Only a few minutes before Twilight started knocking, the little party had been going full swing. Pinkie had decorated her room with streamers and balloons at some point, adding to the ones already present. Confetti littered the floor, and the game of truth or dare was still going strong. Surprise span the spinner, her breathing still a little heavy from singing the alphabet backwards twice, as she had been ordered to do by Pinkamena. It landed on Pinkamena's name, and Surprise hopped in delight.
"Yay!" she cheered. "You ready for this, Pinkamena? This dare's gonna be a good one!"
Pinkamena laughed. "What makes you so sure I'll choose dare?"
"Because you always do, silly!" giggled Surprise. Pinkamena paused. It was true- she was choosing 'dare' every time. Mainly because there wasn't much that Pinkie or Surprise didn't know about her- that was another problem with playing truth or dare. You tended to know a lot about ponies who were literally inseparable from you. Then again, there were things that the three kept secret from one another. Enough for the occasional 'truth' question. She smirked. Maybe it was time to change things up a little.
"Alright then! I choose truth!" she declared.
"Oooh, sneaky! I had this great dare lined up and everything...Oh well! Switch!" Surprise didn't sound disappointed at all with not being able to do this 'great dare' of hers. Then again, disappointment wasn't really something that Surprise experienced. No, she just seemed, if anything, even more excited. The switch was smooth, taking just a few seconds to complete.
"So, what's my question?" asked Pinkamena, curious as to what Surprise would come up with.
"I bet it's gonna be a good one!" piped up Pinkie.
Surprise thought for a few moments. Just as Pinkamena was getting restless, she spoke up again.
"I've got it!" she announced cheerfully. "It's a real good one, so here we g- Whoah!" Surprise' question was rudely interrupted by Pinkamena's entire body going into small spasms.
"Pinkie Sense!" she gasped.
"I know!" Pinkie sounded worried. "And it's a doozy!"
"Oh no... That can't be good." The spasms soon dissipated, but the worry remained. The first, and last, time Pinkie Sense had predicted a doozy, it had turned out to be Twilight accepting Pinkie Sense as unexplainable. This simple-sounding event in actuality practically went against every nuance of Twilight's personality. A doozy prediction meant something big was coming.
"What do we do?" wondered Pinkamena.
"We'll have to warn ponies! A doozy might be really bad news!" Pinkie sounded worried too. While 'doozy' didn't necessarily mean something bad was going to happen, the fact that the last one was apparently more of a curve-ball than a surprise hydra attack wasn't exactly comforting. And there was no guarantee that Pinkie was the one who was going to affected by this doozy- in fact, judging from the apparent nature of a doozy, it probably wasn't going to affect just one pony at all. That meant that there was a big event coming that was sure to turn heads at the least, probably affecting more than one pony and with a chance of it being a rather unpleasant surprise. That meant that Pinkie had some warnings to give out, like she did with twitchy tail predictions. Pinkamena stood up, reluctantly.
"I guess that's game over, then." she sighed. "Switch?"
"...Yeah..." Pinkie sounded sad. Pinkamena hated it when that happened.
However, just as they were readying swap control, Surprise spoke up, interrupting them. "Umm...Pinkamena?"
Pinkamena opened her eyes. "Yeah? What is it, Surprise?"
An image of Surprise fidgeting presented itself in her head. Whatever it was, Surprise was obviously uncomfortable with saying it- quite a feat, considering her usual lack of inhibitions.
"Do you think you could...well, um...answer my question first? It'll only take a moment." Her voice was hesitant, clearly expecting rejection. Pinkamena sighed again, a small smile creeping onto her face this time. Still the same old Surprise.
"Sure, why not. Then the game'll have finished properly, right?"
"Really?" Surprise sounded a bit more cheery now. Pinkamena nodded.
"Fire away!"
"Ok!" Surprise seemed to have bounced back well. She was almost back to her normal chipper self, though the doozy still hung overhead, like a dark cloud threatening to burst open at any moment. Surprise took a deep 'breath'.
"Pinkamena. Do you, or do you not, have a crush?"
The smile vanished. Pinkamena's eyes grew wide. Of all the things she had to ask, why THAT?!? "WHA-NO!" she screamed out. How on earth was she supposed to respond? "I AM NOT ANSWERING THAT!" Sure, she could say yes, but then... how long until she spilled the beans? Of all the ways to confess, truth or dare? Seriously? No way. Not. A. Chance!
Surprise on the other hand, was almost enjoying the reaction. "Come on, Pinkamena!" she sang teasingly. "You have to answer! It's the ru-ules!"
"I don't care if it's the rules! I'll do a dare instead!" Pinkamena was panicking now. This was not good! Much more of this, and she might end up confessing!
Pinkie, surprisingly, was the one to take charge of the situation. "Surprise, don't be mean. It's obvious that Pinkamena wanted to keep her crush a secret. Isn't that right, Pinkamena?"
"Wha-fine." It was pretty obvious that she had a crush on somepony, just from her reaction. Pinkie had picked up on that straight away, but she was respecting her privacy, and not asking for details. Good. And it didn't seem like Surprise was going to pressure her into saying who, either. Oh, thank Celestia that Surprise didn't ask for any details!
"I...I have... I have a crush on somepony. There, I said it." she admitted, forcing the words out. And then, just to clarify her position to the other two, added: "I'm not saying who, though." She breathed out, calming down. Crisis averted. It was all going to be fine.
"I-I'm sorry, Pinkamena...I didn't realise you actually had a - I mean, it was only a bit of fun, and I, um..."
"Surprise, it's ok, there's no need to apologise so much" she said, trying to console her friend. However, Surprise wasn't the only one sorry.
"I'm sorry too, Pinkamena! It's all my fault you nearly had to tell us a secret like that. I should have said that we needed to focus on the doozy. I'm really, re-"
"Oh, not you too, Pinkie!" interrupted Pinkamena. She shook her head, determined to reassure both of them. "I'm-"
Someone knocked urgently at the door. Pinkamena's head snapped around to stare at it, her words dying on her tongue as Twilight Sparkle's voice came from the other side. "Pinkie? It's me, Twilight. Are you alright?" Her eyes widened, and her breath started coming in short snatches. Had Twilight heard them? She gasped at the possibility. "Horseapples! Switch!" Pinkie swapped before the words had even finished leaving her mouth, and immediately ran across the room to the door, terrified.
"Oh no, what do we do, what do we do, what do we do?!?" Surprise was, unsurprisingly, panicking as well.
Pinkamena pushed her own rising terror to one side. She needed to stay calm, and help Pinkie convince Twilight that nothing was wrong. Maybe they could get through this. The door handle twisted. Twilight trying to open the door from the other side.
"Oh no..." breathed Pinkamena. The bed was still blocking the door! Sure enough, Twilight realised that the door had been barricaded. She started slamming her hoof into the door.
"Pinkie! Are you ok?!? Let me in!" Panic could be clearly heard in her voice now. Not good. Not good at all.
"Pinkie, move that bed, quick!" Pinkamena ordered, but Pinkie was already bounding around to the side and preparing to push. The heavy bed screeched loudly across the wooden floor, moving slowly. Pinkie was breathing heavily, obviously panicking as well.
"It's going to be ok, Pinkie! Just keep calm, and act normal when you open the door. You've done crazier things than block your door, after all. Just make something up!"
Pinkie nodded, gritting her teeth. "I'll try. Don't worry, I won't let anything bad happen. Not again!" Pinkamena and Surprise looked at each other in shock. Pinkie didn't blame herself for what happened, did she? That was crazy! She had had no way of knowing what would happen! They both opened their mouths to dissuade such feelings from Pinkie's mind, but they were interrupted by her pulling open the door, revealing a frantic purple alicorn.
Pinkie yanked the door open. She forced a smile as she saw Twilight.
"Hiya Twilight! You wanna see the cake? It's a really good one! There's carrots, and cream, an-" She tried to act happy as usual, but her nerves were all too obvious in her voice. Her inane chatter was interrupted by Twilight putting her hoof up to shush her.
"Oh no..." whispered Surprise sadly. Concern was shining brightly in Twilight's eyes. A cold feeling settled in Pinkie's stomach.
"Pinkie...I heard you talking. What's wrong?" asked Twilight gently, putting her hoof down. The fear for her friend's well-being was clear in her voice. Pinkie's eyes started watering. Twilight had heard them. She could feel her mane deflating as fear formed an iron grip around her heart.
"Talking? Wh-what do you mean talking, Twilight? I-I wasn't talking! I..I was...." She tried to deny it, but gave up, realising the futility of it. Pinkie was crying now. Seven years. SEVEN YEARS they had kept the secret. And now it was all going to repeat, everything going to happen all over again. And all because of a game. A stupid, STUPID game. Her legs wobbled, and collapsed. Pinkie Pie wept.
Twilight looked on aghast as Pinkie fell to the floor and broke down into tears. "Pinkie! Pinkie, what's wrong?! Please, tell me!" She begged. She to her friend's side and hugged her closely, desperate to stem the flow of tears.
"I-inside..." sniffed Pinkie.
"Huh?"
"Please...Come inside... and close the door..."
"O-ok..." Worried, Twilight slowly separated from Pinkie, and followed the still sobbing, straight-maned pink pony as she shakily got to her hooves and entered her bedroom. Twilight followed quickly, closing the door behind her. She didn't know what was going on, but she was going to get to the bottom of it.
"T-Twilight?"
"Pinkie, I'm here for you. Whatever's wrong, you can tell me!"
To her surprise, Pinkie shook her head. "No, I'm fine. There is nothing wrong with me!" she almost shouted the last part. Twilight was shocked. Pinkie really was angry. What had gotten her so upset? This was so unlike her!
"Pinkie, I heard you talking to yourself. Please, don't lie."
"I'm NOT lying!" Twilight was taken aback by the sudden scream. "I..I just...I'm..."
Twilight waited for Pinkie to get her thoughts in order, fighting back the urge to to say something. This was obviously difficult for Pinkie to say, and nothing that she could say was going to speed up Pinkie getting her thoughts straight.
"Twilight...I need you to promise me something..."
"H-huh?"
"I need you to pinkie promise... not to tell anyone about this. If you really want to know, you have to keep it a secret."
"What!? Why? Pinkie, If there's something wrong, you need to go to-"
"Please!" Pinkie begged her. There was fear in her eyes. Terrible, terrible fear of something. Twilight gulped. What was going on?
"I...Pinkie promise." She made the motions reluctantly. Now she couldn't go to anyone...including a doctor. But she needed to know what was troubling Pinkie Pie so much that she'd start talking to herself and crying. She couldn't just leave her to struggle through it alone. Hopefully, she could help.
Pinkie breathed a sigh of relief, and seemed to calm down a bit. "Th-thank you..." she sniffed, the flow of tears starting to slow. "I'm sorry, but, this...It's got to be a secret."
Twilight laid a reassuring hoof on Pinkie's shoulder. "Pinkie Pie, I'm here for you. No matter what."
Pinkie managed a small smile. "Thank you..." She visibly steeled herself. "Twilight, I- I technically have a condition."
"What do you mean, Pinkie?" asked Twilight, confused.
"I..." Pinkie breathed in and out, deeply. She steadied herself, and looked Twilight in the eye. "Twilight, I have something called dissociative identity disorder. I basically have two separate ponies living with me in my head. They are not harmful to me in any way, nor are they malicious in nature towards me or anyone else. In fact, they're pretty much my oldest friends. Their names are Surprise and Pinkamena."
Twilight stared slack-jawed at Pinkie. She sounded so serious- the complete opposite of her normal behaviour. And dissociative identity disorder? That was incredibly rare!
"Pinkie, I... Do you need medication or something? Is that what's wrong?"
Pinkie shook her head. "No. D-doctors aren't even sure of the root cause- there isn't any definite treatment, nor do I want to be treated. Surprise and Pinkamena are good ponies."
"Uhh..." Twilight wasn't quite sure how to reply. Pinkie seemed quite adamant that these...alternate personalities were separate entities to herself, rather than pieces of a fractured psyche, as some medical textbooks she'd read described them. And why was she refusing treatment? Surely this condition was problematic! But then, Pinkie seemed so sure that she was fine...
"Umm...Pinkie?" Her concern could still be heard strongly in her voice.
"Yes Twilight?" Pinkie seemed to have recovered a bit now, and had stopped crying. Her mane was still flat, though.
"Are you sure about not wanting treatment? From what I've read, dissociative identity disorder can be quite detrimental on one's enjoyment of life- foggy memory, unreliable mental stability... It's not a condition to be taken lightly!"
Pinkie smiled. "Don't worry, I'm sure." She tilted her head. "Hang on..." There was a pause as Pinkie trailed off into silence, and then she quietly murmured "Are you sure?" under her breath. Twilight's eyes widened. Pinkie had referred to these other personalities as 'separate' to her. And now she was talking to no-one in the room, so...was Pinkie talking to one of these other personalities?
Pinkie straightened her head. "Pinkamena wants to speak to you- that ok?" she asked.
"Uh..." Twilight , although still very concerned, was also having to deal with a rising tide of confusion. "Sure? Wait...talk to me? How?" Twilight tilted her head. Why did this whole situation have to be so confusing?
Pinkie smiled knowingly, although still rather sadly. "You'll see." She sat down, and closed her eyes. After a moment, her head tilted forwards, and then jerked up again. She opened her eyes again. Something seemed off, though- the way she held her head was slightly different from normal.
Twilight's eyes widened slightly. Talk to her... was it possible that Pinkie and this 'Pinkamena' personality had just...traded places? Pinkie retreating into the mind, and the other coming forward to take control of the body?
Pinkie sighed. "Hello, Twilight. My name's Pinkamena."
Apparently it was.
Despite circumstances, Pinkamena couldn't help but enjoy the look of disbelief on Twilight's face for a few moments. Then, she cleared her throat. It had the desired effect, that being snapping Twilight out of her frozen state.
"Sorry," she breathed "it's just..are you really...?" Looked like her scientific curiosity was starting to kick in.
Pinkamena rolled her eyes at the question. Inside, the knot of concern started to loosen slightly. Twilight looked to be calming down slightly now that she knew more about the situation, and she'd pinkie promised not to tell anyone. She was clearly very concerned for Pinkie's well-being, enough to swear off going to any doctors. Now, it was Pinkamena's job to convince her that that was the right decision. And that meant telling her the entire story...including the hospital.
"Yes, I'm an alternate personality...sort of." Seeing Twilight's question coming from a mile off, she quickly continued. "Don't get me wrong, I am definitely part of a severe psychological condition, it's just that...well, you know that Pinkie's a bit...strange, don't you?"
Twilight nodded, her attention fully focussed on this strange pony talking to her. This Pinkamena sounded more mature than Pinkie would probably ever be. Her tone of voice was different, the way she carried herself was different...It was like somepony had climbed into a hyper-realistic Pinkie Pie costume, and was using some sort of voice changer to make themselves sound the part.
"Well," continued the pink mare opposite her, "Apparently that's actually something to do with how her brain is wired, in a way. Even without me and Surprise around, she was a little messed up. Nothing major, just...different. Oh- you may want to sit down. This is going to take a while."
Realising that she was still on her feet, Twilight sat down. She attempted a rather awkward smile. "So, uh... What do you mean, different? I mean, I know that you'r- That Pinkie's a bit random, but how does that relate to multiple personality disorder?"
Pinkamena sighed. Again. She was doing that a lot today. "It's a long story. You know how Pinkie got her cutie mark, right? She saw the rainboom, and threw a party?"
Twilight nodded, still nervous around this strange personality that had taken over Pinkie's body "Yes, that's right. The rainboom inspired her to throw a party, thereby discovering her love of parties and making ponies smile."
"Well, that's where this all began. You mentioned some medical books- I'm assuming you've read a bit on the subject?"
"Yes, I did. While I was still living in Canterlot." Twilight winced. "Oh..um..Do you know that I used to live i-"
"Yes, I know" interrupted Pinkamena. "I can see what Pinkie sees, hear what she hears. That includes when she's with her friends. I know everything about you that Pinkie does."
"Oh, um...ok." Twilight was still a little disconcerted, knowing that a technical stranger knew her as well as one of her best friends. That wasn't really anything surprising, though.
"Do you remember any of the theories about this sort of condition is created?" asked Pinkamena, trying to keep Twilight on track.
"Ummm.. There was something but...I'm afraid I can't remember...Pinkamena." Oh boy. Twilight was still having trouble adjusting. Still, there was nothing that Pinkamena could really do about that. All she could do was keep talking, and hope to ease her into being more comfortable.
"Ok. Well, one theory is that alternate personalities may be formed as a result of severe psychological trauma." stated Pinkamena. She braced for the explosion.
"Wait...you mean that you- Pinkie...What happened?!?" exclaimed Twilight.
Pinkamena remained calm, even as Twilight started to worry over the words 'severe' and 'trauma'. "Twilight!" she shouted. "Calm down. At least wait until I've finished explaining before you start panicking. This is all in the past for us anyway. But you need to understand where Surprise and I came from."
Twilight was jolted out of a panic attack for the second time that day. She took a few breaths to calm down, and nodded, indicating that she was alright. But she felt that she had to speak her mind, and so took advantage of the silence.
"I'm still not really sure that this is good for Pinkie..."
"That's why I'm talking to you. To convince you that Pinkie's fine."
"I'm not sure I trust you... But Pinkie seems to think that you're alright. I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt, for now."
"Thank you." Pinkamena gave a short nod. It was a little too much to expect instant trust in this sort of situation, after all. At least Twilight was willing to listen to what she had to say. "Now, back to the party. I'm not sure of the exact timing, but it was around then that Surprise popped into existence- Surprise is the other personality in here, just so you know." She tapped the side of her head.
"So Pinkie Pie has a case of multiple personality disorder, and you and this Surprise are the alternate personalities?" clarified Twilight.
"Yes, that's right." confirmed Pinkamena. Dissociative identity disorder was also known as multiple personality disorder, she recalled. Although the former was what appeared in modern medical textbooks, the two terms were interchangable.
"And Surprise appeared first? What about you?" Twilight asked, curious.
Pinkamena winced. "I...came along later. I'll get to that part in a bit."
Twilight, clearly sensing the tension, moved the subject back to Surprise. "So, Pinkie developed a split personality as a result of...what, exactly?"
Pinkamena took a deep breath, and started explaining.
"You have to understand the situation, first of all. Up until the rainboom, Pinkie had been living a rather dreary life on the family rock farm. Everyday was the same, dull life. Then, all in a few hours, everything was turned on its head. You remember how I said that Pinkie's brain is wired up weirdly? Well, I think that might partly be to blame for all this. You see, literally overnight, Pinkie's entire mindset changed. Suddenly, she knew what she wanted to do with her life. She was happy, overwhelmingly happy. The strongest feeling she'd ever felt, and it culminated in her getting her cutie mark, practically in one day. I think...I think that the emotions kind of overloaded her brain, or tripped a fuse- something like that. She was breaking out of the restrictions that had been with her all her life, the years of monotonous, repetitive days with no release, all that frustration and boredom was being released in one go. I think that's where Surprise came from.
Surprise is... Hyper. She's always up for a game, or playing pranks- to be honest, her personality's quite close to Pinkie's. Only, Surprise has less inhibitions. She goes further with the games than Pinkie would. She's got a strong moral compass, and knows when she's gone too far, but she does keep skirting around the boundaries. Once she gets going, she just doesn't really... stop. Have you ever been to a Pinkie party that left you absolutely exhausted? Constant action, no real time to rest? Yes? Well, chances are Surprise was in charge of that one. That's Surprise. Party until you drop, and enjoy every last second of it.
Now, I don't want you to get the wrong idea. Surprise isn't the sort of pony to be constantly working our body to exhaustion. She knows that that's definitely not a good idea. She does go further than Pinkie does, but not too far. Remember, I said she has less inhibitions, not no inhibitions. And if she did ever go completely overboard, which is highly unlikely, Pinkie and I are both here to reel her back in.
Any questions?"
Pinkamena drew to a close on the first part of her tale. Of course, not existing at the time meant she had had to make some guesses on what had happened, but she was pretty sure that was what had happened. Some of it, she had picked up from Pinkie and Surprise's recounts. The more technical parts, she had gathered from the...doctors. Across from her, Twilight was staring, slack jawed.
"You mean that Pinkie's happiness was strong enough to...to..."
"To create a split personality, yes. Like I said, her brain is a bit messed up anyway- it's where she gets all that kooky behaviour from. The two combined is what led to Surprise."
"That's crazy!"
Pinkamena chuckled. "This is Pinkie Pie we're talking about here. Crazy is what she does."
Twilight shared in the laugh. She seemed to have become a bit more relaxed in Pinkamena's company. A very good sign. Pinkamena smiled as both Surprise and Pinkie celebrated the change in Twilight's attitude. Eventually, though, the alicorn had to ask the obvious questions.
"But... That still doesn't explain why she was so scared earlier. And what about you? Where did you come from?" she asked.
The atmosphere changed so quickly, it was like a freezing cold wind had sudden blown through the room, sweeping away the good mood. The room instantly tensed as Pinkamena looked down and shivered slightly at the returning memories. The two party ponies fell silent. They knew that Twilight would need to know, having gotten this far, but that didn't make it any easier. She gulped. This was it. It was time to talk about the hospital. About the doctors, and their treatments.
About the reasons she existed.