The Strix

Moments later, the element bearers plus Starlight were gathered in the staff room and ready to discuss whatever emergency had unfolded. Twilight said "OK everyone the reason I've called you here is something that is of the utmost importance. Two of our students, a pony by the name of Sandbar and a hippogriff by the name of Silverstream, have apparently gone missing and we need to make a decision to find these two students quickly, efficiently and without spreading panic amongst the students or their parents. Any suggestions on what we should do?"

Applejack went "Well isn't it obvious? We do a town-wide search!"

Twilight nodded "Good call but I don't think we should be sending out search parties just yet, we'd need the help of at least one platoon of royal guards from Canterlot and at this point we haven't got sufficient enough cause to request that from Princess Celestia. Plus, we need to keep this contained initially, if there comes a point where a town-wide search becomes absolutely necessary, then we can contact Canterlot"

Fluttershy proposed "Um... we could insist on a stricter curfew..."

Twilight came back with "Again, excellent idea, though I think that if there is to be some sort of curfew then it can't simply be "stricter", we'd have to have all students stay in their dorms until this is resolved. However that is something we should implement once we decide what to do in order to find these students, anything else?"

Pinkie Pie asked "Why don't we simply call their cell phones?"

Twilight shook her head "No not possible. If we assume they went missing on school grounds then they wouldn't have their cell phones on them because it's against the rules, not to mention that Sandbar's mother and Silversteam's friends might be trying that right now, considering they're still "missing" we can assume they don't have them"

Rainbow Dash groaned "Look if we really need to keep it "contained" why don't I just do a quick fly around town and use my eagle eyes to scout it out? No one will be suspicious of me flying around Ponyville!"

Twilight hummed before going "It's not a terrible idea but we can't rule out the fact that they might be inside a building, so unless you have perfect x-ray vision I'm not sure that's sufficient enough at the moment"

Rarity sighed "Twilight darling, I love that you are approaching this so calmly but we need to come up with something! What do you think?"

Twilight was about to reply when Starlight accidentally cut her off to go "Look, why don't we just tell all the students to stay in their dorm rooms tomorrow while all of us do a search inside the school to make sure they aren't just trapped or hidden somewhere, then if we don't find them we just tell Princess Celestia the situation and search all of Ponyville?"

The rest of them all looked to each other, silently agreeing that Starlight's idea was the best way to start, Twilight finally concluded "Alright, that seems to be the way forward, staff meeting adjourned!"

As the students were waking up to the sound of the school bell the following morning, Twilight once again put out an announcement "Attention all students, please stay in your dorm rooms and do not exit unless absolutely necessary. In light of a recent discovery, lessons and exams have been cancelled for the foreseeable future"

The news that lessons had been cancelled was actually quite dissapointing for most of the students, they found the lessons at the school of friendship rather fun unlike traditional schools which were only fun if you happened to have a particularly nice teacher around. Every one stayed put while Twilight and co. spent the entire day searching every nook and cranny of the school for any sign that Sandbar and Silverstream were still in the building, including checking dorm rooms if, for whatever reason, some creature had decided to hide them away and not reveal their location to any one. No such luck.

Twilight met up with the rest of her friends, turning up empty-handed and saying "Alright... so they aren't in the school, time to contact Celestia and conduct a search of Ponyville... though if they aren't in Ponyville either then we may have to start searching other kingdoms as well, I just hope it doesn't come to that! We start the search tomorrow"

As instructed, the entire student body made the school their new temporary home and only exited their dorm rooms for the sake of going to the bathroom or getting something to eat and drink, no social visits were permitted between students, much to the chagrin of those who had really close friends and those who had a partner they couldn't resist.

The next day arrived and after Twilight got Spike to send a letter, Celestia obliged Twilight's request and deployed one regiment of the royal guards to Ponyville to do an extensive search for the missing students, checking every single home and business in the area, searching high and low in the most likely and unlikely places ranging from Twilight's castle to every orchard at Sweet Apple Acres, no stone was left unturned in their effort to locate Sandbar and Silverstream.

They reported back to Twilight, regrettably informing her that the two teenagers had yet to be found, another letter to Celestia later and it was decided that every kingdom should be investigated... it would take a very long time but it would be worth it to find Sandbar and Silverstream whether they happened to be dead or alive, if dead then at least there was closure and if alive then they could be rescued and returned home.

As time dragged on, every kingdom was questioned and searched but there was still no sign of them anywhere, they had searched Manehattan, Las Pegasus, Baltimare, Fillydelphia, Canterlot, Yakyakistan, Maretonia, Saddle Arabia, Afriquestria, Prance, Trottingham, The Dragon Lands, Kirin Grove, The Changeling Kingdom, The Crystal Empire, Cloudsdale, Griffonstone, Sire's Hollow, Seaquestria, Shireland, Trotland, Whinnyapolis, Vanhoover, Horstralia, they even went so far as to go exploring Discord's chaos realm, the den of the diamond dogs and also taking a look around the human world. Everyone was growing concerned, there was no evidence to suggest Sandbar or Silverstream were anywhere to be found in Equestria.

Twilight was starting to become frantic as she paced back and forth in the school trying to keep parents and students calm enough that they could remain methodical in their attempts to locate the missing friends. Twilight suddenly had an epiphany... friends, hadn't they ran away to the castle of the two sisters once to stay with their friends? It was obvious! Twilight summoned a group of guards and asked them to accompany her on a journey through the Everfree forest, no guards had searched the forest because they assumed that no teenagers would be stupid enough to be in the forest when dangerous creatures started to wake.

Halfway through their journey to the club house, Twilight noticed a disturbance in the dirt path, unfamiliar foot prints and different shapes, scuff marks... the clear sign of a struggle and their one and only clue. They followed where the markings led, seeing that they veered away from the path and into a deeper area of the forest, perfect for hiding illegal activities such as kidnapping, even if they had accidentally left behind evidence of it in an area that they knew was generally avoided.

Following the markings, Twilight and the guards found the clearing where the captors had clearly kept Sandbar and Silverstream for a while as evidenced by the piles of ash that still had scraps of intact fabric so that they could be identified as what was once clothing and the few torches that, although had been lit at some point, were just stuck in the ground and were stone cold. Not a lot to go on, had they reached a dead end? That was Twilight's thought until a very observant guard pointed out to her and his comrades a very clear arrow assembled out of leaves and sticks pointing north... it wasn't much but it was something at least.

Twilight and the guards all spread out as they headed north, they wanted to make sure that they covered all bases because it wasn't a guarantee that whatever or whomever had captured Sandbar and Silverstream had traveled in just one direction, so they needed to be certain that north was still the right way to go to find the missing students and also the villains who had decided to capture them. Eventually they came across the frozen wasteland east of Yakyakistan, going further north would have meant goodness knows how many moons of trekking through the mountains, they'd need some concrete proof that the trail continued that way before even thinking of organizing such a treacherous journey... and evidence was exactly what they found.

Two rows of foot prints identical to the ones in the forest and two large trails which could be assumed to be remnants of when Sandbar and Silversteam had been dragged through the snow... further north it was. Twilight was slightly worried and so were the guards, no creature had ventured any further north than Yakyakistan, not even the yaks themselves, it was too harsh a climate and there was no documentation of what dangerous animals may or may not have been hiding in the mountains, like the large and supposedly mythical Bighoof monster. They persevered however, the students had to be found no matter what.

They didn't know how long they had been travelling, they lost all sense of time as they trudged through the valleys without proper protection from the biting blizzards, little to drink or eat, hardly any sleep and maybe only one or two caves where they could catch some rest if they were lucky. The only thing that kept them going was the refusal to give up, to fulfill their duty and put the minds of the parents at rest and if they were honest... there was a certain sense of adventure in boldly going where no pony had gone before and discover what lay beyond the white empty void of the northern tundra, what would they find in this uncharted landscape of ice and snow? Where were the missing teens?

What Twilight and the guards did find out was that as they got further and further north, the climate defied all leaps of logic and actually got warmer. It wasn't a dramatic shift like they just stepped out of the white snow and onto the white sand of a tropical beach but it was warmer than before to a point where instead of feeling frozen it was just a little bit chilly, still cold but a very bearable almost nice cool temperature. What surprised them even more though was that in the distance they spotted structures, actual buildings that were built by intelligent beings and, presumably, were still populated by said beings, an unknown race! This had to be where Sandbar and Silverstream were being held captive, a hidden away civilization was the perfect place to hide kidnap victims.

Slowly but surely they reached the village, finding that it had an odd air of familiarity what with it being so similar to other villages like Ponyville, the two major differences being the presence of weaponry which indicated that these creatures were some kind of warrior race and that the race in question were all very owl-like, not too different from griffons though their bodies stuck to only having the characteristics of owls. As Twilight walked through the town with guards following close behind, the citizens all shared looks of confusion, fear, interest and even slight fascination, what were these weird horse creatures doing in Rapax?

Having already noticed the castle before even entering the town, Twilight confidently strode up to the doors where two of the owl creatures were standing guard, wearing armor and holding spears. Twilight cleared her throat, hoping that they spoke the language as she said "I wish to speak to the monarch of your kingdom please"

The guards exchanged a glance before one of them replied in a voice that sounded like poison "Lucky for you, the king is available to talk!"

The other followed in kind "He doesn't like strangers... you may enter!" Twilight nodded her head in thanks and entered the castle, again with the royal guards following close behind and remaining vigilant in case these intimidating and mysterious owl people decided to attack them. Upon reaching the throne room, Twilight laid eyes on King Horrum in all his glory, a big hulking owl creature with a sharp angular crown and very regal and certainly expensive robes, a king if ever there was one.

King Horrum took note of Twilight's presence and simply bellowed "Enlighten me purple horse creature, by what right do you presume that you should be granted the privilege of speaking with me after having the gall to invade the kingdom of Rapax? We Strix are a proud race and we don't take kindly to strangers waltzing about the place as if they were invited! State your identity and business, I have a kingdom to run!"

It was rude but it answered a couple of questions, Twilight remained calm and went "Forgive me your majesty, I didn't mean to offend and I assure you I have not come here to conquer your land... however, we have reason to believe that two citizens from my kingdom have been kidnapped by two of your citizens and are currently holding them captive here, we simply demand that they be returned to us"

King Horrum, knowing all too well who Twilight was talking about, played dumb and scoffed "Oh really? Do tell, what reasons do you have to believe that such a heinous crime has taken place my dear?"

Twilight, unimpressed, declared "We have very substantial evidence, we don't consider this a theory, it might as well be a fact. There were foot prints that can be linked to your species, small overlooked details that link our citizens to whomever took them and more than that, a trail that led directly to your kingdom. Is that sufficient enough proof for you?"

King Horrum contemplated what Twilight had said, he was thoroughly displeased that Nok and Tuwa had been so stupid as to leave a trail leading to the kingdom's location, the point of hiding a kingdom was that it remained hidden unless forced to be made known! King Horrum thought deeply about his next move before he calmly stated "Apparently... it would seem you know as well as I that two of your citizens are indeed being held here and I am willing to hand them over to you... but there are a couple of conditions that I would like to impose"

Twilight nodded, giving him the go ahead to lay out the terms by which he would agree to hand over Sandbar and Silverstream. King Horrum said "The kingdom of Rapax does not exist, you never found our kingdom, you never discovered our race, you found your citizens cold and alone in the southern mountains after being taken by two unknown assailants who went missing and could not be found. Presumed dead. Furthermore, these non-existent assailants were not handed over to you and were instead left to deal with the consequences of their actions in their equally non-existent home land. Therefore, you found your missing citizens and you held no doubt in your mind that a non-existent kingdom wouldn't allow it's non-existent people to visit your lands in the south again or indeed any fear that a certain non-existent king would break that promise. I assume you have understood what I'm asking for here?"

Twilight smiled "Very clearly, now, where can I find them?"

Sandbar and Silverstream had no idea how long they had been in their new home, all they knew was that it was longer than days but shorter than years, whether it had been weeks or months they hadn't a clue. They didn't realize it was so easy to lose track of time, then again they also didn't realize the bliss of submission and forever promising to obey their beloved Strix masters, Nok and Tuwa. It seemed that being locked in the dungeon was just the thing they needed to have their minds and spirits broken enough to develop some good old stockholm syndrome.

Of course the way they were treated by Nok and Tuwa was the same, constant sexual abuse, though their duties as slaves had extended to cooking and cleaning in the house and although romance between the two was forbidden, they were at least allowed to rely on each other as best friends and were perfectly content with the whole arrangement. Silverstream was cooking some soup while Sandbar was cleaning up some pots and pans, they kept up some conversation as Sandbar asked "Sorry I woke up late, did our masters deal with the baby situation?"

Silverstream grinned and nodded as she went "Yes, as soon as the bump started showing and I admitted I was pregnant, they were kind enough to beat me up this morning, focusing on the stomach to ensure the death of my child! Our masters treat us so well don't they Sandbar?"

Sandbar agreed "Yeah they really do, I think that your pregnancy is part of the reason they've started to concentrate their violent tendencies on my balls, they don't want us procreating after all, even though one of them could have been the father. I guess we'll never know!"

The cheerful conversation abated slightly as Nok and Tuwa finally came out of the bathroom after having cleaned themselves in a much more pleasant manner than the baths they gave to Sandbar and Silverstream. It was at exactly that point when the door was suddenly kicked down and several royal guards flooded into the building, immediately subduing Nok and Tuwa by pinning them flat against the floor. Silverstream stopped cooking and gasped as she screamed loudly "Hey! You leave our masters alone! You monsters! Get away!"

The guards were very confused to suddenly find that the victims they had been searching for were wildly attacking them in order to try and free the individuals who had taken them in the first place. It was at this point that Twilight entered and decided to intervene, lighting up her horn and sending Sandbar and Silverstream into a calm and relaxed sleep. Twilight cleared her throat and proclaimed "Gentlemen, we have found the students, though clearly they are somewhat... disturbed at the moment, we can explore the full extent of this when we get them back home but for now let's arrange a safe way to get them back to Ponyville and send those two sick perverts to face the wrath of their king!"

Nok and Tuwa looked at each other with fear, evidently they had fucked up somehow if the king had allowed them to be found out like this. Twilight and the guards left with Sandbar and Silverstream finally rescued after escorting Nok and Tuwa to the castle. Nok and Tuwa were stood before King Horrum, awaiting whatever verdict would befall them.

King Horrum shook his head, clearly very disappointed as he went "Such potential. It's a shame boys, you could have made fine soldiers... but you've failed at your original job of being assassins, it seems that being slightly past your prime and remaining as arrogant and brash as you were when you were youngsters has made you both increasingly slow, sloppy, incompetent even... your bumbling actions caused our kingdom to be discovered and your prey to be rescued. Such an act... such a misdeed... simply cannot go unpunished... therefore I am charging you both with treason, your mistakes have cost you your lives. Tomorrow the whole of Rapax will bear witness as you are hanged! What a pity that recklessness betrayed you of your worthlessness"

The following morning, Nok and Tuwa faced the consequences of their actions as nooses tightened around their necks and choked the life out of them, the rest of the Strix watched them suffocate and slip into death. They were left there for the rest of the day to serve as a symbol, to show the Strix the risks of attempting to become a soldier in the king's army. Nok and Tuwa were killed while Sandbar and Silverstream slept.

Silverstream yawned, her vision blurry and feeling groggy as she slowly opened her eyes, the last thing she remembered was standing with Sandbar to protect their beloved masters from royal pony guards. Silverstream lifted her head up and blinked until things came into focus, she noticed that rather than the dark and dreary house she was used to, she was in a painfully bright and white room adorned with beds and what she recognized as medical equipment. Silverstream only became more confused as, upon trying to get up, she found that her arms and legs and been strapped down onto a bed and she was wearing some sort of white gown instead of being naked like she was accustomed to.

Though the one thing that terrified her was that when she looked around, Sandbar was nowhere to be seen, she was all on her own. Something was clearly wrong here, once she saw that Sandbar wasn't with her she began to try and wriggle herself free, desperate to find her friend, without him she wouldn't survive being sexually abused every day once they returned to their masters in Rapax! She needed him! Silverstream began to scream, her shrill cries of terror reverberating off the walls, her body seeming to convulse and twist in unnatural ways in an effort to get off the bed and seek out Sandbar as soon as possible.

A doctor, accompanied by a couple of nurses, burst into the room and were both shocked and concerned at Silverstream's reaction to waking up in a hospital. Before they could say or do anything, Silverstream shouted at them "Where is he?! You've taken him away! Take me to him! I need him! I don't care what you do to me just let be with him! Please!"

A split second after she'd finished her sentence there was suddenly similar horrific screams coming from across the hall, it seems Sandbar had woken up and was just as displeased that his beloved friend was not with him and he was attempting to flee in order to try and find her. The doctor, in a panic, turned to the nurses and said quite vehemently "Bring him in here, clearly they aren't used to being separated after spending so long together, we need to calm them down immediately!"

The nurses rushed out of the room only to return pushing a hospital bed into the room with Sandbar still writhing around and strapped to it in the same way that Silverstream was. Once the beds were right next to each other and the two of them noticed that they were together again, they instantly stopped thrashing around and screaming, calming down and smiling as they realized that they were with each other once more. Silverstream adopted a dreamy tone of voice as she went "You're here"

Sandbar, in a similarly light and airy voice, replied "Always"

They stared into each others eyes for a moment before turning their attention back to the doctor, large scowls on their face as Silverstream snapped "Who are you? You may think that just because you've got us trapped that we are yours to use! Nice try! We'll always be loyal to our true masters! Only they have the right to fuck us all day and all night!"

Sandbar agreed "That's right! As lesser beings it is our duty to service the superior Strix! We won't even fuck each other for your viewing pleasure! You're not worthy masters for us to serve with our bodies!"

Twilight had mentioned that Sandbar and Silverstream would likely be acting irrational and would likely be under some delusion to help their minds cope with the terrible events that had befell them but the doctor hadn't expected the damage to be this extensive. Everyone left the room and walked down the hall to where Twilight was waiting to hear the verdict on what could be done to help the two students return to normality as they once knew it before being taken away by the Strix.

Twilight nervously asked "Well?"

The doctor cleared his throat and stated "The two of them... will need some work ,certainly. At this juncture it would be unwise to separate them, that course of action sends them into hysteria... it would also be prudent to say that suddenly exposing them to everything they knew from before the kidnapping would be a bad move, it seems they believe their assailants to be lovers, so no form of touch should be attempted, this needs to be a gradual re-introduction. Considering the state they are in, I doubt they would be willing to trust any of our psychiatric specialists. They need to talk to someone that, whether they remember it or not, is someone that they know they can trust on some level"

Twilight soaked in what the doctor had said and then said "I see... despite being the princess of friendship i don't think I would be the best candidate to talk to these two right now, I doubt I'm necessarily qualified to do any kind of therapy... Although, maybe... yes, it makes sense!"

The doctor, bewildered, went "What makes sense? Who?"

The following day started with Silverstream and Sandbar looking bemused beyond belief as Starlight grinned and very chirpily just said "Hello! You must be Silverstream and Sandbar, right? My name is Starlight but you can call me "Miss Glimmer" OK? I'm a counselor and I'm here just to introduce myself so that we can have a nice chat and just get to know each other, is that alright with you?"

Silverstream and Sandbar didn't know what to make of this person, to be honest they were still wondering why no males had been brought along to force them into sex yet, true they wouldn't accept it because only their Strix masters were permitted to torture them but they didn't understand why these creatures were being so... so not Strix-like, they both recognized that these were ponies and therefore lesser beings but they figured even lesser beings would desire to have them both submit. After assessing the situation, Sandbar was the first to reply as he tentatively came back with "Conversation... that's odd but... sure..."

Starlight nodded "Excellent, so first I know your names but I don't know anything else about you! Why don't you both take it in turns to tell me about yourselves? It doesn't have to be anything complicated, it can be your favorite color or favorite food, hobbies that you might have or pretty much anything you like to do in your spare time, I'm all ears!"

Sandbar, once again being the more welcoming of the two, just stated "My name is Sandbar, I am a pony and as such am a lesser creature but was lucky enough to be deemed a suitable pleasure device by the Strix. I've been their property for as long as I can remember alongside my beautiful hippogriff friend, who I'm not allowed to love romantically"

Silverstream said almost exactly the same thing Sandbar had, saying "My name is Silverstream, I'm a hippogriff and am a lesser creature but I was lucky enough to be deemed a suitable pleasure device by the Strix. I've been their property for as long as I can remember alongside my handsome pony friend, who I'm not allowed to love romantically at all"

Starlight decided that acting casual would be the best approach before touching upon the issues they brought up and simply asserted "Excellent! Like I said before, my name is Starlight Glimmer, I'm a unicorn and my job is to talk to people about various different problems they might have! My favorite color is orange, my favorite food ever is onion rings and in my spare time I like to fly kites with my friends!"

This time, Silverstream spoke up with a question "Wait, Miss Glimmer... I don't understand something... like us, you are a feeble and unworthy being... why is it that you are not bending to the sexual will of one or multiple Strix males? You aren't serving your natural purpose..."

Starlight went "Well... that's because where I live and where you are right now... no creature is considered to be better than any other, it is not my obligation to sexually pleasure anyone and I'm free to love whomever I wish... the same goes for you two as well, understand?"

Their eyes went wide as they looked at each other before returning their attention to Starlight, Sandbar looked for confirmation from her by going "So Miss Glimmer... you're saying that Silverstream and I... we are not restricted to pleasuring the Strix? We may love each other as well?"

Starlight beamed "Exactly!"

Silverstream wasn't convinced as she said "You're not kidding are you? You're not attempting to trick us so you can mock and degrade us afterwards or just because you want to watch us have humiliating sex? If you are that's not fair! Only Strix males are supposed to do that to us!"

Starlight went "No no, I'm not lying, this is what you need to understand. You are not under the care of your... um... masters anymore, so it's OK. They've let you go because... while you were very good at what you did, they couldn't keep you because us ponies asked them very very nicely if we could have you and because your Strix masters are so benevolent... they gave you back and decided to stick to their own species... alright?"

Sandbar and Silverstream listened to every word...... it made sense. Their masters were indeed kind to a fault, why wouldn't they give the ponies their servants if they were so nice? Not to mention that they were aware that Strix women were far superior in every way, so it was fair. Once they processed that, they still struggled with the idea that there weren't any rules or anyone they had to bow down to, the kingdom of Rapax was all they knew, they couldn't remember anything before that time of their lives. The trauma had forced their minds to block out the unpleasant memory of their capture as a coping mechanism so that they could deal with the events by simply not knowing they had happened.

The only problem now was the simple fact that since they didn't remember anything before being in Rapax and now their life in Rapax was over... they faced a very simple yet still worrying existential crisis. Sandbar and Silverstream were left questioning their own existence, they didn't know who they were outside of the borders of being the play things of Nok and Tuwa, their adoring masters who had apparently relinquished control of them... they had each other true but other than that they couldn't recall anything about their past, not a single thing.

Sandbar decided to bring this up with Starlight to see what she thought "Miss Glimmer... Silverstream and I... we don't know anything outside of our love for each other and the time we spent in Rapax... what are we supposed to do? What direction do we go in now? Neither of us know anything about our past... are our lives just... just pointless right now?"

Starlight gently affirmed "No, your lives are not pointless, never will be. In fact, there may be a way to restore your memories and if you like we can start doing that tomorrow, would that be OK with the two of you?"

Sandbar and Silverstream looked to each other, the two of them always agreed on things but would often look at each other and have a silent conversation with their eyes before agreeing on something. Silverstream went "Can we have the straps released if we promise that we won't try to escape? We want to know who we are..."

Starlight simply said "I'll see what I can do" before walking out of the room to report back to Twilight about the mental state of her students.

Twilight, rather eagerly, approached Starlight and asked "Well?"

Starlight answered "It's going good so far, there's definitely been some progress and they're ready to start learning about themselves now. Starting tomorrow I think we should start introducing people and objects of significance to them, that way we can ease them into it"

It was going as well as could be expected, which is why Twilight worked hard to convince the doctors that the straps keeping them confined to their beds was no longer necessary, they had to just trust them at least. The following day started off somewhat awkwardly, Starlight couldn't enter the room immediately because through the door she could hear the pleasured moans of her patients and the thudding of a hospital bed, looks like they were making the most of being able to make love and not have someone nearby watching and insulting them while jacking off. Once Starlight could hear nothing but heavy breathing, she opened the door slightly and peeked through the opening to make sure she wasn't barging in on any post-coital cuddling or anything, glad to see that they were simply lying on their respective beds with their hospital gowns on.

Starlight walked in and said "Hello, how are you two doing today?"

Silverstream smiled and replied "We're fine, thank you Miss Glimmer"

Sandbar asked "Will we be trying to get our memories back today?"

Starlight nodded "Indeed, let's start with you Silverstream, you already know that you're a hippogriff so hopefully the object I'm about to show you should help you to reconstruct some key memories from your life!" Starlight reached into her pocket before pulling out what appeared to be a very simple necklace with a small gem as the only decoration on it, she handed it to Silverstream and said "Now... do you recognize this?"

Silverstream stared at it for a moment, somewhat bamboozled at how a simple piece of jewelry could be so important to her... though she couldn't deny that the longer she stared at it, the more she felt a certain familiarity with it... she just couldn't quite get it, she had a feeling that this thing was certainly something she had a connection with but the answer was just out of reach. She turned to Starlight and said to her "I'm... I think I know it but... I'm not sure why, is it a magic crystal?"

Starlight corrected "It's a pearl shard actually"

Upon hearing the words "pearl shard", Silverstream's eyes lit up as she experienced an epiphany, memories of everything from her birth right up until before she was kidnapped flooded her mind. After calming down from such a reeling experience of suddenly having an influx of knowledge restored, she grinned and said "Of course! My pearl shard! It's what everyone on Mount Aris uses to travel to Seaquestria! Yay!"

Starlight grinned "It's good to have you back Silverstream, do you remember everything now? I understand that's a difficult question but we should make sure your memory is fully functional again"

Silverstream nodded and proudly proclaimed "Yep! I remember... well, I remember almost everything I guess. The only thing I can't remember is how we got to Rapax in the first place... were we on holiday there?"

Starlight calmly replied "Not quite... though I think it's best we save that information for another time. Sandbar, I think it's your turn now, OK?" This time Starlight turned to a nearby desk that had a stack of papers and books on it, which Silverstream and Sandbar had almost completely ignored based on the assumption that it was probably just a bunch of medical data and text books describing different diseases and such. Starlight handed the books and papers to Sandbar as she simply said "Alright Sandbar, look through these and let me know if you recollect anything, anything at all. You can ask for help if you feel it necessary"

Sandbar shrugged and started looking through all the sheets of paper and books, carefully scanning each paragraph of text for any clue as to who he was before the whole "servant to the Strix" thing had started. The information he was reading did seem vaguely familiar, almost as if he already knew it and was now just confirming that he had the knowledge already... the word "friendship" cropped up a lot which very nearly got him to remember but it still wasn't quite within his grasp. Sandbar went "Miss Glimmer...I can't quite... wait, what are these for?"

Starlight said "It's revision for a friendship exam you were going to be taking at the school of friendship, apparently you were very worried"

Just like it had happened with Silverstream, Sandbar's eyes flew wide open as his mind was suddenly bombarded with every memory he ever had from the day he was born right up until he was revising at the club house with Silverstream, it was all there in his head, he beamed and said "Of course! The friendship exam! How could I have forgotten it? I don't know how long we were in Rapax but I'm sure we'll be able to take them regardless, Silverstream and I have spent so much time studying!"

Starlight, again pleased with the results, asked "Your memory is back?"

Sandbar, rather bashful, admitted "Well... not really, I mean I remember everything sure but the only thing I don't remember is what happened between me and Silverstream studying at our club house near the forest and us performing and serving our Strix mas... the Strix in Rapax, at all."

Looks like the trauma of being kidnapped and raped was something that would require a more direct stimulus... not yet though, it wasn't the time. As days turned to weeks, Starlight continued to visit and just have regular conversation with them as well as exposing them more and more to the things they cherished in their old lives, namely people. Though it had been tricky at first because as soon as Sandbar's mom had seen her son safe and alive, she had immediately rushed forward to try and give him a hug... to which he responded by cowering and snuggling up next to his girl friend, they were still getting used to seeing their loved ones again and they certainly weren't ready to be touched.

All of their friends visited and upon Sandbar and Silverstream revealing that they were now romantically involved, all of them were actually surprised that their jokes about them being made for each other had become a reality, congratulating them on finding love during such an ordeal and keeping the light and playful teasing to an extreme minimum, especially since they were finally introduced to Yona's girl friend, Vacca. Things continued to improve, Sandbar was actually now willing to hug his mother so long as Silverstream was involved in the hug or at least very nearby and the same was true of Silverstream and her parents, who had experienced the same thing with their daughter upon their initial attempt of embracing her once they knew that she was safe and sound.

Clothes had been another hurdle, they had gotten so used to being naked that even the loose hospital gowns felt wrong on their bodies. They had to work up the courage to wear a full set of clothes bit by bit in their own time, starting with undergarments before moving onto adding socks, wearing pajamas, then finally wearing casual clothes, it was a simple process but it had taken them a very long time to acclimatize to being clothed again in any way and even then it still made them feel uncomfortable, there were some things that couldn't be fixed.

Location had actually been the easiest, Rapax hadn't been too different to Ponyville so when they were permitted to leave the hospital, they were actually more comfortable even if, to them, it seemed like there was far too much space and fresh air unlike the room they'd been kept in whilst still at the service of the disgusting but dead Nok and Tuwa.

There had been great progress and though they were still uncomfortable in clothes, felt odd being around other people, didn't liked to be touched in any manner and still refused to even be in separate rooms anywhere, it had all gone well... except, that was when Starlight had to admit that it was time to fill in the one blank they both had in their memory by taking them to the place where it had all started and hoping they didn't revert. A lot of effort had been put in to restore who they were before the Strix, well enough to a point that Twilight let them finally take their exams, exams that they passed! Looks like the studying actually paid off.

Eventually, after they were more or less ready to be released from the hospital despite the mental and physical damage in the aftermath of the time spent in Rapax, it was deemed necessary... to go to the forest. Sandbar and Silverstream had already had nightmares about the place and Starlight hadn't been able to stop them from happening as of yet, she feared that their desire to find out what had happened to them would only make the nightmares more vivid and detailed afterwards.

As Starlight led the two of them to the entrance of The Everfree Forest, they were close at hand and were feeling very nervous, looking around at all the trees with a sense of dread, though they didn't know why yet. Silverstream asked "Um... Miss Glimmer? Do we have to do this?"

Sandbar backed her up by going "Yeah... this place feels... evil"

Starlight glumly replied "I'm afraid you have to if you really want all of your memories back... I can't promise that the memory will be pleasant"

They continued on their trek until eventually reaching the clearing, the torches were still there and it had been left practically untouched. Sandbar and Silverstream took in their surroundings, utter horror etched onto their features as harsh images of what Nok and Tuwa had done to them flashed through their minds, their brains rejecting the notion of fully remembering it all... but the basic picture of the events that had taken place here so long ago was, unfortunately, very clear.