If I ever manage to get out of here, then I’ll make sure that Trixie suffers.

It seems ironic now though. I’ve nearly escaped her grasp twice since she brought me here, using up the only two tricks available to me in this cramped little hell-hole.

The first time was the easiest to pull off – so I suppose that Trixie was expecting it, which would explain why it turned out the way it did. The second time was much more interesting… I managed to get so far…

I sit down at the piano, lifting up the lid to survey the yellow keys.

“Ugh.” I mutter, reaching up with one hand to play a high C octave, before progressively moving down to the bottom C. I then follow through with B, A, G, F, E and D, while Trixie approaches from the side to watch.

“What exactly are you playing, human?” She asks, a concerned look on her face as I start playing a progression of C#’s.

“I’m not playing.” I spit back rebelliously as I start on the A#’s. “I’m making sure this ugly thing is in tune.”

“Well, is it?”

I quickly test the rest of the black keys before responding. “Close enough.” I mumble, but I’m still angry. If this stupid mare is going to enslave me, then I’m going to make her life hell. “The high and top B’s are a little flat.”

“I don’t care.” Trixie’s face takes on a slightly irritated look. “Play.”

“Listen, I’m not going to-”

“Play!” Trixie snaps, and I feel the force of her magic in my mind.

Automatically, my hands whip up, and my mind races. What do I play? I could play-

“PLAY!”

My eyes flutter for a moment at the impulse being sent to my brain, and then I start to play, working my way through the piece that had been at the front of my mind a moment before – Fur Elise.

Trixie watches in fascination as my hands dance over the keys, captivated by the fluid hand movements of the deceptively simple piece. I myself barely focus on the song. It was one of the earlier ones I had learnt – the kind which I knew off-by-heart.

As I come to the end of the piece, I wonder if they have some sort of pony version of Beethoven here. Beethoofen, or Beethooven sound like suitable puns.

I finish the song, and look at Trixie, who is smiling wickedly.

“Excellent.” She chuckles. “This should work out wonderfully.”

‘I don’t like the sound of that.’

I sit on the floor of my cage. Trixie is gone, leaving me in this meagre pool of light.

Looking down at my hands, I wonder whether she would send me home if they were broken, or just ‘put me down.’

Shaking my head, I stand up and walk over to one of the cage walls, leaning against the bars to test their strength.

To my dismay, I find that the bars feel like they should – sturdy, thick and solid. Nothing I’d ever be able to get through.

“Fuck me.” I mutter, looking down at my clothes. The spell Trixie used to bring me here had ripped at them, turning them into a loose pile of tatters. Surely she won’t force me to play in these.

With a little sigh, I sit down on the piano stool, pointedly facing away from the piano. It’s the only chair I have – no back support either.

I can’t help but feel faintly amused at how I still note such trivialities as the piano stool not having any back support when I’m sitting in a cage with my broken nose visible to my right eye. You would have thought I would have stopped taking things for granted by now, but apparently that’s a mindset that is difficult to slip out of so quickly.

I’m sure it’ll be gone soon. There’s nothing to take for granted in this situation.

I look up at the ceiling, wondering what the source of light for this little cage is.

To my surprise, it’s a candle – which is odd, considering the light around me isn’t flickering. I can’t even guess why the light isn’t flickering, when the candle clearly is.

Half-heartedly, I pick up a small handful of the thin layer of straw on the ground, arrange it into a long clump, and throw it lengthways through the top bars at the candle.

To my complete surprise, the clump hits the flame dead on, and it goes out, enveloping me in darkness.

I sit there for a second, surprised at how perfectly that worked, before suddenly smiling.

It’s a stupid idea. It isn’t well thought out, and if it fails, then I have no clue how Trixie will react.

That bitch is going to have a little surprise waiting for her when she gets back.

The door opens, briefly letting light into the room, and then closes again.

I smile, crouching underneath the piano keyboard. I need to move fast, and I need to be convincing. If I’m silent, Trixie will most likely panic and ruin the plan.

I’ve had a bit of time to think this over. The plan seems okay in theory, but execution is tricky.

If I fail then there’ll probably be hell to pay, but I would be an idiot not to take my chance.

I hear the sound of tentative hoofsteps moving closer to the cage.

“H-hello?”

She’s scared? Oh, that fills me with glee. A tiny amount of revenge already – provided that wasn’t just a slight slip of the tongue. Maybe the darkness just surprised her.

I think I’ll just imagine Trixie as being scared.

I take a couple of breaths, and then groan. “Ugh…”

The hoofsteps stop, and Trixie speaks.

“Human? What are you doing?”

I groan again. “Ugh… Head…”

Trixie takes a few more steps towards the cage, close to the door now. Her horn lights up, as does the lock to the cage door. Of course, she doesn’t open it. She’s checking to make sure it’s locked.

This works fine. It illuminates her face ever so slightly, while leaving me shrouded in the pitch-black darkness. It gives me something to watch, and track what’s happening.

I smile again at how well this is working, before groaning again. “I… the light…” I start to crawl closer to the cage door taking care not to make more noise than Trixie.

Another groan slips out of my mouth, slightly quieter so that she doesn’t realise that I’m moving closer.

Trixie herself moves slightly closer to the cage, peering in. Of course, even if the room wasn’t completely pitch black she still wouldn’t be able to see with her horn shining in her eyes. It seems unbelievably stupid to me. How is she falling for such a harebrained idea?

I grin again, before letting out one more groan. It’s time for the big finale.

“What happened, human?”

I don’t respond, slowly rising to a kneeling position.

Carefully and quietly, I reach down my throat, one finger extended, and prod my uvula.

Almost instantly, I gag, letting out a choked groan as my stomach heaves.

"Human?"

The job not finished, I once again poke my uvula, and then quickly pull my hand out of my mouth as my gag reflex kicks in, and my stomach heaves violently.

I vomit, making sure to spray it at Trixie. As unpleasant and disgusting as it is, this is the most important part of my deception.

"Clop!" Trixie reels back as my vomit splatters her hoofs, giving out a shout of surprise, while I start moaning loudly.

“Oh god… Ugh!” I start complaining vocally, cringing over as Trixie rushes to a corner of the room, and then returns with an object – which is quickly revealed to be a lantern.

The cage is flooded with light as the lantern comes to life, and Trixie’s magic unlocks the cage door.

I redouble my performance, holding my stomach while keeping my face planted against the ground, moaning loudly. My mouth tastes like crap, but it’ll be worth it if this pays off.

It had been going well, but it was too much to hope that Trixie would just walk in here without a light source. It’s good enough that she’s in the cage, and hopefully that should be enough.

At least she’s in my reach.

Trixie approaches, still hesitant, while I wait for the perfect time to strike.

I wait until she is actually throwing a shadow over me.

“Human, tell me what is-”

I uncurl, rising to one knee and reaching out with both hands.

“Fuck you!” I shout, grasping Trixie by the chin and horn, before slamming her head into the ground.

She stumbles away as I release her, cursing loudly at the pain and releasing her magical grip on the lantern

I get to my feet and make a break for the cage door, arms pumping as the lantern drops to the floor, shifting the lighting in the room dramatically.

I race through it, nearly slipping in the small puddle of vomit outside the cage.

"Shit!" I curse as I manage to regain my balance and keep running out into the room, making a break for the door.

My hand reaches out, ready to grasp the handle even as I vaguely acknowledge the light in the room shifting once more, and the area around me starting to get brighter.

Something blind-sides me. Something metallic, and hot.

The lantern.

I collapse face-first against the door of the room, shouting in agony as my nose impacts with the wood while the back of my head continues to get hotter.

Did she really just do that?

I flop to the ground, slightly dazed as the sound of Trixie's hooves reach my ears. It isn’t helped that I once again land on my face, bringing another jolt of stabbing pain to my nose.

“No!” The shout escapes my lips as a force envelopes my legs, dragging me away from the door. “NO-NO!”

The force flips me over, and I find myself staring at my captor, an angry welt on one side of her head, and an enraged glare in her eyes.

“Yes.” She growls, one vomit stained hoof coming down and striking me in the face.

My head spins as Trixie attacks again, slamming her hoof into my face again and again, attacking the nose, mouth and cheeks.

She keeps it up for a good two minutes, beating me until my eyes are swollen to the point that I can barely see, and blood trickles out of the corners of my mouth.

And then she stops, holding me in place with her hooves.

Through my punch-drunkenness, I wonder what Trixie is doing, until I see the wicked and enraged gleam in her eyes.

Then it hits me. My head is feeling even hotter than before…

And Trixie threw a lantern at me.

The first of the flames reach my scalp, and I start to scream.