Equestria
Celestia listened to the guard before her with increasing worry. He was currently informing her about a situation that was developing far to the north of Equestria, in the Crystal Empire. All contact with them had ceased abruptly a few days ago. A team of guards sent to investigate the lapse in communication had not been heard from since, and Celestia feared the worst.
She was about to respond when the sound of screaming from outside caught her attention. She galloped to a window and looked to the sky, seeing a huge fireball descending toward Canterlot. She gasped, and flew out of the window to try and stop it, but was too slow, and could only watch as it crashed into the centre of the city.
She looked on in horror as several buildings were set alight by the blaze, and ponies, burnt beyond recognition, moaned in pain in the streets. As the Canterlot firefighting department arrived on the scene, she herself swooped down, desperate to save all who she could.
Earth, Ten Minutes Ago
Jason struggled to smooth out his unruly red hair as he walked down the path through the park, the wind whipping his jacket around. Approaching his usual spot, he sat on the bench and took out a brown paper bag from his coat pocket. He opened it and grabbed a handful of breadcrumbs, throwing them out before him. Quickly, the area in front of him was besotted by pigeons, the birds desperate to try and get some food before their brethren. Jason grinned at them as he took out a box of cigarettes and a lighter. He inserted one into his mouth and held the lighter up to it, curling his hand around it to protect it from the gentle breeze. He clicked the lighter a few times before a flame appeared, igniting the tip of his cigarette. Jason took a long draw before taking the stick in his hand and exhaling.
"Damn," He said to himself, "That's some good shit."
"You know you'll just kill yourself, Jay." The voice came from behind him. Turning his head, Jason saw his brother Luke leaning on the back of the bench, his guitar case strapped to his back. He walked around the front of the bench and sat down next to him, resting the instrument on his lap. Whereas Jason's hair was short and red, Luke's was shoulder-length and black. He wore a black leather jacket that contrasted sharply with his brother's dark red one. He snatched a handful of breadcrumbs from the bag and threw them at the pigeons.
"Dude, you know I hate that nickname." Jason replied, ignoring the comment. "How did practice go?"
Luke snorted. "Terrible. No-one else can keep up with me." Jason raised an eyebrow at this.
"Maybe you shouldn't play like your hands are on fire then."
"Hey, it's not my fault I'm the greatest guitarist to ever live." Luke stated matter-of-factly as he leaned back and stretched his arms out.
"Yeah, sure you are." Jason laughed. He patted the case in his brother's lap. "Are you finished with it yet, anyway?"
Luke sat upright. "Nah, got a few more things to add." Unzipping the case, he took out his stratocaster and a small wooden box. The instrument itself was dark grey, but it was adorned with all manner of trimmings, including a large plastic axe blade that had been glued to the side. Black spikes sprouted around the top edge, and a white decal of a grinning skull was stuck to the underside.
"Damn dude, that thing is starting to look less like an instrument and more like a murder weapon." Jason said, taking another draw from his cigarette.
"I know." Luke said, grinning. "It's awesome, isn't it?"
Just then, a homeless man wheeling a beat-up shopping trolley full of junk walked into the middle of the flock of pigeons, scaring them away. He bent down and began to pick up the breadcrumbs from the floor, shovelling them into a bag he took from his pocket, mumbling to himself.
"Aw, what the fuck dude? You scared the birds away!" Luke said to him. The homeless man mumbled somewhat louder and glared at Luke, but otherwise ignored him. Luke stood up and walked over the the trolley of junk, and began looking through it.
"This your stuff, huh?" Luke asked, before tipping it over violently. "Now fuck off." He said, scowling. Jason went over to Luke and punched him in the shoulder.
"Luke, that wasn't cool." He took the bag of breadcrumbs out of his pocket and offered them to the man. "Here, you can have them. It's not like I was going to eat them." He said.
The homeless man snatched the bag away greedily. He took a weathered necklace from his junk and pressed it into his hand.
"Thanks, dude." Jason said, laughing. The homeless man righted his trolley and scuttled off without a word. Jason held the necklace up to the light and examined it more closely. It was a simple piece of metal, painted white in the shape of a flame, and it felt slightly warm to the touch. Jason grinned at it, replacing the cigarette in his mouth. Looking over at Luke who had sat back down, he saw that he was rifling through a bag.
"Luke, where did you get that?" He asked around the stick in his mouth.
"Snatched it from the old coot's cart when he wasn't looking." Luke replied, grinning. Jason sighed. Luke was going to get the both of them into trouble one day, he just knew it. He was jerked out of his thoughts when Luke whistled, holding something from the bag. Looking over, Jason saw that it was a jagged piece of metal a few inches long, roughly shaped like the blade of a dagger. It had silvery white jagged patterns along it's length. Jason raised an eyebrow, pulling the string of the amulet over his head.
"I know where this is going, Jay." Luke said. He placed it on his lap and took some super-glue out of his box.
"Seriously man? That looks pretty sharp, you could hurt someone with it."
Luke snorted derisively. "When am I going to stab someone with my guitar? Besides, you just said it looked like a murder weapon." He carefully attached the shard to the end of his guitar, taking care to align it just right, and holding it in place for a few seconds. while the glue dried. Jason became dimly aware of the amulet around his neck beginning to feel hotter, and looked at it in confusion.
"You have to admit Jay, this looks badass as fuck." Luke said after taking his hand away. He picked up the guitar and idly strummed a chord.
And that's when everything exploded.