Prologue

The walls of the house absorbed the mare's screams, until they felt to her as muffled and pointless as yelling underwater. Still, her lungs kept pushing out cries for help. Her attacker carried her over his back, holding her up with his magic. The stench of his sweat filled her nostrils. He payed no heed to the frantic writhing, or the pounding of her hooves on his back, which dug into his flesh. He simply lumbered, as steadily as a freight train, through the big corridors of the castle.

She knew where they were heading, but not where they would end up. In this castle nothing was as it seemed, nothing was normal. So while she new in advance the turns her attacker would take, which hallways he would traverse, their destination was as unknowable as a faraway universe. And that meant her ponynapping would be completely untraceable. She would be unreachable by possible rescuers. To her family – And that thought scared her worse than death.

But then she saw something even more terrifying: her foals, galloping to catch up, to help. They stumbled up the staircase behind her attacker. The thought of them falling into the same fate as she was too much to bear.

“Go back,” she said, but by this time, her throat was raw, and her voice a mere whisper.

The stallion reached a landing and turned down another corridor.

Temporarily out of sight, her son yelled, “Mom!” His young voice was almost lost in the shrill ness of his terror. He appeared on the landing. His hooves slipped on the floor, and he went down. Behind him, his little sister hesitated. She was terrified and confused, too young to do anything more than follow her brother. He clambered up and started to gallop again.

A hoof gripped him, stopping him.

The boy's father had something with him: A lamp! He passed the boy in the hallway. His strong body allowed him to catch up to the attacker in seconds.

Thank goodness, she thought.

With the lamp held over his head with magic, he grabbed her wrist in his hooves. He pulled, attempting to anchor himself on the ground. But the brute under her continued on, pulling him with them. Pain flared in her shoulder. He might as well have been trying to pull a tree out of the ground with his bare hooves.

She caught a glimpse of the torches that lined the walls. The flames flickered in time with her rapid pulse.

“Orion,” she said, pleading, hopeful.

His gripped tightened as he stumbled along beside them. He swung the lamp with his magic at her assailant. If the stallion carrying her had flinched, she didn't feel it.

What he did do was stop. He did such a quick spin that the mare's husband lost his grip on her. And now, facing the other direction, she could no longer see him. Not being able to see him felt like having the wind knocked out of her. But realizing that he was now face-to-face with the stallion that had kidnapped her hurt even worse.

“No!” She yelled, her voice somehow finding volume. “Orion!”

His hand gripped her back hoof, but released almost instantly. The stallion under her moved erratically, shaking her violently. Her head collided with a wall.

Everything went dark, her consciousness slipping away. It came back to her slowly, like the warmth of a fire on an exceptionally windy day.

She tasted blood. The impact of hitting the wall must have caused her to bite her tongue. Her eyes snapped open. Orion lay crumpled on the floor. Her foals were there, touching him, and calling his name. Her son's eyes found hers, and determination pushed away his fear... at least a part of it. He stepped over his father, coming to her rescue. Orion raised his head, stunned. He reached for the boy but missed.

Over the huffing breath of the stallion, she heard the clop of her son's feet. How she loved that sound, knowing it would bring him to her. But now she only wanted to hear it carry him away from the danger. Orion called out to him in a strained voice. The boy kept galloping.

Her assailant turned again, into a room – one of the small antechambers. He strode straight towards the next threshold.

Her son reached the first door just as it was closing.

“Mom!” He yelled, worry showing on his face.

“Stay,” she said. She showed him her hooves in a “stop” gesture, hoping he would understand, and follow her order. She took in his face, as a diver takes a deep breath before going under water. He was completely in the antechamber, reaching for her with both arms, but the captor had already opened the door and was going through. The door was closing behind him.

The light they were stepping into was blinding. It swept around her, through the opening, and made pinpoints of the boy's irises. His blue eyes dazzled. His cheeks were sparkling with tears.

“I-” she started, meaning to say she loved him, but the brute went down, causing her to crash into his back. Air rushed from her, untouched by vocal cords, just pure air.

“Mom!” her son screamed. He was full of despair, reaching for the door. “Mo-”

The door closed, severing her from her family forever.

Chapter One

“Nothing but trees,” Celestia grumbled, looking out the carriage window. Outside her window, there was nothing but trees.

A month ago, her father, Sirius, had announced that he was taking a teaching job over 200 miles away, and the family had to pack their bags and leave the only home that Celestia had ever known. They were going to a place she had never heard of: Ponyville, almost straight north from their home in Manehatten. Still in Equestria, but just barely. Ponyville. The name itself almost screamed “small”. Of course, she had screamed, begged, threatened to run away forever, but she was eventually dragged to the carriage, and jammed into it with her little sister, and her mother. Her dad drove the cart, and two very strong pegasus were recruited for the time being to transport them to Ponyville.

The farther they went, the thicker the woods got, and the more homesick she became. It was bad enough having to leave Manehatten, but leaving it for Ponyville? That alone was painful to her.

She shifted in her seat, and bumped into her sister, Luna, causing her to drop her book. Luna just sighed and picked it back up off the carriage floor. “It's too cramped back here!”

“Don't start that with me.” Sirius warned from his seat on the front of the carriage.

“What?” Celestia asked, faking innocence.

“I used to do the same thing with my father.” Sirius said. “The carriage's too small... it's too run down...”

Celestia smirked. “Well, it is.”

Her mind wandering, Celestia started thinking about Eclipse. She thought back a bit. He hadn't returned her latest love letter. He used to always do that. But Celestia knew the score: Out of sight, out of mind. Even in the past week, she had sensed a coldness in him, as if he had no more emotion. When she had told her sister, Luna had just shrugged. Luna had never had a particular liking of Eclipse.

Celestia had tried to convince herself that he was just another friend she was leaving behind, but whenever she thought about leaving him, she felt an ache in her heart.

Stop it! She told herself.

Her mother reached over and patted her shoulder.

“Give it some time,” she whispered. “You'll find new things to do, and make new friends. Just wait, and you'll see.”

Chapter 2

Their rented room was decorated like a crazy rave-music-addicted pony's bedroom. There were posters all over the walls showing off all the most popular rave music artists, including a few that Celestia had never heard of in her life. A throw rug in the middle of the floor was supposed to look like a record, but it was so worn that it could easily be confused with a black-coated pony laying down in a ball on the floor.

“Who do they think stays here?” Celestia asked, noticing a poster that looked to be in an entirely different language. When she pointed it out to Luna, her sister thought it was a poster that someone had put up upside down. The two were sitting on the bed that they, unbelievably, had to share until their parents arranged something more permanent.

“This décor is... lovely,” Celestia's mother said.

“Since when did you become a rave fan?” Luna asked.

Celestia chuckled at the joke. “Since today!” She laughed, shoving Luna off the bed playfully.

One thing that Celestia liked about Luna was that she always attempted to stand up for herself. Instead of tattling, she would always either turn a cold shoulder, or fight back. This time she fought back. Grinning, she leaped off the floor and tackled Celestia to the bed.

Celestia rolled, so she was sitting on top of her sister. She grabbed Luna's arms and tried to keep her from moving. Luna jerked her arms free and managed to land a hit on Celestia's stomach. Celestia got a solid grip on Luna's arms, and held her arms to the bed, right next to Luna's ears. Luna squirmed.

“Girls!” Celestia's mother said.

“Oh, Nova, it's just some sibling rivalry, let them have their fun.” Sirius said.

“I don't want them getting hurt.”

“Okay, okay.” Celestia said, getting off of Luna. Luna pulled her knees to her chest to prevent Celestia from jumping on her again. Before Luna could turn, Celestia spit, nailing Luna's cheek. Celestia cackled maniacally and galloped out the room's door.

“Get back here right now!” Nova yelled after Celestia.

But Sirius called out to her, “Not too far!” giving her permission to carry on.

Celestia glanced back, still at full gallop, and saw Luna galloping after her. Luna's cheek still had saliva on it.