Trixie sat up in bed, covered in sweat. “Oh, thank the sisters!” She screamed, collapsing onto her pillow with relief. It was all just a dream! A horrific nightmare, twisted beyond anything she’d ever dreamt before, but still just a dream!

“No more cream puffs before bed for you, missy.” She mumbled to herself. Dearest Equestria, maybe she really was cracking from the self-imposed isolation. Maybe she would head into town today, do a little magic, impress the yokels…

“NNnnnnnggghhhh,” the groan echoed up through the tower, freezing her blood in her veins. “Please, Celestia and Luna, no.” She mumbled, trembling in fear. She didn’t need to be downstairs to know the groans were coming from the cellar. She stumbled down the stairs, all four knees quaking in fear. This time, she didn’t need a light to find the door, or a knife for a false sense of security. She slammed head-first through the door massive door in her cellar, stumbling down the steps while praying to every goddess she knew of that something different would lie in front of her. Something else, anything!

“Mommy?” A voice drifted up from the darkness.

Trixie stopped at the bottom of the stairs. There was the table. There was the trough. There was the horror she’d created. And there were the memories of long nights of terror and torture, depravity on a level never before fathomed by any pony’s mind.

A sob escaped her throat as she backed away from the table, inching towards the exact spot on the stone wall she had hit yesterday. Except this time, a squeak sounded through the cavern the moment her rump made contact. “What?” She turned around, confused, and nearly vomited at the sight of yet another horror. There, chained to the wall, kneeled the Element of Kindness, barbed wire wrapped around her neck, a gaping red hole where one of those gorgeous blue eyes had once been, her body blanketed with dozens of incisions. The knife she had left down there lay by one of the little yellow pony’s hooves, covered in blood so fresh it glistened in the dim light.

“Fu-Bluttershy?” She asked, horrified. The yellow one stirred.

“P-please Miss Trixie,” she moaned weakly. “I-I won’t tell anypony, just please, don’t hurt-“

“We had so much fun with her last night, didn’t we, Mommy?” Twilight cackled.

“Please no…” Trixie cried when a boom echoed from upstairs. “Oh, what now!?” Almost in response, a streak of rainbow rocketed through the door and down onto Trixie’s head. A powerful roundhouse kick cracked her in the jaw, sending her sprawling to the concrete floor.

“I got ‘er! I got-“somepony’s voice shrieked as two pairs of hooves slammed down onto Trixie’s chest. She opened her eyes to see the Element of Loyalty perched on her stomach, a shock of rainbow-colored hair in the fading light. The teal-blue pony had turned away from Trixie, looking in horror at the little splotch in the corner.

“Flu-Fluttershy?” She asked timidly.

“No, please, please, please…”

“Alraght, sugarcubes!” A voice called down to them as the Element of Honesty trotted into view, framed by the light coming through the doorway at the top of the steps. “Ah ain’t found nothin’ up here, but that don’t mean…” she spotted the table from her high perch even while the Element of Loyalty stayed focused on the yellow splotch that had once been their friend. “Twilight!” She gasped, shooting down the stairs at a full gallop, “Twilight! What happened to ya!? Twi!”

“Mommy dearest happened.” The thing that had once been a purple unicorn cackled.

“Heavens! What’s all the commotion about…” the Element of Generosity trotted into view at the top of the steps, took one look at the dungeon, and froze in horror, repeating the word over and over again as if it were a charm for returning her friends to normal: “…bout…out…out…out…”

“What didja do to Fluttershy, you sadistic FREAK!” Rainbow Dash grabbed Trixie by the shoulders and started shaking her violently, slamming her head against the ground over and over again.

“I don’t know!” Trixie sobbed as each blow sent another wave of pain through her head, “I don’t know!”

“Twilight, sugarcube, c’mon!”

“Mommy happened! She made me into Toy, isn’t that right, Mommy?”

“…out…out…out…out…”

“Please, I’ll do anything, just don’t…please…”

“SHUT UP!” Trixie screamed into the dungeon, her voice echoing against the walls. Suddenly, everypony fell silent, the little yellow pony’s sniffles becoming the only sound. The teal pegasus on top of her stomped her hooves in the ground by Trixie’s head and leaned in close, nostrils flaring with anger. “And what are you gonna do about it, huh?”

“I…” something smooth and wooden slid next to her hoof. Trixie didn’t need to look to know that it was the knife’s handle. Fresh tears sprouted into her eyes, “…I…”

“Huh!?” Suddenly, one of the pegasus’ hooves slammed against Trixie’s cheek, “Huh? WHAT’RE YOU GONNA DO!?”

“Rainbow, wait! I think she’s got somethin’ by her hoof!” The Applejack shrieked, but her cries fell on deaf ears. The pegasus was just too intent on hurting the one who had hurt her friends.

“WHAT’RE YOU GONNA DO, HUH!? WHAT’RE YOU GONNA DO!?”

Kill her. The voice whispered, speaking up for the first time that day. You know the spell.

“No.” Trixie sniffled.

“NO WHAT, HUH?” Another hoof cracked against Trixie’s skull. “NO, WHAT!?”

“Rainbow! Will y’just listen fer a danged…”

Pick up the knife and kill her!

“NO!”

“NO, WHAT!?” *crack.*

Do it or she will kill you! Use your magic, pick up the knife, and cut her open before she kills you! No more whispering, the voice was roaring into her mind now.

“I DON’T CARE!” Trixie screamed. “I DON’T CARE IF SHE KILLS ME, I AM NOT A MURDERER!”

Once again, everything fell silent. Everypony in the room suddenly turned their eyes on her, but it wasn’t their eyes. These were the eyes of something cold, something that evaluated and analyzed her every move. Something that regarded her as right around the same level as the soggy, lumpy oatmeal she had planned to eat for breakfast that day: something impossibly and horrifically intelligent. Even Twilight’s once insane eyes took the look on as they all said in perfect harmony, using the voice that until then had been content with only speaking inside her skull: “Weakling.”

Then everything went dark again.