It's a Fine Day In Canterlot
Its a fine day in Canterlot. The sun was high in the sky, the clouds almost non-existent as the afternoon ticked by slowly, as though to stretch this days perfection to the limit. Many ponies were going about their day in the streets of the magnificent marble city. Some were perusing the many stalls along the central street. Some ponies were relaxing in the many parks and open spaces that gave the city its expansive feel. The noise and bustle of the city occasionally broke out into vast open spaces of quiet where only a few ponies resided. It always seemed like the city had somewhere for everypony.
At least, for most of them anyway.
"Ahhhh I'm late!" screamed a voice cutting through the bustle and murmuring voices of the city.
From within the crowded pathways streamed a teal and grey coloured streak of fur and legs. It moved exceedingly quick and seemed to be ducking left and right to avoid the congregations of ponies, whilst screaming about being late.
"No, no, no I can't be late for this meeting!" yelled the blur. It was zooming towards the largest central structure in all of Canterlot. The Castle.
A quick burst of violet coloured magical energy and the strange blur had shifted straight through the great golden gates of the castle and onto the long winding path leading towards the castles grand, iron doors. the blur slowed its pace as it approached and came to a full stop in front of two guardsponies, both of which were wearing gold and white body armour, complete with bright royal blue plumes of what appeared to fur.
"Halt in the name of the princess'! State your business or you will be removed from the premises" Spoke the guard on the right. He was tense, most ponies, specifically unicorns didn't even dare use magic to enter the castle walkway, let alone continue to charge towards the gate at such a speed. The guard examined the pony standing before him.
Standing at around 5'6, the teal coloured pony stopped and raised a hand in an attempt to slow the guard. He was clearly out of breathe and was struggling to recover. The pony had a bright and distracting shade of teal for his fur colour, and it contrasted starkly with its strange grey suit and silver tie. The piece screamed tutor or at the very least lesser noble, though their attitude and stance suggested possibly an out of towner. The guard wasn't sure. The pony stood up straight and the guard could now see his rather square-ish muzzle and boyish features. Young then, that's a surprise. his mane-cut was short and trim, with a rather messy front raise that left him looking somewhat like an ocean wave, even the light blue colour matched the style. Like the sea. His eyes however really caught the guard. They were so, bright. A glorious gold colour shone at the guard, the eyes were youthful and filled with energy, though the young stallion appeared to be terrified as he was trembling slightly upon staring into the guards eyes.
"Ha, ha, sorry about that sirs, I'm kind of in a rush you see" stammered the young stallion "My name is Morning Star and I'm here for the magical connection conference, I was invited by Princess Twilight 'ArcMagus' Sparkle"
"Hmm, may I see your invitation?" the guard spoke, motioning towards the stallions pockets, all the while scrutinizing him.
"Oh yes of course, it should just be..." The young Stallions speech faltered slightly as he rifled through his pockets in an attempt to locate the invitation. It was a simple scroll of parchment with the seal of The Princess of Magic's seal closing it.
A look of dread cast over Morning Star's face as he realised he couldn't locate the invitation.
"Oh no. Oh this isn't good.." Morning Star said, panic seeping into his tone as he frantically searched and re-searched his pockets in a mad scramble to find the parchment.
The guard rolled his eyes and he began to speak, "Im sorry sir but without the proper paperwork, I'm afraid you cannot enter the castle, let alone the castle grounds"
"No, no wait I swear I was invited, please!" Morning Star begged as he slowly began to back away, the approaching guard slowly pressing towards him.
"Im sorry sir, please leave immediately or else I will.." The guard began.
"HALT!" arose a voice of thunder from behind the guardspony.
All eyes spun to meet the voice, and in the grand doorway stood a purple Alicorn princess, looking down to the guardsmen with a dissatisfied stare. If one were to listen closely, you could hear the collective gulping of all present before her majesty.
"What is the meaning of this, Sir IronSpear?" spoke Princess Twilight, her un-amused tone causing the guard to visibly shiver.
"Well your highness, this stallion claimed to have an invitation to the magical conference, but could not present appropriate evidence, Ma'am. So I believed it my duty to escort him from the premises. Ma'am" stated the guard, determined not to be seen prostrating himself in front of the Princess of Magic.
"I see, and did you not see fit to examine such a claim? Perhaps send your partner here to check through the claim by reading the guest list located directly behind these very doors? if you did, then perhaps you would have noticed that his name is directly at the top, listed under VIP" spoke the princess through gritted teeth. She seemed thoroughly fed up and definitely not in the mood to deal with incompetent guards. At this very moment she was supposed to be parlaying with the greatest minds in magical history and enjoying the complete focus on magical and spiritual anomalies and discoveries. Instead, she was dealing with two incompetent guards who did not even use common sense, and a prized guest showing up late and draining her precious magic talk time.
"Uhh.." the guard mumbled, a blank look slapped across his face.
Princess Twilight slapped a hand against her face and sighed.
"Listen, I understand that the guard shift is long and boring, but today is a day where the best and brightest in magical history are all in one room. Think of it this way, if a threat wanted to cripple the magical future of this country, when would be the best time to strike?" questioned the Princess, her eyebrows raised in an expectant manner.
"Today?" answered the guard.
"Yes! Exactly! Which means?.." pryed the Princess.
"That we should be extra vigilant and complete any and all tasks accordingly!" beamed the newly invigorated guard. He looked like a little colt getting told he had done a very, very good.
"Precisely! Now lets get back to work shall we?" spoke Princess Twilight.
"Yes Ma'am!" exclaimed both guards, standing to attention with a snap salute.
"Good, come with me Mr Star." Spoke the princess, turning on her heels to walk down the grand hall.
During the entire confrontation, Morning Star had sat without saying a word, and now, with the Princess he admired so much addressing him, he snapped from his daze and stammered an apology to the guard as a he stormed past them to keep pace with Princess Twilight.
As he was walking behind her, morning Star finally got to properly take in Princess Twilight's appearance. She was tall, at least for a mare she was tall, standing almost half a head taller than the young stallion. Her coat was a deep purple, her dress even deeper, blending into strange black void's tinged with purple accents. It wrapped from her left shoulder, all the way down to the floor, a small trail of see through purple cloth slitting behind her as she walked. It seemed to flash with invisible stars as they walked. Her mane, it was glorious. It wavered gently as she moved, almost like it was flowing in a wind that did not exist. It too was a deep purple, with strange comet like streaks of purple energy flitting through it quickly. She was beautiful, she was an Adonis of womanly beauty. She was.. Staring right at him.
In his shroud of adoration, Morning Star had not realised he was staring directly at the Princess, nor had he realised she was attempting to address him as she walked. He hadn't even noticed that she had stopped to look at him due to his odd silence, only to find him staring at her eyes. A small blush tinted her cheeks as her eyes glanced down at the floor, as she spoke his name gently.
"Mr Star.." she whispered.
"Gahh!" he yelled, jumping back slightly in his daze "I am so sorry your Majesty, I didn't mean.. I just thought.. I mean I.."
He was cut off of by a heavenly giggle that silenced him immediately. It caused his heart to flutter slightly.
"Mr Star, I knew you were young but I didn't assume you had the naiveté of a child" she said, her giggles gently piecing the sentence.
"haha, I'm sorry princess, it's just, this is the first time I've been in the presence of royalty, I had to drink it in, it sure is an experience" said Morning Star as he caught himself and attempted to make up for his blunder with solid reasoning.
" I suppose it is, don't forget Mr Star, I was once in your Hooves too, I was just a filly when I met The Solar Diarch. Imagine how giddy I was!" Princess Twilight explained, laughing gently towards the end.
"That must've been quite a thing" Morning said as he continued to walk beside the Princess. They had passed through several well lit halls, now lost in a maze of corridors and doors. Of course, the Princess knew every nook and cranny to the castle, including how to bypass the illusion spell placed on the halls. It was designed to create an endless corridor maze, unless the pony walking the halls could identify the subtle markings and specific placements that guided the visitors through the halls.
"Oh it was!" spoke the Princess, her eyes returning forward towards the end of the corridor, a small smile gracing her lips. A large set of golden rimmed, clouded glass doors awaited them both. "Looks like we are here, the other guests should be inside, please make yourself at home. I'm sure we will all have much to talk about. I must admit, I'm excited to talk about the implications of your long range teleportation magic nets."
"Well, I must admit myself.. Im extremely nervous haha.." Morning Star stuttered. It was true, he was extremely nervous. His safety net design was the only reason he was famous. The ponies behind those doors had created and fabricated new magical spells, and advanced the magical ethics and powers of the world. He made a net. not a literal one but still.
"Relax Mr Star, you have as much right as anyone in that room to be here. I invited you here because I myself recognised your talent and additions to magic in the long run. They cannot look down on you at all, that's a promise." Princess Twilight said gently, attempting to comfort the young stallion.
"I suppose, thank you Princess Twilight."
"Not a problem, and please, call me Twilight." she said with a gentle smile.
"Of course, Twilight." Morning said, swirling the words in his mind in an attempt to integrate it properly at the Princess' request.
"Good! Now lets go talk about Magic!" exclaimed Twilight, pure joy flowing from her tone.
It was infectious.
She's right, I shouldn't look down on myself like this, I've made a contribution worthy of recognition, I have every right to be here! Morning thought to himself.
Princess Twilight cast open the large glass doors with a flourish as light flooded Morning Star's vision as Morning Star stepped into the room, a confident smile on his face.
It Immediately faltered.
Face your fears. Morning's mother always used to tell him that. It was her motto for him growing up, if he was to get anywhere in this world, he had to face the many fears of life. She would instill this into his very being. however, even now he struggled to stand with this motto, and as Morning stepped into the vast open conference room, his hopes of appearing confident, immediately shattered.
Within the monumentally large room sat a huge circular glass table, with golden highlights and supports spreading on the underside like the roots of a tree. Large glass panes took up the space for the ceiling, leaving natural daylight to illuminate every shadow of the expansive room. Around said table, placed evenly along its rim were ten large golden chairs, each with beautiful sun patterns and sensual curves of gold. The ceiling was easily high enough to allow several pegasi to fly at dangerously high speeds with little chance of injury. But that's not what scared Morning Star so.
All noise ceased, not even a whisper could be heard as all eyes found themselves on Morning Star. It was horrifying. Eight silent ponies sat around the table, almost all silent and straight faced, judging him. Not even one of them acknowledged the Princess as they stared him down.
"Hi.." murmured Morning Star, beginning to feel the crippling tension in the air. He knew every face around the table and he knew why they all stared at him so. They didn't know him. Confusion struck some ponies, they're mind ticking away in an attempt to place the pony standing beside the Princess. None of them said a word.
Morning Star looked to the right, starting at the first seat, at around one hour of a clock, sat the famous magical thanatonout, Mirror Gaze. A small mare, around 4'6, she sported a strangely plain shade of grey fur, with silvery white mane-hair to boot, it was long and smooth, and curved gently down her right side. Her eyes were a shocking shade of blue however, like a ball of sky captured in her eyes. She wore a trim dark blue suit and knee length skirt of the same colour, as Morning could see through the table. Beneath that she wore a plain white button up shirt and a small black tie. Mirror Gaze was famous for her theories on magical structure and was renowned for her adjustments to the auto-cast spell structure theorem. She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. She was being polite, that was all.
To the right of her, at the second hour of a clock, a stern faced old stallion resided, his eyes showed nothing more than burning curiosity, and a little anger. Did he know Morning Star? Or was it that he simply didn't approve? One couldn't tell from this distance. The man was tall, oddly so, level height with the Princess in fact. He had a dark brown coat of fur, and a long wiry black mane that reached to his shoulders, he sported a beard-moustache combo of the same colour and his eyes were brown aswell, like chestnuts. He wore a long dark grey robe, that covered his entire body, his hands barely visible on the table. His name was Plain-caster, master of combat magic and creator of some of the most powerful magic combat spells used in recent history.
At The third hour, a teenaged mare wiggled her legs around on her chair. Her name, Flurry Heart, Alicorn princess of the Crystal Kingdom. Her father was Captain/Prince Shining Armour, brother of Princess Twilight Sparkle. Her mother, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, Alicorn of love. With so many powerful titles in that particular bloodline it made her an exceptional magical force. Her base mana pools were over 10 times the equestrian average, curtesy of her connection to her father. With her mother's aptitude for intuition and learning, and Twilight's exceptional knowledge base allowed the young fully to flourish in the world of magic. A Princess in every possible way, even down to the power. She was around 4'4. She had a very pale shade of pink as her fur colour and sported a violet and blue mane in a bubbly curled style and upon her head, a crown of silver, a small sapphire residing in its peak. She wore a flowing white dress, reaching only her knees, with a small necklace of silver and some knee high purple and white striped socks. It seemed socks were all the rage nowadays, not that Morning Star knew fashion. She was simply sat there, hands besides her legs, smiling at her feet as they swung beneath the chair.
Beside her, an empty chair, but taking the seat were a pair of crossed, sensually long, maroon red legs. These were connected to the mare sitting in chair number five. Morning Star couldn't help but blush. Lounging in a sultry bright red dress that split at the thigh, was none other than Red Anvil. Standing at around 5'3 Red Anvil was a master rune-smith. Her work on self-contained magical spell runes and stones was nothing short of legendary, especially considering she was a pegasi. Her long Pale red mane only served to lend itself to her theming of red. it was long, past her shoulders, and spilled into waves of curls. Her eyes were a bright pink, and she smiled with a lecherous grin. She eyed Morning Star several times, looking him up and down, like a predator stalking its prey.
Morning Star flicked his eyes down and then to the left side of the table. Princess Twilight had gone to sit down at the table now, her place at the Ninth Hour of a clock.
Slouching over at the Eleventh hour of the proverbial clock, lay a middle-aged stallion, that would have been 5'1 had he not been slouching. His fur was Blue, dark blue, and his mane was an electric shade of yellow. It was spiky and short, but it seemed to droop slightly, like it had been doused in water. The stallion opened one eye and Morning Star could see a sparkling yellow colour, not dissimilar to his mane colour, peaking at him from behind the heavy eyelid. It closed again. That stallion was ThunderCrack, a famed mage from the south. He had fought in the Species war and was renowned for his ridiculous knowledge of spell craftsmanship. He had reportedly invented over 30 new spells whilst out on the field, all of which were now used in both battle and everyday life. he wore a long brown trench coat, a pair of black suit pants, and a button up white shirt, loosened by two buttons and lacking a tie. He looked, exhausted.
To ThunderCrack's left, at the tenth hour sat a burly stallion. His imposing height was well over 6'5 and he seemed to radiate strength. His dark grey coat and deceptively foal-ish blonde mane style contrasted the dark glare he was giving Morning. His name was Captain Silver Chant, master of magical oral-mancy, the practice of words of power. He helped develop a quick solution to lacking spell power, by creating chants and words that contain said spell power. he was wearing his military uniform, a dark blue tux, with matching suit pants and military patches across his sleeves. An imposing symbol of his status.
At the ninth hour sat the Princess of magic, a small smile gracing her features as she looked over at Morning Star. She was relaxed among all these ponies. Morning Star would never understand how she could remain so calm in a room with this much tension. Perhaps the fact she was literal royalty had something to do with it. Who knew.
At the eight hour mark sat another stallion. His features were childish, betraying his real age. He had a light green coat, and a silky blonde mane. He was barely over 5 feet. He wore a silky white jacket, a plain yellow undershirt, and dark blue jeans. He was the self titled 'Prince of Magic' Light Fractal, and saw himself as an equal to Twilight Sparkle. It wasn't far off though. Despite his boasting, he was indeed an exceptionally strong duellist mage. His quick wit and knowledge of combat based single action spells is extremely vast and he is famed for his victories in the ring. He gives Morning a cursory glance, but otherwise ignores him.
Finally at the seven hour mark, sits an elderly mare. Her Grey wiry mane clearly showing her age, the elderly mare sported a faded violet coat of fur. The woman was no taller than 4'5. She was wearing a patchwork shawl and a long plum coloured dress. Her name, was Madam Jade. No-pony knew Madam jade's last name, only that her works in magical fundamentals were famed throughout Equestria, not to mention her encyclopaedic knowledge of spells.
Morning Star quivered slightly as he took a few steps towards the open seat. He had never felt more out of place as he did now.
"Come now, don't be so nervous" stated Twilight from the other side of the table "We won't bite, besides, it is your seat after all."
"Hehe, yea, well I just feel a little exposed that's all, maybe due to being among some of the most famous ponies in Equestrian history..." stated Morning Star, his nerves pacifying slightly due to the princess' welcoming words.
"Hmm, all you need to be concerned with is the fact that chair needed filling, and you were picked. so sit down." came a gruff voice next to twilight. It was Silver Chant.
"Mr Chant, that's behaviour is uncalled for!" snapped Twilight, turning to face the captain with visible upset.
"What? He shouldn't be here and he knows it. Who even is he, and why did you even invite him Princess?" questioned Silver Chant accusingly.
"That's enough Mr Chant. He was chosen due to his excellent knowledge and understanding of magic principles, not to mention his contribution of the safety net feature to the long range teleportation station design. It's this feature that allowed you to be here on such short notice." spoke Twilight, her eyes thinning slightly with sourness.
"Oh" came a third voice, it was Mirror Gaze "So it was you who developed the Safety Net design. Quite ingenious if I might say."
"Umm, why thank you Miss Mirror Gaze. I hadn't expected a compliment such as this from the mare who singlehandedly developed the Falkin theory of magical dissonance." complimented Morning, clearly flustered.
"Oh, I wasn't aware you knew of my work?" spoke Mirror Gaze, clearly surprised "Tell me, what do you think of the idea of Magical residue being the cause of Magical dissonance between caster and spell?"
All eyes turned on Morning, even Princess Flurry Heart seemed to be listening with intent.
"Well I believed the theory to be rather sound, though finding the evidence must've been difficult. My guess is you used a mixture of Sight enhancement spells, mixed with tracking and space manipulation spells to create the precise spell frequency to prove the theory true. It's your famed 'Dimension Gazer' spell I believe. In my opinion though, I believe a less complicated method could be developed." stated Morning, not wanting to disappoint the eager crowd.
"Well, well. It seems he knows his stuff after all" interrupted the voice of Light Fractal "Not bad Mr?"
"Star, Morning Star" He responded.
"Well then, I suppose we should get this conference under way. Mr Star, please take your seat next to Flurry over there." Twilight said, addressing the whole room and Morning in parallel.
"Oh of course, I'm sorry Twilight" Morning Star apologised, walking briskly to his seat.
"First name basis already? Not bad Mr Star.." spoke Red Anvil softly as Morning Star walked past her.
"What no! I mean, it was what she asked and I just thought that.." Stammered Morning, clearly flustered.
"Relax Mister, she was only joking" came a young childish voice. Flurry heart patted the set next to her "Come sit down, and try to ignore the Witches advances" she spoke, a cheeky grin on her face as she glanced at Red Anvil.
"Witch!" Red Anvil growled "How dare you, you little brat I'm gonna.."
"Enough" came the voice of Twilight Sparkle. Everyone in the room was silent. Morning took this opportunity to take his seat.
Across the room, ThunderCrack stirred from his slumber.
"We all came here to discuss magic, and enjoy ourselves. You each are here due to your contributions to the magical society of Equestria. I expect this to be friendly and enjoyable. The staff are ordered to deliver anything you request, be it food or drinks, So let's just try to have fun alright?" questioned the Princess.
"Yes your Highness." came the drone of responses from around the room.
With a satisfactory nod, Twilight turned to signal the doors to be corridor to be sealed and the conference to begin.
Slowly ThunderCrack raised his head. His eyes slid across the room slowly as he scanned the other visitors eventually settling on Morning Star.
"Who the hay is he?"
