He looked down at his watch to check what time it was, before realizing he never wore one, then looked up again and started to walk back to Ponyville. By the time he was back in town, it was starting to get dark. He peered through the window of a clock shop to see what time it was. 7.42pm.

“Well, I’m sure Pinkie Pie won’t mind if I’m a bit early.” he thought, and set course for Sugarcube Corner.

When he got there, he wondered for a moment if those clocks had been wrong. Sugarcube Corner looked dark from the outside, and there was no sign of anything going on. He knocked on the door. After a while, the door was opened by Pinkie Pie.

“Oh, it’s you! Come on in!” she cheerfully beckoned him to come inside. “You’re a bit early. None of the other guests have arrived yet!” she explained. “Cupcake?”

As he looked up, she was holding out a delicious looking cupcake, offering it to him. Realizing he hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast, he accepted the cupcake and ate it in one bite. “Fhanfs!” he mumbled, chewing on the cupcake. Pinkie Pie bounced back into the kitchen - to finish preparations for the party, he presumed.

A few minutes passed before he started to feel drowsy. At first he thought he was merely tired, but as his drowsiness grew he started to become suspicious. Was there something in that cupcake? He could barely keep his eyes open anymore, and shortly after, he collapsed on the floor, soundly asleep.

A shock wave of icy cold wetness suddenly brought him back to full awareness. As he struggled to get up, he realized that his legs and arms were chained to something. His eyes darted around, and he realized he was now in a dimly lit room with stone walls - most likely a cellar of some sort.

Around the room were various mysterious looking contraptions and tools, and an assortment of whips and knives adorned the wall to his right. In front of him was a pony holding upside down over him a large bucket that had presumably contained ice cold water until a few seconds ago.

The pony in front of him was wearing an unusual outfit, apparently made entirely of black leather. It was unusual enough that ponies actually wore clothing, but he’d never even seen anything like this before. The leathery suit covered almost the entire body, but had appropriately placed holes for the tail, ears, mane and muzzle.

From the poofy pink hair that protruded from various holes in the suit, and the faint smell of strawberry cupcakes, he guessed that it was Pinkie Pie.

“Pinkie Pie? What’s going on?” he inquired nervously, and the reply came quickly “Pinkie Pie? Who is this Pinkie Pie you speak of?”. She spoke in a stern voice, but he could sense an undertone of cheerfulness. “You WILL address me as Mistress Pain! Or just Mistress!” she went on, then continued “But oh, silly me, where are my manners! We welcome you as today’s guest of honor to our most exclusive club!”. Upon hearing “We”, he looked around the room - and indeed, they were not alone - in the dark corners of the room, he could see the silhouettes of two other ponies as well. They were now moving closer, presumably having taken the welcome as their cue to join in.

The other ponies were also wearing black leather suits, similar to the one Pinkie Pie was wearing. He immediately recognized one of the others, as she stepped into the light - a pegasus, from whose suit bright yellow wings and a pink tail and mane protruded.

“Fluttershy!?” he exclaimed loudly, feeling a mixture of surprise and relief wash over him.

As soon as he spoke, the sound of a whip tore through the room, followed by the sound of breaking wood - he instinctively closed his eyes, and expected pain, but when it didn’t come, he opened them again. The silence was broken once more by the sound of something wooden clattering onto the floor.

Fluttershy then spoke in a dangerously sweet, but stern voice. “Never mention that name here again! You will address me as Mistress Shy. If you want to live, that is.”

Mistress Pain then spoke up again in an announcing voice “Today is also a special occasion, as we have another special guest - a member of our sister-club in Canterlot.”

Spike looked at the third pony, who had now stepped out of the darkness as well. She was slightly taller than the average pony, and had a very unusual dark blue mane which appeared to be starry, slightly translucent and constantly billowing, even though there was no wind. Her most unusual trait, however, was her dark blue pegasus wings and unusually long unicorn horn. She was an alicorn, and Spike knew of only two such ponies in all of Equestria.

“Princess Luna.” he thought. He was starting to get the idea, however, and knew better than to speak it out loud. “By what name should I address you then, Mistress?” he asked the tall blue alicorn, and braced himself for the reply.

“WE SHALL BE ADDRESSED BY THE NAME OF MISTRESS MOON!“ her voice rang out into the room with great force. “The Royal Canterlot Voice.” he thought. He had expected as much.

After a brief pause, Mistress Pain spoke up again. “Now that we have all been introduced, perhaps it is time to begin... the ceremony.”

“Ceremony?” Spike inquired nervously.

“Don’t worry. We won’t hurt you...” she told him, a mischievous smile spreading across her face. “Too much...” she ended.