1052 AD, March 27th

“Make way! Make way for the Great and Powerful Trixie!”

The mare and stallion wisely parted to allow her entrance into the bar. Her entry drew some looks – obviously they were smitten by her looks and aura of grace and power – but Trixie ignored them, and made her way towards the bartender, taking up a lone seat. Clearing her throat loudly, she introduced herself.

“You, the Great and Powerful Trixie requests that you bring her your most delectable martini with a side of lime and a small blue umbrella.”

The stallion narrowed his eyes at her – yes, her luxurious mane was a bit too bright in the dimly lit interior of the establishment – and went to fix her drink.

Trixie cast her eyes over the patrons of the bar, her lip curling slightly in distaste. The majority of them were loud, obnoxious, and smelly, but she had sat through worse in Fillydelphia and Manehatten. At least the TV hanging from the ceiling was showing the latest match of cumulus-ball from Cloudsdale.

“And Streamer takes the bat. She appears very confident, very calm; if her track record is any indication, then she has every right to be. As current record holder of the most homeruns scored by anypony, mare or stallion, Streamer is a juggernaut on the field, and the opposing team must be ready to bring their A-game if they’ll have any chance of winning this…”

The bartender came back with her drink. Trixie stared at it, recoiling slightly. “This umbrella is… purple.”

“Yeah?” The stallion’s voice was gruff and tired. He must have been dealing with some annoying customers. “So what?”

“Trixie explicitly stated she wanted a blue umbrella. Not red, not yellow, not white, and not purple, but blue. One that matches Trixie’s coat, if it’s not too much trouble.”

“All out of blue. I got red, yellow, white, and I certainly have purple, but not blue.”

Trixie paused and frowned. After a few moments, she sighed. “Very well,” She flicked her hoof at him. “Trixie would like a white umbrella.”

The stallion just stood there with a dumbfounded expression, most likely blinded by her beauty. Flattering as it was, she was rather thirsty, and just as she was about to repeat herself, he finally bent underneath the bar, and plopped a white umbrella in her drink whilst taking the purple one away.

“Better?”

“Much,” Trixie took the drink in her magic and lifted it to her lips. “You may go.”

She almost felt sorry for the stallion as he quickly trotted away to deal with his other rowdy customers.

Sipping on her drink, Trixie allowed herself to relax and enjoy her break from inspiring ponies with her shows and leaving them in awe of her talents. True, seeing the looks on ponies’ faces as she performed one trick after the other was nice, but nothing beat being able to sit down and just watch the world go by. Especially when the world often stopped to gaze upon you in admiration.

Even so, Trixie made a mental note to check her map once she returned to her wagon. She had seen a settlement near Canterlot which she hadn’t been to before. Ponyville she thought it was named – a town that was probably full of nothing but earth ponies who had never even heard of unicorns and their magic.

She’d have to be careful not to amaze them too much and take their entire fortunes. Bankrupting ponies was not something she actually wanted; she may have been great and powerful, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t benevolent.

Finishing her drink, Trixie placed the empty glass on the table. “You! The Great and Powerful Trixie requires a refill!”

The stallion appeared to not hear her. The noise must have really been getting to him. She was understandably annoyed, but she decided to give everypony in the bar a break and not chastise them. They probably had enough problems in their life and it wouldn’t help their self-esteem to be shouted down by somepony like her.

‘Ah, sometimes I think I’m too lenient…’

Idly playing with the umbrella in her glass and sucking on the slice of lime, her thoughts were interrupted as the stool to her left was noisily taken by a white unicorn mare with a wild mane of two-tone blue. Her eyes were covered by opaque glasses with purple rims.

“I’m tellin’ ya, Wolf, it doesn’t look like it, but this is the bar to go to when you wanna celebrate! Drink-celebrate, not party-celebrate because that’s when you to my club.”

Another unicorn mare – Wolf, apparently – took the stool next to white mare. Trixie was stunned by how large she was; unicorns, mares especially, weren’t known for their size yet this one was larger than most of the earth pony patrons. Her coat was an alluring tone of steel grey and her mane was deep blue and voluminous.

“I don’t go out and drink to celebrate, Vinyl,” Wolf’s voice was deep and richly sophisticated. “I decided to indulge you because you would not stop pestering me, but there’s a line that you’re very close to crossing.”

“Lighten up!” Vinyl chuckled, gesturing to the bartender. “Order a drink and chill, huh?”

Wolf looked like she wanted to throttle the other mare then and there, but instead she settled for taking some of the complimentary peanuts from the bowl and s-l-o-w-l-y crunching on them with a murderous look directed at nothing in particular.

Mother Faust, that mare was sexy.

It had been a while since Trixie had bedded a mare and Wolf looked like she would be an assertive lover. Normally, Trixie would be the dominant one in the bedroom, but she didn’t mind a change every now and then.

Putting on a winning smirk, Trixie shifted to get out of her seat and trot over to-

“Citizens!”

Trixie tore her gaze away from the stunning mare and was surprised to see two Canterlot guards standing by the entrance. Almost immediately, the bar went quiet.

“There is a criminal on the loose and we have reason to believe that he is in this very establishment.” One of the guards said.

The patrons of the bar began muttering amongst themselves.

“Whoa…” Trixie heard Vinyl whisper. “Looks like this night got a whole lot more interesting.”

Trixie rolled her eyes and sighed. Here she was trying to enjoy her break and some low-life criminal decided to bring his pursuers to the place where she chose to relax.

“The stallion in question is an earth pony,” The other guard – a pegasus – continued. “Light green coat with a crimson mane,” He paused. “Surely one of you has seen a pony who fits that description.”

Trixie lazily cast her gaze over the crowd.

Yup, there he was – sitting near the bathroom doors, looking incredibly nervous and trying to hide behind his mug of beer. She also noticed a purple piece of cloth tied around his right foreleg.

There was a sharp whistle and Trixie’s ears flattened in annoyance as she glared at the white mare, waving her forelegs in the air. “Yo, golden colts, over here! Look what I found!”

The guards looked in the direction she was pointing and immediately started for the sweating stallion. “Stay where you are!”

The earth pony looked very ill and Trixie smirked cruelly.

‘Teach you to ruin my night…’

“You are wanted for the crime of smuggling illegal and possibly dangerous items into Canterlot,” The unicorn guard said. “Come with us quietly, or we will have to use force.”

“I haven’t done anything wrong!” The stallion cried as he clutched a brown bag to his chest. Trixie rolled her eyes.

‘Way to look innocent,’

“We’ll see about that,” The pegasus retorted with narrowed eyes. “Come with us.”

“B-but I… I…”

“Um… excuse me.”

Trixie oriented her gaze towards the entrance of the bar and instantly knew her night was ruined. A pegasus mare – orange coat with a maroon mane – strode into the bar, a purple ribbon adorning her right foreleg. Multiple ponies wearing the same accessory followed her.

‘This is too much. The Great and Powerful Trixie doesn’t need this.’

“Sorry for interrupting you two, but, um…” The pegasus coughed awkwardly, looking down with a blush. “That stallion – Union’s his name – he, uh… well, he kinda owes me something and it’s really important I get it…” She paused. “Today. Now. It’s really important.”

“I’m sorry, ma’am, but this stallion is wanted for smuggling,” The unicorn replied softly. “All items in his possession will be confiscated and used as evidence.”

“Oh…” The pegasus frowned, looking like she was about to cry. “I see. Sorry for bothering you. I should’ve just knocked you out to begin with.”

The guard blinked. “Uh… what did-”

The pegasus’ left wing swept out and clobbered the guard upside the head, knocking him to the side and upsetting a table, the patrons crying out in shock. The mare’s forlorn frown was replaced by a small grin.

“Sorry it had to come to this,” She glanced up and nodded towards the remaining guard. “Get him.”

At once, everything exploded into action.

Trixie reeled to the side as the white mare threw herself into the fray and scattered the attackers with a burst of magic. Wolf adopted an irritated look as she followed Vinyl’s lead, her horn igniting. Many of the bar’s patrons rose to help in any way they can, but mostly succeeded in colliding with each other due to lack of space and general inebriation.

As for herself, Trixie decided to stay completely out of it. It wasn’t her fight after all. She’d just go somewhere else and try to salvage what was left of her break.

“Barkeep!” Trixie had to raise her voice over the din. “Here are Trixie’s bits!” Dipping into her saddle bag, she pulled out a few coins and deposited them on the bar table. “Trixie is sorry to have to leave and no longer grace your establishment with her presence, but things are getting a little too crowded and barbaric for her ta-”

Warm liquid splashed over her head. Vaguely, she registered it as alcohol. Mouth agape as she gave horrified gasps, Trixie slowly turned towards the fight. Her horror began to give way to anger and her anger gave way to rage.

“You…” Gritting her teeth, she concentrated and plucked two stallions – whether or not they were part of the pegasus’ gang didn’t matter to her – from the fray to bring them in front of her. “You ruined my mane!”

She threw them across the mob and turned her gaze towards a table, her horn flaring as she levitated it into the-

Striker decided he was having a good day.

His wife had made his favourite breakfast, he made it on time early for guard duty, he got to have a chat with Shining Armor, he had been there to see Prince Blueblood fall flat on his flank after being assaulted by a flock of angry birds, and just before he retired for the night shift, he had passed by Princess Luna.

His suspicions about her still being evil were put to rest when he saw just how lonely and kind the mare was. A bit loud perhaps, but that was about the only thing he didn’t like about her.

And now he was on his way home with a beautiful night sky to appreciate.

Yes, he was sure nothing could go wrong.

CRASH

Striker turned and watched as Swift Wind was thrown out of The Tipsy Trotter. His pegasus friend stood for a brief moment, helmet turned the wrong way and armor crumpled, and chortled before promptly collapsing with a dazed grin.

He emitted a short sigh. “Should have expected that…”

Striker sent a flare of magic into the sky before rushing into the bar.

“… and then none of the guards would do anything to help me!” Prince Blueblood stamped the balcony’s cobblestone floor. “Can you believe that?”

Luna shrugged, briefly tearing away from the telescope to look at him. “They were but birds, Blueblood. We do not think thou would hath been harmed in any way.”

“But I could have! What if the same thing happened to you? What sort of guards would just let their princess be harmed in such a way?” Blueblood shook his head angrily. “Disgraceful!”

He had been suspicious at first about having Luna at the castle, what with her recent Nightmare Moon escapade, but over time he had come to like the idea of having another pony worthy of talking to around. Dear Aunty Celestia was always so busy and rarely had time for him one-on-one.

“Oh, and did I ever tell you about Fancypants and the new addition to his little group?”

“Aye…” Luna sighed. He could relate; he was just as exasperated about the stallion and his ‘precious’ hegemony, if not more.

“Star Secret!” He huffed. “Now I’ll pay credit where it’s due – she does know how to have a rousing conversation and deliver a magnificent speech, but her mannerisms are so uncouth! I saw her yesterday and the way she looked at me suggested that she thought of herself as being on the same level as me. Me! I just… I’m at a loss for words, aunty.”

“Incredible...”

“I know. As gifted in linguistics as I am, there are times when ponies do and or say things which leave me stunned and in disbelief,” Blueblood sighed. “I just don’t know what this city is coming to. I’m sorry you have to see it in such a…” His gaze turned to the horizon and he frowned. “Way…”

A brilliant green light had shot up into the air, a streak of lime following its ascent. Blueblood stepped closer to the balcony’s railing, peering closer.

“What is that?” Luna asked.

“I never pay much attention to Shining when he goes on about security details, but I believe that is a unicorn guard requesting assistance,” Blueblood looked closer at its point of origin and scoffed. “Ah, from the common section of Canterlot – what a surprise. That part is lousy with criminals and ne’er do wells. Simply dreadful; I don’t know what Shining is doing with the Royal Guard, but it’s obviously not working to keep uphold the peace. If Celestia would just let me-”

A rush of wind tussled his styled mane and he looked to the side to see Luna’s wings spread out, her eyes intense.

“Excuse us, Blueblood, but We must see to this commotion.”

“Don’t bother,” He reached up to fix his mane. “It is the guards’ job to uphold the law of Canterlot so let them deal with it. You are still recovering and Celestia has insisted that you focus on regaining your strength and familiarizing yourself with Equestria’s present laws and government ruling.”

“We may have been gone for a thousand years, but We still remember how to defend our subjects,” She rose into the air with a beat of her mighty wings and Blueblood was momentarily awestruck by how graceful and regal she appeared, silhouetted against the night sky. “Inform mine sister if thou must, but We are going and that is final.”

“W-wait, aunty!”

Without another word, she soared off towards the flare. Blueblood watched her go, an imploring hoof still reaching out. Slowly, he drew it back in and sucked on his teeth.

“Well then…” Turning on the spot, he ran back into the castle, shouting. “Celestia! Luna has gone to consort with the commoners! Also, there’s probably a coup going on! And somepony ate Luna’s salad! It wasn’t me this time, I swear!”

“Whoo, we got a real match here, eh, Wolf?!”

Nightmare Moon cursed as somepony broke a chair over her back. “Vinyl, this is the last time you take me out for celebrating!”
Normally she enjoyed a good fight; it was a good way to relieve stress and also served to remind others of her strength lest they get any bright ideas about thinking they could take her, but now that she had a reputation to uphold, full-out brawls weren’t something she could make a habit of.

‘Well, the more ponies I can knock out the better.’

Though that was annoyingly easier said than done.

With so many patrons engaging in the brawl, the press of their bodies made it hard for her much larger form to move about and dodge. True, she could easily shrug off the majority of their blows, but if she could avoid being hit altogether, then she’d prefer to do so.
She really needed to touch up on her close-quarters combat; the last thing she needed was to get rusty.

At least Vinyl was holding up fine. She ducked and weaved with a grace more befitting of some great warrior than a DJ that broke down in tears every time they ran out of milk.

Knocking a member of the Dwellers into a table with a savage buck, Nightmare Moon turned and cast a Kinetic Impact spell. She made it smaller so it delivered a larger amount of force across a smaller area, resembling a solid punch. The unicorn didn’t even know what hit her.
Smirking victoriously at the knockout, she then cast her attention towards a pegasus and prepared a-

“Stop right there, criminal scum!”

A body made of flesh and metal collided with her side. Even with her robust physiology it still hurt like Tartarus. Brought down to the floor, she felt her body become heavy as she was struck with a Paralysis spell, potent enough that it would have worked had she not been a step above equine.

Nightmare Moon shoved the guard off her. “You incompetent waste of magic! Do your job and go after the criminals!”

She would have thrown him across the room if a burly stallion hadn’t decided to make him his next target. Grappling the guard in a chokehold, he carried him out into the crowd, and disappeared from sight.

‘Well, that works…’

A yell sounded off to her right. Nightmare Moon looked in its direction and reacted in time to catch a flying Vinyl and deposit the other mare back on her hooves.

“Whew, cheers, Wolf! Friggin’ pegasi and their wings; caught me when I was wailin’ on some Dweller,” The DJ nonchalantly ducked to avoid a thrown mug, half-empty. “So how you doin’? How many dudes you knocked out?”

Nightmare Moon stoically stepped back to allow a grappling duo through. “You’re aware we’re still in the middle of a brawl? One that appears to keep on going until the entire establishment is brought down on our heads?”

“Hay yeah! Haven’t been-” Vinyl avoided a swing and bucked the attacking mare into the crowd. “Haven’t been in this big of a fight since that time me and Neon got our bags stolen and we had to chase them to this restaurant. I mean, we had to get our flanks bailed out by the guards, but it was still pretty-”

“Be still!”

Nightmare Moon’s ears flattened against her skull and she dug her hooves into the floor to avoid being blown back.

‘Oh, that’s just wonderful…’

Turning around – idly noticing how the rest of the bar froze in their tracks – Nightmare Moon was greeted by the sight of a very familiar alicorn princess. Her mane and coat had darkened, suggesting she was regaining some of her power, and her stance spoke of confidence and strength.

“What is the meaning of this shameful display?”

One of the guards – when had so many arrived anyway? – stepped forward, half his armor missing. “Y-your highness, we saw a distress signal coming from this location and arrived to see… this.”

“It was my signal,” An unconscious pile of ponies shifted and a cyan-coated stallion popped out, sporting a dozen bruises and cuts. “I saw Swift Wind get thrown out and decided to intervene.”

“It was that pegasus mare!” The unicorn guard from the very beginning of this ordeal cried, struggling to pull the crumpled helmet from his head so he could see. “The one who came in with the Dwellers! She assaulted my partner because we were trying to bring in a known smuggler.”

“Where is this pegasus?”

Nightmare Moon glanced to the side and noticed a maroon tail sprouting out underneath a table. Catching it in her telekinesis, she unceremoniously dragged the mare out, and threw her in Luna’s direction. The mare skidded to a stop inches from Luna’s silver horseshoe-covered hooves.

“We presume thou art to blame for this mess?”

She had toned down the volume from ‘gale-force-winds’ to ‘moderate-breeze’, but the mare still shook from head to tail. At least she was meeting Luna’s eyes and not just cowering like many other ponies were.

“Define…” The pegasus searched for the right word. “Mess.”

“Ponies cradling injuries that will surely scar! Ponies who are unconscious at this very moment! Destruction of this very establishment! Resisting arrest, assaulting authority figures, assaulting thy fellow ponies; that is what We mean by mess!”

“Well… I may have had some part in it.”

“Some part?!” A unicorn mare with a soaked silver mane stepped forwards. “The Great and Powerful Trixie saw it with her very own perfect eyes! These miscreants entered and picked a fight with those guards – who, by the way, are amazingly inept at their duties – which resulted in Trixie’s luxurious mane being…” She hitched a sob. “Ruined! Trixie demands you punish those responsible!”

“Thou hath no authority to make demands of us! Guards! Thou will assist thy princess in assessing the situation and punishing those who instigated it.”

Luna turned her burning emerald gaze on the patrons. Nightmare Moon gave a brief round of mental applause at the way she made them squeal in terror.

“All shalt remain where thou stand!” She glanced at the fallen ponies, her stern expression wavering slightly. “And… lie. We will question thee on what transpired here. Then, and only then, will thou be allowed to return home!”

For a brief instant, Luna’s eyes met hers.

Nightmare Moon kept her face blank and stared back.

Luna looked away, none the wiser.

‘In due time, Lu-Lu… In due time…’

The blind guard stumbled in front of her, his own magic doing little to loosen the helmet. Vinyl snickered and reached out with her own telekinesis, removing the headwear with a few strong tugs.

“Uh, thanks…” He rubbed his head and looked around. “Um… where’s the smuggler?”

As soon as Celestia’s hooves touched the ground she knew it was going to be a long night. A dozen guards had blocked off a section of the street and were in the process of questioning a large number of ponies, the majority of them sporting injuries. Paramedics flittered from one pony to the next.

“Your majesty!” Ironhide bowed in reverence.

She smiled tiredly. “Hello, Ironhide. How is your night?”

The earth pony looked around and then back to her. “Less broken furniture than my wedding.”

She chuckled softly at the joke. Then when she realized he wasn’t joking, she cleared her throat awkwardly. “At any rate, Blueblood told me my sister was here?”

“Yes. She’s inside the bar at the moment; we’ve captured what we believe to be a high-ranking member of the Dwellers,” He looked back to the entrance. “Princess Luna is interrogating her at this very moment.”

Celestia nodded and trotted past. “Thank you, Ironhide. I’m sorry you had to be called in on your break.”

“It’s no problem, your majesty. There’re still less unconscious ponies than my kid’s recital.”

‘Ironhide, you lead a very interesting life.’

Stooping her head so she could fit into the bar, Celestia sighed as she examined the level of destruction. As hard as she tried, Canterlot still had problems with crime. At the very least – she tried to comfort herself – nopony was killed.

“We will ask once more and thou wouldst be wise to answer correctly! What dost thy ring of barbarians hath to do with smuggling and what assortment of goods was thy smuggling in the first place?”

The pegasus that stood before her sister smoothed back her messy mane. “Candy. Candy and milk. You should try some; maybe you’d be less cranky.”

Celestia winced as her sister recoiled, eyes wide with shock.

“Thou darest to speak to thy princess in such a manner?! Thou should be on thy knees and thanking us for not-”

“Luna…” She placed a hoof on her sister’s shoulder.

Luna glanced back, breathing hard. They matched one another’s stare for a while before the lunar princess calmed down and exhaled, turning away from the mare and towards her.

“Sister,” Luna began. “We… lost our temper for a moment.”

“It’s alright, Luna. Look, why don’t you go back to the castle and let me take c-”

“No.” Celestia stepped back in surprise. Her sister paused. “No, that’s… We are fit to perform our duties as princess. We are… fine.”

Celestia worried – perhaps a little too much, she admitted – for her sister and just wanted her to go back to the castle where nothing and nopony could hurt her. But her sister was strong and assertive; she was restless and wanted to see her subjects again, especially after she learned how much this generation enjoyed her night.

“Okay…” She had to learn that Luna was a mare and was able to make her own decisions. “If you insist.”

The smile that graced Luna’s lips made her feel immeasurably better. “Thank you, ‘Tia.”

Smiling back, Celestia turned to the troublesome mare and adopted a stern expression. “My little pony, what is the meaning of all this?”
The pegasus scoffed and looked away. “Oh, just a little harmless get-together. No need to bring your big flank down on us.”

“Thou hath some nerve to speak not only to us, but our sister in such a way.”

“Hey, thou don’t-eth show-eth me respect-eth so why-eth should I… eth?”

“Ignorant little-”

“Please, Luna…” Celestia lowered her head to stare directly into the pegasus’ eyes. “If you want us to show you respect, then you must also show it to us. Antagonizing my sister will not make her anymore friendly towards you.”

“Don’t talk to me like a foal, Trollestia.” The mare looked livid as she gave an ugly glare.

“Thy nickname hath stood the test of time?”

Celestia slowly turned her head to glare at her sister.

“Err… We mean, thou dare to slander our sister’s name?”

Turning back, Celestia’s expression softened. “I sense there is something more to your anger. Something deeper.”

The pegasus scowled and pawed at the floor. “No, there isn’t. I did this for money, nothing else to it.”

Celestia sighed; the mare was obviously hiding something, but she was stubborn and angry for one reason or another, especially at her. She wouldn’t be getting anything from her, at least not without violence.

‘And I made an oath not to do that anymore…’

With a sigh, she decided to leave any interrogation in the hands of the guards, and stretched out one wing to touch the pegasus’ shoulder. The pegasus recoiled like she had been burned, nostrils flaring and tail swishing back and forth.

“What’s your name?”

“What’s it to you?”

“You know my name; I’d like to know yours.”

“… Rising Breeze.”

“Rising Breeze, are you badly hurt?”

She seemed surprised by the question, but answered, “No, I’m fine.”

“I know you don’t highly of me, or the Royal Guard, but for your own sake, try to be more cooperative; if nothing else, we’ll sort through this faster.”

Rising Breeze snorted, but didn’t answer back.

Taking that as good an answer as she would get, Celestia rose back to her full height and turned to her sister. Luna’s expression was one of simmering anger.

“We believe you let her off much too easily.”

“She’s not going to answer to us, Luna; too much emotion.”

“Thou said there was something deeper to this,” Luna jerked her head to Rising Breeze, who was silently being addressed by a paramedic. “She knows something.”

“Perhaps the guards will have better luck; they’ll detain her, give her some time to cool off, and maybe she’ll talk then.”

Luna looked uncertain, but eventually, she gave a nod. “Very well. We will remain here and see that nothing else undesirable occurs. Thou should head home and get some rest.”

“Okay… good night, Luna.”

“Good night.”

Celestia trotted back towards the entrance with a heavy heart and downcast eyes. The knowledge that things like this still happened all over Equestria was a depressing thought. Sometimes she wished there was a button that could just erase all the negativity in the world.

‘What must be done to achieve total peace and harmony? There must be something…’

“Are you alright?”

Celestia looked up and was forced to look up further to meet the unicorn’s intense green eyes. With a coat as grey as steel and a mane as blue as her sister’s coat, the mare cut an intimidating figure, especially since she was almost half her own size. She hadn’t seen many unicorns reach that stature; physical prowess was less… potent in their race.

“What?” The question finally registering in her clouded mind, Celestia blinked hard and stood straighter. “Oh, yes, I’m quite alright, thank you. I hope you can say the same?”

“I’ll live,” The mare shrugged. “It’s fortunate your sister arrived. Some of us were ready to start inflicting fatal injuries.”

Celestia nodded. A part of her found the words strange somehow. “I’m glad it didn’t come to that. I knew some parts of Canterlot were prone to assaults, but I never expected something of this magnitude.”

“I can say I did.”

“Oh?”

“It was inevitable, really,” The mare looked around at the chaos. “When one takes into account the living conditions, lack of enforcement, and general ire of the downtrodden masses, it is not a matter of ‘if’ a fight starts, but ‘when’ and ‘where’.”

Celestia sighed. “Yes. It certainly appears to be the case. However, I cannot change things by myself.”

“It would be difficult for one pony to change everything…” The mare said slowly, as if contemplating the words. “Well, I’m afraid I must be going soon, but would you do me a favour?”

Celestia nodded. “Of course. What is it?”

“Remember the name Star Secret.”

“Star Secret? Is that your name?”

“Just remember it. What you do with that knowledge later is entirely up to you.”

Celestia watched Star Secret as she trotted away, every movement controlled and precise.

‘What was that about?’

She shook her head and continued heading towards the entrance. She’d certainly remember. It would be hard to forget a mare like that.

A green stallion with a red mane pounded on the rickety wooden door. He was covered in bruises and kept casting fearful glances back.

“Come on… come on…”

Once he made this delivery he’d be in the gang and then everything would be easier. He was certain of it.

Just as he was about to knock again, the door swung open, revealing an ageing stallion with glasses. His dark mane was done up in a long ponytail.

“Can I help you?”

The stallion tripped over himself as he answered, “S-sparkle in caves… uh… diamonds in the night…”

“Glimmer in the forest, rocks in the bright.” The stallion stepped to the side. “You’re late.”

“Sorry, sorry…” He trotted in and nudged the door close, panting. “We, uh… had a bit of a run-in with the guards. I wasn’t followed!”

“That’s good,” The shop owner walked behind the counter and nodded to the saddle bag. “Did you bring it?”

“Yeah, definitely…” Depositing the bag on the counter, the stallion zipped it open, revealing dusty and worn pieces of jewellery. “It’s a bit old though. Why do you want this?”

“I’m hoping you have a certain item in here…” The shop owner shifted through the pile, azure eyes narrow. “It was only a rumour, but… ah!”

Carefully, the shop owner lifted something out from the pile. The stallion flinched at the object.

“What is that?”

“An amulet. Nothing more.” The shop keeper hid the thing under the counter and came back up with a bag. “Here. Our agreed payment.”

The stallion’s eyes bulged as the bag was dropped on the glass counter and spilled its contents. “Jeez, all that for…? What about the rest?”

“Keep it, sell it, bury it… eat it for all I care. The amulet was all I wanted.”

“If you insist…” Gathering up the bits and the bag, the stallion shifted awkwardly. “So, uh…”

“We are done here. You may go.”

“Oh, right,” The stallion nodded and stood there for a moment longer before stiffly turning. “Cool.”

The ageing shop keeper watched him go until the door closed and he was alone. Smiling, he ducked back under the counter and examined the exquisitely designed ornament.

“This will surely bring a small fortune...”

As he chuckled and walked away, the amulet’s ruby eyes glinted dangerously in the dark.

Author's Notes:

Note 1: These first chapters are more of an extended prologue; the plot will eventually come into play, but for now these are to provide much-needed information.

Note 2: Nightmare Moon saw the mug as half-empty - she's not much of an optimist.

Note 3: Cumulus-ball was invented in 887 AD by a pegasus named Vortex; the bats were made from balsa wood and the ball was formed from solid ice. Since the introduction of balls made from stitched leather and bats crafted from stronger wood in 901 AD, injuries have gone down by 89%.