Pain. That was the first sensation Rainbow Dash felt as she drifted back into consciousness. She felt the pain lance through her shoulder and side. The only thought running through her head was to fly away from this place and the pony who caused her pain, yet she knew she couldn't do that. But that didn’t stop her from writhing against the ropes. She could feel the wound (probably from that knife from earlier) stretched all the way from her left shoulder to her side. She moved the respective wing as much as possible, trying to determine if it had been damaged as well. Luckily, her wing was unscathed.

Rainbow was doing nothing but worrying. Then again, her bonds didn't allow much movement at all, so, realistically, Rainbow could do nothing but worry. She was alone with her thoughts, unable to move her head enough to even attempt to dislodge the obstinate blindfold. She sighed as she retreated into herself, the only place left to retreat to.

[I wanted to put a "3 hours later" meme right here, but for some reason, it won't take it. Just imagine that there's a 3-hour window of time between these two paragraphs.]

Rainbow’s ears pricked as she detected the faint sound of hoofsteps walking towards her. This sensation had become familiar to her, yet she still hated every minute of it. Her captor stopped right in front of Rainbow, yet before she could speak, the pegasus opened her mouth, croaking out a question. "Are you gonna take my blindfold off any time soon? I'd like to see whose flank I'm gonna be kicking to next week."

She waited, expecting that cold, cold voice to speak up, discouraging her from ever being rescued. Silence. "Any day now." All of a sudden, the prismatic pony felt the blindfold loosen as her captor used her teeth to undo the knot. Rainbow made the mistake of trying to open her eyes immediately. Horsefeathers! That stings! she thought, wincing and screwing her eyes shut against the invasive sunlight.

She had no idea how much time passed, but as soon as her eyes had adjusted to the light, she opened them, ready to stare down her captor. This plan dissipated like smoke as soon as Rainbow saw the butter-yellow pegasus standing in front of her.

"FLUTTERSHY?! Oh, thank Celestia! Please get me outta here!!! I was ponynapped by this crazy mare and I don't know when she's gonna come back!" She waited for Fluttershy to help untie her bonds. "Uhh, Flutters? Everything okay?"

Fluttershy had her wings fully erect, making her seem bigger than normal, but the most noticeable difference was that she wasn't cowering or even hiding behind her hair. Rainbow tilted her head, confused why her friend wasn't helping free her when she noticed Fluttershy's eyes. Gone were her soft, turquoise eyes; they were replaced by icy blues that seemed to stare deep into her soul. The cyan mare gulped, hoping that her instinct wasn't true. "Fluttershy?"

A smirk appeared on the yellow pegasus' face as she started to chuckle at Rainbow's confusion. "Lucky for you, this 'crazy mare' is back!" She said in that eerie, cold voice, relishing in her captive's look of despair and confusion.

"But why??" Rainbow asked, still confused why her fillyhood friend had ponynapped her. "Did I do something wrong? What did I do to you, Fluttershy?"

Fluttershy raised a hoof up to Rainbow's mouth, stopping her questions. "I am not Fluttershy. You will call me Keres," she finished this sentence in a voice as hard as rock, which made Rainbow shiver and shudder, feeling a spine-chilling frost wash over her again. She couldn't help but gaze deeply into Not-Fluttershy's eyes as she felt her thoughts slipping away. "Cold.... so cold," she murmured as she felt the full brunt of The Stare.

Keres smirked again. "I'm sure you're wondering what's happening. Do you want me to tell you?" She waited until Rainbow slowly nodded before continuing. "About a month ago, Fluttershy went to Twilight for help. She wanted to be rid of Flutterbat completely. Although Twilight was able to help her, she inadvertently created me. I have been sharing Fluttershy's body ever since. I must admit, you have been the most fun I've had in my entire life!"

Rainbow shook her head, trying to think around the heavy weight on her mind. It felt like she was trying to wade through a pool of Pinkie Pie's Super-Sticky Molasses. "Where's.....Fluttershy?" She ground out with obvious effort.

Keres laughed at this question. "She's fine, for now. She's sleeping at the moment. It took a while, but I figured out how to keep her from even thinking that she's dreaming my exploits. You know, Twilight put her through the ringer, casting all types of memory spells to try to find you. Your farmer friend wanted more information, but Fluttershy was simply unable to help any more. You know, she seemed desperate to find you."

That shocked Rainbow out of her deepening daze. Twilight and Applejack are looking for me?? Thank Celestia! I just hope they find me in time. She thought ruefully as she felt her shoulder throb again. She turned her attention back to the pegasus in front of her. Her cerise eyes widened as she realized that Keres had picked up the knife again. She writhed against her bonds, trying once again to break free and get away from the blade held between the unstable mare's teeth.

As Keres approached the struggling cyan mare, she reached out a hoof and started stroking her mane, calming her. As soon as Rainbow stopped struggling, however, she used her other hoof to quickly unfurl a blue wing and pin it against her right foreleg. Before Rainbow could react, her captor plunged the knife deep, slicing easily through feathers and skin before lodging deep into her leg.

Rainbow screamed louder than ever before through the pain, hoping that somepony was close enough to hear her. She was in agony, feeling the sharp blade cut into her skin and muscle every time she moved. She wished Keres would take the knife out; it would hurt so much less, yet she knew that her captor would never do such a thing. Her screams gradually lessened into quiet sobs and whimpers as she felt warm blood gush from her new wound, staining the grass beneath her crimson. She was trembling uncontrollably, causing even more pain to herself.

Keres merely laughed at her captive's suffering, living for the wailing that accompanied torment, but she quickly stopped as a new sound drifted through the trees:

"Rainbow Dash! Where are ya?"

Both mares looked up as the owner of the voice walked into the clearing. Keres, pretending to be Fluttershy, called to Applejack, asking for her help in untying the rope. As soon as Applejack started running towards her friend however, Keres pounced.

Author's Note

It took me forever to figure out the ending for this chapter, so I decided to just leave it at a cliffhanger. Also, in case you're wondering, I chose Keres as the name for Fluttershy's evil alter ego because it means "evil spirits" in Greek. My friends probably thought I was crazy for researching baby names with cruel meanings, but I was able to find one that sounded good.

As always, let me know what you think and how I can improve! Constructive criticism is always encouraged.