//------------------------------//
// Chapter 4: The Doubt 
// Story: Buttercup Rose: the Breaking 
// by PoneStudios 
//------------------------------//

Buttercup sat at the vanity in her room. It had been hours since she’d come home, and even now it was all she could do not to sob. She looked up at the mirror in front of her. It lay dormant, not showing anything but her reflection. She looked out the window. It was a clear, crisp summer night. The stars shone brightly, contrasting beautifully with the midnight blue of the sky.
To Buttercup, they were not just stars. They represented her hope, her dreams. So far away, yet so close she could nearly touch them. And when she got close to them, they just shrunk away. And long before this point, they had broken into millions of tiny little pieces. With a shaky sigh, Buttercup finally broke down and sobbed.
“Oh, what’s the matter, Partner? I thought you wanted to keep this a secret! After all, you didn’t want dear Princess Twilight to die, now did you?” Scarlet’s voice cascaded through the room. She grinned a wicked grin and planted her cheek on her hoof. Buttercup didn’t look at Scarlet. Buttercup started to speak.
“Y-you…” that was all Buttercup could manage before breaking down again.
“Gee, I really did a number on you, didn’t I? You can’t even respond to me! That’s quite funny, Partner!” Scarlet giggled. Buttercup didn’t say anything.
“Well, if you’re going to be boring and not say anything, it’s time for me to take over for the night, as per our Fillyhood Agreement?” Scarlet asked. Buttercup sighed.
“Alright, Scarlet. Time for me to go to bed anyways…” Buttercup got into bed. Scarlet waited for Buttercup to fall asleep. Several minutes later, Scarlet, now in control of Buttercup’s body, sat up.
“Ah, finally! I’ve been waiting all day for this!” Scarlet stood up and stretched, smiling happily.
“Now, time for some fun.” Scarlet grinned wickedly. She quietly opened the door and walked out into the hallway. She looked into Sunset’s room when she passed by. Sunset was fast asleep. That was good. Scarlet carefully trotted out the back door of the house and down the street. Scarlet, being naturally light on her hooves, only barely heard the dirt crunching beneath them. being light on her hooves was a benefit for Scarlet, specifically because of her preferred occupation.
Scarlet turned a corner and continued walking. She smiled when she finally reached her destination: Daisy Pearl’s house. Scarlet walked around to the back door of the house. She lucky to live in a town where nopony locked their doors at night. Scarlet quietly opened the door and went inside.
She looked around. From what she could see, she was in the kitchen. She carefully walked around the furniture in the kitchen and up the stairs to the bedrooms. Scarlet peeked into each room, carefully illuminating the rooms with her horn while making sure not wake up the sleeping ponies.
Scarlet smiled when she found Daisy Pearl’s room. Said earth filly was asleep in her bed, dreaming. Scarlet quietly walked up to Daisy’s bed. She snuffed out her magical light and carefully lifted the filly up onto her back. Before leaving, she cast a spell on Daisy that would make sure she would only wake up when Scarlet needed her to.
Scarlet then opened the window and lifted herself and Daisy Pearl out through it. She then lowered herself to the ground. She looked around once to make sure nopony was watching her, then trotted home with Daisy Pearl on her back.





Daisy Pearl groaned as she woke up, attempting to sit up, but being hindered by what she thought were the covers of her bed. She opened her eyes to see not her room with her toys and her bed, but an entirely different room with red walls. The walls had splotches of even darker red on them, which dripped onto the floor.
Daisy noticed there was a table with a large assortment of knives of all shapes and sizes on it. On the wall, close to the ceiling, were different ripped cutie marks that Daisy hoped were just drawings.
Daisy looked at herself. She was cuffed down with metal hoofcuffs to a vertically tilted table. Overall, the entire sight was very unsettling. Daisy hoped that this was just the basement of her house and her mother was playing a prank on her.
“Well, looks like somepony’s finally awake!” Daisy froze. That voice was distinctively not her mother.
A light pink unicorn mare trotted out from behind Daisy. She had magenta hair and blood red eyes. Her cutie mark was a broken heart and a knife.
“Welcome to my torture room, Daisy Pearl! I hope you like the decor! I made it just for my guests!” the mare grinned.
“Wh-- where am i? Who are you? What happened to me?” Daisy pearl asked.
“Excuse me, where are my manners? I’m Scarlet Knife, you’re in my torture room, and i brought you here from your room. But that’s not important. What important is--”
“YOU TOOK ME FROM MY ROOM!? YOU KIDNAPPED ME! WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO TO ME!?” Scarlet waited for Daisy to calm down a bit. Her smile never faltered.
“Oh, darling, darling, I’m going to kill you! What did you think I was going to do to you? Play a game of chess? Also, calm down. You’re far too jumpy.” Scarlet smiled a cruel smile.
“W-what do you--” Scarlet trotted up to Daisy and put a hoof over her mouth.
“Shh, darling, we wouldn’t want to wake up the Timberwolves, would we? They need their beauty rest~” Daisy nodded. She had been told many stories of ponies disappearing because of Timberwolves.
“Now, I believe it is time to start, don’t you agree?”





Hours and several blood-curdling screams later, Scarlet trotted up out of the basement, covered in blood. She made sure not get blood on the carpet floor as she walked silently into the bathroom to wash herself off. She turned the light on and closed the door behind her. She sighed and smiled contently.
“Oh, that was an absolutely WONDERFUL session tonight! Her screams were so… mmm… how do I put this? Refreshing…” Scarlet sighed. She turned the water on to hot and got in the shower.
“Oh, I wish the little darling would’ve lasted longer! She was so fun to play with! Ah haha! Maybe next time, I’ll just be more careful with my cuts.” Scarlet washed the blood off and then got out of the shower and dried herself off. When she looked herself over, there was no trace of the blood from a few minutes ago.
“Hmm… a shame. What fun it would’ve been to see Buttercup’s reaction to the stains. But, alas, she would’ve told sunset and I would’ve been destroyed. Ah well. Maybe another day.” Scarlet sighed and went into the bedroom. She took a look at the mirror to see Buttercup still asleep. Scarlet then got back into bed and covered herself up. She smiled. She was looking forward to seeing Buttercup’s reaction.
“Ah… see you in the morning, Partner~”