The Ballad of Harmony

Act One
The Silver Bandits

Fading from black, to grey, to white, then back to black, I felt horrible pains, mostly from my head. The stomach pains came back a bit, but my head hurt so much that I completely ignored those pains. I opened my eyes, and standing in front of me was a Griffon. I struggled to stand up, to confront the winged beast, but something was crushing down on my back, to make sure I could not stand. I looked back and saw two other Griffons! What a sight! Three Griffons! I was shocked; the sight of three Griffons in Equestria was rare. I struggled to speak, the lack of oxygen to my lungs made it hard to form words, but I endured, “H… Hello, sir. What is- is the me- meaning of this?” I coughed; the Griffon standing in front of me laughed and looked me straight in the eyes. “Meaning of this? Well, then little unicorn I’ll just get right down to it!” he paused and posed, “We are the Silver Bandits! Feared throughout Equestria! Surely you’ve heard of us unicorn??” he resumed his pose once again. Waiting for a response, I smirked, for a reason unknown to me, I busted out with a sarcastic comment, “Feared throughout Equestria? Ha! Then how come a very notable unicorn as myself does not know of your little ‘gang’” The posed Griffon looked back at me, he noted the other two Griffons to pick me up, holding me up, the leader raised his fist and it made contact with my lower gut. Instantaneously the wind was knocked out of me, an unexpected blow took me off guard, I was gasping for air. The two Griffons released me and I fell to the floor, pain overwhelming me I curled up in a ball.

The two Griffons remained behind me, insuring that I was going nowhere. The leader then took his position in front of me. “So, smart ass. Wanna try something like that again?” he waited for a response that never came. I was in such pain that trying to comment to something that would probably infer more pain was a no brainer. “Good. Now, as I was saying” he said, resuming his role, “We are a gang of Griffons; we spotted you while flying in the sky, a unicorn around these parts is a rare sight indeed.” He paused and looked back at me, “so, unicorns being the wealthiest of all we jumped you.” he walked over to a bag that lay on a small table. “This is your carrying bag” he said, “but it seems to be locked by magic, and Griffons, well, don’t use magic.” He inhaled and turned back to me, ushering the two goons to pick me back up. “So we are going to play a little game…” He trailed off. He had walked out of the little shed we were in. Until this moment I had not noticed we were inside, I began to look around, it looked beat up on the inside, like a destroyed shack run by young fillies! The leader Griffon walked back in and stood on his hind legs, flapping his wings to keep balance. In his hand was a large stick, my eyes widened as I realized what he was about to do. He wanted in my bag, to get my valuables, so, he needs my magic. “In order for us to open this bag we are going to need you to use your magic, and I’ll ask once politely. Open the bag up.” I paused, looked at the bag, and back at the Griffon then snorted, “politely?”. Two things crossed my mind. One: if I gave up and opened it, I would lose all my valuables, everything that I had left from my departed life. Two: I would be freed of pain, able to continue on my journey literally from scratch. I looked the Griffon in the eyes and told him my answer “NO” the Griffon smiled and lifted up the large stick, and swung. It stuck me right in the face. I felt for a moment a huge rush of pain and the next nothing.