Cupcakes (My Little Pony fanfic)

Cupcakes by Sergeant Sprinkles is a notorious My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic fanfic. The fic was likely originally written as a troll fic meant to trick Pinkie Pie/Rainbow Dash shippers into reading what seemed to be a cute fic.Hobby Drama post
==Summary==
The story starts with Rainbow Dash being invited to Pinkie Pie's home/bakery, only to be drugged with a spiked cupcake. Rainbow Dash then wakes up to find herself strapped to a table in the basement, where Pinkie informs her that she's out of an ingredient she needs for her cupcakes, and that Rainbow Dash needs to "provide" that ingredient. From there, Pinkie Pie proceeds to brutally torture and mutilate Rainbow Dash in various ways, such as cutting off her wings and electrocuting her, eventually resulting in Dash's death. It's revealed during the fic that Pinkie Pie has apparently also done this to other ponies before Rainbow Dash and that she chose to go after her friend because "her number came up". 
At the end of the original fic, Pinkie Pie and Apple Bloom team up to do the same to Silver Spoon, though the fic ends just as Silver Spoon is about to be tortured.
==Role Within Fandom==
Cupcakes was one of the earliest dark fics written in the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic fandom, having been written while the first season was still in progress. As a result, it gained notoriety within the fandom for its dark and brutal content, often being viewed as a shock fic and even labelled as "GRIMDARK AS FUCK" by Equestria Daily. Notably, this was the only fic to get this label. Equestria Daily Wordpress post The fic was a likely influence behind the large number of dark/shock fics that appeared in the fandom in the following years, such as the fic Rainbow Factory by Aurora Dawn.
In a coincidence, the season 1 episode Party of One featured a Pinkie Pie who resorts to throwing a surprisingly creepy party for several inanimate objects after she believed her friends to have abandoned her. Due to the episode airing on April 29th, 2011, just a few months after the upload of Cupcakes, fans started associating the Pinkie depicted in the episode with the fic. 
===Recursive Fanworks===
Cupcakes spawned a number of recursive fanfics and other works in reaction to the original fic. Exact contents of these fics varied, but covered themes such as: 
* Rainbow Dash escaping/being rescued 
* Some other pony uncovering Pinkie's murders or getting justice for the missing ponies
* Stories from Pinkie's point of view, often in an attempt to explain why Pinkie would act this way
Other works spawned from this fic included songs, art, dramatic readings, and in character reactions.
==Gallery==
File:MLP Barbie Mugshot by FredrikNilsK.jpg|Version of the Barbie mugshot meme by FredrikNilsK featuring Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie (Aug. 2023). ‎The apparent icing residue on Pinkie Pie's muzzle, as well as Rainbow Dash's battered appearance and shocked expression, may be a reference to Cupcakes.
==Links==
* Google Docs fic upload, archive link
* Grammar edited version of the fic, archive link
* Equestria Daily Wordpress upload about the fic, contains links to the Google Docs upload plus several recursive works, archive link
* TV Tropes page about the fic
==References==
Category:2011 Fanfiction