“Ya know, I’m disappointed in you, Dash. I expected you to last a lot longer, though I suppose it’s kinda my fault. I should have taken this a bit slower, but I was just having too much fun. Well, it was nice knowing you, Rainbow Dash.”
Dash felt cold steel push into her throat and slash up to her chin. The last thing the Pegasus saw was the eerie banner with the words “Life is a Party” written on it in blood. Her heart finally stopped beating, ending the pony’s suffering. Rainbow Dash was dead, strapped to the table in a pool of blood.
But now, she was nowhere. All she could see was darkness. Darkness everywhere she could see. And this place not only felt weird, but downright evil. Suddenly, she heard an eerie voice that seemed to come from nowhere, but everywhere at the same time.
“You will not die that easily, my little Pegasus. I shall give you another chance. A chance for….Vengeance.”
She looked around frantically, trying to locate the source of the voice, but there was nothing but an empty void for as far as she could see it all directions. Still, she was too proud to let the eerie voice frighten her.
“Who’s there? Come out and tell me what’s going on here!” she shouted helplessly into the empty distance.
Surprisingly, the voice responded. “You are being given a second chance. To try again at life.” The voice sounded almost amused, which just angered her even more. “You are necessary to the darkness’ survival. Through you, I live. Through you, I am BORN!!”
Suddenly, two serpentine creatures emerged from behind her wing joints and she could feel the raw power emanating from them. Then, through the blackness, she saw images of memory from her demise at the hands of Pinkamena. She attempted in vain to shut out the horrors being shown to her.
“Please, for the love of Celestia, STOP!!” the now terrified Pegasus screamed out into the swirling images, being dragged down, suffocating, into the black abyss.
Dash awoke to a beeping sound, which turned out to be a heart monitor. She saw Twilight sitting on the other side of the room. As soon as she saw that Dash was awake, she ran over and gave her a hug.
“Dash! Thank Celestia you’re awake! I thought you were gone for good!” she said with a hint of sleepiness in her voice.
She merely continued to sit in shock. Was it all just a dream? She thought to herself. If it was just a dream, then why would she be in the hospital? “Twilight, what happened to me?”
Twilight looked confused. Suddenly, she got a look of realization on her face. “I found you in an alleyway near Sugarcube Corner while I was taking a midnight walk. There was a lot of blood, and you were unconscious, so I brought you here. You seemed to have dark magic illuminating from you, but it must have been a trick of the night.”
“She reeks of innocence and kindness…” Dash jumped upon hearing the evil sounding voice. It was as if hell itself were beckoning to her. She got out of bed and started for the door.
“Hold up, Dash.” Twilight called. “You have to have someone check you out first.” She walked to the door. “Stay here, I’ll be right back.”
Five minutes later, Twilight walked in, followed by a doctor. The doctor spoke up. “Alright, Rainbow Dash, you’re free to go.”
She was quick to get out of the hospital. She was extremely quick to get away from Sugarcube Corner, for fear of finding Pinkie Pie.
She was still wondering what she was going to do when she ran into somepony. “The Great and Powerful Trixie would appreciate if you would watch where you are going!”
Dash got back up and saw Trixie walking away. She was starting to get annoyed. That pony really got on her nerves. But that wasn’t her problem right now. She wondered what would happen if she were found by Pinkie Pie. Would she attempt to kill her again? She still wondered why she was alive. After all, she had seen Pinkie Pie rip her guts out right in front of her. Yet she was perfectly fine. It didn’t make any sense...
Suddenly, she heard something behind her. She turned and saw Twilight. She had a worried look on her face.
“What were you doing in that alley that late at night, anyway? You never stay up that late.”
Dash just stood there, scraping at the ground with a hoof. She didn’t know how to explain it to Twilight, or anypony else for that matter. She doubted that they would believe her.
“I was just practicing some moves and must have crashed or something. It wouldn’t be the first time, now would it? That’s all…”
Twilight obviously didn’t believe her. “Dash, I know you didn’t crash. You would be a lot more seriously hurt if you had. And where did all that blood come from? You didn’t have a scratch on you. I just want to know what happened. Please, just tell me.”
Dash didn’t get why she had to be so persistent. “You wouldn’t believe me anyway! There’s nothing to say!”
“Yes, I will! Just tell me what happened. I know you’re not one to lie, but I can’t help you if I don’t know what’s wrong!”
Dash knew she wouldn’t stop asking, so she told her everything. She told her about the cupcakes, Gilda, the basement, her torture, her death, and the creepy, haunting voice that had appeared out of nowhere.
When she finished, Twilight sat on her haunches in disbelief. “Why would Pinkie...How...How could this be possible…She’s the element of laughter….Not a murderous psychopath….”
“Look, I know that it doesn’t make sense, but it’s the full and absolute truth. She KILLED me in that basement. As for the voice, I have no idea what it is. It just feels…evil.”
Twilight was scared now. “Come to think of it, I haven’t seen Pinkie for a while. I had gone to see if Applejack had seen her, but she hadn’t. I was off to see Mr. And Mrs. Cakes next. Do you want to come with?”
Dash wasn’t sure if this was a good idea. But if she went to Sugarcube Corner, she might be able to show Twilight the basement to prove that she wasn’t lying. “Fine, but we need to be careful. I’m also gonna try to show you the basement, to prove I’m not lying.”
“Okay, then we better get moving. It’s getting dark…” Twilight said with a hint of worry.
They passed through the empty streets of Ponyville without much said between the two ponies. They were concerned about the deserted town. Even if it was getting late, it was never this empty. Even at night, somepony was usually still up. It was also strange that they hadn’t met up with Princess Luna, who liked to stroll through the streets at night after she was done raising the moon. But they didn’t have time to think about that, because they had reached Sugarcube Corner.
Twilight nervously looked over at her friend. “Okay, Dash. You ready?”
Truthfully, she wasn’t. But she wasn’t going to let Twilight know that. “Uh, sure, if you are…”
The two ponies nervously opened the door. Inside were Mr. and Mrs. Cakes, and they looked worried. “Have you two seen Pinkie Pie anywhere?”
Twilight let out an exasperated sigh. “No, that’s why we came, we had hoped you had seen her. This is really strange, we should have found her by now.” She thought for a moment. “Oh yeah, didn’t you have something you wanted to show me here Dash?”
Dash looked up suddenly. Her eyes told what her pride wouldn’t. She was very frightened. “Um… Oh yeah! Uh, follow me…”
They walked behind the counter and the kitchen. Eventually, they came to the floor panel that led to the basement. Dash pulled at the latch as hard as she could, but it wouldn’t budge.
“It’s locked, I can’t open it.” She said with a look of despair. How was she to prove what Pinkie Pie had done to her if she couldn’t get into the basement where all the evidence was?
Twilight moved her friend out of the way. “Don’t worry, Dash. I can use my magic to open the lock. Since Pinkie’s an earth pony, she couldn’t put a protective spell on it, right?”
Her horn began to glow, and so did the lock. There was a series of clicks, and the latch slowly creaked open. Dash’s heart began to race. She must be insane to think that this was a good idea. They stepped into the hatch, even the Cakes. Then they followed the long passageway for what seemed like hours. The sight when they reached the end was horrifying. Mr. Cakes threw up, Mrs. Cakes fainted, and Twilight could only stare in disbelief.
