Psst… Psst… PSST!!
Trixie awoke to the shove of a hoof, roughly pushing her off of the makeshift bed she had on the carpet.
“Wake up!” growled Rarity, her magic enveloping Trixies blanket and launching it across the room. Trixie was already standing, her head down, almost bowing to Rarity in apology.
“I’m sorry Miss, it won’t happen again…” said Trixie, almost whispering. She had no idea what ‘it’ was she was apologizing for.
Rarity's magic flared and Trixie flinched, shielding her head.
“I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry!” cried Trixie, already bracing for a blow. She backed up slightly, right into Sweeties bed. As her flank thumped into it she realized she had nowhere to go.
“What are you sorry for, exactly?” chuckled Rarity, seemingly amused with Trixies immediate apology. Trixie was still holding her head, shaking slightly.
“S-sleeping too long!” squeaked Trixie, terribly confused. Wasn't this the pony that took her for a cupcake just yesterday? She took a peek upwards, looking at Rarity for the first time that morning. Rarity had a scary look on her face, like she was enjoying this.
Just like Twilight.
Rarity struck Trixies face, the impact of the magics physical force was all too familiar.
“Who said you could look me in the eye, Trixie?! Did you forget who you are? Did you forget what you are?”
Trixie could feel herself floating away. She trusted Rarity, she was so kind to her, and here she was acting the same way Twilight always did.
I must have done something wrong.
“T-Trixie is s-sorry.” cried the filly, clutching the side of her face and staring at Rarity's hooves.
“Oh? Is Trixie sorry? Well, Rarity’s not.”
Rarity started leaving the room, but not before Trixie felt the familiar warmth of magic enveloping her and lifting her. She braced her body, Twilight liked doing this too, preparing for the inevitable slam into a wall or surface. The feeling of floating, unable to control her balance or anything always threw her off, the feeling was something she could never get used to.
Rarity walked down to a door that Trixie had never seen, and they descended to a basement not unlike the one Trixie called home. Rarity put her down on what appeared to be a heap of old fabric, stained with brown all over. Trixie stared at the fabric she was sitting on. Rarity was digging around in a chest out of view.
Trixie wondered if she was going to be punished, Rarity didn't seem to mind eye contact just yesterday. She remembered Rarity's promise clearly, she wouldn't be hurt here. And yet, her cheek pulsed with proof to the contrary. Rarity appeared holding a single hoof cuff, and gestured to Trixie, to hold her hoof out. In just a few moments, Rarity roughly chained Trixie to a ring on the wall, just like the first day she woke up in Twilight's castle. It was all coming back to her and the panic set in.
She didn't want to be in the dark again.
“I won't do it again! I’ll wake up very early, as early as you want Miss!” shrieked the little filly, reaching for Rarity's hooves that were so comforting just yesterday. Rarity took a step back, out of her reach as the chain pulled taut.
“This isn't what this is about, darling.” Chuckled Rarity, a deep, dark laugh. “No, no, this is about something far more important than your sleep schedule!”
Trixie stared at her hooves again, she didn't understand. The flip in behavior was too sudden, it must have been her own fault.
“What did I do? Trixie won’t do it again, she promises!” She said, as if attributing her misbehavior to somepony else. In Rarity's hoof appeared a whip, white with diamonds on the handle. Its tip looked vicious, Trixie could tell from experience.
“You're damn right you won’t.” she growled, striking Trixie on her withers, leaving behind a red welt visible even through Trixies dull blue coat.
Trixie screamed, she didn't know why, there was nopony who would help her. Nopony ever did. She struggled against the hoofcuff, pulling it taut from the wall but it didn't budge, she was far too weak.
“Please!! I’ll be good… I’ll be good...” sobbed Trixie, resorting to cowering. Rarity lowered her weapon, seemingly only for a moment, her face shifting from anger to a scathing humor.
“Do you know why I’m doing this?” almost laughed Rarity, “Well, I always knew you were pretty stupid but I thought you’d at least take a hint, Darling!”
Trixie switched to staring at her hooves, if she didn't do anything she might avoid being hurt again, the pulsing welt on her back reminding her every moment.
“Trixie was bad.” the filly responded, looking deeply ashamed, again as if she was speaking to someone else's misbehavior.
Rarity quickly raised the whip again, the filly cowered again covering her face with her hooves, and landed 2 strikes onto her side.
“Wrong! Answer!”
Trixie squealed in pain, her sobs getting louder as she clutched her side with the free hoof. She pathetically looked up, hoping to see some mercy on Raritys face. Finding none, her sobs turned to quiet squeaks and sniffles. There was no getting out, and nothing she could do.
“I’m punishing you because you failed the test, sweetie. When Twi brought you over, I was supposed to show you a good time.” said Rarity, smudging Trixies tears with the handle of the whip.
“Twilight thought that her training was thorough enough, that you would follow the rules she beat into you. You ate pony food, you sat in a chair, you learned magic!” shouted Rarity.
“Do good pets sit on the furniture, Trixie?” questioned the mare with the whip, almost laughing.
“N-no Miss.” responded Trixie, trying to sink into the ground.
“Well, since you know that that is against the rules, you must have consciously chosen not to follow them. I guess I’ll just let Twilight know and let her handle your punishment. I was going to punish you myself but I think Twilight will do a better job. She will absolutely love to hear all about what we did!” said Rarity smugly as she saw Trixies realization.
Rarity turned away as if to leave the room, switching off the light, the bulb from the hallway the only thing providing any at all. Trixies fear of the dark kicking in with all its might. This was soon remedied as Trixie panicked.
“NO! PLEASE!” Trixie caught herself at the last second, “Please Miss.” she said submissively. Rarity stopped.
“Yes Trixie?” asked Rarity, the smug smile plastered on her face almost audible. Trixie stared at her hooves. Tears streamed down her face and her hooves shaking from a combined fear of the dark as well as at the knowledge of what was about to happen.
“P-lease… Sniffle… Please punish Trixie.”
With that, Trixies mind was elsewhere, watching her body crumple under a strike to her back. Twilight was very good at magic but Raritys strikes seemed to be more precise and well aimed. 1.. 2.. 3.. 4.. 10 Trixie lost count quickly, she could only count to 11 before her mathematical skills failed her.
“If you want me to punish you, you’ll count them out loud!” hissed Rarity, using the handle of the whip to hit the fillys muzzle.
“Sorry! Trixie doesn't know how to count that h-high… please don't hit her muzzle again!” begged Trixie, raising her hoof to cover her nose. For a moment, there was no more violence, confusing Trixie, before she could build the courage to look up she heard Raritys laughter strike her ears.
“You don't know how to count higher than 11?!! Bwahaha!” laughed Rarity, a shrill terrible sound that made Trixies ears flatten in shame. “Were gonna be here a long time if you can't count!”
With that she shot the whip quickly and struck the filly in the exact same spot as before, causing her to recoil in pain.
“I can count! I can try!” begged Trixie, hoping that the whip was the only tool Rarity would use. That hope didn't last long.
“Oh, no, darling. It's fine, i'm sure I can find something else for us to entertain ourselves with, don't you think?” replied Rarity, turning towards the chest in the side of the room.
“L-like what, Miss?” asked Trixie hesitantly, weakly rubbing the welts that she could feel from her chained up state.
“Something a bit sharper!” said Rarity, quickly levitating some small knives. “Can you at least count the number of knives, Trixie?”
“1… 2… 3… 4… AGH” screamed Trixie, clutching her right hoof. It was already leaking, Trixie had never seen her own blood come out so eagerly, and it made her woozy.
“Too slow! It's 5, you're such a silly foal!” said Rarity, “Let's get you fully acquainted with all of them!”
This time, it was Rarity who was counting, one swipe on the fillys back, 2 on her side, one near her flank, and the final one stopped right before touching the root of the horn, forcing Trixie to stay still for fear of getting her most sensitive region sliced. Of course, they were very shallow cuts and would heal in no time, but they bled harshly thanks to Raritys attention to detail and just a bit of magic. The fillys coat was damp with blood, it ran down her entire right side especially. She shivered and sniffled quietly before begging.
“P-please don't cut my horn Miss… I’ll be good. Please, please. I’ll be very obedient and I'll wake up on time. I…” Trixie's voice died out, turning into quiet sobbing, using only a single hoof to wipe her face as far as the restraints would allow her, the other one was coursing with blood. Rarity watched the pathetic Trixie cry, the knife was still near her horn, she was going for the final blow.
“Oh, I can't possibly stop now! Little Topaz here hasn't had her chance to bless you with her touch.” giggled Rarity, the filly shook a bit more before stopping. Defeated, Trixie took her hoof from her eye and stared down at her hooves again.
“I’m sorry Topaz, I know it's not fair. Do you… do you want to cut Trixies other hoof instead of her horn? I-if you do that, it will be harder to walk, and it might hurt more. Trixie wont move, please don't hurt her horn. Trixie is sorry…” apologized the filly, offering up her clean foreleg to Rarity, and Topaz.
It brought Rarity great pride to see the filly making her own life worse, and she felt even better when she smashed the handle of the knife into Trixies horn.
Trixie crumpled in pain once again, as far as her restraints allowed. Sobbing, but tears no longer appeared. She was all cried out. Rarity decided it was time for the finishing touches on this little piece.
“Do you think this is enough Trixie? Have you been punished adequately for your misbehavior?” Questioned Rarity, moving Trixies mane aside with a hoof to see the anguish on the fillys face. Trixie didn't move, still sobbing quietly.
“Answer my fucking question!” shouted Rarity, kicking Trixie in the side to punctuate her sentence. Trixie squealed, clutching her side, and then squealed again when her damaged hoof came into contact with her fur.
“Trixie is sorry!” cried the foal, her entire body was throbbing, it only grew worse when another kick landed on her neck.
“That doesn't answer my question!!” hissed Rarity again, anger building. For a second Trixie forgot the question, but the fear of more pain sharpened her mind.
“It's enough! It's enough, please Miss I’ll be good! Please…” cried the filly pathetically, looking up into Raritys eyes hoping to garner the smallest bit of mercy. For a moment, it seemed to work. Rarity backed up, put Topaz down, and took a deep breath. In a flash Rarity had pinned Trixie to the wall, putting pressure on the fillies cuts, and a sharp pain in her hurt hoof.
“You should be begging for more, Trixie!” growled Rarity into her ear, “You are a very bad pet, and you have disobeyed direct training from Twilight Sparkle herself. Your only purpose in life is to serve her, and if you mess up any worse, you will have failed that singular task. Do you know what happens when she deems you a failure Trixie? DO YOU?!”
Trixie devolved once again into sobs, wishing this would be over. She wished to be elsewhere, she wished she hadn't messed up this way.
“Trixie is sorry, so so sorry! Please forgive her Miss, please!” begged Trixie, screaming in pain. Rarity slammed the handle of Topaz, which had reappeared in her magic, into Trixies head.
“Still. Not. Answering. My Questions.” struck Rarity, the thuds making Trixie dizzy. Trixies mind too frazzled to formulate an answer.
“Beg for more! Beg!” said Rarity, still in Trixies face.
“Please Miss Rarity, p-punish me. Teach me to be a good pet! I don't want Mistress to get rid of me, I’ll d-do anything.”
With that, Rarity put the filly down. The shackle on her hoof was unlocked, and Rarity gave the filly an odd look, before tilting her head and speaking.
“Wake up.” said Rarity.
“W-what? I don-” questioned Trixie before being interrupted.
“It’s okay.” said blank faced Rarity.
In a moment, the basements surroundings changed, as if it was spinning.
“Wake up, it's okay.” said the mare once again. This time Trixie felt someone holding her, but she couldn't see anything.
Trixie no longer felt the shackles on her hoof, and Rarity was still looking at her with a blank look on her face. Finally, it all clicked, none of this made sense and Trixie was sure that it couldn’t be real.
Trixie paused, the world was frozen, just like Rarity. She knew it couldn’t be real, Rarity was not like Twilight. She was very forgiving, she hadn’t hit Trixie at all before this. She approached Rarity and watched as the mare shrunk. Confused, Trixie got even closer to examine her, the fact that it was a dream filling her with a small sense of bravery. In a few moments the mare was even smaller than Trixie, and soon she had finished morphing into a mini Trixie. It curled itself into a ball, sobbing, confusing the real Trixie even more. She reached out, hoping to comfort it.
“It’s her fault!” cried the other Trixie. Trixie patted her on the head, before responding.
“Umm.. who?”
“HERS! Make them stop hurting me, it's not my fault!” screamed the other, pointing into the nothingness of this environment.
“There’s nothing there…” she responded, stroking the crying foals mane.
“THEY KEEP HURTING ME! I'M A GOOD PET! ITS HER, IT-” her screams were interrupted by her crying, “It’s… It’s somepony else being bad. I’m good. I’m a good pet. It’s not me. Make them… make them stop...” she cried, at this point Trixie was holding the other, and stroking her mane with her own eyes full of tears. The other stopped crying and gave a final look up at Trixie, before fading away. Trixie felt herself doing the same, and closed her eyes.
It’s not me.
“It’s just a bad dream, it's okay Trixie. You're safe now.” cooed a disembodied voice. And with that, Trixie woke up. Holding her was Rarity herself, but they were both back in Sweetie's room, and Trixie was bundled up in her tattered blanket as Rarity cradled her.
“Its alright Trixie, nopony is going to get rid of you. You have my word, it's just a dream.” The now real Rarity whispered, rocking the filly softly. Trixie let out a fierce sob, burying her face into Rarity's fur. Rarity held her tighter, she could feel the fillies' pain, her emotions were a mess, but she had to stand strong for now.
“Miss Rarity, you were hitting me and you told me I was bad and that I failed a test and then you used Topaz on me and...” her voice devolved into another sob.
“It's okay Trixie, you’re safe. You’re safe.” whispered Rarity, reassuringly.