She didn't think. She just snatched up the Star and watched as the life drained away along with the blood, feeling nothing, her frosty eyes carrying only the cold of a thousand winters.

The eyes that everypony in Equestria has come to fear.

Scarlet Radiance used to be just a simple, lowly florist mare, and a thestral one at that. She kept out of other ponies' way. The ponies that called her an anomaly, a disgrace . . . something that never should have existed. A mistake.

But beneath all of that, she is so much more. Protector of the Diamond Rose, wearer of its Crown, wielder of the Ruby Star. It clings to her, haunting every dream she has and every breath she takes.

Now, an infamous escapee from the Canterlot Castle dungeons and Equestria's most-wanted fugitive, Scarlet Radiance is on the run – much to her chagrin. She is everywhere and nowhere, lost but knowing exactly where she is.

And when her heart is captured by a pony of the Rose's sworn enemy, and his by her, everything she is expected to be falls apart.

What is a mare like her, still in those youthful teenage years but carrying so much weight on her shoulders, supposed to do?