//------------------------------//
// Chapter 20 (Part 2): "The Truth Revealed." (Violence/Graphic Warning) 
// Story: A Pop Star, a Princess, and a Prisoner 
// by Raptormon132 
//------------------------------//

Everyone in the crowd that was inside the town hall soon uncovered their eyes. To everyone's surprise, they found themselves inside of another building instead of the town hall. Everyone quickly realized that they were inside Sugarcube Corner. One mare in the crowd turned to see a little filly rushing towards her laughing happily. She got a jump when the filly went right through her, instead of colliding with her. Everyone turned their heads to the direction where the little filly ran off to, only to see a large group of ponies having a party. Many of them gasped, for it was themselves they were seeing. Then, standing next to a table of treats and a bowl of punch, they all see a familiar dark brown earth pony stallion with a grey mane and tail. Abacus turned around, revealing his unscarred, handsome face. He smiled, as he was looking at Pinkie Pie in the crowd.

"Hey, Pinkie Pie." Abacus said.

Pinkie Pie waved. "Hi, Abacus."

Suddenly, another Pinkie Pie went right through the real Pinkie Pie, and bounced right over to Abacus while carrying a tray of freshly baked treats on top of her head. "Hi, Abacus. Care for a custard tart?"

Abacus nodded. "Oh yes, thank you, Pinkie."

Pinkie Pie tilted her head in both confusion and amazement at seeing a copy of herself interacting with Abacus. She moved closer over to her copy for a closer look. "Hey, what am I doing over there?" She tried to touch herself with her hoof, only to have her hoof go right through herself. "And I just went right through myself." She then reached out to try and grab the treats on the tray, with the same result of her hoof going right through it. "Hey, what gives?"

"These are shadows of memories of the past," Luna said. "Things that have already happened."

Pinkie Pie blinked. "Really?"

Past Abacus eats a custard tart. "Mmm. These are the best custard tarts you've made so far, Pinkie."

Past Pinkie Pie smiled. "Thanks." She turned her head. "Oh! Hi, Tiger Lily."

Everyone turned to the direction Past Pinkie Pie was looking, to see a beautiful, light brilliant tangelo colored unicorn mare, with a light brilliant vermilion and green striped mane and tail. Some were beginning to tear up, for it was Tiger Lily herself. They watched as Tiger Lily came over to Past Abacus and Past Pinkie.

"Hello, Pinkie," Tiger Lily said. "Is the special cake ready?"

Past Pinkie Pie nodded. "Yes, indeedy! Shall I bring it out now?"

Tiger Lily nodded. "Yes, please. I think it's time to reveal the surprise."

"Surprise?" Abacus asked. "I wasn't told about any surprise."

Tiger Lily turned to Abacus. "Well, funny enough, the surprise is actually for you, Abi."

Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Applejack's eyes widened, for they all now recognized what memory they were looking at.

"Oh, my goodness," Rarity said. "I remember this."

Pinkie Pie bounced. "Ooh, ooh, I remember too! This is when Tiger Lily organised that party to surprise Abacus."

Applejack took her hat off in respect. "The surprise was ta tell him that she was pregnant."

"And he was going to be a father." Fluttershy said. 

"Everypony! May I have your attention please?!" Everyone at the party turned to Tiger Lily as she called out for their attention and stayed quiet. "Thank you. I have a big announcement to make, and it's also a surprise for all of you." She looked at Abacus. "But more so for you, Abi." She turned back to everyone else. "And it pleases me to know that the efforts to keep this surprise a secret was not wasted."

Tiger Lily turned everyone's attention at the party to a direction. They turned to see Pinkie Pie bring out a cake on a trolley. The cake was big and white, with a white bassinet made of hard cake icing decorated on the top. Abacus was confused looking at the cake, until his face shifted to surprise, and turned to Tiger Lily.

"Lily...are you..."

Tiger Lily placed a hoof on Abacus. "I got the results from Dr Stallion last week." She smiled. "We're going to have a baby."

Abacus's face lit up with joy, as a couple of tears of joy escaped his eye. "I'm going to be a father! This is the best surprise ever!"

Abacus laughed with joy, and he and Tiger Lily embraced each other. Everyone at the party cheered with delight, as Abacus and Tiger Lily shared a kiss. The crowd watching the events of the party of the past looked on with mix feelings. Then the area around them suddenly began to evaporate like smoke as it began to change to another time and location.







The location soon changed to a kitchen inside of a house during the day time. There, they see Abacus and Tiger Lily were standing in the kitchen. They were watching a pale, light grayish brown earth stallion with a dark tangeloish gray mane and tail, and wearing workers overalls working on a power socket at the back of the refrigerator. The stallion wrapped electrical tap around the wires connected to the power socket, and pushed the power socket back into the wall, before screwing it in. After he plugged the refrigerator into the wall, he got up from the floor, and wiped his forehead with a handkerchief.

"Well, that's it, Abacus, Tiger Lily," The stallion said. "Could you turn the power back on?"

Abacus nodded. "Sure."

Abacus walked to the main power switch inside a lower cupboard on the other side of the kitchen. He then flicked the main switch to turn on the power, and the refrigerator began to quietly hum.

The stallion smiled. "Well, the power socket has been replaced, and the wires have been fixed, so they shouldn't give you anymore trouble. I'll send you the bill tomorrow."

"Thank you very much, Mr Socket." Tiger Lily said.

Light Socket smiled. "No trouble at all."

Abacus came over to the refrigerator with Light Socket. "Let me help you with the refrigerator."

Abacus and Light Socket got on both sides of the refrigerator, and pushed it back into its space in the kitchen. Light Socket went to pack up his electrician tools and parts from the kitchen floor, and put them into his toolbox. Many in the crowd looked in confusion as to why they were being shown that part of Abacus's memory. Then like the previous memory, the area around them began to evaporate like smoke, and began to change to another time and location.







The next memory takes them to the same house of Abacus and Tiger Lily, but to night time a few days later.

"That time you're looking at is the very night Tiger Lily died." Celestia said.

The crowd watched as they see Abacus and Tiger Lily enter the bedroom, and went towards the bed. After closing the bedroom door, they each got into their bed, and got comfortable. Tiger Lily sighed happily, getting Abacus's attention.

"Lily," Abacus said. "You alright?"

Tiger Lily smiled. "Of course I am, Abi. Nothing to worry about."

Abacus sighed. "I'm sorry, Lily."

"I know," Tiger Lily said. "You're just concerned for my well being, as well as the baby." She put a hoof on Abacus's hoof. "It shows how much you care. I know you'll be a really caring father to our child."

"And I'm really excited about it." Abacus sighed. "It's just... Well, the thing is Lily... I... I'm sort of scared too. You see, I never had a father, so being one is going to be a challenge and unknown thing for me. I even recently borrowed some books on fatherhood that I've been reading to help me get prepared, and-"

Tiger Lily placed a hoof on Abacus's mouth to silence him, and smiled and chuckled sweetly. "Oh, Abi. You're so silly. Fatherhood isn't something you read in books, it's something that comes from within, just like motherhood." She took her hoof off of Abacus's mouth and shared a kiss with him. "Abi. I'm glad you told me. I was a bit worried at first too, because of the fact I didn't grow up with real parents. But it passed when I realized that I have you with me, and you have me. We'll work through all this together."

Abacus smiled. "I guess you're right. I guess talking about it really does help."

Tiger Lily yawned. "It does. But we'll talk about it more in the morning. Let's get some sleep."

"Sure, honey." Abacus turned the bedside lamp off, and lay down in bed under the covers next to Tiger Lily. "Good night, Lily."

"Good night, Abi." Tiger Lily said cuddling up to Abacus. "See you in the morning."

The crowd watched as Abacus and Tiger Lily went to sleep in their bed together. They were just going to sleep when there was a sudden noise that sounded like a window smashing that woke them both up.

"What was that?" Tiger Lily asked.

"I don't know." Abacus got up out of bed, and walked quietly over to the bedroom door. "But I'll go check."

Abacus slowly and cautiously opened the door, and peered through it. His eyes widened with shock when he saw and smelled smoke, as well as fire light glowing off the walls.

"Fire!" Abacus turned to Tiger Lily. "Our house is on fire!"

"Oh, no!" Tiger Lily jumped out of bed quickly. "Let's get out!"

Abacus pointed to the bedroom window and ran to it. "Quick, the window!"

Just before they reached the bedroom window to escape, a burning wooden beam fell through the ceiling from the roof, and obstructed the window, preventing Abacus and Tiger Lily's chance of escape.

"We'll have to escape through the front door," Tiger Lily said. "Keep low and move!"

Abacus and Tiger Lily went down low to the floor, and began to crawl. They exited the bedroom, and moved down the halls that lead to the living room. The fire had spread to the roof, and the whole house was full of smoke. They soon reached the living room and soon approached the small hallway that lead to the front door.

“Come on, honey!" Abacus coughed. "There’s the door!”

They reached the door, and Tiger Lily opened it widely with her magic. Suddenly, another burning wooden beam fell through the ceiling from the roof. It landed on top of Tiger Lily, pinning her down just before they were safely out.

Tiger Lily reached out to Abacus. “Abi! Help!”

“Hang on, Lily!" Abacus said.

Abacus got up and tried to lift the beam up off of Tiger Lily to free her, but the beam was too heavy, and was hot. He looked up at the smoking, burning roof, for there was a creaking noise coming from there. "Oh no!” He gasped for he realized that the roof was going to collapse at any moment.

Tiger Lily looked at the ceiling, and then at Abacus. She then knew that there was no way Abacus could get her out by himself, and that the roof was going to crash on top of them, killing both of them. She looked into Abacus's eyes, as he struggled to free her. Abacus looked back at her, and Tiger Lily smiled lovingly at him.

“I love you, Abi.” Tiger Lily said.

Before Abacus realized anything, Tiger Lily shoved Abacus out the door with her hooves with all her might, making him fall backwards on to the ground outside the house. Then there was a loud crack, and the whole burning ceiling collapsed on top of her. Abacus got up to just see the burning roof collapse completely into the inferno.

“NO!!!!!!!!!”

The crowd gasped with shock at the memory they saw, as the memory showing Abacus crying and screaming evaporated like smoke, and the area began to stay neutral. There was a brief silence, with those few in the crowd who believed Abacus was innocent beginning to cry at witnessing Tiger Lily's brave, selfless sacrifice for themselves.

"That's not how it happened," Lady Justice said. "This is a lie!"

"THE PRINCESS OF THE NIGHT NEVER LIES!!"

Lady Justice cringed before Luna's booming royal Canterlot voice. Luna conjured the part of the memory back to the time before the fire started. The crowd found themselves in the same house, at the same time, but found themselves in the kitchen.

Luna pointed at the refrigerator. "Behold, where the trouble started!"

The crowd watched the refrigerator as they could hear Abacus and Tiger Lily's conversation in bed. They suddenly saw white sparks flash behind the refrigerator right when Tiger Lily said "Oh, Abi. You're so silly.". It then followed by smoke rising with a soft zapping pop, and fire light glowing from behind the refrigerator. The fire crept up the wall, and spread round the kitchen burning everything and reached through the ceiling, lighting the roof on fire. The fire continued to burn as it reached the kitchen window, causing the glass on the window to burst, which is what woke up Abacus and Tiger Lily. They soon heard Abacus shout "Fire! Our house is on fire!" just as the area evaporated like smoke, and stayed neutral.

"Now do you see? This is what truly happened." Luna turned to Lawful Eye. "Lawful Eye, may you explain?"

Lawful Eye nodded and turned to the crowd. "The fire was a result of an electrical fire caused by a faulty wire in the kitchen wall near the refrigerator. Most likely from a power socket."

Luna looked amongst the crowd until her eyes gazed at one certain pony. "Can you explain that, Mr Light Socket?"

Everyone turned to Light Socket, the local Ponyville electrician pony, causing him to stammer confusedly and nervously. "I don't understand. I checked the switch, the wires and everything. How could have that power socket I replaced started the fire?"

"The wires that were connected to the power socket in the wall were exposed, which caused them to overload, and catch fire." Lawful Eye said. 

Light Socket blinked in confusion. "But I checked the wires correctly. And it was working perfectly. How could it have not overload and caught fire when I turn it on straight away?"

"There is a logical explanation." Lawful Eye adjusted her glasses. "When you inserted the replaced power socket back into the wall, the wires rested against the inside of the wall. Inside the wall, they must've been held in place because there was an exposed nail, and had unknowingly pierced through the electrical tape. That nail would've been the only thing preventing the wires from touching each other, until the tape eventually gave in, making the wires come loose, causing the wires to touch each other with other wires when hitting the inside of the wall. Therefore causing an overload, and to catch fire."

One pony spoke out. "So are you saying that Light Socket killed Tiger Lily?" 

"Not exactly," Lawful Eye said. "It was an unforeseen event that occasionally happens to any professional in any field. I am not accusing Light Socket of killing her. It was an unlucky, unfortunate occurrence that very rarely happens. He was very thorough with his work, but sometimes these things can happen, and it wasn't his fault."

Another pony spoke out. "But how did the fire spread to the roof so quickly?"

"Again, there is an explanation for that." Lawful Eye cleared her throat. "As the fire was burning from inside the walls, super-heated air, along with sparks, and embers from the fire spread and flowed to the inside of the roof. This caused the wood and insulation in the roof to ignite in different places."

The crowd was stunned, speechless at the evidence Lawful Eye presented to them. Twilight and the rest of the Main Six were amazed. They had never thought to see Lawful Eye's detective and lawyer skills in action, for it felt like she was giving evidence in court. The newspaper did specifically say that Lawful Eye was known for her observant and analytical mind, and now seeing it first hand, they knew that it was all definitely true.

Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rarity came forward. "Now do y'all see?! Abacus was innocent as we all been tellin' ya!"

"Abacus wouldn't hurt a fly." Fluttershy said.

Rarity nodded. "He was a real gentlecolt."

Lady Justice scowled. "Not so fast!" She turned to Lawful Eye. "How can you possibly prove this?! The investigation team from Canterlot already proved that Abacus lit the fire himself with kerosene! It was premeditated murder!"

"THAT WAS A LIE!" Luna's eyes glowed as she spoke in her booming royal Canterlot voice, with the area beginning to glow and change once again. "BEHOLD!"







The area began to stop glowing, and the crowd found themselves in another location. The area had changed to the inside of the Ponyville district court house. The crowd saw themselves and knew straight away that this was Abacus's trial, at the time his verdict was handed.

"All rise," A bailiff pony said. "District court now back in session! Judge Lady Justice presiding to deliver the verdict."

Lady Justice came out and sat down on the judges bench. She sorted the court papers, and cleared her throat, as she glared at Abacus.

"Abacus Sum. Please stand." Lady Justice watched as Abacus stood up at her order. "Do you have anything to say before I deliver my verdict?"

Abacus nodded as he sadly pleaded for mercy. "Yes. I didn't kill Lily. The investigation team are wrong, it's all a mistake. I loved her, and I always wanted to be a father. I'd never do anything to hurt her. Please believe me? You and Mayor Mare are my friends. You know I wouldn't kill anypony. Please. You have to believe me."

Lady Justice sighed and thought for a moment. "Abacus Sum. Your pleas for mercy sound and seem very innocent, and genuine." She looked up at Abacus with an angry glare. "But I and the rest of this court see it as nothing more than an act from a very greedy, deceptive, cold-blooded murderer!"

Abacus shook his head defiantly. "No! It's not true!"

Lady Justice smacked the gavel. "Silence in the court!" She put the gavel down. "Off the record, both the mayor and I have never liked you from the start, and we were suspicious of you from the very beginning! A married couple who seemed perfect to others, but the evidence the investigation team from Canterlot have uncovered and presented before the court have confirmed about your true character to really be behind closed doors. A monster who killed his wife and unborn child in cold blood for his own greed!"

"No-No!!" Abacus said.

Lady Justice smacked the gavel. "Silence!! Tiger Lily was a good, gentle, innocent soul, who was loved by everypony in town. A dear friend to all, including Mayor Mare and myself. And you took her away from us!" She scowled at Abacus as she spoke to everyone in court. "Therefore, in the case of Abacus Sum, it gives me great pleasure to hereby find the defendant...Guilty!"

The crowd in court began to clap and cheer at Lady Justice's given verdict, with Abacus crying at the desk. Abacus's mother, Arithma was sitting close by behind him in the row of seats at the front row, and began crying too. Lady Justice stayed silent for a few moments as she permitted the cheering and applause from the whole town, for she was aware of the public feeling.  

Lady Justice smacked the gavel. "Order! Order!!" She turned to Abacus with the same angry scowl. "Of all my years serving on the bench, I have never came across a murder so planned out, and so cowardly. The first ever murder recorded in Ponyvilles' history that will haunt our town forever. You Abacus Sum are scum! The worst of the worst! Therefore, it sees fitting that you should be sentenced to spend the rest of your natural life behind bars at Hoofstrong Prison Center, the place where scum like you belong! Never to be released!"

Two certain unicorn stallions in black and white suits sat at a second desk in the courtroom. One had a dark phthalo blue coat, with a dark gray mane, the other had a grayish amber colored coat, with a dark amber colored mane. They both smiled with triumph as Lady Justice delivered Abacus's sentence, with the crowd cheering in agreement. Twilight's eyes widened as she looked at the two stallions, for she recognized them both.

It's them. Blue Ward and Cover-Up. Twilight thought.

"All those in favor?" Lady Justice asked.

Almost everyone in the crowd raised their hooves, and cheered "Aye!" angrily in agreement. Lady Justice nodded. "The ayes have it!" She smacked the gavel to end the court. "Case is adjourned!"

"No!" Two royal guards grabbed Abacus. "I'm innocent! I'm innocent!!"

Lady Justice pointed towards the court room door. "Take that scum, and lock him away!!!"

Almost the whole crowd began to angrily cheer, as the royal guards began to drag him away. Arithma tried reaching out to Abacus with tears in her eyes while watching her one and only child being taken away.

"Abi!" Arithma said.

Abacus reached out to Arithma. "Mother!"

The angry cheers drowned out Abacus's innocent pleas, as the royal guards dragged him out of the court house. They reached outside, where the crowd from outside began to angrily cheer, and throw numerous fruit and vegetables at Abacus.

"Abacus Scum!! Abacus Scum!! Abacus Scum!! Abacus Scum!!"

They approached a prison transport wagon stationed outside, where the royal guards shoved Abacus into the wagon, and closed the doors, before the wagon started to move away. Luna stepped forward to the crowd as they watched the memory evaporated like smoke, and the area began to change. She then pointed the crowd towards a direction while still talking in her royal Canterlot voice.

"NOW WATCH AND SEE THE RESULTS OF YOUR ACTIONS!"







The crowd watched as the memory changed to an empty, smooth concrete floored room. It was mostly dark and lit up by a few lights. The sound of a heavy door opening caught the crowd's attention. There they watched to see Abacus being shoved into it by royal guards, with the suited ponies following behind. Just before Abacus got up from the floor, something shot at him from the darkness. A metal collar attached to his neck, and soon followed by the sound of sinister, sadistic laughter. Abacus put his hooves on the collar as he struggled in an effort to get it off.

"You're wasting your time," A voice from the darkness said after laughing. "That's a steelectric collar. It's made of solid hydro-chromatised steel. Nothing's gonna break it under 20,000 degrees of heat, and only a high member of prison security can ever remove it. And best part of all..."

The steelectric collar began to glow with yellow sparks of electricity surging around it. Abacus screamed in great pain for the collar was shocking him, with the voice in the darkness laughing sadistically at his pain.

"...It shocks ponies wearing it with up to 10,000 volts of electricity, causing them great pain at anytime we wish."

The steelectric collar stopped glowing with Abacus crying from the pain that collar caused him. The crowd watched as Abacus looked up to see someone step out of the darkness and into the light. His eyes widen for it was a large minotaur towering before him. The minotaur wore a dark green prison warden uniform, with the sleeves rolled up to his shoulders, exposing his large muscles. Abacus then looked passed the minotaur to see a group of large stallions and griffons appear behind him from the darkness afterwards. Some of the stallions wore armor, indicating that they were royal guards. The minotaur grinned evilly at Abacus.

"Well now, what do we have here?" The minotaur said. "A new addition to our happy home."

"The very one I told you about, Armstrong!" A random male voice from the darkness confirmed.

Abacus turned his head to where the male voice came from. There, one of the large ponies came more into the light. The pony was a large moderate olive colored Earth pony stallion, with a pale, light grayish olive and light yellow patterned mane and tail.

"Remember me, Abacus?" The stallion grinned sinisterly at Abacus. "It's been a long time. Hasn't it...smarty pants?"

Abacus's eyes widen at the stallion for using that name, "Smarty Pants" on him. It was a stallion from his past that he remembered all to well. He was the stallion that used to bully him in his childhood.

"...Rotten Eggs." Abacus said.

"So you remember me, huh?" Rotten Eggs pounded his fist and grinned. "Good. That means this will be all the more enjoyable."

Armstrong raised an arm to block Rotten Eggs's path. "Not yet!" He turned to the suited ponies standing close behind Abacus. "So, Blue Ward and Cover-Up, what did you bring me?"

One of the suited ponies, known as Blue Ward, handed over a case file to Armstrong with his magic. Armstrong takes it, and opened it up to read what was inside it. He quietly read it for a few moments, before looking at Abacus, then back at the suited ponies.

"Premeditated first-degree murder and arson, huh?" Armstrong said. "Tisk-tisk-tisk! That's a bad thing!"

The other suited pony, known as Cover-Up, smiled. "Oh, I'm sorry." He levitated a second file, and presented it to Armstrong. "Here's the real one."

The crowd watching the memory tilted their heads with a look of confusion at what was just said. Abacus in the memory shared that same expression as Armstrong opened the other file that Cover-Up handed to him.

Armstrong smiled pleasingly. "Ah, much better. So this is an innocent pony? A really good profit too." He turned to Rotten Eggs. "Looks like you were right about this one."

Abacus blinked. "What?"

Rotten Eggs turned to Abacus. "Well, I guess since the cat's out of the bag now, there's a secret we'll share with you."

"All the charges that these ponies had laid on you were false." Armstrong said.

Abacus's eyes widened with shock. "What?!"

Blue Ward smiled evilly. "That's right. The fire was caused by an electrical overload with wires of the power socket in the kitchen. After finding your high bank account of 530,000 bits, combined with the 1,200,000 bit life insurance payout, we framed, and falsely charged you with murder and arson. We used some of the three gallon container of kerosene in your garden shed as false evidence, while pouring most of it down the drain. And with the mayor and judge's secret suspicions of you, it was almost too easy. We even monitored and intercepted you and your mother's mail. Especially mail to your friend, Lawful Eye, to get her out of the way."

"Now your money is ours," Cover-Up said. "And it doesn't matter now finding this out, because you'll never leave here or live to tell it. Guess you should've taken the plea bargain, huh? Then again, it wouldn't matter if you did take it or not. You're still screwed either way."

Armstrong laughed, as he handed the real evidence file to a dark red unicorn stallion with a black mane and tail standing next to him, who takes it with his magic. "That's right. Nopony who comes here, ever leaves here alive."

Abacus glared at the suited ponies. "You monsters!"

Abacus charged at Blue Ward and Cover-Up, only to be shocked by the collar round his neck by one of Armstrong's guards, causing him to collapse on the floor, crying and screaming in pain.

Rainbow Dash growled. "You asked for it, jerks!"

Rainbow Dash rushed at the guard shocking Abacus, only to find herself go right through him, and falling on the ground. She got up confused at this, until she remembered that these were shadows of what have already happened. Abacus glared at Blue Ward and Cover-Up with tears in his eyes from the pain of the recent shocks.

"You'll never get away with this!" Abacus said.

Blue Ward chuckled. "We already have. And we always will. We've been getting away with it for the last eight years. You're not the first victim, and you won't be the last. Even Princess Celestia herself doesn't know anything about all this, and she never will. She's too trusting, and they say you shouldn't trust anypony. And when you die in here, ponies will always remember you as a dangerous criminal, just as the name the pathetic town of Ponyville gave you, Abacus Scum."

"Like I said," Armstrong said. "Ponies who get sent here die."

Armstrong looked to a direction where there was a fear-inducing sound of a dog growling. And stepping out of the darkness was a very large rottweiler that sat down next to Armstrong growling at Abacus.

Armstrong patted the dog's head. "After all, pony is Reaper's favorite. Isn't it, boy?"

Armstrong's dog, Reaper barked and growled at Abacus with a look of sadistic pleasure just as Armstrong had, like he was smiling evilly. The crowd watching the memory were completely stunned at what they were hearing and seeing.

Armstrong stopped patting Reaper. "But that's enough of that! I think it's time to give Abacus the traditional Hoofstrong welcome." He turned to Rotten Eggs and the rest of his guards while smiling sadistically. "What do you say, boys? Care to do the honor?"

Rotten Eggs pounded his fist as he and the rest of the pony and griffon guards advanced on Abacus. "With pleasure. And this time, Lawful Eye isn't here to save you. You're all mine!"

A unicorn guard used his magic to make the steelectric collar shock Abacus, making Abacus once again scream in pain. Rotten Eggs then shoved Abacus to the ground, while he was being shocked. The pony and griffon guards advanced with Rotten Eggs, and started to beat Abacus. The crowd gasped with shock as they watched Abacus getting beaten up, with the sounds of him crying and screaming in pain, and begging for mercy. After a whole minute of numerous punches and kicks from the guards, they stepped back to reveal Abacus all bruised, battered, and injured on the floor crying, and bleeding. Another unicorn guard began using his magic to once again make his steelectric collar shock him. Abacus screamed in pain as the guards laugh sadistically. The guards stood around and watched Abacus crying on the floor, until Rotten Eggs grinned and turned to the other guards.

"Hey, boys?" Rotten Eggs asked. "Anypony else got the sweets?"

The guards grinned and nodded in agreement. Rotten Eggs and two other guards then grabbed Abacus and began to tie him up with rope, as two other guards brought out a strange table. Abacus struggled against them, but they were too strong. They began to secure him to the table before putting a ball gag in his mouth, and securing it tightly. The crowd gasped with horror at what they were seeing before them, with little children beginning to cling to their parents in fear. They turned back to see Armstrong approach Abacus now restrained to the table. His front hooves were tied behind his back, his back hooves secured to the legs as if he was still standing, and a ball gag strapped into his mouth. He stopped in front of Abacus, and looked down on him while grinning sadistically.

"Look what I have here!" Armstrong said.

Armstrong presented the case file that contained the real forensic report of Abacus's innocence. He then dropped it on the concrete floor in Abacus's line of vision, and took something out from the pocket of his uniform. It turned out to be a small can with the words "Lighter Fuel" written on the label. Armstrong then pored the lighter fuel on the case file. Abacus yelled and screamed into the ball gag, and helplessly watched as Armstrong struck a match, and dropped it on the case file, lighting it on fire. Abacus could do nothing except watch the case file that contained the truth burn in front of him, and started to shed tears. Armstrong sat down on a close by chair and watched, smiling sadistically as his guards did their stuff to him. Abacus looked behind him to see Rotten Eggs standing their right behind him smiling sadistically as he moved his tail out of the way.

Rotten Eggs chuckled evilly. "I've been waiting for this for years. You're all mine."

The crowd watched on, horrified at what they were seeing. The sound of Abacus's muffled, agonizing screams in the memory could be heard, for Abacus was being raped. The children began to cry in fear, going to their parents for safety. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Warden Rehab, and Lock Down began to growl in anger, while Fluttershy, Rarity, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo cringed, covered their eyes, and cried in fear. Twilight came over to Princess Luna in an effort to stop her from showing this part of the memory.

"Princess Luna, please," Twilight said. "You can't show them this! You're scaring everypony! Please stop!"

Luna turned to Twilight with white glowing eyes filled with anger, and spoke to her in her royal Canterlot voice. "NO, TWILIGHT SPARKLE! THEY NEED TO SEE EXACTLY WHAT ABACUS SUM SUFFERED AND WENT THROUGH BECAUSE OF THEM! IT WAS WHAT HE REQUESTED FOR US TO DO!"

Twilight looked at the night princess in aghast, for she had not seen her this enraged and serious since her first Nightmare Night celebration after being freed from the moon as Nightmare Moon. Through the look in Luna's eyes, Twilight knew that Luna was not going to stop showing the crowd the pain, suffering, and torture Abacus suffered, whether or not it terrified them to see it.


Continues on part 3...