"Hey Rarity!"
"Hmm?" Rarity looked up from her book. Sweetie Belle stood in the kitchen doorway. As she watched, her little sister tilted her head slightly.
"What's that?"
"Oh, this? It's just something that I found at the library," smiled Rarity. Sweetie Belle looked at the cover.
"'Delving the mind'. Huh... is this one of those psyco-thingy books?"
"It's a psychology book, yes," replied Rarity mildly.
"Is it any good? Come to think of it, why are you reading it, anyway? I thought you only read books about fashion and love."
"I..." Rarity hesitated. This was a problem. She couldn't really explain why she was really reading the book. Pinkie Promises were serious business. But on the other hand, her little sister had a point. It was out of her usual tastes, and had no relation whatsoever to fashion that would facilitate a lie about getting inspiration. So how to satisfy Sweetie Belle's curiosity? "I...suppose it just caught my eye. It's good to branch out and learn about new things every once in a while, Sweetie Belle. And it is a good book, thank you."
"Cool!" exclaimed Sweetie Belle. "Hey, can I borrow it when you're done? I could take it to the clubhouse and we could try being psychics!"
"Psychologists, darling," corrected Rarity, smiling a little at the mistake. It was a nice change from all the frowning she had been doing recently. "As for taking it to the clubhouse, I suppose it would be alright, but do please be careful with it- this is a library book, not one of my own."
"Alright!" agreed Sweetie Belle happily.
A few hours of reading later, Rarity relinquished the book to her younger sister with only the slightest of hesitations. She couldn't see any way a typical crusader disaster could unfold from this after all, but on the other hoof stranger things had happened before. The time the crusaders had, on a particularly boring day, found a book on philosophy sprang to mind. Nopony was quite sure what happened in the clubhouse that day, but the fact that all three crusaders had ended up running through the town screaming 'forty-two' at the top of their lungs was rather concerning. It was probably just as well the three had eventually fallen unconscious and lost all recollection of the days events.
In the end, Rarity thought it would be better to satisfy the inevitable, unstoppable curiosity sooner rather than later. After all, what could go wrong?
After giving the psychology book to her sister, Rarity decided to go on a walk through town to clear her head. As she walked, with no clear destination in mind, she pondered Pinkie's recent revelation, as well as the new viewpoint Twilight's books had given her on the matter- which was quite likely more well-balanced. It was still a rather jarring thought to think of these personalities as 'separate' entities, but her own observations had more or less proven that point. As for the psychological implications, well...Pinkie seemed happy enough. Plus, there was the fact that it was Pinkie Pie involved, which rather distorted the definition of normality.
Then there was the issue of this escaped psychologist. By all accounts, he seemed an extremely dangerous individual. She did hope that the Royal Guard would close the matter quickly. Preferably, though a lady such as herself would never admit it, by finding his severely mutilated corpse. Part of her did worry about the Guard's...effectiveness, considering all the national threats they had failed to solve. And that the Elements of Harmony had, come to think of it. Seriously, if it came down to the girls fighting this stallion, Rarity would not be subscribing to the equestrian ideal of 'love and tolerance'. In this case, the Rainbow Dash method of 'beat them up and ask questions later' seemed a nice fit for the situation. She deeply regretted her initial reaction now. It must have hurt Pinkie quite a lot...but then again, Pinkie had hurt her as well...
"Howdy, Rarity!" Rarity looked up at the familiar voice, and found herself standing in Ponyville's marketplace. A few meters away, Applejack was waving from the apple stall. As she trotted over, Applejack began speaking again, a hint of curiosity in her voice. "Are ya alright, Rarity? Ya were lookin' mighty distracted."
"I'm fine, Applejack. I was just thinking about everything that has happened."
"You mean with Pinkie?" asked Applejack. Rarity nodded. Applejack leant back. "Ah'm probably not the best pony to talk to, but Ah reckon Ah've got mah thoughts straight. Wanna talk 'bout it?"
Rarity shook her head. "I'm afraid it's not really something you can help with, Applejack. It's just all this has rather...shaken my world view. You know how I was at first. It's all a matter of getting myself to adjust. Pinkie Pie seems happy enough, and Twilight's books are helping, it's just..." she trailed off.
"Jus' the whole thing gettin to ya? Like, how weird it is, even for Pinkie?"
"More than that. I think...I think part of it is the shock, yes, and how I initially thought about the whole thing plays into it as well, but...It's just that...well, she didn't trust us. Even after all that we've been through together. I think that's what hurts the most about all of this."
Applejack sighed. "Ah know the feelin'. Problem is, Pinkie had a darn good reason for keepin' that secret. After all she's been through, Ah can't rightly fault her for not tellin' us. Sides, our reactions weren't exactly the best."
Rarity winced. "Yes, I know. I feel terrible about that now. I've been trying to make up for it, you know- she...they...oh, whatever the word is, came into my boutique the other day. They wanted three armbands of all things, each a different colour. I think it was to help us tell them apart. It was only a quick job, but I put it top of my priority list."
"Really? Huh. Come to think of it, Ah think Ah saw Pinkie wearin' a pink one earlier."
"Yes, I think that would be the one for Pinkie. Still, I feel that wasn't nearly enough."
"Ah reckon the best thing to do is just apologise fer what you said. Have ya tried that yet?"
"I...er...no, I don't think I have. Things have just been so awkward, you know, an-"
"Quit makin' excuses." interrupted Applejack with a shake of her head. "You're sorry. Jus' say so, an everythin'll turn out for the best. Now, are ya goin' to do that by yerself, or do Ah need to drag ya over there?"
"I...You're right. Thank you, Applejack, I shall go and apologise right now."
"Good." smiled the farmer "It'll be fine. You'll see."
"Speaking from experience?" asked Rarity. Unfortunately, the farmer winced slightly at that question. Rarity sighed at Applejack's hesitation, which was answer enough. "Never mind. I think you'd better come with me anyway, darling."
"Uhh...yeah. Jus' give me a few minutes to close up shop..."
"Well of course I forgive you, Sillies! We're the bestest of friends, right? Right? Why wouldn't I?" Rarity and Applejack, despite the latter's earlier words, both gave a little sigh of relief. The wording had been a little vague due to the public venue- i.e. Sugarcube Corner- But their feelings had been gotten across just fine regardless. Pinkie was beaming and bouncing happily behind the counter, her guard for the day only showing cursory interest. It had become a quickly-learned survival tactic for the military ponies stationed in Ponyville to not pay too much attention to the various antics of their charge. Protection detail or not, they couldn't do their jobs if their minds were trying to comprehend the actions of a reality-warping earth pony.
Pinkie leant in closer over the counter for a moment, and stopped bouncing. "Seriously, girls, thank you. From all three of us" she said, in a much quieter tone. She gave a large smile to the pair, who gladly returned it. Pinkie then snapped back into her original position, but didn't resume bouncing. The guard just looked straight ahead, desperately trying to ignore the fact that, although unseen to Rarity and Applejack, Pinkie had leant over the counter by extending the length of her hind legs to something beyond what simply straightening them could do.
"So, do you want anything to eat?" asked Pinkie, gesturing to the display with a hoof bearing a pink armband. Both declined politely, and the trio chatted mildly for a bit until some new customers came in.
"Well, Ah'd best get back to the stall." said Applejack, excusing herself. "See y'all later, girls!"
"Bye Applejack!" waved Pinkie. "Come back soon!"
"I suppose I'd better get back as well, darling." said Rarity. Pinkie nodded in understanding, but before the fashionista could turn away she gave her a parting hug. Smiling, Rarity quickly reciprocated. After a moment, Rarity felt Pinkie's grip slackening for a moment as her head rested on Rarity's shoulder. Before she could react, the pink pony withdrew.
"Did you just..." Rarity whispered, recognising the signs. The pony opposite winked and waved a hoof, which now sported a yellow armband. Rarity chose not to think about when the two accessories had been exchanged, or where they had come from or gone to.
"See you later, Rarity!" beamed Surprise. Rarity smiled, shook her head a little at the antics of her friends, and said goodbye before leaving the shop.
The poor guard, although being trained to notice alterations to the environment in order to detect traps or changelings, never did notice the armband switching colour. He was too busy trying to rationalise Pinkie stretching over the counter like rubber in order to hug her friend.
Very nice. I'm glad the others are going out of there way to try and understand what's going on. I'd love to see Luna get involved. Maybe pull the others into pinkies dreamscape so all 8 of them could talk at once.
I enjoyed the chapter.
Rarity and AJ both looked to be fine to me! I'm glad they sorted things out between them and Pinkie and co. Nice chapter!
Yay, friends being friends!
...and Pinkie breaking the mind of that guard. The Ponyville guard division is going to need a permanent on-site psychologist, isn't it?
Nice little Hitch hiker reference there. Should I need a towel?
It's nice to see that Applejack and Rarity resolved their conflicts with Pinkie. And as for the accents, it seemed pretty good to me.
Also, I love that Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy reference.
5917118
They could hire the CMC.
Rarity, you should already know that answer.
I'm still laughing at Pinkie's antics and breaking the mind of the guard. Poor guard.
As for what you said in the author's note, it all seemed fine to me.
Poor guard, plus it would interesting if the CMC would read about Pinkie's conditon and maybe would try to find someone with this and almost find out about Pinkie, cus when I was reading and I saw that she gave the book and she said what could go wrong? really?? Rarity?? Really?? CMC good luck
42!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MUAHAHA 42-42-42
???? What does Forty Two have to do with...
Oh. Never mind. Just googled the word.
An enjoyable chapter. Good job.
5917156
Cutie Mark Crusader on-site psychologists YAY!
~~~one week later~~~
Can anypony explain to me why the entire Ponyville guard division is busy making a giant beehive out of clouds?
Honestly, Rarity has kept even less important things from her friends, remember how she never admitted what she was really doing in Canterlot? Then again, she is hypocritical and self-obsessed, so when she is hurt by Pinkie not telling someone her deepest, darkest, already-learned-that-if-people-find-out-about-it-they-lock-you-up-and-torture-you secret, she is being perfectly in character.
Now I gotta say, this story is an interesting take on Pinkie in general and Pinkamena in specific. A wonderful story, truly it is.
Also Applejack's speech came as a completely natural and I can just picture the guy catching up to Pinkie with this "perfect plan" only for Pinkie to jump into a mailbox and pop out with a pissed off Celestia. Or even better, shove the doctor through a hole in reality so he lands right in Pinkie's basement in Cupcakes.
5917322
Because it looks cool?
42! I'm so happy this chapter came out! But now I'm sad it's over...
5917530 the problem being light hearted reality warping would be nigh impossible with the amount of trauma that would resurface on seeing him. Pinkamena would probably be the one to come out and I don't think she has the ability for breaking the fouth wall as much as pinkie or suprise
Wow. It took a planet sized computer millions of years to figure out the secret to life the universe and everything. The CMC did it in an afternoon after reading one philosophy textbook. Are you sure their cutie marks aren't in philosophy?
Hmm... First thing I thought of when I heard the CMC were trying to be psychologists now, was that they will be in the clubhouse and meet a travel weary former psychologist with a pet Timberwolf who will begin to teach them about Pinkie's condition after noticing their interest in psychology without them realizing who it was. I suppose I'll have to wait and see if my thoughts are correct or dead wrong as they probably are. I await the next chapter of this.
That would be just if Probe ends up with another identity himself - one that hates him and will deny all attempts to swap. He gets his wish - and is unable to make a use of it.
Challenge: Make a scene later in the fic where Surprise is the hero and have this video playing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=14&v=CRCNTWUgBC0
I love how a few people manages to give in-story reasons why the characters are a bit OOC.
9.9/10
That .1 for completion taste which I think...
After this is all said and done, I think the guards that were stationed to guard Pinkie are going to enjoy the boring ol' stationary duty that they were used to.
Glad to finally see another chapter again!
In Real Life things don't always go well when people who have MPD/DID share their secret with Friends & Family. Not everyone can take it well for various reasons.
Unfortunately with most of the TV Shows & Movies showing people as Faking MPD/DID, or making them dangerous criminals, or both.. So I really want to thank you once again for puitting such a positive spin on this, and actually caring enough to get the details right! <3
I mean you're doing a better job of this than Law & Order <.<;
This was good, I just hope the next chapter is even better!
Applaejack misuses the term Y'all. You refers to one person, y'all refers to a group of two to four people, and all y'all refers to a group of five or more people.
Source: I've got quite a few relatives in Dixieland.
By the way, this should be italicized.
And yes, that is a zombie head. And yes, that is Silumgar.
And does Pinkie really never hug anyone for it to be such a big deal to Rarity?
5918762 Everyone knows this by now. Unfortunately, no one ever does anything about it because the show uses y'all. Unfortunately, the show can't do anything about it because some bonehead used it in episode one and now they can't change it.
5919009 Yeah, and it really doesn't bother me. But the author asked for critiques and I saw a chance to teach.
blog.discmakers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Panic-button-300x250.jpg
I don't think Rarity was out of character, because I'd think near anyone would hope such a psychopath dead if they'd personally harmed such a dear friend... especially in such a notoriously lethal place as the Everfree Forest. Now, I think any concerns would have been settled if she were to mentally scold herself for such unladylike thoughts. After all, being that sophisticated no doubt takes a lot of conscious effort.
As for your concerns about AJ's accent, well, I'm going to real talk here. Typing it in plain text for me is preferable to going Neuron Probe-levels of insane with the dialect. Your use in this chapter was fine, if slightly understated. I'd be more upset if you'd overdone it, though, because then it just gets annoying to read.
My heart goes out to the poor guardsponies who took the Don't Question Pinkie Logic briefing and still weren't ready. Nopony is ever ready.
5918762 Thanks- fixed now!
Cap.
___________
ya
____________
Biggest thing on accents in consistency. Either Ah [thick phonetic I] or I (if Ah it always gets capped and treated as "I" would. Which you did a pretty good job on.). You / Ya. If Ya it gets the same contractions that You would get.
Good job on using the plural you. The link is useful if you're going to be using massive forms of plurals. Anywho. AJ wasn't all that bad.
_____________
Oh, remember Names [EoH, Element of [Name of Element] gets capped], Groups / Organizations get capped [Royal Guard, Wonderbolts, Royal Equastrian Armed Forces [REAF]], and even though it hasn't popped up yet (to my knowledge) as a way of hitting it before it pops up. Nicknames, Titles, or Monikers are also capped [Princess of the Day/Night/[Noun], and Alicorn / Spirit / God(dess) of [Noun] [When used instead of a name. Or as a part of a title, rather than as a descritpor of what they are an alicorn / spirit / goddess of].
_____________
Still good chapter. I like Rare's and AJ's appology. And how the guard's mind almost broke looking at the impossibility that is Pinkie Pie.
5920085 Thanks for pointing these out (and for the tips!). They should be all sorted now.
5920116
You're welcome , and you are doing quite well for a first fic.
The Royal Guards, might start thinking Celestia can do what Pinkie does.
"If Pinkie has the ability to do law breaking physics, then surely Celestia can to. She just doesn't do it, because it would distract us from our task... or drive us insane."
Umm could you or maybe somebody do a possible side story about the various guards on pinkie pie's security detail going through therapy due to post traumatic stress disorder (ptsd)
5919370 No worries, it's a very common mistakes for us yanks to make.
Yaaaay! Another chapter for my favourite story ever! ^_^
I liked it a lot! I do wish we'd have a bit more focus on Pinkie's POV, but that's only because I love the concept, not because it'd necessarily be best for the story X3
I hope you update fast as I can't wait for more! ^w^
5919162 Never something I want to read.
5917127 You always need a towel.
please add to this ASAP, the fans want more!
Those poor, poor guards, trying to make sense of the things Pinkie and Surprise can do.
please update soon.
Ah, I love a good reconciliation.
That guard is going to question life from now on.
I think the guards are going to need to see a psychologist after this...
This shall surely end in tree sap.
I could see sending a guard to protect Pinkie as being some sort of boot camp. If you can survive guarding her, you can survive anything.
"42!" This is why I love the crusaders.
ROTFLOL!!!!!!!