Within the depths of pain

Once she was finished tending to my bleeding wounds, she told me that we would continue shortly. I didn't answer her in any way. I simply stared at my arm. She left the strips of skin dangling from near my wrist. I could see the small black dots where she used the hot nails to stop the bleeding. I wondered if I could still use the arm, and so I attempted to wiggle my fingers. To my surprise, it worked. But my fingers were not the only things I saw move. I shivered slightly as I watched my bare muscles and tendons constrict and relax, allowing my fingers to move. Truth be told, I was somewhat curious as to how it all worked. I flexed my fingers, rotating my arm slightly, intrigued how many muscles were used to do such a simple task such as wiggling and clenching my appendages. For some strange reason, I smiled at this new knowledge. I felt as though I wanted to see how other things worked inside of my body.

After what I assumed was a few hours, she returned, but not empty-handed. In her left hand was what seemed to be a tall glass of plain water, and in her right hand was a bowl of something I couldn't see quite yet. "You need to keep your strength up, mister." she nearly scolded me, yet sounding motherly. She placed the bowl on the same cart she had the pliers on before smiling at me and raising the glass to my lips. Naturally, I guess she wanted me to drink, so I parted my lips, allowing the cold liquid to soothe my partially dry throat. After a few sips, she removed the glass, then replaced the glass with the bowl. She gently blew on the contents, stirring all the while. A few seconds later, she scooped up a moderate amount of what appeared to be rice and gravy. I grimaced at the thought of being fed like a baby. She knew what I was thinking, and stated simply, "Come on now, you have to eat. You don't want to starve, but you can't feed yourself. So come on... open up for me." That cute little voice of hers was so damned adorable. I closed my eyes, feeling embarrassment for being unable to do something as simple as feeding myself, and opened my mouth for her. She slowly pushed the spoon in my mouth, then tilted it upwards slightly, causing all of the food to spill on to my tongue. Once the flavor hit me, I couldn't help but swallow fast, loving the flavor. Fluttershy smiled softly at me, happy at my cooperation. She continued feeding me, bite by bite, until all of it was gone and I felt nearly full. She placed the bowl down, then grabbed the glass of water. Again, I drank, until the glass was empty.

"Now what do you say?" she asked me, apparently expecting a certain phrase. I knew what she wanted me to say. She expected me to thank her. Now, I don't blame her for expecting as such, but... to thank the one who has you forcibly restrained, then skinned part of you alive, with plans to do much worse to you... is it right? Manners would tell you to say thanks regardless, but isn't it just wrong to thank someone who will do Celestia-knows-what to you in the near future?

I swallowed my pride. "Ummm... t-thanks..." I mumbled, the words leaving a near palatable bitter taste in my mouth. She giggled, apparently satisfied with my answer. "You'll need your strength for what's to come." she said, which made me fear the worse. I glanced at the sample jars and saw the one that was directly to the right of the one that my skin was in. Of course, I was worried, but a strange fascination with the inner workings of my own body made me almost anxious to see what else I might learn as this sick experimentation of hers continued. I could feel a dull throbbing pain in my skull, my eyes grew heavy, and I groaned before falling asleep with a full stomach, Fluttershy watching me all the while.