So many ponies saw Canterlot as the mountain City of Equestria. And they’d be right. Most saw it as a utopia, a place where nothing was wrong and ponies were looked after and always had friends.

They were wrong.

Canterlot was a city like any other. Orphanages, cults, religions, money and crime. Crime happened on a daily basis, it just sometimes wasn’t caught. Cartels run the streets, drugs were pedalled in backalleys and dark corners of the biggest pubs and clubs. It was known by some of the more dedicated ponies where the next illegal rave would be, and if it was worth risking.

In the darker alleys and in the dark of the night, prostitutes prowled, looking for their next client illegally.

Crime was a daily thing.

And for the young mare Ambrosia, it was what she was good at. She’d always been the bad influence in her hometown, warned of by the parents so their foals would stay well away from her. But unlike her mother and father, Ambrosia hadn’t been satisfied with the simple life of a farmer. Instead she had decided to go her own way, making her way inevitably to the capitol. She’d spent the last few days working at a bar as a waitress. But she’d decided she’d had quite enough of that and was off with the money, her inheritance, to start her own work.

Problem was she had no idea what it’d be yet.

As it was, as she was walking along the darkened streets, she heard a soft sniffle and a sob. Her ears pricked up. Ambrosia was a very attractive mare. With a luscious red coat and white underbelly, she cut a mean figure, putting even most supermodels to shame. Her green eyes were bright and inquisitive and her multi-hued pink mane and tail were her favourite aspect of her body, and she made sure to keep them meticulously clean and well groomed.

Ambrosia listened closely, the quiet sounds reaching her ears only just from a nearby alley. Out of sheer curiosity and fighting down the feeling it was a trap, she ventured into the narrow avenue, looking around. What she found after a short search and listen was a box. The front was barely open, but the sound was definitely coming from there. With a cautious hoof, Ambrosia opened the box flaps carefully and peered inside. Looking back at her, an expression that could only be described as sheer terror on her face, was a pale blue filly with a darker blue colour to her mane. She was filthy and smelled a little, and her bright eyes glittered with fear.

Ambrosia felt her heart melt.

“What’s your name little one?” She asked as gently as she could. The filly seemed to immediately calm and again Ambrosia found herself thanking Celestia for her talented silver tongue.

“I-I don’t know,” The filly responded fearfully, “I-I c-c-can’t remember.”

She couldn’t have been any older than four or five, but she was stuck on the streets on her own! Ambrosia was a lot of things, but she wasn’t completely heartless. She held out a hoof and the filly shied away from it.

“It’s alright dear one,” She said reassuringly, “I promise I won’t hurt you.”

The filly hesitated for a moment before letting Ambrosia touch her, the earth mare running her hoof through the little pegasus’ mane.

“There you go… you have nowhere to go? Where’s your mother?”

The filly sniffled and merely shook her head in response. Ambrosia sighed.

“You can stay with me,” She offered, “I’m going to buy someplace to live tomorrow. If you have nowhere to go, come with me.”

The little filly looked at her in suspicion. A healthy outlook to have.

“What do you get from me?” She asked, obviously still scared. Ambrosia giggled.

“Company,” She replied with the first genuine smile she’d worn in some time, “I wouldn’t be alone. I don’t do well on my own. I don’t do well in crowds of ponies I can’t read either.”

The little one was silent for a moment, glaring at Ambrosia suspiciously before apparently deciding she could trust her and stepping hesitantly out of the box. Ambrosia swept the darling into a hug, which she positively melted into.

“We’ll go to my hotel room now,” Ambrosia said gently, “And you can have a shower with me, then we’ll go to bed, okay?”
The little filly nodded into Ambrosia’s coat and she smiled. It was nice to see the poor dear with hope again. They started walking soon after. Thankfully, Ambrosia’s room wasn’t far away. Despite this, the little filly had fallen asleep on Ambrosia’s back by this time. Being careful to avoid waking her up, Ambrosia signed into the hotel and went up to her room, taking the sleepy filly with her. After a brief shower, where she cleaned herself and her newest roommate up, Ambrosia lay the little filly on the bed before crawling on herself. To her surprise, the young pony cuddled up to her and, before she went to sleep, mumbled something that would make Ambrosia’s day.

“Thank you mummy…”

Ambrosia smiled, trying not to cry, and nuzzled the now sleeping filly, falling in stride and swiftly slipping into the dream realm.

"That's our new home little one. Isn't it grand?"

Ambrosia stood before the ancient building, deep within the working caste's zone. Just off of a main road, the two story building was big, both area and height wise, and was remarkably mostly intact. the little pegasus filly squealed in delight and rushed forward, prompting Ambrosia to giggle and follow her.

"Calm down now, it's just a house. At the moment, it won't even pay for itself. I'm going to need a job to keep us with food and to pay the bills."

The little filly didn't seem to mind as she ran into the house as soon as the door creaked open. The place was covered in dust but, as the real estate agent had told her, it was mostly in one piece. It needed work, but it would serve as a viable home, and perhaps one day place of business.

"Little one? Where'd you go?"

Ambrosia looked around the empty foyer and at the old, cobweb ridden stairs. Looks like it needed a lot of work. The little blue pegasus tore down the steps and into Ambrosia's arms, babbling about thank yous and such. Ambrosia shook her head.

"Hehe... that's alright. I'm going to have to give you a name. I can't go around calling you 'little one' all the time now can I?"

The filly shrugged in response.

"I dunno. It's not the worst I've been called," She replied quietly. Ambrosia sighed.

"Sweetheart, you need a name. I'm not going to call you 'little one' or 'hey you' all your life. If you're going to live with me, you need a name."

"Fine," the filly grumbled, sitting down grumpily. Ambrosia felt a flicker of irritation.

"Don't you get cranky at me young mare," She scolded, "A name is very important. A name makes the pony you know! If I didn't have my name, nopony would have a clue who I was."

"I thought the cutie mark made the pony," the little filly shot back rebelliously. Ambrosia could almost feel the steam coming out of her ears as she glared at the impudent child.

"The Cutie mark is just an expression of talent!" Ambrosia growled, "Something you haven't earned yet! Until then, I expect you, from now on, to answer to a name!"

"Fine!" the filly yelled back, "You can call me Princess Bubbles and I'll only come out of my room if you make me a feast fit for a princess!"

Ambrosia snorted and pointed at the stairs angrily.

"Go to your room!" She yelled, "And don't come out again until I say so!"

"And what if I don't want to?" the filly demanded just as piercingly.

"Then you can go to bed without supper!" Ambrosia answered instantly. The pair glared at each other, neither willing to budge on their position. The bright eyes of the filly, and the forest green of Ambrosia's facing off, almost sparking in their intensity.

Then, after a moment, Ambrosia's thunderous face cracked, and the filly giggled. Fairly soon, the pair were on the floor, laughing at each other till they physically couldn't laugh anymore. Coming down from their unexpected yet amusing high, Ambrosia swept the little girl into her hooves.

"I'll call you Bubbles," Ambrosia giggled, tickling the pegasus' nose, "And I'll be sure to set forth the biggest feast I can muster. How's that princess?"

Bubbles giggled, squealing a little as Ambrosia briefly ticked her stomach, and buried her head in Ambrosia's white chest fur.

"Sounds good mummy," She answered happily, "Promise you won't leave?"

Ambrosia paused, rolling onto her stomach and looking around at the old building before smiling, running a hoof through Bubble's now mussed mane.

"I promise. By the time I'm finished here, I'll have built us both a Utopia~"

Author's Note

And thus it starts. As I go through the story, the characters you, my dear readers, graciously offered to me for use will transition in. Remember, just because you don't see them in the first chapter, or in a later chapter, doesn't mean they won't be in the story. I fully plan, in the author's notes of each chapter, to add the credit each person deserves for their amazing characters.

Thank you all for this opportunity, I'll try not to let you down.

Oh, and I'm still willing to hear some more characters to see if I can fit them in. But only with your permissions. Comments and opinions are appreciated!