MLP: A Blessing in Disguise. Part 1
It was noon for the inhabitants of Equestria. All was incredibly quiet for the duration of the morning, and it was widely speculated by many that the afternoon would be greatly identical. However, while the rest of Equestria nurtured itself with relaxation, such could not be said for the halls of Canterlot, which found themselves under the corruption of a truly grim atmosphere.
Ever since the events that occurred within the enchanted halls from the previous night, the regal Princess Celestia had taken it upon herself to personally aid the dismayed Pinkie Pie in her pledge for peace.
As of the next morning, Pinkie had remained within the Master Bedroom for the night and Celestia had kept watch over her.
In the meantime, Twilight had returned to Ponyville and set about telling Maud the devastating news. Maud, petrified for her sister's health, accompanied Twilight as they journeyed for the castle to visit her. Along the way, they happened across the southern fruit-herder Applejack, who had similar intentions and decided to join the group.
As they made their way, Maud said "I wish somepony had told me that you all had left for this 'Canterlot' place". "We were in a bit of a hurry" Twilight admitted, "So yeah, sorry for the surprise".
As they continued to Canterlot, Pinkie Pie was preparing for her first in a series of scheduled sessions with the princess.
"Just… please… don't read my mind again" Pinkie requested in a meek manner, to which Celestia assured "Don't worry, Miss Pie. I would never do that to you". Pinkie Pie sat on a prepared sofa and relaxed, allowing a sense of relief to finally spread through her agitated muscles. She breathed steadily as her eyes slowly closed shut, allowing for the first time she had properly relaxed in a long while.
Celestia cleared her throat in preparation and instructed in a hushed, nurturing tone "Now… I need you to stay still for this, Pinkie Pie"; Celestia finally focused her line of sight upon her client and added "…so you can fall asleep". Out of a sudden sense of curiosity, Pinkie reopened her strained eyes and asked "Fall asleep? Why?"
"This is a spell that, I think, might help you. With it, your dreams will become entirely lucid for a time" Celestia explained, "And I need you to describe your dreams to me once you awaken". Reluctant, though relatively curious, Pinkie Pie leaned back in her seat and sighed in relaxation, allowing the spell to finally take place.
As soon as she shut her eyes, she lost any and all physical connections to the rest of her body.
Upon reopening her eyes after a prolonged amount of time, Pinkie Pie found herself sitting in a small, white room. She remained motionless without any sign of movement, laying in complete silence. She shifted her gaze throughout the room, finding no windows, doors or any form of furniture in view, as well as the fact that the walls were coated in a strange, cautioning material.
Pinkie Pie attempted to stand, but found that her front legs were constricted by a foreign force; and once she stared down, the source of this immobilization became clear.
She was bound in a straitjacket.
From the revelation, Pinkie Pie began to panic as she thrashed about in an attempt to pull her legs free of their bindings; unfortunately, this was to no avail. "Where am I?!" she cried out in despair, "Anypony! Can anypony here me?! HELP ME!" No answer from any form of outside world could be heard, concluding the mystery of her solitude indefinitely.
After a few minutes of silence, Pinkie Pie trembled in resignation as she shifted into the corner of the room. She stared downwards towards her restrained limbs as a single tear fell upon one of the multiple leather belts. By this time, she had practically forgotten about the spell and succumb to the bleak atmosphere of this conjured environment.
"Still a mess, isn't she? No surprise, really…" a voice echoed within the room, instantly catching Pinkie Pie's attention from her state of despair. She searched the room desperately in search of the source, soon turning to her left to find a familiar unicorn leaning against the wall beside her.
However, when Pinkie Pie attempted to scream "Twilight!" with joy, she discovered that she couldn't hear her own voice, having found herself mute upon attempting to speak. Twilight failed to notice Pinkie Pie beside her as she continued "She's still suffering from her split personality, and everypony wants to help; and yet, she still won't answer any questions. Her family, running away from home…".
Soon, the mood became sour as Twilight then lectured "Never a kind word for my efforts! Don't I deserve some credit?! Without me, she and all of her friends would never have figured any of this out!"
Pinkie Pie refused to listen to this, as she began shaking her head violently to banish these thoughts.
However, once she looked up again, she found that Twilight had disappeared from the room, only to be replaced with the figure of Maud Pie sitting to her left.
Pinkie Pie reluctantly listened as Maud began "Me and Mom always knew it, Pinkie Pie! You were always such a miserable excuse for a sister; too content to pretend to have things that you couldn't actually get. As if you could ever be truly happy with creating a second world for yourself to enjoy, while the rest of us are left to slave away around you!"
Tears had begun to reemerge from Pinkie's eyes from these accusations, and she looked away from Maud in disgust, only to find a less reputable figure to her right.
None other than the nefarious horror Pinkamena leaned comfortably against the cushioning as she snidely remarked "Is everything truly clear for you, Pinkie Pie? Am I really just some villain for you and your friends to beat? Am I not to be honored and respected like Maud or Twilight?"
Pinkie Pie clenched her teeth and shut her eyes tightly, but Pinkamena continued "For me, it's only a few moments to be around before I'm lost in limbo again. I have desires, intentions, and my own intellect; and yet, I'm still just pushed aside as a mere delusion".
By this time, Pinkie Pie had succumbed to this torture and would willingly listen to these disturbing statements, before she suddenly noticed a strange feeling course through her body. The world around her soon began glowing evermore bright, before finally blurring into a single colour.
Pinkie Pie laid her hoof upon the left side of her forehead and grunted in pain; "Pinkamena! Stop! Please!"
Celestia's eyes widened in surprise as she exclaimed "That's not right! That's not meant to happen! What's she doing there?!" Pinkie began panicking as she tossed fitfully on the couch, eventually enough for her to roll off the side.
With a loud 'Thump!', she fell upon the floor, shivering and twitching into unnatural positions. Celestia quickly arose from her seat and her horn ceased glowing, thus breaking the enchantment and freeing her patient from this inescapable nightmare.
Pinkie's eyes shot open as the spell was broken, before falling to the floor and sighing in despair. As Pinkie gasped for air, she turned to face the Princess and cried "Don't do that to me again, please!", her eyes pooling with terror.
Celestia sat beside the shuddering Pinkie Pie, who sat against the sofa with her arms wrapped around her legs, before she lay her hoof under Pinkie's chin and lifted her head to meet her gaze. "Forgive me. I never expected that to happen" she admitted to her cowering client, "Though I suppose our first session has come to a conclusion".
As this happened, the door suddenly burst open, revealing a terrified trio of ponies stumbling hastily into the room. "PINKIE PIE!" Maud called out in fright, before running to her stricken sister and hugging her tightly.
Without questioning the fact that the trio had been eavesdropping against her instructions, Celestia explained "Don't worry, Maud. Pinkie Pie is just fine. She is free to return home for today". Relieved by this, all four younglings bid their farewells to the princess and journeyed to the main gate, and soon to Pinkie and Maud's home for the pair to properly reunite.
By the time they had finally returned back to Sugarcube Corner, the sky had become a blackening field of stars and Twilight had already parted ways.
As they came to the door, however, they found that somepony had apparently been expecting them, as a lone figure was currently leaning against their front door. As they curiously, and cautiously, approached the figure, they found it to be their overly sanitary associate.
"Rarity? What's going on?" Pinkie asked aloud; Rarity was clearly unfocused, ignoring this greeting and continuing to think to herself. "Hey Rarity!" Maud Pie called out to her, finally drawing her attention from whatever thought had crossed her mind as she finally looked towards them.
"Oh! Hey, you two!" she quickly called out in hesitation to greet them, considering the reputation that such an upper-class figure must uphold. Rarity stepped away from the doorway and swiftly made her way to the duo to converse the situation.
"What going on? What are you doing here?" Pinkie asked curiously, to which Rarity began explaining her case. "Listen, I…" she began before pausing, possibly to find the right words to say, "I'm gonna head out of town for a few days… So, I need my sister to stay somewhere while I'm gone".
While Maud had not known Rarity long enough to understand her claim, Pinkie's memory reflected back to memories of Rarity's sister, namely Sweetie Belle. While not acquainting with her directly, Pinkie had been told on multiple occasions of her skills, especially her supposed 'singing prowess'.
"Well, I've never seen your sister… but I can- urk!" Pinkie then pressed her hoof against her temple and groaned in discomfort.
Both Maud and Rarity were truly surprised by this action, as Pinkie Pie had shown no sign of anxiety nor trauma thus far. Maud asked worriedly "Pinkie Pie?! What's wrong!?" only for Pinkie Pie's sudden headache to quickly cease.
After the throbbing pain subsided, Pinkie grunted in disapproval "Ugh! I'm not that big of a timebomb, you idiots! Would you just-!" before covering her mouth in surprise of her own outburst. "Sorry! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to say that!" she blabbered in a flustered panic, hoping to redeem herself of any act of malice that she may have committed.
Whilst Pinkie Pie was distracted by her self-invoked panic, a lone figure stepped quietly into view of the door, shyly peeking out from behind the defense of the wooden structure. Rarity looked behind her and saw this figure, calling "Hey, Sweetie! Come out here!" in a cheerful tone.
The figure sauntered through the doorway and revealed herself to be the aforementioned sibling, who smiled shyly, "Hey there, Pinkie Pie". Rarity then fixed her gaze upon Maud and explained "Look, I wouldn't have had you do this for me, but I thought that two ponies would be better to look after her".
Rarity possibly mentioned this in order to assure the duo of her consideration in this matter, having decided the best course of action for her younger sibling. However, as Maud became aware of such consideration and respected it, Pinkie Pie remained skeptical of this decision and desperately wished to object to it; but to avoid any further grief upon the situation she had found herself in, she decided against it.
"Don't worry, Rarity. We'll take care of her" Maud assured, resulting in an appreciative smile from the former. Rarity then looked through the window to the living room and gazed upon the clock, which currently chimed 8:00.
"Ack! I'm already late for the train! I gotta go! Bye!" Rarity yelled in a panic. Pinkie Pie turned to say goodbye, but Rarity had already disappeared into the streets, unfortunately neglecting the trio in their endeavor to bid her farewell.
Maud Pie, Pinkie Pie and Sweetie Belle all entered the abode at once as Sweetie whistled to herself gleefully. Pinkie Pie suddenly felt a sensation of drowsiness wash over her, diminishing her senses for a short period of time. She stumbled forward clumsily as her eyes shut wearily, before regaining her sense of oncoming danger and quickly stabilizing herself.
"I'm sorry… Maud… I'm too tired. I'm off to bed" she muttered sleepily before trudging her way upstairs to her bedroom, neglecting to see if either of the duo had heard her.
As night had finally settled upon the world, the night itself was relatively peaceful for a majority of its passing. After Pinkie Pie had resigned herself to fatigue and ended up spending little more than an hour in a deep slumber, Maud had spent the night looking after Sweetie Belle for her.
However, while Pinkie Pie was resting peacefully at the stroke of 9:00, she was suddenly awoken by the sound of a loud, metallic clatter. She began squirming under her sheets as she stirred into consciousness, groggily lifting her head from the pillow and lazily opening a single eye.
"Gergh…what was…?" she muttered unintelligibly before stretching her arms above her and dropping from the bed.
As she made her way down the stairs, she then heard the sounds of laughter. She stopped halfway down the staircase and listened carefully to the voices that conversed within the kitchen. The high pitch of the voices indicated that they were no more than fillies, but none of the voices were recognizable to her.
As she continued her stagger her way to the first floor, she turned the corner to find an unexpected sight.
Three fillies were in her kitchen, one of which being Sweetie Belle, though the others' identities could not be categorized within her previous affiliations. As they continued to chat amongst themselves, Maud entered through the living room to find Pinkie Pie, gasping in surprise and exclaiming "Pinkie Pie! I'm so sorry! We didn't mean to wake you up!"
From this sudden, loud apology, the attention to their conversation was broken as the three fillies peered towards their half-asleep observer. "What are you all doing here?" Pinkie asked in confusion, to which the three minors looked at eachother sheepishly. Sweetie Belle then stepped forward and explained "Well… I… invited them over".
Pinkie Pie sighed in relief and replied "Oh… Okay. But can you please be a little bit more quiet?" before turning to return to her personal boudoir. Before she could, though, an orange filly stepped forward and asked "Hey, uh… Pinkie Pie?" Pinkie stopped to listen, turning her head to reveal an expression of quizzical curiosity.
"Do you have a split perso- pers- personal-ity?"
From this broken pronunciation of words, an unsettling atmosphere engulfed the house, and all that dwelled within it. A bitter chill had spread through Pinkie Pie's muscles from this rather simple question; simple, and yet questionable in itself. Pinkie Pie's heart had increased in pace as she trembled nervously, before asking "Who… who told you… about that?"
Scootaloo stepped backwards nervously and answered "It was… Spike. He said that you had some kind of problem with your hea-" before covering her mouth suddenly, as if such an action would undo her statement.
From this unmasking of the informant, Pinkie Pie shut her eyes tightly and tensed in frustration. She understood that Spike was on the more naïve or gullible side, but without a just reason to expose such an important secret to others, Spike must've done it on purpose.
Pinkie Pie gritted her teeth in rage as her hair began lowering over her head, as her pupils had begun shrinking to an unnatural size. As soon as Maud realized what was happening to her sister from these signs, she leapt in front of her and violently shook her from her alternate state of being, screaming "Hey! Pinkie Pie! PINKIE PIE!"
Pinkie Pie shook her head as she finally returned to reality, her eyes and hair returning to their original appearance. She knew clearly of what almost happened, and was quick to attempt avoiding any direct conversation before such a situation could occur again, but with more successful outcomes for the sinister anomaly behind it.
Without another word, Pinkie Pie ran up the stairs and confined herself within her bedroom, without as much as a word spoken to those that witnessed it.
Scootaloo gulped and muttered "Sorry… I didn't mean to… insult her or anything!" drawing Maud's attention to the flustered filly. "Hey, Hey! Don't worry about it; you haven't insulted anypony here!" Maud reassured, before considering the situation and lamenting "All the same, though… that's a pretty touchy subject".
Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the group below, Pinkie Pie didn't return to her slumber as they had assumed, and instead sat quietly in a pool of despair. Ponies are starting to learn about her secret, and this fact alone had brought a shattering pain to her heart. And soon enough, she had begun considering the inevitable questions to ponder.
If those fillies knew about it, does anypony else know it too?
To be continued…