The night was cool and crisp as Twilight Sparkle looked out the window by her bed “What a beautiful Night” she thought to herself as she began to close the window to return to her studies, but as she does she hears Rainbow Dash’s distinct voice as she flies backwards in front of the Library “Hurry up!” she hovers with her front legs crossed “Come on guys I wanna get good seats!” Applejack’s voice spouts back in response “cool y’er hooves girl, You just wanna see what he got for you this time.” Twilight opens the window again and looks around the corner and sees all of her friends coming down the road “Hey girls what’s going on?” “OH TWILIGHT!” Pinkie Pie shouts as she bounces excitedly “He’s Here, He’s almost never here, and now we get to go see Him, this is so awesome, Oh you should come with us, there’s gonna be singing, and dancing, and-and-and!”Twilight glances down at her friends and sees how giddy they all seem to be “Um, Did I miss something? What are you talking about?” Pinkie Gasps as the words leave her friends mouth, she begins franticly trying to find the words to ask how such a thing is possible “But, I-The-he-huh-and-what?” as she grasps mentally at fleeting words Fluttershy steps forward and speaks in her soft tone “Um pinkie Pie, I don’t think that Twilight has lived here long enough to hear about Oss, I mean he does only come around about once in a decade after all” Pinkie sits up as the wheels in her head begin to turn “Oh Yeah! I keep forgetting that” she says as see trots happily down the road again. Twilight still confused rattles through her thoughts trying to remember if she has ever read about anyone known by such a strange name when Rarity interrupts her train of thought “Oh Darling you just Must come and hear him he is absolutely delightful” “I’m still not sure what’s-” Twilight was trying to say when she was interrupted again by Dash “We’ll explain on the way, now get down here.”
Twilight closes the window rushes down the stairs and plucks Spike up and throws him on her back as she flings open the door and gallops around the library to her friends, Spike, thoroughly confused, asks “Uh….What just happened?” but before anyone can answer him Dash pipes up again with a groan “come on let’s get moving” “Sure” Says Twilight “I’m eager to find out what this is all about, oh is it another Ponyville tradition?” “Well…Sorta” Replies Applejack “Ya see there is this really old Pony named Oss, and he travels ALL over the world and then comes back and tells us stories about his big fancy adventures!” “He also talks about old legends and myths from Equestria’s history” adds Fluttershy, Twilight immediately gets wide-eyed at the thought of learning more about Equestrian history “Also Gifts!” adds Pinkie Pie “what kind of name is Oss? It’s so…weird” says spike, Rarity responds “Oh that’s just a nickname, his name real is… oh what was it? Oh yes! It’s Odd Song, but I think somepony shortened it to Oss a long time ago and he just stuck with it, like his name says he is a bit, well Odd” Pinkie happily bounces around Rarity “Silly he’s not odd he’s cool!” she spouts as she begins to reenact a scene from a past gathering by popping up and down with each sound effect “I remember this one time he was all like GRRRRRRR and I was all like AAAAAAAAAAHHHH and then he disappeared and he was behind us and all like RAAAAAAAAGGGGHHHHH” a shrill squeal followed Pinkie’s last outburst as Fluttershy vanishes behind Twilight “Umm…. P-Pinkie Pie c-could you please not do that” Pinkie smiles coyly “Sorry Fluttershy” she lowers her head slightly and almost whispers “I’ll use my inside voice for now” the now paler pony edges her way back out from behind her friend “Oh…ok.”
The girls had been walking for about thirty minutes when they approach the edge of a forest and see a campfire in a small clearing at the end of the road; all of them save for Twilight let out an excited yell and rush past with unusual fervor. “What was that all about” asks Spike as Twilight gallops to try and keep up with her friends “I don’t know, but they must be really excited to see this pony” just as she says that a large blue-ish gray pony comes into view talking to Big Mac, both are standing in front of the campfire as the girls reach them, Pinkie leaps forward and latches onto the big pony’s thick neck nearly toppling him over “Yeah Oss! We missed you soooooooo much, oh where did you go? Did you fly over the mountains? Did you sail back over the ocean?” he as to strain to pry her off him “Oh hello to you too Pinkimina” he puts her back down, she immediately begins bouncing “I’ll explain everything when I start my stories you know how this works, but it’s very good to see my favorite filly troublemakers again, Or should I say Mares now?” “Did you bring me anything Uncle Oss, did ya, did ya?” Pinkie spouts inching every closer with every word, Oss chuckles as he drags a bag out from the other side of the fire “of course” he says prompting all of the girls to cheer.
He begins to rummage through the bag “lets seeee, Pinkie, Pinkie, AH!” he pulls out a small book with strange symbols on the front of the cover “It’s a comedic guidebook from far out west, when I saw it I knew you would love, It’s filled all kinds of prank, jokes, and even some party games” “YIPPEE!” shouts the bubbly pony shouts at the top of her lungs, She takes the book and begins to hop excitedly around while Rarity steps forwards “Ooooooh tell me you brought more of that exquisite fabric that you sent last time” “Oh no, Sorry Rarity nothing like that” Oss says as he reaches back into the bag as Rarity begins to pout “But what is this?” He reveals a dark flowing cloak that shimmered in the campfire light like thousands of tiny stars were sewn into it, Rarity’s eyes were glowing as he whips it around her neck and clasps it with a fancy silver brooch “It’s pure Draconian silk, same kind the nobles wear” she squeals with delight as she trots around the camp to admire it “Oh it’s absolutely wonderful!” he happily watches her prance about as he feels a familiar whoosh by his head “Gotcha!” he says as he instinctively turns his head, reaches up and wraps his big fore leg around Dash’s neck using his other hoof to mess up her mane “AH Quit it big guy!” she says in a jovial tone trying to push away from the massive pony. He lets her go and asks “So how Equestria’s best young flyer doing?” ”Awesome as always“ The proud pony exposits as she straightens herself out “Well I have a gift to match that awesomeness” the old pony says as he put his head in the bag and rummages around “I picked these up on my way here, when I passed through cloudsdale, thanks to my new enchanted horseshoes” he lifts a back hoof to show off his glowing irons “These babies let walk on clouds like any Pegasus, AH here they are!” he pulls his head out of the bag to reveal that strapped around it was a pair of light blue goggles with a lightning bolt going around the strap “These are O’fficial Wonderbolt Training Goggles!” he says emphasizing the O in official as he pulls them off and tosses them to dash, who is almost to dumbstruck to catch them.
Dash stares at the goggles like she was staring at the sun her eyes getting wider and wider until she lets out a fan-girl like squeal and excitedly flies in circles around the camp screaming “yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!”, Fluttershy and Applejack approach him next, his smile gets just a little bit bigger as he sits and leans his head down slightly as they both put their hooves around him and give him a big hug as he does the same to them “We missed you” Fluttershy said in her soft tone “daaw I missed you too sweetie” says the old pony as he gives her a small kiss on the head “Don’t go an’ stay gone so long” Applejack says as she looks up at Oss with big sad eyes, he closes his eyes and puts his muzzle on the top of her hat “I’m sorry lass you know how I am, always got to wander” they release their embrace and the girls sit with him “w-will you be staying long this time?” Fluttershy asks nervously, with a heavy sigh he says “well…no I’m sorry, but my next trip will be very short” “How short is “short”?” asks Applejack, he pauses for a moment planning the route in his head “only about a month or two…But” .He drags his now nearly empty bag toward him and pulls out a very small wooden chest with tiny holes in the lid and an opening in the front with a metal screen across it “Here Sweetie, open it” Fluttershy takes the box and slowly creaks open the lid, and as she does a colorful little cricket hops out and on to her hoof ”Awwww he’s so cute” Oss chuckles a little as she admires her new friend ”I thought you might like that, apparently he’s a lucky cricket I got him in the market stall next to the one where I got Pinkie’s gift” He delves once again into his bag “as for you AJ…” He produces a small wooden statue of Applejack standing proudly on a Pedestal “I had it made out of a piece of one of the mighty oak trees by artisan ponies in the north, it represents the strength and willpower, I think it Suits you” he says in a proud tone, Applejack takes the statue with glee and begins to inspect it “Wow it looks just like me, Even got ma’ hat right” Oss straightens up and smiles “Yup! I made sure of that, now hurry along and go show off your gifts.”
Only one pony was left now, Twilight had stood back and observed her friends interact with this strange pony, as Fluttershy and Applejack run over to where the rest of the group was congregating, he turns his gaze to the lavender pony standing in his shadow, Twilight was slightly scared of the large bodied Stallion before her, but when he looked her in the eyes she could almost feel his smile wash over her as all fear and doubt was absolved, she took a few tenitive steps forward and begins to see all the silver in his eyes, the age on his face, how gray his mane and tail are, and how worn and well-traveled his blue-gray body looked. She tried to speak but could not find the right words and before she could find them, he spoke “Ah so you are the student of Celestia I’ve heard about” Twilight was speechless and in complete shock with her mouth agate as she tried to figure out how he knows her, he could not contain his laughter at her reaction “ha ha ha I knew that would catch you off guard” “But how do you-” she was cut-short by Derpy Hooves flying in “I got that package I was suppose to hold for you, right here!” Oss eagerly takes the brown paper wrapped parcel “Ah thank you Miss Doo” Derpy gives him a quick salute and flies away just as fast as she appeared “So she... She’s your spy!?” Twilight asks with shear disbelief for the entire situation “Hm? Oh no, she’s no spy but she somehow always knows how to find me, so I told her to collect any letters addressed to me and deliver them directly, you see it’s your friends who told me about you, and about your pension for collecting books, My name is Odd Song by the way although everypony calls me Oss”
He opens the parcel he was given and pulls a large book with a silver star on the front “Your friends also told me that your magical aptitude is astounding, so I thought I would pull a few strings in the royal library and get you this to say hello” Twilight eyes the cover of the book as she begins to realize what it is “Is that what I think it is Twi?” says Spike looking on with doubt, Twilight’s horn glows as she lifts the book in the air and flips through the pages “It’s-it’s….It’s The Advanced Theories on the Flow of Magical Ley Energies, T-this is one of the rarest books in Equestria, and it's a first edition written by the lost pony scholar!” “Yeah…” says Oss acting non-chalantly “Well I introduced the head Librarian to her partner so she owed me big, and besides she said it was just sitting in the archives taking up space so...” Twilight squeaks with joy as leaps up and hugs his neck “Thank you, thank you, thank you” he pats her on the head “Your welcome miss sparkle, now go play with your friends” Twilight quickly rushes over to her friends and start gushing about her new book. Oss looks over at the group of giddy mares and a look of pride comes over him as he walks over to the next pony wanting to greet him.
The girls continue to enjoy their gifts with each other, Pinkie Pie reads joke from her little book, Rarity flaunts her new cloak, Twilight delves into arcane mysteries, and Fluttershy talks with her new cricket, when the group hears someone coming down the road “Come on girls Applejack said it’s over here” Applejack immediately recognizes her sister’s voice “Apple Bloom over here!” she waves to get her sister’s attention, and just as she does Apple Bloom comes running with Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo in tow. The three fillies rush over to the group and Apple Bloom sees her sister’s gift and is impressed by it “Wow that’s awesome sis!”, Rarity drapes her new cloak on Sweetie Bell so she can wear it, even though it’s far too large for her Rarity laughs at this “Oh dear while you look adorable in it Sweetie Bell I think you would have to grow into it”, and Scootaloo is so awestruck by Dash’s goggles she has been rendered speechless, Rainbow Dash’s only reply is “I know right!”.
Many more ponies begin to show up and start mingling with Oss, Twilight notices this and exposits “Wow Oss is like a Ponyville celebrity” Rarity replies “Indeed he is, everypony around here know who Oss is” “Yup and he’s been around since before any of us can remember, Hay even Granny Smith tells about how she used to come and hear Oss’s stories” adds Applejack “Really?” says Twilight as she thinks about just how old he really is, But before she can continue that thought Oss calls out “ok everypony seems like it’s that time of night already!” “Story time!” yells Pinkie all of the collective ponies start to find a place to sit. Scootaloo runs up to rainbow Dash “Um Rainbow Dash” “what’s up Squirt?” “Can I sit next to you?” Rainbow Dash chuckles a little at Scootaloo excited look “sure Scoot, come on” Scootaloo happily follows Dash, and as they sit down toward the front
Pinkie trots up to Dash “Can I sit next to you to Dash?” “Uh sure Pinkie go ahead” Pinkie eagerly sits down and waits for Dash to stop paying attention, flips through her little book points at a page then puts at way all while giggling, she reaches over and taps Dash on her shoulder opposite of Pinkie, Dash looks over at Scootaloo who is sitting and paying attention to the campfire dance in the slight breeze Dash asks “Uh yeah?” “Huh?” Scootaloo replies very confused “didn’t you tap me on the shoulder?” “No, why?” “Well it’s just-” Dash hears the distinctive sound of Pinkie Pie trying not to laugh (which she wasn’t very good at) she turns to her and sees her covering her mouth his both hooves also trying not to look at Dash, She nudges Pinkie playfully with her elbow “Good one Pinkie”. Rarity unfolds a rug and lays it on the ground, on top of which lays a blanket, and on top of that she places a pillow, only then does she take a seat with Sweetie Bell sitting next to her, Applejack looks on with distain saying “Really Ya’ needed alla’ that just to sit?”Rarity looks shocked “of course darling, you don’t expect me to sit on dirt do you?” Applejack just shakes her head and takes a seat on the ground next to her. Twilight finally manages to pry herself away from her book, which spike had to take away from her, just in time to hear Oss clear his throat before he speaks with a clear, defined, and thunderous tone “Let’s….Begin”.
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The old earth pony breathed the cool night air deeply as a slight breeze wafts through the clearing making the fire behind him dance like gleaming gems casting grand shadows in its wake, he closed his eyes as he began to pull the memories from his mind “It has been six years now since I, once again, left me humble hearth here in quiet little Ponyville, and as always I return with news from the world but I’m eager to get to my stories this time so questions will have to wait for later” as his last words enter the waiting ears of the crowd an audible Awwww comes from the normally bubbly pink mare who now sits there with a rather sour look on her face “But I was gonna ask about the Tigers” “Don’t you fret filly I’m still going to tell all of you about my manic misadventures” Oss replies in a joking manner, before the expression on his face turns to a quizzical one “Heart Warming Eve was not long ago, and I would like to first off apologize for not being here, my schedule prevented me from making it home on time, Second, I have been waiting a long time to tell this special story about the events leading up to that particular holiday, does anypony know what happened back then?” Derpy who was sitting in the back raises her hoof and speaks in an a clear manner “The Alicorn War” Everypony imminently turns with shear confusion expecting to see any other pony but her to have answered that question, even Oss was taken aback by the wall-eyed pony’s response “Um…Yes, that’s….that’s right” the storyteller regains his thoughts and clears his throat to get the attention of the now distracted ponies before he continues
“The Alicorn War, now I know not many of you even know what that is, but that’s why I’m here, you see it was long ago before ponies ever settled their first homes” Twilight’s ears wrap around every word as she is amazed at the thought of learning about the time before ponies, and more importantly the mythical and mysterious alicorns “long ago the alicorns were numerous and all lived in the ancient pony homeland in the north, when one day they began to notice that their powers were waning for an unknown reason, some of them thought that they should delve into more chaotic forces to compensate for this” His face turns to a very serious glare “the rest looked on this idea as an insult to their very existence, the resulting schism cause horrible tremors in their ,until now, peaceful society” a dead silence came over the crowd of ponies as they were awed and terrified by this revelation “Those alicorns that wished to stay true to their pure and stable virtues cast out their brothers and sisters who succumbed to their more chaotic nature, and these alicorns became twisted and maniacal, revealing in discord and fueled by hatred.”
“The outcast alicorns did not take this action kindly; they saw it as an act of war and retaliated against their former comrades” his voice turned somber as he gazed into the fire “the fighting was fierce and many ponies both good and bad wear lost, some say that you can hear the screams of their war even to this day” the wind whipped through the clearing with fury echoing with the sound of faint and distant howls. Oss’ ears perk up in reaction to the wind, he whispers to himself in a slightly surprised manner “Wow that was good timing” he turns back around to face the now jittery group of ponies as he continues his tale “the pure alicorns’ power was nearly gone when they banished the few corrupted alicorns who survived to a shadowy realm beyond time itself, the pure needed to recover but for some reason the earth which had sustained them no longer could support them so they decided to abandon it” confusion over comes the crowd as whispers of how? And what? Spread amongst them when Twilight speaks up with concern “but Oss, sir, the Alicorns didn’t abandon us Princess Celestia and Luna are still here and they look over us and keep us safe” Oss smiles softly “I know miss Sparkle, and you shall understand when I finish” Twilight blushes a little in embarrassment. Oss starts again “But a small group of they said that one day they may be able to return… the most vocal of the group being our beloved Princess” Oss’ words grow hollow as Twilight closes her eyes as her mind pictures the scene
The remaining Alicorns gather around the large table in the main hall of what was left of their cloud fortress “We must return one day, it is our duty to protect this land!” The young stark-white Alicorn shouts as she slams her hoof on the floor while she is echoed by many other united voices, an older bright-silver Alicorn steps forward through the crowd with two others in tow and his very voice shook the walls with pure power “Enough! There will be no more of this childish display Celestia” “Oh!? So I’m a child now is that it White Star, Just because I refuse to abandon our ancestral home? I Say-” He stops her statement by roaring once again “I said enough!” the Alicorn to White-Star’s left chimes in “You would do well to respect your elders little miss sunshine” snarks the light-purple mare. A stout brown Alicorn steps forward from behind Celestia “Your one to talk Scorphia, the only reason White-Star lets you follow him around is Orilon likes to stare at your giant flanks, not because you actually say anything of worth” Scorphia shrinks away in shocked embarrassment covering her backside with her wings as Orilon, the dark-blue Alicorn on White-Star’s right, tries to repute this statement in vain for the laughter that now fills the hall nearly drowns him out “How dare you insult a lady like that Astrum!” “Oh yeah she a lady alright, Lady of the night maybe” Astrum says under his breath, Celestia pushes his shoulder and whispers “Be polite” before he can respond Luna steps forward and speaks up “If we are done arguing, I say we deal with the matter at hand like adults” a quick hush came over the assembled ponies as the gravity of the situation comes back into focus
“The young one is right, and I fear that if we do leave now we may never be able to return, We need something to anchor us to this world, What would you have us do young Celestia?” Proclaims the silver sided Alicorn “My lord, do you see that land down there?” says the alabaster pony as she points her hoof to where a wall once was but now only misty remnants remain “We need something to fix this land, this is what is causing all of our problems we have neglected the land that we thought was beneath us” She and White-Star trot over to the edge of the clouds and look over at the rugged and war-torn land “We have done great damage to this land elder, we must restore it to life if we are ever to once again draw from it our power” “I see… and how will we go about doing that young one?” Astrum steps forward and speaks proudly “I have the solution to that dilemma, Milord” he puts his head up as high as he can motions for White-Star to lean in closer as he whispers his plan to him “That is a bold and dangerous plan little scholar, so much could go wrong and then we would be trapped with even greater odds against us, You can’t expect me to go through with this!” “At least this way we have a chance” poses the Scholar as he steps aside to let Celestia convince him further “This is our only recourse Master White-Star, with this plan we have a chance to breathe life back into the land which we have ravaged, and may be able to set hoof back on this soil again one day.” The room grew totally silent as a light scowl came over the shimmering Alicorn’s brow and tightly shut eyes. His eyes shot open and they glowed with an intense fire matched only by the sun as his voice thundered with such power that the walls and floor cracked and chipped around him “Than it shall be so! Let we Alicorns leave on this world, our legacy: Ponykind!” he summoned three spheres from the land below above himself, One of earth and stone, one of air and clouds, and one of gems and pure magic energy.
His wings flare out as he calls out to the others “Come children lend your master strength!” all of the Alicorns, in unison, cast all of their energies in to their glowing lord, making him shine brighter than all the stars in the sky. The spheres began to take shape, the one of Earth and stone was imbued with the strength and willpower of the alicorns creating the stout and unshakable Earth Ponies, The one of Air and clouds began to take on a sleek and feathery form giving them the powerful wings, agility, and swiftness of the Alicorns thus making the Awe-inspiring Pegasi, the final sphere became an elegant, beautiful, mystic expression of the Alicorn’s primal link to the realm of magic, lending it their horns,and powerful manipulative abilities giving life to the regal Unicorns. The spheres are whisked away to the land below as White-Star collapses to his knees, many ponies immediately crowd around and prop him up, his voice weakly pipes up “These old bones…..grow tired….but it is done, soon….the land…..shall be brimming with l-life again….now open the gate…..let…us…depart” he achingly walks toward the last remaining wall as a few others concentrate their magic to make a shining portal open up and he enters with the rest of the Alicorns in tow. Celestia stops Astrum before he walks through the portal and worriedly asks “How long?” he looks at her a little confused “till what sis?” she glances over to the ground “you know….until they become what they are meant to be” he looks at her somberly “I can’t say, one-hundred, two-hundred years maybe but that’s just a guess” she quietly nods “I see…” she slowly trots into the portal glancing back one last time before it closes.
The ponies sat enthralled by Oss and his story “And that is why the alicorns were not present in the events leading up to the first hearts warming eve” Dash harshly questions “Then when did they end up ruling us?” Oss stifles a smile at Dash’s brashness “Well soon after Equestria was founded, Discord manifested himself and ruled over the budding civilization with terrible chaotic power, until Celestia, Luna, and some other alicorns returned, discovered the elements of harmony that existed in the spirits of Ponies. And using them, Celestia and Luna cast Discord in stone, then the ponies were so grateful they made them their rulers and they led them into a new age of prosperity” The shadows dance in front of the fire as Oss starts to field questions from the rest of the audience “But you said “some” alicorns, where did they all go, did they just disappear?” says Pinkie Pie with one hoof under her chin tapping it as she thinks “Well yes and no, Celestia came back with about five or six others from what I have gathered, and what happened to them is questionable at best, but it would seem that most simply returned to wherever the Alicorns retreated to” Twilight again raises her hoof “And where exactly is that?” Oss pauses for a moment rubs the back of his head and speaks “Well…from everything I’ve learned it’s a place outside of normal reality, like a little pocket of time somewhere in space…Very confusing I think.” Oss stretches his legs as he groans slightly “Well I think that will be all for tonight, same time tomorrow everypony” the assembled mass rises and begins to dissipate, Twilight gathers with her friends as they begin to head back to town, so many questions race through her head as she tries to sort out the new information she just received she thought to herself I have to write to Celestia tomorrow.
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