I looked around my room, which was now decorated and ready for the party. Satisfied with my efforts, I let out an exaggerated sigh of relief.
I hadn’t used my cannon to prepare for the party. Seeing as this particular night was of utmost importance, I decided to put extra care into setting up.
"It looks nice," said Pinkie, surveying the work through my eyes.
“Good,” I responded, “because everything needs to be perfect.”
“Why do you have to be so sneaky?” she asked. "I don't think our friends will like it very much if they find out you're just making up an excuse to throw a party."
"They should have thought of that before they decided to go behind our back," I rebutted. "Besides, it's not like you haven't thrown a party for no reason, before."
"But... this is different."
Nothing else was said on the matter, but I could feel Pinkie's disapproval nonetheless.
An abrupt knock on my balcony door diverted my attention. I turned my glance to the heart-shaped window, and just as I expected, Rainbow Dash stood there, patiently waiting for me to answer the door. I promptly made my way over.
Time to find out what they’re hiding, once and for all.
----------
A successful party depends primarily on the overall atmosphere, with music being a key element. I made sure the music was loud enough to dance to, but it wasn’t so loud that carrying a conversation was impossible. I considered this the ideal volume for party music, especially because it’s meant to be a social event in the first place.
For the better part of a half hour, I had been trying to find a good opportunity to speak with one of them individually. That may have been too much to expect, but as luck would have it, the perfect chance presented itself.
By now, everyone had grown tired of dancing except for Twilight. I’ll admit, I was becoming somewhat bored of it, as well. Even so, I had every intention of going through with my plan, so I remained on the dance floor with Twilight while everypony else made their way over to the punch bowl.
I glanced towards Twilight, who had become quite engaged to the point that it resembled more of a seizure than a deliberate attempt at dancing. She either had no shame, or she merely felt comfortable enough around us to act in such a way. I assumed it was the latter.
I didn’t want Twilight to think I was interrogating her, so I started with a basic question.
“Are you having a good time?” I asked her.
“Totally!” she responded, continuing her strange gestures.
“Does it remind you at all of the parties I used to throw?” I asked. “You know, before the whole amnesia thing?”
“Completely! I think you’ve gotten the hang of this!” she answered.
I smiled. The compliment felt good, but I couldn’t let it distract me.
“Speaking of amnesia,” I began, “how is the research coming along?”
Twilight slowed her dancing down a bit so she could converse more easily. “It’s coming along nicely,” she said. “I think I almost have it figured out, but there’s still a bit more to be done.”
“Any word from the princess?”
Twilight stopped. The moment’s hesitation that followed was a sure indicator that she was about to lie to me, due to the simplicity of the question. “Um, n-no. Nothing in particular.”
“I see.” I put my hoof up to my chin and looked down . Realizing something, I quickly glanced back up. "Wait, what about yesterday?"
"Huh?"
"When I was at the library yesterday, Spike said you received a letter from Princess Celestia. What was that about?"
Twilight fumbled for the right words. "Oh! I almost completely forgot about that!" she claimed. "That was no big deal. She was just answering a small question I had."
I stood there, awaiting further elaboration from Twilight, but it soon became clear that she had no intention of telling me the details.
Twilight looked at me nervously. “Pinkie? Are you alright? You seem... different, somehow.”
"How so?” I quickly responded.
“Well, um... never mind. It’s probably just my imagination.”
“Alright then,” I responded, starting to walk away, “I’m gonna go mingle with the others. Have fun!”
----------
It didn’t appear that anyone else was by themselves, which was what I had been hoping for.
Suddenly, I heard a yelp from across the room. I rushed over to see what was wrong, and came across Applejack and Rainbow Dash. Applejack was wearing a blindfold, and Rainbow was rubbing her own flank, which now had a red mark on it.
“Jeez, AJ. Watch where you’re poking that thing,” said Rainbow.
“Did Ah win?” asked Applejack in an oblivious manner.
“I don’t think so,” I chimed in, catching on rather quickly, “though you did manage to pin the tail on a pony.”
Applejack removed her blindfold, and looked around. Upon seeing the absurd sight of Rainbow Dash as she nursed the red spot on her flank, Applejack snickered.
Annoyed, Dash retreated to the refreshment table to avoid further injury. I saw this as the perfect opportunity to speak with Applejack alone.
"So, are you having a good time?" I asked, making my way towards her.
"Am Ah?" exclaimed Applejack with enthusiasm. "Ah gotta say, your parties are gettin' better and better, Pinkie!"
"Glad to hear it!" I responded.
The Element of Honesty is, by nature, a terrible liar. I decided to start with a more direct question in the hopes that she would let something slip. "How has Twilight's research been going? Any interesting developments?"
Applejack seemed taken aback by this. "Ah, uh..."
Her hesitance was obvious.
"Oh!" I added. "Wouldn't it be interesting if the old Pinkie and I turned out to be separate from each other? Like, what if we're just sharing a body right now?"
"Uh, yeah," she answered, smiling nervously.
"I tell ya, that sure would be crazy!" I exclaimed, finalizing my point.
At this point, Applejack was sweating profusely. Her nervous smile, which continued to grow in size, had guilt written all over it. It looked like she was about to confess, and I stared in anticipation.
"Um, I gotta go!" she blurted suddenly.
"What? How come?" I asked, disappointed beyond words.
"I wanna, um, see what's goin' on over there!" she said, pointing at a door at the far side of the room.
"But... that’s the closet," I said.
“Oh, is it? Well, then, Ah guess there’s somethin’ important happenin’ there. Bye!” Applejack bolted for the closet, leaving me to stand there with a look of utter exasperation.
I sighed deeply. What a terrible liar.
----------
At this point, it had become clear that I was being deceived, and the knowledge of it was starting to seriously bother me. I couldn't concentrate, and I felt like I was about to have an anxiety attack. More than likely, I assumed, it was becoming evident in my behavior.
"Pinkie, dear, are you alright?"
"Huh?" I asked, caught off-guard. Looking up, I saw Rarity standing there with a concerned look on her face.
"I asked if you were—"
"Oh, right!" I interrupted. "Yeah, I'm fine! Never been better! Why do you ask?"
"Well, I couldn't help but notice that you're helping yourself to a rather... generous glass of punch."
I looked down, and realized that I was involuntarily ladling punch into a cup, and it was well beyond its liquid capacity. Needless to say, there was punch all over the table and floor around me.
"Oh, shoot!" I cursed, putting back the ladle and rushing for some nearby napkins to sop up the wet, sticky mess.
"Are you sure you're alright?" repeated Rarity.
"Positive," I assured. "I just lapsed for a second."
"Very well. If you say so." She promptly wandered off.
"Wait, Rarity!" I called out, but she was already helping herself to some food at the snack table, and my voice didn’t carry enough to get her attention.
I knocked on my head with a hoof in frustration. I was beginning to stray from my original task.
I shouldn't have missed that opportunity, I thought to myself. It was right in front of me!
----------
All these failed attempts to uncover the truth were beginning to wear thin on my patience. Two hours into the party, the only thing I could say with absolute certainty was that I was being deceived.
I was beginning to feel increasingly agitated. I felt it was necessary to temporarily withdraw from some of the activities at the party, and so I decided to sequester myself at the punch bowl. After a matter of time, I had emptied and dutifully refilled it more times than I could recall.
The liquid had eventually begun to take its toll, and I was beginning to feel antsy. I made my way towards the filly's room, but along the way I ran into Fluttershy, who had decided to take a break from the dancing.
I saw this as another chance to discover the truth, and I had no intention of letting it slip away.
"Hey there, Fluttershy!" I blurted, not considering my tone of voice, nor the timid pegasus' tendency to be startled.
Fluttershy visibly flinched at my exuberant greeting, but recovered quickly. "Hi, Pinkie Pie. I really like the party."
"Really? That's so good to hear," I answered.
A moment of silence followed, but I jumped right back in. "Everypony has been acting strange lately, don't you think?" I asked, advancing towards Fluttershy.
"Um, no... n-not really."
I wrapped a foreleg around her and squeezed tightly. "Really? I've noticed that everyone seems like they're hiding something. It's so strange!"
"Oh... well, I don't know anything about that," she answered, trying to wriggle out of my grasp.
"You sure about that?" I asked, my smile growing.
Fluttershy finally managed to free herself from my grip, and slowly started backing away. "E-everypony seems normal. To me, that is.”
I took a couple steps towards the retreating pegasus. "Well, something definitely seems strange to me. You know what I think? I think there's something they don't want me to know about."
Fluttershy gulped.
"But not you, Fluttershy. No, you're way too nice to hide something from me."
"Heh, of course," Fluttershy agreed, giggling half-heartedly. Her unease at that statement was as clear as day.
Fluttershy let out a feigned cough. "You know, all that dancing made me thirsty! Are you thirsty? I know I'm thirsty. I'm gonna get some punch."
Before I had time to process her words, Fluttershy flew off to the punch bowl.
I started towards her, wanting to finish what I began, but stopped in my tracks when I remembered why I had left the punch bowl in the first place.
Yeah, this can't wait any longer.
I turned around and bee-lined for the hall door, reluctantly abandoning what was possibly my last chance to find out what everyone was hiding from me.
----------
Disgruntled and discouraged, I stood silently by the dessert table. In my hoof was a cupcake, which I nibbled in complete boredom.
Despite the fact that they had unintentionally given me plenty of hints, which certainly justified my suspicion, I was no closer to understanding the truth of the matter than I was yesterday. It was, to say the least, disheartening.
Even so, I had allowed my emotions to get the better of me. My erratic behavior had only served to confuse or repel my friends, which didn’t really help me at all.
Maybe tonight just wasn’t the right night. This plan was nothing but a last minute, impulsive decision that I hadn’t thought through very well at all.
As various possibilities for an improved plan entered my mind, Spike wandered my way. At first, it seemed like he was going to talk to me, but I quickly realized that he only wanted something sweet from the dessert table.
He eyed the choices before him, and grumbled in disappointment. “Man, all the good stuff is already gone,” he complained, settling for a very plain cupcake.
I allowed myself a chuckle. “I could always go make some more, if you’d like.”
“Nah, that’s okay. It’s not a big—”
Suddenly, Spike was interrupted by a belt of green fire erupting from within him. Devoid of forethought, I extended my free hoof to grab the incoming scroll before it had the chance to hit the floor.
"Woops. Thanks, Pinkie," Spike said, reaching out a claw to take the letter from me.
I stared at the parchment in my hoof, which I realized could possibly hold the answers I was looking for. I ignored Spike and quickly unrolled the letter.
"Hey! What're you doing?" He tried more aggressively to take the letter away from me. I held up the parchment higher than he could reach, and he resorted to hopping up and down to try and swipe the letter from my grasp.
"It’s not right to look through other ponies' mail," warned Pinkie.
"Be quiet," I responded sternly, silencing her.
Using one hoof to keep Spike away, and the other to hold up the letter, I was finally in a position to read it.
My dear Twilight,
I can tell that you have been diligent in your research of Pinkie Pie's condition. Your proposed "Split Entity Theory" is surprisingly simple, considering the supposed complexity of the situation. Despite this, I believe your theory to be correct, and if that is the case, you will, indeed, need to get permission from the consciousness currently in control of her body. It is quite unfortunate that this new Pinkie must willingly give up her existence, but I understand that such a sacrifice is necessary. Perhaps the fact that you have all formed friendships with her will prove to be advantageous in her decision. I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors.
Sincerely,
Princess Celestia
I stared at the letter in disbelief. Nothing could have prepared me for this kind of truth. The mere thought of this seemed implausible. No, impossible. I read over the letter once more, desperately hoping I had made some sort of mistake. When I reached the end for the second time, I painfully accepted it as reality. The self-assurance that all of them had my best interests at heart began to weaken.
They betrayed me.
----------
I approached the record player, which continued to emit casual party tunes. I placed a hoof on the tone-arm and dragged it off, scratching the record and catching the attention of everypony in the room. They all stared at me, confused.
I held up the scroll and addressed Twilight. “I think this belongs to you.”
The unicorn gulped loudly, and used her magic to levitate the letter over to her. Her eyes scanned it with intent.
“Read it out loud,” I hissed, a touch of venom in my voice.
Twilight glanced around the room at her friends, hoping one of them would intervene or at least offer some kind of support.
“Read it!” I repeated with a harsher tone, startling her.
She read the letter in its entirety, stuttering at the part where Celestia noted our friendship as “advantageous” for their goal.
Twilight looked at me with pleading eyes. “It’s not what you think, Pinkie.”
“‘Perhaps the fact that you have all formed friendships with her will prove to be advantageous.’ If I’m not mistaken, I’m the consciousness currently in control of this body. Now, what about this isn't what I think it is?”
Silence followed, just as I had expected.
“Is this what friendship is to you?” I began. “Is it just a tool used to gain leverage on one’s sentimental side in order to bend them to your will?”
“Of course not!” exclaimed Twilight.
“Then why?” I shouted. “Why have all of you been lying to me this entire time? Why couldn't you just tell me the truth?”
“It ain't that simple!” Applejack chimed in. “What did ya expect us ta do?”
“Anything but this!” I cried.
"Pinkie’s life is on the line!”
I shrunk back as the implications of her words hit me, and hung my head in dejection. “So is mine,” I managed, tears beginning to stream down my face.
By now, I was well aware of the fact that I was not the real Pinkie Pie. However, until this very moment, I had accepted the situation for what it was, and made the most of it.
When Applejack spoke those words, I was struck by the cold realization that they had never truly accepted me as “Pinkie Pie”. I was merely a shadow of the friend they knew before. All color seemed to drain from the world.
I turned around and made my way towards the door. My hoof hesitated on the knob, and I felt the need to say one last thing.
I turned my head. "Of every single pony here, I would have never expected something like this from you, Rainbow Dash.”
Rainbow looked guilty. She turned her head and forced her eyes shut, unable to face me.
I opened the door and left without another word, not realizing at the time that my mane had fallen straight, and flowed lifelessly down my neck.
Damn, it looks like it's all going to end in tears...
If your feels are particularly sensitive, it might be a good idea to stop reading this story. Just saying.
Wow way to go girls. You couldn't just simply leave well enough alone. Yeah it sucks that the new Pinkie isn't going to give up her existence but she seems to be doing such a good job that it seems like she's just like the old Pinkie. Now thanks to you you just lost any chance of seeing your friend again.
That is unless something happens that prompts the new Pinkie Pie to give up her existence and bring back the old Pinkie.
yay update (reads)
This buckin' rocks. But I say that we're at a perilous moment; there are things that can be done that will make the story increasinglty awesome until it hits a peak and drifts lazily down to a satisfying conclusion, and things that will make it nosedive off a sheer cliff into rocks. I'm crossing my fingers and hugging my horseshoe, four-leaf clover, and chimney sweep close and hoping for the former rather than the latter. We love you, don't let us down now!
Very good chapter. Can't wait to see how they handle this in the end.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! and MOAR!
Poor Pinkie.
Next chapter, please?
I'm going to read this until the end , even if it mean being depressed.
Poor Pinkamena...
Alright, now as long as the author doesn't cop out and make a second body for them then this will be one of the best stories ever. I mean, some of the best stories have bittersweet endings. Or I could just be me wanting to see a legitimate moral struggle: Do they choose the old and kill this new pinkie, or do they let the new one live while the old one fades away. Would the old even want to kill this new Pinkie?
2624099 That reminds me of the one seapony Lyra one
This here is what I like to call a no win situation. No matter what happens someone's gonna be hurt. Poor Pinkie, both of them.
I know you need Celestia's response to seem-- enigmatic, to feed Pinkie2's fears.... but how could Celestia contemplate destroying an innocent pony?
I think the ethical issue only is there because Twilight and the others are unaware that Pinkie1 is alive and conscious inside their shared noggin. They think that Pinkie1 can't exist if Pinkie2 lives.
And EndGamer, A happy ending is not a "cop out." Angst is easy. That's why teenagers wallow in it. Hope takes EFFORT.
You forgot the "-ness"
it would seem they require a non-sentient clone body that pinkie 2 could inhabit so pinkie 1 could go free, too bad there wasn't some sort of mystical pool of water that created non-sentient clones or anything.
2624039 Or they could Take a Third Option and create a new body for the new Pinkie.
2624099 Do you hate happy endings for some reason? Because that's the impression your comment seems to give.
2624214
Whoa. That's really strange, I could've sworn I fixed that.
This... is exactly my kind of story. Sad, lose-lose situation, featuring my favorite character? I can't wait for the next chapter, good sir.
2624289
You mean by using the Mirror Pool? That could work.
2624486 Yeah.
After all, Zecora said the new Pinkie had to leave the old Pinkie's body, but she never said anything about whether or not the new Pinkie had to actually die!
2624039 So wait. New Pinkie Pie is the one with Pinkie's old memories, and the old Pinkie Pie is the one that resulted from the sonic rainboom. But that would mean the older Pinkie Pie was the one that worked the rock farm, and your "old" Pinkie Pie was what old Pinkie became after seeing the sonic rainboom, making her "new", and...
Too many Pinkie's too keep track of! Make it sto-o-o-o-p!
2624514 Pinkieception.
She was pretty flighty during her 'interrogation" sequence, if not exuberant. Looks to me like she's starting to pattern some of her behavior from the Pinkie Pie in her head. If one of them actually has to be erased, this could result in a) the familiar Pinkie leaves some traces of herself in the remaining Pinkie, or b) the new Pinkie fades away with some traces of happiness lent to her by the familiar Pinkie. Either way, I'm beginning to fear the Sad tag.
...Well, the girls just gone and done screw things up...! This was a very important discussion, but instead of being honest and talk about it with Pinkamena, they hid it behind her back. Oh boy, things are not looking good. And, even if their little plan did work, I doubt they won't get their 'Pinkie' anyway...they will just get an upset and depressed 'Pinkie', who is probably going to cut all ties with them.
C&C:
“Any word from the princess?”
> Capitalize ‘princess’.
2624485 Would it still be your kind of story if they did something like use the Mirror Pool to give the new Pinkie her own body?
2624664
Actually, when used in that context, "princess" is not capitalized. If it were something such as "Hello, Princess," or using her full title, "Princess Celestia", then you would capitalize it.
2624099
Regardless of the ending, just the experience of having to define the value of one life vs another and hold that life's fate in your hooves will change the girls.
2624166
Because she's being viewed the same as a human with MPD would be. The original personality is all that has any consideration. The others are symptoms of an illness.
2624388
So did I. It was definitely fixed I guess it's another glitch of the GDocs transfer function.
Why can't they just accept that she's a being just as them and not a disease?
I am disappointed in you six.
...hopefully, this will not mean the literal end of the world.
Awaiting further releases.
OUCH. Just...OUCH at this whole chapter. I mean, it was expected to happen...But it doesn't stop it from hurting any worse. Poor Pinkie.
please let this have a happy ending, not just for the mane6 but for both the new and old Pinkie.
2624769 Written by Aegis Shield, rather good series.
2624295 I hate purely happy endings, you know where everyone lives and there were no negative side effects from this seemingly no-win scenario. A story is much more memorable if it gives you a choice between your friend or an innocent life, that IS your friend.
And for the mirror pool suggestion. If they go that route and give one of the Pinkie's a body from the pool. That is basically saying that anything from the Mirror pool is a living being. So they will still have to kill a pinkie. And remember Too Many Pinkie Pies? If the author uses it it will turn Twilight into a mass murderer.
2624919 Sorry, but there is one fatal flaw in that argument.
Those clones were all imperfect copies of the original, and had imperfect copies of her own mind. But if they could create a copy and transfer the new Pinkie into it, that's a completely different story, since she would have her own mind and soul instead of just being a copy of the original.
Loophole Abuse FTW!
2624934 So because someone has a fractured mind they are not a living being? If they used a body from the pool and transferred a whole Pinkie into it, that would make the body more real? It seems to me you're saying that if something is not mentally perfect or healthy, then it cant be considered living.
Dude... it's sad
Whenever I think of this story out of nowhere a long time after the next chapter, the next chapter shows up one or two days later. And poor Pinkamena... I might have shed a tear or two if I wasn't at a funeral earlier today
2624956 You seem to be pretty cynical.
What exactly makes you positive we can't get a happy ending from this? After all, I've read stories where things were even worse, but they still managed to get a happy ending!
And you know how that happened? They earned it!
Drama Bomb!
2624956 Naturally! And Peter Singer and the rest of the modern eugenics crowd agree!
The imperfect must be... 'processed'.... for the greater good.
2624709 in MPD I thought the standard procedure was to attempt to reconcile the two personalities back into one. And then treat the new personality for the trauma that caused the split or any issues the split caused.
Honestly, any story with a chapter called
"A Party of Brazen Deceit"
is going to be at least a little intriguing.
2625200 I'm not saying a completely happy ending can't happen, but in this situation a bittersweet ending is much more likely, and in my opinion preferred. And when presented with a way a completely happy ending could happen, I simply showed the problems with it.
Also, they really haven't had to work for their happy ending. So far they have simply helped this Pinkie act more like her past self and schemed behind her back. Not very difficult work.
Also, tvtropes don't really improve arguments. They are, however, amusing.
2625295 How do you know all this isn't just the beginning?
You know, like how The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess had that long sequence in Ordon Village before the actual game started?
Just saying, we don't know how long Key Tapper intends to make this. Therefore, your argument could very well be invalid.
2624709 That's true. They will never be the same once they choose, and that's what I mainly want to see. A character facing a choice that will change their outlook.
But we have to ask. Which is the real Pinkie? The one who lived on the rock farm, or the one who was changed by the blast?
2625328 All indications lead to this scenario coming to an end. The fading Pinkie taking away the choice, the letter saying that Celestia all but approves of her student killing one to bring back another, Twilight for coming up with it, Pinkie finding out and the distrust between her and her friends. The only way for the author to extend this is in some contrived fashion probably involving discord or some other dues ex.
I don't think he is the kind of writer to milk something for all it's worth. I'd like to think Key Tapper would want to write something that is well written and interesting, but not drawn out.
So, therefore, my argument has merit.
Wow, I'm getting feels, man. MLD's got nothing on this.
2625281
The point I was making is that an alternate personality is not viewed as a separate person. The treatment focusses on the betterment of the whole person rather than validation of each separate split.
2624226 It is too bad. All they have is a pond that makes copies who have the mind of who was copied, really a pity.
2625402 so not a single pony thought to consult a psychologist!? I vote for that sort of ending.
2625448 That actually would be interesting. It all depends on how the author wants to approach this. If the two Pinkies are separate entities, then they will have to choose. If they are considered the same person, then extensive therapy is in order.
Edit: Same person as in how human MPD works.