//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Pinkie? Pinkie? and... Pinkie? // Story: Dean's Real Life // by Moon_Skritch //------------------------------// Edited By: Selkowitz Chapter 4 Pinkie? Pinkie? and... Pinkie? Today’s the day. Well… night, actually, since their train was a bit delayed. It’s a very nice night too. Alex does very well at his job. I bet he worked overtime today to make the skies nice like this so he could impress Rainbow Dash. To be honest, I think it would take a lot more than that to impress her. “Dude, I am so happy they are coming home!” Alex says as he bounces around me, giggling with joy. “You’re just happy cause you get to see Rainbow Dash again,” I say, sticking my tongue out at him. He just laughs and continues bouncing around, making this light ‘eeee’ sound. “You are so strange Alex, you know that?” “Yep! I sure am!” he giggles and puts on a goofy grin. I shake my head and chuckle to myself. “Hey guys, sorry we are late,” Mantalist’s familiar voice comes from behind us. We both look back to see our best friend and the not so alicorn Red Velvet. It’s so different to look at her now without her tall stature and wings. “It’s alright. The train has another ten to fifteen minutes before arriving,” I say. “I can’t wait!” Alex blurts out right next to me, almost in my ear. I shake my head swiftly. “Thanks, Alex. I didn’t need my hearing anyway…” I glance over at him and chuckle. He laughs back and asks Mantalist, “So, how have you two been since the change?” “It’s been great! She’s easier to hug now!” He glomps Red Velvet who giggles as he pounces her. “You are so silly, Mantalist,” she says, nuzzling into him. “Yep, and that’s why you love me.” He nuzzles her back, smiling. “That’s just one reason. You know the others,” she winks at him. He blushes and she kisses him on the cheek. We stand there and chat until we hear the train whistle. My chest warms and my heart is racing at the thought of seeing Pinkie once more. I look over at Alex who is bouncing with joy. The train comes to a halt, and the ponies exit the train. I look over the small crowd, and I don’t see any of them yet. I start to worry slightly, but then I hear my name called. I look over and see the pink party mare and the others wave. I feel my chest continue to get warmer as I trot over to them. Alex races ahead of me and runs right up to Rainbow Dash who opens her forehooves, ready for the attack hug. I then look in front of me to see nothing but pink tackle me. “Hiya Dean! How was everything while I was gone? Did anything amazingly super awesome happen? I really missed you! Did you miss m-” I silenced her with a kiss. “What does that tell you?” I say after the kiss. She smiles and kisses me again. “Red Velvet… How... how are you not an alicorn anymore?” Pinkie and I look up to see Twilight looking at Red Velvet with confusion. “Oh it’s a long story,” she giggled. “I’ll explain later.” “Alright then. We should probably get home. It’s late.” I let out a yawn, which makes everypony else yawn. I chuckle and nod my head. “Yeah, that’s a good idea.” It’s been a few weeks since the Elements of Harmony returned from their trip to the Crystal Empire. Pinkie told me everything that happened there. She even showed this weird horn which had an odd sound when she blew into it. She called it a “Flugelhorn”. The name sounded familiar, but the look of the horn was different than the one on earth. I am glad that she and the baby are alright though. She was more along in her pregnancy now, her belly was more plump. She is also eating a lot of weird food too. So odd that I can’t even explain it. It’s been two months since that day where it all started. It’s gonna be a long process, but we will manage. More days pass and I start seeing Pinkie less and less. The only time I see her is at night and sometimes when working. I am worried about her. She always tells me that she had something planned at a friend’s house. She is always trying to make everypony happy. Guess that’s Pinkie for ya. One night, she comes home and she looked really worn out. Though to some, she looks the same as always, but I can tell the difference. “Pinkie? Are you okay?” I ask her one night in bed. I hear her sigh and roll over to look at the ceiling. “It’s hard sometimes…” “What is?” “Making everypony happy.” “But that’s what you do. You’re Pinkie Pie, you can do anything!” She sighs again. “It’s not that easy. I have to remember so many things about everypony, and everypony wants me to be at their place cause I promised them I’d help them, but sometimes, ponies want me at the same time as another pony does, and with me having this foal to take care of in my tummy, it’s even harder. I wish there was more of me.” I wrap my foreleg around her, pulling her into a hug. “Hey, if you need any help with anything, do not hesitate to ask me. I will gladly help you. I should be helping you anyway. You shouldn’t work that hard with having a foal.” She hugs me back and smiles. “Thanks Dean.” She gives me a long kiss as we both go to sleep in each other’s hooves. The next morning, I wake up alone. She’s probably out helping another pony or something. I sigh and roll myself out of bed. I go downstairs and see that breakfast has been already made. Walking into the kitchen, Mrs. Cake hoofs me a plate with food on it. “Good morning, dear. You woke just in time,” she smiles. I smile back and head for the dining room. I walk in the dining room and see the Cake’s twins, Pumpkin and Pound, in their high chairs. They are drinking their milk and being adorable as usual. I watch them and imagine about that happening to me and Pinkie in about 9 months, since ponies have different gestation periods than humans do. Mr. Cake comes in the dining room and I ask, “Have you seen Pinkie today?” “No, I haven’t. I thought she was upstairs with you, but I guess she got up before any of us.” Mr. Cake sniffs the air, and his nose crinkles a bit. “Smells like somepony needs a diaper change.” Soon, the smell hits me, and I cough. He picks up Pound, and the smell fills the room. “Woo. That’s powerful,” I say, covering my nose with a hoof. “Don’t worry. Soon, you and Pinkie will be doing this,” he says and chuckles. “You’ll get used to the smells after a while.” I laugh, still covering my nose. Thank goodness I finished my food, because my appetite is completely gone. I get up from the table and start out the door into the town. Today’s my day off, and I am going to spend it looking for Pinkie. I flap open my wings and take off to the sky. “Ugh!” I sit on the ground. I have looked all over this place, and I can’t find that mare anywhere. “Hi Dean!” I look up and see her hopping up to me. I immediately jump up and wrap my hooves around her, though something is different. It didn’t feel like the real her. I let go of her and back up a bit to get a good look at her. Immediately, I can tell that this isn’t her. “Pinkie… where’s the real one.” “What do you mean? I am the real Pinkie!” I look over and my eyes widen. Multiple Pinkie Pies coming around the corner yelling the same thing… “Fun!” The one that I hugged jumps in the crowd and runs off with them. “Wh- what’s going on…?” I say to myself. I need to find Twilight and figure out what is with all of these Pinkie Pies. As I make my way down the main street to Twilight’s library, I see ponies run towards that way also. They probably have the same question I do. I quicken my pace and get to Twilight’s. Already, there is a crowd surrounding the tree home. “Does anypony know how we can tell the real Pinkie Pie from the rest of them?” I hear her ask as I run up. I hear a familiar voice, Pinkie’s. I look over and I see her jumping over another pony. “Twilight! I need to talk to you!” “I’m not talking to any of you until I find the real Pinkie Pie!” Twilight says “But… I am the real Pinkie Pie!” The way she says it keyed me off that that was the real one. Before I could go over to her, all of the other Pinkies start saying that they are the real one, the original one lost in the midst of the clones. I quickly run up to Twilight. Spike nudges her and points to me. “There you are, Dean! Maybe you could help!” she says. “Sure! Anything to bring the real Pinkie Pie back!” I am already starting to miss her. “Since you are here, I already have an idea as well!” she exclaims. “What’s that?” “You know Pinkie more than any of us combined. You would be able to tell them apart. Maybe if we gathered them all up, you could help us find the real one. Whichever you see is not the real one, I will send them back to the Mirror Pool.” “Twilight! You are a genius!” I exclaim, which makes her blush and chuckle, causing her to be silent for a moment. “Twilight?” I ask, wondering if she is okay, because she is just staring at me, oddly. “Huh? Oh. We should hurry!” she says shaking her head swiftly and takes off out the door. No idea what that was about. The way she looked at me was kind of strange. No time to worry about that now, I have a party mare to find! “Dean! We have been looking for ya bro!” Alex yells as he catches up with us. Rainbow Dash, Red Velvet, and Mantalist are with him. “No time. Come on, we have to gather all of the Pinkie Pies.” I yell back, not slowing my pace. It took a lot of work, but thanks to the help of Applejack and her family, we got them all together in one group. “Here they come!” I yell as Alex and I open the town hall doors. The giant group of Pinkie Pies flows into the room. I close the door behind them and quickly run to the stage where Twilight waits. The Pinkies are bouncing all over the place yelling the same word, “Fun!” over and over. It’s starting to drive me crazy. “QUIET!” Twilight yells, startling me half to death. All of the Pinkies sit still and stare up at us. I look out at all of them. It’s so hard to tell who the real one is. I wish this was over and I had the real one in my hooves to love. The front door then swings open and Rainbow flies in carrying another Pinkie, though this one is different than the others. It’s more sad than the rest. I have a good feeling that that one is the real Pinkie Pie that I know, but then I look around. Some have the same expression as hers. I will have to go through each one. “Okay, Dean. It’s time. Go find the real Pinkie Pie we know. Be careful though. If you mess up, the real one could be sent to the Mirror Pool by mistake.” Immediately, I start to sweat, and fear overcomes me. “No pressure…” I sigh and walk off the stage to the Pinkies. They are all looking at me, and from where I stand, they all give me the same feeling the real one does. I have to go to each one. I make my way to the first one and look at her closely. I hear her whisper, “Fun?” I shake my head and walk to the next one. I could tell by just looking at her that this one isn’t her; her coat color is a bit off, probably a clone of a clone of a clone. I continue down the way and so far, no luck. One of them did the weirdest thing… She made her hoof have fingers. It kind of scared me how she did that. I don’t think the real Pinkie would even do that at a time like this. Next line, same thing, though one of them did a weird face that made me yelp. I immediately went to the next one. This one was much more difficult. She seems so close to the real one, but I wasn’t too sure. “Can we keep this one aside? She seems very close to the real one and I want to check the others before I make a decision.” Twilight nods and Rainbow picks her up and sets her on the stage. I continue down the line. I soon get to the last Pinkie in the group. This one has her head drooped. She looks like she has been crying, her eyes slightly red. “Okay, this one too.” “Are you sure? That doesn’t look like Pinkie at all to me,” Rainbow states as she picks her up and moves her to the stage with the other one. “Trust me. I know what I am doing,” I say as I look back at the crowd of the other Pinkies. I sure hope I am right. I then make my way back to the stage where the two Pinkies sit, one of them is definitely her. There is only one way to find out. I walk up to the first one, the one who seems happy and peppy and very close to the real Pinkie Pie. I get real close to her face, and she looks at me kind of funny. I then plant my lips on hers, holding it there for a second and realize something is missing. I pull away, leaving the mare confused. I move over to the sadder looking one. I lift her chin up and smile, I bring my lips to hers and I hold it there. I immediately taste it. The taste that tells her apart from the rest. Sugar cookies. I pull away and smile again at her. “Send the others back. This is the real one,” I say as I bring Pinkie close to me and hug her close. I can feel her start to sob. “Are you sure, Dean? It could be the clones playing a trick on you.” Just as Twilight says that, some of them start to cry also. “I’m sure of it. This is the real Pinkie.” I hug her closer. “How do you know?” I turn my head and look at Twilight intently and say, “Sugar cookies.” “Sugar cookies? I don’t get it.” “The kisses. Whenever I kiss the real Pinkie Pie, I taste sugar cookies. I don’t know why, but I do. I don’t mind it. I actually love it about her. I love her the way she is. The real her.” Pinkie starts to squeeze me tighter. “I love you, Dean,” I can hear her say between sniffles. “I love you too, Pinkie Pie.” I squeeze her back. Twilight nods her head, and her horn illuminates, small wisps coming out of her horn going to each of the clones. Each one inflates oddly and poofs away, going back to the Mirror Pool. “So Pinkie… Why’d you do it?” I ask pulling away from the hug. Pinkie sighs. “I… I just felt that I needed more of me. Remember last night when I said I wish there was more of me? I remembered the legend of the Mirror Pool that my Nana Pinkie told me about when I was a filly. Everypony had something fun to do, and I wanted to be there at the same time. It became so crazy for me.” “How’d you find the Mirror Pool?” Twilight asks. “Well there was a saying that went something like, ‘Where the brambles are thickest, there you will find a pond beyond the most twisted of vines!’ Maybe that will help you find it and block it up so no other pony can use it. I don’t plan on using it ever again.” “I’ll go take care of that now,” Twilight says as she leaves the town hall. “Pinkie, you do a lot to make everypony happy, and I’ve always loved that about you. Maybe you should take it easy for a while since you’re carrying a foal. I don’t want something bad to happen to you two,” I say to her, looking her in the eyes. Pinkie nods her head and hugs me again. “I will, for you and the foal.” “So what do you want to do now?” I ask her. She yawns. “I just want to take a nap right now… if that’s okay. I’m really tired.” “Sure thing. Let’s go,” I say and walk with her back to Sugarcube Corner. “I’m glad we have the real you back. I missed you.” I nuzzle her side. Smells like cotton candy. She nuzzles me back and yawns once more. Mr. and Mrs. Cake smiles as we walk in the door. “Looks like you found her, the real Pinkie. Is she alright?” Mr. Cake asks. “Yeah, she’s just really tired. Long day,” I explain. I don’t want to go into full detail. That would take too long. Besides I have a tired pregnant wife to take care of. Mrs. Cake nods in understanding. “Alright, I will let you all know when dinner is ready,” she says. “Thanks, Mrs. Cake.” I smile and take Pinkie to her room. “What a day, eh?” I ask as we snuggle under the covers. “Yeah. Thanks for finding the real me. So… Sugar cookies?” she chuckles. “Uh… heh… Well that is what it tastes like,” I say, blushing redder than an apple. I feel a tap on my side and look over to her, and she kisses me, the taste returning on my taste buds. I sigh happily as I kiss her back. “So what do I taste like?” I ask her as we cuddle closer to one another. “Well, it’s hard to say, but there is that hint of some chocolate in there and something else like some kind of nut. Hazelnut?” I shrug. “I don’t know my ‘taste’ so,” I laugh. She laughs too and nuzzles her head under my chin. “So, you’ll take it easy for a while?” I ask her. Silence. “Pinkie?” I ask. I then hear a light snore from her. I smile and close my eyes as well. “I love you, Pinkie Pie.” I close my eyes and lay my head back on the pillow, though I’m not really tired. I don’t mind though. Being here with the real Pinkie is better than anything in the world. [End of Chapter 4]