Clouds, Brothers, Magic

Chapter 1 - A Year of Peace, Gone

It has been a year of peace since Luster Dawn's coronation, and Luster was getting impatient. Even though she was slightly nervous about becoming princess, she would have Twilight by her side to help solve any problem. And she was eager to show Equestria, and herself, that she could take action and solve problems. She had been planning for a while to do something big, something that would make her proud of herself, and also make Equestria a better place. Since she was familiar with the villains of Equestria, and knew that they sometimes needed a little hope too, she decided it was time to seriously start to reform them. Plans for this have been made throughout the year, reviewed by Reformation Expert Diamond Tiara and her assistant, Cozy Glow. Both Lord Tirek and Queen Chrysalis were in their custody, and Diamond and Cozy decided to begin with Tirek. 

Princess Luster's thoughts were interrupted when her mentor and fellow princess, Twilight Sparkle, came into the throne room. She ascended her throne and turned to Luster. "Rainbow Dash said she has urgent news," she said. Right on cue, ,Rainbow burst in after Twilight. She stopped to catch her breath after flying for what seemed to be a long time at a fast pace. "There's... *huff* a problem *puff* in Cloudsdale," Rainbow panted. "Wait... lemme catch my breath..." Rainbow stumbled but found her balance and finally said, "You probably know that the mayoral elections of Cloudsdale are coming up in a few weeks. Now, one of the candidates is saying some really concerning things. Worst of all, she seems to be getting the upper hoof! I took a day trip to Cloudsdale today and saw her posters on every wall! I honestly can't believe I didn't know sooner. You're probably familiar with her, though. Iris Nephele? Ring a bell?"

Princess Luster did in fact know Iris Nephele. She came from humble roots, but rose to a very prominent position in Cloudsdale. Luster had met her a few times for business. She reminded Luster of Fleur De Lis, who she had also met on a few occasions. Iris Nephele had the same body type and personality as Fleur. She was beautiful and knew it. She took good care of her hooves and her mane, always bragging to ponies she met. She even shamelessly bragged to Luster and Twilight when she met them, instead of displaying humility in front of the rulers of Equestria. That act was so shameless, but also very confident - Iris was important and she knew it. 

On the outside, Iris Nephele was pretty unique as well. She was tall and a soft grey with blue eyes, and her mane was much longer and more voluminous than average. It resembled the clouds themselves, just as soft and curly, and ranging form blue to grey to white on the color spectrum. Iris also had a unique birthmark in the shape of a diamond on her forehead, and her cutie mark resembled a crown sitting on a cloud. Luster believed this design signified her prominence in Cloudsdale society, but according to Rainbow Dash's story, Iris was planning much more. 

"She's claimed in all her speeches that she'll bring Cloudsdale to greatness is she's elected," Rainbow continued. "She is even suggesting the Cloudsdale declare independence from Equestria, and become its own nation!!" The princesses gasped in perfect unison. "She could just be saying nonsense to get elected," Twilight suggested in a quivering voice. "Knowing Iris Nephele," Luster responded gravely, "she is saying exactly what she'll do if she's elected." 

Luster and Twilight wasted no time starting to prepare for a trip to Cloudsdale. Unfortunately, the entire friendship Council was unable to come. Fluttershy was asked to host a Exotic Pets Festival in Appleoosa and there was no way for her to get out of it on such short notice. Applejack needed to babysit her nephew, Fruitcake, while Big Mac and Sugar Belle were out of town. Pinkie was visiting her family on the Rock Farm, but Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Spike were able to join Twilight and Luster. When the five arrived at Cloudsdale (Rarity was under a Cloud Walk spell), they walked through the city streets and couldn't help but see all the Iris Nephele For Mayor posters. Just like Rainbow Dash said, they were on every wall. They proclaimed, "With Iris, Cloudsdale will rise!" and other slogans. Luster could see Twilight look at them with a concerned look on her face.