//------------------------------//
// Tensions rising... 
// Story: I blame the sandwich! 
// by Tedious_Blizzard 
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    In the beginning of the year 1908 A.N.M the Minotaur Empire had quite the sizeable empire. With this size it meant it had quite the sizeable population of all races including ponies, griffons, some diamond dogs and even some zebras from the Far Lands! Though this mightly empire's rule is not know for it's kindness to it's foreigners or it's non-minotaur residents. Throughout the years, many of the empire's non-minotaur citizens have been abused and were not allowed to leave the country or even tell anyone outside of the empire of their problems, otherwise fates worse than death awaited them. No creature outside of this sinister empire knew of it's inner turmoil due to this, and the tyrant Archduke Steel Horns reingned without problems, until a group of ponies got fed up...


Mystic Luck was having a bad day, the usual in this wretched excuse of an empire, and for him his life looked bleak and misearable. Mystic was a light green unicorn with a two-toned grey and black mane, a bit of a strange combination but he's come to terms with it, and no cutie mark (He isn't too sure of that either as he is 28 years old, but you can never enjoy anything so it's not much of a surprise). He had no real friends to count on as they would either report any traitors to the government or they have already died via firing squad or starvation. If you aren't a minotaur your not going to get far in this tyrannical part of the land. This empire wasn't always like this as his grandma told him how wonderful and friendly the empire once was, even though Mystic finds this hard to believe, and that at one point the empire just switched it's view on it's non-minotaur population one day for reasons no-one still have found out. It is difficult to believe this as every time Mystic walks home from the unsafe and poor-paying factory he sees an unlucky family getting harassed by a contingent of guards demanding for an ridiculous amount of money for which the family suddenly 'owes' the Archduke.
"The Archduke...it's all his fault! Our misery stems from his ignorance or tyranny, I still can't tell, and he must pay. One day, somepony is gonna get revenge and free us from our torment. Maybe that is my destiny? To slay the Archduke, must be a grand cutie mark", comtemplated Mystic Luck in his negative thoughts, it is the only type of thoughts he has had since the day his family died, of starvation.
At the age of 15, Mystic was left all alone when he came home one day from playing with his (now dead) friends and found his whole family dead, sitting by the table with only a note saying to keep on living. His older brother; a yellow and blue Earth pony, his mother; a green and blue Earth pony, and his father; a grey and yellow Earth pony. The only reason Mystic is not starving is because unicorns are valuable in factories and he works there to not starve.
As the memory refreshes in his mind, Mystic starts to go on autopilot to the way to his home or shack if you want to be percise. That memory weighs heavily on his mind as he remembers the times when the family got food and they let Mystic Luck have most of it. Being a child meant he never realised the situation. Ignorance is bliss, until you grow up and it hurts you more than if you weren't ignorant. 
With his mind preoccupied, Mystic doesn't notice the three pony figures clad in black cloaks walking steadily towards him on the same side of the cobble road. Normally anypony suspicious would be prosecuted and immediatly imprisoned but the guards were too busy arresting a family of six and claiming their home. When Mystic finally gets out of his thoughts, just in time too, he faces three mysterious ponies waiting in front of him for his attention.  It's already dark and the sun has skedaddled over the horrison, waiting for the moon to take it's rightful place at 7pm in the evening.
Stopping for a moment Mystic addreses the figures, "Who are you lot and what do you want? You're gonna get yourselves and me arrested dressed like that so make your demand snappy", Mystic never showed much kindness and his tone towards them were obvious. 
Mystic tried to look at their faces or even their coat colours but the cloaks hid everything from sight, except for a small part of their noses which still showed little colour due to the lack of light.
"We have watched you for some time and you hold no respect or loyalty for the government", figure one spoke, a female.
"And our little society has decided to ask you to join to free non-minotaurs from the empire", firgure two spoke, a male.
"You can be of great service and may be able to change history, here is our address and do not loose it or let it get to the wrong hooves", figure three spoke, a male.
The third figure gave Mystic Luck a small card and he accepetd it with his magic. His magic was weak, but at least he can do levitation. 
"The first meeting is tomorrow night at 6pm after curfew, do not get tracked, we need to free ourselves", and with figure one's small speech over, the three figures wandered off to wherever they are needed; probably to recruit some other poor sod with no hopes in life.
"Well that just happened", slightly confused at these revelations, Mystic continued onwards to his home.

When Mystic reached his shack at the end of the poorly maintained neighbourhood in the non-minotaur section of Traugoe city, he entered his dim home and plonked himself on his bed, exhaused of the day's work. It was a tiny shack with a tight kitchen of a stove and tap, a small squad toilet just outside the back door to a 5m squared back garden (mud garden), and a bed next to the door. The outside was bare brick and the roof was some scrap steel he found on the way home, it was better that no roof as how originally the 'house' was. Even the floor inside was just bare concrete and the Mystic's shower was the rain. It wasn't much, but it was all Mystic could afford while keeping himself fed. What the figures said to him circled around in his head and forgot to even eat before sleep claimed him.