Sage of Harmony (Season 2)

by Eon Seb

Meeting #2 The Fluffponies

Author's Note:

This chapter holds my attempts at negotiation and basic medical explanations for the different types of ponies.

Midnight and Marksaline quickly set up the table with every option they could think of. The necros had been invited to join Equestria before (with Marksaline retaining her power as a high ranking noble who leads them). This offer, while still valid, had never been accepted due to the sheer number of differences between the citizens. But with the resurgence of the night tribes, and the news of a Changeling hive joining the fold Marksaline wasverytempted to let the hive join their fellow ponies.

Sadly-

"I would have joined Equestria years ago, but we can't abandon the hive or the marker and it's quite stuck. We have been working for years but, even together, we lack the power to unseat it. Herman did too good of a job rebuilding it and gave it roots which also hold the hive in place."

"Are you trapped here?" Midnight could scarcely imagine such a fate. To be caged and never leaving it would drive her mad.

Marksaline giggled "No, but I need the growth to sustain our young. Many of my children have shown interest in joining different cities. We even have a group hoping to move to Coltlantis. But some of us will always be here. Now let us move to the topic of trade."

It was true that the Necros did not need much. In fact, all they needed was animals to complete their larval stages and negative emotions for food. Still, they had quite a few things they could trade. Years of living in a crashed spaceship had allowed them to reverse engineer most of the technology, producing the most advanced magi-tech ever seen. Fortunately, while behind in the field of science, Equestria's art and culinary skills were among the best in the world. Negotiations of this caliber were always going to be finicky (how do you compare the worth of scientific and artistic advancement?)

One example Midnight brought was an Apple family signature apple pie. Marksaline had heard the praise of this particular delicacy but had never had the chance to eat one as no one had figured out how to get one through the badlands intact before. Marksaline tried to eat it in a dignified manner for about 4 seconds before she dug in with the gusto of a starving dog. Midnight was glad she decided not to bring any of Pinkie's creations. While, objectively, some of (if not THE) best treats in the world were made by her, the Apple family pie was a staple in confectionary and commercially available throughout Equestria. They had also brought books full of examples of art and music to share. While what the Necros had was very good, these pieces had been made by ponies who spent their lives (on average 400 years) focused on this skill.

The final thing Midnight brought was a list of fast-growing easy to control animals from the forest who were hardy enough to survive the weather here as long as they had food, Which, considering the Necros had a fully functioning hydroponics system while not needing to eat any of the food themselves, was not a problem.

The Magi-tech that the ponies were interested in were far beyond what they were currently able to reproduce. It was true that they were on high alert with the recent traitor and his twisted plan revealed. Still, they could not draft the most brilliant minds in the nation into research and development without a current enemy, war or state of emergency. So they were hoping to trade knowledge, blueprints, recipes, techniques and the like to improve their skills naturally.

The meeting continued on from there, covering subjects of immigration, legal differences, military and economic agreements out the wazzou and plans for pseudo hives/corruption based buildings for the Necros to live in. Contact was made with King Leo to include the sea tribes to extend trade and further connect all of the pony tribes. Another aspect shared was medical records. The last thing anypony wanted was someone dying in the hospital because the doctors did not understand their anatomy and physiology. For the 6 land tribes and even the sea tribes, it was more of the same with basic differences (wing, horn, hardiness of the body and mind, variable dietary requirements and so forth). The major difference for the sea ponies was, of course, their muscular tail taking up half their body and an internal arrangement of organs which supported this. Doctors at Equestrian hospitals had to take new training to prepared for this so they could safely perform operations on any new patients.

But when the Changelings became involved, this got cranked Up To Eleven (possibly even Twelve). Not only did they have wings, horns, and increased muscle density, they also had a layer of nerveless chitin covering most of their body which was dense but easy to replace. Even their horn was made of it and could be broken and rebuilt many times. Their wings, in contrast, were delicate and very susceptible to damage when being used. The piece de resistance though was their emotovoric digestive system (an organ system which allowed them to process the energy of emotions into energy for their bodies plus extra magic) to create a sort of honey or jelly which could only be described as solid emotional energy.

This odd digestive system was shared with the necros but it was one of the few things that they had any knowledge on. Necromorphs, despite now being truly alive, were still some of the most durable and hard to kill creatures alive. They had no need for breathable air and over a third of their exterior body was made of dead cells. Add in the rapid fluff growth and you had a massive damage sponge. Their odd fur was also on the list of trade goods because of its durability and thermal regulating properties you could wear an outfit made from it all year round and stay comfortable and safe.

It took several weeks of negotiation and preparation but, in the end, Equestria was going to be getting yet another influx of new ponies. The major cities were soon to find an increase in the popularity of surreal and strange art with even stranger neighbors. Near the end with everything as ironed out as they could make it there was only one thing left to do:

"Now how about we celebrate this new alliance with a quick party?"

Midnight nodded "One moment please."

She quickly turned to one of the smaller alcoves "Pinkie, I know you two are in there."

"Aw, I thought I hid well" Pinkie unfolded from the ceiling

"You smell like cake batter all the time. Kinda hard to miss out here. So ready to have some fun?" Midnight just had time to cover her ears before with a thundering boom the area was transformed completely including a misspelled banner.

The party was long, loud and would have caused normal ponies to fall into a sugar coma halfway through. Every party game invented was played to death and Pinkie finally met her match at twister. Marksaline had never had this much fun (winding up as a twisted mass of limbs with a pink pony notwithstanding). even without Diane coming out, the necros could still sense her sorrow and rage which seemed to draw them in like flies to honey. even just the leakage acted like a potent drug to the necros, leading to quite a few tipsy and affectionate ponies.

The party eventually ended when Midnight forcefully removed Pinkie after prying her out of a snoozing pile of ponies who wore themselves out trying to impress her and make her happy believing her behavior to be a façade. Midnight was able to later explain to the Queen the truth about Pinkie's emotions once she sobered up. Once again, the meeting ended well and with quite a few passed out ponies. Now they just had to get home through the hell of the badlands.

"Joy", Midnight muttered sarcastically.

Comments

[Comickook]

Again, you did a very good job on these chapters and I definitely appreciate you letting me help you with the edits.

The exchanges, characterizations and future chapter set-up were all well done in all the right places and I will most assuredly be looking forward to more.

[Ratmandango]

Man, i forgot these stories existed, I love this AU you've made, and hope the ball starts rolling for this story again someday.

[Eon Seb]

9597172
Sorry about the long sabbatical. Not only did the new seasons cause a massive tailspin for my continuity but my school work and then my new job takes up most of my time and energy. I'm planning to get back into this hopefully this weekend, but I make no promises on when new chapters will come out

[Ratmandango]

9597187
it's all bueno my man,ill keep an eye out for those chapters.

[Will_120]

I just read this and season one

So this is amazing and I need more I hope that you eventually come back cause this deserves more

[John bostock]

Update?