Manehattan Takes Rarity

by NeuroSparkle

Prologue

Stepping out the rusty doorframe, the grey-coated stallion found himself in a cramped back alley. ‘What a night’, he thought, looking up at the slim stripe of pale blue morning sky visible between the jagged tops of Manehattan’s shabbiest facades. He stumbled a few steps over the yet-dark paving while delicate clouds drifted over his head, then stopped, cursing as he stepped into a puddle of some sort. The stallion raised his hoof to his eyes, and despite the dividing image, clearly noticed the slight red decolouration. A menacing premonition hit his intoxicated brain as he strained his vision to see what caused this unwanted stain. His pupils followed the trace of red fluid evidently flowing from a nearby stack of rubbish bags. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to know where it was coming from, and the instincts he had slowly acquired on Manehattan’s streets were telling him to get out of this place as quickly as possible—but he went on nonetheless.

Amidst the filth of the desolate impasse, a white unicorn lay upon the heaps of waste, clothed in a gorgeous red dress. Although her indigo mane and attire were disfigured, she still seemed royal, almost like an Alicorn princess—if not for the two gaping holes in her chest and the darkened blood smeared on her legs and hooves.