BEHIND EVERY SMILE

  Now safely laid down in a hospital bed with side bars to keep her from rolling out Pinkie Pie slept from the drugs shed been given. Ms. Cake was allowed to stay by her side so long as she remained asleep or was calm while awake. Ms. Cake was sure all Pinkie needed was a good rest and shed be right as rain. Pinkie stirred in her sleep seeming to have a bad dream despite the drugs keeping her sedated. Her head turned this way and that and finally she muttered weakly. "No papa I don't want to eat it...Please don't make me eat it again...It tastes..." She didn't finish the statement as her eyes bolted open and she seemed for a moment to have forgotten how to breathe. Ms. Cake placed her hoof on Pinkies forehead and cooed to her softly.

  "Hush, hush my dear Pinkie Pie. I'm here, its me Ms. Cake. Everything is ok now. You had a weird moment but its over now. Its all ok." Pinkie looked at Ms. Cake confused for a moment then smiled.

  "Oh hello there, you are very pretty. What's your name? I'm Diane Pie!" Pinkie said brightly her bad dream seeming to have faded, but Ms. Cake was very much concerned that Pinkie didn't seem to recognize her and seemed to be reverting to using her middle name when referring to herself. "Its ok, its probably just an effect of the medication." Ms. Cake thought to herself before she smiled at Pinkie even as she pressed the nurses call button. A soft mare voice came over the speaker.

  "Hello, How can I help you?" Came the soft voice from the other end.

  "Yes, hello? This is Ms. Cake in room 210 with Pinkie Pie. She has woken up but there seems to be a problem. Could you send a doctor in right away please, Thank You." Ms. Cake waited for a reply back but instead of an answer on the wall intercom her answer came in the form of ponies flooding into the room with serious expressions on their faces. The leader of the group was Pinkie Pies doctor. Ms. Cake addressed him with a worried voice.

  "Oh hello Dr. Steelhart, I just wanted to let you know Pinkie Pie is awoke but she has no idea who I am and seems confused as to who she is. I was just wondering if that was normal?" Dr. Steelhart looked at Pinkie with steely grey eyes. Pinkie smiled obliviously at him. His brow furrowed as he continued to look at her while speaking in a firm no nonsense voice.

  "Pinkie Pie, my name is Dr. Steelhart. Do you..." He was going to ask her if she knew where she was but was cut off by her giggling and bubbly voice.

  "Hahahaha, Steelhart? Does that mean your a robot sense your heart is made of steel? Hehehe." Steelhart stared at her for a moment more then used his magic to levitate Pinkie Pies chart over. He read over the chart while also watching Pinkie Pie who had started playing with her tail exclaiming that it looked like cotton candy and she wondered if it tasted like it too. He then proceeded to write on the chart as Pinkie Pie proceeded to taste her tail. He stopped writing as Pinkie actually ripped a piece of her tail hair off and started chewing it.

  "And that's enough of that. Nurse if you would..." Was all Dr. Steelhart said and a Pegasus nurse flew over with a muzzle as Dr. Steelhart used his magic to pry Pinkies mouth open and removed the hair shed been eating. The nurse attached the muzzle to Pinkies face much to her shock and amazement. She tried to speak but found it was all but impossible to do. "I am sorry for the muzzle Pinkie Pie but if you are going to do things that are going to harm you I will not hesitate to restrain you." Pinkie Pie looked at him with sad, confused eyes but didn't try to speak or pull the muzzle off. Dr. Steelhart turned to Ms. Cake his face as serious and emotionless as it had been when he came in. "Ms. Cake, before you called us did Pinkie Pie say anything to you that seemed out of the ordinary? Did she do anything that you would consider odd for her to do?" Ms. Cake was about to shake her head but stopped herself.

  "Oh, well, she was having a bad dream. And was talking in her sleep. She said something like, "No Papa I don't want to eat it" and "Don't make me eat it" I am not sure if that is such a bad dream unless her father was making her eat vegetables. She doesn't really like them, especially cucumbers. And she used her middle name to introduce herself after she asked me who I was but other than that she was just sleeping." Dr. Steelhart scribbled something down in the notes on Pinkies chart.

  "I see, and do you know where her father is? Maybe we can contact him and see if she has had episodes like this in the past." Ms. Cake shook her head.

  "No, I'm sorry but I don't know where her family is. I know she has a father and mother and sisters but I don't know where they live past she says they live on a rock farm. I'm not sure of where any rock farms are around here and when I ask her about it more she acts like she doesn't want to talk about them. From what I understand her father was very strict and her family didn't approve of her, life choice to get into baking sweets. I think she has been shunned by them." Ms. Cake sighed thinking of how silly it is to stop caring about your foal because they want to bake sweets. The familiar pang of sadness at never having been able to become a mother herself hit her and she shook it off reminding herself that she had to stay positive for Pinkie Pie.

  Dr. Steelhart's pen went to work scribbling more stuff down in the chart. Pinkie looked at the goings on before her with apprehension. This wasn't lost to Dr. Steelhart and he wondered what she was hiding from Ms. Cake. He spoke again looking more at Pinkie than Ms. Cake to see her reaction. "I think Ms. Cake I will get someone to find her father and mother and let them know she is here and...." His words were cut off as a scream left Pinkie Pie that shook his very being. It wasn't a scream like someone having a fit, it was a scream of pure terror. Dr. Steelhart was positive that it was a scream that echoed one word and despite being muffled by the muzzle the force Pinkie had screamed it left no doubt to anyone else present what that one word was.

  "NOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Ms. Cake moved to comfort Pinkie who was shaking her head back and forth violently, while repeatedly screaming. "NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO!!!!" Over and over and over again. Dr. Steelhart wrote on her chart before he spoke again making his voice less hard which was an amazing feat indeed for him.

  "Pinkie Pie, I want you to calm down and listen to me." Pinkie stopped screaming but she wouldn't calm down so Dr. Steelhart continued. "Ok Pinkie Pie, Its ok. Calm down now...It seems you don't want to see your family, am I correct." Pinkie Pie nodded adamantly. "Alright, now...Pinkie Pie, do you want to tell my Why you don't want to see your family?" Pinkie Pie shook her head even more adamantly and Dr. Steelhart furrowed his brow. "Ok, you don't have to talk to me if you don't want to but you know Pinkie Pie that whatever is wrong with you wont get better till you talk about it. I can't help you if I don't know what's wrong. I wont push you anymore tonight but I want you to think about what you want out of your time here. We are here to help make you better so you can live a normal life. Whatever is causing your breakdown you need to resolve it or you will only get worst." Dr. Steelhart placed the chart back in its holder.

"Now, given all the trauma you just went through I would like to take that muzzle off of you so you can have some cold water. Will you behave and not eat your tail hair again so I can take it off?" Pinkie Pie nodded vigorously and Dr. Steelhart used his magic to take the muzzle off her.

  "Oh Thank You, Thank You, THANK YOU for not getting Papa!! I promise Ill be a good filly! Ill be a very good filly!!" Pinkie Pie said in a high pitched almost foal-like voice and Dr. Steelhart raised an eyebrow at her as a nurse handed her a cup of water.

  "Pinkie Pie?" He said to her tilting his head as he looked at her curiously.

  "Yes Dr. Robot?" Pinkie said in her foalish voice having swallowed down a few gulps of water.

  "How old are you Pinkie Pie, I'm 32." Dr. Steelhart said in a calm inquisitive manner.

  "Wowie Your a Oldie, I just turned 7!!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed proudly smiling wide and bright despite spilling some of her water on herself and was completely oblivious to the confused looks she was getting from almost every pony in the room; except Ms. Cake who looked mortified and ready to faint, and Dr. Steelhart who seemed to now know what was going on.

  "I see, well 7 is a very big age to be. Thank You for talking to me Pinkie Pie." He watched Pinkie closely as her face scrunched up even as she was smiling at him and trying to wipe off water with her sheet.

  "Oh Your Welcome Dr. Robot, But I have a question...Why do you keep calling me Pinkie Pie? My name is Diane!! I am happy to meet you though!! Hehehehehe!!" Dr. Steelhart picked up Pinkie Pies chart again and turned to leave the room with it scribbling fiercely as he went.

  Ms. Cake quickly followed after him after promising Pinkie Pie shed be right back. "DOCTOR!! DOCTOR!! Please tell me what is wrong with Pinkie Pie!? Why is she saying these things?! Did she really hit her head that hard that she doesn't know who she is? Doctor?" Dr. Steelhart turned and looked at Ms. Cake gravely.

  "Ms. Cake, whatever is bothering your apprentice I am quite certain now that it goes far into her past. We are going to need her family if we are going to get any conclusive answers. For now though I can tell you why I think she is acting this way." Ms. Cake looked at him apprehensively.

  "You....You can?? Then...What do you think is it? What's wrong with her?" She waited with held breath as Dr. Steelhart sighed then spoke in a serious tone.

  "From her symptoms I can tell you what I think is happening based on the most logical explanation. I believe Pinkie Pie is suffering from split personality disorder brought on by some manner of traumatic foalhood event. That is why I am going to find her parents and talk to them. They may know why she is acting this way. When she first came to Ponyville she had some problems but they went away, Yes?" Ms. Cake nodded listening intently. "But now for her to be acting this way, something had to have triggered her episode. Something has set her off and she has reverted back into a little 7 year old filly and what we will have to do is find out why so we can hopefully reverse it." Ms. Cake just stared at Dr. Steelhart trying to absorb what he was saying.

  "So what you are saying....Is that Pinkie Pie thinks she's a little foal right now because of trauma she suffered as a foal?" Ms. Cake looked at him staring hard into his face looking for any more answers that might help explain things to her.

  "Yes in simple terms Ms. Cake, for right now your apprentice Pinkie Pie is Diane Pie and she is 7 years old and something about her family terrifies her. I need to call some more team mates and discuss this further with them. Try to just keep Pinkie Pie calm and don't do anything that might upset her or I will have to have you removed from her room." Dr. Steelhart trotted away quickly heading to his office where he would call in some more experts to help him with Pinkie Pies case. Ms. Cake stood there a moment more watching him trot away then turned and trotted in the opposite direction headed back towards Pinkie's room. She went into the room and found Pinkie Pie sleeping again. She trotted over and lay her hoof on Pinkies forehead ribbing it gently in the hopes that it would help her have peaceful dreams.

  "Oh Pinkie dear, what could have happened to you that could cause all this?" Pinkie Pie moved in her sleep, then started talking and Ms. Cake listened intently to what she was saying. The more Pinkie talked, the more Ms. Cake realized in her heart why Pinkie didn't want to be around her family and those thoughts would plague her dreams for years to come.

  "Please Papa, it hurts when you put that there. Please Papa...Don't do it any harder. No Papa, I don't like it...Papa...Please Papa, DON'T!! PAPA!! STOP!! NO!! PLEASE!! NO!!!" Ms. Cake never knew what hit her before the world went dark but what she did know was the look of sheer terror on Pinkie Pie's face as she woke from another horrible dream involving her father.

  Alarms blared as Pinkie Pies room was thrown into chaos. She had woken up to Ms. Cake rubbing her head and in her half sleep state she panicked thinking it was her father trying to hold her head down and struck out with all the strength she had kicking Ms. Cake in the jaw, which caused it to break and become dislocated. Nurses restrained Pinkie in a full body suit and muzzle then gave her an even higher dose of drugs to sedate her.

And as Ms. Cake was rushed from the room into emergency surgery to fix her broken and dislocated jaw, her husband was dislocating the tiny hips of a little filly who had long sense screamed her last breaths away.