All of Ponyland was getting ready for the annual Spring Carnival. As Lofty and Paradise were hanging a banner across the entrance to Paradise Estate, Cupcake came out of the kitchen.
"Spring Carnival Treat Free samples!" she called out. "Get them while they're hot!" Sooner than you could blink a throng of ponies stampeded toward the kitchen. Some began to push others out of the way.
"Wait a minute!" Cupcake cried as she dodged to avoid getting stepped on. As she pushed her way through the throng she gazed at the crowd pushing and shoving each other to get some tasty baked goods. "One at a time, please. I think I may need to implement a number system," she added. "I knew ponies enjoyed my baking skills, but not that much!"
Meanwhile, in the estate library, Paradise was taking books off shelves and putting them on a cart.
"There, that should help everyone find what they're looking for this week a little easily." She then noticed a pink book with black print on it called "Cupcakes."
"Cupcakes? Is this one of the babies' books? I don't recall seeing this." She then opened the book and began leafing through the pages. Her eyes soon bugged out in horror. "ACK!" She then swept the book off the table. "Definetly not one of the babies'. I have an icky feeling Danny must have left this here as a practical joke. I'll return it later."
"Look out!" Firefly called from outside before she zoomed through a window and crashed into one of the book shelves. Paradise quickly flew out of the way as a bunch of books landed on a heap on the floor.
"Are you all right?" Paradise asked in concern.
"Yeah," the pink pegasus replied as shook her head. "Sorry about that."
"May I ask what you were doing that caused you to slam into my book case?"
"Perfecting a flying pattern for the spring carnival. Baby Firefly was impressed, but I got caught in a jet stream and flew out of control."
"Didn't Medley warn you about those loops?"
"Since when have I ever listened to her?"
"Point taken. Listen I need to get some cookbooks over to Cupcake. Be a dear and clean up this mess, would you?"
"Sure," Firefly agreed as Paradise picked up a couple of cookbooks in her mouth and placed them in a saddle bag. She then headed for the kitchen. As Firefly began shelving some of the downed books, a bright cotton candy pink one caught her eye. "Cupcakes? I wonder if Paradise dropped this. It looks like something Cupcake could use. She then opened it up and began skimming through the first page. "Nope, this looks like a novel of some kind. Shortcake handed Dragonfly a cupcake," she read aloud. "Hm, funny. Those names sound very familiar. Blah, blah, blah, Dragonfly popped the pastry into her mouth . . . yadda yadda yadda . . . When Dragonfly regained consciousness she was in a dark room, strapped to a slab. 'Good you're awake,' Shortcake giggled as she wheeled a cart full of needles and sharp pointy objects toward the writhing Dragonfly . . ." Firefly's eye suddenly began twitching. "Whoa, this got dark all of a sudden!" Firefly then flipped through a few pages, and continued reading.
"Shortcake then took a scalpel and began to . . . cut . . . off . . . Dragonfly's . . . AAAAAAAAH!"
"Firefly?" Wind Whistler asked as she flew into the library. "I heard quite a commotion. Are you all right?"
"Sorry," Firefly sheepishly smiled as she shut the book and threw it back on the table. "I just uh . . . stubbed my back hoof against the shelf! Well I just remembered I have to iron my dog. Gotta go, bye!" She then zoomed out of the library before Wind Whistler could ask any more questions.
"I'll never comprehend the perplexing behaviors of some of my compatriots," Wind Whistler added.
"What did you say?" Paradise asked as she came back.
Wind Whistler sighed and repeated herself in laymen's terms. "I'll never understand why some of my friends act crazy."
"Speaking of friends, where'd Firefly dash off to? I asked her to clean up her mess . . ." the red maned pegasus then noticed cupcakes lying on the table. "Oh no, she found 'Cupcakes,' didn't she?"
"Cupcakes? Is it a narrative about confectionary delacacies?"
"No, more like a horror story . . . I just hope Firefly isn't the type to have nightmares." Paradise then picked up the book and dropped it in her saddle bag. "In fact, I think I'm going to pay a visit to Danny and return this back to him. The less unsuspecting ponies read this thing, the better."
"Affirmative," Wind Whistler nodded in agreement.
"And memo to me," Paradise muttered under her breath as she flew toward Megan's farm. "Hide the theasaurus from Wind Whistler so she can't get a chance to improve on her vocabulary."
Once Firefly had flew out of Paradise Estate's library she curled up into a ball on a nearby bench.
"I did not read that," she said in between panting heavily, desperately wanting to rid herself of the disturbing mental images in her mind. "I did not read that! Who writes gory stuff like that? And here I thought it was a cookbook!" She then slowly began to calm down. "Maybe a nice long nap will calm me down. Yeah, I'll just rest here and take a nap. When I wake up everything will be fine." She then settled down, closed her eyes, and drifted off to sleep.
Firefly had barely drifted off to sleep when she suddenly remembered that Cupcake was baking treats in the kitchen of the Estate, and she promised to help her. With lightning fast speed she soon arrived.
"Sorry I'm late, Cupcake," she apologized as she flew into the kitchen. "I must've dozed off."
"Oh, that's all right," Cupcake cheerfully replied. "I had to set up my equipment."
"So what do you need help with?"
"Baking cupcakes!" The white pony then pulled a purple iced cupcake out from behind her back. "Want one?"
"Sure," Firefly said as she ate the proffered treat. "Mm, this is pretty good." Firefly then noticed her friend looking a bit too eagerly at her. "So, uh, what now?"
"Now you sleep!" the white pony replied, though her voice changed to a sinister sounding tone, and she had a crazed expression on her face to boot.
"AAAAAH!" Firefly bolted up from her cloud and panted. After she got her wits back, she realized she wasn't in the kitchen. It was just a dream. Dream? More like nightmare.
"Firefly!" she heard Cupcake's voice calling. "Firefly, where are you?"
"Maybe if I hide, she won't notice me," Firefly stated before she buried herself under her cloud. Unfortunately the one she was resting on happened to be shallow, and her head popped out from underneath right in front of Firefly.
"There you are," the white pony smiled. "I've been looking everywhere for you."
"Oh, uh, you have?" Firefly nervously asked.
"Of course," the earth pony smiled sweetly. "I didn't see you in the crowd to get a spring treat, so I decided to bring you a little something so you wouldn't feel left out." Cupcake then handed Firefly a purple iced vanilla cupcake with a yellow iced butterfly cookie on top.
Firefly, still reeling from her nightmare, panicked at the sight of said cupcake, and flew off screaming her lungs out.
"Firefly?" Cupcake asked, confused. "Maybe the cookie was too much. I'll try offering this to her later without it."
Meanwhile, Truly was up to her hooves in fabric.
"Oh my, when I offered to make all the ponies a unique, one of a kind outfit for the Spring Carnival, I had no idea I'd get so many orders." She then leafed through the design sketch pads to figure out which one to start with. "I just hope I can manage. The carnival is in two weeks!"
"Hi, Truly," Cupcake said, as she entered the room.
"Oh, hello, Cupcake," Truly smiled. "What brings you here on this bus . . . er fine morning?"
"I didn't see you in the crowd to get a special spring treat, so I decided to come by to offer you a cupcake," Cupcake added as she held out the same cupcake she offered Firefly.
"Oh, it looks delcious," Truly drooled. "However, I'm a lil' bit busy getting all these lil' ol' dress orders done, so if you don't mind, could you be a peach and set it on the table there?"
Cupcake nodded and set the treat on the table. She then noticed all the fabrics streamed around the room. "You look like you're up to your eyeballs in fabric, Truly. Do you need any help?"
"Well, now that you mention it. I could use a few extra hooves to finish all these dress orders."
"I'll be glad to help you. I'll ask Buttons to help as well. Her levitation powers could come in handy.
"Oh, thank you, Cupcake! You are a darlin'!"
"What are friends for, Truly? I'll see you later. Enjoy your cupcake!"
"Now," Truly said, as Cupcake left. "I guess I should start with the fancy ones first, and end with the more simple fair."
Later that night, Firefly was trying to get to sleep on a soft cloud, but the story she read at the library still plagued her dreams. When she awoke after eating Cupcake's cupcake, she found she couldn't move her legs.
"Hey!" she writhed, flapping her wings frantically, to no avail.
"Oh good, you're awake!" Cupcake's voice cheerfully rang.
"Cupcake, where am I? What have you done to me?"
"Well it appears your number came up," Cupcake nonchalantly replied. "That means it's time to have some fun."
"Fun? Uh, I don't think I like the kind of fun you have in mind."
"Oh don't be such a worry wort. This is going to be so much fun . . . your sides will split!" That demonic tone made Firefly scream again.
"Firefly!" Cupcake called as she began shaking the still screaming pegasus. "Firefly! Wake up!"
Suddenly Cupcake's voice was replaced by Buttons.
"Firefly wake up! Wake up!" Buttons shouted as she began shaking the still screaming pegasus.
"WHA!" Firefly bolted up right only not on her cloud, but on a bed in one of the Estate's bedrooms. "What happened to my cloud!?"
"Relax, I heard you screaming and brought you here so I could wake you up without breaking my neck. Are you all right?
"Uh, yeah," Firefly lied, trying to play it cool. "Just uh nightmare. You know?"
"Yeah, I know. Otherwise you wouldn't have been screaming. Do you want to talk about it?"
"No, no. I mean everybody gets nightmares every once in a while, right? Vivid even. I'm just gonna tget some hot cocoa. I'm sure that'll settle my nerves." She then dashed off leaving Buttons confused.
"If you say so, Firefly," she added, but she wasn't convinced. For now, she'd leave her friend be.
Firefly was so tired the following morning, she was having trouble flying.
"Hey, Firefly," Lofty started, "Oh, erm . . . you don't look so good." That was an understatement. The blue maned pegasus pony's half lidded eyes were blood shot, and she had dark bags underneath.
"I didn't get much sleep last night, Heart Throb," she admitted.
"Obviously. And I'm not Heart Throb, I'm Lofty!"
"Oh. Sorry."
Firefly then flew down to the pond. Once she had finished splashing water on her face she glared at her reflection.
"All right, Firefly, pull yourself together! You're letting that stupid cupcake story get the best of you! Cupcake isn't out to kill you!" She then began to fly to the Estate. "In fact I'm going to the Estate right now and prove it!"
Most of the ponies were lined up outside the kitchen as Cupcake placed a ticket machine on a table outside the door.
"All right, everyone!" she called, "because of yesterday I'm going to ask you all to take a number for better service." Some of the ponies pouted at that news.
"Awww!" some of them whined.
"Trust me, it'll go a lot smoother this way." Feeling that they weren't going to get around the number system, each pony reluctantly pulled the blue tabs from the machine.
"Don't worry everyone," Cupcake cheerfully added. "I'll retire the system once the Spring Carnival is over. Also one special treat per pony!"
Firefly arrived at the bakery just as she witnessed one pony pull a tab. Figuring it was some new ordering system, she shrugged and pulled a tab herself.
"Interesting idea," she added as she looked at her ticket. "I guess this way, Cupcake won't get trampled when she announces she's done making her treats. Thirteen, huh? Well, that's not too bad."
"Firefly!" Cupcake called. "Guess what? Your number just came up!"
"WHAT!?" Firefly shouted, remembering her dream. In fact, for some reason, Cupcake's voice sounded sinister. She then saw her friend wielding a knife. A rather sharp knife at that.
"NOOOO! AAAAAH!" With that Firefly quickly flew away from the bakery.
"Firefly?" Cupcake looked bewildered at her friend's sudden panic attack.
"Gee, I wonder what got into her?" Sweet Stuff asked.
"All I wanted was to cut her a piece of my fresh baked strawberry shortcake," Cupcake said.
That night, Firefly was trying to fall asleep, but was having a difficult time. In fact her dream picked up right where it left off.
"Why can't I see anything?" the blue pegasus asked as she writhed around, "and why can't I move my legs?"
"Oops," Cupcake giggled. "Silly me! I forgot to turn the light on." Within a second the room was lit by a single lightbulb, which was dim and flickering. As Firefly let her eyes get accustomed, she soon gasped at what she saw. Pony skulls decorated the ledges of the room, and she saw decorations made from wings and horns. Various other body parts were strewn around as well. Then she saw Cupcake, clad in a dress made of dried pony skins with various wings on the back of it. Around her neck was a necklace made entirely out of unicorn horns.
"Like it?" Cupcake gleefully asked as she turned around like a fashion model. "I made it myself! Didn't think I could sew, did ya?" Firefly could only gape then an awful thought struck her. One of her friends was a psycho killer. It was made even more obvious when she realized she was strapped upright on a metal slab. The odd thing was, her wings weren't restrained. Not that that would've done any good anyway.
"Now, Firefly, be prepared," Cupcake added, cheerfully, yet Firefly swore the demonic tinge in her voice was coming back. "For the most fun you'll ever have IN YOUR ENTIRE LIFE!" Cupcake's eyes bugged out and her teeth became pointy as she yelled that last phrase. Firefly could only scream in terror as the white pony aimed a large, blood covered knife at her chest.
"AAAAAAAAH!" Firefly was awake once more, on her cloud. Thankfully no one heard her screaming.
"I can't take it anymore!" she yelled as she put her hooves to her head and began shaking it. "What does it take to get rid of these nightmares? I can't keep not sleeping!"
"Firefly, are you all right?" Cupcake asked as she trotted over to where Firefly's cloud was. "I heard you scream."
"Ahhh," Firefly could only give the object of her nightmares a strange stare.
"Don't worry though, I know what'll make it all better! You still haven't eaten your cupcake!" Cupcake then produced the cupcake she tried to give to Firefly earlier. Firefly began gasping for air, and she could've sworn she heard psycho violins play as she stared at the pink frosted treat.
"NOOOO!" she shrieked as she flew far away from Cupcake.
"Wait . . ." Cupcake started, feeling concerned for her friend's welfare. "Firefly, it's just a cupcake!" She then looked at the cake in her hoof and let realization set in. "Wait a minute, is this the same one I baked yesterday? Oh am I such a silly pony." The earth pony chuckled and shook her head. "Well a stale cupcake just won't do. I'll bake her a fresh new one in the morning."
The next morning, Applejack was walking around with a sewing machine on her back when she saw Firefly half asleep.
"Uh, Firefly . . . I hope you don't mind me saying this, but you look terrible."
"Didn't get much sleep these past couple of nights," Firefly lethargically replied. Applejack studied the pegasus' face and knew the obvious.
"Yeah, I kinda figured. Look, I don't know what's the matter with you, but maybe you should see Moondancer about it. Maybe she'll be able to put you to sleep for a couple of hours. Anyway, I gotta go. Cupcake's expecting me." With that Applejack trotted off.
"Sleep would be nice," Firefly added, not hearing anything the orange pony had said. Then she realized something.
"Wait! She was going to Cupcake's with a . . . sewing machine!?" Forgetting all about how desperately she needed sleep, she quickly kicked the gray cloud she was shoving through the sky, and zoomed after her friend.
Cupcake was already at the estate, whipping up a new batch of cupcakes.
"Thanks for helping me with the cupcakes while we wait for Applejack, Truly," Cupcake said. "With Firefly acting strange lately, I figure a fresh batch of cupcakes should cheer her up in no time."
"It's no problem at all, Cupcake," Truly smiled as she drew some chalk patterns on some fabric.
"Hi, girls," Applejack greeted as she squatted to gently unload the machine on the counter desk. "Megan came by and gave us an old sewing machine she happened to find in her mother's basement."
"That's great, Applejack," Cupcake added.
"Yeah," Truly nodded. "This definetly give me extra time to get all these dresses made before the carnival.
"You're welcome," Applejack said. "Oh, anything else I can get you before I harvest apples for the Carnival treats?"
"Can you find Heart Throb and ask her if she has any tulle?" Cupcake asked as she took the sewing machine. "There isn't any left in the sewing room."
"Sure, why not?" Applejack said.
As Applejack was looking for Heart Throb, she ended up bumping into Firefly. Or rather Firefly ended up bumping into her.
"Whoa, where's the fire?" Applejack asked as Firefly shook her head to get her wits back.
"The sewing machine!?" Firefly shouted when she didn't see it on her friend's back.
"Oh, I dropped it off with Truly and Cupcake. Truly's got her hooves full, so Cupcake decided to help her out. She's making her own dress for the Carnival. I'm not sure how they can pull it off . . . but, eh, I've been surprised by things before."
"So, she didn't . . ." Firefly started.
"Didn't what?" Applejack suspiciously added.
"Nothing!"
"Uh huh," Applejack added, unconvincingly when she saw Firefly give a fake smile to indicate that nothing was wrong, when clearly she was lying through her teeth.
"So, uh where are you going now?"
"Oh, Cupcake needed tooly . . . tolly . . . twe . . . some fancy sounding stuff. Well, see ya. Oh, and Firefly, I really would consider seeing Moondancer. No offense, but I think you need your Z's."
With that Applejack headed off to look for Heart Throb.
"She's getting tools for Cupcake!? She gave her and Truly the sewing machine!?" Firefly exclaimed, growing more panicked than ever. "Oh no! That means she's going to make poor Truly her next victim! Worse yet she innocently manipulated Applejack into helping her! I've got to stop her once and for all!" With that she quickly zoomed to the sewing room.
As soon as Firefly got to the door she saw Cupcake's and Truly's silhouettes through the window. Truly looked about ready to faint as Cupcake walked closer toward her, a dripping knife in her hoof.
"Cupcake!" Truly shouted in a panic. "No!"
Firefly then cringed as she heard a squish before she saw Truly fall to the floor.
"I was right! Cupcake is a psycho killer! I gotta find a way to stop her before she kills anybody else!" The pink pegasus soon flew to a cloud to do some thinking.
"Sorry, Truly," Cupcake apologized. "I didn't mean to drip frosting on your sequined fabric. And I certainly didn't mean to step in it, either!" Cupcake backed up, and picked up the fabric. She didn't realize Truly would take it so hard.
"I'll, uh, take this to Sprinkles so she can wash it," she said. "Then I'll finish my cupcakes while you . . . . rest."
Upon her cloud, Firefly was debating whether or not what she saw in the sewing room.
"No, Cupcake couldn't possibly be a killer . . . could she?"
She had a freakin' knife in her hoof! a gruff voice in her head yelled at her. And Applejack gave her a sewing machine! Poor Truly's going to be one of her many victims so she can make a dress out of her hide! Firefly then saw a devil version of herself appear over her right shoulder. She was red with varying shades of red in her mane complete with red horns on top of her head, a tail with a pointed spear on the end instead of a regular pony tail, and was holding a pitchfork in her hoof.
Shame on you, Firefly, for thinking such a thing! A more angelic voice admonished. Firefly then saw that an angel version of herself wearing a white scarf and halo appeared fluttering over her left shoulder.
"Cupcake friend," Angelfly added with her front hooves folded together. "You should talk to her, and confirm that these are just nightmares."
"Nightmares, schmightmares!" Devilfly scoffed. "I tell ya kiddo, that little Sweeny Todd is gonna be the end of you yet! You have to off her while you have a chance!"
"Do not listen to your inner demon," Angelfly added as Firefly looked back and forth between the two, as if she were watching a tennis match. "Friends do not do such horrid things to each other."
"Friends don't do such horrid things to each other," Devilfly mocked. "Heh, what a sissy!"
"Hey," Angelfly looked insulted as she zoomed into Devilfly's face. "Who are you calling a sissy?"
"You, you goody two shoe little twerp! Firefly, who are you gonna listen to? The cool awesome lookin' me? Or this silly halo wearing harp playing loser?"
"That does it!" Angelfly said a she tossed her halo away.
"Hold it!" Firefly told her shoulder angel and devil. "Will you two just leave me alone! I need to sort this out myself."
"Hmph!" Angelfly stuck her nose up in the air. "Well, if you don't want my divine guidance, then fine. Have it your way." She then poofed away.
"Yeah, whatever," Devilfly added. "Just don't come cryin' to me when that Little Miss Muffin plays stabby mcstab stab with your vital organs." She then vanished in a ball of fire.
"Where'd those guys come from anyway?" Firefly asked.
"Firefly!"
"Oh no!" Firefly panicked when she heard Cupcake's familiar voice. "I gotta hide, gotta hide, gotta hide!" She then zoomed off her cloud, and ended up bumping smack into the white pony.
"There you are," Cupcake added, cheerfully. "I realized it was foolish of me to offer you a stale cupcake so . . . I baked you a bunch of new ones!" As soon as Cupcake held out the muffin tray full of pink frosted cupcakes, Firefly heard those psycho violins again.
"NOOOOO!" she screamed as she took off.
"Firefly, wait! Don't you like my cupcakes?"
"NO! I don't! Leave me alone!" Firefly soon flew as far away as she could. Cupcake looked at the discarded cupcakes, and sniffled a little.
"Firefly doesn't like my cupcakes anymore?" Confused, and a little hurt, Cupcake trudged back to the Estate.
Instead of getting the restful sleep she desperately needed, Firefly spent that night wrestling with her inner demons.
"I can't take this anymore!" she cried, her hooves pressed against the sides of her head. "If I'm not careful, Cupcake's gonna be the death of me yet! And she keeps hounding me! Every time I think I'm safe, wham! She takes me by surprise and is offering me poisoned cupcakes!" She then took a deep breath. "There's only one thing left for me to do. I gotta get to her before she gets to me. As soon as possible!"
The following day, Truly had managed to nearly finish half the outfits for the Spring Carnival. All she needed was to add sequins to the blue halter top.
"I really hope Cupcake likes it," she added as she pressed blue sequins into the fabric. "What do you think, Medley? Doesn't it look cute?"
"It sure does," Medley said. "I just know she will."
Meanwhile, Firefly was heading to the kitchen, a crazed look on her face. By this point her sleep deprivation was starting make her lose whatever remaining shred of sanity she had left.
"Today, Cupcake!" she started to sound like a crazed mad mare, "today will be the end of your life!" She then rubbed her hooves together while going, "Whee hee hee hee hee hee heeee!" She soon trotted into the kitchen, but didn't find Cupcake in there.
"Hi, Firefly," Shady said, walking by. She then noticed the crazed look on the pink pegasus' face. Complete with one eye twitching. "Uh, are you okay?"
"WHERE'S THE WHITE DEMON SPAWN!" Firefly shouted, her face going from happy crazy to furious crazy in mere seconds. She also yelled that directly in Shady's face.
"Uhhh, she isn't here," Shady nervously whimpered. "I think she went to the sewing room."
"Of course!" Firefly declared. "She probably didn't get a chance to finish sewing that dress of her's!" With that she picked up a nearby bread knife, then promptly zoomed out of the bakery.
"Good morning Sha . . . " Paradise greeted just as Firefly whooshed past her. "What was that?"
"I think . . . Firefly . . . needs help," Shady said, nervously, as she dove underneath a table.
"Yes," Paradise nodded as she saw a pink and blew streak outside. "I think you're right." She then flew off herself.
"I hope you like the extra touches Truly put on your dress, Cupcake," Medley said as she lead Cupcake over to a cloth covered mannequin. "She just wanted to show it to you herself. She'll be back just as soon as she finishes fixing a seam for Heart Throb."
"Ooh, I can hardly wait to see it," Cupcake said, excitedly. Just as Medley left, Paradise flew in. "Hi, Paradise," Cupcake smiled. "What are you doing here?"
"Firefly hasn't been here yet, has she?" Paradise asked.
"No, and I think she doesn't like me anymore," Cupcake sadly sat down. "I keep wanting to give her a special cupcake for the upcoming Spring Carnival, and she keeps flying away from me."
"Of course," Paradise added as realization set in. "I knew that story was the root of this mess."
"Story? Mess?"
"Uh I'll tell you later. I just need to stop her before . . ." Paradise was soon interrupted by the door breaking down.
"Heeeeere's JOHNNY!" Firefly declared standing on top of the fallen door, with blood shot bugged out eyes and a crazed toothy grin.
"Johnny?" both Cupcake and Paradise asked in unison, giving each other confused looks.
"There you are, white demon spawn," Firefly said as she held the sharp bread knife above her head. "You're the cause of all my problems. Now . . . YOU'RE GONNA DIE!"
"AAAH!" Cupcake screamed as she hid behind the mannequin.
"Yes, demon spawn," Firefly added as she inched closer to Cupcake. "Hide behind your dress made out of cut up ponies, and pegasi wings. And that pretty necklace of unicorn horns! It doesn't matter any more. Cause where you're goin', you won't have to worry about murdering innocent ponies EVER AGAIN!" She was about to plunge the knife into Cupcake's throat before Paradise tackled Firefly to the ground, grabbed the knife handle in her mouth, and flung it away before anyone could get hurt.
"Firefly!" Paradise glared menacingly at her. "You, me, library . . . now!"
"Stay out of this Paradise," Firefly growled. "She already killed poor innocent Truly! You could be next on the chopping block!"
"Firefly, why are you doing this to me?" Cupcake asked, completely confused.
"Because you won't leave me alone!" Firefly shouted back as she kicked Paradise off her. "You keep offering me cupcakes!" Firefly then reached for the knife. "Cupcakes which are poisoned. Then when I'm knocked out you're going to kill me and make me into a dress like you did to Truly! If I don't kill you now, then you'll do some nasty, horrible, unspeakable thing to someone else!"
"Firefly . . . you need sleep, and you aren't getting it," Paradise started, trying to remain calm. "You're also not in your right mind."
"Back off Paradise" Firefly then aimed the knife at her pegasus friend. "This is between me, and her!"
"Firefly . . . put the knife down," Paradise ordered.
"Not on your life, sister!"
"What did I do to deserve this?" Cupcake asked. "I'm not a killer!"
"Um, did I miss something?" Truly asked as she walked back into the room. She then saw Firefly crazed look. "Firefly, honey, are you all right? You look terrible!"
"GHOST!" Firefly shouted as she saw Truly.
"AAAH!" Truly screamed. "WHERE!? WHERE!?"
"I'm sorry to have to do this to you now, Firefly," Paradise sighed. "But it has to be done." She flew into the air, and charged at Firefly as fast as she could, and head butted her. Firefly sailed across the room, and hit the wall head first, out like a light.
Firefly awoke to find herself in the bedroom.
"Ugh," she moaned as she rubbed the side of her neck. "What hit me?"
"Oh good," Paradise stated, although looking a bit perturbed. "You're awake. Is now a good time?"
"Good time for what?"
"Why you tried to attack Cupcake with a bread knife?"
"I attacked Cupcake with what!?" Firefly looked confused while Paradise sighed. Apparently when she knocked Firefly out, she also knocked out a bit of her memory.
"Firefly, what's the last thing you remember?" Paradise asked.
Firefly paused, thinking the question over a bit. "Let's see. Uh . . . oh no! Cupcake just killed Truly! I have to stop her before . . ."
"Truly's fine," Paradise said, as she grabbed Firefly's tail in her mouth and pulled her back to the bed. "Firefly, were you reading a book called Cupcakes the other day?"
"What? No, no, . . ." Firefly denied, but when she saw Paradise's eyes narrow, she sighed. "Yes."
"I thought so. And I bet you took a nap after reading it and dreamed that Cupcake was killing you."
"Not quite. She gave me a poisoned cupcake then I kept waking up before she could kill me. But she looked so demonic!"
"You may not remember doing this, but you let your fears get the better of you to the point you snapped."
"Wait . . . did I really almost get Cupcake with a knife?"
"Yes, but don't worry, she's fine. Thankfully I was able to stop you before you went too far."
"Gosh, I'm sorry, Paradise I didn't mean to. I didn't want to sleep because of those nightmares. Yet, when I didn't get sleep, my inner demons got the better of me. I better go apologize to Cupcake."
"That would be a good idea. Oh, and Firefly, do me one more favor."
"Sure, what's that?"
"Ask me about a book before you start reading it."
"No problem. In fact after today, the only horror stories I'll read from now on are those old ghost tails." With that Firefly flew out the window to find Cupcake.
"I wonder if I can ask Megan to hide that book from Danny so he doesn't try to pull that stunt again," Paradise added to herself.
Back in the sewing room, Truly and Cupcake were getting everyone's dresses ready.
"I can't believe Firefly flipped like that," Truly said.
"Me neither," Cupcake sighed. "That was even worse than when Wind Whistler flipped her lid!"
"Cupcake!" Firefly called.
"Eeek!" Cupcake then hid underneath one of the dresses.
"Um, Firefly . . . you uh . . . don't have a . . . you know," Truly hesitantly started, a bit apprehensive.
"No, I don't have a knife. I'm better after Paradise knocked some sense into me. Cupcake, I came to apologize."
"Really? You aren't going to kill me, or run away from my cupcakes?" She then came out from under the dress. "You still like my cupcakes?"
"Yeah . . . uh Cupcake, I'm really sorry. I read a book called Cupcakes that featured a pony like you offering another pony named Dragonfly a cupcake that was poisoned. Then when she came to, Shortcake started to do horrible, unspeakable things to her. After reading that story I started having nightmares and . . ."
"Ohhh!" Cupcake realized. "That's why you kept refusing my cupcakes."
"Yeah, I was letting my inner demons get the better of me. I'm really sorry about that . . . and for apparently trying to kill you, which I don't even remember doing."
"Aww, it's okay, Firefly," Cupcake said. "I forgive you. Now then . . ." she then pulled out a blue frosted cupcake from behind her back. "Want a cupcake?"
For the first time in a week, Cupcake did not sound like some demonic monster when she asked that.
"You bet," Firefly smiled as she recieved the proffered treat. She then took a bite, and savored the sweet taste. "Mmm . . . you know, this may actually be the best Cupcake I've ever eaten."
"Thanks, Firefly," Cupcake beamed. "After these past few days, that means a lot."
The End