Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria, there lived two sisters. The elder sister used her unicorn powers to raise the sun, while the younger used hers to lower the moon. This peace lasted for generations.
Alas, it would not last forever.
The younger sister saw the ponies of Equestria play and frolick in her sister’s day, but sleep through her beautiful night. Angered, jealousy filled her heart. Her sister tried to reason with her.
But it was too late; the darkness had overtaken her, and she was transformed into the monster known as Nightmare Moon, a savage demon who wanted to rule over all of Equestria.
The elder sister, wrought with sadness, saw what had to be done. She took the Elements of Harmony, and used them on her sister to banish her to the moon for a thousand years.
But as the Elements encroached upon her, Nightmare Moon cast a powerful spell; it struck her sister, wounding her grievously. The Elements had done their duty, but the elder sister was dying.
In her last breath, she used the power of the Elements to cast a magnificent spell, which would let the moon move around the Earth, and the Earth move around the Sun.
“...And so, thanks to the sacrifice of the older sister, we remain alive in the land of Equestria,” read the unicorn, her eyes scanning the final words of the page as she levitated the book above her head. She snorted, shaking her head. “What kind of story is that? Everypony knows that it’s impossible to move the sun and moon using magic.”
“Twilight, you don’t have to be so skeptical,” came a male voice from a room over. Twilight’s eyes flicked towards the wall separating her room from the other.
“It’s not skepticism, Spike; it’s realism,” she scoffed, halfheartedly tossing the book across the room. Rolling over onto her side, she grumbled; she needed to have this bed looked at some time soon.
The door swung open, and a dragon slightly taller than her walked through it, holding a bowl of food in his hands. “Come on; you know a lot of magic’s been lost over-” The bowl floated out of his hands towards Twilight, and he sighed. “Over the years,” Spike finished, crossing his arms and glaring at her.
“...What?” Twilight asked, tilting her head. The dragon was a few months younger than her, and had been adopted by her parents as an egg.
Spike shook his head. “Forget it.”
A World of Many Colours
The city of Aster was one of the most populated cities in all of Equestria; running on a powerful magical steam engine that produced almost 3300 megawatts of electricity, it hovered hundreds of metres above the Earth, and was constantly protected by Pegasi from large storms. It was a fairly peaceful city; crimes rarely ever happened, and the police were hugely effective in preventing the ones that did. Even an experienced murderer would be unable to go for very long without being found.
Trotting down the main street of the city with Spike at her side, a large jumper over her coat, Twilight reflected on that fact that had been taught to her in school, and repeated throughout her daily life on every radio ever. The truth was, even though crime was uncommon in Aster, poverty was very high, itself probably a consequence of the low crime rates. She looked over to the group of ponies huddled around a garbage can, shivering - some Earth Ponies, some Pegasi, and some Unicorns - and looked down at the ground guiltily.
“Hey, Twilight,” Spike spoke up. “Cheer up, will you? It’s not your fault that these ponies don’t have a home.”
“I know, but… I just can’t help but feel like it is,” she sighed, looking away from them guiltily.
“But… ugh, never mind,” Spike grumbled. “I swear, you need to do something about that guilt complex of yours.”
Twilight was silent, looking down at the ground as she walked.
Suddenly, somepony crashed into her, and she fell to the ground, squealing in surprise. Spike looked over to her, his eyes widening, and he kneeled down.
“Twilight, are you okay?” he asked, his eyes wide. Twilight scrabbled with her hooves at the ground, and finally, she found a foothold to get up; she managed a small nod.
Turning to look at the pony that had crashed into her, she saw them lying on the ground, a cloak strewn over them. It looked like they were out cold.
Before she could panic, Twilight took a deep breath; holding her hoof to her breast, she did so several times until her breathing had calmed down. Then, she concentrated; her horn began to glow, and it lifted the cloak off the other pony. When she saw the pony, she felt some odd sort of spark - one of familiarity. Which was odd, because she had never seen this pony before..
It was a mare. One around Twilight’s age, maybe a few years older. Her coat was a bright yellow, and her mane crimson and gold. Her mark was that of a red and gold sun, stylised artistically. Concentrating for a few more seconds, Twilight cast a medical diagnostic spell; after a few seconds, she sighed in relief. The mare was alright.
She would be unconscious for a few hours; but she’d probably be fine by then. But until she woke up…
Twilight looked to Spike. “Hey, Spike…”
“What?” He raised an eyebrow.
Twilight pointed at the mare, her own eyebrow raised.
“...Fine,” Spike grumbled. “We’ll take her back home and help her. You happy?”
“Hmm…” Twilight put her hoof to her chin. A smile sprouted across her face. “Yes. Yes, I am.” After all, it was the first time something interesting had happened to her in ages, and it was always good to help another pony. “Come on, Spike; let’s go.”
“I swear, I’m gonna ask for a salary some time soon…” he grumbled.