Life in Equestria
Canterlot bustled with the regular chatter of market day. Ponies busied themselves with haggling and chatting, and a few guards even snuck away to take off their armor and fraternize. Among the Unicorns, Earth Ponies and Pegasi, a few different types of ponies mingled.
On the left, sitting on a bench with an shading tree, a thestral couple snuggled, bat-like wings wrapped around each other. Walking past them, a Griffon with a red crest bickered happily with an undisguised Changeling. The fountain in the middle of the square splashed onto the ponies nearby as the small school of seaponies inside played under the warm sun. A small group of dragons sat on the edge, alternating between eating and tossing in gemstones for the seaponies.
On the corner, Twilight Sparkle sat inside a small cafe, her scaled back shimmering in the summer's light. Rainbow Dash frowned at the other side of the table, letting out an exasperated snort and flaring her draconic wings as she tossed her cards down. Applejack grinned, fangs flashing, and scooped up the pile of sugar packets between them. Rarity eyed them with disdain, using a small brush to shine the dirt off of her scaled hooves. Fluttershy gently sipped at a cup of tea, bat-like wings shuffling as Pinkie tested the sharpness of her claws on the legs of the table.
Twilight's attention jerked away from the ponies outside as Pinkie's side of the table collapsed, leg having been fully clawed through. "Pinkie!"
"Sorry, Twilight. I guess my claws are super-duper sharp!" She pulled her hind legs up, flexing her claws in front of her face. "Same as always!"
"Consarnit, Pinkie, you're gonna dry up the treasury if you keep clawing through things! Can't you get a scratching post or something?" Applejack caught the sliding sugar packets with one hoof, only half-glaring at the party pony.
Rainbow grinned, flapping her wings as she stood up on her hind legs, sweeping the packets from Applejack's hoof and collecting them at her place. "I win!"
"Hey!" Applejack turned, snorting at Rainbow. "Stop that!"
Rarity rolled her eyes, levitating a napkin in her magic to help Fluttershy dab up her tea. The winged Kirin whimpered softly as Rarity's magic sparked, holding through sheer will. "Girls, please, we're in public."
"Rarity's right." Twilight added, re-folding her bat-like wings and levitating her spoon. She waved the utensil at her friends, frowning. "We should all be on our best behavior. And Pinkie, I'm taking the cost of this table from your allowance."
Pinkie sighed. "Yes, Twilight."
One of the stranger species in Canterlot trotted up to the table, frowning at the damage. Twilight knew her from many afternoon visits, and the Mountain Pony was relatively friendly, most of the time.
The long-haired mare tossed her curled mane from her eyes, a front hoof tapping on the tile. "Sparkle. Yur friends have bin causing mur damage than gud in hir."
"I-I know, Mist. I'll pay for it all."
"With tip?" The pony tilted her chin up haughtily, a friendly twinkle returning to her eyes.
"With a tip." Twilight relented.
The mare trotted away, long tail sweeping over the floor. Four of her hooves kept her steady while she gathered cups from other customers with her first pair.
"Who's that?" Pinkie asked, kicking up the edge of the table and sticking a napkin box underneath to hold it up. "She acted like she knew you."
"I come down here a lot. It's quiet, and gives me a chance to keep from being gawked at. Her name's Mist; she's one of the Northern Mountain ponies. They have six legs so they can steady themselves better when they climb." Twilight set her spoon down, not having noticed she was still carrying it. "But really, Pinkie, you can't kick tables like you used to, okay?"
Pinkie pouted, slouching with her chin on the table.
The door opened behind them, and a small group of armored guards trotted in. They located Twilight quickly, surrounding the table. "Princess Twilight Sparkle."
"Yes?" Twilight stood up, glancing to her friends for them to do the same.
"The Princesses have requested your audience. Trouble is brewing in the south."
"Of course." Twilight nodded. "Girls, go ahead. I'll meet you there."
As the guards let her friends away, Twilight took a deep breath. Mist trotted up, eyeing the quick-fix Pinkie had implemented on the table. "Pony friends will do well, Sparkle. You need not worry."
"It's not them I'm worried about." Twilight whispered, levitating a hoofful of coins over to the mare.
-----
Princess Celestia smiled as Twilight pushed the door open, galloping up into place with her friends. Princess Luna and Cadence stood at either side, the latter of which looked just as confused as the ponies who had just arrived. A blur of motion in the glass panels nearby signified Discord was listening in.
"My little ponies," Celestia said, bowing gently, "and my fellow Princess; I have gathered you here because of dire news that has reached me from the Southern Hold. The native dragons there have been attacked by a number of neigh-boring countries, including one of the Changeling hives and some Griffon settlements. The letter itself outlines their predicaments."
Twilight noticed the scroll in Celestia's magic and hovered it over. "Dear Equestrian Allies, our lands have been under constant attack from the surrounding areas, and I fear that when you get this letter it will be too late. Our allies have turned against us, and something is not right. There is a great darkness on the horizons that will not fade. Many of our own kind have vanished during attacks, and our numbers are dwindling. The phoenix I have sent to you knows the way to our Hold. We wish to warn you so you may better protect yourself; we may attack under the influence of that great shadow."
Twilight glanced over to where Philomena usually perched. Beside her, a gray bird sat, preening it's half-feathered wings. It blinked back at her with bright yellow eyes.
"It's signed by an 'Elder Stoneclaw'."
Celestia nodded. "He was the dragon who originally signed the peace treaty between Equestria and the Holds."
"If he believes he is in danger, than they stand no chance." Luna added. "He was the greatest fighter we have ever known."
"What does this have to do with them?" Cadence whispered. "You're not sending these... these girls up against something like that! No offense, girls."
Celestia sighed. "If such a threat is true, we need to remain in Equestria to keep the military lines strong. Cadence will be returning to the Crystal Empire shortly. As the Elements of Harmony, and as a Princess without a kingdom, it is your duty to protect Equestria, by going to the heart of the danger and eliminating it from it's source."
"Now," Luna continued after a few moments, "the farriers have been working on new sets of armor to accent your capabilities. They will be waiting for you in the armory."
Twilight turned, leading her friends out of the hall.
"Do not worry, Twilight Sparkle." Luna called after her, even as the door fell shut. "Everything is going to be fine."
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Pretty good start and I think the w here
isn't supposed to be there
Luna that's exactly what you don't say. Now everything will crash and burn.
It seems like there's been a massive jump between the end of the last story and the beginning of this one, and it seems like something that ought to be thoroughly explained prior to really getting into the story. In an unspecified amount of time, we've gone from the world of Magical Mystery Cure to one in which Equestria is incredibly cosmopolitan with every canon power (and some that aren't) as their allies. How'd this come about? When did this come about? How is it related to the totally random (as as yet not particularly explained) dragonification of the Mane Six? These are things we sort of need to know.
...famous last words.
2420797
I agree with this. What the buck happened to make them all things in harmony, mainly with Changelings!?! That happened to suddenly make them allies, when did the Mane 6 (excluding Twilight) get this blessing? Too large amount of unexplained stuff going on.
I am having difficulty with the back story here, where they always part dragon? it is halfway built up like that, or where they turned that way. Usually with Alternate universe stories, a back story has to be given to go into the history, apparently in this universe all species get along, but, wether or not the mane six always being 'draconequi', as a better term for it,baffles me.
2423426 Go read "I wasn't prepared for this" it will explain what is going on
2420492 You know what we need? A story with that line right at the beginning and stuff like "Nothing can go wrong, it can't get worse" all throughout the story. And the twist would be that they are true. I guess that'd make a pretty good surprise, right?
famous last words
Everything is going to be alright.
Famous Last Words
2422930
True enough. By the time the scene changed, I was half expecting it to be a dream sequence.
Brillaint, I'm really enjoying this! Cadence seemed to be a tad out of character but not much. Otherwise I thought it was great for a first chapter
Hmm. Interesting that we don't get much of Twilight's perspective about all of this in this first chapter.
Took me so long to get started on this, but I'm certainly eager to get going
I find it interesting that you were so discouraged with the last story, you didn't want to continue, but now you have a sequel. I'm glad you found your inspiration enough for this to continue.
is it supposed to be than we stand no chance? because... like.. yea :|
Wow, they're screwed.
2487495
As I said, they're screwed.