Breaking Cute

by GoldenState3

Picking up the pieces

Luna felt sicker than she'd ever felt before. This was worse than the time she'd gotten the feather flu. Much worse. She'd violently emptied her stomach, trying to avoid making a mess. However, not making a mess was impossible. Chunks of vomit coated the rug in front of the toilet, and there had even been some splatter on the walls beyond. She started to use her magic to clean, but the pain in her stomach was just too much. Luna vomited again, clear liquid and blood pouring out of her mouth. This was bad. Really bad. Luna had never vomited blood before. There was a knock at the door.

"Princess, are you alright?" Asked one of the ponies that ran the bakery.

"The Princess of the Night is Fine!" Luna said.

Even the voice sounded pathetic. The door opened, and Twilight strode in.

"Luna! You have blood on your mouth!" Twilight said.

Twilight was panicking. According to Celestia, bad things could happen when Twilight didn't know the answer to a question. The little Unicorn was running around Luna, trying to both wipe the blood off, and study the princess.

"Did you eat anything other than the cupcakes?" Twilight asked.

"Only the same things you ate." Luna said. "It has to be the cupcakes. Our foul opponent heard of our royal visit, and became afraid that we were onto them."

"Don't be silly! Who'd poison cupcakes? Everyone loves cupcakes! Besides, how would they know that we were going to eat cupcakes? We didn't even go inside till Scootaloo got her Cutie Mark! It's just an accident. Pinkie probably made a mistake while she was baking. It happened last year. Everyone will be fine, and we'll all laugh it off." Twilight said.

Luna wanted to believe her. It was a more believable story than someone poisoning the entire town for fun, which was Luna's best explanation. It didn't stop the princess's stomach from killing her. She felt another wave of nausea, but this time she threw up only blood.

"I have to get out of here. I'm ruining their bathroom." Luna said.

"It's okay." Said the mare that ran the bakery.

Twilight led Luna back downstairs. Despite there being plenty of sick ponies, the party was still going on. In Equestria, panic took backseat to a party. Luna saw Pinkie furiously frosting cupcakes, stopping only to vomit over her shoulder. Other ponies were drinking punch, and trying to have a good time, unconsciously avoiding the pools of vomit and unconscious party goers lining the floor. It was like everything but the food, punch and well ponies were invisible to them. She shuddered. She'd heard of things like this happening, but she'd never seen it for herself.

"Twilight! You have to stop this!" Sweetie Belle begged. "Apple Bloom just passed out! It's all our fault!"

"It's not anypony's fault. Twilight said. "Things like this just happen. Everyone will be better tomorrow, and all everypony will remember is Scootaloo getting her cutie mark."

Luna wasn't so sure. Some of the ponies passed out on the ground looked like they weren't breathing anymore. There was an explosion, and Luna hit the deck, using her body to cover Twilight.

"Who wants Cupcakes?" Pinkie shouted.

The few guests still capable of unassisted locomotion mobbed the pink pony. Pinkie fired another blast from her party cannon to clear the crowd.

"There are plenty for everyone! Honest!" Pinkie shouted, as she collapsed to the floor.

Twilight surveyed the wreckage of the party. She'd already found ten dead ponies, and she hadn't even made it to the center of the room. She respectfully levitated Cloud Chaser's corpse off of Octavia's. Celestia was over to the left, searching a pile of foals from Mz. Cheerilee's class for signs of life. She wasn't having much success. They'd gotten Luna to the hospital, and according to Nurse Tenderheart, she should be okay, her larger size would protect her from whatever had caused the illness.

Twilight couldn't believe that this kind of thing could happen. On the other side of the room, Celestia added Twist to the line of dead ponies. She was going to scream. This couldn't be real. This had to be a nightmare. No, something told her. She'd never had a nightmare like this before. All of her nightmares were about silly things, like being sent back to magic kindergarten, or losing all of her friends. There was no part of her mind that could have imagined Sugar Cube Corner's conversion into a sea of blood, vomit and death.

Derpy was the next pony on her side of the room. The delivery mare was still breathing, so she motioned for one of the nurses. Twilight advanced through the hellish muck. The next two ponies, Golden Harvest and Berry punch were also both dead. That put her at twelve. Celestia also added another pony to the line by the door. It was Silver Spoon. The Crusaders would be devastated that their little friend had died.

Well, that was all of the dead on her side of the room. She moved into the center. There was still two ponies that everyone was afraid to check, Dash and Pinkie. Dash had collapsed while she was with Luna, and Pinkie had bravely attempted to hand out cupcakes till she also went down. Someone had pushed Dash under a table as the madness had progressed, and she was closer so Twilight went to her first.

Rainbow Dash was breathing, although she didn't respond to Twilight's repeated jabs. Twilight called for a nurse and she was about to celebrate when she noticed that Celestia was levitating a Pink mass to the line by the door. Then she noticed Spike.

She'd lost track of him sometime around the time that Diamond Tiara had collapsed. She'd figured that he'd gone back to the library, and forgotten about him. But there he was, curled up in a ball under the counter. She galloped over to Spike, and tried to uncurl him. For a few seconds, she was hopeful. Then, she realized he was dead as well.

Twilight screamed out in primal rage and pain.

Pinkie's funeral was a low key affair. The party cannon was fired twenty one times, before being pushed into place to stand in eternal vigil over Pinkie's grave. Twilight stood off to the side, with her four remaining healthy friends. Even though it was a week later, Dash was still in the hospital. She was too weak to move, but still alive. Luna had recovered enough to go home, and Celestia had taken her to Canterlot that morning.

They had Spike's funeral the day before. It had been a much more private affair, and just Rarity, Fluttershy and Celestia had been there. It'd been a quiet service. Twilight had read up on Dragon funeral customs, and done most of the service. Everyone in town had contributed whatever gems that they had so that Spike would have a proper hoard of gems in the next life. Rarity had even even contributed some of the special gems from an outfit that she was making for Sapphire Shores.

They were heading to the after funeral party at the library. The Cakes had closed Sugar Cube Corner, and disappeared. No pony blamed them for what had happened, but the Cakes had been too depressed to hang around town.

The library was dark and depressing. She'd spent the last week in bed, rising only to eat and use the bathroom. Studying no longer held any pleasure. She found herself calling out to Spike at all times of the day and night. She'd been having intolerable nightmares, and had even considered moving home a few times.

Sweetie Belle's parents had forced her to attend Pinkie's after funeral party. Thankfully, they hadn't made her attend the actual funeral. It was horrible. She had no idea that anypony could feel as miserable as she did. No, the ponies who had lost loved ones to their madness felt worse. They'd finally restarted school, and Cheerilee had been in tears as she took roll call. Half the class was dead, and it was all their faults.

Apple Bloom had recovered completely, and the whole thing didn't seem to bother her. Apple Bloom seemed to be spending most of her time trying to imagine new schemes to kill Twilight Sparkle. Sweetie had been able to talk her out of those schemes, at least so far.

Nopony was enjoying the party, and it was all a very depressing affair. Sweetie Belle watched as Vinyl Scratch tried and failed to do her DJ shtick. It was an open secret, known even to the foals of Ponyville that she'd been rather close to Octavia. Octavia had died, and the DJ Unicorn looked like she was just going through the motions.

"We have to talk!" Apple Bloom said.

"I don't feel like it." Sweetie Belle replied.

"Well listen then." Scootaloo said.

"What do you want?" Sweetie asked.

"Silver Zephyr figured it out. He came by my box.... Uhm, house. He came by my house yesterday, and said that if we didn't help him sell his party powder, he'd tell Celestia what we did to the town." Scootaloo said.

Sweetie Belle broke into tears. Life just wasn't fair.

Author's Note:

I'm having a bad day, so it's time for more ponies! Okay this is probably the bleakest chapter yet, and that's saying a lot. Ponyville and it's residents are in a state of disaster, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders are being blackmailed by Silver Zephyr. What will happen next?

Comments

[Gideon020]

This is going to end with the three of them dying inside a burning drug lab in the middle of the desert with the Royal Guard closing in on them, isn't it?

[bigtleak59]

well it sure would be cool if it ended just like breaking bad!.
and that is them dying inside a burning drug lab , but make many more chapters before that time arrives.

[John Tannius]

Cutie Mark Crusader Drug Trafficers!