//------------------------------//
// Prologue  
// Story: Peace Hunters 
// by NA_SolarEclipse 
//------------------------------//

	Once upon a time in the magical land of Equestria, there was peace and tranquility throughout the land. There was no such thing as unhappiness or distrust, and the royal sisters princess Celestia and princess Luna ruled over the ponies in peace and harmony. The economy was in great shape, and the ponies were fair and equitable to each other. Violence was a thing of the past and there was no disagreement too terrible to be alleviated with words. Everyone and everything was happy.

However, this is not that time. This is a time when peace was merely an idea rather than something that was practiced between ponies and especially different species. The ponies were not happy. They may smile after a transaction in the market, but they were not authentic. If you were not careful with such transactions, you probably were swindled for either too much or too little. The royal sisters, supposed idols of all that was virtuous, were often heard arguing over a many things; hardly the harmony they were supposed to encompass to the ponies. The economy was in terrible shape. Most of the population outside of the capital city of Canterlot was either in a state close to poverty, struggling to stay above it, or just barely making it. If a market transaction was fair, you were probably in a position of power or simply blackmailing the recipient. If you couldn't solve a problem with violence it could be solved with corrupt politics. Everyone was not happy. No one was earnest. Not entirely the most friendly of places to be. 

Being fair was not in the daily order of things. The worst was the not so subtle racism between every race and species. The unicorns of Canterlot and other high class cities were not to be trusted by any but their own. Who knew if they were secretly cursing you with their arcane and forbidden magic? The pegasus were reclusive and militaristic. They had not changed their order from the army-ruled norm they had always been under. The earth ponies were given the worst; they were seen as a lesser race. Even though they produced most of the food for the other races within the immediate area of both Canterlot and the affectionately deemed “Mud Ponyville”. Other than the three pony races, the different species such as griffons, buffalo, zebras, Minotaur, and other such different animal types hardly spoke to each other; much less interacted. 

Things were not all that great, and every pony and everyone was just waiting for the other metaphorical horseshoe to drop. The political a ruling powers were at each other’s throats, and this did not sit well with the royal sisters of Equestria. However they were too caught up in their own arguments to even consider starting to ease political turmoil. 


This is the way things were for many years; they were unhappy, distrustful, and overall fairly miserable. Furthermore, they didn’t change until they got much, much worse. It would be two unassuming, and unexpected heroes to change things for the better; in their own way. A great many things depended on them, and such things wouldn't change until they were they were called upon and they made their choices.