In the land of Equestria, some things never change.
Deep in the heart of the once great kingdom, surrounded by the various unicorn, Pegasus, and earth pony towns and cities, was the great forest that was once called the Everfree. Still sitting at the edge of Ponyville, the ominous sea of trees was still a place of foreboding, mystery, and magic.
The vast forest had changed somewhat over the centuries, many things had happened to these ancient trees. The unicorns of Equestria had retreated into these ancient woods, forming a series of unicorn cities like Bridlewood. The area around the tree of Harmony had been cleared, becoming a vast field, and the tree house surrounding it had been wiped away. A pony from the harmony bearer's time perhaps wouldn't recognize this vast stretch of wilderness, but there were still many things that remained from the ancient days.
At the very heart of this vast forest, stood an ancient castle at a bend in the rainbow river. This small, four turreted keep was known as Dream Castle, home to one of the last communities in Equestria that had all three types of ponies living together in harmony. This was called the kingdom of Dream Valley, where several hundred thousand equines of four kinds (Earth Ponies, Pegasi, unicorns, and Sea Ponies) lived, worked, and played together, without prejudice or hate. Founded in the last years of Celestia and Luna's reigns by a group of exiles and outcasts from Equestria, this band of hearty and strong ponies had lived and thrived within the walls of this castle for centuries. Their society had been unaffected by the events in the lands beyond, including the separation of the pony tribes, and the loss of magic.
Within these castle walls, mixed pony families walked through the long stone hallways, going in and out of their apartments,shopping at the merchant stalls at the castle bazaar, and doing their daily routines throughout the vast structure. Dream Castle was an enchanted fortress, being the size of a vast city inside, while being only a small keep on the outside. It had been built from materials quarried from the ruins of the palace of the two sisters, and many of the secrets of it's magic and enchantments were lost with the castle's builders.
It was through these halls, that a yellow-colored mare with a golden crown trotted towards the castle's throne room, flanked on either side by a pair of royal guards in medieval-looking armor. All of the ponies they passed bowed to the crowned mare in reverence, and as she approached the great doors to the main audience chamber, the royal chief counselor pony bowed to her.
"Queen Sky Skimmer." The stallion greeted her with respect and deference. "Everything is ready for the royal summit."
"Thank you, Majordomo." Sky Skimmer replied, trotting up to the throne. "Once again, you proved you value as a servant to Dream Valley."
"I live to serve the kingdom, your majesty." Majordomo bowed again. "Tell me, will Princess Fleur be joining us for this conference?"
"Sadly, no. My daughter will not be joining us for this conference." Sky Skimmer replied with a sigh. "She was far too busy playing Super Mare-io sisters 3 on her ponytendo."
"Ah, the foolishness of youth." Majordomo chuckled, shaking his mane."Please be seated, and we will begin the magical transmission."
Sky Skimmer nodded, and sat down upon her throne. The queen of Dream Castle, Sky Skimmer came from the old unicorn royal bloodline, the oldest pony royal family in existence, dating all the way back to the dawn of Ponydom. Her direct ancestor, Princess Rosalina, had been the first queen of Dream Valley. And her family had ruled Dream Castle ever since. It was because of this pedigree that her royal family held a prominence among the pony kingdoms, and why all the other royals had answered her call to council.
The queen gazed down at the magic mirror in front of her, as the royal unicorn court mages activated it with a spell. As the enchanted holograms emerged from the magic mirror, and projected onto the throne room floor, Sky Skimmer welcomed her fellow royals; Queen Rose Dust of Flutter Valley, Empress Dazzleglow of the Crystal Empire, and Princess Skyla of Blissful Island.
"Salutations, my royal sisters." Sky Skimmer inclined her head to the other ponies, greeting the other royal as sisters as a symbol of their equality in this meeting . "I am pleased you could all join us."
"I am glad to here, Queen Sky." Empress Dazzleglow, the crystalline alicorn returned the greeting. "With the tragic passing of my mother, Princess Flurry heart, with a heavy heart I am honored to take my place as Ruler of the Crystal empire, and a member of this esteemed council."
"I hate to dispense with the pleasantries here, but I believe we should get to the matter at hoof." Rosedust, the flutter pony queen, grumbled in annoyance. "So, we now know that former harmony bearer Applejack is on the run with the baby unicorn and Pegasus. What exactly are we doing to aid them?"
"We're doing everything we can, Rosedust, without directly interfering." Skyla, the alicorn of Blissful island, responded. "We secretly fund the underground Unity resistance movement that is working covertly against the corrupted governments of the three divided tribes. We can't be seen directly aiding the resistance, it would reveal unity's existence, endangering the ponies who favor the re-integration of the tribes."
"Then why don't we just march in, and put a stop to this?!" Rosedust Flexed her butterfly wings in annoyance. "Together, we all posses the magic and power to overthrow the corrupt regimes that now rule Equestria, and force these stupid and stubborn ponies to stop hating each other!"
"Really? Just march an army of mixed pony types into all the Equestrian pony cities, and force them to get along again?" Dazzleglow shook her head. "That would only confirm the fears of each tribe against other pony types, and make them hate each other even more. That's the kind of attitude that caused the anti-unity revolution in Equestria in the first place."
"The revolution- bah!" Rosedust spat at the mention of the historic event. "Pony 'equity' being achieved by making all ponies homogeneous, xenophobic propaganda whining about being 'oppressed' by those who are different, fear and hatred of outsiders.... thank almighty B'zekre we all prevented that perverted ideology from spreading into our lands!"
"Yes, our subjects studied and understood this ideology, and as a group rejected it." Queen Sky Skimmer agreed. "But we must still have compassion for those who have fallen under this terrible brainwashing. Only by showing them by example and education can we change their hearts, not by force... until then, the resistance must secretly help move those ponies who are in danger to safety, such as the foals Applejack is currently transporting."
"Which is why we should covertly send all the help we can, to make sure the former harmony bearer gets those children to safety." Dazzleglow replied. "I can't believe how much Applejack has given to Equestria over the ages..... it seems the magical curse that made her immortal turned out to be a blessing." The crystal alicorn shook her head. "Ponyville and Unicornia are Dream Valley protectorates, are they not? Surely the foals will be safe in ether town."
"Yes, I have been in contact with both Princess Royal Beauty of Ponyville, and Princess Crowning Glory of Unicornia, and they are ready to receive the two foals with open hooves." The queen of Dream Valley responded. "Getting the foals through hostile lands to safety is the problem. I have my Masquerade spies watch them from the air, and my sea pony herd can keep an eye on them whenever they get near a river."
"We should still be helping our agents in the resistance more, they are in the most danger from the bigot ponies' wrath." Skyla added in a worried tone. "Sky Skimmer, you need to get the crafts-stallion Argyle and his Daughter Sunny to safety in Dream Valley. The Canterlogic corporation knows their sympathies lie with other pony types, and it's only a matter of time before the two of them fall victim to xenophobic equine treachery."
"I know, Skyla... I have tried again and again to convince Arygle to move himself and his daughter here, but he stubbornly chooses to remain, in order to 'stand up for what is right'." Queen Sky Skimmer sighed. "And if Canterlogic takes out the one stallion of noble principles in Maretime Bay... almighty B'zekre help us all."
.....
It was nearing sundown, and Argyle was working on another toy for the foals in town, as he waited for his daughter to come back from her smoothie route. He was holding a small carving of Princess Celestia in his hooves, carefully putting the finishing dabbles of paint it's face, when he suddenly felt a stabs of pain in his forehead.
"Oh, I have such a headache...." Her groaned, dropping the toy, and putting both of his front hooves to his temples. "I-I think I need some medicine..."
Argyle stood up, and tried to trot over to the medicine cabinet, but stumbled and fell to the floor. The stallion lay there, unmoving for nearly an hour, before his daughter came trotting back into the lighthouse.
"Hey dad, I'm home! I still have an extra smoothie from my route, wanna split it?" She trotted inside, and dropped the drink onto the floor when she caught sight of Arygle. "Dad? DAD! DAD, GET UP! DAD!"
Sunny Starcout's wails carried over the entire town, bringing earth ponies running from every direction to help. There was chaos at the lighthouse for nearly ten minutes, before several stallion were seen carrying the silent form of argyle out, covered with a sheet, while Hitch Trailblazer comforted the wailing Sunny in his hooves, trying to console the inconsolable mare.
High in the window of the Canterlogic factory, a middle-aged mare with glasses gazed through the window blinds at the lighthouse, and smiled. It seems like the poison that had been secretly placed in Argyle's shipments of tea he bought from Canterlogic shipping had worked, slowly poisoning the stupid stallion without his realizing it. The poison would be untraceable by the forensics experts on Sheriff Hitch's police force, and if any did discover the secret, they could either be paid off, our Sprout could make them... disappear. The executive mare was unconcerned with what Sunny might do, nopony would listen to the ravings of a silly little filly; and besides, killing her too would raise too many questions.
Closing the blinds, the mare trotted back to her desk, and smiled. The biggest threat to her company's future had been removed, and now the future of earth pony supremacy was assured.