• Published 26th Jan 2012
  • 1,709 Views, 90 Comments

A Change of Weather in Ponyville - MLPDavester



A unicorn from the town of Manehatten is accepted to Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns.

  • ...
4
 90
 1,709

Ch.13 - Gift of the Moon

I know it's a little late in the day, but I figured if I didn't do this today I wouldn't really get a chance later this week to write this. So here's chapter 13 with the official introduction of the first of four OC's the enter into the story. Bon appetit. :twilightsmile:

~Ponyville Hospital~

“Almost there…” Moonstone grunted as he approached the large double doors of Ponyville General Hospital. His back and leg muscles were incredibly sore from the trek between the hospital and Sweet Apple Acres. Had he not happened to be examining the storm to see if it would affect his travels, he wouldn’t have been there to bring Maghus in on such short notice.

A few nurses gasped as they saw Moonstone clamber through the open doorway with a very injured Maghus on his back. One with a red cross for a cutie mark immediately ran off to find a gurney, to which Moonstone lowered Maghus onto gently. The moment Maghus’ body was settled onto the makeshift bed he was immediately wheeled off to the first available room so that his injuries could be assessed.

Just as Moonstone was about to leave however he was stopped by a doctor who quickly trotted up to him from the same direction Maghus had just been wheeled off to. “Excuse me sir? Would you happen to know anything about why the unicorn you just brought in is in such a terrible state?”

Moonstone scratched his chin for a moment as he considered his next words carefully. Just as he was about to reply however, one of the nurses he had seen previously came darting down the hall, startling both him and the doctor. “Doctor!! Come quickly!”

“What is it Nurse Redheart?” the doctor exclaimed suddenly as he noticed the look of shock on Nurse Redheart’s face. “What’s happened?”

“The unicorn that just got brought in has starting seizing!” Redheart exclaimed as she turned and galloped back to Maghus’ room. “You must come quickly!”

“It seems our conversation will have to wait.” The doctor stated to Moonstone matter-of-factly. He gave Moonstone a very serious look as he quickly decided on what to do with this unknown helper in the hospital. “Come with me, quickly.”

“If you insist doctor.” Moonstone replied as the two galloped of in Nurse Redheart’s direction, shooting down the hallways until they came upon an open door through which the sounds of struggling and grunts of pain were very clear.

“Quickly, in here!” the doctor exclaimed as he turned into the open room. Moonstone quickly followed after, only to stop dead in his tracks as he saw the dark blue unicorn he had just carried miles to get him here spazzing on a bed as doctors and nurses alike looked for some way to restrain him.

The doctor quickly trotted over to a cabinet, from which he quickly levitated out a small needle filled with a light green liquid. “Hold him steady!” He exclaimed as he gently applied the needle to one of Maghus’ hooves thanks to the assistance of about half a dozen employees of the hospital. Maghus’ body slowly began to calm down as the anesthetic took effect on his mind and muscles.

The doctor let out a relieved sigh as he fell back on his haunches. The other doctors and nurses slowly left the room in single file except for Nurse Redheart, who watched over Maghus’ body with a concerned look in her eyes. This pony looked oddly familiar for some reason…

Her thoughts were quickly averted from the unicorn in front of her as Moonstone cleared his throat. Nurse Redheart gave a polite nod in Moonstone’s direction as she trotted over to the doctor to help him up.

The doctor coughed slightly as he got up, his older body not used to sudden bursts of exercise on most days. He shook his head slightly to clear his mind as he looked over to Moonstone. “As I was saying before…How do you know this pony?” The doctor pointed a hoof at Maghus as he finished, to which he was shocked at Moonstone’s shrugging of his shoulders at his last question.

“I have no idea who he is or where he’s from to be quite honest, doctor.” Moonstone gave a small smile of reassurance however as he proceeded to explain how he had come across Maghus and the events that had unfolded at Sweet Apple Acres…

~Ponyville Library, 2 hours earlier~

Twilight and the others slept soundly in their circle as a gentle breeze blew in from an open window. All of them had dried tear tracks down their muzzles, but none more so than Twilight as it had been her only friend from Canterlot who they were all worried about. None of them truly knew Maghus, even Twilight had forgotten about him slightly over the last year.

Spike was the first to wake for once, having fallen asleep much sooner than the rest of the group amidst the calming storm. He glanced over at Twilight and the others and took a deep sigh as he remembered the conversation he had heard hours before. He remembered taking a peek through a crack in the door to see what the conversation was about. What he had seen had nearly broken his heart.

Twilight had been crying her eyes out, explaining to her friends who the voice they had all heard belonged to and then proceeded to tell about her years in Canterlot as they had all come flooding back in a wave of memories. By the end of her recollection up until the last Summer Sun Celebration, all of her friends were crying, the last to be Rainbow Dash as she still held a bit of a grudge against Maghus after the last couple of day’s events. Her grudge had gradually crumbled during the story as she heard about the good times he and Twilight had shared and finally breaking into tears herself as Twilight mentioned the farewell she had received before being guided back by Rarity.

“We were almost inseparable when we were younger…” Twilight had started when they had first truly met the morning Maghus’ clock was a cloud. She smiled as she remembered the chocolate rain he had accidentally made to cheer her up with.

“Well of course it would cheer you up silly!” Pinkie had exclaimed with a toothy grin at Twilight’s mention of the accident. “Who wouldn’t be happy from a cloud of chocolate rain?”

“This was different from when Discord woke up Pinkie.” Twilight had stated with a serious face, managing to calm Pinkie slightly. “He never meant it to happen, it was an innocent mistake that ended up helping a lot given the circumstances.”

“But it still helped though, right?” Pinkie had asked, raising her head slightly as she had asked her second question.

Twilight had chuckled to herself slightly as she remembered that day. “Yes Pinkie. It did.”

“I knew it!”

Twilight had then gone on to talk about the years in between, mentioning a couple of months were a lot of other unicorns and residents of Canterlot had thought Twilight and Maghus were a couple, much to the two unicorn’s embarrassment. Even Princess Celestia had made a joke or two at their expense just to elicit an embarrassed blush from Twilight. It had all been in good fun however, and every time it passed as their friendship continued.

When Twilight had reached Maghus’ farewell only hours before, the entire group save for Rarity had gasped in astonishment. None of them had seen the faces Rarity had seen, they had all assumed that Twilight and Maghus’ were just good friends.

“How long do ya’ll think he felt about ya that way Twi’?” Applejack had been the first to ask as he friends all tried to find their own way around this mess of memories and emotions. “Do ya think it mighta been somethin’ recent?”

“I don’t know…” Twilight had whined as she wiped another tear from her eyes. She had never had a stallion or colt show feelings for her like that before and still had no way of figuring out how to deal with them.

“Well once the storms all gone we can have a Twilight-and-Maghus-are-coltfriend-and-marefriend-party!” Pinkie had exclaimed with a series of hops around the room, gleefully singing a little tune to herself. “Twilight and Maghus sittin’ in a tree…Hey! You two would be sitting in a tree!” Pinkie had made this realization herself as Rarity had facehoofed amidst the ruined romantic moment Twilight had described.

“Do calm down please, Pinkie dear.” Rarity had spoken rather bluntly. Pinkie had continued to bounce around for a few more moments as she came back to her original spot in the circle.

“Okie-dokie-lokie!” Pinkie had cheered as she planted her flank on the treehouse floor once again, albeit with much twitching and shaking on the spot amidst her glee.

Twilight had silently shed more tears during this conversation as she had not mentioned the look of acceptance and sadness she had seen in Maghus’ eyes before turning back to Ponyville with Rarity’s guidance. “That might be a problem, even if I did have feelings like that for Maghus…”

“What do you mean Twilight?” Fluttershy had asked, wiping at tear from her eyes as she had been watching Twilight intently the entire conversation. “What would the problem be?”

“He looked…” Twilight had sniffled as she choked back more tears before she had continued explaining. “He looked like he was ready for something…Like he was prepared for whatever would happen next…even if it meant he might…that he might…” Twilight had broken once again into a fit of tears as she slumped onto her stomach, her shaky legs finally giving in under her emotional turmoil.

Even Pinkie had sensed the seriousness of the situation as her mane lost all of its poofiness. “Even if he…died?” Pinkie had almost been unable to say that final word as Twilight had finally broken down, releasing all of her pent up emotions she had been feeling since returning to the treehouse.

“I d-don’t want him t-t-to d-die!” Twilight had sobbed amidst her tears, the rest of the girls all gathering closer to try and comfort their emotional friend. “He…he had just…just come from Canterlot…to…to see me…to see us…after all the letters I sent him…”The rest of the girls had been unable to hold back their tears at this point as Twilight’s sobbing had become more and more gentle. Rarity had been the first to notice that Twilight had cried herself to sleep amidst the warmth of her friends.

It was then that Rarity had suggested they all get some sleep, to calm their nerves and possibly be able to wake up to happier circumstances when the storm passed.

Spike had shed a few tears of his own during the entire conversation, not because of Maghus, but because of the emotional state Twilight had been in the entire time. As Spike was about to silently open the door to the treehouse however, his foot caught on a loose floorboard and he tripped face first creating a loud banging sound as his face impacted with the floor just in front of the door.

“Hmm…?” Twilight had mumbled as the sound had woken the six mares up. She opened her eyes slightly as she caught a glimpse of a purple rump in front of the door. “Spike?...Where are you going?”

“I-I was just going out for a walk, that’s all.” Spike had quickly replied as the rest of Twilight’s friends had woken up, the last of them being Rainbow Dash.

“Why would you go for a walk in the middle of a st- wait a minute…” Rainbow Dash soared out the doorway that Spike had started to open and gasped as she saw the sight before her eyes. “Girls! Get out here, quick!”

As the rest of the group had quickly galloped outside all of their jaws dropped when they saw how clear and beautiful the sky was. There were no signs of any damage to any buildings or decorations, and it didn’t even look like it had rained anywhere. Yet a group of clouds shaped identically to that of the storm clouds were sitting just off to the side of Ponyville, a cheerful and peaceful feeling coming off of them as compared to the dark foreboding feeling they had about them only hours before.

“He did it!” Applejack exclaimed. “That new pony Maghus actually did it! He stopped the storm!” Applejack did a little dance on the spot before galloping back inside to retrieve the rest of the Apple family.

“Yeah…he did…” Twilight smiled as she looked about the town. Her smile quickly turned into a frown of worry as she realized that something was missing from this scene of peace and happiness. “Wait…has anyone seen Maghus anywhere?”

Rarity, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash all shook their heads at Twilight’s question, while Pinkie had begun twitching on the spot. Everypony turned their gaze to Pinkie as her shudders came to a stop and she flopped to the ground, her mane once again straight and tears coming out of her eyes.

“Pinkie…” Twilight managed to whisper amidst her worried feelings as she glanced at her grief-stricken friend. “Is everything alright?” Twilight silently begged to herself that this Pinkie-sense had no connection to Maghus, but given the circumstances her hopes weren’t very high.

Pinkie shook her head silently as she slowly got up, wiping tears from her eyes with one hoof. Her voice shuddered as she spoke, fear and worry in her voice. “It’s Maghus, Twilight.” Everypony seized up at these three simple words, all knowing that something was terribly wrong. “He’s not doing so well…”

Everypony was frozen to the spot as they all looked at Twilight’s suddenly grief-stricken face. Her pupils were as tiny as ants and her eyes were open as wide as saucer plates. Her legs gave out once more as she collapsed to the ground amidst another rush of tears and sadness.

“Well then, what’re we waitin’ for?” Applejack said as she trotted out of the treehouse while Big Macintosh, Granny Smith and Applebloom quickly galloped back to Sweet Apple Acres. “Let’s go find him.”

Pinkie shook her head her head lightly at this last statement, her Pinkie-sense having already told her where Maghus currently was. “He’s already at the hospital. Somepony already brought him there after the storm not along ago.” At a confused glance from her friends she quickly explained. “Pinkie-sense, duh.”

This was enough motivation as anything for Twilight and the others as they all quickly got up and galloped as fast as they could towards the Ponyville General Hospital.

~Ponyville Hospital, present time~

“…and that’s how I got him here.” Moonstone concluded his tale of his passing through Ponyville and finding Maghus while investigating the strange storm.

The doctor sighed deeply as he looked as his papers. “So you’re telling me you saw this pony channel the very storm that threatened this town hours ago through his own body in an effort to stop it?” He shuddered slightly at the thought of the immense pain any pony would feel in such a situation. “It’s a miracle he’s even alive then! Any other pony attempting this would have been killed outright!”

“So is there anything you can do to help him then?” Moonstone asked politely. His travels throughout Equestria had taught him that situations like these demanded respect and patience, otherwise things would never get done. “His injuries don’t look too bad after all.”

Moonstone was just about to poke one of Maghus’ bruises when the doctor raised a quick hoof to stop him. “His outer injuries, yes. But having the very power of a storm travel through your body does terrible things to the internal organs. As I said, lucky to be alive at all…”

“Well there must be something!” Moonstone’s patience was beginning to wear thin amidst the questions and state of the pony he had just seen save all of Ponyville. “He saved the entire town! There must be something you can do for him! It’s less than he deserves for what he’s done!”

“Sir, I assure there that we will try everything in our power to help, but this is a case the likes of which we’ve never seen here before!” The doctor was beginning to get very frantic and defensive in the presence of this increasingly agitated stallion. “Now could you please leave so that we can continue tests?”

Moonstone sighed deeply as he obliged. His exit was quickly halted y six mares however who came bowling into the room at high speeds despite a shriek of protest from a nurse down the hall.

“Where is he?!” Twilight nearly barked at Moonstone and the doctor, who both instinctively backed into different corners at the sight of this crazed mare. They quickly calmed down however as Twilight spotted the mass atop the hospital bed. She slowly trotted over to it, tears in her eyes as she reached a hoof forward to tap his forehead.

Maghus’ eyes slowly fluttered open at the familiar touch, his eyes first resting on the anxious looks of Twilight and her friends. His eyes then turned towards Moonstone and the opened further in recognition as he slowly began to realize where he was.

“Twilight…I…I did it…I saved Ponyville…” Maghus was a raspy whisper as he slowly lifted his right hoof amidst painful throbs to gesture towards Moonstone. “And he…he saved…me…” With that Maghus’ hoof dropped back down to the bed, his head slumping to the side as he slipped once again into unconsciousness.

“Maghus? Maghus! MAGHUS!” Twilight’s voice gradually escalated in volume as her friend remained unresponsive. Her worst fears began to rise to the peak of her mind, her tears beginning to brim over with tears once again. “No…please don’t…don’t be…”

The doctor quickly gained his composure amidst this sudden turn of events to calm the frantic mare next to his unconscious patient. “Miss, please. I assure you he isn’t dead.”

Twilight turned her head sharply to come face-to-face with the doctor. Her eyes had a steely look to them, as though any lie spoken to her would end in very dire results. “How do you know that?”

“Look at his chest for one.” The doctor gestures towards the very gentle and slow rising and falling of Maghus’ chest. Twilight calmed down noticeably at this, one of her worst fears past.

Twilight then turned her eyes to Moonstone, determination once in them amidst the tears. “He mentioned you saved him. What did he mean?”

Moonstone bowed courteously to Twilight, earning a slightly interested look from Rarity in the process. “Forgive my manners. He said exactly as he meant. I saw him in the woods after he stopped the storm, and I immediately carried him here to be helped. It’s the least he deserved after saving the town after all.

“You did that for a pony you didn’t know in the slightest?” Rarity asked inquisitively. This stallion was not like others she had met before. He was more polite, and didn't come off at all like somepony out for himself. She would have to keep an eye on this stallion for a few days and find out more about him. He would make a very good friend should they get to speak more. She then gestured towards each of her friends, introducing them in turn. "These are my friends by the way, Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. And my name is Rarity."

"My name is Moonstone. It's a pleasure to make all of your acquaintances." Moonstone said with a nod of his head. He was slightly taken aback by the politeness of this Rarity he was speaking to. She seemed to be quite interested in others, more so than herself it almost seemed, save for the way she styled her mane and made a noticeable habit of keeping herself well looked after.. It reminded him a lot of himself in terms of personality. He couldn't care less about looking well-groomed half the time, but maybe staying in Ponyville would be a nice change of pace for a few days rather than continue his travels through Equestria. Only time would tell however.

Applejack cleared her throat rather sharply, quickly grabbing Moonstone’s and Rarity’s attention away from their conversation and back to the real reason they had all gathered here. "Excuse me Applejack, I completely forgot what we were here about. You'll have to forgive me Moonstone for cutting our conversation at all."

"You're here for a friend. I understand the importance of all of you being here. We can always continue our conversation later if it works out better for your friends." Moonstone trotted over to another part of the room as the doctor continued explaining Maghus' condition.

“…the problem is that we have never seen a case like this before.” The doctor finished explaining. His brow deepened as he chose his next words carefully. “We’ve never had a patient like him before, I’m not even sure if we CAN treat his injuries.”

Oh Luna, not now. Not after all he’s done here…’ Moonstone silently prayed to himself as the doctors words began to ring true throughout the group.

“You mean you might not even be able to help him?!” Twilight’s rage was beginning to build, objects around the room beginning to levitate in a purple aura as Twilight’s fury built up inside her horn.

She would have decimated half of the hospital as well, were it not for Princess Celestia and Princess Luna trotting into the already slightly crowded hospital room. Everypony gasped as Celestia and Luna trotted through the group to examine Maghus. Moonstone practically slammed his own jaw into the floor at the very sight of Princess Luna herself. In the same room as him. RIGHT NOW. He looked around for a glass of water so as to avoid fainting in shock and awe. It's as though his prayer to Luna had been answered in mere seconds as she had entered not moments after he wished for a better alternative to the situation.

“I fear it is worse than I had previously imagined, dear sister.” Celestia turned to Luna with a frown.

“It really cannot be as bad as thou say it is, can it sister?” Luna inquired as she too gazed at Maghus’ outer and inner injuries with her magic. She gasped when she noticed the deep scar on his chest, just above his heart where a large amount of lightning had struck Maghus during his magical performance in the woods.

“Princess?” Twilight nearly whispered as she stepped next to Celestia to get a better look at her tutor and her friend. “Is he going to be alright?”

“His body is very weak and broken right now, Twilight.” Celestia bowed her head slightly at this statement. Twilight’s head dipped once again and it could be seen by everyone that she was crying once again with the sharp lifting and falling of her shoulders. Celestia put a hoof to her chin, causing Twilight to look up at Celestia with tears in her eyes as she continued. “But there is a way to save him.”

Twilight’s eyes brightened as she heard those glorious words escape Princess Celestia’s throat. “I’ll do anything to help! Anything at all!”

Celestia smiled at this. “Then if I may…Can I ask one simple question of you?”

Twilight nodded sharply, though slightly confused what the question could be.

“Do you love Maghus in the same way he loves you?”

Twilight’s eyes shot open and her jaw dropped at this question. Everyone else in the room including Luna all had shocked looks as well as they awaited Twilight’s answer to this astounding question.

Twilight silently thought to herself about all of the moments she had shared with Maghus, all of the fun times, all of the arguments. But most of all she remembered the last few days since his arrival in Ponyville, and the happiness it had brought both of them to see a familiar face after so long apart. She raised her head to look fully into Celestia’s face as she gave her answer.

“I don’t feel exactly the way he does.” Everypony in the room gasped at this statement, all looking at Twilight as if she were some heartless beast that had impersonated the real Twilight Sparkle. Their fears were quickly diminished as Twilight continued her explanation. “But I do have feelings for Maghus. And who knows…maybe with time…maybe they will become the same feelings he has for me.”

Celestia smiled at her pupil’s response. “That is a fine answer Twilight Sparkle. And it is reason enough for me to help you this one time.”

Celestia then lowered her horn gently to Maghus’ chest as her horn began to glow with a white magical aura. As she touched Maghus’ chest and scar, his visible bruises began to heal, his coat returning to the normal navy blue it was comprised of. She kept her horn on Maghus’ chest as her magic spread through his organs, healing the damage that the storm had done. His breath slowly became less ragged, his body visibly relaxing as the pain faded into nothing.

As Celestia lifted her horn away, she frowned slightly as she was unable to heal the scar on Maghus’ chest for some strange reason. She quickly brushed it aside however as Maghus began to stir, his eyes gently fluttering open once again.

“Wha…” Maghus groaned as he stretched his stiff muscles in his legs and back. He looked around the room and gave the large group around him an odd look before commenting with a smirk, “Is there a party going on or something?”

Twilight instantly dashed to Maghus’ side, wrapping him in a tight hug as Maghus came to realize where he was. The rest of Twilight’s friends all proceeded to join the hug as well, all equally grateful to Maghus for what he had done. Maghus looked to Princess Celestia and gave a silent nod of thanks as a tear escaped his eye. Celestia nodded her head as she and Luna turned to leave. Moonstone gave a gentle bow to Celestia as she passed, to which she returned with a nod of her head. His bow deepened as Luna passed however, to which she replied with a bow of her own after the shock of such a gesture.

Maghus smiled as he looked out the open window into Ponyville. The trees could be seen gently swaying in the wind, birds could be heard chirping in their nests, and a peaceful aura surrounded the town as Maghus looked on at his new home. He smiled while his new friends hugged him as he gave a nod to Moonstone, who simply sat nearby with a smile of his own on his face.

The two of them could tell that things were going to turn out just fine.