Psychodash

Psychodash

One - Silent Sprinting

~Axôlú

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Dash was thrust from unconsciousness by Pinkie's latest adrenalin shot.

“Ya’ know, Rainbow Dash, I’m disappointed. I thought you would have lasted longer. I really wanted to spend more time with you like this before we got here. But I guess it’s my fault; I should've taken it a teeny tiny bit slower. Oh well. It was really nice knowing you like this, Dashie!”

The blade sunk into the blue throat and worked its way up to Dash’s chin. Dash opened her jaw, the scalpel pressing further into her flesh.

“Why…Pinkie…” Dash rasped in a final attempt to understand.

“Dashie,” Pinkie giggled, “I only wanted a friend like me.”

Pinkie cut around Dash’s neck and across her skull. The last thing Dash felt was the skin being sliced from her head and the metal of the blade scraping her teeth. Confused thoughts swirled through Dash’s mind, each question leaving her less understanding than the last. Soon these questions faded into nothing as unconsciousness engulfed her.

Then, Rainbow Dash was gone.

_-_-_

Tha-Thump

Tha-Thump

Tha-Thump

Tha-Thump

Tha-Thump

Tha-Thump

Tha-Thump

Tha-Thump

Tha-ThumpTha-ThumpTha-Thump

Dash jolted back from her dreams, waking to an almost pitch black room. Her heart pounded in her chest. She flexed her wings, relaxing as she felt all her feathers once again.

‘Phew… only a dream.’ Dash yawned, stretching her mouth. The phantom pains still remained from the harrowing experiences of her recent memory.

Dash yawned again, trying to dispel the strange feeling in her jaw. She tried to reach up a hoof to touch her muzzle, and found her foreleg unresponsive.

‘Ugh…what happened last night,’ Dash twisted her midsection, but failed to turn over. Her legs seemed almost locked in position. She tried moving her lean blue limbs a bit more, then more franticly, then even more forcefully, rattling her steel bindings.

Comprehension dawned on Dash. She was trapped.

She continued to struggle viciously against the bonds, but they held strong, refusing to give way to the pounds of force against them.

Her eyes final adjusted to the dark, revealing pony-shaped silhouettes in the distance.

She screamed at them to help her, but no sound came out. She tried again, only to coat the room in another layer of silence.

A form shifted from the corner of her vision, becoming clearer still as both Dash’s vision adjusted and it moved out of the shadows. The bonds began to crack and the edges of the steel cut into Dash’s hooves, coating the rough metal in a deep, glossy red.

She felt nothing but panic.

“Silly Dashie!” the form stepped fully into the light, revealing the pink coated body of Dash’s nightmare. The form brushed away its flattened pink mane with a foreleg, giving Dash a clear look at its bright blue eyes. Plastered on its face was a wide smile, beaming at Dash in ecstasy.

Dash’s eyes widened yet further, her struggling growing evermore violent.

Snap

Dash fell to the floor, and she scrambled to a standing position. She tried to run, but the cold cement floor was slick with red, and she stumbled to the ground, her head facing the cement block she was bound to just moments ago.

With this sight came two horrible realizations. The bindings were still intact. Her hooves were still bound to the block.

She reached her forelegs in front of her, and gazed upon the bloody stumps that remained of the hooves’ joints.

Dash burst into silent tears, the helplessness of her situation setting in.

Despair washed over her like the blood spread across the floor. Was it real? Was it all a dream followed by a terrible reality? ‘This can’t possibly be real. This is just a hallucination.’

Dash was so enthralled by her own thoughts that she failed to notice the tingling in her torn limbs. The blood flow stopped, her detached hooves disintegrated, and the bone of her limbs expanded. Soon her whole hooves regrew, coating over with cyan skin and regrown fur.

“C’mon Dashie, it’s time to meet the new you!” The pink monstrosity beamed, “we’re gonna’ be late for the Party!” A large knife sliced into Dash’s back, the unsharpened end thrusting upward, pulling Dash to her hooves.

‘They’re back?’ Dash lifted her left foreleg in wonder.

“I’m not waiting for you,” The other being dragged Dash by the knife, causing her to stumble and fall again to the floor, still mercilessly pulled to the ‘Party’

Yet again, realization struck. She felt the cool cement below her; she felt the tingling of her hooves as the tendons finished healing, she felt the strange, wrong feeling of her mouth whenever she stretched it.

She felt no pain.

As if reading her mind, the other being turned its head, lowering its eyebrows and frowning in disapproval, “It’s not like you can feel pain, Dashie! Don’t you know how much effort goes into removing each itty bitty little pain receptor?” Its demeanor instantly brightened. “But now that we’re all done, you get to go to my best party ever! Aren’t you excited?”

Dash continued to slide lazily across the floor, dismissing the whole ordeal as nothing but fantasy.

“Well, here we are.” the other being pulled the knife from Dash’s back, “I just know you’ll love it!” It beamed, standing proudly on its hind legs, and gave a flourish with its foreleg. Dash’s eyes followed its hoof, gazing at the features of the room.

The room seemed smaller than the previous chamber. The four yellow walls curved as they extended upwards. There Dash saw a series of rafters displaying party streamers of all colours, winding down to the wooden floor. Confetti littered the floor and the brightly coloured cloths were draped across the tables. One central table held a large cake framed by several presents. The smell of cake frosting wafted through the room and the sound of classic party music bounced against the walls.

The pink being thrust a rainbow striped party hat onto Dash’s head, snapping the elastic strap below her chin. “Surprise! Oh, wait, that wasn’t a surprise, I already told you this was a party. Hmm. Maybe I should have made it a surprise party, but oh well. Do you like it? Do ya’ do ya’ do ya'?” It jumped up and down, its smile growing wider with each bounce.

Suddenly it halted and gasped, “Oh, what a meanie-beanie pants thing of me to do! I haven’t told you my name. You can call me Pinkamena,”

‘Pinkamena… That almost sounds like…’ Dash jumped up in shock, slamming into the back wall. She received only a questioning glance from the demon known as Pinkamena.

“Is there somepony named Pinkie? Oooh, that name sounds a lot like mine, maybe I should invite her too,” Dash’s fears were confirmed. Pinkamena could read minds.

Dash attempted to groan, her lack of vocal chords causing her to sigh instead, and she slowly trotted towards the central table, a feeling of numbness surrounding her.

“C’mon Dashie! Open your presents first!” Pinkamena disappeared from Dash’s side and popped up from the far side of the table. It grabbed a blue present with a red ribbon, hoofing it over to Dash. Dash sat on her haunches and gripped the present with her forehooves. She opened her maw, once again feeling that strange, almost grating sensation in her gums. The ribbon shredded as Dash bit through it and pulled.

“Let me help you with that.” Pinkamena grabbed the present, biting onto the ribbon and pulling. The top popped open, revealing a pair of sleek black shades. Dash raised an eyebrow, her confusion growing. This Pinkamena character switched from impossibly cruel to as kind as Pinkie with the flip of a switch.

“Don’t you think that the coolest and most awesomest pegasus in all of Equestria deserves some super-duper awesome shades?” It grinned, before jumping back to the table and flung the rest of the presents to Dash.

Dash, with Pinkamena’s assistance, opened the second present. She picked up a smooth light blue mask, one a lot like the masks used by doctors. Dash shuddered, remembering the various crashes that landed her in the Ponyville Hospital. But why would anypony want to give her a mask like that?

She tossed it to the side. Pinkamena’s smile faltered, before returning to its normal breadth. It handed her the last present, once again opened with its help. The present contained two objects. One was a circular band, with various holes on one end and a rectangular metal loop with a thin bar on the other. The second was a thin black ropelike object, tapering at the end to a point. A whip and a collar.

‘And what. Am I supposed to use these for?’ Dash glared at Pinkamena.

It ignored her, instead materializing a large piece of framed glass from somewhere and placed it in front of Dash.

“Time to look at the new you, Dashie!” Pinkamena grabbed Dash and held her before the mirror, still smiling that same wide smile.

Startled, Dash leaped away from the frightening visage displayed in the glass. The thing through the glass had a cyan face, a ragged rainbow mane hanging down its face and across its shoulder. Framed by dark circles were two solid magenta eyes.

“Oh come on, don’t be such a grumpy wumpy sad frowny face. Just smile!” Pinkamena exclaimed with glee, grabbing the two corners of Dash’s mouth with its hooves and pulling them up sharply.

Pinkamena giggled as the thing in the glass smiled too, exposing two rows of razor sharp teeth.

It took a moment for Dash to process the image. There was glass in front of her. It had cyan fur and a rainbow mane. So did she. It had magenta in its eyes. From what she could remember, so did she. It was smiling. So was she. Dash ran her tongue across her teeth, feeling points, rather than the flat teeth she was used to. The glass wasn’t just a glass, it was a mirror. She was looking at herself.

She… It was a monster.

Dash leapt again from the floor, its wings flapping furiously. Its eyes widened, mouth opened in a silent scream of pure terror. Sweat dripped down its furry coat.

‘This can’t be real, I’m dreaming, I’m going to wake up and everything will be fine. I’m not a monster,’ Dash flew around the party room, panic written all across its face.

More memories clicked together. Dash felt all the objects it touched. The room reeked of frosting. The taste of recently lit candles nipped its tongue. The sound of the music invaded its ears.

For a final time that night, Dash knew the extent of her horrific predicament. It was real. Everything was real.

It flew out the nearest entrance with all its strength, as if trying to escape the reality it was brutally forced into. Dash smashed into the walls in its panicked flight, promising not to stop until it escaped a nightmare turned reality.

Pinkamena slowly slid her hind legs forward to sit on her haunches, staring at the doorway that Dash had just left through. Pinkamena’s eyes watered; a torrent of tears threatened to spill.

“C-come back… D-D-Dashie,” she cried.

_-_-_

The door to the basement of Sugarcube Corner opened with a quiet creak, slowly shining Luna’s moonlight into the face of its former prisoner. Dash lifted a hoof to her face, sliding the wooden frame further open as she stepped into the main lobby. She squinted as her vision readjusted. Sucarcube Corner’s lobby looked much like it always had.

A plethora of usually colourful pastries lined the shelves near the walls and counter. The filtered moonlight served only to dull the pastries’ normal vibrancy in the darkened room. Leftover confetti, wrapping paper and sugar lay in the corners, swept away from the earlier parties the confectioner’s shop was famous for.

Parties, like the one just down the steps behind her.

Dash pushed the lingering thoughts of the party dungeon from her mind, instead focusing on her post-panic fatigue. She closed the basement door and snuck towards the entrance, checking warily for the owners of the bakery.

Standing on her hind hooves, Dash leaned into the door, her forehooves resting against the dulled pink wood. She looked out the small window hole near the top. Seeing and hearing no other ponies, she hesitantly opened the entrance, taking in the dry, dusty scent of the nighttime streets.

She stepped outside and searched for the familiar clouds that composed her home. Her gaze found the thatched roofs of the various ponyvillian residents, the thick leafy branches of the library, the steep rocky slopes of the nearby mountains, but no sign of her cloud home.

Clack

Dash’s ears perked up and she turned her head towards the noise. A moonlight tinted pink foreleg extended from the door, matted with blood from earlier. A long drape of deep pink hair followed closely behind. Dash’s eyes widened, her mouth opening slightly. Dash shifted her hind hooves and backed cautiously from the face she knew would appear. The monstrously cruel face, with its sadistically wide smile. Those ice blue eyes, looking with the intensity of a frozen dagger. That murderous, malicious muzzle, with only torture and bloody lust painted across it.

Dash unfurled her wings. She prepared to bolt at the first sight of Pinkamena’s terrifying features.

The pink fur of Pinkamena’s head came into view displaying features in all their-

‘Sadness?’ Dash folded her wings and turned around fully in curiosity.

Pinkamena carefully stepped into the lobby, allowing the moonlight to reflect off her tear stained cheeks. She walked further into the room with bloodshot eyes, the seemingly infinite grin replaced by a thin, wavering frown.

“Dashie, why’d you leave me?” Pinkamena sniffled.

Dash couldn’t answer.

“Didn’t you like my party?”

More silence.

Dash shifted her gaze to the ground, searching her mind for what to do.

‘I barely know her, why should I be dealing with this Pinkamena anyway? She strapped me to a table. She let me rip my own hooves off. She stabbed me in the back. She gave me a whip, collar, and mask… What the hay is wrong with her? I mean, the shades were pretty cool, and even if they weren’t the best, she still gave me presents, but… but… she looks so… sad. I can’t just leave her.’ Dash stepped forward, raising the other hoof towards Pinkamena, head still lowered in thought.

‘She wants to torture me, I can tell. She changed me, made me a monst-No. I’m not a monster. I’m Dash. I just… look like one. She made me look like a monster… She always had that creepy smile, but she was happy, wasn’t she?’ Dash lowered her hoof to the floor.

‘No, I don’t even know if she made me like this. I still can’t leave her. She may not be a friend, but I can’t leave her hanging like that. I made her feel like this, I have to make things right.’

Dash lifted her hoof once again and raised her head to look at the soft sky blue of Pinkamena’s eyes. The shred of hopefulness grew as Dash’s limb moved ever closer. Her hoof brushed against Pinkamena’s shoulder, with instantaneous results.

Her eyes lit up, shining a radiant azure. Her great wide smile returned, genuine and blissful. Her coat gleamed with internal light, a brilliant pink hue. Her mane and tail inflated with a high pitched squee, curls and tangles everywhere.

Dash recognized that look. That was Pinkie. Pinkamena was Pinkie.

She backed up, her curious expression fading back to fear as the memories of her nightmares blotted out her thoughts. The same curly mane that used to bring her laughter gave her only dread.
Dash’s wings flashed out aggressively. She turned around and sped away in a rainbow blur, galloping as fast as she could.

Pinkie cocked her head and raised an eyebrow. “And I thought I was random,” she chirped.

Pinkie heard a wet noise beneath her hooves as she bounced up the stairs. She lifted her hooves to her face, squinting with an inquisitive frown.

“I must have left the floor ketchup out!” Pinkie gasped. She licked the tip of her red stained hoof.

“Bleagh! Salty,” she grimaced. Then grinned happily, “Oh well, I’ll just make another batch tomorrow.”

Pinkie hummed her way to the bathroom, a spring in every step.