great challenges lead to great rewards. I taught them that. Don’t pretend the great Star Swirl the Bearded doesn’t understand. You, of all ponies, are not interested in peace.”
“I do not want to kill anyone,” Star Swirl said in a low voice. “But if it’s necessary to protect the peace… I am willing to.”
King Blaze shook his head. “Don’t lie to me, wizard. You can lie to anyone else. But I recognize a nightmare when I see one.”
Star Swirl’s face flashed in a snarl. He had dug in his hooves and his horn glowed, a shifting dark and light aura, like clouds racing past the full moon.
He forced himself to stand at ease and extinguish his magic. “They think that. I wondered what you would think.”
King Blaze laughed, slowly. “Oh, now it comes. That stings, wizard. Such hurt in those few words. Go on.”
“Do not presume you know me. Some things are duties. Some things are tasks. Some things are…”
“Desires?”
“…Questions. Questions that cry out for answers.”
“Is it so painful for you to admit that you want something, wizard?”
Star Swirl glared up at the griffon king, and for just a moment there was the slightest tremble in his legs. King Blaze leaned down.
King Blaze laughed, softly, bitterly, and it made a deep rumbling sound in his throat. “It comes to this at last then. A battle for the ages between us two monsters, to decide the fate of Equis… She must be pleased.”
The King leaned down so his head was close. “Tell me, little pony.” His voice was so strong that even at its softest Star Swirl felt it throughout his body. “Do we not understand one another well?”
Silence hung in the air.
Star Swirl turned his head away, his eyes closed.
“I see it is true, great king, as the griffons say,” Star Swirl said. His voice was low, reluctant, but resigned. “You are indeed as mighty as they claim. You are the source of their spirit, the drive that urges them on to conquest.” He sighed. “That is what I had to see for myself. What you were, in all of this. If everything she touched…”
The king raised a brow.
Star Swirl turned his head away, his eyes closed. “I was lost, after the fall. Ponies had to find their own way forward, and so did I. There was nothing for me there but pain and regret. So I left, to search for answers in the places untouched by ponykind, the dark corners of Equis. I needed to find the root of the evil, and to find some way against destiny itself, to repair the damage we had done. I spent years in the wilds, searching, heedless to everything else… And when I finally returned to Equestria I found a land I couldn’t recognize. The pony tribes divided. A Unicorn King, unworthy of his crown, ruling a country built on a lie. Blind and careless to the past, as though they thought by pretending it never happened they could erase the pain. And I was an ugly reminder of everything they wanted to forget.”
The griffon king cocked his head, watching and waiting.
“I had to see the only other creature who knew her as she was,” Star Swirl said quietly. “To take the measure of the griffon, the one who fought beside her for the world’s survival before he became the Conqueror King, so feared and hated by all the world. I had to see if you really are what they say… if everything she touched carries the same taint.” He looked up into the king’s eyes, his own eyes filled with the resolve of someone who had seen too much and had nothing left but to continue forward. “If you are a monster that I have to put down before I do the same to myself.”
They were both still for a moment.
“I miss her.” There was an unusual tremor in the pony’s voice. “So much.”
“She was…” King Blaze sighed. “She was unique. I doubt we will ever see her like again. The world no longer has room for creatures like her.”
“She held the beauty of starlight in her eyes, and the softness of the breeze in a shadowed garden to steal away from the summer’s heat.” Star Swirl looked up at the heavens through the glass skylight. “She… understood. In all the world, she was the only pony who understood.”
“I saw her as a friend. A king does not get to see many creatures as friends.” King Blaze looked away into the distance of his memories. “She was a fearless warrior, and an honorable ally. I learned much from her. I… did not believe it, at first, when I learned she was defeated. I could not imagine it.”
“She was alone.” Star Swirl glanced away and closed his eyes. “At the end of everything, she was completely alone.”
Another moment of quiet passed.
“Your griffons are wrong about me, king,” Star Swirl said. “I was not the one pony who stood by her side. I was the one pony who failed her when she needed me most.”
King Blaze lowered his head. “I cared for her, pony. I knew when she was defeated that the world would never be the same. I mourned her… It was she who taught me to command. It was she who made me king.”
“And now your kingdom is turned against her people,” Star Swirl said bitterly. He looked up at the griffon, with no anger in his eyes, only regret. “Tell me, great king, how did that happen?”
King Blaze turned his head upwards, deep in thought, and remembered.
“She… she came to the Peaks when I was young and foolish, and unsure of myself. She was searching for allies, and had been rebuffed by all the other clans. But she was strong enough for a griffon to admire, and desperate enough to offer her words to a minor clan chief, and a half-breed.
“She recognized my mixed blood, and knew what it meant – in all its facets. She knew that dragon blood made me stronger than a griffon, and that griffon blood pulled me away from the Dragonlord’s command. But more than that, she knew what it meant to be apart from those you rule. We spoke long into the night, and she taught me a different way to lead. She taught me about your pony nobility, and urged me to lead by example rather than through challenges of strength and fear alone. To inspire others to lend me their strength. That we are stronger united. And thanks to her we stood against the dragons, together.
“Her lessons worked. Rather than demand obedience from my underlings from fear of my strength I promised them rewards in return for their accomplishments in my service. When we won victories and claimed land and wealth, rather than hoard it for my own glory I gave it out to those who had performed great feats of strength. I showed my followers that they would be rewarded for their valor, and I showed the great warriors of other clans what they could reap if they fought for me instead.
“The other clan leaders laughed at me. A thane who didn’t have a respectable pile of gold to call his own? Outrageous. Ridiculous. Doomed. They kept laughing until their strongest warriors left them to join me instead, and I took their treasure and gave it to their old underlings as a prize.
“In the end Belekos, the Jagged King, was felled. The sky turned, and the Day of the Dragons ended. With the dragons gone we had an entire new land for the taking. I carved it up like a roasted boar, and gave it out in pieces to my followers, in return for their loyalty. I told them to do the same, and spread the word of griffon greatness across the mountains and the plains, as Nightmare Moon taught me. More and more griffons flocked to my aeries, we spread our wings and soared! They wanted to prove their strength, and share in our wealth. My nobles competed for the greatest of them, sought out new lands and new challenges. We grew to greatness no griffon had ever known…” A flicker of pain flashed across the griffon king’s face. “I wonder if I should have seen it then.”
Star Swirl listened, and waited as the king struggled to find the words. “Was it Nightmare Moon’s corrupted influence hanging over me? Was it the Jagged King’s final curse on us both? Or was it a magic spell built into the idea itself? My Griffon Kingdom grew and became the Empire, stronger than ever, built on the twin promises of victory and reward. But somewhere along the way it became too strong to keep in check. With each new conquest came new nobles and warriors looking to prove their might, and the drumbeat of war became unending. The Empire moved from strength to strength, battle to battle, to all who watched we were unstoppable, and glorious!” The king’s voice rose to a great shout, and then stopped, and he let out a long-drawn sigh. “It’s difficult to turn, when you’ve been traveling down the same road for so long. They all expect things from you, so clear from the image of you they carry around in their heads. Perhaps you know this, strange little pony.”
Star Swirl glanced away. “Yes. I do know this.”
Griffon King Blaze shook his head. “My foolish, mis-taught children… I have seen what happens to empires, pony. They take, and take, and take. The sweetness of triumph turns to dragon’s greed. In the end there is nothing left but bloodlust, and cruelty, and the inevitable. Look upon my works, Star Swirl the Bearded – I did this. The Griffon Empire will grow until it can grow no longer – and then it will tear itself apart, leaving Griffonstone a hollow shell. I do not want this fate for my children.”
The King shifted, and the floor creaked, the sun blocked by the king as he turned his head upwards to look out the skylight. “I am growing older, pony. Even dragon’s blood doesn’t make me immortal. I sit at the head of the Empire, but it has a will of its own. Someday I will be gone, and the imperial crown will go to some careless thug like Godfrey, and it will all be over.
“I built a machine for conquest, little pony. The Empire spreads across Equis like a fire, that grows hungrier the more it consumes. And it does not—cannot—stop moving. This war is nothing personal. I hold no animosity towards you ponies. But the Empire has set its eyes upon you, and I cannot change that.”
Star Swirl blinked, and stared. “You don’t even want to do this?”
“What I want is for griffonkind to endure. Not crash back down into a thousand powerless, fractured clans, easy pickings for any other creatures. But even a king does not always get what he wants. In difficult times we make the best choices we can and hope for the best. You of all ponies should know this.”
Star Swirl took a step forward, staring up at the giant griffon in disbelief. “You don’t have to do this. You’re the king! Don’t tell me you’re powerless now.”
“But I am king. It is my responsibility. I will not sacrifice the entire kingdom to satisfy my own regret.”
The two of them looked at each other in silence, locked in a stalemate each with themselves.
Star Swirl drew a deep breath, then let it out. “Tell me,” he began. “You are famous for your honor, King Blaze. You built the Griffon Kingdom by honor, not only bloodshed. Your word is iron. Isn’t that so?”
King Blaze nodded.
“And if you swore on your honor to put an end to the imperial conquest, would your griffons not listen to their king?”
King Blaze laughed, mirthlessly. “Maybe they would have, long ago, when my strength was fresh in their minds. But it has been a long time since any griffon truly feared me. The Empire has overtaken me, pony. I can no longer command it.”
“Then perhaps it’s time we remind them,” Star Swirl said. “Show them the fire of the past one more time.”
King Blaze gazed down at the tiny pony. “What are you suggesting?”
“Fight me,” Star Swirl said. “Give them a spectacle they cannot ignore, to instill their hearts with awe and dread, and show them that the empire is still no match for the terrible wizard, or for the magnificent Griffon King. Show the ambitious who trail your steps what they are up against if they seek to break from your rule.”
The wizard stared into the eyes of the king of griffons. “Remind the Empire how it feels to be uncertain. Remind them of Nightmare Moon, and the Day of the Dragons. Show them what it means when titans fight. And then, when the horror of it is fresh in their minds, and none would dare gainsay you, make your command.”
Star Swirl raised his hoof in invitation. “A secret pact, known only to the two of us. Put an end to the endless bloodshed, and let your people learn to live in peace.”
King Blaze looked at the pony, deep in thought. “The nobles will not accept a complete halt. Not without a fight. They will want your head instead.”
“If there has to be a war, make it against me only,” Star Swirl said. “Make it your duty to see it done. Find the greatest assassins on Equis, and send them after me. Maybe give me a head’s up when they’re coming, so nopony else is hurt.” He chuckled softly, and smiled. “Even the boar hears the call of the hunting horn, does it not?”
King Blaze raised his head level, and looked at the golden aerie hall around him. “I won’t make this easy for you. They must see that we give it our all. Are you sure you are ready for this?”
“I won’t hold back if you don’t.”
The corners of King Blaze’s beak curled in a smile. He held out his talon, that was as large as the pony, as if for a shake. “Then I believe we have an accord, Star Swirl the Bearded. Are you ready?”
The pony nodded, and put his hoof against the talon. “I’m ready.”
His horn glowed, and King Blaze’s eyes lit with fire as the ground beneath them began to tremble.
At the end of all the stories, Twilight closed the last book.
“That’s where it ends. Star Swirl the Bearded goes into the room, and the rest is theory.” She sighed. “I’m afraid we’ll never learn the full truth.”
She pushed away the book and glanced over her notes. “The Griffon Empire would never grow again. It stayed in that deadly stalemate with Star Swirl for many decades after, until the Windigo frost changed everything. Then came the first Hearth’s Warming and the founding of Equestria. With ponies united again the danger of war abated. King Blaze eventually faded from history, and his successors struggled to keep his lands together, let alone conquer more. The Empire stagnated, and eventually broke apart. The Griffon Kingdom itself kept going, united around the Idol of Boreas, until it was lost. And you know the rest.”
“You sound weirdly sad about this,” Starlight said. “Things worked out well in the end. The invasion was stopped. The three tribes lived in peace and disharmony, and eventually the first Hearth’s Warming brought them together. It’s a happy ending.”
“I know. It just… it bugs me, you know? There are so many things we’ll never know about the world we live in. About the ponies, and creatures, that built it, and made it happen.”
“There’s always time travel,” Starlight said eagerly, flashing a manic smile until Twilight scowled at her. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding! Sheesh.”
Twilight ran her eyes over the stacks of books and the notes she’d written on her quest for understanding. “He went there to make peace. But he failed completely, and the two of them were locked in battle for many decades to come,” she said quietly. “What was he thinking, in a time like that? This is maybe Star Swirl at his lowest point. Trapped in a dark age, watching Equis descend into barbarism. Everything was a struggle for him… It’s kind of tragic that the only way he could find to protect Equestria was to fight.”
“Whatever else you can say about him, Star Swirl the Bearded is pretty clearly the wrong pony to make peace.”
“Maybe. But ponies and griffons have such a long history together. Even into the modern day, young griffons came to attend pegasus flight camps. Pegasi, hippogriffs, griffons. We’re more closely connected than either of us think, and still – so far apart. I keep thinking that if things had gone slightly differently griffons could have been just like us ponies.” Twilight ran a hoof softly across an illustration of a griffon in flight. “A whole nation of creatures struggling across centuries to find a sense of themselves, trying to find something to keep them linked together…”
“Threats of violence is no way to organize a country.”
“We’re all bound by the limits of our imagination. What will ponies say about us in a thousand years? Will they think we did a good job? Will they understand that we did our best with what we knew?”
Starlight didn’t answer.
Twilight pushed the book aside and stood up. “You mentioned time travel… I’ve wondered about that sometimes. Maybe just to observe, if it could be done safely. If we could see things long gone, without interfering… Just imagine what we could learn.”
“You’d witness a lot of tragedy then. And I know you would desperately want to change it. Would that be better?”
“There are good parts too,” Twilight said. “We all made it this far.”
“Yeah. Somehow. Here’s hoping it keeps going that way.”
Twilight took one last look back at the desk as they left the library, and the stacks of books piled up on it, and their histories.
She lingered there for a moment, then turned away, and closed the door.
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- Daedalus Aegle · 4.3k words · 35 2 · 564 views
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Woo, a sequel!
Awesome.
I thought it might be something like that.
Outstanding work. I love how widely the fables diverge, saying much more about the ones telling them than the history they claim to retell. The fact that no two can even agree on what Blaze is says volumes. The fact that his name doesn’t start with a G should have been a tipoff that the truth was stranger than any fiction provided.
It was a joy to read your Star Swirl again, to say nothing of the other tales sprinkled in throughout. Thank you for a fantastic read. (And don’t feel bad about a few individuals pivoting the world. What’s the point of fiction if we can’t dream of a better world, or at least a more easily fixed one?)
11372550
It's been a while, hasn't it? Time flies.
I loved that
And I enjoyed the fact that as the basic pony description is tribe/color scheme/cutie mark, the basic griffon description is just cat/bird combination.
Thanks for reading, and for the lovely comment! This story has a lot of Star Swirl being his truest self, and it was great fun to write. And I'm glad Clover got a few scenes in too. Not to toot my own horn but there are so many great details in here that I really like. I do love every one of the stories, and all the characters who showed up.
Great to see this up on its hooves! And in the feature box, to boot! Woo-hoo!
This just crossed my feed and it was so appropriate to this story that I have to include it here. By the recently departed Hilary Mantel:
pbs.twimg.com/media/FdX0WdsUoAAQCqd?format=jpg&name=large
Chapter 1 was intriguing
Chapter 2 had some of the funniest parts (I knew something was off when Star Swirls legs was suddenly long and shapely) (also the clerk version was hilarious)
Finally chapter 3 was.... sad, just. My heart aches for both of them. Two lost souls forever touch by one, and both missing her terribly, trying to reconcile all that went wrong, and is going wrong around them. Just, damn that hit me like a ton of bricks
11373299
Thank you. This story was a labor of love, it's great to know it made it across.
That last chapter - I want to believe that it's the Truth, the one and only - but that it's unknowable is the wisdom of the story.
Well done.
Okay, got around to reading this. And this is porbably one of the most unique stories I've had the pleasure of reading on the site. The framing devices tickled my fancy, and of course I'm always glad to see more of your Star Swirl. But the stories themselves, truth and fiction alike, were the real draw. What stories would be told about the meeting of two figures equally shielded from the public eye? Certainly ones more interesting than the truth in many ways. For what could be more disappointing than a legend about the broken remnants left in the wake of an older legend? (Also I laughed at the bit with the plagiarized Sphinx confrontation.)
11376815
Thanks for reading.
Note that I made sure to literally plagiarize that scene: it is made up entirely of text lifted from The Crown of Night, with parts that couldn't be easily adjusted cut away. There is a single new line to introduce it and I made sure to write that line very badly on purpose.
This story - all these stories - are full of details like that. So much thought and care went into every one of them, even for the most obscure jokes that no-one but me will ever know are there. This story is special to me.
Great to learn more about Star Swirl and what was driving those assassins. Brilliant story, and I enjoyed having something of the quality of The Education of Clover the Clever, but a more manageable length (I got a bit lost in The Education...) I was impressed by the world you built around the Aetite aerie and I liked the Twilight commentary and introduction by Spike.
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Glad you liked it!
Yeah... I get carried away at times
Damn imagine just uploading a 10k+ word story Completed, what a chad. I'll give it a read
A fun and heartfelt addition to the universe with yet more delicious worldbuilding. No particular feedback, I’m just really glad this crossed my path.
I find it interesting that Star Swirl's magic seems to be the only thing that any two of these stories agree on, let alone in this kind of detail. The nature of his power is normally one of the most elusive things about him.
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There are a lot of fine details.
Thanks for the comments, the typo is fixed.
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Also, since the moon was kind enough to demonstrate just now, when I describe his magic I have in mind something like this:
pbs.twimg.com/media/FeulULlWABMpXGD?format=jpg&name=large
I've read many stories on this site over many years now, and nobody manages to write Starswirl the Bearded as well as you do. I love it.
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Thanks for reading, and for the kind words.
There's still plenty of Star Swirl stories to tell. It just takes time, unfortunately.
Oh dear, I hadn't realised this got released. I'm so glad to see you're still writing and fleshing out this wonderful world ♥