BEHIND EVERY SMILE

  As flashing lights brightened the front of the Cakes bakery, inside Pinkie Pies screams gave the peaceful place a feel of being something out of a horror movie. It didn't seem to matter what Ms. Cake did or how softly the paramedics talked to her to try to calm her she was inconsolable and simply screamed more with every attempt they made to console her. Finally seeing no other option a paramedic stallion gave her a shot of tranquilizer and Pinkie drifted into a fitful drug induced sleep.

  Now that the house was quiet he began drilling Ms. Cake with all manner of questions to which the plump blue mare gave the best answers she could. But when it came to the questions of why was Pinkie acting this way and did she have any mental problems and was she on drugs Ms. Cake found that she couldn't answer them for certain. She knew Pinkie would never use drugs but then again she did consume a large amount of sweets, especially chocolate, every single day. She knew Pinkie wasn't crazy but she had as of late been having horrible dreams that seemed to have her falling out of bed every night. Then again her falling out of bed wasn't something odd, Pinkie was always falling out of her bed and waking up laughing it off. But lately Ms. Cake noticed that shed be screaming before she woke up and it seemed shed be screaming the same thing every time.

  "Well I don't know for sure, but I think there is something going on inside her head. Lately she's been having very horrible dreams that make her roll and toss and fall from her bed almost every night. And she always screams "No Please No" right before she falls out of bed and wakes up. But tonight....Tonight was very different." The paramedic stallion listened intently before replying.

  "I see and do you have any idea of what could be causing these nightmares?" Ms. Cake shook her head vigorously.

  "No, I don't have the slightest idea. All I do know is that when she came here she had bad dreams for awhile but then they faded away. It's been years sense she's had a bad dream. Most of her dreams involve her and her friends having parties and being happy, well from what she's told me. But she wont tell me anything about her nightmares no matter how many times I ask her." The paramedic stallion nodded and looked at Ms. Cake gravely.

  "Well Ms. Cake from what I can tell given the current information, I think that your apprentice Pinkie Pie is suffering through a mental break down. But don't worry, these things can be fixed quickly if the cause for it is discovered soon enough and consoling is administered. We will be taking her to the hospital but I'm sure that if you try to come and see her you will be turned away. They will probably be putting her into the mental ward and for the first day or so she wont be allowed to have any visitors until they are certain she isn't a threat to herself or any pony else." Ms. Cake nodded only half taking in what the stallion was saying.

  "Oh...Ok...So should I just wait here and call the hospital or do you think maybe they will let me wait there with her. I wanted to ride with her to the hospital." Tears welled up in the plump blue mares eyes. "Its just....That I don't have any fillies or colts of my own and Pinkie came into our lives at a time when I thought I would never be able to have a family. She is, as far as I am concerned, My Daughter. I just want to be there with her while she's going through....Whatever this is. I just want to know she's ok and safe. I just want my happy Pinkie Pie back." Tears ran like rivers from Ms. Cakes eyes as she looked at the paramedic stallion pleadingly. He had been doing this job for a long time and he knew that Pinkie Pie would probably be ok after shed had some space away from whatever was stressing her. His years of experience told him that there was something going on in the bakery that was bothering her and he wondered if it was because of the blue mare crying before him. He looked deeply into the tear filled eyes and came to the conclusion that she couldn't be the cause of Pinkies distress and maybe having her there might pull Pinkie out of her mental break.

  "Hmmm....OK....Ill let you go. We only normally allow family members to ride with patients but it seems like you might have a mental break if you don't come and Id hate to be the cause of two mares ending up in a mental ward. But only you can come because we don't have that much room in the ambulance, Ok?" Ms. Cake squealed a high pitched yes and took off out the door heading straight after the paramedics who had taken Pinkie pie out of the room. The paramedic stallion shook his head and trotted after her but stopped as he had finally noticed Mr. Cake who was wearing a look of utter rage mixed with, something the stallion couldn't quite put his hoof on.

  "Ah, you must be Mr. Cake?" Mr. Cake nodded but didn't answer. "Maybe he's just really upset that all this is happening to his apprentice." The paramedic stallion thought to himself, but something inside him said that this wasn't the case at all. "I can tell your worried about Pinkie Pie too, Don't be. She's in the best hooves and whatever is wrong will be found out and hopefully fixed. Shell be back home before you know it." The paramedic stallion thought these words might make Mr. Cake look less stressed but they seemed to have had the opposite effect as his face seemed to grow more lines and creases at the words.

  The paramedic stallion didn't have time to contemplate why that would be as he got a call on his radio that the ambulance was ready to go. He ran out of the bakery and headed into the front of the ambulance. He and another stallion lit their horns and magic covered the ambulance making it float in the air. A siren blazed as they made the ambulance fly forward carrying every pony inside to the hospital much faster than would have happened had Pegasi been flying it.