Tales of Harmony

As the two walked through the heavily crowded streets of Harmony’s living district, Lux couldn’t help to constantly look around. Without a parade of soldiers watching his every move, he felt much more relaxed, and was finally able to take in the city fully. Yet, what he saw confused him greatly. He didn’t really knew what he had expected, but this definitely hadn’t been it. Wherever he looked, he saw ponies of different races and other creatures of different species happily interact with each other, while living their daily lives without a single worry in the world.

He couldn’t help but to scratch his head at that. Everything just seemed so … so peaceful.

But that couldn’t be true now, could it? Something like this should be impossible. Years of studying had taught him that should the three races ever try to live together in the same place, like they did here, it would end in certain disaster. And yet, no matter where he looked, he couldn’t see a hint of the supposed animosities between the tribes. Just happy faces and smiling ponies. It was very bizarre to say the least.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

Lux turned to look at Dawn, who had a knowing smile on her face.

“Yeah, it is…”

“This is how things should be” Dawn sighed, as she waved at group of foals, each one of a different tribe, who were playing in the streets. Immediately three little hooves shot into the air to return the greeting, then, just as fast, the three turned back to their game. “It’s a shame the others can’t see it that way.”

“Yeah…”

They continued the rest of their way in silence, until they reached a small, somewhat rundown looking coffee house at the far end of the living district. It was a small dimly lit, yet comfy looking room. They were standing right on top of staircase that led down to the actual shop, that consisted of an old bar on the far away side of the shop and a few tables and comfy chairs that were strewn across the room. Candles on top of the tables and along the walls created lights, the rest of the bar was empty.

There were only a few customers in the shop, most of them gather in a tight circle around the bar. The only other customer was a dark blue stallion, sitting in the corner across from them. He fit so well into his surroundings, that Lux only noticed him after Dawn pointed him out.

As they approached him, Lux studied the stallion. At first he hadn’t even been sure that he even was a stallion. He looked incredible feminine, to the point that if he had chosen to wear a dress, most probably wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference.

Upon hearing their hoofsteps approach him, he looked up from the book he was reading, and, after noticing Dawn, he acknowledged them both with a nod.

“Hey, Snow,” Dawn said, as they sat down beside him. "Good to see you."

Up close Lux could even make out more details about the stallion. As he had noticed before his coat was a dark blue, what he hadn’t realized however, was that he was a pegasus, which was made obvious by the pair of wings that peeked out from behind his back. He also had grey eyes and a tidy white mane, that was cut rather short.

“Hello, Dawn,” the stallion greeted her, then he turned to Lux, his head slightly tilting to one side. “And hello, ...?”

“Lux,” Lux said and extend a hoof towards the stallion.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Lux," Snow said. "My name is Snow Storm, but you can simply call me Snow.” He hinted at a small bow, which Lux returned with an embarrassed smile.

Meanwhile Dawn was looking around, before turning to Snow. ”Where’s Blaze?” she asked, drawing a somewhat annoyed grunt from Snow. He nodded to the bar, and the others followed his gaze, just in time to see the circle of bar patrons break open, as a very drunk looking stallion dropped unto the ground between them. At the same time a loud laugh sounded, belonging to a red coated mare, who was standing above the fallen stallion, a huge glass of some liquid of some kind in her hooves.

Lux eyes widened as he saw her and he quickly turned to the side, just to make sure that Snow was still sitting besides him, which he actually did. Turning back to the mare a bar, he rubbed his eyes in disbelief. The mare in front of him was, except for her colors, a perfect mirror image of Snow. The only real difference between the two was her red coat and her long black mane, which she had bound together into a ponytail. Except for that however they were indistinguishable from each other.

He watched, as the mare stood up and took a bow to the cheers of everyone around her, then her eyes fell on their table. Immediately a wide grin crept on her face. With a big gulp she downed the rest of her drink, then she said something to the crowd around her, before walking over to join them.

“Yo, what’s up” she smirked, once she had reached them. Then her eyes fell on Lux. ”And who’s the cutie.”

A bit of red crept onto Lux’s face at the statement. He tried to say something in return, but was distracted when he noticed something. Before he had thought that the two siblings looked completely identical, but now side by side he noticed that that wasn’t the case. There were a few differences between them, as minimal as they were. For example Snow’s slightly more squared muzzle, or the slightly rounder curves of Star’s body and their slight difference in height were all things that made them stand out from each other, although it would have been hard to tell under any other circumstance.

“Hey, Blaze,” Dawn greeted the mare. “This is Lux. He will be our guide on our next mission.”

“So it’s time for a new party” Blaze asked. If possible her grin grew even wider. “And they are sending all three of us? Must be pretty serious.”

“It is,” Dawn nodded. “According to the intel provided by Lux and his father, the Verity are on the move once again.”

Silence fell over their table at the mention of the Verity.

“Are you sure it is them?” Snow asked.

“That’s what we are going to find out.”

“Does that mean we are really going up against this creeps?” Blaze asked. Her smile returned as Dawn nodded.

"Most likely."

“Sweet, Jackpot.”

“Who are the Verity?” All eyes turned to Lux, who flinched a little at the sudden burst of attention, but he stood his ground.

“You sure you want to know?” Blaze asked seriously. However her grin didn’t falter and she leaned forwards, until she was face to face with Lux. When Lux nodded, her grin grew once again. “The Verity are…”

“The Verity were a group of zealots,” Snow interrupted, earning him an angry look from Blaze. “Sorry, sis, but we don’t have time for your theatricals at the moment." He turned back to Lux, giving him a serious look. “As I was saying, the Verity were a group of zealots; hunters to be more precise. It was the only time the three tribes ever willingly cooperated with each other.”

“What were they hunting?” Lux asked, with a cold feeling growing in his stomach.

“Us,” Dawn said grimly and Snow nodded. “The Verity believed that the separation of the tribes is the natural order of the world. They believed that those like us, who are trying to coexist with each other, are abominations, that must be purged from this world.”

“Over the years the killed hundreds, no thousand of us” Blaze continued. Her grin had depleted slightly and a hint of anger tinged her voice. “Luckily, they disappeared sometime after the founding of Harmony. I guess they just couldn’t find anyone to kill anymore.” Suddenly her expression changed and a grin returned to her face. “That’s why I’m aching for some payback.”

“If we are unlucky, you’ll get your chance,” Dawn said with a scowl and stood up. The other followed her a moment later. “Alright guys, listen up. Gear up and meet me at the gates in exactly two hours. Understood?”

She waited until the twins nodded and prepared to leave, then she turned to face Lux.

“And you,” she said pulling Lux out of his thoughts “You come with me.”