The stars shone in the ebony sky, suspended in nothingness and forced to remain there, forever burning till their slow demise. Their strong light was hindered by the thick atmosphere of equestria, causing it to flicker uncertainly. A cool breeze shook the tree boughs, ruffling the feathers of a vibrant blue-tit attempting to sleep within her nest. As if fearing for her life she took off, flying towards the dark city of Canterlot, where a single lone statue stood like a sentry, as if gaurding the night.
A small bead of moisture welled in the statues cold stone eye and dropped to the floor with a soft plink. A huge castle towered above the shadowed city square.Above the castle was a lone winged unicorn, an alicorn. She beat her large feathered wings at a slow, steady pace, Her coat was dark blue. As were her mane and tail, but they also had a moving sparkling aura that looked like a stary sky she was silhouetted against. Her blue eyes had long lashes and blue eye shadow. A mark of what looked like an inkblot with a silver crescent moon was on her flank. She had a black chestplate with the same moon branded on.

She raised her head and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. Then, she began to sing.
"Come little Children,
I'll take thee away
Into a land of enchantment
Come little children
The time's come to play
Here in my garden of shadows"

Her eyes snapped open on the last word, and she flew to the ground in front of the castle, swooping low through the streets as she sang.

"Follow sweet children
I'll show thee the way
Through all the pain and the sorrows
Weep not poor children
For life is this way
Murdering beauty and passions"

She landed in front of an old stone brick orphanage, where the children were all happily asleep, drool seeping from their open mouths. They were dreaming dreams any young child would dream. Trips to the moon and travelling to far off lands. The alicorn outside smiled to herself. After the last note was sung, the children woke up one by one and filed downstairs, as if in a daze.

They stopped at an open window, and stared at it questioningly.
The alicorns horn began to glow, and all of the children in the city began to float from their beds, through their windows and into the night sky.

"Hush now dear children
It must be this way
To weary of life and deceptions
Rest now my children
For soon we'll away
Into the calm and the quiet"

She began to hum the tune as she took off to join the children in the air. There were hundreds, of all types; unicorns, pegasi and earth ponies. All were galloping in the air next to the Alicorn, away from their city, their homes, their friends and their pearents.
All left behind for the mares enchanting tune.
"Come little children
I'll take thee away
Into a land of enchantment
Come little children
The times come to play
Here in my garden of sha-a-dows"

She held the last note for as long as she could as they flew farther away from Canterlot. Soon, they could not see the city for the distance they had travelled. Away they flew, deep into the night, not to be seen again.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"Gone, all gone!" Yelled Princess Celestia. She was a tall, white Alicorn. Her horn was extremley long, and her wings were huge. Her mane and tail were a mix of green, pink yellow and blue. At the moment, her face was twisted into a furious snarl.

"Every last child, snatched from their beds. I have a mob of angry pearents outside, demanding to know what happened." She shreiked. "Luna will rue the day she was born, just as I have."

She paused to think, staring at the purple unicorn in front of her. She was kneeling as low as she could, her eyes shut tight. She had a navy blue mane and tail with pink and purple highlights running through the middle. One purple eye was open, watching carefully as .
"Twilight."The purple unicorn tensed, but managed to squeeze out a respectful
"Yes your majesty?"
"What shall I do to the mob?"
Twilight smiled meanly as she stood up straight.
"Let them in."

The princess used her horn to telekineticly open the doors. A troop of two hundred pearents filed in all demanding an explaination.
Celestia raised a hoof to silence them.
"Twilight will take your visit." She said simply, and she stayed put to watch.

"Where are my kids!?" Screamed a pink and white earth mare.
Twilights horn shimmered with a purple aura, and the unicorns face twisted in silent agony and she fell to the floor, blood at the corners of her mouth. The confidence of the mob dissapated, and they panicked.
Several of them bolted to the doors, but a purple aura shimmered around them and they slammed shut with loud bang that echoed around the halla faint click.

"Oh we can't have that." Twilight said, her voice low. "Now, I want three groups. Unicorns in one, pegasi in the other, earth ponies in the third. You have thirty seconds"

The ponies scrambled to get into position, clambering over eachother in their panic. They all finished with seven seconds to spare, and they stared wide-eyed at Twilight who simply smirked and looked to the Princess still standing behind her. They nodded. Twilight opened her mouth to speak. "We did not take your children. As you know, we are not allowed to 'till the eve of their fourteenth birthday. It is the law"

The pearents all visibly relaxed, and a low muttering began in the group. The pegasi seemed to look a great deal more relieved than the other two races.
"But, if you don't have them, then who does?" A brave unicorn called out.
"Last night, the Alicorn Rouge and sister of our Princess, known as Luna visited our delightful city. She stole all of your children."

The pearents began to panic once more, questions being yelled from each group, as they fought desperatley to be heard by the purple unicorn, who merely smirked.
"Now. There are some...legal matters." She said calmly, and the ponies in front of her were shoked into silence. They stared, open mouthed as Twilight teleported a scroll into the room.

"We know why she took your children. Yes. She has initiated them to her army, that she plans to use to usurp our beloved leader. Now, your children are enemies of the great Celestial Empire. And according to Section B-34 of the Code of Conduct ruling, paragraph A/49 line 43 through 45..." She cleared her throat and began reading off the scroll.
"Any person or persons caught aiding, asscotiating with or enquiring of the position of any rouge, person or persons who are associating with or aiding rouges, or if either party are themselves rouges, are therefore enemies of Equestria and traitors to her majesty Princess Celestia. They are guilty of High Treason and must, therefore, be dealt with accordingly." She finished with a small smile.
"Pardon?" Asked a blue unicorn.
"It means that your children are enemies, and you must be disposed swiftly of before you try to aid them." Princess Celestia said, speaking to them for the first time. She sounded nearly gleeful at the prospect, and the ponies in front of her could hardly contain their disgust towards their
"Five of you from each group, step forward. Then stand over there" Twilight barked, pointing over to yhe side of the room. A few ponies from each group were shoved forward, some with tears in their eyes as they were torn from their loved ones. They stood where the purple unicorn had instructed, shaking with fear. Twilight glanced around, waiting for silence.

When it was quiet, Twilights horn began to glow with a purple aura, and she grinned, her eyes turning black.

The ponies that had remained in their groups began to scream in agony. Their skin began to peel away, and their eyeballs melted from their sockets. Several of them were writhing on the floor, convulsing in pain. They all wept as they caught fire, their tears evaporating into nothing. One by one they sank to the floor, their bones turning to dust. The screams still echoed around the hall long after they had died.
The fifteen ponies left all stared at the unicorn in front of them in horror, not daring to look away, speak or even move.
Twilight did not glance back at them as she and the Princess began to walk away.
She left two parting words that sent shivers down their spine, and nearly made them cry with greif as the gaurds step forward with thick chains and ropes.
"Slave trade."
The doors slammed shut.

Author's Note

So hope y'all enjoyed. Please comment your criticisims dowm below.
Next chapter will have Pinkie () and Rainbow Dash () and may be hard to read for some of the more sensitive types, so proceed with caution.