The sun shines brighter than ever before from the past months as the festival begins below in the Forest Kingdom. Cloth tents, wooden shops, merchant carpets, simplistic mechanical attractions, and various pieces of decoration crowd the vast clearing in the forest where the Festival of Harmony is hosted every year. Ponies from all three kingdoms, noble and poor, arrive from all four corners of the area and partake in either operating their units of business or enjoying the various amusements and shops. Celtic music echoes from all sides of the clearing as musicians march with the ponies and play their instruments. Among the bustling patrons, musicians, and lenders, in the center of the festival, the four royal friends, Prince Seirbigh, Princess Crystal, Sir Dorch, and Lady Ceann, are together, observing the golden statues of their six parents side by side on top of an iron and clay pedestal several metres thick.

“So Crystal,” Seirbigh asks, “what is it that you desire to do?”

“I don’t know,” the mare responds, “I’ve been on all of the attractions and shops many times before, and it’s always the same.”

“There could be a new attraction or shop,” Dorch replies, keeping an eye out for any sign of Medicine An Uisce, “You never know unless you explore.” Ceann turns to her brother, feeling as if she was being spied on by the corner of the sir’s eye. She then notices a series of bandages wrapped around his leg that weren’t there last night.

“Brother,” she asks, “why do you have bandages around your leg?”

“What?” The dark unicorn looks down to see that his suit’s sleeves he was wearing had become folded on their way to the festival, revealing the ribbons of cloth that cover his bite wounds. “I… I scratched myself against a bush last night, yes…”

“What were you doing anyways? You weren’t back home for over an hour after you left me to go ahead.”

“I… I was distracted, yes.”

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine sister, why don’t you, get some flowers for father and mother? Me and the others will explore whilst you’re gone.”

“Okay.”

“You don’t have to go alone,” Crystal disputes, “I shall join you if you don’t mind.”

“No, no,” Dorch politely argues back, “you and the prince need some time together before your wedding. Yes. And, to put it generously, Ceann will merely be an interference in your bonding.”

“Hey, then why don’t you join me as well?!” The light blue sister squeaks, only to have her lips held close by her older brother’s magic.

“Not another word dear sister, for you see, I am required to be with them during the festivities. Certain ponies might be here beneath our noses, planning to sabotage our friends’ time together, and it shall require a gentlepony of diplomacy to keep them away. No, run along.” Dorch then swirls the pegasus around, with her hind at the pedestal and facing her towards the shops before her. Upon being let go, Ceann unfolds her wings and flies off into the market area.

As she flies, the small mare begins to speak to herself, “What is with my brother all of a sudden? Ever since this morning, he has become more sly and ambiguous. And he never has used magic on me before to push me or even shut me up at least a decade. Why is he so jumpy about last night? Does he want me gone? Is he right? Am I truly a distraction from Crystal and Seirbigh, my two closest friends? Is mother right, has our father been a negative influence upon us as his father was as well? Or is Dorch actually concerned with the marriage? Something seems off and I intent to figure it out, just not now, for my brother will probably be on his guard and his true intentions from me.”

Meanwhile, at the other end of the festival grounds, the three older friends are walking alongside the buildings lined up to their right and their left. Like arranged troops in a military team, each building was different in size, shape, color, and specialty, but all carried out a single mission, to serve for their country and life. As the trio explore throughout the area, Dorch snakingly rearranges himself to be between his two companions. He then subtly nudges Crystal away with him on one side of a large line of ponies leaving Seirbigh to stare at the buildings on his side.

“So, Crystal,” he states, “you and Seirbigh are very close already. Am I correct?”

“You are,” she whimsically agrees, now thinking of the good times she and the prince have in privacy. “This marriage is going to be perfect, I know it.”

“I’m sure it will be, however…”

“However what?”

“However, what do you plan to do after that?”

“What do you mean by this? Seirbigh and I shall live as great rulers when the time comes and have a foal or two to raise together in love and care until it is then his or her time to take the crown.”

“Sounds wonderful, but what if the time comes shortly after your wedding? Seeing as you and Seirbigh’s parents are in trouble, one little blemish will cause you and him to become the rulers. Will you or he be ready?”

“Not really, but we will learn.”

“In how much time? Between you and me, I’m estimating that our green pegasus friend will probably require at least a year to get his studies straight before becoming a rightful ruler. If only he was a pony who could actually focus upon his lessons, who studied diplomacy and the arts for most of his life, who could take control of a kingdom or two and maintain them at any moment.”

“Like you?”

“Me?” Dorch gives a fake chuckle before replying. “I am quite capable of qualifying for those traits, but as it stands so far, you and Seirbigh must be together.”

“What do you mean?”

“Considering how the Metal Kingdom and the Forest Kingdom are in peril of losing their position in Trihearth’s government, it is seen as a necessity for you to marry him. Unless…”

“Unless what?”

“If you were to marry another pony that proves to be a beneficial ruler, then your kingdom shall be secure.”

“But what about Seirbigh and the Metal Kingdom?”

“Sadly, their kingdom will lose power and may even be taken control of by another kingdom. However, that power could then be given to you and whatever stallion that shall rule wisely.”

“That sounds… intelligent Dorch, but I’m fairly certain that Seirbigh and I shall be fine.”

“Yet-” Before he could reply however, Seirbigh appears over the two ponies and swoops in besides Crystal and exclaims,

“Sorry I lost you guys, I was a mite distracted with the jester court back there.”

“Forgivable…”

“Find anything interesting I hope?”

“Nothing much, we just talked.” Crystal answers. “But you seem fairly keen on the jester court, so how about we head back there?”

“Crystal, I’d hate to be such a tart in the choice of entertainment,” Dorch interrupts, “but I may have a better idea. During my chat with you, I’ve overheard two ponies we passed by talk about a fairly peculiar shop, one that’s new and unique to the commons we’ve seen over the years. May I suggest we search for it and find what curiosities behold?”

“I see why not. Prince Seirbigh, want to join us?” The prince simply nods his head in reply, prompting the three to begin the search for the ‘shop’.

Back at the large statue at the center of the festival, a lone blue pegasus with a bundle of flowers clenched in her mouth stands, now waiting for her friends to return. For several minutes, she waits for Crystal, Seirbigh, and Dorch to return, but to no avail. Now bored and seeking for something to occupy her loneliness, she gently places the flowers on the grassy ground and begins to talk to herself once more, “I guess it’s just you and me, my mind's eye. I wonder what Crystal and Seirbigh are up to now. Probably enjoying each other’s company in an exotic garden while my brother is getting some food outside the garden. If only I had a special somepony to spend my lonely moments with. But who could that pony be? The only true friend I know that could even qualify would be Seirbigh, and he’s with Crystal. She’s a lucky mare. That soft brush of orange hair and plushy green fur that does not require excessive grooming to keep its condition, those eyes of sapphire that glisten like the waves of the ocean, and his strong, thin structure that any mare could only dream of… But what am I doing? Am I mad for even fantasizing of being his special somepony? No, I must remain caste, and not summon such wicked thoughts into my head.”

After walking for what felt like an hour, the three friends, now inside the borders of the festival, stop and sit upon a flat stone in the middle of the lane. With the sun fully awake and beaming its bright rays upon the entire island, Crystal and Seirbigh begin to grow tired.

“Dorch,” Seirbigh moans, “are we there yet?”

“No quite,” the unicorn replies, still full of energy, “we might be close.”

“You keep looking,” Crystal yawns, “Seirbigh and I will just stay here and rest.”

“So be it.” Dorch stretches his head up over the heads of most of the commoners passing by as he looks around for Medicine’s tent she said she would set up. He looks left, then right, then left again, then behind him, then in front of him, checking every angle in his sight to get a glimpse of something that he doesn’t even know what the tent looks like. However, in the corner of his eye, the dark pony sees what might be the tent. He head whips towards it and thinks he has found it. It was a small purple tent in the distance, barely any higher than the wooden shacks surrounding it. Rips and tears, big and small, were all over the roof, and it looked as if it hadn’t been cleaned in decades. “I found it!”

“You have?”

“Yes, quickly, follow me!” In a hop and a skip, the stallion jumps from the rock and gallops towards the tent, quickly followed by a still exhausted Crystal and Seirbigh. Within two minutes, the three ponies reach the front entrance of the small tent. The prince and princess examine the small shelter before them, curious of what could be inside, if there was anything.

“Are you sure this is it?”

“Quite, for it is nothing like what we have seen before.”

“I guess…” Slowly, Crystal and Seirbigh push the front flaps aside with their bodies and enter, unaware that Dorch is not following them and is instead waiting patiently outside.