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// I Fear For My Life 
// Story: The Journals of Magical Rocket 
// by aricaitlyn 
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I began to trot towards a familiar place: Sugar Cube Corner. In the cartoon, that's where Pinkie Pie lives and works. The bakery was designed to look like a gigantic pastry. Pinkie’s bedroom was at the top “tier” of the “cake“. But now, it looked grungy and empty and mundane. The familiar pink of the exterior had faded, and the "cupcake" was missing a few tiers. I pushed the door open lightly. It creaked open, then fell to the floor with a bang. 

"Hello? Anypony home?" I asked, feeling my way through the darkness. Corners of the walls had become cobwebby. Spiders, among other creatures, crawled along the floor. The once-shiny pots and pans in the kitchen were coated in a thick layer of carrot-orange rust. The paint chipped, and the wallpaper peeled. It was absolutely horrifying seeing the fate of a beautiful place I once knew.

I sniffed the air and smelled cupcakes. Yummy and fresh cupcakes, topped with strawberry frosting. I followed my nose, which led me into the basement. I shuddered suddenly, remembering that horrible things always happened in basements, like the infamous Cupcakes. I shuddered again, but this was more like a pained shiver. This place was freezing, and I was sure that my number had come up. I began praying to God (uh, Celestia) that my life wouldn't end tonight, on my very first day here.

I used my new-found unicorn magic to flicker a light as I trotted down the stairs. The basement was in much worse condition than the top floor of the building. A table sat in the center of the room, but instead of surgical tools like I expected, there was a tray of cupcakes, just waiting for me. I turned my attention to a note taped to the plate, written in purple glitter ink.

Dear Magical Rocket, these cupcakes are for you. I sure hope you like strawberry frosting! From Ivy Art.

Something about this situation was very...dejâ-vu. I shrugged it off and took a bite out of one of the cupcakes. The cake was scrumptious and moist; the frosting was thick and melted in my mouth, but there was something familiar about these cupcakes. 

Then I remembered. 

I had strawberry-frosted chocolate cupcakes for my twelfth birthday, when I was still a human. They had plastic Pinkie Pie rings on them. Surprisingly, these memories were strong and vivid, almost like they had just happened yesterday. Yet, the feeling of dejâ-vu had suddenly doubled, with more memories of what had just happened today floating to the surface. Haven't I seen this exact scenario before, in this world, on another pony?

Suddenly, the tray of cupcakes toppled to the floor. Ivy Art's head appeared through a hole in the table. "SURPRISE!"

I screamed and dropped my half-eaten cupcake onto the nasty floor. Two spiders and a rat began to scarf it down. Ivy flew out from under the table and pulled a blindfold onto my face.

"Ivy, what are you doing?"

She grinned at me. But, of course, I couldn't tell or know that she was. The enthusiasm was all in her voice. "It's a surprise! Follow me!" She lifted me under the arms and began to fly.





Ivy Art finally got me upstairs. I wanted to trot or teleport, but no, she stuck to dragging me up the stairs, which was a slow and painful procedure. 

Once I got up into the bedroom, I was greeted by another loud "SURPRISE!" But it wasn't just from Ivy, it was from everypony. My head began to ache. For whatever reason, the blood was just rushing to my head.

Ivy put me on the ground, but it was more like a toss. I landed on my back. My mane grew sticky, like I had stepped in some gum. I used my magic to remove the blindfold and discovered that I was glued to the floor in a lying-down position. Ivy Art had glued herself to the ceiling.

"Why are you upside down?" I asked her.

She giggled. "I'm not upside down. You are!"

I used my magic to clean up the gluey mess, and found that everypony was glued to the floor.

I groaned at Ivy. "What was that?! You do realize that was a dangerous and stupid thing to do, right?"

She smiled and brushed it off like nothing. "It was a papier-mâché party! That's why Snoodle's in a banana costume-"

She gestured to Snoodle Guy, who was indeed wearing a banana costume made from sticky newspapers and cardboard. I heard a muffled "Hello" from him.

"-and why we were all glued to the floor!" she finished.

"Well, why?"

She did a flip in mid-air, then flew closer to me. I could smell her breath; she ate something sweet for breakfast. "For you! To welcome you to Ponyville!"

Ivy landed on the ground gracefully and preened her wings. A dab of glue was on her flank, as well as in her mane, on her glasses, and everywhere else.

"What's that on your butt?" I asked her.

She began to clean the glue, spitting on her hoof and rubbing it. I gasped. A picture of a pencil drawing a curved line was under the glue! "You got your cutie mark!" I exclaimed.

“Really?” Ivy looked. “Oh my Celestia!”