The Council of Alicorn
Chapter 1
Nothing is truly everlasting, whether it is life, or death, peace, or war, and light and darkness, nothing sustains itself constantly; it only promises it's that it will change in time. No matter how powerful a force is or once was that force will fade and rise again. You can always try to sustain the perfect world around you, but nothing can stay that way without chaos raining down on your teetering perfect world. You in the end might even cause this event, that peaceful feeling is easily destroyed from the simplest of distractions that feeling may be lost for what seems like ages, but always returns never the less. Yet when that feeling is lost, is it truly lost? If we die or lose a part of our selves, are we lost? Can we return? As living beings we have to bitterly say no, yet what is lost will return in a different form, and those feelings live on.
It was a very busy day in Sweet Apple Acers, Ponies Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, and Apple jack eagerly awaited the arrival of the famous Herd. Rarity began franticly dusting, trying to remove every single speck of dust from the apple family barn. Muttering to herself in a mantra like way about: if this goes wrong she is done for. Twilight started to prepare herself the best way she knew how, with a dusty manual from apple jack to floating to her left and a pair of sheers sniping away at a bale of hay. Apple Jack was loading barrels of apples from the barn to the storage shed by the field, occasionally tossing Twilight or Rarity an apple to munch on as they prepared.
All three ponies knew that the herd supplies cloth all over Equestria, in both quantity and quality as wrinkled and old these sheep may be, their wool makes them look as radiant as the cloth they provide, The herd is made up of 216 sheep, each devoted to a single color. Their naturally thick, luxurious wool made the family famous even before Equestria existed. In modern day there wasn't a single gown, dress, robe, or blanket made without wool courtesy of the herd. They lived in a village consisting of only sheep where each lamb learned how to change their wool's pigments. They sang melodies that traced back to the original herd. Even with the constant demand and traveling of the herd this made it difficult but none the less they tried to bring home with them where ever they went. Their life was simple.
The barn was clear and ready for sheering; Twilight discovered the best technique for Sheering the sheep and Apple Jack brought the last barrel for wool in the barn. Rarity was beginning to lay down a carpet over the straw laden floor when the definite and clear sound of marching hooves began moving up the trail. All three ponies panicky ran towards the gate to greet and let the herd in. Over the horizon a perfect orderly array or sheep with the brightest blues in front and darkest reds in back began making their way to Sweet Apple Acers. As they got closer you could hear them sing of their arrival:
The heard is bringing wool to the whole
Is this our goal?
Each color we show means much more
We have trekked across the land
In a shining band
So now our colors are worn wherefore
As generations start to go
Our colors still show
A tradition used from the start of time
Ceiftess Willow a radiant blue
She gave what she knew
Our wool and life continue to shine
As a herd we've learned to work with care
Our majestic hair
Forms a cloth that stays forever bright
To all we've met no use of dye
Just a magic eye
For the making of compelling light
As time unfolds so does our cloth
Untouched by any moth
A courtesy in return for peace
We'll help to keep all ponies warm
In any storm
With the power of our magical fleece
When the song was over, the heard continued into Sweet apple Acers humming their tune. As Apple Jack showed the Sheep to the barn, Twilight was still stomping the ground in applause Exclaiming
"They actually sang Magical Fleece! I've only read about their folk songs none of which were written down, but I got to listen to one first hand! I bet spike will be jealous when I get home…"
As she continued to jabber about the last happening, as Rarity tried her best to drag her up to the barn. When the two caught up with Apple Jack, the herd was still harmonizing and marching in place. The most wrinkled sheep in the front row stopped marching abruptly, in reaction the beat of the heard began to dissipate along with the sheeps' harmonizing. This wrinkled sheep, with the faintest shade of soap blue wool stepped forward and spoke.
"I am Beatrus, the current Cheiftress of the herd" The tiny Sheep said in a Frim voice, "We come to supply the finest cloth in Equestria in return for seed for our crops"
"Well I'ma pleased to be acquainted with all yawl" Apple Jack said taking a bow "Im Apple Jack, and I'll be spinning you're wool today" Apple jack continued "This here is Twilight Sparkle, She'll be trimming most of yawl"
"Hello, everypony!" Twilight said to the vast herd
"And this is Rarity who's gonna make the cloth right quick" Apple Jack Added
"Charmed!" Said Rarity with a bow
"It is very nice to meet the three of you" Said Beatrus in a kinder voice. "Let us start"
Beatruss gave 3 strong baaas the herd replied responding in a much larger magnitude. The 100 or so sheep then began to make an organized line according to color in an unfolding like movement. When everypony was settled the sheering commenced; Twilight shaved each sheep clean not a scratch on one. Apple jack would then take the barrel of wool and spun it into thread. Lastly Rarity began to magically knit the thread together and fold the cloth neatly. The whole process was a simple task but time consuming, Even though about half the herd showed up. The Shaven Sheep were harmonizing and singing folk music outside the barn, it didn't help the fact that the three ponies were getting tired in the first place. They continued to sheer, string and sew the wool. It vibrant colors began attracting a plethora of critters. Butterflies especially. Nothing could be more relaxing.
Once the majority of the Herd was trimmed, the three ponies couldn't help but want a break. They joined the group of shaven sheep along with the wool Bering sheep to listen to the calming melodies. Apple jack was moving back and forth from a deep sleep and an intoxicated consciousness, Rarity laid a couple clumps of wool on a hay bale and was sleeping silently. Twilight tried to document each and every detail, but not long was she consumed in the music.
The sun became an orange ball of wool over the horizon. Most of the Herd and the three ponies were in a deep relaxed sleep. The only thing that broke the silence was the occasional bird chirp, and flutter of wings. While in her sleep Twilights horn began inexplicably glowing faintly, as if flowing with the hum of the remaining conscious sheep. This usually doesn't happen to any unicorn the sheep were peaceful and simple, their purpose for magic was for dye, yet her horn began to aluminate brighter. A few of the sleeping sheep were woken up by this; confused Baaas began to wake up others. The glowing dissipated, after constant growth, the horn stopped suddenly. Twilight still under a blissful sleep was oblivious to the situation. The sheep were calmed and they lowered their heads. The sun began to shed purples, reds, and oranges, and was beginning to leave Sweet Apple Acers.
As the last rays of Celestia's light were shown on the farm a burst of sudden light Startled and possibly blinded the Herd into alertness, Along with Twilight, Apple Jack and Rarity. As Twilight gained consciousness the light started fluctuating rapidly, till a sudden stop. The confused Herd and ponies were all gazing upon Twilight. Twilight was sitting there trying to figure out what had just happened herself when the sound of rapped flapping was in the wind. Rarity was first to make any sense of the situation and quickly galloped to check the cloth. Twilight and Apple jack caught on and followed her quickly. Rarity was double checking the cloth muttering to herself each specific shade of cloth to see if any flew off. Twilight's first instinct was to help her she began counting the yellows. Apple jack on the other hoof was staring into the distance paralyzed. She was not ready for another one, the last one left almost nothing for her family and Ponyvile. There was no warning this time, anything she could manage to do in the time she had would prove fruitless, after what seemed like ages of thinking Apple Jack Panicked deciding she could at least save the wool and the heard.
"SWARM!" Apple Jack exploded.
The already confused sheep went from drowsy babbling, to frightened squeals, Twilight and Rarity dropped their last predicament to see the origin of the flapping. Millions of specs in the distance were heading straight for Sweet Apple Acers. Apple jack has never experienced a swarm first hoof she was told of their terror and destruction of the last one by Big mac and granny smith, she was but a filly when it happened, too young to remember anything.
As the rest of the apple family became aware of the situation, Granny smith became a leading role. Everypony was assigned a job, it was tough work, epically under the sound of thousands of wings fluttering towards the farm, yet under the conditions, work was organized. Rarity began to package and label the finished cloth as twilight made the short simple teleports from the packages to the upper level of the barn. It was simple work but again the vast amounts of it and the time they had was limited. Apple jack and Big Macintosh, were schlepping as many apple barrels as possible o storage, both knew that the rest of the harvest would be nothing but scraps later that evening. Granny Smith, Apple bloom and Beatrus tried their best to get the Heard situated and comfortable. The incoming swarm seemed a wisp of smoke in the night, and to everypony seemed like it was taking for ever for this flustering cloud to strike. But,The more time the better.
As, the last of the sheep were herded in, cloth was packed, and Barrels of apple were stored, Everypony began to settle down. The Herd took up most of the barn, from the upper level of the barn to the cider cellar there was just enough room for the ponies. Big Macintosh barricaded the barn doors and brought a lantern over to the apple family. The flapping outside became louder not a single voice from the barn was made. The sheep have slept through worse situations, yet the apple family just sat there as that noise got louder, the silence after minutes or hours was broken by granny smith.
"This swarm's nothin' like the last one," she said staring into the lamp.
"You could hear the buzzin from miles around, Shure did give Ponyvile a scare, but not as much as us… It was after the fire in Everfree, smoke was billowin' out that place for days, We's were thinkn bout how's we was lucky that this here orchard was untouched, truth is fires are easy, just a splash of water and you've got an easy fix, not like swarms… it's like millions of brainless, destructive critters fattening themselves on whatever's in front of them, leaving nothing' but the ringing sound of a thousand angry beehives… We all could be out there trying to swat out a big bunch o' them, but that's never worked before, with swarms I got no special tricks cept' hiding with as much as we can carry…. Big Macintosh was bout Apple blooms age back when he was just little macmac, and Apple jack was no bigger than that there lamp, still learning to trot." Granny Smith smiled at the thought "This swam is different… maybe there's much less o' them varmints, Maybe it's not locust, what If they be parasprites!" Apple Jack began to panic,
"We don't stand any chance against that kind of swarm! We need to get to Ponyvile fast!"
"Maybe Twilight could teleport to the library, see if she can conjure up an extermination spell or to sugar cube corner, would that be of convenience to wake pinkie? Where is the darling to start with?" Rarity added
"I thought twi' was with you!" apple jack said frustratingly
"She Brought up the last box, then… Im not sure what happened to her."
"You should-a checked on her"
"She might still be up their I'll give a quick peek" Rarity said in a calming voice
Rarity started to maneuver herself around the sheep and to the second level, with her horn as a light source. The apple family was speechless, but they were all thinking the same thing; within the next couple of hours they could be left with nothing. Apple bloom was sniffling to herself, trying not to wake the Herd. The glow of the lantern seemed like the only comfort to the group. As Rarity made her way down Apple jack yelled in a whisper
"Did ya find her?"
"No, im afraid not."
Apple jack closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to take in the situation
"I'ma go and look for help, Rarity, when the swarm gets here send out a spark, Green if locusts, Red if parasites. Big mac, search the farm, every ware maybe twi' is some were out there. Apple bloom and Granny, search the barn. The second you see that spark, scurry on down to the barn and lock it tight all, yawl. Ima be back as soon as possible."
After Big Macintosh opened the gate Apple Jack bolted off the farm and towards the town, the immense fluttering fading to the sound of her hoofsteps.