Popped

Part V - Coming To A Head

The entire basement was eerily quiet, save for the sound of Pokey ascending the staircase. The weak wooden boards groaned under his weight, creating an unsettling noise that seemed to linger in Pinkie's ears long after it had faded away. The sound was soon followed by another; that of a door clicking shut.

Then, only silence.

Pinkie Pie sat alone, shivering on the ground as warm tears rolled down her cheeks. Two thick trails of clear snot seeped out of her nostrils, briefly clinging to her face before finally falling to the ground.

She released a miserable moan and let her frail body go limp. Her body hit the floor hard, but her senses barely even registered the pain. Covered in cuts, bruises, and wounds, Pinkie's entire body was already in constant pain. Whatever additional trauma she received was simply mixed into the melting pot.

Half-lidded, she stared blankly at the floor below her as if in a trance. "Nopony's coming for me..." she whispered to herself. Her quiet, shaky enunciation of the words rendered them almost too quiet to hear. "I'm gonna die here..."

Pinkie Pie couldn't remember the last time she smiled, and she didn't care. The brutal honesty of her own words, admitting to herself that her death was quickly approaching, was enough to break her completely.

She had put her faith into her friends. She thought that they would come and save her. Pinkie had feared death all her life. But now, in her current pathetic state, she had to admit to herself that a little part of her wanted it.

Then, suddenly, Pinkie's ears perked up at the sound of a quiet murmur coming from the floor above her. She laid motionless in place, scrunching up her nose and squinting as she listened intently. The voices were too muffled to make out any words, but Pinkie could still hear the various inflections clearly. Pokey's voice was easily recognizable, but there seemed to be another voice present as well. It was a female voice. One that she recognized.

Her jaw hung open in disbelief. Somepony else is here!

"HEY! HELP ME!" Pinkie screamed. Using all the energy she had, she took a deep breath and shrieked as loud as she could. "HELP! IT'S PINKIE PIE! HELP ME, PLEASE!" She jolted around as she screamed, trying to make as much noise as possible. "HELP MEEEE!" she yelled, frantically banging her hoofcuffs together.

Eventually, Pinkie gave up trying to form words and began simply shrieking as loud as she could. Her shrill voice bounced off the basement walls, creating a chaotic din of sound that was impossible not to hear from upstairs.

Pinkie Pie's tantrum lasted only a few seconds before she was out of breath and out of energy. She huffed and puffed as she laid her head back on the floor, completely exhausted from her outburst. "Please..." she began, gasping for air between words. "Help...me...please..."

* * *

The back of Rainbow Dash's skull slammed hard against the stairs as her limp, unconscious body was pulled into the depths of the cabin.

Grasping her tail between his teeth, Pokey carefully stepped backwards down the staircase, constantly turning his head to make sure his hooves would safely reach the next step. He had considered just throwing Rainbow Dash down the stairs to make the job easier, but ultimately decided against it. After all, doing so could swiftly end her life before he would have the opportunity to properly deal with her.

Rainbow Dash's wings and limbs were bound together by a series of ropes; the same thin, cheaply-made kind that Pokey had used only thirty minutes earlier to drag Pinkie Pie across the floor.

The first length of rope was tied around her waist, tightly pinning her wings to the rest of her body. Since Pokey could only afford two pairs of old, rusted hoofcuffs, a second and third length of rope was used to tie both her front and back legs together. This way, Rainbow Dash would be completely immobilized upon regaining consciousness.