"So, what's our plan? ... If you don't mind me asking that is..." Fluttershy couldn't help but wonder.

"I'll tell you everything you need to know soon enough Shy, but for now..." Pinkie's eyes narrowed. "I have to get tired."

"Tired?"

"Yep, tired, but you need to get sleep, so go sleep, I have to do some stuff, and I'll be back later." Pinkie didn't wait for a reply before bouncing out the door into the night.

Fluttershy followed as far as the door way and yelled out to her quickly fleeing friend. "Okay, I'll just go sleep then!" Although she was yelling as loudly as she could, it wasn't nearly loud enough to catch her friend's attention.

With a gulp, Fluttershy closed the door and went through her house tending to her somewhat neglected animals. Then she trotted off to bed.

Pinkie quickly checked off everything that needed to be done tonight in her head, trying to make sure absolutely everything was considered and accounted for. It was late, the moon was high in the cloudless sky as she came to a slow trot down the empty Ponyville roads. A slight breeze blew across her back and through her mane. An old Equestria Daily paper skidded across the road in the light breeze, stopping right in front of Pinkie's hooves. She looked at it for a moment, then spotted a small stallion up ahead carrying a load far too heavy for him. He had two large crates on his back and a big pale of water in his mouth. Pinkie looked over her shoulder in time to see the perfectly still leaves of the large trees behind her begin to ruffle in the wind. She timed them, just over two seconds before they stopped, another six seconds until the breeze hit her and the paper. If the wind hadn't gained any speed from the last light gust, it would push the paper four meters down the road, directly into the stallions path. Judging from his stride, he'd step over it with the first hoof and his back right hoof would slip on it, causing him to fall face first with the full force of the heavy load on his back being placed on his neck and chest, serious injury was more than likely. Depending on his reaction time, his injuries would range from a cracked sternum, to two broken legs, to a snapped neck. Pinkie smiled and muttered to herself, Twitchy twitch twitch, buckin twitch.

Tricking her friends into thinking she had some unnatural ability to sense things about to fall was no difficult task, especially those as dimwitted as any Ponyville resident. It was a fun way to occupy time when she was bored but Twilight was another story, she took convincing with other versions of the Pinkie Sense along with an elaborate scheme. In the end she fooled her, in Pinkie's mind this was a huge accomplishment. But even so, she was still a very clever pony. With her on the case, underestimation wasn't an option. Pinkie's thoughts were interrupted by the light gust of wind hitting her mane, sending the paper sliding into position. The struggling stallion didn't notice, it was perfect. He continued down his path, stepping over the paper with his first hoof. Pinkie grinned, another perfect analysis.

She flicked her tail into the air. "Hey you! Wait!"

The stallion stopped in his tracks, startled. "Wha, wha, who's there?"

Pinkie trotted up to him and took the pail out of his mouth, setting it on the ground. She kicked the paper out from under him.

"You need to be careful, you'll hurt yourself carrying all this heavy stuff alone silly."

"Oh Pinkie, it's you. Yeah I know, but I'm in a hurry and didn't want to make two trips." The small stallion blushed.

"I'll help you, where ya goin'?" Pinkie picked the pail back up and trotted side by side with him.

"Just down the block, not too much farther. Thanks by the way, I really appreciate your help." He smiled wishing he had the means to repay her.

Pinkie just smiled and continued down the road.

"Here we are, thanks again Pinkie, you're the best." They had arrived at the Ponyville Homeless Shelter, the crates contained food and other supplies being donated. Pinkie peeked inside, there she saw Scootaloo along with a few other familiar faces, she considered herself lucky to have the Cakes.

"Here Pinkie, I want you to have this, it's a bit chilly out here." He took his scarf off and hoofed it to her, she gladly took the token of appreciation and put it on with a smile.

"Thanks, and it's no problem, Pinkie's always ready to help out a friend in need." She placed a hoof on his shoulder and wore a gentle smile.

They shared a light laugh and Pinkie trotted off continuing her tasks at hoof. She began to wonder what he would have done or said if he knew she had saved him from a painful and horrible fate. Not that it mattered, he didn't deserve it. She made her way down a paved path, one of the only one's in the town. It led up to an official building, inside she could find archived police reports. She went around back and lifted a window, Ponyville isn't known for it's high security in any case. She crawled in and kept it quiet, just to be safe. With a fast double take, she tip hoofed down the hall, spotting the room she needed. She lightly opened the door and silently shut it behind herself.

"Shared case files, aha." She pulled the file drawer open and looked down the list for something indicating the crime in Appaloosa. Cheer Blossom, Abduction, Rape/Homicide. She pulled the file out and went over the details. Her heart became a lump of pain as continued down the long and detailed report. With teary eyes she placed the file back and closed it. These details would play an important roll in Caramel's punishment. She quietly left, and trotted away nonchalantly.

"Alright Pinkie, level head, calm mind, blah blah. You can do this." She went back to Sugar Cube Corner and wrote up about ten letters, all reading nearly exactly the same.

Hey guys it's me, Pinkie! You're invited to attend the biggest best party ever! Come celebrate the new relationship between Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, the perfect pair! Invite everyone you know, there's enough room here for everypony!

Applejack's letter included an invitation for Caramel as well. They all also included directions to meet at the Ponyville Community Center. Pinkie knew every invitee would attend as not to risk seeming prejudice against same gender couples. It was getting late, and Pinkie's eyes were feeling heavy. She walked up to a mirror, she had small bags under her eyes and they were a bit red due to her recent restless nights and lack of sleep. Perfect.

Pinkie headed off to Zecora's hut. She trotted through the forest and found the trail. With a few loud knocks Zecora was awake. She opened the door and glared at Pinkie.

"I can't sleep Zecora, I need your help." Pinkie made sure to look and sound as miserable as possible.

"A lack of sleep in your eyes I see, might I recommend a hot cup of tea."

"No... I tried that, I need something stronger." Pinkie nudged her with an elbow, gesturing at a strange looking decorative box.

Zecora gulped and widened her eyes.

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone I just want to buy some."

Zecora coughed and cleared her throat. "Ahem, if your problem is you cannot sleep, eat these leaves and count some sheep."

"Yeah yeah whatever just give me the stuff."

Zecora rolled her eyes, "Just eat one don't get me wrong, they'll help you sleep but are very strong."

Pinkie chuckled and pulled some bits out of a small bag that she was apparently carrying the entire time.

"Twenty bits enough?"

"Yeah sure." Zecora took the bits and went to her box, she opened it and pulled a false bottom out. Underneath was a small pack of dried leaves, she pulled five leaves out and put them into another smaller bag.

"Who told you about my stash anyway?" Zecora hoofed the bag over to Pinkie.

"No one, I just kinda assumed. What I don't get any more rhymes?" Pinkie quickly changed the subject.

"Shut up you, I'm tired." Zecora waved her off and shut the door.

Pinkie opened the bag and sniffed inside, making sure these leaves were the proper potency. They were an illegal substance in Equestria due to their ability to not only induce a state of euphoria but to potentially cause permanent brain damage. One leaf would let the worst insomniac take a nap, five would tranquilize an elephant. Pinkie tucked the bag inside her scarf and continued on her journey back to town. She popped back into Sugar Cube Corner and whipped up some batter quickly, adding two crumbled leaves into the small batch. She baked a pan of four cupcakes, and put three of them into a small basket. After she wrapped it up and took it outside, she headed off towards the southern side of Ponyville, the outskirts that most tried to avoid. On her way she passed a construction site. There was a cement truck there and plenty of bags of it to be mixed. She noted that they were in the process of building and filling the foundation of what was meant to be a rather large and sturdy complex. Two of four divided sections were filled and leveled with concrete, and the truck was parked along a leveled and empty section, obviously the one they'd fill next. She took a mental note to observe this place tomorrow night.

Upon arriving outside of town, she soon spotted a small group of shady ponies standing around a burning trash can. One small and grey, another was big and white. One was a medium sized and light brown earth pony with a black mane. Close enough...

"Hey there black mane. Come over here, I have something for you." Pinkie waved the basked of cupcakes around with her hoof. "I've got special cupcakes!"

All three ponies got excited, recognizing exactly what Pinkie meant. However the medium brown one was the only one to leave the fire. He excitedly stared at the cupcakes and asked Pinkie what he had to do to get them. These ponies were used to receiving strange requests in exchange for special baked goods. The baking slightly altered the chemical properties of the drug, changing it from a high dose of tranquilization to a lingering mind numbing trip.

"Oh nothing too hard, just come with me and let me paint you up a bit, then you have to go to jail for a day or two, no biggie right?"

"That's it? And I get all three? Deal!" The junkie pony was quick to jump on the exchange, especially one that didn't involve sexual exploitation.

"Good, follow me then!" Pinkie was glad this went over smoothly. Without trouble from the unusable ponies.

After a long trot they found themselves behind the community building, a small toolshed stood attached to the corner. It was mostly rundown and obviously unused. Pinkie led him inside and sat the basket of cupcakes down on a dusty shelf.

"Go ahead and eat those up, I'll be right back, and after you get out of jail there'll be a bonus cupcake with your name on it." Pinkie bounced off into the night. The stallion ravenously devoured the cupcakes, all three almost immediately, causing him to feel the effects as soon as possible. His eyes dilated and he slouched up against the hard wooden wall, drifting in and out of consciousness.

Pinkie returned with a blue bottle of paint in her mouth. She rolled her eyes at the pathetic mess laying out in front of her and got to work.

After a long night she trotted back to Fluttershy's house. The moon had set and the sky was a dark but lightening blue. As she walked down the dirt road she enjoyed watching the stars disappear one by one as the rising sun brightened the sky. The morning air was sweet and refreshing and the sound of birds chirping gave her the sensation that everything would go well today. She made it back just before sunrise. Pinkie tucked the bag of leaves away into one of Fluttershy's drawers tightly wrapped up in her new scarf, but not before taking half a leaf out and eating it. She laid down next to her snoozing friend, she was completely exhausted and ready to collapse into a deep sleep. Sadly she couldn't quite yet. She woke the sleeping pegasus and told her everything she needed to do, she told her about the party, and told her every key detail. Nothing could go wrong or everything would. Fluttershy listened closely, heeding every word. She was more than happy to have confidence placed in her hooves, this wasn't something she was used to, but it felt right for the first time in her life.

Pinkie succumbed to the effect of the leaf and passed out on the bed, snoring obscenely loudly. Fluttershy laughed at the poor beat mare and went about her chores.

"Okay Fluttershy, you can do this. Don't mess it up, Pinkie's counting on you." Fluttershy gave herself a pep-talk every so often just to settle her own nerves.

"Step one, deliver Pinkie's letters." Fluttershy grabbed all ten of the letters and headed out. She decided it'd be faster if she took flight so she kicked off into the air and flapped her wings. She began to glide quickly across the breeze and made her way to Twilight's library. As she approached, she began to fear crashing, she fluttered frantically and came to a skidding halt across the dirt road. Her heart was racing and her nerves were broken.

"I won't be doing that again..."

Twilight must have heard the commotion outside her door, she opened it in time to see a stunned yellow pegasus gasping for breath.

"Oh hi there Fluttershy, what brings you here so early in the morning?" Twilight looked nearly as tired as Pinkie did.

Fluttershy recomposed herself and trotted up to the door, peeking inside. She saw a mess of papers and documents strewn across the floor and tacked to the walls.

"I just brought you an invitation to our party... I really hope you can come... as long as you're not too busy that is..." Twilight grabbed the letter with her magic and opened it.

"Oh I see, congratulations you two, I wouldn't miss your party for the world. Especially since this time Pinkie's actually celebrating something worth celebrating." Twilight smiled awkwardly after realizing Fluttershy might take that as an insult to her new marefriend.

"I'm glad to hear that Twilight. I can't wait to see you there. I have more letters to give out now, bye."

"Bye!" Twilight returned inside.

"Cool, another one of Pinkie's awesome parties huh? Can I come too?" Spike excitedly jumped up off his bed.

"Sorry Spike, look here, a blue stamp. That means this is a grown ups only party, and you're a baby."

"Come on Twilight, you're not that much older than me, just because I age at one tenth your rate doesn't mean I'm less mature." Spike puffed his chest out.

"Alright, you're on Spike. You can come, but I expect you to behave like the mature dragon you are, and we'll probably be out late, since we're not supposed to arrive until after seven tonight." Twilight figured this could be a good experience for the young growing dragon.

"Yes! I promise you won't regret it." Spike jumped into the air with a fist pump.

"Now that that's settled, back to work. Let's review what we have so far." Twilight pointed at the cork board with her hoof.

She thought about everything they'd gone over for a moment. "A dead stallion, very large and seemingly strong. He came to Ponyville from Manehatten after being released from jail for beating his ex-marefriend and putting her in the hospital. He was struck in the back of the head then brutally beaten to death, the murder shows signs of hate and vengeance. Motive? Revenge for the beating of that mare? Inconclusive."

"Well Twilight, lets look at the details of the murder. He was hit from behind, either the attacker hid and snuck up behind him, or someone else attacked him while he was distracted." Spike scratched his chin and pondered at the thought.

"Well judging from his injuries, there was only one attacker, at least one at a time. Two kicks to the ribs in the exact same spot indicate that it was done in quick succession. His gouged out eye seems to be a sign of hate, probably a reaction to him hurting someone close to the attacker. Probably someone who cared about the mare he assaulted." Twilight smacked her head with a hoof.

"That theory leaves no connection to Neighana, the two have noting in common. I hate to second guess this, but maybe the murders aren't connected after all." Twilight sat down, brushing papers across the floor apathetically.

"Twilight, if we do find a connection between the two, then we'll have a huge lead on who to pin to the murder. If there really is no connection, then we might as well declare this case unsolvable."

"Let's take a break, we'll find the connection soon enough. I can tell there's obviously something tying the two crimes, but I'm not sure what. Anyway, let's go get breakfast."

Fluttershy arrived back home, all the letters were given out and everyone accepted the invitation with the exception of Bon Bon, who claimed she had to be somewhere tonight. But there was still another letter to take care of, a sealed letter strangely addressed to the Appaloosa Police Station. Fluttershy disregarded this strange fact and put into her mailbox, raising the red flag.

"Step two, gather decorations." Fluttershy recalled Pinkie telling her exactly where to find the party cannon, a precision instrument invented by Pinkie herself and a prime example of her ingenuity. With the party cannon available, the decorations would be able to wait. Step three was going to be a challenge.

"Step three, food and drink preparation." Fluttershy began reading and rereading directions on how to bake different things. She messily mixed up batter, splashing it on her face and across the kitchen counters and floor. She quickly shoved a cake pan full of batter into the searing hot oven.

"Cake making, not as easy as I thought it'd be."

The clock ticked as the deadline approached, it was getting late in the afternoon and Fluttershy was shuffling around between menial tasks. She was stopped in her tracks by the sickening smell of something burning. She looked back into the kitchen, black billowing smoke was coming out of the oven. She squeaked and rushed towards the burning cake.

"Oh no, oh no no no." She quickly shut off the heat and opened her back door, fanning the smoke out with her wings.

The smell of it must have caught Pinkie's attention, she came trotting into kitchen with a worried look on her face. However the sight of a frantically flapping Fluttershy put a smile on her face. Pinkie stood there for a moment, watching her silly friend desperately forcing smoke into the outside air. She let out a mild sigh, Fluttershy was simply adorable. She was doing her best not to disappoint, even though putting herself in this position is something she never imagined doing. Fluttershy hated feeling like she was being depended on. Pinkie let out another sigh, this one deeper and slightly heart wrenching, Was it wrong to get her involved in this mess?

"You're supposed to bake it not burn it Shy."

"Oh Pinkie! I'm so so sorry, it was an accident, I'm not used to this." Fluttershy let her failure get the better of her, she lost the ability to speak and her eyes filled with tears.

"Don't you cry now, Pinkie will take care of everything!" Pinkie put on an obnoxiously large smile. She trotted up to the sobbing pegasus and wrapped her arm around her. "I'll take care of you Shy, don't worry about it."

Pinkie cleaned up the mess and helped Fluttershy learn to properly mix and bake. Pinkie did enjoy taking her mind off the arduous tasks ahead, even if only for a moment.  

Fluttershy was more than relieved that Pinkie got up when she did. She really did save the day. With a pleasant ding the treats were prepared. They wrapped up what they had made and Pinkie said they could bake more in the Community Building's kitchen while they sat everything up. Pinkie grabbed her scarf from the drawer, tucking the bag of her leaves inside. Then they headed out.

Pinkie's nerves were on edge as they walked into the building. This was the first time she had set something up with such a large margin of error, if anything went wrong, everything would come crashing down on her.

"Fluttershy, I need to go over something important with you." Her smile was gone and her voice was flat and serious.

"Remember what we're doing here, this isn't just a party, we're going to get rid of a very bad pony." Pinkie closed her eyes and went over how she planned on explaining to Fluttershy what she needed her to do.

"I know Pinkie, but I was thinking... Why can't we just tell the police where he is and let them take care of it." Fluttershy nervously waited for a reply with her head lowered.

Pinkie's gaze hardened, and she stamped a hoof. "Fluttershy, you want to know what happens if we tell the police? I'll tell you, they'll take him, put him in a warm jail cell with a bed. Then he gets sentenced to death and shipped off to prison. They'll feed him everyday and on his last day he gets to have a delicious feast of his choice. Then what you ask? Then they give him a shot and he falls asleep!" Pinkie's hooves shook and she teared up.

"I'm... I'm sorry Pinkie, I didn't know..." Fluttershy retreated back, regretting having said anything.

"It's alright Shy, it just makes me so angry when I think about it. Do you want to know what he did to her?  What he did to a sweet innocent little filly?" Fluttershy quickly shook her head from side to side.

"Well it wasn't good, and he deserves what I'm going to do to him. Every agonizing second." Pinkie stamped her hoof again.

"I'm sorry I yelled Shy, now come here, I need to tell you what you need to do when everyone gets here. But make sure to wait for my signal, don't do anything unless you know for SURE that I'm DEFINITELY signalling you to. I don't want you to get hurt." Pinkie brushed the dangling curl out of her face with her hoof, then went up to Fluttershy and explained the details of her task.

As Pinkie told her what was going to happen and what her part was her eyes widened and she gulped.

"Okay Pinkie, got it, confidence." Fluttershy searched deep into the recesses of her mind for a trace of confidence, nothing.

Pinkie nervously glanced at the large clock hanging in the room. "I'll be right back Fluttershy, I have to check on something."

She headed out and around back and opened the old shed. The strung out stallion laid there partially awake. "Here, eat this, you'll like it." Pinkie held out a small fragment of dried leaf on the tip of her hoof.

He sniffed it, then licked it right off her hoof.

"Ew!" Pinkie wiped the hoof on the tip of her scarf with a disgusted expression. "You're just nasty..."

She shut the door and let him fall back to sleep, the setting sun glared in her eyes as she rounded the corner and headed back in. The guests should be arriving soon. As she re-entered the building she immediately noticed Fluttershy. She bit her bottom lip so hard she almost broke the skin, her eyes began to water slightly and the urge to laugh was nearly overwhelming. Fluttershy sat at a bar stool, her legs crossed and her mane brushed back on one side and a thick strand dangling over one eye. She had her hoof in her mane twirling it around and she was making different 'sexy' faces in a small mirror on the counter. She was practicing looking confident and the sight was unusual to say the least. As soon as she spotted Pinkie she lost her balance and began frantically fluttering her wings, but she still fell off the stool and came crashing to the floor. At that point Pinkie had lost it and began rolling around on the floor laughing, her eyes tightly closed.

"Fluttershy!... You!... Oh you... Ha..."  Pinkie couldn't form a complete thought through her laughter. As she began to calm down she opened her eyes. Twilight stood above her looking down with an eyebrow raised.

"What did I miss?"

"Oh hi Twi, you're early." Pinkie looked at her upside down, still laying on the floor with a bright smile.

"Yeah, I came early because I might be leaving early since Spike insisted on coming along." Twilight glanced around the large open room, several tables were set up and well decorated. A large cooler was on another table near the wall and several snacks sat on a table next to it.

"You two set all this up by yourselves?" Twilight asked, already knowing the answer.

"Sure did, well it was actually mostly Fluttershy. She made almost all the food and sat up the tables herself. I just kind of supervised. She said she wanted to be a big part of this since she knows how much parties mean to me." Pinkie spoke off the top of her head, everything she said was a lie.

"Wow Fluttershy, I didn't know you had it in you." Twilight gave her a smile of approval. "It looks great."

A few more guest walked in, along with a bar tender who approached Pinkie and asked where to set his stuff up. She directed him and he pulled his large cart of supplies in and around to the back of the bar. Shortly after, a DJ pony trotted and and began setting her stage up.

Twilight looked surprised. "How did you get all this set up in one day, don't you have to make reservations for these ponies?"

"Well I set all this up a while ago, you see, today is also the day I first came to Ponyville. Don't you remember me giving you and invitation a long time ago? Of course you don't silly, that was too long ago to remember. Anyway I found a better reason to celebrate." Pinkie wrapped her arm around Fluttershy.

"I do remember getting that invitation now, I misplaced it though." Twilight shook her head.

Pinkie smiled awkwardly and trotted away from Twilight to greet more arriving guests. Fluttershy nervously glanced around at the growing number of attendees. As she spotted Applejack and Caramel walking in, her eye twitched.

"Okay Fluttershy you can do this... confidence..." She took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment to clear her mind.

She walked up to Caramel and gave him a quick wink. "Hi there cutie, maybe we should hang out later." She licked her lips and made sharp eye contact, then trotted away, provocatively waving her flank back and forth.

Fluttershy opened her eyes, she was still standing in the same spot, Applejack and Caramel were still being welcomed by Pinkie. Fluttershy's eye twitched again and she trotted away from them and everyone else.

"I can't do this..."

Pinkie chuckled under her breath, she knew Fluttershy wouldn't do it, but still got some amusement out of her attempt.

Everything seemed to be going well, all the guests were having fun and continued to congratulate Pinkie and Fluttershy on their new relationship. Applejack seemed to be less than willing to let Caramel leave her sight, which was proving to be a somewhat expected yet annoying problem. Rainbow Dash and Rarity were having a conversation about something, Pinkie couldn't even begin to imagine what it could be about but felt like she could use that fact to her advantage. She noticed Applejack giving Rainbow a few jealous glances now and then. It was always obvious that there was some strange mutual connection between the two, and neither liked the other receiving too much attention for some reason.

Pinkie walked up to Rainbow Dash and gave her a long warm hug, too long for Applejack's comfort.

"I missed you lately Rainbow, we never hang out anymore." Pinkie kept a hoof around her neck and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. Rarity rolled her eyes and walked away.

Applejack raised an eyebrow, she wasn't going to stand by any longer. "Congratulations on falling for your new partner Pinkie, you two are just too darn cute together." Applejack blatantly pointed out that Pinkie was taken although there was no real reason to.

Rainbow Dash nodded. "You got that right AJ."

"Thanks guys." Pinkie smiled again and hugged Rainbow Dash tighter this time, Rainbow was confused at the display of affection, but Pinkie smiled deviously and looked into Applejack's eyes.

"Well I should be checking on Fluttershy now, see you two later, have fun now." Pinkie walked past Applejack towards Caramel, knocking her hat off with her tail.

"What the hay Pink, awe forget it." She picked her hat up and began quickly and quietly talking to Rainbow Dash about something. They were both shrugging and glancing back and forth between Pinkie and Rarity. Applejack was distracted now and that's all that mattered to Pinkie.

As she approached Caramel she lured him away from his overbearing cousin. "Hey there you, wanna come have a drink with me?" Pinkie's cute eyes and smile meant no wasn't an option for this stallion.

"Uh, sure. I'll just uh, follow you then kay?" Pinkie led him to a table close to the bar, Fluttershy was in her practiced pose sitting on a bar stool behind Pinkie.

Pinkie made exceptionally boring small talk allowing Caramel to get distracted by Fluttershy, who was hard at work making sure not to make eye contact with anyone.

"You looking at my girl?" Pinkie raised her eyebrow. "You know, she told me she thinks you're really cute, maybe you should go talk to her."

"She said that about me? No way, but isn't she your's?"

"Yeah but who says a couple curious fillies never want a stallion in their lives now and then." Pinkie had him eating out of her hooves now. He lost all sense of rationality at the thought of being in between some mare on mare action.

He raised his neck up and peered over Pinkie to get a better look. Fluttershy was delicately holding a glass between her hooves drinking from a straw. Caramel's movement caught her attention, and when she made eye contact with him, every ounce of accumulated confidence vanished. She spat the drink back through the straw refilling the glass, then began to choke. She pounded her own chest with a hoof and eventually fell off the stool again. Her face was flushed and her nerves were lost. She scuttled back to her seat, blushing nearly to the point of blacking out.

Pinkie resisted the urge to facehoof, instead she giggled and pointed out how cute that was. "See? She really does like you, you have her acting all nervous. No go, go talk to her, I'll distract Applejack so she leaves you two alone for a while."

"You will? Well gee, thanks Pinkie." Caramel trotted off towards Fluttershy, and Pinkie trotted off towards Applejack. She turned her head and looked Fluttershy in the eye then gave her a quick nod.

On her way to further distract Applejack she noticed Spike was already falling asleep. She stopped on the way and grabbed three trays of cupcakes. Walking on her back hooves she balanced a tray on each hoof and one on her nose. As she made her way between Applejack and Rainbow Dash, she pretended to lose her balance and came crashing down to the floor with all the frosted treats falling on top of her.

"Ten second rule! Quick, eat them up now!" Pinkie laid down on the floor sprawled out and covered in sweet foods.

"What the hay, count me in!" Rainbow Dash began eating the tiny cakes off Pinkie's body with pleasure. Pinkie giggled as Rainbow Dash tickled her with her tongue.

She looked up at Applejack with fiery eyes and a cocky grin, who then grabbed Rainbow Dash's arm with her own and led her to the other side of the room. The two began arguing about something and Rainbow cowered down under Applejack's lecture.

"Oh you two, secret couples always have the weirdest issues to work out." Pinkie thought to herself.

Fluttershy swallowed her shyness for a moment, desperately trying to remain confident. "Oh... Hi, I'm um, Fluttershy."

"I know who you are, wanna have a drink with me?"

"Yeah... Um, want to go in the kitchen with me where we can talk in private." Fluttershy shook her head back and forth rapidly, finding a trace of bravery. She stood up and walked into the kitchen, holding the door open for a moment, looking over her shoulder with a smile and narrowed eyes.

As the door shut she nearly collapsed due to mental stress, but she knew it wasn't over yet. She persevered, finding reassurance in Pinkie's kind words.

"You can do this Fluttershy, you can do this, you can do this. She's counting on me." The kitchen door swung open, Caramel had taken the bait.

Fluttershy gulped, "I got you something, here, eat it." She slid a cupcake over on a plate, then began to eat one of her own.

"Nah I've had enough for one night. I want to get a taste of you instead, sugar."

Fluttershy's eyes became wider and teared up as she squinted her eyebrows. "Please?" Her voice was nearly inaudibly high.

"Ha, well if'n it means that much to ya, I'll eat it." Caramel took the drugged cake and quickly ate it, shortly after, he recognized what he had just eaten, and began to feel dizzy. Nearly two entire leaves were laced through that single cupcake, rendering him unconscious in seconds.

Fluttershy let out a deep sigh of relief, it was finally over. She tied his hooves up tightly and dragged him into the kitchen's walk in freezer. It was difficult and took time, but she managed it. She laid a few empty boxes over him and shut the lights off, then headed back out to the party. Pinkie was patiently waiting for her to come back out, almost fearing the worst. Fluttershy made eye contact from across the room and gave her another quick nod. Pinkie felt as if a bale of hay had been lifted off her back.

Just then, bright blue lights appeared flashing outside. Pinkie jumped up and ran to the window. The Appaloosa police had received her anonymous tip mailed out earlier in the day.

"Applejack come here, quickly!" Pinkie shouted, however instead of Applejack the whole crowd of party guests gathered around the window. Applejack squeezed her way through just in time to see three blue horseshoes on a light  brown flank being pushed into the back of a police carriage. She bit her lip and backed away nervously, if the police knew she was hiding her wanted cousin she'd be charged with harboring a known fugitive. Pinkie went outside to talk to the police, the guests remained inside and gossiped among themselves.

The police soon went away and Pinkie came back in. "It's alright every pony, they heard there was a criminal here and they caught him, we're safe now so don't let this spoil the party." She looked down at Applejack with a fake sympathetic expression. Applejack seemed to buy it as she gave Pinkie a light smile and walked to the cooler.

Pinkie was more than satisfied with the way everything had gone, that junkie pony would be released from jail as soon as they realize there was a mistaken identity. He'll probably just merge with the outcasts of Appaloosa, or make his way back to Ponyville. No one would believe a word he said even if he did try to talk, not that he could even remember anything that happened after his near overdose of special cupcakes. Applejack will eventually hear about the mistaken identity, even though she doesn't read the news, and she seems perfectly convinced that what happened actually happened. When she does find out, she'll assume he no longer trusts her and went into hiding on his own, never to be heard from again. Twilight left hours ago with a sleeping Spike, something Pinkie hadn't counted on, but it was better that the annoying unicorn didn't have anything to say about the situation.

A couple more hours went by, and all the guests headed out, Rainbow carried the inebriated orange earth pony on her shoulder with a wing tightly wrapped around her. Pinkie had to insist that her and Fluttershy stay behind and clean alone several times to several ponies. She claimed they wanted some alone time tonight and cleaning was something they enjoyed doing together.

"Phew, finally, right Shy? I thought they'd never leave." Pinkie smiled at Fluttershy, who was looking pretty tired.

"Yeah, right." Fluttershy yawned and poked her nose into Pinkie's side, tickling her a bit. "Well, we did it Pinkie."

"You did it Shy, I couldn't have done this without you, I'm really proud." Pinkie closed her eyes and rubbed her nose against her bashful friend's.

Fluttershy blushed again, "Thanks Pinkie..."

The two mares quickly cleaned up the mess in less than two hours. Large full garbage bags were left near the back door for morning maintenance to deal with. They then headed back to the freezer. Pinkie opened it up, inside was a now mostly awake and shivering stallion, he looked up and made eye contact with Pinkie. His hooves were tightly bound and his muscles were locked up due to the freezing cold air around him.

Pinkie began to grin ominously, the dim freezer light casting terrifying shadows across her malicious face.

"Gotcha."