Popped

The entire basement was eerily quiet, save for the sound of Pokey ascending the staircase. The weak wooden boards groaned under his weight, creating an unsettling noise that seemed to linger in Pinkie’s ears long after it had faded away. The sound was soon followed by another; that of a door clicking shut.

Then, only silence.

Pinkie Pie sat alone, shivering on the ground as warm tears rolled down her cheeks. Two thick trails of clear snot seeped out of her nostrils, briefly clinging to her face before finally falling to the ground.

She released a miserable moan and let her frail body go limp. Her body hit the floor hard, but her senses barely even registered the pain. Covered in cuts, bruises, and wounds, Pinkie’s entire body was already in constant pain. Whatever additional trauma she received was simply mixed into the melting pot.

Half-lidded, she stared blankly at the floor below her as if in a trance. "Nopony's coming for me..." she whispered to herself. Her quiet, shaky enunciation of the words rendered them almost too quiet to hear. "I'm gonna die here..."

Pinkie Pie couldn’t remember the last time she smiled, and she didn’t care. The brutal honesty of her own words, admitting to herself that her death was quickly approaching, was enough to break her completely.

She had put her faith into her friends. She thought that they would come and save her. Pinkie had feared death all her life. But now, in her current pathetic state, she had to admit to herself that a little part of her wanted it.

Then, suddenly, Pinkie's ears perked up at the sound of a quiet murmur coming from the floor above her. She laid motionless in place, scrunching up her nose and squinting as she listened intently. The voices were too muffled to make out any words, but Pinkie could still hear the various inflections clearly. Pokey’s voice was easily recognizable, but there seemed to be another voice present as well. It was a female voice. One that she recognized.

Her jaw hung open in disbelief. Somepony else is here!

"HEY! HELP ME!" Pinkie screamed. Using all the energy she had, she took a deep breath and shrieked as loud as she could. "HELP! IT'S PINKIE PIE! HELP ME, PLEASE!" She jolted around as she screamed, trying to make as much noise as possible. "HELP MEEEE!" she yelled, frantically banging her hoofcuffs together.

Eventually, Pinkie gave up trying to form words and began simply shrieking as loud as she could. Her shrill voice bounced off the basement walls, creating a chaotic din of sound that was impossible not to hear from upstairs.

Pinkie Pie's tantrum lasted only a few seconds before she was out of breath and out of energy. She huffed and puffed as she laid her head back on the floor, completely exhausted from her outburst. "Please..." she began, gasping for air between words. "Help...me...please..."

* * *

The back of Rainbow Dash's skull slammed hard against the stairs as her limp, unconscious body was pulled into the depths of the cabin.

Grasping her tail between his teeth, Pokey carefully stepped backwards down the staircase, constantly turning his head to make sure his hooves would safely reach the next step. He had considered just throwing Rainbow Dash down the stairs to make the job easier, but ultimately decided against it. After all, doing so could swiftly end her life before he would have the opportunity to properly deal with her.

Rainbow Dash’s wings and limbs were bound together by a series of ropes; the same thin, cheaply-made kind that Pokey had used only thirty minutes earlier to drag Pinkie Pie across the floor.

The first length of rope was tied around her waist, tightly pinning her wings to the rest of her body. Since Pokey could only afford two pairs of old, rusted hoofcuffs, a second and third length of rope was used to tie both her front and back legs together. This way, Rainbow Dash would be completely immobilized upon regaining consciousness.

When he finally reached the bottom, Pokey spit Rainbow Dash’s tail out of his mouth, scowling in disgust from the taste of her filthy, dirt-filled hair. He rested for a few moments to catch his breath before reluctantly grasping her tail once again and continuing down the corridor.

Rainbow Dash was dragged a short distance down the unlit hallway until Pokey reached the first of the basement’s three cells. After opening the heavy wooden door with his magic, Rainbow Dash was dragged through the doorway and into the center of the cell. The cell in question contained nothing but two shackles that hung from the ceiling and a dried puddle of blood that stained the floor around a shallow hole in the middle of the room.

Pokey peered through the window of the cell door as he locked it shut. Beyond its vertical metal bars laid the limp, unconscious body of Rainbow Dash, face-down in a puddle of dried blood. Even while squinting his eyes, Pokey could barely see her bright cyan coat through the cell’s pregnant darkness.

Wonderful, he thought, backing away from the door and towards a long white string that hung from the ceiling. He gave it a quick tug, and like magic, the immediate area was illuminated with the light bulb's artificial light.

Pokey started down the corridor with a content trot. It seemed, for once, that everything was going right.

Before long, he reached the end of the corridor and made a left turn into the alcove. Like he had expected, Pinkie Pie hadn't moved an inch away from the hole.

Pokey brought his face down to Pinkie Pie's eye level. "Guess what, Pinkie? I have a surprise for you." He said, glaring into Pinkie's tired eyes.

Feeling the heavy weight of fear pressing down on her, Pinkie avoided eye contact with Pokey, opting instead to stare at the wall behind him. She looked down, hesitating before she spoke. Her innocent naïveté had been utterly obliterated by Pokey's cruel treatment, and she knew that any sort of so-called 'surprise' from Pokey would just end up tormenting her. “No...I don't want it..." she muttered weakly.

Pokey playfully cocked his head. "What? That doesn't sound like the Pinkie Pie I know! Are you sure you don't wanna see it?"

Pinkie, lacking the energy and motivation to keep her head up, placed the side of her head on the ground and closed her good eye. “No...” She sniveled, “I just wanna go home..."

Using his magic, Pokey gripped the end of the rope that was tied to Pinkie’s handcuffs. “Aw, don’t be that way, Pinkie!” He said. With his magical grip on the rope, Pokey turned around and began walking towards the third cell, dragging Pinkie along behind him and pulling her out of the hole. “You’re gonna love it!”

“No...” Pinkie mumbled, not even attempting to resist as she was pulled along. “Pokey...” she said again. Her voice was barely audible. “Please don’t drag me...I don’t like it. I can just walk.” She let out another weak cough. “Please...I won’t run away. I promise...”

Pokey stopped. In any other circumstance, he would have been afraid of Pinkie attempting to escape, but he knew for a fact that she barely even had the stamina to speak, let alone run away. This, among other things, was the main reason Pokey had denied her food for days.

After a moment of contemplation, Pokey shrugged. “Fine.”

Pokey bent over, removed the hoofcuffs that bound Pinkie's legs together, and helped her up off the floor. As she rose, her emaciated, bony legs wobbled back and forth like a newborn deer’s, forced to bear the burden of lifting the rest of her body.

She tried again and again to lift her body up, but her legs wouldn't allow it. It was mostly due to her small, shriveled muscles, but the knowledge that only more pain awaited her didn't help either.

Before Pinkie could fall to the floor, Pokey put a forehoof around Pinkie’s shoulder to help her stay up. "Easy there." he said. Pinkie grunted at first to show her disapproval, but she eventually gave in and leaned against him. She figured snuggling up next to Pokey was better than falling down again.

Using one forehoof to hold Pinkie against himself, Pokey used the other to point towards the basement's third and final cell. It was larger than the other two, being rectangular in shape rather than square. Even so, the spacious area was sparsely furnished, containing only Pokey’s tripod and camera, a small wooden table with various tools, and an even smaller steel cage. "You see the little cage in that room over there?"

Pinkie lifted her head up from leaning against Pokey’s neck to nod in response.

"Get in." Pokey ordered.

“W-what’s in there?” Pinkie said.

"Food."

Pinkie gasped audibly. That one word was enough to motivate her. Using Pokey for support, she began hobbling her way into the third cell with purpose. Pokey helped her along the way, making sure to not let her fall over again.

After the two passed through the door frame, they were soon standing in front of the cage.

Pokey used his magic to open the door and let go of Pinkie. She wobbled back and for a bit before finding her balance.

Pinkie bent over and peered inside of the cage. It was quite small, with barely enough room for even a single pony. "I...um..." Pinkie said, hesitant to enter. "It's awfully small." She caught a whiff of the mold's fragrance; a heavy, rather unpleasant odor.

Pokey didn't even bother to threaten her. Instead, he simply kicked Pinkie hard in the joint of one of her back legs. With a pathetic whine, Pinkie collapsed to the floor. After another series of overly-aggressive kicks, she was forced into to the cage.

Pinkie barely had enough time to turn back around before the door was slammed shut. "There's a good girl." Pokey said patronizingly. He stuck his head into his saddlebag and removed a plastic tupperware container filled with the same over-sweetened oatmeal he had fed her previously.

Though the pain from Pokey's kicks still lingered, Pinkie's face lit up with glee. "I-I-Is that for me?". She said. Her mouth was already watering at the mere sight of something edible.

Pokey removed the lid and slipped the container through a small slit on the ceiling of the cage. "It's all yours."

The cold oatmeal slipped out of its container and through the slit, still retaining the shape it had been in while inside of the plastic container. It landed with a splat on the bottom of the cage. As soon as she could, she began gobbling it up without hesitation.

"That's the spirit." Pokey said, watching Pinkie greedily attack her food. "Eat up while I get your surprise ready."

The only thing Pinkie was concerned with was the brick of food in front of her. Its sweet flavor stimulated her taste buds, sending an intense feeling of euphoria throughout her aching body.

In fact, she was so focused on eating that she hadn't even noticed Pokey leave the cell. Once the bulk was gone, Pinkie looked around in confusion. "Pokey?"

She shrugged it off and continued eating what was left of the oatmeal, which was a thin layer spread across the bottom of the cage. Once Pinkie had finished her meal, she laid down, closed her eyes, and let her body digest.

* * *

Thump...thump...thump...thump...

"Ugghhh..." Rainbow Dash moaned, slowly opening her eyes. She was forced to shut them again immediately after the fact, however, as the internal vibrations of her own voice served only to exacerbate the throbbing pain in her head.

Ow, ow, ow... She thought to herself as blood rushed to her brain, every miserable pulse akin to her head being crushed between two heavy stones. In an attempt to dull the pain, she instinctively tried moving both of her forehooves up to cradle her head. Unfortunately, she found herself unable to do so.

"Hey, what gives?" She said, stuggling against whatever was resticting her movement. "What's going on? Where am I?"

Startled by the sudden sound, Pinkie Pie opened her good eye and turned around. "Huh?" She squeaked. "P-Pokey? Who's there?"

Rainbow’s right ear twitched at the noise. Equally surprised, she turned her head to look in the same direction, but the pitch black darkness around her prevented her from seeing anything more than a few inches away from her face. This was barely a hindrance, however. The voice she had heard, though weak and tired, was unmistakable.

Rainbow hesitated for the slightest moment. "...Pinkie Pie?"

“D-Dashie?” the voice whispered back.

A wave of relief washed over Rainbow. "Oh, thank-"

"Dashie!" Pinkie squealed in delight. Though it was rough, raspy, and worn, Rainbow could still detect the unbridled joy in Pinkie's voice. “You came for me! You’re here to save me!”

Pinkie’s loud, high-pitched voice was like a dagger in Rainbow’s still-ringing ears. “Pinkie, not so loud!” She groaned, cringing from the pain.

Pinkie pouted. “Oh, sorry...”

"It’s okay, Pinkie.” Rainbow assured. For a moment, she took her eyes off her friend and looked around the dark cell. “What's going on? Why am I tied up?" She asked, keeping her voice low for her own sake.

"Huh?” Pinkie said, her ears drooping. “You're...you're tied up?" she began, leaning forward to try and make out at least a vague silhouette of her friend. "I thought you came to save me! What happened?"

"I am here to save you. Me and AJ. We kind of got separated, though. I don't know what happened, or where she is, and I-"

Before Rainbow Dash could finish, the short-lived conversation came to a sudden halt at the sudden sound of the cell door unlocking. Both ponies instantly turned their heads toward the heavy door as it slowly creaked open, revealing the silhouette of a unicorn with light, messy hair and an unusually pointy horn .

He took his time entering the small, cramped space. "And here I was hoping I would get to see your reaction to the surprise." he remarked, leaving the door wide open behind him. "You just had to go and fall asleep, didn't you?"

"I-I-I-I'm sorry, Pokey, I didn't-"

"Shut your mouth, you stupid little mule." Pokey said bluntly, using his magic to knock the cage onto its side. Pinkie fell over with it, hitting her face against the bars which now touched the ground.

"Hey!" Rainbow exclaimed. Though she could only see the dark outline of his body, Rainbow instantly recognized Pokey's distinct way of speaking. Despite the uneasy feeling returning tenfold, Rainbow stood her ground. "What the heck was that for?"

Pokey said nothing in reply and simply pulled at a long string hanging from the ceiling. After a short delay, the lights flickered on.

The dramatic change in lighting stung Rainbow’s eyes, forcing her to shut them tight almost as soon as they were turned on. Before she did, however, she caught a short glimpse of Pinkie Pie in the full light. And she didn’t look good.

Rainbow Dash’s curiosity overwhelmed her, and she opened both of her eyes again as soon as she could. She felt the stinging sensation return, but managed to power through it by keeping only one eye open at a time. Eventually, her eyes adjusted to the light, and she was able to clearly see every shocking detail of Pinkie Pie’s miserable state.

Covered in dried blood, black bruises, oozing burns, infected wounds, and swollen bumps, her face was almost unrecognizable. The most horrific thing by far was the gaping hole where her left eye used to be. A few flies buzzed around the empty socket. Pinkie, too weak to swat them away, simply ignored them, allowing them to feast on the gratuitous amount of dead tissue.

The state rest of her body was equally as shocking. Denied food for weeks, Pinkie’s fat and muscle tissue had slowly whittled away to nothing in order to keep herself alive. To put it simply, she looked like a walking skeleton.

It was too much for Rainbow Dash to handle. She felt tears forming in the corners of her eyes as a mix of emotions brewed inside of her. Grief, Pity, Horror, Disbelief, Fear. The most prominent, however, was unbridled rage.

“You stupid bucking piece of crap!” she screamed, violently struggling against the ropes binding her. “I’ll kill you! I swear to Celestia I’ll bucking kill you!” The veins on her forehead were clearly visible as she gritted her teeth.

Pokey calmly walked toward Rainbow Dash as she thrashed about on the floor. “Mmm, you’re a feisty one, aren’t you?" he chuckled, using a hoof to lift up her chin. "I can already tell you’re going to put on a good show for me.”

Rainbow flared her nostrils. “Untie me and say that to my face!” she growled, her rage providing more than enough motivation to keep up the struggle.

Pokey bent over and pressed his snout against Rainbow’s. “Sure thing, but why in the world would I want to untie you? Seems rather counter-productive to me.” he mocked, jolting his face away from Rainbow’s just before she lifted her head up to bite him. Then, still looking down, he teased her one final time with a smug grin before turning in the opposite direction to set up his camera.

Rainbow Dash violently thrashed around on the floor. She growled, gnashed her teeth, and even though all four of her limbs were restrained, did her best to kick and punch at the air. For a while, her efforts seemed pointless. The ropes around her wouldn’t budge, and Rainbow appeared to be wasting her energy.

After a few minutes, however, Rainbow noticed that she had far more leg room to kick and punch at the air than she had a few minutes prior. To her surprise, Rainbow could feel the knots that held together the thin ropes around her limbs starting to give way as she continued to move around. The length of rope that restrained her wings, unfortunately, showed no signs of coming loose, but it was a start.

Taking extra care to make sure Pokey couldn’t see her, she twisted her left foreleg a few degrees to the right and moved it upward. Thankfully, Pokey was too preoccupied with setting up the camera to notice anything out of the ordinary.

She did the same with the other hoof, and once the rope’s grip was loose enough, Rainbow slipped both of her forehooves out of the bonds. She heard Pinkie gasp as she did so. In response, Rainbow turned her head, shot Pinkie a cold glance, and held one of her forehooves up to her mouth to shush her.

Pokey’s head shot backwards in the direction of the noise. With one eyebrow raised, he made his way over to Rainbow Dash, looking back and forth between her and Pinkie Pie.

No no no no! Darn it, Pinkie! She thought. Putting her forehooves behind her back, she instantly began rocking back and forth on the floor to feign struggling. Across the room, beads of sweat rolled down Pinkie’s forehead as she watched the situation unfold before her.

Pokey stopped in front of Rainbow Dash. “Was that just my imagination, or was there something you didn’t want me to hear?” He said, staring down at her with intense eyes.

“It was probably all in your head, seeing as you’re already a bucking maniac.”

Pokey narrowed his eyes, staring at Rainbow Dash for a few seconds before turning around and trotting towards the small table on the opposite wall. “Hm.” he scoffed, "You're going to regret that.".

Rainbow Dash fought hard to hold in a sigh of relief as she watched Pokey move back towards the table. After checking again to make sure Pokey wasn't looking, Rainbow carefully repeated the same movements with her back legs. After some gratuitous squirming, she finally managed to get the cheap, loose rope around her back legs to slip off. Even though she was relieved to not have the ropes tightly squeezing her anymore, she held in a yet another sigh and quickly scrambled to her hooves.

Once she managed to stand upright, Rainbow glanced towards the door behind her. It was wide open. She could have escaped right then if she wanted to. She could have left to find Applejack.

Rainbow considered the idea for a short moment, but quickly snapped out of it. No, she thought, turning her head towards Pinkie. I have to save her now.

She took a deep breath.

Let's roll.

Her heart thumping loudly in her chest, Rainbow Dash raced across the room and pounced on top of Pokey's back, driving him to the ground.

“Wha-!” Pokey exclaimed. His head slammed hard against both the edge of the table and the floor on his way down, earning him both a large lump on his forehead and nasty gash on his cheek. He barely even had enough time to process what was happening before a fast-approaching blue hoof filled his field of view. This was soon followed by her other hoof, and then the other, over and over again. “I'll teach you to mess with my friends!” She screamed, slamming her hooves into his vulnerable face.

Pokey opened his mouth to speak, but was quickly silenced by a swift punch to the jaw. He grunted in pain instead as one of his teeth fell out of his bleeding mouth and onto the floor below him.

“Shut up!” Rainbow growled, delivering blow after blow to Pokey's head and neck. Her buff, athletic build gave her an impressive amount of stamina. One punch quickly led to another, with no breaks in between. Her rough, never-hooficured hooves brushed hard against his skin like sandpaper, the tiny chips and cracks on the surface cutting into his soft flesh.

Pokey brought his forehooves up in an attempt to shield his face from the barrage of punches. “Stop! Get off me!” he begged, his light, lanky frame easily overpowered by Rainbow's muscular body.

Rainbow uttered nothing but an angry grunt in response. Still seeing red, she bit down on Pokey's hair, lifting his head off the ground and slamming it onto the floor.

Pokey tried ignoring the pain to focus his energy on levitating one of the daggers that was still on the table above him, but his mind couldn’t stop panicking. It was so easy for him to perform simple magic spells like levitation when his victim was restrained, but when somepony was actively attacking him, it was a far different story.

He closed his eyes, both to increase his focus and to protect the sensitive organ from Rainbow's hooves. Come on…come on! He thought, grunting in pain as he surrounded one of the daggers with his aura. He felt himself slowly slipping, his battered body barely hanging on the edge of consciousness. His horn flickered on and off as he attempted the spell, just barely hanging onto the knife as it floated lazily through the air.

Then using all of his willpower, Pokey wasted no time in slashing the dagger across his assailant's back, quickly dropping it immediately afterward.

"AAAGH!" Rainbow Dash screamed, arching her spine backwards. With her weight finally off his back legs, Pokey took the opportunity to slide them under Rainbow’s stomach and buck her off of him. Rainbow Dash, being a pegasus, was rather light, and flew backwards into the opposite wall a few feet away.

While Rainbow squirmed in pain, Pokey rested his head back on the ground, breathing heavily as he slowly regained his composure. Battered and beaten, his head, neck, and upper back were covered in swollen red bumps and black bruises. While not nearly as severe as Pinkie Pie, his face had been considerably disfigured from the attack.

“Nnnngh...gah!” Rainbow grunted. It felt as if her back was on fire. The dagger had left a long, muscle deep gash all the way across her backside, making the inside of both of her trapezius muscles clearly visible for a short while before the area was filled up with bright red blood.

“No! Dashie!” Pinkie cried, shielding her eyes from the gruesome sight. "Get up, please!"

"Ugh...nnnghh..." Hearing Pinkie's pleas, Rainbow Dash quickly got back up on her hooves, grunting moaning all the way through. Her back flared up in pain, but the adrenaline coursing through her veins allowed her to focus on survival.

With new found strength, Rainbow galloped across the cell, preparing to finish what she started. She locked eyes with Pokey, who just then was beginning to pick himself up.

“Oh, no you don’t!” Pokey seethed. With just as much adrenaline coursing through his veins, he lifted himself up off the floor and rammed his side hard against the pouncing pegasus. Caught completely off guard, the lightweight once again flew across the room and into the wall.

Rainbow screamed in pain as the rough brick surface scraped against the deep wound on her back. Her warm blood, already flowing like red rivers down her sides, smeared across the wall as she sank down onto the floor.

Still too shaken up to reliably use his magic, Pokey picked up the single dagger that remained on the table behind him with his mouth. Without a second thought, he galloped across the room and drove the metal through Rainbow’s right shoulder.

Rainbow Dash let out another bloodcurdling scream as the knife penetrated deep into her flesh. The impact had severely damaged several tendons and ligaments, rendering her right foreleg practically useless.

Pokey pressed his hoof into Rainbow's chest, applying pressure in order to rip the knife back out of her body. Rainbow grunted in anguish as the dagger left the wound, the sharp metal scraping against the freshly-cut flesh. Then, with the knife withdrawn, Pokey took a step back.

"So, you thought you could get away from me, hmm?" He yelled, looking down at Rainbow with a crazed grin plastered onto his face. "You thought you could save your little friend?"

Rainbow Dash attempted to get up, but quickly discovered that putting any pressure on her right foreleg caused her shoulder to flare up in mind-numbing pain. Quick to adapt, she shifted her weight to the other hoof and slowly lifted herself up off the floor. She wobbled back and forth on the way, finding it difficult to keep her balance on a single hoof.

Before she could reestablish her stance again, however, Pokey shoved her back down towards the ground. "Looks like you're just as stupid as she is." he mocked, pulling his head back to stab her two consecutive times in the other shoulder, making sure to target the same area as before.

Rainbow held in a scream, falling back down onto the floor. With adrenaline in her bloodstream, however she quickly recovered and attempted once again to regain her footing.

Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie looked into each other's frightened eyes as Rainbow tried for a third time to stand up. I have to win this, she thought, moaning in pain as she raised her backside and shifted her weight onto her forehooves again. I have to- She gasped, feeling one of the tendons in her right shoulder being torn apart by the pressure she was applying to it. I have to...save her!

“By Celestia, don’t you ever give up?” Pokey said, looming above Rainbow with the knife ready to strike.

Rainbow Dash turned her head towards the ground. “No...I’ll...never…give...” Her forelegs shook uncontrollably and tears rolled down her cheeks as she put everything she had into saving both herself and Pinkie. “I’ll never...GAAAAAGHHHH!” Her legs finally gave out, and she collapsed in a bloody heap onto the floor. “I...Pinkie…” she paused to gasp for air. “I can’t do it! Help me, please!” she begged, swallowing her pride.

“I’m trying, Dashie!” Pinkie assured. She produced a series of high-pitched grunts as she tried whatever she could to get out of the cage. But despite her best efforts, the cage did not yield at all to her struggling. Frustrated, Pinkie slammed her hooves a few times on the steel bars before whimpering in defeat.

“Looks like this is the end of the line for you, Dash.” Pokey said with an air of victory. He reared backward and slammed both his forehooves on Rainbow’s shoulders. The scream that followed was shaky as Rainbow began to cry.

Pokey put down the knife and levitated towards him the rope that Rainbow had escaped from before. “I would tie the ropes tighter this time, but I have a feeling you’ll have a harder time escaping either way.”

“No, please!” Rainbow begged. She tried to crawl away as Pokey weaved the rope around her body, but the gripping pain of her severed muscles prevented her from moving an inch. “I’m sorry!”

Pokey smiled as he tied the first knot, pinning Rainbow’s wings to her torso. The second and third soon followed, Binding her two back hooves together and her forehooves to her sides.

Rainbow Dash turned her head and looked at Pinkie, who was now curled up in a ball and shivering on the floor of the cage. A cold shiver shot down her spine and her entire body trembled. She knew full well that whatever Pinkie has been through was waiting for her as well. “D-d-don’t torture me, p-please!” Fully restrained again and unable to move, Rainbow Dash was reduced to tears as pure fear invaded every nook and cranny of her mind.

Pokey grimaced and spit out one of the teeth that Rainbow Dash had knocked loose. It landed on the floor next to Pinkie’s cage with a barely audible tink. "Torture? No, no. I don't have the time for that.” He turned around for a moment and levitated a bloodied bread knife off the table. “You’re going to die."

Pokey’s words his Rainbow Dash like a brick wall. “What? No!” Her voiced cracked. Pure fear could be seen in her eyes as she gazed at the knife’s long, serrated blade. “No, you don’t have to do this! Please!”

Pokey walked behind the camera and pressed the record button. "Rainbow Dash: Session One."

Rainbow frantically tried every possible method of moving her body without using the muscles Pokey had damaged, but every time she gasped in overwhelming pain. She moaned in terror as the image of Pokey’s shadow in front of her grew longer as he approached. “No!” She screamed. It was as if the steady, rhythmic sound of his steps were the hands of a clock, ticking down to her demise. “No! Please! I'm sorry!”

Meanwhile, Pinkie cowered in her cage, sobbing loudly and covering her ears with her hooves. PLESEDON’THURTDASHIEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASE!” She shrieked, speaking so quickly that her words meshed together into what sounded like one long, incomprehensible sound.

Pokey used his magic to tighten the rope’s knots just in case. “Hey! wanna know something cool?” he said nonchalantly, holding the bread knife in a position where both Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie could see it clearly. However, they both instantly closed their eyes, neither of them wanting to look. “I found this in an antique shop in Trottingham. Apparently it's over one-hundred and fifty years old! Cool, huh?”

While Dash’s eyes were still closed, Pokey pressed a forehoof against her forehead, pinning her head to the floor. Then, grinning, he leaned forward and pressed the dull end of the blade against Dash’s neck. He felt her body trembling under his hoof. He leaned forward even further so that his mouth was situated next to Rainbow’s ear. “I’m ready when you are.”

“No, don’t do it, please!” Rainbow pleaded, still keeping her eyes shut as warm tears streamed down her cheeks. “Don’t kill me!”

“Three...”

“No! I don’t wanna die! I’LL DO ANYTHING YOU SAY! PLEASE!”

Pokey pressed the dull end harder against Rainbow’s neck. He could feel the vibrations of her ever-quickening pulse.

“Two...” he teased, enjoying every second of his victim’s misery.

“NO NO NO NO! POKEY, STOP! I DON’T WANT TO DIE!”

Pokey hesitated for a moment before delivering the final number in the countdown, watching with sadistic pleasure as his victim’s face contorted in grief-stricken anticipation. “...One.”

Rainbow Dash sucked in air through her teeth, bracing herself for what was to come. Then, like she had expected, she felt the horrifying sensation of the blade furiously moving back and forth across her neck, prompting her to let out an uncharacteristically high-pitched, bloodcurdling scream.

She struggled relentlessly for a few seconds, her head squirming around like mad as Pokey teased her, until she eventually figured out that something was wrong. There was no pain. No blood.

Rainbow Dash slowly opened her eyes, only to be greeted by Pokey, who was just barely holding in a fit of laughter. As soon as he noticed that Rainbow Dash could see him, however, he decided that it would be an appropriate time to further mock her.

“Ha!” He scoffed, motioning his unusually pointy horn towards the upside-down sawblade. “That was great! You really thought you were about to die!”

Rainbow Dash simply stared blankly at Pokey, unsure of how to react. “W-”

Pokey cut her off before she could form a single syllable. “How did it feel?” He said, taking a step towards her before elaborating. “How did it feel, knowing you were going to die?”

“I...what...what’s going on here?”

"No answer? Fine. Let's try this again, shall we?" Pokey said, looking directly into Dash's bloodshot eyes. He flipped around the saw so that the sharp edge was facing toward Rainbow Dash. "Let me put that in the correct tense: how does it feel?"

“No! Please, Pokey! Don’t! I’m begging yo-”

Pokey cut her off again by abruptly slashing the bread knife across her neck.

Rainbow opened her mouth to scream, but no sound came out. All that escaped was a long, drawn-out exhalation that persisted until she had emptied her lungs. She simply laid there with her jaw hanging open, eyes wide, unable to fully grasp what had just happened.

Thanks to the awkward angle, she couldn't see it for herself, but the feeling of blood trickling down the sides of her neck was enough for her to put the pieces together.

After only a single stroke, the sharp teeth of the blade had slashed through Rainbow Dash's soft skin and made a deep laceration that stretched across the entire length of her neck. Her face was drained of color as a cascade of blood spilled forth from the wound, covering her upper chest like a crimson red bib.

Horrified, she looked down.

It was everywhere.

Blood. Her blood.

"NO! NO!" She screamed, her voice cracking. "HELP MEEEEE!"

Pokey leaned forward and placed the blade into the freshly-cut laceration, causing Rainbow to flinch. The blade blocked most of the blood from exiting the wound, causing it to bubble out from either side.

Before he proceeded, Pokey leered coldly into Rainbow’s bloodshot, weeping eyes. He could see the terror contained within them. Never before had Rainbow Dash thought seriously about death, and now that it was, in a sense, literally staring her right in the face, she had no idea what to do. She was lost, scared, and alone.

Pokey absolutely loved it.

He pressed down on the blade, letting the sharp points of the blade’s serration dig into her tender flesh. Even more blood bubbled out. The downward pressure warped her windpipe, causing her paniked grunts to become quieter and more labored the harder Pokey pressed down.

Then, at last, not wanting to waste any more valuable tape, Pokey began moving the knife back and forth across Rainbow’s neck. The blade dug further into her throat with every stroke, slicing open a number of major blood vessels and spraying unbelievable amounts of blood all over Pokey’s blue coat.

"Nnnnnaagghh!" Rainbow opened her mouth to scream again, and this time managed to grunt in pain as the cold metal dug through her neck. Blood steadily gushed out of her severed blood vessels and pooled around her. She tried looking away from the disturbing sight of another pony's coat soaked with her own blood, but Pokey's hoof pressed down on her forehead, locking her head firmly in place.

Back and forth went the knife across the meat of her neck, its steady rhythm accompanied by Rainbow's constant shrieks. Instead of long, unpredictable bursts of screaming, however, Rainbow Dash simply screamed constantly with each breath she took, her brain unable to process any other vocalizations.

Inhale, scream.

Inhale, louder scream.

Inhale, short scream.

Inhale, long scream.

Even to Pokey, the sound of it was haunting. He felt the slowly-fading warmth of Rainbow Dash's blood below his hooves as the red liquid steadily pooled around her twitching body. Thick red trails flowed across the floor in every direction, and one in particular flowed towards Pinkie. As Rainbow's blood collected around the base of the cage, Pinkie caught a whiff of the its heavy, metallic scent.

"A-ha! Here we are!" Pokey said, having cut through enough muscle to be able to see the larynx. He tapped the organ's tough cartilage surface a few times with the unsharpened end of the knife. Rainbow Dash reacted accordingly with a weak whimper in between her screams.

Not wanting to waste anymore time, Pokey got to work on the larynx. A sound not unlike that of teeth being scraped across pavement reached the ears of everypony in the dimly lit cell as Pokey attempted to cut through the organ.

Although the bread knife had been useful for cutting through muscle, Rainbow Dash’s larynx was a different story. In an attempt to remedy this, Pokey shifted the remainder of his weight forward and applied much more pressure than before in order to cut through. He increased the rate of sawing as well, now favoring quick and short movements rather than the long strokes he had used initially. However, even with the increased effort, the knife proved ineffective. All that Pokey had been able to do was create a small slit in Dash’s windpipe, as well as get a few more shrieks out of Rainbow. They were weaker than before, though Pokey still loved the sound just the same.

Interestingly however, due to this, the air passing through Dash’s larynx every time she exhaled escaped through the slit, creating a high-pitched, wet whistling sound that replaced her screams.

Meanwhile, Pinkie was preoccupied with closing her eyes and plugging her ears, but these measures only served to muffle the horrifying sounds around her. She could still hear the sickening sound of the saw cutting through Rainbow Dash's moist flesh, rhythmic screams of terror, and now, a strange whistling sound.

Having never decapitated somepony before, Pinkie Pie was quite confused as to what the sound was and where it was coming from. The closest thing she could think of was a party whistle.

Hesitantly, Pinkie opened her right eye.

She wished she hadn't.

A shriek of pure terror bounced off the walls of the cell as Pinkie Pie caught a glimpse of the gruesome scene before her. On the ground was her best friend, still alive, squirming around weakly in a massive pool of blood as Pokey Pierce sawed straight through her neck.

"NO!" she screamed, breathing rapidly as she aggressively hit the cage's thick iron bars to get Pokey’s attention. "STOP STOP STOP PLEASE! PLEASE, POKEY! STOP HURTING HER! PLEASE!"

Pokey turned to Pinkie and briefly shot her a smug smirk. "It's a little too late for that, don't you think?"

“NO! DASHIE!” Pinkie drew out the final syllable of the nickname with a long, agonizing moan of grief as she collapsed in tears to the floor of the cage.

“Yup, that sure is her name.” Pokey quipped. He stopped for a moment to consider his options. “Hmm.” he said, looking back and forth between Rainbow Dash and the wooden table across the room. At this rate, Dash would die of blood loss sooner than he would be able to fully decapitate her. He nodded to himself and let the knife fall to the floor.

Pokey encompassed the small table in his magical aura in favor of the bloodied bread knife, which now laid next to Rainbow Dash in a pool of blood. The various metal tools on the table rattled and clanged together as the table was dragged towards the center of the room, a few even managing to fall off.

Pokey levitated a large machete off the table. “Ah, here we go. Just what I needed.”

Pokey watched the muscles of Rainbow Dash's throat with fascination as they jittered around, almost as if they were shaking in fear, unable to comprehend the horror that befell them. As for the rest of her body, Rainbow Dash herself, having lost a massive amount of blood, had almost completely stopped struggling. The only movements she made were short, sudden twitches, but Pokey figured these could probably be attributed to random muscle spasms. Her eyes, however, still moved around, staring up at Pokey with an intense look of terror.

"Uugghnghhh..." She sputtered out weakly, a mixture of blood and saliva bubbling out of her mouth as the incomprehensible noise escaped her lips.

Pokey hovered the machete high above its target. Even though she was barely alive, Pokey still made sure Rainbow Dash caught a glimpse of the weapon. “What was that? You want to tell me something?" he said, staring into his victims's eyes.

All he received in response was a series of rapid, short breaths whistling out of the slit in her windpipe.

"You know, Dash I'm not sure why I didn't just use this in the first place." Pokey commented. Then, using all of his strength, he slammed the machete directly into the Dash's windpipe. A short scream preceded the impact, the sharp knife effectively crushing the organ. Large shards of the hard cartilage it was composed of flew in every direction.

Pokey was bewildered. “Wow, now that’s what I call efficiency!”

After a second blow, the machete cut Rainbow’s windpipe completely in half. Her repetitive screaming having stopped abruptly, her blood-soaked chest slowly deflated. Her lungs had taken their final breath.

Pokey didn’t relent afterward. He continued with the machete, bringing it high above Rainbow’s neck and letting it crash down with great force, cutting even deeper through Rainbow’s neck and into her spine.

Pokey was surprised by how brittle pegasus bone was. It made sense, of course, that pegasus bones would be less dense so they would be light enough to fly, but Pokey hadn't actually made the connection until now.

No wonder pegasi break their bones all the time, Pokey thought as he continued slamming the machete down on Rainbow’s spine, shattering a considerably large section and sending bone shards everywhere.

While Pokey chopped away at the spinal column, Pinkie slowly picked herself up off the floor of the cage. With her eyes closed, she began mumbling. Due to the fact that she was completely distressed, perhaps more distressed than she had ever been in her entire life, her words were entirely unintelligible. Pokey was able to recognize a few words and phrases, however, such as “in heaven”, “best friend”, “Dashie” and “goodbye”. After she was finished, she collapsed once again to the floor.

Rainbow Dash would have lifted up a leg to wave goodbye, but she had slipped away just moments beforehand.

* * *

Pokey positioned the machete above the final bit of skin that connected Rainbow Dash’s head to the rest of her body. Without hesitation, he let the blade fall, and just like it had before, the blade tore through without any problems.

The machete, having gained far too much momentum to stop after cutting through, continued its journey downward until it hit the floor.

The deed was done. Pokey exhaled loudly with satisfaction and took a step back to admire his work.

On the floor lied the lifeless body of Rainbow Dash, soaking in a lukewarm pool of her own blood.

Next to her body was her severed head. It rolled a short distance across the blood-soaked dirt before the protruding muzzle forced it to a halt. Fresh blood still seeped out of her neck in great quantities. Along with the white stump of her crudely severed spinal column, which jutted out from the middle, visible on the bottom were two holes where both her esophagus and trachea had been sliced in two.

Pokey picked up the head with his magic and held it in front of his face. “Hmm.” He hummed as he inspected it, unable to mask his tone of disappointment. Rainbow Dash’s face was frozen forever with her final expression. Pokey had hoped that the expression would be more dramatic, but what he saw instead was simply a face of discomfort, due to the fact that Rainbow had probably died from blood loss or suffocation before her brain had been separated from the rest of her body. Still good, he thought, but not ideal. Maybe if I had done if faster...

“Oh well.” Pokey said to himself. “I suppose a severed head is disturbing enough by itself.”

Pokey maintained the levitation spell as he made his way over to Pinkie’s cage. Grasping the door handle between his teeth, Pokey opened the door of Pinkie’s cage and tossed inside Rainbow Dash’s severed head. It barely missed Pinkie on its way in, and landed with a heavy thud as it hit the base. Pinkie was still sobbing on the floor of the cage just like she had been for the entire duration of Rainbow Dash’s execution.

Having done what he needed, Pokey once again closed the door. After checking twice that it was locked, he ran towards the camera and turned it around so that Pinkie’s cage was in the frame.

“Hey, Pinkie! I left you a little something. Why don’t you look behind you?” Pokey said.

Instead of doing what he’d asked, Pinkie put her head down in the corner of the cage and mumbled yet another unrecognizable sound that Pokey assumed was supposed to be speech.

“Pinkie, I don’t like being ignored. He threatened from behind the camera. “You know what will happen if you don’t do what I say.”

Reluctantly, Pinkie picked her head up, locking eyes with Pokey for a moment before turning her head to look behind her. Then, in an instant, a wretched, blood curdling scream echoed off the walls of the basement.

“NO!” Pinkie screamed, frantically slamming her hooves against the metal bars. "NO! LET ME OUTTA HERE!”

Pinkie stared in horror at the severed head sitting next to her in the small, confined space, slowly filling with blood as it seeped out from Rainbow's neck. “NO! NO! LET ME OUT, PLEASE!” Pinkie shrieked, fruitlessly slamming herself against the door of the cage. "LET ME OUT, LET ME OUT!"

“Good night, Pinkie Pie.” Pokey sang. Without another word, he switched off the camera, turned out the lights, and headed upstairs, the sound of Pinkie's screams becoming quieter with every step.