Once upon a time, in the magical land of Pedestria:

Pedestria: the thriving city-state, a thousand miles across, where humans from all walks of life live and work together in harmony. Pedestria was—and still remains—the forefront of cooperation between the three human races: The stalwarts, the avians, and the mystics.

The stalwarts are believed to be the first people from which all other humans evolved. The stalwart’s specialty is power and strength, able to exert three times the force of an avian or mystic with identical muscle mass. Though stalwart remains the technical term, over the centuries, the use of ‘stalwart’ has fallen out of fashion for day-to-day use. Most people now use the colloquial term “earth human.”

The avians are the people of the sky. With hollow bones and large, feathered wings, avians can lift themselves into the air with ease. These gravity-defying humans can touch the clouds as if they were wads of cotton, making them particular experts at weather manipulation.

FUN FACT: there are a total of 36 classified colors of avian wings. They’re born pure white, and gain their color over their first couple years. What color an avian ends up with are based on genetics, magic blood content, diet, and even happiness. Needless to say: it’s almost impossible to control what color a child develops.

The mystics are, arguably, the most powerful race of humans, but only make up around 15% of the Pedestrian population. Magic is what makes the world go ‘round. It powers our technology, fuels our cars, and courses through our veins. All racial human abilities are only made possible by an unrefined, biological magic. Mystics are the only humans able to manifest that magic into a refined, controllable form. Unlike the other two, mystics have to actively learn spells and casting techniques in order to use their magical abilities.

FUN FACT: Mystics and stalwarts are practically identical in appearance. Mystics have small white specks—called sparkles—peppered in their irises; so subtle, they’re practically invisible from more than a few feet away. You’ll have a much easier time identifying a mystic when they use their magic, as their irises glow brightly while casting.

For all of recorded history, the three races of humanity despised each other, living in single race tribes, kingdoms, and even entire nations. Then came the rise of the brutal chaos lord Discord, throwing the whole world into disarray. Under the leadership of Generals Celestia and Luna, small subsets of all three races reluctantly banded together to form the United Rebel Forces of Harmony. For the first time, humanity combined their strengths and abilities together. The power of teamwork and harmony allowed Celestia and Luna to topple Discord’s rule, turning him to stone for hundreds of years.*

*Only very recently, Discord has been reformed and now works for the city government, using his chaos magic for the defense and technological advancement of Pedestria.

In the fallout of the Chaos Wars, with the remaining URFH troops’ newfound brother and sisterhood, the Founding Sisters established the Republic of Harmony: A small nation that, over the course of two centuries, would grow into the city-state of Pedestria we all kno-

*BZZZZT!*

Twilight Sparkle’s reading was rudely interrupted by the sharp buzz of her front door intercom. Twilight rose from her desk, walking over to the intercom on her wall. She laid a finger on the button. “Yes?”

A familiar, cheerful voice spoke back through the tinniness of the cheap speaker. “Pedestrian Postal Service! I got a special parcel with yooour name on it!”

“I’ll be right down.”

As promised, Twilight made her way out from her living area and down the many stairs of the Golden Oak library. The library was six stories tall with Twilight’s private living quarters at the top. It was trips like these that made Twilight envy the avians; with a pair of wings, she’d never have to worry about stairs again. But Twilight was a mystic, and as a magical scientist, she wouldn’t dream of trading her magic away for a simple pair of wings. There was always teleportation, but there was a lot more calculation involved in teleporting between large vertical distances and a particularly nasty mistake in the past had turned her off from that particular practice. As she made her way down, her analytical mind found itself pondering. Why was it called the Golden Oak library? It was neither gold nor particularly oak. The building was a pretty standard-looking, rectangular-shaped public library. The building was abnormally slim for its height; perhaps it was built to resemble a tree trunk. But that still left the ‘golden’ part… the building was more beige than gold, if anything. Before her mind could reach a satisfying conclusion, she found herself approaching the large, heavy double doors of the library entrance. Twilight pulled open the right door.

At her doorstep stood a smiling avian with messy blond hair that spilled from her flat-billed postal cap; A woman whose honey-golden eyes never seemed to quite match up with the other’s gaze. In her arms sat a plain, cardboard box.

“Thank you very much, Ms. Hooves,” Twilight said, taking the box off the mailwoman’s hands. Twilight’s eyes lit up with magic, levitating the provided pen before signing a perfect signature across the blond girl’s clipboard.

The ditzy-eyed woman tipped her cap as her wings unfurled. “Have a wonderful day, Ms. Sparkle,” she said as she took to the sky.

Twilight brought the box inside and back up to her study. She wasn’t expecting any packages. Who was it from? Twilight checked the shipping label. No return address, just the word: Discord. Placing the box on her desk, she used her magic to open the package at a comfortable six-foot distance, more than half expecting a jack-in-the-box-esque jumpscare to erupt from the package.

With nothing of note occurring from opening the flaps, she dared to step closer and take a look inside. Inside the box sat a dark red crystal enclosed in a glass dome with a golden base. Pinned under the dome was a neatly hand-written note.

“Dearest Twilight,” she read aloud as she paced around her study. “It’s come to my attention that I’ve never officially apologized for how I treated you and your friends on the path to my reformation. Consider this gift as a way to make up for it. I won’t spoil the surprise, but it should make you and your friends a whole lot closer. Warmest regards, Discord.”

Beneath the short message was a brand-new spell that filled the remainder of the page, presumably for use on the crystal. Twilight bit her lip. This could be dangerous, or some sort of trap… But the spell was so clean; so masterfully crafted! She had to try it out! Discord’s been reformed for nearly a year now. There’s no way he’d send her something dangerous.

What’s the worst that could happen?

Author's Note

Still browsing for clop in 2020. Bold, loyal; I like that!
The show’s been dead for over a year and has been dead to me since 2015. (I would know; I kept fucking watching…)
so yeah, in case you missed my little hints at the beginning, we’re turning back time to the good old days. No events after season three ever occurred in Pedestria.

I'm juggling some fanfictions on other sites, as well as, you know... life. So chapters may be coming out a little slow.