> The Cakes' Special Treats
>  by SingingLark
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Pineapple Upside Down Cake
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pinkie Pie looked out the window and gazed at the gray, barren landscape of which she called home. This would be the last day she would spend here because, in just a few hours, she would begin her long trek to Canterlot. The rock farm, being very isolated, was miles from the nearest town, so Pinkie had to wake up very early to get to a town with access to a train station. She said goodbye to her mother and sisters and walked away from her home with her father. They talked about how much they would miss each other, and Igneous emphasized the fact that they wouldn’t be able to contact each other for a while.

“Canterlot is extraordinarily far,” he said, “I’ll miss you, but I know you really want this.” 

Pinkie hugged him, which caused her luggage, which previously rested on her father’s back to fall to the floor. Her tail switched violently for a couple of seconds, which caused Pinkie to groan.

“Why do you always do that?” Pinkie said under her breath, “Well, anyway I’ll miss you guys tons too! I’ll make sure to send tons of letters, even if it takes 15 years for them to get here!” she declared as she helped her father put the luggage back on. 

“You may need to use some of that fancy magic to teleport the letters here. It would take 15 years for them to arrive,” he said with a smile tainted by sadness. 

They talked the entire way, well Pinkie talked and Igneous listened. It took several hours, but they reached their desired town. Pinkie looked at the sun and estimated that it was about 11. She knew the trek would take hours, but she didn’t think it would take that long. 

“Papa, what time did we leave?”

“Around 6, why?”

“Really? I know we live in the middle of nowhere but it took that long?! Man, no wonder we never came here or festivals or anything. I mean, can you imagine? We would have to wake up at like 3 a.m. to get ready, then we would have to walk and walk and walk...” Pinkie rambled.

Igneous smiled as they walked to the carriage that would take Pinkie to the train station. It didn’t take long, and they soon arrived; the pair exchanged a hug, Pinkie almost crying. 

“Bye, Papa! I can’t wait to see you again. I’m gonna have a ton of fun in Canterlot, but I’ll try to see you guys again if I can visit. I’ll miss you, Mama, Inkie, Blinkie, and Maud.” Pinkie said, hopping on the carriage. “Bye Papa!”

It took 2 more hours for the carriage to reach the station, Pinkie paid the driver, bought a ticket, and boarded the train. Pinkie looked around at the nearly deserted train and sat in an empty seat. She relaxed and looked out the window, taking in the sights. She had never been outside of the rock farm, so she was excited to see how different the world was away from home. Pinkie couldn’t wait until she reached Canterlot. The future will be perfect, she thought with a smile.





Pinkie spent the next few hours gazing out the window, but she took notice of all the ponies that boarded the train. Slowly but surely, the train filled up. Pinkie noticed that all the rows had at least one pony in them, which would force strangers to sit next to each other. This slightly worried Pinkie. She was fine with strangers, but she knew others weren’t. Pinkie hoped to make at least one pony more comfortable in this cramped situation.

About half an hour later, at the next train stop, the only pony to come on was a white pegasus filly. She looked around, sighed, and sat on the floor. Pinkie waved her over and asked if she wanted to sit in her row.

“Hey, don’t sit on the floor, that’s dangerous. Wanna sit here?” Pinkie asked, scooting over.

“Okay, uh… thanks.”

The filly sat next to Pinkie, pulled out a notebook, and sketched a strange chicken-dragon hybrid. The drawing piqued Pinkie’s interest. She glanced at the filly’s flank and took note of her cutie mark. A compass with a paintbrush replacing the needle.

“What are you drawing?” Pinkie asked.

The filly looked up at her to see that the pink pony was genuinely interested.

“Oh, I’m drawing a cockatrice!” she exclaimed with newfound enthusiasm. “They’re native to the Everfree Forest near Ponyville. They can turn ponies to stone with just one look, I read about it in a book, and now I’m staying with my aunt so I can draw some other animals from the Everfree.”

“I’m Pinkie Pie, what’s your name?” Pinkie asked, wanting to get to know her new friend better.

“Mountain Hue. Nice to meet you. So where are you headed?” The filly said, enjoying Pinkie’s company.

“Canterlot, I guess you are heading to Ponyville. You said it’s next to the Everfree though, isn’t that dangerous?”

“Yup, I can’t wait!” Hue giggled.

By now the sun had set. The fillies spent the rest of the train ride chatting, drawing, and just having fun. Until the conductor announced the stop.

“Last stop, Ponyville!” the fillies heard him yell.

Hue’s ears folded back, and she began complaining.

“Nooooo, I liked handing out with you,” suddenly she perked up, “How long have you been on the train?”

Pinkie stopped. How long had it been? She got on about 1, but what time was it now?

“Um… I’m not sure I got on about 1.”

Hue’s eyes widened, and she quickly stood up and walked to the conductor. Pinkie couldn’t hear what Hue said, but she wore a confused smile when she walked back.

“It’s 10 now, you said you lived in the middle of nowhere, but you weren’t kidding.” Hue said, sitting back down. “It’s the last stop. Where are you going to stay?”

“I dunno, I’m just doing to stay in an inn, I guess. Then I’m gonna take the next train to Canterlot.” Pinkie said, starting to gather her stuff.

“Okay, you can go to the Golden Horseshoe. I heard it’s cheap.” Hue replied, also getting her things.

They talked until the stop came, although this chat was slightly sadder. When the train arrived at the Ponyville station, they said goodbye, and Pinkie made her way to the hotel.

Pinkie suddenly turned and shouted, “Bye, Hue! I’ll make sure to visit you later. You were super fun to talk to. I hope you get to do lots of good drawings and don’t get eaten while exploring the Everfree.”

Pinkie skipped around the town looking for the hotel. Her stomach growled just as she saw an adorable gingerbread house.

’Sugarcube Corner, huh?’ Pinkie thought. ’Gosh, it’s still open?’

Pinkie stepped inside and looked for an employee, but none could be found. She started to head out but stopped as she noticed her Pinkie Sense telling her something. It was a floppy ear, achy knee combo. She paused and thought. What did that thing mean? Her Pinkie Sense wasn’t exactly reliable, but it wasn’t meaningless. She paced in front of the display case, thinking. Trying to remember what it meant.

She noticed the sensation grew much stronger over a certain piece of floor. Which made Pinkie realize it was location based. She looked around, not seeing anything out of the ordinary, so she looked down at her hooves. The floor was covered in a rug. Pinkie glanced around, watching for any ponies, but the store remained empty. She picked up the rug and moved it away, hoping to discover something. Pinkie studied the now bare floor, but it seemed normal. Her Pinkie Sense said otherwise. She stared closely at the floor, her muzzle almost touching the ground. She noticed there was a slight indent in a floorboard. Her Pinkie Sense became much stronger, so she put the tip of her hoof inside. She pulled the floor up; it lifted with little resistance. Pinkie panicked, thinking she broke it, but her Pinkie Sense grew stronger still. She looked at the ground where the plank previously sat and found a small brown button, almost indistinguishable from the ground itself. Her Pinkie Sense, in an instant, stopped.

’So that’s what it wanted me to find, a button, welp I’m gonna die. Let’s push it!’ She thought with a smile.
> Devil's Food Cake
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

So that’s what she did. The floor next to her moved up to reveal a trapdoor that led down to a brightly lit staircase. Pinkie placed the board and rug back in their original places and walked down. The door closed a few moments after. 

Pinkie gulped, slightly unnerved. She didn’t know to get back up; she hoped she didn't get herself stuck, but the staircase was so bright and clean nothing could be bad in here…

Pinkie shrieked at the sight that laid before her, an unconscious stallion was strapped to a table, limbs splayed out. Pinkie ran up to him and looked for a way to get him down, but the straps that kept him in place needed a key to open. She tried to shake him awake. He groaned and tried to move. His eyes shot open. He had a look of confusion and fear on his face. They made eye contact, tears streaking down both their faces.

“Don’t hurt me,” he whimpered.

“I won’t. I found this basement, and I found you in here. My name is Pinkie Pie, what’s yours? I’m gonna try to get you down,” She said, voice quivering. She was trying desperately to calm both him and herself down.

“Frame Fitter… that's my name”

“Um… That’s a nice cutie mark. What does it mean?” Pinkie asked. It was a pair of broken glasses.

“Pinkie, this isn’t the time for small talk, just try to get me out of here.”

“Okay… What’s the last thing you remember?”

“I was walking alone, heading home from work, I felt something bad… I guess, then I woke up here.”

“We’re under a building called Sugar Cube Corner. It looks like a super-duper yummy gingerbread house. Tell me about the ponies that own it while I look for a key or somethi-”

The opening of the trapdoor interrupted pinkie’s words. She looked to Frame, who mouthed Run. She looked around and hid under a blanket; it wasn’t a good hiding spot, but it was the only one she could find on such brief notice.

She heard Frame scream at his captors, plead, and weep, but eventually, all she heard was his cries of pain. Although he never mentioned the filly under the covers. Then nothing. There were 2 ponies’ voices, a mare, and a stallion, discussing his kill like it was routine.

Pinkie tried her best to stay still, but she knew it would only be a matter of time before they found her. At least Frame died decently quickly. She hoped it would be the same for her. At that thought, she felt her mane deflate slightly, not enough to cause a visible difference, but Pinkie felt it all the same. She heard hoof steps come close to her hiding spot alongside a strange jingly noise.

“Let’s deal with whoever is under the covers,” the mare said as she ripped away the blanket.

Pinkie froze, looked at the blue mare, and prepared to run, but stopped as she felt something wrap around her neck. She watched as the chain wrapped around her neck was secured to a metal loop embedded in the wall. The blue mare walked away, back towards Frame. Or at least, what was left of him, Pinkie silently wept, looking between her friend and the ponies that took his life.

They had already put many of his innards in buckets and were now removing his muscle from the bone. There was blood, so much blood. It covered the floor, table, and the killers. It marred their fur, but they hardly paid it any mind. They were so efficient at cleaning his corpse. In fact, they finished in a little over half an hour. They left only the bones and a few strategically placed chunks of meat behind. Pinkie stared at a clock located opposite her, refusing to look at anything else lest she find something worse than they already forced her to endure. She forced herself to look at the cupcake-haired mare as she walked to a flight of stairs different from the ones they came down from. The yellow stallion must have already left because he was nowhere to be found. Pinkie saw her open another trap door. She saw her opportunity and screamed.

“SOMEPONY PLEASE HELP!” Pinkie screamed. “Please come help, Frame Fitter was just killed, and then they foalnapped me!”

The cupcake-haired mare ignored her and continued to walk up, bucket in tow. Although Pinkie noticed an amused smile on the women’s lips.

“Help me, please!” Pinkie screamed. Her cries filled the basement, but no one came to save her.

The blue mare still ignored her ever-increasing shouts, except her previously amused smile changed to one of annoyance. 

She came down to get a second, then a third bucket, but before she did, she told Pinkie, “Honey, no one will hear you, we are underground, the store is empty, and the room is soundproof.”

Pinkie continued to yell and scream until she grew hoarse, “I-I know I’m a pony, but I guess I’m also a little hoarse,” she stammered in a futile attempt to cheer herself up. The mare left, leaving Pinkie all alone.

She collapsed to the floor, bawling. Frame was just killed and dismembered in front of her and she was now chained up in the basement of the culprits. She had no food and only the bare necessities; she didn’t know how long she would stay there, nor did she know if they would even keep her alive.

Her cries were interrupted by the opening of the back door. Pinkie’s heart skipped a beat, both from fear and hope of being rescued. Though they were quickly crushed as she saw the blue mare walk down with a sack.

Pinkie, not knowing what the sack contained, started to cry harder. Though she did not try to escape. The cupcake-haired mare placed down the sack next to Pinkie and opened it. Pinkie watched, and much to her confusion, she saw it was filled not with weapons, but toys, instruments, and a few necessities. The mare turned on Pinkie’s light and walked back.

She told Pinkie, “Honey, I’m sorry we trapped you in here, but we are making smiles by doing this. You don’t get it now, but I hope you will later.” She gave Pinkie a smile, turned off the basement light, and walked away, up the stairs, and out of the basement.

Those words did nothing to help the distraught filly. She sniffled, covered herself in the sheet, curled in a ball, and cried herself to sleep.
> Cheesecake
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pinkie woke up to someone poking her. She kept her eyes shut to pretend the pony poking her was one of her sisters and not one of her foalnappers. Though the illusion was broken when he spoke.

“Little filly, wake up, I’ve got food.” He said in a gentle tone.

Pinkie opened her eyes to find a small bowl of veggies, and something covered in a towel. Her eyes drifted to the stallion. She forced down her fear, asking a few imperative questions. 

“Hello sir, my name is Pinkie Pie, what’s your name?” she said in the most friendly and polite tone she could muster.

He smiled in a way that seemed almost friendly. “There’s no need for formalities, just call me Carnival, and my wife Wild Berry.”

“Is this my food?”

“Yeah.”

She went to lift the towel, but he stopped her. 

He said, “Finish your veggies first, the other food is dessert.”

Pinkie moved to the bowl and hesitated. She looked at Carnival, then back to her food. Her stomach growled. She hadn’t realized until that moment how hungry she was.

“It’s not poisoned. If we wanted you dead, we would do it in a… more direct method,” Carnival said.

Pinkie’s instincts took over, and she ate. She finished her meal, but the meager amount of food did nothing to quell her hunger.

Carnival removed the towel to reveal a small slab of meat. It looked cooked to perfection, with just enough pink to be medium-rare. The juice leaked a red similar to blood. Pinkie’s eyes swelled and her breath caught in her throat, but she forced her fear back down. She needed answers.

“Is this meat?” She said, voice meek.

“If you take a bite, even a nibble, you can get more veggies,” he said, ignoring her question.

“Is that meat from a pony?” Pinkie asked, with more force. But he again ignored her question. Carnival moved away from Pinkie’s dim light. She heard hoof steps and the movement of equipment. After a minute, he came back with a chair. He sat and watched her.

“I won’t tell you anything about the meat until you take a bite,” he said sternly.

Pinkie looked around. Her eyes settled on the things Wild Berry brought in the day before. She hadn’t touched them yet, not wanting to act out of turn.

“Are the bag and the stuff mine, or is it just something that you guys put there to…” she trailed off, not liking where the sentence was going.

“It’s yours. You can have anything from the bag and even ask for anything else if you want it.” 

Pinkie nodded, then said forcefully, “I’m not gonna eat that.”

Carnival asked again to confirm. After Pinkie repeated herself, he picked up the plate and ate the cube of meat. Much to Pinkie’s horror. Once he finished, he asked Pinkie, “How old are you?”

“I-I’m 10, where’s my luggage, I left it in the store, can I have it back?” Pinkie asked, gaining more courage after each word.

“I’ll look when I head back up. How d'you even get in here?”

“My Pinkie Sense told me, I can get weird little signs that tell me stuff. Like that one was an achy knee, floppy ear combo, which means something’s hidden. So I found the button came down… found Frame… and then I was captured…” She cried as she remembered the events from yesterday.

“Um, sorry about that. I’ve gotta get going. Bye Pinkie.” Carnival presumably put the chair away and walked out with the plates.

Pinkie wept, though it lasted slightly less than the night before. Once she stopped, she picked up a notebook and pencil and started recording all the information she could remember. So far, she knew she was under Sugarcube Corner; the ponies were murders. They were using pseudonyms, and they were married. She recorded their appearances, voices, cutie marks, and anything else she deemed important. Once she calmed down, she looked around for anything useful. She saw her confinement had a sink, a toilet, a mattress, and a pull chain light bulb. Her chain was hooked to the wall; which looked like it was concrete. The floors looked the same. The area outside of her light was almost pitch black, though she could make out the shape of the table they strapped Frame to.

Pinkie looked at her stuff and sifted around. After some time, she took out a puzzle. To Pinkie’s surprise, the sack was very thick and soft. She shoved everything off to free it. It turned out the sack was actually a blanket. She wrapped it around herself and started the puzzle.

A few pieces landed out of reach when she dumped out the box. Her chain prevented her from reaching them, so she relented to the fact her puzzle could forever be incomplete.

Pinkie was about halfway done with it when Carnival came down with food. She quickly stood up and looked at him. Though her fear only lasted for a second.

“How long has passed since you last came down here?” She shocked herself at how calm she was. Pinkie squinted at the clock, but it was too dark to see.

“10 hours. How have you entertained yourself?” Carnival asked, placing the veggies and meat on the ground.

“I’ve just been doing a puzzle. Do you think you could move the clock closer, I can’t see it in the dark,” she said, walking to the food.

She felt uneasy, not scared, just... uneasy. She knew Carnival would not kill her, so most of her fear left. Pinkie was just bored, but with Carnival here she had something to do.

She finished her veggies and refused the meat, then chatted. Before Carnival left, he moved the clock within sight of Pinkie.

When he left, Pinkie felt slightly sad, mostly because of the lack of company. She tried to complete her puzzle, but the pain in her stomach prevented her from doing so. She moved to her stuff, looking for anything to eat but couldn’t find anything.

'They’re gonna keep me here till I starve', she thought, flopping on her mattress, 'I guess I could just eat the meat… No, I’m not gonna do what they want. I’m not their toy.' She smiled, ignored the pain, and continued on her puzzle.
> Strawberry Shortcake
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

As the weeks passed, her resolve weakened. Though she tried her best to ignore it, her body screamed that it was starving. Her ribs were becoming visible, her stomach ached, and she was constantly tired. She had 2 meager meals a day that seemed to shrink each day. They hadn't brought in anypony since they captured her, so she doubted the meat was even from one.

Wild Berry came down with Pinkie’s veggies. They stopped bringing meat a long time ago, but if Pinkie wanted it, they would give it to her. “Pinkie, have you been crying?”

“I’ll take the meat,” Pinkie said, almost inaudibly.

“Oh... alright dear. Here's your food. I’ll get some meat,” Wild Berry placed the bowl on the basement floor then walked out. 

Pinkie moved the veggies closer to herself, then ate. She finished in only a few minutes. Her stomach growled, but Pinkie tried to ignore it. She idly played with her chain while waiting for Wild Berry. It severely bruised her neck from walking outside of its boundaries. She had become better at staying inside recently, but her fatigue kept her from moving too much.

Wild Berry came down with a small cube of meat. “Just a bite will be enough,” she placed it on the floor, then stepped back.

Pinkie got up and walked to the plate, then cautiously licked the cube. A wonderful taste filled her mouth. She sniffled, closed her eyes, then took a bite. Juices exploded in her mouth. The taste was absolutely amazing. Tears streamed down Pinkie’s face, though a smile grew as well. Her mane deflated a small amount, though nopony noticed it.

“It tastes amazing.” Pinkie said. She pulled her blanket tighter around herself and licked her lips. She was shaking.

When she looked back up to see Carnival holding an enormous bowl of veggies. They were both grinning. He put the bowl down and pushed it to Pinkie.

“Is this all for me?” she asked, still shocked by the meat. She ate, she ate until she almost burst. Pinkie almost forgot what a full stomach felt like, and it did not feel good. 

After she finished, they all talked. Pinkie asked what had been plaguing her mind since they captured her. “Was the meat that I… just ate, was the meat pony?”

Wild Berry stopped for a second. “Yes, the one you just ate was. Although in the beginning when we offered meat every day, it was a pig.” 

Pinkie looked down, then walked to the sink for some water. Her mane deflated slightly more while she drank. Wild Berry and Carnival glanced at each other, finally noticing Pinkie’s changing mane.

“Hey Pinkie, did your mane just shrink?” Carnival looked between Pinkie and Wild Berry. “Or is it just messy?”

“Yeah, my mane does that sometimes. Is it not normal? I rarely spent time with ponies other than my family, so I don’t really know. I miss them… I don’t think I’ll ever see them again through,” Pinkie turned around with a big smile, though tears were forming again in her eyes. “It doesn’t really matter though, I’m fine.”

When they finally left, Pinkie collapsed. She screamed and cried until she had no energy left. Her stomach churned, not used to eating so much food. The feeling increased until it forced her to puke. She cried as she retched into the toilet; she tasted bile, meat, and veggies. She rinsed her mouth, curled in a ball, and cried.

’I ate somepony, I ATE somepony, and they tasted delicious! I hate them; I hate them; I hate… I want to go home. I miss mama and papa. I didn’t even tell them I love them. I forgot because of how excited I was; I forgot to tell them I love them; I want to go home. How will Maud and I exchange necklaces? Will I ever see them again? I don’t know, I’m tired.’

Pinkie laid on her mattress for hours, not able to relax enough to sleep. She finally got up and worked on the puzzle she had neglected for weeks. Once she finished, she put it back in the box, although some pieces were still out of reach, which left the puzzle forever incomplete. She looked through the pile of goodies and picked up a harmonica. She didn’t know how to play, but it was better than silence.

Her captors came down to the insufferable noise of the instrument. Pinkie’s voice grew hoarse, but she still played. They placed a plate of meat and a small bowl of veggies in front of her. A larger bowl was present, but out of reach. She finished the small bowl, but when asked, Pinkie refused the meat.

“I’m not that hungry, I’m just tired, I’m going to sleep,” Pinkie turned away from the couple, covered herself in her blanket, and laid down.

“Um, okay honey, we’ll go back up, but we brought you something. Do you want to see it?” Wild Berry asked, ignoring Pinkie’s request.

Pinkie’s head poked out the blanket. She eyed the couple expectantly. “What is it?”

Wild Berry pulled out a bowl of candy, “This is a reward for eating the meat earlier today.”

Pinkie took the bowl, examined the candies, and chose a chewy caramel. They were all unwrapped and irregular shapes, so Pinkie asked, “Did you guys make these?” She popped the candy in her mouth and chewed, “It's great, though I haven’t eaten, so I guess anything tastes good right now.” She was fully expecting the candies to be drugged, but nothing happened.

“Don’t eat them all at once,” Carnival said, “See you tomorrow, Pinkie.”

Pinkie covered her head once again. Her tears had long since run out, so she merely chewed her candy in silence.
> Angel's Food Cake
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Hey Pinkie, we need to tell you something.” Pinkie looked at the clock and saw she had only slept 3 hours. She looked at the couple, then at her mattress. She covered her head and prepared to go back to sleep. “Pinkie, listen, this is important.”

She groggily sat up and looked for her food. There was a large bowl in Wild Berry’s arms, and a trash bag filled with things, “Pinkie, we just got a big order for Canterlot so we will be away for 3 days. We are giving you enough food to eat if you portion it carefully.” Wild Berry put down the filled bowl, full of both veggies and dried meat. She also placed down the trash bag. 

“You guys are leaving me alone?” Pinkie looked at her hooves, then yelled, “Okay, just please come back! We will need to hang out for ages after you guys come back. Don’t leave for any longer, please.”

Pinkie was still tired, but the talking afterward woke her up. She was fully awake by the time they left her prison. The implication of their words finally hit her. She tried to yell for them to come back, but it was too late. The door closed, and she was once again alone. Pinkie decided now was not the time to freak out, so she merely cried until she went back to sleep. 

She woke up 4 hours later. '4 hours down, 68 left to go. I can do this.' Pinkie opened the trash bag and found some more puzzles, books, and a few miscellaneous toys. She emptied the bag and shoved it under her mattress. She trembled and started pacing. 

“68 hours left to go… 68 hours without seeing anypony. I think I can do this. They are coming back, right? They aren’t just going to leave me to starve? If they wanted me dead, they would have already done so…”

Pinkie looked at the candy bowl and picked out a piece of nutty chocolate. She sat down and fiddled with her chain. Suddenly she was filled with silent rage. She looked in her bags and pulled out anything sharp, hard, or metal. Then got to work.

Hours passed and Pinkie didn’t make a dent in her chain or the wall surrounding it. She did, however, have plenty of carnage from the few supplies she had. Her pencils, instruments, and her toys were all left scattered and broken. She screamed and pulled, but her hooves kept slipping off. She pulled again, using only her body. Her neck screamed and her breath became shallow. That didn’t deter her, she merely changed position. This time it was her blood flow that was stalling. She finally gave up and collapsed to the floor. 

“I will get out,” she croaked, 'That was awful, but I want to escape. At least that wasted some time. 3 hours,' she felt her mane deflate, 'Only 3 hours?!'

She crawled on her mattress and covered herself in her blankets. Her stomach growled, but she ignored it, choosing instead to get a book from her new items. She only made it a few pages in before she fell asleep. 

A loud rumbling noise woke Pinkie from her dreamless sleep. She looked at her stomach and relented. She picked out some veggies while avoiding the meat, though the flavor contaminated everything else. She looked at the clock and saw she only had 60 hours left. “Only 60 hours? I’m going to die here, aren’t I? Well, whoopsie-daisy,” She chucked her broken harmonica at the clock. It hit the top and caused it to fall. Pinkie heard broken glass and smiled. The clock would no longer taunt her with its time. She rubbed her neck. It hurt to touch. She could only imagine how bruised it was. 

“Let’s see, who else wants to be thrown.” She picked up a new notebook and ripped out a piece of paper “Mr. Airplane, how nice of you to volunteer.”





Pinkie paced around her prison while playing with her hair. It was sopping wet from Pinkie’s pitiful attempt to wash it. She messed with a mat, trying to untangle it, but she only made her scalp sore.

She giggled, “If Mama saw me I’d get in so much trouble. She’d probably cut off all my mats and make me brush my hair until it fell off.”

Pinkie turned off her light, crawled under her blankets, and attempted to sleep. She stared at nothingness for what seemed like years until she gave up. She moved to her bowl and grabbed a hoof-full of veggies and started snacking while doodling. She crudely drew herself with wings in Las Pegasus, referencing a picture from a dictionary that had many pages ripped out to make airplanes.

She paused for a second to look at pegasus wings from a nearby biology book. 'My drawings are getting a lot better, not as good as Mountain Hue’s, but they are still pretty.' Pinkie tasted meat, more than the veggie tainted meat flavor, but actual meat. She didn’t stop though; she didn’t care enough to, and besides, the taste was amazing. She kept drawing and eating until she could finally go to sleep.

Pinkie woke up a while later and cleaned up the mess she made. She took out the plastic bag from under her mattress and started shoving trash and destroyed items into it. Most of her instruments had to go, some of her books too. She picked up her biology book and started flipping through it. It must have been made for doctors because the words were really hard for Pinkie to understand. She spotted a very graphic picture of a mare that had her leg crushed; it looked black and rotting. She closed the book and pushed it away. Pinkie noticed a book on griffon cooking and flipped to the index.

Pinkie ran her hoof as she looked in the M’s, “Meat… meat… Meat!” She flipped to the chapter that focused on it. She read and grabbed another hoof-full of food from her bowl and settled down.





Pinkie woke up. When had she gone to sleep? The griffon cookbook sat next to her, closed, and her room was cleaned. Her piles of trash and her trash bag nowhere to be seen. She was tucked in with a blue teddy bear. A hayburger sat waiting for her. She got up and started eating, giggling from anticipation waiting for Carnival and Wild Berry to come down for the first time in 3 days.

They came down after Pinkie had finished her burger and a few sweets. “Hi, Berry! Hi Carnival!”

“Hi Pinkie, did you miss us?” Pinkie nodded, then looked at her destroyed clock. The bakers followed her gaze, Wild Berry moved to the destroyed clock and pointed at it. “Why?”

Pinkie glared at it, “It was taunting me, telling me how much longer until you guys came back. I wanted to get rid of it,” she paused for a second before sheepishly smiling, “I need some new instruments… and other stuff.”

Wild Berry looked into the bowl given to Pinkie, then pulled her husband to look as well. “Pinkie, did you eat the meat?”

“Yeah, honestly I didn’t care enough to separate it and the meat was super duper yummy anyway,”

“Well, I’m glad you enjoyed yourself,” Carnival said gesturing to the messes still lying around.

They talked for a while before the bakers said they had to go. Pinkie let them without complaining, knowing they would come back, and they would never leave her.
> Carrot Cake
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pinkie stared at the brand new clock or hours, waiting for the Mare on the Moon to whisk her away to her dreams. Where she could be happy and see her family, but they never came. Instead, when she finally fell asleep, she dreamed of Frame. He was served on a tray, an adult Pinkie was preparing the rest of the feast. She was usually a lucid dreamer, but this time she was merely an outsider looking in. She watched as Not Pinkie sat down, pulled out a knife, and began carving into him, not caring for the blood spilling everywhere. A feminine scream erupted from his body, Not Pinkie smiled and ignored it. Once she finished carving, she opened her mouth and took a bite… 

Pinkie slowly opened her eyes, glad the nightmare was over. She looked at the clock but stopped as she saw the outline of an unconscious mare strapped to Frame’s table. 

’I guess the screams were real.’

The mare shifted on the table, “Hey little bitch, what am I doing here?”

’Little bit… Papa would have gotten me in so much trouble if I said that. I wonder how she will die. I hope it is quick. I don’t want to hear her screams.' Pinkie thought, completely calm, ’Oh! Could she tell me more about Carnival and Wild Berry?’

“Hello, I’m Pinkie Pie. You are going to be killed soon by the owners of Sugarcube Corner. Can you tell me about them so we have a greater chance of esca-” the mare was laughing, “I’m serious you are going to die, then they will harvest your meat and cook you.”

“Yeah right, Carrot and Cupcake are my friends. They would never fucking hurt me.”

Pinkie sighed. She wanted to save her, but she also knew doing so would be useless. “What’s your name, my name is Pinkie Pie. I already told you that but I’m not sure if you heard.”

“I’m not talking to you until you let me down.”

“I would love to, but I can’t. I’m chained to the wall. You can see me, right? My light is on. I can’t move longer than a certain range,” she got up and moved as far as she could without choking herself, “At least talk to me. I haven’t seen anypony except for my captors for weeks. You said their names are Carrot and Cupcake?” The mare continued to ignore Pinkie’s futile attempts at conversation. Pinkie kept trying to talk to her, not wanting the mare to die angry or scared.

The basement door opened and Wild Berry and Carn- Carrot and Cupcake walked down. They turned on the basement lights, which caused Pinkie to recoil and cover her eyes. After so long of being in the dark, a fully lit room was almost blinding.

“A little warning, I haven’t seen light in ages. You could have at least told me to close my eyes,” Pinkie said, sitting up with her sheet over her head. 

“Pinkie, you look like a little ghost. Did you talk to Sunday?” Cupcake said, referring to the mare. Pinkie kept the sheet on her head, but slowly opened her eyes. Once her eyes adjusted to the light, she took off her sheet. All the while the mare, Sunday apparently, was crying, cursing, and apologizing to everyone.

“Cupcake, Carrot Cake. I don’t know what I did, but I’m sorry. If you let me go, I’ll help around the bakery and I won’t tell anyone about Pinkie.”

The basement looked messier than when Pinkie first went in, with some paper airplanes still strewn about, but nothing else had changed. Cup and Carrot were gathering tools to harvest Sunday while she was struggling against her bindings. She looked over at Pinkie and cried. “Pinkie Pie, I’m sorry for not believing you. I’m sorry I decided not to be your friend, but please tell them not to kill me.” Pinkie also started crying, but she turned around and wrote in her notebook. “Pinkie, help me! I’m sorry. I’ll be your friend, you and I can escape and be friends forever…”

Sunday died, crying for Pinkie to save her. Once her screams stopped, Pinkie turned around to watch the harvest. Sunday’s lifeless body was taken off the table, gutted, and dressed. Pinkie watched until her tears dried up, then she merely ignored the gore and drew in her notebook.

’She listened to me; I got to talk to somepony; I made a new friend. I got to see lots of light and talk to somepony! Sunday died, but she became my friend first, that was great. I hope I’ll make more friends soon.’

Cupcake interrupted her thoughts by holding out a bloody slab of meat. “Pinkie, I want you to try this.” the filly barely looked at it before refusing.

“No, I’ve hardly eaten cooked meat, I know you want me to get used to it, but no thank…” Cupcake had already walked away. She whispered something to Carrot, then moved to Sunday. They worked in silence, ignoring Pinkie’s attempts at conversation. Pinkie panicked. They were ignoring her. For how long? It was because she hadn’t eaten the raw meat. She didn't want to, but she didn't want to be left alone. Not again.

They finished and started walking up the stairs. Pinkie, in a last-ditch effort, yelled, "I'm sorry, I'll do whatever you want just please don't leave me alone!"

They closed the door and left her in silence.

The Cakes wouldn’t talk to her for the next three days. Pinkie would try to start a conversation, but only the void answered. She tried to appease the Cakes by eating the offered cooked meat and being as good of a filly as she could, but nothing worked. This was the first time that she had enough to eat without feeling sick, but she only cared about her growing desperation for communication. 

One night, they opened the door with a stallion dragging behind them. Pinkie screamed and begged for someone to save her, but she didn't actually care for rescue, she just hoped they would laugh at her, or chastise her, or anything. He was strapped down and killed before he ever woke up. Carrot cut out a sizeable chunk of meat and walked to the pink filly, "Come on Pinkie, if you eat it we can go back to being friends."

Pinkie ate it immediately. She hardly noticed the delicious taste that assaulted her mouth, tastier than anything else she had ever tried, but all her focus was on the ponies she perceived as friends.

"Are we friends again? I ate it, and it was absolutely delicious. I loved it. Can we be friends again?" she asked, looking between the Cakes.

"Yeah Pinkie, we're friends."
> Vanilla Cake
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pinkie's reward for eating the fresh meat was access to more of the basement. She got a longer chain, more toys, and most importantly, her luggage. She opened it and pulled out an empty photo album. She flipped through the blank pages, remembering what her sisters said when they gave it to her. 

"You can take lots of pictures of all the fun parties you'll have, when you come back you can show us," Maud was so ecstatic when she said that her eyes were even fully opened.

"You better take pictures of everything interesting, we don't want to miss a thing!" Pinkie started crying as she thought of Blinkie and the rest of her family.

She quickly composed herself and smiled at the Cakes, "Thank you! I really missed this stuff," she flipped through the empty pages, eyes still glossy, "Can I have a camera? I want to use this," an idea popped into Pinkie's head. This would really test the lengths of her freedom. "Also... can I shower?"

The Cakes looked at each other, then moved out of Pinkie's light to talk. Pinkie could hear their whispers but couldn't make out what they were saying. She could vaguely make out the shape of one of them going to a closet. Carrot came out with a thick rope. He wrapped it around Pinkie's neck. Then Cupcake unchained her. 

"Stay right next to me," Carrot said, Pinkie stuck by his side as they walked to the shower. He removed the rope, let her walk into the shower, then closed the door. 

Pinkie stared at the knobs and experimentally turned the one with a 'c.' Coldwater shot down at her. She yelped and turned it back off. 'H for hot then?' She turned the other and relaxed as warm water fell upon her. Though it quickly became too hot, she turned the cold knob and felt the water go back to a reasonable temperature.

"Pinkie, you okay in there?" Carrot asked right outside the door. "Did you have a shower back where you lived before?"

"You guys have warm water in here! I used to bathe in a cold tub back home. This is amazing!" Pinkie watched the clear water turn brown as it came into contact with her. She spotted a bar of soap and lathered it. She watched the dirt come off with the help of the soap. The suds washed off to reveal her signature bubblegum pink fur, no longer dulled from dirt and grime. She read a bottle that said "shampoo, detangling and enriching," she squirted a sizable amount on her mane and tail and started cleaning those too. Once she finished cleaning herself, she merely sat in the water, enjoying its warmth.

She drifted off to sleep when a knock startled her awake. Mrs. Cake yelled through the door, "Pinkie Pie, you've been in there for ages. Get out," She quickly got up, turned off the shower, and stepped out. Mrs. Cake handed her a towel, then walked her back to her room. 

Pinkie was chained back up without complaint. Cupcake started to leave, but Pinkie had one more request. "Can I have some scissors?"

Mrs. Cake stiffened before turning to face her, "Why?"

"My hair is super duper matted. I want to cut it off and start fresh."

Mrs. Cake looked visibly relieved, "I'll cut it for you," she went to the stairs and turned on the light. Pinkie recoiled but adjusted faster than before. Mrs. Cake walked to a cart and pulled a pair of scissors. 

"Don't move," Cupcake threatened. She started by cutting off the mats. Then moved to make Pinkie look presentable. "I'm not a hairstylist, so it might not look great."

"Silly, I don't even have a mirror, I don't care what I look like," Pinkie said, keeping as still as a stone. Mrs. Cake finished, cleaned up the fallen hair, then left. Pinkie pulled out a brush from her personal stash, then started combing through her tail and mane. It was now very short and messy, but it was also easy to fix. It was as short as it had been when she was a baby filly. There was still a lot of hair on the floor, but she would deal with that later. For now, Pinkie was warm, clean, and happy, and that was enough for her.





Later in the week, while Pinkie was eating a salad filled with veggies and meat, her new favorite dish, the Cakes dragged down a stirring unicorn mare. The lights were already on, so Pinkie got to see exactly how they secured someone. The mare had woken up, so Cupcake stabbed her with a syringe. She went limp, then was placed on the table. They stretched out and secured her limbs in place. Straps went over her hooves, head, elbows, and knees.

"What was in the syringe?" Pinkie asked.

Carrot picked up a full syringe and a bag, then walked to her, “It's filled with a plant from the Everfree, they make ponies go unconscious when eaten," he pulled out a purple flower with an orange stem, "We grind it up to and put in saline, the effects are infused and when injected, make the pony sleep almost instantly."

Pinkie stared eagerly while grinning, "That's so cool! Do you have any other weird plants? Do they do other stuff? How did you guys find this out? Does it knock them out or make them nap? Is the Everfree scary? How hard are they to find? Can-"

Cupcake cut Pinkie off, "We'll answer your questions later Pinkie, right now we're busy."

Pinkie looked back at the mare, "What's her name?"

The Cakes glanced at each other before Cupcake answered, "Richy Rags, she worked as the boss in one of the most successful businesses in town," they didn't wait for Pinkie to respond. Instead, Carrot walked to Richy's head with a saw. Pinkie watched, concerned, but felt relieved when he started sawing her horn and not her head.

Richy's eyes shot open as soon as Carrot started sawing. She looked around rapidly while trying to break free. "Hi, Richy!" Pinkie yelled.

Richy's eyes fell on the pink pony just as her horn was completely severed. Blood pooled in her eyes, but her tears washed it away. Mr. Cake walked to Pinkie and asked if she wanted the horn.

'Horns are sharp... they are giving me a sharp object... they trust me enough to have a weapon!'

Pinkie accepted the "gift," as Richy watched in horror, realizing who her foalnappers were. "Carrot, you had a foal? You guys are keeping your foal in a basement?"

Pinkie looked at Richy confused, "I'm not their foal, I don't even live anywhere near here."

Richy's eyes shrank to the size of pins. "How long have you been down here? What have they done to you? Have they hurt you?"

Pinkie turned to Cupcake and Carrot before answering, "They haven't hurt me or anything. They starved me until I ate meat, but that was the worst of it. Now they even let me shower!" she said with a smile, "It's nice that you care about me and want to be my friend but I'm fine, really."

Richy tried her best to shake her head as she cried. She shut her eyes, so she didn't notice both Cakes getting ready for the harvest. They placed a knife on her chest, and Richy opened her eyes to look. She started pleading to Pinkie when the blade sunk deeper, "Pinkie, please help, this is bad, you and I can-" The pain was too much, Richy screamed.

"You're a lot nicer than Sunday. She swore at me and was a brat," Pinkie commented.

"You knew Sunday?" Richy was panting heavily, "She's been missing for weeks, she was last seen in the Everfree."

"I saw her in here, laying right where you are, she was loud. I like you better."

Richy never got to respond because the pain and blood loss clouded her thoughts until there was nothing left. Carrot, covered in blood, gave Pinkie a fresh piece of meat from Richy. She ate it hesitantly, but the need for friends overruled anything else. It tasted great, and Pinkie was having fun watching, so she was doing pretty well, all things considered.
> Chocolate Cake
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pinkie Pie had quite the collection. Every time the Cakes brought down a unicorn or pegasus, Pinkie could keep their extremities. Mostly feathers and horns. It was great when somepony would come down because Pinkie would get a new friend. They were always sad because they were going to die, but Pinkie tried her best to cheer them up. It rarely worked, but she did her best.

"Hey, Heeeeeeeey!" Pinkie was trying to get the attention of a screaming stallion. He was young, looked like he just graduated from being called a colt, "Mr. Loud Mouth, listen to me!" She didn't actually know his name, but Loud Mouth fit. He still wouldn't listen to her, so Pinkie opted to out-scream him. She screamed as high and as loud as she could, which finally got his attention.

"Hi, what's your name?" Pinkie said, voice cracking, "I'm Pinkie Pie.”

"Woken Dead, what are we fucking doing down here?”

Pinkie motioned to the stairs, "We were both foalnapped, but unlike me, you won't live much longer," she answered Dead's question before he had the chance to ask, "Carrot and Cupcake.”

"I'm going to die?" His voice cracked, and tears were streaking down his face.

"Yessiree, you will also be baked and eaten by me, the Cakes, and everyone else in town. Though most people won't know it, you'll just be another name that is presumed dead. Also, I have a question," she waited for Woken Dead to become better composed before she asked it, "Why did you live in Ponyville? It's super dangerous. I know one filly that came here specifically because of how close it is to the Everfree.”

"W-well it's home, the jobs are well paying, and the Everfree is really only dangerous if you live near it," it looked like he was becoming more confident, "It's beautiful here, and monster attacks don't happen very often, and we are decently prepared if they do. Despite the name Ponyville is pretty big, not as big as Manehattan, but still enough for most missing ponies to be unknown to others.”

His answer did not satisfy Pinkie. "What about all the missing and dead ponies? Isn't that scary?"

"Not really. Everypony knows the Everfree is dangerous, and most missing ponies live around or were last seen there," he chuckled. "Of course, I didn't listen. I needed to get some damn special Everfree herbs. Look where that got me... what's your story?”

She was taken slightly aback. Most ponies were too worried about themselves to care about the random filly in the basement. "Well, I found this basement, and I saw Frame Fitter, a stallion, in here. They chained me up and starved me until I ate pony meat. And now here we are. I have some souvenirs from other ponies." She picked up a horn and a feather, "The Cakes are gonna come down soon and kill you, they won't make you suffer much, they'll quickly cut you open then rip out your organs. You're an earth pony, so I probably won't get to keep a piece of you unless I kept a chunk of mane or something.”

The stair doors opened, Dead screamed. But of course, it was the last thing he would ever do.





Today was absolutely terrifying, it started out great. She had a new friend and was clean. After they killed Woken Dead they let Pinkie have a shower, but when she was going to be chained back up, the chain wasn't secured. She wasn't sure if they meant it to be a test, or if Carrot messed up, but she wasn't taking any chances.

'Okay, okay, I'm not moving. I'm not freaking moving. I'm not going to fucking move.' She laid down on the mattress, but the movement made the chain completely fall off. Her mane deflated more than it ever had before. 'I'm gonna die, they are going to think I'm trying to escape.' She curled up into a ball and cried, for the first time in a while, about her fate.

She heard the door open and hoof steps down the stairs. She heard whispers about her. She listened to them as they walked closer, but to her surprise, they didn't kill her when they came close. Instead, they greeted her with a hug. Pinkie finally opened her eyes. Both Cakes had weapons, but they were relaxed and not poised to strike.

Pinkie choked out a few words, "I'm sorry, the chain fell off, but I stayed right here. I don't know what happened to it. I'm sorry."

Cupcake helped Pinkie up to her hooves. Then did something Pinkie never thought would happen. She led Pinkie to the center. She could explore out of her confined area. "Cupcake, Carrot, thank you," Pinkie smiled sadly, "I'm happy you trust me, and I won't do anything to betray you guys," She hugged them again, then got a formal tour of the basement.

Once the tour concluded, they brought her to a small rope that led into the wall, "It's connected to a bell in our living room. If you need anything, just give us a ring," Carrot told her. They fed her, then left. For the first time, Pinkie could actually walk them out.

Her mane poofed back up. She ran around, looking through all the cabinets and drawers. Some had weapons, others had surgical tools, and a few had Everfree plants. She walked to one end of the basement, stretched, then started galloping to the other end. It felt amazing to get some exercise. She didn't make it far, her muscles so weak from inactivity. That didn't wipe the grin off her face. She was free. Pinkie bounced to the stairs but stopped at the first step. "They trust me!" she said in a sing-song voice, "I'll make them proud, and we'll all be a new happy family."

The door opened, and a blue hoof slid a present through the door before leaving. Pinkie walked to it, picked it up, then bounced back down the stairs. She walked back to her room and tore open the wrapping. Inside was a Polaroid camera, pink and adorned with her cutie mark. The film came in different colors. There were scrapbook supplies as well. She grabbed the camera, put some fancy film in, then took a silly picture. It came out well, and this was the first time she has seen herself in ages, and honestly, she didn't look that bad. She wrote in glitter pen, 'First day unchained!!!', then stuck it in her photo album. 'This probably isn't what my sisters meant when they wanted photos,' she thought, 'I'm gonna get to take pictures of all my friends!' She ran to her room and started taking photos of everything she found important. She didn't want to leave anything out.
> Red Velvet Cake
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Cakes warned her earlier today about bringing her newest friend. They told her to stay out of the way and not interfere. Pinkie didn’t want to watch from her room and not do anything, so she asked if she could be an assistant. She didn't actually want to hurt them, but she would fetch tools and talk to them. She watched the clock, waiting for them to come down. She could never tell if it was a.m. or p.m. but it said it was 2 when they came down with a stallion. She stood back as they strapped him down. 

"Pinkie, can you get me a saw?" Carrot asked, "There's one in the closet."

Pinkie skipped to the closet. It was filled to the brim with useful supplies, ropes, blades, medical tools, and more. It took a second, but Pinkie found the saw and brought it to Carrot. She sat as he sawed the stallion's horn off. He woke up early in the process and was screaming in pain. Cupcake handed Pinkie the horn after Carrot severed it. She grabbed it and added it to her collection. The stallion was screaming obscenities, but Pinkie had heard it all at this point. 

She picked up her camera and snapped a picture of him and herself. "Hey, what's your name?" He didn't answer because he was too busy being gutted. She placed the picture inside her album. Then went to ask the Cakes something. 

They were busy dressing him and didn't catch Pinkie grabbing a scalpel. She tapped Mrs. Cake, then asked, "Can I have his cutie mark? I didn't get his name and I want to remember him." 

Mrs. Cake took the scalpel out of the filly's hoof, "Didn't you take a picture? I can give them to you if you want though," she slowly cut a circle around both, and removed them. Mrs. Cake placed them on a table, mark side down. She also gave Pinkie a sizeable chunk of meat for her to eat. 

Pinkie snacked while looking at her prize. She picked one up and investigated the mark's design. It was an Everfree plant. The Cakes said it caused paralysis. 'Why did he have such an awful plant as his cutie mark?' she put the mark back down, 'I guess it doesn't matter since he's dead now.'

She skipped around the carcass as the Cakes worked. "What do you guys do with the bones and that stuff?"

Mr. Cake answered, “We dump them in the Everfree, if someone finds it they'll think a monster ate it, that's also why we leave some meat on it so that the monsters take some bones to their dens to finish."

"How long have you guys been doing this?" she stopped bouncing to look in the buckets of entrails. They picked the buckets up and walked to the stairs.

"I've been doing this since I was your age. Carrot joined when he was a teen, back when we first started dating," Cupcake said before walking out.

"Oooooooh, so she's been doing this for ages. I'm gonna have to ask her about that later," Pinkie bounced to something in her pile. It was a griffon book about taxidermy. She flipped to the section about preserving skin and fur. She followed the steps to the best of her ability but needed some more supplies. She ran to the bell's rope but didn't ring it just yet. She made a list of what she wanted. The filly thoroughly flipped through her book, making a note of everything she thought would be useful. She went back to the cutie marks but saw it was shedding fur. 'So these marks are a bust, but I still want to try, maybe next time.' 

Once Pinkie finished the list, she rang the bell. She couldn't hear it but assumed it worked. The door opened a minute later. Mr. Cake walked down, "Pinkie, you wanted something?" 

She shoved the list in his face, "The cutie mark is already dead, I want to keep it, and one of my books said I need this stuff."

He read it, "Do you need it now, or later?"

"I want it before your next pony, so before then, I also want more toys, and can I get some snacks or something?" 

Mr. Cake gave her a quick hug then walked up, "Sure Pinkie, I'll get you this stuff. Bye."





Pinkie was once again bored. The Cakes didn't bring down a new friend in weeks, so Pinkie struggled to entertain herself. Cupcake let Pinkie have a sewing kit, nothing fancy, but it did the job. She crudely stitched together a stuffed horse with an actual unicorn horn. It looked nothing like a real pony, but she liked it. She took some pictures, decorated them, then put them in her album. It was getting decently filled, about 1/8 of the way full. She never really had plushies at home. She had lots of toys, though cloth was scarce, so her parents made most of her toys out of rock. The Cakes had given her stuffed toys already, but it was nice to make one with her own hooves.

The Cakes had given her a hot plate and a pot alongside the rest of asked supplies. She took the pot of boiling water and made some tea. She waited for it to cool down, and in the meantime, Pinkie took a shower. Her mane had grown longer. She took special care to keep mats out; it was a lot easier since her hair was less poofy now. She dried herself up, then relaxed with her tea while reading a Daring Do book. 

It was nice, just relaxing. She wanted them to bring down a new friend, but she could wait.

The Cakes came down a few hours later. They brought her a meal and some more film. Pinkie had been running out. She made tea for the Cakes, then started chatting. 

They didn't talk about anything deep or important, but hanging out with them was her favorite part of the day. "Pinkie, do you want to help us next time?" Mrs. Cake asked, "I can tell you about how I first started."

Pinkie shrugged. Mrs. Cake started her story, "I first found a pony corpse in the Everfree. There are normal plants in the Everfree that we get for baking and one plant I needed had grown in their corpse. It was getting dark, and the Everfree is much deadlier at night, it was the only herb I had found so I picked some and went back home," she was looking at Mr. Cake with a satisfied look, "Those were the greatest baked goods I had ever made at that point. They had an exceptional taste that no other shop could replicate. Of course, I now know that the pony was making the plant taste much better. Eventually, the corpse decomposed to where the herbs went back to tasting normal."

The story had grabbed Pinkie's full attention, "Didn't you have parents that were afraid of you going into the Everfree?"

Cupcake glanced at Carrot, "Not really, I had parents, but they were so busy doing their own things, they didn't really care where I went. They didn't even say anything when I moved out with Carrot to start our bakery. Back when the story started I sold my treats at bake sales and fairs, not an entire shop," she cleared her throat, "Anyway, my treats had tasted 'normal' again, which I didn't want. It was pretty easy to get someone to follow me into the forest. Lots of foals wanted to prove how brave they were by going into it. I don't remember the name of the filly, but we went at night to the patch of plants. I had previously set up some weapons that I used to kill her. She was an earth pony, which made it easier. I was covered in her blood, but there was a nearby stream that I washed up in. Before I did that, I licked some of her blood off my hoof."

Mrs. Cake walked to the back and took out a preserved red herb. Pinkie didn't know what it was, but it looked similar to some in her books. The ones about normal pony cooking and not meat, Mrs. Cake went back to her story, "I thought this plant was the main ingredient, but it was, in fact, the pony. It had been the first time I had tasted fresh blood, and I was hooked. Carrot helped with our primitive method of getting ponies when we started dating. When we bought our bakery, we got a building with a basement specifically with this in mind. It took a lot of work to set it up, but eventually, it was ready we could get meat not diluted by the taste of plants, which as you know, is the best. It's also very fun killing them."

Carrot looked slightly off-put by the last sentence, "Cupcake finds it fun, I think it's okay."

"What would I do if I helped?" Pinkie asked. She was intrigued and wanted to help the Cakes.

They explained the process of murder and harvesting, though Pinkie knew most of it from watching so many times. She was excited to try, but her mane deflated a slight amount. She brushed it off, too invested in the thought of playing with new friends.

"I think that'll be fun, I want to help!"

The next day the Cakes brought a blue pegasus stallion down. Pinkie looked at his cutie mark. It was a computer mouse. It wasn't very fancy, so the risk of failure wasn't very high. She still wanted to take it, but there wasn't much pressure. They strapped him on the table, then looked to Pinkie.

"What do you want to do first?" Carrot asked.

The filly took a scalpel, then carved around his marks. He woke up at the first incision, which scared Pinkie, but Cupcake persuaded her to keep going.

It was harder than Pinkie thought it would be, but the marks were off. They were not neat and one mark had a large part missing, but she had done it. The stallion was screaming and cursing, but it did not faze her. Screams were a common part of her world now. Pinkie grabbed his removed hide and hung it up to dry.

Carrot and Cupcake instructed her on how to disembowel him. She wanted to have more fun with him before he died but Carrot convinced her to hold off until she was more experienced. Pinkie needed help, but in the end, he was dead and she had fun. Blood completely covered her small frame. She had a hunk of meat in her mouth and a smile on her face. They took the stallion down and taught Pinkie how to skin him and harvest his meat. It took hours, but she had done a decent job on him. Pinkie asked Mr. Cake to take a picture of herself and the cadaver. She was unrecognizable; she was so red.

The Cakes loaded the meat into buckets and went up. So Pinkie took a shower. She watched as the gore mixed with the water as it went down the drain. Her fur turned from a maroon back to her iconic pink. Pinkie's mane was soaked from blood, so it needed more care than normal to wash. It was growing longer, though it may just seem that way because it deflated.

She finished washing up, then started cleaning up the work area. She used a hose to wash the blood off the table and floor to a drain. It was fast and not very messy. She bounced to the cutie marks, then took them down to preserve them. Pinkie brought out her taxidermy book and followed the instructions. The Cakes tried their best to get the materials she wanted, so she was decently prepared. The directions were easy to follow so far. Right now she just covered them in salt. She would work on the marks more later.

It took a few days, but it was a success! The cutie marks were now leather. She would make it soft later. She had some hide from another recent victim that she wanted to preserve first.
> Molten Lava Cake
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pinkie had a guest. The Cakes had told her not to start without them, but she would still have fun while they were gone. A light-brown earth mare was on the table, barely awake.

Pinkie poked her muzzle, which fully woke her up. "Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie!"

As always, the victim woke up confused and scared. She opened her mouth and looked thoughtful for a second before saying, "Hi, Pinkie Pie, I'm Hot Springs. What am I doing here?"

Pinkie smirked, "Ooooh, you're trying to play the nice type in hopes I'll set you free. Well, lucky for you, this is the first time I'd actually be able to."

Hot Springs looked relieved, "You'll let me go? Thank you, I don't know what a little filly like you is doing down here, but I'll help you get out of-" a pink hoof was placed on Spring's muzzle, silencing her.

"I said I could let you out, not that I will," Pinkie hopped around the captured mare, "I'm gonna kill you. I've done it before. I've also helped other ponies die, and I have watched many, many, MANY more. I'm also gonna eat you."

Hot Springs looked stunned. She didn't react when Pinkie said another threat, though tears streaked down her face. Just for fun, Pinkie started thinking out loud. "Hmm... They told me not to kill you before they come down, but they didn't say I couldn't just hurt you."

Pinkie sat looking at the stunned mare. It took a few minutes before Hot Springs finally said, "They?" 

"Yeah, they! They were the ones that foalnapped us and will cook you and feed you to the rest of town. I am thinking about having fun while I wait for... Wild Berry and Carnival."

The filly went to the cart and took out a scalpel. She wanted to have fun in a non-lethal way. She pushed away Springs' long white mane, then covered her eyes with a cloth. Pinkie got on a stool and stood eye-level with her. She slowly pressed the scalpel through the cloth and into one of Hot Springs' lovely blue eyes. Spring screamed and thrashed, but the pink pony was only halfway done. She moved to the mare's second eye, then did the same. 

Pinkie removed the cloth to see her handiwork. Hot Springs' eyes were leaking juices, tears, and blood. They were deflated, leaving gaping holes in her face. Pinkie grabbed her camera and took a picture. She held the scalpel again, then cut the blood vessels and optic nerve. She completely detached the eyes from Hot Springs' sobbing form. Pinkie snapped more pictures before gently placing the eye in the tan mare's mouth. She shoved the used cloth in Hot Springs' muzzle before she could spit it out. Pinkie leaned close to Springs’ ear.

"Eat it."

Hot Springs cried and tried to get the cloth out of her mouth, but Pinkie's hoof kept it snugly in place. The filly blindly felt for her scalpel. She placed the blade in the inner wall of the eye socket. 

"Hot Springs, eat it, or I will cut you again," Pinkie said in a stern voice. 

The mare whimpered, then swallowed. Pinkie watched Springs' throat as the eye traveled down. "Yay! One down, one to go," Pinkie removed the cloth then slipped the other in her in Hot Springs' mouth. She tried to place the cloth back, but Spring swallowed right away. 

Pinkie removed the rag, "I don't know when my friends will come down," she set the stool back and sat down. It made a long scraping noise that Hot Springs didn't even notice. "Hey Spring, you existing?"

Pinkie poked Springs' nose again but received no response. "Great, I broke you again," she looked at Springs' limp form. She looked dead, except for the rising and falling of her chest. "This is really fun, hanging out with you. I'm not sorry for hurting you, but I am sorry that you had to come down here. I've been down here for months, I don't even know how long, actually."

Pinkie went to where the syringes were kept. She picked up a mixture that supposedly increased a pony's adrenaline. She drew up a small amount, then injected it into Hot Springs. It took a few minutes, but she once again became responsive. 

Pinkie could see Springs' exposed eye muscles moving to see anything with her nonexistent eyeballs. The filly went back to her room and sat. Pinkie stayed as quiet as possible while watching the mare. Each second that went by made the mare more and more anxious. Her ears were moving erratically, and her entire body was trembling. Hot Springs yelled, "Pinkie, are you here? Don't leave me, I'll do anything you ask. Please come back," each word came out softer and softer, "I'm scared."

Hot Springs' cry touched the pink foal. She silently cried as she walked back to the mare. She gently placed a hoof on Springs' side. This made her scream and thrash before hearing Pinkie's voice, "You remind me of me," Pinkie said softly, "I'm sorry that you're going to die. I'm right here, I can't leave so we're stuck together."

"You can't leave?" Springs chocked out, "Why not?"

"Wild Berry and Carnival don't want me to. They foalnapped me months ago, I only got enough freedom to leave my little area a few weeks ago," Pinkie pointed to the metal hook where her chain used to attach to the wall, "See that," Pinkie giggled remembering Hot Springs' current state, "Um... did you see my room when you came here, with the mattress and toilet and toys."

"Yeah, I remember ...seeing it."

"I was only allowed in that area. They chained me up to the wall and I couldn't move. I got to move because I helped them harvest ponies. That's one reason I don't feel bad for hurting you. Another reason is that ponies are happy because of your suffering, we're going to eat you, I wasn't joking about that. Everypony will, you've probably eaten other ponies at some point."

Pinkie went to get some jerky, "I'm going to put a piece of meat in your mouth. I want you to chew it and tell me how it is. Open your mouth." 

Hot Springs opened her mouth. Pinkie placed a chunk of meat in it. "Chew," the filly instructed. Springs chewed. After a minute she swallowed, "How was it?"

Hot Springs sighed, "It was …delicious, you eat this a lot?"

"Every day! Carnival and Wild Berry starved me until I ate it so I learned to like it."

"Why did you have to hurt me? Even if I escape-"

"You won't"

"I'd still be blind. You made me eat my own eyes. Why?"

"I dunno. I thought it'd be fun. It was, but your crying also made me sad, it reminded me of me. I already said that though. Oh! I still haven't taken your cutie marks." They were pictures of a geyser mid-blast.

"What? No Pinkie please no, don't take anything else from me, please no," a scalpel slowly carved around one mark, much neater than before. It was removed, then hung to dry. She did the same with the other. The mare screamed and thrashed, yelling for someone to save her.

"I've already tried that, no one can hear us down here."

"Where are we?" Springs asked. Defeated, she stopped struggling and shut her empty eyes.

"Under a building in Ponyville, Carnival and Wild Berry own it so no one is going to stumble down here."

"Just... kill me."

"Nope, I can't until they come down. I don't know why they won't let me, but I'm not gonna argue. They brought me a new friend so I'm fine with this."

Hot Springs cried, tears streaming down her face and into her empty sockets. The filly placed her hoof on Springs' exposed flank. The mare screamed, but didn't beg, plead, or cry. Pinkie cut out two pieces of flesh from the muscle. She ate one and made Springs eat the other. They both chewed slowly before swallowing. Finally, the door to the bakery opened. Hot Springs screamed, not knowing who was at the door, "Help!"

"Pinkie we're here," Mrs. Cake said.

The filly bounded up to them, "Hi Carnival, hi Wild Berry!"

“Pinkie?"

"Hot Springs can't see right now, so you guys are going to have to talk a lot more than normal," Pinkie said, skipping back to the blind mare.

"Okay Pinkie, come on... Carnival," The Cakes glanced at each other while walking down the stairs.

They walked over to Pinkie. Then looked at the portion of hanging hide. Mr. Cake looked at the captured mare and gasped. Mrs. Cake did the same, Carrot asked, "Pinkie, what did you do to her?"

"I already told you she couldn't see. I thought I gave you enough of a warning."

"I thought you blindfolded her, not... this."

Pinkie pouted, then directed the conversation to Hot Springs, "Hey Springs, can you tell them what I made you do?"

The defeated mare cried as she whispered, "She carved out my eyes and made me eat them, she took off my cutie marks and made me eat meat under that as well," with each word she gained more confidence until she was shaking with anger, "I don't blame her, I blame the ones that foalnapped her and made her do these terrible things. I hope they die a slow and painful death."

Pinkie ignored the last part. She stuck her tongue out at the Cakes, "See, it's not my fault. You guys were the ones that made me kill others."

Mr. Cake spoke again, "We didn't want you to torture them, just kill them as quick as possible."

"What's the difference, they're all gonna die, anyway. I just want to have some fun while I'm stuck down here."

Cupcake sighed, "Did you really have fun?"

Pinkie nodded, "It was cool to see her eyes deflate, and to see how she reacted."

Carrot was looking around at everyone, "Honey, she can't do that, that's too far."

Mrs. Cake stared at her husband, "You think my first kills were quick? I know for a fact they took hours to bleed out. I watched them so I could make sure they didn't leave, but I didn't let them die. If she wants to have fun, just let her."

Carrot slowly shook his head, "I really don't like this, but fine, I guess she should get to have some fun while in here."

Hot Springs was yelling throughout the entire conversation, begging them to let her go and not let Pinkie hurt others. "Please, please, don't let her hurt anyone else. None of you guys should hurt anyone else. Carnival, convince them to let me go, or let me die."

"Why didn't you two want me to kill her until you were here?" Pinkie asked, holding a knife.

Cupcake answered, "You still need a lot of help, so we were going to help you if when we came down. We didn't want you to be overwhelmed. I'm glad you found something fun to do."

"Sooooooo, can I kill her now?"

The Cakes nodded.

Pinkie plunged the knife into Springs' chest. She made the surgical 'I' like she was taught and reached in. With each organ she pulled, her mane deflated slightly more. Until it was just slightly above a normal volume. 

Together they finished the harvest and cleaned up. Pinkie said her last goodbyes to Hot Springs, then went to shower. This day rocked! Torture was even more fun than just killing. 'I wish I realized this sooner. It could have made my life a lot easier.' Pinkie finished her shower, then started preserving Springs' cutie marks. 'I'm gonna get a lot of these, aren't I? I should do something with them.'
> Mug Cake
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pinkie and Mrs. Cake stood near a sleeping pony, "Come on! Please, you aren't doing anything with it!" Pinkie pleaded to Mrs. Cake, "I want it, I want to do some crafts with it."

Mrs. Cake pointed to the bolt of fabric laying near Pinkie's room, "You have plenty of fabric. Why do you want it?"

"Because it's morbid and a pretty yellow. Are you going to do anything with it other than feed the timberwolves?"

"No, but it'll rot, and well have to drag it out later when it's falling apart," Mrs. Cake countered.

"I've gotten super good at keeping the cutie marks preserved, and this is just a big version of it!"

"I'll give you a chunk, not all of it, but some. If you do well with this, I'll let you have more."

"Yay, I want to get it," Pinkie grabbed a scalpel and drove it into the sleeping stallion's flesh, just above the cutie mark. The pain woke him up. He thrashed but stopped when he saw Cupcake.

"Chiffon? What are you doing standing here?" he panted, "Help me-" his own scream interrupted the stallion as she ripped his cutie mark off.

"Who's Chiffon," Pinkie asked holding, the cutie mark in her teeth, "You?"

"My maiden name, he, Veiled Sun, hasn't lived here since he was a colt. He moved in a few weeks ago and hasn't been to the bakery yet."

Veiled Sun was going to say something, but screamed when Pinkie appeared in front of him. She smiled, "Hi, your fur is super pretty and soft, mine's not. Well, it is pretty, but it's not soft. Neither is my mane," she ran a hoof through Sun's hair, "Your mane feels nice too. What's your secret?"

He cried, "Chiffon, why aren't you helping me?"

"Hey Sun, I asked you a question. How do you keep your fur and mane so soft?"

He didn't answer. He just cried and screamed. Pinkie moved to the other side of him and put the scalpel above his remaining mark. She made a small incision and taunted, "Sunny, I'd start talking before you become a blank flank!"

"I wash my mane and hair with water directly from the clouds, then blow dry it by flying through the sky. I don't do anything else, I swear!" He blurted.

Pinkie grinned, then walked away. Sun sighed, then screamed as she brought a pair of scissors to the cut. "I thought if I answered, you wouldn't hurt me!?"

"All I said was you should talk before it happened. I never said I would stop. You should probably stop screaming now, or else your voice will give out really soon. I have a lot of plans! I've been brainstorming for weeks!" Pinkie said.

Sun directed his cries to Cupcake, "Why are you letting her do this? Why are you teaching your daughter to do this?"

"Silly Sunny, I'm not-"

“I don't know why you and your daughter are doing this, but if you let me go, I won't tell anyone. I'll leave Ponyville and move back to Las Pegasus. You'll never see me again."

"Hey, I was talking-"

"I'll never tell anypony about this. Your secret is safe with me. I'll leave. I'll never tell anypony. No anyone, no creature or pony, will hear about this."

"Really Sunny, you think we haven't heard-"

"Chiffon, Pinkie please don't. I can help if that's what you want instead. I can help k-kill ponies just, don't kill me."

"Wow Veil, you're really selfish-"

"Chiffon, I will do anything to live. Please, I'll leave, and you'll never see me again ever, or I'll help, just let m-"

"Shut the FUCK up!" Pinkie yelled. Both adults looked at her, surprised, "Now that I have your attention, I'm not her foal. I don't know why everyone thinks that. It was a while ago but I was foalnapped by them too, but I'm not upset about it. I have a plan, but your pleads will make it even more fun."

Pinkie smiled, "You say you'll kill to save your own skin?"

Sun nodded.

"Yay," Pinkie skipped to her cutie mark collection and picked a few up. She also grabbed a few slices of jerky, "Look, these were ponies cutie marks. I keep them as souvenirs. I've saved my skin too, by taking others! This is pony meat, open wide."

Veiled Sun closed his eyes and opened his mouth. He gagged while eating but eventually swallowed.

"How much pain would you be willing to go through to keep living?"

"I'll do anything," he said with a glare.

Pinkie grinned. She grabbed the scalpel and took off his remaining mark, as well as skin from his side. He whimpered but obviously tried to appear brave. She grabbed one of his wings and pulled it taut. "When was your last molt?"

"3 weeks ago?"

The filly turned to Mrs. Cake, "Can we test if he'll actually kill? Like, can you go out and get another pony?"

"No."

"Meanie pants. Alright, Sunny, we'll have to come up with something else. Here's some more jerky," she shoved a hoof-full into his mouth, "I'll pluck your feathers if you spit it out."

He chewed slowly, then swallowed. Pinkie cheered, "You didn't gag this time. Isn't it good? You aren't allowed to puke either," she grabbed her trusty scalpel and cut out a chunk of his flank, "Here's some more, this one's fresher."

It was a lot harder to make him eat this chunk. Since his mouth was currently busy screaming. Pinkie rolled her eyes and bit one of his primary feathers. She pulled the wing pulled back, but she won. The feather came out, leaving a deep wound in his wing. It bled only a little, surprisingly. 

"Are you ready to eat now?"

He nodded, still glaring.

Pinkie shoved the flesh in his mouth. He swallowed it whole. 'Huh, maybe I should use a bigger chunk next time.'

She hopped to the closet and grabbed a bucket. She then skipped to Mrs. Cake, "You said you would help me, but you haven't done anything yet."

"I'll help you harvest, but I'm not helping how. I think you can handle this yourself."

"But you said you were cool with me doing this? Don't you want to join the fun?"

"I am cool with this, but I never said I want to join. I just think you deserve to have some fun."

"It is fun! You're missing out," she turned back to Veiled Sun, "Hey Sunny, remember what I said about not puking?"

She forced his feather into his mouth as far as it would go. She then wiggled it around. He gagged. Pinkie put the bucket under his muzzle, then waited for the magic to happen. He ejected his stomach. Meat and his last meal filled the waiting bucket. 

"Gosh darn it, Sunny. Don't you remember what I said? Well, you didn't listen, obviously. Don't worry though, I didn't forget and I am a mare of my word. Actually, that's a lie. But if I admit it, does that make me truthful? Huh, I dunno."

Pinkie went to a cabinet and grabbed a bottle of styptic powder, which would stop any bleeding the powder was placed on. She opened the bottle to prepare for his plucking. Pinkie pulled out Sun's wing and looked through the feathers. "Woo-hoo, I found a blood feather, don't worry. I'll try to keep you from bleeding out."

She didn't wait for him to respond. Pinkie pulled out a few feathers, the ones keeping her from getting a good grip on her prize.

"Pinkie, no, I'm a pegasus, so I don't have as much blood as you. I'll bleed out and die. I'll die! Blood feathers aren't like fully grown ones, they're still growing and will bleed a lot. Don't kill me."

It didn't matter though, Pinkie gripped the blood feather in her teeth, then uprooted the immature feather. The wound immediately started bleeding, much more than expected. She wasn't worried though, that's what the styptic powder was for, to stop the blood. Pinkie smiled as Veiled Sun screamed. His wings flapped uselessly, trying to get away, blood splattered everywhere. She fumbled for the styptic powder, not looking. She was too busy watching the blood bubble out and down. Pinkie finally looked at the cart, only to be startled by Sun spitting in her face. Her hoof jerked and knocked the anti-coagulant to the floor. 

Her smile fell, "Shoot, shoot, crap! Sunny, do you want to die?!" she screamed as she scrambled around, trying to gather enough of the powder, "Alright, this is fine, he was gonna die anyway. It's fine if he dies now. But I wasn't done yet!" she sobbed.

After what felt like an eternity, she gathered enough powder. She shoved it in Sun's wound, then went to get some more. Pinkie glanced at the wing and saw the blood flow had decreased dramatically. She kept shoving more in until there was no more red.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she cried into his mane.

"Brat, you expect me to accept your apology when you're going to kill me. You just didn't want to be finished torturing me."

Pinkie wiped away her tears, then looked at Sun. Her grin almost split her face, "You're still alive! I'm sorry for freaking out like that. It's also your own fault for startling me like that."

"Like this?" Veiled Sun asked as he spat in her face again.

Pinkie wiped it away and glared, "Yes, like that. You're probably hungry from all that blood loss, aren't you? Don't worry, I have the perfect treat."

"More meat?"

"Sorta. Remember, no puking or spitting. I won't pluck blood feathers anymore, but the rest of them are fair game."

Pinkie grabbed a spoon and dipped it in the bucket. What came out was a gloppy mess of meat and... a daisy sandwich? She shoved it into his mouth, but he spat it right out. Some landed on Pinkie's coat, "Ewwwwww," she ran to grab a towel and clean herself, "Sunny, that's just rude. I think you deserve something more special for doing something that gross."

Pinkie grabbed some pliers and Sun's tail. She removed a few strands and watched him flinch. She then clamped the pliers a few inches above the base and pulled with all her might. The hair eventually came off, alongside the skin of his tail. It didn't bleed much, so Pinkie wasn't very worried. She put some anti-coagulant on his tail stump, just in case.

"Feeling hungry yet?" She asked, waving his tail around. "This super-soft tail is mine now."

His eyes blazed with rage, but he kept his mouth firmly shut.

"You're getting boring. Maybe I could stray from my plan a bit..."

Pinkie got a needle and thread, a large funnel, and a candle, "Any guesses?"

She placed the funnel in his mouth and was about to sew, but stopped when she noticed his droopy eyelids, "You're sleepy. We can't have that. This party is just for us. We can't stop now!" She removed the funnel and stuck the needle in his lip.

"Can you help teach me how much adrenaline and that stuff to give?" Pinkie asked Cupcake.

They walked to the cupboards, and Mrs. Cake showed Pinkie how to guesstimate the pony's weight and how to dose accordingly. All the while Veil got 5 minutes of much-needed rest.

"Silly Stallion. I know how to get you to wake up!" She stuck the needle in his thigh. He woke up soon after.

"Alright, let's get back to it!" She held the funnel in place and sewed around it. He tried to scream, but his mouth got progressively more muffled. When it was firmly in place Pinkie, moved on to the next step. "Come on, Sunny, don't give me the silent treatment," she said in a faux sad voice, "Oh yeah, I forgot! Your muzzle's been muzzled for a bit."

Pinkie retrieved the candle and lit it, "The faster you drain the funnel, the faster the pain goes away."

Pinkie tipped the bucket into the funnel. She filled it halfway. Pinkie had to hold the funnel in place to keep it from falling over both of them. She looked to Cupcake for help, "Can you move the candle to his flank? The part missing his marks."

"Pinkie, I already said I didn't want to help," she said.

"Please?"

"Fine," Mrs. Cake moved the candle right next to his flank, just close enough for the flame to lick the exposed flesh, "Meanie pants," she said with a smile.

Veil's eyes sprung wide open. His expression changed from anger to fear. He silently begged Pinkie to take away the funnel. All he received was a smile. She leaned close and whispered in his ear, "This is the part where I expect you to die. Here's a tip. Think of it like soup. Chunky pony meat soup."

He screwed his eyes shut and drank. The funnel's liquid level decreased at a surprising rate. Soon it was empty. He took many deep breaths, eyes still closed tight. Pinkie poured the rest of the bucket into the funnel. This time it almost overflowed.

"Level 1 competed! Time for the boss level."

He started drinking immediately, but Pinkie wanted to up the ante with something simple but effective. She placed her other hoof over his nose, which completely stopped him from breathing.

"Tick-Tock Veil, I'd be sad if you left this party after everything we've been through together."

Pinkie watched the funnel. It kept going down... until it didn't. But he wasn't dead. In fact, he was breathing. Pinkie looked closely and saw he opened his mouth as far as possible, which was just a sliver. She looked inside and saw something fun. 'Is that his tongue? Did Veil clog the funnel with his tongue? Smartypants.'

"I'll let you off with a warning since I didn't expect it and it was smart, but I'll chop off your tongue if you do that again."

The funnel gradually emptied, and once it did, Pinkie cut his stitches and removed the funnel. She also blew out the candle. The flesh in that area was black, charred, and the fur above looked singed.

"Whelp, I've used up all my plans and I'm getting tired, so bye Sun!" she said nonchalantly.

Pinkie grabbed a large knife and held it to his chest.

"No, please Pinkie-"





The harvest was never as fun as the party, but it was done. Mrs. Cake left right after. She said she had business to attend to, so Pinkie went to preserve the pretty yellow fur. 

'If this is a party, then we'll need decorations. I hope they'll let me get some. Although these parties aren't normal, so I could get creative.'

Pinkie was hopping around the basement getting supplies for the fur and thinking about future parties when her tail did a twitchy twitcha twitcha twitch. She then tripped on her blanket and fell flat on her face. 'That hasn't happened in a while. I'm glad my Pinkie Sense is back.'
> Cookie Cake
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pinkie waited at the base of the stairs for the Cakes to bring her new craft supplies. She walked to everything she had prepared. Her first major craft was going to be simple. She had her least favorite cutie marks laid out. The back door opened, and Pinkie bounced over to it.

“Here you go, Pinkie,” Mr. Cake said as he laid down a small pink blanket.

“Thank you! This will hopefully look great! I’m gonna have to show you two when I’m done. Now shoo, it’s a surprise.”

Mr. Cake left. Pinkie dragged the blankie to the marks. She then straightened it out and placed the cutie marks over it. Pinkie only laid out the marks she was willing to mess up on. She could add more after she killed more ponies. Pinkie sewed the marks on in a random pattern. It was hard to get the needle through the leather, but she was determined. 

“Blehhhhhhhh, why is this so hard!” she said to herself, “The griffon books make it seem so easy! Maybe it’s because of their hands, lucky brats. Alright, here’s a goal, steal something’s hands. I don’t know personally something with hands, but I’m going to be everypony’s friend. One of them has gotta be friends with something with hands.”

Pinkie continued to sew, “Let’s see, there are griffons, dragons, uh minotaurs, that’s all I can think of.”

After a few hours, Pinkie filled the patchwork blanket with as many cutie marks as she felt comfortable losing. She then took a picture and rang the bell.

It took ages, almost ten minutes of ringing before Mr. Cake came down. He didn’t stay for long though, “Sorry Pinkie, Cupcake is out getting baking supplies, and I’m the only one in the shop. I’ll see your craft later.”

“She’s getting baking supplies!? Does that mean I’ll get another friend?” Pinkie asked, grinning.

“Sorry, Pinkie, but no. She’s getting normal ingredients like flour.”

“Lame,” she said, sticking out her tongue.

“I’ve gotta go, Pinkie. I’ll visit you later.”

“Yeah, bye.”

The Cakes came down later. Mrs. Cake was holding a sheet of paper. She handed it to Pinkie, “This is the hours for our shop. We’re usually busy during this time, so we might not come when you ring. Try to only call if there’s an emergency during store hours,” Cupcake said.

“Alrighty, wanna see my blankie now? It’s special and made with lots of blood, sweat, and tears. Not mine, of course.”

Pinkie bounced over to her creation, “Look, it has all the messed up and ugly cutie marks! I do something else with the pretty marks, but that’ll come later.”

Mrs. Cake picked it up and felt the marks, “They feel nice and soft. I think you did a great job.”

“Really? Thank you! It was harder than I thought it would be. The leather was hard to stab, but I think I need a different needle. I like how it came out. I still have a lot more cutie marks, but that’s for later. Later I’m gonna make a dr- no, that’s secret. I bet some people know what I’m talking about!”

“People... do you mean ponies? What ponies?” Mr. Cake asked. They both looked confused.

Pinkie’s mane deflated completely, as she thought, “I have no clue. It feels like a wall in my brain just broke, so I know more stuff now. I feel invincible, but also like a tiny speck in the universe.”

Mrs. Cake placed her hoof on Pinkie’s back, “Hey, are you okay?”

“I think? Imagine you feel normal, and your brain is normal, but since you’ve always been kinda weird, your normal brain is still weird. So being in here made your brain glitch, and now you understand more, and your brain’s wall broke. See, I can’t explain it. It just happened, but it felt like it was inevitable. I think it was going to be gradual, and I would just be slightly weird, but now I’m just filled with too much information so I’m confused and scared.”

’You get what I mean, right?’

Mr. Cake cleared his throat, “Well, Pinkie, I think your blanket looks great. You did a good job on the stitching.”

“Thanks, you guys didn’t see me do it, but some people did... they read it. No one’s ever seen me, they’ve seen a version of me, but they’ve never seen me.”

“Do you need us to stay or leave, Pinkie? You aren’t-“ Mrs. Cake tried to say.

“Stay, I’m kinda going through an existential crisis right now, and I could use the support. But you two don’t get it? Imagine we’re in a bubble, and our world exists only in the bubble. But someone made the bubble, and there are more bubbles, and I can see out the bubble, but no one else can and-“

“Pinkie. Pinkie!” Mrs. Cake yelled, “Are you sure you’re okay?”

She laughed and pushed away Cupcake’s hoof, “No, I’m not okay! I just realized this world is fake, and that I’m doubly trapped, and my mane’s fluffiness just died. It hasn’t been flat since before the big rainbow explosion. Do... do I still have my cutie mark?” She yelled as she turned to her flank, “I still have my cutie mark. That’s good. I’m still a party pony. Even though I’ve never had an actual party... I’m a fraud! All I do is make people sad and hurt. I’m awful!” She sniffled and wiped away her tears. When did she start crying? “It doesn’t even matter since this world is fake. Nothing matters. No one is real, and I’m not real, so I’m not doing anything wrong. I haven’t killed anypony, just characters in a story.”

She grabbed the blankie and wrapped it around herself. “I think I’ve lost it. That’s what you two want, right? For me to lose my mind, well congrats, you did it.”

Mr. Cake spoke, “No Pinkie, we don’t want that, we just-“

“Leave me alone. I have some things to process.”

“You just said you wanted us here?”

“Well, now I’ve changed my mind. I want to panic in peace.”

They left, finally letting her question reality without ponies that couldn’t understand bothering her. 

’It doesn’t even matter if they aren’t real. If I didn’t want to, then I could not hurt them... I think. I’m awful, The Cakes say I’m making ponies happy because of this, but I have no proof if that it's true and I’ve never seen ponies without them being scared for their lives, and I enjoy hurting them. Wow, I’m an awful party pony. Silly Pinkie, I’ve never even had a party aside from the ones with my family,’ she curled into a ball and continued to cry, ’How do I know they even like them? They’re family. They could be pretending.’

Pinkie continued to think late into the night until, finally, she fell asleep.

She woke up the next morning with a plan. ’I’m the main character, so I can’t die. Because that would ruin the story. I need to test that,’ she looked around, then took a deep breath. Pinkie closed her eyes and ran face-first into the farthest wall. She was expecting an explosion of pain, but it smooshed against the wall like putty, then came away with a pop. Pinkie grabbed her muzzle and pulled. Once she let go, it snapped back to her face. As if nothing had happened.

“Woo-hoo, I’m immortal!” She said as she pranced around the basement, “Nothing can keep me down! Not even death.”
> Coffee Cake
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pinkie looked at herself in the newly added mirror. "I didn't realize my mane had gotten so long. Or maybe because my hair’s flat now. Can somepony cut it again?" she asked Mr. Cake. Her mane was now past her shoulders.

Mr. Cake nodded, "I'll tell Cupcake."

"Actually, can I cut my mane myself?"

"Sure, I guess, if that's what you want."

Pinkie grinned, "Yeah, I'll do it myself. I want some rocks as well."

Carrot looked slightly puzzled. "Like gems? Or random ones from the street? How will that help with your hair?"

"No, silly, I want to eat them. I grew up on a rock farm. They were like half of our diet, and I miss it. We did everything with rocks, including eating them. I'm not picky so just give me some from the Everfree."

"That's gotta be one of the weirdest requests you've ever made, I'll tell Cupcake. She might have some pretty gems you can ...eat?"

"I don't want pretty rocks. I want free-range ones, caged rocks aren't as nice. Try to get a variety, I don't want to get stuck snacking on a gross one."

"Okay. We'll go get them. You are the strangest filly I've ever met, you know that, right?"

"What kind of story would this be if I wasn't! A boring one, I'll tell you that."

He went out looking very concerned. Pinkie waited a few hours before they came down. She cut her hair while they were gone. She cut her hair with a razor, sloppy, but it worked. 

She only had one chunk of hair left to cut, 'Hmm, let's test this out,' she drew the blade across her hair but also cut shallowly into her neck. No blood though, instead her neck split like jello before reforming.

"Hah, I really am invincible."

They came down later in the day. She was secretly hoping they would bring down a friend, but they only had a bag.

"Rocks?" she asked.

Mrs. Cake nodded, "Here you go, rocks," she placed the bag down near Pinkie.

"Carrot said you wanted to eat them, but that couldn't be right. You must want to something else with them, right-" she cut herself off when she glanced at Pinkie, who was currently shoving a small stone in her mouth.

Pinkie cringed and spit the pebble out, "Quartz, ew. Maud likes quartz, but I never did. I was hoping for marble or pegmatite." She closed her eyes and drew out another rock, "Guessing game time, let's see which one this is," sniffed it, "Slate," she then stuck the stone in her mouth, "Yup! Slate is nice, not as nice as others, but I like it."

"Hah hah, Pinkie, you’re hilarious," Cupcake said sarcastically, "Spit it out before you hurt your teeth."

"I'm not gonna hurt anything. I'm invulnerable, and my entire family eats rocks. See," she crunched down. Fine sand covered her mouth that made it delectably dry. She swallowed, then reached for two pebbles.

"Want some? These are good," she held out her hoof, "This one is limestone, and this is basalt," she said, "They're softer than lots of others."

"No thanks. Even if they're soft, they're still rocks. How soft are they?" Carrot said.

"Well, my sisters and I used to chew on those rocks when we were teething. Maud and Blinkie could crush them within minutes. Of course, Inkie and I weren't born yet, so those are only stories." Pinkie thought for a second before gasping, "Oh, I know! So do you guys have magic plant powers?"

Mrs. Cake answered, "Yeah? We're earth ponies. It's not as good as some ponies like The Apple Family, but it's okay."

Pinkie grinned, "I knew it! I don't have any magic plant powers! I instead have magic rock powers. It's still related to the Earth, but it works differently. I think that's also why we have Pie senses, like how I can predict stuff when my body does weird movements. Everypony in my family has something like that. Maud can find anything. She was great and tried to not use it when we were playing hide and seek. It's sometimes involuntary, but we can suppress it if we try."- she took a big breath -"That's also why we can eat and grow rocks, because of our special rock powers."

Pinkie placed the basalt on a plate. She stood up and sent a bit of magic to her hooves to help crush it. The rock turned to dust. She handed the plate to Cupcake. "Here, try it now."

Cupcake picked up a small amount then stuck it in her mouth, "Tastes like chalk."

"Silly, you just have unrefined tastes, chalk tastes like chalk, and basalt tastes like basalt, usually. Sometimes they form differently, so they taste different, but they usually look weird, too. This looks like basalt dust."

Mrs. Cake looked at the walls. "Why didn't you use your magic to get out?"

"Two reasons. It wouldn't have made as fun of a story if I got out in the second chapter, and I was too scared and weak. Concrete isn't like a normal rock. It's thousands of rocks and mortar. I can't break the mortar because it is already made of crushed rocks and other non-rock stuff. Regular rocks I can break, but I can only weaken them but not break them. I'd also have to crush each individual pebble. By the time I had calmed down enough to use any magic, I was too weak from hunger," she said with a smile. Pinkie was happily oblivious to how horrifying her sentence was. "Maud and Blinkie learned more about our magic since they're older. Inkie and I are going to learn more when we become their age since it's harder and more dangerous."

She grabbed another quartz from the bag and crushed it on another plate. She sampled it then cringed, "Yup, this is quartz, try this one."

Cupcake and Carrot tried it, "This also tastes like chalk."

Pinkie looked at the plate, then at her muzzle. "You guys are weird."
> Coconut Cake
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The basement was completely dark and quiet except for the rhythmic breathing of a single pony. It was quiet; it was calm.

"Hey Pinkie, we have a new friend for you!"

She bolted upright, startled. Then watched as they secured a pony to the table. Pinkie turned on her light and saw the clock. 1:42, it was much too early to be awake. She looked at the pony and saw she was a pink earth pony with a dark pink and blue mane.

"We're going back to sleep Pinkie, you can play and harvest by yourself. Give us a ring if you need help or finish," Mrs. Cake said.

Pinkie waited for The Cakes to leave. She yawned and went back to sleep, 'I'll play with her later.'





Pinkie slowly woke up, blearily going from playing with her sisters to the real world. She stared at the earth mare.

"You were in my dream," Pinkie said.

The mare smiled through her tears, "You're alive. I thought you were dead. Please, let's get out."

Pinkie looked back at the clock, 4:29 now, "Fine, I got enough sleep. I can take another nap later," she trotted over to the mare with patchwork blanket to lie on, "How d'you end up here? Also, what's your name? Mine's Pinkie Pie! I like your mane. Can I have it?"

"Please help me first. We can talk after we escape," she said.

The only response she got was an enormous grin. Pinkie made a large show of fluffing out her blanket and wrapping it around herself.

The mare squinted at Pinkie, "Are you doing something? I don't have my glasses. I can hardly see you. Can you look around the room?"

Pinkie hopped over to the switch, "I'm gonna turn on the lights," she switched them on then searched for the mare's glasses. She hopped up the stairs and found a pair of purple glasses, "They're really smudgy. I'm gonna clean them, alright!"

Pinkie grabbed a rag. She then ran the glasses under the sink and washed them, "Here you go!" Pinkie said as she placed the glasses on the mare's muzzle.

"Let's try this again!" Pinkie repeated the act of showing off her blanket. The mare was hardly looking. She looked distracted by something. The mare finally looked at Pinkie's blanket, then stuttered out a sentence, "H-how did you know where the lights were, or the rags to clean my glasses?"

Again, the only response she received was Pinkie's trademark grin.

"Oh."

"Sooooooo, can you tell me your name now? Again, I'm Pinkie Pie. It's super early, so I don't feel like a playdate right now, so I'll let you go if you promise to be quiet."

"Really?"

"Yeah, Carrot and Cupcake are upstairs, probably asleep, or getting ready to start the day, so you have to be quiet."

She skipped to the syringes, specifically the solution that would make the mare sleep. She drew up a large amount, enough to keep her unconscious for a few hours.

"This might hurt," Pinkie said as she stabbed the needle into the mare's neck.

Next, Pinkie rang the bell. She wanted to be left alone, so she needed The Cakes to know.

"Yeah Pinkie, what's up?" Mr. Cake asked almost immediately after her ringing.

She smiled and said, "I'm gonna be super duper busy, so don't come down here again until I ring the bell again, alrighty!"

"What are you planning?"

"Something super fun. Now go back to baking. Shoo."

He left after trying to ask more questions, but Pinkie kept dodging them or distracting him. He looked very puzzled, but he finally gave up.

After he left, Pinkie unstrapped the mare from the table. Pinkie moved her to the floor and started dragging the mare to her room. She deposited the mare on her mattress, then went to get that accursed chain. She wrapped it around the mare's neck and secured it to the wall, much like The Cakes did to her. Pinkie then sat with the mare before pulling the blanket over them and going to sleep.





Pinkie awoke to something pressing on her neck. She looked down to see the mare holding a knife, which was currently just above her throat. 'I should clean up more often.'

"You said you would let me go!" the mare angrily said.

"And I will, if you need to go to the potty, then you can go!" Pinkie said, "but I have a question for you," she said, with a sadistic smile, "How will you get out if I'm dead?" Pinkie felt the mare's grip slightly falter. Her smile grew even wider.

"I'll find a way, and besides, there's no way Carrot Cake would hurt me. We've been friends since foalhood."

Pinkie cocked her head to the side. The knife pinched her flesh, but she wasn't scared. In fact, she was having a blast! "They foalnapped an innocent little filly, starved her, and conditioned her to where murder is one of her most favorite activities. I don't think you stand a chance."

"You're going to be found out one day, and Celestia will not be merciful. I should just end you now to keep you from hurting other ponies." 

"Do it then. You won't."

The mare snarled and started digging the knife into Pinkie's flesh. She gasped in surprise. The mare went faster, then finally stopped.

"Why isn't she bleeding?" Pinkie heard the mare say. Pinkie's head was currently halfway severed. She knew it could be quickly reformed, but she waited. This was becoming interesting. "What's wrong with her? I-I need to get out. I'm going crazy. Everything will make sense if I escape. I can't end up like her."

She tugged at the chain and tried to break it with the knife. But she, of course, failed. Her back hoof hit Pinkie's still limp form. She pushed Pinkie off the mattress before trying again.

"Wow, rude," Pinkie said. She stood up, but let her head stay off-kilter. "How's your escape plan going?"

"What are you?" the mare screamed as she backed into the wall. She was looking around frantically. Her eyes finally settled on the knife still in her hoof, and the mess near the mattress.

The chain's jingle was the only warning Pinkie had to the hysterical mare's incoming attack. With a scream, she dug the knife into Pinkie's right eye. She then grabbed a pencil and stuck it in the other. She then pulled the knife out of Pinkie's ruined eyeball and tried to swing again, but only grazed her shoulder. Pinkie moved away, holding her face.

Her world was dark for a few uneventful seconds. 'Might as well test how weird my body really is now.' She grabbed the pencil still stuck in her left eye, then drew it out. She felt her eyes reform, and her vision returned a few moments later. She held her head in place as her spine regenerated enough to stabilize itself.

The mare wailed as Pinkie stepped forwards. She plucked the glasses off the mare's frightened face. "You lost glasses privileges because you were such a meanie pants." Pinkie chucked them halfway across the room, then yawned, "Alrighty, I'm still tired, so I'm going back to sleep," she put on her most apathetic face, "Don't wake me up."

She almost turned off the light but thought better of it. She wanted the mare to still see. There was no way she was falling asleep in these conditions.

Pinkie settled next to the terrified mare, then went back to her realm of dreams.
> Banana Nutella Cake
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Pinkie, you don’t want us in the basement, but it’s been a whole day. Shocking Pink's meat is gonna spoil soon. We're going downstairs."

Pinkie’s tired brain only processed half of what the pony said. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes, then looked at her prisoner. The prisoner who should be already dead.

'Oh poo.'

The mare sprang up and grabbed the knife, as well as Pinkie. She backed into the wall, holding the knife to Pinkie's throat again.

The Cakes barely finished walking down the stairs. They froze in place, not taking their eyes off the Pinkie.

She smiled, "Hiya! Don't worry about me. She can't hurt me."

The mare growled and dug the knife into Pinkie's flesh. “Don't move or else she'll die,” she let out a long tired sigh, “You two are the worst ponies in existence. You foalnapped a filly and turned her into a monster. I know what she's capable of doing. I spent all night having nothing to do but see her pictures of blood, and I had to study it closely since she threw away my glasses. You made her into the most sadistic pony in Equestria, I'm going to end her.”

“Hey Shocker, you’ve tried to kill me, and you’ve failed.”

Shocking dug the knife harder into Pinkie's throat, "Shut up."

Pinkie grinned, "Why? I mean, you don't scare me. Nothing scares me! I've been to Tartarus and back, your threats are-"

"Pinkie, stop. Listen to her. I don't want you to get hurt," Mrs. Cake said, rooted to the spot on the floor.

All traces of joy drained out of Pinkie as she growled, "Sure you don't. Except for when you foalnapped me, starved me, and... turned me into a monster. She's right. You two are the worst ponies ever. If you didn't want me getting hurt, why did you keep me alive?"

Pinkie shook her head, despite the knife cutting her skin. "Guess it doesn't matter. I can't die. The story’s still going strong," she felt her smile strain, “I’m getting annoyed, though. Hey Pink, can you hurry?"

Shocking Pink didn't answer. Pinkie sighed. She attempted to escape but stayed stuck by Shocking's iron grip, so she did something no one expected. She ducked. The knife dug into her neck and jaw. It forced Shocking to let go. She walked away with the knife stuck and poking out of her cheek.

Pinkie walked over to the Cakes. She pulled out the knife and tossed it back to Shocking Pink, who picked it back up. The Cakes looked horrified. Carrot had already run to the closet. After a second, he emerged with a first aid kit. Pinkie tried to say something but discovered her tongue was partially severed. She let it heal and moved away from the worried couple. She sat next to Shocking, who held the knife in her trembling hooves. 

"I'm fine," Pinkie said. "Let me show you a magic trick." 

Pinkie healed her mangled neck and jaw quickly. She reveled in the horrified looks of everypony in the room. Mrs. Cake pulled Pinkie away and forced her to sit in a chair near the torture table.

"You were just stabbed! Sit down. I don't want you to hurt yourself," Mrs. Cake said as she opened the first aid kit. 

Pinkie sat up and yelled, she'd had it, "Why do you care about me being hurt now? You don't care about the other ponies, and you didn't care when you left me for 3 days or when you made me watch so many ponies beg for their lives and die. Or my obvious mental instability." 

She laughed, "Unlike you, I don't care about anypony. I don't care if I'm hurt; I don't care if anypony gets hurt. We could all die, and I wouldn't care. At least I'd be in Tartarus instead of here. Going there would be a mercy," she suddenly became very somber, "But I can't. I can't die. I had my head sawed half off just a few hours ago, and I'm still here."

She walked over to the mattress and laid down. Shocking Pink stabbed Pinkie in the back multiple times, but of course, nothing happened. It seemed like Shocking had finally lost it. She was whispering 'Die' over and over. Pinkie looked at the terrified Cakes, "You guys can kill her. I don't care. I'm just bored."





They killed Shocking Pink while Pinkie silently watched. It was quick and efficient; their kills always were. They removed her cutie marks afterward, though. After the harvest and subsequent cleanup, they went into a corner to talk. 

After a few minutes, Mrs. Cake came up to Pinkie and picked up the chain still attached to the wall. Pinkie eyed it causally as Mrs. Cake wrapped it around her neck. 

"This is for your own good," Cupcake said. 

"That's rich," said Pinkie, "You care about me only after you molded me to be your perfect little helper. I'm not scared of you two. I'm not scared of anything. Do you think this chain will stop me? I'm surrounded by weapons. I could get out of here and tell the world about how two ponies foalnapped a filly and tortured her until she finally escaped."

Cupcake shook her head, "We do care about you. Why do you think we kept you alive?"

"Because watching other ponies suffer is fun. I'm not mad at the foalnapping part. That's essentially what I do when I lock them up and kill them. What I'm mad about is that your version of 'caring' is letting me take part in the pony killing. You two are just scared of me. Don't worry, I don't care enough to try anything. It wouldn't make this story any fun."

Mrs. Cake ignored Pinkie. They removed everything from Pinkie's prison. In the end, they only left her with everything she started with. Only a toilet, mattress, lightbulb, and sink.

"You guys didn't think this through very well. Remember when I said that the reason I didn't escape was that my magic was too weak. Well, I'm very well fed now, and I'm not scared. Nothing is stopping me from pulling the entire chain from the wall. Or decapitating myself and getting out that way."

"She was right about one thing. I am the most sadistic little pony to live in Equestria. All thanks to you two!"

As soon as they left, Pinkie's smile fell. "They didn't even feed me. "
> Cherry Cake
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It had been a few days since the Cakes had tied up Pinkie, and she hadn’t talked to them since then. She didn't see a reason to talk. They both tried to get her to speak, but she didn't care. 

Cupcake said they took everything away to keep her safe. She knew that wasn't the reason. It was to keep themselves safe from the homicidal filly they'd created. That was alright. She was used to being bored, both in her home and in her prison. Her family barely had anything at the rock farm, just her sisters and her imagination. 

She spent a lot of time asleep, so she could hang out with her sisters the only way she could.

------------

"Come on, Maud! Let's gooooooooooooo!"

Maud shook her head, but she still smiled. "You can scout ahead and I'll stay back in case anypony tries anything."

Pinkie held her slingshot and saluted. "Nice to know you, Maud. I’ll see you in another life."

She snuck to the other cave, looking for her remaining sisters. Pinkie made sure to load her slingshot as she crept to the treasure. She grabbed the chunk of gold, then snuck back. Maud was lying on the ground while doing her best impression of a corpse. Inkie and Blinkie poised to strike. Pinkie held the gold to her chest and ran around them. She barely put the gold in her team's crate and snapped it shut before being pelted with sticks and rocks. 

"Hah, I win."

--------------

The Cakes woke her up anytime they saw she was asleep, and interrupted her dreams for something dumb, like food, or double-checking if she was alive.

Though, the thing she hated was Cupcake trying to bribe her. "Here you go Pinkie," Cupcake said as she handed a plate of baked cookies to the still quiet filly, "I am sorry we trapped you down here. I didn't want you to die. I thought you would have fun after you learned to enjoy it."

Pinkie stared at the floor and scowled.

"You know, Carrot wanted to kill you. He said you would die here anyway, but I wanted you alive. I was going to do faster, more direct methods of making you accept it here, but again, Carrot said no. He's sweet like that."

Each sentence Mrs. Cake said with no response made her more and more upset. She said in a passive-aggressive voice, "You know the least you could do after getting a cookie is say thank you."

Pinkie looked at the untouched cookies still sitting on the plate. She pushed them back to Cupcake. All hostility fell from her face. "I'm sorry, Pinkie, but you need to cool down a bit before we let you go again. You might hurt yourself or do something you'll regret. I'll see you later. I hope you feel better soon." 

Carrot Cake didn't stay when he visited. He came, gave Pinkie her food, asked if she was okay, and when no response came, he left. He always stood further away than Pinkie could normally reach, and was constantly fidgeting.

"At least he's not hiding the fact he fears me," Pinkie said once she was alone.

She acted completely broken and apathetic when the Cakes were around, but in reality, she felt fine, pretty annoyed, but fine. She knew she was playing a dangerous game by having those playdates and scaring the Cakes. It was worth it. They'd finally opened up after months of nothing.

"This sounds terrible, but another reason I wanted to keep you is that I eventually want foals," Cupcake said after the second day. She sat next to Pinkie. The filly wore a permanent frown and hadn't moved a muscle since Cupcake came down.

"I wanted to figure out how a filly would react to something like this. You got used to it pretty quickly, which is nice. Your... enthusiasm is less nice."

Pinkie almost broke character, but just stifled the laughter that wanted so badly to escape. 'I'm their guinea pig, and I failed to meet their expectations. No wonder they're scared. They don't want their kids to end up the same way. Well, news flash, no foal will end up okay in a situation like this. I wonder how my sisters would have reacted. They probably would be dead by now. '

"Of course, they'd have a better support system than you did since they will be at home with their family, and it wouldn't be too big of a shock that they live with murderers."

'I should ask Mr. Cake about how he reacted to his girlfriend being a killer. It's gotta be a lot like my story.'

"I hope they will be okay. I feel awful for how much this hurts you."

'Are you trying to provoke me? To get me to escape and stab you in your face?'

Cupcake left soon after, but not before apologizing many more times. That gave Pinkie plenty of alone time. It was five, presumably five in the morning, since they were getting their baking done for the day. That meant she had at least twelve hours until they came back down.

She stood up and stretched, popping her back. Pinkie pulled on the chain until she felt her skin split and the chain dig further in. It took less than a minute for her head to fall off and for Pinkie to escape. 

She skipped to the weapon-filled closet. She grabbed a hoof-full of pins and sewing needles and went back to the mattress, then jabbed them in around the edges. 

"Hmm..." 

Pinkie looked around the room. She found a scalpel and stuck it in the toilet tank. That wasn't enough. She wanted more, in case anything happened and she needed to protect herself, or escape. Pinkie grabbed a large knife, then went back to her room.

Now she needed to figure out how to secure herself back up. She couldn't unhook the chain and loop it around that way. Pinkie didn't know where the key was, and she wouldn't be able to put it back once she trapped herself. She needed to find a way before they came back down. 

"I could decapitate myself again, but that's gonna be hard with only my hooves."

She grabbed the chain's loop and put it on her head.

"Could I turn myself into jelly without hurting myself?" she said as she looked at her hoof. The first step in figuring that out would be to feel what her body does when that happens. She punched the wall and felt as her hoof squished against it. It felt almost like when she used magic, but it crushed herself instead of a rock. 

'Papa said that not giving your magic an outlet is dangerous, and it might hurt yourself. I can't exactly get hurt now, though.'

She grinned and did just that. It was something Pinkie'd never done before. She sent a large amount of magic from her center to her hoof and just let it sit. It wanted to get out or go back to the rest of her body, but she didn't let it. Her hoof became pliable, she tapped the chain it left with an indent. It felt different from using her magic normally. It felt infinite, which made sense since it was being recycled back into her. 

When Pinkie felt she understood it enough, she tried with her head. It slipped through the chain's loop easily. Her face felt extremely disfigured, but once she let the magic cycle normally, it went back to normal.

She still had a random knife that she had to find a hiding place for. But she had time.

------------------------

Not enough time.

Pinkie wasn't particularly focused on finding a hiding spot for the large knife. She instead tried to complete her forever incomplete puzzle. Carrot Cake came down unexpectedly, just 3 hours after they left. She looked for a place to put the blade, but panicked and shoved it into her mane. It disappeared as if it had never existed.

"I'm just here for a screwdriver," he said, "You feeling alright? You look confused."

Pinkie went back to her act of looking apathetic and depressed. She didn't answer. Mr. Cake got the screwdriver and left, not even saying goodbye. She perked up immediately after the door closed. 

"My mane ate a knife?" she said to herself, rifling through it. As soon as she put thought into her actions, she felt the handle. It pulled out no worse for wear. Her hair was fine too. She stuck it back in with explicit intent not to hide it, and it went through her mane like normal. Her hair completely covered the knife. When she willed her mane to eat it, and it did, the entire knife went... somewhere.

"Huh."

----------------

She experimented with her mane for a few more hours until Cupcake came down to feed her.

"You ate all your cookies?"

Pinkie didn't answer, but if she did, it wouldn't make any sense. She couldn't just say, 'They're in my mane, but you'll never find them because I'm magic.' She absolutely could say that she realized, it wouldn't be much weirder than what she normally says.

"You didn't touch them for days. What changed?"

'I still haven't eaten them. I shoved them in my mane's pocket dimension.'

"I'll get you some more tomorrow. Here's your food."

She ate. She thought about starving herself at first to make the Cakes even more worried for her safety and their own, but she decided against it. Pinkie needed to be as strong as possible if anything happened. So she ate. It was just a mix of veggies, nothing too fancy, and no meat. They hadn't given her meat since they had chained her up. Veggies were so bland. Afterward, she downed the glass of milk, also given to her. 

She felt woozy right after, 'They drugged me... maybe they'll lock me up somewhere else, and no pony will ever see me again. Hopefully, I'll wake up in Tartarus.' she thought before falling asleep.
> Tres Leche Cake
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pinkie woke up in a pitch black room.

She fumbled around, trying to find the chain for her lightbulb, but no light when she pulled it.

'Did it burn out or... they probably removed it, what are they trying to hide?'

She grabbed a cookie from her mane and snacked on it. The cookie tasted great, just like it was on the plate, except for the stray hairs.

She only did that for a bit, it was kinda boring, so she spent the rest of the time pacing. It wasn’t for long; the lights flashed on, interrupting Pinkie mid-step.

"Surprise!" the couple yelled.

The room was covered with streamers and balloons, perfect for a party. There was an enormous banner stretching from one end of a wall to another. It read 'Happy Birthday!' There was also a small cake decorated in Pinkie's colors on a table, and a present.

'I've been here for 11 months?'

"I've been here for 11 months!" she said with a snarl. Her furious outburst startled the Cakes, but they tried to pretend they weren’t scared.

Mr. Cake slowly put a party hat on Pinkie, then quickly backed away. 

"We made a party for you," Cupcake said, "You always talk about how much you love them, so we figured that might cheer you up. You haven’t really been acting like yourself much lately."

Pinkie laughed, "Um, yeah. Most ponies would have a drastic worldview and personality change if they had to live every day trapped beneath the ponies who foalnapped them and kill ponies for fun."

She shoved a lot of magic into her head and waited for it to turn soft. It only took a second, and soon she could squeeze out of the chain.

"Let's party!" Pinkie yelled before the Cakes could process what happened to her head. She smiled and sounded much happier than she really was. But before she began the celebrations, she needed to know something important.

"Is this how you'll treat your foals in the future? Would you lock them up too and starve them if they misbehave?"

Carrot Cake looked ready to cry. "Of course not, Pinkie. We'd never-"

"Then why'd you do it to me? Because of 'unfortunate' circumstances outside of my control and completely within yours, I'm under your care. I'm practically your foal. So who's to say you won't treat your biological foals the same?" she paused for a second. "Just food for thought. Now let's have some fun. What's first? Ooh, is that pin the tail on the donkey? Let's play."

The Cakes blindfolded her, though she said that wasn't necessary, "I can just stab my eyes and heal them afterward, it's no biggie."

After being spun, Pinkie tried to stick the tail onto the paper donkey's flank. The fact she had a piece of tape instead of a pin did not escape her. She failed miserably. Pinkie fell into a fit of giggles when she saw the donkey's tail taped on their ear.

"Oh no, he's tail-less, it's like Veiled Sun!" Her reference to one of her victims visibly put the Cakes on edge. "He was fun, this was fun. Are you guys gonna play?"

Carrot Cake finally spoke his mind, "I'm sorry, Pinkie, but I wouldn't feel safe being blindfolded with you here, even with my wife standing right next to me." He tensed after saying it, probably worried about Pinkie's reaction.

"Fair, what about you?" She said, turning to Cupcake.

"No, I wouldn't feel comfortable either."

Pinkie gave a small smile, "I'm glad you guys know what it felt like to be me, and everypony else here. After all, it's what you deserve. Let's keep having fun. What's next?"

They played for hours, and it was fun, more fun than she had in months. Pinkie almost forgot how amazing parties could be. She knew the best ways to increase everypony's fun. It was her special talent, after all. She couldn't ignore the reason they were throwing the party, though. It was nothing more than a bribe to get Pinkie 'back to normal.' She couldn't fully enjoy herself because of that fact. She had fun, but not as much as she had back home. 

Eventually, it was time for cake. She received a large slice. They didn't use a knife, instead; they used floss.

'Really? Am I that untrustworthy?'

It was a white cake with pink vanilla and marshmallow frosting. There were blue and yellow marshmallows on top in the pattern of her cutie mark. 'Happy Birthday Pinkie' was written in icing. She took a bite of the cake and smiled. She'd never had a marshmallow before and said so out loud.

"Wait really?" Carrot asked, "We never gave you one?"

Pinkie took another bite. "Nope, I've only read about them. This is the first time I've had one."

"Do you want some more?"

She shoved more cake in her face and nodded furiously.

The Cakes shared a look, then Mr. Cake went upstairs.

After another bite, Pinkie, with her mouth full, said, "This is a pretty lame way to get me to like you again."

"Well, is it working? You seem to get along better with Carrot." Cupcake said.

She chewed for a second, then swallowed. "I wasn't mad at either of you, just kinda scared for your future foals. Well, as worried as I can be, which really isn't much. I've already said I don't mind you foalnapping me. I just don't want you to do anything like this to other kiddos."

"What do you mean by you are only slightly scared for them?"

Pinkie didn't answer for a second, formulating a response. "So you know dolls? And how foals like some dolls more than others?" 

Cupcake nodded, brow furrowed.

"That's what other ponies are to me. I care a lot about some and don't for others. If I lost a doll that I never used, I wouldn't be upset. But, if there was a toy I loved my whole life, I’d be devastated. The doll I never cared for is a pony like Woken Dead, who’s gone now, but the little time I had with him made me happy. But ultimately, he's just a toy. Who cares that he died? He’s just a dumb toy. A doll I really adore is somepony like Maud. I don't hate any dolls because that's too much effort. Your future foals are dolls I'm interested in, like a toy in a store window. That's how I view all ponies, not as ponies, but as something fun."

Cupcake opened her mouth but didn't speak. After a minute, she finally said, "Why did you wait for Carrot to leave before saying this?"

Pinkie looked at Mrs. Cake. Her smile grew, and her eyes narrowed. "He has enough to deal with. With the love of his life being a killer. Poor Carrot Cake probably worries every day that he'll end up on the table if he steps out of line."

Cupcake tried to interrupt, "Pinkie Pie-"

"Of course, he'll never tell you... he's too scared to. He's just like me before I realized you literally can't hurt me."

"I'd stop talking if I were you," Cupcake said sternly.

"Are you threatening me? Will you threaten your foals?"

"Stop Pinkie-"

The basement door opened, and Mr. Cake came down with a bag. "We used all the store's marshmallows in your cake, so I ran to get some more."

He placed the bag near the cake, opened it, and dumped a hoof-full on another slice of cake. Then gave it to Pinkie, who greedily accepted.

"Honestly, this birthday kinda sucks, but it's better than all the other days here, so thanks!"
> Pecan Cake
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chaining Pinkie up was more a formality and show of power than anything else. The Cakes knew she could get out, but they ignored it. Carrot Cake didn't even bother, but Cupcake did it every time she caught Pinkie out. 

Recently Pinkie found a shelf that if she climbed up, nopony could get her down, which meant nopony could chain her up. She was light enough to not tip it. Without a ladder, the Cakes couldn't climb up.

"I'll come down when I'm ready," she yelled to an angry Cupcake.

Cupcake took a breath and then said, "Come on, Pinkie, you might hurt yourself. It's safer down here."

Is it Cupcake's attempt to get Pinkie to climb down? "You know I literally can’t get hurt, right? I've already been stabbed and decapitated. If I fall from the shelf, I wouldn't even get a bruise. I have a question for you, though."

Cupcake sighed, "What is it?"

"What's stopping me from getting out of here, alerting the local guard, and getting you and Carrot Cake arrested for torture, murder, and foalnapping?"

The reaction Cupcake gave Pinkie was unexpected. Cupcake just smiled. Eventually she said, "Carrot and I thought of that. If we go down, you'd go with us. There's plenty of evidence to show you took part, what with your photos and crafts. Your family would be horrified. You'd never see Maud, Limestone, or Marble again."

"Keep Inkie, Blinkie, and Maud out of this! They did nothing wrong. If it was one of them down here instead of me, they would already be dead. Your foals will be dead, too. Once they're introduced to this. Nopony would survive this unless they were messed up like you and me, or too terrified to disobey, like Carrot Cake,” she sighed. “I can't wait to go to Tartarus. Your entire family will be there, too. We'll meet up."

Cupcake let out another sigh. "You're right, you know. Carrot and I were thinking... if you could please come down, we can talk."

Pinkie was prepared for everything except that. "Wait, really? Umm... I mean, of course, I'm right. I'm always right."

She jumped down and cautiously approached Mrs. Cake.

"Just don't make me regret this," Mrs. Cake said in a whisper.

'Regret what?'

"Follow me, and please, please, don't run away."

So she did. Until Cupcake climbed the stairs. Pinkie waited at the bottom, just like she always did. Cupcake unlocked a panel that covered the usually exposed button for the door. She pressed it, then walked out.

'When did they change that? How long have they have trapped here me?'

"Well, come on," Cupcake said. 

"Where? Like outside of the basement?"

Mrs. Cake nodded.

This day was full of surprises. Pinkie began the slow and cautious ascent upstairs. Each terrifying step felt like she was wading through molasses. Every part of her screamed to go back down, 'this is a trap, a test, they'll never trust you again.' She ignored those doubts and kept climbing. Eventually, she made it to the top. The door closed behind her, and she was free.

"This way," Cupcake said, leading Pinkie through the house.

Their home was eerie. It had a sugary theme like the store, but it was toned down compared to what Pinkie remembered from the only time she’d been in there. She hadn't even seen it in almost a year. She only saw the concrete walls of the basement. The walls in the hallway were light blue and sparsely decorated. There weren't pictures or shelves. The odd candy-themed decoration was the only thing making the walls seem slightly lived in. It looked boring, much different from the ponies she knew. Pinkie thought there would be more decorations to help make the house look normal, but right now, it just looked... off. It was too perfect; it was trying too hard to seem like a regular house filled with regular ponies. The night sky streaming through the windows didn't help either.

They led her up a flight of stairs, down a hallway, and to a room. Mr. Cake was standing outside. He was chewing his lip and was shifting his weight from hoof to hoof. They opened the door, which led to a room bigger than her family's entire house. It had the same sparsely decorated blue walls as the rest of the walls, but it kept going up. There was no furniture, not even a bare mattress like the basement, except a few curtains and a lamp. The stairs led to a second-floor alongside a balcony that looked like it showed the entirety of Ponyville. She stood behind the closed door and stared. Ponyville was so big, buildings spanned far and wide, only stopped by the Everfree Forest. She could see ponies walking around, living their happy, carefree lives. There was a market where ponies could buy groceries and have fun during the day. She wanted to have fun, but she doubted she ever would. 

The moon was nowhere in sight, whether it was a new moon, or the Cake’s house was in the wrong position to view it. She didn’t know, but she wanted to tell the Mare on the Moon hello. 

Carrot Cake put a hoof on Pinkie's shoulder. She slowly turned to look at him. He gestured around the room and said, "This room is all for you. Cupcake and I realized you were right. It isn't fair to keep a filly locked up. If you promise to be good, we can start over."

She didn't know what to think of that. Start over and try to pretend the worst year of her life didn't happen?

"No," Pinkie said, "We will not start over," she said, stony gaze locked onto Carrot.

"You two don't get to pretend it didn't happen when I'm going to have to live through the trauma for the rest of my life. That’s never going to happen, and it will never happen. You two will have to live with the knowledge of what you did, just like I'll have to. What does 'promise to be good' even mean?"

She smiled and shook her head, "I should have known leaving would have a catch," her smile soon changed into a frown, "I don't want to go back there, though. It's boring, scary, and sad. I don't want to pretend it didn't happen either. I'll be a good filly if you let me stay here. Don’t worry, I won't tell anypony, I can stay only in this room if that's what you want." Pinkie looked at Carrot and Cupcake with desperate, pleading eyes. "I don't know what to do."

Cupcake knelt next to her and began stroking her mane. Pinkie received no comfort from it, though. How could she? She didn't move away either.

"That was unfair of us to ask of you. We won't make you pretend. This is your room, and you can decorate it however you choose. You don't have to go back down there."

"Of course, I don't." Pinkie said, all sadness twisted to rage.

Carrot seemed like he noticed her rage, but Cupcake kept talking.

"We're going to have some rules, of course. First, you're allowed to be anywhere in the house, aside from the first floor, since that’s where the shop is. You can't go down there. Second, if we tell you to go to your room, then you will go. No excuses. You won't sneak outside, you won't reveal yourself to anypony, and most of all, you won't tell anypony about our activities, especially not the local guard. Understood?"

It took a large amount of effort, but Pinkie suppressed her rage. She answered with a sharp nod. She hoped that would be enough, and she would be okay. Pinkie doubted it, but she could hope.
> Strawberry Cake
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Carrot Cake somehow convinced Cupcake to leave Pinkie alone, 'so she could have some time to think.' Before Cupcake did, she told Pinkie one final predictable message. 

"Don't forget what I said about telling anypony. If you tell anypony, we'll make sure you never get to see your family."

With that, Mr. and Mrs. Cake left Pinkie alone. So she could explore her new surroundings and think. She tried the doorknob, but found it locked.

She ran to the balcony but found it was also locked. Of course, it would be too easy for her to jump out and escape. The Cakes were smarter than that. But she oh so dearly wanted to feel the wind in her mane and the fresh spring air. 

'I want to break the door so bad, but that wouldn't be good, and then they'll lock me back up. I can wait... for a few days.'

She explored the rest of her new room. The most exciting thing was something her Pinkie Sense pointed out. It was painfully familiar, the floppy ear, achy knee combo. Her Pinkie Sense hadn't popped up in so long, and she wasn't sure why, but it may have been because nothing unpredictable happened in the basement. In this room, anything could happen.

After a few minutes of searching, she found a button hidden identically from the button to the basement. There was no hesitation when she pressed this one.

It opened a narrow hatch with a ladder going down. She climbed down the long ladder, which led to a tunnel that went somewhere unknown. Pinkie looked in the tunnel before heading back up. The ladder seemed endless. It must have had to go from the second floor to the basement level.

'No more scary passageways for me. Did they realize their secret escape tunnel was in this room?'

After exploring the rest of the bare room, Pinkie did the only thing she could do. Which was sleep. There wasn't anything for her to sleep on, so she took all the curtains off the windows and made a nest. After removing one of the few decorations in the room, it felt... scary.

There wasn't much that scared her anymore. She had seen too much, but she wasn't used to change. Pinkie didn't like it, but she thought she would spend the rest of her life in the basement. Pinkie wasn't prepared for this. The room was too big; the basement was big too, but it felt small. She needed to go somewhere smaller.

Pulling the curtains behind her, Pinkie found a closet. She went inside and closed the door behind her. The curtains were not comfortable, but they were better than sleeping on the floor.

She tried to fall asleep, but she couldn't from excitement and fear. There wasn’t a way to tell the time in the pitch-black room, but she could guesstimate the time adequately well, a skill she gained after being left in a dark room for a year. She guessed it was about 4 or 5 because of the noises coming from downstairs. The Cakes must be up baking their desserts for the day. 

There were hoofsteps outside of the room. The door opened and somepony walked around. They got more frantic the more they walked, they eventually ran down. Soon a second pony’s hoofsteps joined them. She could hear more running all around the room. Nopony checked the closet, so Pinkie just sat.

The Cakes started talking to each other. "The curtains are gone. Did she use them like a rope and escape? The doors and windows are still locked and intact." Carrot Cake said. Hoofsteps accompanied his words, telling Pinkie he was pacing. She could imagine it now, Mr. Cake sweating, pacing, and imagining the worst.

The hoofsteps stopped, and Mrs. Cake said, "Come on Carrot, it's okay. Lets... just keep looking. I'm sure she'll be here somewhere."

"Pinkie Pie, are you here?" Mr. Cake finally said.

'Took them long enough,' she thought, "I'm in here!" 

The closet door opened, and the room's lights temporarily blinded Pinkie. This would be a fun opportunity to avoid getting into trouble. She let out an enormous yawn and stretched before stepping out.

"What's up?" she asked as she rubbed pretend sleep from her eyes.

Cupcake looked furious. "Why were you hiding? Did you not hear either of us looking for you? We thought..."

After another yawn, Pinkie answered, "I only woke up after I heard my name. I couldn’t hear you two because I was asleep." She paused for a second, then forced her eyes to water. "Am I in trouble? I don't want to go back down. I'm sorry."

"No, you're not in trouble, just... try to listen next time." 

Pinkie nodded.

Nopony spoke for a few seconds, so Pinkie used the silence as an opportunity to ask a question. “What's gonna happen now? Am I trapped in here like how I was in the basement? Do I have free rein in the house? I need to know, so I don't get in trouble.”

The Cakes looked at each other, then Carrot Cake spoke. "You can be anywhere in the house aside from the first floor, and you'll be locked in your room at night."

After hearing that, Pinkie cautiously approached the open door leading to the rest of the house. She took a single step into the hallway and glanced back at the Cakes. Both were looking at her. Carrot Cake was biting his lip and broke eye contact as soon as they made it, while Cupcake just stared.

Pinkie fully entered the hallway and walked around. Carrot Cake followed her, but Cupcake stayed back. She looked in each room. Most were empty or suspiciously perfect. There was a bedroom that had slightly more life than everywhere else. Carrot Cake said it was theirs. She found a living room and sat down on a large, comfy white couch. The room looked just as perfect as the rest of the house. Maybe Pinkie could change that.

"Am I gonna be able to decorate my room? And the entire house? This space is way too perfect. You obviously have something to hide."

"Would that make you happier here?" Carrot Cake asked.

That was a weird question. "Well, maybe not happier, but it'll make us all less likely to be caught, which is definitely a good thing," she said with a thumbs up. At least she would have if she had any fingers. Instead, she just held her hoof up, looking dumb.

"I really want fingers," she said, much to Mr. Cake's confusion.

Pinkie gestured around. "This place is weird. The only place that looked slightly lived in was your room, and even that was uncanny. How many hours a day do you spend cleaning this place? You already wake up at four to bake, then you run the shop, you must be exhausted. You should let the house mess up so you can get a break. It'll make it seem more normal because a mess is normal, but perfection is not."

Cupcake came out of Pinkie's room a few minutes later. Pinkie laid her head on the top of the couch and looked at Cupcake upside down. "How am I gonna decorate my room? I can't exactly go to Quills and Sofas and buy furniture."

"I was thinking this, we go to Quills and Sofas, take some pictures of what they have there and let you decide based on those."

Pinkie spun right side up, "Wait, Quills and Sofas is an actual place? I just made it up..." she said, then added under her breath, "Why is Ponyville so weird? It's called Ponyville when it's pretty big. Everypony lives next to the most dangerous place in Equestria, and they have stores called Quills and Sofas."
> Lemon Cake
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Carrot Cake suggested Pinkie sketch what she wanted her room to look like. She spent the next two hours doing that next to the balcony doors. Her sketched room was covered in streamers, party supplies, and colors. She transformed the escape route under the house into a party cave for herself to plan different celebrations.

She constantly glanced out the window, waiting for the sun to peek over the horizon. It would be the first time seeing it in an entire year. The sky progressively became lighter as time passed. Orange slowly colored the dark night sky. She wanted to share this moment with somepony else, but the Cakes were baking, so she watched it alone.

Eventually, the sun came out. Pinkie couldn't stop staring at it, even as the sky turned from orange to blue, or as her eyes burned and her vision turned dark. But that was an easy fix.

“Oh, Celestia, how I’ve missed the sun.”

She paused, “Celestia…”

‘ She can’t know this is happening. Unless she was eviler than me. Mama and Papa always described her as a god, but she’s no different from the rest of us, just more powerful. I’m also powerful.’

“I could take her. Alright new goal, rule Equestria.”

Celestia’s sun was so warm, and maybe it would be her’s one day. She stared and relaxed right now. Until the curtains were closed and blocked the light.

“What are you doing?” Cupcake asked.

Pinkie opened the curtains again and continued to stare. “I’m looking at the sun. Wasn’t that obvious? I haven’t seen it in so long, it’s so amazing. Also, now that I don’t follow the normal pony rules, I can stare at it all I want.”

The curtains closed again. "That's not a good idea. The sun's filled with magic, and it might interfere with the magic you use to heal yourself."

"Hmm, that's a good point. I'll stop staring at it, but I'm not leaving the window. It's warm here."

It was hard to tear her eyes away, but eventually, Pinkie did. She instead stared at the ponies visible out the window. The nearby market was getting ready for the day. Ponies were setting up their shops, visiting other vendors, and laughing.

Pinkie turned to Mrs. Cake. "Shouldn't you be downstairs? You know, working?"

"I just came to check up on you and bring you food. How are you feeling?"

Pinkie looked back to the market. "I'm fine, I guess. The sun is warm. I'm just glad I got to see it."

"That's nice. I'm going to head back down." 

Mrs. Cake closed the door as she left the room. Pinkie couldn't believe a place like this was real. There were so many ponies. More diversity than she'd ever seen. Only earth ponies visited the farm, and only a couple pegasi lived in the faraway village. How huge was Canterlot? 

As the day passed, Pinkie grew more curious about the world outside the shop. Her stomach growled, which interrupted her potentially dangerous thoughts of escaping. She ate the pile of pancakes left for her, then moved around the room, picturing what it would look like after it was decorated. She looked to where the hidden button for the exit was. 

' It should be okay for me to explore if I won’t run away. They said I can't be on the first floor, but this place by-passes it. I'll leave a note for them.'

The note read, 'Going to be doing some exploring, not running away. I'll come back.' She placed it near the hidden trapdoor. 

She climbed down the ladder. Wood, concrete, and a strange wall surrounded the tunnel. Pinkie reached out and scratched a wall with her hoof. It turned out the inside was made of gypsum and surrounded by paper. Just like the walls in Pinkie's new room. She was inside the house, in between the walls. 

As she descended, Pinkie could hear voices. She pressed her ear to the gypsum wall and listened.

"I want a cupcake, a red one, no, not the red velvet one, the one with chocolate sprinkles. Yes, thank you."

"Are you going to eat 13 bagels by yourself?"

"Do you want to get a hooficure with me later?"

There were so many ponies, just a wall away. She stayed on the ladder and imagined what it was like to see them.

"That will be 13 bits. Have a nice day." Pinkie heard Carrot Cake say through the wall.

They got to see those ponies every day. All their smiles and grateful looks. Pinkie couldn't wait to see them one day. She thought as she continued to climb down. The surrounding walls changed from wood and gypsum to just concrete, and eventually to dirt. The ladder ended, and she gingerly stepped off onto the dirt floor.

"Wow, wow, it's dirt." She breathed.

She laid down on the soil and closed her eyes. Pinkie fanned out her magic and let the feeling of nature wash over her. The mineral composition was so much different from home. It was like a whole new world. She stuck her muzzle into the dirt. It even tasted different. 

Pinkie opened her eyes and looked around. There was a small tunnel leading somewhere, but it seemed too risky to explore. 

"I should head back up," she looked down at herself, "And take a shower."

She shook herself off, then climbed back up. The voices were so nice to hear, but Pinkie knew she had to continue up. She made it up a few steps of the ladder before pausing. 

"Should I? I'll do it when the store's not open," she told herself as she climbed back up.

'Bet you're wondering what I'm thinking, aren't you?"

Pinkie emerged from the escape route and looked around. Nopony was in her room, so she assumed she was safe. She grabbed the note she left and stuck it in her mane for later use.

She left her room to look for the bathroom. There was one, she remembered seeing it, but she didn't remember where. She opened the many doors around the floor and eventually found a bathroom. It was as sparsely decorated as the rest of the house. The only decoration was a pink cabinet holding towels.

The shower was a lot nicer than the one in the basement. She enjoyed her time here. Even the soap and shampoo were too aesthetic to be functional. The bottles held too little liquid to get herself clean, but she tried.

"Bye, dirt," Pinkie said as she stepped out of the shower.

Pinkie went to the stairs leading to the first floor, pressed her ear to the floor, and listened to the ponies below her. She imagined seeing and making them happy, with parties, baking, and just being a good friend. One day, she may.
> Almond Cake
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hours later, Pinkie heard whistling and hoofsteps coming up the stairs. She turned over just in time to see Carrot Cake trip over her. He fell to the floor, the plate he was holding shattering, ruining Pinkie's dinner.

"Ow," he said, rubbing his elbow. 

Pinkie sprang up and ran to him. "Are you alright? Sorry, the plate didn't cut you or anything?"

He turned around, confused, "Pinkie, what the fuck?"

She gasped and raised her hoof, but couldn't decide if she wanted to run away or towards him. "Are you okay? I'm sorry for tripping you. I didn't mean for you to get hurt. Don't be upset, please."

Carrot held his hoof out to Pinkie, but she flinched away.

"I'm okay. It just surprised me. Are you alright?" he said, kneeling down to be on the same level as Pinkie.

She nodded, but stared at him. "Does that mean you're angry if you aren't hurt?"

"Why would I be angry? You only shocked me for a second. It's okay." he held out his hoof again, but Pinkie backed away.

"You swore, and ponies only do that if they're super scared, hurt, or angry. Why'd you do it then?"

Carrot opened his mouth, but stopped before any sounds escaped. His brow furrowed as his eyes studied Pinkie intently as she studied him. 

He finally spoke, "Can you explain why you think curse words are only used when somepony is upset?"

"Well... this is the first time I've ever heard you swear, and it was when you were shocked. Other ponies swear, but they are super scared of, you know, everything. I've only heard it when something bad is happening, so ponies only swear when they are upset."

Carrot Cake still looked confused, before something clicked into place. "Oh, no Pinkie, ponies curse all the time. No matter their mood. I rarely do it, but you surprised me, and it slipped out. Of course, you view cursing as bad, with your strict upbringing, as well as the only experience with other ponies using it is when they're terrified. There's nothing wrong with cursing, it's just a way of expressing yourself."

Pinkie nodded.

“You still look shaken up. Here, this is an example of when somepony would curse when they're happy. They might say, 'This is fucking awesome!' Do you understand?”

She nodded again. "I still don't like it."

Mr. Cake ruffled her mane. She didn't flinch this time. "That's okay. Lots of ponies don't like it when others curse. It's just good to learn about different things." He stood. "Your nachos are ruined. We'll have to cook something up. Do you want to help?"

The kitchen was on the first floor. Was this a test? "I can't go down to the first floor. That's where the kitchen is, right?"

Mr. Cake took her hoof and led her down. "The store closed over an hour ago. Nopony will see you. It'll be okay just as long as you don't leave my sight."

'This has to be a test. It has to be. I'm gonna fail, then end up back in the basement. There's no way Carrot Cake would disobey his wife like this. She must have put him up to his.'

"No," she yelled, yanking her hoof back. "I don't trust you. Make me more food and bring it back up here, or don't feed me at all. But I'm not going down there. I have to be good or I'll end up back in the basement. I'm not going back in there!"

He looked ready to cry. "Okay, you can stay up here, but after I make you more food, we're gonna have a talk."

-------------

Mr. Cake gave Pinkie a new plate of nachos and then waited for her to finish. She ate on the floor, near the stairs she refused to go down. After she finished, Pinkie gave the plate to Mr. Cake, who took it downstairs.

He came back up and then sat in the living room, where Pinkie followed. He sat on the couch, and Pinkie sat on a matching sofa.

"I think you have some misconceptions about me," He said. "Cupcake told me about what you said about me on your birthday."

Pinkie looked around. "Where is she?"

"She's out with some friends. It's just us right now. You hardly know me, though. It seems you constructed your own story where I am just as scared as you are. Here's the thing,"- he leaned in close.- "I'm not. My wife doesn't scare me, and neither do you. I trust you both completely."

Pinkie pulled her knees to her chest. "How can you trust me? You shouldn't. I don't even trust myself." 

Mr. Cake went to her and rubbed her back in a way similar to how her papa did when she was a filly. She sprung out of her seat, back against the couch, far away from him. 

"Don't do that, please. It reminded me of my papa."

He retracted his hoof, then slowly walked back to his seat. "Sorry Pinkie, I didn't mean to scare you. But this is another reason I trust you. I scared you, and you moved away, even though you could've just as easily reacted with violence, even if you just shoved me away or smacked my hoof."

She stayed far away but relaxed slightly. "No, I didn't hurt you because I need to behave, or else I'll go back into the basement." 

Mr. Cake responded, "Pinkie, if you didn't want to do something, we would have no way of forcing you to do so. We can't threaten you because you can't be hurt. You could easily run away. In fact, you had the perfect opportunity to do it already."

Pinkie hopped to her hooves. "When could I have done that? I never even left the house in nearly a year," she said, looking panicked with a mixture of confusion.

"I saw your note. The tunnel has an entrance on every floor of the house, and it leads to the Everfree forest. It’s an escape route in case anything happens, yet you didn't even try to run." 

"It's because I want to earn your trust. After everything, I can't just leave. I've put too much effort into this. I don't want to waste it by running away," Pinkie said, tears streaming down her face, eyes tightly shut. She heard hoofsteps coming closer, then the couch shifted.

"I do trust you," Mr. Cake whispered. 

"Why? I'm a violent sociopath who views other ponies as nothing more than dolls. I could kill you and I wouldn't even bat an eye," she said, glaring despite the tears.

He sighed, then moved Pinkie's face so she would look at him. His face was completely neutral. Pinkie might have been able to read him if she was in the proper headspace, but right now, all she saw was him. Mr. Cake said in a stern voice, "I know you stole some knives."

'Oh no, they know.' She pushed aside her panic and then made a face of equal parts confusion and fear. "Did I not return a knife when I was having a party with one of your victims? I didn't mean to. I'm sure it's still there somewhere. What kind is-"

"Stop."

She did, her facade falling to reveal her slightly amused face. "Do you know where they are?"

He didn't answer for a moment, most likely shocked by Pinkie's sudden change in demeanor. "We found a scalpel in the toilet tank, and pins in your mattress, but we are still missing a chef's knife."

It fell out of her mane after he spoke. "Ta-dah!" 

She shoved it back in right after. Now it was her turn to be shocked by Mr. Cake's reaction. He smiled.

"That is why I trust you," he said. "You've had a weapon on you all this time, but not once did you use it? We definitively scared you when we chained you back up, but you put up with it. If you tried to escape at any point, or hurt me or Cupcake, my opinion would be much different, but at least right now, I'm not scared of you, either."

She was silent as she thought. He wasn't anything like she previously thought. Mr. Cake had everything under control and was merely going along with it because he chose to.

She looked up at him. "Is that why you trust Cupcake? She could kill you anytime she wants, but hasn't?" Pinkie paused. "Why do you help with the murders, then? I'm sure she'd be okay if you just asked not to be a part of it. Now you're a criminal, and you're gonna go to Tartarus when you die."

He stood up and motioned Pinkie to follow him. "I don't enjoy murder as much as my wife. But it makes her happy, and I'd do anything for her. It makes her happy to butcher ponies alive, and I enjoy seeing her happy. I would much prefer it if she took up another hobby like knitting, but it is what it is."

He makes his way to the staircase. "Speaking of hobbies, do you want to learn how to bake?"
> Sponge Cake
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I already know how to bake. I made a really yummy cake for my family for my first party," Pinkie huffed, following Mr. Cake. He went down the stairs, but Pinkie instinctively stayed at the top. She took a deep breath and started heading to the first floor. 

The kitchen wasn't far, but Pinkie stayed glued to Carrot Cake's side. She silently waited for Mrs. Cake to pop out any moment and punish her, but Carrot Cake was right. They couldn't force her to do anything. Pinkie didn't want to go back to the basement, and it's not like Cupcake could threaten to stab her if she refused. 

"Do you know how to make a cake that doesn't use rocks as the main ingredient?" Mr. Cake said as he took out the baking supplies.

"How else are you supposed to make flour? We gather some rocks, different types depending on the flavor we want, then we crush them and mix them with powdered wheat. How do you do it?"

He pulled out a large container. "It's just powdered wheat. The only rocks most ponies use in baking is salt. What do you want to make?"

"That's so expensive, though? Wheat was so scarce and expensive."

"Maybe on your farm since it was so isolated and barren, but here flour is only a few bits for a bag."

There was a nearby recipe book, so Pinkie flipped through it until she found something she liked. She didn't even know what half of the things were. 'Crème brûlée, tres leches, peach cobbler, I've heard of that one before.'

She turned to Mr. Cake. "Can we make something simple? I have no clue what any of these things are. I need your help."

He walked to her and flipped the book to a page labeled 'Banana Bread,' she read over it and it seemed easy enough. Pinkie agreed, and they started making it.

First Carrot Cake helped Pinkie locate the ingredients in the unfamiliar kitchen. She needed bananas, flour, butter, baking soda, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract. It didn't take long, but she found it fun to zoom around the room, searching for everything.

"Are we gonna add meat?" Pinkie asked while smashing the overripe bananas.

He answered by going to a part of the wall and tugging on the doorstopper at the bottom. It opened and revealed itself to be a hidden fridge. Mr. Cake grabbed a container filled with red mush, then placed it on the counter. He scooped out a portion of banana from the bowl and replaced it with the blended meat. He then added a drop of banana extract.

"I thought we'd use a lot more, like half a pony or something," Pinkie said, mostly to herself.

Mr. Cake put the meat back in the fridge, then responded to her ramblings, "We only need enough to give the banana bread a good flavor. If we add any more, it might become more noticeable. We bake a lot, which means we use a lot of meat, but only a little in each batch."

They kept making the bread. It was pretty easy. Pinkie mixed the bananas, butter, and meat, then Mr. Cake added the dry ingredients. 

He pulled out a cupcake tin, greased it, then started filling them. Pinkie looked at him, confused. "Aren't we making bread? Shouldn't it be in a big loaf?"

He kept filling the molds. "Muffins cook faster than a loaf, and I assumed you'd like to taste your creation faster." 

After the muffins were ready, Mr. Cake opened the oven. "Do you want to put them in?"

Pinkie nodded. 

"Alright, I know you can't be hurt or anything, but don't touch the oven racks. They're extremely hot."

They placed the muffins in the oven. Now it was time to wait. She sat at the table and stared into space. Three minutes passed before Carrot Cake poked her.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

Pinkie looked at him, genuinely confused, "Yeah? What's up?"

He scratched the back of his head nervously. "You're usually so hyperactive. It's weird to see you so still."

"You told me to wait, and that's what I do when I have to wait. I just kinda dissociate. After a year of staying in a basement with nothing, I've gotten pretty good at waiting. I could do it for days. In fact, that's the reason I trained myself to be so good at it. So if you guys left me alone for three days again, I wouldn't lose it more than I already have." She looked at him, "Did you really have to go to Canterlot?"

He didn't answer at first and instead pulled out a calendar. After flipping back and forth through the book, he found the page he was looking for and gave it to Pinkie. It was labeled 'BIG CANTERLOT ORDER, MAKE MARZIPAN MARSCAPONE MERINGUE MADNESS, 3 COOKIE CRUMBLE CAKES, 4 DOZEN CUPCAKES!'

"That was a big order," Pinkie said as she gave the book back to Mr. Cake. "I don't even know what any words in the MMMM mean."

He gave Pinkie a questioning look, so she elaborated, "The MMMM, you know because each word starts with an M. I thought it was clever."

"It was clever. Come on, the muffins look ready now." Mr. Cake said as he moved to the oven. 

Pinkie peered inside. The golden-brown banana bread muffins looked and smelled delicious. 

"Do you want to take them out?" Mr. Cake asked. Pinkie nodded. As he turned around and grabbed a rag, Pinkie stuck her muzzle into the oven to grab the searing tin. "You need to be careful, Pinkie, or else you'll burn yourself. You need to grab the tin with a rag, potholder, or oven mitt, or else you'll hurt yourself." He said, still turned around. 

Pinkie placed the muffin mold on the nearby cooling rack. "Done!" she said through her mangled lips.

"Honestly, don't know what I was expecting," Mr. Cake said softly to himself. Pinkie heard it and smiled. Her lips healed as she grinned widely. 

"Are we going to try them?" she asked.

A bell rang before she could get an answer. The front door, somepony was here.

"It's alright," Mr. Cake said after seeing Pinkie's panicked expression, "I'll talk to her."

Cupcake's hoofsteps could be heard coming through the hall. Pinkie climbed on top of a cabinet, her body slightly deforming to fit before Cupcake came in.

Mr. Cake looked concerned for some reason. It couldn't be about her because of his confidence earlier. What was he worried about?

Cupcake stepped into the kitchen and was immediately hugged by her husband.

"Oh honey, what's wrong?" Mr. Cake said.

Cupcake hugged him harder. "We buried them exactly one year ago. Why did they have to go? Everypony knows how dangerous the Everfree is, but they went to save a bunch of chickens. They didn't even succeed," Cupcake buried her face in Carrot Cake's chest. "Pear Butter survived for two days before dying. How much pain did she feel? What if that happens to one of us? When we're collecting ponies? Imagine if one of us died and you or I had to survive for two days before dying trying to find..." she tried to keep talking but ended up sobbing instead. 

Carrot looked at Pinkie and motioned for her to go back upstairs. Mrs. Cake was too busy crying to notice her, so Pinkie easily slipped away to her room.
> Fruit Cake
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Well, that was awkward…”

Pinkie went into her closet and laid on her makeshift bed, thinking.

'I don't get her. How can she be sad about one pony dying then kill somepony else without batting an eye?'

She trotted upstairs to the trapdoor and pulled the note out of her mane. It went next to the hidden door, clearly visible for anypony to see. When it opened, Pinkie went down. 

She climbed down until she heard mumbles. It sounded like Cupcake was still crying and Carrot Cake was comforting her, but Pinkie couldn't make out what either was saying.

When Carrot confronted Pinkie about the knife, she was worried, of course, about the possibility of getting in trouble, but also of having it taken away, which would have made her plan harder. Since she got to keep it, though, she could start. 

She pulled the knife out of her mane, lowered herself to be next to the floor, then slammed it through the wall. The noise startled Pinkie so much that she almost fell off the ladder. It wasn't supposed to be that loud.

The mumbles stopped. 

Pinkie ripped out the knife and hid it back in her mane. She hoped nopony would notice it.

The hole made the voices on the other side much clearer.

"Was that Pinkie?" Mrs. Cake said, her sadness seemingly forgotten. 

"Did she just stab the drywall?" Mr. Cake asked.

Somepony knocked on the wall. 

"Pinkie, are you in there?" Carrot said.

After a minute of silence, Pinkie said, "Hi."

Cupcake spoke next. "Why did you...?" she paused. "If you wanted one, you could have asked for a window into the store. You're lucky nopony was near the wall."

"You'd do that? Thank you! You two are the best foalnappers ever! But are you okay? I heard you crying."

She responded with a sigh. "Yeah, I'm okay. I was just thinking of some friends that died a year ago today. I feel better now. You were an excellent distraction."

Pinkie smiled through the wall but kept her tone innocently intrigued. "Oh, did you kill them? Why are you sad about it?"

Mrs. Cake let out another sigh. "No, they went into the Everfree one day and were killed by the monsters in it. We had nothing to do with it."

"Oh," Pinkie said, grinning widely, "I'm sorry. That must have been hard for you."

"Thank you." Mrs. Cake said.

"I'm sure you would have much preferred to kill them yourself. I'd much rather kill Maud myself than have her die in a rockslide or something. Don’t worry, I get it."

"I didn't want them to die at all!" Cupcake yelled through the wall.

Pinkie calmly spoke back, "Why should I care about what you want? You didn't care about anything I wanted. I didn't want to be foalnapped, but that's alright because I take part in the foalnapping of others. You didn't care that I didn't want to eat meat, but that's okay because I love it now. Same for murder. But what makes you think I'd care about what you want when you've so blatantly disregarded what I want?"

"What do you want, Pinkie?" Mr. Cake said, strangely calm. She could hear Cupcake quietly sobbing.

"I want friends!" Pinkie shouted, breaking composure, she collected herself and then continued. "I want to throw parties and do what I planned to do when I left my family. Instead, I spent a year in a basement with no real friends and no parties."

"We'll talk tomorrow. You should go to your room, please." He said.

She climbed silently up. Exited the trapdoor, shoved the note in her mane, and laid down on her curtain bed. With nothing else to do, she slept.





There was a knock at her closet door. 

Pinkie stretched, then opened it.

The room was still very dark as it was so early, probably around four in the morning, but she could vaguely make out the shapes of her mattress and personal items placed around the room. They left everything possibly incriminating down, so no cutie mark blanket, plushie, wings, or horns. They were probably still in the basement. Carrot Cake was standing in a corner, watching her.

"Hi!" Pinkie exclaimed, bouncing towards him. "Thank you! Sleeping on the curtains kind of sucked."

He smiled. "You remember yesterday when you said you wanted friends? Well, we were running low on meat anyway... so we foalnapped someone. She's in the basement if you want to see her."

Pinkie froze in place mid-jump. "Really? I've gotta see her right away!" 

Gravity finally affected her after she finished her sentence.

She looked down. "I have no clue how I did that." She then looked up at Mr. Cake. "How are we gonna do this? Am I gonna stay in the basement all day, because I'm fine with that if I have a friend and the guarantee that I'll get out after the store closes.”

Mr. Cake walked out, and Pinkie followed. "That's what we were thinking. I'll let you go down there, give you breakfast and let you stay until dinner, where you'll be let out. You can ring the bell if you need anything."

"Cool!"

They went through the hall, down the terrifying stairs, into the kitchen, and then descended to the basement. Mr. Cake gave Pinkie a simple salad filled with greens. No meat, unfortunately. Then closed the door, trapping her once again. That was okay, though, because she had a friend. 

Pinkie skipped to the unconscious earth mare. She had a curly dark green mane and light blue-gray coat, and a cutie mark that looked like a winding plant climbing up a stick. 

"Oh, that's pretty," Pinkie said. "I'll definitely try to do a good job with that one."

She bounced around the rest of the basement, looking for her blanket and harvested skin, but couldn't find them. There wasn't anything in the cabinets or closet. She didn't even find her collection of horns and wings. 

"Did they throw them out? Why?"

The mare behind her groaned. She was awake! It was time to play!
> Peanut Butter Cake
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The mare looked around, tired, but it looked like she thought nothing was wrong until she attempted to move her hoof. 

Pinkie bounced into view. "Hi, my name's Pinkie Pie! What's yours?"

The mare continued to struggle, but she spoke to Pinkie, "C-could you help me?"

"Huh?" Pinkie said, putting up a facade of innocence. "I'll try, but you're chained to the table. I don't know how to remove them." She tried to remove the shackles from the mare, but the Cakes took the keys so she couldn't unlock them. "I can't." 

"Okay. That's okay. We’ll find a way out. How did you end up here?"

“I was walking alone, heading home, and I felt something bad… I guess, then I woke up here.” Pinkie replied, "You?"

"That happened to me, too. Why aren't you tied up?"

Pinkie hopped to her old room. Only the sink and toilet were left. "I've been here for a while. This is kinda like my room."

The mare's eyes widened. "Do you know who foalnapped us?"

"What's your name?"

The mare blinked. "No, that's not important. Do you know who they are?"

"Yeah, I know who they are," Pinkie responded. "What's your name?"

The mare repeated herself, voice low, almost a growl. "Who are they?"

Pinkie took a step back and stuttered, "They, um, they told me their names are Carnival and Wild Berry."

After several seconds of tense silence, the mare said, "Sorry for scaring you. I'm just freaked out."

Pinkie barked out a laugh. "Wow, I didn't notice."

The mare smiled, but it looked like a grimace. "My name's Ivy Vine. Do they ever come down? Like to feed you?" 

Pinkie nodded. "They come down around 7. We have time to make a plan. We’ll have to do it fast, though. I know for a fact, they'll kill you after they come down."

Ivy paled, and her struggling increased tenfold. "Have they done it to others? How many?"

"Too many." Pinkie said, her body sagging, but her mood soared. "I've watched so many ponies die. But I have an idea." She skipped around the cabinets and pulled out a butcher knife and a hot plate, which Pinkie used while trapped for cooking food. "It's going to hurt a lot, but if we remove your hooves, you might slip your legs out of the restraints. I'll put the hot plate to your wounds to sear them."

Ivy's blue-gray coat looked white. "What? No, we'll find another way! Could you break the chains or table with the knife?"

"I don't know, but every second we spend brainstorming is another second closer to your death. I've seen too many ponies die, and you'll be next if we don't hurry!" Pinkie bawled. She turned away to hide her smile. "We need to think quickly."

Ivy stopped struggling and just glared at Pinkie. "I know you're panicking, but we have hours until Carnival and Wild Berry come. We'll come up with something that doesn't involve hurting me."

Nopony spoke for a few seconds. Pinkie was stuck thinking of a way to get Ivy to agree to hurt herself. She looked deep in thought as well. Pinkie looked around the rest of the basement for her crafts and trophies. After looking through each nook and cranny around the basement, Pinkie failed to find anything made of ponies. Though she noticed everything looked much neater. There was no dust anywhere. The weapons were sharpened, and they restocked the supplies. It looked better than it had in the entire year Pinkie had been trapped. The Cakes must have been busy.

"Do they get any sleep at all?" Pinkie said out loud. "They spend all day at the bakery, like 4 in the morning to 7 in the afternoon, then they clean the house to make it look way too perfect, and sometimes go out to foalnap ponies, and now this? No wonder they keep murdering ponies. I mean, it was the stress of being in here that made me snap, so I bet they feel tons of stress, too."

Ivy cut off Pinkie's musing. "The only bakers in town are Carrot and Cupcake, so unless we're no longer there, that's the real names of Carnival and Wild Berry. but what do you mean by... snapped?" 

Pinkie let out a genuinely nervous giggle, "Well, I've seen more violence in a year than most ponies see in a lifetime, and I would have gone completely insane if I rejected their attempts at friendship, so I've become so desensitized to it that being friends with murders isn't that bad. It's like, logically, I know murder is bad, but I've gotten so used to it, it's normal." Pinkie paused while she came up with a comparison. "It's like Princess Celestia. I'm sure she logically knows her lifestyle is super extravagant and not normal, but it is to her. If she suddenly moved to Ponyville in a regular house, she'd feel everything that's pretty standard would be weird. Ponies can get used to anything. And I've lost it when I viewed murder as my normal."

Ivy shook her head. "That's awful. This is all awful, and I realized this. Even if I get down, we wouldn't be able to escape this room, or else you would have done it already."

There went Pinkie's plans to get Ivy Vine to torture herself to escape. Why'd The Cakes have to foalnap someone smart? "You're right. I guess I'm sorry, but you're going to die."

Ivy started crying. "Yeah. I figured. I'm sorry you have had to live through all this." 

She cried for the next half hour while she reminisced about her life and regrets. Pinkie tried to comfort her. "They usually kill their victims pretty quickly, so you won't be in too much pain," she said, then continued, "and I'm sure Fairy Dust won't be upset at you after you turn up missing. Nopony will have anything bad to say about you. They'll all be so sad nopony will remember anything bad you did." That only made Ivy cry harder. Finally, Pinkie shut up and listened. 

Eventually, Ivy stopped sobbing, her face was covered in tears and mucus, so Pinkie cleaned it with a wet napkin. Once finished, Ivy asked a question. "What's the worst thing you've had to do?"

"Umm," Pinkie started, trying to think of a way to tell the story. "The Cakes? That's what you called them, right? Well, they're trying to mold me to be their perfect little helper, and I get punished if I don't obey. So I've had to help," she choked out a sob, "help them kill. I didn't want... I want to go home." She bawled.

It was now Ivy's turn to fail to comfort Pinkie. "Hey, it's okay. You've done nothing wrong. You didn't have a choice. The Cakes forced you to do this. You're not a bad pony." she said to Pinkie, who was now hugging her.

A loud rumbling interrupted Pinkie's tears and caused her to break character. "Oh, are you hungry?"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt you, but yes, and thirsty."

"Alright!" Pinkie grabbed a cup, filled it up with water from the sink, then placed it in Ivy Vine's mouth so she could drink. She finished it quickly, though some spilled on her coat. Pinkie then left to get some food from a cupboard.

"I'm glad my stomach distracted you. Are you feeling better?" Ivy asked from the table.

Pinkie didn't reply, she instead hummed a song as she picked up a container filled with her favorite food. She shoved a hoof-full into her mouth. Then put it inside her mane.

"Close your eyes, please," Pinkie said as she bounced to Ivy. 

"Why?" Ivy asked.

"This food is kinda gross looking, but it tastes amazing, and it's kept me alive this long. You might not want to eat it if you see what it looks like, but just know it is great. Also, don't worry, it's not poisoned. If I wanted you dead, I would do it in a… more direct method."

Ivy chuckled nervously, but she still closed her eyes. "I wasn't worried about that, but now I kind of am. Is it like an awful smoothie or somthin-" 

Pinkie open the container and grabbed some food while Ivy was talking. Then she shoved it in her open mouth.

Ivy's eyes snapped open, but Pinkie hid the container back in her mane before Ivy could see what the food was.

She finished chewing and then said, "That was amazing. What was that? It's like nothing I've ever had before."

"Close your eyes again. I'll give you some more. Try to guess." Pinkie responded.

Ivy made it through two more hoof-fulls before she said, "Alright I've got to know, what is that? It's literally the best thing I've ever had. If I wasn't about to be murdered, I'd say this experience was worth it just to try that." 

"Oh, yeah?" Pinkie said, resisting the urge to smirk. "It's pony meat!"
> Teacake
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

She pulled the container from her mane and pulled out a piece of jerky, then she shoved it into her mouth. 

"What?!" Ivy said.

"Yessiree! This is called jerky. It’s thinly sliced and dried meat that doesn't need to be refrigerated or anything."

"You fed me a pony? Was it somepony you killed? Why would you do that? What do you mean, they forced you to eat that to survive?"

"Yup. Her name was Shocking Pink. I had a playdate with her about a month ago, I think. I don't actually know. There was a time when the days really ran together. I didn't kill her. I drove her literally crazy, but Carrot and Cupcake were the ones that killed her." Pinkie bounced in place. Finally, letting out the emotions she'd been feeling all day. "Meat is super duper tasty. I'm happy you think so too. They starved me for a while and gave me just enough food that I wouldn't die. I would have died eventually, but I would’ve survived for ages. The Cakes said if I ate meat I'd get more food, so eventually, I gave in and ate it. Just like you, except with more fear, pain, and hunger." 

Ivy Vine's eyes watered, but she blinked them away. "This is all a ruse. Could you have left this entire time? I trusted you. You were never foalnapped. You joined willingly because you like murder, don't you?" she spat.

Pinkie smiled at her. "No, everything I’ve said has been true. The Cakes foalnapped and starved me. I view murder as normal because I've been super desensitized. The only part I sorta lied about was how big a role I played in their murders. I love it. Killing ponies and cutting them to bits. If I had a year with you, I could make you see the same way. Now the gig's up. It's time to have some fun!" 

She picked up the knife and plugged in the hotplate for it to heat. "Not that I haven't been having fun. It's just I get to talk to Carrot and Cupcake every day, but I can only kill somepony once a month. This has more of a novelty." Pinkie said. She stood on the chair to get a better angle. She aimed the knife at Ivy's shoulder. 

Right before she took a swing, Ivy yelled, "Wait!"

Pinkie paused. "What's up?"

"I already know I'm going to die, but I don't want to be mutilated. Can't we just keep talking until Carrot and Cupcake come down?" Ivy cried.

"Sorry, no can do. I already tried that once with Shocking Pink, and then she tried to kill me and I got in big trouble. Oh hey, I wonder if you knew some ponies we killed. Were you ever friends with anypony that went missing or died in the Everfree?"

Ivy stayed silent for a second before she answered. "Everypony was friends with Pear Butter and Bright Mac. They died in the Everfree a year ago."

Pinkie blew a raspberry at Ivy's answer. "Anypony else? Cupcake said she had no part in them dying and was super sad yesterday because it was their one-year deathiversary."

"There was one stallion that I sort of knew. His name was Plegia. Nopony was very upset when he turned up dead because he was awful. After he died, we discovered he used a plant from the Everfree to paralyze and knockout ponies, then he sold them to some diamond dogs. We don't know what happened to the ponies afterward, but the dogs probably forced the ponies to work in their gem mines as slaves." 

"Oh," Pinkie said. "Can't Princess Celestia do anything about that? If we know ponies are being used as slaves, why doesn't she just blast them with her super sun powers?"

"What 'super sun powers'?" Ivy asked, "She's an alicorn, not a god."

"Yah-huh. My mama and papa always talked about how powerful she was. That she singlehoofedly defeated Nightmare Moon and how she raises the sun and moon every day, and-"

"Pinkie, none of that is true. Celestia never claimed to be a god. Alicorns are a natural, but rare phenomenon. She uses the sun's natural magic to increase her own, and that's why she's so powerful and immortal, but she is still a pony. And Nightmare Moon isn't real. It's just a story to explain the Mare on the Moon."

Pinkie Pie stood still as she absorbed all the information. "Sorry, but I'm having a hard time believing you. I'll have to ask the Cakes later," she said with a confused smile.

"You're really going to trust them over me? They foalnapped you, and they could tell you anything to get you to behave. They could say that Celestia is their best friend and endorses this, and if you ever escape, she'll have your family executed."

Pinkie smiled widely. "I know, but they haven't. When they tell me something, it's the truth. They had plenty of opportunities to do so, but they never do. I trust them."

She paused, "I trust them..."

Pinkie stood up straight and held up the knife. "I don't trust you. I want to have fun with you. We've talked plenty, and now it's the time for a different type of fun."

This time, when Pinkie swung, she ignored Ivy's pleas to stop. She swung the knife as hard as she could and embedded it into Ivy's right arm, just above the elbow. It went through the muscle and skin easily but got stuck mid-way through the bone. So Pinkie slammed down on the knife as hard as she could. The blade went through the rest of Ivy's arm, severing it. Her arm fell limp and Pinkie slid it out of the chains holding it.

Ivy screamed, and blood spurted out of her arm in time with her heartbeat. Her cries echoed through the basement as Pinkie hopped down, grabbed the red-hot cooking appliance, and brought it next to Ivy's wound. The hotplate seared Ivy's wound shut. The familiar smell of cooked pony meat emanated from the stump, which made Pinkie smile.

"Look!" Pinkie said, waving the limb around. "I bet you already miss your arm. I know you were very attached to it." 

She repeated the process with Ivy's second arm and left leg when she realized something.

"Oh, silly me!" Pinkie exclaimed, as she stored the knife in her mane. "You still have your cutie marks. We'll have to fix that." 

Ivy didn't respond, she just stared at her severed limbs placed in a bucket.

"You okay?" Pinkie asked, but she received no response. "I'm gonna drug you, to be sure."

She hopped to the cabinet where the Everfree plants and their serums were, but she found they were out of the mixture that cause adrenaline in a pony. There were only a few harvested leaves still there. So Pinkie grabbed them alongside her camera and skipped back to Ivy. Pinkie smashed them up and then stuck the mash in Ivy's mouth. She then covered Ivy's mouth with her hoof so she couldn't spit it out.

"Let's hope this doesn't kill you." Pinkie said. She watched as Ivy's eyes slowly focused. "Hiya, welcome back to the land of the living. Enjoy it while you can!" she said as she removed her hoof.

Ivy spit out the mush onto Pinkie's face.

"Wow," Pinkie said. 

With her newfound strength, Ivy thrashed around, trying to escape. She failed, but she freed her head from its bindings. Unfortunately for her, its removal alongside her flailing caused her to fall off the table. Her remaining leg let out a snap at the knee as it unsuccessfully tried to follow the rest of her down. Her last limb held her in place as she hanged off the table. She cried, screamed, and tried to escape, but she was stuck.

Pinkie bounced to Ivy, scalpel in hoof and pressed her struggling body back against the table. She kept one hoof on Ivy's chest to keep her pinned, and with the other, she carved a circle around Ivy's left cutie mark. Blood poured out of the incision, but Ivy merely let out a whimper as it was carved away. 

Once it was off, Pinkie set it face down to dry. She then repeated the process on the other side. 

Ivy stayed still, but Pinkie liked how she looked hanging off the table. So after her marks were off, Pinkie tipped Ivy Vine forward. Further hurting her remaining leg, which now looked swollen and purple. 

Pinkie pulled the knife from her mane and stabbed her knee. It went through much easier than it did through the bone, and soon Ivy was on the floor. Limbless. 

Her last stump was seared shut. Then Pinkie skipped back to the medicine cabinet. 

She filled a syringe with the correct amount to numb Ivy, then she placed it at her hooves.

"Ivy, you're going to die. You know that, I know that, but neither of us knows how much pain you will be in when you do, because you are going to have your chest opened and all your organs pulled out. It will be incredibly painful, except," Pinkie gestured to the syringe, "I filled this shot with a plant from the Everfree. Don't ask me which one it is, I don't know, but it will numb you when injected. I'm going to leave it here, and if you reach it, I'll give it to you. If not, I'll open you up without it and you'll feel everyone of your organs being pulled out until it's just your heart."

Pinkie flashed a wide grin. "Wanna try?"

Ivy looked at her limbs, or rather what was left of them, then took a deep breath and dragged herself across the room. Ivy’s raw skin was scraped away as she moved against the concrete floor, which left a trail of blood in her wake. As Pinkie waited, she took pictures of Ivy's struggles. Each picture showed Ivy closer than the last.

After twenty minutes of slow movement, Ivy made it to the syringe. 

"Yay, hurray!" Pinkie cheered. "You know what that means now?"

"What?" Ivy weakly responded.

"You get to die pain free," Pinkie flipped Ivy over and stabbed the needle into her chest.

After another twenty minutes, Pinkie asked, "How do you feel now?"

“I feel… nothing,” Ivy said. “You know, I honestly wasn't expecting you to be telling the truth. I'm going to die now?" 

"Yup!" Pinkie said. She grabbed a mouthful of Ivy's tail and dragged her back to her starting position, the foot of the table. 

She grabbed the butcher's knife and cut open Ivy's chest while she hummed the same song from before. Pinkie pulled out all her nonvital organs, then glanced at Ivy's face. She looked almost at peace. 

Finally Pinkie pulled out her heart and watched as Ivy Vine's face stilled, forever.

"Lucky." Pinkie said.

It look her two hours to finish harvesting Ivy and clean up the mess afterward. It would be another hour before the Cakes would come down, so she moved to preserving the cutie marks. Hopefully, they won't throw these away. They were really pretty and Pinkie wanted to remember how much fun she had.
> Caramel Cake
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pinkie was distracted. She had an hour to preserve Ivy’s cutie marks, but instead of doing that, she sat on the chair facing the table. “I hope one day I’ll be on there.”

She circled it, thinking aloud, “Maybe if I anger Cupcake enough, she’ll get sick of me and kill me. Or Carrot Cake will do it to make her happier.” 

With a grim smile, she climbed onto the table and laid in a position similar to all their victims. Pinkie closed her eyes and imagined the nothingness that might accompany her death. 

She chuckled, “Who am I kidding? I’m going to Tartarus. No void for me.”

She said, “This isn't what Papa thought would happen to me when I left. Mama was right to be worried.” 

Pinkie frowned. “I’m never gonna see them again, am I? I might die before I can. They’ll assume I abandoned them, that I left as soon as I could because I hated the farm.”

“No. I will see them at least once,” she said, “That’s a promise, yeah it’s a Pinkie Promise.”

“Hmm, needs more oomph. I’ll say cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye? I’ve read that being used, but the whole point’s that I’m not gonna die yet, and sticking a needle in my eye wouldn’t do anything, so I’d need to change it.”

She hopped off the table. “So instead of die, I say, fly? Sure, and instead of sticking a needle in my eye, I’ll stick something else in it. I’d say cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a something in my eye.”

She shrugged. “Meh, it’ll work for now.”

Pinkie turned to Ivy’s cutie marks, then the clock. The Cakes were due to come down soon. She sighed, picked up the marks, and placed them in the pile of viscera to be discarded.

“I wish I had some friends,” Pinkie said.

“You spent all day playing with somepony. Was that not enough for you?”

Pinkie jumped at the unexpected response. Cupcake was standing at the base of the stairs. 

“We both know she wasn’t really my friend,” Pinkie said, mood souring immediately.

“It is the closest thing you will get for a while.”

Those words didn’t sit right with her. ‘For a while.’

“Wait?” she exclaimed. “Are you pregnant?”

“What? No.”

“Are you gonna foalnap another filly then? I wanna help corrupt her.”

Mrs. Cake looked sad. “We’d never go out of our way to foalnap and keep a foal. You were,” she paused, “I won’t call it a happy accident because that would only downplay what we did and the trauma associated with it. We foalnapped you because you stumbled into the basement while we had a pony there.” She paused again. “That and I was curious.”

“That feels like it was a lifetime ago,” Pinkie said. “Frame Fitter was nice.”

Cupcake still looked sad. “I am sorry we foalnapped you. I was curious how long you would survive and then you kept surviving. Around the time we allowed you to shower, Carrot almost convinced me to kill you, but we grew too attached. You became interested in murder, and the rest is history.”

“He should’ve tried harder,” Pinkie said under her breath. “No, stop saying that, you promised.”

“Promised what?” Cupcake asked.

Pinkie didn’t mean to say the second part so loud. “I promised myself I wouldn’t commit suicide until I see my family at least once.”

Cupcake let out a ‘hmm.’ She then said, “Well, as long as you're committed to living, how about you come upstairs and eat so you can stay that way?”

Pinkie followed Mrs. Cake up the stairs when she paused. “Oh, I almost forgot! We’re out of that one Everfree herb that causes adrenaline. I used the last with Ivy Vine. We were out of the shot mixture, so I shoved the last of the leaves in her mouth.”

She didn’t get a response, but Cupcake stopped to pull a planner out of her apron pocket and write something.

Mrs. Cake led Pinkie to the kitchen, where she picked up a plate of nachos. They must have had leftovers from yesterday.

Mrs. Cake gave Pinkie her food in her room, then waited for her to finish. Once done, she took the plate, locked the door, and left Pinkie alone.

Pinkie listened to the retreating hoofsteps, then ran to the window. There were many ponies in the closing market. All different types: unicorn, pegasi, earth ponies.

There was a red colt pulling an empty cart on one side of the street, and a white unicorn filly with her dad on the other. In the middle stood a pegasus filly that looked very familiar.

“Oh, it’s Mountain Hue. She looks so much older,” she paused as Mountain Hue walked down the street, “Is she limping?”

Pinkie inspected her further, and she was. Hue was missing a front leg, and in its place was a prosthetic, and one of her wings was mangled. It looked like an old injury. 

“What’d you expecting when you hang out in the Everfree?” Pinkie said with a smirk.

“I shouldn’t say that,” she frowned. “She was my first-ever friend, and I can’t even muster up any sympathy for her?”

Pinkie watched Mountain Hue until she turned a corner and left Pinkie’s view. 

“Bye Hue,” she whispered.

She walked to her mattress and laid down, but she wasn’t tired yet. She picked a puzzle to start, one that had all its pieces. The puzzle she chose was one she had completed dozens of times, a picture of the deep ocean, that was almost entirely black. It always took her ages to finish, exactly what she wanted, something to distract her until she fell asleep. She dumped the pieces next to the window and watched the ponies as she completed the puzzle.





An hour later, when there were no more ponies to watch out the window, Pinkie turned all her attention to the puzzle. At least she tried, but somepony opened her bedroom door.

Mrs. Cake walked through, holding a plate with three of Pinkie’s muffins on it.

“You never got to try your muffins, did you?” Cupcake asked.

Pinkie shied back, “No, I didn’t. Is it okay that I went to the first floor? Carrot Cake said it was okay, but I’m sorry if I wasn’t. I’m not trying to disobey you, honest.”

“Pinkie, Pinkie!” Mrs. Cake yelled, cutting off Pinkie’s apologies, “It’s alright, you can go downstairs if we invite you. When we were laying out the rules, we should have told you, but yes, if Carrot or I invite you downstairs, you can. Don’t leave our sight and it’ll be alright.”

“Okay,” Pinkie said. She turned her attention to the muffins and grabbed one. 

These were great. We could improve them with some aragonite sand, but most ponies would disagree. 

“You did a great job,” Mrs. Cake said. “We could have sold them in the shop if you made a bigger batch.”

In between bites, Pinkie asked, “Hey, do you know a filly named Mountain Hue?”

“Hmm, I’m pretty sure. She’s a pegasus that was hurt in the Everfree a while ago. Why?”

“She was my first ever friend outside my family and I saw her out the window looking all messed up.”

“I don’t know many details, only it happened... around eight months after you were captured.” Mrs. Cake said.

Pinkie finished the first muffin and grabbed the second. “Wow, she healed fast. Her wing and leg looked great, and she was even putting weight on her prosthetic.”

“Yeah, she healed pretty well.” Mrs. Cake said, looking away.

“You okay?” Pinkie asked, halfway through her second muffin.

“I’m just shaken up, that’s all. The Everfree is dangerous, and our conversation about Mountain Hue, and Pear Butter, and Bright Mac’s deaths a year ago made me even more aware of it.”

“Why don’t you foalnap ponies straight out of their homes or something? Why go into the Everfree to get them when it’s super dangerous?” Pinkie finished her second muffin, then she shoved the third into her mane for later.

“Because we need to keep a low profile, you silly filly,” Cupcake said, “The extra risk is worth it if it means ponies still think monsters were getting them for all these years instead of a foalnapping family. And besides, Mountain Hue is proof that sometimes the monsters are the ones that hurt ponies.”

Cupcake walked to the door after taking the plate. “See you later, Pinkie.”
> Jello Poke Cake
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pinkie spent her morning lounging on the living room couch. She wasn’t doing anything, but she enjoyed not being in her room or the basement. The sun hadn’t even risen, but the Cakes had already started the day.

It had been a couple of weeks since they freed Pinkie from the basement. And she had fallen into a routine. Around 5 a.m. her door would be unlocked, and she could have free rein of the house, aside from the first floor. She typically listened to the Cakes in the shop or watched ponies from the window. Breakfast was at 7 a.m., then she hung out until 7 p.m. to get dinner. At 10, they would lock her door, she would sleep, and the cycle would restart.

She liked it. The house was enormous, and there were tons of windows to watch ponies go about their day. The Cakes didn’t care what she did as long as it was quiet, so she practiced the skills she’d picked up in the last year. She skipped to the window, but somepony called her name. 

'What does he want now? He’s supposed to be baking.' 

Pinkie Pie apprehensively walked down the stairs to the first floor. 

"Carrot Cake?" She asked, standing on the last step, "You called me?"

His head popped around the corner. "Yeah, do you want to watch us bake? You can help too."

"Really!?" Pinkie hopped off the last step and followed Carrot Cake to the kitchen. 

She entered the kitchen to see Cupcake carrying a cake pan in her mouth. She spotted Pinkie and waved to her, then deposited the pan in the oven and turned to her husband.

"That’s the last cake. We just need to wait for the others to cool down," she turned to Pinkie, "Do you want to help decorate them?"

Pinkie nodded.

Cupcake smiled and then pointed to the island. "There’s fruit over there. Could you cut the strawberries into slices, please?"

Pinkie washed her hooves and then made her way to the fruit. 

"How do you cut fruit?" Pinkie asked.

The Cakes glanced at each other. "You don’t know?" Carrot asked.

Now it was Pinkie’s turn to look at them questioningly. "We eat rocks and flour was a luxury at home. What made you think we had fruit? I’m sure it’s easy compared to butchering ponies, which I can do with no problem."

Nopony said anything after that, but Cupcake taught Pinkie to slice the strawberries. She cut them for the next twenty minutes but had to stop when Carrot Cake opened the oven. She closed her eyes and smelled the aroma wafting from it. It smelled like vanilla and strawberry.

There were 3 large tins, and each held a pink cake. He put them on a wire rack, then turned to Pinkie. "The strawberries are going on that cake. We just have to wait for them to cool."

Pinkie kept slicing strawberries, but she stole glances at the cake. Even with no decoration, it still looked tasty.

"That should be good," Mr. Cake said, referring to the strawberries.

Pinkie shoved a slice in her mouth, then stuck her tongue at him.

The oven beeped, and Mrs. Cake slide a tray of cookies into it. 

Carrot Cake grabbed a bowl filled with vanilla buttercream and multiple cake pans containing a chocolate cake. He put them on the counter. Pinkie stood by, watching silently. He removed the cakes from their tins and cut off their domed tops. He placed the discarded pieces on a plate alongside a dollop of icing. It wasn’t pretty, but it still looked delicious. Mr. Cake slid it over to Pinkie.

"I saw you eyeing the strawberry cake. We can give you the scraps, but not a slice, at least not until the shop closes."

It tasted great. The moist chocolate cake paired well with the buttercream. She finished it quickly, then just looked at her plate. 

Mr. Cake was humming a song. She didn’t know it, but it sounded nice. He stacked the cakes on top of each other, using buttercream as an adhesive. Once they were in place, he put a thin layer of buttercream on the cake. Then he put a thick layer and spread it all over the cake. He smoothed it out, then shaved a chocolate bar over it.

Pinkie couldn’t stop staring at it. It looked so good. She hoped there would be some food left in the shop when it closed. Probably not, though. The Cakes always sold out their special treats.

Mr. Cake moved it to the display case. It was the first thing in today. 

He moved on to the next cake and repeated the process. Pinkie turned her attention to Cupcake, who placed some pastries on a baking tray.

"Is that what cinnamon rolls look like when they’re raw?"

"Yeah. Are you having fun?"

Pinkie nodded, then paused. "Do you two ever get any sleep?"

Cupcake looked up. "What do you mean?"

"You two get up at like 4, then work in the store until 7 p.m.. After that you have to clean the store, feed me, and possibly foalnap somepony. And you also have to clean, cook, maintain friendships, you know, normal pony stuff. You do you two not faint from exhaustion?"

"Honestly, we are exhausted," Carrot Cake said from the sink. He placed the dirty cake pans into it. The sink was overflowing with dishes and it would only fill up more. Just another thing from them to deal with.

"We’re used to it," Cupcake added, "And you’ve actually helped reduce our workload. We already have to make breakfast and dinner for ourselves, so feeding you isn’t a problem. And now that you help kill ponies and harvest the meat, it’s a big time saver."

"But I don’t help with that a lot. Can I help with something else? Like,"- she looked around- "I can wash the dishes!"

Pinkie hopped to the sink, and Cupcake followed. "This is how you wash them. First- "

"I know how to do the dishes," Pinkie interrupted. “We have dishes at home. I helped my mama with them.”

Mrs. Cake stepped back, "Sorry, it’s just you didn’t know how to do some pretty basic things like use a shower or cut fruit, so it’s hard to gauge what you can and can’t do."

"I sorta feel that way with you two. I learned the difference between slate and limestone when I was a baby, but to you, they're both chalk. We just know different things, and that’s okay!"

Cupcake smiled, "Yeah, it’s okay. You should teach us some of the basic things you know. It can be a learning experience for both of us."
> Apple Cake
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The dish pile slowly shrunk as Pinkie worked. She listened to the Cakes discuss their plans for the day. They just finished decorating a dessert for a filly’s second birthday. It was cookie cake with white buttercream icing and pink and purple sprinkles. A storm was scheduled this afternoon, and Pinkie couldn't wait to see it. Since there were only a few pegasi at home, they created storms in Cloudsdale and delayed them until they were directly above Rockville. Most of the rain was gone after it reached the smaller villages and the Rock Farm, but they survived. In Ponyville, there were apparently enough pegasi that they could make it rain whenever they needed.

“Hey Pinkie, head up about now. The store opens in 20 minutes,” Mr. Cake said.

She finished washing a pot, then walked to the base of the stairs.

“I did a gazillion dishes, so i’ll be easier on you two today.”

Cupcake smiled. “That’ll help a lot, thank you. Here,” she said as she gave Pinkie two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, “An extra snack for helping us.”

Pinkie grinned back, “Thank you!” She shoved the sandwiches in her mane and gave the plate back. To which neither of them blinked.

She was halfway up the stairs when Cupcake said, “If you go down the emergency ladder, you’ll see a surprise.” She left to the front, so Pinkie was stuck thinking of what she meant.

Pinkie skipped upstairs and went to the window.. The sky was still clear and according to the Cakes, the pegasi wouldn’t start setting up the clouds until the early afternoon. 

There were venders setting up their stands in the market, but no customers yet. She stared for a few minutes, then trekked up to her room.

Once there, she located the button to the hatch and hopped down.

The entrance was the same, so she climbed to where the first floor would be.

She could clearly hear the Cakes taking through a small hole in the wall. Smaller than her hoof and covered in a yellow fabric, it didn’t let her view much, but it let her hear everything. 

“She helped a lot,” Pinkie heard Carrot say. “Do you think she’d like that?”

Cupcake responded, “I think so, we should ask her. Doing the same thing everyday can get boring, but it’s Pinkie, so who knows?” 

There were hoof steps.

“It’s a few minutes early, but I’m going to flip the sign,” Cupcake said. 

“I’m putting the cookie cake in the fridge,” Mr. Cake said. “Cookie said she’ll be here at 3, right?”

There was a pause. 

“Do you think she’s listening to us?” Carrot asked.

“Oh definitely, she’s gonna spend all day listening to all the ponies in the shop.”

Pinkie paused mid-raspberry at a jingle of a bell.

There were multiple sets of hooves walking closer to Pinkie’s hiding spot. One more set stopped right in front of her. 

'Where in the store am I? Who’s hooves are those?'

“Hi Mr. Cake, could I have three muffins and a small coffee?” A mare’s voice said.

“Of course, Junebug. You’re up really early today, any reason?” Carrot said, right in front of Pinkie.

“We need to catch the train for Canterlot. We’re going on a date for our anniversary.”

“Oh, well congratulations! How long has it been?”

“Four years,” another mare said.

“Well, I hope you two have fun.” there was a pause. “That’ll be eleven bits please,” another pause. “Thank you.”

The bell rang again, and their hoofsteps faded away.

Pinkie rapidly climbed the ladder to see the ponies who had left. One was a mare with an orange mane with a pale stripe and a pale olive coat. The other mare had a gray and blue mane and a light gray coat. They looked cute together.

Carrot greeted her with a laugh as she came down the ladder. It was more a chuckle, but she’d never heard him sound so sadistic.

There was another ring from the bell. 

“Hi, how can we help you?” Carrot said, back to his usual demeanor.





After two hours of hanging off the ladder, Pinkie's limbs felt like jelly. She struggled to the top and flopped on the floor of her room. She stared at her ceiling and thought.

'Their social skills are so much better than mine. They make acting like normal ponies seem so easy.'

"I might be too messed up," she giggled, "but I can pretend with our victims."

She frowned. “I always end up slipping, though. I couldn’t comfort a pony because their relative died, especially if I was the one to kill them.”

'I should ask how they do it. Maybe they can help me practice.'

Pinkie got back on her hooves and trotted to her bed. She pulled out her notebook and continued to sketch her room’s decorations. The more she drew, the better she got, leading her to constantly redo her work. Half of her notebook had decoration ideas, streamers, balloons, an entire fireplace. That probably wouldn’t be possible, but who knows?





She stayed in her room for an hour, waiting for her limbs to feel better. They felt sore. Why did they feel sore? Her body healed everything else. She could stab herself and not feel anything, but hanging off a ladder made her muscles scream? Pinkie wasn’t complaining. The pain felt good, but it made her think. 

What other bad sensations could she still feel? 

She set out to test it. Pinkie hopped upstairs to a secluded corner. She paused, sighed, then pulled out some food she had been saving. It was an ice cream cone, with three scoops of peanut butter chocolate. Pinkie took another deep breath and dropped it. She flinched as it hit the floor. But what’s done is done. 

Pinkie turned and headed to the secret entrance, to the ponies, and to her friends.