Bloodletter stared at Diamond Tiara. Her shrill screams pierced the air. The knife he had thrown landed a few inches from her face. His ear twitched in disapproval as the screams continued. He finally had enough. He promptly placed his hoof on her mouth to muffle her cries.

"Do you ever shut up?" Bloodletter questioned the filly. She pleaded with her eyes. Bloodletter took no notice. He withdrew his hoof to be met with sweet silence. "That's better." His lips curled into a smile.

"I promise. I'll get you the bits tomorrow. Just let me go," Diamond tried to reason with her kidnapper. He wouldn't listen to it.

"So," He turned to face Cotton Tail. "What shall we do first?" His ear flicked with excitement. Cotton looked around the room. She walked over to his table and smiled at one of the tools. She picked up a circular power sander.

"We could turn her back into a blank flank," Cotton suggested. Bloodletter smiled at her. He walked up to the light grey pony and took the power toll from her hooves. He approached Diamond Tiara with a grin on his face. Diamond looked at him with fear in her eyes. She struggled and tried to get out of her chain which were pulled taunt. He switched the tool on. The sound of the parts moving caused a whirr to echo throughout the room. He brought the sander close to her cutiemark.

"No. You can't," Diamond began to beg. She struggled in the chains. "Please, no." Cotton's ears perked up at that word. The first time the filly ever said please would also be her last. The sander made contact with the soft flesh of the filly's flank. Diamond screamed again. Bloodletter was sprayed with sanguine liquid as muscle and flesh was ripped from the bone. He was had a wide smile as his face got covered.

Diamond was trying to get away from the searing pain in her flank. The struggles were in vain. The chains kept her securely in place. She struggled and writhed in her bonds. She felt an odd warmth spread beneath her. The sander was powered down. Cotton walked up next to Bloodletter and smiled at his handiwork.

"Aw, look. The little foal wet herself," Cotton remarked . Bloodletter snorted. He looked at Diamond then back at Cotton. He glanced at the shaking filly and the on at his side. He grinned at a plan forming in his head.

"Would you like to get the other side?" Bloodletter held out the sander to Cotton. Cotton looked at Bloodletter, bewilderment was written all over her face. She looked like somepony had just asked her if she wanted to be a princess. She took the tool in her hooves.

"Would I ever," She replied. She walked to the other side of Diamond. Diamond tried to wriggle out of the chains. Bloodletter stood next to Cotton Tail to watch her work. Cotton had no hesitation. She turned on the machine and pressed it on Diamond's remaining cutiemark. She got blasted with blood. She added pressure on the sander, eliciting higher pitched and louder screams. After a while, Bloodletter flipped the switch on the tool turning it off. Cotton pulled away. Underneath the sander was bare bone. The pink blood-stained bone was quickly covered by a river of blood pouring from the wound.

"Well," Bloodletter started. "She's quite the screamer. What do you say we do something about it?" Cotton blinked at him. Her face lit up with an idea.

"We could tear out her tongue," Cotton suggested. Bloodletter shook his head. Cotton tapped a hoof on her chin. "We could. Um... Rip open her throat and tear out her vocal chords." Bloodletter smiled.

"You'll need this," Bloodletter handed a dagger to Cotton. The metal was stained pink as an indicator of it's frequent use.

Diamond's vision was spotty. Black dots swam in front of her eyes. Her throat was raw and sore from the screaming. Her flanks burned with the intensity of 1,000 suns. Her hearing was distorted and everything echoed. She watched Cotton Tail approach her and Diamond blinked lazily. Diamond's eyes widened as soon as she saw the dagger in Cotton's mouth. Bloodletter was on the other side of her, guiding Cotton.

"Make the first cut here and the second one here," Bloodletter said. He was drawing invisible lines with his hoof for Cotton. "Don't worry about precision. That's not a big concern" Cotton placed the knife on Diamond's throat. Diamond looked at her with pleading eyes. Cotton felt no mercy for the dying bully. Cotton pressed on the dagger and the blade sunk into the flesh. Diamond tried to scream but she coughed up blood instead.

With the first incision done, Cotton moved on to the next one. The cuts crossed in the middle forming a blood-soaked x on the filly's throat.

"Good, now peel back the flesh," Bloodletter instructed. Cotton followed orders. She peeled back the flaps of skin revealing veins and muscle. "That right there is where the vocal chords are hidden." He pointed to a mass of muscle at the top of the wound. "Be careless with it." Cotton jammed the knife into the muscles, spraying her and her new mentor in blood. She wiggled the dagger around, digging out the vocal chords. Diamond was coughing and sputtering.

Diamond's throat seared white-hot with pain. She didn't know what she would die of first. Would the blood loss get her, or would she drown on her own blood?

Cotton held the newly acquired vocal chords in her hoof. Bloodletter was clapping his hooves and bouncing around the room.

"Brilliant!" he shouted. "Absolutely fantastic! Perfect for your first try!" Cotton looked at Diamond. They made eye contact for a second. Diamond's eyes were begging for forgiveness and mercy. Her eyes fluttered shut and she exhaled her last breath of Equestrian air. Bloodletter stopped bouncing and stared at Cotton. "Have you noticed your recently acquired possession?" Bloodletter was staring at her flank. Instead of seeing the blank light-grey flank, the dagger she used to carve Diamond adorned her flank. Cotton looked at Bloodletter wide-eyed.

"My cutiemark!" Cotton exclaimed. It was her turn to bounce around the room. She stopped bouncing in front of Bloodletter. He held out his hoof.

"I think this will be a great partnership," He said, smiling. Cotton took his hoof and shook it.

"Agreed."

Author's Note

Is it wrong that I got hungry while writing this?