Star charged at the large, powerful dragon with the fury of a thousand suns. Swipe, stab, swipe, stab, swipe, stab. With each motion he added a new mortal wound to the deadly creature.

     With his powerful greatsword in hoof, he slashed the beast's massive, scaly belly. The blade carved into the monster like a great turkey on Hearth's Warming Eve, exposing its vital organs to the daring hero.

     The dashing stallion smiled handsomely, "Is this the best you have to offer!?"

     "GRAAAH! CURSE YOU STAR SWIRL THE UNDEFEATABLE!" the terrible dragon raged as he swiped at our hero with his vicious claws of tyranny and, uh, communism. Yeah, communism. AND OTHER BAD STUFF!

     Dodging the attack perfectly, the brave warrior effortlessly lopped off the beast's front leg. Howling in pain, the dragon cupped his wound with his other claw and attempted to retreat, only to find his scaly back to the cave wall. Steaming-hot blood shot across the wide cavern, melting some of the dragon's hoarded gold treasures.

     Sir Star Swirl the undefeatable laughed deeply, "I will give you one last chance to surrender, Takkindoth the Unquenchable, before I kill you in the most HEROIC WAY POSSIBLE!"

     "Never shall I bow down to YOU, incredibly handsome rogue!" the wretched monster spat venomously.

     Star smiled.

     An honorable death for an honorable foe. How...honorable. And stuff.

     Lifting his massive sword above his muscle-bound and heavily-armored body, he leapt from the ground toward his foe's head at near-impossible speeds.

     With a swing of his mighty sword, he-

SPLASH!

     Star woke up from the shock of the freezing water that had been dumped on him. He sat up and noticed a ceiling, deducing that he was probably in prison again as most alleyways didn't have ceilings...or beds.

     He blinked and looked at the now open cell doors. A large guard dressed in leather armor stood at the entrance with a dripping bucket in hoof.

     "Nap time's over, buddy. You're free to go" the guard announced unceremoniously.

     Without another word, the minimum wage guard casually walked away.

     Star got up, shook his mane dry, and winced in pain at his pounding headache. He had difficulty remembering what had happened last night, but attributed that to the alcohol he smelled in his breath. With a shrug, he followed the guard with mild apathy.

     At the time, nopony had really expected him to be anything special; he was your standard, lanky, adolescent unicorn with a light blue coat and a pearly white mane that was almost always messy. His slender body was less muscular than most colts his age, but he had a head full of ideas and an optimistic attitude.

     Well...as optimistic as one could be waking up in prison, anyway.

     He almost walked out of the prison before he was stopped by another guard. In his grumpy mood, Star probably would have told the stallion to piss off were the stallion about a foot shorter and not carrying a sword.

     But, since he had just gotten out of prison, he decided that it would be a better idea to cooperate, "What do you want?"

     "I'm going to need to speak with your parents" he rumbled.

     Star rolled his eyes, "Check the graveyard in Trottingham"

     The guard looked away, "I see...did you move to Chicoltago recently?"

     "Yeah, I made the trip here yesterday. It seems like the poverty and unemployment followed me here. You wouldn't know about that, though, would you?" Star asked emotionlessly as he prodded the guard's slightly flabby side.

     The guard scowled, losing all semblance of sympathy in his voice, "Don't get cheeky with me, boy. Do you know why you were put in prison last night?"

     Star shrugged. "Slightly rebellious indifference toward the law?"

     "You have a pretty high vocabulary for a street rat" the large pony growled.

     "Aaand you have a pretty high vocabulary for a giant sack of meat" Star shot back venomously.

     The guard scowled, "You were drunk. You flashed every mare that walked by and shouted incoherent pickup lines. When we found you and told you to go home, you tried and failed to take my coin purse. What do you have to say for yourself?"

     To the large stallion's surprise, Star wrapped his forehooves around him, seemingly on the verge of tears and just barely managing to choke out, "I-I am so sorry, s-sir! I lost my parents an-and everything I owned had to be sold to the debt-collectors, and I came here to find work b-but couldn't and I just...just...I just had to drink away my troubles! I'm so, so sorry!"

     The guard returned the hug slowly, unsure of what to do, "Uh...it's okay, kid. You didn't hurt anypony so I guess I can just let you off with a warning"

     Star quickly pulled out of the hug, and quickly headed for the door as if nothing had happened, "Haveagooddaysirgoodbye"

     "Wait!" the guard jumped.

     Star's heart stopped, Sweet Celestia, I hope he didn't catch me...

     The guard pulled out a leather rucksack, "These were confiscated from you last night"

     "Oh, uh, thanks" Star took his things with a sheepish smile.

     After a long pause and a sniffle from Star for the extra effect, the guard nodded wordlessly and Star awkwardly shuffled out of the building.

     Exiting the building, Star smiled as he pulled out the guard's coin purse and counted his loot.

     "What do I have to say for myself?" he imitated the guard's rough voice with a stern frown, then smiled mischievously, "I have to say that I'm glad I got your cash this time"

     He put away his bits, then began to rummage through his rucksack restlessly, searching for the only thing that really mattered to him. He found it and quickly checked it to see if it had been damaged during his drunken escapades the night before. He let out a sigh of relief when he realized that it had been unharmed.

     Looking down at the front page, he read the title aloud, "Common Spells and Enchantments by Sun Swirl"

     He nodded and placed the book in his rucksack carefully. Nonchalantly walking away from the jail and onto a street, he tossed his bag of bits up and down a few times and pondered his next move. It wasn't often that he had any gold to spare, so he felt that he needed to make the most of his bits, especially since he was in a new town.

     His pounding hangover headache festered in his skull and sent a steady shot of pain up his horn, urging him to get some water, find the town inn, and use his money to pay for a room to take a nap to finish sleeping. He felt as though he had only gotten a couple hours of sleep last night, anyway.

     As he pulled out his map of the town, however, fragrant smells wafted up his nostrils from the town market to his left. His stomach raged, trying to cause more pain than the migraine in Star's head in hopes of getting him to spend his bits on food. He then realized that it may be a better idea to stock up on food while he still had the bits to spare. He hadn't had a decent meal in a long time, and he hadn't had any breakfast.

     Suddenly, several ponies were thrown into a heap in front of him, "AND STAY OUT!"

     To his right he found a worn-down pub with cracked windows and dangling bits of wood from the ceiling. How it was still standing was a wonder of the modern- Er, medieval world. The bartender stood on the porch, huffing at the drunk ponies he had just kicked out before storming back inside. His splitting headache said no, but his newly acquired alcohol addiction said HELL YEAH!

     "Hmmm..." Star looked to his bag of bits, then to his options.

Choice:

1. Star could ignore his rumbling stomach no longer. He walked into the market and started eyeing the fresh produce stands. Click here

2. Yawning loudly, Star gingerly stepped over the small pile of drunken ponies and headed to the inn. Click here

3. With a slight smile, Star trotted into the pub with his newly acquired bag of bits in hoof. He needed to get some things off his mind anyway. Click