Curse of Pinkamina

~Ten Years Later~

Clay was being escorted down the hall outside DR. Shimmer Horn’s office once more after his latest session ended. For the past ten years he had been doing his best to make the doctor as frustrated as possible. He didn’t like ponies poking around his head, and he wanted to keep Shimmer Horn out. Those memories belonged to him and nopony else. After several minutes he was brought outside by his usual two unicorn Canterlot guards. Once outside he was greeted by a large carriage that was used to transport prisoners, to make them feel like wild beasts meant to be locked up. The guards brought Clay up to a line that consisted of three other ponies in shackles just as he was. He took his place at the end of the line next to a black pegasus pony with a blue mane and bindings over his wings, and kept his gaze forward as the guards left him and moved to the front of the carriage. Clay glanced up as he waited, the sky, a gloomy grey indicating that a storm was approaching. As he watched the clouds go by, the prisoner next to him looked at Clay and began whispering.

“Psst! Hey! What did they arrest you for?” Clay said nothing to the pegasus.

“Roll call!” A guard shouted, as he walked up the line “Crimson Hoof!” He shouted out and a red earth pony with a yellow mane nodded, “Cutter!” A white unicorn with a red mane nodded. His horn had a device on it that was used to block magic, “Whirlwind!” The pegasus pony next to Clay nodded, “Clay!” Clay nodded slowly, “All present sir!” The guard shouted to the front. He left the prisoners to speak with his partner.

“Clay… I know that name.” Whirlwind muttered, as he looked back at Clay. Clay however refused to speak, “Yeah… you’re the pony that cut one of those elements of harmony mare’s, right?” Clay still said nothing.

“Shut up Whirlwind! You’re going to get us all beaten!” Cutter hissed in anger.

“I thought nothing could hurt those mares. Heard that jewelry they wear makes them invincible.” He continued, ignoring Cutter, “You must be one tough bastard to kill one of those ponies! Which one was it, the egghead unicorn?” Clay squinted his eyes, but remained silent, “The fancy white one that lives in Canterlot?” Whirlwind continued, “No wait I know! It was that rainbow bitch wasn’t it?” Clay’s ear twitched.

“Whirlwind, shut the buck up!” Cutter said in a hoarse whisper.

“It had to be. I remember reading about her being found dead in a basement. Your handiwork no doubt.” Clay was dead silent, “Well if it was you, than you have some serious balls man! That filly fooler was tougher than she looked, well not tough enough to not get captured and die anyway!” He gave a slight chuckle.

“That’s enough, you idiot!” Cutter almost shouted.

Whirlwind turned around to face Cutter when he suddenly heard chains moving behind him. Whirlwind looked back to see Clay looking him dead in the eye with an expression that could only be described as murder.

“What?” Whirlwind asked confused. Clay’s response was head-butting Whirlwind in the face causing him to cry out in pain as he stumbled. Clay then pounced on Whirlwind and started pounding his face in with his hooves. Whirlwinds head throbbed in pain and then felt something hard and cold on his throat. He gasped for breath as he looked up to see Clay strangling him with his chains. If looks could kill, the one that Clay was giving him was defiantly lethal, as he pressed harder into Whirlwinds throat.

“Call her a bitch again! Say it again! I fucking dare you!” Clay shouted, as he choked the life from the pony under him. The other ponies watched helplessly as Clay was about to kill again, when suddenly a sharp pain entered Clay’s skull making him yell in pain as he fell to his side. One of the guards had struck Clay with a spell that was the equivalent of a tazer.

“Break it up you two!” A guard shouted, as they rushed to pick up Whirlwind.

“Sweet Celestia, what the fuck is your problem?!” Whirlwind gasped, as he got up.

Clay tried to stand, but a nearby guard stomped on his face making his head spin.

“You get up when I tell you to!” The guard barked, as Clay lifted his head slightly and spat some blood onto the ground.

“Come on! It’s going to rain soon, let’s just go! You can beat the crap out of him when we get back to Canterlot!” The other guard shouted.

“Don’t think this means you get off easy when we get back. As soon as you walk into the dungeon I’m going to give you a scar on your other eye to match.” The guard threatened, as he walked back to the front and ordered Clay and the others to get into the carriage. The line slowly made its way into the cart and they all took their preferred spots. Clay was the last one to enter as the door was closed and locked behind him. Clay took his spot at the end and waited quietly. As for the others, they took all the empty spaces that were farthest from Clay as if they were afraid of him. They all avoided looking at him as best they could and kept to themselves, for they all knew that it was going to be a long ride back to Canterlot.

The carriage had been pulled for thirty minutes, but it felt longer to the ponies inside. The guards were beginning to complain about how long it was taking to transport convicts that no one gave a flying fuck about. And to make matters more uncomfortable the storm had finally caught up with them, covering the sky in dark heavy thunder clouds. It began to rain slightly and one of the guards groaned in annoyance.

“Great! Just great!” He scowled, as he continued pulling.

“Shut up! At least we get to go home to a soft warm bed. Those criminals back there will only have a cold hard cell to come back too.” His superior retorted.

“Yeah, I guess there’s that.” The two unicorns continued pulling the cart and did their best to ignore the weather.

Inside the cart, the four ponies remained quiet listening to the rain beat against the wood. It seemed like the only thing they could do without invoking the wrath of the guards. Clay on the other hand was feeling tired, and although it was probably one of the worse decisions to make in a cart filled with convicts, Clay was finding it harder to stay awake between the rocking of the cart and the rain pouring outside. Clay rested his head back and sighed slightly while his eyes began to grow heavy. And before he knew it, Clay had fallen asleep.

“Clay! Step forward!” A harsh and regal tone could be heard in the dark, the sound of hoofsetps was soon followed, “How do you plead to the charges against you?” The voice continued.

“Guilty.” Clay heard his own voice reply, and the crowd behind him gasped.

“Does anypony here wishes to say anything in his defense?” The voice asked. The room was dead quiet, “Clay, you are hereby sentenced to no less than 50 years in the Canterlot dungeon’s.” The crowd behind him began to mutter to themselves as the voice that had been speaking before moved through the dark, “Make sure that this case is investigated thoroughly Twilight.”

“Yes… Princess.” Twilight replied.

“Move it scum bag!” A guard shouted as he pushed Clay out of what he assumed was the court room.

A loud crash was heard, startling Clay awake from his dream. He looked around and discovered that the rainstorm had transformed into a lightning storm, and was striking dangerously close to where he and the others were.

“Have a good nap sunshine?” Whirlwind sneered, as he saw Clay awaken, “Thought you would be up sooner. That lightning has been getting closer since we went up the cliff.” Clay couldn't understand why this pony kept talking to him as he looked out the barred gate to the side.

“This storm isn't natural.” Crimson Hoof muttered, as he too looked outside, “I don’t see any pegasus ponies out there… and it seems like an odd time to have a lightning storm scheduled.” Clay had to admit that it did seem strange, “It’s almost like… there is a presence behind it… like Celestia herself was controlling it.” Crimson Hoof continued sounding awed by the storm.
“Shut up back there!” One of the guards shouted.

Every one of the ponies went quiet fearing what the guards would do to them when they arrived at Canterlot. The guards around town were strict and did not tolerate crimes. But something about the dungeon guards made them hostile towards prisoners. They had heard reports of savage beatings from disobedient convicts, and when those guards could use magic to make your head explode, that wasn't something they wanted to push their luck on. Despite this however, Whirlwind couldn't help but make another comment towards Clay in the lowest voice he could muster.

“When we get back… first thing I’m going to do is wait for the guards to beat you to a pulp. And then, when you’re on the ground bleeding… I’m going to get my fill.” He smirked at Clay, as he finished speaking, but he seemed uninterested.

“I said shut the fuck up back there!” The guard shouted angrily. But no sooner had the guard spoke however, then a bolt of lightning struck within inches of the cart startling everyone, including the guards.

“Come on let’s get the hell out of here!” The other guard said still shaking. His superior nodded, and they both started running away from the storm. The unicorns were running so fast that the cart was rocking violently. Clay and the others were thrown back and forth as the cart shook, until finally Cutter the unicorn couldn't take it anymore and made his way to the front window.

“Hey! Would you slow down? If you keep running like this, we’re all going to go off the Cliffside!” The guards didn't listen and continued to gallop in their fastest speed, “Hey! Did you hear me? I said slow down or you’ll get us all killed!”

“Who the fuck cares! You’re all just the scum of Equestria! And I’m not going to die today because of some killer storm!” The lower ranking unicorn replied, as he and his superior still ran madly.

The lightning continued to strike all around them, deafening them with each bang. It almost as if the storm itself was trying to strike them. The guards continued to run not daring to stop for even a second, as the lightning struck all around them. Until finally a bolt struck right where the cart was connected to the guards and burst it into flames.
“Gah! P-put it out! Put it out!” Crimson Hoof screamed, as he saw the flames.

But there was nothing they could do as the fire ate away at the wood until it finally snapped off the guards as they galloped and soon the cart was being pulled by nothing but momentum. The guards had rounded a corner disappearing from view, only to be replaced by something worse… a cliff. Clay and the others knew that there was nothing they could do except brace for impact, so all four of them held to the sides as firmly as they could until finally they felt the ground leave them and then gravity push them down as the cart dove straight down to the forest ground below. Clay could see out the window as the ground drew closer and closer until it collided. He was thrown from his spot and smashing into a wall, and saw nothing but darkness.