//------------------------------//
// Ch 1. Gathering The Team 
// Story: Equestrian Knights 
// by HeatherIsBestPlayer 
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	Our story begins in the town of Trottingham, where a traveling blue unicorn mare named Trixie was putting on a magical show for the ponies of the town. Unfortunately for her her luck hadn’t very good as of lately, and nopony in Equestria really liked Trixie very much. Of course, if you’ve been following the TV series, you probably already know all this, so I wont bore you with any more back story.
Anyway, the crowd wasn’t very impressed with the blue unicorn’s show.
“GET OFF THE STAGE!” yelled a pony in the crowd.
“YOU SUCK!” yelled another pony.
Trixie ducked as the crowd began throwing rotten vegetables at her and continued shouting insults at her. Tears welling up in her eyes, the poor mare ran off the stage in a rage, and proceeded to gallop out of the town as fast as her legs could carry her.
“And don’t come back!” she heard one last pony shout far behind her.
After a minute or two, once she was far enough away from the town, Trixie slowed her pace down to a slow trot and dried her eyes with her cape.
“I hate my life,” Trixie said to herself as she slowly trudging herself along the dirt road. After her second humiliating defeat at the hooves of Twilight Sparkle, she had been trying to improve her life, but her life wasn’t improving at all. Every pony still hated her, and she was barely making enough to support herself. She was trying to forget about the whole Alicorn Amulet incident, and she didn’t want to even think about the fact that Twilight Sparkle had recently become a Princess.
“I hate my life so much!” she said with bitterness.
Suddenly a gray, cross-eyed Pegasus mare with a blond mane and tail and a cutie mark of bubbles flew down in front of Trixie’s face. She was wearing a brown sack stuffed with letters.
Surprised by the pony’s sudden appearance, Trixie reared back on he hind legs and let out a whinny.
“Hi, Trixie,” said the strange mare.
Trixie got angry. “Who are you? Oh wait; you’re that derpy-eyed pony from Ponyville. Well what do you want?”
“I have a letter for you!” The mare pulled out a white envelope from her mail sack and held it up for Trixie.
Trixie’s horn glowed a purple aura as she levitated the letter from the mail mare over to her. It had a compass rose seal on it. She opened it up and began reading it.
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A few hours later, far away, lying up on a cloud in the sky, a female Griffon was taking a nap.
“Ah, nothing like peace and quiet after a long hard day of being awesome,” sighed Gilda to herself.
Suddenly she heard a loud noise beside her. “HI!”
Gilda jumped up from her nap and looked around to see who the wise-guy was who had woken her up. She quickly found a gray Pegasus mare hovering next to her. She was wearing a brown sack stuffed with letters.
“Yo, what they heck is your problem?” yelled Gilda. “I was taking a nap here! You better have a darn good reason for waking me up or I’m gonna pummel you!”
“You must be Gilda,” said the gray mare. “I have a letter for you.” The mare pulled out a white envelope from her mail sack and held it up for the griffon.
Gilda snatched the letter away from the derpy-eyed Pegasus. She opened it up and began reading it.
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In the cloud city of Cloudsdale, three Pegasus jocks named Dumbbell, Hoops, and Score were playing Rock Band in Dumbbell’s apartment living room. Hoops was playing the guitar, Score was at the drums, and Dumbbell had the mike.

“Mum mum mum mah.
Mum mum mum mah.
I wanna hold em like they do in Texas please.
A little gambling is fun when you're with me, I love it.
Russian Roulette is not the same without a gun.
And baby when it’s love if it's not rough it isn't fun, fun.
Oh-”

Suddenly there was a knock on the door to the apartment.
“Who the heck could that be?” shouted Dumbbell angrily, throwing the mike on the floor and going over to the apartment door. He opened it to reveal a gray Pegasus mare standing there. She was wearing a brown sack stuffed with letters.
“Can I help you?” he asked. 
“I have a letter for three ponies named Dumbbell, Hoops, and Score,” said the mare. She pulled a white envelope out of her mail sack. The jock took the letter from her and closed the door in her face.
“Who was it?” asked Hoops, him and Score coming over to him.
“Mail! We all got a letter!” said Dumbbell. He tore it open and the three of them began to read it.
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Out in the old western town of Appleoosa, two skinny unicorn brothers named Flim and Flam were getting kicked out of the town.
“And never come back!” Breaburn shouted at the two fleeing unicorns as they climbed aboard their Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 5000. “We don’t want your kind around here! You’re not gonna take our hard earned apple orchard from us!”
“Y’all better git now, or we’ll go and get our friends the buffalo,” said sheriff Silver Star.
Flim and Flam powered up their big mobile cider making machine with their magic and pulled away from Appleoosa.
“Well, what are we going to do now, oh brother of mine?” asked Flim once they were a good enough distance away from the old western town.
Flam sighed. “Flim, we’re alone. You can stop talking like that now.”
“Oh, thank goodness,” said Flim, rubbing his aching jaw with his hoof. “But still, what are we gonna do? That was the last Apple orchard in all of Equestria.”
“I don’t know. Maybe well have to grow our own,” suggested Flam.
“Too much work. And besides, it would take forever to do that.”
“Yeah, good point.”
Suddenly a gray Pegasus mare flew down to the two unicorns from out of the sky.
“Are you Flim and Flam?” she asked them while flying beside their machine.
The two brothers looked at each other. “Yes,” they both answered.
“I have a letter for both of you.” The mare pulled out a white envelope from her mail sack and held it up for them.
Flam’s horn glowed a green aura as he levitated the letter from the mail mare over to them.
The gray Pegasus mare flew off.
Film and Flam opened up the letter and began to read it.
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In the city of Canterlot, the unicorn stallion named Jet Set walked back into the house from getting the mail. His wife, Upper Crust, looked up from watering her plants in the kitchen.
“Any invitations?” she asked.
“Not one,” said Jet Set.
Upper Crust frowned. “It’s all that little bitch Rarity’s fault,” she spat, slamming the watering pail down on the counter with her unicorn magic. “I’ll bet she’s been shredding bad rumors about us. And what did we ever do to her?”
Jet Set nodded. “The nerve of some ponies.”
“She’s ruining our friendships with all the Canterlot upper class. What are we going to do darling?”
Suddenly they heard their doorbell ring.
Jet Set went back over and opened it. A grey Pegasus mare stood on there doorstep. She was wearing a brown sack stuffed with letters.
“Hello,” she said. “I have a letter for Mr. and Mrs. Jet Set.”
Jet Set raised an eyebrow. “Did you forget to include it with the rest of the mail?”
Derpy frowned. “No. You see, this is the only chapter I’m going to be in in this fanfic, so I’m just trying to milk this cameo for all it’s worth.” She reached into her mail sack and pulled out a white envelope.
“Jet Set’s horn glowed a blue aura as he levitated the letter from the mail mare over to him. He then turned around and closed the door in Derpy’s face.
“Who was it?” asked Upper Crust, coming over to her husband.
“Another letter,” said Jet Set. He opened it up and the two of them began reading it.
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In Fillydelphia, the minotaur named Iron Will was inside his cabin reading the daily newspaper.
“Wow! A young colt trapped inside claw machine eats his own…”
Iron Will was interrupted by a sudden knock on his front door. The large minotaur got up and went to answer it. He opened the door and found a gray Pegasus mare standing in front of him. She was wearing a brown sack stuffed with letters.
“I have a letter for a Mr. Iron Will,” she said.
“That’s me,” he said.
The mare reached into her mail sack and pulled out a white envelope. “Here you go.”
Iron Will took the envelope. “Thank you.” He turned around back into his house and closed the door.
Derpy turned her head to look at the reader. “What? You were expecting something a little more interesting? Well the author couldn’t think of anything more interesting for the minotaur.” Then she took off and flew towards her next destination.
Back inside the cabin, Iron Will opened up the letter and began reading it.
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That night, back in Cloudsdale, a lone Pegasus mare sat on a stool at the bar in a local club. Lightning Dust sat sipping her drink, trying to drown her anger with the cold liquid.
She emptied her glass and slammed it on the counter. “Yo, bartender. Another.”
“Lady, it’s getting late. I think you’ve had enough,” said the bartender.
“Oh, you do, do you? Well I’ll tell you when I’ve had enough! ANOTHER!”
The bartender sighed and poured her another drink and sat it in front of her. Lightning Dust picked it up and began sipping at it.
“Stupid Rainbow Dash,” she muttered to herself. “Stupid Spitfire. Stupid Wonderbolt Academy.” It was all THEIR fault she had been kicked out. They had all just been jealous of her. They knew she was better than all of them combined. They didn’t want her showing them up, so they kicked her out.
But she wasn’t going to just sit around and let them get away with it. No way! She was going to get back at them. Somehow, she was gonna make them pay!
“Hello. Are you Lightning Dust?” said a female voice behind her.
“Who wants to know?” she turned her head to see a gray, cross-eyed Pegasus mare hovering in mid air behind her. She was wearing a brown sack stuffed with letters.
“I have a letter for her,” said the mare, holding up an envelope in her hoof.
Lightning Dust reached for the letter, but the mail mare pulled it away.
“Hey, what gives?” spat Lighting Dust.
“Are you Lightning Dust?”
“YEAH! I AM!”
“Okay.” The gray mare held out the letter to her. Lightning Dust snatched it out of her hoof.
The mail mare flew out of the bar, bumping into a few tables along the way.
Lightning Dust looked at the envelope. She opened it up and began to read the letter.

‘Ms. Lightning Dust. How would you like to get everything you’ve ever wanted and more?’
Lightning Dust’s eyebrows rose at that first line. Intrigued, she kept reading.
‘I am putting a team together for a quest, and I would like you to be on that team. The reward will be beyond your wildest dreams. If you’re interested, come to the address below this Saturday at noon. Don’t be late.
Signed Prince Blueblood.’

“Prince Blueblood?” Lightning muttered to herself, looking up in thought. She didn’t know the guy, but she had heard of him. He was the distant nephew of Princesses Celestia and Luna. “Why would he be interested in me? Oh, right, because I’m the best.”
She looked back at the letter. Particularly at the sentences ‘Get everything you’ve ever wanted and more’ and ‘Reward beyond your wildest dreams’. It sounded too good to be true, but at the same time, too good to pass up.