//------------------------------// // Part 3: Hospital // Story: Secret Ingredient // by Pastel Pony //------------------------------// Beep Beep Beep Beep “….. and apparently the Cakes were…” “Ugh…” “Shhhh….Ah think she’s wakin up.” Slowly, I opened my eyelids, blurry images and bright lights swum in front of me. I lifted a very sore hoof, and rubbed my eyes. Opening my eyes again, I saw two of my friends looking down at me. “Good morning!” sang Rarity, who despite her cheerful demeanor looked quite shell-shocked. In response, I groaned and slowly sat up. Applejack grabbed a pillow off a nearby chair and propped it behind my back. I slowly looked around. I was in a bed…in a hospital room. Rarity and Applejack were standing on opposite sides of my bed, with twin looks of concern. “What…what happened?” They glanced at each other, “Don’t you remember darling? That um ….that incident with…Pinkie?” Pinkie…now I remembered. The basement, the blood, Twist,…Dashie. I shivered and felt a tear drip down my muzzle. “Oh yea.” I whispered. I reached up to brush my mane off my face, only to remember it wasn’t there, instead my hoof touched short choppy strands of hair that were barely a few inches long. Putting my hoof down quickly, I looked up at the girls. “How long have I been out for?” I asked. Applejack looked down, “Two days…” she mumbled. “Two days?!?!?” I yelled, trying to get out of bed. A sharp pain in my flank forced me to sit down again. “Don’t worry sweetie, Pinkie is in solitary confinement…awaiting trial, and we even have seen to it that your animals have been cared for.” Rarity said. I sat back, slightly relieved. “Speaking of animals…where’s Angel? He was there with me in the basement…before…before I fainted and Pinkie….” Applejack smiled slightly, “Right there,” she motioned to a little sleeping ball of fur on the pillow next to me. “Brave little fella, I’d say you owe yer life to him.” I looked at her, “How did you find me?” She nodded to Angel, “Like ah said, it was Angel. I don’t really know what was goin’ on in there, but I guess he just slipped under the radar. I was up running mah apple cart on the street. Angel came up to me, and started pointing at SugarCube Corner, while making that little gesture you taught him to mean help. Ah walked over to the bakery with him…and that’s when I heard you scream.” she shivered slightly, “I went to rush right in, but Angel blocked the door and kept doing that little help thing. It took a minute, but ah figured out what he meant, so I ran down to the guard station down the street, found three guards, and told them there was trouble. When ah brought them back, and there was no one there, they seemed ready to leave…but you started screaming again, and…and we found the basement.” She finished meekly. “The basement was sound-proofed though…” I trailed off, looking at Angel…he had propped the door open. “Oh Angel,“ I whispered, petting his tiny head, “You knew…you knew this entire time, and you tried to stop me.” The reality of the situation finally washed over me, one of my best friends was a murderous psychopath, and another dead by her hands, as well as countless others…and I had nearly joined that list. I buried my head in my hooves and sobbed. I felt Rarity’s foreleg around my shoulders, “It’s ok darling…” her voice cracked slightly, “It’s going to be all right.” “No, it’s…it’s not going to be all right.” I whispered, “Nothing is ever going to be all right again.” I gently shrugged her arm off, and slowly got out of bed, taking special care to restrict movement in my sore flank, which, upon drawing back the covers, I noticed was bandaged thoroughly. I walked over to the window, and looked out. The hospital was, quite unfortunately, further down same street as Sugar Cube Corner, and even from here I could see the yellow tape surrounding the seemingly harmless little bakery. “What’s it like out there” Applejack ran a hoof through her mane. “Ah won’t lie to ya, Fluttershy. It’s a real mess out there. Everyponys’ freakin out. The official dead list is supposed to be released later today, and, well, everypony who knew someone who’s gone missing is no doubt waiting at home with bated breath.” I nodded slowly. “The Cakes were arrested?” “Yes, you probably heard me mention that as you were waking up.” said Rarity, “They were arrested shortly after Pinkie Pie.” I sighed, “I don’t think they knew anything about this, but I just really don’t know if what my prior judgment is worth anything here, I was definitely wrong about Pinkie Pie.” Silence reigned for a few more seconds. “Where’s Twilight?” “At home, she wasn’t really handling this whole thing with Pinkie very well, and being here at the hospital was makin’ it worse, so Spike took her back to the library last night.” Applejack whispered sadly. I sighed, and rested my head against the windowpane. I felt a tear trickle down me cheek. I just stood there for a second, feeling the cold glass on my forehead, and trying to forget the events of the last few days. Rarity’s voice broke through my quiet bliss. “I can’t imagine how awful this is going to be for Rainbow Dash when she gets back from Cloudsdale.” I whipped around to face her, “What?!” She looked at me confused, “Rainbow Dash, darling.” I could only stare at her, shivering and shaking. Rainbow Dash…the supposed trip…The dead list wouldn’t be official until later today…they didn’t know…they didn’t know. ‘Is something wrong darling?” “Rarity,” I whispered, “Pinkie Pie gave me the names of two of the ponies she had killed. Would you like me to tell you who they are?” She exchanged an uneasy look with Applejack, “Well…If you feel it’s something you need to share with us….” I didn’t want to tell them like this, I didn’t want to tell them at all, but they had to know, and I could think of no way I could soften the blow. “The first was a filly named Twist, the other….the other was Rainbow Dash.” They stared at me, and suddenly Rarity lunged forward and pulled me into a hug, burying her head on my shoulder and sobbing. I felt Applejack’s forelegs wrap around us as well, her quiet sobs wracking her entire body. And the three of us sank to the ground, hooves still wrapped around each other, and let the anguish and sorrow wash over us.