Long ago, before the time of Discord or Princess Celestia's rule, there was another spirit just like Discord. His name was Solips. He was the sole reason why Equestria was split up into city-states. Every town looked for itself. They all fought over the lush land and it's valuable resources. It was thousands of years before six powerful unicorns came together and planned to stop Solips and end all this selfishness and hostility he had caused. Their solution was the Elements of Peace. Resolve, courage, morality, maturity, freedom, and amity. Armed with these elements, the unicorns stopped him and the corruption that plagued the land and unified Equestria. After their accomplishment they gave these powerful jewels to a near extinct race called wolves. They called themselves The Pact and lived in the high mountain range called World's Edge, resting on the edge of pony known territory to the southeast. They kept to themselves and tale of the Elements of Peace had died along with the ponies that lived though the ordeal. Today, they are still hidden somewhere below the surface of Equestria, their guardians waiting for a new band of heroes to prove themselves worthy enough to reclaim them.

Brother looked in the mirror, making sure he looked good. He never knew if a pretty filly might notice him. His black mane and dark brown coat looked good. And with the help of his jet black glasses and goatee, he looked damn handsome. "Hey Mom," Brother Brave yelled over his shoulder, "I'm going to hang out with Eli!"

"Ok, be sure to come back before dark."

"Alright." He quickly opened the door and closed it. He stepped out into the apartment hallway where he lived. He turned to the staircase and saw one of the elderly of the complex.

"Hello Mr. Coins," he said with a nod, continuing to walk to the staircase. The old pony looked at him and gave a warm smile.

"Why, if it isn't Brother Brave. It's been quite a while since I heard you sonny. How have you and your mother been? You been behaving well for her?" Brother chuckled and nodded.

"We've been well sir and yes, I have been good for my mom." Mr. Coins nodded in approval, content with his answer.

"That's good. I was worried I had to give you a lesson in respect." Brother chuckled once again and reached the door to the staircase.

"Alright, alright. Well, anyway, I have to get going. Meeting a friend at the park."

"You behave yourself and live up to your cutie mark." Brother nodded and went though the door. He looked to his flank and saw his light grey and yellow cutie mark. It was a shield and a cross within it. It stood out like a sore hoof against his coat. He pushed up his glasses and started down the staircase. The story of how he got his cutie mark began to seep back into his mind. He was around six when he received it.

He was friends with this one filly. It had been years so he had forgot her name. All he remembered was her face and body and voice. She had a nice orange coat that was soothing to the eyes and a yellow mane which had tied into a ponytail. Her voice definitely wasn't what you usually heard in Manehattan. Most either sounded all fancy and somewhat snobbish or you sounded normal. Though, those pony usually were part of the poorer community in Manehattan. This filly sounded like she was from the country. The most wired thing is that she never let him go to her house or apartment and she had never introduce him to her guardians. It was like she was hiding him from them. But, when they did hang out, they had the most fun. Playing in the park or going to one of the many fast food places near his house. It one one day that changed him forever. When he was walking to their usual get together spot he has seen that she was being harassed by two older ponies. She had her hair styled in that fancy way and these ponies didn't seemed to like it at all. "Comon you high nose nob, give us some bits. Ponies like us have to work hard to get whatever food we can. And that's usually not enough." They began to close the gap between the filly, even though she was walking backwards.

"I-I don't have any bits on me. My aunt and uncle never give me any-"

"Bullshit!" the same pony yelled, getting right in front of her face. His partner circled around her and made sure she didn't escape. The filly saw him and got even more frantic then before. "You can give us all your bits, or..." he grinned in the most sinister way Brother had ever seen, "we can take something else." That was when Brother drew the line. He would not let his only friend be harassed any longer. He ran in between the pony in front of his friend and puffed out his chest, trying his best to look tough.

"You jerk, leave her alone!" he yelled. His heart was racing. What if this didn't work? What if him and his friend got beat up? "No regrets," he thought, "this is my friend. I'll die protecting her." The big pony looked down at him and gave him a face that seemed to say "who the fuck are you?" The pony brought it close to Brothers and said,

"And what are you gunna do small fry?" What was he gunna do? He was way smaller then the pony before him. If he got into a fight, he would instantly lose. "My horn..." He looked up at his horn that matched the color of his coat and then back at the pony. "I'll hurt you with my magic!" Brother yelled. The pony looked unamused. In the blink of an eye the pony back hoofed Brother, who fell to the side. "Out of the way," the pony said nonchalantly. Brother's face stung as if thousands of bees swarmed his face. Hot tears streamed his face as the two big ponies grabbed the filly.

"Brother!" the filly cried out. "Die protecting her." That phrase echoed in his mind. He wished he was stronger. He wished he knew a spell that would help. Rage started to build up. He put the pain aside and stood back up.

"Leave her alone!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. His horn actually began to glow a faint white, slowly getting brighter and brighter. The older ponies, who had let go of the filly, notices this and started to step back. Brother closed his eyes and what happened next was a mystery to him. All he heard was the older pony shouting "fuck!" and them running away. When he opened his eyes the filly had ran up and hugged him.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!" Brother smiled but felt his face burn a crimson red.

"Hey, you're my friend. I protect my friends." They stood there for a minute, but felt like an eternity to Brother. He really liked it. It made him feel happy, made his heart bang against his chest, and, most strangely, felt... just right. The silence was broken when the filly had opened her eyes when a white flash emmited from Brother's flank.

"Brother, look." She had pointed to his flank. He knew what that meant. When he turned around his cutie mark had appeared. The grey shield and yellow cross looked so amazing. It defiantly what he wanted to do. He wanted to protect everypony and be the good guy.

Brother shook his head and went back to reality. It had been over ten years since he had seen that filly. After the amazing rainboom incident, she had disappeared. "Man, never thought about that in a long time," he said quietly to himself, "better focus on the present." He looked forward and realized he had made it to the ground floor. "Well then," he said before opening the door and exiting the staircase. He walked out into the lobby and saw Eli waiting for him. Brother had an eyebrow raised. He thought that they were suppost to meet at the park, not the lobby of his apartment complex. Eil instantly noticed him and flew faster then anything he'd seen.

"Brother!" he shouted as he stopped just in time to avoid tackling Brother.

"Woah there man, what's wrong?" Brother asked. Eli wouldn't show up show up inside the apartment and then almost truck him if it wasn't something important.

"I need to tell you something. It's important." He knew it. The most odd thing was that Eli's face was dead serious. Not a hint of fun or joking was visible.

"About what?" Brother said. He had began walking out of the complex and into the great city.

"About leaving Manehattan."

Morning, it comes way to damn fast.

Emerald Night had awoken to his family arguing with each other, even though they where on separate floors. He began his usual morning routine. Getting up, going downstairs, shower, eat, then the best part , Flight school. Emerald was a Pegasus, like the rest of his family, and most ponies in Cloudsdale, with the exemption of that light brown earth pony who he had for a science teacher. Regardless, he walked to the bathroom, while his family had not notice that he was awake. He slipped into the shower and turned it on. Heavy steam filled his lungs and the hot water soaked his coat and mane. Memories of his life, up until now, played like a film reel. He remembered when he first started flight school with a friend of his, Soarin. They had been buddies since, well, almost the time they had been born. They spent the weekends training, flying, and all sorts of adventures. As long as he had his pie for lunch, you where set for 12 hours of energy. "Breakfast is ready! We need to go soon!" Snapping back to reality, Emeralds mother, a deep olive colored mare with a forest green mane, was on the other side of the bathroom door. He dried his mane and looked into the mirror on the wall. The same tall, mildly muscular colt as everyday. With the same mild length mane, split between jet black and dark green, same wings, same olive eyes, same silver-ish olive colored coat. Though, what the one feature he loved the most, was his cutie mark. The two crescents. One silver and the other of a lime green. The unforgettable day he had gotten his odd cutie mark played back into his head.

It was around the afternoon. His parents and sister where out at here jobs, flight school was let out early. But there he was, hiding inside one of the many closets in his house while robbers looted his house. The house was dimly lit and it was very hard to see. He moved out from the closet and tried to make his way out of the house. Shadows protected him most of the was until the most spectacular thing was shown out the window. A sonic rainboom. All the windows in the house shattered from the colorful blast. One of the robbers was standing next to a window when it had happened. He jumped back like it was lava and covered his eyes. He began to shout and swear that some glass got into his eyes. "Hey, Cartkicker. Where the hell are you! I cant see a anything!" Blood dripped down his face as he walked around the silent house. No response. Emerald had hit this "Cartkicker" in the back of his neck, thankfully making him fall into unconsciousness instead of death. The rainboom had a different effect on Emerald. It had triggered some kind of ability that his body locked away. A light green tint made everything visible to him. Every single detail in the dark was now in clear view. For once, he had the advantage. As the other bandit walked around bumping into furniture, Emerald tackled him at full speed, sending him flying through the shattered glass window, unconscious.

The cutie mark, a combination of the darkness of night, and the light of the moon. Stealth and survival.
"You're going to be late! Come on and grab some oats before we leave!" Mrs. Night shouted from behind the door. At that point she turned away from the bathroom door and walked to the door that lead to the apartment hallway.

"Alright, i'll be out in a second!" he replied. He left the bathroom and and followed his mother. But he instead went to the kitchen. His breakfast was sitting on the table, lukewarm. He wasted no time in devouring the oats that filled the bowl. After a quick wipe to the mouth he raced out the door. After taking the elevator down and going through the main lobby he walked outside stopped at the end of the sidewalk that separated the complex and the city's street. Carriages pulled by teams of two ponies filled up most streets of Manehattan. It was usually the ponies who had no significant talent and needed something to do to survive that pulled the carriages. It wasn't the best life but it was their only choice. He turned around to see his mother walking towards him. She stood right next to him, giving him a quick look, and then looked out into the street.

"Are you sure you want to go to that interview? If you get the job, it's extremely dangerous. Couriers go everywhere. Including places overrun with monsters." Emerald just chuckled. He looked at her and said,

"Of course I do. This is a good paying job. Plus, my only opportunity to get out of this city and see all of Equestria." His mother nodded and jumped up, hovering over the ground.

"Well, then what are you waiting for. Got to that interview and go make your name known." Emerald smiled at his mother's confidence in him as she flew away. He lifted off and began to fly over the street. He began to think about his soon-to-be job. A few days ago he had seen a flyer that said there was a need of Pegasi that could deliver packages all across Equestria. Emerald had called the courier manager about it. The manager had said that he wanted to interview Emerald, saying that he needed a skilled pegasus for it. "Won't be that hard. I'm a pretty good flyer." Still, even though that was true, there was always the chance that some other pony could get the job. He just had to go 120%. The somewhat fresh air lashed at his face. He had to squint to see. "Almost..." The post office was coming up quickly. It didn't really mattered if he was off by a bit or not, just would take a while to get to the front door. Plus he'd make a pretty cool intro. The tall building that had the sign "Post Office" was starting to get bigger and bigger. Suddenly, he turned downwards and slowly started to descend to the post office. As he was a few yards from the front door he held out his wings and let them act like a parachute. He touched the ground right at the door and with the little speed he had he used to open the door and quickly walk into the building. The word "swag" would come to mind as he walked though the main lobby and stopped at the receptionist.

"I'm here about the courier job." he said with a grin. The receptionist took a quick look at him and went back to her paperwork.

"The manager is on the top floor, first office on the right at the end of the hallway." Emerald nodded and walked to an elevator. When he pressed the up button the doors opened up. He walked in and watched the doors shut before moving his hoof to the other buttons. "Well, here we go," Emerald said.