The six girls looked at each other. This was getting so old and exhausting. How long could they keep running? They braced themselves, preparing to flee yet again.

"You know, it would be easier if you would just let me play." Pinkamena said, shaking her head in mock sadness.

"Why? You're just going to kill us if we do." Dash said, wearily.

"Of course I am, silly!" Pinkamena chuckled. "Its part of the game. Its a rule. So, playtime!"

She lunged at them, succeeding in getting a hold of Twilight, who shrieked. The others dove aside, narrowly missing her knife. They all fled down the stairs, screaming in fear and horror, not realising that one of them had been left behind...

Twilight flailed in Pinkamena's grasp, desperately trying to escape. But Pinkamena was strong, too strong, and kept an iron grip on her, pinning her down easily.

"Ooh, finally, I can play!" Pinkamena sneered. "And when we're done, I'll go play with the others." Her knife hovered menacingly, getting closer and closer.

Twilight could only scream in agony as the razor sharp blade cut deeply into the skin on her chest, then everything went black.

***************************

Meantime, the other girls had made it to relative safety in an old house half a mile away.

"Everyone ok?" Sunset asked, turning to assess any injuries. Her expression changed from concern to horror in a split second. The others looked around at each other.

"Wh...where's Twilight?" Dash faltered, eyes wide with terror.

"She...she must have fallen behind..." Rarity whispered.

A very faint scream of agony and terror floated in on the early evening breeze. There was something familiar in that scream...

"Oh god..."Dash moaned, feeling sick. "She has her. She has Twilight."

The group sat in stunned, horrified silence as that revelation sank in.

"Come on, ya'll!" Applejack sprang up. "We ain't lettin' that monster butcher Twilight!"

She led the charge out of the house and back to Dash's...and whatever horror they might encounter, silently praying they would get there in time to save their friend.

******************************

Twilight groaned, forcing her eyes open, aware of a sharp pain in her chest. She was also aware she was quite firmly tied down to a table in Dash's shed. It took a second to register what was going on. Then a grinning face appeared in front of her.

"Oh goody, you're awake!" Pinkamena giggled happily.

Twilight found herself wishing with all her might she wasn't. And praying that maybe by some miracle she might literally die of fright. Then she wouldn't have to face...whatever it was Pinkamena had in mind.

"Pinkie..." she started, ending in a gasp as she was slapped, quite violently, across the face.

"Pinkamena..." hissed her tormentor wrathfully.

"Pinkamena." Twilight whimpered. "Pinkamena, please...don't hurt me..."

"But that's part of the fun!" Pinkamena said, smiling. She patted Twilight's head. "But not to worry. I promise to kill you five minutes sooner than I did everyone else. And I promise that, unlike the rest, I will kill you very quickly. Ok? But first, fun!"

Twilight gulped as Pinkamena picked up her knife and moved closer.

"Lets see..." Pinkamena drew the cold blade lightly along one of her arms, and Twilight flinched. "Where should I cut you? Hmmm...."

Twilight bit back a scream as the knife blade drove into her left forearm. Pinkamena smirked.

"Yep."

She pushed slowly, forcefully, driving the blade deeper. Twilight screamed as she felt it pushing violently through her flesh. Blood oozed up around it, running down her arm. The pain was horrible...a deep, fiery pain that seemed to shoot up and down the length of her arm. Pinkamena giggled with pleasure at her victim's agony.

"See? Isn't this fun??" She said happily, bearing down enough to push the knife the rest of the way through Twilight's arm and cause it to pierce the wood beneath. Twilight screamed again before drawing enough breath to respond.

"N...no..." she got out through the pain and rising nausea. "Its not."

"Aww, how come?" Pinkamena asked, disappointed.

Twilight's eyes, glistening with a mixture of pain, rage, fear, and agony, met Pinkamena's dark, alert, and dangerous ones. She knew exactly what was going to happen if she spoke the words burning in her brain, but since she was going to die anyway, might as well die having said it. She drew a breath.

"Because I'm not a murdering, savage monster like you!" she hissed.

Pinkamena's body went rigid at those words, her eyes narrowing to mere slits as she glared with intense rage and hatred at her victim. Leaning in close, her hand wrapping around the handle of the knife buried in Twilight's arm, she gave a feral growl.

"You will pay for that, Twilight. Oh, you will pay dearly." Her voice was low and deadly. She twisted the knife and yanked it with all her might, wrenching it free of the other girl's arm. Twilight's blood curdling scream of agony could have been heard miles away. And then the knife plunged mercilessly into her other arm, and her scream intensified to an impossible volume before everything again went black.
*********************************
The rest of the group was nearly to the shed when the horrid scream rang out. For a moment, they all froze, horrified.

"Oh god..." Dash moaned, before the normally tough athlete leaned forward and emptied what little contents her stomach held on the ground.

"Poor, poor Twilight..." whispered Rarity, tears pooling in her eyes.

"At least we know she's still alive." Applejack said shakily.

"Lets go." Sunset said, leading the way as the scream suddenly intensified, then dies out.

The girls made it up to the shed and peeked through the window carefully. What they saw sent Dash into a series of painful dry heaves as she leaned against Applejack for support, and Fluttershy covered her eyes and trembled.

Twilight was tied to a table the girls didn't even know Dash had, not moving, eyes closed. Blood was flowing from deep wounds on her arms and her shirt front was ripped and soaked with blood. There was a nearly black mark on one cheek. Pinkamena stood to one side, grinning wickedly, her knife dripping with fresh blood. Twilight's blood.

All in a split second, the group reacted.

"Chaaaaaarge!!!!!" Sunset screamed, and the entire group crashed into the shed.

Mayhem ensured. The fight was a vicious one, and each girl sustained minor cuts from Pinkamena's knife before it was over. Sunset managed to free Twilight, who was thankfully still breathing, and then she ran. Applejack followed and helped carry her friend.

Dash landed a lucky punch, sending Pinkamena flying back into a shelf. While she was stunned, the girls fled.

There were two things they needed to do. Get Twilight some help...then go through with...the Plan.

The Plan.

No one wanted to carry that out. But it was the only alternative they had left. It was the Plan, or die.

As heart breaking as it was, The Plan would have to be carried out. As the girls ran to the one place they knew could save Twilight, the same thought went through their minds:

The Plan is our only hope. If only it wasn't.

Author's Note

Oh geez....I am SO crying writing this....

Hopefully the pain is almost over for all of us...

...I don't know how much more I can take...

Also, I am so, so sorry for what I just put Twilight through...

You have no idea how sorry.

But I blame it entirely on WannaFlugelHorn, who said in the comment section they thought one of the girls should fall prey to Pinkamena and be killed or nearly killed. Don't ask me why...

But why did I pick Twilight???

Well, you see....

*thinks for five minutes*

....I haven't the slightest idea.

But at least I chose to be nice and not completely kill her off at Pinkamena's hands. I just had her tortured. Which made me cry the entire time I was writing it...

I'm sorry for putting you through this.