The moon crept over the horizon as the sun set. In the Kingdom of the Sun, the pupil of Princess Celestia falls asleep in the small town of Ponyville, having learned the Magic of Friendship for the first time.
This is not her story.
Starlight Glimmer gave a subtle sigh as she raised her hooves, turned away and returned to her room. It was quite sparse; One small bed with plain white sheets, a small oak end-table with a basic gray lamp, and a closet for her robes she wore when she performed her duties as Luna's Archmage. The only extravagant piece of furniture was a large bookshelf on the wall opposite of the bed, which was packed full of various spell books. A mare of her position was expected to know a wide variety of spells.
It was still early moonrise, so she still had a few hours to comb her mane and get to work. She made her way over to the end table. This room was empty, and much larger than Starlight would have preferred. But, Princess Luna insisted that she slept in the same room as Archmages past, and so she did.
Starlight was never a fan of extravagance.
Her horn lit and moved the end table to the right, then pressed her magic against the wall. After a moment, a panel of the wall opened up. Inside was a plain brown journal, wrinkled from years of use. Her magic grasped the book, and she rested it onto the bed before sitting onto the bed herself. She used her magic to open the bottom drawer of her end table, and she pulled out a quill and a glass bottle of ink.
- - -
Tick. Tick. Tick.
The sound of more than thirty clocks in perfect sync filled the household in the town of Crescent. For Obsidian Hour, this sound was everything. His purpose, his reason to live. The heartbeat of each clock let him know that he was doing good work.
Obsidian Hour was considered unique in a variety of ways. He counted them as he unscrewed the back of a clock. He had to get it fixed before midnight, so there was no rush.
He was a crystal pony, a rarity in Equestria. Most of them vanished a thousand or so years ago, something to do with a curse. It just so happened that his ancestors were on vacation or something. Obsidian clicked his tongue as he removed the back of the clock to reveal its guts. It would really suck if his town upped and disappeared while his back was turned.
His name was also quite accurate: His crystalline coat and mane mimicking the glossy deep-black of his namesake, with vibrant violet eyes. His mane was slicked back, though the ends were rather split. Obsidian took a moment to make a mental note; It was about time to get his mane cut.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
The sound of a bell ringing echoed through the hallway into his workshop. This meant one of three things: One, that somepony wanted to buy a clock; Second, that somepony wanted to get their clock fixed; Or C, his friend was coming for some chit chat.
"Obsidian?" The familiar voice of his friend Derpy Hooves asked.
Looks like it was C.
"I'm in back!" Obsidian replied. He carefully removed each of the gears in the clock, and examined them closely. He then pulled the magnifying lens over the opening of the clock. Hoofsteps approached his work room, then stopped.
"I'm just working on a client, that's all." Obsidian said. "How's life?"
The sad sigh was all the information he needed. He turned towards her and gave a small sad smile. "Didn't get the job?"
The pegasus shook her head.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
"Don't worry, you'll get the next one." Obsidian assured.
"I haven't been able to for a year now." Derpy replied. "Why would that change now?"
Obsidian looked upwards, as if what he could say was written on the ceiling. "Things..." He returned a level gaze. "Things will get better. Good things happen to good ponies."
"Except when they don't." Derpy said, a touch of anger in her voice. It vaporized in an instant. "I'm sorry..."
"N-no, it's alright." Obsidian said. "You can vent it at me. I don't have the answers, but I can be the wall you need to bounce your feelings off of."
Derpy rubbed one foreleg against the other.
"I'll lend you some bits." Obsidian said. He opened a shelf on his workbench and pulled out a small bag of Bits with this teeth before setting it in front of Derpy. "Go and treat yourself to something nice, it's on me."
"I- I can't." Derpy replied.
They both knew the steps to this dance; It happened the same way each time.
"Please, take the Bits."
"I don't want to take advantage of you."
"I have plenty of money, it's really not a bother."
"But you worked hard to earn them."
"And so I can spend them as I please. Right now, I please to give them to you."
Derpy opened her mouth to reply, but stopped herself from giving the usual reply. She closed her eyes, took in a deep breath, then exhaled. "Okay." She said. "Thank you."
The pegasus stepped forward and grabbed Obsidian in a hug. He felt his shoulder moisten as she silently sobbed.
"I- I'm sorry..." She said.
"Take as much time as you need." He replied.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
- - -
Derpy stepped out into the early moonlight. She wiped the moisture from her cheeks and put on a smile. She spread her wings and took off into the partly cloudy night sky.
One eye focusing forward, the other rolling downwards, she did her best to keep focus as she hopped from cloud to cloud. Sometimes she would come up short, and other times she overshot the cloud. Either way, she went back and tried again.
As she perched on top of a cloud barely large enough to hold her, she gazed down at Crescent. Ponies trotting along, opening up shops and making conversation. She leaned forward and off of the cloud before opening her wings into a glide. Ponies waved as she passed by, and she waved back.
Her mind began to wander. She had twenty Bits now; Just ten would be enough to get her breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Most ponies knew of her situation, and she found she often got discounts because of it.
Derpy let out a sigh. While she had made friends with pretty much everypony in town, she was always reminded of her joblessness whether the others mean to or not. She shook her head slightly; She refused to just be another victim. She had to find something to do!
She could have sworn she heard something...
She turned around and lowered herself to the ground. She took a moment to close her eyes and orient herself. She was facing north on a street that ran east-to-west. She perked her ears, and heard it again; Was somepony else crying?
The noise was to the southeast. She broke into a gallop and darted into the alleyway. Why this pony crying? The voice sounded female. Was she hurt? Did somepony do something to her? What happened?
The voice was right around the corner! Derpy took the turn-
Right into somepony's hoof. She rubbed her bruised eye, faintly aware of somepony taking her bag of bits. "Hey, that's-"
Another hoof to the face knocked her back down. She heard the other pony run off. "H-hey! I need those Bits!" Derpy called out. "Somepony help!"
- - -
A guard's ear twitched. He heard the call for help. An instinct deep in his very soul told him what to do.
He bent his knees before launching into the air. A light breeze ruffled his well-groomed silver mane and his white fur, his wings flapping to keep him stationary. Red eyes scanned the area.
He had heard the cry from-
The guard dived, his light gray armor rattling. He then flared his wings and landed next to a pegasus mare with gray fur and a blonde mane. Her eye was bruised, and a bit of blood was dripping from her mouth.
"Ma'am, are you alright?" The guard asked.
"S-she took my..." She mumbled.
"Stay put, I'll be right back. I promise." The guard said. He took flight and shot down the alleyway. He took a sharp right turn, and spotted a pink earth pony with a yellow mane, and a bag in her mouth shaking with Bits. The mare turned her head, and her eyes widened. She doubled her pace.
He flapped his wings hard, drawing closer to her. Right before she could take the next turn, he tackled into her.
The mare let out a grunt, and lashed out with a buck, smashing him into a wall. He groaned and got back to his hooves, but she was gone. He noticed that the bag was ripped open, and Bits were spilled out on the ground. He gave a sigh. He'd go to find her, but there was something more important to do. He gathered the Bits into the ripped back, holding it the best he could under his wing before returning to the injured mare.
"Ma'am?"
Derpy groaned and opened one eye. There was the guard again, the bag of bits in his teeth. He then placed the bag under his wing.
"Are you okay?" He asked. Derpy replied with another groan. "Can you walk or stand?"
She sighed, still tasting the blood in her mouth. She spit it out before rising to her hooves. "I can manage." She replied.
He wrapped a wing around her. "I'm going to help you get some medical attention."
"Thank you." Derpy said, smiling a little.
She leaned on him as they walked. "What's your name?" She asked.
"Radiant Silver, Ma'am." He answered. "Yours?"
"Derpy, Derpy Hooves."
He smiled. "Everything's going to be alright, Derpy."
- - -
A rosy pink earth pony let off a giggle. The previous day was quite fun; She should really call up Spanner Works again. That mare really knew how to work a-
She put a halt to her thoughts as she saw Derpy, looking like she lost a fight. Rose Quill absently brushed her knee-length crimson mane in thought. "Hey, you alright?" Rose asked as she trotted over to the pegasus.
"I'm... I'm fine." Derpy replied. She then put on a smile. "No concussions."
"That's good, did you lose a fight with a chimney?" Rose asked. "Those things can be real bastards, you know."
Derpy's smile faltered. "I was mugged."
Rose closed her eyes a moment as she sighed. "Here I was, thinking this was a decent town..."
Derpy shook her head. "I didn't recognize her; I think she was from out of town. In any case, I still got my Bits back, and I'm going to be just fine." Her infectious smile returned.
"That's good to hear. Listen, I know it's unlikely that you'll get attacked again, but perhaps I could walk you home?" Rose offered. "Perhaps I could help lick your wounds." She then smirked as she raised an eyebrow. "...And maybe lick a few other things?"
Derpy blushed and giggled. "You know what? I could use something like that right now, get my mind off things."
"Sure thing. I'm here for you, we all are." Rose Quill said.
Derpy laid her wing upon Rose Quill's flank, which showed the image of a rose dipped in ink; A hint towards her writing profession.
Rose began planning out a good time for her friend, as well as shuffling "Mare helps another mare who is down on her luck" into a folder for ideas. Her next adult novel was going to be a little more heartfelt this time.
- - -
Party Favor studied his cards intently.
Across from him sat a griffon, body all black and looking like the cross between a panther and a raven of unusual size. Though Party didn't believe that the latter existed.
"Have you made your choice yet?" The griffon replied, holding the cards in his left claw while leaning in his right. "We don't have all day."
"I have today free, and you're a scribe. You said it yourself, she just got done writing her last book." Party replied.
"That mare doesn't take breaks." Kulart said. "I don't get as much time as I want to relax."
"There isn't enough time in existence for that." Party Favor replied with a grin.
Kulart opened his beak to deny, then closed it.
The front door entered, and in trotted Rose Quill and Derpy, the latter blushing quite a bit as she spotted the party pony and the griffon.
"I'm going to be upstairs." Rose Quill said, then gave a knowing wink.
Kulart watched the two climb the stairs before sighing and placing his hand of cards on the table. "We should go outside. She can get very..." He groaned. "...Loud."
"She listens to dubstep?" Party Favor asked.
"Actually, she puts on freeform jazz, but that's not what I meant." Kulart said.
A sudden loud "Oh~" came from upstairs.
"Oh." Party Favor said awkwardly.
"Oh." Kulart commented dryly.
Party Favor placed his cards on the table as well before leaving the house with Kulart. "How often-"
"Too often." Kulart said. He stretched his wings. "It's not her that bothers me, honestly after all these years I'm used to it, but there are some things about mares in this town that I really do not need to know."
Party Favor chuckled. "They can't be that bad."
Kulart then whispered something into Party's ear, and the latter winced.
"I didn't think that could even fit in there." He said. "And that's a grievous misuse of balloons."
"You're best off not knowing who likes that, trust me." Kulart replies. "Makes conversations awkward."
- - -
There was a knock at Starlight’s door. Scowling at the interruption, her horn lit up to hide her work. The journal snapped to a close and flew into the hidden compartment, which was then sealed up. She moved her end table back into position, opened the bottom drawer, and placed the quill and ink back into place. She then put on a comfortable smile, and said "Come in!" in a friendly manner.
Into the room walked the Princess of the Night. Starlight's expression did not change. "What can I do you for, Luna?"
Princess Luna walked over to the bed Starlight sat upon. "I have a new task for you, Archmage Glimmer. Do you know of the Elements of Harmony?"
"Why yes, I do." Starlight beamed. Her smile faltered slightly. "Though, I confess I do not know much about them, only the brief notes in the history books I have read." She lied.
"To be expected." Luna replied. "Most of the information on them is classified."
"That would explain it." Starlight said thoughtfully. "Because of the attempted theft a few years ago?"
Luna nodded.
"You brought up the Elements for a reason." Starlight said. She frowned, putting a hoof up to her chin in thought. "You have a plan for them, and it involves me."
"That is correct." Luna said. "A threat is coming, and the Elements are the only things that can stop it."
"I see." Starlight said. She smiled. "You want me to wield the Elements. You would not bring up the subject to me otherwise. But, you and Celestia have used them before. Therefore, to maximise effectiveness, you need a group of ponies attuned to each Element. Since you came to me specifically and I happen to be your archmage, you expect me to wield Magic."
Luna raised an eyebrow. "You know more about the situation than you let on."
Starlight shrugged. "I connected the dots."
"Since you seem well informed, I will cut to the chase: You will move to Crescent, find and befriend five ponies that you expect represent each of the other five Elements. Then, you must travel with them through the Everfree Forest to the Castle of the Two Sisters, where you will find the Elements of Harmony." Luna said.
"That won't be a problem." Starlight said, as if she was just asked to take out some lemonade from the fridge. "Don't bother renting an inn for me. I'm sure one of the ponies there will be kind enough to let me stay at their place."
"Do not take this task lightly, Archmage Glimmer." Luna said.
Starlight's happy and playful demeanor dropped. "I don't intend to."
"Good. I shall arrange for a chariot before the hour is over." Luna said.
"I'll take the train." Starlight replied.
Luna was quiet as she studied Starlight's serious expression. "Very well."
With that, Luna turned. She hesitated before leaving the room. "Good luck, Archmage Glimmer."
"I won't need it, Luna, but thank you anyways." Starlight replied.