Rainbow Dash returns from an evening in Cloudsdale to find Pinkie Pie in a dreadful state after a terrible nightmare. The pegasus tries her best to comfort her friend, but will it be enough?
Image by microgrid (http://microgrid.deviantart.com/).
Spanish translation by SPANIARD KIWI - https://www.deviantart.com/spaniard-kiwi/art/La-luz-en-la-oscuridad-970255243
Reading by Agent Fluffy - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdVGfjmnsrM
Reading by Alchemystudent - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcdJtTA5A14
Reading by AJ Earthbend - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nw_sIt1PfQ8
Review (sort of) by Changeling Number 32 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEb_xv9eQdo
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and its characters are owned by Lauren Faust and Hasbro. Characters are used without permission but with the greatest respect.
lol cupcakes.
i remember this. this is one of the earliest fics i ever read, the fic that gave me hope for mlp fics after i started off with reading crap like cupcakes and sweet apple massacre
I loved this fic from the first time I read it
lolyes
epicwinfanfic
So many people write such great stories, like this one, that I think Cupcakes was one of the best things to happen to mlp fanfiction.
Bravo.
I loved this story, and again I'm so glad that it didn't descend into the "Rainbow Dash Is A Lesbian" trend. Job well done.
The fandom needs more heartwarming stories like this.
Oh yes, I remember this one, my favourite one shot fic, not only for the anti-cupcakes message, but also because of the awesome friendship lesson it has, and the flawless interaction between RD and Pinkie Pie.
I said it on DA, and I say it here, thank you so much Mr. zaptiftun for sharing this awesome piece of work
Very good. I'm surprised it didn't dissolve into a ship, but glad that you just kept Pinkie and Dashie friends. And this was obviously written as a response to Cupcakes. So I guess I'll have to say thank you Cupcakes, without you scaring the crap out of everyone who read it, we wouldn't have gotten this.
347783 Cupcakes, Crap!? That's what even brought MLP into my knowledge of existence!
And for the story... have a random filly's show creature's thumb!
I think that they're called "Humans"
348020 that doesnt make it good. its like saying getting shot brought guns into your knowledge
Yes.
I love this story, nice to see it here.
Thanks for the comments, everyone, I greatly appreciate them!
348034
Loved that comeback
But in all seriousness, cupcakes was in no way a good fic, sure it had an extremely high shocking value, to quote Progress fic Luna: "Who made this? What sick, twisted monster would do such a thing? (...) It... it's not even a good plot, her mind fiercely argued. A pink pony invites her friend over for a party... Just so she can gut her, dismember her and turn her into cupcakes? That's ridiculous!"
I'm glad to see this up here. This was the fic which finally showed me that fanfiction isn't a waste of time done by ponies who ought to know better (sheesh, I'm really embarrassed to admit that I used to think that way, doubly so now that I've started writing my own fanfics
. But I guess that's one more thing I have MLP to thank for).
I'll try to keep this brief since I'm sure this story's been flooded with praise over on deviantart, and I'll get the things I didn't like out of the way first. Reading it again, I notice there's actually quite a few times where you use commas where you should've used a full stop or a semi-colon -- or at least, it happens enough that it becomes noticeable, and I'm sure as anything no grammar expert (as far as I'm concerned, everypony makes mistakes). I know this has already been online for months and months now, but I wonder if it'd still be worth going through it just one more time? Because the stuff I'm talking about is incredibly small and easily fixable. Also, I always thought that it was slightly odd that 'The Marx Brothers' were never ponified in any way. I mean, I assume they are ponies in this story, but... still... I think it's a little jarring to refer to them by their real name, and then to use the exact title of an actual film of theirs.
But beyond those two points (and they're both so tiny that I feel very petty for bringing them up in the first place
), I'm really happy that this story is every bit as good as I remember it to be 
. It's incredibly sweet, and it really shows Rainbow Dash at her very best. It gets to the heart of what makes her such a great friend -- something you actually need reminding of sometimes, since she can be a real jerk in the show sometimes -- and the way she sticks by Pinkie even when she's already made sure she'd going to be fine... it's nothing short of heart-warming. There's something delightfully cosy about the movie scene, and don't even get me going about how adorable the morning-after scene is, because I won't be able to stop typing.
And on top of how heartfelt the story feels, there's a ton of wonderful little details which really help add to it: for instance, like Dashie's throw-a-way line to Gummy, or the description of Twilight's magic lamp, or "the look" Pinkie keeps mentioning in the letter, and then countless more besides. All these things make the world seem very believable and lived in. Also, I don't know what it is about the thought of ponies watching films on a VCR, but it seems bizarrely appropriate, and the thought of it makes me smile! Maybe it's because MLP originated from the VHS era? I dunno... What I do know is that I'm putting waaay too much thought into this
... Uh oh, I promised I'd keep this brief, but it's already right on the verge of becoming embarrassingly long; I do have a tendency to go on and on sometimes
. I'll skip right to the end of my long rambling point: I hope I'm not coming across as just showering you with praise for the mere sake of it, because I do seriously love this story. I think it thoroughly deserves all the success it's had so far, and all the further success that's coming it's way (I just refreshed my browser and already another 11 comments have appeared. You might've been right to say 'famous last words' in your blog!).
Thanks again for the wonderful story
First pony fic that made me cry. Glad to see it here. Everyone should read this
348094 - Lucky Dreams
Concerning the Marx Bros., that was one of the points that I pondered endlessly about. In the end, I simply couldn't think of any ponified version of "Marx" that would make sense;(HAH! Semicolon!) I think it's just one of those names that you simply can't change in a way that wouldn't be awkward. And please don't apologize for the length of your comment, I dearly love seeing folks put that sort of effort into letting others know what they thought about the fic.
(By the way, absolutely loved "Sweetie's Letter", wonderful work on that!)
Hah. I remember this one from EqD a while back. Works well for what it's intended, nothing really blew me away but it was sweet friendshipping.
This is incredibly adorable. I think I've got diabetes now, and as I got to the end some jerk was chopping onions nearby.
Well done!
Great story!
The whole 'I love you' bit seemed out of place, but awesome all the same!
348034
That's a stupid comparison. That's like saying that a fanfic, text on a computer screen, can physically hurt or kill you.
348084 Cupcakes was a black comedy, it wasn't meant to be taken seriously. Did anyone even listen to The Brony Show's interview with him?
this fanfic contains WIN!!
i loved it!
I remember reading this one on EqD. Still insanely cute.
348448
I actually had to stop reading Cupcakes because if I hadn't, I most likely would've vomited. This is coming from someone who loves horror movies and obscenely violent video games. Don't say that crap like that can't hurt you, because it only makes you look stupid. If my dreams weren't already mostly nightmares, I'm sure I would've lost sleep over it...which is funny considering the plot of the above story. And if Cupcakes is black comedy, then then it's a poor example. Good comedy relies on wit, not solely on shock value.
Read this elsewhere before, but it's so good I decided to re-read it now that it's here. (And I pretty much never re-read stories!) Sweet story, well done.
I remember reading this a long time ago when it went up on EqD. Didn't realize it was on FimF.
This is one of the few 'reaction' fics where the fact that it references a terrible POS doesn't harm it. Thanks for this.
This was awesome, I loved it.
347952 I agree with you on that. I seriously find too many Dark or Sad fics, I'm a sensitive person so I can't read an extremely sad or dark fic without it haunting me.
Aw well there are good fics out there just like this one.
349573
could you point me to a few of them? I have a list from here to Equestria long with all sorts of stories, but hardly any feelgood ones.
349580 I don't know if any would suit you. Does it have to be a feel good story or just a story thats not extremely dramatic.
349613
either really, the more the better!
348448
Well, it failed miserably on the comedy part, since so far I haven't found anyone that actually laughed (many did enjoyed though).
I know I didn't, care to share the link of that one?
349680 Well, I laughed, and I found several other people who claimed to as well. Remember, just because you didn't like something, that doesn't make it bad. I've gotten into many arguments with people who refused to quit stating their opinions as facts.
Here's the interview.
This is really adorable, and a great read.
I apologize for not responding to everyone's comment (which is a lot easier to do on DA), but I really do enjoy reading them all and I thank you all for enjoying the story!
348220 Thanks for saying that! I always feel really self-conscious whenever I leave a super long comment like that.
And that's a fair point concerning the Marx Bros (Marx Stallions, perhaps? ... Nah, that still doesn't make any sense). Plus I'm the guy who thought that 'Art-hoof Circle' was a good idea, so I guess my opinion doesn't really count when it comes to that sort of thing
Also, I'm super glad you liked my story! It means quite a lot after the effect that your one had on me.
Hmm. I just realised that I forgot to watch you. I should go and correct that
348034 348084 348448 348897 349680 349888
I was merely stating that until I saw some random YTP that had "Cupcakes" and Grimdark-as-(Self Censor(D.W.S.T.H.M.F.)) together in same pic, I had ZERO knowledge of MLP at all!
I honestly don't understand this particular comment however: 348034, Due to the gun(s) part, please respond in a well-manered, explanatory way so that I may understand this.
351416 it means just because something bad can lead to something good doesnt really make the bad thing a good thing. in my mind anyway
351447 Thank you for this response, the previous comment makes much more sense
Also thank you for manner of the response
351501 no problem. i know people have different opinions and i can respect that
349888
An hour... oh well, as soon as I have time I guess. Anyway thanks.
*picks up story* I'm movin' nis
*sets story down in favorites
Whew! that was gettin, heavy...
Much obliged pardner!
Wow, I read this forever ago and never knew it was yours.
359164
Eeyup
;)
This fic really made me cry
It is so wonderful! I can definitely relate the kind of horror-thoughts that scar you for a while like Pinkie experienced, they come on for no reason and stay for far too long until they make you feel all 
Takes good friends to lift you out of that kind of funk! You managed to capture the essence of everypony of the mane 6 so well, I applaud your greatness!
380102
Glad you enjoyed it! 
Thanks, though I wouldn't call myself great or anything
I was very apprehensive to read anything past that little introduction but I decided to shoulder through it at any rate.
very glad I did. I really liked the whole thing. It was amazingly friendly and warm.
Zaptiftun, This is just emotionally awesome! Nice one!!!
Man oh man did I need this. It's been awhile since I read something that made me smile so much. Thanks for the story!
cupcakes: never read it, never will, but it was good for spin off stories like Borderline and such.
This was...
Beautiful.
Also, 84 likes, no dislikes? Never seen that before! Better make that 85!
This fic was one of the first I ever read back when it was only on EQD, months ago when I was just a new brony. After reading 140+ other 6-star fics*, including Fallout: Equestria, my standards have upped for fanfic, I've bought ponies, etc. Reading this again, it's still one of my very favourites. Your other fic is really high quality too.
Also, it was very nice to hear you comment back to me on EQD. You surprised me and I gained an awesome view of bronies in general.
~Stay awesome.
*Okay, I might be a little obsessed ...but in the best possible way? **
**I can recommend a few really amazing fics people seem to have forgotten, if you want to hear.