Sage of Harmony (Season 1)

by Eon Seb

Ch.1: Preparing for the Celebration [reedited]

"Yawn, finally done re-shelving," Moondancer sighed, as she placed the last book in its proper spot. " It took us two days with no sleep, but we now have an accurate record of every book in the archives," growl. She blushed as her stomach demanded food for the third time in the last 10 minutes. "Let’s see if Spike has dinner ready," she said as she cantered on to their living quarters just off the main library entrance. "Hey Spike, Spicy , when's dinner? I worked up quite the appetite," Moon dancer was not surprised to see both her partner and assistant in the small kitchen.

"Just a few more minutes, Moon, and our mega salad will be ready to go," Spike responded. He was slightly concerned when Moondancer started to drool after hearing what they were making. "So did you finish your section of the library?" as Spike had hoped, the question brought her out of her daze.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I just finished sorting the last books in section N. So how did it go on your end Sunburst?" Moondancer asked with a small smile as she watched Sunbursts eyes droop from exhaustion.

"I just finished section Z, and I plan on sleeping for a long time after this. How you convinced me to keep sorting for two days, I will never know." He sent a small glare to get his point across, which was hindered by him yawning at the same time. Spike defused the situation by serving them his magnificent salad, complete with his own made of assorted gemstones. After dinner had been cleaned up, and they had made sure the library was locked, Spike suddenly belched out a scroll.

"I wonder what the Princess wants at this hour," Moondancer said with a sleepy drawl.

"Hopefully nothing too important," Sunburst responded, in the same drawl.

Spike opened the scroll and read:

"My dearest librarians, I would like for you to be the overseers for this year’s Summer Sun Celebration. Included in this scroll is a list of all the preparations and the ponies in charge of them. Please make sure everything’s running smoothly. The Celebration will take place in Ponyville one week from today. Signed, Princess Celestia." "Wow, I better start packing." Spike was wide-eyed with excitement.

"Spike, buddy, we can start packing in the morning, after we get a good night’s sleep," Sunburst explained with exasperation.

"Oh, good night then, see you in the morning guys." Spike walked off to his room with a spring in his step as he planned what to take on the trip.

"I have no idea where he gets that much energy from," Sunburst said with a groan, "I wish I could sleep till it was time to get going."

"Spicy, did I hear that right? We'll be going to Ponyville?" after Moondancer said that, Sunbursts eyes opened wide with realization. "Do you think we will have time to visit Twilight?" she asked with a small voice.

"We'll make time. Five years is far too long to be out of touch with our friend," Sunburst said with conviction. "All we've been able to exchange up till now were birthday cards, or the occasional Hearthswarming gift. I'm sure she'll be quite surprised to see us."

With that uplifting thought, and a plan being made, they went to bed so they'd be ready to attack the next day.

One week of planning, packing, and organizing latter, and the group of three had just arrived in Ponyville. "Let’s see, first on the list is catering from Sweet Apple Acres," Spike said, with a jovial voice. "I can't wait to try some of the food. I wonder if Twilight works here?" he pondered, with a look of contemplation.

"I'm sure we'll find her eventually. If we're lucky, someone in charge of the preparations will know where she is," Sunburst said with a smile. Just then they saw an orange earth pony with a stetson kicking an apple tree. "That's odd, I've never heard of that farming technique before."
After some quick introductions, and almost being run over as the pony named Applejack called the rest of the family for a meet and greet, they were finally able to ask about their friend.

"Do any of you happen to know a pony by the name of Twilight Sparkle? She moved here about five years ago." Moondancer was quite surprised when she saw the look of fear on everypony’s face.

"Y'all know that creepy mare!?" Applejack yelled, Moondancer was quite confused. "The only pony that arrived in town 5 years ago was a strange feller that came running out of the Everfree forest! She's got dark purple fur, with sharp teeth and eyes like a snake. She visits the market every two weeks or so to buy food. She normally buys a bucket of Apples from my stall, and a basket of fish from ol' trusty hook."

By this point AJ's eyes were wide and her breathing ragged. "I have no idea where she gets her money, and I don't want to know. But, she said her name was Midnight, and I've never heard her answer to anything else."
All three of them were in shock at this point, what had happened to their friend?!"Thank you for telling us. We need to go check on the other preparations now, see you at the celebrations." Moondancer said.

Everypony they talked to had reactions that were just as extreme as the Apple's.

The pony in charge of decorations, a unicorn by the name of Rarity, had to summon a fainting couch just after hearing the pony's name. "Oh it was horrible! I saw her at the spa one day, and then I kept seeing her everywhere I went for the rest of the day. Even when I went to pick my sister up from school I saw her out the corner of my eye! I barely slept a wink that night, but the next day, she was nowhere to be found. And even when I saw her on her visits to the market, she didn't even say one word to me." After that chilling story they went to check on the weather-

-Only to narrowly avoid being run over by a rainbow maned Pegasus, Rainbow Dash, who was supposed to be keeping the sky clear. After picking herself up, and proving she could clear the sky in ten seconds flat, (Sunburst used a stopwatch to prove it) she told them about her encounter with Midnight. "So, I was practicing my routine one morning, when I saw a pony sitting on a cloud. At first, I thought it was just a Pegasus on vacation or something, because I run the weather team and I'd never seen them before," the others were alarmed to see fear in her eyes. "But when I got closer, I realized they didn't have wings, or a horn. Then she turned and looked at me. It was Midnight. She was standing on a cloud with no help, or even a parachute!" Rainbow shuddered. "She just looked at me and said 'you should check on your team mates, they seem to be in a spot of trouble.' I flew as fast as I could to find the others, and I found them fighting a storm that was headed straight for Ponyville! Luckily, we were able to pull together and clear the storm before it reached town."

Their minds were full of ideas and possibilities. How could an earth pony stand on clouds without aid? How did she know the weather crew needed help? Why did she follow Rarity around for an entire day?

The last stop they made was to check on the music. After introducing themselves to the conductor, Fluttershy, who lived up to her name, and having spike break the ice, they asked her about Midnight. Surprisingly, she seemed to stand a bit taller when they asked. "Oh, w-well, I met her once, when I was counting the animals near the forest. While I was distracted, a timberwolf found me. It chased me out of the clearing and caused me to get lost in the forest! I was so scared," she had started to tremble just remembering the attack. "J-just when it had me cornered, Midnight showed up. She yelled at the wolf, and when in refused to back down, she bucked it right into a tree. It splintered apart, and before it could reform, Midnight did something to it, it was like she pulled the energy right out of it," the trio’s eyes widened at that revelation. "After that, she guided me out of the forest, and warned me about which areas to avoid during that time of year."

The organizers were deep in thought after leaving Fluttershy to her rehearsal. Moondancer finally asked "Do you guys think Midnight is actually Twilight?"

After a moment of consideration, Sunburst responded "I hope so, but she acts so different from when we knew her."

Spike just snorted, "So? We haven't seen her in five years. That's a lot of time to change."

Moondancer agreed, "Yeah, and the only way we've been able to contact her was by having he parents send our letters. But I thought the letter she left them said she was the local librarian? Why would she be living in the forest?"

Sunburst just sighed, "Well we're almost at the library, let’s go in and see."

As they walked through the door, the lights flipped on, and their ears rang as well over a dozen voices yelled "Surprise!" Everypony they had seen in town, including the ones in charge of the preparations, were there, and at the front was a pony that appeared to be the living embodiment of pink. "Hi, my name's Pinkie Pie. I saw you arrive and how you were going around meeting everypony so I decided to throw a party so you could meet everypony at the same time then we can all be ready for the sunrise together." Moondancer wasn't sure if she had taken a single breath during that explanation. "I also heard you asking about Midnight. I think she is so cool! ShemakesmethinkofmybigsisterMaudIwantedtoinvitebothofthemtoothepartybutponieskeptcomplainingaboutthetwooftheminthesameroomendingtheworldasweknowitorsomething." Sunburst had gone cross-eyed after that rapid fire story, "Well, see you guys later enjoy the party."

Sometime later, after the trio had made many new friends, and got to know their fellow organizers better, the mayor called for everypony to gather in the town square.

This was it, the big moment. The hall was ready, the birds were singing, the food was prepared, and the sky was clear. The large curtains were pulled back to reveal, nothing. No Princess. A very confused crowd watched as smoke seemed to gather on stage, suddenly revealing the form of a large, black alicorn with sharp teeth and dragon like eyes. She laughed at the gawking crowd, "Ah, my dear subjects. How good it is to see you all again." Multiple voices rang out, some scared, others angry. Where was the Princess? "Does nopony remember me? Am I no longer important enough for the common folk?" She appeared to become less amused and more angry with every question, before one voice rang out above all the noise.

"I know who you are! Princess Nightmare Moon, and you have a lot of explaining to do!" As one, the trio turned, recognizing her voice even after all these years. Standing at the back of the crowd, was Twilight Sparkle, the earth pony genius, and she did not look happy.

Author's Note:

Dun Dun Dun!

For those wondering Spicy (Sunbursts nick name) comes from the story Sunsplit by Masterweaver and is the name used by Sunburst to refer to his own beard. I thought it was cool so used it as his nickname in this universe.

Comments

[Comickook]

Well, Sunburst and Moondancer apparently eventually forgave Twilight for the accident, but the Ponyville natives don't seem to like Midnight much. Then again, it's not that different from their attitudes concerning Zecora at first. Anyway, excellent job on the exchanges, emotional content and future chapter set-up in all the right places. Well, on to the next chapter.

[Follower of Chaos]

I'm getting the distinct impression Midnight's nightmare in the prologue was exaggerated version of the events that occurred or just never happened at all. Moondancer and Sunburst seem quite willing to be friendly to someone who supposedly drained magic from them, Midnight's obviously not in Tartarus, she's kept in touch with her and her name change seems like something that happened by choice not by punishment. Hope what actually happened is explained soon.

They keep describing Midnight/Twilight as an earth pony, is this because her magic was actually sealed and she might as well be one or has she always been an earth pony and has somehow gained magic powers she shouldn't have. Regardless she's obviously still powerful in this AU, having the ability to see the future and walk on/somehow reach the clouds without help. I can say I'm intrigued, I want to know what's going on.

[Aziraphael]

So. Much. Exposition.

I know it's been overused to the point of becoming cliche, but the only thing I can really say about this chapter is "show, don't tell". This whole thing is basically one giant exposition dump that skips over what should be important plot points.

Seriously, all of the meetings in this chapter should have given us a clear look at how the ponies of Ponyville view Twilight, how her friends view her, and really highlighted the discrepancies between this and what we saw in the prologue. Instead this reads like an outline of the chapter where all of that happens, but with none of the depth or detail actually added to it.

Hopefully this won't be a recurring theme throughout the story.

[OPMew]

Earth pony?!