Penned IN

by Qwix

Prologue: A Star Shrouded Future

Equestria, the land across, was hardly fit to sleep. The night sky was being watched by a small few tonight; stars shined brightly, twinkling in the wake of a just set sun. It was by the grace of the mare of Night, an alicorn by the name of Princess Luna, that night could come to cloak the land in silence, revealing an immense beauty to all that cared to watch it.

The hills and fields seemed to breathe in rhythm with the ponies of Equestria tonight. Those that slept, those that watched the night sky, it mattered little. For to those who knew what would happen tonight, the sky would be darker than usual. The moon would shine a little less brightly. There was word by Luna that a meteor shower would grace the night sky tonight; by her control of the Moon (and a little cooperation from the weather-managing pegasai), conditions to watch the divine celestial dance would be perfect.

Some did not care much for the prospect; they chose to stay inside and dream in the hold of silent slumber. But to those who knew of the sky's mysterious dance tonight, they would find a place outside tonight to take in the marvelous spectacle. Six ponies, close as friends can be, were of such bent that elected to enjoy it at the expense of a little sleep.

Well, most of them anyways.

A pegasus with a mane of many colors wore a grumpy expression as she landed on the hill. She mumbled, "I don't get why I had to be called in overtime. It's just some silly lights in the sky."

An alicorn, possessing a lavender coat, looked up from her considerably heavy book titled 'The Astronomical Astronomer's Almanac to All Things Astronomy' at the remark. "Luna went out of her way tonight at my request! Meteor showers don't happen that often, you know. And besides, we haven't done something together in a while. Rarity's been up to her neck in commissions, Fluttershy just got back from a safari, and I haven't even got the chance to do something not princess-related lately. What's a loss of a little sleep if it means we can hang out?"

The pegasus rolled her eyes, then plopped down besides the other.

"Eh, I guess so. I can hang anytime; being a part of the Wonderbolt reserves hasn't really done anything for me yet. There was that one time I got called in to help Soarin' coach a few new recruits, but aside from that, they mostly leave me alone," she said indifferently. "Speaking of which, where is Rarity? I thought you said she was loosing sleep over the last few commissions. Can she even make it here and stay awake for the whole thing?"

A pink pony fell out of nearby tree, scattering leaves everywhere and hanging by a rope. "I just checked!" she said in an excited squeal. "She juuuuuust finished the last project a few hours ago and then she shooed me out of her house! Said she was getting ready?"

"Pinkie! What took you so long?" said the lavender alicorn.

Pinkie replied, "Oh, after I left Rarity's, I met Applejack at Sugarcube Corner to load up all the drinks and snacks for tonight! She said she could handle the cart without me, so I decided to head her off!" As Pinkie finished, the rope broke and she hit the ground with an 'Oof!'.

Another pegasus, this one with a yellow coat, fluttered out of the branches with a pair of scissors in her mouth. She spat out them out and spoke in a soft tone, "Oh, please don't do that again. You were hurting the tree by doing that..."

Pinkie scrambled to sit up, turning to see the source of the voice. "Oh, hi Fluttershy! When did you get here?"

"I was sleeping in the tree before Twilight even got here. You woke me up..."

"Oh, eheheheh... Sorry!"

Fluttershy disappeared behind the tree, reappearing with a small basket. She gently tilted it over; half a dozen candles, a picnic blanket, and a few sandwiches rolled out. "Oh, I didn't know what to bring, so I just packed for myself. What did you bring, Pinkie?"

At the question, Pinkie perked up and dived into the ground, spraying earth everywhere. After a few moments and sounds of scraping, several balloons rose out of the hole, quickly followed by an overhang. It planted itself in the ground in mere moments; Pinkie popped back out of the hole, covered in dirt.

"Well, since I knew about it ahead of time, I had this buried this right here," said Pinkie. "Also, who wants cake?" She ducked back into the hole and reappeared once more, this time with a pristinely frosted cake in midnight blue cast.

Twilight glanced up at the newly constructed overhang, then raised an eyebrow. "Um, Pinkie? You do remember that we're here to watch the sky, right? How are we going to do that with something over us?"

"Oooohhh... I thought you said we were having a midnight party! But it's still a little chilly tonight... I also buried a motor home, in case anypony needs a warm place without going home tonight!"

Twilight, looking thoroughly nonplussed, said, "Um, Pinkie...? Wouldn't it have been easier to bury blankets instead? ...Oh horse apples, what am I saying? That's why I brought blankets!" She dug into her bag, pulling out six blankets with her magic. They flew through the air, landing on each ponies' backs.

Fluttershy caught hers, wrapping it neatly around herself. She said, "Oh, thanks Twilight! I should have thought to do that... You're always prepared!"

Twilight opened her mouth to answer, but a sudden burst of noise down the hill interrupted her. At the bottom, an orange mare wearing a cockeyed cowboy's hat and a white-coated one, wearing an equally angled garden hat (with matching ensemble) walked side-by-side, audibly arguing. The orange one was hauling a small cart full of food; the white one was looking onward in shock. As they approached the group, it became clear as to what they were arguing about.

"...but Applejack, you can't possibly expect me to believe that we are going to eat all that food? I mean, apple fritters? Those go right to your gut! And we're only going to be out here for a few hours, so-"

"Sugarcube, who said anythin' 'bout you eatin' all this food? Most of this is for me! Hey up there! Sorry we're late! Rarity ran into me on the way here, she keeps tryin' to tell me off 'bout the food. D'ya think this is enough? Oh, another reason I was late; think you'll appreciate it, Rainbow Dash."

Applejack pulled the cart with little effort up the hill, parking it underneath the tree. Upon it was pilled numerous apple pies, a cache of apple fritters, a few dozen apple tarts, crackers, chocolate bars, marshmallows, and last but not least...

"CIDER. MINE. ALL MINE!"

The mare with the rainbow mane, Rainbow Dash, sent grass flying as she got up at top speed, smoking the dirt slightly. She fluttered around the barrels in circles, emitting a high-pitched, "Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod THANK YOU!"

Applejack tilted her hat a little more, wearing a pleased expression. "I tried finishing the day's round of apple buckin' quickly so I could whip up a batch or two for tonight. Knew you'd appreciate it."

Dash halted her mid-air circling, zipping into a bear hug; through the death squeeze, Applejack managed to get out a high-pitched 'Yer welcome...!' before Dash let go and proceeded to fill an entire mug with cider and drain it in ten seconds flat.

The six of them quickly set up the impromptu camp. The night sky above them, quickly darkening from the setting sun and rising ring of a moon, shifted from a soft, light purple to a cool and mystical blue. Then, as it began to grow too dark and the chill night winds wound their way through Ponyville, Twilight lit Fluttershy's candles with a quick spell, handing everypony one. The nighttime had begun in earnest, and Twilight's gaze was firmly fixed to the sky in anticipation.

Some time passed; stories were swapped (Rarity went at great length about her newest dresses) and food was devoured at leisure. Rainbow Dash had drained an entire cider barrel by herself after eating several pies, and had passed out on the picket blanket a little dizzy with drink. Pinkie had taken a little extra frosting off the cake she brought and was beginning to write on Dash's face when an excited gasp emitted from Twilight.

The first meteor crossed the sky in mere seconds, but it left a brightly glowing trail in the sky. As attention turned into the sky by all five that were awake, more of them appeared. In quick succession, they followed to light up the sky with their trails, each more awesome than the last. After a while, Twilight burst out with an 'Ow!'

Fluttershy looked down inquiringly. "Twilight? Is something wrong?"

"Oh, nothing..." Twilight answered in a pained tone. "Just sprained my neck by looking from the sky to my book and back to much..."

Another gasp, this time from Rarity, returned all five's attention to the sky in haste; a meteor appeared over the horizon, filling the night sky with a blinding brilliance. It was passing slowly across the sky. "Oh my, so fabulous! Twilight, I'm glad you told me that this would be happening tonight, that one right there is just, it's so — my, I can't even find the words for it! Ahahaha!" exclaimed Rarity.

Twilight was watching the meteor, an expression of confusion upon her face. Pinkie, ever the ponies' pony, was the first to notice by the glow of the shower. "Twilight? Something else wrong? Your neck still hurting?"

Twilight didn't bother glancing over, eyes still affixed on the meteor. "I'm not sure... I don't recall ever seeing a meteor going that slow before. In fact, I'm not sure that's a meteor..."

Pinkie glanced back at it. "Really?" she said.

Twilight looked back down at her book, massaging her neck while she flipped back to the section labeled 'Celestial objects'. "According to this, comets can last in the night sky for days due to how slowly they move, though nopony knows why. Some say it's a bad omen..."

"So you think that's a comet?" Pinkie said. "What's it doin' with a buncha meteors?"

Twilight glanced back up, concern deepening in her eyes. "I don't know... There wasn't supposed to be a comet tonight. In fact, according to the records," she said, voice trailing off as she scanned the pages, "There isn't supposed to be a comet until next winter... So why, I wonder...?"

As they watched, a resounding explosion shook the sky, setting off many lights in town. The comet had split into two pieces, trailing flames and screaming towards the land below. One piece, the smaller piece, hit the ground in an acre of trees on the other side of Ponyville. The larger piece continued, heading towards the mountain away from town...

As the raucous aftershock resided, many ponies in town could be seen wandering out of their homes, confused as to the source of the noise and the state of the numerous broken windows. Twilight was the first to recover, but Applejack was the first to voice the common concern. "What in tarnation was that?!"

Twilight, vision still obscured from the sudden burst of brightness the flame had given, slowly looked over the fields to the place where the smaller object had impacted. "I don't know... but we should go and find out. It landed in Sweet Apple Acres."

Applejack took no further word, galloping away and making sounds of indignation along the way. Pinkie, Rarity, and Fluttershy also followed suit immediately, but Twilight took a moment to look down where Rainbow Dash was still somehow asleep. Shaking her head in disbelief, she piled the rest of the blankets on top of her and flew into the night sky after her friends. As she did, quiet began to descend once more in Ponyville; lights began to shut off once more, and the last sounds that rang the nighttime was those of a gentle whisper of the winds and the crackle of flames in an acre of apples...

On the banks of a stream at Sweet Apple Acres...

The sound of a sundering chaos had died down. The flames continued to crackle, but the winds themselves seem to stand in wonder at what just occurred here tonight. The stream, though, continued to flow without pause. It alone seemed unperturbed by intrusion.

By the bank of the stream, a ring of flames surrounded a lone figure, dusted with ash as to be unrecognizable, save for the obvious four hooves and horn. The figure stirred, displacing enough ash to reveal a gleam of winter white coat. Next to it, an ashen briefcase sat, licked by flames but not catching fire. Printed on a plaque, flickering in the night by the flames, read a name.

The figure stirred more vigorously, but this time the strain was too great. It passed out, a neigh of pain escaping over the dim crackle of the fire into the night. It fell silent once more, until a cascade of hooves and a wingbeat or two upon the ground sounded the approach of five familiar ponies.

It was a whirlwind of confusion; the fire was doused, the damage to the area assessed, and the new pony inspected. There was few words to be exchanged; knowing it was too late at night for the hospital to be open, it was Fluttershy that elected to bring this new pony to Twilight's house. There would be much questioning later, but tonight it was clear that this one was injured. Twilight, after seeing the pony picked up by Applejack and Pinkie, stooped to inspect the area a little closer. At once, she saw the briefcase. Lighting her horn with a spell, she cast the beam of light on it, reading the plaque. It read two words, sending a slight shiver down Twilight's back. The winds were colder, yes, now that the fire was gone, she could not shake the feeling that these two words would be an omen of the things to come.

~Pennaprose Lochflow~

Author's Note:

I will be updating every other day to every day. This has been in progress on my dA since last May, and I am on the brink of finishing the epilogue on the posting of this chapter. My writing style has evolved notably since this was first written (May 4th, 2014 as my computer tells me) and I am new to the formatting guidelines of this site.

Comments

[Deltorix]

5834663
There are lots of possible reasons, one of which the magic of equestria turned him into a pony to keep the balance of the world