MLP: A Rare Delicacy. Part 2

After a five minute trip and multiple unforeseen delays, the duo had eventually arrived outside of the bakery; but upon attempting to open it, they found that the front door was locked. "Hey! Pinkie Pie? Is anypony home?" Rainbow Dash called out whilst simultaneously knocking on the door, only for nopony to answer. Applejack grew concerned once again as she turned to Rainbow Dash and asked "What should we do?" "I dunno. Should we go find her, or wait here?" Rainbow Dash answered with a question of her own.

Eventually, Rainbow Dash came to a decision and stated "I'll check her bedroom window" before swiftly ascending into the air. She flew around the house in an attempt to remember which window was connected to which room, having viewed the bathroom, the attic and the spare room, which remained empty. "Okay. So Maud isn't here" she thought to herself, concluding one of the mysteries she had pondered before arriving. Finally, she swooped in to peer into a window and found the bedroom, only to be horrified by what she witnessed.

Pinkie Pie was indeed laying on her bed, but was curled up into a ball against the backrest of her bed; as stiff as a board without any signs of movement, but still breathing and displaying a pair of glistening eyes. Rainbow Dash was almost willing to crash through the window to get inside in a fit of heroic impulse, but decided instead to return to Applejack and inform her of the situation. She quickly darted town to ground level and landed next to Applejack; "Pinkie Pie's in her bedroom, but she's… well… I dunno, but I think she might be freaking out!" she shouted in a panic.

Before Applejack could respond, however, Rainbow Dash suddenly rocketed through the front door, shattering it into multiple pieces, and soaring through the house and upstairs into the bedroom. Bursting through the bedroom door in a lees destructive fashion, she rushed to her best friend's side and screamed "Pinkie Pie! Can you hear me?! What happened?" in a fit of desperation.

Pinkie Pie neither moved nor spoke, and simply sat quietly to herself. Rainbow Dash hung her head in defeat and sighed to herself, before a quiet groan snatched her attention. "I…. I'm…" was all the emanated from the bed, as Pinkie Pie began to shiver and twitch uncontrollably.

"WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME!?" Pinkie Pie screamed hysterically before a wave of tears suddenly began to spill from her eyes. As she sobbed to herself, Pinkie Pie left the bed and staggered towards the window, before resting her head against the glass. She peered down to view the front entrance of her house, fortunately remaining unaware of the lack of any door due to Rainbow's gracious intrusion. "Ugh… I can't handle this…" she thought to herself, staring blankly at the window for a few seconds.

Rainbow Dash came to Pinkie Pie's side and was about to ask a question, only for Pinkie Pie to face her with an expression of pure sorrow. "Rainbow… Please, just… leave". Rainbow Dash's eyes widened, not out of concern, but confusion; "Pinkie Pie? You-". "Leave me alone. I want to be by myself right now" she sniffed distraughtly. Rainbow Dash didn't and couldn't move, standing in too deep of a state of shock from these words. She desperately wanted to shake her friend as it would return her to reality, though she knew well that such actions would be utterly pointless.

Without anything more to say, Rainbow Dash reluctantly, and quietly, left the bedroom, Pinkie Pie neglecting her all the while. Rainbow Dash came across Applejack on her way down the stairs and sighed "Time to go", before walking past her. "W-wait, what?! What happened?" Applejack stammered, only for Rainbow Dash to give no reply and wandered out the door. Applejack sighed to herself and decided not to question the matter any further, deciding reluctantly to follow suit, the audible weeping from upstairs beckoning ominously.

---

Later, once finally at her house, Applejack stepped through the front door and looked around in search of Applebloom. She stepped into the living room and found her sister sitting quietly on the couch in the usual fashion; but oddly, she didn't look at Applejack when she'd entered the house. "Hey, sis. How's it going?" Applejack asked out of genuine curiosity. "I… uh… well… y'know that… that…" Applebloom stammered incoherently, all but seizing Applejack's curiosity even further.

"Y'know that girl that you told me to avoid yesterday?" Applebloom asked nervously, to which Applejack questioned "Uh… yeah… what about her?" Applebloom squirmed fitfully in her seat and replied "I… she found me and we were talking again". "What!? When?" Applejack asked hesitantly, to which Applebloom stuttered "Uhh… this afternoon" and shrank into herself fearfully.

"We didn't talk long!" Applebloom sporadically blabbered, "She was just talking about you and the others… and how she… liked you girls" Applebloom explained. Applejack was speechless, never believing for a second that Pinkamena would make such a statement toward her and her friends, or to anypony except Pinkie Pie for that matter.

"But… she said… she was coming over tonight".

Applejack's eyes widened fully as she yelled "What!?" in terror. Applebloom backed away in fear and continued "S-she'll be here any moment now". Applejack was both scared and confused, as Pinkie Pie was in no state to be active since she last saw her, but still remained unwilling to ignore any chance of peril that she and Applebloom may be in. As the siblings continued to converse, outside the front door, a lone figure was silently staggering towards the front door, breathing heavily and snickering to herself as it approached the property.

The doorknob suddenly began rattling violently, having been locked after Applejack had entered the house. Both sisters backed away from the door in fear as the door ceased to shake, and the house was suddenly filled with an atmospheric, almost unnatural silence. While backing away, the sisters failed to view the path behind them and found themselves bumping into an unknown obstacle. Although Applebloom was too afraid to dare peer behind her, Applejack turned to find a horrifying sight.

Pinkie Pie's hair was hanging downwards over her shoulders, the left of her fringe covering the left half of her face. Her skin was somewhat paler than it's more natural healthy glow. But her face was the most diverting aspect of her features. Her eyes were wide open and her pupils had shrunken to disturbing measures. Her grin covered a majority of her cheeks, showing a large, white smile.

"AGH! How did you get in here?!" Applebloom screamed in a panic. Applejack considered the peculiar choice of questions her sister had decided to ask, considering the more pressing matter at hand, before refocusing her attention on Pinkamena once again. "Ah Hehehehahahehehe! Relax, girls! I just thought I'd pop by for a visit". Pinkamena's gaze slowly shifted downward to the cowering filly and mentioned "I told you that I would come by, Applebloom", followed be a sinister grin; "I never break a promise!"

Applejack then stepped forward while Applebloom stepped behind her elder sister for protection; Applejack threatened "Stay away from my sister, Pinkamena", actually managing a somewhat intimidating presence. "Now get out of my house!" Applejack commanded. Pinkamena glared daggers towards her challenger upon hearing this instruction, "Sorry, but I'm not going anywhere!"

Pinkamena turned away and cast her gaze throughout the room, visibly unimpressed by the simplicity it portrayed to her, sneering "You call this a hou-". Pinkamena suddenly paused as her eyes widened in surprise. The two siblings looked at eachother in confusion before returning their gaze to their involuntary guest.

Pinkamena shook her head violently and yelled "What?! You can't- How did you- You can't be coming back yet!" She applied pressure to her temple to quell what the siblings assumed was a raging wave of agony. She shook her head once again and reopens her eyes, her pupils suddenly returning to their original size. She panted heavily as she examined her surroundings, screaming in an unexpected, high-pitched voice "What the- How did I- Arrgh!"

She suddenly screamed in pain and fell forward against the nearby table, failing to embrace for the impact and landing headfirst. Applejack stepped towards her with haste to aid her out of pure instinct, before suddenly backing away at the sight of the soulless glare rising from the floor. "Not again! … No, stop! … Wait!" Suddenly, thunderous crash emanated as she fell clumsily against the floor once again.

"No! Stop, please! … Why did you come back?! … This is my body! … Your body!? You! It's all about you, isn't it! … Shut up! … I'm not your enemy! I'd never hurt you! … YOU'RE ALWAYS HURTING ME! … NO I'M NOT! … YES YOU ARE, YOU FREAK! … NO! … I… won't… wo… n't… let…le-".

Pinkie Pie's muscles suddenly went limp as her arms fell to her sides, she herself barely steadying her balance before beginning her decent to the floor. Applejack suddenly rushed behind her and caught her. Applebloom gasped heavily from shock and wondered what she had just been a witness to. Pinkie Pie simply lay in Applejack's grip, limp and unconscious, having passed out from stress before Pinkamena could make a lengthy appearance. Applebloom then fixed a horrified gaze upon her sister, who stared back nervously.

"What the heck just happened!?"

---

"…"

It was 10:00 pm.

"…..ie…"

And things had not gone according to plan.

"Pinki….ke up…"

And while it should have been a concern…

"Pinkie Pie, wa…..pleas….up!"

None had expected it.

"Grrgh… ugh…" Pinkie Pie stirred into consciousness as an hour rolled by. She lazily opened her left eye, unwary of the bright light that would assault it, and shut it quickly. She twitched helplessly as her muscles gradually recovered from their motionless state. She open her eyes a second time and gazed unfocusedly at her surroundings. She was back in her own bedroom, laying upon the covers on her bed. She turned her head to the left, her neck creaking loudly from sudden movement, as she searched for any sign of company. A small smile grew on her face from a seeing her awaiting sibling.

"Pinkie Pie!" wailed an ecstatic Maud Pie, who ran to the bed and ensnared her sister in an affectionate hug. A hug so tight, that Pinkie Pie actually found herself suffocating within her sister's grip, and informed her sister of this fact with an audible grunt. Finally regaining her composure, Maud pulled away and stuttered "S-sorry, Pinkie Pie. I was… w-worried about you". "Wh…" Pinkie Pie began before pausing to pull herself upright on the bed, "Why? It's not your fault…" Maud rubbed her arm squeamishly and answered "I… should've been here for you".

Pinkie Pie held her breath in genuine surprise, desperately desiring to hug her sister. "I shouldn't have left you here by yourself. I could've-" Maud sniffed distraughtly, abruptly ending her sentence at a rather inopportune moment. Pinkie's only reply was a simple, defeated sigh as she muttered "I'm becoming more like her". Maud tilted her head in confusion, asking "More like who?"

Pinkie Pie stared up towards her sibling and continued "…and she's becoming more like me". Just then, Maud soon realized exactly what she was talking about, and was unwilling to allow such a degrading analysis. Pinkie Pie soon started to swoon in fatigue and slowly laid her head against her pillow. Maud sat beside the bed and whispered reassuringly "You will win this, Pinkie Pie. Pinkamena can't last much longer".

Pinkie Pie looked into her Maud's glistening eyes and replied "I'm not gonna be the same Pinkie Pie, no matter who wins. You know that, Maud. I can't write music, I can't throw parties, I can't do anything I like. It's just not fun to me anymore". A slight smile appeared as Pinkie Pie then joked sarcastically "Not that the music I wrote was that good, anyway" before her eyes began watering with despair, "I can't even tell good jokes anymore! What is wrong with me!?"

Maud became desperate to remedy her sister's dwindling confidence, but was unable to find any way to quell the oncoming depression her sister was preparing to endure. "What… what am I gonna… turn… into?" She asked into the air, having neglected her sister's presence by this time, before eventually drifting off into a deep slumber.

Maud carefully stepped away from the bed and began pondering the next best course of action. Should she stay with Pinkie Pie? Should she leave her alone? Is she just getting in the way of Pinkie Pie recovering? Was what she spoke true? Was she never gonna be the same after all of this was over? Would she still be her sister?

Maud suddenly slapped her forehead and displayed a deadpan expression, thinking to herself "Of course she will! What am I thinking?!" Maud then carefully crept her way out of the bedroom and closed the door gently behind her, before resting her head against the door and huffing in dismay.

She would stay with her sister, no matter what would happen.

The End?