"Here." White Dust droned, lowering the usual plate of food down to rest in front of Celestia, who was sitting with her hooves between her haunches a slight distance from the concrete seat mounted on the wall, her left hoof raised slightly to minimize the pain to her mangled left leg.

Physically, it was easy to tell that the constant beatings were not the sole cause of Celestia's extremely unstable and weak health state. Over the now 19 days she had been held captive, the meager one meal a day she had been receiving had chiseled away at her once filled-in and healthy figure; her rib cage clearly visible and her stomach recessed inwards. Accompanying the crippling pain of hunger was the paranoia, stress, and fear from both the constant torture and lack of sleep.

Celestia was, at best, receiving around 3 to 4 hours of sleep a day, which had been caused by a barrage of nightmares and the pain and discomfort caused by her wounds. She felt weak for having the wish, but Celestia had genuinely wanted her life to end. A weeks time ago, she had hopes of escaping, but every last bit of hope had evaporated.

"Are you going to do that thing where you don't eat, then I beat you until you do?" White asked angrily, making Celestia look up.

"Does it matter when I eat? I doubt the food will get any worse after a few minutes." Celestia responded, her voice slightly distorted by her broken jaw and nose.

White stared at her for a moment before taking a clump of Celestia's blood-matted hair with his magic, thrusting her face into the concrete floor in front of her plate. The impact created a loud crack, Celestia's nose breaking in a new place. A few seconds passed before Celestia began lifting her head back up, a steady drip of blood coming from both nostrils. Celestia coughed loudly, blood spraying from her mouth and nose and onto the plate of food that lay in front of her.

"You're still eating that." The White Stallion informed, looking into Celestia's rage-filled eyes.

Out of pure anger, Celestia took the plate with her hoof and swiftly hurled it White's direction, the plate missing by a few inches, sailing past and striking the wall at the opposite end of the cell; consequently, a field of food and broken glass flying into the air. White turned back from watching the plate to Celestia, his horn lighting up as he took her throat and front legs in his magic.

"You have horrible aim. What exactly did you wish to accomplish with that?" He asked, tightening his grip around her throat.

Blood dripped from Celestia's nose and mouth as she choked, her back legs flailing in protest. With his magic, White moved Celestia from her current spot to the wall of the cell across from the concrete seat, pushing her body firmly against the wall. With her front legs and throat still in his grip, White began thrashing his hoof across the side of Celestia's head. With her back legs still free, Celestia was able to land a kick to the White Stallion's back leg, the hit landing at the same time as he swung at Celestia's head.

The impact sent White's hoof in an unintended direction, causing his hoof to clip and detach the magic inhibitor ring around the base of Celestia's horn. The second the ring came undone, Celestia's magical abilities surged back from their dormant state like a jolt of electricity, a strange shock of energy flowing through her body.

Instantly, Celestia encompassed White's entire figure with a spell, ceasing any movement he might try to make and stopping any spells he might cast. A grin began dawning across Celestia's bloody lips, the smile evolving into a slow, broken chuckle. White's face changed to a look of pure horror as everything that had just happened began to register.

"Oh, you have made quite the mistake... y-you have made... quite the mistake!" Celestia burst out in a fit of evil, almost insane laughter as she began to attempt to stand, "And just as I began to lose hope of ever leaving! You listen to me well... once I end the three of your worthless lives... I'm going after your so called 'True Leader'. We shall see just how powerful she is with a hole in her head!" Celestia snarled, her eyes still fixed on those of a completely paralyzed White Dust.

Before doing anything further, Celestia levitated the magic inhibitor, which had landed a few feet away, into the air and firmly dropped it down upon White's horn. With his magic cut off, Celestia ceased holding White with her own spell, the Stallion standing rigidly after being released.

"N-now, I want you... I want you to c-come at me with that knife of yours... we'll s-see how well you fare now!" Celestia burst, now only half stood up, intense pain slowing her progress.

The door at the top of the stairs opened, the Pony with the Glasses exiting from the doorway.

"Has she not eaten yet? What's taking so lo..." Red spoke, stopping as his eyes locked onto the brightly glowing horn of Celestia.

A bright crack of energy left Celestia's horn and passed cleanly through Red Hoof's chest, a red mist becoming airborne after the bolt impacted. Every muscle in Red Hoof's body relaxed instantly, his body dropping to the floor; dead the instant the bolt struck as it had passed directly through his heart. White Dust let out a scream of sorrow, his hoof stretched outward towards Red's body.

"You're going to wish you were dead, you understand!?!" White Dust boomed, deploying the concealed blade fixed to his shoe as he turned to face Celestia.

Without a bit of hesitation, Celestia took White's throat in her magic, slamming him into the floor as she began strangling him.

"You won't be needing this." Celestia spoke monotonously as she detached the blade-equipped shoe from White's hoof.

"I-I'll... m-make yo-you pay..." He struggled in response.

Celestia examined the piece for a second before finding out exactly how to adjust the diameter of the weapon. With the weapon properly adjusted, Celestia slipped the shoe onto her right hoof, with her re-commissioned blade at the ready, Celestia pulled White back from the floor to a standing position, her magic still holding his throat tightly.

"I am going... to make you feel... every single ounce of fear and pain you made me feel!" Celestia barked, her shaky figure now fully standing, her left leg lifted off the ground to prevent any further pain from its series of extreme injuries.

After not receiving an answer, Celestia pulled White closer to herself and encompassed the magic inhibitor with a spell, a second later the ring exploding with a crack, the blast cleanly severing White's horn. He let out a scream of agony, pain surging through his entire body. Celestia tightened her grip around White's throat to the point where he could no longer scream, only make small choking noises.

"Remember all the times you told me to shut up after you hurt me!? Do you!?"

Celestia's attention was drawn back to the top of the stairs as Shield Arc became visible, his eyes fixed on the bloodied body of Red Hoof. The room lit up once more as a bolt of energy shot from Celestia's horn right through Shield's front right leg, the bolt going directly through the joint. Shield collapsed to the floor, his yells of pain filling the small cell.

With a new target, Celestia threw White's limp, nearly asphyxiated body to the side of the cell where he lay coughing and gasping for air after having his throat tightly clenched for nearly a minute. Shield's front legs became encompassed in Celestia's magic as she pulled him down the stairs of the cell. After Shield's painful journey to the base of the stairs, Celestia began taking a few wobbly steps towards the wounded Stallion.

"If you touch him, I'll snap your neck!" White yelled, scrambling to a standing position as he rushed towards Celestia.

Just as White was in range to land a hit, Celestia blocked his attack with a small force field spell, the shield of energy bouncing the White Stallion's hoof back. Before he was able to regain any sort of balance, a beam of energy left Celestia's horn and passed right through his front leg, the now crippled Stallion falling to the floor much like Shield Arc had.

"I'm getting tired of you being able to walk." Celestia taunted, restraining all four of White's legs as she pinned him to the floor.

After a few steps towards White, Celestia drove the 8-inch blade attached to her hoof directly into the White Stallion's spine, the blade landing at the joint between two spinal discs. Celestia began twisting the blade, the action pushing the two disks further apart and tearing more nerve links; completely paralyzing White's rear half. Shield had managed to push himself over to Celestia and White in order to pull the knife out of White's back, the second he did Celestia's attention snapped to him.

"Oh, very, very noble of you... but nothing you can do will save either of you!" Celestia yelled as she drove the blade into Shield's chest, causing him to exclaim in agony, "I'm ending this here!"

Celestia pulled the blade from Shield's chest, taking his front legs in her magic and pulled him up against the wall of the cell, restraining his torso to prevent him from kicking her. She looked over at the shaking, bloodied figure of the White Stallion, one of his back legs twitching sporadically from the severe nerve damage she had inflicted. Celestia took White's neck in her magic and forced his head around to face her and Shield, forcing him to watch.

"P-please... don't kill me." Shield pleaded, his teary eyes locked onto Celestia's blade.

"Oh, how many times I pleaded to the three of you. 'Please don't hurt me anymore!', 'Please don't stab me anymore!'. How many times did you listen to me, hm!? Why should I show you any sort of mercy!?! Give me a single reason!!" Celestia screamed, rage flaming in her voice.

"I-I have a daughter... a-and a wife, p-please... I want to see them again..." Shield cried in response.

Celestia cocked her head, looking into Shield's eyes, "I'll make this quick for you."

With a single action, Celestia slashed the blade across Shield Arc's throat, his eyes widening as he tried to scream. The magical restraints around his limbs disappeared, Shield's body falling to the floor as blood squirted from the gash in his throat each time his heart beat, the blood now beginning to come from his mouth and nose.

"No! Shield!!" White Dust screamed, Celestia's magic stopping him from pulling himself towards his dying friend.

"Stop screaming so much!" Celestia barked as she tightened her grip, choking the White Stallion to the point where he couldn't speak.

She turned her head to see Shield writhing on the floor, his hooves at the gash in his throat as he attempted to stop the bleeding. Celestia turned herself away from White to face Shield, his eyes locking with hers as he bled to death.

"I'm sorry." Celestia spoke slowly.

His only response was to slowly shake his head from side to side, blood still flowing from the cut at a steady pace.

"D-do you actually think... killing us w-will make things better?" White mumbled.

"It will make things better. Only one thing stands between me... and my freedom." Celestia returned, beginning to stand up from her crouched position beside the body of Shield Arc.

After fully regaining her standing position, Celestia looked down at the crippled White Stallion that lay before her.

"W-what are you going... to do... once you leave, hm? Go back to being useless?" White commented.

Celestia threw her head back in laughter.

"Me? Useless? The entirety of Equestria is still intact because of myself. I have been alive for nearly two thousand years," She retorted, stepping closer to White.

"I have defeated every enemy that has stood in my path,"

Celestia raised her hoof above White's head, bringing the blade down onto the left side of his face.

"I have witnessed the rise and fall of entire nations!"

The knife was pulled from the bone and flesh, and brought back down in a similar spot,

"I have witnessed history before history was invented!"

The blade came back down again.

"I have learned more languages than any pony in existence!"

And again,

"I have created more spells than any pony in existence!!"

And again,

"I have ended wars!!"

And again,

"I have driven away invaders!!"

And again,

"I have met everyone and done everything you could think of!!!"

One final time, the blade stabbed into the horribly disfigured face of White Dust,

"So you tell me, how am I useless!!?"

Celestia's chest heaved with heavy breaths as she pulled the knife from the broken flesh and bone of the White Stallion's face, her eyes locked onto his single, undamaged eye, which still held the azure glow and slit-pupil appearance caused by the Aura. She slowly and painfully knelt down beside the nearly dead Stallion, his breathing slow and heavy.

"I w-want to know the truth... did my sister have you do this?" She asked slowly, her knife against White's throat.

The White Stallion gave a slow nod, the torn muscle and shattered bone of his mouth forming into a broken grin as blood poured from the multiple stab wounds. Immense pain and anger took over every emotion Celestia had left, her teeth clenching as she slashed across White's throat, several gurgles of blood coming from the new wound. White's front hooves did as Shield's had, and went to the slash in a futile attempt to stop the bleeding. Celestia took both his front hooves in her magic, pulling them away from his throat as she glared into his remaining eye, watching as small streams of blood squirted from his main blood vessel, the squirts synchronized with his rapid heartbeat.

With the last energy remaining in his body, White managed to cough a spray of blood onto Celestia's face, causing her to recoil back. After using a hoof to wipe away some of the blood, Celestia looked back in time to see as White Dust drew his terminal breath, the Aura's spell releasing its grip, White's remaining eye returning to its normal state of being as the last of his life faded.

A deathly silence fell over the room, the only sounds being left were Celestia's heavy breaths and the quiet tapping of her left hoof as she used the wounded limb to keep her balance. The extreme rage that had built up over the past while slowly subsided, the wish for the lives of the three who had held her captive to end began fading as she realized a horrible truth. The Aura the three received could have been removed, their minds were forced to hate her, it was not their own decision.

A feeling of horror, dread and sadness fell over Celestia as she took a few steps back from the two bodies before her, her eyes darting from the mentioned two bodies to the body of Red Hoof at the top of the stairs. Question after question queued in Celestia's mind as some of her sanity returned, and she was able to think past the horrible things that had happened over the previous time. Had the death of these three actually been necessary, especially after the fact that only one of them had done nearly all the damage?

Celestia's eyes landed directly on the horribly mutilated face of the former White Dust, blood now soaked into a large portion of his white fur coat. She had killed three ponies. She had never killed anyone before. She had taken three lives that did not have to be taken. She could have easily restrained them or knocked them out, but she had gone down a road she could not reverse from. A tear rolled down Celestia's bruised and blood-soaked cheek and her left hoof raised to cover her mouth as the reality of her actions occurred.

Shield Arc had pleaded for his life on the grounds that he had a family to return to, and in response she had slit is throat, ending the life of someone who had not necessarily done anything to her. Celestia's already wobbly and weak legs failed her as she collapsed onto the concrete floor, several heavy cries coming from her quivering lips, a horrible feeling sweeping over her emotions.

"W-why did I kill them?" Celestia whimpered to herself.

Her body and thoughts were paralyzed by a crippling emotional pain, the only thing she could accomplish was to lie and cry loudly over her actions.

Celestia stood on the short porch of her prison home, taking a deep breath of the cold, evening's air. That breath was a breath of freedom. The first breath of air she had drawn in since her ordeal began a month ago that did not string from the scent of blood. With her newly constructed crutch, heavy winter clothing, and pack of supplies, she ventured down the steps of the porch into the snow and trees beyond. She followed the evening sun south in hopes of finding Stalliongrad's capital; she had no clue how far she was from any other town, and she knew not where in the vast Black Forest she was.

Without a map, it was daunting. The home, despite containing enough food, water, and various other supplies to keep her going, had no maps. In the two dufflebags strapped to the same frame once used to carry firewood was everything she could imagine; more bandages, plenty of Morphine, chemlights, flashlights, a pot and pan. What she carried would take 3 soldiers to carry.

Even with the excess weight of her supplies and heavy clothing she was able to move somewhat comfortably thanks to the crutch she had fabricated out of a chair and duct tape. The two morphine injectors she had stabbed into her thigh also helped. Much to her enjoyment, she wasn't all that cold; either.

She had found the winter clothing the light blue stallion had worn when he went to gather firewood; a coat, special utility pants, boots, socks, a scarf, goggles, and a hat. Everything had to be enlarged with a special spell, but once that had been done everything fit quite well. Her doubled up coats and socks were like wearing a heavy blanket; it was rather comfortable.

She was like a walking camp ground. Along with her large bags sat a sleeping bag and a cast iron pan that was hung from the side of one of the duffles with some para cord. Such a bag would have been menial in the past, but with how weak and torn every muscle in her legs were, it made it quite a chore to carry everything. It was a chore she could handle, however; she was determined.

The tip of her scarf was taken by a spell and brought up to her goggles, wiping away the fog that had formed thanks to her breath. While they weren't all too useful currently, she knew the drastic nature of the Black Forest's winter weather. Getting caught in a blinding snow storm and not being able to keep her eyes open was something she didn't desire.

Celestia paused a moment, turning and looking through the trees at her distant prison.

"I should have burned that place to the ground..."