Prologue
A dark gray mare with a deep purple mane woke in her bed. There was nothing unusual about that, most ponies wake up in the morning. However most ponies do not climb out of bed and put on armor. Myst began her morning cinching down the leather straps that held her light armor in place. She looked into the mirror to see if she had missed anything. She saw her cyan eyes staring back at a buckle that was not aligned correctly. She quickly rectified her error. After all, it would be bad if her armor came off in the middle of a fight.
To ensure that she hadn’t missed anything, she flapped her wings and reared up; her armor held. Satisfied that she was not going to die due to incorrectly worn armor, she sat on her bed for a second to try and clear her head. Her magic flared for a second, displaying the time hovering before her face. She missed digital clocks here, but at least her half-baked magic could give her a sense of home, even if she would never see it again. She glanced at her flank and saw the hacker symbol that was her cutie mark. She sighed at the sight, remembering the world that she would never see again. Since Myst was not expected at breakfast for another few minutes she indulged herself by remembering all that had led her to this point. It still felt like she was an alien here, even after several months. Myst thought back, wondering if she could have done anything differently on that fateful day when she had arrived; hornless, confused, and lacking any sense of direction or purpose.