cleaning up the ends

Rarity slowly lowered the cheap fabric into the paint to get it evened out when she heard the door open and Fluttershy call out, “Rarity, are you in here?” Her eyes widened as she saw Fluttershy standing there in the doorway, while she had the cheap fabric half submerged into an expensive-looking paint. She teleported it away and said with a strained smile, “Fluttershy, I wasn’t expecting to see you here today. I’m sorry that you had to see that.”

Fluttershy shook her head and smiled, “Don’t worry, the currency is short right now. We all have to take risks to get by. I promise not to tell anything about it.”

Rarity looked at her with uncertainty, then she said with a smile, Okay, Thank you for understanding.” Fluttershy didn’t say anything and left. When she was gone, Rarity let her breath out and fall on her ass. If Fluttershy tells anyone, her reputation would be ruined possibly beyond repair, and it would lead to her shady dealing underneath, but she won’t tell anyone, right?

The rest of the day went uneventful and the customer liked her dress, but the fact that she was caught still troubled her, even though she said that she wouldn’t tell anyone, what would keep her from saying something about it later? She shook her head as she climbed into bed, she’s your friend, she’ll never tell anyone about it, since it would be harmful to you and your work, it’s fine

The next morning, Rarity slept in, since she wasn’t expecting anyone today and it was her day off, She opened the curtains to see Fluttershy chatting with Rainbow Dash. She couldn’t hear them, but the way they were both laughing, it had to be funny to them. She slammed the curtain shut and was about to run outside and confront them about what they were talking about, but she stopped herself and said to no one, “It’s okay, they’re probably talking about her animals or Rainbow Dash’s dream, she has been going to Cloudsdale. The fact that they’re outside your house could be just a coincidence and have nothing to do with you scamming ponies with a cheaper cloth to save some bits. The only ones that know are you and Fluttershy and she did say that she wouldn’t tell anyone. You can trust her, she’s your friend.” After saying the mantra, “Nothing to worry about, she’s your friend.” for the 20th time, she brightened up and went about her work.

It was a very productive day for making a few dresses for a fashion line that was going to be shown in Manehattan in a few months, but the sight of the paint can still bug her that someone did find out, but she kept going with the mantra as she worked. As she went to bed, a thought went through her mind, what if she talks in her sleep, I think she might have said something about a bird that could talk or replicate speech.

She climbed out of bed and started pacing back and forth in her room while having a full-blown conversation with herself, “I should’ve made sure that the door was locked or did it in one of the backrooms.”

“The past can’t be changed and it’s timid Fluttershy, she wouldn’t put herself out there, where she can get yelled out for being in on it.”

“That’s true, but what about her animals, she isn’t timid around them.”

“Yes, but she gave us her word that she wouldn’t tell anypony or animal. You are fine.”

“What about unintentional, she could talk in her sleep and an animal heard her. There might be a bird that could tell somepony, and then they could tell others.”

“All the animals love her, they wouldn’t do anything to disappoint her.”

“That’s only her animals and that’s a flat-out lie, they mostly do whatever they want.”

The chirping of birds made her fling the curtains wide open, scaring them away with a flurry of feathers. She knew what she needed to do to keep her friend’s promise to her real, it’ll be generous of her to go out of her way to help out with that.”

It was about noon when she came out carrying a bag full of stuff that she’ll need, it was beneficial that Twilight gave her a spell that increase its storage inside, so that she wouldn’t need to carry trunks with her, and headed towards Fluttershy’s home. She could feel ponies’ eyes digging into her and their whispering of them sounded like snakes waiting for their time to strike her down. She quickly picked up her pace, then went into a full gallop like a mad mare.

When she got there, Fluttershy was about to come out, she skidded to a stop and said, “Hey Fluttershy, could I please talk to you about what you saw two days ago.”

Fluttershy backed into her house a bit and said, “Oh, hello, I was just about to head to the market to…”

Rarity cut her off and said with a step forward, “Oh, it won’t take long, I promise.” She had to keep her here, she could have told the others to meet her in the market to plot her demise.”

Fluttershy closed her mouth and said, “I guess that will be fine, but please make it quick. I have things that I need to do and I want to get it done quickly.” She lead Rarity into her home and added while she placed her bag on the ground, “You look horrible, have you gotten any sleep?”

Rarity quietly opened her bag and levitated a leg off of one of her mannequins, “I’m fine, just haven’t gotten any sleep last night, but I’ll get some after we’re done.” She quietly walked up to her and raised it high in the air.

Fluttershy nodded and said as she was turning around, “That’s good, you can sleep here, I won’t…be…long.”

Her eyes widened as Rarity brought the leg down on her head like she was swinging a bat. She crumbled to the ground and some blood was coming out from where Rarity hit her. She tossed the leg away and summoned the rope from her bag to tie her up, but not before she closed all the blinds and locked the doors to make sure that they weren’t disturbed. She levitated a chair from the kitchen and tied her up tightly, so she wouldn’t move and started setting up.

By the time Fluttershy woke up, Rarity had everything out on the coffee table with a sheet underneath them and the tools. She woke up with a groan and was in a daze before Rarity stabbed her with a pair of dull clothing scissors. She howled with pain and her eyes focused on her with tears streaming down her face. Rarity leaned closer and said while slowly twisting them, “I’m sorry, but I had to make sure that you were aware. Now tell me, who did you tell about what you saw?”

Fluttershy broke into sobs and said, “I didn’t tell anyone, I told you that I wouldn’t”

Rarity yanked the scissors out of her leg and the blood splattered on her fur, then she switched to a sharp knife and said as she cut her right ear off, “Liar, I saw you chatting with Rainbow Dash yesterday and you were laughing and if not, you thought you could find a loophole by telling your talking animal. You weren’t going to tell anypony, but your animal was going to. For that, I’m cutting off your ear to prove that I’m not messing around.”

Fluttershy screamed and cried out, “Please stop, I haven’t told anyone that includes my animals, I swear that’s the truth. Stop, it hurts.” Her hind legs thrashed against the chair. The ear fell to the ground with a sickening splat. Blood was trickling from the remains of her ear and was turning her pink mane into a deep blood red. The blood dripping down her knife just sent a shiver down her spine, it just felt amazing. She quickly went into the kitchen and got a spoon to add to her tools.

As she came back, Fluttershy had her down, looking like either dead or fell asleep. Rarity went and stabbed her in the leg again, her body jerked up. Rarity rested the spoon under her eye and said while slowly pushing the spoon in, “If you want to play like that, so can I. I’m going to torture you till you tell me who you told. Okay?”

Fluttershy shook her head and said, “Please, I’m not playing, I didn’t tell anyone. Something’s wrong with you, just untie me and we will go see Twilight, she can help you.” She let out a bloodcurdling shriek of pain as the spoon dug under her eye and was pushing on it. There was a sickening pop as the eye slapped her on the cheek. Vomit came spewing out of her mouth, and some of it landed on Rarity.

Rarity looked at her friend with disgust and just went and yanked it right out, then she threw it into her lap. She didn’t want her dying too soon, she quickly levitated the sewing kit and painfully sewed her ear and eye shut to stop the bleeding. Fluttershy kept on screaming with every stitch. Her breath started to grow haggard and her movement slowed almost to a complete halt, then Rarity continued with her torture.

The sun was high in the sky when the last tool was bloody. Fluttershy didn’t look any better. One ear was missing, her left eye was removed and her right was a pincushion of needles, and was missing a couple of her teeth. Rarity had to sew most of the openings in her just to keep her alive, and the feeling of the stuff she was doing never made her feel more alive. Rarity placed the scissors next to her mouth and said, “Our time is almost over, and are you still going to stick with that bullshit of a story, that you still haven’t told anyone? Your tongue is on the line now.”

Fluttershy nodded weakly and said, “Why are doing this?”

Rarity yanked her tongue out farther than it should be possible and said with a snip, “At first it was to get an answer out of you, but I’m starting to enjoy it.” Fluttershy couldn’t even scream with all the blood that she lost and let her whole body fall forward, driving the needles deeper into her eye. Rarity took the ropes away, cleaned herself off, and started packing up her stuff while talking to herself, “Well, that was fun, but I need to find out who she told, maybe I’ll go visit Rainbow Dash. She left the mess there and went out the door with a little hop of giddiness like she was a filly all over again.