Summer Sun Celebration part 1
Disclaimer: I own nothing here, except for an OC or two. FIM is the property of Lauren Faust and Hasbro.
Twilight Sparkle sat in the library of Canterlot, studying, as she almost always did. One difference was that instead of studying a new spell that she could learn, she was instead reading the legend of the mare in the moon. Why would she be reading an old pony's tale? Because she had learned of the prophecy of Nightmare Moon.
While she thought of ways to convince Princess Celestia that this was a serious problem, she ran into her assistant Spike, the baby dragon. He seemed to be taking a break and was looking outside the large windows.
"Spike!" Twilight yelled, taking the young dragon by surprise and causing him to jump to attention. "What do you think you're doing? We have a serious crises on our doorstep and your looking out a window!?" Twilight accusingly asked.
"I was just seeing Barbra and North Star outside!" He pointed outside, where Twilight decided to look. She saw Princess Celestia's other student, North Star, who seemed to be practicing teleportation spells outside, going from one end of a nearby garden to the other.
Twilight rolled her eyes a bit, seeing that he had only recently come to the point where he could use that spell, which she could use pretty easily now, well at least more easily than he could. Twilight often wondered how he came to be a student of Princess Celestia. He was shy, timid, and honestly not very good with magic. What Twilight could master in a month, he would take three to four.
She watched as the light grey unicorn sat down for a rest, rubbing a hoof through his normally well kempt blue mane, which now looked like he had been caught in a fight, and his enemy had made it their purpose to mess up his mane. He was handed a towel by his own draconic assistant Barbra, who was often just called Barb.
Spike and Barb were from the same clutch of eggs, which helped to explain their similar features. In fact, their similar looks had inspired Twilight to try researching if it was possible for Dragons to be twins, but a lack of general knowledge on dragons, let alone their mating habits, led to her defeat in this particular venture.
North Star looked up and saw them, so he smiled and waved, which Spike returned. Twilight had had quite enough of watching him, and so used magic to pull Spike away from the window and directly in front of her.
"Spike, I need you to take a letter and send it to the princess!" Spike quickly grabbed a quill and some parchment, ready to write what was needed, though he was a little confused as to why Twilight seemed to not like being in sight of North Star.
{Outside, in the garden}
North Star looked at the now empty window, and sighed.
"What's wrong Star?" Barb asked, a concerned look on her face. North Star turned to her.
"I don't know, but it seems like Twilight really doesn't like me." He said looking once again at the window.
"Why wouldn't she? Your one of the best Stallions I know!" Barb said, holding out her hands in an encouraging way.
"Thanks, but just how many other Stallions do you actually know?" North Star asked, still with his head down. Barb let out a sigh.
"You know what I mean. Believe me when I say that if she doesn't like you, it's her own problem. You're a great pony, and you've done nothing wrong!" She said as she placed a hand on his shoulder. North Star smiled at her.
"Thanks Barb." As the two of them got ready to head inside and get cleaned up, Barb released a jet of purple fire, and a letter materialized from the embers.
Barb unrolled the parchment and began to read aloud: "Dear North Star, once you are finished with your practice, please go to the castle courtyard. I would like for you and Twilight to work together and oversee the preparations for the summer sun celebration that will be held in Ponyville. I hope that you will have fun, and do try to make some friends. Your teacher, Princess Celestia. P.S. Don't worry about packing or residence, I'll take care of it!" Barb finished reading the letter as North Star finished washing off.
He toweled himself dry, and carefully combed his mane back. Once that was done, he and Barb left for the courtyard. Once they arrived, they were met by the sight of Twilight looking put out, and Spike standing next to her. In front of them was a large chariot, being pulled by two Pegasi.North Star climbed in, expecting Twilight to chew him out for being late or something, but she seemed to not care at the moment. The chariot soon took off, and the trip to Ponyville had begun.
{Some time later}
As the group arrived in Ponyville, they met one of the local ponies. She was a bright pink, with her mane a darker shade of pink. Twilight decided to say hello thanks largely to Spike's urging.
"Hello." She wasn't able to say more due to the pink pony suddenly leaping into the air, gasping, than running away faster than they could see. Twilight looked at Spike, who looked a little embarrassed.
North Star decided to break the silence. "So everypony, how about we go check on the preparations?"So the unicorns and their dragons went to their first stop on the preparation list.First was the catering, being provided by a pony named Applejack from Sweet Apple Acres.
The group walked for a time until they reached a massive apple orchard.
"Yee-Ha!" They all turned to see an orange earth pony gathering apples off of the trees by kicking the trunks. And what sounded like a banjo was playing from somewhere as went about her chores. She filled several buckets with apples from a single tree, and struck a pose, probably proud of herself a little.
"Well, let's get this over with!" Twilight said with a sigh. North Star followed, but not before wondering where that strange banjo music had come from; as he saw nopony else in the vicinity. Shrugging he followed after Twilight."Good Afternoon. My name is Twilight Sparkle and I…"
"Well howdy do Twilight Sparkle! I'm Applejack! We here at sweet apple acres are always happy to meet new friends!" Applejack said, cutting Twilight off, and shaking her hoof at an incredible speed.
North Star stood next to his colleague, and announced himself. "And my name is North Star, nice to meet you!" he said, holding out his hoof, a nice smile on his face.
Applejack soon turned to him and gave him the same rapid hoof shake, "Well It's nice to meet you two!"
Before she could continue, Twilight decided to get down to business. "We're here to oversee the preparations for the celebration. You're in charge of the food right?"
"You bet'cha sugercube. Care to try a sample?"
Twilight smiled, "As long as it doesn't take too long…" But Twilight never finished her sentence, as Applejack rang a triangle, and shouted.
"Soup's on everypony!"Soon the two students were stampeded by Ponies, with Applejack announcing each one, as they each placed an apple related food in front of the unicorns. She finally took in a gasp of air, and announced the final names. "…Big Macintosh, Apple Bloom and finally granny Smith."
After some brief conversation, Twilight agreed to stay for brunch. North Star looked at Twilight, and smiled. "Can't say no to a crying filly can you?" He quietly said to himself. He decided to join in, and began to make small talk with some members of the Apple family, mainly asking about that mysterious banjo music.
{After brunch with the apple family}
Spike and Barb walked ahead of the group, as Celestia's students were lagging behind with stomach aches. "Ohhh… I ate too much apple pie!" Twilight moaned.
"They were so delicious though, I think they should cater every event from now on!" Star said, smiling painfully.
Barb turned to them, rolling her eyes. "Come on you two, hurry up! What's next Spike?"
Spike looked at the list. And spoke while searching the sky. "There's supposed to be a Pegasus pony named Rainbow Dash clearing the skies over Ponyville."
Twilight and Star looked up, and saw that numerous clouds still littered the sky."Maybe no one told her she was on duty today?" Star suggested, but before he could get an answer, a powerful force slammed into him and propelled him several feet, into a mud puddle. He opened his eyes, to see a pair of eyes that each went a different way.
The pony on top of him was definitely a Pegasus, and she seemed to be a mare. She had a blonde mane, and an angry look on her face.
"Hey! Why don't you look where you're going?!" She said, rather confusing the Stallion below her.
"What are you talking about? You crashed into me!" The cross eyed Pegasus now looked confused.
"I did?" Star could now hear the laughter of Barb and Spike, and he could have sworn that Twilight was even giggling.
"Um, could you please step back, your kinda on top of me." Star said trying to stay polite.
The Pegasus pony smiled, and said, "Oh right sorry. I was looking for my friend Rainbow Dash, but I think I hit something in the air, which caused me to crash."
"Derpy, the thing you hit was me!" Everypony below looked over to see a rainbow colored Pegasus climbing out of a bush, and rubbing her side.
"You must be Rainbow Dash!" Spike said, this caused Rainbow's look to change from annoyance to one of pride.
"The one and only! I'm…" But before she could continue, the pony called Derpy raced over to her.
"Rainbow Dash, I have a letter for you from Cloudsdale. You're supposed to clean the skies for the summer sun celebration!" She said as she fished a letter out her saddlebags.
Twilight of course had to address this. "Why did it take so long to deliver? This is pretty last minuet don't you think?" Rainbow did not seem too fazed by the arrival of this order, in fact, she yawned at it.
"Whatever, I can clear the skies no problem. It's not a big deal. A more pressing issue is me mastering my moves to impress the Wonderbolts!"
"The Wonderbolts? As in the greatest flyers in Equestria?" Twilight asked.
"You know it! I'm gonna show them what I got, and then, they'll ask me to join them!" Rainbow proudly stated.
Twilight rolled her eyes. "Please, they'll never take a pony who can't even keep the skies clear!"
Rainbow Dash looked at Twilight with anger. "I could clear the skies in ten seconds flat!"
"Prove it!" Twilight said, smirking. Rainbow Dash proceeded to clear the sky of clouds at an amazing speed. The last cloud disappeared, and Derpy started to cheer.
"yay, way to go Rainbow Dash!" Rainbow Dash flew down to the group of ponies, now wearing the smirk previously worn by Twilight.
"Ten seconds flat!" she said to the two unicorns who both had their mouths closed by their dragons.
{A few minutes later}
Twilight and North Star walked on to the next part of the list; decorations. North Star was still trying to get the mud out of his mane and coat.
"Jeez, not even an apology for landing me in a mud puddle!" North Star said, as he tried to rub some mud off of his flank that was hiding his cutie mark, which was a silver line that drew an image of a star, with an N placed in the middle.
"Oh stop whining North Star." Twilight said, rolling her eyes. He turned to her.
"I'm not whining, I'm complaining!" North Star said. A possible argument was prevented by their entrance to the town hall, and the sight of a white and purple unicorn who was handling it. She turned and saw the group that was now approaching her. She gasped as she saw the state of the unicorn Stallion.
"My dear, what happened to your mane? This simply won't do! Come with me quickly dear, I'll fix this disaster of a bad hair day." North Star soon found himself being dragged out of the town hall by the mare. Spike chased after them, with hearts in his eyes.
Barb and Twilight looked at each other, and decided to proceed with the overseeing of the celebrations plans, trusting that the boys could handle themselves.
{Carousel Boutique}
The pony who had introduced herself as Rarity finished fixing his mane, and placed him before a collection of mirrors to look over her work."There we are, much better if I do say so myself!" Rarity said, admiring the work she had done on fixing North Star's mane. North Star himself was actually rather pleased with it himself, and glad to be rid of the mud that sullied his usual well kempt mane.
"Thank you for your help Miss Rarity." North Star said with a slight bow.
"It was nothing darling, anything for a polite and proper Stallion such as yourself. I don't recall seeing you in Ponyville before. May I ask what brings you here?"
"Certainly. I am North Star, one of two students studying under princess Celestia. My colleague, Twilight Sparkle, and I were sent to oversee the preparations for the celebration later today. This little dragon next to me is Spike, Twilight's assistant."
Rarity looked at the North Star with the utmost awe. "You are a student of the Princess?" North Star nodded. "Then you are from Canterlot! Oh, my dear you must tell me everything there is to know!" North Star was soon bombarded with questions concerning Canterlot's current fashion trends, and the goings on of the Canterlot nobility. North Star did his best to answer the questions with his limited knowledge on the subject, before noticing the time.
"My sincerest apologies, Miss Rarity, but I must return to my duties!" North Star quickly turned for the door, but doubled back when he remembered that Spike had been beside him. He levitated the baby dragon onto his back, bowed his head to Rarity once again, and was out the door.
"She is amazing isn't she?" Spike said, looking back at the boutique.
"She most certainly is something." North Star said with a sigh. He could see the sun preparing to set, and groaned. "Twilight's going to have a field day with me for not helping out more with the preparations!" With that thought in his mind, he began the slow march to the Golden Oaks library, which was where Spike said Twilight was going to be staying.While walking, an thought occurred to North Star, and addressed the dragon that was now walking beside him. "Hey Spike?" The dragon turned his head to face his companion. "Does Twilight not like me?"
Spikes eyes widened at the question. "What makes you think she doesn't like you?"
North Star sighed again. "It's just, whenever I try to be friendly around her, she just ignores me, or tells me to work harder with my studies! It seems like no matter what I try, she doesn't want to be around me." North Star's head was now lowered, his eyes closed as he came to a stop.
Spike tried to find an answer. "Well… I think Twilight just doesn't know that much about you, or why your also the princesse's student. I think just doesn't know what to think about you." Spike nervously looked at the saddened unicorn, and hoped he hadn't made the problem worse.
North Star didn't seem to cheer up, but he resumed moving forward. "Thank you Spike, I appreciate it." Spike ran to catch up, and continued to walk beside him, with a sympathetic look in his eyes.
The two eventually reached the library to find that a lot of noise was coming from the inside. The two opened the door, and were immediately blasted by the noise of music and gathered ponies clustered into the main floor of the library.North Star was suddenly grabbed by somepony, and pulled inside. He found that it was the pink pony they had seen earlier."Hi there, my name is Pinkie Pie, party thrower extraordinaire. I threw this party as a welcome to Ponyville party for that girl Twilight and you because I figured you two were new in town because I had never seen you here before, and this would be a great way for you to make friends!"
North Star struggled to understand the rush of words that had just been spoken by Pinkie over the sounds of the Party. North Star began to look around and saw that Twilight was nowhere to be found. He did however see Barb talking with another pony near the punch bowl.
"Hey Barb, have you seen Twilight?" The female dragon turned towards him and shrugged her shoulders.
"I think she said that she was going to bed." She turned North Star to the pony she had been speaking to, and introduced them. "Lyra, this is my friend North Star, I think you two might get along."
North Star was soon partaking in a new conversation. As it turned out, he and Lyra were able to build something of an early friendship based on a mutual liking for Anthropology, and both of them began to swap knowledge on humans.
"It's just amazing isn't it? Humans managed to advance so far without magic or wings!" Lyra said, rather happy that she had found someone who at least had a rudimentary knowledge of anthropology.
North Star on the other hand was pleased that he had something to talk about at all, let alone a subject he had spent some time learning before becoming one Celestia's students.
"I know, whatever they lacked, they found a way to make to do. They became such a powerful species that it's hard to believe that they are gone! I bet there are some still out there, somewhere!" Lyra nodded her agreement.
North Star began to really enjoy the party. Lyra introduced him to her friend Bon Bon, and the he learned that she was the owner of a candy store that sold sweets in a more of a candy form, as opposed to the baked goods that could found at the Sugercube Corner. He also ran into the ponies that he and Twilight had met earlier, such as Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and a new pony that was a shy pegasus named Fluttershy, who warmed up to him after he was introduced by Barb, whom Fluttershy had met earlier in the day.
The party began to quiet down as word spread that it was time to watch the sun rise. North Star and the other ponies made their way over to the town hall. North Star saw Twilight, who was looking rather nervous.
"Twilight, are you alright?" He asked with concern in his voice.
She looked at him, the look in her eyes doing nothing to ease his worry. "I hope I'm wrong, but I have a bad feeling that something terrible is going to happen tonight!" North Star felt a feeling of dread enter his body. He knew that if Twilight was hoping to be wrong about something, then there was something serious going wrong.
He turned at the sound of the Mayor addressing the crowd, as she announced the arrival of Princess Celestia. The curtains above slid open… to reveal nothing.
"The princess is missing!" Announced a startled Rarity. What followed next was the sound of malevolent laughter, as swirling shadows formed on the high platform above the gathered ponies. Out of these shadows, stepped forth a black and blue Alicorn, that smiled with pointed teeth as she looked down upon the crowd.
North Star looked at Twilight, and her look of fear matched his. Whatever this was, it was enough to terrify Twilight, and North Star was terrified to know what would come next.