Cupcakes 2: Chapter 2- Rarity

Cupcakes 2: Silence of the Hares
By Vladnuke
Edited by The Color Twelve

Chapter 2: Rarity

Drip, drip, drip.
Rarity tossed and turned, eyes closed. 'Is the roof leaking again?' She wondered.
Drip, drip ,drip.
'This will be the third time I've had to get those colts to fix that thing.'
Drip, drip, drip.
"No, it's time to get up, get dressed." Rarity sleepily yawned, opening her eyes. She noticed it was so dark she could hardly see a hoof in front of her. She looked down at her bedsheet. "That's strange, this doesn't feel like a bed sheet." It took Rarity a few moments to notice that she was actually sleeping on a pile of her dresses. She looked up, and saw a large hole with light coming through it. Suddenly, a head popped out.

"Hi Rarity! Looks like you're finally awake!" a high pitched voice squeaked from the edge of the pit.
"Pinkie, is that you?" Rarity probed.
"Yep! Looks like you hit that one right on the nose, or should I say horn? Hee hee!"
Rarity slowly pulled her hoof to her head, and felt a wet spot, but no horn. "Pinkie? Wh- what did you do?" she stammered. Hearing Pinkie Pie snickering mischievously, she looked back at her hoof in the light to find that it was stained with dark red, contrasting with her white coat. The dripping she had heard was coming from her wound. She began to scream in shock and despair.

Pinkie spoke over her cries, "Wah, wah, wah, just like a baby. Twist didn't cry this much. Well, I'd have to say, you are quite a lucky filly. When your number came up, my first thought was cupcakes, but then I remembered it was fashion designer Rarity I was talking about. I think that after all those dresses, you deserve to be served one. No wait, I mean served as one. Hee hee hee hee! Well, I can't talk forever, orders to fill and whatnot. Bye!"
Rarity shook her head, trying to convince herself this wasn't happening. 'Pinkie's my friend, this is probably all some practical joke,' she thought. She called out nervously, "Ha ha, Pinkie, you have surely fooled me into fright, what with the well and the ironic death and all. But I must say, how did you pull off such an impressive missing horn illusion?"
Pinkie laughed and retorted as she was trotting off, "Who said that was an illusion, silly?"

Twilight had woken up the next day in a cold sweat after having terrible nightmares the night previous. She had shaken her feeling of dread with some difficulty as she prepared to begin the hunt for Pinkie Pie.
She was standing apprehensively outside of Sugarcube Corner. Behind her were several of the legendary pegasi of Celestia's Royal Guard. After some time of preparation, they stormed in, prepared for the worst. Upon entering, however, they noticed the store was empty, save for a plate of cupcakes on the table. As the pegasi tore the place up, Twilight used her magic to spot a loose floor board. She pried it aside, revealing a button. When she pressed it, an oven swung open. Twilight approached it, but a guard pushed her aside and started walking toward the entrance.

"Lady, if what you've told me about her is true, then I want to be the guy who catches that monster." The guard took one step into the newly opened passageway. The one step happened to land on a bear trap. The sharp metal teeth dove into his leg, splintering the bone and producing a horrible crunching sound. The guard's bravado immediately ended, replaced by blubbering and screaming. "My leg! It's got my leg!" he yelled. The more he writhed in pain, the deeper the trap's fangs sunk into his leg.
"For Celestia's sake, get him outta there!" Another guard piped up. He rushed to the injured guard and began pulling apart the trap, but as he eased the pressure, a blood vessel decided to rupture, sending a spurt of blood into his eye. His hooves slipped, and the trap came down again, this time all but severing the unfortunate guard's leg, leaving it connected by just a small piece of skin. The guard was finally pulled out of the trap, and put on a stretcher.
As he passed by Twilight, he looked in her eyes solemnly and said "I hope it's worth it to you."

Twilight lit the path up, finding and springing the rest of the traps. There were seven, one for each guard she had brought with her. As she and the remaining guards went down the narrow stone stairway, Twilight noticed a certain smell getting stronger and stronger, a smell that reminded her of the dissections they had done in magic class. She'd always pretended to be sick on those days. Twilight knew she knew what it was, but she couldn't quite place it.

They arrived at the bottom of the staircase, which emptied out into a dark room. The lights went on, revealing what had to be the single most sickening thing Twilight had ever seen. The room was decorated in a disturbing yet light-hearted manner. Lungs and hearts filled with helium floated at the corners of the room like party balloons. Two skinned ponies sat at a table covered in hide on chairs made of bone. Intestines hung from rafters like streamers. Mounted on the wall at the back was a banner saying 'Happy birthday, Twilight' written in blood. Twilight finally remembered what that smell was - formaldehyde. Pinkie had used it to preserve the corpses.
Twilight noticed a note nailed to one of the 'streamers'. She ripped it off and started reading.

Hi Twilight!
You're probably so wrapped up in this investigation that you forgot that today is your birthday! Well, I went ahead and planned this whole thing JUST FOR YOU! I hope you like it, because I went ahead and got you a present! Use it well!
P.S. Behind you.

As Twilight turned, one of the Guards spoke up. "Twilight, I think you need to see this." In a dark corner of the room, a different, fouler stench filled the air. In a rust covered cage, surrounded by the bleached skulls of foals was a small, dark shape. Upon closer inspection, Twilight discovered it was Apple Bloom.
"Get her to a doctor, it looks like she's alive," called Twilight.
As the guards forced open the cage and grabbed her, she sprung and bit viciously into the face of the one that freed her. "Get her offa me!" he yelped as she clung on, her teeth digging deeper into his flesh. It took two guards to restrain her, and another to fit a muzzle onto her snarling face.
Twilight sighed, asking herself when this torture was to end, and crept up the stairs. When she reached the kitchen upstairs, she noticed a calendar. "Hey, what do you know, Twilight dolefully said to herself. "Today is my birthday. Thanks for the present."


Twilight walked towards the mayor's house, her mind swirling with unanswered questions. She opened the door and called out, "Mayor? I have a lot of questions for you. Pinkie wasn't there, so if you could provide some information that would certainly be helpful." No one answered. Twilight walked down the hallway, when she noticed she stepped in something wet next to a doorway. She opened the door and went inside the unlit room. Just as she did, the lights turned on to reveal the mayor, hung from her front hooves, her stomach cut open, and her organs hanging out.
"Please," a raspy voice whispered. "Please make the pain go away." Over the mayor's head was scrawled a familiar phrase:

Losing a friend's trust is the fastest way to lose a friend.

The rest of the walls were covered in the word 'forever'. Twilight closed her eyes. She wanted out, but there was no escape. She knew what she had to do. She knew she had to face Pinkamena Diane Pie.



To Be Continued