There will be no prison which can hold our movement down.
Huey Newton
The ponies were galloping through the caves. Scootaloo, who’d just woken up, ran out of her room and saw Silver Spoon and Twist approaching her. “What’s going on?” she asked.
“We… we’re under attack!” Silver Spoon panted. Somewhere in the distance they heard shots.
“Attack? Who? The Moon Army?”
“No idea!” Twist shouted. “There’th thome gath everywhere!”
“Gas?” Scootaloo looked around. Indeed, there was some kind of vapour hanging in the corridor behind them and approaching them slowly. “We need to get out of there,” Scootaloo said. “Where’s the rest?”
“I saw Apple Bloom with Dinky…” Silver Spoon replied. They started to run down the corridor, trying to get as far from the gas as possible. “Sweetie was with Wrench…”
They heard an explosion somewhere behind them. Scootaloo cursed under her breath and hid behind the corner. Silver Spoon and Twist followed her, almost bumping into Roseluck, another of the caves’ dwellers.
“What’s going on?” Scootaloo asked her. There was another explosion, a bit closer than the last one.
“Royal Guards!” Roseluck shouted. “They’re everywhere…”
“Royal Guards? Like, Celestia’s guards?” Silver Spoon asked. “But–”
A beam of magic hit the wall near them, exploding and throwing some debris on them. They got up and started to gallop, their hoofsteps echoing through the caves.
“There’s an exit somewhere this way…” Roseluck panted. “We’ll be safe there…”
Silver Spoon saw that Scootaloo slowed down a bit and looked behind. “Don’t even think about looking for the rest!” she shouted. “They’ll only kill us all!”
To her surprise, Scootaloo nodded and caught up with them. They turned left; the corridor there was running upwards, to the surface. They only managed to run for a few yards, before Roseluck stopped suddenly.
“Guards! We have to–” A blue magic beam hit her chest. Roseluck’s voice immediately died down; she staggered and collapsed.
“No!” Scootaloo shouted, running towards her. “Please, Roseluck, don’t be dead…”
“She’th breathing…” Twist said, watching the fallen mare. “It’th not a killing thpell…”
Another beam missed Scootaloo only by a few inches. She looked forward and saw several silhouettes approaching them.
“Let’s get out of here…” Silver Spoon’s voice woke her up from the trance. They turned around and ran away, chased by the magic beams.
Scootaloo was surprised how well Twist knew the corridors after spending only a week underground. She was running few steps before them, helping them to avoid gas and groups of the guards.
“Not good… Not good…” Twist muttered, stopping suddenly.
“What’s up?” Silver Spoon asked, looking at her with care. She shuddered visibly; when Roseluck had fallen, she’d seen a faint trace of redness on the edge of her vision.
“I’m afraid we’re thurrounded… The only way leadth through that gath…”
“Crap…” Scootaloo muttered. “What are we gonna do now?”
“We can try to get through… I don’t think it’th lethal…”
“How do you know? I’d rather not become a guinea pig to find out,” Silver Spoon said.
“Have you heard any shots here? They don’t shoot at uth and the magic they uthe only knockth ponieth down. They want to take uth alive…”
“Well, thanks for the good news!” Scootaloo said with a sigh. They were now approaching the cloud of silvery gas blocking the corridor.
“Hold your breath and go fatht…”
“What if it works through the skin?” Scootaloo asked, watching the vapour unsurely. She thought that she’d heard way too much scary stories in her life. “I’d rather not become a burnt skeleton…”
“It doesn’t…” Silver Spoon said.
“How do you– Shit!” Scootaloo saw several silhouettes of guards wearing the gas masks walking to them through the cloud. They started to run again.
A beam of magic destroyed a piece of wall above them. They were near the rooms of the bunker’s inhabitants when suddenly, another beam hit Twist’s back.
“No!” Silver Spoon screamed, seeing her fillyfriend collapsing. Now, not only the edges of her vision were red; she felt as if she was watching the world through the glass tank full of strawberry juice. She rubbed her hoof, where she used to carry the Kampfmesser, hidden behind the scrunchie.
“Let’s hide…” Scootaloo whispered, dragging her to the room near them. In the distance, they heard the hoofsteps and voices of the assailants.
The room they were in was in a mess; apparently the ponies had left it in hurry, not even bothering with taking anything with them. Silver Spoon searched through the scattered items and found a large, rusty nail.
“What are you… No!” Scootaloo shouted, seeing that she was now holding it, looking at the door carefully.
“And I thought protecting other ponies was your special talent…” Silver Spoon said emotionlessly.
“But not by killing the others! How will you explain that to her?” Scootaloo asked. Through the ajar door they could see three guards with gas masks approaching unconscious Twist.
“If I don’t do that, there won’t be anypony to explain that to…” Silver Spoon stood next to the door, holding the nail firmly in her hoof. She was watching the guards carefully, noting their positions, height and location of the weak points of their armours. She smirked when she saw that each of them had a knife in a scabbard attached to the barding. One of them had also some weird-looking weapon; it looked like a revolver with an oversized magazine.
“Take her, and I’ll get the other two,” said the first guard, removing the gas mask. It was a white unicorn mare. Her eyes wore the same shade of blue as the spell that’d hit Twist. She approached the door.
“Come out, fillies,” she said calmly. It wasn’t an order, it sounded more like a request. She pushed the door open. “We are not gonna hurt you…”
“But we are!” Silver Spoon shouted at the top of her lungs. She tackled the mare, who suddenly screamed, lifting her hoof to her face.
“Sleepwalker!” The other guard called. He released Twist from his magic grasp and faced the quickly approaching grey blur.
Silver Spoon was too close to aim her properly with magic. She slid under his hoof when he tried to hit her, and stabbed him in the chest with Sleepwalker’s knife.
“Silver, stop it!” Scootaloo screamed. She watched in horror as Sleepwalker tried to get up, the nail still protruding from one of her eyes. Then she noticed that the third guard was aiming his strange weapon at Silver Spoon, who was now trying to get out from under his companion’s body. Scootaloo’s body reacted instinctively.
“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry...” she whispered, jumping over Sleepwalker, who muttered something incomprehensible.
The guard noticed another opponent approaching and quickly turned right, firing his weapon. It didn’t make much noise; it was more like a snap. It was a quick move, but it was enough for Silver Spoon who attacked him viciously, aiming her knife at his carotid artery.
Scootaloo didn’t feel any pain, just a pinprick in her right wing. She tried to reach Silver Spoon, who was now stabbing the guard furiously, but it seemed as if she was miles away. Scootaloo’s right wing was numb; the feeling was slowly spreading on her legs and the whole body. She tried to lift her hoof, attract Silver’s attention, but she only collapsed next to Twist, unable to move.
A feeling of panic overwhelmed her; she wasn’t claustrophobic, but, as many pegasi, she preferred open spaces. Being trapped in her own body was, however, too much for her. She wanted to scream, but she couldn’t; she could barely breathe and she felt like she was suffocating. Her vision was slowly darkening. She could only watch Silver Spoon, who wiped blood from her forehead and looked around, noticing Sleepwalker, who was trying to crawl away.
“Not so fast…” she said. Scootaloo heard her voice as if it was coming from the great distance.
“Please… Don’t do that…” Sleepwalker cried, seeing that Silver was approaching her with a knife in her hoof.
“Now you’re begging me?” Silver Spoon laughed. “You and your friends killed Diamond, but I almost forgave you that… You were trying to rape us and kill us, but I don’t mind. You know, I’m actually quite kind… But I can’t forgive you for what you did to Dinky Hooves… Maybe you saw her… She’s paralysed because of you.”
“Please! I didn’t do anything of that! I… I only came here b-because I’m specialised in sleeping spells and–”
“Oh, I guess it’s interesting…” Silver Spoon chuckled. Scootaloo desperately wanted to stop her, but she was slowly passing out. “But it also means that you attacked the only filly who kept me from killing ponies like you… And that’s why you will die…” Silver Spoon rose her hoof.
A beam of magic hit her. It wasn’t Sleepwalker’s sleeping spell, but rather a strong, golden projectile that sent her flying against the wall. She recovered and tried to get her knife, before three new guards surrounded her. Scootaloo almost started to cheer, when she felt that she was levitated by one of them. It reminded her of Hot Blood.
Silver Spoon, her glasses knocked off her nose was thrashing, but without the element of surprise, she had no chances against the new opponents. Just when she was hit with a sleeping spell, Scootaloo finally passed out.
***
Beating of a hoof against the bars echoed through the dungeon. Most of the guards had gotten used to that – all of them knew that the sole inmate of the cell at the end of the corridor was insane and it was no use in persuading her not to make any noise. Of course they tried; they’d asked her nicely at first, then one of them kicked her in the stomach. As soon as she was able to move again, she crawled to the bars and began banging against it with her hoof again.
Actually, it wasn’t the worst thing she had in store. From time to time, she was singing various songs, some of them well-known hits, some of them rather vulgar renditions of traditional music. She was probably coming up with the lyrics by herself. The guards weren’t surprised. Her cutie mark was obscured by a layer of dry mud and dirt, but they’d noticed that it was a musical note. What was a musician doing in the dungeon, they didn’t know. It was Twilight Sparkle’s order, and they learned quickly not to question them.
The guards had more problems than an insane prisoner. A recent raid at the spies’ hideout left them with many new inmates and the dungeon was slowly getting full. Now, some of them were lying on the corridor, still unconscious, while the commander was examining them.
“What the hell is that?” he shouted at the younger guard, poking one of them brutally. “I told you to get them all alive!”
“She’s alive…” the guard replied. The grey filly in front of him groaned and spat some blood on the floor.
“By now, idiot! She’s a filly, what did she do to you?”
“She killed Nursery Rhyme and Sandy… Poor Sleepwalker lost an eye... We had to stop her…” He paused seeing the commander’s gaze piercing him furiously.
“A filly!” he shouted. “A fifteen years old filly killed two experienced guards! No wonder we’re losing this war…” He took a flask from his saddlebags and poured some liquid into the filly’s mouth. She coughed but then opened one eye and looked at them unconsciously.
“You’d better hope she doesn’t kick the bucket, or I’ll feed your balls to that shitbag…” he pointed at the cell of the insane pony.
“What should we do with them?” the guard asked. “They can’t stay here and we don’t have any free cells…”
“Hmm… If I recall correctly, shitbag is alone in a rather large cell…”
***
The iron door opened for a moment. A ray of faint light entered Vinyl’s cell, almost blinding her.
She didn’t know exactly how long she’d been there. Her head was still aching when she tried to remember what had happened to her. It had to be a long time; her broken hoof had almost healed. Her throat, injured by Cloudchaser also would be better, if she hadn’t strained it by yelling and singing songs.
Her cell was rather big; unfortunately, it was also moist. There was a foot-deep puddle in the middle of the floor, filled with stinky water. There was no source of light, not even a single lamp. Vinyl was a bit happy about that – at least she couldn’t see the rats that, according to the guards she could sometimes hear talking next to her door, were as big as kittens.
“We brought you some friends, shitbag!” the guard shouted. Vinyl looked at the new inmates.
The first of them was a small, orange pegasus, who walked staggeringly. Just after she entered Vinyl’s cell, she collapsed on the ground and threw up into the puddle. Her companion, a yellow earth filly, trotted to her and began stroking her mane.
At first Vinyl thought that the third filly was dead. Her fur was covered with blood; another filly, with curly red mane, had to almost carry her inside. The only indication that she was alive was her shallow breath. She was also muttering something quietly. For Vinyl it sounded awfully similar to “what have I done…”. It reminded her of Emerald. The red-maned filly put her on the ground carefully and put a pair of glasses on her nose.
Just before the door closed, Vinyl saw another filly, who just jumped off the yellow one’s back. Well, ‘jumped’ wasn’t the best word. She slid off her back and landed clumsily on the floor, her hind legs in weird positions. Before Vinyl could look at her once more, the door closed and they were in darkness again.
“Umm… hello,” Vinyl said. “Are you okay?”
“Try to fucking guess…” she heard a weak voice from the place where she’d last seen the orange pegasus.
“Scootaloo! What did Ah tell ya about swearing when Dinky can hear ya?”
“Don’t you have other problems? I got a paralysing dart to my wing and had to watch Silver going nuts; can’t I say what I think about it?”
“And I don’t mind!” Dinky exclaimed. Wrench always says that it’s okay to say fu–”
“Dinky!”
“I’m with Thcooth on that one… They almotht killed Silver… And where’th Thweetie?”
“Ah don’t know...” The voice with a country accent was shaking. “She and Wrench ran away… Ah was hit with a spell…”
“Don’t worry, Twist, I’m not dying…” This voice seemed a bit annoyed. “Whatever that guy gave me, it helped…”
“Umm…” Vinyl muttered, “I don’t wanna interrupt you, but… You know, I didn’t have occasion to talk to other ponies for… for… What day is today?”
“24th November,” said one of the fillies, the one with lisp.
“24th… 24th… Oh shit…” Vinyl muttered.
“You too?” The voice with a country accent scolded.
“I’m sorry, young lady, but I just realized that I’ve been out for a week! Last day I remember was 13th, then I remember four meals, so I thought it was 17th today… A week… I partied too hard many times in my life, but a week?”
“I’d go to a party,” said the youngest filly. “But my mommy says that I’m too small… By the way, what’s your name?”
“Vinyl… Vinyl Scratch.” It was like a breath of fresh air. During the time she’d spent in the dungeon, she’d almost forgotten her name. All the guards were calling her ‘shitbag’.
“And my name’s Dinky Hooves,” the filly said. Her companions also decided that it was time to introduce themselves.
“Scootaloo.”
“Apple Bloom.”
“Twitht.”
“Silver Spoon.”
Vinyl nodded her head. As a musician, she had a good musical memory and could easily match the voice with the pony. Even in complete darkness, she could tell every filly apart from the others.
“Okay, so if we know each other, how did you get there?”
“I don’t exactly remember…” Twist said. “They thomehow knew where we were…”
“Not ‘somehow’...” Silver Spoon muttered and groaned with pain. “Someone had to tell them…”
“Ah… Ah’m afraid it could be Rarity…” Apple Bloom said. “Who knows what they did to her…”
“Don’t worry, Rarity’s Twilight Sparkle’s friend, right?” Vinyl tried to approach the fillies, but she wasn’t exactly sure of the position of the puddle. She’d rather not walk into it – Scootaloo’s vomit definitely wasn’t the first thing to make the water in it dirty.
“We’re not sure anymore…” Apple Bloom replied.
“To be honest, I saw Twilight Sparkle here once…” Vinyl rubbed her temples. Trying to recall any event caused a pounding headache. It got even worse, if the event she tried to recall had happened before the 13th November. “I didn’t like what I saw… She talked something about t-tortures and sensory depravation or something like that…”
“Deprivation,” Twist corrected. “That’d explain why it’th tho dark here. But they thcrewed it up – we should be floating in warm, thalty water, unable to talk to each other…”
Vinyl tried to give her a worried look, but for obvious reasons it didn’t work. “You know, girls?” she said to the rest of her fellow inmates. “Try not to die… Ever. This filly is like Twilight Sparkle – one dead friend away from torturing ponies…”
“I jutht like to read much…” Twist explained. She probably blushed and smiled sheepishly, Vinyl was almost sure of that.
“Don’t worry, some of us don’t want to die…” Scootaloo said. Her voice was a bit stronger, the last remains of the poison being washed off from her system.
“Give me a break…” Silver Spoon groaned. “When I saw Twist falling, I lost it only a bit…”
“What did you lose?” Dinky asked. “Twist? She’s here…”
“Well, that’s something even I don’t want you to hear about…” Scootaloo said. Apple Bloom gave her a nasty look, but only Vinyl saw that due to her senses sharpening after spending eleven days underground.
“It was a self-defense.” Silver Spoon said in a monotone.
“Self-defense? You’re fucked up!” Scootaloo shouted, ignoring Apple Bloom’s cautionary hissing.
“May I interrupt?” Vinyl asked. “We’re all on the same boat now and, from what I’ve heard, it’s not wise to argue in such a situation…”
“That’s what Ah’m telling ‘em since Scootaloo woke up…” Apple Bloom’s tone reminded Vinyl of Octavia. She was usually rolling her eyes while using it.
“And it doesn’t work…” Dinky chirped. “Scootaloo and Silver argue since Scootaloo caught Silver and Twist making a baby…”
“What?” Vinyl exclaimed. She bursted into a fit of laughter. “And the guards say I’m insane…”
“Yeah, I don’t know what’s that all fuss about. Everypony can make a baby, right? Wrench wanted to tell me how they’re made, but Apple Bloom–”
“Dinky, please…” Apple Bloom sighed.
“Yeah, tell her that adults are talking…” Vinyl chuckled. “Well, nevermind. I guess it’s not about babies, right?”
“I don’t know…” Twist said. “Thcootaloo didn’t want to tell me…”
“Because I think she should tell you herself…” Scootaloo’s voice was a bit stronger but still sounded angry. “Besides, as Apple Bloom constantly reminds us, Dinky is here…”
“It’s some war stuff?” Dinky asked. “Mommy always says that when I ask her where she’s going with those letters…”
“Yes,” Silver Spoon’s voice sounded empty. “It’s a war stuff… Twist… I think Scootaloo’s right… I… I shouldn’t be with you… This can happen again...”
“Oh, come on…” Twist tried to make her voice sound reassuring, but it faltered. Vinyl wasn’t sure what dark secrets those two fillies had, but she didn’t want to delve into it. “I… You thaid it yourthelf… I’m the only pony who keepth these thoughts away… Without me you… you may…”
“I may… And I did,” Silver Spoon sobbed. Her voice sounded muffled; it seemed that she and Twist were hugging.
“H-how many?” Twist’s voice was shaking.
“Two… maybe three…”
“Are they always like that?” Vinyl whispered theatrically.
“Mostly,” Dinky whispered back. It was even louder. Vinyl waited for any of her new friends to say something more, but she was greeted with silence. It seemed that Scootaloo threw up again; or maybe she was just faking it to make Twist and Silver stop crying in each other’s coats.
“Well, while you’re fixing your relationships, I’ll resume my main activity here…” she finally said and started to bang her hoof against the bars again. “Can ya help me? I need to came up with some song, but I’m all out of rhymes…”
“Why are ya doing this? Apple Bloom asked while Dinky was cheerfully offering Vinyl help.
“To fight off that sensory-whatever-thingy,” Vinyl replied. “Ya know, I want to keep my head and hooves occupied…”
“I know some methods…” Scootaloo giggled. “Since we’re in the darkness anyway…”
“Scootaloo!” Apple Bloom’s voice sounded outraged.
“What? I talked about pen spinning…”
“Well, there are no pens here, if I recall correctly,” Vinyl sighed. “About the activities Apple Bloom has in mind, I got bored of them after maybe a half of a day…”
“Too bad,” Dinky said. “If you exercised more, maybe you’d be able to bend the bars…”
“Yeah, I’m sure of that…” Vinyl deadpanned. “Then we’d only have to get out of the dungeon full of guards… Easy thing, kid.”
“Don’t worry, Silver knows how to deal with the guards…” Scootaloo muttered.
“Thcooth, thtop it! We shouldn’t argue…” Twist scolded.
“And what will happen then? Magic of friendship will save us?”
“Interesting thing you mention that…” Another voice called.
The door opened. The light on the corridor was dim, but it was still enough to hurt Vinyl’s eyes. She’d lost her sunglasses on the airship long time ago. Her red eyes were never any good when it came to being exposed to the bright light; two weeks underground only made it worse.
“How dare you talking about friendship?” the voice asked angrily. Vinyl recognised it. For years, this voice was giving Equestria hope, even in darker times. This time, however, chill ran down Vinyl’s spine when she heard it.
“Twilight!” Scootaloo exclaimed. “It’s me, Scootaloo! We were caught by the guards and–”
“Shut up!” Twilight Sparkle shouted. “Scootaloo is dead! You’re just a little impostor! Luna’s spy!”
“No, Twilight… It’s me… Your friend...” Scootaloo was at the verge of tears.
“Shut up, you little brat! How dare you talking about friendship? After you and your princess killed all my friends?” Fluttershy… Applejack… Rainbow Dash… Then Rarity joined you and almost killed Pinkie…” Twilight pushed Scootaloo away. The rest of the fillies moved away, Apple Bloom covering Dinky with her own body.
“Luna’s going to pay…” Twilight muttered. She was shooting nervous glances around, like a predator choosing a victim. It reminded Scootaloo of Silver Spoon. “And you’ll help me… Oh yes, you’ll help me… whether you like it or not…” She shifted her position and looked into their eyes. “You know, I could kill all of you on the spot… But that’d be no use. From what I’ve heard, she can talk to you… I’d do everything to know what she’s going to do… And by ‘everything’ I mean…”
Her eyes focused on Dinky.
“Yes, you’ll be a good first subject… A kid... You don’t feel pain in those legs, right? Well, after I’m done with you, you will feel pain everywhere… Unless you start to talk… Then I’ll make it quick.”
“She knows nothing!” Apple Bloom shouted. “Luna speaks only to me and Scootaloo!”
“Thank you…” Scootaloo muttered under her breath. Twilight disappeared in a flash of magenta light and appeared again in front of her.
“Is that true?” she asked. “You’re given orders from Luna? Some hints?”
Scootaloo looked into Twilight’s eyes. They were bloodshot; pupils were the size of pinpricks; one of them was a bit lazy in comparison to another.
“Yes, I do,” she said. “But I’d rather die than tell it to you… She… she’s much better than Celestia and you! She doesn’t keep fillies in prison! She doesn’t send soldiers to… to rape them! She doesn’t tortu–”
“Shut up!” Twilight shouted. She smacked Scootaloo with her hoof. It seemed that whatever was happening to her affected also her strength; Scootaloo fell to the ground and spat out one of the replacement teeth she’d been given by Minuette.
“You’re tough, Scootaloo… or whatever you’re really called. But I can assure you that you will talk… Everypony talks in the end… Even Rarity…”
“I’d rather die!” Scootaloo shouted.
“Me too!” Apple Bloom stood up and stood by Scootaloo’s side.
“Well, maybe I’ll try a different approach…” Twilight turned to Silver Spoon who was embracing Twist protectively. “I’ve heard what you did to those guards… We’re a bit similar, don’t you think? We both have friends we want to avenge...”
“I’m nothing like you!” Silver Spoon shouted. Her voice faltered when she looked into Twilight’s eyes, but she stood still.
“But I can assure you, you will be…” A wave of magenta magic embraced Silver Spoon and Twist, lifting them off the ground effortlessly. They started to thrash, trying to reach her, but they were too far. Twilight turned to Apple Bloom and Scootaloo.
“Soon I’ll be back…” she said. “With the bloodied remains of one of those fillies and the other one mad after what she’ll witness… I think you know well what she does when she’s like that…”
“NO!” Scootaloo shouted. “Take me instead!”
“Why would I?” Twilight asked. “You told me yourself that you’d rather die than tell me anything… And I’ve found a different way to break you...” She giggled. “See you soon, filly…”
She left their cell and locked the door. Scootaloo ran to it, but only bounced of off it. “Fuck!” She groaned in frustration, banging her hoof against the door.
Apple Bloom didn’t say anything about that.