//------------------------------//
// Prologue: A Plate Glass Window 
// Story: Beyond a Boundary 
// by The Cloptimist 
//------------------------------//

"Look OUT!"

Blank Slate looked away from the silk scarves in the window display. He didn't have time to work out where the shout came from. He spun around on one rear hoof, and straight away he saw something the size of an apple whizzing in his direction. Almost towards him. Towards the glass-

Almost without thinking, he stuck out a foreleg and dived to catch it, landing in a ball, rolling on the Canterlot sidewalk and into the road. A cloud of dust was shaken up into the air as he opened his eyes.

An orange unicorn mare in a tunic was at his side in an instant. "Are you alright?" she asked.

Blank wanted to ask where her accent came from, and to ask what just happened, but his throat was dusty and all he could do was cough. Instead, he held out his hoof to her.

The mare looked at the object, an intricately carved stone covered in runes and patterns. 

"You... you caught it."

Another unicorn in a tunic, this time a heavy-set older stallion with a beige coat and bushy moustache, came running around the corner, already visibly out of breath. "Was anypony - is anypony hurt?", he panted.

"He... he caught it!" said Saffron Masala, still not moving.

"I'm so sorry!", said Coriander Cumin. "The box tore - the cardboard got wet in the clouds, and the box - wait, what?"

Coriander and Saffron both looked down at Blank, then at the object he held in his hoof, intact.

"It was amazing," said Saffron. "He just... jumped and caught it. Like a fielder."

They both stared at him.

Blank looked between the two ponies, still none the wiser about what happened. Coriander seemed to realise he wasn't talking, and reached out a hoof to help Blank up.

"It is a family heirloom," Coriander said, taking the stone from Blank's grip.

Saffron smiled. "Just a paperweight, really. But it means a lot to us."

"We are moving to new premises," said Coriander.

"And these movers said they could bring our things for half the price," added Saffron. "But, well... maybe there was a reason for that."

Blank dusted himself off. "I'm glad I could catch it. I was more worried about..." - he gestured to the Canterlot Boutique behind him, with its huge plate glass window.

"And you just... dived, and caught it?", repeated Coriander.

"I guess?" said Blank.

"Let me ask you a question, young stallion. Have you ever played cricket before?"

"...I don't even know what that is," said Blank, with a shrug.

"It is a very popular game where we come from," said Saffron. "My father here is starting - well, he is trying to start a team in Canterlot."

"Well, then, uh, no," said Blank, still somewhat out of breath. "I'm... a fashion student. Postgrad, at the Celestial University. I've never played... cricket."

Coriander and Saffron looked at each other again, before the older moustachioed pony looked back at Blank with a smile.

"...Would you like to?"