Tony sat in the Carousel Boutique, staring out the window at the chaos beyond. He felt… weak. Small. Insignificant. Seeing a being like Discord change the land to the extent before him… it made him feel a bit uncomfortable. He watched as ponies he had known for years acted so strangely. Chaos was their new pastime and they revelled in it. He sighed, but felt a wing on his back. Nightmare Moon stared out the window with him. "I don't have to read your mind to know how you feel." She said. He glanced at her before continuing his ponderings. They stood like that for a long time until Tony broke the silence. "I hope they're alright." Nightmare Moon remained unemotive. She wanted to assure him that his friends were, in fact, unharmed, but after what had transpired at the Rainbow Factory, she knew Discord's games were only going to get more brutal. She decided to take his mind off the subject. "I remember when I was stuck on the moon, you would indulge me with stories about the commoners you knew. Why not share a few?" She asked. He remained silent. She scanned the outside for a random citizen. "How about that one? Did you know him?"

Tony remained silent for a moment before narrowing his eyes at the figure. "Uh… yeah, I think so. That's Checker Board. He's the town's reigning board game champ." He chuckled. "One time, when I was a kid, I challenged him to a game of checkers. He let me win, of course, but I didn't know it at the time."

Nightmare Moon smiled and pointed at another random pony. "What about that one?"

"That's Doc Brown. Actually, I have a funny story…" The distraction seemed to work as Tony began to tell stories about his various interactions with the citizens of Ponyville.

Unbeknownst to the duo, Fluttershy stood at the other end of the room. She hid behind a doorway, watching the two interact. Her face remained unemotive, but the sadness in her eyes gave away her true feelings. She shook her head. 'Oh, what am I doing? Twilight and Applejack are missing, but all I can think about is…' She kicked a hoof at the ground. Sometimes, she wished she wasn't so shy.

Twilight struggled to free herself, but to no avail. She attempted to use her magic, but Pinkie had covered her horn with some strange object. She looked at Pinkie Pie, who sat down, sharpening an assortment of tools. She hummed as she worked, occasionally stopping to admire her tools. Applejack continued struggling, gaining the attention of their captor. "AJ, you seem upset."

Applejack frowned. "I do? Aw, I would apologize, but… you strapped us to tables!"

Pinkie Pie laughed. "Oh, AJ! You should be happy! Imagine my surprise when I pulled both of your numbers and you end up walking into Sugarcube Corner! I mean, come on! Lucky!"

Twilight gulped. "P-Pinkie Pie! Let us go!"

The pink mare tilted her head. "Go? But you just got here! We're gonna have so much fun!"

Applejack finally quit struggling. "Fun? Being tied up ain't my idea of fun! I also like to keep my fun separate from sharp tools." She said, eyeing the table by Pinkie Pie. The pink mare shrugged and continued her work. Twilight was afraid to ask, but couldn't hold her tongue any longer. "W-what are you going to do with those?"

Pinkie giggled. "I'm gonna get my super special secret ingredient, silly filly!"

"Ingredient? What would that be?"

"Why, it's you, of course!" She said, holding a rather long carving knife. Applejack and Twilight looked at each other, fear and shock written in their face. How could somepony like Pinkie Pie even think of doing something like this? Twilight struggled again. "Pinkie Pie! Let us go! Equestria is in danger!"

"You bet it is! I can't find Mr. Sharpcut! How am I supposed to make everypony's cupcakes now?" She walked toward the stairs. "You guys just stay here. Tell each other jokes!" She said, leaving the duo. Twilight couldn't hold back her tears.

Celestia and Luna walked through Ponyville, keeping a keen eye out for Twilight and Applejack. As they walked, Luna sighed. "I'm… I'm sorry. This is all my fault."

Celestia looked at her sister. "It doesn't matter. What matters now is that we find them."

Luna nodded, but guilt was still written on her face. "I don't understand. You've told me of your student's talent. Her magical signature should be relatively easy to track."

"I know, but Discord's magic is to blame. The sheer amount of power he's exerting is overpowering Twilight's signal. We're going to need to be extra perceptive." She looked forward again… just as a pink blur ran into her. Celestia staggered a bit and looked at the pony in front of her. "Oh, excuse me… wait… Pinkie Pie?"

The gray, glad pony nodded. "Yep! That's me!"

Luna stepped forward. "You know this pony?"

"Indeed. Twilight has written many letters about her."

Pinkie Pie waved her off. "Aw shucks! That's so sweet! You know, I throw the best parties…" She began to ramble, giving Celestia the opportunity to express her concerns to Luna, telepathically. "This isn't right."

"What do you mean?"

"In Twilight's letters, Pinkie Pie is usually a happy, hyperactive pony."

"I can see that. She is, erm, quite the talker."

"That's the problem. Her colors are gone, but she is acting perfectly normal."

Suddenly, Pinkie Pie gasped. "I almost forgot! I was on my way back to Sugarcube Corner! Well, it was nice seeing you, weird ponies!" She said before skipping towards her destination. The princesses waited until she was out of earshot before nodding to each other. They began to follow.

"Look at this one. He's weak."

"Yeah! He's grown soft with all those stupid ponies!"

"He probably can't even fight."

Tony's eyes fluttered open as a new area appeared around him. He sat up and scanned his surroundings. It was a sandy plot of land, seemingly floating in an empty space. A colossal island. A low cackle caught his attention as he turned towards a small group of humans. They wore ragged clothes and carried themselves rather sloppily. A tall, fat man stepped forward, grinning. "Hey there, little buddy!"

Tony crawled backwards. "Wh-who are you!? Where am I?"

The second human, a short female, smirked. "None of that matters. We only want to ask you one thing…"

The last human, a scrawny male, crossed his arms. "Why won't you fight?"

Tony raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"

"Why do you refuse to fight? You have no idea how much power you have."

Tony stood and stepped back. "But I don't have any power! Discord is practically a god!"

The girl cracked her knuckles. "Not yet! He needs your power! He's vulnerable! Come on! Give in to your brutality!"

"N-no! I'm not brutal!"

"Yeah, right! You're human, aren't you?" The trio laughed as they began circling the young man. Their cackles echoed through his mind. He gritted his teeth at the sheer agony of it all. "Enough!" A new voice boomed throughout the dreamscape. The trio looked up to see an angry Nightmare Moon glaring at the attackers. With a flick of her horn, they disappeared. Tony remained on the ground, bundled up in a shivering ball. He held his head as it pounded away, unrelenting. Nightmare Moon noticed as his form began to fizzle in and out of existence. 'Good, he's about to wake up. These visions are getting worse with every passing day…' She watched as he faded into nothingness.

Tony woke with a start, his head pounding. "Agh… not again…" He calmed as a wing tightened around him. Nightmare Moon was seated next to him on the couch, sleeping. Putting his rather disturbing dream aside, he carefully stood from the couch and looked around the Boutique. The moonlight outside beamed through the windows, giving him a bit of natural light to work with. He looked around before sighing in defeat. 'They aren't back yet. This isn't good.' He turned around, bumping into a new figure. "Carrot Top? What are you doing up?"

The orange mare shrugged. "I was a bit worried. Also, you made a bit of noise while you were asleep. Another nightmare?"

Tony nodded. "Sorry. Did anyone else wake up?"

"I don't think so. Although, I don't think I can get back to sleep while worrying." She made her way to the stove. "Care for a cup of tea?"

He sighed. "Please and thank you."

Twilight and Applejack were hanging, limp, in their restraints. They had given up long ago. Pinkie Pie had left them here for hours trying to find her tool and getting distracted while doing so. Twilight tried to focus her magic on the binds, but whatever was on her horn made it impossible. Applejack sniffled. "Darn it! That crazy pink pony is getting ready to torture us, and we can't do a thing about it!" She struggled in pure rage. "Oh! I really wanna get my hooves on that mare and show her a thing or two!"

Twilight frowned. "Applejack! We can't panic. Pinkie isn't to blame. Discord's messed up her mind. We need to think of a plan. It's been a while, so the others might be looking for us by now. We just need to stall her long enough-"

"Long enough for what?" A familiar voice asked. Pinkie sat at the door, ears drooping and hair deflated. Her face seemed to have a sad expression on it. "You… you guys weren't planning on leaving, were you?"

Twilight shook her head. "O-of course not! Right, Applejack?" She looked at her comrade, pleading to go along. The earth pony nodded. "Yep! We, uh, weren't goin' anywhere."

Pinkie's expression switched from sad to angry. "You're a terrible liar, Applejack." She marched forward. "I went through all of the trouble of getting everything set up for my special friends. I wanted them to take part in something I love! But how do they repay me?" She picked up a carving knife. "With whining and crying and 'I wanna go home' and 'Equestria is in danger'." She looked at the knife in her hand. "I'm beginning to think you don't want any part in my cupcake recipe!" She readied the knife. "How dare you!" She plunged the knife forward… only to be stopped. Applejack's eyes were closed as she waited for the pain that never came. She looked down to see Pinkie Pie stuck in a magical aura, the blade mere inches from her belly. Pinkie was suddenly pulled back towards her subduer, Princess Celestia. Twilight and Applejack smiled, tears beginning to form in their eyes. "Princess! Thank goodness!" Twilight said. Luna undid the mares' binds. Pinkie Pie was in tears as she struggled in her magical restraints. "No! No! No! You've ruined everything!" She sobbed. "H-how am I going t-t-to make my cupcakes without my s-secret ingredient!?"

Twilight looked at her friend sadly. "What did Discord do to her?"

Celestia frowned. "This isn't dissimilar to Rainbow Dash's behavior. Rather than turn them opposite, he increased their traits 100 fold."

Twilight put a hoof to her chin. "Traits… that explains it, then. Princess, I believe Pinkie Pie is the bearer of the Element of Laughter."

Luna looked at the now downcast Pinkie. "That would explain her erratic behavior. Sister, can you keep her restrained while we try to find the Element?" Celestia nodded, prompting the group to head upstairs and begin their search.

From Pinkie's loft to the display case up front, there was no sign of any Element. The only place left to look was the kitchen. The group went inside, but the closer they got, the more agitated Pinkie became. "Must… make… cupcakes!"

"This filly is nuttier than a squirrel at dinner. We'd best keep her away from the sharp tools." Applejack said.

They began to scavenge the kitchen for anything out of the ordinary. Eventually, Twilight found a strange key. "What's this?"

Pinkie suddenly began to shake a bit. "Secret… ingredient? No… but, is… huh?" Celestia noticed her colors flashing back and forth. "PInkie? What's wrong?" Twilight looked at the key, then back at her friend. She brought it closer, getting a reaction out of the pink pony. Her colors seemed to be returning, but only faintly. Twilight nodded to Princess celestia, who reluctantly freed Pinkie Pie. The pink blur quickly grabbed the key and uneasily made her way to a small safe behind a breadbox. "Cup… cakes…" She muttered, repeatedly. When she opened the safe, the only objects inside were a medium-sized beaker of an unknown fluid and a small stone. Ignoring the latter, Pinkie Pie grabbed the vial and giggled. "My secret ingredient! My super must-have for delicious cupcakes!" She quickly grabbed a leftover cupcake from the counter and added a drop of the liquid. The baked good shook a bit. Then a bit more. Then a little bit more before inflating to the size of Pinkie's head. Her colors began to return to her as she clapped her hooves together, giddily. "Tony's super growth serum! You know, I really should add a flavoring to this, but he always says 'No tampering with experimental solutions' but then I'm all like 'But it tastes boring' but then he-" She suddenly fell unconscious.

Behind her, Celestia's horn glowed. "I'm going to wipe her memory of her… actions before she realizes what she did to you two. Quickly, we must grab the Element and return to the Boutique."

Unbeknownst to the group, a pair of burning eyes was keeping watch over them. As they left, Discord materialized in Sugarcube Corner's kitchen, picking up the vial of Tony's growth serum. Derpy had appeared with him and examined it. "Intriguing. Pinkie has been using a serum to increase the size of her baked goods. A bit unconventional, but it's a solid business model."

Discord grinned, maliciously. "Forget business models! This is just what I need…"