//------------------------------//
// 19 - The Party Prisoner 
// Story: Re:Harmony 
// by starcross7 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 19 - The Party Prisoner
 
The Great and Powerful Trixie defeated!  By a mere earth pony!  She could bear through the bruises and cuts underneath her many bandages, but nothing could alleviate the damage to her unicorn pride.  Her subconscious rage radiated out through her magical horn.  Unfocused spells bewitched books, papers, and her dinner to float and twirl in her luxurious guest room.
 
In came a cream-colored pony dressed in a maid outfit with yet another platter of food, water, and bandages.  Trixie had forgotten what her name was, and she did not care to remember.  Every time that maid would come in unannounced she would scream at the fact that either Trixie had her Glyph exposed or the fact that she was a unicorn.
 
At each instance, Trixie quickly zapped her with another memory erasure spell.  How many was that?  Ten?  Trixie remembered Chieftain Velvet warning her that repeated use of memory spells would inevitably cause permanent brain damage, but why should Trixie care?  If earth pony society were any indication of their barbarism and utter stupidity, then there was not much else she could damage.
 
Eventually, the outburst in her room drew the attention of another pony.  This time it was the calm and calculated Chancellor Posey, and she politely ignored the drooling and stupefied maid mare sitting on her haunches.  She also politely ignored Trixie's wand and star Destiny Glyph that bled through the open rows of her tightly wrapped bandages as well as the magical storm brewing within the room.
 
"Have you found Twilight Sparkle?" Trixie asked.
 
"We haven't, nor did we find the white pony and the baby dragon you spoke of," replied Posey. "Didn't you say she was the First Magisister back at your village?"
 
"Twilight is a foolish unicorn with lofty ideas of living up in the surface in harmony with pegasii and Earthians.  I was forced to hold back my magic power and my anger lest the Chieftain throw me to my death in the Chasm."
 
"And yet you couldn't defeat one earth mare."
 
"Don't you dare condescend me."
 
"I try not to, but I must let you know that that white mare is no ordinary pony; she is an Alicorn.  You know what that is?"
 
"A creature of ill omen.  I have been taught that the appearance of the one signifies the coming of the end.  You are certain that white earth mare is the Alicorn of legend?"
 
"She is.  My ancestors kept her locked up in Tartarus 01 for almost a thousand years, and since then we have been trying to extract the secrets of the Elements of Creation from the depths of her unnatural mind.  We need to get her back to decode the rest of her memories, but failing that, she must be destroyed.  Trixie, I have a very important mission to give you, and you must come with me.  Oh, and do put your cloak back on."
 
"A unicorn never hides her Destiny Glyph.  It is a proud sign etched by the Celestial Gods.  To hide it is blasphemy of the highest!"
 
"Don't… make… me… repeat… myself!"
 
That stare.  That powerful stare.  Trixie felt the wrath of a thousand icicles stabbing into her soul.  This earth pony possessed no magic, and yet she was able to easily cancel out Trixie's subconscious magical disturbance, causing all of the floating objects to fall dead to the floor or furniture.  She heard about Posey's unique gift, and she also heard rumors that it caused a pony to commit suicide right in front of her.  In the past, Trixie feared Chieftain Twilight Velvet, and even now her influence still affected.  On the other hoof, Posey terrified Trixie.
 
Willingly, Trixie threw her black cloak over her body to cover both horn and Glyph.  She followed Posey into her private office, and once again Trixie became morbidly amazed about the collection of dead butterflies pinned perfectly in almost every square inch of wall.  She seemed to have acquired a recent species evidenced by the empty mesh gave and cork board holding the stiff and transparent bodies of the greta oto.  As usual, the desk had the same gooey green drink Posey had been consuming ever since Trixie entered into her services.
 
A gentle push on a fake horseshoe trophy on the small corner wood table revealed a hidden biometric panel behind a case of dead monarchs.  Posey leaned in towards the device for it to scan her eyes.  When the scan completed, the entire bookshelf flushed in and then slid out to reveal a secret elevator.  From here, they rode to what felt like a thousand floors, but all Trixie could gather from the overhead display was how many feet they were falling below the surface.  Eventually, they reached their destination that was a long and dimly lit cavern hallway in which fourteen Clone Soldiers guarded seven doors at a two-to-one ratio.  Posey and Trixie went to the one at the very end.
 
Inside the darkened room encased in a glass tube-like jar was a curious black necklace with a crimson jewel in its center.  The design had the head of a pony with pegasus wings, but it had an additional appendage: a horn.  Even encased, Trixie could sense a dark power whispering dreadful tongues into her mind.  Hate.  Death.  Kill.  These were the words Trixie felt, not heard.  Unicorns were known for their magical sensitivity, but still she did not regret being born into the noblest races of ponydom.
 
"This is Gaea's most sacred heirloom, the Alicorn Amulet," said Posey.  "We strive to distance ourselves from the abominable sinfulness of magic, but without this artifact, we would not have overthrown the unicorns, defended ourselves from Pegasopolis, and formed Gaea.  It does, however, carry a curse of driving ponies mad.  For example, one of our more notable Chancellors took possession of it and sent hundreds of thousands of his own ponies to death camps for reasons no historian can explain.  At least he used it to launch a successful firebomb campaign against the dragon horde in the eastern continent.  It's not something we like to talk about openly."
 
"It's not like I care if a hundred thousand of your kind are wiped out by one of your own.  You earth ponies have an awful tendency to breed like cockroaches."
 
"Duly noted, but no matter much we have been stomped and smashed, there will always be more of us.  Still, I like to compare my kind to the hydra instead."
 
"By that analogy, all the new heads have regrown and have wrapped themselves around the world.  Besides the western lands, your country is the most powerful."
 
Posey giggled.  "Never have I thought that I would engage in a intelligent, if not scathing, conversation with a unicorn.  Fortunately, I have no quarrel with your kind provided that you keep up your bargain of destroying the unicorn known as Twilight Sparkle and dealing with our nation's Alicorn."
 
"So you want me to don this accursed amulet?"
 
"You have no say in this, unicorn."
 
From the darkness behind the Alicorn Amulet, a metallic tentacle grabbed Trixie by the neck and pulled her in.  The blinding overhead lights switched on.  The unicorn slammed on her back against a metal table where metallic shackles held her down.  A black crystal-like ring snapped onto her horn, and whatever it was, she could no longer cast any magic to set herself free.
 
They weren't alone.  Emerging from the two corners were two silver Roboponies, and a skinny cream-colored stallion with cybernetic attachments overlaying his left side of his head.  He held his right foreleg out to retract his extendable and metallic claw.
 
"I have to warn you that very few ponies were able to successfully wield the dark power of the Alicorn Amulet," Posey said with a cold smile.  "The ones who failed died in the most agonizing way, most of them with blood profusely bursting from every pore in their bodies.  Mind you, these were all earth ponies not accustomed to magic.  Perhaps unicorns will react differently."
 
"Posey!" Trixie cried.  "If I get my hooves on you…"
 
Gizmo sedated her with a syringe administered through his robotic-claw hoof.  The unicorn no longer thrashed on the table, and she lost all feeling and movement to her body.  Trixie remained conscious, and she watched helplessly as Gizmo reeled the Alicorn Amulet onto her neck.
 
Outside, the armored Clone Soldiers stood stoically still as a loud scream pierced through the metal door.


 
 
Applejack was too afraid to open her eyes.  Her cellmate, still thinking that the orange pony was knocked out, had lifted her onto the slab of a mattress about an hour ago, and had started to rummage through all her belongings in the cell.
 
Then she heard ticking sounds.
 
Tick.
 
Tick.
 
Tick.
 
Tick.
 
Brrring!  Applejack screamed and leapt off her hard mattress.  She kicked away a mechanical alarm clock just as a spotlight blinded her.  The tip of a pink hoof mashed play on a battery-operated boom box.  A light-hearted and catchy song started playing through its tinny speakers, followed by the most inappropriate lyrics she heard in a long time.
 
You're… in… jail!  You're in jail!
It's not because you failed,
'Cause somepony got too angry,
'Cause you called them namby-pamby.
 
You're in jail!  You're in jail!
No need for you to wail,
When your cellmate is a Pinkie
Then all things will be cheery…
 
"SHUT UP!  WE'RE TRYING TO SLEEP DOWN HERE!"
 
On cue, the batteries ran out in both the boom box and the spotlight.  Thank the earth.  Applejack could not take any more of the silly torture this prison was putting her through.  Before her eyes standing in a bipedal vaudeville pose was the same pink pony Applejack took a brief glance at almost an hour ago.  Her new cellmate eventually settled to a normal quadruped stance, and she banged her hooves on the boombox to try to get it working again.
 
"Ah, I'm all out of batteries," she said.  "Don't worry.  I got more stored in the next cell.  I'll make sure to finish the 'Welcome to Jail' song once I get them."
 
"Wha--"
 
Suddenly, the mad mare was right at Applejack's face.
 
"Hi!  My name is Pinkie Pie, and I love to throw prison parties!  I'm so glad that I finally got a new cellmate!  Boy, isn't this exciting!  We're going to have loads of fun when we're pumping iron in the gym, breaking rocks, mining for jewels and ancient artifacts, and eating the best prison food Gaea has to offer!"
 
"I SAID SHUT UP!" cried one of the prisoners from below.
 
"Sorry!" Pinkie cried back.  "So what's your name?"
 
"Applejack."
 
"Wow, an Apple.  You know what they say about Apples: an apple a day, keeps the Chancellor away.  I think that's how it goes.  In any case, welcome to Rock Prison!  Let me give you the tour of your new home.
 
"As you can see, the bed you're sitting on is yours.  I get the top bunk because I like to think I'm in the air.  Feel free to decorate your wall with whatever you want."
 
It just dawned on the orange pony that only her portion of the wall was painted gray.  She craned her neck up towards the top bunk and found it to be painted pink and decorated with smiling flowers and balloon stickers.  In fact, almost the entire cell was painted pink!
 
"Up here by the window are my rock plants, and below it is the fold-out table where I wrap my presents.  On this wall are the supermodel posters I use to cover up my contraband and secret tunnel.  Over here is where we get our water, and right here is where I mix up my gypsy concoctions and moonshine.  It's also where I keep my pet alligator, Gummy."
 
"Isn't that a toilet?"
 
"Yep.  It doubles as that too.  You want a drink?"
 
Reaching into the bowl, Pinkie procured an unopened bottle of sarsaparilla.  Opened or not, Applejack was too grossed out to drink anything that came out of the toilet.  Besides, there was a baby alligator hanging off the bottom drenched in what was hopefully fresh water.  The blank-eyed reptile crawled up the pony's front leg and latched its toothless jaws onto her ear.
 
"Um, no thanks," said Applejack.  "Look, I'm kinda tired, and I wanna go to sleep."
 
"Sure thing!  We'll talk a lot more first thing tomorrow morning.  Oh wait.  It's midnight, but it is bright and shiny in some parts of Gaea.  Okie dokie lokie.  I'll see you at sunup."
 
Pinkie drank down the sarsaparilla and threw the empty bottle into the toilet that somehow flushed itself.  The pink pony somersaulted onto the top bunk that seemed like it would shatter upon her landing.  Instead, it flexed and bounced like rubber, sparing Applejack from becoming crushed.
 
Finally, some silence.  Of course, Pinkie snored.  Her leg twitched like a dog, but at least Applejack would not have to put up with her cellmate's shenanigans for next couple of hours.  All she wanted to do was wallow in her in her guilt for jeopardizing the escape, her mission, and Twilight's life.  This was the result of her desired revenge, and nopony was going to save her.  Not Shine, not Twilight.  Certainly not Apple Bloom who had been brainwashed by that vile mare.
 
Burying her head in her bleached pillow, she cried until she fell asleep. 


 
"Good morning!  Rise and shine!"
 
Applejack squeezed her head between the pillows as dawn's light seeped through the bars.  She did not want to get up.  Who cares if the guards comes in and drag her out by force?  But the pink pony would have none of that.  She butted her head against Applejack's flank to get her moving.
 
All desire to live for revenge had faded from the orange earth pony.  She felt half-dead as she trudged out of her cell and followed the line of prisoners to down to the cafeteria for breakfast.  As for her cellmate, Applejack could have sworn she was wearing squeaky horseshoes, because every time Pinkie Pie bounced, she made noises.
 
This prison must have been remodeled ever since Applejack last stayed here.  Then again, she did not stay here for too long, and she stayed in a special section apart from main cellblocks where Gaea kept its political prisoners.  Unlike last time, Applejack had to go to get her food instead of having it brought to her cell.  One by one, each mare shuffled to receive in order in a plastic tray, a piece of stale cornbread, and a plastic spork for the dexterous.  The blue cafeteria pony didn't seem like she enjoyed this job.  She appeared almost as dead as Applejack.
 
"Good morning Mrs. Cup Cake!" Pinkie greeted.  "Let's see, I would like four flapjacks, two buttered French toast, a hoof-full of hash browns, and a glass of raspberry milk."
 
Whether Mrs. Cake heard her or just did not care, she scooped some kind of white and brown mush from the trough and dumped it on Pinkie Pie's tray.
 
"Thanks Mrs. Cake!  You're the best!"
 
Of all the ponies Applejack had get stuck with, she had to room with the most stupidly optimistic one in the entire prison system.  To further add to her despair and embarrassment, the pink pony spotted two other fellow prisoners, who tried shuffling away from her to another open table.
 
"Screw Sisters!"
 
The other inmates giggled, as the blue and purple mares cringed as they quickly sat down with their food trays in the hopes that the pink storm would blow past by.  Instead, that very pink storm sat right across from them with Applejack lugged into the seat next to her. 
 
"Pinkie, how many times do we have to tell you?" asked the blue mare with the white mane.  "We're not sisters."
 
"But you always hang out with each other, and you have the same last name."
 
"That's because you pigeonholed us as the laughing stock of this place."
 
"If it weren't for me, the two of you wouldn't have become friends.  Oh, and I got a new cellmate."
 
"Whoopie."
 
"Thanks!  Applejack, these are the Screw Sisters, Screw Loose--"
 
"Lucy Screw," corrected the blue pony.
 
"--and Screwball!"
 
"Quirky Screw," corrected the light purple pony.
 
"Corkscrew, got it.  Screwball and Screwloose, heeeere's Applejack!"
 
"I feel so sorry for you," Lucy said to Applejack.  "I mean, there's no worse punishment than sharing a cell with--"
 
"I almost forgot!" Pinkie cried.  "Screwball, it's your birthday today!"
 
"No," said Quirky.  "Oh, by the earth.  Please do not--"
 
"Everypony sing with me!  Happy birthday, happy-happy birthday!  Happy birthday, happy-happy day!"
 
"Please stop."
 
"Do we have birthday here?  Yes we have a birthday here!  Birthday where?  Birthday here!"
 
"Pinkie…"
 
"Happy birthday, happy-happy birthday!  Happy birthday, happy-happy day!"
 
From nowhere, Pinkie planted a propeller beanie on Quirky's head.  Lucy covered her mouth to try to stop herself from giggling.
 
"Don't laugh," she said to her friend.
 
"I'm not," Lucy snorted.  "Nice party hat."
 
"It's a propeller beanie."  Quirky took a deep breath and blew at the propeller, which to her surprise actually twirled.  Shortly after, Pinkie placed a baseball wrapped with a pink ribbon in front of Quirky.
 
"Happy birthday Screwball!" Pinkie cried.  "I know you like baseballs since you have one as your Nature's Call."
 
"That's private!" cried Quirky, and then slowly a smile drew across her reddened face.  "And thanks."
 
This was strange.  Ever since coming here, Applejack felt the weight of oppression of the prison system ready to completely crush her spirit.  Yet as the minutes went on, Applejack noticed that almost all of the inmates, including the "Screw Sisters", struggled to hold back their smiles.
 
"I guess y'all know who I am," Applejack spoke to her new contacts as she started eating.  "Be warned, I ain't easy to lynch."
 
"Who said anything about lynching?" asked Lucy.  "As long as she is here, it's not going to happen."
 
"Y'all afraid of this here Pinkie Pie?"  The pink pony in question was within earshot, blissfully devouring her breakfast mush.  She was literally right next to them.
 
"It's not that we're afraid of her," said Quirky as she rolled her baseball gift back and forth on the table.
 
"Rather, she has a way of knowing you're going to do without actually knowing what you're going to do," added Lucy.
 
"She's totally random."
 
"If not crazy."
 
"Maybe psychic."
 
"So what's she in here for?" Applejack asked.  "Mass murder?"
 
"Disturbing the peace," replied Lucy.
 
"I can see that, but seriously; what is she really here for?"
 
"That's just it.  Disturbing the peace.  She's been in and out of this prison so many times that she's practically living here.  She can't work in the mines or fight in the front lines because she'll make everypony break into song, and I have no idea how she does it."
 
"Plus she keeps eating all the food," said Quirky as her eyes followed a pink hoof pilfering her stale cornbread.  "If you call this trash food."
 
"We pretty much know why you're here Rebel Applejack," said Lucy.  "As for me, I used to be the foremare in a factory near Dodge Junction where we make most of the fighter jets.  Long story short, I complained to Filthy Rich himself about the unhealthy working conditions and the illegal hiring of foals.  Just for looking out for my fellow Earthians, I was arrested and thrown here without trial."
 
"What about you?" Applejack asked Quirky.
 
"I used to be the star pitcher for the mares' division greatest team in Gaea, the Draconequus Slayers," Quirky proudly replied.  "Very few batters can counter my signature move, the 'Corkscrew', and with me on the team, we earned many back-to-back national championships for years.
 
"But not too long ago, my team's manager bowed down to pressures from the Department of Propaganda, who wanted to see an up-and-coming team winning the World Series.  That meant the Slayers would have to throw the game at the championship finals.  Sure the Harmony Colors were good, but nopony on both teams wanted to compromise themselves for the sake of propaganda.  So I ended up throwing the winning pitch at the last inning, and my team and I won once more.  Little did I know that I was to become the fall mare for disobeying the Department of Propaganda.  So they threw me in here for accusations of drug use and bribery."
 
"I guess we all have a bone to pick with Posey and her cronies," said Applejack.
 
"Hey, just because we're victims doesn't mean we're going to join your cause," said Lucy.  "I don't know about you, Applejack, but I prefer to keep my head down and wait for a pardon."
 
"Or early release for good behavior," said Quirky.  "If Pinkie is any evidence of how broken the system is, perhaps they might release us."
 
"How is waiting gonna help?" Applejack asked.  "When you're sentenced, it's for life.  You'll either die here as an old mare or die in the mines.  Hearing y'all say that is like sayin' it's okay for the government to trample all over you!"
 
"What do you know?" Lucy asked.  "It's not like we don't have family and friends to worry about."
 
"That's right!" cried Quirky.  "I had to take the blame for myself so that the rest of my team won't end up this forsaken place."
 
Applejack grunted.  "I don't know how she is friends with you cowards."
 
"We're not her friends."
 
"Fine.  Rot in this hellhole for all I care."
 
"And what are you planning to do now, Rebel Applejack?" asked Lucy.  "Are you going to make an escape again?"
 
She nearly forgot.  There was no Shine or Twilight to rescue her, and Apple Bloom was lost to her.  Applejack felt a part of her deflating slowly as she slouched uncomfortably on her bench seat.
 
After such a horrid breakfast, one of the guards blew a whistle to signal the beginning of this morning's prison work.  Pinkie continued to nudge Applejack to the line as each mare were ordered to dress in tougher neon orange overalls, boots, and hard hats while they were stuffed into one of the diesel-powered mine carts.  Just as quickly as they boarded, the mine cart carrying almost hundred prisonmares launched outdoors and straight into the dark pits of the mines, passing several of the early shift of prison miners deathly exhausted from the hard work.  Thirty minutes had passed since the departure.  The carts spiraled deeper and deeper into the earth, and eventually it made its stop before a multi-level chasm that rivaled that of the Dark Ravine where Applejack first met Twilight.  A domino effect of slavish mares nudged Applejack forward where a pickaxe was shoved into her mouth.  The line pushed her further down a ledge barely wide enough for one mare and an off-track mine cart.  The work whistle had been blown, and as if by reflex, the mares began digging.  Applejack managed to catch up to the rhythm, only to become yet another cog in the slave-machine of Gaea.
 
The armed guardsmares kept a hawkish watch on the prisoners, many of whom were steadily tiring out in this sweat-inducing and backbreaking labor.  No prisonmare were allowed to keep even the tiniest ore.  Each piece had to be piled behind them for the other team of prisoners to pick up with their trackless mine carts.  When that mine cart became full, a sickly smoke-spewing machine processed the ores, further crushing it to occasionally reveal a fragment of a gem or a valuable nugget.  Lucy Screw managed the ore-processing machine.  While it may seem that she would do the least amount of work, too often the machine broke and she and a small team of mares were forced to repair it under the threat of a guard's gun barrel.
 
Yet this mine held more than just gems and valuable minerals.  Everypony seemed to have gotten used to a gargantuan concrete structure at the very end of the chasm lit up by the most powerful of spotlights.  No visible pony worked on that area, but obviously Gaea had unearthed more technology dating back to the Before Times.  Prominent on the mysterious surface was the mark, "T-02".
 
"I'm workin' in the mines," Pinkie sang, "and I feel so fine!"
 
How could this pony be so happy working here?  Of all the ponies, she had the most energy and she showed virtually no signs of fatigue.
 
A short break consisted of Quirky pushing a cart with a giant water thermos to quench each mare's thirst from meager paper cups, but the break was made shorter with the arrival of Lieutenant Quake and the Flower Guard.  The prisoners quickly grabbed their pickaxes and shovels, but there was one mare who was too tired to pick up her digging tool.  Quake immediately singled her out and pulled the prisonmare towards her face by the collar.
 
"Prisoner 0101," said Quake.  "How shameful of you to take a nap while your comrades are busy at working off their crimes against the great nation of Gaea."
 
"Please," said the yellowish mare, "my leg hasn't healed since the last fall, and I got a cold two nights ago."
 
"Miss Harvest, the penal code requires that all ponies must work or they will not earn their fill.  Being imprisoned here is but a charitable act from our honorable Chancellor.  You have some nerve to be ungrateful to Miss Posey."
 
Harvest?  That surname sounded familiar, and Applejack could not help but glance at the situation happened by the tracks every time she lifted her head.
 
"Don't try anything," Quirky whispered.
 
Applejack ignored the ex-baseball player and marched up to Quake and the Flower Guard.  In a defiant gesture to get their attention, the orange pony spiked her pickaxe on the ground.
 
"Leave her alone," said Applejack.
 
"So you know this pony," said Quake.  "I figured since her family and yours were close."
 
"You got a problem with it?"
 
"I do.  Since we have and Apple and a Carrot in the same level, I'm afraid I'm going to have to separate you two.  Guards, take Miss Harvest down to assist with the heavy drill teams."
 
"I ain't letting you do that."
 
"Back off Apple, or I'll push you off."
 
"What are you all up to?" Pinkie said as she trotted in, seemingly unaware of the tense situation developing before her.
 
"Back in line, Prisoner 0606," said Rose as she took aim with her rifle.
 
"Relax girls.  Carrot Top is just tired from all the partying we did when I tried to cheer up."
 
"Pinkie, that's not her name," said Applejack.  "It's--"
 
"All she needs right now is a song to cheer her up, and I want everypony to sing with me.  Here goes…"
 
She took a deep breath, and before Pinkie could utter the first verse, Quake pushed her over the edge.  The pink pony screamed "AIIEEEEE!" as she fell, and the other ponies shrugged their shoulders and resumed work as if this was all normal.  How could they be so apathetic about all this?  Damn all the made-up rules of this prison!  If Applejack was to go down, she would take down the burly mare with her.
 
Suddenly, a circular metallic platform hovered into view, carrying a smiling Pinkie Pie.
 
"Hey, is this the ancient technology I was supposed to look for? " Pinkie asked.  "It's no different from the--"
 
Quake drew her pistol and shot at one of the hover platform's engines, sending it and its occupant crashing into the depths of the chasm.  She just holstered her pistol ready to dole out her punishment against a defiant rebel mare standing next to her, but then the hover platform rose back up, albeit at a sharp angle with a Pinkie Pie dangling off one of its handles.
 
"This ancient technology sure is tough," said Pinkie.  "I bet this will advance current airship technology so that it will stay afloat indefinitely.  I can keep it, right?"
 
Quake shot at the platform again, making sure she really damaged the engines and its thrusters.  Thus Pinkie Pie fell again, and before Quake could do anything else, the pink pony rose up once more.  This time, she was suspended in the air via a parachute.
 
"Hey Quakey," she said.  "There's a cool air pocket right down here.  You should try practicing skydiving with me sometime."
 
"I HAD ENOUGH!"
 
Quake took one of the Flower Guards' assault rifles and riddled the parachute with holes.  Pinkie Pie fell, and this time she wasn't coming back up.
 
The Lieutenant was so annoyed and enraged that she had forgotten why she was here in the first place, and she did not even want to remain here.  She and the Flower Guard finally boarded their mine carts and sped off to another section of the mines.
 
Despite everything, nopony did anything to help Pinkie, let alone pay attention to her.  Even Golden Harvest, as ill as she was, resumed digging albeit with a hacking cold and a limp.
 
"Don't let it get to you," said Lucy.  "That's just Pinkie Pie."
 
"And y'all just gonna stand around and do nothin'?  Not even mourn for her?"
 
"Look, we gotta keep our head down, but in this situation, you shouldn't worry too much.  Just wait till you get back to your cell.  You'll see."
 
She didn't like Lucy's answer, and it was no use talking to a coward like her.  Applejack turned her attention back to Golden Harvest, a mare she once regarded as a friend, but the sick pony would not even look her in the eye.  From her silence, Applejack immediately understood.  She wouldn't blame her.  She and her family assisted the Apples in their rebel cause, but they too were victims of the razing of Sweet Apple Acres decades ago.  Applejack was glad to see a childhood pal alive, but was sad to know she no longer wanted to talk to her.
 
Applejack barely managed to keep working until her shift was over.  No lunch was served, but she did notice a few ponies sneaking a few morsels of the horrid breakfast they kept in their pockets.  Then came dinnertime back the cafeteria, and Applejack found herself sitting with Lucy Screw and Quirky Screw, not by choice mind you, because there weren't many other open spots available.  She wanted to sit with Golden Harvest, but the orange-haired mare hid herself within another group of prisonmares glammed with makeup and fancy hairstyles.  Harvest still continued to avoid direct eye contact with Applejack.
 
As night fell, Applejack sauntered off back to her empty cell with thoughts on the pink pony's inappropriate behavior in a prison labor camp.  Surely there should be reports of accidental deaths, secret or not.  Gaea loved to keep statistics like these.  She knew the system was bad, but never like this where the lieutenant wardens and their guards abuse their power.  Being here was like a death sentence, and it might as well be.  There was no place for Applejack to go, and nopony to save.  She had no friends, and all her family was gone.
 
As she tried to fall asleep, Applejack's thoughts dwelled on the last time she was rescued.  She sat alone in her darkened cell much smaller that the one she was in right now after a brutal night of beating.  As if her prayers had been answered, the prison had been thrust into an emergency as explosions rocked almost every tower and wall.  From the commotion outside, she had heard the guards screaming that a single stallion had burst in and defeated the front line single-hoofedly.  Before she knew it, the cell to her door had been blown in.
 
There he stood, a stallion of all stallions, draped head to hoof in a brown cloak.  He was the stallion with no name who served as the single beacon of light in her darkest hour.  He was the same stallion who saved her in Hollow Shades, the same one who was breaking her free.
 
Alas, that would not come to pass tonight.  Applejack buried her face in her pillow and wept the night away. 


 
"Boop."
 
Aroused by a tap to her muzzle, Applejack woke up.  There was, by some strange miracle, Pinkie Pie sitting before her, and the baby alligator stood on top of Pinkie's head.
 
"Are you for real?" Applejack asked.
 
"Dunno," shrugged Pinkie.  "Gummy, do you think I'm real?"  The reptile also shrugged.
 
"I saw you fall."
 
"Uh-huh."
 
"But you should've…"
 
"Died?  It'll take more than that to kill Pinkie D. Pie.  Besides, this happens to me once a week, and I could never abandon a friend like you."
 
"Why should I have friends?"
 
"Everypony should have friends, especially hardened criminals.  It would be very sad if anypony died alone."
 
"What's the point?  When you're dead, it's over with!  All my friends... My family... They're all gone."
 
"I'm your friend."
 
"Stop it!  I don't wanna have any more friends!  I don't wanna!"
 
The orange mare could not hold it back any further, and with no pride remaining in her body, she burst into tears before the pink pony.  She even allowed herself to be embraced by her.
 
"There, there," said Pinkie.
 
And yet, Applejack found herself embracing her back.