Chapter 1

Life in the Castle

Applejack trots over to the window.

"What a sore sight. Such a beautiful day to waste away in bed," she said, opening the curtains.

"Wh-What? Oh, Go away, Applejack," you say, turning over in bed to try to hide from the orange and blonde pony with the handkerchief cutie mark and the light.

"Don't be ridiculous," Applejack said, "but with your permission, I will wake your sleeping companion." She pulled back the dark blue, almost black covers to reveal a border collie sleeping in bed. It looked up at Applejack.

"Come on, girl," you say, "If I have to get up so do you." You get out of the dark blue and ebony bed and walk over to two mannequins, each with a different outfit on them. Your room was one of ebony black and dark blue. Like yourself (look up "Princess Luna" on google images and imagine her without a cutie mark, a crown, a necklace, or shoes).

"I believe you will be meeting with Nightshade today and it wouldn't do to meet him in your pajamas," Applejack stated, "I have taken the liberty of choosing two outfits for you today. Take your pick." You look at the two sets of clothing. One was an elegant princess dress with frill and frou-frou. It was white with gold trimming and one of those large neck thingies that make your chin stick up too high. The other was a more simple and practical dress. It was black with dark blue trimming. You take the simple one and put it on.

"Ah, a wonderful selection. Now I think Nightshade is waiting for you in the castle gardens."

"Thanks. Bye, Applejack," you say opening the large oaken doors and running out. It took you a while to find Nightshade but as you ran through the beautiful, flower speckled garden soldiers would salute you and commoners would greet you. Once you did find him, Ranona sprinted to him.

"Hello there," he said, playfully, "Are you here to fight in my army? Together we will protect the princess, won't we, girl, won't we?" Nightshade was a black pony with pitch black hair. His cutie mark is that of a gun.

"I can protect myself," you pout.

"Hmmm. I don't know. Maybe you should demonstrate your abilities to me," Nightshade teased. You leaned in and kissed him.

"How's that?" You asked.

"Well, you've gotten me convinced," he said, he put on a straight face, one of the ones that scared you to high heaven, "but, seriously, I thought you'd never get up. The ponies in the castle are furious with your sister. Even more than usual. It's even worse in the city. Ponies are saying that a factory worker was executed for standing up for a kid. The staff is worried. I told them you were going to talk to them. Will you talk to them, please?"

"Of course," you say reassuringly and trot off towards the servants' quarters. When you get nearer you hear voices. The chief was talking to the others.

"Ahh! Your highness! We await your address," the chief, Quick Pot, said. Quick Pot was a silver pony with iron black hair. His cutie mark was a pot.

"I realize things haven't been going well, and that my sister has been too… preoccupied to tend to you, but I promise that I will talk to her about the wellbeing of you and your families. In the meantime, I advise all of you to ignore any rumors you may hear. Thank you," you say, confidently. As the staff head back to work, a voice startles you.

"You call that a royal speech?" Rainbow Dash, your mentor, asked, "You didn't yell, you didn't threaten. It was freaking brilliant! Come on! It's time for your next training session." Rainbow Dash is a cyan pegasus with rainbow hair. She has a cutie mark of two crossed swords. Rainbow trots towards the training room. You go and follow Rainbow Dash. As you cross the entrance hall, you see a large crowd of ponies in front of the door.

"A lot of ponies here to see your sister, today. Poor sods," Rainbow mutters.

"Dame Rainbow! What luck!" a brown and blonde stallion cries, "Too many suffer in the streets while our queen does nothing. We have to make her care. Would you care to sign the proclamation to abolish poverty?"

"I will, but I don't see what good my signature would do," Rainbow began, "I'm just an old soldier. But, maybe the princess would like to sign."

"Oh. Yes. That would be wonderful!" the stallion stated, "Would you?"

"Yes," you say plainly, picking up the quill and signing the document. With that you take your leave to the oak room on the far side whose sole purpose is to be used for training you.

"It may not be much," Rainbow stated, "but it may just show Celestia that you have a mind of your own. Let's see you put that mind to good use. Pick up a sword and attack me." You look at the sword rack on the far side and walk over. You and Rainbow each pick up a sword and the battle begins. She slashes, you parry, you jab, she sidesteps, she jabs, you jump back, and on it goes, daftly, until you unleash a full force flourish that cuts her sword clean in half.

"Ha-ha! Look at that. Only gone and broke it," Rainbow exclaimed, holding up the hilt of the broken sword, "Am I a good teacher or what?" At that moment, Nightshade galloped in, obviously afraid.

"Rainbow! You have to come, quick! It looks like a demonstration!"

"This isn't good," Rainbow murmured, trotting after him. You follow them back to the entrance hall and look out the window.

"I've never seen so many people out there," Nightshade gasps, looking out at the, apparently, angry mob.

"I don't think they realize what your sister is capable of," Rainbow stated, "It's been a long time since Celestia has listened to me. I'll be right back." Rainbow gallops off.

"We can't let Rainbow deal with her on her own. Look! The guards have moved away from the stairs. Let's go before someone sees us."

"They must be in the war room," you say, and with that you trot off towards the "war room".