Survival Through Resignation

Apple Bloom had been delirious for the last few days. A whole string of hallucinations had paid visit to her, laughed at her, and she could do nothing against them, bound as she was. The only constant for her was her feet, which felt like they had been melting for the past week. She hadn't had anything to eat or drink, nor had she slept. It was torture, being left in here for this long.

That was the idea, after all. They wanted her to suffer, and now she was. It was possible that she'd even die in here. They'd probably forgotten that she was in here after the first week. Well, if they wanted her to learn a lesson from this, she had. She'd learned to be more careful. She would have to thank Genevieve, if they ever met again, for warning her that this betrayal was coming. Not that she blamed Wibby for this, as her involvement was less about trying to cause harm, and more about giving herself the strength to carry on. She just had to keep going until Applejack came for them. The same went for Apple Bloom.

The door opened suddenly, and Apple Bloom fell forward. The cold floor against her face was quite a shock to her body, leaving her suddenly a shivering mass of wet, sweaty flesh. She looked up, and in her blurry vision, she could make out just barely the face of the headmaster.

He rubbed the back of his claws against her skin. It was so puffy and sensitive that it felt like knives running across her cheek. As the cloth of her wet shift dragged along her back, it felt as though a cultivating rake had been dragged across her flesh. "Are you feeling ready to behave yourself now, or do you need to go back in?"

Apple Bloom whimpered through her gag, unwilling to either shake her head or nod. A rabbit with a hammer had warned her against answering either yes or no to a choice, as the outcome could be applied to either. She had thought him mad for using a hammer to make cheese, but his warning had made it through five days in her head.

The gag was loosened, and she spit it out. Before she spoke, she went through each word calmly and slowly, making sure to hide her accent. "I... will... be... good..."

"And so you shall," smiled the headmaster, binding the gag back on her, but untying her arms and legs. "Now, let us discuss your next punishment."

Apple Bloom looked up with incredulity. What other punishment?

Without her needing to verbally ask, he answered, gripping her shoulder and forcing her to walk back to his office on her stiff, sore legs and burnt feet. "You failed to finish scrubbing your assigned toilets. You left one of them half-finished, and had one more to go after that."

Apple Bloom was even more confused. That assignment had been handed down at least two weeks ago; how had the toilets not been cleaned yet? On top of that, she had four toilets left to clean. Why did he think there was only one remaining?

"No food, and no water until those two are cleaned, plus the assignment you were tasked with this morning."

A zebra guard grabbed her by the mane and dragged her all the way back to the toilet she had been scrubbing the day she left. Her brush and bucket were still there, right where she'd left them. She needed new soap, of course, and she set to work immediately, feeling a lash across her back if she started to slow.

She was bound and determined to finish this task, otherwise there would be no food, no water, and no sleep. She kept those goals in sight and pushed herself harder than was reasonable, desperate for even a few crackers and a half ladle of water. She even contemplated sticking her head in the toilet to drink the water there, but a lash across her back reminded her that a worse punishment would come if she were to disobey orders and take a drink without being authorized.

She was panting heavily by the time she made it to the next toilet, and was afraid that she would pass out from dehydration. Nevertheless, her scrubbing didn't slow down, even after her body was screaming for her to stop and rest. She just kept her eyes on the prize, waiting for that meal and drink at the end. She was even hoping for her stained, smelly mattress at this point.

When the toilets were finally clean, she was dragged by her mane to the kitchen. Today's job chart had ordered her to wash dishes. To her surprise, however, there were no dishes to wash. Well, not very many, anyway. Most of them had already been cycled through and put away, and there were just a few pans to scrub.

She set to work on them immediately. Between this and the missing toilets, she knew that somepony had been covering for her for the last two weeks. She had no idea who it could be, but she was going to find out. She owed them greatly for their contributions, and she was not going to let that last. Applejack had always told her not to be indebted to somepony else, and while she had been talking about money at the time, Apple Bloom was not wanting to owe somepony else a favour, especially not in this place.

She scrubbed the remaining dishes, and managed to finish before the lights went out. She was glad to be done, not just because it meant that she didn't have to wash the dishes in the dark, but because she was allowed to go to bed. It was past dinnertime, so she didn't expect to eat until breakfast, but that was something she would have to figure out when the time came.

After the guard inspected her work, he pulled the gag out of her mouth and dragged her by the mane once again, holding onto the hope that she was going back to her bed. When she came to her room, she was tossed unceremoniously to the floor. She'd have landed there were it not for a set of arms that caught her. As the lights went out around her, she heard voices over her, but she couldn't hear what they said or who they were. She just collapsed, letting them carry her to bed.