Hear this. Hear it very well. Say thankya.
You do not know this world. Oh, yar, you may think you do. There are similarities, say true. But look closer and you'll see that you're on a whole 'nother level of the Tower.
Know this; there once was a bright and beautiful land ruled by two sisters. One, the elder, raised the sun and watched over the day. The other, the younger, raised the moon and watched over the night.
Don't scoff, maggot. Aye, you know this much I'm sure. Just as ye know that the younger sister grew jealous of the adulation her sister and her shining day received from the populous. Ye know she gave in to the darkness inside and became a monster. Ye know there was a great clash, and when the dust settled the elder sister stood alone.
But here's where things start to get a mite different, do ya ken? So pay attention.
Aye, the elder sister was our own Princess Celestia. But following the tragic collision with her own flesh and blood, Equestria as a whole did not simply snap back to normal like some great rubber band. Chaos and anarchy spread. Bandits and outlaws patrolled the roads. Tinpot, upstart dictators rose and began gathering power. Celestia and her forces did what they could, but they were greatly weakened by the brief and bitter war.
Something new was needed.
So Celestia's own School for Gifted Unicorns was refitted and became that something. The best and brightest of the spellslingers were collected and trained, and when they were ready they were turned loose to do what needed to be done to restore harmony. They did so with the most potent of magics in the universe, and the solid will of their Princess backing them.
Did they succeed? Well... for the most part. There's not so many dictators anymore, say true. But there's still bandits and outlaws. There's still a need for special unicorns like that. There's not so many these days, do ya kennit? But there's a few still out there, fighting the good fight.
So it's been for a thousand years now. Officially those brave spell-slingers are designated as "Agents of Harmony." But the ponies of Equestria got another name for 'em.
They call 'em LAWMARES.
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The blizzard had moved in way faster than she'd anticipated. A particularly hard gust of wind nearly took her off her hooves and likely would have taken her hat were it not held tight against her mane by one hoof. She could see a light through the snow now, shining red-orange in the dark of night. She passed a wagon with a broken axle, leaning heavily on it's side. The wind made the tarp covering the cargo flutter against the straps holding it down. Something caught her eye and she paused. She considered taking a closer look, but knew that if she didn't get inside soon she'd likely freeze to death. With one last burst of energy, she pushed herself to trot up to the cabin's steps. The little place had clearly seen better days, but the flickering light promised the two things she needed most in the world right now; warmth and comfort. She took the steps up onto the porch two at a time and banged on the front door with the hoof not holding her hat. "Hello?" She called. "Can I get some help?"
The door opened a crack, and just the little bit of warmth that floated through that gap was enough to make her swoon. "Who needs help?" An eye appeared, looking out at her with suspicion. Not a pony eye, either. This one was clearly avian.
"Please, sai." She took her hat and placed it over her heart. "I was heading down the mountain when the storm hit and I got lost. Must've gotten turned around. If you could give me shelter until the storm passes, I could pay you back for it."
The eye narrowed. "We ain't got no room." The door began to swing shut.
"Please!" She cried in desperation. Her horn lit and a small satchel floated out from her saddlebags. "I have gold."
The door froze. "...How much gold?"
She smirked, trying to suppress her chattering teeth. "Enough."
The griffon on the other side of the door laughed as he swung it wide. "A pony after my own heart. Get in here before you let all the warmth out."
She raced inside and practically melted as the heat from the nearby fireplace chased the cold from her bones. Distantly she heard the door shut behind her, and she turned to offer her thanks to her rescuer.
Instead, she found herself staring down the barrel of a pistol.
She gulped. "That's really not necessary."
The griffon behind the pistol chuckled. "I'm afraid that I've got to be the judge of that, Miss...?"
"Twilight. Twilight Sparkle."
"Miss Sparkle. Can't be too careful these days. Especially when it comes to unicorns." He used his gun to gesture at her horn. "Why were you headed down the mountain?"
"I'm a courier."
"She's lying." An older, rougher voice came from the other side of the room. Another griffon stepped out of the darkness and glared at her. "There's no unicorns in the Courier's Guild."
"Normally, you'd be right." Twilight gestured at her saddlebag. "I'm filling in for my Dad. He's sick. I'm filling in for him 'til he gets better. Do ya ken?"
The older griffon's eyes widened. "Aye, I kennit. And from Canterlot, too? You're a fair distance, my cully."
"Say true." Twilight nodded her head. "Been there yourself?"
"Once or twice. Enough to pick up on that high-class way ye've got of speakin.'" The older griffon examined one sharpened talon. It glinted in the firelight. "So ye're fillin' in for your Pa? That's sweet. But I'm wonderin' this; what do ya do when not keepin' your Pa employed?"
"I'm a librarian." She felt her saddlebags being lifted from her barrel and did not resist. "If you tell me what you're looking for, I'd wager I could help you look, sai."
"I can look fine myself." The younger griffon muttered as he rummaged through the bag with one hand while the other kept his pistol trained on her. "What am I looking for here?"
"Lawmares are supposed to have a letter from the Princess on their person. Shows they act in her name."
The griffon made an irritated noise. "There's a ton of papers in here. Most of 'em are letters." He dropped the bag with a huff. "Maybe she's tellin' the truth."
"You two think I'm a Lawmare?" Twilight laughed and shook her head. "What kind of lawmare gets lost in the mountains with naught but a bag of mail as her gunna?"
The older griffon considered, then nodded. "Aye. Ye'd be a poor lawmare indeed Twilight Sparkle. S'pose we can put you up for the night."
Following his elder's signal, the younger finally lowered his pistol.
"Say thank ya." Twilight bowed before taking a seat by the fire. A warm, spicy aroma filled her nostrils as they warmed, and she sniffed eagerly. "Don't suppose I could pay for some of that what's cooking as well?"
The elder griffon chuckled as he made his way to the fireplace and to the source of the smell; a covered cook-pot suspended above the fire, the lid bubbling happily. "Don't reckon this stew would be to your likin,' Miss Sparkle."
She shrugged. "Fair enough. Could still use some vittles if you've got something more for the equine palate."
"We've got some of these." The younger gestured to several vegetables on a nearby table. "Usin' 'em for seasoning."
"I wouldn't say no to a carrot." Her magic took the offered food from his claw and brought it to her mouth. "Obliged." They sat in companionable silence for a while as the stew boiled and the wind blasted the walls outside. It was Twilight who finally broke the silence. "You seemed awful worried that I was a Lawmare."
The elder griffon stiffened as he reached towards the stewpot's lid. "I had a bad experience with a Lawmare a few years back. Don't rightly trust 'em."
"Why's that?"
"From my experience, Lawmares don't take kindly to non-ponies in Equestria. 'Specially us meat-eaters."
Twilight shook her head sadly. "That's a shame. There's plenty of room in Equestria for every creature." She nibbled the carrot a little more. "Did you two just move out here?"
"Yeah, just recently." The younger was peering out the window into the blinding white of the storm. "Why do you ask?"
"I saw the wagon outside."
Both griffons flinched and shared a look. "Yeah? What about it?"
"Your axle's broken." Twilight took another bite. "I figured I could help you fix it in the morning. It's the least I could do after you let me crash here tonight."
They relaxed and resumed their work. The elder griffon put his beak over the stewpot and inhaled deeply. "Ah. Almost ready."
"It sure does smell good. You sure I can't have a little bowl? I'm good for it."
The elder shook his head. "From my experience, you ponies don't digest meat very well."
"Did a little hunting before the storm hit, huh?" Twilight polished off the last of the carrot and licked her lips.
The younger looked away from the window, a bemused smile on his face. "Yeah, I guess we did."
"I mean, you must have. There couldn't have been any meat in the stores since the ponies who lived here before couldn't digest it very well."
The griffons froze once more, and their eyes locked across the room. A silent conversation began between them. "You, uh, knew the ponies who used to live here?" The younger asked.
"Well, I didn't really know them. Just in passing while tending to my courier duties, do ya ken?" She looked around. "You two really lucked out. They must've left in a hurry. Looks like they left most of their stuff."
The elder griffon nodded to his young partner. "Yeah, well... sometimes... sometimes you just get the urge to travel."
Twilight nodded. "Say true." She took a deep breath, readying herself. "Of course..."
"Of course what?" The younger asked, slowly reaching for his pistol.
"Well, as I recall, those two ponies had a little filly." She stared hard at the elder griffon. "Seems right strange they'd leave with a little one like that. Especially with the weather like this."
"Well... ponies do strange things these days." The elder started shifting to the left. He tried to look at his partner, to confirm he had the shot, but found that he couldn't look away from the unicorn's eyes...
"Yes. Yes they do." Something in Twilight's eyes flashed. "NOW!"
What happened next happened very fast.
Just as the young griffon raised his pistol and aimed at the back of the unicorn's head, the cabin's front door was blown off its hinges with a tremendous BANG. It flew into the room and knocked the young griffon to the floor with a cry of pain. His shot went wild, missing Twilight by inches, but she paid it no mind. As the elder griffon reached for his own pistol, she let fly with two shots of magic. The first took him in the shoulder, the second carved a groove in his scalp. He fell to the floor, squawking in pain as the icy wind filled the cabin like it was trying to steal away every scrap of warmth.
Two more unicorns stepped into the cabin and scanned the room, each dressed as Twilight was in leathers, coats, and hats. The lead one adjusted her glasses and glared at the green mare beside her. "You didn't need to blow the door off the wall, Lyra."
Lyra grinned sheepishly. "Sorry. I got excited."
"Moon Dancer, I'd love to not freeze to death tonight." Twilight barked over the wind.
The two mares hurried the rest of the way in before resetting the door into it's proper place. Moon Dancer examined the younger griffon and gave him a kick. When he didn't move, she nodded with approval. "Out cold. How's the other one?"
"Still breathing. For the moment." Twilight leaned down towards her wounded prey. She could feel the warmth of the fire already chasing away the chill, but part of her wished it wouldn't. She wanted to feel cold for this. "You were lying earlier." She told him. "About having a bad experience with a Lawmare. You've never even seen one before. Know how I know that?" When he didn't answer, she leaned closer. "Because we don't carry letters from the Princess." She reached up and pulled her heavy coat to the side. Pinned to her vest was a golden bauble engraved with the image of a rising sun. "We wear badges."
The elder griffon glared at her with undisguised hatred and spat a wad of blood onto the floor.
Twilight pulled back and looked at her partners. "Did you check the wagon?"
"Yeah." Lyra said sadly. "They were all there."
Twilight's heart fell. "All three of them?"
"Three?" Lyra cocked her head.
Twilight returned her attention to the griffon. "Where's the filly?"
And, despite the blood oozing down his face and the pain in his shoulder, the griffon grinned up at her. His eyes cut over to the bubbling, steaming stew pot.
Twilight's eyes widened in sudden realization, and an intense hatred filled her heart. "You bastard, I'll...!"
The young griffon took this chance to give up his charade of unconsciousness. He jumped to his feet and screamed as he swung his talons down at the ponies in front of him. If they'd have been normal mares, it would've been the end of them.
But these were Lawmares, and the young griffon soon found himself with two sizzling holes in his chest. He fell in a heap, twitching.
At the same instant, Twilight finished the job on the elder. Her shot went through his skull, clean as a whistle. His body spasmed for a moment, then was still.
Silence reigned in the cabin.
Twilight sighed, turned to tell her partners to start the clean-up... and saw a pair of eyes watching her from a cupboard in the kitchen. She smiled and lowered herself to their level. "Hey. It's okay. You can come out now."
Moon Dancer and Lyra watched as a little orange filly, a pegasus, pushed the cupboard door open and stepped into the room. Her eyes darted from the mares to the dead griffons and back again. "A-are you...?"
"Yes." Twilight told her. She opened her forelegs wide. "You're safe now."
With a chest-wracking sob, the filly ran into Twilight's waiting embrace. "T-they killed my Mama and Papa. T-they s-said they w-were g-going t-to... g-going to..." But the rest was lost in crying.
Twilight held the filly and soothed her as best she could. She looked up at her partners. "Get these two outside. We'll stay here until the storm passes. Then we'll bury her parents."
The filly cried harder.
"What then?" Moon Dancer asked. "What about her? She can't rightly come on the roads with us."
Twilight nodded solemnly. "You're right. We have to take her to Canterlot."
"Really? We're going home?" Lyra could barely contain her excitement. Even the cooling body of the griffon she'd killed at her hooves couldn't quell the ecstatic prospect of seeing her wife for the first time in months.
"Yar. We'll have to cut this patrol short. We're going home." Twilight squeezed the filly tighter. She was already fading into that blessed hideaway called sleep, her sobs now intermittent sniffles. Yes, they were going home. But for this filly, her home was gone.
Lost, in snow and in blood.