Ignorance is Bliss...by TheUnknownPersonChaptersI: Prologue II: MorningIII: Hiding ItIV: PreparationV: Punishment(18+)VI: CrackingVII: Torment and RevelationVIII: Epilogue I: Prologue Author's Note Ok, first fanfiction. Let's jump in. I'll try to update this at least every week. I: Prologue "Hey Twilight, do you wanna have a sleepover at Rarity's house? We could play party games and watch scary movies-ooooh! We could play, 'Pin the Wings on a Breezie' or, 'Spin the Bottle'" Pinkie Pie asked as she bounced in excitement. "I'm not sure Pinkie..."Twilight Sparkle said. -"I've been wanting to study the origins of the Tree of Harmony..."- "Oh please Twilight! Everypony's going to be there! Well, not everyone, but you know what I mean!"-Pinkie began to stare at Twilight with puppy eyes- "PLEEEEAAAAASEE!!!" she asked. Twilight tried to ignore that stare. Oh Celestia, did she try. She managed to hold out for about a minute before she caved in. "Okay! I guess I could take a break from studying for one night." She said, much to Pinkie's delight. "Oh thank you Twi! The sleepover is at 8 tonight! See ya there!" Pinkie exclaimed back to Twilight as she began to run towards Sugarcube Corner. Yay! Twilight sighed as she went back into the library, "Hopefully she won't go overboard again. I mean, it is just one night." ================= Pinkie was happily making cupcakes in preparation for the party. She had drops of icing, cake batter, and flour all over her face and coat. And... done! Pinkie thought as she put the last dollop of icing on the cupcake. She picked up the cupcake and put it into a small plastic container, filled with other cupcakes. "That should be enough." Pinkie said. "Oh who am I kiddin'! We could always use more cupcakes." She said as she pulled a new batch of cupcakes out of the oven After filling up two more plastic containers with cupcakes, Pinkie cleaned and then went to the bathroom to clean herself up. Pinkie entered the bathroom and picked up a rag. She wiped the flour away and used her hoof to wipe some of the icing away and licked it off of her hoof. Perfect! Pinkie thought to herself as she looked at her now cleaned face in the mirror. Now, time to clean my coat. it's covered in batter and flour!. She looked over at the rag and decided that it definitely wasn't going to do the job this time. She needed something bigger. "Ahhhhhhh..." Pinkie said as she stepped out of the shower. Better... much better she thought as she looked at herself in the slightly fogged up mirror. She picked up a towel from the bathroom counter and dried her mane with the towel. As she looked back up at the mirror, she saw herself as a filly. Her hair had a blood stain on it, her eyes were closed, and there was blood trailing down from her mouth to her neck. Pinkie, in utter disbelief, shook her head. When she looked at the mirror again, she was herself.I think I had too much punch... Pinkie thought as she exited the bathroom. ================= "Byeah Mr. an' Mrs. Cahkee! Ah'll b bak tomphrow!" Pinkie said as she left Sugarcube Corner. Her saddlebags were filled to the brim with cupcakes. She was even carrying a plate of cupcakes with her teeth! Pinkie made her way to the Carousel Boutique. She was surprised Rarity had accepted to host the sleepover there. She figured that she was stressed out and needed a break or something around those lines. Anyway, Pinkie knocked on the door of the door, balancing the plate of cupcakes as she did it. After about 30 seconds of knocking, Rarity answered the door. "I'm terribly sorry, but we're- oh! Hello Pinkie! Come in, come in." Rarity ushered Pinkie into her luxurious home. "Just set the cupcakes on the kitchen counter and I'll be in the living area." Rarity said as she walked towards the couches. Pinkie sat everything out on the counter. "Do you need my assistance in there Pinkie?" Rarity asked from the living room "I'm alright in here, but you can still help if you want!" "Why, I'd love to!" After a few minutes, Pinkie and Rarity had set everything out on the counter. Pinkie sat the cupcake on the small plate and had put them into a small circle. Rarity got a similar idea with the cans of soda, except she wanted to set them up in a small pyramid. She had been a little bit more careful and accurate in her placements than Pinkie. "I'm almost finished with this Pinkie. Why don't you go sit down on the sofa while I finish up in here." Pinkie nodded her head and exited the kitchen. As she was passing by the front door, a light knock came from the door. Pinkie opened the door and was greeted with a yellow pony with a sleeping bag in her saddlebag. "Hello Pinkie. I... I'm here for the sleepover" Fluttershy said in a soft voice. "Ok, come in! Rarity and I set up some refreshments in the kitchen. So help yourself!" Fluttershy whispered something like, "Thank you" and trotted off into the living room ================= "Ok, so what do we do first girls?" Twilight asked as she finished eating a cupcake. "Ah say we should tell som' stories." suggested Applejack. "I suggest we play, 'Spin the Bottle'" Rarity said, adding her suggestion to the conversation. "Ooooooo! Let's play, 'Hide and Seek'. Or, 'Pin the Wings on a Breezie'. Or maybe, 'Tag'. What about-" Rainbow Dash covered Pinkie Pie's mouth. "You were rambling on again, Pinkie. I say we watch a horror movie or tell scary stories!" Rainbow Dash said. Fluttershy hid in her mane, "I-I don't like s-scary stories..." "Oh, come on 'Shy. It'll toughen you up! I bet after a while you won't be scared of it anymore." Rainbow Dash said, trying to encourage Fluttershy. "Ah wouldn't mind a good scare." Applejack said. "Oooooh! Horror movies! Perfect thing for a sleepover!" Pinkie said, bouncing on her hooves in excitement. "Alright. I wouldn't mind. However, I may not pay too much attention to it" Rarity said as she was sitting on the couch, sipping on some of the soda she'd set up earlier. "O...ok. If everypony else wants to, I'll d-do it." Fluttershy said, starting to come out of her mane. "Alright, so what do we watch? Did we even bring horror movies?" Twilight asked as she disposed of the cupcake wrapper. "I think I have an old film in my room. Let me go get it." Rarity said, getting up from the couch and walking upstairs. Rarity came back down stairs, levitating a DVD case. "Here it is. The title is, 'The Unfortunate Case of Lady Windborne of Hoofington'" Rarity said as she opened the DVD case and pulled out the actual DVD(using her magic for both actions of course). "Sounds interesting... lets watch it!" Rainbow Dash said, flying over to Rarity and grabbing the DVD from her magic grasp. She then flew over to Rarity's DVD player and put it in. The movie loaded up and started. ================= Everypony had there eyes glued to the TV as the movie played. Fluttershy was sitting on the floor, wrapped in a small blanket, shivering. Rainbow Dash sat on the floor beside Fluttershy. Rarity was sitting on the couch beside Pinkie along with Twilight to her right. Applejack was laying on the floor beside Rainbow Dash, resting her head on her fore-hooves. It was nearing the middle of the movie when one gruesome scene started. Lady Windborne had been tied down and spread by The Rack(A medieval torture device in case you didn't know). Her wings had been put through a small slot in the wood of The Rack. The torturer was asking her questions like, "Where is your family's fortune?" and, "Do you give up yet?" he'd always ask after her stretched her. Eventually, he let her out of the torture device and put her into a different one. It had her wings spread apart. The torture asked her, "Do you value your wings?" as he picked up an axe. Lady Windborne seemed to know what he was about to do, because she begged and pleaded him not to do it. The torturer, after a few more questions without her answer, chopped off one of her wings. Pinkie Pie began to feel nauseous and dizzy during this scene. She felt like she'd pass out any minute. Her vision dimmed as her head rested against the head of the II: MorningSomething has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.III: Hiding ItAuthor's Note I'd like to make an apology. I said that this chapter would be the longest of them all. However, I got off topic at the end of the story. This chapter is supposed to be about her hiding the flashback. So, I cut that out of the story and I am adding that onto the next chapter. I hope you'll still enjoy this chapter. Also, the reason why there are so many thought lines is because Pinkie is having an internal conflict with herself. Like she's arguing with the logical part of her brain in her thoughts. III: Hiding It "We shall find who has been creating these heinous acts!" "Ooooh, I wonder who the killer is." Pinkie said quietly to herself. You can't ignore what happened, It was just a weird dream. You keep telling yourself that. You're going to have to face it eventually. Pinkie got up from Rarity's comfy couch and went into the kitchen. Maybe a cupcake'll help me. Pinkie grabbed a cupcake from the plate she had made hours earlier. She noted that there was only a few cupcakes left(this'll make sense later in the chapter.). Then she proceeded to slowly eat it as she walked back to the couch. I can't tell the girls. They'll think I'm nuttier than a fruitcake! Pinkie thought to herself as she sat between Rainbow Dash and Twilight. It isn't gonna be hard to hide it. The girls are too busy watching the movie. Pinkie thought to herself, finishing the cupcake. ================= "Well, that was certainly intriguing, but a little too much gore for my tastes." Rarity said as the credits started the roll on the movie. "Aw, what? The movie was good with the gore. It made things more realistic." Rainbow Dash said as she got up to stretch her wings. "I don't know about that, but it was a interesting mystery to solve." Twilight said as she used her magic to throw away empty cans and cupcake wrappers that had collected during the movie. "That was a good movie if Ah do say so mahself." "It... it wasn't as bad as I thought. I still didn't like the b-bloody parts." Fluttershy said as her skin crawled when she thought of it. "It was super-duper mysterious!" Pinkie said bouncing on the couch, I've said it once, I'll say it again. You aren't going to be hiding. It'll be easier to tell them now. I know, but it'll ruin the party! So what are you going to do? Wait until the sleepover is finished? You won't get the chance. Rarity will be back to working on her dresses, Applejack will be taking care of things around Sweet Apple Acres, Twilight will be back to studying Starswirl or whatever his name was, and Rainbow Dash will be practicing flying like she usually does. Hay, even you'll be busy back at Sugarcube Corner! Some times I wish I could jinx you, Thought Pinkie to herself. Pinkie let out a small frustrated groan. She saw Fluttershy look at her with worried eyes. Aw, horseapples! She's getting suspicious. Pinkie tried to play it off as her humming a small song, but Fluttershy still looked at her, most likely worried about her. "So girls, what do we do next?" Rarity's asked "Let's play Hide 'n Seek! Or Pin The Tall on The Breezie! Or maybe Bingo! What about Tag?! Maybe-" Applejack put a cupcake in Pinkie's mouth. "Sorry 'bout sugarcube. You were ramblin'" Applejack said. Twilight had taken out a piece of paper and written down all that Pinkie had said. "Ok, anypony else have any other suggestions?" Twilight said, looking up from the paper. Pinkie raised her hoof. "Not you Pinkie. We already have some of your suggestions." Twilight said. "Aw..." Pinkie said as she lowered her hand. Everypony started to making suggestions of games to play. Pinkie usually would've been listening intently to the conversation, bouncing around in anticipation. But this time was different for the events that had played out in Pinkie's brain. There was the little filly named Pinkie. She looks almost identical to me when I was a filly. Apparently, she had done something to get her in trouble with her family. They're planing to do something to her... but what? Pinkie began to lose herself in her thoughts about the little, "dream" she had. Was that Pinkie me? She looks like me. Or what i used to be. "Okay so, I've narrowed it down to three options. Hide 'n Seek, Spin the Bottle, or we don't play a game and do something else." Twilight said as she put down the quill. "Ah say we do Hide 'n Seek." Applejack said. "I wouldn't mind playing Hide 'n Seek." Rainbow Dash said. "I'd prefer Spin the Bottle." Rarity said as she levitated the quill to her work desk. Pinkie wasn't paying attention to the conversation at all. She was preoccupied with figuring out the 'dream'. Maybe I ate too many cupcakes and passed out for a while... "Pinkie what do you vote for?" Twilight asked her. "Huh?" "What do you want to do? We're voting for what we should play." Twilight said. "Oh! U-um, what can I choose from?" Twilight sighed and said, "Hide 'n Seek and Spin the Bottle. You can also choose not to play, but everyone's already chosen something beside that." "Oh-" Pinkie let out a nervous laugh "- how about Spin the B-Bottle!" "Ok. Spin the Bottle it is." Twilight said. Rainbow Dash got up and went into the kitchen and returned with an empty bottle. "Ok. Who goes first." "I WILL!" Pinkie said, trying to act as she usually does when something's exciting is about to happen. Just act like you usually do and they won't notice... Rainbow Dash flew over to Pinkie and handed her the bottle. Pinkie sat the bottle on the table and then span it. It landed on Rarity. "Truth or Dare?" Pinkie asked. ================= "I'm going outside for a moment." Fluttershy said as she trotted towards the door. "Ah'm right behind ya sugarcube." Applejack said as she got up from the floor in the living room. Fluttershy opened the door and walked outside, taking in the night air. So calm... Fluttershy looked up at the star-filled sky. She saw some birds flying by above the "Beautiful, ain't it?" AppleJack said. "Yes. Princess Luna does a good job." Fluttershy said. A minute of silence passed before someone finally spoke up. "I'm worried Pinkie. She isn't acting like herself." Fluttershy said. "Ah noticed that too. She seems nervous. Like she's tryin' to hide somethin'." Applejack said in agreement. "S-should we be worried?" Fluttershy asked with concern filling her voice. "Possibly. We shouldn't meddle in 'er business. Let's just keep an eye on 'er fer now." Applejack said. "Okay." Fluttershy said, messing around with her hooves. "Ah'm gonna head back in. Ya comin'?" Applejack asked. "S-sure." Fluttershy said, stilling having some concern in her voice. Fluttershy trotted in behind Applejack and shut the door. ================= Pinkie got up from the couch. She looked out over the living room, which was surprisingly clean after that game of Spin the Bottle. Almost everyone was asleep. Applejack was the only one that was still up. The rest were either on the floor in their sleeping bags or on the couch. Rarity had gone upstairs to her bed. Pinkie, I have to tell you a secret about what's about to happen. Um... ok. You know what happened earlier. But, there's something more about it. Pinkie was almost afraid to ask. W... what? You'll see what happens to that filly. Punishment and all. What?! T-that can't happen! It will. You'll what your family does to you- But I wasn't a pegasus as a filly! I'm not now! I never have been! My family never did anything bad to me! Denial. The first step when you find out something like this. But, it hasn't even begun. The worst part has yet to come. I-I don't believe it. You'll see for yourself when you fall asleep. It's bad, trust me. Then I just won't fall asleep then! You'll have to eventually. I expect you won't make it more than an hour or two. With that, Pinkie sat back down onto the couch and tried to find something to preoccupy herself. I won't fall asleep! Pinkie got up from the couch and went into the kitchen. All of soda and cupcakes were gone. No! It'll be alright Pinkie. Just let it happen normally. Pinkie looked through her saddlebag that was sitting on the floor in front of the kitchen entrance. She then proceeded to open it and look through it in a sort of panicked state. There's got to be something in here that'll keep me awake! Cupcakes, soda, something! "Pinkie, are ya alright?" AppleJack quietly said. Pinkie stopped looked her bag and looked up at AppleJack. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine. " Pinkie said as she let out a nervous laugh. "Pinkie, ya can tell me if somethin' is wrong." Applejack said with compassion in her eyes and worry in her face. Tell her! You literally have to perfect chance! "I... I'm alright Applejack. Thank you." Pinkie said as she trotted back over to the couch and sat back down. I can't believe this! Why didn't you tell her?! She doesn't need to be worried about this. I want them all to have a great time. Pinkie yawned then shook her head, trying to get rid of the tiredness. Please... just try to fall asleep. It'll be easier if you get it over quickly. Pinkie ignored her more logical part in her brain. Pinkie felt herself to get more and more tired. As the minutes past by, Pinkie becomes more and more tired and she's even more terrified than she is tired. Twenty minutes passed by, and Pinkie is exhausted. Even Applejack is asleep at this point. Pinkie's heart was pounding as her eyelids became even heavier than before, I...I'm so scared. Just let go Pinkie. Everything'll be alright. You'll get through it. Pinkie let out a small, shaky breath as her eyelids shut and she felt her go back to that place. ================= When Pinkie's eyes opened again, she was back at the Pie Rock Farm. Oh no... ================= IV: PreparationAuthor's Note Thank you for waiting. I apologize again for the slight lateness of this chapter. I worked on this for two hours and got more than half of this written. The chapter after this one will be the one with the climax in it. I hope you have enjoyed this series so far and will enjoy this in the future. IV: Preparation Things were actually peaceful at the rock farm(for the time being ). There was a gentle breeze going. A few storm clouds could be seen in the distance. And then there was Pinkie. Oh no. Nononnonono! She was freaking out because she really didn't want to be there at the rock farm. I've got to get out of her somehow! Pinkie tried to dig into the ground below, but whenever she removed something, it immediately reappeared. No! Pinkie stopped trying to dig out after about 2 minutes when she realized she wasn't getting out of here that way. She began to think of all the things her logic had told her. What will mom and dad do? As soon as she thought that, all the possibilities of what the punishment flooded into her thoughts, filling her every recess of her conscious mind. At this point, Pinkie was hyperventilating. She was petrified. It seemed like she was about to pass out when she finally got a hold of herself. Well, not a hold, but a gentle grab. Okay, calm down Pinkie. Maybe things won't be so bad. Maybe she'll just get a slap on the wrist. Pinkie began to finally calm down a little as she took deep breaths in and out. All those bad thoughts of what her parents would do started to drain out of her thought. Okay... everything's alright Pinkie. Nothing bad is happening. Just go to your happy place. Mr. and Mrs. Cakes place... think of the good memories... Pinkie closed her eyes and thought of her happy memories. She was completely calm now. Her evil and horrific thoughts were gone. She was completely at peace. That was, until she heard gravely hoofsteps. When her eyes opened, they met with a gray colored pony with purple-ish gray hair and wearing a green piece of clothing. Is that who I think it is?! The mare passed Pinkie on the gravely path. Pinkie took one more look at the mare and narrowed it down immediately. It's Maud! What does she have to do with this?! Pinkie noticed that Maud was holding a brown bag between her teeth. Wonder what she's carrying? Pinkie looked down the path and noticed that Maud and her was a few yards away from the Pie house. She decided it would be best if she followed Maud into the house. Maybe its something for mom and dad. Hopefully nothing too bad... As they approached the house, Pinkie looked out over the fields of the farm. She noticed the little filly again, flying to the farm. Pinkie noted that she might have been holding a rock. Pinkie sighed as she remember all the happy childhood memories. I remember I used to admire Maud so much more than I do today. I even got a pet rock like her. Pinkie took her eyes off of the field and noticed that they were in front of the house's front door. In fact, she would've bumped into the door if she hadn't taken her eyes off of the filly. Maud entered the front door. "Mother! I got those herbs you asked for." Maud called out as she sat the herbs on a coffee table in the living room. Cloudy walked out from a small room cramped with tools and first aid kits. She met Maud in the living room and sat down on a couch in front of the coffee table. "Thank you. Are you prepared?" "I... I think so." "You just stay at the barn doors and-" Cloudy stopped for a moment, keeping herself from crying "-and your father and I'll do it." Cloudy finished. "Alright mother." Pinkie watched the situation from the door. Herbs? Why'd they need herbs? Cloudy cleared her throat and began talking to Maud again. "I know you're going to have to go off to the university soon. I saw the acceptance letter." Cloudy said as she walked towards Maud. Maud kept a straight face. "Please, just keep this in the family. We don't want people to think we do this for our enjoyment. We're doing this because we have to." "Yes mother." I remember when Maud left. I cried when I saw her walking down the path towards Ponyville. After about 30 seconds of tense silence, Maud began to walk out of the house. "I'm going to do Pinkie's left over chores." Maud said as she trotted out of the door. "Okay. Oh and Maud?" Cloudy said as she stepped towards the door. "Yes mother?" "Next time, tell me when you apply for acceptance to a university. And thanks for keeping this in the family." "I will mother. You're welcome." Maud said as she trotted towards the farm. Cloudy did the same, except she went into the living room. Pinkie looked over at Maud for a second more and then walked into the living room. Cloudy had picked up the bag and looked inside of it. "Perfect..." Cloudy said as she closed the bag and rolled up the opening of the bag. Cloudy got up from the couch and went into the kitchen. Pinkie followed her into the kitchen. Cloudy had apparently been cooking for awhile, since there was many pots on the old, coal-fueled oven. There were many foods sprawled out on the counter. From buttered corn to baked beans, mashed potatoes, and her own rock casserole. Hay, she even cooked apple pie! She doesn't cook this much for one night. Mom wouldn't cook this much in one night unless it was for a special occasion... Pinkie began to ponder the possible occasions, which brought her back to what her logic had said to her. "You'll see what happens to that filly. Punishment and all." Is that why she's cooking? It doesn't make sense. Why make such a big meal for... whatever they're gonna do to her? As Pinkie pondered the options, her mother poured the herbs into a boiling pot on the oven. Pinkie wanted to go over there and look to see what was in the pot, but her mother was in front of the oven. And by the looks of all the things that she was cooking, Pinkie wasn't getting past her anytime soon. "Hello darling." "Hello Igneous." "Do you need any help in here? I finished the baked beans and got the tools ready for that, 'thing'" "Depends. Have you done everything you needed to do around the farm?" "Yes, darling. You relax and I'll cook for awhile. You need to prepare for it." Cloudy sighed and nodded to Igneous. She then exited the kitchen and went into the living room. Pinkie noted that she trotted as if she was depressed. Igneous went over to the stove and began stirring the pot the herbs were in. Maybe I should go check on what that filly's doing. Pinkie left the kitchen and then sneaked outside. She then went outside towards the barn where she last saw the filly. ================= "Come on, Pinky! I can do this! I just need a running start." Pinky was in the fields of the farm. She had set up two small, rock platforms feet away from each of them. Apparently, she was trying to fly from one platform to the other. I'm going to get it this time! I know I will! Pinky flew on top of the platform. She took a few deep breaths, stepped back a couple steps, and ran towards the edge of the platform and jumped once she reached it. Her wings fluttered as she jumped from the edge. Pinky thought she was going to reach the opposite platform when something stepped in front of her flight path. "Pinkie, watch where you're going!!" "Ow... sorry Maud. I was trying to reach that other platform. Are you alright?" Pinky said as rubbed her head "So Maud, what are you doing?" Pinky asked as she wiped dirt off of herself. "I'm just doing some leftover chores." Maud said as she began scrapping her hoof against the soil, looking for rocks. "Oh, do you need any help?" Pinky asked as she extended her hoof and began digging in the dirt beside Maud. "No, sister." Maud said as she found a decent-sized rock. "Oh, okay... well, I'm going to go practice flying." Pinky said as she hovered in place. "Okay Pinky." Maud said as she continued to dig. "Bye!" Pinky said as she hugged Maud's. She soon released Maud and slowly flew over to the barn. Pinky heard Maud say something under her breath, but didn't question her about it. Wonder what's wrong Maud? Pinky shrugged it off and continued her flight in peace. ================= Horsefeathers! Where the hay is that little filly? Pinkie had been looking all through the barn for the little filly. She looked in the storage area, she looked in the rocks, hay, she had looked almost everywhere around the barn. Pinkie soon gave up on the search in the barn and decided that she'd look for the filly in the fields. She was making her way towards the fields. Pinkie had almost made it halfway into one of the rows of the fields when she heard buzzing again. The same buzzing from the last time. Pinkie followed the buzzing noise back to the barn, where she found a small, pegasus version of herself as a filly trying to fly up to the second floor of the barn. Is that... what the... how?! Pinkie was flabbergasted by her discovery. Not only was the filly identical to her when she was a filly, but she was a pegasus! "Come on Pinky! You can do it!" Pinky said to herself. How is this possible?! This can't be possible! It doesn't make sense! I've never been a pegasus! Pinky had almost made it to the top of the second floor when her tiny wings finally gave out and she fell down. Pinkie galloped under Pinky and tried to catch her. Pinky went through Pinkie and landed with a THUMP on the ground. "Ow! My flank!" Pinky cried out as she got up. She had let a few tears out. Poor thing... no! It's not real! Pinky wiped her tears away and decided that it would be best if she rested for a little bit. Meanwhile, Pinkie was still debating whether this was real or not. I don't know what to believe! I'm torn whether it's real or not! Pinkie sat there for awhile, either looking over at Pinky or thinking about how this could be real or if it was even real at all. Pinkie was torn out of her thoughts by a loud scream. "PINKAMENA DIANE PIE! GET IN HERE NOW!" Pinkie and Pinky simultaneously thought, "Oh no." Pinky rushed towards the Pie house. Pinkie went after almost immediately. ================= When Pinkie entered the house, her parents where sitting on the couch opposite to Pinky. They looked more serious than they usually did. "Pinky, we have some problems to discuss." Cloudy said. "Okay mom. What is it?" Pinky said. "To start off, you've been skipping your chores. Your mother and I've noticed." Igneous said. "Sorry." Pinky said as she lowered her head. "We weren't finished. You've been flying almost all the time instead of doing your chores or helping me or your father around the house or the farm. Not only have you ignored our requested to do your share of work around the farm, but Maud's had to double up her work on the farm. For this, you need to be punished." Cloudy finished with a small pinch of sadness in her voice. "O-okay mom. What is the p-punishment?" Pinky said with a shaky voice. "Come over here, child." Igneous said in a Stern tone. "Y-yes father." Pinky's voice was reduced to a whisper. She'd make Fluttershy seem like a loud pony. Igneous pulled something out from behind him. Pinkie couldn't believe what he had. Its... a ruler? "Put your hoof on the table child." Igneous said. Pinky reluctantly obliged. And with one swing, Igneous gave her a good smack on her forehoof. "Ow!" Pinky said as she pulled her hand away from the table. "Sorry Pinky. I just need you to know we aren't joking." Pinkie, watching the whole situation, was mentally kicking herself. I'm such a nut! I can't believe I got so worried over a smack with a ruler! "Ok, well, now that that's over, how about we have dinner?" Cloudy said, however, there was still a ting of sadness and regret in her voice. "Yes, darling. It is getting a little bit late. Pinky, go get your sister and tell her we're having dinner." Igneous said as he left the ruler on the table in front of the couch. "Yes father." Pinky said as she galloped out of the house towards the fields. Igneous and Cloudy got up from the couch and trotted to the kitchen. Pinkie followed them and watched them from the kitchen door. Igneous got some plates and bowls out from a cabinet and sat them out on the counter. He then took out some spoons and some forks from a small drawer and sat a pair of them on each plate. Cloudy took one of the plates and put baked beans, corn, a slice of apple pie, and a spoonful of mashed potatoes on to the plates. She repeated this process with each except one. Cloudy poured a strange green herb on top of the mashed potatoes. Igneous then took the plates into the dining room. Pinky and Maud were already waiting in the dining. Pinky had taken the seat at the top of the table and Maud sat beside her. Igneous sat each plate out at a seat in the dining room, Pinky got the plate with the weird green herbs on it. Cloudy and Igneous sat at the table and they all began to eat. Something doesn't feel right about this... Pinky dug into the mashed potatoes first. She then almost ate the rest of her food when something started to feel strange inside of her. "M-mom, what did you put in these mashed potatoes" Pinky asked, starting to feel very dizzy. Cloudy let out a silent tear and said, "I'm sorry Pinky. I'm so sorry..." Pinky got out of her chair and dizzily trotted over to the bathroom. Before she could open the door, she leaned against the wall and passed out. Wait, what? Igneous sighed and said, "It is done. Maud, help me carry her." Igneous got up from his chair. "Yes father." Maud said as she got up from the chair and trotted over to Pinky. Igneous followed her. Maud grabbed her back hooves and Igneous grabbed her forehooves. "Cloudy, get that sheet we have in our room." Igneous said. "Y-yes darling." Cloudy said. Cloudy entered her room and came back into dining room with a white bed-sheet. She laid it beside Pinky's limp body and spread it out. "Maud, we flip her onto the bed sheet on three." Igneous said as he looked up at Maud. Maud nodded prepared herself to push. "1." "2." "3." Maud and Igneous pushed Pinky onto the sheet. "Ok. This should make it easier to get her to the barn." Igneous said as he grabbed one side of the sheet. Maud grabbed the other side of the sheet. "On three." "1." "2." "3." Simultaneously, Igneous and Maud picked up Pinky and took her out of the door. Cloudy followed behind. What are they going to do to her? Cloudy got in front of them and opened the barn doors. She then went behind a wagon filled with rocks and came back with a wooden table big enough to hold Igneous. "Lay her on this." Cloudy said through her tears. Maud and Igneous obliged and sat her on the table. "Cloudy, are the tools still on the second floor?" Igneous said. "Yes, darling. I'll go get them" Cloudy said. "Thank you honey." After a couple of seconds of silence, Maud asked, "Father, what did those herbs do? Mother didn't tell me." "They'll dull the pain and make her unable to recall this for a long time." Igneous replied Pinkie had followed them to the barn and had been asking so many questions in her head. Why would they need to dull... wait, tools... herbs to dull the pain and make her forget... oh no! Pinkie realized what they were going to do. They're going to cut off her wings! Things were starting to make sense as Pinkie recalled what they had said before dinner. "You've been flying around instead of doing her chores." "How could we have a-" a pegasus! The only reason I'm even here is because of that stupid scene in the movie where he cut off her wings! It makes sense... ... and that's what scares me the most Pinkie knew that this isn't going to be good. ================= V: Punishment(18+)Author's Note I hope you enjoy this chapter. Hopefully two chapters in one day will make up for the delay. I've worked all day on this one. I'd recommend you would be over eighteen if you want to read this. This chapter contains graphic violence and goes into detail about it. So, READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!!! I'll try to update this either this week or next week. Constructive criticism is always welcome. V: Punishment(18+) "I got them." "Thank you, darling." Cloudy sat the tools out on the broken wagon Pinkie had messed around with earlier. There was a cleaver, a bone saw, a bottle of hydrogen peroxide, a roll of thread and a needle(for stitching), a flathead screwdriver, a hammer, a long flat rock(to sharpen the cleaver), and a saw. Ma-maybe they won't? Pinkie thought as she tried to delude herself. No one agreed or spoke up. Igneous let out a silent tear and said, "Okay..." and sighed. "Maud, take the sheets out from under her and cut holes in the fabric. Not to big, but just enough to fit her wings through it. Cloudy, pick up Pinky while I cut holes in the wood so we can cut her wings from under the table." A collective, "Yes" was heard around the room. Maud was picked up the sheet after Cloudy had put Pinky on her back. Maud tore the bed sheets as her father had instructed her and only made the hole big enough for her wings. Cloudy was rocking Pinky for the few final moments she would be the same pony. Igneous picked up the saw and started cutting two small slits in the wood. He also had to cut off a piece under the table so when he needed to get to the base of Pinky's small wing, he could. Maud sat the sheet on the wood and lined it up to match with the slits in the wood. Cloudy sat Pinky back down on the table and took a piece of cloth that Maud had ripped off the sheet and tied it around Pinky's eyes, block her vision. Igneous looked at her with a look of confusion. "She doesn't need to see this." Cloudy said as she backed away from Pinky's head. Igneous nodded and went over to the broken wagon(now make-shift workbench) and looked over the tools. "Darling, did you get any of that stuff that makes the skin numb?" Igneous asked as he looked back at her. "Iodine? It's in the house, honey. I'll go get it." Cloudy said as she exited the barn. Pinkie let out a long winded sigh and thought of her situation right now. How did this happen? Why would anyone do this to a little filly? Pinkie contradicted herself right then. She knew her parents or Maud didn't enjoy doing this. They're just doing because they need to. Still doesn't make it right... "I got it honey." Cloudy said as she entered the barn. "Thank you, darling." Igneous said as he grabbed the bottle from her. Igneous got under the table and opened the bottle. "Darling, will you find me some hoof-covers? I can't put on this without them." "Yes. I think there's some in the cellar. I'll go get them." "Thank you." Igneous said as he closed the cap on the bottle and got up from under the table. They're stalling, aren't they? They really don't want to do this. I really don't want them to do this! Cloudy came back and tossed the hoof-covers to Igneous before closing the small door to the cellar. Igneous put the hoof-coveres on and picked up the iodine again. He opened the cap on the bottle again and squirted some into his hands. He rubbed his hands together and then ducked under the table. Igneous applied the iodine around the base of the wings and around the blades of the wings. "Maud, hand me the flat rock and the cleaver. After you do that, go to the door and make sure no pony come. You shouldn't see this." Igneous said, extending his hoof. "Yes father. I will." Maud said as she handed him the things he asked for. Maud then trotted over to the barn door and stood right beside Pinkie. She's just standing there, starring at the moon. Pinkie looked over to Igneous. He was sharpening the cleaver on the flat rock. "Owwwww.... my head." ================= Pinky couldn't tell where she was. She couldn't even open her eyes to tell where she was. The only thing she knew was certain was that she didn't know where she was and her head was throbbing. Pinky then heard what sounded like metal scraping against rock. She was confused and slightly frightened by it and the fact that she couldn't see. "Mom? Dad? Who are you? Where am I?" No one answered. She tried to flap her wings, but realized that they were entrapped inside something. "L-let me go!" Once again, she was greeted with silence. Pinky was becoming more frightened. "Who ever you are, my father will beat you up if you hurt me!" She said, trying to intimidate her capture. Pinky was meet with a different response this time. It sounded like a snivel. "Who is there!?" "We're sorry to do this to you, darling." A voice said. She couldn't hear as well as before because the blindfold was covering her ears, but she knew it sounded familiar. "Do what?!" She was met with no response this time. The sound of scraping of metal became more aggressive with each one of her questions. "I said, do what?!" "You'll find out eventually." Another voice said. She still couldn't hear very well, but she still recognized it immediately. "Maud? Where am I?" "..." "Maud?!" "..." "P-please Maud. I'm scared." Pinky heard what sounded like a small sob. Who are these ponies and what does Maud have to do with them? "I'm sorry, darling. I'm sorry..." Pinky recognized this one as well. She started analyzing the voices in her head. "D-dad? Mom? Are you there?" "Pinky darling, we are sorry we have to do this." Cloudy said, her voice filled with remorse. "What are you going to do?" "Don't worry about it sweety. It won't be painful for too long. You won't remember a thing." Igneous said as he planted a kiss on his daughter's forehead. "What is it that you're going to do to me?! ANSWER ME!" Pinky said, desperation filling her voice. "..." "Uh, I-I mean, answer me please." "We're going to fix your wings." Maud said. "What's wrong with them? Why do I need a blindfold?" Pinky asked. "It's the whole entire wings. We need to get rid of them." Igneous said. "What?! No! Don't take my wings! Take me to the hospital or call the family doctor in Ponyville! They can fix them without taking them away!" "We can't Pinky." Cloudy said. "Why?" "Because we can't let them know what we're about to do." "Wait wha-" Pinky felt cold steel on her right wing. "Wait! What do I need to do to stop you from taking them?!" "I'm sorry Pinky, we can't let you fly around all day and skip out on your chores. We have twins coming and we can't afford any breaks for right now." "I'll do my chores!" "I know you will Pinky. Just like you said you would last week. And the week before that, and the week before that." Pinky felt a brush of air go past her. She guessed it was Igneous putting one of his forehooves beside her. Igneous put his hoof to her's and squeezed it. He leaned in towards her ear and whispered, "I'm sorry." Igneous then leaned back and released her hoof. He picked up the cleaver and took practice swings, but never hit her actual wing. "Dad, please! I'll do anything you ask me! I'll mine in the quarries! I'll work all the chores for everyone! I'll cook and clean everyday and night!" Pinky said in a pleading voice. She was terrified. "Mom! Please help! I'll never talk back to you again! I'll be the nice, obedient little filly! JUST DON'T TAKE MY WINGS!!!" ================= Pinkie was watching from behind a wagon of rocks. She had been crying from witnessing this traumatic event. I... I can't even imagine how helpless she feels. "Mom! Dad! Someone get me outta here!" Pinkie wiped her tear-filled eyes as she watched her father continue to either practice swinging or sharpening the cleaver. "I-I can't believe they would do this to someone." Pinkie said quietly. "I can't believe they'd do this to me..." She muttered. Pinkie watched on as the terrified little filly plead with her parents to let her out. ================= Pinky tried to shake off the blindfold to no avail. She could feel the wind from her father's practice swings. "Dad! Please let me go! I-I'm scared... I'm so scared." Pinky said as she cried harder into the blindfold. "This is it." he said from under the table. Pinky began to try and plead even harder(if you can do that.), "Dad! Please don't do it! I'll do anything... I'll... I'll..." Pinky gave up. She felt defeated. Broken. She just began to sob hardly into the blindfold as she awaited her fate. And for some reason. It didn't come. She waited for what seemed like forever. Pinky actually thought that she may have passed out until she heard the clank of metal falling to the ground and she felt somepony hug her tightly. "I can't do it! I'm so sorry Pinky!" Igneous said as he embraced his daughter. Pinky swore she felt some teardrops fall onto her mane while he was hugging her. She then felt somepony else hug her on the side opposite to Igneous. It sobbed into her mane softly. "Please forgive us Pinky! We're so sorry!" Cloudy said. She could tell they weren't lying. Pinky never felt so safe. So welcome and warm. She sobbed as she felt there warm love and care. Pinkie had managed to choke out some words while "Pl-please! N-n-never do it again!" ================= I knew my parents wouldn't do it! Pinkie let a tear of happiness flow out of her eyes as she saw the show of pure affection and love. She actually thought that her father might hurt the little filly. "I-" Pinkie sniffled "- knew that they wouldn't do it." Pinkie said in a normal volume. She didn't even care if she got caught; she just witnessed something beautiful. She closed her eyes and let herself take in all of the feeling. Unfortunately for her, intense pain would pulled out of it before she could enjoy it. She didn't know why she was feeling the pain until she opened her eyes. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Pinkie opened one I and looked over at the table, and what she saw she couldn't believe. ================= "-HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAH" Pinky yelled as she felt unimaginable pain coming from her left wing. "Maud, no!" her father yelled as he saw just what Maud had done. Pinky could no longer feel her left wing. She could hear what she guessed was Maud and someone struggling. "What happened?! Why can't I feel my left wing!?" Pinky managed to get up the strength to lift up one of her forehooves and take off the blindfold. Pinky felt blood on her back. She saw Cloudy trying to fight Maud while Igneous separated them. "You... you little... why would you do that?!" Cloudy said, anger filling her voice. "Because you two wouldn't." Maud said calmly. "Maud, there was no need for it! We weren't going to go through with it after we hugged her!" Igneous said. "What happened?!" They all looked over at Pinky like she was crazy. "How are you even able to-?" Igneous asked. "Dad, answer me! What happened?" Pinky said. Igneous wiped his eyes with his hoof and trotted over to her, forgetting about the other two mares. He hugged her. "I'm sorry, my sweet filly. I'm so sorry for what happened." Igneous said. "Look behind you." Igneous said as he separated from Pinky. Pinky did as she told, and when she looked at her back, she was missing her left wing. Her back was stained with blood and a small stream of blood was coming out of the wound. "Wha- what?" Pinky said as tears flooded her eyes. "Why?" She asked before she fell back on table. "Pinky?" "Take it." Pinky muttered. "What, Pinky?" Cloudy asked. "Take it! For Celestia's sake, take it! You've taken the one thing that's made me different from this family! So take the other wing!" Pinky said. She had been broken. Defeated. She knew she wouldn't be able to fly again, so she just gave up. She let tears roll down her muzzle as she sat there. Igneous lowered his head, Cloudy trotted over to Pinky and rested her head beside Pinky's head. Meanwhile, Pinkie was silently sobbing from behind the rock wagon. I can't believe it... Cloudy mouthed, "I'm sorry" to Pinky before she put Pinky's remaining wing through the narrow slit. Pinky just sat there, broken. She didn't try to stop her, she didn't plead with her not to do it, she just sat there. Pinkie at one point thought she was unconscious. She probably was due to all the blood loss. "Igneous, lets get it over with. For her." Cloudy said to Igneous. Igneous simply nodded and walked over to Pinky's body. Cloudy grabbed the now bloody cleaver and handed it to Igneous. Please don't... Cloudy hugged Pinky as Igneous chopped off her other remaining wing. Pinky half grunted, half screamed as he did the deed. Pinkie felt the metal go through Pinky. She felt the pain that she felt. "AHHH!" Pinkie screamed. She grabbed her back where her wings would've been if she was a pegasus. "Now we have to remove the stubs of the wings." Igneous said. He wasn't a medical expert, but he knew somewhat of what he was doing. "Cloudy, go bury these wings." "Ok, where?" "Come over here and I'll tell you." Cloudy did as she was told and came over to the side of the table that Igneous was on. He whispered where to put it in her ear and she nodded. She then rushed out, presumably to go bury the wings. Igneous sighed as he turned back to Pinky. He ripped off another big piece of fabric from the sheet and tore it into four pieces. He sat the pieces aside. Igneous grabbed the bone saw and put it against the stub. He tried to level it as close to the base of the wing as possible. "I'm sorry for all of this." "Don't..." Pinkie said. He started to slice the stub away. Pinkie's eyes jolted open and she screamed out in agony. He repeated the process on the other stub. Pinky's reactions were similar. Igneous put two of the pieces of fabric over the two stubs. "Maud! Come hold this!" "Yes father." Maud did as she was told and held the fabric in place. "I apologize for this once again, child." Igneous said as he picked up the saw. He then proceeded to cut a small opening in her skin right below the base of the wings. He then picked up the flathead and the hammer. Igneous put the flathead at the entrance of the opening and put the hammer against the grip of it. Pinkie screamed out, "Don't!" Igneous hit the flathead into the entrance and in entered just under the actual bone. "AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Pinkie fell down and tried to focus on anything but her current situation. Why do I feel what she feels... Because she is you. It made sense. It would explain why she looked like her and why mom used her full name for Pinky. Meanwhile, Igneous used the flathead to get the base of the wing out with a sickening POP! Pinkie bucked the wagon, but it did nothing to take the pain away. Igneous then pulled the bone out of her body and sat it on the ground. He repeated the same process on the other wing base with the same reaction from Pinkie. "Now do the same with these. I can stitch these up." "Yes father." Pinkie was on the ground, crying. It hurts so bucking much! "Pinky darling, I'm going to stitch you up. It'll be like a pinch." Igneous said. Pinky nodded and awaited the stitches. The stitches were like getting poked. It was mediocre compared to the pain she felt earlier. Its finally over... Pinkie let her eyes close as she felt herself coming out of the dream. ================= Pinkie bolted up from the couch. It was morning at Rarity's house. I'm finally out of that nightmare... Pinkie looked around. Everyone else was awake except for Rainbow Dash. Pinkie wiped her eyes to get out some sleep dust and tears that had accumulated from the dream she'd rather not think of right now. Pinkie walked out of the living room and into the kitchen. Rarity and Sweetie Belle were the only ones there still there. "Oh, hello Pinkie dear. We thought you were never going to join us." Rarity said in a joking manner. "Oh, h-hello Rarity. Hey Sweetie Belle." Pinkie said as she trotted over to Rarity. "Hi Pinkie," Sweetie said as she finished the pancakes that Rarity had made. "So, where are the other mares?" Pinkie asked. "Oh, they all had to go early this morning. Well, excluding Rainbow Dash." Rarity said as she sipped on tea. "Okay ... well, I'm going to go back to Sugarcube Corner and start my work there." "Okay. Pinkie, be a dear and tell Rainbow Dash to get up." "Okay Rarity-" Pinkie picked up her saddlebag and the plate she had brought last night "-bye you two." Pinkie said in a less enthusiastic voice. "Ta-ta!" Rarity said as she left. Pinkie tapped RD with her forehoof on the way out. She walked slowly to Sugarcube Corner; not because she wanted to, but because she was so distracted with her dream. It was so... so horrific! I can't keep this secret bottled up inside. I've got to tell one of the girls. Otherwise, I won't be able to function! Pinkie wanted to tell one of the girls, but she had to decide which one. ================= VI: CrackingAuthor's Note Hello. Thank you for your patience on this chapter. I apologize if this chapter isn't as well-written as the other one. One reason is because of a personal event in my life that has no business being here. I tried to write afterwords, but I couldn't get it out early enough on Saturday. Also, I'd like to thank you for sticking along so far in the story. And there may be a possible sequel to this . I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but whatever. Now, onto the story! {P.S: I left a hint about the possible sequel in this chapter. Just thought you all should know that ) VI: Cracking "Hello Mrs. Cake. I'm back from the party." Pinkie said as she entered Sugarcube Corner. "Oh, hello Pinkie! How was it?" Mrs. Cake asked as she picked up a cup of frosting and a small, dull-bladed knife. Pinkie stared at the knife, a little bit scared of it. She knew that she was just using it to spread the frosting, but it still didn't help. Super-duper-fun until that dream. "It was okay. We played Truth or Dare and watched a scary movie." Pinkie said as she walked into the kitchen and sat the plate in the sink. Mrs. Cake gave her a strange look at first, but then shook her head and continued to frost the cupcakes. "Well, I'm going to start my work here." Pinkie said as she grabbed some cake mix from a cabinet. "Actually Pinkie, would you watch the kids after you finish this shift? Me and Carrot will watch the shop for the rest of the day." Mrs. Cake said. "Of course, Mrs. Cake." Pinkie said in agreement. At least that'll distract me for awhile. "Thank you, dear. Now, lets get back to work." Mrs. Cake said as she finished frosting the cupcakes and put them into a display case. ================= Pinkie finished frosting the last batch of cupcakes for her shift. She then put them on a plate and left them on the counter at the entrance and then proceeded to trot back to the kitchen. Who do I tell? "Mr. Cake, I finished the last of the cupcakes." Pinkie said as she entered the kitchen again. "Thank you Pinkie. Now, please go and watch the foals." "Okay. Bye." Pinkie said as she walked towards out of the kitchen and up the stairs towards the Cake Twins' room. Pinkie opened the door to the Twins' room. Immediately, she was greeted with a barrage of two foals jumping on her. Pound and Pumpkin laughed as they landed onto her. "Hey you two!" Pinkie said, almost forgetting about the whole ordeal she was in. Almost. As Pinkie looked down at Pumpkin Cake, she saw herself as a filly, tears rolling down her muzzle, hair deflated, and wings missing from her back. Her eyes were filled with grief and pain. Pinkie jolted up, forgetting about Pound and Pumpkin for a moment, and rushed behind the door. "Pinkie?" Pinkie shivered from behind the door for a couple of seconds. It's not real Pinkie. Calm down. It's just Pound and Pumpkin. Push it out of your mind... Pinkie took a deep breath and stepped out from behind the door. She looked at two foals. They were both had a look of concern across their faces. She tried her best to not look scared in front of them. "It's all right, you two. I was just playing..."-Pinkie tried to think of a game- "hide and seek! Yeah, that's what I was playing!" Pinkie said as she trotted to the foals. The twins looked at each other for a moment and then looked back at Pinkie, who had a nervous smile across her face. They shrugged it off and began to go back to their usual mischief. Pinkie sighed, relieved that she had fooled them for right now. That was too close. And waayyy too freaky. I honestly should go tell one of the girls before this gets worse. Pinkie looked over Pumpkin and Pound. Pumpkin had lifted up their toy box and Pound flew up to it and was taking out almost all the toys in the treasure chest box. After I'm finished babysitting them, of course. They don't need to be worried by this. ================= Mrs. Cake frosted one of the last cinnamon-swirl cakes for the day. The day hadn't been a very busy one, but it was certainly a strange one. There was little to no customers compared to yesterday. "Hello Cup. I'm back with the stuff you asked me to get." Mr. Cake said as he sat a couple of bags of sugar and eggs. "Hello. Thank you." Mrs. Cake said as she trotted over to him. "Well, I'm going to finish up some cupcakes." Mr. Cake said as he turned and began to trot off. Mrs. Cake grabbed him by the hoof and turned him towards her. "I need to ask you something." Mrs. Cake said, looking directly into his eyes. "Um... sure, Cup." he said in response. "Does Pinkie seem a little bit... off today?" "Now that you mention it, she seems a little less peppy." "We should ask her what's wrong when she gets finished babysitting." "Maybe something happened at that party. I swear, if those girls or someone did something to make Pinkie like this..." Mr. Cake said, balling up his hooves. "Calm down. Those mares wouldn't hurt Pinkie for the World." Mrs. Cake said, gently grabbing one of his hooves. Mr. Cake sighed and softened his hooves. "I'm sorry, dear. It's just... you know. We've known her for so long. It's like she's our daughter." "I know dear. I feel the same." Mrs. Cake said before she hugged Mr. Cake. She let go a couple seconds later. "Well, I'll let you get back to it." "Yes, dear." ================= Pinkie heaved as she leaned against Pumpkin's crib. She had just managed to get them to sleep. Finally... now I can rest... Pinkie took a minute or two to rest. They had really worked her out. Before she could get that rest, there was a knock at the Twins' door. Then a whisper. "Pinkie, are you still in here dearie?" "Yes Mrs. Cake. I just put them into their cribs." Pinkie whispered back. "Come downstairs. Me and Carrot needs to talk to you." Mrs. Cake whisper-yelled in response. Uh oh. Do they know? I don't want to worry them with this! "Um... y-yes Mrs. Cake." Pinkie whispered in response. She heard quiet hoofsteps going down the hallway and creaking of a wooden staircase. Pinkie reluctantly followed behind, trying not to wake up the foals. ================= Fluttershy had sat down on her living room couch. She had done everything around the house that needed to be done; she had fed the animals, swept the kitchen, fixed a bird's broken wings, got some fruits and vegetables from the market, and knitted Angel Bunny a small sweater for Winter(which he proceeded to throw under his small bed). Fluttershy closed her eyes. She had almost fell asleep until she felt a small gust of wind hit one of her back-hooves. Fluttershy opened her eyes and was greeted with a small, white bunny. "Hello, Angel. Anything I can do for you?" Angel Bunny shook his head and grabbed her hoof and pulled her off the couch. He then lead her towards the kitchen. "Are you hungry?" Angel continued to lead her towards the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. He then opened the bottom drawer where she kept the vegetables. Everything was there the way she had arranged it earlier in the day; celery at the side, broccoli in the middle, and lettuce at the right. There was just one thing out of place. There were no carrots. "Angel. What did I tell you about eating so many carrots in one day?" Fluttershy said in a motherly tone. Angel looked down at the ground with a guilty stare. Fluttershy nuzzled him and then said, "Its alright. We can go back up to the market and by some more. But I'm not letting you have more than three for dinner." Angel protested about only three carrots for dinner. Fluttershy gave him the stare. At that moment, Angel reluctantly hopped onto Fluttershy's back. She trotted to her bedroom and pulled out a small pouch with a couple of bits in it. "Should be enough..." Fluttershy said as she trotted out of her bedroom and out of the cottage. She then started to head towards the market. ================= Pinkie pulled up a chair and sat down at the kitchen counter. I really hope they don't ask me about last night. I don't want to even think about it! Mr. and Mrs. Cake sat down at the opposite side of the counter. They looked directly at her. Silence ruled over the room for a couple of seconds. Finally, Mr. Cake spoke up. "Pinkie, are you alright? You seem distant." "Yes sir. Everything ok." Pinkie said, her voice missing her usual upbeat tone. "Really? You're not acting like your usual self." Pinkie tapped her hoof nervously on the ground. "It's nothing. Really." "But that's the thing, dearie. It's something." Tell them. Pinkie did no such thing. She just sat there, staring at the counter. "Pinkie?" Pinkie felt tears come to her eyes as she recalled the horrific events that she had seen. "Pinkie Pie? Please tell us what's wrong." Pinkie wiped her eyes. "I..." Pinkie trailed. Every fiber of her body willing her to tell them. "I need to go outside for awhile!" Pinkie said as she jumped out of her seat and rushed out off Sugarcube Corner. "Pinkie! Where are you going?" Mrs. Cake said as she went after her. Mr. Cake wasn't far behind. Mr. and Mrs. Cake rushed to the door, but by the time they got to the door, Pinkie was long gone. "Oh no... should we call somepony?" "I don't know. I haven't seen Pinkie like this since that time her friend Rainbow Dash told her about that, 'Headless Horse' thing." Mrs. Cake said as she leaned outside of the door to look for Pinkie. "If she isn't back by dusk, then we'll go look for her." Mr. Cake said. "All right. I'm still worried about her though..." Mrs. Cake said. "Me too dear; me too..." Mr. Cake said as he looked at the near-setting sun. ================= "Alright, Angel. Be patient. We're almost to Applejack's stand." Fluttershy said as Angel impatiently tapped his leg on her back. Fluttershy walked through the Farmers' Market, searching for Applejack's stand. After 10 minutes of searching. she finally found the Apple's stand. As she walked up to it, she was greeted with a deep voice. "Howdy." "Oh... h-hello Big Macintosh. H-how are you?" Big Macintosh looked at her in his usual stoic manner. "O-ok well... c-could I have some of those carrots? I-I have the bits to pay for them." Fluttershy said in a quiet manner. "Eeyup." Big Macintosh said as he reached over and a hoof-full of them. "Oh, t-thank you. Um..." Fluttershy said in her trademark whisper. She put the bits on the counter and Angel Bunny grabbed them out of Macintosh's hoof. Fluttershy once again thanked him and turned to leave. But before she could move, she was greeted with pink-colored pony, rushing through the seemingly endless crowds at the farmers market. The way that Pinkie ran seemed frightened. Frantic even. "Pinkie?!" Fluttershy said, caught off-guard by her. I've got to go check on her. Fluttershy decided to follow Pinkie in a calmer manner. ================= Pinkie was running from her problems. She couldn't stand the fact that her family had done that to her. Especially Maud. At first, she tried to forget it, but thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Cakes' questions and her mind messing with her by making Pound look like Pinky, she was now on the brink of a breakdown. .Why would they do that to me? Why would mom, dad, hay! Why would anyone?! Tears were leaking out of her eyes. She kept muttering to herself, "Why?" Her whole world around her family was beginning to crumble. She just couldn't believe it. She felt something tug at her tail. Pinkie bucked back, She felt a force hit the ground with a small, "Ow." Pinkie finally stopped and looked back. Her vision was clouded by the tears, but she could vaguely make out a small, yellow figure on the ground. She then heard a small snivel. Pinkie wiped her eyes and looked down at Fluttershy, lying on the ground, blood oozing out of her snout "P-pinkie?" Pinkie trotted over to Fluttershy. "I'm sorry Fluttershy. I was just... distracted." Pinkie said as she helped Fluttershy up. "It's okay, Pinkie." Fluttershy said as she held her snout. Pinkie felt small, pushing on one of her back hooves. She looked back and saw Angel Bunny punching her. Pinkie gently gently pushed him back. "What were you doing running through the Farmers' Market? I mean, if you don't mind me asking of course." Fluttershy asked, her voice nasally since she was holding her slowly-bleeding nose. "Oh, I was..." -Pinkie stopped for a moment to think of an excuse- "I was trying to find something for Mrs. Cake." Pinkie finished. Just don't think about it... just don't think about it. "A-are you sure?" Pinkie once again felt the familiar pushing on her back-hooves. That's when she snapped. She bucked back at Angel Bunny as hard as she could, sending him careening into a nearby bush. "Pinkie!" Fluttershy scolded. "What!? What do you want?! Why can't everypony leave me alone!?" Pinkie scolded back at Fluttershy in a harsher tone. Fluttershy stepped back, scared. "You have no idea what I've been through over the last day! I've seen stuff that would make Shining Armor faint!" Pinkie said, now in Fluttershy's face, nearly touching her snout.. "I saw my own sister-!" Pinkie stopped herself, seeing that Fluttershy was on the verge of tears. Pinkie angrily sighed and stomped her hoof on the ground. "P-pinkie?" Fluttershy said in a whisper. "What..." Pinkie said, still annoyed. "I-I'm sorry. I'll... I'll grab Angel and-" Fluttershy sniveled quietly as she trotted over to the bush Angel was in. "And go." She finished, picking up Angel and putting him on her back. "B-bye Pinkie." Fluttershy said in a scared voice. "Fluttershy, wait..." Pinkie said remorsefully, extending her left fore-hoof. Fluttershy kept trotting. Pinkie, filled with remorse and regret, trotted to Sugarcube Corner. ================= VII: Torment and RevelationPinkie opened the door to Sugarcube Corner and slowly trotted inside. Once she entered the kitchen, she was immediately greeted with Mrs. Cake's questions. "Where were you? Why did you run off like that? We were so worried!" Mrs. Cake said. "Please, Mrs. Cake, I don't want to talk about it." Pinkie said, "Please Pinkie, if something is bothering you this much, tell me or Carrot." Mrs. Cake said as she trotted over to Pinkie. Pinkie stood there for a moment, just staring at Mrs. Cake. "Thank you Mrs. Cake, but I really don't wanna talk about it." Pinkie said as she trotted out of the kitchen and upstairs to her room. Why don't you tell them?! Pinkie didn't answer. She was physically and emotionally exhausted. Pinkie opened the door to her room in the loft. As soon as her head it the pillow, she fell asleep. Unfortunately, her dreams wouldn't give her a rest. ================= Fluttershy trotted back to her cottage with a bleeding nose and a broken heart. Why did Pinkie go off at me like that? She felt Angel Bunny begin to stir on her back. Poor Angel... As Fluttershy approached her cottage, she saw Applejack standing on the porch, knocking on the door. "Fluttershy, ya there?" Applejack said as she knocked on the cottage door. Fluttershy hid her face in her mane, not wanting Applejack to see her bloody nose. I don't want Pinkie to get in trouble. "I-I'm right here." Fluttershy said. "There ya are. Big Mac told me 'bout Pinkie at the Market-" Applejack noticed a small blood stain on Fluttershy's hair "what happened, Sugarcube?" Applejack said trotting up to her. "O-oh, nothing. I just fell and h-hit my snout." Fluttershy said in a whisper. Applejack stared at Fluttershy. "Sugarcube, Ah can tell when yer lyin'." Fluttershy hid further into her mane. "I-its nothing. Really." Fluttershy said. "If it wasn't nothin', then ya wouldn't have that blood stain on yer mane." Applejack said. "U-um... I'm gonna go i-into my cottage." Fluttershy said as she trotted up the stairs of her porch. Before she got the chance to get inside as shut the door, Applejack spoke up. "Fluttershy, did somepony hurt ya?" Fluttershy stopped as she entered the doorway. "Y-yes..." "Is that how ya got that blood stain on yer mane?" "Yes..." "Will ya turn 'round and show me what happened?" Fluttershy turned around and pulled her mane away from her face. Applejack looked at the bloody nose and asked, "Sorry that it happened sugarcube. How did it happen?" "I went to the Farmers' Market to g-go get some carrots for Angel Bunny." Fluttershy said as Angel held his paw up to signify he was there. "I-I brought the carrots from Big Macintosh and P-pinkie rushed through the crowd." Fluttershy said as tears came to her eyes. "I followed her. I went to go grab her tail t-to get her attention and..." Fluttershy said, her voice trembling at the end, "It's alright, sugarcube. You're doin' fine." "She b-bucked back at me in the face. I don't think that she meant to do it. She apologized for it, but then she bucked Angel back into a bush." Fluttershy said. "That seems strange fer Pinkie... she wouldn't hurt anyone unless they were mean to one of us. Hay, she wouldn't hurt any of us!" "T-that isn't it. I s-scolded her for doing it, and she just yelled at m-me." Fluttershy said, tears freely flowing from her eyes. "That's awful..." "Its like she's hiding something from us. Should we tell the other girls?" "She's crossed the line. We have to." "A-alright. Where should we meet them?" "Tomorrow at Twilight's." "Ok. Well... I'm going to c-clean myself up and go to sleep. Goodnight." Fluttershy said as she went behind the doorway. "Alright. Goodnight to you too. Oh, and sugarcube?" "Yes, Applejack?" "Pinkie doesn't hate ya. She's probably got somethin' distractin' her." "Alright. Thank you Applejack." "No problem, sugarcube." ================= Pinkie woke up. She tried to move, but she was so weak. "Ohhhh...." Pinkie groaned. "Shhh... she's awake." Pinkie tried to look around, but she couldn't open her eyes. She began shaking her head. "Who's there?!" ",,," "Somepony say something!" Pinkie tried to lift up her hooves, but she was still very weak. Pinkie then felt something slice the skin of her back. "Ow!" She felt three blades slice down her back. "Stop!" "..." "Please!" Pinkie managed to open one of her eyes. Her vision was covered by a large, gray object. "Who are you?!" Pinkie felt one of her right hoof get sliced. Then she felt her left. The cuts kept getting closer and closer to her neck. The gray figure began to get smaller. Almost like it was like a neck. The slices at this point were at Pinkie''s collar-bone. The gray, figure suddenly became round. Then Pinkie saw the face. "Maud?!" Before Pinkie could say another word, Maud slit Pinkie's neck. Pinkie felt herself fade away as she became enveloped in warmth. ================= Pinkie jolted up from her bed. She fell off her bed and landed on her face. Tears summoned to her eyes. Not only because she hit her snout, but because of the dream. Pinkie laid on the floor, thinking about the dream. Was it real? Pinkie hit her hoof on the ground in frustration. Pinkie got up and went back to bed. She honestly didn't care anymore; she was still exhausted despite the fact that she had fallen asleep earlier. Hopefully that won't happen again... ================= Pinkie found herself in a similar place she was in earlier. Maud was standing over her, holding her neck. Not enough to choke her, but trying to stop the bleeding of her slit throat. Maud apparently had stopped the bleeding. She then picked up the knife and began slicing Pinkie's face. Pinkie tried to speak up, but found that she was unable to. Maud then got off of Pinkie and went down to her lower-body. She cut off a piece of Pinkie's tail. Pinkie grunted and tried to back away from Maud, but found it to be a very difficult task. Pinkie felt helpless and began to cry. Pinkie felt a swift gust of air go beside her and felt someone wiping the tears away. Please... stop. ================= Pinkie eyes flashed open. Once again, she thought about the bad dream. "Again!?" Pinkie whispered. "Why, Luna?" Pinkie asked as she looked out the window of her room at the moon. It seemed like it said, "I have no any control over those dreams. Thee has a personal issue thou needs to solve." Pinkie grunted in frustration and pulled a soda out from under her bed. She always kept a secret stash for emergencies. Pinkie held the can up and cracked it open. She drank the whole can in the course of 5 minutes. Pinkie wiped her mouth and had a smile plastered across her face. Better. Hopefully. Pinkie deposited the empty soda can onto her nightstand and laid back onto her bed. After a while, she finally fell asleep. ================= "Hello again, sister." No... not again. I won't be able to take it another time... Maud picked up the familiar looking knife. Maud didn't begin to cut Pinkie this time. This time, it would be much worse. Maud picked up a small set of wings. They looked exactly like the one the filly had. Maud cut a piece of the wing off. Pinkie managed to choke out a word. "D-don't..." Maud cut off a huge chunk of meat from the wing. This drove Pinkie over the edge. ================= Pinkie, once again, bolted up from her bed. This time, she wasn't as calm as the other times. Pinkie angrily got up from her bed and opened the door. She immediately went towards the stairs and trotted down stairs to the kitchen. Where's a bucking knife!? I'm gonna end this right now! Pinkie opened the looked through the drawer, searching for any sort of knife she could find. She almost gave up until she found a sharp knife, hidden at the very back. "I am going to stop these nightmares..." Pinkie whimpered, her voice very shaky She then trotted upstairs and went into the bathroom. Pinkie looked in the mirror. He hair was deflated and messy, her eyes and muzzle were stained with tears, and her coat was straightened out. Pinkie looked down at the knife. These nightmares WILL end now. Pinkie put the knife up to her neck. She then went to slice, but she stopped when the blade made contact. She finally came to her senses and realized what she was about to do. Pinkie wanted to make the nightmares go away, but not like this. In frustration and anger, Pinkie threw the knife into the sink and cried silently. Pinkie composed herself and went back into her room, carrying the knife. Pinkie hid the knife under her mattress and looked at the clock on her bedside table. 4:30 Pinkie groaned in frustration and tried to fall asleep again, knowing that she couldn't avoid the nightmares. ================= Twilight walked towards Sugarcube Corner. Applejack and Fluttershy had told her what Pinkie had done the previous day. There's got to be a reason why she's acting the way she is. But what? Twilight thought about the whole way to the bakery. She had thought about it all morning, yet, she still couldn't seem to find an answer. As Twilight entered Sugarcube Corner, she was greeted by Mr. Cake. "Hello Twilight. What can I get you?" "Oh, nothing. I'm just looking for Pinkie. Me and some friends need to talk to her." "Oh, alright. She in her room upstairs. But before you go, can I ask you a question?" "Sure." Mr. Cake looked around for anypony and then whispered to Twilight, "Has anything happened to Pinkie to make her sad? Because she's been acting distant these last few days." "Um... we watched a scary movie at that sleepover last night." "No. That isn't it. Well, thank you anyways, Twilight." "You're welcome." Twilight said as she trotted towards the stairs and entered the loft. As Twilight climbed up the stairs, she heard something like soft sobbing. Twilight walked towards Pinkie's bedroom door and the sobbing became louder. She knocked on the door and said, "Pinkie? Are you alright?" The sobbing stopped for a moment. "T-twilight? It's open. Come in," Twilight did so. and as soon as she entered, she was greeted by Pinkie, sitting on her bed, surrounded by soda cans. Tear drops and soda stained her sheets. Her mane and coat were a more messy than usual. "Pinkie, what's wrong?" "Twilight... I-I had a-a nightmare." Twilight thought it was a bit ridiculous that Pinkie was so upset about a nightmare, but she didn't say anything about it. She still trotted towards her and sat beside her, sympathetic. "What was it about?" "Oh, Twilight, it was awful! My mom, dad, and Maud-" Pinkie stopped herself, trying not to think about it. "What did they do, Pinkie?" Twilight said, curious. "Please don't make me think about it..." Pinkie's voice was nothing more than a whisper. "Its ok, Pinkie. We can go back and tell the girls or-" "NO!" Pinkie interrupted Twilight. Twilight looked at Pinkie. Was that nightmare really this bad? Twilight thought. "I...I'm sorry." Pinkie said quietly. "Its alright Pinkie. So, do you want to tell me alone?" Twilight said, wrapping one of her hooves around her, hugging her. "I'd feel better if I did." She's shier than Fluttershy now. "Okay, Pinkie. Just tell me and we'll go back to the library." Pinkie sighed and said, "Alright. I'll tell. But Pinkie Promise you won't say I'm crazy..." "Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." Twilight recited. "Ok... here's how it all started..." ================= Pinkie told her. She told Twilight everything down to the smallest detail. Pinkie actually broke down during the retelling of her family chopping off her wings, and Twilight had to comfort her. I... I'm speechless. I can't believe what I just heard. Twilight was in shock. Not only because such her friend had dreamed something about this, but how real it seemed. "Are you sure that you just didn't imagine it? I mean, I don't doubt that you dreamed about it, it just, it seems a little bit.. far fetched if it happened in real life." "I'm sure." Pinkie said as she wiped her bloodshot eyes, Twilight took a minute to try and comprehend what happened to the Element of Laughter. "Okay... it's alright... you're safe." Twilight said as hugging Pinkie. Pinkie cried into her shoulder. "Do you feel good enough to tell the rest of them?" "I-I think so..." "Okay... let's go." ================= Pinkie entered to door to the Golden Oak Library and entered. All of the Mane 6 were there. They all were sitting in a circle in Twilight's kitchen, including Spike, who was obviously ogling over Rarity. "Hello, everyone. I'm back with Pinkie." Twilight said as she shut the door to the library. A collective, "Hello" was heard around the room as Pinkie and Twilight entered the kitchen and sat at the table. Then, there was silence. Fluttershy was the first to speak up(surprisingly). "H-how are you, Pinkie?" "I... I don't k-know." Pinkie said. Twilight let go of Pinkie for a moment and trotted over to Fluttershy, whispering the story in her ear. "Oh..." "What? What happened dear?" "I'll tell w-what happened, but..." -Pinkie pointed over to Spike- "Spike needs to leave. It's too... mature for him." Pinkie said, taking the time to find the right words. "What, but wh-" "Spike, trust me. Go play with Apple Bloom or Sweetie Belle." Twilight said, interrupting Spike. Spike reluctantly said, "Yes, Twilight" and went outside. Pinkie wiped away a tear and began to tell the story. ================= Pinkie told her story about the dream. "Oh... oh my... oh dear... I'm so sorry." Rarity trotted over to Pinkie and hugged her. "Yeah. That's extreme. Even for me." "Uh... um... it's..." Fluttershy was speechless, nearly petrified in fear. "Ah'm so sorry, sugarcube." Applejack said, getting up from her head and hugging her. "So... what do we do now?" "We help Pinkie and comfort her." Twilight said. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy got up and trotted over to Pinkie, hugging her. "T-thank you so much for this. You have no idea what this means to me..." Pinkie said from inside the hug. "Oh, its no problem Pinkie dearest. Especially after what you witnessed." Rarity said as she wiped her muzzle. Pinkie felt welcomed and loved by her friends. Then she realized that she had to do something. "I'm sorry, but I've got to go for awhile." Pinkie said as she broke away from them. "Are you sure?" "I know, but this is something I need to do." "Okay. Pinkie, if you need any of for something, you know where we can be found." Rarity said. "I know. Thank you." Pinkie said as she left Golden Oaks Library. I still don't know if that was real or not... guess I'm going to find out in awhile. ================= VIII: Epilogue VIII: Epilogue How do I even ask this question... Pinkie trotted down the gravely path to the Pie Rock Farm. Usually at this time of day. she'd usually be at work at the Sugarcube Corner, baking different sweets and cakes for the ponies of Ponyville. However, this day was different. This day she would ask if what she had dreamed was true. She had told Mr. and Mrs. Cake about where she was going, so they gave her the day off. "Hey mom, I had a dream about you and dad and Maud cutting off my wings. Oh yeah, I was a pegasus in it. Was it true?" Pinkie asked herself, pretending to talk to her mom. "Oh come on, Pinkie! That's just a stupid way to ask it." Pinkie said as she facehoofed. Pinkie began to think of ways she could ask her mom or dad. She had calmed extensively since she had told her friends. Now her emotions weren't bottled up inside. Although she still became scared when she thought about it. "I had a nightmare a couple of nights ago, mom. I was a pegasus and you, dad, and Maud drugged me and chopped my wings off. Tell me, was it real?" Pinkie tried again. Still doesn't feel right. "Hello, sister." Pinkie was startled by the voice. She almost bucked back when she heard it, but she held herself. "Oh. He-hey Maud!" Pinkie said as she looked back at Maud. She had a small cart filled a third of the way with bits. "What were you just talking about?" "Um... I said hello to you." "Before that." "Oh, nothing." Pinkie said as she sped up a little bit. She didn't feel really safe around Maud for obvious reasons. Pinkie and Maud trotted in silence towards the rock farm for a minute or two. "So, did you come to visit us?" "Sort of. I'm only staying for the day." "Hm." Maud said as she sped up a little bit to try and catch up with Pinkie. In return, Pinkie speed-trotted towards the Pie House. This time, Maud just let it happen. Pinkie kept up her pace until she reached the house and entered. The house was quiet(as usual). "Hello? Anyone there?" Pinkie called out. "In here, Pinkie!" Somepony called out from down the hallway. Pinkie followed the voice to Marble's and Limestone's room. When Pinkie entered, she found Cloudy moving a bed into the corner of her childhood room. "Hello Pinkie. You caught me at a bad moment..." Cloudy said as moved the bed into the corner. "Oh, here! Let me help." Pinkie said, temporarily forgetting about her ordeal to help her parents. She rushed beside Cloudy and began to help them push. With two ponies pushing on the twin sized bed frame, they were able to get bed in the corner with ease. "Thank you for helping me, dear." "Oh its fine..." Pinkie said as she realized that she was talking to the pony who had helped cut off her wings. She was more scared than she was angry. "So... you came to visit?" "Um... yes mom." Pinkie said as she back away. "Alright... well. Make yourself at home. Marble and Limestone are outside, doing their chores, Igneous is in the one quarries, mining, and Maud should be back anytime now with some bits that we got for trading some rocks." Cloudy said as she left the room. "Ok."Pinkie said as she inspected the room. Apparently, her parents had given Marble and Limestone her room when she moved out. The party streamers had been taken down, the old carpet had been stripped up and replaced with rock tile, and they had put up shelves filled with rocks that they thought were, "cool". Pinkie exited the room and went to the living room. She then sat on a piece of furniture in the living room that. Pinkie sat to the right of her mother. They just sat there for a few minutes in awkward silence. "So, how has things been?" Cloudy asked, hoping to break the ice(or the rock if you want to make a joke). "Good." Pinkie replied simply. Then, silence. "..." "..." Things wouldn't have been so awkward if Pinkie didn't have those dreams. She would've been excited, talking nonstop to her mother, telling her about her job and her friends in Ponyville. But with what she had witnessed in the past week, she wasn't so talkative with her mother. After a few minutes of silence, Pinkie finally worked up the courage to ask her mother. "Um... mom. C-can I ask you a question?" "Yes, Pinkie." "You see, I had this dream-" The door opened, and Maud entered with the cart of coins rolling behind her. "Hello mother. Hello Pinkie. I traded those rocks and got some bits." Maud said as she sat the cart beside the door. "Good." Great... now I'm in a room with two ponies that hurt me. "Excuse me Pinkie, but I have to put these coins up." Cloudy said as she grabbed the cart and started to roll it into the hallway. Maud followed behind "But what about my-" Cloudy goes past the corner into the hall "question..." Pinkie finished as she sighed. Pinkie sat on the furniture for what seemed forever. How many coins did Maud get? It shouldn't take this long. Pinkie sat there, waiting on her mother and sister. It really shouldn't take this long to put up coins. Maybe they're talking about something. Pinkie got curious and tiphooved to the corner. She remained quiet and decided to listen for noises. At first, she didn't hear anything, but after awhile, she heard her mother. "Thanks again, Maud." "You're welcome, mother. I'm going to go finish my chores for the rest of the day." Pinkie heard hoofsteps and was about to rush back over to her chair when she heard her mother again. "Wait, Maud, can I ask you something, sweetie?" "Of course, mother." "Has Pinkie seemed off?" "Yes mother." "She seems a bit distracted, doesn't she?" "Yes mother. Maybe because she hasn't seen her family in awhile." "Possibly." "Alright. I'm going now." "Ok. Bye." "Bye, mother." Pinkie heard hoofsteps approaching her. Ok, now this is going to be close... She quickly tippedhoofed back to her seat and pretended like she was fiddling around with her hooves as Maud entered sight. Maud looked at Pinkie and said, "I'll be outside if you need me." "Alright Maud." Maud trotted to the door, but stopped. "Oh, and Pinkie." "Y-yes, Maud?" Did she catch me? "You don't have to be so nervous around us." Maud said as she opened the door. Pinkie wiped her brow and replied, "I will try not to be, Maud. I've just got a lot on my mind right now." Maud exited the house as Cloudy entered the living. "Sorry that took so long, darling. We couldn't find the key to our safe." "Its alright mom." "Now, what did you want to ask me?" "Oh... well. I had this dream..." Pinkie said nervously. "Yes..." "Well, its more of a nightmare." "Oh... that's bad." "Yes.. yes it is..." "Alright, well, go on." "Ok..." Pinkie said as she took a deep breath and emotionally prepared herself. ================= "Dad sewed me up and that's when I woke up." Pinkie said as finished telling the story to Cloudy. Cloudy had a look of concern on her face. Pinkie couldn't tell if it was concerned for her daughter's emotions or if she was concerned for her daughter's psychological health. "Pinkie, do you honestly think we would do that to you?" Cloudy said. Her voice was filled with concern. "I...I don't know." Pinkie said. "I mean, your father and I aren't the best parents in the world, and Maud may not be the best sister in the world, but we certainly wouldn't chop off our own daughter's wings. If we had a pegasus as a daughter." Cloudy said as she grabbed Pinkie's hoof. "I know. It was a bit silly to think that you, Maud, or dad would do that to me." Pinkie said as she wiped tears away. "Don't worry." Cloudy got up, trotted over to Pinkie, and hugged her. "Do you feel any better now?" "Yeah. Really better." Pinkie said, giggling at the end. A weight had lifted off of her shoulders. "Good. Well, it's getting late. How about you stay for dinner?" "Sure!" Pinkie said, happy that she had gotten the answer that she wanted. ================= The Pie Family sat around a table in their kitchen. For the first time in years, the entire family was there. Pinkie had reunited with her father, Marble, and Limestone earlier in the night. She had cracked a few jokes with them, which they slightly laughed at them. They all sat down at the table, eating the meal that Cloudy had fixed earlier in the day. Pinkie thoroughly searched through her meal before eating it. It had been a while since she had eaten her mother's cooking. I'm surprised I'm able to do this after that dream. Pinkie savored the home cooked meal. After dinner, Marble and Limestone went to bed, which left Maud, Igneous, Cloudy, and Pinkie in a room together. "So Pinkie, how has things been?" Igneous asked. "Great!" Pinkie said, much happier now that she found out her dream wasn't reality. "Good. How's Ponyville?" Igneous said. "Great! I have sooooooo many friends there. I even got a job at a bakery and I live in the loft above it." Pinkie said. "Well, good." They just sat there, talking about personal events in there lives for awhile. Then Igneous said something. "Well, I suppose its time for us to go to bed." he said as he looked up at the clock. It was 8:00. "Aw... ok. I guess it is a bit late. I probably need to go." Pinkie said. "Are you sure? We have an extra room." "I'd love to. Really. But I have to work tomorrow." "Alright." Cloudy said with an understanding voice. Cloudy walked into the hall and peeked out from behind the corner. She pointed at Igneous and Maud and motioned them to come over to her. Wonder what that's all about. Pinkie knew she probably shouldn't do it again, but she went over to the corner and listened carefully. The first thing she heard, once again, was Cloudy. Her voice's volume was less loud than the last time. "She's starting to remember." "What?!" Igneous said in a higher volume than his wife, to which she shushed him for. "How do you know?" Igneous said in a lower volume. "She told me about a dream she had... it described the what happened to the smallest detail. Oh, I thought she wouldn't remember..." Cloudy sounded remorseful. "I know dear. We just need to make sure she still thinks its a dream and it'll all be fine." Pinkie was heartbroken. She bit down on her lower lip in a futile attempt to hold the tears currently flooding her eyes. "I..it really happened. They actually did it to me." Pinkie said with tears rolling down the sides of her snout. "M-mom! Dad! I'm going to go ahead and leave." Pinkie called out, trying not to sound sad. Her voice cracked in the middle of the sentence. "Ok, dear. Bye!" Cloudy called back. Pinkie galloped out of the house. Tears were freely flowing from her eyes. "Why did this have to happen to me!?" Pinkie yelled to the stars as she galloped to away from the farm in darkness. This time, they didn't respond. Maybe Princess Luna herself didn't know. ================= By the time Pinkie got back to Ponyville, it was almost midnight. She entered Sugarcube corner. Mr. and Mrs. Cake left the front door unlocked for her. Once she got in, she shut the door, locked it, and quietly trotted upstairs. For some reason, when Pinkie passed the Cake Twins' room, she got a sudden urge to go into it. I shouldn't wake them up... Despite her better judgement, Pinkie entered the Twins' Room. She tippedhoofed over to their cribs. Pinkie got a feeling of happiness when he looked at Pumpkin blissfully sleeping. But when she looked at Pound, she jealous. Why does he have wings? Why aren't my parents as good as Mr. and Mrs. Cake? Stop thinking like that Pinkie! You'll forgive them, just not right now... Pinkie still had a feeling of jealousy when she looked at Pound. How was it fair that he got to keep his wings, but she didn't? Pinkie then remembered something. She still had that knife under her bed. No! I won't do what they did to me! Pinkie rushed out of the room as quietly as she could. She then quietly shut the door and went back into her room. Why would I even think about doing that? Pinkie sat down on the bed and buried herself into the covers. And she just sat there and cried. She not only was sad because her parents had actually done it to her, but now she was confused. How could I think of doing that? Cutting of Pounds wings... Pinkie could feel the idea becoming more and more appealing. "No! I will not do that to Pound!" Pinkie whisper-yelled as she immediately pushed the thought out of her head. Pinkie then began to think of her friends. Specifically Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. I thought about what Fluttershy would look like without wings... Rainbow Dash would be crushed if her wings were cut off. Just like me... Why am I having these... these sadistic urges?! ================= To be Continued.. Author's Note Hello, Thank you all for sticking with me this far into the story. You have no idea how much I appreciate it. I'm creating a sequel to this story. Be on the look out for a new story. Hopefully I'll see some familiar faces when I post it and hopefully some new faces as well.
I: Prologue Author's Note Ok, first fanfiction. Let's jump in. I'll try to update this at least every week. I: Prologue "Hey Twilight, do you wanna have a sleepover at Rarity's house? We could play party games and watch scary movies-ooooh! We could play, 'Pin the Wings on a Breezie' or, 'Spin the Bottle'" Pinkie Pie asked as she bounced in excitement. "I'm not sure Pinkie..."Twilight Sparkle said. -"I've been wanting to study the origins of the Tree of Harmony..."- "Oh please Twilight! Everypony's going to be there! Well, not everyone, but you know what I mean!"-Pinkie began to stare at Twilight with puppy eyes- "PLEEEEAAAAASEE!!!" she asked. Twilight tried to ignore that stare. Oh Celestia, did she try. She managed to hold out for about a minute before she caved in. "Okay! I guess I could take a break from studying for one night." She said, much to Pinkie's delight. "Oh thank you Twi! The sleepover is at 8 tonight! See ya there!" Pinkie exclaimed back to Twilight as she began to run towards Sugarcube Corner. Yay! Twilight sighed as she went back into the library, "Hopefully she won't go overboard again. I mean, it is just one night." ================= Pinkie was happily making cupcakes in preparation for the party. She had drops of icing, cake batter, and flour all over her face and coat. And... done! Pinkie thought as she put the last dollop of icing on the cupcake. She picked up the cupcake and put it into a small plastic container, filled with other cupcakes. "That should be enough." Pinkie said. "Oh who am I kiddin'! We could always use more cupcakes." She said as she pulled a new batch of cupcakes out of the oven After filling up two more plastic containers with cupcakes, Pinkie cleaned and then went to the bathroom to clean herself up. Pinkie entered the bathroom and picked up a rag. She wiped the flour away and used her hoof to wipe some of the icing away and licked it off of her hoof. Perfect! Pinkie thought to herself as she looked at her now cleaned face in the mirror. Now, time to clean my coat. it's covered in batter and flour!. She looked over at the rag and decided that it definitely wasn't going to do the job this time. She needed something bigger. "Ahhhhhhh..." Pinkie said as she stepped out of the shower. Better... much better she thought as she looked at herself in the slightly fogged up mirror. She picked up a towel from the bathroom counter and dried her mane with the towel. As she looked back up at the mirror, she saw herself as a filly. Her hair had a blood stain on it, her eyes were closed, and there was blood trailing down from her mouth to her neck. Pinkie, in utter disbelief, shook her head. When she looked at the mirror again, she was herself.I think I had too much punch... Pinkie thought as she exited the bathroom. ================= "Byeah Mr. an' Mrs. Cahkee! Ah'll b bak tomphrow!" Pinkie said as she left Sugarcube Corner. Her saddlebags were filled to the brim with cupcakes. She was even carrying a plate of cupcakes with her teeth! Pinkie made her way to the Carousel Boutique. She was surprised Rarity had accepted to host the sleepover there. She figured that she was stressed out and needed a break or something around those lines. Anyway, Pinkie knocked on the door of the door, balancing the plate of cupcakes as she did it. After about 30 seconds of knocking, Rarity answered the door. "I'm terribly sorry, but we're- oh! Hello Pinkie! Come in, come in." Rarity ushered Pinkie into her luxurious home. "Just set the cupcakes on the kitchen counter and I'll be in the living area." Rarity said as she walked towards the couches. Pinkie sat everything out on the counter. "Do you need my assistance in there Pinkie?" Rarity asked from the living room "I'm alright in here, but you can still help if you want!" "Why, I'd love to!" After a few minutes, Pinkie and Rarity had set everything out on the counter. Pinkie sat the cupcake on the small plate and had put them into a small circle. Rarity got a similar idea with the cans of soda, except she wanted to set them up in a small pyramid. She had been a little bit more careful and accurate in her placements than Pinkie. "I'm almost finished with this Pinkie. Why don't you go sit down on the sofa while I finish up in here." Pinkie nodded her head and exited the kitchen. As she was passing by the front door, a light knock came from the door. Pinkie opened the door and was greeted with a yellow pony with a sleeping bag in her saddlebag. "Hello Pinkie. I... I'm here for the sleepover" Fluttershy said in a soft voice. "Ok, come in! Rarity and I set up some refreshments in the kitchen. So help yourself!" Fluttershy whispered something like, "Thank you" and trotted off into the living room ================= "Ok, so what do we do first girls?" Twilight asked as she finished eating a cupcake. "Ah say we should tell som' stories." suggested Applejack. "I suggest we play, 'Spin the Bottle'" Rarity said, adding her suggestion to the conversation. "Ooooooo! Let's play, 'Hide and Seek'. Or, 'Pin the Wings on a Breezie'. Or maybe, 'Tag'. What about-" Rainbow Dash covered Pinkie Pie's mouth. "You were rambling on again, Pinkie. I say we watch a horror movie or tell scary stories!" Rainbow Dash said. Fluttershy hid in her mane, "I-I don't like s-scary stories..." "Oh, come on 'Shy. It'll toughen you up! I bet after a while you won't be scared of it anymore." Rainbow Dash said, trying to encourage Fluttershy. "Ah wouldn't mind a good scare." Applejack said. "Oooooh! Horror movies! Perfect thing for a sleepover!" Pinkie said, bouncing on her hooves in excitement. "Alright. I wouldn't mind. However, I may not pay too much attention to it" Rarity said as she was sitting on the couch, sipping on some of the soda she'd set up earlier. "O...ok. If everypony else wants to, I'll d-do it." Fluttershy said, starting to come out of her mane. "Alright, so what do we watch? Did we even bring horror movies?" Twilight asked as she disposed of the cupcake wrapper. "I think I have an old film in my room. Let me go get it." Rarity said, getting up from the couch and walking upstairs. Rarity came back down stairs, levitating a DVD case. "Here it is. The title is, 'The Unfortunate Case of Lady Windborne of Hoofington'" Rarity said as she opened the DVD case and pulled out the actual DVD(using her magic for both actions of course). "Sounds interesting... lets watch it!" Rainbow Dash said, flying over to Rarity and grabbing the DVD from her magic grasp. She then flew over to Rarity's DVD player and put it in. The movie loaded up and started. ================= Everypony had there eyes glued to the TV as the movie played. Fluttershy was sitting on the floor, wrapped in a small blanket, shivering. Rainbow Dash sat on the floor beside Fluttershy. Rarity was sitting on the couch beside Pinkie along with Twilight to her right. Applejack was laying on the floor beside Rainbow Dash, resting her head on her fore-hooves. It was nearing the middle of the movie when one gruesome scene started. Lady Windborne had been tied down and spread by The Rack(A medieval torture device in case you didn't know). Her wings had been put through a small slot in the wood of The Rack. The torturer was asking her questions like, "Where is your family's fortune?" and, "Do you give up yet?" he'd always ask after her stretched her. Eventually, he let her out of the torture device and put her into a different one. It had her wings spread apart. The torture asked her, "Do you value your wings?" as he picked up an axe. Lady Windborne seemed to know what he was about to do, because she begged and pleaded him not to do it. The torturer, after a few more questions without her answer, chopped off one of her wings. Pinkie Pie began to feel nauseous and dizzy during this scene. She felt like she'd pass out any minute. Her vision dimmed as her head rested against the head of the
III: Hiding ItAuthor's Note I'd like to make an apology. I said that this chapter would be the longest of them all. However, I got off topic at the end of the story. This chapter is supposed to be about her hiding the flashback. So, I cut that out of the story and I am adding that onto the next chapter. I hope you'll still enjoy this chapter. Also, the reason why there are so many thought lines is because Pinkie is having an internal conflict with herself. Like she's arguing with the logical part of her brain in her thoughts. III: Hiding It "We shall find who has been creating these heinous acts!" "Ooooh, I wonder who the killer is." Pinkie said quietly to herself. You can't ignore what happened, It was just a weird dream. You keep telling yourself that. You're going to have to face it eventually. Pinkie got up from Rarity's comfy couch and went into the kitchen. Maybe a cupcake'll help me. Pinkie grabbed a cupcake from the plate she had made hours earlier. She noted that there was only a few cupcakes left(this'll make sense later in the chapter.). Then she proceeded to slowly eat it as she walked back to the couch. I can't tell the girls. They'll think I'm nuttier than a fruitcake! Pinkie thought to herself as she sat between Rainbow Dash and Twilight. It isn't gonna be hard to hide it. The girls are too busy watching the movie. Pinkie thought to herself, finishing the cupcake. ================= "Well, that was certainly intriguing, but a little too much gore for my tastes." Rarity said as the credits started the roll on the movie. "Aw, what? The movie was good with the gore. It made things more realistic." Rainbow Dash said as she got up to stretch her wings. "I don't know about that, but it was a interesting mystery to solve." Twilight said as she used her magic to throw away empty cans and cupcake wrappers that had collected during the movie. "That was a good movie if Ah do say so mahself." "It... it wasn't as bad as I thought. I still didn't like the b-bloody parts." Fluttershy said as her skin crawled when she thought of it. "It was super-duper mysterious!" Pinkie said bouncing on the couch, I've said it once, I'll say it again. You aren't going to be hiding. It'll be easier to tell them now. I know, but it'll ruin the party! So what are you going to do? Wait until the sleepover is finished? You won't get the chance. Rarity will be back to working on her dresses, Applejack will be taking care of things around Sweet Apple Acres, Twilight will be back to studying Starswirl or whatever his name was, and Rainbow Dash will be practicing flying like she usually does. Hay, even you'll be busy back at Sugarcube Corner! Some times I wish I could jinx you, Thought Pinkie to herself. Pinkie let out a small frustrated groan. She saw Fluttershy look at her with worried eyes. Aw, horseapples! She's getting suspicious. Pinkie tried to play it off as her humming a small song, but Fluttershy still looked at her, most likely worried about her. "So girls, what do we do next?" Rarity's asked "Let's play Hide 'n Seek! Or Pin The Tall on The Breezie! Or maybe Bingo! What about Tag?! Maybe-" Applejack put a cupcake in Pinkie's mouth. "Sorry 'bout sugarcube. You were ramblin'" Applejack said. Twilight had taken out a piece of paper and written down all that Pinkie had said. "Ok, anypony else have any other suggestions?" Twilight said, looking up from the paper. Pinkie raised her hoof. "Not you Pinkie. We already have some of your suggestions." Twilight said. "Aw..." Pinkie said as she lowered her hand. Everypony started to making suggestions of games to play. Pinkie usually would've been listening intently to the conversation, bouncing around in anticipation. But this time was different for the events that had played out in Pinkie's brain. There was the little filly named Pinkie. She looks almost identical to me when I was a filly. Apparently, she had done something to get her in trouble with her family. They're planing to do something to her... but what? Pinkie began to lose herself in her thoughts about the little, "dream" she had. Was that Pinkie me? She looks like me. Or what i used to be. "Okay so, I've narrowed it down to three options. Hide 'n Seek, Spin the Bottle, or we don't play a game and do something else." Twilight said as she put down the quill. "Ah say we do Hide 'n Seek." Applejack said. "I wouldn't mind playing Hide 'n Seek." Rainbow Dash said. "I'd prefer Spin the Bottle." Rarity said as she levitated the quill to her work desk. Pinkie wasn't paying attention to the conversation at all. She was preoccupied with figuring out the 'dream'. Maybe I ate too many cupcakes and passed out for a while... "Pinkie what do you vote for?" Twilight asked her. "Huh?" "What do you want to do? We're voting for what we should play." Twilight said. "Oh! U-um, what can I choose from?" Twilight sighed and said, "Hide 'n Seek and Spin the Bottle. You can also choose not to play, but everyone's already chosen something beside that." "Oh-" Pinkie let out a nervous laugh "- how about Spin the B-Bottle!" "Ok. Spin the Bottle it is." Twilight said. Rainbow Dash got up and went into the kitchen and returned with an empty bottle. "Ok. Who goes first." "I WILL!" Pinkie said, trying to act as she usually does when something's exciting is about to happen. Just act like you usually do and they won't notice... Rainbow Dash flew over to Pinkie and handed her the bottle. Pinkie sat the bottle on the table and then span it. It landed on Rarity. "Truth or Dare?" Pinkie asked. ================= "I'm going outside for a moment." Fluttershy said as she trotted towards the door. "Ah'm right behind ya sugarcube." Applejack said as she got up from the floor in the living room. Fluttershy opened the door and walked outside, taking in the night air. So calm... Fluttershy looked up at the star-filled sky. She saw some birds flying by above the "Beautiful, ain't it?" AppleJack said. "Yes. Princess Luna does a good job." Fluttershy said. A minute of silence passed before someone finally spoke up. "I'm worried Pinkie. She isn't acting like herself." Fluttershy said. "Ah noticed that too. She seems nervous. Like she's tryin' to hide somethin'." Applejack said in agreement. "S-should we be worried?" Fluttershy asked with concern filling her voice. "Possibly. We shouldn't meddle in 'er business. Let's just keep an eye on 'er fer now." Applejack said. "Okay." Fluttershy said, messing around with her hooves. "Ah'm gonna head back in. Ya comin'?" Applejack asked. "S-sure." Fluttershy said, stilling having some concern in her voice. Fluttershy trotted in behind Applejack and shut the door. ================= Pinkie got up from the couch. She looked out over the living room, which was surprisingly clean after that game of Spin the Bottle. Almost everyone was asleep. Applejack was the only one that was still up. The rest were either on the floor in their sleeping bags or on the couch. Rarity had gone upstairs to her bed. Pinkie, I have to tell you a secret about what's about to happen. Um... ok. You know what happened earlier. But, there's something more about it. Pinkie was almost afraid to ask. W... what? You'll see what happens to that filly. Punishment and all. What?! T-that can't happen! It will. You'll what your family does to you- But I wasn't a pegasus as a filly! I'm not now! I never have been! My family never did anything bad to me! Denial. The first step when you find out something like this. But, it hasn't even begun. The worst part has yet to come. I-I don't believe it. You'll see for yourself when you fall asleep. It's bad, trust me. Then I just won't fall asleep then! You'll have to eventually. I expect you won't make it more than an hour or two. With that, Pinkie sat back down onto the couch and tried to find something to preoccupy herself. I won't fall asleep! Pinkie got up from the couch and went into the kitchen. All of soda and cupcakes were gone. No! It'll be alright Pinkie. Just let it happen normally. Pinkie looked through her saddlebag that was sitting on the floor in front of the kitchen entrance. She then proceeded to open it and look through it in a sort of panicked state. There's got to be something in here that'll keep me awake! Cupcakes, soda, something! "Pinkie, are ya alright?" AppleJack quietly said. Pinkie stopped looked her bag and looked up at AppleJack. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine. " Pinkie said as she let out a nervous laugh. "Pinkie, ya can tell me if somethin' is wrong." Applejack said with compassion in her eyes and worry in her face. Tell her! You literally have to perfect chance! "I... I'm alright Applejack. Thank you." Pinkie said as she trotted back over to the couch and sat back down. I can't believe this! Why didn't you tell her?! She doesn't need to be worried about this. I want them all to have a great time. Pinkie yawned then shook her head, trying to get rid of the tiredness. Please... just try to fall asleep. It'll be easier if you get it over quickly. Pinkie ignored her more logical part in her brain. Pinkie felt herself to get more and more tired. As the minutes past by, Pinkie becomes more and more tired and she's even more terrified than she is tired. Twenty minutes passed by, and Pinkie is exhausted. Even Applejack is asleep at this point. Pinkie's heart was pounding as her eyelids became even heavier than before, I...I'm so scared. Just let go Pinkie. Everything'll be alright. You'll get through it. Pinkie let out a small, shaky breath as her eyelids shut and she felt her go back to that place. ================= When Pinkie's eyes opened again, she was back at the Pie Rock Farm. Oh no... =================
IV: PreparationAuthor's Note Thank you for waiting. I apologize again for the slight lateness of this chapter. I worked on this for two hours and got more than half of this written. The chapter after this one will be the one with the climax in it. I hope you have enjoyed this series so far and will enjoy this in the future. IV: Preparation Things were actually peaceful at the rock farm(for the time being ). There was a gentle breeze going. A few storm clouds could be seen in the distance. And then there was Pinkie. Oh no. Nononnonono! She was freaking out because she really didn't want to be there at the rock farm. I've got to get out of her somehow! Pinkie tried to dig into the ground below, but whenever she removed something, it immediately reappeared. No! Pinkie stopped trying to dig out after about 2 minutes when she realized she wasn't getting out of here that way. She began to think of all the things her logic had told her. What will mom and dad do? As soon as she thought that, all the possibilities of what the punishment flooded into her thoughts, filling her every recess of her conscious mind. At this point, Pinkie was hyperventilating. She was petrified. It seemed like she was about to pass out when she finally got a hold of herself. Well, not a hold, but a gentle grab. Okay, calm down Pinkie. Maybe things won't be so bad. Maybe she'll just get a slap on the wrist. Pinkie began to finally calm down a little as she took deep breaths in and out. All those bad thoughts of what her parents would do started to drain out of her thought. Okay... everything's alright Pinkie. Nothing bad is happening. Just go to your happy place. Mr. and Mrs. Cakes place... think of the good memories... Pinkie closed her eyes and thought of her happy memories. She was completely calm now. Her evil and horrific thoughts were gone. She was completely at peace. That was, until she heard gravely hoofsteps. When her eyes opened, they met with a gray colored pony with purple-ish gray hair and wearing a green piece of clothing. Is that who I think it is?! The mare passed Pinkie on the gravely path. Pinkie took one more look at the mare and narrowed it down immediately. It's Maud! What does she have to do with this?! Pinkie noticed that Maud was holding a brown bag between her teeth. Wonder what she's carrying? Pinkie looked down the path and noticed that Maud and her was a few yards away from the Pie house. She decided it would be best if she followed Maud into the house. Maybe its something for mom and dad. Hopefully nothing too bad... As they approached the house, Pinkie looked out over the fields of the farm. She noticed the little filly again, flying to the farm. Pinkie noted that she might have been holding a rock. Pinkie sighed as she remember all the happy childhood memories. I remember I used to admire Maud so much more than I do today. I even got a pet rock like her. Pinkie took her eyes off of the field and noticed that they were in front of the house's front door. In fact, she would've bumped into the door if she hadn't taken her eyes off of the filly. Maud entered the front door. "Mother! I got those herbs you asked for." Maud called out as she sat the herbs on a coffee table in the living room. Cloudy walked out from a small room cramped with tools and first aid kits. She met Maud in the living room and sat down on a couch in front of the coffee table. "Thank you. Are you prepared?" "I... I think so." "You just stay at the barn doors and-" Cloudy stopped for a moment, keeping herself from crying "-and your father and I'll do it." Cloudy finished. "Alright mother." Pinkie watched the situation from the door. Herbs? Why'd they need herbs? Cloudy cleared her throat and began talking to Maud again. "I know you're going to have to go off to the university soon. I saw the acceptance letter." Cloudy said as she walked towards Maud. Maud kept a straight face. "Please, just keep this in the family. We don't want people to think we do this for our enjoyment. We're doing this because we have to." "Yes mother." I remember when Maud left. I cried when I saw her walking down the path towards Ponyville. After about 30 seconds of tense silence, Maud began to walk out of the house. "I'm going to do Pinkie's left over chores." Maud said as she trotted out of the door. "Okay. Oh and Maud?" Cloudy said as she stepped towards the door. "Yes mother?" "Next time, tell me when you apply for acceptance to a university. And thanks for keeping this in the family." "I will mother. You're welcome." Maud said as she trotted towards the farm. Cloudy did the same, except she went into the living room. Pinkie looked over at Maud for a second more and then walked into the living room. Cloudy had picked up the bag and looked inside of it. "Perfect..." Cloudy said as she closed the bag and rolled up the opening of the bag. Cloudy got up from the couch and went into the kitchen. Pinkie followed her into the kitchen. Cloudy had apparently been cooking for awhile, since there was many pots on the old, coal-fueled oven. There were many foods sprawled out on the counter. From buttered corn to baked beans, mashed potatoes, and her own rock casserole. Hay, she even cooked apple pie! She doesn't cook this much for one night. Mom wouldn't cook this much in one night unless it was for a special occasion... Pinkie began to ponder the possible occasions, which brought her back to what her logic had said to her. "You'll see what happens to that filly. Punishment and all." Is that why she's cooking? It doesn't make sense. Why make such a big meal for... whatever they're gonna do to her? As Pinkie pondered the options, her mother poured the herbs into a boiling pot on the oven. Pinkie wanted to go over there and look to see what was in the pot, but her mother was in front of the oven. And by the looks of all the things that she was cooking, Pinkie wasn't getting past her anytime soon. "Hello darling." "Hello Igneous." "Do you need any help in here? I finished the baked beans and got the tools ready for that, 'thing'" "Depends. Have you done everything you needed to do around the farm?" "Yes, darling. You relax and I'll cook for awhile. You need to prepare for it." Cloudy sighed and nodded to Igneous. She then exited the kitchen and went into the living room. Pinkie noted that she trotted as if she was depressed. Igneous went over to the stove and began stirring the pot the herbs were in. Maybe I should go check on what that filly's doing. Pinkie left the kitchen and then sneaked outside. She then went outside towards the barn where she last saw the filly. ================= "Come on, Pinky! I can do this! I just need a running start." Pinky was in the fields of the farm. She had set up two small, rock platforms feet away from each of them. Apparently, she was trying to fly from one platform to the other. I'm going to get it this time! I know I will! Pinky flew on top of the platform. She took a few deep breaths, stepped back a couple steps, and ran towards the edge of the platform and jumped once she reached it. Her wings fluttered as she jumped from the edge. Pinky thought she was going to reach the opposite platform when something stepped in front of her flight path. "Pinkie, watch where you're going!!" "Ow... sorry Maud. I was trying to reach that other platform. Are you alright?" Pinky said as rubbed her head "So Maud, what are you doing?" Pinky asked as she wiped dirt off of herself. "I'm just doing some leftover chores." Maud said as she began scrapping her hoof against the soil, looking for rocks. "Oh, do you need any help?" Pinky asked as she extended her hoof and began digging in the dirt beside Maud. "No, sister." Maud said as she found a decent-sized rock. "Oh, okay... well, I'm going to go practice flying." Pinky said as she hovered in place. "Okay Pinky." Maud said as she continued to dig. "Bye!" Pinky said as she hugged Maud's. She soon released Maud and slowly flew over to the barn. Pinky heard Maud say something under her breath, but didn't question her about it. Wonder what's wrong Maud? Pinky shrugged it off and continued her flight in peace. ================= Horsefeathers! Where the hay is that little filly? Pinkie had been looking all through the barn for the little filly. She looked in the storage area, she looked in the rocks, hay, she had looked almost everywhere around the barn. Pinkie soon gave up on the search in the barn and decided that she'd look for the filly in the fields. She was making her way towards the fields. Pinkie had almost made it halfway into one of the rows of the fields when she heard buzzing again. The same buzzing from the last time. Pinkie followed the buzzing noise back to the barn, where she found a small, pegasus version of herself as a filly trying to fly up to the second floor of the barn. Is that... what the... how?! Pinkie was flabbergasted by her discovery. Not only was the filly identical to her when she was a filly, but she was a pegasus! "Come on Pinky! You can do it!" Pinky said to herself. How is this possible?! This can't be possible! It doesn't make sense! I've never been a pegasus! Pinky had almost made it to the top of the second floor when her tiny wings finally gave out and she fell down. Pinkie galloped under Pinky and tried to catch her. Pinky went through Pinkie and landed with a THUMP on the ground. "Ow! My flank!" Pinky cried out as she got up. She had let a few tears out. Poor thing... no! It's not real! Pinky wiped her tears away and decided that it would be best if she rested for a little bit. Meanwhile, Pinkie was still debating whether this was real or not. I don't know what to believe! I'm torn whether it's real or not! Pinkie sat there for awhile, either looking over at Pinky or thinking about how this could be real or if it was even real at all. Pinkie was torn out of her thoughts by a loud scream. "PINKAMENA DIANE PIE! GET IN HERE NOW!" Pinkie and Pinky simultaneously thought, "Oh no." Pinky rushed towards the Pie house. Pinkie went after almost immediately. ================= When Pinkie entered the house, her parents where sitting on the couch opposite to Pinky. They looked more serious than they usually did. "Pinky, we have some problems to discuss." Cloudy said. "Okay mom. What is it?" Pinky said. "To start off, you've been skipping your chores. Your mother and I've noticed." Igneous said. "Sorry." Pinky said as she lowered her head. "We weren't finished. You've been flying almost all the time instead of doing your chores or helping me or your father around the house or the farm. Not only have you ignored our requested to do your share of work around the farm, but Maud's had to double up her work on the farm. For this, you need to be punished." Cloudy finished with a small pinch of sadness in her voice. "O-okay mom. What is the p-punishment?" Pinky said with a shaky voice. "Come over here, child." Igneous said in a Stern tone. "Y-yes father." Pinky's voice was reduced to a whisper. She'd make Fluttershy seem like a loud pony. Igneous pulled something out from behind him. Pinkie couldn't believe what he had. Its... a ruler? "Put your hoof on the table child." Igneous said. Pinky reluctantly obliged. And with one swing, Igneous gave her a good smack on her forehoof. "Ow!" Pinky said as she pulled her hand away from the table. "Sorry Pinky. I just need you to know we aren't joking." Pinkie, watching the whole situation, was mentally kicking herself. I'm such a nut! I can't believe I got so worried over a smack with a ruler! "Ok, well, now that that's over, how about we have dinner?" Cloudy said, however, there was still a ting of sadness and regret in her voice. "Yes, darling. It is getting a little bit late. Pinky, go get your sister and tell her we're having dinner." Igneous said as he left the ruler on the table in front of the couch. "Yes father." Pinky said as she galloped out of the house towards the fields. Igneous and Cloudy got up from the couch and trotted to the kitchen. Pinkie followed them and watched them from the kitchen door. Igneous got some plates and bowls out from a cabinet and sat them out on the counter. He then took out some spoons and some forks from a small drawer and sat a pair of them on each plate. Cloudy took one of the plates and put baked beans, corn, a slice of apple pie, and a spoonful of mashed potatoes on to the plates. She repeated this process with each except one. Cloudy poured a strange green herb on top of the mashed potatoes. Igneous then took the plates into the dining room. Pinky and Maud were already waiting in the dining. Pinky had taken the seat at the top of the table and Maud sat beside her. Igneous sat each plate out at a seat in the dining room, Pinky got the plate with the weird green herbs on it. Cloudy and Igneous sat at the table and they all began to eat. Something doesn't feel right about this... Pinky dug into the mashed potatoes first. She then almost ate the rest of her food when something started to feel strange inside of her. "M-mom, what did you put in these mashed potatoes" Pinky asked, starting to feel very dizzy. Cloudy let out a silent tear and said, "I'm sorry Pinky. I'm so sorry..." Pinky got out of her chair and dizzily trotted over to the bathroom. Before she could open the door, she leaned against the wall and passed out. Wait, what? Igneous sighed and said, "It is done. Maud, help me carry her." Igneous got up from his chair. "Yes father." Maud said as she got up from the chair and trotted over to Pinky. Igneous followed her. Maud grabbed her back hooves and Igneous grabbed her forehooves. "Cloudy, get that sheet we have in our room." Igneous said. "Y-yes darling." Cloudy said. Cloudy entered her room and came back into dining room with a white bed-sheet. She laid it beside Pinky's limp body and spread it out. "Maud, we flip her onto the bed sheet on three." Igneous said as he looked up at Maud. Maud nodded prepared herself to push. "1." "2." "3." Maud and Igneous pushed Pinky onto the sheet. "Ok. This should make it easier to get her to the barn." Igneous said as he grabbed one side of the sheet. Maud grabbed the other side of the sheet. "On three." "1." "2." "3." Simultaneously, Igneous and Maud picked up Pinky and took her out of the door. Cloudy followed behind. What are they going to do to her? Cloudy got in front of them and opened the barn doors. She then went behind a wagon filled with rocks and came back with a wooden table big enough to hold Igneous. "Lay her on this." Cloudy said through her tears. Maud and Igneous obliged and sat her on the table. "Cloudy, are the tools still on the second floor?" Igneous said. "Yes, darling. I'll go get them" Cloudy said. "Thank you honey." After a couple of seconds of silence, Maud asked, "Father, what did those herbs do? Mother didn't tell me." "They'll dull the pain and make her unable to recall this for a long time." Igneous replied Pinkie had followed them to the barn and had been asking so many questions in her head. Why would they need to dull... wait, tools... herbs to dull the pain and make her forget... oh no! Pinkie realized what they were going to do. They're going to cut off her wings! Things were starting to make sense as Pinkie recalled what they had said before dinner. "You've been flying around instead of doing her chores." "How could we have a-" a pegasus! The only reason I'm even here is because of that stupid scene in the movie where he cut off her wings! It makes sense... ... and that's what scares me the most Pinkie knew that this isn't going to be good. =================
V: Punishment(18+)Author's Note I hope you enjoy this chapter. Hopefully two chapters in one day will make up for the delay. I've worked all day on this one. I'd recommend you would be over eighteen if you want to read this. This chapter contains graphic violence and goes into detail about it. So, READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!!! I'll try to update this either this week or next week. Constructive criticism is always welcome. V: Punishment(18+) "I got them." "Thank you, darling." Cloudy sat the tools out on the broken wagon Pinkie had messed around with earlier. There was a cleaver, a bone saw, a bottle of hydrogen peroxide, a roll of thread and a needle(for stitching), a flathead screwdriver, a hammer, a long flat rock(to sharpen the cleaver), and a saw. Ma-maybe they won't? Pinkie thought as she tried to delude herself. No one agreed or spoke up. Igneous let out a silent tear and said, "Okay..." and sighed. "Maud, take the sheets out from under her and cut holes in the fabric. Not to big, but just enough to fit her wings through it. Cloudy, pick up Pinky while I cut holes in the wood so we can cut her wings from under the table." A collective, "Yes" was heard around the room. Maud was picked up the sheet after Cloudy had put Pinky on her back. Maud tore the bed sheets as her father had instructed her and only made the hole big enough for her wings. Cloudy was rocking Pinky for the few final moments she would be the same pony. Igneous picked up the saw and started cutting two small slits in the wood. He also had to cut off a piece under the table so when he needed to get to the base of Pinky's small wing, he could. Maud sat the sheet on the wood and lined it up to match with the slits in the wood. Cloudy sat Pinky back down on the table and took a piece of cloth that Maud had ripped off the sheet and tied it around Pinky's eyes, block her vision. Igneous looked at her with a look of confusion. "She doesn't need to see this." Cloudy said as she backed away from Pinky's head. Igneous nodded and went over to the broken wagon(now make-shift workbench) and looked over the tools. "Darling, did you get any of that stuff that makes the skin numb?" Igneous asked as he looked back at her. "Iodine? It's in the house, honey. I'll go get it." Cloudy said as she exited the barn. Pinkie let out a long winded sigh and thought of her situation right now. How did this happen? Why would anyone do this to a little filly? Pinkie contradicted herself right then. She knew her parents or Maud didn't enjoy doing this. They're just doing because they need to. Still doesn't make it right... "I got it honey." Cloudy said as she entered the barn. "Thank you, darling." Igneous said as he grabbed the bottle from her. Igneous got under the table and opened the bottle. "Darling, will you find me some hoof-covers? I can't put on this without them." "Yes. I think there's some in the cellar. I'll go get them." "Thank you." Igneous said as he closed the cap on the bottle and got up from under the table. They're stalling, aren't they? They really don't want to do this. I really don't want them to do this! Cloudy came back and tossed the hoof-covers to Igneous before closing the small door to the cellar. Igneous put the hoof-coveres on and picked up the iodine again. He opened the cap on the bottle again and squirted some into his hands. He rubbed his hands together and then ducked under the table. Igneous applied the iodine around the base of the wings and around the blades of the wings. "Maud, hand me the flat rock and the cleaver. After you do that, go to the door and make sure no pony come. You shouldn't see this." Igneous said, extending his hoof. "Yes father. I will." Maud said as she handed him the things he asked for. Maud then trotted over to the barn door and stood right beside Pinkie. She's just standing there, starring at the moon. Pinkie looked over to Igneous. He was sharpening the cleaver on the flat rock. "Owwwww.... my head." ================= Pinky couldn't tell where she was. She couldn't even open her eyes to tell where she was. The only thing she knew was certain was that she didn't know where she was and her head was throbbing. Pinky then heard what sounded like metal scraping against rock. She was confused and slightly frightened by it and the fact that she couldn't see. "Mom? Dad? Who are you? Where am I?" No one answered. She tried to flap her wings, but realized that they were entrapped inside something. "L-let me go!" Once again, she was greeted with silence. Pinky was becoming more frightened. "Who ever you are, my father will beat you up if you hurt me!" She said, trying to intimidate her capture. Pinky was meet with a different response this time. It sounded like a snivel. "Who is there!?" "We're sorry to do this to you, darling." A voice said. She couldn't hear as well as before because the blindfold was covering her ears, but she knew it sounded familiar. "Do what?!" She was met with no response this time. The sound of scraping of metal became more aggressive with each one of her questions. "I said, do what?!" "You'll find out eventually." Another voice said. She still couldn't hear very well, but she still recognized it immediately. "Maud? Where am I?" "..." "Maud?!" "..." "P-please Maud. I'm scared." Pinky heard what sounded like a small sob. Who are these ponies and what does Maud have to do with them? "I'm sorry, darling. I'm sorry..." Pinky recognized this one as well. She started analyzing the voices in her head. "D-dad? Mom? Are you there?" "Pinky darling, we are sorry we have to do this." Cloudy said, her voice filled with remorse. "What are you going to do?" "Don't worry about it sweety. It won't be painful for too long. You won't remember a thing." Igneous said as he planted a kiss on his daughter's forehead. "What is it that you're going to do to me?! ANSWER ME!" Pinky said, desperation filling her voice. "..." "Uh, I-I mean, answer me please." "We're going to fix your wings." Maud said. "What's wrong with them? Why do I need a blindfold?" Pinky asked. "It's the whole entire wings. We need to get rid of them." Igneous said. "What?! No! Don't take my wings! Take me to the hospital or call the family doctor in Ponyville! They can fix them without taking them away!" "We can't Pinky." Cloudy said. "Why?" "Because we can't let them know what we're about to do." "Wait wha-" Pinky felt cold steel on her right wing. "Wait! What do I need to do to stop you from taking them?!" "I'm sorry Pinky, we can't let you fly around all day and skip out on your chores. We have twins coming and we can't afford any breaks for right now." "I'll do my chores!" "I know you will Pinky. Just like you said you would last week. And the week before that, and the week before that." Pinky felt a brush of air go past her. She guessed it was Igneous putting one of his forehooves beside her. Igneous put his hoof to her's and squeezed it. He leaned in towards her ear and whispered, "I'm sorry." Igneous then leaned back and released her hoof. He picked up the cleaver and took practice swings, but never hit her actual wing. "Dad, please! I'll do anything you ask me! I'll mine in the quarries! I'll work all the chores for everyone! I'll cook and clean everyday and night!" Pinky said in a pleading voice. She was terrified. "Mom! Please help! I'll never talk back to you again! I'll be the nice, obedient little filly! JUST DON'T TAKE MY WINGS!!!" ================= Pinkie was watching from behind a wagon of rocks. She had been crying from witnessing this traumatic event. I... I can't even imagine how helpless she feels. "Mom! Dad! Someone get me outta here!" Pinkie wiped her tear-filled eyes as she watched her father continue to either practice swinging or sharpening the cleaver. "I-I can't believe they would do this to someone." Pinkie said quietly. "I can't believe they'd do this to me..." She muttered. Pinkie watched on as the terrified little filly plead with her parents to let her out. ================= Pinky tried to shake off the blindfold to no avail. She could feel the wind from her father's practice swings. "Dad! Please let me go! I-I'm scared... I'm so scared." Pinky said as she cried harder into the blindfold. "This is it." he said from under the table. Pinky began to try and plead even harder(if you can do that.), "Dad! Please don't do it! I'll do anything... I'll... I'll..." Pinky gave up. She felt defeated. Broken. She just began to sob hardly into the blindfold as she awaited her fate. And for some reason. It didn't come. She waited for what seemed like forever. Pinky actually thought that she may have passed out until she heard the clank of metal falling to the ground and she felt somepony hug her tightly. "I can't do it! I'm so sorry Pinky!" Igneous said as he embraced his daughter. Pinky swore she felt some teardrops fall onto her mane while he was hugging her. She then felt somepony else hug her on the side opposite to Igneous. It sobbed into her mane softly. "Please forgive us Pinky! We're so sorry!" Cloudy said. She could tell they weren't lying. Pinky never felt so safe. So welcome and warm. She sobbed as she felt there warm love and care. Pinkie had managed to choke out some words while "Pl-please! N-n-never do it again!" ================= I knew my parents wouldn't do it! Pinkie let a tear of happiness flow out of her eyes as she saw the show of pure affection and love. She actually thought that her father might hurt the little filly. "I-" Pinkie sniffled "- knew that they wouldn't do it." Pinkie said in a normal volume. She didn't even care if she got caught; she just witnessed something beautiful. She closed her eyes and let herself take in all of the feeling. Unfortunately for her, intense pain would pulled out of it before she could enjoy it. She didn't know why she was feeling the pain until she opened her eyes. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Pinkie opened one I and looked over at the table, and what she saw she couldn't believe. ================= "-HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAH" Pinky yelled as she felt unimaginable pain coming from her left wing. "Maud, no!" her father yelled as he saw just what Maud had done. Pinky could no longer feel her left wing. She could hear what she guessed was Maud and someone struggling. "What happened?! Why can't I feel my left wing!?" Pinky managed to get up the strength to lift up one of her forehooves and take off the blindfold. Pinky felt blood on her back. She saw Cloudy trying to fight Maud while Igneous separated them. "You... you little... why would you do that?!" Cloudy said, anger filling her voice. "Because you two wouldn't." Maud said calmly. "Maud, there was no need for it! We weren't going to go through with it after we hugged her!" Igneous said. "What happened?!" They all looked over at Pinky like she was crazy. "How are you even able to-?" Igneous asked. "Dad, answer me! What happened?" Pinky said. Igneous wiped his eyes with his hoof and trotted over to her, forgetting about the other two mares. He hugged her. "I'm sorry, my sweet filly. I'm so sorry for what happened." Igneous said. "Look behind you." Igneous said as he separated from Pinky. Pinky did as she told, and when she looked at her back, she was missing her left wing. Her back was stained with blood and a small stream of blood was coming out of the wound. "Wha- what?" Pinky said as tears flooded her eyes. "Why?" She asked before she fell back on table. "Pinky?" "Take it." Pinky muttered. "What, Pinky?" Cloudy asked. "Take it! For Celestia's sake, take it! You've taken the one thing that's made me different from this family! So take the other wing!" Pinky said. She had been broken. Defeated. She knew she wouldn't be able to fly again, so she just gave up. She let tears roll down her muzzle as she sat there. Igneous lowered his head, Cloudy trotted over to Pinky and rested her head beside Pinky's head. Meanwhile, Pinkie was silently sobbing from behind the rock wagon. I can't believe it... Cloudy mouthed, "I'm sorry" to Pinky before she put Pinky's remaining wing through the narrow slit. Pinky just sat there, broken. She didn't try to stop her, she didn't plead with her not to do it, she just sat there. Pinkie at one point thought she was unconscious. She probably was due to all the blood loss. "Igneous, lets get it over with. For her." Cloudy said to Igneous. Igneous simply nodded and walked over to Pinky's body. Cloudy grabbed the now bloody cleaver and handed it to Igneous. Please don't... Cloudy hugged Pinky as Igneous chopped off her other remaining wing. Pinky half grunted, half screamed as he did the deed. Pinkie felt the metal go through Pinky. She felt the pain that she felt. "AHHH!" Pinkie screamed. She grabbed her back where her wings would've been if she was a pegasus. "Now we have to remove the stubs of the wings." Igneous said. He wasn't a medical expert, but he knew somewhat of what he was doing. "Cloudy, go bury these wings." "Ok, where?" "Come over here and I'll tell you." Cloudy did as she was told and came over to the side of the table that Igneous was on. He whispered where to put it in her ear and she nodded. She then rushed out, presumably to go bury the wings. Igneous sighed as he turned back to Pinky. He ripped off another big piece of fabric from the sheet and tore it into four pieces. He sat the pieces aside. Igneous grabbed the bone saw and put it against the stub. He tried to level it as close to the base of the wing as possible. "I'm sorry for all of this." "Don't..." Pinkie said. He started to slice the stub away. Pinkie's eyes jolted open and she screamed out in agony. He repeated the process on the other stub. Pinky's reactions were similar. Igneous put two of the pieces of fabric over the two stubs. "Maud! Come hold this!" "Yes father." Maud did as she was told and held the fabric in place. "I apologize for this once again, child." Igneous said as he picked up the saw. He then proceeded to cut a small opening in her skin right below the base of the wings. He then picked up the flathead and the hammer. Igneous put the flathead at the entrance of the opening and put the hammer against the grip of it. Pinkie screamed out, "Don't!" Igneous hit the flathead into the entrance and in entered just under the actual bone. "AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Pinkie fell down and tried to focus on anything but her current situation. Why do I feel what she feels... Because she is you. It made sense. It would explain why she looked like her and why mom used her full name for Pinky. Meanwhile, Igneous used the flathead to get the base of the wing out with a sickening POP! Pinkie bucked the wagon, but it did nothing to take the pain away. Igneous then pulled the bone out of her body and sat it on the ground. He repeated the same process on the other wing base with the same reaction from Pinkie. "Now do the same with these. I can stitch these up." "Yes father." Pinkie was on the ground, crying. It hurts so bucking much! "Pinky darling, I'm going to stitch you up. It'll be like a pinch." Igneous said. Pinky nodded and awaited the stitches. The stitches were like getting poked. It was mediocre compared to the pain she felt earlier. Its finally over... Pinkie let her eyes close as she felt herself coming out of the dream. ================= Pinkie bolted up from the couch. It was morning at Rarity's house. I'm finally out of that nightmare... Pinkie looked around. Everyone else was awake except for Rainbow Dash. Pinkie wiped her eyes to get out some sleep dust and tears that had accumulated from the dream she'd rather not think of right now. Pinkie walked out of the living room and into the kitchen. Rarity and Sweetie Belle were the only ones there still there. "Oh, hello Pinkie dear. We thought you were never going to join us." Rarity said in a joking manner. "Oh, h-hello Rarity. Hey Sweetie Belle." Pinkie said as she trotted over to Rarity. "Hi Pinkie," Sweetie said as she finished the pancakes that Rarity had made. "So, where are the other mares?" Pinkie asked. "Oh, they all had to go early this morning. Well, excluding Rainbow Dash." Rarity said as she sipped on tea. "Okay ... well, I'm going to go back to Sugarcube Corner and start my work there." "Okay. Pinkie, be a dear and tell Rainbow Dash to get up." "Okay Rarity-" Pinkie picked up her saddlebag and the plate she had brought last night "-bye you two." Pinkie said in a less enthusiastic voice. "Ta-ta!" Rarity said as she left. Pinkie tapped RD with her forehoof on the way out. She walked slowly to Sugarcube Corner; not because she wanted to, but because she was so distracted with her dream. It was so... so horrific! I can't keep this secret bottled up inside. I've got to tell one of the girls. Otherwise, I won't be able to function! Pinkie wanted to tell one of the girls, but she had to decide which one. =================
VI: CrackingAuthor's Note Hello. Thank you for your patience on this chapter. I apologize if this chapter isn't as well-written as the other one. One reason is because of a personal event in my life that has no business being here. I tried to write afterwords, but I couldn't get it out early enough on Saturday. Also, I'd like to thank you for sticking along so far in the story. And there may be a possible sequel to this . I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but whatever. Now, onto the story! {P.S: I left a hint about the possible sequel in this chapter. Just thought you all should know that ) VI: Cracking "Hello Mrs. Cake. I'm back from the party." Pinkie said as she entered Sugarcube Corner. "Oh, hello Pinkie! How was it?" Mrs. Cake asked as she picked up a cup of frosting and a small, dull-bladed knife. Pinkie stared at the knife, a little bit scared of it. She knew that she was just using it to spread the frosting, but it still didn't help. Super-duper-fun until that dream. "It was okay. We played Truth or Dare and watched a scary movie." Pinkie said as she walked into the kitchen and sat the plate in the sink. Mrs. Cake gave her a strange look at first, but then shook her head and continued to frost the cupcakes. "Well, I'm going to start my work here." Pinkie said as she grabbed some cake mix from a cabinet. "Actually Pinkie, would you watch the kids after you finish this shift? Me and Carrot will watch the shop for the rest of the day." Mrs. Cake said. "Of course, Mrs. Cake." Pinkie said in agreement. At least that'll distract me for awhile. "Thank you, dear. Now, lets get back to work." Mrs. Cake said as she finished frosting the cupcakes and put them into a display case. ================= Pinkie finished frosting the last batch of cupcakes for her shift. She then put them on a plate and left them on the counter at the entrance and then proceeded to trot back to the kitchen. Who do I tell? "Mr. Cake, I finished the last of the cupcakes." Pinkie said as she entered the kitchen again. "Thank you Pinkie. Now, please go and watch the foals." "Okay. Bye." Pinkie said as she walked towards out of the kitchen and up the stairs towards the Cake Twins' room. Pinkie opened the door to the Twins' room. Immediately, she was greeted with a barrage of two foals jumping on her. Pound and Pumpkin laughed as they landed onto her. "Hey you two!" Pinkie said, almost forgetting about the whole ordeal she was in. Almost. As Pinkie looked down at Pumpkin Cake, she saw herself as a filly, tears rolling down her muzzle, hair deflated, and wings missing from her back. Her eyes were filled with grief and pain. Pinkie jolted up, forgetting about Pound and Pumpkin for a moment, and rushed behind the door. "Pinkie?" Pinkie shivered from behind the door for a couple of seconds. It's not real Pinkie. Calm down. It's just Pound and Pumpkin. Push it out of your mind... Pinkie took a deep breath and stepped out from behind the door. She looked at two foals. They were both had a look of concern across their faces. She tried her best to not look scared in front of them. "It's all right, you two. I was just playing..."-Pinkie tried to think of a game- "hide and seek! Yeah, that's what I was playing!" Pinkie said as she trotted to the foals. The twins looked at each other for a moment and then looked back at Pinkie, who had a nervous smile across her face. They shrugged it off and began to go back to their usual mischief. Pinkie sighed, relieved that she had fooled them for right now. That was too close. And waayyy too freaky. I honestly should go tell one of the girls before this gets worse. Pinkie looked over Pumpkin and Pound. Pumpkin had lifted up their toy box and Pound flew up to it and was taking out almost all the toys in the treasure chest box. After I'm finished babysitting them, of course. They don't need to be worried by this. ================= Mrs. Cake frosted one of the last cinnamon-swirl cakes for the day. The day hadn't been a very busy one, but it was certainly a strange one. There was little to no customers compared to yesterday. "Hello Cup. I'm back with the stuff you asked me to get." Mr. Cake said as he sat a couple of bags of sugar and eggs. "Hello. Thank you." Mrs. Cake said as she trotted over to him. "Well, I'm going to finish up some cupcakes." Mr. Cake said as he turned and began to trot off. Mrs. Cake grabbed him by the hoof and turned him towards her. "I need to ask you something." Mrs. Cake said, looking directly into his eyes. "Um... sure, Cup." he said in response. "Does Pinkie seem a little bit... off today?" "Now that you mention it, she seems a little less peppy." "We should ask her what's wrong when she gets finished babysitting." "Maybe something happened at that party. I swear, if those girls or someone did something to make Pinkie like this..." Mr. Cake said, balling up his hooves. "Calm down. Those mares wouldn't hurt Pinkie for the World." Mrs. Cake said, gently grabbing one of his hooves. Mr. Cake sighed and softened his hooves. "I'm sorry, dear. It's just... you know. We've known her for so long. It's like she's our daughter." "I know dear. I feel the same." Mrs. Cake said before she hugged Mr. Cake. She let go a couple seconds later. "Well, I'll let you get back to it." "Yes, dear." ================= Pinkie heaved as she leaned against Pumpkin's crib. She had just managed to get them to sleep. Finally... now I can rest... Pinkie took a minute or two to rest. They had really worked her out. Before she could get that rest, there was a knock at the Twins' door. Then a whisper. "Pinkie, are you still in here dearie?" "Yes Mrs. Cake. I just put them into their cribs." Pinkie whispered back. "Come downstairs. Me and Carrot needs to talk to you." Mrs. Cake whisper-yelled in response. Uh oh. Do they know? I don't want to worry them with this! "Um... y-yes Mrs. Cake." Pinkie whispered in response. She heard quiet hoofsteps going down the hallway and creaking of a wooden staircase. Pinkie reluctantly followed behind, trying not to wake up the foals. ================= Fluttershy had sat down on her living room couch. She had done everything around the house that needed to be done; she had fed the animals, swept the kitchen, fixed a bird's broken wings, got some fruits and vegetables from the market, and knitted Angel Bunny a small sweater for Winter(which he proceeded to throw under his small bed). Fluttershy closed her eyes. She had almost fell asleep until she felt a small gust of wind hit one of her back-hooves. Fluttershy opened her eyes and was greeted with a small, white bunny. "Hello, Angel. Anything I can do for you?" Angel Bunny shook his head and grabbed her hoof and pulled her off the couch. He then lead her towards the kitchen. "Are you hungry?" Angel continued to lead her towards the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. He then opened the bottom drawer where she kept the vegetables. Everything was there the way she had arranged it earlier in the day; celery at the side, broccoli in the middle, and lettuce at the right. There was just one thing out of place. There were no carrots. "Angel. What did I tell you about eating so many carrots in one day?" Fluttershy said in a motherly tone. Angel looked down at the ground with a guilty stare. Fluttershy nuzzled him and then said, "Its alright. We can go back up to the market and by some more. But I'm not letting you have more than three for dinner." Angel protested about only three carrots for dinner. Fluttershy gave him the stare. At that moment, Angel reluctantly hopped onto Fluttershy's back. She trotted to her bedroom and pulled out a small pouch with a couple of bits in it. "Should be enough..." Fluttershy said as she trotted out of her bedroom and out of the cottage. She then started to head towards the market. ================= Pinkie pulled up a chair and sat down at the kitchen counter. I really hope they don't ask me about last night. I don't want to even think about it! Mr. and Mrs. Cake sat down at the opposite side of the counter. They looked directly at her. Silence ruled over the room for a couple of seconds. Finally, Mr. Cake spoke up. "Pinkie, are you alright? You seem distant." "Yes sir. Everything ok." Pinkie said, her voice missing her usual upbeat tone. "Really? You're not acting like your usual self." Pinkie tapped her hoof nervously on the ground. "It's nothing. Really." "But that's the thing, dearie. It's something." Tell them. Pinkie did no such thing. She just sat there, staring at the counter. "Pinkie?" Pinkie felt tears come to her eyes as she recalled the horrific events that she had seen. "Pinkie Pie? Please tell us what's wrong." Pinkie wiped her eyes. "I..." Pinkie trailed. Every fiber of her body willing her to tell them. "I need to go outside for awhile!" Pinkie said as she jumped out of her seat and rushed out off Sugarcube Corner. "Pinkie! Where are you going?" Mrs. Cake said as she went after her. Mr. Cake wasn't far behind. Mr. and Mrs. Cake rushed to the door, but by the time they got to the door, Pinkie was long gone. "Oh no... should we call somepony?" "I don't know. I haven't seen Pinkie like this since that time her friend Rainbow Dash told her about that, 'Headless Horse' thing." Mrs. Cake said as she leaned outside of the door to look for Pinkie. "If she isn't back by dusk, then we'll go look for her." Mr. Cake said. "All right. I'm still worried about her though..." Mrs. Cake said. "Me too dear; me too..." Mr. Cake said as he looked at the near-setting sun. ================= "Alright, Angel. Be patient. We're almost to Applejack's stand." Fluttershy said as Angel impatiently tapped his leg on her back. Fluttershy walked through the Farmers' Market, searching for Applejack's stand. After 10 minutes of searching. she finally found the Apple's stand. As she walked up to it, she was greeted with a deep voice. "Howdy." "Oh... h-hello Big Macintosh. H-how are you?" Big Macintosh looked at her in his usual stoic manner. "O-ok well... c-could I have some of those carrots? I-I have the bits to pay for them." Fluttershy said in a quiet manner. "Eeyup." Big Macintosh said as he reached over and a hoof-full of them. "Oh, t-thank you. Um..." Fluttershy said in her trademark whisper. She put the bits on the counter and Angel Bunny grabbed them out of Macintosh's hoof. Fluttershy once again thanked him and turned to leave. But before she could move, she was greeted with pink-colored pony, rushing through the seemingly endless crowds at the farmers market. The way that Pinkie ran seemed frightened. Frantic even. "Pinkie?!" Fluttershy said, caught off-guard by her. I've got to go check on her. Fluttershy decided to follow Pinkie in a calmer manner. ================= Pinkie was running from her problems. She couldn't stand the fact that her family had done that to her. Especially Maud. At first, she tried to forget it, but thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Cakes' questions and her mind messing with her by making Pound look like Pinky, she was now on the brink of a breakdown. .Why would they do that to me? Why would mom, dad, hay! Why would anyone?! Tears were leaking out of her eyes. She kept muttering to herself, "Why?" Her whole world around her family was beginning to crumble. She just couldn't believe it. She felt something tug at her tail. Pinkie bucked back, She felt a force hit the ground with a small, "Ow." Pinkie finally stopped and looked back. Her vision was clouded by the tears, but she could vaguely make out a small, yellow figure on the ground. She then heard a small snivel. Pinkie wiped her eyes and looked down at Fluttershy, lying on the ground, blood oozing out of her snout "P-pinkie?" Pinkie trotted over to Fluttershy. "I'm sorry Fluttershy. I was just... distracted." Pinkie said as she helped Fluttershy up. "It's okay, Pinkie." Fluttershy said as she held her snout. Pinkie felt small, pushing on one of her back hooves. She looked back and saw Angel Bunny punching her. Pinkie gently gently pushed him back. "What were you doing running through the Farmers' Market? I mean, if you don't mind me asking of course." Fluttershy asked, her voice nasally since she was holding her slowly-bleeding nose. "Oh, I was..." -Pinkie stopped for a moment to think of an excuse- "I was trying to find something for Mrs. Cake." Pinkie finished. Just don't think about it... just don't think about it. "A-are you sure?" Pinkie once again felt the familiar pushing on her back-hooves. That's when she snapped. She bucked back at Angel Bunny as hard as she could, sending him careening into a nearby bush. "Pinkie!" Fluttershy scolded. "What!? What do you want?! Why can't everypony leave me alone!?" Pinkie scolded back at Fluttershy in a harsher tone. Fluttershy stepped back, scared. "You have no idea what I've been through over the last day! I've seen stuff that would make Shining Armor faint!" Pinkie said, now in Fluttershy's face, nearly touching her snout.. "I saw my own sister-!" Pinkie stopped herself, seeing that Fluttershy was on the verge of tears. Pinkie angrily sighed and stomped her hoof on the ground. "P-pinkie?" Fluttershy said in a whisper. "What..." Pinkie said, still annoyed. "I-I'm sorry. I'll... I'll grab Angel and-" Fluttershy sniveled quietly as she trotted over to the bush Angel was in. "And go." She finished, picking up Angel and putting him on her back. "B-bye Pinkie." Fluttershy said in a scared voice. "Fluttershy, wait..." Pinkie said remorsefully, extending her left fore-hoof. Fluttershy kept trotting. Pinkie, filled with remorse and regret, trotted to Sugarcube Corner. =================
VII: Torment and RevelationPinkie opened the door to Sugarcube Corner and slowly trotted inside. Once she entered the kitchen, she was immediately greeted with Mrs. Cake's questions. "Where were you? Why did you run off like that? We were so worried!" Mrs. Cake said. "Please, Mrs. Cake, I don't want to talk about it." Pinkie said, "Please Pinkie, if something is bothering you this much, tell me or Carrot." Mrs. Cake said as she trotted over to Pinkie. Pinkie stood there for a moment, just staring at Mrs. Cake. "Thank you Mrs. Cake, but I really don't wanna talk about it." Pinkie said as she trotted out of the kitchen and upstairs to her room. Why don't you tell them?! Pinkie didn't answer. She was physically and emotionally exhausted. Pinkie opened the door to her room in the loft. As soon as her head it the pillow, she fell asleep. Unfortunately, her dreams wouldn't give her a rest. ================= Fluttershy trotted back to her cottage with a bleeding nose and a broken heart. Why did Pinkie go off at me like that? She felt Angel Bunny begin to stir on her back. Poor Angel... As Fluttershy approached her cottage, she saw Applejack standing on the porch, knocking on the door. "Fluttershy, ya there?" Applejack said as she knocked on the cottage door. Fluttershy hid her face in her mane, not wanting Applejack to see her bloody nose. I don't want Pinkie to get in trouble. "I-I'm right here." Fluttershy said. "There ya are. Big Mac told me 'bout Pinkie at the Market-" Applejack noticed a small blood stain on Fluttershy's hair "what happened, Sugarcube?" Applejack said trotting up to her. "O-oh, nothing. I just fell and h-hit my snout." Fluttershy said in a whisper. Applejack stared at Fluttershy. "Sugarcube, Ah can tell when yer lyin'." Fluttershy hid further into her mane. "I-its nothing. Really." Fluttershy said. "If it wasn't nothin', then ya wouldn't have that blood stain on yer mane." Applejack said. "U-um... I'm gonna go i-into my cottage." Fluttershy said as she trotted up the stairs of her porch. Before she got the chance to get inside as shut the door, Applejack spoke up. "Fluttershy, did somepony hurt ya?" Fluttershy stopped as she entered the doorway. "Y-yes..." "Is that how ya got that blood stain on yer mane?" "Yes..." "Will ya turn 'round and show me what happened?" Fluttershy turned around and pulled her mane away from her face. Applejack looked at the bloody nose and asked, "Sorry that it happened sugarcube. How did it happen?" "I went to the Farmers' Market to g-go get some carrots for Angel Bunny." Fluttershy said as Angel held his paw up to signify he was there. "I-I brought the carrots from Big Macintosh and P-pinkie rushed through the crowd." Fluttershy said as tears came to her eyes. "I followed her. I went to go grab her tail t-to get her attention and..." Fluttershy said, her voice trembling at the end, "It's alright, sugarcube. You're doin' fine." "She b-bucked back at me in the face. I don't think that she meant to do it. She apologized for it, but then she bucked Angel back into a bush." Fluttershy said. "That seems strange fer Pinkie... she wouldn't hurt anyone unless they were mean to one of us. Hay, she wouldn't hurt any of us!" "T-that isn't it. I s-scolded her for doing it, and she just yelled at m-me." Fluttershy said, tears freely flowing from her eyes. "That's awful..." "Its like she's hiding something from us. Should we tell the other girls?" "She's crossed the line. We have to." "A-alright. Where should we meet them?" "Tomorrow at Twilight's." "Ok. Well... I'm going to c-clean myself up and go to sleep. Goodnight." Fluttershy said as she went behind the doorway. "Alright. Goodnight to you too. Oh, and sugarcube?" "Yes, Applejack?" "Pinkie doesn't hate ya. She's probably got somethin' distractin' her." "Alright. Thank you Applejack." "No problem, sugarcube." ================= Pinkie woke up. She tried to move, but she was so weak. "Ohhhh...." Pinkie groaned. "Shhh... she's awake." Pinkie tried to look around, but she couldn't open her eyes. She began shaking her head. "Who's there?!" ",,," "Somepony say something!" Pinkie tried to lift up her hooves, but she was still very weak. Pinkie then felt something slice the skin of her back. "Ow!" She felt three blades slice down her back. "Stop!" "..." "Please!" Pinkie managed to open one of her eyes. Her vision was covered by a large, gray object. "Who are you?!" Pinkie felt one of her right hoof get sliced. Then she felt her left. The cuts kept getting closer and closer to her neck. The gray figure began to get smaller. Almost like it was like a neck. The slices at this point were at Pinkie''s collar-bone. The gray, figure suddenly became round. Then Pinkie saw the face. "Maud?!" Before Pinkie could say another word, Maud slit Pinkie's neck. Pinkie felt herself fade away as she became enveloped in warmth. ================= Pinkie jolted up from her bed. She fell off her bed and landed on her face. Tears summoned to her eyes. Not only because she hit her snout, but because of the dream. Pinkie laid on the floor, thinking about the dream. Was it real? Pinkie hit her hoof on the ground in frustration. Pinkie got up and went back to bed. She honestly didn't care anymore; she was still exhausted despite the fact that she had fallen asleep earlier. Hopefully that won't happen again... ================= Pinkie found herself in a similar place she was in earlier. Maud was standing over her, holding her neck. Not enough to choke her, but trying to stop the bleeding of her slit throat. Maud apparently had stopped the bleeding. She then picked up the knife and began slicing Pinkie's face. Pinkie tried to speak up, but found that she was unable to. Maud then got off of Pinkie and went down to her lower-body. She cut off a piece of Pinkie's tail. Pinkie grunted and tried to back away from Maud, but found it to be a very difficult task. Pinkie felt helpless and began to cry. Pinkie felt a swift gust of air go beside her and felt someone wiping the tears away. Please... stop. ================= Pinkie eyes flashed open. Once again, she thought about the bad dream. "Again!?" Pinkie whispered. "Why, Luna?" Pinkie asked as she looked out the window of her room at the moon. It seemed like it said, "I have no any control over those dreams. Thee has a personal issue thou needs to solve." Pinkie grunted in frustration and pulled a soda out from under her bed. She always kept a secret stash for emergencies. Pinkie held the can up and cracked it open. She drank the whole can in the course of 5 minutes. Pinkie wiped her mouth and had a smile plastered across her face. Better. Hopefully. Pinkie deposited the empty soda can onto her nightstand and laid back onto her bed. After a while, she finally fell asleep. ================= "Hello again, sister." No... not again. I won't be able to take it another time... Maud picked up the familiar looking knife. Maud didn't begin to cut Pinkie this time. This time, it would be much worse. Maud picked up a small set of wings. They looked exactly like the one the filly had. Maud cut a piece of the wing off. Pinkie managed to choke out a word. "D-don't..." Maud cut off a huge chunk of meat from the wing. This drove Pinkie over the edge. ================= Pinkie, once again, bolted up from her bed. This time, she wasn't as calm as the other times. Pinkie angrily got up from her bed and opened the door. She immediately went towards the stairs and trotted down stairs to the kitchen. Where's a bucking knife!? I'm gonna end this right now! Pinkie opened the looked through the drawer, searching for any sort of knife she could find. She almost gave up until she found a sharp knife, hidden at the very back. "I am going to stop these nightmares..." Pinkie whimpered, her voice very shaky She then trotted upstairs and went into the bathroom. Pinkie looked in the mirror. He hair was deflated and messy, her eyes and muzzle were stained with tears, and her coat was straightened out. Pinkie looked down at the knife. These nightmares WILL end now. Pinkie put the knife up to her neck. She then went to slice, but she stopped when the blade made contact. She finally came to her senses and realized what she was about to do. Pinkie wanted to make the nightmares go away, but not like this. In frustration and anger, Pinkie threw the knife into the sink and cried silently. Pinkie composed herself and went back into her room, carrying the knife. Pinkie hid the knife under her mattress and looked at the clock on her bedside table. 4:30 Pinkie groaned in frustration and tried to fall asleep again, knowing that she couldn't avoid the nightmares. ================= Twilight walked towards Sugarcube Corner. Applejack and Fluttershy had told her what Pinkie had done the previous day. There's got to be a reason why she's acting the way she is. But what? Twilight thought about the whole way to the bakery. She had thought about it all morning, yet, she still couldn't seem to find an answer. As Twilight entered Sugarcube Corner, she was greeted by Mr. Cake. "Hello Twilight. What can I get you?" "Oh, nothing. I'm just looking for Pinkie. Me and some friends need to talk to her." "Oh, alright. She in her room upstairs. But before you go, can I ask you a question?" "Sure." Mr. Cake looked around for anypony and then whispered to Twilight, "Has anything happened to Pinkie to make her sad? Because she's been acting distant these last few days." "Um... we watched a scary movie at that sleepover last night." "No. That isn't it. Well, thank you anyways, Twilight." "You're welcome." Twilight said as she trotted towards the stairs and entered the loft. As Twilight climbed up the stairs, she heard something like soft sobbing. Twilight walked towards Pinkie's bedroom door and the sobbing became louder. She knocked on the door and said, "Pinkie? Are you alright?" The sobbing stopped for a moment. "T-twilight? It's open. Come in," Twilight did so. and as soon as she entered, she was greeted by Pinkie, sitting on her bed, surrounded by soda cans. Tear drops and soda stained her sheets. Her mane and coat were a more messy than usual. "Pinkie, what's wrong?" "Twilight... I-I had a-a nightmare." Twilight thought it was a bit ridiculous that Pinkie was so upset about a nightmare, but she didn't say anything about it. She still trotted towards her and sat beside her, sympathetic. "What was it about?" "Oh, Twilight, it was awful! My mom, dad, and Maud-" Pinkie stopped herself, trying not to think about it. "What did they do, Pinkie?" Twilight said, curious. "Please don't make me think about it..." Pinkie's voice was nothing more than a whisper. "Its ok, Pinkie. We can go back and tell the girls or-" "NO!" Pinkie interrupted Twilight. Twilight looked at Pinkie. Was that nightmare really this bad? Twilight thought. "I...I'm sorry." Pinkie said quietly. "Its alright Pinkie. So, do you want to tell me alone?" Twilight said, wrapping one of her hooves around her, hugging her. "I'd feel better if I did." She's shier than Fluttershy now. "Okay, Pinkie. Just tell me and we'll go back to the library." Pinkie sighed and said, "Alright. I'll tell. But Pinkie Promise you won't say I'm crazy..." "Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." Twilight recited. "Ok... here's how it all started..." ================= Pinkie told her. She told Twilight everything down to the smallest detail. Pinkie actually broke down during the retelling of her family chopping off her wings, and Twilight had to comfort her. I... I'm speechless. I can't believe what I just heard. Twilight was in shock. Not only because such her friend had dreamed something about this, but how real it seemed. "Are you sure that you just didn't imagine it? I mean, I don't doubt that you dreamed about it, it just, it seems a little bit.. far fetched if it happened in real life." "I'm sure." Pinkie said as she wiped her bloodshot eyes, Twilight took a minute to try and comprehend what happened to the Element of Laughter. "Okay... it's alright... you're safe." Twilight said as hugging Pinkie. Pinkie cried into her shoulder. "Do you feel good enough to tell the rest of them?" "I-I think so..." "Okay... let's go." ================= Pinkie entered to door to the Golden Oak Library and entered. All of the Mane 6 were there. They all were sitting in a circle in Twilight's kitchen, including Spike, who was obviously ogling over Rarity. "Hello, everyone. I'm back with Pinkie." Twilight said as she shut the door to the library. A collective, "Hello" was heard around the room as Pinkie and Twilight entered the kitchen and sat at the table. Then, there was silence. Fluttershy was the first to speak up(surprisingly). "H-how are you, Pinkie?" "I... I don't k-know." Pinkie said. Twilight let go of Pinkie for a moment and trotted over to Fluttershy, whispering the story in her ear. "Oh..." "What? What happened dear?" "I'll tell w-what happened, but..." -Pinkie pointed over to Spike- "Spike needs to leave. It's too... mature for him." Pinkie said, taking the time to find the right words. "What, but wh-" "Spike, trust me. Go play with Apple Bloom or Sweetie Belle." Twilight said, interrupting Spike. Spike reluctantly said, "Yes, Twilight" and went outside. Pinkie wiped away a tear and began to tell the story. ================= Pinkie told her story about the dream. "Oh... oh my... oh dear... I'm so sorry." Rarity trotted over to Pinkie and hugged her. "Yeah. That's extreme. Even for me." "Uh... um... it's..." Fluttershy was speechless, nearly petrified in fear. "Ah'm so sorry, sugarcube." Applejack said, getting up from her head and hugging her. "So... what do we do now?" "We help Pinkie and comfort her." Twilight said. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy got up and trotted over to Pinkie, hugging her. "T-thank you so much for this. You have no idea what this means to me..." Pinkie said from inside the hug. "Oh, its no problem Pinkie dearest. Especially after what you witnessed." Rarity said as she wiped her muzzle. Pinkie felt welcomed and loved by her friends. Then she realized that she had to do something. "I'm sorry, but I've got to go for awhile." Pinkie said as she broke away from them. "Are you sure?" "I know, but this is something I need to do." "Okay. Pinkie, if you need any of for something, you know where we can be found." Rarity said. "I know. Thank you." Pinkie said as she left Golden Oaks Library. I still don't know if that was real or not... guess I'm going to find out in awhile. =================
VIII: Epilogue VIII: Epilogue How do I even ask this question... Pinkie trotted down the gravely path to the Pie Rock Farm. Usually at this time of day. she'd usually be at work at the Sugarcube Corner, baking different sweets and cakes for the ponies of Ponyville. However, this day was different. This day she would ask if what she had dreamed was true. She had told Mr. and Mrs. Cake about where she was going, so they gave her the day off. "Hey mom, I had a dream about you and dad and Maud cutting off my wings. Oh yeah, I was a pegasus in it. Was it true?" Pinkie asked herself, pretending to talk to her mom. "Oh come on, Pinkie! That's just a stupid way to ask it." Pinkie said as she facehoofed. Pinkie began to think of ways she could ask her mom or dad. She had calmed extensively since she had told her friends. Now her emotions weren't bottled up inside. Although she still became scared when she thought about it. "I had a nightmare a couple of nights ago, mom. I was a pegasus and you, dad, and Maud drugged me and chopped my wings off. Tell me, was it real?" Pinkie tried again. Still doesn't feel right. "Hello, sister." Pinkie was startled by the voice. She almost bucked back when she heard it, but she held herself. "Oh. He-hey Maud!" Pinkie said as she looked back at Maud. She had a small cart filled a third of the way with bits. "What were you just talking about?" "Um... I said hello to you." "Before that." "Oh, nothing." Pinkie said as she sped up a little bit. She didn't feel really safe around Maud for obvious reasons. Pinkie and Maud trotted in silence towards the rock farm for a minute or two. "So, did you come to visit us?" "Sort of. I'm only staying for the day." "Hm." Maud said as she sped up a little bit to try and catch up with Pinkie. In return, Pinkie speed-trotted towards the Pie House. This time, Maud just let it happen. Pinkie kept up her pace until she reached the house and entered. The house was quiet(as usual). "Hello? Anyone there?" Pinkie called out. "In here, Pinkie!" Somepony called out from down the hallway. Pinkie followed the voice to Marble's and Limestone's room. When Pinkie entered, she found Cloudy moving a bed into the corner of her childhood room. "Hello Pinkie. You caught me at a bad moment..." Cloudy said as moved the bed into the corner. "Oh, here! Let me help." Pinkie said, temporarily forgetting about her ordeal to help her parents. She rushed beside Cloudy and began to help them push. With two ponies pushing on the twin sized bed frame, they were able to get bed in the corner with ease. "Thank you for helping me, dear." "Oh its fine..." Pinkie said as she realized that she was talking to the pony who had helped cut off her wings. She was more scared than she was angry. "So... you came to visit?" "Um... yes mom." Pinkie said as she back away. "Alright... well. Make yourself at home. Marble and Limestone are outside, doing their chores, Igneous is in the one quarries, mining, and Maud should be back anytime now with some bits that we got for trading some rocks." Cloudy said as she left the room. "Ok."Pinkie said as she inspected the room. Apparently, her parents had given Marble and Limestone her room when she moved out. The party streamers had been taken down, the old carpet had been stripped up and replaced with rock tile, and they had put up shelves filled with rocks that they thought were, "cool". Pinkie exited the room and went to the living room. She then sat on a piece of furniture in the living room that. Pinkie sat to the right of her mother. They just sat there for a few minutes in awkward silence. "So, how has things been?" Cloudy asked, hoping to break the ice(or the rock if you want to make a joke). "Good." Pinkie replied simply. Then, silence. "..." "..." Things wouldn't have been so awkward if Pinkie didn't have those dreams. She would've been excited, talking nonstop to her mother, telling her about her job and her friends in Ponyville. But with what she had witnessed in the past week, she wasn't so talkative with her mother. After a few minutes of silence, Pinkie finally worked up the courage to ask her mother. "Um... mom. C-can I ask you a question?" "Yes, Pinkie." "You see, I had this dream-" The door opened, and Maud entered with the cart of coins rolling behind her. "Hello mother. Hello Pinkie. I traded those rocks and got some bits." Maud said as she sat the cart beside the door. "Good." Great... now I'm in a room with two ponies that hurt me. "Excuse me Pinkie, but I have to put these coins up." Cloudy said as she grabbed the cart and started to roll it into the hallway. Maud followed behind "But what about my-" Cloudy goes past the corner into the hall "question..." Pinkie finished as she sighed. Pinkie sat on the furniture for what seemed forever. How many coins did Maud get? It shouldn't take this long. Pinkie sat there, waiting on her mother and sister. It really shouldn't take this long to put up coins. Maybe they're talking about something. Pinkie got curious and tiphooved to the corner. She remained quiet and decided to listen for noises. At first, she didn't hear anything, but after awhile, she heard her mother. "Thanks again, Maud." "You're welcome, mother. I'm going to go finish my chores for the rest of the day." Pinkie heard hoofsteps and was about to rush back over to her chair when she heard her mother again. "Wait, Maud, can I ask you something, sweetie?" "Of course, mother." "Has Pinkie seemed off?" "Yes mother." "She seems a bit distracted, doesn't she?" "Yes mother. Maybe because she hasn't seen her family in awhile." "Possibly." "Alright. I'm going now." "Ok. Bye." "Bye, mother." Pinkie heard hoofsteps approaching her. Ok, now this is going to be close... She quickly tippedhoofed back to her seat and pretended like she was fiddling around with her hooves as Maud entered sight. Maud looked at Pinkie and said, "I'll be outside if you need me." "Alright Maud." Maud trotted to the door, but stopped. "Oh, and Pinkie." "Y-yes, Maud?" Did she catch me? "You don't have to be so nervous around us." Maud said as she opened the door. Pinkie wiped her brow and replied, "I will try not to be, Maud. I've just got a lot on my mind right now." Maud exited the house as Cloudy entered the living. "Sorry that took so long, darling. We couldn't find the key to our safe." "Its alright mom." "Now, what did you want to ask me?" "Oh... well. I had this dream..." Pinkie said nervously. "Yes..." "Well, its more of a nightmare." "Oh... that's bad." "Yes.. yes it is..." "Alright, well, go on." "Ok..." Pinkie said as she took a deep breath and emotionally prepared herself. ================= "Dad sewed me up and that's when I woke up." Pinkie said as finished telling the story to Cloudy. Cloudy had a look of concern on her face. Pinkie couldn't tell if it was concerned for her daughter's emotions or if she was concerned for her daughter's psychological health. "Pinkie, do you honestly think we would do that to you?" Cloudy said. Her voice was filled with concern. "I...I don't know." Pinkie said. "I mean, your father and I aren't the best parents in the world, and Maud may not be the best sister in the world, but we certainly wouldn't chop off our own daughter's wings. If we had a pegasus as a daughter." Cloudy said as she grabbed Pinkie's hoof. "I know. It was a bit silly to think that you, Maud, or dad would do that to me." Pinkie said as she wiped tears away. "Don't worry." Cloudy got up, trotted over to Pinkie, and hugged her. "Do you feel any better now?" "Yeah. Really better." Pinkie said, giggling at the end. A weight had lifted off of her shoulders. "Good. Well, it's getting late. How about you stay for dinner?" "Sure!" Pinkie said, happy that she had gotten the answer that she wanted. ================= The Pie Family sat around a table in their kitchen. For the first time in years, the entire family was there. Pinkie had reunited with her father, Marble, and Limestone earlier in the night. She had cracked a few jokes with them, which they slightly laughed at them. They all sat down at the table, eating the meal that Cloudy had fixed earlier in the day. Pinkie thoroughly searched through her meal before eating it. It had been a while since she had eaten her mother's cooking. I'm surprised I'm able to do this after that dream. Pinkie savored the home cooked meal. After dinner, Marble and Limestone went to bed, which left Maud, Igneous, Cloudy, and Pinkie in a room together. "So Pinkie, how has things been?" Igneous asked. "Great!" Pinkie said, much happier now that she found out her dream wasn't reality. "Good. How's Ponyville?" Igneous said. "Great! I have sooooooo many friends there. I even got a job at a bakery and I live in the loft above it." Pinkie said. "Well, good." They just sat there, talking about personal events in there lives for awhile. Then Igneous said something. "Well, I suppose its time for us to go to bed." he said as he looked up at the clock. It was 8:00. "Aw... ok. I guess it is a bit late. I probably need to go." Pinkie said. "Are you sure? We have an extra room." "I'd love to. Really. But I have to work tomorrow." "Alright." Cloudy said with an understanding voice. Cloudy walked into the hall and peeked out from behind the corner. She pointed at Igneous and Maud and motioned them to come over to her. Wonder what that's all about. Pinkie knew she probably shouldn't do it again, but she went over to the corner and listened carefully. The first thing she heard, once again, was Cloudy. Her voice's volume was less loud than the last time. "She's starting to remember." "What?!" Igneous said in a higher volume than his wife, to which she shushed him for. "How do you know?" Igneous said in a lower volume. "She told me about a dream she had... it described the what happened to the smallest detail. Oh, I thought she wouldn't remember..." Cloudy sounded remorseful. "I know dear. We just need to make sure she still thinks its a dream and it'll all be fine." Pinkie was heartbroken. She bit down on her lower lip in a futile attempt to hold the tears currently flooding her eyes. "I..it really happened. They actually did it to me." Pinkie said with tears rolling down the sides of her snout. "M-mom! Dad! I'm going to go ahead and leave." Pinkie called out, trying not to sound sad. Her voice cracked in the middle of the sentence. "Ok, dear. Bye!" Cloudy called back. Pinkie galloped out of the house. Tears were freely flowing from her eyes. "Why did this have to happen to me!?" Pinkie yelled to the stars as she galloped to away from the farm in darkness. This time, they didn't respond. Maybe Princess Luna herself didn't know. ================= By the time Pinkie got back to Ponyville, it was almost midnight. She entered Sugarcube corner. Mr. and Mrs. Cake left the front door unlocked for her. Once she got in, she shut the door, locked it, and quietly trotted upstairs. For some reason, when Pinkie passed the Cake Twins' room, she got a sudden urge to go into it. I shouldn't wake them up... Despite her better judgement, Pinkie entered the Twins' Room. She tippedhoofed over to their cribs. Pinkie got a feeling of happiness when he looked at Pumpkin blissfully sleeping. But when she looked at Pound, she jealous. Why does he have wings? Why aren't my parents as good as Mr. and Mrs. Cake? Stop thinking like that Pinkie! You'll forgive them, just not right now... Pinkie still had a feeling of jealousy when she looked at Pound. How was it fair that he got to keep his wings, but she didn't? Pinkie then remembered something. She still had that knife under her bed. No! I won't do what they did to me! Pinkie rushed out of the room as quietly as she could. She then quietly shut the door and went back into her room. Why would I even think about doing that? Pinkie sat down on the bed and buried herself into the covers. And she just sat there and cried. She not only was sad because her parents had actually done it to her, but now she was confused. How could I think of doing that? Cutting of Pounds wings... Pinkie could feel the idea becoming more and more appealing. "No! I will not do that to Pound!" Pinkie whisper-yelled as she immediately pushed the thought out of her head. Pinkie then began to think of her friends. Specifically Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. I thought about what Fluttershy would look like without wings... Rainbow Dash would be crushed if her wings were cut off. Just like me... Why am I having these... these sadistic urges?! ================= To be Continued.. Author's Note Hello, Thank you all for sticking with me this far into the story. You have no idea how much I appreciate it. I'm creating a sequel to this story. Be on the look out for a new story. Hopefully I'll see some familiar faces when I post it and hopefully some new faces as well.
