The Elements of Harmony had been dormant for years. One was broken entirely. The Rainbow Power that had been found was once again lost. Equestria had fallen on dark times.
War had broken out among many towns and cities. It began in the Crystal Empire, Princess Cadence and Shining Armour's baby barely a year old. Queen Chrysalis, knowing there was nothing to stop her, invaded and the entire city had to be evacuated. Discord drifted between fazes of helping the ponies and helping Chrysalis so nopony was ever certain which side he was on. Manehatten had been turned into a refugee camp for those too weak to fight, the young, the old, and the ones who either refused to or didn't know how to fight. Canterlot was the main base of operations for the armies.
Chrysalis was Equestria's biggest enemy and she had been growing more powerful since the Crystal Empire became her home. Many lone army camps had been infiltrated by Changling spies so many ponies were on high alert wherever they went and Zecora had created some form of powder or liquid that would help identify the good ponies from the bad.
This is where our story begins, within all of this chaos was a group of ponies who had been young when the dark times arose and were all still living in Ponyville, which had now become a walled off town for ponies who had been surviving in the wasteland outside. One was a Unicorn with a high magical ability, she was usually on watch or keeping the ponies calm with her songs. Another was a Pegasus built for fighting, she was in charge of teaching the young fillies and colts how to fight and/or how to keep information out of the hands of the enemy, even when being interrogated or tortured. The third was an Earth Pony who had been put in charge of Ponyville's main defenses by the council whom were in charge of the town, she was a smart mare and rather brave in the face of danger. Next was another Earth Pony, she was the head of the council being very talented in getting other ponies to do what she needed them to do, the mare worked alongside a few of the original holders of the Elements of Harmony and was strategic when helping plan out attacks. The final two were an odd pair of Earth Ponies, many spoke of how their duo was an strange mashup that probably would've never happened if Equestria hadn't fallen, they were the only two who ever set foot out of Ponyville's walls on a regular basis, grabbing supplies, equipment and sometimes random items ponies had requested they look for.
Princess Twilight Sparkle worked with Princess Celestia, Princess Luna and Princess Cadence up in Canterlot with the main army. Pinkie Pie, Apple Jack, Starlight Glimmer and Spike still lived in Ponyville, the mares working on the council whilst Spike was a teacher with Cheerilee. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy worked up in Cloudsdale, keeping tabs on the Crystal Empire and reporting to the Princesses when necessary. Rarity... Well Rarity died before everything went downhill, her death was the reason everything went wrong, with the Element of Generosity gone the others were useless and that was how Chrysalis was able to take over so easily.
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Sweetie Belle stretched, yawning as she entered the home she shared with her friends. Another hard day of work and she was finally relieved by Button Mash who usually took the night watch. Apple Bloom smiled at her as she entered their room, the red maned mare was curled up on her bunk, reading a book with a torch in her hoof. Sweetie Belle replied with a tired smile, climbing onto her own bunk and resting her head on her pillow
"Tough day of work huh?" Apple Bloom asked quietly, her voice similar to what her sister Apple Jack's had been before the war
"You wouldn't believe" Sweetie sighed, her own voice much deeper than when she was a simple filly
"Pip and Silver foun' a couple new books today"
The Unicorn hummed in interest, her eyes closing but still focusing on the small conversation she was having
"Diamond managed to convince tha' grumpy stallion to finally learn how ta defend himself and Scoot was havin' a field day with tha'" Apple Bloom yawned, turning off her torch and placing it on her bedside table along with her book "the guard's doin' okay, ah got some new recruits from Scoot's class an' Dinky had ta show em how ta deal with each of the stallions an' mares"
Both mares giggled slightly
"It's Rarity's birthday tomorrow, the council's got a few celebrations planned, with the regular traditions"
"I get the feeling tomorrow's gonna be more interesting than we think" Sweetie mumbled, the to mares finally falling into a dreamless sleep
Introductory chapter finished :3 how was that? I hope it wasn't confusing but yeah, my story's a little bit darker than most light-hearted mlp fanfics '^.^ and I know the cmc have Cutie Marks now but I feel like with the marks they have in the cover, things'll be a little more unique and interesting later on :)
Ciao~