5 Folsom Prison Blues

Yards woke up in a cell. He wasn't sure where exactly he was, but he suspected he was in one of the storage rooms back in his base. It had likely been cleared out quickly and re-purposed.

It wasn't all bad. Somepony's hooves were working over his screaming neck muscles. He moaned softly and adjusted his head slightly, bringing a painful spot under the massaging hooves.

“Do you like that?” Toffee asked.

Yards grunted in the affirmative. “Delta?” he whispered.

“Got away, thanks to you.” She continued her ministrations. Ah, it felt so good.

“Why are you still here?”

“I'm looking after you silly. Since I, well, you know. They trust me. So I can come and go.” He lay there like a lump at her hooves until the door opened. A bandaged Trixie was looking down at him.

“Hmmm,” she sneered. “It would seem that you are not as stupid as you first appeared. You took the olive branch offered by the Magnanimous and Benevolent Trixie.”

With a grunt, Yards rolled over simultaneously away from her and to allow Toffee to work on the still damaged side. The rubbing wouldn't fix all the damage, but it made most of the swelling go down. He'd be able to move his head sooner thanks to it.

Trixie snorted. “We see that your defeat has done nothing to increase your manners. Give us the changeling, and we may still yet absolve you of more of your crimes.”

“She's just one changeling.”

“She's more than that.”

“Why do you so desperately want her dead?”

“Princess Luna has demanded it.”

“Princess Luna knew she was alive all along. Why would she change her mind now?” The hooves were less movement and more force now. It still felt good, so Yards didn't care.

“You were a part of the Royal Guard. You should know better than any to not question the ways of the nobility.”

“I know them enough to know there's some political machinations at work here.”

“You know, historically speaking,” Toffee began, “not all changelings carried an automatic death sentence. What did this one do?”

“The Magnanimous and Benevolent Trixie does not care. What she does care about is finding this changeling,” She harrumphed. “Anything else is simply beneath her notice.”

“Sorry, I was busy fighting a living legend. I didn't notice where she ran off to.”

Scorn dripped heavily from the High Inquisitor's voice. “Yes, he gave me his report. Allowing the main target to escape was the only blemish in an otherwise perfect mission. Still, you know her. You know where she will feel safe. Where she will hide. You know how she is able to get around our detection charms. You will furnish this information.”

“You didn't say please.”

Trixie huffed. Something slammed into the back of Yard's head. He gritted his teeth against the pain to his already damaged neck. Toffee screamed in surprise then glared at Trixie.

“What?” The inquisitor matched her gaze definitely.

“You could have hit me.”

“Pffft! The Magnanimous and Benevolent Trixie is truly great and powerful. She wouldn't strike you accidentally.”

Heavy hooves cantered into the room. Yard's neck still wasn't able to turn so he had to whimper as he rolled over his whole body. Two stallions tackled Yards, shoving Toffee out of the way. She screamed while the other two held down his neck and head. A third came in with a huge poleaxe. He brought it down with a heavy swing.

Toffee swore to fornicate to death parts of their anatomy if they didn't let him go.

The axe made a crunching noise as it came down, through Yard's horn and into the ground.

Yards screamed as his eyes rolled back in shock and blood sprayed out like water from a fire hose.

Trixie picked up his horn amidst the gore with her magic and held it in front of her. She studied the severed appendage with detached curiosity.

“YOU BITCH!” Toffee yelled.

“Oh please,” Trixie mocked, “We are the Magnanimous and Benevolent Trixie. He still has his root. It will grow back in time. After all, it's just hair.” She turned and walked out, followed by the three stallions and the stump of his horn.

Toffee gently cradled Yard's head in her forehooves, trying to stem the flow of blood. Her tears cleaned his face. “I'm SO sorry. I'm so sorry. Yards. It wasn't supposed to happen like this. I'm sorry.” Her eyes literally glowed with unrestrained fury. He tried to swim in reality, but a dark undercurrent dragged him down under a wave of unconsciousness.

_____________________________________________________________________________
He awoke several times. Always it was a sharp hoof to the abdomen. It wasn't a hard hoof. It wasn't always the same hoof. But every 10 to 20 minutes somepony came in and changed the temperature of the room and kicked him once just enough to wake him back up. It didn't get to him at first. He'd slept well the night before and he'd been trained to resist this. But as the hours dragged on, as the tedium of it all set in, as the sleep deprivation began in earnest, Yards began to retreat back into his own mind.

He'd lost his horn. That had never happened to him before. He found it odd and disorientating. He wasn't going to be all melodramatic and say it was like going blind or deaf. But maybe one of the lesser senses. Touch? Yes, it was more like touch. He could still see things, still observe them, but he couldn't feel them. He couldn't grasp them. At least they had bandaged it, staunching the blood flow. They had also hobbled him, both front and back, then tied the two sets into a makeshift shackle.

After eight or ten different guards had kicked him and he'd grown sick from shivering hot and cold, somepony new opened the door. It was Trixie again.

“So, are you ready to have words with the Magnanimous and Benevolent Trixie?” Yards glared at her. “It doesn't matter. You will tell her everything she wants to know.” She lifted his horn in between them. “This will see to it.”

Yards knew what was coming. She'd use his own horn against him. Her magic would be able to slip past every defense he had. His body, his soul and, her ultimate target, his mind would be laid bare before her.

Trixie took her time. She had no reason not to. She let Yards watch. There was nothing he could do. Well, he could throw a kick and try to interrupt her spell, but the Inquisition had the girls. There was nowhere safe and he knew she would take out her anger on them. He didn't look away. He would meet this bravely. He didn't beg; he refused to give her the pleasure.

Yards swallowed. He could no longer see the magical auras clearly. It looked more like a spotlight shined on the relic from his body rather than seeing the play of magic dance before the spell. Then he felt her inside him.

She reached inside, laid him bare. She saw him. Every mistake, every secret, every hope, every shame. The former unicorn tried to fight back. He tried to focus on building a wall of emptiness for her to get lost in. She sent a light beam into the horizon of his brain and hopped in, moving faster than his brain could create the blank vista. He tried to create a noise to drown out her ears from things that must not be known. She turned down the volume with a wave. Her grasp on him was firm, controlled. This wasn't the first time she'd done this to somepony. Likely this wouldn't be the last. It almost bordered on the routine and that made it all the more terrifying.

Trixie saw him. She saw all of him and all that it meant to be him. He was a bare soul before her, and she casually rejected him. She knew him in ways nopony else ever would ever again and she dismissed him completely.Yards collapsed on the floor, shaking. Trixie turned, depositing his horn in a small pocket inside her cape.

“We are done with him,” She said to some guard in the hallway. “Contact Canterlot. Have them ready to receive him.”

“Does he know anything about the changeling?”

“Nothing useful. Tell everypony to remain vigilant. Though we may want to check at the spa. Apparently she enjoys being there.”

_____________________________________________________________________________
Again, Yards woke up to hooves working over his body. They weren't massaging him this time. The hooves were still gentle, lifting his right foreleg and wrapping something around it. Slowly it began to squeeze his arm. He tried to wake up and see who it was. The thing on his foreleg almost squeezed it completely off. With a grunt he woke up.

There was a white earth pony sitting next to him. She had a long mane and tail with an inverted curl that seemed to give it a jaggedness. There was a red streak in the black hair that fell over her right eye. Her eye was green with a small beauty mark just below and behind it. Her cutie mark was a torn heart. She was wearing a scrub with balloons and teddy bears on it. Yards recognized her from when they'd had taken Rhubarb Salad to the hospital. The former unicorn was thinking her name was Broken Heart.

She wrote something down on a clipboard as the squeezing from the blood pressure cuff released.

“Oh, you're awake! Thank Celestia.” She pulled out a pin light with her mouth and opened his eyes. She tsk-tsked while writing down more.

“Do you remember your name?”

“Yards.”

She smiled her professional smile. “Good job.” She listened to his heart before pulling her stethoscope off and stuffing it into an oversized pocket. “Do you know what day it is?”

He only shook his head. This seemed to concern her and she took more notes.

Trixie showed up with two more guards. “Is he alright?”

“No. You've cut off his horn.”

“Will he live?”

“I told your guards. I'm a pediatric nurse. I'm not allowed to diagnose anypony.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a sucker with a hole in the middle and a stick that looped back into itself. She opened it and put it in Yard's mouth. Mmmm. It was cherry.

“Never let it be said I didn't give you my cherry,” she whispered into his ear. He gave her a confused look.

“Will he make the trip to Canterlot?” Trixie was getting annoyed now.

“The only trip he needs to be making right now is to Ponyville Memorial. He needs to be monitored for a neurogenic insult dissociative shock.”

“This stallion is a liar and a traitor. He stole my work.”

“Your work was taken from Starswirl's.”

Trixie glared at her. “How do you know””

It was only a moment and Yards was wondering if he could have another sucker. Broken Heart returned her stare. “What? Yeah I know about magic. I have to for my job. Little unicorns get sick too. What? You think just because I'm an earth pony magic is beyond me?” She threw up her forehooves. “Oh, Celestia me! Oh please save me great and powerful uni-corn.” Trixie turned and stormed down the hallway with her guard. Broken Heart stuck her head out the doorway, watching her leave.

“Sucker?” asked Yards.

“Yeah, she really is.”

“Lime?”

“Lime? Oh! Ew, there must be something wrong with you.” She dug around her pocket to pull out a green sucker. She put the new one in his mouth then stood over him. “Can you stand? We've got to get you out of here.” There were hoofsteps coming down the hallway. “Hopefully that's Toffee.”

It was. She was holding a bag in her mouth. Of course, she was also flanked by a Wonderbolt and a Shadowbolt. The Wonderbolt looked like he had a grey mane. His wings were fashioned from electrium. Each feather was hoof crafted and connected through innumerable tiny wires into a set of mechanical wings as responsive as his original. Apparently that was the reward for being a living legend. The Shadowbolt was actually a dark red outside his Lunari armor. He had a brownish main and tail that swept into a pomp.

“How's he doing?” asked Rey.

“He's not really all there. I think we need to get him out of here.”

The pegasi stallions walked over to either side of him and helped him up. The girls looked at each other in confusion. Tears were streaming down Toffee's face and her lip quivered, making the bag shake.

“So this is the guy?” Messer asked his companion.

“Yeah. Cezz, the Boss is going to crap puppies when he sees him like this.”

“Your boss cut off his horn.” Grumbled the nurse.

The two stallions looked at each other. Finally Astro spoke: “We don't work for Trixie, we're just on loan because of the delicate nature of this operation. The Boss should be here on the next train from Canterlot with the rest of the crew.”

“Luna is coming here?” Yards asked him.

“Noooo. Not Princess Luna either. Shining Armor.”

“Shining Armor is going to have puppies?” Yards was struggling hard to put things together.

“Yeah, yeah he is, buddy.” Astro smiled softly.

“Well, he is a little bitch.” Yards began to hysterically laugh at his own bad joke. Everypony else in the room gave him a concerned look.

“Hospital or train?” asked Messer Wind.

Yards stared at his wings. Electrium? Really? That can't be right. Electrium was far too soft a metal to be able to support a stallion. He could feel his brain trying to restart. It kept focusing on the strangest things. With everything going on around him, why wouldn't his brain let go of tensile strength figures?

“I can't believe it. They really cut off his horn,” whimpered Toffee.

“Let's get him to the hospital. That pus coming out of the damaged area has me worried. If you're feeling brave we could probably skirt the edge of the Everfree.” The two stallions looked at each other. They sighed together.

“Alright,” they said almost in unison.

They marched him down the hallway to the elevator where they were brought up to the surface. They waited for the mares at the door.

Sweet Apple Acres was awash in red. Everywhere there were inquisitors. Apparently they had been hiding, slowly coming into town, then over the last day or so entire train loads had shown up.

Once the mares arrived on the surface they walked quietly across the farm, cutting through the zap apple orchard and beside the edge of the Everfree. It was a straight shot to the hospital this way. So long as they minded the timber wolves it would be safe.

“You mares know he's not in any serious trouble, right?” Astro started. “Well, yeah, there's going to be some trouble, but ultimately he was following orders. Well, most of the time. There's no need to do this.”

“Do what?” asked Toffee.

“Look, I appreciate that you want to protect your friend. Far be it from me or Messer to ever stand in somepony's way of helping a friend. But this was just a really bad plan. You should have just let him face his consequences and run away to protect your own life. You know, like he sacrificed himself to do.”

“We're just trying to get him to the hospital,” the nurse said.

“Yeah, I don't doubt he needs to go to the hospital. I bet you two even think he needs to go. That's why I'm really confused as to why you're going to try and overpower us and steal him away into the Everfree. Shouldn't the changeling there just flee like we tried to let you?” asked Astro

“Why would you let that changeling get away?” Broken Heart clearly wasn’t buying it.

“Well, I was privy to his reports on her. Princess Luna gave them to me. It seemed he was making interesting progress in reforming them.”

“Do you know why she was to be killed?” Toffee asked.

“No, those parts of her records were sealed.”

“Don’t you think that she should be killed for being a changeling?” asked Broken Heart.

“Neither Princess Celestia nor Princess Luna ever said they were to be killed on sight. That civilians attacked them has always been an unfortunate act of mass hysteria.”

“So you knew this incredibly powerful monster that killed six ponies was running amuck yet you let her escape?” Broken’s tone almost mocked Astro. It was one taunting him to try to attack.

“Yeah, I gave her a free one in light of Yards always questioning his orders to have her killed. That she wasted it trying to then save him does speak highly of her.”

“What did you do anyway?” Messer finally spoke.

Broken Heart looked around, unwilling to acknowledge the question.

“Oh, you don't have to pretend.” Astro took over the conversation again. “I fought alongside your kind for eight years. I can tell the differences. You're movements are never quite right. Granted your kind usually does a pretty good job of it, but it's not your body you're in. You don't know the full reach of your legs. Or in your case, how to compensate for your new form's bad eye. So you put someone you trust in your blind spot and hope they'll cover for you.”

“When did you switch?” Messer asked the nurse.

“I never left his side.” Delta's tone was even, controlled. She knew she was going to have to fight this time.

“It was my idea. After what they were going to do to her, I couldn't let that stand. I didn't know they'd hurt Yards like that.” Toffee interjected.

“Yeah, to be honest we were kind of surprised, too. That's why we had the Boss show up early and set up a counter-ambush here so we could deal with you.” The Shadowbolt stopped.

The bushes moved and there was a yellow explosion. Delta shrieked as she was forced back into her true form. The pegasi turned, dropping Yards.

A yellow unicorn in a blue wide brimmed hat stepped out from the bushes. She had a flame red mane that spilled down one side of her neck.

With a blood curdling yell a zebra came swooping down from the treetops swinging on a vine. The vine broke and she skidded to a halt on her rear the last fifteen feet to stop in front of Toffee.

“Oooh, I love your mane, who did the braiding?” The zebra had a wiry frame with almost dark chocolate stripes. Her animated umber eyes bore into Toffee.

“Uh...” she said intelligently.

“A Nancy, huh?” came a familiar voice behind Yards. Like a switch all the problems with higher functions in his brain stopped. Because all the higher functions stopped.

Yards roared in wrath and came up with a hay maker. Shining Armor dodged right. That pulled the attention of the pegasi to the two stallions.

“Not even a hello?” Shining asked him.

Yards answered with a roar and an attempted head butt. Had he still had his horn he would have pierced his enemy.

“Why do you hate me?”

“It's your hate from when you stabbed me. I'm just returning it.”

“Yards!” Toffee called. That's right, there's more important things than their grudge. He spun around and bowled over the two pegasi, leapt over the zebra, and grabbed the girls.

“Get moving!” he shouted, his forelegs full of female.

Together the trio took off, the other team hot on their trail. Messer twisted through the trees almost effortlessly. Astro was on their other flank, and behind them he could hear thundering hoof beats. There wasn't going to be an escape, not without consequences. The two pegasi worked as one. Weaving around them, herding them where they wanted. Yards tried to grab a rock and chuck it at them, but his magic instantly failed. As Messer made another pass, Yards picked up a heavy stick and swung it with both forehooves. It cracked under the inertia, but Messer had to make an abrupt stop to keep from losing control and hitting a tree.

The forest was getting thick; it was forcing Astro back on it's own. Yards pushed the girls into another burst of speed. A zebra head popped out from behind a tree. Crap on a cracker. Fine. He body checked her as the other two ran. Then took off behind them.

Soon the forest became darker. Though it was afternoon, inside it was a twilight, soon to be midnight.

“Yards, we can't keep running,” Toffee said.

“It's time. Delta,” he said.

The changeling turned to have Yards grab both sides of her face and pull her in. He pushed all the love he could muster through his lips and into her body. It was going to have to hold her for a while. Her fangs pricked his lips. As the other hooves closed in he pushed her away. “Go! Take care of yourself.”

“I don't want to.”

“We'll live. Make sure you do, too.”

“Bye...” she whispered.

“See you later,” corrected Toffee.

The changeling bolted into the darkness. The two ponies looked at each other and nodded. They linked hooves and faced the opposing squad together.