A Change of Weather in Ponyville

by MLPDavester

Ch.4 - Return of Nightmare Moon Pt.1

Alright everypony, sorry it took so long to get this latest chapter out. Have had some midterms exams in university the last couple days, and have a couple more later next week, but I’ll make up for that by posting around 2 new chapters this weekend, possibly not including this chapter tonight. And after the rest of my tests I’ll have a whole week off of classes so I might end up making a week of daily updates depending on how my train of thought on the story keeps going.

Plus I’m doing this off of what I believe is an appropriate timeline, with Twilight and the group actually being closer to older teenagers/adults throughout the show, makes continuing my story a LOT easier. If you don’t like it I’m sorry, but it’s the only way I can keep this story going without hitting a roadblock. Shipping *may* start ensuing in this story soon, so be prepared for what I do with that. Anyways, enjoy the newest chapter!

~Canterlot, 6 years later~

“Are you ready Maghus?” Moonbeam inquired his student as they stood in an open field outside of the school. Moonbeam looked and felt a little reluctant to be attempting this spell so soon, as was apparent by the deep crease in his brow. Maghus had made great progress over the years of “private” lessons he had been given- private being relative since all the students by now had heard about the unicorn with “weather magic”. “You’ve done terrific thus far, but this is going to a difficulty that would leave nearly any unicorn exhausted and drained for quite some time upon failure.”

“You say almost because you know that someponies could handle this spell if they knew weather magic though, right?” Maghus concentrated on the cloud above them simply hanging there, innocent and not at all a victim of this particular spell…not yet at least. “And I can already tell you that as long as there’s even a glimmer of hope that I can do this, I will keep trying!” Maghus’ face was scrunched up as he focused the advanced spell to the front of his mind, pushing back everything else to allow full access to his magic. His horn began to glow as the free space to focus was now completely free to concentrate.

Well…almost free. Moonbeam noticed the change in Maghus’ demeanor as the spell’s power began to escalate and sparks began leaping from Maghus horn as he focussed harder and harder on the cloud and whatever else he was focussing on. Suddenly a beam of blue magic burst from Maghus’ horn, tearing the pristine cloud into little water droplets all suspended in midair. What happened next was completely expected by both Maghus and Moonbeam.

The water droplets next began to move in on each other and crystallizing into ice as they did so, slowly creating icicle gems in the air. This was supposed to be as far as the spell got, with the ice crystals next slowly drifting to the ground and gently melting back into water as they warmed in the afternoon sun.

It didn’t stop there however.

The next thing Moonbeam and Maghus knew, the ice crystals, now released from Maghus magic, began to take on a different shape, slowly drifting together once again into an even larger body of ice that looked almost…diamond-like with the light reflecting off of it just right. As the pieces began pulling together, a shape was beginning to take form amongst the crystals.

Maghus feared suddenly for what was happening, given how in the past his feelings and emotions had accidentally caused his magic to misfire like when he had made the chocolate rain cloud when he had just started at the school at the age of ten. He and Twilight had both enjoyed it so much that day that they had both needed a good bath to wash all of the chocolate out of their coats and manes later that evening. He suddenly had a flashback about what he had been thinking about prior to releasing the spell and hoped to Celestia that the spell would actually fail before it finished reshaping itself.

“Uh, Maghus?” Moonbeam finally broke the silence to ask a very quick and specific question. “Why in Canterlot is the spell going further? I thought that this would be a simple make ice crystals from clouds and then let them fall.” Moonbeam pointed his hoof forcefully at the ice mass in front of them. “You did great in that part, but why is it still going?!”

“I don’t know sir! I really don’t!” Maghus was beginning to sweat now, making Moonbeam begin to wonder if Maghus was telling the truth about what was happening. His thoughts were pushed aside however, as the ice mass suddenly cracked in half and collapsed into a pool of water, signifying the collapse of the spell and the mystery of what happened still left unsolved.

“Well I guess we won’t know what happened I guess…” Moonbeam began, hearing an almost hushed gasp of relief from beside him, causing him to interject suddenly, much to Maghus’ dismay. “…until we practice this spell again and see what happens next time. Again Maghus, and stay focussed this time!” Moonbeam turned to Maghus with a look of both frustration and sympathy so well put together it made Moonbeam look indifferent to the situation thought he was psychologically recoiling from this latest session.

“Are you sure Mr. Razor?” Maghus asked nervously, a slight twinge of regret apparent in his voice. Maghus was worried that whatever happened would go on again, so he was attempting to move on to something else that could take his mind off of this near catastrophe. “I mean, you said yourself that I preformed what I had to perfectly…so why make me redo it if I can do it already?”

“I’ve told you Maghus, just because you know my last name and I give you personal lessons now instead of your normal classes, I still want you to refer to me as Mr. Moonbeam.” Moonbeam facehoofed slightly at this, remembering the day that Maghus had caught a glimpse and been so in awe of the name he couldn’t stop saying it for a whole hour! The boy had slipped up every now and then, but it seemed to be on purpose as a way to get Moonbeam’s mind on something else.

Maghus was slightly anxious to see if his ploy had worked, if Moonbeam had slipped and was going to move on to something different for them to do. He was sadly mistaken however. “And don’t try to pull that trick on my again you slippery stallion. I may have fallen for that when you were a colt, but you have GOT to stop trying that as a grown pony! It just doesn’t work as well as you hope anymore. Plus you know full well why we’re going again.”

Maghus dipped his head slightly in an apology, “Sorry sir. I just…don’t really know if that is such a good idea right now. I haven’t been as focussed as I used to be since…you know…” Maghus could feel his left eye starting to get warm as a tear began to form, which he quickly stopped before Moonbeam got a glimpse of Maghus’ situation.

Much to Maghus’ actions however, Moonbeam had noticed the quick hoof to the eye and pieced together exactly what Maghus was referring to. He put a comforting hoof on the young stallion’s back. “Maghus listen, I’m sorry if I came off a little grumpy there, but you know as well as I do that you need to stay focussed if you want to graduate next year! I know that you’re still broken up a bit over what happened, but you’re a grown pony! You should have bounced back from this days ago almost right after it happened!” Moonbeam was slightly worried that the situation may be more serious than he previously believed. Continuing their lessons today could be a lot more difficult than he previously led himself to believe.

“Fine Maghus, you win…” Moonbeam patted Maghus on the back, who looked over to him slightly wild-eyed and surprised that he was actually off the hook. “For today only though! I think you need some time to yourself to think some things through right now and clear your head. Come back by my office tomorrow morning at the usual time to continue where we left off…alright?” Moonbeam looked curiously at Maghus as he finished, hoping to see some signs of life in Maghus’ eyes after seeing them so empty these last few days. He was greeted with a slight glow to them as Maghus thought about this last statement and a small smile appeared on both of their faces.

“Yeah, that sounds perfect right now.” Maghus straightened himself out and gave Moonbeam a pat on the back to show his appreciation. “Thanks…Razor.” He let off a slight smirk as he finished and trotted off to the students rooms on the school grounds.

“Watch it Maghus!” Moonbeam yelled as the young stallion started to get out of normal earshot. “Or you’ll be learning more than ice crystal spells tomorrow!” Moonbeam mulled it over in his mind a little and then smirked as he yelled out in a parting comment, “Bring a towel or two tomorrow just in case!”

Maghus chuckled to himself as he walked through the doors to the residence, heading off for his comfortable room.

~Maghus’ Room, 1 hour later~

Maghus let out a deep sigh of boredom as he lay on his bed, figuring out what to do with the rest of his day. He could always go to the library and pick out a good book to pass the time, but…books didn’t feel like a good idea right now.

“What about practicing goofball?” Maghus thought to himself as his mind began to wander. “Do you want what happened today to happen again tomorrow? And the day after that? And then what? Keep going through this train of constant mess-ups until you get kicked out for failing to actually do better?!” Maghus was mentally beating on himself for giving in so easily now that he had time to reflect. He had messed up today and had only gotten out of it because Moonbeam had felt sorry for him.

“Damn!” Maghus swore under his breath, venting his frustrations quietly enough so as not to alarm anyone outside or down the hall. The last thing he needed was another pony feeling sorry for him and asking him if everything was ok. “Everything isn’t OK though, that’s the thing!” Maghus was almost driving himself into another quiet rage when his shifting on the bed knocked over a picture on his desk-dresser, now larger to accommodate for the special books and objects he had received since starting his private lessons. He got up from his bed and trotted over slowly, fearing that the picture may have gotten damaged or the frame cracked during the small accident. What he feared most though was which picture he had accidentally knocked over. As he flipped the frame over to stand it back up, his breath got caught in his throat for a moment as he looked upon the image before him.

It was a picture of Twilight, Spike and himself, taken the same day he had started to lose his concentration on his studies.

~One week earlier, the day Nightmare Moon returned~

“Twilight! Calm down!” Maghus exclaimed. He was worried about Twilight given how nervous and frustrated she had been lately. She had told him about the letter she and the princess had exchanged, Maghus thankfully not fainting again given his now slightly more comfortable stand on how close to Celestia Twilight was. “I thought you trusted Celestia the most above anypony else?” Maghus was confused why Twilight was acting like this, it wasn’t like her at all.

“I do! But I still don’t think she’s taking this seriously enough right now!” Twilight could barely contain her annoyance at her current predicament. She wouldn’t refuse what the princess was requesting of her, but it didn’t feel like it was the smart thing to do right now! She had read the book, and she had a bad feeling that Nightmare Moon would return tonight! “I just don’t understand why the princess isn’t taking this seriously! It’s just so frustrating!”

“Twilight, enough already!” Maghus put his hoof on her back, snapping Twilight out of her current state to realize that Maghus was giving her a hug. Why would he even do that? They were just…friends!

“Maghus, what are you-?” Twilight backed away and gasped to see tears in Maghus’ eyes. “W-Why are you crying?!” Twilight had never seen someone express these kinds of emotions when she was around so she had no clue how to deal with the situation.

“Y-you know…you’re really smart and all but…*sniffle*…you really aren’t all that smart when it comes to personal feelings are you Twilight?...You really are an egghead sometimes.” Maghus wiped his eyes with his hoof to clear them and regained his composure. He needed to be strong so that Twilight didn’t go off the handle again before he could contain it. “You know as well as I do that besides Spike you and I are the only friends we both have.” Maghus smiled slightly as he continued, Twilight’s face starting to show signs of recognition as she started to understand what Maghus was saying. “You leaving with Spike is gonna leave me all alone here. I’m crying because I’m going to miss you being around Twilight…” Maghus tried to keep his cool, but couldn’t hold back a few tears that escaped his eyes and stained his coat around his muzzle slightly. His dark coat hid the tears well, but the bloodshot eyes would instantly give away he had been crying to anypony that took a look at his eyes.

“I’m so sorry Maghus, I completely forgot about you in all of this…” Twilight bowed her head in disappointment at herself. She and Maghus had only been friends a couple of years now, getting to know each other bit by bit as they had been in very special situation due to their different magical studies than most students. “I never thought about how this would impact OUR friendship, if you could even call it that…I guess.” Twilight thought about how close the two of them were: they had both met under…unusual circumstances and both grew up in a special setting, but they hadn’t gotten to know each other a lot given both of their slightly shy personalities.

“Twilight.” Maghus’ voice being calm so suddenly snapped Twilight out of her reminiscing and convinced her to raise her head to look at the now calm and serious look that had appeared on his face while Twilight had been finishing her last comment. “We may not know each other a lot, but I will ALWAYS consider you a friend.” Maghus smiled, knowing that a simple sign of happiness would be enough to cheer Twilight up. It did, and that was enough to bring the two of them into one last hug as Twilight’s ride to Ponyville approached the two of them.

They broke the hug just as the two armored pegasi landed, and smiled at each other one last time as Twilight and Spike climbed into the chariot. “I’ll miss you Twilight.” Maghus said simply as he waved his hoof, no longer able to express anymore emotions than he already had.

Twilight however had not finished as a single tear escaped her eye and travelled down her purple muzzle. “Goodbye Maghus.”

Alright, there is the first part to how things happened on the day the first episode happened with my OC involved.

I'm also looking to *possibly* include some other OC's to this story in the future, not sure how soon or far off on that one for either possible relationships with the others of the show that don't end up with Maghus-yes he will end up with one of the main characters- or as just additional characters to add to spice up the story. But to do that I will need a very solid description of the OC being written in. I can't promise when it will happen, but I will only accept VERY solid bios on the OCs so that I don't accidentally write them up in a bad way.

For this I will need solid info like names, race, personality, and I will also promise that as I include these OCs I will message a preread of the first few chapters they are written into to make sure I get the characters right. If you would like in please send a very well worded bio in a PM to me and I will let you know if things will work out for the character. I can't take many so that the story gets overwhelmed with characters and I start mixing them up, but I can handle about 3-4. So within the next couple of weeks or so I will look at submitted OCs and let you know if things will work out. I'm sorry to those that won't be included, but I promise that if I do write more after this story is done (whenever that is) I will try to see if I can include neglected OCs into those stories I do, it depends mainly on how long I stay in the fanfiction biz for MLP.

Hope you all enjoyed the chapter and my somewhat lengthy author's notes this chapter, but I promise another chapter either later tomorrow or Sunday sometime with possibly a second one during the weekend, we'll see what time permits me.

Comments

[Glassed]

Uuh, I'd love to try and make an OC
Great story as well
I expect him to move to Ponyville and work on the weather team?
-Glassed