Rainbow Dash finally gained her consciousness to see she was in a dark room. She tried to rub her head, but saw that her legs were tied down, as well as her head and waist. She suddenly remembered where she had experienced this before.
Well, she herself didn't experience it, but in a story she read, her best friend, Pinkie Pie, kidnapped her and turned her into cupcakes. She noticed how despaired her pink friend was when she found out what Rainbow Dash had read, even though she didn't understand why Pinkie Pie was so badly shaken up. Rainbow Dash knew Pinkie Pie would never harm her in any way, but why is she down here, strapped against her will, if her friend would never harm her?
Had Pinkamena Diane Pie, Pinkie Pie's evil side, finally resurfaced to kill everypony they knew and loved?
"You're awake!" someone chirped. "Now we can get started!"
Rainbow Dash recognized Pinkie Pie's voice at once. Her fear agitating her anger, she yelled, "Pinkie Pie! You said you would never harm me! What gives? Were you lying?!"
"Lying? Of course not, silly! I would never lie to you." Rainbow Dash faintly saw the dark outlines of her pink friend standing in front of her, a smile stretching across her face.
"B-But in the story, you kidnapped me and turned me into cupcakes!" Rainbow Dash cried. "You said you wouldn't hurt me! Why am I down here?" Tears started forming around Rainbow Dash's eyes. "PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!!!"
"Dashie, why on earth would I kill you?" Pinkie Pie asked. "Or turn you into cupcakes? You know me better than that!"
"Th-Then... why...?" Rainbow Dash whimpered, tears running down her cheeks.
Pinkie Pie then hopped over to the light switch and flicked the light on. Rainbow Dash winced at the piercing bright light and closed her eyes, afraid that if she opened them back up again she would find tables made of pony bones and filly and colt heads with party hats made out of their own skins. But when she found the courage to open them, she found that it was nothing like she imagined. Instead, there were real party balloons and real streamers all over the place, not pony flesh. And the tables were made out of wood, not bones. And the banner had "Life is a Party!" written on it, but in black paint, not red pony blood. Rainbow Dash sighed in relief.
She was startled when she heard a party horn next to her ear. Rainbow Turned around quickly and saw that Pinkie Pie wasn't wearing a dress made out of different ponies' hides, pegasi wings, and unicorn horns, but a normal pink dress made out of silky fabric with cotton attached to the bottom. There were beautiful colorful feathers where the wings would have been and her necklace had many jewels instead of horns.
"Do you like it?" Pinkie Pie asked. "Rarity made it for me. She's such a generous pony, you know. I think I might even use this dress for the next Grand Galloping Gala!"
Rainbow Dash was relieved to know that Pinkie Pie wasn't planning on killing her, but she was still confused. Why was Rainbow Dash down here, tied up on the wall, secretly hidden from her friends?
Pinkie Pie somehow knew what Rainbow Dash was thinking. "Oh, yeah. You're down here because we're gonna make cupcakes together!" Rainbow Dash's eyes bulged open once more. Was this all just a trick to let her guard down? Was her pink friend really going to make cupcakes out of her? "No, no! Not that way!" Pinkie Pie snapped, getting angry. "I already told you, that stupid story was make-believe. I would NEVER hurt you no matter what! But we are going to be making cupcakes together. I'll teach you! I'm just doing this because I think maybe you'll be good at baking, or maybe even being good at decorating!"
"Then, when are we gonna start?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Oh. It'll start soon!" Pinkie Pie chirped. She then picked up what looked like a white needle!
"Aah! P-Pinkie! What are you gonna do with that n-needle?!" Rainbow Dash cried, struggling to get away and flapping her wings.
"Rainbow! I'm not gonna hurt you!" Pinkie Pie yelled. "And this isn't a needle, either. See?" Pinkie Pie turned the small object clockwise in a 90 degree angle to show it wasn't a needle, but a feather. "It's just a feather, Dashie."
"Oh..." the rainbow pegasus panted. "But, what are you going to do to me with the feather?"
"You know," Pinkie Pie said, ignoring Rainbow Dash's question. "I've always been thinking. I do hold the Element of Laughter, and I have great ways to make my friends laugh, but..." The pink pony held up the feather in her right hoof. "I've always wanted to find other ways to make my friends laugh, and after several days of thinking, I've found the perfect solution. One that I cannot believe I haven't thought of before."
"And that is..." Rainbow Dash said, cocking her head to one side.
"Tickling, of course!"
"T-Tickling?!" The rainbow pegasus buckled for a little, then managed to keep her cool. When Rainbow Dash was younger, some bullies at her school would always tickle torture her at recess. She absolutely hated it, and to this day she hates it. She knew she had always been the most ticklish than anypony at her school, maybe than all of her best friends, maybe even than anypony in Equestria! Why would Pinkie Pie do such a thing?
"What's the matter, Dashie?" Pinkie Pie asked, pure concern entering her voice. "You don't seem to be as excited as I thought you would be."
"Excited?" Rainbow Dash snapped. "Why the hay would I be excited about getting tickled?!"
"Well, it's a good way to share laughter, and everypony knows that, next to any doctor appointment, laughter is the best medicine!"
"Yeah, but..." The rainbow pony was lost in words. There was no way she would ever be able to tell her friend about her torturous fillyhood, and there was no way she could ever convince her to not tickle her.
Rainbow Dash snapped back into reality and saw that Pinkie Pie's feather was only inches away from her belly. The rainbow pony yelped and tried to wriggle away, but the belt holding her waist down wouldn't allow her to.
Pinkie Pie giggled with excitement, then finally placed the feather on Rainbow Dash's belly and started to slowly stroke it back and forth. She heard how her pegasus friend was trying to hold back her her giggles, so she picked up the pace, stroking the soft blue belly faster and faster until she was finally going as fast as her hoof would go. Rainbow Dash was desperately trying to hold back her laughter, but she lost it when Pinkie Pie started tickling her side with another white feather.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" she cried. "NOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO! PIHIHIHIHIHINKIE PIHIHIHIHIHIHIE, STAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAP!!!"
"But I just got started," Pinkie Pie pouted mockingly. She picked up her pace as much as she could until she started feeling the first drop of sweat forming on her forehead underneath her poofy mane.
"STAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAP!!! PLEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEASE!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Rainbow Dash tried wriggling around, but got just about nowhere with her head and waist braced down.
The tickling continued until Pinkie Pie was literally panting with the effort. She finally stopped after about five minutes, then started stretching out her forelegs to relieve some soreness. She giggled as she stretched when she heard Rainbow Dash panting, a few more giggles escaping her muzzle. Her cheeks were a little rosy and a few tears fell down her face.
With the pain soothed, Pinkie Pie hopped over to a leather bag, grabbed the strap with her teeth, and hopped back over to where her panting friend was.
Pinkie Pie opened the bag and pulled out a mechanical tooth brush. Rainbow Dash saw it in her friend's hoof and started bucking some more.
"No, Pinkie, please," she begged, still a little breathless. "That was enough tickling for today. Let's just get to baking cupcakes."
"Mr. and Mrs. Cake are having Sugarcube Corner right now, and they won't let me bake anything until 4:00," Pinkie Pie giggled.
"But, that's three hours from now!" the rainbow pegasus exclaimed. "I can't take three hours of tickling!"
"Don't worry. You'll get a few breaks to catch your breath." Pinkie Pie walked over to Rainbow Dash again and placed the bristles on her side. Then, she turned it on and started brushing it back and forth.
"WAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! N-NOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! STAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAP!!! PL-PLEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEASE!!!"
Pinkie Pie started giggling again at the sound of Rainbow Dash's laughter. She did have to wonder, though. With all the pleading Rainbow Dash is doing, could that mean she doesn't like to be tickled? Well, if she doesn't, then she'll just have to tickle her until she does like it!
The tickling continued furthermore until Pinkie Pie got bored with tickling in the same spot, so she moved up to under Rainbow Dash's foreleg. She swirled the toothbrush in circles, enlarging then shrinking, making sure she covered everywhere. By this point, her pegasus friend was going absolutely nuts!
"HAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA!!! STAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAP!!! PIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHINKIE PIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIIIIIIIIE!!!"
Now numerous tears rolled down Rainbow Dash's face and her cheeks were glowing almost as red as a red delicious apple. Her wings seemed to be flapping a mile a minute and she was still trying to wriggle away from Pinkie Pie, even though she knew it was no use.
Pinkie Pie's giggling turned into laughing. It was almost as if Rainbow Dash's laughter was tickling her as well. Having a fun idea, Pinkie Pie seized the tickling under Rainbow Dash's foreleg and reached over to tickle her friend's other side. The laughter started up again, and the flapping started as well, tickling Pinkie Pie's pink belly.
"HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE!!!" she laughed as the numerous blue pegasus feathers stroked everywhere on her belly.
Rainbow Dash seemed to have noticed this as well through her tears and stopped flapping the wing that wasn't tickling Pinkie Pie, and started flapping the wing that was faster.
Now both ponies were tickling each other. This continued for a good thirty minutes, then Pinkie Pie stopped tickling Rainbow Dash and backed away, panting and giggling. Rainbow Dash stopped flapping her wing and was panting and giggling as well.
"See? Wasn't that fun?" Pinkie Pie asked, hopping up and down and seeming to be happier than ever. She then stopped and looked at her friend with sad eyes when she didn't get a response. "Oh, you didn't like it. Well, I thought that, since you didn't like tickling, I would have been about to show you that tickling was a fun, friendly activity."
At this point, Rainbow Dash had caught her breath. "You know what, Pinkie?" she said, looking at her pink friend. "You were right. Before, I didn't like tickling because it seemed like torture to me. But now..." A smile stretched across her face. "I think you were right all along! Tickling isn't just torture. It's also a great way of bonding and sharing laughter. Even if your tickler refuses to let up after a half an hour." Rainbow Dash joked.
Pinkie Pie brightened up. "You... You mean it? Wow! This is great! You know what this means? This means we can have tickle fights together!"
"Well, I wouldn't go that far just yet," her friend chuckled. "But this could give us more good ideas for pranks, and we can even tickle our friends."
"Yeah!" the pink pony cheered. "And we could also-"
That's when a timer on the table started ringing. The two friends looked over to see it was 4:00.
"Wow. Time sure does fly when you're having fun, huh?" Rainbow Dash commented. She looked over to see Pinkie Pie's facial expression, which read she was disappointed that all the fun had to end. Rainbow Dash started feeling down as well. She had to admit, it was a blast playing with Pinkie Pie. She then made up her mind.
"You know what, Pinkie?" she said. "Just because it's 4:00 and Mr. and Mrs. Cake are going to let us bake cupcakes doesn't mean we have to stop now."
"Huh?" Pinkie Pie looked up, surprised.
"Let them wait for a little while longer. We can't let the fun stop now. We're just getting started!"
"Really?!" Pinkie Pie squealed. She zipped over to Rainbow Dash and hugged her. "You truly are the bestest friend any pony could ever have! Thank you, Rainbow Dash!"
Rainbow Dash blushed with embarrassment, thankful that nopony was around to see her pink friend giving her a hug. She shrugged the feeling off and touched her muzzle to Pinkie Pie's forehead in a way of returning the hug, since she was still tied down. "You're welcome, Pinkie Pie."
Pinkie Pie then got up and grabbed the mechanical toothbrush, which was still running. "And I know of a great spot!" The pink pony hopped over to Rainbow Dash's hind hooves and crouched down.
"Wait. What?" Rainbow Dash tried to see where Pinkie Pie was, but because of the belt strapping her head to the wall, she was unable to see her friend. "Wh-Where are you-?"
Pinkie Pie started tickling and teasing Rainbow Dash's left hind hoof before her friend could finish her sentence. This was Rainbow Dash's most ticklish spot, a huge target for the bullies, but she didn't care about that now. All she cared about was to make sure Pinkie Pie didn't overdo it.
"WAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"
About an hour of nonstop tickling on Rainbow Dash's hind hooves finally ended. Pinkie Pie got up, turned off the toothbrush, placed it in her bag, along with her white feathers, and helped Rainbow Dash down. The two hugged properly and went to the stairs.
"'Life is a party,'" Rainbow Dash read the banner out loud, then looked at Pinkie Pie. "With you as my friend, my life will always be a party." Pinkie Pie turned out the lights and the two friends went upstairs.
Then walked into the main room of Sugarcube Corner and the cupcake baking started. With lots of explanations and many failures, Rainbow Dash finally managed to decorate the cupcakes Pinkie Pie made perfectly. Then, the two got an idea and decided to bake cupcakes for their friends. Rainbow Dash colored the cupcakes the same color as their friends and decorated them in the style of their cutie marks. After all the baking and decorating was done, the two went outside to see their friends hanging out.
"Guess who made cupcakes?" Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash called simultaneously.
"Wow! Are those cupcakes?" Twilight Sparkle asked when she and her friends trotted over.
"They sure do look mighty tasty," Applejack commented.
"The designs are beautiful," Rarity complimented. "Who decorated them?"
"Dashie did!" Pinkie Pie said, looking at Rainbow Dash with admiration and happiness in her eyes. Her friend blushed and scraped the ground with her left hoof.
"Wow, Rainbow. You did a fantastic job," Twilight said, using her unicorn magic to lift her cupcake into the air. Rarity used her magic to do the same and Applejack was in the process of eating hers. Fluttershy gingerly took her cupcake and smiled at it, then looked at Rainbow Dash. She then frowned. "Rainbow? How come your cheeks are pink?"
The other ponies noticed and looked at the rainbow pony questioningly.
"Well, let's just say I was..." Rainbow Dash looked at Pinkie Pie and smiled. "...tickled pink."
Author's Note
This was a VERY old story, the very first tickle fic I ever wrote. I first published it on dA back in 2012 and it got MAJOR publicity! Hopefully you all will like it, too... 
All credit for the original story Cupcakes goes to the author Sergeant Sprinkles, and credit for the ponies in general go to Hasbro. 
