So, this is a sorta alternate universe based on Cupcakes and A Precious Rainbow, in the fact that she is saved. This is after Discord was reformed, so I guess I'm moving the timeline of this probably.

Dash started to cry again. "Pinkie?" she choked out.

"Yeah?"

"I want to go home," Dash sobbed.

"Yeah, I can see wanting to do that," replied the party pony. "Sometimes, I just wanna give up, just say 'I'm done with this mess' and go to bed. But you know what? You can't shrug off your responsibilities. You gotta pull yourself up and meet the challenges head on. That's the only way you're gonna get ahead in life."

Dash hung her head and cried.

Minutes passed as the drug took affect. Eventually, Dash was completely numb from her chest to her flanks. At this point, Pinkie approached with a scalpel.

---

Discord flew along to SugarCube Corner. He wanted to see Pinkie Pie before he visited Princess Celestia today.

The bright gingerbread looking building was empty when he went in. Weird, he thought, it doesn't say it's closed.

"Hello? Anypony here? Pinkie?" he called. No answer. A slice of light was shining from under a door. Discord shrugged, grabbing the handle. Locked. He could just teleport in, but… he didn't want to intrude. He pressed his ear against the door, trying to hear anything. The faintest of voices met his ear. It didn't sound happy. "You know what, I'm going in." Discord snapped his fingers, and he was in the basement. His mouth dropped open. Pinkie was standing over Rainbow Dash with a scalpel, preparing to cut her stomach open.

"What? How'd you get in here?" Pinkie asked, pointing the scalpel at the spirit.

"What are you doing to her?"

"That doesn't matter! It's none of your business!" She came at him, trying to cut him. He teleported to the other side of her, and conjured up a cage. She fell into it, and he slammed the door shut. Pinkie rattled the bars, attempting to get out. "Get me out of here! Don't touch her!"

"Rainbow Dash?" Discord asked tentatively, reaching out his paw towards her. Her head turned to look at him. Her face was covered in blood and sweat; wings gone, nails through her hooves, and her flanks had holes in them where her cutie mark used to be. He undid the straps restraining her to the table, and picked her up in his arms. Rainbow's head lolled, and he grasped her closer. Her head in his paw; talon holding up her body, he flew past Pinkie's cage.

"You put her back! Get back here!" Pinkie shouted profanities at him. Discord promptly ignored the pink pony. He had no respect for her anymore; certainly not after what she did to Rainbow. He kicked the door open, shards of wood falling to the ground. He couldn't teleport with the pegasus. If he did, it could kill her.

As he raced to the hospital, he didn't have time to answer questions. When Discord finally arrived the rest of the Mane Six were behind him.

"Help! She needs help!" Discord shouted frantically, entering the hospital. Doctors ran to his side with a gurney. He set Rainbow on it, and she was quickly put on an oxygen tank and wheeled down the hallway to the ER.

---

"What was that?!" Twilight asked, shoving her face up to Discord's after they'd been told the hospital would contact them when they could visit.

"I was on my way to SugarCube Corner, ya know, gonna see Pinkie Pie. I go in, nopony is in there, so I go into the basement. There's Pinkie standing over Rainbow Dash with a scalpel, so I trap her, grab Rainbow, and get out of there," Discord replied.

"Pinkie Pie did that to her?! Why would she do that?!" Applejack asked incredulously.

"And what is going to happen to her?! Did you call the cops?" Fluttershy asked.

"Yeah, I did. And, I don't know why Pinkie did that to her. Maybe we misjudged her severely," Discord said. His ears drooped back against his head, and he flopped into a chair by a table. He rubbed his forehead with his paw, sighing.

"I can't believe she would do that," Rarity murmured. She took a chair beside him. The others sat down too.

"You know what else I saw when I went down there? Skulls, bones, organs; all over the place. Pinkie has obviously done that before. Tools and knives for cutting, and she was wearing a dress made of cutie marks, pegasus wings, and unicorn horns. It made me sick."

"That sounds awful," Twilight whispered.

"But I'm glad you were there, because if you weren't, Rainbow Dash wouldn't have ever been seen again. Nopony would've ever known where she went," Fluttershy said. A sad smile was on her face.

"Yes, Fluttershy is right. If you hadn't been there, who knows when Pinkie would have been stopped," Rarity agreed.

"Ah'm glad you're reformed now. You can be annoyin' sometimes, but you're not actually that bad," Applejack said. Discord looked at them. Then, he reached over and put AJ in a head lock.

"Don't get all soft on me now ladies!" Discord laughed, rubbing his knuckles on the earth pony's head, ruffling her mane. The ponies giggled, and Applejack broke free, running a hoof over her mane to smooth it.

"…Should we visit Pinkie Pie?" Twilight asked softly. The group looked around at each other.

"The question is, do we want to?" Rarity said.

"No. Not yet. Not after what she did. Maybe sometime, in the future, when I've forgiven her. But, that day might never come. Not soon, anyway," Fluttershy told them. The other ponies nodded their heads. Discord looked away.

"How 'bout we eat and then go to see if they'll let us see Rainbow Dash," Discord said.

---

The doctors let them see her.

"Hey guys," Rainbow wheezed. Tubes were going into her nose.

"Hey sugarcube. How are ya feelin'?" Applejack asked gently. She laid her hoof on the bed next to her.

"I've had better days. And my wings, well, where my wings used to be, hurt like crazy. And most of me does too."

"Have the doctors told you anythin', about whether they can fix 'em?"

"They can't. Even with magic, they won't be able to get the nerves connected to them again. And I don't think they'll sew my cutie mark back on, so…" The blue pegasus trailed off sadly, her gaze falling on her bloodied wings that the police had grabbed. She turned away from them and looked at Discord. "Thanks for saving me. She was gonna cut me open and harvest my organs if you hadn't shown up."

"You're welcome, I guess," Discord replied.

"What were you doing there anyway? How did you know we were in there?"

"I was going to see Pinkie Pie, but I guess not anymore. And I have sensitive hearing, dear, so it was easy."

"But Pinkie said that room was soundproof."

"Not all sounds can be blocked."

"Oh, well, thanks again," Rainbow said. "What's to come of Pinkie anyway?"

"We're guessing you already probably know this to a degree, but she's going to prison, Dashie," Twilight told her. Rainbow nodded understandingly.

"I figured. But why did she do that to me? She said she was making cupcakes, and apparently those other skulls were from past victims. Who makes cupcakes out of ponies? She even made them out of Gilda!"

"Well, we haven't gone over to see her, and we won't be anytime soon. This only happened two hours ago Rainbow. Everypony needs to recover first, especially you."

"Yeah. I never want to see her again."

"Don't say that Rainbow! She may have done that to you, but she was our friend before all this," Fluttershy said.

"But what friend does that to another?" Rainbow growled. "That's what I thought." She crossed her arms, and glanced at her wings again. "And now I'll never be able to fly again. Never to do a sonic rainboom again. I'll be grounded forever. And all because of Pinkie." A tear dripped down her cheek, and Discord wiped it away with his paw.

"It's okay. I'm sure we can find a way for you to fly again," Discord said.

"Maybe artificial flying, but not with real wings."

"Maybe," Discord stated. Rainbow shot him a questioning look and he winked at her.

"Okay, visiting times are over ponies. Come back tomorrow," a nurse told them. The ponies said their goodbyes and left.

"What was that? Maybe? What are you talking about?" Twilight asked him.

"Oh, nothing," Discord replied, and with a snap of his talon, he was gone.

---

"You got these for me? That's so nice of you!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed happily, caressing the colorful flowers that had been handed to her by Discord.

"Well, I thought you needed something to brighten the room. It's rather boring in here," Discord said, waving his paw in the air. It had been a few weeks since the accident, and Rainbow was getting antsy. She wanted out. Her injuries were almost completely healed, and she often walked around the room.

"Yeah, but hopefully it won't be much longer in this drab place." Dash took one more sniff of the flowers and set them on the bedside table.

"Maybe we can ask the doctor about getting-"

"Rainbow Dash? Get your things ready; we're checking you out of the hospital," a doctor interrupted, opening the door.

"Really?" Dash asked excitedly, her eyes lighting up.

"Yes. Now, hurry along Ms. Dash." The doctor closed the door, leaving the two alone again.

"Oh boy! I can't wait to get outside and stretch my wings-" Rainbow stopped in midsentence, and Discord reached out a paw to comfort her. She glanced away with a blank look on her face. "Whatever. Help me get my stuff please." Dash got out of the bed and grabbed the flowers and cards given to her by her friends. Discord poofed up her saddlebags and she placed the items in them. Putting the bags on her back, they walked into the waiting room to check out. Dash sat down in the wheelchair the doctors had pushed up to her, and rolled out into the light. She got out and they just went away from the hospital.

"Rainbow, are you okay?" Discord asked.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm just having trouble getting used to no flying. It's difficult, having spent my whole life doing just that," Dash responded.

"Where are you going to live now?"

"I don't know. Maybe you could bring my cloud home closer to the ground so I can walk into it."

"I think I could do that. Are you going to be okay living on your own?"

"Yeah, I will." The pair had arrived at Rainbow Dash's house. Discord flew up and pushed it downwards. The rainbows that usually came down puddled massively around them. Dash sadly moved up to them and stepped in them. It turned hard, and the rainbows crumbled, ending the flow. She stomped them into the ground; there was no use for them anymore.

"Whoa, how'd you do that?"

"If a pegasus focuses their "magic", I guess you could call it, they can destroy rainbows real fast," Dash responded. Discord nodded. Rainbow walked into her home. Books were strewn on the floor, bed unmade, and it was no longer as pleasant without the steady supply of rainbows.

"Do you need anything?" Discord asked. Dash shook her head.

"No, I'm good. See ya later okay?"

"Bye. See ya." And with that, Discord exited her home.

---

"Rainbow Dash, there you are! You're late!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed angrily. Dash look around confusedly.

"Late for what?" she asked.

"Making cupcakes!" Dash was shoved downstairs, and as she landed bruised at the bottom of them Pinkie came up and kicked her in the stomach. "Get up!" Dash weakly stood up, and was rudely pushed onto a table. The pink pony came around to her and strapped her down to it. Without a beat, she grabbed a knife and stuck it into Rainbow's flank.

"AAAHHHH!" Pinkie cut the lightning cutie mark out of the flesh, and moved to the other one. As soon as they were off, she grabbed the saw. "No, please Pinkie, not that again!" Dash struggled against her restraints, but to no avail. The saw ground through the bone, and blood squirted onto the floor. Rainbow screamed in agony. And the wing was off. Again. Pinkie grabbed the other one in her teeth. She pulled as hard as she could, yanking if off. As her wing was slowly ripped off her body, all Dash could do was scream. After what seemed like hours, the bone ripped out of the socket, and flesh tore. She puked up blood, sending it spraying at her torturer.

"Here comes the nails!" Dash didn't have any time to recover as red hot metal was burned through her hoof. Pinkie moved and put them in all her hooves, and the battery was turned on. Dash was electrocuted, but this time Pinkie didn't turn it off. It kept going. And going. Soon, Rainbow was gone.

---

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Rainbow screamed at the top of her lungs, shooting up in bed, sweat dripping profusely down her face.

"Rainbow Dash! Are you okay?"

She shot around, expecting to see a psychotic pink party pony behind her. All the blue pegasus saw was a very concerned and surprised spirit standing beside the bed. She latched herself around his waist and clung to him.

"Rainbow? Did you have a nightmare?" Discord asked. He stroked her colorful mane, waiting for her to calm down.

"Yeah, but it's done now. I'm okay. How did you get here so fast anyway?" she asked him, looking up at him. He leaned over and they laid down on their backs, looking up at the cloud ceiling.

"Well, I didn't really believe you when you said that you were going to be okay being by yourself , so I decided to stick around the neighborhood. Good thing I did."

"Yeah. ." Several minutes passed before one of them spoke.

"Did you. . .want to talk about it?"

"It was about what happened to me while I was with Pinkie, except this was worse. She didn't even try to hide the fact I was gonna die; she just, well, did it," Dash explained. Discord nodded slowly.

"I have another question."

"Yeah?"

"What all happened, besides the stuff I saw, when Pinkie Pie was with you?" he asked. Dash froze. Discord was about to apologize for asking when she said something.

"A-are you sure you really w-want to know?" she whispered. Rainbow was trembling now. She clung tighter to his long body, and he put his arm around her shoulder.

"I do. But, if you don't want to talk about it, that's fine. You don't have to tell me anything if I makes you unhappy, or uncomfortable," Discord told her.

"No, no, I'll tell you. It'll be good to tell somepony. Maybe I'll feel better." She cleared her throat and took a deep, steadying breath, then started to talk. "Well, when Pinkie said to meet her at SugarCube Corner that day, I figured that we were gonna do some awesome pranking or something, Pinkieish, I guess is the way to put it. I met her at SugarCube Corner and then she said we were going to make cupcakes. Then she gave me this cupcake. She said it was a test one, so I ate it. But then I passed out. When I woke up, I was strapped down to the table. At first I though it was a prank, a joke of some sort, but then she turned on the lights. And that's when I saw the room: organs, blood, bones, and skulls of all sorts of gruesome things. She was in a dress of cutie marks, and had pegasus wings on her back, with a necklace of unicorn horns. Pinkie brought out some surgical tools and knives, and that's when I started getting really scared. I begged her to let me go, but she said this was something that needed to be done, and she was sorry my number came up. Of course I had no idea what that meant; I still don't. She took a knife and started to cut out my cutie mark. It hurt, so bad, but she didn't stop. And when both of them were gone, she said something about 'winging it.' Then Pinkie grabbed my wing, and took a knife, and tried to cut if off. I attempted to wiggle away, but she kept cutting me, and then she grabbed a saw, and sawed it off. Then she cut the other one off. But before it was all the way off, she just yelled 'think fast!' and ripped if off, taking skin halfway off my back. She kept injecting me with adrenaline, keeping me awake. I wish she had just let me pass out through the whole thing. It was the worst form of torture I could imagine. Then she hammered red-hot nails into my hooves, and hooked them up to a battery. And she electrocuted me. Just kept at it until I passed out. When I was awake, she injected me with this numbing stuff. That was right before you came in. Right when she was about to cut me open, you saved me. The only reason I'm alive right now, is because of you." Rainbow fell quiet, tears running down her face, soaking the bed and Discord's side.

"That sound, so awful. I'm so sorry about what happened," he said.

"Why should you be sorry? You had nothing to do with it."

"But now you're living without wings. And you don't even have your cutie mark. You don't have what makes you special anymore."

"At least I'm alive, right?"

"Yeah, and I'm glad, but still…"

"It's fine. Just, stop worrying about it, okay?" Rainbow asked.

"Fine, for now I will," Discord grunted.

"…Will you stay with me tonight? In case I have anymore nightmares?"

"Yeah, anything for you."

"Thanks Discord," Dash whispered drowsily, slipping into sleep. When he was sure she was asleep, only then did Discord allow himself to.

---

"Pinkamena Diane Pie, do you plead guilty to the murder and torture of fourteen ponies, and the attempted murder and torture of Rainbow Dash?" the judge asked.

"I do," Pinkie Pie answered solemnly.

"Life sentence, no possibility of parole." The sound of the gavel echoed through the room. Police officers grabbed the pink pony and handcuffed her. They led her out of the room. The families of the victims scowled at her as she was leaving. Even Gilda's family was there. But Pinkie seemed unaffected by it. Her face was as serious and unemotional as though she was just standing somewhere doing nothing. "Court dismissed, trial over."

"Life sentence?" Applejack said incredulously, watching as the felon left the room.

"I can't believe we'll never see the Element of Laughter outside of prison walls ever again!" Fluttershy wailed, hugging Twilight ferociously.

"It seems like a reasonable sentence, though. I mean, fourteen ponies? Almost fifteen! And that was Rainbow Dash! At least they caught her before anymore," the purple unicorn stated angrily, patting the crying pegasus on the back as they stood in the now empty courtroom.

"I know it's fair, but she was our friend! And what happens when we need to use the Elements of Harmony again? It's not like they'll just let Pinkie Pie out!" Rarity exclaimed.

"C'mon girls. We need to tell Rainbow Dash what the sentence was." Twilight lifted Fluttershy onto her back with her magic and they set out to the hospital.

---

"I'm sorry ladies, but Rainbow Dash was checked out of the hospital yesterday," the receptionist told them.

"What? Are you sure?" Rarity asked.

"I'm sure. She left with someone named," she squinted her eyes at the computer screen, "Discord."

"Discord? Did they have the doctor's permission?" Twilight demanded, stretching her neck up to look the pony in the face.

"Yes, the doctor said. Now if you don't mind, will you please let the other clients through?" she asked, obviously annoyed, and signaled to the long line behind them.

"Uh, thanks for your time." The four ponies left the hospital.

"How come the three days we're gone for the trial she's let out?" Applejack groaned exasperatedly.

"Urg, I don't know. Where do you think she is?"

"Um. I think I know…" Fluttershy said, looking at the other side of Ponyville. Rainbow's cloud home was settled on the ground.

"Aren't there usually rainbows coming out if it?" Rarity asked.

"And floatin'?" Applejack squeaked. They walked towards the giant cloud house. Twilight stepped onto the cloud. Well, tried to anyways. She immediately fell through it, and was soon up to her neck, with her hooves still on the earth.

"Of course! Always a complication!" Twilight exclaimed, throwing her head back. Her horn glowed and suddenly she was being lifted off the ground and onto the top of the cloud. She turned to the others, and preformed the spell on them. "Coming?" The ponies leapt onto the cloud. The purple unicorn knocked on the fluffy white door. A crash and a shout was heard before a very disoriented Discord answered the door.

"Oh, hey girls! You're back!" he exclaimed, rubbing the back oh his head with his paw.

"Oh, uh, Discord, I didn't uh, know you would be um, living with Rainbow Dash now. I-is she here?" Twilight asked, faltering for words. As if on cue, a messy maned Rainbow stumbled to the door.

"Discord? Are you here?" she grumbled dizzily, not noticing her friends at the door. "Oh, hey girls! Where ya been?"

"Can we come in?" Rainbow's smile faltered as she noted the serious looks on their faces. She nodded and back away from the door to let them pass. She led them into the living room. The ponies sat down and got comfortable.

"So, what is it?" Dash asked nervously.

"We were at Pinkie Pie's trial, Dashie," Twilight started. Rainbow leaned forward.

"What was the sentence?"

"Life; no chance of parole," Fluttershy told her. Dash's shoulders drooped. She had been so angry at Pinkie, but did she really never want to see her again?

"I-I…" She didn't know what to say. "What did she say?"

"That was the thing; she didn't say a word. All she said was 'I do,' and the officers led her away. No facial expressions," Rarity said.

"Really? Nothing else? Nothing at all?"

"No, nothing at all. But she murdered and tortured fourteen ponies, Rainbow, not includin' you," Applejack told her.

"Fourteen? Oh my god. And we didn't even know. How could've we been so ignorant?" Rainbow whispered, tears in her rose eyes.

"We could've never guessed. She was so happy. She didn't show any signs of murdering ponies," Twilight said.

"So now that that's out of the way, how 'bout you tell us how this," Applejack signaled to the room with her hooves, "is going."

"How I'm living here? Well, Discord was there when I left the hospital, so he just tagged along. He pushed my home back on the ground, and yeah," Rainbow explained.

"What happened to the rainbows?"

"Oh, yeah those. They were all over the place, so I destroyed them."

"Ho-"

"Don't ask," Discord interrupted.

"Well okay, but are you guys, um, living together now?" Rarity asked.

"I was just over here tonight. You know, on her first day out."

"You're making it seem like I came out of a mental institution, Discord," Dash said.

"I didn't mean it like tha-"

"Don't speak, please." She put a hoof in his face.

"Fine!"

"I said no speaking!"

"Well how am I supposed to-"

"No!" Dash silenced him once again, and Discord threw his arms in the air, got up, and left the room.

"You guys fight like an old married couple!" Fluttershy laughed. The ponies sat there giggling for a few minutes before they settled down.

"I shouldn't have gotten so angry at him. I hope he isn't mad at me," Rainbow worried.

"I'm sure he's fine. Why would you care so much all of a sudden?" Twilight asked, confused.

"Well, I had a nightmare last night, and Discord was there…"

"Was it about Pinkie?"

"Yeah. But that's not what I'm upset about. After he comforted me, he asked about what happened with Pinkie. I told him. And now I can't get it out of my head. It's driving me crazy."

"You did?! Are you all right?" Rarity asked, her mouth agape.

"Yeah; just shaken up. I wish I could start forgetting about it," Dash sighed.

"Something like that doesn't just disappear quickly. It'll take some time," Fluttershy said.

"I know. Thanks girls, for your support."

"What're friends for?" Twilight laughed, and they all hugged each other. "And Rainbow, if you don't want to tell us what happened that day yet, that's okay with us."

"Don't worry, I will. Just, not yet," Dash responded.

---

"Ssshhh, it's okay, Rainbow Dash, it's over now," Discord whispered, trying to comfort the frantic pegasus clinging to his chest. Tears streamed down Rainbow's face, hitting the bed below her.

"It was worse this time! I was terrible!" Dash cried loudly, pushing her face back into Discord's fur. He stroked her mane, but it was not working enough to calm her down.

The dream raced through Dash's mind, making her relive the horrible nightmare:

Rainbow was in bed. Seemed ordinary. She was not expecting a hole to suddenly appear in it and for the pegasus to fall into it.

"AAAAAHHHHH!"

"Hey Dashie! Nice of you to drop by! Hehe! This will be so fun! You got away from me last time, but not this time! I have a new invention! Do ya wanna see it?" Pinkie popped up in the air besides her, and fell with her. With her mane blowing around her, Rainbow desperately tried to fly away from her. But then they hit the ground. Well, she did anyway. Pinkie merely landed happily beside her on her hooves, as if she had just jumped from a foot high ledge. Rainbow lay crumpled on the ground.

"C'mon Dashie! I want you to see my invention!" Pinkie squealed, grabbing Dash's wings and pulling her up onto her hooves forcefully. Wings aching, she turned to see what 'invention' the party pony was talking about.

"Oh my god," Rainbow choked, looking up at the horrible machine. A square made up of poles was standing in front of her. Ropes were attached to the sides of it; seven in all. Four for her hooves, one for her head, and two for her wings. "What are you going to do with that?" she asked, as if she didn't know.

"You're going in it, silly! Now, let me just get you ready!" A baseball bat slammed into her skull, and Rainbow collapsed to the floor.

A while later, Rainbow Dash awoke. And not a surprise, she was in the device. She pulled at her restraints, which was futile, really, for Dash knew what was going to happen.

"Oh great, you're awake! Now, let's just get that cutie mark off and get started, shall we?" Pinkie giggled. Dash expected her to come over with her knives. She wasn't expecting what the pink pony had. A cheese grater. Rainbow pulled even harder. Pinkie set the grater against her cutie mark and raked it across it. The fur shredded off. She continued scraping it across her flesh, the skin being ripped away. Dash screamed in pain and cried. Even though it was only on her fur she shredded her skin. And by the time they were both done, blood was already covering the floor under the blue pegasus.

"Are you gonna cut my wings off now?" Dash whimpered as Pinkie moved closer to her.

"Of course not silly! Why would I do that? No, I'm going to turn on this machine, and then it's going to pull you apart, bit by bit. So, I'm not going to do it," Pinkie Pie responded.

"WHAT?!"

The gears turned. Dash felt her wings being pulled. The skin tore, much more quickly then when Pinkie did it, and ripped them off her body in a torrent of blood and pain. Dash screamed and before her mind could even process it, her left foreleg was starting to stretch. It came off, blood spurting out of the torn limb and socket.

"WWHHHYYY, PINKIE, WWHHYYY?" Dash cried, feeling her right back right leg tugged slightly. She tried to pull it back in, but the gears were turning too fast for her meager amount of strength left, and it ripped away from her body. The blood puddled profusely on the floor and Rainbow blacked out.

That was where the dream ended. Thank goodness. She could feel the ropes ripping her limbs off. . .

"Rainbow?! Oh, good; you drifted away for a few moments there, I thought you were leaving me," Discord's voice snapped the cyan pegasus out of her mind.

"A few moments? I thought I was gone forever; in my dream. It was so scary," Dash whispered, her tears drying. She pulled the spirit closer, practically squeezing the breath out of him.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"It was like usual, but Pinkie this machine, and ripped me apart piece by piece. I could feel it, in my dream. It sucked."

"Well, good thing that's over. It's morning, so do you want to get up? Eat something?" Discord asked. Dash nodded. Food would soothe her frayed nerves. He scooted out of the bed, and she followed him.

"I'm gonna take a shower before we eat okay? I feel. . .gross," Dash told him, and he nodded, leaving her alone to do that. She walked into her shower, letting herself being cleansed by the warm water. Her eyes drifted to her wing stubs, and she wiggled them. She glanced at her flanks. Bare, huge bowl shaped scars covering them from where Pinkie cut her cutie marks out. She held her hooves to her face, observing them. She could see the places where the nails went in. They weren't that visible, compared to her other injuries. Trying not to think about her body, she washed her mane and tail. Dash finished her shower and dried herself with a blue towel, bearing her cutie mark. Wrapping it around her body, she trotted into the kitchen. Rainbow was surprised to see breakfast already on the table, with Discord washing a few dishes in the sink.

"Well, this certainly is a surprise. . ." Dash said awkwardly.

"What? You think just because I'm the God of Chaos means I can't cook? Or for that matter, just simply conjure up food on the table? You have a lot to learn, my little Dashie," Discord responded.

"Heh, well. . ." Discord rolled his eyes at her response, then pointed with his talon towards a seat. She sat down and looked at the spread. Pancakes, waffles, muffins, crepes, fresh fruit, milk and juice, hash browns, and many other delectable looking foods lay arranged on the table. "Wow, this food looks amazing!"

"Why thank you, just one of my many perfections!" Discord smirked, choosing to sit on the ceiling. Rainbow grabbed a few waffles and poured herself a glass of milk. As they were eating, Rainbow heard a knock at the door.

"Hm, wonder who that could be?" she asked herself, trotting to the door, opening it. A mail pony stood there, holding up a letter. "Uh, thanks. Have a good day!" she called as the pony tipped his hat and walked down the dirt road.

Dash went back into the kitchen, holding the letter in her mouth.

"Who's it from?" Discord asked, coming down from the ceiling.

"I don't know. Let's see," she said, grabbing the letter from her mouth. It was pink, and had a very recognizable blue and yellow balloon cutie mark emblem on the side. "Oh my god. Pinkie sent this." Rainbow's hoof shook as she ripped the top off with her teeth. Unfolding it, Discord pulled a chair up and pushed her into it. Rainbow read the letter aloud:

Dear Rainbow Dash,

Hi! How are ya doing? Sorry I didn't get to make cupcakes out of you. Now you have to live without your wings, all because Discord budged in! Like seriously, I'm all for chocolate rain, but still! He couldn't have waited? The police even took my dress and necklace away from me! They destroyed it! And that was totally unfair! I worked hard on that! But anyways, I have a life sentence in here, so I guess I'll never be able to finish what I started. Sorry. What are you doing? Are you crying while you're reading this? Are ya? Are ya? I want to know! But anyways, again, I met some new friends here! When I first got here, they started shoving me around because I looked 'delicate,' but trust me, they knew at the end of what I did to them, that I was no prissy pony. (Just saying, they didn't look me in the eyes for a while. Or even move their eyes, or open them. Or talk. Or move. In fact, they haven't moved at all. I think they might be dead. The guards don't know that yet. I 'persuaded' them not to read this. They actually might be dead too). But yeah! Have you met anypony special? I'm just yanking ya, nopony would ever like you now! Hehe! Silly me! (I also have to figure out someway to make cupcakes here, if I actually killed those ponies. I have them stored in the freezer. I also 'persuaded' those guards to let me put those ponies in there. You know, there's a reason I'm in here). But, I hope I find a way to break out of here, I gotta make your cupcakes! I was so sure yours were going to be extra delicious, but we might never know. When I had that sample in the cellar, you tasted so good, I was really glad we were gonna make cupcakes together! And now my dream is ruined. I'll never have rainbow cupcakes now! *sniffle* But, I gotta go, some ponies are harassing me, gonna go kill 'em, bbbyyyeee Dashie!

-Pinkie Pie

"Oh sweet Celestia. That was. . .awful," Discord said.

"Yeah," Rainbow muttered. She folded the letter back up again and shoved it into the envelope. Pinkie Pie's words had hurt her. Nopony would ever think she was special; she was right about that. Nopony would want a mare with no cutie mark, no wings, especially a pegasus that had their wings cut off.

"What do you think about it? What she said?" the spirit asked.

"I don't know. What part? The fact that now I'm too ugly for anypony to love me, or the part about making me into to cupcakes?"

"What? You're not ugly, Dashie."

"Yeah I am. I have no wings and no cutie mark. What stallion would ever want this?" she snorted, signaling to her body. She slumped down farther into her seat, a frown spreading over her face.

"But-"

"Can you just let me be? I. .I need to be alone for a little while," Dash interrupted him, and pushed Discord away from her. He stumbled back, feeling a little rejected at her sudden change of mood. He turned and floated out into the sunlight. What to do. . . He snapped his fingers, and he appeared in front of Fluttershy's cottage. Discord knocked on her door.

"Coming!" her angelic voice drifted from inside the cottage. Fluttershy opened the door. "Oh, hi Discord! What are you doing here?"

"Well, RD needs some time alone…" Discord said.

"Is something the matter?"

"We got a letter from Pinkie Pie."

"Oh goodness. Come in, come in; tell all about it." She bustled the spirit inside, and he sat down on her couch, where she jumped there by him and curled up under his arm. "What did Pinkie say?"

"She said Rainbow wasn't pretty enough to get a very special somepony, and stuff that was really about making her into cupcakes. And she killed some guards, she said, so yeah. Pretty wacky."

"Wow, she's really hit rock bottom, hasn't she?"

"Yeah, afraid so, Flutters."

"So, are you going to live with Rainbow Dash now, or just until she can live on her own?"

"I don't know. She just keeps having these awful nightmares about it. Almost every night, I get woken up to screaming. I don't know if she'll ever get over it," Discord said, shaking his head. He laid his head back against the end of the couch, closing his eyes.

"Are you okay? You look tired," Fluttershy said.

"Oh, yeah, I just have been staying up all night, making sure RD doesn't have anymore nightmares."

"Why don't you just go to sleep?"

"Okay, that's no problem…" Discord's soft snores told Fluttershy he was asleep. But she was tired too, she would like to take a nap. Would Discord mind if she just laid against him for a little bit. .? Curled up in the crook of his lion arm, she fell asleep.

---

Rainbow trotted through Ponyville, thinking. Discord wasn't with her now, so she couldn't really do much. She headed towards the lake. Maybe a swim would help take her mind off things. Standing on the beach, she looked over the water. So peaceful… Dash entered the water until she was up to her neck. Putting her head underwater, she opened her eyes. A world she had never really looked at came into view. Colorful fish swam by in schools, and the seaweed waved slowly in the currents. Gasping for breath, she splashed to the surface. She wanted to see more of this! She dived under again, and swam farther away from shore. Kicking her legs, she saw some guppies emerging from their eggs. Watching them gave Dash a sense of security. Like, she was new, they were new. New to this world. Taking a breath, she tried looking for more kinds of fish. She stayed close to the lake bottom, watching things go by. Running out of breath, she kicked her legs to propel her to the surface. She was almost at the top when something grabbed onto her hind legs. She screamed under water and tried to kick it away. Sharp teeth jabbed into her skin, and Rainbow saw the water tinge red. She unleashed one powerful, strong kick, and the creature let go momentarily. Dash sucked in a breath, and tried to get back to shore. But the thing wasn't giving her up without a fight. It latched its teeth into her legs again. She frantically flapped her wing stubs. If only Dash had her wings! She would be gone and safe already! Screaming for help, she bucked the creature in the face. What had her anyway?! She spared a glance back. A huge eel looking fish had its needle sharp fangs in Rainbow's leg. What was that?!

"HHHHEEEELLLLPPPP! SOMEPONY HELP ME PLEASE! DDDIIIISSSCCCORRRDD!"

---

Fluttershy jerked from sleep. What was that? It sounded like a pony. . .screaming for help! She shot up, sending Discord flying off the couch.

"Ow! Hey, what the heck?" Discord growled, rubbing his head. Noticing her fearful face, he shut up. A scream echoed through the air. "Who is that?"

"That sounds like Rainbow Dash! C'mon Discord, we have to find her!" Fluttershy was about to go out the door, but Discord grabbed her and shot out the door like a bullet. Following the screams, he headed towards the lake. "Over there Discord!" A yellow hoof pointed at the center of the water; where a screaming Rainbow Dash was being pulled down by something. He let go of Fluttershy, who understood and shot down after him, and reached out his arms to get Dash. He scooped her up, and kicking the beast in the face, Fluttershy scolding it already, and flapped his mismatched wings to launch them towards the shore. They landed, and Discord ended up with Rainbow Dash sitting on top of his chest. She wasn't crying; she just looked scared out of her mind.

"Discord! You saved me! Again! Uh, I'm so embarrassed! I can't do anything right!" Rainbow shouted, burying her head in her hooves.

"It's fine. Will you please just, get off me?" Discord asked.

"Oh! Oops! Sorry!" She clambered off him, quite awkwardly, and stood over him. Discord sat up, rubbing his head groggily.

"What were you doing out here!? Why would you do that to us!?" Fluttershy exclaimed, startling the both of them, and pushed her face into the blue pegasus's. "Don't you know that that monster has been lurking there for months?! You scared us both out of our skins!"

"I'm sorry. I didn't know that thing was there."

"Okay then. You are forgiven." Fluttershy hugged her friend, and look at her legs. "Are those bad?"

"Not really. Just a lot of them; they'll heal."

"Discord? Are you okay? That was a bad landing."

"Yeah, I know it was. Don't rub it in. I'm fine," Discord responded. He looked over at Rainbow Dash. Maybe now was the time to tell her. He had thought about it often, but he could never be sure. She needed it, but could she really endure that?

"Is everything okay? You're looking at me awfully strange," Rainbow said, tilting her head to one side. Discord shook his head to clear it. That was an awful landing. But he needed to say something to Rainbow Dash sooner or later. After this incident, it seemed like the correct time.

"Yeah, I'm okay. But, I need to talk to you Rainbow. It's important."

"Oh, great, another serious talk. Lay it on me," she responded sarcastically.

"Privately." Fluttershy picked up on this.

"Okay, I'll be over here," the yellow pegasus told them, and she turned around and walked into town. Discord turned back to Rainbow.

"So?" Rainbow asked.

"What I'm about to tell is very, very important," Discord said. She nodded. He took a deep breath.

"I can give you your old body back."