A FEW DAYS AFTER THE EVENTS OF "MADNESS AND REMORSE"

"Oh, yeah. That crazy pink mare leaped up, proud as you dare, caught me one across the face." the guard bragged to a small cyan coloured nurse as she stared in admiration at the rather overdone bandages on his face. He did have a broken nose, but the nurse didn't know much about bones, being a mental nurse and not a medical one. Phalanx was actually slightly pleased with the pink mare for his injury, and glad he had added the extra touches. "That daft doctor made me let her go unrestrained, of course she attacked me straight away. Good thing, the doc didn't underestimate me though, 'couse I managed to get her down on the floor and got her to stop fighting. Of course, it's a rather difficult job being in the guards, and we do get so lonely..." he eyed up the now blushing mare.
"Chatting up girls again, Phalanx?" a voice came from around the corner, then Doctor Bright stepped around it. "You really do exaggerate so sometimes. We have Miss Pinkamena on our list today. She seems rather depressed, and I'm sure she likes you."
"Really." Phalanx said in a flat voice. He didn't want Bright messing up his chances with the cyan mare.
"Heh" Bright chuckled at him. "Don't listen too much to him, dear, he can be a brag sometimes."
The cyan mare looked a bit suspicious now, and said "Is it true what he said? I'm sure you were listening in..."
Bright chuckled, then said after a look at Phalanx said "I'm sure Miss Pinkamena could tell you. Would you like to be her personal nurse for a while?"
The cyan nurse shrank back in terror. "No, no sir! No thank you!"
"Well, I'm glad that myself and Phalanx can deal with her, right Phalanx?"
"Yeah, sure..."
After they had left the nurse behind and went on their way, Phalanx said "You are a real bastard sometimes, Bright."
"Of course. Good luck with however else believes your wild stories, by the way."

Pinkie lay on the tough mattress and stared at the ceiling. She disliked this inactivity. It seemed like she had been left to stew in her own juices while Celestia-knows-what went on outside. She certainly did know, Pinkie thought. Her imprisonment was Celestia's orders.

The door opened and Pinkie's head whipped around. This wasn't the same time the annoyed guard Phalanx usually came to feed her. It was still early in the morning. She thought anyway... she usually was a good judge of time, but there were no windows in her little cell and she hadn't seen daylight in such a long time.

It was Phalanx. No food it seemed, and there was that damned doctor. She could still remember that searing. She said nothing, but rolled off the mattress and stared at him. Then she saw another pony with them. Dark brown, with a grey mane... Rocky. They can't have kept ignoring him to let him in here. Sometimes she wondered if they were actually invisible, but sometimes ponies seemed to hear what they said, so maybe they were more than just ghosts...
"Chumps." he muttered as he slipped in and walked behind the doctor. Pinkie's mouth twitched.
"Please don't start anything Miss Pinkamena. You remember last time, I am sure." he said, levitating the needle thing over his head. "We just have to ask you some questions."
"What makes you think she will answer them?" Rocky said.
"Talking about yourself in third person, Miss Pinkamena?" What? She hadn't said anything. "We've had that before too before. Very obsessive personality, she was. Hated one of your old friends like fire."
Trixie. Is there anyone he hadn't treated? Wait... Twilight? Where was Twilight? What had happened to her? She felt rather worried, but couldn't place about what. Was she dead or not? What would Twilight do to her if they met again...
"A simple one to start with... right. Why did you do it?" After a pause, he helpfully said "Y'know, the torturing and cooking people into food, and so on..." After no answer again, he walked up to Pinkie and said "We are authorised to use force and methods normally not allowed on those in other parts of the hospital here, Miss Pinkamena. Everyone here is a special case, and Celestia gives the permission personally. Do we have to do that, or will you answer us, Miss Pinkamena?"
"Don't call me that. My name is Pinkie Pie."
"Hmm. An alias it seems, your true name being Miss Pinkamena Diane Pie. It also spoke of your family, including Bellam-"
"Shut up."
"The proceedure, Pinkie, is that the pony with the horrific torture implements gives the orders. As I'm sure you know. Now answer the question please."
Silence.
Doctor Bright sighed, and stabbed the needles into her side and sent some volts of pain through her. This wasn't as extreme as the last time, but she still screamed in pain and knocked the needles out her skin.
"Answer."
"Damn you!" As Bright raised the needles again, she shouted "Fine! Fine..." Bright lowered the needles with a smile.
"Going to cooperate now then? Answer."
"I... I have to obey the numbers."
"The numbers?"
"Yes."
"Care to elaborate?"
Pinkie glared, then said "They are the numbers who choose who has to die."
"Ah, of course. That strange book. Funny I wasn't in it then, but I don't get out of here much."
"And where is this?"
"Somewhere you don't know, dear." he said infuratingly. "Now, why do you do what these numbers say?"
"I have to."
"And why?"
She couldn't reveal her dreams to someone like Bright. She couldn't reveal them to anyone she knew, as she was hated by everyone and had none she could care for. She thought about this sadly, then Bright raised the needles again and she snapped back to the present. She didn't want that pain again.
"I just have to. Stop! Stop! That's all I can say, don't do that again..."
"Hah. If that seems to be all you can say right now, maybe you will think better later. Phalanx, thanks for coming along. Feed her and leave."

Now Phalanx was worried. He hadn't been with the doctor long, and had only seen him use the needles when a patient fought and to use them as a threat. It was rather terrifing how an insane butcherer of ponies had cowed before them. He hoped he never felt whatever they did. What really worried him was how much Bright seemed to enjoy it. Wasn't he a doctor though? He was meant to help the ponies inside, not torture them...

TWO MONTHS LATER

Twilight took a deep breath and readied her spell. The coordinates for the teleport from Celestia weren't mapped, and it was by carefully searching for a certain trail of magic that she would need to do this. Her horn flashed and she was standing in a clean, white room next to a gray stallion.
"Nice to meet you at last, Twilight Sparkle. I am Doctor Bright, and am the one treating Miss Pinkamena, or Pinkie as she has asked me to call her. This way please."
Twilight followed, worrying about this confrontation. She had wanted to scream her rage at Pinkie after the funeral, after she had finished with the worst of her grief and gave way for anger. But she had needed to wait for the pink mare to be allowed to see visitors. Some of her anger had made way in turn for worry and fear. She wasn't looking forward to this.

They had arrived at a tough, reinforced door. No windows anywhere, Twilight noticed, except the ones in the doors. Where was this place? It could be underground, but the diamond dogs would have broken through any underground buildings around most of Equastria. They got everywhere aside from the greatest of the mountains. Doctor Bright pushed open the door and beckoned Twilight inside. She trotted in. There was some sort of magical shield through half of the room. Twilight looked through and stared at Pinkie. She looked terrible. She was as bony as a stick, and was shaking. She turned her head from a pail she was staring at for some reason, glared at Bright, and didn't even notice Twilight. Her eyes were wide, and moving in strange positions.
"What is it now? More" Pinkie spat on the ground before she said "Questions to ask, doctor?"
"No, Pinkie, but you have a visitor."
"I have enough. My friends are here with me already. Why do I need more? No one ever comes in here, no one ever..."
Doctor Bright glanced at Twilight and said "One of your older friends, I believe. Twilight Sparkle."
Pinkie suddenly twisted her head, staring at Bright. She said "Impossible. Why would she see me? After all I did... oh Celestia..." suddenly the pink mare was crying, great sobs with tears dripping on the floor. Her head snapped up. Her eyes were focused again. "Twilight... why did you come here?"
Twilight was intimidated by Pinkie's behaviour. She was shocked to see her in such a state, and she wondered what being isolated had done to her. "I... I had to visit you Pinkie. Even after what you did." she said.
"Why? You can't forgive me what I did. I know that. The numbers made me, but I made the numbers..." she sobbed again.
"I can't forgive you Pinkie. It was horrible what you did. But why?"
"ASK HIM!" she bellowed, and pointed at Bright. "He used those needles on me! Asked me so many, many, many questions..."
Twilight turned to Bright. "Er... what did she say? And what are these needles?"
"An invention that is used to safely control those here. And to your first question, she said she served some numbers of some sort. We got nothing else."
"Why is she so thin? And terrified?" speaking loudly over the sobbing Pinkie.
"We have to force her to eat, as she refuses to eat now. And who can truely fathom the mind of an insane pony?"
"You are meant to." she said flatly. She couldn't help feeling sorry for her old friend, even though she hated what she had done. "And these needles, what exactly are they?"
"Just some needles attached to a wire. Only usable by unicorns right now."
"Wire... from the Pegasi? And what does the wire do?"
"Transmits the magic."
"Hmm."
"Want a demonstration?" he said, grinning strangely.
"You haven't told me how it works."
"You'll see." He said as he approached the shield. It opened and closed behind him with a small pop. He took something small out of the coat he wore and wrapped it around his horn, which started glowing. Pinkie shrieked in terror and ran into the corner of the room. Doctor Bright approached her and the needles flew out on long pieces of wire and stabbed her in the shoulder. Then they began to glow and Pinkie screamed and writhed, then stopped moving. She was still breathing, but what had happened was horrifying. How did torturing her help her? She seemed to be wasting away.
"Doctor! Stop this!" Twilight shouted at him. Celestia couldn't condone this... she was a good ruler, and kindly. Even someone like Pinkie, who had been said to have been insane and not herself, didn't deserve this. Doctor Bright stopped, then said "Pinkie, don't attack me or will use the needles again. Miss Twilight, if you would please exit. We should talk a moment."
Twilight followed behind him as he shut the door on Pinkie. Twilight said "What was that all about, Doctor? Shocking your patients into insensibility isn't going to help you or them."
The doctor looked rather uncomfortable while she said this and shifted from hoof to hoof. He said "Twilight, in here please. For privacy." he pointed to a door next to the one they had just left through. Twilight didn't know why, but followed him anyway.
Bright turned to her and said "There are many things about Miss Pinkamena that are strange, and I do not blame her for it. Quite the contrary."
Twilight was annoyed. She didn't see what this had to do with the torture she had just seen being inflicted on Pinkie. She stayed silent as Bright kept talking.
"Miss Pinkamena is a strange individual who needs specific things. She is haunted by the fact that she hasn't killed you, and I am shocking her in a basic behavioural conditioning. She will believe you are a bad thing, along with needles. This should stop her trying to kill you again."
"She said you had used them before. Why?"
"I am not the only doctor here."
"She said it was you, quite specifically. And I have only seen you here. What is this about?"
He was obviously panicking slightly now, but suddenly fell calm and stared straight at her.
"I will go get her ledger. This should clear things up slightly." he said with no emotion "Please wait here."
"I'm going to go talk to Pinkie. Is that shield still up?"
"Twilight Sparkle, that is not possible right now. Please stay here."
"I'm going to see her anyway. I can make a shield then, if I need to."
Bright had reached the door, and then stopped just outside and said "Sorry about this."
He shut the door, and Twilight heard a clanking. She trotted up to the door and hit it. It didn't move. A small metal flap opened at the bottom and Bright's voice came through.
"Twilight Sparkle, you still haven't learned, even after your friend's betrayal of you. And I thought you were intelligent..."

Pinkie stared at the corpse in her room. Sap was dripping on it from the spindly roots breaking through the ceiling and on the loam of the walls. Little of it was left but bones. She had had to eat it, being starved by Bright. It wasn't hard, but she had thought the ghost ponies might slide right through her. It hadn't. It had filled her up, but had felt strange. She thought she had seen Twilight, but that might have been the number lurking in the corner with Twilight's picture. It was invisible, but she could see it while she couldn't. It wasn't doing anything and it hadn't while the other Twilight had been there. She had said things. What? She tried to remember...

The door clanged open and Bright trotted in, fury on his face.
"Miss Pinkamena, you just caused a lot of trouble. It shall be very hard to get your friend to look like she is missing. Celestia has taken a deep interest in you, Miss Pinkamena."
Pinkie... or was she Pinkamena? She didn't know too well. It seemed like a memory. She said nothing.
"Hah. Is it time for the needles already?" At the word "Needles" the loam became more solid and the roots seemed to lean away from Bright. The bones flickered. She stared at him, still unable to say anything as she thought.
"Miss Pinkamena, you are a throughly stupid mare. Your friend you cared about so much is in the cells now. And she won't be having nice little Phalanx stopping me from using the needles all I like on her, and I notice he izn't here now..."
He moved quickly a the needles stabbed into her leg. She didn't feel anything, but pink curled out of her leg and floated into the air and wrapped around the Madame, grimacing at herself. The leg collapsed.
"Well, I am a doctor and I can take care of you well enough, but I have other things to do too. Goodbye, Miz Pinkamena."
Pinkie watched the Madame leave and wondered where Doctor Bright had gone. The pieces of Pink rolled around the air as the number in the corner floated out and devoured them.