Trixie reappeared in a hallway lit by several bright lamps hanging from the walls overhead.
The hall itself wasn't too large, but it was quiet -- almost eerily so.
Another thing Trixie took note of were the doors lining either side of the hallway. They all were the exact same as the one Trixie had seen Fell Wind get dragged through. The place immediately set the filly on edge, her hackles raising at the sheer wrongness she suddenly felt.
She didn't have any time to dwell on the sensation, as a familiar cry of fear brought her attention to the end of the hall where she could see a familiar dark green pegasus mare being dragged through another door.
As the door closed behind them, the hallway where Trixie stood began to twist and warp like the room. Rather than be forced out of the memory however, Trixie closed her eyes and concentrated on Fell Wind.
After a second, the scenery shifted and Trixie found herself in another hallway. Another sound, this time a choked sob, drew her gaze to the left where she spotted Fell Wind and the two dark pony shapes further down the hall.
They were making their way to a large pair of double doors at the end of the hallway. Trixie scrambled to catch up to the two before they made it through and just barely made it as they passed through the doors.
The next area appeared to be another brightly lit hallway, but this one was much longer than the others and had no doors on either side. Trixie was not a pony prone to claustrophobia, but the long narrow hallway made the filly extremely uncomfortable all the same.
She made sure to stay on the heels of the shadowy ponies as they continued their relentless march with their prisoner in tow. Trixie had made sure beforehoof to will herself invisible to everypony within the memory, including Fell Wind herself.
Trixie remembered that she could affect everything around her by simply willing it to change, but in order to actually erase a memory, physical contact with the memory's owner -- the ego as the Mare of Dreams called it -- was required.
She could just erase the memory now and be done with this creepy place, all it would take is a touch. All she had to do was touch Fell Wind, and with a single thought from the azure filly, the memory would be gone for good.
As she thought more about it, Trixie couldn't help but feel like that was the wrong thing to do. She couldn't put a hoof on why, but it seemed more important to at least try and communicate with the ego before doing something so drastic -- so permanent.
Trixie struggled with these feelings for another few moments before being distracted by the sound of incoherent muttering. She looked over to Fell Wind's limp form and saw that the mare was staring straight ahead of her with a distant look in her eyes.
"Needles? No... she did that last time... it'll probably be that electrode thing again..." Fell Wind visibly shuddered, "I hate the electrode thing... I keep telling her it's not real lightning... I keep telling her I don't know how it works... but she never listens... she never listens... I keep telling her..."
Broken.
That must've been what a broken pony sounded like.
That could've been what Trixie sounded like not so long ago.
She couldn't take anymore.
"Stop!"
Fell Wind flinched in the grip of the shadow ponies and snapped a wide eyed gaze to Trixie. Trixie returned her gaze with a pained, sickened expression of her own.
"Please... just stop already," Trixie continued in a soft voice, "I don't wanna hear anymore..."
"Y-You?!" Fell Wind cried, frantically looking from Trixie to the shadow ponies and back to Trixie again, "what are you doing here? I told you to go find Red Storm!"
"I can't do that," Trixie replied, wiping the gathering tears from her eyes before looking back to Fell Wind, "I have to stay with you."
"Why?!" Fell Wind nearly screamed, "I can't help you! Red S--" her jaw snapped shut and she briefly glanced at the shadow ponies still dragging her along before turning back to Trixie with defeat and resignation in her eyes, "I can't help you, kid. I don't even think I'm gonna live much longer."
"You're wrong."
Fell Wind cried out in shock as she fell to the ground. Confused, she looked around, only to find she was completely alone with the azure filly.
The shadow ponies were nowhere to be seen.
The ragged pegasus stared at Trixie from her position on the floor, her mouth dropped open in disbelief. Trixie stood over the mare with a steely expression and a grimace of determination.
"You might not be able to help Trixie, but she can definitely help you," she held out a hoof, "Trixie won't let you die here, Fell Wind."
Fell Wind stared at the offered hoof before slowly looking back up at the azure filly.
"Who... what the buck are you?"
"Trixie is glad you asked," the filly replied, grabbing hold of the mare's hoof and pulling her up, "you are in the presence of the Noble and Heroic Trixie! Vanquisher of evil shadow pony things and savior of actual ponies everywhere!"
Fell Wind unsteadily rose to her hooves and stumbled a bit before she was finally able to stand up straight. She gave Trixie a dubious look before looking around the empty narrow hallway.
"Well, I guess you did vanquish the evil shadow pony things," the dark green pegasus conceded before nodding at the filly, "thanks for that."
With those words, Fell Wind turned and quickly, if unsteadily, trotted back the way they had all come.
"Hey, wait a minute! Wait for Trixie!" the azure filly cried as she trotted after the retreating pegasus, "where are you going?"
"Where do you think?" Fell Wind replied as though it was the most obvious thing in the world, "I'm gonna go find my older brother and get us the buck outta here--"
She slowed to a stop as another coughing fit overtook her. Trixie looked on with an uncertain frown, torn as to whether she should just end the memory now or let it continue and see where it went.
Should she tell Fell Wind about what she really was? Should she tell her about what was really going on?
What would that do to the ego that was Fell Wind? What effect would it have on the actual Fell Wind if she were to find out what was going on and what Trixie was doing?
Trixie, not liking the scenarios that were playing out in her head, decided to keep the truth a secret for now. Still, she was growing more worried as Fell Wind's loud, rasping coughs became bloody. Fell Wind seemed to ignore it as she continued to try and explain.
"We--" more coughing "--we have to leave, now. Before she finds out what happened."
"Before who finds out what happened?"
Fell Wind wiped some blood from her mouth and turned to Trixie with a look of utter hatred on her face.
"Moon Gazer," she spat, "if that nag catches us, it's over. We're dead. Done for. We may as well not have even existed."
Trixie could see that the pegasus was shaking, though whether it was from fear or anger, she couldn't say. It was probably both if her reactions were anything to go by. Fell Wind snorted and turned away from the filly before resuming her unsteady trot.
"Is... is she really that bad?" Trixie asked hesitantly.
"Worse," Fell Wind replied, "she's bucking crazy, kid. She goes on and on about how ponies are evolving and how she'll do whatever it takes to 'accelerate the evolutionary process'," she shook her head, "she's a monster that doesn't have a single ounce of empathy or compassion in her body."
Trixie nodded absently as she thought about her own parents. Fell Wind continued on, regardless of the filly's inner musings.
"She has a foal you know," the pegasus mare said suddenly, "little filly about your age, maybe a little younger. Moon Dancer I think her name was. Nice kid," she grimaced and muttered in a quieter voice, "at least she was anyway..."
That caught Trixie's attention.
Had she been an ordinary filly living an ordinary life with loving parents, Trixie would've asked how such a supposed monster could find somepony who loved her enough to have a foal. Unfortunately, growing up like she did and being told what she had by her own father, Trixie knew better.
What happened to Moon Dancer?" Trixie asked before giving Fell Wind a bemused frown, "and why are you even telling Trixie this?"
"Because I want you to understand just how bucked up that mare is," Fell Wind replied with a grave frown, "I want you to understand why it's so bucking important that we leave."
She turned to Trixie with a strange look before speaking again, "you know, this is the first time I've talked to anypony in a long time. Hay, this is the first time I ever even felt like talking in a long time."
"I guess Trixie just has that effect on ponies," the azure filly replied with a nervous chuckle.
The dark green pegasus eyed the filly for a moment longer before giving a shrug, which caused her to wince in pain. As they neared the double doors from before, Fell Wind spoke up again.
"I don't know if Moon Gazer's little 'helpers' are still wandering around out there, but we should be careful all the same."
"Trixie wouldn't worry about them," the azure filly replied confidently, "'vanquisher of evil shadow pony things, remember?"
"Uh-huh," Fell Wind replied absently, "just don't do anything stupid, kid."
Trixie frowned at the mare, who in turn ignored the offended filly as she made to pull open the double doors.
They didn't budge.