DAY ONE
It was midnight. Ponies from all over gathered around the Ponyville square, standing in a wide circle. An earth pony and a unicorn stood on this inside of this circle. Not in the middle, but close enough. One on the left, one on the right. The unicorn had a blue-grey coat and a white and blue mane, both of which were wavy and tangled. On her flanks, three snowflakes glittered coolly.
The earth pony was had a simple, round mirror with a grey scale rainbow flowing from it on her flanks. Her mane and tail were a vibrant shade of purple, and her coat was a less-vibrant shade of that.
The clouds covered the full moon. A white aura surrounded the unicorns horn, and a slight breeze picked up. The crowds looked at each other excitedly, and the cluster of clouds around the moon, moved, so just the moon and a circle of deep blue sky shone through the gap. The earth pony howled, the perfect imitation of a Timber Wolf, and many of the crowd jumped, but they still looked up as a grey shape fell from the sky, spinning. spinning. A few ponies began to move towards the shape, about to aid the falling pony.
Small, shiny shapes shot from the spinning pony, and flew towards them at alarming speeds. And just before the objects hit them, a white aura enveloped each of the objects and held them, still, so they were directly in front of the chests of the ponies. Realization flickered across each of the ponies' faces. The objects were small, throwing knives. Any later and they would be dead. And the falling pony was still falling, unaided.
And as soon as they were about hit the floor, a pair of grey wings snapped out and she was lifted into the air. She began climbing, higher and higher. The unicorn's horn glowed again, and slowly, a trail of what looked like snow followed the climbing pegasus. The music started. A waltz. Dancing in the centre of the circle, high in the sky, was the pegasus surrounded by snow. And one by one, more and more ponies began to dance, the pegasus still dancing at the very centre. The earth pony walked around the circle and coaxed the other ponies to begin dancing. Meanwhile, the unicorn spun spell webs around the group, casting beautiful lights that looked like auroras and causing more snow to fall. Ponies walked out of their homes, and looked around. They saw the dancing ponies, and the snow in the summer, but as they lifted their gaze, higher, through the air-dancing pegasi, they saw the beautiful hypnotizing dance of the pegasus with a grey coat. And soon enough, the entire town was outside, dancing. The snow still fell, the lights still shone and the music played late into the night.
And nearly everypony forgot about the incident with the throwing knives.
Expect one. The hooded pink mare that hid deep in the shadows.
~~~
The sun was already in the middle of the sky by the time Astral Waltz woke up. Missions for the Lady and all. She rolled over, hoping to get some more shut eye before she went back to work.
She didn't realize she was laying on the sofa.
So she fell off. A muffled laugh came from nearby, and Astral rose to her hooves, her nose crinkling in disgust. "Crystal Mirror. You really think it's safe to laugh at a very angry and very dangerous mare?"
There was no reply from the supposed Crystal Mirror. "Fuckin' hell, M. Show you godamned face already." Astral seemed calm, despite the cursing she was spiting out.
"Wash your mouth out with soap, before you speak to me like that, Ass." A blue unicorn with a snowflake cutie mark said, appearing from nowhere.
"You are a hypocrite, mistress Winds." Astral retorted.
"Prostitute."
"Slut."
"Filly-fooler."
"You'll never be the stallion your mother is."
"If you were twice as smart, you'd still be stupid."
"Your family tree must be a cactus, because everyone in it's a prick." And so this went on, like every morning, between the two friends. The continued throwing insults back and forth, shouting quite loudly. The ponies in the room downstairs were used to this and just got on with their lives, as the two mares just yelled insults that varied from very insulting to comical.
"Roses are red, violets are blue. God made me pretty, what happened to you~?" Astral sung as she danced around the clutter on the floor of the apartment they, and Crystal Mirror shared.
"When was the last time you could see your whole body in the mirror?" Glacia Winds hissed in reply. Before Astral could form a rebuttal, a purple earth pony pushed her way in between the two.
"Ponies, ponies..." She sighed. "Will you stop fighting?! It's getting freakin' repetitive."
"Jus' a bit of banter, M." Astral grinned.
"You were calling each other stupid and ugly!" Crystal Mirror cried. The other two laughed and looked at each other smiling.
"Anyway," Crystal sighed. "We have a letter. Another mission,"
Astral sighed deeply. "Who this time?"
Crystal fell silent and handed her friend the letter. Astral took it and read through it swiftly.
"Well?" Glacia asked.
"...Prince Bluebood." The grey pegasi's eyes lit up and she grinned. "This is a job I will not ignore~~~"
~~~
"Welcome, everypony, to today's introduction meeting!" Ponies and creatures of all sizes and shapes with all sorts of abilities and genders. The pony that spoke wore a mask. Her mane was dead straight and covered one side of her face. It was a deep pink colour and most of it was tucked into a hood. Her entire body was enveloped in dark clothing and a cloak that covered her tail as well. The only thing the crowds knew about her was that she had a pink mane and tail, as straight as a ruler, and dull blue eyes that just.... stared. The never seemed to blink, and they seemed forever angry. Sad even. "I'm the Lady." A slight frown could be seen from under her mask. "I'm an earth pony! We will go around the circle, and name ourselves and what we are, 'kay?"
The circle began to introduce themselves. The first was a Slendermane, a tall skinny stallion with no face and long legs. Tentacles extended from it's back. Pegasi, Unicorns, Earth ponies, even an Alicorn that was purely skeletal and no flesh or blood. Vamponies and Batponies were common, nameless changelings, Crystal ponies, even the odd demon and draconequus or four. There were dragons, griffons and a hydra with a stunted growth. A young manticore and a blindfolded cockatrice. Two Windigos and an Ursa Minor. An Ahuizotl, some diamond dogs, a cave troll, a sea serpent, a Timber wolf pack leader, a goblin and a pile of imps, each introducing themselves one at a time. The underground cavern the group was in was huge and voices carried easily, so everyone could be heard.
The circle of creatures fell silent. Eight ponies had not spoken yet. Seven of them looked very similar. The eighth was an Alicorn with a greyish coat and a white, blue, green and orange mane and tail. He wore a royal necklace and had a cutie mark of a flower, leaf, sun and snow cloud going around in a circle,
"I am Prince Adonis Neva. The Prince for a region across the sea. I am an Alicorn." He sighed. "I change the seasons across the world." He said it like he had been to the introduction meetings hundreds of times, even if it was just new members here.
The remaining seven stepped forwards. "We are the Spawn of Sin," The said in unison.
One stepped ahead of the group. She had horns that curved inwards, and her eyes were red and black. She was tall and skinny, Her mane and tail were long and blonde, while her coat was a light yellow. A black whip was coiled around her body and her tongue was forked. "Gold Feather." Her sharp-toothed smile was sinister and alluring, her voice the same. "I am the leader of the Lust division."
The next stood beside her. Large and heavy with an ugly brown coat and mane and thick sharp teeth and a very strong jaw. He had short, nubby horns. "Lost Soul. Leader of Gluttony." He grunted with a deep, rough voice. The next was Dragon Blood, Greed leader with a green coat, and black mane and tail and a very regal looking gold sword inlaid with precious gems. Dragon Blood had four horns two on either side and all short and pointed.Black and green eyes shone from behind a bandages that covered his entire face.
"Silver Shackles." A silver stallion stepped forward, wearing a blanket. Short, pointed horns. Red and blue eyes. He had a scar around his neck, and his voice was thick and heavily accented, sounding from the south of Equestria. "Sloth." Broken Life was the female leader of Pride and carried a huge katana. Her body was horrifically scarred and said very little, and what she said rhymed. Her ears were adorned with rings and she had curved asymmetric horns. Unlike the others, her eyes were the same colour. Purple. Purple Fury was Wrath and was defenceless. His horns were broken and jagged, and he also missing half of one of his wings. White bone could be seen through what seemed recently torn flesh, and blood could faintly be seen from the same wound. The blood was blue as the sky and solid looking. With eyes blue and grey, and a forever menacing scowl, The leader of the Wrath Army was the most evil looking of the entire group.
They all shared one thing in common- they all had one bat wing an one angelic wing. Both pupils were different colours and they all had orange and yellow horns of varying shapes and sizes. They had no cutie marks and yet they all stood proudly.
The final of the seven stood forward. She was tall and beautiful, with long slender legs and a perfect face. Her eyes were blue and amber, and her teeth as sharp as daggers. Her horns were long and sort of wavy, curving outwards at the point. Her coat was as black as the night and her mane was a deep, deep purple. She looked hungry and tired. The Spawn looked young, perhaps only a teenager, despite the height the mare had. "My name is Butterfly Heart." She stated simply. "I am the leader of the Envy Clan." Nopony said a word, and the Lady gazed at the seven Spawn leaders.
"We are members of an ancient organization." They all said in unison again, the mixture of voices would hurt any ponies head. "Creatures of every race used to be a part. Changelings and draconequus, Slendermanes and Alicorns. even manticres, cocaktrices and every different rave here, and more too." They had attention from across the large underground cavern. "We did nothing of harm. We were the most respected organization . We became the Original Princesses council, and they relied on us for every decision. Crystal ponies were happy, Vamponies allowed to hunt as long as they did not kill." The seven collectively sighed. "Ponies of all races, monsters were all accepted. Parasprites did no damage, and everything was truly harmonious. Then the new Princesses you know today came to power. Celestia and Luna." They spat out the names like it burned their throats. They hissed and leaned forward and it suddenly became very, very dark. "Disharmony began to take control and it spread like wildfire."
"And nopony ever spoke of us again." Butterfly Heart hissed, spreading her wings wide. A huge flash of white light followed, and the creatures stood blinking for many minutes. When the light finally cleared...
"Lady P. Welcome to old Equestria."