Nightmare Equestria

Pinkie eyed the new arrivals warily, who stared back, their eyes wide with terror. Their reactions had mirrored that of many others before them. Their ecstatic smiles fading, as they took in the blood, the scars, the smile, and worst of all the cold blue eyes, filled with hatred and bloodlust. Those eyes had seen much suffering in their time.

A small part of herself remembered that these six used to be her friends, but that was nothing new. That small part was weak, and believed that it had lots of friends, that everyone had loved her once. But that part was stupid, weak and helpless. It was gullible, it was doing nothing more than lying to itself.

"Celestia lied to us. These ponies aren't bad, we can be good too." It pleaded
No. Celestia had told Pinkie the truth. That everyone hated her, that everyone thought she was worthless. It had hurt, more than Pinkie would have expected, but it was ok. The princess said it wasn't their fault for lying- everybody lied. But there was one way to get out the truth.

Fear

Yes, there was truth in the screams of tortured souls. Nobody could lie about pain or fear if they were made to feel enough of it. Everybody had a breaking point, it was just a matter of finding it.

Celestia had offered her freedom, and in the midst of her inner turmoil, Pinkie took it. Pinkie snapped. Now she could hear the truth dance around her and play it's sweet tune in her ears, enchanting her and washing away the hurt of her past.

"Your friends love you though, they always have." The voice argued.
Then where were they? Why did Applejack lie and abandon her, after all she had promised to her friends?
"She didn't abandon us, you know where she is."
And Twilight.
"You know what Celestia did."
What about Rarity?
"She's-"
And Flutter-

Pinkie closed herself from that thought, trying to block the memory of the timid animal lovers fate. After a brief moment of silence, the voice piped up again.
"Celestia is insane. You shouldn't listen to her.''
But so was Pinkie. The voice was beginning to sound like Rainbow and Dawn had before Pinkie had found out how to break her.

Oh, dear sweet Rainbow Dash. The element of loyalty, the one true friend that Pinkie had left, the one that would never, abandon her. The screams from the mare were magnificent if she were pushed in the right direction. Though she was beginning to croak a little lately, and her voice was cracking more than usual.

And poor, young Dawn Feather. An interesting pegasus, but a little annoying. She was proving to be as tough as Rainbow had been to break, and was like a puzzle, but puzzles were fun. Maybe her sisters death would have weakened her spirit enough for it to be snapped. She was very dishonest, but that just meant Pinkie got to play with her more.

A little cough brought Pinkie back to reality, and she realised they were waiting for her to speak.
"Any trouble along the way?"
"No." Dawn answered. "It was a standard journey."
"Good."
I just need to train the new recruits now. Pinkie thought.

As a rule, she would go for the weakest one in every three. Her eyes fell on the wall-eyed pegasus, and it was obvious who her first target would be. A sweep round of the other five faces told her nothing about them, they all wore the same shocked expressions, and carried themselves in the same proud, confident way. She picked one at random, and called to Rainbow Dash.

"I think It's time to throw our guests a party!" She giggled. The 'guests' all shifted nervously, making Pinkie laugh harder. An idea struck her, and she glanced at Dawn. Maybe it was time to test that pesky pegasus' will once more.

"I want...that one!" She grinned at Derpy, who cowered beneath the party mares gaze.
"Hmm...and...that one." She said, pointing to Vinyl, who squared her shoulders defiantly, as Octavia fought the urge to cry.

Two large ponies came into the room, clipping shackles onto each ponies front and hind legs. Just before Dawn was about to be bound, Pinkie called out;
"Not her. I want to test how her spirit holds up after last time."

The grey Pegasus sighed in acceptance, and hung her head in acceptance, knowing it would be futile to argue. As her captor walked past, however Dawn flashed her a look of utter hatred and defiance. The meaning was clear.

Dawn was saying, I will not be broken. You can't scare me. I will not conform

Oh, we'll see, Dawn. We'll see.

The campfire flickered, illuminating the three ponies as they sat around the campfire. A million stars dotted the sky, and the moon was almost full, slightly concealed by grey wisps of cloud drifting through the sky. The grass swayed in the cool breeze, carrying the cold scents of the night as well as the sounds of distant crickets and cicadas.

The three ponies on the hillside were curled up together, stargazing in silence. Three slender swords lay discarded next to three elaborate suits if armour, and the silhouettes of a dozen sleeping ponies could be seen at the bottom of the hill.

After a moment, one turned her head to look at her flank, admiring the cutie mark that was there. She chuckled to herself, softly.

"What is it Sweetie Belle?" Scootaloo asked quietly, twitching her ear.
"Do you remember how we got these?" Sweetie replied.

Apple bloom sat up and yawned, her sunset eyes sparkling, her mouth curved into a smile.
"Course 'ah do." She drawled. "We were so darn excited."
She glanced at the discarded swords.
"They seem to mean so much more now though. Like, our destiny is to protect, to serve. Just keep on crusadin' 'till the end"

There was another brief moment of silence, broken only by the sounds of wildlife and the crackling fire.

"Remember how proud or sisters were?" Scootaloo asked, a small tear sliding down her cheek, and Sweetie turned her face to the ground, kneading the grass.
"We'll rescue Rainbow Dash and Rarity. Don't y'all worry." Apple Bloom said. "Then, we break out AJ, and sneak them all across to Luna."

The other two perked up again, and they went back to watching the stars. Suddenly, they heard a quiet voice behind them.

"You want to know where Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Applejack are? I can get you to them. But you may not like what you find."