> Cotton Tail
>  by FeatheredWings
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Mischief
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

     She went to school like ever other day, ate the same thing, talked to the same ponies, got bullied by the same ponies, but something was different. Her best friend Shadow was nowhere to be seen. She shrugged it off, thinking that Shadow Bolt was sick.
"Well, look whose sitting alone today," said an all too familiar voice. Cotton Tail turned and looked, her snow white mane fell across her face. She brushed it out with her hoof.
"What do you want, Diamond Tiara," said the dull, monotone voice of Cotton Tail. Diamond just laughed. Silver Spoon laughed with her.
"We just happened to notice that you're sitting alone. Nopony to help you defend yourself," Diamond smirked. Cotton Tail raised an eyebrow at her. As quick as a bolt of lightning, Diamond Tiara punched Cotton Tail in her left eye socket. Cotton stumbled backwards and put a light grey hoof up to her eye. Tears flowed freely from her right eye as the left one started to swell. Her mouth was turned in a snarl. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon just laughed and walked away.
"To far, to far, to far," Cotton Tail kept mumbling that to herself for the remainder of the day. She was sent to the nurse's office for some ice. Then she had to endure the rest of the day with them.

The bell rung loud and clear, drawing the school day to a close. There was a mass exodus of students. All except Cotton Tail. As soon as the last pony left the room, she stood up. She walked over to the mirror that hung on the wall of the classroom. The swelling in her eye had gone down. She looked at her good eye. She saw the cold reflection of a red iris stare back. She put a hoof to her swollen eye and gently prodded it. She inhaled sharply and frowned at the pain. It was still sensitive. She put down her hoof and started out the door. Before she could leave, a pink hoof forcefully shoved her back into the room.
"You're not going anywhere. Right, Silver Spoon?" Diamond Tiara kept shoving Cotton Tail to the teacher's desk. Silver Spoon entered behind Diamond, holding a duffel bag. Silver Spoon nodded and the duffel bag jingled.  Cotton's face wielded a toothy frown.
"What's in the bag," Cotton Tail tried to be brave, but hints of fear slipped into her voice. By that point, she was backed up against the desk. Diamond Tiara snickered.
"Don't worry, blank flank. You find out soon enough," Diamond snickered. "Silver Spoon, do the thing." Silver Spoon walked behind Cotton Tail. Cotton tried to watch her but Diamond Tiara kept Cotton's head facing her. The sound of a zipper zipping echoed throughout the quiet room.  Something was pulled out the bag, everything in it jingled more. Cotton Tail gulped.
"Goodnight, blank flank," Silver Spoon said. Pain exploded front the back of Cotton's head. She fell forward, unconscious into Diamond Tiara's arms.
"I hate blank flanks.  Now we won't have to look at her blank flank anymore," said Diamond with a smirk. She laughed. Silver Spoon spit out a hammer. The two earth ponies picked up Cotton Tail and dragged her out the door.

> Pain
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

     Cotton Tail awoke with a pounding headache. She groaned. She moved her hoof to the side of her head and chains clanked. She finally felt the weight of chains on all of her hooves. She stood up on wobbly legs before she slumped back down. 
She blinked a few times, trying to adjust to the blackness. Her movements felt slurred and slowed, like walking through jello. She laid her head down on the dirty ground. She closed her eye and a tear rolled down her cheek. She won't see her family again, her friends. If Shadow Bolt ever did return, Cotton Tail wouldn't be there to greet her.
She sighed with shaky breath. She opened here eyes and heard rapid hoofsteps.   A hushed excited voice bounced off of invisible walls. A light turned on above Cotton Tail, blinding her. Her left eye was still swollen but it saw the flash as well. Her eyes adjusted and saw that the light only illuminated a small circle around her. The chains glinted in the light. They snaked into the darkness from her hooves.
A mechanical noise filled the room and made fear spread throughout Cotton Tail. She looked around, wide-eyed. The chains started to rise, growing taunt as they are pulled from the invisible, mechanical beast. The chains started to pull on Cotton, lifting her up into the air. She started to hyperventilate. She stopped as soon as she started. Her body got pulled onto an X shape. She felt like her limbs were going to get pulled off. The noise stopped and there were more rapid hoofsteps.
"Who's there?" shouted Cotton Tail. There was giggling, then a maniacal laugh. Cotton gulped, that was not Diamond Tiara or Silver Spoon.
"I'm known by two things," said a deep voice. A brown pony with a red mane stepped into the light. His coat was littered with dried blood. He had a crazed smile and his pupils were pinpricks. "I am nicknamed, Stretchy! My name though, is Bloodletter." His ear twitched. Cotton Tail raised an eyebrow.
"Why Stretchy? I can see you being nicknamed Red but not Stretchy," Cotton Tail said. Bloodletter's smile faded and was replaced by a short straight line. His ear twitched twice.
"I don't think I can explain it. I have to do a demonstration," he said. He snickered as he went back into the darkness. There was a click, then light illuminated the entire room. Cotton Tail's eyes widened. There were torture devices. One looked like a medieval stretching device, another was a guillotine. Then there were other bits and bobbles that Cotton couldn't name. In the corners were little machines; her chains were connected to them. 
Bloodletter pushed a button on the wall. The machines in the corners whirred to life. They started to slowly pull on her chains. Cotton grimaced at the pain. Bloodletter smiled maniacally and his ear twitched. The pressure on Cotton's limbs grew. Tears welled in her eyes, and spilled over. She felt like screaming, but she didn't. Bloodletter's smile faded.
"You're supposed to be screaming. They all scream," he said. He shuffled over the the other side of the room. He double tapped the wall. His ear twitched and he growled. He took three steps leftward and double tapped the wall. A hidden door popped open. Cotton Tail looked in from where she was. Her eyes widened and she gasped in horror.

> Blade
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

     Inside were bodies, some had the limbs pulled of, exposing bone and muscle. Some of them had their stomachs cut open with the guts spilling out. Some where sawn in half. The pinkish, yellow brain had sharp contrast with the red skull and muscles and the remaining half of the guts spilled out of the empty cavern that used to be the stomach area. 
Cotton turned her head to the side and squeezed her eyes shut. Her eyes were forced open and her face was violently turned to look at the bodies.
"Isn't it beautiful? It's a work of art," The voice of Bloodletter said. He pressed his cheek on Cotton Tail's. His ear twitched twice and thumped on her skull. He went right of front of her and put his forehead on her forehead. "You're not as beautiful as them." He walked to a table in his room. "Don't worry though." He chuckled. "I'll make you beautiful. I'll make you different than them though."
Cotton wriggled in her chains in a panic. Bloodletter walked back over to her with a dagger in his mouth. He caressed her back left hoof. "Such a dainty little hoof. I'll make it prettier," he said. He put the knife in his hoof and ran the tip of it along her leg. It clanked on her chain. He pressed down and sunk into the skin. He cut using the edge of her chain to create a blood bracelet. Blood came gushing it of the incision and dripped onto the floor. Cotton shut her eyes and clenched her teeth. Bloodletter pulled out the dagger and he licked the blood off the blade.
"Nothing is better than the warm taste of blood," he said. Cotton Tail just let out a sob in reply. Drool came out of the corner of her mouth. He walked to the front of her. "Don't cry little one. Don't you want to be beautiful?" Cotton coughed out some saliva. Bloodletter stroked her mane. "Poor little baby." He pushed his forehead against hers. "Are you jealous that I get to sample your flavor?" His eyes widened than returned to the pinpricks. 
He trotted back to the table and picked up a glass. It was stained red. He moved in front of Cotton.  He took his dagger and cut a gash in her right arm. Blood flowed out and into the glass. It filled halfway with the sanguine liquid before he covered the wound with a blazing hot bandage. Cotton shut her eyes and snarled.
Bloodletter put the glass up to her lips. She squeezed them shut. "You have to drink it now," he spoke those words quietly and calmly. Cotton turned her head away. Bloodletter set the glass down in front under her head and walked back to his table, frowning.
Cotton tried to see what Bloodletter had grabbed but his body blocked her line of sight. He galloped behind her with a flurry of hooves. Something poked her in the cutie mark. She turned to look but the poke immediately exploded into pain. Her vision swayed. The last thing she saw before she blacked out was Bloodletter pulling a huge syringe out of her thigh.
"Don't worry little one. I'll save your drink for you," Bloodletter said with a smile. His ear twitched as he ducked under her chains to grab the glass. He put on his table and set to work freeing the unconscious Cotton from her chains. "Everything shall be clearer when you wake. Literally!" He laughed so hard that tears fell out of his eyes. "You'll just wake up somewhere else."
> Confusion
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Cotton started to wake. She was lying on her stomach with strange pressure on her back. She groggily opened her eyes halfway. Something cold dripped on her back and her shot open the rest of the way. She turned her head as much as she could and saw Bloodletter sitting on her, drinking a pink smoothie fiercely. His eyes were wide and his ears were twitching wildly. He looked like he was really enjoying his smoothie. His eyes shot over and connected with Cotton's. He spit out the straw and exhaled loudly with his mouth wide open.
"Oh goody. You're awake. I got tired of waiting for you so I went ahead and made your drink into a smoothie! Want some?" He asked. He put the straw in Cotton's face, almost up her nose. She just shook her head and he pulled it away, slightly frowning. "No? Are you sure?" He jammed the straw back in her face. She turned her head away from it. It smelled heavily of blood. He took the glass back and his ear twitched more. He started to drink the smoothie again. Cotton looked forward at her arms in front of her. There were more scars than before. All of them were fresh. She looked up and saw a counter, with several pink glasses, a red knife, and a pink-stained blender. She looked back at Bloodletter with a burning question.
"Why are you sitting on me?" Cotton a,sked with a raised eyebrow.
"Because my couch is broken," Bloodletter gestured to a couch the was slumped down and cracked in the middle.
"How did it break?
"A victim got loose. He tried to run. He smashed me on the couch in a fight. It didn't take him long to learn the lesson of his mistake." He pointed to a wooden slap on the wall that had a pony's head on it. It was blue with a grey mane. Cotton just stared at it. She was getting used to Bloodletter's random house of strange decorations.
"Aren't you a. You know. A murderer?" Cotton turned her head to look at him.
"Yes." He had assurance in his voice.
"Then why am I still alive?"
"I am more of a assassin for hire," He started confidently. "When a pony finds me and gives me a name, I kidnap the pony in question. I only kill when the payment has been received. And when somepony is late on a payment, I kill both ponies. And somepony is about to be late."
"Diamond?" Cotton questioned. She was intrigued by his methods. Bloodletter nodded. She lifted her hoof to her face and scratched her chin. "If she does become late, can I help you kill her?" Bloodletter's ears twitched. He slowly turned his head to make eye contact.
"Really?" He was skeptical, and felt like he was being deceived. Cotton just nodded. He wriggled slightly on Cotton's back. "Why? Nopony has ever asked to help with my. Business."
"I want to help for one reason. She always picked on me and my friend. She deserves to die. And I want to help make her suffer." She brushed her mane out of her face again, cringing at the pain of the wounds moving.
"Deserves to die, eh?" Bloodletter got up and helped Cotton stand. "I could use you to help me lure her into my lair."
"And I think I know how I would do that, too," Cotton spoke softly. Bloodletter looked her in the eye and smiled, slowly. He picked up his smoothie and once again offered it to Cotton. She just shook her head and lightly pushed it away.
> Kidnap
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

     Cotton was walking through Ponyville while wearing a dark cloth cloak. The ponies around her didn't notice her presence. She was two thirds of their size, giving them less of a reason to pay any attention.
After a while of walking, she spotted Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon laughing at Applebloom and Scootaloo. Cotton smirked to herself. She slowed her walking speed so her color didn't show through her cloak or her hood fell off. It also reduced the pain from her front legs and help prevent her wounds from opening.
She bumped Diamond so she fell over. Her tiara fell off. Cotton grabbed the headwear in her mouth and walked off. She heard Diamond shout. Cotton turned around and saw the prissy pony chasing after her. Cotton's slow walk evolved into a quick trot. She was slightly bigger than Diamond, so that gave her the option to slow her leg speed and still run fast. Yet that also meant that Diamond was more aerodynamic. Cotton made a sharp turn causing splitting pain to rip up her leg. Warm liquid dribbled down. Cotton blinked out a tear. One of her wounds opened, slowing her pace. Cotton glanced behind her once again and saw Diamond gaining. Cotton ran little faster.
She saw her goal on the horizon. A red, rotting barn on the abandoned side of Sweet Apple Acres. Cotton ignored the searing pain in her legs and bursted forward with newfound strength and stamina. She glanced behind her once again and saw Diamond slowing down. Cotton turned her head so the tiara glinted in Celestia's sun. Diamond yelled once again and started running again. Cotton opened the front barn door and got hit with the smell of warmth and rot. There was a ray of sunshine coming through the roof into the middle of barn. Cotton placed the tiara in the center and ran over to a stack of hay. She went around it and crouched down. She took off her cloak and pressed it onto her leg to stop the bleeding.
Diamond walked in the door and saw her tiara. She gasped and ran over to it. She put it back on and started to walk out with her head held high. The door slammed shut in her face. A quiet, deep laugh echoed through the barn. 
"Somepony's late," the voice spoke with a chuckle. Diamond started to pound her purple hooves on the door.
"I promise I'll get the bits to you tomorrow! I just need one more day!" Diamond panicked voice shook. Cotton was giggling behind the hay. Bloodletter walked out from behind a stack of crates. Diamond turned and pressed her back on the door. Cotton tied her cloak to her own leg.
"Too late, little one. Although your lateness helped me gain an assistant," Bloodletter laughed and his ear twitched. Cotton walked out from behind the hay. She found it hard to move with the cloak on her leg. Bloodletter didn't seem to notice. Diamond's eyes widened.
"But why her? She's a blank flank," Diamond was trying to be her usual self and feel better. Cotton just laughed at her. Bloodletter's ear twitched.
Bloodletter stepped forward until he was arm's length away. "So says the one with the tiara on her butt," he said with a smile. He turned his head to the side so it was pointing at Cotton. "Get the stuff."
"Stuff?" Diamond was getting a sense of déjà vu. She felt a little like Cotton when she was back against the teacher's desk. She felt horrified at that thought. She didn't want to have empathy for a blank flank.
Cotton returned with a bag that clattered when she set it down. Dust flew up around the bag causing Bloodletter to let out an extremely loud sneeze. He proceeded to shove his head in the bag and he pulled out a spray bottle. He squirted the bottle several times in Diamond's face. She got confused before her vision started to blur. She fell over with a loud PLOOMF! More dust rose into the air leaving Bloodletter in a sneezing fit.
"What was in that bottle," Cotton questioned the still sneezing stallion. He shook his head and sniffed.
"A special chemical that when you touch it you sleep. You really have to be careful," he was smiling like a madpony. He started to pick Diamond up and tossed her on his back like a sack of potatoes. He opened a hidden hatch door in the floor and started down it. Cotton followed while grinning. She was imagining all the things she could do to Diamond once she's awake.
> Preparation
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

     Bloodletter and Cotton Tail walked down a dark and musty tunnel. Every step that was taken by Bloodletter was also accompanied by him saying 'tunnel'. He was bouncing down the tunnel. Cotton didn't know what made him so giddy, he just was. She kept a close eye on Diamond, in case she woke up or fell off of Bloodletter's back. He stopped bouncing and talking.
"Come here," he whispered. "Come here. Come hither. Come here. Closer!" Cotton rolled her eyes and walked up next to him. "Hold this." He threw Diamond onto her back. She stumbled and sank down. She was unaccustomed to having extra weight on her hooves. He immediately pressed up against the wall and walked forwards then backwards several times. He stopped and shook his head wildly.
Cotton was about to ask a question before he body slammed her side and took Diamond back. He resumed his tunnel, tunnel, tunnel chant.
"What was the point of that?" Cotton asked. Bloodletter just started to laugh.
"Itch!" he replied, with his ears flicking.
"Itch?"
"ITCH!" He laughed even harder. Cotton rolled her eyes again. She would never understand him. They reached the end of the tunnel. Cotton squinted. The light there was duller than the light throughout the rest of the tunnel. There was a rotting dark brown door just barely hanging by the hinges. Bloodletter smacked his forehead into the door. It fell forward with a loud BLAM! Diamond moaned causing Cotton Tail to glance nervously at her.
He looked around, blinking in the new, bright light. He walked to a pinkish white spot on the floor where the light was most concentrated. He stood up on his hindlegs, dropping Diamond onto the floor. She fell lifelessly into a crumpled heap. He stomped his front hooves back onto the floor walked up to Cotton. He gestured over to a pile of rusty chains.
"Hook her up," he pressed the top of his head on the floor. He walked forward and picked up the door and put it back. Cotton walked up to the chains and started to attempt to untangle them.
Bloodletter walked into his kitchen. He looked around the room and sighed. He pressed his face on the counter. He smelled his counter. It reeked of rust. His stuck his tongue out and licked the counter. He immediately regretted the decision. He started coughing and gagging. He grabbed a rag from his sink and filled it with hot soapy water. He plopped it on the filthy counter. He put his hoof on it and it squished. The water leaked out of the fabric. He started to violently scrub the countertop.
Cotton wasn't having much luck with the chains. She got herself tangled in it. She groaned rather loudly while rolling her eyes. The noise made Diamond stir. She immediately shut her mouth and watched in anticipation. Diamond didn't move. Cotton sighed quietly in relief. She struggled around until she found the spot that unravelled it all the chains. She clamped the chains around Diamond's legs. 
Cotton walked into the kitchen. The first thing she saw was Bloodletter licking the counter, then scrubbing it. The counter was soaking wet. He repeated the motions several times until he looked satisfied with the sopping countertop.
"What was that?" Cotton asked Bloodletter. He just started laughing.
"It had to be clean," he laughed. "And now it is! I CAN TASTE THE SOAP!" Cotton raised an eyebrow. He lapped up more soap water. Bloodletter laughed even more.
"Interesting," she said quietly. Bloodletter was rolling around on the floor. He smashed into stove, fridge, and other counters.
"Did you! Did you! Did you get her! In the chains?" He said inbetween laughs. Cotton nodded. "Good! Is she awake?" He stopped laughing and got up.
"I don't think she is. Last time I checked she," Cotton started but was interrupted by Diamond screaming. Bloodletter galloped out the door. Cotton just walked. Her legs might've stopped bleeding a while ago but she still didn't want them to start up again.
When Cotton walked into the room, she saw Bloodletter sitting next to Diamond. She tried to hit him but she couldn't swing her hooves very far. One of the swings brushed by Bloodletter's dark brown, sorta wet mane. He jumped up and backed away.
"So close yet not close enough, little one," he said to Diamond. She screamed some more and increased with volume.
"LET ME GO, YOU MONSTER!" She screamed at him. Cotton smiled to herself and walked up next to Bloodletter. Bloodletter chuckled at Diamond's frantic flailing. He zoomed over the chains to a table that was pressed on the wall. On the table were a bunch of assorted knives. Big ones, small ones, shiny ones, and dull ones. Each and every one of them where extremely sharp. He grabbed a small flaying knife. He smiled as his reflection shone in the polished metal. He threw the knife at Diamond. She wouldn't stop screaming.
> The Kill
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	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."