//------------------------------// // Seeing Triple // Story: Party Girl // by Digital Ghost //------------------------------// In her pitch black room, Pinkie Pie was curled up in her bed, feeling like somepony had driven a rusty nail into her skull. Every little noise felt like hammers pounding on the walls of her head. The smallest glint of light hurt her eyes way worse than the time Twilight looked at the sun with a telescope. Her stomach growled, but she refused to get up to sate her hunger. She had been this way for a few hours already. Rarity didn't know since she left early for Coco Pommel's boutique for a friendly chat, and Spike was still asleep. The poor dragon had been tuckered out with helping Rarity with the costume problem, and was enjoying a well-earned slumber. To make things worse, she was feeling as if she was coming down with a fever, and that was never fun. She hated being sick. How could she make anypony smile when she was busy sniffling and sneezing and staying in bed all day? No, that was not the Pinkie Pie way. She wasn't going to be some boring Dully McBoring Pants, no sir! She rolled herself out of bed, falling to the floor on her hooves, flawlessly like a cat. She fought off a grimace as her sudden motion made her vision spin. Still, she carried on. Nothing will stop her from spending the day in her usual joyful way, not the headaches, not the fever, and not her hunger, or her name wasn't Pinkamena Diane P— Out of the blue, her hooves were caught by something hard, yet a bit squishy, and she stumbled. She attempted to regain her balance, but her weakened state only hindered her. She fell down, but not on the floor as she expected, but on... something else. Something that yelped in surprise at the sudden weight falling on it. As soon as she could, Pinkie scrambled to the light switch, fumbling with it until the lights turned on, momentarily blinding her. When she adjusted to the brightness, she couldn't help but rub her eyes in disbelief. "Ouch, what was that?" asked the pony who Pinkie had just dove into. Pinkie couldn't find the words, so she just gasped. The pony laying there in the middle of the room looked remarkably like her. No, wait, it was her! Pinkie's mind raced. Why was she laying in the middle of the room while she was also standing there looking at herself laying in the middle of the room? Was she a lost twin? "Hiya." The other Pinkie Pie greeted with a bright smile. A doppelganger? "Hello?" A hallucination? "Yoohoo, Equestria to Pinkie Pie." "I got it!" Pinkie suddenly exclaimed, pointing an accusing hoof at her parallel self, who just tilted her head in confusion. "You're a changeling trying to impersonate me!" "What? No, I'm not, I—I can explain!" the other Pinkie said, waving her hooves. "Liar!" With a battlecry, Pinkie assaulted her parallel with a flurry of stuffed animals she pulled out of nowhere. "Take that, and that!" Parallel Pinkie dove behind the bed. "Pinkie, please listen!" "Reveal thyself, changeling, or face the wrath of Pinkamena Diane Pie!" "Would you two keep it down? Some of us are still trying to sleep." Pinkie turned her head to see another mare who was just pushing herself off of the floor. Like parallel Pinkie, the mare had Pinkie's cutie mark and colors, but one thing that separated her from Pinkie and parallel Pinkie was that this new Pinkie's mane was straight, flat and draped a side of her head like a curtain. Pinkie threw a pillow at her. The dragon's eye twitched as the ruckus continued to grow in the other room. What is she up to? Spike thought as he tossed his covers away and begrudgingly dragged his feet out of his room and into Pinkie's. What he saw, however, was only Pinkie, hidden behind a mattress barricade, laughing, throwing toys and playfully taunting at... nothing. "Pinkie, what are you doing?" he asked with a yawn. "Spike!" Pinkie jumped up with a big grin and pushed a number of stuffed animals into his arms. "Quick! Take these and flank them!" "Flank wh—whoa!" Spike ducked behind Pinkie as a pink pillow sailed over his head. "Go, Spike, I'll keep them pinned down!" Pinkie shouted as she let loose a barrage of stuffing-filled ammunition, all the while giggling. With a grin, Spike quickly saluted and did a dive and roll towards the other side of the bed. He was ready to start his assault on the fortified position, but he stopped mid-throw, with eyes widening. He didn't get enough time to take in what he had just saw when an assailant whacked him hard with a pillow, sending the little dragon into a wall and knocking him unconscious. He peeled off of it a moment later, and landed on the pink pillow he had dodged when he entered the room. "I think you hit him too hard." "You don't say." "Oh gosh, Spike, are you okay?" "Shouldn't we call somepony?" "I'm sure he'll be fine. I didn't hit him THAT hard." "You sent him half-way across the room!" "So I don't know my own strength, okay? I'm sorry." "You should be sorry, Miss Meanie Pants." "I already said I was sorry." "I think he's waking up." Spike rubbed his head as he slowly separated himself from the fabric that had warmed to a choking degree due to his breathing. "What happened?" "I hit you with a pillow and you flew across the room. Sorry 'bout that. But if it's any consolation, you flew gracefully." The dragon's eyes gazed up. Upon seeing three identical mares looking down on him, he pushed himself as far back as he could. "Gah! Pinkie, there's three of you!" he shouted in surprise. "Why are there three of you?" "Oh they're changelings trying to impersonate me," Pinkie said. "But they're nice changelings, they agreed to a cease fire when you got hurt." "We're not changelings," parallel Pinkie said. "Then what are you?" Spike asked. "Oh we're clo—" "Closer to ponies, actually," flat-maned Pinkie said, shutting off parallel Pinkie's mouth with her hoof. She then gave a short glare at parallel Pinkie before taking her hoof off of her face. "Right, Cricket?" "Uh, right," parallel Pinkie shifted her gaze to Pinkie, if only to spare herself the glare. "Cricket?" Pinkie giggled. "Is that really your name?" she asked. "Uh-huh." Cricket nodded. "What about you," Spike turned to the flat-maned Pinkie, "what's your name?" "Call me Vice." Spike rubbed his temples. At least he'd be able to tell one of them apart. "You still didn't answer my question though, if you're not changelings, then what are you two?" "Ponies, duh." Cricket hopped in place with Pinkie's usual happy smile. For some reason, the purple dragon found it eerie. "Regular ponies?" Spike pushed. Cricket rotated her head so she would be looking at Spike upside down. "Weeeeeeeell—" she took a deep breath and quickly explained, "—we're physical manifestations brought forth when a catalyst caused a reaction with the mirror pool's residual magic inside Pinkie, causing the two of us to appear out of thin air, and since the magic was tied with Pinkie, we are also tied with her, thusly we look like her, act like her—to a certain degree, and also inherited some of her memories, yet the two of us are still individuals in our own rights with our own hopes and dreams." "That is so cool!" Pinkie cheered, grabbing both of her doppelgangers in a hug. "It would be like we're sisters! No wait, even better: Triplets!" Spike blinked at Cricket. "How... do you know that?" "I looked it up in the author's journal." Cricket smiled. "What exactly does all of that mean though?" Spike asked. "I didn't know you were this slow, Spike," Vice sighed. "I am not slow." Spike frowned, standing up. "Oh really?" Vice smirked. "Well then... THINK FAST!" The moment she said it, she threw a stuffed rabbit at Spike, who quickly grabbed the pink pillow to use as a shield. Spike leaned out, animal in hand, and said, "Oh its on now!" "Twilight!" The alicorn turned around to see Rarity just entering the hotel doors. Twilight herself had just arrived and was just about to ask the desk clerk where her friends were staying. "Hi, Rarity. I'm glad I caught you." "Is something wrong, darling?" Rarity asked. "I thought you were doing research for Princess Celestia." "I was," Twilight said, "but something happened. Has Pinkie been acting strange lately, or has anything strange happened since last night?" "All things considered, Pinkie Pie was still acting like Pinkie Pie. Although," Rarity pursed her lips, "she did sleep in today. I didn't want to wake her." "That's probably nothing to worry about, but we should check on her just in case." "Hold on darling," Rarity grabbed Twilight, "Have you had lunch yet?" "No, but I did have a heavy snack while I was on the train." Rarity tsked and shook her head. "This won't do. Let's head to the restaurant first. You must be starving." Twilight had to admit, she was feeling a bit peckish, but she wanted to check up on Pinkie first. "We can go after we check on Pinkie." Rarity sighed. "Very well, dear. We might as well bring PInkie and Spike with us too." Twilight smiled. "Thank you." "You're welcome." Rarity smiled back. When the elevator stopped on the floor where Rarity, Pinkie, and Spike were staying, Twilight and Rarity went straight for the suite. "So what'd you do?" Twilight asked Rarity. She had been talking about what happened in the theater the previous day. "Of course I couldn't just let the ugly thing stay there," Rarity said, "so I made a different curtain with the extra cloth we had left over from making the costumes. The puppet cart now looks marvelous, if I do say so myself." When they got closer to the suite, they could hear shouting and things breaking. Their pace soon broke into a run at the thought of something terrible happening. Rarity fumbled with her keys until the door unlocked and the pair burst in. The once elegant room, with fine and expensive fixtures, now looked like a ransacked hovel. Vases laid broken on the carpet. The picture frames that once hung on the walls had their glass shattered as they sat on the hardwood floor. Cushions, pillows, and stuffed animals were scattered around like they had been fired from the party cannon. And in the middle of it all were the quartet responsible for the mess. They were looking fearfully at the new arrivals. Twilight called upon her magic and slammed the door shut behind them. "What is going on here?" she growled, with eyes flaring, sending a wave of dread through those that met her gaze. The response was unanimous. "They did it!" A single light snapped on, illuminating the pitch black room, and the three pink ponies that sat in a row in front of a glass table. A moment after the light turned on, Twilight's visage appeared from the darkness. Her horn glowed, sending a clear message that she wasn't going to fool around. The alicorn already knew which one was the real Pinkie Pie. Since the Pinkie Armageddon incident, she made a simple spell to detect mirror pool clones, and she employed the use of it now, but she still had some questions. She was intrigued by the pair of fake Pinkies, and took the opportunity to study their behavior. "I know the two of you came from the mirror pool, so don't even try fooling anypony." She pointed to the clones who were on either side of Pinkie. She let Pinkie sit there between them to help gauge the clones' behavior and responses. "I'm going to ask you a few questions, and I expect a truthful answer, okay? Okay, firstly, what are your names?" Twilight made her horn pulse, causing the two doppelgangers to flinch a bit. "Vice." "Cricket." "What things do you like?" Parties, Gummy, cakes, sweets. They were common answers among many. A couple more questions later, Twilight noted that the two other Pinkie Pies had different preferences from the real Pinkie Pie. Vice, for example, confessed that she preferred strong drinks. She was also more... rebellious, and showed less restraint when she talked, almost coming off as arrogant and belittling, but not quite. Cricket was almost, in every aspect, a complete clone of Pinkie, but showed to be the most childish over the other two and shied away when things got too heated. But maybe Twilight was being more harsh on her for being the last one she asked questions to. The alicorn tried being softer when it was her turn, and she soon eased up. "One last question," Twilight said, "What are you two, and why are you here?" She looked sharply at the clones. "Why bother answering that?" Vice said, calling all heads to her. "You're just gonna erase us like the rest." She sent a hard glare at the alicorn, making her take half a step back. "Answer the question." Twilight commanded, taking back her retreat, but Vice just grunted and turned away with her teeth grinding. "We..." Cricket started but trailed off, being disheartened of the possibility that they'll be banished back to the mirror pool, like so many before her. Twilight decided to handle the pony the same way she would treat Fluttershy, and waited patiently until Cricket mustered up enough of her courage to speak. She reiterated the explanation she had given Spike, but with a quarter of the energy. "Author's journal," she finished. The glow on Twilight's horn faded and she retreated into the shadows to speak with Rarity and Spike. The three Pinkies looked at each other, faces saddened at the thought that they might be torn apart. Silently, they held hooves under the table. "It was short lived, but I'm happy I got to be with someone as fun as you, Pinkie," Cricket said with a sad smile. Vice had a scowl on her face, and her eyes twitched. She wanted to cry out, but she know that doing so would only hasten her sentence. "It's just not fair," she whispered. "Pinkie, you can't let her do this. We're not like the other clones. You know it, don't you? Remember when we had that stuffed animal fight? Would the other clones do that, and stop when Spike got hurt? "Remember the fun we had? We didn't hurt anypony, well except Spike, but I apologized, didn't I? Didn't I, Pinkie, Cricket?" "You did." Cricket nodded. "But... I'm sure Twilight's right. Who knows, maybe we might get overboard and accidentally hurt somepony. The others thought they were having fun, but in the end, they hurt other ponies." "So you're just going to bow your head and wait for the guillotine to fall because of something you didn't do?" "I..." Vice fell silent, but kept her scowl. She was trying to think of a way out, but against Twilight's magic, she couldn't possibly hope to succeed. She turned her gaze to Pinkie, and saw a glint of determination in her eyes. "Pinkie?" "Don't worry," Pinkie smiled mischievously as her grip on both of her clones tightened, "I got a plan." The interrogator had cast a sound-proof barrier spell so the Pinkie Pies couldn't overhear their discussion. "What do you think?" Twilight asked Rarity. "I don't think we should risk it." Rarity shook her head. "The last time this happened, Ponyville was a mess for weeks." "I don't know," Spike interjected, "they seem different than the other clones. They might not be so bad." "You have a point, they're not acting anywhere close to the other Pinkie clones," Twilight admitted. "But what if they're just playing along? Cricket said it herself, they inherited Pinkie's memories. Maybe they learned how to play it safe. Maybe they're just buying their time so they can make more of themselves when we aren't looking." "That would be absolutely dreadful!" Rarity gasped. "But what if they're not?" Spike motioned to the Pinkies. "Look at them. They're just sitting there. Besides, the mirror pool is in the Everfree. Its too far a trip for them to take without getting noticed." "What are you trying to suggest, Spike?" The two mares asked him. "Why not give them a chance?" Spike wasn't sure if Twilight would agree to that, seeing as she still had that look on her face. But a thought suddenly popped into his head. It was the perfect excuse for Twilight to hold off sending the clones back to the mirror pool. "You know," he casually pointed a claw at the alicorn, "it could help you with your research." "When she gets to the table, we execute the plan," Pinkie whispered to her clones, who nodded back. "Here she comes," Vice reported, steadying her weapon. Once Pinkie gives the signal, Cricket would distract Twilight while Vice aims for a good shot to knock her out. Rarity and Spike wouldn't be hard to sidestep once Twilight was out of the picture. The three of them would soon be home free. Twilight came out of the shadows and approached the group. She drifted her gaze across the Pinkies, and when she saw that their attention was fixed on her, she suddenly said to Vice and Cricket, "I'm letting you stay." Vice dropped the pillow she was hiding behind the back of her chair. "You... what?" "I'm letting you stay," Twilight repeated. Pinkie and Cricket squeed and tackled Twilight to the ground. "Thank you thank you thank you!" they both said with glee. The lights turned on, revealing Rarity and Spike, who were both smiling at the sight of the Pinkies rejoicing. "You know what this calls for?" Pinkie grinned as she rounded up her clones in her fore hooves. "A PARTY!" the three of them shouted. Then stomachs growled. Vice, Cricket, Pinkie, Rarity, Twilight, and Spike's stomach growled one after the other, like wolves howling at the moon. "I'll call room service," Spike volunteered, heading immediately for the phone. The room was spic and span, as if the disaster a few minutes ago never happened. There wasn't a single crack on the vases, nor the picture frames, and the stuffed animals had been put back to wherever the Pinkies had taken them from. Although Twilight did most of the repairs with the help of her magic, the Pinkie clones chipped in to help as well, which further surprised Twilight. The other clones never showed interest in anything other than having fun, yet these two actually chose to help clean up, and even engaged in conversations with everypony instead of chanting "Fun" all day. At least Cricket was. Vice was silent most of the time. It was a big difference, true, but Twilight couldn't let this lull her to a false sense of security. They were still clones, they were still dangerous, and they didn't belong here. Twilight knew she would have to send the clones back to the mirror pool sooner or later. She only hoped Pinkie would let her. The pink mare had grown attached to them, to the point of calling them sisters. It would be difficult to convince her to let them go when the time came, but Pinkie came through a number of times before, and Twilight was certain she'd make the right choice. For now however, while they weren't doing any harm, she would have to let them be. The group of six were waiting for their food, and Twilight had used the time to relax and take in the large suite. It was finely decorated with high-quality materials one would expect to find in a rich pony's home. The floral carpets were soft, feeling more like a fluffy cloud than a bunch of factory-treated wool. The tables and chairs were made of dark wood that had been carved by hoof into intricate designs that only master craftsponies could achieve. The cushions were, like the carpets, as soft as clouds. Twilight felt that she could fall asleep just by sitting on the couch. There was a fireplace across from where she rested. It was of simple design, but its simplicity served as a lovely accent to the fancy room. There were statuettes of the princesses on each end of the mantel shelf. They were looking up in contemplation at the center piece, a small mural of the sun and moon in cycle. Twilight passed her gaze through seven doors that lead to separate bedrooms. The pony who reserved the room for Rarity spared no expense in accommodating for the mare and her friends. Expecting all six mares plus Spike to come to Manehattan, he booked the biggest suite the hotel could offer. It was a gesture that felt like overkill since the friends would have been fine staying in a much, much less costly room. He must have felt it was a good way to compensate for calling Rarity on such short notice. A knock signaled the arrival of their lunch. Spike answered the door and came face to face with a large tray smelling of fine delicacies. The room service pony left the food on the dining table, already set beforehoof, and left after Rarity gave him a generous tip. "I don't know about you guys," Spike said, rubbing his claws together, "but I'm hungry." After the hearty meal, Vice sat by the window, looking blankly at the busy street below, away from the other ponies who were still distracting themselves with a few games Pinkie had set up as part of the traditional Pinkie Party. She looked bored and confused. Twilight quickly grabbed the opportunity to have a one-on-one talk with the clone. "Hey, can I talk to you for a minute?" Twilight forced a smile in an attempt to hide her motive. Vice slumped down on the window sill and sighed. "Sure. What do you want to know?" "Nothing, I just wanted to have a friendly—" "Oh please, Twilight," Vice interrupted, "I have Pinkie's memories, remember? I know you're interested in the mirror pool's magic, or any kind of magic for that matter, and that you're doing research on it for Celestia. It doesn't take a pony with your brains to bet that you're only keeping Cricket and I here to be your disposable guinea pigs. Just ask me what you want to know so you can flutter off already." Twilight was left speechless by the sheer harshness of Vice's words. For the longest time, she remained silent, unsure if talking to the clone was a good idea. Yet she didn't want to leave just yet, so she just stared out the window. "So what did you learn from the pool?" Vice asked suddenly. "Nothing, it kept inert the whole time," Twilight answered. There was another long silence which was only interrupted by the sounds of the ponies cleaning up. The plates stacked on Spike's claws rose well past his height. He didn't see the piece of cake lying on the floor, and the others were too busy with their own chores to notice the imminent disaster. As the dragon tried to keep the tower of plates balanced, his foot stepped on the moist delicacy and slipped. The plates were thrown high into the air. "Twitchy tail!" Cricket and Pinkie exclaimed just before the plates went flying. They jumped into action, catching the plates on their backs, not letting a single one drop. "That was amazing!" Spike said as he picked himself up. "Looks like the Pinkie sense saves the day again." "Excuse me," Vice said to Twilight, removing herself from the window sill and trotted to the bathroom. What's with her? Twilight asked herself. Vice could hear the muffled chatter behind the locked door, but the noise soon faded as if the world was suddenly silenced. She was looking at herself in the mirror, and was shocked to see what was on her reflection. Large, yellowish patches were all over her in the reflection, but found none when she searched for them on her body. Curious, she took a closer look and found that the patches had a texture similar to that of the shot Pinkie had taken last night. It was flowing too, as if the patches were like some rift giving her a peek at another plane. If that alone didn't alarm her, the realization that she was more yellow than pink in the mirror would have done the trick. Whats more, she found that the patches of yellow were eating away at her, albeit slowly. She watched as a tiny speck of pink on her shoulder was devoured by the sea of yellow. For whatever reason, seeing the pink speck drown sent a wave of dismay through her. Vice turned on the faucet and splashed cold water on her face. Maybe she was just seeing things, she told herself. But when she looked up from the sink, the patches were still there. Without even knowing she did it, her hoof made hard contact with the bottom corner of the mirror, making it crack in a web-like pattern. There was a knock on the door, stopping any thoughts from forming in Vice's mind. Twilight's voice called out to her from the other side, "Vice? Are you okay in there?" Vice took a deep breath and walked back from the mirror, only turning around when she was close enough to grab the door's handle. The knob turned and the locking mechanism popped. She walked out without saying a word or even turning to see Twilight's worried expression and retreated to Pinkie's bedroom.