A/N: Okay, this is my first fanfic, so... Hi!

Now that's out of the way, I'm not sure how to introduce this very dark piece of literature other than this: This is what happens after the events of 'Cupcakes' so any ideas based on that goes out to Sgt. Sprinkles and of course My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is owned by Hasbro. The only thing I do own is my OC 'Amnesia' who you'll meet in later chapters.

This might get graphic at times, so I advise you take precaution when reading; this isn't the My Little Pony that any little kid should be exposed to. Other than that, I really hope you enjoy this and I hope for some reviews to let me know if you think I'm on the right track. Thank you! :)

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Amnesia

Chapter 1

The Aftermath

'If Celestia is God, then who are her angels?'

-The Mad Hattie

"What is your name?" The voice echoed through the interrogation room, it held the power and authority to gain all and everything, including a decent reply. Instead, all the voice received was a series of eerie high pitched giggles. There was a gruff sigh before the voice repeated, "What is your name?"

There was another round of giggles, but this time, she replied, "Pinkamena of course!"

"Your friends call you Pinkie Pie."

The laughter stopped abruptly. The voice changed to something darker, "I don't have friends." The voice was monotone before she giggled again, "Only victims!"

"Pinkamena Diane Pie." The voice belonged to a colt with a brown coat and a jet black mane. He sat across the table from the pink pony with a clipboard under his hoof. He tapped the clipboard impatiently, "Is this your full name?"

The former Pinkie Pie was a bundle of laughter and some ponies had joked that she was crazy, perhaps even gone as far as calling her a maniac. But psychopath? Murderer? Monster?

No. This was the Pinkie that no one knew. Her pink mane was straight as opposed to a messy bush; her eyes were as small as pin pricks as she looked around her surroundings, tightly secured in a strait jacket. She nodded her head, sticking her tongue out playfully, "Yes it is."

The colt straightened somewhat as he leaned further towards the crazed pony, "Can you tell me why you're here, Pinkamena?"

Her eyes widened in humour as if recounting a happy memory. A sick grin twisted onto her face, "I killed."

"Who?"

She laughed again; her eyes darting in separate directions as her mind was lost for a moment, indulging in the blood lust she had once been a part of, "Everypony," her eyes narrowed to slits as she met gazes with her interrogator, "Anypony!"

The colt looked down to his clipboard and sighed, "One final question for the day Pinkamena."

Her ears pricked on instinct.

"Who was your last kill before you ended up here?"

Her grin only widened further as she recounted the sweet memories, "Oh, somepony very special! I would have never thought I'd pick her out so soon, but her number was up you see…" she pouted for a moment, blowing the stray pink locks of her mane from her face, "She didn't last nearly as long as I had expected."

The colt rubbed his face in frustration, "Just answer the question."

Pinkamena chuckled, "Why, it was Dashie!"

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Two weeks. It had been two weeks since the tragedy at Sugarcube Corner. The entire street was a ghost town, nopony dared to go there. The Cakes had moved in with other relatives out of Ponyville leaving the beloved pastry store eerily quiet. Every now and then a pony would trot by and leave a bunch of flowers at the doorstep. Though the insides had been cleansed of any evidence, nopony wanted to see the scene where it had happened. Where so many ponies had lost their lives and of course – most recently – a very special Pegasus had been lost to Equestria.

Twilight Sparkle hadn't spoken a word since it had happened. She had tried like anypony else to forget what terrible crimes Pinkie had committed, but she just… couldn't. The entire Apple family had gone to Apple Loosa, Rarity had gone to her parent's home with Sweetie Bell and Fluttershy hadn't been seen since the incident. Nopony was coping well, especially the living embodiments of the Elements of Harmony. They had all developed a bond that had gone well beyond friendship, they all relied on each other for the good of Equestria, Celestia needed them. But where were they now?

Generosity and Honesty were gone, Laughter was now laughing her way into an asylum, Kindness had locked herself away, Magic had silenced herself and Loyalty…

Loyalty was ten hooves underground, her mangled body too much for anypony to see. Rainbow Dash's funeral had been hard; nopony had ever experienced anything like it. Hundreds of Pegasus ponies came down from Cloudsdale to pay their respects and then just as quickly, everypony had dispersed.

Sometimes, ponies whispered amongst themselves that they saw a yellow Pegasus sitting in front of Rainbow Dash's grave, her pink mane stuck to her face with the tears she just couldn't stop. Fluttershy had been Dash's longest friend and although they hadn't always seen eye to eye, they had always been stronger together.

For Twilight Sparkle, the day started like any other. She would wake up from the sleep that had only been induced by hours of tears to Spike standing quietly by her bed. She'd quickly realise he had been the one to wake her, only then realising she had been having another nightmare. She'd nod her head to Spike and he'd accept that as her thanks, he knew just as well as anypony how hard a time she was dealing with this. Twilight didn't know what to do with herself anymore. She didn't talk to anypony, she rarely went outside. She'd simply sit at the table in the main library area and read anything her magic picked out for her. She'd levitate book after book from the shelf and read them from front to back. She wouldn't stop, only to eat and that was only something Spike would force upon her. Spike cleaned in silence, but he couldn't cope with Twilight's attitude. She worked like a zombie, everything she did was done with no purpose. Sometimes, Spike wondered whether she was even aware of her surroundings.

So every now and then, Spike would go out into Ponyville. Ponies would bow their heads in respect to him and he would nod back. Ponies before had never really paid much attention to the baby dragon that Twilight had brought with her to Ponyville, but ever since the Sugarcube Tragedy, everything had changed.

Spike would write letters to Princess Celestia often. He asked for her help, but her reply was always the same. Her condolences went out to everypony affected, but she could offer nothing at all to dull the ache of loss. Only in time would that come naturally.

But finally, after two weeks of empty condolences and Twilight's zombie behaviour, Spike had had enough. With little warning, Spike slammed his claw down on the book that Twilight had been blankly reading, absorbing little of the information, only taking comfort in the soothing words that came to her mind instead of the painful memories.

"Enough is enough Twilight!" Spike all but snarled.

Twilight's head came up slowly, almost robotically. Her mane was a mess and her violet eyes were bloodshot. She stared at Spike for all but two seconds before her eyes moved back to the book.

"No!" Spike grabbed the book and slid it under his arm in one fluid motion, "Twilight, listen to me."

Twilight didn't even blink; she just stared in a daze at the table, her eyes still moving from right to left as if she hadn't noticed the lack of literature in front of her.

"Twilight!" Spike tried to reach out to her, but it didn't work. He didn't know what else to say, "You can't live like this Twi, it's not right. We have to move forward for the sake of-"

"For the sake of what?" Twilight's eyes were suddenly staring right at the young dragon, her teeth gritted tightly as she stared at her friend, "I was sent here to learn about friendship, well, I think I learnt my lesson." She looked back at the table, "Dear Princess Celestia," she recited darkly as a single tear leaked from her eye, "Today I learnt that you should never make friends." She closed her eyes then and in the weakest voice, she added, "You never know who they might turn out to be."

Spike couldn't say anything against that, she was right after all. Pinkie Pie had been one of the Elements… the element of laughter no less. Well, laughing she was. They couldn't get her to stop. Even when the colts that dragged her blood spattered body from the basement placed her in the police carriage, she hadn't stopped laughing. It haunted Twilight's nightmares, that laugh. It wouldn't leave her alone.

"Fluttershy's at Dash's grave right now." Spike whispered solemnly, "Maybe you could…"

Twilight was already shaking her head. She couldn't do it. Soon she'd be able to blank out her mind again and this break into conversation would be completely forgotten. She'd be able to read meaningless words in peace, silencing everything else around her.

Spike sighed, balling his claws into little fists as he watched Twilight's eyes that had just then been bright with awareness slowly fade back to the dull glow he had become accustomed to. "Fine." He said through gritted teeth, "I'm going to pick up some flowers, somepony needs to be there for her."

Twilight didn't show any signs of acknowledgement. Another book was already floating above her head, giving off a vibrant pink glow. Spike closed his eyes briefly before he turned his back on her and left the library, slamming the door behind him.

A/N: Thank you so much for the kind reviews on my last chapter, I warn you that this chapter involves some graphic gore so read with caution.

As always, I don't own My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.

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Chapter 2

The Nightmare

Spike was gone longer than Twilight had expected. Though she noticed the dragon little in her trance-like state, she still relied on him for certain matters.

Sleep was one of those things. Every night, Spike would make sure Twilight got the proper amount of rest. He'd take her books from her and gently guide her to bed. He'd tuck her in and she'd nod her thanks before closing her eyes and waiting for the nightmares to take hold once more.

Twilight could have spent all night reading weren't it not for Spike's careful appliance of a regular sleeping schedule. Because of this, though Spike wasn't there, she knew this was the time she was usually guided to bed. Twilight glanced up from her book, her own home a blur to her now. For a second, she couldn't remember how to move. She closed her eyes to gather her thoughts only to find that she was having trouble opening them again. She managed to open them to slits, her head drooping as the exhaustion hit her hard.

"S-Spike?" She asked blearily before her eyes closed and her head hit the table.

As always, Twilight found herself running. She never knew why she had started, but the notion inside her was clear. She knew something was wrong and because of that she was running. Images of Ponyville blurred around her as she galloped down the cobblestone path. The same images over and over. The notion got stronger but Twilight wasn't moving anywhere. Tears cascaded from her eyes as she kicked herself into full speed. Her legs ached with the effort; her mane was tangling on her face where the tears had spread. Still, she didn't stop. Because that feeling deep inside her hurt, it ached down into her very soul, poisoning her. She choked on her own breath as she galloped harder. She knew this pain, the same pain she felt every night. She knew something bad was just around the corner and even the strong notion in her soul wasn't enough to get her there. The fear was too much. In her distorted dream she didn't remember much of reality, but she still knew too much for her mind to trick her. She knew she couldn't see it again.

But eventually, she would.

That was when the corner appeared. Always at the same time, but Twilight never remembered it. She wanted to stop, she wanted to run in the opposite direction, but now, as opposed to keeping her legs going, she couldn't stop them.

"No, please!" she all but screamed, turning her head away in a final effort to keep from seeing what was about to appear. But it was too late. She'd turned the corner… and there it was.

Sugarcube Corner in all its glory.

As opposed to the path she had been running down, Sugarcube Corner was bathed in darkness. There was no moon, no stars. Just the inky black sky and the bakery. Twilight's legs buckled as she was left twenty paces from the doorstep. She sat in the dirt and waited.

It started with high pitched giggles. Laughter that Pinkie Pie was renowned for. But it wasn't her usual laughter, it was darker… tainted. The laughter got harder and faster, louder and louder until Twilight was holding her hooves over her ears to keep it from consuming her. Then, the laughter quietened for a new noise. The doors to Sugarcube Corner crashed open as two official police officer colts dragged out a bright pink form. Her laughter sounded more like shrieks now as her blood drenched hooves caught a hold of the doorway on her way out. The smell hit Twilight hard and she found herself fighting nausea. Pinkie Pie was draped in a cape made out of an assortment of cutie marks, she wore a necklace of Unicorn horns and attached to the front of her cape was a decorative assortment of Pegasus wings.

"But Dashie's wings are still in there!" she cackled as the wood on the doorframe splintered with her effort to hold on, "Let me collect them, I swear I'll be good after that!"

Twilight had seen this happen so many times, but it never ceased in disgusting her. She fell to the floor, landing roughly on her stomach as Pinkamena Diane Pie was put into a strait jacket and roughly thrown into the police carriage.

The laughter continued, however. She just wouldn't stop.

Twilight tried to bury her face into the dirt, but the rules of her nightmare were cruel. She had to keep watching. She had to see the second act.

"There's my Dashie!" Pinkie shrieked from the carriage. Twilight's stomach rebelled, but her nightmare wouldn't let her throw up like she had done back in reality. Her head was taken upwards by an invisible force as the medical crew dragged the mangled remains of Rainbow Dash out on a stretcher. Her stomach had been torn to pieces; her flank missing her cutie mark. Her wings were missing, leaving chunks of ragged flesh in their place. Dried blood coated almost every inch of her and as the stretcher hit a bump on a rock, a piece of Dash's larger intestine broke free and hung from her side. Twilight screamed in a mixture of pure fear and disgust. She felt both her heart and soul break as the mangled remains of her best friend was taken to the hospital.

There, her corpse would be stitched up as best as possible, her wings would be reattached, but her cutie mark was already a part of Pinkie's cape and had been kept with the evidence at the police department in Canterlot.

Twilight cried freely, screaming for all it was worth as Pinkie's laughs circled her ears and Rainbow Dash's final screams filled the air. The colts passed her on their way to the medical carriage and once more Twilight's head was pulled upwards to meet the glazed rose gaze of her best friend. Dash had died with her eyes still open, a sick mockery of her last moments plastered on her face. Twilight felt her body shaking as the body disappeared into the medical carriage. She didn't know what to do. She felt lost. She couldn't function. She could only lie in the dirt alone in the dark and wait for Spike to wake her up.

But Spike didn't come. Instead, Twilight was left there, longer than usual in the darkness. But it wasn't dark anymore. Slowly, a light rose into the sky. Too dim to be the sun, but bright enough to draw Twilight's attention. She shakily raised her head to see the face of Princess Luna delicately embedded into the craters of the moon. Suddenly, there was a presence beside her and along with that presence came the feathery warmth of a single wing as it hooked around Twilight's shaking body. Twilight was too shocked to react; she simply curled further in on herself and stared at the dirt.

"My, what a nightmare." Though the voice didn't hold the almighty power that Twilight had almost grown used to in the youngest Princess, she still knew it was Luna. Her tone had softened for Twilight's benefit as she nuzzled her cheek ever so gently, "You realise you are safe, do you not?"

Twilight closed her eyes, trying hard to blink away the tears, "P-princess Luna… h-how a-are you…?"

Luna chuckled softly and wound her wing further around the young Unicorn, "I am the Princess of the night, it holds a few benefits." She looked towards the scene at hand, now just a blank canvas absent of any real life, "This is my domain." She frowned ever so slightly as she looked back to Twilight, "However, even I have never seen such… horrors in the realm of sleep."

Twilight's voice hitched as she spoke, "It's real."

Luna felt Twilight's body rumble as fresh tears spilled from her eyes, she hushed her gently and pulled her closer to her side, "It may have been once, but it no longer is. Such horrors have bestowed the real world… which is why I am here."

That caught Twilight's attention enough for her to look into the dark eyes of the night Princess, "Celestia already said she can't-"

"Ah." Luna smiled, "She may be the eldest, but not always the wisest. My sister lacks the knowledge of the night."

Twilight's ear pricked as she cocked her head to one side, studying the Princess in a mixture of curiosity and plain fear for what she was suggesting; "What is that knowledge?" She implored if not a little shakily.

Luna looked up at the moon that now proudly hung over the slowly fading scene of Sugarcube Corner, just as bright as it was in reality, "There is… a spell."

"A spell?" Twilight repeated.

The smile on Luna's face tightened, Twilight knew she was forcing it now, "A very… difficult spell." Luna scuffed the dirt with her hoof, "Celestia has heard of it, but she believes that no pony is strong enough to perform it."

Twilight stared at her blankly. Luna smiled sadly, "I believe you are strong enough, Twilight Sparkle."

Twilight was already shaking her head, "No… I don't… no, I don't do magic anymore… I don't do anything anymore."

Luna's eyes darkened, her beautiful night sky mane blowing in a non-existent breeze. She stood up, hooking her wing under the purple Unicorn and bringing her up also, "Not even if this spell could bring back Rainbow Dash?"

Twilight gasped as she felt her legs buckle, "That's impossible, I spent the first week of Dash's…" she trailed off and shook her head, "I couldn't find a resurrection spell."

"That's because there's only one." Luna informed, her long horn glowing a deep blue as an ancient book appeared in front of her, its pages were yellow with age and its night blue cover was tattered and worn. "This is a spell of the night, only to be performed on a full moon at midnight. This book won't follow you into reality; the spell shall be embedded into your mind." Luna's voice had almost reached its regal power, but she kept it at bay to reassure the young Unicorn, "We need the Elements of Harmony, Twilight Sparkle and although the Element of Laughter may be lost for now, we have a chance at bringing back the Element of Loyalty." Her eyes became grave once more, "But, I must warn you Twilight Sparkle, this spell is hard, it will take hours to perform, the sheer power alone could drain you to the point of exhaustion. Rainbow Dash will return, but if anything goes wrong, she will not be fully restored. You must understand this."

Twilight didn't care. She had just been offered the opportunity to restore her best friend. The spell was already flowing through her mind and she knew it would be just as fresh when she awoke the following morning. She nodded her head, an eager smile already evident on her face, "Yes!" she called, the first sign of any true happiness ringing in her voice since the tragedy had struck, "I'll do it, anything to bring Dash back!"

Luna bowed her head and smiled gravely, "Very well Twilight." She sighed as she stepped away from the young Unicorn, "But heed my warning." Luna's voice had reached its regal power once more, "If one thing is to go wrong, Rainbow Dash will not be the pony that you remember."

And with that, Luna disappeared and so did the world around her. Twilight was left in darkness once more, waiting for the moment that Spike returned to wake her.