Selenia... the capital of Equestria. The greatest city in what was considered the greatest pony nation of the face of the planet, Selenia was a bustling metropolis, filled with stores, homes, and ponies of every shape, size, color, and type. So many happy mares, stallions, and foals happily trotted along the streets, talking and chatting with one another, giving evidence of a civilization far happier and more peaceful than it's neighbor to the far north, Ponyland.
But underneath the surface of this happy and peaceful land, was a rot that threatened the peace Equestria shared with it's northern neighbor. This rot festered within the very royal palace, with a servant of the royal household who pretended love and friendship, in order to hide the darkness in her own twisted heart. but at the moment, this shadowy mare was extremely unhappy with the latest turn of events.
"Those stupid bounty hunters, how dare they fail me!?" The angry unicorn thought to herself. "If they had not been slain by that stupid princess!"
She had underestimated those Ponylanders, they had proved to be far more resourceful then she had thought possible. Still, at least those stupid bounty hunters had managed to eliminate some of the pony pals before they went down. That made her mission all the more easier, as the remaining pony pals would be far easier to hunt down. But now, she had to see to eliminating that stupid little Dream Valley princess, and her annoying band of friends. They were more of a threat, than any-
"Starlight Glimmer! Where are you?" A loud voice called out, from the throne room that was adjacent to the study the mare was currently standing in. "Starlight, I summon you to my presence, at once!"
"Coming at once, your highness!" The unicorn called back, trotting into the throne room, and bowing to the alicorn who was standing there. "Princess Skyla, how may I be of service?"
The purple alicorn with a yellow and purple mane stared down at her unicorn royal advisor suspiciously, as Starlight tried to hide her duplicity behind a fake smile. The youngest daughter of Princess Cadence, Skyla was one of only three alicorns (along with her mother, Princess Cadence, and her older sister, Empress Dazzleglow) still alive in on the surface of this world. With the passing of all the other alicorns, the ponies of Equestria made Skyla their ruler. And right now, that ruler was beginning to have some suspicions about the mare before her.
"Strarlight, I've received some reports from your fellow bureaucrats, that are a bit.... troubling." Trotting down from her quartz throne, the ruler of Equestria raised an eyebrow at the nervous mare. "First, this report about some unscrupulous bounty hunters being hired by somepony here in the capital, to commit criminal and acts across the northern border. Then, I receive word our allies, the sirens, have captured a Ponyland stallion, and somepony in my court ordered him imprisoned in the royal dungeons, without any charges or trial." She glared at the unicorn. "What do you know of these Events, Starlight?"
"Y-yes, I admit it was me. I sent the bounty hunters, and I had that Ponylander Tornado incarcerated." Starlight Glimmer confessed. "But... I did it all for the sake of Equestria! This Stallion is part of a conspiracy against our beloved kingdom, and the friendship among equines we stand for! I need more time to carry out my investigation!"
"Starlight Glimmer... being a pony from the past, I don't think you fully understand our situation with Ponyland." Princess Skyla sighed, shaking her head. "We maintain a precarious peace with the warrior ponies of the north. We and they have very different philosophies on the world, and we don't exactly see eye to eye on matters. It wouldn't take much to start a war between Equestria and the Confederacy, and both sides would suffer dearly from such a conflict."
"But my princess, those barbarians stole Equestria's northern lands, forcing us to expand farther south to compensate for the loss of territory." starlight protested. "We can't just let these enemies of friendship threaten Equestria!"
"Starlight, it is not the way of Equestria to seek out conflict. We seek to be friends with everypony, even the 'barbarian' ponies of the North." Skyla narrowed her eyes. "I hope having my mages revive you from your centuries-long slumber wasn't a mistake."
"Of course, my princess, I completely understand." Starlight Glimmer bowed, replying through clenched teeth. "I will treat the situation with Ponyland delicately, as per your command."
"Very good, Starlight, I knew I could count on you." Skyla waved a hoof dismissively. "You are dismissed."
"Thank you, Princess Skyla." Starlight Glimmer replied, bowing to the alicorn. "I live only to serve you."
"At least, until I can dispose of you, you royal winged bitch." Starlight thought to herself turning away to hide her snarl. "Just like I got rid of Princess Twilight Sparkle, Starswirl the Stupid, and that brat Flurry Heart."
Starlight smiled at the memory; how she had cast a spell to fake a disease on the little alicorn princess, and how Starswirl and Twilight had both used their magic to try and cure the sick filly. Starlight had discovered a great deal more about magic, during the time she had pretended to reform in order to become Twilight Sparkle's pupil, and she understood enough about Twilight and Starswirl's magic, to put a curse on Flurry Heart that caused a magical overload. As soon as Twilight and the old unicorn wizard's magic interacted with Flurry's, it caused a magical power surge, killing all three of them.
The death of the two alicorns and the legendary wizard had moved her closer to her goal of equine equality, but a freak accident involving a cockatrice had turned the unicorn to stone, leaving her a statue in the Equestrian royal treasury for centuries. But Princess Skyla had run across the petrified mare in the archives. Not knowing of her crimes, Skyla had restored the ancient mare, and upon learning of her being a student of the princess of friendship, gave her a position at court. Starlight Glimmer was now closer than ever to her goal of bringing true equality and justice to Equestria, but now those pesky medieval Ponylanders threatened to spoil everything.
"Guess I'll have to deal with Princess Majesty first." Starlight thought to herself with a smirk. "Well, I've dealt with alicorns before. How dangerous can one insignificant little unicorn princess be?"