A/N: Well, it had to happen eventually.

"THE GAMES WE PLAY"

ALTERNATE ENDING #9

Guest Submission from Arby Works

And Rainbow Dash opened her eyes.

Under her... before her... there lay a pony clothed in shades of midnight, a cape fanned out beneath her. Atop her head there was a perched a matching wide-brimmed hat.

But now, there was no mask to protect her face. No facade to hide behind.

There was only her.

Big blue eyes. A mouth, seemingly unsure about whether or not it was meant to smile. And a mane, dark and dully pink, hanging down like a sopping wet mane.

Rainbow Dash's jaw dropped. Her eyes were wide, her voice disappearing somewhere on its way to her mouth. Utterly lost for words.

“No,” was all Rainbow could think to say; and a flicker of pain flashed in those big and beautiful eyes... but then again, they were doing so already. Those eyes... the exact same colour as the sky that Rainbow Dash loved so much. “No. No. That doesn't make sense.”

And still she had nothing to say for herself, only watching as Rainbow Dash shook her head, wings fluttering anxiously.

“That doesn't make sense,” Rainbow Dash repeated. Her hooves had found their way to the mare's shoulders, gripping her as tightly as she could without even meaning to. The mare winced, then gave Rainbow a weak smile.

“Surprised?” Pinkie Pie let out a weak giggle.

There was a long silence; it felt like hours. Pinkie Pie merely keeping an oddly stoic smile on her face through her wide, diluted eyes and her dull, sagging mane. Pinkie felt the few seconds go by almost instantly, for Rainbow, it was years.

“You said you wouldn't be mad!” Pinkie said in a dark, giddy tone of voice. “You're toooootally mad, Dashie!” she exclaimed, her voice retaining a giddy pep to it as it cracked.

Rainbow lost all ability to speak. She could only stare wide eyed at the display before her. Her partying pink friend, giggling away under the Mare Do Well costume.

“I... I'm...” Rainbow attempted to question the situation.

Pinkie's expression changed to one of a hard thinking Pinkie, rubbing her chin with her hoof. She looked at the ground, then at Rainbow. Back and forth, back and forth. She placed her hoof back on the ground and stared at Rainbow. Rainbow grit her teeth, frustration, anger, confusion, and all around pent up emotion trying to escape.

“Well, SURPRISE!” Pinkie said, shouting as her voice cracked.

Rainbow Dash inched away, unsure of the sporadic attitude or outburst Pinkie would make. The last time Rainbow saw Pinkie like this was during her birthday where she thought her friends hated her.

Except now, she's not sad...

“Silly filly Dashie washie, you mad, sis?” Pinkie asked again, not moving from her spot.

She never giggled, she never flinched. Pinkie just sat there, staring at Rainbow Dash with an empty expression... one that begged the question: is this really Pinkie Pie?

“No, I'm...” Rainbow finally said, unable to think of a proper response.

Pinkamina leaned forward, Rainbow shaking her head to ignore the thoughts.

“No, I mean, I never said I wouldn't be mad but right now I'm...” Rainbow paced around in the alleyway, all the while Pinkamina merely followed her with her eyes never seeming to blink.

Rainbow was completely oblivious to Pinkamina's following eyes, merely pacing back in forth with her eyes closed as she pondered her next words. Pinkamina never giggled, made a peep, or anything to attract Rainbow's attention. Either she knew that Rainbow was trying to think, or...

“I'm confused. How? Why? What's wrong with your mane? You... you are Pinkie Pie, right?” Rainbow asked, facing the pink pony.

She gave a nod, her tiny pupils and stern smile unnerving Rainbow.

“Silly filly, of course it's I, Pinkie Pie!” Pinkamina said, the crack in her voice getting worse.

Rainbow could barely think, instead staring at Pinkamina's face. The way she said that was worded oddly and the crack in her voice...

“How? Simple! Pinkamina sense told me to run when necessary. Why? As I said, I love you, Dashie. The fear of you discovering who I was disappeared after you unmasked me and now, I feel totally silly for thinking you'd be mad so I'm just a little giddy.” Pinkie's voice cracked every other word.

Rainbow stepped back, attempting not to cower down; Pinkamina here started to scare her and... she did say her name was Pinkamina, not Pinkie. Her actual name? Why? She gulped in an attempt to get rid of the lump in her throat. She let a shiver roll down her spine as Pinkamina cleared her throat.

“Sooo, about my mane? I just don't feel like silly old Pinkie right now. The more serious Pinkie was actually silly Pinkie and Pinkamina Pinkie was the goofy one. Silly Pinkie is natural for me so I can be more serious yet stay silly while Pinkamina is the inner happiness I never feel often.” Pinkamina said, her face turning into a somber one.

Rainbow stopped shivering, she merely stared at her friend. Inner happiness? She took a step forward.

“Pinkie or... Pinkamina, can you... can we do something later? I want to know more about you like this...” Rainbow closed her eyes, trying to imagine Pinkamina as her usual best friend.

Pinkamina smiled at Rainbow but it wasn't out of happiness. It was an almost regretful smile full of relief. She let out a long sigh.

“I... I'd like that, Dashie. I don't want to be covered by a mask anymore.” she took a step forward towards Rainbow, Rainbow not flinching or getting a shiver.

Rainbow felt a warmth inside her chest. She was curious about Pinkamina. She wanted to learn more about this off irony of Pinkie/Pinkamina's personalities. She... she fell in love with both and the more serious Mare Do Well... or in reality, silly Pinkie (she couldn't wrap her head around that one), she preferred. But... Pinkamina... why was she so... out of it? Why couldn't she make Rainbow like that part about her? And will it be any different if Rainbow talks to Pinkamina without her anonymous persona of Mare Do Well? Rainbow let out a long sigh as she thought out her next sentence.

“Can I see a party run by Pinkamina?” Rainbow asked, sincerely wanting to explore this personality of her pink friend.

Pinkamina broke out into a smile, seemingly sincerely wanting to accept her proposal but something inside her mind didn't sit well.

She looked at Rainbow with an odd gaze; one Rainbow couldn't describe.

“Dashie, when I call you next, we can party... after we get back to Ponyville.” Pinkamina said with a rather regretful face.

Rainbow smiled, glad that Pinkamina was able to connect properly in an oddly... serious way for this supposedly giddy personality of Pinkie Pie.

“That's alright Pinkamina.” Rainbow said, stepping closer to Pinkamina.

The two ponies inched closer, the distance between their mouths closing until...

Weeks later after the end of Winter Wrap Up, Rainbow was flying around the skies of Ponyville in a leisurely practice. It wasn't serious but it was just rechecking her basic skills. She remembered the situation earlier... Pinkamina wanted to show Rainbow a party finally. The promise from weeks ago was going to be fulfilled. She can finally explore who Pinkamina is, how she rungs a party. She considered blowing it off due to Pinkie's crazy antics recently but... well, she decided against it. She stopped her training and flew towards Sugarcube Corner. Heck, what did she have to lose? Pinkie was fun, maybe Pinkamina is a bigger prankster compared to Pinkie? She picked up speed to make up for the time wasted pondering her next activity. Entering Sugarcube Corner, she was greeted by her bouncing pink hostess.

“Yay! You're here! I've been waiting all day!” said Pinkie, her mane not having all of it's pep in it.

“Sorry I'm late Pinkie. I was doing some tricks and I lost track of time.” Rainbow apologized as she stood in the centre of the store.

Pinkie giggled gleefully. “Oh, that's okay. You're here now. What's a few more minutes? I've been so excited thinking about what we're going to do! I haven't stopped bouncing since I woke up! I mean, I almost forgot to breathe, I've been so happy!” she let out an odd giggle.

Dash giggled uncomfortably. She had always appreciated Pinkie Pie's outgoing look on life but... she stopped thinking. If Pinkie is this worked up, whatever she has planned must be good.

“So, are you ready to get started, Rainbow Dash? I've got my stuff all ready.” the pink pony said, her mane dulling in colour.

Dash's mind instantly pondered the possibilities. Pinkamina could have anything planned. “You betcha! What d you have planned? We gonna prank some ponies? I've got a couple good ones planned up, or maybe some stunts I-”

“MAKING CUPCAKES!” Pinkie interjected happily.

Dash let out a disappointed sigh. “Pinks, I'm not a good baker, you know this.” she said almost dully.

“Oh that's okay. I only need your help making them. I'll be doing most of the work.” she explained as the spectral maned mare shrugged.

Dash pondered the idea for a moment. “Well, I guess that's okay. What exactly do you need me to do?” she asked.

“That's the spirit! Here you go!” Pinkie said, handing Rainbow a cupcake while her mane lost even more colour.

Rainbow examined the cupcake, puzzled. “Wasn't I supposed to help make cupcakes, not eat?” she asked.

Pinkie shook her head. “Not at the moment. I just made one for you before you got here! It's all part of being a good pouncing pink party post! Err, host!” she said, giggling at her own correction.

Rainbow stared before nodding her head. “So, taste testing right now?” she asked as she sniffed the cupcake itself.

“Sorta...” Pinkie said, trailing off.

Rainbow shrugged, opened her mouth, and tossed the cupcake into her mouth, munching down on it's frosty goodness. She chewed it a bit and swallowed. It was actually pretty good.

“Okay, now what?” Rainbow asked as she felt the cupcake go down her throat.

Pinkie smiled, her mane loosing all bounce and colour.

“Now you take a nap.”

Rainbow wondered what she meant and went to ask a question, but she instantly felt drowsiness overtake her as soon as she opened her mouth. Soon, she fell to the ground, the world of sleep taking over.

She couldn't be less prepared for what she saw when she woke up.

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Author's Note: Mr. Masato/Arby Works/Hunter-the-hedgehog is the author of this guest fic. Permission to write for “The Games We Play: Supplementary Materials” granted by Absolute Anonymous of FanFiction and FiMFiction. All credit goes to her for “The Games We Play”. All credit goes to Sargent Sprinkles for the referenced fic at the end (just Google it if you don't know).

Special thanks to Absolute Anonymous for granting this opportunity to me (hey, I can show my skills to many since TGWP is well-read (egghead), so yeah). Please check out her other fics, stapled all around the internet.

Please check out my other works if interested. I go by Arby Works on FanFiction and FiMFiction along with Pony Fiction Archive. For artwork, Hunter-the-hedgehog @ Deviant Art.

Thanks, enjoy yourselves all who read this guest fic. Next Chapter: Side Story: What Happened With Spike? (Guest submission from Dashie222) Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 18 Minutes