//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: The Meeting // Story: An Unexpected Surprise // by Salnalus //------------------------------// The start of the day was going pretty swimmingly for the Pinkie clone. She wasn’t missing Ponyville one bit, despite the amount of fun she had when she was back there. She could remember the first time she came out the Mirror Pool. It was a normal day in the Everfree Forest. Well, as normal as it could get. The real Pinkie Pie had wandered into the cavern that housed the mystical pool. That is, after ungracefully landing flat on her face. After getting up from her mishap, and talking to herself for a bit, she stared into the pool and spoke the chant that would activate the magic of it. And into her own reflection she stared, Yearning for one whose reflection she shared. And solemnly sweared not to be scared At the prospect of being doubly mared! And those words were spoken as she touched a hoof into the water, and soon her whole body went through. The feel of the water was refreshing, though while going through, it gave of a weird tingling sensation that only lasted a second. It would then be shown tat the mare that went through had indeed become doubly mared. And being free felt wonderful. She could do whatever she wanted, when she wanted, as long as there existed something for her to do. Of course, there was the reason why Pinkie had cloned herself in the first place: so there was enough of her to go around so she could experience fun everywhere she went. And then it ended after more Pinkies showed up, caused a whole mess of things, and were sent back. And the only remaining one left was in Manehatten. She had just spent the last ten minutes or so playing with what she considered to be her new friends. They played around with a ball, and played Tag, told stories about each other, and many other things. It was almost hard to believe, but Pinkie had already made some new friends. “Ooh ooh, is there anything else you guys wanna do? I wanna have some more fun! We could jump rope, or hop around cheerfully, or play hide-and-seek, or have a picnic, or--” Pinkie would’ve kept on talking had Filla not cut her off. “Pinkie, would’’t you rather we take a break? I’d like to rest a bit.” Jitters and Aero, the other filly and colt, nodded in agreement. Pinkie’s ears lowered, as she wanted to continue the fun. A thought came to her mind. “Well, I guess that’s ok. Maybe we can get something to eat? I am pretty hungry.” The three children looked at each other, and huddled together. Jitters was the first to speak. “Like, I know we just had a bit of fun with Pinkie, but I’m still not sure about her.” Filla rolled her eyes in response. “Come on, Jitters. You’ve seen her. You even played with her. You know she’s not a bad pony after all. Don’t feel so anxious just because she scared you twice.” “Now hold on,” Aero retorted. “That isn’t Jitters’ fault. She gets scared easily.” “I do not!” “You kind of do... you once got scared by a ladybug.” Jitters sighed. “Nevermind that. Are you two sure you want to do this?” “Totally! And besides, we’re getting something to eat, right? With her, since she’s a grown up, we could take her with us to some restaurant and she could get us some good food! I wouldn’t want anything my mother makes...” Filla stuck out her tongue in disgust. Her mother’s breakfast food wasn’t bad, but she didn’t exactly have an acquired taste for it. “Yeah, good point. No offense to your mother, though. I just wish for better food.” Jitters attempted a confident smile. “Well, I suppose she can get us some food. I am pretty hungry myself.” Aero patted her on the back. “That’s the spirit! Now come on.” The three turned back to Pinkie, only to raise their eyebrows at the new sight. She had the side of her head pressed down against the ground as if trying to hear something from underground. Filla walked up to her and tapped her on her arm. “Are you ok? What are you doing?” Pinkie put a hoof to her lips as a gesture to stay silent. She then spoke in a whisper. “Shh, I’m listening.” “To what?” “Well, I’m an Earth pony, right? And this is the earth, right? So me, being a pony, is listening to the earth. Get it now?” Filla facehoofed in disbelief. “Pinkie, being an Earth pony means you don’t have a horn or wings. Instead, you’re more connected to the ground, or something.” “Oh, I know that. Just thought I’d take it up a notch!” She lifted her head up to grin at a confused Filla. “Umm, what?” “Oh, nothing! So hey, where’s that food? Is it over there? Or there? Or there? Ooh, what about over there?” Pinkie kept pointing over in different directions. Jitters and Aero stood by Filla’s sides as she sighed. “Pinkie, can we just leave? We’re all getting pretty hungry, and you know, wouldn’t like to stand around all day.” “Oh, sorry. So where do we go? Do we go into that city there?” Aero nodded. “Yeah, and it’s called Manehattan. It’s where we are now.  You must be new here.” “Well, yeah of course! I just arrived this morning. I was kinda hoping I could have some fun here. I’d rather not go back to where I came from...” “And where was that?” “Ponyville.” They all raised eyebrows. It was rather uncommon for Ponyville folk to visit Manehattan. “Wow... you came all the way from Ponyville? You didn’t like it there, or something?” “Actually, it was very fun there. I had many friends there to play with. It was a real joy. But then... my friends disappeared. They all didn’t want me. So I left...” Her ears lowered, and a sad, downtrodden expression appeared on her face. Never had the children seen so much sadness. It was rather creepy when they thought about it. Jitters decided to speak up again, hoping to make the situation better. “Well, there is a restaurant my dad sometimes goes to with me. It has excellent food there. Maybe we can go there? That should cheer you up.” Pinkie’s ears perked up, and she turned to the little Earth pony filly. A warm smile began to form on her face. Suddenly, she didn’t feel so sad. In an instant, the three found themselves in a big hug, made by none other than the pink blur that rushed to them. “You guys are sooooo the best! You three are my new best friends!” She hugged them tightly. The effect of her squeezing was making it difficult for them to breathe and get out any words. “Pinkie...” Filla managed to get out a word, but with some difficulty. “Can you let us go? It’s hard to breathe...” “Whoops, sorry!” She quickly let go of them, and they fell together in a heap on the ground in front of her. They somehow had blue faces from the lack of oxygen, but it returned to normal just as quickly. They were in a daze for quite some time before they all stood, holding their heads from the dizziness. Aero shook his head of the confusion. “Let’s just go.” “Well, you’ll need to point the way, silly! By the way, you guys never told me your names.” “Right.” The tan pegasus colt cleared his throat. “I’m Aero. The yellow Earth pony is Jitters, and the light green unicorn is Filla.” The two fillies shook off their daze. “Well, actually, my real name is Filament. Kind of a weird name if you ask me, so ponies just call me Filla.” “Nice to meet you three! My name is Pinkie Pie... or did I already tell you that? Anyway, it’s follow the leader time! You lead, and I’ll follow!” Jitters looked back at the streets of Manehatten. She knew that the restaurant she referred to earlier was quite a walking distance from the park they were presently standing in. She sighed, and started to walk forward. “Ok guys, follow me. It’s a long distance away, but it’s worth it.” The rest of the group nodded, and started to follow the Earth pony. Jitters very much loved the food the restaurant had to offer. To her, they had the best breakfast sandwiches in Equestria. They were heavenly to the taste. She would always remember going with her father, and munching on one of the most delicious cucumber sandwiches ever made. Before long, they found themselves a few feet away from the entrance. Pinkie was grinning wide. “Ooh, is this the place? Is this the place?” “Yes, Pinkie. This is it.” The ecstatic mare bounced up and down, much to the children’s confusion. How exactly can somepony be so jittery in the morning? Did she drink a lot of coffee earlier? Sugar, perhaps? Or maybe this was just normal for her. They decided it was best to try not to figure her out. Before they could head inside, they saw a light blue unicorn exit the restaurant, looking quite satisfied with herself. “That Arc stallion surely has an exquisite taste in eating establishments. Trixie must thank him later. Now to get back to--” Her eyes widened, and she suddenly stopped dead in her tracks. Her eyes were fixated on what appeared to be Pinkie Pie. She remembered exactly who she was. The pink hyperactive mare from Ponyville. One of Twilight Sparkle’s friends. If there was anything she didn’t like, it was that lavender unicorn, and seeing one of her friends only gave her a reminder. Even if she didn’t see her, she had heard all about the Elements of Harmony and their representatives. The pink one was known as the bearer of the Element of Laughter. But Trixie didn’t care about that. She only cared about how this was one of her own rival’s friends. Her eyes narrowed as she walked closer to the group of four. “You! What are you doing here in Manehatten? Here to mock Trixie, I see?” Pinkie blinked in confusion. She didn’t remember seeing Trixie before, though it appeared she somehow knew her. “Umm, have we met?” “We have not, but Trixie knows of your friendship with Twilight Sparkle. Surely, she has told you about me?” Twilight Sparkle. If this was the real Pinkie, she would’ve smiled from the mention. But seeing as this was one of the clones of Pinkie, she felt quite the opposite. The sight of Twilight Sparkle, she admit, scared her. If she was seen by her, she would be sent back to that dreaded Mirror Pool. She didn’t want to end up like all those other clones. Trixie was expecting a reply, but didn’t get one. “Hey! Trixie asked you a question. Are you going to answer it?” Pinkie snapped out of her thoughts. “Oh, sorry. I was kinda deep in thought. It’s just... something I’d rather not talk about.” After those few words, she turned her head away. The children looked at her with a bit of concern. Trixie was now confused herself. “Trixie does not understand. You are one of her friends, are you not?” “She used to be...” Trixie was not getting this at all. She knew Twilight as the one pony who kept friendship as the closest thing to her heart. To her, Pinkie seemed like the next-closest thing to a pony that showed friendship. But it couldn’t be that they broke a friendship. Something was off. Hmm, Trixie shall not allow herself to be fooled by this pony’s tricks. But something’s not right here. Perhaps an interrogation is in order. Trixie wasn’t too sure about what she was about to do, but it wasn’t like she had anything else important to do. “If you do not mind, Trixie wants to speak with you... privately.” She raised her voice at the children, who stepped back a bit. Filla just rolled her eyes. “Ok, but who’s Trixie?” “Right... I am the Great and Powerful Trixie, the most amazing unicorn in all of Equestria, bla bla bla. Just come with me. We have things to discuss.” Trixie began to walk past her and the fillies and colt. Pinkie raised an eyebrow, and turned to the children. “I guess I’ll see you guys later. Ooh, maybe she wants to be my friend too!” She quickly hopped away. The three children stood there in disbelief. “What just happened?” We lost our chance to eat a good breakfast, that’s what happened.” Filla and Aero both stared at Jitters. “What? That food is delicious. It’s better than the junk your mom makes, Filla.” The unicorn filly, opened her mouth to say something back, but nothing was said. She sighed in defeat. “Good point. Let’s just go.” They all went off towards a street to their left, their stomachs grumbling loudly.