Ch. 3
Two’s Company, Three’s a Party
or: Moh's Scale of Mental Hardness
BY: cleverpun
Rarity knocked sharply on the door to the Ponyville library. She heard the shuffling of hooves and whispers inside, and after a few moments, Pinkie opened the door.
“Hi, Rarity! Come on in, me and Twinkie just finished making crumpets!”
“Well, that’s lovely Pinkie, but I must admit I was surprised you asked me here so soon after our talk earlier.”
“Me too, but you know I always liked surprises! Have a seat, I’ll go get us some tea!”
Pinkie led Rarity to the lounge area, and then hopped off to the kitchen. Rarity spent the intervening minutes fiddling with a split seam in her chair, until Pinkie and Twinkie arrived with a tray of tea and crumpets. They placed it on the coffee table between them and then settled into their own chairs.
Rarity took a crumpet and a teacup, and took a long slow sip. Out of the corner of her eye, across the top of her cup something seemed off.
“Uhm, Twilight? Were your eyes always blue?”
“Pfft, I dunno, probably.” Twinkie threw a crumpet in the air and caught it in her mouth, raising her hoofs in triumph as she chewed.
“Err…right. So Pinkie, now that we have our evening tea, what exactly did you want to tell me?”
“Well, you remember when you asked me about Twilight’s…incident earlier? I may not have been a hundred-and-three-percent truthful when I said I didn’t remember it all.”
“Oh really? What did happen then?”
“Well, Twilight walked into the party supply store, and at first I was confused, because I didn’t even think she knew where it was!”
“Me either!”
“And so I asked her why she was there, and she told me that her mind reading spell had misfired massively! Instead of letting her read my mind, it put my mind into hers.”
“You mean she made a copy of your mind?”
“Yep! And that wasn’t all. The version of my mind that was in her mind had been trying to convince her to act like me!”
“Well, that certainly explains a few things…”
“Oh but that’s not all the story, you impatient Irma! She wanted to rush off to the library to try and fix it, but then I realized something.” Pinkie paused to take a bite of crumpet. “I realized that maybe she’d be better off if my mind stayed where it was.”
“What!? So you just let her mind be…consumed by your own?”
“Oh, I did better than that! I convinced her that she’d be better off if she just let our minds mix. And, well, here we are!”
“You did what?” Rarity was quite put off her crumpet, and it made a soft “thump” as it hit the floor.
"But don't you see? She's much happier this way! All that stress, gone just like that! I didn't force her to do it, I couldn't have. I just helped her realize what she already knew. It was just her mind and my mind, and eventually she saw the obvious; that being me was just better.”
“Pinkie, that’s insane! We have to find a way to change her back!” She got out of her chair, and glanced around the library. “Which of these books had that memory spell in it?”
“Oh, but Rarity, we didn’t ask you here to help us…” Twinkie and Pinkie slid out of their chairs.
“We asked you here so we could help you!”
Rarity froze.
“What.”
“Don't you see, Rarity? You're just as stressed out at as the old Twilight used to be. Every day you spend so much effort trying to get everypony to like you. At any moment you could be rejected by somepony important, and your entire life would be ruined… Wouldn’t it be nice to just be liked by everypony? To not have to hunt for their affection?” Pinkie slowly approached Rarity as she spoke, and Rarity instinctively backed away.
Rarity hesitated slightly before she answered. “Oh Pinkie, of course I would. But I cannot be you, and neither can Twilight! Don't you see what you have done? By letting her absorb your personality, you have robbed her of her own!”
“Oh Rarity, don’t be crazy! I’m still me. It’s just now my tasty Twilight center is wrapped in a big layer of Pinkie Pie. You know I resisted the idea, too, at first. I mean, the notion of being Pinkie was so…insane. But then Pinkie helped me realize that that’s all I ever wanted. And I know, deep down, you’ll want it too, once you realize how amazing it is.”
Rarity finally backed into a wall, and Twinkie and Pinkie began to close in on her.
“Please, snap out of this, both of you! Think about what you are doing!”
“I…we have. I planned it out after you talked to me earlier. You, me, and Twinkie can be friends forever; none of us will ever have to worry about being rejected ever again. It’s for your own good, Rarity, Pinkie Promise." Pinkie gave Rarity a small smile, then nodded to Twinkie, who began to focus magic into her horn.
“Pinkie, please… don’t do this.” Tears began trickling down Rarity’s face.
But it was too late, and a beam of magical energy arced from Pinkie’s forehead to Rarity’s.
As Pinkie’s thoughts and mental patterns flooded Rarity’s mind, she tried to resist. To focus on her own memories and desires and personality. But it was like trying to build a dam of sandbags against the tsunami that was Pinkie's mind.
Just give in, Rarity. You’ll enjoy iiiiiit!
“No, my mind is my own. Get out!” Rarity covered her ears, but it was futile against the mental voice.
Pinkity Pie has a nice ring to it you know! Or how about Rarie Pie?
“My name is Rarity, I’m a fashion designer, I have a sister, I—”
Love parties? Don't we all!
“No! I love galas and balls and masquerades.”
Oh, those are so stuffy and boring. And all those rich ponies always think they're better than you.
“No, I fit in with them, I know I do.”
You can’t know that. I know you can’t. But you could fit in with us. You know it’s true. Just stop resisting, and we'll be together. No matter what happens.
“No! No no no nonono…! Get out of my head, Pinkie!”
Just give in, Rarie. We could spend all day throwing parties, and eating cake, and picking flowers, and—
“Cake makes you fat, and flowers are full of dirt!”
But cake is fun and flowers are beautiful! Don't you want to be fun and beautiful?
“I’m already beautiful.”
But you could always be more fun!
“I am fun!” Hesitation started to creep into her voice, into her mind. “Aren't I…?”
Just think! Singing songs while you pick flowers! It's the epitome of fun!
“I am fun! I am beautiful! I am Rarity!”
Sing it with me now! Ring-around the rosies, a bottle full of posies,
“Stop it, stop it, stop it!”
All the girls, in our town, ring for little Josie!
“Please…”
Ring-around the rosies, a pocket full of posies, Ashes! Ashes!
“We all fall…down?”
As Pinkie's mind finally overran her own, Rarity fainted.
Twinkie stamped her hooves in celebration. “Yay, good idea, Rarie! Sleepover!”
As Pinkie watched Twinkie magic a blanket and pillow over to Rarity, she couldn’t help but replay the scene she had just seen in her head. Watching Rarity argue with, and lose to a copy of her mind was…unsettling. Would it have been easier to watch if she had been able to hear both sides? It was her mind, she knew the gist of it, but still…
It was for the best. I did the right thing…didn’t I?
Oh, silly Pinkie Pie!
No, you didn't, you forked it up royally and now it'll turn ... say it!
: ... into an enormously huge entire-town-in-total-chaos Princess-has-to-come-and-save-the-day problem.
That's right!
You better start writing to Celestia right now, because I can see Twinkie and Pinkity running off down the path to Fluttershy's cottage.
Oh dear god that's terrifying!
More please.
As much fun as this concept is, that Tragedy tag keeps scaring me off. Why can't we explore these concepts without it ending horribly?
1080218
I feel that way about dark tags.
I like to think that tragedy can apply to social and mental ruin, not just physical. Plus I'm enough of an optimist that I prefer even "bad" endings to have a reasonable level of positive interpretation available. The FIM universe runs on optimism, so hopefully the ending I have planned will be reasonable but not depressing
1080463 1080218
In the old greek sense the tragedy was a story of inevitable outcomes and the futile fight of the protagonists against the fates. Modern conceptions of tragedy have turned it into an "everyone dies horribly" sort of thing, but true tragedy can be as simple as two friends being permanently driven apart by a difference of opinion. The loss of the mind is a very basic human fear, and a story exploring that loss would qualify as tragic, even if the outcome is largely positive, because fate or the gods changed the world and the protagonists were powerless to stop it.
Interesting that you aren't just going to return to the status quo at the end. I like that.
I'm just gonna take a guess here. Are they slowly turning into complete Pinkie's? Is the next chapter gonna have Twilight's cutie mark be replaced by Pinkie's balloons?
I think that's what's gonna happen later on and Pinkie's gonna feel real bad about it.
1080640
An apt summary! I think of tragedy in the "character is defeated by their own flaws" sense, and in that respect this story is definitely a tragedy; the main 6 have no shortage of flaws, even if canon sometimes treats that fact very lightly.
1080670
My original draft had Pinkie's cutie mark overlaying Twilight's after a certain point in the plot, but this seemed like overkill to me. Since getting a cutie mark is basically puberty, it doesn't seem logical that it would happen twice; puberty can't really be a psychosomatic condition, and once you've gone through it you can't really repeat it.
It's nice to see mind magic being explored for a change. It's odd that almost no one writes about it considering how common it is in Equestria (Want It Need It, Cutie Mark Pox, CMC's love potion, Discorded ponies, the Elements of Harmony).
As far as Pinkie goes, she's seems like one of those personalities that would be particularly effective, for better or for worse, with mind magic. In particular the episodes Briddle Gossip and Luna Eclipsed showed that she's good at inspiring fear in ponies. And the fact that she thinks it's fun had some potentially bad implications.
Anyway, I like what you've got so far, could use some more black comedy, but otherwise it's great.
1080463
1082050
Sounds like you know what you're doing.
1082050You've got a good point but still in like Rarity's case, if i'm thinking about this right wouldn't that make her special talent kinda mute? I don't know what other word to put it in but she wouldn't want to do her talent anymore but instead do Pinkie's. It's kinda making me confused.
1082208
I like to think I know what I'm doing, but good to hear it from someone else
1082886
Their previous memories and abilities are still there even if it's been mixed with Pinkie's. Rarity can still sew and detect gems, so even if Pinkie's mental patterns make her want to do other things, she hasn't necessarily lost her other skills.
Further, a cutie mark doesn't define a pony- Rarity's special talent/cutie mark is finding gems, but her occupation is sewing, so gaining new skills wouldn't change your cutie mark anyway. You might argue losing your skills would cause something, like from amnesia, but that's beyond the scope of this story.
This is merely my interpretation, but hopefully that cleared things up a bit?
There is only one way that this story could end:
cdn.derpiboo.ru/thumbs/1223/647/2012/08/13/06_55_48_487_73499__UNOPT__safe_pink
1083910
MLP: Friendship is PINK
There's probably some slice of life, black comedy fun to be had in a world full of Pinkie-ponies (Rarity loses all her contracts because her dresses are based on carnivals, Fluttershy freaks out every animal she meets, Dash becomes even more reckless...) but a little too dark for me.
Thanks for the picture though, I lol'd
1083554 Thanks i don't quite understand it all but, i understand enough of it. Either way i think i know how this story is gonna play out.
With Pinkie regretting she did all of this then she asks Twilight to change them back to normal but Twilight won't do it and Pinkie breaks into tears. I'm not really expecting a happy ending.
But i'll keep reading anyway because this story is keeping my interest.
We are Pinkie Pie...we assimilate, resistance is futile...
okay.... pinkie and twinkie are starting to creep me out.
OHHH THIS HAS GONE TOOO FARRR PLEASE DONT OH IMAGINE WITHOUT THE ELEMENTS OF HARMONY ,i would imagine how dash would act if she were pinkie.
1112205 ok, ok, ok. just don't steal my secret ghost and pastry lab!
Pinkie, Twilight, Rarity and Darkfire stare at the laptop's screen. The latter three start to edge away from Pinkie Pie. "Hey! I'm not the Pinkie in the story!"
"We're not taking any chances," Darkfire responded.
Luckily my mind is full of several strongholds and even if she tried, I am not of that or any world so I am exempt from the magic... and then I would use my dark sword to shatter those copies... being a god among gods is fun some times
3926774
but being a mary sue is not....