AppleCakes

Chapters

Ch1: Good News, Bad News
Ch2: Apple Pie
Ch3: Explaination
Ch4: Invitation
Ch5: Special Ingredient
Ch6: Warning
Ch7: Don't Cry, Pinkie Pie
Ch8: Visit
Ch9: AppleCakes (Part 1)

Ch1: Good News, Bad News

It’s been 4 months since Pinkie has been put into prison. 4 months since she escaped. She sent many letters since then, like some birthday cards or badly written letters. Each of her packages was examined before opening by fear of what could be inside. Ponyville got a new mayor, a younger pony yet experienced. Luckily that pony has already been a sheriff in another town of Equestria. The town’s winged ponies number got up, and they were used to mostly look after the town to see if any new danger would come aboard.

Rarity just got out of the hospital, her horrible stitches around her beautiful horn now gone. He was so happy she went at her house to look at her in a mirror during at least 20 minutes before deciding to make herself pretty to show herself to the village.

She put in her favourite dress, a beautiful dark blue cotton matching her eyes. She would of liked to wear the assorted hat with it, but she realised that it would only hide her cured beauty.

She went outside in the street and started walking fancy with her head up, eyes closed and feet twisting in perfect movements. Her hair bouncing in her movements and swirling in the wind, she was fast discovered by everypony near her.

Many who passed near her remarked that the black stripes around her forehead now disappeared. Some told her loudly, to what she always replied “I know, isn’t it marvellous?” and others walked by staring at her, or started following the beauty.

Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle were having a little chat when Rarity came near them with her fan group following her. “Look at it,” she exclaimed, “isn’t it beautiful?”

Both ponies turned to look at the white beauty standing in front of her. “Wow! It’s awesome!” shouted Rainbow Dash. “You look just like before” added Twilight.

“Rarity, you are so pretty like that,” whispered Fluttershy that appeared from behind them. “I see something must have changed on you?”

“My horn, darling,” she exclaimed. “My horn is so beautiful now that those horrible black stitches got removed!” she kept exclaiming herself. She was so proud of her beauty, now that it was entirely back.

“Now we will be able to forget Pinkie better,” added Fluttershy without thinking. Everybody’s face went sad as soon as she mentioned that name. She woke up and tried to correct her error. “No, um, I mean…”

But she didn’t find any way to make everypony happy again. Pinky always used to cheer people up, they all thought. Now that the jolly pink pony was gone, it was hard to live without her burst of joy. There were rarely parties at Ponyville and it transformed into Gloomyville. The only pony who could change that was Rainbow Dash, but she was too traumatized by what her best friend did to her to ever try to do anything Pinkie liked to do.

The problem is, she liked to be happy.

“Hey,” Rarity spoke up to end the gloomy silence. “Why don’t we go pay a visit to Applejack to eat some apples and show her my horn?” She smiled, and everypony did as so. The small group went to Applejack’s house, trying to forget the memories that they have just summoned.

Arrived at the apple garden, it took a while to the group to find Applejack. In that big field, who knew where she was. They looked all over, but none of them went very far, except Rainbow Dash that flew over the clouds to look for her. She came out of her house and surprised them from their back.

“Heya! Ae just finished takin’ those apples,” she smiled, pointing at the field. But looking around, only a small circle in the trees showed no red signs. “Oh mabey just a part,” she winced. She looked back at her friends. “So? What’s new?” she asked of her accent. She did see by herself that Rarity kept smiling so happily. She haven’t done that for months, or as she remembered, and she did see that it was good news. “What’s wrong, Rarity?” she smiled. Rarity replied in a grin. “Look at it! Just look at it!!” she looked up. “Yeah, it’s great,” said Applejack while looking in the same direction as the white pony, though not seeing what she was talking about. “Uh… What’s great, again?” she looked back at Rarity’s face who was now gone into an insulted face. “Uhm… Oh, yeah,” tried to correct Applejack as she looked back up, finally noticing the horn. “Your horn, right? The thingies on it ‘er gone?”

“Of course they are!” smiled Rarity back as she continued fancying on herself. “Isn’t it marvellous? Those horrible things were ruining all my face, but now, look at it!!” she kept repeating again and again. Applejack sighed. “You ‘er always so busy with all the details,” she moaned. “Look, I didn’t even notice them gone, so it isn’t much if a difference.”

“Because you don’t know fashion!” exclaimed the glamour in return. She was used to that kind of comment from Applejack.

“I know,” spoke Twilight, trying to calm the atmosphere. “Why don’t we celebrate this with some apples?” she smiled at Applejack. The orange pony smiled back. “I’m on it!” And on those words, she left.

They all sat down at a table, waiting for Applejack. But before she had the time to come back, the mail pony came with a letter at Applejack’s house. Seeing there was nobody at the door, she went directly to the table where the group was sitting. “I’m sorry to interrupt you,” the pony spoke. "But we found this in the bottom of our mail stuff, and er, if was addressed to a certain, um, Applejack, Rarity, Twilight Sparkle, and Fluttershy,” said the mail pony. He seemed unsure and a bit scared, since his eyes were folded. Twilight Sparkle found it weird, since the letter was addressed to them all.

Applejack came back with a plate of goodies. “what’s goin’ on here?” she asked in her campaign accent. She came and let down the plate on the table as Twilight took the letter. “From who is it?” she asked suspiciously.

“Pinkamena Diane Pie,” said the deliverer in a shaky voice before leaving in a hurry.

They all stared at the letter without moving. The sweet scent of the apple goodies left on the plate came to their noses, but none of them moved. The date was written on the letter. “It was sent one month ago,” whispered Twilight. She slowly opened the thin package to let open a small letter inside. Nothing than a small letter sent a month ago by their best friend.

“Hey you all! It’s me! Hee hee!

Here where I got to, It’s gotten annoying. I made good Cupcakes, yes, but it started to get boring. The most exciting people went first, and then nobody is left for parties. It’s so annoying!!

So I decided I’d come back to pay a visit to my best friends! Hee hee! I know you all must be so happy! Though it is far away from here, so I guess I’ll come back to Ponyville in sort-of… Hm… A month. It will be fun, right? Hee hee!

Your absolutely-fun-party-thrower best friend,

Pinkamena Diane Pie”

Ch2: Apple Pie

Rainbow Dash was laying on a grey cloud near the entrance of Ponyville, her eyes piercing down at the horizon. She was looking at every moving thing, every single color. Her eyes frowned; she was hiding her true expression, hidden deep inside. She didn’t admit it to nobody, but she was scared of Pinkie coming back. But she was also weirdly happy. She still couldn’t imagine that the Pinkie she knew had killed her. She wanted the old Pinkie, her best friend always ready to party, to come back. Not the crazy blood-thirsty stranger that has eaten a part of her.

Everybody in town was scared. Since a week, the mayor sent every flying pony to bring their own cloud everywhere around Ponyville to look for the pink pony. Some ponies were put at the entrance, and guards were near the entrance of the mayor’s house.

Even the little fillies of Ponyville were aware. Apple Bloom wasn’t very happy of hearing Pinkie’s come back, but unlike all the other kids, she wasn’t scared at all. Scootaloo was terribly scared inside, but she kept repeating to herself and her friends that the most awesome pony in Equestria will beat her in a flinch. But she wasn’t aware that the pony in question was as frightened as the others.

The guard at the door went for a second to take an ice cream cone at the ice cream car that just stopped not far away. In that exact moment, a suspicious pony appeared from behind the tree near the entrance and got in in a hurry before the guard could see. She passed slowly near him, staring at him the whole time, till he turned back to his work. The stranger’s face turned into a grin, or at least as Rainbow Dash saw from up there. She turned around and started bouncing happily in direction of Applejack’s apple orchard.

Bouncing just like Pinkie Pie used to do.

The sky blue pony opened her eyes wide open. Was it her? She didn’t have the same color, but that would be obvious, since she couldn’t go very far in the village without being discovered. It was clear: that was Pinkamena Diane Pie.

The rainbow Pegasus bounced up, destroying her cloud in a sudden move. Her wings flew open and she planed down as a bomb. She fell directly on the suspicious pony, making them both roll over the ground. They stopped when Rainbow Dash came over the stranger. Everypony around them had noticed the sudden movement, and all came to watch.

“Who are you?!” Yelled Rainbow Dash, her eyes flaming of anger. She was staring at the stranger, but could not recognize her because of the red pile of hair that spread around the suspicious pony’s face. Both were breathing very heavily. “W-wot?” barely whispered the red-haired pony of a weird accent who seemed somehow familiar.

"That voice," whispered somebody in the crowd that gathered around. Everybody turned to see where that voice came from, even Rainbow Dash. Applejack was standing firm, eyes wide open, fixing the unknown pony. Unfortunately, the stranger couldn't see her since her hair was scattered all around her face.

"Applejack?" tried to guess the stranger. Rainbow Dash let go of her as she got up and pushed her hair from her face to her right side. Applejack gasped. "Apple Pie!"

The pony was tall, of half an inch taller than a normal pony, a tiny bit taller than Applejack. Her skin was the colour of a yellow apple, but a bit more tanned than Applejack's. Her hair looked familiar to Pinkie's when it was straight, but Apple Pie's was blood red and a blue wick went the entire long from the top to the bottom of her wig and tail, along with some purple gradation. Her eyes were the same colour as the wick in her hair, and the purple on the sides made them shine. Her tail was the same shape as Applejack's, but hers didn't have an rubber band to keep it in that position. The cutie mark on her leg was very visible, an apple standing on a pie.

"Oh! Apple Pie! On the name of Celestia, it's you!" shouted Applejack before jumping on the stranger to give her a tight hug. "Aple pie!" said the apple-colour pony with her strong accent, making it sound like "maple pie". When Applejack removed herself, she tossed the small bit of her that was on the pony's left to see three little dots on the border of her eye, just like many other ponies from the Apple family had. "It's you," she smiled. Apple Pie smiled back. As the crowd saw there was nothing wrong, many of them flew away to mind their business.

“Apple Pie?” asked Rainbow ash in her back. Both two ponies turned to look at her. “Who is this Apple Pie…?” the blue pony continued, still suspicious about the pony standing in front of her. Her eyes were frowned and we could still see a bit of anger in her eyes. Rainbow Dash was sure it was Pinkie Pie, and when Rainbow Dash was sure, nobody could make her change her mind.

“She’s an old member of the Apple family,” sighed Applejack. “But she has been banned from Equestria and sent to the moon ten years ago,” she continued. “Not even I know why,” complained Apple Pie next to her.

“I see,” Rainbow Dash muttered, her expression not changing at all. And how come she was hiding from the guards?” “Ae was just hidin’ from Celestia,” the apple-color pony shrugged. “Their her guards, after all. I didn’t want to be sent there again for nothin’” she simply said in a normal farm-accented voice.

Rainbow Dash calmed down and let down her guard. “I see,” she simply whispered. She had no reason to suspect the pony anymore. She felt ashamed of accusing her for nothing.

“Ae’m glad to come back in my ol’ good family,” Apple Pie smiled to Applejack. “We’re glad to have you back too, Cloudee” she smiled back. “Stop callin’ me like that!” the red-haired pony complained, upset. Applejack laughed, and so did Rainbow Dash, who found her strong accent very funny. As Applejack introduced Pie to Rainbow, the two of them greeted the other with a smile. “So, you the tough one of the town?” Apple Pie mocked. “Well, yes I am!” answered the rainbow Pegasus. “I’m 20% cooler than everyone!” she told loudly, proud. Apple Pie laughed. “Then I think we’re gonna be good friends,” she declared as she opened wide her wings. “I guess we’d make a good team, looking at your wings,” confessed the cool pony. She seemed to enjoy somebody at her level of strength, or at least that looked that she was.

“But, I’d like to ask though,” Apple Pie remembered. She started looking around before turning back to Applejack and Rainbow Dash. “Where’s my good old friend Pinkie?”

Ch3: Explaination

"Erm..." thought Applejack in a hoarse voice, followed by a long deadly silence. Apple Pie was still staying firm, looking at Applejack then Rainbow Dash, with a question mark in her face. "What? She's gone? She left?" she asked in a questionnable voice. She was insisting to know what happened to her old friend.

"Let's say..." started Rainbow Dash, trying to find an explication without filling with either anger or fear. "Let's say she sort-of got banned from Ponyville..." she continued. Her voice was unsure and she didn't dare look in the round, shiny eyes of the pony that asked the question. She looked at Applejack, who was sharing her expression. Apple Pie was staring at them now suspiciously. "Why did she get banned?" she asked.

Applejack cleared her throat. "Let's say she... Did somethin' bad..." she replied in a strangling voice. Apple Pie's eyes slowly grew wide. "So you found out?" she asked in the same questionning voice. "Found out what?" asked Rainbow Dash, becoming suspicious again. "The cupcakes," the apple-color pony answered firmly.

Both Applejack's and Dash's eyes grew bigger. "You... You knew about it?" asked Rainbow Dash. Apple Pie simply noded, with no expression on her face. She didn't seem to mind about it. "Wait... That means she murdered even ten years ago?!" exclaimed the apple bucker. She seemed horrified to think about what Pinkie could of done.

"Yup." Simply replied the pony. "Though she killed mostly animals in that time," she informed the two terrified ponies. "How come you didn't tell us?" asked her cousin. Apple Pie simply shrugged. "She told me my number will go last if I kept it secret, but I refused, cause I will finish by dying after all." she explained. "So I decided to follow her and join her in her little bloody parties, so I could form a team with her and never die." Applejack and Rainbow Dash were eating each and every word of her sentence. Applejack was terrified just thinking that her so generous cousin could of helped killing people just for herself. "Though," Apple Pie added, breaking Applejack's thoughts, "I wasn't very happy with what she did, and I never was. It's thanks to me that she started killing more animals than ponies," she finished. Applejack smiled slightly at the apple-colored pony, seeing in her a pinch of what she was before.

None of the two ponies thought even a second that she was lying.

"Apple Pies for everyone!" said Apple Pie happily, a cabaret filled with delicious-looking pies in her hands. She placed them on the table and everypony started eating like crazy. Applejack had her mouth surrounded by apple sauce, Dash was asking for her third plate, Rarity was enjoying each of her bites perfectly cutted with a fork, and Fluttershy's shoulders and opened wings were filled with a decade of small birds crying for more. Apple Pie was standing on two hooves in front of the table, her hands holding in her back and a satisfied smile on her face. She was enjoying everypony's admiration, like always.

"These are delicious!" exclaimed Rainbow Dash, mouth-full. "There the best apple pies I've ever tasted! Wait, no, they are the best PIES I've ever tasted!" she said in an filled voice. Some drops of pie spit down from her mouth while she was talking, making Rarity show an expression of disgust. "Please don't talk mouthful," she tried to reason. "It's very disgusting." But Dash ignored her. "What did you put into this?" she asked the pie baker.

"It's a secret," winked Apple Pie. Rainbow Dash didn't really enjoy that answer, since she really didn't like secrets hidden to her. "Cloudee always refused telling her special ingredient," remembered Applejack. "She wanted to be the best pie maker, and nobody to steal her secrets. Nobody knewn her special ingredient," continued Applejack. "Nobody except Pinkie," noted Apple Pie. Everybody looked down and started chewing slowly as soon as she pronounced that name. Seeing the error she did, Apple Pie tried to make everybody forget. "So, how are my apple pies?"

All the ponies agreed on one fact: they were delicious. Fluttershy added shyly that she could make other people taste, and that they will surely like it just as much. Apple Pie hesitated on that fact, until her cousin reminds her: “Well, of course! She’ll become famous, just like the old times!” Which reminded her when she was a youth and she shared her apple pies with all the others from the apple family, which were selling those like crazy and gave an enormous amount of money for repairs and Granny Smith. She was the beloved by all in that time, until she disappeared. She wanted to become just like she was before.

She wanted to make more special ingredients.

Ch4: Invitation

In the last two days, Apple Pie met with many ponies in Ponyville. Some older ones recognized her but for mostly she was new. Everybody wanted to taste her apple pies, since Applejack always took a pause to talk to them about it. A.J. was very happy of being able to sell those famous pies again, since their rooftop had a hole in it due to Rainbow Dash's crash in it and their were in a lack of funds to repair it. Apple Pie, though, started to lack of her special ingredient. She knew very well that the small amount of it that she made on road to Ponyville wouldn't of lasted long. And she knew that she had to keep it until she does more. But the problem is, she couldn’t keep it much longer, due to all her lovers.

She had to restart making more Apple Pie Ingredients. But she didn't like to do those. She got unused doing them and she hesitated a while, since she didn't even know if she will be able to get any of it.

She was sitting on a chair behind the counter where the delicious pies she made disappeared one by one. Applejack was so happy of all the founds that it brought. "Hey, Ae think we could do an extra for Granny Smith with this! Right, Cloudee?" she awaited for an answer while picking up the money left by the costumer, but Apple Pie didn't answer. "Cloudee?-" "Don't call me like that," the apple-colour mare quickly interrupted her. "Ae told you to call me A.P." Applejack turned around to look at her cousin. Apple Pie was sitting on the chair, her legs slightly spread to leave a place to her two hands that were joined together on the rusty seat. She has her head down, like each time she was thinking about something.

"What's wrong, A.P.?" asked Applejack as she turned around and sat down on the floor next to her, looking up to see her lost face. Big MacIntosh took the lead of Applejack while she wasn't there.

"Ae won' be making apple pies for very long," her cousin replied. The orange mare got surprised for a second, but before she could say a word, Apple Pie continued: "Ae don't have any of the special ingredient anymore."

Applejack then fell into her thoughts as well. When A.P. was a child, she sometimes said that, but rarely. Normally, she always filled up her special ingredient from time to time, at unawaited moments. Applejack was always aware when she didn't have any anymore, even if she could never see the special ingredient itself. She knew she will have to wait.

:"It's alright, cousin," smiled Applejack. "We've got a full stock for now, and Ae think it will remain full for a while. You could go get some whenever ya want." To those words, Apple Pie smiled slightly as a sign of reconfort, which permitted Applejack to get back to work.

Apple Pie was walking in town in direction to her house. She was exhausted after selling so many pies. A very excited pony stopped straight as soon as she saw her, and ran up next to her. "Oh my gosh! Are you Apple Pie?" the pony asked. The exhausted pony sighed with a smile. "Yup, it's me," she replied. The pony in front of her seemed very excited to see her, though she swore that she didn’t know who it was. Her hair was of a dark pink and attached into two ponytails, and her skin was pale turquoise. “I’m Strawberry Cake,” the stranger happily introduced. “I am a big fan of your pies!” she added. “Ae see,” smiled Apple Pie. “You like cookin'?” she asked, seeing that Strawberry’s cutie mark was a chef’s hat. “Yes!” the pony yelled, still excited. “I’m a beginner though,” she explained. “But I’d like soooo much to be able to make pies like you do!” cheered the aqua pony. “Could you show me one day?”

Apple Pie turned herself to stare at the pony. She was talking about the pie, yes, not the special ingredient, which was okay. An idea suddenly crossed the mind of the apple-color pony which made her grin. “Yeah! Sure, why not!” she said happily. Strawberry Cake’s hopes bounced up. “Really?!” she screamed. “Of course,” the pony replied. “You could come tomorrow afternoon. Though, you will have to leave when Ae’ll add the special ingredient,” the pony told, the grin on her face going up to her cheeks. Strawberry thought it was weird that the star she beloved enjoyed the warning, but she was too excited to even care. “Yeah! Alright! Tomorrow afternoon!” she repeated to herself so she doesn’t forget. “Where?” she asked.

“Here,” the apple-color pony gave her a map, smiled at her again, then left.

“Thank you! Oh, thank you Apple Pie!” she yelled to the pony who was a bit further away now.

“Please,” Apple Pie stopped for a second to turn her head around and smile at her. “Call me A.P.”

The next day, Strawberry Cake bounced around all day. At her school, she kept annoying the other colts and fillies about the luck she had to meet her star. She couldn’t wait for that afternoon.

And Apple Pie either.

As soon as the filly left school, she took out the map that the apple-color pony gave her the day before. And X was placed at the end of a deserted street that was going around the Everfree forest. At least it’s not inside, thought the mare.

As she followed the path made by the Everfree forest’s trees, she looked at the map every now and then to see if she is going I the right direction. She once slipped on some mud which made her fall between two trees, and she freaked out and got away from there immediately. Many ponies at her school sent the rumours that you are in danger at every second you pass over the line that the trees make. She was too scared to take the risk, so she took a good distance between the trees and her.

It took a long while before Strawberry Cake ended at the weird shed Apple Pie asked. She checked the card many times today and when she encountered the pony, she dared to ask if they will bake the apple pies over there. The mare simply answered that it was just a meeting spot that she always chooses with her friends because it’s deserted. Strawberry was feeling a bit better as she reminded herself of the pony’s words as she saw the shed.

It was a rusty old thing made of dried wood. Some parts were broken and it was very dirty. The grass around it has been cut, since there was just some very dark earth. The shed was of a moldy yellow color. The door was not locked, even it was a third open. The shed didn’t seem very welcoming, but Strawberry Cake took a breath of courage and shot in.

“Hello?” she asked as she was in. The shed was completely dark, and the only light inside it was the bite of sunlight coming out of the door. Though, she closed mostly of the door with her hoof as she stepped in, so the light was now only a thin line of yellow on the floor. The place seemed deserted, but she didn’t give up. “Hello? A.P., are you there?” she asked again. Her voice echoed around the four small walls.

No answer.

Though, the filly’s eyes got slightly used to the darkness and she was able to see what was in the room in a blur. The shed was completely empty. Absolutely nothing inside, except one thing.

It was there, indeed. The shadow of a tall pony was at the left of the room. She couldn’t see any color of the pony, though she did see it was holding something. The pony was standing straight up, and was staring at her. Strawberry got a chill down her spine as she saw the scary shadow. “Hello?” she asked in a shaky voice. “Who is there? Apple Pie, is it you?”

As she blinked for a second, the dark shadow was gone. She quickly turned her head in all direction to look for it again, but no sign everywhere. “Hello?” she asked desperately. She was now officially scared. She blinked again before receiving something made of cold metal straight on her forehead. She let out a quick moan of pain before being unbalanced and falling down her feet. Her head was filled with pain and she was very dizzy. The world spun around her before getting completely black. She closed her eyes to try and calm her pain, but no use.

As she did a last effort to open her eyes, the last thing she saw was that same shadow, standing up in front of her. Her shining blue eyes were making an incredible amount of light and she was grinning widely. Her blood red tail swept the floor near her. The object that she was holding in her hands was now very visible: a frying pan. It was the shape of an apple and the handle was the leaf.

“Oh, please,” said the shadow happily, her grin getting bigger as the world got darker. “Call me A.P.”

Ch5: Special Ingredient

Strawberry Cake opened her eyes. But as she did, she saw only pitch black. She blinked a dozen of times, hoping to get used to the light and see something, but it only made her see less. Were her eyes truly open? She wondered for a second. This is probably just a dream, a bad dream, she tried to calm herself. She was shaking of fright, but also of cold. She was freezing. The young mare tried to move her left hoof, but it was stuck in something. She then tried her right hoof, but the result was the same. She shook both her legs back and forth, but a wall stopped them from the back, and the same metallic but sticky thing was on the front, just like her front hooves were.

“H-hello?” she said in a trembling voice. Her teeth were chattering loudly and she let out a soft “brrr” from between them. “Why hello!” she heard at her left. Her eyes grew wide but her pupils became small. She turned her eyes to see from where came that voice, even if she knew exactly who it was.

“So, are you ready for cooking lessons, shugarpie?” the shadow asked. She approached the trapped filly so she sees her better. Strawberry gasped as she saw what monster hid inside that innocent mare.

A tall pony was standing next to her. Her mane was straight and bright red, except for the long blue wick traveling the long of it. Her blue eyes shot out a very bright light even if there was no place from where it could have reflected. Her pupils were very small, even tiny; we could barely see the black in them. The only thing still visible from them was the shiny sea blue around it, which was small as well. Her eyes were very wide open, more than any other mare she had ever seen. Her white teeth seemed very sharp in her wicked big grin going up to her ears. Her light apple-color skin seemed to take a softly more red color in some spots close to her face. Her ears were down even though her smile was up. She seemed scared- but happy in the same time.

“So, how do ya feel? Excited? Happy?” asked the demon, her smile growing wider and wider- Strawberry never thought it was even possible. “Ae feel so happy to give my first cooking lesson to somebody!” she cheered, as weirdly happy as before. “Now, let’s get started, shall we?” she laughed before leaving to the right. She got out of Strawberry’s sight. “Wait, wait! What are you doing? What do you want to do to me?!” she cried, more and more scared. “Well, what do ya think?” answered the demon’s voice in an echo. Her tone seemed slightly annoyed, like if the answer was obvious and the question, stupid. Strawberry suddenly remembered why she came here.

“MAKE APPLE PIES!” laughed Apple Pie loudly as the lights opened. Strawberry was revealed to be caged by metallic plates covered with glue around each of her hooves. She was attached to the wall and below her stood a plate filled with a lot of yellow apples. She was surprised to see that kind of apple, since the only apples she ever saw were the red apples of the Apple Family. As she looked up, there were walls painted in a mix of bright red and yellow-orange. On the wall in front of her was written 4 deadly words in blood red that dripped down.

“LET’S BAKE APPLE PIES!”

She freaked out. On the wall of left, many messages were written down, either in blood or with a gem that scraped in the ceramic.

“Need more special ingredients” “I killed her” “Let’s have a party” “I am helping people” “I am a nice person” “It’s so fun” “I’M BACK”

The last message was big. Very big. And unlike all the other writings that dried out, this one was still dripping, like if it just has been written. Strawberry took a while before understanding what was happening in front of her eyes. “What do you want to do to me?! Why are you doing this?!”

A.P. just replied with a laugh. She ignored the scared pony’s questions and got to the right side of the wall. There was a big bag of tools. She opened it and took out a butter knife. Its end was round, so there was no reason to worry. Though its shape was weird: it was in a “V” form. Its handle was also uncommon, since it was in an apple shape. The knife was all painted in green, except the handle that was red.

“What are you going to do with that…?” shrieked the scared mare. “Why,” replied the other pony, “Ae shall prepare the special ingredient, so its quantity grows while Ae prepare the rest,” explained the demon. Strawberry couldn’t believe what she was hearing. The special ingredient?

“But didn’t you say I’ll have to leave when”- “When Ae will ADD the special ingredient to the pie, yes,” corrected Apple Pie before the young mare could finish her sentence. A chill got down Strawberry’s spine as the demon approached her once again, but this time, with the broken butter knife. “And how can you make the special ingredient with… that?” dared to ask Strawberry Cake.

“Like… THIS!” and as she yelled the last word, the took the handle with the butter knife with her left hand and placed it above the aqua-colored filly, then she grabbed the end of the knife with her other hand and violently entered the V’s opening inside the filly’s back of her elbow. A scream of pain echoed all over the small cabin as drops of blood shot in the air to land everywhere on the ground near the two mares. The demon still had the grip on the knife, and moved it slowly around the elbow. The line got the long of the elbow’s back until it reached the front, where the hard bone stayed. The apple-color pony stopped as she arrived there and took off the knife from the pony’s arm, which demanded some effort since it was stuck deep inside the filly’s muscles. As she did her best to take off the knife, Strawberry started crying. She couldn’t support the deadly pain anymore.

As Apple Pie gave herself a last boost, she pulled on the knife of all her strength and it finally pull out. Though, A.P. was pulling too hard and was barely standing on her two feet, only holding herself on the butter knife, so as it stroke into the air along with some drops of blood, Apple Pie lost her stability and fell on her tail, and the butter knife went going as a boomerang before bouncing on the front wall and felling down. As the murderer got back up, Strawberry cried as she let out an ever louder yell of pain. “W-why are you doing this to me?!” she yelled at the apple-color pony. “What did I do wrong?!”

“Nothin’,” the pony said as she turned her back to go take the knife. She winced as she saw the broken knife on the ground. She picked it up, and as she went to put it back in the bag, she explained: “Ae’m simply learning to ya how Ae make apple pies.”

Apple Pie let the broken butter knife fall down into the bag. Then, she looked up and the crying filly to point down with her eyes.

The filly watched in the same place. She was surprised to see the bunch of apples beneath her filling with blood red. Her blood. It was painting the yellow apples into red. “The secret of my pies is in the apples,” shared A.P. “When ya add blood to them, their sauce has less lumps and gets a better taste.”

The filly was completely scared after hearing what the pony she beloved so much said. Pony blood? She thought. She did all those apple pies with… Pony blood?

“Ahem, now,” started the apple-color pony. “Next step.” She took out a knife out of nowhere- or, actually, her back. The knife was same as the butter knife- but this one was straight, longer, and wickedly sharp. The pony gripped the red apple handle on the knife with her left hand, and approached to the caged pony. “One…” started counting the murderer as she placed her apple-knife at the end of the hoof. Strawberry reacted immediately. “No! Please! Don’t do that!” she begged. But the apple-color pony ignored her. “Two…” she continued counting. The aqua-color pony started crying. “Please…”- “THREE!” She threw the apple-knife inside the pony’s hoof, letting her shoot off a scream. She turned the knife in the pony’s flesh, just like it was a key opening the door. As soon as she took it off, she went to the next hoof and did the same operation. Strawberry Cake was screaming and crying, hoping to be loud enough for somebody to hear her. She knew her tears were useless, but the pain that A.P. brought her was too much.

“Stop… People will hear me… They will find you…” tried to reason Strawberry. But Apple Pie just took it for a happy joke and laughed. “Well, then, Ae’ll cut ya tongue!” she yelled. The filly immediately regretted her words. “No! No, don’t, pl-eeeee…” she couldn’t continue because Apple Pie opened her mouth and grabbed the filly’s tongue. She raised her hand up in the air, before letting it fall down along with the knife and cut half of the filly’s tongue. “There,” she sighed in satisfaction. “That should lower your voice.”

The aqua-colored pony, now seeing her efforts were useless, just gave up and started crying again. Her tears got down and mix up with the blood, who now gave a more bright color to the dozen of apples below. Apple Pie, seeing she will have now more facility, got back to work.

The murderer lay down on her knees until she was at the filly’s knee length. She went right under those and placed a needle at her chosen area. She took her apple-knife and turned it to the back, so that the handle is positioned in front of the needle. Strawberry knew exactly what she was about to do, but she didn’t even try to make an effort to stop her.

The apple mare surprisingly started by knocking slowly with the knife. Then, without any warning, she violently threw her hand in the air and made it land on the needle, which got straight inside the filly’s flesh. Blood immediately started to pour out of the hole. Strawberry cried loudly. Apple Pie ignored her, once again. She moved on to the next leg, where she shot her “hammer” back and forth once before whispering a swear. “Ae put it in the wrong place…” she said to herself.

She went back to her weapon bag to take out a staple remover. “There. That should do the thing!” She said in a jolly voice before going back to the messed up needle. She placed the needle in the hole of the stapler before pulling of all her strength. Strawberry Cake screamed of pain, but the scream was barely audible. As a river of blood poured out of both holes, Apple Pie drew a satisfied smile on her face. She looked down at the apples, which were now bloody red. She was happy: she had made more special ingredients.

“There! Now, I’m finally done!” she happily said, realizing she won’t need to put another needle. Strawberry Cake looked up, her eyes half closed, her mouth open to reveal her broken tongue. She was breathing heavily and sweating like crazy. Her eyes were half closed, and she looked broken down. Apple Pie’s smile washed off for the first time since her arrival. “Aw, don’t be sad,” she tried to cheer up. “I’m done now.” She slightly smiled. Strawberry’s pitiful expression calmed down a bit.

“And now that I’m done,” said the blood-stained pony, her wicked smile reappearing. “I will be able to add the special ingredient!” she said happily. “But, unfortunately,” she looked down, though still holding her smile, “ya will have to leave now.”

Strawberry Cake’s eyes grew extremely wide. The words she said the day before now became very clear to her. “Though, you will have to leave when Ae’ll add the special ingredient”. Why she found it amusing. She was so stupid. She didn’t mean to leave only her.

The apple-colored pony threw her apple-knife on the wall in the back. It broke down the cement and stuck in it. She took another apple-knife from nowhere, exactly identical to the first. “Bye, bye.”

She placed the knife inside her skin, right above the pony’s heart. She entered it deep inside her flesh, pushing it between her muscles. As those broke, she took up her strength to pull the knife down with both her hands on the handle. Strawberry yelled and cried a lot as the world started spinning around her. The apple-knife made its way down until it was half an inch below the filly’s heart. Apple Pie pulled off the knife from the skin violently and put both her hands on her knees while trying to take back her breath. After a few of these I’ll get used to it again, she thought.

She got back up and let the knife fall down. “Theeere,” she said, looking at the straight line she made on the filly’s chest. She entered both her hands inside the hole and started pulling, the left hand to the left, and the right one to the right. It ripped off the skin around and it made a flow of blood drip down to the plate, which was now filled. The apples were almost not visible in the lake of blood that rained above them. But, what was sure is that they absorbed every drop of blood and they were now entirely red.

As she pulled one last time, the two parts of skin next to the line she cut became two large doors made of skin and muscles. She opened them, and there, in front of her, was the heart of the dying filly. Strawberry started to see everything more far away than they truly are. Her dizziness didn’t let her go a second. It only grew bigger and bigger. Her heart was still beating, but slowly, very slowly.

Blood from the muscles around the heart was dripping the long of the pony’s aqua skin. Apple Pie enjoyed her fun as she entered her head inside the hole she made in her visitor’s body. She grabbed one of the veins that passed through the heart with her teeth, and pulled on it until it broke. It flew like a snake for a second, shooting blood all over the place, before dying. Apple Pie, happy and satisfied, clapped her hooves together. “And now, it’s time for you to leave,” she cheered. A.P. grabbed the pony’s heart with both of her two hooves. She pulled on it as the veins on the sides let go and blood poured out of them.

Strawberry Cake heard her childhood star laugh in front of her before losing herself. In the deep dark slowly taking place in her view.

Apple Pie made a click sound with her mouth and the lights came off. She closed her eyes as she sat down next to the apples. She stopped grinning, but she still kept a smile while hiding her teeth filled with blood. She held the dead filly’s heart in front of the plate. As she squished the heart between her two hooves, blood poured out of it and dripped down into the lake. She smiled in the dark of the underground, and then sang a song that she knows oh so well:

“In the dark night
When everypony sleeps,
I fill the sky
With deadly screams.

In the pale light
Of the bright moon
I bake apple pies
With torture and doom…”

Ch6: Warning

Twilight Sparkle was studying at her desk, trying to find a new spell to learn. She knew thousands already, but there were still many more. She just received 30 new books from Princess Celestia, along with a note saying that they hold some good spells along with them. As Twilight looked over a book with no name graved on it, Spike was turning the sheets of “101 spells” as fast as the wind. He stopped at a random place, to what he took a look. “Twi! Look! I found something amazing!” Spike exclaimed, raising his free hand in the air while looking at Twilight. The purple mare stopped her lecture to put her attention on the dragon. “What is it, Spike?” she asked. To that, Spike started reading out loud the description of the spell.

“Aura Spell: This spell is a useful spell that can be used by advanced ponies only. It permits you to feel the aura of any living creature near the emplacement of the caster, along with the mood of the creature defined into colors. The spell can go to feeling things at 200 miles maximum, depending on the caster’s powers.”

“Wow!” exclaimed Twilight. “That must be amazing! And really useful if you are lost or looking for someone.” She walked from her desk to go next to Spike, to be able to see the spell by herself. “Watch out, Twilight,” Spike warned. “This spell is pretty hard… And it’s for advanced ponies, after all.”

“Pfff!” Twilight moaned. “I can do advanced tricks! My cutie mark isn’t magic for nothing,” she added ironically. Spike was used to hear her say that, since the two last days only, she started saying it often. The green dragon didn’t knew where, or from who did she take that way to talk, but he didn’t dare ask her the question.

Twilight stole the book from the dragon’s hands with her magic to place it on her shelf afterwards. She read the steps one by one. “Hm, it does look hard,” she said out loud. “But I can do it.” She took a deep breath, collected all her strength to her horn, and started concentrating hard, first step of the spell. The easy one, of course. Her horn lit up. She sent flying eight stars of energy to the floor: One to the south, one to the north, east, and west, and the direction between the four cardinal points: north-west, north-east, south-east and south-west. The stars flew under the ground and made eight straight lines, each in their respective direction. As they stopped, they reached each other to form a circle at the end of the lines.

Last step: Open your eyes.

Twilight did as so, and she was fascinated to see what she saw. Everything became black around her. Everything except the auras. All the things that didn’t have one, the walls, floors, books, have disappeared. She saw Spike’s aura next to her, and she knew it was him since it was shaping a dragon. His color was aqua: curiosity. “Spike! This is incredible! What I see is just beautiful! Can you see it?!” Spike’s aura shrugged. “Nope, sorry.” Twilight then just ignored him afterwards and looked around for more auras: she spotted two ponies in town that were talking. One was pink, the other grayish blue: Love and jealousy. Another mare ran by the two ponies, his aura being yellow. Stress, thought Twilight. Everypony was doing what they were supposed to do in town. Though, Twi saw something unusual. A tall mare stood in front of her door- he raised his hoof to knock, but then remained paralyzed. He had two colors on him: ice blue; fear, and yellow; stress.

As Twilight lost her concentration, she blinked four times before coming back to reality. “There’s somebody at the door. Go open, Spike,” she said in a warning voice. He didn’t have the shape of anypony she knew, and anyways, she hadn’t invited nopony today. Spike got up on tiptoes and reached the doorknob with the end of his fingers before finally being able to open the door. She had already seen the pony standing in front of her, yes. It was the mail pony. He was shocked when he saw the green dragon open the door to him. “Ahem…” He tried to find something intelligent to say. Though, he hadn’t calmed down a bit and his voice was very shaky. “I-I am looking f-for… Uhm… M-Miss… Twi…. Light?” he asked.

Twilight Sparkle joined Spike in front of the door. “That’s me,” announced the purple pony.

Upon hearing that, he looked up and saw the mare that stood in front of him. He got up a letter from his mailbag and threw it into Twilight’s hands, before quickly saying, “T-This is for you, M-Miss.” And he left in a hurry.

“What’s wrong with him?!” roared Spike. “Didn’t he seem weird to you?” he turned around to see Twilight.

Twilight was looking at the letter. The mail pony’s acts were now very clear as she read what was written on the letter paper by hand. Twi doubted it would have been that since she saw him; it was the only reason she ever saw a mail pony freak out. It message dated from a week ago. “We received it earlier than last time,” noted Twilight, breaking Spike’s thoughts about the mail pony. “That means she probably came closer to us.” “Who is ‘she’?” asked Spike, curious. He didn’t understand a thing of what Twilight said before the purple pony show him the letter package. Spike gasped as he read the few words on it.

“FROM: PINKAMENA DIANE PIE”

“Pinkie’s back. She must be hiding somewhere near the town,” thought Twilight Sparkle out loud. She was turning around in a circle inside the library. Spike was trying to follow her, but it was no use since the dragon got dizzy after only two turns. “It’s very probable- No, it’s obvious!” exclaimed Twilight. “I have to warn everyone”- “No, you can’t!” interrupted Spike. “You don’t have any proof!”

Twilight gazed at him. “Oh really?” she said, annoyed. “Her letter saying she will come this week? Strawberry Cake’s disappearance?!” she got louder at each of her points. “And Apple Pie keeps talking about her recently!” she finished. “How come that be a reason for her coming back?” asked Spike, not understanding the mare’s reason. “Spike, Apple Pie is Pinkie’s best friend,” she said, surprisingly calm. “She kept her secret about the cupcakes and many more for so long. If Pinkie comes back, she will never say it to nobody.” She warned. “Though, her talking about Pinkie is a hidden sign.”

“Maybe,” thought Spike. He still wasn’t on the same thought as Twilight. “Though she IS the only pony in Ponyville that doesn’t know that Pinkie might come back.” Spike was right. Nopony had the chance to tell the apple-color mare about Pinkie’s return yet. They knew that if she knew, she will call a party to welcome her back- unlike the other ponies that would hide. They want to protect her as well, because who knows in what perspective Pinkie not saw A.P., after so many years. Since Apple Pie doesn’t know, she couldn’t welcome Pinkie at all. And without any welcoming, Pinkie could never guess which Apple Pie’s house is. So, she would have been spotted from a while ago. Spike’s logic also had a point.

“True…” thought Twilight. “But I still think it’s worth warning my friends that she MIGHT be here.” “Alright,” shrugged Spike. He didn’t have any reason not to let her do that though. He climbed up while holding to the purple pony’s mane, before sitting down on the mare’s back. He wiggled a bit to look for a comfortable way to stay during the trip. As he finished placing himself, the dragon reached out his two small arms to place them on Twi’s neck. “Where we go?” he asked. “First stop, Rainbow Dash.”

“What?! What’s wrong?” The colorful mare struck out of his flying palace. “Oh, hi, Twilight,” she said as she lied down on the cloud and hold with her two front hooves. “What brings you here? Were almost night!” remarked the cyan mare, pointing to the orange sky that started taking a darker tone. “I know, but I just wanted to warn you,” the purple pony said, head down. She looked up into the dark pink eyes of her friend. “I made some researches, and, well, it turns out it’s possible that Pinkie came back and is hiding somewhere near town,” explained Twilight. The cyan mare stopped acting cool as she lost her senses and her yes grew wide. She remained silent for a moment, not knowing how to react to the news. “I-It’s possible,” she finished by talking, “so it m-means that… She might not as well?” The Pegasus tried to see the good way of what Twilight Sparkle told her; she was actually more trying to calm herself down. “Yes, but just warning you it is a possibility.” The cyan Pegasus was still stressed, Twilight could feel it. But she got up with her normal “20% cooler” face, and turned around to fly back to her house. Halfway the road, she lastly said: “If your not sure, don’t come and bother me.”

But still, as soon as she closed her front door, Dash remained paralyzed. What her friend told her was weighting big on her and it got her very stressed. She went and closed herself up in her room, closing all the sunny lights in her house. Like that, people might think that I’m not home, she thought. She opened the television she had in her room and switched to her favorite channel. As the cyan Pegasus tried to forget what her friend told her, Twilight and Spike had already left to the next.

“Who next?” asked Spike. Twilight looked at her right and saw Pinkie’s house, now deserted. She was about to say the pink pony’s name but then she immediately stopped, talking and walking as well. She couldn’t warn somepony of his possible arrival. She couldn’t actually warn a mare that wasn’t even there! Her ears got slightly down as she shook her head, without changing her view sight. Spike saw her comportment and turned to look at the same place as the purple mare did. He immediately understood what she was thinking about. “Erm…” Twilight tried to remember what her true destination was. “Oh, um, to Applejack.” She started walking again, what Spike didn’t think she would do. He bounced slightly while letting out a “whoa!” but then settled himself back. They went advanced on road to Applejack’s farm.

As they walked to the farmer’s land, they passed by Fluttershy’s house, who was just coming out of it, Rarity following her. “Thank you for repairing the broken nest,” the shy pony whispered. “Why, no problem!” smiled Rarity, glad to help. Twilight thought it was good timing to go ware both of them two.

“Hi girls,” she said loudly as she approached Fluttershy’s house. The two mares turned arounf to see the purple pony along with a Spike on her back. “Oh, hey Twilight,” whispered the Pegasus, “What brings you here?” Twilight arrived near the two ponies and stopped. She looked at Rarity, then at Fluttershy. Spike did as well, and his look stopped at the same place as the mare: the shy mare. Would she be strong enough to hold it? They both wondered. She has left more traumatized than the others from the cupcakes event, even more traumatized than Rainbow Dash and Rarity… As Spike still hesitated, Twilight thought it was best if she was aware. She took a deep sigh.

“Bad news, that’s what brings me…” She admitted. Rarity was surprised by the tone of Twilight voice, but the yellow mare, her, immediately started panicking. “Bad news? What bad news?” she asked, worried. “The bad news that Pinkie might be back and hiding from us near the town. Well, that’s what my researches brought.” She got straight to it, which was surprising, especially for Fluttershy. She was now barely holding on her hooves, almost losing conscience. “W-W-What…?” She tried to take the most information possible from all she heard, without fainting. Still, she couldn’t hold herself.

Rarity leaned down to catch the fainting pony at time. She slowly put her back up as Twilight tried to comfort them, “Still, I found only clues, so it is possible she isn’t there as well. Don’t worry,” she said those last words to the yellow mare. “I see,” she whispered, going back up.

Rarity dared to talk, even if she as well was terrified. “Shouldn’t we aware everypony?” She asked. “No,” Twilight said sincerely. “I don’t want to make everypony panic for something that might not be true.” Fluttershy’s hooves trembled one last time before she finally stood up by herself. “Who else is aware?” she asked in a whisper. Twilight looked at Spike. “Well, we decided to ware only you guys, so…” Spike started counting on his claws. “There’s Rainbow Dash, and then there’s you two. Our next stop is Applejack.”

Rarity insisted. “Can I come with you? My house is on the road.” Fluttershy walked up two steps. “I could come too,” she suggested. Twilight Sparkle sighed. “Alright…”

They walked side by side on the road for very few before arriving to Applejack’s place. Even if it didn’t seem as so, Fluttershy’s animal meadow is very close to Applejack’s apple farm. In a minute and half you could already see the big Apple Family’s house.

Twilight moved on to the house’s door. She knocked two times, then waited. A few moments after, A sleepy Applejack opened the door.

“Twilight? Rarity? Fluttershy?” she pronounced as she rubbed her eyes, trying to open them larger. “What are you three doing over here?!” “You sleep pretty early,” whispered the yellow pony. “Ae worked a lot today, and Ae’m tired,” she replied. “Now you answer. What are you three doin’ over here?!” Twilight sighed and took a deep breath once more, before explaining the same thing. “I made some researches, and it’s possible that Pinkie might be hiding near town. Though, they are only clues so it’s as well possible that it isn’t true,” she said very quickly. Applejack, half asleep, took a while before understanding what the violet mare spoke. “Pinkie?” she asked to verify if she understood well. Twilight simply nodded. “Now that’s bad news,” she admitted, thinking. “Who did you tell this to?” “You,” Twilight answered, pointing the orange mare, “them,” she continued while pointing Rarity and Fluttershy, “and Rainbow Dash,” she finished.

“Does Apple Pie know about this?” asked A.J. Twilight was about to answer, but as she opened her mouth, a quick deadly scream shout out, filling the sky. And that scream didn’t come from Twi. “I think we won’t need to,” she admitted, looking in the direction the shout came from. The four mares ran across the street, passing next to Rainbow Dash who decided to join them.

In each of them’s mind was only one thing: “Was Twilight right?”

Ch7: Don't Cry, Pinkie Pie

“CLOUDEE!” Applejack screamed as she ran to Apple Pie’s house.

A.P. lived separately from the Apple Family, because she liked having her very own kitchen. She built her very own house along with Applejack and Big McIntosh, and Sprinkle, who was a member of the Apple Family in that time. Her small round house was chocolate brown and her rooftop was yellowish-brown. Surprisingly, she had one of the smallest houses in Ponyville, yet her house was in a vast meadow and had a lot of free space all around it, so it was very easy to distinguish.

As Applejack bumped into the house, they found out only black in the first room. She only had three rooms: the living room, the kitchen and the bedroom, and a toilet attached next to the kitchen. She doesn’t care much about the small space in her house, since she passes most time in Applejack’s farm house.

So, if she wasn’t in the living room: she was either in the kitchen or in her bedroom. They went in the second possibility, where Apple Pie passes most of her time, the kitchen. Though, no sign of her there either. Each of the five mares did take a sneak peek in the kitchen to see any sign of the special ingredient. But that one wasn’t visible either.

They went back to the living room in a hurry and ran up to the bedroom, last possibility. As they approached the door, they heard somepony crying. Rainbow Dash was the fastest, so the first one to reach the door, along with Applejack. “Hello?” Twilight asked in the back. There was somebody obviously somebody crying in the room: the echoes filled everywhere. Those tears didn’t come from Apple Pie, or at least as thought Applejack as she tried to find a light switch. They seemed more… high-pitched.

The orange mare’s hoof bumbed into something hanging on the wall, and as she pressed the button the single light in the bedroom went on. The five mares remained petrified by who they saw: Pinkie Pie.

Pinkie continued crying for a while, not even noticing their arrival. “They didn’t even throw a party for me!” she sobbed. “They know I loooove parties though, don’t they?”

Apple Pie was next to her, her wing spread open to cover the pink mare’s back. Pinkie was lying on her shoulder, and her pink mane was half-straight, half-curly. Nobody has even seen her like that yet. “They probably didn’t have time to,” tried to cheer up Apple Pie. “But don’t worry Pink, they are all happy that you came back…” she looked up and noticed the five statues who were observing the situation. “…Right?” she asked, a weak smile trying to grow on her face.

But the mares remained silent.

Pinkie looked up as well, and she was first surprised to see the five mares. Then, the first thing she thought was, did they truly make a party for me? So she tried to smile and ask, “Are you happy I came back?”

Another silence.

A soft wind blew and let the last curls in Pinkie’s hair disappear. Her hair was completely straight, and touching the rusty floor. Her ears were down, her eyes were filled with tears and some occasionally dropped down. Her expression was pitiful, beaten down. She was mutually begging for somebody to love. ”I told you,” she sniffed, starting to cry again. “They aren’t my friends anymore. They don’t like me. Nobody likes me…”

Apple Pie tried to look in her eyes as she placed her hoof on the crying mare’s neck. “Hey, Ae like you, Pink…” she smiled. Pinkie looked at her for a moment, a long moment. The world stopped moving, the group remained petrified. Then, a movement shook everything up: a last tear spread down Pinkie’s face as she got up, moved back from A.P.’s cocoon and going towards the window. She looked back at Apple Pie and the other mares, her expression now showing a more mean aspect. She looked disappointed.

“A party is boring if there’s only two ponies,” she said in a regretful voice before opening the window and flowing away in the sunset night.

Ch8: Visit

A deadly silence filled the room as Apple Pie turned her head around to look at the open window. Pinkie has left in the Everfree forest, she was gone since a long time. The time stopped in the small house. The two mares, now followed by the others who only took the time to see the disappearance of Pinkie Pie, were looking at the turned pegasus, eyes widened. A.P. sighed as she tilted her head back to the visitors; she was visibly sorry, for Pinkie, and she even expressed a drop of pity. She closed her eyes and pointed her head to the floor. "You could of been nice to her and at least show a sign," she said.

"Be nice with her?" asked Rainbow Dash, completely astonished. "You want me to... Be NICE with HER?!" she burst immediately in anger, her eyes spitting fire at the apple-color mare. "She tried to KILL me! How can I be nice with her!" she flew her wings open, but as Applejack tried to hold her for jumping into her, she was surprised to see the cyan mare wasn't even moving an inch. "She was sad," said Apple Pie, trying to take the pink pony's defense. "Don't you want to have somepony comfort you when you feel sad?"

Dash paused for a second, thinking the pegasus was right, but then her anger took the control over her once more. "You try to protect her! You are with her! You want to kill us all!!!" and at the last word, she flew up and prepared herself to strike. Thankfully, Applejack was prepared for her to do so, so she stopped her on time. She pull on her, making her fall back on the ground.

"Pinkie is my friend," said the apple color pony. Rainbow Dash's eyes widened. She didn't need any more explanation from the mare to understand what she meant, and A.P. knew that well. Rainbow Dash was Pinkie's friend as well. When Pinkie was down, she and the girls used to cheer her up like always. This time, she let her flee, sad and depressed. The question she now asked to herself is, am-I still her friend? The question repeated again and again. Normally, if somepony would ask her, she'd answer no, because she didn't want nopony to know her real feelings. But, deep inside her, she never hated Pinkie. The pink mare is still her friend, in the inside. Her friendship is like poison to the cyan pegasus, and she can't control it.

« And I know she is yours too, » the light orange pegasus said coldly, before getting up and passing next to the group and leaving downstairs. Her look was icy and showed no expression. The mares stood once more without talking, but this time, it wasn't as deadly. Everypony was thinking, their minds swirling around. The only pony who didn't enjoy the silence was Rainbow Dash, who was sad and lost inside. She wanted to get out of that hidden world the fastest possible. « I think we should leave, » said Twilight, turning around to the stairs and walking down to the exit. Each of them followed, without any argue nor refusal. They went out in the cold night silently, leaving each in their own directions.

Rainbow Dash was sitting on the border of her bed, in the darkness of her room. She was thinking about Apple Pie’s words, over and over again. She is yours too, she had said. Was Pinkie still her friend? Her body said no but her mind said yes. Dash was all mixed up, lost in her feelings. She had never felt like this before, never that extremely. She couldn’t sleep, not even close an eye. She knew she would regret it the next morning, since the weather program of tomorrow was a very long and tough job. But she couldn’t blame herself.

She looked at her ceiling, completely lost. Her mind went blank and her eyes blinded. She lost her connection with the world, with her mind, and body. She was only a soul; a soul trying to find the truth between mind and body.

The cold wind of the outdoor awoke her and shot her back to her body. She swore she had closed the windows, as she barely could fly that afternoon in the icy cold that brought the wind. As she blinked several times to find the light, she saw a silhouette approach her from the window. The mare was of a bright pink color, and her sea blue eyes reflected the light of the moon. She had straight, reddish pink hair, going down till the beginning of her hooves. The pony was staring emotionlessly at Dash, as it slowly came closer and closer to the Pegasus pony.

“P-Pinkie…?” she rainbow mare stammered. But the earth pony didn’t reply, neither did she seem to have any reaction to Dash’s words. She stopped at the foot of the bed, right next to the cyan blue mare, where she got up on her two rear hooves and wrapped her front ones around her friend’s neck.

Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened, completely took aback by that move. She felt a tear swipe down Pinkie’s cheek, but couldn’t do anything to stop it flowing. They both stood there, speechless, as they gave each other a warm hug.

A long while after, the pink pony finally let go. She backed up, and then stopped some inches away, letting Dash see her face, filled with tears but smiling. After, she u-turned back to the window, jumping down its icy air.

Dash stared at Pinkie, not understanding a thing of what just happened. Pinkie came. Gave her a hug. Then jumped by the window. Jumped by the window! Dash remembered. She galloped to it, looking down. She saw the end of her castle, and then only a small amount of clouds following it. Under, only the grassy plain. No Pinkie, crashed on the ground, deadly injured.

Dash sighed, remembering some words she used to say often back in time. Pinkie is full of surprises. And indeed, she was. She came out of nowhere, hugged her for an unknown reason, and then jumped by the window and is probably still alive.

But, though, she had discovered something that night, something that she regretted. She discovered that her body said yes as well.

Ch9: AppleCakes (Part 1)

That next morning wasn’t very active. Applejack was awoken in early morning by her younger sister, who asked for her to go picking apples soon. Knowing that her sister will ask “why?” after, AppleBloom quickly added, “I found a new cooking book, and I think I might be able to do something in baking after all!”

Moaning, a tired earth pony awoke from her bed to go pick apples. As she got up, she heard the early “cock-a-doodle-doo!” echoing from the top of the farm. She sighed, regretting to have waked up so early, though she went to work after all.

As she walked in the short distance between the farm and the apple orchard, she saw her Pegasus friend, Rainbow Dash, placing the clouds wrongly in the above. She had huge pouches under her eyes and seemed to fall asleep in mid-flight from time to time. “Hey, Dash, how come ya placin’ clouds so early?” Applejack asked. Her question was answered with a moan. “Grmblmbl…” The cyan pegasus whispered something under her breath. “Huh?” “I said, I HAD TO WAKE UP EARLY TO DO TODAY’S PROGRAM!” Rainbow Dash repeated, this time yelling madly. “Aw, that sucks,” the orange pony noted. “And why are you so early? I mean, you aren’t THAT early normally,” noticed the Pegasus mare. “My sis woke me up,” explained the earth pony. “She asked for more apples.” “Urgh,” Dash replied by a weird sound which meant “I understand you”.

The two mares turned around as they heard fast hoofsteps. Who could it be at this early hour? They thought. They were surprised to see Apple Pie, a huge bag on her back, running quickly on a small road leaving Ponyville. Both remained silent, in the mystery of what that pony could be up to, but also in the unpleasant remembering of last night. With the apple-color pony’s sight, their conversation immediately ended, as Applejack continued on to the orchards and Dash let her whole body fall down on a cloud and dozed off.

Nopony had seen Apple Pie for the rest of the morning, and she didn’t appear at noon or afternoon either. The mane 6 didn’t seem to mind much, since Applejack was busy pretty much half of the day trying to teach her sister how to cook, Twilight was practicing hard spells from her new book, and Rainbow Dash finished the cloud bucking quickly to join Rarity and Fluttershy on their trip to the spa.

She only reappeared out of nowhere on late afternoon, in front of Fluttershy’s house. The shy mare was returning from her friend hang-out and was surprised by the sudden arriving of her friend. A.P. seemed sad, actually even sorry. She looked up at the yellow pegasus’ eyes, and looked deeply into them. “Ae’m sorry for what happened yesterday,” she said sincerely. Normally, Apple Pie was a bit like Rainbow Dash on sincerity: she rarely excused herself, and mostly times when she did, she did it by joke or because she was forced to. Never sincerely. It brought Fluttershy completely aback. “Really, Ae’m sorry. Ae should have told you she came, Ae should have warned you she was sensible… I know you didn’t do anything mean to her, because Ae know you arrived kinda late. Though, Ae’d like to excuse myself for how I acted that night,” the apple-colour Pegasus recited, like if she had leant it by heart. Though, it had a lot of emotion in her talk. It made Fluttershy see that her words were true.

“So, to excuse mahself,” she continued, “Ae’d like to invite you all over dinner. To eat apple pies,” and to those words, she made a slight smile take place on her face. “To show you Ae’m sorry.” Fluttershy was happy at this idea. Since she hadn’t seen A.P. much for 3 days, it would be great to come back and eat her specialities. “Who is coming?” The shy mare asked. “Well, Ae only told you for the moment, but Ae’m gonna go see your 2 friends over there after,” she said, pointing at the direction Dash and Rarity left. “Ae’m also inviting my cousin, and Twilight, of course.”

“Alright, I’ll come!” Fluttershy whispered happily. “Great. It’s gonna be here,” she said, taking out six copies of a map from under her wing, and handing her one of them. “Be there at 9,” the apple-colour Pegasus told. “I will,” the shy mare promised, just before A.P. turned away to leave.

“Heeheehee! This is gonna be soooooo fun!!!” Pinkie jumped, as Apple Pie opened the door of her underground basement. “Totally!” she exclaimed, leaving the door slightly open, making the pink pony impatient. “Let me in, I wanna see!” she shouted. “No, you’re going to close your eyes. Ae decorated the interior, so it’s a great welcoming surprise!” she cheered, as Pinkie put her two hooves on her eyes and advanced through the door, until she reached about the middle of the room.

“You can open your eyes now!”

When Apple Pie said it was going to be a happy surprise, it truly was. Pinkie loved the decor. The fresh smell of blood came from everywhere, and there were buckets of pink and yellow paint everywhere, in what A.P. added blood and repainted the room entirely. The two side walls were bloody pink, and the two other were exactly the pegasus’ color, as the blood added to the yellow a slightly orange effect. There was a beautiful skin-made carpet in the middle of the room with deadly tools scattered everywhere on it. Bigger objects, like sabres and chainsaws, were hanging on hooks from the front wall. There was the skull of a pony attached to the ceiling, with a light bulb in it’s mouth. There was even a band of cardboard on both pink walls, both carefully written on by pure blood. On the first one was written “WELCOME BACK” and the second “PINKIE PIE”. On the left wall, there was the normal surgery table with chains and metal plates on it, useful for blocking ponies still.

“Oh, wow! This is the best thing ever!” Pinkie shouted. “We even have a ton of space to decorate the room after!” She cheered. “Everything is in order! Even I can’t keep them in order,” she shouted as she looked at the carpet full of tools. She touched the silky, aqua rug. “Who?” She asked. “A fan,” Apple Pie answered simply, shrugging. “Actually Ae made all of this with one mare,” she noticed.

“All of this?” the earth pony fascinated. “That’s amazing! You even had enough blood to paint the room!” she exclaimed. “I can’t wait to get another victim! Who’s coming now?” she asked, shaking impatiently.

“Fluttershy,” Apple Pie replied simply. “Ae tricked her by telling that this will be an excuse party,” she explained. “For yesterday.”

Pinkie burst in her usual, loud laughter. “You told me the same thing!! And she actually fell for it??” The pink mare couldn’t believe it. It seemed so clear to her, that her friend’s words were a lie; she just couldn’t make a logic explanation of how numb the yellow Pegasus could have been. “Yeah, Ae know!” A.P. laughed along with her. “Ae even told her that, hahaha, Ae was going to make apple pies, she probably believed me, since, hahaha, cousin was picking apples extremely early today,” she noticed. “No way!” Pinkie shouted in return. “She was picking apples for AppleBloom!” “Buck, really?!” “Yeah! That little filly actually tried to cook!!!”

Both their laughs burst in harmony as they echoed around the room. “Aw, how sad, I missed the chance to see the farm explode!” Apple Pie joked, and the pink pony’s pitched laughter grew louder as she fell on the ground, rolling from one direction to the other as she held her belly to keep it from exploding.

Their joy sounds went silent as they heard a bell singing from upstairs. “She came! Oh my gosh, I’m so excited!” Pinkie said happily, doing her best to whisper by fear the shy mare at the door might hear her. “I’ll go open, you wait,” ordered the pagasus pony, though, she said it in her normal tone. They were too deep underground to be heard, she knew that by experience.

She passed through the door, closing the lights before leaving. She went up the millions of stairs separating her base from the earth, then opened the trapdoor and stuck her head out. She looked at the frying pan and the hammer that lay in the corner of the room, but then decided she’s going to go more smoothly with such a fragile mare. She hid them under a wood tile, which she stuck out easily. She then went and opened the door to a yellow Pegasus, a shy smile on her face. “Hi,” she said. “I’m glad to see you answered. I was scared to be gone in the wrong place,” she said shyly, looking away. “Nah! It’s right here!” Apple Pie cheered. “Come, it’s underground. You don’t think a nice party would be in this rusty old house, don’t ya?”

Fluttershy was at first scared when Apple Pie told her there are no lights. “N-No lights…?” the hy mare repeated. “Um, yeah, ya see, Ae’m making renovations, trying to add tiles into that muddy hole, y’know… So Ae took off the lights for a while,” Apple Pie lied, saying the first thing that came in her mind. Though, par of it was true. She never hid the hole that led to the basement, so it always stood with fresh earth walls since the day she dug it up. “O-Oh… I see…” said the shy mare shyly. Holding the apple-color pony’s hoof, though, she was able to go down the stairs, one by one, very slowly. Knowing how impatient Pinkie could be sometimes, she sometimes hushed to go down and made the shy Pegasus trip.

Apple Pie went first as she bumped in the door, completely forgetting its existence after the oh-so-long moment she passed waiting for Fluttershy. “Oops, heh… We’re almost there!” she said happily, opening the door and guiding the yellow Pegasus in. She heard Pinkie slightly gasp with excitement as the door opened, but then put her hoof in front of her muzzle, signalling the pink pony to shush. She slowly leaded the yellow mare over the big room, passing next to the carpet of tools and making sure Fluttershy doesn’t see it or walk on it.

As she passed by Pinkie Pie, though, she and Fluttershy were both surprised when Pinkie grabbed the guest’s free hoof, yelling, “Argh! You’re too slow! I can’t stand it anymore!” angrily. She pulled her off from Apple Pie’s grip, throwing her into the surgery plate without taking the time to tie her. It wasn’t needed either, since Fluttershy took a long time to come back on earth after the huge bump she received to her head when the pink mare threw her. Pinkie went to the syringe section during that time, and hesitated as she saw the 3 sharp objects containing each a different liquid in them. She took one randomly, hoping it would be the right one, and approached the shy mare.

“No, wait, Pinkie!” shouted A.P. “You got the wrong…” It was useless finishing the sentence, since Pinkie had already shot the syringe inside her guest.

Fluttershy only had time to feel a sharp, metallic needle enter deep inside her flesh, and feeling a warm liquid fill her blood, making a sensation of inflation on her skin. The pain was too much for the sensible Pegasus. As she watched Apple Pie push Pinkie away and yelling her that she took the wrong syringe, her eyes slowly closed, and the last word she heard before falling unconscious was “anaesthesia”.