Harmony Spark woke up in a daze, one eye open as she tried to process where she was. Her head was throbbing and it made it hard to concentrate. As she looked around she could see bars surrounding her like she was in a jail cell. There were lanterns in a few places but otherwise all appeared dark. She tried to stand up, but her limbs wouldn’t support her and it only made her head ache more ,so she just lay down on the cave-like floor and closed her eyes to relax and try to get her bearings.

She tried to empty her mind and think of nothing until she was physically and mentally ready to deal with the situation. From what she could see there didn’t appear to be anyone else around, so she wasn’t in any immediate danger. She had a little time to just sit and recover.

It took about fifteen minutes of steady breathing for her to calm herself and her head to stop throbbing so hard. That being the case, she began to let herself think. What had happened? Where was she? She appeared to be in a prison, but she didn’t recognize it. She tried to remember what she had been doing before, but her thinking was still too hazy.

After giving herself another fifteen minutes to recover she gave standing another try. Her head resisted her attempts, but not as much as before, and she was able to get to her hooves. She wobbled a bit, but she didn’t fall.

She could see a metal door built into the bars, further cementing the image of a jail. Closing her eyes she prepared her magic, going deep into her imagination and starting to conjure up the image of a key.

“EEYYYAHHHH!” She let out a loud scream as her body felt like it was burning. She fell to the ground in pain, panting.

“Now, now. None of that.”

Trying to focus through the pain she turned her head toward the voice. “You!” she cried out in anger.

“Yes,” he replied smugly. “I don’t believe we’ve been properly introduced. The name is Solar Star. You’re quite the big catch. I never expected I would one day bag an alicorn princess, but I suppose that’s what happens when you leave the safety of your kingdom and your guards. Oh, well.”

“I… I remember now.” She struggled to get to her hooves again. She had been traveling from the Crystal Empire to Canterlot. It wasn’t a terribly urgent trip, so she had been taking her time to enjoy the beauty of nature and the cries of the animals.

All of a sudden she had been attacked by two unicorns. She hadn’t had much trouble holding them off, but she had dropped her guard by thinking there were only two. Coming at her from behind Solar Star had stuck her a hard blow to the head with a log. Right before she had lost consciousness she had seen him smirking at her. The same smirk he wore now.

“You! You think you’ll get away with this?” Her body was shaking with anger. “You think you can get away with attacking a princess? You’ll receive no mercy from me!” Her horn began glowing but his magic was faster, and once more she felt the sensation of electricity coursing throughout her body. She fell to the ground again, her body twitching.

“Tut, tut, princess. I told you before that I would have none of that. You are my prisoner now. Have you not noticed the little gift I gave you?”

A very tiny glow came from his horn, and she felt the sensation, like a static shock, coming from somewhere on her chest. She put her hoof to the spot and she felt like there was something attached to her body. It felt like a gem. “W-what did you do to me?” she asked weakly.

“It’s just a countermeasure to make sure you behave yourself. As long as you have that all it takes is a little bit of mental focus and I can cause electricity to come from it. The more power I put into it, the more damage I can do. If I really wanted to and put my mind to it I could fry your body to a crisp right now.”

Glaring at him with all the contempt she could muster she got to her knees. “Then do it!” she yelled. “Just kill me then! You cannot dishonor the noble blood that runs through my veins, and I refuse to be used as a plaything for your amusement!”

“All in good time, princess, but you’re much more than that. It’s nothing personal against you. It was just your bad luck that you happened to be the one that was passing by at that moment. You represent the potential for a big payday.”

For the first time she felt real fear. These guys were just plain old thugs, ready to sell her off to the highest bidder. Who knows what kind of pony she would be sold to, and to what purposes they might try to use her for? “So this is only about money to you?”

“Exactly. I’ll give it a week for news to travel. When it becomes public knowledge that a princess has gone missing, and I claim that I have that princess and am willing to sell her to anyone who wants her, I will get that many more curious ponies and potential buyers. It should be fascinating. For once you’ll know the powerlessness of those that you oppress.

"I heard about how you revived King Sombra and forced him into servitude, stripping him of his title and threatening harm upon him if he used his dark magic. You are not a princess anymore, except in name alone. You will not have any freedom for the rest of your life. Anytime you get out of line you will be shocked into compliance. They say acts of evil always come full circle. I guess that’s true, then. Isn’t it?”

“It… it was to help make him a better pony. I wanted to help him. There was nothing evil in what I did.”

“Well, whatever your reasons were, they are insignificant. I have to go now. So many potential buyers, so little time. I’m going to make enough to retire with just one final auction.”

“F-final?” she asked in horror. How many ponies had he been abducting and selling?

“Yes. That’s the way I make my money. Why work hard when there’s such a simpler way of getting it without sacrificing anything of my own? I wonder what they’ll want to use you for? As a wife? For your power? It’s going to be a fascinating week, I can tell you that.

“Even though I have to go now I don’t want you to feel lonely, so I’ve arranged for some company.”

Her heart sank even further as she saw the other two ponies of their group.

“They’re a bit ticked off over how disrespectfully you treated them earlier, so I’d suggest you be on your best behavior. I don’t want a fried alicorn on my auction list. Now, make sure you introduce yourself properly, boys. After all, we are in the presence of royalty.” Letting out a booming laugh he started walking away.

“The name’s Rocky,” said a grey-coated stallion with a black mane. “We’re going to enjoy this.”

“Name’s Butch,” said the other. He was a red coated stallion with a yellow mane.

The two of them were giving her stares that definitely made her feel uncomfortable. She could tell they were looking for the slightest reason to shock her. For the time being she thought it best to just keep quiet and recover. Being electrocuted wasn’t a pleasant experience, and it certainly wasn’t helping her headache, which hadn’t yet gone away.

Laying down with all the poise she could muster in such a situation, she let her pride fade a little and said in a compliant voice, “I’ll be good.” She knew there had to be a way out of her situation. She only needed to stay clearheaded and look for an opening. At present, she knew she wasn’t in the right condition to make that judgment.

Her captor had very helpfully told her he was going to wait a week to fuel curiosity. That meant that even if she gave herself a full day to recover she still had at least five days to come up with a plan of escape. And even if she wasn’t able to escape her prison by that time, in order to sell her he’d have to get her out of her cell.

And if it turned out that Solar Star was so intent on getting a payday that the pony he sold her to wasn’t a unicorn, and thus couldn’t activate this strange gem on her chest, it would only make it easier to get free. Yes, there was no need to panic. She only had to keep her senses aware.

Her captors seemed disappointed that she wasn’t being defiant. At first they had been standing right in front of her cell, but as time passed and she stayed quiet they began moving around and talking amongst themselves.

A few hours later they brought her a tray of food, sliding it underneath a tiny gap in the cell door, far too tiny for her to get through.

Her head pains had slowly been going away, but there was no denying that she was hungry, and eating would help. She knew she had to eat to keep her energy up and keep her mental focus. She didn’t think they put anything in the food. They already had the electric gem to keep her in line so there would be no point.

Without thinking about it, so used to using magic, she levitated her bowl to eat from it. She heard a satisfied laugh from both of them, which was all she needed to realize what was about to come. She quickly stopped her magic but she already knew it wasn’t going to stop them. They had been waiting for her to slip up for a while. Once more she felt electricity coursing through her body and she let out a scream of agony. It only lasted a few seconds, but to her it felt like eons. Again she fell to the ground, trying to bear with the pain as she trembled.

“Bad princess,” said Rocky in a condescending kiddy voice. “When are you going to learn the rules? NO…MAGIC! At all!”

“That’s right,” said Butch with a laugh. “Isn’t part of being a princess to set an example? Geez, are all your subjects in the Crystal Empire as stupid and slow-learning as you are? Princess Cadance must be so ashamed of you. Or is she just as moronic and dim-witted as you to keep you beside her?”

Her anger getting the better of her horn began glowing. “Don’t you ever insult-” She didn’t get to finish before her body was once more jolted with electricity. Harmony did her best to use her magic to cause the two to butt heads, thus disrupting their concentration, but the pain was too great for her to focus. She finally gave it up, and just stayed huddled on the floor in a ball, tears of pain coming down her eyes. She was utterly useless. She had no idea what to do.

“Well, thanks a lot for finally giving us a reason for payback from earlier. I feel better now.”

“Same here,” said Rocky. “You’d better stop acting up. Your mane and coat are starting to get charred. No one wants to pay full price for damaged goods. Our master won’t be happy with that. Now I’d suggest you eat up. Or if you prefer we can force it down your throat. Either way, you’re going to eat.”

It took her a few minutes before she was able to stand. Silently, tears still coming down her eyes, she bent her head over and slowly ate her meal. After that she went over to the corner of her cell farthest from the two, and curled up into a ball, letting her emotions run free.

Things were calm for the rest of the day, as well as the next. She had quickly learned her lesson about not using magic, and she had gone back to ignoring them to not give them any further incentive to torture her. They went back to seeming bored, like they really wanted an excuse to torment her.

On the third day she decided to try gauging her captors. “So, are you like Solar Star? Only in it for the money?”

The two shared an amused look, before turning back to her. Butch laughed before saying, “And if we were?”

“If that’s the case, why try to sell me to just anyone? No matter how much they may offer, you’re holding a princess of an entire empire made out of crystals hostage. Why not just make it a ransom demand to have me released and returned to the Crystal Empire? They’d be able to pay you far more than anyone your boss could find.”

“Oh, please. Crystals don’t pay the bills. When you have so much of something you can make a kingdom out of it, it clearly isn’t rare enough to make a real profit out of. Even if that wasn’t the case, the boss is the one who makes the decisions. Besides, while we may not be the brains of this operation, even we can tell that selling you back to the Crystal Empire is a bad move.”

“And why is that?”

Now Rocky laughed. “Are you seriously that dense? To sell you back to the Crystal Empire would be admitting that we captured you. Once we released you the whole of the kingdom would be after us. And even if we got away, we’d become Equestria-wide fugitives. It’s better to simply make as much profit as we can off of other ponies with dark souls like us and remain unknown.”

“W-well… then…” She hesitated, before throwing out, “What if I paid you?” They showed mild interest; not mocking her, but not responding either. “I have a special power. I am known as the Princess of Imagination. What I envision in my mind I can make manifest in the real world. If money is all you’re interested in then I could get you all you wanted.”

The two of them began snickering again, a big laugh that continued until they had to stop to breathe. When they calmed down Butch said, “So you’re truly the successor to Princess Cadance? That’s the example you want to send? To save yourself you’d participate in mass counterfeiting of millions of bits? You must be looked up to so much.”

“Are you that desperate?” asked Rocky.

A look of terror crossed Harmony’s features as she slowly backed up. “No. N-no. I… I don’t… I didn’t… I wouldn’t…” She sank down to the ground. “I failed,” She said blankly. “I don’t deserve…” She let out a strange laugh, her breathing getting shorter before it slowly turned to crying. Letting out a wail of despair she began sobbing on the floor, covering her face with her hooves.

With satisfied grins Butch and Rocky looked at each other. “So she broke already?” asked Butch. “That didn’t take long.”

“Only three days in, too. I hoped she would provide us with a little more amusement. Oh, well. I guess the thought of living the rest of her life in slavery was just too much for her.”

Her sobbing suddenly stopped. Her hooves fell down, and she pushed herself to her hooves. There was a carefree smile on her face. “Masters,” she said in admiration, bowing to them. “Forgive me my outburst. You are quite correct. I am undeserving to be a princess. I deserve whatever happens to me. I am your humble servant. How may I be of service to you?”

The two of them gazed at each other with bewildered looks. Where was all this coming from? They were sure she had just passed the peak of despair, and would be quiet and forlorn for the rest of the week. However, she now seemed like an entirely different pony.

“Well, um…,” started Butch.

“You… um, you can…” Rocky tried to finish, but they were too perplexed by her sudden change in attitude. Earlier she had been yelling about her noble blood and how she wouldn’t be dishonored, but now it seemed she was completely going against that, accepting the fate they had told her was coming and conceding completely.

“What is wrong, my masters?” She remained in her bowing position. “Is there nothing you require of me?”

“Just… um… be quiet for now and go sit in the corner.”

“Yes, master. At once.”

When she had gone to sit down the two of them got some more distance from her. “What… just happened?” asked Butch.

“Well… I do remember hearing one time that sometimes when a traumatic event becomes too much for a pony to handle, then they push the fear and pain below the surface. I guess when her misery became too great she had to find a way to push her emotions away or she really would have broken. It’s still a little creepy, though. The way she’s smiling just looks so… genuine.”

“I know what you mean. Well, we’ll just to have keep a close eye on her.”

Sometime later they delivered her more food. As they had said she had stayed in her corner and hadn’t uttered a peep. “Hey! Harmony. Come eat your dinner.”

She turned around with that same dreamy look. When she got to the door she didn’t immediately take the food. She got down on the floor in a completely submissive position. “Much thanks, my masters. I hardly deserve this food. I am overwhelmed by your generosity.”

“G-get off the floor and just eat,” Butch ordered with a shudder, backing up a step from her.

Getting up she was now frowning, tears beginning to form in her eyes. “Have I offended you, my masters? I just wanted to show you my gratitude for how well you take care of me. After all, it’s not every day you get to live in as nice a house as this one. It’s got lots of space to look out, it’s nice and warm, protected from the elements, and I even have my generous masters grant me a feast that should go to someone far more deserving than I.”

She let out a laugh. “I’m talking too much again. You ordered me to eat. I must always obey my masters. It’s the only way to stay safe.”

Picking up the tray she brought it back to the corner she was at before and began to eat.

“House?” asked Rocky incredulously. “This is seriously getting weird. It should feel nice to be looked up to like that, but is her mind that far gone that she can’t ever recognize where she is and who we are?”

Butch responded, “Well, it’s only for a few more days. I’ll take the first watch. You get some rest.”

“Alright.”