The sun crested over the horizon, casting a beautiful golden gleam on the early morning dew. The moisture clung desperately to the long grass in the fields and the trees encircling the bustling city. The scent of fresh grass and blooming flowers filled the air, mingling with the distant aroma of wood stoves coming from the city. This natural beauty was only outdone by the enormous wall that surrounded the metropolis, as if to embrace the city in an overly protective hug.

A lone Pegasus walked slowly toward the eastern city gate. The cool, crisp air brushed against her fur, while the chirping of birds formed a cadence with her hoofsteps. The blinding light behind her reflected a beautiful blue hue off her steel-colored fur. Her blond mane waved slightly in the gentle breeze. As she took in the sight of the towering city grew ever closer, she stared down at her trotting hooves. She hummed a pleasant tune that her family had passed down to her. the melody managed to be a small distraction from the imposing walled city that seemed ready to strike at any moment.

"Silverwing!" a voice called from behind her. She stopped her gentle hum, her nerves flaring briefly before being replaced by a sense of annoyance.

Silverwing quickened her pace, her fear of entering the Unicorn capital city surpassed only by her desire to avoid...

"S.W.!" exclaimed a vibrant teal Earth Pony as she dashed alongside Silverwing. The palpable passion in her voice rivaled only the relentless grind of Silverwing's teeth.

Trying to disregard her having shouted directly by her right ear, Silverwing came to an abrupt stop. She pivoted to confront the exuberant Earth pony. "Hey, Bright Breeze... Good to see you again," Silverwing replied, her voice carrying a strained veneer of friendliness.

Ever lighthearted, Bright failed to detect the unmistakable annoyance in Silverwing's voice. "It's been ages since we last met!" she exclaimed with a wide grin. "I've missed my best friend so much—I was afraid I'd never see you again," she added, her tone wavering between concern and elation.

Silverwing sighed audibly. "We're not best friends, and it does seem rather odd for an Earth pony like you to be friends with a Pegasi like me." Bright's smile faded, giving way to an almost exaggerated frown. Silverwing hesitated for a moment, before reluctantly echoing the familiar affirmation she'd uttered on every encounter with Bright. "Alright, fine, we're friends, Bright," she muttered, hurriedly satisfying the sensitive pony. she turned her attention back to their path, Silverwing walked alongside Bright toward the swiftly approaching gate.

Bright's quickly regained her positive demeanor. "You know, I'm glad that the unicorns only permit Earth ponies and Pegasi into the city for trade once a month. Otherwise, I would never get to see you." Silverwing gave her a slight smile in response as they finally reached the gate.

Two rough looking stallion guards stood at attention just outside the gate. Silverwing's looked about nervously, trying anything to fixate on other than the imposing blue unicorn, desperate to avoid eye contact. Similarly, Bright Breeze's vibrant energy waned noticeably as they stopped in front of the guards.

"Papers?" demanded the guard, while the other guard stood back, seemingly uninterested in the interaction, but still managing a small grin as he watched.

"Yes, of course," the two ponies replied in unison as they began to rummage through their backpacks. The unicorn's glare intensified as they fumbled through their belongings.

"You should have had your paperwork ready before reaching the gate. I have every right to reject your entry today," the unicorn spat out with disdain.

"There you are" Finally finished with her mad search, Silverwing grabbed her documents proving that she was in the pegusi merchant guild with her wing and thrust it towards the unicorn who was already looking through the identification of Bright Breeze. The second guard gave a small grin at the two ponies, while the blue unicorn gave a look of disgust at the out stretched wing.

"He seemed to hesitate before even taking the papers, the sound of magic whirring filled the air as he finally yanked them away with his magic. He studied the documents for an unusually long time before levitating them back to the pair. 'Your papers are in order, but I'm afraid I can't let you in today.'"

Silverwing and Bright Breeze gave each other a look of surprise. Silverwing took a step forward. "why not? Everything is in order and it's the first day of the month".

He shook his head. "Today is special, I can't let you in, it would..."

"Let them through," lazily interjected the bright orange guard, who had been lounging with a smug grin until now. She met his gaze. His right eye was a bright sky blue, and his left eye was a deep sunset orange, which softened his demeanor compared to his counterpart's.

He approached the other guard and seemed to stare him down for a moment before the blue furred guard relented and slowly nodded.

Both guards turned to face the towering steel door. With a glow from their horns and the high pitched sound of their magic, the doors shuttered open. A loud groan filled the air as steel scrapped against stone, finally reaching their resting position.

The two young ponies exchanged nervous glances and proceeded to trot through the open gate. With a loud clang, the door slammed shut behind them causing them both to jump.

Their nervousness brought on the odd behavior of the guards rapidly recessed as they found themselves in an odd scene. Unicorns ran about excitedly, each one with a smile on their face as they raced back and forth, oddly oblivious to their presence. Bright Breeze raised her hoof in an attempt to get some ponies attention. "Excuse me" she stated as a young mare raced by, oblivious to her presence. "Excuse me" she uttered in a slightly louder tone, but was once again ignored as another unicorn raced past. Silverwing stepped into the path of a rapidly approaching mare who came skidding to a stop just short of her. "What's going on?" She asked with a more assertive tone.

The unicorns eyes seemed to lock on her wings for a few seconds before returning to her face to find a bemused stare. The unicorn smiled, "today is a celebration of celebrations, even a bird brain like you should be overjoyed on such a momentous occasion." Leaving Silverwing with a stunned expression on their face as the unicorn sped off and left Silverwing stunned and speechless.

Bright Breeze stared blankly in response to the awkward exchange. "That was extremely rude for her to say" she said as shook off her shock at the unicorn's words. Silverwing was even more bewildered, her face was in static confusion. She snapped out of it as she shook her head breaking herself free of the absurdity of it. "Unicorns are weird. let's just get to market and deliver our goods".

The two mares turned back towards the main path, fighting their way towards the marketing district. "What is going on, and why are these so many ponies out of their homes?" She asked aloud. Bright Breeze didn't respond, nor could she do so regardless. The roar of the crowd around them was fairly deafening.

Finally, after navigating through the surging crowd they arrived at their destination. They stepped into the open space normally reserved for merchants. They expected to be greeted by the smells of freshly baked bread, the sounds of clinking metal as coins were exchanged and the faces of a deluge of angry merchants ready to trade with anypony brave, or parhaps reckless traders. Except today there were no vendors or stalls, no low hum of speech as ponies bartered and haggled. Instead in their place was a huge crowd of unicorns looking up towards the outer balcony of the castle.

Silverwing grumbled. "Why did the guards even bother to let us in if there was no trading going on today?" She thought aloud, as her frustration grew rapidly. Bright Breeze seemed to hear this and gave a slight nod. "Well, let's just leave then, we'll have to bring twice as many goods next month, it means we get to spend even more time together trading next month!" She said with a grin. Silverwing rolled her eyes. She began to turn away but before she could move, the crowd behind her surged, and pushed both ponies forward.

Bright Breeze shook her head. "I don't think we're getting out SIlver, just look at the crowd behind us." Silverwing turned her head to access their surroundings and it was true. It was tail to snout as more ponies shuffled into the marketing circle with hundreds of ponies streamed in by the minute. "Don't worry, I'm sure this will be fun" remarked Bright Breeze with absolute certainty.

Silverwing went to make a snide comment but was drowned out by the sound of trumpets. Their roar silenced the crowed as two ponies stepped out onto the exterior balcony and looked down at the crowd.

There were quiet murmurs from the surrounding crowd as two ponies stepped onto the balcony which hung over the crowd. "It's the prince and princess" one pony next to Silverwing whispered aloud to herself, "I've never seen them with my own eyes". Silverwing became a bit nervous at this realization. What exactly was going on she wondered as she looked up at the pair. The princess had an alabaster coat, the sun reflected off her bright coat with an overwhelming light almost as blinding as her radiant beauty. She smiled down at the crowd while giving a subtle wave with her hoof.

The prince on the other hood seemed reserved. He bore a striking dark blue blue coat, so little light reflected off of him it was almost like looking at the night sky. He slowly scanned the crowd with a stoic expression, he stopped for a moment to stare at Silverwing. His eyes felt as though they were piercing into her very soul. After a few seconds of what felt like an eternity he continued his scan of the crowd. He finally stopped his survey when the princess spoke up.

Despite her delicate appearance, her voice boomed through the crowd. "Thank you all for coming today to celebrate this momentous occasion - the birth of our twin daughters. The crowd erupted into a deafening roar. A guard standing behind the princess stepped forward, he hovered something towards the princess his horn. Silverwing was able to spot something wrapped in white blanket as it was passed to the princess. The princess lifted what she held above her for all to see as the guard pulled back the blanket to reveal a unicorn foal. "I'd like to introduce princess Celestia!" The crowds volume intensified into a deafening cheer as the princess held the foal above her. She bore a striking resemblence her mother, the blindingly bright coat, the beautiful purple and pink eyes and the pink mane. The foal started to cry, which prompted the princess to bring her back down. She gave Celestia a hug and pass her back to the guard.

A second guard similarly carried presumably the other foal under another white sheet. The guard approached the princess but paused for a moment, he looked over at the prince with uncertainty but was met with a firm nod.

He passed the foal under the sheet to the princess, who once again pulled away the sheet as she lifted the foal over her head for the crowd to behold. "Finally, I'd like you all to meet princess Luna!" She shouted, but the crowd did not echo the excitement in her voice as they had with Celestia and instead had adhered to a sudden tense silence. Thousands of ponies surrounded them but no sound could be heard. Silverwing scanned the young foal. She looked almost identical to her father, her coat was as dark of a blue as the night is long and she had the same piercing teal eyes, but something was off. A distinction that had driven the crowd Into their deadly silence.

The quietude was finally broken by an awestruck Silverwing. "She's a... she's a pegusi". The ponies around them seemed to suddenly realize the two weren't unicorns and stared at them with a vengeful fury in their eyes. A loud booing erupted from the crowed, the intensity growing more intense rapidly as a princess lowered Luna, her expression crestfallen as she passed Luna off to a guard who quickly whisked her inside. Silverwing turned to Bright Breeze, her eyes beamed with urgency, "we need to leave. right. now."

Bright Breeze nodded as they turned and began to push their way through the crowd. "Drop your bags, this crowed is turning ugly, we need to get out of the city immediately" reluctantly they tossed their goods to the ground, the entire reason they were in the city to begin with. Both ponies pushed their way through the crowed; being met with stares that felt like daggers as they pressed forward. After a determined effort they finally arrive at the gate, only to find it locked tight, and no guards present to magically open the huge steel door.

Bright Breeze feigned a smile, "how are we supposed to get out?" she asked nervously as her eyes darted about, finally landing on a set of stairs along the edge of the outer wall leading to top. "There!" she shouted, her voice was equal parts nervous and excited, "we can climb to the top and you can fly us down".

Silverwing froze. She shook her head and looked away. "Bright, I can't... I know it's weird for a pegusi my age to say this, but... I can't fly." She looked shamefully down at the ground. "My wings are unusually heavy." She stuttered out. "My wings have a strip of silver running through them, and it makes it almost impossible for me to fly. it's where I got my name".

Bright Breeze stared at SilverWing for a moment as she processed this new information. "Can you glide?" Silver gave Bright Breeze a curious look. "Can you glide?" She repeated. "We don't need to fly, we just need to get to the ground safely". Silver Wing gave a small nod. "Ok, that'll be enough".

This realization seemed to snap Silverwing out of her self pity. "Ok, let's go" she muttered as the two proceeded to ascent the stairs. Each step seemed to take eternity as the crowd below had not relented in their shouting and jeers. They Finally reached the top step and they were able to overlook the treeline below. Before she could breath a sigh of relief, Bright Breeze jumped onto Silverwings back, causing silverwing to grunt from the sudden strain on her body, eager to flee. Silverwing stepped over the edge of the wall, she would only need to glide for a few seconds to get to safety. She repeated that in her head a few times before she took a few short breaths and steeled her nerves.

She strained her muscles to lift her wings outward. she closed her eyes and took a step off the ledge. She felt her stomach shift upward as began to fall. To her chagrin, they descended faster than she had predicted, her body screamed as she strained to keep her wings outstretched and avoid meeting the ground with an abrupt stop.

Her efforts were not enough.

after a few seconds of gliding her wings gave out. Both ponies shouted as they began to free fall. with some semblance of maneuvering she had managed to steer them over a tree. They tumbled through the branches, and seemingly every branch struck them as they they fell before they hit the ground with a loud thump. They both groaned as they struggled to stand up. They patted themselves down to make sure there was no serious injuries but only found cuts and bruises, while the faint smell of pine gave the shaken ponies some semblance of solace. Silverwing rubbed her flank where a large branch had struck her "It's going to hurt to walk tomorrow" she said with a small smile before finally letting out a joyful sigh. Their ordeal was over. She turned to Bright Breeze. "Head back to your tribe and let them know what happened. This is huge news, I'll do the same with mine" she said with a stern tone before she started to trot away.

"Wait!" cried Bright Breeze causing Silverwing to look back. "Does this mean I don't get to see my best friend once a month anymore?" she asked with an excessive frown.

Silverwing Rolled her eyes. "We're not..." She paused to look at the stressed out Earth Pony. She saw the cuts and disheveled fur that now covered Bright Breeze's body. She paused and glanced at herself and finally came to the realization of how badly hurt they both were as she examined her cuts more closely, and how lucky they had been that they weren't hurt worse. "I mean, I'm sure we'll see each other again Bright" she said with a uncharacteristically warm smile, "Come on, let's go, we can trot together for a bit before we go in our separate directions. Bright Breeze smiled as they made their way away from the city side by side while Silverwing hummed her favorite tune.

Author's Note

Post prologue will be from the perspectives of Luna and Celestia.