Twilight slumped back against the wall of her cell, feeling exhausted but unable to sleep. She'd been like this for so long that it felt like her skin was crawling. Her entire body was pins and needles, but she simply couldn't bring herself to lay down properly and sleep. Not after what Chrysalis had done to her. Had she really deserved to be hit so hard? Twilight shook her head as her heavy eyelids started to shut of their own accord.
Twilight snapped her head up, realizing she'd dozed off for a second or two. Nothing in the room seemed changed, and she was still alone. The only difference was that she felt much more rested now. She didn't know whether to count it as a day, but she'd lost track of days a long time ago. She might as well count by the waking second, because that's all she had in there. With a sigh she pushed herself onto all fours and began to pace her cell.
"Twi... ya had ta kill me, din'ya Twi? You'da done it too, if it'd really been me." said Applejack from behind a nearby wall, startling Twilight badly, "Some friend ya'll are, plottin ta murder me, But Ah'll forgive ya Twilight... Ah'll forgive ya when yer dead."
Twilight turned wildly one direction, then the other as the voice seemed to move about the room. Finally when the short speech ended Twilight found herself face to face with what she could only assume was Applejack. There was little more than a few patches of flesh clinging to bone now. Blood flowed freely from the numerous gashes where skin had been removed in one way or another, and underneath that was visible the bleached and often broken bones of AJ's skeleton. Even her eyes were gone, but the empty sockets still stared. Twilight could only watch in shock as AJ reared with a hoarse and unholy whinny, then began to charge. She felt like her limbs were made of lead, and her muscles wouldn't respond to her plea for action. Every step AJ took made her faster, more powerful... more deadly. Twilight knew she had to move, that she had to get away!
It was too late, and Applejack was spinning around for a signature kick of full force. Both hooves connected against Twilight's chest, and the pain was more immense than anything she'd ever felt before. It didn't start as pain though, at first it was only pressure... pressure pinning her between AJ and the wall... but the pressure built up and her weak body gave way. Bones cracked, organs ruptured, and the last thing that went through her mind as her lungs were flattened was that it couldn't possibly end this way.
It took a long time before Twilight caught her breath. The room was dark again, but she was alive and, as far as she could tell, alone. It had just been an awful nightmare. Still, nightmare or not, she couldn't take being in this prison anymore. It was driving her mad, between Chrysalis' provocations and her own solitude she needed an escape... any escape. She considered fighting Chrysalis for a moment, but entertaining as the thought was she wouldn't get very far without magic. Maybe she could get one good buck in before being beaten down, but would that really be worth it?
"Stand." the command was simple, and without thinking about it Twilight stood up. It was only once she was on all fours that she realized who had ordered it.
"What do you want now Chrysalis? I'm sick of this, and of you. Just leave me alone..."
"Poor little pony, you must feel like you've lost everything. But you still have me Twilight, and the sooner you realize that," Twilight could feel something brush up against her side as Chrysalis talked, but when she turned there was nothing, "the sooner you'll realize that I'm the only one you'll ever need."
"You... you're the reason I'm here! You're the reason all of this is happening!" Twilight exclaimed, a burst of sudden energy born of anger flowing through her. Without warning, without even thinking about it, she turned and began to lash out like she'd seen Applejack do so many times before with her hind hooves, repeatedly smashing the air around her.
"So violent for someone so... small. But you're wrong. You're here because you have an important lesson to learn, and I'm here to teach you that lesson." Twilight felt her hooves connect with something solid and very hard, and the recoil sent a shiver up her spine that left her off balance. "Would it really bring you pleasure to hurt your Queen, Twilight?" the light flickered back into the room, leaving Twilight dazed. She could see the blurry outline of something in the far corner of the room, and in her blind rage she rushed at it, turning to lash out again but only connecting with what felt like the wall again. It didn't really hurt, but the shock of the blow left her standing still for a moment, giving her vision time to clear. She turned and tripped over her own hooves because of what she saw. She hadn't missed, not even an inch. Chrysalis was standing there in the corner, two visible hoofprints etched into her naturally armored side. "It feels good, doesn't it Twilight? To hurt people... to show them pain. But it's just as wonderful to feel that pain which you give others." Chrysalis had a look of bliss on her face as she talked, and blood began to seep from the shallow wound.
"You're... crazy... I don't like it. I don't like hurting anyone..." Twilight protested meekly, but the truth was that she had enjoyed it; getting revenge for being locked up and tortured. She looked up again at Chrysalis' injured side, then back to her face. How could she enjoy the pain though, Twilight wondered, is it bec-
Before Twilight could finish the thought she was lifted into the air by her forehooves, leaving the rest of her body to dangle freely. Chrysalis didn't speak as she circled Twilight, her horn glowing menacingly. Twilight could only guess at the thoughts going the Chrysalis' mind, and even those guesses were terrifying in their own right. "Tell me, Twilight, what is it that you want?" Twilight shook her head, no, and did her best to look away from Chrysalis, but as she did the magic holding her up grew tighter around her legs until she had to grit her teeth. "If you won't cooperate, then I'll just have to make you cooperative." Chrysalis' eyes gleamed with amusement as the aura around her horn flared up. Twilight braced herself for a blow, but rather than a blunt pain she felt something sharp like a dagger being thrust into her side. Twilight screamed out and started to flail, but every movement only made the pain worse.
"Stop! Stop doing this to me!" Twilight pleaded, but Chrysalis merely grinned and all at once Twilight felt thousands of piercing knives all across her body, though there were no daggers and no blood. She trashed about, screaming profanities at Chrysalis and kicking at the air feebly, but all to no end as the pain became more intense. Even still she continued to resist despite it, until finally she simply blacked out from sheer agony.
"Oh no... that won't do at all. You need to be awake." Chrysalis whispered into Twilight's ear, and not more than a second after she felt a sharp blow to the side of her face, waking her up but leaving her head reeling. Twilight moved her head slowly from side to side. Her heart was beating so hard it felt like it was going to explode, and she could barely breathe. So much pain, she thought, how could she survive? How could anyone live through something like that? Twilight swallowed hard and took a deep breath, working up the courage to look Chrysalis in the eye. She had survived, whether it made sense or not, and it felt good. Better than that, it felt unlike anything she'd ever felt before. "Now then, it's your turn. Take your revenge however you wish to."
Twilight's restraints vanished all at once, leaving her to fall on the floor in an undignified heap. She wasn't sure what to do now, but she felt energetic. In fact, she felt like she could take on the world, starting with Chrysalis! She stood and kicked in one smooth motion, closing the short distance to Chrysalis with her hind legs. The impact would have landed somewhere along Chrysalis' neck, if it had landed at all, but something stopped Twilight. She didn't really want to hit Chrysalis, she thought as her hind legs hit the ground. But why? Why, after all this would she not want to hit Chrysalis? To kill her! Twilight cringed at the thought, she didn't want to kill anypony did she? She glanced over her shoulder to look at Chrysalis, but the Queen was gone.