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// Chapter 4: Pinkamena 
// Story: The Night Janitor: NEGATIVE Edition 
// by Knox Locke 
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He skid to a halt as he reached the bottom of the slide. The scene he discovered below was not what he’d expected. He had heard from Rarity about Pinkie’s party planning cave, but the room he was now in seemed to emanate a sense of pure dread. The source of this feeling was not the room itself, but instead the figure lying prone in the middle of the room. Rarity had warned Knox of how Pinkie got when she was extremely upset, so he wasn’t entirely surprised by the completely straight mane that was draped over the sides of her face. He was hesitant to cheer her up, but he had to stick to the plan. At least, for now he did.

“Pinkie,” he said as he approached her. “What’s wrong?”

“My friends are what’s wrong,” she stated as she opened her eyes.

Knox saw the fiery rage that was burned into her usually happy gaze. Something happened in that moment that Knox never would’ve expected. He saw that startlingly hate-filled look in her eye, and he was instantly enamored with her. That rage was the same as that which he felt when thinking of his tragic past. At this moment, she was just like him.

Regretfully, he knew it couldn’t last. His plan was the most important thing right now, and he couldn’t put its success in jeopardy for anything… not even love. He spoke in a calming tone, so as not to upset her further.

“What did your friends do?”

“They’ve been avoiding me all day!” she yelled. “And they’ve been lying to me about something! Well, guess what? Two can play that game! I’m gonna start hiding things from them! See how they like it!”

“Pinkie…” he let out an exasperated sigh before continuing. “I know what your friends are hiding from you.”

“You… do?”

“Yes, and all I can tell you is that you’ll find out later today. But nopony can tell you the secret if you’re like this. You’ve gotta calm down. OK?”

She breathed deeply a few times. With each breath, she looked happier, and the rage faded from her eyes.

“OK,” she said once her mane began to return to its natural, poofy state.

“Now, can you tell me what the heck that was?” asked Knox, genuinely curious.

“I don’t really know,” replied Pinkie. “Whenever I get like that, it’s like I’m a completely different pony.”

“Well, do you have some way of knowing when you do it?”

“Nope. I guess it just sort of... happens.”

“How about this. Pinkie is a nickname, right?”

“Yeah, it’s short for Pinkamena.”

“Well, then, how about I call you Pinkamena whenever you get like that. That way, you’ll be able to tell!”

“Hmmm… I like it! Well, I don’t mean I like being Pinkamena. Honestly, it’s like being a completely different pony! She’s everything I’m not! Angry, vengeful, clinically depressed…”

After more conversation about Pinkie’s alter ego, Knox concluded that he had to modify his plan slightly. In fact, the new additions had made his plan even better!