"Augh..." Spike woke up groggily in the dark. "Where am-"

"NO! PLEASE! NO! I'LL-EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" The bloodcurdling shriek shocked the young dragon fully awake. As his eyes began to adjust to the dim light-

THWACK! Fluttershy's decapitated head landed on the ground directly outside the slightly open door.

"AAHHHH!" Spike recoiled from the bloody horror, backing into the center of the room.

"He's awake! I think he saw you do it!"

"What? Oh, dear! I'd hoped he stay unconscious until this was over!"

Spike looked around, trying to find the source of the voices. "WHO ARE YOU? IS THIS A JOKE?"

"Oh, it's no joke."

He didn't need the light now. He knew exactly who it was. And it made him all the more terrified.

"Come here, darling. I've found a way you and I can be together forever – just like in your dreams!"

"NO! NOT LIKE THIS! NOT LIKE THIS!" His attempt at running away didn't get him very far, as he was wrapped in a magical glow and pulled in the other room, his claws dragging a futile trail in the dirt as he tried to resist. "NO! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

The door slammed shut, muffling the horrors that soon occurred behind it.

My dearest, most faithful student, Twilight,

Have you heard from Spike or your other friends who are on vacation? It can be lonely without your friends around. But they will be back soon, don't worry. I don't know if the same can be said for Prince Blueblood. I sent him to apologize to Rarity after that horrid affair at the Gala and I haven't seen him for weeks! But he's probably lying low after being embarrassed so publicly. He'll show up again.

Speaking of Rarity, please let her know that I shall be delayed until late this evening for my appointment with her regarding the outfits for the next Gala. Tedious Royal business, I'm afraid.

Take care!

-Princess Celestia

Twilight read her mentor's letter with a knowing sigh. It was boiling hot outside, and all her friends were on vacation except Pinkie Pie (then again, Pinkie Pie was always on vacation, it seemed) and Rarity, but both ponies were too busy with their jobs at the moment to hang out. She had her reading, but even that got boring after a while. "Well," she grumbled, "at least I'll get talk to Rarity today..."

"Why, Twilight! What a splendid surprise!" exclaimed Rarity as the purple pony entered her shop. "Pardon the drawn shades – dreadfully hot outside, I'm afraid."

"Hi, Rarity. Oooh! I love your new bag! Are those faux dragon scales?"

"Why, yes!" Rarity huffed the bag back up onto her shoulder. "I think it looks quite fashionable for this time of the year. Anyways, you must see my new line of coats!" Rarity dashed into the backroom.

"Oh, no, I don't have any money...I'm just-" Before she could blink, Twilight was wearing a gorgeous white winter coat. She found herself temporarily marveled by its beauty. "Oh my...Is this leather?"

"Mhmm! I just got a shipment in last week!"

"Well, it's...very nice – but I'm just here to deliver a message I got from Princess Celestia. She won't be able to make her appointment with you about the next Gala until late this evening. Royal business."

"Oh, I see. Thank you for letting me know, Twilight."

"Also, out of curiosity – have you seen Prince Blueblood lately? Princess Celestia said she sent him to apologize to you a few weeks ago for his behavior at the last Gala, and he never came back."

"Of course I have! You're wearing him right now!"

"...Huh?"

WHAM! Before Twilight could comprehend anything more, she was knocked out cold from behind.

"Uhhh..." moaned Twilight, groggily opening her eyes. Wherever she was, the light was dim. "Wher-"

She couldn't move. She looked down.

She was in a chair bolted to the ground, her hooves locked in heavy iron manacles. "W-What is this?"

"Hrm? Oh, sorry, darling. I'll be with you in moment." Rarity dabbed her face with a pale lime green sponge at a sink just off to the right of the chair. "My – Granny Smith's hide may not have been suitable for any clothing purposes, but dilled if it doesn't do wonders for exfoaliation!"

"Rarity? Where am I? Why are you wearing a raincoat? WHY AM I MANACLED TO A CHAIR?"

"Of course, it does seem rather pointless for me to be worrying about exfoaliation right about now," Rarity continued, "but there are some things in a lady's daily routine that cannot be ignored! Right?"

A chill was slowly crawling down Twilight's spine. "R-Rarity? What's going on? W-Where am I?"

"Where are you?" Rarity turned off the sink. "Why, you're on vacation of course!"

The lights got brighter – revealing a drying rack in the room's back right corner, stocked with skinned hides of very distinctive colours: Pale cyan, bold orange, pale amber yellow, and a larger crimson hide.

"Just like all our former friends!"

The chill in Twilight's spine froze. "Oh, god..."

"You asked me what happened to Prince Blueblood earlier, didn't you? Well, get ready for a lot of exposition, because I'm going to tell you everything! Yes, Prince Blueblood did come to my shop, but apparently the jerk was so full of himself he couldn't face his embarrassment sober. He burst in like a lunatic that night, all drunk on some fermented apples he had cowardly eaten on his way into Ponyville. I tried to fight him off, but he got the best of me and pinned me down! And do you know what his idea of apologizing to me was? He tried to MOUNT me, Twilight! He forced himself on me! Now, before the Gala I would've welcomed his mounting with open hooves – but even if he hadn't been such a jerk, never in that kind of situation! Oh, it was horrible! So much worse than that Diamond Dogs ordeal! Whining wasn't going to stop him – so I acted on pure instinct! When he tried to kiss me, I bit down as hard as I could on his neck! Crushed his windpipe and tore his jugular to shreds!"

About to interject, the white unicorn's expression told Twilight staying silent was best for the moment.

"I believe it was in that moment that I finally snapped. I just stood there like a loony, staring at the body of a dead stallion, looking at the blood splattered all over my ruined store. I was so out of it, I didn't even notice my completely ruined mane! I was so terrified, hoping no one had heard the ruckus and wouldn't walk in on the scene. I had to get him out of there. And then my mind flashed back to the Diamond Dogs incident again – and I remembered the shop had a storm basement! Which is where we are now, if you hadn't picked that up. I'd almost completely forgotten about it, having gone down there once and been disgusted by its unfinished state. It's quite deep underground. I have no idea what kind of storm the ponies who built the place were expecting. But it's deep enough to hide the odors and sounds. Perfect for a body! So I dragged him down there, cleaned up my shop - and cleaned myself up once I realized what horrible shape my hide and mane were in! But I couldn't shake my mind off the feeling I'd gotten when I killed him. It was such a rush, a feeling without equal. And it amplified an urge in me – the want to see that oating stallion pay a price more severe than death for what he'd tried to do to me! So I went back downstairs, chopped his horn and head off off, gutted and skinned him, burned off his cutie marks, and turned him into a coat! Leather is the new trend in fashion, you know."

"But - What does that have to do with killing and skinning our friends?" Twilight finally sputtered.

"Do you really want to know the answer to that? Well, in the scuffle with him, my cabinet of financial records was knocked over. As I was re-sorting all the papers, I stumbled across something I couldn't believe I hadn't noticed before: I made those glorious Grand Galloping Gala dresses for the five of you, but none of you ever paid me! Okay, well, Applejack did, but I honestly never really liked her much anyways, so she had to go, along with the rest of Sweet Apple Acres – ugh, that was a chore, getting those three here without them suspecting – but the rest of you? Nary a response! I sent out another round of invoices to you all – still not a single Bit! How could you forget those gowns had a price? A lady does have bills to pay! Without those payments, I'm deep in the red right now! - So to speak..."

"What? Rarity, I never got-" The glare from Rarity cut off another interjection from her prisoner.

"Well, there is NO way my store is going to go out of business because of an accounting error! But then Sapphire Shores came in again a few weeks ago! She'd loved all the outfits I'd made for her, and asked if I had any winter clothes she could model – because as you know, all the winter clothes fashion shoots take place in the summer. I showed her the jacket I made from Blueblood, and she loved it! Except she wanted a bit more colour. I told her it would take me a few weeks, but that I could have six more wonderfully coloured leather coats for her by month's end. And THAT'S where you come in! You see, I can kill three birds with one hoof: The payment from Sapphire Shores will put me back in the green, I get more fame - AND you get to pay your debt by being killed and made into a coat by me!"

"Rarity!" Twilight's voice squeaked in fear. "I never got any invoices! I swear! I didn't know! The mailpony must've-"

"I would think you would've paid me first, Twilight, being the most organized and all. Pity!"

"You can still stop this now! I-I can get you a Royal loan if you wan-"

"Twilight, Twilight, Twilight...Save your strength. I'm far too gone to consider anything rational now. I've already killed everyone else. Cut off Pinkie's head this morning. Tried to pay in cupcakes. Hmph!"

"Y...You're-You're insane!" choked out Twilight.

Rarity chuckled. "Oh, how would Dash have put this? Ah, yes! I believe she would've said, 'Well, duh!' Of course I'm insane! Or does that actually make me not insane, the fact that I know I am insane?"

"Um..."

"Trust me, this plan is going through to completion. Maybe they'll discover everyone missing later, but by then I'll have burned all the evidence and will probably be so famous that I'll have closed up shop here and moved to Canterlot! They'll have no evidence to pin on me besides mere coincidence!"

"But – that raincoat! You don't like getting your hooves dirty! How on earth can you stand slicing-"

"Oh ho ho, Twilight! You know for a fact that I'm a little more lenient on the the whole "dirty hooves" matter since the slumber party! But still, you're right. The initial torture and killing I can handle – in fact, it's rather my favourite part of the whole operation now, if I do say so myself. But the actual skinning and preparation? Why, that's just too dreadfully messy! I can handle a bit of blood, but not a whole ponyful! Having to remove all the organs, collect the blood in buckets, that awful smell – Eugh! Doing it on Prince Blueblood that first time was enough! You wouldn't believe how many showers it took to get the blood out of my mane after that! And how much lotion it took to help my hooves get un-pruny after the showers! Thankfully, though, I have some dedicated help in that department now."

As if on cue, the door to the left of the drying hides opened, and a familiar young filly absolutely caked in fresh and drying blood emerged, dropping the blood-soaked Sea Serpent scale that was clutched in her mouth on the floor. The hideous smell of foul, rotting decay quickly assaulted the larger room. "Pinkie's done, Sis!"

"Wonderful, Sweetie! You can wash up and put her hide up to dry a bit later! Meanwhile, shut the door, please? I may have become slightly more accustomed to that smell, but I believe our company hasn't."

Twilight gasped. "Sweetie Belle?"

The filly turned around after closing the door. "Hiya, Twilight! Sorry for hittin' ya on the head earlier!"

"Y-you're h-h-h-helping her?"

"Yep!" Sweetie Belle cheerfully looked at Rarity. "I finally get to help my big sis without getting in her way! I also think I've found my special talent! Oh, and I get to eat a lot of delicious hearts, too!" She licked her lips. "Mmm...Pinkie's was quite tasty, by the way... Ooh! Can I have the honours, Rarity?"

"Of course, dear. Remember, you must be quick about it now. Don't give her a chance!"

"NO!" Twilight suddenly yelled, regaining some of her composure. "No! This can't be!" Her horn began to glow. "I'm going to let Princess Celestia know all about thiAIIIEEEEAAUUGHHH!" She shrieked as the most unbearable pain she had ever felt in her life suddenly shot through her body.

Sweetie Belle stepped back from the spurt of blood, the scale of the Sea Serpent back in her mouth. Twilight's severed horn hit the ground not a second later, landing with a disgusting THUCK.

"Very nice, Sweetie!" chimed Rarity. "A little faster on the draw next time, but you're getting better."

Sweetie Belle once again put the scale on the ground. "Thanks, Sis! You've sure taught me a lot!"

"MY HORN!" squealed Twilight, looking at the body part as she shook with a renewed fear, horror and pain. Rarity wiped the blood dripping down her head out of her eyes as she began to cry. "...Why?"

"Well, we can't let you magically call for help or teleport out of here, now, can we?" asked Sweetie.

Twilight started to shake more violently as Rarity closed on her. "What have you done to that filly?"

"Hoofholm Syndrome, I guess. She caught me slicing up Blueblood, I put her through a little bit of electroshock therapy, then let her eat his heart and she's been helping me slice and dice my – I mean, our – victims ever since! She's actually gotten quite good at it, I must say. And she is right. It would be dreadful if everypony found out about this right now! I just can't let that happen! Knowing your raw power, I'm not taking chances! Now, hold still. I need to make sure that wound doesn't get infected."

Rarity's horn glowed, and the chair Twilight was in was ripped out of the ground and forced up against the wall telekinetically as Rarity came within inches of the purple unicorn's face. Sweetie Bell put on dark glasses just her size small, and handed a larger pair up to Rarity. After Rarity put on the glasses, Sweetie hopped up on her sister's head, holding steady with her hooves a blowtorch Rarity also lifted with her magic. The blowtorch was pointed at the open wound where Twilight's horn had been...

...then turned on.

Twilight screamed as the flame seared the exposed flesh, thrashing her head to avoid the torch's flame as the pain seared through her body.

"STOP! PLEASE, STOP!"

"Twilight, darling, you simply must stop struggling. Do you want me to cauterize this wound or burn out one of your eyes by mistake?" Suddenly Sweetie Bell's horn glowed – and Twilight found her head forced ramrod straight against the wall. "Thank you, Sweetie. Now keep her still while I finish this." Rarity turned the torch back on, causing Twilight to scream all over again. "I am sorry about the pain. I'd normally have given you anesthesia – but poor Fluttershy was so resistant to it, I used up my supply on her! Poor dear – probably for the best that she couldn't feel anything when the time came, though."

After seemingly hours of pain, Rarity turned the torch off, clearing excess soot with a gentle blow of air – still knives to Twilight's pain-shocked nerves. "Ah. That should do it. Now for the cutie marks."

"I'll get the laser!" Sweetie Belle skipped off her sister's head and ran into the room down the hall.

"WHAT?"

"Honestly, Twilight – I thought you were smarter than this," Rarity huffed. "I can hide that horrid horn spot in a seam or something when I turn you into a coat, but the flanks are one of the most visible parts of the hide! Erasing them with an open flame is far too sloppy. I need something more delicate."

"A laser?"

"Well, yes, of course! It will still hurt like the dickens without anesthesia, true – but it will remove your cutie marks permanently without damaging your hide too much, or leaving any of those ghoulish char marks like an open flame would. Thankfully, those wonderfully generous ponies at the spa had an older laser setup they were willing to sell me at a discount. Ah, the perks of being a beloved customer..."

"Here ya go, sis!" Sweetie Bell returned, handing off the portable laser.

"Rarity, you need help! You don't need to go to jail! We can-"

"You can what? Get me locked up in a mental hospital and taken away from my sister for turning her into a little cannibal? No, no... I've already told you, Twilight, you are not going to convince me to change anything. In fact, you're only going to make me go slower while I remove your cutie marks."

Rarity turned on the laser and set to work. Twilight bit her lip harder and harder with each passing pulse of the laser as it wiped away her marks, drawing a trickle of blood as she tried to fight the excruciating pain. But alas, the pain was again too intense. She screamed once more, as Rarity grinned.

"There we go," the white unicorn pony sneered as Twilight grit her teeth in agony. "Let it all out..."

"Here, Twilight!" Sweetie Bell put a stick of something in Twilight's mouth. "Chew on that if you want to fight the pain! I think Apple Bloom made the best jerky sticks, but Scootaloo tastes good, too."

Twilight spit out the jerky, horrified. "What? No! GAHHH!" she screamed as the laser pulsed again.

Suddenly, the laser sputtered and died. "Oh, not again..." grumbled Rarity. "I thought I'd fixed it after last time. Stupid old piece of junk! Hrm... What to do, what to do... Ooh! Looks like another coat with pockets! Sweetie Belle, fetch me the fillet knife, will you, please? And a few buckets, too?"

"You got it!" In no time, Sweetie returned, with the buckets and fillet knife – which still dripped blood.

"NO! PLEASE! RARITY! WHATEVER YOU'RE THINKING OF DOING, PLEASE DON'T-"

Rarity drove the knife into Twilight's right flank and began slowly carving out the section with her cutie mark, taking great care to carve out a slice in the perfect pocket shape. Blood fell to the buckets.

"AHHHH! AHHH! OH GOD, STOP!"

Completely ignoring her, Rarity turned her attention to Twilight's left flank after she'd finished the right. She dug the knife in and sliced away, doing her best to match the pocket shape she'd just carved.

"NYAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Finally, Rarity finished carving the left flank. She handed the two chunks of meat to Sweetie Belle. "Here you go, darling. Go put them on ice in your room for now, and you can have them for dinner later after you finish skinning Twilight.. But eat them in your room please? Princess Celestia's coming for a meeting with me later...Obviously, you can't be seen eating the haunches of her most prized student."

"Sure thing!" Sweetie Belle took a nibble. "Mmmm! You taste good, Twilight!"

Twilight was beyond broken now, bleeding and sobbing profusely. "Please...Let me go...Please..."

"Go put those fillets on ice before they rot, Sweetie! I'll finish this up while you do that."

Rarity raised the Sea Serpent scale with her magic as Sweetie Bell skipped upstairs. "Ah...Siblings."

Twilight looked up at her friend, her eyes soaked with tears, pleading desperately. "Rarity...Please..."

"You should have paid me, darling, Generosity goes both ways, you know."

"Please...I didn't know...Rarity – I beg you..."

"Goodbye, Twilight."

It took more than one cut to get the purple pony's head off, but Rarity was pretty sure Twilight was dead after the first blow. She sighed as the purple pony's head hit the ground, and looked around. "Oh, phooey! I've made more of a mess than I intended to again...I really must stop getting so into this."

After Sweetie finished her work and had put Twilight and Pinkie's hides up to dry, she looked at Rarity.

"...What?" asked Rarity, seeing the filly staring at her quizzically. "Ah! Swallow Twilight's heart first."

Sweetie Bell finished her snack. "Didn't you insist on making their Gala outfits free of charge?"

"Shut up, or I'll turn you into a coat, too. Now let's go wash up. Princess Celestia will be here soon."