Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria...

It’s hard to think with a gun barrel pressed against your head. So many thoughts compete for your attention in that moment, all clamoring for their last chance to be heard before it’s too late. The one that kept rising to the top for me just now, though, drowning out all the others, was, “It wasn’t supposed to be this way.” As my vision focused again, I got to take in my surroundings. I was kneeling in a shallow grave that had been dug for me, amid the others in this small cemetery on a hill overlooking an equally small town. Exactly which town and where, I had no idea. My wounded wing burned against my side, and my hooves and wings were bound tightly in cheap rope that scratched and chafed against my hide. The light blue unicorn stallion that stood in front of me was diminutive in comparison to the two huge leather-clad earth pony bodyguards that flanked him, but it was clear from the tacky checker-patterned suit jacket he wore and his perfectly coiffed black mane that he was the one in charge here. Well, that and the gun. The other two bruisers had preferred their bare hooves, at least when stomping me into the ground. Not like that was hard - I never was the strongest or hardiest of pegasi.

As the guard on my right rooted around in my saddlebags - and I tried not to balk at the indignity of that - I noticed the polished black finish on the revolver held flush against my head. The fine inscription on the side that read “Sentinel.” That was my gun! “Ffffuck,” I muttered under my breath. Just another thing that had gone wrong today. Hell, I wasn’t even supposed to be on this run in the first place. I was just filling in for another courier. But even so, this was just supposed to be another routine run. Head down to the dig site, pick up the package, deliver it to Mr. Horse in New Pegas. Easy peasy. But then everything went to shit. I’d been shot down somewhere in the desert south of my destination, beaten, kidnapped, drugged - and who knows what they’d done to me while I was out - hogtied, had my bags rifled through, my father’s heirloom revolver stolen, and now I was going to die. How could this day get any worse? I immediately regretted that thought as thunder cracked overhead and it started to rain, hard. Fuck you too, Lightbringer. But on the bright side, at least these bandits were going to be courteous enough to bury me after they were done. Gotta keep that optimism, right?

“Found it!” the thug to my right exclaimed, excitedly pulling a small brown paper envelope from my bag. I sighed in defeat. Failing to complete this run was going to be a great blow to the honor of the Pony Express. Pony Express couriers never missed a delivery. Ever. Even if a courier was ambushed on the road, murdered and his package stolen, another would take his place, retrieve the item, and complete the job. But this run… with all the secrecy that had surrounded it, I’d be surprised if anyone would be coming to replace me. This... sucked. This sucked harder than any day in my life had sucked before. But, focusing on that at least took my attention away from the fact that I had mere minutes to live, if that. As small a comfort as that was.

The unicorn, whose name I’d picked up as Aces, took the envelope with his magic and opened it, slowly pulling out its contents while still holding Sentinel to the left side of my forehead. Usually, I wouldn’t have even been curious. What was in our packages didn’t matter to us, only that they were delivered on time. But at this moment, I was curious. I at least wanted to know what I was going to die for. I’d like to say I faced death with grace and poise, but that would be a lie. Only the heavy rain maintained my dignity as it washed away my tears and where I’d soiled myself, and made it more difficult to see my trembling

Aces revealed the object with a reverent whistle. I had to admit, I was impressed when I saw it too. It was a casino chip, or at least a replica of one, within a protective plastic case. As he drew it out, I saw that it was hewn from the most exquisite metal I had ever seen. It had a luster to it unlike any metal I was familiar with, and as he flipped it into the air, it twinkled like the stars themselves. My eyes widened, fixated upon this object, and time seemed to slow as I felt myself taken in by its aura. Beyond obligations to my profession, beyond even just the simple allure of a shiny object, I felt the chip call to me. I wanted it, needed it, had to have it. But it had been taken from me, and that stirred within me an outrage unlike any other.

I looked up to Aces with contempt, saying nothing. He caught my glare, and the chip at once, and looked to me with an unapologetic smirk even as he spoke. “Sorry about all this,” he said, “Nothing personal, it’s just business.”

Before I could even formulate a witty retort, the world exploded in a flash of white, overwhelming pain shooting through me as Sentinel’s roar tore into my ears.

I felt a floating sensation, just then. I felt like I could see myself. My body a pathetic and broken thing lying crumpled in that hastily dug pit as my view slowly rose above it. My eyes glassy and dull, the cold rain forming wisps of steam as it fell into the pool of blood that was creeping out from underneath my head. But even that afterimage soon faded away.

And then there was nothing.

Author's Note

And we're off.