This is the Bearded Journal, a sort of prequel to the Hour of Twilight. This will be what Starswirl, Pinkie, and Silence did during the reign of Discord, and what happened to Starswirl after Discord fell and Luna was banished. I will also be including quotes from Starswirl's (somewhat chaotic) notes, most of which are spread around Equestria, so there might not be a quote with each of these chapters.

~ High Roller

"The Origins of Changelings and Gryphons are actually quite similar. Both are the offspring of Discord and an Equestrian, but the way they are created differs. A Changeling is made when the Equestrian gives birth to the child, but a Gryphon is made when Discord gives birth to the child. As the supreme being of Chaos, Discord has no sexual preference, and so, whenever he craved male companionship, he would simply turn himself into an attractive female Equestrian."

- Starswirl's notes on the Origin of Species.

"Come on, Starswirl!" Pinkamena said, obviously frustrated, " We were supposed to leave 5 cycles ago!" (1 Cycle = 1 rotation of sun and moon, varying amounts of time, due to Discord's chaotic mood swings.)

"Relax, Pinkamena," Shattered Silence said, nuzzling against her neck, "It's not like it's been that long. I was only able to count to 6 after all."

"Still, it's the principle of the matter!" Pinkamena shouted, "We should already be well away from here! I don't want to be anywhere near here when that bomb goes off!"

"Relax," a unicorn said as he walked up, "The bomb won't go off for another 10 Cycles, so we should have plenty of time."

"Took you long enough," Pinkamena said, "And for your information, Starswirl, we just had 5 Cycles in a 6 count."

"Well then," Starswirl said with a smirk, "I guess we have 5 Cycles to get to the minimum safe distance, don't we?"

"Let's go then, shall we?" Silence said, quite amused by his friends banter.

Turning together, the three friends walked away from the building they had left the bomb in. Once they had reached the minimum safe distance, they turned around to watch. Luckily, they didn't have to wait long. Almost as if it was waiting for them to turn around, the sun and moon went through 5 Cycles in 3 seconds.

Bracing themselves for the shockwave, the friends were stunned when they were hit by enough icing to make them look like life-size pony cakes.

"What the buck?" Pinkamena said, confused as to why her bomb hadn't gone off like it should have, "Where did all this icing come from?"

"Wait a minute," Silence said, thinking, "I really hope I'm wrong."

"What?" Starswirl and Pinkamena asked in unison.

"This result is not what we expected. It wasn't even predictable. And where the unpredictable happens…"

"Discord soon follows," They finished for him.

Looking around, the three searched for the tell-tale signs that the Spirit of Chaos was nearby. And sure enough, after a few seconds, buildings on the other side of the town started to float off the ground, or in some cases, pull the ground with them. The ponies inside the buildings simply continued on with what they were doing, used to the chaotic whims of their ruler.

"And what do you three think you're doing?" a voice they knew all to well said right behind them.

"Run," Starswirl said, "RUN!"

Discord only laughed as the ponies ran from him. With a snap of his fingers, the land underneath them started to break and float away, creating a treacherous maze of crumbling paths and dangerous pitfalls.

Pinkamena and Silence spread their wings, flying above the dangerous ground, while Starswirl used his magic to allow himself to run on every surface like a spider.

"Psst," the whisper caused Starswirl to stop as he looked for the source of the noise.

"Down here."

Looking down, Starswirl saw an earth pony hiding in what appeared to be a sewage pipe. The pony motioned with his front right hoof that Starswirl should follow him.

Using his magic to telekinetically grab his friends, Starswirl jumped into the pit, dragging his friends along with him. Once he finished sliding down to the bottom he released the magic and ran into the sewage pipe, following the earth pony. Pinkamena and Silence weren't far behind him.

Summoning a ball of light in front of him, Starswirl walked through the pipe, following their savior.

"Who are you?" he asked the pony, attempting to start a conversation.

"Tha names Applebuck," the pony said with a distinct country accent, though his somber tone stole any hint of joy from the three friends.

"Why did you help us?" Starswirl continued.

"It wasn't mah choice. Tha Directors wanted ta see ya. If it were up at me, y'all woulda been left for Discord, what with all the chaos y'all been causin'."

"Directors?" Pinkamena said, "Who the heck are the Directors?"

"Y'all ain't really observant, are y'all? Tha Directors lead tha Resistance. It's them that wants y'all to join us, though y'all won't be doing anymore fieldwork, near as I can tell."

"If we aren't doing fieldwork, then how can we help the Resistance?" Silence asked.

"There's a lot more ta tha Resistance than just open attacks against Discord. Y'all will be joinin' tha R&D division."

"The who-se-what now?" Pinkamena asked.

"Research and Development. Y'all'll be helpin' ta find better ways ta combat Discord."

"And just where are you taking us?" Starswirl asked.

"Ta R&D Headquarters, of course. Y'all are gonna meet tha Directors in person. It ain't very often that tha Directors leave their labs, so ya better be polite and proper, ya hear? Otherwise, there'll be lots a ponies wantin ta put ya under, if ya catch mah drift."

"And how much longer until we get there?" Silence asked.

"We're already here," Applebuck said, while stepping to the side and motioning with his hoof for them to look.

The sight was like nothing they had ever seen. There was a sense of order to the place, from the systematic layout of the buildings, to the perfectly symmetrical architecture of each individual building. And that wasn't all that was orderly. Everywhere they looked, they saw ponies conversing with each other, helping each other accomplish tasks that they couldn't do alone, whether it was something difficult like lifting an iron beam for a building under construction or something simple, like trying to climb one of the many apple trees. None of the three friends had seen such beauty in their entire lives.

"Ahem," the sound of somepony clearing their throat snapped the friends out of their stupor.

Turning towards the sound, the three friends were greeted with the sight of two unicorns whose coats were exact opposites of the other. The unicorn with the white coat, obviously the older of the two, if size were any indication, opened her mouth to speak.

"It is good to finally have you here, Starswirl, Pinkamena Diane Pie, and Shattered Silence," the unicorn's voice sounded benevolent and calm, almost the way you'd imagine an angel's voice to sound, "My sister and I have long awaited your arrival, ever since the three of you attracted the attention of our scouts, not to mention the attention of our 'King'. For years we have watched you, waiting for the perfect opportunity to bring you here, and so, here you are.

"But where are my manners. My name is Solis Caeli, though you can call me Solar. And this is my sister, Selena," she said, indicating the Midnight Blue unicorn next to her, "We are the Directors, and the founders of the Resistance."

"We know you have questions," Selena said, cutting off Starswirl as he opened his mouth, "but there is a very strict schedule down here, and it is almost time for lights out. We will answer all your questions tomorrow. For now, please follow Applebuck. He will lead you to your quarters. Good Night."