My eyes shot open, only to be immediately blinded; they were soon throbbing with a dull pain, induced by the unforgiven light that welcomed them. I let out a small groan and rolled over. To my surprise, I felt myself falling for a split second, before landing on a cold, hard floor.

Ignoring the pain from the fall, I quickly found that I was feeling rather… strange. It was an alien feeling, one which I cannot quite describe. It didn’t really hurt or even feel particularly uncomfortable, it just felt… different.

Pushing those thoughts aside for the moment I tried opening my eyes again, in an attempt to get my bearings.

I found myself in what appeared to be a fairly small and empty room. Upon closer inspection, it looked to be an office of some sort—or perhaps it once was. The only other object in it, besides myself, was a metal-framed cot bolted to the floor.

Where am I?

I took a few moments for me to sift through my memory; I was finding it difficult to focus, everything just felt so hazy. Several minutes passed, but eventually I was able to piece together a few fragmented memories. I recalled walking along the path back to Ponyville, and how something had happened to me along the way. I had tried to scream, but had been muffled by a cloth over my muzzle. I tried to fight back, but to no avail, and then I heard another voice—a soft one.

Fluttershy!

A cold chill ran down my spine as my mind began filling in the missing details. I let out a sharp gasp when realization sank in.

Foalnapped… Fluttershy and I have been foalnapped!

I immediately stumbled to my hooves, alarmed by the fact that my fellow captive wasn’t in the room with me.

I have to find her!

Hastily darting up to the door, I reached out a hoof and tried the handle, but quickly realized that it was locked.

Horseapples! I should have guessed…

Panic started to set in as I desperately tried to think of a way out. After a brief moment, it hit me.

My magic!

Recalling the experiment with Twilight, involving the molten metal weight, I wondered if perhaps I could do the same with the door’s lock. I focused intensely on it, but for some reason I couldn’t summon my magic, no matter how hard I tried. The only thing I felt was a tingling, stirring sensation inside of my chest. After a few more moments I just stopped trying, completely taken aback.

Why is my magic not working?!

Turning back, I looked about the room once more. Unfortunately, the only way in or out of the room was the door behind me. This left me with only two options: to pound on it and try to get somepony to notice me, or to simply wait and see what would happen.

I don’t have time to wait! What if Fluttershy is in trouble? Or hurt? Or worse…

I grit my teeth, and pulled back my right forehoof, slamming it against the door as hard as I could. “Let me out!” I screamed as I began pounding with both forehooves.

A sudden, loud click from the door caused me to jump backwards, just when the door opened and a large, tan-colored earth pony stallion, wearing a forest green flak jacket, stepped into the room. A battered Stetson hat adorned his head, covering most of his short, red mane. He looked down at me with a blank, stoic expression, before turning and leaving without a word, closing the door behind him.

I immediately threw myself up against the door and began pounding again angrily.

“Come back! What’s going on? Where’s Fluttershy? Where am I, and why am I here?” I called out after him, but I received no reply.

Suddenly, there was another weird sensation stirring deep inside of me. This one slowly snaked its way to my forehooves, before dully fading away. This got me a little worried. Falling back to my haunches, I raised my forehooves to my face and examined them apprehensively.

“Just what did these ponies do to me?” I whispered to myself, hearing my own voice tremble with concern.

I didn’t get much time to think about these strange feelings, though, as the lock on the door soon clicked again, startling me out of my moment of introspection. I immediately sprang to my hooves and took a few steps back, watching the door slowly open once more.

A group of four tough-looking stallions—including the one from before—entered the room, spreading out in front of the entrance. Grins and smirks spread across the new faces, while the stallion with the hat maintained his stoic expression.

“Excuse me, boys,” a posh-sounding voice said, coming from a fifth stallion who pushed past the others and came to stand in the front. This smaller, yellow stallion looked very out of place, standing amidst the rough and unkempt males. His white mane was elegantly groomed, and he wore a well-tailored black vest as well as a small pair of reading glasses.

After examining him for a few moments, I suddenly realized that I recognized this stallion from somewhere, but I couldn’t quite recall the time or place.

He started slowly pacing back and forth in front of the others, but his eyes remained fixed on me.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t my old friend,” he mused, sounding rather chipper. “You’re awake early.

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Who are you?” I growled, taking a defensive stance. “And where is my friend?”

He didn’t reply, but took a look back at the intimidating stallion in the flak jacket, gesturing to me with a nonchalant tilt of his head. The other male simply responded with a small nod of his own, before walking towards me.

My eyes widened and a small chill raced down my spine. I quickly backpedaled away from him, my anger fading into fear.

“S-stay away from me!” I whimpered, pressing myself flat against the back wall.

He gave no response, leisurely continuing to pace towards me. He was just mere hooves away from me now. My fear shifted into mild panic and I focused my magic intensely on him, but again, nothing happened. In my mind, the same thoughts kept repeating, crying out to me...

Why?! Why isn’t it working?! Why can’t—

My thoughts were interrupted by a sudden, hard blow across my muzzle, which caused me to slowly slide down the wall and onto my haunches. I began flailing all of my legs wildly and desperately at my assailant, kicking him as hard as I could. It was futile, though; my blows glanced off him as if they were nothing. He grabbed hold of my mane with his teeth and proceeded to drag me back to the others. I screamed and kicked in protest, but my feeble, female unicorn strength was no match for his male earth pony might. My screaming was abruptly cut off when the hoof of another one of the stallions struck me hard in the left eye.

“Now, now boys, no need to get too rough, she is a mare after all,” noted the yellow stallion, looking me over with an unamused look. “You really don’t remember me, do you?”

I looked up to him weakly, covering my injured eye, and shook my head slowly.

He frowned in disapproval before pompously clearing his throat. “Allow me to reintroduce myself, then: I am Snooty, the proprietor of Snooty’s Finer Fashions.”

I tilted my head with a confused look initially, but then a flood of memories hit me.

"My dear, I haven't got all day. I am very busy you know."

"Why, Miss Rarity of course. Don't tell me you haven't heard of Miss Rarity?"

"Well, I suppose the easiest way would be by train. The alternative, which I highly advise against, would be traveling through the Everfree Forest. The Everfree is not only simply dreadful, but quite dangerous for a mare such as yourself; for anypony actually."

My eyes lit up when I realized just who he was.

This is the stallion who told me about Rarity, and how to get to Ponyville…

He cracked a small, humorless grin. “Aha, so you do remember. Very good!”

Becoming aware of a warm, wet sensation on the hoof that was covering my eye, I removed it briefly in order to examine it.

Blood…

Feeling somewhat queasy, I looked up to him with a glare. “What’s going on? Why am I here?” I asked, my expression twisting into an angry sneer. “And where is Fluttershy!”

Snooty cocked his head back in mock surprise. “My, my... Such a temper you have,” he commented dryly, bringing a hoof to his chin while he considered whether to answer me or not. “Well… I suppose there is no harm in telling you; it’s not like you’ll have much use for the information, fairly soon, anyway.”

A series of chuckled sounded from the trio of stallions behind him, only serving to intensify my glare.

“First, tell me where Fluttershy is. Is she okay? What did you do to her?!” I demanded, punctuating the final question with a stomp of my forehoof.

The stallion looked down to me with an amused glint in his eyes. “That mare really is very important to you, isn’t she?” he observed with a small smirk. “Well, as far as her current location: she is here with us—in this building, that is. Now, as for whether she is ‘okay?’” His smirk shifted into a wide grin. “I suppose you could call her... okay. A little roughing up never hurt anypony. Well, not permanently, anyway,” he added with a small chuckle.

My eyes immediately widened, shooting him a fierce glare made of daggers. I let out a low growl, taking to my hooves and leaping at him.

I was not about to let anypony harm Fluttershy and get away with it, though in my anger I failed to take into account all of the other stallions who were still in the room with us. The tan-colored stallion who had so easily subdued me before stepped forward, lazily swinging his foreleg at me. The blow connected with me in mid-air, hard,  hitting me just below the chest and cleanly knocking the wind out of me. I fell to the floor, landing on my side and doubling over as a stab of intense, white-hot pain flared up inside of me, leaving me desperately gasping for air.

Snooty shook his head, clicking his tongue several times in disapproval. “My, my, you really must try to keep that temper in check, my dear,” he said with empty pity, before clearing his throat. “Anyway, I am certain you are curious as to the reason why you are here in the first place, yes?” He looked down to me expectantly.

Still unable to catch my breath, I could only reply with faint groans and gasps. Had that not been the case, there would have been far more colorful things I might have answered him with.

Snooty brought a hoof to his chin and hummed to himself. “Hmmm, very well, I’ll just take that as a ‘yes’ then.” He cleared his throat once more. “I’ll just get straight to the point then: The apartment complex you lived in? It was where the headquarters of my little smuggling operation was situated, which supplies contraband to foreign customers from the Zebra Nation all the way to the Griffon Kingdom across the sea.”

I looked up to him weakly, feeling miserable and confused.

Snooty closed his eyes and nodded. “Yes, I know what you’re thinking. I’ll have you know that, while fashion is indeed my passion,” he began, shifting his stance and gesturing to his cutie mark (a ledger with a fleethoof behind it), “my true special talent lies in organizing things, ensuring that shipments get from point A to point B as quickly and quietly as possible.”

My expression shifted into one of surprise. I had heard rumors of crime rings before, from Mother, though as far as she knew nopony had ever been able to truly confirm the existence of one in Equestria; apparently, they hid themselves very well.

“In any case, I’m straying a little off topic here. Let’s get back to business, shall we?” He took a moment to adjust his glasses. ”Your little episode, the night before you ran away? Well, it called for a criminal investigation in a very inconvenient place for me, forcing me to suspend all of my precious shipments for several days. The hassle involved with rerouting them was... considerable.” The expression on his face changed from smug to very upset almost instantly. “I was forced to move my entire operation to a new location. This setback cost me countless bits in lost profits! Not to mention days of travel time to make several lengthy apologies, and to renegotiate the terms with my unsurprisingly disgruntled clientele,” he informed me in cold, measured tones that were seething with suppressed rage. He gave me an icy glare, pointing a forehoof directly at my chest. “You, little mare, made my business go to Tartarus in a hoofbasket in just a few short hours!”

Snooty glanced once more to the Stetson-sporting stallion beside me, and inclined his head at me. Before I could react, another blow struck me hard across the face, knocking me back to the ground. The pain from these merciless, successive hits was quickly becoming unbearable. I rolled over and began to cry softly.

Snooty shook his head in disgust and straightened out his vest, regaining his composure. “Such a shame; I could have used a pretty mare like you. Goods aren't the only thing I have been known to traffic, you know. You'd probably fetch a high price on the market. Yes, truly a pity."

What he was insinuating sent a chill down to my very core. “Y-you… you sell ponies?”

Snooty gave a faint nod, walking up to me and tilting my face up with a forehoof. “Oh yes,” he replied conversationally, ”powerful zebra chieftains and wealthy griffon nobles tend to pay a pretty bit for beautiful mares such as yourself. I might even have made back some of my lost profits!” He circled around to my flank and, without warning, casually lifted up my tail.

I immediately pulled my tail back down, blushing furiously.

“Hmm, yes… A rare albino pony, young and unsullied—top-bit material indeed!”

“You perverted scum!” I snarled out, looking back to him.

“Perverted scum? No, I am but a simple business-stallion, inspecting the quality of potential goods,” he responded with a disingenuous, smug little smile.

Oh, I have so had enough of this stallion!

Gritting my teeth and using all of the energy I could muster, I leaned forward onto my forehooves and aimed a hard buck at his insufferably smug face. The blow connected with his muzzle with a satisfying crack and caught Snooty completely off-guard, by the looks of it, causing him to stumble backwards and fall to his haunches. All four of his henchmen began to move towards me threateningly, but Snooty quickly held up a hoof. The stallions returned to where they had been standing.

“You…” he growled, climbing back onto his hooves. “Selling you would be too easy! Killing you, easier still!” He turned his head aside and spat. “But luckily, I have devised a much better use for you.” Wiping a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth, he shot me another one of his nefarious grins.

I narrowed my eyes at him. “What do you mean?” The prospect of being sold or killed truly frightened me, but his mention of having other plans had me feeling both scared and curious at the same time.

Snooty let out a condescending chuckle. “I trust you remember our conversation about Miss Rarity, during our first meeting, yes?”

I slowly nodded in response, giving him a dubious look, since I couldn’t imagine how that could possibly be relevant now.

“Very good! I’ll have you know that Rarity is quickly becoming one of the most eligible bachelorettes in all of Equestria. Her rise to stardom has been swift; another year or two and she will be on top of her game. A fresh, prime fruit for all the noble-stallions’ eyes to feast upon.” He began to pace while he continued talking. “But I have been watching her for some time, I know of her true beauty, elegance and poise! None of those other stallions could ever truly appreciate those qualities in her—they would just want her as a trophy mare, a status symbol! They could never—”

I lost focus, his words all blending into one as he continued to ramble on and on about Rarity. My eyes slowly followed Snooty whilst he moved about the room. I found the fact that he had been monitoring a close friend of mine so minutely extremely disturbing, and wondered if had he been keeping track of me as well.

Snooty stopped his pacing and turned to face me. “—and that’s when my associates reported that they had found you,” he stated firmly, pointing a forehoof at me for emphasis. “At first—given the unforgivable damage you had done to my business—I was simply going to have them kill you...”

A cold chill, followed by a feeling of horror, crept over me as I listened to his icy words.

“But after I had gotten a full report, I learned that you had indeed met up with Rarity. Not only that, you two had appeared to have become quite close. So much so that you were allowed to stay in her guest room.”

My mouth fell open; my fears about being followed were all being realized.

“This intrigued me,” Snooty continued, beginning to pace once more. “So I had you watched for a few days in order to gather some more information. That is when I also learned of your rather, shall we say, close friendship with Rarity’s best friend… Fluttershy, was it?” He looked down to me with a small grin upon finishing his sentence.

How... how does he know all this?!

My stomach sank as, slowly, piece by piece, Snooty began to cheerfully divulge my entire private life to me in great detail, covering the time I had spent with Fluttershy and Rarity practically from the first day I had arrived in ponyville.

“So then I had this wonderful Idea: What if I could use you, little pest that you are, to bring myself closer to my prize? Somehow use your proximity and close ties to my favorite fashionista to my advantage?” he mused to himself in a leisurely sort of way, almost seeming like he had entirely forgotten I was even there. “Then it hit me—a ransom! If I were to foalnap Rarity’s two best friends, she would be worried, panicked even, and obviously fear for their safety. She would likely do almost anything to get them back.”

“Rarity wouldn’t give you a single bit!”

“On the contrary, I’m quite certain she would make any sacrifice necessary to get her beloved friends back.” He let out a chuckle, pensively touching a hoof to his chin. “But what if she didn’t have to give anything at all to get them back? What if somepony were to somehow, say, save her friends from the clutches of those ruthless villains? Why, I imagine her opinion of such a pony would improve quite drastically.”

        “S-save?” There was a glimmer of hope in that part of his convoluted plot, but I hardly dared believe it; I might have been naive, but I was not a foal.

“Hm, yes, I can see it now...” Snooty continued, ignoring me completely. His voice was disturbingly chipper and enthusiastic. “The famous fashionista’s two best friends have been foalnapped! Oh, woe is her. But I, Snooty, just happen to be making a delivery to the building next door when, coincidentally, you come crawling out of the place where you were cruelly held captive, bruised, battered and, I fear, quite gravely injured all around. You inform me of your dire plight and, with your last breath, request that I save, erm... Fluttershy. Being the gentlecolt that I am, how could I refuse the desperate plea of a dying mare, hm?”

So that is the ignominious part he wants me to play...

”Naturally, I valiantly come to save the day, fight off the bad guys and rescue Rarity’s (remaining) friend. They will no doubt ask about you, of course, but alas... I shall have to shamefully admit to having failed to save the poor, hapless albino mare. At the very least I’ll be able to relay your final words to them; I’ll tell them how you nobly thought of naught but the well-being of your dear friend, literally begging me to come to her aid.”

“I would never—”

Snooty silenced me by raising his hoof threateningly, instinctively making me cringe. But then he merely looked down at me with a sly little smirk. “There will be nopony to say otherwise,” he said, seeming amused by my vehement protests.

I glared at him defiantly nevertheless. What more could he do to me, after all? He was already planning to kill me. “My friends are smarter than that! You’ll never get away with it, Snooty. If you’re very lucky, you might get off with some jail-time for abduction alone. Add murder to your list of crimes, and who knows how you might end up...”

“On the contrary, my dear! It will all end up splendidly. Dead mares tell no tales, after all; all your precious Fluttershy will ever know is the fact that I rescued her. There is no reason for her not to take my word for it. And then, I will be not only be the savior of the Miss Rarity’s best friend, I will also be there for the poor dear as she mourns your untimely passing. I will tell her of your heroic, but ultimately fruitless, attempts to save Fluttershy. Being moved by your bravery, of course it pained me to see such a horrific thing to happen to such an intrepid mare. Despite being a mere passersby, I simply had to help; it was the right thing to do! The grieving fashionista will be putty in the hooves of the selfless knight who was there for her and her friends in their darkest hour. ”

        Whilst I listened silently to Snooty pontificating endlessly about the perfection of his plan, revelling shamelessly in his fantasies about Rarity, I felt angry, helpless tears welling up in my eyes. This psychopathic pony was actually planning to use my death to deceive my friends, to force his way into their lives and ingratiate himself with them under the falsest of pretenses. The very thought of him being with Rarity—or worse, of Fluttershy looking to him as her savior—made me sick to my stomach.

Snooty paused his pacing, breaking into a nefarious cackle. “Oh yes, she will be mine! It’s just too perfect! I get my prize, and my revenge.” He turned to me with a wide grin. “I suppose I should really be thanking you. Because what’s a minor setback, a few thousand bits lost, in comparison to winning the love of your life, hm?”

“She would never fall for scum like you!”

Snooty let out an infuriatingly pompous laugh. “Oh, but she will! In fact…” He paused for a moment, narrowing his eyes at me shrewdly, before flashing me a disturbingly gleeful look that filled me with dread. “My heroics may even win over that pegasus friend of yours as well! I hear herds are becoming quite popular again, nowadays. So really, it’s two for the price of one!”

That taunt was the final straw. That was where I drew the line. Something inside me snapped, and I focused intensely. I strained, wincing and struggling desperately just to feel some kind of connection to the pool of magic inside of me. But the harder I tried, the more the agonizing pain flared up in my chest. I knew I had to stop this malicious stallion from hurting and deceiving my friends, but for some reason, now that it mattered most, I couldn’t...

“Oh, give it up already. You are suffering from the lingering effects of Rohoofnol. While I’m quite impressed that you're awake, at this point, and can even stand, that doesn’t change the fact that your magic will not work for at least another day or two, my dear,” he informed me dryly, clearly unamused by my efforts.

My curiosity pulled me from my state of anger momentarily. “Rohoofnol?” I asked quizzically. If I could get him to explain how he was suppressing my magic, perhaps I could find some way to circumvent it.

Snooty nodded before turning to his stoic, Stetson-wearing henchpony. “Hunter, if you would be so kind?”

The stallion named Hunter nodded mutely, retrieving a small wooden box from his jacket’s pocket. He sauntered over and held it out his boss.

“Thank you very much,” Snooty responded, opening the box.

To my surprise (and great discomfort), Snooty withdrew a small syringe, containing a yellow liquid, from the container. He lightly tapped the needle with his forehoof before pressing on it gently, squirting some of the fluid onto the floor next to me. Unexpectedly, he then returned it to the box Hunter was still holding out for him.

“Yes,” Snooty said, visibly savoring the mixture of terror and confusion in my eyes, ”Rohoofnol is quite a lovely little drug, developed and produced by our zebra friends. We injected you with a small amount after we knocked you out. It suppresses the natural flow of magic to the body’s leylines. The immediate effect is heavy fatigue and drowsiness; as such, it is often used in moderate doses as a sleeping aid. Although,” he added as an afterthought, chuckling softly to himself, ”I’m sure some my clients have other intentions with that particular side-effect.”

The trio of stallions behind him once again chuckled along, flashing each other knowing looks and smiles.

“When used in larger doses, however,” Snooty expounded, gesturing to the syringe box, “the lingering magical suppression can last for several hours or even days after the subject has awakened, making it quite handy when dealing with unicorns and their pesky magic.” He punctuated his messaged by flicking the tip of my horn with his forehoof.

My eyes widened with horror when Snooty turned back to the box and took out a syringe that was far larger than the previous one. He took note of my reactions and smirked triumphantly at me.

“I don’t think I need to tell you what a dosage like this will do...” he said in dulcet tones, before barking, “Hold her down!”

Before I could even leap to my hooves, the three remaining stallions had already made their move. I let out a bloodcurdling scream as I felt the weight of them pushing down on me. Fear and panic quickly took over my mind.

This is it… I’m going to die…

I flailed and fought as best I could, but it was no use—a small mare like myself had no chance of escaping them.

“I would comfort you by saying that you won’t feel a thing, and that it will all be over soon, but then I’d be lying. No, a direct injection of Rohoofnol is actually said to be quite… painful,” he informed me, adding a small laugh. “Now, Hunter, would you like to do the honors?”

Moments later, there was a sharp prick on my left flank, followed by a burning sensation around the injected area which got progressively worse. I winced as the feeling intensified to nigh-unbearable levels; it felt as though molten magma were running through my veins, searing me just below the skin along my sides, across my chest, and straight into my very center. I let out a sharp cry of agony as the fiery burning spread throughout the rest of my body in mere seconds.

With no more need to hold me down, the stallions backed away from me.

“If you have any last regrets, now may be the time to voice them, my dear; you have perhaps twenty to thirty minutes until you black out and your vital organs shut down completely,” Snooty informed me disinterestedly. “In that order, if you’re extremely lucky,” he added, suddenly sporting a sadistic smile and looking rather pleased with his own morbid joke. ”I would tell you to try and savor what little time you have left, but if you’ll recall, in the scenario we sketched you are supposed to be gravely injured during your ill-fated ‘escape attempt’... So I’m afraid you’re not going to be enjoying your last moments very much.” He finished with a chuckle, before turning back to his henchponies. “Well, I’ll leave the rest up to you, boys.”

The three stallions slowly walked towards me, looking me over with leering eyes. “Say boss,” one of the stallions suddenly piped up in a heavy Manehattan accent, “it would be a real shame to waste such a pretty little mare, don’tcha think? How abouts you let us have a little fun with her first? Not like she’s gonna live to regret it.”

This drew a round of raucous laughter from his peers, and much murmuring in agreement.

I was beyond despair now. It wasn’t enough that they were going to murder me, now they wanted to pile on even more abuse?

Didn’t any of you have a mother who loved you? Well, at least I’ll get to see mine again soon...

Snooty brought a hoof to his chin, considering my fate. “Well… normally, I would be against having such a thing done to a poor, defenseless mare,” he said, looking disdainfully at the uncouth stallion who had suggested it, ”but I’m in a good mood today, and you boys have done very well, bringing the two of them here so efficiently.” He gave a small nod. “Very well, do as you will. Just remember: The clock is ticking for our dear little fillyfriend; restrict yourselves to pre-mortem injuries only.”

The trio were all grinning broadly, and the large black stallion hastily assured Snooty, “Don’t worry boss, we’ll be quick.”

Snooty turned to his right-hoof stallion, and pointed at the door. “Hunter, you’re with me. We still have a damsel in distress to save!”

Hunter gave a curt, acknowledging nod to his boss before heading for the door and opening it. Snooty quickly followed, but not before looking back to me with one last, parting smirk. And with that, he was gone. Silence fell over the room after the sharp click of the closing door’s lock.

I was now trapped once again, but my situation was even more dire than before. I was alone with three stallions, all of them with unsavory intentions. There was a drug in my system that was going to kill me in a few minutes. I was horrified, needless to say, and had absolutely no idea what to do at this point.  It was clearly impossible for me to fight them off without my magic, and even then, the immense pain I was going through would have greatly hindered me. It was three against one, and I could barely even move.

It is hopeless…

“I call first dibs for having the guts to ask!”

Snooty will deceive my friends, then ‘rescue’ the mare who only just recently told me she loves me. After all of this time I finally found somepony special, and now she’s going to be taken from me, out of some petty, misguided sense of revenge.

“Hold her down over the cot.”

I felt the eager stallions grabbing me, but I offered no resistance; there was no point. Why fight them when I didn’t stand a chance in Tartarus? If anything, it would only encourage them to hurt me more. I figured I may as well take the abuse and be done with it. There wasn’t much time left, anyway.

I had everything: a life, a dream which was only just starting to become a reality, several good friends, and a pony who loved me… Now it has all been taken away from me. My life now rests firmly in the hooves of these three stallions.

I felt myself being forced down on the cot. The cold metal did little to distract me from my plight, as tears began to run down my cheeks. I didn’t want it to end like this; I wanted to spend more time with those important to me, and share my love with the wonderful mare who had given me a new lease on life.

My thoughts were distracted from a hard smack on my flank.

“The boss was right, this mare sure has some nice assets!” one of the stallions commented from somewhere behind me.

What are they…?

I felt the hot, uncomfortable weight of one of them landing on top of me, just as the realization of what they had been insinuating earlier hit me.

They’re going to rape me!? Rape and kill me!

A panicked flood of thoughts welled up in my mind. My innocence was important to me. I had always dreamed of sharing that first, special, intimate moment with my very special pony—with the love of my life... But now that, too, was going to be taken away from me. I would die with nothing. Not even my dignity.

No… I don’t want to die. Not like this!

I grit my teeth and desperately tried reaching for the magic locked away deep inside of me  again, wincing at the pain this caused me, which began to flare up almost instantly, growing nearly unbearable within moments.

I want to live! I want to experience love, and true happiness! I waited for so long, suffered through endless years of isolation, always telling myself—deceiving myself—that I was happy, when in fact, deep down, I yearned only for the feeling of somepony close to me.

I let out an animalistic growl and squirmed under the stallion’s weight, trying to throw him off, even as he tried to find his mark.

“Oooh, she’s a fighter! This’s gonna be a lotta fun, boys!”

I love Fluttershy. I want to spend my life with her. I want to hug her, hold her and kiss her. I want to share my first intimate experience with her, not have it be taken forcefully by these monsters!

I felt like I was being turned inside out by the sheer pressure of my trapped magic. Jolts of pain shot through my body, reaching levels of agony I had never experienced before. I could feel my consciousness starting to slip, my mind simply looking for some form of relief.

I won’t let them; I won’t let them take everything away from me!

Time slowed to a halt as the pressure inside my chest suddenly abated, the bubble bursting with an almost audible ‘pop.’ A flood of tingles quickly surged through my entire body. The feeling was similar to what I had experienced when Twilight and Rarity had used healing magic on me, but this time, the feeling was everywhere at once.

A horrifying prod against my inner thighs snapped me out of my daze. At the selfsame moment I became aware of a very familiar feeling in my horn: My magic had returned; it was no longer out of reach!

“No!” I screamed out angrily. A surge of magic punctuated that command, my mane and tail bursting into intense flames.

The sudden, unexpected fire elicited cries of shock and dismay from my would-be rapists; the one already top of me, in particular, yelped in pain and shock and leapt off of me as quickly as possible. Moments later the fire alarm began blaring and the sprinkler system on the ceiling was tripped, raining down a spray of water everywhere. The water, unable to douse my flames, sizzled and hissed as it touched down on my body, rapidly evaporating and forming a small cloud of steam around me.

With no further hesitation, I turned to face my tormentors.

If they want to take my life, they will have to do so after I’ve poured every last drop of magic from my body!

I fixed my gaze on the stallion who had dared to try and defile the innocence I desired to save for my lover. One thought echoed through my mind again and again, getting louder with each repetition.

Revenge.

He wasn’t even looking at me, being far too busy with trying to assess the damage my spontaneous magical combustion might have caused him. I focused my magic upon him. To my surprise, he was immediately hurled up into the air, crashing hard against the ceiling before falling to the ground again in a crumpled heap.

Silence fell over the room for several long seconds. I stared at the knocked-out pony, my jaw slack with disbelief. The flames enveloping my mane and tail slowly died away again.

My levitation spell... it, it worked?

As an experiment, I attempted to lift the unconscious male again. The results were unexpected: I found myself able to lift and move him around with ease, as though the big earth pony were no heavier than a feathered quill. My initial shock at this discovery was quickly replaced by another, unexpected feeling. The corners of my mouth twitched lightly, slowly forming a small smile. I began to chuckle; creepy and disturbing as that sounded, even to my own ears, I couldn’t help it. In fact, the chuckles quickly turned to maniacal laughter.

“Serves him right! Trying to hurt me, trying to take away my happiness—my everything!” I exclaimed to myself elatedly, still basking in the triumph of the successful levitation.

“S-she’s a monster!” one of the other stallions cried out.

Those fearful words snapped me back to reality. My smile fell instantly, and I turned to face the stallion who had spoken them; the one who had dared to call me by an epithet which had haunted me since my fillyhood. I wasn’t going to take it. Not this time; not when I was finally able to do something about it.

“Monster?” I whispered under my breath, keeping an icy glare fixed on the cowering stallion. “I’ll show you a monster...”

I dropped the first stallion from my telekinetic grasp and turned my attention to the other. After effortlessly lifting him into the air, I watched as he flailed helplessly in my magical aura, screaming and kicking out of pure, unadulterated terror.

“My love, my life, my happiness! GIVE IT BACK!” I screamed at him, before slamming him into the wall with but a thought.

He impacted with a loud, sickening thud that actually managed to make the wall crack slightly, and then slid unceremoniously down to the floor, where he rolled over groggily, letting out a pained groan.

A wide smile crested my face again, my expression twisting into one of sadistic glee. I gave in to another irresistible fit of hysterical laughter. An overwhelming sense of euphoria had been washing over me these past few moments. I felt powerful, and I loved it. For once in my life I was firmly in control, I had the strength to take matters into my own hooves.

I turned to the last remaining conscious stallion, who trembled before me and dared not meet my wrathful eyes. “Where is Snooty...?” I demanded in a low, cold tone, glaring at him while my horn lit with my prismatic magic.

He fell to his haunches and scooted back across the wet floor until his flank was pressed up against the wall next to the door. “H-he’s in the p-primary warehouse! He wanted us to meet him there after we—”

I cut him off with a snarl, lowering my horn threateningly, but as much as I wanted to make him to pay for what he did—or had been planning to do—I realized had taller hay to reap.

Walking up to the door, I spun around and gave it a good, hard buck. To my surprise, the door started to cave, creaking under the force of the blow. I paused in shock for a moment, but then my wide smile returned. Without a moment’s hesitation I followed that first attempt up with a second buck, using all my might. This knocked the door clean off its hinges and sent it crashing into the wall across the hallway.

Just as I was about to leave, I remembered something Snooty had said: “I suppose you could call her... okay. A little roughing up never hurt anypony.”

Slowly, I turned back to the stallion next to me. “Which one of you hurt Fluttershy...?” I whispered furiously, glaring down at him.

“It w-wasn't me! I-i-it was Hunter! I was totally against it... Why, I even tried to—”

“LIAR!”

He whimpered in fear as my magic surrounded him, and—

“WHAT IN TARTARUS IS GOING ON OVER HERE?!”

My ears pricked up at the sound of that deep voice, approaching from the hallway. I released my magical hold on the stallion in front of me and turned around, poking my head around the corner to find the stoic, tan-colored stallion galloping down the hallway towards me.

“I-i-it was Hunter!” Those stammered words resounded in my mind.

It was as though my very blood started to boil. I let out a primal grow as I jumped out the doorway, immediately turning to Hunter and charging at him with all the speed I could muster. He had no time to react, since I closed the short distance between us in what felt like only an instant. I lowered my head and rammed it into his chest, vaguely aware of my horn actually impaling his defensively raised foreleg. He stumbled, momentarily staggering from the pain and the sheer force of the collision, which I used to my advantage, forcing the bewildered stallion back at great speed until he crashed into another wall at the end of the hallway. I was treated to a very satisfying crunch from the stallion’s chest. He collapsed onto his side, gasping for air.

Taking a step back, I looked down at the pony who had committed the unforgivable act of hurting the one whom I loved, my heart filling with intense hatred and disgust. I wanted desperately to strike him, to hurt him, but with a punctured leg and, most likely, more than a few broken ribs, he no longer seemed in the mood to attempt to impede me.

“Nopony hurts the ones I love! How DARE you lay a hoof on my Fluttershy?!” I hissed at him.

He looked up weakly, incapable of replying with anything more than a stifled groan. I met his horror-filled eyes with a frown. Briefly I considered sparing him, but I quickly changed my mind when I remembered what he had done. My desire for vengeance wasn’t satisfied yet.

I took a hoof, planted it directly on the wound in his foreleg, and pressed down hard. Hunter twitched as he cried out in pain, and tried to pull the wounded limb away, but I quickly discovered that I was easily able to overpower him with the mysterious strength I now wielded.

“How does it feel?!” I yelled out, pressing my hoof down a bit more forcefully on his wound, and getting great satisfaction out of each pathetic wail that escaped his muzzle. ”The pain of being tormented by somepony more powerful than you? The knowledge that you are helpless to stop it? How does it, FEEL!?”

Hunter reached out with a shaky hoof, his tearful eyes pleading, but I looked down on him with nothing but contempt and disgust. It was obvious that he was in a lot of pain, but to me, it still wasn’t enough. No amount of suffering on his part could ever weigh up to the pain he had caused Fluttershy.

But just when I was entertaining the thought of inflicting more (well-deserved) pain on him, I suffered a sudden dizzy spell. There was an obnoxious ringing in my ears and I felt disoriented, causing my stance to waver. Although I was still shaking afterward, after a moment or two the sensation faded away. Taking this as a sign that I’d pushed myself far enough, I stepped off Hunter and quickly trotted away, to begin my search for Fluttershy and Snooty.

There might not be much time...

Following the marked signs conveniently dotting the hallways, I eventually came to a small door marked ‘Primary Shipping Warehouse, Level 2.’ Rushing up to it and trying the handle, I quickly discovered that it was locked. With a snort of frustration, I spun around and leaned forward, kicking the door with both hind legs. This resulted in a loud metallic clang, like a huge gong, echoing through the hallway. But the door remained intact, stubbornly refusing to budge, its sturdy metal hinges unfazed by my assault. My temper flared up again, but the same lightheadedness as before forced me to calm down.

I don’t have time for this!

I narrowed my eyes at the obstacle in front of me, focusing all of my magic until the entirety of the door was alight in a prismatic glow. I gritted my teeth, willing the obstinate piece of metal over to me with every fibre of my being. Soon, I was rewarded by the loud groan of metal bending, before the door was simply ripped straight out of the wall, frame, hinges and all. The crumpled-up piece of fresh scrap metal was casually tossed aside. I entered the gaping hole in the wall, advancing into the room beyond.

From where I had entered—a second-floor catwalk—I could already tell that this room was huge; it was easily the largest space I had ever set hoof in. The ceiling was about fifty hooves above me, possibly even higher than that. Cargo crates and other miscellaneous shipping packages and containers littered the floor below, some stacked so high they were level with my current vantage point, some even reach to the ceiling itself.

Scanning the floor below, letting my eyes rove the spaces between the myriad boxes and other pieces of freight, I still could find no clear sign of my target. I really wasn’t in the mood for games, though. If Snooty was in here, I was going to find him.

I hopped down to a crate a few hooves below the catwalk, then carefully descended onto another, smaller package, before finally coming to land on the hard, concrete floor. Looking around to take in my surrounding, it didn’t take me long to realize that this place was so cluttered that it was almost like a maze. This made navigating the room quite a challenge; I took the odd turn here or there, simply trusting to luck, but the longer I was forced to wander aimlessly, the more agitated I became. Naturally, I was losing my patience.

I don’t have time for this nonsense!

Just before I was about to literally scream in frustration, I heard some muffled pieces of conversation coming from somewhere over to my left. I hurried over to the first viable place I could turn left around the current row of crates, and silently made my way closer to the source of the voices. Before long, I found that I could actually make out the words, as I drew closer still.

“It looks like the coast is clear,” came the unmistakable, affected voice of Snooty. ”We have to hurry; the fire alarm will only distract these hoodlums for so long. Follow me, my dear!”

“O-okay,” a small voice squeaked weakly in reply.

Fluttershy...

She sounded tired, perhaps even exhausted. Judging from the growing volume of their voices, it appeared that they were headed straight in my direction. Moments later, this suspicion was confirmed, as Snooty rounded a corner and appeared from behind some crates directly ahead of me. He stopped dead in his tracks when he set sight on me, his eyes widening in shock as he took in my appearance. To my delight, they were soon filled with horror.

“You...” I said in a low growl. “I’m going to—”

I bit my tongue when I caught sight of Fluttershy, who warily rounded the corner only to crash into Snooty with a small squeak and fall to her haunches. She wearily picked herself up again, trembling on her hooves, before curiously turning to face me.

Now that I finally had a chance to get a good look at her, I was left speechless by what I saw.

Fresh bruises littered the mare’s body from tail to snout. Most of the fur along her

muzzle was stained with a mixture of tears and blood, the latter most likely from the many cuts that marred her beautiful face. The ‘roughing up’ Snooty mentioned had apparently been a massive understatement. Judging from the tell-tale injuries, she had to have been thoroughly beaten. He had really wanted this to look convincing—really convincing.

“P-Prism!? I thought you were—”

A savage roar of anger interrupted her, my mane and tail once again ablaze with rage-fueled magic of such intensity that the very air around me began to ripple.

Without giving him even a moment to react, I charged right at the stallion who tried to take away everything I held dear. I saw the fear in his eyes as I quickly closed the distance and leapt at him, knocking him down and pinning him to the floor. He tried to struggle and pull away from me, but I effortlessly overpowered him; I wasn’t going to let him escape me. Never before had I experienced such anger and hatred, never before did I feel so powerful, so completely in control of a situation, as I did in that moment, raising my foreleg to strike Snooty down with all of my righteous fury.

“Prism, stop!”

Fluttershy’s desperate cry snapped me out of my trance. My mane and tail extinguished themselves, and I turned to face her. She looked completely confused and bewildered, as if she wasn’t sure what to feel in that moment. But one thing was very clear: she was definitely crying.

I turned back and looked down at Snooty. His face was a mask of sheer terror. I’m guessing he knew all too well what I wanted to do to him; he could probably see his own untimely demise reflected in my eyes. Anger flared up inside of me the longer I had to look at him. A few short moments passed, with nopony saying anything, before I felt another dizzy spell coming on, far worse than any before.

I’m out of time...

I couldn't stand idly by, knowing what this monster had done to Fluttershy and myself, not to mention what he would have done had I not escaped his henchponies. If Snooty’s drug was going to kill me, then at the very least I was going to take him with me. Fluttershy might never learn the truth that way, but it didn’t really matter. I, at least, would die knowing what really happened this day.

I’m sorry, Fluttershy.

One last time, I summoned all my strength, raising a hoof to land the finishing blow. But before I could smash Snooty’s skull in, I felt something catch my foreleg.

I looked up to find that Fluttershy had latched onto it.

“Puh-please stop.... N-no more violence... please...” Fluttershy sobbed softly, gently nuzzling my foreleg.

“It’s him!” I told her, screaming despite my throbbing headache, and pointing my other foreleg down at Snooty. “He is... the...”

Before I could finish my sentence, the lightheadedness and disorientation returned in full force, making me lose my focus. The ringing in my ears also returned, and my head was spinning. I couldn’t concentrate on anything.

I lost my balance, falling forward onto my forehooves and leaning over Snooty. His expression was in a state of flux, registering confusion for a moment before a look of realization set in. Then his expression slowly shifted into a sinister smirk.

I wanted to wipe that smirk off his face but once again lost my balance, tipping over to my side this time.

“PRISM!” Fluttershy yelled out in fear, catching me before I could hit the floor.

Snooty quickly got to his hooves. “We need to get her out of here!” he stated firmly, a convincing note of concern in his voice. “They could be back any minute and this poor mare clearly needs immediate medical attention. Why, she’s clearly delirious and delusional, attacking us like that; We have no time to waste if we are to save her!”

The ringing in my ears intensified, muting all other sounds. I could vaguely hear Fluttershy panicking. I wanted to comfort her, but my body now refused to move at all, failing to obey even the simplest of my brain’s commands. Faint traces of commotion nearby reached my dulled senses, as an unknown group of blurry, pony-shaped blotches swam into my field of vision.

Although my vision was starting to fail me, I could still make out the bright red uniforms of the fire brigade. Fluttershy was yelling something at them while gesturing wildly at me, but for some reason she sounded really, really far away now, even though she was holding me in her forelegs.

That was the last thing that I could really make out, as my vision had gone completely distorted. The ringing in my ears had stopped, but that just left me in a silent world of blurred colors, all blending together, and strange, shifting lights. The bizarre experience somehow reminded me of the colors of my magic...

I wasn’t sure how long everything stayed that way. Seconds? Minutes? Hours? For all I knew, time could have stopped.

Eventually, though, everything faded away into the expected darkness.