It had been almost 3 weeks since Rainbow had first woken up in the room. Or, well, at least that was her best guess as to the time. It was hard to tell exactly how much time had passed due to the room's lack of windows or a skylight. At that time, however, much has transpired.

First would be what she had learned about her situation. She was the prisoner of Crimson River, boss of the group of brigands known as the Tide. Her gang had been hired by some anonymous benefactor to recover something from Burkesh. As for what that item was, she wasn't told, whether she had gotten it or not. Rainbow, the other townsfolk, and any and all loot recovered from their attack were just bonuses. And, while all the others would be sold as slaves or used by the brigands themselves for that purpose, Rainbow was special. Rainbow was for River to have some fun with. And after the incident with her trying to escape, she had become Dermots as well.

Which brought her to the second point; her injuries. She, of course, had the two scars that Charles had inflicted on her: the eye slash and the deep cut on her hind leg. However, River, much like Rainbow herself, wasn't one to be outdone. Rainbow remembered the first few days with glaring accuracy. Since then, she had been River and Dermot's personal stress reliever. River would come in, beat her, cut her, stab her, or use special runes that made it feel like she was on fire, or freezing, or some other feeling that became lost in the waves of agony. And Dermot...well, even she didn't want to think about it. However, a few stood out from the rest.

These were three in number. The first was the scars along her face; the ones Charles had given her on accident. She had come back with a razor-sharp blade, slowly but surely cutting open the flesh. Soon, the ran like four deep trenches down her face, from forehead to chin, the edge of them scabbed and leaking pus. The only thing that marred the near-perfect lines down her face was her right eye, which was the only part still intact.

The second was her forelegs. She had tried to escape a second time, this time using the shackles as clubs to knock Dermot out when she came to, "Have fun." It failed again, with him merely catching them and beating her with a branch. He then got a barbed saw-like thing and used it to, well, saw them off. Slowly, and with sadistic glee as he did. He then bound them up with stolen linin and left her alone. Her forelegs were gone; she couldn't walk, pick things up, she couldn't even stand up without leaning on something with her shoulder or her barrel. She cried herself into the now nightmare filled sleep realm.

Finally, it was her flanks. River, in a drunken rage at Dermot, quote "Ruining her new favorite toy", had clawed them with a knife. Long slashes now ran along both sides and, along with her missing forelegs, she could barely move. Now, she just had to take it.

Numerous smaller ones dotted her body too. Cuts, bruises, broken bones, and lacerations. In some spots, it looked like her coat had been died red. However, other things plagued her too.

One was food. She had been left, so far every other day, a hunk of burnt meat. At first, she had been hesitant. She had never eaten meat; she didn't know what it could do to her. But, the guard who brought it to her had made a point. 'Eat it or starve', he had said. Two days later, when the next piece was brought, she devoured it like an animal. It was slimy, disgusting, and she didn't want to know where it came from, but it was food nonetheless, and her stomach had taken the place of her brain.

Then there was the matter of the dreams. They plagued her every night for almost the whole time now. They were different. She still saw her family, still saw herself being replaced, still saw the flames swallowing everything she cherished. Yet, new visions joined them. Dermot, River, and a scarred, shambling version of herself, all laughing, giggling and hooting like foals with a new Hearths Warming gift as they ripped her family to pieces.

It was now, at least as far as Dash could keep track, day 24. Over three weeks in this hellhole. Faintly, through the wood, she could hear the clanking of metal and the tramping of boots. It must be about noon. Always sounded like that when the guard came by with his lunch. River would be coming soon. More pain.

Speak of the demon, she was here. "Hey there, meat bag. Ready for my daily stress reliever? I have something exciting planned for today."

"P-p-pl-please", Rainbow managed to choke out past dry, cracked lips. "S-s-s-st-stop."

Even with her back to the door, Rainbow could feel the gaze of her tormentor burn into her. "Ok, you know what? I'm tired of listening to you just beg." She walked over to Rainbow and then proceeded to roll her over. It didn't hurt anymore. She was numb to the pain. "I say, I just want to hear you whimper and scream. How does that sound?" And with that, she yanked the translation rune off the pegasus mares neck.

A brief headache entered her system but soon left. "Bene, nunc autem id est de medio fiat, fiat nobis incipiat. Libit autem amicus ad." She left the room for a second, coming back with a long, black iron stick. The end of it was sharpened, and glowed a dark orange glow, like the color of the sun, when glimpsed from the corner of the eye. "Hic ille est. Oculus mister bacillo ferreo immisso!" She brought the sharp end to just above her left eye; the one by her brand. This is gonna hurt.

And hurt it did. While she didn't want to give her captor any satisfaction of watching her squirm, she couldn't help it. Her still remaining nerve endings smoldered away as she let loose a hoarse scream. Suddenly, the burning metal stick was pulled away, leaving Dash a mess on the floor. She faded in and out of subconsciousness as she listened to a conversation going on, despite not understanding it.

"Quid tu hic agis? Locustus sum cogitavi cras off nos stillabunt eam." That was River.

An unknown voice said, "Ita, hoc est paciscor. Sed ea quae sunt ad operam, ut iam violare illud. Ego ad colligunt a sarcina primo modo dictum."

"Quid! Quomodo sciisti?". Crimson again. "Manere… Dermot futuo suus esset, non eam !? Cum strepitu pompae armorum meum in eo ego te-" She was cut off by a loud shriek of alarm, followed by the all to familiar sound of a blade cutting into flesh.

Consciousness was leaving her, and fast. However, before the cursed void enveloped her, she heard one more sentence: "Imperatoris de hoc non esse beatus.*" Then... Darkness.

* The emperor will not be happy about this.

Keep this in mind; it's important. And yes; no more brigand chapters. She will have one more interaction with them, but, well.... Let's just say it won't be Rainbow on the ground begging.