//------------------------------//
// Act 3: Unexpected Turns 
// Story: A Love For Madness 
// by ShadeJak 
//------------------------------//

	My eyes snapped open and I heard a beeping nearby. Focus returned and I could see lights above me, and white tiles. Shaking my head, I suddenly felt some discomfort in my left arm, and saw a needle embedded in it. Straining to sit up, I felt pain all over and lay back down, then slowly reached over to pull the needle out, sighing in relief after.

I was in a hospital room, and raising my hand I could see a number of scrapes and bandages here and there on my arm. I could feel my breath and heart getting more rapid as memories of what had happened came back to me…

The truck…

The crash…

Those men…

“CADANCE!!!” I screamed out, jerking up then crying out in pain from my injuries. Laying back, I could feel tears welling up in my eyes, and, ignoring the excruciating pain I turned to my side, curling up in fetal position as I broke down, remembering the last thing I saw, of those men smashing open the passenger window and grabbing Cadance. “I’m sorry….” I whimpered. “Cadance… I’m so, so sorry…”

My best friend had been taken, and I couldn’t do a thing to stop it…

I heard footsteps rush into the room and throw the curtain aside.

“Her heart rate’s going up.” I heard a doctor say.

“Miss! You need to calm down!” a nurse ordered, “You spent the entire night in the ER we don’t want to have to put you back in there!”

“How did I get here?” I asked anxiously, trying to slow my breathing and comply.

“Someone found you, they called 911,” the doctor answered.

“Was there… anyone else there? Did they see any other vehicles?” I asked.

“No. Apparently, the policeman said there were tiremarks on the road, suggesting a hit and run, but there was no other vehicle. You’re extremely lucky to be alive in the state you’re in, Miss.”

“It was a van! An armored van and it came out of—” I began.

“Don’t worry about that right now. Now that you’ve woken up, we’ll keep an eye on you for a remainder of the day and get ahold of the police. They wanted us to let them know when you were stable again so they get a report from you, find out what happened and try to identify the vehicle that hit you.”

I turned on my back again, groaning in pain again.

“Alice Reynolds…” the doctor said, addressing me by name for the first time. “We tried contacting your parents—”

“Like they’d give a damn about me,” I said with an eyeroll. “I’ll bet a grand they hung up when you mentioned me…” a moment of silence passed, confirming my statement.

Calling my parents, however, gave me an idea. “My phone… where is it? Please tell me it survived the crash!”

“Yes, it did. It’s with your belongings on that table over there,” the doctor explained.

“I-I need to call a friend…” I stammered, crying out in pain again when I’d once more neglected my injuries.

“Take it easy, Alice. We’ll get you some painkillers and some food, first. After all you’ve been through you need both right away.” the doctor replied.

In the hour that followed I was subjected to sub-par food and an efficient relief to the pain I’d been going through. Amusingly enough when I switched the TV on I found of all things a My Little Pony marathon playing.

“Any more ironic I’d be able to press my whole wardrobe…” I muttered, rolling my eyes. Being unsupervised now, I saw the chance to get my phone. There, on the table was my cellphone, alongside my wallet and keys. I had to get to it and call Celestia, or Luna, or whoever would answer immediately. They had to know what happened to Cadance and hopefully track her down.

Poor Cadance… she was out there somewhere… the story Celestia had told me and her of the mercenaries that had abducted Peachy’s foalsitter went through my mind. These men… it was like they knew we were there, they somehow knew when we’d show up, what we were driving, that Cadance was in that car… they’d used a vehicle that could easily survive a head-on collision with little damage. They attacked us specifically to take Cadance.

This had been no coincidence, and Celestia’s claim that Discord may have had a hand in these foalnapping mercenaries seemed all the more likely. If what she’d said of Peachy’s foalsitter was true, it meant things would only get worse for Cadance. She needed someone to help her right away, and now, Celestia and Luna were the only ones I could imagine capable of pulling that off.

Slowly I sat up and turned myself toward the edge of the bed, the pads to monitor my heart were still present so I couldn’t wander far. Climbing from my bed I slowly made my way to the table, nearly stumbling as I still felt soreness in my legs, which I could see had been badly bruised from the crash. The tile floor was cold on my feet as I carefully stepped towards where my phone lay and tried to reach for it, feeling a slight tug at my chest where the cord was taped.

“Crap…” I mumbled, reaching as far as I could towards the table and knowing if that cord tore off the doctors would be back in no time. While they’d probably be willing to let me make calls I’d rather not have people listening when I talked to individuals with names like Peachy or Celestia.

Taking a deep breath, I reached my hand out as far as I could and nudged it towards me with my fingertip.

“Almost… there…” I said to myself, nudging it more till it fell from the table, but I managed to catch it just in time. Returning to my bed with some effort I climbed back in, turned the volume on the TV up a little, and pressed call on the number Celestia and Peachy had given me.

A few seconds passed before a young girl’s voice answered. “Hello?”

If there’s one thing consistent about phones it was the inability to tell some voices apart. “Oh, um, hey, Pinkie Peach?” I asked.

The voice on the other end became very excited very quickly. “Oh! You know my sister?!”

“Yeah, I met her. I guess you're one of her sisters she told me about?” I asked, recalling that Peachy had two sisters, a pegasus and a unicorn.

“Yes! I'm Peachy Breeze!” the filly said excitedly. “You don't sound like Princess Cadance...” she mused.

“No, no, I'm her friend Alice. They stayed overnight at my place a while back after they helped her,” I explained.

“Oh, oh, oh!” she repeated excitedly. “It's Alice!” I heard her shout, presumably to someone else. “You must come and do our mane too! Peachy looked so great when she came back,” she insisted, and even in my current situation I couldn’t help but laugh a little from her enthusiasm.

“Thanks, I'll see what I can do,” I said, turning and immediately grunting in pain from my injuries; seemed even with painkillers I was still sore in a couple places. “A-anyway... is Princess Celestia there? I need to talk to her,” I said.

“Oh, Princess call. I'll get her!” the filly answered.

“Did you say it was Alice?” another voice asked from the other end of the line.

“Oh, yes!” the filly called Peachy Breeze said. “I'll get Princess Celestia,” I heard a brief flap noise, and the sound of the receiver being picked up again.

“Alice?” another young girl’s voice I recognized to be Peachy’s asked.

“Oh, hey Peachy. How are you?” I asked, figuring Peachy had decided to check in on me till Celestia made it over.

“Exhausted...” she muttered. “…I never thought being a filly could take so much out of me.”

“That's childhood, loads of energy, spent fast,” I explained, recalling my own.

“Thankfully a lot of fun too,” the filly replied, making me smile a bit from the implication that she and her sisters seemed to have bonded a little more.

“Yeah, there's that, too,” I said.

“So... how are you both doing?” Peachy asked, and immediately it was like all the speech and any optimism I was holding drained from me as the memories of what had happened played out in my mind.

“...I...” I began, but nothing else came after.

“I'm coming, Breezie, I'm coming. Please calm down...” a voice from the other end of the line said, I guess Celestia was on her way over, but even that seemed irrelevant to me as I just sat there, speechless.

I couldn’t stop them… I couldn’t save Cadance…

“Did something happened with Cadance's parents?” Peachy asked suddenly, sounding very worried, now.

Finding words again, I spoke hurriedly. “...No... Nothing happened there...” I muttered. “Everything went fine... everything went fine... there...” I tried to keep myself together, I didn’t want to break down and worry the filly more then I probably had, but I knew it wouldn’t be long. “I-I'm sure... Celestia... she'll fill you in when I... tell her.”

“I see... Tia is here so I'll let you two talk. Later.” Peachy said, clearly still concerned as she got off the phone, and a second later, I heard Celestia address me.

“Hello Alice? I see that you 'met' with one of Peachy's sisters,” the alicorn said cheerfully.

“Y-yeah, I did...” I took a few breaths, preparing to break the news. “Celestia... I'm in the hospital r-right now,” I said, my voice already trembling.

“The hospital? What happened?” Celestia asked, now noticeably worried.

“We left Cadance's parents' home, twenty minutes later we were... there was a... we were hit at an intersection...” I began, trying to keep myself under control. “A big armored van, it came out of nowhere and slammed into us, sent us clear off the road!”

“Did you see who drove the van?” Celestia asked.

“The last thing I saw before I passed out, some men with skimasks and tactical gear broke through the window...” I explained, and no longer able to hold them back, tears began flowing down my cheeks. “Celestia, T-THEY TOOK CADANCE!” I cried out, louder then I’d meant to. “It was like they knew she was there!”

“Oh no!” Celestia shuddered. “…Them. But how did they find out?” she asked, presumably having come to the same conclusion I had about the identities of her abductors.

Emotions were welling up inside me but I did my best to stay as hushed as I could and avoid alerting any hospital staff. “That's the thing, I don't know! Like I said, it's like they knew where to find us, and that she was there! You had a theory Discord may have some influence, maybe he guided them somehow.” I sighed, brushing tears from my eyes. “...There was nothing I could do... even on painkillers I could barely get from the hospital bed to my phone.”

“It wasn't your fault,” Celestia replied. “I'll tell Luna so she can try to contact her in her dreams and I'll come right away. You on another hoof…” she explained. “…need some rest.”

Some rest?! That’s what everyone seems to think but Celestia knew the situation! How could I rest when I knew Cadance was in danger?! “...Celestia, that's my best friend out there... I'm gonna go crazy just lying in here doing nothing!” I protested.

“And she would be feel badly if you aggravate your condition by looking for her,” she replied.

Slumping over I felt the soreness from my injuries again and lowered my head in defeat. She had a point but I really wished she didn’t. I was no good in the state I was in, and Cadance would be just as worried about me as I was of her. “Just... please... get her back...get to me as soon as there's any trace of her.”

“I promise that I will,” Celestia explained. “I should be leaving soon, so I'll call you back once I'm back in town.”

“I see... thank you,” I said, feeling a little bad to bring her back out here, halfway across the country. “And, when the chance presents itself, if you or anyone can give me a lift... I had to promise Peachy's sisters I'd do their manes for them,” I added.

“I might have a solution,” Celestia said, chuckling from my comment. “…but I need to practice first. I'm sure they would prefer to see you in one piece.”

“Thanks... thanks so much.” I replied, smiling a little. “I-I hope everything else is alright over there...”

“I'm sure she is fine. She's much stronger than most give her credit for,” she said, though her tone seemed as thought she didn’t believe it any more then I did regarding Cadance’s safety.

“I really hope so...” I replied, drying my eyes as best I could and turning towards the window in my room.

“Don't worry, I'll be back soon,” Celestia assured me.

“Thanks...” I answered, laying on my side and grunting in pain again, realizing at the moment I could only really feel comfortable on my back and decided to turn over again. “Not to be demanding, but I hope you know some healing magic because I'm gonna go insane dealing with all this pain for much longer.”

“I'll... try to remember,” Celestia answered. “I've noticed that spells come back more easily when I need them.”

“I see... f-for n-now I should... probably rest some more,” I replied, sighing as I stared at the ceiling, thoughts and concerns about Cadance swimming through my head. “…The doctors... said I should...”

“Ok. Rest well then. I'll try to be as quick as possible,” Celestia replied.

“Thank you,” I said. “I'll... I'll talk to you later then. S-seeya.”

“See you soon Alice,” the alicorn assured me, hanging up and I did the same, letting the phone fall to my side. Part of me said I should probably get up and put it back where I found it, but I was too caught up by the worries and concerns playing in my mind; Cadance was gone, who knew where and who knew if those men were already putting her through what that other pony I’d heard about had experienced… I couldn’t do anything to help her now… and Cale’s parents… they’d trusted me to look after her; to help her get to Iowa safely and then this happened… what could I tell them… what do I do now?

~

“Keep her quiet.” A male voice said; my eyes opening as I felt restraints on my hooves, binding them together and keeping my wings tucked against my barrel. The sack was pulled off my eyes and I saw several men standing over me, one leaning down and putting a gag over my mouth before I could scream.

“Sie ist sehr schön,” one of the masked men standing over me said, his tone amused.

“Yes, she is,” the first man said. “And the rarest breed of these pony creatures, no less. She’ll be a fortune.”

Oh god… the mercenaries Celestia had warned me about! The ones who had foalnapped and tortured Peachy’s foalsitter! Panic quickly overwhelmed me as I tried to stand but instead clumsily toppled over from my bonds. Immediately, I began to charge my magic, only to be hit with the butt of a rifle, causing me to cry out in pain. The man who hit me turned his rifle and pointed it at me.

“Do that again, and I’ll pump you with enough sedative to make sure you’re sleeping the rest of the way, at best!” the man said coldly, speaking English though his voice was accented.

I shuddered and tried to crawl away, feeling the movement of the cabin I was in beneath me and confirming I was still in the van, presumably the one they’d hit me and Alice with.

“Wanna play nice, now?” the first man asked. I nodded, terrified out of my mind as he slowly removed the gag.

“H-how… long… have I-I… b-been here?” I asked, my voice trembling as I tried to hold back tears.

“We picked you up yesterday, if you must know. We are now en route to Iowa. There’ve been quite a few sightings of your kind there. Not that it makes a difference because you’re all going to have the same use. Especially you, being one of those princess ponies we’ve heard so much about I’d say we can double, or better yet triple the price.” he explained.

I slid across the floor, my body shaking all over as I tried to get as far away from these men as I could and wishing I could disappear. This was worse then the mental institute… at least there the people cared about my well-being. These men intended to sell me probably to some freak for profit like I was the new addition to some kind of trafficking ring, and worse yet I had no idea if Alice was alive or not. She was barely conscious the last time I’d seen her…

“Why… why do this?! Doesn’t it bother you there’s still a human being in here?!” I asked, trying to slow my breathing. The man took his mask off, I guess he felt confident enough I could look at his face. He looked to be in his forties, with short, graying brown hair and a five-o-clock shadow. He wore an unreadable expression, so I wasn’t sure if he really did consider what I’d said or it really did mean nothing to him.

“You do what you have to in order to get by,” he said coldly. “And sometimes fast, big money is the only way you can. You know how many cuts happened thanks to that war? How many who served got screwed over in the end one way or another? To make up for that, we have to keep selling our services where they’re needed…” he crouched and tilted my head up with his gloved hand. “Make no mistake, I’m not expecting to come out of this living like a king, any more then the others at my level, but we do expect to have a lot less to worry about when all of this is over,” he narrowed his ruthless gaze at me. “Some of these men have families, and they’ll do whatever it takes to provide for them. Regardless of what it is.”

“I’m sure they’d be so proud of you if they knew what you were doing,” I said bitterly, gritting my teeth. The mercenary looked at me for a moment, then firmly shoved me back to the floor and turned away from me without a word. Unable to stop myself, I felt the tears come rolling down my cheeks; curling myself up on the floor and breaking into pitiful sobs. No one knew where I was, I wasn’t even sure where I was specifically, I wouldn’t be rescued, and these men were too far driven by their own needs to rethink what they were doing. “P-please… let me go…” I muttered, unable to stop shaking.

“Cry as much as you want, it won’t make a difference,” the first mercenary who’d spoken English the entire time said. “By now we’re already in Illinois. A long way away from Virginia.”

“Alice… Aunt Celestia… Aunt Luna… mom… dad… Shining… Skyla… everyone… I’m sorry…” I muttered softly to myself, my captors remaining silent as they sat back down on the benches that framed the sides of the van’s cabin, the man with the tranquilizer gun keeping his weapon trained on me in case I tried to use my magic and escape.

Two of the other men who’d remained seated the entire time began talking to one-another in what sounded like German, and the one who’d spoken to me slowly closed his eyes and rested while the one who hadn’t spoken English had taken a phone out and seemed to entertain himself with a game he’d downloaded on it.

Moments passed until I quietly lay my head down, resigning myself to whatever fate awaited me at the end of the line. Celestia didn’t know I was here, it’d take a good while for Luna to even notice me with all the ponies she was seeking out, Alice was… I could only hope and pray she wasn’t dead… how could humans be just as capable of committing the most horrible acts of evil as they were the most admirable acts of good? What did it take to sway people into making choices that hurt others, and not care? Would I have done the same in their position? How much did Discord influence them and how much was just the worst in what people had to offer the world?

My thoughts were interrupted as I felt the vehicle slow down. The mercenary who had spoken English got up, frowning as he came to the window leading to where the driver was sitting and pounded on it. “Is there a problem?” he demanded.

“Sir, there’s… there’s… you need to come and see this.” The man peered through, likely so he could see what the driver was talking about and scowled.

“Son of a bitch. Another one? The boss never told us anything,” he said before shrugging. “More ponies means more pay, so arm up, boys. We’re bringing the boss double. Triple if this one proves fussy.” The men immediately went for their weapons, the man who seemed to be the leader grabbing a pistol and opening the back door…

Moments later I heard shouting outside, followed by a gunshot. Immediately screaming followed. My eyes widened as I heard a sickening crunch, and more gunshots went off, panicked, indistinct orders in German and English were heard from outside as I struggled with my bonds, knowing there wasn’t going to be a better opportunity for me to get away.

“Come on, Cadance… come on…” I muttered, struggling. Whatever was going on out there apparently they felt the need to keep me unguarded. Another horrible, agonized scream was heard, and another gunshot. Sliding myself towards the door, I used my magic to undo the latch and open it, and I tumbled out immediately, chewing on the ropes as frantically as I could until they tore away and I was able to stand again and prepared to flee.

No… wait… I thought, pausing. They said they’d seen another pony. I couldn’t just leave them to these men in my place. For all I knew they were here to save me… was it…?

“Celestia? Luna?” I galloped around the parked van and to the front, freezing in my tracks at what I saw before me.

Carnage. Horrible, bloody carnage everywhere illuminated by the van’s lights. Crimson splattered all over the roads and on the driver’s side of the van as the corpse leaned against it was now missing the entire back of his head. Yet another looked as though his face had been smashed into the front of the truck numerous times until his skull had been shattered. One mercenary looked as though he’d been gutted as his entrails were now strewn all around him, another man lay beside him with a bullet wound through the middle of his head, and my eyes widened when I saw he was holding a knife; one suited for what had happened to his fellow mercenary. 

What… what had happened here?!

“Im… possi… ble…” a raspy voice stammered, and I turned and saw the lead mercenary on the ground, his hand still holding his gun tight but unable to raise it, and both his legs bent in horrible, unnatural angles. “What… what… are you…?” he asked, staring up at a figure standing over him that looked to be a pony of some sort.

The pony appeared to be a sleek, dusky-gray unicorn mare. She wore the metallic shoes and chest armor similar to that of a royal guard from the show, though it was purple with silver trim and mostly concealed under the tattered, slate-colored cloak she wore covering most of her body from the neck down. Her hood was back, revealing a helmet with a similar style and coloring to the rest of her armor, her horn jutting through an opening on the top. As she stared down at the fallen mercenary, her eyes, once shrouded in the shadows under her helmet, began to glow brightly. A crackling, green and purple magic aura surrounded her horn and the most terrifying, sadistic grin I had ever seen anywhere spread on her face. Suddenly, the man’s hand began to glow the same color as the pony’s magic and it started to raise the gun toward his own head, and the fear on his face grew all the more evident.

“No… no, please…! NO!” he pleaded desperately, the mare's terrible grin unwavering as she used her magic to force him to pull the trigger on himself, splattering the pavement with whatever remained of his head after.

Frightened, I could feel tears welling as I shook my head frantically, backing away from my ‘rescuer’. Before I could take one step, however, she turned towards me, her horrible sneer and the glow in her eyes completely gone and replaced by an eerily cold, neutral expression devoid of remorse or pity.

“W-who are you? Why… w-why did you do this?!” I pleaded, horrified by the slaughter I was now surrounded by.

In an instant she was suddenly right in front of me, inches from my face and faint, but cruel smile formed on her own. “My master, Discord, has better plans in store for you, Princess Cadance,” the shrouded mare said, her voice a menacing, icy monotone. “Plans he can’t wait to put you through...”

Without another word, Discord's frightening emissary turned and began to walk away from me, her cloak billowing behind her.

I wanted to go after her. I wanted to confront her; to make her pay for the sadistic massacre she’d committed in Discord’s name and no doubt for his amusement as well regardless of how much they may have deserved it. I drew in breath, attempting to call out to the mare, but instead only choked sobs came out as I collapsed to my haunches, watching her retreating form until she suddenly vanished in a flash of light.

Looking at the maimed bodies all around me, I did the only thing I could think to do, now. I spread my wings and flew, as fast as I possibly could; desperate to get as far away from them as I could allow myself to. To somewhere, anywhere, as far away from them is I could go…