Diane

by Wisher

No Tape

Chapter III

"Smile for me, Twilight."

It had been a week. A week to this day since Twilight Sparkle, the intelligent observer of the fragile mind, had been attacked. Shining Armor had been making a mental note of every day since. He felt terribly shook up by the incident, and he couldn't imagine what his sister must be feeling.

In fact he'd been scarcely able to focus on his job, on anything esle ever since. The turmoil of inner conflict clouded his thoughts. On the one side, he was desperately trying to find a solution, some kind of loophole in Diane's devilish calculations.

"They break."

He wondered if he or anyone could "break" Diane. If she could be sent back to where she came from. Did she come from anywhere at all? He imagined that place would be somewhere in Pinkie's subconcious, although he wasn't sure he could even fathom how that actually worked. He imagined some kind of virtual reality where Diane was confined, inside a much more material entity, Pinkie's brain. Were such realities possible? Did Diane ever really exist when no one was seeing her? Was she real, or just an illusion of Pinkie's? It boggled his mind, and he wasn't sure he could face the complexity of all this and come out victorious.

But whenever his resolve faltered, he would think of Twilight. Of how she had been mercilessly reduced to a screaming mess, an animal who couldn't grasp anything due to panic. He thought of her endless screaming.

And he then felt determination, in the form a great, searing desire for revenge. He saw red where there was pink.

And on the other hand, he told himself to be cautious. There were many questions, sure, but he could not afford to let them overwhelm him. Neither could he succumb to blind hatred, rushing in to destroy his opponent, with neither reason nor plan. Against an enemy who used cunning malevolence to worm its way into the mind of others, it would be like rushing to certain death. He realised that's how Diane "broke" others. She provoked, she set the bait for madness, and waited for it to crush down the rash opponent. And he would not let himself, and especially not his sister, suffer that fate.

For a week now he'd been playing back the interrogation tape left behind from last week. It sent shivers down his spine, listening to the cold voice of the pink mare. But he needed to listen. He wished to hear the voice of his brave sister again.

He also wanted to spot the flaws in Diane's line of thought. Admittedly, he was doing a poor job, as he couldn't really discern anything he knew would be a lead. He knew Twilight was the real mind doctor of the force. He smiled weakly as he remembered how as foals everyone always thought of Twilight as an intellectual gem, and of him as the strong bodyguard that shielded it. They'd always been a team, the brains and the brawn. He was an armor to her. He worried, and hoped he hadn't failed her in the end.

"Now you see, what a hard boat to keep afloat sanity really is, Twilight Sparkle."

Shining stopped the tape. He always stopped it at this point, he couldn't bear to go further. He wouldn't go through that again.

But this point in the tape, as dreadful as it was, had a positive effect on Shining Armor. It immediately gave him courage and determination to straighten this situation out. But he knew that if he still had it in him, his poor sister was still suffering terribly, and would not likely find it in her to go on with this case. Not before it was too late at least.

He would like to tell her she had done more than enough, and that he would take over her until the end. But he knew that no matter how much willpower he showed, he wouldn't be able to do this on his own. Twilight was the only one capable of beating Diane at her own game.

He had to save her. It was about time they broke back.

- - -

It had been a week. But for Twilight Sparkle, time was no longer, as she lay on her bed and stared endlessly at the ceiling. She wanted nothing. She expected nothing. It wasn't as if she refused it all, but she didn't accept it either. She was indifferent to whether she lived or died. Anything and everything had become worthless to her. Her eyes were devoid of any emotion or will. She no longer sparkled.

Events played in her head that she longer payed attention to. It was as if life was a movie she had seen countless times, and it was playing on a TV while she was in another room, doing something else.

But she could no longer focus on anything at all. She watched the ceiling because it was in front of her as she forgot to eat, forgot to sleep, and lay in the dark of her room, without a soul. She had shut down, and let silence claim her every thought and memory.

She still had the courtesy to open the door when the bell rang though. Her friends had all payed her a visit, probably told by Shining Armor about the last time she had gone to work. But that was all it was though. She opened the door and mechanically said hello to them, staring right through them into oblivion, unchanged by whichever face happened to pop up in front of her. They had all been very kind to recognize that this was not simply rude behaviour on her part, but rather a sign that their friend was more in need than ever. The incident with her being late for giving her weekly report to Princess Celestia was just a joke in comparaison.

And so their encounters were brief, often resuming themselves to one pony coming in, asking her if she was well, only to recieve a short, unconvincing 'yes', and leaving her for fear of interfering too much with the unicorn's recovery. Their wishes of her getting better and all their advice and comforting fell on deaf ears. Rarity had even set up a tea meeting with all of them, but Twilight had not showed up. They thought it would be wiser not to bother her and ask her why that was. Besides, they all knew the reason anyway.

All this worry, for Twilight as they felt her whisking away from this life, but also for their dear friend Pinkie, of whom they only knew that she was in a faraway place only Twilight could go to rescue her, was splitting the seams of the harmony that was their friendship.

Twilight was unaware of this. But she couldn't be blamed. Things had stopped registering themselves in her conscience. She was now an empty shell of useless, corrupted wisdom.

Eventually she got up, after another session of countless hours of nothing. She needed to go to the bathroom. Moving slowly and without a sound to the bathroom door, she used her hoof to push it open, having not used her magic ever since that day.

When she entered, she was greeted by the only thing that could cause any feeling inside her at all anymore. She gazed at it with shrunken, shaking pupils.

Diane was right there.

In her bathroom. Covered in blood.

Paralyzed by what she saw, she watched in horror as Diane, smiling like a pink scarecrow of madness, brought a hoof to her mouth and licked some blood slowly off of it.

"Mmm. Juicy."

Twilight could feel cold sweat sliding down her burning temples, and her veins pulsing in fast rhythm as her heart pounded strong enough to break through its bony cage.

"You're still mine. I guarantee... you will never forget that," said Diane, raising slowly and surely a grotesque butcher knife bearing black splotches. Her voice had changed, and she had many now, her usual, and much darker, twisted, sinister ones. To Twilight, they were the many voices of hell itself.

She ran as fast as she could out of the bathroom, moaning in fear. She ran straight to her bed where she burried her face as deep as physically possible in her covers, writhing as she struggled to control herself.

After a while, when her panting had returned to a nearly normal rate, she took a cautious peek from behind her pillow at the bathroom door. Nothing was there. It was wide open, and she could see the place where Diane stood moments earlier. She was no longer there. In fact she had never been, Twilight thought as she realised she had simply hallucinated.

She set herself back on her back in her usual do-nothing position. She looked at the familiar blank ceiling, panting a little before stopping and closing her lips. Closing her eyes as well, she let out a long sigh.

Nothing happened for a while. Anyone walking in on her right now would have assumed she was sleeping peacefully. Then her lips started to quiver, and her eyes scrunched a bit.

She started crying loudly, for no one to hear, as the tears flowed freely down her cheeks. For the first in many days, she felt a strong tidal wave of emotions, as if she had been holding a week's worth back. She would have been glad to feel a little alive again, but all these emotions were all negative. They were sadness, fear, despair, but also frustration, hatred, a deadly loathing for the mare in pink.

It was her lack of food, of fresh air, that was getting the best of her. Madness had come, and taken everything from her. She was left with nothing. Nothing but tears.

And the disturbing stare of the mare in pink hanging over her like a guillotine.

- - -

Shining Armor walked up the stairs of the building of his sister's appartment. He arrived at her flat and knocked. There was no response for a while, until a voice sounded through the door. It was Twilight.

"Who is it?" she asked.

Shining Armor immediately felt a pang of sadness. His sister's voice sounded so weak. He'd come every day for the past week, and knew of course how deeply wounded she was, but her voice had usually sounded just... sleepy, if he could call it like that. Now it was desperate and fleeting, like a candle flame burning on what last few drops of wax were left.

"It's me," said a concerned Shining Armor. "Can I come in?"

There was a brief pause. "The door's open," said Twilight miserably.

Oh god, though Shining Armor. Now he was worried. Ususally she came to open the door herself. He could feel her slipping away from where he was.

He entered the appartment. The air had a stale quality to it from being unkept. Quickly, Shining Armor went to his sister's bedside where he found her gazing into space. He noticed heavy creases under her eyes, and unkept strands of purple hair scattered messily above them, although she seemed to take no notice. She had returned to her catatonic state.

"Twilight," he said, a worried edge to his voice. "Are you okay?"

He knew it was a silly question to ask, but he needed to ask it nonetheless. She did not answer, or show any sign of acknowledgement that he was there.

"Oh, Twilight...I'm... I'm so sorry this had to happen to you," he said sadly. He kneeled down by her bedside, and gently put his forehead on hers. He delicately took her right hoof in his own. She offered no resistance. Tired and weary, Shining felt himself crumble and decided to let it all out.

"I know how things are. Things are so tough right now. And I understand nothing seems to matter anymore since your friend was robbed of you by that demon. But you have to hold on, Twilight. You have to hold on for me. You have to hold on for your friends, who love you, and think of you every second that goes by. And most of all you have to hold on because there is a friend of yours out there who needs your help, stuck in a dark place only you can pull her out of. You have to face the darkness that's taken hold of her, and dispel it so you can move on both to a brighter future. So please, Twily, please... please don't let go."

She said sothing, and only her slow and shallow breathing showed she was still there. After what seemed like an eternity to Shining Armor, she finally spoke.

"I saw her today," she whispered.

Shining Armor lifted his head as soon as she had spoken. He didn't really understand what she meant, but hung on to the first thought Twilight had shared with him in a long while.

"What?" he asked.

"Today. I saw Diane in my bathroom," she said.

She turned slightly to face an incredulous Shining Armor.

"I went to the bathroom, and she was there. She was... oh, it was just horrible. I ran in fright, and when I looked behind me, she was gone. It was just a dream."

She turned back to face the ceiling.

"But it made me realise something. That whenever I think of that pink mare... who do I see? Not so long ago, I would have told you it was a young girl with a fluffy mane called Pinkie Pie. But today, I look inside my memories... and all I see is her."

She paused. Tears formed slowly under her eyes and slid gracefully down her face.

"She used to be so happy, Shining. She used to be so bubbly, and made everyone smile. When things were pitch-black and serious, she always showed us that there was a light in everything dark. She made us laugh and cry, and no matter how eccentric she got, it was always worth it. She was a kind soul no one could replace. She was the one, who taught me there was something in this world of which I could never have imagined the power. A magic that couldn't be taught in books and which was greater than any magic that was. That there was so much more than what I could learn and make mine, that it was there inside of everyone."

Her voice sounded damp with tears. Shining felt the tears welling up as well.

"But now... now she's gone," Twilight said shakily. "She's gone, and who's that mare in pink that made me smile when I saw her, the one who taught me how to love and the value of making friends? Now there's a devil in her place, a monster that knows no love or feeling but the greed of power over others. She stole everything bright in my life and she turned it to ash... now that magic has run out, and without it she'll crush me and everything I hold dear!"

Halfway through her talking Twilight had been overtaken by sheer emotion again. She held nothing back that she could feel any longer, and had difficulty pushing the last of her words through all the crying she was doing. Yet it felt somewhat good. Tremendous weight had just been lifted off of her. She felt like a great, stone-cold dam had burst inside her. But it didn't make her forget that things were still terribly bleak.

Shining Armor was very much shook up by what he had just heard. But in a curious way, he felt more joy out of all of this than pain. His sister was back. She was talking again, and no longer just in short answers. He had thought she might have been too far gone. But she was still there. There was still a chance.

"Listen, Twily," he said with composure. "No matter how much of a challenge Diane presents, she can also be broken. I know it. And you will be the one who beats her. I can only imagine how a big a task it is. I mean, I can't possibly know. But what I do know is that you can't possibly do this alone. And neither can I. You need to face this madness. You are so brave, I know you can do it... let me help you. We'll overcome this, you, me, and Pinkie as well. We won't be reduced to this ugly state."

Twilight turned to face her brother again. He was pleading her not to give up, and for the first time she felt sensitive to his distress. She realised how much every one of her friends cared for her, and how she'd grossly overlooked that. And how, without Pinkie, none of this would have been possible. If she had found herself alone, she would have stayed alone until she faded away. She couldn't just give up and let herself go like this. She had to get up and fight back, for Pinkie's sake. She felt that if she didn't, it would mean disrespecting Pinkie and nullifying everything she was about. She would then be the one who had erased Pinkie, not Diane.

Diane. Diane. She was the one, the source of this chaos, the enemy of her soul. Thinking about her heated a forgotten feeling in Twilight, rapidly mounting to her head in an angry surge. It was determination. Resolve. Love of life in the face of a being that cherished nothing.

She was ready to go back. No, to go forward.

She clasped Shining Armor's hoof and gave him a weak smile.

"I'm ready," she told him.

Her brother gave her a huge smile of relief. Leaning in closer, he spoke.

"Let me tell you how we'll do it. I got a plan."

- - -

The next day, two figures walked steadily down the familiar corridors of the police headquarters. They turned every single head they passed by, without a word or second glance.

Twilight Sparkle, the shrink who'd been tortured by that scary prisoner no one knew of save for the many rumours going on, was back.

It had only been a week, but in the end it had been a long week for everyone concerened or not. They all watched as she walked with that famous stoic gaze of hers. But there was something more to her now. Something strong one could just feel about her. She had a new, cool aura about her. It felt like experience, as if she had paid all her dues, gone through all her share of hardships, leaving her nothing to lose. It was quite intimidating, but it was also alluring in some way. A few male employees considered asking her out for coffee at the end of the day.

Walking together with Shining Armor, case file and tape recorder at the ready, Twilight arrived in front of the notorious Interrogation Room 03. They were about to separate, Twilight entering the white room, and her brother going to his usual post behind the glass pane. They looked at each other.

"You good?" asked Shining.

"No more games," said Twilight.

"Let's go grab a drink when this is over. With all five of your friends. Sound good?"

Twilight looked at him thoughtfully. "Sounds good," she said.

She walked inside. Here goes.

- - -

Sure enough, Diane was there. As always, she sat laid back, her hooves resting at the base of her neck, knowing nothing could attain her.

She was almost getting bored. They told her she was being interrogated today. This had surprised her. Could it be... her? No, surely not. She'd left quite remarkably last time, and it was doubtful she would ever come back. Diane thought about the little number she had pulled off last time... it made her shiver with glee.

But look who was here? It was indeed her, Twilight Sparkle. Back from the dead, as it were. She could not seriously expect to win more terrain today. Or had she learned nothing from last time? It was making her grin widely, that she could play with this mare's sanity without mercy, and her colleagues would offer her seconds. They were either foolish, or treacherous. She hoped for the latter, for it would mean they knew what an undefeatable foe she was and wanted to see the purple stuck-up get what was coming to her. Magic.

- - -

Twilight went to the table, and sat down. She looked at the pink mare that was already grinning victoriously at her.

She was surprised that despite all that had happened, despite the fresh wound not yet healed in her head, one that would no doubt leave a permanant scar... She was not afraid one bit by the mare opposite her. She had expected to be unable to see her, even from afar, before breaking down again. But now that she was there, sitting mere inches away from her, Diane seemed unimpressive to her. There was neither a scary, nor an ominous way about her anymore. It was something Twilight could stand up to.

But she didn't feel any more boosted by this thought. Not that she wasn't confident; she could just no longer feel moved by what stood before her. It was over; she had crossed a great line of illusion. Madness was no longer foreign to her.

But for the frontier she had passed, what a toll she had payed. She had been stripped of some of her feelings, and had been hardened by her last encounter with Diane. She felt nothing for this mare; nor fear, nor pity, nor the blind anger she had felt so many times before. Emotions were out of the window when it came to dealing with a creature who had no heart to recieve them anyway.

She had payed a bit of her soul. But she knew now it was the price to pay to end this fight.

"You had best be prepared to pay that sanity as a price!"

She had payed it now. She was complete.

Slowly she picked up the tape recorder. Never breaking eye contact with Diane, she pressed the record button.

"This is message log number 3," she said in a cold, quiet voice.

Diane expected her to go on a little further. When Twilight didn't, she raised an eyebrow, and nibbled her lower lip.

"Surely that's not good protocol," she said.

Twilight took notice of how familiar that voice of Diane's had become. When they first met, Twilight thought it was sinister. Now she thought nothing of it. They were mock words that left no impact for her to feel.

She said nothing. Today she would not open the discussion. She'd said everything she had to say. Well, almost everything.

After a long while, Diane made a move. She put a forehoof on the table and waved the other one in Twilight's face. But Twilight just stood there, elbows resting on the table, hooves over her mouth, a studying look played across her face.

"Hellooo? Anypony in there?" said Diane mockingly. "My god, I thought I had at least a little effect on you with my little trick from last time. But now it's like it left you utterly speechless!" she cackled.

"Oh, but it did," said Twilight without raising her voice above the murmur it was. "For a solid week."

"Yeah, well, not a very good trait you want to have as an interrogator. You might wanna keep that in mind."

"I've told you everything I wanted to tell you."

Diane was actually a little surprised for a second. "Well, that is what you came to do today, right? Interrogate me?"

Twilight looked away and shrugged, giving a small makeshift pout. "Who knows?" she asked.

Now Diane was a little stumped. It was nagging her. "Who knows?" she asked back, with a little annoyance.

"Yeah," said Twilight casually. "Who knows? You know all the rules of the game here. I don't have to remind you of any protocol, you seem to know just fine what it is. I come in, and we talk about the case that brings you here today. And if you cooperate, we can get some interrogation going on over here, if that's what you'd like."

"Cooperate?" asked Diane defiantly. She was back to her scornful self. "Oh are you still on about cooperating, Twilight Sparkle? You silly goose, we've been over this! What do you expect me to cooperate about! There was a murder, and I'm the ideal candidate for such a deed, but you have not a piece of evidence, not even a word against me! You have a neat little case file, and you have that little tape of yours, but you d--"

"What tape?" cut in Twilight Sparkle effortlessly.

Diane stopped talking, looked at her incomprehensively. "Pardon?"

"What tape?" repeated Twilight. She took the tape recorder and opened it in front of Diane, who looked at it with a hollow expression.

It was empty.

"There's no tape in here," said Twilight innocently.

Slowly, Diane lifted her eyes up to meet Twilight's own. She wore a very dark look.

"If you thought I would put in a different tape every day just for you, you overestimate your importance, I'm afraid," said Twilight, unfazed.

There was a small, heavy silence.

"You said this was message log number 3" said Diane, her tone low and murderous.

"I did. Protocol," said Twilight

The tension would have been unbearable to anyone in that room, and to Twilight, a few days ago. There were some very, very dark intentions brewing in the air. But now that Twilight was master of herself, there were now two ponies in this Interrogation Room, not just one, that could deal with it.

Though perhaps Diane was having some trouble after all. Twilight observed the way she was looking at her. Her eyes were low, her pupils mere dots, covered in the shadow of her brow. Those eyes of hers could have been made of fire, as they were practically glowing with raw hatred. She was not hiding the gnashing of her teeth.

"You..." she said, in a low, severe grumble.

Twilight's eyes squinted a little.

"Me."

Diane was shaking like a kettle about to burst. And like steam, fury blew its lid off in a bang.

"FINE!" she roared, banging her hooves hard against the table's surface, virtually foaming at the mouth. "You win, Twilight Sparkle, you win! I did it! I killed the two sluts! I did it, because I needed to destroy something worthless, and by god did I enjoy it!! I had no reason to do it, I told you so, it wasn't complexly thought out. I needed to kill, because that's what I do! And you know what, Twilight Sparkle? They screamed, oh yes they SCREAMED so hard it would blow your ears apart!!"

After the fast-paced heated monologue, Diane slowly spoke to Twilight. "But it wasn't anywhere near as loud, or delectable, as the screams of terror you fed me the last time, and when I think about it today, I realise I would never kill you, ever, if it meant I could hear your shrill cries of delirium again!" she hissed acidly.

"That's nice," said Twilight.

Diane slowly sat back, looking at Twilight as if the latter had slapped her mid-sentence. She had said it as if they were discussing clothing tastes around a nice cup of tea. Had she even listened to any of that?

Neither said anything, until Twilight let out a big sigh and spoke.

"You see, Diane," she started in a weary, matter-of-fact tone, "I hope you had a nice week off these last few days. I, unfortunately, did not, but it allowed me to do a lot of thinking. And I learned something from it."

She edged closer and looked at Diane without emotion.

"When we first met, there was something that struck me about you. You had this... grandeur about you, an ominous feel that made me act carefully when adressing you. You were a killer, after all; it would've left an impression on anyone. For me it was a challenge, an intricate obstacle that promised sure knowledge and wisdom, once I had cracked your head open and revealed its secrets. And when I tried to rise above it to get the upper hand, and the truth out of you, it was this mysterious feeling you had that threw me off the mental balance. You even used it to attack me, with that coffee stunt. And we both thought that it would rock me off the hinges of my mind so much, that it would be the end of me as a sane person."

She got even closer. At this rate she was invading Diane's personal space. She didn't care.

"It broke me. I could no longer focus on anything but what you had inflicted upon me. And it made me fearful, depressive even, for I knew that that pink body wasn't yours to begin with. You had stolen it from another, one of my very dearest friends, whom I started to miss very, very much. I made myself crazy with fear, that I would never see her again, and that I would lose her to a psychotic soul.
And then suddenly, it hit me. All of this thinking, this analyzing, this worrying... it was all part of my unrelentant efforts to tear you down, to overcome you. I thought you were a demon, a strong one who had violated the shell of another soul. But what if that was what you wanted from the start? What if, by trying to win over you by force, I was unwillingly in fact feeding you all the force I used, by making you out to be some sort of mighty foe? I thought about it. In the end... it's quite simple. You're not such a challenge at all aren't you? A violent, disturbed personality, who knows nothing but how to kill and torture... you fuel this drive by making yourself out to be an important threat. But you are no such threat. You are not a demon.
The truth is, my friend Pinkie, as adorable as she is, is prey to a mental disorder called schizophrenia. She's prone to breaking down so badly, eventually, that she clouds her own self in an illusion. She forfeits her mind to a strong, inflexible personality, that she deliberately creates to be unlike her in every way, as she imagines she is nothing but weakness. You are that personality, Diane. You think you are real, but you're not. You're just one side of a coin.
And that's how I knew I would break you. Because you're neither a demon, nor a monster, nor a challenge. You're not even a threat. You are nothing but a disease, Diane. And I will not treat you differently than the cancer you are."

For the first time, Diane had lost the ball.

She stood there, helplessly, as Twilight exposed her, through words. She had been reduced to the shadow of another pony. A stupid, childish, irresponsible mare who could do no good, and would smile foolishly at everything and anything.

She trembled with a mixture of helplesness and loathing. She would not be ridiculed like this.

"You will not get away with this," she said through gritted teeth.

Twilight threw her a quizzical look

"What do you think you're doing?" she continued. "Exposing your oh-so-dear friend like this. You just told me it was Pinkie who was really the person in front of you. Are you prepared to declare this, right after I admitted my guilt?!" she gave a loud, nervous laugh. "You'll be sending her straight to jail for life!!"

"No I won't," said Twilight without missing a beat.

She took the empty tape recorder and dangled it in front of Diane.

"How can anyone prove anything about this case?" she said. "There's not a single recorded piece of evidence pointing towards her as the murderer. No confession. No evidence of her presence there. Not a thing."

At this point Diane was no longer smiling.

"But rest assured. I don't have anything against you either," said Twilight. She then edged so close to the pink mare, who was getting quite uncomfortable, that she only spoke in an eerie whisper the next words.

"But does it matter? After all, you'll be gone by the time we finish this talk. Pinkie will be in your place. The case will be shut without any more evidence. I'll take care of Pinkie. Schizophrenia can be held at bay with the proper medication. You will have been nothing but a short-lived parasite."

"Who cares about evidence? Why, I bet with all the screaming I did, someone outside these walls is bound to have heard my confession!" said Diane.

Twilight sat back, and looked away at the walls. Diane waited a while, and allowed herself a cautious, mischevious grin. She had won. Twilight Sparkle had made a commendable effort, but now she had nothing. She had lost the back and forth! She would never see her friend again, and things would not just blow over like she wanted them to.

"I always wondered what the holes in these walls were for..." said Twilight wondrously.

She looked back at Diane, whose smirk had vanished.

"Turns out they're for cancelling noise," she said.

Diane's mind raced. No!

"What has transpired in this room tonight, no one will ever know of. It was lost forever in these little holes..."

There! thought Twilight.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw it. It jolted her senses, but she made an effort to let nothing show on her face. On Diane's perfectly straight mane, a few strands of hair were starting to curl and increase in volume.

But the pink nightmare was not done yet.

"An illness? Is that what you think I am?" she asked through gritted teeth. "Well let me tell you something that clearly you've shut out. This disease of yours beat you senseless in a mental arm-wrestle the other day. You forget, you idiotic slut, that mental states are what I know best! If I want to, I can snap your pretty nerves again like twigs. Just give me an opportunity, and by god I swear I will rip your brain to shreds you will struggle to pick up, while I--"

"No you won't, Pinkie," said Twilight in a clear voice.

More hairs wormed their way into curls. "What did you call me?" said Diane in incredulous anger. She knew the answer, but would not hear it.

Twilight sensed fatigue and, for the first time, fragility in the pink mare's voice. It was time to deliver the coup de grace.

"Pinkie, you won't do what you say," she said in a warm, comforting tone. "Because no matter how much you think you are this dark soul, it's just not you."

The pink mare stared at Twilight, breathing heavily. Her expression alternated quickly between fear and furiousness. "No..." she growled.

"I miss you Pinkie. We all miss you, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow and Fluttershy, they all miss you. Let's go home, Pinkie."

The mare opposite Twilight, whoever she was now, was writhing and cracking up. "No..." she continued.

Quickly, it escalated into a torrent of cascading cries. "No, no, no, no, no, no...!". Some were filled with venimous hatred from Diane, others were conflicted sobs from a new personality Twilight had not seen in a long time.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no!!" As the pink mare struggled to be taken by one of the two facets of her mind battling for contol, the last hairs of her mane curled in frizzled pink strands and blew up in the familiar shape of cotton candy. Hot tears poured down her glowing blue eyes. Twilight closed hers as she felt tears of her own slowly forming. But they were tears of a different nature. It was over soon.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!!"

And with a last deafining yell, Pinkie Pie crumbled to the floor in an uncontrollable fit of painful crying. Twilight rushed to her side, immediately cradling her.

"I'm sorry!!" said Pinkie in a damp, heartbreaking cry as she huddled against Twilight.

"Shh, it's okay, Pinkie," she said, as she stroked the mane of the pink pony who cried loudly and twitched while Twilight released tears of joy, letting them flow freely and silently. "It's all over now."

From behind the glass pane, a speechless Shining Armor admired the scene in great relief, although it was taking him time to fully comprehend the situation. He admired his sister. She really was the greatest damn shrink in the whole force.

- - -

"To Pinkie! And to Twilight!"

The close circle of six ponies cheered as they raised their glasses in unison at the table of a small bar, attracting many curious glances from the other customers. Twilight reveled in what was now finally the time for celebration and harmony. Pinkie was not present however, still too fragile and emotionally shook to participate; Twilight herself was exhausted. The pink pony, the real Pinkie Pie, was currently sleeping at the precinct for one final night under the cover of police security.

From the next day on, she would follow rehabilitation therapy in a psychiatric ward, where she would be comissioned but still would be allowed a little time to see her friends every day. After a while she would be allowed residence in the flat she still owned, and would be given medication she would have to take rigorously and for life. Twilight thought that telling her to imagine it was a free supply of special, Pinkie-exclusive candy for life would make things much easier for her.

In the midst of all the festivities, Shining Armor walked in the bar. The pony heads turned to face him.

"Well if it ain't Shinin' Armor, also hero of the day, I reckon!" clamored Applejack, clearly making the best of the drinking streak she had going on against Rainbow Dash's. "Surely ya'll come chug down a few o' these here babies with us?"

Shining gave a hearty laugh at the suggestion. "Thanks a ton Applejack, but I gotta get going. I need to check on Pinkie's well being at the precinct tomorrow. I just came to have a quick word with Twilight and I'll leave you to it."

Applejack gave him for an answer a suggestive wink before returning to her beverage. Blushing slightly at the gesture, Twilight got up and went to see her brother.

"Hey," she said peacefully. Shining Armor felt warm inside; it was good to see his sister smiling again.

"Shining, I... thanks again. Thank you so much for your help," she continued.

Shining Armor brushed the air with his hoof. "Uh unh," he said, indicating he disagreed. "You did a pro's work tonight Twilight. And you owe this victory entirely to yourself. I had nothing to do with this."

"But you did!" Twilight argued. "It was you who came up with the whole No Tape plan! I may have psychological smarts, but without your help in technical matters, I could have never gotten through to a solution like that". Shining Armor was about to protest, when Twilight continued. "And you didn't just save Pinkie tonight. You saved me. If it weren't for you... I probably would have killed myself with sadness and exhaustion. You pulled me through and gave me the courage I needed when all I could see was failure. You... Thank you, Shining. Thank you so much."

She embraced him in a great hug. When they broke it, Shining looked at her with a slightly serious expression.

"I came to tell you something," he said. "What we did today... purposefully not taking any record of the interrogation. We might have saved Pinkie from jail... but we did a pretty sneaky thing. We concealed evidence, in the form of a critical confession. This case is going to be investigated before it gets shut down eventually. And when it is, we're going to have to explain the change of personality in our prime suspect in a way that makes flawless sense. No one can know of this but us. If the truth gets out, we will be in very serious trouble." He lowered is voice as he continued. "I just wanted to make sure you understood we broke the law today, and we can't afford to be careless about it. Do you understand?"

Twilight looked back at her brother with an expression that surprised him. It was that cold, stoic stare. The very same one she used to interrogate Pinkie's alter-ego hours ago. Seeing it for the first time, and not behind a tinted glass pane, was quite unsettling for the stallion.

"What we did today was illegal. We could go to jail for what we did, and I understand that," she said with seriousness. "But we did it for a good cause. We saved a life today. Surely that's gotta count for something. And if this is the reward we obtain, hitting under the belt and bending legal formalities is a risk I will take to do the right thing. I don't fundamentally approve of what what we did, but I don't regret it either."

There was a serious pause between the two of them, before Shining continued, with a smirk.

"Would you like me to take all of that down for the Princess?"

Twilight Sparkle giggled. It was indeed quite the load of lessons she had learned in the last few days. She had learned to appreciate life more than ever before. And to appreciate the value of having friends by your side. It was truly a matter of life or death, she thought, as she looked at them now, feeling a little ashamed at how she had blocked them out in her depressive state...

"Hey," said Shining Armor putting a hoof under her chin. "You okay?"

She gave him a weak but sincere smile. "I'll mend," she said.

And with that she returned to the festive table. Shining Armor watched her, and knew she was right. She would mend what mental wounds she had, because she had her friends, and she had time. And time, like a blissful river, mended all hurts and wounds alike.

THE END

Comments

[jakeedge04]

Take that Diane Twilights counter attack and its SUPER EFFECTIVE!

[Mr. Haze]

Fucking brilliant. This was amazing. A true psychological thriller.

[Wisher]

1097366 Why thank you I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[MLPLover77]

Now that was just freaking awesome!!

[Ben10FanGirl]

Amazing. This was simply amazing. At first I was, like: "No! Twilight CAN'T give up! She just CAN'T!" Then, I was, like: "Huh? Shining armor saved her from herself?" And, finally, I was, like: "YAY! SHE DID IT!!! SHE SAVED PINKIE!!!!"

[Lucky Fire]

I absolutely totally love police themes or whatever they're called! ^^ I loved this story, it was exciting and thrilling. Beautiful work

[Wisher]

Thank you all for your kind comments. Applejack is a mite happy you stopped by

[Snowstreak]

This was like and then like and and and then like and then like

In short:

[CoatedHades436]

Twilight used Operation No Tape! It's SUPER EFFECTIVE!!!!!

[redoran77]

Wow. Gorgeous. This is by far the best chapter.

Grammar and Structure
This chapter had significantly less grammar issues than either of the other two and it's structure was more clear than the other two as well. It combined the realism of the first chapter and the time keeping of the second chapter to have a highly realistic plot that was driven strongly. At first, I couldn't understand why Diane gave herself up like that...then I realized, she was of the personality type that required recognition, without it, she would shutdown. Brilliant. The way that Twilight gave her no recognition was incredible, and also entirely believable. I very very rarely do this but, 10/10 on grammar and structure.

Enjoyability
This chapter really packed a punch. It was fast paced and complex, giving it a very highly sophisticated feel somewhat akin to the popular show "Bones". I found it to be an incredible ending to an incredible story, and it was very well wrapped up. It didn't just set Pinkie free and let them all live happily ever after, it actually took the time to explain exactly how everything went down. Masterful. I seriously never do this for this section but, another 10/10

Overall 10/10

Great Job!

[redoran77]

Here is my overall synopsis of the Story:

Grammar and Structure
There were a few mistakes here and there but nothing that was outlandish or plain. It had good flow and didn't slow the plot at any point. Although it had some timekeeping issues at first, the issue was resolved by the second chapter and remained steady for the rest of the story. The plot was unique, which surprised me for a Pinkamena story. This is really a very well structured piece with exemplary grammar. 9/10

Enjoyability
This was a fast paced piece that really kept the reader on their toes. It was impossible to know what was going to happen next, and it took many twists and turns that were unexpected. Not only was it enjoyable to read, it retained an actual value of reading, allowing it to easily hit my recommendations list. 9/10

Overall 9/10

You should submit this to my Literary Value Group. Although it is a bit of a stretch to get it in (due simply to the lack of a central moral or premise) I think it could fit because of how well written it is.

BTW this is going on my favorites board on my page. Definitely worth a read to anyone here

[Perfectly Insane]

I really wish there was a sequel to this where sombra and pinkamena make a deal and she retakes control that would be pretty cool

[-Pinkamena_Pie-]

Heh. Glad I'm not this twisted bitch.