Needed something creative to do that didn't really matter, well not exactly, but something I can't worry about. So here's a thing… whaddyacallit… fanfic. That's it. Used to not think much of this sortve thing, but I started reading others one day and decided they weren't that bad. Not even sure I'm gonna post all this. One thing I've never read is comments or reviews on this site, so hopefully those aren't violently offensive. I don't own My Little Pony, obviously.
Feels really weird to be typing that after reading something similar all those times, but no giving up now. Hope the story is more rewarding. And sorry, my OC (another weird thing to type) is kind of a jerk at random times for most of this chapter, but, y'know, character development or bust. I'll probably go back and rewrite some of this once I figure everything out.
Episode 1 – Friendship is Magic Pt. 1 or Shards of Life
Impatient knocking woke Myles from his sleep. He carefully peeled his face off of his worktable and checked his nearby materials. Examining each crystal by lifting it with his magic and turning it around, he found the only one stuck to the table was the small green one from the first night he had fallen asleep trying to work. Looking to the window, he saw the dull glow of the early sunrise. A frown crossed his face as the knocking sounded again, louder this time. Casually pushing the navy blue section of his mane over his horn so that it no longer hung in front of his eyes, he opened the front door to an irritated mare.
"Mr. Shadsal," the grey-coated mare began.
"Shardsole," Myles corrected automatically. When the mare's glowering increased, he added, "Your… Mayorlyness?"
"Just Mayor," Mayor Mare sighed. "I need a report on the status of the Everfree Forest."
Myles blinked, still half asleep. "Uhhh… it's still there."
"This is not a matter to joke about, Princess Celestia is coming to Ponyville for-"
"-The Summer Sun Celebration and absolutely nothing must go wrong. I know." Myles finished with slight frustration not quite hidden in his tone.
"And yet instead of securing the border between the forest and the town, you are apparently sleeping in… again." The Mayor narrowed her eyes as Myles failed to hide a yawn.
"I told you I'm working on-"
"-a solution," Mayor Mare looked down her nose at him, "So you've said. I noticed this solution appears to be exclusively inside your house and not at the border, where your post is."
"My house is ON the border."
"I'd be surprised you could hear any disturbance from in here, I had to knock a total of-"
"Will you be approaching a point soon or should I go make breakfast while I wait?"
The Mayor's face deepened to a true scowl.
"If anything disrupts the celebration I will hold you personally responsible. Fortunately the Princess will be on hand to witness your incompetence firsthand, so filing a complaint will be easy. I've still no idea how somepony like you earned her recommendation."
"Well here's a start, my job is to protect Ponyville from the creatures, magic and what have you from the Everfree Forest."
"I'm aware of-"
"So turn around."
"What?" The Mayor seemed surprised, but looked behind her regardless.
"Is Ponyville still there?"
"Well of cours-" the Mayor began, but as she turned around the door was shut in her face. "I simply cannot believe the impudence of-" the Mayor's mumbling faded away as she stormed off in anger. Myles grumbled to himself, moving to his kitchen and levitating two pieces of bread into the toaster, the handle briefly glowed a dull gray-blue as he pushed it down with his magic. Going back to the fridge, he continued his muttered complaints to no one, "Gotta be outside and just staring at trees the whole time? What constitutes protection, exactly? I'm here aren't I? When a manticore tries to get into town I stop it don't I? Even if it's THREE A.M.!" he finished with a shout, slamming his refrigerator door and setting the milk and butter dish on the counter.
Myles leaned on the counter, his head propped up in his hoof as he stared at the toaster. Next to him, the milk floated up a bit and tipped over, beginning to pour itself out into a glass. Suddenly the milk carton shook and dropped to the counter on its side, pouring its contents out on the floor and knocking the glass over. Without looking, Myles kept the glass from rolling off the counter with his other hoof and let his head down onto the counter with a thud.
"…buck…" his voice was muffled by the countertop. He lay there for a minute, before lifting his head and going to the closet to fetch a mop, which he gripped with his hooves and began to clean the floor with. "I'll be honest, your Mayorlyness," he grumbled, "I don't know why I got recommended either…"
He finished cleaning up and tossed the milk carton away when suddenly the smell of burning caught his attention. He turned to the toaster, which was emitting smoke and growled as he flipped the lever up manually to reveal two pieces of bread-shaped charcoal. "Eating out, then I guess…" he said to no one before correcting himself, "Oh no wait, that would mean leaving my post, guess I'll have to pick something up." He levitated his dark blue saddlebag over his back and dropped it on his shoulders, only seeming lighter when compared to the navy blue pattern on his back coat, but was still darker than the light gray-blue section of his coat starting from his flanks and extending down his legs and front. He frowned at the contrast, remembering some past insults associated with it. He hadn't been teased about it since Canterlot, though he wouldn't doubt they still said such things behind his back. His frown deepened at these memories as he closed his front door behind him and headed for the local farm, judging by the position of the sun, the shops wouldn't be open yet.
On the way, he heard a familiar springy noise and quietly groaned in anticipation of what comes next.
"Hello, Pinkie," he said with a sigh.
"Hey! Wow! How do you always do that? Are you sure you don't have a Pinkie sense too? Or like a Shadowsal-"
"Shardsole" He corrected automatically.
"-Shardowslaw sense?" the pink pony finished, bouncing backwards in front of him. Myles considered correcting her again, but thought better of it as he nodded.
"Yeah, I'm sure."
"But you always know I'm there before I say anything! It's so neat! It's like magic! Oh right!" she tapped her hoof to his horn, causing him to flinch a little, "Speaking of neat magic, would you like to come to a pre-Summer Sun Celebration part-"
"Can't, too busy."
He could swear he actually heard a balloon deflate somewhere as she stopped hopping and frowned a bit. "Awwww. But you're ALWAYS busy! Or asleep! Or Sleepily busy! Or busy sleeping! Or sleepy busing! Or-"
"Yup," he said as he continued to walk, "pretty much…" he mumbled to no one in particular, realizing she was having too much fun to notice he had kept going. Before long he arrived at Sweet Apple Acres and was surprised to find a small crowd milling outside the barn. He attempted to get one's attention to no avail when he suddenly heard somepony shout his name.
"Howdy, Myles!" he turned to see a familiar orange coat and cowboy hat and smirked, it was always interesting talking to Applejack, her problems always seemed so much more straight forward and she was rarely visibly stressed about them. It reminded him that life could be simple, when it wanted to.
"Hey Applejack," he replied, then gestured towards the crowd, "Am I interrupting something?"
"Naw, this here's my family, we're having the Apple Family reunion right before the Summer Sun celebration, this here's Applefritt-" Applejack began, indicating one of the ponies in the crowd, but Myles held up a hoof.
"Sorry Applejack, I have to get back to the edge of the forest, I can meet your family some other time."
"Aw shucks, Myles, you're always busy, the forest may be creepy but it aint gonna explode if you stop looking at it for five minutes."
"I wouldn't put it past it to try."
Applejack laughed as she went into the barn and brought out a small bag of apples.
"Alright sugarcube, but I think you still deserve a break once in a while. Unfortunately the kitchen's occupied preparing meals for the reunion so I've got nothing ready to go to market, will these be okay?" She held up the bag of apples.
"Yeah those'll be fine," he said as he opened his saddlebag and rummaged around for some bits, then looked back at Applejack nervously, "Uhhhhh…I'm a bit short of …bits at the moment, could I interest you in a crystal that-"
"It's alright sugarcube, it's on the house."
"You sure?"
"Absolutely," she smiled as she tucked the bag into his saddlebag.
"Thanks AJ," he smiled, just a bit, as he made his way back to his house.
"See ya round, Myles!" Applejack waved, Myles casually waved back over his shoulder.
As he neared his home, he let out another sigh as he spotted a yellow pegasus waiting outside his house, seeming to be locked in a heavy debate over how hard to knock.
"Something wrong, Fluttershy?" he spoke up when he was a short distance from her, causing her to jump and spin in his direction.
"Oh," she seemed to calm down a bit, standing back up from the ground, where she had been in a stance as if preparing to take flight. "There you are."
"Yeahp," Myles let out bluntly, "There I am. What's up?"
"I just wanted to ask, if it wasn't too much trouble, if you could make extra certain there isn't anything leaving…" she shivered as she glanced at the tree line, "…. The forest."
Myles put a hoof to his head in exasperation, "How am I supposed to do that any more or less than usual? It's my job, I'm doing it! Why does everyone have to keep pestering me about it?" Fluttershy recoiled a little bit as he raised his voice, but stood up straight to speak once more.
"I know, but there's a lot of little creatures coming out of the …forest… acting like they are really frightened of something. Something they won't even tell me about."
Myles sighed again, "Well don't worry, whatever it is, its staying in the forest," she recoiled a bit at the mention of the woods, "I'll make sure of it."
"Okay," Fluttershy took off and started gliding away, "Thanks Myl-" her voice faded to a mumble as she floated off.
"Whatever," he mumbled as he set his saddle bag down and pulled an apple out with his magic, taking a bite as he turned towards the crystals on his table. He stared at them grumpily, then set the apple down as he focused on the one he had been working on. His horn lit up as he attempted to push magic inside and enchant the crystal. Sweat beaded on his forehead as he concentrated, hearing the all too familiar humming as the crystal vibrated with energy. The hum built in pitch and volume until it was no longer a basslike thrum but a high-pitched squeal like feedback on a sound system. Myles frowned and ducked under the table as the sound escalated to a ringing and the crystal exploded into tiny fragments, several embedded into his walls while the rest scattered across the floor. He growled and picked up his apple again, opening his mouth to take a bite when he noticed a shiny object in it. Picking the crystal shard out, he wiped the apple off on his hoof and took another large bite. Looking at his saddlebag, he noticed several tiny holes in the side and made a mental note to look before he bit in to any of the apples he had brought home. Once again, he gave out a heavy sigh and slumped against the side of his bed.
Myles levitated a crystal from his bedside table in front of his face and tapped it with his hoof. A pair of violas could be heard beginning a slow melody and were soon joined by cellos playing the same tune half an octave up to match them. More instruments joined in as Myles closed his eyes and listened to the music build and waving his ears back and forth as though conducting the orchestra, then transferring the crystal to his hoof and sinking lower to the ground.
"It still works. Of course it still works. No matter how long ago it's been, it still works." He opened his eyes and looked at the table, which showed new scars from his latest attempt. He frowned at something barely audible and continued, "But only for the music. Never something that could actually help."
A growl echoed from the woods, causing Myles' ears to stand up and him to set the crystal down gently before kicking his front door open and galloping over to the tree line.
"And speaking of things that AREN'T HELPING!" he ended in a shout at the fully grown manticore snarling at him, "Didn't we have this disagreement last night?" He asked mockingly. The manticore couldn't have understood him as he didn't have Fluttershy's gift for communication, but evidently some of his taunting tone was clear to it as the lion's head roared at him.
"Yeah," he said, smiling, "That's what I said."
The manticore leapt and Myles rolled sideways, letting the manticore's claws dig into the soil where he was standing before. It turned its head as it heard a whistle from the forest, it ripped it's claws from the ground and brought itself around to face a smiling Myles.
"You're really determined to do this whole song and dance again, aren't you?"
The manticore charged again pursuing Myles as he ran into the Everfree Forest, the trees shook as the beast roared in frustration. The forest shook and smaller animals fled every time the manticore's tail struck the ground where Myles had been standing instants before. Myles galloped on, leaping over fallen logs and large gnarled roots, finally running up the trunk of a tree that had been struck by lightning and fallen over, now leaned up against a small cliff. Grinning, Myles turned back to see an empty forest, the smile sliding off his face as he heard a low growl build behind him.
His eyes went wide as he leapt from the cliff into the small pool of bog water below. Behind him, claws the size of wheelbarrows scraped the rocks where he had been standing and the manticore roared in frustration. Myles erupted from the water and shook filthy water from his mane, before sprinting off again, an instant before the manticore slammed into the pool and set off after him.
"You actually remembered?" he shouted back, panting as he maintained a fast pace to stay ahead of the monster, "I didn't know our talks mattered that much to you, I'm touched, really."
Myles pulled a nearby branch back with his magic and let it snap back into place as he passed. From behind he heard a roar of pain as the branch collided with the manticore's face. Myles chuckled as he tried again with another branch, but looked around when he heard no roar to see the monster ducking under the branch. "Paying attention now huh?" Myles smirked as he attempted to shift a log into its path, the log shuddered but remained in place. "Not now!" he looked at the magic around his horn flicker out.
He turned his eyes forward as he almost tripped over the root of a tree and muttered, "Okay Everfree, gimme something to work with." He scanned the woods ahead. "Caves? No escape route. Swamps? Dunno what else lives there yet. Cmon, work with me." He pleaded. Suddenly his eyes went wide and he planted all his hooves on the ground and leaned back, skidding to a stop. "That'll do, thanks," he whispered as he heard trees crashing behind him and felt the whole forest shake with the creature's heavy footfalls.
Myles casually turned around and smiled as the thirty foot beast leapt at him again. "Sooooo….. we're cool, right?" Myles jumped sideways again as the manticore sailed roaring over the edge and into the basin overgrown in trees and vines. Raising an ear, he waited until he heard a loud thud and winced, before turning and walking back towards Ponyville.
"Good talk, buddy."
When Myles arrived back at his house, it was past noon and he was too exhausted to try and find lunch, or close the door. He bit into one of his apples, spat out a few crystal shards, showered the muck from the bog away and finally collapsed into his bed.
Myles felt something poke him but simply rolled his head towards the pillow. Something poked him harder and this time it also spoke.
"Myles Shardsole?"
"Shardso-" Myles began automatically, but then he frowned in confusion, "I mean, yeah that's me."
"Are you alright?"
Myles rolled over to see a strange unicorn mare he'd never met before. He sat up and tried to come up with something.
"I'm as alright as you are …. purple…?" He hesitated, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.
"Wha-?" the mare began.
"Gimme a minute, I'll come up with something better."
"Riiiiiight…." She fixed a skeptical gaze on him, "Anyways, I'm Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia sent me to make sure everything is prepared for the Summer Sun Celebration, she said you were in charge of protecting the town from the creatures that live in the Everfree Forest, I'm here to check that it's been done."
Myles had gotten up and started examining the apple he had taken a bite out of earlier, he idly picked a few specks of crystal out of it and took notice of what appeared to be a baby dragon, also purple, wandering around his house. He raised an eyebrow and looked at Twilight.
"That's Spike, my assistant." Twilight explained.
"Hi," Spike waved at Myles as the dragon reached up towards the bedside table.
"Well, the town is still there and not currently being attacked. I don't get why this is so hard for everypony to see- HEY!" He spun around and took the crystal out of Spike's claw with his magic. It floated over next to him as he scolded Spike, "Careful with that! You always go into pony's houses and grab everything? How'd you even get in here-" he looked worried as the crystal wobbled in mid-air and then stretched out a hoof to catch it. Time seemed to slow as the crystal tumbled past his hoof towards the floor. He winced as the crystal glowed purple and stopped a millimeter from the floor. It levitated upwards again. "Thanks, I-" Myles attempted to grab the crystal, it floated away from him.
"The door was open." Twilight said matter-of-factly as she looked at the crystal.
"What?" said Myles as he reached again for the crystal.
"Your front door was open. That's how we got in. We thought something might've happened to you," she explained, bringing the crystal closer to herself and keeping it out of Myles' reach.
"Thanks for your concern but- Listen, could you just hand that over…" Myles said, Twilight raised an eyebrow at him, "…please?" She narrowed her brow and refocused on the crystal.
"What's so important about this one? You've got plenty of crystals," she nodded towards the work table. She wondered why he had such a collection, none of them were particularly good specimens and he didn't have them out in a manner to be displayed, more like tools left out in the middle of work.
"Yeah, but-" Myles began but stopped as Twilight allowed the crystal to settle on her extended hoof, immediately the crystal began playing music again, which caused Twilight's eyes to widen in surprise. She backed up as Myles made another grab for the crystal, then finally sat back and grumbled.
"That one works."
"I don't get it, crystals reflect magic, or at least mess it up, but this is definitely magic, did…" she hesitated and glanced at Myles, "did you enchant this?" Myles nodded. "How?"
"I don't know!" Myles snapped, "Okay? That one works, it's the first one that did and the only one I have left!" His head hung in shame as he continued "And I've no idea how…"
"But you did this? How could you not know how you did it?" Twilight asked with genuine curiosity, Myles' eyebrow twitched momentarily, but then he seemed to realize she didn't mean it as an insult.
"Because I tried it when I was young, didn't really plan it out and believe me, I was shocked when it worked. It was nice to have an extra credit project actually worth something, for once," he smirked.
"Then this is the crystal that you showed Princess Celestia? This is what she sponsored you to research when you left the academy in Canterlot?" Twilight asked.
His smirk vanished. "Told you about that, did she?" Twilight nodded. "Did she mention I've made no progress since and she sent me to Ponyville as punishment?"
Twilight looked shocked, "Actually she seemed to think you've made excellent progress, considering enchanting crystals was once thought impossible, and she said the move to Ponyville was so you could get a fresh outlook on your work." Myles let out a snort.
"Sounds like something she'd say. It all sounds great the way she puts it, doesn't it? Even if it doesn't make sense."
"Actually," Twilight frowned, "I know what you mean. She ignored my warning about Nightmare Moon and told me to come here and make friends." She laughed a little and Myles' smirk returned.
"Probably makes perfect sense to her." He chuckled.
"So," Twilight held the crystal to her ear, listening carefully, "There were other crystals?"
"Yeah," Myles admitted, turning back to his apple and taking a bite, "but only ones that light up or play music, nothing useful."
"Light could be useful and what's wrong with music?"
"There wasn't enough light to see by and you couldn't even pick what song you wanted. Never could make rhyme or reason why some songs worked and some didn't." He held out his hoof for the crystal. Twilight narrowed her eyes in concentration.
"What's that sound?"
"What soun- oh you mean like a ringing or humming sound?"
Twilight nodded.
"That's the energy bleed out," Myles stated, continuing only when Twilight looked at him questioningly, "The crystalline formation is usually imperfect, so the energy from the spell is disrupted by any impurities and gets forced out, usually as kinetic energy. What you are hearing is the surface vibrating as the energy is transferred."
Twilight stared at Myles, who shifted uneasily.
"What?" he asked nervously, wondering why everything he said had to lead to more questions or weird looks.
"That sounded … intelligent."
"You sound surprised. What you think I spent the entire time just trying to force spells into the crystal like an idiot? I actually did research this, it just never amounted to anything." He took a bite of his apple and winced as he bit into something hard. He then removed the crystal shard from his tongue before lowering his ears and continuing, "Okay, sometimes I try and just force spells in there, but it's not like I have anything to go on, scientifically speaking."
"You've checked everything?"
"Yeah."
"Crystal size, color, composition?"
"Yes."
"Spell power and complication?"
"Yeahp."
"What about-?"
"Believe me, Twilight, it's been years since I enchanted that thing and I have checked everything! OKAY?!" Twilight backed up again as Myles raised his voice with every word. He seemed to realize he had been pushing her back and turned around. "Sorry, Twilight, bit of a sore subject. Look the forest is secure, I'm always here in case something happens. Always," he frowned again, picking up the crystal with his magic and carefully setting it back on the table. "So you don't have to worry about that. I'm sure you're very busy, so-"
"Why does the hum follow the music? Shouldn't the sound be constant, isn't it a recording of one continuous performance?"
"The hums' always there, I've had that for so long, I guess I just tune it out."
"I realize that, but the sound increases as the music does, it should always be the same, shouldn't it?."
"What? No it-" Myles held the crystal up to his ear, stopping as it began to play again. His ears stood up straight and he froze. After a few moments, Twilight reached a hoof towards him.
"Myl-"
"Shh!" He cut her off and narrowed his eyes as he focused on the music.
The violas danced up the scale, the cellos joined in, then the rest, just like they always had. Something had always bothered him about the recording, seemed off about the sound. It was a song he used to like, though it had worn thin over the years, especially with the unidentified irregularity. Now he heard the song and the hum he had ignored for so long. He could see the performers lift the bows of their instruments, pausing between notes. As the last note faded, so did the hum. When the next note played, the hum swelled in unison with the music. The note was even similar to the cello section of the song.
The sound harmonized with the music as much as possible.
Myles slowly lowered the crystal to the table and mumbled, "…seriously? That's all it was?"
Twilight barely heard him, but after taking a moment she spoke, "What is it?"
His head whipped around and Twilight found herself hastily retreating from a manic grin.
"You don't know? But you pointed it out? How could you not know?" he seemed half crazed but still sincere to Twilight.
"Pointed what out? What are you talking about? Are you alright?"
"No!" He shouted, laughing, "I'm stuck on the edge of a town where everyone pesters me about my job when my job should have been figuring this out, but it shouldn't have taken so long!" He grabbed a pad of paper and a pencil, hastily scribbling as he spoke, "The energy bleeding out is harmonizing with the music itself! It's vibrating the crystal at a frequency and pitch matching the output of the spell! It's not perfect, so it's noticeably off-key, but the fact that the expenditure even remotely follows the spells purpose and bleeds out due to imperfections in the storage method means the spell itself must have a wavelength, a tempo, pitch, amplitude, EVERYTHING!"
"How does that help?" Twilight skeptically demanded. She glanced briefly at the pad as he set down the pencil to see a hasty drawing of a wave reverberating inside a crystal shape set beside a musical scale.
"It changes everything! The music was the key all along! The light spells must've been a complete fluke but the MUSIC! THE MUSIC MEANT EVERYTHING!" He rounded on one of the crystals and shot a bolt of magic at it from his horn. The crystal began shaking before settling on a hum then going silent. Myles touched the crystal and once again his shout was heard, this time originating from the crystal. "THE MUSIC MEANT EVERYTHING!"
"But that was a recording of something you said, not music!"
"I know," said Myles, biting his lip in excitement. He shot magic at another crystal and seemed to concentrate harder this time, the hum was barely audible and didn't seem to Twilight to change pitch at all, but Myles seemed satisfied as it stopped. Before Twilight could ask what he'd done, she braced herself as she saw Myles throw the half eaten apple directly at her.
"What are you doing!? You could've hit-" she fell silent as she opened her eyes.
The apple was suspended above the crystal, a pale glowing barrier had stopped it in mid-flight.
"YES!" Myles shouted skywards in joy as he ran up to Twilight and pulled her into a tight embrace. "Magic has a waveform, crystalline structures work as an energy conducting sounding board and YOU," he pulled away from the hug and placed a hoof on Twilight's nose, "Are a bucking beautiful genius!" Twilight barely had time to react as he directed his horn at the pile of crystals on the workbench and swept a spell across them all, then swept them all off the surface and into his saddlebags, he turned and enchanted one last crystal, tying it to his neck with a loose piece of cord, it glowed briefly but then he pushed past Twilight and out the door before she could ask what he'd done.
"…is he gonna be okay?" Spike asked quietly. Twilight turned and placed him on her back. "Let's find out."
Outside they spotted Myles galloping down the tree line, cackling like a madpony and slamming a crystal from his saddle bag into the ground at regular intervals. When he made it to the end he galloped back, adding a few more in front of places that seemed like animal trails before coming to stop in front of Twilight and lifting the crystal around his neck. Twilight looked concerned.
"Do you hear it?" He asked, not attempting at all to contain his glee.
"Hear what?" After a moment, Twilight gasped as the crystal began emitting light in the shape of a convex lens, forming what appeared to be half an upside-down fishbowl.
"Here we go," whispered Myles as he extended a hoof towards the forest. As it passed over the line of crystals, the crystal in Myles hoof emitted a tone and a small spot on the fishbowl changed from its uniform blue shell to form a tiny red oval.
The shape of a miniscule hoof.
"WOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Twilight and Spike covered their ears as Myles ran a few laps around them, shouting at the top of his lungs, before embracing them both in a hug once more and then just as quickly turning back to his house.
"Nothing goes in or out of that forest without me knowing now, Twilight Sparkle! You enjoy the Summer Sun Celebration. I'm going to start catching up on MONTHS of sleep! Maybe I'll pop by Pinkie Pie's party later, she'll be so surprised! I could swing by the Summer Sun Celebration MYSELF! I can finally do what I waaaaaaaaaa-aaaaaaahhhnnnyt!" His shout involuntarily turned into a yawn. "I'm gonna go ahead and start with sleep though."
He bolted towards his door and shut it. Twilight turned to walk away with a smile when he sprinted back out and hugged her again, "You are. The best friend. I have ever had. Thank you." Twilight thought she saw his eyes watering as he ran back into his house. She was still shaken by his statement and how genuine it had seemed. Then she shook her head and looked to the sky saying, "That's not going to stop Nightmare Moon. C'mon, Spike, we have to finish checking on the preparations for the ceremony and find a way to stop her."
"That guys' in charge of security? I'm more worried about that."
"You saw what he did, he may act strange but he seems to have the situation in control. Probably more so now than ever before." She stated confidently as she walked back towards the center of town as Spike merely shrugged in reply.
Myles woke slowly, stretching and yawning until he felt the weight of the crystal tied to his neck. As he remembered the afternoon's events, he couldn't help but grin from ear to ear. It had been so long and the first crystal had always felt a bit like stupid luck. He'd researched for years and until today had only found evidence of why it shouldn't work. Now it finally all made sense. He didn't even care that somepony else figured it out, this was only the beginning and he had the key to making the rest of the process work now.
Looking over to his clock, he frowned, it was early morning of the next day. He had likely missed Pinkie Pie's party as he had about a half hour before the Princess' appearance at the celebration. He tore an old leather bag apart and formed it into a bracer that would fit around his left front foreleg, then he took the crystal and set it between layers, using the cord to secure it in place. It still looked a little shabby, but it was a tad more useful than having it swing about his neck. Making sure the leather was snug around his hoof and leg, he galloped towards city hall for the celebration, eager to show Princess Celestia the first useful progress made in his research after so much failure.
As he approached the doors, Myles heard Mayor Mare speaking to the crowd, he had only just made it in time. He opened one of the doors quietly and slid into the room without anypony noticing. He looked around and saw a few familiar faces, but missed the one he was searching for until he found the one pony not looking at the stage. Twilight Sparkles eyes' were turned skyward, staring at the moon with a nervous look on her face. Myles quietly approached until he was right next to her, but she looked back to the stage, not noticing him. He cast a glance skyward himself and was about to mention it looked a little different when the Mayor finished her speech.
"…Princess Celestia!" the Mayor stepped aside, a fanfare played and another pony pulled a rope to reveal an empty balcony. There were murmurs of shock throughout the crowd.
"This can't be good," Twilight remarked in worry.
"Remain calm, everypony," the Mayor implored the crowd, "there must be a reasonable explanation."
"Oh! OH! I love guessing games! Is she hiding?" Pinkie popped up on the other side of Twilight, hopping up and down with joy.
"She's gone!" announced the pony at the curtain, making the crowd gasp.
"She's good…" said Pinkie in excitement.
"Sorry Pinkie," Myles spoke up, causing Twilight to gasp as they both turned in his direction, "Princess Celestia may enjoy the occasional joke, but she tends to save them for after official ceremonies, not during."
"Hey, you made it!" Pinkie exclaimed.
Twilight had her eyes fixed on the balcony when she spoke,
"So did she."
They all turned to the balcony to see a dark alicorn with a sheet of night sky instead of a mane.
"Oh, my beloved subjects," she spoke with a mischievous grin, "it's been so long since I've seen your precious, little sun-loving faces."
"What'd you do with our Princess?" a rainbow maned pegasus shouted, springing up to attack the alicorn, she was held down by Applejack. "Woah there, nelly!"
The alicorn laughed, "Why? Am I not royal enough for you? Don't you know who I am?"
"OOH! OOH! More guessing games! Ummm…" Pinkie Pie put a hoof to her chin and thought, "Hokey smokes? How bout…. Queen Meanie? No. Black Snooty! BLACK SNOOTY! Th-" She was cut off as Applejack shoved a cupcake in her mouth.
"Does my crown no longer count now that I have been imprisoned for a thousand years? Did you not recall the legend? Did you not see the sign?"
"I did," Twilight spoke up, "and I know who you are. You're the Mare in the Moon, Nightmare Moon." The crowd gasped again.
"Well, well, well," the alicorn mused, "Somepony who remembers me. Then you also know why I'm here?"
"You're here to- to-" Twilight stuttered nervously, which made the alicorn chuckle sinsterly.
"Remember this day, my little ponies, for it was your last. From this moment forth, the night… will last… FOREVER!" She proclaimed with maniacal laughter as lightning struck the ceiling.
Myles could only stare. It wasn't exactly the ideal start to his first day off.
Couple things before you comment. Twilight states here that crystals are extremely hard to enchant, and that no one thought it possible. Before you go bringing up the Crystal Empire, that's part of the point, those ponies have been gone nearly 1000 years and when Celestia mentions them to her in season 3 (why do I know this? Ugh, I shame myself), Twilight says she never read anything about the Crystal Empire. I wanted to keep that part accurate at least, but assuming enchanting crystals was something ponies in the crystal empire did primarily, it would make sense that most of the techniques for doing so would vanish along with them. But Twilight can't know that because she never read about them. Honestly that part is hardest for me to believe. All she did prior to Ponyville was read and she had access to the castle, there are no books in there that even MENTION the crystal empire? But it's in the show, so in it stays. Which isn't to say I won't change some things, but rather than write in numerous references to the crystal empire before it's time, I think I'll keep her ignorance instead, thanks.
Myles is spelled with a "y" for a reason that will be revealed later, despite it not being all that impressive or important. It is not spelled that way because poor literacy is kewl.
I'll add the second episode later, if anyone actually wants to continue reading this and lets me know. I'll probably still write more of this, but depending on how much I get chewed out for this I may or may not post it here.
-Dr. Spacewizard Esq.