Darkened

His mind was clear, his body relaxed. A cool atmosphere was held in the old wooden shed. Shadow sat at the table, calmly reading his book. Aqua was still passed out on the platform, quietly resting in her bonds. He looked away from his pages to view his victim. Her pretty features were accentuated in the bright light, like a heavenly glow cast upon a sleeping angel. It was such a perfect scene; the gentle rise and fall of her chest adding to the effect. She looked good, Shadow thought. Good enough to admire, to touch, perhaps even to kiss...

He dismissed the the thought as quickly as it came. The idea of sexual contact with his wicked tormentor was absurd at best. Why he would even consider such an action perplexed him. Then, he realized. She was subconsciously seducing him, as a last resort to avert her fate. But her mental intrusions wouldn't work on him this time. He had vengeance on his mind, nothing could change that now. He turned back to his book, deciding to ignore her until she awoke. It wouldn't be long now, he kept thinking to himself.

It was less than an hour before the mare finally came to. She slowly opened her eyes, and was immediately met with the blinding overheard light. She winced, blinking a few times as her pupils adjusted to the sudden brightness. The second thing that met her was the pounding headache, and the third thing was the awkward, uncomfortable feeling in her throat, as though her trachea had collapsed. She let out a few coughs, and started turning her head from side to side, trying to ward off her pain and discomfort.

She moaned a few times, a small sweat breaking out on her forehead. Slowly, she opened her eyes further, and an unsettling confusion started to accumulate in her mind. For one, she didn't know where she was. She saw the ceiling and walls were made of wood, and the cold air around her suggested an unheated cabin or shed. She tried to lift her right foreleg to roll herself off the platform, but found a resistance on her hoof kept it in place. She tugged harder, assuming it was stuck in or under something, but to no avail. She looked toward her hoof to see what the problem was, and was shocked to find it fastened in place by a plastic tie.

She checked all of her other hooves, and each one told the same story. Panic began to set in, and she started tugging as hard as she could on each of her restraints. She pulled and squirmed and struggled, but the strong ties kept her secured to the platform. The only part of her not fastened down was her wings, which were now flapping violently. She kept on trying to escape for a few more minutes, but eventually, she surrendered herself to her bonds, and folded her wings against her body. She looked around the room. There had to be some sort of indication as to why she was here, and she definitely found it.

There, off to her left, sitting in the shadows, was a dark-furred stallion, sitting on his chair, watching her every move.

"H-hello?" She spoke to him, but immediately regretted it. Her eyes widened; she knew why he was there. Or, at least, she had an indication. The most prominent thought was 'He's a rapist, and you're his next victim'. She gulped, the idea of imminent molestation sent a shiver down her spine. Her heart was beating faster, and the sweat on her forehead was going cold. Then she saw it-a random assortment of mostly carpentry items were laid out on the table before him.

From left to right, she saw a nail gun, a cleaver, two half-gallon jugs labeled "KEROSENE" and "ALCOHOL", a small bucket labeled "ROAD SALT", a small fire extinguisher, a hefty staple gun, a propane torch, a mechanical drill, and a tiny glass canister labeled "ADRENALINE".

Again, she gulped. She was trembling now, fear and confusion filling her entire body. She turned to look at the stallion with teared-up eyes. "Wh-what are you g-gonna d-do...?"

She could make out a smile forming on his face before he spoke his upcoming explanation. "Oh, I'll tell you what I'm gonna do. First, I'm going to bolt both of your wings to the platform with several three-inch nails. Then I'm going to cut a big chunk of flesh off of your stomach, stick it in your mouth, and start pouring kerosene in your eyes until you chew and swallow. Next, I'll pour half a gallon of alcohol over your stomach wound, then sprinkle it with road salt. After that, I'm going to hold your head on its side and start pounding your jaw with a fire extinguisher until all the teeth on one side of your mouth are either chipped, broken or shattered. Then I'll turn you over and do the same to the other side. When I'm done that, I'm going to staple your lips together with one-inch wide industrial staples. Once that's over, I'm going to melt your eyes out of their sockets with a propane torch. And to finish it all off, I'm going to drill a hole through your chest and into your heart, then wait for you to bleed out."

Aqua was crying by now, tears streaming down her face with the occasional sob escaping her lungs. This couldn't be real. She had to have been dreaming, there was no way she was about to be tortured and killed by some random pony that she didn't even know. She shut her eyes, facing the ceiling. It was all imaginary, she told herself. Any second now, she'd wake up in her house, go work management at the grocery, then make enough money to tour Equestria for the rest of her life.

"By the way, the adrenaline is there in case you start feeling sleepy." Said her kidnapper. She opened her eyes. She was still in the shed, with the cold air, blinding light bulb, and murderous stallion. She looked toward him again, and found him standing right next to the platform, staring at her with cold, intended eyes. She squinted, she recognized him. She knew him. He was her neighbor, Shadow-Something. Shadow Fang? Shadow Flank? Shadow Flash! That's what it was!

"Y-you're Shadow Flash..."

"Yep, and you're Aqua Rush." Aqua's narrowed eyes were now bearing a more confused look.

"How do you know my n-name?" She asked.

"How could I not?" He said, a slight frustration accumulating in his voice. "You're the one who's been torturing my mind for months. Well, now it's your turn to be tortured." He laughed. Aqua slowly shook her head, her tears reforming.

"Sh-Shadow, you have th-the wrong m-mare, I n-n-never t-tortured you..."

"Ohhh, yes you did. You played with my mind like it was some silly toy. You kept on sending those voices to torment and depress me. But let me tell you something, Aqua Flush, you crossed the wrong stallion. And now you're going to pay."

"P-please, Shadow! Even if I could, I-I'd n-never do s-something like that!"

"Quiet. Your begging won't save you." He turned around, took a few steps to the table, grabbed the nail gun in his mouth, then went back and set it down on the platform. "This hydraulic nail gun is loaded with three-inch iron nails." He looked up at Aqua with a smile. "All eight of them are about to be embedded in your wings." She reeled back in horror. This was really happening. And it was happening right now. He hovered above the platform, picking up the nail gun in the cleft of his left hoof.

"Please, Shadow, no! I-I swear I did nothing! P-please, let me go!" She plead with him as he grabbed her left wing with his free hoof. Tears rolled down her stained cheeks, and she started to hyperventilate.

"I told you, your begging won't save you." He simply replied. With some difficulty, he stretched out Aqua's convulsing wing until it was full mast against the platform. He pressed the nail gun against her wing, just a few inches away from the tip. Her heart was beating so fast at this point, she thought it might explode.

"Please, please, please, don't do this!" She shouted one last time, desperately trying to fold her wing away from the maniac and his nail gun.

Without giving it another thought, Shadow squeezed the trigger.