Chapter One

It was a fine day in Canterlot; the crowds were bustling, the streets were packed with shoppers eager to throw away their money for cool and comfortable summer clothing in favour of their heavy dresses and suits. And one young man named Alex was having an exceptionally good day. He’d just come out from a branch of Starswirlbucks with an iced coffee and a delicious muffin, provided by a girl with eyes that seemed to wander absently as she went about her day, and was making his way back to his home.

Mid journey, however, a streak of shimmering light invaded his vision, blinding him and causing him to drop his lunch. As the light grew in intensity, so did the clarity of its source. Eventually, after a few moments of blindness, the light stopped and when Alex opened his eyes he was greeted, not quite as pleasantly as he would’ve liked, by two guardsmen advancing in his direction with a large chariot behind them.

Their golden and white armour shimmered in the glorious summer sun, making plain the source of the retina torture endured earlier, as they looked sternly at Alex; one wearing a malicious grin. The guardsmen clapped their feet against the road surface in unison and one cocked his rifle, aiming it straight at Alex’s forehead. “Alexander Reed” the shorter of the two bellowed, “you are hereby charged with treason. We have orders from the Princess herself to take you away at once.”

“Wait, wait wait!” Alex started, flustered and not entirely registering the extent of what was going on, “T-there has to be some kind of mistake here!” He panicked, his heart rate rising, sweat oozing down his neck.

The guard simply grinned at him, “The Princess does not make mistakes.” He remarked, cuffing Alex and dragging him toward the chariot. Alex was far too panicked to do anything, he attempted to resist, but these guards were having none of it and one smacked him with the force of a championship haymaker with his rifle butt.

Carrying an unconscious Alex, the two guards made their way back to the carriage.
“I hope Celestia knows what she’s doing with this kid.” One guard muttered under his breath.
His companion looked to him appalled, “Shut up, you moron. Celestia always knows what she’s doing. Now I’d appreciate it if you didn’t insult our leader or else we might wind up in his shoes.”

Having been provided this prompt, the first guard quickly stopped his former train of thought.
“Ah, good point.” The pair looked at the young man with the rope around his wrists and blood dripping from his nose. “He has no idea what’s in stall for him, does he?” All the other guard managed was a malicious cackle before simply stating; “Heh, nope.”