MLP: By the Book. Part 1

It was a Sunday morning, as well as incredibly dismal for all its inhabitance to observe. An offensive onslaught of rain poured relentlessly upon the town, and no trace of life could be discovered along any of its winding streets.

During the entirety of this deluge, everypony had taken refuge within either their own homes or in the available shops or markets, multiple of which having closed up tightly out of fear of flooding.

Due to this, and rather predictably, the most crowded and overfilled of all possible shelters was the typically generous café. Among the customers within this, waiting to be served their respective meals, was none other than Pinkie Pie and her five colleagues.

As they waited, they chatted amongst themselves, while Pinkie Pie simply listened and would often respond to an occasional question. Throughout the entirety of the wait, Pinkie Pie didn't seem to have her natural joyful vibe, and seemed much more nervous and introverted.

It was only a matter of time before her friends would notice this unnatural behavior from her, as the scene she painted for them was beyond abnormal. "Hey, uh… Pinkie Pie?" Rainbow Dash began, failing to hide her expression of concern, "Is something wrong?"

Pinkie Pie took several seconds to process the question, before she raised her head and quickly answered "No. Why?"

All of her friends looked at eachother with skeptical expressions, remaining unconvinced by her answer. "Well, you just seem very… well… on edge, today" Rarity admitted, before adding "Strangely unsocial as well".

Pinkie Pie's eyes darted between each of her colleagues, all staring in expectation of her answer. "On edge? Unsocial? Me?" she questioned, feigning confusion in the hope to convince her friends otherwise.

After a silence, Pinkie Pie lowered her head in shame and admitted "…Yeah, I… guess I have been a bit… down in the dumps recently". "What's getting ya down, gal?" Applejack asked, her head tilted to express her curiosity.

"Nothing to worry that much about… just some bad dreams I've been having" Pinkie Pie answered before abruptly yawning, "Gergh… I think I might need a change". "Perhaps a holiday, You can only party so long before your all partied out" Twilight recommended. "That's not my problem" Pinkie Pie admitted.

Fluttershy then boldly asked "It wasn't about Pinkamena, was it?"

A chilling atmosphere instantly fell on the table from Fluttershy's question.

"WHAT! NO! ABSOLUTELY NOT! I WOULDN'T…" Pinkie Pie shouted, searching for an excuse to avoid this conversation. But from the mortified looks on her friends' faces, such an action would be futile. "I… well…" Pinkie Pie stuttered nervously, before slamming her head against the table, "Yes... she was there".

Awful memories of Pinkamena flooded the minds of her friends as they each traded nervous glances. They soon noticed that their friend that was sitting at her end of the table was now staring miserably at her half-drank milkshake. An awkward silence surrounded the table as the air around them grew heavier and thicker.

"I'm sorry for…" Pinkie Pie muttered as she shut her eyes tightly, before leaving the table and adding "I better get going". She began to take her leave as she instructed "You girls should have fun while I'm gone".

Practically on reflex to this act, Rainbow Dash dropped from the table and tried to run after her, yelling "Wait, don't go! It's not that big of a deal!" But by this time, Pinkie Pie was already leaving the café and heading out into the rain.

Rainbow Dash was in a predicament, now having to decide whether to follow Pinkie Pie, or to stay and discuss the situation with the others.

Eventually, she turned to the main entrance, watching as her troubled colleague disappeared into the bombardment of rain as the doors slowly closed shut. Rainbow Dash stepped through the doors and followed after her, not swayed by the weather in any fashion and persevering through the pouring rain.

"Pinkie Pie, wait! Where are you going?!" she called out to seize her attention. Pinkie Pie stopped in her tracks and turned to her, muttering "I'm going home" in response. Rainbow Dash stopped in front of her and frantically blabbered "Please come back to the café. We're not angry with you or anything, and you shouldn't worry over it".

Pinkie Pie didn't respond to this, but simply sat and shook her head as Rainbow Dash fell silent. For several moments, this silent lingered, only negated by the rain that hammered upon them. "Hey, Rainbow Dash… can I ask a question?" Pinkie Pie then asked, "And this means a lot to me, so be honest".

Rainbow merely nodded and listened for the question, before she noticed Pinkie Pie eyes beginning to water. "Am I… Am…" she stammered, to which the pegasus insisted "It's okay, Pinkie Pie. You don't have to-".

"Am I insane?"

Rainbow Dash's heart stopped from this question, the atmosphere of the situation finally coming full circle. She was taken aback and left speechless, unable to find a way to respond to this. She understood that having a split personality is one of the most recognizable forms of mental illness, but couldn't bring herself to elude anything by it towards her friend.

"I… I… You… I…" Rainbow Dash incoherently, though this was all the assurance that Pinkie Pie needed, and she sighed she with a misplaced sense of satisfaction. "Don't answer that. I really shouldn't ask questions when I know the answer" she winced dryly.

Immediately as she said this, the flood gates were opened, and Pinkie Pie shut her eyes tightly as tears leaked through. She turned away and wandered off down the street, leaving Rainbow Dash in astonishment. The moment Pinkie Pie disappeared from the pegasus' view, she heard the sound of hoofsteps and splashed from behind her.

They stopped behind her as Rainbow Dash turned to face her friends, Twilight stepping forward and asking "What happened?!" Rainbow Dash could find a suitable answer to this question, as her mind was focused on one simple question.

How could this depressing side to Pinkie Pie have come to be?

Pinkie Pie pushed her way through the front door of her pastry store, before blindly making her way across the main room and into her bathroom. Taking at towel, she dried her hair of the soaking dampness it encompassed before returning to the staircase.

She ascended to the second floor and staggered carefully towards her bedroom, shutting the door behind her as she approached her bedside. She huffed as she climbed into her bed and lay on her side against the pillow, attempting to get some rest after her return trip.

"I hate the sound of that rain… but I can't remember why" she thought to herself, hearing the raindrops impacting against her overhead window and discouraging her attempts at rest. She leaned up from the bead and suddenly felt a pain well within her head, prompting her to ley her temple against her ankles, "Wonderful. Now it's giving me a headache".

She leaned back against the bedframe and lay her head back against the glass, allowing its cool aroma to quell the pain generating within her head. She sighed blissfully as she relaxed against the glass panel, before a series of sounds caught her attention.

As she could have predicted, she heard the sound of her front door opening and several hoofsteps echoing up from the lower floor. She hadn't a need to wonder who it was, having a clear idea, and simply awaiting one of her sisters to enter her bedroom.

Soon enough, she heard the hoofsteps gather behind her bedroom door as the door itself opened, before a familiar voice whispered "Hey… Pinkie Pie?" Pinkie Pie smiled and replied "The door's open, Maud. Come in!" in a high pitched voice, the tone closely resembling a young filly rather than her typical tone.

Rainbow Dash stepped inside and muttered "Maud?" as she approached Pinkie Pie's bedside, watching Pinkie Pie curiously as she relaxed against the window. "Who is Maud?" she asked in confusion towards her friend, before explaining "It's me; Rainbow Dash".

Pinkie Pie had her eyes shut from the bliss she felt from the coolness that spread through her neck and the back of her head. "Your other friends are coming too. They should be here soon" Rainbow Dash explained, before Pinkie Pie raised an eyebrow in confusion, "Friends? Don't you mean…". Pinkie Pie, out of her confusion, opened her eyes and gazed upon her consultant.

"AAAAAGGHHH!"

Suddenly, Pinkie Pie screamed at the top of her lungs as she fell from her head and landed against the floor with a 'Thud!', before she crawled towards the nearby corner of her bedroom. Rainbow Dash, frightened by Pinkie Pie's reaction, asked "What!? What's the matter?!" as she slowly rounded the bed and stepped towards her.

Pinkie Pie then leaned up against window in a manner similar to a cornered prey, fearful of her predator as it prowled towards her. "No! Please!" she cried in terror, tears surfacing in her eyes from pure fright, "No more! Don't hurt me! Please don't hurt me anymore!"

Rainbow Dash then grabbed Pinkie Pie and stood her up, the latter becoming paralysed from fear as she awaited oncoming harm. Instead, Rainbow Dash shook her by her shoulders and yelled "Pinkie Pie, I'm not going to hurt you! It's me! Open your eyes!" Pinkie Pie did as instructed and focused her eyes on her consultant, before coming to a realization.

Without preparation, Rainbow Dash was wrapped in a tight hug as Pinkie Pie cried against her shoulder, whimpering "Rainbow… you were… a monster!" Rainbow Dash raised her left arm and wrapped it around her best friend as she wept, bewildered by this explanation.

Sure enough, a familiar southern accent screamed "Pinkie Pie!" as Applejack approached the pair, followed swiftly by Fluttershy and Rarity. "Rainbow Dash, what happened to her?!" Rarity questioned, Pinkie Pie pulling away from the embrace and sitting back against the side of her bed.

Rainbow Dash straightened her posture and explained "Pinkie Pie told me that I looked like a monster for a second". Applejack sat beside Pinkie Pie as the latter leaned against her and lay her head against her shoulder, and Rainbow Dash concluded "I think she just had another hallucination". Pinkie Pie them raised her head and looked at Applejack, who listened readily.

"Where's T… Twilight?"

The group looked at one another before turning to the bedroom door, Fluttershy leaning her head out and curiously searching the hallway. Rainbow Dash, a disgusted sneer in her face, answered "That's a very good question. Where is Twilight?" before her sneer shifted into a stern scowl.

"If she just left to go home while we were heading here, I'm gonna-" Rainbow Dash growled before swiftly retaining a sturdy control of her temper, "What am I saying? What was I going to say?!" Applejack looked up to the pegasus and replied "Just keep yar head on, gal. But ya're right! Why would Twilight be elsewhere while we're here!?"

Pinkie Pie detached herself from Applejack and stood up, rubbing her tears from her eyes with her ankles. "Sorry girls…" she said under her breath, "I need to be alone for a little while".

Rainbow Dash raised her eyebrow and asked "Why? It's not that big of a problem", though Pinkie Pie was not swayed as she replied "It's not that". Pinkie Pie then stopped to consider her comment and corrected herself, "Well, it is… but…".

Applejack interrupted "That's fine Pinkie Pie. We'll let you rest", her other friends nodding in agreement. Pinkie Pie smiled in response, "Thanks so much… I'll be okay a little later".

"Alright. See ya later, gal" Applejack gleefully said as she left her bedroom and descended to the first floor, the other waving to her and following suit. The moment she heard the front door close shut, Pinkie Pie turned to her bed and climbed onto it, laying her head against the pillow and allowing her fatigue to claim her.

The rain from outside had lessened and no longer bombarded her house as she laid in her bed, allowing her to use the much calmer taps it emitted to lull her to sleep. "Now I remember why I hate the rain" she thought to herself.

"It reminds me of sad memories".

The hours passed until night fell, blanketing Ponyville under a cover of darkness. At the stroke of 9:00 pm, Pinkie Pie stirred from her sleep and groggily sat up from her pillow, rubbing her eyes of the excess sleep and sighing. "Wow…" she mumbled before abruptly yawning, "That's the best rest I've had in a while".

She jumped out from her bed and stumbled her way out of her bedroom, thinking to herself "I should do it more often". As she ungraciously trudged her way down to the first floor of the building, she soon discovered stars and a moon through the nearby window, indicating the time she had awoken by.

She reached the first floor and carefully fumbled her way through the dark, sweeping her hooves against the wall to find the light switch. She finally brushed against it and flicked it up, and immediately, the entire main entrance room filled with a warm light.

As she peered out towards her front door, she felt the urged to step outside and examine the stars. She felt a wave of nostalgia as she remembered her life on the rock farm, as her favorite hobby would be to stare that the stars before she went to bed.

While she wandered out the front door and staggered through the streets under the night sky, she began to wander around the street as she examined the many stars. She spent several minutes wandering, before she found herself in the marketplace.

However, as she began her journey back home, she spotted a familiar face making her way through the street. Twilight crept silently through the streets and entered the nearby pawn shop, her eyes darting nervously through the street for unwanted observers. "Huh? What's she doing out so late?" Pinkie Pie wondered.

Pinkie Pie snuck behind the window of the barber shop and spied on the unicorn, the latter making several purchases from the shopkeeper. The elder pony offered a pair of book to her as she stuffed them into her bag, though Pinkie Pie couldn't see what they were about.

After a moment, Twilight began to make her way to the entrance, and Pinkie Pie quickly hid around the corner of the pawn shop. The paranoid unicorn looked around the street before making her way back to her library. Pinkie Pie eventually decided to follow her and see what she was rather poorly attempting to hide.

Pinkie Pie stayed out of Twilight's sight, and remained silent as not to arouse any undue suspicion. After a long while, Pinkie Pie finally trailed her all the way back to her home, the local library. Twilight opened the door and searched around the streets a final time, before finally entering inside.

Pinkie Pie waited for a few minutes until her bedroom light on the second floor shone through the window, signaling her chance to enter without being caught. Pinkie Pie slowly pushed the door open and shut it behind her, and she immediate heard familiar voices as she crept towards the bedroom stairwell.

"Hey! Take a chill pill, Twilight. You're way too stressed out" echoed from Twilight's bedroom, followed by Twilight answering "Quiet! I need to think!" Pinkie Pie slowly approached the end of the stairwell and stopped just outside of Twilight's room, the voices slowly growing louder and clearer.

She peeked from behind her cover and found Twilight pacing back and forth in the middle of the room, and her dragon companion Spike watching her from atop her desk. Twilight growled in frustration "I can't be calm! I've been spending weeks trying to figure this all out".

She threw her hair back and wiped her brow shakily, before adding "And every time I come close to a solution, something new happens that doesn't make any sense! IT'S UNBELIEVABLE!" Her purple dragon companion then whispered hesitantly "Careful, Twilight! You might end up waking the neighbors up!"

Twilight sighed and reluctantly decided to sleep her frustration off for the night, "I'll worry about it all tomorrow". She quietly stumbled her way upstairs to her bed while Spike followed her, each climbing into their respective beds as Twilight restlessly snuggled underneath her covers.

"I need to know what I'm missing, Spike. I have to know what ties it together. What is it?" Twilight huffed to Spike from over the foot her bed, before coming to a sudden realization. She gave him a puzzled expression and asked "Wait... why am I asking you?"

Spike rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly as he lay on his back, before replying "Umm, I dunno… maybe to stop you from going crazy". "Ugh! Go to bed Spike, or I'll really go crazy" she exclaimed, too weary to retaliate any further, or to even switch out the lights.

Pinkie Pie peaked into the bedroom, cautiously gazing throughout the room in search for Twilight. She nervously crept into the room and passed the aligning bookshelves, allowing her the chance to admire the organized layout of the room.

Even with a whole library for such a task, even Twilight's bedroom could suffice as its own independent library. "Only Twilight would put in this much effort in the layout of a room. Especially a bedroom" Pinkie Pie thought to herself as she view the books along the wall, "How in Equestria does Twilight remember where everything is?"

Eventually, Pinkie Pie spotted a lone desk at the end of the line of bookshelves, piled with several books and schematics. Pinkie Pie approached it and immediately recognised a pair of books on a clear space, the same books Twilight bought earlier. Pinkie Pie took one and read its cover, the title reading "Pony Psychology for Doofuses".

She was confused greatly by this, "Since when did Twilight become interested in Psychology?" she wondered. She laid the book back on the desk before she noticed Twilight's diary, opened to a specific page. Pinkie Pie leaned over the desk and decided to read what it said.

This proved to be an incredible mistake.

To be continued…