Dire Vale: Say Goodbye

by SymphonicSync

If Only For A Day

On an unremarkable day in the southern district of the city, a young mare walked through a marketplace flooded with customers. On any other day as any other pony she might have gone unnoticed, her presence unquestioned. Yet throughout her life she had never gone without attention, and this day proved that to her evermore. Though she was simply shopping for food and other necessities like so many other visitors to the packed courtyard, a path laid open in whatever direction she walked. As she cantered forward, it would widen and shift respecting her speed and course.

Many of the ponies simply backed away, forgot about their chores, and watched her as she went about her business. The faces of those surrounding her wore guises of hatred, subtle and overt, and most also carried worry and doubt upon their brow. There were several aspects to her character that earned her such reactions of awe, fear, and contempt.

The first was that she was a unicorn, an innately authoritative race inside the barriers of the Crystal Heart. Her kind held the ability to use magic in direct and effective ways. A horn signified that the pony was a judge, jury, and if the law bid so, an executioner presiding over the earth and pegasi clans.

The next reason was that her form was partially obscured by a violet robe that marked her as an officer of the governing bodies. Such a correlation earned her a path through any crowd and past most security details. To further cement her status as a figure of noble rule, flanking her were two of the elite royal guard, silent figures that cast off an ominous aura. Clad in black armor they mirrored the movement of their charge as if it were their own. The mare could see the looks of anguish thinly veiled on the visage of what few unicorns stood gawking out their storefront windows. Such reactions were common in those not used to the presence of beings taught more advanced, more unnatural, magical methods.

The last reason was the mare's eyes.

A piercing shade of pale blue adorned her iris. To the onlookers, it seemed as if her eyes were alight with the glow of living ice. She had heard it said that it seemed the spirit of the Tundra lived within her soul. If those who had uttered such nonsense only knew the truth...

Walking up to a booth occupied by a timid and afraid earth pony, the mare began to examine the food laid about the table. The prices were fair, if how much of the goods needed to be bought by the basket-full was excluded. Most of the produce seemed healthy and ready to ripen after a trip home. Whichever farm had produced this harvest was doing well despite the unexpected frost that had claimed most of the Empire's crops in the past year. She would need to commend the unicorn overseer and the various workers upon her next inspection of their farm.

Without averting her gaze from her examination, the mare questioned the stallion behind the booth, "What farm are these crops from?"

"The south-, southern fringe. Ma- Ma'am. Farm one thirty tw-, I mean one twenty three, forgive me." The worker found his words catching in his throat as he looked at the two onyx guards.

"Please inform your overseer that they will be receiving an impromptu inquiry within the month," without stopping to indicate a break in her command, she continued, "must the jarred peas be bought in sets of a dozen? They seem to spoil quickly and I'd hate for my favorite to go to waste."

"Take as many as you want!" The worker half-answered, half-begged of the mare, hoping that the trio would leave soon after the purchase.

Taking six jars and dropping the bits for two thirds of the full price on the counter, the mare levitated the jars in to one of her guard's saddlebags. Before she could turn to thank the stallion working the booth, she heard a shout ring out from across the courtyard.

"ASSESSOR FLURRY HEART. YOUR PRESENCE IS REQUIRED."

Flurry clenched her eyes shut and pondered to herself. How did he find us so soon? As she turned about and trotted towards the source of the shout, the crowd soon parted to show a tall white stallion, clad in purple armor. The figure was accompanied by a half dozen guards that moved to encompass Flurry as she approached. Walking up to the blue-haired unicorn, she attempted the most naive voice she could and asked "What do you need, Warden?"

"You know exactly what I am here for," his tone cut straight past all the subtlety she tried to veil her words in, "You've nearly skipped your training today. I'm extending your lesson, as well as tomorrow's session."

"Please, I just wanted to find som-"

His muscles tensed ever so slightly. Even if it was only for a moment, Flurry could see that she had angered him. A lifetime of watching Shining Armor react to her actions and mistakes had given her insight to the emotions hidden behind a stoic exterior. "You have servants to shop for you. Use them. No more excuses, follow me."

Without waiting for any form of answer from her, Shining turned around and began his trip back to the castle. Suppressing the urge to sigh just loud enough for him to hear, Flurry followed. The knowledge of just what her training would encompass the next few days weighed on her more and more with every step. Flurry Heart glanced at the ponies she walked past. Unlike in the marketplace, no pony stopped to look at the group of unicorns that surrounded her as they walked down the street. With so many members of the guard gathered in one place, the passersby knew better than to draw attention to themselves.

That was a lesson she clearly had yet to learn.

Author's Note:

Please feel free to message me to offer criticism and ask questions or leave both in the comments below. I want to improve this story in any way possible. The title for the chapters are open to change until I find one that fits it more; I am terrible at titling my writings. If you have any recommendations, let me know.
This takes place a decade or two after the prequel. The events of the past will be elaborated on in further chapters, but for the most part the story will follow Flurry Heart as a mare. In this timeline many events have not happened, things like Equestria never being founded. The reasons to a lot of these changes will be explored later. To alleviate some foreseeable confusion, one of those events that got erased is Cadence being made an alicorn. Because she was not an alicorn, Flurry Heart was not born an alicorn in this timeline.