Glimmer Gaslighting


                                            "Uhh, Twilight? Can you come down and help. Please. Starlight's gone coco!"

                                            >"Oh no, did she backslide? Spike! We have to warn Princess Celestia that Starlight Glimmer is- what's she doing again? Hypnotizing ponies?"

                                            "Weeeel, eh, no? I mean, maybe in her head, or maybe she already did? I dunno, she isn't making any sense."

                                            >"What?"

                                            "Yeah, you better just come see for yourself."

                                            >"Spike, hold off on the letter!"

                                            >"What do you mean in her head, did she..." Twilight trails off as she trots down the stairs behind you, Glimmer's ranting becoming more audible with each step.

                                            >"I was afraid I might go back to being the pony I used to be! But maybe I am going back to the pony I used to be and can't tell! Maybe I already started hypnotizing everyone and just don't remember it! But how do I know I was ever that pony! See, SEE? That's the problem, I DON'T KNOW who I even AM! Am I Starlight Glimmer, or do I just think I'm Starlight Glimmer! Does Starlight Glimmer even EXIST? I think therefore I am so I exist, but who am I? WHO AM I?"

                                            You gesture at the pony pacing back and forth in the center of the room in lieu of an answer.

                                            >"Hmm, I see the issue." Twilight flatly remarks.

                                            >Starlight ignores the two of you, continuing to break down.

                                            >"I remember mind controlling ponies and I remember it made sense to me at the time but now I think it doesn't make sense to mind control ponies and that it's bad, but why would Twilight just let me go after that? How likely is it that I would just be dumped loose without a guard to keep me in line? Did I really mind control anyone? If this is all some fake backstory I've been programmed with why would I have one that makes me not want to mind control ponies? Wouldn't it be better for me to want to? Unless not wanting to is supposed to be my cover and I'm actually programmed to switch to another persona when I find a target and mind control them. That's what I would do if I was trying to create a sleeper agent. I think. Would I normally know what to do to make sleeper agents - does it match my memories? Where did I learn how to do that, or did I just figure it out? Is that evidence that I'm a sleeper agent myself? If I think it isn't, is that just because I'm being forced to discount it even though it makes sense?"

                                            >"Dash, what in Celestia's name did you do to cause... *this*" she questions, staring at you.

                                            "I uhhh, left a notebook with ponies' names and fake spy phrases on it under her bed."

                                            >"Why."

                                            "Pinkie and I were gonna 'find' it and pretend to be spies and accuse her of being an enemy spy. And say we were gonna extra-deliciously punish her. It was gonna be really funny."

                                            >"Extrajudicially. That still doesn't explain what's going on."

                                            "Well, y'see, the hilarious part is she found it first."

                                            >"Aaaand?"

                                            "And, uhh, she asked who wrote it and I was still kinda trying to salvage the prank at that point so I said I watched her write in it."

                                            >Meanwhile, Starlight switches from pacing to spinning in circles.

                                            >"If I had evidence that I was being mind controlled, any half-competent hypnotist would have prepared for that. The best method is to convince the subject that it's not important and to ignore it. What have I forgotten that I think isn't important but is? The notebook is important, I think, but what about the contents of the notebook. I don't recall anything other than the first page, but maybe there's more and I just remember not seeing more because the name of the hypnotist is on there, or maybe a secret time or method to contact them. But what if it's not in the book, and it's just a trigger set to a certain date or event. How would I even begin to figure out what the trigger is? Wait! I'm getting distracted from the book! Does that mean the book is important and there's a hypnotic trigger to not focus on the book? Or is the book just a distraction to keep me from trying to figure out what the trigger is? How do I know what's objectively important and what's not if my ability to discern fact from fiction is compromised!"

                                            >Twilight's staring at you, and you're starting to feel really uncool about this whole thing. You antsily blurt out "It's not my fault! How was I supposed to know she'd jump off the cloud like this? Really, I'm the victim here!"

                                            >Twilight just sighs as you sheepishly tap your hooves together, a fragile smile on your face. Oooof, maybe that last part was too much?

                                            >Glimmer's sanity continues to fray.

                                            >"How do I know I'm even in this room right now? I could be trapped in a false memory while I'm sleepwalking around, doing who knows what. Probably hypnotizing more ponies for whoever hypnotized me. Unless I'm the hypnotist, and this is a complex scheme to provide an alibi if I-? No, no, stay focused! I'm hypnotized to do something or forget something that's important to the hypnotist, that's obvious, why else would anyone hypnotize me, just for some weird sex thing? No, I wouldn't have the book if that was the case, and even if they wanted to use me just for that they'd still eventually want more ponies, which ties back into the book. WAIT! Why am I assuming there's only one hypnotist, there might be multiple! Was not realizing that evidence that there really are multiple hypnotists, or is that a natural possibility to miss until now? And again, how can I even tell if I know my mind's been tampered with! I need external validation, but how can I get external validation if I can't trust what I see or hear?"

                                            >"Rainbow Dash," Twilight finally says, "you know as well as I do that mare just isn't mentally stable. Why would you *ever* think it was a good idea to gaslight her about something?"

                                            "Gas-what?"

                                            >"Uuugh, it's not important, what is important..." she trails off as Starlight slams her head against the floor without interrupting her monologue.

                                            "Yeah?"

                                            >She switches back to staring at you - "Well what is important is that you've exploited a vulnerable individual for a sick laugh!"

                                            "No wait go back to that gas lamp thing!"

                                            >"You're not distracting me Dash, we need to fix this and then we're going to have a serious talk about boundaries. Again."

                                            >You both turn to see that Starlight has left the building.

                                            >Literally.

                                            >Twilight starts looking very, very angry.

                                            >"Daaaaash, where'd she go?" she asks dangerously.

                                            "I don't know, I wasn't paying attention to her, you were lecturing me! I was trying to show dereference or whatever."

                                            >"Deference, and she's not well, and now she's running around Ponyville doing who knows what! We need to find her before she hurts herself or somepony else! And if she does, it'll be on you."

                                            You hear Starlight shout in the distance "Hey! HEY! ANYPONY, AM I SANE? DO I SOUND SANE TO YOU? AM I MAKING ANY SENSE? HOW DO I KNOW I CAN TRUST YOU? PROVE YOU'RE REAL!"

                                            Oh mare, this day is just the worst.


                                            AN: Inspired by Wintermist's FiMC and FIMC:C plus the wonderful "enforced normality" global mind-bending of AuNaturale's Universal Acceptance and its sequel, go check those all out. Add Poochie's neuroticism, heavy solipsism, the existence of actual mind controlling magic as like a thing that exists, a pinch of misinterpretation, shake well.