MLP: By the Book. Part 1

It was a Sunday morning, as well as incredibly dismal for all its inhabitance to observe. An offensive onslaught of rain poured relentlessly upon the town, and no trace of life could be discovered along any of its winding streets. During the entirety of this deluge, everypony had taken refuge within either their own homes or in the available shops or markets, multiple of which having closed up tightly in fear of flooding. Due to this, and rather predictably, the most crowded and overfilled of all possible shelters was the typically generous café.

And of an equally predictable nature, a certain assembly of six youths had taken refuge inside this same structure, their favorite place to stay during grim alterations of weather such as this. The ragtag group in question, namely Pinkie Pie, Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash and the others, were merrily chatting away about the horrific weather and what dutiful matters each pony had intended to attend to.

As the rest were incredibly joyful and talkative at this time, Pinkie Pie had detached herself from the conversation and simply sat to herself by the window, staring longingly towards the colorless skies and glumly resting her head upon her folded arms. Rainbow Dash, who sat next to her and inevitably took notice of this disconnected behavior, asked "Hey… is something wrong?" Pinkie Pie sighed and answered "I hate the rain. It just… makes me feel bad", now leaning her head against the window.

"Why?" Applejack asked, to which Pinkie Pie replied "It just makes me sad, but I don't know why". Pinkie Pie then sighed and closed her eyes in detest, before grumbling "Nevermind; don't listen to me. I just didn't sleep well last night". During the previous evening, Pinkie Pie was unfortunate enough to suffer through another nightmare, significantly worse than the norm since it featured her alternate personality, Pinkamena. A month had passed since Pinkamena's most recent appearances, long enough for her friends to begin questioning her continuing existence.

Despite the many 'what ifs' and 'maybes' revolving around the topic, Pinkie Pie remained aware of the reality; the reality that Pinkamena had only yet to reemerge. While pondering this thought, Pinkie Pie's head was suddenly assaulted by a sudden throbbing pain, forcing her to groan and hold her arm against her forehead. Her friend's inevitably noticed this action; "What's the matter, Pinkie Pie?" Rarity asked with concern, her eyes widening in surprise. "Nothing… just… a headache" Pinkie Pie replied groggily, pain clearly stricken across her face.

Eventually, Pinkie Pie's headache subsided as she sat tiredly in her cozy corner of the café seat, allowing the cool aroma of the cold window glass to still the welling sensation in her temple. "Ugh… that's better" she sighed before taking her beverage and swiftly downing it. Rainbow Dash soon turned to the others and requested "Let's get Pinkie Pie home". "What? It's pouring outside!" Rarity objected, to which the pegasus stared angrily at her and replied "Fine. Stay here if you want, and I'll get her home".

From this, Rarity remained silent and squirmed guiltily in her seat for her comment, only for Rainbow Dash to do the same for her less-than-reasonable reaction. Rainbow Dash turned to find Pinkie Pie had now begun to fall asleep, her eyes slowly closing as an insane grin spread across her face. "I'm kinda tired. I'll just sleep here" she sleepily muttered, though her friends noticed a certain oddity; specifically that her already high voice had become somewhat higher in its pitch, closely resembling a filly's typical tone.

Rainbow Dash quickly grabbed her by her shoulders and shook her violently, stirring her friend from her sporadic slumber, "Oh no you don't! You're coming with me". After attempting to pull her from the table, however, Pinkie Pie suddenly grabbed onto it, whining "But I wanna stay here~!" in the high pitch voice before pouting childishly. Rainbow Dash continued in vain to unhook Pinkie Pie from the table leg, until she finally blew her top; "C'mon, Pinkie Pie! You're going home!" Rainbow Dash commanded in a sudden fit of frustration.

From this command, Pinkie Pie quickly let go and fell to the floor, before curling into a ball and whimpering "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" She sat up and trembled nervously "I won't do it again; I swear! Please". Pinkie Pie's sanity had once again begun draining away, and at a rapid rate; her friends each wondered what was happening from her point of view, and whether they truly desired to know. A flustered Rainbow Dash bit her tongue in consideration before coming to Pinkie Pie's side, worried that she may have injured her in some manner.

By this time, multiple patrons had heard the sudden racket and were all met with a surprise; "Please… don't hurt me" Pinkie Pie sobbed, her voice finally returning to its original pitch. "What? Did you hurt her?!" a nearby patron questioned, resulting in the attention of crowds of customers to be fixed upon the cowering individual and her supposed attacker. Rainbow Dash stood up and yelled "No! It's not what you think!" in an effort to avoid a drastic misunderstanding.

This effort proved futile, as the whole café became abundant with whispers and murmurs, undoubtedly aimed against the blue pegasus. By this time, Pinkie Pie had raced through the main entrance in a panic, disappearing into the still-pouring rain. "Wait! Come back!" Rainbow Dash called after her as she ran through the main entrance in pursuit. Through the thick fog and the onslaught of rain, Rainbow Dash spotted a silhouette running in the opposite direction of her gaze. The other's joined her outside as she shouted "Quick, she must be heading back to Sugarcube Corner!"

Without a moment to lose, the group ran off into the translucent mist.

---

Pinkie Pie sprinted across the winding streets as the rain continued to pour relentlessly, her mind plagued by an abundance of horrific optical and auditory illusions. Upon returning to her sanctuary at Sugarcube Corner, she bolted inside her home and quickly shut the door, though neglecting to lock it, before running upstairs to her bedroom. She then came to a halt and panted exhaustedly, though her weighted breathing seemed to only increase in pace.

As she attempted to steady her breathing to a rhythmic pattern, a creaking sound of the front door captured her attention, though the identity of the newly arrived figure remained a mystery. Despite this, she bared no intention to investigate this matter and simply laid against her carpeted bedroom floor for comfort, the pace of her rapid breathing beginning to reduce. From behind her, several noises resembling hoofsteps emanated, likely from the staircase.

Sure enough, a familiar southern accent screamed "Pinkie Pie!" whilst she felt herself lifted from the ground an unknown pair of supportive arms. Her vision strained as she observed the bright yellow figure to her left, croaking weakly "F… Flutter… shy?" "Don't worry. We've got ya, gal!" the southern accent interrupted, before Pinkie Pie felt herself carried towards her bed. Laying on her back against the soft mattress, she then attempted once again to refocus her vision, finally finding herself able to identify the four figures as Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity and Applejack.

"Where's T… Twilight?"

The group looked at one another before turning to the bedroom door, Applejack leaning her head out and curiously searching the hallway. Rainbow dash, a disgusted expression on her face, answered "That's a good question. Where did she go?!" in a rare display of aggression. "If she's gone home, I'm really gonna…" Rainbow Dash growled before swiftly retaining a sturdy control of her temper again, "What am I saying? What was I going to say?!" "Just keep yar head on, gal. But ya're right!" Applejack assured before staring out the nearby window, "Why would Twilight be elsewhere while we're here!?"

"I can't stand this!" Pinkie Pie suddenly shouted venomously; not towards her friends, but towards herself. "I hate it when these things happen because of me. Me and my problems always seem to ruin everything, don't we?" Pinkie Pie cringed in bitter loathing. "Pinkie Pie, listen to me!" Rainbow Dash then interrupted while standing beside her bed "None of this is your fault!" Rarity then added "Of course it isn't, Pinkie Pie. That imaginary character of yours is-".

Pinkie Pie's eyes suddenly shot open as she sat up from the bed, before turning to face Rarity with an enraged expression. "I'm sorry… I missed that" Pinkie Pie sneered with surprising malice, "What did you call me?" Her colorful companions all sat and stared with confusion from this unexpected reaction. Pinkie Pie then dropped from the bed and shrieked "THE IMAGINARY CHARACTER?! I AM NOT IMAGINARY!"

Each of the bedroom's occupants backed away in shock as Pinkie Pie slowly lost her temper; but soon, the cause became all too clear. Pinkie Pie's pupils were beginning to shrink to unnatural proportions and her body constantly twitched from the overwhelming stress. "No! They didn't mean to! Of course not! Just please, don't hurt them!" she then abruptly screamed to herself in a panic. "Please… stop…" she whimpered as she fell backwards upon the bed, visibly tensing upon the impact.

"She's… gone now…" she informed before wincing in defeat; a single tear streamed down her cheek as she crawled across the mattress and laid her head onto the pillow. She then felt an arm on a shoulder, the warmth spreading across her cold skin, but soon succumbed to her emotions and shut her eyes tightly. "Sorry about… I'm just-" she began before being interrupted by Rainbow Dash, who hushed her and demanded "Don't you dare apologize, Pinkie Pie. It's so horrible seeing these things happen to you".

Eventually, Pinkie Pie informed her colleagues "I think I'm gonna sleep, girls. I can barely think and… I'm just too tired to do anything". Her friends each obliged and bid her farewell as they each individually left, allowing her peace and solitude as she simply lay quietly under her covers. After a few hours passed, the miserable weather had finally begun to subside, becoming little more than a light shower. In this time, Pinkie Pie finally managed to fall asleep, though she hoped to herself that another nightmare wouldn't disturb her from this rare moment of peace.

---

Later that night, towards 9:00 pm, Pinkie Pie finally awoke from her slumber and groggily arose from the bed, rubbing her eyes of the excess sleep and sighing. "Uh… Ow… where…?" she muttered absentmindedly, before dropping from the bed and stumbling her way downstairs. As she ungraciously trudged her way to the first floor of the building, she soon discovered stars and a moon through the nearby window, undeniably indicating the time of which it currently portrayed.

While she wandered out the front door and staggered through the streets under the night sky, despite having neither a reason nor a motivation to do so, she noticed a familiar face wandering across the nearby square. A certain purple unicorn had quietly snuck across the pathway and entered the nearby pawn shop, her eyes darting nervously through the street for unwanted observers. "Huh? What's she doing out so late?" Pinkie Pie wondered. After a few minutes, Twilight finally left the store with a small collection of books in her bag.

Pinkie Pie eventually decided to follow her and see what she was rather poorly attempting to hide. After a long while, Pinkie Pie finally trailed her all the way back to her home, the local library, to which Pinkie Pie then wondered where else she would've possibly went. Before the door shut behind Twilight, Pinkie Pie stealthily followed her inside and snuck around the building until hearing a familiar voice on the second floor.

"Hey, Twilight! Take a chill pill!" echoed throughout the library, along with "Quiet! I need to think!" Pinkie Pie crept towards Twilight's bedroom door and opened it to peek inside, finding Twilight pacing in circles restlessly, all while Spike watched her with a look of confusion on his face. "Grrgh, I've searched and searched for an answer ever since this started. Some kind of missing detail that would tie it all together".

She threw her hair back and wiped her brow shakily, before adding "And every time I come close to a solution, something new happens that doesn't make any sense! IT'S UNBELIEVABLE!" Her purple dragon companion then whispered hesitantly "Careful, Twilight! You might wake the neighbors up!" Twilight sighed and reluctantly decided to sleep her frustration off for the night. She quietly stumbled her way to her bed while Spike exited through the doorway, who remained oblivious to the pink intruder who hid in the shadows behind the door.

"I need to know what I'm missing, Spike; I have to know what ties it together. What is it?" Twilight huffed to Spike before he could leave, before coming to a sudden realization. She gave him a puzzled stare and asked "Wait... why am I asking you?" Spike rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly before replying "Umm, I dunno… maybe to stop you from going crazy". "Ugh! Go to bed, Spike; or I'll really go crazy" she exclaimed, too weary to retaliate any further, nor to switch out the lights. Pinkie Pie thought to herself cheekily "Geh… if listening to you hasn't driven her crazy yet, nothing will".

Once the duo fell asleep for the night, Pinkie Pie entered the library and began her search, hoping to find a clue of what Twilight was stressing herself out for. She searched the room, through the piles of books and desks littered with random sketches. "How does Twilight remember where everything is in this place?" she wondered as she continued to view the towering mountains of knowledge that surrounded her. At last; a lone, open book lay on her work bench, so Pinkie Pie eagerly decided to examine it.

This proved to be an incredible mistake.

To be continued…