This story is a sequel to The Education of Clover the Clever
History is full of mysteries.
Before the first Hearth's Warming, when the pony tribes were divided and weak, the Griffon Empire threatened to conquer the lands of ponies. The Unicorn King sent his court wizard Star Swirl the Bearded to the Griffon King to persuade him not to.
When the dust had settled the Griffon Empire ceased all expansion, and for many decades afterwards the Griffon King sent assassins to kill the wizard.
No-one knows what the two of them said to each other when they met, and over time the meeting between them became shrouded in myth. Legends sprang up about what had happened, each wilder than the last.
Now the story is told.
(New to the series? Unsure where to start? Don't worry! While they share a history, all these stories are meant to work on their own, and explain themselves along the way. Feel free to try this one, or start with one of the others. The Education of Clover the Clever is considered the best, and is a great place to begin.
This is an AU I started writing in 2013, and it has diverged from canon in ways large and small, but it rarely matters. When this story begins Starlight Glimmer is here, and the Castle of Friendship, but Star Swirl the Bearded hasn't returned to G4's present.)
Woo, a sequel!
Awesome.
Some
peopleponiesgriffons just can't let go of a grudge.We're pretty that Star Swirl did actually go.
Maybe.
METAL GRIFF!
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"Based on what we know it would make a lot more sense if he actually went than if he didn't."
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Metal Griff?!
Noooo, I need to know if their forbidden love bore fruit!
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?)
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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
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Thank you. This story was a labor of love, it's great to know it made it across.
Without another word spoken they approached each other and their lips pressed together in a passionate—
“Wait, no! Clover! Keep reading!” Twilight Sparkle cried as she reached the end of the text, furiously scribbling notes in her journal. “I have to know what happened next! For research!”
Yes, totally, keep reading Clover! I need to know what happens next!
*ahem*, whoops, got a little carried away there.
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.)
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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
Oh Spike, Spike, Spike...
You are on the cusp of learning an important, yet disappointing fact of life here. Starlight's "dismissal" and brushing off hits home for me a bit; I can really feel myself in Spike's situation and be befuddled as to why no one else treats it seriously.
Heh...
Like brother, like foster-sister.
I dunno...
I have heard rumours that he can be a bit of a wanker.
(RedApropos - Unexpected Visitor)
That guard kitty-birb best remember that age-old aphorism:
"Beware of an old mage in a profession where ponies usually die young. Old unicorns did not get old by accident; they got old by being wise, having the right knowledge, and being tough. Never underestimate an old stallion who has grown up in a rough profession or a rough environment."
That is such a good description of Starswirl.
I would pause at the "blunt instrument" bit though. Maybe "blunt" in the hooves of a less-skilled noble (or when they want to send an unambiguous message to other kingdoms...), but I would see Starswirl like a macuahuitl; enough raw power and strength to bash and brute force a solution, but providing the backbone and foundation to something that terrifyingly razor sharp.
That is some real Wasp level strategery there by king Ti there. Sacrifice a single pony and tie up your opponent's entire empire?
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.
This part is definitely canon. That rock went on to be Star Swirl's 'is the universe destroyed and fake' indicator.
'Saw seen' appears to be a typo here.
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 ♥
I wonder if the rock that was better at arguing is somehow Holder's Boulder at the Pie Family Rock Farm. That would explain some but not all of Pinkie's eccentricities.