Unchained

by Mark Garg von Herbalist

First published 24th of June, 2014

Applejack must use her forbidden abilities to save herself, her friends and family, and Equestria from a threat a thousand years in the making.

Ten years after Blueblood's assassination, Equestria is but a shadow of what it once was. Corruption runs rampant as the Equestrian government tries to hold itself together, using a vast system of new laws and government agencies. But, in its desperation to keep the country together, it has declared war on its people.

Applejack is one such victim.

She has been arrested for protesting the nationalization of farms, but when the government finds out that she has an ability that has been declared to be dark magic by Celestia herself a thousand years ago, she is sentenced to the Frozen North to live out her days in a hard labor camp. During her stay, she finds an unlikely ally in the camp and is able to escape and goes on the run in search of her brother and sister with the full might of the Civilian Defense Agency and a shadow organization pursuing her. However, during her run, she finds out that Equestria is under threat from an enemy that has been waiting to break out of its chains for a thousand years. And she has been chosen to be the one to release it.

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Takes place between Mare-Do-Well: Regeneration and Storm Cloud

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Rated Web 14: Strong violence throughout
Crossover Tag for heavy Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood influence.
Part of The Guardians Project
Character Tags will be added as the story progresses

Have some music

00- Prosecution of Honesty

“Ma! Pa! Look at what Ah can do!” says Applejack, her ecstatic voice echoing over the army of healthy apple trees.

Applejack is only eight years old and has barely received her cutie mark, so she is still small and bubbly. Some might even think she has too much energy and not enough attention since she is always running around and doing something other than working on the farm like she is supposed to. A good example will be today, where she has drawn a good sized circle in the dirt using a stick, and inside the circle is a triangle that has smaller circles meeting at its points, and another one underneath its base. Every extra circle has an archaic symbol in it, and next to the rune is an open book with yellow, crinkly pages covered in faded ink that displays diagrams and gives specific instructions of how to practice the craft portrayed.

Her parents, an orange stallion with a rough, blonde mane, and a mare with a red coat and a honey colored mane, approach, talking and giggling quietly with each other. However, when they see the interesting symbol on the ground, the stop their conversation and stare at it with wide eyes and locked jaws.

“Um, Jackie, what did you make here?” asks the stallion, Orin Apple, as he extends his hoof to poke at the line.

“No, Pa! Don't touch it, you'll ruin!” cries Applejack as she zips around the circle's edge, leaving a cloud of kicked up soil in her wake. When she is by her father, she pushes his hoof away and the stallion steps back, exaggerating his apologetic smile. “It took a long time to make this thur-ma-turkey circle really good.”

“A... what?” says the mare, Honeycrisp Apple, with an arched brow.

She looks to her husband, but rather than getting an answer, she gets a shrug, which makes her ears droop in sync with her half lidded eyes and frown. The parents look back at Applejack when she speaks with a sigh.

“A thur-ma-turkey circle,” says Applejack impatiently. “It helps me make stuff out of dirt.”

“Like a fancy way of making a sandcastle?” asks Orin.

Applejack shakes her head. “Nu-huh, somethin' way better than a sand castle! See, watch!”

The parents look at each other and then back at Applejack, and when the filly is certain that she has their attention, she trots to the other side of the circle. Once in position, she takes a deep breath, sits on the ground, claps her front hooves together as hard as she can and then slams inside the circle's edge.

After the filly's hooves impact the ground, bright blue bolts surge through her hooves and zip towards the ground. When the energy touches the ground, the edges of the circle light up the same color with more bolts shooting up a good five feet before the group. Her parents raise their hooves to shield their eyes from a blinding flash of light, but Applejack watches with a proud grin and not using as much as a blink to waste the precious seconds of the spectacle. When the light clears, her parents lower their hooves and their jaws drop from the sight of a prancing pony jutting from the ground. It is standing in the center of a small crater that marks the amount of dirt used to accomplish this feat, and Applejack laughs proudly of her accomplishment as she bounces up and down. She is also laughing because the shocked expressions of her parents is priceless.

“Isn't that neat!? Huh! Huh! Tell me how cool that was!” says Applejack eagerly.

Orin closes his mouth and blinks with a blank stare. “Yeah... That's somethin', alright.”

“Applejack, that was amazing!” says Honeycrisp. Her shocked expression switches to curiosity as she extends her hoof to poke at the book Applejack used for her feat. “Where'd ya get that book, though? That ain't somethin' I've seen around the house?”

Applejack giggles. “Uncle Orange gave it to me before Ah left Manehatten. He said Ah might like it, and Ah do like it. Ah like it a lot! It lets me do cool things!”

Honeycrisp smiles and pats Applejack's head, making the filly giggle once more.

“It sure does,” she says. “What else can you do with it?”

Applejack thinks for a moment. “Well...”

She is interrupted, though, when the door to their farm house bangs against the wall from being pushed open so hard. This makes Applejack jump and turn with her parents, and the little filly backpedals with wide, terrified eyes as Granny Smith storms towards the three.

“Jackie Susan Apple, what did you do!?” screeches Granny Smith with hellish rage in her eyes and voice.

Applejack's ears drooped as a whine escapes her throat, and she averts her eyes to the ground when the old, green mare stands in front of the group, still fuming. Her anger only gets worse when she sees the sculpture Applejack made.

“Did you make that!?” says Granny Smith viciously. Applejack nods and she stomps her hoof, making the little filly backup again. “Dang nabbit, Applejack! What're ya doin' messin' around with dark magic for!?”

“It's not dark magic!” snaps Honeycrisp as she puts her hoof over the filly's shoulder protectively and pulls her in for a hug. “Applejack has just done something amazing and you're acting like she's gone and done something horrible!”

Granny Smith's eyes narrow. “She ain't a unicorn, Honey. She shouldn't have these kinds of abilities. It ain't natural, and heaven forbid if somepony finds out about little Applejack's curse. We'd have the whole town goin' against us and the farm quicker than an apple falling from a tree!”

Granny Smith spots the open book lying on the ground, and Applejack can see clearly what her grandma intends to do.

Applejack extends her hoof as tears of desperation fill her eyes. “Granny, no!”

Granny Smith ignores Applejack and crushes the book under her hoof, making its fragile cover and spine snap. Little Applejack cringes and retreats behind her mother with tears rolling down her cheeks and watches as her grandma lifts up the flimsy book with her mouth. Applejack is too afraid to move or show defiance, and her parents remain silent as well, with Honeycrisp staring hatefully at the old mare and Orin lowering his head in submission.

“I'm gonna destroy this thing before ya do somethin' stupid with it,” grumbles Granny Smith.

Granny Smith trots away and Applejack lowers her eyes while Honeycrisp moves to embrace her. The red mare scoops up Applejack and sits on the dirt, hugging her tightly an nuzzling her lovingly as she rubs the filly's mane.

“It's okay, Applejack,” says Honeycrisp softly over Applejack's sniffles. “You have a gift. Don't ever be afraid to use it.”

“Apple, are you paying attention?” sneers an old, shaky voice.

Applejack glances up at a gray unicorn judge sitting behind his raised bench; she is now in her thirties, has a faint scar above her left eye and is wearing an orange jumpsuit with no stetson. The unicorn, however, is much older as seen by his sagging faded, yellow skin and the thin, gray strands of mane that twist in the air like tiny vines on invisible poles. His blue eyes stare down at Applejack with unrelenting harshness and she meets his look in kind. When the judge, known simply as Judge Docket, raises a brow, Applejack shifts in her spot to alleviate the discomfort of the gem studded, heavy chains holding her hooves to the ground.

“I am now,” says Applejack, intentionally leaving out “Your Honor”.

Judge Docket's jaw sets as he waits without patience for her to add the formalities, but after the five second mark passes, he gets the hint and continues.

“Do you have a defense for Agent McGee's accusation of promoting violent disharmony in Ponyville and conspiring with the Lunar Society to overthrow the Royal Government?” says the judge, his voice bouncing off the empty walls of the room.

Applejack looks to her side at the earth pony stallion that led the arresting agents on her farm. His name is Agent Hush-Hush McGee, also in his thirties and has had an insufferable grin fueled by pride every time she has seen him. He has a light brown coat and a curly black mane and tail with a magnifying glass over a notebook for a cutie mark.

Applejack looks back at the judge, groaning impatiently. “For the hundredth time, I was leadin' a peaceful protest ta keep Canterlot suits from takin' our farms! There was nothin' violent 'bout it!”

“So, blocking roads and threatening to set fire to the EIB and CDA hub construction sites is not violent?” comments Hush-Hush with that same smile that Applejack despises with every bone in her body, and she lets him know her hate when she shoots a glare at him.

“Maybe iffin' ya gone and done yer homework like yer s'possed ta do then ya would know that I did not want anypony settin' fire ta anything. Road blocking, I admit ta that, but the pyromaniac stuff ain't my doin'. And road blocking ain't violent.”

“But it is still illegal,” says Judge Docket sternly. “And what is your defense regarding the Lunar Society?”

“That's just a fairy tale y'all made up,” accuses Applejack, snapping her narrowed eyes to Judge Docket's condemning gaze.

Judge Docket sniffs. “I doubt it. The evidence is overwhelming in the prosecution's favor.”

Applejack snorts and turns her glare to one of the many armed guards in the bare courtroom. All of them are unicorn stallions wearing a simple armored vest and are equipped with slender battle saddles. They remain silent and at full alert, watching her movements and the heavy, wood and metal double doors on the other end of the room carefully.

Applejack brings her focus back to the judge. “Ya do realize that what we talked about was the legality of nationalization of the farms and the Special Talent Act, right?”

“Wow, those are are some big words for you, Applejack. Have you been reading?” teases Hush-Hush.

Applejack snaps her head to the stallion, snorting hot air and grinding her teeth. “Ya wanna run that by me again, smart ass?”

Judge Docket slams his hoof against his desk multiple times, creating the loud wooden knock to gain everyone's attention. Applejack still glances at Hush-Hush out of the corner of her eye, though, even though she is facing the judge, and she puts all of her attention back on the old unicorn when he speaks.

“Be mature, both of you. Now, Apple, do you or do you not have a proper defense against the claims presented by Agent McGee?” says Judge Docket, his voice loud and impatient.

“Why don'tcha present tha evidence and let me rip 'em apart like the flimsy things they are?” retorts Applejack. “Unless we are still going with the whole rigged trial where ya don't listen to a single word I say. Which, if that is the case ya might as well just send me back ta prison.”

“I'm actually glad you brought that up,” says Hush-Hush excitedly as he hops out of his cushion and trots towards the judge's bench. “Your Honor, let's be honest, here, Applejack is doomed and this whole secret trial is a waste of our time, so lets just cut to it as to why she can't go to a regular prison.”

Applejack's heart skips a beat and a lump forms in her throat with those words. Being in a prison was bad enough, sitting in a cell for twenty two hours a day, worrying constantly about Big Mac and Apple Bloom and all of her friends while Celestia's betrayal ate away at her soul. Them refusing to allow so much as a letter really did a number on her, too, and now they want to send her someplace special and without a doubt more secured?

She can feel the suffocating bulge growing in her throat and despite her blinks, her eyes still glaze over as the growing panic shakes her body and leaves her nauseous. Applejack lowers her head so no one can see her swallow or the tears forming in her eyes, and after taking a breath and blinking madly to get the mist out, she looks back up. Judge Docket is staring at Hush-Hush, displaying his intrigue by stroking his chin and the CDA Agent is remaining quiet, but still smiling.

“What do you mean she cannot go to a regular prison?” says the old judge.

Hush-Hush begins with a singsong-y tone. “Oh, it is just a little something we found under her hooves when we were doing a physical on her at Unicorn Ridge Penitentiary. But, in order for this situation to be better explained, I'd like to call a witness to the stand. He is a specialist from Canterlot and has been very helpful in our findings on Applejack.”

“Can I get a witness, too, since we're calling folks up?” asks Applejack, trying to hide her uneasiness with a poorly made snide tone.

Judge Docket ignores her. “And who might this witness be, Agent McGee?”

Hush-Hush smiles broadly. “Professor Nebulous Dust. The Lead Professor of the Arcane Arts at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns and President of the Starswirl Society.”

“I'll allow. Bring him in.”

“With my witnesses, too! Time Turner Whooves and Macintosh Apple!” hollers Applejack to the guards as they open the chamber's heavy doors, but, again, she is ignored.

A miserable groan bounces off of the courtroom walls as the heavyset doors are pulled apart with magic to reveal a stallion unicorn in his late fifties wearing a sharp suit, a dark purple tie and big glasses. His coat is powder purple, his ponytail tied mane has grayed, but not to the point where all of his black hair has gone, and he has a moon shrouded in a cloud as a cutie mark.

Applejack watches him curiously as he nearly skips his way to the front of the courtroom. When he is by Applejack she spots a gold chain around his neck that disappears under his white dress shirt and faint scarring all over his body. She also feels invisible tendrils come out from him that poke and prod at her body, with some even digging under her skin and freezing her blood. Applejack gasps quietly and shudders as the tendrils are tugged out of her from his passing and she stares at him with growing eyes and jaw locked tight. When the unicorn bows in front of the judge, Applejack swallows and looks down at her hooves, realizing how much she is shaking again and how her lungs feel like they are flooded with water.

“Good afternoon, Judge Docket,” chirps Nebulous.

Judge Docket looks at Hush-Hush, unimpressed. “This is your witness?”

“Yes, Your Honor, he is,” answers Hush-Hush, unfazed by the unkind expression directed towards him.

“Ya forgot my witnesses,” comments Applejack, swallowing for air instantly after while trying to raise her shaky hoof without much luck thanks to the chains. The swallowing breaks about the flooding sensation in her lungs and she sighs softly with relief as her shoulders sag.

Meanwhile, Judge Docket's face scrunches and he slams his hoof against his bench to create a BANG, and he snaps his hoof at Applejack. “Be silent!” He then looks at Nebulous. “Are you seriously Nebulous Dust? President of the Starswirl Society and Lead Professor of Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns?”

Nebulous nods with a grin and straightens himself out. “Yes, that would be me, Your Honor. I know I don't look like the 'leader type', but if you'd like I could show you all of my credentials. I do have copies after all.”

To make his point, Nebulous lights up his horn and pulls out a thick envelope from his blazer's inside pocket and lifts them up for the judge to see. The much older unicorn uses his magic to take the said envelope, and after reading its contents, he sighs exasperatedly with a shake of his head and returns everything to the witness.

“Professor Dust,” begins Judge Docket loudly, barely getting a glance from the subject as he puts his envelope away, “you have been called here as a witness in Applejack Apple versus the Solar Empire of Equestria, with the defense being accused of promoting disharmony and conspiracy to overthrow the royal government.”

“Yes, that sounds right,” says Nebulous as he eases himself into the witness stand.

After sitting, he releases a breath and uses his magic to straighten out his suit while looking at Applejack, smile having yet to fade. Applejack shifts in her spot, not liking the vibe he gave off from earlier, and not liking how he is looking at her right now. What she sees is someone who has way too much interest in her for it to be a casual observation or a flirty move. The combined menace in his emerald eyes and his toothless smile looks like that of a predator who is watching its defenseless pray attempting to escape a trap that it feel into. The longer the two remain staring, the more Applejack gets the feeling that he is trying to pick his way into her skull and violate her brain. To avoid looking at the predator, Applejack lowers her eyes and tries lifting her hooves yet again. The chains clank and she drops her hoof in submission.

“Now, I assume I have been called here for reasons about archaic magic,” says the powder purple unicorn casually, refusing to break eye contact from the Element of Honesty.

“You are correct,” says Hush-Hush.

The Agent whistles and waves his hoof, and another door on the side opens up to allow a pair of mares in. One is pulling a projector on a rolling table while the other is levitating a folder. Applejack and the judge watch with interest while Nebulous raises a rag to clean his glasses without taking them off of his face. Once the projector is in place and plugged in, Hush-Hush gets permission to dim the lights and flicks on the projector to bathe the wall in tan light. He then slides a gray-scale photo in place and Applejack shrinks slightly, eyes shifting side to side with drooped ears, while Judge Docket cocks a brow and some of the guards shift to get a better look.

On the wall, displayed for all to see, is a shot of the bowls of Applejack's fore-hooves, and on them are strange markings. Under the bottom of each hoof is a symbol consisting of a six point star inside a large circle surrounded by four triangles, with a smaller circle in the center of the star.

“Ah, yes, I remember seeing this photo,” says Nebulous lightly.

“And what do those symbols mean, Professor?” asks Hush-Hush like a failing thespian student.

“Those markings are similar to what Thaumaturgists used to bend matter to their will in the space of their circle. It was not uncommon of them to paint such symbols on their hooves or armor for easier use. Judging from these markings, I'd say this one falls under the standard terra-manipulation school.”

“But those are skin discolorations. Not paint or scars. How could a skin discoloration form something like that?”

Nebulous smirks smugly. “You asked the right pony. It is only through magical influence that something as special as what we have with Applejack can happen, and the bloodwork you sent to me of her to examine shows an unusual amount of mana in her bloodstream.”

The judge shifts in his spot with piqued interest, and Applejack's throat clogs and her heart's thumping intensifies tenfold in her ears. By instinct she tries backing away, but the chains stop her and clank loudly to alert the guards, who are quick to take a step closer to the disgraced Element. Applejack winces and looks back at the witness, swallowing a sickly feeling in her throat while Hush-Hush speaks.

“Unusual how, Professor?” says the Agent, head tilted slightly with an obnoxious amount of enthusiasm in his question.

Nebulous sighs casually. “It has been theorized by the late Dr. Strongwind that every creature -griffin, pony, ibex, caribou, et cetera- has a natural flow of mana in them. However, unicorns have a naturally high level of mana, thus enabling them to have a direct connection to the energy around them and giving them the ability to perform magical feats. Then we move on to pegasi and griffins, which are restricted to weather, and lastly earth ponies, ibexes and caribou, who have just enough influence of the earth under their hooves for remarkable farming. That being said, Applejack's bloodwork shows a level of mana that easily makes up two full grown unicorns, which is impossible for an earth pony. This brings me to my second point. Normally when the body is faced with too much mana -no matter the race- there would be noticeable side effects. The most common is balding around the hooves or horn, but rapid aging has been reported as well as severe mental degradation, but nothing of the sort has been reported in any of the three categories in regards to Applejack.”

“So, in your diagnosis, what is Applejack?”

Nebulous looks at Applejack, his smile fading to a grim expression that sends a shiver up Applejack's spine and limbs with the unseen tendrils returning to examine her body. They barely touch her orange fur as they rub along her limbs and neck. Applejack swallows nervously when the invisible tendrils snake along her ribs and stop on top of her stomach, and when they squeeze and dig into her midsection she flinches quickly, causing the chains to clank and the guards to stare at her. The intrusion does not hurt, but it is still a strange feeling that Applejack does not take kindly to, and despite her uneasiness, she still gives Nebulous an angry stare. She knows without a doubt that he is the one violating her in the strangest way imaginable and even with her furrowed brows and clenched jaws, the professor remains unaffected.

“What is your diagnosis, Professor?” repeats Hush-Hush.

“Simple. She is a Thaumaturgist,” answers Nebulous, his tone as dark as his expression. “And the markings under her hooves show that she has been into the Void, making her all the more dangerous to herself and everypony around her.”

The air immediately goes heavy and the lights are turned on by Judge Docket's orders, and with the room lit once again, Applejack sees everypony looking down at her. She swallows nervously as an unpleasant pain grows in her insides and terrified tears glaze her eyes while her heart picks up speed. Her lungs feel stuffed, too, and for that, she opens her mouth to swallow air. As this happens, her mind races in remembrance of the bright flash of light and the pain of having her muscles ripped from her very bones and burned to ash in front of her. She remembers reappearing in the Void and how she returned home physically and mentally broken. She vowed to never return or use such a craft again and tried to keep it buried, but now it seems as if her sins are coming back, unforgiven and forever there to haunt her.

“I-I haven't done Thaumaturgy since I was a filly,” stammers Applejack hoarsely, hoping with minuscule faith that they will accept her words and forgive her of her trespassing many years back.

The unpleasant memory continues to claw its way to the front of Applejack's thoughts and Hush-Hush approaches her side, smirking with pride fueled by his latest victory in the war to preserve Harmony. The earth pony stallion is so close to Applejack that she can feel his breath brushing the hairs in her ears and tickle her nose with his minty mouthwash.

“Not since a filly, eh? But why? You could have done more than just simple protests. With all that power you could have easily overwhelmed us and do severe damage,” says Hush-Huh as he now paces around Applejack, looking over her body as if his answer is hidden somewhere on her coat. When he is standing directly in front of her, he tilts his head slightly and asks: “So why didn't you use your power?”

Applejack inhales and slowly exhales through her nose, keeping her eyes locked on the agent as her jaw sets with a returning frown, answering seconds later with tears rolling down her cheeks. “Because I know how dangerous Thaumaturgy is and I swore on mah parents' graves that I would never use it.”

Hush-Hush nods with puckered lips and turns to Judge Docket. “Your Honor, she admits to being a Thaumaturgist, and if she can get into the Void as a filly there's no telling what kind of damage she is capable of doing now.”

Applejack's jaw drops. “But I haven't done Thaumaturgy since I was a kid! I swore on mah parents' grave that I would never use it again!” she shouts desperately to the judge.

Hush-Hush trots over to the bench and places his fore-hooves on it to look at Judge Docket with bulging eyes. “Your Honor, you know as well as I do that she cannot be trusted. The damage that she could have caused with her dark magic is too great to simply brush aside. She is a threat to the stability of this nation and is a complete disgrace to her Element! She must be isolated for the safety of everypony!”

“Get your hooves off of my bench,” growls Judge Docket.

Hush-Hush complies without hesitation and the old judge releases an explosive sigh and looks at Applejack hatefully. Nebulous, on the other hand, stares at her with a tiny smile tugging at his lips while Hush-Hush looks at her with the expectations of another counter. Applejack's eyes dart between the three of them, heart threatening to explode and the taste of blood surging in her throat as her insides contract. She swallows the copper tasting fluid and stumbles over her words with suffocation and tears plaguing her.

“But-But I haven't done any kind o' Thaumaurgy since I was just a filly! Doesn't that mean anything to any of ya!?” cries Applejack, her lips trembling and her lungs feeling stuffed as they burn with her eyes.

“Under Royal Decree Thirteen, Thaumatugy is considered dark magic, hence intolerable, no matter the age!” says Judge Docket, his harsh voice booming in the chamber. “And Agent Hush-Hush McGee is correct. With you being a Thaumaturgist, you pose too great of a threat to our society, and for that, as well as your anarchic intentions, I hereby sentence you, Jackie Susan Apple, to a life's sentence in the Snowflake Gulag.”

Docket slams his hoof on his bench and Applejack slumps to the floor, jaw slack and tears rolling down her cheeks. Hush-Hush's words of her being a disgrace to her Element have ripped a chunk of her heart out, leaving her to bleed to death in her shame.

From a humble, respected member of Ponyville, to a national icon and hero, to a prosecuted anarchist with her deepest secret revealed and her family and friends gone. A lot can happen in twelve years, and now that she is revealed to be something that Celestia herself has condemned as unholy, she knows it is only a matter of time before the inevitable happens. Her countdown has begun, and it will end in the Hell that lies in the Gulag.

Applejack lowers her head in defeat and put up no resistance when one of the guards clamps a thick, metal collar around her neck and forces her up while the rest rework the cuffs around her hooves. She lifts her eyes, sniffling and fighting the urge to vomit, and sees the guard holding her collar by the chain is staring at her sympathetically. He has a white coat with a golden mane, tail and eyes, and a rounded shield with a spear that has a heart shaped blade behind it for a cutie mark. His vest tag says Shield.

“Cuffs are good, Parma. Let's go,” says one of the guards from behind.

The guard holding Applejack, Parma Shield, nods and gently tugs at her. She puts up no fuss and starts walking with all four of her hooves cuffed and the gem studded chains clanking with every step. Applejack swallows the bile that wants to come up and looks over her shoulder one last time to see Judge Docket leaving his bench, Hush-Hush directing the mares to put the projector away, and Nebulous watching her, still looking at her with the vicious smile. She lowers her eyes and stares at the floor, squeezing her eyes shut when a short, painful cough leaves a scratchy feeling in her throat.

Applejack looks up again and sees Parma Shield open up a metal door with his magic and lead her to a long, narrow hallway, painted white and bathed in bright light that reflects off of the polished tile. Applejack stops for a moment, takes a deep breath, and then makes the first step into the Hell that awaits her.

Fifteen minutes after the trial has ended, Nebulous opens up the door to a lounge that is furnished with old furniture, plastic plants and a shaking ceiling fan. Sitting on one of the old chairs is a pegasus stallion in his mid thirties with a brown coat, a dark brown mane and an hourglass for a cutie mark. He is wearing a white suit and fedora with a red band on his hat and a red tie, and in his hooves is a newspaper with the front page reading: Brisk Wind's EIB & CDA: The Protectors Of Harmony!

Nebulous approaches the pegasus, prompting the stallion in the suit to flick his ears and look at the unicorn in response to his hoof steps. When he sees that it is Nebulous, he lowers his newspaper and gives the aged unicorn a sour look.

“About time,” says the pegasus, his voice carrying a heavy Trottingham accent. “What took you so long?”

“I wasn't gone that long,” says Nebulous lightly. The pegasus rolls his eyes, and in response, Nebulous flashes an amused smile and motions his companion up with a ave of his hoof. “Come on, let's go grab some lunch. I hear they are serving hay bacon flower-burgers down at the cafeteria, today.”

The pegasus snorts, throws his newspaper carelessly on the floor and trots towards the unicorn. “What's got you so cheerful?”

“I'm always cheerful,” says Nebulous, now walking down the hall with the pegasus by his side.

“Yeah, but you never eat flower-burgers, much less hay bacon, unless you are celebrating. So spill it.”

Nebulous' glasses shimmer in the light and his broad grin exposes his pearly white teeth with a pressure in his throat that makes him want to laugh and cry for joy at his amazing luck. “Meriaclock, my friend, I think we might have found our Invoker.”

Snowflake Gulag- 01- The Price

Missing Clergy Found At Stalliongrad Train Yard
By: Igor Inkspill
Stalliongrad- In the early hours of yesterday, the Stalliongrad Train Yard guards discovered what appeared to be an execution of the five missing clergy members of the Church of Solaria. The victims were found bound and gagged with bullet wounds to their heads, all placed in a circle.

Commissioner Badge of the Stalliongrad Guard has stated that he will be working tirelessly with the EIB to bring those responsible to justice.
-More on C-3

Filly Applejack blinks the blotches of colors out of her eyes and scans her surroundings. All she sees is white, just like the flash after the multitude of emerald bolts of energy that attacked her and everything in the farmhouse basement.

Her heart hammers in her chest and her breathing becomes sharp as she paces in circles, eyes darting every which way they can to see if there is more than white. But there is nothing. No up or down or side and side. Everything is an endless void of white with no sign of life anywhere.

“Welcome to the Void,” echoes a soothing, male voice.

Applejack gasps and jumps around to face the source, and she backs up, trembling when she sees a tree that was not there a second ago. The tree has white and black bark with vines snaking all around its body that appear to come from the white ground. At first glance, it looks like a sitting unicorn, with its hooves being roots that coil into the nothingness around it. Its eyes are dark knots in the wood and its snout and horn are protrusions, but with a second look, little Applejack realizes that the two large branches sprouting from its side with thick green leaves hanging down look like wings.

Applejack backs up, trembling and swallowing as tears pool in her eyes at the strange sight.

“I can understand if you are frightened. The Void is no place for a child,” says the tree. “But it is remarkable that you have found your way here at such a young age. What is your name?”

“A-Applejack,” whispers the filly nervously.

“That is a pretty name for a pretty filly. My name is Sirius.”

One of the vines snaking around Sirius slides off and slithers across the ground towards Applejack, making her take a step back. When it is in front of her, the vine lifts itself up towards so it is at a comfortable height for a shake. Applejack swallows nervously and her wet eyes move between the vine and the dark knots that make Sirius's eyes.

“Please, do not fear me,” says Sirius his voice aching and more vines moving into Applejack's personal space.

Applejack takes another step back, whimpering louder with tears dripping off of her cheeks as the rest of his vines slide down off of his wooden body and slither across the white floor towards her. From seeing all the snake like tendrils sliding towards her, Applejack's heart spikes and she yells in fright and tries running, but the nearest vine grabs her hind leg and holds her in place.

“Let me go!” shrieks Applejack. She breaks down into sobs and wails, and thrashes desperately as more vines grab her limbs and waist and lift her off the ground. She turns in the air, face drenched in tears and eyes bloodshot as her writhing does nothing but encourage the vines to tighten and for Sirius to gently shush her. She does not listen to his attempt to calm her down, and yells through her sobs. “Please, let me go! Ah don't wanna be here!”

“I do not want to hurt you,” assures Sirius as he brings Applejack closer to him. With Applejack just barely three feet away from him, he starts turning her body for a full inspection and loosens his touch so he is barely touching her pelt as his vines run along her small body. “So small. So fragile. What brings you here, child?”

“Ah-Ah just wanted my-my mama and papa back,” sniffles Applejack.

“Resurrection is a common reason for coming in here, but, alas, I am afraid you will have to leave here alone.”

“What! Why! Ah-Ah did all the stuff Ah had ta do!”

“True, you performed the ritual well for somepony your age, but even then, you cannot get what you seek.”

“But Ah did everything! Gimme back my mama and papa!”

“Do not be upset. You have gotten far for your age. You have seen the first layer of the Void, and for that, you should be proud.”

“But Ah want my parents!”

The vines squeeze around Applejack's midsection and coil around her hooves, becoming tighter with each layer until she is no longer able to move. This does not stop her from trying to worm her way out, though.

“I know, but you cannot have them and I must send you back, but not without recompense,” says Sirius, his voice loosing its soothing edge to a stern tone as the filly grunts and wiggles uselessly in his grip. Though, she does stop squirming with the last part of his statement.

“Re-Recompass?” stammers Applejack, staring uneasily at the deity with widened, bloodshot eyes as her heart thumps loudly in her chest. “Wha-What's recompass?”

One of Sirius's vines moves under Applejack's body and positions itself under her stomach, poised for a strike, and his voice softens as he speaks. “It has been too long since I have seen a child, and I do not wish to inflict harm on you, but I must do this. Forgive me, Applejack.”

The vine then pierces Applejack's stomach like a freshly sharpened blade, and her bloodshot eyes bulge and her mouth opens wide as her back arches up with the pain ripping through her. Applejack screams in pain and-

Wakes up in a caged cart, coughing blood all over her hoof and wooden floor. The three other mares locked in with her reel back, swearing and shouting, but she can't understand what they are saying over the scratchy coughs that make her shoulders buckle and her lungs burn.

Applejack's vision blurs with tears and she collapses on the floor, body trembling and tears mixing with the blood droplets as the cage door slides open with female guards rushing in and barking orders. The prisoners are forced to the far sides of the cage and the farmer's body feels like it is being ripped apart from the inside out as she curls up on the floor, hacking sharply and staining her orange coat with red.

The voices fade and she feels dizzy as she drowns in a sea of fear and confusion. She barely feels a hoof go on her and the tingle of magic going through her body, and then everything fades to darkness.

Filly Applejack lies on the ground on the edge of the Thaumaturgy Circle, huddled, defeated and covered in blood. Her scratchy whimpers are barely heard over the sparks flying from the burnt engraving in the ground, and her convulsing body is but a lump in the darkness, barely illuminated by the dim, emerald sparks. With each flick of energy into the air, the dim room becomes darker and Applejack curls tighter on the ground with both of her front hooves clutching her gut as blood pours past her mouth.

“Mama... Papa...” calls Applejack, her voice low like the whisper of a dying child.

Her vision swims, bending and blurring the room as she tries to blink the tears out of her eyes. Though, with all of her disorientation, she manages to spot a lump in the middle of the circle, surrounded by green haze. Its limbs are coiled like vines and its milky green eyes blink in the dark as it opens its mouth with its hoof extending. The bones snap and crack like brittle glass as it stretches out to grab her, blowing puffs of emerald smoke from its wide open maw.

“Mama...? Papa...?” wheezes Applejack, reaching her blood soaked hoof towards the figure.

Suddenly, her body is bathed in light and she hears two sets of hooves storm down the stairs. The light illuminates the charred body in the center of the ring, now lying motionless in a spreading pool of blood that covers the chalk. To her, it looks like creature's skin is made out of burnt bark and its wings appear to be covered in burnt leaves, with most of its leafy feathers floating as ashy flakes on the blood and the remaining few hanging by thin stems. Surrounding the body are charred vines that are also crumbling, but they are smoking and rapidly degrading, like the rest of the body.

“Jackie!” cries Granny Smith, her terrified voice distant in the fillies ears.

Applejack keeps her hoof outstretched, and her eyes widen and she tries screaming for her parents as the strange body breaks apart and collapses in a heap on the floor. Her pupils shake with her hoof and blood dribbles past her lips, mouth wide open for a silent cry.

“Macintosh, get Doctor Heartbeat right now!” orders Granny Smith.

Applejack hears her brother leave in a hurry and she feels her grandma's hooves embrace her. Next thing she knows, she is lifted off of the ground, leaving her bloody puddle on the floor, and she is hugged as tight as her broken body will allow without being in worse pain. It is at that moment when she sees the brick wall of the basement and feels her grandma's racing heart beating against her chest that she not only made a horrible mistake, but she failed in accomplishing what she wanted to do in the first place.

Her parents are still gone and she almost killed herself summoning the wooden creature, and with the crushing burden of her failure and the lifeless eyes of the creature haunting her mind, she breaks down.

Applejack's weak whimpers break into full on wails and she clutches her grandma as hard as she can, with her hooves slick with blood slipping off, only to snap back to hold her again.

“Ah'm sorry!” sobs Applejack, burying her face against her grandma's body. “Ah'm sorry! Please don't- Ah'm sorry!”

“It's okay, Applejack. Granny's here. Granny's got ya,” coos Granny Smith softly, sniffling and hugging Applejack closer to her with her eyes closed and body gently rocking back and forth. Her tears drip on Applejack's mane and she rests her head on top of the filly's as bloody hooves paw against her shoulders, desperately trying to hold her.

“Ah-Ah'm sorry.” Applejack's voice and cries are weakening and caving in to raspy coughs. She closes her eyes and buries her face in Granny Smith's shoulder, wanting to see nothing but the dark void so she does not have to see the demon she made when she failed. “Ah'm sorry, Granny... Please... Please don't hate me... Ah'm sorry.”

Granny Smith softly shushes Applejack and tenderly runs her hoof through her blonde mane and up and down her spine. “It's okay, sweetie. It's going to be okay. I promise.”

Applejack's eyes flutter open and she finds herself lying on a cot in a brightly lit, small, white room. She is covered in a thin blanket and has a breathing apparatus strapped across her muzzle that is connected to an air tank. Every breath she takes sounds like a wheeze going through a tunnel, and the machine hisses and clicks to pump more air into her, which, in turn, makes another machine click and print out a sheet with jagged lines to show her vitals. Applejack stares curiously at the printing machine, noting how it has wires snaking out and connecting to her hooves and barrel, right over her lungs and heart.

She raises her hoof to her eyes twisting and turning it every which way she can to get a better look at the sensors strapped to her, which lay just above the gem studded cuff on her hoof. Though, when a particularly noticeable jolt sends the contents of her room shaking, she realizes that there is a faint rattling outside and she glances out the window to see that she is still on the train, much to her dismay. Though, instead of seeing fields of grass, metal monoliths or trees, all she can see is a frozen wasteland through the gray fog.

“We are in the Frozen North in case you were wondering,” says a stallion next to her.

The voice startles Applejack, making the machine beep quickly and print out the vital records quicker, showing the spikes in her heart rate. When she looks to see who it is, her heart steadies, but her eyes narrow and her growl is muffled by the breathing mask.

“What the hay are you doing here?” growls Applejack hoarsely.

Nebulous smiles and gets up from his chair to approach the farmer. “I just wanted to see how our resident Thaumaturgist was doing after that little incident in your cage.”

“I'm doing fine.”

“Come now, Applejack, don't be a liar.”

That statement makes Applejack's eye twitch and her blood heat up, but her darkening expression does nothing to sway the unicorn's light demeanor.

“I know you are not in good health because nopony leaves the Void in perfect condition,” continues Nebulous.

Applejack's dark demeanor melts away as her ears droop and eyes widen. The machine beeps rapidly again in response to her hammering heart and her mouth becomes dry as the unicorn leans forward until his muzzle is almost touching her breathing mask. He keeps his smile, but instead of it being light, it is oozing with malice and Applejack shudders when she feels the invisible tendrils wrap around her body again and feel along her hooves and midsection.

She squeezes her eyes shut when the memory of Sirius spearing her body flashes across mind, and the whispering voice of Nebulous bounces around in head like an echo of a demanding demon.

“Tell me, my dear, what did he take from you?” asks the professor.

Applejack's eye open, red and wet with tears that snake down her freckled cheeks, and her body trembles as the tendrils continue to grope her hooves and midsection. When the tendrils around her midsection get really soft and curious, though, Applejack flinches and the invisible feelers freeze. Nebulous remains still, as well, and she wants to scare him off with a glare, but his eyes are closed, so all she can see is her sorry reflection in his glasses.

Applejack gasps when the tendrils give her a squeeze, then they pull away with Nebulous as he steps back, slowly opening his eyes.

“Ah, I see... How unfortunate,” murmurs Nebulous.

Just then, the door slides open and Parma Shield steps in, wearing his armored vest on top of a thick, white winter outfit that covers his whole body except his head. He also has his slender battle saddle equipped, but has the barrel tilted up at an angle and the firing bit just below his mouth. Behind him is a brown pegasus in a white suit and a unicorn nurse with a green coat, a red and white mane that is tied into a bun, and a slightly modified caduceus for a cutie mark. Instead of the winged staff being wrapped around by serpents, it is wrapped by two vines with red, fully bloomed flowers on the top. She is wearing the standard nursing hat and has on a white jacket with pens in her pocket and a clipboard hanging around her neck.

“Excuse me, Professor, but we'll have to cut your session short. Nurse Care is here to check up on Miss Apple,” says Parma Shield.

“That is fine. I will be leaving now,” says Nebulous, his goodhearted smile returning. He steps back and bows slightly to Applejack, saying in his calm tone: “Get well soon, Applejack.”

Applejack warily watches Nebulous leave, and once the door shuts she looks at Nurse Care and Parma Shield, watching them with the same cautiousness as she did with Nebulous.

“Alright, let's make this quick,” says Nurse Care as she steps forward, levitating her clipboard slightly.

“No funny business, either. We got guards on the other side,” adds Parma Shield in a nervous, quivering voice. Both mares in the room look at him with mixed expressions, and he swallows and takes a step back, quietly adding: “I gotta do my guard stuff.”

“The patient won't be able to do funny business,” says Nurse Care with a roll of her eyes, then she adds with a wave of her hoof: “Now, go on. Scram. Leave the mares alone.”

“But, I gotta-”

Nurse Care snaps her hoof to the door. “Go.”

Parma Shield opens his mouth to say something, but ends up closing it and leaving the room. After the door quietly shuts, the nurse shakes her head.

“I swear, stallions can be worse than us, sometimes,” she says.

Applejack remains silent and the nurse sighs as she scribbles something down on her clipboard.

“I don't mean to be rude, but-” Nurse Care looks at the cuffs “-what did you do?”

“Nothin' illegal,” replies Applejack sharply.

“Right. You're just in cuffs on your way to a prison camp because nopony likes you.”

“Eeyup.”

Nurse Care snorts, clearly skeptical. “Well, if you don't want to be honest with me, that's fine. I was just trying to get some small talk while I work. It helps me concentrate and get to know the patient better. Criminal or not.”

Applejack is again silent for the most part, but a low growl does rumble in her throat and her eyes narrow on the nurse, silently vowing to slug the next pony to make a comment about her Element. Indirect or not.

Nurse Care adjusts the clipboard in her grip and positions her pen, ready to scribble down information in an instant. “Now, Jackie, I need to know if your allergic to anything before I start recommending medications to fight your condition.”

“Oh, well, no that you've mentioned it, I am allergic to a lotta things actually,” says Applejack, her eyes widening and body stiffening.

Nurse Care raises both brows curiously. “Really?”

Applejack nods. “Oh, yeah. Let's see if I can remember them off the top of my head.” She taps her chin with her hoof and rolls her eyes to the ceiling. “There's stupidity.”

The nurse's curious look crumbles into a large scowl instantly.

“I'm allergic to bullshit, too,” continues Applejack. “Then there is scapegoaters, chronic liars and those weird folks that knock on the door with them white shirts and creepy smiles.”

Nurse Care facehoof's. "I'm being serious.”

A smile flickers across Applejack's covered muzzle. “Asparagus.”

Nurse Care lowers her hoof, barely missing the smile. “What?”

“I'm allergic to asparagus. And lemon peppers. My face swells up a bit around my eye when I eat lemon peppers and I get these weird bumps on my tongue when I eat asparagus.”

Nurse Care sighs exasperatedly. “Okay, but what about prescription drugs? Are you aware of any allergies you may have to certain medications?”

Applejack shrugs. “Shoot, I don't know. Never took a prescription drug in my life.”

“Your joking, right?”

Applejack lowers her eyelids slightly and seconds later the nurse clicks her tongue and scribbles down some notes with hard strokes.

“Well, this certainly will make things interesting,” grumbles the nurse.

Meanwhile, a few carts down the train, Nebulous and Meriaclock are enjoying as much of a stroll as they can through the guard's living quarters of the train. The decorations consist of gray carpet and thick curtains to keep the cold at bay, and framed propaganda posters and metal safety signs are placed at even increments. As usual, the propaganda is flashy and makes the royal government to be the purest of entities while the safety signs are comprised of bland pictures to go with their bullet points. To alleviate the boredom that comes with these, there are speaker boxes placed in the car that play upscale orchestra music. The attempt to add life to the train is noble, but it is obvious that Meriaclock is finding the music to be rather dull, but Nebulous enjoys it. It gives him something to listen to if he doesn't feel like thinking. Like right now.

“I still think that this is ridiculous. We are in the perfect position to take her now and get this over with,” complains Meriaclock, interrupting Nebulous' peace.

“Only, the extent of her condition is worse than I thought, and I do not know if she will be able to perform the task after she is treated,” says Nebulous after a deep sigh.

“You said that she was capable.”

“No, I said that I think she was capable and that was before I got a better look at her. Hopefully the medical facility at the Gulag will treat her well enough so she can accomplish what has to get done.”

“Well, that's just great, Professor. We are going through all this trouble for a maybe and a hopefully. I'm sure our chumps will be thrilled.”

“We have no other option. I'm sure they will understand.”

Meriaclock snorts and ruffles his feathers challengingly. “We do have another option. You just don't want to use it because you're a ball-less coward.”

Suddenly, a tendril wraps around Meriaclock's neck and he is hoisted off of the ground and slammed against the wall. The pegasus gags and kicks his dangling legs wildly while Nebulous stares straight ahead, jaw tight, eyes glowing green and tendrils appearing in the same color. As the tendrils appear, thorns start to protrude from them in random increments, growing in size and sharpening by the second. The professor hears Meriaclock gulp when one of the thorns pokes at his neck, just barely missing his jugular, and when he looks at him, he sees the pegasus' struggle weaken and his eyes roll to the back of his head.

Nebulous keeps his narrowed eyes locked on Meriaclock as he uses his hoof to adjust his glasses. He does not say a word and his breathing becomes heavy and his body trembles with the desire to pierce the pegasus in the throat and throw his carcass out in the snow. But, after taking a deep breath and seeing the body become limp, Nebulous remembers that he needs Meriaclock, and with that small thought, he releases his prisoner so that he falls in a heap on the floor. His horn glows for only a second before Meriaclock wheezes awake and starts coughing violently and sucking for air as his hoof massages the bruise around his neck with Nebulous watching the whole time.

Meriaclock takes a gulp of air and coughs violently again, glaring at Nebulous without lifting his head.

“Say that to me again and I will show you who the real coward is,” says the professor coldly. He then uses his magic to help Meriaclock to his hooves and brushes the wrinkles out of his suit, then gently places his white and red hat back on his head. “Come. Let's see what the cafeteria has to offer. I'm feeling famished.”

Nebulous turns on his hooves and trots down the train car without looking back. But even though he is not looking Meriaclock anymore, he can still feel the glare burning at the back of his skull, and, quite frankly, he can care less.

Snowflake Gulag- 02- Shackles of the Frozen North

“To say that we are limited in what we can do is absurd. We are only limited by the chains we allow to hold us in place. These chains take the form of many things. The most common examples of such things actually manifest from our own fears and guilt. Why, even our very own cutie marks can act as an inhibitor rather than an amplifier because we have it set in our minds that we are only good for one thing when the exact opposite is true. We are not meant to be stagnant as an individual, a species or as a society. We are meant to branch out. We are meant to take our fears and use them as fuel for the future so you can look everypony in the eye and say that you defeated your fears and grew into somepony who broke free from the prison that you called home. We are meant to turn our guilt into pride because what we are initially ashamed of is a stepping stone towards our future. I conquered my fears. I used my guilt. I broke out of the prison I lived in. Will you do the same?”

-Professor Nebulous Dust- Introduction to Archaic Magic Ceremony at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns

Screeching metal and a deafening whistle echo over the frozen landscape as the prison train grinds to a halt, throwing sparks into the snow and polluting the air with its black exhaust. These noises wake Applejack from her sleep, which she managed to get thanks to a heavy dose of medication.

She sits up, groaning through her breathing mask just in time to see Nurse Care and Parma Shield enter the medical room. The nurse works quickly in removing the breathing equipment and do some tests that determine that she well enough to walk without any aide of machines. After her testing proves that Applejack is good for the moment, Parma Shield puts a thick, metal collar laced with glowing gems around her neck while simultaneously unchaining her special cuffs from the cot. Once she is no longer bound to the bed, he gently tugs her off and she complies with her only act of defiance being a harsh glare. The guard quickly averts his eyes from her and leads her out into the walking area.

Waiting for them is the nurse as well as a group of five more unicorn guards wearing the same outfit as Parma Shield. Applejack looks at all of them with a tight jaw and narrowed eyes, but it does nothing to faze them. The biggest of the unicorns, a stallion with a crimson coat and a gray mane steps forward, and at first she thinks he is going to confront her in some fashion. To her relief, all he does is use his magic to wrap a scarf around her neck and cover her back with a heavy cloak. Once that is said and done, he orders his team and Applejack out, leaving Nurse Care behind.

Once the farmer's hooves leave the train, the freezing cold gravel pokes at her with hundreds of tiny, chilled blades. She shudders, sending puffs of thin, gray clouds floating from her mouth and nostrils. From the dozens of protests not too far from her, she figures that the other prisoners are suffering the same as she.

Applejack glances to her right and sees that through the snow falling in black clumps the prisoners are dressed in scarves and cloaks as well while armed guards overlook them diligently. She turns her attention to the three turrets attached to the dirty wall surrounding the rest of the compound. She squints her eyes to see the pegasi guards stationed there and the Gatling guns that are mounted on the railings. That sight tightens her throat and her heartbeat quickens to rapid thumps in her chest. She does not realize that the guards escorting her are moving until she feels a tug on her collar. After that tug, she stumbles forward, then, after a few awkward steps, she trudges forward, eyeing the massive gate topped with barbwire in front of them.

The prisoners clamor nervously as the gates part with metallic groans and screeches, revealing a courtyard that is also walled off and guarded by towers. They are herded inside by armed unicorn guards with pegasi flying overhead or landing on perches, with Applejack being the last one in and forced to walk along the edges.

When the crowd is inside, the gates seal shut with a thud, scaring some of the prisoners to jump in their spots and look at the blocked exit with drooped ears and big, watery eyes. Voices are raised in a panic and some sobs can be heard as prisoners huddle closer together to stay warm and to find comfort in the ring of Tartarus they have been banished to.

Applejack looks over the crowd, feeling a lump in her throat and a resurgence of fear shaking her bones. Never in all of her life would she believe to see such a scene, nor would she even suspect that such a place could exist within Equestria, much less be fully endorsed by Celestia. Thinking about the Sun Goddess, Applejack glances up at the sky, seeing nothing but a faint ball of white bleeding through the thick gay canvas.

She sighs and looks towards the stage in the back of the courtyard, being guarded by a line of shielded unicorn guards. Their expressions are all stoic, like the guards at the Royal Palace, but despite their ratty appearance, Applejack finds them to be more intimidating. They are not in polished gold, rather in thick, wool coats that are stained with mud, their outgrown fur gives them a grizzled appearance and their weapons are all aimed at the prisoners, ready to fire at the first sign of trouble. In fact, their very appearance shows them more ready to wage a guerrilla war in the snow rather than contain prisoners.

Applejack's gaze moves from the line of guards to a unicorn stallion with a chrome coat and a white mane that approaches the stage's podium with heavy, disciplined steps. Once he reaches the podium, his remorseless, teal eyes stare down at the prisoners, watching them with disgust as they continue talking in more hushed voices. Some of the prisoners look up at the unicorn with fear while others avert their eyes to the dirty snow beneath them.

Applejack stares at the stallion, trying to give off a defiant impression in the midst of all the frightened ponies beside her. However, the stallion on the stage does not seem to notice her look, either that or he is ignoring her, and continues inspecting the crowd with growing disgust. A couple of minutes pass before he looks over his shoulder, then he snaps to attention, lights up his horn and yells viciously at the crowd.

“PRISONERS, SILENCE!” booms his voice.

The prisoners fall quiet instantly, allowing only the howling wind to speak, and Applejack watches a pegasus mare step towards the podium. She appears to be in her mid forties, has a blue coat that is so pale it is almost white and her thick mane is white as snow. She is wearing a heavy, white jacket that covers almost her entire body, save for her ankles and wings, which are allowed through with slits, and underneath is a blue shirt with a gold collar and buttons.

Applejack stares at the mare, noting the resolve in the dark blue eyes that scan the crowd. She does not know what the pegasus is looking for, but when her eyes stop on her, she gets the feeling that she is going to be getting more unwanted attention.

The pegasus and Applejack stare at each other for a few seconds before the former adjusts the microphone on her podium. Once it is adjusted, she taps it a couple of times, sending echoing thumps over the crowd. Then she licks her lips and leans forward.

“Ladies and gentlecolts, I will make this quick. I am Warden Frost Flower, head of the Snowflake Social Rehabilitation Penitentiary,” begins the mare, her voice carrying the tone of an stern mother rather than a hardened wretch that she appears to be. “Many of you are here for reasons that I do not care about. A portion of you, however, are here because you thought you could get away with promoting disharmony. And that is something I care about.”

Warden Frost glances at Applejack again, then she looks at the crowd and continues with an exhale that is marked by the puff of frozen air in front of her muzzle.

“But now that you arrived, there are a few things you should know,” she says. “First, Celestia's word is law and I follow Her. To defy me would be to defy your goddess, and I will have none of that here. Secondly, it is my duty to feed you and ensure your health. However, I can only do as much as you put out, so the harder you work, the better I can take care of you. Lastly, this place, this Gulag as most of you will come to call it, will only be your end if you allow it. We have parole hearings here, and no matter your sins against the state or your fellow ponies, all are entitled to it. However, entitlements are earned, not given freely, and only when you earn them will you see them. That is all. Guards, take them for processing.”

The chrome unicorn uses his magically amplified voice to bark out orders, and in turn the guards move forward and start separating the prisoners with great speed and effectiveness. They are separated by age, weight and race and escorted through different doors along the wall. However, while all this is going on, Applejack is led away from the chaos and taken through a spiked door that has the Equestrian Sun printed above it.

The door opens from the other side and Applejack is taken into a warm hallway lined with heaters, bright lamps and intercom boxes. She is taken to a concrete room with a shower head hanging from the ceiling, and in the room is a group of six unicorn mares, all wearing the prison guard uniform, and all but one have bronze O's on their collars. The different one has a silver bar on her collar.

The crimson unicorn approaches the mare with the silver bar and has a quick conversation with her. Applejack cannot understand what they are saying since they are speaking so low, but she gets a good idea of what's going on, give the room and the Warden's order minutes ago.

Parma Shield is ordered to give Applejack to the mare guards, and after he does that, the escorts leave the room, slamming the door shut on their way out. Her muscles flinch from the metallic thud, but she keeps her eyes locked on the mares in front of her, who look back at her with practiced stern expressions.

The lead mare steps forward, using her magic to remove the scarf and cloak covering Applejack while simultaneously levitating a roll of measuring tape, a clipboard and a pen.

“Alright, lets get this over with,” she says.

Thirty minutes later, Applejack is back in the custody of the same team that brought her to the Snowflake Gulag and is now being led down the hall to yet another destination. She has been cleaned with cheap powder soap and scolding hot water, then blow dried, leaving her mane and tail hanging in frazzled clumps past her eyes and shoulders and dragging on the ground. She has also been dressed in a padded, thick, gray jumpsuit that covers her front, but leaves her lower half exposed. Above her heart is her new prison number, T-1984, made from stencil style numbers and letter that has been ironed on. They have also given her a saddle which contains spare clothing and have returned the cloak and scarf to her.

The whole processing event has left an uneasy feeling in Applejack. Primarily with the quick wash. She feels violated and being dragged around by a collar by a group of stallions does not make her feel any better about this. But now that the processing part is over, she is dreading what comes next. It is inevitable and she can only hope that that where they put her will not be too small.

The whole time Applejack has thought about how miserable the past few hours have been, she watches the tiles on the floor pass underneath her, hardly listening to the steps around her. Though, because she is not really paying attention, she does not notice that the crimson stallion has stopped, so she ends up getting a nose full of stallion tail.

Applejack retreats quickly, flushing in embarrassment and trying to snort away his scent as he and his team look at her, all with various levels of amusement, save for the one she bumped into. He is looking at her, bemused by what just happened. He shakes his head seconds later and looks ahead at a pair of approaching guards. One is the unicorn stallion that told everyone to shut up when the Warden arrived and the other is a faded, grayish-purple earth pony mare with dirty gold eyes and a straight, very light, gray-blue mane who appears slightly younger than Applejack. Both guards are wearing blue uniforms under their heavy, white coats, but the unicorn has gold bars showing on his collar whereas the mare has a bronze O.

The chrome coated stallion approaches the team leader with the mare following remaining stationary just a couple of paces back. Out of the corner of her eye, Applejack sees Parma Shield's burning ears perk and his eyes grow with a stiffening body. Ogling at its finest.

“Nice to see you again, Billy,” says the crimson unicorn when the prison guard is standing in front of him.

“Likewise, Cosh,” says the guard. “Officer Pie and I have been ordered by Warden Frost Flower to escort Prisoner T-one-nine-eight-four to her holding cell.”

Applejack looks at the stallion with an arched brow before putting her attention to the mare, not seeing any resemblance between her and Pinkie Pie, aside from both being earth ponies. When her mind goes to her fellow Element, though, she can only think about finding Big Mac nearly beaten to death and Fluttershy almost getting executed by the group of fanatics that attacked Ponyville.

Applejack lowers her eyes, growling slightly and muscles twitching from the rage bubbling up inside her. She stares at the snow covered concrete, trying not to think about it, but it refuses to leave. She can remember every bit of it. From Derpy flying to her farm, shaking and eyes wet as she gives her the message from the hospital alerting her of what has happened. To her running all the way to the hospital to find Pinkie Pie and a bandaged Fluttershy sitting next to Big Mac, who had been nearly beaten to death. She still remembers the beeps, hisses and clicks of the machines attached to him, the bloody bandages covering him, and the stitches and grotesque bruises tattooing his body. His eyes would not open and his heart was weak, and just that sight alone brought her to the ground in tears.

“Prisoner, move it!” orders Cosh, his rough voice snapping Applejack out of her thoughts.

Applejack glares at Cosh, but moves anyway.

They walk through the muddy paths of the Gulag, with Applejack surrounded by the appointed guards and the two liaisons leading the way. The path they are on is surrounded by a chain link fence with rolls of barbwire on top, and on the other side, coned tipped turrets made of concrete and surrounded by their own walls stand guard over the miserable, muddy workers.

Applejack watches the workers closely as they shuffle on by. They are all wearing similar suits to Applejack, scarves and cloaks included, but none of them are in prime condition. They are all discolored, restitched and, in the cases of the pads, scratched and dented. Most of the mud caked prisoners' eyes are devoid of emotion while the rest have an odd mix of anger and relief. All but one, anyway. Applejack has to do a double take to make sure that her eyes are not playing tricks on her when she sees a gray and blonde mare skipping through the mud, smiling. Broadly. And greeting other prisoners with a hug as though she has absolutely no care in the world that she is imprisoned in a labor camp.

There is a loud crackle and Applejack looks up at a zeppelin flying overhead, leaving a thick trail of exhaust from its four turbine engines.

“Workers of the Snowflake Penitentiary, do not be disheartened. Your work has been noticed,” says a stallion over the intercom, his voice traveling with the zeppelin. “Warden Frost Flower and the citizens of Equestria thank you for your services, and for your hard work and dedication to the state, dragon fire soup with corn bread is tonight's dinner.”

“Yay! I love soup!” says the blonde mare in a very familiar voice, and when the mare turns to look at Applejack and her group, their eyes widen and the Element's heart sinks while the pegasus' grin broadens while her other golden eye drifts up to the zeppelin. “Applejack!”

Applejack pulls against the leash to press her cuffed hooves against the fence and strains to keep herself in place in spite of Parma Shield's tugging and the shouting guards. “Derpy, what'r ya doin' here!?”

Derpy presses her hooves against the fence as well, still grinning. “I'm in prison!”

“Derpy, that ain't somethin' you should be smilin' about!”

“Keep moving!” barks Cosh, using his magic to help Parma Shield pull Applejack away from the fence.

Applejack grits her teeth and digs her hooves in the ground while the tingling of magical hands grip her body. Tears build in her eyes and her heart tightens with guilt, and she tries yet again to get against the fence, but a combined tug from leash and magic sends her flopping on her back, covering her back and splashing everyone in freezing mud.

Derpy cringes, unaware of a pair of mare guards on her side approaching her, and Applejack rolls on her hooves and is forced to continue walking, but she still looks over her shoulder with wet, bloodshot eyes.

“Derpy, I'm sorry I got ya in this mess!” cries Applejack.

“Don't worry, it's only temporary,” says Derpy calmly. One of the guards puts her hoof on Derpy's shoulder, which prompts the pegasus to turn and smile at the guard. “Oh, hello.”

“Derpy, you know you can't talk with the prisoners in this part,” says the guard firmly as she turns the pegasus away.

Derpy's expression falls. “I just wanted to say hi to my friend.” The guards say nothing and keep her walking, but she still looks back at Applejack and offers a sad smile and wave. “Bye, Applejack! Maybe we'll see each other again!”

Applejack awkwardly waves with tears clearing off trails of mud from her face, and she continues watching Derpy until she can no longer see her in the miserable crowd. Once Derpy is out of sight, Applejack looks away, dipping her head and whining quietly, soon falling completely silent as she is led to her a walled off mountain. The barrier surrounding the mountain has rolls of barbwire on the top and evenly spaced towers, and the entrance is a mirror copy of the front gate of the Gulag.

The gate grinds against the gravel as it opens, and group proceeds towards a covered walkway that is made of concrete and metal, surrounded by razor wire, and guarded by an armored booth.

Billy and Officer Pie speed up and give the required credentials to the unicorn guard inside the booth. Just like with the conversation in the washroom, Applejack cannot understand what is being said, but when she cranes her neck, she spots an earth pony guard manning a Gatling gun that is facing inside the walkway.

The unexpected screeching metal brings Applejack to look at the gate with a start, and after it is all the way open, she is escorted inside. The tunnel is lined with wires and pipes that snake along the walls and ceiling and disappear into the ground. Each bright light is placed in even intervals, just like the gem and steam powered space heaters, giving the tunnel a warm contrast to the outside that thaws Applejack quickly. Though, with the way the concrete walls suck up the light, the tunnel still has a dim, never ending feel to it.

After leaving the tunnel, there is more of the design inside the mountain. There are tunnels carved into it with the wires, lights, pipes and heaters lacing its edges, only this time there are tiles, emergency lights and speaker boxes added in. There are also guards wandering around, looking bored in their patrols.

For the next ten minutes Applejack is led through a maze of halls, gates and stairs, with each level taking her higher and revealing more and more cells. She really has not been paying much attention since her mind has gone blank from the repetitiveness of it all, and every time she gets a flicker of thought, she can only think about Derpy.

How Derpy got arrested is beyond her. As far as she knows, the Whooves are completely harmless. Derpy does not know how to get angry and Time Turner is too timid for his own good, much like Fluttershy, and if the Derpy is here, it is safe to say that Time Turner is in prison, as well. Just like her and Big Mac.

With her and Time Turner gone, that means that Dinky has been brought into state custody, like what she knows happened to Apple Bloom when they came after them in the dead of night.

Thinking about how the door was kicked down and the swarm of masked agents storming her home sends a shiver of rage through Applejack's spine and down her front hooves, outlining her marking. Their brutality had been uncalled for, but what makes her more upset about it all is that she had the power to stop them. She could have saved Big Mac and Apple Bloom from being taken. She had the power to fight back, but was not only too afraid to use her gift, but also dared not break her promise to her parents.

Applejack's vision clouds with tears and she dips her head, sniffling and blinking the mist away. No one seems to notice or care, though. Not that she is actively looking for signs of sympathy. She is too busy in beating herself up for failing to protect her injured brother and baby sister, and because of her failure, they are separated and imprisoned.

Speaking of prisons, when the next gate is opened with the same ear grating grind and screech, Applejack looks up and sees more lines of steel doors. The hallway's eerie silence makes Applejack's mane crawl and her heart thump loudly in her chest. Her steps become heavy and more reluctant as they travel further down the hall, and the flickering light at the end does not help her nerves any.

There is not a voice heard, only the clip-clop of hooves and the humming of heat and electricity. It is like the whole floor is completely abandoned and ripe for restless spirits to torment her when she is trying to sleep. Applejack gulps and watches the numbers above the steel doors go by as she forces her shaky legs to follow her captors just so she does not get tugged around.

T-1900... T-1901... T-1902...

On and on these numbers go, all bland and all waiting to suck up their next prisoner. However, when they pass cell T-1918, Applejack notices a unicorn mare standing guard outside the cell in the standard uniform. She has a light brown coat, a stiff, light brown mane and brown eyes, giving her the appearance of a chocolate and peanut butter brownie bar reincarnated as a pony.

The brownie pony stiffens and her hoof snaps up to a salute, which is returned by Billy when he passes her, and she and Applejack lock eyes for only a moment before the farmer looks away. They keep walking for another couple of minutes until they come to a stop in front of a solid steel door with a viewing slot near the end of the holding block.

Applejack takes a step back, tensing her muscles and swallowing her spit in a vain attempt to keep her heart steady as Officer Pie opens up the door. The scraping of metal against stone grates Applejack's ears, and they fold down instinctively to ease the pain and she winces and takes another step back when it bangs against the stone wall.

Officer Pie steps back, giving Applejack and Parma Shield just enough room to move inside.

“This is your cell,” says Officer Pie, her hoof gesturing towards the small space inside that appears to have been scooped out with an enormous ice scream scooper, sprayed with bleach white paint and had a single bright light bulb installed.

Applejack looks above the door and sees T-1984 stamped in bold, black paint, then she peers inside the cell, growing more uncomfortable by the second as the space seems to shrink before her very eyes. It barely has enough room for a cot and bathroom as it is, and with her in there, she knows she won't be able to move. She will be stuck inside a bland, white room with no escape, forever at the mercy of those who decide to let her out.

Applejack's heart starts racing and sweat trickles down the back of her neck as her eyes dilate and her hooves move her away from the death trap. She stops when she bumps into the heartless unicorn behind her.

“Uh... Is there anyway you folks can finagle somethin' a little bigger?” asks Applejack uneasily.

“No,” replies Billy sharply.

Parma Shield steps inside and tugs on Applejack's leash, and she quickly sits on the floor and locks her hooves in the concrete floor, eyes widening and ears drooping as her heart thumps roughly in her chest. The farmer's hooves scrape just a little bit on the floor and she realizes with a missed beat and loss of air that she is loosing ground!

Applejack grunts and tries pulling away, and it works for a little bit because she can hear Parma Shield struggling and see the sweat forming on his brow, but then Officer Pie gets involved. She gallops behind Applejack and starts pushing against her.

“Get in your cell!” barks Officer Pie.

“No! I can't fit in there!” counters Applejack, her voice shaking and big eyes moistening as her body trembles violently. Her chest tightens, too, and despite her best attempts to keep it from happening, a small whimper escapes her throat.

Officer Pie squeezes her eyes shut and grunts loudly as she strains her muscles to push the Element while Parma Shield continues pulling. The others guards exchange some chuckles and quietly poke fun at the two for their troubles, which only serves to make the situation worse rather than better.

“Yes you can!” yells the earth pony guard, getting another round of laughter and a comment about her having some trouble. With the trouble comment, she looks at Billy with one eye open, teeth gritted and sweat wetting her forehead. “Lieutenant, can you please help!”

Billy sighs, strolls over, and with a quick flash of his horn, Applejack sails through the air and lands in the middle of the tiny cell, right on top of Parma Shield with her chest pressed against his and their muzzles nearly touching. Before Parma Shield can react, though, Applejack pushes her hooves against his chest, squeezing the air out of his lungs, and then she steps on his groin as she turns around to make a dash for the door.

Parma Shield yelps and spasms on the floor when the mare's hooves dig into his gonads, and right as she leaps for the exit, Cosh and the other unicorns light up their horns and stop her in midair. This gives Parma Shield the chance to roll on his hooves and gallop out at full speed while Applejack remains suspended in midair, writhing and swearing. She kicks Parma Shield's butt on his way out, making him yelp and run faster, but as soon as he is in the clear, Officer Pie slams the steel door shut and the guards release Applejack from their magical grip.

The farmer belly flops the concrete floor, but pushes aside the pain in her chest and runs straight to the door. Applejack's throat clogs and tears pour down her cheeks as her lungs burn themselves out to get air out of the death trap, and she slams herself against the door as hard as she can. There is a resounding thud and a pain in her shoulder, but that doesn't stop her from turning to buck at it until her back hooves feel like they are going to shatter. The abuse on her hind legs only encourages her to attack the door with her front hooves.

“Hey, don't leave me here! Get me outta here!” cries Applejack.

Applejack bangs on the door again and again, but time quickly dissolves for her in her quest to break herself out of her prison, but the steel doors prove to be too strong for her hooves. No matter how hard she bangs or how loud she screams, she cannot escape. Her eyes burn and cloud with tears, and with each passing slam and resounding bang, her hooves become sloppy and her body weaker. Eventually Applejack collapses in a heap in front of the door, trembling and sobbing in her hooves.

“Please, somepony get me outta her,” whimpers Applejack. She squeezes her eyes shut and curls up tight on the floor, tears pouring down her cheeks and teeth gritted from the tearing pain inside. “Please... Get me out.”

“She was a hoof full,” grumbles Officer Limestone Pie, glancing over her shoulder with Parma Shield in the Element's direction while simultaneously wanting to thank the others for their great help by socking each of them in the mouth. She restrains herself, though, and picks up her pace so she is in step with Billy, catching what she thinks is a lost puppy look from Parma Shield along the way.

“Are you kidding? She was deluded!” says Cosh, getting an absolute look of shock from Limestone. “In fact, a couple of trips ago she socked one of our guys so hard that she shattered his jaw when she tried escaping. Then we got that guy to replace him.”

To make his point clearer, Cosh nods to Parma Shield, and when Limestone looks at him, he offers a sheepish smile and wave. She looks away, staring straight ahead at the depressing corridor with bulging eyes, having an extremely difficult time wrapping her head around the deluded claim.

“She really was easy this time, wasn't she?” comments another guard in Applejack's escorting party.

Cosh nods. “Yeah, and I hope it keeps up. Anyway, Billy!”

Billy grunts.

“Take us to the mess hall. My boys need to eat,” says Cosh, getting an assortment of cheers and playful begs to be shown the food.

Parma Shield and Limestone keep quiet, but they do exchange amused smiles when Billy deflates with a loud sigh.

Sitting in cell T-1918 is an earth pony stallion well into his fifties. The cell he is in is identical to Applejack's and he is reading an old book that has yellowed with age, titled The Furnace of Nezzar. His once light gold orange coat and pistachio colored mane have faded, leaving a pale yellow and green, and his cyan eyes scan the lines of his book, trying to lose himself in an alternate world. His front hooves are also bound with thick, gem studded cuffs, and underneath his right front hoof is a circle that holds an upside down triangle with a sideways "T" resting on its top.

While his eyes are on the wrinkled pages, his mind is somewhere else. He is seeing the words describing how a group of three friends are trying to escape a sandstorm and Saddle Arabian soldiers, but he does not hear or see any of that. What he can only hear and visualize are the sounds of multiple hooves marching and chains clanking against each other past his cell and the faceless bodies that go with them. He has never heard anyone come by his area ever since he was imprisoned shortly after Blueblood's assassination. However, just because it is going on the eleven year mark, it does not mean that he has forgotten the sounds that surrounded him when he was brought to this slice of Hell.

In his thoughts, he barely hears the scraping of metal, but the scent of spicy soup catches his attention. With perked ears he glances out of his peripheral vision to see a tray of food being levitated in by a unicorn guard standing outside. The tray stops besides him and is gently lowered on the bed.

“Dinner time, Mosley,” says the guard outside with a heavy Stalliongrad accent. Most of her features are hidden behind the door, but there is an eye-leveled slot that is open, which reveals her brown eyes. “I gave you some extra food and a little treat.”

The earth pony smiles thinly at the cornbread, milk, water, and blood red soup and the bits of green that float in it. His smile widens when he moves the cornbread and finds a bar of chocolate underneath.

Despite being in a frozen Tartarus on the outskirts of Equestria, he can always count on the brown-eyed mare to brighten his day, even if it is only just a moment. There is just something about her voice that gives him comfort. Maybe her voice has latched on to him, or maybe it is because she is the only female guard that has not tried to be a stallion and treats him like a pony. An imprisoned pony declared unholy by Celestia, herself, but still a pony, nonetheless.

Mosley lifts his soup bowl to his muzzle, wanting to thank the guard, but all he can do is offer a toothless smile, which gives her a twinkle in her eyes.

“Just knock when you are done, okay?” says the guard lightly.

Mosley nods, and when she slides the latch shut, he gingerly sips the meal, loving the spices of the soup pouring down his throat and warming his chilled body. The burst of warmth gives him a burst of energy that causes his muscles to twitch obnoxiously, but he manages to keep a good grip on his bowl. He takes another sip with greater control of the twitches and stares straight ahead at his bleached white wall, silently wondering which unfortunate Thaumaturgist was captured this time.

Snowflake Gulag- 03- A Not So Warm Conversation

“Cooperation and compromise are the foundations of civilization. In order for society to advance, we must look past individualism and look at the whole picture. Individuals and the private sector must compromise their values and cooperate with the government at their fullest capabilities to ensure proper progression. In turn, the government must be truly united and working as a single entity with a single goal to build society as it was meant to be. Any act of defiance on any level can hinder progress and Harmony's perfection.”

-Brisk Wind- Essay on Perfecting Harmony

“Jackie Susan 'Applejack' Apple,” reads Warden Frost aloud as her hoof skims the said profiles. “Thaumaturgist and labeled as top priority by Director Brisk Wind for reasons of conspiracy to overthrow the government and promote widespread disharmony.”

Nebulous smirks at the pale blue pegasus while Meriaclock remains making his boredom as obnoxiously obvious as possible. Starting with spinning an antique globe on its stand and watching the world spin with a deep frown.

Warden Frost looks at Meriaclock and clears her throat, her intent working with absolute perfection since the pegasus instantly stops. The annoyed look given to her, however, is something she could do without. But now that Meriaclock is no longer messing with her globe, she meet Nebulous' smirk with a neutral gaze.

“Professor, I'm going to be frank, I don't like her being here,” begins the Warden. “If word gets out that there is an Element is in my prison then I will be getting a lot of unwanted attention.”

“I understand your concern, truly, I do, but Thaumaturgy is an exceedingly rare and dangerous gift,” says Nebulous brightly, which visibly annoys the mare in front of him. “The art of matter manipulation is one that very, very, very, very-”

“Only half of one percent of the population can do it and if left unchecked it can surpass most highly trained unicorns,” interrupts Meriaclock impatiently, now looking at a picture of a group of pegasus fillies posing for a picture in front of the Cloudsdale Orphanage. Next to a filly Warden Frost Flower is the all too familiar EIB Director Brisk Wind.

Nebulous turns to Meriaclock, his smiling flickering for just a moment, whereas Warden Frost stares at the pegasus, still unamused.

“I am well aware of Thaumaturgy's rarity and the danger it possesses,” states the Warden flatly.

Nebulous turns back to Warden Frost, his smile as bright as before. “I suspect that you are aware of what Applejack was able to do as a filly, then, and why we are so... cautious? Yes, cautious sounds like a nice word for this.”

Warden Frost exhales and rests her head against her hoof while the other one taps impatiently on her desk in the hopes that the unicorn will get the hint. Unfortunately for her, Nebulous is either oblivious to the message or he is purposefully trying to annoy her.

“Applejack needs to be contained in an isolated, but still somewhat easily accessible location for effective research,” continues Nebulous. “Your prison just happens to fit the bill and has a nice tradition of imprisoning Thaumaturgists. Besides, you have nothing to fear since the royal government has contracted the Starswirl Society to study Applejack's ability as well as took every necessary precaution for a smooth sail. And another thing! The one in charge will be yours truly, so you really have no need to worry.”

To make his point clearer, Nebulous closes his eyes, presses his hoof against his barrel and tilts his nose up snobbishly. Warden Frost just stares at him with the same annoyed scowl that has been growing ever since that cooky unicorn stepped into her office, and when he opens his eyes and sees her face, she almost smiles from seeing his disappointment. The Warden's eyes flick to his jacket when he takes a breath and levitates a manila envelope with the Sun of Equestria on its resting spot, and she follows it down to her desk. Once there, Nebulous uses his hoof to slide if forward and she grabs it with her hoof and drags it closer to her.

“All the details are in there, and if you have any questions, comments or concerns you can always contact me, Major Glimmer Fuller, Director Brisk Wind or Princess Celestia,” says Nebulous.

Warden Frost uses her teeth to tear open the envelope and pull out the packet, then, as she reads the introduction letter, her eyes pop wide for a second before they narrow at the demands poorly disguised as requests.

“Just so we are clear, Professor, no prisoner of mine will become your lab rat, regardless who they are or who stamps this,” says Warden Frost, her tone razor sharp.

Nebulous waves his hoof dismissively. “Oh, relax, Warden. I will be doing equine things towards her. Standard questionnaires, physical examinations, and study of the markings under her hooves. No physical harm will come from these tests.”

Warden Frost hums, now turning the page and squinting her eyes and leaning in closer, trying to decipher what the heck the higher ups are trying to tell her as confusion overtakes her anger. She looks up seconds later, failing to hide her lost look with her stern demeanor. “Professor, I don't know what kind of game you are playing, but my camp is not a hotel! I will not be housing you or anypony from the Starswirl Society or the royal government unless they have a prison sentence!”

Marialock snorts, prompting the the scholar and warden to look at him with mixed expressions. The sharply dressed pegasus is now sitting against the wall, eyes closed and hooves folded across his chest and stretched out across the floor.

“I told you she wouldn't like it,” comments Mariaclock.

“I'm sorry, are you bored?” asks Nebulous, some annoyance now creeping in his tone.

“Very.”

Nebulous sighs and turns to Warden Frost. “Is there any way you can entertain him?”

Warden Frost's eyelids drop halfway. “Sorry, but I don't have a play-pin.” She presses a red button on her desk and the speaker box next to her buzzes. “Lieutenant Club, my office, please.”

“Yes, ma'am,” says a stallion over the speaker.

Seconds later, Billy enters her office and snaps at attention, keeping his blue eyes locked straight ahead. “Ma'am.”

Warden Frost waves towards her two guests. “It appears our guests are getting bored. Please escort them off the premises.”

“Yes, ma'am.” Billy does an about-face to look at the two stallions and stomps his hoof. “Gentlecolts, follow me.”

Meriaclock rolls his eyes, but gets up nonetheless while Nebulous takes a step back with his hoof raised.

“Now hold on, my dear boy, I am not bored. I am actually enjoying myself, here. I do quite enjoy talking to a fine mare like your Warden.”

“Charming,” murmurs Warden Frost now skimming the delivered packet as Billy stares at Nebulous. “Escort him and his friend out, anyway, Lieutenant.”

“Yes, ma'am,” says the Lieutenant. His eyes narrow on Nebulous and he points at the door. “Move.”

Nebulous blinks, eyes wide and jaw set. “Alright. No need to be pushy about it. Come on, Meriaclock.”

Nebulous turns around and sees Meriaclock is already waiting in the hallway for him, tapping his hoof impatiently on the lightly dirty tile. The Professor chuckles and starts to the door with Billy following close behind, but when he reaches the door, he stops and turns, much to the annoyance of everyone, as marked by their groans.

“How does dinner at eight on Sunday sound?” asks Nebulous to Warden Frost.

The Warden's eye twitches. “If I say yes will you go away?”

“Yes.”

“Fine. Yes. Go away.”

Nebulous does a hoof-pump. “Yesss!”

The Professor is then shoved out the office by Billy, who quickly shuts the office door, giving the Warden the peace she desired so very much.

Out in the hallway, Nebulous smiles innocently at Billy as the larger unicorn trots ahead of him and his pegasus companion, giving both of them an equal dose of hateful glares. When the prison guard is a good pace away, Nebulous and Meriaclock walk after him, with a skip in the former and the latter sporting a miffed look on his face and dragging his wings and tail along.

Nebulous spots his companion's unpleasant look out of the corner of his eye and speaks with his usual light tone as he wipes his glasses with a cloth without removing them. “What has your feathers gunked up, Meriaclock?”

“What is bugging me is between you and me. Nopony else has to hear it,” replies the pegasus hostilely.

Billy glances over his shoulder, eying the two suspiciously, only to look back ahead when Nebulous offers a sweet smile. Once their escort looks away, the Professor's smile falters slightly and he gives his pegasus friend a small nod.

“Very well. We will discuss your issues when we are alone,” says Nebulous

“Good,” grumbles Meriaclock.

The two fall silent, with only the clip-clops of their hooves on tile and the occasional page to breach the silence. But with each passing second, a little bug starts chewing on the back of Nebulous' mind, and he can't shake what it is after, until he reaches the elevator and realizes that he forgot to ask the Warden where she lived or where she wanted to eat. With that thought in mind, his smile flips and he stomps the floor with an annoyed yell.

“Oh, doodle muffins!”

Meanwhile, back in the office, Warden Frost sits at her desk, hooves placed in front of her like a steeple and eyes glaring straight ahead at the door. The room seems darker to her for some reason. She thinks it might be because of her mood, or maybe it has something to do with the vibe she got from her visitors and the events surrounding her special prisoner.

Her eyes drift towards the profile of Applejack and the packet describing the cooperation between her prison and the Starswirl Society in regards to the imprisoned Element. The Warden's brows scrunch as she flips through the pages, taking note of all that is being “requested”. From a near complete takeover of her largest medical and employee housing facilities, to free reign and more soldiers being allowed on her prison. She does not like it in any sense and her thoughts push and turn on each other like gears of a clock. She goes back and forth between the seals of the Starswirl Society, Research and Development and the Equestrian Investigation Bureau, trying to figure out why all three would be working together for something as ludicrous as what she truly suspects to be live pony testing. Especially since their other resident Thaumaturgist did not get this kind of treatment when he arrived.

Though, abominations aside, a part of her does have an understanding as to why the Starswirl Society and Research and Development would be working together, but the EIB's involvement is something she cannot wrap her head around. The more she thinks about it, the more she wants to pick up the phone and have a civil conversation with Brisk Wind about the matter. Or at least as civil as the EIB Director will allow. Thinking about Brisk Wind and her absolutely charming nature quickly makes Warden Frost reconsider her contacting the EIB in regards to their role in her prison, and instead she looks back at the other two seals.

Her ears and eyes twitch with the ticks of her hanging clock and her mind goes silent for a few minutes as it comes to a standstill. Despite her not feeling any form of comfort of having her prison being turned into a research lab, she knows that in this day and age, she cannot just phone a complaint with any government branch. Doing so will create a bureaucratic nightmare, and she really does not want to get on the bad side of a branch that has a direct connection with the military. Leaving only one other choice to get to the bottom of what is going on with her prison. It is a choice that leaves a feeling of hungry worms rolling around in her gut, but it must be done.

Warden Frost presses her hoof against the speaker's button and she speaks without breaking her eyes off of the Starswirl Society's seal. “Officer Pie, my office, please.”

“Yes, ma'am,” says a mare on the other end.

As Warden Frost patiently waits for the mare to arrive, she scribbles on a piece of paper and rips it off, and when the minute mark passes a quick pair of knocks fill the quiet room.

“Door's open,” says Warden Frost.

The door opens and Limestone walks in and snaps to attention once in front of the Warden's desk.

“You wanted to see me, ma'am,” says Lieutenant Pie.

“Yes. I have a very special task for you,” says Warden Frost quickly.

“Ma'am?”

Warden Frost locks eyes with the earth pony. “First off, I want you to catch up Lieutenant Club. He is escorting a couple of guests out of my prison, and one of them is Professor Nebulous Dust. A unicorn.” She slides the paper forward. “I forgot to give him my address and where I wanted to eat for our date.”

Limestone blinks in confusion, breaking eye contact for just a moment to look at the information on the sheet before resuming her original position. “Ma'am?”

“Secondly, I want you and Lieutenant Club to keep an eye on me while I have my date. Record every ounce of audio you can get and make sure I am not stabbed to death in an alley. If Lieutenant Club has a problem with that, he can suck it up and deal with it. Dismissed.”

“Is something wrong, ma'am?”

Warden Frost narrows her eyes. “Dismissed.”

Limestone salutes. “Yes, ma'am. Thank you ma'am.”

And with that, the Officer scampers out of the room, shutting the door behind her. Warden Frost remains in her seat with her hooves steepled in front of her with her harsh gaze aimed at the door. But from behind her hooves, her lips curve to a small smile and a devious glow lights up her eyes.

Snowflake Gulag- 04- Ambitions

“The biggest lie that Tirek tells us is that our sins define us, but like all lies, it eventually becomes the truth of the one who hears it long enough. It is our inner truths that guide our ambitions and determine our view of the world. It is what we allow to become our truths that will either build our prisons of torment and lead us to a path of self destruction, or show us the light of salvation and bring us closer to healing.”

-Mother Morning Glory- Church of Solaria

“Thank you, Doc. Thank you so much! I don't know how I can ever repay you for this,” says Granny Smith.

Doc, also known as Doctor Horse Heartbeat, is a unicorn stallion with an amber coat and a brown mane. He rushed over with Big Mac as soon as he got word of what happened and treated Applejack in the confines of her bedroom. Applejack still does not know why the doctor and her grandma refused to take her to a hospital, after all, a hospital is where the sick and hurt go to get better, and she is still sick and hurting badly. Especially below her stomach, like something has been crudely ripped out and her skin and insides being hastily stitched back together.

“There's no need to pay me back, Purity,” says Doctor Heartbeat. “I'm glad Macintosh got me here as quickly as he did. Any longer and Jackie could've died.”

Applejack swallows and shifts as quietly as she can under the thick covers while dragging a stetson Big Mac gave her closer to her barrel. She does not want them to know that she is awake. She wants to hear all of what they are saying so she can find out if they hate her or not, or what kind of trouble she will be in. She knows she will be in a lot of trouble since she broke Granny Smith's rule about using thaumaturgy, and made a huge mess in the basement, too. Her grandma hates messes and last time she made a small statue out of thaumaturgy, that old mare's head about exploded from rage. Only Celestia can save her from whatever punishment Granny Smith has in store for her.

“But... I'm afraid I could not heal her completely,” says Doctor Heartbeat dismally, bringing Applejack out of her paranoid thoughts.

The news of incomplete healing, however, sends a choking lump in Applejack's throat and her body tenses under her blanket as her hooves clutch the stetson tightly. She also bites her tongue to hide the whimper, but these things do not stop her body from trembling and her cheeks from becoming moist with tears.

“What do ya mean? What couldn't ya fix?” asks Granny Smith restlessly.

Applejack hears the cracks and tears in her grandma's voice, and she curls tighter as she squeezes her eyes shut, but a sharp pain inside her forces her to stop and wince. It seems like everything becomes still after that, and after a few seconds of silence, the floorboards creak with the leaving hoof steps.

“Let's talk downstairs,” says Doctor Heartbeat.

Applejack waits for the steps to fade down the stairs, and she waits a few more moments, silently arguing with herself on whether or not she should follow them and figure out how they plan on punishing her. She knows they are mad. They have to be for what she has done.

Applejack peeks between the opening of the stairway bars and observes Doctor Heartbeat and Granny Smith in the living room. She can barely see their faces in the dim, oil lamp light, but from what she can see, her grandma is having trouble keeping her proud posture. The old mare is sulking while the young doctor is having trouble looking at her. If she did not know any better, she would think that Granny Smith is genuinely worried, but she knows better. The look is obviously a ruse to fool the doctor into thinking that she is worried about the filly's wellness, but when the doctor leaves, Applejack knows there will be punishment for her meddling with dark magic.

“The ritual that your granddaughter performed removed her ability to bear any foals, and with a chunk of her insides missing it will cause complications,” explains Doctor Heartbeat. He sigh and runs his hoof through his mane and lowers his eyes to the floor. “I honestly don't know how much time she has left because of it, but the most I can offer is my silence on the matter and some medication to delude the symptoms. If anything, the medication will make her passing a lot less painful and hopefully add some time to her life.”

Granny Smith fidgets in her spot, nibbling on her lips and her eyes flicking between the floor and the doctor.

“Ya dealt with somethin' like this before?” asks Granny Smith after a moment of silence.

There is a hint of begging in her voice, but when the doctor shakes his head, her ears and shoulders droop even more and a small whine escapes her lips.

“No, I have not. This is... unique to say the least, and if the royal government finds out about this, they will take Jackie away for using dark magic,” says Doctor Heartbeat, his eyes lifting to meet at hers.

“What! But she is just a filly!” shouts Granny Smith, her body stiff and eyes wide with terror. “She made a mistake and-!”

“And whatever craft she used is obviously dark in nature and the government has a zero tolerance policy regarding dark magic. But I won't tell anypony about this, and I think I have a way to help ease her pain.”

Applejack shrinks back, shivering and biting her lip as the pain in her abdomen returns to slowly claw under her skin and rip her muscles. Her vision blurs with tears and she bites down on her hoof to stop the whimpers as the physical pain assaults her on top of the mental anguish of the government coming to take her away for what she did.

Granny Smith, meanwhile, collapses on her seat, eyes wet and desperate as she searches the doctor's face.

“What do you have?” she asks.

Doctor Heartbeat takes a breath. “Shortly before a colleague of mine left for Bernese with his son, he gave me a book of medical potions, and I believe one of the recipes could help Jackie greatly.”

“And you trust this pony and his potions?”

Doctor Heartbeat nods. “Me and Strongwind go back as dorm mates at medical school. He's a bit unorthodox, but his work has yet to fail anypony. If it came down to it, I would trust him and his work to save my life over the established hospitals and their pharmacies.”

Granny Smith hesitates for a few seconds. “Okay... Can ya cook us a bunch of whatever that special potion is?”

“Of course. I'll give you a batch of it tomorrow as well as a copy of the recipe so you can make it at home should there be any complications on my end. Keep Applejack in bed for the rest of the week and make sure she does not strain herself in any way. And whatever you do, make sure nopony find out what happened to Jackie, got it?”

Granny Smith nods, her eyes flicking up to the stairs for just a second. “For her sake, I'll make sure nopony'll ever know.”

Applejack lowers her eyes and backs up until the two adults are out of sight, then she turns around and sulks back to her room and gingerly crawls under her covers. She hears the two exchange some more words before the doctor leaves, then she hears the wood protesting with creaks and groans as her grandma treads up the stairs and down the hall. Moments later, the walking stops outside the filly's room and she shifts under her covers, holding the stetson to her chest again.

“Jackie?” calls Granny Smith softly.

Applejack makes a weak grunt, and she shifts a little to press her muzzle against her pillow when her grandma walks to the side of her bed. She gets the feeling that her grandma knows she eavesdropped on her; it is like dozens of spiders dancing on her back. She hates spiders, just like Granny Smith hates it when anyone listens in on a conversation that is supposed to be private.

“How much did you hear?” asks Granny Smith in a gentle voice that catches Applejack off guard.

Despite the pacifist tone, Applejack still wants to lie and say that she just woke up, but Granny Smith has an uncanny ability to root out lies from truth, so she knows it will be hopeless to play innocent.

“A lot...” whimpers Applejack. She lifts her head from her pillow and struggles to focus her bloodshot eyes on Granny Smith, and her lips tremble and her voice cracks with more tears dripping down her cheeks when she asks: “Am I gonna die?”

Granny Smith sighs heavily and smiles thinly as she crawls on the bed next to Applejack and carefully scoops her up in a hug.

“No, no you ain't gonna die,” coos Granny Smith over the filly's terrified whimpers while rubbing her back in soft strokes. “Yer gonna live a good long life and find a strong colt to take care of you. Heck, I know yer gonna live longer than me.”

“But the doctor said-”

“I know what he said, but you are an Apple, and it's gonna take more than a bad spell to knock any of us down.”

There is a moment of silence between them, but Applejack's mind is restless. Her grandma has yet to be wrong about anything, but even she is having a hard time believing that she will live long after that tree monster tore a piece of her insides out. On top of that, Applejack still remembers how furious Granny Smith was the first time she caught her using thaumaturgy, and what she did had been a whole lot worse than making a sand sculpture.

“Granny... Do you... Do you hate me?” sniffles Applejack, her hooves tightening around her grandma, worried that she will say 'yes' and cast her away.

Granny Smith sighs again and pulls Applejack away so they can look into each others eyes, and the old mare smiles again and brushes the filly's cheek. The soft, forgiving look in her eyes is something Applejack had not been expecting to see.

“Jackie... Applejack, I ain't gonna hate ya fer tryin' ta get yer parents back,” assures Granny Smith. “Ya made a mistake, honey, but that don't mean nothin' t' me. I'll always love ya and be there when ya need me, okay? Apples are always there for each other, through thick and thin, and that'll never change. I promise.”

Granny Smith then gives Applejack one more tight hug before lowering back on the bed and pulling the covers over her. Then she lightly kissing the filly on her forehead, which makes Applejack feel better. If only by a minimal margin.

“Now get some sleep, sugar cube. You've had a long day,” says Granny Smith softly.

Applejack nods, shifts under her covers, then closes her eyes, letting her grandma's words seep in as the older mare leaves the room. Once the door clicks shut and shrouds Applejack in darkness, her eyes open, acting like a pair of faint, green lights in the dark, and her face contorts to a grimace as disgust and sadness seep into her mind.

Her grandma has been right from the beginning. Thaumaturgy is dark magic. It is not a gift like her Uncle Mosley claimed it to be, it is a curse. Now, because of thaumaturgy's lies, she is like this, permanently broken and still without the parents that it promised it could bring back. All it did was take from her and leave her almost dead.

Applejack sniffles and squeezes her eyes shut, pushing out a trail of tears, and her painful whimpers and muttered apologies echo in the dark room.

“I'm sorry, Mama. I'm sorry, Papa... I'll never use magic ever again...”

Applejack's eyes snap open to the sound of scraping metal, and she uncurls her body and pokes her head out from under the thick blanket like a curious gopher. What she sees is a pale blue unicorn guard donning white prison armor, and behind him and his levitated chain is her door wide open, taunting her with freedom.

“Alright, can we try to have an easy day, today?” says the unicorn, his tag saying: Staff.

Quicker than a released wound spring, Applejack's legs catapult her off the bed, and she knocks the guard to the ground and gallops out of the cell with her hooves barely touching the rough floor.

“Here we go again!” yells Staff.

Applejack's hooves screech as she slides on the floor, and her eyes shrink to dots and her ears droop as a group of six more white-armored guards -one of which is the brownie pony- charge her from every direction. It is like they had been lying in wait, just outside her field of vision from the confines of her cell, waiting to ambush her when she makes yet another attempt to escape.

The brownie pony leaps for a tackle, but Applejack sidesteps her and dodges two more attempts at subduing her with fancy hoof-work before a gray stallion takes her down. The guard's armored body collides with Applejack's chest, violently forcing the air out of her lungs, and his hooves wrap around her neck, bringing her down to the ground in a blur of orange, gray and white. There is a flash of white and pain in the back of Applejack's skull from her head impacting the ground, but after her vision returns, she socks the one who tackled her in the jaw.

The gray guard yelps and falls off of Applejack, swearing up a storm, and she rolls on her hooves, only to have a yellow coated guard jump on top of her a second later. She immediately buckles under his weight and collapses on the cold concrete floor, swearing up a storm and trying to get him off by wiggling her body and bucking her hips. But despite her struggles, she still remains trapped underneath the larger pony.

“This is getting really old!” shouts the yellow guard.

“Get the cuffs on her, already!” barks Staff.

“Get! Off of me!” screams Applejack, giving one last buck that almost gets the guard off, but his strength overpowers hers and he slams her into the ground.

Her legs and ribs tingle with pain, and her heart speeds up and her movements become more frantic when she feels the metal cuffs clamp around her hooves. Like everyday for the past week, they seal them so they pinch against her skin with a set placed above the inhibitor cuffs on her forelegs, and all of them are connected by chains that barely allow her to walk. Then comes the collar slapped around her neck with a metal leash as if she is some kind of dog.

After they get the cuffs on, the yellow guard climbs off of Applejack and Staff tugs her up, which she obeys if only because she does not like the feeling of her neck getting pulled on. However, as soon as she gets up, the gray guard she punched stomps towards her with a bruised mouth and clocks her right in the jaw. The force sends her to the ground and her mouth explodes with the taste of copper as well as the unpleasant feeling of a metal boot to the face. That guard is immediately pushed back by the brownie pony and the yellow guard while everyone else shouts over each other to swiftly chastise him, though.

“Riposte, what the hell!” yells Staff.

“She busted my mouth, sir,” says the gray pony, Riposte, as he fiercely shrugs the yellow guard away.

“Ya wanna hit me again when I ain't restrained,” growls Applejack, licking her lips to sooth the pain.

“Shut up!” snaps Staff, then he jabs his hoof at Riposte: “You, stay here with Ruthenia and wait until I get back. As for you, Ruthenia, make sure he doesn't do anything stupid, got it?”

The brownie pony's hoof snaps up to salute. “Yes, sir.”

Staff then snorts and orders Applejack to follow him while tugging on her leash. She resists at first, mostly because she wants to slug Riposte again, but when a particularly bad, scratchy cough forces her hoof to her mouth, she loses her footing and almost gets a taste of cement. She catches herself, though, and begrudgingly follows Staff with her ears splayed back and a deep frown aimed at the floor while the taste of copper eats at her tongue. Out of the corner of her eye, and hearing past the metallic orchestra of chains clanking and metal clops of the guards, she sees Riposte glaring at her, hoof to jaw and muttering: “Bitch.”

Applejack turns fully to him and lurches forward, and Riposte swears and scrambles back into the wall, wide eyed and horn sparking defensively. Staff is quick to scold her over the snickers of the guards and give her a hard tug, though, and Applejack takes a few quick steps to keep herself from falling over, but despite the pain around her neck, she is still smiling. It was totally worth it.

“And to think, we gotta put her back in,” mutters the yellow guard, his tag saying: Picket.

Staff scoffs. “Yeah, don't remind me.”

In cell T-1918, Mosley has his hooves and ear pressed against the thick door, trying to figure out what had happened, even though he has a good idea of what is going on. It has been the same for the past week, where the guards would come by and take the new thaumaturgist for testing, and every time they opened her cell there would be chaos. She would fight and scream in her Ozark accent, and he guesses that the guards probably have to dog pile her on a daily basis just to get the cuffs on. However, when she is put back in her cell, he swears he hears a small army struggling to get her back in that usually ends with them being ordered to just throw her in using magic.

“Every day it's the same thing with her,” grumbles a stallion guard outside. “Why don't we just tranquilizer her and put a muzzle over her mouth as soon as we go in? It'll make everything easier.”

The guard Mosley is used to replies: “You know it is inequine to do that, Riposte.”

“Well, I'm sick and tired of doing these brawls with that stupid prisoner on daily basis. She's always trying to run and acts like she's being buried alive when we put her back in her cell. You'd think being the Element of Honesty she'd be more dignified about this instead of a big baby throwing a tantrum every chance she gets.”

Mosley's hooves scuff against the concrete floor when he jerks away from the door, eyes wide with shock, ears perked and his lungs devoid of air while his mind spins his thoughts in a blur. He knows Applejack is the Element of Honesty, and he remembers giving her one of his books about the art of thaumaturgy when she spent some time with him in Manehatten. He also remembers hearing about Applejack's parents disappearing when they went on a trip to visit the Pie's in the rock quarry country, and how Granny Smith forbid him from seeing Applejack ever again after an incident she refused to talk about.

His raging thought nearly make him not notice that the talking has stopped, but when he comes to that realization, he swiftly lies down own his bed, scoops up his book, opens it up to a random page and acts like he is reading. Not even a second later, the metal slot on his door opens and a pair of eyes spy on him.

Mosley keeps his phony focus on the page, pretending to enjoy the scene where the three friends are standing before the Saddle Arabian judge in cuffs, threatening to be thrown into a furnace unless they bow down to the king. Mosley struggles to keep his eyes on the page to keep his innocent ruse up, but it becomes more difficult to maintain as the seconds go by, and just when he is about to look up, the slot closes.

"So, anyway, did you hear about that crazy shootout with the griffins and EIB?" says Riposte.

Mosley's eyes flick to do the door and sees nothing but metal while the guards outside carry on their conversation. No eyes are staring at him. No trays of food are waiting to be eaten. It is just him and the metal holding him in his stone prison. Seconds later, the earth pony breathes through his nose and looks at the marking under his hoof, then glares at the door before him, flexing his muscles and giving the markings a light blue glow, knowing what he must do, now.

In the brightly lit laboratory, Applejack's brows and lips twitch from the pinch of a needle and the odd sensation of her blood being sucked out. It seems a lot longer than five seconds when the blood is finished being drawn, and afterwords Nebulous slaps a smiley face band-aid above the injection point, which has a red dot oozing out.

“There we go. Nice and quick,” chirps Nebulous.

Applejack stares at the smiley face band-aid with a small frown, hating how much it looks like a tool for mocking her and her situation. She looks up at the professor, watching him crossly as he hums lightly to himself and seals off the vial of blood before placing it in a secured container and handing it to an assistant. Said assistant leaves the room in a hurry through a pair of glass doors, where Meriaclock sits nearby on a stool, looking bored in his white suit and fedora, as usual.

“How many times do ya have t' take my blood?” asks Applejack crossly when Nebulous returns to her with a popsicle stick.

Nebulous shrugs. “As many times as I have to. Fresh blood is always better than that old stuff that sits in the fridge for a few days. Now, say 'Aaah'.”

“This is- bleh!”

She is cut off from awful, wooden taste of the flat stick being placed on her tongue, and the unicorn once again hums to himself as he inspects her tongue and the insides of her mouth.

“Have my medications been making you feel any better?” asks Nebulous while pulling the stick out to scribble some notes, muttering something about discoloration on the tongue.

“No, I still feel the same everyday. And what's that you said about my tongue being weird?” says Applejack, now running her tongue along her teeth and lips to get rid of the horrible taste.

“Oh, just a side effect of the medication I gave you for yesterday. It gave your tongue a green tint, kinda like a green apple.”

Applejack furrows her brows. “Is that supposed to be funny?”

Nebulous sighs and pats Applejack's shoulder sympathetically. “You really need to lighten up, my dear. It really is bad for your health to be this wound up.”

“Forgive me if I ain't a fan of bein' locked up in prison for life without knowin' where my brother and sister are.”

“...I can see why that would stress you out, but, tell me, have you been feeling anything strange with the other medications I've been giving you? Specifically with the hooves or brain.”

Applejack groans. "I already said I feel the same everyday, which means I still feel like crap 'cuz your fancy medications don't work, and ya won't let me use that potion I told ya about. You know, the one that's been keepin' me just fine ever since I was a filly!? If y'all just let me-”

Nebulous snaps his hoof up. “Ah-ah-ah, no can do with the homemade potions. They are not authorized or endorsed by the royal government or the Royal Pharmaceutical Committee.”

“But-”

“Applejack, I honestly would like to use them, but I cannot,” interrupts Nebulous, a bit of a sharp edge in his tone. He then sighs and levitates a notepad and a pen from a table and sits in front of Applejack. “Not yet anyway because the rules in place suck. Now, hold out your front right hoof, please.”

Applejack frowns and extends the requested hoof. Shortly after, a little poke at the fleshy bowl sends a ticklish tingle raging through her hoof and makes her flinch and giggle. She immediately regrets that when Nebulous looks at her with a curious smile while Meriaclock stares at her with a raised brow. With those eyes looking at her, her ears droop and she looks down to hide the embarrassed flush on her cheeks and ear tips.

“Sorry,” mutters Applejack.

“It's quite alright,” says Nebulous as he squints his eyes for a better look at her markings.

The unicorn's horn glows and Applejack feels the invisible tendrils return to grip her hoof and hold it up while he doodles on his pad. Or, at least it looks like doodling since it is way too chaotic with the pen's mix of circular and jagged motions to be writing. Applejack also gets a shiver up her spine when the invisible appendages coil around her hoof with more slithering up around her body, clutching her waist and running along her stomach and ribs.

“Stop that!” snaps Applejack, prompting Nebulous and the snaky tentacles to stop what they are doing.

“Stop what?” asks Nebulous innocently.

Applejack scowls. “You know what yer doin'. Don't play dumb with me!”

The tentacles retreat and Nebulous straightens his posture, but he is still smiling. “Does my writing disturb you?”

Applejack growls and the professor's antics, and he turns his notepad around and shows her a drawing of her markings with sloppy notes next to them. How anyone, including Nebulous, can read his awful chirography is beyond her, but she is glad that he stopped with his nonsense, which she knows he is doing on his own free will.

“It is nothing to worry about,” assures Nebulous. “I'm only taking notes for future references and study material.”

“Ya've been doin' the same note taking all week. If yer so interested in this... condition I got, why don'tcha move on t' somethin' else instead of staring at the same picture under my hoof?” asks Applejack, her tone announcing her disgust of the situation.

She also wants to ask him why he feels the need to feel her up with those creepy, invisible tendrils of his, but she has a strong hunch that he will deny doing such things to her and will end up making things more difficult than they already are. Nebulous' response to her question is fully expected, though. He hums lightly, casually looks back at his notes, then flashes her a big grin, all while his pegasus companion remains silent and by the door, forever watchful.

“Well, for starters, I don't think you have a condition, I think you have a gift,” says Nebulous. “A very special, misunderstood gift made better by your trip into the Void. Sure it might've taken a piece of you in the process, but such is thaumaturgy's way to keep things in balance.”

Nebulous falls silent for a moment as he studies the vital signs printed on the sheet, and his brows furrow with a questionable hum for just a moment before he looks back at the Element.

“As for this repetition? Well, it's a little habit of mine. It helps to keep things in order and find discrepancies,” continues Nebulous as he adjusts his glasses slightly and puts his notes on a nearby table. “Besides, thaumaturgists are rare, and me being the last true scientist, I don't want want anything to go wrong. This has to be perfect, and you are helping me towards the greatest scientific advancement of our time! I'm sure Celestia will release you from this prison just on that merit alone when we're done with my research.”

Applejack highly doubts that that would happen, considering how Celestia basically back-stabbed her by taking away her farm because of some dumb law, then marked her as an abomination and had her imprisoned. There was a time when she would call anyone who would predict Celestia's recent behavior crazy, but now thinking about the Sun Goddess releasing her because of her being helpful to a loony scientist? That is the new crazy.

And speaking of crazy, Applejack thinks about Nebulous calling himself the last true scientist. That is a bold statement in itself, and she's certain Twilight and this Nebulous character would have a very heated debate about who the better scientist is if it came down to it.

“Professor,” begins Applejack carefully, her curiosity getting the best of her, now.

“Yes?” says Nebulous without looking at Applejack.

Before she can speak, the assistant returns with a trot and gives Nebulous a small container of translucent, red gel pills. It honestly looks gross and hard to swallow for Applejack, but she ignores that for now and takes a breath before continuing.

“What didja mean by 'last true scientist'?” she asks.

Nebulous politely dismisses the assistant and looks at Applejack with a patient smile. “Well, my dear, that means that unlike my parents, sister and those other spurious ponies in lab coats seeking fifteen minutes of fame, I am driven by science's true purpose. That means my goal is to acquire knowledge and use it to make the world better no matter what. And no matter what includes investigating the forbidden realms of mythology and thaumaturgy.”

“So, you'll investigate all that forbidden stuff, but ya won't let me use a potion that's been helping me since I was a filly?”

“Precisely.”

Applejack opens her mouth to scold the professor for his stupidity, but clamps it shut when he raises his hoof again.

“Rest assured, I'm looking into this and am trying to get it to go through, but it is a nightmare,” says Nebulous, adding with a slight chuckle: “You wouldn't believe how much hair I lost trying to convince the government and my predecessors to allow me to study thaumaturgy. But now that I am the boss of the Starswirl Society, I can study you freely! Plus, I get some leverage in convincing those old coots running the medicine show to allow you to use your special potion.”

Applejack stares at the professor, unsure what to say and momentarily breaks eye contact when she hears some metal clanging. She sees Meriaclock standing by one of the tables, curiously tapping a metal rod against its surface. He only stops when Nebulous clears his throat, and that is after he gives the unicorn an annoyed glare.

“Meriaclock, please put that back where you found it. I don't want to be accused of breaking anything today,” says Nebulous sternly.

Meriaclock snorts in response, then tosses the rod inside a garbage can before sitting against the wall. After that is said and done, Nebulous sighs and looks at Applejack, and she, in turn, looks back at him.

“Anyway!” blurts Nebulous with a flare of positive energy as he pops the pill container open and plops one of the gel pills in Applejack's hoof, who stares at its large size uneasily. “Why don't we give this beauty a try?”

Applejack looks at him, her throat contracting in protest of having to swallow the massive pill while holding her uneasy expression. She retracts slightly in her seat when Nebulous uses his magic to grab a bottle of water from a fridge and pop it open for her underneath her muzzle.

“It's cherry flavor,” sings Nebulous.

Applejack sighs and sulks in her seat, still staring at the pill with drooped ears, knowing she is in for another long session with this weirdo.

“Hey, there, good lookin',” slurs a stallion.

Warden Frost Flower glances up from her fancy calligraphy menu, wearing a simple white dress with gold trim and a silver necklace with a polished, gold and glass sun as its pendant; behind her on the back of her chair is the heavy, blue winter jacket she wore.

With the sight before her, her eyebrow cannot help but rise up, leaving the other stationary, as Filthy Rich grins at her. Stupidly. And clearly plastered if is any indication by the stench in his breath and the way his suit and tie is mis-buttoned and loose. Just what she needed after a long day at the prison and a strange ride over to this restaurant. A rich, drunk stallion trying to pick her up.

“I'm taken,” says Frost flatly, hoping her bluntness will get rid of him.

Filthy Rich's ears droop and he sulks away, muttering: “Dang it.”

Frost watches with relief as the drunk earth pony staggers away to a much younger pegasus with a gray-blue coat and a curled mane of a darker shade sitting at a bar. The stallion leans next to his target and gives her the same smile he gave the Warden, but the pegasus ignores him for the most part as she puts her attention on her fruity drink.

“Hey, there. I'm rich,” says Filthy Rich.

That gets her attention.

“Really?” she says while she turns to look at him with a wolfish smile and a slow lick of her lips.

Frost rolls her eyes and looks back at her menu, not really understanding why a salad costs ten bits or a hay-burger fifteen, or why everything has to be written in Slavic calligraphy. She also does not understand why Nebulous rushed off to the bathroom after arriving at this restaurant or why she even thought of this stupid plan. In fact, now that she thinks about it, this is probably the dumbest thing she has done in the past year. Not that anyone else but her and her ex knows about the New Year Eve's fiasco with the melted cheese and jelly donuts...

Frost huffs and covers her eyes with her hooves, silently cursing herself for this. Truth be told, she really has no idea how to get information out of Nebulous without seeming like she is desperate for answers.

“And I'm back!” chirps Nebulous proudly.

Frost lowers her hooves and stares at the unicorn in front of her. He is still wearing the same dark purple suit and tie with the powder purple dress shirt from when he picked her up with his motor wagon, driven by none other than Meriaclock. His associate did not seem to be too happy about being a chauffeur, but Nebulous took it with a smile, like he seemingly does with everything else. That being said, nothing has changed between her being picked up and her waiting alone in a restaurant. A restaurant that she has not been to in a long time for reasons returning to her.

“Usually its the mare that stays in the restroom for an hour,” says Frost, her eyes going back to the menu. Specifically the salad section.

“I'm sorry, but I felt under-presented in your company, so I decided to do some touch ups to keep my appearance in check,” says Nebulous with a massive grin.

Frost has to suppress a gag and strains her muscles at a painful degree to give the stallion a pleasant smile. “Well, I can't fault a pony for wanting to look good on their meeting.”

“Date.”

“...Right... Date.”

Nebulous flips open his menu and traces the selection with his hoof. “I'm glad you agreed to this, because I know an overworked mare when I see one, and it is a shame to see somepony with some usable years left wasting away at their desk.”

The Warden's eye twitches. 'Did he just call me old?'

“You know, I was actually surprised when you sent your officer to give me the note,” continues Nebulous, appearing to be unaware of the physical reaction of his last statement. “My night was almost ruined because of my blunder, but you helped fix that, so, thank you.”

“Really?” says Frost slowly.

Nebulous looks up, still smiling, and uses his magic to close the menu while folding his hooves over it. “Oh, yes. If you had not sent that cute officer with the instructions on where I should pick you up and take you to eat, I would have been devastated and spent another long night alone.”

“What about your pegasus friend?” asks Frost, her hoof waving towards the general direction she saw the wagon go after they entered the establishment. “I'm sure you two could have figured out something to do. Like go to a bar or play a board game.”

Nebulous scoffs and waves his hoof dismissively. “Meriaclock is not exactly the best to have around for casual meetings. Besides, he's more of a bodyguard with a strong addiction to coffee and newspapers than an actual friend.”

Across the street, in the warmth and humble setting of a small cafe is Meriaclock. He is wearing a thick, white winter jacket over his usual suit, but has his fedora resting on the table, next to an empty cup of coffee. In his grip is a newspaper with the front page having a picture of the Flim Flam Brothers smiling and posing in front of a replica of a mechanical front hoof. The title above the picture is: FLIM FLAM BROS. DEVELOPING SCI-FI PROSTHETIC LIMB!

Even though the pegasus has the latest newspaper, his attention is split. Part of his time goes to the newspaper article describing the mechanical limb and the other goes to a mini-train with its back end completely covered by a what looks like a big, metal box. This vehicle is parked outside the restaurant where Nebulous and Warden Frost are eating, and he is certain that the bulky vehicle has followed them there. He has found it even more suspicious that he has only seen one pony leave empty and re-enter the vehicle with a bag of food and a couple of cups of what he assumes to be hot drinks in a manner that shows caution while trying to act casual. What makes it more suspicious for the pegasus is that he recognizes the pony as the guard that escorted him and Nebulous out of the Snowflake Gulag.

“More coffee, sir?” asks a female voice with a heavy Slavic accent.

Meriaclock glances away from the window and frowns when he sees a female griffin wearing an white apron and holding a coffee pot. He does not see the pleasant smile she is offering, though. What he sees is a fluke in evolution trying to be civil. That being said, his grimace grows and he slides the cup closer to her. She might as well be some use to him if she is offering a form of service.

“Don't overfill it,” he orders.

“I never do,” chirps the waitress as she carefully refills his cup.

Meriaclock grunts and adjusts his newspaper while staring at the mini-train out of the corner of his eye, just waiting for a reason to blow it and Warden Frost to bits.

Meanwhile, inside the covered mini-train, Limestone and Billy sit cramped next to each other, both wearing headsets hooked up to recording equipment and looking about as pleased as a pair of grumpy cats being forced into a shoe. Normally, the back of a covered mini-train would be spacious for cargo, or have seats to house extra ponies. In this case, it is filled with recording equipment that have constantly spinning tapes, a pair of small, gem powered heaters, and a wiry satellite dish aimed at the restaurant. There is also a slit of tinted glass that allows them to see what is going on, but no one can see inside. As far as passerbys are concerned, the tinted glass is just a racing stripe on a bulky vehicle.

Limestone takes a sip of her hot drink, suppressing a gag while Billy takes a casual sip and uses his magic to hold a bagel to his muzzle.

“I told you to get me hot chocolate,” complains Limestone, shuddering from the desecrating taste of minty coffee on her tongue.

“Star Bucks hot chocolate is gross. I did you a favor,” remarks Billy.

Limestone huffs and digs into the food bag and pulls out a large bagel speckled with large, black seeds. She blanches and searches through the bag for hopes of finding something good, but all she finds is more of the seeded bagels and humus flavored cream cheese spread.

“Billy!” whines Limestone.

“What?” grunts the unicorn.

Limestone squishes the bag of disgusting food shut and throws it at Billy, but it only bounces off his shoulder harmlessly and lands at his hooves, much to her disappointment.

“Why do your taste buds have to suck so much?” she says with a huff as she folds her hooves across her chest and glares straight ahead.

Billy shrugs. “Genetics, I guess.” He adjusts his headset. “Now, are you going to do your job or what?”

Limestone shifts in her seat and turns a knob to get a better hearing on the conversation between Nebulous and Frost. “This is not in my job description. I'm supposed to be a regular guard, not an undercover.”

Billy snorts. “Whiner.”

Limestone shoots a glare at him, then rolls her eyes and presses the headset harder against her ear when the stallion smirks.

“So, why do you have such an interest in thaumaturgists?” asks Frost, her voice somewhat fuzzed from static and the noises of the passing crowd outside.

“Why do you care?” asks Nebulous as he uses his magic to unravel his wrapped utensils and place his knife in the middle of the fork and spoon.

Before Frost can answer, a unicorn waiter drops by and places a basket of steaming hot rolls and warm butter in between them, then asks them if they are ready to order.

Frost, wanting to get rid of the waiter as quickly as she can, blurts: “Spinach salad, fizzy water to drink, go light on the ranch.”

Nebulous blinks, then chuckles and rubs his hoof together as the waiter scribbles her order on his pad. “Somepony knows what she wants. As for me, my dear boy, I would like a flower burger, wheat bun with extra mayo and horseshoe fries with lots of barbeque sauce. Oh, and Sunny Drops to drink with no ice.”

“Okie dokie,” says the waiter. He does a few hard strokes on his pad with his pen, then grins at the two and nods politely as he backs up. “I'll be back with your meals in a jiffy.”

Frost smiles thinly and thanks him while Nebulous levitates the menus back to their server. After the waiter leaves, she keeps her smile and puts he hooves under her chin and bats her lashes at Nebulous. She feels dumb doing it, but she figures if Nebulous is one of those hopeless romantics as seen by his desperation to get her on a date with him, she might as well use it to her advantage.

“Back on subject. Can you please tell me about thaumaturgy?” she says with a small purr, wanting oh so much to slam her face against the table for her desperation, even though it does give her the reaction she wanted. That reaction being Nebulous looking at her with a red tint in his cheeks. However-

Inside the mini-train, Limestone grimaces in disbelief while Billy arches his brow slightly.

“I do have a thaumaturgist is custody, and I would love to be informed about her amazing abilities,” continues Frost, putting quite a bit of emphasis on “love”.

Limestone facehoofs and finds her cheeks heating up with embarrassment for some reason, all while Billy snorts and mutters something about the conversation being “rich”.

Nebulous chuckles and shifts in his spot nervously while Frost continues smiling at him with her eyes drifting halfway and her blinks slow and mesmerizing. She really feels strange doing this since she has not done it in a very long time, but, again, her personal comfort is not as important to her as figuring out what Nebulous is trying to pull with her prison.

“Well.” Nebulous coughs awkwardly. “Well, um, Warden, I must say that this is unexpected. I think you are finally loosening up around me, which is nice because I thought we were going to have an awkward first date.”

“Oh, we don't want that,” says Frost, thanking the waiter when he slides their drinks in front of them.

Nebulous immediately grabs his cup and takes a big gulp while Frost gingerly sips her drink, shuddering and trying not to gag when she tastes flat soda instead of a fizzy drink. Just another reason to hate this place and condemn herself for being so stupid in picking it.

“Anyway,” says Frost, smacking her lips and rolling her tongue along her teeth. “I think it will be beneficial if I know what kind of... ability my special prisoner has, and you being the smart pony you are, I know you can tell me everything I need to know about thaumaturgy.”

Nebulous' chest swells with pride. “Well, my dear, I have been studying that form of magic since I was a foal messing around in my parents basement, and now that I got my own labs and a blank check to study it, I've made all sorts of progress. So, what do you want to know?”

Frost hums a little, tilting her head this way and that as her eyes roll to the ceiling. Out of her peripheral vision she can see Nebulous' grin widen and his body lean forward in anticipation. Finally, after some seconds of pretending not to know what to ask, she looks at the professor and puts on her feminine charm again.

“What's so special about thaumaturgy?” asks Frost. “All I know is that it is banned and Celestia has me house any and all captured thaumaturgists, which so far has been only two. I know I could just ask her personally, but...” -Frost deflates with a loud, disappointed sigh- “getting an audience with her is a nightmare. Especially now.”

“Well, you won't have to worry about going through a nightmare to see me. I'm always open,” says Nebulous. “Now, about staving that justified curiosity. In a nutshell, thaumaturgy is a special kind of magic. While regular magic uses mana reserves inside the body, thaumaturgy uses mana reserves and energy released from tectonic movements in the earth. Some of the more classical thinking thaumaturgists call this tectonic energy Sirius's Pulse.”

Frost's ears perk and she leans forward slightly, genuinely interested this time. “Why is it called Sirius's Pulse?”

“According thaumaturgist lore, an alicorn named Sirius gave his Most Faithful Student, Starburst Quartz, and those who carry his bloodline, the ability to manipulate matter in a set space,” explains Nebulous casually, using his magic to adjust his glasses. “However, after a couple of unpleasant incidents revolving around the destruction of Roam and the near conquering of the Crystal Empire, Celestia deemed it to be dark magic and had made a royal decree to persecute and prosecute any and all who possess such an ability.”

“What happened to Sirius?” asks Frost carefully.

Nebulous shrugs. “Don't know. One legend says Celestia burnt him to a crisp, others says he lost his godhood and died an old pony, then there is my personal favorite. Him getting sucked away into a void never to be seen again!”

That last part ends with Nebulous cackling like a goof and rubbing his hooves together as he flashes a devious grin. However, that light expression does not last, for seconds later, his countenance falls and he deflates in his seat while glancing around the dining area.

“Technically I shouldn't be telling you about this,” says the unicorn, his tone replaced with something more somber. “This kind of information about Sirius was locked away in the forbidden archives by Celestia.... Locked away, just like all those who hold such an amazing gift...”

Nebulous sighs and slouches further in his seat, his expression solemn and ears folded down.

“I am sure Celestia means well, though,” continues Nebulous dismally. “After all, she is all loving and forever merciful, righteous, and an acting guardian as well as the light of our lives.”

“You better not be mocking my goddess,” sneers Frost, her hoof going up instinctively to rub her pendant protectively.

“Oh, I meant no disrespect,” says Nebulous with a quick wave of his hoof, “but one of the things I know to be most true is that our best intentions are often the things that destroy what we hold most dear.”

While Nebulous has his eyes on Frost, she can see them becoming more distant. She has seen it countless times in interrogations when a guilty pony relives their crime and tries to convince themselves that they are in the right or wish that they could rewrite that day for a better outcome. With his distant look, she places both hooves under her chin and stares intently at the unicorn, now trying to decipher what kind of guilt he is harboring.

“Take religious fanatics for example,” says Nebulous, his tone continuing to dull. “They deny science, but scientists are just as guilty of their bigotry and intolerance for they, too, deny anything that has to do with religion, even though they are two sides of the same coin. All that we can learn from each other, stunted by this petty rivalry. It is saddening and disgusting.”

As much as Frost wants to interject, she really does not know what to say about Nebulous' claim. Besides, the more she stares at his eyes, the more she comes to realize that there is something off about them. She cannot put her hoof on it, but they seem flat to her, like his glasses have been enchanted by an illusion spell to make his eyes different. She actually finds that part disturbing, for she has never seen anything like that before and is now wondering why anyone would do that. Or, better yet, what he is trying to hide.

“Think about it. Both hold the well being of all close to their hearts, but their failure to cooperate and learn from one another has created nothing but animosity,” continues Nebulous with a hint of disgust bleeding into his saddened voice and his posture stiffening. “Then we look at Celestia. Her best intention is to save Equestria from its inevitable downfall, but it seems her actions are only quickening its end rather than repairing what has been damaged.”

Nebulous drifts into silence, and Frost keeps staring at him, not wanting to interrupt now out of curiosity to see what else he can tell her through his demeanor and tone.

“But if I can use Applejack to show the world that science and faith can coexist as one, like thaumaturgy shows, then...” Nebulous pauses to take a breath and adjusts his glasses again. “Then maybe I can open Celestia's eyes to the truth and advance the world to a new age of discovery. What you have in your custody, Warden Frost, is a possible remedy o at least one of the many problems we are facing in these troubling times. Who knows, maybe my research will help save Harmony in the end.”

Nebulous then forces a smile and holds up his glass to Frost.

“A toast, Miss Frost Flower, to a Harmony that is restored and perfected by the unity of faith and science.”

Frost blinks in question, but when the unicorn nods to her cup, she quickly grabs it and raises it to his as far as her hoof will allow. Nebulous guides his cup to hers, and after they gently clink together, the two take their sips and the unicorn ends with a loud gasp while the mare keeps her manners and quietly lowers her cup. This happens just in time for the waiter to bring out their food.

“Now then!” blurts Nebulous with a surprisingly bright tone and big grin as his plate of food is placed in front of him. “Shall we enjoy the rest of this night on a high note?”

Snowflake Gulag- 05- Rebellion

“We really should not be worrying about prisons that much. When somepony gets in, we know they aren't gonna get out easy. What we need to worry about are the trips to those prisons, 'cuz anypony with a decent bit of sense would know that that is where the escapes need to be made.”

-Sheriff Polished Silverstar

“Your family is made up of troublemakers, isn't it Timmy. Can I call you Timmy?” says an earth pony stallion with a cheerful voice that quickly grinds at the patience of anyone he is talking to. It sounds condescending more than anything else. The suit he is wearing does not make the situation any better, either.

Unfortunately for Time Turner, his hooves are cuffed to the table and floor, and the table is bolted to the floor of a completely sealed room, so he is not going anywhere. Despite the irritating nickname and the equally infuriating tone used to deliver it, Time Turner keeps his stature calm and collected. Not even a muscle twitches under his coat. All he does is keep his eyes staring straight ahead at the mirror, lazily meeting his reflection with his cool blue eyes.

“No, you cannot call me Timmy,” says Time Turner evenly. “Where is Derpy and Dinky?”

“Who?” asks the stallion, Special Agent Hush-Hush McGee.

Time Turner looks at the stallion keeping his expression neutral. “My wife and daughter.”

“Oh. Well, we aren't here to talk about them, even though they are fine. We are here to talk about you and your excellent family.” Hush-Hush slides a folder in front of him and casually flips it over. “In fact, it looks like the only good pony in your family was Tick-Tock, but it looks like he died in Bernese a very long time ago. Tragic.”

Time Turner's eyes go to the folder, but with his distance and the fact that it is upside down, all he can see are scribbles that his brain processes as nothing but a mess.

“Thank you for reminding me of the father I barely remember,” says Time Turner.

Hush-Hush chuckles and moves next to Time Turner. “You know, I am actually surprised by you, Timmy. Our records show you to be quite the juvenile delinquent, but I am seeing a robot.”

Time Turner remains silent and his posture steady, and Hush-Hush waits patiently for him to show any signs of life, but when the cuffed stallion refuses to break, he clicks his tongue and looks at the file.

“You and your brother, Meriaclock, were quite the troublemakers in your younger days,” continues Hush-Hush as he goes through the list. “A favorite for the late mob boss, Toolbox, it seems. In fact, when you think about it, us separating you from your family is a form of protection for them. After all, with your-” He squints his eyes at the file “-violent history I am surprised Derpy and Dinky didn't end up disappearing entirely.”

Time Turner stops his eye from twitching, but even he cannot stop the heated blood from rushing to his face and neck, thickening the veins in his neck and temple. He is certain Hush-Hush can see the change, though, due to the stallion shifting in his spot in ways he has seen too many times from others that try to remain calm when his old self confronted him.

“But, enough about that!” says Hush-Hush, forcing his careless tone out. “Tell me, Timmy, when were you and good ole Jackie gonna start your killing spree with the Lunar Society?”

“I don't know what you are talking about,” responds Time Turner. “I make and fix clocks and occasionally help schedule events for a living, nothing more.”

“Nothing more? I doubt that. Your history shows that beneath your goody four-hooves appearance is a menace. A menace that would love to set some buildings on fire or detonate some bombs so Miss Country Flank's protests can get some steam.”

“I had nothing to do with that, neither did Derpy, and I highly doubt Applejack would condone violence. If you want to look into the threats, you should look at Lucky Clover on thirteen twenty three Laughter Lane, apartment fifteen. Breaking things is a hobby of his.”

Hush-Hush sighs, moves to Time Turner's other side and gently places his hoof on his shoulder, speaking into his ear so his warm, minty breath can torture his ear drums. “Oh, Timmy, do you really think we are that negligent? We already got him. In fact, the CDA and EIB have already crushed your rebellion in Ponyville before it could even happen. All of your friends, all of your allies in Ponyville County are gone. They are ours now, and you will be joining them. Your wife and child will be taken somewhere better, but you?” Hush-Hush shakes his head and pulls away, tsking. “No. Your crimes, your... desire, your uncontrollable drive for chaos is what has brought you here. Not that you can help it since it is in your blood, but precautions must be taken.”

Time Turner narrows his eyes and turns to look at Hush-Hush as the metal door sealing them inside opens to allow four unicorns to enter. The unicorns are wearing dark vests, carrying slender rifles in their magical grip and carefully approach him. Time Turner ignores them for the most part, for his focus is on Hush-Hush.

“Special Agent McGee, I promise you that Derpy and I had nothing to do with the threats,” says Time Turner, his calm tone faltering to a taste of panic.

Hush-Hush hums and steps back slightly, casting a cheeky look at the guards, who remain stoic in kind. The agent forces a chuckle and looks at Time Turner as his hoof brushes the wrinkles from his suit.

“Well, Timmy, the thing is, is that I don't believe you.” Hush-Hush closes the folder and drags it closer to him, taking a deep breath. “Your history and the fact that you were close with sweet Jackie in these protests when the threats were made has determined your bleak future. Derpy, unfortunately, will hold a similar fate for being close to you. Look on the bright side, though, Dinky will get a nice, new home with some great parents. You can count on that.”

A low growl rumbles in Time Turner's throat and his muscles flex in their chains as Hush-Hush grabs his folder with his mouth, then makes his way to the door.

“Now, if you'll excuse me, I got a date with a cutie,” says the agent quickly, his voice muffled from the folder in his mouth. Hush-Hush is about to leave, but stops, puts the folder in his blazer's inner pocket, then does an about face with his hoof raised to look at the guards. “You should probably tranquilize him. Just to be safe.”

Time Turner wants to say something to them, something snappy or defiant, but the four darts in his chest come rather quickly, and the heavy drowsiness comes even quicker. In a matter of seconds, his world is blurry, his limbs feel nonexistent, and the table becomes an excellent pillow. His eyes drift shut another few seconds later, and that is the last he sees of Hush-Hush and the sealed room.

Time Turner strains his neck to look out the window of his cage, just barely seeing a sign marking Loyalty Line- 505 zoom on by with the blurring landscape. That is all the excitement he sees, and the most he can hear is the metallic rattling and clanging and the chugging of the train's engine. They have been traveling for hours and have entered a barren wasteland of dead grass being bathed under the rose and orange hue of the setting sun. He doubts they will see any form of civilization for quite some time, and with that thought, he sighs and sits down by his corner, pressing his back into the bars and lowering his eyes to the floor. He feels resentment towards Hush-Hush for using his past against him when he has worked tirelessly to right his wrongs and make his life better after he met Derpy and Dinky. He also resents the EIB for not doing a proper investigation, and he really despises the royal government for creating such an agency and choosing to go after honest ponies like him and his family rather than the real threats. But here he is, separated from his family and on his way to a prison in the middle of nowhere because time has refused to forgive him of his past deeds.

Time Turner has tried to keep his troubled history a secret from everyone in Ponyville, especially Derpy and Dinky, and has gone as far cutting off communication with his family and old friends. He has not even attempted to make friends with anyone else ever since he married Derpy, and now his wife and step-daughter are his family. They are his responsibility and sitting in a prison car on its way to Hell while his family has been broken apart is leaving him feeling hollow from helplessness. Inside that shell, though, is an antsy little monster scurrying around and clawing at his shell, demanding he find a way to escape and get his family back.

“We're almost at the Badlands. I just know it,” mutters the only stallion in the cage with him.

Now out of his thoughts, Time Turner looks at his cellmate, a light blue earth pony with a dark blue mane, now greasy and disheveled, much like his. His cellmate's name is Noteworthy, and like Time Turner, his hooves are cuffed to the wooden floor, and his chains scrape against it every time he moves.

“Do you think we'll get out?” asks Noteworthy, his terrified gamboge eyes meeting Time Turner's pale blue orbs in search for any signs of hope.

“Not easily,” replies Time Turner.

Time Turner lowers his eyes to the worn out floor, noting all the scratches and rusted bolts holding it down. He thinks it is just a ploy to give them false hope, though. There might be a slab of metal underneath the floor for all he knows.

“Do you think they got Lucky?” asks the Noteworthy, figuring he will not get an answer for his previous question.

Time Turner looks up. “Pardon me?”

“Do you think they got Lucky?”

Time Turner raises a brow. “Why do you care? Lucky is the reason we are in this mess in the first place. If he hadn't placed those threats then none of this would have happened.”

Noteworthy frowns. “No, Applejack and our stupidity are the reasons we are here. If we had just ignored her calls for protest and lived our lives, then we would not be on our way to the Badlands. Maybe somepony else, but it would not have been us.”

Time Turner sighs. “I guess you have a point. The only reason I actually got involved with those protests was because Derpy insisted on passing out the fliers.”

Noteworthy snorts. “Yeah, and the only reason I joined up was to keep Lucky from doing something stupid. Now here I am, on my way to another prison just because I was his roommate.” He stops, scowls from his epiphany, then curls up on the floor, seething. “That son of a bitch. This is all his fault.”

Time Turner can't help but smile thinly at this, but refrains from making a backhanded comment.

“We'll get through this,” he assures.

Noteworthy snorts. “Sure, keep telling yourself that.”

Not wanting to indulge Noteworthy's snide comment, Time Turner looks at a unicorn guard passing his cell. He is wearing the golden armor of the royal guard and has a radio pack attached to his battle saddle, which extends to have an ear piece resting on his head. From the looks of it, the battle saddle is a shotgun model, and it has a large ammo drum. The guard is stone faced, and the other prisoners that are near the cells scurry away to the back wall or far corners of their cells when he passes.

“I wonder how Mac feels about this mess,” muses Noteworthy halfheartedly, his eyes following the patrolling guard.

Time Turner cranes his neck to look down the hall at a door guarded by two more unicorn guards. They are also equipped with shotgun battle saddles and radio packs, and the door is a pure slab of metal with massive bolts and a cranking wheel that controls a pair of bars that go vertically across the door.

“I'm sure he is upset about it, too,” says Time Turner.

Inside the sealed car, Big Mac stares at a young, pudgy unicorn guard standing in front of him. How the guard passed his physical training is a mystery to him, but now that the sandy brown unicorn with the brown mane is in the military, he has been assigned to guard the one and only Macintosh Apple. And he won't stop staring at him. It is honestly starting to get on his nerves since this has gone on for almost six hours.

Is it due to his size?

Is is due to the fact that his hooves are bound with thick, steel cuffs and and chains to a metal floor and has a muzzle that covers the lower part of his face?

Or maybe its the scars that cover his body?

He's not sure which it is. He knows he is bigger than the average stallion by at least a hundred pounds, and not with fat, either, but with pure, awesome muscle. The mares and occasional stallion swoon over his titanic build, and they always ask how he was able to drag a house. He does not remember ever doing that, and on the day that happened, he only really remembers working, sharing some fruit punch with Cheerilee, then finding himself in a pit, sitting on a mattress with her dressed as a bride. He never touched fruit punch ever again.

With that day, he apparently dragged a house, which is why he is held down by thick cuffs and chains that are laced with glowing gems. He reckons that they are to keep his energy in check, which he knows is working since he has been feeling faint enough to feel powerless ever since they put them on him. Not that he has been able to resist much since the government agents has been blasting him with fatigue spells every chance they get. This does not stop his eyelids from falling, though, and, quite frankly he is getting sick of unicorns and their cheap magic. Scratch that. He is getting sick of magic in general.

It is an affront to all things natural, and so far all it has managed to do was poison him, wreck Ponyville more times than he can count, turn him into a burrowing dog, ruin Winter Wrap-Up and nearly kill him and Applejack. He and Applejack have the scars to attest to that, too, with his more obvious than his sister's.

Most of his scars are around his face, hidden underneath the metal muzzle, but past the uncomfortable head-wear, onlookers can see the jagged paths of the pale skin revealed from his removed fur. It looks like his face is cracking apart from how his fur has been seared completely off by the black magic he barely survived that night when Roar Shock attacked him and Fluttershy. From his face, the exposed skin trails down his neck, shoulder and chest, with their exposure getting thinner the farther they go from his face. He still feels the pain and the electric shock that tore apart his skin and shattered his bones, and the feeling of the incredible surge of energy from that demented pegasus' hoof is still imprinted on his face. He doubts he will ever get over it.

“This guy does not blink!” complains the young guard, named Burn Bag, bringing Big Mac out of his thoughts and selecting to focus his eyes on him instead of staring off into space. That should get the newblood's tail tucking more than it already has.

“Its a male dominance thing, and you already failed at it so stop trying,” says the older guard crankily. His name is Ali Clacky, and he is also a unicorn, but older with dark fur and a white mane, and he has resorted to reading a newspaper from the comfort of a stool instead of staring contests to kill the time. On the front page of the paper he is reading has a picture of a walled off facility on fire with its title being: 'Deadly Grizelda & EIB Shootout!'. The guard sighs obnoxiously and turns the page, muttering: “How come I always get the boring jobs?”

Not too far from the train, a lone motor-wagon speeds across the prairie, leaving a cloud of kicked up dirt and chewed, yellow grass in its wake. But this is no ordinary, clunky, block of wood, metal and steam pipes. This is considerably smaller, is sitting on a raised platform with four enormous wheels attached to the platform via an intricate network of shocks that keep it relatively steady despite the bumpy terrain.

The vehicle's platform is built like a rolling cage with metal plates welded on it, and it has a tattered, brown and tan tarp tied to various spots using a mix of ropes and bungee cords. In front of it is an exposed steam and gem powered engine spewing a mix of exhaust and sparking magical residue, and on the front is a pair of oversized headlights covered by cheap grates.

Inside, a pair of ponies sit in their seats, their brains and bones bouncing around from the bumpy ride. Both are wearing goggles and thin, tattered scarves with one wearing a mask and the other rejecting it.

The one without the mask is in his late thirties has a dark gray mane and a coat of bluish gray with blue eyes and three four leaf clovers as his cutie marks. He also has a wicked grin and is using his hooves to jerk the steering orb and adjust the vehicle's speed with sharp movement.

His partner sits in the back, cursing under her breath as her seat belt barely holds her in place from the crazy driving. The mare is in her twenties, has a dark orange coat, bright blue eyes, and a blue mane with her cutie mark being a purple shield with a yellow fireball inside. She is scrunched in her seat next to a crudely made weapon resembling an eighteenth century cannon with a back that slides open, complete with a wick for the flame. She also has her wings pressed against her body, if only so she has room to maneuver to use the cannon, even though she wants to fly away from the psycho as fast as she can. The situation is only made worse because she can barely see anything from her visual slots, and half the time a tarp is beating against the window, blocking her view of the zooming world of orange tinted colors.

The pegasus lets out a particularly loud shriek when the driver speeds up on a hill and takes off into the sky. The weightless feeling is something most pegasi do not fear, but when that weightless feeling is inside a metal box with a one ton cannon in front of them and a box of explosives beneath their seat, then there is a cause for concern.

“WOOOOOO-HOOOOOOO!” cheers the stallion over the mare's shrieking as they fly through the air with the grass and dust behind them, and when the vehicle tilts and begins its nose dive, he cackles madly.

The augmented motor-wagon impacts the ground nose first, kicking up dirt and grass in a thin cloud that speeds through the cabin, clogging the stallion's lungs enough to get him to cough. During his coughing, the vehicle fishtails and bounces to near flipping, getting more terrified and somewhat painful yelps from the mare. The stallion appears only concerned about the dirt in his mouth, and when he is done spitting out dirt and grass, he spins the steering orb, commanding the vehicle to turn in the grass to create a donut of tracks. As quickly as the pattern is made, the vehicle stops, shaking the ponies inside, with the mare trembling in her seat, her blue eyes staring straight ahead and her strained breathing coming out muffled because of her mask.

When the stallion chuckles and runs his hoof through his dusty mane, though, she turns her head to him, eyes narrowing and an angry growl rumbling in her throat. When said stallion whoops proudly, she yanks off her mask and slaps him on the back of the head, forcing his head to jerk forward. Much to her annoyance, he only laughs about the slap.

“Lucky, you're crazy!” scolds the mare. “You're crazy! Why did Burnt Oak put me in here with you!”

“Aw, cheer up, Flare, you get to use the cannon!” laughs the stallion, Lucky Clover, as he straightens himself out. “Besides, you know you love it! Pegasuses love all that flying stuff, anyway!”

“Not that kind of flying, jackass! And it's pegasi not pegasuses or whatever the hell you said!” yells the mare, Flare Warden.

Lucky snickers and restarts the vehicle by pushing a key into its slot, causing the vehicle to hum and vibrate to life with a jet of black, sparkly exhaust billowing from the back. He then shoves the speed lever forward and the force pushes Flare back into her seat, and they resume traveling across the prairie.

Another few minutes of uncomfortable driving later, and Lucky's vehicle comes to a stop on the crest of a hill, overlooking a train speeding down the tracks, leaving a trail of black smoke in its wake.

Lucky grins and Flare frowns and folds her hooves on the cannon as she squints her eyes through her slot.

“I thought there'd be some pegasi flying around,” she says.

“Silly female thinking she can think,” says Lucky shamelessly, and when he looks over his shoulder at Flare, she makes sure her glare is burning straight through his eyes to cook his brain. He is not nearly as affected by this as she wishes he was, and to make it worse for her, he says snobbishly: “The guards are low on numbers because of the Special Talent Act, and since they are low on numbers we get to swoop in, do our thing and leave with no problems at all.”

“You do realize that this is a prison train we're going after, right?” says Flare. “Its armored and it has almost two dozen guards inside, all of which are unicorns with their magic on top of their saddles, and all we got is our dune wagon and whatever Burnt Oak cooks up.”

“But you forgot the best part of Burnt Oak's plan.”

Flare arches a brow. “Oh, and what is that?”

“You got my luck!”

He suddenly slams the speed lever at full throttle and zooms down the hill, laughing all the way while Flare screams his name and begs him to slow down. All she can do is watch with her coat becoming paler as the wind rushes past her drooped ears and the blurring world zooms past her eyes. She can't even hear her own heart or barely hear herself scream from how intense the noise is, and she almost looses her afternoon sandwich when the vehicle takes a sudden sharp turn and nearly slams into the metal plates of the train.

Flare's suspicions are confirmed about the shield when she sees a translucent, shimmering, purple shell on top of the metal plates, and she finds herself surprised that the wagon is keeping speed with their target.

“Load up the fire ruby!” orders Lucky, having to yell over the clanking wheels and chugging engine of the train.

Flare nods and slides her cannon open, then puts in a round, red gem with archaic symbols painted in gold around it. After she puts the gem inside the cannon, she locks it shut and braces herself as Lucky pulls away to give her a better shot.

“Do you have a shot?” asks Lucky.

Flare strains her neck and eyes for her target, but sees nothing but more metal plates. The plates blow bright purple for a moment, then the shell becomes a solid crystal layer that shoots out sparks towards them. One of the bolts hits the cannon and zaps Flare, leaving her heart speeding tenfold and her mane, fur and feathers standing and black at the tips.

“Jeeze!” shouts Flare painfully. “They boosted their magic shield!”

“So?” says Lucky.

“So!? I got zapped by a shield! And it freaking hurt!”

“The cannon will take care of it! Just shoot already!”

“I don't have-”

The shield zaps them again and Lucky yelps and pulls the vehicle away from the train, covering them in a cloud of dust. Flare grips her cannon harder as Lucky speeds away from the train, which is now shooing more lavender colored bolts of electricity that send up chunks of burnt ground wherever they hit, and the ones that strike the dune wagon burn off pieces of the tarp and leave streaks of black along the metal.

“Oh, man! What a lovely day!” cackles Lucky.

Flare looks at Lucky, eyes wide and mouth clamped shut as she stares at the laughing stallion. His fur and mane is black like hers, but unlike her, he does not seem to be in pain. He actually looks like he is having fun being burnt by magical purple lightning. That brings her to question who this guy is and why Burnt Oak brought him along to their entourage.

“Eyes on the prize, cutie!” says Lucky, taking another turn to avoid a particularly powerful bolt of lightning that shakes the vehicle from its near miss.

The magical attack strikes near the dune wagon's back and kicks up a small mushroom cloud of burning dust that blows inside the cabin, getting coughs and watery eyes from the two ponies. Flare can feel the electric charge inside the dirt, tingling her all over and making her feel like a statically charged sock. However, through all the blackened dust, the uncomfortable tingles going through her body, and the tears muddling her vision, she sees her target at last!

The connection between the main engine of the train and rest of the carts is blurry, but she can still make it out, and with that she adjusts the cannon, then slams her hoof against a lever on the cannon's back. The lever scratches against a slab of flint to create a spark, and immediately the cannon jolts with a thunder that blows out Flare's hearing and sends the vehicle sliding as a red cloud covers them.

The ruby's scream is short as it tears across the landscape with a tail of shimmering gold, and right as the projectile strikes, the dune wagon is hit by one of the defensive enchantments. There are two simultaneous explosions, one green and one red, and carnage takes over both sides.

Flare's world turns into a blur of colors and her scream is lost in the explosion and the chaos of metal and wood snapping, and the heat of the flames gives her the feeling that she is being cooked alive!

As her vision becomes a terrifying blend of colors, and her ears become filled with the screeches and screams of breaking metal and rushing wind, all she can think is: No! No! No! No! No! No! No!

Then the dune wagon slams the ground and a burst of pain goes through Flare's shoulders, wings and abdomen with a jet stream of dirt and grass assaulting her face, blinding her and filling her mouth with moisture sucking junk. Her ears press against her head, and she squeezes her eyes shut and grinds her teeth as churning dirt wrestles with screeching metal

“Ah-ha-owwwww!” moans Flare, then she glares hatefully at Lucky. “You're a dick, you know that right?”

“I know I got one,” remarks Lucky as he unbuckles himself, releasing a loud yelp when his head lands on the barred roof of his totaled vehicle. “I'm okay!”

Flare unbuckles herself and lands on the roof of the cabin, wincing in pain as the metal bars greet her back and neck with an unpleasant feeling. After taking a moment to recuperate from the pain, she wiggles out from the vehicle, having to give the bent door a few hard bucks to break it loose, and she flops out onto the dead grass. The scratchy plants cling to her coat and poke at her with dozens of itchy spots, which she tries to remove by using one of her hind legs to scratch at her side. It worked a whole lot better in her head.

Huffing, and flapping her wings and flicking her long tail, Flare removes her goggles and scans the area, listening to the buzzing bugs and escaped steam hissing. Smoke rises from where the spell hit them, which is at least three hundred feet away, and thin haze rises from indents and gashes in the sand, marking where their vehicle hit, and debris litters the field. Most of it is small, jagged pieces of wood or metal, but she does spot one of their tires still attached to what's left of the axle lying out not too far from them. The cannon is also gone, and it does not take her long to spot it entrenched in the ground with only its back end showing.

Flare steps away from the vehicle when she realizes that scorching hot water is nearing her hooves, turning the ground almost black and carrying with it, tiny bits of coal and glowing gems. Afterward, she looks at their target and sees that the train is somehow still upright, but derailed. Its steel wheels have dug into the ground, the tracks they were on have been mangled, and car that was behind the main engine has been blown halfway to hell and has almost tipped over. She can actually hear the metal groaning as the connectors struggle to keep it upright.

As for the front end carrying the main engine? It is dead, to put simply.

The back of the engine car is nothing but a blackened mess that looks like a metal eating giant took a bite out of it, and it rolled a fair distance, leaving its frame dented and hanging loose in parts with its wheels barely hanging on and loose pieces scattered across the field with broken parts of the track.

“Wow, are we lucky or what?” says the blue-gray stallion cheerfully while inspecting the wreckage of their dune wagon.

“How is this lucky? Our vehicle is wrecked in the middle of nowhere and we're next to a bunch of guards we just shot at!” says Flare, giving Lucky a cross look.

“We're still alive, and when you think about it, that is pretty lucky.” Lucky then giggles at himself. “Heheh. Lucky.”

“I swear, if I hear that 'L' word one more time...”

Flare does not finish her sentence, though, for she hears multiple vehicles approaching. She recognizes the engines to be heavy duty from how loud their rumbling and revving is, and when she and Lucky turn to the source, they both smile with relief at the sight of a rapidly approaching dust cloud behind a dozen dots of distant vehicles.

“Oh, good,” sighs Flare.

That smile of hers does not last, though, when a bullet rips into her shoulder and knocks her to the ground, bringing her to cry out in agony and clutch her wound as Lucky gallops towards her, narrowly avoiding a bullet himself.

Flare whimpers and flops on the ground, flapping her wings madly in a desperate attempt to stand as the blood pumped from the hole in her shoulder drenches her dark orange coat in sticky crimson. Lucky slides next to her, and quickly burrows his head underneath her abdomen and rolls her on his back, completely calm as can be as the bullets whiz past him to strike the earth or bounce off the wreckage. The stallion then trots to the other side, humming, and sits down so she slowly slides off his back and hits the overturned vehicle, grunting on impact.

“Sit back and relax, milady. Help is on its way!” says Lucky, his smile as insanely confident as his voice.

In spite of all the pain and suffering Flare is going through, she still manages to give Lucky a flabbergasted look, and a growing part of her wonders if the stallion is just plain insane.

Time Turner sits against his corner, watching the guards respond to whoever is out there. The guard that has been patrolling their car has taken a sturdy stance in the middle of the car, his horn glowing bright gold and ejecting a translucent beam into the ceiling. The spell splatters against the metal roof and spreads to encase the whole car I a glittering shield, which bleeds into purple, soon after.

The train's interior rattles with the increase of speed, and when Time Turner peeks out his window to see what's going on, he sees absolutely nothing but the same colors behind a transparent wall of purple. The train suddenly rattles with the swift travels of a white line that goes across the roof, connects at a point down the car and disappears with an electric crackle and roll of thunder.

The unicorn operating the shield spell grunts with the phenomena, and the other two guards gallop to elevated positions leading to slots in the wall, with one ordering the other to check the other side. The guard nods, but before he can reach his spot, there is a distant thud, followed by a tremble that knocks everyone to the floor. Metal screeches and lights flicker as prisoners and guards alike scream and swear in fright and confusion. As the terrified clamoring shakes Time Turner's bones, there is a loud, metallic snap that shakes car even more and throws everyone against the bars and walls.

Ponies are reduced to flopping dolls, and dust blows into Time Turner's cell as the massive wheels of the train rip apart the ground. Time Turner wraps his hooves around his cell's bar and pulls himself tight against it, squeezing his eyes shut and grinding his teeth as everything shakes back and forth with deafening thuds.

“The train's derailed!” yells the shield guard, clutching Time Turner's cage as his horn glows bright to grab the whole cart with his magic. “Help me stabilize it!”

The other guards clamber to their hooves with great difficulty, and they light up their horns without question. All three grunt and scream through their teeth as their muscles are strained to near ripping. The chaos of screeching metal and churning earth

The metal groans and Time Turner hugs his cage tighter, praying that the train stays upright as it tilts. His prayers are answered when it seems as though a mystical hoof pushes the train back on its wheels, kicking up more dirt and breaking the tracks as a thud echoes in the prairie.

The train's sudden movement slams everyone to the ground or against their bars, and Time Turner grunts with the unpleasant feeling of his jaw cracking against the metal. He falls to the ground, groaning and clutching his throbbing mouth with his hoof, tasting copper, then pushes himself up to see other ponies groggily getting back up.

“Hey, Noteworthy, are you all right?” asks Time Turner, giving his cellmate a worried glance.

Noteworthy winces with a nod. “Yeah, I think so.” He stretches out his back like a feline, groaning when a series of cracks and pops run up and down his spine. “Oh, wow. My back feels weird.”

Time Turner sniffs and watches as the guards move up and down the car, with the Shield Unicorn barking into his radio demanding to know what is happening on the other end. Another guard approaches Time Turner's cell and peers inside, noticing the blood coating the side of the brown pony's face.

“You okay?” asks the guard.

“I'm fine,” replies Time Turner.

The guard nods and looks at Noteworthy. “How about you?”

“I guess I'm okay,” says Noteworthy.

The guard nods again and moves down to the next cell to check on the others, but suddenly crouches and swears when a distant gun shot cracks the air.

“Everypony down!” barks the Shield Unicorn. The prisoners duck down and he waves at the other two guards and orders them into their positions while his horn glows to activate his radio and bring the firing bit of his battle saddle to his lips. The glow is considerably dimmer and it looks like he is straining himself just to perform the simple tasks. “Teams, report!”

Still lying on his stomach, Time Turner's ears perk and he turns his head to the thick wall when he hears multiple vehicles screeching to a halt. Judging from how close the sounds of rubber and dirt clash, he thinks they might have stopped barely thirty feet from them, and the closeness of the barking orders only enforces his blind observation.

He ducks down further when more pops of gunfire are exchanged down the train, and he looks at the guards for just a moment to see them take defensive stances, aiming their weapons at the doors, all worn out from their magic exertion. He then looks at Noteworthy to see him huddled in the corner, shaking with his ears pressed against his head and eyes shut tight.

“This can't be happening. This can't be happening. This can't be happening,” mutters Noteworthy, barely giving his words a chance to separate as he babbles on and on with the other prisoners trying to figure out what's happening.

Time Turner tries to crawl to Noteworthy, but the chain forcefully tugs him back in place. He quietly curses in pain as the cuff digs past his coat and grinds against his skin, and he gives the piece of metal a cross look before putting his attention back on Noteworthy. The blue stallion is still shaking and muttering, and Time Turner extends his hoof and calls out to the terrified pony, but Noteworthy does not answer.

“Noteworthy, you need to stay calm,” says Time Turner.

“Calm? How can I be calm when there are ponies shooting at each other!” says Noteworthy.

“Panicking will not help us through this!”

There are a series of thumps on the door nearest to Time Turner, and he and the guards stare at the door, with the armed unicorns aiming their weapons and the captured pony's ears drooping. He does not know what that sound is, but the crawling feeling in his mane and the stone plunged in his stomach tells him that it is not good.

“Uh oh.”

As soon as those words leave Time Turner, the door near him is blasted inward by a flash of light that is strong enough to launch it towards the cage on the other side. The explosion fills the room with pale gray haze that burns Time Turner's lungs and leaves his ears ringing and his vision swimming. He blinks and coughs, and holds his ears to keep out the ringing. His bulged eyes desperately try to blink the colors away as ghostly ponies hop in, guns blazing, and the screams and gunfire are muffled and drawn out from the painful ringing. As the seconds tick by, he sees the figures becoming more solid and appearing to be earth ponies with cheap, most likely home made battle saddles outfitted with basic rifles.

Their muzzle flashes have no comparison against the guards that shoot back. It is like twinkling stars against supernovas, and banging pots against roaring thunder as the gunfire is exchanged. Seconds in, and a couple of the breaching ponies drop dead in front of Time Turner and Noteworthy's cell. The blue pony yells and scrunches himself impossibly tight in his corner as one of the bandits takes a bullet to the head, and Time Turner finds himself following his lead, except without the screaming. The shocked expression is still there, though, and the assaulting ponies keep flooding in like mindless grunts ready to die for their obscure cause.

In seconds time, only the Shield Unicorn remains, and despite him sweating and trembling and panting, he still manages a war cry and charges the attacking horde with a knife levitating next to him in a thin aura. He stabs the first pony in the neck and pushes him to the floor, then, as the mortally wounded pony gurgles underneath him, he places two more shots into the nearest target. One in the chest and one in the head, killing him instantly. The last guard gets off another shot that blows out another pony's heart before he is gunned down, dying in the middle of the floor, surrounded by six dead attackers around and his two brothers in arms.

The one that killed the shield pony is an earth pony, and he pulls down his bandana to use his mouth to get the keys off of the corpse, and then he tosses it to a unicorn. The said pony catches it with his magic, unlocks Time Turner's cell, swings the door open and unlocks the cuffs on their hooves. After that, he quickly moves to the next cell, getting cheers and applause from the other inmates, with some banging on their bars, hollering their demands to be freed next.

Time Turner, however, does not move. He stares at the bodies, wondering if what he is seeing is real, or if he is having a crazy dream. Noteworthy seems to be in a similar, if not worse, state. His eyes dart between the bloodied bodies, and his lips move, but no words come out.

An earth pony bandit steps forward, wearing a bandana with Celestia's sun over his muzzle and a dark brown duster underneath his battle saddle. A double barrel shotgun variant from the looks of it. He extends his hoof to Time Turner, and at first he is reluctant to take it since he has no idea who this pony is or what they want. All he knows is that they killed a bunch of guards, and judging from the gunfire down the way, his friends are doing just the same. That being said, he gets an idea of what they want- or who they want- when a team of masked ponies aim their weapons at the bolted door sealing Big Mac on the other side.

“It's okay. We're allies,” says the masked pony, his voice muffled and his hoof motioning Time Turner to accept his help.

Time Turner and Noteworthy exchange looks, and after taking a nervous breath, Time Turner extends his hoof and he is helped up. The same happens to Noteworthy, and the two are escorted outside, where more freed prisoners are being gathered by the disguised ponies.

As the duo hops out, Sun Mask nudges them further back while other masked ponies form a blockade to the train, giving just enough space for three more ponies to enter the crashed vehicle. The blockade files in behind them as soon as they enter, and Time Turner watches the newcomers with great interest. They three ponies leading are different. They are not afraid to show their faces, and while all three of them have varying expressions, they are all determined and committed to their goal that they will see done, no matter what.

Inside the armored chamber, Big Mac stares at the door, wondering and worrying about what is going on out there. The crash already has his heart jacked, and the only reason the train has not tipped from derailing is because the guards used levitation spells to keep the vehicle upright, but their act has taken a toll on them. From just the two guards inside, he can see how much they are sweating and trembling, and the porker is already puking out his lunch from the exertion.

“Keep your eyes on the door, damn it!” barks Ali.

Burn Bag nods, swallowing what's left of his bile and turns to the door, knees buckling and armor shaking as the sounds of gunfire and shouts resonate from behind the metal barrier. Seconds later, the shooting stops, but the hollers of victory and ponies cheering for their release swarm the ears of the three ponies.

Big Mac can see Burn Bag trembling through his armor. So hard are his shakes that the metal plates above his Kevlar clatter together. He thinks he hears a whimper in there, too.

“Steady your aim, son,” says Ali.

“Yes, sir,” croaks Burn Bag.

The thick, metal door starts to glow, and at first Big Mac thinks his eyes are playing tricks with him since it is so subtle, but as the seconds tick, the door shines in a brighter green. Soon, the door is glowing in a blinding, emerald light and Big Mac has to avert his eyes. He really wishes he could lift his hooves to block the light from his eyes, but since they are chained to the floor, he can only turn his head and close his eyes. Even then, the light bleeds through his eyelids and burns his eyes.

In his blindness, he hears metal groan and snap, followed by an explosion and screams of pain. He has to bite his tongue to keep himself from crying out in pain, too, for pieces of hot shrapnel bounce off or slice his hide and scratch at his chains. Next, there is a series of overlapping pops and cracks that leaves his ears ringing from the noise being amplified in the metal container.

When Big Mac opens his eyes, blinking the colorful blots away and pinning his ears against skull to give some comfort, he spots Burn Bag and Ali lying dead on the ground. A pool of blood flows from under them and he lifts is head, his eyes widen from the sight of seeing a line of masked ponies armed with battle saddles aimed at the jagged remains of the door.

One of them peeks inside and says that its clear before the firing squad steps aside to let three ponies in- two earth ponies and one unicorn.

The leading pony is an earth pony with brown fur and eyes, a dark brown mane and a tree cutie mark, and he is wearing an armored vest underneath his duster and a revolving rifle battle saddle. He has an average build and looks to be in his early thirties to Big Mac, but he has never seen him before, so why he is coming for him is a mystery to him. He does not recognize the other two stallions flanking the newcomer, either.

The other two are about the same age as the brown pony, and the earth pony has blue eyes, a dark orange coat and a pale orange mane with a cropped tail. So pale is his hair that it almost looks white, and the cutie mark he has is made up of four dark green emeralds.

The unicorn, whom Big Mac is watching a lot more closely than the other two, has a pale, powder blue coat, blue eyes like his companion, and a rough mane and cropped tail made of dark gray hair. His cutie mark is made up of three stars, is wearing a pair of leg guards on his front hooves and a horn guard with an emerald eye on each, and out of the other two, he seems the most shifty. His eyes are always darting from one spot to another, his pupils are shaking and sporadic twitches force the odd pony to pace around in circles. Big Mac hears the unicorn muttering something and gets more concerned for his safety when the horned pony starts poking at the corpses. When the bodies don't move, he whimpers at the brown earth pony with big, shiny eyes and drooped ears.

“They're dead. They're dead. All dead,” says the unicorn, his sad voice rising in pitch.

“That was the idea,” says the brown stallion. He approaches the unicorn and gently turns him to face Big Mac. “Why don't you free your new friend?”

“Friend? Friend!”

Big Mac's eyes grow wide and his exhausted body strains itself to break free from the chains when the unicorn looks at him with an excited, broad, smile that reveals all of his teeth. The smile is unnerving in every way, and when the unicorn giggles and lights up his horn, causing his eyes and gauntlets to glow bright green, Big Mac thrashes in his chains in a fit of panic.

He will be damned if magic tries to kill him again! He will break out by his own strength if he has to, but he will not let the unicorn's magic hurt him. The tingling feeling of the manipulated energy slithers through his hooves and up his chest and stomach from the chains. It is like electrified worms burrowing under his skin and the metal cuffs and chains holding him down are heating up and cracking, burning through his fur and scratching into his skin.

Not wanting to give the freak of nature the benefit of hearing him scream, Big Mac grunts through his teeth and he tugs on his restraints in a last ditch effort to escape. The weakened chains shatter from his strength, sending him back and nearly falling over if it weren't for the wall directly behind him. He then bangs the four cuffs against the wall, freeing his hooves of the scorching metal and leaving them as glowing pieces on the ground.

Big Mac stomps on the floor, creating deafening thuds and he nearly falls over, panting and shaking from the pain. Thin smoke rises from the singed fur around his hooves, and his sweaty locks hang past his eyes as he glares at the unicorn, wanting oh so much to clobber him for not using the damn keys. He knows the unicorn is afraid, too. He can see it in his eyes and drooped ears. Even the other ponies appear to be nervous, which they have every right to be since he is not in a good mood at the moment. Sure he is free, but he has no idea who they are, what they want with him, why they have a unicorn with them, and why they found it necessary to massacre the whole train. The certainty of that biting them in the butt very fast and very hard is as absolute as the sun rising and setting, and now he will be at the wrong end of whatever gun retribution will be using.

“Macintosh, I know you are nervous, but you need to relax,” says the brown pony. He swallows and carefully approaches the enormous stallion with shaky steps. “We are friends here. We are all friends here to get you out.”

Big Mac is silent, but he does narrow his eyes at the brown pony, really wishing he would not talk to him like he is a dumb hick or infant.

“I am going to take the muzzle off of you, okay?” says the brown pony cautiously.

Again, Big Mac is silent, but he follows the brown pony with his eyes as he moves to his side and stands on his hind legs and uses his shoulders to prop himself. The stranger then uses his mouth to unlock the metal mask and it falls to the floor with a clank. The unicorn gasps and the other earth pony's ears perk with his bulging eyes when Big Mac's bald muzzle and cracks of missing fur are revealed.

The air feels cold on Big Mac's nose, but it has always been that way ever since that pegasus tried killing him and Fluttershy with his black magic, and he has long stopped caring about what others think about his new appearance.

“Macintosh, I am glad we were able to catch up to you,” says the brown stallion, bringing Big Mac's eyes to him. He extends his hoof and offers a friendly smile. “My name is Burnt Oak, the orange guy is Emerald Green and the unicorn is Neon Light.”

Big Mac refuses to lift his hoof, instead he stares into Burnt Oak's eyes. He does not know much about this pony, but he can already tell he will be terrible at Palomino Hold 'Em. His eyes are too shifty, and Big Mac can tell he is studying him, as well, specifically the cracks of exposed skin all over his face originating from his completely bald muzzle.

“I'm sure you're wondering why we came to get you, or who we are for that matter,” says Burnt Oak, averting his eyes from Big Mac's face and putting his hoof down.

Big Mac nods slowly, still staying silent.

Burnt Oak returns the nod. “Follow me. I'll explain everything along the way.”

“So, now that you are out, what are you going to do?” asks Noteworthy as he and Time Turner walk through a crowd of prisoners being herded into mini-trains.

Time Turner stares at the ponies being loaded up as he licks the blood from his lips, really hating the sting and taste of copper. He also notices how happy they seem to be about being freed from one cage, only to be stuffed into a smaller, tighter packed box. It makes him wonder if they are just excited about not going to the Badlands.

“Turner?” calls Noteworthy.

“Don't call me Turner,” says Time Turner, now looking at his cellmate and noting the bruises he got from the crash. It looks like nothing a simple rest can't handle. “I'll tell you this. Now that I'm out, I'm going to find Derpy and Dinky and then get them out of this bloody country.”

“Excuse me, but you need to come with us,” says a stallion behind them.

Time Turner and Noteworthy turn around and see Sun Mask staring at them, his hoof pointed at the mini-trains.

“We don't have much time, so you need to come with us immediately,” says the masked pony.

Time Turner and Noteworthy exchange looks, then they look at Sun Mask, both basically thinking the same thing. If they have any hope of escaping the prairie without being caught or suffering some horrible weather induced sickness, then they will need to hitch a ride in one of the cramped vehicles.

“How long is the trip to where we're going?” asks Time Turner.

“Four hours,” replies Sun Mask.

Time Turner scoffs and scuffs the dry grass. “That's fantastic.”

“Hey, Noteworthy!” shouts Lucky suddenly.

The trio look in the direction of the shout and see Lucky waving at the subject with a broad, ecstatic smile.

“Lucky, is that you?” returns Noteworthy with equal enthusiasm as he trots towards his friend with brisk steps and Time Turner and Sun Mask following close behind.

“Yeah, it's me!” laughs Lucky.

“I can't believe its you!”

“I know, right?”

“Yeah, I know!”

“Yeah!”

“Yeah!”

When he is close enough, Noteworthy's smile turns into an enrages snarl and he punches Lucky right in the jaw, getting the pony quickly acquainted with the dirt. There are shouts and orders to calm down, but some of the ponies do laugh as a couple of their rescuers, Time Turner and Sun Mask hold Noteworthy back to prevent him from beating Lucky's brains out. Other ponies escort Lucky away, one of which is an injured orange pegasus mare calling Noteworthy an asshole.

“You son of a bitch! I had a clean record until your stupid stunt landed me in prison!” shouts Noteworthy, his face turning dark blue and eyes engulfed in flames of maniacal rage as he stands on his hind legs in an attempt to climb over the ones holding him.

“Easy, easy! We don't need to be fighting!” says Time Turner while having to stand on his back legs just so he can force Noteworthy down by pressing on his shoulders. “As much as I hate to say this, we do owe Lucky our thanks for breaking us out.”

“See? Line Runner gets it,” says Lucky, smiling just as bright and carefree with blood lining his teeth.

Time Turner scowls at Lucky. “It's 'Time Turner'.”

Lucky furrows his brows. “Since when?”

Time Turner sighs exasperatedly and lowers his head to rub his brow, not even wanting to waste his breath on arguing with a pony about his own name. Noteworthy, however, pushes himself away from Time Turner and runs his trembling hoof through his mane, breathing heavily as his eyes shimmer in the setting sun.

“We owe Lucky our thanks?” says Noteworthy, turning his glare to Time Turner. “I don't owe Lucky anything! If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be here and now we got a bunch of dead guards because his chumps killed everypony! I do not want to be chased across the country for the massacring of a train full of ponies!”

Lucky tuts disappointingly. “There is just no pleasing you, is there?”

“Shut up!”

Time Turner points at the train. “Well, there are plenty of open cells for you to enjoy until more guards arrive. I for one am happy that I got out because now I can find Derpy and Dinky and take them away from this forsaken country.”

“And go to Neighico?” asks Lucky, adding when Time Turner cocks a brow at him: “Every escaped criminal goes to Neighico.”

“A shithole is better than Neighico,” says Time Turner. “And to be honest, I was thinking of taking them somewhere overseas.”

“Oh? With beaches?”

Time Turner sighs. “Yes, Lucky, with beaches.”

“Cool. Can me and Noteworthy come with you?”

“No.”

“...How about just me, then?”

“Definitely not.”

Burnt Oak leads Big Mac past a group of freed prisoners being helped by the armed ponies with the bandanas covering their muzzles. Along the way, he sees Noteworthy slugging Lucky in the jaw, which brings quite a bit of attention to him as a swarm of ponies drag the two apart, with Noteworthy screaming at Lucky and the downed pony snickering carelessly. A particularly obnoxious pegasus mare with a rushed bandaging job limps over, cussing out Noteworthy while she assists the other ponies in helping Lucky up. Not that help was needed in the first place.

Big Mac shakes his head and looks back ahead, briefly thinking that Lucky isn't right in the head. That colt has never been right from the moment he moved to Ponyville, and he reckons that he has never been stable before nor will he ever be. Just thinking about how many times that crazy pony should have died because of his pyromaniac nature and explosive fetish, among not getting himself beat to a coma for saying or doing something stupid, surely points to his lucky talent. If such a thing can even be considered a talent. Celestia knows the picture on his butt says that luck is his talent.

“Macintosh, what do you see, here?” asks Burnt Oak, stopping and turning to face Big Mac.

Big Mac stops, looks at his escorts, peers over their shoulders at the endless field, then looks at the ponies being loaded up in the mini-trains. He looks back at Burnt Oak and shrugs.

“You don't talk much, do you?” asks Burnt Oak, smiling nervously.

Big Mac's impatient frown speaks plenty.

“Right.” Burnt Oak smacks his lips and sighs loudly as he kicks at a clump of prairie grass. “Macintosh, what you're seeing is the start of the revolution.”

Big Mac raises a skeptical eyebrow, and Burnt Oak chuckles anxiously and fidgets a little in his spot, his eyes darting between the massive stallion and his little army.

“I know it's hard to believe,” says Burnt Oak, “and I really can't blame you. I wouldn't even believe me if I were in your hooves. But all the ponies that came with me, we all agreed that if we continue letting this country travel this path, there will not be a shred of Equestria left. We will be Equestria in name only, but our values, our way of life? That will disappear.”

“Why did you bust me out?” asks Big Mac, his suspicious gaze zeroing in on Burnt Oak.

Burnt Oak gasps in playful shock. “He talks!”

The three ponies that freed Big Mac snicker, chuckle and giggle, with the brown pony doing the chuckling, the dark orange snickering and the unicorn giggling. A very unnerving, border-lining psychotic giggle that needs just a dark room with a flickering light to give someone a heart attack. It is a giggle that Big Mac does not want to hear ever again, and all he does to make them shut up is snort hot air explosively through his nose. All three stop very quickly after that, and Burnt Oak clears his throat and scuffs the dirt while the other two shift their eyes to other fascinating parts of the bland scenery.

“Sorry,” mutters the brown stallion. He lifts his eyes to Big Mac moments later and straightens his posture. “I actually should have just cut to it instead of dancing around it, but here it is. At our current state we cannot fight Celestia and her government, we would be slaughtered, but the Apples are one of the largest and most powerful families in Equestria! Even your sister is the Bearer of Honesty and-”

Big Mac holds up his hoof. “Nope.”

Burnt Oak blinks. “You didn't let me finish.”

“Ya didn't have t' finish. I know what yer after and I ain't gonna allow it.”

“But you don't understand-”

“I understand that yer lookin' t' mah family for support in yer revolution, but what ya don't understand that the Apples have split apart. Ya got Apples, Tarts, Juices, Oranges, Cookies and Pies, all different with different goals and connections and values. We ain't been a united family since the Lunar Rebellion. We're just a bunch o' clans fightin' for influence, now, ain't nothin' gonna change that.”

“Okay, fine, we don't need the others, but if we can get your sister to act as a symbol for our movement, then we can gain the support we need and get a fighting chance against Celestia's regime!”

Big Mac stomps forward and jabs Burnt Oak in the chest with enough brute strength to make him stumble back, and the smaller stallion stares at the titan of a pony's angered, scarred face with drooped ears and wide eyes. Even his two escorts take a step back, both fidgeting and casting nervous looks to each other.

“Ya ain't gonna use mah sister or mah kin as pawns in yer rebellion!” says Big Mac. “AJ doesn't want anypony getting' hurt, and you goin' around shootin' up trains and talkin' 'bout fightin' Celestia is doin' exactly what she don't want!”

“But you saw first hoof how corrupted the government has become,” counters Burnt Oak shakily. “They already took control of our farms, they are arresting ponies left and right for saying the wrong things, they're separating families and now they are building some kind of super food tower that will make us completely dependent on them! We trusted them to lead us, not control us, and they betrayed our trust, just as the Elements did. Only Applejack stood up for us in spite of the power of Celestia's madness. Only her. Only you. Only the Apples stood by us.”

Big Mac snorts and steps back, glaring down at Burnt Oak. “Find somepony else to be yer symbol for the revolution. Ya ain't draggin' mah sisters into this. 'Sides, ya can't even look at me without shakin' in yer hide, so what makes ya think ya can face Celestia's army if ya can't even face yer equal without being afraid?”

Burnt Oak forces a chuckle, and he looks down at his legs, which are quivering to where dust vibrates off of them. “You know, my grandpa used to say nopony lives without fear. I guess I'm just better at showing it than others.” He sniffs, wipes his nose, and then he looks up at Big Mac, straining himself to stop shaking. “But fear or not, this needs to be done, and I really need you and your sister's help to save this country.”

Big Mac scowls and shoves his way past Burnt Oak and Neon Lights, following the tracks in the direction of the last town they passed. Appleloosa, if he recalls. Not that he wants to see anyone there since the only pony he really knew turned traitor on the Apples and enlisted into the EIB and is more than likely gone. But a town is a town, and he won't get much farther if he ignores it entirely because of a pony that no longer lives there.

“Find somepony else. Ya ain't usin' my kin for anything,” says Big Mac without slowing, and he continues walking as he looks over his shoulder at Burnt Oak. “Thank you kindly for the help, by the way.”

He looks back ahead, knowing that he will have to trek in the dark without rest if he wants to get to the growing town at a reasonable time. As he walks, curious ponies watch him march by them, more than likely curious about the scars or why Burnt Oak is following him, but he ignores them. Even the familiar faces, such as Time Turner, Noteworthy and Lucky, are not given more than a second's glance. He already wasted enough time entertaining Burnt Oak with his presence, and now he needs to find his sisters as quickly as he can, for there is no telling what the new system will do to them.

“Wait! We know where Apple Bloom and Applejack are!” shouts Burnt Oak.

Big Mac stops and looks over his shoulder as Burnt Oak trots next to him, with Neon Lights and Emerald Green following close behind. Big Mac looks around, seeing the faces of others staring at him, with Time Turner looking especially interested. The big stallion huffs and looks down at the dry grass before looking at Burnt Oak critically.

“Ya expect me t' believe you?” asks Big Mac.

“We broke you out! In most cases that will mean a mutual friendship or at least a mutual trust,” says Burnt Oak.

“In most cases.”

Burnt Oak huffs. “Okay, look, we got connections in the Lunar Society and the House of Solaria, and they told us where Applejack and Apple Bloom are being held, and that means we can help you get them back a whole lot better than you ever could. All I ask is that you help me convince-”

“How's 'bout ya tell me where they are right now.”

Burnt Oak breathes trough his nose and runs his hoof through his mane. Like his whole body, his hoof shakes and Big Mac has yet to figure out how or why anyone can follow this weakling. They must see something in him that he does not. Not that he wants to figure it out since the quicker he finds his sisters, the quicker he can get away from this guy and not get shot in the face by the government.

When Burnt Oak lowers his hoof, he takes another breath and looks at Big Mac. “Macintosh, I want to- No, I will tell you where they are, and I will help you get them back, but I really need your help. I need you, I need your sister, every one of us needs you and your family to lead us. We need a symbol to rally behind, to inspire the commoners to retake their lives as theirs to control. We do not belong to Canterlot or to Celestia, and Applejack was the only Element who was brave enough to say that aloud.”

Big Mac refuses to speak once more, and Burnt Oak sighs, making his aggravation for the stubbornness very clear.

“Macintosh, I know you want things to go back to normal, we all do, but we can't go back!” says Burnt Oak, stomping his hoof in emphasis. “Time does not allow us to go back and fix the mistakes that brought us here. All we can do is fight for what is important to us and start in a new direction. But now you have a choice, Macintosh. Come with us and be reunited with your sisters, or stay here and let us get them back alone. I really want to reunite you with your family. It is more important to me than you realize.”

Burnt Oak nods to Emerald and Neon Light, then he makes his way to one of the mini-trains, walking past Big Mac along the way and giving him an angry, disappointed look.

“The choice is yours if you want to stay out here alone, or come with us to get your sisters back,” says Burnt Oak, his somber tone breaking the anger in his eyes. He looks straight ahead and continues walking, saying without looking at Big Mac: “We'll be leaving, soon, so make your choice quick.”

Big Mac turns his head to watch them hop inside a crudely armored motor-wagon, and he snorts and stares down at his hooves. A wet lump looks at what little of the sun remains, and it is there that he makes a decision that his stubbornness and paranoia does not want him to make, but he knows that it is the best chance he has of getting his sister back. With his mind reluctantly made up, he sighs heavily, and then he silently walks after Burnt Oak.

Snowflake Gulag- 06- General Ji

"Only a fool thinks that a nation can last a thousand years without turmoil. Where there is Harmony, there is Chaos, and wherever the sun shines there will be shadows. This is a basic fact, and while the foolish sit in their homes, sipping their tea and playing in their parks, thinking that the world is perfect, my soldiers know the truth. We know it for we fight to keep it away from everypony every day of the week. Without the Frontier Watch to hunt demons and rebels, Equestria would have fallen long ago. We are the true guardians. Not the royal guard. Not the Elements of Harmony. Us. And we will stay so long as Celestia reigns."

-General Ji, Commander of the Frontier Watch

In the darkest hour of the night, a unicorn stallion near his seventies stares at the wreckage of the train. Normally such a wreckage would be a faint silhouette because of what little light is offered at this time, but in this case there is aid to see the wreckage clearly. Teams of golden armored pegasi patrol the perimeter, carrying gem powered spotlights, and more of such devices on a larger scale have been set up to illuminate the wreckage of the train better. With the pegasi are more Royal Guardponies patrolling and inspecting the wreckage, and they are greatly immersed in their work, collecting and examining the evidence before them with great professionalism.

The unicorn that is overlooking the site has a red coat and a cropped, fading gold mane, with a cutie mark in the shape of five black dots surrounding a white dot. Underneath his four star General's uniform is a slim build that looks sickly compared to the average stallion, with his height being equal to a mare's. However, his size and thin frame is not a source of ridicule. In fact, he rarely faces any form of taunts for his build unless it is behind his back, and that is something that quickly comes to his attention and is dealt with just as fast.

He stares at the scene with a small frown, watching the soldiers of the poorly trained main fighting force of the Equestrian military scurry about the site. Though, as much as he wants to feel disgust for their lack of training, he cannot help but feel pity for their loss. Even from his distance he can see the twenty white sheets covering the bodies of the fallen, and from the blackened spots on the ground and the destroyed vehicle, he sees they put up some effort.

The old unicorn shakes his head and looks down the tracks, seeing the tiny dots of light for the growing city of San Palomino. He looks down the other end and sees only darkness, save for what little light the crescent moon and little stars give. He turns his focus back to the scene when he hears hooves approaching and sees an earth pony stallion with a pale, sandy coat and a white mane. The stallion is also bearing a dust cloud cutie mark and is wearing an armored vest and limb pads colored brown, like the old unicorn's two escorts.

The stallion stops and brings his hoof up for a crisp salute. “Sir, Lieutenant Fast Track reporting back from errand.”

The old unicorn returns the salute. “At ease. What have you found?”

Fast Track lowers his hoof. “Sir, after conversing with the officer in charge, he has informed me that three modified fire rubies have been recovered from the wreckage of the dune wagon.”

The unicorn's brows furrow. “Take me to him.”

Fast Track verbally acknowledges the order and leads the trio to a dark blue pegasus in his fifties with an orange mane and a cutie mark of a winged shield, wearing a pin of an eagle sitting on the sun on his blue and red cuffed uniform. He is quietly conversing with a group of guardponies that salute and leave as soon as the group arrives.

“Colonel Sentry, I have been informed that you found something interesting,” says the unicorn, taking a casual glance at the dark red blotches and streaks of blood that leads around the destroyed vehicle.

“General Ji, always a pleasure to have you,” says the pegasus, Colonel Sturdy Sentry, his pleasantries sounding forced.

“Indeed,” replies General Sharp Ji duly. “What have you found?”

Colonel Sentry calls one of his unicorns over and orders him to bring the fire rubies, and when the unicorn returns, he is levitating a container holding the red stones covered in gold runes. General Ji's eyes narrow and he levitates one of them, studying the gold markings intently. He can make out a display of a winged unicorn circling a tree with an eye on its bark and a ball of flame where the leaves are. He remembers seeing a larger, similar picture of it in an unholy underground temple many decades ago when he did a raid in Miner's Country regarding disturbing information about the disappearance of a husband and wife traveling from Ponyville. Just remove the flame and replace it with overlapping omegas and it will be completely identical.

The site in the abandoned basement had been disturbing, and the warped creatures there had been anything but pony, especially in the center in its pool of dried blood with its bark like skin and tendrils that were more like rotten vines than anything else. He still remembers how its pool of milky white eyes stared at him, peering deep into his soul, like a hopelessly sick patient begging his doctor to kill him. With such a terrible memory resurfacing of the day surrounding the discovery, Ji would have shuddered if he did not have years of discipline with him.

“It took you all night to find this?” asks the General critically.

“We found them earlier, but our arcane specialist was studying them for hours on end. I didn't want to disturb you until we figured out what they were,” claims the Colonel.

“And what was found?” says the General, more out of curiosity about their intellect on the subject than anything else.

Colonel Sentry swallows nervously. “That is the thing, we are not entirely sure. Our specialist says that the symbol is of black magic origins, possibly dating back to the Age of Roaman Occupation. We also know that it enhances the rubies capabilities as seen by the wreckage, but we had multiple shield specialists on that train. No projectile, magic or otherwise, should have been able to penetrate their barriers.”

The General casually returns the ruby back to the unicorn that brought it over. “It is a good thing that I arrived, then. For the safety of your troops and the security of this region, I hereby remove you and the Royal Guard from command and place the Frontier Watch in control until further notice, are we clear?”

“What!” yells Colonel Sentry, adding with a stomp of his hoof: “General, that is absurd! You have no jurisdiction in inner Equestrian conflicts! This is a prison break, therefore a Royal Guard matter! No rank will change that!”

General Ji frowns and waves his hoof around the carnage, stopping specifically at the laid out bodies, his patience wearing thin by the pegasus's outburst.

“Colonel Sentry, this was no prison break. This was an act of war by an enemy who has advanced knowledge in a forbidden class of magic,” says General Ji sternly, continuing when he points at the Colonel. “Your soldiers are not prepared to face whoever orchestrated the attack, whereas my forces specialize in this. Princess Celestia will agree with me without a doubt, which is why when I send a letter informing her of what has happened she will send you a letter ordering you to stand down and let me resolve this situation. Time is of great importance and it is better we move ahead of the formalities and remove these rebels while their strength and numbers are manageable.”

Colonel Sentry ruffles his feathers, staring challengingly at the unicorn, and the old unicorn steps forward and tilts his head up to look at the taller pegasus. Even though he is smaller by size, he still sees the pegasus flinch uncomfortably from his focused gaze. Within seconds, Colonel Sentry's defiant stature relents and his demeanor droops while General Ji remains steadfast.

“Defiance of any nature is unacceptable, Colonel, and the only reason why I am not invoking any form of discipline against you is due to the loss you suffered tonight,” says General Ji.

The old unicorn motions the Colonel to follow him, and the both of them, as well as the three ponies the General arrived with, start walking along the lines of bodies. General Ji looks at the covered bodies, reminding him of an all too familiar sight that the vast majority of Equestrians, both in the military and civilian life, are not accustomed to. In all his years in the service, fighting in the shadows with his brothers and sisters in arms to keep Equestria safe from the unholy forces of dark magic users and other abominations, he has hoped that his nation would remain whole. But he knows his history, and he knows the patterns, and that is why his pity and sorrow for the loss of good ponies has manifested itself into a force that demands blood.

“I have no doubt that we will catch the ones responsible for this travesty, but it will have to be done by our hooves, our way, not yours,” says General Ji when he turns to face the Colonel after they reach the end of the line. “Also, we will need to coordinate with the EIB to make sure that word does not get out about what has happened here. We cannot afford the populace to inherent fear or a sense of rebellion because of this. Control is key, Colonel, and we cannot let it falter any more than it has already.”

Colonel Sentry frowns. “And how do you plan on regaining control of the situation in this case, General?”

General Ji stares at another row of covered bodies that rest away from the fallen guards, and his gaze hardens and his muscles tightens as he begins formulating his plan of retribution. “The same way the Frontier Watch has always taken care of attempted insurrections after the Lunar Rebellion. Quickly and quietly.”

Snowflake Gulag- 07- Escape From Snowflake (Part 1)

“Sisters of the Heavens, I leave you with this warning: The laws of the universe demand a reaction to every action, and with your actions, with your war against my blood, retribution will come. My descendants shall break free from the chains you have trapped them in, and with the power granted to us by Sirius, Prince of the Earth and Guardian of Knowledge, we will toss your civilization into the deepest pit of Tartarus! Be wary, Sisters, for the Stars demand your damnation!”

-Starburst Quartz, informally known as Sombra the Conqueror, after his defeat at the Battle of the Crystal Heart.

Drip.

…

Drip.

…

Drip.

Applejack finds herself once again staring at Nebulous in the same room she has been in nearly every day since she got here. Nothing has changed. The medical equipment is still the same, the posters on the wall are all about medical jargon hardly anybody knows about, the furniture is still neatly organized with its supplies, and the sink is still dripping that one drop every two seconds.

Drip.

…

Drip.

…

Drip.

Every drip is like a poke to Applejack's ear, and in most cases, she would not hear it because Nebulous would be talking to her, but now? Now he is uncharacteristically quiet and ignoring her completely, leaving her ears at the mercy of the completely annoying drips.

Drip.

…

Drip.

…

Drip.

Applejack really wants to get out of her seat, find a wrench and fix that darn leak, but she is chained to her spot, same cuffs, same gems, same hopelessness. Only now this hopelessness has an imp in the form of a sink that is taunting her.

Drip.

…

Drip.

…

Drip.

Applejack looks at Meriaclock and sees him reading a newspaper with the front page picture of a school being surrounded by caution tape, exclaiming about a school shooting. Normally she would feel something, such as sorrow and remorse and take a moment of silence to honor the victims, but she is currently numb. She has lost track of time regarding how long she has been in here. She knows it has been weeks, but for the most part, time has blurred to nothingness, and all of her emotions have left her with only defeat as her company. She barely had the will to fight the guards the past couple of days, but she still tried to escape, even though her mind knew it was hopeless.

Applejack turns her attention to Nebulous and watches him scan his notes, using his magic to glide his pen over his parchment as he looks back and forth between his books and paper. He is still quiet as the dead and his writing appears to be made of graceful strokes instead of normally rushed scribbles.

Applejack huffs and looks at the chains holding her down, wishing for once that Nebulous would do something to alleviate the boredom claiming the three today. Anything will do, at this point.

“You are awfully quiet, today, Jackie,” says Nebulous randomly.

Applejack almost forgets how to speak, for she did not expect him to speak at all today if the past three hours have been any indication. That, and she had not been expecting her birth name to be used. Heck, she hardly refers to herself as Jackie, anymore, and the last time anyone has used that name, they were condemning her to this frozen Hell.

“I can say the same 'bout you,” says Applejack.

Nebulous forces a smirk. “Words elude me, today, my dear.” Though, his smirk quickly devolves into a frown and he reclines in his seat, looking directly at Applejack. “I am curious about something, though.”

“Oh?”

“How old were you when you entered the Void?”

Applejack furrows her brows, not at all pleased with the question. Even her stomach feels like it is being shrunken down like a shirt with its loose thread being pulled.

“I was a filly,” says the Element, her tone as cross as her expression.

Nebulous snorts obnoxiously. “A filly? A filly can mean any age. A filly can be small in age, be a teenager or an adult, it really does not matter. You wouldn't believe how many times I've been called a colt for my behavior. So, how old?”

Applejack rolls her eyes to the ceiling, muttering to herself. “Went to Uncle's house at five, stayed for a year, came back at six, ma and pa...”

Applejack looks at Nebulous, and he stares back. The heart-ripping memory of Granny Smith getting the letter from a pair of Royal Guards informing her of Orin and Honeycrisp's bodies being found in a basement in Miner's Country. She wasn't supposed to hear that. She wasn't supposed to see her grandma break down in tears and be held by the guards lest she fell into the dirt. She was supposed to see her parents again after their trip. It all went wrong that day, and from that day on, she knew she had to get her parents back. They were not supposed to die!

Applejack does not want to remember it. She wants to forget about how she spent the next year figuring out that her grandma never destroyed the book her Uncle gave her, and how she used it to figure out the ritual. Using a year's worth of allowance and money earned from odd jobs around town, she gathered all the chemicals, all the powders, all the materials to complete the ritual.

Applejack's face twitches slightly from thinking about the knife digging into her hoof to slice open the bowl for her blood sacrifice. She still feels the metal cutting into her skin and the blood flowing out to splatter on the center of the eye that was drawn into the trunk of the tree that had an alicorn curving its top. She remembers following the directions down to the last letter and period. She remembers seeing the flash and feeling herself shredded by magical tendrils that felt like vines covered in thorns.

The pain of having her skin and muscles torn into pieces and broken apart in front of her eyes returns to torture Applejack, and she finds herself leaning forward, clutching her stomach and gasping for air. Blood rushes up to her throat, but she swallows it down. She will not be puking blood in here, no matter how much it scratches or burns her throat.

“Jackie?” says Nebulous.

Applejack swallows again, loathing the copper taste on her tongue, and she looks at Nebulous as she straightens herself out, shaking terribly along the way. “Seven. I was seven years old when I went in the Void.”

“Seven? Oh, wow. That-” Nebulous chuckles. “That is truly remarkable, Jackie.”

“Not really. I just followed the directions, and even then...” Applejack lowers her moistening eyes and swallows and blinks away the tears. “Even then I failed.”

“Is that what you see it as? A failure?” Nebulous gets out of his seat, approaches Applejack with brisk steps and sits directly in front of her, tilting his head so he can look at her lowered gaze. “No, no, my dear, that is not even close to a failure! I absolutely meant it when I said that getting in at such a young age was remarkable!”

Applejack looks at Nebulous, her emerald eyes now stained in red and tears flowing down her cheeks. “But I went in t' get my parents back, and I couldn't. I had a piece of me ripped out for nothing and now I'm here. I lost the farm and my family because of what I did as a kid. A stupid kid who thought she could undo death.”

Nebulous nods. “I understand, believe me.”

“How can ya possibly understand? You ain't been in my horseshoes.”

“I may not have been in your horseshoes, but traveled a similar road, for I too lost my parents. I lost my parents and my sister shortly after my twenty seventh birthday, and my final memory of them was an argument.” Nebulous' shoulders sulk and he looks down at the floor, using his hoof to adjust his glasses. “I still remember the looks they gave me and I can still hear their final words. I know if I had the power to, I would bring them back and make amends so we can all be happy again, but death is absolute. You being a small child did not realize this and you thought you found a way to bring back what you lost. How anypony can condemn you for trying to get your parents back is something I will never understand.”

Applejack looks at the floor, swallowing a wet lump in her throat. She is grateful for some sympathy, even if it is from one of the ponies that put her in this forsaken prison. His brief story is also tugging at her heartstrings, but with the way Equestria has been for the past decade, she knows his sad tale will be deluded by swarm of similar stories, much like hers. The events may be different, but the outcome is still the same.

A pair of hooves suddenly grip Applejack's and they lift it up so it is level with her chest. The sudden grip makes her flinch in her seat and her heart leaps over a beat as her head snaps to Nebulous. Indeed, the unicorn has his hold on Applejack's hoof, and he smiles thinly as he gently runs his hoof up and down hers. Powder purple and orange mesh, and a tingle runs up Applejack's spine as he continues rubbing her hoof and looking into her eyes.

“Jackie, I know you said that you never used your gift after what happened, but do you even realize how much power you are denying because of your fear?” asks Nebulous, his voice low and intimate.

Applejack tenses and tries to pull away, but she is locked in place by his hooves, and her orange fur stands on her back and neck as the invisible tendrils return to wrap around her waist and clutch her flanks. Her heart starts racing and she tries to pull her hoof away, but Nebulous tightens his hold on her and another magical tentacle wraps around the hoof he is holding and tugs it closer to him. The pull nearly makes her fall, but Nebulous presses his hoof against her chest, just barely stopping her in time from falling on him.

With Applejack now nose to nose with Nebulous, she is looking directly into his glasses and she sees the skin around them seems to be getting sucked into the sockets, and his glasses seem to be really thick and his eyes strangely flat. No matter how much she wants to look away from them, she cannot pull her eyes away from Nebulous' glasses, though. She can see her terror in her reflection, and her eyes manage to flick away from him for just a second when his hidden appendages grip her flanks, waist and hoof tighter and pull her closer to him so she can feel his breath brushing against her muzzle.

“Do you realize what amazing genetics you are blessed with?” continues Nebulous, his voice still low, but his smile now toothy and viciously eager for an answer.

Mosley sits in the center of his cell, eyes closed, breathing even and hooves planted firmly on the cold concrete floor. His muscles and eyebrows twitch with the prickling pain as he feels pieces of his body and soul being pulled out of his world and into the next.

“You must know, for when I first laid my eyes on you, I saw in your eyes how afraid you were, and I still see that fear, but I promise you, you have nothing to be afraid of.”

The bottom of Mosley's hooves flash bright blue and a thin carpet of ice sprouts from underneath him. A shiver runs along his body from the cold, and when he opens his eyes, they glow bright blue for a moment before fading.

“The power you have should not be feared.”

“But embraced.”

Nebulous pulls away slightly, still smiling his unnerving smile and rubbing Applejack's hoof and body in slow strokes, testing her pelt and the toned muscles underneath. Applejack knows he can feel her shaking, and despite the fear and feeling of disgust from her molestation, she still narrows her eyes and folds her ears against her skull, making a low growl in the process. She hears Meriaclock snort a laugh, but she ignores him and keeps her eyes on the Professor.

“Will you free yourself from your fear, Jackie?” asks Nebulous.

“How's 'bout this. You touch me like this again and I'll be poppin' your grapes, ya hear?” says Applejack, struggling to force the dangerous tone in her voice to hide the fear. “And stop calling me Jackie. That name ain't hold a bit of value to me, anymore.”

Nebouls smirks and pats her hoof in a friendly manner before releasing her, tendrils and all. “Whatever you say, my dear.”

He stands up, groans loudly and then he cracks his back and walks towards the fridge.

“I really had no extensive tests for you, today, Applejack,” says Nebulous, now rummaging through the fridge using his magic, lifting up various containers and shaking his head in disappointment with each unwanted vial. “To be honest, I figured you wanted to get out of that cell for a bit. I hear stories of your unruly behavior whenever you are being put back in. I think one compared it to trying to put a pony sized cat inside a toilet.”

Applejack grimaces and Meriaclock chuckles again and stretches out his hooves.

“Yeah,” says the pegasus with a sigh. “I think it was Riposte.”

Nebulous nods. “Probably. I really don't like him, though. He's kind of a jerk.”

Meriaclock scoffs a forced laugh. “Yeah, tell me about it.”

Applejack rolls her eyes, but remains quiet. She has nothing but only unkind things about the guard that slugged her when she was subdued, and Granny Smith made it absolutely clear that if one must gossip about another, it better be good gossip.

“But unruly mares and rude guards aside, I have a gift for our little Thaumaturgist!” says Nebulous.

He spins on his hooves and nearly skips towards Applejack's spot with a wide, toothy grin meant for ax wielding psychopaths and levitating a small, clear container of purple liquid. His rapid approach, coupled with the insane smile and potion is enough to make Applejack strain her chains as she tries to backpedal from the lunatic.

“I got some grape flavored medication that I want you try!” says Nebulous.

“After the way you felt me up? No,” says Applejack bluntly. “'Sides, ya probably slipped roofies in there or somethin'.”

Nebulous' eyes grow and his lips tighten to a thin line as his ears droop, and all the while Meriaclock snickers.

“Oh no, Doc, she figured out your grape flavored roofies scheme. No tail for you, tonight!” says the pegasus.

The line that is Nebulous' lips change into a very aggravated scowl directed at the pegasus. “I am only going to tell you once to keep your mouth shut for the rest of the session.”

Meriaclock's amused expression shifts into a look of angry, reluctant obedience, and with a loud sniff, he turns away from the Professor and sits in the corner on the other side of the room. Applejack, meanwhile, is surprised at how stern the cooky Professor suddenly became with Meriaclock.

“As for you,” says Nebulous, his attention back on Applejack and the medication and water now close to her muzzle and his easygoing smile still not replacing his deep frown, “take the medication or I'll force it down your throat.”

Minutes later, Applejack leaves the medical room in a trance like state with Staff and Picket's team of a dozen escorting her.

She is glad that Riposte is not part of the detail, but she has a feeling that he might be waiting for her at her place of holding. Not that he hasn't done anything to her over the past few weeks after they exchanged hooves, aside from some snide remarks and empty threats. But guards aside, Applejack has a confused brain and a strange taste on her tongue.

The medication given was, in fact, grape flavored, but it was thick and gooey and made her spasm in her seat like a child who mistook cough syrup for candy. Not even water could save her tongue, and the reassuring smile that Nebulous gave her did not alleviate the confusion she got from his sudden mood swing. Though, as much as a part of her wants to ponder his behavior since she has nothing better to do, another part of her is telling her to leave it be. Nebulous is a creep, and creeps act strangely. Always have, always will. However, all of her attention is brought to the front when Staff orders his guards and Applejack up against the wall.

They obey the command immediately, with Applejack stumbling over herself and making a ruckus of clanking chains because of her garb, but she does peek past the shoulders of the guards. What she sees sucks the air out of her, and her watering eyes grow and her ears droop as a group of medical ponies rush past them pushing a gurney that has a white sheet stained with red. Underneath the white sheet is Derpy, covered in scratches all over her face and hooves with her ear crooked and covered in a patch that is dripping blood, just like another patch that is wrapped around her front right hoof and another covering her right cutie mark.

“No, I'm fine, really. They're just scratches,” says Derpy, smiling weakly and managing to barely lift her hoof for a wave directed at Applejack without saying anything.

Applejack calls after Derpy and tries to go after her, she is tugged by a combined might of four unicorns pulling on the chain attached to her collar in the opposite direction.

“Prisoner, move it!” barks Staff, giving the leash another tug.

Applejack chokes on the collar, but she still takes slow, heavy steps, grunting with the unicorns in her mission to get to Derpy. She gets in a couple of paces before the medics and Derpy disappear around the corner, and it is at that time that Nebulous pokes his head out of the medical room with a curious look on his face.

“Derpy!” cries Applejack.

She suddenly screams in pain and buckles as a club hits the back of her leg, and the unicorn guards yank her off of her hooves, knocking her vision out of focus when the back of her head hits the floor. Applejack groans and rolls on her side, only to be roughly hoisted up by Picket and he forces her to march. Along the way, Staff walks next to her while keeping the leash tight on her.

“You got it easy, prisoner,” says Staff, his voice as vicious as his gaze. “All these other prisoners, they work twelve hours a day, mining and sorting and cleaning, and what do you do? You sit in your cell and get checkups in an air conditioned room. So, you better cut this shit out or I swear I will go to the Warden and make your life here something worth complaining about, got it?”

Applejack wordlessly stares at Staff, swallowing a lump in her throat and trying to keep her eyes from watering because of the ring of pain around her neck. Due to her silence, Staff gets closer to her face so her entire line of sight is of him and his annoyed look.

“I'm not playing around,” snarls Staff. “Straighten up your act or I'll see to it that you're stuck with the others.”

“Hey, lay off, Staff. She's just concerned for her friend,” says Picket.

Staff growls at Picket, and the guard shrinks back slightly with his ears splayed back, and for the rest of the trip, the group remains silent.

When the elevator doors slide open to reveal the hall where Applejack's cell is, the disgraced Element tenses. She knows what is going to happen next and it is twisting her gut and throat. A small whimper leaves her lips when they start walking, but none pay any mind to her. Instead, what gets their attention is a banging coming from the cell where Riposte and Ruthenia guard, and from the looks of it, both of them are on their wits end about it.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

“How long has he been doing that?” asks Staff as he walks past them.

“Hours, sir,” replies Ruthenia.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Applejack's steps slow and she tries to back up, but the combined magical tugs on her leash keep her going.

“Just when we think he's done, he starts up again,” adds Riposte, casting a hateful glare at that door.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Staff walks over to the door and slams his hoof against it to create a louder bang that leaves Applejack's ears ringing, and he slides open the slot and glares inside at the occupant.

“Knock it off! I'm not in the mood for this shit!” yells Staff. He slams the slot shut and waves Ruthenia forward. “You, help me get this troublemaker back in her cell.”

Applejack tries to break off again, but is stopped just like last time, only with a harder tug and a baton floating in front of her face, daring her to try it again.

Staff leads the group down the hall, and when they are halfway to Applejack's cell, the banging starts up again and Riposte yells in aggravation. When they are in front of Applejack's cell, she finds herself getting annoyed by the banging, too. Her ears fold against her skull and she frowns at the general direction of the banging, feeling sort of bad for Riposte and Ruthenia for having to deal with a constant banging for hours on end. Though, when she hears the keys rattling on the chain, she snaps her focus back to her holders and sees Staff unlocking her cell.

Her pupils shrink to dots and her heart jumps in her throat as she watches the back of the cell shrink like someone pulling a cloth through a tube. Staff and Ruthenia start pulling and a pair of guards get behind her and start pushing, but Applejack slams her rump on the ground and digs her hooves in the concrete again. A collection of annoyed grunts, groans and swears immediately erupt around her.

“You have got to be kidding me!” says a guard behind her.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

“You! Are! Done!” says Staff with each tug that barely gets Applejack moving.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

“Oh my Goddess! Stop it!” cries Riposte, his voice bouncing down the hall.

There is another bang that is not quite as loud as Staff's, but still pretty strong, and there is a silence that comes after, save for the struggles vocalized by Applejack and the prison guards. However, that silence does not last because-

BANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANG!

Riposte screams furiously and stomps the ground as hard as he can. “Okay, you know what? You're getting your ass kicked!”

Immediately, and both Staff and Ruthenia stop pulling on Applejack and snap to Riposte. It only takes them a second to realize what he is doing, and both pale and scream at him to stop, but they are ignored. Right as Riposte opens the door, a pillar of steaming water surges forward, carrying with it jabbed pieces of the sink and chunks of the wall. As soon as the water hits the guard, he barely gets a chance to scream before he is pushed off of his hooves and slammed into the steel door across the hall.

Applejack takes a step back and watches, completely horrified as Riposte screams and sobs and thrashes in the boiling water that burns through his coat and gnaws at his skin and eyes with his open cuts from the debris being cooked in seconds. The whole hall becomes filled with steam as the scorching water continues gushing out, and Applejack's coat pales when Riposte's silhouette stops moving and his cries go silent with thin smoke rising from him. No one comes out of the cell, though, and Staff cocks his weapon and Picket calls in the security breach while half of the guards in Applejack's group move up.

Staff gallops down the hall. “Get her in the cell!”

“Yes, sir,” says Ruthenia, her voice shaking and her grip tightens on Applejack's chain.

Though, as soon as those words leave his lips, an electric crackle echoes down the hall from the cell, and following close behind is a razor thin line of bright blue energy that slices through the ceiling. Portions of the ceiling collapse, showering the entire hall and all its occupants in broken concrete and hundreds of gallons of water water that quickly goes into the thousands.

Staff, Picket and the guards they brought are swept off of their hooves and their screams are cut off from the roaring waves. As Staff tries to get up, the stallion occupying the cell marches out and slams his hoof into the water, creating a flash of blue light and a splash that freezes around him. Staff, Picket and their guards are pushed into what's left of the ceiling and the water freezes as pillars, with them frozen in place. Some groan, others swear, and those that can wiggle their bodies in an attempt to free themselves.

“Take him out!” orders Staff.

His mouth is quickly shut when the escapee slams his glowing hoof on the ground and shoots a thin stream of water up to his muzzle and freezes it over. The escaped pony starts moving forward again, after that, and Applejack's eyes widen as she watches him move closer with his steps heavy as a stone giant's. She almost does not recognize the stallion because of the ice cold lust for vengeance in his eyes and the toll age has taken on him. His colors are not as bright, his eyes nowhere near as kind as they used to be, and his wrinkled face and even the very splashes he makes from his steps are intimidating in every way. It is undeniable that he wants blood.

The guards next to her aim their weapons at the pony, and Applejack yells and punches the nearest guard in the jaw, then turns to ram the next one into the ground. Both guards curse from pain and shock and miss the escaped pony, and the escapee slams his hooves in the ground again to create an ice wall to protect himself when the other guards open fire.

The bullets chip away at the thick ice, and the guard Applejack knocked to the ground scrambles to his hooves. She cannot react fast enough to block the punch to her chest that knocks the air out of her, then, as she stumbles back, he slams his hoof on the top of her head, making her crash face first on the floor with a splash. The water is tainted in red, and painful mix of burning and freezing pain bite at Applejack's bleeding maw. Applejack tries to get up, but the guard gets on top of her and wraps his hoof around her neck until she can't breathe, then he tightens his grip some more.

Applejack's hooves splash in the frigid water, and her whole body trembles and goes numb from its cold, but she still keeps on fighting. She still trashes and tries to buck him off, but he only squeezes tighter and very soon her eyes roll to the back of her head, her vision bleeds to darkness and her body feels its strength getting sucked out at a terrifying rate.

“Stop moving!” snarls the guard over her gasps and chokes for air.

She barely hears him over her thumping heart and ragged gasps for air, but his grip suddenly disappears and he swears as a frozen spike rockets towards him. There is a distinct slice in the air, and the other guards scramble and duck and weave in a futile attempt to find cover as more deadly icicles fly past them.

Applejack slumps in the water, gulping in the precious air with a liberal amount of the near freezing bloody water flowing into her mouth and down her throat. She chokes and coughs up the water and pushes herself to her hooves, shivering and watching with a hazy vision as the wall gets smaller and thinner with each frozen projectile. Though, with the constant barrage, there is no way the guards can get a shot, and half of them are lying in the water, moaning and bleeding from wounds with the one that choked Applejack screaming for backup over his radio.

As this happens, behind the ice wall something metallic is sliced and the screams and screeches of a plummeting elevator fade and end with a faint thump. After the thump, the ice wall dissolves into a wave and rushes forward as a mini-tsunami. The water hits everyone like a stampede of rogue wagons, pushing Applejack and the guards along the rough concrete floor and crushing them against the wall on the other end of the hall.

Applejack's head cracks against the wall, bringing a flash of white to her vision and a burning, throbbing pain to the back of her noggin. Warmth trickles down the back of her neck, sticking her already wet mane to her body and staining her padded suit, and even with the suit on, the cold bites all over her body like a raving swarm of starving ice-wolves. As quickly as she hits the wall, though, the water solidifies and traps everyone.

Ice takes up all but the center of the hallway, engulfing the steel doors, concrete walls and ceiling and the destroyed pipe alike in a frozen shell. Despite the collective grunts and pained groans of the guards, Applejack still hears the hoof-steps of the escaped pony. He is wasting no time in making his trip over to the trapped ponies, and when he reaches Applejack, he stops and stares down at her, eyes narrowed and jaw set.

Applejack stares back, freezing, unable to move and staring deep into the eyes of the grim pony she once knew was a kind soul, but is now just a shell of who he used to be. She feels her heart banging in her chest and her throat goes dry as her lips tremble and eyes water from more than just the biting cold. Then she notices how he is able to use his power even with the cuffs on him. From the looks of it, the gems lining his cuffs are cracking, with a couple falling off in pieces.

“U-Uncle?” stammers Applejack in disbelief.

Mosley presses his hoof against the ice near Applejack. The bottom of his hoof glows, illuminating everyone around him in a blue hue, and the ice melts off of Applejack in seconds. She drops to the floor, shuddering and teeth chattering with her soaked mane hanging past her eyes and her suit heavy with water. Mosley takes care of that, though, by pressing his hoof on her shoulder and evaporating the water burdening her attire, covering both in steam for a moment. It is a bit painful, but being dry -or mostly dry- is outweighs the pain.

Applejack is still on the ground, though, and now her teeth are grinding in greater pain as the ripping feeling in her insides return. She squeezes her eyes shut, covers her mouth with her hoof and coughs violently, staining her enchanted cuffs in blood.

“No, not now,” mutters Applejack painfully.

Applejack feels Mosley's hooves gently wrap around her body, and she feels nauseous when he hoists her up. He could have been more gentle, but she knows the situation they are in, being gentle is something that needs to be ignored for the time being. But when she opens her eyes, she sees the same kind eyes and smile that made a simple farm girl like her feel welcomed in his upscale, Manehatten condo. That softness quickly disappears when Ruthenia suddenly pipes up.

“Mosley, stop this!” yells Ruthenia. Mosley looks at her, frowning deeply, and the guard struggles for only a few seconds before looking him square in the eyes. “Stop this right now and we'll go easy on you! You've been a good prisoner for so long, don't spoil it more than you already have, please!”

Mosley snorts, slams his hoof of the ground and slices chain-links holding Applejack's limbs together and the one on her collar, then he does a mock salute aimed at the guards, bangs the door open with his shoulder and gallops out. Applejack looks at her broken chains, dumbstruck and lifting her legs slowly just to make sure she is mostly free. Then she looks at the guards, then down the stairwell where Mosley's steps are quickly fading, then back at the guards. Specifically at Ruthenia, who is glaring at her.

“Don't even think about it,” she says.

Applejack does just that. Without further thinking about it, she bolts down the stairs.

Warden Frost sits in her office, staring at the reports regarding Jackie Susan Apple, the nominated Pain in the Ass Prisoner of the Year. She has only been in the Snowflake Penitentiary for a few weeks, going on month two to be precise, and yet she is still resisting her cell and making attempts escapes every chance she gets. However, if the reports are any indication, she seems to be getting it through her thick skull that she cannot escape.

With the said reports of her behavior are the documents Professor Nebulous Dust filed on his research regarding the Element and her medical condition and abilities. After careful studying and constantly fighting to keep the numbers and graphs from blurring into a big blob of complete gibberish, she has come to a conclusion.

It is all bullshit.

All the numbers look the same with tiniest variations, and she swears one of the dot graphs makes a Hearths Warming Eve tree. The bar graphs and line graphs are completely random with no correlation between the markings and the data on the spreadsheets, and his so called written reports are college grade nonsense that students scribble down the night before their paper is due. She even spots some grammar errors, such as the wrongs use of two, too, or to, incorrect punctuation, run on sentences, and the misspelling of “deoxyribonucleic acid”. What kind of professional, top tier scientist misspells deoxyribonucleic acid? Twice!

Knowing that she has been played, and probably a tail target for the obviously lonely pony, Warden Frost growls and slams her hooves against her desk, which, in turn, makes Limestone flinch in her spot.

“Is everything all right, ma'am?” asks Limestone.

“No! It is just as I thought! Nebulous has been pulling my tail this whole time! I want samples of the medication Nebulous is using on our prisoner, this instant!” says Warden Frost furiously. “I want copies of all of his real research notes, down to the last note card and notebook. I don't care if you have to raid his office in Canterlot, I want everything!”

“We'll need warrants for those, ma'am,” says Limestone sheepishly.

Frost digs her hooves in the table and narrows her eyes like sniper scopes on the officer, saying through her gritted teeth: “The Solar Doctrine has been suspended until further notice, remember? I don't need warrants for anything. Now get me those files and samples!”

Limestone eeps and is about to gallop out of the room when the main lights dim and red lights start swirling above the doorway and halls with a horrible alarm that sounds like scratchy car horn going off. Seconds later, a stallion's voice comes over the intercom. He tries to sound controlled, but Frost can hear the fear in his voice, and with what he is saying, she cannot blame him.

“Code Five Emergency! This is not a drill! I repeat, we are at a Code Five Emergency!” says the stallion.

Frost yells and bangs her hooves on her desk. “Shit!”

She then hops up fast and hard enough to knock her chair out of her seat and runs over to a cabinet and pulls it open to reveal an armored vest with a revolver and boxes of ammo next to it.

As she slips on the vest, she speaks. “Change of plans! Get Lieutenant Club and help contain this mess before it gets more out of hoof than it already is!”

Limestone's hoof snaps up into a salute. “Yes, ma'am!”

She gallops out of the room, and the Warden mutters a colorful stream of profanity as she finishes putting on her vest. Once that is done, she checks her revolver, and seeing it filled, she snaps its chamber in place, puts on her winter coat and stuffs a spare box of ammo in her pocket. Then she follows a small army of guards down the hallway. Not even the stampede of dozens upon dozens of sets of hooves can drown out the alarm or the call over the intercom, and despite the brave face Warden Frost is sporting, there is a growing fear inside her. A fear that is telling her that her prison has just become a battleground with one of the deadliest forces in Equestria.

In his makeshift office, Nebulous casually studies his notes while Meriaclock glares at the swirling light above the door with his ears folded against his skull. Sure, the alarm and the announcer is a little bit aggravating, but Nebulous is too pleased with his results on the many tests on Applejack to care about simple things like alarms. His happiness makes itself known when a broad smile cracks on his muzzle, and he glances up when he hears Meriaclock groan.

“Why won't that guy shut up!” complains the pegasus.

Nebulous chuckles quietly to himself and looks back at his open notes, which rest next to a pile of books containing mostly blank covers, save for two. The first has a tree with an eye in its leaves and an alicorn on top, and the second is titled: 'The Magic of Life', written by Doctor Good Strongwind.

One of his sheets of notes has a series of scientific equations that will short circuit the minds of those who are unfamiliar with it, and even then, there is a possibility that it will stump most that know it. With the equations are jumbled blocks of words that have only one sentence eligible, but only because it is written in big, scratchy letters and is circled.

'ELEMENT INCREASES INNER MANA OF BEARER EXPONENTIALLY' reads the note.

The second sheet does not have a blatant statement on it, but instead, it has a drawing that will either be dismissed as a doodle or -once again- greatly confuse anyone who looks closely at it. There is a symbol in the middle of the sheet made up of a circle with a triangle inside. In the center of the triangle is a square that has an eye with its pupil containing Applejack's symbol. The eight points where the shapes connect are covered by circles, but only six of them contains archaic symbols, with one being the symbol on Mosley's hoof and another being the inverted omegas of infamous Roar Shock. Surrounding the intricate symbol is a tree with the basic outline of an alicorn curving around its top.

Nebulous' grin grows and his body trembles and his shoulders buckle as he tries to hold back the giggle that wants to explode into a full on, cliche ridden, villainous laughing fit.

At long last, after all these years of research and secrecy and playing by the rules set in place, everything is almost in place. When he is finished with his grand experiment, he will have achieved the greatest feat in scientific history. His place in history is so close that he can taste the glorious snacks of the award ceremony, hear all the cheers and camera flashes and feel the hoof shake and the weight of the plaque that marks him as one of the greatest scientists to ever live. All that he needs to do now is find a couple of more pieces to his puzzle and survive the test of time.

Applejack and Mosley gallop down the muddy street of the work camp. Alarms echo over the compound and a zeppelin glides overhead, blocking what little sunlight the gray clouds allowed through. Behind the two prisoners, the covered walkway leading to the prison in the mountain has been gutted like a burst water pipe with chunks of debris, wrecked vehicles and unconscious guards littering the ground. Around the devastation are large spike or blocks of ice that either pop out of or impale the ground, nailing vehicles or trapping guards in their resting spot.

As Applejack nears the medical compound, her legs suddenly give out and she falls against a brick wall caked with snow and ice, coughing violently in her hoof. Her whole body shakes and buckles, and she collapses in the snow, whimpering and wheezing with one hoof over her stomach and the other covering her mouth. The hoof over her mouth is covered in blood, frozen and warm, and the fur around her shut eyes are crusted with tears.

She can barely think or hear, but one little voice in her head tells her to keep moving. She needs to escape. She needs to find her brother and sister and then get out of Equestria as fast as possible.

Applejack's eyes open, and she grabs the ground and pulls herself forward. She extends her other hoof and drags herself another few inches, grinding her teeth and blinking the freezing tears out of her eyes. The cold mud gets caked on her prison garb and exposed coat, and her insides feel worse than before as the zeppelin above blows its war horn.

Just as Applejack finds a spot she can prop herself up against, Mosley digs his head underneath her waist and rolls her on his back. He buckles at first and she feels like she is going to vomit, but the older stallion uses his adrenaline as fuel to gallop towards the medical facility where Applejack is tested.

She looks up through droopy eyes and barely makes out the pegasi flying down from the zeppelin. She wants to warn Mosley of the threat, but all she can do is cough and moan. That somehow translates to a warning, though, since Mosley glances over his shoulder and sees the approaching guards.

Mosley's speed picks up, and Applejack tenses and tries to lock her body on his back when the ground behind them explodes around them from gunfire. A pegasus zooms over head and swerves to meet them. Mosley skids to a halt and the half second after he stomps he bangs his hoof against the ground, shrouding him and Applejack in a cloud of kicked up snow that shields them from the guards.

Applejack bites down on her hoof to keep herself quiet as Mosley resumes his running, and when they exit the cloud, she can see the glass doors of the medical facility. Mosley nearly jumps through the glass when h pushes the door open, and nurses yell and reel back as he runs down the hall, hooves screeching against the tile and him almost slipping on himself.

A pair of guards round the corner, but an exploding pipe courtesy of Mosley bringing his glowing hoof against the wall quickly gets them acquainted with the other wall before they can raise their weapons.

Mosley stops at a crossroad and looks down each direction, breathing heavy, body trembling and sweat coating his neck and dripping off his muzzle.

“Medicine is on the left,” says Applejack weakly.

Mosley bolts left, and Applejack's eyes drift shut and her body falls limp on his back.

Billy gallops down the hall of the sector armory, using his magic to slip on his vest, battle saddle and the pistol and holster. It is somewhat difficult, but he has no time to stand around to put on his gear like the other guards are. He is a little understanding of the earth pony and pegasus guards being stationary in their arming, but the unicorns? They have magic. They need to use it to get to the site quicker. And since today is not going as he had planned, it only makes his mood all the more touchy in regards to blatant stupidity.

As he slips on his radio earpiece, a voice on the other end crackles loud enough to get his teeth grinding from the pain.

“Code Four Emergency at the Tiszakécske Mine! We got a Code Four at the Tiszakécske Mine! All available units report immediately!” says the stallion over the radio urgently.

Billy slides to a stop outside just in time to hear a distant thud, and he turns to the source to see black and red smoke trail into the sky. He growls and looks to the other side where Applejack and Mosley are, and while he does not see any signs of fires, he knows there is a lot of damage done already. There is no telling how the rest of the day is going to go because of this unexpected turn of events, but he knows his objective, and he must complete it no matter the cost.

“Code Fives have moved to the Snowflake Medical Facility. Lieutenant Zip Wing and his team are in pursuit,” says another stallion over the radio.

“Divert units!” orders Frost. “Send all bordering units of the Tiszakécske Mine to contain the riot with two zeppelins for air support! And I want thirty units to the Snowflake Medical Facility immediately and remaining available units to surround the area!”

As soon as Frost's message ends, the guards Billy left behind run out and an armored mini-train with its back exposed slides around the corner, splashing Billy with cold mud. Seconds later, the passenger door opens and Limestone urgently waves him in.

“Come on!” she yells.

Billy whistles at the group of guards he was with earlier and motions them towards him when they look in his direction. “All of you, get in the back! Hurry!”

Without hesitation, the guards hop on the back, with the only earth pony chewing on a toothpick and manually loading the last of his shells in his shotgun.

“Fire 'er up!” says the earth pony when he cocks his weapon.

Billy jumps inside and orders Limestone to drive to the hospital, and as they zoom down the street, he activates his radio. “This is Lieutenant Billy Club. I am on my way to the medical facility with Officer Limestone Pie and six other guards!”

There is another explosion and gunshots crack in the distance, but he keeps his eyes focused on the mountain that had held Applejack and Mosley, readying himself for a long day.

Applejack gasps and her eyes snap open as a surge of energy goes through her veins like a raging river. All of her pain is gone and so much adrenaline is going through her that she hops to her hooves without a second thought and looks left and right, then left and right again, and then up and down and behind her tail and straight into Mosley's eyes.

Her heart is racing and her mind spewing a million thoughts a second, and Mosley has to place his hoof on her shoulder to calm her down. The hoof stops her from moving, but it does not settle her down all the way.

“What happened? I feel weird. Why do I feel weird?” says Applejack quickly.

Mosley points at a knocked out unicorn doctor, then at an empty syringe near her hoof. Applejack looks at the doctor and syringe, and then she looks at her uncle, trying to look stern, but with the energy overloading her muscles and brain, her lips and eye twitch and her legs buckle for a jump. A jump that she does not want to do, even though her body says otherwise.

“That was a bit rude, don'tcha think?” asks Applejack.

Mosley shakes his head briskly, and Applejack snorts and grabs the syringe, using her teeth to remove the needle, and once that is done she puts the container in her pocket.

“I'm likin' this stuff! I gotta see if I can get more of it,” says Applejack, quickly adding when she sees the stern look her uncle is giving her: “Just until I can make more of my potions.”

Mosley rolls his eyes skeptically and runs down the hall. Applejack shakes her muscles and runs next to him, feeling more alive than she has now than in the past few weeks. Heck, she feels like a filly again! She feels free!

“We're getting' outta here, I can feel it and taste it like a triple apple pie fresh from the oven!” says Applejack, whooping right after and galloping past Mosley and his baffled look with enough speed to barely get her hoof touching the floor. “We're almost free, but we gotta get Derpy first!”

Applejack comes to an abrupt stop with that, since Mosley bites down on her tail and pulls her to the ground. The impact is hard enough to knock her vision astray, sending the walls and floors spinning into a lend of gray and white and nasty pain in her jaw and stomach.

She stands up, groaning and rolling her jaw, then shoots a nasty glare at Mosley. “What was that for!?”

Mosley points to a glowing exit sign above his head, then to add insult to the obvious, he points in the direction where the little green arrow underneath the glowing letters are directing. Which just happens to be to the right of where they are.

Applejack points down the hall. “Derpy is down there!”

Mosley jabs at the exit sign again.

Applejack mimics Mosley, though in the direction she wants. “But Derpy is down there!”

Mosley cranes his head back, stomping his hoof and growling, then he marches towards Applejack, snorting hot air and making sure every step is loud and heavy, like a falling boulder. She backs up, but eventually her legs lock in place and all she can do is stare, then yell in pain when Mosley bites down on her ear and starts dragging her.

Applejack swears as the teeth grind into her ear, and every wiggle only makes it worse and every step becomes an awkward, fumbling mess. In a nut shell, she is back to being a five year old.

“You have t' be kidding me! I'm too old for this!” shouts Applejack. She grunts and tries to pull away, but a sharp tug from her uncle and the splitting pain in her ear after brings her to some obedience with a shining layer of tears in her eyes. “Let me go! I gotta get Derpy outta here!”

Mosley keeps going, not making a sound, and when they round the corner, Applejack suddenly picks up her speed and rams herself into her uncle. Mosley releases her and crashes into the wall, and Applejack runs back from where they came from, shouting a quick apology along the way.

She does not have to look back to hear her uncle giving chase. Her hooves screech on the floor as she slides around a corner, stopping when she slams into the wall near the room where Nebulous did his tests, and her hooves slip and slide on the tile for a few seconds before she can start running again. It is at that time that a group of four guards round the corner, and Applejack runs straight into them.

They barely have a chance to react when she rams the first guard in the chest, knocking him off of his hooves and right on his back, leading to her landing on top of him. She pushes herself up, but gets a chain clamped to the collar around her neck and she is tugged off, yanking out all of her air.

Her vision is knocked out of focus from her head hitting the tile, but it does not stop her hind hoof from kicking the guard she tackled in the groin. The guard yelps and the one holding Applejack gives her another tug, pulling her farther from the group. A sharp crack and a splitting pain across her face jerks Applejack's head to the side, giving her a taste of the tile, and the club that hit her levitates for another strike, only for it to suddenly disappear, along with the grip on her chain. Next thing that happens, the guard falls next to Applejack, eyes closed, tongue out and a fresh shiner covering a generous portion of his face.

Mosley leaps over Applejack, stepping on the guard she kicked seconds before, getting another yelp and agonizing swear, and slugs another guard. The remaining guards try to make room to shoot, but Mosley stays too close for them to use their battle saddles. Save for one who is backing up and aiming his shotgun model.

Applejack calls for Mosley, rolls on her hooves, runs over the stepped on guard as he tries to stand on shaky hooves while using her decades of lasso use to grip and swing the chain on her collar. When she reaches the guard with the shotgun, Mosley has tackled a guard into the wall, leaving him wide open for having his torso blown open.

Applejack swings the chain at the weapon and jerks it right as it fires, shooting the designated punching bag in the hoof and snapping some mechanics, as indicated by a show of sparks horrible grinding noises. The shot guard howls an flops to the ground, clutching his shredded front hoof with his other one, and Applejack tugs on the shotgun guard. He digs his hooves in the tile, but more parts on his saddle snap and jerk the shotgun up.

Applejack tugs again, this time gaining the upper hoof and forcing him forward while breaking the weapon clean off his saddle. She catches it in her hoof, then uses it as a club against its former owner's face. The guard spins to the ground, his scream muffled as he clutches his jaw with blood pouring out of his mouth. Applejack turns and shoots the last standing guard on his flank right as Mosley finishes beating down the guard he pushed in the wall. The blast hurts her ears, and the cry of pain from the other guard is almost as painful.

Almost.

Applejack, knowing she can't carry the weapon due to a lack of horn and scabbard, pops it open, ejects all of its shells, then bashes the guard that almost shot Mosley in the head, silencing him. After that, she tosses the weapon through the window of Nebulous' testing room and resumes running.

Thankfully, the very first room she sees has a long window with a perfect view of the group of doctors and one injured prisoner inside. The one prisoner being none other than Derpy.

As soon as Derpy and Applejack lock eyes, the pegasus beams and waves as if all is right in the world, even though there is a bunch of bloody guards everywhere and Derpy herself has seen better days. Applejack can't help but smile at this. Derpy seems to always have a smile, even when everything is all wrong.

Applejack tries to run inside, but the door is locked and the doctors inside are pale with fright. Her banging on the door and screaming at them to open up does not make them any less afraid, either.

Mosley runs next to Applejack just in time to see her start bucking on the door. Her hooves hurt and her eyes and teeth hurt from her tears and her grinding. She needs to get in to get Derpy out, but she is so close to succeeding and failing that it is pouring panic in her veins like boiling oil.

“Open the door!” screams Applejack, her eyes bloodshot and freckled cheeks soaked in tears as she reverts to using her front hooves to bang on the dented door. “OPEN THE DAMN DOOR!”

The doctors shake their heads and Applejack slams her hooves on the door again, teeth grinding harder and eyes burning more than ever. She really wishes she can rip the door to shreds and hop inside, and with that thought, a sharp tingle runs through her hooves and heart. It is strange to her, for it reminds her of when her hooves would fall asleep, but before she can think about it, there is a loud groan, followed by rattling, then an explosion with a rush of water.

Applejack yelps and backpedals from a surge of water that rushes past her, turns into a series of solid balls and hits the window with enough power to shatter it. Mosley then gallops past Applejack, splashing water all around, and leaps through the hole in the window. The doctors scream, and when Mosley slugs the first doctor in the jaw, Applejack swears and goes in after him.

Applejack awkwardly climbs through the hole in the window, getting small cuts from the remnants of jagged glass, and she falls on her back when she brings the rest of herself in. With her vision upside down, she watches another doctor sail overhead and bounce off of a cot. She then rolls on her hooves and calls Mosley, running as fast as she can over the ice covering the floor, watching horrified as her uncle slams another doctor's face into the brick wall. The doctor's smashed face leaves a red spot on the cracked brick, and the last doctor, a mare, backpedals, sobbing and begging Mosley not to hurt her as he storms towards her.

“Uncle, wait!” shouts Applejack.

Too late.

Mosley slugs the doctor right on the temple, knocking her out cold.

Applejack slides to a stop and looks at Mosley, jaw to the floor, ears drooped, eyes wide and brain completely fried at what she just saw. She tries to say something to him, but nothing comes out. Her words are piling on top of each other, unable to leave her lips and only serving to choke her.

Mosley stomps past Applejack, approaches Derpy and unceremoniously throws her off the cot and drags her by the tail to Applejack, ignoring the injured pony's shocked yelps and attempts to grab a hold of something. He spits the pegasus out, looks at Applejack and points at Derpy, scowling deeply with a throbbing vein and a red face, then he points at the direction where the exit sign is and stomps out. After getting the door open, first.

“What's his problem?” asks Derpy, now being helped up by Applejack.

“He just wants to get outta here,” says Applejack. “Can you walk?”

Derpy grins and nods her head quick enough to bob her mane. “Yeah.” Then she frowns and looks at her bandaged flank. “That part hurts, though.”

“Do ya need me to carry you?”

“Nah, I've been through worse. Like this one time-”

Mosley steps back in and stomps his hoof on the ground, creating a ice sculpture of a big arrow pointing towards the exit using the water from the burst pipe. He snorts, points in the direction of the arrow and narrows his eyes on Applejack.

Applejack cringes. “Ya can tell me later.”

Derpy nods, swallowing nervously and her lips thin like a line. “Good idea.”

The two mares follow Mosley out, now having trouble keeping up with him as he runs down the hall. Derpy makes a comment about the beat up guards, but Applejack does not pay any attention. When she and Derpy round the corner with the exit sign and end up bumping into Mosley, she is about to ask him why they stopped, but the answer is right in front of them in the form of Warden Frost standing at the other end of the hallway, being flanked by a group of pegasi guards, glaring daggers at all of them. Her hateful gaze zeroes in on Applejack when she sees her, though.

“Is this how an Element conducts herself?” says Warden Frost, her voice oozing with venom as she walks down the hall, her words bouncing along walls with the clip-clops of her steps as she approaches with her guards, who are taking the more cautious approach. “I was expecting more decency, especially from an Apple.”

Applejack takes a step back, unintentionally bumping into Derpy along the way, and when she hears more hooves, she looks over her shoulder, she sees Billy and Limestone approaching with their group of guards and aim their weapons at them. Now they are trapped, and Applejack gulps and her ears droop while Mosley growls and coils himself for an attack.

“And Mosley, out of all the prisoners I have, I am the most surprised by you,” continues the Warden. “You were so well behaved and now you do this? What changed?”

Mosley is silent, and another explosion in the distance lightly shakes the walls. Frost stops halfway to the escapees and expands her wings, her glare becoming more intense and hate filled, and by that point Applejack has a sick feeling in her stomach that is telling her they are about to get gunned down.

“I have tried to be good to you and every prisoner here, for it is the command of Celestia to treat your prisoners well and this is how I am repaid? With defiance?” says Frost.

“Hey, now, don't go pullin' our tails. Ya've been usin' them folks out there like slaves and treatin' me like a lab rat!” counters Applejack.

“You have no right to condemn me when I am rehabilitating lowlifes to be hard workers and productive members of society!”

Mosley's hoof snaps up, glowing blue, but before he can bring it back down a gunshot rings out and he flies off of his hooves and lands on his back, gasping for air with smoke rising from his chest. Derpy screams and backs up into the wall and Applejack stares at Mosley, eyes wide and watering and jaw to floor as he snaps his maw open and shut for air. Everything seems to have been sucked away with that single shot. Her energy, her strength to stand, her ability to breath or scream. It is all gone.

“I've had enough of this,” says Warden Frost, her voice distorted by the gun in her mouth.

Applejack whimpers and drops next to her uncle to scoop his head on to her lap. Her lips are trembling and her tears fall on his face as blood trickles past his lips as she shakes her head in disbelief. She swallows for air and runs her shaking hoof through Mosley's mane, staring into his eyes. At first his eyes are looking at the light in the hallway, but seconds later they drift to meet hers, and she sees his fear. She can see hers in his reflection, as well, and she has to swallow her tears and gasp for air when the sorrow threatens to drown her.

Mosley's eyes flutter and Applejack shakes him, making them open wide again and look at her with glazed eyes.

“Keep your eyes open. I got ya,” says Applejack softly.

Mosley smiles weakly and lifts his hoof to cup her cheek, and Applejack tilts her head down, sniffling. The tingling feeling she felt earlier is returning, though, now they are growing from small, sharp pinpricks, to many electric pulses.

“If they resist any further, kill them,” orders Frost after she holsters her revolver.

“But, ma'am, one of them is an Element,” says Limestone uneasily.

Warden Frost glares at Limestone, then turns her gaze on Applejack. Sensing the eyes on her, Applejack breaks her eyes from Mosley and stares at the Warden, cheeks soaked in tears and her bloodshot eyes narrowed. The electric pulses get stronger and Applejack feels her whole body starting to shake and her vision becomes red with the ripping pain in her gut returning.

“She lost the right to the title the moment she turned against the state. Orders remain the same,” says the Warden, now leaving in the direction she came.

Applejack's jaw tightens and Derpy meekly calls out to Applejack when her muscles tense in a way that is shows in the exposed parts of her body. The pulses now evolve to feel like electric eels slithering through her veins and collecting at the bottom of her hooves and the chambers of her heart. It is painful, it is burning her and tugging at her muscles, demanding to be let out. She can also feel a faint pulse beating through the floor, like a weak heartbeat.

“I lost the right to be an Element?” says Applejack, her voice quivering and radiating rage.

The Warden stops and turns to face Applejack as she gently lowers Mosley to the ground so she can stand up on shaking legs. Applejack takes a few steps forward, feeling the pulses of the floor become stronger and her red vision changes to reveal thin traces of orange slithering all over the structure. Applejack nostrils flare and keeps walking, ignoring the weapons being aimed at her, and Derpy rushes to put pressure on Mosley's wound while calling for her.

“Yeah, you're right,” seethes Applejack, ignoring Derpy's call. “I ain't got no ground t' call myself an Element, but it ain't because I went against Equestria. I ain't an Element because I turned my back on a friend who was like a sister to me! I refused to listen to the truth 'bout what happened to my brother and I pushed her to her death, and I have been livin' with a piece of my soul ripped out ever since!”

“That's a poetic way to tell me I was right,” says Warden Frost.

“No, ya ain't right! I lost my Element when I turned my back on a friend, not the state! I'm here because I spoke the truth 'bout how control freaks like you are ruining everything!” Applejack points at Derpy, feeling sick from her heart racing and pain from the power surge slithering inside her hooves. “And she's here because she knows it and wants it out as much as I do!”

Warden Frost marches forward. “You are free to think what you want about your failures, but regardless of the paths taken the outcome is the same. Now, if you say one more word I will send you straight to Hell for what you and Mosley did to my guards and prison!”

Applejack screams and her eyes flash orange and the bottom of her hooves explode in a blinding light. “Then I'll take you with me!”

Snowflake Gulag- 08- Escape From Snowflake (Part 2)

“Wrath. That is the greatest sin. It turned my best friend, the loyalest and most dependable of ponies, into a monster that brought Hell where he walked. I had hoped that there would be something left of him when we clashed for the last time at the Crystal Heart. I had hoped that I could talk some sense into him, to put an end to the bloodshed. But wrath killed him. There was nothing left of him. Only rage, sorrow and the blood of his victims. There was no more Starburst. No more Honesty. Only Sombra. Only wrath.”

-Vigilant Sentry, former Element of Loyalty.

“Then I'll take you with me!” screams Applejack.

The words barely leave Applejack's lips before a blinding light of orange and red erupts from underneath her hooves, decimating the floor with a sporadic display of raw, energetic discharge. Shrapnel of jagged tile, floorboard and support explode in every direction possible, reducing the walls and ceiling to mere splinters in a blink of an eye and pushing a bubble of rubble through the rooms and out in the raging blizzard. Cold air and snow rushes in with the subsiding energy, mixing with the dust cloud, and Applejack feels a quick moment of weightlessness before landing on the floor below with a painful landing that knocks the air out of her and shoots cracks of pain all over her limbs.

There, Applejack lays, on top of rubble on the floor below, wheezing and shaking with thick, orange smoke rising from her hooves and the stench of burnt fur and cooked metal stinging her nose. She tastes copper and her throat feels itchy, and when she coughs, red blotches splatter on her hoof and torn garb. From there, she sees her cuffs are completely shattered, leaving just a pair of rings as markers to where they once were.

The ringing in Applejack's ears block the groans of the guards and the screaming fire alarms, and her vision swims as sprinklers spray frigid water all over everyone. She shivers and tries to push herself up, but freezes when she sees Warden Frost getting on her hooves, dazed and blinking blood from her eyes.

The two lock eyes, and when the Warden reaches for her pistol, a muffled gunshot rings out and knocks her off balance. The shot makes Applejack jump, and she tries backing up when another gunshot rings out and sends the Warden cashing on the floor, adding bloody petals to the now grungy water.

Warden Frost's guards try to return fire, but they are gunned down by a barrage of gunfire coming from behind Applejack. The exchange kills a few of the attacking guards, and as the bullets zip between the squads, Applejack covers Mosley's body with her own and squeezes her eyes shut, hoping and praying that they are not killed in the crossfire. She wants to scream, but keeps her tongue bitten so she does not do it. She cracks an eye open when she hears terrified wailing and sees Derpy curled on the ground with her hooves over her ears and tears streaming down her face. The shotgun pony is standing near her, sitting on his haunches and blasting away at the other guards, who are knocked off their hooves by the blasts.

In seconds the shooting is over, and after the last shot is fired, there is a deafening ringing in Applejack's ears and her ears flop down as she stares at the bodies. She barely gets a few seconds to stare before a hoof goes on her shoulder and turns her so she gets an up close look at Limestone.

The officer's face is covered in blood, tears and dust, and she is screaming something, but Applejack cannot make out her words. The ringing is fading in Applejack's, but her head feels light while her hooves are like warm jelly. While Limestone tries talking to her, Billy wraps Mosley in a magical aura and gently lowers him on his back and the shotgun earth pony helps Derpy stand up. The former mailmare is shaking so much that she needs the last spare guard to help her. The two exchange some words with Derpy and she nods and tries walking, only to have to resort to leaning against the shotgun pony.

“We need to go!” yells Limestone, her voice still muffled, but just clear enough to understand.

Applejack stares back at Limestone, eyes droopy and dazed and a string of blood slithering down her chin. “Go where?”

“Crap.” The officer turns to her superior. “Billy, she's in shock!”

“Get her moving! We can't stay!” says Billy, using his magic to reload his saddle.

Applejack looks around, her brain muddled in confusion, and she looks up at the missing chunk of building and points at it dumbly. “Did I do that?”

“Yes you did,” says Limestone quickly. She then crawls underneath Applejack's stomach and stands up, giving the dazed farmer a comfortable spot on the small of her back and ignoring the weak protests that come from her.

“Put me down. I can walk just fine,” slurs Applejack, grunting and awkwardly kicking her legs in the air while trying to wiggle her way off.

“Will you sit still?” hisses Limestone.

The shotgun pony carefully places Derpy on his back and looks at Billy, who is now levitating spare ammo from the fallen guards. “We gotta go right now. They probably got the whole prison going down on us by now!”

Billy nods and takes the lead, ordering the others to follow him. With Limestone, Shotgun, and the spare following Billy, Applejack gets just a fraction of a moment to look out the gaping hole. A zeppelin has changed its course from the rising smoke of the prison, and even though her brain is rebooting at the moment, she has enough sense to know that that is not a good sign.

“Contact!” barks Billy.

Gunshots ring out and chip away at the corner the unicorn ducked behind. The spare pulls out a cylindrical grenade from his vest, bites off a pin and bounces it off the wall so it goes around the corner. There is a scream, followed by a loud pop and a flash of light and more screams and painful swears.

Billy then pivots around the corner and unloads on whoever was on the other side, bringing the screams to an end. Billy stands still for a moment, smoke rising from his weapon and his ears turning slightly while Limestone keeps her eyes on the direction where they came from. Long seconds of silence pass before Bill carefully moves forward again, quietly ordering everyone to follow him.

Derpy whimpers and closes her eyes at the sight of the shot up bodies, and Mosley is too dazed from his injury to care. Applejack is not full there yet, but seeing the corpses certainly picks up its pace, and she tightens herself on Limestone while the earth pony carefully slithers past the bodies.

When they pass the massacre, the group goes to a staircase, which is checked by the spare, named Sight. They remain on the top while the pony goes forward, sweeping the corridor with his weapon.

“So...” begins Applejack uneasily. “What's going on?”

“A friend sent us to keep an eye on you and figure out a way to get you out,” says Limestone.

“Yeah, but we've had to seriously improvise because somepony-” Shotgun looks at Mosley “went apeshit on everypony. Not naming any names, but somepony seriously screwed the pooch and we'll be lucky to make it out alive.”

“We're going to make it,” says Billy, motioning Limestone to keep her weapon trained down the hall, and after she obeys, he glances at Applejack. “We're going to make it and get your family back together.”

Applejack's heart picks up speed and a candlelight of hope burns in the darkness that has occupied her heart and mind for so long. Yet, that small light is enough to make her eyes water and create a large smile.

“You are?” asks the farmer. A part of her wants to be skeptical of their claim since she barely knows them, but they have already done a lot in such a short time span that it will be downright stupid to doubt them. Besides, she sees no lie in Billy's eyes.

Billy nods, but before he can say anything, a set of hooves banging on metal steps echo in the stairwell and Shotgun peers over the edge, smiling seconds later.

“It's Sight!”

Sight gallops into view and motions everyone down the stairs. “Our wagon is behind the guards, but the parking lot still has plenty of vehicles we can use. If we hurry we can get one before they seal us in!”

“No time to waste, then. Let's move!” orders Billy.

Warden Frost's eyes flutter open and a weak wheeze escapes her lips as her hoof slides under the frigid water. Puffs of frozen air form around her muzzle with every breath she takes, and her snarl contorts from the stabs of pain all over her chest and limbs. She looks at her dead guards floating in icy water, then down the hall where the traitors went.

“Targets have exited the building and are now in the parking lot,” crackles a mare over the radio belonging to one of the Warden's dead guards.

“Corral them in. Make sure they do not escape!” says another mare.

Frost dips her head in the water to retrieve her revolver, ignoring the taste of copper and dirt that clings to her tongue. With the revolver in her mouth and dirty, red water dripping off of her muzzle and weapon's barrel, she growls through her teeth, expands her wings and takes flight out of the hole in the wall.

With the snow falling more rapidly, the group weaves their way through the parking lot, going past rows of little motor-wagons, all equipped with armored plating and snow tires. Why they are not stopping to snag the closest vehicle is a mystery to Applejack. Until she realizes that it might be a little hard to cram seven ponies inside a vehicle that barely holds three in most cases.

“There's a transport two rows down!” says Sight.

Applejack strains her neck and sees a mini-train with a covered back end, painted white with enormous treads replacing its back wheels and snow tires on the front, and its cattle-guard replaced with a plow. Even though riding on Limestone's back is still grating her nerves and a small army of prison guards are swerving into the parking lot in their vehicles, a smile does form on Applejack's muzzle. She is so close to freedom that her body is trembling and she can puke from pure excitement.

That joy-puke, unfortunately, turns into a needle filled cough that leaves Applejack's throat feeling scratched up and stains her hoof in droplets of blood. After coughing, she wheezes and wipes her mouth and runs her tongue along her lips to get rid of the awful taste of copper.

“Ya gotta be kidding me,” mutters Applejack weakly.

“Stay behind the vehicles!” orders Billy.

Right as he says that, a string of three gun shots crack the air, dulling out the screeching tires and shouting guards, and Sight flips head over tail and crumbles to the ground, motionless and bleeding profusely from a line of wounds on the back of his head and on his back.

Limestone swears and skids to a stop, as does the others. Before Billy can turn his weapon to the source, Warden Frost lands on top of Mosley, pushing Billy into the ground, and she slams her hoof against the back of the turncoat's head. The unicorn's muzzle crunches against the asphalt, spraying the dirty snow in red, and as he cries out in pain, she turns her revolver on Shotgun and pulls the trigger.

A single round goes right between his eyes, jerking him back and throwing Derpy on the ground. The pegasus yelps and rolls around, kicking up snow in her mad scramble to get up, and Warden Frost turns her pistol on Limestone, but one earth shattering crack later, and she flies off of Billy and lands on her back, gasping for air.

After Limestone shoots Frost, Applejack wiggles herself off of the officer and screams for her uncle as she gallops towards him. However, a line of bullets race across the parking lot and blow off pieces of the asphalt around the Element, with one going clean through her hoof.

Applejack screams and collapses to the ground from the hot lead slicing through her flesh and chipping her bone. She has only felt one thing that comes close to this pain, and that was when she had a portion of her body ripped out when she entered the Void. Getting shot is not nearly as painful, though, but it is still high up there.

“Applejack, get to cover!” yells Limestone, using a parked vehicle as cover to return fire on the guards. She is forced to duck down when a barrage of bullets strike the vehicle, wrecking it with dozens of holes that blow out its tires and shatter one of its windows.

Tears freeze on Applejack's face as she clutches her injured hoof to her chest, sobbing and grinding her teeth while she writhes on the ground. In seconds, her prison suit becomes slick with blood and the red liquid bleeds past her hoof and dribbles down her injured limb to the snow.

“Ya bastards!” cries Applejack.

Blinded by fury, Applejack slams her good hoof into the ground. All of the fire inside of her is channeled through her hoof and explodes towards the army of guards. A jagged trail of pushed up ground illuminated by orange and red lights speeds towards the advancing ponies, but with the sharp rocks popping out of the ground, they scream and dive for cover. The sharp rocks stab at the vehicles' undersides, ripping them in half or tossing them in the air, where they land near guards or on top of of other vehicles, splashing debris all over the ground and shrouding everything in a cloud of dust.

Applejack falls limp on the ground, coughing and wheezing for air as her insides feel like they are being ruthlessly shredded by a demon. She presses her bleeding hoof against her stomach as tight as she can and uses her other hoof to drag herself to Mosley, whimpering and blinking the haze out of her eyes.

As the floating dust clears, the guards are seen scrambling for cover or dragging the wounded to cover while Limestone fires off bursts in their general direction, keeping them unable to return fire. While this happens, Mosley shifts on the ground, his glazed eyes drifting to random spots, blinking just as slowly as his sluggish movements, but when he sees Applejack crawling to him, his eyes lock on hers.

The older stallion grinds his teeth in an agonizing wince, pushes himself up on his hooves and hobbles towards Applejack. A trail of red snakes down his chest, and his eyes are heavy as his chest heaves from his struggled breathing. Seeing her injured Uncle make his way towards her in a nigh trance like state, oblivious or ignorant of the exchanging gunfire, Applejack extends her good hoof towards him.

“Uncle, stay down!” cries Applejack.

The symbol on the bowl of her hoof pulsates a soft glow again, and when a bullet strikes the ground at Mosley's hoof, she yells and slams her hoof on the ground again. A wall barely her height erupts out of the ground, covering her group in a layer of stone, and showering everyone with shattered asphalt and once again covering the area in a cloud of dust. The shaking ground causes the stallion to stumble, and right as he is about to fall over, Derpy gallops to his side and uses her body as a prop, with him resting against her side and her hoof pressing against his chest.

Applejack and Derpy lock eyes, and the Element flashes a painful smile before she coughs into her hoof again, wheezing shakily and flopping on her back to stare at the darkening sky. Her hoof clutches her stomach and a weak, raspy whimper leaves her trembling lips as her eyes drift shut.

The frost, the pain in her gut, it is almost entirely unbearable. She feels her hot blood pump out of her shot hoof with every pulse and the hoof she used to protect Mosley throbs and stings from the electric knives poking at the lines of her symbol.

Another barrage of gunfire is exchanged and Applejack squeezes her eyes and clenches her teeth as hard as she can as she rolls on her side, shivering from more than just the cold. She tries a mental peptalk to get herself up, but every shift, every beat of her heart and breath her lungs take is like a hook digging into her flesh.

“Stay awake, Applejack!” says Limestone desperately, her voice distant and faint.

Applejack opens her eyes and sees Limestone laying down and using the vehicle she is behind as cover as she reloads her weapon, casting concerned looks at her between her work.

The officer finishes reloading and locks her eyes on Applejack. “Stay awake!”

She then gets up and fires off a burst, and Applejack's eyes drift shut once more, dragging her into darkness. Seconds or minutes later, her ears flick from a booming voice piercing the chaos of the war zone she is trapped in.

“CEASE FIRE! CEASE FIRE!” orders Billy.

Applejack's eyes flutter open and she sees Derpy hastily approaching her, with Mosley slumping against the transport and Billy walking towards her, dragging Warden Frost. Both are bleeding profusely, with the unicorn's face drenched in blood and constantly sniffing blood and his horn glowing softly to amplify his voice and levitate the Warden's revolver. He has his large hoof wrapped around the Warden's neck, and despite her resistance, he is still dragging her bloodied body across the parking lot like a doll. Occasionally the unicorn will aim the weapon at the guards when some move their positions to try to get a better shot, and he hisses at Warden Frost to shut up when she gulps for air or mutters swears.

“Let Warden Frost go!” shouts one of the guards, his voice barely being heard over the speeding wind that is biting everyone with its frosty teeth.

“LET US OUT AND YOU CAN HAVE HER!”

Derpy grabs Applejack and gently lifts her up, and the Element has to grab her former mailmare's barrel for support as she is half walked, half dragged to where Mosley is. The pegasus tries to lower her down gently, but accidentally drops her against the armored vehicle, giving her a splitting head ache on top of her other pains.

“Sorry,” says Derpy quickly in response to the pained cringe scrunching Applejack's features.

“No, you will release her right now!” yells a guard.

Billy presses the revolver's barrel against the Warden's head. “I WILL PUT A BULLET IN HER HEAD IF YOU DON'T GIVE US A PASSAGE!”

Warden Frost chokes and tries in vain to pry his hoof off of her neck. “You won't do it.”

Billy's eyes flick to Frost. “How do you know?”

“Because-” the Warden swallows “-if you kill me, you and your friends will be dead in seconds.”

Billy growls and shuffles towards Limestone and Applejack, dragging the Warden along using his magic and keeping her in front of much of his face while her weapon digs underneath her chin. She gags and desperately swallows air as her legs awkwardly kick at the snow while her tail drags on the ground and her wings bat the air weakly.

“Limestone, get that transporter,” orders Billy.

Limestone nods and gallops towards the transporter. She sits on the snow and removes a pair of pins from her pocket and begins working on the lock. Even in the cold temperature sweat crawls down her forehead as her tongue and hooves work to twist and turn the lock on the door, and after a couple of minutes of tense silence, the door clicks and the officer slides inside.

Limestone unlocks the back passenger door and orders Applejack, Mosley and Derpy inside. Applejack wastes no time in guiding Mosley inside, even though her legs feel like jelly and her insides feel torn and shriveled, and Derpy helps the former farmer inside when her legs almost give out when she tries to climb inside. After muttering a quick thanks to Derpy, Applejack scoots herself close to Mosley and snuggles as close as their bodies will allow when he drapes his hoof around her. Derpy goes in last and Billy uses his hindleg to kick the door shut while Limestone contorts her body in an awkward position to peel off the dashboard cover an work on the network of wires and gems.

“How long?” asks Billy.

“Give me a minute,” says Limestone, her tail flicking and brows scrunched as she finagles with the wires of the vehicle.

Billy nods and carefully moves along the front, keeping his grip on the Warden and his eyes on the guards, who are now forming a wall and making a line of weapons aimed at him. Even though Applejack is inside the transport, her weakened heart still pumps hard and her battered lungs tighten like her throat as her pinprick eyes flick to every guard preparing to shoot them all to Hell.

“We'll be okay,” assures Derpy.

Applejack swallows and flicks her eyes to Derpy or only a fraction of a second before looking back at the line. “I got a hard time believin' that.”

Outside, Billy keeps walking slowly in front of the transport, trying to keep the antsy feeling gripping him under control. Out of the corner of his eye, he spots a group of three guards slithering behind a row of parked vehicles, and he slams his body against the driver's cabin of the transport and pulls the Warden closer to him so her back is pressed against his barrel.

“Hey! Don't you move one step closer!” yells Billy. The guards cautiously stand up from behind their cover and aim their weapons at him, and he growls and presses the revolver hard underneath Frost's chin, making her wince. “Back up!”

The guards keep their weapons raised, but their hardened expressions falter to concern.

“Billy, you're a good guard, don't make this worse for you than it already is!” says one of the guards.

“Save it! I don't even know you! NOW BACK UP!” shouts Billy viciously.

Just then, the transport's engine sputters, hums, then rumbles awake, belching out puffs of sparkling, dark exhaust. Billy continues glaring at the three ponies, and in turn they remain stationary and keep him in their crosshairs. He does not even break eye contact when Applejack leans over the seat to open the front passenger in.

“Ya better get in here,” says Applejack.

Without saying a word, Billy awkwardly climbs inside the transport with the Warden and slams the door shut, and then he looks at Limestone out of the corner of his eye. “Get us out of here.”

Limestone nods and moves the speed lever up and guides the large vehicle through the parking lot using careful movements of her hoof to steer the steering orb.

“You are all dead,” says the Warden.

“Shut up,” snaps Billy.

Applejack watches the three guards that approached Billy reluctantly back away and speak into their radios, which, in turn, causes the line of guards to part as well. The transport they commandeered drives through the parting of vehicle, and Derpy decides that now would be a great time to wave her farewells to the guards with a big, cheese-eating grin and big swings of her hoof. The hostile glares, vicious snarls and cocking weapons the guards respond with sends both Derpy and Applejack shrinking into their seats, with the former farmer really wishing she had her hat to cover her hot face with.

“Smooth,” mutters Applejack.

“I was only trying to be polite,” says Derpy sadly.

Mosley only shakes his head and gently rubs his injury as he coughs quietly.

Limestone increases the speed of the transport when they enter the main road, and Applejack looks out the back passenger window to see the guards trailing them in their vehicles. Her ears perk and her hart skips a beat when a distant thud and flash of light shakes the earth and lights up the gray air with a ball of orange and red. Some gunshots ring out in the distance and Applejack once again slides down in her seat, finding herself trembling from more than just the cold and her throat tightening and her eyes getting wet once more.

“Oh, boy,” she says quietly.

Mosley slinks the hoof that is not pressed against his wound around Applejack's shoulder and pulls her in close to him. She jumps at first from the sudden contact, but when she sees that it is only Mosley, she swallows and smiles warily at him as she snuggles up against his side. Then Derpy pushes herself against the older earth pony and meets his annoyed frown with a bright smile.

“I like cuddles, too,” says the ex-mailmare.

Mosley's frown remains, but his shoulders go slack in defeat and reluctantly lets the pegasus snuggle up against him, but he does not move his hoof from his wound.

“Limestone, pick up the pace. The quicker we get out, the better,” says Billy.

Limestone nods and increases the speed yet again. The hum of the engine gets louder and the outside world zips by all the quicker, and as this happens, Billy tightens his grip on the Warden and in turn, she glances at everyone in the vehicle, then outside, then at everyone again. Seeing this, a sick feeling in her gut that is not related to her curse warns Applejack that shit is about to hit the fan. Again.

With a war cry of her own, Frost suddenly awkwardly swings her cuffed front hooves at Billy's maw, making him yelp and his bloody face crash against the window, staining it in a circle of red. The Warden then bucks Limestone on the side of the head, also making her head hit the window and causes her to put the vehicle in a terrifying swerve that bashes the sides of the transport against the gates lining the walkways. Limestone swears and clutches her head as her hoof desperately tries to get the steering orb under control, and Billy wraps his hooves around Frost's waist and struggles pulls her away from Limestone as she viciously kicks the officer.

The transport's wheels screech against the ground and Applejack and Derpy scream as the outside world becomes a blur of gray with powdered snow flying all around them. The Warden slams the back of her head against Billy's chin and as his head snaps back, she awkwardly elbows him in the ribs. The unicorn curses and uses his magic to bring the revolver against Frost, but she pushes the weapon up right as he fires, dinging the metal ceiling and slicing Limestone's thigh with a ricochet round just as she straightened out the vehicle.

Derpy and Applejack shriek with fright and duck down with Mosley, and Limestone cries out in pain and presses one hoof against the oozing wound while her other hoof attempts to straighten out the vehicle again. As the vehicle snaps in place, everyone lurches forward, and Billy and the Warden lock eyes, growling savagely and still wrestling each other for the revolver. While this happens, Limestone looks in the mirror, panting and shaking from pain, and sees the small army of armored vehicles chewing up the road as they zoom towards them with an insane burst in speed, leaving a heavy cloud of snow and dust in their wake.

“Shit!” Limestone throws the speed lever in full throttle and the engine roars and spews out a thick plum of dark, sparkling exhaust as the combination of steam and gem power push the engine to the limits. “Hold on!”

The sudden speed throws Billy and Warden Frost against the seat, and Limestone narrows her eyes at a line of armored motor wagons pulling out from behind buildings to form a blockade. The transport buckles and rocks everyone inside like helpless goldfish in a bag as it bullies its way through an opening, spinning the motor wagons away and flinging bent metal, broken wood and shattered glass everywhere. With the big gap created by Limestone's stunt, the trailing party zooms through and those that are not too damaged from the failed blockade are quick to give chase as well.

Hearing the army of engines, all roaring at different strengths, Applejack looks out the window again, and her she almost turns into a marble from how petrified she becomes from seeing their pursuers. There must be at least two dozen vehicles going after them, and with Warden Frost and Billy still wrestling for the revolver, she is not sure if they can lost long. Especially since the Warden is kicking Limestone every chance she can get, causing the earth pony to swerve and bash their getaway vehicle against fences and buildings..

The wrestling ponies growl and swear, and when the revolver fires off another round, it goes right past Limestone's nose and cracks the driver window. Limestone shrieks and jumps in her seat, momentarily losing control of the steering orb and causing the large vehicle to swerve and turn itself into a bulldozer. The plow on its front shatters the wooden walls of the building that the runaway vehicle has targeted, slamming broken timber after broken timber and coffee mugs, donuts and other essential office supplies against their shell. The combined devastation of the fat wheels, treads and plow of the transport easily decimate the furniture and make quick work of the fridge and coffee maker, and when they burst out on the other side, the front door hitches a ride on the plow and a sign reading 'DRIVE SAFE!' gets stuck on the window.

“I can't see anything!” yells Limestone. The Warden kicks her in the cheek again and she yelps and swerves yet again, but the door does pop off and bounce down the road, splintering along the way, and a portion of the sign hits a lamppost, knocking it off the windshield and giving Limestone just enough time to bank left and avoid a brick wall. It does not give her the chance to block a kick to the kidney that sends her keeling over and coughing with tears in her eyes. “Billy, get her under control!”

“I'm trying!” growls Billy.

During the struggle, Frost's revolver goes off again, but this time it only clicks, and the Warden pushes the gun close to Billy's chest as she goes bloody nose to bloody nose with him.

“You're out of ammo!” snarls Warden Frost.

She jerks her hooves down, throwing the revolver to floor, then punches Billy in the liver. The unicorn grunts painfully and as he keels over, she slams his head against the dashboard, clambers over him, and pops out the door and leaps right out into the snow. The open door is quickly broken clean off by a lamppost and it bounces down the road, never to be used again and leaving a gaping hole that blows ridiculously cold air in everyone's faces.

“What in tarnation!” yells Applejack over the frosty wind rushing inside. She looks out the window and sees the battered pegasus rolling in the snow, where a couple of the armored motor wagons swerve to a stop near her. Her eyes bulge from pure surprise when she sees the Warden stagger to her hooves and use a wall to keep herself from falling over. “You have got t' be kidding me! She's still up!”

“There's gotta be earth pony blood in her,” grumbles Billy, his voice muffled from having his hoof pressed against his face, which does little in stopping the bleeding.

Applejack snaps her focus on Billy. “What's that supposed t' mean?”

Billy stares at Applejack, but since his blood covered hoof is still against his face, it looks like he is wearing a red muzzle. “Don't tell me you are offended by that.”

Warden Frost's world goes into a sickening spin after she pushes down on the handle and uses her shoulder to push the transport door open. As quickly as she leaps out, she hits cold, hard ground and feels her bones snapping and cracking as she rolls and bounces in the snow. When she lands to a stop, she is stomach down in the snow, coughing and hacking with strings of blood dribbling past her lips.

Her eyes are hazy and her lungs feel heavy as she wheezes and pushes herself up, barely able to use her limp wings to help her stand. Once standing, she coughs a glob of bloody mucus in the snow and stumbles to a wall for support, feeling like her lungs are getting clawed at with every breath she takes. Seconds barely pass before two armored motor wagons swerve to a stop in front of her, each producing a pair of guards that gallop to her. However, despite how glad she is to see them, she is too livid to form even the smallest of smiles.

She tastes blood, she is sure the inside of her body is punctured like fancy cheese, and the worst part is, her prison is a complete mess.

“Ma'am, are you okay?” asks one of the guards anxiously while his partner levitates her on his back.

“I'm fine,” says Frost, wheezing and coughing and wincing from the painful reaction her body receives.

“Ma'am, we just called a medical team. We'll get you taken care of,” says another guard.

“What about the other injured guards?” asks Frost.

“We're taking care of them as best as we can, but it is a mess. Reports are coming in of posts being overrun and prisoners stealing weapons after they beat our guys to death. We're losing ground and fast!”

Frost growls and points towards the radio pack on the guard. “Give me your radio.”

The guard nods, positions himself next to the Warden and levitates the headset on her, and as he does this, she ignores the pain from the strains in her arms as she turns the dial to give her the signal she wants. Once she has the signal, she licks her lips, takes a deep, shaky and painful breath, and turns on the radio.

“Attention all guards, this Warden Frost Flower speaking. Your prime objective is to retake the prison at all costs. Every prisoner that resists is to be killed on sight. No exceptions. This rule will be in effect until the prison is ours once more. Over and out.”

Warden Frost clicks off the radio, slumps on the guard's back with a ragged sigh and closes her eyes, wanting so much to fall asleep and wake up in her bed so she can wright this day down as a nightmare and not some life altering hellish event. Though, despite her best efforts to stay awake, her closing her eyes does bring her to sleep, because when she opens her eyes again, she sees she in the back of the wagon, right next to a small clinic where more of her guards have fortified or are being carried in.

Outside, a nurse barely opens the door and reaches for Frost before she is stopped by the Warden's hoof.

“No,” says Frost with a shake of her head. She looks at the two guards she rode with and adds: “You two need to take me to the radio center immediately.”

“But, ma'am,” starts the driver.

The Warden shoos the nurse away and glares straight ahead at the plumes of smoke rising around her prison with the fires of determination purging all desires to rest. “Don't start. Take me to the radio center. This needs to end and I will make it end.”

“Keep it steady!” barks Billy.

Limestone grits her teeth as their transport swerves around another corner, tires screeching in the snowy asphalt and clumps of dirty snow being kicked up. The vehicle fishtails and briefly comes in contact with one of the many brick building, sending slivers of paint, wood and brick bits dancing in the air. She quickly straightens the vehicle, slamming Applejack against the door with Derpy and Mosley pressed against her in the process, and zooms forward again. With the vehicle now on a fast and steady course Billy magically unclips the weapon on his battle saddle and grabs it with his hooves.

“What are you doing?” asks Limestone worryingly.

Billy loops the seat belt around his hoof and leans out the gaping hole where the door once was, hooking his hoof on the top of his seat and propping his back legs against the seat so he is sitting on the door frame.

“Billy!”

The unicorn fires a translucent blue ball at the closest vehicle. The ball hits the vehicle in the center of its driver's cabin, splashing it with energy that flips it in the air, end over end. As the vehicle spins, debris of wood, bent metal and glass fly from its crushed front and it smashes nose first into the snowy road, splattering the ground with broken metal and wood. It lands on its back, popping loose its pipes and engine, spraying hot water and pouring hot coal and energized gems, and its slides on its wrecked roof until it hits a pole. From there, it spin and swipes at another motor wagon, caving in its side and sending spiraling out of control and getting t-boned by another vehicle. Said t-boned vehicle flips and crushes the top of the driver's cabin, creating a fender-bender that throws the wagon off and pushes up the back of the one it hitched a ride on. Before too long, there are screeches and more sounds of collisions, but with the pile-up in the front, all anyone can see are the already damaged vehicles bobbing from the newest additions to their pile.

“Huh. That actually worked a lot better than I thought it would,” says Billy as he lowers his weapon, his eyes wide with surprise.

“Uh, guys, I hate t' be the negative one, here, but what're ya gonna do 'bout them gates?” asks Applejack.

To make her point clearer, she points ahead at the barbwire gates leading to the main gate, which is surrounded by a thick wall with turrets aimed at them.

Limestone pales, but Billy slides back inside and pushes the speed lever to full throttle without her consent. The officer cannot get a word of protest out before the vehicle roars and lurches forward, pushing everyone back in their seats. All the mares scream as the scenery becomes a blur, and Applejack barely sees the outside ponies dodging the barreling vehicle. She also barely hears the pings and cracks of gunfire over the roaring of the engine and the tough rubber and treads grinding against the gravel.

When they hit the first gate, it is knocked off of its railing and smashes right into the windshield, causing cracks to appear all over it. The gate remains on just long enough for the second gate to get a taste of a speeding vehicle, which yields similar results. Only now the cracks get bigger and more numerous, and pieces of the front end splinter off or a bent horribly, exposing portions of the inner mechanics of the motor wagon. By the time they reach the last gate, it is impossible to see through the windshield and Billy and Limestone have to punch it out, cutting their hooves a little bit. The piece of glass protecting them flies off, giving the millions of flakes of snow the perfect chance to stab at everyone like tiny frozen daggers.

Limestone swears and shields her face with her hoof while Billy focuses his eyes on the main gate and charges his horn. Applejack watches the horn's glow becomes more intense as the main gate get bigger with every passing second. With its growing size, the pressure in her throat builds and her heart thumps harder in her chest as the bullets from the guard towers create a show of sparks from bouncing off of the armor plating of their vehicle. Just when Applejack thinks Billy is going to collide head on with the gate, the unicorn fires off another blob of magical energy.

Like his last victim, the gate is obliterated by the power of the blue ball. The bars are blasted out of their sockets, shattering concrete and brick and gutting the gate house. The debris and all of its dust flies out into the open field and the mini-train plows through it, getting a collection of cracks and dents from the rubble that bounces off of it. The mini-train bobs and shakes as the tires and treads run over the mangled bars and crush the chunks of brick and cement, but even with the abuse of the tires, the bullet holes riddling the armor, the lack of windows and the smoking engine, they are still going strong!

With them now speeding through the frozen wasteland, Applejack's heart is racing so fast it is creating rainbows in her chest cavity and her blood has turned into pure adrenaline. She giggles and pokes her head out the window, ignoring the freezing wind blowing through her mane as she watches the prison and its rising smoke shrink rapidly.

She can't believe it!

She is out! At long last she is free from the prison and that damn hole in the mountain!

She can just scream for pure joy, and scream she does!

“Yeehaw! Now that's what I'm talkin' 'bout! I can't believe ya pulled it off! That was amazing!”

Applejack leans over the seat, grabs Billy and plants a big, wet kiss right on his cheek, not caring about the blood covering both of them. The unicorn's face burns bright red instantly and Limestone gives Applejack a downright hateful glare. Seeing the look that the officer is giving her, Applejack retreats back into her seat, smiling sheepishly and flushing with embarrassment.

“Sorry 'bout that. I got a little carried away,” says Applejack, but that does nothing to alleviate the silent glare Limestone has aimed at her. “So, what's next?”

“Survive,” says Limestone sourly.

Applejack frowns at the officer. “Look, just 'cuz yer a little crab that don't mean ya gotta pass your moody attitude on to us.”

“No, she's right. Warden Frost is more than likely assembling a search party for us and will call in help from the EIB, the Royal Guard and the Stalliongrad Guard,” says Billy. He then points ahead of him, adding: “And there is also that oncoming blizzard we gotta go through.”

Applejack's pleasant mood might as well have been executed in front of a crowd of children at that point, for right in front of them is, in fact, a blizzard. However, this blizzard is something she has never seen before. In Ponyville, when the pegasi did the annual blizzard, it was mostly calm, just a lot of snow with some strong winds, sometimes it got a little heavier than normal if the Cloudsdale Weather Factory needed to get rid of excess snow.

This blizzard is not a white wall of gentle snowflakes floating around in a breeze, though. This is a wall. A big, gray wall of frozen fingers made of billions upon trillions of icy splinters raking its way over the landscape. There is nothing by gray and black, and even all the way forward and speeds straight towards the gray fingers that rake the landscape. Mountains, sky, clouds, all of it disappears in the cloud of ice, and Applejack's jaw drops, as does Derpy's. Mosley keeps his mouth shut, but his eyes about nearly explode from his sockets from how large they have grown. How they did not see that monstrosity until now is beyond Applejack, but now she is too worried about getting killed in a snow storm rather than how they missed something right in front of their noses.

“Holy Hell,” mutters Applejack.

“That doesn't look normal,” comments Derpy.

The chilly wind that blows through the gaping holes turns into an ear breaking, screeching wind that stabs at everyone's faces with frozen flakes. Applejack can feel her skin shrink under her coat and even with her ears folded down they still feel like they are being violated by frosty talons and screaming demons.

“Everypony buckle up! We're going in!” yells Billy.

“What!? Are ya nuts!?” screams Applejack.

“Do you see any way past that?”

Applejack has nothing to say about that, so she sits down, buckles up, and with the help of Derpy she buckles up Mosley as well. As this happens, Billy's horn glows again and a light red bubble forms around the vehicle, covering everyone inside with a warm aura. With this happening, Applejack cringes and she and Derpy hug Mosley tight as tight as they can while Billy remains mostly collected as he stares down the storm.

Limestone swallows and her muscles become tense like pulled wire as her pupils shrink and her ears droop at the sight of the storm. “Billy... if... if we die in this storm I'm going to be really mad.”

Billy furrows his brows and uses his magic to strap himself and Limestone in. “Me, too.”

Seconds after that, the snow slams against them, violently rocking their vehicle and blowing out their ears with its screaming. The heat bubble keeps them safe from the onslaught of the snow and cold, but Applejack is certain that Limestone is driving blind because all she can see is a blend of gray and dark gray with a shade of yellow and red from the headlights and the magic bubble reflecting off of the snow.

Normally in a situation like this -or as close to being an escaped convict with turncoat guards plowing through a blizzard as possible- Applejack would mutter a quick prayer of protection to Celestia. However, with the betrayal of her goddess, she resorts to grinding her teeth, keeping Mosley in a death grip, and squishing herself against her seat, hoping that they will live through this insane stunt.

Inside a radio room, Warden Frost is sitting on a stool staring at the communications set with distant eyes, listening to the overlapping chatter of her guards fighting back rioters, whom have turned into full on enemy combatants in most cases. It is something she thought she would never hear, but here she is now, sitting on a stool, broken and bloody with a unicorn mare trying to treat her of her wounds while her prison is turned into a war zone.

“Club and Pie just went into the storm!” says a stallion over one of the radios, his signal fuzzing in and out and being distorted by the strong winds blowing against his tower.

The Warden's eyes bulge, and she lunges forward and slams her hoof against the communication's button on the radio, much to the annoyance of the medic working on her and the internal cry of agony of her body. “What!?”

“Club and Pie drove right into the blizzard! Should we pursue?”

“Negative. Do not pursue. The blizzard is too dangerous. Stay on the perimeter and help secure the prison.”

“Roger that.”

The other end clicks off and Warden Frost slouches in her seat, exhaling explosively, only for her body to convulse and lean over from a terrible coughing fit that leaves her shaking and tasting copper. The medic asks if she is okay, but she ignores her and glares straight ahead at the array. The radios are now saying how the guards are working to crudely fortify their grounds, but with their numbers stretched thin because of the riots and the fact that many of them were killed or injured because of the violence, the task is more daunting than she wants to admit. It will be pure insanity to not call for aid from the Stalliongrad Guard or the Royal Guard to quell the insurrection inside her prison.

Thinking about the sudden turn of events brings a burning pain to her eyes and stuffs a lump in her throat. It is not because of the beating her body went through, but at the core, it is the very idea that so many of the ones she commanded perished or got hurt. Their lives are her responsibility, just as the safety of the prison itself is her biggest task.

She has failed.

She has failed everyone and all the families that are connected to the fallen.

She has failed herself.

She has failed Celestia.

“Ma'am, might I make a suggestion?” says a unicorn stallion that approaches her, named Cuffs.

Without taking her eyes off of the communication rigs, Frost sniffles and blinks tears out of her eyes, trying to keep her gaze hard and her ears from falling. “Go on.”

“We still got a good number of pegasi. We can easily clear out the storm and send a convoy after them while our unicorns and earth ponies hold the prison,” says Cuffs.

Warden Frost shakes her head. “It won't work. If we were able to tame the North's weather we would have done it by now. Besides, their tracks are long covered by the snow, so it will be pointless.” She links her hoof to the medic and pushes herself up, grunting in pain, and she limps away, slowly with her head down and a line of tears snaking down her cheek. These tears, however, are no longer from pure pain, but are now laced with a consuming wrath that wants nothing more than blood. “Radio the groups and tell them to send two unicorns each to meet me at Professor Dust's office if they can spare it.”

“What's going on, ma'am?” says Cuffs while the radio operators give out the Warden's instructions.

Warden Frost scowls at the unicorn out of the corner of her eye and weakly ruffles her feathers. “I'm placing Professor Nebulous Dust and Meriaclock Whooves under arrest, and I am not taking any chances with them. I know they had something to do with this mess and if I have to rip their limbs off to get answers, then so be it.”

“Then let me go in your stead. You are in no condition to move, much less make arrests.”

The Warden glares at him, but he looks back at her firmly and with concern weighing heavily on his shoulders. She looks at the rest of the guards in the room, and while some are still working the radios, the ones staring at her share the same worry as Cuffs.

She does not want to let him go because she wants to deal with Nebulous personally, but Cuffs has a good point and she knows it. She can barely move without the pain ripping through her body and the guards will be slowed down because of her injuries.

Defeated once more, Warden Frost sighs, lowers her eyes and nods her head. “Very well. Put the two in solitary cells separate from each other when you have them in your custody.”

Cuffs nods. “Yes, ma'am.” He then points at two unicorn guards and motions to the door. “You two come with me.”

They obey without question, and when the door closes, Warden Frost runs her hoof through her mane, trembling and biting her tongue so she does not whimper. All she can do now is silently pray that the discord will end and that no more of her guards will get hurt.

From the warmth of his office, Meriaclock and Nebulous watch the thick, gray cloud of snow engulf the frozen wasteland like a flame drained off all its color. The former is furious, barely able to keep still as his muscles, eye, and wings twitch, whereas the latter is sipping a cup of steaming coffee, apparently too calm for his own good about the chain of events.

“I really like this coffee. I think its Nantucket. It tastes like Nantucket,” says Nebulous in a disgustingly carefree tone.

Meriaclock snaps to the Professor. “How can you be so calm about this? Our subjects got out!”

“Getting them out was always part of the plan,” says Nebulous calmly. He blows on his coffee and takes another sip before continuing. “This is just different than what we wanted, and a lot more exciting, I might add. Besides, we got a taste of what Applejack and Mosley can do, and I was not disappointed in the slightest. They are perfect for the experiment!”

“Oh, really? Applejack coughed blood half the time! She is almost completely worthless. We should have Mosley as our Invoker and put that hick in another spot if we can find them again.”

Nebulous finishes his coffee and sets the mug down on a counter. “I would agree with you if not for one thing. Jackie is our Invoker because she is an Element. She may not think she is one, but the Elements have not reset, so she is still connected to the Elements of Harmony. Plus, she has been into the Void as a filly, which gave me reason to believe she has direct lineage with Starburst Quartz. And I was right. Believe me, I had to quadruple check my double-triple checks like five times to make sure that her blood samples and lineage were not screwing with me.”

Meriaclock frowns. “She still coughed blood half the time.”

Nebulous shrugs dismissively. “Yeah, well, going through the Void generally screws you up somehow. You should know that, considering...”

Nebulous nods to Meriaclock's wings and the pegasus frowns and self-consciously presses his wings tighter against his body.

“Jackie is perfect for the role,” continues Nebulous, looking back out the window, smiling gleefully. “Her position as an Element, her genetics and the energy absorbed in the Void make it so.”

Meriaclock sighs and rubs his brow. “Well, guess what? She is still in that damn blizzard, and if that blizzard kills her and Mosley then we're screwed.”

Nebulous chuckles. “I always have a backup plan, especially for a scientific experiment this valuable. We can always find another Thaumaturgist to put in the Void, but should our dear Element perish in the snow we always have another one we can use. Well, technically he's an ex-Element, but my insanely extensive research has proven that every Element Bearer is left with residual power, and he also has the perfect genetic traits just like Jackie.”

Meriaclock arches a brow. “Applejack and her band of friends is the first group of Element Bearers we've had in over a thousand years, numb nuts.”

Nebulous grins deviously, and walks closer until they are mere inches from each other, his smile growing wider, thus visibly making the pegasus uneasy. “How right you are, Meriaclock, my friend. But there are certain things in this world that defy age and death, and when this is all over, I will give you one, for you have been such a great assistant after all these years.” He grabs Meriaclock's face with his hooves and presses his nose against his, grinning wider and his eyes glowing green with a pendant underneath his suit. “All we have to do is survive him and our trials, and we won't have to fear death any longer.”

The echoes of chalk on stone bounce off of the walls of an empty, domed chamber barely illuminated by glowing crystals. The chalk is shrouded in a green aura as it glides along the rough surface, leaving its trails of faintly glowing white, painfully slow, yet expertly crafted so there is no chance of error. There is already a massive circle made, and now the chalk glides to make the finishing touches of an outline of a curving alicorn, and after the winged unicorn is drawn, it moves to make the top of a tree. Carefully following the trail of the chalk is a stallion unicorn in a full body painting suit, wearing tinted goggles, thus keeping his features completely hidden.

The Painter stops after making the first curve and stares at a faded mural on the wall. Despite age sucking away most of the colors, an elegant, eight point compass with six circles can still be seen. Five of the six circles are on the outside, and the sixth one is in the center. Each circle is supposed to have a picture in them, if the faded and cracked collection of colors are any indication, but only three can be seen to a decent degree. The first is three obelisk shaped gems clustered together, the other is four stars gathered at a swirl, and the third is a shield with wings.

He stares at the mural for a few seconds before an amulet underneath his painting suit flashes green, prompting him to resume his careful drawing, feeling nothing but disgust rotting his insides and coating his thoughts in bile. It seems fitting to him that this chamber, once a hallowed place many centuries back, is where he will accomplish the goal he has been striving for for over a thousand years. One final act of much deserved desecration for their sins against him and his Teacher for doing the right thing, and one final act to end the illegitimate reign of the Elements and the Sisters of the Heavens.

All of the pieces of his puzzle are found, and almost all are in his custody, awaiting their fate. But when he has the rest of his sacrifices gathered, he will finally be able to complete his mission after waiting for over a thousand years.

He will finally unchain Sirius.

Snowflake Gulag- 09- Allies & Enemies

“Where you find friends, you find enemies. It is just a simple fact of life. But in the end, it is not about quantity, but quality. You can have a million friends, but you only need one true friend to help you fight your one million enemies, because that one friend will be worth more than the million fake friends and genuine enemies combined.”

-Burnt Oak

Nebulous is still in his makeshift office, watching the fiery smoke rise from the distant portions of the prison with a mixture of amusement and fear. His coffee is nearly empty, and Meriaclock is pacing in circles, feathers ruffled and eyes darting to the door and to random spots around the room.

“Nervous?” says Nebulous.

“Oh, no. I just love pacing in circles because it is so much fun being stuck in the middle of a warzone with our subjects completely gone,” says Meriaclock.

“You really need to relax. This place is well guarded, so none of those hooligans will be getting in.”

“That's what they thought about this prison until all this happened.”

Nebulous smirks mischievously and finishes up his coffee. “The timing was very convenient, but regardless, this did not go as I had planned, so now I'll have to make adjustments and yadda yadda yadda, whole nine yards and all that jazz.”

Meriaclock glances at Nebulous. “Is there something you want to tell me?”

“What I was going to tell you is irrelevant, now, due to the circumstances. I just hope my helpers will come in use again since this mess threw everything out of loop.”

“Helpers?”

Nebulous nods, but before anything else can be said on the matter, the door is opened a bit more forceful than necessary, getting Meriaclock to jump back and Nebulous to raise a brow. The door being opened as it was was rude enough, but now that he sees Cuffs standing there, being flanked by two more guards with nine more waiting outside really takes the cake of rude visits.

“Can I help you, Officer Cuffs?” says Nebulous as calmly as he can.

Cuffs and one of his escorts levitates chains and cuffs designed for hooves, wings and horns from their saddles, and Cuffs narrows his eyes on Nebulous while his escorts train their weapons on them.

“You are under arrest, by the orders of Warden Frost, herself,” says the guard.

“Really?” Nebulous sips his empty cup, more disappointed by the outcome of events than before. “Was our date really that bad?”

“It probably was,” says Meriaclock.

Nebulous frowns. “That was rhetorical.”

“Jenkins, apprehend the pegasus,” orders Cuffs.

The guard levitating the wing cuffs moves forward, and Meriaclock growls and ruffles and his feathers as he steps back, and Nebulous gets up from his desk and extends his hoof.

“I would not do that if I were you. He's got some issues about those,” warns Nebulous. As soon as he finishes his sentence, a cuff snaps around his hoof, and his eyes widen and look at the metal object around his limb, then he glances at Cuffs. “Uh, I don't really like this, either. Can't we talk about it?”

“You can in your prison cell,” says Cuffs while he traps Nebulous' other hoof in the device.

Nebulous' heart races, and his eyes flick between Cuffs and Meriaclock, who is now backed up into a corner and has expanded his wings to their fullest.

“If you know what's good for you, you will get away from me!” says Meriaclock.

“Listen to him,” say Nebulous.

“Shut up!” snaps Cuffs.

Jenkins uses his magic to throw Meriaclock to the ground, and as the pegasus squirms, he clambers on top of him and clips the cuffs around his wings, and then moves to trap his limbs. But Meriaclock wiggles his body so that he is facing the guard, despite his attempts, and with a bloodthirsty roar he slams his hoof against the officer's chest. A split second later a flash of light erupts from his hoof and a ball of flame explodes out of the guard's back and burns a hole in the ceiling.

The guards swear and leap back, and Meriaclock pushes the smoldering corpse off of him, revealing a glowing symbol on the bowl of his hoof in the shape of a triangle inside a circle, with the triangle occupied by an equal sign with two smaller blocks in its middle.

Meriaclock rolls on his hoofs, growling and frothing rabidly at the mouth as his trapped wings twitch with his muscles and eyes. The other guards stare at him, jaws agape with a couple in the back taking a step back, and Nebulous' heart sinks at the very unfortunate turn of events. Events he knows will really bite him in the butt starting in seconds time.

He can hear the soldiers shaking in their armor, and some mutter incomprehensibly at the idea of a pegasus shooting a fireball from their hoof, but Nebulous knows what's going to happen next. He can see it in their eyes and feel it in the air around him. If he did not know any better, he would say he could feel the very presence of Charon himself looming in the room, eager to see what will come next.

“Now, boys, lets remain calm,” says Nebulous. “Let's not do anything rash. We can still talk about this.”

“Kill them!” barks Cuffs.

Guns are raised and horns explode in displays of light, and Cuffs is suddenly nailed to the ceiling with a sharp blade coming from the shadow of Nebulous' desk. Before the other guards can react, black blades shoot out from the shadows cast by the light and ruthlessly stabs all of them multiple times in unison. They barely get a chance to scream before they collapse as bloody heaps on the floor. With the guards lying dead at their hooves and blood spreading all over the floor, Nebulous drops to his haunches, gasping for air and shaking, and with his concentration lost, his horn dims, all the shadow blades dissolve and Cuffs falls from the ceiling, limp with his eyes open in freight. Nebulous grimaces and uses his hoof to turn the head away.

Meriaclock laughs. “That was amazing. I didn't know you could do that!” He wobbles over to the guard he burnt and fishes for the keys to his cuffs, which he makes quick work of once he gets them. After he frees himself, he chuckles and wipes himself off and flexes his wings. “It looks like you are less of a coward than I thought you were.”

Meriaclock instantly clamps his mouth after that, and Nebulous stiffens. Despite how worn out Nebulous is, his eye still twitches and a nasty snarl warps his features, and before he can so much as think of a simple word, Meriaclock is slammed against the wall by a black, vine-like tendril.

“After all this time you still know nothing about me?” says Nebulous without looking at Meriaclock, his voice shaking and random thorns sprouting and disintegrating from the summoned tendril. “After all these years, I am still a coward in your eyes?”

When all he gets is gagging for an answer, Nebulous turns to Meriaclock and adjusts his glasses, watching with burning eyes and a sore throat as his companion struggles to breath and free himself with wild kicks and fruitless prying. One of the random spikes nicks the pegasus in the cheek, slicing his skin easily, and Nebulous stands up on wobbly legs and approaches his trapped helper.

“Real cowards do not do what I do,” says Nebulous. “Real cowards to not end lives in the blink of an eye to protect their friends. Real cowards do not have the stomach to kill their own families for a better purpose or make deals with Tirek to see the world made brighter.”

The shadows around Nebulous seep out of the ground and solidify to razor sharp blades that absorb all the light around them, dimming the room, and the blades curve to Meriaclock's face. He does not care about the fear in Meriaclock's eyes, though. He does not care that he can see the blades reflecting off of his eyes or that the pegasus has become petrified. All he wants is for his ears to work and for his brain to comprehend what he is telling him.

“I am no coward, Meriaclock Whooves. I am a visionary, and thanks to you and your stupidity we will have to continue our work in the shadows.” The blades and tendrils retract, and Nebulous throws Meriaclock to the ground, next to the guard he killed, and turns to his desk, uncaring of the coughs and gasps for air his companion is making. After that, he uncuffs himself, and then he levitates his notes and supplies into his saddle before putting it on and tossing Meriaclock his saddle. “Set this office ablaze, for as of right now, we are on the run.”

Frozen North Desert

In the middle of the frozen wasteland, the transport Applejack's group used to escape sputters to a halt outside of a shack partially hidden by a curtain of snow. Once it stops, it drones into silence with one last puff of energy and the gauge showing empty on the reserves, and Billy slumps over, wheezing and pale. His shield disappears soon after, and the cold quickly overcomes the vehicle while the howling wind rocks them. This gets a look of concern from Derpy while Limestone remains somewhat collected.

Applejack coughs into her hoof, barely breaking eye contact with the shack. The structure is simple, made of wood and brick and there is no light shining through the thick curtains, but the smoke rising from the chimney is a clear sign that someone is home. Or careless. Though, the first suggestion is proven true when Limestone honks her horn three times and a light peeks through the curtains.

Seconds later, Limestone honks three more times and the door opens up and a group of six armed ponies step out with a seventh unarmed one in the middle. There is also a blonde goat with a silver mane and goatee armed with a huge battle saddle standing next to the unarmed pony. All of them are wearing heavy, white clothing and have their heads wrapped in scarves and winter hats. The stallion in the center, however, is sticking to just a snow hat, so Applejack sees his brown fur and eyes.

“Wait here,” orders Billy.

Limestone extends her hoof. “Billy, wait-”

“Wait here.”

Billy staggers out of the wagon and approaches the pony in the center, and Applejack rubs her hooves against her body, shivering and teeth chattering. Applejack can't hear what they are saying, but it seems that the conversation is going well, seeing as how both are nodding and no one is raising any weapons. The goat has not taken his eyes off of the vehicle the whole time and barely moves his lips when he speaks. A minute later, Billy motions everyone out, and Applejack climbs out of the wagon and gently pulls Mosley out.

Some of the ponies in white trot to Applejack and they take Mosley away from her and carefully carry him inside, leaving just her, Derpy and Limestone outside with the others.

“Where're y'all takin' him?” says Applejack warily.

“They're going to fix him,” says Limestone. Adding wearily when Applejack gives her a suspicious look: “Trust me. We're on your side.”

“There she is!” says the brown stallion shakily.

Applejack looks at him as he approaches her with a broad, anxious smile.

“I am so glad that we got you out,” continues the stallion, forcing a chuckle that gets Applejack's eyebrow to raise in an unimpressed way. “I would like to apologize for not getting you out sooner, but with your high profile and the prison itself, it was very difficult to formulate a strategy while having our agents inside keep their covers. But you and Mosley's big breakout forced us to improvise, and now we are here! Safe and sound.”

Applejack casts dirty looks at Billy and Limestone. “Undercovers, huh? You two played your parts really good.” Before the two can answer, she looks back at the brown pony and points at him and the goat. “And who are you two s'possed to be, anyway?”

The brown pony points at the goat. “This is Herr Mond.” He points at himself. “And I am Burnt Oak. And we are going to help you save Equestria.”

Fort Sunrise, Badlands

In the late hours of the night, the curtains of General Ji's office ripple from the cool breeze and the noises of whipping flags and the clanging of metal against metal are carried by the wind. In the new day, it is against regulations to have windows that can open for reasons of safety. However, the General's office has yet to get the replacement slab of glass, so he is enjoying the breeze while he can.

The old unicorn is currently sitting at his desk, letting the air cool his back and his little lamp to light up the map of the Badlands region he has rolled out. He can see everything, from the train tacks, to the roads, to the towns and the major cities of Dodge City, San Palamino and Appleloosa and the buffalo reservation. Marked on the map is where the attack on the train took place, which is close to Appleloosa, and the majority of the killed insurrectionists are also from the said town.

General Ji blows through his nose and looks at the other markers labeling where the other dead rebels lived. They are scattered, but while most are from Appleloosa, all of the dead are from every corner of the Badlands. From the tiny town of Dust Bowl near the Neighico border, to the grand city of San Palomino and all in between. From what he is looking at, he knows the attack against the prison train is the baby stages of a full scale, regional uprising that must be stopped before it gains momentum, and he knows the perpetrator, too.

General Ji's focus drifts to a report of a tree farmer who had his family farm nationalized. The government had assured him that he would not lose complete control and would still have major influence in its operations, but that did nothing to sway the dissenter. Burnt Oak has been very vocal about his disloyalty to the state in writing and speeches, and has been labeled as a high profile threat by the EIB. Though, why they have not brought him in is beyond the General. The only thing he can think of as to why such a clear threat trots freely is because red tape and politics are getting in the way of making the necessary moves again. That goes without saying that now that martial law is in place, he can take care of the problems for the stuck ups and not get into too much trouble for it.

There is a sudden sharp knock on General Ji's door, and without breaking his eyes from Burnt Oak's profile, he speaks. “Enter.”

The door opens and Lieutenant Fast Track enters, carrying a folder in his mouth. He stands in front of the General and snaps his hoof up for a salute, which is returned, and he gently places the folder down in front of his superior and slides it forward.

“Sir, we just got this report in. There is trouble in the Frozen North. There was a prison riot at Snowflake with a lot of casualties, and Professor Nebulous Dust and his assistant disappeared while a group of prisoners escaped using a blizzard as cover,” says Fast Track.

General Ji blows through his nose, coolly grabs the folder and opens it to have a look at its contents.

“Some of the escapees are Thaumaturgists, and they were helped by turncoat guards,” says Fast Track.

General Ji stiffens slightly at the mention of “Thaumaturgists” and he looks up at Fast Track, keeping his worried state hidden beneath his uniform and hardened expression.

“How many Thaumaturgists?” asks the General.

“Two, sir,” replies Fast Track.

General Ji resumes flipping through the pages, and he finds himself once again frozen from surprise, for two familiar names and faces have popped out. Apple and Orange.

He barely remembers Mosely's face, but he remembers how broken he was when they captured him. He also distinctly remembers getting ready to spear the monstrosity through the heart before his resident troublemakers stopped him. How he despised Gale Hurricane and Grape Muffin, but as much as he hates their guts, they had been right in stopping him. Mosley Orange had surrendered after a long, brutal fight, so they could not kill him or else it would be labeled as an execution. Just thinking about how many threats were spared because of the “mercy rule” makes Ji's blood boil every time, for a threat spared is just giving it time to recuperate and strike back, as proven not too long ago.

As for the second, he can never forget her face. She may be older, but her freckled features remain the same. He remembers Applejack spying on them from the top of the stairs, listening to the news of her parents' fate in the basement of the old Miner's Country house when he was telling her grandmother. From curiosity to devastation, he is still baffled at how she did not bolt down the stairs and call him a liar for saying her parents had died. Even when he caught her weeping grandmother before she could hit the ground, she did not cry. She wanted to, and she was cracking, but she left before he could see if she would cry. He never would have thought of her to be a Thaumaturgist, but now that the truth is out, he silently questions why the Higher Powers and the Elements of Harmony would select something as vile as her to represent Honesty.

“The report shows devastating damage. Millions in property damage, many dead and injured, some critically,” says Fast Track, bringing the General out of his thoughts. “Warden Frost has already called the EIB and alerted the Stalliongrad Guard of what happened, so they will be looking for the convicts as well as the Professor and his assistant.”

The General sighs tiredly. “I don't care about the academic or his assistant. I only care about those Thaumaturgists. Those guards and agents are not qualified to capture Thaumaturgists, much less two of them, and if word gets out the state is hunting an Element then we will have a full scale uprising.”

“The CDA has kept Applejack's arrest quiet for the most part. They can keep her escape quiet, too.”

“There were still suspicions, and as vile as she is, her word holds more value than most, if not all others, due to her Element.”

General Ji sighs, reclines in his seat and lets his mental gears work. What they churn up is something he does not like, but knows that it must be done. With a heavy sigh, the old unicorn gets out of his chair and approaches a thick, metal cabinet with a dial-lock in its center.

“I want all of the information regarding the escaped Thaumaturgists sent to my office in Stalliongrad immediately,” orders General Ji. “If they are connected to them in any way, I want it ready for my viewing upon my arrival. While I am gone you are to supervise this region's counterinsurgency operations and are to send me weekly reports of your progress and to keep it quiet, are we clear?”

Fast Track nods. “Yes, sir.”

After putting in the correct combination, the General pulls open the door to reveal a suit of armor that has a black base with red trim and rose colored gems on its shoulder pads, flank pads and sides. He grabs a weapon that is next to the suit of armor and floats it in front of his face, carefully studying it. It has a gray block with a blade shaped like a solar flare on top that has a golden gem fused in its center.

“If you don't mind me asking, what will you be doing, sir?” asks Fast Track, his eyes being drawn to the gleaming, sleek blade.

The block unfolds to a staff and General Ji pushes a button where the blade and staff meet to sprout two more curved blades, and he aims the weapon to the floor while casting a grim look at Fast Track. “Hunting.”

Author's Notes:

End of the Snowflake Gulag arc.