"Heya Dashie! Wanna help me make cupcakes?" Pinkie asked, bouncing up and down.
"Uh, you know I'm not a baker, right? I usually don't even bother making my own food, I just get some from you or Applejack."
"Aww, come on, it'll be fun!" Rainbow considered it for a few more seconds before shrugging and agreeing.
"Why not? Sky's clear and I was just gonna kick back and read for the rest of the day. Might as well have some food while I do, right?" Pinkie bounced away happily and Rainbow hovered close behind. It didn't take them long to reach Sugarcube Corner.
As soon as they arrived, Pinkie offered Dash a cupcake. It had frosting in the same colors as Rainbow's tail. "Here, try this. I made it just for you." Rainbow thought it was a little odd that she already had cupcakes made, but she took the treat all the same. After all, Pinkie had never given Dash any reason not to trust her.
It tasted funny. Kinda spicy for a cupcake, and there was something familiar about the flavor, too. Suddenly rainbows! Rainbows everywhere! The walls and floor were a shifting and spiraling spectrum of sparkling colors! Rainbow Dash felt euphoric, and her legs shuddered under her as she tried to remain standing up. The world blurred as Rainbow lost the feeling in her limbs and collapsed onto something moist. All faded to black a moment later.
* * * *
Rainbow came to, blinking to clear her blurry vision and unsure of how much time had passed. What just happened? Did I just faint? Better not tell anypony about that. She shook her head momentarily, her mind still groggy, though she felt a little giddy, too. Something didn't feel quite right, and some sections of her coat felt matted. Did I... wet myself?
She lifted her head and took a look around. It was a room she'd never seen before. The walls and floor were stone, but the ceiling was made of wooden planks. Shelves lined the walls, each one loaded with boxes and sacks. The room was dim, with light only coming in through a high window on one wall and a candle. The candle was placed on a table a few feet to Dash's left. The table also contained what looked like cooking and dining utensils.
She tried to turn around, but found her hooves didn't give her any traction and she couldn't feel her wings. My wings! Panic struck her. The last time she couldn't feel her wings, Discord had taken them away. She whipped her head around to check her back. Nope, they were still there. There was something else on her back as well.
Wrapped around her body were two fabric straps that terminated in chains that were attached to the ceiling above her. She waved her hooves, but they couldn't reach the ground. She tried to flap her wings, but they barely fluttered. "Uh, Pinkie? What the hay is going on here?" She could hear something moving somewhere, and then the pink party pony appeared.
"Oh goodie, you're awake! Now we can continue."
"Continue with what? Cooking? I don't see any ovens."
Pinkie giggled. "Well, duh! We can't cook down here. We're not going to be cooking, silly!" Pinkie hopped over to the little table and picked up a big silver cake knife. Dash looked on curiously as Pinkie bounced around to some point behind her. "I've got some new things I've been meaning to try."
"Pinkie, what happened? Did I pass out back there? And what things?" Something squeaked. It was a rhythmic squeaking, like a squeaky wheel on a cart. In fact, it was a squeaky wheel on a cart, as was revealed to Dash as Pinkie pushed one into her sight. Atop the serving cart was an array of multicolored candies and a big, purple cake. "Why can't I feel my wings? And why am I in this sling?"
"So many questions! Okay, lemme see. I woke up at 6:41 and gave Gummy a bowl of oatmeal and went downstairs to see the Cakes and then I played with the twins and then I—"
"Pinkie Pie!" Rainbow interrupted, "What happened to me? The last thing I remember is eating that cupcake."
"Did you like it?" Pinkie looked on at Rainbow expectantly, smiling.
"Uh, I think. I mean, it was kind of intense... wait a minute! Was it made with rainbow juice?"
Pinkie's smile widened. "Yeah! It was a new recipe I just made." She turned and started carving the purple cake, which had a design in the frosting which looked a lot like Twilight's cutie mark. "After I tasted the rainbow juice in Cloudsdale I just knew I had to make something tasty with it. I guess I made it a little too strong, though. For a pegasus, anyway."
"Hey!"
"Oh no, I didn't mean it like that! It's just that Applejack didn't pass out. She can really hold her cider, too. Not as much as me, though. Anyway, I put you in that sling so that you wouldn't fall down and get hurt if you passed out again. Now open up, it's time for cake!"
"Pinkie, what—" but she was cut off as Pinkie jammed a slice of the purple cake into her mouth. She chewed the cake as her expression went from confusion to annoyance and then to pleasure. "Mmm, that's soooo good! It tastes like... reading? How..."
Pinkie pranced in place, smiling away. "It's a Twilight Sparkle cake! Do you like it?" Rainbow nodded. She had no idea how Pinkie made it taste like reading felt, but she did it. "Goodie! Next!"
"Wait, Pinkie—" but she was cut off again, this time by a cookie. She just rolled her eyes and crunched up the cookie. Rainbow stopped chewing suddenly and spat the cookie bits from her mouth. "Eww! Gross! What flavor was that?"
"That was an Applejack Cookie."
"... and it's supposed to taste like?"
"Guess!"
Rainbow sighed, licking around her own mouth to taste the crumbs left and thinking. "Well, it tastes kinda appley and kinda... woody. Wait, is it apple tree flavored?" Pinkie laughed, nodding vigorously. Rainbow just sighed again. "Pinkie, when was the last time you saw somepony eating a tree?"
"Well, last week I did see you and Flut—"
"Forget it!" Rainbow interjected, her cheeks turning red. "The point is that apples taste good, but trees don't. Got it?"
"If you say so." Pinkie pulled a sheet of paper and quill from seemingly nowhere and wrote for a few seconds. "No tree flavors. Got it. Ready for more?"
"Did you just bring me here so you could feed me candy?"
"Yep. I've got so many new recipes and I need somepony to taste them all."
"Then why didn't you just say so?"
"Well, then it wouldn't be a surprise, silly," Pinkie said, as if it were the most obvious thing in Equestria.
"This was supposed to be a surprise?"
"Well yeah, I mean—oh shoot! I forgot!" Pinkie zipped away in a blur of pink.
"Wha... Pinkie, what're you—"
"Surprise!" Pinkie reappeared in a flash, tossing balloons and confetti all over Rainbow. Dash slapped a hoof to her face, unable to cope with the crazy pony. She would have just flown away (maybe even straight through the ceiling), but her wings were still pretty numb.
"Why can't I feel my wings?"
"I dunno. Maybe the rainbow cupcake was too strong. Applejack said she went numb, too, but she didn't faint."
"I didn't faint, I, uh..." As hard as she was trying, Rainbow just couldn't think of a cool way to say that she'd soiled herself and passed out from eating a cupcake. The sound of a hoof pounding on wood brought Rainbow's attention back to the present. A muffled voice came from somewhere across the room. It sounded like an egghead.
"Pinkie Pie, I know what you're up to!" said the voice.
Pinkie gasped and shot across the room, pressing her back against the door.
"You have to stop, Pinkie! You can't do this!"
"Why not?"
"Because she's my friend too! Rainbow and I were going to read the latest Daring Do book today."
Pinkie opened up the door, a sheepish smile on her face. "Oh, okay then. Sorry you two; I didn't know you had plans."
Twilight stepped past her, saying, "It's okay, Pink—" Twilight stopped at the sight of Rainbow Dash hanging in a sling, waving her hooves in a vain attempt to reach the floor, and the assortment of kitchen utensils and sugary treats around her. "What's going on here?"
"Nothing!" Pinkie zipped past Twilight and shoved the cart of treats into a corner. "Just sharing with my bestest blue pegasus friend." Twilight was confused, but just brushed it off as Pinkie being Pinkie. She lifted Rainbow out of the sling with her magic and sat her down on the floor. Rainbow struggled to walk a little, her legs slightly numb and clearly still not quite back to normal after eating that cupcake. "Sorry Dashie, I didn't mean to make you miss out on reading your favorite book series."
"It's okay, Pinkie." Rainbow turned to Twilight, waving her out. "Go on. I'll meet you out front." Once Twilight was gone, she turned back to Pinkie. "But seriously, if you want me to help you taste-test treats, you should just say so. You're my friend, Pinkie, and I'm happy to help out. Just be honest with your friends when you need help, even if it doesn't let you give them a surprise, okay?" Pinkie nodded and the two shared a brief hug.
Rainbow headed for the open door, finding stairs leading up into Sugarcube Corner's kitchen. She paused for a moment, looking over her shoulder to say, "And yeah, you might want to water down the rainbow juice in those cupcakes." She turned and headed up the stairs, then stopped again. "Not too much, though."
