Twilight Sparkle paced back and forth inside her home. The many bookshelves that lined the walls seemed transparent to her at such a time of confusion and worry. Outside the window was the pure black of night. Her hooves bumping the ground were the only sounds, but in her state of deep thought, she scarcely noticed any sounds. Twilight's friend Rainbow Dash had been missing for over a week now. At first, Pinkie Pie had suggested she might be in Cloudsdale, but after a week, Rainbow would've returned, and it was quite unlike her not to tell her friends where she was going. It seemed that Rainbow Dash had vanished without a trace.
In her mind, Twilight went off on theories as to the whereabouts of Rainbow Dash.
"Canterlot? Fillydelphia? Manehatten?" Twilight murmured absently.
Clouds in Ponyville were piling up, and even then it seemed rather empty without the speedy blue Pegasus zooming throughout the skies. The absence of Rainbow Dash had not gone unnoticed.
Twilight was so lost in her thoughts, by the time she snapped back to reality, it was nearly dawn. Princess Luna would be lowering the moon, Princess Celestia raising the sun any minute now. Twilight realized how tired she felt, and slowly galloped upstairs to her bed in the hope of getting a few moments of precious slumber.
However, as she lie down in the soft warmth, there came a knock at the door. This made Spike, Twilight's dragon baby, stir in his sleep, and Owlicious give the door an irritated look as she crept off into sleep. Twilight sighed, then went to answer the door.
Applejack stood in the doorway, a look of misery on her face, her brown cowgirl hat in the usual position. Twilight stood aside and invited her in.
"Still no sign of Rainbow Dash, Twi," Applejack said tiredly.
Twilight sighed, "How could a Pegasus like her just disappear like that?"
Applejack shrugged. "No idea, sugarcube. I'm prepared to gather a search party and go into the Everfree Forest. She might've gone in there."
"That's a good idea, but Zecora says no pony has been in there in the past few weeks. I guess the story Fluttershy and I spread around about the Cockatrice was effective."
"Well, Zecora can't know everything, but I suppose you're right Twi. Ugh, the townsfolk are so worried."
"Yeah, Good thing Pinkie's cheering everyone up with cupcakes. She says they're made with a dash of something special." Twilight remembered.
Pinkie Pie was working at Sugarcube Corner. Occasionally, a pony would request more of those delicious cupcakes she had a week ago, but she would only shake her head.
"Nope! I'll have more cupcakes with a different recipe soon, though!" She would respond.
At a table, Fluttershy and Rarity sat discussing Rainbow Dash, who hadn't left any of their minds since she vanished.
"Perhaps that dreadful Gilda came back to Ponyville and Rainbow Dash went off with her," Rarity suggested in an upper-class tone.
"Oh, um...I don't think Rainbow Dash would, um, leave without telling us," Fluttershy replied in her quiet voice.
Pinkie suddenly appeared seemingly from nowhere holding two ice cream sundae bowls filled high with vanilla ice cream covered in hot fudge, which threatened to spill out the sides. As always, Pinkie did not forget a cherry on top.
"Hey girls! Here's your order!" Pinkie said in an enthusiastic voice.
She set the ice cream on the table in front of her friends. "What were you talking about?"
"Rainbow Dash, of course," Rarity answered.
Pinkie grinned, "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll see her again," she said before bouncing off to attend to the other customers, leaving the two to the treats.
The next day, word spread around Ponyville that Pinkie Pie had a new batch of Cupcakes ready. As every pony happily devoured these ones, which were blue, with white frosting, Pinkie grinned to herself. Colgate hadn't quite made as much as Rainbow Dash had, but she had still made a bit. After the cupcakes were gone, Pinkie went down to the basement to choose the next pony that would help her bake more cupcakes.
Whenever she chose some pony, she would go over a large glass bowl on a table in a dark shadowy corner. The bowl contained small slips of paper with a number written on it. Pinkie had memorized every pony's number. Lyra was 57. Scootaloo was 98. Derpy was 33. Even her friends had numbers. Twilight was 87, Fluttershy was 54, Applejack was 76, Rarity was 28, and Rainbow Dash had been 46. At every victim, she would take out their number and incinerate it in an oven upstairs. Today, she plunged her pink hoof into the paper slips. They rustled as she randomly poked around, eventually picking a slip of paper right of her hoof. She anxiously held it up to her blue eyes, and saw it in the low light.
Hastily and untidily scribbled on the paper was the number"87."
Pinkie went through her mind to remember who 87 was, and then she realized whom. She smiled to herself, flashing pearly white teeth in the gloomy darkness of the blood stained basement. She couldn't wait 6 more days, but knew she had to.
Rarity tried to choose a proper blanket for the picnic with her friends. She found one that she wouldn't mind getting dirty, and briefly wondered as to the whereabouts of Sweetie Belle. She glanced out the window, and saw her along with her two other friends, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. What was it they called themselves? The Cutie Mark Captains or Cutie Mark Adventurers? Rarity decided to stop pondering on this, and galloped out of Carousel Boutique to the picnic area.
Upon arrival, Rarity stopped to admire the nature around, the beautiful flowers breaking through the grass on the sunshiny hill. She had forgotten her sunglasses.
"Rarity! Over here!" She heard Applejack's booming southern drawl beckoning her. She turned to see Applejack, Twilight, and Fluttershy. Angel, Fluttershy's bunny, hopped around impatiently, waiting for the food in Fluttershy's picnic basket.
"Where's Pinkie Pie?" Rarity asked.
"I don't know, she hasn't arrived yet," Twilight answered.
"Hey girls!" rang a loud, giddy voice. Pinkie Pie happily bounced over to her friends. In the sunlight, Rarity noticed a reflection of light on Pinkie's neck. It was some thick red liquid.
"Pinkie Pie, darling, you seem to have something on your neck," Rarity pointed out.
Pinkie rubbed her neck with her hoof, then looked at what was on her hoof.
"Oh, it's just cherry sauce, for those cherry donuts down at Sugarcube Corner," Pinkie shrugged, then grinned.
Rarity and Twilight exchanged a look. It didn't look much like cherry sauce...
...more like...blood...?
Pinkie Pie rubbed her neck where Rarity had pointed. As she looked at the liquid on her hoof, she flashed back to earlier, when she had picked up Colgate's mutilated corpse to cut off any extra organs she may have missed, when the lifeless unicorn body started dripping blood everywhere. Pinkie thought she had cleaned it all off, but she must have been mistaken.
"Oh, it's just cherry sauce, for those cherry donuts..."
Twilight galloped down the street, bypassing many ponies. She trotted through the market, and stopped when she heard her own name.
"Twi! Twilight!"
Twilight looked to her right, and saw Applejack at a kiosk, piles of many different varieties of apples were stacked behind the orange pony. Golden and Red Delicious, Honey Crisp, Granny Smith, and Fuji were only a few of the types. Applejack waved her over.
"Where you off to in such a hustle?" Applejack asked.
"Pinkie invited me over to Sugarcube Corner for something. I almost didn't go, Rainbow Dash has me worried sick, but I didn't want to hurt Pinkie's feelings. I asked Lightning Dust to fly over the Everfree Forest, so hopefully whatever Pinkie needed will be done by the time she gets back," Twilight answered.
"Lightning Dust? She was as fast as Rainbow Dash! She'll be back in no time at all, Twi."
"I hope so. I better go, Pinkie said at 3 o'clock sharp," Twilight said, as she continued on the way to Sugarcube Corner.
"Oh good! You're here!" Pinkie's greeting was enthusiastic.
Twilight stepped into Sugarcube Corner. The aroma of something baking wafted throughout the bakery. Whether it was a cake, or cookies, Twilight wasn't sure.
"Yeah, what did you need, Pinkie?" Twilight asked.
"Oh, just a little help," Pinkie smiled.
"With what?"
"Baking cupcakes!" Pinkie announced, obviously very excited.
"Baking cupcakes...?" Twilight was amazed. This wasn't what she expected at all.
"Sure! Here, have one!" Pinkie thrust a blue cupcake toward Twilight, which she reluctantly took.
Twilight was shocked by this, and barely even noticed when she bit into the cupcake.
"Um, Pinkie, this wasn't what I expected, why do you need...my...help...?" Twilight's voice started shaking and she lost her breath. The world began to spin around her as darkness pushed in on her from all sides. Her head was pounding.
Just before she blacked out, she heard Pinkie say in an unusually menacing voice, "You'll see."
Twilight awoke, but her sight was still gone. What had happened? Had she had a breakdown of sorts in Sugarcube Corner? Where was she?
She shook her head, but her sight hadn't returned. She began to see vague outlines of shapes, and realized she wasn't blind, simply in a dark room. Something moved out of the corner of her eye, and she just barely saw something moving.
"Hey Twilight! You awake?" Pinkie's voice?
Twilight shook her head some more to get to reality.
"P-Pinkie? Wh...Where are we?"
"Oh silly! This is the basement of Sugarcube Corner!"
Lights flashed on, making Twilight gasp as the brightness made her lose her sight once again. As the light faded and the room came into view, she gasped in complete shock and utter terror. Pony organs, caked dry with blood, hung from the ceiling like streamers. The tables and chairs seemed to be made out of bones, and a skull wearing bright blue glasses, that looked suspiciously like the ones belonging to Applebloom's friend, was on the table, but that was only one of the many skulls. She noticed one that looked like a pony/bird, and realized it was a Griffon's
skull. She noticed some pieces of flesh hanging on a wall, with words written in blood upon them. The words read:
LIFE IS A PARTY
Twilight noticed something leaning on the wall near the chilling message, and she gasped again, then felt her eyes tear up.
It was Rainbow Dash, but she was thin, and looked stitched together. Her eyes were glazed, with no sign of life left in them, and her wings hung limply. Twilight started sobbing as she realized Rainbow Dash was dead, and this...puppet was her corpse, stitched together after being cut apart.
A loud noise made Twilight jump in fright. She hadn't noticed Pinkie Pie standing in front of her, and saw that the pink pony had a party horn, and was blowing into it. Twilight's terrified purple eyes darted to Pinkie, seeing that she was now wearing a dress that seemed to be made of Cutie Marks, with Pegasus wings on the back, with a necklace made from Unicorn horns. More worryingly, if that was even possible, was a tray on the table behind Pinkie. It held many sharp utensils, a chef knife, a scalpel, a hacksaw, a meat clever...just about half of the tools.
Twilight looked at Pinkie's dress and saw Colgate's cutie mark, some bubbles, a twist...all the missing ponies' cutie marks were there. Pinkie had been responsible for it all. No pony should ever have had to experience this, or even SEE the basement...
"Well! We better get started, but you don't look happy, Twilight..." Pinkie's voice rang out, snapping Twilight to the predicament she was in.
"Maybe I can cut a smile into your face..."
"Pinkie!" Twilight exclaimed desperately, "D-W-Why are you doing this! This is-is..."
"Oh hush Twilight, don't worry, it'll be fun, and look!" Pinkie grabbed the Rainbow Dash puppet. It's head went back and forth limply as Pinkie brought it in front of Twilight. "You found Rainbow Dash!" Pinkie giggled uncontrollably.
Twilight thrashed desperately, but realized that she was held on a table of some sort. All of her hooves were held by some thick leather strap on the wooden surface.
"Time to get started," Pinkie said excitedly, "I've been waiting for this for a week!"
Applejack noticed a figure flying high in the sky, moving quickly. Her heart stopped as she wondered for the briefest of moments "Rainbow Dash?"
Her heart sank as she realized it was just Lightning Dust, Rainbow Dash's friend from the Wonderbolt Academy. She remembered that Twilight was expecting news from Lightning, and then she galloped after the Pegasus.
"Lightnin' Dust! Hey! LIGHTNIN' DUST!" Applejack hollered.
Lightning Dust stopped in mid-air, and then neatly did a nosedive to the ground before landing on all fours. Her orange mane bounced.
"Did ya find anything about Rainbow Dash?" Applejack questioned excitedly.
"Well no, but that zebra that lives on the edge of the Forest wanted to talk to Twilight," Lightning Dust answered.
Did Zecora know something? Applejack decided to run to Sugarcube Corner and tell Twilight. After all, whatever Pinkie needed probably wasn't THAT important...
"I've seen you do really advanced magic Twilight, but I'm sorry, I have to take your horn off," Pinkie's voice never dropped the cheery attitude.
Twilight began flailing wildly at this, her mind a confused and terrified blur.
"Pinkie-No- What-Why-Why-No-" Twilight hysterically stammered.
Pinkie flashed a large smile, "Oh, It'll be okay Twilight."
Pinkie turned to the table holding the tools behind her, and chose a large, wicked-looking hacksaw.
"Wait Pinkie," Twilight tried to keep her words even, "C-can I have a little more time being a Unicorn? I-I remember the time...that I passed the entrance exam and got my Cutie Mark."
"Aw, you remember things too? I remember the time that I saw that beautiful rainbow on my parent's rock farm, or that day I moved to Ponyville, or the day that..."
As Pinkie Pie rambled on, Twilight tried to think of a spell, but the drug Pinkie put in the cupcake made her feel weak, like too weak to even undo all the leather straps that held her in place with magic. Oh, she probably could, but she even if she could do ALL of them, she'd move too slow and Pinkie would notice.
"...and then just recently, I picked a number, and it was 87, and I got so excited! Ah, memories," Pinkie put down the hacksaw. "You know what Twilight? I think you CAN keep your horn a bit longer, I'll just cut it off later. First, let's start with the Cutie Marks!" Pinkie held up a scalpel, and Twilight's heart leaped. "Yours IS a cute mark! Get it? CUTE mark? Cutie Mark?" Pinkie giggled.
Pinkie extended her hoof holding the scalpel to the left side of Twilight's flank, and cut a sloppy circle around the lavender pony's cutie mark. Twilight screamed in agony as Pinkie used the scalpel as a crowbar, and detached the Cutie Mark from Twilight. Twilight screamed. She couldn't believe this was happening. As Pinkie started cutting around her other cutie mark, Twilight still imagined this all to be some kind of dreadful nightmare, that she would awake any moment now...
Pinkie held both cutie marks in the air in triumph, taking no notice of the pain that was unlike anything Twilight had ever felt.
Twilight started to scream, a wail of torment and fear as Pinkie took the scalpel and began to cut a line down Twilight's chest.
Thump.
Pinkie froze. It was clear that no pony was supposed to be here. A muffled voice rang out.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
"Some pony is gonna have to learn how to read. I put up the closed sign," Pinkie said half to Twilight, half to herself, glaring above them.
Thump. Thump. THUMP.
Light flooded the dark room, making the blood glisten. Twilight was bleeding from the cut Pinkie had made, and she felt as though her thighs had been removed.
Applejack stood above the ladder, looking down into the hell that lurked below such an innocent bakery. She blinked in surprise, her mouth hung open in a wide O of shock.
Pinkie seemed half excited, half irritated.
"Applejack! I knew I'd see you down here soon, but I'm with Twilight right now." She said, annoyed.
Applejack fixed her large eyes on Pinkie Pie, then saw Twilight looking so defeated covered in blood, then Applejack saw the knife Pinkie held in her hoof, and seemed to hesitate, processing all of what was happening.
Twilight breathed deeply, then summoning the last air in her lungs, screamed.
"APPLEJACK! HELP!"
Applejack reacted instantly, hurdling down the stairs, and lashing out with her hoof, knocking the scalpel out of Pinkie's hoof. Pinkie gasped and stepped back, bumping into the table and knocking the tray of knives onto the floor with a clatter of metal. Pinkie cried out indignantly.
"Ouch! Applejack! That hurt!"
Pinkie slammed her hoof into the side of Applejack's head, and Applejack cried out in pain before crumpling to the floor. Pinkie jumped on top of her, and started to beat her continuously.
Applejack couldn't believe the pink pony who was covered in blood and beating her senseless was her friend Pinkie Pie, but she reacted by
instinct and lashed up with a punch of her own, catching Pinkie in the mouth. Pinkie fell back, blood spilling from her gaping mouth. Twilight's dark puddle of blood was growing larger, and Applejack quickly got off the floor and tried to undo the straps holding Twilight. She managed to get one off before Pinkie tackled her, screaming like a maniac. Twilight now had her front right leg free, and tried to stop the bleeding, knowing if she continued to bleed, she would die of blood loss. She pressed her hoof to the cut.
With a scream of strength and agony, Applejack threw Pinkie off her, and the pink pony crashed into a table, breaking it. Pinkie lie in the smashed remains of the table, completely still.
Tears flooded from Applejack's eyes as she clutched her throat, then she went over to Twilight and undid the remaining leather straps.
Twilight held one of the straps to her chest in an attempt to stop the bleeding, but she leaned on Applejack for support. She glanced at Rainbow Dash's corpse, used as a puppet by a psycho. Twilight was in shock that her friend Pinkie Pie was behind all the murders, all thisslaughter.
Then, using the remains of her strength, a bright green light emitted from her unicorn horn, and Rainbow Dash began to glow in the same way. The spell was done, and Twilight blacked out against Applejack.
Pinkie Pie awoke some time later. Her head throbbed, and she was bruised in many places. Her vision was distorted and dark, slowly becoming clearer as she regained consciousness. She was still in the basement, but a fresh trail of blood was on the floor.
"Twilight," she said gloomily, "Why did you leave?"
She tried to reach up with her hoof to massage her head, but found her hoof wouldn't move.
"Hey, what-"
Pinkie looked to her hoof to see that it was being held in place by the leather strap. Only her back left leg wasn't secured down by a strap, and it flailed uselessly. Suddenly she became aware of some pony in front of her. She looked to the ponies' face and gasped.
Rainbow Dash's corpse moved limply, just like something straight from a nightmare. Every stitch gleamed in the light, and the glazed eyes were filled with hatred. She was both alive and yet a corpse.
A zombie, Pinkie thought.
Rainbow Dash turned around, and Pinkie saw the tray of knives. Rainbow Dash selected a scalpel, and the bloodstained blade was then held up to Pinkie's face.
Rainbow Dash would start with the Cutie Marks, then progress slowly. Pinkie let out a blood curdling scream of pure torment and horror, a scream heard by every pony in the area of Ponyville.
Twilight was weak, but lucky to be alive. She had many bandages wrapped around her, and they managed to sew her Cutie Marks back on. She recalled when she and Applejack returned to the basement backed by a group of Royal Guards. It was strange, Pinkie had vanished, and Rainbow Dash's corpse sat in the corner, completely lifeless.
Although, on the corpse's face was a remote look of satisfaction.
And there was a tray of pink cupcakes on the table, freshly baked.