Chapter One
It was early on in what would be a warm day that will overhang the imperial city of Canterlot, the gleaming capital of the Equestrian nation. The city was just starting to become bustling with awake ponies, all in the shadow of the castle of Celestia, and rumour and gossip started flitting lazily to and fro the inhabitants. Nothing really new, everything amiss but unnoticed. It is in this atmosphere in Canterlot that our story takes place.
In Canterlot, there lies a large and simple looking building, all white with a golden roof, known as the General Assembly Hall of the Masses, in which the common Canterlot and further Equestrian can argue and debate any situations that are going on at the moment.
Inside the hall, all but one of the tiered seats are empty. The only occupied one is held by a mint green unicorn mare, one that has a golden lyre as a cutie mark. As such, her name is Lyra. Lyra Heartstrings.
Lyra waits for a patient minute or two, her large eyes fixed upon the centre of the hall, where the main speakers will eventually began to spew forth their nonsense. However, once that fleeting moment of patience is gone, our heroine glance around, once, twice, and even a third time. Just looking to see if she really was the only pony there. Indeed, she was. She begins to fidget, squirming in her seat, pushing her hooves against the seat in front of her, sitting in a new position and, when that doesn't work, reverting back to her original seating arrangement.
Eventually, after what seems a short lifetime to her, or about ten minutes in reality, she yawns, and begins to speak, to nopony in particular.
"So...you're all probably wondering why I'm sat here, all alone, when I could be back home with my Bon-Bon. Well, let me tell you something," She sighs after that, and rests her head in her hooves, before speaking again, saying;
"My heart, my large, friendly heart has taken a large drink from the cup of woes, and there are few joys for me these days that I've know recently," she pauses, and muses for a second, "Yeah...very few..." She pauses again at that, and slowly begins to tap a hoof on the seat in front of her, until finally,
"Ah! Six joys I've known recently, against countless millions and millions of things that are wearing my heart right down these days...Wait a minute, what were those joys that I really found pleasurific, and really enjoyed?" She thinks for a brief moment, before leaping to her hooves, almost triumphant that she remembered at all.
"Oh yeah, I remember! It really warmed my heart when I read that Prince Blueblood finally coughed up those forty-thousand bits that he owed the treasury, and then almost got taken out by an exploding ice sculpture! Ha! That had me and Bon-Bon in stitches. I'd like to thank the guards that pursued him for that; I was a truly lovable service they did for Equestria, wasn't it? Almost makes me wish I wasn't tied to loving mares instead of stallions. Almost." She stops what she's saying, and the smile that had grown on her face began to rapidly diminish, and her shoulders began to slouch as she remembered, and she collapsed back into her seat, a hoof raised to her forehead in shock.
"Oh Celestia...but then that happened...I'm still traumatised by it, and that's with out calling it terribly tragic to say the least." A pause, just while she tries to regain some of her composure. "I was sat in the auditorium, ears wide open for a subtle dose of Octavia's classic version of Beethooven's Ninth Symphony, and then...Oh Luna...that announcer, she goes 'And now presenting Vinyl Scratch's latest recording of Scary Mares and Nice Stallions'. Bleh! Well, you can very near imagine the almost total heart failure that it caused me."
She stretched her front hooves out, and yawned again.
"But then...Another thing that made me really happy, and I mean really happy was when Mayor Mare, back in home proper in Ponyville, finished giving a really inane speech, and then Pinkie Pie came on at the end to tell jokes and make us all laugh! Heh heh...Oh, but that was last month...When you compare this month to last, it feels as if I'm getting turned in to a cupcake! I mean, both Mayor Mare and even Twilight seem a bit droning this time. Wait...Twilight's started to look different recently...She might have put weight on or something...But I do love what she's done with the library. Totally needed a makeover."
A sigh, and she continues, "But never...never in all the years I've...I've sat upright have I been so inflicted by pain as I'm feeling right now! The regular meeting of this assembly, you know, the one that happens every week, and due to start as soon as Celestia raises the sun, and not a single soul down on the debating floor! I bet everypony's down at the market, gossiping as usual, and avoiding this place as if somepony's snuck a manticore in here. I mean, really...The main speakers aren't even here yet! I just know they'll come, eventually, many hours late, mind you, all streaming in like a mass of ants, pushing and shoving for the good seats, followed by the snooty rich ponies, who have already called dibs on the best seats down on the debating floor itself, and then the debaters will finally show their faces, despite spending the previous hours swigging cider and such! I mean, that's all they really care about, other than themselves. Certainly not the subject matter," She stood again, stretched her hooves out once more, and declared:
"How to get peace! Damn fools here don't even care about that. Oh Canterlot, Oh Equestria, what are you coming to? Now me, I always get here first, at least when I haven't had a long night drink strong cider with Bon-Bon and Derpy...anyway, so I sit down, and after a bit, when I finally discover that no pony else is going to come, I sigh, I yawn and stretch and lewdly fantasize about my marefriend, and then I don't really know what to do next so...so then I trace patterns on the floor, comb my mane or count and tap to myself...and all the time, I look out that window-" she points a hoof at the large window that casts natural light down to the depths of the hall, "and I find myself gazing at the rich countryside out there and I find myself pining for a final grasp at peace, cursing this damnable city and yearning to drag myself and my love back to my little town of Ponyville." Her voice grows louder, and she laments, "Ah, my beautiful jewel of Ponyville! A place where nopony said, 'Buy my swords' or 'Buy my bonds' or even 'Buy my Apple Oil'; we didn't even know what any of those things were until this nonsense started. I mean, we were a peaceful town, making happiness and smiles for everypony, sustaining ourselves. We were a War-Free zone; a rare distinction in the world these days, and now, there are ponies that want to turn my little town into a paragon of darkness and misery, all due to this cursed war!" She sighs, and slumps down in her seat, sounding slightly defeated at it all.
"Well, this time...this time I've come prepared." A cruel smile begins to grow across her face, and, sounding confident and assured, says, "If any speaker dares, and I mean, dares say a single utterance about anything except peace, I'll scream, I'll heckle, I'll yell 'murder' I'll -"
Suddenly, the large wooden and golden doors to the Assembly Hall flew open, and a mass, shapeless at first, but soon taking the shape of jostling and snapping ponies, each one pushing past the others, fighting for seats. As soon as they died down and began to settle, members of Canterlot's upper-class, headed by Fancy-Pants and Fleur Dis Lee, and they gracefully took their reserved seats down at the debating floor, just as Lyra said. Soon, almost a couple of minutes later, the speakers themselves arrived, flanked by armour wearing guards, each speaker distinguished by the white robes, red ties and white facial makeup that each one wore.
Lyra felt traumatized, having been forced past by several dozen earth-ponies, five pegasi, each on dripping with rain, fresh off the clouds, and finally two unicorns, and maybe a Diamond Dog. Heck, anything could have gone past her, and she couldn't have known due to the speed of which they did.
As the Debaters settled themselves, talking about what they would do as soon as this had finished, a large, portly earth-pony marched in, closing the large doors after her. Lyra didn't know her name, but she knew her role. She was the same announcer that announce Vinyl last month.
The Announcer stumbles her way down the steps to the floor, and takes her place before the head speaker, before announcing to the gathered crowd, "Come forward, all those present! Come forward all! Everypony has the right to speak, so come forward!"
"Oh, this will be good," muttered Lyra, as the first speaker stood to address his peers.
Suddenly, however, those large wooden and gold doors slammed open, and every eye snapped to the shadowy figure that stood in the doorway.
