Luna opened her eyes. She had no idea where she was or how she had gotten there. She tried to move. She couldn't. Something was restraining her, but she couldn't tell what. She tried looking around, but realized her eyes were covered with a piece of cloth. All she could make out through it were vague spots of light.
She felt the most important thing was to gather information, so she began to rely on other senses. She sniffed. Smoke filled the air. But it didn't smell like normal smoke. It had incense in it. She listened. Various people were talking in hushed whispers. Two voices were closer to her, and she could begin to make out a conversation.
"Are you sure? She doesn't look like—"
"The signs are clear. She's chosen a co-ruler."
"Are you sure?"
"Completely."
A shuffling sound.
"Are you sure about this?"
"We have to abide by her choices, even if she doesn't know she's making them."
A brief pause.
"You're right."
Silence.
"She's awake."
One of them walked over and took off the cloth off Luna's eyes. It didn't help much. The room was unnaturally dark to begin with, windowless, and lit only by a few small torches. It was impossible to make out anything but the vaguest of details. The ponies in front of her had hoods over their faces, making them utterly unrecognizable. From the corner of her eye, Luna saw a glow, and turned to look at it.
Celestia was on a large table, surrounded by a powerful aura of magic. A couple of unicorns were monitoring the process, and were busily consulting tattered scrolls.
"What are you doing to Celestia!?" Luna yelled.
"Nothing we haven't done to you."
Luna lurched. "What?"
"We needed to make sure we had the process right before we used it on her."
"What process?"
"Preparing you for the change. Try to get up."
Luna struggled. She was being held back by a spell. Nothing happened.
"Try harder."
Luna exerted herself. After a while, she felt herself move, if only by a centimeter. Then she heard a cracking sound.
"What was that?" she said.
"Look down."
The restriction around her head loosened and Luna looked down. She noticed that she, too, was on a large table, except hers now had a large crack in it.
"Did… did I do that?"
"Yes. You feel stronger now, don't you?"
Luna noticed that even in her restrictions, she did. It disturbed her. "What did you do to me!?"
"I told you. Preparing you. It's a pittance compared to what your real transformation will be."
"My… real transformation?" Luna started resisting harder. "I don't want to change! Let me go! Let her go!" She started trying to move as hard as she could. After what she did to the table, she was confident she could escape. It started making creaking sounds the more she struggled. Finally, she got her wings free, and extended them with such force the table broke. She got a couple inches off the ground, but even stronger restraints quickly appeared and held her back. The figures began talking to themselves.
"Now do you believe it?"
"She is strong."
"She will make a fine mate."
"What!? What do you mean, mate!?" Luna yelled. She tried struggling more to no avail.
"Don't bother resisting." The figure approached her. "Even if you manage to escape, the wheels of fate have already been set in motion. This cannot be stopped no matter what any of us do now. But we can make it more comfortable. You would like that, wouldn't you?"
Luna shot a glare back.
"You'll understand. In time." He gestured. Someone rolled in a table full of equipment of some kind.
He brandished a needle.
Luna screamed. "What are you doing!?"
"Making things easier. You'll need a symbol to rule, won't you?"
– – – –
"I saw her walking down the street. I recognized her from school, so I began to wave, but then these guys came out of nowhere, grabbed her, and teleported her away. I ran around shouting for her but nothing happened." He looked down. "It took place over a couple seconds. I'm sorry I can't be more helpful."
"That's fine, son," the inspector said. "Can you tell me exactly where she was when the men teleported her away?"
"Over here." The student walked over to a spot on the ground and pointed at it. "Over here. I'm sure of it."
"Thanks," the inspector said, taking some notes.
"Do you think you'll find her?"
"With your testimony, possibly," the inspector said. "There might still be some magic residue in the spot where she was teleported away."
"Magic residue?"
"It's not common knowledge, but everyone's magic leaves a unique scent, especially with a complicated spell like teleporting." The inspector patted the student's head. "You did good. Now go home. They might still be out there."
"Thanks, sir," the student said, and flew off.
The inspector watched. "Just what is this world coming to?"
– – – –
After a while, Luna figured out what they were doing to her. This part, at least. They were tattooing her. That's what all the needles were for. It must've been quite complicated, or them quite incompetent, because they had been at it for at least an hour.
The strange thing was how painful it wasn't. She could feel the needles going deep, but for the most part it only hurt slightly. After a bit of a rough spot, she asked them to increase the strength of their painkilling magic, but they said was none. Her endurance was apparently part of the increased strength she had received in her preparation.
Luna passed the time wondering what on earth they were planning. The only specifics they had mentioned were her ruling, a more thorough transformation, and that her strength would make her a suitable "mate." The last one bothered her the most. Were they planning on selling her into prostitution? The thought crossed her mind, but didn't seem to fit the situation. The circumstances seemed too controlled, too religiously intricate for them to have such a base motive. What was going on seemed more like… a ritual.
The other thing that bothered her was the "she" the figures were referring to when she first came to. They mentioned having to obey her, even though she didn't know she was ordering them. What did that mean? How was that possible? And then they said they started the preparation process on her first because they needed to perfect it before they used it on Celestia.
Was "she" Celestia?
One of the figures slipped with the needle, making Luna swear. The coincidence made her think she was on the right path.
At first she did seem oddly interested in Luna, and Luna was worried something inappropriate was going to happen, but after knowing her for months, Luna had dismissed that as paranoia.
She couldn't have anything to do with this, could she? But the figures said themselves she was ignorant of this. She wouldn't know.
What did Celestia have to do with this?
– – – –
"So? Do you know anything? Why did you call us up here?" Luna's mother asked.
"Your daughter was teleported away from the scene. We found some magic residue left over." The inspector produced a small flask, sealed at the top. "Tell me if you can recognize the scent." He opened and moved the flask closer to Luna's mother, since she was a pegasus and could not on her own.
Luna's mother sniffed it. "There's nothing, of course," she said testily. "They hid their traces."
"Let me see that," Luna's father said, taking hold of the flask. "It might just be a simple dispersement spell." He applied a spell of his own to the contents and the vapor inside gathered into a thick hazy ball. He sniffed it. His eyes widened.
"What? What is it?"
"You try." He held the flask out.
She took a whiff and gasped. "But they—"
"There's been rumors," Luna's father said, "rumors that they've been involved in something fishy. Some kind of cult." He hit a wall. "I should've known something was suspicious about her!"
"Now, it isn't her fault…"
He grimaced. "I know. But still… they could be using her. They could've been using her this whole time! Just to…!" He couldn't continue.
"So you agree it's them?" the inspector said.
Luna's mother was taken aback. "You knew this whole time?"
"We needed confirmation. Can you think of any place where they might be holding the two?"
Luna's father glared. "I know exactly where they are."
– – – –
With one final prick of the needle, the tattoo was done. Luna could hear Celestia groaning as the magic aura around her increased in strength.
"What now?" Luna said. "What are you going to do with me now?"
"Don't worry. It's nearly over."
He started gesturing to some help, but right then a panicked figure ran up and whispered into his ear.
"I see," he said, then dismissed them. He turned to Luna. "It looks like you'll get your wish. For now. Remember, the process can be delayed, but it cannot be stopped. It can never be stopped." He turned to the other figures. "Ready?"
They said nothing, but their determination was clear.
"Now."
And at that, a door burst open, flooding the room with light, briefly blinding Luna. "You're all under arrest for—!" someone screamed as a squadron of armored ponies rushed in, but they stopped as soon as they saw the scene. A large, smooth, marble room covered in intricate designs and magic runes in every inch. Celestia and Luna restrained on elaborate pedestals, Luna's housing a large crack. And on the ground, about a dozen hooded figures, utterly lifeless.
"Dead," one of the mercenaries said, feeling one of the corpse's necks. "They must have committed suicide."
Another went over and undid Luna's restraints.
"Don't worry. You're home free now."
Luna looked over to Celestia. "What about Celestia? Is she okay?"
Some other soldiers were there undoing her restraints. She groaned groggily and started shifting around.
"Looks like it."
Luna breathed a sigh of relief. Then she took a closer look at Celestia, and noticed that she had a tattoo as well. On Celestia's hindquarters, on both sides, was a stylized picture of the sun. At first it confused her, but the more she looked at it, the more Luna was overcome by an undescribable feeling it suited her. She realized that the figures had been tattooing her hindquarters as well, and wondered what they had drawn on her. Her line of thought, however, was quickly interrupted.
"Luna! Luna!"
Luna recognized the voice instantly. "Mom!"
She rushed over and embraced her mother.
"I'm so glad you're safe," Luna's mother said, almost in tears.
"I'm fine," Luna said. "They didn't do too much to me."
Luna's mother backed away in shock. "Too much? What did they do?" She noticed the tattoo. "What on…"
"We'll talk about it later," Luna's father said. "She's been through enough today."
"Right, of course," Luna's mother said. "Let's go home." She looked over to Celestia. "But first…"
Celestia had finally managed to shake off her grogginess and was quickly looking around. When she failed to find what she was looking for, she approached Luna's family. "Are… are my parents here?" she said.
"About that," Luna's father said with some difficulty, "they've gone missing."
"Missing!?"
"They disappeared almost right when you two were kidnapped," he said. "Trust me when I say we're going to use all our resources to find them. Okay?"
Celestia was shocked, but she managed to nod.
"Until then you can stay at our house," Luna's mother said. "Is that okay?"
Celestia looked even more shocked, and much more confused. "I can stay at… your house?"
– – – –
The reason for her confusion was that, while on the surface both parents supported their friendship quite strongly, in reality, neither Celestia or Luna had successfully been to the other's house. It wasn't for a lack of effort, that was for sure. They tried to organize sleepovers and study sessions whenever they could, and their parents would always, at least outwardly, be very accepting of this. But circumstances would always suddenly appear to prevent these visits from working. Appointments would come up, sewer lines would clog, fridges would need defrosting, cleaning would need to be done… it went on and on. The closest either had gone to even seeing the other's house was when they walked home together one day and passed Celestia's house. Celestia offered Luna a drink, and right as she was about to step in, Luna's mother appeared out of nowhere, screamed something about urgent community service, and flew off. Too shocked and confused to voice any objection, Luna had no choice but to shrug and follow after.
Therefore, it was a bit of a shock when Celestia arrived at Luna's house and found out she lived in a mansion.
"You never told me you lived in a place like this," Celestia said, gaping at the ceiling.
"I try not to let it get around," Luna said.
They were in the entrance room. The floors were black and white checkered marble. The walls were gray with a hint of blue. Complicated insets adorned them. House staff ran around, attending to arrays of duties incomprehensible to Celestia. The ceilings were raised, and a chandelier hung from the domed roof. Celestia felt such decorations would usually look incredibly tacky, but here, somehow, they seemed to fit. She wasn't sure if this was through some subtle feat of architecture or because she knew Luna didn't let it go to her head.
"Here," Luna said, "I'll show you to my room." She headed up the stairs, and Celestia followed. She, for some reason, thought Luna's parents would interfere with this, but they didn't. Once at the top, Celestia was relieved to find that the house was not, as she expected, a giant maze of hallways, but instead that all the rooms were in a straight line and Luna's was the third to the left. Luna opened her door.
Celestia braced herself for whatever ostentatious display awaited her inside, but was pleasantly surprised by its plainness. The room was large, like every room in the house, but Luna had organized most of her belongings into cabinets, so, save for a couple posters and a near spotless desk, it was empty. The only detail she had been unable to tone down was a large canopy bed with transparent, sparkly curtains useless for privacy but nonetheless beautiful.
"Make yourself at home," Luna said, then headed in the attached bathroom.
Once inside, she turned on the light. She looked in the mirror. She had been waiting for this moment for the last hour. She wanted to know what the kidnappers had tattooed onto her, and finally she got a clear look.
It was a black splotch with a moon on it.
At first Luna was disappointed, especially considering how long it took them to tattoo it on her, only feeling a bit better when she turned around and realized the opposite side was, to the best she could tell, completely and meticulously identical. Then, almost out of the corner of her eye, she noticed something in the splotch. It seemed to be sparkling a bit in the light. She tried turning up the light in the restroom to no avail.
"Celestia?" she yelled. "Can you help me with something?"
Celestia's mind reeled, wondering what Luna could possibly need help with in the bathroom, but she had spent the last five minutes systematically opening every cabinet door in a possessed fascination, and would do just about anything to prevent Luna from finding that out. She rushed in. "Um," she said, "what do you need help with?"
"Could you make a little light? I'm trying to get a good look at my tattoo."
"Oh," Celestia said. "Okay." Part of her wished the favor wasn't so banal, but she effortlessly made some light anyways. Both her and Luna were shocked at what they saw.
What, at first glance, appeared to be a black splotch was in reality an intricate, detailed rendition of the night sky. It was full of stars, both bright ones in recognizable constellations and faint ones forming the distant unreadable outlines of galaxies. Somehow, Luna had no idea how they had accomplished this on fur, it shone slightly on light.
"It's beautiful," Celestia said, in awe.
"It really is," Luna said. She looked at Celestia's marking and noticed it also exposed detail in hers. "Oh! Look at yours!"
"What? Mine?" Celestia looked in the mirror. "Since when—?"
Luna looked skeptical. "The kidnappers gave us those. Don't tell me you forgot."
Celestia tried thinking back. "They had me out for a lot of it." Bringing back the memories hurt, and she looked back towards the mirror. "This might sound weird," she said, "but when you look at these…" She nervously paused. "…do you get the feeling that they somehow belong?"
Luna had gotten that feeling about Celestia's marking and was beginning to feel it about her own. "Yeah." It disconcerted her. "I do."
Celestia looked down. "Just who kidnapped us, anyways?"
– – – –
Finally they were asleep. Luna had given Celestia the bed and was sleeping on the floor. While her suspicions about Celestia's ulterior motives had mostly subsided, she figured it was better to play it safe and look like the better person in the process.
Suddenly Luna noticed a draft. Pegasi, particularly skilled flyers like Luna, could sense subtle changes in the wind other ponies could not. She looked up and noticed her door had been cracked open. She slowly got up, as to not wake Celestia, and approached the door. She lightly pushed it open, and saw her mother outside. Luna slowly followed her downstairs, and noticed the lights in the dining room were on. She knew, from the way sound traveled in the house, that was the only place they could talk at normal volume and not disturb Celestia.
Once there, her father was waiting.
"What's this about?" said Luna.
"Sorry, this is the only way we could talk to you without risking Celestia hearing," Luna's mother said.
"And why is that a problem?"
"We found her parents," Luna's father said. "They're dead."
Luna choked. "W-What?" she stammered. "Was it the kidnappers?"
"They were the kidnappers."
Luna was lost for words. She took a couple steps back, trying to take this in. It didn't make any sense. "Are… you sure?"
"It's how we found you," Luna's mother said. "When they teleported you away on the way home they left behind clear magic residue. They hardly even tried to hide their identity."
"But why—?"
"When we searched through their house we found tons of hidden documents. They were part of a large cult, one that has apparently existed for hundreds of years unnoticed," Luna's father said. "They've done nothing but wait this whole time for some prophecy to be fulfilled."
"Which is?"
Luna's father looked down. "We don't know yet. But, from their documents, we've been able to piece together their goal." He inhaled. "To breed some type of perfect immortal leader who will unite the world under their rule."
Luna gasped. "I remember that! They told me they were preparing us for some kind of change. And that this tattoo was some kind of symbol to help me rule." Luna paused as she the implications of this sunk in. "But that's insane! We're just children! First years in high school!"
"Exactly," Luna's father said. "And these people raised Celestia, clearly under some deluded impression she was their prophesied leader. And since she grew close to you, they figured you were too." He looked out the window. "Truth be told, I had heard rumors about them, but I thought they were too absurd to be true."
"The point is," Luna's mother said, "when we break the news to Celestia, we're not going to mention this. I'm sure she wouldn't want us to tarnish their name like that, and more importantly, we don't know what type of mental health they left her in. What if they had conditioned her to believe them? And so on." She looked at Luna, who had been taking this in a stunned silence. "Do you agree?"
"Of course," she said, "it's just… a lot to take in."
"We'll tell her tomorrow," Luna's father said. "And that brings us to our next point." He cleared his throat, as if the next thing he said was going to be monumental. "We're thinking of taking Celestia in."
Luna gaped. "What!?"
Luna's father cleared his throat, knowing this would prompt a huge reaction. "She has very little other family," he said, "and we don't know if they were involved in the cult as well. We have little choice. They could derange her mental state even more, and god forbid if their prophecies are actually right."
"And since you two are friends, we hope she will take it better," Luna's mother said. "What do you say?"
"It sounds fine to me," Luna said, wondering why they were even asking. "But can she have—"
"She'll get the room next to yours."
Luna sighed in relief. "Good." An awkward silence filled the room, and Luna felt the need to say something. "Um, the kidnappers did something to us. It made me stronger. That crack in that one table… I did that."
Her parents eyes widened. "You?"
"Yeah," Luna said. Luna took their stares as skepticism and looked around the room. "Is there anything you don't mind broken?"
"No, you don't need to demonstrate," Luna's mother said, a bit panicked. "We're calling a doctor in tomorrow."
"Oh. Good," Luna said. "And about the tattoo…"
"Well, unless you really wanted it removed," Luna's mother said, "I think it looks fine."
"You know what I think about those things, and even I don't have a problem with it," Luna's father said.
Luna, a bit confused, stole a glance at her own hindquarters. What at first seemed like an arbitrary shape was starting to seem like something more. She began to suspect that feeling of the mark belonging, a feeling that only occupied the edge of Celestia and Luna's consciousness, affected other people much more strongly.
"Anyway," Luna's mother said, "we kept you awake long enough. We should go back to sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a long day."
"Yeah," Luna said, lots on her mind. She walked back up to her bedroom. She hoped tomorrow would go smoothly.
– – – –
It didn't.
Celestia took the news very poorly, especially after Luna revealed her parents had committed suicide. She couldn't stand watching Celestia beg for details, and wasn't quite sure if her parents wanted that part under wraps, so she blurted it out. Either way, it didn't help, and Celestia teleported away in a fit.
Luna's parents expressed some concern about finding her, but Luna knew exactly where she was.
She flew to a rock outcropping that overlooked the forest they flew over that first time. They had been there several times since. There, as she expected, was Celestia, bawling.
"Go away," Celestia said without much conviction, and did little to act on it. Luna landed next to her and covered her with one of her wings.
"There… it's okay…" Luna said, gently patting her. "Just let it out…" She leaned against Celestia, and the two looked out at the vast landscape that stretched in front of them. The majestic forest. The rough, massive mountains. And the city, down below, looking so small and vulnerable.
Celestia could see nothing but destruction everywhere she looked. She searched desperately for some evidence to the contrary. For some sign that something in the world was worth saving. She felt, in some inexplicable feeling, that one was destined to appear.
The sign never came.