Chapter: 1 - Same, yet different

Without the Impossible

By: Michael A.

“No, no, no!” Twilight screamed in frustration, throwing yet another book onto the growing pile behind her. She levitated another in front of her and began skimming its contents. This cycle had continued ever since Twilight had put Pinkie to bed. For the past few hours, Twilight had been searching through her library’s many books, trying to find something that would give her answers to her friend's dilemma. In truth, the purple unicorn didn’t know what she was looking for. She had so many questions she needed answers too, and the only mare who could answer them was sound asleep in Twilight’s bedroom.

After several more minutes of trying to find answers in her books, Twilight let out an exasperated groan, falling back into the mountain of books she had created. The purple mare brought her hooves and gently massaged her temples. What am I doing? she thought, I don’t even know what’s going on, let alone what I’m even searching for! It was true, there were too many blanks that she needed to be filled before she could even remotely help her pink friend. The only reason she had spent the last few hours looking was because she needed answers, and doing nothing would've driven her mad.

Twilight was brought out of her thoughts when she heard the soft creak of her bedroom door. Turning her gaze, the purple mare saw Pinkie slowly emerge from her bedroom. From a glance, Pinkie did look better than she had last night, but she could still see that there was something different about her friend.

Pinkie slowly shuffled down the library’s stairs, her usual bounce in her step no longer showing. “Hey, Twilight,” Pinkie began, trotting closer her friend who was still laying in the mountain of books. “Thanks for being there for me last night…”

Twilight smiled, getting up onto her hooves and trotting over to her friend. “No problem, Pinkie, I would be the worst friend in history if I would’ve left you alone.”

“Yeah…” the pink pony responded, practically sighing out the words.

Twilight bit her lower lip, mentally pondering if she should wait before trying to get more information about her friend's problem. Deciding that waiting would only make it worse, Twilight spoke, “Pinkie… I know it may be hard, but we need to talk about last night. I’m still confused about what’s going on, and I need more information before I can even begin to try and help you.”

Pinkie nodded before sitting on her haunches. Twilight did the same, sitting mere feet away from her friend. Pinkie looked like she was about to speak a few times, stopping before any words came out of her muzzle. Twilight waited patiently, not wanting to push her friend to respond. After a few minutes of silence, Pinkie finally spoke.

“When I got my cutie-mark… everything change. Before everything was bleak, boring, and dull. The world around me worked through a routine, never varying or changing. But what I got my cutie-mark… everything seemed to speed up. I began to notice things that I never did before. Before, I would look at my sisters and could barely see what they were feeling. After… after I could tell from a glance what they were thinking, how they were feeling, and what was going on. I could tell what needed to happen in order to make them happy; what they needed to be cheered up when they were upset. I thought it was just my special talent telling me who needed to smile, and how to get them to smile…

“But… but then I started noticing other things. It’s… It’s hard to explain, but it felt like I could see everything! I could see patterns all around me; I could see how everything connected! It was like… like I wasn’t seeing what was going on, but rather what was going to happen. I didn’t see a rock simply rolling down a hill—I saw how that rock would hit another, and another, and I could see the landslide before it happened! When I moved to ponyville, it never stopped. I could see how ponies were feeling, and I could see how events were going to happen before they happened!” Pinkie smiled, seeming to be lost in memory. Her smile soon faltered, however. “Then… then the other day I couldn’t see it anymore. All of the patterns, all of the signs—they were just… just gone! I… Everything seemed to go back to how it was before I got my cutie-mark… I felt like I lost something… I stayed in my room all day, hoping that it would return, but it didn’t. I got scared, and when I couldn’t take it anymore I came to you,” Pinkie looked up and into Twilight’s eyes. “Because I thought that if anypony could help me, it would be you…” The pink mare’s gaze shifted from her friend and to the floor, her posture visually deflating.

Twilight had listened intently to her friend, trying to make sure that she took in every detail. When Pinkie had finished, she places a comforting hoof onto her shoulder. Pinkie looked up from the floor, giving her friend a soft smile. The purple mare smiled back. “Don’t worry, Pinkie, we’ll figure out what happened,” Twilight began. “So, this all started yesterday?”

Okay, so at least we have a rough idea of when it happened, that’s a start, Twilight thought, before returning her attention to her pink friend. “Was there anything strange that happened that you feel could’ve caused this shift? Like… did you have any strange dreams? Did you do anything differently? Was there anything that stands out to you?” Twilight questioned.

Pinkie paused for a moment, putting a hoof to her chin as she pondered the question. “I don’t think so,” she began, shrugging. “The day before was completely normal… Well, for me, that is,” Pinkie added.

Twilight’s face scrunched up in thought. Okay… so nothing seems to stand out that could’ve triggered the ‘shift’ as I’m gonna call it. It may be some sort of psychological block… Urg! I need more information! Twilight sighed as she emerged from her thoughts. “Pinkie… I hate to say it, but I’m at a complete loss at what’s going on.” Pinkie deflated again, lowing her head to face the ground. Twilight saw this, and immediately added, “But I’m not going to give up! I’m gonna search around to see if there is anypony else who would have a better idea than me, and if that doesn’t work I’ll write a letter to the princess to see if she can help. Don’t worry, Pinkie, I’m not going to give up on you—we will figure this out together,” Twilight finished, wrapping Pinkie into a hug.

Pinkie returned the hug, pulling her friend tighter in the embrace. The two stayed in the embrace for a few minutes, before Pinkie pulled away, a soft smile pressed on her muzzle. "Thanks again, Twilight, this really means a lot to me."

Twilight nodded, giving her pink friend a pat on the back. "It's what friends are for," Twilight paused for a second. "Speaking of friend, I think we should tell the rest of the gang about what's happening as I'm sure they'd want to know."

The pink earth-pony nodded. "Yeah, I bet they would... Actually, where is Spike? I haven't seen him around at all today or last night?"

"Oh, yeah, he's over at Rarities helping her with... Something. I don't know what, nor do I think he even cared what it was—he just like being with her." Twilight chuckled, thinking about Spike and his obvious crush on her fashionista friend.

Pinkie giggled as well. "Yeah, he's always trying to get her attention."

Twilight nodded. "Yeah, he is. Anyways, I figure that you could go and see how they're doing while I go and search around for anypony who could be able to help you," the purple mare said, smiling to her friend. In truth, Twilight wanted to send Pinkie to Rarity so the pink mare wouldn't be left alone...

Twilight and Pinkie had split ways not long ago, Pinkie heading towards her fashionista friend, and Twilight heading to find someone who could be able to assist her with her pink friend's predicament.

Pinkie Pie trotted towards the Carousel Boutique—Rarity's place of business and residence.

As Pinkie trotted down Ponyville's mane (Yes, that pun is intentional) street, everything seemed different. She didn't bounce while she walked, nor did she stop every second to greet or talk to a random pony. Every once in a while, ponies would glance at the pink mare, confused to see the party pony actually trotting normally. Pinkie never noticed the ponies stares, for once, and was actually oblivious to most of the world.

"Pinkie, wait!!"

The pink mare stopped, turning towards the source of the outburst. A brown unicorn stallion with a black mane ran towards Pinkie, eventually catching up to the mare, practically out of breath. "Pinkie," the stallion began, before having to take a minute to catch his breath. "Excuse me. Pinkie, is something wrong?"

Pinkie tilted the head. "No," she lied, not wanting to bother the stallion with her troubles. "Why do you ask?"

The stallion looked at Pinkie curiously. "Because you missed my party," he began, "and you never miss a party."

Pinkie's eyes went wide. "Oh! I'm so sorry, I completely forgot. I was rather... busy, this morning..." Pinkie said, trailing off before shaking her head. "Anyways, I'll have to reschedule it too... too..."

"Pinkie, is something wrong?" the stallion asked, looking concerned at the pink mare.

Pinkie remained silent, her eyes lost as she mumbled to herself. Suddenly, Pinkie tilted her head, looking up to the stallion. "I... I can't seem to remember the next time I'll be free to schedule a party... Umm," she paused, seeming to try and remember something else. "What is your name, again?"

The stallion was taken back. Not only had Pinkie forgotten his party, which she had planned for him weeks ago, but she also had forgotten his name. "It's Paper Weight, remember? And you schedule a 'Congratulations-for-getting-a-promotion' party for me last week," the stallion said, giving Pinkie a good look over. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Pinkie nodded, putting on what seemed to be a genuine smile on her face. "Yepperonies! Don't you worry, I'll make sure to have your party scheduled really soon, and I'll make sure that it's extra special for you!" Pinkie said, jumping up and down.

The stallion smiled as Pinkie seemed to return back to normal. "Okay, then. I guess I'll see you then," he said, turning around and trotting away.

Pinkie continued to bounce until Paper Weight was out of sight before she stopped and began sprinting towards Carousel Boutique. During her run, she had to hold back the tears that threatened to escape her eyes...

Rarity hummed a simple tune as she pressed the fabric through the sewing machine in front of her. "Spike," she began, stopping the machine so she could be heard. "Would you be a dear and get me more pins? I seemed to have misjudged the amount I required."

"I got it, Rarity!" the unseen dragon replied from the other room.

Rarity chuckled to herself. What a darling he his, and quite a gentle drake. Sigh, I hate to possible lead him on, but I could never live with myself if I were to break his heart, Rarity thought, restarting her sewing machine.

The sound of little feet running into the room caught Rarity's attention. "I got them, Rarity!" Spike called, handing some pins to the white unicorn.

"Thank you, Spike," Rarity began, levitating the pins away from the dragon. "You are such a gentle-drake."

Spike blushed. "T-thanks, Rarity."

The white unicorn smiled, patting the dragon on the head. "What could I ever do witho–" The door to the boutique suddenly slammed open. Rarity jumped, surprised by the sudden noise. Spike, though he would never admit it, jumped under a nearby table.

Pinkie Pie burst through the front door, locking it behind her. She then quickly ran to all of the windows, closing the shades. Rarity watched her friend in curiosity.

"Pinkie," she began, recovering from her earlier fright. "Whatever are you doing, darling?"

The pink pony didn't respond to her friend's question, instead continuing to shut the shades. As soon as she was done, Pinkie ran to the corner of the room, curled up into a ball, and began to cry.

Rarity looked in shock, not used to seeing her usually perky friend upset. After getting over the initial shock, Rarity trotted quickly to her crying friend. "There there," she began, running a hoof through the earth-ponies pink mane. "Everything'll be alright."

Pinkie continued to cry, not giving the mare any form of response other than crying harder, shaking slightly. Spike, who had watched the whole display unfold, slowly stepped towards his friends.

"Pinkie, what's wrong?" he asked, concern filling his voice.

Pinkie's sobs slowly died down until only a soft whimper could be heard escaping her lips. Rarity continued to hold the mare, while Spike sat next to Pinkie, gently holding one of Pinkie's hooves with his claw. After a few more moments, Pinkie finally spoke.

"I-I'm s-sorry, guys," she began, wiping away some of the lingering tears. "I just... I just needed a moment."

"Don't you worry yourself, darling, we will always be here for you," Rarity cooed in a comforting tone.

"Yeah," Spike chimed in. "We'll always have your back."

Rarity nodded in agreement with the small dragon, before returning her attention back to the pony in her hooves. "But I must ask, Darling," Rarity began, "What is it that has you all upset?"

Pinkie spent the next few minutes explaining the whole situation to her friend, who remained quiet and listened attentively. She told them about Paper Weight, and about how she had forgotten his name. Rarity let out a few dramatic "gasps", while Spike remained quiet, not wanting to interrupt the mare's story. When Pinkie finished, she stared solemnly at the ground in front of her, both of her friends sitting not far from her.

"Wow," Rarity began, her mouth hung open. "So you mean to tell me that it's all gone, just like that?"

Pinkie nodded. "Ever since yesterday morning..."

Spike patted Pinkie with a claw. "Don't worry, Pinkie, I know that Twilight won't rest until she finds out a way to get you back to normal!"

Pinkie smiled, knowing all too well that she could count on her purple friend...