CHAPTER 31
Whenever all of my senses returned to me, my eyes were closed and my ears were ringing, and I had a horrible headache. I felt sore all over, and it took effort just to open my eyes. I tried not to groan, but I couldn't help it.
"Oooohhhh..." I lifted my head, and saw two shadowy figures that were facing me. I saw their eyes through the dark, but nothing else, asides from tone's horn.. "Unicorns... The ones who always do the dirty work..." I tried to move, but of course, I was tied to a chair. I was stuck sitting like that seafoam green unicorn, with my hind legs hanging off of the end of the chair, and my forelegs tied up behind my back,
"Well well well, if it isn't Weaver. How ya' been, buddy? You know, you owe our little group a lot of money. Where exactly is all of that? Oh, and there's also the whole thing about you stealing some of our stash and giving it to your strung-out friend." I felt guilt wash in with my pain. Of all the things he could bring up, it had to be Quick Fix. I winced at the very mention of him. "Oh, struck a nerve there, did I? Well don't worry..." I saw a screwdriver levitate out in front of me. "I'm sure I'm gonna strike a lot more with this..." I felt my eyes turn into saucers, and I started to sweat bullets, but I didn't panic otherwise. "Heh, look at him, we've got him scared right out of his coat. Hm... Out of your coat..." Then, an axe levitated up in front of me.
"Go ahead, do your worst. I know you won't kill me. Where'll you get the money otherwise?" The unicorn leaned in really close. He had a buzz cut mane, and orange eyes, and a scar on his right cheek. When he opened his mouth to speak, his teeth were yellow, and his breath stank of booze and cigarettes.
"Oh, we'll just get it from your friends. Unless you just let us... 'Take care of you' for a little bit." My blood went cold, and I almost passed out again. I wasn't about to let these sickos near my friends. I saw a load of different tools and things of the sort levitate up, and I hung my head in defeat.
"... You win. Do whatever you want to me, just... Just don't hurt anypony else." They both cackled madly, and I prepped myself for the beating of a lifetime.
"Here come more scars..."
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(Third Person)
"Shadow's been gone for a really long time... I wonder where he is?" It had been a good few hours since Shadow had left, and Pinks was beginning to worry. "Maybe he's just doing something else... No, he'd let me know first. Where's he at...?" She put her hoof on her chin, and thought of all of the different reasons he would be gone for so long, and she didn't think he was doing any of them. "Maybe he's off doing something that came up, and he didn't have time to come back and tell me..." She was snapped out of her thoughts by the sound of her door opening.
"Pinkie... Have you seen Shadow? I could use some help with some shopping I need to do." Mrs. Cake didn't seem very worried.
"I dunno. I think that he's off doing something really urgent."
"Ah. That would make sense. He's such a responsible stallion. Did you know he asked me to take some rent out of his paycheck? He said that if we're keeping him, he needs to do something to pay us back. And what better way than making us pay him less?" Pinks giggled a bit.
"He is really nice. But we all already knew that." Mrs. Cake chuckled a little bit.
"Yes... You know, I'm really proud of you. You've picked yourself a fine stallion. I didn't think he was the best of ponies at first, but now I'm very glad I decided not to just judge a book by its cover. I doubt he'll be getting into much trouble anytime soon."
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"Ngh..." I already had bruises all over me, and one of my eyes was swollen shut, and a chunk had been cut off of my ear, which was bleeding badly. I felt the hammer make contact with my leg. "ACK!" I heard a sickening CRACK, followed by intense pain all through my leg. It was broken, without a doubt. The unicorn who's been doing all of the talking this entire time leaned back in really close to me.
"So... Are you gonna pay us back, or am I gonna have to have more fun with you? I have been wondering what the inside of a pony's hoof looks like..." I couldn't pay them back, since I didn't have enough money, so I did what anypony would have done in that situation: I started making them angrier. I spit right in his eye. He reared back, and shut it. "AGH! You little... Alright, you take over from here, I've gotta go wash this out... Oh man this stings..." He stepped back into the darkness, and I heard him take a few steps, and then I saw a door open, and close. The other unicorn stepped forward... But it was a mare.
"So... What're you gonna do to me? I hope it's just torture, and that you aren't some sex-deprived maniac." She stepped back a bit, and she looked genuinely hurt by that. I actually felt a little bad. "Hey... I'm sorry... What's your name?"
"... Hot Coffee..." I cocked an eyebrow, but then it registered in my mind.
"Oh, you're the groups... Oh my. I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to say what I did. Why are you here then?"
"Well, Al wanted me to watch, and I'm assuming you know what happens when ponies like me don't listen to stallions." I nodded my head sullenly. I've seen the... "Asset" of groups of stallions punished for not listening before. It's not pretty.
"You said his name was Al?"
"Yeah. Al Talk."
"Heh. He certainly doesn't seem to be all talk... He's got the game to boot. I'm proof of that..." I let out a few weak coughs, and I saw a bit of blood come out. That was probably from when he hit me in the chest with the hammer when he first started his little game with me.
"Oh no! You're really hurt... He's gonna kill you if you let him keep this up!"
"I know... But I'll put up with it, as long as it keeps my friends out of danger."
"You're a good pony... But we need to get you a doctor, or somethi-" The door slammed open, and I saw a VERY angry looking Al walking up to me. He had nails with him.
"Alright, Weaver. I'm done playing games with you. It's time for some acupuncture therapy." I saw Hot's eyes go wide, and they were glassed over with oncoming tears. "If only I had time to heat these babies up..." He shook the box of nails a bit, a sick grin creeping across his face. "Oh well. It'll have to do." He grabbed the hammer, and lined up a nail on my thigh. I started sweating even worse, and he was lightly swinging the hammer, lining up his shot. Hot almost yelped, but put her hoof over her mouth. Her tears came in a steady stream as time seemed to slow down. Al raised the hammer, and it came swinging down at the nail...
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" I felt the nail dig into my skin. It broke the first layer flesh, and started digging into muscles and nerves. He struck the nail again and again, and I eventually felt it enter my bone with gag-inducing cracking noises. Tears were running down my face, and my nose was running. My throat was starting to hurt from all of my pained screaming. The nail eventually exited my bone, and started to dig through to the other side. Al finally stopped when it wouldn't go any deeper. I looked at my fresh wound. There was blood oozing out around the nail, and the skin was torn around the hole. Al wasn't done yet.
"That looks real good... Alright, time for another one. Where do you want it, your leg, or your shoulder? Who am I kidding, I'm gonna make it slow and horrible either way. Leg it is..." It was a repeat of the first one. It dug through my skin like plywood, and smashed through my bone. I couldn't even feel it anymore, the pain was numbing me. I let my head fall limp, and the tears streamed down my face and fell to the floor. "Well, you're no fun... Oh well, I know what'll make you scream..." He levitated another nail up... But he placed it right over my heart. "I'm gonna break your heart... And then I'm gonna break your marefriends. That's right, I'm gonna take a picture of this, and force her to look at it... It'll be the last thing she ever sees. And she'll die knowing that you're just a weakling, just a useless little-" He couldn't finish his sentence. A pair of hind legs smashed his jaw, and knocked him out cold. It was Hot. Her eyes were red, but her tears weren't stopping. She clumsily undid the bind holding my hooves, but whenever I was loose, I just slumped over, and fell out of the chair.
"I'm s-s-sorry... I-I should've s-stopped him sooner..." I barely managed to stand up, but when I did, I almost fell back over, but Hot ducked under me and supported me. "Don't worry, Weaver... I'll get you out of here..." Her voice was almost a whisper. We slowly walked our way to the door, until I got an idea.
"Wait... Hot... Carry me... Tell them Al's done, and that you're dumping the body for him..." She cringed a little bit, but nodded. I heaved myself over her back, and by that time, I was completely exhausted. I decided that then was as good a time as ever to pass out from a mixture of pain, panic, and blood loss.