//------------------------------// // 1: Mac in the Big City // Story: A Stranger Harmony // by aceotaku //------------------------------// Long, Long ago, in the land of ponies, there were two sisters. Unique among all ponies, they both had the horns of the unicorns, the wings of pegasi and the strength of earth ponies. Together, they ruled over the land of ponies, Equestria; one sister controlled the sun and ruled the land during day, the other controlled the moon and ruled by night. However, the younger sister grew jealous; the ponies loved the elder who ruled the day and enjoyed their time during the day to the fullest, while they ignored the younger and her beautiful night, preferring to rest. As her jealousy grew, the younger sister transformed into a darker, more powerful being: Nightmare Moon, the Mare of the Moon! Soon, she challenged her sister over the right to rule over the land and over the ponies, and a duel would commence between the two. However, that’s where things take a sudden turn. Just before the two could battle, a monstrous being approached them, his form filled with awe-inspiring strength and cold, quiet power: Lavan! Lavan challenged the sisters to fight, but while Nightmare Moon was prepared to battle both her sister and the newcomer, her sister instead decided to try diplomacy, to ask the stranger why he had come and why he sought a fight. Lavan however was not a creature of diplomacy, or of scheming: he was power incarnate, and he showed it by grabbing the mare and striking her with full force. Nightmare Moon watched with shock, and soon a strange sensation came over her: anger, born not from jealousy, but from love. Enraged at the callousness Lavan showed in treating her sibling, the other princess charged forward to join her sister in battle against a common foe. However, neither one could defeat him. A third princess glided in to assist, her origins unknown. Perhaps she was a golem created to replace the two monarchs in case of the worst; perhaps she was the daughter of one of them; perhaps she was simply a normal pony who had been transformed to be the same as the two sisters. The truth is uncertain, and not necessary to know. Even with a third combatant, still they were not strong enough: Lavan beat them to near death and moved on, intent on conquering all...or worse. As a last ditch effort, the three poured what remained of their energies into a unhatched dragon’s egg, giving it the grace and beauty of a princess as well as the combined magical powers of their unique kind. The egg hatched, giving birth to a new monarch, a new princess, the three offering guidance and advice in the scant minutes before their demise, spent from the effort of their final gambit. The new princess set off on a quest to stop Lavan. She went forth and gathered not just ponies, but many other races that populated the land: donkeys, griffons, diamond dogs, dragons and others; many were enemies of ponykind, but all had been gathered due to suffering at the hands of Lavan. Uniting into a single unified Empire, the combined races worked under the princess to defeat Lavan, the Diamond Dogs crafting an inescapable prison to hold the implacable conqueror. The Princess began the plan in earnest, flying forth to confront the villain on her own, her newfound power added upon her natural strength as a dragon. The battle was long, but eventually the princess found a chance and shot forth a blast of flame from her mouth, into Lavan. However, her flame was special; it did not burn....it delivered. Lavan was sent inside the armour made to hold him, made from crystals that not even Lavan’s body could melt. The Princess, victorious, lead the people into a glorious new age under her rule and what were once many races with nothing in common became a single unified group of equals. And that was how the Empire of Harmony was formed, still ruled to this day by our monarch, Princess Spike. ------------------------------------- A green mare with a white mane tied in a braid smiled as she finished the story. She looked at the young filly lying in bed in front of her, the mare herself sitting on a simple mahogany chair. Said filly, sporting an orange coat and a messy blonde mane, was grinning excitedly. “Ah want the next story, Granny!” Granny Smith blushed. Her name was pretty embarrassing, considering she was still a healthy young mare and it sounded weird for ponies to call her ‘Granny’, even if said pony was her niece. “Well, Applejack, Ah would love to, but you really need to be sleeping.” “But Ah’m not tired! Ah’m waitin’ fer Big Mac ta come home!” “Macintosh is still all the way in Canterlot, dear, she won’t be home for a long while.” The filly pouted. “Ah know....I wish AH could’ve come too...Ah wanted ta see Canterlot too!” Granny Smith chuckled. “Lots of ponies do, and your sister has important business there. Tell you what, I’ll read you another story if you promise to settle down and close your eyes.” “Okay...” “Good girl.” The young mare held up the book and began reading for the young filly. ------------------------ A stocky red mare with a blonde mane looked around in a bookstore, eyes wide, while the store owner, a grey mare with a silver mane wearing glasses, watched impassively. The mare turned to look at another shelf, her flank hitting the display she was looking before, causing several books to fall to the floor. Blushing in embarrassment, the mare turned to pick the books up, only to knock the shelf behind her backwards, causing a domino effect where several shelves fell to the floor, scattering books everywhere. The mare winced and turned to the store owner, smiling nervously, before running out. The glasses wearing mare, on her part, simply gazed impassively at the mess. Big Macintosh ran out of the store into the street, panting before composing herself and looking around. She was awed as she looked up at the large buildings that looked completely different from the ones in Ponyville. All around her, the streets were filled with ponies, griffons and diamond dogs, all either perusing the various stores and street vendors or hawking wares at passerby, there were even a few street performers gathering an audience. And over them all a massive castle stood, proud and resolute, offering safety and security to all. Mac smiled to herself, hefting her small back of supplies on her back. This place was amazing and, if fortune favoured her, she might even LIVE here. She totted along, noticing a small kiosk manned by a pair of diamond dogs, one slim and wearing a red vest and a surly expression while the other was larger and looked more relaxed. “Great...another pony customer.” The slimmer dog growled irritably. Mac frowned, affronted at the rudeness of the dog, the larger dog shaking his head. Shrugging, the mare went to looking at the dogs’ wares, seeing what they had on offer. Arranged in long, vertical rows were strange, colourful crystals held together on lines of string, the counted 10 rocks for each string. “What are these?” Big Mac asked. “Necklaces?” The slimmer diamond dog gazed at her in annoyance. “These are rock candies, they’re edible.” Big Mac grinned, excited at the prospect of trying something so exotic. In fact, she should buy one for Applejack back home, too! “Alright, I’ll take two!” She reached into a satchel on her side, dropping some bits on the dog’s paw. The dog glared at the pile of gold discs in distaste. “What are these?” “10 bits! Just like the sign says!” Mac smiled. “What are bits!?” The dog growled out, flabbergasted. “Bits are, well, money!” The mare exclaimed, confused. “Everypony in Ponyville knows what Bits are!” “We this isn’t ‘Ponyville’, you dumb pony, and around these parts, we use Gems!” The dog folded his arms huffily. “Now, cough up ten rubies!” “Gems!? Are you serious? I don’t have any of that stuff!” “Then beat it!” The dog leaned over the counter, lips curled back in anger. “Paying customers ONLY!” “I paid fair and square!” Mac shouted, slamming a hoof against the kiosk...and with a shudder, it collapsed, spilling its goods to the ground. “No!” The dog exclaimed, looking up from the wreckage to glare at the earth mare. “You clumsy pony, look what you did!” “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t meant...I’ll help clean up, I’m sorry I overreacted...” “No! No helping! Just SCRAM!” The mare flinched, frowning softly before turning, the larger diamond dog laying a paw on her back. “Here.” He smiled, handing the mare a two strings of rock candy and a small pouch. “It’s not much, but there should be enough Gems there for you to buy some nice things. We don’t see too many tourists from Ponyville, so you take care, the city may look nice but it can be pretty dangerous by yourself.” Big Mac smiled. “Oh I’ll be fine! It can’t be that bad! And thanks a lot, you’re a life saver!” The larger diamond dog smiled. “No problem, a pony in need is a friend in need.” “Fido!” The smaller dog shouted. “Help me fix this up, nobody saw anything, we can get away with this yet!” “Oh sure, Rover.” The larger dog smiled sheepishly. “Well you go on, I’ll be busy.” Mac nodded as she looked at the pair, still feeling guilty as she turned and continued to walk through the town, her mood lifting as she once again marvelled at the sights and sounds of the big city. She looked to her left, seeing an elderly, pink mare being lead around by a stallion with slicked back black hair and a nice shirt and tie. The elderly mare looked rather crabby though. Turning to her right, Mac smiled as she saw a simple baker with the window of his store open, allowing the red mare to smell to aroma of freshly baked bread. She saw white mare with a blue mane sitting boredly in front of a flower shop, broom in hoof. Mac tilted her head, walking over, eager to chat and maybe get some nice flowers for Auntie Granny...until she felt a talon on her back. Turning the earth mare saw a grey griffon with a black tipped beak and a scar-like red plumage around one eye. “Um...can I help you?” Mac asked in puzzlement, trying to be polite. “Hey now, no need to cause a scene here.” The griffon smirked, pointing to a nearby dark alley. “Just come into this totally not dangerous dark alley and give me all your gems and maybe, maybe, nobody needs to be hurt.” Mac blinked, looking the dangerous looking individual over as gears turned in her head. “Are you...robbing me?” “Well, if you want to be accurate...yes.” The griffon sneered, digging his talons into the muscled back of the mare. “Just come along quietly.” A broom swung hard and smashed across his face, breaking to pieces and sending the griffon flying. Mac turned, seeing the florist standing by her, holding the ruined mop, close enough for Mac to recognise the horn denoting her as a unicorn. “Nobody robs anyone while I’M around!” The unicorn declared, standing on her hindlegs to make a dramatic pose. “The name’s Shining Armour, protector of the innocent!” The griffon got up on his legs, growling irritably. “Oh so some bystander’s gonna come and help, now? That’s so unfair...get ‘em, fellas!” Out from behind him, another griffon, an earth pony and a minotaur leapt out to stand beside him. The minotaur, noticeably female with a vest covering her chest, turned to the first griffon. “You know, some of us aren’t ‘fellas’, Red.” “Oh shut up, Girl Power.” The griffon sighed in exasperation. “Can we just beat up these mares?” Big Mac frowned as Shining Armour leapt into a battle stance, the gang multiracial hoodlums standing threateningly, a fight almost guaranteed...until a shadow fell over everyone, causing them all to look up at the massive being hovering above them. “I hate to get in the way of a good tussle, but it’s my job to ‘maintain the peace’, and this certainly doesn’t look very ‘peaceful’, does it?” They all looked up at the sight above them: a massive red dragon with a pointed snout gazing down at them impassively, hovering in the air above. The gang of would-be thieves paled in fear. “It’s Captain Sunder of the Royal Guard!”their leader, Red, shouted in alarm. “Scramble!” The hoodlums ran away in terror, Sunder chuckling as he watched, gazing at the two mares who simply stared at him in awe. Big Mac was flabbergasted. A dragon. A real life dragon! She couldn’t believe her luck, coming face to face with one of famous royal guard on her first day in Canterlot! The dragon smiled, rising up. “Enjoy the rest of your day, ladies.” With that, the dragon winked and flew off to another part of the city. Big Mac gazed at the sight, wishing she had a camera on her so she could bring a photo back home, before turning to the mare who had tried to help her. “Ah’m mighty grateful fer the assist, that was mighty neighbourly of ya.” Shining Armour chuckled, giving a confident smile as she rubbed her hoof on the floral apron hanging from her neck. “Think nothing of it; I was just doing what anyone in the royal guard would do.” The earth mare tilted her head. “The Royal Guard? Ah’m pretty sure they don’t take in ponies OR mares.” The unicorn chuckled. “Maybe not YET, but trust me, one day I’ll be as world famous as the great Captain Sunder.” “Shiny!” An older mare’s voice called out. “Did you break ANOTHER broom!?” Shining Armour blinked, paling. “Uh oh. Uh, I’ll see ya later miss, gotta work on damage control!” The unicorn grinned sheepishly and ran back into the florwer shop. Mac chuckled to herself, turning her gaze up to the castle. She figured she had done enough sightseeing, now it was time for her to get ready for what she came here for: attempt to become Princess Spike’s student. With that in mind, the earth pony began to steadily trot towards the castle. --------------------------- Deep underground, far, far from Canterlot, a pair of goats stood guard in front of a heavy iron door. Neither guard spoke, keeping their eyes focused on the door, for behind it laid the most dangerous thing in the world: a massive, unmovable suit of armour made from the strongest crystal known to all. The ‘armour’ was a single solid piece of sky blue crystal, carved into a rough bipedal form, the arms ending in a pointed shaft; the head featured only six thin lines to form a sort of ‘grill’. From the grill lines hot magma dripped, the only sign of the immeasurable rage felt by the prisoner. And for the briefest moment...the arms twitched.