The Legend of Solun

"Grian, I found a new one," A deep voice said. Scarlette was being held tight, in the grasp of chains, a magic aura surrounding her. She couldn't see, but she knew was no longer in the snow, and was now back into warmth of a home.

"Ah, good. Thank you, Jason. I always know I count on you," Another said, presumably the Grian character from before. He had a slight British accent, but Scarlette payed no attention to it. She had other problems on her hooves.

"Also, Jason. please free her from the chains, I hate when you seemingly torture them," Grian said again. Scarlette's mind raced, wondering what he meant by the comment. Wasn't the whole point of capturing her tormenting her?

The chains were loosened around her, and the blindfold taken off. Scarlette blinked her eyes open, looking around. It took a second for her eyes to adjust to the bright lights, but she immediately noticed the stone walls, red carpet, and large, golden throne. It was laced with purple swirls, and a golden crown was carved into the top. It seemed so formal- this was nothing like her mind imagined it being.

All or a sudden, a pony walked up to her. Scarlette narrowed her eyes, not recognizing the pony before her.

"Hello, my name is Grian. Yours?" He asked, holding a hoof out to help her off the ground. She got up, looking at the pony. She knew she recognized him, but from where she didn't know.

"S-Scarlette. W-Where are we..?" She muttered. Grian looked at her, his blue eyes burning into her.

"Where we are is no matter to us right now. The real problem is if you know this pony or not."

"Wh... AVIAN!"

-~*{-}*~-

On the other side of the room, Avian stood, shaking. Scarlette gasped, mouth agape. She was here as well?

Avian looked over at Scarlette, smiling. "S-Scarlette! It's felt like so long I last saw you.." She said quietly. Scarlette nodded, looking around.

"Wh-where are we? And what happened to get you here?" Scarlette asked.

"Uh.. I was walking a-along the snow, when-" Avian started, but was stopped by the guard.

"Quiet! The king must choose one." He said, his scratchy voice making Scarlette shake in fear.

"Jason, please.." Grian said again. While he sounded like he was conveying emotion with his words, his face told otherwise, as he was a blank slate. He cleared his throat, looking over at her and Avian.

"One of you ponies must stay in this castle for the rest your lives. The reasoning will be conveyed to you later. I'm sorry for this." He said finally.

"F-F-For the rest of our lives..? A-Avian isn't old enough to go on her own! She needs me!" Scarlette yelled. Grian looked at the ground, obviously regretting his decision take them in.

"I'm sorry. I can't do anything about it. Avian, I-" Grian started, but was stopped.

"N-No! I-I volunteer myself, don't take Avian!" Scarlette shrieked. Grian looked over, and Avian ran over, surprised.

"S-S-Scar! N-No!" Avian yelled. Grian just sighed.

"Scarlette, will you take Avian's place..?" Grian asked. Scarlette nodded.

"N-NO!" Avian cried. Scarlette cringed at sight of it all, but she couldn't let him take her, no matter what.

"Then it's settled. Jason!" Grian said, stamping his hoof on the ground. Jason trotted over to Avian, grabbing her.

"You got real lucky there, kid," Jason muttered, but Avian didn't listen.

"P-Please! I'll do anything! Anything, I swear! Scarlette!" Avian yelled. No response was given, as Scarlette was shocked by the extreme abundance of information given to her, that she was stuck in her place. Seemingly instantly, Avian was dragged out of the room, screaming and crying.

"A-Avian.."

-~*{-}*~-

A couple minutes passed, and Scarlette already felt like an empty shell rather then a pony. Her soul was shattered, Avian had meant everything to her.

And they had to take it away.

"S-Scarlette..? Hello..?" A voice said from in front of her. She glanced up, expecting to see Grian, or even Jason, but this was a pony she had never seen.

"W-What's your problem.." Scarlette muttered. She did not feel in the mood for conservation at the time.

"H-Hello. M-My name's Clouded Sky, b-but some people just call me Sky.. a-and.." He tried to say. He must have seen the terrible condition she was in.

"Ah.. a-Alright.. Please, just let me leave this place and let me go back with Avian, I'd do anything.." Scarlette said. Her voice was a bit hoarse from all the screaming she had done not long beforehand.

"Oh.. I-I'm not here to talk about that.. I- uh.. just wanted to.. talk. Show you around the castle," Sky said. Scarlette took a hoofstep closer in wonder.

"Show me around the castle..? This is a castle?" She asked. Sky nodded. "Y-Yeah. Y-You might of heard of it.." He started. "W-Welcome to.. Solun. The Solun Kingdom."

"Solun.. Solun.." Scarlette repeated. She knew she had heard the name before, but where, she didn't know.

"Uh.. I think you'll know after I show you the library. F-Follow me!" Sky said. Scarlette seemed hesitant, but went along anyway as she basically had no choice.

Sky led her up a staircase, until he reached a room with four hallways connecting it, counting the one they were in. Scarlette examined them, noticing that each was labeled with a different direction, the hallway they exited from labeled 'South'. Sky motioned toward the East hall, shaking his head.

"We're all forbid from going down the East wing, and that includes you, Scarlette," He said. Scarlette tried to peek around and look at it's contents, but Sky pulled her back.

"..It's because the prince stays down there. That's his room. The only ones allowed are himself and Jason, since that's his guard." He said finally.

"Jason.. is that the pony that brought me here..?" Scarlette asked. Sky nodded. Scarlette thought about this fact, nodding and continuing along her path.

"The South wing is where we came from, and that's where the throne and dining hall are. The North hall has the essentials, like the library and medical room, and the West hall is all the rooms. We persuaded Grian to let you stay in the same type of rooms we stay in, so yours is down there as well," Sky said. He began trotting down the North hall, and Scarlette followed close behind.

"And.. Here's the library," Sky said finally. Scarlette walked in, examining the room. Once she finally got a look around, she stepped back. The library was enormous!

"A-Are all the rooms like this..?!" She asked in shock. Sky thought for a moment, then nodded. Scarlette obtained a large smile on her face, running to the closest bookshelf and scanning through them. Sky laughed quietly, walking down another hall of books, the glare in his eye showing that he was looking for something. Scarlette took no mind of it, her eyes darting back to the bookshelf.

All of a sudden, a book had caught her eye. It was labeled as 'Sakura and The Thunderbird Stone,' and was printed in a font that seemed almost like writing over typing. She grabbed it off the shelf, smiling as she walked over to check it out. She placed it on the table, looking at the pony before her. He had a very distinct feature; two dark brown stripes on his ears. Scarlette turned her head in confusion, but he turned around, jumping in surprise.

"Oh, hello!" He said, smiling, but she could still tell from his rapid breathing that he was still a bit frightened from the shock she had given him. He grabbed a scanner, opening the book with his magic and checking it out for her. He handed it back, smiling.

"T-There you go! That's a really good series, and if you want to get into it, we have the rest.." He said. Scarlette nodded.

"I would assume so, It looks like you have almost every book in pony history here!" Scarlette said. The pony laughed, waving a goodbye. Scarlette waved back, heading back into the isle that Sky entered. She found him, as he was searching through a specific section of books. All or a sudden, he smiled, flying up and grabbing a small book.

Sky laughed. "Here it is!" He flew back down, the book in his hooves. Scarlette picked it up, reading the cover. Once she read it, though, she was frozen in place.

By reading the cover, now she knew why she was here. She knew where she was, who Grian was, and almost everything leading up to this point. The book's cover had read..

'The Legend of Solun.'