Twilight Gets a Puppy
Season 4
By TDR
Plecostomus Twilight Sparkle,
Episode 2, Part
4
[?]
Twilight flinched as the world solidified around her, her body tensed up as she forced herself to open her eyes. After the last vision she was reluctant to try this again. Her friends managed to convince her to give it a go and Rahs was going to be there so she finally went for it. Still she was going to have words with Velkorn if she ever saw her, and Rahs had already stated he was planning to eat the zebra gods face for this, so she might not even have to get violent herself. Which worked out because she wasn't really feeling that violent at the moment.
The place they arrived this time was the mouth of a large cave. Looking around outside they seemed to be in some sort of chasm, far above at the top of the cliff face she could see trees, likely a forest of some sort.
Still it was what was in the cave that caught and held her attention.
A great crystal tree, reminiscent of a weeping willow, dominated the center of the cave casting a sparkling light around its little niche. The tree itself was what seemed to give off the glow that caught it's leaves lighting them up like prisms. Etched on the tree trunk itself were two symbols one depicting the moon, the other the sun. Their placement on the trunk seemed almost natural as if they had been put there when the tree was younger and had grown with the tree itself.
The air felt charged with energy, a magic that Twilight could taste despite this only being a vision. Rahs stood nearby walking around the tree as it hummed softly. As he drew nearer to it, the lights flickered brighter towards him as if the tree knew he was there despite this simply them not really being there.
The investigation of the crystalline tree was stopped as a line of energy cut in the air just outside the cave, the line tore open with a sound of a thousand ripped out book pages. Horrific screaming could be heard emerging from the hole, just a constant sound as if ponies with infinite air in their lungs were tearing their throats bloody as they cried out constantly.
Either that or a whole mess of Pinkie's rubber chickens.
Soon eight figures stumbled out of the tear and scattered across the small area at the mouth of the cave.
The first was an wrinkled lavender unicorn mare with gray greenish hair that fluttered in a unseen breeze. Given her poise and grace she was likely quite beautiful when she was younger though age had clearly tried to rob her of it. She winced as she stumbled out taking a spot on a small patch of grass outside of the cave clutching her chest.
The second was a blue earth pony mare with a red mane, she wore some sort of costume and mask that was reminiscent of a bird. She quickly shook her head as she collected herself before rushing over to the older mare's side to check up on her.
The next was an armored orange furred pegasus stallion. He was carrying a large shield on his back and a red scarf adorned his neck. He landed heavily on the ground with a clang before quickly moving around the area checking it over like a guard or a solider.
A small dark blue maned and light blue furred unicorn mare staggered out of the rift, quickly darting past the pegasus stallion to a large rock out side the cave to release the contents of her stomach. A small emerald green dragon fluttered around her landing on the rock she was heaving behind, patting her back. The little green dragon glared at one of the others leaving the portal.
The next out of the rift was a massive earth pony stallion, the light blue stallion had a shock orange and red mane, and a large beard. The pony might have been larger than Big Mac even, and carried a large shovel across his shoulders. He was the first to notice the tree given how he stared at it in confusion.
The seventh figure was a pretty pink pegasus mare dressed in something that looked to come from Cleopatrot in the far east. Her green striped tail and mane were barely visible under the headdress she wore. She flew out to land next to the solider saying something he nodded to, before she took to the air flying up out of the chasm.
The final figure didn't stumble and he strode out of the rupture in reality like he owned the place. Twilight recognized him instantly. A gray furred unicorn stallion with long white hair and a great bushy beard, the sort that iconic wizards were depicted as in all of Spike's games. Well all male wizards, the less said about what the female wizard images wore the better, as like what they wore, there wasn't much to say.
He wore a dark blue cloak with a pattern of the night with stars and moons and a large hat to match festooned with bells.
“Th... that's Starswirl the Bearded.” Twilight squeed.” Which means that ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh. That's Lady Mistmane. and that's Mage Medowbrook, and that's Rock Hoof, and that's Flash Magnus, and the one who flew off is Somnambula and those two are....”
Twilight trailed off looking at the ill unicorn mare and the green dragonling. “ Well I have no idea who those two are, but these are the Pillars of Old Equestria. This must be a vision of right after the unification when the group of them first formed to deal with the evils still left in the world.”
“Woof?” Rahs asked and Twilight blinked.
“Sunset banished herself, and the other monsters he sent in clearly didn't manage to do anything to the other world, so Starswirl must have examined the other side of the portal before sending anything through.....”
“Bork....” Rahs again pointed out.
“Nothing was wrong with the journal, I must have read something wrong with it....” Twilight protested as Rahs threw his hands in the air.
“Okay Starswirl. The next time you get a bright idea to throw us into a freaking Tartarus portal to fight an army of undead controlled by an old goat, DON'T!!” Flash Magnus shouted at the gray unicorn.
“It worked didn't it? We had the element of surprise on our side and we easily defeated the hordes and their creator.” Starswirl harrumphed as he put his hoof down and frowned shaking it.
“Grogar will be back, we didn't find his phylactery.” The unnamed blue mare coughed.
“Good news.” Somnambula stated as she flew back down to the group. “We're in Equestria, Whinnysor is at the top of the Canyon. And we haven't been gone long as they are still building the south wing.”
“Perfect, I could use a little break.”Mistmane stated.
“Not to distract from the much needed rest. But what is that?” Rock Hoof asked. “I've never seen anything like it before.”
The group looked taking note of the crystalline tree in the back of the cave.
Starswirl frowned as his horn lit up, his spell scanning the tree before he frowned.
“Clearly it is nothing of importance, as my spells tell me it is simply a mutant tree.” Starswirl huffed his attention going back to his hoof seeing if he had a rock or something stuck in his frog.
“It's beautiful”Mage Meadowbrook added in lifting up her mask to look at the faintly glowing tree.
“Yes, yes, visually attractive.” Starswirl gruffed.” It has the same magic as those toys Celestia and Luna used on that lout that was making eyes at her. Still better that they dealt with the problem for once. I'm sick of cleaning up their messes at this point, and that Discord thing made a big one.”
“You're just [CENSORED] mad that they fixed the problem first and no ones [CENSORED] the [CENSORED] with you[CENSORED] and a couple of[CENSORED][CENSORED][CENSORED][CENSORED][CENSORED] drag my claws though your burnt stubble.” The little green dragon yelled at Starswirl.” And Lily take [CENSORED][CENSORED][CENSORED][CENSORED] spell off of me!!”
“Not until you calm down Drusy.” Lily chided, frowning as it seemed their whole exchange was ignored by the others.
“Now then we have a week before the next chaotic mess shall happen so every pony go rest and do what ever it is you ponies do. I have research to take care of.” Starswirl muttered.
“Are you sure this thing is safe?” Flash Magnus uttered looking at the tree.
“Indeed, perhaps we should investigate this further?” Somnambula asked.
“For crying aloud. Why do you care about something so easy to dismiss. It is a crystal tree, there are hundreds of them in the Empire. If you are so concerned with a plant here. “ Starswirl pulled what was stuck to his hoof off, the item looking like a black seed. He blasted a hole in the ground and dropped the seed in before covering it. “ Mistmane set that growing.”
“Umm are you sure about that? That thing came from the undead realm of darkness we just left.” Lily pointed out.
“Lily hush and let your betters work.” Starswirl snapped.
Mistmane rolled her eyes and lit up her horn the ground where the seed had been planted glowed lightly and a few black tendrils with blue thorns emerged from the hole burned in the ground.
“There. The crystal tree now has a friend so it won't be lonely, we are leaving. Starswirl snapped and his horn lit up causing the whole group to vanish save the unicorn mare Lily and the dragon.
“[CENSORED][CENSORED][CENSORED] bags, at least they didn't leave us in the [CENSORED][CENSORED] Lichs home.”Drusy snarled. “I mean seriously [CENSORED][CENSORED]!!
“I …. it's just because I'm not as strong as they are... maybe if I could do something on my own … they might notice me....”
“Or I can set fire to [CENSORED][CENSORED]swirl's pointy [CENSORED][CENSORED][CENSORED] hat.” Drusy offered.
“No, it's okay.. clearly I need to do something....” The mare muttered as the images started to fade.
[Golden Oaks]
Sunset frowned looking at the catatonic Twilight Sparkle and Rahs Sparkle. The former getting giggled at by Rainbow Dash and Pinkie as some of the potion trickled down her face. Sunset was going to make a Bukkake comment, but Pinkie beat her to it.
Trixie and Witch-Jack were still fighting, despite both of their hats being gnawed to bits, neither of them seemed to be gaining the upper hand... dammit, hoof.
“Hey Spike. Mind answering a few questions for me?” Sunset asked.
“If it's about my brothers love life, no, I am not dealing with that..... in regards to either of them.” Spike stated flatly as he played with a little phoenix chick that fluttered down once everything was calmer. There was also a raccoon asleep on Rahs now that growled at any one who came close. Sunset was curious, but wasn't about to mess with a creature that would fight a god for a half eaten bagel out of a trashcan.
“Nah mostly about my cousin or niece or grand niece or whatever there.” Sunset gestured to Witch-Jack who was currently sitting atop of the 'Small and Comically Flailing Trixie', looking quite proud of herself.
“Ehh she got possessed by the spirit of a dead witch wolf and now when too much magic is used around her she turns into one. She's still Applejack now, but well, like if Applejack was a cat. It's weird how she acts when she's like this. It's still her, but a far less … bound by laws and morals, her. You understand?”
“Sorta and sounds fun.” Sunset shrugged.” Couldn't you just hit her with an exorcism spell if its a possessing spirit?”
“Well that's a necromantic spell and Twilight's not familiar with them. The court licensed necromancer couldn't cast anything on her she didn't eat, and Discord said even if we did remove it fully she'd still be changed. Removing it might even make it worse since it seemed to bond fully to her now.”
“She eats magic ? Like Rahs?”Sunset blinked.
“A little worse than him. Rahs has had his whole life around magic and he can turn his down a little, or off … I dunno what he picked up as a god, but he's just a moon dog. Witch- Jack is a witch wolf, which is like a hyper version of a moon dog and she hasn't even been one for a year yet, so she has no control over what she eats.”
“Ahhh, I see.” Sunset smirks.” This is gonna make things interesting when I head out to the farm.”
“So I've got a question for you then. What's up with Trixie's training?” Spike asked pointing at Trixie who had formed the illusion of a small red dot that drew Witch-Jack's attention. Trixie had then run it across the floor and Witch -Jack gave chase, only for Trixie to yank it to the side sharply, forcing the orange furred wolf mare to turn sharply and loose her footing on the smooth floor. Witch-Jack then slid into another bookshelf, which collapsed atop of her as Trixie cackled.
“From what I under stand Luna is trying to teach her to improve her illusions. The fact she can trick the universe into making them real is pretty impressive, or would be if she could make anything complicated that was bigger than a bit. Seems the bigger it is the simpler it has to be or it won't take. And she needs a lot of rest because her mana pool's not that big. I was told about the alicorn amulet and Luna still can't get her to reproduce the same results as she had with it on. Luna says that's odd because all the alicorn amulet does is open the path to your magic flow better.”
“Of course the fool thinks that because she didn't think to ask me.” Sombra growled from where he sat nearby, half hiding behind the check in desk holding an ice pack to his head. “ I made hundreds of those things for practice, why would I only use the one enchantment on them? True some opened the mana pathways fully, but others drew in mana from the surrounding area and channeled it into the wielder, others had set spells in them, still others had nothing but a curse on them, and others did other things like helping some ones cooking skill.”
“I'm surprised there's not a ton of them around then.” Spike frowned.
“I called them dog treats for a reason. The witch wolves ate most of the ones I made, turning them back to scraps of metal.” Sombra frowned. ”I'm surprised any survived. I never had the time to make more while trying to keep my kingdom. And the damnable guards won't let me near a forge.”
“Probably a good thing given they think you'll make something and go after Twilight or one of the Princesses.” Spike growled.
“And exactly what would I be able to do to them whelp? I couldn't beat your sister when she was mortal with a concussion, what am I against her as she is now?” Sombra snapped.
“Well for starters you're not drooling all over your self after looking like you just 'had a drink from the fire hose.'” Sunset offered.
“Good one!” Rainbow Dash chimed in.
“Not right now.... ugh you know what I mean mare....” Sombra growled.
“BUCKING. STARSWIRL. THE. BUCKING. BEARDED!” Twilight ranted suddenly.
“Either this was a really weird nerd dream, or she found something.” Sunset offered.
“She found something, usually if she has dreams like that it's about Big Mac.” Spike offered.
“Wait is he my nephew or what ever?” Sunset blinked.
“ Yup.” Spike stated.
“Reeeeeealllly.” Sunset grinned.
“Don't They're already dating. You won't like what happens if you mess with her about it. Trust me.”Spike warned.
“Fiiiine” Sunset huffed.
“Woof!” Rahs shouted back at his sister as he sat up only to be knocked back down again as Witch Jack and Trixie tackled him driving him face first to the floor.
Blakeney had wisely moved the moment he woke up.
“Right, focusing. I know where we need to go for answers and also what looks like the source of the vines.” Twilight stated.
“Into the Everfree I assume?” Rarity sighed.
“Ummm yes.” Twilight blinked.
“Of course because everything has to come out of that nasty place.” Rarity sighed.” Well darlings give me a moment to get my boots and we shall go.”
“No, you guys stay here it's too dangerous. Rahs and I can deal with this.” Twilight shook her head before blinking as she noticed everyone else in the library was glaring at her.
“How about no.” Rainbow Dash offered.
“Trixie did not get dragged down here to Ponyville simply to let you run off with Rahs some where.” Trixie scoffed.
“Seriously we didn't let you go last time alone and it's worse now.” Witch-Jack offered.
“I agree with Trixie on this. Besides you and Rahs are both what the vines are after so some ones got to keep you two from getting grabbed. In truth you two should be the ones staying here and letting us go.” Sunset pointed out.
“Well we all know that's not gonna happen.” Pinkie Pie grinned. “ I already packed cupcakes.”
Sombra blinked at this looking at the pink mare though he shook his head. ”My cousin has a point. The vines have not shown any interest in foal napping any ones else, just harassing them and driving them off like in town and with that zebra. Gods seem to be the target.”
Twilight sighed. “ Fine I'm not even going to argue, just bring the Elements of Harmony with you girls we might need them. Along with a few hundred gallons of weed killer.”
“Plants hate fire.” Sunset grinned.
“No.” Sombra growled.
I am curious about the dragoness in the memorial
Drusy the small dragon? Im getting confused between the small dragon in Pokemon Sword/Shield, and Drupal which is some form of programming language?
Starswirl just did a Doom Guy on Grogar, and is so full of Himself, he doesnt even notice he sat on a pineapple?
that dragon that had censored somethings which i guess is swearing sorta reminds me of Mr.Torgue
Twilight finally found the truth about her former idol.
And Ah'll be watching yah.
well that’s interesting, the tree was already here long before starswirl and co, and is that mare with the dragon this worlds counterpart to stygian?
….. dam it starswirl, I want them to meet so she can rant to him about all the issue and trouble he has caused
also my bet is the tree is in fact goddess of harmony
What the actual hay, Star Swirl.
I look forward to the rehashing of beard with a jerk ass stuck to it only with Twilight this time.
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doing my best not to follow that. But i suppose with how Starswirl seems it's hard not to follow it a little but that wasn't the intention.
My bits are on Twilight snapping and re-banishing Starswirl back into Limbo after they free him.
They're talking about Grogar... I'm getting worried
Of course Starswirl's plan dosen't deal with him permanently, none of his plans ever do
... I like her/him
........so Twilight, what do you think of you're idol ?
That's gonna end badly
Twilight got her crash course about Starswirl early
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Ik but i like the idea of Starswirl fulfilling that "you should never meet your heroes" thing and that's currently the best example i know of.
On Starswirl, we already know Luna has a pretty low opinion of him, so his being a jerk was kind of already suspected.
.... I think I found my spirit animal. Also what was said under all the censor bleeps?
So this Twiggles still has her fascination with the bearded jackass. I wonder how long that'll last, probably until he insults one of her brothers. Family does seem to snap her fast this time around.
I like how this Sunny thinks!
And once again, with the plants going after gods to try and drain them of Magic, and the plant seemingly being something of Grogar's and hasn't really done anything until now, reaffirms my earlier suspicion that whatever that fucker Solomon has become is behind this. Though I am calling it now, everything he is doing with what he stole from Grogar is all part of Grogar's Plan to come back and the power hungry lunatic attempts at becoming a God is just bringing about his own eventual demise. Heck, is probably all apart of some really stupidly complicated and elaborate plan for Grogar to obtain a portfolio not easily destroyed.
Starswirl really is just that guy who has a nook where he hoards things, except in this case his hoard is a bunch of magic BioWeapons and Sealed Evil he just really doesn't feel like actually resolving.
NGL I feel a bit called out here.
10061953 That sounds about right for the senile old coot.
Does it seem like Sombra is ending up as the group's voice of reason to anyone else?
10061610
Oh that one villain from ratchet and clank who had a censoring ship for when he spoke
Starswirl is a butt.
10062473 Nah, he's from Borderlands. He's the owner/founder of the Torgue weapon brand in the games. His Board of Directors forced him to have a device surgically implanted that bleeps out swear words because he sweared so much.
I really like the fire obsessed Sunset.
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Swore. Because he swore to much.
Sorry, that is just........ agitating for me.
10062410
Maybe alongside Spike. I think he'll be a lot more reasonable (except concerning Luna) by the end of this mission. That, or he'll be utterly broken.
Hey... hey hey.... Sunset... How about we make a pony version of dual flame throwers?
And now he's on team "let's go save the world"! This is great
10061841 Agreed
(Censored) me.
Last time..... happened, let's leave it at that. Given the few chapters left, guessing this 'episode' is all just backstory and set up, with the actual issue being taken care of next time.
Huh, well.... or we just start skipping things and moving the story along faster, alright. Seems odd given what a big deal was made over the way things were witnessed last time to skip over this part and just move right to the next potion.
Yeah, non-cartoonish violence will do that. Is a bit odd given that this series is pretty much "Twilight and her brothers/friends inflict massive and entertaining damage on all who irritate them." buuuuut, as said before, cartoonish violence where you just need to clean off the soot, stick an ice pack on the bruises, and maybe take a few weeks to regrow some hair.
Which as noted, makes the sudden realistic violence of last time all the more jarring, but the contrast can work, it all depends on how it's dealt with. But it was still overly graphic to what would be needed to actually get that point across, and as noted, all depends on if this means something long term, or is just meant for some quick shock value, and a chapter or two of angst/drama before everything goes back to business as usual.
Well, hello Tree of Harmony.
We never did get a name for Luna and Tia's mother did we..... though, one sec.. double check something... okay no, back when he was freed Discord referred to Harmony and their mother as separate entities.
So, to go back to some D&D classifications, we looking at an Overdeity level god?
Ah, so going with The Pillars, and I'm guessing Tia and Luna. Also, I'm guessing the hell portal is just how Starswirl rolls when trying to transport others, if they don't like it, they should just learn to teleport themselves and stop bitching at him.
..... The town is called Sonambula, though that might just be one small town in the larger region that one would default to a bigger one to describe, but it was still pretty firmly established in being to the far south of Equestria, not East.
Why does that matter for a species that's normally naked anyway?
Huh, even after having to clean up more messes cuased by him then Celestia, still idolizes him. Then again.... yeah this Twilight likely wishes she could be a huge a asshole to those who irritate her and get away with it like Senpai did. Even more then she already does that is.
Okay, so not Tia and Luna, Luna and whoever that dragon is then.
Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
And yet Celestia, she invents reasons to be pissed at.....
Ah, hello Grogar!
Yeah, that's about the attitude I'd expect.
Ah, so full on Lich. Wait....... did the story ever actually NAME the 'God of Rams' who is supposed to have died? Or can gods become liches and Starswirl just never figured letting others know what's going on mattered cause clearly he dealt with it? Double wait, they got wiped out during the Nightmare War didn't they anyway? Hmmm, lot of options here......
This is what happens when you tank the fuck out of your WIS and CHR scores to get a bit more INT, do take note Twilight.
Wait, so Discord was before the Pillars? That...... brings up a LOT of questions about why things played out the way they did and why change these thing like that.
Also, so that isn't a preascension Luna then.
Yeah, I buy it. Also, well then.
Okay, we have names.
I'm guessing not a Saturday or Sunday, Starswirl wouldn't stand to have his weekends ruined. Thursday's maybe?
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So, black, evil, energy draining vines do seem more a Grogar thing then a Discord thing.
Ah, so Lily is this story's version of Stygian
Yeah, watching those two play off each other is going to be fun.
Or paw in Witch-jack's case.
Smart move.
Yeah, that pretty well sums it up. Also...... pretty well sums up cats as well.
"Dogs are assholes."
Dog lover: You take that back! How dare you insult them like that!
"Cats are assholes."
Cat lover: Yeah, pretty much.
So everytime Applejack tries to tell her something isn't a good idea, Sunset will just zap her into Witch-jack and offer her some tuna to come along for the fun?
It's just to win a bet, pretty much nothing else.
Ohhhhhhhh! I like this! Pointing out how no, just because a character says it does not make it true, and that they could be mistaken about things when we are told this is how they are. Yes that was the case with the whole witch-wolf curse, but without it being a case where things were built up explicitly for them to be in the wrong, but just a casual 'no that bit of world-building wasn't right because the person saying it didn't know as much as they thought they did."
Also yes, this fits in much better with how things actually went down.
Get put in a full body cast? Yeah, at least he's smart enough to know he can't win this fight.
TAKE NOTES FORTHE!!!!!!
There it is! Yeah, Disckswirl, he MORE then earns this type of reaction.
Yeah, Rule 2 of Ponyville Survival. "Listen to the dragon."
Well, unless it's another case of needing to restore the Elements. So.... is the Tree Harmony herself or not?
She's not wrong.
Ah, there it is.
But... but........ Fire is good! Can we at least 'burn it all' as plan B?
Alroght, back to form and looks like no, we are actually going to go rescue them in one chapter. Alright then.....
Though still makes no sense why the potions sent her back in such a random order, and the second one is pretty much totally useless as all the information she needed came from the first and last. Show at least it made sense that everytime she had a vision, she was going further back along the Element's timeline.
As to the note of how the past vision's goryness will effect Twilight this time.... not feeling it, just a quick recap telling us it took some persuasion to go back again and that she's feeling less murderous then usual, with her back to full RAGE mode by the end.
10096866
The potions locked on to the elements of harmony. When they were used against Discord. Then they shot too far forward to the next time they were used before Locking onto the name Harmony as they calibrated, The third time they hit the mark
10096866
All the rams supposedly died during the war with Solomon and thus most God's believed the God of Rams (who we're pretty was Grogar) but I think it was also stated that the God of Rams was also the creator, and God, of Necromancy
10550913
yup
So yeah, who wants to bet Starswirl ends up the 3rd picture under the definition of 'obliterated?'
Damn fine twist to the story! Starswirl of your story is quite the dick...
Damn... is Starswirl an even bigger dick in this story than he was in canon?
Also, even an idiot would know planting a hell-based plant next to a divine-based tree is just asking for trouble. Granted, none of them knew the tree was tied into Harmony, but still. Planting a hell-based seed anywhere but hell is a bad idea in general.
cdn-img.fimfiction.net/story/3nnb-1620876043-494960-medium
Magnificent chapter you truly own in every way 👏
Ah yes, Starswirl the biggest piece of [REDACTED]
Sombra is helping...
He's providing assistance more than this Celestia and Canon Celestia combined, and is doing far more than his canon counterpart...
This story is giving me a new perspective on Sombra, Trixie, Luna, and Sunset as of late. That surprises me.
Nothing has changed for Celestia, and that doesn't surprise me.
Soldier
Ha! Nice!
Starswirl was 10% useful 5 % very useful ann 85% a asshat...
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Probably one of Bleur offspring.
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Funny, anyone Twilight looked up to was a harsh let down...
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Noone is more Badass and Gangster than R2-D2!
They had to censor every singel word with a beep or other sounds to cover his lines up
10061786
Just another day/week in his lifetime
10061841
Probably for the best, really
That dragon was like R2D2 just half as hardcore since not every word was censored with beeps and boops.
Ha! Unexpectedly in origin and most certainly very creative custome made origin.
Starshit the bearded sure screwed over the royals.
He probably was a founder of the purists that started the witch hunts long before the Witchwolves.
Two seasons later and we still haven't learned... well, practically anything about Lily and Drusy
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We’ll probably learn more in the season seven finale.