//------------------------------// // The Beginning // Story: The Facade of Borders // by SketchTheWitch //------------------------------// Government. A staple of all society. A requirement to even be considered civil. Most social living organism manage to create some sort of government for themselves. It keeps creatures safe and builds a strong community. The problem with government is that it corrupts much too easily. Coltsenia was a relatively small country a few hundred miles from the west coast of Equestria. The land was divided into five sections for the five main classes: nobles, servants, fabricators (blacksmiths, tailors, etc.), farmers, and miners. The nobles lived in large, luxurious stone castles, surrounded by the homes of their servants. The fabricators were the most educated besides the nobles, and lived in small cities around the castles, since the nobles were usually who they served. The farmers lived some distance away from the castles, and closer to the coasts of the country. The minors had it the worst. If taxes could not be paid, and there wasn’t any need for a new castle servant, ponies would be sent to the mines to work off their debt. It was harsh, and they usually lived in cramped huts with only just enough room to sleep for the night. The mines were deadly and unstable, claiming many lives over the years. Many of its workers were hopeless and barely alive. However, one particular young miner was quite the opposite. A tall teenager with a warm grey-brown coat, paired with a cool grey mane and shining orange eyes, along with a black heart with a flame above it on her flank. Bright Burst was full of life and energy. She worked hard, too, yet almost never brought up anything of use. She brought up a lot of loose rubble full of rocks for her little sister, Lit Wick, to play with. She was too young to mine yet, so she stayed in their little hut all day. At least, that’s what she told her supervisors. In reality, she was making weapons for a rebellion, and she was almost done. Lit Wick stirred in her sleep at the candles flickered a little too brightly for her. Bright pet her sister’s mane softly. “Shh… I’m almost done, sis. Then we’ll be safe.” She smiled as she used some wax to finish sealing the heart-shaped clay shell. She twisted the slightly frayed twine fuse coming out of the top. “This’ll do. It has to.” She sighed a bit. She curled around her small sister protectively as she waited for her cue. Hours passed before there was a tapping on the wall. Tap. Tap tap. A pause. Ta-tap. A smile crept across her dust covered face. The door to her living quarters slowly creaked open, and a stallion entered. He was huge. Bulky and tall, with a buzzed mane and a bit of scruff on his stern face. He’d seem terrifying to anyone who didn’t know him. His silver mane and coat seemed almost glowing in the candlelight. Bright jumped to her hooves and hurried to embrace the goliath. “Heya, Chef!” She chirped softly. “I just finished. Are we ready to go?” “The wagon is up front. Lit Wick can sleep there while you complete your mission.” He moved further in and slowly picked up the younger, sleeping filly. “She’s light. We’ll get her fed.” Bright nodded and hurried out, taking the clay heart and hurrying out the door, holding the door open for Chef to leave with her sister. There was a wag waiting just past the guard, who had fallen asleep. Carefully, the group made it over to the wagon. Bright slipped under the cloth cover and nestled herself into the hay that was hidden underneath. Chef carefully handed Lit Wick over to her so she could hide her as well. With both fillies safely hidden away, Chef could begin their journey to the center of the country. ~*~ “Sugar!” A loud voice filled the castle. The marble floors and stone walls made any noise echo throughout the entire floor. The throne room was especially good at amplifying sound, since it was mostly empty. Heavy brown hooves tapped harshly against the tiles. The rhythmic pattern was interrupted by quicker, daintier steps. “I’m sorry, sir. I got here as fast as I could but Pumpkin--” The fraile sounding voice was cut off. “Oh, yes, your filthy little child is keeping you from your duties once again. I’ve no idea why we didn’t have the damn thing tossed out right away, but I assure you if this happens again, I won’t hesitate to make up for that mistake.” The owner of the first voice towered over the owner of the soft voice. He was tall, and rather robust. Clearly well fed. His brown fur was slick and without a single tuft out of place. His violet mane was in the same condition. It was mostly short, and came down to a curl at his snout. It was to the right of his horn, as to not obscure it in any way. Coltsenia had no alicorns, and a very large earth pony population. Although earth ponies have their own magic, the magic of unicorns and pegasi was much more apparent, and advantageous when it came to proving whose in charge. This lead to any unicorns and pegasi being deemed nobles. In the entire country, there are maybe 20-30 unicorns and pegasi, and about 10 who are actually in charge. The cutiemark of a golden crown on the brown unicorn’s flank told exactly what his role was in this system. The meek, pale-pink mare gulped. “Yes, sir. I understand. It won’t happen again.” Her head bowed down and her legs were slightly bent to make herself seem smaller compared to him, despite being almost as tall. “What can I do for you?” “Well, I’m glad you finally asked. I’m dreadfully bored.” He smirked. The mare stared blankly, not sure what to do. “Let me rephrase. You’re going to entertain me.” A burnt orange and brown stallion entered the room. “Ah. Sugar is here. I just wanted to make sure, since she was feeding our child. I came to see if I could help you at all.” The stallion glared. “No one needs you here right now, Cinnamon.” The king responded, using his magic to pull Sugar closer to himself. Cinnamon stepped closer. However, a shattered window took everyone’s attention. There was something lit on the floor, It was heart-shaped, and had a shortening fuse. All three ponies jumped up but before anyone could exit the room, the heart burst into a deafening boom and roaring fire. The entire throne room and all its contents were absolutely demolished. Nothing survived. An orange filly a few floors down shrieked and hid under a table. “Thunder!” She shouted. The maid watching her knew that it couldn’t have been thunder. It was too loud. “Okay, Pumpkin, come with Auntie Tea Time. We’ve got to go now.” The pastel pink mare scooped up the filly. “We have to go pack.” She smiled a bit. She knew this day would come soon, but she had hoped her friends wouldn’t have had to perish along with the king. Sacrifices were made by everyone, though, and stopping now would make their deaths a waste.