The hospital was abuzz with ponies going about their days, some there for mild check-ups, some visiting loved ones in urgent care. A few were in recovery for accidents and previous emergencies, though thankfully, they were mostly sparse and empty.

Moondancer and Jason approached the building from behind, the Canterlot unicorn pulling out her credentials as they stopped at the door.

"So, pretty funny, huh?" Jason said, a crooked smile on his face. "Just happened to be the guy you're looking for. Guess that cuts out the middleman and saves us both some time."

"Okay, first of all, 'middleman'? What kind of phrase is that?" Moondancer said, raising an eyebrow. "Secondly, please don't joke about this in there, we've got some serious work to do. If any of these files are right, which I still doubt, you're a walking biohazard bin."

"Alright, I'll keep it serious, my bad."

"Ugh, it- it's fine!" she said, wrenching her access card from her bag.

She swiped it by a black box near the door frame. The double doors clicked and slowly drifted apart.

"Let's just find the testing labs and prep you for some exams."

Jason nodded, following Moondancer as they walked inside.

\\\\\\//////

Starlight threw herself on the ground as a green bolt soared over her head. The hissing mass of plasma singed her mane as it passed by, splashing against a rock, sinking a few inches before the rock cracked apart.

Behind her, she could hear everypony else screaming as the Diamond Dogs and Griffons attacked. Fires engulfed all of the houses in Our Town, three of them already collapsed in on themselves. The attackers, waving a flag depicting several stars surrounding the letter 'E', rounded up as many ponies as they could. Double Diamond was being dragged away by a pair of Griffons, his cry for mercy cutting through the chaos into Starlight's heart. Several pegasi were getting tackled out of the sky, save for one unlucky mare who had her left wing shot and burned to a sickly black.

Forcing herself to look away, Starlight got up and galloped to the road leading to the Cutie Mark Vault. Someone saw her, shouting that she was escaping. Peering back, she saw a trio of Griffons chasing her. In her panic, she fired off a volley of spells at them, striking one in the beak. When they fell to the ground, the other two stopped and dove back to check on their friend.

She kept galloping, eyes glued to the cave. She charged up a spell, stopped at the entrance, and fired it off at the Vault. The glass shattered, every Cutie Mark flying past her to the town.

Before she could take another step, the ground beneath her opened to a massive paw as it dragged her muzzle-first into the abyss.

"GHG! ACK!"

Starlight awoke to the sensation of ice-cold water flooding her throat, thrashing about as she choked on it. The more she struggled, though, the more her captors poured down upon her rag-covered face. She fought against the ropes binding her down, desperately clinging to her last vestiges of consciousness.

"Alright, pull it back."

The torrent stopped, finally letting the mare regurgitate the water. She puked up a gallon before she could start hacking, her lungs burning for air after several minutes of deprivation. When she could breathe again, Starlight could feel her body trembling from everything. The cold sting of the water, the lack of Oxygen in her body, the beatings the Diamond Dogs had given her, and worst of all, the burning sensation of the strange liquid somepony had pumped into her veins.

"Puh-pw-ple-he-heeeease! STOP!" Starlight screamed. "Why are you doing this!?"

Just as something ripped the cloth from her face, a hoof struck her jaw. She felt a crack in her face on impact, and cried when her jaw slammed shut, chips and fragments of her teeth breaking off. Before her stood a pony with a green coat and graying mane, a pony she ran into late at night and found looming about her for the past few days.

"Because you're too much a liability to leave on the sidelines," Autumn said. "Either you break and swear loyalty and allegiance to me, or you stay in here and die a slow, torturous death. I'm just waiting to see which happens first."

"Fuck you!" Starlight screamed. "How many ponies died!?"

Colonel Autumn shook his head.

"Enough to have the rest know their place."

"RAAAAAGH!" Starlight roared, thrashing in her chains. "I'M GOING TO RIP OFF YOUR CUTIE MARK AND MAKE YOU CHOKE TO DEATH ON IIIIIT!"

"She's still of no use to us in this state. Keep her on the RadAway until she's ready to cooperate."

The short white Diamond Dog pulled the IV bag out of a box, removing the needle's cover and nodding to the bigger dog. The tall blue one slammed its hand onto Starlight's head, forcing her to keep still while the other dog pushed the RadAway into the side of her neck.

Starlight screamed as the liquid was injected into her bloodstream, feeling as though lava was getting pumped into her. She felt the magic in her body fade away as her intestines gave way. She soiled herself on the table, crying in agony and shame as the Colonel walked out the door.

Author's Notes:

Sorry for the delay on this chapter, got an infection in my right ring finger. Going to get it removed and cleaned out on Monday, so hopefully after that we'll be back to weekly updates.