Apple Bloom, in her half-awake state, suddenly felt a cold glass being pressed against her lips. She instinctively opened her mouth to drink, quickly swallowing what she believed to be water. It only took her a few sips to to realise, even in her groggy state, that what she was drinking wasn't water at all.
For one, it had a sort of metallic aftertaste, and for another there were small bits and pieces in it that sort of resembled...
At once she was wide awake, coughing and spitting out the last of the fluid in her mouth. She'd been bound to some sort of wooden table with leather straps. She saw Cheerilee standing next to her, holding a glass filled with a red liquid, grinning wickedly at her. "Mmmm, I thought you liked it. Scootaloo made it herself, you know... She really... poured herself into it, you could say."
The mare cackled maniacally as horror flashed across the filly's face. "Scootaloo... You... Ah... "
"Killed her? Oh yes, 'fraid so. She was the first to go, you know. And you... you're the last," the mare said, feeling uncharacteristically chatty.
The filly turned pale. "You killed... all of 'em?"
"Oh goodness no!" she replied, grinning as relief spread over the filly's face. "I didn't kill Snails, that was all you... the way you made that spotlight, or sun if you wish, fall down on him... Glorious."
Tears filled Apple Bloom's eyes as the realisation hit her that all of her friends were gone, and that her fate wasn't likely to be any different. "W...why?" she managed to let out as Cheerilee picked up a knife and held it up to the light appraisingly.
"Why? Because you all deserve it. Each and everyone of you is a blight upon this land, a weed in my garden, and it's time to end it," the mare said coldly as she positioned herself at the end of the table, near the filly's hind legs. "So shall we?"
Slowly and carefully the mare made an incision above the filly's hoof, cutting neatly around the circumference of her leg.
Apple Bloom tried to squirm, but the leather straps effectively held her in place as they dug into her skin. Cheerilee slipped the knife under her skin, carefully cutting the skin loose from the filly's flesh. The pain this caused was immense, but the filly clenched her teeth and refused to acknowledge it, every bit as stubborn as her sister was, not wanting to give Cheerilee the pleasure of hearing her scream.
Cheerilee obviously thought she cut enough for now, as she took hold of the flap of skin she cut loose with her teeth. Slowly she pulled it up the filly's legs, ripping more skin off as she went, flaying the filly alive. Despite her brave effort, this was simply too much for anypony to endure quietly, and Apple Bloom's scream rang out throughout the empty complex. Cheer continued making new incisions every time she accidentally tore the skin completely off, and then continued the flaying from there. Pretty soon half of the filly's leg was a bloody heap of bare flesh, every little twitch going through the exposed muscles an agonizing experience, blood dropping from everywhere.
But still Cheer showed no sign of stopping, as she continued cutting and flaying, slowly moving up.
Eventually the filly's entire leg was a disgusting, skinless mess. Cheerilee sadistically breathed out on it for a while, making Apple Bloom shiver in pain. A little light sparkled in Cheer's eyes as she bowed down and extended her tongue, slowly dragging it all the way from the filly's hoof up to her flank. For a moment the mare thought the screams that followed would deafen her permanently, before she pulled her tongue back into her mouth and savoured the taste.
"Mmmm... you're quite good, want a taste?" she whispered in the filly's ear.
"B...buck...y-you... " the Cutie Mark Crusader managed to stammer. Cheerilee laughed, amused by Apple Bloom's defiant nature. This one may be able to take some punishment yet!
