“And three...two...one. Miss Dash, you can open your eyes now.”
Rainbow Dash once again felt the clingy texture of the soft, leather chaise longe as she opened her eyes. She was expecting to feel groggy and lethargic like she had just woken up, but her head was quite clear and her senses were working at one hundred percent. Rolling onto her belly, she began flapping her wings to hover in the air as per usual, earning a stern look from the griffon sitting to her right.
“A-ahem. Miss Dash, we discussed this before your consultation. Please refrain from flying around in my office.”
“Wuh...!” Rainbow stopped moving her wings and dropped herself back down onto the edge of the chair, looking away sheepishly. “A-ah, sorry doc. Force of habit.”
Her head remained lowered as she glanced at the doctor. The white feathers on his head were neatly and professionally slicked back, probably to cover up a bald spot. The rest of his feathers were lightly oiled and gray, matching the fur of his lower extremities. He was holding a clipboard in his left talons and a pen in another, writing down incoherent psychiatric babble in neat lines.
“Uh...so...what was that all about anyway? Is there really something wrong with me?” A bead of sweat dripped down her brow as she asked.
He took a moment for himself to finish jotting down a few more notes before he set the clipboard down on the armrest of his chair, crossing his talons together in his lap. Taking a slightly deep breath, he responded, “Yes...and no. First of all, can you recall anything we have discussed?”
Rainbow gave him a confused look, raising an eyebrow. “Huh? What are ya talking about, doc? Didn't you just put me to sleep for a little bit? Speaking of which, what was all that counting for, anyway?”
She watched him exhale through his nostrils and clench his talons together, the look he was giving her becoming even more serious. “Miss Dash, I had been conversing with you for the past thirty minutes. What I performed on you was a small, hypnotic suggestion, one designed to delve into your subconscious psyche. Unfortunately, I was unaware of how...unique your particular case was.”
Rainbow let his words sink in, recoiling back in horror and pulling her legs inward. “Oh jeez, I had another one of those blackouts again, didn't I?!” Her wings sprang out again as she started flailing her forelegs around. “Whu-what's wrong with me?! Am I going crazy?! Is there something wrong with my head?! C'mon doc, you gotta tell me!”
“Please, calm down Miss Dash. I'm here to help,” He replied in a gentle voice. “But, in order for me to properly diagnose and treat your problem, I'd like you start from the beginning. Can you recount when you first started having these lapses in your memory? Did any particular event in your life happen that was outside of the norm?”
“I...uh...” She forced herself to stop flailing around for his sake, but couldn't stop from at least squirming in place.
“It's alright,” He reassured. “As your therapist, I'm required to keep any and all of our sessions confidential. I promise you that nopony else will know of what happens behind these doors.”
“Oh...okay...that's cool, I guess...” She took a deep breath and laid back down, crossing her forelegs over her chest. “I think...it was around half a year ago...”
He picked up his clipboard and pen, preparing to write once again. “Yes, go on.”
She glanced at him, idly wondering what he was writing. “Well...I just got finished setting up the sky for an afternoon downpour. I was pretty tired after work, so I decided to turn in early and head home. That's when I saw it...” She gulped, her throat suddenly becoming dry. “I've known AJ ever since I moved to Ponyville, so I never thought that she'd...well...she was wearin' this super-frilly dress! And she looked happy in it too! I mean, what's up with that?!”
“Miss Dash, could you please elaborate? I'm not sure I follow,” He said while focusing on his clipboard.
“Oh, oh yeah. Applejack's this farm pony that's all about labor and apples and whatever. She's a bonafide country gal, and I've never seen her wear a dress like that and like it! Well, at least when anypony else's around...that might explain it. A-anyway, I couldn't stop thinking about it. I couldn't believe that her of all ponies would do something so...I dunno...out of character? And...I guess...that's when I started thinking about how I might look in that dress.”
Rainbow looked away, nearly pressing her face into the back of the chaise longe, as the scribbling behind the doctor's clipboard intensified. “Interesting. Please, continue.”
“Alright...uh...oh man, this is really embarrassing...” Her expression became scrunched and nervous, her cheeks turning a shade of red.
“Take as much time as you need. I'm here to help, so you can trust me not to judge you.”
“Yeah, sure...” It came out like she was just trying to humor him. “Well...I couldn't stop thinking about it all week. Every time I passed by Carousal Boutique, I ended up looking inside the window just to see what kinds of dresses Rarity was working on. I even started making up excuses just to pass by the place. It got so bad, one night I ended up wrapping a blanket around me and pretending it was this silk party dress, with me walking down a runway and being photographed by an entire audience...and that's when I punched myself in the face just to knock some sense into me. That wasn't me, and I knew it. I think I flew like five hundred laps around town just to get myself to cool off.”
“And that's when the blackouts started happening, correct?”
Rainbow looked away like she was about to cry. “Yeah...doc, I don't know what I'm supposed to do. Is this happening because of some repressed feelings or whatever? I didn't really think that whole thing with dresses and being photographed was really important.”
“You might not have, but it seems as though your subconscious says otherwise,” he replied, setting down his clipboard again. “Miss Dash, what you seem to be suffering from is a very severe case of disassociated personality disorder. I'd need more time to study just how much it has affected you, but if were to hazard a guess, your two personalities are so incredibly different, neither one is aware of what the other knows or what they may be doing. This is all conjecture, however...”
Rainbow's pupils contracted, the reality of her situation hitting her like a ton of bricks. She could feel her heart beating wildly and breathing going out of control. “Whu...whaaaat?! I've got a split personality?! What am I gonna do, what am I gonna do?! I'm gonna lose my job as weather manager, I'll be run out of town, my friends are gonna abandon me! Nopony's gonna wanna be caught dead with a crazy freak like me!”
“Now Miss Dash, please try and calm down. Remember, helping you work through your problem is what I'm here for.”
Rainbow took the doctor by the shoulders and starting shaking him, screaming, “Can't you just hypno-zap that other personality away?! Or...or maybe you've got like a pill or some medicine I can take?! C'mon, you've gotta help me out here!”
Taking one her hooves in his talons to get her to stop, he calmly replied, “Miss Dash, please. Try to restrain yourself.”
She clenched her teeth and backed off, suddenly feeling sorry for acting so violent. She sat herself back down on the edge of the chair, pressing her legs together as he continued, “You'll have to understand, I only used hypnosis to try and delve into the root of your problem. Medication and hypnosis are no excuses for actual therapy. I can help you sort things out, but it's going to take some time.”
“Oh...okay.” Her voice was small and defeated, like she had resigned herself to being hung from the gallows. The doctor merely smiled in kind.
“Excellent. Well, for starters, can you tell me how your day went?”
“Huh?” She raised her eyebrow again, not quite understanding what this was supposed to accomplish. “Uh, sure...I guess.”
Rainbow let her front door slam behind her as she glared at the floor of her home, her wings pulled in and her mouth scrunched shut. The last half hour of her session amounted to nothing but her talking about what was going on in her life and how she was currently feeling. In her blind rage, she nearly tripped over a pile of unopened mail near her doorstep, resulting in her kicking it around in frustration.
“That stupid doctor didn't help me at all! This was all just a waste of time, I flew all the way out to Baltimare for nothing!”
Steam blew from her nostrils as she noticed one of the letters in the pile stood out from the rest. Stepping over and taking it in her wing, she leafed over it with her glare still in her eyes. Sighing, she threw it aside and said to herself, “Who the heck is Pretty Vision?! And why do I keep getting letters like this?!”
She fumed in place while continuing to glare at the letter, not really thinking about anything other than how angry everything was making her. The silvery glint it was giving off was somewhat calming, though she wasn't sure why. After around five minutes of staring at it, her eyes became half-lidded and her muscles relaxed.
“Hmnn...”
Rainbow began trotting towards her room, stepping into the side bathroom with a glazed look over her eyes. Opening the medicine cabinet, she spotted what she was looking for buried on the left side – a special can of hairspray from an undisclosed manufacturer. Placing it on the sink, she lowered her head and pressed the nozzle with her hoof, spraying the contents all over her mane until it was bleached a monochrome shade of pale white, repeating the process with her tail. Hiding the can back in it's spot, she trotted over to her dresser and picked up the comb lying there with her wing, pulling at her unruly hair with it over and over again. Fifteen minutes passed until she was finished, her mane neatly combed into a pageboy style as she began fussing with her tail in the same manner, not stopping until it was properly straightened. Finally satisfied with her hair, she trotted over to her empty closet with a skip in her step, her mouth hanging slightly open in anticipation. She stepped inside and pressed a hoof against the back, opening a secret door leading to a much larger walk in closet, lined with the most extravagant and expensive clothing and garments Equestria had to offer. For a fleeting moment, she considered changing her image for just today, but decided that nopony would recognize her without her usual flair, pulling a black and white striped top with mid-length sleeves off it's hanger and over her head. Next came the black ankle length skirt, embroidered with pink rubies and magenta trim. A silk, magenta sash was tied around her neck to accentuate her ensemble, making her feel the comfort and magnificence of coordination and style. Pulling a massive set of magenta colored sunglasses over her eyes, Photo Finish curled a hoof in front of herself and announced, “Das magiks! Time to do the thing at the place!”
Author's Note
4/10/14 - ...and that's what the AU tag is for. Just a fun idea I thought up for this entry, seeing as how it's partially my prompt. Inspired by one part Paranoia Agent and one part this comic ~