The council building was located right in the center of Harmony’s living district. It was a massive round building that combined the architecture of all three tribes. The sturdiness of earth pony design, the military grace of the pegasi and the arcan engineering of the unicorns, blended together to create a truly impressive sight.

The building had originally been built by the founders of Harmony as a monument to the peace between the three tribes. To prove that, they had engraved the sign of the united tribes, a flying horseshoe with a horn in its center, above the entrance to remind everyone who was entering the building of its importance and meaning.

Inside, the building was split into several different areas. A small archive, containing the most important historical texts, both from before and after Harmony’s separation, another small room filled with important historical artifacts, as well as a large visitor area, complete with a small kitchen, where visitor could relax and share their thoughts were all seated inside the building, together with the political seat of power in Harmony, the councilors chamber.

It was a massive round room, mirroring the buildings shape, that was separated into three different levels. The lowest level was a simple round stone platform, that served as a podium from where suitors could address the council members seated above. The middle level on the other hand was designed to serve as a spectator platform. It was made up out of rows and rows of stone seats that allowed visitors to observe the proceedings, granting a solid view at both the platform below and the council above. Finally, the highest level was were the councilors were seated. It was held very sparse, only consisting of a handful of stone thrones, one for each of the council members, that allowed them to oversee the entire room.

Originally there had only been three seats, one for each of the pony tribes, but over the years other species had joined Harmony and so they too had received their own seats, so that now a strange group consisting of three ponies, a donkey, a griffons and even a diamond dog and a minotaur, all of them draped in the same light brown robes, was making up the council.

And at the moment all of them were staring down at the lowest ring were Dawn and Lux were standing.

For her part Dawn felt rather calm. It wasn’t her first time facing this situation, she had been summoned before the council quite a few times already -usually to give them a report of her last mission-, but she could tell that the stallion was everything but, if his constant fidgeting with his hooves and his darting eyes were any indication.

She was wondering whether or not she should try to comfort him, when suddenly one of the councilors steered, causing her to immediately banish the thought.

“Welcome,” the mare addressed them. She was an slightly aged pegasus mare, with a blue coat and a slightly darker blue mane, dressed in the same robes as everyone else. “My name is Cloudwalker. General Hadwin already informed us of your coming.”

She nodded to the side, where the griffon in question was standing, half hidden by the shadows inside a small passageway that was located right next to the seats of the council members. Out of the corner of her eyes Dawn noticed Lux wince slightly as he noticed the griffon. She could only assume that the obvious lack of guards had made him believe that there weren’t any, an assumption that he now had realized was wrong.

“We are curious as to why you decided to comes to us,” Cloudwalker continued, drawing Dawn’s attention back to her.

Beside her Lux took a step forward. He looked around the line of councilors above him, observing his every action, then he took a deep breath to steel his nerves and he slowly began to talk.

“My name is Lux Shine. I come from a small settlement called Mareshire a bit to the east from here, near the Everfree’s border. I was sent here by my father, Bright Light, to warn you. He told me to tell you that he is an ally of Harmony and he gave me this to prove it to you,” he said and held out his bracelet. A moment of silence followed his words then:

“Is that true?” At the sound of the voice, all eyes turned to the speaker, a burly looking, brown coated minotaur bull with a long black mane and beard, who was staring down at Lux, doubt written clearly on his face. As he noticed that all eyes were on him, he merely shrugged and leaned back in his seat. “All I’m asking is whether or not there is any proof to his claim. That is all.”

Before anyone else could say anything to answer the minotaur’s question, Dawn quickly stepped forward. “There is, Lord Iron Heart” she said and turned to face as many of the council members at once as possible. “Bright Light is one of my contacts. It was I myself who gave this bracelet to him. He is part of one of the observer families and one of our most valuable field agents. Over the years he has provided us with a lot of valuable intel. I trust his judgement completely.”

“I see...” Iron Heart said after a moment of thought. I was clear that he wasn’t fully convinced, but for the moment it seemed enough to keep him quiet. “Continue.”

Down on the podium Lux nodded and flashed Dawn a thankful smile, then he turned back to face the rest of the council. “At the moment I am visiting my father from Canterlot. I am studying the art of healing at the university in Canterlot, but since we have vacations right now, I decided to visit my family back home.

"When I first arrived, everything seemed fine. Upon my arrival my father greeted me in his shop and we had a small party to celebrate my return, but already the next morning I started to notice that something was wrong.”

He paused and stared at the ground, his eyes growing distant as he lost himself in his memory.

“My father was acting weird. He tried to hide it, but I noticed it regardless. He was extremely cautious, always nervous, always watching out for something, as if he was followed by something. He was also becoming more and more clumsy, constantly dropping wares or forgetting things, as if he wasn’t paying attention to anything going on around him.

”At first I decided to ignore it, but over time it became worse and worse, so, after a while, I finally decided to ask him what was bothering him. It took me a while but after much probing and prodding he finally opened up.”

At this point Lux looked back up, an unreadable expression on his face.

“He told me that he had seen something. A sign that he had recognized but couldn’t believe was real. He told me that he had only got a glimpse at it, but that that had been enough. He told me that just a few hours later he was visited by a group of ponies. Apparently they had noticed that he had recognized their seal and they were curious to find out where he knew it from.”

“My father tried to come up with a story, but they told him that knew that he was lying. Fortunately they weren’t out to harm him and left without any trouble - or so he thought. Over the next few days he noticed them following him around. They were keeping an eye on him, constantly observing his actions and they didn’t even bother to properly hide themselves.”

Suddenly his expression changed, becoming much easier to read, as anger twisted his face.

“The next day I arrived. For a while after that everything was quiet, but then today my father suddenly woke me from my sleep. He told me that he had made a mistake, that they were coming for him and that i had to flee. He gave me this and told me to find you. I always knew he worked for you, and he tried to recruit me as well, but i refused and that was the end of it. However once he brought it back up, i knew things were serious. MY father led me to a secret passageway and told me to run. Obviously i refused, but in the end he managed to convince me, so i entered the tunnel. And just in time as it turned out as as i closed the trapdoor behind me, i could hear someone kick down our door.”

Again Lux’s expression changed, this time to sorrow.

“I tired to go back, but the door didn’t open. Left with no choice i continued my way, until i reached the exit, a small warehouse at the port. At that point i had time to think about the events i had just witnessed and I knew the only way to save my father was to follow his instructions, and so i did. I left the city with the help of a friend of mine and made my way into the Everfree and you know what happened next.”

A pause followed in which all present thought about what they had heard, then Cloudwalker leaned forward. “And that group that attacked you, did your father tell you their name?”

“He did,” Lux said, anger returning to his voice. “He called them the Verity”.

At the mention of the name, Cloudwalker suddenly recoiled as if she was hit by something, and she wasn’t the only one. Everyone in the room, including Dawn and Hadwin were staring at Lux as if he was insane.

“Are you sure?” Cloudwalker finally asked after a long moment of silence and leaned forward in her seat, a deadly serious expression on her face. “Are you absolutely sure?”

Below her Lux looked up her, catching her gaze and holding it for a second, before he nodded. “I am.”

Another moment of silence followed in which the council members shared a few meaningful glances between each other, then Cloudwalker turned to face Hadwin.

“General…”

No sooner had the words left her mouth as the griffon nodded and, using his wings to control his descent, jumped down to join the surprised stallion on the platform below. Instead of paying the stallion any attention however, he turned to face Dawn who immediately stepped forward.

“Take him and gather the rest of your team,” he said and nodded towards the still confused stallion. “Once you’re ready, Lux will lead you to Mareshire. I want you to gather as much information as you can. I’m expecting an immediate report upon your return. Understood?”

“Yes, Sir.” Dawn said and saluted. Her expression was just as serious as his.

“Good.” Hadwin nodded grimly. He was about to leave when suddenly Lux voice, coming from behind, made him pause.

“Wait, what’s going on?” the stallion asked confused, his eyes darting between the griffon and Dawn. “Who exactly are these guys? And why do you look as if you saw a ghost?”

Instead of answering the stallion’s question however, Hadwin turned around and walked towards Lux. Then, once he was right in front of him, he bowed down, until he was on eye level with the stallion, and stared him directly into his eyes.

“Kid, you better pray that your father was wrong and those guys weren't Verity, because if he’s right, we are in for the biggest shitstorm you have ever seen in you entire life.”

Author's Note

Well, here it finally is. Took a little longer then planned, but oh well. better late than never, right?
Now i have a few news regarding the story:
-chapter 4 and 5 are already done, but unfortunately not in a state where i can publish them yet. however you should be able to expect them towards next weekend.
-I'll have to go back and change the first two chapters a bit. they will remain the same story wise, but i'll have to change perspectives a little. so far the focus is to much on Lux which leads to the wrong conclusions. i'll have to go back and change that.

Thanks for your understanding. I'm really sorry you guys. i know this story can be great, but it's poorly managed. i'm aware of that and i apologize to all of you. but on the other hand at least this way you even have a story and that's something as well right? ... right? yeah. i know i suck^^

anyways, to everyone who is actually going to read this, thank you for your time and i wish you all i happy and nice week. have fun