Patients (Part 1)

by DubstepIsAmazing

The Darkest Light

For a pony whose job it was to brighten people's day, the darkness that Pinkie was covered with seemed like the brightest thing in the room. To everypony else, when something is dark, you just shine a light on it and it becomes clearer. But why is it that when Pinkie shines a light on herself, she gets worse?

Pinkie laid in her room surrounded by pitch black. The windows were closed, she was determined to make sure that no light entered. She didn't want anypony to see her like this. Why? Because she didn't want the light to shine on her problems.

"You good?"

Pinkie turned to her side, shuddering as she felt Pinkamena's presence amplify within her. Whenever her alter ego spoke, she sent waves of negative emotion through her. Of course, there have been times where she was actually helpful, but for the main part, she was the complete opposite of everything Pinkie was. To describe it in a couple of words: ruthless, deceptive, and disappointed.

"No. I'm not."

"Why not?"

"Look at where we are, won't you?!" yelled Pinkie, not caring who heard her, "I don't care who's staying to my right or my left, this is still a place where I never wanted to be!"

"Pinkie, you and I both know that you would have ended up here sooner or later. It was just a matter of when."

"Because of YOU!" wailed the party pony, "It's all YOU! Why are you so determined to make everyone feel so much agony wherever you go?!"

"Why are you so determined to make everyone feel happy wherever you go?"

"Because a happy pony is a happy Pinkie," she answered, "But for you, it's the opposite! The suffering of one pony brings a smile to your face!"

"Need I remind you that my face is also yours?"

"NO! It's not! Ponies know the difference between my face and yours; they know that I have a smile that can--"

"Brighten anyone's day, I know. You've made that point quite clear."

"But now, ALL of my friends know who you look like. Your smile--"

"Brings chaos and calamity to everypony I see?"

She turned over once again. "Well, yeah! Can you imagine how scary--"

"Stop talking, Pinkie."

"No. It's time I speak my mind about you! You're not going to silence me! Not now, not ever again!"

"Well, if you're going to do that, let me do the honors."

Pinkamena cleared her throat as Pinkie rolled her eyes.

"You think that I'm a menace to society. You think that I should be in here, not you. You acknowledge the fact that I can kill anyone I want with the clop of a hoof. Is that right?"

"Spot on," Pinkie muttered.

"Well, allow me to dismantle your argument with a couple of simple of facts: firstly, I live inside of you; you created me, so there's only one way to get rid of me permanently. And that way is..."

"I die."

"Good Pinkie. Secondly, you say I'm a negative version of you. While that's true, I'm one other thing."

"What?"

"I'm the realistic version of you."

"What?! How?! Everything is GREAT here! This is real life!"

"Clearly not. Have you forgotten where you are? Have you forgotten what's going on with Spike? Have you forgotten that the Princesses are mad with power? Have you forgotten all of this?"

"No, but--"

"Answer this honestly: do you think you would've seen this if I'd stayed completely silent during the competition?"

Pinkie stayed silent as Pinkamena sported a triumphant grin.

"I'll take that as a yes. You just said that everything was great in Ponyville. That's from your eyes. But from mine, everything is excessively joyful."

"How is that a bad thing?"

"Pinkie, you're missing everything that goes on in the background! To you, everything is sunshine, rainbows, cupcakes, and cake! You would risk your life if somepony did something that would make another pony sad!"

"I have to! If I had the opportunity to make somepony happy, I'd jump at it!"

"I'm not saying to stop making ponies happy. That's a good thing, I guess. I'm trying to get you to wake up!"

"To what?!"

"To the fact that not everything is as happy as you want it to be!"

Shocked at her words, Pinkie's lips quivered as her dark self presented her with this piece of information.

"That's why I said you're mentally unstable. Positivity is good, but excessive positivity can result in you expecting everything to go right. When something goes wrong, you go into this depression, and that's where I come in. It's also why I'm here."

"Why?"

"To balance things out with you! Being happy is good, but there have to be some sad times too. How else do you expect to grow?"

"But--but you said you could kill somepony--"

"And I can. But I haven't. Besides the fight with Spike, I haven't attempted to hurt a single soul."

"What about Fluttershy?" asked Pinkie with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, other than her," she said with a nervous chuckle, "But in my defense, she was going to try to get rid of me."

"But you'll be gone one way or another."

"That's something that I can live with. And something you've got to live with is that my job is to make sure that you don't go too far in thinking that everything is better than it really is."

"I guess that's fair but...I absolutely hate--"

"Being sad? Well, you'll have to live with the fact that no one can avoid it. Sorry."

Tears quickly approached Pinkie's eyes and Pinkamena sighed.

"I'll let you handle making others happy. Just don't go too out of hand."

She felt Pinkamena's aura fade the instant she finished her sentence. Simultaneously, she noticed that a ray of sunshine had gotten into the room. Sitting up, a small smile spread across her face as she realized that there was truth in what Pinkamena told her. At the moment, her goal was to make ponies happy, starting with herself.

---

Twilight sat alone at her map table thinking about what Celestia had told her at their previous encounter. She was right on both fronts; no matter how desperately she needed the high after the slew of unfortunate events that have plagued her recently, becoming an alcoholic was no way to cope. Secondly, Spike is counting on her to help him get out sooner. It was a well-known fact that they loved each other dearly; they had known each other for their entire lives. There was no way she would have something like this keep them apart.

Although she was motivated after Celestia's visit, she was still half-awake and half-drunk. There was row after row of bags under her eyes and she could barely keep herself focused on what she was doing. Everytime she opened her mouth, it was a yawn followed by a burp that released an unbearable stench from her mouth that gave away the fact that she's been drinking. She pounded her hoof on the table in frustration.

"Alright, Sparkle, get it together!" she muttered, "We gotta get him outta there. But how--"

"I may have a solution."

Turning around, she was shocked to see Princess Luna gracefully approach her with a nervous smile on her face. Twilight's hoof went to her chest.

"You nearly gave me a heart attack, Princess!"

"A worse fate would've greeted you if you keep drinking."

"How'd you know that I--"

Luna chuckled. "The frazzled mane, the lack of focus, the constant muttering, the terrible aroma that comes from your mouth whenever you speak, your dizzy walk. Just to name a few."

"Okay, okay, I get it. What's your idea?"

Luna took a seat and put her hooves together, appearing to be unsure of how to explain.

"Well...you see...I went to Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash for advice before I came over here. They didn't seem too thrilled."

"And why might that be? Your ideas are usually good," Twilight said, staring intensively at the map as if an idea would go from there to her head.

"Thank you for the compliment, Twilight, but...this one is different."

"How?"

"Well...this one has to do with the Cutie Mark Crusaders."

Twilight's eyes went from the map to the nervous princess, who was rubbing a hoof behind her neck after the confession. The young princess' eyes were now twitching rapidly.

"Before you say anything," Luna interrupted, "Just know that--"

"ARE YOU CRAZY?! THEY HAD JUST COME OUT OF DISCORD'S GAME!!" Twilight shrieked before her hooves flew to her mouth at the remembrance at who she was talking to. "Sorry, it's just--"

"No, no, I understand your concern. Not exactly one of my most well-recieved ideas."

"I see why they said no, but please do continue."

"My idea was to put the three of them in the asylum to obtain more information on Diamond Tiara and Spike's conversations."

"Now I definitely see why the three of them were so against it. But what about Pinkie? She's not well either."

Luna opened her mouth to answer, before closing it in embarrassment.

"I've never considered that. You're right; Pinkie must also be checked on to make sure she gets the proper care that she needs--"

"Princess, I'm not saying I'm in support of your idea. In fact at the moment, it's the opposite. We need to make sure these fillies stay out of harm's way."

"I'm afraid that it's too late for that."

"Why?"

"It's been too late ever since they explained to me what happened in the asylum in their dreams."

"But still. I don't really like this. However, it's not under my control. I'm leaving this up to the three of them; this is up to them."

"I understand completely. I was only asking for your opinion."

Twilight scoffed. "I don't think you'll really like my opinion."

"I can see that."

"But in the meantime, I need to find a way to get Spike out of there. I think I need to go back."

"Go for it! I'm sure he'll be happy to see you."

"But I'm not!"

"Look, I understand that the last meeting didn't end the way you wanted it to," Luna explained, "But look at it this way. You can use it as a chance to reflect on your experience and brainstorm ways to make the subsequent encounter more pleasant."

Tears approached Twilight's eyes as she laid her head on the table while remembering Spike lashing out at her when she was at the asylum.

"I don't know how, Princess. I just don't know."

"Well," Luna said, lifting her face with her hoof, "You have time to figure it out. But one thing is for certain: he needs you. And you have to be there for him. Everypony makes mistakes; it's up to you to figure out how to fix them though."

Wiping away her tears, Twilight smiled.

"Thanks, Princess Luna."

"Anytime, Twilight. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get ready for my visit with Spike."

"I forgot that tomorrow was your and Princess Celestia's day to visit!" Twilight gasped with eyes darting, "I hope that you know that you mean a lot to Spike; he couldn't stop talking about how much he enjoyed your company while the six of us were away."

Twilight choked on her cries at the mention of her beloved assistant once more while Luna looked up somberly. She could still remember the fire in his eyes at the insult that she had aimed at him during their fight. That attack hurt him more than any spell or beam ever would.

"I still wish I could take back what I said that day," Luna confessed, "He's helped each of us out more times than I could count..." She stared at her hoof. "So at least twice."

"Well, somepony once told me that everypony makes mistakes, and that it was up to you to figure out how to fix them." Twilight said with a smile.

Luna chuckled before vanishing away with newfound hope in her heart.

Author's Note:

Happy New Year, all.

Thanks for reading this far; I hope you're enjoying. I'm considering making a quick one-chapter story soon; I already have an idea of what it'll be about.

Comments

[DragonPony]

This is interesting for sure. Luna honestly doesn't seem like she is really giving the CMC any other option but to do what she wants. Which she also said that the moment they confided in her their path was sealed. So that does very much make this sound like retaliation for them trusting her. Another interesting thing I have noticed is that they always say it was a mistake or whatever when it comes to Spike, But what was the mistake? Was it thinking that, or the fact they said it out loud? I am looking forward to Luna and Celestia's visit with Spike since it could go a number of ways. Mostly with Luna trying to convince Spike he was wrong in the way he view them and maybe even trying to get him to think/act the way he use to be ,you know when he was easier to handle. Celestia I think would try to figure out what is it Spike knows as well as try the same thing as Luna. But she is doing it because he would feel that if she can't than she will have to keep him locked up and she really doesn't want to do that but will if she must. But there is something for sure I am personally at least seeing more and more, Celestia isn't the 'bad' one and Luna is the 'good' one, they both have and are doing some pretty fucked up things for the sake of their country and what they think is right. It is just as of now we have heard more of Celestias actions than we have Luna. But you don't live as long as Luna has without doing some pretty fucked up things as well lol.