This is a My Little Pony: Freindship Is Magic fanfic inspired by the superb "Cupcake Chronicles" series by mileprower06, which itself was begat by the far less superb "Cupcakes" by Sgt. Sprinkles (of the Troll Army). In fact, the opening paragraph/sentences and some choice text are from Chapter 1 of Mr. Prowers' "A Precious Rainbow".

Chapter 1

Rescue and Questions

"Dash. Daaash. Wake up." Rainbow Dash managed to give her a modicum of weak acknowledgment.

Pinkie reached into the medicine bag and produced a large syringe.

"Alright, time for the last round."

Dash looked at the needle, and Pinkie took that as a question as to what it was.

"Something to take the pain away." she informed as she walked around to Dash's ruined back side. She stuck the needle into the lower part of her spine. Dash flinched.

Coming to the front again, she told her friend, "In a few minutes, you won't be able to feel anything below your ribcage. Then you'll be able to stay awake to watch the harvest."

Dash started to cry again.

"Pinkie." she trembled out.

"Yeah?"

"I want to go home." she openly sobbed.

"Yeah, I can see wanting to do that." the party pony replied. "But I've got a job to do. It's not pretty, but somepony has to! You can't shrug off your responsibilities. You got to pull yourself up and meet the challenges head on. That's the only way you're gonna get ahead in life."

Dash cried.

Minutes passed and the drug took effect. Dash was numb from her chest to her flanks. Aware of this, Pinkie approached with her scalpel. But just before it could cut Rainbow's skin, Pinkie's other hoof wrapped around her front leg as if to stop herself.

"no," a quiet voice breathed.

Her front legs started to shake and soon she was shaking all over. Trying to hang on, Rainbow looked up see the malicious grin replaced by a tearful expression.

"No," Pinkie repeated. "No more…no more…No more!"

She threw herself backwards, slamming into a wall.

"NO MORE!" she shouted at herself. "I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE! I WON'T LET YOU DO THIS! I WON'T LET YOU KILL DASHIE!"

"Shut up!" she growled at herself. "We've been doing this too damn long for you to back out now!"

Before anything else could happen, the trapdoor to the basement flew open. There stood Applejack, Twilight, and Fluttershy. As usual, Twilight took charge.

"Applejack, get Rainbow!"

Even as AJ ran to the restrained Dash, Twilight's horn glowed for the straps to do the same and loosen. Dash fell off the plank table to fall onto Applejack's back. Without being told, the orange earth pony started out of the room. Twilight saw the copper wire attached the nails on Dash's back hoofs and used her magic to quickly sever them before the Pegasus could by pulled off.

"No you don't!" Pinkie shouted as she pulled back the leg holding the scalpel. A purple aura surrounded it and it flew from her hoof to sink into wall. Next Twilight concentrated with all her might to for another aura to appear around Pinkie. The party pony was lifted off the floor to slam into the plank table and the straps were put on her extra tight.

With her restrained, Fluttershy flew into the room. She grabbed an unused bucket and put the cyan wings and pieces of skin that were lying on another table into it, then flew out as fast as she could. Twilight realized that the round pieces were flank skin with a cutie mark of a cloud with a three colored lightning bolt. She looked around at the living nightmare in the basement of Ponyville's beloved sweet shop.

"Pinkie, what have you done?" she asked in a quiet shock.

"YOU STUPID BITCH!" came the reply as Pinkie thrashed in her bonds, the wood of the table creaking. "YOU'VE RUINED EVERYTHING! I'LL KILL YOU! YOU HEAR ME? I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU ALL!"

Twilight just stepped back, using magic to close the trapdoor. To be safe, she put a barrel over it. But after the barrel was in place, she thought she heard something. She put her ear to the trapdoor. She thought she could hear…sobbing…

The moment Applejack burst into the hospital with the bloody Rainbow Dash, the entire facility was filled with an urgent sense of emergency as the nurses and orderlies who saw them started calling for help and getting more members of the staff. A minute or two after Applejack arrived, Fluttershy flew in with the bucket.

"What's thi—" a nurse started to ask as she looked into it. "BY CELESTIA!"

"T-T-Take these," gasped the tired Fluttershy as she held out the bucket. "T-They're Rainbow's…"

"Very good," the doctor told the pale yellow Pegasus. "We'll need these for the surgery." He started calling out orders to the staff as they wheeled the dazed Rainbow Dash away, leaving Applejack and Fluttershy alone.

"Good call, Sugarcube," Jack told her pink haired friend as she put a front leg around her. "That'll be a big help. Like Granny Smith kinda told me when Ah made her proud, you grew taller than ar' biggest tree tonight. That had ta be hard for a timid filly like ya."

Fluttershy mumbled "Thanks," as she shook some. "I just saw them lying on that table and thought 'Rainbow will want these back. She'll be so mad if I don't bring them.'" She sniffled. "I guess that's pretty dumb, huh?"

"Nah, Sugarcube," AJ told her with a smile. "That's exactly the kind of thing you'd think. Ah know Rainbow well shore 'ppreciate it."

Fluttershy blushed and a very small smile spread across her face.

They waited in the lobby. Eventually, Twilight and Rarity joined them.

"What's happened?" Rarity asked with concern across her white face.

"They've been in surgery for a while," Fluttershy replied. "I hope they're able to help her."

"We all do," Rarity told her. She shook her head. "I just can't believe…Pinkie…"

"I don't think any of us do," Twilight said in agreement. "But it happened. All three of us saw what she was doing and saw what had been happening in that basement."

Fluttershy whimpered.

"As soon as I left Sugarcube Corner I woke up Spike and sent a letter to the princesses. I got a reply from Princess Luna almost immediately. She, Celestia and the royal guards should be here any minute to take Pinkie into custody and try to find out why all this-this madness happened."

Before the conversation could continue, Dr. Stable appeared.

"Well, doctor?" Twilight asked quietly as she and her friends gave the brown, bespectacled unicron wide-eyed looks.

He looked them over, as if unable to find the right words. He took a breath and started.

"The good news is that she'll live. You got her here just in time."

"Thank Celestia…" the quartet said in unison.

"We pulled nails form her back hooves and administered antibiotics to prevent infection. But she'll have to stay off her feet for a while until they heal. And even then she'll have to pace herself for a while. It'll be a while before she can run again. We were able to put her cutie marks back on. They should heal fully over time, but for now I'm afraid there will be visible scars for several weeks, if not months. The real problem will be if there is any pain in her back haunches. Her heart's been jolted by prolonged electrocution, so we're keeping a very close eye on that to see if there's any permanent damage to her heart. And the psychological will be far greater than the physical…"

He paused before continuing. "I'm afraid the worst part is that we weren't able to do anything with her wings," he said with a heavy sigh.

Shock and sadness spread over the four young faces before him.

"No…" Applejack gasped. "Are you sure?"

"You can take mine if you need to," Fluttershy offered.

Stable shook his head. "They were cut in way that made reattaching them nearly impossible. We smoothed down the jagged edges from where they were broken. If her skin heals up, they'll just be small stubs on her back. She might be able to pass for an earth pony, but...I'm sorry, we've never dealt with anything like this before. We did the best we could, but there was nothing we could do for her wings."

"Can we see her?" Twilight asked.

He shook his head again. "Not until tomorrow, at least. We gave her something to make sure she gets a good, sound sleep. Once we're sure she's stable enough, we'll more her from intensive care into a private room. Then you can see her. I'm sure it would do her some good. Or At least I hope so."

"Thank you, Doctor," Twilight told him.

Dr. Stable nodded. "Again, I'm so sorry. But at least she'll live." He took one last look at them before going back to work, leaving the four young mares in the waiting room.

There was a deep silence as the events of the night settled into their minds. The silence was broken by a sniffling Fluttershy.

"N-N-No more flying?" she asked in a heartbroken voice as she shook and the tears started to run down her face, saying what they were thinking. "B-B-But—Rainbow loves flying. N-N-N-No m-m-more aerial stunts and tricks? No more-no more s-s-s-sonic r-r-r-r-rainbooms?—" She gasped. "She'll never be able to join the Wonderbolts…"

She started to cry. Her three friends embraced her and each other, crying themselves at one friend losing everything she loved and another friend lost to them.

Twilight looked out one a hospital window, watching the stars. None of them had wanted to be alone this night and they wanted to be there for Rainbow even if there wasn't any need. Besides, it was too late in the night to go home. Fluttershy, Applejack and Rarity were all asleep in the waiting room. But Twilight was unable to sleep. She kept thinking about what had happened and tried to make sense of it all. Pinkie was a prankster, a party filly, a songbird, and a joker. A serial killer, especially one so vicious, was the last thing anypony would think of her. But Twilight at had seen the skins on the wall, the painted skulls, the intestines used as streamers, the table of bloody knives and surgical blades, "Life is a Party" painted in blood, and the dress of cutie marks Pinkie was wearing. And of course, what had happened to Rainbow.

"Why?" she thought out loud. "Why did this have to happen?"

The sound of clopping signaled she was not alone. She turned around expecting one her friends or a member of the staff. But instead she saw a royal Alicorn a dark sapphire blue coat, cobalt blue main that sparkled like it had stars in it, and a cutie mark in the form of a crescent moon.

"Princess Lu—" she started to shout.

"No need to shout," Luna told her. "I was told you would be here." She sat down next to the purple unicorn. "I know we haven't spent much time together, but I know of you well enough to know you're a very smart pony. And my sister speaks highly of you. I was hoping you could help me with the investigation."

"You're in charge?"

Luna nodded. "These…these atrocities happened during my nights, when I am supposed to watch over Equestria in my sister's place." She hung her head. "I wanted to regain our subjects' trust and love after a thousand years as Nightmare Moon by watching over them in the dark of night as they slept. But instead I failed when I was needed most. Had I done my duty better, all this tragedy could've been avoided." She gave a heavy sigh.

"It's not your fault," Twilight comforted her. "Pinkie did her best to hide what she was doing from everyone. She was careful. If anything, it's my fault for not realizing this sooner. Several ponies have gone missing in the past few months. We all should've done more to look for them. She targeted ones that wouldn't be missed right away. Most of the missing were ponies who went on a trip but never came back. And no one would've ever thought to suspect her or search Sugarcube Corner of all places." She hesitated before asking, "What did you do to her?"

"She was unconscious when we arrived. Exhausted from her struggles and what appeared to be extreme stress. Her face was covered in sweat, tears and drool and the straps on the planks had cut into her. We released her from the planks, stripped her of that deplorable outfit, tied her up, and the guards took her somewhere secure until we can decide her fate." The princess of the night looked at Twilight with a curious expression. "Tell me, what was she like?"

Twilight didn't answer right away. It was so hard to think of the Pinkie she'd come to know in her time in Ponyville and the…creature that had committed such unspeakable acts.

"She…she was always so…so happy. Fun loving. Joyous. Energetic and full of life. Always ready with a joke or a song, with a big smile on her face. She was a little airheaded and part of time she was in her own little world, but she came through when she was really needed…" Her eyes started to water and she quickly wiped them. "I-I just can't believe she-she did such awful things…"

Luna nodded. "She wielded the Element of Laughter. One chosen to wield such a power should is meant to be better than-this…I hope we can discover why she would do what she did."

"Wait a second…" Twilight said as she remembered. "There was this one time…shortly before the Grand Galloping Gala…we threw her a surprise party for her birthday. The problem was, she wanted to throw another party for her pet alligator, Gummy. She thought we were avoiding her because we didn't want to be her friends anymore and it…affected her. Her hair went from poofy and wild to straight. And I think her skin even changed to a darker shade of pink. She had this angry expression I'd never seen before or since. I thought she was just upset with us, but now…now I think it might've been something more…Rainbow had some kind of encounter with her, but neither she nor Pinkie gave us details, just wanting to move on." She gave the princess a pleading look. "But please don't ask her yet. I'll try to learn about it for you…when she's ready…"

Luna looked at her intently, then nodded. "Of course. She is your friend. It should be you or one of your other friends she tells. It's only right. And even then it should be when she wants to."

"Thank you, Your Highness," Twilight replied with a grateful sigh.

They continued to look at the stars. Twilight complimented Luna on the good job she'd done with them, which lead to a talk about the stars and constellations, intermingled with how the princess was adjusting after being gone for 1,000 years. It was a stimulating, almost soothing conversation. Twilight felt like she was finding a kindred spirit of sorts with Luna. Soon she would have to look into the worst thing to ever happen in Equestria. But tonight she wanted to enjoy a moment of serenity.

Twilight stayed awake even after Luna left, and was up all night. However, her talk with Luna left her feeling refreshed. Just what she needed after what happened and what lay ahead of her. She watched the sun come up, then went back to the waiting room. She got just in time for a nurse to wake her friends up.

"Rainbow has been moved to Room 104," the nurse told them. "She's still asleep, but you can see her now. Seeing you all should do her good."

Twilight thanked her and the four friends made their way to Room 104 in the private wing.

Rainbow Dash lay silent in the hospital bed; chest slowly rising and falling. An oxygen mask was strapped around her muzzle, and was connected to a wheezing respirator next to the bed. Her mane was still unkempt and frazzled from the electrocution. Suction-cupped wires went from her chest to a slow but steadily-beeping heart monitor. Her entire midsection was wrapped in gauze bandages, joined with her flanks, back hooves and calves. She looked like a half completed mummy.

Applejack went on one side of the bed and took one of Rainbow's hooves into hers. Fluttershy held Dash's other hoof.

Rainbow came too slowly. Everything was still a haze. As her mind cleared, she saw the colorful sight of Twilight, Rarity, Applejack and Fluttershy smiling at her, with Jack and Shy each holding a hoof.

"How ya feelin', Sugarcube?" Jack asked about the same time as Fluttershy quietly said "Good morning, Rainbow."

"Let me get this for you, dear" Rarity said as her horn glowed to remove the oxygen mask.

"What happened…" she asked in a hoarse whisper.

"When ya didn't show up fer apple pie last night like ya said ya would, Ah got worried," Applejack explained.

"And as she looked for you, we helped," Fluttershy added. "We asked everypony, but no one had seen you all day. Or Pinkie."

"So we went to Sugarcube Corner," Twilight continued. "It was dark and empty. We were just about to leave when we heard a scream from under the floor. We lifted up a rug, saw the trap door, and got you out as fast as we could."

Dash's eyes went wide as her ordeal came back to her. She sat up quickly, then winced in pain and almost fell back into bed. Both Twilight and Rarity's horns glowed to catch her and gently lay her down.

"Pinkie…" she tried to say.

"It's okay," Twilight told her. "She can't hurt you now. They have her in custody and there's no way they'll her go anywhere."

Dash's body relaxed as she exhaled. "Could I please have some water?"

Rarity got it so fast it what had to be record time. Dash gulped it down, and then drank three more cupfuls. She quietly thanked Rarity. She rolled over to focus on Applejack and say something. But it was then she finally noticed what they were scared she'd noticed. Her eyes widened in horror.

"My…wings..." she said a barely audible voice.

She shuddered, and rolled onto her other side, looking away from her friends and revealing her bandaged back. There were two round red stains on the gauze where her wings should have protruded from her body. She covered her mouth and tried to suppress a sob, her shoulders heaved.

Fluttershy latched her body around her in the tightest hug she could muster. There was a moment of silence before a loud shriek cur through the air, followed by very loud sobs as Dash returned the hug, burying her face in her friend's shoulder and holding her for dear life. Twilight, Rarity, and Applejack joined in the hug, crying themselves.

"We're sorry…" Fluttershy told her as tears again streamed down her pale yellow face. "We're so very sorry."

"No matter what," Twilight said, "we'll find a way through this."

"Whatever you need, we'll be there for you," Rarity told her gently.

"Now don't you worry none," Applejack shakily added. "It'll be okay, ya hear?"

They held her until she finished. She smiled through her tears. "Thank you," she told them. "Thank you all."

Half an hour later Nurse Redheart came in. "I think it's best if you leave and let Rainbow rest for a while."

"I'll rest better with them here," Dash told her in determination. "They can stay just as long as they want."

The white earth pony thought about it, then smiled. "Of course. And to let you know, you should be out of the hospital in a day or two if all goes well."

"Thanks," Dash replied simply.

Her friends stayed with her the entire time, each one leaving for a short period to have messages delivered for ponies to see to their businesses, like somepony to see about Fluttershy's animals or how Applejack needed to send a message to Sweet Apple Acres that she wouldn't be able to as much work for a few days. Applejack had to leave temporarily to bring them some lunch, which Rainbow liked much better than the hospital food.

During the afternoon, another nurse told them Rainbow had a new visitor. "But I'm not sure if we can let her see you yet. It's a little pegasus named—"

"Scootaloo," Dash realized with a gasp. There was a pause before she sadly said, "Don't let her in. I don't want her to see me like this…"

The nurse nodded.

"I'll handle it," Fluttershy volunteered.

"Me too," Applejack offered.

"Thanks," the nurse told her. "I think it'll sound better from you."

The two ponies found Scootaloo at the front deck with an anxious expression on her small face.

"I need to see her!" she told the older mares. "I came here just as soon as I could. I would've been here the moment I heard if Miss Cheerilee had let me."

"Then Rainbow wouldda been mad at ya fer skippin' school," Applejack chided her.

"She need to rest so she can get better faster," Fluttershy told her gently. "Wait until after she's all better and out of the hospital, okay?"

Scootaloo looked unsure before finally nodding.

"I-Is she going to be okay? They said that she was hurt really bad."

The two mares looked at each other. They didn't want to lie to her at a time like this, but weren't sure how to answer.

"…It will take some time," Fluttershy replied with the best answer she could. "And I'm afraid…I'm afraid she won't be quite the same."

Scootaloo hesitated before saying "…They-They said that it was Pinkie Pie who hurt her. That's not right, is it? Because Pinkie would never hurt Dash!"

"She did," Applejack blurted out with a frown. She put her hoof over her mouth at her blunder, but it was too late. Scoot's coat turned a lighter shade of orange

"No…Pinkie would never do the things ponies are saying she did…she wants to be friends with everypony. And even some other creatures. She wants to make them smile and laugh…And Dash is her best friend. She'd never—"

"Stop it!" AJ snapped angrily. "That's what happened. She tortured killed several ponies and tortured Rainbow before trying to kill her!"

"Applejack!" Fluttershy told the farm pony. But it was too late. Scootaloo was already running away with tears running down her face even as AJ called to her.

"Ah'm sorry! Ah didn't mean ta—"

But Scootaloo was gone.

"Cornsarnit," Applejack said, frustrated with herself. "Ah didn't mean ta yell at her. But there's no way Ah can ever think of Pinkie again without thinkin' of what she did ta Rainbow and all those poor ponies."

"I'll go find her," Fluttershy said with a sigh. "You go back to the room."

Applejack did just that.

"Well?" Dash asked.

"We told her," AJ replied with a sigh. "But I told her sumthin' I really shouldn't have. Shy's trying to fix it."

"What did you say?" Rarity asked.

AJ hesitated before saying, "She was saying that she didn't believe it was Pinkie who hurt Dash. And I..I yelled at her."

"Applejack!" Rarity said in annoyance. "You should've handled the situation more delicately!"

"Ah'm sorry. I really didn't mean ta. But when she started sayin' things about how Pinkie was, I just got worked up."

"It'll very difficult to think of," Twilight said with a sigh. "But that's no reason to yell at a scared and confused little filly. Hopefully Fluttershy will be able to smooth things over…"

The pony in question showed up about twenty minutes later. "I managed to catch up with her," she told her friends. "I told her that Applejack didn't mean to yell. She's just tired and upset. And that the Princesses will try to find out what happened to Pinkie and why…she did such awful things."

Twilight hesitated before saying, "You think it has something do with her surprise party? I mean, that the way she looked and acted was some kind of sign?"

"Maybe…"Dash said. "When I went to get her, something...wasn't right. She had placed all these inanimate objects at the table, put party hats on them and were talking to them and making up their own voices like they were alive. And she has this weird look on her face when she voiced them. It was just creepy."

"Oh my," Fluttershy said nervously.

"That does sound like a bad sign," Rarity said in concern.

"But…there's something else…" There was a pause as Dash tried to sort it out. "Just before you guys got there…Just before everything went dark…I…I think she tried to stop herself from killing me."

"Are you sure?" Twilight asked.

"Maybe you were hallucinatin'," Applejack said with doubt.

"I'm not sure," Dash said as she shook her head. "But the last thing I remember before I woke up here was her grabbing her own front leg to keep the scalpel from cutting me, a miserable look on her face, and her yelling 'I won't let you kill Dashie' as loud as she could."

"Oh my," Fluttershy repeated, this time in amazement.

"Maybe I really was seeing things or it was wishful thinking. And I'd still be dead if you hadn't gotten there in time. But for a moment I thought I felt the real Pinkie Pie before slipping into the darkness."

Twilight put a hoof on her shoulder. "We'll just have to try to sort it out the best we can."

It was night when Dash's friends decided she indeed needed to rest.

"But we'll be right outside in da waitin' room," Applejack told her reassuringly.

"We're not going anywhere," Fluttershy added with a loving smile.

"I'll have to leave to help with the investigation," Twilight told her, "but I'll check in just as often as I can."

"Thanks guys," Dash replied gratefully. "You don't know how much this means to me."

"Think nothing of it, darling," Rarity told her.

Each one left gave her a kiss on her forehead or cheek before leaving and she hugged them tightly.

"I think we made her feel a lot better," Fluttershy commented optimistically.

"Ah jus' wish there was more we could do fer her," Applejack said sadly.

"You all did so much already," Rarity told them. "You all rescued her. I was the one of least value."

"You helped look for her," Twilight reminded her. "You just didn't get to Sugarcube Corner in time."

"By the time I go there it was too late," the white unicorn said in shame. "I thought everything was normal even as Pinkie was restrained and likely shouting profanities in the basement and the rest of you were making yourselves most useful…" she hung her head.

"Ah'm sure you would've helped if ya could've, sugarcube," Applejack told her reassuringly.

"I wish there was some way I could help more…" She stopped mid-step as an idea came to her "Ooh…I wonder…it's a wild idea but it just might work…"

"What?" her three friends asked.

"No time. Twilight, I need you to get me an audience with the Princess."

"That shouldn't be too hard."

"Excellent! You go make arrangements while I get some things together at the Carousel Boutique. If all goes well, this will be the pick me up Rainbow needs!"

She started to leave, but stopped.

"Oh, please tell Rainbow I'm sorry I wasn't able to stay, but a big project came up unexpectedly and I'll be back just as soon as I'm done." Then she really left, saying "Oh, I so hope this works!" as she did

"I guess I better get in contact with the Princess," Twilight said with a shrug before leaving too. "Besides, I need to get started with my part in the investigation. They'll want to hear what Rainbow just told me."

"What do you think Rarity has in mind?" Fluttershy asked.

"I dunno, but hopefully it does the trick. She wouldn't have gotten so worked up if she didn't think it was a good idea. Her element is Generosity after all. Jus' sum times she gets a li'l carried away n' fergets…"

"I just really hope it works…" the pale yellow pegasus said with a glance back towards Rainbow's room.

It was late that night when Luna relieved the unicorn gaurds of their watch.

"Oh, thank you, Princess!" one of them said, almost running.

"How is the prisoner?" the dark blue Alicorn asked the other guard.

"She's been quiet for a while, Ma'am," the unicorn replied with a salute. "We just checked on her. She was in silent mode. But she should get into one of her moods any minute now."

The princess nodded as she went through the doors and descended into the basement of Ponyville Town Hall. And sure enough, she could hear the Pinkie Pie's voice.

"Well, this is another fine mess you've gotten us into!"

The earth pony actually responded to herself with a different tone. "I don't care! I don't care what they do with us, I won't let you hurt my friends!"

"Friends? Newsflash: You don't have any friends! Not anymore. Soon every pony in Equestria will be howling for your blood. Even the other creatures. Just wait until some griffons hear about this! All your friends will want to see you dead. Even sweet little Fluttershy will want to tear you apart herself. From here on out it's just you and me, Pinkie girl!"

There was a shrill giggle that turned into a pitiful sobbing. The disgust and anger Luna had felt was now mixed with a strange sense of pity.