Pinkie 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.
=================