I mentally sighed as Pinkie Pie bounded around the bakery, throwing the sugary snacks they sold around the room with perfect accuracy, every single one landing on a table.
I would've rolled my eyes too, but they were currently under the control of the aforementioned pink pony.
'Why do you always have to bounce around whenever you do anything?' I asked her, mostly for the sake of actually doing anything other than just watching.
While outwardly she hummed and continued serving customers, she responded in her mind to me.
'Because just walking would be boring!' was her cheerful response.
'I expected you to say something like that...'
My name is Pinkamena, and I just so happen to have to share the same body with Pinkie Pie, a similar looking pony with a completely opposite personality from me.
Right now she was in control, since it was time for her day job.
No way was I wasting my time working in a bakery, I had absolutely no interest in that. Good thing for me I didn't have to, since I could just trade off with Pinkie; bad thing for me because I had to just watch, bored, while she did it.
It was a good thing I'd spent my entire life up until recently living in boredom, I suppose. Now the moments of monotony when it was her turn to have control weren't unbearable for me.
Too bad the same couldn't be said for her; she got antsy if I started having fun and she couldn't participate.
'Would you look at the clock for me?' At the very least I could still try and get her to do what I wanted but couldn't do.
"Sure!" She bounded over to the clock and stared up at it intensely.
'Pinkie...I didn't need you to drop everything you were doing and stare at it.'
"I'm just trying to be considerate, silly! It wasn't hard to do!"
'Yes, but now everyone is staring at you...' She blinked and turned around to see customers at the tables staring at her weirdly.
"Oh...oops!" was the giggle filled response, making me groan in annoyance. At least the ponies of Ponyville were used to her weird behaviour, so it only took a few seconds for it to be shrugged off as unexplainable.
Bouncing back into the kitchen I went back to the train of thought I had originally and pulled up a mental image of what the clock had looked like.
Hey, years of being unable to do anything but observe made things like that easy for me.
With that image in mind I instinctively attempted to breathe a sigh of relief. Her shift was almost over.
Outside my train of thought, Pinkie had grabbed a pie to throw to another table, when the front door opened with a jingle and a crash sound.
"Pinkie Pie!" a strangely excited and all too familiar voice said loudly as the door slammed against the wall.
Pinkie turned mid-throw and let the pie loose by accident at the interruption.
*SPLAT*
Eyes turned towards the door, to witness a sight that was both sad and downright hilarious.
A purple unicorn was standing in the doorway with a book on her head and a face covered in pie that was dripping onto the floor.
I laughed uncontrollably. It's much harder to hold in thoughts than your actual voice, you see.
Twilight Sparkle seemed unperturbed by the sudden assault of food and just shook it off, sending bits of the dessert flying around the room and causing complaints from onlookers.
"Pinkie!" She dashed up towards the pony mentioned with a huge and admittedly creepy grin. I knew what that look meant all too well.
"Hiya Twilight!" Pinkie Pie smiled at her friend, not even commenting on the weirdness of the situation.
"Pinkie! Pinkamena! I found out all about your problem!" She seemed out of breath.
"Really?" Twilight received an inquisitive head tilt from Pinkie.
"Yeah! And you're never gonna believe it! It can even be solved!" Her voice was brimming with excitement and her eyes shined. "You'll give me your full co-operation, right?"
"Oh. Um..." Pinkie looked to the right, away from Twilight, and all of a sudden I found myself in control of our body. I stumbled a bit before I regained my balance, having not expected to need to keep myself up so suddenly.
Many ponies in the store stared at me with awe and interest while I tried to hide behind my now straight mane.
I didn't like being the center of attention.
Explanations of mine and Pinkie's situation was spread very quickly, once I had finally been noticed, so as to avoid all the questioning that kept happening. Still, it wasn't like many ponies in town had actually seen us swap places before, so their reaction was understandable.
"Pinkie...don't do that..." I mumbled under my breath.
'Sorry!'
She was so chipper all the time. It was painful sometimes.
"Pinkamena?"
Remembering Twilight, I looked back at her and motioned to the entrance to the kitchen situated right next to me, and entered it myself quickly to get out of the spotlight.
She followed quickly, practically bumping into me.
"So? Will you?" Her huge, unnerving grin was still there, constantly freaking me out. I wanted to get this over with as soon as possible. Based on past experiences, I wasn't sure I trusted her.
"That depends. I'm not promising anything without proper details." My eyes narrowed and I stared intensely at her to get my point across.
"Oh, fine!" She huffed. I could tell she hadn't really wanted to have to explain things to me. That made me even more cautious.
Good thing Pinkie wasn't the one dealing with this, she'd say yes right away. She could be so naive and irresponsible sometimes.
'Heeey! I'm not irresponsible!' I knew she'd be pouting as she said that if she could.
''Yes you are.' I wasn't afraid to say it to her. Blunt and to the point was all anyone should be. Why bother with unnecessary words?
"I found out that...well, the two of you...technically, neither of you should exist." I could hear the reluctance in her voice.
"What do you mean?" I stated flatly while Pinkie listed off a bunch of worries and confusion which I pushed to the back of my mind.
"Well..." She paused. "The rainboom caused an emotional one-eighty for you. Dreary, dull, unhappy, straight to cheerful, super happy ball of energy."
I gave her a bored expression. "And?"
"And so when the rainboom hit you, instead of your emotions safely transitioning, they split into two alternate personalities!"
I stared. I had assumed something like that had happened, but the fact that we were supposed to be together, as an 'in-the-middle' of the two of us was news to me, and...a bit off putting.
"We're...the same pony? Entirely?"I asked rhetorically with hesitation.
"Well...to put it in simple terms, yes." was her response. "But, uh," she quickly switched her voice back to cheerful and excited, huge creepy grin having returned. "you two can be put back together! There's a spell some unicorns can do that is used to mend split personalities." She paused and looked away before turning back to me.
"But, uh, it doesn't always work depending on the situation, and generally only highly advanced experts in the medical field can do it..."
I gave her a blank look. "Why are you telling me all this?" I honestly wasn't sure. Did she seriously think I'd want to do that? Even if it was properly possible?
She gave me a bewildered look. "Because the two of you can both be in control at the same time this way!" Her voice dropped. "Isn't that what you want?"
I sighed and shook my head, turning away from her. "If you really think I want to just...give myself up, then you're wrong."
A bell rang. "Thanks for the information, Twilight, but if you haven't noticed it's still working hours. I'd appreciate it if you left."
I felt Pinkie trying to take control as she wanted to go help the customer, but I wasn't letting her out until Twilight was gone. I just knew she'd do something to complicate the situation more.
'Heeeey!'
I rolled my eyes.
A sigh came from behind me.
"Alright. See you later, Pinkamena, Pinkie." The purple unicorn brushed past me and headed out from the bakery.
'C'moooon Pinkamena! There are poor, hungry ponies out there! It's not even your turn until after work!'
'You're the one who suddenly gave me control out of nowhere.' I sighed and let my limbs go limp, trying to retreat into my mind and stop control. And just like that, all attempts to send commands to my body failed, as my straight hair poofed up indicating Pinkie's control.
After a couple weeks of constantly swapping, it had become much easier to do than it had been at first. It used to take a large amount of focus, but not anymore.
Honestly, I was a bit glad to retreat into my thoughts alone and let Pinkie take over. It'd make it easier to be able to just think about what Twilight had said to me, as it certainly gave me a lot to think about.
"Sorry for the wait, everypony!" Pinkie yelled cheerfully as she hopped out into the main room again, ready to continue her job.
Since I was the one trapped in 'our' mind, I could hear her thoughts while she couldn't hear mine.
She happened to be trying to not focus on Twilight's words and just focus on her happy tasks.
'The opposite of me...'
I spent the rest of her shift thinking about the facts I had learned. It unnerved me, to say the least.
Imagine just being told that you technically shouldn't exist!
If me and Pinkie somehow joined together again, would I still be me?
I would've shaken my head if I could. None of it mattered, anyways. It wouldn't even really be possible even if I did want it, so why bother thinking about it?
Satisfied with my conclusion, I waited patiently until Pinkie's shift was finally over, to take my turn for some actual enjoyment.
This is actually really interesting. When I finished the last story, I just assumed you were going to have Twilight figure out a way to get both them two separate bodies to live in, but this is WAY more interesting. I'm looking forward to seeing what else you have to offer.
5955865 Thanks! I'm glad you think so. Yeah, there's no way I want to fit into the 'predictable, cliche' box of stories.
5955865 I thought the exact same thing when I learned about the sequel. What Twilight is suggesting would basically destroy Pinkie and Pinkamena and create an entirely new pony. She has her heart sent in the right place, but she really needs to think about not only the ethics of doing such a thing, but thinking if Pinkie and Pinkamena would even want that. Furthermore, would Twilight and the others want that? They would have to get used to a brand new pony. Finally, would the Element of Laughter still apply to Pinkie if she and Pinkamena did fuse back together? So many questions.
5955933 Those are legitimate questions that may be explored in the story :)
5955957 And with that you have made me even more excited for the continuation of this story that I previously was. I can't wait to see what you have planned.
5955966 XD well I'm glad I managed to!
I've been sitting at my thinking spot and trying to figure out what to do for the sequel ever since I was halfway done Caged Inside and started considering doing a sequel, so I've thought pretty deeply about it.
Yay! Sequel! This is gonna be good.
5956210 I hope so X3
5956532 Well, a 100% happy ending isn't always gonna happen. And there are always other ways of making happy endings X3
But you'll have to wait and see what happens :)
5956551 it wasn't supposed to involve fetishism XD
in all seriousness though the whole story isn't about that. It's only a part of it. But I get not liking a concept.
5956630 yeah that's what's going on in the story right now and it's still going to be important.
And sorry, I just couldn't help but make that joke ^^;
Oh, it's here! Gonna read this tomorrow, late as all hell right now. But I'm sure it'll be great!
5956551 same here the fusion idea just feels...wrong
5956712 Um, okay XD looking forwards to your comment
5956729 Sorry. I can't really change that...
5956749 Well I hope the story ends up going in a direction you guys will like eventually (unless you stop reading out of disinterest. I wouldn't blame you, don't worry.)
5956753 ill stay for now just to see how this goes
If the two fuse, would they not die and be replaced by a completely different pony? That point is raised in the story A Jewel of a Problem but in that case one of the ponies was not actually a split personality, just had those foreign split personalities in her head.
Yeah. Fusion means killing two personalities to create one.
I really hope that doesn't happen. I hate to see Pinkie or Pinkamena be killed.
5957571 Never read that story before.
5957814 Does it necessarily mean that?
But yeah, that would be sad if it did happen :(
Let's give each one of them one hall of the body to control , it works that way too right ?
I mean , they would technicaly both be in control at the same time , without giving themselves up , right ?
Plus the resulting mane style would be so fashionable !
(Seriously , I don't like the fusion idea much , too much distastefull implications for them both , I kind of like the classic "two body" option more ... You can even have Pinkie give birth to Pinkamena if you want... actually no , that's gross.)
5958308 Um...
5958088
In on this site, basically a human with a split personality wakes up one day and Diamond Tiara and things complicate from there.
Here:
https://www.fimfiction.net/story/35583/a-jewel-of-a-problem
5958370 Oh, thanks for the link. Doesn't seem like my kinda story though (I don't really care for the human tag).
5958327
That's funny , that's what everyone say each time I propose an interesting idea !
(Just kidding , sorry if the previous comment made you uneasy/confused in any way , that just my idea of a joke given my twisted sense of humor and my extensive forray into the twisted world known as the internet..)
5958395 I'm not gonna deny having been around that part of the internet myself. I'm just not sure how to respond to that XD
5958388
Even if the human and his split personality are basically parasites stealing Diamond Tiara body? And Diamond Tiara is still there?
5958432 Okay that's interesting and I might check it out. I just don't really like humans being put into pony stories is all.
Who said that fusion means fusing souls?
Pinkamina could control the front half seeing as she has the clearer head, and Pinkie has the back half where she can still bounce!
Wait, that's still being split, isn't it?
Never mind then!!
5958576 Well, food for thought at least X3
I'm glad their shared existence isn't perfect. That was a relief.
A thought- if they are complete opposites, could recombining them result in null?
One plus negative one is zero, after all.
Or will it be something in between?
Fire and ice make steam (in the right proportions), and maybe water.
At the very least Twilight's not trying to completely remove one from the other or just get rid of Mena.
Come to think of it, it would be interesting to see a Null. Have Twilight see what her attempts to meddle with the mind(s) of another have wrought.
5960169 I'm glad you liked it! And I love that kind of speculation X3
im not sure what you mean by null' though.
5960391 By null, I think he means pretty much a vegetable.
Thats an interesting philosophical point to make: If the two of them fuse personalities, are they really still 'themselves'?
5961092 thats justa more metaphorical term for the word null. Im just confused as to how it's being applied.
5961189 I love thinking about things like that~
5961604 What I meant by null was ambivalence embodied, indifference manifest, disinterest in physical form! Somepony who does not care either way what happens, has no opinion, no personality, no sense of self, no soul. No will or desire, no nothing. So, that'd be an interesting thing for Twilight to realize she has created from her friend.
5962009 Oh. More food for thought X3
I love this kind of food for thought ^^
So. Twilight wants to combine the two personalities? Did Twilight really think this through? If Pinkie and Pinkamena were to be combined, more than likely, neither one of them would exist. They would more than likely become a totally different pink pony.
I hoPe this won't turn into a cupcakes like situation but with Twilight instead of Dash
5962792 Of course not! I hate it when people portray Pinkamena or Pinkie as murderous or crazy or psychopathic or whatever!
5962726 Well, it's a complicated concept, isn't it? I mean they'd both still be themselves but they wouldn't be themselves.
I'm going to stop my train of thought right there before I confuse myself.
5962839 Yeah, the new pony would still be Pinkie, but she wouldn't be the Pinkie they all know. I wonder if Twilight could use a mirror pool clone as another body for Pinkamena.
Got to see a bit of how Pinkamena and Pinkie have to coincide. It's interesting how each of them feel and work together while being stuck together.
Hm, it's a good set-up that creates conflict in what the characters might want differing. I'm surprised that Twilight would urge them to accept so blatantly though. It's quite clear to me that just because two things belong together doesn't mean they can't be fine apart.
Somepony needs to send for Pinkie Pie's family already to testify as to what her exact personality was before the Sonic Rainboom already.
6597008 My excuse is none of the characters thought of that possibility since i did as well
Well, u sucked me into the next story, so here I am!