Dash awoke in the dark on a cold slab of concrete. She tried to stretch out, only to feel her legs pinned to the floor. The bite of the metal shackles quickly reminded her of the hell she was currently in.

“Mistress?” Dash called out. “Fluttershy?”

Dash tried squinting her eyes in an attempt to regain her sight and realized that it was a blindfold that had robbed her of sight. She heard faint hoofsteps on the floor as a pony approached her.

“About time you woke up. Tell me, Dash, have we broken you?” The voice was once again muffled by a spell, leaving Dash confused as to whom it was.

“Yes, can I go now?”

Instead of the crack of a whip, Dash felt the dull edge of a blade slide across her stomach. It traced a route between her nipples, causing her to shiver. It slowly passed over her ribs and then up her neck.

“Are you so quick to forget your lessons? Did you not just beg to have Fluttershy spared?” the voice asked.

“Yes, Mistress, don’t hurt her.” Dash couldn’t stand the thought of one of her friends being dragged down with her.

“Then beg me to hurt you in her stead.”

“What?” Dash asked, quickly adding “Mistress?”

“I don’t believe your training is complete. So you either beg me to hurt you, beg me to break you this very hour, or know that your continued insolence is making Fluttershy suffer.”

Dash heard faint hoofsteps, followed by a muffled scream of pain. Chains clattered against the stone floor. After several seconds of silence, the hoofsteps returned to Dash. Small warm droplets fell onto Dash’s muzzle, causing her to flinch. One landed on her lips and the faint coppery taste of blood registered in Dash’s brain.

“You call it loyalty, yet I call it pride. It is a sin to think yourself so far above the rest of us. Even now it takes the suffering of others to break your pride. I believe you are only loyal to yourself. Your pride in being a hero is the only reason you appear loyal to others.”

“That’s not true!” Dash yanked against the chains in yet another vain attempt to get free. “You’re the ones with no loyalty! You can’t torture the pride out of somepony!”

Another muffled scream echoed in the basement. Dash was aware another pony was down here being punished for her own shortcomings. “I fear you won’t learn your lesson until your friend here is missing more than a little blood.”

“Stop it you coward! If you want to hurt me, then let me go and we’ll see which one of us winds up in a puddle of blood!”

There was another whimper of pain before hoofsteps on concrete. The chains rattled around the floor as Dash struggled to find purchase and get free. “Say it, Dash. Beg your Mistress to cut you.”

The blade ran across her stomach, the sharp edge causing her to freeze. Dash felt a pit in her stomach at the gentle pressure of the thin blade, parting hairs as it slid across her. “Fine, cut me Mistress. But I’m not doing this for you. You haven’t broken me. I just refuse to let you hurt Fluttershy, Rarity, you bitch!”

There was a metallic bang as the knife was slammed down against the concrete on its long edge. A moment later Dash registered a jolt of pain and warm fluid flowing down the right side of her head. Where her ear should have been, she felt only pain and absence. It felt like half of it had been cleaved off and she found herself yelling obscenities.

The icy blade against Dash’s throat silenced her. Each heartbeat caused her artery to pulse against the skin, and the blade to ever so subtly press deeper into her flesh. “Fluttershy wants me to hurt her. I own her, just like I will own you. I will break you, like I broke her. You will beg me to be my pet, just like she did.”

Dash began to protest only to have a chain shoved into her mouth and pulled tight. It was anchored to the floor, painfully gagging her in a crude but effective manner. She then felt her nose ring pulled upright, attached through some means to the ceiling. Rarity fixed it tightly, leaving no slack in the rope. Dash was forced by the nose ring to crane her neck and let the chain dig deeper into her jaw. If she leaned back to relieve her sore mouth, the nose ring created such pain that her eyes watered endlessly.

As she squirmed in her painful predicament, she heard the footsteps grow in distance. “Now, Fluttershy, tell Dash that you asked me to beat you.”

There was a moment of silence as her gag was unfastened. “I-I. . . please beat me, I want you to, Mistress.” Fluttershy’s voice held a hint of fear as Rarity stroked tears from her face.

“Capturing Dash was all your idea, wasn’t it Fluttershy?” Rarity asked.

“Y-yes, Mistress.”

“Now tell your best friend why you did it.”

“But I—” Fluttershy squealed in pain as her nose ring was yanked on. “I was tired of Dash hurting me, she’s selfish and mean Mistress! Please punish her!”

Dash struggled in agony against the chain gagging her to give voice to her anger. She knew Fluttershy, yet whether she was manipulated or not the thought her own friend aiding in her capture and torture made her furious.

“Hear that, Dash? None of the ponies in this town want you around—unless perhaps you learn your proper place. Become my pet; another gentle, loyal pegasus like Fluttershy.”

“Dash, she—mmph mmmph!” Fluttershy continued to mumble until they turned to shouts of protest. Rarity let the blade bite deeply into her legs, spilling blood. She then carried the blade over and let the blood drip down onto Dash’s stomach.

“So, Dash, let the real fun begin.”

The blade ran softly across her forehoof, and Dash felt it pierce flesh, letting warm liquids spill from her. The stinging pain faded as adrenaline began to surge through her. Again the blade fell to her leg, but Dash wasn’t sure if it cut or not. It had felt dull, yet her fur was still wet.

Rarity brought the knife to her other foreleg and ran the flat edge up the length of it to the pit near her shoulder. She then yanked the knife upwards, cutting deeply into her exposed side. Dash thrashed against the nose ring and began to smell—and taste—blood trickling from the piercing.

Dash felt like she was passing out, yet stayed wide awake. Her skin was growing cold and she began sweating profusely. She began to shiver as the blade traced paths across her ribs, outlining them against her skin. The fluid clumped hairs together and Dash pictured herself covered in scars. She lost count of how many times she had been cut. Twenty? Thirty?

Her breathing continued to get quicker as her shivering turned to quaking. Only the feeling of the cool blade pressed flat against the lips of her marehood caused her to hold still.

“So, Dash, tell your Mistress who owns your pussy.” Rarity continued to alternate the flat and dull side of the blade along Dash’s labia. There was a small prick against her inner thigh and the trickling of blood. “I demand an answer!”

“Ah do!” Dash mumbled. The chain that was quickly causing her jaw to lock in pain didn’t keep her from the use of her tongue or lips.

“What was that?”

“Me!”

“Very well, if you want it so badly I’ll let you keep it.” Dash felt a sharp prick in the sensitive skin covering her pussy. “Don’t move, unless you want more pain.”

Her labia was tugged at and she felt another sharp prick as cool metal pierced it. Seconds later, she felt a thick thread drawn through the fresh wounds. There was another prick, and Dash began to realize what was happening. Rarity had started at the top of her slit, near her nipples, and began sewing it shut.

Dash thrashed in anger, causing the needle to stab deeply into her muscle several times. “I own your pussy, slave, and if you refuse to admit it then I have no choice but to take it from you,” Rarity explained.

Dash continued to struggle as tears flowed from the pain. Her anger dulled the edge of it, yet the continued bite of the chains and stings in her marehood were too much. By the time Rarity was tying off the stitching, Dash was too exhausted to resist.

There was another pony in the basement faintly whimpering, and Dash realized it was Fluttershy. She began to realize she hated her as much for this situation as she did Rarity. In fact, Dash found herself hating all five of her friends for this vile and evil treatment.

Dash tensed up the muscles in her groin. She could feel the lips of her pussy squished tightly to each other. No cool air pierced the veil, nor did her attempts to wink result in any success. Her labia throbbed in pain as she tried to picture in her mind the completely sealed orifice.

Dash felt the blade began to glide across her skin again. “Now, Dash, when the others come to visit you tomorrow you will be on your best behavior. You will tell them my methods worked, and that you have chosen to move in with me and Fluttershy. Your training will continue, absent their meddling.”

“Why?” Dash spat through the chain gagging her.

“It is for your own good. You and Fluttershy need a strict hoof to guide you, and I need a steady supply of feathers for my business. One way or the other, you will join my kennel. If you refuse a single command from me in front of the others, I won’t just break you. I’ll invite the Crusaders over for a sleepover, and add Scootaloo to my dungeon. Her lovely orange feathers would go perfectly with the cyan and yellow ones I currently harvest. Don’t you agree?”

Dash let her head fall back, resting its weight against her nose ring. The pain dulled as she withdrew inside herself in failure. Rarity began once again to carve her flesh with the knife, thinking Dash needed more convincing. Yet, inside Dash’s mind, she had finally given up. The pain, the suffering, the wickedness of Rarity was too much. Any attempt to make the bitch pay would result in Scootaloo suffering just as she and Fluttershy now did.

She passed out into the embrace of sleep, her fur wet with blood, knowing that when she woke dozens of scars would bear witness to the horrors of this night.

Twilight came to the Boutique the next morning eager to take more notes and learn more about operant conditioning and psychology. Rarity had guaranteed her that today they would see Dash freed of her chains, a new mare. She assured Twilight that Dash would admit the errors of her ways.

As she entered the building she saw Fluttershy cooking quietly in the kitchen. Her normally lustrous mane looked frazzled and dull. Something about her seemed off to Twilight, as if she had only half-heartedly attempted to look presentable after a shower.

“Fluttershy?” Twilight called out. She walked into the kitchen to check on her friend. “Is everything alright?”

“Oh my. . .” Fluttershy turned to hide her left side and let her mane cover most of the right. “You’re early. I was just making breakfast—I’m not hungry anymore. Help yourself.” She turned and started to trot upstairs.

“What’s wrong, Fluttershy?” The pony made no gesture she had heard Twilight. Fluttershy walked past her to the stairs. “Don’t walk away from me!” she shouted.

The tone of voice and weight of the command caused Fluttershy’s training to kick in. She froze in place, two hooves on the first step of the stairs. “Yes, Mistress.”

“What? I’m not your mistress.” Twilight trotted over to Fluttershy and realized she was quivering in fear.

“Yes M-mis—Twilight.”

She fired up her horn and began to scan Fluttershy for injury. Twilight thought her magic was mistaken, and forced Fluttershy’s wings open. Several of her larger feathers had been plucked, yet in an alternating fashion to allow their absence to go unnoticed from afar. The skin beneath her wings was covered in old scars—probably the reason Fluttershy always kept her wings folded and rarely flew anywhere.

Twilight spun her around, using her magic like a leash, to examine her neck. Her eyes went wide in disbelief as she saw several fresh scars on her neck and back beneath her mane. “Fluttershy! Who did this to you?”

“I-It’s okay. I w-wanted her too,” Fluttershy explained.

“Rarity?”

“P-Please, you don’t u-understand.”

“Then make me! How does helping Dash translate to you getting freshly cut? Why wouldn’t Rarity run it by us like she did with the piercings? Did you really want the piercings, or was that just another lie?”

Fluttershy began crying openly and sobbing. She grabbed Twilight and buried her muzzle into her side, the nose ring pressing against Twilight’s shoulder bone.

“It’s okay, Fluttershy, I won’t let her hurt you.”

“N-no, it’s not me. I l-love Rarity, I w-wanted this, please don’t t-tell her about this!”

Twilight draped a wing over her. “I won’t, but you have to tell me what she did to you.”

“It’s not me. . . it’s Dash. I’m too weak to leave Rarity, b-but Dash still has a chance.”

Dash paced around her small cage wearing a freshly made collar from Rarity. It had a small metal bone with her new name, Bitch, engraved upon it. From the collar to the center of the six by six foot cage was a chain leash.

In one corner sat Dash’s food and water, while another held a pillow to sleep on. A third held a bucket for her waste, and a fourth a small photo of the Wonderbolts laminated in plastic.

She recalled being released from the chains in the basement after an eternity of being tortured. Fresh scars still covered her legs and sides. Dash had even awoken to find several secondary and half of her tertiary feathers plucked for use in Rarity’s dresses.

Dash continued to pace, still upset at the last moments with Rarity. After the torture, she had freed her from the chains. When she had rested long enough to regain her strength, Rarity had offered Dash a choice. She could walk into the cage and become Rarity’s pet of her own free will. Or, she could limp up the stairs to freedom, with the knowledge Fluttershy and Rarity would be gone before Dash could get help.

She knew it was a lie. If Dash tried to limp up the stairs, Rarity would stop her. Still, she despised herself for walking into the cage without hesitation. She was finally free of the chains, free to beat the shit out of Rarity and yet, Dash no longer wanted to. She wanted only to make her Mistress happy.

The door to the basement flew open, slamming loudly against the wall. Dash heard heavy hoofs stomp across the floor, and lowered her eyes to the floor.

“Dash!” Twilight shouted.

“Yes, Mistress,” Dash whimpered.

“What on Equestria did she do to you?!”

“It’s o-okay, I want to be her p-pet. I chose to.”

Twilight stared at her in disbelief. Her fur and mane looked as though they had been hosed off and not combed or brushed. She had scars running down her legs, visible despite attempts to hide them. Her wings also looked thinner, as though absent feathers.

It wasn’t until she used her magic to roll Dash onto her back that her worst fears were confirmed. A dozen more fresh scars paved the way down her chest to her marehood, which had been sewn shut.

“I’ll. . . She’s going to pay for this! I’m getting you out of here, Dash.” Twilight used her magic to rip open the door to the cage and toss it aside.

“No.”

“What?”

Dash remained seated, eyes on the floor. “No, Mistress. This is another test. I. . .I w-won’t go.”

Twilight stood in shock. “I’m too late. Oh Celestia, I’m sorry, Dash.”

“I’m sorry, for failing your test, Mistress,” Dash offered.

“It’s not a test, Dashie,” Fluttershy cooed. She walked into the cage and sat down in front of her. The two locked eyes and gazed at the wounds inflicted to one another.

“What?”

“Twilight saw me.” She lifted her wing revealing concealed scars.

“Those look weeks old, is this what Mistress has planned for us?” Dash shifted her weight and her wings began to twitch, betraying her inner turmoil.

“Dash, Twilight is going to take us away to the library. She promised not to let Rarity take me back because—I’m not strong enough, Dash. I’m not as strong as you, and I need you to be strong for me, Dash. If you don’t then. . . I can’t do this alone. Let’s leave, Dash.”

Dash looked between the two of them and a spark of defiance glimmered in her wide eyes. “You mean it?”

Twilight simply nodded and used her magic to unhook the chain, collar, nose ring, and nipple rings. They fell to the floor and clattered against the cage. “Yes. Both of you, stand close to me. This will drain a lot of my energy but it’s the best way.”

They took a few steps to join Twilight at her side. Her horn glowed as she draped her wings over them. There was a loud flash and a puff of sulfur as Twilight folded space-time in half. Her teleportation spell allowed her to vanish and reappear, as if traveling between the two distance places in a single step. She ended the spell successfully, her miniature wormhole through reality closing behind her.

Dash looked around noticing she had traded one dank dungeon for another. “Where are we?”

Twilight had brought them to her own basement, where the necessary spells and elixirs awaited to heal them. “We’re at the Library. This is my lab. I can heal most of your wounds but—Celestia, why didn’t I act sooner?”

Fluttershy hugged her. “Thank you.”

“My feathers, can I fly again?” Dash asked.

“Not for a while. Feathers must regrow from the root, I can only reduce the time until you molt feathers again. I can cause the scars to vanish. The piercings will close themselves though. A simple spell will free your marehood, but your ear cannot be restored.”

Dash flicked her ear, recalling that half of it had been chopped off. She could still feel her ear, even though it was missing, and only recalled its absence when a twinge of pain occurred.

“This spell is one I probably couldn’t have done as a unicorn. It takes great focus and power to heal wounds, more so this many and on two separate ponies. We’ll head to bed after this, the library is locked and I’ll tell Spike to turn away any visitors.”

“What about the Wonderbolts?” Dash asked.

“I’m so sorry, but we can explain it to them. We’ll take my balloon to Cloudsdale, and tell them what happened and why you were a day late. You were supposed to have been accepted no later than yesterday.”

Dash slumped to the floor in defeat. “I failed.”

“No, you didn’t. I failed you. I should have known this was a stupid idea from the start! Please forgive me.”

“I don’t know if I can. I’m so tired, Twilight. I need to sleep. Maybe I can forgive you, but not now. Not until Rarity is brought to justice.”

“I’ll help you take her to court, we can tell everypony what she did to you two!” Twilight exclaimed.

Dash thought about having a trial, and everypony knowing how she was humiliated. She then thought about the Wonderbolts, and how humiliating it would be to explain she missed the deadline because she was chained in a basement being raped. “No, not now. I just—I really need time to think about this.”

“I understand. Hold still.”

Twilight charged her horn and began to channel her magic. The torrents of arcane energy swirled around the room and engulfed the two Pegasi. Energy poured into their wounds, accelerating the healing. Damage was repaired, while absent body parts like feathers or the severed ear stood unchanged.

The thread binding Dash’s labia vanished and her abused marehood healed. Twilight finally felt her energy reserves depleted, just short of being able to heal the septum where the nose ring had been placed. It would have to wait for later.

Dash and Fluttershy had passed out during the spell. Their bodies had expended an equal amount of energy as Twilight. Their metabolism had accelerated and their bodies depleted all available energy to help heal itself.

She rubbed her sore horn and knew she couldn’t teleport, so she carried them up to her bed one at a time on her back. The two trips to the bed exhausted her further, yet she still had more work to do. Luckily, Spike found her first, saving her a trip to his room.

“Twilight? What happened to you?” Spike asked.

“Spike, so tired. . . library locked, let nopony in, especially Rarity.” Twilight yawned and eyed the bed.

“What? Rarity? What’s going on?”

“Too tired, just. . . in the morning. Please, Spike.”

He eyed her for a minute before sighing. “Alright, I trust you, Twilight. You’d never betray a friend.” He turned and left the room.

Tears stained Twilight’s cheek as his words bit more deeply than any wound she had inflicted during the past week at Rarity’s dungeon had.

You’d never betray a friend.

She knew there was much more to be done. Applejack and Pinkie informed, further healing spells, a letter to Celestia, and obviously a checklist to keep track. Twilight knew there was a potion in her basement that would revitalize her, if she could just make one last trip downstairs.

Twilight’s knees wobbled and her legs felt like rubber. She could have chosen to go downstairs, but instead crawled into bed alongside her two friends. She instinctively curled up around Dash. This caused Dash to nuzzle into her side like a scared foal, and Twilight draped a wing over her. She stretched to include Fluttershy in the safety of her embrace, but found herself fast asleep before completing the task.

Author's Note

Interesting side-note: Is Rainbow Dash Really Loyal? This video has a convincing case Dash should be honesty, and Applejack loyalty...

Sequel is here, written by MilesPrower06

They are very good at stories about ponies dealing with trauma and growing past it.