A small silver bell jangled above the door of Carousel Boutique as Fluttershy gingerly stepped inside.
Rarity poked her head in from an adjoining room and looked at her friend. "Fluttershy! How nice to see you again. Nopony has seen you in days."
"Oh, yeah," The yellow pegasus mumbled. "I've been... busy."
Rarity took notice of the black streaks in her friend's mane, as well as the black circles around her eyes. "I like your new look."
"Uhh... Thanks." The yellow pegasus picked up a lock of her mane with a hoof, examining the dark lines that Prince Blueblood had put in it. Thinking of her master reminded her of why she was here in the first place. "Could you come over to my cottage later? I mean... if you're not busy or anything. It's just that... I need your help with... something."
"Of course, darling." Rarity cooed. "I'm almost done with an ensamble for one of my clients, so I'll just finish what I'm doing, and be over in about half an hour."
"Oh, that's... great," Fluttershy said, already feeling sorry for her friend. She left the Boutique and returned to her cottage to inform her master of his imminant visitor.
When Rarity arrived at her friend's humble home, she noticed a note on the door, giving detailed instructions on where she was supposed to go. She walked around the cottage to the backyard, which was basically a large garden. Various animal pens were scattered about the large meadow, creating a symphony of different noises as all sorts of woodland creatures acknowledged their new visitor. A rainbow of delicious-looking flowers grew in organized patches throughout the area of Fluttershy's garden, but Rarity put them all out of her mind. The one thing she focused her attention on was a cluster of rose bushes on the edge of her yard, right next to the Everfree Forest.
Rarity walked behind the rose bushes and noticed a large hole in the ground. Fluttershy had asked her to go into this hole to help her with something, but Rarity was having second thoughts. That hole looked really filthy. She closed her eyes, and shimmied down into the hole.
She tried not to focus on the slovenly earth around her as it seeped into her pristene white coat. You can do this, Rarity, the elegant white unicorn thought to herself. It's for Fluttershy. Fluttershy had seemed really uneasy when they had spoken earlier, (Even more so than usual) and Rarity felt obligated to help her friend through whatever it was that was bothering her, even if it meant getting herself a little messy. The cramped tunnel became steeper and steeper, and eventually gravity took over, pulling Rarity faster and faster into the bowels of the earth.
She fell forelegs first into the large cavern, and hit the ground with a thud. A large cloud of dust kicked up around her, and sifted itself into her coat along with the dirt from the rabbit hole. The fine layer of filth encompassing her being made her cringe. She paused for a moment and took a deep breath. "This had better be important, Fluttershy," she said under her breath.
Rarity started off down the stone hallway in search of her friend, and her nostrils were assaulted by rusty metallic smell. What in Equestria is that smell? She thought to herself, until her train of thought was interrupted by a squishing sound under her hooves. She inspected her hoof to find it covered in a glistening red liquid.
"Ew, blood. That's going to leave such a stain... Wait, blood? EEEWWWW!!!" She leapt backwards, and stumbled into the wall. The walls were also covered in blood, which seeped into her silky lavender mane. She noticed the thick crimson sludge dripping onto her scalp, and screamed. "EEEWWWW!!! GROSS GROSS GROOOSSSS!!!!"
Fluttershy's weak voice echoed through the cave. "Rarity! Is that you?"
"Fluttershy!" Rarity called back, already taking off in the direction of her friend's voice. "What is going on here?!? There is blood everywhere! It's positively revolting!" After a couple of seconds, the yellow pegasus came into view. Rarity stopped dead in her tracks as a blue glow lit up the room. She found herself unable to move as the blue light intensified, and zoned in around her. She noticed a golden, gem-studded ring float towards her. The inside of the ring had several small points sticking out of it, which fit perfectly into the grooves of Rarity's horn as it magically screwed into place.
A white stallion strolled into view next to the crying Fluttershy, a smug grin on his face and a blue aura around his horn. "Miss Rarity," Prince Blueblood greeted. "How lovely to see you again."
Rarity was startled by the Prince's arrival. "Blueblood?!? What are you doing here?"
"Well, you made a fool of me in front of everypony at the Grand Galloping Gala, and I have some rather... eccentric tastes. Let's just say I'm killing two brids with one stone."
Rarity raised an eyebrow, which along with moving her mouth pretty much described her entire range of motion. "Umm... eccentric tastes?"
"Yes," Blueblood smirked, and turned to Fluttershy. "Why don't you take a break? I'll handle her myself." Fluttershy turned and ran to the back of the cave, and she sat down facing the corner to sob. A bloody sandwich floated up from the cave floor and towards Rarity, surrounded by the Prince's sky blue magic aura.
Rarity took one whiff of the coagulating pony plasma saturating the pieces of bread it was spread between, and retched as the pungent odor threatened to choke her. "That is the most repulsive stench I have ever experienced! Get that hideous thing away from me!" She closed her eyes and focused on a spell. But the sandwich remained inches away from Rarity's face. No matter how hard she concentrated, not a single spark came from her horn.
The mad prince chuckled and gestured towards the ring on Rarity's horn. "Don't even bother trying to use magic. That ring is studded with pure amethyst. Finest magic supressor money can buy. But nothing's too good for you." Blueblood used his magic to pry Rarity's jaw open, and jammed the sandwich inside.
Rarity's tastebuds were assaulted by a foul coppery taste, like swallowing a mouthful of pennies. As soon as Blueblood finished shoving the thick crimson sludge down Rarity's throat, the white mare vomited up every last bit of it, returning the horrible taste to her mouth.
Blueblood noticed the large pool of red vomit in front of Rarity, and a wicked idea found its way into his head. The magic aura around Rarity shifted, forcing her head downward.
Rarity stared staraight down to the ground in front of her. It was covered in a mixture of blood and stomach acid, with chunks of bread and remnants of her lunch floating on top. Rarity gagged as her face came closer and closer to the rancid puddle of slop. "No!" she whined. "Please!"
"What's the matter?" Blueblood chuckled, another twisted grin finding its way to his face. "Afraid to get dirty?"
Rarity gave a small squeal as her cheek touched down in the pool of liquid in front of her. She cringed as the fur on her face began to mat, soaking up the bloody puke, and turning her cheek a deep shade of red.
After rolling Rarity's face around in the putrid puddle for a few moments, Blueblood brought Rarity's head back up and looked at her. Rarity, one of the most proper and well-kept ponies in Ponyville, maybe even all of Equestria, stood before him caked with dust, dirt, blood, and vomit. The only relatively clean spots on her coat were right under her eyes, where streams of tears had begun to rinse away the muck and grime. And Blueblood couldn't have been happier.
"So, Rarity," Blueblood began. "Do you know the fastest way to a mare's heart?"
Rarity remained completely silent, confused and scared by the Prince's question. "No," she managed to stammer.
Blueblood's aura lifted the front half of Rarity's body, pressing her back flat against the wall. He then produced a glimmering silver knife, waving it around in the air. "Through her chest." He took the knife, sliced a large X across Rarity's chest, and tore back the skin over her ribcage with his magic. Rarity screamed as her entire torso was overwhelmed by an unimaginable searing pain, and her blood spilled all over the surrounding area. Her ribs flexed out, forced out by Blueblood's magic as far as they would go. They then splintered, and snapped, sending tiny fragments of bone everywhere. Rarity finally lost enough blood, and blacked out, never to wake up again.
Blueblood stared into Rarity's gaping chest, and buried his snout in it. When he came back up, his entire face was covered in blood, and a cluster of muscle was hanging from his lip. He pulled the chunk of Rarity's heart into his mouth and swallowed. He then licked the blood off of his lips, and went in for more.
After several minutes of devouring Rarity's insides, Blueblood drew his head out and stepped back. "Fluttershy," he called out. The weeping yellow pegasus looked up from her hooves and turned towards Blueblood. The dark circles around her eyes bled into streams of black tears down her face as her relentless sobs caused her makeup to run. "Now that she's taken care of, I require one more pony. Then I shall no longer require your service."
"Really?!?" Fluttershy cheered, before quickly returning to her original sad tone. "Alright, who is it?"
Blueblood's magic aura enveloped Fluttershy, and lifted her up into the air.
"I'll give you one guess."