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Cupcakes   by Sergeant Sprinkles: World's Greatest Party Clown

    The air was warm, the sun was shining, and all of Ponyville was having a glorious day. The town square was bustling and crowded. Busy ponies were making their busy way through the streets. All the pony folk seemed to have somewhere to be. All, except Rainbow Dash. Her place was in the sky. She freely tore through the air, speeding one way and the next. She buzzed the tree tops and raced the wind. The pegasus swooped over a schoolyard, much to the delight of the children. Climbing several hundred feet, she dove, going as fast as she could. Seconds before hitting the ground, her wings flew open and she took off back into the clear blue. Rainbow felt alive.

    Then she remembered that she had somewhere to be; she supposed to meet with Pinkie Pie in five minutes. She’d gotten so caught up in her exercises that she nearly forgot.

Pinkie had asked Dash to meet her at Sugercube Corner at three. She didn’t say why or what they’d be doing, but Dash knew that with Pinkie, it could be anything. She wasn’t sure if she really wanted to go, though. She was so engaged with her stunts that she thought about blowing Pinkie off to continue flying. But, Dash’s conscience got the better of her. She knew that it would hurt Pinkie’s feelings; after all, she said it was going to be something special just for the two of them. She considered it and thought “why not.” What did she have to lose? Heck, it might be more pranking. Pinkie might have found a bunch more fun stuff to pull off on folks. They’d so much fun the last time. Dash kicked it into overdrive, mostly to make for lost time, and sped to her appointment.

    When she walked into the store, she was immediately greeted with her host bouncing in excitement.

    “Yay, you’re here, you’re here. I’ve been waiting allll day.” Said the jumping pony.

    “Sorry if I’m a little late, Pinkie.  I was doing my afternoon exercises and lost track of time.” Dash apologized.

    Pinkie giggled and responded, her tone gleefully reassuring, “Oh that’s ok, you’re here now. What‘s a few more minutes. I’ve been sooooo excited thinking about all fun stuff we’re gonna do, I haven’t stopped bouncing since I woke up. I mean, I almost forgot to breath I’ve been so happy.”

    Dash gave a slightly uncomfortable laugh. She always appreciated Pinkie’s friendly, outgoing way of life, but her overabundant enthusiasm almost creeped her out.  Dash was polite, however. If Pinkie was got this worked up, then it must good; whatever it was.

    “So, you ready to get started, Rainbow Dash? I’ve got everything all ready.” The pink one said.

    Dash psyched herself up. “ You betcha, Pinkie. You what do ya got planed? We gonna prank somebody? I got a couple of good ones I’ve been thinking about. Or maybe you got some stunts you think I should try? Or maybe…”

    “MAKING CUPCAKES!” Pinkie happily announced.

    “Baking”? Dash was disappointed. “Pinkie, you know I’m not good baking. Remember the last time?”

    “Oh that’s not a problem at all. I only need your help making them. I’ll be doing most of the work.” Pinkie explained.

    Dash thought for about it for a second and replied, “Well, alright, I guess that’s ok. What exactly do need me to do”?

    “That’s the spirit. Here you go.” Pinkie handed Dash a cupcake.

    Dash was puzzled “I thought I was helping you bake.”

    “You will be. I made this one just for you before you got here.

    “So, is this like taste testing or something?”

    “Sorta” Pinkie said.

    Dash shrugged and popped the pastry in her mouth. She chewed a bit and swallowed. Not bad.

    “Ok, now what?” Dash asked.

    “Now,” Pinkie informed “You take a nap.”

    Upon hearing that, Dash felt lightheaded. Her world spun and ,seconds later, she dropped to the floor.

    When Dash regained conciseness, she found herself in a dark room. She tried to shake her head but found that the taut leather strap kept it firmly in place. She struggled to move, but the braces around her chest and limbs glued her to the upright planks. Her legs were spread wide apart. The only part of her not tied down were her wings as the frame was backless. As she writhed, Pinkie jumped into her line of sight.

    “Goodie, you’re awake. Now we can get started.” She gleefully stated. She was pushing a cart covered with a cloth.

    “Pinkie, what’s going on? I can’t move!” Dash said in a worry.

    “Well, duh, you’re tied down.” Pinkie chided “That’s why you can’t move. I didn’t think you needed to told that.”

    “But why? What’s happening? I thought you said I was going to help make cupcakes.”

    “You are helping. You see. I ran out of the special ingredient and I need you to get more.”

    “Special ingredient”? Dash was now breathing heavily and starting to panic. “What special ingredient”?

    Pinkie giggled and responded “You, silly”

    Dash’s eyes widen, her face contorted in fear. Then she started to laugh ”Woo, really got me there, Pinkie pie. I mean, tricking me in to thinking I’m gonna get made to a cupcake. I gotta tell you, this the best prank yet. You win, you’re the best.“

    Pinkie giggled even more. “Aw, thanks Dash. But I haven’t done pranks today, so I can’t accept your praise. “

    Dash was struggling again. “Pinkie, come on, this isn’t funny.”

    “Then why were you laughing”? Pinkie grabbed the cloth and whipped it off the cart. The top of the tray contained various sharp medical tools and knives carefully organized and ready. There was a medicine bag and several other objects next to them.

    Dash was now in full panic mode. She was starting to hyperventilate. Her mind was racing and she tried to reason with the pink pony. “You can’t do this Pinkie! I’m your friend!”

    “I know you are and that’s why I’m so happy it’s that I’ve got you here. We get to share your last moments together, just you and me.” She was skipping again.

    “But, the other ponies will wonder where I am. When the clouds pile up, they’ll come looking for me and then you’ll get found out.” Dash was desperate.

    “Oh, Dash” Pinkie said “don‘t worry, there are plenty of pegasus to take care of a few clouds. And besides, no will find out. I mean, how long do you think I’ve been doing this?” And with that the lights suddenly came to life and showcased the rest the room.

    “Oh god, no” Dash reeled in horror at the image presented to her. The room was decorated with a typical but twisted Pinkie Pie flair. Colorful streamers of dried entrails danced around the ceiling, brightly painted skulls of all sizes were stuck on the walls, and organs done up in pastels filled with helium tied to the backs of chairs. The tables and chairs were made of bones and flesh of past ponies. Dash cringed at the center piece on the table nearest to her. The heads of four foals, their eyes closed like they were sleeping, wearing party hats made from their own skin. She recognized one of them as Apple Bloom’s classmate. Her eyes darted back and forth and then gazed up at the patchwork banner hanging from the rafters.  Made from several pony hides, the words “Life is a party” were scrawled in red.

       Dash’s attention was stolen by a party horn unfurling and tickling her nose. She saw Pinkie Pie standing in front of her. The party pony was wearing a dress quilted from cutie marks. On her back fluttered six pegasus wings, all different colors. As she skipped in excitement, her necklace of unicorn horns loudly clacked together.

       “Like it”? She asked “I made it myself.”

        Dash pleaded. “Pinkie please, I’m sorry if I did anything to you. I didn’t mean it. Please let me go. I promise I won’t tell anybody.”

        “Oh Dash, you didn’t do anything. It’s just that your number came up and, well, I don’t make rules. We can’t turn back now.”

         Rainbow Dash was tearing up. How could this be happening?

        “Aww don’t be sad Dash” Pinkie said “Look this’ll cheer you up. I brought you a friend.”

Out of seemingly nowhere, Pinkie displayed a blue and yellow painted skull. It was about pony sized, but it had a very defining feature: a beak.

         Dash was freaking out. “Is…is that….is…that?”

         ““Hey, Dash lets hang together. These ponies are lame-os. Dweebs dweebs dweebs.” Pinkie mimicked. “I caught her right before she left town. Remember when I left the party for about twenty minutes? That wasn’t enough time to play with her of course, I had to wait till after the party to do that. But boy am I glad I did. It was worth for the flavor alone. Griffons taste like two animals at once, it’s amazing. I know she didn’t have number like everyone else in Ponville, but when was I gonna get another chance to try a griffon. I hindsight, I probably should have asked where she came from so I can get more, but I forgot. I’ll tell you what though, she was quite the fighter. Lasted a long time, which was fun for me, I got chance to play with somebody other than a pony and try new things. It’s too bad she had such a potty mouth. She said so much bad stuff, I had to take her tongue out. You know, bad language makes for bad feelings, Dash.”

          Dash didn’t have anything to say. She just sobbed and writhed.

         “Well” Pinkie said, putting the skull down” that’s enough reminiscing, it’s time to begin.”                                     She picked up a scalpel and walked over to Dash’s right flank. Without any flair, she placed the blade an inch above her cutie mark and started a circular cut around it. Her lungs working overtime, Dash shouted in pain and tried desperately to pull away. But the braces held her still. Finishing the incision, Pinkie grabbed the curved skinning knife from the tray. She worked it under the skin and sliced the hide away from the muscle. Dash ground her teeth as she tearfully watched as her flesh came off. Pinkie then moved to the other side and completed the other flank. Once she was done, Pinkie held up both cutie marks in front of her friend and started waving them like pompoms. Dash just whimpered. Her thighs burned.

Placing the skin down, Pinkie selected the large butcher knife and walked behind Rainbow Dash.

“Hope you don’t mind, I think I’m gonna wing it now. “ Pinkie laughed. She grabbed the left one and played with it for a second. Then, stretching the wing out, she brought the blade down at the base. Instantly, Dash screamed and thrashed her appendage. The movement threw off Pinkie Pies aim. She tried to hit the mark again but missed wide and put a huge slice in Rainbow’s back.

“Dash, you gotta stay still or I’ll keep missing.”

She took another whack and hit the target. She swung again and again, blood spraying into the air, but realized she wasn’t getting anywhere. The blade just wasn’t going through the bone.

“Hmm, I guess I forgot to sharpen it. I’ll try something else.” She stated as she tossed the knife over her shoulder; the blade embedding itself in the table.

The crying Rainbow Dash heard the sound of a metal box opening and closing.

“Got it! Say Dash, why do they call it a hack saw? It doesn’t hack; hacking is what I was doing with the knife. This is a saw. I don’t get it.”

Pinkie placed the tool over the last attempt. It effortlessly sailed through the bone and skin. The painful feeling of the teeth grinding biting into her made Dash want to vomit. She watched helplessly as her wing flew over her head and land with a fluff on the table.  Pinkie moved the next and started sawing. Dash didn’t struggle this time; she’d given up trying to fight and just cried. Then the sawing abruptly paused. Pinkie was only half way done, the wing hanging off by only a sliver.

“Hey Dash” she piped up “think fast”

Suddenly, she yanked the wing as hard as sure could. The bone snapped but the skin held tight. The pull ripped a long strip flesh down Dash’s back to her rump. The unexpected trauma caused her body seize. She felt the warm release between legs as her pelvis tensed up. Dash’s loud, unending melody of pain filled the room. Unable to catch her breath, she blacked out.

She awoke with a gasp. The stench of her urine filled her mucus caked nostrils. She saw a very pouty Pinkie Pie removing the adrenaline needle from her chest. Stomping her hooves, the frustrated Pinkie lashed out.

“Didn’t anybody teach you any manners? It’s very rude to fall asleep when somebody invites you over to spend time with them. How would like if I came over to your house and went to sleep. “Oh I’m sorry Dash, you’re boring, I think I’ll take a nap.” You think I like always doing this by myself. I told you how excited I got when I found you were next. I was excited to have to a friend be here with me while I worked. But NOOOOO! You’ve got to be inconsiderate. You know, I thought you were tough, I thought you could handle anything. I’ve had foals stand up better than you.  Do I have to baby you? Huh? Is that how you want me to remember you, as a baby?”

She stopped to catch her breath. Dash blinked and softly cried. Her back was on fire.

Pinkie then popped something red into her mouth and began to chew. She noticed Dash was staring at her.

“What?” she asked. “Oh this?” Holding up another piece. “Well, while YOU were asleep, I got a little impatient and helped myself sample. I got it from your leg, you’re not bad. Wanna try some”?

Without waiting for a response, she shoved the strip of meat into the revolted Rainbow Dash’s mouth. She immediately spit it out. Pinkie picked up. “if you didn’t want it, you could have said no.” She then ate the discarded snotty morsel. “It’s not like you haven’t had it before.”

Swallowing, she turned her attention to the small can on the tray. She removed the lid, revealing that it was filled with burning coals. Sitting on top of the fire were several large nails. Dash began to panic again. Pinkie picked up the can and walked over to Dash’s left. Carefully picking up a nail and grabbing a hammer, she positioned the spike at the seam between her leg and her hoof.

“No! Pinkie NO!” Dash screamed. “NO! NO!”

The hammer came down and the nail punctured under her skin. The white hot burning was too much.  Dash pulled and thrashed at the brace, her skin rubbed and tore. Pinkie tried to line up another one, but couldn’t find her aim. She let out a frustrated grunt. When she pulled the hammer back to take a wild swing, Dash burst out crying and begging.

“PLEASE STOP! PLEASE, PLEASE STOP!”

Pinkie rolled her eyes.  Putting hammer back down, she walked back in front of her friend. She stared pensively at the broken pegasus. Gilda didn’t even cry this much when she stuck that live parasprite down her throat. Pinkie thought for a minute about what to do next. Then there was a sudden spark in her imagination. She grabbed the gear wheel on the rack and laid Rainbow Dash on her back. She moved to Dash’s hind legs, bringing the can with her. Pinkie picked up the hammer again and she drove a searing piece of metal into the bottom of Dash’s hoof. Dash screamed again: Pinkie put one into the other hoof. Next she located the small generator on the tray. Tying the copper wires to the nails, she gave Dash a wink and flipped the switch. Electricity rocketed through Dash’s body. The blue pony reacted immediately; body seized, muscles struck taut. Her hips thrust skyward and her eyes rolled back. She let out a deep, throat shredding cry. Pinkie giggled and danced in place. She turned up the juice. Dash convulsed uncontrollably. Her bladder emptied once more.

After about five minutes, Pinkie shut off the power. The area smelled lightly of cooked flesh and burnt enamel.  She put Dash upright again and tried snap the delirious and drooling pony to back to attention.

“Dash. Daaash. Wake up.” Rainbow Dash managed to give her a modicum of weak acknowledgment.

Pinkie reached into the medicine bag and produced and large syringe. “Alright, time for the last round”

Dash looked at the needle and Pinkie took that as a question as to what it was.

“Something to take the pain away” she informed as she walked around to Dash’s ruined back side. She stuck the needle into the lower part of her spine. Dash flinched.

Coming to the front again, she told her friend, “In a few minutes, you won’t be able to feel anything below your ribcage. Then you’ll be able to stay awake to watch the harvest.”

Dash started to cry again. “Pinkie” she trembled out.

“Yeah?”

“I want to go home.” Dash openly sobbed.

“Yeah, I can see wanting to do that.” The party pony replied. “Sometimes, I just wanna give up, say “I’m done with this mess” and go to bed. But you know what; you can’t shrug off your responsibilities. You got to pull yourself up and meet the challenges head on. That’s to the only way you’re gonna get ahead in life.”

Dash cried.

Minutes passed and the drug took affect. Dash was numb from her chest to her flanks. Aware of this, Pinkie approached with her scalpel. With only a smiling glance to Dash, she made a long cut across her pelvis just above her crotch. Moving up her body, she drew a similar incision under her ribs. One final cut was made down her stomach, connecting the first two.

“Looks like I got my I on you, Dash.”

With a moist, gooey sound, the new door flapped opened. The sight of her own organs and the lack of feeling caused Dash’s breathing to intensify. Pinkie sliced open the abdominal sac and grabbed the large intestines. Separating it from the rest of the digestive tract and pulling them from the forming cavity, Pinkie was getting jovial and starting making jokes. Dash, growing weaker from the new source of blood loss, tried to shut out the comedy act. Pinkie was laughing.

“Look at me, I’m Rarity!” she said, slinging the tube around her neck and spreading blood in all directions. “Isn’t my new scarf soooo pretty”?

Reaching back in, she cut the smaller intestine off the bowls. Squeezing out the excess excrement, Pinkie filed it through her teeth and dragged it back and forth. “Dentists say you gotta floss every day, Dash.”

Rainbow Dash was barely aware of what was going on anymore. The shock was causing her to fade. Pinkie got disappointed. Diving back into the guts, she ramped up her routine.

 “Aw, don’t go yet Dash.” She started pulling out the rest of the organs, stopping at each one. “I know I can be a real painaceas, but you know I’m just kidney with you. You really got to learn to liver it up. Boy, these jokes are getting bladder. Guess ya gotta develop a stomach for them.” She placed the discarded body parts into a bucket, keeping the last one for bit longer. “Ooo, bagpipes.” she said, placing the tube in her mouth and the organ in her armpit. A spurt of acid hit her tongue. ”Eww. Oh hey, there’s your cupcake, Dash.”

Dash, didn’t hear her. She had slipped from conciseness minutes ago. Pinkie, not satisfied yet, hit her with another adrenaline shot. Dash woke up for the last time, her heart jumping. Her blood flowed out faster; it wouldn’t be long now.

Pinkie put Dash on her down her back and straddled her chest, scalpel at the ready.

“Ya know, Rainbow Dash, I’m disappointed. I thought you would have lasted longer. I really wanted to spend more time with you before we got here. But I guess it’s my fault, I should have taken it a little slower. Oh well, it was really was nice knowing you, Dash”.

The blade sunk into the blue one’s throat and worked its way up her chin. Coming back down, it circled around her neck. The last thing Dash felt was her skin being cut away from her skull, the metal scraping her teeth.

Then she was gone.

Pinkie Pie stared into the mirror. She did a really good job, even keeping the eyelids. She winked, Dash winked back. Pinkie smiled.

But still, she was sad that her friend was now gone. It only lasted fifty minutes, not nearly as long as she wanted. She looked back the cadaver hanging there in the center of the room, the last of its fluids draining in to the pan. Yup, no more Rainbow Dash.

Then Pinkie cocked her head. She was starting to take notice of the fact that there really wasn’t that much damage. “It fact”, she began to think “I think….” An idea exploded in her head. She was good at sewing and she had all the pieces, all she had to do put her back together. Yeah, just get some stuffing and bingo, she’d have Rainbow Dash forever. In fact, that’s what she’d do for all her friends when their numbers came up. She was so excited, she skipped over to the body with the skinner to get started. The cupcakes can wait; Pinkie had a friend to make.

Silver Spoon suddenly woke up. She was on her back and couldn’t move. She couldn’t see. Where was she? Freaking out, she was just about to scream when the pony from the bakery appeared in front of her.

“HI!” she giggled

“Where am I, what’s going on”? The frightened little foal asked.

“Oh, well, you see, your number came up and I gotta make cupcakes.” Pinkie explained.

“W…wha….what does that mean. What are you talking about”?

“Oh, nothing. I wouldn’t worry it if I was you. It’ll be over soon.” She approached the girl, scalpel at the ready when a small voice called out from behind.

“Miss Pinkie, what are you doing”?

She paused and turned to look at Apple Bloom. The yellow baby pony walked up to her with an angry look on her face. Silver Spoon started to feel relived.

“Ah can’t believe your doing this.” She pouted. ”you said this one was gonna be mine.

Pinkie apologized “Oops, sorry about that, guess I got forgot. Here you go.” She handed the blade over.

Apple Bloom climbed on the table and stood over her prey. Silver Spoon tried to struggle. She stared in fear at Apple Bloom and her apron. The pink apron with a shiny tiara on it. Silver Spoon started to cry.

Apple Bloom grinned and open her mouth “Hey, Silver Spoon, guess who gonna be a blank flank”?

Cupcakes

By Sergeant Sprinkles: World's Greatest Party Clown

Edited by Edinpony

WARNING: This fanfiction is incredibly gory, and may ruin your appreciation of a certain My Little Pony character as well as the titular baked goods.  READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!

The air was warm, the sun was shining, and everypony in Ponyville was having a glorious day. The town square was bustling and crowded and busy ponies filled the streets. All the pony folk seemed to have somewhere specific to be. All except Rainbow Dash; her place was in the sky. She tore freely through the air, speeding one way and the next, buzzing the tree tops and racing the wind. The blue pegasus swooped over a schoolyard, much to the delight of the children, then climbed several hundred feet and dove, streaking downward as fast as she could. Seconds before hitting the ground, her wings flew open and she pulled up back into the clear blue. Rainbow felt alive.

Suddenly, Dash remembered that she had somewhere to be; she was supposed to meet with Pinkie Pie in five minutes. Dash had gotten so caught up in her exercises that she’d nearly forgotten that Pinkie had asked to meet her at Sugercube Corner at three. Pinkie hadn’t said why or what they’d be doing, but Dash knew that with Pinkie, it could be anything. Dash wasn’t sure if she really wanted to go, though. She was so engaged with her stunts that she thought about blowing Pinkie off to continue flying. But, Dash’s conscience got the better of her. She knew that it would hurt Pinkie’s feelings; after all, Pinkie had said it was going to be something special just for the two of them. Dash considered it and thought “why not?” What did she have to lose? Heck, it might be more pranking. Pinkie might have found a bunch more fun stuff to pull on folks, and they’d had so much fun the last time. Dash kicked into overdrive to make up for lost time, and sped to her appointment.

When Dash walked into the store, she was immediately greeted by her host, who was bouncing in excitement.  “Yay, you’re here! I’ve been waiting aaall day,” said the jumping pony.

“Sorry if I’m a little late, Pinkie.  I was doing my afternoon exercises and lost track of time,” Dash apologized.

Pinkie giggled and responded in a gleefully reassuring tone, “Oh that’s ok, you’re here now. What‘s a few more minutes? I’ve been sooo excited thinking about all fun stuff we’re gonna do, I haven’t stopped bouncing since I woke up. I mean, I almost forgot to breathe I’ve been so happy.”

Dash gave a slightly uncomfortable laugh. She had always appreciated Pinkie Pie’s friendly, outgoing way of life, but Pinkie’s overabundant enthusiasm almost creeped her out.  Dash maintained a polite expression, however. If Pinkie was this worked up, whatever she had planned must be good.

“So, you ready to get started, Rainbow Dash? I’ve got everything all ready,” the pink pony said.

Dash psyched herself up. “You betcha, Pinkie. So what do ya got planed? We gonna prank somebody? I got a couple of good ones I’ve been thinking about. Or maybe you’ve got some stunts you think I should try? Or perhaps…”

“MAKING CUPCAKES!” Pinkie happily announced.

“Baking?” Dash was disappointed. “Pinkie, you know I’m not good at baking. Remember last time?”

“Oh that’s not a problem at all. I only need your help making them. I’ll be doing most of the work,” Pinkie explained.

Dash thought for about it for a second. “Well, alright, I guess that’s ok. What exactly do you need me to do?”

“That’s the spirit. Here you go.” Pinkie handed Dash a cupcake.

Dash was puzzled “I thought I was helping you bake.”

“You will be. I made this one just for you before you got here.

“So, is this like taste testing or something?”

“Sorta,” Pinkie said.

Dash shrugged and popped the pastry in her mouth. She chewed a bit and swallowed. Not bad.

“Ok, now what?” Dash asked.

“Now,” Pinkie informed her, “You take a nap.”

Puzzled, Dash opened her mouth but felt instantly lightheaded. A wave of dizziness washed over her, the world spun, and seconds later she collapsed to the floor.

When Dash regained consciousness, she found herself in a dark room. She tried to shake her head but found that a taut leather strap held it firmly in place. She struggled to move, but braces around her chest and limbs glued her to a rack formed from a series of sturdy planks, which spread her legs wide apart. Dash’s wings were the only part of her not tied down, and they fluttered frantically while she struggled to escape.  As she writhed, Pinkie jumped suddenly into her line of sight.

“Goodie, you’re awake. Now we can get started,” Pinkie stated gleefully. She bounded into the darkness, and quickly reappeared pushing a small cart covered with a cloth.

“Pinkie, what’s going on? I can’t move!” Dash said urgently.

“Well duh, that’s because you’re tied down,” chided Pinkie.  “That’s why you can’t move. I didn’t think you’d need to be told that.”

“But why? What’s happening? I thought you said I was going to help make cupcakes.”

“You are helping. You see, I ran out of the special ingredient and I need you to get more.”

“Special ingredient?” Dash was now breathing heavily and starting to panic. “What special ingredient?”

Pinkie giggled and responded “You, silly!”

Dash’s eyes widened, and her face contorted in fear. Then she started to laugh and said, in a voice bordering on hysteria, “Woo, you really got me there, Pinkie pie. I mean, tricking me in to thinking I’m gonna get made into a cupcake? I gotta tell you, this the best prank yet. You win, you’re the best.”

Pinkie only giggled even more. “Aw, thanks Dash. But I haven’t done any pranks today, so I can’t accept your praise.”

Dash was struggling again. “Pinkie, come on, this isn’t funny.”

“Then why were you laughing?” Before Dash could answer, Pinkie grabbed the cloth and whipped it off the cart. On the cart was a tray containing various sharp medical tools and knives, carefully organized and wickedly sharp, as well as a large medical bag.

Dash was now in full panic mode. She was starting to hyperventilate. Her mind raced as she tried to reason with the pink pony. “You can’t do this Pinkie! I’m your friend!”

“I know you are and that’s why I’m so happy that I’ve got you here. We get to share your last moments together, just you and me.” Pinkie was skipping again.

“But, the other ponies will wonder where I am. When the clouds pile up, they’ll come looking for me and then you’ll get found out,” Dash cried in desperation.

“Oh, Dash,” said Pinkie. “Don‘t worry, there are plenty of pegasus ponies to take care of a few clouds. And besides, no one will find out. I mean, how long do you think I’ve been doing this?” And with that ominous statement, the lights suddenly came to life and revealed the rest the room.

“Oh no.” Dash reeled in horror at the image presented to her. The room was decorated with a typical but twisted Pinkie Pie flair. Colorful streamers of dried entrails fluttered around on the ceiling, brightly painted skulls of all sizes were attached to the walls, and organs done up in pastels filled with helium were tied to the backs of chairs. The tables and chairs were made of bones and the preserved flesh of past ponies. Dash cringed upon seeing the center piece of the table nearest to her. The heads of four foals, their eyes closed as if they were sleeping, were wearing party hats made from their own skin. With a thrill of terror, Dash recognized one of them as Apple Bloom’s classmate Twist. Dash’s eyes darted back and forth and then fell upon a patchwork banner hanging from the rafters.  Made from several tanned pony hides, the words “Life is a party” were scrawled on it in blood red.

Dash’s attention was brought back by a party horn unfurling and tickling her nose. She gaped at Pinkie Pie, who was standing right in front of her. The party pony was wearing a dress quilted from dried skin, emblazoned with cutie marks. On her back fluttered six pegasus wings, all of different colors. As the earth pony skipped in excitement, her necklace of severed unicorn horns clacked together loudly.

“Like it?” Pinkie asked. “I made it myself.”

Desperately, Dash pleaded with the smiling pony before her. “Pinkie please, I’m sorry if I did anything to you. I didn’t mean it. Please let me go. I promise I won’t tell anybody.”

“Oh Dash, you didn’t do anything. It’s just that your number came up and, well, I don’t make rules. We can’t turn back now.”

Dash was tearing up. How could this be happening?

“Aww, don’t be sad Dash,” said Pinkie.  “Look, this’ll cheer you up. I brought you a friend.”

Seemingly out of nowhere, Pinkie produced a brightly painted blue and yellow skull. It was about pony sized, but it had a very defining feature: a beak.

Dash gaped in shock. “Is…is that….is…that?”

“Hey, Dash lets hang together. These ponies are lame-os. Dweebs dweebs dweebs,” Pinkie mimicked. “I caught her right before she left town. Remember when I left the party for about twenty minutes? That wasn’t enough time to play with her of course; I had to wait till after the party to do that. But boy am I glad I did. It was worth it for the flavor alone. Griffons taste like two animals at once, it’s amazing. I know she didn’t have a number like everyone else in Ponyville, but when was I gonna get another chance to try griffon? I probably should have asked where she came from so I could have gotten more, but I forgot. I’ll tell you what though, she was quite the fighter. She lasted a long time, which was a lot of fun for me. I got the chance to play with somebody other than a pony and try new things. It’s too bad she had such a meanie mouth. She said so much bad stuff I just had to take her tongue out. You know, bad language makes for bad feelings, Rainbow Dash.”

Dash didn’t have anything to say. She just sobbed and writhed in her tight bonds.

“Well” said Pinkie with an air of finality, “that’s enough reminiscing. It’s time to begin.”

Putting down Gilda’s skull, the pink pony gripped a scalpel in the cleft of her hoof and walked over to Dash’s right flank. Without any flair, Pinkie placed the blade an inch above Dash’s cutie mark and began a circular cut around it. Dash shouted in pain and tried desperately to pull away, but the braces held her still. Finishing the incision, Pinkie grabbed a curved skinning knife from the tray. Screwing up her face in concentration, she worked it under Dash’s skin and sliced the hide away from the muscle. Dash ground her teeth as she tearfully watched her flesh peel off. Pinkie then moved to the other side and repeated the process on Dash’s left flank. Once she had finished, Pinkie held up both cutie marks in front of her friend and started waving them like pompoms. Dash just whimpered. Her thighs burned like nothing she had felt before.

Placing the ragged patches of skin down, Pinkie selected a large butcher knife and walked behind the blue pegasus. “Hope you don’t mind, I think I’m gonna wing it now,” Pinkie laughed. She grabbed Dash’s left wing in her mouth and played with it for a few seconds, yanking it back so the sharp pain reignited the fire in Dash’s flanks. Then, stretching the wing out, Pinkie brought the blade down hard at the base. Instantly, Dash screamed and thrashed her appendage. The movement threw off Pinkie’s aim. She tried to hit the mark again but missed, and carved a huge slice into Dash’s back.

“Dash, you gotta stay still or I’ll keep missing,” scolded Pinkie as her friend howled.

Pinkie took another whack and hit her target. She swung again and again. Blood sprayed into the air, but Pinkie realized she wasn’t getting anywhere. The blade just wasn’t going through the bone.

“Hmm, I guess I forgot to sharpen it. I’ll try something else,” stated Pinkie matter-of-factly as she tossed the knife over her shoulder, embedding the blade in the table.  Through the haze of pain and tears, Dash heard the sound of a metal box opening and closing.

“Got it! Say Dash, why do they call it a hack saw? It doesn’t hack; hacking is what I was doing with the knife. This is a saw. I don’t get it.”

Pinkie placed the tool over the mangled flesh of the last attempt. Standing on her hind legs, she worked the saw back and forth with her front hooves.  It sliced effortlessly through the bone and skin. The feeling of the jagged teeth grinding into her made Dash want to vomit. She watched numbly as her wing flew over her head and landed with a fluff on the table.  Pinkie moved to the next wing and started sawing. Dash didn’t struggle this time; she’d given up trying to fight and focused on choking back screams of agony. Abruptly, the sawing paused. Pinkie was only half way done, the wing hanging off by a sliver.

“Hey Dash,” Pinkie piped up. “Think fast!”

Suddenly, Pinkie yanked the wing as hard as she could. The bone snapped but the blue pony’s skin held, then tore away. The pull ripped away a long strip of flesh all the way down Dash’s back to her rump. Her body seized at the unexpected trauma. As her pelvis tensed up, Dash felt a warm release between her legs, and her loud, unending melody of pain filled the room. Unable to catch her breath, she blacked out.

Dash awoke with a gasp. The stench of her urine filled her mucus caked nostrils. As her vision swam into focus, she saw a very pouty Pinkie Pie removing a large adrenaline needle from her chest. Stomping her hooves, the frustrated Pinkie lashed out at her helpless victim.

“Didn’t anybody teach you any manners? It’s very rude to fall asleep when somebody invites you over to spend time with them. How would you like it if I came over to your house and went to sleep? ‘Oh I’m sorry Dash, you’re so boring I think I’ll take a nap.’ You think I like always doing this by myself? I told you how excited I got when I found you were next. I was excited to have a friend be here with me while I worked. But NOOOOO! You’ve got to be inconsiderate. You know, I thought you were tough. I thought you could handle anything. I’ve had foals stand up better than you!  Do I have to baby you? Huh? Is that how you want me to remember you, as a baby?”

As Pinkie stopped to catch her breath, Dash blinked and sobbed softly. Her back was in agony, her sides were on fire, and there was an intense pain in one of her legs. As she blinked again, she saw Pinkie pop something red into her mouth and began to chew. Noticing Dash’s stare, Pinkie quickly gulped the morsel down.

“What?” Pinkie asked. “Oh, this?” She held up another piece. “Well, while YOU were asleep, I got a little impatient and helped myself to a small sample. I got it from your leg; you’re not bad. Wanna try some?”

Without waiting for a response, Pinkie shoved the strip of meat into the revolted pegasus pony’s mouth. Dash gagged, and immediately spit it out. Pinkie frowned, and picked up the chunk of flesh. “If you didn’t want it, you could have said no.” She contemplated the discarded snotty morsel, then gulped it up. “It’s not like you haven’t had my cupcakes before.”

Swallowing, Pinkie turned her attention to a small can on the tray. She removed the lid, revealing that it was filled with red-hot coals. Lying on top of the coals were several large nails. As the adrenalin filled her veins, Dash began to panic again. Picking up the can, Pinkie walked over to Dash’s left. Holding some tongs with her mouth, Pinkie carefully picked up a nail and positioned it at the seam between her victim’s front left leg and hoof. She then grabbed a hammer and took careful aim.

“No Pinkie!” Dash screamed. “NO! NO!”

The hammer came down and the nail punctured Dash’s skin. The white hot burning was too much.  Dash screamed as she pulled and thrashed at the braces, causing her raw skin to rub and tear. Pinkie tried to line up another nail, but couldn’t find her aim, and let out a frustrated grunt. When Pinkie brought the hammer back to take a wild swing, Dash burst out crying and begging.

“PLEASE STOP! PLEASE, PLEASE STOP!”

Pinkie rolled her eyes.  Putting down the hammer and tongs, she walked back in front of her friend and stared pensively at the broken pegasus. Gilda didn’t even cry this much when she had a live parasprite stuffed down her throat. Pinkie thought for a minute about what to do next, then had a sudden spark of inspiration.

Rotating a wheel on the rack, Pinkie laid Dash on her back, then moved to Dash’s hind legs, bringing the can with her. Picking up her tools, Pinkie drove a searing hot spike of metal directly into the bottom of Dash’s hoof. As Dash yelled in pain, Pinkie moved around and drove a second nail into the other hoof. Next, Pinkie went back to her cart and located an enormous battery and controller, which she dragged over to where she was working. She tied copper wires between the terminals and the nails driven into Dash’s hooves, then gave Dash a wink and flipped the switch.

Electricity rocketed through Dash’s body. The blue pony reacted immediately; her body seized, and her muscles snapped taut. Dash’s hips thrust skyward, her eyes rolled back, and she let out a deep, throat shredding cry. Pinkie giggled and danced in place, then reached down and turned up the juice. Dash convulsed uncontrollably, and her bladder emptied once more.

After about five minutes, Pinkie shut off the power. Wisps of steam rose from the singed fur around Dash’s hooves, and the area reeked of cooked flesh and burnt enamel.  Pinkie rotated Dash upright again and tried snap the drooling, delirious pony back to attention.

“Dash? Dash! Rainbow Dash, wake up!” Dash moaned and managed to give a modicum of weak acknowledgment.  Pinkie studied her handiwork, then reached into the medicine bag and produced a large syringe. “Alright, time for the last round.”

Dash focused blearily on the needle, which Pinkie took as a question as to what it was.

“This is a little something to take the pain away,” Pinkie informed Dash as she walked around to her victim’s ruined back. Dash flinched as Pinkie jabbed the needle into the lower part of the blue pony’s spine. Moving in front of her friend again, Pinkie leaned down and elaborated.

“In a few minutes, you won’t be able to feel anything below your ribcage. Then you’ll be able to stay awake to watch the harvest.”

Dash started to cry again. “Pinkie?” she choked out.

“Yeah?”

“I want to go home,” Dash sobbed.

“Yeah, I can see wanting to do that,” replied the party pony. “Sometimes, I just wanna give up, just say ‘I’m done with this mess’ and go to bed. But you know what? You can’t shrug off your responsibilities. You got to pull yourself up and meet the challenges head on. That’s the only way you’re gonna get ahead in life.”

Dash hung her head and cried.

Minutes passed as the drug took effect. Eventually, Dash was completely numb from her chest to her flanks. At this point, Pinkie approached with a scalpel. Glancing at Dash and smiling, Pinkie made a long horizontal cut across the pegasus pony’s pelvis, just above her crotch. Moving up Dash’s body, Pinkie made a similar incision under her ribs. Finally, Pinkie made a long vertical cut down Dash’s stomach, connecting the first two.

“Looks like I got my ‘I’ on you, Dash,” Pinkie giggled.

With a moist, gooey sound, the flaps of skin opened. The sight of her own organs and the lack of feeling caused Dash’s breathing to intensify. Pinkie carefully sliced open Dash’s abdominal sac and grabbed her large intestines. As she separated the organ from the rest of the digestive tract and pulled it out of the new cavity, Pinkie grew jovial. Laughing as she gutted her friend, Pinkie began to make jokes. Dash, growing weaker from this new source of blood loss, tried desperately to shut out the macabre comedy act.

“Look at me, I’m Rarity!” Pinkie laughed, slinging the intestinal tube around her neck and spraying blood in all directions. “Isn’t my new scarf soooo pretty?”

Reaching back inside, she sliced the smaller intestine off from the bowls. Squeezing out the excess excrement, Pinkie filed the slimy organ through her teeth and dragged it back and forth. “Dentists say you gotta floss every day, Dash.”

Dash was barely aware of what was going on anymore. The shock was causing her to fade. Disappointed, Pinkie dived back into the blue pony’s guts, ramping up her routine.

“Aw, don’t go yet Dash.” Pinkie started pulling out the rest of Dash’s organs, pausing with each removal. “I know I can be a real pancreas, but you know I’m just kidney with you. You really got to learn to liver it up. Boy, these jokes are getting bladder. Guess ya gotta develop a stomach for them.”

Pinkie placed the discarded body parts into a bucket, keeping the last one for bit longer. “Ooo, bagpipes.” she said, placing the end of Dash’s esophagus in her mouth and the stomach in her armpit. She squeezed, and a spurt of acid hit her tongue. “Eww! Oh hey look, there’s your cupcake, Dash!”

Dash didn’t hear her tormentor. She had slipped from conciseness minutes ago. Pinkie, not yet satisfied, hit Dash with another adrenaline shot. Dash woke up for the last time, her heart pounding. Warm blood flowed out from the wound in her chest in great spurts. It wouldn’t be long now.

Pinkie brought Dash around onto her back again and straddled the blue pony’s chest, scalpel at the ready.

“Ya know, Rainbow Dash, I’m disappointed. I thought you would have lasted longer. I really wanted to spend more time with you before we got here. But I guess it’s my fault; I should have taken it a little slower. Oh well. It was really was nice knowing you, Dash!”

The blade sunk into the blue throat and worked its way up to Dash’s chin. Coming back down, Pinkie’s scalpel then circled Dash’s neck. The last thing Rainbow Dash felt was her skin being cut away from her skull, and the metal of the blade scraping her teeth.

Then she was gone.

Pinkie Pie stared into the mirror. She had done a really good job, even keeping the eyelids. She winked, and Dash winked back. Pinkie smiled.

But still, she was sad that her friend was now gone. Dash had only lasted fifty minutes, not nearly as long as Pinkie had wanted. She looked back at the cadaver hanging in the center of the room, the last of her friend’s fluids draining into a pan. Yup, no more Rainbow Dash.

As she looked, Pinkie cocked her head. She began to take notice of the fact that there really wasn’t much damage to the corpse. “It fact,” the pink pony mused, “I think….” An idea exploded in her head. She was good at sewing and she had all the pieces, all she had to do was put them back together. Yeah, she just had to get some stuffing and bingo, she’d have Rainbow Dash forever. In fact, thought Pinkie, that’s what she’d do for all her best friends when their numbers came up. She was so excited, she skipped right over to the body with her skinner to get started. The cupcakes could wait; Pinkie Pie had a friend to make.

Pinkie Pie’s Last Party

An extension to Sgt. Sprinkles’ Cupcakes

Written by Pimps McGee

Protip: Insert after Pinkie Pie empties Rainbow Dash of her organs.

        “Well Dash it seems that reaching the end of our time together. Its been wonderiffic and fantasmical, hasn't it?” Pinkie said with a sense of nostalgia. “I am so...so...so DELIGHTED! That I could be called, your friend,” she looked away as though tears had begun down her cheeks. Almost inaudibly, a small chuckle sounded out.

“What was that?” Pinkie says while looking for the source of laughter. Another giggle as a splash of blood sprinkles Pinkie after it landed by her hoof. Pinkie looked on at the carcass of a pony in front of her while its chest moved up and down, laughing. With every chuckle a little blood dripped out of the cavernous hole that used to be Rainbow Dash’s belly.

“Now, you get it!” Pinkie spieled, hopping up and down with excitement, “I tried to get you to believe how funneriffic this was, but NOOOOO you wouldn't believe me! But your catching on now! Your the only pony that seems to get it! All the other ones were like 'OH GOD PLEASE STOP' or 'I'LL DO ANYTHING JUST LET ME LIVE.’ They were such a borefest.”

        “Not... that,” Rainbow Dash managed out even though her mouth filled with pus and blood after every syllable.

        “Then what you silly filly!?” Pinkie wondered.

        “Its... the fact... you think I was... YOUR FRIEND!” Rainbow Dash nearly erupted with laughter, however, coughing quickly replaced the sickly laughs.

        “Oh Dash, that is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard. You’re just saying silly things because your...”

        “Do you really... think that I... would ever even consider... being your friend?” Dash explained to Pinkie Pie as talking became more easy, “Honestly... I only ever bothered with you... because the others did... I just hung out with you to keep up my image...”

“Well, what about earlier? I was your friend before we...”

“That’s because I was trying to get you to stop...  Don’t be dumb Pinkie Pie...  I’m one of the best fliers in all of Equestria... You’re just an earth pony whose job is to throw parties...  The thought that you believed I actually enjoyed your company is... HILARIOUS!” Dash roared with laughter as blood filled her lungs.

        “SHUT UP!!” Pinkie demanded. A new feeling was coming up inside of her... was it what the others called anger...

        “Why?” Rainbow Dash asks back trying to hold in chuckles, “Are you getting angry? The funny thing is I almost feel sorry for you... And look at me!” The pain and shock had massed in Dash’s brain to the point that she had became numb to the situation she was in. “You were just entertainment for me...”

The air ripped apart as Pinkie screeched until her voice died out,  but it was replaced by a familiar song with a mocking tone coming from Rainbow Dash.

Pinkie you gotta stand up tall...

Learn to face your fears...

You'll see that they...

Can't hurt you...

Just laugh to...

All around Pinkie Pie the skulls and remains began to join in with Rainbow Dash’s singing.

Make them...

        Visions of mutilated and long dead ponies came into her eyesight, even Gilda joined the groups, seeming to befriend many of the murdered ponies. Yet they didn’t attack Pinkie as she expected, but they did much worse. They started to laugh.

Disappear...

        All the creatures in Pinkie’s mind turned from a softer laughter to a riotous uproar as Pinkie Pie backed up to a drapery.  When she felt a vibration feeling in her back, Pinkie turned around to see her pony hide shrouds join in with laughter.  The blood splattered to the motto “life is a party” ran with fresh blood, her punch bowl was filled with spiked blood, and pink cupcakes powdered with blue and yellow sprinkles lined the tables. The room began to shake as every pony by-product in the room came to life.

Ha.

“STOP IT!” Pinkie pleads.

HA.

“STOP SINGING!!!”

HA!

        By this time Dash was leaning as close to Pinkie Pie as she could, exerting all the strength left in her, and as she finished her song her body grew limp and slapped back against the table. The hallucinations vanished from Pinkie’s eyes.

        “NO!!!” Pinkie Pie shrieked, “I'M NOT DONE WITH YOU YET!!” After sending her cart filled with tools to the ground, Pinkie took an adrenaline needle and stabbed it directly into the lifeless pony's heart. Not even a flinch came from the flimsy and cold body. In all her rage Pinkie Pie grabbed her nearest instrument of torture, a simple machete, and began hacking away at the carcass, for which she had planned to put to so many uses. “YOU’RE MY BEST FRIEND DASH!”

*************************************

        A few minutes later, a bell ringed as Twilight Sparkle and Spike entered Pinkie's pastry shop. “Pinkie Pie... Are you all right? I heard a commotion from the street, and I just came in to check on you.” Twilight questioned the happy and fluorescent walls of the closed shop.

        “Maybe she is in here,” Spike said as he uncovered a hatch door hidden by a rug. He opened up the door and was overcome by a strong smell of embalming fluid. “I'll stay and watch guard while you go check it out.”

        “No need to be afraid Spike, I'm sure there is a perfectly logical explanation behind this,” Twilight reassured Spike,even though she wasn’t sure herself, “But I'll go ahead by myself.” Twilight nervously took the first step down the stairs and proceeded with caution until she reached the bottom. “What is that smell?” Twilight spoke to herself as she was greeted with a wave of formaldehyde and rotting flesh. A sound emanated through the black room, “That’s strange I swear I saw Pinkie’s record player upstairs,” Twilight thought.

Sooooooo, Giggle at the Ghosty

Guffaw at the Grossly

        Twilight moved forward into the dark in a search of a some form of light. “Where is

that stupid switch,” she mumbled as she moved on.

Crack up at the creepy.

Woof it up with the weepy.

        Twilight's horn got caught on something, but she tore through, “Was that a streamer? Maybe Pinkie has super secret parties here,” Twilight remarked as she tried to shrug off the heavy feeling in the room. She continued into the middle of the room as the singing turned from a muffled tone to scratchy and distorted sound. It even seemed as if what was making the noise was crying.

Chortle at the cooky.

Snortle at the spooky.

        Twilight finally bumped into a table after making it halfway through the room. “What is this?” Twilight says as her eyes adjusted to the darkness, “It sort of looks like a pinata.” In the darkness she made out words that were scratched in red RD and PP BFFS This disturbed Twilight, “Okay, I’ve seen enough!” she said as she turned looking for the way she came in.

And to tell that big ol' scary face to take a hike and leave you alone and if he thinks he's scary than he's got another thing coming and the very idea of such a thing just makes you wanna. Hahahahahaha...

        “SCREEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAMMMM!!!”  Pinkie Pie emerged from the shadows into Twilight's view wearing her cloak of cutie marks, pegasus wings, and horn necklace. Her soft and frilly hair was matted and stained and her eyes glowed as though they had sanded down with a high grit paper; she carried with her a large knife that one could use to cut a cake. Pinkie charged at Twilight, who was looking on at what she thought must be a nightmare.

In the dark Pinkie failed to notice the bucket filled Rainbow Dash's guts, stumbling, Pinkie flew towards her crash cart. Her face landed in a hot bed of exposed coals as several red hot nails burned into her eyes. As she pulled back, her tail managed to get caught on the machinery of the operation table.

Her legs began thrashing around attempting to escape the gears; in the struggle she managed to hit the table rotate button. Terror gripped Pinkie’s mind as she heard the  gears begin to crank and rotate dragging more of her tail in. One of the pegasus wings got caught and soon her cloak followed suit, ripping off of Pinkie at the crude seams. Her necklace nearly became a noose as it snags, but the string of the necklace was of a weak test and it quickly broke as the horns clattered to the ground. Pinkie expected to fall towards the ground as well, but quickly she realizes that her stained mane was now interweaving with the gears. As she attempted to pull away from the contraption, her scalp began to rip itself off.

        “TWILIGHT!  HELP MEEEEE...” Pinkie screamed as her body grows closer to the grinding gears.

        “PINKIE!?” Twilight said as she snaps out of shock, “HOLD ON!” Darkness clouded over the controls to the table as she looked for some sort of stop button, but instead of wasting time, she ran over to Pinkie and began pulling her away from the machine at the waist.  A gears caught one of Pinkie’s legs as it kicked frantically, the machine began to struggle against her, but with a pop, the brittle bone snapped. Pinkie screamed as fire consumed her leg while the gear glided through her soft flesh and skin. Adrenaline surged through Twilight after hearing her friend in so much pain; she pulled too hard and Pinkie’s spine gave way with sickening crunch.

The instant recognition of pain felt was seen throughout Pinkie’s body, her muscles contracted then fell flaccid. Faint screams attempted to escape her throat as her consciousness is stuck in a dead body. Appalled at what she just did, Twilight backed away from Pinkie and did nothing but watch the horror show. Pinkie Pie’s skin grew tight across torso as the gears pulled her body in two directions. The heat of the pain intensified as skin snapped apart exposing the soft muscle underneath; the gears began to struggle as they slowly ripped Pinkie in half. The table slowed down while her muscles gave and tore apart, her intestines piled on the ground as wash of fluids splashed the horrified Twilight. The table finally stopped as Pinkie’s scalp was nearly separated from her skull, it left the torso dangling haplessly in the air. The gears had taken her lower half before it stopped, pieces of meat and skin drapes on the cogs throughout the machine, and as her leg twitches and spasms it kicks on the light switch. Pinkie Pie had felt every single moment of pain, when her spine broke it killed her muscles yet left her nerves intact. The last sight she had through her good eye, was that of Twilight looking on in her horror as she gargled up blood. The ground, littered in her vitals, came rushing to meet her as she broke off from her scalp, and the nail sticking out of one her eyes made its way into her brain. This left Twilight alone, screaming in Pinkie Pie's last party as Spike, who had been gorging himself on some of Pinkie’s cupcakes, accidentally turned on the record player upstairs.

LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUGH.

“ Its okay Twilight... Its  just a dream... Don’t worry, you’ll wake up any second now...”

This is how I think “Cupcakes” should end as it’s more fitting to the title of the story than the Apple Bloom ending.

-----------

        The shutters to Pinkie Pie’s bakery opened and the warm sunlight illuminated the walls within. A tray of fresh cupcakes hot from the oven was pushed onto the windowsill; their delicious fragrances wafting out along the streets of Ponyville. Within moments, many ponies were gathered around the windowsill to the bakery in eager anticipation to try out the delicious treats Pinkie had cooked up. Among them were Pinkie Pie’s closest friends: Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, and even Spike. Rainbow Dash, however, was mysteriously missing.

           Twilight found herself licking her chops as she inspected the delicious morsels in front of her. “My Pinkie, these look absolutely delicious!”

           “Go ahead and have one. I have more being baked as we speak so there will be plenty to go around!” Pinkie Pie addressed cheerfully.

           Twilight did as her friend suggested and scooped one out of the pan with a hoof; along with all her other friends. They each took a bite and smiled delightfully. “Mmmm! This is so good! You’ve really outdone yourself this time Pinkie Pie!” Twilight praised.

           Everyone else shared in her praise.

           “Awww shucks you guys. You’re too kind!” Pinkie Pie responded with a giggle.

           “But where is Rainbow Dash? She’s loves Pinkie Pie’s cupcakes more than anyone,” Applejack mentioned after swallowing a bite and glancing through the gathered crowd for a sign of her.

           “It is unfortunate that she will miss out on these,” Fluttershy added.

        “Oh, don’t worry about her,” Pinkie Pie said innocently. “I’m sure she’s around here somewhere...” Her eyes casually drifted over the pan of cupcakes in front of her.

    As they finished off their cupcakes and proceeded to leave, Pinkie Pie waved Twilight over. “Hey Twilight,” Pinkie Pie said softly.

        Twilight turned towards her. “Yeah?”

“Come closer, I have something I want to ask you.”

Twilight did as requested of her.

Pinkie Pie leaned in close and whispered into her ear, “Did your cupcake taste like rainbows?”

Twilight gave her an odd look. “What?”

Pinkie Pie smiled at her. “Oh nothing, nothing at all!” She giggled as a flood of ponies pushed past Twilight to gorge themselves on Pinkie’s very special cupcakes.

Prologue

Pinkie Pie stared into the mirror. She had done a really good job, even keeping the eyelids. She winked, and Dash winked back. Pinkie smiled. But still, she was sad that her friend was now gone. Dash had only lasted fifty minutes, not nearly as long as Pinkie had wanted. She looked back at the cadaver hanging in the center of the room, the last of her friend’s fluids draining into a pan. Yup, no more Rainbow Dash. As she looked, Pinkie cocked her head. She began to take notice of the fact that there really wasn’t much damage to the corpse

“In fact,” the pink pony mused, “I think….” An idea exploded in her head. She was good at sewing and she had all the pieces, all she had to do was put them back together. Yeah, she just had to get some stuffing and bingo, she’d have Rainbow Dash forever. In fact, thought Pinkie, that’s what she’d do for all her best friends when their numbers came up. She was so excited, she almost skipped right over to the body with her skinner to get started. The cupcakes could wait; Pinkie Pie had a friend to make. Right after …

Pinkie glanced over at the carefully hidden yet still accessible box of writing materials, sticking her tongue out in irritation. Reports were boring but Celestia needed to know of everypony she 'treated.' She had gotten into the habit of writing them after the rush of fun was truly gone but then Princess Perfect Pony said they were too short and lacked the detail she needed. Boooooooorrrrrrring! Still, it had to be done and so, with a sigh of resignation and a roll of her eyes, Pinkie dragged out the writing set and started.

~.~.o.o.o.o.O.O.O.O.-.-.-.-.O.O.O.O.o.o.o.o.~.~

Princess Celestia looked down from her balcony high atop Canterlot's tallest spire and sighed. It was nearly dusk, her sister was sure to be preparing for her newly created Rite of the Moon ceremony. Celestia propped her head against the railing, and closed her eyes. It had been so long since she had needed to force the argumentative moon into the sky and she was glad that was no longer her duty but the weight of years weighed heavily on her. She was tired, more tired than anypony had any right to be. Looking down at the assembled spires of Canterlot, she imagined it was all falling away, far away below . . . She had almost reached the setting sun, and escape, in her mind's eye when a rude knock on her door brought her out of her reverie.

“Come in,” she said, in her sweetest of voices. She had over eight hundred years of practice disguising her annoyance, eight hundred years of this sham peace. Eight hundred years of guilt.

“Your Highness.” It was one of her traditional door guards, resplendent in his golden and silver armor. Nopony questioned why they needed such precautions despite the near-constant peace Equestria had enjoyed for longer than any but the dragons could remember. And her, of course. But she kept them still, out of some perverse sense of custom. That and it was better to be prepared, just in case.

She was about to ask what it was when he held out his hoof. A sealed letter? She nodded towards her desk, piled high as it was with large yet neat stacks of papers. He placed it in front of her chair and left, his order long used to strange missives from strange places. Only one group sent letters in physical form these days and she was both horrified and eager. Horrified at what it represented and eager to read it.

Steeling herself, she carefully tore the strangely decorated envelope with her magic, only to be shocked by the poof of glitter that erupted in her face with a fanfare of party streamers.

“Pinkie Pie.” Her monotone voice held an edge of loathing that would have surprised anypony that dealt with the royal house of Canterlot. Her most . . . eccentric of workers. For not too long had she been working Ponyville, ever since the last Butcher had gone mad and hung himself only four years ago. Pinkie hadn't lasted nearly as long as he had but her madness was . . . beneficial to the cause.

Princess Celestia shook the glitter out of her face and mane and began to read the listing. Four ponies, all taken as was the Butcher's way by lot. The last name, however, stuck out to her. Rainbow Dash. Rainbow. Now where had she heard that name before? Something about friendship . . . of course! That was one of Twilight Sparkle's new friends, wasn't it? As well as Pinkie Pie herself, of course. A pang of regret stabbed her heart momentarily. It would hurt Twilight not knowing what had happened, of course, but perhaps it was for the best. Everypony had to know the heartache of loss eventually. The details, however, the details.

With foam beginning to build at her mouth, she read the detailed reports of the torture and violent execution of the unfortunate ponies. Luckily it was only ponies this time. The griffon incident last month had nearly sparked a war with the hot-headed birds and Celestia made a mental note to remind Pinkie NOT to touch her student's assistant nor any other traveling creatures. Celestia absentmindedly took one of her delectable cupcakes out of her lowest draw and began to chew, her subconscious savoring every bit of pony flesh cooked into the sweet. Ah war, how she loathed and loved it. How she wished to draw blood once more, to feel the heat of battle and the screams of death and rage.

The froth at her mouth dripped slightly on the papers now laying near forgotten on her desk, the sound drawing her away from her daydream. Clearing the spittle from her mouth and frowning at her subconscious cupcake, she read further, pausing only to reflect how she would have loved to taste those griffon cupcakes. It had been so long since she had eaten griffon.

~.~.o.o.o.o.O.O.O.O.-.-.-.-.O.O.O.O.o.o.o.o.~.~

After an hour of reading and re-reading the detailed reports, Princess Celestia pushed herself wearily away from her desk. The bloodlust curse always made her feel weak and partly alarmed, no matter how many times she felt it boil in her blood. Stomping her hooves, she summoned her door guards and, taking the rolled report, left her room behind. Since Twilight Sparkle's act of magic that fateful day half a year ago, she did not need to summon the moon any longer. She had another worry, however.

Taking her guards, she trotted at a half-step faster than they were used to. However, it was not to watch the moon-rising ceremony that her sister no presided over. At least, not from her seat at the head of her court. She would have to make some excuse for the absence but a thousand years of lying had quickened that habit in her. Down twisted, half-forgotten passages, she made her way to an oft-used but avoided portal, one fashioned in days of yore when pony warred against the world. One fashioned out of the skull of a dragon. Her guard escort, unused to battle, snorted in their nervousness. They had many times taken their mistress to this door but it was still unsettling to their peace-loving nature. They were always glad she waved them to remain.

The rusted iron door screamed on it's hinges, having not tasted oil in eight hundred years. Celestia knew she had the power to force it open and it added a second layer of defense against intrusion. Besides, it would seem … improper to have a well maintained door for this purpose. Inside, a lone pair of eyes blazed in the dark, blazed with anger and long-ago abandoned thoughts of revenge. With the thud of centuries, the blood marked door clanged shut, leaving the realm of happiness and laughter behind.

“Dragon.” The word left the Princess' lips like a curse, her lies and cheery nature left beyond the door.

“Pony.” With a puff of fire, the dragon lit the central fire pit, illuminating shelves that stretched for what seemed like miles upwards. “A new blood-report on your senseless slaughter of your own kind, I see?” The dragon shifted it's weight, the heavy cold-wrought chains dragging across the etched and clawed floor. A creature of magic, the dragon needed special precautions to ensure his cooperation, the shackles but one of many. Celestia ignored him and his barbs. They were old even before the door was last installed. With a flick of her mane, she sent the report hurtling upwards, lodging itself in one of the empty spaces far above their heads.

“Show her to me.” Celestia wasted no time today. In turn, neither did the dragon. Silently, he willed a one-way portal to appear. Celestia could have done it herself but her sister would surely have felt the pony magic.

The night was falling, and the sun barely peaked out from behind the Everfree Forest, last stand of those accursed . . . no, those poor damned elves. To this day, their elf-magics made that forest immune to any magic ponykind may wield. They would have been happy to know but that war had been the first of many brutal wars and, at that time, ponykind took no prisoners or slaves. Turning her mind away from those ancient thoughts of war, Celestia focused on the magical portal suspended in front of her.

Luna was standing in a circle of silver, the stands surrounding her filled with dignitaries and nobles. The largest of seats was empty, and Luna seemed perturbed by her sister's absence but moonrise did not wait for anypony, even the goddess of the night. Through the portal, Celestia watched her sister steel herself, preparing herself for the magic to come. Her purple mane flowing in a supernatural breeze, she lifted her head and from her forehead, a light purple beam arched over the horizon. For a moment, nothing happened save the last glittering of the sun. The depth of night embraced the world and the entire land knew only darkness. Then, a glitter of light. The moon, absent it's mare-shaped spot, peaked above the fields and forests of Equestria to thunderous applause from the stands. But something wasn't sitting right with Celestia.

“You're sure the cleansing ritual worked, dragon? She remembers nothing from the Wars?” Celestia looked at the dragon, hatred and fear in her eyes. If her sister remembered, if she remembered the blood magics that had damned all of ponyhood, the lies and false prophecies would all be for naught.

“Calm yourself, Sun-thing. Yes, they worked. Your apprentice and her friends were apt conduits for the Elements of Harmony. She stalls not due to jealousy or lust but because she has not had to call upon those magics for a thousand years.” For a moment, his features softened, if a scale thing could soften. “She is untouched of her own curse, Princess. She is perhaps the last pure pony in all the world.”

A moment passed as Celestia studied her sister, trying to read her mind without reaching out with her magic. An uncomfortable sensation for one so used to using it. The dragon watched his warden in turn, scanning her face with a thousand years of practiced skill.

“Princess.” His deep rumbling voice snapped Celestia back to the present. He sounded … different. Almost sad. “It is over. She has returned. The cycle can be done by her and her alone. We are not needed any longer. It is time for us to rest, Princess. Allow me slay you in honorable battle. With you dead, the curse is lifted and nopony has to die. It can be over.”

For a moment, Celestia considered as she returned her gaze to the portal in front of her. The dragon had never lied to her, had fought bravely and surrendered honorably when his people's war had finally failed against the bloodcursed ponies of Canterlot. An end to this nightmare, an end . . .

Through the portal, Celestia could see the ponies adoring her sister. A pageant had been created to make her feel welcomed and loved, as loved as her elder sister. And for a moment, Celestia saw her as she was over a thousand years ago. A kindhearted and delicate filly who wanted to share her sky with the world. Who looked up to her big sister with such adoration and who only wanted to be loved back as much as she loved. But the moment did not last.

“No. Luna, you cannot hear me and never will. I cannot, I will not …” Celestia paused as she tried to gather in her growing anger. “I will never forgive you, little sister. Your curse sent pony kind into two hundred years of war and barbarism. Of bloodlust that is not satiated to this day. The deaths of these tens of thousands of ponys,” she wildly gestured to the walls, her mouth frothing again as she released eight hundred years of anger and pent-up rage, “are on your head! You hear me sister! Your head, not mine! You wanted your moon to rule over all and with my death, you would have it. Never! I said it before and I'll say it until the skies ring with it. Never!” She nearly leapt at the portal in her rage, checked only by the fact that it was only a sight portal.

“Even as I sealed you away, in our battle over this world, you thought to have your way. You infected me and through me, all of ponykind! With my death, they are free, you mocked. I will see that you pay, sister. Somehow. Your prison may be broken and your mind cleared of your sins but I remember.” A sadness crept into her voice, a sadness of shouldering a burden made by somepony else for far too long.

“I remember, little sister.” Again, Celestia wiped her mouth of the froth that bloodlust made. That it held blood from her gnashing teeth and tongue did not surprise her.

“Princess.” The dragon, his name long forgotten to all but himself and his jailor, had returned to his cold demeanor. “You suffer from more than her curse.”

“No, it is only her curse. Has always been.”

“Then why?” The dragon's question rang with honest wonderment. “Why set things to free her and wipe her memory of those last horrible years of bloodshed? Why?”

Celestia looked at her sister through the portal, the dimming light of her magics leaving an afterglow in her vision. She considered the question carefully and, for a moment, the dragon wondered if she even had one to give. Finally, after the cheering of the stands had died and the procession to the banquet hall had begun, she looked coldly at her fallen foe.

“Study. If I can study her and find out why she is missing this … curse, why she is free while all other ponies have it, perhaps I can break this foul curse without my own death.” Her gaze lowered to the portal again, her sister talking with one of her monetary ministers. At ease. Happy. It turned Celestia's stomach. “I will not let her win, dragon. No matter the cost.”

Hurriedly, she turned and slammed open the door, illuminating the interior with more than dragon-wrought fire. As she rushed out, the light poured into the chamber more freely than it had since he had been sealed away and – for a moment – the dragon's ribs and his ghastly thin limbs stood in sharp contract to his still-regal skull. For a moment. Then, the doors shut again, locking him in darkness and loneliness. Save for the portal, still left open where Celestia had commanded.

The dragon looked at his portal, bathed as it was in Celestia's magical outburst. Luna was trotting through one of the many Great Halls of the castle above, laughing with a few of the more relaxed nobility. Every so often, however, she stopped and looked behind her, directly at the dragon, a puzzled look on her face. As if she could feel someone watching her. The dragon snorted smoke through his nostrils, resting his head on his claws in exhaustion.

“Young one, you cannot hear me, but you must be on your guard. The war you started but cannot remember lurks still in the hearts of your sister and your kin. There is a reason those cupcakes taste of blood and sit ill in your stomach. You must find a way to undo what you wrought. And soon. The ages weigh heavily on your sister. I fear that if she succumbs, the world will again be bathed in blood.”

Just decided to write one up since everyone seems to be dumping on the poor guy (girl?) on how gory it is.

---------

Pinkie Pie stared into the mirror. She had done a really good job, even keeping the eyelids. She winked, and Dash winked back. Pinkie smiled.

But still, she was sad that her friend was now gone. Dash had only lasted fifty minutes, not nearly as long as Pinkie had wanted. She looked back at the cadaver hanging in the center of the room, the last of her friend’s fluids draining into a pan. Yup, no more Rainbow Dash.

As she looked, Pinkie cocked her head. She began to take notice of the fact that there really wasn’t much damage to the corpse. “It fact,” the pink pony mused, “I think….” An idea exploded in her head. She was good at sewing and she had all the pieces, all she had to do was put them back together. Yeah, she just had to get some stuffing and bingo, she’d have Rainbow Dash forever. In fact, thought Pinkie, that’s what she’d do for all her best friends when their numbers came up. She was so excited, she skipped right over to the body with her skinner to get started. The cupcakes could wait; Pinkie Pie had a friend to-

“CUT!” Pinkie screeched to a halt and tilted her head to the side. Removing the hood of the skinned Rainbow Dash hide she had on, she looked past the hanging cadaver.

“Did I do something wrong Mr. Director?” She asked worryingly to a older over weight stallion wearing a suit. Sighing as he rubbed his face with his hoof, he slid off his folding chair (which gave a loud squeak of relief). Walking up to the filly, he looked her in the eye.

“No Pinkie Pie, my dear” He warbled “I only wanted to ask of you a small favor. You are no doubt very talented at acting spooky and crazy.”

“I’ll say!” Rainbow Dash yelled out from the makeup area as the cosmetic ponies where removing the false expose muscles on her back and hindquarters while another one was cleaning away the corn syrup and foal oil they had used to simulate blood and sweat off her face.

“Precisely. That is why, my dear, I casted you as the murderer. But I was hoping that you could act a bit more demented and a lot more mentally unstable.” Looking back at her he continued. “Can you do that?” Nodding her head wildly Pinkie smiled broadly.

“Okie dokie lokie! Don’t worry Mr. Hitchhock, I’ll be the very bestest deranged mass murderer you’ve ever seen!” Smiling a bit at the young filly he turned back to his chair.

“Very good. Now let’s setup the next scene.” He said sitting on his chair causing it to squeak out in pain over the massive weight resting on it. A young male pony walked up with a clapperboard.

“Cupcakes, scene three take two!” he yelled as the prop ponies came in and took the fake horns and wings off the walls.

“OW! Hey watch it with that thing will ya?” Rainbow Dash hissed as the filly removing the makeup accidentally squirted remover in her eye.

“Hey Rainbow Dash!” The rainbow colored mane pegasus turned to see a purple unicorn walk up to her.

“Hey Twilight. Getting ready for your big movie debut?” RD asked as synthetic stitches with stuffing on them where placed on her. Nodding a bit, Twilight Sparkle pulled out the script of the movie they were going to star in.

“Yep, though I must admit, I was a little hesitant on acting in such a…” She paused as she looked for the right word. “…Unique film.” Rainbow Dash just chuckled as she leaned back so the makeup artist ponies could get to work on removing the false hallowed out chest and blood. “Even if the special effects are quite dazzling.”

“Oh Twilight, there is nothing better than a good horror flick that turns your hide into leather. And we get to star in one! That alone makes it 20% cooler.” She winced as they removed the false chest by squirting warm water around the rubber costume that had been applied to her with special glue. “Hey! Watch where you’re rubbing there bub!” She snapped at one of the male ponies cleaning her chest. This got the poor boy to blush red and scurry off. Giving a chuckle, Twilight returned to the script to read her lines.

“Still, such a mind that could create a script like this must be mentally ill.” RD just waved a painted badly burnt hoof at the unicorn.

“Sergeant Sprinkles? Nah, (s)he’s cool. (S)He’s a great writer with a great imagination to match. It’s just sometimes people just lash out at things they don’t like just because it’s different from what they like.” Twilight gave an agreeable nod. “Besides, it’s not like any of this is real.”

CUPCAKES (KILL PEOPLE, BURN SHIT, FUCK SCHOOL/EARL MOM REMIX)

"WOLF. GANG. GOLF. WANG. WOLF. GANG. GOLF. WANG. WOLF. GANG. KILL. THEM. ALLLLLLLL!" 

Pinkie Pie dropped the pages she'd been reading, her hooves numb with shock. The dark, menacing voice pouring out of the victrola continued to sing about murder, vandalism, and other, less pleasant, things. In the distance, she heard a door open.

"Pinkie Pie?" Fluttershy blinked in surprise. "What's going on?"

"You tell me!" Pinkie trembled. "I came here to give you a fresh batch of Pinkie Brittle, and I found... THIS!" Pinkie pointed accusingly at the hastily scrawled pages littering the floor. "Why are you writing nasty stories about me and Dashie?! I won't be able to eat cupcakes for a week!"

Fluttershy gave a deeply embarrassed blush. "...oh." She stared down at her hooves, too mortified to look Pinkie in the eyes. "I, um, never meant for anypony but me to read that. Super sorry. It's, um, part of my routine."

"Routine?"

"Yes," Fluttershy nodded. Walking over to the shelf behind the victrola, she removed a record sleeve. On its cover was a dark-skinned apelike creature staring, dead-eyed, into empty space. The word "GOBLIN" was imprinted on his face. "See, a few months ago, I was collecting herbs in the Everfree Forest and poof! This appeared. I asked Zecora what the thing on the cover was, and she said they're called 'hughmanns'. I guess lots of them live in the place she came from. I was curious about these strange animals, so I brought the album home and put it on the turntable." Fluttershy gingerly lifted the record needle and dropped it on a different track.

"I'm a fuckin' walkin' paradox/No I'm not/Threesomes with a fuckin' triceratops/Reptard/Rapping as I mock deaf rock stars..." the voice sang. Pinkie's jaw hung open. If this was how hughmanns spoke, she certainly wouldn't want to party with them! They sounded terribly vicious.

"I know," Fluttershy nodded at Pinkie's reaction. "That's what I thought when I heard OFWGKTA for the first time." Pinkie stared at her blankly. "It's short for O(dd) F(uture) W(olf) G(ang) K(ill) T(hem) A(ll)."

"Why would you listen to a band called that, Fluttershy?" Pinkie asked. "And what the hay does it have to do with that sicky-icky story?"

Fluttershy sighed. "Well, like I said, I was surprised as you when I heard it for the first time. In fact, I had half a mind to throw it off the record player and into the garbage. But as I kept listening... Yes, it's crude and violent, but there's a vulnerability to it, too. The offensiveness is the singer's way of relieving his anger over things he's powerless against." She winced as a quite graphic lyric bled through the speakers. "Though it would be nice if they mentioned rape a bit less..." she whispered meekly.

Pinkie's mouth tried to make sounds, but abject horror refused to let them leave her throat.

"I know. But listening to something so bleak, so wildly unlike me, is... fun. I get to live as somepony with no limits or weaknesses. And it's pretty obvious they're horsing around by coming up with the worst things they can think of." Fluttershy took a deep breath. "So, about a month ago, I started trying my hoof at it. After I come home from my animal duties, or one of our adventures, I put the record on and just... write."

Fluttershy glided over to the desk the story had been laying on and opened a drawer. She handed Pinkie a few shoddily stapled reams of paper. Pinkie's eyes scanned over the words covering the pages. Here was a story about Twilight using magic to perform abortions in a grimy warehouse. And another one about Rarity stitching together dresses made of horsemeat. And one with Applejack being turned to stone by a cockatrice and smashed to bits in a rock quarry. Rainbow Dash as a vengeful pimp in a decaying motel. Oddly enough, each successive story, while grim, showed signs of improvement. In fact, by the time Pinkie reached the horrific climax of the last story, where a severely injured Rainbow Dash leaps off the motel roof with the lifeless body of her top earner, she was strangely moved.

"Gosh, I didn't mean to upset you, Pinkie," Fluttershy said. "Nopony but me was supposed to see these. In fact, the cupcakes one was my first attempt. I had it out because I was planning to throw it away, but Angel told me about a frog with a sprained ankle and-"

"Aw, it's okay, Fluttershy." Pinkie said, handing the stories back to buttercup-hued pegasus. "I shouldn't have been a nosy-rosie-posie and looked at your private papers. And despite the ooky stuff in there, you're pretty good at writing. But, um, can I make one eensie-teensie request?"

"Sure."

"Can you stop using us in your stories? It's sorta creepy. Actually, alotta creepy."  

"Deal." Fluttershy returned to the shelf behind the victrola. "I think I have something that'll make you feel better," she said, pulling another record from the shelf. "Hughmann albums are starting to pop up in the Everfree Forest once or twice a week now, and I've been collecting them here. I want you to have this one."

Pinkie frowned. A lighter-skinned hughmann with unkempt hair and copious amounts of blood running down his face stared at her from the album cover. Fine, she'd accept Fluttershy's gift. But if this hughmann's music was as mean and scary as the ones Fluttershy liked, it was going straight into the trash chute!

********************************************************************************************************

"Thank Celestia you're here, Rainbow Dash," Mrs. Cake sighed. "If you can't get her to come out, nothing will."

"Any idea why Pinkie hasn't left her apartment in three days?" Dash asked as she casually flew up the stairs. Faint guitar chords filtered through the walls.

"She mentioned something about a gift from Fluttershy the last time I saw her."

"Hmm." Dash heard singing, but the door muffled the sound. She tapped the door loudly. "Pinkie? It's me."

The music stopped, and the door swung open to reveal Pinkie Pie with the most joyously manic expression Dash had ever seen on the pudgy pastel mare's face. "DASHIIIEEE!" she squealed ecstatically, pulling the rainbow-maned pegasus through the threshold. "I'm sorry I haven't called you, but something ultra super amazing happened."

"What?"

Pinkie trotted over to her record player and dropped the needle once more. "It's time to party, Let's party/Hang out with yourself and have a crazy party/Hey you, let's party/Have a killer party and Party!" a voice sang/screamed.

"Isn't it great?!" Pinkie shouted. "It's like this Andrew WK guy took part of my Pinkie-Thinkin' and made it into music!" Pinkie's stomach growled harshly.

"Are you OK, Pinkie?" Dash raised an eyebrow. "When was the last time you ate?"

"Uhh, two days ago, maybe? But it doesn't matter! I don't need food or sleep! I'm running on 8000 volts of pure, uncut partying, and I have at least another day's worth of it before I crash!" Rainbow Dash yelped as Pinkie suddenly grabbed her, flinging her onto the bed. Pinkie leaned over Dash, staring fondly into her eyes. "Would you like me to share some of that energy with you?"

Dash smiled.    

Cupcakes - Alternate Ending

By: SirenScythe

Original Story by: Sergeant Sprinkles

Pinkie Pie gently tightened the ropes holding Rainbow Dash’s hooves. Dash quietly grunted, shaking her head, bleakly glancing up at the pink pony in front of her.

        “Pinkie, you don’t have to do this...” Dash pleaded, her glowing purple eyes getting wider. The party pony smiled broadly and bounced around to Dash’s other side.

        “I know! But isn’t this fun?” Pinkie grinned and winked at Dash. The blue pegasus winced as the party pony tied the knot more firmly. The pink pony then nodded once, as if to herself. “I’ll be right back, Dashie!” She then turned and bounced off into the blackness. The pegasus quickly jerked her head around, facing the taunt rope holding her right hind leg. The blue pony knew time was running out, and waiting for something to happen would do her no good. Pinkie was nuts, as usual. But more than usual this time. Dash couldn’t waste time dwelling over the fact that Pinkie is trying to stuff her into a cupcake. So she acts, and fast.

        Immediately, Dash stretches towards the rope, gripping it in her teeth. The pegasus starts to rip at the rope furiously. She keeps clenching and unclenching her molars on the braided strands. Maybe, she thought, just maybe it’d give loose. Then she’d be free. Only a part of her would be free, though. She started to kick a little, thrashing her leg. Desperate times call for desperate measures. The rope loosened only a tad on the blue pony’s leg, though. A minuscule line of pinkish-red started to show under the rope as Dash thrusted her leg faster. The burn increased, and Dash started to hear faint footsteps beyond the darkness of the damp room. Pinkie will be back any second, and Dash can’t even get the first rope loose. Very faded hums came from the distance, towards Dash’s left. Pinkie was singing to an unknown tune, not to mention she was hopping around. She was about a thousand times more excited than Dash was. Finally, after a lot of wear and tear, the rope came loose, and Dash was able to slip her right hind leg out.

        But it was too late, Pinkie trotted back into the spotlight where the blue pegasus lay tied up. The pink pony walked up next to Dash’s left side, smiling gleefully down at her.

        “I brought something special, Dashie.” The pegasus, exhausted from trying to set herself free, only glanced up. Pinkie shook her head and frowned a little. “Is that any way to act when you get a present? Come on, loosen up! You shouldn’t be so blah when you talk to me, you know?” The pink party pony then pulled out a large knife that was resting beneath her tangled mane. The blue pony’s eyes grew in size.

        “Pinkie... Please, I thought we were friends? What happened to pranking? Pranking was fun. We had a good time. Or, you cheering me on when I did the Sonic Rainboom? Or... Anything but this...” Dash’s voice trailed off. The party pony only giggled and shook her head.

        “Your cupcake would taste SOO delicious though! What shame if I didn’t cut you up and eat you! Oh, I can see it now. Everyone will want a taste of your yummy rainbow.” The pink pony’s smile broadened, she was extremely excited. Pinkie gripped the huge butcher’s knife in her mouth and walked over to Dash. “This will only hurt... A lot!” She giggle uncontrollably. Pinkie then leaned down and aimed the knife at Rainbow Dash’s stomach. The pink pony then stabbed the knife deeply into Dash. The blue pegasus yelped then kicked the knife sharply out of Pinkie’s mouth with her free right leg. The sharp blade sliced cleanly through Dash’s middle of her stoamch towards the left, ending at her side. Dash squealed in pain and her face twisted in agony. Pinkie gasped and looked at Dash then at the knife and giggled some more.

        “How’d you get out, smarty pants? I guess it was too loose.. Hm. I’ll just have to fix that.” Pinkie winked at Dash again before trotting over to where the bloody blade lay. But, when Dash kicked the knife away, it also had sliced part of the tightly wound strands in the left rope. Dash pulled against it, as hard as she could. Panic flashed across her face as she watched Pinkie pick the knife up calmly in her mouth then bounce back over to Dash. The rope containing Dash’s left hind leg then snapped. She was free for her hind legs. But her front legs were still tied and hung above her. She could only kick and thrash with her hind legs. The pink pony trotted up in front of Dash once more, knife in mouth.

        “Oh!” She exclaimed. “You made it out of another one!” Pinkie shook her head. “Tsk, tsk, oh Dashie, what will I do with you?” Dash panted, keeping her eyes down at Pinkie’s hooves.

        “You said something earlier about setting me free...” Dash stammered, her chest heaving. Pinkie giggled loudly and snorted.

        “You crack me up, Dashie. Now back to what I was REALLY doing.” Pinkie ignored the fact that Dash was pretty much free and aimed to stick the blade back into her coat. Dash immediately kicked the pink pony square in the nose, sending her flying a few feet back, the knife escaping her jaws. The blue pegasus then ferociously worked on her right front hoof, biting and gnawing at the rope. She only has a few seconds before Pinkie will come back, probably really angry. Pinkie snorted and giggled loudly, sounding exactly like a mad scientist. Dash swore she was going to do some kind of test on her instead of bake her into cupcakes. The blue pony ripped at the strands, cutting a few free. Then she pulled angrily at the rope, hearing it snap. Yes! Only one more to go, then she was free. Pinkie walked over to Dash and grinned at her. Before Dash could react, the party pony leaped over to her, pinning her down, the staking a nail into Dashes right hind leg, trying to hammer it in. The blue pegasus yelped and kicked Pinkie in the gut. Pinkie frowned but ignored it and jabbed the nail, piercing Dash’s skin. Dash yelped and flew up high, flapping her wings furiously. She almost reached the top of the high ceiling, but then the left front rope grew taunt and yanked at her leg, causing an ugly red stain above her hoof. Dash yelped when Pinkie gripped the rope in her mouth, pulling sharply down on it. Dash plummeted to the ground, landing roughly on her side, facing Pinkie. The pink pony leaned down into Dash’s face and smiled.

        “Silly, you’re still stuck.” She walked over the rope that still held Dash and tightened it, making Dash groan when it rubbed against her rope burn. Now Dash was mad. This was ridiculous. Pinkie was her friend. How could she bake her into a cupcake!? This made Dash a little too angry. She wanted Pinkie to taste her own medicine. She didn’t just want to be free. She wanted to cut Pinkie open; see how much she liked it. Dash narrowed her eyes then flapped her wings again and pulled hard against the rope. It snapped at the base, but a little bit of the rope still trailed off from her hoof. Dash flew up to the ceiling, and Pinkie frowned up at her.

        “That’s no fun! Come back down so we can play.” Dash only shivered and shook her head. Pinkie glared a little at Dash. Then the pink pony leaped up in the air and grabbed the end on the rope in her mouth yanking on it, sending Dash just low enough that Pinkie could tackle her. Dash snorted and rolled over just as Pinkie leaped and kicked her right in the shoulder.

        Pinkie Pie took the blow and was thrown off a little away from Dash, landing on her side. Dash then took the opportunity to race towards the basement door. To go home.

        “Oh no you don’t!” Pinkie squeaked, leaping up and bouncing fast after Dash. Rainbow shoved the basement door open using her front hooves, trying to get away as fast as possible. She then, instead of running up the stairs, started flapping her wing furiously. Dash had made it, and was in the kitchen, running and flapping her wings as fast as she could. Pinkie was right on her trail, bouncing, leaping and galloping up the stairs into the bright bakery. She then stepped on Dash’s long rope attached to her front hoof. “Tsk, tsk. Not so fast, Dashie.” Dash gasped as the sudden stop made her painfully face plant the shiny, faded green floor. Rainbow tried to kick out, but Pinkie dodged it easily.

“Now do I have to force you? Or will you go nicely and willingly?” Pinkie shook her head and sighed. Dash screamed at the top of her lungs for help, but Pinkie only cut her off by smacking her sharply in the nose. Pinkie was starting to get annoyed, none of her other patients were as tough as Dashie. The blue pegasus had to think fast, there was no time left. She looked around nervously, then her eyes lingered in one spot. The oven. There was no other way to make it out alive, she was going to have to do it the hard way. She quickly turned her head and bit the rope that was still under Pinkie Pie’s hoof, and ranked hard. The rope snapped at the base of Pinkie’s front hoof. Rainbow Dash then raced towards the oven, full speed, flapping her wings and everything. Dash then pushed on the handle opening the door quickly. Pinkie was right behind her, making sure she wasn’t going to escape. 

        Dash then turned and gripped Pinkie’s mane in her mouth. Pinkie tossed and turned, kicking any part of Rainbow Dash that she could reach. Dash shut her eyes, scared of what she must do next. Then, less than a heartbeat later, Dash had thrown Pinkie ravenously into the vast oven. Dash turned her back on Pinkie Pie once she heard her slam loudly into the back of the furnace, and she kicked at the door with her hind legs, shutting it quickly. Pinkie felt a little dazed after her head had hit the back of the oven with a great force. She shook her head and blinked, wondering why she was cramped and why it was dark. Her eyes then grew wide as she realized where she was. Pinkie screamed in fear and banged loudly on the oven door with her front hooves. Dash leaned against it, sweat starting to pour down her face. Rainbow Dash was terrified as well, she didn’t know if this was the right thing to do. But Pinkie Pie had intended to kill her. Dash now has the upper hand, why not kill Pinkie first? 

Dash then kicked the knob up all the way, turning the heat onto full blast. She could hear powerful flames dance behind her. Rainbow Dash closed her eyes tightly, hoping that would help her cope with the thought that her friend was burning alive just behind a thick wall that was pressed against her back. Dash wished she could also shut her ears. Pinkie Pie screamed and wailed in fear and pain as the flame consumed her. Pinkie rammed herself at the oven door, screaming as loud as she could. But it was no use, her screams were muffled by the dense door. At about 10 apalling minutes later Pinkie Pie had stopped screeching and Dash opened one eye very slowly, then the other followed. She turned slowly, facing the clear oven door, looking in, aghast of what to find. Only ashes remained. The ashes where in a small pile in the center of the oven. Rainbow Dash shivered then shook her head.

        “I’m just glad it’s over...” She murmured. “Now I can show everyone my Sonic Rainboom again!” Then Rainbow Dash puffed out her chest and trotted out of the bakery as if nothing had ever happened.

Le Petit Four

A fan-made Sequel to Sgt. Sprinkles' "Cupcakes"

By FinalGamer and James Corck.

Rainbow Dash's disappearance was at first not noticed by the local populace of Ponyville. Despite her exuberant unmissable presence they knew she would always be found napping on a cloud or flying far and high into the skies where nopony could see her, her head literally in the clouds.  It wasn't until perhaps a week later that ponies began wondering where she had been, and her disappearance caught more attention than other cases of missing ponies.

This was also troublesome because of the rota change for weather control, but it was all they could do. Only one pony knew where she had gone, standing in the doorway of the bakery, looking throughout the streets. She could tell them, she could tell them everything but her instincts told her not to, some mysteries were best left as mysteries.  It was rare for her to say this but in this case it was. She couldn't spoil the surprise!  After all, everypony would learn about it: One by one.

She smiled and bounced on a glowing summer day, giggling aimlessly about, sneaking through alleyways occasionally and nopony would ever take notice, already accustomed to her wily ways. And she smiled a hidden smile, knowing that in a way, all the ponies she personally knew were now a part of herself, and all her friends.

For the most part, there was no reason to do so.  She was happy enough just walking down the main street gazing around at the usual bright colours and cheering the locals up with her presence, a familiar face whom was met with either irritation or cheer.  But then she felt the twitchy gut.

She had the little twitches that could tell her something bad would occur.  Whatever the case would be, it would be something bad they had to avoid, a walking Geiger counter of misfortune.  But the twitchy gut was different.  It was a twitch nopony could see, a small perk of her eyes as the only clue, a special little twitch she never told anyone about.  It was her signal to invite another friend.

It happened before with Rainbow Dash.  She saw her flying overhead one day and the twitchy gut came.  It excited her, to think she could have one of her bestest best friends over to help her with her trade!  A shame she had to leave, but it was a momentous occasion.  She had known many ponies, but none of them were true friends like Rainbow Dash was.  But then her twitchy gut came, the first twitch to signify something near.  She would look across the streets, gazing at each and every pony until the second and third twitches came.  When three twitches struck within the pit of her stomach, there she would find her next assistant.

When her eyes laid upon one pony, the three twitches came, making her gasp with intrigue.

"Really!?" she said to herself.  "....ooooooh...fancy....everypony’d love something fancy to try! But I have to make sure first! I have a number to take!"  And with that she trotted off back to her lair.

She had her lair located underneath Sugarcube Corner. The trap door to the basement concealed it perfectly for nopony to see. She trotted downstairs, went past the main room and entered another one. There was a large table with a can of red paint and a party hat filled with cut out numbers inside. There had to be around five hundred numbers. Pinkie Pie stuffed her muzzle inside and plucked a number out.

“YAAAAY!!!” she yelled letting the number fall from her mouth and on the table. It got soaked on red paint.

* * *

Rarity had been rather pleased to be not so busy for once.  As much as she relished a big project to take on with thread and needle, she enjoyed a little downtime to herself as well, lying upon her bed resplendent within her inner sanctum of the heights of fashion fresh from Canterlot. She would dream of gracing royal galas, of sequins shining off her flank, silken hoof sleeves bringing their colors out, and tassels…well, not tassels. Don't be ridiculous, they would look terrible with sequins, she thought.  But she dreamed away nonetheless for fresh new ideas.

"Aaaah....the life of a fashionista," she murmured to herself as she bathed in the sunlight from her window.  "A life so fraught with stress and pleasure....mmmm...wha?"  Something had flapped against the window briefly blocking the light from her body, the sound of a light fwap against the window making her rise from her bed and discover a letter had been pasted onto her windowpane.  She could tell from this distance by the gaudy pink who it was from.  With a slight sneer she slowly opened her window and brought the letter inside, tenderly cutting it open with a letter opener and pulling the rather excitably-scrawled message out to read.

HI Rarity!!!

How ya doing!?  Hope I'm not bothering ya but could you help me down at the bakery?

I really wanna impress ponies with something REALLY Fancy and you're the fanciest pony I know!

Hope to see ya soon!

Pinkie P.

"Oh, such awful muzzle-writing," was her first comment.  "How can one even run an establishment without knowing the pleasures of cursive?  But...fancy?"  The compliment struck her nicely enough.  “Does that mean......What if....oh Celestia, please let it be true!  I knew this day would come!”

And with a rather flustered sense of excitement awakening within her, she left a message on her door saying she was out to brunch and briskly cantered all the way to Pinkie Pie's.  Thoughts ran within her head at what her sugar-laden friend could possibly want with her expertise.

Knocking politely on the door, she was greeted with the most exuberant face she had ever seen on her friend.  She had seen Pinkie Pie excited before, but this was....pure jubilation.

"RARITY!  Ya made it!  Come in come in!"

"Oh well, hello dear Pinkie, I got your message even if you delivered it rather....unorthodoxly."

"Hehehe, sorry Rarity, but I couldn't let anyone see me deliver you that li'l note, it's a surprise after all!"

"Ohh?  Well....I can see why, after all when one is about to embark upon an odyssey of delectable delights such as this, you have to be discreet until ready to unveil, correct?"

"YEAH!  Oh you totally understand. I'm so happy to hear, thank you!"

"Well, to be quite frank, I knew this day would come my sweet Pinkie."  The bouncy pink pony looked quizzically at her friend, put slightly off-kilter.

"You....you did?"

"Oh why yes!  I always knew that one day you would be willing enough to try creating something more...fancy, as you put it."  

Pinkie Pie only nodded vigorously, surprised to feel that Rarity of all ponies was thinking on what felt like the same wavelength.

"Oh yeah, yeah, yeah!  Just had to be the right time was all!"

"Well there is no shame in admitting uncertainty until you're ready, but I am happy to see you ready to make something more....elegant.  Don't get me wrong dear, your cupcakes and pastries are simply MARVELLOUS.  But sometimes, you need something of...a different class, just to mix it up a little."

"Oooh yeah, and I been waitin' fer it.  I didn't think the day would ever come but well, here we are!  Hehehee!"

"I'm rather surprised you didn't do this sooner Pinkie, you already know you're a wonderful baker!"

"Well, like I said, just had to be the right time was all!"

"Hahaha, indeed."  

Rarity was genuinely surprised that Pinkie of all ponies would have such patience to not try this sort of thing sooner, but she appreciated her more for that, if anything it made her respect her more as being serious about her own craft.  In a small way, she felt a certain kinship to Pinkie, as a fellow artist.  She understood that to make food was just as complex as making a dress.  It was all about the right quantities, what went together with what, and above all else, having a sense of taste.  As she pondered this, she didn't notice Pinkie push a plate of cupcakes to her face, beautifully glossy, blue icing and sprinkles in every color under the rainbow before her muzzle.

"WH-what the-"

"Dontcha wanna try one so we can get started?"  

Pinkie grinned with the tray in her mouth, speaking through gritted teeth.  Rarity gently lifted one up with her unicorn horn, suspended in mid-air.

"Ohhh, really I'd love to but I'm not too hungry-"

"Aw come on Rarity, it'll get you aaaall ready!"

"Well....I suppose I must reacquaint myself with the taste so I can properly assist you."  

She gently bit off some of the cupcake, before finding it far too delicious to refuse a second bite and left half of it remaining, munching eagerly, her tongue turning blue with a myriad of other minor colors.  

"Mmmmmph! Oh my word Pinkie Pie. How DO you make these so delicious!?"

"Hehehe, you'll find out soon enough!  I can't believe yer so eager to help me Rarity, really appreciate it!"

"Oh well, I am always willing to help a pony learn the wonders of a more refined taste!  I may not be as skilled as you are with baking but I can certainly help with......w....with....oooh..."

"You alright Rarity!?"

"I.....ooof...I feel a little...woozy.  M-maybe it's the sug-uhhhh..."  With that, she soon collapsed onto the floor, the cupcake she had been holding splatting onto the floor beside her, with Pinkie Pie giggling down at her.

"Awww you didn't even finish!  He, he, he, oh well!  There’s plenty more where that came from!"

* * *

At first, she didn’t feel anything. She could hear distant voices, giggles and sounds of metal clattering and clanging against each other. She couldn’t see anything but black. Rarity blinked and the blackness turned into grayness. She kept blinking and the view turned into a faded grey as she looked around. She was in a completely dark room with a pale white light pouring through a half blocked window. When she tried to move a sting of pain crossed her forelegs. She looked to the right and to the left. Several leather straps held her tightly against a table. She could see it was an operation table since it was made out of shiny metal. The stench of formaldehyde filled her nostrils. In abject horror, her mind raced through her memories.

She was with Pinkie Pie.

She ate a cupcake.

Then she collapsed and everything turned to black.

She looked around until she saw a pink smudge in the distance, covered in shadows. It moved frantically. Rarity tried to talk, but nothing came from her mouth. She looked down and passed the tongue over her lips. She tried to, though. She couldn’t move her tongue. It flapped side to side against the corners of her mouth, and her jaw hung loose. She started mumbling and moaning, frightened to death.

“Blhbmmh…Blmhmbh!”

The pink smudge moved away from where it was and disappeared in the darkness. Rarity opened her eyes until their hurt her as she moved her head side to side. Where did it go? Where was it? Was that Pinkie? Why would her friend do something like that to her? Rarity looked down as she saw the rest of her body strapped to the table. Her left leg was tied up in blue leather straps. She recognized that shade of b-

“SURPRISE!!!”

Pinkie Pie appeared right before her eyes with a demented smile that showed her teeth.

“Hiya Rarity! I’m so excited to have you here! Welcome to my basement!”

Pinkie Pie bounced away and Rarity observed in disgust at the attire she was wearing. She had a gown made out of cutie marks sewn together with a very thick thread. There were six Pegasus wings sewn on the back of the gown. Two of the wings were the same shade of blue as the straps on her left leg. Pinkie had a necklace made out of unicorn horns hanging over the gown. The grisly attire terrorized Rarity as she felt her stomach twisting and her mind getting hazy. She tried to talk, but more babbling came from her mouth.

“Oh, don’t worry.” said Pinkie Pie. “That’s the codeine. It’ll wear off in a few minutes.” Pinkie Pie walked close to Rarity. “I am so excited! Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, I can’t believe I have you here, Rarity! And since you know how important this is, I think you and I are going to make the best cupcakes yet!”

Rarity didn’t understand. As Pinkie Pie moved away from her eye sight, she tried to look around her. Aside from the metal table and the straps on her four legs, there was nothing else around her. She looked at the straps. They were smeared with something. It took Rarity a few seconds to feel the stench and see the red liquid oozing from the skin. That’s not leather, she thought. She tried to pull them and break free but they were so tightly tied to the table she couldn’t even lift her limbs. She felt the sweat cooling over her coat and between her joints, on her neck and over her brow. If Pinkie Pie was joking, she didn’t find that funny at all.

Pinkie Pie returned to Rarity’s side. She noticed the unicorn was shaking and asked with genuine concern.

“Awww Rarity, are you afraid? Is it ‘cause it’s dark? Here, lemme help you with that.”

Pinkie Pie disappeared again and a few seconds later an explosion of white light coming from the ceiling filled the room. Rarity closed her eyes and even with that the light hurt her retinas. Slowly, she opened her eyes and as she did so, she wished she had not.

The sight before her was revolting. The walls were white, or at least they used to be, smeared in red, black and brown. There were crusts of dried blood inbetween the tiles. From the ceiling hung bundles of rotten intestines and guts that dripped fluids over pans and tables. There were cleaned up bones piling on a corner that had belong to other ponies. On one side, there was a macabre center fold made out of foal heads. Rarity noticed one of them was Diamond Tiara. Then…Was it Pinkie Pie? Had Pinkie Pie been kidnapping ponies all this time to gut them open? Oh no, oh no please, please, don’t tell me that’s what she will do to me, no, no! Her struggles grew more panicked as she pulled from the straps until her limbs burned with pain. The panic and confusion rendered her magic useless.

“Awww, come on Rarity, don’t get so upset.” said Pinkie Pie. “Look, we’re not alone!”

Pinkie Pie grabbed the table with both hoofs and turned it to the side of the basement that was behind Rarity. The fashion unicorn felt the strength coming back to her jaw as she screamed with her mouth fully opened at what she saw. Hanging from a wall there was the taxidermised corpse of Rainbow Dash. The rainbow mane and the tail were not as bright as they used to be and the blue coat was more grey than blue. She had no wings and her face had been stretched into a bizarre gesture. Was it a smile? Rarity was paralyzed and her throat ached.

“You see? You don’t need to be so afraid now.” said Pinkie Pie, pulling from the table and returning it back to its original position.

Rarity drooled down her chin as she looked at Pinkie Pie.

“P-Pinkie…Pinkie, please, let me go.” said Rarity. “Please, I promise I won’t say a word. It will be…it will be our secret, yes? I swear, Pinkie-Pie-swear! Huh!?” Rarity was desperate. Her eyes were wet.

“Awwww, but I can’t, Rarity. You see, I don’t make the rules” said Pinkie Pie. “I’m just doing my job. And it’s so wonderful I get to do it with another one of my friends! This is gonna be so much fun!”

Rarity felt the strike of fear getting in her gut and up to her brain. All of a sudden, she felt there was no escape. She had her entire body paralyzed except for her head. She could charge a spell on Pinkie Pie, but then what to do? Would she scream for help until Pinkie Pie woke up and finished her? Rarity didn’t know any powerful magic. She wasn’t Twilight. The most powerful thing Rarity could make was control sewing implements and dress making tools. And for the look of the basement there were none there.

“Pinkie…Pinkie please, I beg you.” said Rarity. “If you are still my friend, if you still love me like I still love you, please, don’t hurt me. Don’t hurt me more than you already did.” she broke into tears.

“Awwww, don’t cry silly.” said Pinkie Pie as she got close to Rarity. She sat down on the edge of the table and wiped the tears off of Rarity’s face. Then, she grabbed her by the shoulders and gave Rarity a hug.

Yes. Yes, it worked, it worked! I knew Pinkie wouldn’t-

“If you cry, the cupcakes will just get sour.”

Pinkie Pie got off the table as she moved towards the fridge. Rarity looked at her with tears rolling down her face as she started hyper-ventilating. She had to get out of the table and alert everypony that Pinkie Pie was a mass murderer. She had to. She pulled again from the straps but they wouldn’t give in. She tried to use her magic to open the locks on the table but she kept missing. Pinkie Pie moved slowly, oblivious to Rarity’s attempts at getting out of the table. It was like she knew she wouldn’t get away from her. Pinkie Pie got close to what looked like a surgical tray and opened one of the drawers. She took a big knife with her teeth and moved to Rarity’s head.

“Now Rarity, lemme show ya I can use my mouth real well.”

Pinkie Pie moved the knife to Rarity’s forehead and sunk the blade into her flesh. Rarity screamed as the blade cut the flesh around her horn leaving a deep red channel between her horn and the rest of her head. A few blood drops rolled down her fur and over her eyes falling on her nose. Rarity shook her head as the drops tickled her nostrils. Pinkie Pie kept cutting as the pain struck through Rarity’s mind and into her eyes. After Pinkie Pie was done, Rarity’s horn was peeled off at the base but still held on to her skull thanks to the nerves and the bone. Pinkie Pie moved to the surgical tray, dropped the knife on it and opened another drawer. When Rarity saw her pulling out a hack-saw, she started screaming.

“NO!!! NO, PLEASE NO!!! HELP!!! HELP, ANYPONY, PLEASE HELP ME!!! HELP ME!!!”

Her desperate screams just amused Pinkie Pie.

“Come on Rarity, you look silly screaming. Besides…” she patted the walls making deaf sounds on the padded surface. “Soundproof walls! That way Mister and Miss Cake can sleep while I work here. You gotta be considerate.”

Pinkie Pie moved with the hacksaw to Rarity’s head as the unicorn shook it side to side, making it impossible for Pinkie Pie to start sawing. Pinkie Pie put the hack saw down as she looked at Rarity. She was acting so not like Rarity. All her ladylike attitude was gone, or at least part of it.

“I won’t let you! I won’t!!!” screamed Rarity.

Pinkie Pie thought she had no other choice. She moved around the table and pulled another leather strap with a muzzle in the middle of it. She threw it over Rarity’s face and pulled hard against the table. She pinned her head with a thunk and tied the leather strap to a mechanism. Rarity had her mouth closed so violently she didn’t have time to get her tongue back in. The muzzled forced her to bite the tip off. She felt the sting of the spongy flesh getting cut as her mouth started filling with blood.

“Now that’s better.” said Pinkie Pie.

She grabbed the hack-saw again, climbed up to Rarity’s head and placed the dented edge on the horn’s base. Rarity felt the blade’s cold metal turn into fire as Pinkie Pie started sawing off the bone. It didn’t hurt at first but then the dents started cutting through the nerves and the sinew. Rarity gurgled through the muzzle as blood bubbled from the corners of her mouth and down her neck. She wanted to scream. The pain struck through her brain as Pinkie kept sewing.

When Pinkie Pie stopped she was only half way through cutting the bone. She grabbed it with her fore hooves as she looked at Rarity.

“Time to break the spell!”

She pushed the horn down snapping the bone with a dry crack. Rarity screamed through the muzzle as her throat gurgled in a pool of blood and saliva. Pinkie Pie moved away from Rarity as the hole where she used to have her horn started dripping blood between her eyes. Pinkie Pie grabbed the horn and sucked it.

“Awww, it doesn’t have a flavour.” she said with disappointment in her voice.

Rarity felt she was losing it. Her eyesight became blurry and she felt the cold fingers of unconsciousness grasping her mind. Before she could completely slip into a sea of blackness, she felt something wet and icy cold hitting between her haunches. She looked at Pinkie Pie. She held an empty bucket in her fore hooves.

“Ah, ah, ah! No sleepy! We don’t like sleepy heads here.” said Pinkie Pie. “Where’s the fun if you fall asleep?”

Rarity looked up to where her horn used to be. She felt sick when she saw nothing there but a gush of blood. All of her life revolved around that horn. Her magic abilities, her skill with the needle and the scissors, they were all gone. She wouldn’t be able to do dresses ever again. Pinkie Pie moved behind her and released her head from the muzzle. Rarity spat blood and saliva over the floor leaving a red stain all over her lips.

“Awwww, are you sad?” asked Pinkie Pie, throwing the horn over the table carelessly. “Come on, I was actually hoping you’d give me some advice.”

“A…A-Advice on what?” said Rarity as she licked her lips and spat some more.

“Well…”

Pinkie Pie moved closer to Rarity as she rubbed a hoof over her coat. Rarity trembled under Pinkie’s touch, repulsed by her friend. The sole touch and the sudden switch on her perception of Pinkie nauseated her. Rarity looked away as Pinkie Pie rubbed her face and cleaned the red blood from her lips. Rarity roared as more blood dripped from her forehead.

“I’ve always wanted to make myself a dress.” said Pinkie Pie. “But I am not that good at doing dresses. This…” she said pointing at her gown. “…was the best I could do.”

“Oh, oh P-P-Pinkie Pie, I can…h-help you do d-dresses. I will teach you to do the …m-most beautiful dresses.” said Rarity, desperation rasping her voice. “If you let me g-g-go, I will do you the...b-b-best dress ever, yes? W-what do…you say P-Pinkie?” she added in between gasps.

“Oh Rarity, don’t be silly! I took off your horn, you won’t do a dress ever again.”

Rarity let the words sink in. She couldn’t remember the last dress she had made. Was it for Fluttershy? Or maybe Twilight? It didn’t matter anymore. She would never fully recover from that mutilation. The pain inside her head was such that she couldn’t think on anything else. Pinkie Pie continued with her talking.

“But you can still help me!” complained Pinkie Pie.

“H-how?” said Rarity, before exploding into a fit of rage. “HOW!? How am I going to help you!?”

“Oh, that’s easy sneezie!” said Pinkie Pie. “You can provide the supplies!”

She passed her hoof over Rarity’s body. She had such silky fur. The touch of it under her hoof was so delicate Pinkie couldn’t hold a moan of pleasure. Rarity groaned as she tugged from the straps while gritting her teeth. They wouldn’t budge and her skin was starting to turn red around them, white furs stuck in the seams. Rarity looked up at Pinkie Pie, who was rubbing both her fore hooves over Rarity’s stomach.

“Mmhmm, Rarity…” and the next words she said them licking her lips. “I love your coat.”

Rarity shivered in terror as Pinkie Pie moved away to get another tool from the surgical tray. She dunked the hack saw and the knife inside a bucket full of water to clean them as she turned around with a scalpel on her mouth.

“I pondered where to start getting the supplies from for a good while. I guess I better start with the colored parts, don’t you think Rarity?” said Pinkie Pie.

Pinkie Pie moved behind Rarity. With her fore hooves Pinkie Pie forced Rarity to lay her head over her right side. The cold table rubbed against Rarity’s cheek as blood rolled over her right eye. Rarity closed it. With unnatural reflexes, Pinkie threw the leather strap from before over Rarity’s head leaving the back of her head exposed. Her mane had its root coated in sweat and dried blood from the horn extraction, but it still looked bright and fabulous. Pinkie Pie puffed it between her hooves.

“Oh Rarity! Your hair is the best hair a pony could ever wish! I’ve always wanted hair like this.”

Rarity closed her eyes as her breathing intensified. Her quick raspy breaths for air and through her teeth made her feel dizzy. The panic grasped her gut and soaked her thighs with sweat. With her chest going up and down out of control, she begged Pinkie Pie to stop.

“Pinkie, please don’t. Don’t!” Her voice cracked. “I can do your hair like mine! I can dye it! We can go to the Spa together and get your mane exactly like mine! Please, don’t scalp me! Please Pinkie, please! Please! PLEASE, DON’T!”

Pinkie Pie didn’t reply to Rarity’s begging. She just said:

“I guessed using a scalpel for this was the best idea. I mean, come on, I am going to scalp you, right?” said Pinkie Pie coldly.

With those words, Pinkie sunk the scalpel’s blade in Rarity’s hair line. The pain wasn’t as intense as it was on her horn, but it still cut her breath. Rarity chocked and her throat made a silent scream in agony that turned into a cough. The blade, cold and sharp, cut through the skin and under her mane. Pinkie Pie worked the scalpel all the way down to the neck’s base and then up again. The thin hairline was soon hanging from a few tendons and skin fringes. Pinkie Pie dropped the scalpel on the surgical tray and grabbed the mane with her teeth.

“Let me get out of your hair!”

The pink pony pulled from the mane as she ripped it off, spraying blood all over the table. Rarity screamed as she stopped feeling the rustle of her mane rubbing her shoulders, the fire growing on her head and down her neck and the warm touch of thick blood licking her coat. She saw a curl disappear from over her head. Pinkie Pie released Rarity’s head from the leather strap and when the horn-less unicorn turned around, the rub of the table over her skinned head made her scream. She stopped when she saw Pinkie Pie walking in front of her, holding the purple mane with one of her front hooves. The sight made her retch as she made efforts not to throw up.

“Oooh Rarity, such lovely hair you had!” said Pinkie Pie, putting the scalped mane on her head and dancing around. “Ah la-la-la-la, la, la!”

She stopped and threw the mane over the table, next to Rarity’s chopped off horn. Pinkie Pie grabbed the scalpel again and moved to Rarity’s hind quarters. When she saw that, Rarity lost it.

“No…No! NO! NO!!! NO!!! PINKIE, NO!!! STOP!!! PLEASE STOP!!! STOP, PINKIE!!!”

Pinkie didn’t pay attention to her friend as she grabbed Rarity’s tail by the base. She whipped off the sweat covering the area as she grabbed the scalpel with her mouth and the tail between her fore hooves. Rarity felt the blade cutting her skin again, mercilessly. The cold blade burned her flesh. The sensitive area was a haze of agony as her muscles tensed, making the pain even more intense.

“You won’t get away with your tail between your legs!” joked Pinkie Pie as she grabbed Rarity’s tail base.

“Anything but that Pinkie! ANYTHING BUT THAT! NO! DON’T!!! PLEA-!!!”

Rarity couldn’t finish the line. When Pinkie Pie tugged, Rarity’s entire body locked as the strike of pain crossed her spine. The tail came off with a loud rip as a jet of dark blood covered Pinkie’s face and the bottom of the table. It sounded like fabric being torn apart. Rarity was more shocked by the sound than by the pain. Her lungs were in extreme pain and her throat was dry, making her gasp and spasm. She couldn’t talk. She swallowed what little saliva she had only to start hyperventilating again. When Pinkie Pie showed up holding the purple tail in her mouth, Rarity couldn’t hold the vomit. She turned her head to the right as she retched over the floor, the bile burnt her throat so sour it was.

“Ooooh, look Rarity!” said Pinkie as she put the tail over her nose. “I have my beloved moustache back!”

Pinkie Pie threw the tail next to the mane with a fluffy sound, as she moved away from Rarity’s point of view. The hemorrhage made Rarity lose focus. Everything beyond her legs blurred. She couldn’t see the details on the tables before her and the surgical tray was just a grey smudge. Pinkie Pie talked from behind her.

“This is gonna be such a beautiful dress! You know, back in the farm, we couldn’t have dresses. There was no money for them, not even ugly ones. It was sooooo depressing! Even the farewells were depressing! You have any idea what my dad said before he died? He left for the farm and asked me to take care of the turnips. That’s the last thing he said to me: Take care of the turnips.”

Pinkie Pie bounced back again in Rarity’s sight. She was wearing a white mask covering the front of her muzzle and had wrapped her pink mane in a surgical towel that was held down thanks to a pair of pink tweezers.

“That’s when I learnt to say hello and goodbye properly like it’s the last thing you will say to that pony! Treat your loved ones well so you won’t die feeling bad. I know my daddy felt bad when he died. I felt so bad too.” she looked depressed, but soon cheered up and asked Rarity something that sunk her heart even deeper than what already was. “What was the last thing you said to your loved ones? You remember? What was the last thing you said to Sweetie Belle?”

Rarity’s lip quivered as she tried to think straight. That morning she woke up early to take care of the orders. When she woke Sweetie Belle up to send her to class, her little sister got angry, like every morning. Still, Rarity treated her kindly. Sobbing, as she licked her lips to remove the excess of tears and mucus dripping from her nose, Rarity tried to answer.

“I…I…I s-s-s-said to h-her…H-have a g-good morning. I’ll…I w-will s-see you after l-lunch.”

Pinkie Pie lowered her eyebrows as she smiled, approving her friend’s actions.

“Awww, did you tell her you love her?” said Pinkie with an honest tone of concern.

Rarity knew she did. She always did. Sweetie Belle didn’t reply to her, though. She never replied to her, she was angry for having to go to school that early, but Rarity always shrugged it. This time, she wished she heard her sister say “I love you” one more time.

“…Y-yes.”

“Did you kiss her?”

Rarity felt something new in her: Loath for her friend Pinkie Pie. She looked at Pinkie and made no effort to hide the anger when she said the next words.

“I…G-gave her a…h-hug.”

Pinkie Pie bounced away from Rarity with a smile.

“That’s so sweet, Rarity! See? Your sister will remember you forever knowing she was loved. Me, otherwise, I will live knowing my daddy didn’t love me. That’s okay, I guess. I still have you. Well, I will have you for the next few minutes before you are gone.”

Pinkie Pie rummaged over the surgical tray and grabbed something big, circular and with a handle. It was a mirror.

“You have to see this Rarity, you’ve never looked so unique!”

Pinkie Pie held the mirror up before Rarity, who closed her eyes as tightly as possible. The skin on her head pulled when she moved her face away. She didn’t want to look at her reflection. She knew it was going to be dreadful and revolting. She didn’t want to leave this world with that last image of herself. She wanted to remember how her beautiful purple mane fell over her face and how her horn glowed on her forehead.

“No!” said Rarity. “I won’t! Leave me alone, you monster! Leave me!!!”

Pinkie pouted her lips as she brought the mirror closer and hit Rarity with it on her forehead. The hornless unicorn screamed in pain as a red stain of blood appeared over the mirror. Pinkie Pie whipped it with a cloth.

“LOOK!” demanded Pinkie Pie, her tone angrier than ever. “LOOK! Or I will cut off your eyelids!”

Rarity pondered the possibility since she was going to die anyways. In the end, she decided not to add more suffering to her misery. She opened her right eye very slowly and when she saw the reflection in the mirror she opened both eyes and choked a scream. Her head was bald. The horn had left a deep hole that looked like it had been made with a bore. She had dots of blood all over her face and around her mouth. With the pure white skin and the sunken eyes, she looked like one of her mannequins, hairless and lifeless.

“Where…” she mumbled. “Where am I?”

“Oh well, part of you is there…” said Pinkie Pie pointing to the table. “…And the rest is here.” she added while petting Rarity. “But not for long!”

Pinkie Pie took the mirror from in front of Rarity and she moved around the ground looking for something else. Rarity had a sudden urge to wipe out the blood from her head and dunk her face into a bucket of water. She wanted to run away and get cleaned up. As Pinkie Pie returned, Rarity wondered if that was what happened to Rainbow Dash. Did Pinkie Pie slaughter her to death? Why was Pinkie Pie doing this? To make…Cupcakes. Pinkie Pie showed up holding a cup of water in her hooves.

“Drink!” said Pinkie Pie with a smile.

“No.” said Rarity.

“Drink, or you will dehydrate. Come on!” said Pinkie Pie with an even bigger smile.

Rarity guessed she had no choice. Pinkie Pie would dunk the cup of water down her throat by force, so before getting more punishment she obliged. Rarity opened her mouth and Pinkie Pie poured the water down her throat. Even though Rarity welcomed the fresh liquid, it tasted foul with a touch of bitter and sweet. It also smelled raw, like fish tank water.

“Fresh, isn’t it? It’s Gummy’s favorite bath water!”

Rarity felt her stomach twist again as she started coughing and spitting. Another gush of vomit went up her throat as she emptied the water she just drank over the pile of vomit on the floor. A disgusting splatter soaked Pinkie’s hooves. She didn’t care as she moved away to drop the cup over the tray. She took a bottle of something that looked yellow and opened it. Rarity recognized the powerful smell of linseed oil. Pinkie Pie squeezed the bottle over Rarity’s belly and over her hind legs and rubbed it with her bare hooves. Rarity thrashed as she tried to make Pinkie’s task more difficult. The smell went inside her nose and made her dizzy. Pinkie Pie kept rubbing until Rarity felt oily all over her stomach, her chest and her hind quarters. The oil mixed with the blood, making her body slippery.

“I will let your skin absorb the oil. Then I can start taking your supplies.” said Pinkie Pie while throwing away the bottle.

The party pony turned around and took another thing from the tray. Rarity’s eyes widened when she saw Pinkie holding a large syringe with her mouth. It was filled with a silvery liquid. Pinkie Pie walked towards Rarity and injected the syringe on the inside part of Rarity’s hind leg above the groin. She emptied the liquid inside her body as Rarity felt her stomach twist with the sensation of the fluid getting inside her body.

“It’s a paralyzing agent.” said Pinkie Pie. “It’ll paralyze your leg while keeping your nerves awake.”

Rarity’s breath intensified as Pinkie sat down on the floor and waited patiently for the serum to take effect. Rarity felt the burn on her forehead mitigate as time passed. She looked over the table behind Pinkie as tears came to her eyes. Pinkie, noticing this, pouted her lips and tried to give her friend some conversation.

“Awwwww, don’t be sad Rarity. You know your precious mane will be used for something better. You should be happy!”

Rarity loved her mane. She took care of it every day of her life. When she was a little filly, all she needed to cheer up was puff up her curls and look at her reflection in the mirror. She couldn’t register the fact that Pinkie Pie had scalped her and turned her into a husk. She felt empty.

“Why…Why a-are you d-doing this, Pinkie?” said Rarity as she swallowed with difficulty, her throat full of spikes.

“Oh, you mean chopping off ponies?” said Pinkie Pie. “Well silly, the supplies have to come from somewhere! I don’t just mean dressing supplies, but the food!”

Rarity looked at Pinkie Pie with widened eyes.

“F-f-f…”

“Food, yeah. You know…” and Pinkie Pie put both fore hooves on her mouth as she mimicked eating noises. “Om, nom, nom, nom, nom, nom! Food has to come from somewhere. Thank the Princess there’s enough ponies here!”

“Pinkie…P-Pinkie you can’t…That’s…But…B-But…”

Pinkie Pie stood up and moved to Rarity’s leg. She hit it a couple of times to make sure there was no muscular reflex. After a few smacks on Rarity’s flank, Pinkie Pie grabbed the clamped leather straps and removed them from Rarity’s leg. The hornless unicorn saw that as a chance to kick Pinkie Pie in the face and so threw her leg against her friend’s head.

But her leg didn’t move.

It stood there, laying on the operation table as it dangled over the edge, lifeless. She felt the sharp metal edge digging in the inside of her knee joint. Pinkie Pie grabbed Rarity’s leg and placed it over the table, as she grabbed it with her fore hooves.

“Now THIS is better!” said Pinkie Pie. “I had sooooooo much trouble when I did this to Rainbow Dash. I had to electrocute her to teach her not to move. Luckily, you won’t have to go through that.”

Pinkie Pie moved to the surgical tray as Rarity made empty efforts to move her leg. It was impossible. She felt her right leg also lifeless, even though she could feel the drops of oil running down her fur. Pinkie Pie turned around with a pair of pliers in her mouth. She was holding a burning white nail with them. On one of her fore hooves she had a hammer.

“N-No…”

Pinkie Pie moved to Rarity’s leg and placed the nail on the seam between the hoof and the leg. The heat burned the fur and made a raw stench that flooded the room.

“Pinkie, please. Please! DON’T! NO! NO!!”

Pinkie Pie raised the hammer up and slammed it down on the nail so hard half of it dug inside Rarity’s flesh. The hoof made a crunchy noise and it detached from the leg with tendrils of blood and flesh still connecting them together. Rarity squealed in pain as she screamed so hard her voice turned into a wail of anguish. She coughed, gasped, swallowed saliva and screamed more. She didn’t dare look down as Pinkie kept hammering until every tendon was cut and the hoof was removed. Without even fluttering an eye, Pinkie Pie moved to the other leg and repeated the process: Remove the leather straps, grab a new burning nail, and stab it inside Rarity’s leg, removing the hoof completely. Rarity gurgled in the puddle of blood that was her throat as she felt her other hoof coming off. Pinkie Pie grabbed both of them and threw them to a trash can.

“You never looked good with horseshoes anyways.” said Pinkie with a spot-on impersonation of Rarity. “And now, for what really matters!”

Pinkie Pie grabbed a new and clean knife with her mouth as she moved to Rarity’s belly. With frightening precision she made an incision over Rarity’s crotch that circled around her waistline, passed over her legs and around her cutie mark. Pinkie made another couple of cuts, each one on the inside of Rarity’s legs. The fashion pony didn’t feel anything anymore. Her entire body was a pile of agony. The cuts didn’t add any more pain to her. Pinkie Pie stopped cutting and moved to the surgical tray, grabbed a circular blade and started digging under the skin, separating it from the muscle. The red fibrous flesh started to surface from underneath the white furry coat. Once she had removed a flap of skin, Pinkie Pie stopped and grabbed it with her teeth. She winked at Rarity as she pulled from the skin, tearing it.

Rarity screamed like she had never screamed before as her wails turned into sobs and then into gasps. She was hyperventilating as she felt a second rending of her flesh. Pinkie Pie was relentless. The pink pony pulled from the skin, turning Rarity’s flank from white to red. The cutie mark was gone. There was only quivering muscle tissue left. She pulled until the skin met with the cut she made on Rarity’s leg and tore apart. Pinkie Pie took the dangling flap of skin and shook the blood off of it. She was so happy.

“Ooh! This is awesome! Look Rarity!”

Rarity looked at Pinkie Pie, her eyesight blurred out with mist inside her eyes. Pinkie Pie had covered her left flank with Rarity’s skin. There were red smudges of blood over the pink fur and the diamond cutie mark covered the balloons of Pinkie’s. Pinkie flapped the skin up and down showing off both marks as she giggled.

“I have two talents now!” she said.

Rarity loved her cutie mark. As she looked at her skinned left leg, she started reminiscing to how she got it. Every element of that story was now gone, stripped off of her and lying over several tables before her. Pinkie Pie moved to the other leg and started pulling from the skin like she did with the other one. The muscular tissue bled over the table but not enough to empty Rarity’s body. Pinkie Pie took off the second flap of skin and laid it over the table, next to the mane and the tail. She then moved to Rarity’s head and under the table, pushed a few buttons and the table got completely horizontal respect the floor. Rarity couldn’t move from waist down and Pinkie knew this.

“Oh my, my, my, look at you Rarity! You are a mess!” said Pinkie, imitating Rarity’s voice. “I have to fix that. Your upper part has to match your lower part!”

Pinkie Pie went to the surgical tray, took another syringe and returned to Rarity’s side. She plunged the needle inside Rarity’s neck and emptied the contents at hypodermic level. The fluid spread over Rarity’s muscles and quickly paralyzed her upper limbs. Pinkie Pie removed the leather straps as she returned to take the knife she just used. Rarity had her eyes soaked in tears with trails of red and grey coming from them in waterfalls.

“Awww, Rarity…”

The Pink pony got her face close to Rarity’s and kissed her on the cheek. She passed a hoof over her cheek and under her chin as she smiled at her.

“At least yer not alone, eh? You’ll go away, being with a friend. Not everypony can say that! Eh!?”

Pinkie Pie moved to Rarity’s chest.

“My daddy certainly can’t.”

Rarity followed Pinkie Pie with her eyes as her hairless head rested over the table, the ears coated with oil and blood. Pinkie moved the knife from her mouth to both of her fore hooves as she tried to hold it with a lot of difficulty. She had to hold it like that or else she wouldn’t be able to give Rarity one last token of appreciation.

“I’ve been thinking on a song, for you! To cheer you up, I’ll sing it while I work!”

Pinkie Pie dug the knife inside Rarity’s armpit. Rarity screamed again, her screams not sounding like the screams of a pony anymore, but more like the agonizing howls of a dying animal while Pinkie Pie sang slowly.

Inch by inch,

skinning you alive.

Pinkie worked the blade towards Rarity’s neck as she traced it over the ribs, the blade scraping the bone.

Such white skin,

cutting up your muscles snip by snip.

Pinkie Pie took the blade out of Rarity’s body as she made a second incision over the sternum. The blade made the sound of nails over a chalkboard until it connected with the skinned part on Rarity’s belly.

Making sure the knife’s digging nicely.

Pinkie Pie took the knife to Rarity’s shoulders and made a circular cut on each one of them before doing another vertical cut that went all the way up to Rarity’s fore hooves. She took a moment to pass her hoof over Rarity’s coat once more.

It’s about the texture,

it’s like silk!

I just can’t believe

this skin’s so nifty

Pinkie Pie threw the knife away. She wouldn’t need it anymore. She ran to the surgical tray and pulled the circular blade from before. She dug it under Rarity’s ribs and cut through the muscles to release the skin.

Making sure it is

Correctly shifting.

Pinkie Pie laid the circular blade over the table as she moved to check Rarity. She was still breathing, her chest going up and down in rapid successions and her eyes stuck looking up to the ceiling in a catatonic state. Pinkie Pie sighed in relief as she took the skin flap between her teeth and pulled hard. The skin came off the ribs and stripped Rarity’s upper torso to a red and white freaky pattern. Rarity screamed in surprise as she looked down to see her own lungs through the thin layers of tissue and endodermic skin. Pinkie Pie pulled until her friend’s chest was skinless. She dropped the big piece of skin, shaped like a vest, next to the other skin pieces and hair pieces.

I’m skinniiiiing you aliiiiive!

Pinkie Pie took a moment to look at all her supplies. She had a wonderful set of skin and coat pieces big enough to make a full body dress for a pony. The purple mane and tail would be perfect for her new hat. The horn will look great as a complement. She had all she needed for her new dress. All that was left to do was preparing the ingredients for the next batch of cupcakes. She took a step forward as she looked at Rarity over the table. From her neck down, Rarity’s body was red with pink smudges and glistened like it had been covered in jelly. From her neck up, it was pure white like a dress making doll, and her eyes were sunk inside her skull, circled in black.

She was still alive, but not for long. Pinkie Pie grabbed another syringe and plunged in Rarity’s chest. She threw the empty syringe over the surgical tray and took out a bigger knife as she moved close to Rarity’s head.

“Well, almost done!” a perennial smile on her face. “Now I’ll just empty your body and that will be it.”

Rarity opened her eyes in abject terror as she tried to speak. The constant screaming had left her throat dry and almost unable to utter a single word. Swallowing and gasping, breathing fast, Rarity managed to mumble a few words.

“P-Pinkie…Pie…”

“Yes?” said Pinkie with a sweet smile.

A thousand thoughts crossed Rarity’s mind. She wanted to go home. She wanted to go back to Carousel Boutique and keep making dresses. She wanted to wake up from that nightmare, if it was a nightmare. She wanted to beg Pinkie Pie to stop. She wanted to clean up, or even take a sip of water or punch, even if Gummy had been swimming in it. She wanted it to end. She wanted to see her sister one more time. Her sister. Sweetie Belle.

“P-Promise…Promise me th-that…You w-won’t do this t-t-to…Sw-Sw-Sweetie Belle…”

For the first time since she started preparing Rarity for her last minutes, Pinkie Pie lost her smile. That was a very odd request. It was a promise. Rarity was her friend. Sure, she had to kill her and gut her, but she was still her friend. Pinkie Pie took that as serious as she ever did. A promise is a promise. She put down the knife on the table.

“I swear it.” said Pinkie Pie. “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!”

Pinkie Pie took back the knife as she moved between Rarity’s haunches. Rarity rested her head over the table as she enjoyed the last sips of air inside her mouth. She passed her tongue over her teeth as she felt a pressure between her legs. Pinkie Pie’s knife. Everything slowed down. Rarity looked down her body as she saw Pinkie opening a big incision in her stomach. It had the shape of the letter I. The flaps of muscle and sinew opened and Rarity saw her organs. Pinkie talked, but Rarity couldn’t understand a word she said. She cut through the conducts and the tendons holding the organs in place. She took them out one by one as she threw them inside a trash can. Rarity dropped her head down against the table as she felt her life going away.

It felt strange. She thought it would be scary, that it would terrify her. After almost one hour of sustained torture, mutilation and psychological abuse, Rarity welcomed the peaceful sensation. Everything around her eyes turned black. The last thing she saw was Rainbow Dash’s stuffed corpse. The last thought that crossed her mind was “If only I had…more time to finish those designs.” The last thing she felt was the knife sticking behind her ears and cutting down her neck.

Then, she was gone.

* * *

Pinkie Pie took the trash can out and left it ready to be taken by the Ponyville Garbage Services. She returned to her basement as she put all the pieces of skin and hair inside a bag and closed it, leaving it prepared for tomorrow. She would take them to her room and start sewing her dress. But now there was something she had to do. Something more important than any of that. She looked over the table where her friend used to be. There was nothing left but the dismembered limbs and the emptied torso. Rarity’s head lied over the table next to the centerfold. Her eyes were closed.

Pinkie Pie ignored it and walked to the next room.

She switched the lights on.

On the wall there was a panel that was as wide and tall as the wall itself. It was full of squares, and each square had a photo and a name. Every pony in Ponyville was registered there. Many of the photos had a red mark over them. Pinkie Pie put her hoof inside a bucket of red paint and placed it over Rarity’s photo. She felt a touch of sadness hitting her. As she looked down, feeling somewhat depressed, she looked back at the panel and looked for Sweetie Belle’s photo. She placed her hoof, leaving a red marking as well. She then moved to the party hat and took Sweetie Belle’s number out of it.

“A promise is a promise, Rarity.” said Pinkie Pie.

Pinkie Pie cleaned her hoof and left the room, switching the lights off. She moved to one of the tables in the butchering room and sat down in front of it. There was a notebook covered in pink stickers and pretty pictures of flowers and clouds. She opened it. It was full of recipes.

“Okay!” said Pinkie Pie with a sudden burst of happiness. “I have a perfect name for your cupcakes, Rarity! I bet yer gonna love it!”

Pinkie took a pencil between her lips as she wrote in big letters the name of her new recipe.

“Petit…Four…” she said. “Mmmm, that sounds so fancy... It’s perfect.”

Pinkie Pie absorbed herself into her own thoughts as she began writing down the recipe while the night passed away.

THE END.

Friendship Is Malice

by ShakeBunny

What happens when a pony loses every one of her friends? Does she get them back? Does she find a way to make new ones? Does she become depressed? Does she become a loner? It is possible, yes, but which scenario is most probable? What happens to a pony who has lost everything and everypony she’s ever loved? Well, the most probable outcome of such an event would be for the pony to recover. She would be able to pick up the pieces of her broken life, make them into something good, but in the case of Ms. Pinkamena Diane Pie… well… some ponies can’t handle the pressure of the most concrete things in their lives, such as their friendships, exploding around them. Some ponies allow their hearts to blacken. They allow hate and animosity to course through their veins. Instead of looking up in the midst of becoming an outcast, some ponies, ponies like Pinkie, allow themselves to crack.

Pinkie was a good pony. I’ll go ahead and stress that. She WAS a good pony, but her world turned upside down the day she thought she had lost all of her friends. Even though she was simply misled, she was unable to go back to the way she was. The events leading up to her birthday party that faithful day set her on a path of self-discovery, and self-destruction that nopony around her was guaranteed to survive. She was going to make them pay for what they had done, and then some.

Some ponies say we should be weary of the friends we make. They say we should be certain of who they really are before we allow them to enter our lives, because not all ponies can be trusted. Friendship is a powerful thing, but I’ve grown to understand just how deadly such a force can be when neglected. I urge you to respect and love the friends you make with all that you are, because although not all friendships last; there are those who aren’t willing to let go so easily.

Now, you’ve asked me to tell her story. I assure you I will do my best in recounting the events that led up to the most heinous killing spree Equestria has ever known, but I am going to warn you now; it isn’t pretty. Some monsters are made, but there are those who are born with a glint of insanity in their eyes.

So, if you’re mare enough, take a seat, strap yourself in, and double-check your ability to handle such content, because there’s no un-telling what I’m about to share with you. You’ve asked for my help, and now you’re going to get it, like it or not. Be sure to take notes, because I will not be repeating myself.

---

It was a summer night, yet unnaturally cold. One would expect the pegasus ponies to have had that in check, but I believe that this time, it was out of their control. This cold, this unrelenting, unforgiving torment of seemingly sub-zero temperature was in itself the personification of Ms. Pinkie’s heart, whose life had been altered forever that day. As I said before, it had been her birthday, during which she was avoided by all of her closest friends in order to assure her surprise party would not be spoiled. At the end of the day, her fear of losing all of her friends was put to rest when the five of them revealed the motive behind their seemingly heartless actions in the form of her surprise party. And, although the friendship she shared with the five did in fact turn out to be genuine, the way they had treated her prior to the celebration became the key that unlocked the most evil part of her. I speak in fact, of Pinkamena, who allowed her presence to be known to Pinkie that cold night.

She was sleeping snuggly in her warm bed, wrapped with extra blankets to counter the unexpected change in weather when she heard a faint voice ring through her ears.

“They lied to us, all of them. Are we really going to let that slide?”

Pinkie, still dreaming, answered the mysterious voice in between snores and grumbles.

“Mmm, they only lied to keep my party a secret. No harm done. It was a surprise party after all.”

“I would call it mediocre at best. They didn’t really try to make the party a good one, the way we always do. It seemed as though they threw the whole thing together at the last minute, because they don’t really care about us.”

“Of course they do silly filly. They’re my friends,” Pinkie retorted, still sleeping like a rock.

“Hmm, some friends they are. That orange one lied right to our face, the blue one ran away from us the second she saw us, the white and the purple ones were sneaking around with packages, trying to keep them from us, and that stupid yellow one… don’t get me started on her. If you ask me, they’re despicable excuses for friends, and they need to be punished for their crimes.”

With that, Pinkie’s consciousness began to amplify. “What do you mean? It was all for my party. They did all of that for me, silly fi—“

The voice in her head cut her off.

“Don’t call me that, and stop defending such foals. We need to take care of them before they do anything else to hurt us. They need to be killed.”

Pinkie’s muscles spiked with tension, shooting her out of her slumber.

“Is anypony there?”

No answer.

It was dark and quiet all alone in her room. Well… all alone expect for Gummy, who was dreaming away next to Pinkie in her bed.

“That was an odd dream,” Pinkie thought to herself, “I don’t know if I’ll ever get back to sleep after tha—“

Pinkie sank like a stone into the bliss of unconsciousness before she was able to finish the thought. She plopped back down against her pillow, bouncing Gummy out of his sleep. He laid awake the rest of the night, staring at Pinkie with his entrancing alligator eyes.

---

The next morning, Pinkie Pie could have been found in the apple orchard on the edge of Ponyville. She and Rainbow Dash had planned on spending the morning pulling pranks on various ponies for their own amusement, and unlucky Applejack was number one on their list.

“Ooh, this is going to be so good!” The excitement in Rainbow’s voice was prevalent. “When Applejack comes out here to clean up the barn, she’ll get hit with a bucket of water the second she opens the door! Classic!”

She was laughing at just the thought of seeing a soaked applejack. Pinkie, on the other hoof, was caught up speaking to the voice in her head. She kept hearing it. Since waking up that morning, it had continued to urge her to hurt others while haunting her with its evil laugh.

“This is perfect! We have her alone, and nopony else knows the three of us are here! Let’s lure her into the barn. You can distract her while I hit her from behind, and tie her up. And, when she wakes, we can throw her into the orange one’s wood chipper, and laugh together as it slowly pulls her in while she screams for mercy! The blood and bits of pony spraying all over is sure to be a treat! Ooh, we could even have a splash fight in the remains! This is going to be so much fun!”

“No!” Pinkie Pie screamed. “We’re not going to hurt her, okay?”

Rainbow Dash was confused. “Uh, Pinkie Pie, you know it’s not going to hurt Applejack, right? We’re just getting her a little wet is all.”

Dash’s reply went unanswered as the voice in Pinkie’s head continued to scheme.

“And, when we’re done playing we can have some to eat! But, I have dibs on the wings, okay? Those are my favorite. But, you can have some of the legs if you like. No, wait, what am I talking about!? She’s going to be mush! We’ll just have to share the whole thing!”

The voice’s lamented laugh echoed through Pinkie Pie’s mind as she screamed in protest.

“I said ‘NO,’ okay!”

It was obvious to Rainbow Dash that Pinkie wasn’t addressing her. She swooped down in front of the pink pony, waving her hoof in front of Pinkie’s face.

“Uh… Pinkie Pie? You Okay? You don’t seem like it.”

The voice was quiet long enough for Pinkie to address Rainbow.

“Yeah, of course silly!” Pinkie Pie smiled, knowing she couldn’t tell Dash about the voice, or what it had wanted her to do. “But, I’m feeling kind of under the weather. I think I ate too many cupcakes last night. Is it okay if we cut our plans for this morning short? I need to go home and rest.”

Rainbow Dash, now concerned for Pinkie’s health rather than her random outbursts, was more than happy to oblige. “Yeah, it’s cool Pinkie. Go home and rest up if you don’t feel well. We can do this another time.”

“Thanks Rainbow Dash. I’ll see you again when I’m feeling better. Promise.”

And with that, Pinkie Pie hastily ran off, making her way to Sugar Cube Corner.

“What are you doing? You’re letting her get away!”

---

Wasn’t it just a dream? How could she still be hearing the voice when she was clearly awake? It didn’t make any sense. What did this voice want from Pinkie? Moreover, who was telling her to do these awful things?

Pinkie had run a fair distance away before losing her breath. She was then walking slowly towards her home making her way through the busy marketplace as the voice continued to speak with her.

“I can’t believe we missed such a great opportunity! She was right there, and the two of us could have easily overpowered her! Weren’t you listening to me? I mean, don’t you want to get back at her for lying to you? Don’t you just want to stab her in the chest with the biggest, sharpest knife we can find and watch the life fade from her eyes for being so cold?”

Pinkie couldn’t stand it anymore. “Why do you want me to hurt everypony so badly!? They’re not bad; you are! Leave me alone, and go bother somepony else with your meanie mouth!”

Pinkie Pie’s newest outburst had come at the least opportune moment. The ponies around her stopped what they were doing, and had begun to stare as she waged war with the demon residing in the dark corners of her psyche.

Among the concerned ponies witnessing her breakdown was none other than Applejack, the very same pony she and Rainbow Dash had attempted to prank only minutes ago. She must have gotten to the market early that morning to catch the morning rush of ponies blowing through. Applejack had been selling her family’s apples at her usual stand in the marketplace when she noticed Pinkie’s more random and more concerning than normal behavior.

Pinkie, now muttering under her breath as opposed to screaming, was still arguing with herself as she neared Applejack’s stand.

Applejack, worried her friend may have finally lost it, decided to intervene. She stepped out from around her stand in front of Pinkie Pie, who was too caught up in her argument to realize where she was going. Her nose bumped into a firmly grounded Applejack, snapping her out of her torment.

“Pinkie Pie? You okay, Sugar Cube? You’re a pretty random pony, that’s for sure, but Ah ain’t ever seen you creepin’ ‘round like this, talkin’ to yourself ‘bout hurtin’ other ponies.”

Pinkie looked up at Applejack as the voice chimed in.

“Kill her. Hold her down to the ground by the neck until she stops squirming. I don’t care if everypony sees; she deserves it. Please, let me do it. I want to feel her windpipe crush under the weight of my hooves.”

Pinkie ignored the voice this time, barely realizing Applejack had been talking to her.

“Huh?” Pinkie squeaked. “Oh, um… I’m fine,” She lied as a crowd formed around her and Applejack.

“You sure, Pinkie? ‘Cause y’all can tell me if there’s somethin’ messin’ with ya.”

Pinkie continued to lie. She couldn’t let anypony know what was going on, especially since she wasn’t so sure of what was happening herself. “Yes, I’m fine!” She threw on a shell of her usual personality to keep Applejack satisfied. “I just have to…. I’m late for planning a party! Gotta go!”

Pinkie galloped away even faster than she had from Rainbow Dash, leaving the crowd of confused ponies staring at an equally confused Applejack. What could be bothering her?

“That pony ain’t right,” Applejack thought to herself as she watched Pinkie make her way home.

---

Finally, Pinkie had made her way back up to her apartment. Mr. and Mrs. Cake were out, so she didn’t have to worry about the voice harassing her to torture them.  In their absence the Cakes left Pinkie a tray of cupcakes to have for lunch. The pony went up to her room, taking the tray with her, closing the windows, shutting out the light, and locking the door behind her. And… that’s when she broke down. The evil voice’s constant rattling of her sanity finally did its trick. As she sat with her back against her door, tears began to stream down her face in a wave of terror and confusion. Was she going crazy? Was she already crazy? She had to know for sure, and the only way to be certain was to get the answers she needed from that dark corner of her mind that wanted her friends to die.

 “H-hey…. Evil Voice Lady? Are you there?” Pinkie was hoping not to hear the voice reply. She was hoping that perhaps it had gone away, or maybe that it never existed in the first place, but she wasn’t so lucky.

“I’m here, Pinkie. I’m here.”

What was wrong with her? Was she really talking to a voice in her own head? It couldn’t be possible, could it? She couldn’t believe it, but she had to keep going. She continued to question the voice.

“Can we talk a little? I mean, today has got me thinking all funny, and I really need some help figuring things out.”

“Of course, Pinkie. Anything for my beloved sister.”

“S-sister? But…. I don’t have a sister, do I?” Somehow, Pinkie began to feel more comfortable speaking with the voice given this new information. Thinking of the voice as a sister, or at the very least just another pony, made it seem far less demonic.

“Yes, Pinkie Pie. My name is Pinkamena Diane Pie. I am your older sister. It’s so nice to finally meet you! I’ve been waiting for this moment for so very long little sister!”

The idea of having a sister, even if she was only a homicidal voice in Pinkie’s own head seemed almost comforting for a moment. She thought, maybe if she could convince her sister to be nice, if she could show her sister what it was like to be good instead of evil, then perhaps they could grow to be friends. But first, she had to figure out why Pinkamena wanted her friends dead. She didn’t want to ask, but she knew she had to.

“S-sister, Pinkamena? I have a question.”

“Go on. You know you can ask me anything.”

Pinkie’s fear of the unknown began to build up once again. “Well, you don’t seem to think very highly of my friends. They really aren’t bad ponies you know. Why do you want to hurt them? I mean, can’t we just get along with them the way I always do?”

“NO!”

Pinkamena, who had remained surprisingly docile for this short exchange, immediately lost her temper at the thought of being nice to the rest of the ponies. She could never be civil with such revolting creatures. Never.

“You really don’t get it, do you? They AREN’T our friends. They don’t like us; they never did. As a matter of fact, I’m almost certain they HATE us. I mean did you see the way the orange one looked at us today in the market? We we’re just talking, the way sisters should, but she and the rest of the ponies around looked at us like we were a couple of freaks! You know, I was wrong. It’s not just those five ponies you call our friends that need to be punished. They all need to die. I want to take them, one by one, and skin them alive while they beg for me to let them go. I want to tie one up, rest a chainsaw on its chest, and let the weight of it slowly carve into their face as I shower in their blood and screams. I want to take a pegasus pony by the wings and-- ”

Pinkie’s tolerance for Pinkamena’s murderous rants had by that point lowered to zero. “Shut up! I said we aren’t hurting anypony, and we’re not going to! You keep you evil meanie thoughts to your grumpy self, because I’m not listening anymore!” Pinkie proceeded to cram her hooves as far into her ears as she possibly could manage.

“Blah blah la la la! I’m not listening! I can’t hear you anymore!”

Pinkamena wasn’t about to stand for such childishness. She had been locked away for so long, and she wasn’t about to let the only pony able to hear her act this way.

“STOP! I won’t let you shut me out again! You let me out for the first time in years yesterday, and I’m never going back in! You can scream as much as you want, but I’m never going away, and I am NEVER going to be nice!”

Amidst the shouting and antics, Gummy emerged from Pinkie Pie’s closet, the door cracked slightly.

Pinkie had stopped yelling long enough to notice him. “G-gummy? What are you doing in the dark all by yourself, little guy?”

The baby alligator didn’t give a reply. He simply gazed back through the darkness in Pinkie’s general direction while his eyes blinked independently of one another.

“Hey! Don’t ignore your big sister when she’s talking to you! I don’t want to be alone again. I can’t stand it! I just need somepony to talk to, so I won’t have to be by myself anymore. So, just talk to me, please? Be a good little sister and do what I ask. Say something! Talk to me!”

“I said shut up! I want you to go away!”

In a fit of anger and frustration, Pinkie Pie grabbed the nearest object, a cupcake from her tray, and threw it away from herself as hard as she could. The cupcake rocketed towards Gummy, exploding upon impact with the wall next to him. The timid alligator, frightened by the barrage of baked goods, scurried back into the closet from where he had emerged only moments ago.

Pinkie, tears still flowing, looked down at her hooves. “What is wrong with me?”

“Wrong? That was perfect! Though, it is a shame you missed. If you had it square in the face, it may have been enough to so some serious damage. I’ve always hated that little monster.”

“Monster?” Pinkie thought to herself.

“No sister, I’m the monster.”

Pinkie Pie spent the rest of the day sitting there with her sister. They didn’t say much. There wasn’t anything else to say beyond that point. Besides, Pinkie was too appalled at what she had done to her little pet to say anything more.

Pinkamena remained silent for another reason. She was just satisfied in knowing her little sister was capable of aggression. She felt confident she would be able to bring Pinkie over to her side so long as she pressed hard enough. Her plan was working, but she wasn’t going to have to step up her game if she was ever going to win Pinkie over. It was time for her to be the one pulling the strings again.

---

From that point on, Pinkie Pie was a changed pony. All she could think about was frightened little Gummy, who wouldn’t dare get near her after what she had done. What she had actually hit him? What if she had killed him? She would never be able to recover from that. She would never be able to forgive herself if she ever hurt a living creature.

This was what Pinkamena had been waiting so long for. As Pinkie’s sanity degraded, her influence over the pink pony continued to grow. But, her little sister had something deeply ingrained in her that she wasn’t going to be able alter. Pinkie Pie was a good pony to the core. She would never allow herself to harm anything, or anypony.

Pinkie’s fear of losing control of her actions again had confined the two sisters to their apartment above the bakery for weeks. Any attempts by other ponies to get Pinkie to come outside were met with hostility. Pinkie was going to stay in that room forever as far as she was concerned. She was never going to hurt somepony, and she was never going to let her sister do the same.

Pinkie’s only interaction with other ponies was through the Cakes, who would bring her food, and relay messages from her friends.

Mrs. Cake knocked on Pinkie’s door with a tray of cupcakes balancing on her head. “Deary? I have some treats for you. Oh, and one of your little friends, Fluttershy, wanted me to tell you something.”

The door remained closed, but Mrs. Cake could hear Pinkie’s faint voice. “T-thanks for the treats. I appreciate them. Please leave them by the door, and I’ll help myself later.”

Mrs. Cake sighed. “Sweetie, it’s been three weeks since you came out of there. Don’t you miss your friends? That’s what Fluttershy wanted me to tell you. She and the rest of you little friends miss you very much, and want to see you.”

Pinkie did miss her friends. All she wanted to do was go out and play with them again… but she knew she couldn’t. She was a dangerous pony. Who knows what would happen if she lost it while somepony else was around? “T-thank you for the message, but I don’t want to go outside today.”

“Are you sure Deary? Because, Fluttershy said she really, really—“

Pinkie chimed in. “Leave me alone, please. I’m not coming out.”

Mrs. Cake obliged, hanging her head down in disappointment as she made her way back downstairs.

---

She tells me her life went on like that for a while. She wasn’t sure how long, but it seemed like months to her. She couldn’t go outside and do what she wanted, because she had somepony holding her back. But, even though Pinkie showed no signs of ever coming back outside, her friends never gave up on her. They would consistently make attempts to speak with her.

Pinkie tells me their lives stuck in the apartment were very dull. She told me they would rarely do much other than speak with one another. It seems they were never able to agree on much, other than their interest in baking, though Pinkie wouldn’t allow them to go downstairs in fear of the Cakes or somepony else being there. She couldn’t let anypony get hurt.

“Please? I know you’re so good at making cakes and desserts. I’ve always wanted to try. I promise I’ll be good. I promise I won’t say anything mean. We’ve been in here so long. This time in solitude with you has gotten me thinking. Perhaps… perhaps the other ponies aren’t so bad. I don’t feel much like hurting them anymore. I just want to spend some time with my sister. So… is it okay if we go downstairs and bake for a little while?”

Pinkamena had tried this trick on her many times before, so Pinkie was quite hesitant to go downstairs. Yet, she really didn’t like being cooped up in her apartment all day, and her sister did sound sincere this time. Maybe, it wouldn’t be so bad to go downstairs to bake something nice for a change.

Pinkie addressed her sister. “You promise you’ll be good? I really want to go outside, too, but we’re not going anywhere until you promise you’ll be on your best behavior. And, we’re only going downstairs for a little while to bake, and then it’s right back here, got it?”

“Yes, yes, I understand. I promise to be a good little pony. I just want to learn how you make those lovely sweets.”

Pinkie was unsure of whether or not she could trust her sister, but after being stuck in there for so long, the thought of even going downstairs for an hour or two felt so enticing. It was worth the risk, just this one time. Who knows? Perhaps Pinkamena was telling the truth. Perhaps their time alone together had really changed her for the better. Pinkie put a smile on her face, and agreed to let the two of them go downstairs, so she could teach her sister how to bake. “Okay, but you be good.”

---

Pinkie was so very ready to leave the apartment. She wasn’t going outside, but even just seeing the first floor of the bakery again really brought up her spirits. As the two slowly made their way down the staircase connecting the two floors of the building, Pinkie caught a glimpse of an orange-haired pony standing at the front counter.

She froze.

“I’m sorry, but we can’t go down there today.”

Pinkamena was obviously upset with her sister’s decision.

“But, I really want to learn how you bake. Please?”

Pinkie stood her ground with the decision she had made. “No, we can’t. Somepony is down there.”

She just couldn’t take the risk. What would she do if Pinkamena really wasn’t sincere in her words? She couldn’t allow the other pony to get hurt. “I’m sorry, but we have to go upstairs.”

Pinkamena pressed on, dying to get out of the apartment.

“Please? I promised I was going to behave. I’ve changed, honest! You’re going to have to trust me around other ponies if we expect to ever move past how I used to be. All I want to do is bake! I promise to be your faithful student, sister. I just want to learn!”

Her sister had an excellent point. She was going to have to trust her sister if she ever wanted things to go back to the way they used to be. She was still very hesitant, but trusting enough of her sister’s intentions to oblige her. “Okay, sister, but I’m keeping my eye on you.”

Pinkamena was elated.

“Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you! I promise I won’t let you down! I’ll be on my best behavior!”

Pinkie smiled, believing her sister’s words. She continued down the stairs to the bakery.

Standing at the counter was Carrot Top, who had heard Pinkie’s entire exchange with her sister. She was well aware of Pinkie’s odd behavior, as word of what had happened with Pinkie spread through Ponyville rather quickly. She promptly addressed her regarding her unexpected appearance.

“P-Pinkie Pie? You’re… you’re out of your apartment. Is everything okay?”

Pinkie Pie, finally feeling happy and bubbly for the first time in ages, reassured the concerned pony. “Of course, silly! I’m feeling a lot like my old self again, and I’m ready to get baking again!” She flashed her famous wide-eyed grin at Carrot Top, which was enough to assure her Pinkie was finally back to normal.

Carrot Top confident that Pinkie was okay, explained that she needed to place an order for a cake, a carrot cake, something Pinkie Pie had never baked before. Pinkie Pie informed Carrot Top that she didn’t know how to make a carrot cake. It wasn’t a very popular flavor around Ponyville, and it was Mrs. Cake who generally filled orders for them.

“Oh, I can assure you in isn’t very difficult. If you don’t mind, I’d love to teach you. I would have made it myself, but I simply don’t have the proper equipment.”

Pinkie stopped to think about her sister. Could she really be trusted? She wasn’t sure, but the only way to know was to trust her at least one time. She would just have to watch her closely to insure Carrot Top wouldn’t get hurt. “Sure! I’d love to learn!”

Pinkie proceeded to lead Carrot Top around the counter, into the kitchen.

---

“Okay, before we get started, I’ll need you to wash your hooves in the sink. We don’t want anything icky getting into the cake.” Pinkie smiled at Carrot Top, who made her way to the sink to wash up.

Pinkamena couldn’t help but keep her eye on the other pony. This opportunity was exactly what she had been waiting so long for. It was time for her to make her move, but she couldn’t do anything without her sister’s permission. She was going to have to trick her if she wanted to get anywhere.

“Um, sister? I should wash my hooves, too, right? Like you said, a pony needs to be sure she’s clean before she starts baking. We don’t want anything getting into the mix, yes?”

Pinkie was happy to see her sister actively trying to learn her craft. “Yes, sister. You’re absolutely right! Go ahead and wash up next to Carrot Top, and then we’ll get started.”

And… that’s all it took. The simple go ahead from Pinkie Pie was all Pinkamena needed to take control of their body. Pinkie felt a numbness course through her. She was still moving, but she wasn’t the one pulling the strings anymore. “S-sister, what’s going on? Why can’t I move?”

Pinkamena’s demeanor changed completely. She had been lying to her sister the entire time.

“Calm down, sister. Everything is going to be fine, trust me. I’m just going to have a little fun.”

Pinkie was terrified of what her sister was planning to do. “Run! Get out of here before she hurts you!” She yelled to Carrot Top as much and as loud as she could, but it was no use. She was now the one locked inside. Her screams did nothing more than ring inside her sister’s head. There was nothing she could do to save the unsuspecting pony.

Pinkamena didn’t waste any time. After years of being trapped inside, she was finally free. She made her way over to the kitchen’s knife block, pulling out the largest, sharpest knife available.

Carrot Top was still busy scrubbing her hooves across the room. She wanted to be sure she got them nice and clean, as she had been walking around outside a while before visiting the bakery. When she finally finished, she turned around to see Pinkie Pie only a couple feet away from her, holding a very large knife. She was smiling, but not the same as before. This smile was brimming with evil and ill intention. Carrot Top’s heart began to race, almost unable to address the pink pony.

“P-Pinkie Pie? Is everything okay?”

Pinkamena didn’t say anything. She didn’t move. She just stood there, grimacing while she sized up her prey.

Carrot Top felt cold. This wasn’t the same pony who invited her to bake with her. This pony was pure evil. She had to get out of there. “Pinkie… I think I need to go. I just remembered I have somewhere else I need to be.”

Pinkamena continued to stare, knife in hoof.

“You aren’t leaving this kitchen. You promised you would teach me to bake.”

She had to get out of there. She couldn’t hesitate anymore. This pony couldn’t be trusted. “Pinkie, I’m sorry, but I really ha—“

Before she could finish, Pinkamena lunged forward with lightening speed. She plunged the knife deep into Carrot Top’s chest, pinning her on the ground.

She tried to scream, but all she could muster up was a faint wheezing noise. The knife had pierced one of her lungs.

Pinkamena couldn’t believe she was finally getting to do all of this. She pressed all of her weight onto the knife as she sat on top of Carrot Top, peering deep, deep into the dying pony’s eyes.

“How does it feel? Does it hurt?”

Carrot Top couldn’t say anything. Her hooves squirmed and clopped frantically against the tile flooring in attempt to escape from Pinkie, but the weight was too much for her to overcome. She stared into her attacker’s eyes while her own filled with tears, blood gurgling out from her mouth.

Pinkamena pressed her muzzle against Carrot Top’s as she continued to force the knife deeper into the pony’s flesh. She wriggled it about, causing blood to pour out from the wound.

“It must hurt! Look at all of this blood! It’s beautiful! We’re having so much fun!”

Pinkamena began to laugh hysterically. Her eyes widened even further as she continued to stare down the helpless pony.

Carrot Top continued to struggle, but it was no use. She was growing very cold. Her attempts to escape became weaker as her strength left her. Blood continued to spill out of her mouth and nostrils as she choked on her own fluids. She squeezed her eyes closed, and tensed up as much as she could, this being the only way for her to express the extreme amount of pain she was in.

Pinkamena kept staring, but said nothing more. She could feel adrenaline course through her veins as she pressed the knife in more and more. She shifted her weight, letting the knife carve through the pony, down towards her abdomen.

That was all it took. The widening of the wound caused blood to gush out of Carrot Top even faster than it had been before. The pain was unbearable, but thankfully for her sake, her moment of terror was nearly over. With Pinkamena’s final slice into her chest, she squirmed with all of her remaining strength in one last futile attempt to get away, blood very audibly gurgling through her throat. And with that, she fell lifeless. Eyes open, her head fell back down to the floor, staring blankly through her murderer.

But, even though Carrot Top was no longer alive, Pinkamena wasn’t finished. She continued laughing as she pressed the knife deeper and deeper into the corpse. Poor Pinkie could do nothing but watch her sister’s actions in absolute terror from her front-row seat within her own head.

“Oh sister, isn’t this so much fun!?”

Pinkie didn’t say anything. She was unable to process exactly what had just happened.

Pinkamena ignored her sister’s lack of a response, and continued to focus on Carrot Top’s body. She lifted her weigh up off of the knife, removing it from the corpse’s chest cavity. A small waterfall of blood trickled down either side of the lifeless pony’s chest, adding to the already completely crimson stained flooring beneath them.

She rolled off of her victim into the pool of warm blood, letting it soak her shiny pink coat. Adrenaline continued to course through her coupled with high levels of dopamine, giving her a feeling of unmatched ecstasy as she rolled about on the floor.

“This feels so good! I bet it takes even better!”

Pinkamena promptly picked herself up off the floor, once again mounting the corpse. She leaned in towards the gigantic gash in Carrot Top’s chest, licking up blood as her weight forced more and more to come gushing out. She let the fluid linger in her mouth before gulping it down, and going back for more.

“Oh my! The taste is delightful! It’s even better than I thought it would be! Sister! You have to try this!”

Pinkie Pie said nothing. She was paralyzed having witnessed her sister murder a good friend in cold blood. Was it really happening? Could it have all been a dream, or a horrific nightmare? No. It was real, and Carrot Top was dead. Her blood covered nearly every inch of the formally blue and white tile.

She watched as her sister continued to frantically lick from her friend’s wound. The image of the gash spilling copious amounts of blood, only to be soaked up by her own tongue slowly faded to black as she lost the ability to stay conscious.

---

“Sister! Wake up! We have to clean this up before somepony sees!”

A confused, disorientated Pinkie answered her sister’s plea. “Hmm… wha?”

“Sister! GET UP!”

The order rang through Pinkie’s skull. She groaned. The taste of blood and vomit lined her mouth. She slowly blinked her eyes open, revealing a view of the kitchen ceiling above her. “What’s going on?”

“Now! We don’t have much time!”

Pinkie sat up, and that’s when saw it. Her friend’s lifeless corpse, covered in its own blood, staring back at her. She shot up to a standing position, slowly backing away from the grizzly scene. Her mouth hung down in horror, leaving her barely able to say anything.

“She’s dead. We… we killed her.”

Images of her sister savagely murdering Carrot Top flooded her mind as she struggled to keep her balance. She fell forward into the blood on the floor, it covering up the blood that had already dried around her mouth. She screamed, and wriggled away from the body, pressing her back up against the cabinet behind her.

“Snap out of it! We have to get rid of this fast!”

Pinkie didn’t reply. All she could do was stare as the image of her dead friend scorched itself into her memory. What was she going to do?

“SISTER!”

Pinkie opened her mouth. “P-please, make it go away.”

Again, this green light was all Pinkamena needed. She stood up away from the cabinet as she regained control over their body.

She had to take care of this fast. She immediately ran to the entrance of the bakery, locking the doors. That would be enough to buy her the time she needed to get rid of the body. She rushed back to the kitchen, and grabbed Carrot Top by her hind legs. She began to pull the body out of the kitchen, up the stairs to Pinkie’s apartment, leaving a trail of blood marking her path. Carrot Top’s head thudded against each step as Pinkamena struggled to get her to the second floor. When she finally made it to the apartment, she immediately wrapped the body in one of her many blankets, a red one, and promptly stuffed the corpse under Pinkie’s bed. She spent the next few hours hastily yet thoroughly scrubbing the building from top to bottom to remove any traces of blood.

When she was finished, she made her way upstairs to draw a bath. The building was spotless, but her coat was still soaked with blood. Once the tub had filled, Pinkamena hopped in. The tinge of the water quickly went from clear, to pink, to red as the blood began to wash off of her. Now that the mess had finally been cleaned, she attempted to speak with her sister, who had been completely silent for the past few hours as Pinkamena cleaned up the mess she had made.

“Sister, please say something. You’re worrying me.”

Pinkie answered, her tone catatonic. “She is dead.”

“That’s right, sister.”

Pinkamena refrained from delving into the details of the murder, in fear of shutting her sister out again.

“Are you going to be okay?”

Pinkie didn’t answer.

“…Sister?”

Pinkie stayed silent a few seconds longer, before letting out another lifeless reply. “We can’t… we can’t do this.”

Pinkamena almost felt bad for acting so impulsively. She didn’t mean to traumatize her little sister. She just wanted to have some fun. She didn’t many any real harm, honest.

“I… I’m sorry for scaring you. I should have known you would have gotten scared, but I couldn’t help myself. Please forgive me.”

Again, Pinkie Pie didn’t answer. She couldn’t allow her sister to do anything like what she had witnessed ever again. She had to be stopped. Her sister had to die.

“…Sister?”

---

A few days passed with no word from Pinkie Pie to Mr. and Mrs. Cake, or any other pony, but this was normal by then. Even so, it was time for one of Pinkie’s friends to check in on her. This turn was Twilight Sparkle’s, who was approaching the bakery’s front door. She let herself in, triggering the bell attached to the front door to jingle.

“Hello? Mrs. Cake? It’s Twilight. I just came to check up on Pinkie Pie.”

No answer.

The Cakes must have been out again. Twilight took it upon herself to check on her friend, something she had done many times before in the Cakes’ absence. She made her way up the stairs to Pinkie Pie’s apartment. It seemed every light in the building was shut off.

Twilight approached Pinkie’s door, which was surprisingly cracked open slightly.

“That’s odd,” Twilight thought to herself, “Pinkie’s door is always shut.”

She put one hoof on the door, and opened it slowly, only to reveal more darkness. She peered into the pitch black room when she noticed two little, shiny white spheres in the corner near Pinkie’s closet. One of the spheres blinked, followed shortly by the other.

It was Gummy. He was focusing his gaze upwards, towards the center of the room.

Twilight smiled as she addressed Gummy. “Hey there little guy. Do you know where your owner is?”

Gummy did nothing to acknowledge Twilight’s presence. He simply continued to gaze upwards towards the center of the room, his eyes fixated on something far more important than her.

“What could he be looking at?” Twilight thought. She placed her hoof on the inner wall of the room, feeling around for the light switch. When she flicked it on, it became immediately clear what Gummy had been focusing all of his attention on.

Twilight let out a blood-curdling scream, and collapsed to her knees.

It was Pinkie Pie. She was hanging by her neck from the ceiling fan in the middle of the room. She had hung herself using a bundle of red, yellow, and blue streamers.

Twilight watched in horror as the fan began to slowly spin with her friend attached, as if to showcase her lifeless body. Gummy followed the motion of his owner with his head as she slowly circled around, head hung down, eyes closed.

Twilight couldn’t move. She couldn’t scream. She felt completely helpless and paralyzed as she watched Pinkie’s body rotate above her. Pinkie’s hooves hung motionless at her sides, her poufy tail falling parallel to her hind legs. The two watched Pinkie’s body dance around the room for several minutes, before something unexpected happened.

Pinkie’s tail twitched.

Twilight blinked, snapping herself out of her traumatized state. She peered closer at Pinkie’s tale.

It twitched again.

Then, without any further warning, the streamers hoisting Pinkie up snapped, causing her to crash to the floor beneath the ceiling fan.

She began coughing, choking.

She was still alive.

Twilight ran over to her friend, quickly tearing off the remaining knot of streamers blocking Pinkies airflow.

“Pinkie!” Twilight shook her friend. “Pinkie! You’re alive!”

The half-dead pony fluttered her eyes open, seeing the purple unicorn trying to get through to her.

“P-Pinkie?”

A sigh of relief rushed through Twilight. “You’re alive!” She repeated the phrase several times. “Are you okay?”

Pinkamena groaned, stretching her hooves skyward.

“I-I can move.”

Twilight addressed her friend. “Good! That’s good! You’re going to be okay!”

“You… you can hear me?”

This question puzzled Twilight, but she was more than happy to answer her friend, whom she was simply happy to have alive. “Of course I can.”

Pinkamena didn’t understand. What had happened? Why was she in control? Where was Pinkie?

She groaned again.

“What happened?”

Twilight looked down at her obviously confused friend. She put a hoof on her shoulder. “Don’t worry about that, okay? The only thing that matters is that you’re safe. We need to get you to the hospital.”

---

“So, then what happened?”

No point in asking me. You know exactly what happened after that. Shortly after Pinkie recovered, ponies began unexplainably disappearing from Ponyville. I’d rather not have to relive the Hell she brought on us all, Princess.

“But… Applebloom, I don’t understand. What happened?”

Isn’t it obvious, Princess? Pinkie, having witnessed her sister murder Carrot Top in cold blood had to take action to stop Pinkamena from killing again. The only course of action she was certain to stop her was to kill Pinkamena, but it wasn’t going to be that easy. The two inhabited one body, meaning they both had to go. Pinkie Pie decided to hang herself in order to kill her sister, but her plan didn’t work as she had hoped.

Pinkie Pie’s suicide attempt was successful. She is dead, but her sister remains. All that’s left of that pony is a blood-thirsty monster. Anything and everything we know of the old Pinkie Pie died as intended when she hung herself that day. Pinkamena was then able to kill and eat ponies as she pleased, without Pinkie Pie getting in the way. It wasn’t long after that, when she took me under her wing.

I just wanted to get my cutie mark, you know. I didn’t want ponies to call me a blank flank. I sought her out, hoping to become a great chef, but the only thing I learned from Ms. Pinkamena Diane Pie, is that true evil does exist. She told me she would let me live as long as I didn’t tell anypony what she was doing. I had to pledge to become her apprentice.

The more ponies we slaughtered, the easier it became for me. The image of mutilated bodies, furniture made of flesh and bone, the screams and begs for mercy, all of them became mundane. As time passed, I stopped caring for our victims. I grew to be as heartless, as dead inside as my teacher.

“Stop, please.”

I will not. You wanted a story, and you got it. You’ll never truly know what malice is until you see her basement for yourself. The things she did, the things I did, that coat, those decorations. Don’t you dare sympathize with me until you’ve seen it with your own two eyes. You don’t know what insanity can do.

“I’ve seen the photographs.”

But, you haven’t tasted pony like I have. She forced it down my throat, insisting I would grow to love the taste. I didn’t believe her, but she was right. The whole time I’ve been telling my story, I’ve been fantasizing about tearing the flesh from your neck with my teeth. If I weren’t trapped behind these bars, I would have attacked you the second you I saw you. I have always wondered if a pony of royalty had a richer taste than the rest of us. What do you think, Princess?

“I think we’re done here. We’re going to find her, and we’re going to stop this madness.”

You can leave now if you like. You know my story, but I can assure you it will be of no help in your investigation. Pinkamena is a cold and precise killer. She cannot be found, and she cannot be killed. All you can do, all anypony can do is pray.

They can pray they live through the night.

They can pray they aren’t the next to vanish.

They can pray their number isn’t the next to come up.

Overlord LC

Fanfic

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic

The Last Cupcakes Chapter

One Last Party Favor

        It was a day like any other in Ponyville. The critters were stirring, the sound of day to day life dragged on outside.  Twilight had not been outside for a few days, she was still researching the disappearance of Rainbow Dash.  Books were piled high in her library and Spike was out and about trying to gather information in a secretive way at per the behest of Twilight.  Up until now, Spike thought nothing of the happenings around Ponyville, ponies go away, but they always come back,, but he figured he’d humor Twilight anyway.

        The small dragon wormed his way around Ponyville, talking to ponies most don’t, and spying on ponies, all the while feeling sort of guilty for it.  He had a great idea: ask Pinkie Pie, she knows everything…

        Pinkie was happily baking away in the Sugarcube Corner bakery, another perfect crime…wait, she thought to herself, Isn’t a crime a bad thingy? She pondered it for a moment until her over made a light “ding” noise.  The smell of her latest cupcakes had cleared her head of the stray thought rather quickly, and she marveled at their look as she took them out, a fine batch of cupcakes, with white frosting and purple sprinkles all over them, the cupcake basket wraps all had diamond patterns on them. “Le Petite Four!” she beamed at the name she had given them.  Suddenly there was a knock at her door. “Be there in just a jiffy!” Pinkie set the cupcakes on a tray and sprang to the door, “Heya! Oh1 Spike, come on in! I have something I just know you are going to LOOOOVE!”  Spike got interested immediately, Pinkie always knows what he likes!  “Oh cool! I can’t wait!”  

        Twilight sat in her pile of books, frustrated as could be, “This is so weird!” she frantically tried to put all of the pieces together in her mind, first, a few of the fillies had gone missing…then Gilda never came back, which was alright with Twilight, but even Dash said she hadn’t seen her since the time she came to town, and even begrudged friends still see each other rarely.  Then Rainbow Dash went missing… is there some weird phenomenon? A very, VERY interesting vacation spot? Twilight’s head reeled with possibilities. Two days now, she has had Spike searching for clues, asking parents, teachers, friends… even digging for information and not getting caught.  “But what if something went wrong?”  She shook her head to clear the thought, ” No, he will send me something if something goes wrong.”  She then turned to her latest point of interest, brought to her by Owlowiscious, a note from Rarity’s door, saying she’d be back after lunch, except, she never did come back.

        Spike sat at the side table in Sugarcube corner smiling and watching Pinkie fluff away at her baking, he anxiously awaited what could possibly be so good that Pinkie was this excited for.  She brought him a drink and a small plate, there was a cupcake on it, one of the ones she had just made.  Spike marveled at it, the design, the decoration, it was stylized as a Rarity cupcake, he grinned like an idiot. “you did this for me?” Pinkie just smiled and watched the young dragon admire it while drinking his cocoa. “Of course silly!” She chimed as Spike began to sway a bit, but he didn’t go down, much to Pinkie’s surprise. She had laced his drink instead of the cupcake, he was too busy admiring that to eat it. “After all, you’ve been taking so much effort in snooping around!” her voice was a little angry as she smiled. Spike stood up and wobbled, dragons are tough.  “so, you…! What did you…?” it was hard for him to focus.  Pinkie hopped around to the counter and grabbed a rolling pin, “I guess I musta Spiked the cocoa! Get it!?” She giggled gleefully and came back to Spike, ready to swing, Spike still stood though, and he swiped at her frantically, to little avail, he was too woozy to defend himself proper and the only thing he managed to get was a little cut on her cheek and a bit of her mane. The loud thud of the rolling pin brought darkness.

        Spike awoke rather quickly compared to the ponies and gryphon that she had dealt with previously. Pinkie was astonished at Spikes reaction to sedatives and drugs. “hooeee Spike, you sure are dragin right along, ha, get it?” Spike looked up to see Pinkie standing a bit away from him; it took his eyes a moment to adjust to the new light.  He gasped as soon as he realized he was strapped to a table, though, his mouth wasn’t bound.  The cold metal table seemed to smell something vile, and as Spikes senses, which were more acute than ponies, returned, he broke into tears from the scents that were filling him, his friends, his friend’s friends…and…no… Spike’s eyes went wide in shock as he realized what had been presented to him upstairs in the bakery.  He didn’t yell, he didn’t cry out, instead a single tear ran down his face.  Pinkie stared at him curiously, “what is it Spikey?” He tugged at the bindings to no avail, the straps weren’t close enough to his claws to shred, “how? How COULD YOU!?” spike yelled at her in rage over what she had done to his first love, Rarity.  Though nothing had happened between the two, spike still cared for her as deeply as his little heart could.

        Pinkie was taken aback by Spike’s sudden outburst but only sighed and smiled caringly, “silly dragon, just how cruel do you think I am?” Spike looked at her with a black anger, his senses had figured out what she’d been doing, and he wanted badly to stop her, but he couldn’t.  “Are you gonna tell me you didn’t bake Rarity?!” He strained at his bindings again fruitlessly.  Pinkie blinked in surprise, “why would I lie to you! I’m your friend silly!” Spike froze as his rage turned to horror, not at her confession, but at the look in her eyes and the sincerity of her words… she was doing these horrible things, and still perceived all of them as her friends.  Pinkie shrugged off Spikes change of emotion and continued, “I laced your drink so you wouldn’t have ta eat her. Come on, I’m not that much of a meaniepants!” She turned to a draw he couldn’t see and rummaged around.  Spike frantically looked around while her back was turned, his mind made him envision things he never wanted to as he saw the various macabre décor of the room.  Pinkie finally turned to him and smiled, “I have a huge surprise for you Spikey!” she seemed too cheery to him, a little frightening even. He hesitated for a moment his head flowed with ideas of what it could be, “w-what? Are ya gonna hurt me?” Pinkie frowned, “no, that’s not the surprise, but now the moods ruined!” She tossed what she had in her hands at him, it was Rarity’s mane, Spike wretched on the table and almost hurled because of what it was, his eyes then filled with tears, the poor little dragon cried hard and heartfelt for Rarity as the last of his doubts were removed.  He watched miserably as the rolling locks fell off of him and landed next to his leg on the table, it still felt so silky, there was no doubt in his mind anymore that it was Rarity’s.  

        Pinkie got a concerned look on her face as he cried so sadly, “Spike…?”  The baby dragon just wept for a few minutes as the thought of what she had just done sunk into Pinkie. Was this guilt? Did she actually feel bad about it? Pinkie sat for a moment and pondered the situation. Then she turned to him, “I’m sorry.” The words crept out of her mouth with a heavy burden.  She closed her eyes. Spike stared at her for a few moments and tried to find words to throw at her, but then she turned to him and smiled, “I really am, because your number hasn’t come up yet, but I still have to think of what to make you into since you know too much.” She fiddled with instruments in various draws as Spike froze from her words. “because ya know, its just not right to go against the flow Spike, but I can make an exception after your heartfelt outburst!” Spike cringed at the metallic sounds from where Pinkie was rummaging, “What? What do you mean!?” Pinkie stopped rummaging for a moment and turned to look at him, “well, when I saw your reaction to that mane, it broke my heart, and I figured it wouldn’t be right to keep you two separated!” she went back to the drawer.  Spike looked down at Rarity’s mane, he forced himself to look at it, he needed the courage, he knew he would die here, but he had to think of a way to stop her. Suddenly there was a chime, and Pinkie got a frustrated look on her face, “now you wait right here Spikey, I have a visitor.” She left the room and turned off the light.  

        Spike searched around him frantically, his panic had clouded the realization that it was dark.  He struggled for a few minutes until his mind settled and he stopped to think, “ok Spike, what can I do…!” it dawned on him, he had cut Pinkie, her mane no less, now he needed light… He quickly realized what he had to do but had a hard time bringing himself to do it.  The baby dragon looked down to Rarity’s mane, it was a treasure in every right, to Rarity and to him, but like this, it was an atrocity.  “Please forgive me Rarity.” The dragon looked upwards while thinking it and took a breath, then set the mane on fire.  He turned his gaze quickly to his claw, it still had a few strands of pink mane on it, he took another breath and used his fire to send it to Twilight. Then he got a brilliant idea…

        Twilight sat, looking out her window in worry, Spike had not returned home.  As she sat, a spiral of green flame spun in the air in front of her, only a few curly, pink strands of mane dropped to the ground. Twilight picked them up and ponderously studied them, then she sniffed lightly, her eyes widened as she got a whiff of bakery and sugar. “Pinkie!” Twilight raced out of her house and stopped when she got a few feet away, “wait, if it really is Pinkie, I have to be prepared for anything.” The thought crossed Twilights mind as she started to prepare spells back in her tree. She did not take the time to wonder why, or how, or any of the other questions that seemed logical, Spike might be in serious trouble!

        Pinkie had gotten caught up in the lunch rush for the bakery, though a few ponies asked about the cut under her eye, she made excuses for how it was a baking accident. They all seemed to enjoy the new cupcakes she had made; she cheerfully told them it was a special recipe called Le Petite Four.  The ponies happily ate and Pinkie happily watched, she always did enjoy when ponies loved her baking, and now, another one of her friends was joined with the rest of the ponies, it made her feel warm inside.  After the last of them left, blissfully unaware of what they had eaten, she locked the door, and hung the closed sign on it.  She then proceeded to open the basement door; she stopped for a moment, thinking she smelled something burnt… “ohhhh how clever of you.” She got a strange smile on her face and flicked on the light, but only one of the four bulbs were working, so it was rather dark still, she frowned and closed the door behind her and started to walk down the stairs, “Spike? Where are you?” she spoke out in an amused sing song.  Spike was no longer strapped to the table; he had burnt the pony skin straps off, and was nowhere to be seen. “Well, we’re gonna play hide and seek plus!” she said it with a sadistic glee, “It’s not every day I get to do this!” She walked over to a dresser and opened the top draw, she pulled out two things, an air mask, and a cylinder.

        Spike did not respond, he did not come out from wherever he was hiding, and Pinkie noticed the burning smell she smelled the whole time. It was Rarity’s burnt up mane…she twitched a little at this and suddenly got angry, “Do you know how hard it is to get one of a kind party favors!?” she cleared the whole table of utensils in the seep of a hoof.  Still nothing from Spike.  Pinkie raised an eyebrow, “oh, you’re good…but it’s time to start our little game! Hope you can hold your breath!” she turned a nozzle on the cylinder and tossed it to the floor, it started to hiss erratically and let out a strange green gas.  She laughed through her mask and made a cheerful statement, “Don’t worry Spikey, it won’t kill ya, it’ll just make ya laugh.”

        Spike held his breath as hard as he could; he was curled up in the worst place he could imagine, under all of the “supplies” that Pinkie had piled up.  He was only a few rooms away inn her big basement, and he could hear her threats and the hiss of the laughing gas, he knew he was done for if he started to laugh.  He listened intently as he took another breath, he didn’t move at all unless Pinkie was making some kind of noise, and what he was hiding in was tempting him to vomit.  “Hurry up Twilight! I swear, if I live through this, I will never disobey you again!” He could faintly start to smell the gas where he was, and he had to do something drastic quickly to save himself.  He looked over the things he was sitting in and, with tears in his eyes, he grabbed a piece of Rarity’s stripped coat, and used it as a filter, he closed his eyes and prayed that Twilight would come soon.

        The door bell suddenly dinged again, and Pinkie let out a scream of frustration, “I’ll be right back, again!” She quickly trotted upstairs, but locked the basement door.  She went over to the door to realize that nopony was there. “Weird. Maybe they saw the closed sign plastered in front of their face!” Pinkie turned around and gasped.   There stood Twilight, looking quite furious.  Pinkie looked at her puzzled “Twi, the door, I coulda opened it.” She falsely giggled at her. Twilight did not change her fierce look, “Where is Spike?” Pinkie let her happy go lucky look fade.  “ohhh, does poor little Twilight miss her itty bitty dwagon?” She didn’t hesitate to hit Twilight with the mask she’d been hiding in her poofy mane. Twilight reeled and Pinkie put the mask on, and opened the basement door. Twilight caught a hint of the odd scent of the gas and braced herself as Pinkie pushed her down the stairs. Pinkie frowned again as she walked down the stairs, she was not amused, and who knows how many rules she is breaking right now….seriously, none of their numbers had come up, and she was getting sloppy and caught. Not good at all. Twilight stood up amidst the haze and quickly cast a spell to swirl the air around and away from her constantly, but she had still breathed in a bit of it and it was getting hard to concentrate. But she stood fast, knowing that everything was resting on her. She made her horn glow to make up for the difference in light, but she had already lost track of Pinkie. Then she felt a prick, just a small one on her neck, she looked down to see a small needle sticking into it, she gasped right before passing out.  

        Twilight awoke, strapped to the table and her mind reeled out in pain as soon as she was aware, she let out a shriek that pierced even Spikes hearing, but he did not come out. Pinkie was Sawing through Twilights horn, and she could vaguely hear Pinkie talking, she tried to focus on Pinkies voice to avoid the pain. “…first, right?”  Pinkie looked to Twilight, “oh, you’re awake.” Pinkie stopped sawing; she was halfway through the horn. “What I said was…” and Pinkie was cut off by a blinding light and crack of thunder. Twilight let the pain overcome her senses and she passed out as well.

        Twilight awoke in a hospital bed, Pinkie was watching her worriedly, and the Princess herself was overlooking her as well, with Spike by her side looking uneasy. “Pr-Princess!?” Twilight sat up and looked at them bewildered but there was still an intense pain in her horn.  “Please leave us be Pinkie, I shall call you in when I am done speaking to Twilight.”  Pinkie looked at Twilight worriedly and then to the Princess, “okie dokie lokie…” she said it with a concerned tone and lightly sprang out of the room. Twilight looked at the Princess confused. “But, Princess, I, how?”  The Princess quickly hushed her and placed a hoof over hers. “I saved you my dear. As for Pinkie, I have removed those memories from her head. She has no idea what has happened. Right now, she is just a concerned friend lacking the trauma that she has forced upon you and your friends.”  Spike said nothing.  Twilight leaned to the Princess haunches and whispered, “But that’s not right Princess…what about everything she’s done?” She started to tear, “what about Rarity, and Rainbow Dash?!”  The Princess sighed deeply, “I know my dear, I know, but, what can I do? She no longer possesses the knowledge of what she’s done.”  Twilight looked at the ceiling in disbelief, she felt as though the Princess had let her down. “I can’t, Princess, I can’t look at her anymore.”  Celestia sighed and nodded, “I understand my dear, and I shall have her sent back to her family’s farm, that way she will not come here often.”  Celestia felt bad about doing so, but did command the Pink pony to the exile of the rock farm again. And it took some time for Twilight to feel at peace.

        Twilight looked to Spike after the others had gone, “How did the Princess find us?”

Spike just looked out the window and quietly responded, “I guess she’s always looking out for you.”  His voice was so cold, so full of sadness.  Twilight stepped out of bed and went over to him, “what is it Spike?” She was concerned.  He looked up to her with very sad eyes, “Twilight…” He looked up at her with tears starting in his eyes. “Yes Spike?” She put a hoof on his back, “She…Rarity…She saved me…” He started to cry harder than he ever had before, and Twilight held him as tightly as she could.

Cupcakes 2: Silence of the Hares

By Vladnuke

Edited by The Color Twelve

Part 1: Twilight Sparkle

        It had been a week since Rainbow Dash had left. Pinkie had told everypony that she had gone off to be with the Wonderbolts, and had shunned all the others.

        "Well tarnation!" Applejack had exclaimed. "Who needed her anyway?"

        But Twilight was skeptical. She went back to the library to mull things over. ‘First Apple Bloom, then Twist, and now Rainbow Dash. Why is everypony in such a hurry to leave Ponyville? And why do they keep leaving exactly once a week?’

        Suddenly, a horn sounded. The town had called a meeting. The mayor came up and made the announcement. "Rarity has left a note at my door stating that she will be leaving Ponyville to design dresses for Photo Finish in Manehattan. She will be leaving her Boutique to Twilight Sparkle.”

        “Just yesterday Rarity told me that she would meet me in the spa”, a tiny, timid voice sounded from within the crowd. A tiny, timid voice that could only belong to Fluttershy. “She would never back down from a promise like that without telling me.”

        A loud southern drawl rang out from the crowd next. “They’re all a buncha flakes is what they are!” Applejack yelled. “Rarity, Dash, and the rest of them. Y’all shouldn’t be surprised over them.”

        Fluttershy protested, “But Appleja-”

        “But nothin’. Rarity had her own thing to do, and figured us ponies were in the way.” Applejack paused, then turned to Twilight and spoke in a less irritated voice. “You take that Boutique and make something nice out of it.” Twilight said nothing as they slowly walked towards the building.

        Twilight poked her head inside and opened the door. Everything was gone. The pony mannequins were bare, and the rolls of fabric were gone. The store rooms were dry and bare. All that was left was one roll of gold silk.

        “That’s strange,” Twilight mused. “Fluttershy told me that Rarity wouldn’t stop talking about this stuff. Why wouldn’t she take it?” As she was leaving the closet, out of the corner of her eye she caught a small card. Twilight lifted it up. It was a business card that read ‘Photo Finish Complete Gallery’, and had an address on the back. Twilight sent a letter to the address inquiring about Rarity, and got one back saying that they had never spoken with her. ‘Okay, now I’m worried. Where is Rarity?’ Twilight wondered.

        The next day, Twilight confronted the mayor of Ponyville. Twilight approached the large wooden door of her house, and knocked three times. On the third knock the door slowly creaked open. Twilight poked her head in and decided to announce her presence. “Hello? Is anypony here? Um, I’m just gonna let myself in, if that’s oka- AUGH!” Twilight’s train fo thought was derailed by the sight of a shivering, frightened Mayor rolled up in a blanket.

        “Mayor? Are you alright?” Twilight inquired.

        “Yes, yes, perfectly fine!” the Mayor nervously announced. “Now! Why don’t you trot on out of here before somepony gets hurt?”

        “I’m not leaving until I know what really happened to Rarity,” Twilight asserted.

        The mayor turned to reveal that she was wearing a headdress of knives and a look of absolute terror. Their gazes locked on each other for a moment, then the mayor charged at Twilight. Twilight levitated her up and pressed her against the wall. The headdress came off and turned on the mayor as Twilight calmly and forcefully stated, “The royal court will find you guilty of attempted murder, Mayor. You could spend your whole life in the dungeon. But, if you tell me what really happened to Rarity, I might forget this horri-”

        Twilight was interrupted again by the mayor’s frantic sobbing. “It’s not me, it’s her!”

        “Who? Tell me!” Twilight yelled.

        “Pinkamena Diane Pie,” the mayor bitterly stated. “She said I would get a higher number, that I would be the last to go if I kept my jaw tight. I can’t even look at myself, most days I’m in here like this.”

        “This isn’t making any sense, give me an answer. Where is Rarity?” Twilight pressed.

        “I don’t know, alright?!” the mayor cried.

        “You know. Tell me or I’ll notify the Royal Guard.” Twilight threatened.

        “No! Okay! Pinkie she, er, has taken Rarity. Her number came up. It’s Pinkie’s standard procedure. Perhaps too standard. She’s gotten lazy, but she said she needed at least one a week. Too many orders, too little cupcakes. Tomorrow, go to Sugarcube Corner. She will probably have something planned for you. Get the guard, get her behind bars. It’s going to take a lot of horsepower to take her down.” The mayor explained, sighing. “She’ll find out I told you… I’m as good as dead.”

        “If you think that’s the case, I’ll have the Guards give you protection.” Twilight responded.

        The mayor looked down sullenly. “I hope that will be enough.”

Part 2: Rarity

        Drip, drip, drip.

        Rarity tossed and turned, eyes closed. ‘Is the roof leaking again?’ She wondered.

        Drip, drip ,drip.

        ‘This will be the third time I’ve had to get those colts to fix that thing.’

        Drip, drip, drip.

        “No, it’s time to get up, get dressed.” Rarity sleepily yawned, opening her eyes. She noticed it was so dark she could hardly see a hoof in front of her. She looked down at her bedsheet. “That’s strange, this doesn’t feel like a bed sheet.” It took Rarity a few moments to notice that she was actually sleeping on a pile of her dresses. She looked up, and saw a large hole with light coming through it. Suddenly, a head popped out.

        “Hi Rarity! Looks like you’re finally awake!” a high pitched voice squeaked from the edge of the pit.

        “Pinkie, is that you?” Rarity probed.

        “Yep! Looks like you hit that one right on the nose, or should I say horn? Hee hee!”

        Rarity slowly pulled her hoof to her head, and felt a wet spot, but no horn. “Pinkie? Wh- what did you do?” she stammered. Hearing Pinkie Pie snickering mischievously, she looked back at her hoof in the light to find that it was stained with dark red, contrasting with her white coat. The dripping she had heard was coming from her wound. She began to scream in shock and despair.

        Pinkie spoke over her cries, “Wah, wah, wah, just like a baby. Twist didn’t cry this much. Well, I’d have to say, you are quite a lucky filly. When your number came up, my first thought was cupcakes, but then I remembered it was fashion designer Rarity I was talking about. I think that after all those dresses, you deserve to be served one. No wait, I mean served as one. Hee hee hee hee! Well, I can’t talk forever, orders to fill and whatnot. Bye!”

        Rarity shook her head, trying to convince herself this wasn’t happening. ‘Pinkie’s my friend, this is probably all some practical joke,’ she thought. She called out nervously, “Ha ha, Pinkie, you have surely fooled me into fright, what with the well and the ironic death and all. But I must say, how did you pull off such an impressive missing horn illusion?”

        Pinkie laughed and retorted as she was trotting off, “Who said that was an illusion, silly?”

        Twilight had woken up the next day in a cold sweat after having terrible nightmares the night previous. She had shaken her feeling of dread with some difficulty as she prepared to begin the hunt for Pinkie Pie.

        She was standing apprehensively outside of Sugarcube Corner. Behind her were several of the legendary pegasi of Celestia’s Royal Guard. After some time of preparation, they stormed in, prepared for the worst. Upon entering, however, they noticed the store was empty, save for a plate of cupcakes on the table. As the pegasi tore the place up, Twilight used her magic to spot a loose floor board. She pried it aside, revealing a button. When she pressed it, an oven swung open. Twilight approached it, but a guard pushed her aside and started walking toward the entrance.

        “Lady, if what you’ve told me about her is true, then I want to be the guy who catches that monster.” The guard took one step into the newly opened passageway. The one step happened to land on a bear trap. The sharp metal teeth dove into his leg, splintering the bone and producing a horrible crunching sound. The guard’s bravado immediately ended, replaced by blubbering and screaming. “My leg! It’s got my leg!” he yelled. The more he writhed in pain, the deeper the trap’s fangs sunk into his leg.

        “For Celestia’s sake, get him outta there!” Another guard piped up. He rushed to the injured guard and began pulling apart the trap, but as he eased the pressure, a blood vessel decided to rupture, sending a spurt of blood into his eye. His hooves slipped, and the trap came down again, this time all but severing the unfortunate guard’s leg, leaving it connected by just a small piece of skin. The guard was finally pulled out of the trap, and put on a stretcher.

        As he passed by Twilight, he looked in her eyes solemnly and said “I hope it’s worth it to you.”

        Twilight lit the path up, finding and springing the rest of the traps. There were seven, one for each guard she had brought with her. As she and the remaining guards went down the narrow stone stairway, Twilight noticed a certain smell getting stronger and stronger, a smell that reminded her of the dissections they had done in magic class. She’d always pretended to be sick on those days. Twilight knew she knew what it was, but she couldn’t quite place it.

        They arrived at the bottom of the staircase, which emptied out into a dark room. The lights went on, revealing what had to be the single most sickening thing Twilight had ever seen. The room was decorated in a disturbing yet light-hearted manner. Lungs and hearts filled with helium floated at the corners of the room like party balloons. Two skinned ponies sat at a table covered in hide on chairs made of bone. Intestines hung from rafters like streamers. Mounted on the wall at the back was a banner saying ‘Happy birthday, Twilight’ written in blood. Twilight finally remembered what that smell was - formaldehyde. Pinkie had used it to preserve the corpses.

        Twilight noticed a note nailed to one of the ‘streamers’. She ripped it off and started reading.

Hi Twilight!

You’re probably so wrapped up in this investigation that you forgot that today is your birthday! Well, I went ahead and planned this whole thing JUST FOR YOU! I hope you like it, because I went ahead and got you a present! Use it well!

P.S. Behind you.

        As Twilight turned, one of the Guards spoke up. “Twilight, I think you need to see this.” In a dark corner of the room, a different, fouler stench filled the air. In a rust covered cage, surrounded by the bleached skulls of foals was a small, dark shape. Upon closer inspection, Twilight discovered it was Apple Bloom.

        “Get her to a doctor, it looks like she’s alive,” called Twilight.

        As the guards forced open the cage and grabbed her, she sprung and bit viciously into the face of the one that freed her. "Get her offa me!" he yelped as she clung on, her teeth digging deeper into his flesh. It took two guards to restrain her, and another to fit a muzzle onto her snarling face.

        Twilight sighed, asking herself when this torture was to end, and crept up the stairs. When she reached the kitchen upstairs, she noticed a calendar. “Hey, what do you know, Twilight dolefully said to herself. “Today is my birthday. Thanks for the present.”

        Twilight walked towards the mayor’s house, her mind swirling with unanswered questions. She opened the door and called out, “Mayor? I have a lot of questions for you. Pinkie wasn’t there, so if you could provide some information, that would certainly be helpful.” No one answered. Twilight walked down the hallway, when she noticed she stepped in something wet next to a doorway. She opened the door and went inside the unlit room. Just as she did, the lights turned on to reveal the mayor, hung from her front hooves, her stomach cut open, and her organs hanging out.

        “Please,” a raspy voice whispered. “Please make the pain go away.” Over the mayor’s head was scrawled a familiar phrase:

Losing a friend’s trust is the fastest way to lose a friend.

        The rest of the walls were covered in the word ‘forever’. Twilight closed her eyes. She wanted out, but there was no escape. She knew what she had to do. She knew she had to face Pinkamena Diane Pie.

Part 3: Applejack

        “She’s getting up.”

        “Good, Ah thought she was in a coma or something.”                                 

        “Actually, Ah almost hoped that would be the case.”

        “Oh Big Macintosh, what in the world are we gonna do now?”

        “We live, Applejack. We’ll get her to be alright in the head, we’ll give her her life back. We’ll take back what Pinkie has taken from us. But right now, she just needs to rest.”

        “Hi bro and sis! Whatcha talkin’ about?" Apple Bloom piped up, shooting down Big Mac’s suggestion.

        “Apple Bloom! What happened in there? What did she do to you?” Applejack half-cried, hoping her sister hadn’t been too traumatized.

        “Oh, nuthin’, just some arts and crafts, a bit of paintin’, and a lot of cupcake makin’.”

        Applejack blinked. “You helped her? But…” She couldn’t bring herself to think of her sister becoming like Pinkie Pie.

        “Oh, it’s no big deal, I was just playin’ with my friends. Pinkie Pie did most of the work; I just helped a little every now and then. Now why am I in this funny-lookin’ glass stable?”

        “The doctors s-said that you w-weren’t right in the head, Apple Bloom. That Pinkie did some terrible things to ya. That you’re a d-danger to yourself and everypony around you.”

        “Pinkie said that this was a special way of playing,” Apple Bloom continued, ignoring that her question had been answered. “A way that would bond us as friends forever. She even said that since Rarity loved making dresses so much, she’ll make Rarity a special dress! Or was that make Rarity into a special dress?”

        Applejack reeled in horror and disgust. Her own sister had been transformed, had been changed from the sweet little filly she knew into a broken-down monster.

        As Applejack numbly trotted into the kitchen to grab a drink, Twilight let herself into the room. “Applejack, I need to speak to you about Apple Bloom!” she shouted. “I’m here on Princess Celestia’s behalf.”

        Applejack looked at Twilight and slowly said through her teeth, “What do you wanna know, Twilight?”

        “I need to interview Apple Bloom. She’s vital to this case.”

        “Sorry, no can do,” Applejack replied. “But, seeing as that was more of a statement than a question, Ah can assume you’re going to anyway.”

        “Well, yes…”

        “Come with me." Applejack led her down the long twisting hallways of the farmhouse. “The doctors said to not to get close to the glass. Items may be exchanged through the sliding metal tray, but do not give her anything sharp.”

        “That’s all?” Twilight asked.

        “One more thing. Do not, do not let your guard down. She’s been, ahem, trained by Pinkie Pie.”

        “Can do,” Twilight said confidently, but internally mortified at what she might hear or see in that stable. As she approached the stable, she saw a stool, and quickly sat.

        “Why so quick to relax, Twilight?” Apple Bloom asked coolly. “Didn’t Applejack tell you not to let your guard down?”

        “You let that guard down, Apple Bloom. He’s still receiving treatment. Doctors say that they might not be able to recover his right cheek.” Twilight paused, glaring at the filly in the stable. “Why did you do it?”

        “I ate his cheek, and had some fava beans later on the side. Pinkie always told me that the cheeks were the tastiest part of any creature. She also left me in there with no food for six days. I can imagine that’s what’s happening with poor little Rarity right now.”

        Twilight froze. She realized it all now.

        “You see,” Apple Bloom continued, “Rarity might not be dead yet. Pinkie kept talkin’ about it, how one needs to starve a pony for a few days. Loosens the skin. And then-”

        “Pinkie’s going to make a dress out of Rarity?” Twilight interjected, horrified by this revelation.

        “Yep! She’s been talkin’ about it for a while now. Ah don’t know how far she’s gotten, but if she’s doin’ that, then you’ve definitely got some time before she kills her.”

        Twilight was taken aback by the filly’s excitement for Rarity’s death, but relieved that her friend was still alive. “Do you know where she’s hiding, Apple Bloom?”

        “Well, this has to end sometime. But Ah can’t help you with that, Twilight. Ah’ve never been with Miss Pinkie to the hideout. All Ah know is it’s somewhere in Manehattan. She’d been makin’ cupcakes there too, but that place had been just a temporary holdout.”

        “Why are you helping me like this, Apple Bloom? Aren’t you Pinkie’s helper?” Twilight choked on the last word. Unlike Applejack, she simply could not see Apple Bloom as a monster.

        “She forgot about me, Twilight. Ah was her faithful student, Ah had screamed for days on end for her to release me, but she never did. She acted like Ah wasn’t even there. She ignored me.”

        “How did you end up there in the first place? What did she do to you?” Twilight hurriedly started questioning Apple Bloom.

        “Well, Ah can’t share that story with you right now.”

        “Why not? Is the pain too much to bear?”

        “No,” Apple Bloom replied with a smile. “Because my sister is right behind you.”

        “Come on, Twilight,” Applejack said wearily. “My poor sister has been through enough, it’s time for you to move them hooves outta here. Little Apple Bloom needs her rest.”

        “I’ll be back soon, Applejack. I hope you know that.” Twilight said sternly.

        “Oh, Ah know that,” Applejack whispered, mostly to herself.

        “Twilight!” Apple Bloom yelled. “Remember! Rarity still has time. She still has…”

        “…Time to check up on my favorite little pony!” Pinkie Pie gleefully shouted as she hopped across dimly-lit the room towards the pit.

        Rarity had dressed her wound with the fabric from her dresses. She’d been there for two days now. The pain medication had worn off though, so it had been burning in her forehead. She had been enduring it for hours, too afraid of her fate to sleep. The searing pain in her forehead had made every other limb in her body ache. She had grown very weak.

        “Soiled yourself again, Rarity?” Pinkie mocked her. “That isn’t very ladylike.”

        “Pinkie, how could you? I thought we were friends!” Rarity sobbed. It was true, there had simply been no place to go to the bathroom, and either way, she was too weak to move.

        “Well, that won’t do, we can’t have your coat and mane getting all dirty.” Pinkie hopped away, and quickly returned with a large hose.

        “Pinkie, what are you doing?” Rarity asked, trying to delay the inevitable.

        “Washing you, silly!” Pinkie turned on the water and it rushed out of the hose onto Rarity, chilling her to the bone and nearly drowning her. Pinkie shut the water off, and Rarity just sat there, shivering and coughing, looking down at the ground and wondering how this was actually happening.

        Her eyes were quickly caught by a basket that was being lowered down. It had a towel and a small light on it. As soon as it arrived, she took out the towel and dried herself off, then set it aside. Then she noticed a small bottle that said ‘special lotion’.

        “Take that rag of your head,” Pinkie called down to her captive. “It looks silly.”

        Rarity reluctantly complied, slowly peeling her makeshift bandage off and wincing at the feeling of the fabric coming off. The spot where her horn had been had gotten infected, and there was a steady stream of yellow pus flowing out from one of the smaller sores that had formed, some of it leaking down into Rarity’s eye.

        “Oh no, that won’t do. Well, like Granny Pie always said, ‘It puts the lotion on the skin or else it gets the hose again.’” Her alligator, Gummy, scurried up and waggled his tail. “Yes she will, Gummy, she will get the hose.” Pinkie said in a childish tone to her scaly friend. Again, Rarity complied, squeezing out a bit of the off-white mixture and putting it on the infected area. It stung unlike anything Rarity had ever felt before. Her head reeled back from the pain, but she ground her teeth and continued applying it. She knew that Pinkie was keeping her alive, and that there was a chance someone was looking for her.

        “Now it puts the lotion back in the basket!” Pinkie said.

        “Please Pinkie,” Rarity sobbed. “I want to go home!”

        “Funny, that’s what Rainbow Dash said. And Twist. And Gilda. But that’s beside the point. It puts the lotion back in the basket!” Pinkie repeated, this time more forcefully.

        “Please-” Rarity began, only to be interrupted by Pinkie.

        “Put the lotion back in the basket!”

        Rarity put it back, and as the basket rose, its light revealed several bloody scratch marks on the walls of the pit, and in between two pieces of cobble, a broken piece of hoof. Rarity backed up, hunched over, and began to scream.

        Pinkie just looked down and started mocking her again.

Part 4: Fluttershy

        Rain dripped loudly against the window of Twilight’s library. She was trying to sleep, but couldn’t. She knew that Pinkie knew where she was. She also knew that even with the Royal Guard’s protection, she was exposed. She tried to calm herself down, but nothing seemed to work. She had read books about the subject of psychology, and knew what she was suffering from, but that didn’t help her cope with it at all.

        Her fearful reverie was interrupted by three muffled knocks that rang through the house. Twilight sat up with a jolt. She paused, waiting for something to happen. ‘Must be my imagination,’ Twilight said to herself as she laid her head back down on the pillow. Then the sound came again, three more quiet knocks. “Is someone there?” Twilight called, walking towards the door.

        “Twilight? Can I talk with you?” A soft voice spoke through the door. Twilight was already sure who it was, but she still wasn’t taking any chances. She looked through the peephole and saw a drenched, shivering Fluttershy standing outside.

        “For Celestia’s sake, get in here!” Twilight said as she undid the deadbolt and chain. “Fluttershy, why would you need to see me at an hour like this?”

        “I’d like to help you, but I can’t risk getting caught; I don’t want anyone to know.” Fluttershy spoke softly but clearly.

        Twilight wore a puzzled look for a moment, then shook it off and said, “I’m sorry Fluttershy, but this is too-”

        Fluttershy interrupted. “Too scary? Too gruesome? I’ve seen far worse than anything Pinkie Pie could do, and after what happened, I don’t think I could live with myself if I let another one of my friends die.”

        “What do you mean, Fluttershy?” Twilight asked.

        “The winter before you came here, during Winter Wrap-Up, since we were so unorganized, the pegasus ponies, they-” Fluttershy stopped, choking up.

        “They melted the snow too early, didn’t they?”

        “Yes. Oh, how those poor little woodland creatures wailed and screamed. The birds could fly, and I was glad they were safe, but all the others, there were simply too many to save.” Small tears ran down Fluttershy’s pained face. “I figured if could save just one, I would be happy. That’s how I got Angel.”

        “You just wanted them to stop screaming, didn’t you… You just wanted silence.” Twilight said with a strong, solemn look.

        “Please Twilight, if there’s anything I can help you with, I’d be honored to.”

        “Well, there is one thing. I’m positively stumped as to the whereabouts of her hideout. I got a map of Manehattan, and a list of where the ponies that had gone missing were last seen, but I can’t figure out where she’s doing this from.”

        “Well, Twilight, I can’t seem to pull anything from this either.”

        “That’s okay, I’ll talk with Apple Bloom tomorrow, and I’ll start investigating the neighborhood, starting with this house.” Twilight marked a house down.

        “Hm. Okay, see you later.” Fluttershy said as she walked out into the night.

        The next morning, Twilight headed for Sweet Apple Acres, ready for a torrent of protest from Applejack. She was willing to put up with it. She knew that she had to speak with Apple Bloom again.

        “You know Ah don’t like it when you come over here to stress my sister.” Applejack complained.

        “I’m sorry Applejack, but this is too important to worry about staying within your comfort zone.” Twilight retorted.

        “Oh, so it’s like that, huh?” Applejack said, stomping her hooves in protest. “You think just because you got special permission and whatnot you can come in here and make the house yours? Ah’m telling you Twilight, when this is over, we’re going to need to have a serious talk.”

        “I’d love to. When this is over, of course.” Twilight replied with finality as she approached the glass stable.

        “Hi Twilight!” Apple Bloom greeted Twilight almost cheerfully. Then she noticed a small saddlebag draped across Twilight’s side. “What’s in the bag?”

        “Apple Bloom, I need you to help me find where Pinkie is.”

        “Really? Well, show me what’s in the bag then.”

        Twilight pulled out a map of Manehattan, which was covered in dots, and slid it through to Apple Bloom. “I need you to use this to help me find her.” Twilight said.

        Apple Bloom stared blankly at the map for a moment, then turned back to Twilight. “Tell me Twilight, are you afraid of losing somepony else? Pinkie told me all about it, about the, uh, abso- absolution in a pony’s eyes as they’re about to die. But she lied to me about one thing: That she could actually care for anypony. She said that Ah was her favorite, that Ah was too good for cupcakes… But she forgot about me.”

        Twilight tried to think of something to say, but she could only let her mouth hang open dumbly. She stared into Apple Bloom’s eyes, seeing the tortured soul trapped inside.

        Apple Bloom started again. “Ah’ll help you Twilight, but promise me this: You find the real thing that keeps pulling you along, the real reason you haven’t just passed this on to somepony else.”

        With that, Twilight got up and left. She thought about what Apple Bloom said; she knew why she was doing this, but she couldn’t express it.

        Twilight spent that entire night with her spare map, trying to figure out where Pinkie was hiding, but all the disappearances seemed random. She eventually got an idea that Pinkie could have hidden at the rock farm by the town, the one she had grown up on. Twilight didn’t have a search warrant, however, so she decided to continue her investigation in Manehattan. She sent a letter to Princess Celestia outlining her suspicions, and quickly got her reply:

My faithful student, Twilight:

We have had the same suspicions, and are now on route to capture Pinkie Pie. I guess great minds think alike. Hope to see you soon.

        Soon after Twilight had left to check on the first house on her list, Fluttershy passed by the library and saw a small stack of papers on Twilight’s front porch. She decided glanced over them, and saw that they were some of Twilight’s case files. ‘Why would she leave them here?’ Fluttershy wondered as she started sifting through them. She stopped at the map. ‘Twilight, doesn’t this random assortment of disappearances seem a bit strange?’ She thought about it as she scanned the map. She froze when she noticed that each disappearance was along one route that lead back to one house in Manehattan.

        “Oh, no.” She said aloud.

Part 5: Pinkie Pie

        “Wakey wakey, rise and shakey!” Pinkie sang. “Today, I have a special surprise for you! Cupcakes! I thought I was all out of my very special ingredient, but I guess I still had some left! Now eat it.” Pinkie lowered a cupcake down the pit on a string.

        Rarity opened her eyes. She had not eaten anything for days. Her whole body ached and wobbled as she crawled over to the cupcake. She ate it without a thought, cramming it in her mouth and taking most of the string along with it.

        “Wow, Miss Piggy, aren’t you?” Pinkie mocked her prisoner. “I guess beauty and grace does fade. Well, here, since you liked it so much, I may as well just give you some more of the special ingredient.” Pinkie threw a blood-soaked strip of flesh onto Rarity’s face.

        “Pinkie,” Rarity said weakly. “What is this?”

        “Do you remember that friend of ours, the one who like to, erm, dash?” Pinkie giggled sadistically.

        “No, not Rainbow, why?”

        “Her number came up, just like yours. She was weak, weaker than most ponies actually. I only got to play with her for fifty minutes. Well, at least I got to play with you for much longer. And I think you’ll make a great dress; that’s what’s important.”

        As Pinkie turned and left, Rarity had a million thoughts racing through her head. She was stuck in a pit. She was going to be made into a dress. She had just eaten Rainbow Dash.

        Pinkie was in a room by herself. The walls were covered in missing pony notices. The bed was dressed in dyed-pink hide. Near the door was a mirror surrounded by light bulbs, but only a few were still working. She reached her hoof over to a record player and started it up. Pinkie sat looking into the mirror as she retrieved a small vial of blood and smeared it on her lips. “Do you want be my friend?” she spoke to her reflection. “I’d like to be your friend. I’d be your friend forever and ever.” She backed up and started putting on her ‘special dress’ made from a patchwork of colorful pony hides and cutie marks emblazoned across the sides. “Ooh!” She lit up as the song on the record changed. “This is my jam!” She started to dance and sing along, creating her own lyrics.

        Meanwhile, Rarity had managed to concoct an escape plan. She tied a piece of string over the chunk of Rainbow Dash, and threw it up to the edge of the pit. “Here, Gummy,” Rarity called out for the crocodile. “Come over here, boy!”

        The crocodile waddled towards the piece of meat, wearing his usual half-perplexed look.

        “Come on, you carnivorous little ruffian, eat the meat.”

        Gummy looked down at her, then turned and started ambling away.

        “No, no, oh, no, come on you horrible little creature!” Rarity called out, trying to restrain the utter hatred she felt towards quite literally everything at the moment.

        Pinkie Pie set up a camera in front of herself. “Now introducing Ponyville’s finest. It took so long to make, but I think it adds just the right touch, don’t you?” As she was dancing, she heard a tug and a whimpering cry. Pinkie Pie rushed over to the hole.

        Rarity looked up at Pinkie with mad determination on her face. “I have Gummy, Pinkie Pie! He broke his tail on the way down here; he needs to go to the hospital!”

        “Gimme back my alligator!” Pinkie yelled in a childish tone.

        “I’ll kill him, I swear I will, I’ll snap his neck!” Rarity called back shrilly.

        Pinkie gave a harrumph, then rushed back to her room and snatched up a crossbow. Just then, she heard a loud knock. “Visitors!” she happily squealed, and rushed up the stairway to the door, quickly donning a disguise on the way.

        “Hello, is anyone there?” a voice spoke. There was no response.

        “Just a second,” Pinkie said, taking on a deeper tone.

        “Hello there. I’m Twilight Sparkle, here to investigate a series of disappearances. Would you mind if I took a look around?”

        “No, not at all,” Pinkie replied, yielding to her ‘friend’. The upper part of the house seemed to be done up hastily. Most of the surfaces were very dusty. The whole place seemed to lack a certain quality that a house has when someone lives in it. Everything seemed to be brand new, but neglected. The floor was unpolished, and the walls were white.

        “Just moved into town, I see.” Twilight said.

        “Nope, been living here all my life,” Pinkie said, in her fake voice.

        “This house could use a little more, erm, life, don’t you think?” Twilight asked.

        “Well, that’s your opinion,” Pinkie retorted. She paused before adding, “So, these disappearances, they found what caused them yet?”

        “Yeah, this pony named Pinkamena Diane Pie, we’ve tracked her down to a rock farm outside of town. Well, it looks like there’s nothing suspicious in this house, so I’ll leave you be.” Twilight said, walking towards the door.

        “Okie dokie lokie!” Pinkie said in her regular voice.

        Twilight quickly turned around.

        “Oops.” Pinkie stared at Twilight for several moments, then bolted into the basement.

        Twilight followed her, but Pinkie had already ducked into one of the many winding hallways. The basement was dimly lit and damp, and reminded Twilight of a dungeon. “Pinkie Pie, you are under arrest!” She yelled as she ran down one of the hallways. She looked through a doorway and saw Pinkie’s room. She noticed a sewing machine and the dried skin of some unfortunate pony. She gagged at the sight, but pressed forward. She kept running until she heard a voice.

        “Twilight? Is that you? Oh, Twilight, please save me!”

        She raced towards the pit to find Rarity glaring pitifully up at her. “Hold on Rarity, I need to find Pinkie, just hang tight.”

        “Twilight! Twilight, come back here! Don’t leave me alone, please!”

        Twilight backed into a corner, horn at the ready. Suddenly, all the lights in the basement shut off.

        Pinkie Pie could smell Twilight. She knew her house by heart and could smell out exactly where Twilight was. She got close to Twilight as she was fumbling around in the dark, but as she pulled the drawstring on the crossbow, Twilight heard it creak, swung around, and pinned Pinkie in place with magic. Pinkie thrashed and strained against it, but to no avail. Twilight lit up the rest of the room, then stood where she was, panting, exhausted but relieved that her ordeal was over.

        Twilight watched several guard pegasi carrying Pinkie away in a straightjacket. “How did you know I was here?” she asked one of the guards.

        “Somepony named Fluffershy or something sent a message that Pinkie was here.”

        As the pegasi pulled Rarity up out of the hole, Twilight went outside, and was surprised to find Spike waiting for her. “I had to come out here and see it for myself,” he said. “Thank you so much for saving Rarity.”

        “You’re welcome Spike, now take a letter to the Princess.”

        “Yes, Ma’am!” he replied enthusiastically.

        “That won’t be necessary, Spike,” a voice said from behind them. Twilight and Spike turned to see Celestia walking towards them. “Twilight Sparkle, my faithful student, you have served Equestria well. We are finally past the horror that was Pinkie Pie.” She paused. “You have something to say, don’t you? Go ahead.”

        Twilight saw that the Princess was acknowledging her in front of the crowd that had been forming outside Pinkie’s hideout. “Princess Celestia, I do have something to say. Over the past few days my friends and I have seen some of the most horrid crimes committed in pony history. They were atrocities beyond comprehension, but they showed that even in times of hardship, the power of true friendship never fades.”

        Celestia looked at Twilight solemnly. “That is all we needed to hear, Twilight Sparkle. For your actions, you will be receiving the Honorary Pony Award!”

        The entire crowd burst into fevered applause, but Twilight looked sullen. She was relieved that this was finally behind her, but she couldn’t ignore that she had just lost two of her closest friends.

Part 6: Rainbow Dash

        The air in Ponyville was chilly, its sky dark and cloudy, in stark contrast to the usual sunny weather. The entire town looked like its color palette had been muted for the day. Twilight’s voice rang out over the town square. “We will never forget those lost in this massacre. Seeing as Rainbow Dash was the only pony who was completely recovered, she will be commended to the clouds.”

        Rainbow Dash’s hideously taxidermied body was raised up onto a cloud by a single grey pegasus. A signal was given, and the cloud was set ablaze and fired into the heavens. The crowd was overcome with hushed whispers and soft crying as the burning cloud winked out in the horizon. Some said that on that day, as Rainbow Dash rocketed away, that they could hear a faint ‘boom’ and see a tiny, multicolored circle in the sky.

        The rest of the procession went on as planned, and afterwards, Twilight, Spike, and Applejack went to see Rarity in the hospital. “You’re looking better already,” said Applejack.

        “Oh stop, just stop! I look terrible! This scar is simply revolting.” Rarity complained.

        “At least you got your horn back,” Twilight reminded her. “Those doctors are amazing.”

        “And I still think you look beautiful, Rarity,” Spike said softly.

        “Girls, come quick!” Fluttershy burst in, half yelling and half whispering.

        “Fluttershy! You were supposed to come here with us, weren’t ya?” Applejack asked irritatedly.

        “Well, yes I was, but somepony stopped me on the way and told me to bring you this.” Fluttershy dropped a note in front of her friends and started reading:

Dear Friends:

Hi! Looks like we had lots of fun that time, didn’t we? Good thing you didn’t just kill me on the spot, because Apple Bloom was clueless on how to get out of that asylum you sent us to. But no hard feelings. Anyway, I think you’re just too good for me, Twilight. So I’ve decided to take a separate way, to separate ponies limb from limb. Hee hee hee!

Your friend, Pinkamena Diane Pie.

P.S. You’re welcome.

        As if on cue, there came a knock at the door. “Room service!” a voice outside the door called out. Twilight cautiously approached the peephole.

        “Twilight, no!” Applejack pleaded quietly.

        Twilight peered through and saw that the pony outside holding a tray was not Pinkie. “Uh, hello? Anypony there?” he asked again. Twilight let him through. As he entered, he felt an array of stares fixated on him. “S-somepony se-sent these up here. I don’t know who though.”

        “If you ever get that figured out, give us a call.” Applejack said.

        “What’s on the tray?” Spike asked after the pony had left. Twilight slowly picked up the cover. Everypony was expecting the worst, but all that was on the plate was a single blue cupcake.