As the sun went down after the first day of Sky’s torment, a lone locomotive hissed to a stop inside the underground platform. Daybreak stepped out onto the asphalt with her little dragon pet in tow, a worried frown etched into her normally cheerful face. She ascended the stairs, glancing around the silent atrium with a frustrated huff.

“You’re late,” came a voice from an overhanging balcony.

“Traffic was terrible,” Daybreak replied cooly, smiling a humourless smile as she stared up at her coltfriend. “Did you get her?”

“She’s in custody now, yes,” Stronghooves replied, trotting down the stairs and embracing the earth pony. “She won’t be causing any more trouble for you or anypony else.”

“That’s good,” Daybreak whispered, letting out a soft sigh. “What about her boyfriend?”

“Dead,” Stronghooves replied. “He wouldn’t stop fighting, even though I explained the situation to him as honestly as I could. I...had to put him down. He forced my hoof. I’m...sorry…”

“So am I,” Daybreak said softly, squeezing him a little tighter. “Don’t worry, now that we’ve got Sky in custody, we can focus on other stuff like going on dates, right?”

“Well, Shield is handling most of Sky’s rehabilitation, so I should have plenty of free time,” Stronghooves said, smiling down at his marefriend. His grin faded when he spotted her worried expression. “Daybreak...what’s the matter?”

“Nothing...it’s just...when I was hunting them through the woods, her boyfriend...said some stuff to me. I guess he kind of got into my head a little bit.”

“Oh?” Stronghooves asked with a frown, watching her until she continued.

“Just...do you mind if I see her for myself?”

Stronghooves hesitated, biting his lip and looking away.

“I...I’m concerned that that might disrupt the rehabilitation process.” He said quietly. “I mean, you certainly aren’t a negative influence, of course, but she’s currently very unstable.”

“Hoovesie, please. I have to see what I’m dealing with.”

Though Stronghooves attempted to avoid Daybreak’s burning gaze, he simply couldn’t escape the accusing look she gave him. Finally, with a laboured sigh, he relented.

“Come on, then,” he said resignedly. “Just be prepared. She’s quite...er...unstable right now.”

Daybreak followed the enormous stallion as he led her down into the detention level of the facility, a floor once dedicated to containing failed test subjects in the Operatives Programme. Every room on this floor was sealed with a massive bulkhead that could only be opened from the outside, designed to magically repel impacts from inside to deter would-be escapees. Each bulkhead had a toughened glass screen set into it, allowing ponies to see into the containment chambers. When Daybreak looked into Sky’s cell, however, she looked away just as quickly and gagged a little.

“What the hell did you do to her?” She gasped.

“Nothing that she didn’t bring on herself,” Stronghooves answered evenly. “Daybreak, what you have to understand about Sky is that she is very mentally ill, and it takes drastic measures to get through to her. She doesn’t respond to normal treatment like everypony else does.”

Daybreak peeked through the screen again. Before her hung Sky, suspended by her forehooves from the ceiling, and she was quite a wreck indeed. She sported a black eye where Shield had struck her, tear-tracks running down her cheeks and blood caked across the fur of her inner thighs. Her belly was distended and bruised, and there were bald patches all over her wings where her feathers had been torn out and strewn across the floor. The blood on her thighs was itself caked with something bone white that Daybreak recognised too well. Worst of all was how motionless she was. The only movement Daybreak could detect was that of Sky’s chest as she drew weak, ragged breaths.

“How ill was she that it took that to get through to her?” Daybreak whispered spitefully. “What did Shield have to say about this?”

“He was outspoken,” Stronghooves admitted. “He tried to stop me, and I had to put him in his place. He didn’t have the strength to deal with what Sky had forced us to do, so I had to convince him using unconventional methods. Why, is there a problem?”

Daybreak met Stronghooves’s gaze for the first time, her ears flattened against her skull as she mulled the situation over. The meaning behind Stronghooves’s words was clear; if Daybreak tried to argue with him, she’d suffer whatever strange fate had befallen Shield. The mare glanced between Sky and Stronghooves, weighing up her options. There really was no way for her to win a fight with him, not when he could control other Operatives like her. Casting away her enhancements would only make her vulnerable, too. It really did seem hopeless.

“No,” she said finally. “There’s no problem at all. I just...hadn’t seen anypony treat someone this way before. I’m sure that you know what you’re doing.”

She offered him a smile, though her ears still were still splayed right back. Stronghooves, apparently satisfied, returned the smile and placed a hoof on Daybreak’s shoulder.

“Don’t worry, sweetheart. We’ll make everything all right,” he promised. “We’ll get Sky better, and you and I will live happily ever after. We’re the good guys, remember?”

“Yeah...yeah, of course,” Daybreak scoffed, as if such a thing was obvious. “I’m sure it was just Rat trying to trick me or something.”

“Well, don’t worry, Daybreak,” Stronghooves said kindly. “It could have happened to anypony. After all, lies and trickery are how burglars like Sky and Rat operate. It’s how they win over law abiding ponies like you and me, spreading doubt about the morality of what we’re doing. Trust me, though, this is for the good of you, Sky and myself.”

Daybreak smiled up at him once more, rubbing her cheek against his own and closing her eyes.

“Of course,” she said softly. “You’re right, Hoovesie. You may be unconventional, but of course you’re right…”

“Go and get some rest, Daybreak,” Stronghooves replied, giving her one last nuzzle. “You and your little dragon friend look exhausted after that trip, and who could blame you? Don’t worry, when this is all over, I’ll make certain that the Princesses give you two full credit for everything you’ve done.”

That’s what I’m afraid of… thought Daybreak, as she trotted off upstairs in search of her quarters. She scooped Silver onto her back without a second thought, ignoring his protests as she carried him up through the white concrete facility.

“This is sick,” Daybreak growled, storming into her chosen bedroom and kicking the door closed behind her. “This is sick and wrong and...bloody...unjust! I mean, I know that Sky’s annoying, and I know that those two have history, but nothing justifies this kind of treatment!”

“I don’t know about that,” Silver ventured, hopping off of her back onto a four-poster bed and shrugging. “I mean, she’s done an awful lot of damage, and she’s just about the most psychotic criminal in Canterlot at the moment...with a few exceptions, anyway.”

“Did you see her, though?” Daybreak asked, slumping onto the bed next to the baby dragon and launching him across the room. “Look, I’m all for justice and making criminals feel better, but you and I both know that that’s not what’s happening. It’s rape and torture and it’s…wrong.”

“Well, what if she becomes a better pony for it? I mean, you know she’s insane, right?” Silver offered, rubbing his head and hauling himself back to his feet. He was still struggling with the whole “bipedal” thing.

“Maybe,” Daybreak muttered, “but her brother’s just as bad...maybe worse. Rat was right...he was right about everything.”

“Really? You’re going to trust a burglar over your own coltfriend?” Silver asked, clambering back onto the bed. “Daybreak, she’s dangerous, that mare! If she remains free, she could do all sorts of horrible things, such as, to take a purely random example, turn up-and-coming billionaires into baby dragons out of spite.”

“Yeah, but between mischief and torture, I think I’m gonna take the lesser of two evils.” Daybreak argued, rolling her eyes. “I’ve seen Sky’s list of crimes. They don’t justify this, little buddy.”

“Debatable.”

“You’re impossible,” Daybreak huffed, rolling onto her back and kicking her hooves in the air. “Stronghooves can’t get away with this. There’s gotta be some way to stop this bullshit.”

“I thought you wanted to support getting his family back together,” Silver pointed out.

“And this is going to do it? No, best case scenario is that Stronghooves ends up with an emotionally dead wreck of a sister with Stockholm Syndrome, and he keeps thinking that it’s okay to bully and torture ponies to get what he wants.”

Silver regarded Daybreak curiously for a time, tilting his head. “So...you want to screw over Stronghooves, the guy who more or less single-hoofedly tore apart my company and killed my father?”

Daybreak looked back, tilting her own head in confusion. “Company?”

“Never mind,” Silver said hurriedly. “Look, I was going to argue with you some more, but...you know something, Daybreak? You’re right! You should totally set Sky free and take Stronghooves down! Now, if only there was a way for you to get him out of the facility so that you could have free reign. I mean, he could easily just control you like any other Operative, right?”

“Exactly,” Daybreak said with a frown. “We’ve gotta be smart about this if we’re gonna get away with it.”

“So what, we have to think like Sky?” Silver chuckled mirthlessly. “The irony isn’t lost on me. Tell you what, I can go out and find out what Shield’s up to, and we could see exactly what Stronghooves is planning.”

“Do you think you could get away with it?” Daybreak asked. “I mean, if he catches you…”

“If he catches me, I can deny everything. After all, you’re rather ditzy when it comes down to it, so I can merely claim that you misplaced me and I went looking for snacks.” Silver said with a sly grin.

Daybreak scooped the little dragon into a great big squeezy hug, crushing the air out of his lungs as she pulled him right up close to her fluffy chest.

“You’re a good friend, Daybreak Junior…” She whispered, giving him a little kiss on the forehead.

Silver struggled and squirmed in her tight grip, powerless to resist her as she smooched him and hugged him until he could barely breathe. Still, he had to admit that there was something...nice about being cuddled like this.

“So...so are you,” he croaked, finally pulling himself out from between her forehooves and looking up at his caregiver with a weird smile. “Now...let’s see if I can help you with this frankly ridiculous plan.”

He made to clamber off of the bed, but paused when he caught Daybreak’s gaze. She looked so very relieved and happy to have a friend like him to help out. His expression softened a little as he shuffled closer, wrapping Daybreak in his arms and giving her a peck on the muzzle.

“You’re a good pony,” he admitted. “Mad, but good.”

And with that, he hopped off of the bed and sauntered out of the room in search of Shield and Stronghooves.

Stronghooves sat by Sky for what seemed like forever, taking her chin in his hoof and tilting her head this way and that. Apparently satisfied, he let her go for a few moments, letting her feel his presence before before finally speaking.

“I feel that I haven’t been completely honest with you, Sky,” he said solemnly. “One of the drugs we gave you when your treatment began was actually fertility formula, and a very powerful one at that.”

Sky said nothing.

“I’ve taken the liberty of reading through your diary while you were out,” Stronghooves continued. “You’ve been stricken with fertility problems in the past, though why you’d bear another filly after what happened to the last one is quite beyond me.”

Sky said nothing.

“Still, I suppose that problem’s been solved now,” Stronghooves said with a chuckle, holding up a pregnancy test. “Guess who’s going to be a mother as well as a sister?”

Sky glanced up at the pregnancy test, cringing at the positive reading on it. Still, she said nothing, lowering her head and letting out a quiet sigh.

A kid...I can’t believe it, of all the ways to get pregnant, it had to be this one…now I have to get away. I’ve got a reason to get away. Got to get out of here before…

“Before what?” Stronghooves asked, speaking inside her very mind. “Before you get this little foal of yours hurt as well? What if I told you that it was already too late for that?”

“Hoovesie...please...just give me this…” Sky whispered, nearly inaudibly.

“Oh, I see. This is what makes you beg? I’m sorry, Sky, but you see, if you want the privilege of having foals, you have to earn it. You have to be responsible.” Stronghooves said, setting aside the pregnancy test and raising one big heavy forehoof.

“I...I am responsible,” Sky sniffed. “Please, Hoovesie...don’t hurt me anymore...please...I’ll do anything.”

“But don’t you see, Sky? I’m hurting you because I love you! You can’t learn a lesson without a little pain, and sometimes becoming a better you means losing the things you hold dear. That’s the only way to make the punishment stick.”

And with that, he slammed a hoof directly into Sky’s midsection, crushing her diaphragm and knocking the wind out of her. Sky gulped, wheezing for the longest time as she tried to get air back in her strained lungs, and when she looked up again, Shield stood with her as well.

“A few blows from two large stallions are traditionally enough to cause a miscarriage in expecting mothers,” Stronghooves continued almost casually. “That’s a shame. I suspect that with good training, you could have become a very good mother. You just had to go out of your way to upset me, didn’t you?”

“No...I’ll earn it...I swear...just don’t…” Sky began, but she was struck dumb as Shield slammed a hoof into her belly as well. The mare slumped, struggling to breathe under heavy duress as each stallion began taking turns punching her in the stomach. With each impact, the bruises ran deeper and deeper, first to her flesh, then to her stomach and diaphragm, and finally to her uterus itself. Sky wanted to beg, to scream out and claim that she was totally subservient, that she’d do whatever it took to make the pain stop, but she could barely breathe, let alone speak. She bowed her head once more, spasming in her chains as Stronghooves and Shield blackened her belly and crushed her innards, and before long, a trickle of blood ran from her marehood once more. Only then did Stronghooves draw his hoof back and let his sister breathe.

“Don’t be sad, Sky,” Stronghooves said to the whimpering wreck before him. “You’ll have a foal someday! After all, won’t a unicorn look ever so much prettier?”

Sky glared at him, but she’d only just opened her mouth to speak before Shield punched her in the face once more, giving her a black eye to match her other one.

“Proper unicorns don’t talk back to their betters, Sky,” Stronghooves warned, patting her on the head. “Don’t worry, naturally we’ll see to it that you are taught the etiquette and finer points of unicorn life before you become one yourself.”

Sky looked away, too focussed on trying to fight through the pain to do anything else. Stronghooves’s words crept into her head nonetheless, becoming indistinguishable from her own thoughts, every bit as real.

“Sky,” he whispered, as his associate slipped a metal collar over her head and clamped it around her neck. “What are you?”

“What...what do you mean, what am I?” Sky asked. “I’m…”

“Stronghooves slammed a cable into the metal collar, sending powerful electric shocks across her nerve clusters and firing off every pain node in her body. Sky let out a breathless scream, her fur scorching and charring in places. Stronghooves watched her convulse and squirm for a few moments before disconnecting the cable and smiling at her.

“Electroshock therapy,” he explained to the smoking pony, “is ideal for changing your perception of reality to something a little more...sane. Now, I’m going to ask you some questions, and I want you to answer them appropriately, or you’ll receive more shocks until you give the correct answer. Firstly...is Shadow alive?”

“Ye...yes…” Sky whispered, looking up at him and absolutely glaring. She didn’t get another word out before Stronghooves connected the cable once more, laying bare the little pegasus’s skeleton for a few moments as borderline lethal shocks of electricity tore through her body.

“NOOOOOO!” Sky screamed, the second she had air in her lungs. “NOOOO! I WAS WRONG! SHE’S DEAD! PLEASE...PLEASE...SHE’S DEAD!”

“And why is she dead, Sky?” Stronghooves asked, pacing around her.

“Because...BECAUSE OF ME!” Sky wailed, tears streaming down her cheeks as her limbs jerked against their restraints. The steel shackles rubbed the fur from her legs, leaving her with raw, reddened skin that stung almost as badly as the shocks.

“And how did that happen, Sky?” Stronghooves asked, grinning.

“I...was a bad sister...to both of you…” Sky whispered, slumping again as Stronghooves disconnected the cable once more.

“You were more than just a bad sister, Sky. You were an abysmal sister. A traitor, a liar, a wreck.” He snarled, coming closer and lifting her head up to look him in the eye. “You’re a criminal, and that lifestyle has killed Shadow, Rat and, I suppose, that unborn foal you were carrying not ten minutes ago.”

“I...I’ll be good…” Sky whispered. “I’ll be good from now on...please...I’ll be a good little sister from now on...just...just don’t hurt me anymore.”

“Oh, good!” Stronghooves chuckled. “We’re making progress, see? Now...how do you feel about becoming a pretty little unicorn instead of a wounded pegasus?”

He reconnected the cable before Sky even had a chance to speak, and once again the room filled with screams and the stench of burned fur and scorched flesh.

Outside, standing on the bulkhead to peer inside, stood a little baby dragon on a mission, keeping his ears open for every aspect of Stronghooves’s plan that the stallion cared to expose.

“That’s a difficult transformation,” Silver muttered to himself. “Daybreak can probably use that…”

And with that, he hopped off of the bulkhead and charged off toward the residential chambers. There was much to prepare.