This is sort of a follow-on from 'The Verdict' which is a story of mine about Twilight Sparkle being framed for poisoning Princess Celestia, however Gilda saved the day and the real culprit was arrested - Trixie.

In the depths of the royal palace of Canterlot lies a place many ponies over the years have stayed but few have left. The dungeons of the castle once housed the most nefarious ponies of vile character but this evening only one was present - the magician, Trixie.

The pony was in a pitiful state. After being exposed as the poisoner of Princess Celestia, albeit unintentionally, she was quickly found guilty and incarcerated. Six months awaiting execution had turned her from a beautiful silver-maned filly to a shell of her former self. The prison rations of mouldy hay and stale cabbage had dulled her coat and mane, her cracked and bloodied hooves looked as though she was close to scurvy and her emerald eyes no longer twinkled as they did when she would perform to an enthralled audience of ponies.

The most tragic change to Trixie however was her horn, which had been sawn off soon after she was found guilty. The purposed was twofold, firstly to snuff out the magic of a unicorn, secondly to demoralize the condemned and remind him or her that they were a non-pony. The Princess had not been down into the bowels of the castle to see Trixie - Princess Celestia knew what happened down there and chose not to think about it. Many had been sent to the dungeon during her reign, it was simply a fact that despite the utopia she gave to her subjects, some would seek to destroy it. The thousands of years had made her realize that mortal life was fleeting; pain and suffering common to all. If nothing else, having somepony in the dungeon at least gave her guards a morale boost. Most of the guards would reside in the castle for five days before returning home for two. It was important for the Princess to have happy and loyal guards. Her chosen few, the Elite Equestrian Guards were neutered but for the less senior guards, it was acceptable to use the prisoners for relief.

Friday nights were the worst for Trixie although she often found it hard to know what day it was otherwise. Some of the guards would get drunk after their shift before paying her a visit. They would take her to the torture room of the dungeon, put her in the stocks and abuse her horribly, all the time watched by the dungeon keeper - a fearsome unicorn stallion known as 'Hood' who also served as the Canterlot executioner. His name came from the grotesque black hood he wore on his head at all times when in Canterlot - slits near his eyes allowed him to see through the thick cloth and as he breathed the lower half of the hood grew and shrank. His black horn protruded from the top of the hood almost like the crest of a helmet.

Rumour amongst the guards was that when Hood returned to his home town on Saturdays and Sundays, he was a family stallion with an unsuspecting wife and children. It was said that as far as his family knew, he simply worked as a resident guard in Canterlot. What was fact is that Hood was efficient, calm and professional with regard to his grim duties.

Hood preferred to watch as the guards had their way with the prisoner. Trixie had miscarried three times in the previous six months. The guards had a tenancy to beat her viciously after sexually assaulting her. Often the guards were too intoxicated to be able to perform in a sexual manner and would penetrate her with inappropriate objects. This along with the frequent beatings caused Trixie to quickly lose the foal conceived to her captors.

Hood and the two guards on the evening shift entered the dungeon and trotted to Trixie's cell. Hood had never spoken to Trixie, she figured that his silence was part of his 'act'. The guards however, always knew what part they should play in Hood's actions and Trixie guessed that they must all converse before entering the dungeon.

Trixie was prostrate on a damp makeshift bed of hay. Hearing the guards approaching, she feigned sleep. The last visit had been awful, they had forced her to lick up the dirt from her own toilet area in the corner before making her do something to each guard which felt very shameful to her. Later that night she had tried to end her own life but found that with no magic, no clothing and no possessions, it was very difficult. Her horn could not produce more than a fizzle of magic, only enough to blow hay a few inches across the floor. She had charged head-first against the cell wall in an attempt to break her own neck but twice had awoken from unconsciousness with a very sore head.

One of the guards banged his hoof against the cell bars and spoke.

"Trixie. By order of the Princess, you have been pardoned and you are to be freed immediately."

Trixie stood from the straw bed in the corner of her dank cell and turned to the guards, her eyes briefly twinkled. Her beauty was still apparent despite the pain and cruelty of the previous six months.

"Oh.. oh my! By Celestia's mane, at last! Thank you Princess, thank you!"

"Yes, yes. Step forward and no funny business."

The guard opened her cell and as Trixie trotted forward she was fiercely head butted on the nose by Hood, causing her hind legs to buckle. The guards both laughed as Hood magicked a glowing yellow chain around the kneeling pony's neck. The two guards took the magical chain in their mouths and dragged Trixie from the cell into the torture chamber opposite.

"Ha. Why on earth would Celestia release you, my dear? Tomorrow is your execution date, you are to be hung, drawn and quartered in the morning. Tonight we will prepare you."

Trixie screamed and kicked but the magic chain around her neck tightened, sapping her strength and making it easy for the guards to lift her onto a wooden table in the centre of the room. Four shackles attached to the dark wood were clamped around her fore and hind legs leaving her splayed out, lying upwards. Trixie had been in this room before but they had never strapped her to a table. They would normally just place her in the stocks where she was unable to stop them having full access to her rear. The stocks were on display in the corner to the left of the door but devices in the other corners were covered with red sheets.

"Oh no, please! What are you going to do to me! Princess Celestia, I'm so sorry! Why do you let these guards do this to me? Just kill me already you rotten, wicked bitch!"

While Trixie's screams broke to a sobbing moan, Princess Celestia slept soundly many floors above. One of the guards, slightly older and greyer in the mane covered Trixie's mouth with his hoof.

"Okay, I'm ready Hood."

The guard looked to Hood, whose horn glowed causing a heavy loop of steel to be magicked from the corner of the room. It was around five inches wide and the steel was thick and heavy looking. There was a small gap in the loop, somewhat like a traditional loop and ball ear piercing, popular with young fillies. Both ends of the loop were very sharp, quite like a nail and the older guard pushed his hoof hard into Trixie's mouth stretching her jaw. Her nose was flared and sticking out as Hood's magic forced the spiked hoop through her left nostril. A horrible crack was heard as it reached the middle of her nose. Struggling to breathe, Trixie wriggled, the guards hoof blocking her mouth adding to her panic. The spiked end of the hoop emerged slowly and bloodily from Trixie's right nostril.

The guard removed his hoof from Trixie's mouth and the pony coughed up blood and saliva, gasping for breath, no longer able to breathe through her damaged nose. Hood cast another spell and the ring squeezed until the gap closed, leaving the filly with a heavy steel piercing. It looked similar to a piercing but due to the size of the ring it was more like those sometimes put on a cows nose to make it easier to lead them.

Hood grunted and walked out of the room leaving the guards to return the condemned to her cell. Once she was removed from the table, Trixie opened her eyes and stared at the ground as the guards proceeded to use her. It did not take long and there was no struggle as the junior guard finished, unmounted her and tweaked her nose ring looking for a reaction.

"Hmm, she's acting really weird tonight, sir. I prefer it when they scream and kick."

The senior guard snorted and slapped Trixie across the face. Still no reaction.

"Nothing. Put her back in her cell, we'll have some more fun with her before the execution tomorrow. I'll be back in five minutes."

The guard left his junior to finish off, locking the dungeon door behind him. Trixie's head was bowed, eyes open and body ridged

"Trixie, Trixie, Trixie. What are we guards going to do when you are gone? You really are a great lay."

While the guard took down a chain hanging on the wall with which to lead the prisoner back, Trixie closed her eyes and focused. She was so angry at being so powerless. Surely, she thought, surely a unicorn's magic does not depend on her horn. A tingling in the stump of her horn encouraged her to concentrate more. She thought about foal that had grew in her tummy for six weeks before a beating had caused her to miscarry. Although she was raped, it was still her child. The feeling in the stump strengthened and she gritted her teeth. Horns regrow. They take years but they do return.

Trixie growled and a glow emerged from her horn. She had tried before to cast magic whilst in her cell but it seemed this time all her rage fed its strength. Behind Trixie a steel poker rose magically from an extinguished fire, hovering in the air for a second before the sharp tip moved to point in the direction of the guard. The guard turned back to Trixie in time to see, if only for a microsecond, the sharp end of the poker flying towards him. With a thud, the poker pierced the breastplate of his armour and sunk deeply into his chest.

The look on the guard's face was one of horror, pain and surprise, Trixie's bloodied mouth formed a wicked smile. The guard tried to speak but his life slipped away quickly, his pierced heart stopped trying to thump and with a clatter of armour he fell to the ground.

Trixie closed her eyes and focused again, the poker drawing itself from the dead stallion's chest before floating over to hover at the pony's side. The empowered pony touched her nose ring and flinched with pain, she'd have to deal with that later but for now it was time to leave. She stood over the guard's corpse and kicked the face with her foreleg. It would seem that magic is in the pony, not the horn.

"Bastards. Not so tough now I'm back in business, are you?"

Another spell drew the dungeon key from the chain around the cadaver's neck. Trixie placed it around her own neck and trotted back to her cell just as she heard the clatter of a key opening the dungeon door. The senior guard cantered down the steps. As he neared Trixie's cell, the filly dramatically stepped out and smiled at the surprised guard. Narrowing her eyes, Trixie's horn-stump shimmered as the poker by her side aimed towards the guard.

"Oh, did I startle you? Did you think your petty torments could suppress such powerful magic? I am the Great and Powerful Trixie! First I'm going to kill you then I'll kill your Princess. Now die!"

The poker again flew from Trixie's side towards her captor, penetrating the neck of the startled guard who gurgled, choking on his own blood before dropping to the knees and closing his eyes. The poker dropped to the floor and Trixie brushed her hair from her sweating brow. There was nothing stopping her escape from the dungeon now. Trixie cackled and used her magic to unhook the dead guard's water pouch from his armour and took a sip. It tasted so good. Fresh, clean water.

"Twilight Sparkle or Princess Celestia? Who shall I smite first?"

Trixie swigged from the water pouch again. It would be more fun to kill Princess Celestia and then tell Twilight in intricate detail how she killed her mentor. Trixie emptied the rest of the water onto her head and rubbed her face clean.

It was time to take care of business.

To be continued.