When Rainbow Dash awoke, she couldn't move. Laying on her back, she strained hard to move, and managed to flip a hoof onto her chest. Since moving was not going to work, she tried talking. "What...?"

"Oh, Dash. Thank goodness you're OK." It was Fluttershy. "Try not to move. You might shake the needles."

"Needles?" strained Rainbow Dash. She was in a room, lit by candle light, the smell of alchohol in the air.

"Acupuncture." Fluttershy clarified, adjusting Rainbow's leg. "Your muscles were so tense, and I thought that was the best idea. We would have taken you to a hospital... but... after Mends 'n Hay, we didn't trust hospitals. I hope you don't mind..."

"It's fine..." Rainbow's speech was kind of slurred. "Where are we? What time is it?"

"We're in the suite. Do you remember coming to Canterlot last week?"

"Yeah, I remember this week..."

"... Well, you've been asleep almost two days. We were worried..." Fluttershy bit her lip. "Pinkie told us... about your problem. You do know that we love you, right? You're completely spe---"

"It doesn't matter anymore..." Rainbow sounded a little aggressive, and so Fluttershy flinched. "All that matters is that we stop him, for Harmony. For Cookie Dough..."

There was a long silence, which Fluttershy broke. "How... How can he exist?" She sounded almost tearful, but Dash couldn't see anything but the ceiling from this angle.

But the Joker's existence had been on everypony's mind since he showed up. Rainbow strained for an answer. "I---It's not important. He's just a pony who made bad decisions. He's like Discord. We'll stop him just the same."

"But... He seems... worse, somehow... Discord was bad, but... Well, he never killed anypony... And he had a... reason... for what he did; he was the Spirit of Chaos... Why does the Joker... Why does he hurt ponies?"

"He's just another pony. Like Nightmare Moon or Sombra."

"You didn't act this way when we fought them... And they were crazy... This pony... He seems... aware... that what he's doing is wrong..."

"Acting what way? And Discord knew what he was doing---"

"You 'practiced' for four hours straight and nearly broke every muscle in your body!" Fluttershy was... screaming. Crying now, too. It was unsettling seeing her switch from sad to angry so quickly. "And Discord quit when he was shown what friendship was like! This pony will too! I'll show you... I'll show him... Ponies are good... But... How? How did... I don't understand!" Fluttershy was crying loudly, muttering, "I'll show you. He's a good pony... Inside... He's just... confused... I'll show you..."

"Fluttershy... We'll catch him." Rainbow Dash said in her best comforting voice.

"I DON'T CARE IF WE CATCH HIM!" Fluttershy yelled as loudly as she could. "I JUST WANT TO GET HIM HELP!"

"... What if we can't help him...?"

"Then we've devoted our lives to garbage!" Fluttershy screamed, flipping the coffee-table over. Dash managed to flinch.

"Harmony, huh?" Fluttershy snorted. "What good is harmony if we can't help everyone?! Where's our reward?! What do we get for all our hard work?!" She kicked the downed coffee-table, splintering the impacted part.

Fluttershy was shaking, breathing deeply, raggedly. She wiped her face and looked down to her bleeding hoof before saying in a lighter voice "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have taken it out on you... I'm just... frustrated. Yesterday was hard, and... We'll help him, Dash. Friendship will work its magic... Oh, please forgive me for yelling at you!" Fluttershy was crying sadly now. It was better than when she was angry, at least.

"It's OK, Fluttershy... Where are the others?"

"Oh, well..." Fluttershy bit her lip. "You see, after you went up to your room, we all cried together, for support. I'm surprised you didn't hear it... A few qaurds stopped by with Celestia, but she broke down during her visit and had to leave. The guards stayed though. When Twilight found you, she took you down here. We cared for you, I gave you a massage, and got some alcohol for your cracked hooves; we didn't want you to get a fungal infection. Applejack also got the drinking alcohol, but... That didn't come out till later." Rainbow Dash had managed to sit up slightly now. She could see the contemplative and anxious look on Fluttershy's face.

"What is it, Fluttershy?"

After a moment longer of hesitation, Fluttershy answered. "The next morning... The Joker... He made another... performance... It was... terrible..."

"What did he do?" Rainbow Dash asked again, noting the fear in her voice. Huh. She felt fear...

"We... We recorded it... But please... Don't watch it... The girls... I don't want you to go through what we did..."

Rainbow Dash was going to see that tape if it killed her, and she suspected it might. But her inner instincts argued with her mind. Her instincts wanted her to see the tape immediately to search for clues. Her mind wanted to ask about her friends... She felt oddly regretful when she asked for what happened to her friends. And she hated that regret.

"... Rarity's fine, we think... She's been playing with knives... Looking into the mirror... But she says she's fine, just... She understands the mindset of the depressed now... She says she doesn't find it as selfish anymore..." Dash understood. She felt the same during the Mare-do-Well incident. She winced at the memory. If her experiences were anything to judge by, Rarity would be fine, with her friends' help.

Fluttershy continued. "Applejack revealed that she'd bought liquor while we were out... She and Rarity got black-out drunk... We all had a few drinks, I think... Except for Pinkie..."

Alarm-bells went off in Dash's head. The way she said Pinkie. The tone. "What hap---"

Fluttershy quickly interrupted. Her voice got sadder and sadder as she talked. "Oh! And Spike! We gave him alcohol, too. Twilight was hesitant to let him, and we had to coax her, but she agreed it would help him forget the day. He was going into shock before that. He's mellowed out now, though, I think because of the alcohol. He was actually one of the most responsible drinkers. I think I had the least, and Twilight only really started drinking until later. Oh! Twilight tried to make out with a guard. But he was a gentlecolt, and reminded her that she was probably just traumatized. Twilight agreed and apologized, and that's when she started drinking. An---"

"Fluttershy!" Dash said interrupted, worried. Fluttershy stopped, looking down. Tears dropped to the floor. "What happened to Pinkie Pie?"

Fluttershy looked up, crying. "She broke a mirror and tried to stab herself. She said that the Joker had made parties evil... She... She denounced friendship... We were worried for her, but she calmed down later. We still have guards watching her, though, just in case... She's just depressed now... She needs to see you soon."

"I'll see her as soon as I can move. How are you holding up?"

"Oh, fine. I'll feel better when we help the Joker. He's really a nice soul, I think. Deep down He just needs love and tolerance to bring that out. He was probably bullied as a filly. I know what that can do to a pony... Everything's fine." Fluttershy gave a big smile, not unlike the Joker's smile that Dash would constantly see in her nightmares.

"Fluttershy..." Dash said, sitting up, with sorrow in her voice. She was crashing her friendships. What was she doing?

"What?" Fluttershy had caution in her voice. She knew what was coming.

"Turn on---"

"Please, Dash, just go back to sleep or just---just forget this. Please!"

"I have to..."

"Please, Rainbow! I'm begging you..." She's begging me...

"I have to, Fluttershy..." Dash was crying. Fluttershy was crying harder.

"Please..." She's on her knees...

"I'm sorry..." What kind of friend am I?

Fluttershy looked up at Dash. She asked one more time. "Please?" She was unintelligible, but Dash understood.

"I... I have to... I'm sorry."
Fluttershy hesitated, and then nodded. She got off the floor, off her knees. She went to the TV, flipped a certain switch, pressed a certain button.

She went to the door, and she turned to Dash. Dash stared back. She opened the door, looking back at Dash. Dash stared back. Fluttershy went out the door, and looked in one more time at the blue-and-rainbow-colored blotch inside. Rainbow Dash stared back at the yellow-and-pinke blotch. The door closed. Probably taking the friendship with it.

At that same moment, the countdown on TV also ended. And then it started.

Author's Note

I really, really hope I conveyed emotion well. If not, well, you all have something to make fun of. And feel free to mock it. I only ask that you be either constructive or hilarious when doing it...

PS. I decided this chapter worked best without the demented puppet show... That will be next chapter.