When I'm doing something that I enjoy, I really really hate being directly disturbed by someone, regardless of who that someone may be. Especially if it's not for a good cause.

If I'm, say...interrupted by Spike running into my bedroom with his flailing arm carrying an urgent message from Princess Celestia, or my cutie mark (finally) starting to glow because my weird map is calling me -- honestly, I have no idea how that thing works --, then I don't mind so much.

I do mind, however, when all that's happened is something excruciatingly minor -- I tend to be in quite a grumpy and reclusive mood when I perform a solitary activity -- or a problem that could be easily solved by the cyan pegasus pony who's reporting it in the first place.

I mean, I love that Rainbow Dash thinks my intelligence is far beyond her own -- which it is, by the way --, but come on.

It doesn't take a genius to figure out that I love reading, nor does it take a language prodigy to have the ability to read a simple but firm notice on the incredibly closed outside of my bedroom door:

DO NOT ENTER: Knowledge demolition in progress.

So when I jump at the sound of a raspy, "Twilight! Twilight, come quick!" with the slamming of my door against my cream walls being the only warning(who knew that doors could be slammed when being opened?), I think it's fair to say that I was immensely pissed off.

Through gritted teeth, I barely resist the urge to growl as I say, "What is it, Rainbow?"

She chipped the paint on my wall. She chipped. The paint. On. My. Wall. This better at least be humorous.

"Pinkie's refusing to come out of her house!" Dash declares, an exceedingly worried -- not to mention worrying -- expression on her face. After I give it some thought, however, I realise that there's actually nothing to be worried about.

I sigh. "Rainbow, she's probably just planning a surprise party or something. Now, I'd appreciate it if you'd let me get back to my books. Zebras' culture and religion are extraordinarily interesting, and I wish to learn more about it."

I turn my eyes back to the leather-bound pages, but Dash seems persistent. "No, no -- i-it's not as simple as that, Twilight! She screams at anyone who knocks on her door to go away! She even kicked the Cakes out!"

I pause to look at her. That does seem a bit excessive, even for Pinkie, but she is known to go far over the top when she's working on something. "I find it incredibly surprising that you haven't knocked the door down yet. It's only made of wood about a hoof thick and you have been known to crash through, ahem, trees."

I'm still convinced she's just throwing a massive party. I haven't the foggiest why it would be this massive -- and that's the only seed of doubt in my mind -- but Pinkie is somepony who could find party material in a snail's shell.

Rainbow's getting angry now. She doesn't want to lose this argument and look like a fool, just like she did in the previous...oooh, I think now it's...five hundred and forty-three times?

She grabs my cheeks and yanks my head to face hers. "She's got something in the way of the door, or something -- I dunno! Twilight, this is serious!"

"Where did you get the notion that I wasn't being serious?" I demand, frustration stirring inside me. "Dash, I think it's wonderful that you're so concerned about Pinkie's well being, but I think I've made it clear that there is nothing to worry about; this is Pinkie Pie, for crying out loud!"

"More like Pinkamena Pie!" the voice of Spike exclaimed as he entered the room, obviously having been running for quite some time. "Seriously, Twilight, this isn't funny -- Pinkie's got straight hair."

"How do you know?" I ask, but I still get up and start a brisk trot down the hallway. The full force of what he said hasn't quite hit yet, and for that I'm grateful.

The panting dragon seems reluctant to start running again, but he chases after me nonetheless. Fortunately for him, Rainbow throws him onto her back. "There's this door at the back of Sugarcube Corner that leads into the room where all their flour and sugar and stuff is kept, and I think Pinkie forgot to block it, or something...

"But I was able to get through to the front and she was...she was crying, and in the fetal position, and...gah, it's so upsetting to see her like this!" He buries his face into the rainbow mane that belonged to Rainbow Dash.

The bomb finally hits me.

We're approaching Sugarcube Corner, where quite a crowd has formed. My heart is thumping and I know it's not just because of exertion -- far from it, as I'm only going at a reasonable pace, one I could easily keep going for over an hour!

Of course it's not because I'm tired!

The crowd parts for me, as it always does -- only this time I'm grateful for it. Once I get up the steps of Sugarcube Corner, I take a deep breath and shout, "Everypony: Please leave and go back to your homes. I will sort this out."

There are a few whoops and cheers from the gathered ponies, to which I reply with a roll of my eyes. I stand there patiently as they all do as I asked. I take a composing breath to calm myself once they're all gone and lightly knock on the door.

"Pinkie?"

"Go away!" she shrieks.

"Pinkie, i-it's Twilight. Can I come --"

"I said go away!"

"Pinkie, please let me in," I say softly, and she pauses to think for a few seconds. My heart flutters with hope in the silence.

"...Twilight, I don't wanna talk to you right now. Please, just leave." Her voice is much calmer now, and it cracks a few times as she says this; Yep, she's definitely been crying, I think with a heavy heart.

"Okay," I whisper. But I don't leave.

I go round to the back and see that the door that Spike had been talking about was indeed open; he had left it so. I slip in. It's dark inside, but I as my eyes adjust I can make out the outlines of shelves bearing the dry food supplies that need little to be preserved.

It's a small room, so I come to the door leading to the main part of the building pretty quickly. However, there must've been a sharp rock jutting out of the stone steps, for I cut myself as I ascend them and have to bite my lip to stop myself from crying out.

I don't dare try to walk on it. It's hard enough having to gingerly test each wooden floorboard for cracks and creaks as I take each step; I don't need to be ruining the insides of my cheeks while I'm doing so.

It takes me a good few minutes to get to the front, and when I eventually do I freeze; Pinkie's huddled up in the corner furthest away from me, sniffling and rocking back and forth as tears pour from her eyes. Spike was right; her hair is indeed straight. I remember thinking that she looked rather beautiful with straight hair; Now I feel like a terrible princess for ever thinking that this...version of her was in any way a good thing.

All the tiny beams of light let into the room are next to Pinkie -- she's probably steering clear of them so no passersby can peer in and see her --, so for now she can't see me. The second I snap back to reality, however, I clear my throat.

Her head snaps towards me. She leaps up, and -- oh, she looks so scared. Now, I've never been in love before, so I'm not sure how true this is, but I think I'm currently feeling some form of heartbreak.

"Who's there?!" she shouts, jerking her head left and right as she slowly backs towards the nearest door, the one that I know 1) leads to her bedroom, and 2) has a lock on it. I mean, I have magic and all, but I'd rather not use it in this situation.

"It's me, Pinkie," I begin gently. "Please. What's the matter?"

"I-I can't tell you Twilight. You need to go." Her voice breaks and shakes with almost every word.

I think she still can't see where I am, because her eyes are dancing frantically about the place. Before I answer, I silently slip across the room and try to block her escape. However, it's so dark and I'm in such a panicked rush that I don't see her hooves in my path and I trip over, bringing her with me to the ground.

We land with a thump that is mostly caused by me; I took most of the blow and for that I'm glad. She's not crying at the moment, and it'd be best for it to stay that way.

Pinkie gets up almost immediately. "Ohmigosh, Twilight, are you okay?!" The speed of her voice is terribly deceiving; her eyes have begun to water again.

Dammit. "Yeah, I'm fine Pinkie." I'm really not, but...ow...I highly doubt this is the best time for her to pity me.

"You sure? That sounded painful."

"Yeah, I'm sure." I give her a reassuring smile and subtly scoot in front of her bedroom door and gesture for her to sit next to me. "What's the matter with you, though? Why're you hiding away and, more importantly, why are you...Pinkamena?"

She sniffs, wrapping her hooves around my middle. Looking up at me with big, round eyes, she stutters, "T-Twilight, I think I'm...I think I'm...depressed."

Just for clarification that she wasn't completely overreacting, I cautiously ask, "Depressed as in sad, or depressed as in the mental health illness?"

"What do you think?!," she snaps, voice breaking a little. "Look at me: I haven't slept properly in months," she grabs her stomach, "I've been overeating, and worst of all I have no motive to plan parties. Yesterday, I spent five hours lying on my bed, trying to no avail to will myself to get up and plan the CMC's cuteceañera.

"And when I did finally get my lazy flank out of bed and at my desk, I...I got bored. I got bored while organizing an event to make ponies happy." She buries her wet and snotty face in my chest, so when she next speaks her voice is rather muffled. "And then today I woke up like this." She gestures to herself, disgusted.

My hoof is caught in a seemingly eternal cycle of stroking her mane. It's so thin now. "Pinkie, you don't...you don't want to hurt yourself, do you?"

"Nononono, of course not," she half-laughs.

I look at her. "I'm serious, Pinkie: have you thought about self harm or suicide? You need to tell me, honestly."

"No, I haven't." She pauses. "Well, I've thought about it, but I haven't thought about it, y'know? When you're told something major, you're bound to think about it properly at least once. No, I don't wanna hurt or kill myself."

"Pinkie Promise?"

"Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." This is the happiest she's sounded since I arrived. I still wouldn't classify it as joyful, but it's an improvement nonetheless.

We sit in silence for a while. "What do you want to do about it?"

"...I don't know; I've kinda been thinking about that since I got up." She scratches her neck. "I guess I wanted to keep it to myself, but I've got such a busy job and now you know, so goodbye to that idea. I do want to see a therapist. I hate being this way and I kinda hate myself."

"Crap, Pinkie, how long have you been feeling like this?" I ask, starting to feel scared and concerned at the same time. "I mean, surely this isn't just surfacing now?!"

"Nope, you're right, it isn't." She blows out air through the 'o' she's created with her lips. "I only came to terms with it last night. All this," she picks up a lock of her hair, "only happens when I consciously discover something that's making me drastically unhappy, and like I said: I woke up like this."

Her voice is almost monotonous. If I couldn't see her lips moving in time with her speech, I would've thought she was her sister. Unconsciously, I wrap my hooves around her and pull her close. This is making me realise just how much she means to me.

"Do you want me to take you to the hospital right now?" I say weakly. "You don't need to worry about the cost; I'll pay for the therapy sessions. I've got too many bits anyway."

"Thanks, Twilight. I love you." I can feel fat salty tears dropping in between my wings.

"I love you too, Pinkie Pie."

Author's Notes:

Constructive criticism, or just criticism in general, is something I really want and need, especially with a topis like this. Comment away, my lovely readers!