Arc 2- 1 (Singsong)

“We interrupt this program to bring you important news from the Royal Equestrian Government. Approximately five hours ago Ponyville faced another devastating attack by the terrorist organization known as the League of Justice. The Mayor and forty three Royal and Local Guards were killed, and civilian casualties are unknown at this current point in time. It is reported that Ponyville faces over fifty million bits in damages and has left hundreds homeless. Equestria is now under Martial Law by Royal Decree until further notice. Complete cooperation with the Royal Government is strongly advised. Thank you for your patience and may Celestia Bless Equestria”

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Trixie walks through the mess that was once her father’s loft. She’s careful to step over shattered glass and splinters that were once his exquisite collection of dishes and furniture. The howling wind blows through the gaping hole in the glass patio doors, pushing up the expensive curtains and blowing away light pieces of garbage. Trixie looks down at the marble floor and sees a streak of dried blood stopping just shy of about ten feet from the patio door, or what’s left of it anyway. She remembers how she felt joy upon hearing her father had “passed away” and how she had shown up late at the funeral. She arrived just in time to see him buried and that was so she could show her last and greatest way of showing how much she hated him. But now that she’s looking at the blood, the smashed furniture, holes in the wall, and broken photos she’s overwhelmed with grief. She wants to cry from what she’s seeing.

‘How could any pony do this?’ wonders Trixie sadly.

Then the memory of her kicking Pinkie Pie off the edge of the construction site flashes by and Trixie closes her eyes tight and tries to get rid of it. It works, but Pinkie Pie’s voice echoes in her mind.

“Don’t let him hurt the innocent.”

That phrase replays over and over in her mind and every time it’s repeated Trixie’s shuts her eyes tighter and grits her teeth. After the tenth time of that phrase being repeated Trixie’s eyes shoot open and she screams “STOP IT!” and a small shockwaves shoots out from her. Her voice and the sound of the shock wave echoes in the dead silence of the loft and Pinkie Pie’s voice stops instantly. Trixie slumps to the floor and stares at the bloody streak. She takes a deep breath, wipes a tear from her eye and then looks up to see what’s outside. The loft has a great view of the capital of Equestria; the tall buildings that shroud the older, smaller structures light up the sky with tiny dots from their windows, and a single zeppelin flies in lazy circles over the Royal Palace. She then looks at the full moon and finds its beauty mesmerizing. Luna has done a great job with the night sky tonight.

Trixie walks towards the patio and notices the railing is splintered where her father had hit it before tumbling to his death. She gulps, hesitantly walks towards the edge of the patio and looks down. Trixie doesn’t know how high she is, all she knows is that she’s on the very top floor and the building stands easily thirty stories high. The passing vehicles look like glowing ants and the ponies walking around for a casual nightly stroll are barely visible dots that can only be seen when they pass under the streetlights.

“Still thinking about ending your life?” asks a familiar voice.

Trixie knows who it is, so she doesn’t give them the benefit of her looking at him.

“Are you going to show yourself this time?” asks Trixie crossly.

“I’ve already shown myself to you,” replies the shadowy figure calmly.

“Your just a shadowy thing. Show yourself in your true form.”

“And what if I told you that I can’t?”

Trixie looks at the shadow stallion as he steps forward, but even with the moonlight shining down on them, she still can’t make out his features, other than he’s a unicorn with an average build.

“Then I’ll call you a liar,” says Trixie irritably.

“But it’s the truth, I cannot show you my true form,” says the stallion.

“Enough with the games, I’m not in the mood.”

“I’m not playing games with you.”

Trixie grumbles and slumps over the railing to watch the dots below do their thing. The stallion walks next to her and stares at the heavens. The two silently listen to late night noises of the city and enjoy the wind blowing around their bodies, but even in the oddly peaceful silence Trixie can’t help but think about what happened at Ponyville. The more she tries not thinking about what she did the more vivid the recollection becomes. She remembers all the colors, the textures, smells, and worst of all: Pinkie Pie begging her to stop Roar Shock before he hurts innocent ponies. But Trixie can’t understand how Pinkie Pie can ask her of such things when she knew that she was the one to murder her. She doesn’t understand how Pinkie Pie can ask her to betray the very ponies that helped her. Worst of all, she doesn’t understand how can she protect the innocent if she destroyed Ponyville.

“I took a life... I took lives. Lots of innocent lives,” says Trixie, her voice cracking and thin streams of tears rolling down her cheek.

The stallion looks at Trixie, and she sniffles and blinks tears out of her eyes.

“I... I thought-I thought it was the right thing to do. She was a threat for the Greater Good, wasn’t she?” says Trixie, thicker tears are now rolling down her cheeks.

The stallion puts his hoof on Trixie’s shoulder. “Trixie, you must ask yourself, if you’re trying to save somepony or a civilization, what good is it to kill? How can you save a soul if you don’t give them the chance of redemption?”

“I don’t... Maybe... Maybe someponies don’t deserve it. Ponies like me!”

Trixie collapses on the patio and cries into her hoof and the stallion sits in front of her. The pain is too much for her to bear. All this death is haunting her in ways she never thought possible. She never really thought about how her mother had died in the hospital with her; she had tried to suppress that memory. Trixie was glad to hear of her father’s death, but now she finds herself wanting him back, despite him being a complete ass towards her. Then with Sunshine, his lifeless eyes and bloodied, mangled corpse is forever burnt into her mind. Now she’s a killer, like Gray Muffin and Roar Shock and the others. She murdered a good pony and ruined the lives of hundreds more. It seems that death follows her wherever she goes and Trixie’s years on the road gave her great insight on how much she was a jerk, but now she feels she went from being a jerk to a monster.

Trixie can’t form coherent words as her weeping and heavy breathing make it hard to talk and breathe. The stallion gently shushes her and hugs her, and Trixie shakes in his embrace as she buries her face in his shoulder. She doesn’t understand how her new family is able to take lives so easily and now she’s scared not only for herself, but for them as well. The Royal Government will no doubt be going after them in full force now and she left them to take on Twilight. She’s probably captured and in a hidden prison somewhere.

Trixie continues sobbing and shaking, and looks up at the shadowy stallion with her eyes red and coat soaked in tears; his features are still nonexistent. This only makes her feel worse, her only source of comfort in the Hell she had built herself has no face.

“Wha-Why can’t I see you?” sobs Trixie.

“I don’t know,” says the stallion softly and achingly.

Trixie lips quiver and she cries into his shoulder once again. The stallion tightens his hug and gently rocks her back and forth while whispering “Everything will be okay.” in her ear while stroking her mane. But Trixie doesn’t think so. In fact, she know so. She knows she’s been forsaken, ever since birth she had been the target of Celestia and her games of torment. And she only made it worse for herself. The one chance she gets at having a fatherly figure she ruins by destroying half a town; and now she doubts that she was even doing the right thing to begin with. Gray Muffin said the first kill was the hardest, but now that she thinks about it, he was right when he told her when he said that she would think twice about him if she knew him more. She saw the anger he carried with him and has become numb with killing, like killing comes as easy as breathing for him. Trixie doesn’t want to be like that. She can’t. But now she thinks it’s too late for her; she already killed the Element of Laughter and almost completely destroyed Ponyville for the sake of revenge. Trixie can’t help but believe its all downhill for her now now. She has become a villain. A villain with no value.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” whimpers Trixie quietly.

“I know,” whispers the stallion.

He tightens his hug around her and Trixie feels a newfound sense of warmth and comfort on the cold patio. She snuggles against the mysterious stallion’s warm embrace, never wanting to let go. She doesn’t know who this pony is, why he’s like a shadow, or why he’s in her dreams, but she feels safe in his embrace. She feels loved.

[[[[O]]]]

She wakes up in a pitch black room and feels the warmth and comfort disappear from existence and become replaced with nothing but cold and fear. Trixie stands up, feeling the slight pinches of pain all over her body. She winces as she paces around the room, trying to get a feel for it while asking if there’s anyone with her; all she can hear is her heavy heartbeats echoing in her ears and her panicked breathing. As her eyes adjust to the darkness she can make out the walls and the floor, but the details are minimal at best. Then she sees something dark out of the corner of her eye shift in the corner. She squeaks and jumps to face the black thing and aims her horn at it. She trembles when an eerie cackle echoes in the room.

“Who are you!” demands Trixie.

The shadow figure stands up and one wing expands while a pair of red eyes open up and glow like burning smoke in the dark. “You should know, darlin’, we are friends after all,” snickers the thing in Sunshine’s voice.

Trixie screams in terror and falls backwards on the cold concrete floor and pushes herself in the corner. She loses her breath and shakes violently while trying to get her horn to work, but she’s only getting pathetic sparks and a splitting headache.

“Oh no! Now what!?” screams Trixie.

Trixie is sure fate must hate her, since she’s always having her magic taken away from her in some odd way! She shakes even more when she hears the clip-clops of Sunshine’s hooves against the floor and watches in horror as the lustful red eyes approach her. Trixie hears Sunshine panting like a dog over her thumping heart and raspy breathing as he anticipates what he’s about to do to her.

“Stay back!” orders Trixie shakily.

“Or you’ll do what? Zap me? That’ll be fine, I like it rough,” says Sunshine lustfully.

Suddenly a bright light turns on and Sunshine’s shadow vaporizes into nothingness and Trixie holds up her hoof to shield her eyes from it; but they prove to provide minimal protection. Her eyes feel like they had been burned out of their sockets and the aches and pains all over her body are not making this unpleasant situation any easier to cope with. When her eyes adjust to the intense lighting she lowers hoof and scans the room for Sunshine. He’s nowhere to be seen, but she is able to get good look at the room she’s locked in. The room is six by eight feet and is almost completely bare, made out of rusted concrete and has a single ceiling fan in the middle with a fat light bulb in the middle. The cell does have a cot and a toilet and a sink with a mirror in the corner, all of them are anchored directly into the building. On each of the corners are large light bulbs that are pointed at the middle and the only way out is a solid steel door. Trixie aims her horn at it attempt to fire, but something happens where the magic gets to the tip and then retreats back inside her horn at full strength. Trixie screams in pain and collapses to the floor, then she tenderly rubs her horn while biting back her tears.

As she rubs her horn, her hoof rubs over a ring at the base of her horn. Trixie’s hoof stops over it, and her eyes widen as she tries to get an idea of what it is by rubbing. What she gets is that it is a solid ring of some kind. Obviously magical since its doing a fantastic job of suppressing her magic; that and it also gives her hoof a very nasty, uncomfortable zap when she rubs it for too long. After getting zapped Trixie yelps and yanks her hoof away. Then, while her hoof is yanked away, she brushes against something else that she just now realized is latched around her neck. She runs to the mirror and her jaw drops when she sees what has happened to her. She has visible bruises all over her body and her horn has a ring around the base as well as something that looks like a dog collar clamped around her neck. The collar has a small ring poking out on different parts and the number “03231” painted on it.

Trixie swears and smashes her hoof against the mirror, leaving a massive spider web crack on it. Then she swears again and smashes her hoof against it again and again and again, and she keeps smashing it until the shards of glass fall and break against the sink and floor, cutting her hoof in the process. Trixie whimpers and slumps to the ground, and a couple of seconds later, a series of locks click, some gears turn and the thick door scratches against the floor as it slides into the wall, making a horrible grinding-screeching sound. The sound hurts Trixie’s ears and yet the mares that walk in do not appear to be affected by the noise at all. Both of them are Royal Guards, unicorns, and behind them is an escort party of six more heavily armed Royal Guards. One of the mares pulls out a chain clamps it on Trixie’s collar with her magic.

“Time to go,” says the mare that summoned the chained collar.

She gives it a quick tug and Trixie lurches forward.

“Don’t try using your magic either, we have your horn cuffed as well,” says the second more.

Trixie gets another hard tug, this time it’s strong enough to almost make her fall on the floor, but luckily she catches herself and follows the hostile escorts down the hall without any resistance. As they walk she notices that they are passing more solid steel doors with numbers painted on them, like “A-23”, “A-24”, “A-25” and so on and so forth. She also hears the Equestrian national anthem playing over an indistinct message by Celestia’s voice over the intercom. Its most likely a recorded message given that the message sounds like it’s repeating itself.

While walking down the hallway Trixie’s mind races as to how she can escape. She’s collared, that stupid ring is hindering her magic, and she’s surrounded by heavily armed guards. She comes to the conclusion that escape will lead to certain death, so she sighs quietly and looks down at the concrete floor. Trixie counts her steps, not paying any attention to the emotionless guards or the soulless environment she’s walking through. She hadn’t been expecting everything to be so gray, given Equestria’s reputation of having just about everything obnoxiously bright and fluffy. The group must’ve been walking for at least five minutes, going through twists and turns and checkpoints, before coming across an elevator guarded by two more Royal Guard unicorns.

“We’re here to deliver Prisoner oh-three-two-three-one to Director Brisk Wind,” says the mare holding Trixie’s collar.

Trixie glares at the mare, it’s bad enough they have her shackled and paraded around like she’s some kind of trophy prisoner, but now they have given her a number. The guards look at Trixie and she switches her scowl to them. One of the guards simply nods and turns around to pull down a lever, which makes the elevator door open. The elevator door actually is actually made up of three doors, the first being the standard slide to the side one, and the second was a gate that the other guard pulls up using a pulley, and the third was another sliding door that required another lever pull to open.

Trixie looks down and tries to contain her chuckle, but a little bit escaped as a sickening weird scoffing noise. Everyone glares at her and she looks up, doing a horrible job of holding back a grin.

“I’m sorry, but that’s a little excessive don’t you think?” asks Trixie lightly while pointing at the door with a subtle hoof motion.

“Less excessive than claiming to ban an Ursa Major,” remarks one of the guards at the elevator. Trixie’s grin is instantly replaced with a murderous glare. Now it’s the guard’s turn to hold the smirk. “Oh how the mighty have fallen.”

Trixie is pulled inside the elevator, but before going in she gives the guard a quick tail whip to the face. This makes the unicorn holding her collar jab Trixie in the side, hard. Trixie grunts and stumbles to the side a bit, but due to the compact space in the elevator she doesn’t go far, and it’s only her and the two unicorns that picked her up that can fit inside. When they are snug inside the elevator the multiple doors seal shut and it slowly descends the structure. As they go down Trixie looks around the elevator while her two guards remain stoic. The elevator is dimly lit and more like a cage than an elevator now that Trixie is able to get a better look at it. The lights from the elevator shaft lazily slide past them and each pathetic ding indicates when they go down a floor. After a dozen dings, the elevator comes to a jolting stop, making Trixie stumble for a second in her spot, but the others barely flinched. Trixie quickly recollects herself and when the doors open she’s once again in the presence of a group of heavily armed Royal Guards.

The escorts lead Trixie outside where the rosy colors of dawn color the sky and give the towering prison walls an interesting hue. Trixie looks around nervously and sees the Royal Guards replacing the Night Guards on the walls and in the guard towers. The unkempt courtyard is bare of all activity and the way the barbed chain link fences surround and cut pieces of the courtyard into sections makes Trixie’s heart waver for fear of there being no escape from this forsaken place. The escorts move her through passages made up of the fences towards a medieval type structure in the back with a large clock tower overlooking everything. The windows to it are barred and an Equestrian flag is hanging down from the bottom of the clock and going down about five stories. Above the main entrance to the little castle, which is a couple of large steel doors, is a preserved engraving that says: FORT SINGSONG.

They stop in front of the door and talk to a guard on the other side via intercom and a few seconds later there are a series of clicks and the door open up. It groans and grinds against the pavement as it opens and the first thing Trixie notices are the dozen guards patrolling the lobby floor. Then she spots a dozen more on the upper level, some of them looking at them suspiciously and aiming their weapons towards them. While they go through the lobby, Trixie can’t help but marvel at its beauty. It’s like a diamond in a pit of mud. The brightly lit lobby has a polished tiled floor that has the Equestrian seal painted on. There is also a massive stylish mural of Princess Celestia raising the sun and the moon with towns during the day and night on their respective sides. Trixie also notices that the Equestrian national anthem is softly playing over the intercom, just like wherever it is she came from.

The group keeps walking towards their destination in silence. They pass through a few more checkpoints and walk down more hallways, passed more steel doors. Except, unlike the lobby, they are carpeted and the walls are painted brown and the lights are not as bright, yet they are still warm. Trixie guesses that they are trying to give off a warm, comforting feel, but all she feels is worry and sickness down in her stomach. She knows something is up and the unicorns mentioned a “Director Brisk Wind”; the name sounds familiar, but she can’t pin where she heard it before.

A couple of minutes later, Trixie is led inside a rectangular room that has an elderly pegasus mare surrounded by four unicorns wearing all black. The pegasus has an ice blue coat with a fading blue mane and tail with light gray streaks running through them, and her cutie mark is a scroll and hammer crossing over each other. The room, like the hallway, is carpeted and in warm natural colors, but Trixie also notices a one way window on the wall and four standing rings on the floor. The guards also have cuffs and chains hanging around their necks. Trixie gulps and is tugged further inside the room.

“Director Brisk Wind, we have Prisoner oh-three-two-three-one,” says the unicorn holding Trixie’s collar.

Trixie glares at the unicorn again and the pegasus steps forward with a small, victorious smile.

“There’s the mare of the hour. How are you doing, Lulamoon? Did you enjoy your cell?” Brisk Wind says in a mocking tone.

Trixie is silent, but her glare is enough to show everyone that she wasn’t amused by Brisk Wind’s so called joke. Brisk Wind snickers and orders Trixie to be cuffed to the floor. The Royal Guards cuff Trixie’s legs to the floor in a way that her back is to the door; Trixie tests the chains and finds that they barely give her enough room to move her hooves. She glares at Brisk Wind and the pegasus flashes a smile and approaches Trixie. When she’s in front of Trixie she tsks as she shakes her head in disappointment, then she glances at the unicorns that brought Trixie in and excuses them, and after they leave she turns to her guards.

“Bring those doctors over,” orders Brisk Wind, “we don’t have much time and so much work to do.”

Two of unicorns salute and leave without a word while the other two stay behind, stone still and eyes ice cold.Trixie looks over her shoulder to see the two ponies in black leave and when the door closes and the locks click she looks at Brisk Wind. Brisk Wind sighs and runs her hoof through her mane.

“It always amazes me how some ponies want to see the end of Harmony,” she says dramatically.

Trixie sits down and continues staring at the pegasus, she’s sure that Brisk Wind took some theater courses because she’s acting like a thespian. Brisk Wind paces in front of Trixie as she continues her small opening speech.

“All this order and Harmony that Celestia has worked so hard to build and maintain, and yet you come along and destroy half a town. And for what?” says Brisk Wind.

Trixie remains silent and looks down, she doesn’t know if that is a rhetorical or if she should answer that. If it’s the latter than she doesn’t have a good answer anyway. Brisk Wind frowns from the lack of answers she’s getting.

“That wasn’t a rhetorical question,” says Brisk Wind harshly.

Trixie reluctantly looks at the pegasus mare but still remains silent; now that she knows she has to answer the question she genuinely doesn’t know what to say. All the answers she thought of, both snarky and genuine, were flushed away. Brisk Wind studies Trixie’s face and her impatience becomes more and more visible with each passing second. Her calm, collected exterior shifts into that of narrowed eyes, gritted teeth and a furrowed brow. Trixie also swears her colors darken too.

“Do I have to repeat myself?” growls Brisk Wind.

Trixie shakes her head and Brisk Wind starts pacing around Trixie impatiently, as if thinking that the answer is somewhere tattooed on her body or hidden on her scars.

“Then answer the question. Why destroy half of Ponyville? Why declare war on Harmony?” demands Brisk Wind.

“We-We... I-I um uh,” mutters Trixie quietly.

“Speak up, Lulamoon, I cannot hear you.”

Trixie forces herself to look at Brisk Wind as she leans towards Trixie’s nose; her nose wrinkles when the smell the the strong minty mouthwash Brisk Wind used burns her nose. Brisk Wind wraps her hoof around Trixie’s neck and pulls her head forward so that their foreheads are touching.

“I said speak up!” yells Brisk Wind.

Trixie cringes and her ears ring from the yell and she starts shaking as Brisk Wind’s gaze becomes more intense.

“We were-We were trying to saving Ponyville” whimpers Trixie.

“Salvation through annihilation, is it?” sneers Brisk Wind.

“We-We want to protect Harmony. Protect Equestria.”

Brisk Wind searches Trixie’s face and when she looks away, Brisk Wind forces Trixie to look at her. Trixie squirms but that only makes the situation worse for her.

“LOOK AT ME!” barks Brisk Wind.

Trixie’s eyes lock on to Brisk Wind’s. She does her best to keep herself from shaking, but her body won’t stop trembling.

“Chaos begets Chaos. Harmony begets Harmony,” says Brisk Wind in a quiet, menacing voice. “War is Chaos. Vigilantism is Chaos. Chaos defies Harmony and your group has not only declared war on the criminal underworld but on us as well. You have declared war on Harmony, Trixie Lulamoon, and I would have loved nothing more than to leave you to bleed to death in Ponyville.”

The door opens up and a few ponies walk in, but Trixie is too terrified to look away from Brisk Wind to see who entered.

“But national security policy dictates that I get every ounce of information from that pathetic little brain of yours.”

Some stuff is being set up now, and from the sounds of it, it is medical equipment judging by the sounds of vials clinking together and ponies murmuring medical stuff to each other.

“And besides, a very important pony wants to have a quick word with you before we begin.”

Brisk Wind steps away from Trixie and Shining Armor limps into Trixie’s line of sight. He still does an amazing job of keeping his Royal Guard Captain’s uniform polished and his mane and coat clean, but his movements are sluggish. Mostly due to his injury, but the large, dark bags under his eyes suggest that he’s running on minimum sleep. Shining Armor and Brisk Wind acknowledge each other with cold glances and forced nods. When Shining Armor looks at Trixie he exhales and begins his interrogation.

“Do you realize how much trouble your in?” asks Shining Armor wearly.

Trixie nods, whispering: “Yes.”

"So you know you can stay in Singsong Prison because of your affiliation with the League of Justice?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, that’s good. Now, Trixie, I’m going to be honest with you, things are not looking too good for you; you are being accused of murdering Pinkie Pie in cold blood and being an accessory to acts of terrorism.”

Trixie looks down, regretting losing control of her emotions. She’s that if she had left when Adanz told her to then she wouldn’t be here and probably only get lectured for being sloppy. She wonders how she’d fare with her life behind bars, and then becomes even more uneasy when she realizes that she’d lose all sense of privacy and will have to put in a two hundred percent effort to not drop the soap.

“But we can strike a deal that can lighten your sentence and possibly get you out and put you in protective custody,” continues Shining Armor. Trixie frowns and looks up at Shining Armor skeptically, she’s sure she knows what they want. “Tell us where Roar Shock and his base of operations are and we can end this bloodshed.”

Trixie looks down to contemplate on this. She knows that the League of Justice targets only bad ponies, sure their methods are extreme but... but they are also killers. She’s seen what they are capable of just from all their bragging of successful attack like the poisoning of an entire mafia in Detrot or killing corrupt government officials in their offices. But they are only doing what the Equestrian government can’t or won’t do, right?

Of course they are! Just because she can’t stomach what they do doesn’t mean she should betray her new family does it?

No. They are flawed, yes, but they took her in and helped her! She can’t betray them. She won’t! She has to protect Gray Muffin and Wazza and Adanz. She has to protect her new family! She’d be willing to have life behind bars if it means not giving them up.

“Not going to happen,” Trixie says defiantly.

Shining Armor sighs and looks down while Brisk Wind arches an eyebrow.

“You sure about that answer, Lulamoon?” asks Brisk Wind skeptically.

“You can’t make me talk,” says Trixie, still holding her defiance.

“Oh I have a way of getting ponies talking.”

Shining Armor glances at Brisk Wind as she motions the cart of medical equipment forward. A unicorn mare wearing a nurse hat opens up the cart and levitates a syringe out for Brisk Wind to see. The pegasus taps her chin and nods approvingly at the selection.

“That’ll do,” says Brisk Wind casually.

The Nurse walks towards Trixie with the syringe and she and Shining Armor get a look of concern when they notice the thickness of the needle and the brown, semi-pulpy liquid in the container. Trixie shifts uneasily as the Nurse prods her body to search for a good vein to use.

“You see, the benefit of being the director of the Equestrian Investigation Bureau is that I get privileges. Lots and lots of privileges,” explains Brisk Wind.

The Nurse finds a good spot and positions the needle over it.

“What are you doing, Director?” demands Shining Armor.

“Interrogating,” replies Brisk Wind coolly.

The Nurse inject Trixie and she feels the pulpy liquid shoot inside her veins and dissolve inside her bloodstream. Then she gets a very uneasy feeling, like someone is pushing down on the point of injection with sharp tenderizer. She grunts and stares defiantly at the ponies in the room, then she cracks a cocky smile and chuckles while holding back most signs of pain.

“Was that all? I thought the EIB was better than this,” Trixie says snidely.

“Oh, cocky are we? That’s okay, the EIB is always prepared. Nurse, inject her again,” orders Brisk Wind.

The Nurse nods, pulls out another syringe and injects Trixie again. This time it feels like a dagger had stabbed her in the point of injection. The unexpected increase in pain shocks Trixie and makes her scream in pain and fall to the floor. But it doesn’t stop there, it also feels like the imaginary blade is being twisted too.

Brisk Wind smirks. “The Sanitatem Fungus, also known as the ‘healing mushroom’, found in the region around a nice town called Barnville, is very useful. It can heal injuries, remove abilities, and if ground just right it can become a poison or overload your nerves with false senses of pain.”

Trixie grits her teeth and glares at Brisk Wind; she takes deep, painful breaths of air and pushes herself to her feet. The Nurse and Shining Armor’s eyes widen, and the Nurse glances at Brisk Wind. The EIB Director looks surprised as well, but she quickly hides her surprise and nods towards the Nurse. The Nurse gets another syringe ready and Trixie continues her defiant glare.

“You can’t-You won’t make me talk,” says Trixie through gritted teeth, the pain is clear in her voice.

Brisk Wind smiles. “I’ll admit, Lulamoon, I’m surprised. Most ponies could only go through two before saying they’ll talk, but you’re still clinging to your false sense of hope. It’s no matter, though, I will break you. Me and Captain Shining Armor will get what we want, but the question is: How much pain are willing to go through to hide these fiends?”

Trixie swishes some saliva around in her mouth and spits a glob of saliva on Brisk Wind’s face. Brisk Wind is stunned and a few seconds of hostile silence later, Brisk Wind wipes the spit off her face, and then she smacks Trixie across the face with her forehoof with enough force to knock her off her feet. Trixie grunts and pushes herself up, her hooves are still shaky from the pain she’s in, but she’s determined not to break. The slap had left a fresh, bright red bruise on her cheek.

“Inject her again!” orders Brisk Wind viciously.

Shining Armor shoots Brisk Wind a dirty look, which she ignores, and the Nurse injects Trixie with another dose of the fluid in a fresh syringe. Trixie feels the fluid slither into her body and spread out, just like the previous ones, then she feels the pain. This time it feels like someone stabbed her in the point of injection with a blade and the blade is spreading open like a flower right under her skin. Trixie shakes and grunts painfully while Brisk Wind glares at her and Shining Armor stares at her in worry.

Trixie’s sweat shines her body under the light and her shaking becomes so bad that she begins swaying back and forth. Shining Armor runs over and kneels next to her so that she doesn’t fall over.

“Trixie, you can end this. Just tell us where they are,” says Shining Armor desperately.

Trixie shakes her head while keeping her mouth clenched shut. Brisk Wind motions the Nurse to get another one ready and stares at Trixie, she’s determined to break her prisoner.

“You are fighting a losing war, Lulamoon. Your pain will end right here, right now, if you tell us where the League of Justice is,” says Brisk Wind casually.

“You-You’ll have to-to try harder,” stammers Trixie agonizingly.

Trixie is yet again injected with whatever it is that the EIB made. Trixie trembles violently, the only reason she hasn’t collapsed is because she’s leaning against Shining Armor for support. Trixie takes a gulp of air, then goes back to hyperventilating while biting back every urge to scream and cry. While she’s barely able to hold back her scream, she can’t hold back her tears. They stream down her cheeks, mixing with the thick beads of sweat dripping off her mane and face. Shining Armor shakes his head disbelievingly and looks at Brisk Wind, hoping to see some sympathy, but the pegasus is unfazed, her gaze is still cold and demanding, and she orders the Nurse to inject her again.

“You can’t be serious!” yells Shining Armor.

“It’s necessary, unless she wants to talk,” says Brisk Wind, still holding her casual composure.

Shining Armor looks at Trixie and holds her head up with his hoof and so that they are eye to eye. Her shaking is enough to vibrate his hoof and her suppressed whimpers are starting to break through.

“Trixie, please just tell us what we need to know!” begs Shining Armor.

Trixie shakes her head and quietly says: “I won’t.”

Then Trixie feels another needle go inside her and the foreign fluid rush inside her body, followed by the illusion that her bones are breaking into splinters and her muscles are shredding. Trixie is able to hold out for another few seconds before the pain becomes unbearable. She cries out and almost collapses to the ground. Luckily Shining Armor catches her before she hits the ground and gently lowers her to the floor. She weeps uncontrollably and her whole sweaty body is trembling violently, and some of her sweat and tears make their way to Shining Armor’s uniform. But he doesn’t care, he sees a pony that is in immense pain, caused by the very ponies that are supposed to be the good guys. But there is no stopping Brisk Wind and the EIB operate as a separate entity from the Royal Guard so there is nothing Shining Armor can do, except beg Trixie to talk.

“Trixie, please, for the love of Celestia, tell us where they are,” whispers Shining Armor urgently.

Trixie sobs for a few more seconds before she looks at Shining Armor with quickly fading determination in her eyes. She sniffles gulps back tears and shakes her head.

“Again!” barks Brisk Wind.

“No!” shouts Shining Armor.

The Nurse ignores Shining Armor and injects Trixie with another dose of the chemical. Trixie screams, spasms, and curls up the floor. When she’s done thrashing she can barely move, and Shining Armor continues to beg her to talk.

“Captain, I think it’s time for you to leave,” says Brisk Wind.

“I’m not leaving her here with you, Director,” growls Shining Armor.

“Very well, at least step away from her so that my ponies can work.”

Shining Armor exhales and reluctantly steps away from Trixie while Brisk Wind approaches her while ruffling her feathers. When she’s towering above Trixie, she looks down at her trembling, huddled, sweating figure with disgust.

“Look at me, Lulamoon,” orders Brisk Wind.

Trixie continues trembling and winces as she tries lifting her head, but she gives up a second later and rests her head on the sweat soaked carpet. Brisk Wind furrows her brow and her jaw tightens for what she’s seeing as a lack of respect from her prisoner.

“Look at me!” yells Brisk Wind.

She stomps her hoof against the ground, hard. All noise seemed to die as soon as she yelled and stomped, all noise except for Trixie’s labored breathing and whimpering. Trixie looks at Brisk Wind out of the corner of her eye and the pegasus towers above her so that she can look down on her like the scum she thinks she is.

“Where are they. Where are the ponies you work for,” demands Brisk Wind.

“I won’t tell you,” whispers Trixie, agony and one last shred of determination not to tell being the only things clear on her mind.

Brisk Wind nods to the Nurse and she pulls out another syringe and Trixie tries to move, but what she had just endured has almost completely paralyzed her from pain. And even then, the chains still hold her in place and her horn is cuffed, so she can’t do anything except watch them.

“Tell me where they are!” screams Brisk Wind.

“That’s enough!” barks Shining Armor.

“You have no jurisdiction here, Captain! Nurse, inject her again!”

The Nurse steps closer and Trixie’s whimpering and subtle thrashing do nothing to faze the Nurse. When she’s injected again, she feels a horrible, indescribable pain surge through her body. Her eyes snap wide open and she feels her lungs struggling to work as her throat closes off. Then her eyes roll to the back of her head, her vision blurs into darkness and she passes out.