Thunder and Magic: Season 1

by Rapane443

Episode 1 (Part 1): Friendship is Magic

At this point, Lux didn’t know what to think anymore. He thought this new world would allow him to leave his old self behind and embrace a normal childhood but of course, the jaws of the Everfree had to clamp down on it. He had to see people suffer and die at a young age and this world wasn’t going to change it for him.

He shook his head frantically in an attempt to shake those thoughts, walking to the edge of Ponyville with just the stuff in his pouch.

“So this is Ponyville…”

The town resembled that of a rural village in a middle class area which was a favourite of Lux. Not too poor to where he’d snap his gaze upwards in sympathetic pity but not too rich to get ridiculed by stuck up nobles, a nice humble place with a friendly community.

Or that's what he assumed since a large group of ponies were still awake chatting and laughing with each other.

Lux gazed at the sight with a deadpan, cranking his head upwards to face the moon.

“It’s the middle of the night,” he grumbled. Yet he knew it wasn’t his place to judge these ponies and for all he knew, there could be a culturally important festival happening all for that important pony he was hinted about. So he steeled himself and continued his journey into the town on a mission.

Find the town hall…

“Wait, where is it?”

He sighed on the spot, realising that he has two options: wander the confines of a town that he has zero experience in traversing or ask a stranger for directions. The latter was the obvious choice in Lux’s eyes since the colt felt like he’d fall asleep any second.

He glanced around the vicinity of the bustling street and equipped his thinking pose ,aka, rubbing his chin with his foreleg and raising his left eyebrow while the passing ponies chuckled at the cute foal’s antics.

At first, he looked at a pegasus mare with a messy yellow main and a cutie mark adorning bubbles. “Hmmm, wait, does she have amblyopia? Cool, but I know myself well enough to know I'll probably blurt it out somehow. Best avoid that outcome”

At his second glance, he spotted the beefiest pony he ever saw. A white furred earth pony -wait no, he just noticed the tiny wings sticking out, so pegasus actually- with a sleek mohawk for a mane, a barbell for a cutie mark and blood red eyes that held enough intensity to make Lux’s old drill instructors quake in their boots. “Nope! That dude will probably bench press me for starting a conversation- who else…”

“Oh!” had escaped his mouth once he laid eyes on a raspberry coated mare. Her mane and tail swirled and swayed, resembling cotton candy and her cutie mark showed fresh flowers smiling cheerfully. “Now that seems like the kind of pony I can ask.”

So, putting on a glistening smile, he strolled over to his target. Once he was noticed, the mare lowered her eyes to see the colt's gaze and smiled back.

“Oh hello dear, are you new to Ponyville?”

“Yeah, sorry for the bother but would it…huh, how'd ya know?”

She chuckled sweetly, “I teach the only school in Ponyville little colt and since I have every student memorised, I’d at least know your name if you did live here,”

And on the dime, she ruffled his mane, “especially somepony as adorable as you.”

Lux shrugged in response; his cheeks gaining a rosy tint. “Y-you don’t even know me, miss,” he shook off the embarrassment, “a-anyway, you’re right and if it wouldn’t inconvenience you, would you point me to Town Hall?”

“Oh that won't be a problem at all dear!” the mare explained. “The Summer Sun Celebration isn’t one to miss. Besides, I’m heading there anyway, just follow me alright?”

And with a turn of the hoof, she walks away whilst peeking over her shoulder to see if he’s following.

It’s not what Lux was aiming for but if she was going to get him to Town Hall anyway, it wouldn’t hurt to brave a festival. Especially if it was fun. So he nodded at her and followed her direction.

---

Eventually, the colt and his escort ended up at the doors of the Town Hall. Lux gazed at the assortment of colourful streamers and balloons laced around the entrance which popped in comparison to the historic architecture.

“Thanks for the directions miss,” Lux said, bowing his head in respect. It was a rule to always thank his superiors that way so the action was coded into him and he didn’t expect to break the habit any time soon. “I’m… uh, Darkloud by the way. Perhaps I’ll see you around.”

The mare blinked for a moment, a little surprised at the formal tone, yet caught herself and chuckled. “Aww how sweet of you Darkloud. And I’m Miss Cheerilee, should your parents move here, I’d love to see you in class.”

“... of course.”

The mood had immediately soured and Cheerilee could tell. Watching many foals learn and play gave her a keen sense for those who were under the weather and those senses were blaring like an alarm.

Lux leered at the starry sky, as if contemplating something and walked into the joy of the festivities.

It’s not her fault, she didn't know… he repeated to himself until he snapped himself out of his trance when he bumped into the hindleg of a minty green unicorn.

“Oh, sorry.” Lux apologised, retreating to the lunch table and jumping onto it. “Now where would this Mayor Mare be…” It took a mere 10 seconds for the colt to realise he was trying to find a needle in a haystack. For one, he had no clue who Mayor Mare was or what she looked like, and even if he did, it would be impossible to find her in the sea of ponies flooding the interior of the hall.

Grimacing at the failure of his mission. Lux resided in carrying a glass with his magic and scooping some apple juice from a fruit punch bowl.

“I guess I'll have to wait till morning. Aaand now I have nowhere to sleep,” he moaned, facehoofing himself and stretching his bottom lip revealing his pure white teeth, “drats, and here I thought my library napping days were over.”

Still, he was famished from the recent tragedies rolling his way so he deduced it would be beneficial to embrace the festivities for a while longer as he sipped on the apple juice.

And his eyes lit up.

“Wow, who knew apples could taste this good!”

He then proceeded to drain the whole glass in a flash and hungrily raided the pastry section to a neighbouring berry marked pony’s chagrin. Gulping down the last piece of treats that looked sweet, his stomach panged in signal of a belly well fed.

“On second thought, I can get used to this.”

---

Lux stood in the center of the crowd of ponies staring up at the stage with anticipation as the lights dimmed down and the music died out.

He did ponder on why they left so much room in the center but the colt wasn't complaining. Imagining himself quashed under the legs of so many ponies just wasn’t his style, so he glanced about to see if there was anything else to do and to his bemusement, he saw a bipedal lizard with emerald scales riding a lavender unicorn who was avoiding a rather jumpy pink mare.

Ok that’s kinda hilarious but that begs a question… there are dragons in this world!?

He wasn’t arrogant enough to believe he knew everything about the land of Equestria but he thought he would’ve at least found something about other mythical creatures existing from Heatwave’s little study shelf.

…

His ears dropped. He really needed to get on with himself if he hoped to have a good life or whatever God told him. Seriously, he was preparing to believe the being was pulling a sick joke on him or something.

Luckily there was a distraction that caught his attention as a yellow pegasus orchestrated a flock of birds to sing a tune with such grace and harmony, he couldn’t help but smile at the remarkable display. There was no music to Lux’s ears better than nature after all.

After the short performance, a spotlight came to life and directed itself towards the bottom stage where a beige coated mare stood proud. Her mane was grey and wavy which would indicate she was in her elder years, however that didn’t sit right in Lux’s analytical perception because when comparing her stature to any other mare, she doesn’t look a day over 40, no matter what the triangular glasses wanted him to believe.

Maybe hair dye exists here. Or grey is also a natural colour. Given I’ve seen fur and manes of the whole colour spectrum, I wouldn’t put it past this world.

“Fillies and gentlecolts!” The mare welcomed. “As the Mayor of Ponyville, it is my pleasure to announce the beginning of the Summer Sun Celebration.”

This gained a crowd of cheers throughout the hall while Lux smirked knowingly. Finding out who Mayor Mare looked like was at the top of his priority, so to complete that task before the end of the celebration was a bonus in his eyes. With that finished, he felt like it wouldn’t hurt to enjoy the fun once this announcement was over.

So he took the time to crank his head to the moon again. Lux couldn't help it since the scope of it was so vast and beautiful. It was a hobby in his old life to combat some of the boredom he faced following late hours of alchemic study and it just continued to click whenever he felt the urge to do something. He really needed to ask about the unicorn face on the moon though, perhaps he could find a library to get some answers…

Until the face was gone.

“What the… the unicorn face!”

Lux furrowed his brow in confusion while the lavender mare from before widened her eyes in surprise and took a look at him. Probably because he pointed it out.

“And now, it is my great honour to introduce to you the ruler of our land, the very pony who gives us the sun and the moon each and every day, the good, the wise, the bringer of harmony to all of Equestria. Princess Celestia!”

Following another chorus from the bird choir, a snow white pony on the 1st floor’s podium pulled a rope and opened the curtains behind her to reveal no princess.

“This can’t be good.” The mare next to Lux commented which led the colt to poke a hoof on her foreleg.

“Excuse me, but how is this bad?”

It looked like she was going to answer him, but was interrupted by the smiling pink pony jumping up and down. “Oh, oh, I love guessing games! Is she hiding?” She then drops her head to the floor as if the Princess would be there.

“If the Princess was an ant, maybe.” Lux answered with no sarcasm whatsoever.

“She's gone!” The snow pony exclaimed in shock, which had the crowd panic in retaliation.

“Hmmm, if she's not an ant then perhaps she's the air. Oh that’s genius!” The pink one responded before her jaw unhinged into a scream.

Lux and the crowd looked back to the podium to see a fog of glistening stars followed by darkness push itself forward and twirl into a circular field of starlight.

“Oh no, Nightmare Moon.” the lavender one lightly shrieked.

Nightmare Moon huh? Yeah, Lux had no clue about this pony, and whoever it was going to be, he had to assume it wasn’t a nice pony judging by the lavender ones blatant fear.

Finally, the mare revealed herself. And in Lux’s purely subjective opinion, this Nightmare Moon pony was more cool than intimidating. Her fur was jet black as the darkness she appeared from, had wings and a horn bigger than any pony he saw and was probably double his size. Her mane flowed elegantly like it was in a ghostly form with the pattern of the stars Lux gazed at so often. Her armour shone like diamonds with both her cutie mark and chest-plate adorning the crescent moon. But the most eye-catching part about her according to the colt, was her eyes. The iris was a teal blue and where the sclera would be white, there was a lighter shade of the iris and her pupils slit like snakes, as if peering into his soul. The strength and authority she exuded was astounding to the adventurous foal.

He had to get closer.

As the folks of Ponyville banter with Nightmare Moon, Lux passed through the shivering crowd until he was just under the podium where she stood, laughing.

“Why am I not royal enough for you?” she questioned, her voice sleek like ice. “Don’t you know who I am?”

“Oh, oh more guessing games!” the pink one riled. “Um hokey smokes.”

“You’re Nightmare Moon.”

The crowd gasped and cast their gaze onto the individual, Lux. Nightmare Moon peered her head to meet his eyes specifically, which made the hair on his fur stick up but his own eyes stayed firm, stone faced, preparing himself for a nice chat or a battle.

“Well, well. Of all the ponies to remember my name, it had to be a foal. Still, 1 is better than none so let me humour you my subject,” she smiled at him in a slightly patronising manner, “could you please tell these ignorant ponies about why I’m here?”

“I don't know… what are you going to do?” Lux raised his eyebrow to try displaying a bit of dominance towards the threat, but it only gave him a mocking chuckle in return.

“Aww that's a shame. Very well, I’ll do it myself,” she turned to face the crowd, “remember this day ponies for it was your last.. From this moment forth, the night will last. Forever!”

Nightmare moon cackled, her moonlit mane twirled like a whirlwind and thunder boomed into the room. Lux gritted his teeth and pulled a few spell notes from his saddle bag. The tags had a triangle with a horizontal line cut a bit above the center.

Drats, I guess I did use up all of my fire signs. Oh well, I can work with this.

“Seize her, only she knows where the Princess is!” Mayor Mare bellowed to the guards as they flew toward the mare of the night. Lux could feel the danger flickering all over the place, so he knew he had to act. He stuck a note onto his hoof and aimed it between Nightmare Moon and the guards.

Aer!

A beam of wind shot in its assigned direction, connecting with the lightning which resulted in a mini explosion, successfully preventing the guards from being harmed.

Nightmare Moon’s eyes widened at the display and cracked her neck to face him again.
Her face oozed both puzzlement and annoyance.

“Do my eyes deceive me? A new form of ancient magic and from you…what an interesting little thing you are.” Her form transformed into its spectral fog and grabbed Lux in its clutches.

“Shoot!” he shouted in surprise, kicking back his forehoof to blast another gust of air but the note shrivelled into dust once a powerful blue magic covered it. With no form of escape and only the lavender unicorn and Miss Cheerilee rushing to his rescue, Lux could only curse himself for the situation he got himself into.

I never thought I’d live to see the day I’d be in the position of a damsel in distress… I’m never gonna live this one down.

Author's Note:

And so the actual show begins. Lets see how Lux will acclimate to the Ponyville shenanigans.

Comments

[Maidenhill]

Hahaha hahaha i love this!" Someone had the BALL's too attached her on her return night. Yes sir ready for WAR sir!" Haha hahahaha More I must have more fun". Keep up the good work 😂😃👌👍

[Rapane443]

11846167
Yeah Lux is quite the ballsy guy. But that's just how he is, heroically impulsive as most mcs are. Though his past might shed light on this half strength half flaw of a personality.